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falcor-thee-luck-dragon · 4 years ago

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Forgive, But First Fun - Nandor x f(vampire) reader

Summary: After getting left behind to fight off a pack of werewolves on your own, now mad at Nandor, you and Nadja have decided a little night out couldn’t hurt.

Warning: slight angst, fluff, fun times, and a tiny smut mention

Masterlist

Trudging angrily through the manors wooden doors, face stern and almost scary enough to put the fear of God into anyone. Your boots stomp into the large opening and onto the wooden floor boards as Gullimero, Nandor, and the documentary crew follow you in.

Your cloak is ripped and dirty as it lays in a pathetic black heap of cloth in Gullimero’s arms, your hair not looking any better, not to mention your face and arms that have various cuts paired with grass smudge marks adoring your skin. All in all you look like a hot mess.

“What the fuck happened to you lot? You’ve been gone all night.” Questions Laszlo as he walks into view from out of one of the hallways, his eyes scanning over a perfectly clean and handsome Nandor, then over to the dirty crew and disheveled Guillermo who’s got some leaves stuck to his hair.

“I don’t know.” You snap sarcastically, “How about you ask Mr. Dodgy-shit-stick over there.” Referring to Nandor who’s looking anywhere but you, keeping as silent as ever.

Gullimero looks between you and Nandor, then back at a confused Laszlo. “Oh, um they’re not speaking to each other right now.”

“And why the fuck not?”

Guillermo sighs before leaning towards Laszlo, “Nandor wanted to graffiti where the werewolves live and Y/N said he’d get caught and then Nandor said no I won’t and then he did.”

Laszlo raises a curious brow, “That’s it?”

“Oh, um....” Guillermo awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, suddenly pulling off a green leaf, “then they chased us to the park and when the pack closed in on us Nandor turned into a bat and left us behind so Y/N had to fight one of them off so we could escape and now we’re here.”

“Well that sounds rather exciting.”

“Not at the time.” Whispers Guillermo to no one in particular as he glances over at the camera.

“Huh,” Mutters Laszlo thoughtfully, scratching his beard as he thinks of how to help this situation, “well if you two dingbats aren’t talking to one another I believe Nadja needs you Y/N. Something about....well actually I’m not entirely sure.”

Perking up ever so slightly at this positive news, you cross your arms over your chest defiantly, “Well since someone does, I’ll be going then.” You grumble with a low growl at your Nandor who’s refusing to make eye contact while he stares frustrated at the floor.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Laszlo watches you stomp angrily up the steps before turning his head over to Nandor who’s now watching you leave with big sad eyes.

“Alright why’d you do it?” Interrogates Laszlo with a raised brow.

“Do whaaat?” Replies Nandor defensively, his once high and mighty aurora reappearing in an instant.

Rolling his eyes, Laszlo sets a hand on his hip sassily, “Well I sure as hell don’t want an angry Y/N wandering around this old place for the next however the fuck it takes you both to make up....in however fashion that may be. So I ask again, why’d you puss out and flee like a mangy opossum?”

Pursing his lips together in apprehensive embarrassment, Nandor mutters to himself before finally crossing his arms over his broad chest and sighing, “Because......I....I don’t know I panicked!” Exclaims the large vampire, causing Laszlo to start laughing. “Why are you laughing?”

Wiping a fake tear from his eye, Laszlo lets out a few more chuckles before finally composing himself, “My good man that is the second saddest thing I’ve ever heard. The first being when one of my many victims offered me one of their rare and exclusive Poki-muns card which I still have no idea what the fuck they were on about. Anyways, doesn’t matter, all I’ll tell is that you better make it up to her.”

“But she’s scary when she’s angryyy.” Whines Nandor with a frown.

“That’s all women my young pup, but since your lovely lady is a vampire she’s more dangerous.” He says while giving Nandor a kind pat on the back, “So uh, stay safe out there.” Adds Laszlo before turning and walking down the hallway leaving Nandor with his thoughts, Gullimero, and the documentary’s camera crew.

“What are you all looking at!” Snaps Nandor to the rest of the room.

——

“Oh my goodnessess that’s awful, my poor dark angel.” Soothes Nadja as you take a moment from your long and needed rant about the adventures in the park and Nandor’s cowardly stupidity. “That big hairy rhino doesn’t deserve you Y/N.” She reasons honestly, doing her best to make you feel better, knowing all to well the level of competent decision making skills of the other two vampires in the house.

“I know.” You mutter in agreement, your body tense and agitated as you pace back and forth in front of her as she sits in a chair, “Fucking beautiful idiot prick horse-fart of a husband. Urgghhh!” You proclaim loudly while throwing your hands into the air angrily, causing the furniture in the room to screech backwards across the old flooring at your outburst of vampiric energy. Nadja’s long obsidian hair blowing backwards as you do so while she keeps seated, unflinching.

Face softening, she gives you a sympathetic smile, “Oh my lovely fierce lioness, I know exactly what will make that sad little frown turn into a happy one.” Beams Nadja with an excited clap of her hands.

Hugging your sides, you let out a frustrated huff before giving your old friend a shrug, “What do you have in mind?”

——

“So we’re at the carnival!” Claps Nadja in delight as she smiles at the camera, “This will hopefully relieve Y/N’s pent up angers and keep her mind off of Nandor.....for now.” She adds a bit uncertainly.

“HA HA take that fuckers!” You shout joyfully from behind her, the camera panning over to you at the ball toss where you’ve been knocking down plastic bottles with a rubber ball. The stall owner cowering in the corner as he shields himself with a stuffed zebra.

The camera focuses back on Nadja, “I think it’s going really well so far.” She confirms with a convincing grin. “Relieving all that..uh....rage.”

After winning a stuffed snake taller then you and deciding to wear it as a strange fashionable scarf, you and Nadja are wandering the carnivals streets while people watching to pass the time.

“So that’s why I never walk on the roof after 3am when I’ve had homeless man’s blood.” Rambles Nadja as your thoughts about Nandor come trickling down into your brain and nose. Huh, strange, must be cause you’re still wearing a thin red scarf of his.

No, stop thinking about him.

“Good lesson learned then,” You add with the flash of a smile before nudging her shoulder gently, “hey you wanna watch me win you something cool?”

Perking up in an instant, Nadja smiles a devilish fangy grin as she stops to eye up the multiple game stalls, “Why I would be delighted my dear Y/N, how about....um, oooh I want that giant tropical fishy with the long whiskers over there.” Points Nadja as your eyes travel over to the game stall with the large prizes.

It’s a game that requires the individual to shoot an arrow directly on three different sized bullseye’s stationed at various heights. Smiling like an idiot, you nudge your vampiric acquaintance in agreement, the both of you quickly swaggering over to the carnival game and it’s plush flashy prizes just screaming to be won.

“Hello good sir, my skilled roommate Y/N here is going to win me that fish.” Beams Nadja proudly as the teenager jumps off his chair to greet the two of you.

He smells like weed but surprisingly looks decent all things considered, “Uh yeah alright, two bucks for three arrows, hit every target directly on the middle red mark and if you make it on the bonus poster on the far back wall then you’ll have a chance to win that fish, good luck.” Mumbles the kid unenthusiastically as you slide him the cash.

Picking up the shitty yet still functional carnival bow, you give Nadja a wink before fitting an arrow in the nock and pulling back, lining up the shot and releasing directly into the first target to the left. Smirking to yourself you quickly draw again, hitting your second mark just as intended. Pays to be a skilled archer huh.

“Damn that’s pretty good aim.” Nods the teen as he watches in awe as you fit another arrow, releasing and punching a hole in the middle of the third target.

Nadja claps in excitement from behind you, “Yes! Win me that colorful fat bitch my feisty lioness!”

Standing like a warrior ready for battle with your bow in hand and wind blowing in your face, the kid almost drops the arrow he hands you for the winning shot as he practically swoons.

“Get those scissors ready, that fish is mine.” You growl in determination while picturing Nandor’s head as the final target, drawing back, you let the arrow fly straight into the bonus target. Winning Nadja her giant fish plushy.

“Yessss!” Shouts Nadja in delight as you drop the bow onto the table like a bad bitch before eyeing up the kid with a raised brow, “We’ll be taking the fish now.”

Wide eyed he almost falls off his chair, “Wait um, that’s the last one...I didn’t think, uh, my boss doesn’t want me to give away those ones.” He stutters out.

“What!” Snaps Nadja, “Then why are they just hanging there? You lied to us you little shit!”

“I’m sorry.” He pleads apologetically, “That’s what my boss told me. And no one ever wins the big prizes anyway so I didn’t think...”

“Well your boss he can eat a big horse turd cause I’m taking that fish.” You growl before jumping up and unhooking the fish from its perch above your heads, handing it to a practically glowing with joy Nadja who immediately hugs the thing.

Sticking your tongue out at the teen, you and Nadja turn to leave before a boney hand is suddenly on your shoulder, twisting around in an agitated instant, your face is mere inches from the wide eyed boy as he attempts to look even a tad bit threatening.

“No.” Is the only thing that slips from your tongue before your hand shoves him back, his whole body going air bound into the back of the carnival tent while the kid lets out a panicked scream.

“Ooooh Y/N that was very sexy of you.” Smirks Nadja while wiggling her dark brows, “Too bad a certain cowardly lion wasn’t here to see it.”

Petting the stuffed toy snake around your neck absentmindedly, you smile back a fangy grin, “Yes. Too bad.”

Continuing on your late night stroll through the carnival you both pass by random strangers, families, elders, children, and lovers all minding their sweet business completely unawares to the dark supernatural world walking right past them.

Although you’re quite enjoying this time spent with your best friend in the whole wide world, a low dull feeling of emptiness can’t help but creep into your undead being the more you catch sight of new and old couples walking together.

Sensing your growing sadness, Nadja nudges your shoulder playfully to gain your distracted attention, “Hello in there my black rose, what is on your mind?”

Holding the snake close to your body, a small smile creeps its way onto your face knowing she’s looking out for you, though it’s gone soon enough, “Oh you know....uh....blood.” You mutter unenthusiastically, trying to keep your thoughts away from Nandor and how much you miss him right now.

“Blood is it? But we just fed before attending the carnival.” Inquires Nadja in confusion as she keeps a normal pace at your side while the two of you follow the sidewalk past various shops and restaurants. “What is actually plaguing your mind my dear one?” She wonders with a frown, not keen on seeing you upset and in a grey mood.

Biting your lip anxiously, though not hard enough to draw blood, you walk past a couple more people before your eyes catch the sight of a small black bat disappearing behind a corner building just up ahead.

Squinting your eyes, your nose suddenly catches the scent of someone very familiar, “Nandor?”

Turning her head to face you, Nadja’s brows furrow in puzzlement, “What? No my sweet hurricane, forget that mangy old bear he’s not important right now.” Urges Nadja as she looks forward, suddenly surprised to catch a glimpse of someone who looks a lot like Guillermo racing behind the same corner you saw the bat fly behind. “Okay um what the fuck? Did you see that too?”

Glancing at Nadja you nod before quickening your steps as she does the same, her skirts flowing as she tries to catch up with you, though you’re much faster and with lack of annoying dress material, “Wait! You’re too fast.” Yelps Nadja.

Ignoring her protests you book it down the sidewalk like a maniac, almost running into a jogger before skidding round the corner of the brick building and coming face to face with a wide eyed Guillermo who gasps in surprise. Nudging him to the side, your eyes immediately fall upon the nervous fangy grin of your Nandor.

He gives you a shy little wave before shuffling awkwardly in place, awaiting your rampage of verbal and possibly physical assault that he’s certain is in the near future.

Taking a deep breath, you cross your arms over your chest defensively, “Were you following me?”

“Um, well.....I might have been....but only to make sure you were okay.” Mutters Nandor honestly, eyes shifting from you to the ground nervously as he awaits your wrath.

Pursing your lips together in thought, you shake your head before taking off the stuffed toy snake and holding it firmly in your hands. With a low growl do you grasp the snake in your right hand and hold it back like you might swing at any moment.

“You’re a fucking nincompoop you know that right?” Slips from your mouth without an once of anger lacing your words, instead do you hand the snake to Gullimero as Nandor watches in puzzled fear.

Taking a swift step forward, you point a finger into his strong chest while looking sternly up at him, “Racing off and leaving me too fight that angry bitch all by myself, and now following me when I needed a break from you! Nandor....... you’re something else.” You add with a shake of your head.

“Yes I know, and I’m sorry my love.” Smiles Nandor with saddened eyes, “I promise to keep you save from now on and fight off any werewolf who tries to hurt you....even if I am scared.”

Taking a step back, you can’t help the smirk that forms onto your face at his sweet words of forgiveness and sincerity. You know how much he fears werewolves and that he fled the scene thinking you were planning on following too, not realizing that you might actually give a shit about Gullimero’s and the crew’s lives.

“Oh my dear puff dragon,” You declare softly with a small smile, reaching both hands out to grasp his own, “I forgive you.”

Nandor’s face breaks out into the biggest and happiest grin you’ve seen since his last birthday when he walked into your shared crypt only to find you naked and holding a bushel of red roses while seated seductively on his coffin.

“Oh that’s fantastic because I was really missing you.” Reveals Nandor with a gentle squeeze of your hands. “Laszlo and Guillermo can’t make me laugh nearly as much as you can, they’re honestly rather boring.” He says before leaning in closer to whisper, “and not very attractive to look at either.” Causing you to crack another grin and your undead heart to fill with butterflies.

Chuckling you reach up with one hand to pull his collar closer to you and a second later do your lips clash sweetly against one another in a heated moment of passion. He smiles into the kiss before moving to pull you in closer with both of his hands, one slipping low to cheekily pinch your round bottom.

Feeling him against you once again has to be the best sensation in the whole entirety of the world even if you’ve only been separated for a couple of hours. You absolutely love the way his fingers dig into your back and bum with an animalistic eagerness that’s slowly starting to drive you insane. Oh, the things he does to you.

Especially how his tongue slips into your mouth with ease while you tug at his hair long dark locks. “Y/N!” Suddenly shouts Nadja.

“Nandor!”

Begrudgingly pulling away, you turn around to face the confused lady vampire while Nandor hugs you from behind, happily smirking at her, knowing she can’t do anything to hurt him now. “Yes Nadja.” You answer.

With the fish plushy hung over her shoulder, her brows furrow in confusion, “What the fuck are you doing? I thought you were mad at him?”

“Yeah well, I was starting to really miss him and also I’m kind of horny now so.” You reply with a shrug as Nandor hugs you tighter, resting his bearded chin against your head while Nadja huffs in defeat.

“Alright. See you at home then.” Adds Nadja before turning towards Guillermo and shoving the giant carnival fish into his arms, “Hold this Gizmo I’m going home.” Then just like that she’s gone in a black wispy poof, flying away in bat form towards the vampire resistance on Staten Island.

“Okay then.” Mutters Gullimero as he looks up at the dark sky.

Feeling a wet kiss on the side of your face and neck you smile before turning around to face your dear husband, “Shall we take flight to seek out our bed chambers?” You speak slyly in a soft yet seductive voice.

“Yes.” Grins Nandor with a flash of lust and excitement before turning his attention over to Guillermo, “Hey Guillermo I’m leaving to make passionate love to my wife so don’t bother us or I will have a rat shit in your pillowcase. Okay?”

You giggle to yourself as Gullimero’s cheeks redden while he side eyes the camera, “Understood master. Have fun.” Squeaks out the loyal familiar as he stands there awkwardly with his hands full of two carnival prizes.

Nandor sneakily squeezes your bottom once more as he gives Gullimero a knowing smirk, “Oh, we will.” Then a second later you two are flying high above the city in bat form, ready to make love to your sweet Nandor for probably the twentieth time that week.

Down below the camera pans over to Gullimero as he blinks, “Well uh, I have these things now..” He says, holding up the fish, “and I am so not looking forward to cleaning up their mess.......again.”

#I love me some himbo vampire what can I say #nandor the relentless #what we do in the shadows #Nandor #Nandor x reader #nandor x you #nandor x y/n #wwdits #what we do in the shadows x reader #fanfiction #my fanfic

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stxleslyds · 3 years ago

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You always seem down on the idea of the Batfam. I mean, it is hard to take seriously when writers make Bruce hostile or downright abusive towards his kids, or when Batfam members never interact. But do you think the concept itself is good, and it's just been the victim of bad writing? Or do you think the Batfam is a bad idea that can never work?

Hi there Anon! Thank you for the ask!

Hmm, this is a difficult question. Maybe I can answer this better if I do it in parts because the concept of “Batfamily” is used in different ways currently. A way to separate them can be, DC’s Batfamily, Fandom’s Batfamily and Fandom’s Batfamily lore being introduced in comics’ canon.

DC’s Batfamily:

My rejection of this version of Batfamily comes from all angles, it is not a good concept within comics lore anymore, it’s badly written and used to hide and move on from truly horrendous actions done by Bruce towards the rest of the family, and DC uses the concept of “Batfamily” that fandom has become so attached to, so they can profit off of it without writing anything of real essence with it.

Why did I say that the Batfamily isn’t a good concept anymore? Well, because the Batfamily that I first came across in comics included, Bruce, Dick, Alfred, Barbara, Tim and Cassandra. It was rather small and their books interconnected and had pretty solid relationships with one another. Dick and Tim got along and spent time together, Barbara mentored Cass so she could become Batgirl and so on and so forth. The family was smaller and more connected. But they still had problems and bad habits then. So, I liked them as a group of people that worked together and the name they received was “Batfamily” as a way for DC to profit from it.

Right now, the Batfamily is huge, I don’t know if you have seen those splash pages with all the members of it for Rebirth and Infinite Frontier, but those promotional pages were crazy big, characters like Harley and Clownhunter are now considered part of the “Batfamily” and all that. Then there is the kind of characters like Cass, Steph and Kate who are all connected to Batman but that haven’t been appearing in books for very long, so putting them on that page really feels like DC is trying to prove that their “Batfamily” actually has women on it, but it’s just for show.

And then there is Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian, the most recognizable faces of the Batfamily aside from Bruce and Alfred (but Alfred is dead now so he doesn’t really count), all of them have had issues with Bruce or are indifferent to the existence of one another. Yes, Tom Taylor has included Tim in Dick’s book but here is the thing, it feels like he put him there just to make fans shut up about the lack of content with both of them acting as they used to do. But its false and lazy, Taylor just brought Tim to the book but we don’t get to see Tim and Dick interact in ways that can explain why they drifted off, it kinda seems like all those years where Dick and Tim were pulled apart never happened to DC and that makes me think “cash grab”. I would have loved to see them interact again if it meant that we would have some solid story for them to develop their relationship once more.

At the end of Rebirth, Damian was pissed off at Bruce and they had a fight and Damian left the manor completely. Bruce beat up Jason, then gave him a hug but still told him that he was banned from Gotham and all that abuse and manipulation was swept under the rug when DC came out with Urban Legends: Cheer, all they did with that story is lie and made-up stories about Jason wanting Bruce to go on a killing spree so Gotham can finally be the home to his beloved family (lies, lies, lies).

On top of all that we have the neglect, abuse and manipulation that Bruce had going on with Dick, ever since Bruce manipulated Dick into joining Spyral his actions haven’t faced any consequences (the family still believes that Dick was the one who lied about dying). And as recently as the end of Rebirth, Dick suffered from a head injury that left him amnesiac and Bruce absolutely didn’t care enough to look after him when he was so vulnerable and alone. DC had the audacity of having Bruce say that he was looking after Dick while Dick went from one villain manipulating and hurting him to another, and if we look at Batman’s run, we can see that he spent some of that time in a weird pit or playing catch the pussy with Selina in a tropical island.

So, taking all those things into account, I honestly believe that the Batfamily is a concept that absolutely does not belong in comics. If it were to be taken seriously then DC should come up with (organic, not forced) stories that make these characters connect once again, but they have to be careful, just because they can connect it doesn’t mean that everyone gets along and they have group chats and eat dinner together of Fridays, that would be a blatant lie and just too out there for their kind of dynamic, so, they should take things slow, start re-building what once was an make it better (if they want to make it work and feel like less of a cash grab).

I heard that there is a book with Cass and Steph being mentored as Batgirls by Barbara coming out in December, that to me is a good thing, what was done in Robin #5 was awful, Jason didn’t have or want to be there, Tim, what the hell was Tim doing there? The only ones that have gotten along with Damian and have had a solid relationship with him were Dick and Steph. Dick had a very nice moment with Damian in that issue, but Steph didn’t, they preferred to have Jason wanting to hug Damian instead (what the actual hell was that?).

Fandom’s Batfamily:

Fandom is a place where people can take any concept from anywhere and transform it into whatever they please. This fandom is just like any other in that matter, but I have noticed that sometimes the Batfamily Fandom tends to blur the lines between what’s fanon and canon. Their lore is so deep and established among people that they sometimes (willingly or not) make new readers or other people believe that how things and perceived in fandom is how things actually are in comics, and that is a huge problem.

Things like “Dick sent Jason to Arkham when the Joker was just a cell away”, “Jason has pit madness and when he gets mad his eyes turn glowy green”, “Dick was a horrendous brother to Jason before Jason died”, “Jason would be good friends with Tim and Cass”, “Jason is the only one that sees the world differently from Bruce and the other robins because he is the only one that comes from a life with no luxury” and so on and on and on…

All of those things are sometimes treated as the absolute truth by fandom and no matter how many times people have debunked and explained that those things aren’t part of comics’ canon because they are simply not true, fandom stills treats those things as the basis of their Batfamily lore.

That lore would be actually fascinating if people didn’t lose sight so easily of the fact that at the end of the day none of that lore can be applied to comics’ canon.

When you enter this fandom things can be extremely confusing and the way some of the characters are characterized are completely different to their canon characterizations, I knew that the Dick fandom was writing about was not real, but I had no idea that Tim being a coffee addict that hasn’t slept in five months and is an absolute genius in everything and anything that he does was completely out of character for him, I just thought that was true to his character in comics too. Something like that happened to me when I took a peek at Jason’s side of fandom, by that time I had read Red Hood/Arsenal, UtRH and New 52 RHatO (yeah in that order, Red Hood/Arsenal wasn’t finished yet though), with the already conflicting characterizations of those books, the first look that I had at fandom’s Jason confused me even more. After considering all those I decided that the Jason that I wanted to see and actually looked appealing to me was UtRH Jason.

Not all people in fandom read comics and that is ABSOLUTELY VALID, I have zero problems with people not liking the comic characterizations of the “Batfamily” characters, but that in itself also creates a rift between fans themselves.

Fandom’s Batfamily lore being introduced in comics’ canon:

This is obviously the intersection of the other two points and this is the biggest problem that I have with the Batfamily concept. The fandom lore has been leaking into comic’s canon for a while now but right now we are kinda drowning in it. Decisions that have been made recently in DC like, Jason giving up his guns, the group chats in Nightwing issues, the family dinners that were hinted at in Cheer #6, and Bruce having had at the ready a Red Hood suit for Jason with a Batman logo in its chest, have been proof enough that DC is planning on skipping any kind of solid writing for these characters to actually get along. We are never going to see these people sit down and talk about their differences and respect each other’s work ethics.

We are never going to get stories of actual essence that prove that these characters understand and care for each other, we are just going to be told that “all is good” and now everyone loves one another and they will build from there.

That is a problem for me.

And it also takes away duality from Gotham’s vigilantes, I know I say this too much but it’s the truth, putting all these characters under the ruling of Batman makes them all bland. Jason shouldn’t be part of any sort of group that involves Bruce! My god, I don’t want to see them interact anymore! Bruce has been absolute trash to Jason ever since he came back from the dead and I am tired of DC trying to make them be on good terms!

Jason and Bruce not getting along can co-exist with the fact that Jason isn’t a villain to Batman’s legendary hero. Jason is his own character, with his own morals and he doesn’t need a bat symbol on his chest or book logo to be relevant. Same with Dick, Tim and Barbara, let them be characters that can stand on their own because they have already done that!

Barbara as Oracle worked WITH Batman if she wanted, she had her own logo and had passed on the mantle of Batgirl because he had grown out of it.

Dick is Nightwing and has become an even better hero than Batman could even aspire to become, he has contacts with everyone in the DC universe, has led countless teams, he doesn’t NEED a batman logo on his book or to be constantly dragged back to him just to make the Bat more compelling.

Jason, my sweet Jason, he had his own logo! It was gorgeous and then Lobdell had the audacity to stamp a Batman logo in the middle of the book name and in Jason’s chest! Have we gone absolutely mad? Why did they do that? Lobdell’s constant back and forth with Jason and his feelings for Bruce, he respects him and he doesn’t, he kills and he doesn’t… each issue felt like a new take on the character! It was crazy!

And that has happened with everyone in the “family”. I will end this by saying that Bruce/Batman being at the centre of this “Batfamily” dynamic is the most laughable thing in the DC Universe. Batman isn’t family to any of the people that they constantly surround him with, he is a piece of shit.

Anyway Anon, I hope this answer doesn’t ruin your day and that you understand that even though I really don’t like the “Batfamily” concept, you and everyone else are allowed and encouraged to think differently!

Hope you have a marvellous day Anon!

#jason todd #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #tim drake #damian wayne #batfamily #batfam #dc comics #asksss

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ultimatetornshipper · 4 years ago

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To bee or not to bee - a Jasonette fic

@moonlitceleste I almost let this die, I honestly really wanted it dead but alas it was clearly meant to bee

(WARNING: contains puns, angst, crack and fluff. You have been warned)

If you don’t want to read my sarcastic/funny/fangirl commentary, skip the brackets

I have another bee movie au, i didn't plan it ("I don't claim to be proud. But my head won't be hung in shame. I didn't plan it. But the light turned red, and I ran it. And I'm still standing. It's not what I wanted, but now that it's right here. I understand it. A story written by my own hand" as quoted from Waitress), it just happened and i just couldn't resist. I'm not sorry

So what if instead of dying Joker turned Jason into a bee. Because Harley convinced him and told him that people were talking shit about him because he's named the Joker and they don't think he's funny. It surprisingly works. (Obviously Harley was the one who made the plan and did the magic I mean really what do u expect of Joker?)

Ok so now Jason’s a bee right? And he’s like 15 because .~:°*plot*°:~.

They look for him and Jason’s like flying around like, “Guys! Guys I’m right here!” Poor kid. (I mean I would make it funny but like angst)

Obviously they don’t understand him because he’s a fucking bee and Joker cackles madly and Harley laughs too but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes and it's kinda that laugh u do when ur supes overwhelmed and sound maniacal but like soft (I’m a simp for Harley being portrayed as the complex and beautiful character she id leave me be)

Jason is very sad. And also quite pissed

Not knowing what else to do he follows Batman home, he listens to them trying to find him, watches Dick freak out and Alfred wipe a tear the rest of the family doesn’t see.

Jason tries to approach Alfred, hoping he somehow recognizes what happened

He doesn’t, Alfred closes him in a glass and paper and takes him outside.

He sneaks back into the manor and sleeps in one of the flowers (it's a red tulip because aesthetic) next to his bed. He cries himself to sleep. (Can bees cry? Is this possible? Is this like a thing??? I don't need sleep i need answers)

The thing is even tho he's now a bee, he still has the durability of a human, so even stepping on him won’t crush him and he still has a human lifespan

Because Harley isn’t a monster and what Puddin didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. (Simping for Harley Quinn strike 2)

After a while at the manor and following them he decides he can’t stand it anymore. Alfred has thrown him out three times and Dick freaks out each time he sees him as he’s a tad allergic (read: he would die if stung)

Which is how Jason found out that getting hit with a newspaper wouldn’t kill him.

He leaves.

He’s a bee and it’s not like he knows about a way to reverse it.

But there was someone who might.

He goes to Arkham.

Luckily, Harley was still there. (YAY we get to see mah gurl)

He flies into her cell and she just watches him, then she seems to click. She gives him a small smile, “Hi birdie,” (she puns, honestly would make for a better clown of Gotham and I saw an idea for that once where she steals Joker’s title once and I’ve been yearning for it ever since)

She holds out a finger and he lands on it, she laughs but tears come to her eyes,” Hey at least you’re not dead. That was his original plan you know? To kill you with a crowbar. I convinced him this would be a cruller fate. I guess maybe it is, but at least this way... Ugh how the hell did I get here,” (Harley angst, honestly it’s all just self service at this point)

He simply stared at her as she cried, and he felt his heart clench. From here she looked so sad... not crazy, just broken.

She took a deep breath and looked at him seriously, “Look kid, there’s a way to get you back to normal, you just need to find someone, they’re called the Guardian of the Miraculous. They can help, I don’t know who or where they are, just follow your instincts. And come say hi when you get back, yeah? I could do with the... healthier company. And remember, I bee-lieve in you,” (Gasp what a shock, you mean to tell me Miraculous magic is gonna be involved in this Maribat au. Well I never what a shock. Also puns. Oh and she’s so nice to him. We love Harley in this house)

He sat there and studied her for a while more, there was more to her than it seemed. Than what he’d assumed.

But for now, he had his own problems to deal with.

She gave him a small wave as he left. (Adorable)

He left and started considering his options, as a bee, it would probably be safest to stay inside, away from birds and things that would view him as a snack.

Staying in Arkham seemed like his best option, as bad an option as it was.

Most of the prisoners wouldn’t have a second thought about trying to crush him.

A strong scent of flowers and plants suddenly came to his attention.

Of course! Poison Ivy. (Round 2 of me simping for beautiful, complex, badass women. Too bad Catwoman ain’t here.)

He followed the smell to her cell and saw her staring out of her small window. He was still taking a chance, but she loved plants and flowers and bees were important to those, weren’t they?

He flew to the window bars and sat on one. The moment she spotted him she smiled widely, in a soft way he hadn’t seen on her before. (Ahhhhh my darling plant redhead. I love writing the Sirens as soft badasses. Also has anyone noticed how rare brunettes are in superhero worlds? Like both in Marvel and DC but like irl brown is like a pretty damn common)

She held out her finger, “Hey there, little guy. A little far from home, aren’t we?”

She had no idea.

He landed on her fingertip and watched in awe as a flower and a few leaves formed on her hand. She let the flower grow itself around one of her window bars and held her finger next to one of the petals.

“There you go, it’s all I can manage with my power dampers. I haven’t had company in a while,” she said softly as he crawled into the flower. He made himself comfortable.

She laughed to herself and he saw her shaking her head, “Talking to a bee, well, I guess stranger things have happened,” (yeah ur crush is dating a green haired murderous psychopath and you get beat up by a billionaire in a batsuit on like a biweekly basis)

The flower was soft and warm and felt safer than he expected it to. He found that he could move between the petals but decided to curl up in the middle. (It's a pink rose this time because fuck yeah flowers)

He slept better than he had in days.

The next morning he took his leave, stopping only at the manor to say a mental goodbye.

Then he headed off.

Jason flew a lot the first few months, our boy was smart at least, travelling with a cruise ship on its way to Europe.

It was Spring in the Northern Hemisphere so he had until Autumn until it was in his best interest to head south to avoid the snow. He decided to head towards Africa when summer started coming to an end. (I have no reasoning for this, just that I want to)

His first spot would be the United Kingdom. Then he'd go through the rest of Europe following his instincts.

At least it was Spring.

Jason diligently searched through England, Scotland and Ireland but found nothing.

By the time he was done he realized it was time to start heading South. He’d decided to take another cruise to South-Africa, where it would be summer, he searched through the country until April. He would admit that he didn’t feel drawn to anything in any of their 9 provinces so his search wasn’t as diligent as in England. He didn’t feel anymore drawn to the neighbouring countries like Namibia or Botswana either.

(Once again no reasoning for why I picked these countries, I mean the French Hugonotes went there when they were fleeing from the French Catholics who wanted them dead so I guess I could make up some bullshit about Mari having an ancestor in common with someone there or maybe it was just the ship he could easiest get access I don’t know, you make something up)

Which was why he decided to go back to Europe as soon as April hit.

He hitched another ride on a cruise headed for France.

It’s been a year since he got turned into a damn bee.

He was sixteen now and while he’d seen some amazing things all through South-Africa (a place that proves that humans really do have a weirdly obvious way of naming things I mean the Amazon river and Chad Lake are just more examples really) as well as the United Kingdom, all he really wanted was to go back home, to be human again.

When he gets there he diligently makes his way through France, eventually arriving in Paris.

He lands on the tip top of the Eiffel Tower. As in the point of the antenna because why not.

During his year he realized that birds and other animals tended to avoid him, sensing his strangeness so that was at least one positive.

He stared out over the city. Well, the one good thing about this was definitely the views he’s been allowed to see.

That was until a massive explosion hit.

“What the fuck?” he said out loud, searching for the source. No one understood him, human or bee, but talking to himself reminded him of his humanity.

He found the source of the explosion but just as he started flying to its general direction, a blinding white light shone followed by a horde of ladybugs that were fixing everything that was wrong. (Imagine how scary this would lowkey be irl tho? Just a shit ton of Ladybugs descending on Paris my dude)

He decided that he needed a night’s sleep before he could even begin an attempt at deciphering what had just happened. He flew lower, finding a nice little balcony right above a bakery. And it had flowers. (I’ll give u five seconds to guess who this balcony belongs to)

He flew down, exploring.

He turned around when he heard a loud thump from behind him. What appeared to be a super heroine in red spandex with black spots had landed on the balcony.

She detransformed and started to talking to a floating bug- fairy thing. Strange. Though it wasn’t like he could judge, as an ex superhero sidekick who was thought to be dead but was actually a bee.

She disappeared down her trapdoor and he made himself comfortable in one of her flowers.

He slept soundly until somewhere during a night another thump woke him. He looked out of his sleeping spot to see a cat superhero stand on her balcony. He leaned down and knocked on her small trapdoor.

Ah, a teammate of hers, they were probably meeting about something, he thought as he heard her open up.

It didn’t take him long to realize that even though they were teammates, the cat, Chat Noir he later learned, was not aware of this fact.

Oh this was rich.

He couldn’t bee-lieve his eyes. (ok so Jason used self-referential puns but can you really blame him? It’s really just me and my pun problem so don’t blame the kid)

He was going on and on about his feelings for Ladybug, the girl’s hero form, that were clashing with his feelings for another girl he fenced with, while she listened, clearly fed up with it.

He also claimed that he thought that maybe they were one and the same. Which, to Jason, was hilarious as he was literally saying this to the actual Ladybug’s face.

Marinette- he learned from the Cat’s ongoing blabbering, he was a real blab-bee mouth, - was clearly tired, nodding half asleep, probably having heard it all before.

When he finally left Jason went to sleep again, incredibly amused and even more thankful that he was fluent in French. ( u think this is plot convenience? Just u wait mah dude iz about to get worse)

The next morning he decided to follow her to school. Which was how he learned of her huge crush on a boy named Adrien Agreste.

After learning the boy could fence thanks to Marinette’s obsession interest in him, he got suspicious.

Could it really bee? (not a typo)

After seeing the boy transform a month or two later for patrol he laughed like he hadn’t for over a year. It very much was. He'd spent the time staying on Marinette's balcony and decided to stay another week before moving on and continuing his search, after all, he couldn't stop now that he finally felt like he was getting close.

The next day she got home crying, claiming that Adrien had started dating someone else.

Kagami, she called the girl. Probably the fencer if he had to place a bet.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Tikki told the girl.

“That boy's an idiot,” he said, speaking his mind, another thing he’d gotten use to being allowed to do without consequence.

Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin, she looked around and he realized that she could hear him. He hadn’t really spoken too much before, at least not when she was around. He was usually content with watching her do whatever she was doing that day.

“Tikki, did you hear that?” she asked, Tikki nodded, her eyes landing on him.

“Oh,” the kwami said softly, flying over to him, “Oh, you poor thing, who did this to you?” (Tikki is the first ever mom friend and u can fight me on this)

He stared up at her, flying so that they were eye level.

Marinette gaped at them, heartbreak seemingly forgotten, “Tik- Tikki, are- who are you talking- are you talking to a – Tikki is that a bee?!” she finally spluttered out.

“No,” Tikki said, studying him, he felt his heart twist in hope and his stomach roll in surprise. Did she know?

“I mean yes, but no. He’s a boy whose been turned into a bee,” Tikki explained, turning back to Marinette.

“Oh,” Marinette said softly, turning to him. She held her hand out and after some hesitation he landed on her finger. She looked at him then back to Tikki.

How did they know? Would he really be that lucky? Was this real?

“Uhm, how?” she said, staring at him in disbelief. He tried shrugging but realized he couldn’t anymore- beecause of his- well if you haven’t caught on to the fact that he’s a bee by now you should really start from the beginning of this story.

“I don’t know, but Joker and Harley Quinn were involved,” he said.

Marinette stared at him in disbelief, blinking a few times. She sat in shock a few moments longer. (Our darling is an awkward lil bean, and while in media awkward is portrayed as cute, irl it isn’t, it’s just well… awkward. And we’re writing a serious and realistic fic about this sidekick of guy who wears a batsuit/billionaire's ward getting turned into a bee and falling in love with a magical girl fighting a butterfly man- none of this unrealistic nonsense)

Tikki flew over and sat on Marinette’s shoulder while her holder processed the information, the kwami stared at him sweetly, “What’s your name?”

He swallowed, he hadn’t said his name in ages, it stirred up something (emotion, it’s called emotion, Jason, you know? The thing Batman can’t process??) in him, “Jason Todd,”

Marinette seemed to finally snap out of her daze, “That sounds American. Are you American? Wait if Joker and Harley are involved then you’re probably from Gotham. Are you? Wait I’ve seen the name Jason Todd somewhere. Weren’t you some rich guy’s ward? It was all over the news last year, Alya wouldn’t stop talking about it for a month, she had a million theories. He was – you were announced dead two months after Robin was taken captive by Joker, everyone thought he was – you were killed. Joker made outrageous claims as they arrested him... saying that they’d never find Robin... that he’d all but disappeared in thin air... that he wouldn’t be the only one wearing stripes... I remember because he put a really weird emphasis on the words be and stripes and...,” her eyes widened and she gasped as she looked at him in what could only be described as pure shock. (Yes this happens, people can talk for this long and since I personally know headcannon that Marinette is ADHD this long ass paragraph is just another Tuesday bud)

He sat there, surprised that she figured it all out so quickly. (yeah bub it’s called plot convenience and it’s because of me, the writer, I don’t wanna focus on secret ID shenanigans, I got other plans for yall, also Mari is smart, don’t underestimate her)

“You’re Robin,” she breathed, “they turned you into a bee. Wait- How the hell did they turn you into a bee?!”

He chuckled, “Bee-lieve me I’ve been asking myself that question for more than a year,”

She bit her lip, seemingly contemplating his words and ignoring his pun, “Tikki do you know anything that could help? Do you think Miraculous magic-,”

He felt his heart stop, he flew up to her face, flying at eye level, “Wait, did you just say Miraculous? Harley said if I could find the Guardian of the miraculous, they could help me, do you know where they are? I’ve been looking for so long,” (‘°;~*.plot convenience.*~;°’)

Marinette blinked at him and Tikki's face dawned with realization.

“I’m the guardian of the miraculous,” Marinette said softly, “Tikki, that means I can help him, right?”

Tikki nodded and he had to dial down the hope in his heart because the look on her face told him there was a Kim Kardashian sized butt on the way.

“We can help him, but we’re gonna have to wait. (don’t look at me like that, do u want them to have time to bond or not?) You’re not trained enough to pull it off yet. If you were to do it now, all three of us would be out of commission for far too long, especially with Hawkmoth on the prowl,” Tikki said.

They must’ve been able to sense his sadness because they were staring at him with an incredible amount of pity. The amount was quite unsettling actually and he suddenly felt a primal like urge to pun. (An extract from my book: “My unhealthy coping mechanisms and how to use them,” specifically Chapter 8: “Humor hides the pain”)

Suddenly Tikki’s face lit up, the whiplash of her expression change throwing any notion of punning out the window.

“Well, there’s one thing we could do,” she said, excitedly, zipping buzzing around “If he wears a miraculous, he'll return back to human form while transformed,”

Marinette perked up at the idea, but confusion soon overtook her features, “But Tikki, most of the miraculous are bigger than he is,”

Tikki waved her away,” It’s fine it’ll work,”

“Ok,” Marinette said after a bit of thought. She stood and he followed while she started climbing down her skylight,” I’m thinking you can try each of them out for different patrols and then we’ll see which one matches you best. This could be fun, having some fun sized company while figuring out how to defeat Hawkmoth,”

He laughed, flying near her ear, “Fun sized, huh? I’ll have you know I’m considered tall in human form, unlike some of us,”

She laughed and rolled her still tear stained eyes, and so, the beginning of a bee-autiful friendship bloomed.

Marinette walked to her closet and Jason took in her room. It was very pink, but in a well-balanced way - it wasn’t completely overbearing. His eye caught on a few pictures of Adrien Agreste on her wall but figured now wouldn’t be a great time to bring it up. (Look he’s already more emotionally aware, #foreshadowing of character development)

She removed a big box from her closet. She opened it and it was filled with what appeared to be a bunch of scrap materials. At the bottom she removed a bigger bundle of black and red fabric and he flew closer.

She put it in her lap and Jason had to do a double take when he realized that her hands were glowing and what the actual fuck- it was a box now -fuck fuck fuck- why was it a box? How? What- Jason was pretty sure he did not sign up for this.

She put the box down in front of her and to his relief she opened her mouth to speak as she lifted the lid, so he’d understand everyth- and its jewellery.

The box contained jewellery. Animal themed jewellery by the looks of things.

He then realized that these were probably the other miraculous.

She looked over each artefact before handing him the yellow and black hairclip.

Out of all of them, she picked the bee miraculous.

“Hilarious,” he replied dryly, giving her a look, he realized too late she wouldn’t be able to register- on account of, well you know… (if u don’t know by now, you don’t get to find out anymore)

She gave him a grin and replied, “I certainly think it is,”

Her teasing expression turned into one of worry, “I mean we could switch it out if it makes you uncomfortable-,” (being a sassy people pleaser with no filters really do be like this tho)

He laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m only teasing. What do I do?”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer before obviously realizing that she didn’t have an answer. She turned to Tikki and the kwami had a fond smile on her face before turning to Jason. (Just Tikki casually mentor- moming Mari because Fu is useless)

“Just step on the miraculous, it’ll sense that you’re human,” the creature replied.

When he stepped onto the bee miraculous, its kwami appeared.

Pollen stared at him for a few seconds before she realized what was happening.

After an explanation about her power set and what exactly he could do in suit, he transformed.

He felt his human body appearing. He was taller and more built than he remembered being. His flying clearly had physical consequences then, not that he was complaining.

His suit included a pair of bee wings. His hair was longer than he remembered it being too.

He had a black leather jacket and combat boots. With it was a pair of practical black leggings and a yellow t-shirt with three thick black stripes. (The three stripes represent each one of his families, the Todds, the Waynes and The Dupain-Chengs, because I can) He also had a pair of black gloves. His boots had yellow laces. On his face was a black and yellow striped domino mask. The top sat on his hip. The bee miraculous sat on the middle of his chest in the form of a broach.

He all but sprinted to the mirror. He stared at his face, his blue eyes and his nose that never healed quite right after breaking it that one time. His black hair was messy and stuck up every which way, his cheekbones were as high as always, and he had a little bit of stubble and it was so familiar and so new all at once.

He touched his face, barely registering the tears flowing down his cheeks and laughed in relief. He was human again. This was real! He could- he was closer to normal than he ever thought he’d get to be.

He turned to Marinette who was staring up at him in shock. He picked her up and spun her around, laughing in joy. And after a moment she joined in. He put her down and put his hands on her shoulders, smiling widely, “Thank you. Thank you so much,”

She smiled up at him, a slightly sad look on her face, “I’m sorry, it’s not permanent,”

“Don’t be sorry. For the first time I have hope. It will be permanent eventually, and till then, I have you with me, right?” he squeezed her shoulder, still high on the feeling of hope and warmth and familiarity.

When he was overcome with the sudden urge to pull her into a hug, he didn’t resist.

He held her close, resting his chin on her head, “Damn, I missed this. Hugging, I mean. I haven’t... it’s been so long,” (not that he got all that many hugs from Bruce “emotionally constipated” Wayne)

She wrapped her arms around him, “I can imagine,”

They stood there a while before the time for patrol came along. She transformed and they made their way to the Eiffel tower, where they met Chat.

The cat themed hero rose his brow questioningly, “I thought we didn’t recruit new heroes unless it was an emergency?”

Ladybug smiled nonchalantly, “It’s Guardian business, he’s gonna be a permanent fixture in our team for at least a few months so we might as well get used to working as a team,”

Chat Noir eyed him wearily and he stepped forward, sticking his hand out, “Hi, I’m Blackback, nice to meet you,”

Chat Noir shook his hand and gave Ladybug a sceptical look, “An American? Really?”

“Please Chat, he's not American, it’s just the glamour hiding his actual accent,” she replied simply, shooting Jason a worried look.

He couldn’t give away his identity, but he was also technically a bee, he didn’t really have an identity to give away. So, her behaviour was strange. Unless she wanted to give him an identity somehow?

He couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of patrol.

When they got home Marinette revealed that she wanted to give him the fox miraculous. If they asked Trixx she would be able to design the costume in a way that allowed him to look like a normal civilian, without the mask.

Trixx's glamour was also stronger than the rest so his true identity as Jason Todd would be protected.

And she could help him fake an accent.

Since Marinette was a year younger than him he could just pick up where he left off school wise.

She convinced her parents that he was an exchange student in desperate need of a place to stay because the person he would’ve stayed with backed out last minute.

They agreed easily and Jason decided to not question it.

It was his third family. His second if you only counted non abusive ones. First if you wanted one with a healthy family dynamic.

They got him a fake birth certificate and name. He went with the alias Thomas Grayson. He thought it was kind of funny, and it paid homage to both Bruce and Dick. It gave him something from home to hold on to. (Jason isn’t really salty about not being avenged in this au, he didn’t die and Talia and the pit madness wasn’t there to egg on his anger. But maybe if I ever get back to this au we could do a thing with it… guess we’ll have to wait and see ;-) no promises tho)

He built himself another home with Marinette and her family. And before he knew it, he was happy again. He felt secure.

Through the weeks, he ingrained himself into Marinette's life. In a blink of an eye, they were best friends, and he couldn’t imagine life without her.

He loved living with her family as she trained to be strong enough to turn him back to normal.

He grew close to Marinette’s friends and was her shoulder to cry on about Adrien. He and Adrien got along pretty well, and he and Marc and Rose traded Literature jokes. Max would join in when it involved Shakespeare.

Then Lila happened. (She’s a staple in Maribat fiction. U can’t have Maribat without Lila. Or well u can but that’s usually a very specific au)

Her lies started out simple enough. Then she started manipulating everyone and he, Marinette, Chloe and Adrien were one scheme away from being ostracized. They sat in the back row.

They ignored her sneers and let her lie to her heart’s content. Then one day she said something that made both Marinette and Jason freeze.

“You know, I was childhood friends with Jason Todd (I know she usually gets the names wrong but like her knowing the name just makes this next bit better) You know, Bruce Wayne’s ward who died a while ago? It was just so sad. He grew up in a nice family but his parents both died in a car accident and Brucie took pity on him. He even let us keep in contact afterwards, since our parents were such good friends. We all miss them dearly of course. We were neighbours the year we lived in Gotham, you know? We'd play every day-,” she started fake crying, “Oh it just gets too much sometimes,”

But to Jason’s shock Alya didn’t move to console Lila, in fact, she was staring at the brunette in shock.

He turned his gaze to Marinette to see the girl wearing the biggest, coldest, most satisfied smirk. She rested her chin on her hands and grinned at Lila in a way that made shivers go down his spine.

He turned back, this ought to be good.

And it was.

Alya absolutely lost it.

She ripped Lila a new one and frankly? Jason was impressed. (Alya has a temper and she’s a fangirl, and we all know how we get when someone gets something wrong about one of our hyperfixations, even if it’s an old one so like yall can imagine how bad Lila had fucked up)

When an akuma flew in towards Lila, Alya grabbed it, staring the girl down with a fury he didn’t know she could possess, “Don’t you dare! Do you think I’m blind? I’ve seen how easily you get akumatized and this time I’m not letting it happen!”

Of course, Alya then got akumatized but hey it beat another version of Lila.

Everyone made up but they weren’t quite as close as before. Their group tended to consist mostly out of him, Marinette, Chloe, Adrien, Kagami and Luka.

Other than that incident and akuma attacks, life was pretty good.

In fact, it was great.

He and Marinette would spend nights on her balcony, laughing and slow dancing. They star gazed and went on patrols. He helped her when she got nightmares and she returned the favour. They went on long walks and spent the holidays together. They crammed for tests and he played model for her designs. They worked in the bakery and hung out with their friends both in and out of suit. They’d joke about his technical bee-ness and he and Chat drove her mad with puns. In retaliation she’d introduce him as her bee friend to people or only give him honey and bee themed things. (ok this sentence sounds weird but I mean like when she brings them sweets from the bakery to snack on while working and stuff.)

And one laugh, memory and fight at a time, he started to fall. (I just want good things for Jason, and really can you blame me?)

Through the months, he kept up to date on the news about Bruce Wayne and Marinette held his hand each time a new kid joined his brood. She reminded him that no child could be replaced and reassured him that of course Bruce would want him back when they figured everything out.

And if he didn’t, she’d kick his ass into space, and he’d stay with her family in Paris- a family she made sure he knew he was a part of.

He helped Sabine in the kitchen and was the only one who came closest to beating Marinette’s Ultimate Mega Strike 3 record. Tom taught him to shave and bake. He was integrated into their family and they treated him as part of the family.

But even if they were giving him everything they were, he missed Bruce. And Dick. And Alfred. And Barbara. And Gotham. He missed them all so much. He missed home.

So, 14 months later, when Marinette told him they had a meeting with the Justice League about the Hawkmoth situation, Jason felt his heart skip a beat.

“What?” he asked softly, his eyes brimming with tears (Marinette taught him how to emotion, you see. So Jason is emotionally stable-ish enough to cry without feeling embarrassed about it), “I get to see him again?”

Marinette nodded and hugged him from behind, “I’m planning on telling him what happened. Is there anything you can tell him to verify who you are?”

Memories from a million years ago entered his mind, “Yes,”

She took his hand and took a step back, “And I think I can fix you before we go, I’m strong enough. But I’d still like your help in the final battle, I mean I know you’re going home but...,”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled, “Of course, Pixie. I’ll always be there for you when you need me,”

He pressed a kiss against her forehead, a movement so familiar it was practically a part of him. He pulled her close and cried into her hair.

“What if he doesn’t believe me?” he asked softly, after a while, resting his chin on top of her head.

“He will,” she replied, tightening her grip around his waist.

They both knew she had no guarantee of that. That she had no way of knowing for sure. Neither of them did. And it scared him more than he wanted to admit.

The next day they do the magic turning back thing. It freaks him out quite a bit but not as much as her revealing the miraculous freaked him out the first time, you get kinda used to the magic shenaniganary. They’re both passed out for an hour afterwards and when they wake up, he holds her, crying, because he was finally, finally back to normal and this was real and permanent, and it was over.

She cried with him and held him, and they then went out and he wore a shirt she made for him, and they got ice cream the next day. They celebrated some more and went to the park with the squad and they had a picnic.

It was better than he ever could've imagined.

While the sun was setting, they stood back on her balcony, where they first spoke all those months ago, slow dancing. He pulled away and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at her as the orange light of the sunset shone on them. (So aesthetic)

“Thank you, Marinette, for everything,” he says as he rubs his thumb across her cheek. His hand holding her face. She puts her hand over his and closes her eyes, savouring the moment.

She opened her eyes again and smiled, “I’d do it again and more, if it meant I’d get to be with you,”

He started leaning down, “If I lost you, I’d fly all over the world just to find you again,”

She raised to her tip toes, faces millimetres from one another, blue bells meeting ice, “So it was all worth it in the end?”

He moves closer, eyes searching hers. “Definitely,” he breathes.

She closes the distance, and he picks her up and spins her around. They break apart and their laughter fills the air.

(now that’s enough fluff, allow me to drown you in angst)

The next day they stood on the Eiffel tower. She took his hand, “Let’s recap. I go in, we have our Hawkmoth meeting, then I ask if I can speak to Batman and Nightwing alone. Then I tell them I found you, then I give them – are you sure it’s necessary for me to give them your blood, hair and a cheek swab? Isn’t that overkill?” (Batman is serious about his no kill rule, but he’s also serious about his there’s no such thing as overkill rule)

He shook his head and she sighed, “Okay. Then I give him means to contact me and I come back. Now remember they might take a while to process and they won’t necessarily call immediately-,”

“What if they never call?” he asked, gripping her hand tightly.

She ran her finger softly through his hair, “Then you have us to help you get through it,”

He nodded, she kissed his cheek and stepped through the portal with Queen Bee, Chat Noir and Viperion. He and Ryuuko stayed behind as backup, he wielded the Fox miraculous these days, but kept the name Blackback, always wearing a black leather jacket no matter the transformation.

He and Ryuko discussed fighting styles, she was kindly trying to distract him, and if it had been anything else he needed distracting from, it would’ve worked.

So passed the slowest forty-five minutes of his life. Chat Noir and Queen Bee exit a portal and so the wait for Marinette and Luka began.

She and Bruce were talking now. Bruce would know he was alive. This was make or break for him. Luka was nearby to act as back up worst-case scenario.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by someone taking and rubbing circles on his back. He looked down to see Ryuuko on his one side and saw Chat Noir on his other.

“We’ve got you,” Chloe said standing in front of him, hand on his unoccupied shoulder.

He swallowed and nodded. She squeezed his upper arm and met his gaze, “Breathe, you’re safe, honey,”

So, 30 more minutes pass. They sit down and somewhere along the line Chat goes and grabs a dozen croissants from the bakery.

In another situation he might’ve laughed. He’d baked this morning’s batch and now he got to eat some of it for free, of course, technically he could get others for free too but-

The portal opened behind them and Ladybug and Viperion stepped out. He noted that she didn’t have the bag of his DNA with her anymore.

She smiled softly at him, “Now we wait,”

And wait they did.

They waited two weeks.

And then the burner phone that's number they'd given Bruce rang.

Jason froze, Marinette jumped up and ran to get it.

He couldn't move as she walked over and put the phone on speaker, she grabbed his hand and he held onto her for dear life.

"We can both hear you now, Nightwing," she said.

There was a beat of silence on the other side of the line, "Can he- If you're- can I speak to him? In- um- private?"

Marinette looked at him, and he nodded. She took the phone off speaker and handed it to him.

He held it up to his ear and squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the circles Marinette were drawing on his hand with her thumb.

"He- hey Dick," he said. He heard his brother's breathing hitch, followed by a few seconds of silence.

"When did Batman find you?"

"25th May 2017,"

"Who's your favourite author?"

"Mary Shelley tied with Jane Austin,” he replied.

Dick stayed silent for too long and before he could stop himself the words fell from his mouth, desperation clinging to each syllable,” My favourite- my favourite playwright is Shakespeare, and my favourite school subject is English. If I could pick any day job it would be being a writer. My favourite colour is blue. Alfred has a secret fear of dolphins. You have had a ridiculously huge crush on Barbara for years and she had no idea, and I found a picture you drew under your old room's bedside table of you two getting married. I folded the picture up and hid it in a small box of memories I kept in the farthest corner of my closet under clothes I never wore. I have a round scar on the lower left side of my back where Willis Todd burned me with a cigarette when I was 5 that you don’t know I know you know about. My first Christmas at the manor you found me in the rose garden cutting a few off to take to my mother's grave and I was terrified that you would yell at me but instead you drove me to the graveyard and that was the day I decided to give you a real chance. I despise carrots but I eat them when Alfred makes them because I don't want to be a burden. And I-," he choked on a sob- when had he started crying?

He took a shuddering breath, and swallowed some of his tears, trying to make sure the words got out right, "I've missed you guys for every single second that I've been gone,"

His stomach tied itself up in a million knots as the silence stretched on. He could hear Dick moving the phone.

"Can I speak to Ladybug again please?" A female voice he didn't recognize said.

He handed the phone to Marinette and pressed his hand over his mouth to try to contain the sobs. He felt like a knife was twisting his stomach. He couldn't even hear what Marinette was saying. (I’m going through something irl and as a result u guys get to read angst by the bucketloads and I regret nothing)

Dick didn't want to talk to him. He should've just answered the question, he shouldn't have given all the extra information. Now they were never going to believe that it's really him and he would never see them again. Maybe they knew it was him and they just didn't want him-

"Jason, breathe with me," he heard Marinette's voice. His eyes latched onto hers like a lifeline, he became aware of her hands holding his.

She took his face in her hands and rested her forehead against his, in a motion so familiar that it came as easy as breathing. Well as easy as it usually was to breathe, right now excluded.

After he calmed down, she explained to him what they discussed. They would go to Gotham and meet and discuss things from there.

They wanted to meet him, but they still didn’t completely believe that it was him. He knew this for a fact because they had organized for M’gann to be there to confirm what he was saying. (Yassss M'gann my darling girl, I adore out lil Martian)

Marinette had suggested that they meet in the Batcave in an hour. Everyone had agreed. He assumed she had a plan as to why she wanted to wait. And he trusted her, so he waited for her to explain.

“I want to take the team, as backup. If you’re not comfortable with it, I want to at least take Luka. I would suggest just letting one of us wield is miraculous, but his Second Chance Timer limit is an hour so it would be most beneficial,” she said, gesturing with the hand that wasn’t holding his.

He nodded, sitting up straighter, but not releasing his grip on her hand, “We can bring the team, it’s smart to have backup. Besides if things go haywire, we have Luka to stop us.”

“Then let’s go get our team, love,”

(oh, I should probably mention that only he and LB knows everyone’s Identities. Or well rather no one knows like officially. Like everyone lowkey knows everyone's and a few of them have officially revealed themselves to each other, but not everyone is officially revealed to everyone and Mari and Jason are the only ones who aren’t officially revealed to anyone else, it’s kinda like the vibes of knowing your best friend is queer but not saying anything because they haven’t officially come out yet but like you know because they ain’t nearly as subtle as they think. Like that aesthetic.)

Anyway, 50 minutes later, they’re all gathered on the Eiffel Tower. Jason saw Marinette give Luka a nod to reset his timer. Suddenly he was enveloped in a light with a scratch that wasn’t there a few seconds before on his cheek, his expression quite annoyed.

Marinette immediately furrowed her brows, “How many times?”

Viperion shook his head, “Don’t worry, only one so far, but they try to restrain us. We’re gonna have to try plan b this time,” Everyone nodded, they waited two minutes before the agreed upon time and Mari opened a portal, but instead of appearing out in the opened, they hid in the shadowy parts of the cave.

Jason used his illusion to hide them from any observant eyes and they spread out a bit. He and Mari stayed together, Cloe flew to get a higher perspective and hide Viperion on one of the cave’s many ledges while Chat just moved a few feet away to have a slightly different hiding spot. Kagami dropped into her wind form and was flying above them to eavesdrop, she’d go to Luka if she heard anything of importance so he could go restart again.

They’d be one step ahead of the Bats no matter what they pulled, after all, they had all the time in the world.

They watched them all get into position as time neared. Jason didn’t know all the kids but recognized them from the news.

Dick, Bruce and M’gann stood near the bat computer with Barbara – who was in a wheelchair but that was a realization to deal with later- and Alfred.

The minute they were supposed to appear Jason cast another illusion to make it appear as though they had arrived. As expected, weapons and restraints immediately swarmed on them, each kid going for a different miraculous member. Too bad the images turned into orange dust as soon as they touched them.

The tiny one in the Robin uniform was red in the face and immediately started throwing a tantrum, “Father! They’ve tricked us-,”

Before he could get another word out, Chloe mass-venomed the horde of kids that we’re sent to attack them. He counted Black bat, Red Robin, Batgirl, Signal and Robin. They were all frozen in the middle of the room and before the others near the computer could move, Kagami trapped them in a (rather large) ring of fire. They had enough space to move around comfortably but if they tried approaching the edge the flames would grow larger.

Batman growled and his eyes searched through the cave, but he wouldn’t see them, no matter how hard he searched.

Jason stared at them. Dick was also searching the cave, but he seemed to look more hopeful than angry. Alfred seemed his usual calm self and Barbara was glancing around the cave more subtly. He didn’t bother looking at the rest of the batkids because M’gann was staring right at him, staying right where she was despite her ability to fly.

“Hi, Jason,” she softly spoke into his mind, he felt emotion overwhelm him, she’d known him before everything, and she knew it was him and it was a lot.

He knew she wasn’t probing around his brain for information like he was sure Bruce had asked her to, she didn’t have to, she knew it was him.

“Can you please tell me why we’re surrounded by fire?” she asked.

“We have a time traveller,” he replied.

“Ah, not a fan of Bruce’s restrain and question method, then? Can’t say I blame you, though I do think you’ve proven your point,”

“You really think it’s a good idea to release all of them?” he asked sceptically.

“… Good point. Maybe leave the brood in the middle in whatever frozen state they’re in and just let us in the fire out. They really just think it’s too good to be true… Jason, I won’t let them hurt you,”

“Okay,” he agreed softly. He turned to Marinette and gave her a slight nod. She returned with one of her own.

They walked over to Kagami’s ring of fire and he held their illusion until they were right in front of it. He held on to it for a bit to make sure everyone else would be able to stay in position. Chloe would keep the cavalry venomized and Chat and Viperion would stick to the shadows, unless necessary.

Jason dropped the illusion and watched four heads snap to him. M'gann simply gave him a soft smile and a nod of encouragement.

Kagami moved herself to stand next to Marinette and turned back into her human form, glaring at them with a silent warning.

Their attention was elsewhere, though. For a long time they just stood there and stared at one another in silence. They studied every part of one another they could see.

His eyes caught on Barbara’s wheelchair and he felt ready to destroy whatever put her there. She met his eyes and he held her gaze. She must’ve seen something there because she gave a small smile as she allowed a few tears to escape her eyes.

“Miss Martian?” Batman broke the silence like a cheap dinner plate, shattering it in a matter of seconds.

“It’s him,” M’gann answered without a hint of hesitation.

It was Alfred that moved first. He took a few hesitant steps towards him and before Jason knew it the man was in front of him. Alfred reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, desperately studying him for a moment before pulling him into a hug only Alfred could give.

It took Jason a moment to respond but when he did he returned it wholeheartedly.

After a few minutes they pulled apart and it took him a moment to realize that they’d both started crying. When he looked up Dick was only a few feet away. The moment Alfred stepped away Dick pulled him close.

“I thought you were dead, kid. I thought I’d never see you again, I thought I lost even more family. You were too young, too innocent. Fuck Jason,” Dick whispered, tightening his grip, “I’m so glad you’re alive,”

Jason held on to his brother and that night they cried about terrible endings and broken beginnings. They cried about lost time and found family.

It wasn’t the end yet, Hawkmoth was still terrorizing Paris and he had no idea what Bruce thought yet. There were all his other kids, his brothers and sisters. There were his teammates and the incredible story of how he’d been turned into a bee of all things.

They had a lot of catching up to do.

But just for a moment, a strand of a singular moment, he had his brother in his arms again and he was back home. His first real home.

Things weren’t perfect, as things rarely are but it didn’t matter. Because part of the beauty of life is how it builds and breaks us in a cycle of love and loss.

And that night they laughed with a lightness and joy none of them had fully been able to hold onto in years.

I hope you guys enjoyed!

This is lowkey totally gonna be the au I go to when I don’t know what to write lol, maybe write a bit of what happens afterwards or a part of everything during the year he lived with Mari them or just y’know shenanigans

#maribat #jason todd #marinette dupain cheng #jasonette #bee movie au #aka the deep dark hole within the deep dark hole #I've been working on this for a month #probably more #my brain held me captive with this au it held me at gunpoint and stalked me and wouldn't leave me alone until i wrote it #me: casually attempting to write anything else #my brain: *slaps me with ideas for this* NO #and the worst part is there's more that's not written just bull my brain came up with #and i can't believe I put angsty life philosophy writing in a CRACK AU #THIS IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A CRACK AU #WHY #I AM SO INVESTED AND I'M MAD ABOUT IT #i enjoyed writing this and that fact alone infuriates me #blame moonie for this #and u know what blame bugabunny too #(fuck i hope i got their name right)#if it hadn't been for the two of them discussing this again i would've forgotten all about it and i woulda been allowed to write #my kaldur x marinette fic in peace. or my lila time loop fic. OR LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE #anyway i tried to make his outfit red hood esque but like only the parts i liked about it #aka the leather jacket and the combat boots #I don't know how i feel about the fact that i wrote this but what's done is done #*sigh*#jason x marinette #why me #nightwing fluff #but also angst

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arumin-arureruto · 4 years ago

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Honeytea PT 1

Kyoya x fem reader and Hikaru x fem reader, Kyoya angst, Hikaru slowburn.

Warnings: manipulation, Kyoya angst

word count: 2k

songs to listen to while reading:

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

Everything I wanted - Billie Eilish

Bitches Broken Heart - Billie Eilish

(I'll probably make a Spotify playlist at some point)

Outfit reader is wearing:

"ouch" the boiling hot water dripped from the tip of the tea kettle and onto your hand

"Mrs Ootori let me help you with that" said one of the kitchen workers as she rushed to your aid, already grabbing a towel.

"Oh no it's ok, this is for Kyoya and I would like to make him tea myself, I haven't been in a kitchen in so long though it seems I'm a bit rusty." you laughed while running your hand under cold water.

The water helped soothe the burning but you would definitely feel an unpleasant sting later.

This time you payed more attention as you poured the water into the mug.

Looking through the assortments of tea you tried looking for Kyoya's favorite, mint and passionfruit.

You put the tea bag in the water and put back all the other tea boxes, you and Kyoya used to love buying exotic teas from all around the world and trying them. The thought of doing something as simple as drinking tea with your husband made you smile.

You picked up the mug and started walking out of the kitchen, smiling at the staff that were busy at work already prepping for tomorrow's meals.

The manor's halls were dimly lit and empty, Kyoya insisted on buying a big lavish house even though it was just you two most of the time.

Walking slowly as to not spill any of the tea all you could hear was your breathing and your bare feet hitting the cold marble floor.

When you got to Kyoya's office you knocked, and waited for permission to come in.

No answer.

You knocked again and waited.

Still no answer.

You grabbed the doorknob thinking you'd just let yourself in when you remembered what happened last time you walked into his office without permission.

A chill went down your spine and you felt a lump in your throat.

"It's okay, he said it wouldn't happen again" you thought to yourself.

Still you decided to try knocking one more time, after you knocked the third time you heard Kyoya's voice coming from behind the door.

"You may come in"

You slowly opened the door and walked inside, still holding the mug in your hand.

"How can I help you?" he asked not looking up from his laptop.

"I brought you some tea" you hesitantly put it down on his desk, your hands already missing the warmth the mug provided.

"I appreciate it, you may leave" he still wasn't looking at you.

"Actually I was wondering if you wanted to come to bed with me?" you spoke the words quickly and nervously.

"No thank you, I am quite busy at the moment and would like some peace and quiet to continue my work if you don't mind."

"You've been leaving earlier for work and staying up later to finish it, I've just been feeling lonely and wanted to spend some time together that's all"

oh no.

Word vomit.

You did not mean to say that thought out loud.

Kyoya let out a loud and annoyed sigh, he stood up from his desk and started walking towards you.

You felt your heart beating in your ears and a lump starting to form in your throat as his tall lanky figure approached you.

Already preparing yourself for the worst you closed your eyes and looked down.

"Like I said, I am busy at the moment with important work and do not have time to deal with you and your loneliness, will I have to repeat myself a second time?"

His mouth was right next to your ear, you could feel his warm breath on your neck.

"No, I understand" you said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Then you may leave"

you gave a quick nod and turned to leave, already feeling the tears in your eyes threatening to spill while he returned to his desk.

"Y/n, before you leave I ask that you learn your place in this house, you are in no position to waltz into my office and demand that I drop everything to spend time with you, do you hear me?"

You stopped in your tracks. His voice was cold and emotionless, the chill you felt earlier returning.

Your voice shook a little.

"Yes"

"Good, then we understand each other my dear."

You hurried and left Kyoya's office quickly, tears streaming down your face.

You had only been married for a year and 4 months, why was your marriage already dying? Before you got engaged you and Kyoya had already been dating for almost 3 years so you knew he did like you, what happened?

You continued walking to your room, the house's unwelcoming atmosphere making you want to ball up and cry even more.

When you got to the room you and Kyoya shared you frantically looked for your phone, turning over pillows and accidentally messing up the tidy bed one of the maids had made.

"Son of a bitch where is it" you thought while continuing to search the bed. Your vision was blurry because of the tears so that didn't help.

After 5 minutes of turning the room upside down for it you found your phone, sitting neatly on your vanity.

You quickly picked it up and hurriedly scrolled down your contact list.

Majority of the numbers were women from families Kyoya thought it would be beneficial for you to associate with, your actual friends and family took up less than 30% of the numbers in your phone.

After scrolling for a little longer you found the number you had been looking for.

You quickly called the number and waited while it rang.

"Hey this is Hikaru leave a message, or don't, I really don't care."

fuck

It was pretty late so he was probably asleep, but you decided to try again.

You paced around the room and waited while the phone rang a second time.

After what it felt like ages you finally heard a voice.

"y/n?"

Your spirits started to lift and a little smile crept up to your face.

"Hikaru? I'm sorry did I wake you up"

Hikaru let out a sleepy laugh.

"Yeah you big head it's almost midnight, its fine though, what's up? You sound weird"

"I'm-"

You froze, should you tell him?Should you tell him that your marriage was falling apart? That you felt out of place in your own home? that you felt lonelier then ever?

"I've actually been having a pretty shitty night" you laughed, mostly out of nervousness than joy.

Suddenly you couldn't hold it in anymore, tears started running down your face again and you let out a loud, guttural sob.

"Sorry I didn't want you to hear that" you laughed again as you wiped your nose with the sleeves of your robe.

"Y/n what's going on?" Hikaru's voice grew alarmed

"I don't think I can do this over the phone, I have to talk to you, in person."

"Ok I'll come over right now if you want."

It sounded like he was stumbling out of bed and putting on his slippers.

"Oh no no its fine, it can wait till tomorrow" you said quickly, even if Kyoya wasn't home you needed some time alone to think so Hikaru coming over right now was out of the question.

"Are you sure?" he asked, still sounding worried.

"Yes I'm sure, I'll talk to you tomorrow"

"Ok but are you 100% sure?"

You felt a smile creep onto your face

"Go back to sleep Hitachiin"

"Whatever you say Ootori"

You laughed again, this time a genuine laugh.

"Goodnight Hikaru"

"Goodnight y/n"

You hung up, feeling happier than you were before.

You threw your phone on the bed and went into the bathroom that connected to your bedroom to wash your face.

After splashing some cold water on your face you looked into the mirror and almost didn't recognize the woman before you.

What happened?

You had everything anyone could want. Looks, money, power, a rich handsome husband, a high status in society.

Your eyes didn't have the same glint they did back in high school, you felt as if you had aged 2 decades in just 8 years.

You and Kyoya had started dating in your senior year of high school, he was attending his first year at Ouran University and he proposed to you right after he graduated while you were starting your 4th year at the university.

You were happy, everything was going great, it all started going downhill after you got married.

Kyoya became cold, it's as if after he had you wrapped around his finger he didn't bother trying to please you. Sometimes you wondered if the only reason he targeted you was because of how it would make him look, but you couldn't think of a way in which marrying a commoner that was attending Ouran on a scholarship would benefit him in any way.

You tried forgetting those awful thoughts, no, Kyoya loved you, you guys were just going through some hard times as do any couples.

As you leaned on the sink staring at your own reflection you heard Kyoya coming into the room.

You took one last look in the mirror to make sure any traces of your crying were gone.

you turned around and there was Kyoya, silently staring at you while leaning on the door frame.

You didn't know what to do so you just leaned with your back on the sink while he slowly approached you.

He ran his hands down the side of your body down to your thighs and put this face in the crook of your neck.

He inhaled and exhaled, hands feeling the back of your thighs.

"God you smell amazing"

Just his deep voice close to your ear was enough to make your legs go weak.

No.

Sex wasn't getting him out of this.

Until he used words to apologize you weren't going to give him anything.

"I thought you were busy" You said harshly.

"I took care of things that couldn't be delayed, everything else can wait until tomorrow." You could feel his breathing speeding up.

no, nope. Until he apologized he would get nothing.

"Hmm" you said, still not giving him a reaction.

He seemed to pick up on your strategy because he lifted you up and put you on the bathroom counter.

The cold marble against your bare thigh scared you but before you could process the feeling Kyoya put his mouth on your neck and sucked the skin.

Since you were caught by surprise you couldn't suppress the moan that came out of your mouth.

"Now now Mrs Ootori, what troubles you? Giving me the cold shoulder isn't very nice." he was whispering in your ear while undoing your silk robe.

Your own breathing was starting to speed up and you could feel heat pooling at the bottom of your underwear.

"How about you try apologizing?" You didn't try to stop him from undoing your robe.

"And why would I do that?" he asked while feeling the exposed skin on your collarbone with his nose.

"For the way you treated me when I went into your office" You said, anger starting to return.

"To be fair you interrupted me while I was doing very important work and it made me upset, so who here should really be apologizing?"

He was right, you knew how much he valued his work time and you still interrupted him.

Ashamed, you put your head down.

"I'm sorry" you mumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you"

"I'm sorry" this time you said it louder.

Kyoya lifted his head up to look you in the eyes.

"Good girl. Now, there are other ways you could apologize to me."

He picked you up by your thighs from the bathroom counter and carried you to the bed.

By then your robe was already discarded on the bathroom floor and you laid on the bed, just in a thin and short sleeping gown.

Kyoya took off his shirt and pants and straddled himself on top of you, arms on either sides of your head.

Although you laid there with your husband on top of you, all you could think about was seeing your best friend the next day.

A/N: Hey babes so this is just the first chapter, I'm definitely making this a slowburn so expect a lot of chapters. As a Kyoya girl this was painful to write </3, anyways love y'all!!!

#kyoya ootori #ohshc #ouran high school host #kyoya senpai #ouran high school host club headcannons #kyoya headcanon #kyoya x reader #ouran kyoya #ohshc kyoya #hikaru x reader #hikaru hitachiin #ohshc hikaru

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youwontlikethisblog · 3 years ago

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Betty's New Look

Previously I talked about Armando's rivalry with Nicolas and how that also motivates him to continue the affair with Betty. I've also talked about how Armando displays signs of s. addiction. I felt it was important to break that down to really understand this post in particular.

By understanding what motivates Armando in his quest to have affairs and understand why the man is so obsessed with the beauty standards of women we can now understand his behavior towards Betty.

I mentioned in that post that I have an OC that is portrayed to have s. addiction and how much research I had to make so I could write it correctly. However I didn't mention or explain as much something vital that I see in Armando as well.

Seggs can many times not only be a form of escapism or control but many times for reasons of self-esteem/worth. If the person believes that the only way they can ever feel wanted or loved is by acts of s. than they will often participate in said behavior to feel that way.

With Armando he doesn't only do it to escape the chains of a pre-planned destiny by his parents and fiancé but because he also doesn't really feel loved and he uses these models as a from for him to feel that way or at least wanted,(I mean the only thing he has that keeps his relationship with Marcela together is their seggsual relationship.) he doesn't only do it to feel like he has control over that part of his life.

I mentioned in another post that women enter Armando through the eyes. He is a very physical man. He is superficial when it comes to the women he sleeps with. He grew up in the fashion world where the standard is tall and thin. The beauty of women can only be found in those types.

What does this have to do with Betty's new look?

Though we've established that Armando is attracted to her personality, he isn't of her physical appearance. Does that make him a bad person? No. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes we find someone's personality so much more attractive than their outer appearance but we still dare to date them. Women are often told "you're too pretty for that man" because of this.

Armando isn't a bad person for that and he accepts to a certain degree that he is attracted to her personality but because he is such a superficial and perfectionist with the body of a woman he denies this. He denies any and all attraction to her for this exact reason.

He finds it so hard to understand why he would still be attracted to Betty and why he likes her kisses when he doesn't look at her as a seggsual object like he does to all the women he has had affairs with and that's because unlike those women Betty isn't a seggsual object and that throws him off.

Lets considered the fact that when he repeated what Bertha told him about Nicolas, that he didn't even think of her with a bad thought(one could assume she meant a perversive thought.) as he tells this new piece of information to Mario he said so surprised and when Mario said that it made sense to not think of her in that way he agreed. In an instant he contradicted himself. In his tone he seemed surprised that a man wouldn't think of Betty so much even with a bad thought but that he understood that no one would? To some degree, to some far end distance, Armando does view Betty as a woman but not enough to actively desire her as one like he has in the past with the models.

(I'll talk more about this when we get to the B-Day episodes 😏)

In the past when Marcela got a new look he commented on it. It was the first thing he mentioned as he said she looked great(Betty was a witness to this). However when he see's Betty's new look he doesn't even comment on it. For one because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings and two because he doesn't want to lie so she keeps looking like that.

I think, in my very personal and humble opinion, that Betty looks fine. What ruins the fit is her hair but it is very 70's office chic. Like lets be honest if they took off the bangs, did a middle part, defined those curls, and didn't apply that much blush and lined her lips, she'd look so cute. Unibrow and braces with the glasses, Betty would slay. She'd look like a cute dorky person.

She IS very gorgeous to me!

I will fight anyone who disagrees with this and I will set up a time and date for it!

Now that we have established Armando's hesitation to accept Betty's physical appearance and why he doesn't want to comment on it lets begin.

In this episode Betty had just arrived to Eco Moda, her friends went to see her new look in her office as if she were the main attraction at the zoo and when leaving her office Armando over heard their commentary on it, once again being witness to the critique of Betty behind her back as none of them wanted to tell her how awful they thought she looked and they were her supposed close friends.

Marcela then enters his office and they talk about how Patty thought Marcela had caused those bruises on Armando, who tells her that the cuartel thinks the same and they start to flirt and then make out.

Just as they start to Betty exits her office.

Armando's reaction is a pissed off one. We see him roll his eyes and clench his teeth while he has his lips tight, even Marcela comments on it.

"My love you don't have to get so upset."

"No it's just embarrassing for all of us." He says and walks behind his desk and sits.

Betty struggles to speak for a second before grounding herself and saying that she just wanted to excuse herself to go to Marcela's office so she could sign the paper work for the loan they were giving Sofia.

Marcela only stared at her for a bit before she couldn't look at her without bursting into laughter right there and then.

Betty doesn't make eye contact with Armando he however stares at her with a concern look on his face, which is very different than his first reaction to Betty being in the room.

Now he watches Marcela sign the paper, he's got a crease between his brows that are furrowed, his eyes are saddened and his mouth slightly parted but still slightly tense.

This is a look of worry.

Betty excuses herself and Armando watches her leave while Marcela starts to laugh(Natalia really nailed the mean girl laugh).

As Marcela starts to make fun of her Armando asks her not to make fun of her and she tells him that whoever did her hair didn't curl it but stuck her into the electricity socket. Armando stares at her as she says these things with his lips pursed while squinting his eyes at her as she laughs.

He disapproves of what she's saying and it angers him that she is HOWEVER in a very classic manor he doesn't tell her any of this. Unlike the previous night that he literally started to hit the guys who were saying these awful things to her, saying that they had to respect her, here he stays silent. He doesn't even yell at her. Instead he turns around and goes to his computer.

I'm not saying that Armando should have hit Marcela lmbo! That would be bad and inexcusable! What I'm saying is that again we're shown the contrast and contradictions of Armando. While with complete strangers he demands for Betty to be respected and treated well he can't to that with Mario or Marcela. Not only because Marcela would get jealous and throw a fit about him telling her to be respectful but because he'd also give her cuerda(rope) to suspect and continue being controlling and with Mario because Mario would make him miserable if he shared even a fraction of his confusion or talked through his feelings about it all because he's tried it in the past but each time Mario makes a joke about it and he just shuts down. He's a coward to face the people in his life that really matter because he doesn't want to face the consequences of liking a woman like Betty.

The girls asked Betty if anything is wrong and she tells them no. Betty expressed her guilt and how she feels terrible whenever she sees Marcela and how she has walked in on them kissing and Armando making it obvious that he was angry that she interrupted them(It also explains his worried expression in the latter of said scene).

I've noticed many people just lump Betty as the insecure girl because of romance and that's really where her depth ends but Betty is a very complex individual here too(and I really want to make a more detailed post about it!).

She navigates a world that overall treats her poorly only because she's "ugly" but inside Eco Moda she navigates a world that actively prays for her downfall and who humiliate her in front of many only for the reward of laughing at her expense be their personal satisfaction. Yes she's dealt with bullying and people excluding her because they think she's ugly all her life but the cruelty that she faces in Eco Moda goes beyond and above.

These people are supposed to all be people of class, people she views as superior to her in all aspects. It isn't just humiliation that she faces for her physical appearance but she faces an over all humiliation for simply being a human existing and even then, even as she feels so terrible of herself, as she hates the way that they humiliate her, she still thinks of them superior to her and their opinion matters to her and because of this, despite their disgusting behavior, Betty still has some respect for them on the professional side. She still respects their authority inside Eco Moda and their vitality to the well being of the company.

Betty is such a sweet person at this stage of the novela that she still respect these people but it's so hurtful to see because she also does this because she thinks she deserves this.

Trauma affects a person in more than one way. Her life experience has been painful, isolated, grim, cruel, and lonely; add the traumatic relationship she had with Miguel to this, Betty doesn't have a self-esteem. She doesn't have a sense of self-worth. Betty, in such a terrible an awful way, believes that she isn't deserving of respect for simply existing, much less of voicing how it makes her feel when they treat her the way they do.

She doesn't understand why her father takes so much care of her. She doesn't understand why anyone would ever be nice to her. She's shy, timid, reserved, afraid. This is exactly why she was so impacted by Armando's behavior towards her. It wasn't just because she has no self-esteem. It's that someone treated her as a human being worthy of respect for simply doing her job and existing.

In the following scene, which is a parallel of a scene I previously talked about(post You Betrayed Me!) Armando's behavior is vastly different.

While in the past when he heard them making these crude jokes at the expense of her[Betty] boyfriend Armando seemed scared, angry, worried, and humiliated to a certain degree but this time his demeanor is different. This time he squints his eyes at Patty. He looks at Marcela with disapproval without hiding it. He visibly looks pissed.

"Did you see her clothes? No one would undress her with that!" Patty and Marcela laugh.

"Who would want to undress her?" Marcela says and they cackle, seriously, they cackle a lot. "I think Beatriz goes to the gyno and he tells her not to get undressed, that he'll examine her over her clothes."

"Obviously! She'd tell him "Doctor could I get undressed?" she mocks Betty's voice. " and the Doctor would tell her "No please, please! Don't do it! I beg of you!" she clasp her hands in front of her, pretending to be the Doctor begging. Armando had passed by her, squinting his eyes and now he's behind Marcela, far away, still hearing their conversation staring at them in disbelief and anger.

"Could you imagine what it must be with the boyfriend?" Patty says while Marcela laughs.

"No! See, she's so ugly that he doesn't kiss her, he hits her." they laugh. Armando stares at Marcela with disdain.

"Again with the jokes against Betty?" Marcela turns to him laughing.

"No. No they're not about Betty. They're about Betty's boyfriend." this time, unlike before, he doesn't change his emotions. He squints his eyes at Marcela once more. "and what he has to face tonight once he sees her." She covers her face laughing.

"Maybe he already saw her." to Marcela this line holds no meaning but to the audience it does and it isn't only for comical effects. Armando is now saying that her[Betty] boyfriend already saw her i.e. him. He is now out loud in his own way confronting the fact that he is her boyfriend to himself, while before he wasn't even able to say it to Betty or himself this time he's confronting himself about it.

Betty walks past Armando and he watches her as she walks towards Marcela and Patty who are still laughing, she bumps into Hugo who laughs at her, and they don't hold back at making it obvious that they are laughing at her and making jokes behind her back.

"Who is that creep?" Hugo voices loudly. Armando turns to glare at him. "Betty's cousin?"

"No Hugito that's the very same Betty but like a new version." Patty says.

"She went with the enemy so they could dress her and style her hair." Marcela says.

"What hairdresser? Because he didn't do highlights, he did lightning bolts." Hugo jokes.

The model and the rest laugh while Armando visibly controls his anger, but doesn't hide it or pretend to be unbothered as he shakes his head at Marcela and Patty and marches away from them.

Compare this to his previous reaction, while Marcela knew that Armando didn't like that she was making fun of Betty the other time he didn't actually voice his disapproval, he even laughed at one of the jokes that Patty made until he heard Marcela call him[Nic] a Multi-Millionaire. This time he finds no humor, he doesn't even feel offended that their making fun of Betty's boyfriend or hurt, he feels furious that they are.

However in the following scene all of that good behavior is squashed like a bug. He sits with Calderon talking bad about Betty's new look.

While Calderon tries to make him be a good boyfriend Armando scoffs and questions "praise her new look?"

"You haven't praised her new look?" Calderon whispers alarmed. "What are you? A beast? An animal? An ignorant!" he hisses. "Look there's nothing worse, nothing that humiliates a woman more, that tramples her ego, that ends her love for a man than you not praising her new look."

"What? Do I give her four hallelujahs for the hairdo? What?"

"No but Betty isn't the only woman that goes through that, my god. Almost all women are a disaster when they change their look but you still praise her new look! It's that simple." Armando sighs. "Look when a woman changes her look she changes it for A: her husband. B: the lover. In this case we have one true god." Armando purses his lips and rolls his eyes. "So then my dear god, praise the new look."

"She won't believe me. She won't believe me. The entire world has made fun of her for it. She'll think I feel pity for her, consoling her, or or worse that I'm making fun of her like the rest.

"Then the time for you to demonstrate to her that you're really serious[about this], that your love goes beyond the physical(goes on to list all of her physical flaws)" Armando looks pained to be the poor fool to have to "Accept" this. "well the list is long but if I were you I'd make love to her just as she is." Armando slowly, repeatedly blinking, turns to look at Mario. "well it's the only way for you to show her that you love her, that you desire her."

"Be very careful, Calderon, because with the simple fact that I already kiss her, with that fact alone, I'm paying in life what I should be paying in death." He whispers. "And besides I'mma tell something for me... to do that to her, never. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps." He stands up.

"Well you better start to prepare yourself. Where do you have Adrianita's picture?"

Yes I've talked about how women enter Armando through the eyes but that doesn't justify his behavior, it merely explains it. The objectification he has on women as seggsual beings clouds his judgement and blinds him to see past that. While he doesn't like that people make fun of Betty, he does worse. He doesn't make fun of her, he verbally humiliates her by the mere fact that he compares kissing her to a punishment, that he finds her affection to be a torment only for the fact that she's "ugly".

Armando continuedly flip flops from caring about Betty and her best interest to only caring about his. We're barely starting to see him take notice of Betty's interest but he still focuses mostly on what he wants and what he feels comfortable with. He doesn't once wonder if Betty does.

He finds her kisses a punishment because she isn't pretty. He finds her affection a torment because she isn't pretty. If she had the body and face of AA and the personality of Betty mans would proclaim it to the four winds and the seven seas. He would dump Marcela on the spot for her.

People are allowed to have types, we all have them. When do we draw the line between types and actively dehumanizing a certain group of people? When it no longer is based on preference but hatred and fear of said group.

Armando to this point hates that Betty isn't society's beauty standard. He hates that she isn't his idea of woman perfection but he lives tormented by the fact that he still cares about her. That he doesn't like it when people treat her poorly or make fun of her. That he hates it when they dehumanize her, (except he's a hypocrite because he does the exact same thing and he allows his best friend to do that exact thing.) and that he secretly enjoys her kisses and her affection. He hates all of this which is what truthfully makes him a miserable piece of ish.

These episode however are meant to help Armando accept Betty's physical appearance to a certain degree(lol I'm saying that a lot). He is forced to accept that he can't control the way a woman looks and that he can't change it either(I'll talk about this in the next post) Here he is faced with Betty's new look and he's forced to think about her feelings first than his own. He's confronted within himself that he is Betty's boyfriend. He is forced to find a way to tell her that her new look isn't it without tearing her confidence to shreds.

In other words Armando is forced to accept that Betty isn't a seggsual object but just because of that it doesn't mean she should get treated horribly. That the respect she deserves isn't only because of how good she is at her job but because she's a human, a person with feelings and with struggles of her own and that he doesn't like it that people don't see that.

But it foreshadows as well that he also has to accept Betty's physical appearance as it is and be okay with the attraction he has towards her, or at least prepare himself to accept that attraction.

Now as Armando and Calderon talk about how hot AA is Betty interrupts and leaves the office but overhears Armando call AA a mamasita and say that if she ever showed up that he'd throw everything away and marry her on the spot.

She seems annoyed by that as she shakes her head and walks away from the double doors.

Obviously our girl is hurt because not once has Armando mentioned her new look, not once has he made the effort to say anything about her physical appearance but there he is talking about how he'd end all his relationships without care of consequence if AA showed up and he'd marry her for the simple fact that she's hot.

Men really only have the audacity!

Here Betty is trying to escape her comfort zone(though she didn't get far from it) for the sake of Armando's ego. She's willing to face humiliation and ridicule if Armando likes her new look, even if she feels uncomfortable and knows how people are insulting her behind her back, and he hasn't said a single thing, instead he comments about how hot AA is.

I do want to note that Armando is behaving more like a boyfriend now. While in the past whenever the subject of his crushes or infatuation on Models was brought up he didn't reserve himself to express how hot they were or how he wanted to look presentable for them except now he pretends to show no interest in them when she's in the room. Better yet he pretends to be offended that(when the two models went to ask for their paycheck and tickled him) they'd flirt with him or try to play with him. Except this time he pretends like he isn't even aware of how hot she is and only is interested in her in a professional matter but as soon as she leaves the office she over hears how he truthfully feels.

She knows him well and because of this it does hurt her.

#armando mendoza #don armando #armando ysblf #analysis of ysblf #beatriz pinzon solano #beatriz pinzón solano #betty pinzón solano #betty #betty ysblf #betty la fea #yo soy betty la fea #marcela ysblf #marcela valencia #mario calderon #morch #hugo

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chalkrevelations · 4 years ago

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Episode 31 of Word of Honor, and in many ways OH MY GOD YES, but also, no, show, wtf?

As in, wt actual f is going on? Literally, what is happening?

(Spoilers, so scroll away and come back later, if you need to.)

So, first thing’s first: I feel like this one may end up a bit short, because a lot of it is likely to be just a bunch of keysmash flailing? (EDIT: No, I just came back up here to the top from the bottom, because this is NOT AT ALL any shorter than usual.) I’ll attempt a bit more than exclamation points and worry over whether my poor heart is able to take this, but we’ll see how it goes, because the first thing I’m going to do is say I knew it! and I told you so! I knew you weren’t planning to die, Zhou Zishu. I did call you a liar after Ep 30, and I was right. I mean, what’s the point of having the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley as your boyfriend husband if he’s not going to rescue you after you’ve been kidnapped for attempted ravishment by the evil prince? And get you the best wedding present ever, i.e., a bunch of new disciples? Omg, Zhou Zishu’s face when Wen Kexing finally calls himself a disciple of Four Seasons Manor! (I think he’s so overwhelmed, he doesn’t even realize when WKX calls him “shixiong” a minute before that!) Wen Kexing’s tiny pained smile that he just can’t seem to help when ZZS lays his hand on WKX’s head! That long shuddering breath ZZS lets out, and the way his shoulders just drop, like he’s finally let go of a huge weight! (The worry this brings me, because there are five and a half episodes left, my dude, and your husband is a troublemaker, and I would not be getting complacent, if I was you.) The fact that WKX has knelt to ZZS and called him zongzhu in front of the Ghost Valley contingent – there’s gotta be some political implications to that. Horseback riding! The way WKX keeps holding (up) ZZS! Lol at WKX being all, you all can leave now, we can take our honeymoon alone from here! ZZS knew he would come (I told you so)! Their smiles! Their soft little faces! (Merciless killers! How so fucking adorable?) The hairpin! MARRIED, Y’ALL. Censorship? I don’t know her. ANYWAY, that’s all just a bunch of flailing reaction to the first almost 20 minutes of emoporn. Also, Zhang Zhehan, you should not do suffering so pretty. It makes me feel like a bad person for still enjoying your face so much when your character is in so much physical and emotional distress.

Secondly, show. We need to talk. You should not be this opaque. I’m trying to piece together everything that’s happened in (vaguely) chronological order:

Sometime before dying (before breaking his heart meridians?), Han Ying tells Wen Kexing about the Four Seasons Remnants back with Prince Jin. All of Ep 30 happens, with Zhou Zishu and Xie Wang both making a mess of Awful Prince’s/Yifu’s plans. Xie Wang, the rest of the Scorpions, and the Ghost Valley team retreat back to a lair. Which lair? Who knows, at this point. Cao Weining talks to Fan Shishu. (He explicitly tells this to A-Xiang.) But does he also confront Mo Huaiyang? Because I feel like it must be significant that we get the same turn of phrase to describe Zhao Jing’s relationship with Xie Wang – asking a tiger for its skin – from Mo Huaiyang to Fan Shishu, and then attributed to Cao Weining when A-Xiang quotes it to WKX in the same ep. The show even emphasizes this for us to catch by drawing attention to A-Xiang’s use of it via her struggle to remember the idiom properly. (A. This episode’s convo between Mo Huaiyang and Fan Shishu, which is when we see Mo Huaiyang actually use the idiom, happens AFTER Cao Weining and Gu Xiang leave Gentle Wind Sword Sect. I went back and checked, and it is Mo Huaiyang who uses it, not Fan Shishu. B. In this same convo, Fan Shishu says he still needs to explain all this to the disciples somehow, so C. Was there a prior, unseen convo between just Cao Weining and Mo Huaiyang in which Mo Huaiyang practiced his excuses on poor, hapless Cao Weining first?)

Anyway, Cao Weining then goes to A-Xiang, who’s lit. and fig. in the dark at this point, in her rustic cabin outside the gated community. I notice Cinnamon Roll already has his bag packed. He is done. He lays out the current political web, and A-Xiang seems pretty sure of Liu Qianqiao’s ultimate loyalty to WKX. This is probably important in what happens next. Gu Xiang and Cao Weining decide to run away and elope but then … get captured and taken to the lair. On purpose? A-Xiang did see Liu Qianqiao with Xie Wang in the Secret Cave, standing shoulder to shoulder with Du Pusa as an apparent top-tier henchwoman, and she probably expects to be protected, but this seems like a pretty big gamble. I suppose you don’t survive the Ghost Valley without learning to take some risks. A-Xiang then leads Xie Wang and the Ghost Valley contingent to WKX (at burned-down Four Seasons Manor?) to, she says, let WKX take down Xie Wang. She notes Xie Wang’s use of some potion to control everyone – I assume the Drug Man potion, and I assume the monthly antidote is what’s keeping everyone in the Ghost Valley from going full Drug Man?

WKX and Xie Wang confer in secret. Probably about how much they both hate Awful Yifu. I mean, I assume Xie’er still hates Awful Yifu at this point, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? Probably a key point here: WKX is hiding whatever this was about from his husband. My dude, why are you still like this? I guess that explains the pained cast to that tiny little smile earlier. WKX then takes some of the Ghost Valley contingent and coordinates with the Four Seasons Remnants back in Prince Jin’s territory to rescue ZZS. Husband safely rescued, WKX now heads back to Ghost Valley, to … abdicate? He promises A-Xiang he’s going to come back safely, and my dude, I’m trying to believe you. I really am. I’m trying to have as much faith in you planning to be back all along as I had in ZZS not planning to die in Jin Palace all along, but here’s a key difference: HE LET YOU IN ON HIS PLAN. Which you were a key part of. I find your secrecy, by contrast, concerning.

Other things:

Love the little moment between Gu Xiang and Liu Qianqiao and Luo Fumeng when Beauty Ghost and Tragicomic Ghost turn to Xie Wang in righteous indignation and want to know what the fuck he thinks he’s doing to their little girl. Compare the reaction of these two moms to Happy Ghost being all, “Nope, this is a complete and total in with Wen Kexing right here in a pretty pink dress.” The show continues to draw a fairly bright line between the characterization of the women in the Department of the Unfaithful - who are terrorizing certain people, true, but also watching out for each other after ending up down on their luck – and the general run of men in Ghost Valley, who are basically rotten sociopaths straight out of Batman’s rogues gallery and will sell you out in a minute for their own gain. Yes, this has been made fairly explicit in Wen Kexing’s and A-Xiang’s commentary in past eps and later in this ep about trying to get the Department of the Unfaithful out of the line of fire while not caring if the jianghu burns down the rest of Ghost Valley, but this isn’t just favoritism or a whim, just some fond memories of Luo Fumeng being kind to them a couple of times in the past. I think there’s some commentary here on the kind of men who are so far gone they find themselves outside the bounds of “civilized” society and the kind of women who do – how much easier and quicker it is for a woman, that it could be any woman in the wrong circumstances, and how much further gone a man has to be than a woman to be considered a “devil.” We’ve seen these supportive interpersonal relationships among the women since Gu Xiang “adopted” her two girls in the first handful of episodes and told off Lovelace with the threat of Tragicomic Ghost – and the show is continuing to show it, not just tell it. It’s one of the things I’ve found frustrating about Wen Kexing a couple of times in past eps, when he’s trying to get A-Xiang’s two girls, or other women from the Department, to just leave and go do something else – I feel like even though WKX realizes their circumstances and their personalities are different from the rest of his Top Ten Devils, he’s not fully comprehending that they literally have nowhere else to go, that if they had any other options, they wouldn’t have ended up there in the first place. He called the two girls “puppies” when he talked about A-Xiang having to take care of them, but as Ghost Valley master, who’s enforced the independence of and protections for the Department of the Unfaithful, he’s walking away from his own basketful of puppies. Not to mention, this is one of the vanishingly small places in this particular version of the jianghu that we’ve seen women have any autonomy and power. I … think there may have been a few young female cultivators in Yueyang Sect, but while I’d have to go back and watch to be sure, I remember the Hero’s Conference being a whole bunch of men throwing their … weight around. Anyway, I also love that it looks like A-Xiang tries to kick Happy Ghost in the shin, because of course she does.

Visually, they had a cool thing going on there with the Tian Chuang behind WKX falling in concert with WKX lowering his fan, but they didn’t quite coordinate it enough, and then they cut away too soon. Bah. It was set up to be a very cool visual, if only they had committed to it. Meanwhile Duan Pengju, this asshole, omg. He’s trying to pull off the Collar of Evil and is not succeeding. Srsly, his Collar of Evil is droopy. It doesn’t stop him from monologuing like he’s the actual villain and not some sad-sack lackey. You showed the correct amount of amused disdain during your interaction, but I can’t believe you left him alive at the end of it, Wen Kexing.

I wasn’t really feeling Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi up until this ep when Jing Beiyuan was teasing A-Xiang about her lack of shame over running away with her lover. OK, fine, you can stay, Qi Ye. Also, wow. Speaking of lack of shame, I can’t believe you just accused your husband of bride kidnapping right in front of everyone’s salads, because that is totally what just happened there.

So the band is (almost all) back together, minus Chengling, who has definitely found out in the worst possible way that one of his dads is the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley that massacred his family and sect. So, this should go well.

Lol at Xie’er lounging in Wen Kexing’s Ghost Valley master seat like some kind of consort. He’s already got a husband, Xie’er. One that would not be happy with a concubine running around, I think. I do wonder what the full scope of their plan/understanding is, bubbling away under this stare-down.

A note – WKX’s hair is styled differently in this ep in the Ghost Valley master scenes than it has been before. Previously, those side bangs were further forward and a little bit chunkier, which, I think, narrowed his face and also helped emphasize the wild-eyed look. They’re wispier and back further, now, which I think softens his face, even when he’s trying to look imposing. Makes him look more, dare I say, human.

And now, I’m going to go have a few Han Ying/Bi Xingming thoughts, actually. God, those months after ZZS left, can you imagine what that was like for them? Han Ying having watched those nails placed in Bi Xingming’s shifu in the first ep, and then having to turn around and go to Bi Xingming and tell him that ZZS was gone, with the seven nails in him? Both of them trying to hold the Four Seasons Remnants together – and then Ying-ge comes back one day and says he’s found ZZS? Mutual aid and comfort, my dudes. Also some projection. I’m just sayin’. Meet me, I guess - this kind of sideline action and extremely rare pair thing is how I tend to roll.

#zhou zishu #wen kexing #gu xiang #cao weining #liu qianqiao #luo fumeng #xie wang #jing beiyuan #wu xi #zhang chengling #han ying #bi xingming #word of honor #word of honor episode reax

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batarella · 4 years ago

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I Don’t Hate You - Part 13 (Jason x Reader)

13 might be an unlucky number but there’s a good amount of fluff and smut here folks! Still there’s angst (can’t escape it now) and finally! Reader meets Bruce, Dick, and Alfred!

I’d like to thank these wonderful people for providing me the ideas and dialogue I needed to make Bruce and Dick as utterly annoying and embarrassing as I possibly could.

@knightfall05x @offendedfishnoises @l-horizon11 @birdy-bat-writes @idkmanicantenglish @boarcide you guys are so amazingly talented and I love you

WORDS: 7038 WARNINGS: ANGST. FIRST TIME SEX. ORAL SEX FEMALE RECEIVING. EMBARRASSING DAD BRUCE. EMBARRASSING OLDER BROTHER DICK.

Masterlist

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

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Then

Well.

At least he could talk to you now without it becoming a screaming match.

But each time he comes home without getting to kiss you more than just a little peck, tell you how much he loved you without you saying it back like it was beaten and forced out of your mouth, or even just to hear you laugh with him all day over the stupidest things, it was depressing. Just yesterday you kissed his cheek without him having to ask you for it, or lean in to do it himself. You didn’t smile much, you hadn’t for the past few days. But every time he hopes things would get better.

Many times, he thought it wouldn’t. And it was his fault a lot of the time, as well. You’d say a snide remark and he’d say something back. Next thing he knew you were both screaming at each other again, take another few hours off before one of you calls and apologizes. He knew none of the fights mattered much at all. He knew it all stemmed from you knowing he was hiding something and him never giving in.

He couldn’t give in. Then, he’d be forced to let you go. That was never going to happen.

But this… this? This wasn’t how he ever thought things were going to be. For the most part, things got better. But not good enough for him to be as happy as he always had been with you.

He wanted to hold you while you’d place your head snuggly into his neck, feeling you breathe into him and your mouth curving up when it placed gentle kisses into his skin. He wanted you to reassure him that you weren’t going to leave, that you still loved him just as deeply as he was always going to love you, that no fight was ever going to change that. He needed to touch you, physically love you. He wasn’t much of a shower of his emotions but when it came to needing that sort of love for himself, he was pretty selfish. He was probably just being a needy child, but he wanted that from you. Too many days have passed.

He wasn’t so sure this would work. It probably will, or not. You never actually brought it up before and when Bruce mentioned it, he could only think of the million different ways how it was definitely going to go wrong.

But he didn’t have much of a choice anymore. And he thought, just maybe, if you felt close to his family, you’d trust him again and things would go back to normal.

So, despite every end of his nerves pushing him out of the way, he managed to ask you to dinner at Wayne Manor, with Bruce, Dick, and Alfred meeting you for the very first time. And surprisingly, without a fight, you agreed. You didn’t sound so excited, or afraid, or even nervous at all. In fact, you seemed pretty confident. That was good, of course. He was going to need that confidence to rub off on him.

You looked absolutely radiant. Your hair flowing to your shoulders, your usual long-sleeved black dress and some red high heels for a pop of color. You looked relaxed enough to make his own nerves calm. And when he saw you, he couldn’t help his smile.

You locked the door to the apartment behind you, and when you walked down the steps, your skirt fluttered in the air. Good idea not to bring his bike.

Then you walked right in front of him, your hands in front of you. And you saw him smiling like a lunatic, head bashfully craned down and his hands stuck to his pockets.

“You look beautiful.”

You bit both your lips. “Shut up.”

He took too much of his time staring at you. At your hair, your face, how you started to blush like on your first few dates when things were still awkward and new between you two. You looked down at the ground.

He can waste a few more minutes.

Jason took a step closer to you, slowly grabbed your face and let you lean into him with those wanting, wideset eyes, then he kissed you.

His hair started sticking to his skin from the beads of sweat starting to pour down despite the cold, and your lips, how he missed the way you were so delicate with them mixed with the neediness of your tongue. He missed your scent, the feel of your hair in his fingers.

But you pulled away too soon, pressing your forehead. Your smile looked sad, just as tired as you had been. And his heart sank.

“We should go…” you said, pulling his arms away from you. Reluctantly, he agreed.

When you reached the manor, going up the stairs from the garages, he bumped the side of your shoulder. Jason took your hand, entangled your fingers between his own, then placed a kiss to the back of your hand.

But then you took your hand away from him. “Do you think I’ll do okay?”

He was so tired of you rejecting his touches.

“You’ll do great. You’re perfect,” he said.

You did that roll in your eyes you often did when you blushed. And he watched the look on your face when you walked over to the manor’s entrance, your jaw dropping at just the foyer.

“Alfred! We’re here!”

Your eyes went from the grand staircase to the tall butler sweeping in from the dining area. He had a piece of cloth around his arm, and when he both saw you, he slightly bowed.

“Y/N, this is our butler Alfred. Alfred, Y/N.”

You looked so pretty when you smiled like that, and when you shook Alfred’s hand, he was staring at you all giddy.

“So lovely to meet you,” Alfred said. “I’ll take your coat. Dinner will be ready in just a moment.”

“Thank you so much,” you kindly said.

“FINALLY, YOU’RE HERE! Y/N!!!”

At the sound of that very familiar voice of a grown man with a mind of a screaming five-year old child, Jason squeezed the bridge of his nose. Dick Grayson came running down from the staircase, dressed casually but smart in a collared shirt and jeans.

You definitely had that widening in your eyes most women often had the first time they see his brother, but it was subtle. You smiled back at him when Dick practically slid over to you, arms outstretched.

“Come on. I’m not about to give our little Jaybird’s girlfriend just a handshake.”

You laughed and naturally gave him a hug. Jason rolled his eyes. You were smiling brighter at that moment than you had the rest of the day. And when Dick did that light sway while holding you, Jason audibly scoffed.

“Jay,” Dick placed his hand on his shoulder. “She’s even more beautiful than you said she was.”

You blushed, but this time you were looking at him. Jason smiled back at you when your eyes locked onto each other for a moment longer.

“I can't believe it’s almost been a year since you got together,” Dick said.

“I know. Seems like yesterday,” Jason made sure to catch that little flustered smile when you laughed and bit your lip.

“Awe,” Dick cooed. “You guys are ADORABLE.”

Your eyes went over to the ground, smiling, and when Jason was sure you wouldn’t see, he elbowed Dick’s stomach hard enough to make him flinch but not enough to make you hear it.

“Come on,” Dick ruffled Jason’s hair. “Have a seat.”

You all went to the living area where the fireplace was set up and burning just for the occasion. Bruce thought it would be good to make the place a bit homier and more welcoming. Jason thought it was over the top and completely unnecessary. Him being worried you making a good impression? Not even a little. Him worrying about Dick embarrassing you to death or Bruce trying way too hard to be a dad? A thing of his nightmares.

The fireplace was a good example. He made sure it was turned off when he left. And only now did he let out a groan too soft for you to hear when you stepped in and took a seat with the place smelling like coal and burnt wood.

You and Jason sat on the long love seat and Dick on the arm chair. He leaned over, asking you all about yourself, to which you happily responded as if the conversation wasn’t at all uncomfortable. Thankfully, it wasn’t. So far so good.

You spoke so calmly, so reserved, and he could feel you starting to enjoy your time here. And by god, he couldn’t stop staring at you the whole time you spoke. You noticed it, of course. Each time you finished talking you started scrunching your nose at him playfully, and he’d smile, chin on his arm looking at you like you were just the best thing in the whole world. Even with Dick talking, Jason couldn’t help placing his arm on your waist, just to be closer to you. And you leaned back. Not totally, trying not to make Dick look uncomfortable, but you tensed a little, especially when he squeezed your waist. He heard you clear your throat.

“You know,” Dick said. “Jason barely talks to us about his feelings.”

Jason rolled his eyes again.

“But, let me tell you, this guy’s definitely lucky to have you. And does he know it. Mentions you more times than he even notices.”

You couldn’t possibly have been surprised, but you laughed lightly, trying to smile. You didn’t look at him, but he felt you let out a sigh and your body started to tense even more.

He sadly looked down, and when you inched away, he took his hand away from your waist like he felt it break.

But then his eyes trailed behind you, at the entry way. “Bruce.”

That was when you stood stiff and brushed off the creases on your dress. Jason stood with you, hand behind your back to sooth you with his thumb. Bruce walked in, with a suit he often wears to work, then walked over to you two.

“Bruce. This is Y/N.”

“Evening, Mr. Wayne…”

“Call me Bruce.” He stretched out his hand, and you took it and shook it firmly. “Lovely to finally meet you. I’ve been meaning to for quite some time.”

“Me too. It’s such a pleasure to have me at your home.”

“Pleasure’s all mine.”

Okay. Not bad. Only four sentences in and he hasn’t said anything that made him want to jump out the window. Progress.

“Dinner is served, sir.” Alfred was at the door, arms outstretched to the dining area. You all walked in and Jason pulled out a seat for you.

The food was good. You were seated beside him, Bruce at the far end, and Dick right across him. You ate as you spoke, so reserved and polite. If you were like this everyday, no one would recognize you.

“Where do you plan to go for college, Y/N?” Bruce said.

“Jason actually helped me with the decision. I’m taking music at Gotham College of the Arts.”

“Ah. Good choice. Jason tells me you play the violin.”

There it was. It starts here. He told Bruce that you sang. Plenty of times. And that you played the piano and guitar sufficiently. Man with an IQ of 192 can't remember that simple piece of information.

“No, actually,” you laughed it off. “I sing.”

“Dammit, Jay, you struck gold with this one.” Dick took a massive bite out of his fork.

The mashed potatoes in front of him probably could make him suffocate if he tried.

“Thank you,” you smiled.

“That is impressive. We’d love to hear you sing some time. On one of our parties, maybe you could sing for us. My son’s girlfriend. The people would love that.”

“Okay.” Jason reached over the other end of the table to end the conversation. “Let’s not make her uncomfortable.”

“It’s alright. I would love to.”

More talk about the future, college, deliberately roasting the hell out of Jason with the three of you ganging up on him. If you didn’t look like you actually had fun, he would have stuck his fork down his thigh just to level the pain.

“Let me ask, do you know any martial arts of any sort?”

Fuck.

“Uhm,” you said. “No, I actually don’t.”

“Well, I see you have strong ankles, good build, and your handshake back there felt strong. Your arms look like you pack a good punch. And you're calm. Reserved. You should think about doing some training-”

“Bruce. Pass the orange juice.”

“Your glass is still full, Jason.”

Jason hurriedly gulped down the entirety of his glass. “Now it’s not.”

Bruce thought nothing of it and passed it to Jason. You shifted in your seat, but you were still smiling. Softly, he ran placed his hand on your thigh to soothe you.

A few moments of silence. Bitter. Cold. But better than anything else, he guessed.

“Now,” Bruce said, finishing up his food. “What are your intentions with my son?”

A large spat of juice spurted out of Jason’s nose and mouth, and he quickly wiped it off with his napkin. “Mother-“

“Jason, you and I haven’t exactly had that talk. And I want to make sure both of you know what you're doing.”

“Who needs some more yams!?” Dick interrupted.

“Bruce. We are not talking about this.”

“I just want to know if you both are doing it properly and safely-“

You didn’t even look as uncomfortable as he was. You were trying so hard to bite off your laughter. Jason, on the other hand, just had the strength to talk through the juice he was tasting in his nostrils.

“You are both eighteen, now I’m not saying it isn’t allowed but-“

“Sir. More wine.” Alfred butted in.

There has never been so much chaos in a single room. It was like watching his own house burn in a fire and only getting to watch it outside, realizing he doesn’t have insurance and that his dog was still there and he couldn’t do anything to save him.

“I’m done eating. Come on Y/N. I’ll take you to the music room.”

“Is that what you kids call it these days!?” Dick burst into laughter.

Someday, he was going to murder his own family. In their sleep. Making sure they were looking straight into his eyes.

He overheard them as they walked up the stairs.

“Sir, I recommend less alcohol the next time the boys bring in a friend.”

“Leave the door open, Jason!” Bruce called out to him.

Jason closed his eyes, imagined a white sandy beach with just you and him to calm his muscles so tense they were on the brink of explosion. You weren’t bothered at all, though. You were blushing, but when you were alone upstairs, you started laughing.

“Not funny.”

“Totally funny. I thought that guy was as stiff as a rock.”

“Bruce is only not embarrassing at moments when it doesn’t even matter.”

“Oh god,” you sighed, clutching your stomach. “I fucking love your family.”

You. Laughing. Holding and squeezing his arm so tightly. Then he took in the sound of your voice, so raw and genuine, holding back the rise in your pitch that usually happens when you were like this. This was what he wanted.

He decided to just shrug off his god-awfully embarrassing family and focus on you. At least it made you this happy.

“They love you, too. Too much.” He scoffed.

“Where’s the music room?”

“We’re not going there. I’m taking you somewhere else.”

“Oh,” you quirked up an eyebrow. “Where would that be?”

“It’s a place I found the first night I ran away from home. I came out this window right here. You can't go there from the main entrance.”

Another set of stairs down the hallway. He held your hand. “Slow down, Todd. I’m wearing heels.”

“Might I say you look fucking fantastic in them,” he winked.

“I’m the same height as you now, Jay. And these heels aren’t even that high,” you laughed.

“I don’t mind.”

A window at the far end. He opened it, swung his leg over then helped you on your feet. Then there was a wide plane of grass, empty from being at the far-left side of the manor, then Jason led you to a part of the fence that hadn’t been charged with voltage enough to incapacitate a man. He held it open, the earthy musk filling his nose with the sense of adventure he yearned for with you, then when you were out of the vicinity, he helped you walk through the bushes and grass, with trees high above you and some debris on the ground.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

It was actually not as near as he thought. Maybe it was because you walked much slower. But he enjoyed it, nevertheless. You were happier now, and it was the best sight to see since the day he met you. He held your hand tight, and you placed your other hand on his bicep. You were shivering. Thank god, it wasn’t snowing.

Walking through the forest, you looked up.

“Look,” you said. “Stars.”

He smiled before turning to your rosy cheeks and perfectly delicate lashes on your cheeks. “I know. We’re far enough from the city to see them.”

The leaves crinkling beneath his feet, he kissed your hand, and you kissed his back. You started leaning against his shoulder.

“Wow,” you said. “Is that a church?”

“A small chapel. Barely enough seats inside to sit fifteen people. But just look inside.”

You’d definitely compare this to one of your favorite movies, and he loved how much your face lit up at the spookiest things even he’s sometimes afraid of. The chapel, used to be white, was now a darkening pile of wood, barely safe enough to go into. There was a small, bronze bell at the top, a cross above the door, and even with the building itself not being so wide, its ceiling was tall enough to have a large circular stained glass just beneath the roof.

There was nothing else around it at all. Not even a cemetery. It was just by itself, being eating by the vines on the ground, and its roof was so rusted and brown that he could smell the staleness from where he was standing. To add to the creepiness, it was surrounded by trees enough to be completely dark, but with the flashlight from his phone, you could see everything. It was beautiful. You didn’t shake or feel scared at all. You smiled more the closer you stepped in.

“I think this used to be here all the way back to the wild west times.”

“Jason, this is amazing.”

The church pews were too broken to sit on, scattered on the sides of the floor. The altar was also completely hallowed out except for a small wooden table, a cross in the middle almost half his size, and a vase below it, probably to hold flowers.

Something he didn’t expect, but was so glad for, the moon was right above the stained glass, and from how brightly it shone, there was a single string of light, big enough to fill a large spot right in the center of the chapel’s aisle. He turned off the light of his phone.

Still standing by the door, you walked inside and stood right under that light.

Then you looked back at him, smiling so brightly and perfectly he swore the world moved just a bit slower so he’d catch every detail on your face.

Just you, in an empty, abandoned church. He placed his hands in his pockets with him unknowingly smiling at you so much his face started to hurt. You looked at him, then up at the stained glass, where you stayed for a long while just mesmerized by the light.

It hit your face just as perfectly as he’d envision. Your cheekbones were up in a smile, your dress staying still from the lack of wind. You looked so peaceful and seamless. Your eyes so wide, your nose crinkling from the dust, your hair so delicately laying on your back. All the emptiness in him, and every other feeling other than the slow, overwhelming warmth that came with a twisting in his ribs, he ignored it.

You were everything he wished for. Nothing he expected.

And just like that, Jason fell in love with you exactly like he did the first time.

Jason took his phone, then his earphones and plugged it in, scrolling for a song. He slowly walked over to you, and you took steps to close your distance between you and him.

He placed one earbud to his left ear and the other to your right.

Tell me, tell me that you want me

And I'll be yours completely, for better or for worse

I know, we'll have our disagreements

Be fighting for no reason, I wouldn't change it for the world

You had to catch your breath the moment you listened in to the lyrics. The words made you choke, even more when he took your hands, trailing his palms down your arms and placing them around his neck. He held your waist so delicately, then started to sway.

You make my heart feel like it's summer

When the rain is pouring down

You make my whole world feel so right when it's wrong

That's how I know you are the one

That's why I know you are the one

You had your eyes closed, and finally, finally, you leaned in to him without a chance at letting go. You swayed with him so naturally, your body felt one. He closed his eyes as well and basked in your warmth, your scent. The light was starting to fade, standing in the middle of the only source.

Life is easy to be scared of

With you I am prepared for what is yet to come

'Cause our two hearts will make it easy

Joining up the pieces, together making one

Your head slipped to his side so your cheek touched his. It felt warmer that way. He felt closer. You looked behind him, stuck your nose to his ear. You controlled your breaths before everything started crashing into you like a maniacal bus. You weren’t about to cry. Not even when your chest was twisting so much that it hurt. It was all so beautiful. Nothing that you thought wouldn’t overwhelmed you.

He kissed your cheek, and his lips stayed there indefinitely. You breathed in, pulled him even closer into your arms while still keeping your light swaying. He held you so close. And if it wasn’t just you, you could have sworn you felt a tear fall down to your shoulder. His tear. He held your waist tighter but still kept with his swaying. “I’m so sorry…”

“Shh…”

When we are together you make me feel like my mind is free

And my dreams are reachable, oh oh oh oh

You know I never ever believed in love or believed one day

That you would come along

And free me

He slightly pulled back and kissed you, so gently in the lips. You still held him as close to you as you could. The words. The dust flying about in the room. Nothing has ever felt so calm. The beating in the song, it matched the beating of his heart. Jason stopped swaying now and started holding the back of your head, never letting you slip from his hold.

You didn’t this time. You kissed him back just as equally wanting as he was. And he felt that love. The love he yearned too much from you.

That's why I know you are the one

That's how I know you are the one

A love you’d never trade for anything. A love you’d always come back to no matter what. A love you never wanted to give up on, no matter how much life convinced you things weren’t about to get better. Even when the song ended, he held you, kept kissing you, and you weren’t about to count the minutes for it to end. This night. Nothing was going to end.

You wanted to beat yourself up for everything that happened, to let those days go to waste, sulking and letting your pride take the best of you. Oh, how he changed you, and so much for the better. Because now, you were going to let yourself lose. You were willingly going to put everything aside for him. Because no matter what, it all ends up boiling down to him.

Everything. He was everything. He was the stars. He was the trees. He was the soil beneath and the song you listened to. Jason was everything to you. And nothing, not even you, will get in the way between you being happily cradled in his arms.

“Happy Anniversary,” Jason whispered to your ear.

You were crying now. Definitely. With the clock striking 12, you’ve been with Jay for a year. The best year of your life. You kissed him again.

-----

He took you home later than anticipated. But you weren’t complaining. You just never wanted that rush of happiness and peace to end. He parked his car, held your hand even when it was just a small walk to your apartment, and when you reached the door, he kissed you again under the lamppost.

You giggled when he bit onto your lip, and with your arms around him, you pressed your noses together.

“Wanna stay over?” you winked.

You swore you heard Jason squeal. “Really?”

“Really,” you ran a hand down his chest. “It’s our anniversary. Let’s spend it right.”

“And your parents?”

“Dad isn’t here. Mom’s asleep.”

Feeling his hand further down your back, you kissed him again. “Come on.”

Jason nodded far too enthusiastically and you both kept your laughs as quiet as you could when you held hands walking into the apartment.

He closed the door behind him, then locked it. Taking your coats and shoes off, you laughed when Jason suddenly held your waist and slammed the both of you onto the bed.

You didn’t care about anything else any longer. You were there. Jason was there. You giggled. You straddled his hips. He kissed you until your lips were numb. You gripped on his hair. He couldn’t stop grinning. You couldn’t stop laughing.

You rolled around the bed for hours you didn’t count. Soft. Happy. Just as it was. You never felt so light hearted, so warm, yet enjoyed the coolness that ran through your skin where his body wasn’t touching.

He was flat on the bed, and you on top of him. His hands were on your waist, trailing down your back until he reached your ass. When he squeezed, you gasped and bit his lip, and this time, you didn’t move his hands away.

You mewled into his lips when he squeezed harder, moving your dress up so slowly and delicately you wouldn’t have noticed until his hot palms were massaging your bare ass. When you grinded into him, his grip tightened even further until his nails were digging into your flesh.

You sat up, and with his glistening eyes, mouth parted to let his tongue seep out, he watched you like you were a goddess.

You pulled on the hem of your dress, up off your arms and threw it across the room.

He looked adorable, gulping and flushing red at the sight of you. But he also looked like he was holding himself back from absolutely devouring you. He marveled over your body, eyes all over every inch of your now exposed skin. He licked his lips, practically drooling over the bed. His hands went up your hips, lingering up and down your waist, and with your hold, you led him up to your breasts.

Jason groaned and you felt him harden beneath you. You grinded, and the friction of his jeans against your thin panties, it was amazing. He let you roll your hips again, taking in your flushed skin and raw state. Wanting more, more of him, you pulled on his shirt and he sat up to help you get it off him.

Skin against skin, you moaned just at your body warmth being so pressed closely against each other. His lips were all over you. Your neck. Your lips. Your chest. Your shoulders. Your collarbone. Your lips again. Your cheek. Your breasts.

“Fuck…” you heard him whisper, and you realized his fingers were doing their best to take your bra off. Chuckling, you helped him.

And when he took it off, he looked like a ten-year old boy on his first-time watching porn. He kneaded your breasts, taking them in for a sweet, special moment, then you moaned your loudest when his lips wrapped around your nipple, gently nipping at them with his teeth, then circled his tongue around so much that his hot drool soaked down your skin.

Your hands were down to his jeans, taking his belt off. He pulled away and took them off for you, along with his underwear.

Drooling at the sight of his very hard cock, you held it in your hand. You’ve done this before. Jacked him off. But that was practically it. And now, as nervous as you were, you didn’t want to mess this up.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Jason breathed into your lips.

You nodded. “Yes… I’m ready. Are you?”

“Damn straight, I am.”

Laughing, he held your hand and guided you with your pumps, making it even harder as he raised his hips to thrust into your palm.

Biting into your neck, you pumped harder, now on your own, then you felt his own hand down your ass, reaching over to reach your clothed pussy from behind. You both moaned, and when you felt his fingers set your panties aside.

“Do you have-“

“Yeah… shit it’s in my wallet.”

You smiled and bit your nail while grinning as Jason pulled away from you, quickly raced to his jeans on the floor to get the condom from his wallet. “You’re a dork.”

Jason held the back of your head, kissed you, then pushed you onto the bed to let you lie on your back. He wasn’t in a hurry. You had the whole night. And you loved it. You threw your head back, spread your legs to let him settle between them, then his lips were back on your body.

Never have you felt so connected with anyone. And it was amazing. And you never felt so worshipped, so beloved. Jason suckled on your breasts, your hands an outlet by gripping ferociously onto his hair, then he kissed down your stomach, your navel, the patch of hair down there once he shrugged you off your panties. And when you felt the cool air brush against your clit, it was replaced by his tongue. “Fuck, you're wet.”

“Oh…” you screamed, mouth so rounded. Your head was at the edge of the bed, almost hanging, and you started seeing stars at just the mere sensation of Jason’s tongue on you. He wasn’t very skilled, yet, it felt good. Something so new, so wet and delicate and intimate. He lapped at your folds, and when he found your clit, he flicked his tongue over it.

“Jason…” you mewled, and he let you bring his head back to your level with just holding his hair. While you kissed all over his face, neck, and shoulders, he was looking down at his cock to put on the condom.

Lips on your cheek, breathing and whispering into your ear, your hands trailed down his back and settled on his rippling muscles.

Looking straight into your eyes, foreheads glued, you felt his fingers spread you apart, inserting into you to get you loosened up for him.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” you gasped. Then his cock, so much thicker than his fingers, slid into your cunt. And at that, you felt one with him. You were one. You were one being.

Holding onto his shoulders, gripping so tight as you cried and felt yourself stretch around him, he hissed at the pain as well. “Fucking shit, you're so tight.”

“Fuck…” you moaned into his ear. You loved the pain, loved it so much you wanted to feel it over and over again. You loved the way he was inside you, pushing your walls apart. You loved it even more when he slightly shifted and felt him move inside you.

“Please, Jay…”

He kissed you to ease the pain, then he pulled back, he looked down and saw a bit of your blood on his cock and the sheets. “Shit…”

“It’s okay. Keep going.”

Lost in his eyes, he pushed back inside you, kissed you hard to conceal your gasps, then moved again. Again. Then again. You were biting into his shoulder, letting the surging buzz consume you. His hand went down to hold your ass, your thighs, he pushed them back so he could go in even deeper. “Oh!”

That’s when it started to feel really good. He gained his pace, though still a bit uneven and sloppy, it felt good nevertheless. You were trembling under him, and you bit onto his lips.

You flipped over. He grabbed your ass, you held his neck. Then you started slowly bouncing onto his cock. Moaning your name, Jason caught your nipple in his teeth and you threw your head back.

All this just felt so unreal. You knew you were gonna have sex soon enough. But this? You could ignore the awkward. The mistakes. The cursing. The nerves. You just felt him, opening you up and showing you a whole new kind of love that made you feel so cherished and other-worldly. He held your hips, thrusted up to you to hit it even deeper. And as he did that, his thumb went over to your clit.

“Fuck! Yes, Jason!” you screamed. The bed was rocking, hitting the wall. You put your hand against it to keep you from falling over, but the mind-blowing surges were shooting up all over your limbs and you couldn’t even sit yourself straight up. But he held you. So tightly, he did.

One with him. All of him. You wanted everything that he was. Hands all over his body, lips where you could touch, you wanted every part of him and never did you want this to stop. You weren’t chasing anything. You just wanted him whole. You wanted this to last and feel him all night. And god, was it hot, feeling your ass slap his skin, his cock throbbing inside you. And the way he was holding you, looking at you to make sure you felt just as fucking amazing as he was, you clenched around him.

You were feeling something build up your core, down there where the shivers started to overtake. You held it off the best you can, but then Jason came first. He tightened around you, holding your body so hard you were going to bruise. He moaned your name over and over, into your ear, and the feel of his breath tickling your neck sent the hairs at the back of your neck stand. Mixed with the everything else going on, you wanted to explode.

And before his high ended, he slammed into you so good and fast, you instantly came apart.

An orgasm like this felt so much deeper, like it came from all the way inside you in places you’d never otherwise reach. And it was all over you, all over your limbs. So uncontrollably overwhelming, and the best part was, it came from him. Jason. Fuck, this was the best thing ever.

You both fell flat on the bed, panting. You were on top of him, on his chest, and with the last of his strength, he pulled you closer and placed a kiss on your head.

It took a while for the high to subside. When it did, Jason threw the condom into a nearby trash can and pulled out your blanket to wrap both of you around it. You snuggled into his chest.

“I love you…” you said into his ear.

Grinning so wide, Jason pulled you closer. “I love you.”

----

Now

You didn’t tell the therapist everything, but you told her enough.

“So you made up after that fight after all?”

You nodded. “After a few days, yes. I met his family, he made sure our anniversary was memorable, and at that moment, I loved him more than ever.”

The therapist leaned over, letting you take a moment to smile sadly at that memory. Until now, you could still feel his arms around your naked body, cuddled while the first snowfall of the year happened outside.

You remembered how at that moment, all you thought about was how you had so much hope for things to finally get better, just like it always was. That everything in front of you would be nothing but pure happiness and utter carelessness, mess around with your boyfriend, have a blast and enjoy your youth.

You knew, deep in your heart, that bad things were inevitable, but at that time you thought it were only from fights, the normal like. The kind you were used to. The kind that was expected. You knew it wasn’t always going to be perfect. But you’d do it all over again. Just like the song you danced to said in that beautiful night at the chapel. Over and over again. That was what you hoped for.

But you never thought that the absolute worst thing you ever could have thought of ended up being what happened.

“I really did forgive him after that.”

“But?”

“But…”

You felt your heart shatter at the thought of how that memory turned out to be one of the last good ones. Like a moment in time you wished had just stopped there, frozen forever. You desperately wanted to go back, relieve that happiness that seemed so everlasting even when it wasn’t.

Maybe, in a way, it was everlasting, because you could play that memory so easily recalled from the back of your mind.

Gripping your own thighs, you breathed.

“That was also the night I found out where he got those bruises…”

She looked intrigued, pulling out her notebook. “It seems this reason brings you anger.”

“At first, it did…”

“What was it?”

You were going to have to lie. Thankfully, you thought this through the moment you decided to be here.

“He runs away from home a lot. And when he does, he goes back to his old neighborhood for… things he hadn’t settled yet since before he was adopted by Bruce. A lot of thugs live there. And they know who he is. Sometimes just a light punch in the gut. Sometimes he gets beaten down.”

She wasn’t allowed to react judgingly, but you saw her look at you differently when you mentioned that. “I see…”

“I found out about it when he left the room and saw him turn to his old street from out my window.”

“Did he know? That you found out?”

You looked down at your hands. “No…”

-----

Then

You were woken up by light kisses down your face. You smiled, humming to his lips. But when you woke up finding it was still dark, Jason already dressed and standing over your bed, you sat up.

“You’re leaving?”

“I have to go, okay? Bruce is looking for me. I’ll be back after lunch tomorrow.”

You didn’t want him to leave. You pouted, holding his hand refusing to let go. He just laughed and kissed your eyelids. “I’ll be back before you wake up in the morning, then. You won't notice I’m gone.”

“Fine.” You leaned back on the bed. Giving you one last kiss to your face, he walked over to the door.

You smiled at him, and he smiled back. he left the room with your heart so light and happy and everything you yearned for with him.

But you weren’t able to go back to sleep. You just lied there on your empty bed, seeing the light outside coming to a light purple. Your legs were aching. Your whole body was throbbing. Sex was fucking amazing. You definitely wanted another round when he comes back tomorrow.

Grabbing your dress, you pulled it on and went out to get a glass of water. All that panting made you wake up extremely thirsty.

Then, you opened the window of your fire exit to let in some air. Drinking from your glass, you watched the dim sky and the lights of the city shining against it.

A figure. At the far-off rooftop.

You squinted your eyes and leaned over the window.

It was jumping around, leaping from one roof to another. He was in a hurry. It was a man. No. A boy?

And with the sky giving you enough light, you saw red and yellow on his suit. And a cape on his back. You saw him fire something from his hand, then he shot up to a rooftop.

Robin?

Bewildered, you watched in awe.

You’ve never seen him in action before. Just in news articles from photographers at night trying their best to have a good picture of him, which they almost never do.

He moved so quickly. And he was getting closer. Close enough for you to notice his movements and his hair.

A head of black hair, bouncing as he moved, it reminded you of the way it did when Jason-

No.

No…

The glass in your hand broke into thousands of shards when it met the ground.

----

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

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Taglist: everyartistwas-firstanamateur @sarcasmismyfirstlove @damned-queen-of-gotham @idkmanicantenglish @wunderstell @birdy-bat-riya @get-loki@everyday-imfangirling @comic-nerd-dc @multifandoms916 @icequeen208@offendedfishnoises @egdolan @xemiefx @arkhamtoddler @elsenthal@mythicbitchx @supremehaunter @ burning-alive @lucy-roo roseangel013bf @ loxbbg reclusive-chicken-nuggethttp-cherries shadowsndaisiesriver9noble zphilophobiazannoylinglyaries @knightfall05x

#jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd smut #jason todd angst #batfamily #robin #red hood #batarella #batarella fluff #batarella angst #i don't hate you series #i don't hate you #jason todd x reader series #jason todd reader insert #batarella series

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harveywritings92 · 4 years ago

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father!Connor x Reincarnated! Modern reader!

Burning and calling out for your dad that's the last thing you remembered when the ceiling collapsed and the flames consumed you, next thing you knew you were freezing your eyes looked around wildly as you took in the surrounding area, this wasn't the streets of [city/town], it was night time and you were in a forest?... and it was winter now? Not not possible it was July, you were sure of it!

*How did I get here?!*

You wondered as you tried to stand but couldn't move you looked to see what was restraining you. and felt your stomach curdled when you saw that you were swaddled in a soot covered blanket next to body of a woman who had her limp arms wrapped securely around your now tiny body, her dead eyes stained with frozen tears as they stared blankly at you it didn't take long for you to register that you were now in the body of a newborn and were very sure this woman is...was your mother.

Struggling between fear and confusion you did the only thing a baby could do in this situation wail at the top of your lungs and hope someone finds you, before a wolf or bear comes around.

Connor's pov

He was returning to the homestead from Boston after ordering some upgrades and repairs for the Aquila, it was getting colder as the night settled snow crunched under the hooves as they trotted down the road home, when the assassin's nose caught a whiff of smoke in the air, he assumed some hunters had made camp somewhere and kept on route when his ears caught a high pitch scream in the distance, at first he thought it was a fox, rabbit or maybe a cougar? But something didn't feel right about it.

Connor's gut felt twisted as he brought the horse to a stop got off and strained his ears to hear through the wind before pinpointing where the scream was coming from and followed it, the screaming slowly turned into a the wails of a baby, causing the hairs on the back of Connor's stand on end as he quickened his pace to the location.

There the assassin was met by a sickening sight as his eyes wildly swept over the remains of still smoldering cabin, he felt bile bubbling up in his throat as the smell of smoke and burning flesh invaded his nose triggering visions of his mother's death as his gaze soon landed on the snow covered body of a woman holding onto a screaming infant.

He stared down at the pair he locked eyes with little one soon Connor eyes started burned with tears as a rogue sob escaped his throat he crouched down and hesitated before his shaking hands gently took the baby from their mother's body, he held the baby close trying to keep them warm as he managed to calmed down investigated the surrounding area, where it became very obvious that the fire was no accident.

Connor eyes noticed a mark on what was left of the walls he ran finger along it felt oily; Bear grease. the fire had started here after someone dumped bear grease around the cabin and lit aflame with the woman and child still inside, the mother's body had marks and what looked like rope stuck to her burns, the fire must've burned through the bindings and she used what all the strength left in her to get her baby out.

Someone wanted them dead, but why? there were footprints leading away from the site; Connor would've followed them, but his concerned gaze went back to the baby who was oddly quiet now and was alarmed at how cold their cheeks felt. The assassin made the wise decision to return to the homestead.

Achilles was not pleased when Connor returned late but his frustration soon turned to confusion and shock when he saw what his student was carrying a baby, his shock was replaced by fear when he noted how blue the child was looking he brought a hand up and felt the their cheek the old man retracted his hand.

"Give me that child, and go take of your robes and shirt sit near the fire" Connor gave Achilles a incredulous look. "Do it" the old man barked before snapping a Faulkner to wake up and go get Dr. Lyle the sailor was confused until he saw the situation sobered up and ran out of the manor like a bat out of hell,

Connor was sitting in front of the fire place as he watched Achilles take the wet blankets and dress off the baby which turned out to be a girl, and handed the unresponsive child to native man as his mentor showed him how to hold her. a the old draped a blanket over them as they waited those few minutes that passed felt like hours.

Achilles mumbled to himself wondering what was keeping the doctor, Connor while kept nervously starring at the baby she wasn't as blue looking anymore, but she was still unresponsive it was unnerving, finally the door open and Faulkner and a sleepy Lyle walked in the doctor was immediately on high alert when he saw the baby in Connor's arms.

"Oh, my what happened?"

"Cabin fire she was the only one alive when I got there."

"Good job at keeping her warm, however she doesn't seem to be breathing too well... may i see her?"

"..."

Connor reluctantly handed the baby over, Lyle carefully held her over his knee and gave her back a few small slaps which caused the native man to jump out of his chair. "What are yo-" the baby suddenly threw up before letting out a wheeze followed a series of small coughs as air filled her lungs, her skin had a more healthier hue now before bursting out crying, doctor White wiped her mouth before handing her back to Connor.

"She was choking the poor thing! must of inhaled a lot of smoke... Your lucky you found her when you did." Connor just hummed as he tried to calm the baby down but failing, Achilles huffed and took her from the young assassin then snapped at him to put his shirt on as he rocked her, the baby instantly quietly down as Faulkner handed Achilles a blanket to cover the baby with.

While Doctor White was instructing Connor to observe the baby overnight to make she was alright which caused a bit of a stir with both mentor and student. "W-Wait your not suggest that I take care of her?!" the young man sputtered as he awkwardly eyed the baby who seemed more alert now.

"Well of course, who else?" Lyle hummed Connor started trying to make up excuses why he couldn’t do that! they don't have a cradle, clothes, how was he supposed to feed her? Achilles pointed at his son's old cradle that was stored under a table which also had some old baby clothes inside, and was sure Prudence wouldn't mind helping with the feeding problem, she's been complaining about making too much milk to the other women.

Connor sighed pinching the bridge of his nose it was clear he wasn't going to win this, he then looked back at the baby who eyes were looking around the den tired and curious, She was small, alone and defenseless he felt his heart throb before sighing. "Alright, I will watch her and will send for help should something happen, thank you doctor." Lyle nodded bidding Connor and Achilles a good night.

[skip through Achilles showing Connor how to dress the baby and put her to bed.]

back to your pov

*What happened?* you thought waking up fully and looking around the room; happy that you were dry and warm, but but exasperated about still being in the dark on where the hell where you were, your e/c eyes scanned the ceiling brows furrowed somehow this room was familiar; you've seen it before, but where? you sighed and struggled to move your head to get a better look around, but your neck refused to move. *damn newborn limbs!* you huffed frustrated as your tiny hand made a fist damming whoever thought it would be a good idea to bring you back as a baby!

The the sound of footsteps and voices talking got your attention. "She's in the library, and didn't make a sound all night." a worried male voice stated, Odd you could've sworn you've heard that voice before, But damn if you can't remember where! the male's voice was followed by a reassuring female voice. "Babies can differ from one and another, I sure she's just fine." Goddamn you knew that voice too! *Just where the hell am I?* you babbled loud and annoyed as the voices were now in the room with you.

"See? she's chatting up a storm now!" the woman's voice exclaimed as a large shadowy figure came into your sight, You felt kind of scared at first at the man's imposing figure before he leaned in giving you a better look at his face ,you jaw dropped in a form of a toothless grimace when you realized who it was. *Holy Shit It's Connor Kenway,* then the second realization *Holy shit I'm in a video game!* of course the only thing that came out of your mouth was an nonsensical babble.

the assassin hummed at the sound before he carefully took you out of the cradle and presented you to Prudence "Aw, look at you! hello pretty one.~" She cooed with big smile the second she saw you and took you from Connor. *why was she here?* you thought not seeing Connor leave as the farmer sat down in a chair you awkwardly watched the new mother [Hunter's two moths older than you.] lifted her shirt up presenting her breast to you *oh...okay." You probably would've fussed or resisted but your empty stomach gurgled leaving you no choice but to got to town.

[Skip, after feeding time, and 3rd pov]

Prudence was soon joined by Diana and Catherine who were cooing and coddling at the two babies sitting on the couch next to each other as Warren had dropped Hunter off fawned over you too before returning to work, said boy looked down right confused to see another baby for the first time, while You were having an existential crisis about your current situation which the women giggled at as they talked about you two becoming friends, sharing clothes, toys, extra blankets they had for You, however their meeting was soon interrupted by Connor arguing with Achilles.

"My answer is no, she can't stay here!"

"Funny you didn't have a problem about it last night, old man!"

"Don't be a hypocritical and That was an emergency!"

"Well, this is an emergency as well, someone wants that child dead and I intend to find out who! So until then she stays!"

Connor's decision as final causing Achilles let an annoyed bellow before seemingly leaving the manor to cool off, there was an a tense silence filled the air as Connor's foot steps came upstairs and he appeared in the library doorway and awkwardly stared at the women who starring stunned at the native man.

"Ah, I apologize you all had to hear that." he coughed before looking at you and Hunter sitting on the couch you were being propped up by pillow while Hunter was on his belly starring than up at Connor confused while his mom and the women found their voices mainly questions as to how exactly did you come into Connor's care?

If reader is of native decent:

[At First they thought you were his child as it appeared you were a native as well, your skin had a similar maroon tone like his, but at a second glance it seemed getting a bit lighter/darker than his, also you shared no facial features that resembled Connor's what so ever, your hair looked black, but they could see it was falling out and patches of [Blond,Ginger,Brown.] hair was growing back in it's place, and it's type was turning out more [Wiry,Coarse,Curly,Wavy.] then Connor's and you're eyes were [Blue,grey,amber,green,hazel,brown] it became increasingly obvious that you were half or at least have some native in your bloodline.]

English,Hispanic Italian,Asian,African. descent:

It was obvious you weren't his child as your skin was too/had [fair, bronze, marigold, or chestnut ] tones to it and your eyes were [blue/green/gray, black, hazel] and your hair was looking too curly/wavy/straight [red/blond/brown/black hair, and your facial features showed a clear sign you were of [English,Hispanic Italian,Asian,African.] descent... that and the fact Connor would've told at least told one person in town (Norris) that he was seeing someone and was going to be a father, the native man answered as truthfully as he could.

The women's maternal instinct were now on high alert and stated if he was going to be this baby's guardian he was going to need help and started giving Connor child rearing advice and teaching him how to change her nappies, and assured him that they watched her if he had to go on another exposition, Connor thanked them before Diana realize they didn't know what the wee one's name was.

Connor looked down at you for a few moments thinking hard before a ghost of a smile played on his lips. "Y/n. Her name is Y/n." all the women cooed and started greeted you by name, meanwhile you were reeling in annoyance. "Seriously? " you huffed blowing a raspberry at Connor who blinked before wiped up the drool dribbling down your chin as a result.

*I get reincarnated and you give the same name I've always had, you couldn't think of something cooler?* your e/c eyes glared daggers at hoping he'd hear you; of course he couldn't hear you or your complaints, guess you'll just have to have to live with it, what could go wrong?

#connor kenway x reader #assassin's creed 3 #davenport homestead #achilles davenport #assassin's creed imagine #fanfiction #dad!Connor kenway #reincarnated au #ratohnhaké:ton

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oriigami · 4 years ago

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poison and wine

(Nami isn't expecting to run into Vinsmoke Reiju plotting a murder at the same high-society party where she's planning a heist, but, well. Two birds, one stone. Reiju/Nami, M. Read it on AO3 here!)

“What,” Nami hissed under her breath, “are you doing here.”

She kept her voice low, so as not to raise any alarms. Just around the corner from the narrow alleyway they were hidden in was the gateway into the governor’s mansion, the massive open doors spilling light onto the cobblestones of the street. Guards with rifles stood stiffly on either side of the doorway as guests draped in silk and jewels flowed through the entryway.

The Governor’s Ball was the social event of the year, on this particular island. Anyone who was anyone would be in attendance, and droves of nobility from surrounding islands were invited as well. A forged invitation was tucked away in Nami’s own handbag, next to her lockpicks.

Vinsmoke Reiju tilted her head to one side innocently, pink bangs falling across her forehead, and leisurely looked Nami up and down. She looked absolutely unbothered by the blue steel of Nami’s clima-tact pressed beneath her chin and against her raised wrists, pinning her to the cold stone of the wall behind her. She was wearing a dress, mostly black and patterned with a scattered spiral of little white flowers, hem just low enough to hide the numbers tattooed to her thighs. There were pink and white gemstones dangling from her earrings, and Nami didn’t doubt they were real.

It occurred to Nami she was staring, and she forced herself to jerk her gaze back to Reiju’s eye, which was watching her with something that looked suspiciously like amusement.

“I could ask the same of you,” Reiju said mildly. “I hadn’t heard any word of the Strawhat Pirates on this island, and I do keep an eye out. Are you here alone?”

Nami didn’t answer, narrowing her eyes and tightening her grip on her weapon, but Reiju smiled as if she’d given confirmation anyways.

“My business here is nothing to do with you or your darling crew at all, don’t worry,” she said. ��The island to the northeast has a king who’s made himself a surplus of enemies. A distasteful man who gets along well with other distasteful men. Someone has paid quite a lot of money to see him dead, but he’s rather paranoid and reclusive, which makes reaching him difficult… except, of course, for his annual attendance to this soiree, due to his close friendship with the governor.”

“So you’re here to assassinate him?”

“Yes,” Reiju confirmed easily. “And yourself? It’s nothing to do with the governor’s famed collection of jewels, I presume?”

Nami glared at her infuriatingly knowing smile and very, very pink lips for a moment longer before she sighed and lowered her staff, letting it contract back to baton size and quickly tucking it back into the leg holster concealed beneath her skirt. Her dress was sea-green and sleeveless, and she’d slit the sides herself to make it easier to run or fight in if need be.

“I couldn’t resist, when I heard they’d be on display,” she admitted. “I asked my crew to drop me off. I’m almost disappointed by the security here, though. I thought this would be more of a challenge. Anyways, it doesn’t matter. You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

“I’ve heard the surveillance inside the mansion is bothersomely tight, however,” Reiju said, glancing around the corner to the steady stream of wealthy guests still flowing through the gates. “Perhaps the two of us can still help each other?”

Nami looked at her carefully. “What do you mean?”

Reiju shrugged casually and smiled. “Two pretty women wandering about together will certainly arouse less suspicion than two individuals poking around separately. And I understand infiltration to be a specialty of yours. Care to be my date?”

Nami’s first instinct was to reject the offer out of hand, but- well, she didn’t know anything about the security inside, and Reiju’s point was sound. And Reiju’s assassination attempt could potentially provide her a fantastic distraction for her theft, if she timed it right.

(And Reiju was very, very pretty.)

“No strings attached,” Nami said. “I’m not responsible for making sure you get out of here in one piece. And don’t think you get a cut of the loot, either. Anything I steal is mine and mine alone.”

“Fair terms,” Reiju conceded, and extended a crooked arm. “Shall we, then?”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Nami said, combing her hair back into place with her fingers and checking her reflection in a puddle of stagnant water before slipping her arm into Reiju’s. “You might have helped us get out of Tottoland, but that doesn’t mean we’re friends or anything, and I definitely don’t trust you.”

“Of course,” Reiju agreed, sounding unbothered as they stepped back onto the street arm-in-arm, falling into step with a few other approaching guests. “Would ‘allies’ be more acceptable?”

“Allies works,” Nami conceded before wincing. “Ugh, I sound like Torao.”

“Hm?”

Nami waved her hand. “Nevermind,” she said before breaking into a bright smile as they approached the doorway.

“Evening, ladies,” the guard said, bowing his head shallowly in deference, though Nami didn’t miss the way his eyes never left them. It seemed Reiju was right- they would be more watched than she’d anticipated. “Invitations, please.”

Reiju pulled an invitation out and held it out for inspection, the ornate gold leaf lining glittering in the light. It was a really good forgery, even Nami had to admit- much more professional than the one she’d brought. Seeing it, she felt a sudden bolt of doubt as to whether her own invite would pass. She’d have to try something else to get past the guard.

“Princess Reiju Dokuyaku,” Reiju introduced herself with a thin smile, holding the small card almost like a weapon.

The guard inspected the card for a long moment, then nodded, turning to Nami. “And…?”

“Her wife,” Nami interjected brightly, hanging off of Reiju’s arm and giving the guard a bubbly grin. This was an act she knew, though it had been awhile since she’d had to play it. She was pleased to note her acting skills hadn’t rusted at all. You never knew when they would come in handy.

The guard gave her a considering look, then, “Right. Enjoy the party, my ladies. Be sure to ask security if you have any concerns,” he said, waving them past without another look.

“Wife?” Reiju asked under her breath, a smile in her voice, as they proceeded into the foyer.

“Don’t get smug,” Nami muttered back, elbowing her. “My invite wouldn’t have passed and guards are less likely to question a spouse, that’s all.”

“Hm,” Reiju said, pink lips curving up into a smile. “I can certainly think of worse fates.”

It was just as well they stepped out into the ballroom just then, because Nami couldn’t think of a single clever rejoinder to that.

The ballroom was massive, with a high, arcing ceiling and a sweepingly wide marble dance floor, polished so bright it shone. Everything from the windowsills to the chandeliers above was excessively ornate. Just looking at it made Nami’s fingers itch. The room was populated by guests wandering here and there, most in pairs or small groups, marveling at the decor or talking among themselves.

“It doesn’t look like the jewels are on display yet,” Nami noted under her breath, straightening up to get a better look at the head of the room, where a collection of empty plinths stood.

“Unsurprising, if they’re to be the centerpiece,” Reiju said, casting a look around. “It seems his majesty has yet to make an appearance as well.” She turned back to Nami, and her one visible eye glittered a little. “It seems we have some time to kill, no?”

“Seems so,” Nami agreed, fluidly snagging a flute of champagne off a passing waiter’s platter. Reiju grabbed her own as the man passed, and twirled the stem between her fingers.

“Shall we toast?” Reiju asked. She hadn’t dropped her expression of quiet amusement once since entering the manor, and it was starting to get on Nami’s nerves.

Nami arched a brow. “To crime?”

Reiju laughed. “How about… to a lasting partnership?”

“This is a one-night-only affair, Vinsmoke.”

“I’ve found that one night can last a very long time, if one knows what one is doing,” Reiju said with a knowing smile that slipped right under Nami’s skin. She fought down the blush. It would have felt too much like conceding defeat.

“I suppose I can drink to that,” Nami conceded, and tapped her glass against Reiju’s. The high clink of crystal against crystal rang like a bell. “To mutual benefits.”

“Indeed,” Reiju said, smiling into her glass before taking a drink. Her vibrant lip gloss left a faint pink smudge on the rim of the glass, and Nami couldn’t seem to stop herself from noticing it. Her lips were the exact same shade of pink as her hair.

She wondered if Reiju’s lip gloss was poisonous. Not for any particular reason. It just seemed prudent to know, in case… circumstances arose.

They made their way across the room, winding through groups of chattering nobles and royals and other people of importance. Nami listened in on the conversations as they passed, hoping to hear something about the planned events of the night or perhaps some more word on the security measures, but most of the guests seemed more focused on recent pieces of gossip from the surrounding islands.

Suddenly, as they were making their way past a small group of guests, the word pirate caught her ear, and she couldn’t help but slow down, changing course to drift over to the conversation, handing her now-empty champagne glass off to another waiter. Reiju followed her lead easily.

“Oh, it’s just awful,” an older woman in a gaudy golden dress and a tiara on her forehead was lamenting. “The pirate activity has only gotten worse and worse in the past two years. It’s taking the most dreadful toll on my nerves.”

The man whose arm she was clinging to nodded solemnly. “It seems as though ever since the Paramount War, the world’s been in chaos.”

“It’s all because of those feral dogs of the Worst Generation!” a younger woman dressed in green spoke up, voice sharp and unpleasant. “We were fine as we were before they started upsetting the natural order of things! Why can’t they just leave us be and live like law-abiding citizens like the rest of us? Rotten criminal scum.”

Nami had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything, and her hands curled into fists at her sides as she felt her face start to heat up. You have no idea, she wanted to say. You have no idea, you here in your jewels and your champagne and your guards at the door. You don’t know anything about him, you don’t know anything about us, you have no idea and no right-

A cool hand with shimmery pink nail polish, impeccably neat, settled on her bare shoulder, pulling her back to reality. “Pardon me,” Reiju said, taking a step forward and slipping effortlessly into the conversation, tugging the guests’ attention to her just as easily. “Terribly sorry to interrupt. Did I hear you were talking about pirates?”

“We certainly were!” the woman in green said. “Have you been reading the papers lately?”

“Yes, I pay very close attention to the world news,” Reiju said. “You have to, these days, mm? It’s so hard to keep track of it all. So hard to know who is on your side.”

“Goodness, yes,” said the older woman in gold.

“And, why, if one isn’t well-informed, one could wind up being scared of absolutely everything, which seems to me like a positively pitiable existence,” Reiju continued, and Nami could tell at once the words weren’t meant for the guests, not really.

She looked around at the guests again- well-dressed and wide-eyed and frightened and weak, and yes, maybe Reiju was right. You have no idea, she thought again, though this time there was no anger, just a dawning sort of comprehension. No idea at all.

And they never would. They would never know the bone-deep fury of injustice or the glee of a successful escape, or the feeling of the ocean wind on sunburnt skin. Their worlds would never grow beyond these decorated rooms and tittering conversations, frightened of the pirates at their doors when they should have been worried about something else entirely.

“Exactly!” the woman in green said with a firm nod, as though she had the slightest idea at all what she was agreeing to, and the conversation resumed, now thoroughly distracted from the topic of the Worst Generation and, by proxy, the Strawhat Pirates.

Nami reached up to her shoulder to find Reiju’s hand and lace their fingers together. Reiju gently pulled her away from the conversation, and Nami let herself go.

“Thanks,” Nami said, once they were far enough away from the conversation. Out of the heat of the moment, she felt almost embarrassed of her almost-outburst. She’d never had near misses like that on her many infiltrations before becoming a pirate.

It was strange to realize that, in the intervening time, she’d changed so deeply. Come to care so deeply.

“I’m out of practice,” she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “I used to be a lot better at playing along.”

Reiju was giving her a look that she couldn’t quite place, with a light in her blue eye that made her look all at once much more human. “It’s not a weakness to care about things,” she said.

There was something more to those words than just what Reiju said, Nami could tell from the tightening in her shoulders and the sudden vulnerability in her voice, but she didn’t push, though she couldn’t help but wonder. It didn’t feel like the time or the place.

Instead, she gave herself a long moment to catch her breath and regain her composure, until she was sure she wouldn’t turn back around to take a swing at that lady in green, and then smiled again.

After all, this was shaping up to be an interesting night. She wasn’t about to let anyone ruin it for her.

---

After they’d drifted between a few other (luckily more boring) conversations and shared a few more flutes of champagne apiece, Nami found her attention drifting towards the section of the marble floor where a few of the guests were dancing, turning in slow, careful circles to the accompaniment of a string quartet.

Maybe it was down to the faint, warm hum of the alcohol in her system, but the words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. “Want to dance?”

Reiju looked surprised, but pleasantly so, her visible eye widening momentarily before she smiled. “I’d love to,” she said. Nami realized belatedly that Reiju’s hand was still in hers, her skin calmingly cool, as she led her over to the dance floor.

“I ought to warn you, I don’t have much experience with dancing,” Reiju said, and true to her words, her movements were a little hesitant as she settled a hand on Nami’s waist, despite the easy grace with which she seemed to do everything.

Nami blinked. “Really?”

Reiju tipped her head. “Is that surprising?”

Nami shrugged a little, absently adjusting Reiju’s loose grip on her hand to something more correct. This, at least, was something she could do in her sleep, after countless cruise ships and gaudy parties and ‘may I have this dance, miss?’ “I just assumed, since you’re royalty and all. And Sanji does.”

Reiju laughed, looking momentarily delighted. “Does he? Adorable. But… no, our father was never particularly concerned about our education in such areas,” she admitted, her expression shuttering slightly.

Ah. “Well, no problem,” Nami said. “I can teach you.”

Reiju’s smile softened. “I’d love that,” she said, and sounded sincere.

The music was slow and classical, easy to move to. Despite her proclaimed inexperience, Reiju was a fast learner, quickly falling into rhythm with the music and Nami’s steps as she guided the both of them around the dance floor. The hem of her little black dress, decorated with flowers, twirled around her knees.

Reiju was so very graceful. Nami couldn’t help but be almost envious of the easy balance with which she seemed to do everything. She was used to seeing it in Sanji, easily balancing armfuls of plates or snapping up a leg to catch a falling dish without missing a step, but something about the way Reiju moved practically turned her into poetry.

Because there was really no avoiding it- Reiju was beautiful, all long legs and pink lips and unblemished skin. Nami kept catching herself staring, and it seemed like every time she did, Reiju’s knowing eyes caught hers.

The more time she spent with Reiju’s cool hands in hers, Reiju’s perfectly lacquered nails against her skin, Reiju’s clever smile haunting her mind, she more she wanted to get her alone in a bed or against a wall and just-

Nami might have been a little in over her head. She had a bad habit, when it came to girls, their eyes and their smiles, and all the better if there was a taste of danger involved. She spun Reiju out, catching her by her fingertips and pulling her back in, and for half a second they were nearly nose-to-nose.

She really was stupid, letting herself get reeled in like this.

She couldn’t even bring herself to regret it.

They were three songs deep when a cavernous thunk sound reverberated through the ballroom, and they both stilled in place almost at once, looking up at the same time as all eyes turned to the massive doors at the entrance swinging shut.

In front of them stood a thin man with a slick grey mustache, holding a microphone.

“Ah, this will be our venerable host,” Reiju said. She was still tucked half against Nami’s chest, where she’d been when the music had stopped, and seemed disinclined to move. “It seems the party will now start in earnest.”

Nami could have scolded herself. She’d gotten so caught up in Reiju that she’d momentarily forgotten the greater situation- the jewels to be won, the heist to be made, the man somewhere in this crowd who would certainly be dead by the time the night was out. She had to force herself to drag her attention away from the woman pressed close against her and focus on the host as he began to speak.

“Honored guests,” he said, amplified voice rolling around the room. “It’s a pleasure to have you all here with me tonight, for the annual Governor’s Ball. It seems we’ve all arrived safely. Looking out now, I see plenty of old friends and new faces alike, and I hope you’ll all have a splendid time.”

“The schedule for this evening will be as follows: after a half hour of mingling, we will have some musical performances from some of the loveliest singers in the area, and then waiters will provide the main course followed by the presentation of the evening’s centerpiece- the crown jewels.”

“If you have any concerns at all, please bring them to me or one of our many esteemed security officers. Safety is a priority, especially with the recent pirate activity. My greatest wish is for you all to feel safe, fulfilled, and happy tonight. Please, enjoy the festivities!”

With that, he bowed, and a polite round of applause rose from the crowd of assembled guests. Nami glanced around and took fresh notice of the guards spaced along the walls. All armed. She was abruptly very glad for the cool, reassuring press of her compressed clima-tact against her thigh.

“It would be better to get to the gems before they’re on display,” she murmured, half to herself and half to Reiju, quiet enough to be barely audible. “Those pedestals are very visible.” Anyone who drew too close to them would be almost immediately noticed by the guards, and most likely dealt with accordingly.

“By design, I’m sure,” Reiju agreed. “Shall we have a look about, then? They must already be somewhere in the manor.”

“Do you see your… target anywhere around here?” Nami asked. She glanced around, but it told her nothing- all of the faces here were unfamiliar.

Reiju shook her head, one-eyed gaze roving watchfully over the crowd. “I don’t, but he must be here somewhere if all the guests are already arrived.”

“What if he’s just not here this year?”

Reiju hummed. “It’s possible. If that’s the case, I’ll just have to approach the problem with a bit more mess,” she said mildly, as though breaking in and murdering a paranoid king on his home turf was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. “Even if so, though- the evening’s already been quite worth my while.”

Nami arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Reiju’s pink-painted lips curved up. “Mhm,” she hummed.

A voice in the back of Nami’s mind whispered, You don’t need to be back with your crew until morning. You have a whole night ahead.

“Shall we have a walk about, then?” Reiju said, extending a hand, and Nami took it before she could even begin to think twice.

They slipped easily down one of the hallways that branched off of the main ballroom. It seemed all the rest of the mansion was just as lavishly decorated as the centerpiece room- tapestries depicting scenes of battle and bloodshed hung on the walls, spaced here and there with ornately-worked doors and windows, and lush carpeting muffled the sounds of their heels against the floor. Nami wondered just how many millions of beri surrounded them, built into the house itself, and couldn’t help a flash of bitter greed.

At her side, Reiju made a small, half-amused noise. “Look at that. History being rewritten all around us.”

Nami glanced over at her. “What?”

“Do you know anything about the history of this island?”

Nami shook her head. “Only that there was a civil war… ten years ago? Right?”

“Indeed, though that’s only a fragment of the story,” Reiju said, nodding at the tapestries. “I’d advise you ask Nico-san at some point, she’d surely tell it better than I, but the simple version is that the former king of this island was deposed and his power seized by the honored governor who is hosting us tonight.”

“By the few reputable accounts that exist, the king was a mild, unimpressive but decent man, who had maintained the peace for decades. The governor enlisted the help of the greedy ruler of a neighboring island- the same I’m aiming for tonight, as it happens- to aid him in his overthrow, and launched a surprise attack. The so-called civil war barely took a night. So, a question, Miss Navigator,” Reiju said, and gestured towards the hanging tapestries with an airy wave, “Just when did all these glorious battles take place?”

Nami slowly pivoted in place, taking in the scenes woven around them. A man in a crown with bloodied hands and a wicked sneer; two armies, clashing in what looked to be a city center. She thought of Alabasta, and Vivi’s voice cracking with sobs.

She exhaled, and pressed her lips together for a moment. “Well, I’m glad we’re about to rob him blind, then,” she said, her voice a little sharper than she’d intended.

For the first time that night, Reiju’s smile had teeth. “I as well,” she said.

Nami raised an eyebrow. “I thought you people didn’t care about-” she waved a hand- “morality.”

“Says the pirate?” Reiju asked, sounding unbothered. Nami was beginning to wonder if anything at all offended her. “I’d think you of all people would understand that criminal acts don’t preclude an appreciation for justice, elusive though it is.”

“Fair enough,” Nami conceded. She opened her mouth to say something else when suddenly another voice reached her ears- around the next corner from them, and drawing steadily nearer. She paused in step immediately, listening intently, and saw Reiju doing the same.

It was the voice of their host, the governor, the same voice that had been ringing around the ballroom not long before. There were two sets of footsteps.

“...could make it,” the governor was saying.

Nami glanced around and caught her eyes on the nearest door. She quickly sidestepped over to the wall, grateful that the carpet muted the clack of her heels, and eased the door open, luckily without needing to wrestle with it. It opened into a small closet, and Nami ducked inside without hesitation, yanking Reiju in after her and easing the door closed again just as the footsteps rounded the corner.

The space was narrow- even with their backs against opposite walls, they were chest-to-chest. Just enough light eked in past the door for Nami to make out the outlines of Reiju’s face, very close to hers.

Another voice said, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” and Nami could feel Reiju tense, just slightly.

“That’s him,” she whispered in Nami’s ear, so faint it was barely an exhale, her breath warm on Nami’s skin.

“I’m glad you agreed to raise the security this year,” the second man- Reiju’s target, the king- continued. “I’m telling you, people are aiming for my life! I have reputable information!”

The governor chuckled. “Anything for my dear friend! I’ve told the guards to keep a special eye out for you, as well. You needn’t worry about a thing.”

“You wouldn’t believe what a weight off my shoulders that is!” the king said with a laugh, as the two voices passed by the closet door without a pause, completely oblivious to the two women listening to their every word.

“I understand how you feel, of course,” the governor said. “Security is a necessity, especially in these trying times. Why do you think I’m keeping my collection safely in my office for the next few hours?”

Bingo. Nami grinned. She had her target. And Reiju had hers.

The voices lapsed into silence after that, and as Nami waited for the footsteps to fade, she became increasingly aware of Reiju’s heart beating against her chest; of Reiju’s perfume, something like flowers and something like steel, filling the small space; of the faintest hint of light through the door catching on Reiju’s glossy pink lip gloss.

Poison, she remembered dimly, and couldn’t bring herself to care even a little bit.

“You know,” Reiju whispered, still hushed almost to inaudibility, “we have plenty of time.”

Fuck it, Nami thought, and kissed her.

It was clumsy, in the crowded darkness, off-center and uncertain at first, but Reiju responded immediately, pushing Nami back against the closet wall with her whole body weight, leaning into the kiss and deepening it into something that felt almost sinful.

One of Nami’s hands was still around one of Reiju’s wrists, and she felt her way up the other woman’s arm and across her bare shoulders, finding the contours of her body in the darkness, pulling her close, holding her close. Reiju’s skin was cool, but her body was warm, pressed against Nami’s, chest to chest and hip to hip like puzzle pieces. Her hands closed around Nami’s upper arms, perfectly manicured nails pressing little crescents into her skin.

It was the furthest thing from dignified, for all the silk they were draped in, for all the diamonds hanging from Reiju’s ears. Outside there was a party, and a horde of jewels to steal, but in the moment Nami couldn’t care about any of it, with Reiju’s mouth on hers, Reiju’s lip gloss on her tongue and on her teeth.

She tasted like strawberries. Nami felt like she could have got drunk on that taste alone.

After what felt like the best forever Nami had ever known, Reiju pulled away just long enough to whisper, sounding just a little out of breath, the most she had all night, “I was wondering when you were going to kiss me.”

Nami snorted into the crook of Reiju’s shoulder, pressing lips against her skin. “And how was it?” she asked, unable to keep a spark of knowing out of her voice. She knew damn well that she was good at kissing girls.

“Delicious,” Reiju murmured emphatically, something irresistibly heavy in her voice, and Nami found her lips in the darkness and kissed her again and again.

She couldn’t have said whether it was ten or twenty or fifty minutes later that they eventually pulled apart, her arms on Reiju’s back and Reiju’s hands on her shoulders, the both of them dizzy and thoroughly kissed. Nami leaned against the wall at her back while she caught her breath, Reiju still flush against her chest, their breath and perfume mingling together in the narrow space.

For a long, long moment, she just rested there, and felt the rise and fall of Reiju’s chest against hers, the press of her hands and the tickle of her hair against her bare shoulder and neck.

This was already a far better night than she could ever have dreamed of, and she hadn’t even laid hands on a single gem. The weight and warmth of Reiju in her arms was easily worth the governor’s entire horde.

“We’ve got work to do,” Nami eventually said, and didn’t move.

“Mhm,” Reiju hummed. “When do you need to be back with your crew?”

“Not until morning.”

She could feel Reiju smile against her shoulder. “So why don’t we get our work done, get out of here… and then see what we can do with the rest of the night, hm?”

Nami grinned into the darkness, feeling excitement bubble through her veins like champagne- at the prospect of getting away clean with jewels dripping from her hands, at the thought of Reiju’s dress on the floor. “Sounds like heaven.”

---

The plan was relatively simple. Nami would make her way up to the governor’s office, circumventing security to help herself to the gems before they were put on display, and once she was out she would trip the alarm on purpose to cause chaos enough downstairs for Reiju to pull off her kill in the resulting confusion- which, in turn, would kick up a fresh panic and facilitate their escape.

To mutual benefits. She licked her lips idly and tasted strawberry as she made her way down the hall.

The security was much lighter outside the main ballroom where the guests were gathered, which made evading the notice of what few guards there were a piece of cake, especially for an experienced infiltrator. The guests were allowed free reign of the mansion, of course, but if she was found poking around on her own there would be questions, and more attention on her than she wanted.

In the end, the governor’s third-floor office was easy to find, and nearly as easy to slip into. There was a single bored-looking guard pacing back and forth in front of the door, but getting past him proved to just be a matter of waiting until he ducked out onto the balcony for a surreptitious smoke break and then picking the lock on the door.

The room was filled with cabinets upon cabinets of jewels, resting on velvet cushioning and lit by built-in lights. They were positioned along both sides of the long room, so that whoever was sitting at the desk at the head of the office with their back to the picture window had a full view of all the riches on display.

The cabinets were alarmed, obviously, but seeing the thin tangles of wires and triggers just made Nami’s grin grow as she fished her penknife from her purse and a couple more bobby pins from her hair. It had been a long time since she’d had to challenge herself like this, and there was something exhilarating about it.

When she had worked for Arlong, every theft had been overshadowed by the constant count running in the back of her mind, dragged down by the weight of the money buried in Bellemere’s tangerine orchard: five million, ten, thirteen, twenty million, a fifth of the way there, twenty-six-

But now she was free. She could breathe, and everything she took was hers and hers alone, rather than payment towards a promise that would never be honored. With the constant suffocating stress of desperation gone, she could finally enjoy the thrill of the job in its fullest.

It tasted like strawberries.

One by one, she carefully disconnected the alarms, tongue between her teeth in concentration, and set them aside. Sliding the window of the first cabinet open sent tingles of electricity up her arms, vibrant and bright.

The first piece she retrieved was a necklace of pearls, each bead perfectly round and glinting ivory under the cabinet lights. She draped the strand around her neck and rolled her shoulders, savoring the silky feel of the pearls against her skin. It reminded her of the feel of Reiju’s hand in hers, cool and smooth and pale as porcelain.

The riches disappeared steadily into her purse, the occasional particularly gorgeous accessory making its way onto her person instead; a golden cuff around her upper arm, a tiara set with diamonds atop her head. Before long, she had the shelves on both sides of the room cleared, gems glittering and spilling from the mouth of her overstuffed purse.

The only thing left was the centerpiece of the collection, resting in a small case on the governor’s desk- a heavy cushion-cut diamond that put stars in Nami’s eyes just from looking.

She pulled her shoes off, tossing them aside- far easier to run in bare feet than in heels.

In one smooth movement, she pulled her clima-tact from beneath her dress and snapped it open to its full length, smashed the alarmed case enclosing the diamond with a single sharp swing, grabbed the jewel with her free hand as the lights went dim and alarms began to sing out, and ran.

Three minutes, Reiju had said. She just needed to give her three minutes.

She started counting off the seconds in her head as she slammed the office door open again, no longer bothering with the pretense of subtlety. The guard who’d been watching the hallway was caught stunned with his hand halfway to his gun, and Nami wasted no time clubbing him across the head with her staff, not even bothering with the weather features.

He collapsed like a rag doll and she took off down the hallway, barefoot and bright-eyed, as more heavy footsteps approached around the corner. With the pins that had been holding her hair up gone, her updo came undone, long tangled curls of orange falling free down her back and over her shoulders.

Twenty… twenty-one… twenty-two…

She was Reiju’s distraction. Reiju was her escape route. Ordinarily she wouldn’t trust anyone outside of her crew for something like that, but, well. Even untrusting as she was, she’d always been a sucker for a pretty women with sharp smiles. Carina was proof enough of that. (She never did learn.)

She tossed a lightning bolt over her shoulder as two more guards rounded the corner, and turned down another hallway to the accompaniment of their shouting. There were more coming, stampeding up the stairs- the ballroom below must have been in absolute chaos, abandoned by the guards and full of panicked wealthy guests. A perfect setting for an assassination.

Nami had always been good at escaping. She’d learned to be good, over years and years where her only true weapons were her feet and her mind. There was a reason they called her a cat.

She dodged around corners and ducked through doors, obscuring sightlines, always careful not to lose her footing, not to back herself into a corner. The guards were thickest at the tops of the stairs, gathering there to block off her exits and wait for her to run right into them, but they were bound for disappointment. She’d never meant to leave down the stairs.

One hundred seventy-four… seventy-five… seventy-six…

She rounded a corner to the front of the house. There was an ornate floor to ceiling-picture window there, overlooking the streets below. It ran in long panels all along the stretch of hall, providing a truly stunning view of the city at night. It must have been very expensive.

Nami twisted her staff and unleashed a focused hurricane of gale-force wind that shattered it to glittering dust in an instant, not even pausing in her stride as the cool night wind rushed in. In a matter of moments, what had been a wall of glass had become an emergency exit. Two more strides took her to the lip of the void, standing on the edge between the bright, ornate mansion at her back and the dark night sky before her.

She glanced over her shoulder to wink at the guards as they rounded the corner, as they skidded to a halt almost as one to keep their momentum from carrying them out the broken window, as their eyes widened in realization.

Then she jumped.

For a moment, she was in freefall, night air rushing past her, silky turquoise skirt and tangled orange hair and gleaming strings of pearls all trailing behind her like a comet’s tail as she dropped towards the cobblestones below.

A soft laugh; a flash of pink.

A pair of arms closed around her, holding her close, gently bringing her fall to a stop ten feet off the ground, suspended in midair. Gunfire rattled out, flashing from the broken window, thudding harmlessly into the sweeping purple butterfly wings of Reiju’s raid suit, fanned out behind them, shielding them.

“Playing it a bit close there, weren’t we?” Reiju said, smiling despite her words. Her little black dress had disappeared in favor of her raid suit, sleek and revealing, and there was a splatter of blood high on one of her cheekbones.

Nami grinned, wrists trailing sapphires and silver as she looped her arms around Reiju’s neck, drunk and giddy on gold and diamonds and the lingering taste of strawberries and champagne, and said, “I like to live dangerously.”

“Spoken like a pirate,” Reiju said, eye bright with amusement. “Shall we take our leave of this dull affair, then?”

“Let’s,” Nami agreed, and Reiju swung her easily up into a princess carry and kicked off of thin air, soaring gracefully through the night sky, the panicked commotion of the party and the rattle of gunfire quickly fading behind them. The night sky was clear and bright above them, scattered with stars, and the city’s nightlife glowed beneath their feet.

She pulled herself up to press a kiss to Reiju’s cheek, and smiled when she felt a soft laugh run through the other woman’s body. Diamonds in the stars above and lights below and spilling from her purse, and diamonds hanging from Reiju’s ears, and Nami could have lived in that moment forever.

---

Reiju’s hotel room was a penthouse, the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city, because if there was one trait she shared with her brother it was an inability to do things halfway. The noise and light of the chaos at the governor’s manor was far-away and faded now, leaving them alone in the peaceful darkness of the room, sitting side by side on the silky sheets and trading smiles.

It would take time to mount a search, in a city of this size. They’d be gone by morning, long before they could be discovered.

For now, they had the night.

They’d both undressed; Reiju’s raid suit was gone, leaving her in just her underwear, the bold black of the tattoos on her legs standing out like a crime scene against the flawless smoothness of her skin. Nami couldn’t help but be reminded of a different tattoo, a mark of ownership written in dark blue ink, sharp and cruel and irrevocable.

“Nami,” Reiju said thoughtfully after a long stretch of comfortable silence, staring out the wide glass balcony windows to the city below. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Nami said, resting her hand on Reiju’s on the sheets, stolen rings cool on her fingers. Reiju leaned against her bare shoulder in answer, her skin pleasantly cool while Nami’s was still flushed from exertion.

“What’s it like to be a pirate?”

“Mmm,” Nami hummed, thinking for a second. How did you even begin to answer a question like that? It should have been impossible, and yet the words fell from her tongue easily. “Being a pirate is… freedom. It’s living exactly how you want to and chasing your dreams no matter what they are, no matter what the world tries to tell you.”

She smiled, soft and unconscious. “But it’s also finding people to share that dream with, who’ll go to the end of the world with you. There are captains who don’t see it that way- like Big Mom, or-” Arlong, she bit her tongue down on the name, and swallowed before continuing, “...but if you’ve got a good captain, and a good crew, and a good ship… I think it’s the best life there is.”

“...It sounds lovely,” Reiju murmured after a moment. There was an almost mournful kind of look on her face, something sad and something longing, lit dimly in profile by the light of the city below.

Something about that look, about the absence of the knowing gleam that had sparkled in Reiju’s eyes all night, pushed her to blurt, before she could think better of it, “Are you happy?”

Reiju blinked, like she hadn’t been expecting Nami to say anything, like she’d forgotten she was there entirely for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head. “You Strawhats,” she said, sounding fond. “What is it about you? ”

She was quiet a moment longer before she looked over, met Nami’s gaze, and smiled. There was something different about it this time, Nami couldn’t help but think. The teasing playfulness from earlier was gone, replaced by something warmer and much more honest. “I’m happy right now,” she said. “And that’s enough.”

And then, with a corner of her mouth curving up, as she reached over to prop her arms on Nami’s shoulders and lean close, “And there’s still hours before dawn.”

Nami couldn’t help but smile back, wild and free, as Reiju leaned in to kiss her with all the exhilaration of escape. They tumbled back into bed together, orange hair fanning out over sink sheets and Reiju’s body warm and cold all at once and Reiju’s lips tasting like strawberries, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

The sheets were silk and the room was dark and lit by the city below, and it turned out Reiju had been right; if one knew what one was doing, one night could last a very long time.

---

They left the hotel just before sunrise, slipping out of the city and down to the docks unnoticed in the soft grey light of earliest morning. The ocean was lapping gently against the rocky shore and the wooden beams of the pier, a sound that had long since come to mean home to Nami’s ears.

Reiju didn’t ask for a ride, and Nami didn’t offer one. That had been the terms of the affair from the start, after all; a one-night alliance. No strings attached.

But Reiju did say, “I hope I’ll see you again?” That playful spark was back in her eyes, but there was something softer there too, something more honest, some remnant of that briefly vulnerable moment they’d shared.

“Count on it,” Nami said with a grin, and Reiju kissed her once more and was gone, stealing away back down the pier without a backwards glance, leaving Nami with a purse full of gemstones and a smile too wide on her face.

She could see the silhouette of the Sunny approaching, muted by the early morning fog; come to steal her away again and bring her home, to her crew, to the next adventure.

She licked her lips, and savored the taste of strawberries.

#opfic #one piece #my writing #nami #vinsmoke reiju #opfanfic #uh do they even have a ship tag #i dont. think they do?

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

Text

Survey #401

“my love is just waiting to turn your tears to roses”

Do you typically do your makeup the same each time? Or do you like to change it up often? IF I wear makeup, it's essentially always the same. Who is the last person you were in a room with just the two of you? What were you doing? Yesterday with Mom. We were trying to find the best deal on Eco Earth, a substrate we're getting for Venus. What was the last really good book you read, and what was it about? If we're talking REALLY good book, then The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. In short summary, it's a dystopian future novel where women are now basically just objects used only for repopulation, even having their names stripped from them. They follow very strict rules as society has returned to horrible misogyny. As a woman, the "oh my god, this is possible" aspect of it is terrifying, and it causes such a sense of disgust and urge to ensure women rights always continue to be fought for. Do you feel safe in your country? For the most part, I'd say. I guess. There are places I'd feel safer, though. How many meals do you eat a day? Three. Have you ever performed a solo dance in front of a crowd? No, but I was supposed to my senior year in high school; the seniors at my dance studio were always welcome to do a solo in celebration. Mine was a modern dance to "Coma White" by Marilyn Manson, wanting to tell a story about depression and how being medicated could feel, but I eventually decided like halfway through learning the choreography that I was just too nervous to do a solo. Have you ever sung a solo? No. When you go to McDonalds, what drink do you usually get? Coke. Have you ever had to call and complain about a product you bought? No. Do you own a designer purse? Definitely not. I'm not wasting that much money on something like that. What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve ever heard about yourself? Apparently, Jason and I had a baby in high school even though I was obviously never pregnant. To my knowledge, it was started by his ex. Who is now a good friend of mine lmaooo. Life is funny. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon growing up? Pokemon, of course. Would you ever have an affair? Nope. Would you ever have a one night stand? Nope. Where you present at any major historical events (e.g. 9/11)? No. What are your opinions on marijuana legalization? Legalize it, but treat it similarly to alcohol in that driving under the influence is illegal and punishable, and I believe you should be of a certain age. How about abortion? I am pro-choice. I was pro-life most of my own life, but now I am very firm about a mother being able to choose if she wants to endure a pregnancy or not. Like, that is a MASSIVE life event that almost inevitably changes - and sometimes traumatizes - people. I do believe a fetus is its own body and not part of the mother's, but rather in the mother's, but the belief that a woman decides what she wants in her body is her choice, too. I'm not very fond of people treating abortion as a simple, regular form of birth control, like it's nothing but an "lol whoops," but I still believe it is ultimately her decision, and she should always be free of judgment for doing what is best for her. Do you wear skirts or dresses more often? Neither. I wouldn't dare wear a skirt more so, though. What do you think about tipping at restaurants? There should always be an expected minimum, imo, unless the person was truly, sincerely, genuinely fucking awful. Waiters do not have an easy job, fight me about it, and they're just trying to survive while putting on a happy, jovial face, all the while dealing with hungry people who can be such assholes. I believe the actual tip should relate to actual service, but again, give them something. Would you ever get back together with any of your exes? One, absolutely. The other would take a shitload of consideration and proper communication on his part. Do you have a preferred coffee brand? No, because I don't like coffee. Do you usually befriend your coworkers, or do you prefer to keep work separate from your personal life? IF I had a job, I'd like to build a friendship with those I have to engage with almost every day. What is something you frequently forget? Dates, ages, names, what I was about to do five seconds before I forgot... Pretty much everything. My memory is frightfully poor. Is there any drama currently going on with your family? No. When you take a nap, do you nap in bed or on the couch? In my bed. Were you raised by both of your parents? If not, then who raised you? Both; my parents split when I was somewhere around 17, though, but I'd say there wasn't much more "raising" to do at that age. Have you ever stolen anything? If so, why? No. Have you ever plagiarized someone else's work? Hell no. What's your most-used mode of transportation? My mom's car. Have you ever taught someone else a useful skill? Not to my recollection. Does seeing everyone else's 'perfect lives' posted on social media ever bring you down or affect how you feel about yourself? It actually does, honestly. Not ALWAYS, but if I'm being honest, it does most of the time. I've contemplated deleting Facebook for that reason, but with is also comes things that make me happy, and I think I'd feel even more isolated without it. What is your favorite Hostess/Little Debbie snack? This is SO impossible for me to answer. I loooove Hostess and Little Debbie treats. I want to say honeybuns, but I also love those chocolate cupcakes with the white swirls on top, as well as Twinkies. Very few exist that I don't like. Do you/your family buy loafs from the bakery or bagged on the shelf? We just buy bagged bread. What’s the best news you’ve gotten lately? My APAP mask is definitively WORKING!!!!! :') Mom got an app that connects to the machine via Bluetooth that monitors the effectiveness of the mask, evaluating many factors of your sleep, and it's detecting a definite decrease in disruptive behaviors or something like that. It is so, SO encouraging to know that. ^And, the worst? Hm. Oh, probably some news on something serious a good friend is going through, but I don't feel it's my right to disclose what. It's just a very worrying and potentially dangerous issue that I wish I could help her with. Would you rather receive (or give) flowers, chocolates or jewelry? I'd appreciate any, but my fat ass is drawn to the chocolate, ha ha. What *I* would give would vary depending on what the person liked. How do you feel about coconut? Smells lovely, but is otherwise gross. ^ Ever cracked one open? No, but omg I've always wanted to, haha. What’s the best thing about being your gender? I guess the fact it's more "normal" and "accepted" to show our emotions. Fuck that generalization, though. I don't give a shit what your gender is, you experiencing emotions is NORMAL and welcomed to be expressed. ^ And the worst thing? The ability to be raped and impregnated by it. Do you do your part to save the earth? I don't do nearly enough. :/ We recycle, but that's about it. Well, none of us DARE to litter either, but I still don't feel like it's as much as the earth deserves from its denizens. Who do you think should have their portrait on a bill? I don't know or care. Why did you last feel exhausted? Yesterday was my niece's birthday, and I spent essentially ALL day playing with her and her brother. I have a very limited battery when it comes to kids, and I was running on empty for hours. My anxiety was SO high and I really needed a break from them, but they're too young to really understand that Aunt Britt can only socially run for so long before I'm completely burnt out, and TRUST ME, I was there for sure. I didn't want them to think they did something wrong, you know? I just had to keep going. I slept like a baby last night though for sure, haha. Have you ever used emotional blackmail to get your own way? Wow, no. Has anybody ever used emotional blackmail on you? No. Who did you last worry about and why? Sara for health reasons. Are you currently looking for a new place to live? Not actively, but Mom and I definitely want to move. We feel very out-of-place here in the suburbs. Which would you prefer as a view; mountains or the sea? Mountains. Do you have a mouse for your laptop? (Assuming you have a laptop) Yes. I canNOT play games with a trackpad. Do you apologize a lot? Extremely excessively. When you get married what do you think you’ll put most of your focus and money into? Do you mean like, for the wedding? In that case, probably the venue. Being a photography buff, I want a place I think is really pretty to have pictures taken. What’s something you complain about frequently? My legs hurting, my weight, and being hot. Do you have anything planned for the summer? Nope, and that's fine with me. I'd rather stay inside away from the heat. Who usually makes dinner in your household? My ma. Do you have a blog? Just on Tumblr. Does anyone in your family snore loudly? My mother does because of gerd, and at least when my father still lived with us, he snored super loud, too. Do you want to fix anything with anyone? Yeah, a few people. What shows do you watch? Right now, only Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty. Whenever The Edge of Sleep comes out, I will 110% be watching that, too, because Mark is a key actor in it. :') Plus the concept seems super cool. Have you ever broken someone’s heart? I don't know. Who was the last person you had a conversation with on the phone? Me mum. Does the song you’re currently listening to remind you of anyone specific? No, given it has like... one lyric, haha. Do you own any TV show soundtracks? No. Last thing you did that made you feel like an adult? I mean I guess sign myself in at the doctor's. What’s your favorite picture of your mom? Dad? Oh my god, there's a candid one I got of Mom laughing when she was posing as my subject for a photography assignment, and I cherish it with ALL my heart. I want to share it with essentially the whole world, but yeah, I'm not gonna put my mom's picture here. As for my dad, I like this one I took of us at Red Lobster for his birthday a year or two back. Last TV show series you finished? Fullmetal Alchemist with Sara. Favorite flavor of cream cheese? Regular. What US state would you like to visit? Alaska. Last meal you made yourself? I put a chicken pesto thing in the microwave earlier for dinner.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''whispers in the dark'' by skillet

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softschofield · 5 years ago

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art student kilgour who is soft and quirky and dresses like an old man fashion disaster, all florals and knitwear and combat boots and scarves - but even in school, the would-be bullies ended up loving him just as much as everyone else

art student kilgour who rents a tiny flat above a café in inner-city london and has the rowdiest neighbours in history, and they’re lowkey crooks but they love kilgour because he always brings them hot chocolate from the café below and he has a sweet smile and he either straight up doesn’t realise they’re dodgy because he’s too innocent or he just loves the good in people more than the bad

art student kilgour who’s clumsy and prone to disaster and who manages to burn water when he’s trying to cool and has had to babble his way out of eviction three separate times when his cranky landlord saw the burn marks on the ceiling above his stove

art student kilgour who has decorated his flat like a countryside cottage, all soft yellows and flowers and cheap antique furniture; and he always has the windows open, and in the mornings and on the weekends he’ll lie down on his floor in the warm sunshine and paint, or doze, or eat his breakfast upside down and watch the shadows on the ceiling

art student kilgour who has a shrine to lana del rey in his bedroom and owns every one of her albums on vinyl record and has been to every concert she’s had near london - and the only thing he loves more than Our Goddess Lana is musical theatre, which is where most of his money goes when it isn’t on paint supplies and train tickets to the country to sit in the manor house grounds during opening hours and paint the gardens (and thank u @schofield-n-cherries for the thought of him loving musical theatre (‘:)

art student kilgour who’s shy, and gentle, and doesn’t speak much - and who everyone would die for because when he does speak, he’s sweet and funny and passionate and weird and deeply, deeply kind, and there are times when he just never shuts up and he babbles on and on about anything and everything for hours and everyone loves those times

art student kilgour who loves and supports his friends with all his heart, and paints them something for all their birthdays, and picks them flowers that make him think of them, and reads their horoscopes in the newspaper down in the café every morning and texts them all individually about it, and read their palms and tarot cards when he went through his witchcraft phase

art student kilgour who, one night, was simultaneously buzzing on his seventh iced coffee and crying into his art history books in the library because he’d suddenly forgotten how to read and the test was tomorrow and he was a mess - and a kind stranger a year or two older than him quietly came over from where he had been studying and sat down without a word and rubbed his back in slow circles and murmured “shh” until kilgour could breathe again; and he offered to buy him a herbal tea instead of an eighth coffee and kilgour laughed through his runny nose and the next day he aced the test, because of course he did it’s just that self-doubt has always managed to get the worst of him

and even though he’s only a year or two older, scho takes kilgour on as a younger brother and lets him stay over whenever he needs; and he has his own room that scho let him paint the walls of, and he likes to sit outside in scho’s little garden in the golden morning with a hot cup of tea and listen to the birds and paint the flowers and the trees

art student kilgour who loves the quiet of art galleries and could spend hours just staring at one painting, and who is just at home screaming his lungs raw with a huge smile on his face at gay pride marches and women’s rights rallies

art student kilgour who is always so cheerful and positive and full of love and energy even though he feels so sad and lonely most of the time

kilgour, who sleeps around to try and fill the confusing emptiness inside of him; whose father never loved him; who sometimes breaks under all his sadness and tries to derail his own life, who goes on week-long benders to night clubs and stays out till dawn in drunken, screaming colour and throws himself at nameless guys to make himself feel needed and wanted even though it always ends up the same: crying on his friends’ shoulders and feeling dirty and helpless and more lost than ever with a warning of suspension from university in his letterbox for having missed a perilous amount of classes

kilgour, with a sister who he’s closer to than anyone in the world and who always supported him when they were children and who always knows when to try and cheer him up and when to just sit quietly with him and let him put himself back together until he’s ready to smile again

art student kilgour who bumps into a german exchange student on the street and knocks over all the books he was carrying and feels himself turning bright red even as he rambles on and on about how sorry he is because oh no the boy is so pretty and he’s in love and he’s being an idiot and oh my god he’s so embarrassing he’s going to hate him forever and he actually might start crying because he’s never seen anyone so hot

but turns out the hot german exchange student is having the same internal panic, just a whole lot quieter because all he can do is stare in complete silence as kilgour keeps babbling and now somehow he’s gotten onto 17th century finnish art and no one seems more confused by the change in subject than kilgour but he can’t seem to stop and bäumer can’t stop staring and everyone on the street is giving them dirty looks because they’re in the middle of the sidewalk with a dozen books and then finally bäumer blurts out, in the most strained and anxious voice, do you want to get a coffee and now they’re both staring at each other in silence - and finally kilgour beams into a grin, and bäumer smiles back at him, and they burst into laughter

and eventually bäumer moves in with him into his tiny apartment and all his books join all of kilgour’s art supplies, and bäumer is a significantly better cook and he quietly makes dinner most nights and hums to himself while kilgour paints by the window in the light of the setting sun

and more than once kilgour has flung open the windows while reenacting whole musical theatre shows and bellowing at the top of his lungs and all the people on the street down below have jumped back like ‘oh my!’ (and a few have cheered and clapped) and bäumer has had to poke his head out the window and quietly call down, “i’m so sorry he’s very passionate” while kilgour has already disappeared back inside the apartment and is still belting out every part to ‘one day more’ in interchanging (bad) falsetto and (awful) baritone

kilgour, who’s silly and sleepy and soft and kind, who tends to and quietly talks to the plants in his apartment and has named every one of them after his favourite artists, who loves the soft sunshine and the quiet of mornings, whose favourite mug is one his friend made for him in their pottery class, who takes hours to wake up in the morning but who is bouncing off the walls and having Revelations come midnight

kilgour, who’s sad and self-doubting but warm and sincere, who thinks himself stupid but who all his friends know is a font of knowledge for all obscure and odd and wonderful things

modern au kilgour!!!!!!

#a long long post because the tumblr app is A LIVING NIGHTMARE and has never heard of read mores #but i will brave it.. because i love #my son with all my heart and he makes me soft #1917 #mine #and special credit to schofield-n-cherries for being actually angelic #and fuelling like half of these headcanons with their love of kilgour #we STAN

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hol-whore · 5 years ago

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erina pendleton x fem!reader - poetry, ch. 1

As Erina's companion and lady's maid, you're very close to her. You've spent years by her side, tending to her when she's sick, tidying her room, dressing her, doing her hair, and plenty in-between. You're as much a friend as you are a servant, though; you share your favorite books with her and talk about life and listen to her dreams and ambitions. Surely that's all innocent enough, right? Nothing more than a Lady and her maid being friends. Right?

notes: little AU wherein jonathan and speedwagon are Boyfriends, anne lister published some diary entries as poems instead, and the victorian era is just. better. link is to AO3!

“-- and, listen to this, ‘She was the character I had long wished to meet with / to clear up my doubts whether such a one existed nowadays’? As if she had dreamed of such a woman so wonderful…”

Erina sighs, leaning back against you and clutching the poetry book you’d brought her that morning close to her chest. Wind dances with the curtains and lets the afternoon sun kiss the floor and furniture of her chamber. You smile down at her, playfully rolling your eyes and touching her face affectionately. “Milady, your hair…”

She pauses, her smile never faltering as she laughs a light apology and sits forward once again. You continue your brushing, lacing your fingers through her pretty blonde strands after the brush runs through. Her hair was always so soft, so beautiful, like a waterfall of sunlight. You almost didn't feel worthy of touching it.

The clock strikes one and sings a familiar tune that you both hum out of habit. It’s a sweet, small moment, and you both laugh a bit as you realize you’ve done the same as the other. Your heart flutters as you set the brush aside and work on pinning her hair up just how she likes it. Hard as you try, you can’t shake the delighted grin off your face. The butterflies in your stomach that come out when you’re around Lady Erina are more persistent than usual today, it seemed.

“Milady, tea is in two hours, and I recall you having guests today? Shall I prepare any shortbread? Perhaps pound cake?” you offer while you work, knowing full well such duties weren't your own.

“Oh, leave that for the other maids and the cook, and stay with me a while instead. I could...use your company while I’m reading.”

You wouldn't refuse an order from your Lady, of course.

“Would you like me to clean and sort the laundry, at least? Dust the wardrobe and dressers?”

Your hands come down from her hair and she stands, taking a look in the vanity mirror. She seems pleased, a warm smile gracing her face, and she steps towards you gently and takes your hands in hers. Her smile feels more bittersweet, now that you’re looking at it.

Erina squeezes your hands lightly, her eyes almost searching your face for something. You aren't sure what, but her gaze makes you feel the lowest of aches in your heart and you can't quite bear to meet her eyes fully.

“...If you must.” she says quietly, after too long a moment, bittersweet smile now just plain sad. She sighs, then, and brushes a thumb over your knuckles.You barely have time to react as she wraps her arms around you gently.

“Oh, you work yourself so hard over me…” Erina muses, her voice low in your ear and her hand flush against the small of your back.

She’d hugged you many a time before, but something felt different about this one. It felt heavy, like she wasn’t actually sure what to do.

You lean into her embrace, holding her tentatively, and she rubs her hand between your shoulder blades before pulling back and trudging to the larger chair by her low table with the poetry book in hand.

Deep down, you both knew that hug meant something more, needed something more. You just didn't quite know what it was.

She is quiet for a majority of the time, occasionally laughing or clutching her heart then sharing whatever poem had gotten to her. Some of them you recognized from skimming the book, checking that it was of similar content to the novels she enjoyed; tales of romance or adventure or women and their very close companions. They were your favorites, most often, and you couldn't explain it but there was a certain joy that came from Erina loving them as well.

Perhaps it was merely something like feeling equal to the woman you held so high in your heart. Or something. You couldn't be sure.

-------- Erina, usually oh-so social, is quiet while entertaining today’s guests, opting to listen to their tales of life and love. She doesn't seem bored at all; rather, she merely seems distracted. You figured it was simply because she had gone from being (save for your company) alone in her room to suddenly trying to focus on making conversation that just wouldn't be made.

Simply an off-day.

You pay careful attention to her anyway, fearing she may be getting sick. The main couple, always holding each other’s hands or making eyes at each other and laughing, shares a kiss at one point, and Erina looks the same way she does after she visits the garden in spring and sees no new blooms.

Questions crop up every now and then, in the veins of “when will Lady Pendleton find herself a fine gentleman” and “a nurse’s life shan’t be a lonely one, when will you marry” and “what of that Joestar boy, you would be quite the couple”. Erina deflects each one the way she always does, a quiet “Oh, you, I’ll marry when I find the one”. There's a twinge of fondness on her gentle face at the mention of the Joestars, and you know she can see her beloved friend and his forever-partner in her heart.

You knew why her and Jonathan wouldn’t happen; Erina was in firm in saying she thought nothing more of their relationship than close friends. Besides, he and Robert were glued to each other's sides. Not a soul outside the Pendleton manor knew --- for now --- but the men planned to marry as any couple would, living their lives together in comfort and delight. Erina had been thrilled when they told her the first time, so supportive and sweet as she was. Then again, who wouldn't envy their dedication?

The rest of the afternoon is without much ruckus, just some much needed quiet time, and as soon as she waves off her guests and shuts the front door, she practically falls into your arms and sighs deeply. “Dar-...Maid, fill the tub, will you? I… could use a warm bath to settle my nerves.”

Ah, surely, that’d been it. She was quiet because of nerves.

You hold her as tightly as she holds you, and rest your head upon hers when she nestles it gently in the crook of your neck. “Yes, Milady. Warm water? The soap from India?” you ask, confident you already know her answer. She is quiet for a beat, then hums and mutters, “I’d quite like to use the rose today.”

You freeze for a moment, then lift her from your arms and offer a puzzled look. “...Milady? My soap?”

“May I?”

“I-I….I suppose, but it is of quite lesser quality, I wo-”

“Quality matters not, dear heart, I know what I ask for.” Erina laughs, waving her hand at you.

She’s gazing into you now, the same weird, sweet sadness as earlier, and offers the same small smile before leaving your side and tidying the parlor.

There is a weight, a tension in the air as you prepare Erina for her bath. Her blonde locks tumble over her back and shoulder as you take it down, and you watch every strand with awe. You find yourself using more hand than usual stripping her clothes, smoothing fabrics before pulling zippers and the like. Occasionally you’ll brush her hand when she offers her aid, though Erina seems to be in no real rush.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d almost wager she’s doing it on purpose.

You hold her hand as she steps in, your cheeks flushing at all the revealed skin. You have absolutely no reason to feel as breathless as you do; you dressed her every morning, after all, and undressed her before baths and dressed her after. And yet, when you catch a glimpse of her bare breast as she settles in, you can't help but gasp under your thin breath.

Hurriedly, you hand her the (now near-finished) poetry book and busy yourself setting aside a towel and lotions, tidying up the bathroom, finding anything to keep your mind at peace without disrupting your Lady.

You leave at one point to fetch more hot water, and upon your return, Erina looks entirely lost in thought. Her book is now set on the stool by the tub, her brow furrowed deeply and face pale. You take great care pouring in the two buckets, and offer her a hand as you stir the water around.

“Milady?” It is a quiet question, a request for attention, and she jolts back to reality after a moment, taking your hand with a sigh. You move her book to the floor, taking a seat on the stool and grasping her hand between both of yours. “Are you sure you’re alright, Milady?”

Erina smiles weakly and nods, then musters her reassurance and sits forward only to turn her back to you. “Will you wash me up, maid?” she asks, her voice gentle, “I’m fine, but I’m...feeling rather faint.”

You wouldn’t refuse an order from your Lady, of course.

You swallow and take the rose soap, lathering the bar and working the suds against her back with your hands. She seems infinitely more at ease; quite unlike yourself, who seems to melt every time you touch a new patch of skin. You did this frequently enough; why could you suddenly not handle such simple, normal interactions with her today?

The rest of the bath continues with your heart showing no signs of peace, but you make light conversation and finally get Erina talking and laughing as she usually would with you rather than looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Once she’s out, all dried off, and dressed in at least her underclothes, she stops you from grabbing her evening dress and holds your hands the way she did that morning. There’s a quiet pleading in her blue eyes, like the ocean reaching for the moon with the tides.

She doesn't speak, at first, but when she finally does, you wish you could die.

“Let me bathe you.”

Her voice is so light and carefree, yet so strained, as if it took her entire soul to even think it.

“...Milady, this—”

“Please — you’ve done so much for me these all these years. Let me give back to you, I beg you, let my heart do this.”

“I…I don’t know that I can, Milady, it feels...wrong. I think.”

If you could, you immediately wish you could die twice.

Erina looks confused, heartbroken, frustrated. She furrows her brow and her gaze goes through you.

“Damned as it is, I wish you wouldn't call me that. Why must it be ‘Milady’ this, ‘Milady’ that? You are too fond to my poor heart for formalities, sparrow.” She says, her voice still quietly strained and shaky. She pauses and sighs, stepping closer and placing tremored hands on your shoulders.

“Is it wrong, dear heart, my treasure, darling earth under my sky, for me to want to give back?”

Your heart aches, seeing this woman you thought you only loved because you it was all you knew to do so suddenly torn up, and in that moment you understand.

You were in love with her, plain and simple.

And something told you she was in love too.

#pacing? idk her #erina pendleton #erina pendleton x reader #jjba #jjba fanfic #my writing #uhhhhhhh this is. just some indulgent bs

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lirusstories · 5 years ago

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No Place Like Home Chapter One: Breakfast Time! Edited and Re-Uploaded

A/N: Thank you to everyone who managed to read through it the first time around here is a hopefully better version.

(Word Count: 3,758)

Liru finishes setting the food on the table just as the smell of Peach Blossoms and Honey fills her nose, the sound of someone entering the dining room causes her to turn and see freshly showered JJ already dressed for his day.

“Good-morning Κούπες. I hope you slept well.” She greets as she meets him half-way with a soft kiss.

“Good-morning our Ψυχή.” His 1920’s British-Irish voice is quiet as he speaks, sleep still lingering with it.

“It’s pancakes, fruit and sausage for breakfast this morning, I set some honey and whipped cream aside for you.” His eyes light up as he peeks over to the table causing the women to giggle at his adorable reaction.

“Go sit and eat. I know you need to go to the doctors soon besides I need to go get the others anyway.” He walks over to his spot, an eager skip in his step as she smiles at before leaving following the smell of Mint to Remus’ room humming to herself as she does. She gets to his room and opens the door to see him singing along to the same song she was just humming as he sews some beads that he definitely took from her onto a large piece of fabric.

“I take my pills and I’m happy all the time

I’m happy all the time

I’m happy all the time.”

Liru looks it over and sees that he’s made a tapestry making what is currently their family as the soul-marks. She could see that the background of the tapestry is her own soulmark, the beads reflecting anything light that shines against them. She looks it over seeing that he was finishing up his own, a black and green crown with black octopus tentacles coming from it wielding a black and emerald green sword crossed with a silver morning star, a perfect replica of the one on the left of his lower back.

“I love my girl but she ain’t worth the price

she ain’t worth the price

no, she ain’t worth the price.”

He moves away as he finishes sewing in the last bead looking over his handy work as it hangs from the ceiling.

“So what do you think?” His voice nearly makes her jump and she quickly looks at him seeing that he’s staring at her with his red and green eyes, proud smile on his face making his mustache curve, reminding Liru of the Cheshire cat in a way.

“It’s beautiful.” She says, unable to keep the slight awe out of her voice even if she wanted to. He left holes in it to fill in as they join our family although there are quite a few she doesn't recognize. He must have seen her eyeing those spots curiously because he speaks up again.

“Yeah I don’t know either. It just felt right.” She raises an eyebrow at him while he just has a smile on his face.

“Weirdo.” He lets out a dramatic gasp that she giggles at.

“Why thank you for noticing.” His voice was just as dramatic as his gasp sending her into a little fit of giggles.

“Breakfast is ready. It’s pancakes,” He lets out an excited squeal. “with fruit and sausage among various other toppings.” He jumps a bit and goes to bolt out the door.

“Wait!” She says loudly, making him stop and pout looking at her.

“What?”

“Clothes.” She says gesturing to his naked form with a finger. He pouts more before snapping his fingers now wearing ripped black skinny jeans with a pale green tank top, a studded black leather jacket and three inch heeled combat boots.

“There. Happy now?” He asks, still pouting.

“Considering you are no longer flashing me and will not flash anyone else, yes I am. The fact that I’m pretty sure you’re commando, not so much.” He throws his head back laughing as he walks over and messing up her hair. She swats his hand away making him laugh more.

“You know it!” He yells and goes to run to the dining room.

“Don’t start a food fight either. JJ has a doctors appointment after breakfast.” He just rolls his eyes before speaking.

“I don’t understand why he needs to go to a doctor to confirm he’s pregnant, he already knows he is.”

“You know he enjoys the novelty of doing human things.” She reminds him, although she doubts he needs it.

“Sounds like a waste of time to me.” He remarked, a small laugh in his voice as he began to walk.

“He’s the master of time Green Bean, he has nothing but time.” He just laughs before running off to the dining room. She lets out a small snort at her brother's antics before going to get the others and along the way she runs into Emile already dressed for the day and walking to the dining room.

“Heya mom.” he greets enthusiastically, obviously excited about something if the smell of French Toast radiating from him is anything to go by.

“Hey sweetie, you going somewhere today?” She can’t help but ask as he bounces on the balls of his feet as his reddish purple hair bounces with him just barely falling above his gold ringed plum eyes that are shining with excitement.

“Yep! I convinced the others to go shopping with me today in New York City.” He’s obviously excited as his skin reflects the light a bit in a swirl of pastel blue and pink.

“Oh good! It’s about time you guys went out together. And if you need anything JJ, Remus and Remy will be there as well. Although I think it would be best if you just called, your brother JJ shouldn’t be doing anything stressful and Remus is too much of a wild card and draws too much attention.” He smiles widely at the news that more of them will be there having fun.

“Finally, I’ve been trying to get them to do something other than hide in the castle.”

“Manor.” She reminds him

“At this size it might as well be a castle.” His voice is still as excited as before as he continues to bounce on the balls of his feet and it makes Liru smile seeing one of her kids so excited for the day.

“Well breakfast is ready, it’s pancakes, fruit and sausage.” She tells him as she moves out of his way.

“Delicious.” He beams as he continues his trek to the dining room while Liru resumes her search for the rest of her children and husbands. She knows three are close, Two husbands and a child if the smell of Leather, Pine Needles and Iced Caramel Coffee, Yancy, Anti and Remy, is anything to go by. She walks into one of the living rooms and hears the familiar sound of Steven Universe playing as she looks over and sees Remy asleep in a love seat while Anti was asleep on top of Yancy who was asleep with his arms wrapped around Anti while they were sprawled across a couch snoring softly.

Liru walks over to Remy, grabbing his sunglasses from the side table and gently patting his cheek.

“It’s time to wake up Cub, breakfast is ready.” He stirs slightly before relaxing again. She pat his cheek again and he stirs again before yawning, showing off his wolf like teeth before he opens his golden eyes blinking the sleep from them as he looks up at her.

“Good-morning sweetheart.” Liru greets her child as he sits up, stretching with his honey brown tail stretching with him, his ears flattening against his head as he yawns before relaxing and the tail disappears and his ears turn into human ones that are covered by his honey brown hair. She hands him his glasses and he takes them with a quiet “Thank you,” before he puts them on. He takes a deep breath before making a ‘mmm’ sound.

“Pancakes and sausage.” He says getting up stretching more and popping his back and neck a bit before grabbing his leather jacket and throwing it on, his outfit changing to a darker pair of jeans and black shirt that says ‘Move I’m Gay’.

“And fruit.” She reminds him as he puts on his sneakers, hoping a little as he does so while not making a sound.

“Just because it’s not in a pie or a drink doesn’t mean you aren’t eating it.” He groans a bit.

“Beside I got you some Oregon Blackberries anyway.” He perks up at that.

“So you better hurry before Remus gets it.” His lip purse in annoyance as he manages to get his other shoe on.

“He knows I’m not afraid to shoot a bitch.” His tone is sassy with a little bit of sleep left over in his voice.

“And you know that won’t do anything to him.”

“It’s the message that counts Momma.” He reminds her, obviously remembering the time she threw someone out the window into a pool rather than concentrate. Granted she had been aiming for the concrete but the bastard disappeared after that so he was no longer a problem.

“Just go and eat. You're going to be around a lot of people today so you need the energy.” He nods a bit before leaving to go to the dining room as she turns her attention to the still sleep Yancy and Anti on the couch. She walks over, turning off the T.V. as she does, before shaking them both lightly, keeping her voice soft as she does.

“It’s time to wake up Loves.” They both groan as Yancy buries his face into Anti’s green hair while Anti buries his face into Yancy’s shirt.

“Come one my Αγγελος Incarnation.” She says teasingly as Yancy’s deep purple eyes snap open, staring up at her annoyed at the pun while Anti bursts into a fit of giggles.

“I want a divorce.” Yancy says in a deadpan voice sending Anti into even more giggles.

“I get Anti. He knows a good pun when he hears one.” She giggles out, making Anti giggle harder as he looks up at them. His giggling subsides as he has a tired but happy smile on his face.

“Mornin’ Dolls.” Yancy yawns out as she leans over giving Anti a deep kiss that he returns a bit sleepily.

“Nice view.” Yancy says which causes her to reach a hand down and smack causing him to laugh while she pulls Anti deeper into the kiss who just seems to melt into it.

“Alright, alright no makin’ out on me without me.” he says, making both her and Anti giggle as they pull away from each other. Yancy brings one hand up pulling Liru down to him and gives her a kiss. She gladly reciprocates it before he pulls away and gives a deep kiss that the green haired man gladly returns the kiss before they pull away, Yancy sitting up making Anti sit up as well.

“It’s Pancakes,” Anti perks up excitedly, “fruit and sausage for breakfast.” Anti gets up quickly giving both Yancy and Liru quick cheek kisses before bolting out the room while yelling.

“I’ll see you in a few!” And rushing towards the dining room leaving her and Yancy behind with our amusement. She looks at Yancy who is watching where Anti left fondly before looking over at her and she can see him trying to hide the sadness in his eyes, although the plants in the room were beginning to droop proving that something was wrong.

“That memory again?" His eyes flicker to the floor before nodding a bit as he swallows harshly. She sighs and bends down pulling him into a hug which he quickly reciprocates.

“You know I’m here when you need to talk to someone. We all are.” He nods slightly as he leans his head against her shoulder.

“I know.” His voice is quiet, cracking just a bit.

“I know it’s just…”

“I know sweetheart, believe me I know.” She keeps her voice soft as he takes a shaky breath. He pulls away and wipes his eyes quickly obviously trying to hide the fact he was about to cry. She looks at him a bit sadly before he stands and she gives him a quick kiss.

“Go eat Stripes, I need to get the others.” He laughs a little before asking,

“Who’s left?”

“Illi, Dark, Wil and all the kids minus Remy and Emile.” He laughs a bit more before giving her a peck on the cheek.

“Good luck Doll. I’ll see you at breakfast.” he says before leaving the room. She looks around the room before singing softly,

“I take my pills and I’m happy all the time

I’m happy all the time

I love my girl but she ain’t worth the price

she ain’t worth the price

no, she ain’t worth the price.”

The plants in the room return to their normal perky state even if they are a bit bigger than before Yancy’s nightmare but they still stand tall again. She leaves the living area bouncing a little as she walks, humming the song again. She approaches the game room which is filled with the smells of Freshly Fallen Snow, Robbie, a Burning Candle, Yan, A Grassy field in the summer, Sammi, Dark Raspberry Chocolate, Kira, Spiced Rum, Oliva, and Freshly Cut Grass in the Spring, Jamie.

She can hear both Sammi and Yan shouting and the sound of the joy sticks hitting against the boundaries rather harshly. Sighing exasperatedly she enters the room to see Yan sitting on Kira’s lap, both of them playing just as violently as Sammi who is on the floor next to them shouting at the game. Looking at the T.V. Liru can see that they were playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. How they got Kira to play is beyond her.

She looks over to the couches and sees Robbie draped over a love seat while reading a book, by the looks of it it’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Oliva and Jamie sitting on the couch with controllers in their hands as they both violently press buttons their tongues sticking out of the corner of their mouths as they focus on the game. She sighs again just as Yan lets out a victorious shout as the game flashes her character, Mewtwo, on the screen.

“Well if you're quite done,” They all jump, heads snapping towards her from where she stands in the doorway. “it’s time for breakfast.” Sammi looks confused as she asks,

“Wait. What time is it?” She groans rubbing the bridge of her nose before answering,

“9:37 currently.” They all simultaneously make ‘Oh shit’ faces confirming the mother’s suspicions of them being up all night. She rubs my face in concern and annoyance.

“You guys are lucky you don’t need to sleep often.” Sammi, Yan and Jamie grin sheepishly while Robbie, Oliva and Kira refuse to make eye contact. She sighs again, exasperated.

“Come on you guys turn it off and get to breakfast.” Sammi gets up and turns the console and T.V. off as the others get up from their spots, Yan lets out a loud squeal as Kira, their wife, picks them up in a bridal carry, spinning a little eliciting a louder squeal from them.

“Kira! Stop it, put me down!” Kira just lets out a small laugh as she stops spinning but doesn’t put them down. Liru moves out of the door as she quickly walks past with a quick “See you at breakfast!” while Yan just yells and protests to being held with no real fire. The others snicker and laugh at Yan’s fading, verbal pouting as they all shuffle out of the rooms giving me quick hugs that Liru gladly returns as they leave the room with variations “See you at breakfast, mom!”.

She looks around the room one last time before sighing and with a wave of her hand the mess they left behind disappeared. She leaves and walks to Illinois’ room knowing he was probably examining one of the artifacts she kept in the basement. Sure enough, when she walks into his room, he’s passed out at his desk, a golden dagger with a diamond hilt that had been carved into a skeleton lays on his desk. A closer look at you could see that it had the name ‘Mori’.

‘Oh.’ He must have looked in her room. Mori is one of her reapers, she gave Liru her dagger to be able to contact her if need be. She gently shake his shoulder leaning over and whispering in his ear,

“Time to wake up Simia, it’s time for breakfast.” He moans in protest as she gently pulls him back so he is sitting up.

“Oh don’t whine at me, you know very well that you needed to sleep last night.” He groans opening his honey eyes as he pouts a little. She smiles softly in response.

“Come on Simia, you need to get up and eat.” He yawns loudly and slowly gets up and she reaches over grabbing the dagger.

“And,” She says, gently booping his nose. “don’t take my shit.” He looks confused before seeing the dagger in her hand and his face flushes a bright red.

“S-Sorry Love.” He stutters out obviously embarrassed about getting caught.

“It’s alright Simia, now get to breakfast. You said you were dragging Yancy to the museum today anyway.” She boops his nose again before giving him a quick kiss.

“Alright then Sweetheart, I'll see you at breakfast.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek before walking out, yawning a little as he does and Liru smiles a little before looking down at the dagger. She frowns a bit frown a bit as I look it over noticing that even after ninety years, I could still smell the faint scent of Cold Bubble Gum Ice Cream on a summer’s day after 90 or so years. She grips it tightly remembering when she first gave it to Ethan, and remembering when she took it off his corpse.

She feels a jolt of… something, she’s not sure what, rush over her and it nearly knocks her off her feet before she steadies herself. She looks down at the dagger before sending it to a small pocket dimension for the time being before leaving Illinois’ room and going towards Dark’s, knowing Wilford was there as well if the smell of Bubblegum Liquor with Dark’s Salt Water Taffy is anything to go by.

Just as she approaches the room both Dark and Wilford exit, Wilford babbling away about something while Dark tries his best to not look amused. They both noticed Liru almost immediately with Dark smiling softly while Wilford visibly perks up more than he was.

“Sugarplum!” Wilford shouts excitedly as he jogs over, Dark right behind him.

“Good morning my Loves.” She greets them both with kisses and hugs which they both return.

“Good morning My Dear.”

“Mornin’ Sugarplum!”

“Breakfast is ready, I was just coming to get you guys. It’s pancakes, sausage and fruit.”

“That sounds-” Dark gets cut off by Wilford shouting.

“Delicious!” She just laughs as Dark just sighs at Wil’s antics.

“Yes it does, now let's go eat.” The three of them walk to the dining room getting there just as JJ is leaving. He sees the three of them and smiles brightly walking over quickly and Wilford scoops him up in a big hug thankfully not a tight one before setting him down beaming at him.

“Mornin’ JJ!” The Pink mustached ‘man’ greeted happily.

“Good-Morning Wil.” JJ greets back, a smile on his face.

“Where are ya goin’?” Wilford asks, a confused look on his face. And before JJ could answer back a loud crash from the dining room catches our attention, quickly followed by Yan and Sammi shouting at each other, most likely over who got the most wins in their game. Dark sighs in annoyance besides her while Wilford just looks towards the doorway, his eyebrows raised in mild surprise, obviously not expecting them to start arguing about something like that this early. Thankfully though Anti and Yancy seem to quickly get it under control before they could throw anything else at each other.

“You two should go and sit down before anymore fighting breaks out and there’s glass in the food.” I inform them, and they both nod in agreement, Wil letting out a small chuckle before he gives JJ a quick kiss on the cheek before walking into the dining room, a small skip in his step. Dark gives JJ a slight nod as he walks past him which JJ returns before he disappears into the dining room greeting the others as he does.

She goes and pulls JJ close and enjoys the warm feeling his smile brings before though she can’t stop the chuckle that leaves her when he stands on his tiptoes to give her a kiss she gladly returns leaning down for him. She reaches up cupping his cheeks gently before they pull away a jovial smile on both of their faces.

“I love you, My Κούπες.” Her voice is a soft but loving whisper as she tells him, enjoying watching his cheeks become a little pink as he smiles.

“I love you too, Our Ψυχή.” His voice is just as soft and loving while he whispers back and a dopey grin spreads across her face at the words and it sends him into a small fit of laughter.

“Be safe darling, make sure not to attract attention.”

“Aren’t I always?” She snorts, he is absolutely not. He attempts to pout but his face quickly pulls into another smile as she fixes his slightly crooked bow-tie.

“I will don’t worry.”

“You know that's never gonna happen Dear.” He rolls his eyes playfully and jumps a little to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Alright, I need to go or i’m gonna be late, bye Love.”

“Goodbye, I’ll see you later.” He gives her a slight wave as he leaves and she turns walking into the dining room where Liru sees Emile explaining to Kira why she doesn’t need to worry about clothes not fitting her while the others chat idly with each other, Yan and Sammi still shooting playfully challenging looks to each other from across the table. She smiles to herself as she goes and sits in her spot between Yan and Robbie thinking to herself.

‘Today is gonna be a good day.’

Translations:

Greek ones courtesy of @antis-gauge

Κούπες = Heart

Ψυχή = Soul

Simia = Monkey

Tip: The reason she calls Anti and Yancy Αγγελος Incarnation together is because She calls Anti, Άγγελος and Yancy’s soulmark on his romantic Soulmates is a Red Carnation.

Red carnation symbolizes love, pride and admiration.

She calls Illinois Simia/Monkey because he climbs everything.

Tags:

@kittican

@antis-gauge

@flowers-zombie-rob

@trixie8264

@animallover4000

@i-maybe-exist

@nightanjel

@thegamerbook

@smolbean-pma

@the-chemist

@therealtiger77

@immabethehero

@oh-itskitkat

@protectjj

@nyx-thatsme

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marie-x-beaulieu · 4 years ago

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( summer bishil, 30, cisfemale, she / her ) Have you seen MARIE-ANNE BEAULIEU around ? I hear they’re a AVTORITYET / ESCORT AT EDEN who can sometimes be CYNICAL & IMPULSIVE. But I also heard they can be INDEPENDENT & EFFICIENT if you catch them on a good day. They’re usually hanging around JAVA ADDICT in their spare time. I sure hope they’re alright!

TW: drug mention, prostitution, murder, vague mention of child neglect

- B A S I C -

Name: Marie-Anne Beaulieu Nickname(s): Marie - she usually just goes by this. Age: 30 Occupation: Avtorityet / Escort at Eden Affiliation: Vasile Birthday: May 28th Zodiac: Gemini Place of Birth: Paris, France Ethnicity: Mexican / Caucasian / Indian Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Languages Spoken: French (fluent - first language), Spanish (fluent) and Russian (the basics only)

- F A M I L Y -

Father: Unknown Mother: Bernadette (deceased) Sibling(s): None Children: Henry (1 1/2 years old)

- A P P E A R A N C E -

Height: 5′6′’ Weight: 117lbs Hair Color / Type: Light brown, long and slightly wavy Eye Color: Dark brown Piercings / Tattoos: A few small tats here and there; tongue piercing, ears & cartilage piercings Best Features: Her smile. Pinterest Board: x

- P E R S O N A L I T Y -

(+) Independent, Reliable, Efficient, Loyal, Resourceful (-) Cynical, Impulsive, Aloof, Cold-Hearted, Selfish

- L I K E S / D I S L I K E S -

Likes:

Spending time with her son, Henry

Dancing

Drinking (she’s borderline a alcoholic)

Getting high (but only occasionally)

Having sex - m/f...doesn’t matter

Getting paid

Working for the Vasile

Killing

Being frugal, but also spending her hard-earned cash - she’s a bit of a walking contradiction with this one.

Dislikes:

Women & Child Abusers

Openly showing her emotions

Feeling her feelings

People in general, even though she works with them for a living

- B I O G R A P H Y -

Was born in Paris, France, to a single teenaged mother. Bernadette was sixteen when she had Marie.

Her mother was a runaway - she left home at fourteen after a fallout with her parents, and two years later, had Marie. To support herself and her daughter, Bernadette took up sex work - she did everything she could at the time, to earn money. She danced, she stripped and she sold her body. Got really heavy into drugs, and never really stopped.

Although they had a place to live, and she went to school like a normal kid, Marie still pretty much grew up on the streets of Paris. More specifically, in the red light district, as that was where her mother worked. She was exposed to pretty much everything a child shouldn’t be exposed to: neglect, sex, drugs, alcohol, violence...you name it, she very likely saw it go down.

Her mother often snuck her into the back of the clubs that she worked in, and while her mother went off to do her thing, she had the other girls watch Marie, collectively, hiding her in the dressing rooms.

Hands down, Bernadette Beaulieu was a terrible mother. She was selfish, childish and negligent. She never once showed even a little concern for her daughter and how being exposed to such an environment might possibly effect her. She’d already deemed Marie a lost cause, same as her.

Growing up in strip clubs and such places like that, and watching not just her mother but the other ladies, Marie pretty much learned the skills and how to acquire the proper tools of the trade: how to dance, do her makeup, and how to dress in a way that both enticed and intrigued the desired clientele.

Not that she put any of it to use immediately. It wasn’t until she was seventeen and her mother went missing for several weeks before her body was found floating in the Sein River (she’d been strangled to death), that Marie found herself having to make a living on her own. Just barely out of school and she was orphaned, homeless, broke and starving - it was then that she stepped onto a stage for the first time, more naked than she’d ever been in public before.

First it was exotic dancing and then stripping, but when even that proved to not make her enough money to pay rent and food - as Paris was a notoriously expensive place to live - she started selling her body, and her time, becoming an escort. Started at the bottom, but quickly rose to being one of the highest paid and most sought after escorts in the district. She was young, beautiful, feisty...and the men loved that, apparently.

Marie strangely loved her job, more so than you’d probably expect, but then she grew up in the industry so it was all she knew.

She loved sex, she truly did. She loved how powerful she felt during the act, even when she wasn’t the one completely in control. And fuck, did she love being the one in control.

She had the heart of a dominatrix, but when she smiled at you, you’d never know it, for she looked like a real softy. That said, she rarely smiled, so that wasn’t really a problem.

She killed for the first time a few months after she started working. It was in self defense, of course; a male client who decided that ‘rough play’ meant something entirely different. It wasn’t as difficult as she she thought it was, taking a life, nor covering up the murder - and she quickly became an expert at both.

She didn’t know it at the time, but her first kill hadn’t gone as unnoticed as she thought, but thankfully it wasn’t by the police, but rather a recruit for the Russian mafia, temporarily stationed in Paris. Impressed by her cleverness and instincts when it came to covering up her tracks, Yakov approached her and offered to mentor her, and train her more extensively in fighting and how to kill, with the full intent of recruiting her into the Vasile gang. It hadn’t taken her long to say yes to the offer.

After accepting Yakov’s offer to train her, they both agreed that continuing her work as a sex worker was not only a great cover but a great training ground. A lot of her targets frequented the red light district, which made it overall rather easy (and more fun) to lure them in.

At twenty-three - after six years of vigorous training with Yakov - she made her way to Chicago, where she went through the initiation, and finally becoming a marked Vasile and one of their assassins.

Deciding to stay in the city, she once more became an escort as more for a cover than because she needed the money or the work.

Two years passed, before Marie met Malachi Reed, an older gentleman who worked at Forty-Three as a bartender. It wasn’t love at first sight, not by any means - Marie wasn’t the type of girl to fall in love so easily, or really show those kinds of feelings. To her, love was very foreign concept.

In fact, up until she and Malachi started seeing each other, she had never actually been in a relationship. She’d gone on dates, sure, but nothing other than sex ever came of them. After all, not many men wanted to date a woman who slept with other people for a living - either that, or they offered to take her away and ‘give her a better life’, as if real life was some fucking fairytale that could be escaped so easily.

With Malachi, things were different, which was the only reason she even consented to the idea of dating him in the end. He had been very open-minded, and hadn’t been fazed by her being an escort, accepting that she was a woman simply trying to make a living just like everyone else.

She didn’t inform him about her main job, however. The fact that she worked for one of the main gangs in the city never so much as left her lips, in the two years that they were together.

A year into their relationship, Marie fell pregnant with her son, Henry. He’d been a awful surprise, in the best and worst possible way. She had never wanted a child, so the thought of motherhood had never appealed to her in the slightest. In her line of work, she’d always been careful, taken precautions, but for some reason being with Malachi had completely short-circuited her brain.

She’d been downright furious when she had discovered she was pregnant, and she had stayed that way for pretty much the entirety of her pregnancy. It wasn’t until Henry was actually born and she was looking at her newborn son’s face for the first time, that the resentment finally melted away, only to be replaced by fear - knowing that she was now responsible for this little person that she’d stupidly and selfishly brought into the world.

In the end, being a mother was hard work, but it was definitely rewarding and she couldn’t have asked for a more perfect little boy. That said, she would be the first to admit that there were days when she still had doubt and selfish thoughts of fleeing from the responsibility - because being a parent was hard as fuck and she didn’t always have the patience.

Of course, the new found joy of motherhood was quickly overshadowed by the disappearance of Malachi, not five months later. She had no idea where he was, or why he disappeared. Did he leave on his own? Was he killed? Caught in the gang war that was going on within the city? There was literally no clues.

The only thing she could think of was that he’d willingly left...despite all of his stuff still being at their apartment. It beat thinking his body was possibly laying in a ditch somewhere, and it allowed her to feel something towards the situation that wasn’t overwhelming grief over the death of a beloved one (although she was still in denial that she’d loved him). She felt anger, and resentment. Towards Malachi, specifically, because he was the only one she could blame.

After his disappearance, Marie moved into the Vasile manor with Henry, and they’ve been there ever since.

- W A N T E D C O N N E C T I O N S -

Her missing boyfriend, Malachi Reed. Name can be changed, obviously. Anyways, this would be such a great connection that is open to so many plot possibilities. (Suggested FCs: Chris Hemsworth, Joseph Morgan, Ryan Guzman, UTP). He’d definitely be 32+

Vasile Connections - ALWAYS!

Co-Workers

Clients

Love Interest (someone to finally melt this little ice queen’s heart)

Friends

Enemies

Any other sort of connections, tbh - I’m literally open to everything!

#crimson.intro #FINALLY i have finished her intro #it took a whole month nearly but i did it #i think i deserve cookies or something for this accomplishment #i'm still not happy with it #but here you go

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