#for future streams. I will be doing them. keep your eyes peeled >:3

[higherhell]

Atsushi Sakurai (Stream drawing, September 29, 2024 - Clip Studio Paint)

[whimsyfinny]

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Charlie discovers the Winchester boys to be struggling with keeping the bunker tidy, looking after themselves and being able to do their job simultaneously. Luckily she has a friend who’s from a Hunter family that is in need of work and can help them with research. Or so she thought that’s what her job would be. When Dean sees your more domesticated side, his head won’t stop swimming with all the wrong ideas.

Slow burn, enemies to lovers, smut

Warnings: language, angst, depictions of blood

Chapter Word Count: 3327

—-MDNI—-

A/N: soooo this chapter felt weird to write, but hey I wanted it for the plot to thicken haha. It’s different, but things will feel a bit more normal after this chapter.

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Please read the below:

Prologue Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8pt.1

Chapter 8pt.2

Chapter 9 Chapter 10

I’m Not Your F*cking Maid

Chapter 11

By the time I’d passed the security check, introduced myself to the two other girls currently on shift and found my dressing room, the nerves were starting to dissipate. Through each step and each new room I’d entered I was making countless mental notes on every security camera and exit I could see. It wasn’t hard to tell that everyone except the bar and wait staff and the dancers were all vampires - their noses twitching and eyes widening whenever I’d walked past. I was clearly fresh meat - perhaps not in the immediate future, but I’m guessing that as soon as I’d served my purpose in luring unknowing human men to their untimely demise, I’d be next. Or at least kept as a blood bag, and I didn’t know which was worse.

A sharp knock on the door brought me back to reality, the vamp on the other side not even waiting for a reply as he barged in.

“You’re sure taking your time sweet cheeks, everything ok?” His sharp gaze twinkled as he looked at me, as if searching for any sort of vulnerability. I huffed out a final deep breath of nerves before standing straight and forcing a smile, shimmying out of my thick overcoat and throwing it over the back of the chair I was just leaning on. On the revelation of my figure and my outfit he let out a long, low whistle.

“Well don’t you just look good enough to eat?”

I swallowed despite my mouth being dry, trying my best to bring my confidence to the forefront and to ignore what he is.

“Well you wouldn’t be the first to say so,” I almost felt nauseous from having to sound so sweet. “Why don’t you lead the way and show me where I’m supposed to be?”

He didn’t take any convincing as he led me out the room and down a short corridor that was lined with what I’m assuming are other dressing rooms.

“What’s in there?” I asked, my gaze snagging on a metal door that didn’t look like the rest. It looked more like a vault, with an intricate lock system that seemed to need both keys and fingerprints.

“Errrrr, just the boss's office. Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” he placed his hand on my hair, making me shudder.

“Oh ok… will I ever get to meet the boss?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. Keeping up with this cutie-pie act was going to be more draining than I thought. He stayed quiet for a moment before speaking up, an unsettling look on his face.

“Of course doll face! When the time is right.”

*

About two hours had passed since I arrived at the club and a steady stream of men (occasionally women) was filtering in. I was currently up on a podium and trying not to think too hard about how I should be dancing whilst keeping my eyes peeled on the crowd, every now and then making eye contact with the patrons and blowing them a sickening kiss with a sultry wink. Every time I slipped away for a ‘toilet break’ I'd unlock as many windows and doors as I could find whilst turning security cameras towards the wall. I'd counted around fifteen vampires milling around as I snuck about, and there were definitely more behind that metal door. This place was about as prepared as possible for Sam and Dean to sneak in, so I sent Charlie a text with all the details I had knowing full well she could no longer see me through the cameras she'd hacked into.

I'd been back on my podium for about ten minutes, moving my body to the loud bass of the blaring music under the erotic lighting which glowed all manner of pinks and reds, when the front door opened again to let another patron in. Except this wasn't a patron.

It was Dean.

I cursed under my breath, frowning at him across the dance floor despite the fact he hadn't seen me yet. What the actual fuck was he doing coming in through the front door? I didn't play mission impossible and find countless ways for him to break in just so that he could waltz in, bold as brass and blow our cover. I watched him as he stopped in the centre of the room, illuminated by the lights that cast angular shadows over his rugged face. He was alert, jaw clenched and eyes scouring the crowd until his gaze eventually landed on me. With my arms above my head and gripping the pole behind me he was able to get a good look at what was hiding underneath my overcoat when he last saw me. Eyes glazing over and Adam's apple bobbing, he was instantly ensnared. I focused entirely on him; sinking to my knees and crawling my hands forwards, beckoning him with a single finger to which he eagerly obliged. The older Winchester stood before me, eyes almost sparkling from the lustful lighting as he gaped up at me. His evergreen eyes shone in adoration as they bore into mine, almost completely disregarding the lasciviousness of the rest of my body. It was almost…

Romantic.

I leant forwards, my painted lips brushing against his ear and pulling a shiver from his spine. I could have been mistaken, but I’m sure I heard a groan.

“What the FUCK are you doing here, Dean?”

He blinked, suddenly remembering he was on earth.

“What?”

“The plan! What happened to the plan? You were supposed to go around the back - I made it easy for you to sneak in! This place is well guarded Dean.”

“Yeah well, I wanted to make sure you were- hang on- are you a MAID?” He stepped back to take a better look at me as I sat up, trying not to draw attention to myself for staying still for too long. My eyes rolled on their own accord.

“Dean now really isn’t the tim-”

“Holy crap you’re a maid. You’re a MAID. So there is a God,” he dramatically put his hands together as though in prayer and mouthed ‘thank you’ to the disco ball on the ceiling.

“Dean-”

“Nuh-uh, I’m not letting anyone ruin this for me - not even you. Carry on, pretend I’m not Dean and there aren’t any vamps to kill; just for two minutes,” he settled into one of the chairs in front of my podium, flagging a waitress down for a whiskey in the process. There was no arguing with Dean Winchester, especially when he was ticking something off his bucket list. Grasping the pole behind me I pulled myself to my feet, hooking my leg around it and spinning slowly.

“So, NOT-Dean, where’s not-Sam?”

He took a long sip from his liquor before licking his lips, his eyes transfixed on my thighs.

“He's uhhh…. He's sneaking in through some window round the back.”

“Oh, so like you should be?”

He smirked over the top of his glass, spreading his legs a little wider as he settled further into his chair, his other hand resting in his lap.

“Don't deny a man his pleasures sweetheart.”

A half hearted scoff left my lips before I climbed higher on the pole, leaning back so I was almost upside down, granting Dean the perfect view of my lingerie as my micro-skirt flipped over my belly. Spinning slightly, I caught him adjusting himself in his jeans right as I pulled myself back upright.

“You seem pretty at home in a strip club,” my voice came out more breathy than intended as I moved my body in time with the music.

“I can say the same about you,” he quipped back, dark eyes burning into my exposed skin. Licking the last drop of whiskey from his bottom lip, he placed his glass back on the table before standing; taking long, slow steps towards my podium, the toes of his boots touching the metal. I got down on my knees, bringing myself to his eye level before taking his chin between my thumb and index finger and drawing his bewitched face nearer. We ignored the shouts from security telling Dean he wasn’t allowed to touch as I ghosted my lips over his. I could feel his chest rising and falling in anticipation for a simple kiss, his mouth agape and eyes darting about my features - trying to take all of me in. His restraint snapped and he leant forward, pressing his mouth to mine - hot and needy. A large hand reached up and long fingers wrapped around my wrist, rough skin tickling at my pulse as he guided my hand from his chin to his hair, urging me to grip it. Just as I grasped at its softness he was forced away from me, two of the vamps shoving aggressively at his shoulders and putting some distance between us.

“Keep your hands off the girls! You know the rules,” one of them practically spat out his words to Dean, who in return had a feral look in his eye as I caught his hand inching closer and closer to the blade concealed within his jacket.

“Sorry it was my fault!” I blurted, all eyes now burning into me. “It's my first shift and I forgot I shouldn't let it get that far. Don't blame him, it was me who was too…. encouraging.” I flashed sickly-sweet doe eyes at the vamp sizing up Dean, biting my lip in apprehension before he sighed and let go, shaking his head.

“I’ll let you off this time as you’re the newbie, but don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes’sir!” I tapped my fingers to my forehead in a pretend salute, hearing the fanged ones curse under their breath before walking away, throwing one last warning look at Dean - who looked like the cat that got the cream - before returning to their posts. When I knew that they were definitely out of earshot, I snapped at Dean.

“You could’ve totally blown everything!”

Shrug.

“But I didn’t.”

“Dean, you need to go. Sam is going to be wondering where you are. Find him before you get caught.”

“And what about you?” He chewed his lip, unable to stop his eyes from wandering.

“I’m going to stay here and stick to the plan. I’ll run at the first sign of trouble, so please don’t worry about me,” I sighed, looking down at his puppy-dog eyes.

“(Y/n) I’m always gonna worry about you.”

*

It must have been about twenty minutes since Dean left to find Sam and my heart was pounding in my chest knowing how close they were and the possible danger they were in. I didn’t know what doors they were behind, or how many vamps they’d taken out, and I certainly didn’t know if they were unharmed. My palms felt sweaty on the pole as I danced, making it hard for me to grip and put on a good show. Now was as good a time as any to have a toilet break and grab some coffee. I hopped down from my podium as the song ended and hurried to the back of the club, darting through a ‘staff only’ door to the break room. I poured myself a small cup of coffee, adding an obscene amount of sugar to stop my knees from trembling. I’d barely swallowed my first mouthful when I heard shouts and crashing from down the hall, my fingers instantly loosening from the mug as my high-heeled feet carried me to the door where I peaked out, desperate to know what was going on yet mindful not to be seen. There was no one in the corridor that I could see, yet I checked left and right to make sure I wasn’t being watched before I slipped out, teetering on my platforms as I tiptoed to where I was sure the noise had come from.

It was the metal door.

I poked my head down the corridor where it was located and was grateful to see it unlocked and sitting ajar. Inching closer I could hear a scuffle from within and the sound of heavy bodies dropping like lead to the floor, followed by Sam and Deans unintelligible murmuring. A sigh of relief left my lips when I heard them, knowing it wasn’t their bodies hitting the cold tiles below. That relief froze in my veins however when I heard a third voice speak up. A voice that was smooth like butter. A voice that drew you in with a silky southern accent.

A voice that I knew to be dead.

Hesitation and reasoning left in the dust, I barged forwards and into the room, shoving the metal door wide and startling the Winchester brothers, their eyes widening at my sudden appearance. Before they even had the chance to open their mouths, slow clapping echoed through the ‘old money’ style office, emanating from behind a large mahogany desk.

“And there she is! The star of my show. It’s about time you showed up darlin’,” that southern voice dripped with charisma as a handsome man, around my age, sat in a crisp stone-coloured, three piece suit.

“Hey! Don’t you talk to her, you’re dealing with us,” Dean was quick to bite. The stranger threw him a sharp glare before rising to his feet, his cold gaze landed on me again and burned me through to my very soul.

“Y-y-you’re de-” I started before being immediately cut off.

“I bet you never thought you’d see me again, hm? Especially not like this,” he gestured to himself.

“(Y/n),” Sam’s cautious eyes landed on mine, “how do you know him? He’s a vampire.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but yet again I was interrupted before a sound passed my lips.

“Oh (Y/n) and I go waaaaaaaay back, don’t we darlin’?”

I could see Dean inching closer to me out of the corner of my eye, trying not to draw attention to himself in the process. I opened my mouth to speak again, my lips and tongue feeling dry and numb, like they didn’t want to utter the word about to be spoken.

“Daniel I-”

“BINGO!” He clapped loudly, “she DOES remember her old sweetheart.”

“WHAT!?” Both Sam and Dean spun to look at me with dumbfounded expressions, a whole array of emotions flitting across their features.

“(Y/n) you dated a vamp?” Sam asked, those big eyes of his glistening with concern.

“He wasn’t a vamp when I knew him; he’s supposed to be dead!” I turned from Sam to Daniel, the confusion clearly evident on my face, “you’re supposed to be dead - I watched you die - how are you here?”

A harsh laugh rippled from his chest.

“Paramedic was a vampire sweet-cheeks. He turned me on the way to the morgue after he pronounced me dead at the scene - stroke of genius really. Although,” he paused, walking around the desk to step towards me, the boys reaching for every weapon on their person to have at the ready, “what’s even more genius is that ad we put out for a dancer.”

���What?”

He scoffed.

“You think it’s a stroke of good luck that you just happen to look exactly like the description we posted? Honey I knew from the moment I turned what you and your uncle did for living - the dots seemed to connect all on their own. And I knew that one day - whether now or in a few years - that you or some other hunter you might know would pass through my nest and see it. I knew it would bring you back to me.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hang on their sparkles; she’s not going anywhere with you,” Dean had pushed his way in between me and Daniel, the eldest Winchester standing a few inches taller than him as they went nose-to-nose.

Daniel grimaced, fangs threatening to show.

“Why is her scent all over you? Don’t tell me you two are involved?”

Dean smirked before I shoved him out the way, his thick fingers protectively wrapping around my wrist as a safety line.

“Daniel I-,” I took a deep breath, “I loved you once. A long, long time ago. But to me, in my world; you died. And I grieved you. God I grieved you for years, and then one day I woke up and my heart didn’t hurt as much anymore. I carried on with my life, the heartache easing a little everyday. Until there was no more heartache - no more pain. I was whole again. Daniel - you’re still dead in my world. Nothing is going to change.”

He reached for my hand but Dean put an arm between us, stopping him in his tracks.

“(Y/n), darlin’, I put that ad out because I still love you. We can still be together - forever. Just let me turn you-”

“Aannnd that’s it loverboy, times up,” Dean pushed me behind him and brandished the hunting blade he’d use to slice my underwear from my body about a week ago on our first hunt together. Right as Daniel bared his fangs and lunged for Dean, I felt another hand grab my arm. I spun and came toe-to-toe with Sam who was quietly beckoning for me to follow him whilst the vampire was distracted. We left the room quietly, running down corridors, twisting and turning and falling through one of the side doors I had unlocked earlier in the night and out into the fresh air. I took a few deep breaths, not realising how much the metallic scent of blood had filled my nostrils.

“Sam what about Dean?! We can't just leave him behind he-”

Sam laughed softly.

“If you want a vamp dead, Dean will always come out on top. He'll be just fine.”

Sam helped me to my feet, looking down at me, his gaze turning from reassuring to questionable. I sighed, weariness starting to settle into my bones.

“I know, I know. I can explain it all later,” I said, starting to shuffle back to the impala, seeking the comfort of its plush leather seats.

“What? No, (Y/n) you don’t owe me an explanation if you don’t want to. I just want to know if you’re ok?”

I stopped and looked up at him, and something about the kindness of his voice and the concern in his eyes had me falling to my knees, my body heaving out a sob. Then another. And another. Until I couldn’t stop for air and hot tears washed my makeup down my face and my hair stuck to the streaks they left behind. Sam simply crouched down and pulled me into him, rubbing my back and telling me softly that everything will be ok. It was a comfort to feel his chin on my head and his heartbeat beneath my fingertips, the steady thrum eventually soothing away my anguish.

I have no idea how long we were sat there for, but he eventually coaxed me to my feet and led me to the car where Charlie was waiting with a pained expression. She would have seen, or at least heard everything that went down through the security cameras linked to her tablet - she was one of the few people in this life that had met my ex.

I was gently manoeuvred into the back seat, my head resting on Charlie's lap as she played with my hair. Sam had waited outside the impala for a few minutes before climbing into the passenger seat, slamming the door closed. Not five minutes had passed when the door slammed again as Dean clambered in, the stench of blood thick on his clothes, however the comforting scent of his cologne still managed to waft through. He turned to face me, those mossy green eyes piercing into mine as he said with the gentlest tone he could muster:

“It’s done, sweetheart.”

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Next: Chapter 12

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@suckitands33 @jackles010378 @aliceeinwonderland420 @tina-theslytherin @deans-queen @hobby27 @sobearcowboy @girls-alias @selfdestructionandrhum @ericasabe @lacilou @littlemadamred @anneanirac @deans-baby-momma @swimregulas @ashdoctor @littlemarvelstan8 @atcamillanorrman @deangirl96 @zannemes @kr804573 @foxyjwls007 @divadinag @cookiemonstermusic258 @mysterialee @ababy-girl @joonseuph0ria @mxltifxnd0m @deans-spinster-witch @st4bl3-ch40s @feyresqueen @roseblue373 @clusterfuck-meup @urinternetmom @rachiem4-blog @ceeshellecee @mojos-hidden-castle @snowayumi @evzyi @mymuseisbipolar @magssteenkamp @koharuheartfilia @spookyysinsanity @safiyas-world @uncle-eggy @happyt0exist @supernaturalstilinski @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @mrsjenniferwinchester

[timidpumpkin]

Little Light (Stucky x reader)

Part 3: Relent

Pairing: Dark!Stucky x f!reader

Summary: With a rough night behind them, Steve and Bucky hope to focus on what they brought you here for: to be their good little girl.

Warnings for this part: Dark!Stucky, Daddy!Stucky, Forced age regression, Female reader, Manipulation, Implied panic attack, slight noncon(?), Fluff, Comfort.

Warnings for future parts: Dubcon, Stockholm Syndrome. (Will add more as needed)

Let me know if I missed any!!

Notes: Hiiii sooo this and the last two parts I had already written (for the most part)...months ago..hehe. I definitely plan on doing more within this universe! I super hope you guys like it :)) let me know your thoughts please!! I love hearing from you all!! <333333 I can't wait to do more already <3

Word count: 3.8k

As always:

Minors and Ageless blogs DNI or I WILL block you. (THIS INCLUDES LIKES)

You wake to something cold caressing your face, your whole body is freezing. From your toes to your nose, you feel as though you’re made of ice. As your eyes peel open, you’re met with pale walls in a luminous room. 

It must be morning.

“Wake up babygirl.” you hear Bucky’s voice. You turn to see him, and Steve, looking down at you.

“Are you ready to come out of timeout?” Steve asks. Immediately, tears start streaming down your face as you remember last night. You nod pitifully. Steve kneels beside you. “Did you learn you lesson?” he asks tentatively, wiping the tears from your cheeks,

“Y-yes” you croak out. You can’t help but lean into his warm touch as his large hand holds your face. You’re in so much pain, even more so than when you must have passed out from exhaustion last night.

“Yes, what?” Bucky requests, and you break.

“Yes, dada! Yes, daddy! I’m-I’m sorry! M’sorry I was bad!” you’re sobbing uncontrollably now. “I-I’ve learned my lesson, please-please just let me out!”

Bucky is kneeling on the other side of you now, gently turning your head towards him, hand cupping your face. 

“And what lesson is that doll? What did you learn?” 

“T-t’not run away, I-I won't d-do it again! I-I promise! I-I’ll be good now, I’ll be good, I-j-just please don’t leave me alone again! Please daddy!”

“Okay babygirl, hey, it’s okay now, no more punishment,” he helps wipe away more of your tears, caressing your face now with both hands. You’re too hysterical to notice only one side of your face feels warm.

“We believe you babygirl. We’re going to untie you now. Just sit still while we do okay, angel?” Steve speaks. You can't help but cherish his sweet words to you, as you melt further into their touch.

“Okay dada” you say, tears slowing down. Steve mumbles a good girl and caresses your head one more time before they begin to untie you. You feel relief. Not just because you’re being freed from your binds, but because you know they’re no longer upset with you. They were so mad, so…mean before, and now they’re mumbling praises while freeing you. It makes you feel…content. 

Steve gently picks up your limp form. You have no energy. You barely ate a few bites before you got sent to this room. Steve helps wrap your arms around his neck as your head rests on his shoulder, legs supported around his waist. He carries you downstairs and sits on the couch with you still entangled around him.

He could see how exhausted you were. He hated it. The last thing Steve wanted was for you to be punished on your very first day here, but, what else could they have done? You tried to run away from him, from both of them. You had to learn that it wasn’t acceptable to do that. Soon you'd realize they were doing it to protect you. They could only keep you safe if you're with them, so you have to learn not to run away. 

You hear distant clatter from the kitchen as you sit with Steve. 

He begins rubbing up and down your back. He’s so warm. He wraps a blanket around both of you as he continues tenderly stroking you. He softly kneads at your shoulders and back and rubs the sensitive skin around your arms and ankles. He gently shushes you as some residual tears wet his shirt underneath you. You feel heavy under his touch, but in a good way, as your muscles relax for the first time since you got here. You fall asleep under his touch. 

Steve continues to massage you through your sleep. You feel so delightful on him as tiny huffs of air escape from you. He silently looks forward to the days ahead where you’ll lay atop him and bucky, just like this, all the time. When you’ll wake up to give him soft kisses before asking if you can go play with your dolls. Where you’ll trot through the house showing them your latest drawing. Where you’ll cuddle next to them on this very couch to watch a movie. He knows it’ll take time for you to adjust fully, but he also knows that you easily adapt to them. He knows this because you're perfect for them. 

Steve quietly wakes you from your slumber as breakfast is ready. He places you in the same spot you were just hours ago. Now, there’s a plate full of apples and bananas with a plentiful side of peanut butter and yogurt. Normally, you wouldn’t have picked something as healthy, but you’ll take what you can get. This time, Steve and Bucky eat along with you. It’s quiet while you eat, and after you’ve finished your second cup of milk, Bucky speaks. 

“Feel better babygirl?” 

“Yes daddy…thank you.” you say quietly. You probably shouldn’t be thanking them–definitely shouldn't, but…after your much needed massage and full belly, you can’t help but feel…grateful. 

“You want some more milk?” Bucky asks. You look towards your almost empty sipping cup, and shake your head before remembering to reply. 

“Uh-no…daddy.”

“I think you’d feel even better getting cleaned up, huh doll?” you look up to him at that. 

A shower. 

Oh how nice that sounded right now. You’ve been in the same clothes since yesterday and you honestly feel gross. 

“I-I’d like that…please.” While Steve cleans up, Bucky leads you to their bathroom. When you walk in you notice some neatly folded feminine-looking clothes laying on top of the counter. You stand in the threshold admiring the spacious bathroom again while Bucky starts running a bath. 

“Uhm…I’m okay with just taking a shower” you offer, hoping he’ll leave soon. He looks over his shoulder at you.

“Come here, sit while I get it ready for you.” he motions towards the cloth-covered toilet seat. Did he not hear you? You hesitantly comply. Guess you are taking a bath. He tests its temperature with his right hand, and after there’s enough water to cover the bottom, he turns to you with open arms.

“Come on, let’s get you undressed,” your stomach drops, eyes wide as you freeze. You glance at the door evaluating your escape route. “Don’t be like that, doll.” he orders, a displeased expression on his face. 

“No, I-I mean I can bathe myself…I-I promise…please.” you fret, beginning to shake. 

He sighs, “Look at me,” he demands, “I’m not going to hurt you. Remember what Dada said? We’re going to take care of you…you know why?” You shake your head. 

“Because you’re our little girl. And little girls like you need help taking baths. Now I’m not going to hurt you, but I'm also not going to ask again.” he warns. “don’t make this harder for yourself.” his inflection alone frightens you. You don’t want to find out how this could be any worse than it already is, but you really don’t want to be naked and vulnerable in front of some scary man–one you barely know, and one who is literally holding you captive. 

“N-no please, I-I understand I’m your…little girl, but I-I really can clean myself, I promise I can.” You reason clumsily.

“You’re not listening to me, doll. I’m helping you take a bath, Either you get in this tub, or you get another punishment,” he threatens, “and don’t think I’ll go as easy on you as Dada let last night.” his abrasive threat scares you to your core. What could be worse than being tied and locked up for more than ten hours? You’re at a complete loss for words, paralyzed as he begins carefully peeling off your clothes–slowly. 

To Bucky, it’s anything but. He waited for this moment for months. He’s going to cherish every moment he can. He revels in every inch of skin that gets revealed as he pulls your sleep gown off–the same one Steve dressed you in the night before last when you were still unconscious and unaware of Steve’s enamored gaze. 

“She’s so beautiful, Buck” he runs his hands along your bare sides, sliding down to your outer thighs, pausing when his eyes meet your naked mound. His pupils are blown, any trace of ultramarine gone as his eyes rake your bare form. Bucky places a hand on Steve’s back, silently agreeing with him as he gives him a smile. 

Steve releases a content–yet shaky–breath, before clasping your ankles and moving your legs up so he could swaddle your bottom half into the princess-decorated pull-up. 

Bucky finds himself thinking the same thing Steve said that night, with the same salacious look in his eye as he rids you of your gown. Goosebumps adorn your skin and Bucky relishes in how upturned your head is, eyes ostensibly focused on the plain white ceiling above. No, you weren’t just beautiful, you were fucking adorable.

Once he’s done, he diligently sets you into the warm water. You curl your knees up, trying to maintain a smidge of modesty.

“You want some bubbles?” he asks. 

“Yes,” You answer quickly, wanting anything that helps cover you. “please.” you add shakily.

Whatever kind he adds smells wonderful, and quickly produces enough to cover the clear water. He lets you sit there for a while, watching even after the water is turned off. You lightly pat at the bubbles around your legs, not daring to meet his attentive gaze. After a bit, a small basket is presented to you. He asks if you’d like to play with any toys. The container has a couple different multicolored rubber duckies, a small turtle, and a whale. You look between him and the toys, before picking out one, its cute face calling to you. You let it float around you. At least you’re not completely alone in the tub anymore. Bucky seems satisfied with your choice, happy that you took his offering. 

“Hey there,” you look towards the door to see Steve peeking around. Great, now they’re both here. He walks besides Bucky’s sitting form and leans down, hands on his knees. “how’s it going?” he asks, noticing your wary manner.

“She’s feeling a little shy, but she’ll get used to it.” Bucky responds.

“No need to be embarrassed angel, daddies always help their little girl take a bath. Would be dangerous if we left you all alone,” he says in that patronizing tone he uses. “Have you washed her yet?”

“No, not yet,” Bucky looks to your idle and unmoving form. “babygirl, if you’re not going to play with your toy then it’s time to wash up.”

“I-I can do it.” you think maybe if Steve hears you, he’ll be on your side. Instead, his face falls, and he addresses you by your name.

“I know that’s not true. You may think it is, but it’s not. Now you need to be a good girl and let Daddy clean you up. Besides, the sooner he starts, the sooner it’ll be over. After that,” Steve postures himself up, “we’ll talk about how you need to listen to Daddy and I, and not talk back. Okay?” he looks at you expectantly. You feel defeated that your small protest only resulted in him being up displeased with you.

“I-okay Dada” he purses a smile at you before letting you both know he’ll be in the living room while you finish up.

Once he’s gone Bucky starts shedding his outer layer. Your heart rate skyrockets, terrified he plans to get in there with you. But after his jacket is off, he proceeds to roll up his sleeves and remove a glove from his left hand. You’re not sure how you’ve never noticed it before, but his arm is quite literally made of metal. Horizontal pleats make up his forearm as far as you can see. Your eyes follow its sleek design to see his hands and fingers contain more fine lines and intricate folds. Its sleekness catches the light on certain parts, and you’re just…staring at it.

You watch it as he lathers up a soft-looking loofa, and holds his arms out to you, silently beckoning you to come closer to his side of the large tub. When you look up into his eyes, you’re met with…concern laced in his. He subtly retracts his metal arm, so that his right one is the only one reaching to you. 

“Come on, Doll. Let’s get you clean.” This time his words don’t feel like a demand, rather…an invitation. You scoot yourself towards him and let him work. He gingerly takes his time running the bubbly white suds over your body. You try not to wince at the iciness of his left hand when it touches you. After a bit, it seems to warm up some due to the water. When he gets to your more private areas, you tense. “It’s okay,” he softly reassures throughout, handing you the tiny toy you picked. It helps, but you can’t help but grow hotter than the water around you from being so exposed.

Once he’s done and begins drying you with a giant towel. You realize you’ve barely lifted a finger, and despite how humiliating it was, you do feel a lot better.

You offer to dress yourself, but that suggestions is only met with a scowl. Again, the clothes are obviously something they bought as it’s nothing you own. It's a light-colored onesie with delicate flowers making up the pattern. Small ruffles decorate the bottom, making it look almost dress-like. You’re pleased regardless when he helps your unsteady legs step into underwear and leggings. Finally, as you hold onto his shoulders for support, he slips on some frilly socks that match your onesie perfectly. 

It felt comfortable and when you catch a glimpse of yourself when leaving the bathroom, you almost think your attire looks…cute.

Once you’re back in the living room, Bucky and Steve take a great deal of time explaining the rules to you. 

And there are a lot of them.

The main ones being about how you shouldn’t run away from your daddies. How you should always listen and do what daddies say. How you must always be polite and keep your manners, especially when talking to them. How you need to remember to call them Daddy and Dada, because that’s what we are princess. 

It’s hard to keep track of everything they’re saying. They must pick up on this because Steve reassures you that he knows you’re still going to need time to learn. They end the discussion by sternly reminding you if you are to break any of these rules, especially intentionally, that you’ll get punished. 

They then decide to give you a proper tour of the house. You’ve seen most of the first floor except an office room they quickly show you. There’s a door with several locks, much like the front door, that leads to what must be a basement, but they tell you it’s off-limits and that you’re never to go down there. 

“Why not?” you ask innocently.

“Because Daddy said so,” Bucky replies sternly.

“And because…” Steve leans down to your level after giving a glare to Bucky. “there are dangerous things down there. Things that could hurt you. Daddy and Dada have stuff down there little girls can’t be around. Okay?” You nod your head.

“Okay Dada.” You say. Steve leans up again to see Bucky now giving him a look.

“What? She needs to know, and we should be honest with her if we expect the same from her.” he defends. Honest? He didn’t even really tell you what was down there. 

Bucky rolls his eyes and grunts at Steve as they begin leading you upstairs. There are two rooms connected by a loft that overlooks the living room, and a small bathroom. 

They show you your “playroom” first. It’s the room you must have been in last night as you notice the haunting chair in the corner. The rest of the room is quite…lively though. They let go of the hold on your hands and let you roam around its expanse. It’s lightly colored with accents of pinks and other pastels. A hexagonal tent is in one of the corners with pillows and blankets stacked on the inside. There are several shelves with neatly placed boxes and a variety of toys peeking through them. There’s a table to the side with coloring books stacked on top and a fluffy rug right in the middle. 

“What do you think, babygirl?” Steve probs.

“It’s…nice.” It’s certainly much more than nice. You’ve secretly always wanted a space like this before. You imagine your childhood self would be running in circles around the room if it were given to you. 

Steve takes your hand again and leads you to your bedroom. It’s even more beautiful than your playroom. The color schemes are similar, but pink stands out even more here. There’s a queen size bed in the middle with ruffles covering the sides of it. It reminds you of your outfit. There’s a couch opposite of the bed also supplied with plenty of fluffy looking pillows. On the other side of the room is a…crib. When you notice it you look up to Steve quizzically.

“That’s just in case you’re feeling extra little,” He explains. “you can pick whichever one you want to sleep in babygirl, I promise,” he beams down at you, then lets go of your hand prompting you forward into the room “go on, look around.” 

You want to jump on the bed. You bet it would be so much fun. You feel as though they probably wouldn't like that though. As you get closer to your bed you notice something familiar. No–it’s more than just familiar. You know exactly what it is. 

It’s your stuffie. 

The same one you’ve cuddled with for as long as you can remember. You quickly pick it up, inspecting it for injuries. When all is good, you clutch it to your chest, hugging it tightly. You missed it. And as you inhale its scent you’re reminded of home…your home…where you’re supposed to be. 

No. Actually, you’re supposed to be at work. Right now. Instead, you’re in a foreign place and you’re surrounded by unfamiliar things and you’ve just been given a list of strict rules to follow and you’re not allowed to leave and and and and-

You turn around rashly and start making for the door. Steve is quick to pick you up, securing you to his side. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks sternly before noticing your crinkled eyebrows. “Hey,” he pets the back of your head. “What’s wrong, angel? Something wrong with the room? Something scare you?” He peers around, looking for any abnormalities. You shake your head hard, beginning to get hysterical. 

“N-No! I-I need to go home! I’m supposed to be home! I-I have to work! I’m supposed to be at work, I-I need-I have-” you’re not really sure what you’re saying and you’re pretty sure you start to not make sense as Steve carries you to the bed and sets you down, firmly holding your arms. You’re not even trying to get away from him, you just feel so…overwhelmed. Everything around you is so new. You don’t really understand anything. You do but you don’t. You’re confused. You’re disoriented. You’re scattered. you’re-

“I-I’m scared!” you finally cry out, tears streaming down your face. You feel like you can’t breathe at all. You must somehow communicate that to Steve as he tenderly tries to get you to look at him, both hands engulfing your wet face. 

“Babygirl,” he calls you by your name gently, “hey, it’s okay. Look at me. You’re okay. Just breathe with me, can you do that for me?” he encourages. He asks you to mimic his breathing. It’s hard at first, but eventually, your synchronized breathing fills the room, though yours is still shaky and you’re still crying. Steve picks you up again, bouncing and shushing you lightly. He whispers how you’re okay, and how we got you babygirl, it’s okay. You’re home now. You don’t have to think about any of that, just focus on breathing in, and breathing out, babygirl. Just like that. There you go. Good girl. You’re doing so good. Just keep breathing, don’t think about anything else. Dada’s got you. You’re okay.

Steve continues talking and bouncing you as you concentrate on his words, breathing in and breathing out. 

You should be pushing him away, attempting to get out of his hold and break for the door again. Yet, his essence is the only thing grounding you. His consoling words are the only thing you hear, his encompassing hug the only thing you can feel. Your body and mind crave his soothing embrace, both tired from fighting the past day. You don’t want to give in, you aren’t���but right now you can’t be burdened with concerns when the only thing that feels right is…

“Dada” you muffle into his neck. Steve hears it’s perfectly clear though.

“Yeah angel,” he continues caressing you. “Dada’s got you. It’s okay. It’s all okay.” he carefully shifts you so he can look at you. Your face is puffy and wet, your lips are quivering and your body is wholly slumped into his hold. “How about we watch a movie?” he suggests tentatively. “anything you want, you choose.” his suggestion seems to work, distracting you from your current thoughts to pick out what you might want to watch. After a moment of diligent selection, you decide. 

“Belle…” 

Steve smiles, “Beauty and the Beast?” you nod your head. “Okay, babygirl. That’s just perfect, let’s go.” he carries you downstairs where Bucky has a bottle of warm milk ready for you. 

This time, you don’t fight Bucky when he delicately moves you onto his lap. The once vulnerable position now feels…welcoming. Bucky does the hard work of holding the heavy bottle up, and when he presses the tip of it to your lips, your mouth opens almost naturally. In the present moment, it’s as if your mind has almost no say in your actions. You feel fuzzy. Not…cloudy, like when you first awoke to that unfamiliar dark room, terrified and confused. No, now you feel as though your mind has no other responsibility than to succumb to the demands of your…daddies. And currently, all that consisted of was suckling on the soft tip pressed gently on your tongue, and remaining nestled in Bucky’s lap. 

Your weary eyes take in the colorful animations, and the songs you know by heart encapsulate all your focus. The warm drink helps calm your insides, while the steady weight of Bucky swaddling you makes you feel engulfed in safety. For the second time today, you fall asleep on the couch. Yet this time, it’s…daddy…who is caressing you to slumber.

[wri0thesley]

nsfw scenario of pesci getting the succ from his s/o in la squadra's hideout and they get walked in on by some other team members, including prosciutto? (because they didn't know that they'd be back so soon)

hi anon! i hope you don’t mind i did headcanons instead <3

♡ It takes you a lot to convince Pesci it will be alright for you to do this in the main room of the base; he’s shy at the best of times when it comes to the more intimate embraces you two share. But you’ve always been able to wrap him around your finger and flutter your eyelashes and have him in the palm of your hand. He’s just so hopelessly in love with you - and you with him. When you move your hand down the front of his body to gently stroke the growing bulge between his thighs, you soon see that the idea of you and him doing something so shameless in public isn’t just scandalising him but turning him on, too. You massage it for a while through the fabric, enjoying the way that he whimpers and whines, bucking into your touch, breathing hard already. When you slowly lower yourself to your knees in front of him, you keep perfect eye contact as you urge him to peel down his bodysuit so that you can get at what you want. 

♡ Pesci’s not the longest, but his cock is thick, and the sight of it stiff and ready to be touched makes your mouth water. You’re very sweet as you press a kiss to the tip of it, looking up at him with a softness in your eyes that always makes him feel like he could take on anything in the world for your smile. When your tongue darts out to taste him, he lets out a hiss of breath, one hand coming to gently cup the back of your head and his own falling onto the cushions of the sofa. It’s so easy for both of you to lose yourself in one another - you in the hollowing of your cheeks and the movement of your tongue, and him in the soft, warm wetness that’s engulfing him so beautifully. You’re too far gone to hear the door quietly open, but when it does, La Squadra seem to stream in like they’re eight legs of the same beast--

♡ Formaggio alerts you both to his presence first, with a wolf-whistle and a shout about how Pesci’s finally gettin’ some action, and it looks like it’s good action too - he will he bit over the head and dragged out by somebody else, probably laughing at his own hilarity.

♡ Illuso knew there was something going on the moment he got into the hideout as a whole, but even he couldn’t have predicted this - he never thought Pesci would be so brave. He’s got a little smirk on his face as he files this away for future use, lest this new weakness of Pesci’s and yours be exploitable for his gain at some point - he does, at least, leave of his own volition (though he embeds the view of your face with your mouth open and lips around a shaft into his memory. Again, for future use).

♡ Prosciutto’s face goes all-over thunder. He’s proud of Pesci, of course - this is manliness, he thinks, and his main goal is to give Pesci confidence in himself. This is something that takes a lot of confidence. But he also believes in manners, and this is certainly not a polite thing to have your entire team walk in on - and, if he’s very honest with himself, the tightness in his throat is partly because of you. He’s been secretly jealous of Pesci over you for longer than he’d like to admit, and this just feels like rubbing it in his face - so Prosciutto immediately turns and tries to bark out to the others that they ought to give you both some privacy to get yourselves decent!

♡ Melone is immediately draping himself over the back of the sofa, criticising your technique, being surprised at what exactly Pesci is packing - he doesn’t mind the free entertainment at all. He will eventually be dragged out of the room by Risotto, Prosciutto, or Ghiaccio - depending on which one of them recovers first. 

♡ Ghiaccio goes red with rage. That you’d be so shameless, doing this, in the common area - all of you sit on that couch, you know! Couldn’t you have just done it in a bedroom like a normal person? What’s wrong with you? He either will explode with shouts and screams, or he’ll be unable to pull up his anger enough to make coherent sentences. There is no in between. 

♡ Sorbet and Gelato look at one another, and then back to you. They do not say anything, but they smirk, wrapping themselves closer around one another. “How shameless,” Gelato purrs into Sorbet’s ear. “At least when we do it, we try and avoid becoming a public show.”

♡ Risotto goes very quiet. He will be the one to herd out the rest of the group, if they don’t move themselves. He’ll have a talk with both of you about appropriate use of the common areas of the hideout later, but right at that moment he’s a little flustered by both of you and needs some space to calm down. The least he can do is make sure the rest of La Squadra aren’t there watching you. 

[vee-vee-writes]

Reunions (Part 3)

The Hardest Day - Part 3

Part one & Part two

Y/NN = your nickname & Y/N = your (real) name

Taglist: @thewhiteladyofrohan @tschrist1

Word Count: 1.8k

It had been a long day of travel and it was safe to say that Y/NN, like most of the company, was exhausted. However, they were given no rest before Thorin began barking out orders at the company. Fili, Kili, Ori, and Nori were told to collect firewood and water. As the resident cook Bombur had begun to prepare the stew, likely to avoid being snapped at by Thorin. Others shuffled around the area setting up the campsite.

Sighing the dam got up from her spot on the soft grass and made her way over to Bombur, offering to help prepare the nights stew. Bombur smiled widely as she approached. "Do you need any help making supper?" Y/NN questioned gently. He nodded and patted the grass down beside him. "If you could scrape the carrots and potatoes and peel the onion, I will cut them up. I'll get you a bowl to put the peelings into and a knife from my pack" Bombur requested before retrieving the items for her. Although she was unused to the work, the girl made quick work of the vegetables, making small talk with Bombur as they worked. As she was polishing off her work the group of four returned from gathering the nights supplies.  

Y/NN rose to meet them, wanting to help in way that she could. Fili and Kili had begun to set up the campfire in the middle of the site. Retrieving the flint and steel from her pack she was quick to shuffle over to them. Kili was the first to notice her approaching and grinned cheekily at her. The two had become close on the journey, Y/NN spending many long days travelling together. "How are you feeling?" Kili inquired as he helped assemble the campfire. "Tired" Y/NN teased, plopping down next to him, and handing the flint across to Fili. Kili snorted at her answer and Fili smirked a little. Thanking her for the flint and steel, Fili began striking it together to light the fire.

"Well, I better get back to helping Bombur before that uncle of yours comes after me" Y/NN sighed tiredly. Rising from her spot on the grass she gazed around the campsite. Trios of dwarves sat on logs they had rolled over from the surrounding area. On the outskirts she observed Thorin and Balin deep in discussion. 'They're probably pouring over the details for the rest of the journey' she decided. Thorin caught her gaze and raised a thick brow at her. She regarded him for a moment before trudging back over to Bombur to help finish the stew.

-//(Half an hour later)//-

Y/NN wiped her brow with the sleeve of her coat as she admired the hot stew bubbling away over the fire. "Thank you for the help. It took half the time it would have taken me on my own" Bombur thanked as he patted her gently on the shoulder. "It was no problem Bombur, I enjoy helping" Y/NN beamed. He smiled back before beginning to dish out supper.  

One by one each of the company members trekked up to them to grab their bowl. Y/NN picked up her bowl from the three-remaining bowls. Making her way over to the log the Durin brothers were sitting on she noticed Thorin and Balin still wrapped up in their discussion, oblivious to the rest of the company. 'If they are still there when I have finished dinner then I will bring it to them' she promised herself.

The brothers greeted her and made room on the log for the dam. Settling down in between them on the log she began eating her stew before pausing. She questioned whether Fili and Kili would think her nosey asking after other people but then her curiosity got the better of her. "What do you think your uncle and Balin are talking about?" Y/NN queried, "they've been far too long to just be discussing tactical movements and supplies for the journey." The brothers seemed taken aback by the question but then Fili admitted, "To be honest with you, I am not completely sure. I tried to speak with them earlier but was promptly sent away." "Whatever it is then it must be secret." Kili concluded.

Hesitating Fili sucked in a breath before uttering "It was about you, Y/NN." The dam's eyes widened. "What about me? I know Thorin doesn't like me but surely I have proved my loyalty to the company by now" Y/NN exclaimed frustrated. "I didn't hear much but he was…suspicious of your identity. He thinks you are some sort of noble lady" Fili disclosed, "So are you?" Both young darrow looked at her, eyes gleaming with the anticipation of her answer.

"My mother belongs to clan Stiffbeards so yes by association I am a noble lady" she confirmed, "but I'm not here for money or my own gain. I'm here because a long time ago I made a promise to someone" she confessed. "And who would you have made this promise to" a strong baritone voice spoke from behind her. Whipping her head around Y/NN was confronted with Thorin standing staunch, clench jawed, and arms crossed in front of her. His eyes bore deeply into her as if he was judging the very fabric of her sole, weighing up her existence.  

"Well?" he boomed at her. Never had she ever thought those eyes that had once regarded her with love and compassion would look at her with such harshness and anger. "Thorin, calm down. Let us go about this in a calm manner" Balin stated, attempting to appeal to Thorin's more rational side. "It is bad enough that Gandalf has forced this woman upon us but now she is keeping secrets too" Thorin snapped.  

By now all of the company was watching the unfolding events. Mixed reactions painted their faces as she scanned them. Many adverted their eyes as she met them, but others met her gaze in defiance, distrust clear in their eyes. As panic welled up inside of her, her lip started to quiver. "I-I can explain everything please. I promise that there is a good reason that I am here" she choked out. Thorin cocked an eyebrow but motioned for her to continue. "I am here for you. The promise I made was to you. My real name is Y/N" Y/NN cried out, a flurry of tears beginning to drip down her cheeks.

His expression remained neutral but anyone who knew Thorin well enough could see the array of emotions that danced through his eyes, confusion, realisation, and excitement. "Y/N, my nathith (daughter)?" Thorin questioned alarmed. By now a flurry of tears was streaming down her cheeks but she nodded as she choked out a sob. Reaching out with a shaky hand she fumbled with the buttons to the pocket on her coat before managing to undo it.

From inside she retrieved a small white handkerchief which she unwrapped to reveal a small silver bead. Thorin let out a strangled cry before dropping to his knees in front of her. He cupped her hands with his larger warm calloused hands, staring at the bead sitting on the handkerchief in her hands. "I-why are you here? You should be safe with your amad's (mother's) kin" Thorin managed. "I missed you adad. It's been over 60 years since amad and I left…I thought you'd forgotten me since you never visited" Y/N whimpered.

Thorin's eyes snapped up to meet hers and he brought one hand up to cup her cheek. "I would never forget about you mizimith (jewel that is young). Not a day has gone by since your mother took you away that I have not thought about you" Thorin soothed. Gazing into his eye’s Y/N watched the storm of emotions stirring in his eyes as they became red rimmed. This eased her mind a bit, he had missed her as much as she had missed him. With no face-to-face visits it had been hard to tell how he truly felt, her adad had always been more reserved emotionally.

Y/N turned her attention back to the bead in her hand, "I brought this back for you. You once told me that this bead symbolises the future of our kin and that when you took back our home that I should bring it to you." "We haven't taken Erebor back yet so why are you giving it to me now?" Thorin's tone was laced with confusion.

"No, we haven't. But right now, the fifteen of us hold the future of a race in our hands. No matter what our actions will decide the fate of all dwarves. Take back our home or not, this is the course we have set, and we must stand together and strong as we charge ahead" Y/N preached, looking to all of the company. Focusing her attention back to Thorin she tenderly stated, "If this bead really does symbolise our future, then you should wear it with pride as we carry on." With that she freed her hand from within his grasp and used it to place the bead in the centre of his hand. Thorin curled his fingers around it, playing with the bead for a moment.

A stray tear began to streak down his cheek. "Forgive me for the way I have treated you, I thought so ill of you when you had the purest of intentions for our kin. I thought you were a noble woman looking to improve your station" he croaked out. "I forgive you adad, even if your misgivings hurt me, I understand wanting to protect your own" she murmured to him before pressing her forehead to his in an intimate familial gesture. Thorin brought his hand up to the back of her head to hold her closer together then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Would you braid it into my hair for me?" Thorin whispered to her. Y/N nodded, a large smile creeping over her lips.

The company went back to catching quietly around the campfire to give the two a moment of privacy, Fili and Kili moving to sit amongst them. Thorin sat down cross legged on the grass while Y/N went to retrieve a comb from her pack. After finding her comb the dam went back to perch by her adad's side, getting to work on combing and braiding his hair. They sat in silence as she worked, revelling in one another's company at long last. Eventually she broke the silence, "I need the bead to cap off your braid adad." Wordlessly Thorin handed it to her with care. She capped the braid off and took a moment to admire the braid. It was the signature braid of Durin's heir's, worn by all members of the King's close family. "Thank you Khajimel (gift of all gifts). I will wear this bead with pride, knowing that your words have given it more weight" Thorin smiled, eyes soft with adoration for his daughter. "Now come I will adorne your hair with the braid of our house and kinship so that any dwarf who sees you knows how precious you are."

[nazyalenskyism]

Shadows in My Mind

Summary: It wasn't supposed to happen like this, not yet. A/N: I really don't know how to tag this fic but it's been sitting in my drafts for a few months and I hope you like it! As always feedback appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read! <3 The rest of the fic is under the cut!

Ao3: Shadows in My Mind

        “No,” she hissed, pressing all of her weight into her hands but the pallor of his skin kept worsening despite her efforts. “No. Hey. Stay awake!” Zoya snapped, tapping his cheek with her blood stained fingers. She fought back a wince as she left scarlet prints on his face, his unfocused eyes fluttering open at the sharp pain she’d dealt him. “I won’t let you leave me, you idiot. You’re not allowed to leave.” Zoya couldn’t even summon the horror that would usually wash over her when tears rose in her eyes. She rarely let them fall, but now, they streamed down her face as her best efforts yielded no results. She continued pushing down on the wound, feeling Nikolai’s weary gaze on her when she paused for a moment, using her Squallers’ abilities to throw her voice, calling for someone, anyone, even though she knew there would be no answer. ‘This can’t be how this ends,’  Zoya let herself despair for a moment before turning back to Nikolai,  ‘he was supposed to have more time.’ She steeled herself, ripping off a sleeve of her bloodied and torn shirt, pressing it into the wound. Her bones were tired, her powers screaming, she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the ground and close her eyes, but she couldn’t afford that-- not until she’d saved Nikolai. ‘If I save him, then everything will be fine.’ 

        “Okay,” she whispered, “okay, we can do this. I just have to reapply pressure before I get you onto your feet.” She reached out, faltering when warm fingers wrapped around her wrist. Nikolai looked up at her, pale, bloodied and beaten, but his eyes were still bright. “Nikolai you need to stand up, if you can walk, we’ll do that, or I’ll carry you.” ‘Whatever it takes,’ she thought, trying to pull herself from his grip, but he was surprisingly strong. 

        “Zoya,” he said hoarsely, “it’s no use, dear.”

        “No,” she snapped, looking at him incredulously, “you’re always the one babbling on about hope and optimism, you do not get to tell me it’s futile. Not now,” but in her heart, she realized that she was at yet another funeral, being left behind again. He was going to leave her. He had promised that he would come back. He was leaving her.

        “Nazyalensky,” Nikolai muttered, fingers brushing away the tears that had spilled from her eyes. “Don’t shed tears for me, I don’t like seeing you cry.”

        “Well I don’t like seeing you--” she broke off, she couldn’t do this. 

        “Hey,” he said softly, “I need you to go back to the others, there’s a document with the finance minister, and another with Tolya. I need you to put them into action immediately, don’t give anyone a chance to hurt our country.”

        ‘Our country’. “You’re not thinking about Ravka, not right now.” 

        “I’m running low on moments,” he replied, and to her horror his eyes were shining too. 

        “We can try,” she insisted, “we can’t be too far from the others.” 

        “No,” he said firmly, “I’m fine where I am. I need you to do something for me.” She nodded without hesitation and he continued, “let’s pretend we’re an old married couple.” 

        “What?” Zoya croaked.

        “Tell me a lie. Tell me it will be alright,” his eyes were wide, imploring.

        She pulled on her best guise, what he’d taught her, how to play the part. “Don’t be daft, of course you’ll be fine. You think that your best general would let you d--” she choked back a sob. “That she would let you die? No, you’re going to make it back to the camp, and the healers will patch you up perfectly, or else they’ll have me to deal with. You’ll ride back to a capital on your favourite horse in your best coat, the victorious king of a resilient country.”

        “Will there be a ball in my honour?” the corners of his lips pulled up, “I would’ve loved to dance with every lady in the country.”

        “Of course,” she replied, clinging on to the moment, this moment that was just them as if nothing was wrong, as if this was not their last moment like this. “They’ll write ballads in your honour, and perform hours into the night, the festivities will last for weeks, until you can’t stomach any more parties. All the ladies will be fawning over a chance to dance with their handsome king” 

        “Handsome?” he let out a laugh, wincing immediately, clutching at the wound in his side. Zoya carefully peeled his hand back, replacing it with her own over the injury. She tried not to think about how feverish his skin was under her hand, how his blood had soaked through the fabric of her balled shirt sleeve. ‘I need to remember everything about this moment.’

        “Yes. Handsome.”

        His eyes found hers, a steadfast sincerity behind them. “You’re forgetting how the king may dance with every woman in the country, but the entire evening, his eyes will only be on one.”

“You will meet a nice girl, fall hopelessly in love, have too many children to inherit your throne, and you will grow old with a family and country that love you as you deserve, ” Zoya continued, attempting to ignore his words, the look in his eyes. 

        “The woman whose name the wind whispers in his dreams.”

        She pushed on, “you will be a fantastic king, you will--”

        “And if he never summoned the courage to follow his heart, he would spend every day of the rest of his life wondering what could have been if he had been able to make a queen out of his ruthless general.” 

        “Nikolai--”

        “Zoya,” he whispered, “I fear that I don’t have much time left. Can I ask of one more favour from you?”

        “I thought kings never begged.” She bit out as Nikolai pushed aside new tears, his hand warm against her cheek.

        He gave her a sad smile, “is it truly begging when asking something of a queen? If not, then it will be our secret.” His voice was growing fainter with each word and Zoya felt her heart lurching. She was not ready. ‘Help me’ she implored to the dragon inside her, but the Saints were quiet, like they always were. No one would be coming to save her, they never did.

        She nodded resolutely, “what do you need?” 

        “Will you kiss me sweetly? In my dreams you always do, and this seems like nothing if not a dream of mine.” 

        “Nikolai you--”

        “Nazyalensky, humour me please. I know you don’t share my sentiments but--” 

        He was cut off as Zoya dipped down, pressing her lips against his fiercely with years worth of longing, hope, desperation combined with her heart’s mournful goodbye to a future they would never see. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, kissing her harder until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. 

        She pulled back slightly, her forehead resting against his. “That was sweeter than I ever dreamed,” he said quietly. 

        Zoya took his hand in hers, “don’t go.” 

        “I have to,” his voice was barely there now. She drew back, his fluttering eyelids racking another sob from her chest. “I’ll see you again one day, I hope.” He pushed open his eyes, gazing at her intently, as if struggling to commit each detail to memory, to hold onto the picture for a moment longer. “Don’t forget me.” Nikolai drew their intertwined hands towards him, pressing a brief kiss against her knuckles. 

        “I won’t.” 

        “I know,” he smiled up at her, before closing his eyes. “I’m only going to take a short nap, Zoya dear. Wake me up when our friends are here.”

        She was fully weeping now, “I will, Nikolai. I will.” 

        The world was quiet for a few moments, Nikolai’s slowing breaths the only sound. 

        Then, as quick as sleep, he was gone. 

        For a shining moment, she didn’t believe it, but it shattered all too quickly when she pressed her fingers to his neck. Nothing. He was truly gone.

        “No, no, no,” she murmured, throwing herself over his warm body, crying out as she felt the wind knock out of her chest, her lungs aching from impact. A searing bright light and stars engulfed her vision and she fell back, breathless, cold, smooth tile delivering another blow to her battered body. 

        She blinked rapidly, attempting to right herself, her surroundings only just beginning to register in her mind. She was in a secret cell hidden behind the Darkling’s, now Nikolai’s war room in the Little Palace. It was the place that they were keeping the Darkling— or at least had been— until he had escaped, wreaking havoc and delivering the fatal blow to Nikolai.

        ‘Nikolai,’ Zoya thought, scrambling to her feet despite the pain. How had she gotten here? She had been in the middle of a barren battlefield, her body thrown over her king’s lifeless one… had she been captured? Where was his body? Zoya glanced down at the broken skin on her hands that had braced her fall backwards. They were clean, no trace blood. She frowned, her shirt was whole, her kefta clasped overtop of it. Last she’d remembered, it had been torn off her back as she fought in battle. Looking up, Zoya found a chair that had toppled over laying at her feet, and a metal table before her, and behind it, was the Darkling, a predatory smile playing at his lips.

        “Did you like that little dream?” his voice was as smooth as glass, his hands bound together before him. “All those tears for your little boy king, did you cry like that for me, Zoya?”

        She said nothing, her head still fuzzy. ‘What was happening?’

        “No,” he continued, his eyes fixed on her, trying to gauge her emotions. She knew this game, he found the gaps in your armor and twisted the knife until you were writhing on the floor and he was satisfied with his work. “I don’t suppose you did, you were pretending to hate me at the time, what with the way that you turned against me,” he sneered, raising an eyebrow at her unflinching demeanor. So it had all been fake? Then why did it feel so real? She could feel Nikolai’s lifeless presence over her like an enormous weight, even now. 

        “What was that?” Zoya asked, pushing to make her tone as even as possible. Her fingers dug into her crossed arms, forcing herself to stay in place. She needed answers, she couldn’t afford to run out of the room and make sure that Nikolai was actually okay. As her head cleared, she began to remember what had happened. She’d volunteered to try to get the Darkling to talk, she hadn’t wanted anyone else to have to deal with him. It was her fault that he was back and she refused to let him hurt her friends again. Nikolai had been hesitant, and the look he’d given her at the meeting was puzzling. She had assumed it was because of the story she’d told him that night in the Fold, about what the Darkling had said to her. But now, after whatever she had just experienced, she wasn’t so sure.

        “That,” the Darkling began, pulling Zoya’s attention back to him. “That was a little glimpse into your future.”

        Zoya rolled her eyes, unable to help herself, “let me guess, that’s what’ll happen if I don’t let you go?” 

        “No,” he leaned back in his chair, “it’s inevitable now, that’s the only outcome left after what you and your prince did in the fold.”

        “King,” she replied absently. She didn’t believe him for a second, but the vision had been so real-- she could still feel Nikolai’s blood on her hands, his lips pressing against hers, his lack of a pulse under her frantic fingers. It wasn’t real, and it wasn’t her future. The Saints hadn’t been able to determine this for her and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let the man in front of her try to. 

        “So it can’t be stopped then?” 

        He looked up at her, “oh noble Zoya, so desperate to save everyone. First it was those cubs, then your aunt, Juris, and now the Lantsov pup. As much as you try, they all die in the end. The sooner you learn that, the easier it will be.”

        ‘No. No. You don’t let him play these games.’  Her inner thoughts were echoed by the dragon inside of her, and it took everything to stop herself from slamming the Darkling’s face into the table. As she took a step towards him, planning her next move with blood roaring in her ears, the door behind her flung open. 

        “Zoya, we need you.”

        She frowned, she needed answers. “ Give me a minute,” she called.

        “Now, Commander.” 

        “Ask your little king how he felt about that vision.”

        Zoya spun around on him, unable to hide her shock. “You showed it to him?

        “Why don’t you ask him what it felt like to die? He should remember that feeling, it’s going to happen again sooner than later.”

        Zoya forced her feet out the door, slamming it behind her as she followed Tolya into the viewing room, where a mirror looked out at their prisoner. 

        “What is it?”

        “What happened in there? You froze, and the next thing I knew you were crashing to the ground.”

        She waved him off impatiently, her heart still racing from the Darkling’s parting words, “where’s Nikolai?”

        “He’s with Ehri in the gardens, why?”

        “Go check,” she said, her chest tightening, “go check on them now.”

        “What’s wrong?” he asked, briefly touching her arm. His face was full of concern and Zoya couldn’t take anymore heartbreak now. She couldn’t imagine the possibility that anything might take her friends from her.

        “I’m fine,” she snapped. “Go now, and check on David and Genya and Tamar too, that’s an order.”

        He shot her another puzzled look before leaving her alone in the observation room, while the quiet slowly began to consume her. She didn’t order her friends around, not like that, but with every passing second she felt more of her control slip away. Her heart was full of pain, she couldn’t see anything but red.

        He’s fine, it’s alright. They’re all unharmed. But it wasn’t enough. She sank to the floor, knees drawn to her chest, numb as the dream repeated itself again and again in her mind. All the while her king strolled through the gardens, entertaining his future queen at his side, unaware that all she could feel was his lifeless body under her, as she watched him die over and over again.

[dystovian]

The Last of Us: How to Disappear Completely

Chapter 3: Burrow

Summary: The aftermath of death is never nice, especially with the end of the world. You felt you knew how to deal with it, and that’s by moving on as quick as possible. Sawyer, takes this personally, and lets you have a piece of their mind.

Pairing: Joel/Reader, Joel x Reader (Future)

Warning(s): Language, Talks about Death and Suicide, Arguing, Injuries.

A/N: ok one more chapter i think and joel comes into play! thank u for reading!!

Tags: @hrk-fic-recs

Often, before your sister had disappeared, you wouldn’t really bother thinking about the past. You had your future right in front of you, because for all you knew, you and her would be just fine. But, the second you realized she wouldn’t return, and was likely rotting in some field or some building, or running around Infected...it’s all you could think about.

You’d think about the way you grimaced at melted red popsicles and how they stuck to your fingers, coating your skin with red juice. You’d think about how you’d fallen off your bike, not wearing any knee guards and crying out in the street due to the skin on your kneecaps peeling away. You’d mostly think about luxuries, stuff you’d never experience again. Stuff that were so far away from this life, that had left a mark on you.

Something that never left, though? Was grief. Grief followed every living thing with a heartbeat and snuck up on it every chance it got. Grabbed you by the roots of your hair and tossed you to the ground. Grief, which seemed to have a festival just about every second of every day now, with the way things fell apart. Exploding into millions of sparks just like the fireworks on the beach that day.

This was evident now, what with the way the young teenager in the room across from you hasn’t stopped crying, even within their sleep their tears are evident, dripping over their nose and onto the sheets. Evident, shown in the way your shoulders shook violently as the body of a young girl whom you just saw yesterday lay behind you.

In the past, grief was more of a long time thing. Where you could sit in your room and cry all day after your cat had died. But now — with the world gone to shit — it’s different. Someone dies, you cry for a minute, maybe even not at all, then you suck it up. You get the fuck over it, and you move the hell on. Do what they couldn’t, survive, live for them.

Except, you haven’t. You’ve barely even bothered. Sometimes, though, you get this burst of energy. Telling you to go out on a run, get some supplies to help live just a little longer. But you can’t leave Sawyer, not when they’ve barely even spoken, and the last time they did, they made it quite clear of their feelings. Of the state of their mind since the loss of their sister.

“You’ve barely eaten your dinner, y’know.” You had said one night, windows covered with thick wool blankets, and candles lit along the house.

“Mhm.” They muttered, slumped in their chair, eyes staring at the food on their plate.

“Please...you’ve got to eat, Soy. It’ll kill you.” You said, placing your utensils on the wood, leaning forward.

“Awesome.” They scoffed, almost sliding the plate into your lap with the force of their hand.

“Seriously? Are you..” You’d paused in disbelief, “Are you seriously just gonna let yourself fucking starve to death? Sawyer, you need to listen to me. We’re gonna need more food soon, and if I’m going alone, you need to be fit enough to keep watch on this place. Oka-“ You stopped when Sawyer abruptly stood, hands clenched into fists on the wood of the dining room table, head hanging.

“You wanna go? Then fuckin’ go! I don’t give a shit if you leave me here and I certainly don’t care if Infected tear me to goddamn shreds.” They said, tears piling up upon their eyelids.

“You, you do not mean that,” You were standing now, chair almost falling with the force of your movement. Your eyes were wide, with eyebrows raised, shock filing through you.

“Oh, I meant every damn bit of that sentence.” They scoffed.

“Take it back.”

“I ain’t takin’ back sh-“ Their finger goes to point at you, and the second they do, it’s slapped away.

“Take it the fuck back! You listen to me, and you listen to me good. I am not, and I mean absolutely not, going to feel responsible for somebody else dying. I am sick and fucking tired of death, and I know for damn sure you are too. Hell, every last person is! But, and I hate to say this shit you, but you need to move on. You and I both know that’s what Ryan would want. So, take. It. The. Fuck. Back.” You were angry, of course you were. You loved the two of them, they were family to you, and with one of them gone you knew you couldn’t live after you lost the other.

“Well, have you ever stopped to think about what I fucking want? Ryan is dead! Ryan doesn’t have wants or needs or...or anything! I want to die! I don’t want to live anymore. Get that through your thick skull. And, for the love of all that’s ever been holy, quit actin’ like you knew us. You don’t, and won’t, know shit. You didn’t raise us, and you weren’t there when everything went to shit. We’re not your fuckin’ children. And we sure as shit ain’t your sister!” By the time they let it all out, you had sat back down and had taken the blow.

“That’s how it is, then? Hm?”

“Yeah. And quit telling me what I’m ‘supposed’ to do. I’ll move on when I damn well please, and you know what? Fuck you. You already movin’ on after we just pieced my sister back together and buried her in the backyard. The backyard, of some house, that we only knew for a year! She should’ve died old, with a family, or something! She...she should’ve died normally. Old age, or a stroke, or a fuckin’ heart attack...I don’t know! But instead, she got eaten alive, and blew her brains out before she could become one of those things! So don’t talk to me about moving on, when we both know there’s no moving on from that.” They were in front of you now, tears streaming over the red of their cheeks, face hot from anger.

Since then, you’ve barely spoken to the other. Choosing to stay quiet during dinner, which began happening less and less with your shortage of food. You finally came to Sawyer one day, and told them that you couldn’t stay here any longer. That the streets have more and more Infected every week, and the whole town is empty of food.

They agreed, nodding their head in silent agreement, eyes drawn away from your own.

2 0 2 5.

Illinois.

Ryan’s name hasn’t left either of your mouths. Not during dinner, not even in passing. Not even in your sleep, did either of you cry out her name and sob afterwards.

After everything that happened, you left the house. The room she died in was loud, almost frighteningly so, and filled with the phantom screams of her last moments. Something, that both you and her sister, couldn’t quite stand beside anymore. So, you left. Walked and walked and walked, barely talking to the other at first. And sure as hell keeping her name out of your mouth.

You didn’t say her name again until a group took you in, asked you about your past, and you delivered. Spilled your hearts content onto the plastic table in front of you, until you broke down, and the lovely couple in front of you — Alex and his wife, Amy — stopped you, rubbing their hands on your back.

Although you’ve been through hell and back these last six years, Ryan always lingered. You’d see her in the corpses that littered streets and the homes you’d spend a few nights in. See her in the way Sawyer carried themself, or spoke, or cried.

You didn’t forgive eachother, you rarely talked of that argument in the dining room that night. You simply opted to get the hell over it, if you don’t talk about it then I guess it just didn’t happen. And now, being taken in by this group that call themselves the Burrowers, the conversation is begging to be had.

Sawyer didn’t stay with you long, you shared a home for four days before they left, got their own place. And you haven’t seen them since.

[bugabash]

Cursed Past - Chapter 3

When the past is changed, the only people who can help Adrien and Marinette defeat the new villain are themselves, just not from their time. The seasoned superheroes will need to teach their younger selves everything they know before the time runs out or else life as they all know it will cease to exist. Love will be tested, trust will be strengthened, and the true power of their miraculouses will be revealed.

Trigger warning: Blood, explicit descriptions of wounds and blood.

AO3

“Mr Agreste?” He looked up, his eyes sunken and red, his cheeks and nose raw. “Your wife is awake.” He was on his feet before she even finished the sentence, running to her room and bursting in. Marinette was lying in bed, a tube still down her throat, her eyes were open, but one was completely blood shot from the popped blood vessels, her face was bruised, swollen, a feeding tube in her nose. Her one hand was in a cast, held elevated by a strap, metal pins sticking out. Her other hand had a few IVs in it, bandages keeping them in. She was laying flat on her back, tubes leading from under her back to bags draining her broken back and other injuries. Her one leg was in a cast, lucky nothing too bad, and her chest was strapped tightly with waterproof bandaging. Her gown barely covered anything due to all the tubes and wires, that’s why Adrien never let anyone see her anymore.

“Marinette!” He called out, running to her side, his tears stinging his raw cheeks, “don’t try to talk, it’s okay, you need to stay calm.” He could see her panic, and that’s when she started gagging. He looked around and pressed the call button. The nurses ran in a few seconds after. “Her tube, she’s choking!”

The nurses pushed Adrien aside, he watched hopelessly, the feeling common to him now, and after a few seconds Marinette was tube free, tears streaming down and pooling on the pillow by her ears, soaking her hair. She gasped and coughed heavily, Adrien ran over and stroked the tears away, whispering that it will be okay.

“Don’t speak, there was an accident… I-” He looked at the nurses who understood and left. “You were hit by a… by a bus.” He gulped, “and then you went through 3 or 4 floors onto the street. I…” He dropped his head, tears streaming, “I had to stop her, but I had to save you, you were dying, and I… I killed her…” He looked up at Marinette’s eyes, she didn’t look angry or anything, she looked sad. She lifted her uninjured hand and stroked his bruised cheek. He was shocked but leant into it. “Don’t ever leave me ever again, okay? Promise me, m’lady!” He sobbed. “Please, don’t ever leave me, I need you more than life. I NEED you!”

He wasn’t expecting her to speak, he expected a nod or something, so his heart swelled when she opened her mouth and the words fell out perfectly, “always my prince.”

“Always, my prince…” The words echoed in his head as he watched his wife slowly heal from the medallion, his eyes dark and his hands covering his mouth. His thoughts were full of rage, were full of darkness, he was confused, concerned, but now… now he was angry. He felt like he was back in that waiting room. Watching his wife in pain, watch her cry while they got her sitting up, watched her try to be brave while they removed her tubes and wires, watched her face heal back to normal while she smiled at him lovingly, knowing he was a murderer. Watched her cry while basically learning to walk, held her while she cried in his arms, being her everything. He sighed and dropped his head against her stomach, feeling his head rise and fall with her breathing. He felt her hand on his hair stroking his soft locks softly, hands grazing over his fade slowly, feeling the short hair. It soothed him, if only for a minute. But then he was dragged back to his memories.

“I can do it, Adrien! I know I can!” Adrien shook his head, not letting go of her arm, despite her trying to pull away. Her back was healed, only bandaged up, her arms healed and only in a brace, her leg only in a brace, but the most miraculous healing was how her chest wounds disappeared completely, leaving no scars. Her face was completely healed, her eye finally back to normal and all stitches removed from her body. But now it was walking by herself again that was the challenge, and Adrien was so scared to let go after looking after her by himself for months that even if he wanted to couldn’t move his hands. “Adrien, you can let go, I’m not going to break.” She said softly, a gentle giggle escaping her. But still he shook his head.

It took her about thirty minutes to convince him to let go, and when he finally did, he watched in awe and fear as she started walking across their lounge, he always stayed a few inches from her, ready to catch her. The kwamis watched from their ledge, cheering her on. He started to feel the fear ease, his face went from Dark to his usual cheerful face, encouraging her on. He started to hope, but as he felt hope wriggle it’s way in the fear crept back. He had her in his arms the second she started falling, her arms grabbing his arm, causing him to wince, his own wound still healing.

“Marinette!?” He asked frantically, picking her up with ease and placing her on the couch gently, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Adrien.” She said softly, her breath ragged. She sat up on her elbows, gripping onto Adrien’s shirt as she winced.

“Is it your back?” He asked softly, his hands never leaving her.

“I don’t know, I just… felt a pain. I don’t know where it was.” She replied breathlessly.

“You need to take things slow, you are still healing.” He said, looking over her face, his hands drifting to her sides as if he was looking for a wound to feel.

“You silly kitty, you worry too much.” He looked up at her smiling face, their eyes locking, and he felt her love warm his body, every nerve awakening, and she brightened his soul. Her love made him better, made him whole, his smile slowly spread, his hand out reaching for her. He cupped her cheek, smiling more. “I will get there, you just need to be patient, I have been.”

“I know, but… I just… I want you to be better.” He said softly, stroking her cheek.

“I will get better, patience, kitty. I have healed a lot quicker than most people, so please,” she smiled softly, “be patient with me.”

He chuckled, taking her hands and kissing her knuckles one at a time, “for you, I will be patient for a hundred years if I have to.”

“And I will too, kitty.” He lifted his head from his memories as he heard Marinette speak.

“What?” He asked softly, his brow cocked.

“You just said ‘I will be patient for a hundred years if I have to’,” she repeated, “I remember you said that to me, you must have been lost in thought.” She said softly, her own brows furrowed. “What’s on your mind, minou?”

He sighed and sat up, standing up from the chair he had dragged over to her and climbed over her, laying next down, his arm up waiting as she curled into him, the medallion falling between them, the glow disappearing. “I’m worried. I’m angry. And I hate seeing you hurt. I know the medallion almost heals you fully, but I am angry because you’re going to heal him too.”

“Of course, I am, and if the earrings were in your lobes you would be healing younger me.” She chuckled softly, tilting her head. “I’m right here, okay?”

“I’m right here.” She always said that, but he always worried. It was his fault she was injured, his cockiness in his youth cost her so much, and now she suffers. He hears her crying in her sleep at times, he always wakes up and holds her, he whispers sweet nothings when she has her nightmares. He does everything, even if it means never sleeping again. He would do anything. Anything for her.

“I know, I just… I just worry about my bug.” He said, his voice cracking. “And I have two injured bugs in my house right now, one who is my wife, and another who is a child.” He kissed her head and slowly peeled away, “I need to go check on the children. Get some sleep, even if it’s for an hour.” She nodded and looked up at him, her blue eyes making his spine shiver, he felt her love enveloping him, and he felt more at ease. He leant down and kissed her slowly, savouring the kiss. She smiled like a smitten kitten as he covered her with the duvet. As he was leaving, he saw the kwamis settling with Marinette, snuggling up to her, comforting her.

He needed to check on the children.

oOo

“How did she survive?” Adrien asked softly, “those wounds sounded… fatal.”

“They should have been, she was rushed to hospital, she had so many surgeries... Long ones.” Alix replied, sitting on the armchair cozied in the corner, hugging the pillow. “Adrien was a mess,” she sighed, “like, I would visit and he was either crying, punching walls or not talking. No one was allowed to see her though. Marinette fell into a coma, she was under for 20 days and Adrien only ever left her side to shower every few days and to eat the occasional sandwich.” Her eyes darkened, “no one knew what happened to Lila, they named her one of the assailants, and ruled it as she got caught in her own crossfire. Quite a few people died, so no one was too upset by her death.”

Adrien looked over at Marinette who was looking at Alix in shock, he knew what she was thinking. Chat Noir had killed someone. With his cataclysm. And to save her.

“How did… how did he… cope?” Marinette asked softly, looking down at her hand clutching to Adrien’s thumb, he noticed it grew tighter every minute.

“I didn’t.” They all jumped as the older man stepped in, his brows furrowed and his hand on the door handle. “Alix, enough. You are being a bit loose lipped don’t you think?”

“Hey, it isn’t their future or past, so I am allowed. I don’t know their past, or their future, so I am at a disadvantage. Plus they have questions!” Alix said with a shrug, standing up and putting the pillow down. “How is Marinette?”

“She is okay for now, but how are the two younglings?” He asked softly, his dark face lightening.

“I’m okay, my wounds are mainly healed, it’s… amazing!” Marinette spoke up, the young man looking between his partner and his older self, trying to take in all features about him. He only could focus on his words or small details about him before, never on how he had aged.

His older self stood there, broad and tall, very tall. His muscles filled the shirt, leaving it slightly baggy, his scars stood out on his arms, cuts and slices, they were pale and seemed old. His hair was longer on top and faded under, a few curls falling over his forehead, his green eyes sadder than he had ever seen them, he had no lines, and his jaw was chiselled, he was the perfect model, all perfect angles and perfect skin… besides the scars. But… His face was sad, he seemed worried always, almost like he was worried to move or… to make the wrong move. He killed Lila… No wonder he looked so stressed. Adrien looked down to make sure Marinette still had hold of him, she was speaking but he wasn’t hearing. Things were whizzing in his head. He looked over at his older self who was eyeballing him, his brow cocked. He shook his head and tried to listen.

“-I can’t do that… I don’t know how?” Marinette was speaking, he didn’t know about what, he felt his heart speed up.

He killed Lila… what if he had to kill?

“Adrien?”

He didn’t think he could… but… he was willing to kill to protect her… he would do anything to protect her...

“Adrien, are you okay?” The hand left his thumb, pulling his face gently towards the blue eyes staring at him. “You’re sweating, what’s wrong?”

He opened his mouth to speak, and nothing came out. Suddenly his head was pulled the opposite way by strong hands, he met green eyes and his heart stopped. He felt like a child again. His older self was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, a serious face and he looked concerned.

“Breathe. Now.” The words broke through and he could hear fully, his breathing slowed down, and he just stared back. “You’re next. So, calm down.” He nodded, “Tomorrow you will be healed, and then I will answer your questions. But for now, get some rest, clean yourselves off, and…” he paused, “welcome to your new home for the foreseeable future.”

Adrien nodded, watching his older self go to the drawers and pulled out 3 white towels, Marinette was watching him and slid out of the covers, Adrien looked over at her and froze, she was in her underwear and bra, his cheeks heated up. He had seen her in her suit countless times, it was skin-tight, but now… Her skin was pale, dirt and soot covering it in places, her muscles stood out, firm and strong, and her new wounds were pink and stood out against her pale skin. Her pale, beautiful skin. He had seen her earlier but his adrenaline never really allowed him to notice her in her... condition. He couldn’t look away, she was magnificent. She was a goddess to him, her torn bandages fell to the floor as she pulled it from the back of her sport bra, it fell to the floor, revealing her back to him, he was in awe. In awe? He was in love. He watched her walk across the room, and she was wrapped up in a towel by his older self who had his eyes on him.

He watched his older self wrap his partner in the large towel, she looked so small compared to him, so delicate, he didn’t blush or act like a fool, he acted grown up, responsible, and he looked at Adrien with a look of… understanding? He tore his gaze away and looked at the floor, he needed to sort his head out.

“Adrien? Can you hear me?” He snapped his head back and saw Alix standing in front of him.

“Huh?” He blinked.

“You kind of spaced, Marinette is going to have a shower, but you can’t until you’re healed so would you like me to clean you off a bit?”

“No… no thank you.” He replied to Alix politely, “I… my head feels weird.”

“You need rest kid,” Plagg spoke up, flying into Adrien’s eye line, “you need sleep, that’s an order, kid.” Adrien nodded, sliding down against the pillows, his head was spinning. “Rest, now.”

Adrien felt sleep take over very quick after that, darkness taking him.

oOo

Marinette woke up, her head throbbed, and her vision was blurry, she shook her head and sat up, the kwamis flew away, Tikki staying.

“Tikki? What… Where is Adrien?” She asked softly, looking around her room, the warmth it usually gave off was missing.

“He’s with the younger you and Adrien, it’s okay, I checked on them, they are okay, and you have healed almost fully.” Tikki replied, stroking Marinette’s cheek.

“I’m… okay?” She asked softly.

“You are, the medallion worked exactly how we hoped! You’re okay!” Tikki exclaimed, smiling broadly.

As Marinette slid out of bed Adrien walked in, gasping as he ran over and supported her, “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?” He asked, eyes looking concerned.

“Adrien, calm down-” She started.

“NO!” He burst out, “Enough!” Marinette blinked at him in surpise, Tikki flying away. “Enough Marinette! You need to stop thinking about everyone, and you need to start thinking about me!”

Marinette looked at him, blinking, she didn’t know what to think, he was angry, but why?

“I know I'm being selfish, I know! But I sat there for months, fuck, I stayed there for a year! You cannot just take on people’s hurt and leave me alone! What if you died?”

“I wasn’t going to-“

“Shut up! Just shut up, please! I killed for you! I wanted to die for you! But instead of me dying, you almost did! And then tonight you chose to make me sit at your bed side again.” Adrien looked hurt, his eyes full of pain, full of agony. Marinette didn’t know the pain he felt in those months during that year, and she hurt him.

“I’m -”

“Don’t apologise.” He said, picking her up in a bear hug, “Don’t you ever apologise to me.” He buried his head in her neck, tears wetting her skin as she blinked in shock, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. It had been over a year since she saw him like this, maybe she had pushed him too far. “Don’t… please, my love, just… don’t.”

“It’ll be okay my sweet kitty,” she whispered, “I’m okay, I promise, what’s happened?” She asked softly, her feet softly touching back down on the floor. He let go of her slowly, his face wet from tears. “Adrien… Talk to me.”

He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and lead Marinette back to sitting on the soft bed, sitting next to her and taking her hand. “Little bug is fine, she’s in the shower.” He spoke softly with a sniff, “Alix is still her cocky self, oh and she’s been telling our secrets.” He said with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes, Marinette chuckled softly, stroking his hand. “Mini me is the same, he’s passed out currently.” He dropped back onto the bed, wiping his nose again and letting out a deep sigh. Marinette lay back with him, lying on her side and examining his face, memorising the small lines only she ever noticed. “Did I always used to look at you like a lost lovesick puppy?”

This made Marinette laugh at that question, “As chat noir? A little more like a lost lovesick kitten.” She joked, earning a look from him, “Adrien, you didn’t look at me the way you used to look at Ladybug, and you know it.” She said, poking his shoulder, “I was the lovesick puppy over you if I remember correctly.” Adrien chuckled, a chuckle that always made her skin heat up. “Why do you ask?”

“I just saw my younger self fawning over mini Marinette in her underwear.” He said, causing Marinette to burst out in a giggle fit, “not funny! Probably the first time the poor guy has even seen a half-naked woman ever. Oh, shush!” He playfully nudged her, softly laughing himself. “I watched him, he froze and had this look on his face… Reminded me of a deer in headlights. If the deer wanted to marry the headlights.”

“Let the boy be in awe.” She said softly, inching closer and snuggling into his bicep, resting her cheek on his arm and closing her eyes with a hum. “He just found out her identity, and I’m pretty sure he has a bit of an oxygen depraved brain currently, looks like he was strangled pretty bad.”

“Yeah, you didn’t even see the full extent, he took a beating.” He said softly, looking up at the ceiling. “Those kids got beat up badly…” He went silent, Marinette listening to his breathing. “You are going to have to heal him tomorrow, aren’t you?” He asked softly.

Marinette opened her eyes and looked up at him, resting her chin on his bicep, feeling his muscle tense to keep her head up. “It will be okay, we will take it slow, and we will then have two healed or semi healed heroes for us to teach.” He looked at her finally, “we should be more worried about the fact that we have two teenagers in our house who just found out who the other is.”

Adrien raised his brows, “so… like what, should we… stock the room with condoms?” Marinette gasped at what he said and sat up, giggling as she smacked him, he laughed and curled up in defence against her soft attacks. “Hey! I’m being serious! Don’t need the youth being unsafe now do we?” Marinette giggled even more, Adrien catching her hand gently as she tried to smack him again.

“Let’s just focus on getting them better before we give them the sex talk.” Marinette giggled, her faced furiously red. “Now, let’s make a training plan for them.”

oOo

“Ouch!”

“Sorry!” Marinette winced as she saw Adrien cringing in pain. She was sitting in front of him with a cloth and a bowl of hot water. She was dressed in a blue baggy t shirt that hung on her, and grey sweatpants. Her long hair was wet, falling to the middle of her back, dripping slowly onto the bed. She was cleaning Adrien’s face off as best as she could, she had already cleaned his hair and done her best on his shoulders. “Do you want me to stop?” She asked softly.

“No, no, it’s okay, you’re doing great!” Adrien encouraged her, smiling as much as he could with his scabbed lip. He was sat in just a new pair of sweatpants, his chest and wounds exposed. Marinette nodded, smiling sheepishly before she carried on cleaning him off. It had been a few hours now, darkness had fallen over Paris and the two young adults were alone in the bedroom, Alix had gone to the other adults, and they could smell something being cooked downstairs. Marinette had forgotten all about food, it had been such a busy day and now she could feel her stomach growling. She kept her eyes on what she was doing, trying not to look at the muscles on Adrien’s chest, or how they tensed when she touched a sensitive spot. She needed to concentrate, she couldn’t get all gooey for Adrien when he was injured, not now. “Marinette?” She blinked and looked up, meeting his worried gaze, his soft green eye watching her, examining her face, seeing his swollen shut eye made her stomach turn with guilt.

“Sorry, I just don’t like hurting you.” She replied softly, dipping the cloth back into the water which was slowly turning brown.

“You aren’t, you’re helping me, like you always do!” She looked at him and blushed, he seemed so confident, and his smile made her heart flutter. That’s when she saw it and wondered if her happy and easy-going Adrien would end up so serious and so… careful as the Adrien from this time. “What’s on your mind? You seem to have a lot on it.”

“I…” She opened her mouth and then sighed, “I’m just worried, you’re injured, I have no clue what world we left behind, and…” She looked down at the cloth in her hands, biting her lip.

“I won’t change.” Adrien reached out and lifted her chin softly, she looked at him, meeting his eye. He was smiling sweetly, his brows furrowed slightly. “I promise.”

“It’s not that-”

“Hey! I know. I know. He… I know what you are worried about, and I promise I won’t change, I can’t promise that I won’t…” He stopped, mouth still open, he looked away, sniffing and clearing his throat. “I will always be here bugaboo, how I am now!” He looked back at her and smiled that sweet smile.

She chuckled softly, “Promise?” She asked softly, taking his hand and gently starting to clean in.

“I purromise.” This made her laugh, feeling his gaze on her. They sat in silence for a while well she cleaned him off. He held back on his winces, keeping as still as possible. Making jokes now and then to keep her spirits up. Very chat noir of him. Soon, she was done cleaning him off and helped him into a baggy black t-shirt.

Alix brought up two platefuls of food, telling them to stay in the room and to get some sleep, explaining she would collect the plates from outside their door once they were done. They never questioned it, nodding their heads and eating in silence. The days before hitting them hard, and soon their plates were outside the door and Marinette was standing in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. She was sharing a bed with Adrien tonight, Alix had taken up residence in the other bedroom, so she was having to share with Adrien.

Adrien. She sighed and looked at herself, her blunette hair was dry now, hanging slightly messy compared to her usually neat appearance, her cheek was still sensitive, a light pink covering where her wound used to be. She felt small in the oversized clothes, and her face was pale, that could be because of her injuries still healing, or it could be because she was terrified.

She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, “you can do this! You can do this!” She hissed at herself, taking another deep breath and turned, opening the door slowly and peaked out, watching Alix walk away from the bedroom door with their plates, she could hear Adrien’s deep voice downstairs talking with his wife, they seemed to be strategizing. She took a step out, closing the door behind her and padded towards their door, stepping in and closing the door softly. She held her breath and turned around, seeing that Adrien was looking out the window across the room, she let the breath go and slowly walked over.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked softly, placing a hand on his arm.

He looked down at her hand and then up at her smiling softly, he looked exhausted. She wasn’t surprised, they had only had a few hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. “Yeah… Look how different it looks out there.” He nodded towards the window. Marinette blinked and looked out, pulling the curtain open more and stepping next to Adrien. The stars shone bright, and the lights of Paris shone brighter, but it all seemed so far away. The house was a lot further out of the city, probably for privacy and also to get away from the pain of the last fight she thought. But he was right, it looked… different. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

“It’s beautiful…” She whispered, a small smile on her mouth. She watched the flickering lights of a plane high up flying over, then letting her bluebell eyes fall onto the Eiffel Tower, it seemed bigger in the distance, blue and green lights flickering on it. “Wow… Does it look bigger?” She asked softly, she waited for a response, and after a little while she tore her gaze from the lights and looking over at Adrien who was looking over at her with a look that turned her cheeks red, her stomach fluttered, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He was looking down at her, a soft smile on his face and his eyebrows creased softly, his green eye was searching her face, settling on locking eyes with her.

“Yeah… It really is beautiful.” He whispered softly, her lips parting as she stared back. He smiled more, placing a hand on top of hers that lay on his arm. He seemed like he was about to speak again but they were interrupted, and both spun around when they heard Plagg.

“C’mon kiddos, it’s time for shut eye! It almost midnight.” He chimed, settling on the chair with a triangle of camembert, Tikki settling next to him with a cookie.

Marinette blinked out of her trance and heard Adrien clear his throat, letting go of her hand and closing the curtains. Marinette walked over to the bed and gently pulled the covers back a bit, their bloody and burnt clothes sitting on the floor in a pile next to her side, she froze when she saw them, duvet in hand, all the memories of their fight overwhelming her. She froze, staring at them.

She lay on the floor, her transformation fallen, Tikki was eating slowly next to Marinettes head. She was staring at the sky, she couldn’t see any stars, only smoke, she couldn’t hear cars, only explosions and distant screams in the back of the ringing in her ears. Her trousers were burnt up, she was in a lot of pain, her muscles ached, and she was filthy. She could hear Chat Noir in the distance, he was panting and speaking to Plagg. He had just been strangled in front of her, she managed to get him free, but he had lost consciousness. Ladybug had dragged him into hiding, knowing he was going to let go of his transformation, she had got him to safety and ran to find her own shelter a few feet by. And as she found one and her transformation fell, she was hit by a blast, hitting the wall and falling onto her back. Now she finally had her breath back and the ringing was fading.

“Ladybug? Can you hear me?” She finally heard the words, “Ladybug!!”

“I’m okay.” She croaked, hearing him sigh in relief, she slowly sat up, wincing and looking down at her legs, they were dirty and red, but her trousers had taken most of it, singed almost to her knees, cuts covering her. She felt a pain on her cheek and lifted her hand to it, crying out in pain when she felt the slice.

“What? Ladybug? What’s wrong?” She heard the panic in his voice and heard him scrambling to his feet. “Are you hurt? I’m coming over!”

“Stop! Don’t come here, I’m in my civilian form!” She called out, leaning against the wall with a wince.

“I don’t care! Right now, is not the fucking time!” She rolled her eyes, she knew he was pissed, he started coughing, catching her attention.

“Are you ok? Don’t move.” She called out, coughing into her hand, freezing when she saw blood, she blinked and wiped it down on her shirt.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me! I’m coming over!” She blinked and started to scramble to her feet.

“NO!” She yelled, “Stop! Chat, no! I’m fine!” She started to panic, Tikki was still eating, and she couldn’t rush her, this would be her 5th or 6th time transforming. “I’m fine! Just stay there.” She called out before she started coughing again, leaning back on the wall.

“Ladybug? What’s happening? Ladybug? Ladybug!!??”

“Marinette?” She blinked and looked away from the clothes to see Adrien next to her, he looked concerned. He had his hand on hers that was holding the duvet, leaning down slightly and searching her face. “Are you okay?” He asked softly.

“Yeah… just got lost in thought.” She replied, shaking her head and smiling up at him. He didn’t look convinced and looked down at the clothes and then back at her. He seemed to have a look of understanding and squeezed her hand before letting go. He walked over to pile of clothes and paused before he picked it up, limping over to the door and opened it, dumping the clothes outside. Before the door was closed Marinette heard the adults were still downstairs, hushed whispers.

Adrien closed the door and walked over to Marinette, pulling the covers down and helped her into bed to her surprise. She blinked up at him and lay down, sinking into the soft pillows, watching him with a soft expression as he pulled the duvet up. His eyes on his work, concentration on his face. She watched as he slowly tucked her in with such gentleness and caring that she had seen from Chat Noir many times. Once he was done and realised what he did he blushed softly, looking at her face, and cleared his throat. He smiled while rubbing the back of his neck, and limped over to the light switch, turning it off, the darkness enveloping them. Marinette blinked, looking around in the dark, she felt the bed sink next to her and she froze, she looked towards where Adrien would be, her hand reaching out instinctively before she could stop herself, brushing against his own hand, making her breath stop.

She blinked and heard him gasp slightly. “Sorry.” She whispered, starting to pull her hand away but was stopped when he gently took it.

“No…” He breathed, “it’s okay.” Marinette swallowed the lump in her neck, eyes searching for any sign of where Adrien was or how close he was to her. “You know you never have to apologise to me… m’lady. You know that.” He whispered back to Marinette who turned her head and was facing him now, feeling his warm, sweet breath on her face as he spoke.

Her heart was thumping in her chest, she was convinced he could feel it, convinced that the bed was shaking on each beat. Their fingers slowly laced together while they lay there in silence. Staring at each other in the dark.

“I’m… sorry,” Marinette whispered, “if you were… disappointed that… Ladybug was me.” She gulped and looked away, her eyes adjusting more and more every second.

“Why would I be disappointed?” He whispered back, his breath on her cheek making her heart flutter.

“Because I know… I know how you felt about Ladybug, and Marinette is just… Marinette.” She replied.

“Just Marinette?” He asked in confusion, “Marinette, there is nothing ‘just’ anything about you. You are… well you are the most amazing person I have ever or ever will know. And that was before I knew your secret identity as Ladybug.” Marinette blinked and looked towards him again, her eyebrows raised. “You are something special, you always have been, and everyone knows it.” She felt his hand tighten on hers, her cheeks getting redder and redder. “I wasn’t disappointed.”

“You… you weren’t?” She asked softly.

“No, I could never be disappointed in anything you do.” He replied with a light chuckle, “you’re my lady, I will have your back no matter what, I’m your biggest fan remember? And it just so happens that I am one of Marinette’s biggest fans too.” Marinette giggled at that, covering her mouth with her free hand. “Never think I am disappointed by knowing it’s you. I should be asking if you were disappointed it was me.” He snorted.

“Me? Disappointed with you? Adrien? Wh- never!” She babbled in a hushed tone, “I was just… shocked! You and chat noir are just so different! I mean, not so different, because you are the same people, but different in a way that-”

“It’s okay.” Adrien said with a haughty laugh, “I get what you mean, chat noir was my escape from everything. So, I get why it was a shock.” They were silent for a minute before he spoke up, “hey, it’ll be alright, we will fix everything. I’m not going anywhere, we will fix this, together, like always.” Marinette nodded, gripping his hand tighter, feeling his thumb stroking the top of her hand. “Get some sleep, I’ll be right here.”

Marinette nodded and felt her body slowly start to relax, everything she had kept in slowly left her body, all that mattered was the hand in hers, and if she had hold of it, she would be alright. They didn’t speak again, but they never let go of each other, falling asleep eventually. Before they drifted off peacefully, Marinette noticed they had somehow moved closer, her head on his good shoulder as he lay on his back, her free hand gripping onto his shirt, and her other hand still intertwined with his between them, his head resting on hers. She felt safe. Darkness took over, and for once, Marinette was at peace.

oOo

Adrien woke up feeling groggy, his muscles were aching, and he felt like he had been hit by a train. He blinked the blurriness away, feeling like his head was miles away. Once his eyes adjusted and his vision returned, he saw a low light around him, sun streaks dancing on the ceiling. He swallowed dryly, and that’s when he felt the weight on his arm. He blinked and looked down in confusion, seeing Blunette hair peaking out from the duvet. That’s when he remembered who it was.

Marinette… She was fast asleep, clinging to his arm, her legs pressed against his. He didn’t think she could get any closer if she tried besides lying on top of him. Her face was buried in his bicep, her hair in a mess, half across his chest and the rest covering her face. He smiled, reaching over and brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and stroking her cheek softly, making sure not to wake her. She looked so peaceful, curled up so cutely, her lips parted slightly, her breath warm on his arm. He lay there for a little while just staring at her, examining her features, how she felt against him, and how tightly she gripped onto him.

He was dragged from her face when he heard the door opening slightly, snapping his head across, almost as if on defence. His older self poked his head through, before slowly walking in. His hair was messy, and he had black, tired bags under his green eyes. He was in a red t shirt with black sweatpants on and white socks, he looked tired, but had his same concentrated face on as usual.

“Everything ok?” He asked softly, leaving the door open slightly, padding his way over.

“Yeah, she is still asleep.” Adrien replied, looking down at the girl clutching onto him.

“Okay, best we do it now then, while she is still asleep.” The older man said, gently walking over to her side and gently untangling her arms, tucking a pillow in as a replacement. The youngster watched in confusion, do what? But he slid out from the duvet and followed Adrien. He stopped at the doorway, looking back. Marinette was shifting around, snuggling up to the pillow.

He followed Adrien down the stairs and through to the lounge. He blinked, it was a lot more chaotic than what he had seen the day before. The dining room table was covered in papers, books piled up. The couches looked like they had been slept on, that evident by the sleeping older Marinette on the couch his partner had been on the day before. She had a blanket over her, her short hair a mess and her mouth hanging open as she snored softly. Alix was looking out the window, her back to Adrien, humming softly. He saw on the clock hanging on the wall that it was around 5:30am. No wonder both Marinette’s were asleep. He slowly followed behind, his curiosity sparked.

“What exactly are we doing?” He asked softly, Alix turning at the sound of his voice.

“Before we do anything, we need to discuss a few things. Man to man.” Adrien replied, leading him past the dining room table and the bookcase walls, towards the door that the older man had stormed into the day before. Adrien blinked, and followed him in. He was shocked when he walked into a room that was a lot bigger than he thought a room hidden behind a bookcase would be.

The walls were giant windows, the rising sun shining through. Vines dancing over them, a private garden behind it fenced off by tall hedges. Flowers bloomed outside, waking up with the sun, the grass green and perfectly trimmed. Everything about the garden screamed 'Adrien'. Pristine, in order, with a small statue in the middle of chat noir’s extended staff with Ladybug’s yoyo spiralling around it, with what seemed like waves coming out from the floor, splashing up. It was made from polished grey stone.

There was a hardwood desk with papers on it, it was very neat, computer screens taking up a majority of the space. One wall of books framing a white board covered in scribbles about designs and other fashion information. Adrien walked over to behind his desk and slumped into the big, white desk chair, leaning back against the leather.

“Sit.” He said gently, pointing to the two chairs on the other side of the table. Adrien nodded and sat down, gulping. He felt like he was being interrogated. “What do you want to know?”

He blinked, he wasn’t expecting that. “W-what?”

“You must have questions, so ask them. I would much rather you ask me now, and get it off your chest.”

“What…" he cleared his throat, "what happened? To you?” He asked slowly, his older self-raising his eyebrow at him.

“To me?” Adrien asked, “In what sense?”

“You seem so… serious, so…”

“So much like our father?” He asked with a laugh. Adrien gulped and nodded. “I’m not always like this,” He answered, his facial expression relaxing, looking more like the Adrien that he was used to seeing in the mirror everyday in his time. “Once I knew who Marinette was, knew who ladybug was, I allowed myself to be more relaxed in my civilian form, and…” He sighed, “it helped cope with my father’s arrest, kept me busy. I was 18, I was running the company while going to school and dealing with the trial, and I had my freedom, but it gained attention from a certain person who always had a… grudge so to say against me.” He sighed, placing his hands behind his head, leaning back and placing his feet crossed over on the table. “I was cheerful for years, I still am, but I choose my times now. I choose where I am serious, where I am mature, where I am needed to make jokes, and where I need to take control of the situation to protect those I love.” He looked over at his younger self, “I realised not everything is black and white, not everything is schedules and then escaping for patrols. My life is my own now, I am not hiding behind a persona anymore.” He sat up, dropping his legs, leaning on his knees as he leant forward. “I am how I am because I am a grown up.” Adrien blinked in response, “I am 27 years old, high school was a long time ago, and… I have had to do a lot of stuff to protect my family. I have a wife, I run a company, I am a busy man.”

“And you… you have…” He gulped, feeling the gaze fall on him in a serious way. “You- “

“I killed someone. Yeah.” He scoffed, looking down, “I did.” He nodded, leaning back. “I had no choice.” He looked down at his hands, “it wasn’t easy, but… my wife was dying, and Lila… she was going to make sure Marinette would die. So… I made a choice, I could have done something different, maybe, but I had seconds before that sword was going to hit her. So, I made a choice, and I saved the woman I love. I saved my future.”

“Do… Does it affect you?” Adrien asked softly, looking down at his own hand.

“Yes. Every night, every day, every minute. But more about what affects me is that I watched my wife die so many times and be brought back, I watched knowing she got hit because she was so focused on disciplining me for my foolish behaviour, and suffered my own injuries on top of that from healing me, because I didn’t know when to act goofy, and make jokes, and when to be serious and think two steps ahead.”

The words echoed in Adrien’s head, he looked at his older self who looked at him with a soft expression. Adrien got it. He finally understood. He lived two lives his whole teenage life, he had to act a certain way for his father, and then was fully free and let go completely. And he got it now, his older self was free to be whoever, but knew how to act in certain situations… on his own terms.

“You… You’re free.” Adrien said softly, looking up at his older self.

“That I am. Marinette… she saved me. I alwasy thought chat noir saved me but...” He sighed, “Marinette and I have had a wonderful life together, 8 years together, almost 4 years of marriage, we have suffered many losses, many. But we have laughed, we have lost, we have lived our lives.” He smiled, “We were about to start a family, but… things change, and we take them on, and we move on.”

Adrien gasped softly, “We… we stopped you starting a family, that’s why…”

“Why I’m pissed?” He asked with a raised brow, “It’s part of the reason, but I don’t like seeing people in pain. And seeing you two show up on death’s door, seeing a girl I hadn’t seen for over 8 years, a girl who was injured just like my wife was injured. I’m pissed because my cousin cut you guys up, strangled you, and he is doing fuck knows what back in your time. So yeah, I am pissed, but not ever at you two kids.”

Adrien relaxed at that, nodding, sinking into the chair. He chewed his lip and looked up, his blonde hair falling partially over his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“Why are you sorry?” Adrien asked sitting up, his brows furrowed in confusion. “You didn’t do anything. Never be sorry for being injured or messing up because you weren’t strong enough.” He stood up and walked over leaning on the desk and looking into his one good eyes, “you protected your lady. You did good. Now, we need to sort you out, so you can keep protecting her.” Adrien nodded, taking a deep breath. “want to stay here for a bit?” Adrien nodded, his older self nodded, standing up and patting his shoulder. “Take your time.” He watched as his older self left, and he sighed, leaning back, letting his mind wander as he watched the sun hit the statue.

oOo

Adrien sat on the couch, leaning into his hand and staring forward, his wife’s legs draped over his lap as he thought over the million thoughts in his head. It had been a few hours now, his younger self had made his way back up to the room after devouring some breakfast, limping away with a whole plate of croissants under his arm. His mind had been busy, he was thinking over everything and anything.

“Hey.” He felt his small wife’s legs move slightly, and his head snapped towards her, a soft smile taking over his face, the soft expression only she really saw appearing. “You ok, kitty?” She asked softly.

“Hey, yeah, don’t worry about me. Did you sleep well? I was worried about you sleeping on the couch.” He replied, stroking her shin lovingly with one hand, taking her hand with the other.

“I’m okay, I asked if you are okay though.” She said softly, “you have your serious face on.”

“My serious face?” He asked with a laugh and a cocked brow.

“You get your serious face when you’re worried, you have worn it a lot the past 48 hours.” She said, sitting up, scootching closer and curling into him, causing him to smile more and bundle her up his arms, kissing her head, neck and cheeks, giving her all the love he could with his kisses.

“I am only serious when I need to be, bugaboo.” He joked, winking at her, a smirk on his face. She giggled and nuzzled into him. “The children are still upstairs, I went in today and they were cuddling.” He gossiped.

She gasped and looked up, “really? How close was the cuddling?” She asked sitting up a bit, seeming to be extremely interested.

Adrien laughed, “mini Mari was not letting go, I had to put a pillow there.”

“Oh, that’s so cute!” Marinette giggled, “young love, I remember when we used to be like that!”

“Used to?” They both jumped and looked over as Alix skipped in, claiming the recliner she slept on the night before, “I see you two, I see time, you two haven’t changed in the lovey dovey” she faked a gag, “department, trust me, you two are more in love than ever.” This caused the couple to giggle, not even bothering to move from cuddling.

They had stayed up all night talking, making plans, training programs, timelines they had to go to, they had everything planned. It was going to be hard, it was going to be long, but it could work.

“So, don’t worry. You guys are fine.” Alix chuckled, “Still as sickly as ever.” Marinette giggled and swung her legs off her husband’s lap, reaching over for her water. He watched her before he slowly got up with a stretch.

“Well, that’s always good to know that we are still the number one couple in our superhero forms and in civilian.” He smirked, winking at his wife cockily who rolled her eyes. “Never had any doubts though, have you seen my wife? Let alone me.” Alix gagged again, rolling her eyes.

“Disgusting. I miss the shy Adrien from high school.” She said as she pressed the button on the recliner, the legs opening up, sinking into her chair.

“I wasn’t shy.” He said with a pout, “I was just quiet, and had to keep up my father’s image.” He defended.

“Yeah yeah, we all have some type of daddy problems.” She said with a bat of her hand.

“Uh, I don’t.” Marinette pointed out, raising her hand up.

“That’s very true,” Adrien agreed, leaning against the sofa arm, “must be nice, don't you think, Alix?” He joked with a wink.

“Go easy on Nettie, we can’t all have a great husband and a perfect family life.” Alix snickered, “I mean, to be fair, you did end up with kitty cat.”

“Hey! I am amazing thank you very much! What’s so wrong with me?” Adrien asked, feigning offence.

“Have you heard your puns?” Alix asked with a raised brow. “Let’s not even start on your jokes.”

Marinette giggled, “I love his jokes! His puns… they aren’t all bad.”

“Not- wha-”, Adrien stood up, eyebrows raised. “Aren't that- Don’t disrespect my puns like that, m’lady! They won your heart over, didn’t they?” He winked at her, a smirk spreading. Marinette rolled her eyes and they all laughed, feeling like they were back in high school again, joking around and living their life carefree in between akuma attacks. They all shared a look, a look of understanding. Alix spent most of her time making sure time flows naturally, and hardly has any time for herself. And Marinette and Adrien worked so much and only saw Alya and Nino ever now.

“Things are so different now, aren’t they?” Marinette said softly, catching Adrien’s attention. “How has it been years since everyone from school were all in the same room?” She looked between the two.

“Well, life happens,” Adrien replied, reminded of the conversation he had with his younger self, “Nino is constantly busy with his DJing and the kids.”

“Alya is always busy with her job and the kids, she usually camps out in my office doing her columns while the twins help me sew or try to anyway.” Marinette said with a giggle.

“Juleka and Rose are still travelling, I think they’re in Iceland now, Luka is travelling still with his dad doing concerts so he’s always busy.” Alix chimed in.

“After… After Sabrina died, Chloe moved to New York, she works with me on some projects remotely, but I don’t hear from her much anymore, last I heard she was getting married, I don’t know to whom though.” Adrien looked at Alix, “I… I don’t know about anyone else…” He felt guilty when he thought about it, they had all been through so much, and now it was like they were strangers.

“The last time we were all together, Sabrina included, I think was your wedding.” Alix said with a frown, “wow… that was… ages ago.” She gulped, resting her head on her fist. “Crazy…”

They all jumped when they heard someone clear their throat, looking over at the doorway to see Marinette and Adrien standing there. Adrien looked pale, leaning on Marinette slightly, “Sorry to interrupt, uh, I think Adrien has hurt himself, he’s bleeding a bit, I had a look, but I didn’t want to make it worse.” Marinette said softly, her hair was frazzled slightly, her closed crinkled and her eyes looked tired, she must have just woken up.

“Bring him over,” his wife replied, standing up and moved the blankets off the couch. “Let’s get him healed and then we need to have a talk.” They made their way over, Adrien wincing as he limped, letting out a gasp as he lay down.

The older Adrien watched with a clenched jaw, picking up the medallion and taking a deep breath. “Okay, you ready?” He asked his wife softly, taking her hand.

“Yeah.” She replied, squeezing his back before she turned to the young boy. “Tikki, spots on.”

[kilhara]

Finally got around to writing another of these lol. I'm not going to aim to finish the Maycabre prompt list in May, but I'll write for funsies when i can think of an idea to fill the prompt/when I have the time.

Prompt list here

Warnings: Blood, gore, death, lil bit o' angst

Characters: G-Man, Alyx Vance, Combine Advisor

3. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

"We are in, the future. This is the moment, where you watch your father... die."

His statement echoed in the air, but as the flow of time died, the next word caught in his throat. Taking a quiet breath, he tried again.

"Unless..."

Breathless, her voice shook, "What? Unless what?"

Disembodied from the lower dimension, he circled a half-moon around her. "Unless... you were to take matters, into your own hands."

Moving quickly, the scene spun on its axis. Coagulated blood became new and returned to the hole in Eli Vance's neck, his limp corpse falling back into the grasp of the... Combine Advisor, as the humans dubbed them. A juvenile.

Dissonant ripples passed through him.

The older instance of Alyx was consolidated, for there could not be two, and the younger instance watched, speechless as everything rewound before her eyes.

Returning to the void, he stellated, this form shifting and another appearing closer to the Advisor. He had to force the next words out, keeping his voice smooth and even. He could not afford to show weakness. Leave any with the benefit of a doubt.

"Release your father, Ms. Vance..."

He observed from the cover of shadows, standing stiffly, hands at his back clenched in a white knuckled grip.

First disbelief, then a hopeful shift in her features. She flexed her fingers, marveling at the crackling vortigaunt energy jumping across her skin. Determination like emerald fire in her eyes, her hands shot out and let loose twin arcs of violent green lightning.

The energy blasted into the juvenile, a perfect hit to the front. He could hear its screams. Errant green aftershocks jumped over to pinch at his skin, but he hardly felt the pain, unable to look away as the grub's telekinesis failed and it plummeted to the ground in a steaming heap, dead.

It had not suffered for long.

"Good..."

Relaxing tensed muscles, he disrobed of the darkness.

"As a consequence of your action, this entity will continue—" he gestured to Eli, an afterthought, before turning to the left, "and this entity... will not."

Fully exposed to the ravaged body, a hidden frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. Of course, he'd known this was coming. In the end, it was he who had orchestrated it. But now, in hindsight, the knowledge paled in comparison to the direct experience of it.

Great plumes of smoke rose from the charred body of the grub. Curled and blackened flakes of skin had peeled away, seared flesh protruding through jagged cracks. Vibrant green blood oozed from where its breather once sat, along with a stream of milky liquefied brain matter. The suit that encased it had partially turned to ash, revealing patches where skin had bubbled as it cooked.

He could do nothing to stop his mind from conjuring the image of the dead synth instead as one of his siblings, eliciting an unfamiliar nausea that rolled deep within him.

He did not know this one. But he knew its madness. Just like the others. Thousands, more than the eye could see, bound and ravaged by the Combine. Lobotomized and repurposed to serve hate and enforce domination. Made slaves by the disease that misfolded their thoughts into broken, black shapes... drove them to depravity. Their life cycles seized, unnaturally arrested in bodies unable to moult. Unable to escape. This one, just another cog in the machine of the Universal Union. To him, another in a long line of necessary evils. One step closer to the end, but at the cost of striking down one of his own kind. No matter how far gone the synth was, he could feel a black mark upon his mind that he doubted would fade any time soon.

Acrid particles of burnt flesh permeated his senses, and not for the first time, he wished he weren't bound to human form.

He'd seen enough.

Banishing the corpse, it faded from the void and he watched the last wisps of smoke linger before dispersing into nothingness.

Someone was talking. Alyx. He came back to himself, realizing that he'd momentarily blocked out auditory stimuli. He turned his head her way, replaying what she'd said.

Ah, her... father. He wasn't done with that man quite yet. Loathe to lie to her face, he deflected her question and relayed to her the true nature of her situation, conjuring Gordon's crowbar and rotating it in his hand with feigned interest.

He could feel the slow build of distress inside her, getting worse with each word he spoke.

"A... previous hire has been unwilling— or... unable, to perform the tasks laid before him." Letting the crowbar drift off into the void, he manifested a vision of Gordon as he was in the hangar and stepped to the side.

Now that Freeman was well and truly a free man, it didn't mean that he wasn't still heading down a favourable path. But his employers were understandably skeptical, unhappy with this loss of control over an asset.

But now? Now, he had her.

Calmly, he moved the conversation in the direction he needed to wrap this up. His employers were crowding the edge of his awareness, ghostly fingers pressing against his barriers, losing patience with his delay to their summons.

Understanding settled on her face, panic widening her eyes. He turned and started to walk away, unwilling to watch her fall apart in front of him.

It was done.

"No," she protested, tone wavering, "I— I just want to go home. Send me home!"

Her broadcasted waves of fear prickled. He slowed to a stop, tilting his head.

"... I'm afraid you misunderstand the situation, Ms. Vance."

Jaw clenched, he continued on, walking into the portal of blinding light that opened before him. Just like the nauseating smoke still clinging to his suit, the imprint of her screams lingered long after he'd departed.

[cosplayinamerica]

COSPLAY THEME PAGE : ShareMyCosplay.com

Tell us about ShareMyCosplay, what was the genesis of the ShareMyCosplay? 

Share My Cosplay has gone through quite the journey to get to what you see today. I can still remember the day that I came up with the idea that would eventually lead to Share My Cosplay. I was eating lunch with a few friends at my day job. A friend of mine showed me a cosplay of Jessica Nigri as Pikachu, and because I worked in IT,  for some reason had an idea of doing a website related to cosplay. The actual website took a while to set up, but I started off slowly, with an initial launch on social media. We launched with Tumblr and Twitter, slowly building an audience. Then eventually a little bit later adding Facebook, and eventually much later introducing Instagram into the “family’. Eventually we added the website and have been going strong since then. We’ve of course made tons of adjustments over the years, and most recently started adding content on YouTube. It’s been a great ride so far, and hopefully it will continue.

What was your first experience with cosplay as well as the convention scene?

Like a lot of people who are into gaming and comic books, I was aware of cosplay, but didn’t really know much about it. It was only after looking into the idea of starting a site that I really got to know what goes on behind the scenes. It was meeting and talking to people in the scene that made me realize what an amazing community of people are involved. That is why I have continued the site for so long. As our social media following grew, I got to know more and more of the cosplayers, and was so happy I was able to use what I had created to help them gain more exposure. Share My Cosplay exists as a place where all cosplayers can have their work properly showcased.

As for conventions. While I live in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa is a relatively small city of one million people. Conventions have only really made it big in the last 5 years or so and before that were never a really big thing. I had travelled to other cities within Canada for some conventions, but those were mainly toy based conventions, so there would just be a handful of devoted cosplayers hanging out. It wasn’t until much later, when conventions started to take off, that our city got it’s own “Comic-con”. Then things exploded quickly. When our first Ottawa Comic-con launched, I was there day one, and the lineup was out of the building and wrapped around the whole building. I think it took a couple of hours to actually get into the convention floor. I could only assume it was similar to something like entering SDCC, but on a much smaller scale.

So while that has been a staple in our city for the last 10 years, I’ve also been traveling to Montreal Comic-con, which is a little bigger. Since there are maybe fewer conventions in Canada, people seem to come from great distances to show off the cosplays they had worked out. The dream has always been to try and get to SDCC, but that hasn’t happened yet. Travel is so expensive from Canada.

So for the short term I had set my sights on visiting NYCC, which is a “quick” drive from my area of Canada. However like all plans, they fell through. I had plans to go to NYCC and E3 in 2020, but of course those fell through because of what happened around the world. I miss conventions. One because they are such a great way to meet and interact with the cosplayers, and two, it’s one of the primary places we get content to share on our site and pages. So that has been lacking for us recently. Fingers crossed things will get back to normal soon.

How has cosplay changed over the years in your perspective?

Like everything you get to know, it evolves and grows over time. Being knee deep in cosplay all the time (my inbox once had 100+gb of cosplay submissions), I have certainly seen it change over the years. Obviously cosplays have become more elaborate in construction. Things like LEDs are so cheap now, I always find it amazing when people incorporate them into a costume. So the cosplay builds just get bigger and better every year. Also I find the resources on the internet have gotten better. Cosplayers are now able to find more detailed pictures of what they want to create, giving them a way better idea of what and how they will do it for a certain character.

Another thing that has changed, are the absolutely stunning Cosplay edits you’ll see on social media. So why the cosplay photographers have always been an integral part of the equation (we try hard to tag them when people include their details on submissions), the level that the editing on pictures has changed over the years is dramatic. You’ll often see the time-lapsed photo creations on Social, and they are just mesmerizing to watch. People put so much time into creating these worlds to help elevate the cosplay to the next level. That has certainly changed over the years. That being said, we still love regular shots of cosplay too, the amount of photographers that specialize in cosplay has jumped a lot too.

In general, it seems cosplay has evolved from a simple hobby where you could throw something together to wear to a weekend convention, to a full time gig where people spend months on at a time for each one of their creations.

How has ShareMyCosplay changed over the years?

In my eyes SMC has evolved greatly over the years. As the editor there have been two major changes, and I think it has improved the way we do things. The first thing would be, when we first started I used to go “collect” the cosplay that we shared. So I had to either go find it, or reach out to people. I spent a lot of time tracking down cosplay to share, that I personally thought was cool or very creative. As you can imagine this took a lot of time. So this has changed dramatically over the past 3 -  5 years. Now I’m happy to say that we are 99.9% based on submissions from users. So while there is less than 1% of content that we do go out and ask for, it is basically all based on what people send us to share. So that is why you see such a great variety of cosplay content on our pages. There is a downside to this in a way, as compared to some other pages out there that only feature certain types of cosplayers, some people enjoy that a bit more and those pages can have more of a following then we do. However we are really happy with the content we put out. 

Then the second big change, that has certainly led to better content for our pages, is the introduction of automation. When SMC first started, I had to do everything manually. Like I would be on Twitter or my phone doing everything live, and sharing items. It took up a lot of my time, and greatly affected my personal life. At times I think I must have been crazy, as this is a free service that we provide, and I was putting hours into each day. Now of course things have changed and the Social Media aspect of SMC is way easier to manage. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have official tools available that allow you to schedule your posts. So you can easily take an hour or 2 and work on several days of a week at the same time, or if you were really organized, schedule the whole week. So I’ve learned to embrace this a bit more and learn the ins and outs of it. This leads to a more constant stream of content that our followers seem to enjoy. Which seems to lead to more engagement from our followers.

What’s the best part / worst part of running a cosplay theme page? 

The best part has obviously been meeting & interacting with the community throughout the years. We do our best to present a positive place where everyone can share their cosplay creations. We’ve been invited to some really cool events over the years, and our team has been able to go to a lot of conventions all over the world. It’s been a fun ride.

The worst part for me personally, is that while our team has grown and shrank over the years, I do most of the work by myself. Sharemycosplay.com is run by a single person, me. Also for the most part there is a single person doing all of the social media. So I do my best to have content up all of the time, but sometimes life gets in the way. We’ve put a few calls out for people that might want to help with content creation for the site, but sometimes it’s hard to attract people interested in helping. Right now I’d love a few writers that could write articles that I could wrap around cosplay posts for the page. We will have to see how that turns out.

What future plans do you have for ShareMyCosplay?

I’m always looking to expand Sharemycosplay.com with new content. During the pandemic I’ve been off my normal schedule so unfortunately updates have been a bit slow, but hoping to get back to things. With conventions off the table for now for the most part, I’m trying to move in different directions. I’ve recently tried to put more effort into YouTube, but even that has been impacted by the Pandemic, so I’ve leaned more on gaming content. That is going to change as I’ve started a new initiative that I just launched on our page a few days ago called “CosplaySELF''. Basically we are looking to have cosplayers interview themselves, and us edit the footage into the “episodes' ' featuring 3 cosplayers. Hopefully those will start to be live very soon. We are already into the editing phase and hope to have the first episode live soon, over on our YouTube page. Keep your eyes peeled. Hopefully, as long as people show interest, this is something we will continue to create and upload on a regular schedule.

Is there anything that wasn’t covered you like to talk about?

 Lastly I want to thank you for taking the time to include Share My Cosplay in this interview. It really means a lot when someone else in the community that you respect, takes a moment out of their busy life to recognize the work you’ve done. There have been times in the past where I have considered possibly giving up doing SMC, but getting some recognition really helps put things in perspective and allows me to continue on. Hopefully Share My Cosplay will continue to grow over the coming years, and continue as a great tool for all cosplayers to use.

https://www.sharemycosplay.com/

[manjuhitorie]

HITORI-ESCAPE 2020 : Hitorie’s Free Concert Live Stream - December 7th 2020

In celebration of their newest single, curved edge, Hitorie streamed a full length concert! Setlist: Polaris Senseless Wonder Namid[A]me Garandou Mae Zero Banchi SLEEPWALK Loveless Gekijougai Talkie Dance Unknown Mother Goose Karanowaremono Ao curved edge In it they announced the release of a new album! Named... REAMP! Febuary 17th can’t come soon enough!!! It will even include songs written by not only Shinoda, but Yumao and ygarshy each as well! Concert report below:

Initial Impressions: ＊ SND’s shirt has Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe printed on it. ＊ He has a stageprompter to assist with lyrics as well. He struggles to hit the high notes but he nails the high octane power chords. wowaka used to wing when his would sing, so he would slip on his lyrics, and make silly faces, every other song live. I see SND is playing it safe, now that he’s the one in charge of the crazy lyrics!!! Prelude leading into... Polaris ＊SND gets riled up and turned thhe「誰も知らぬ明日へ行け　誰も止められやしないよ」lyric into a rowdy 「止められやしねえよ」 . Equivalent to “No one can stop us” being turned into “No once can fucking stop us” or so. Shinoda “We’re Hitorie, enjoy the show.” (This ‘Hitorie desu, yoroshiku douzo’ was always wowaka’s stock concert phase.) Senseless Wonder ＊”Woo-hoo”’s or unintelligible noises made in the riff music breaks. ＊Yumao sings the backup vocals.  ＊SND wiggles his foot on his Wah pedal to make the wonky sounds.

Intermissional MC

Shinoda “This marks the beginning of Hitori-Escape. We are called Hitorie. Everyone please stick with us.“Heavy breathing “Hold up. I jumping around too much right off the bat.. I jumped around too much... All I did was hip and hop around a little bit... Haah. I’m gonna drink some water, drink some water!” SND walks over to the amp where bottles lie atop then proceeds to take a big sip. Yumao also follows along with a drink. Yu and SND can be seen conversing, but only SND’s “You got that right.” can be heard. SND returns to the mic “Take a gander, everyone. Even Yumao-kun is already sweating as well. This sparkly sweat of ours.. We will try to deliver you guys our sweat at the highest quality we can offer, deliver it as much as possible.” While SND is talking Yumao makes signs, such as 2 fingers up, towards the staff. “Well then, let’s chug along. Enjoy the show everyone.” Namid[A]me ＊There’s bubble popping sound effects in the intro now! Yumao is in charge of this, see his MacBook + mixer (+ a handy setlist printout) setup on the table beside him. All with a music program open primed and ready... Right before the song you can even see Yumao click his computer as well! 

＊ Yumao sings backup vocals, the whole chorus has his deep voice echoing. The small amount of notes are so concise and moody live... ＊ SND tops the outro off with a “Wasshoi!” Garandou Mae Zero Banchi ＊ Melodramatic piano bit added before the intro. I wonder where this was sampled from... It sounds like SND uses his stereo chorus pedal for his part as well. Shinoda “Thank you.”

Intermissional MC

Shinoda “Uhm.. At the end of our previous live stream I had said ‘Next time we meet will be at the concert hall.’. Sorry, that was a lie... We’re meeting at a live stream yet again. We’re Hitorie, enjoy the show.” Yumao taps his cymbals gently to create the classic concert mood starter sound. SND “That, that’s good! That’s the stuff! That’s the stuff. Without that stuff I feel the silence responding to me.” He motions at the empty auditorium. “That stuff’s nice, nice. I guess ‘cause, y’know. ‘Cause you two have already been y’know. Performing in front of people.” Yumao, hits his cymbal, cue a “Bwaa~n” sound. SND “You can fool me with that shit. No ‘Bwaa~n’ will work on me. You had 2 whole opportunities in a row, yesterday and the day before.” (Referring to Yumao’s appearance in Touyama Nao’s anniversary concerts.) Yumao hits his cymbal yet again, cue a “Shwaaan” noise. SND scoffs “What a kind and swe~et reaction.” SND “I’m the only one. The only one here who hasn’t stood up in front of people. My only upcoming chance will be at ‘Countdown Japan’, at the end of the year. Then in January I’ll be doing our limited fan club concert at Shibuya WWX. Back to back. What the hell is up with this year? What the hell, huh? Huh!!!” SND playfully pounces in Yumao’s direction. Yumao hits his cymbal again. “You’re saving my butt with that. Thanks, truly. Alright. From here on I’m to bring you a few songs without a guitar, only a mic in my hands.” Yumao “1, 2, 3, 4” SLEEPWALK ＊ SND gets on his knees and wiggles to walk on the floor during music breaks, is he imitating a sleepwalker.. ＊ Ygarshy presses a pedal right after every song ends, presumably his tuner, to mute and prevent static. He strums and slaps with his fingers, no pick, for every song. SND “2020 is slowly nearing its end, but, what’s everyone’s opinion on love?” Loveless ＊BONK 

＊ Includes Shinoda flopping around on the floor, squatting like a yakuza, and an outro with SND and yg having a mini string instrument battle! They huddle together! Yumao pounds away! Gekijougai ＊ Additional nebulous intro.  ＊ Yumao is really worked to the bone in this banger! Featuring yet another more intense battle between yg and SND. SND “Alrighty! Ah. Where are y’all now? Where are y’all right now? It doesn’t matter where you are, just dance along to Talkie Dance!” Talkie Dance ＊ During the riff breaks SND chants  Soi! Yoisa! Soi! Hoisa!” Like wasshoi, these are traditional shouts primarily used by O-mikoshi carriers in JP festivals! SND really seems to enjoy using old-fashioned words in a stylish way. SND “Upon this ending year, this one is with love from wowaka!” Unknown Mother Goose “Sing along with me!” ＊ Per usual, Yumao and ygarshy both pitch in for the ‘Oh oh oh’ harmonies. “Sing, please!” ＊ The background vocals in the Unknown Mother Goose are also confirmed by the man himself to be “Give me love”. He had responded to someone with “Oh! You’re sharp!” when asked about it!

Intermissional MC

“Are y’all having fun? Me, I can’t stop sweating. Help me. I can’t stop sweaaating.” SND changes to a high tone voice, “Ah~ This is awesomeee. Methinks this is awesome but, but I gotta say, I’m the only one here who hasn’t had a chance to perform in front of people, no kap.” He returns to his normal tone. “I hold a grudge. I’m always the only one being fucking left outtt. I can't let go of my grudge.

At least look me in the eyes, guys. Ah, whatever. On New Year's Eve I’m gonna appear in Countdown Japan, I’m gonna! ...What does it feel like anyway, performing in front of people? What does it feel like, may I ask you fine young gentleman?” SND’s voice turns to demonic. “Oiiii. Don’t just fucking nod at me. Don’t make up some new common language. You’re over there using no words, bitch.” His voice returns to normal. “Well, whatever. Enough of that. It’s no use staying jealous forever.” Yumao taps his cymbals... “Don’t just fucking ‘clang clang’ either!” Yumao laughs. “You laughed, you laughed! You laugh: you lose, you!”, they all smile. “Uhm... On December 31st, New Year's Eve, we’ll be at Countdown Japan. Please come if you can, hope to see you there. Now then! Next year, I’m talking about next year, it will be the 7th year anniversary of our major debut. In celebration, and to kick off the new year, we have booked Roppongi’s EX Theater for two days, January 21st and 22nd,. This is all I can say for now. Details will be announced later. ...Now let me drink some water.” ygarshy is all done tuning and at attention. Yumao keeps making cymbal sounds to fill the empty space. “I... Today, here, is uhm, Yokohama’s Bay Hall. It’s the place where ‘Swallowtail’ was filmed. When we arrived this afternoon I saw the windows and practically screamed. It’s Yen Town Band! It’s where Glico sang ‘My Way’! I alone was freaking out. Noone was on board with me.. I’m all alone, yet again.... The camera zooms in on Yumao, “Don’t just smile! Don't just smile at me With that said. Our 7th anniversary hits next year! So, here is our very first song, which represents our beginning....” Karanowaremono Ao ＊ Many emotional spotlights.

Intermissional MC

SND “At long last, this time has come. Huh! Mister Yumao-san!” SND glares at him. “Perhaps I may revel in a sip of water as well. A sip of water!! ... By the way what time is it? Yumao, in reporter voice “It is currently eight thirty seven.” SND “I see, it’s eight thirty seven. That's crazy. So today, our new song released, as you folks may know. Our new song called curved edge was released. Did you give it a listen? If you haven’t then please do, but also, the music video for the song will be public today at 22 o’ clock, please enjoy it. That’s the immediate future. But let’s talk about the faaar future.... On February 17th will a new album be released. We made an album. curved edge is a song written by me, and naturally it will be included in the album as well but, that’s not all.” He wags his finger towards the others, “This wiggly windy head of brown-colored hair and, this other wiggly windy head of black-colored hair have even each written a song for it as well. The title is R-E-A-M-P, REAMP. To be released on February 17th. Keep your eyes peeled.” he tapped his temple as he said this, “Please!” Ygarshy bows. “Ahhh, we made it!” Shinoda starts coughing, “Excuse me. Coughing without covering my mouth is not good. I'll be careful. Ah, I’m so nervous. I’ve grown nervous this far in. Alright, this next one will be the final song. Thank you so much for bearing with us. We are Hitorie. As farewell, here is our new song. curved edge.

Text:

I have also written up the original Japanese quotes! Thank you Tamagotoji for the huge help! ORZ For those looking to follow along with the concert, or learn new words from them, or enjoy!! Please enjoy! 

https://www.evernote.com/l/AolVRKvLGRpFN6l0MApPe5xuRXQOI4kFeTg

Bonus tech lore

Disclaimer: Only old photos exist of their pedalboards exist, as the cameramen did a fine job of concealing them. Since there’s no new evidence of change, I’ll assume these old findings will serve as foundation for their current setups as well!

[justkurotingz]

maybe readers school is a possible target of a bomb thread and even tho it's breaking the protocol hotch drives to her school and takes her out of class with his vest and gun still on because he wants to protect her and can't risk losing her too after losing Haley

hopefully this is the uncle!hotch request haha <3. if not i apologize!! sorry this took so long to complete, i went outside since it’s a good day today :))

word count: almost 1K words

“bomb threat....apply valley high school....” hotch’s head snapped up to the tv, but already the reporter had moved on. “what did he say?” “i know, it’s so unfortunate.” prentiss sighed and morgan nodded. “swat’s on their way, but they’re pretty sure it’s just an empty threat. apparently it’s a suicide bomber.”

“apple valley high school, hey, isn’t that where y/n goes?” reid glanced at hotch and the stricken look his face confirmed reid’s question. “i- have to go. don’t tell strauss i’m gone.” “hotch, that’s against protocol.” jj rose, her eyebrows furrowed in concern and hotch sighed. “i can’t lose y/n too.” the team let him go after that, but as hotch rushed to the elevator, rossi noticed he hadn’t changed from the case they just closed.

“hotch, your gun!” but the elevator doors closed, cutting rossi off. he turned the key in the suv’s ignition, and drove out of the fbi premises. 30...40...50 miles per hour. “come on y/n.” he sped to the school, avoiding any local police in the area.

hotch pulled into the school parking lot ten minutes later, noting the swat team surrounding the building. “ssa aaron hotchner. i need to get inside.” “sir, you don’t have the authority to do that.” aaron stared the swat member down and he backed off, hands in the air.

“be careful sir, we don’t have a visual inside.” someone called out and hotch raised his hand in acknowledgement, stepping inside the school office. “i’m looking for y/n y/l/n. she’s a sophomore.” a nod and then the clickity clack of a keyboard. “she’s in art class right now. room 204, it’s just down the hallway and to your left. i thought the school was in lockdown, nobody in or out.” the office lady glanced at hotch in curiosity and he flashed his badge.

“i’m just here for y/n. i’ll be out of your hair in a minute. stay safe.” he walked briskly down the hallway, reaching y/n’s classroom. he knocked twice, and panicked eyes peeled back the paper covering the window, peering at him. hotch showed the teacher his badge, and the door opened slightly. “i’m here for y/n.”

“whoa.” “look at his gun.” “that’s sick man.” aaron glanced at his sidearm, just realizing what rossi was trying to tell him earlier. “uncle hotch?” you stepped forward, gathering your art supplies in a corner, wondering why your uncle made a surprise visit in the middle of lockdown. “is it safe to go outside now?” “no y/n, the safest thing is to stay in the classroom. but i couldn’t bear the thought if something happened to you.” hotch admitted, looking at the barricaded door. 

“i’m fine uncle hotch, it’s just a stupid threat. there’s nobody here anyways.” “we don’t know for sure y/n. ready to go?” “uh nobody’s leaving, we’re in the middle of a lockdown.” the teacher interjected but hotch shook his head. “i know this is unusual but i just need my niece. i have no intention of putting anyone in harm.” you threw your pastel yellow backpack over your shoulder and faintly heard the other kids whispers behind you. “lucky.” “of course she can ditch.” “sorry guys.” you smirked at your classmates, and hotch opened the door, slipping out soundlessly with you on his tail.

“it’s been forever since i’ve seen you. did you just finish a case, why are you still in your-” hotch silenced you, pulling you back behind a row of lockers. “what is it?” your eyes widened and he put a finger to his lips. “hotchner. i have eyes on the suicide bombers. there’s two of them in the art hallway, it’s the east wing of the school.” “copy. moving in.” the radio crackled.

“oh my god.” you whispered, trembling. “hey, it’s ok. just stay quiet.” hotch instructed and you nodded, thankful he was fbi and he knew how to protect you. “are you ok?” hotch glanced at you, and you shot him a thumbs-up, making him smile. “i knew you’d be fine. you’re so strong.” 

you didn’t feel strong, freaking out about suicide bombers roaming around your school, but before you could comment, the sound of gunfire made you scream. hotch clapped a hand over your mouth and you covered your ears, tears streaming down your face.

“shhh.” his eyes were dark, observant, but the gunfire quickly subsided. “clear. the threat has been neutralized. moving out.” “does that mean it’s safe?” you whispered, wiping away the tears, and hotch nodded. just then, the intercom came alive. “students, the threat has been neutralized. please do not be alarmed by the gunfire. it is safe to return to your classes and resume studies. we understand this was a new and frightening experience for us all, but we’re better together. thank you for staying calm and vigilant during tough times.”

“oh come on.” you groaned and hotch chuckled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “don’t worry, we’re out of here. jack’ll be happy to see you.” “yes!” you pumped your fist in the air, happy to ditch school and hotch shook his head in amusement. “keep that up and you’ll be in a bad position for your future squirt.” he said affectionately. “come on, school sucks.” you rolled your eyes and he smirked. 

“how do you think i’m doing what i do? i went to school and studied hard.” “i bet i’d be a badass fbi agent without ‘studying hard’.” you made finger quotes around the words. “language.” hotch warned, but his smile didn’t reflect any anger towards you.

as you two drove back to hotch’s apartment, you glanced outside at the blue sky, and smiled to yourself. maybe mrs. jensen was right, people really are better together. you realized there was nothing else you wanted to do than to spend time with jack and uncle hotch, and you were glad you could do just that, enjoying the rest of your day with two of your favorite people.

[weirdcat1213]

Corrupted Steven theory fic

Finally here is my fic based on the theory by @novantinuum

Feel free to comment on suggestions that could help me improve my writing :3

Please don't repost

Enjoy! :3 

Fic by: weirdcat1213

For a brief moment, the only thing he could see was a sparkle of white light.

Steven squeezed his eyes even tighter than before until he calmed down enough to open them again.

He found himself on his knees in a flat surface that seemed like a floor. It was an environment that reminded him of his mom’s room, except that this one didn't have any pink clouds and it was a lighter pink, almost white.

When he tried to raise his head a strong pain that came from his gem paralyzed him for a moment. The pain crawled through his body and tensed every single one of his muscles.

Steven hugged his stomach in pain and felt the tears coming out of his eyes.

“What's going on?” he asked the empty room between gasps and tears “What happened? Are my powers messed up again?” he kept asking, raising his voice “Why does it hurt?.... Where am I?- Steven couldn’t take the pain anymore and he let himself fall, lying on his side.

“I have to fix this,” he said trying to take deep breaths and ignore the insisting soreness “I have to fix this before the gems find out …”

“Steven!!! Can you hear me??” Steven heard from far away as if it were an echo from miles away.

“Connie?” he wondered quietly.

“Don't worry Steven. We'll save you” he heard her shouting from wherever she was.

“No!” he yelled without knowing whether she could listen to him or not, “I'll take care of this, I can fix it” the pain kept bothering him, but it was bearable. Now he was able to think more clearly. After inhaling and exhaling for a couple of minutes he sat on his knees again. He noticed that he could see something more than the pink room. It was like having a tiny screen in front of his eyes, where he could see what was going on outside. He saw he was in the temple.

When he noticed his view was at the same level as the ceiling he froze for an instant., then tried to think a possible explanation, and suddenly, he saw her. 

Connie was there, standing in the middle of the living room, trembling.

“What’s going on?” Steven asked, scared of Connie’s reaction “ Are you okay?”

“Steven…the gems are coming in no time…they’ll know what to do,” said Connie, ignoring Steven’s questions.

“It's okay, I can fix this. I just….” The pain interrupted him and it tensed his body again so hard that it made him scream. Sometime after that, when his body started to relax, he saw the gems arriving at the temple.

“Connie, I received your message, what-?” asked Pearl until her gaze went from Connie to Steven “Steven!?  Are you okay? What happened?”

“Is that Steven?” mutter Amethyst putting away her whip already in her hand”

“Garnet took off her visor, shocked “He's..corrupted..”

“What? Corrupted? “said Connie alarmed and confused “But…corruption happened because of the diamonds attack…right? How can he be corrupted?”

In that split second, he remembered everything that happened until that moment.

He remembered his heart sinking after talking to Jasper, and how that anxiety let the rest of his thoughts go out of control, then he received a message from Connie saying that she would be there soon for their weekly training. Worried about Connie seeing him like that, he decided to go to the bathroom to calm down and keep his thoughts at bay. But suddenly he felt a stinging pain in his gem that made him trip over, he felt his hands becoming claws, his skin burning and turning magenta, and huge stings coming out of his head and back, tearing apart his clothes.

The voices of the gems and Connie became even more distant while the memories returned to his mind violently.

“It's my fault…it’s my fault again…I gotta fix this” he cleaned the new wave of tears that were coming out of his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. Ignoring the discussion that the gems and Connie were having, he stormed out of the temple, destroying the entrance unintentionally.

“Watch out!” warned Garnet while the gems and Connie jumped out of Steven’s way, which could move faster than expected.

Steven, on the beach, got closer to the shore to see his reflection in the ocean. Instead of seeing his regular self he saw a kind of monster that looked like a giant magenta worm with reptilian legs and big silver thorns all over his body and horns in his head. “So... I'm really corrupted” Steven whispered, and scared of the grotesque form he ran away, heading to the only place he could think of that could be helpful.

The sanctuary was as impeccable as the last time it was used two years ago. Steven hurried and jumped into the fountain, making sure to dive completely.

He waited patiently, thinking that maybe because of his new form the process was going to take longer than expected.

But nothing happened

“But…It has to work. It worked for them…..come on…” Steven took his head out of the water and submerged again, panicking and feeling more tears on the way “it has to work…what I'm going to do...“he clenched his jaw bearing the stream of pain that tormented his body for a couple of seconds.

“Why is this happening?... I thought ...I thought I was strong enough to control my powers…How did I even do this to myself? There's gotta be a way to get back to normal without….”

“Steven!” shouted Garnet “stay right there”

Steven took his head out of the water again “It okay guys…You don't have to worry,” he tried to tell them, but then he realized that they couldn't understand him. He didn't know that when he talked, only a monstrous growl came out of his mouth.

“If it’s corruption the fountain should be working” whispered Pearl disrupted about what was happening, “what happened to him? Is he really corrupted?”

“I don't think so, he's not attacking us, he knows who we are,” said Amethyst, staring at Garnet for answers.

Garnet didn't say anything, looking for answers with her future vision.

Connie’s eyes widen “I have an idea,” she said approaching Steven and then jumped and begin to climb his body, holding on to the things that looked like oversized rose spikes.

“Careful” Pear warned scared.

Connie climbed until she found Steven’s gem in his head. She touched it “Steven? Can you hear me?”

“Connie, I’ll find a way to fix this, tell the gems that I'm okay,” he said as calm as he could.

“I can hear him,” said Connie relieved “but…no. There's no way we’re leaving you alone”.

“Don't worry about me, I can fix this on my own okay?. I'll be…ahhh” Steven was interrupted by a new wave of pain; Connie had to put her hand away, frightened by his shrieks.

“Something is happening to him, he's screaming, “said Connie alarmed to the gems “We have to do something, get him out of….”

“But what can we do? He is the one that can fix corruption” claimed Amethyst exasperate while running her hands through her hair “should we get the Diamonds?”

“The diamonds can just fix a specific aspect of corruption, and if he corrupted himself… he can cure the…” Pearl covered her mouth with her hands to try to suppress her tears “I don't know! No one of us knows how corruption works, not even the Diamonds”

Garnet jumped and landed next to Connie, she touched Steven’s gem as well and spoke.

“We’re staying,” said Garnet severely.

“It's not necessary, you should go back to the temple” Steven tried to maintain a regular tone and hide his panting from the last wave of pain “I’ll take care of this”

“It is necessary. We’re going to stay and help you” Connie insisted.

“I can take care of it on my own,” said Steven, feeling anxiety and fear in his throat “I'm supposed to be strong enough to manage this”

“Why do you want us to go that bad?” asked Connie, unable to hide her irritation in her voice “just let us help you”

“You don't have to be here, I ...I…” the pain tensed his body again, only this time the pain felt more like a vine that rolled his limbs.

Amethyst and Pearl jumped to where Garnet and Connie were and put their hands in Stevens’s gem.

“Hey dude, it's okay. We’ll find a way to get you out of this one” Amethyst tried to calm him down with her natural and carefree tone, wondering if he would buy it.

“Well find a solution to this. Just hang in there” said Pearl, trying to hold her panic back.

“But I can do this on my own” he cried desperately  “Fixing things is what I do best, so ill take care of this mess” he cried while exposing a little percentage of his emotions, something that he hasn't done since Spinel came with her injector months ago “Helping people and gems is the only reason that I'm useful, it's my purpose… I’ll find eventually some way to reverse this”...”It's not like someone needs me anymore” he said softly, hugging his legs.

“That's how you feel? If you're not helping someone you’re not needed?” Connie felt the tears in her eyes and blinked fast to get rid of them.

“Dude, helping others it's not your function…”  Amethyst tried to speak calmly, but she looked at garnet and Pearl seeking for ideas, solutions, anything useful. “Just let us help you with this”.

Garnet remain silent, while Pearl whispered for herself, analyzing any idea that could be useful.

When another wave of pain came and turned into a burning blanket that peeled his skin, leaving a dark magenta behind, he couldn't clench his jaw for much longer and started to scream again.

"How can I stop this?" His lungs were burning just like his skin, but the pain was too much There's gotta be a reason why this happened in the first place...unless"

A little voice in his head reminded him of the flashback he had before, giving him the answer.

But he shook quickly his head to banish the thought.

"No...that's" he whispered. Breathing heavily, he let go of his legs and laid down. 

He felt the first spines coming out of his back, lifting his body off the floor a few inches, breaking through his skin and bones. Steven opened his mouth to scream, but the pain didn't even let his voice out.

"I'm sorry" he shouted "this wasn't supposed to go this away. I thought I was stronger now, I thought I could keep my thoughts at bay, I thought I could fix everything on my own, I thought I could be even better than mom..." he didn't even bother to clean his tears "but I failed... I failed"

"What do you mean by keeping your thoughts at bay,” asked Amethyst concerned.

"Steven...we…we never wanted you to feel like you had to be like Rose…"

"But I had to!," said Steven cutting Pearl's words “I…" his heart flinched, begging him to stop talking "Early this morning I went to see Jasper, to see how she was doing now that she moved to Little Homeworld ...but” he had to stop for a second to take some air.

“We were talking and then I had to go but she…she said…” he squeezed his eyes when he remembered her words.

“What did she say” Garnet encouraged him to continue, without pressuring him.

“That no one can get through a war without scars, not even me”

The three gems and Connie froze at his words.

The pain in his body began to decrease in intensity, although it still made him moan and his skin still burned.

“I guess she's right…” Steven continued “I tried so hard to ignore everything but...”

“You don’t have to hide your feelings, Steven. It's not a matter of strength. Remember what Garnet told us...” Connie made everything she could to not cry, but she couldn’t help it.

“Why did you feel you had to hide this from us? asked Pearl with tears in her eyes.

“Because you don’t need to know, you all have problems and I want to be there with you when you're facing them” at that moment his head started to hurt as if someone was crushing his skull. When the headache passed, he opened his eyes again, feeling strange. His natural black eyes had turned into a bright pink.

“You can't just ignore your problems to help others, Steven. You're not responsible for any of us” said Amethyst clenching her free hand in a fist

“Steven, It's our fault,” said Garnet with her head down “We made you feel like you had to grow up fast, that you had to live up to Rose. But it isn't like that, we never wanted you to feel like this”

Steven felt ashamed of himself. The last thing he wanted was to see everyone worrying about him.

“Please, talk to use” continued Garnet “you've helped every gem in the galaxy, every human in this town. Now let us help you”

Since Steven understood what it meant to be a crystal gem, what it meant to be Rose Quartz’s son, to be Pink Diamond’s legacy; he put others first, ignoring and hiding his feelings, forbidding himself to think about them.

But…what if Garnet was right? What would happen if he allowed himself to let everything out?

“Remember when you told Garnet that I didn’t want to think about myself and then I had to? Well, now’s your turn little man. Just let it out” Amethyst gave him a friendly pat with her free hand.

Steven hugged himself, trembling, ignoring the fact that his skin stopped burning because he was now completely magenta. But he knew, deep inside him that the gems and Connie were right. There was nowhere he could hide; it was time to open the sealed box that his heart became over the years.

Steven sighed, scared to his core; but ready to let everything out.

He confessed every thought, every feeling that he tried to push away.

Steven told the gems how he felt in his childhood that he had to replace Rose, he thought the gems blamed him for her not being there, making him train to control her powers as quickly as possible, how guilty he felt about those times he failed to help others, like Eyeball or Jasper, that he used to be so stubborn to know the truth about Pink and Rose because he felt it could give him a direction or a clue to fix everything.

He confessed about having nightmares some nights about those times in his life that put him to the limit: Him about to fall from the injector, the fight in the forge with Bismuth, the time that Eyeball almost pulled out his gem, the time that he gave himself to Homeworld, the trial with the diamonds.

The time that White pulled out his gem.

The gems and Connie listened to his fears and traumas without saying a word, letting their tears run freely.

“I never told you guys anything because I didn't want to be a burden again. But now that I’ve helped everyone I don’t know what to do. I fulfilled my purpose…”

“Helping others was never your ‘only’ purpose. The only thing that Rose wanted, that we want, is for you to be happy. You’re not a burden and you'll never be” whispered Garnet, hoping he could hear her.

“We love and we’ll never leave, you're the best thing that ever happened to us,” said Connie petting his head.

“We are proud of you Steven, for everything that you have accomplished, but you can rest now” Pearl cleaned her tears.

“Asking for help doesn’t make you weak, and we don't mind helping you. Accepting help is the first step to get better, you taught us that” said Amethyst with a sad smile.

Steven opened his mouth to reply, but his body suddenly turned into a pink light.

Garnet took Connie and jumped with the rest, landing on the floor close to the fountain.

In a matter of seconds, the giant beast started to glow in the middle of the sanctuary, suspended just below the fountain. The worm’s glow started to flickering out until the light disappeared completely, leaving Steven floating in the air for a few seconds, before falling into the fountain.

When he came out to the surface, the first he noticed was the scars of the corruption: Most of his clothes were ripped off, especially his jacket, and two little horns on his head. But then, he saw Connie, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.

His family was waiting for him

Ready to listen to him, to help him.

To save him.

Steven looked at his hands and his arms, some magenta spots remain in his skin; and he knew those spots would never leave. Some scars never leave, but there was no need to hide them.

He gazed at everyone, smiling, trembling and laughing quietly while sweet tears rolled down his cheeks.

The gems and Connie approached the fountain to hug him.

[earthnashes]

Commission Hiatus (and what to expect)

Heyooooooooo, so it's actually been a few days since this officially started, but it's about time I like officially announce it.

From now until December 30th, I will be going on a Commission Hiatus. This means, with the exception of Mini-Commissions, I won't be doing any commissions up until the hiatus is over. Everyone who's got a slot for the Nov/Dec queue will be moved into scheduling for January/February, so this ALSO means I won't be open for commissions up until like... March. I'll probably open queues for that far into the future for anyone who wants to go ahead and just secure a spot then, but I'll let ya'll know when I get closer to the end date of the hiatus.

For anyone a bit outta the loop, here's the journal that puts into context why this is happening:

https://earthsong9405.tumblr.com/post/189063632450/burnt-out-and-commission-hiatus

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So what does this mean? Welp, since I'm not putting every ounce of my focus toward commissions, I will be focusing on creating content of my own making (of which I've been severely neglecting as of late). This includes original work and fan work. So you can expect to see me uploading at a more frequent rate throughout this month and December! Some content you can expect from me:

Fanart | Headcanon Art/Posts:

LoZ

Super Mario

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

MLP

Pokemon???? (maybe, haven't fully decided yet)

Original Work:

Feathers and Flowers

Sigrid and Felipe

Short Animations

And both of which includes stuff in the form of: written stories/fanfiction, comic strips/storyboards, streams, doodles, illustrations, character designs, whatever else I can think of.

I may not be able to get to everything but I'm gonna try to dish out as much as I can, and I'm very excited to share them with ya'll! If there's anything in particular you'd like to see from me in the meantime you're more than welcome to give me suggestions. <:

Now with all of this said, me putting a hold on my commissions does put me in the position of receiving no financial income for the duration of my hiatus. This is because commissions is my full-time job and the primary source of said income. So, if you'd like to support me from now until the hiatus end, or if you're just interested in supporting my content in general, let me take the opportunity to promote ways in doing so!

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My Patreon HERE

I have a patreon that I don't often advertise but it's still very much open to anyone who'd like to become a patron and support my work! Anything as low as a simple dollar is always very much appreciated! As my patron, everything I post is not behind any paywalls and open to everyone, even if you aren't signed up to Patreon in general. Instead, if you choose to support me you will gain access to:

Free artwork for Patrons

Commission Discounts

Simple tutorials and tips

Content and art I don't post anywhere else

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My Ko-Fi HERE

For anyone who'd like to make a small donation in show of support to my work and content but don't wanna sign up for the monthly structure of Patreon, my Ko-fi's a good alternative to this! For now it's simply a tip jar, but I'm trying to think of ways to make it more appealing and offers something in return as a thank you for support. But until then, anything and everything is always appreciated!

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

PWYW Icon Commissions HERE

I'll do a spontaneous opening for my Icon Commissions. These aren't available as a regular commission type anywhere from me and is the only way to get one. Like last time, the slot number is already decided: 20 slots will be available when they open and it will be first come first serve. They will be opening this Sunday, 11 AM EST so if interested, keep your eyes peeled for that journal! <:

If you have any questions, concerns, or anything in between please let me know!

Thank you all so much for your support and for following my art. Thank you all for being the best community I could ever ask for. And I hope to continue earning that support; here's hoping you like the content that's to follow!

Thank ya'll so much! <3

[whattheklance]

Wecavod 3 AU

wecavod= “What Else Could a Virgin Omega Do?”

IF Lance eventually went back to the brothel for a future heat.

To preface this, in my original notes from three years ago, Keith was going to gain tons of popularity at the brothel from fantasizing about Lance when with clients.

Also in this scenario Keith had left a comment on Lance's file in the brothel database indicating that Keith himself had requested to be assigned to Lance should he ever return, regardless of other bookings.

This is a draft of an incomplete scene that would’ve happened if that was true and Lance tried to schedule with Keith a second time.

FYI Any time you see:  “???” that means there’s missing writing between what’s above it and below it to connect it together and flow. So it skips a bit.

_________________________________________________________

After fidgeting awkwardly in line, it was finally Lance's turn and he sucked it up and said "Hi, Lance Alvarez."

"First time or returning?"

"Re...turning."

"Can you spell your last name?"

Lance did, and the guy typed on the computer, pulling up Lance's information. "Hm?" He stared intently at the screen, eyes widened for a second in shock before settling on a kind of smarmy smile. He looked back at Lance.

"Whelp, here's who's available" The guy at the desk handed a thin binder to Lance.

He opened it, but without even looking started, "I'd like to request Keith..." he winced when he realized he didn't even know his full name.

The guy looked up from where he was working and eyed Lance, arching his eyebrow and smirking.

"Oh ho ho. You've been here before and you don't know? Not just anyone can walk in and request Keith on the day of their appointment. He's the new star stud around here.

Lance furrowed his brow. "Last time I was here he wasn't busy at all, said so himself."

He hummed as his smirk slid into a cocky grin. "You hooked on him too? Everyone who sees him seems to be."

Lance was growing exceedingly uncomfortable with this guys demeanor. He crossed his arms. "Can you just spit it out? I don't need snarky commentary. It's barely been six weeks since I saw him. What happened?"

The guy's sly predatory expression dropped to a deadpan. "Fine fine. It's not like this is normal. He used to be at the desk and I was the top Alpha, was for the last 2 years. I don't know what changed but suddenly more and more Omegas come in requesting him. And 'BOOM'" he made an explosion motion with his hands. "He's the one who doesn't get a day off and I'm the one with free time.

Seriously. I've been here way longer than him, seen Alphas' popularity come and go, and I've never seen anyone gain such a huge client base so fast. It was almost supernatural."

Lance's face fell.

The guy rolled his eyes but a gentler expression settled on his face. "Look. These kinds of things happen in this business. It's not like real life where you get a mate and stick with them"

The word 'mate' sent a shock right through Lance's heart. Any ideas or fleeting hopes he had seemed to be shrinking all the faster.

"Most clients request the same Alpha after their first visit"

???

"I'm Rolo, by the way."

???

"A lot of the others would just bowl right over your wanting Keith. I get how you feel. We can do it any way you want."

???

"That's it, relax. Just let your instincts take over. I promise it'll make you feel better."

Rolo ran his hands down Lance's sides. The feeling of his heat surged through him, making him feel achingly empty. He was depressed it wouldn't be Keith. But he'd always thought on some level that he can't ever really have Keith, so maybe this was for the best. Maybe he just needed to try to get over him. Lance leaned into his touch.

"Thattaboy" Rolo praised in a low voice, as he ran one hand up Lance's chest, hooking his finger into Lance's mouth, and slid the other down Lance's thigh, cupping his ass and fingers grazing his hole. Lance shuddered as a stream of slick dripped out of him and groaned.

~~~

Keith was in the middle of a day long session with a client. He'd come so many times on the memory of Lance's cries and Lance's warmth and Lance's scent. He could never forget Lance's scent. It intoxicated him from the beginning. He'd never smelled anything as good as Lance.

The Omega he was knotting was blissed out, begging for more, which Keith obliged.

Coming from the memory of Lance's scent, Keith thought he was going loopy because he'd swear he could smell it for real, invading his senses and shocking his brain.

He took a deep breath of the air around him to try to clear his reverie, only to be met with the intense musk of Lance in heat. No matter how vivid his imagination was, he couldn't fake it that good.

Time seemed to freeze. Lance was here? Lance was here. In heat. And not with him. His insides felt like they began to boil inside of him. Without even coming again his knot deflated inside his client. He got up without a second thought and grabbed a robe by the door on his way out, flinging it on but not tying it closed.

One deep breath out in the hall and he could tell he was on the wrong floor. Without even conscious effort, his legs took him seemingly in an instant down the stairs and to the door that was unmistakably the place.

Doors were always locked for privacy. A single push button lock on the doorknob. But locks didn't matter to Keith's flaring instincts. He turned and pushed the handle so forcefully that he broke the lock and the door opened before him. He didn't even take time to observe the scene before him. He dove at the rival Alpha and tackled him to the ground, grabbing a fistful of his hair to hold him down.

"KEITH?!?" Lance gulped and caught his breath, trying to register what just happened.

Keith's nails were at Rolo's throat starting to draw blood.

???????????????????

"Well–heh heh, hello to you too Kogane." He tried to get up like it was all a joke but couldn't even squirm with how tightly he was pinned. Keith had murder in his eyes, and Rolo let himself go limp when he realized Keith was dead serious, muscles tensed, trapping him in place. "Wow, okay. We're not animals. Could you ease up a bit?" Keith didn't seem to hear him.

Lance felt a fury of conflicting emotions. Shocked that Keith interrupted them. Elation that Keith sought him out. Relief that Keith put himself between Rolo and him. Anxious that he didn't know what was happening. Fear that Keith might do something he'd regret. And so many more he couldn't think straight.

"KEITH!" This time Lance yelled trying to get his attention, a response, anything. He'd heard caution of Alpha instincts so often, but this was his first time seeing something frightening firsthand. Lance inched towards Keith. "Keith? Can you hear me? Snap out of it. You're going to hurt him."

Keith's mind was free of thought. He was all senses. Outside of keeping all his strength and attention on this fucking fucker, the rest of the world was like he was underwater. He could hear what sounded like a voice speaking, but it was so muffled like water in his ears.

Nothing was working and it looked like Keith's grip was only tightening on Rolo's throat. There was one more thing Lance had in his arsenal. He walked up til he was behind Keith. Rolo was shaking his head at Lance, like 'dude, you're an Omega in heat, you gotta stay back.' Lance ignored him and reached out and softly brushed Keith's hair behind his ear. He actually didn't flinch at the light touch. It really didn't work? Lance let his finger trace Keith's cheek as he let his hand drop, but before it dropped all the way to his side Keith caught it gently, and held it to his lips, inhaling his scent while chastely kissing him on the hand.

Lance dared to lift his gaze from their hands to Keith's face which was finally trained on him.

"Lance–?" Keith choked out. His other hand still gripped Rolo's throat, but his attention was on Lance.

"Yeah. It's me." Lance kneeled down to be level with him and brought Keith's hand to his face and leaned into it closing his eyes. He was in disbelief. Keith. Did Keith really want him that badly? Or was this still Alpha instinct.

A pair of huge Beta security guards came in and peeled Keith off of Rolo, restraining him.

"What?!? What the hell!" Keith shouted and tried to wriggle out of their grip.

"Keith, my man. You didn't really expect to assault a coworker and run off into the sunset did you?" While Lance had had Keith's attention, Rolo was able to reach his phone and send for help.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!? Don't tell me you didn't see it! Don't tell me you didn't know! I KNOW you fucking knew. I put it where anyone would have to read it. You can't tell me you didn't see it!"

Rolo smirked, "Recommend to the owner he go back to therapy. We can't be putting our precious customers at risk of an out-of-control Alpha."

Security started forcing Keith toward the door. His blood felt like it was on fire again and he managed to resist and pull them back into the room.

Keith snarled and glared at Rolo, and whispered like a death threat, "If you did his filing by the book, which i know you do, then you had to read the comments there, you fucker. You wanna fuck with me? You fucking chose the wrong way."

Rolo still smiling leaned forward, a nose's inch away from Keith's face, out of reach. "I don't know. This seems to have worked surprisingly well."

"Good luck explaining those marks to your clients" Keith spat.

"Ha! Well at least I'll still have clients”

Keith was dragged out, fighting and kicking before Lance could say anything. He could only stare.

"Hey, so where were we?" Rolo murmured as he slid an arm over Lance's shoulder.

Lance felt immediately repulsed by his touch and shoved his arm off.

[ichigopanhpff]

BNHA Fic: Blink! Ch. 23

Read Ch. 22 | Masterlist

Okay I lied. I misremembered where I left off. The next 3 chapters are fillers in between what’s canon in the comics.

“He did what now?!”

“Don’t make me repeat it,” Ren groaned and hid her face in her arms.

With U.A. on a short break before the mandatory internships start, Ren, Tomoe and Seri finally found time to hang out in their secret hideout. It was the only place they could go without anyone hearing their conversation. Even though it was freezing cold outside, a small campfire was made to keep the three warm.

“Tomoe, it’s hunting time,” Seri darkly blurted out and took her talons out.

“No! No hunting!” Their pink-haired friend immediately jumped out of her seat, her hand held up to stop them.

“How about maiming?” Tomoe suggested with an evil grin.

“Do absolutely nothing that would cause him bodily harm!” she nervously instructed.

“You’re no fun,” her owl-faced friend pouted and retracted her claws.

“It’s not a matter of fun. Aizawa’ll kick my ass three ways to Sunday,” she solemnly pointed out.

The tawny brown haired girl grabbed a Pocky stick left over from the holiday party and clamped one between her teeth.

“So what’re you gonna do?” she asked and took a bite of the chocolate biscuit.

“Move out of the dorm and back to you guys?” Ren half-jokingly thought out loud.

“You’d trouble Todoroki-kun if you did,” Seri pointed out. “The real question is how do you feel about him?”

“I...” Ren sat back down on the log and crossed her arms over her chest, really thinking about it. “He… makes me calm.”

“Calm is good,” Tomoe noted.

“He’s also very observant and makes a lot of effort in trying to help the people around him, even though he doesn’t seem to be the type to trust easily.”

“Does he make you happy though?”

“As happy as I get.”

“That doesn’t help.” Seri rubbed her forehead, unable to fathom how one of her best friends could be so emotionally dense with all that intelligence. “Has he done anything for you lately that’s touched your heart?”

“He let me meet his mom at the hospital and took me to a dog cafe after he overheard me talking about Skye.”

Ren’s two friends made eye contact, one just as shocked as the other upon hearing that bit of information.

“Damn, the competition won’t last at this point,” Tomoe muttered out.

“Competition?” She turned to look at her tall, spiky friend. “What are you talking about?”

“She doesn’t know,” Seri noted with a smirk. “It’s actually cute.”

“Know what?” The pink haired girl was beginning to get agitated. “Who on this goddamn campus hit their head and decided to have doki-doki feels for me?”

“Should we say?” The hedgehog girl enquired loudly to her owl-friend.

“I’m not sure.”

“Hey!” Ren shouted with thinning patience. “I’m right here and don’t appreciate you two having a conversation without me!”

“Ren-Ren, look,” Seri started and took a breath. “There are a lot of people on this campus who have ‘doki-doki’ feelings for you,” she explained and used finger quotes on the descriptor. “You’re just oblivious to them.”

“Or maybe they’re too subtle,” Tomoe hypothesized. “Ever since the festival, you’ve gotten a lotta attention from other classes.”

Ren could only groan out loud again.

“I don’t care about them. I only care about what I’m gonna say to Todo-kun,” she blurted out and held her head in her hands. “I rather take on a villain and beat them to the ground with an inch of my life rather than deal with this.”

“We can give you as much advice as you want, but nothing will change unless you talk with him,” the white-haired girl reasoned. “Peel off the band-aid and put your hypothetical balls to the wall.”

Knowing her friends were right, they decided to put the fire out before teleporting back to the main campus. The three entered 1-A, only to see a stack of large boxes by the doorway.

“Oh senpai!” Iida greeted. “These packages came for you while you were out.”

“But I didn’t order any–Oh sweet baby All-Might, no.”

She buried her face into her palms, mumbling something inaudible while shaking her head slowly.

“It’s that time of year again.” Seri held a worrying hand to her cheek, sighing out loud and felt drained all of a sudden.

“What are you guys talking about?” Midoriya asked only to see two completely dejected upperclassmen like they had their souls sucked out.

“The shackles of the elite upper class,” Tomoe summarized and pointed to the aforementioned boxes with her thumb.

“But I’m not elite or upper class!” Ren jolted back up. “It’s my mom’s position that lets people believe otherwise!”

“What does your mom do, senpai?” Kirishima asked.

“She’s a translator at the embassy. Her quirk, Polyglot, let’s her understand and speak every language on this planet.”

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” Uraraka boasted.

“But what does it have to do with the ‘shackles’ over there?” the green haired boy pointed to the stack of flat cardboard boxes.

“Every year, the embassy has a holiday party with powerful government people,” Tomoe explained. “And since they made it a family friendly event, spouses and kids are invited.”

“More like they just want to show us off as their trophies and brag about our accomplishments like it’s their own,” Seri venomously spat out with a glowering stare at the boxes. “They can kindly go kick rocks and fuck themselves.”

“I already told my mom I wasn’t going this year, but she insisted,” Ren huffed out angrily and rolled her eyes. “Because a ‘future hero should build up a good network.’ Those parties are always so boring and stuffy. I swear she just wants me to go half the time so she could play matchmaker to me. It’s just–”

She let out an audible shudder that vibrated throughout her entire body.

“And the dresses...” Ren continued with a look of sheer horror on her face and glanced over at the towering behemoth. “I just… I can’t...” she choked out, suddenly remembering all her past traumatic experiences with fitting sessions.

“Okay, the past few years may have been poor choices on her behalf–” Tomoe defended only to be cut off by Seri.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call a small piece of sparkly fabric held together by one thin string ‘poor choice’, Tomoe,” Seri flatly said.

“I had stripper dust on my back for weeks even with just trying it on,” she groaned at the memory and wished to push it back down into the depths of her subconscious. “I’m not looking forward to this.”

“Well, let’s open the boxes together and see,” Yaoyorozu suggested. “Perhaps they’re not so bad this time.”

Reluctant to agree, Iida and Midoriya helped gather the packages and laid them down on the floor in the common area. They opened it one by one and Ren physically felt blood push up her throat upon seeing the first dress. It was a fully sequined high collared ball gown in crimson red with matching high heel stilettos. There were ruffles where there weren’t supposed to be and sequins could be found on every inch of the bodice.

“So sparkly!” Uraraka gushed.

“Burn it,” Ren darkly growled. “Next.”

The next dress was a midnight blue in an A-line cut. The dress had a very deep v-neck line in the bodice area, only held together by a thin mesh material in-between and the back.

“Throw it into space. Next.”

“Your mom sure has… very outgoing taste,” Yaoyorozu slowly commented, choosing her words carefully.

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘gaudy’, Yao-Momo.”

“Well, I don’t want to be impolite...”

“It’s as gaudy as they come,” the three upperclassmen simultaneously stated.

Opening up the next box, Uraraka pulled out a strapless sparkly pink ruched bodice dress with a leg slit that sat right below the hip bone. Even the gravity girl was blushing madly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she groaned in English.

Ren took her phone out from her pocket and dialed a number without even seeing the last two dresses. The line on the receiver picked up.

“Courier. Now. Or I burn them all,” she growled out in Japanese.

“But you haven’t even–”

“Courier. Or. Fire.” She repeated with emphasis on each word. “Your choice.”

“At least let me see you try them on,” the woman on the other line bargained. “It’ll make dear ol’ mom happy.”

“Y’know, just because you couldn’t wear them when you were my age–”

“Are you saying I’m projecting, dear daughter? After everything I’ve done for you?”

Ren’s shoulders froze in place, inwardly groaning.

Now she’s done it.

“Just...” She rubbed her temples in a circular motion with her thumb and squeezed her eyes shut. “Give me five minutes to set up the video call.”

She ended the call and slumped over the couch to muffle her screaming.

“She went dark on you?” Tomoe asked the obvious.

The flustered pink haired girl turned her head to the side for some air and flatly answered, “Almost.”

Dragging herself away from the couch, she asked Uraraka to help her with the dresses and went into the girls public bathroom.

“She’s not gonna flush them down the toilet, is she?!” Jiro exclaimed.

“The sequins would clog up the pipes.” Seri’s stoic commentary made her sound like this was something she knew from first-hand experience.

“Lange-senpai, what did you mean by ‘dark’ before?” Midoriya asked.

“You guys remember how Ren-Ren was when she beat Bakugou in the video game?” Tomoe reminded.

“Don’t bring shit up from the past,” the mentioned blond boy grumbled out and rested his face in his palm.

“Yeah… Imagine that in the ‘mom’ version.”

All the boys sitting in the common area thought about their respective mothers. Their eyes immediately went wide as the aura of hopeless seeped out. Their stream of consciousness slowly faded from existence.

“Ren-senpai, we sympathize,” majority of the boys all dejectedly huffed out a long sigh. A sudden burst of echoing laughter came from the girl’s bathroom, recognizing it as Uraraka’s.

“You’re laughing too much!” Ren’s quivering voice shouted.

“But—But–” Sputtering of tittering replaced her words instead.

“Seri, is the call set up?” she shouted.

“We hear you loud and clear, sweetheart,” the voice on the speaker phone echoed.

“Let’s get this crap over with.”

Ren trudged out of the bathroom wearing the first dress, trying to gather what she could of the fluffy fabric so she didn’t trip on it. Her face looked like how Bakugou’s was at the podium from the Sports Festival. A roaring fit of laughter filled the silence of the common room as she stood stationary, shaking from anger and embarrassment as she flipped them off with both hands.

The dress, for a lack of better words, made her look like a Mama at a brothel; all she was missing were the gaudy makeup and a cigarette in her mouth.

“Oh! Put the shoes on! I wanna see the full outfit!”

Letting out an audible growl, she roughly dropped the heels on the wooden floor with a clatter and gingerly stepped into them. Her mom squealed with delight on the call.

“How does it fit?!”

“Sequins are digging into every part of my skin like spikes and it hurts like my soul,” she deadpanned.

“Turn around. I wanna see the back.”

Throwing her head back and slumping her shoulders, Ren awkwardly turned with the 5-inch stilettos. She yelped aloud and tripped on part of the fabric from being caught on the jeweled part of her dress, subsequently falling flat on her butt with a muffled thud.

“Senpai! Please stop!” Jiro wheezed out between her fits of laughter and nearly rolled off her seat. “I can’t breathe!”

“Ren-Ren, you look like a clown’s mirror ball!” Tomoe blurted out loudly and fell over the armrest of the couch.

Angrily kicking the shoes off, Ren clumsily got herself off of the floor, slipping over the unnecessarily copious amount of fabric on her person while hissing audible profanities. She stomped back into the bathroom as everyone continued laughing. Uraraka stumbled along not too far behind to help her out of the dress.

“Why are they laughing? I thought she looked beautiful,” Ren’s mom blurted out.

“I think your definition of the word differs from theirs, Aunt Victoria,” Seri replied between her own suppressing giggles.

A shuffle of fabric could be heard at the far end of the hall, with Ren coming out wearing the midnight blue dress with her black bra showing itself through the mesh fabric. Her face was flushed from the commotion and embarrassment. The previous laughter was replaced with approving awes from the girls and furiously blushing faces from the boys.

“That… looks really good on you, senpai,” Kirishima praised with flushed cheeks, his red eyes unable to peel away. “You look… beautiful.”

“You’re supposed to wear that without the bra, honey,” her mom pointed out.

“Like hell I’m gonna take it off with perverts around!” she barked back at the camera on the phone, fuming.

Sensing a sudden disturbing force, Ren turned to her left and saw Mineta launching himself at her from one of the couches. The small sticky boy seemed to have been unable to contain himself anymore.

“Entrust me with your boob--” he shouted with a trail of drool coming from his mouth, only to have his lecherous face catch her hard right hook followed by launched quills from Tomoe to stick him to near the top corner end of the wall. Sero huffed a quick sigh and restrained the small boy with his tape.

“Good to see your reflexes haven’t dulled, Ren-Ren,” Seri remarked.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“You really need to learn restraint, Mineta,” the boy huffed out.

“You should wear this one, Ren. It really shows off your figure.”

“This thing is half mesh and I’m freezing,” she complained and visibly shivered. “I can’t even think about moving in this thing without thinking about flashing side boob!”

“Which is perfect for some young gentleman to lend you his jacket at the party,” her mom fantasized dreamily over the line. “Just think of the possible–”

“Cut the call, Seri,” she coldly blurted out as she walked back to the bathroom.

“You’re so cruel! Doing that to your own mother!”

Ruffling the back of her hair, Ren stared down her next opponent: the pink bodice dress. It’s not that she minded wearing dresses, she just wished they weren’t so… form-fitting. And it’d show her scar. Uraraka came from behind to help her out of the dress carefully and prepared the next one.

“I really like the blue one, senpai,” she gushed.

“Then you wear it,” she blurted out and paused. She then slowly turned to her assistant with a sly grin, like a wolf cornering its prey.

“S-Senpai?” she quivered with fear in her eyes. “W-What are you doing?”

A high pitched scream echoed from the bathroom, making everyone jump out of their seats. The girls ran in to check the commotion, only to come back out moments later with matching grins.

“Is everything okay in there?” Midoriya asked with worry.

“Oh, it’s fantastic,” Ashido drawled out with a wink at the confused boy before returning to her seat.

“I’m so getting video of this,” Jiro mumbled out with excitement while setting up her phone camera.

First came Ren in the form-fitting pink dress, clearly flustered at the garment. She was trying her best to pull the slit close by grabbing it with her left hand so she didn’t flash anyone while walking. Her right arm covered her chest and shoulder scar; they looked like they were ready to fall out of the strapless dress due to the tightness of the band. The apparel literally left nothing to the imagination as it hugged every part of her. Feeling no one behind her, she darted back into the bathroom to drag Uraraka out.

“Noooo, senpai! Pleassseee!” Uraraka desperately pleaded while clinging onto dear life at the wall.

“Hey, if I’m making a fool out of myself with this, so will you!”

She used her full strength to pull the brown haired girl out from the confines of the bathroom. She stumbled out with flushed cheeks, wearing the blue gown Ren had on before. The boys were rendered speechless looking at them, some even looked away out of shyness. Bakugou could only stare at Ren wide-eyed, never realizing her body was that curvy.

“That dress fits Ochaco-chan so much better,” Seri approved and lightly blushed.

“’Cus she has the better boobs for it,” Ren blurted out, making the latter party yelp and cover up their chest out of shyness. “What do you think, Midoriya? Doesn’t she look good?”

The green-haired boy’s face was glowing red, with steam coming out of his ears as he whimpered and stuttered, unable to form any sort of wording.

“Ren-senpai, I never realized your butt was that big,” Jiro noticed, prompting her to put her hands behind there to hide it in failure. She wished she could sprout arms out like Shoji and cover up her entire being.

“Why do you think I always wear baggy clothes?!” she huffed out at the purple haired girl, her face flushing bright red before turning back to the camera. “And mom! Why did you even think this was a good idea?! I look like someone looking for a sugar daddy in this thing!”

“With that butt, I’ll give you all the sugar you need,” Mineta cooed out lustfully, only to be silenced the instant Seri and Tomoe launched their respective projectiles at him.

“Sleep now,” Seri’s eyes glowed yellow at the tied up boy and instantly knocked him out.

“I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad idea at the party–” her mom teased.

Her daughter silently glared and pursed her lips into a fine line, crossing her arms over her chest and tapped her feet impatiently.

“Are you done?” Ren flatly asked, clearly not amused with the selection of attires.

“I guess we are,” her mom pouted. “Are you sure you don’t wanna keep any of–”

“I’ll offer them to the Fire Gods as tribute and you’ll lose any hopes of a refund on your credit card.”

“Point taken.”

“Yao-Momo, Kyoka, can you help us get outta this stuff?”

Yaoyorozu placed a hand on the small of Ren’s back to escort her to the bathroom to change. She did a really awkward shuffle with the balls of her feet, like she really needed to pee.

“I seriously cannot move a muscle in this thing,” she muttered out within an earshot.

“Ochaco-chan, come on.” The tomboy musician helped her floaty friend back up on her feet and brought her back to change.

“Perhaps the bodycon wasn’t the best idea, Aunt Vicky,” Tomoe commented.

“I thought it’d look nice with her figure,” the woman pouted. “What did the boys think?”

“Well...” Seri trailed off and turned the phone camera over to the couches where they were sitting. They were all practically blushing from ear to ear, avoiding eye contact with everyone; Kaminari and Sero both crossed their legs suspiciously. Bakugou glared away, covering the lower half of his face with his hand as an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

The girls reemerged in their regular clothing a short moment later.

“I’m gonna be picking sequins out of my butt for the next week,” Ren grumbled out, wearing an annoyed expression and gently reached out to grab her phone from Seri’s hand. “Satisfied?”

Her mom heavily sighed on the other line. “Not my best choices, it seems.”

“You don’t say,” her daughter sarcastically replied and jutted her hip out when she rested her hand on top of it.

“Just be sure to get something to wear in the next three days, okay? I’ll get a courier to pick that stuff up.”

“I’m gonna wear a sleeping bag,” Ren joked.

She ended the call and placed the device back in her pocket, heaving a heavy sigh. “Sorry you had to see that, guys.”

“I… don’t think they’re going to answer anytime soon, Ren-Ren.” Tomoe cocked her head in the general direction of all the dumbfounded and stunned boys. “You gave ‘em quite a show.”

–

Ren emerged from the elevator to the common room dressed in a black and white jumpsuit with a draped black blazer on top on the evening of her mom’s embassy holiday party. Her hair was styled back with a bit of volume and her makeup consisted of black eyeliner, voluminous mascara and dark red lipstick. It was simple but dramatic enough to catch everyone’s eye. Just to be on the safe side, she adorned her bangles in case anything were to happen. She placed her heels near the door before heading to the couches and draped her peacoat and scarf draped on her arm before placing it on top. As she walked past, the boys caught a whiff of her honeysuckle and rose pedal perfume.

“Senpai, you look hot!” Ashido praised with excitement. “So grown up!”

“You’re not wearing a dress tonight?” Ochaco wondered.

“Jumpsuits are more my speed. Pockets and better mobility,” she explained.

Moments later, Todoroki came down the stairs in a navy blue suit with a black lapel. He wore a black skinny tie and a crisp white dress shirt underneath the jacket to match the black slacks. His hair was left unstyled.

“Whoa, Todoroki!” Kaminari whistled. “Lookin’ spiffy there, my dude.”

“You have a hot date tonight or somethin’, Todoroki?” Ashido half-joked with a grin.

“I have a function to go in place of my father tonight in Tokyo,” he replied in his usual stoic manner. “Since he’s still recovering from his last fight. Though, I’m sure he’s using it as an excuse.”

“Tokyo? Isn’t that where you’re goin’, Ren-Ren?” Jiro asked.

Before she could answer, her phone in her hand vibrated, notifying her the driver arrived at U.A.’s gate.

“Gotta go kiddies. Stay outta trouble.” Ren hurried to the shoe lockers and grabbed her belongings off the couch before putting her shoes on. “Todo-kun, wanna catch a ride? I’m sure they can drop you off wherever you need to go.”

“Sure.”

As they walked to the gate, the click of Ren’s heels filled the silence between the two. Catching the aroma of her perfume in the cold wintry air, it was then he realized how beautiful she looked tonight. Her simple eye makeup made her usual warm hazel-green eyes more striking.

“You look nice tonight,” he softly said. “The clothes suit you.”

“O-Oh. Thanks.” She looked up at Todoroki and gave him a small smile with a light blush on her cheeks. “You clean up nicely yourself.”

They get to the car and see Seri already in the back seat with a black coat with her dark purple dress showing up below and greeted one another. Settling in the middle seat, the boy made sure Ren had enough room when he got in and closed the door.

“Good, you’re on time,” a familiar voice spoke up from the front seat; it was Aizawa.

“Aizawa-sensei,” the dual-hair colored boy greeted. “What are you doing here?”

“For some reason, I got invited to the party at the embassy tonight, so we’re all going together.”

“’We’?” Ren questioned.

“It seems we’re headed to the same place, senpai.”

“At least we won’t be bored, Ren-Ren,” Seri chimed out with a devious smirk, her owl-like eyes gesturing to the boy on her right. She could only inwardly groan and felt her heart rate go up a few beats, remembering the conversation they had a few days ago and the kiss. The drive went by without incident and the party of four reached the embassy safely. Disembarking out of the car, Todoroki opened the door for both Seri and Ren on the other side like the gentleman he was.

The two girls thanked him and headed into the building together. Ren strolled up to the reception desk with purpose. It’s not exactly the most favorite place in the world for her; majority of her childhood were spent here after moving to Japan and waiting on their paperwork to be legal citizens in the country.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had much of a chance to talk, Todoroki-kun,” Seri softly spoke, looking at the back of her friend at the reception desk. “I’d like to ask you something.”

He softly turned and looked down at his petite upperclassman with a curious yet nonchalant gaze.

“What exactly is Ren to you?”

“A senpai. And… a friend.”

“Is that all?” she instigated, earning her a now suspicious stare from Todoroki.

“What do you mean, Kubo-senpai?” His tone was deep and clear like ice.

“She told me what happened with you two after the party the other night. One can only assume you have more than friendship emotions for her.”

His hetero-chromatic eyes looked down at his leather dress shoes, unable to come up with a proper answer. He swallowed heavily and clenched his teeth, frustrated at his lack of understanding of his own feelings.

“This goes without saying, but Tomoe and I are extremely protective of her. We won’t stand idly by and let someone play with her heart who wanted to give her a kiss on a whim. She’s more sensitive about things than she lets on.”

“It wasn’t on a whim… Nor am I trying to deceive her,” he softly retorted and sighed through his nose. “I’m just… not used to feeling this way with anything.”

“Then I suggest you properly sort it out first before acting,” Seri advised with a harsher tone than she intended. “I don’t wish to see her rejected again.”

“Like with her ex-boyfriend?”

“With Togata-senpai.” The owl girl corrected and sighed. “She may make light of her confession at him, but it hit her hard. Part of it stems from her survivor’s guilt. She thinks she doesn’t deserve to be happy and loved no matter what Tomoe and I say.”

Seri’s yellow owl eyes was crestfallen and looked like she was going to cry. Her hands gradually gathered part of her dark purple dress into her palm.

“I just… I don’t want to see her heart break all over again. She’s come so far.”

Knowing Ren’s history based on recent events, he stayed silent looking at the snow owl girl. What could he say? He had to grow up and face his feelings head on.

“Hey, you two okay?”

Ren’s voice roused them from their conversation and the two faced her wide-eyed. She held two silver colored wristbands in her right hand.

“Never better,” her bird friend answered with a bit more energy than before. Even though she didn’t seem convinced, neither one looked like they wanted to talk about it.

“Party’s at the top floor.” She handed each of them their wristbands to put on before walking past the lobby and toward the elevators.

“Where’s Aizawa-sensei?” the boy asked.

“He went on ahead to talk with some government officials about some hush-hush stuff.”

The ding of the elevator doors gave them permission to enter and found a security guard inside to guide them to the proper floor. The lift stopped once more and brought them to their destination. The three walked down the wide carpeted hallway slowly leading to the ballroom.

“Who do you think we’ll see there?” Seri wondered aloud.

“Probably the Preppy Posse,” Ren groaned and placed her left index finger on her temple, already feeling an oncoming headache in having to deal with them. “They’d never miss a party like this to schmooze and booze.”

“’Preppy Posse’?” Todoroki asked.

“They’re the sons of some of the ambassadors. For a lack of better words, their offsprings are a waste of air and quirks, reeking of privilege who think they’re above the law,” the owl girl summarized.

“They’re more trouble than they’re worth. I’d advise you to stay away from them, Todo-kun,” the rose-gold haired girl stated.

“They’re the types to suck up to powerful people for favors?”

“And Peppermint gets the winning point,” Seri praised.

The three stood at the giant doors and took a breath like they were going in for a boss fight.

“Let’s get this over with and get some ramen after.”