#gonna make sure my drawings are purr-fect

[the-faunal-frontier]

Hiatus over!

I’m back, and we’re jumping right into cats starting with Neofelis! I’m really glad to be posting again, I don’t know how I was doing it in the first month of this project when I was just saving up things to post!

Unfortunately, as you may have noticed by the lack of midnight post, I’m gonna be doing one-animal-a-day again for at least Felidae (noooo!) Any of my Patrons could tell you that I just wasn’t able to build up as much of a buffer as I wanted to. What can I say, cats are just hard!

To give you a better idea of my process, a well documented animal with plain colors, like a bear or a weasel, only takes about 30-45 minutes to draw. If the animal is poorly documented, this adds about 20-30 minutes for research. If the animal has intricate patterns, this adds another 45 minutes (because I just can’t bring myself to simplify the patterns!). If you’re very familiar with Feliformia, you’ll know that Western civilization isn’t familiar with a lot of Feliformia, besides Felidae. Also, you know that unless it’s a mongoose, it’s probably spotted.

Anyway, all I can do is what I can do, and what I can do is do my best! I can’t bring myself to cut corners to meet my own self-imposed expectations, but I can keep doing illustrations I’m happy with and post them for you! And let me tell you, even though these cat drawings are currently the bane of my existence, I’m also super proud of them!

Thank you!

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Do No Harm Take No Shit Chapter 5 - Home(room) Coming

They discussed how best to break the news to everyone, while feeding each other ice cream. (call Adrien a sap, he didn’t care, this was the best day of his fucking life) It seemed a bit obtrusive to walk into class and announce, ‘Hello Marinette is my girlfriend now, any questions?’

On the other hand, Lila would probably take advantage of any ambiguity. Not to mention Adrien’s fans – they would throw a tantrum when he and Marinette went public.

In the end, the simple approach was taken. Adrien took a selfie of them sharing their couples’ cone, one in which Marinette’s face was scrunched up adorably as he dabbed strawberry ice cream on the tip of her nose. Her hair was out and tumbling in the breeze, slapping Adrien on the cheek while he laughed and held the camera up blindly. It was his favourite shot – he was almost loathe to share it with the world. A quick caption. Magical ice cream with my magical girlfriend – best day of my life. Adrien posted it on Monday morning while the Gorilla drove them to school.

“Aaaaand… done.” He leaned his head against Marinette’s shoulder and watched the comments start to filter in.

“That was fast.” Marinette said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a few stalkers on here.”

“You don’t say.” She teased.

Paris flashed by, and then they had arrived. They walked into the school hand in hand – Marinette’s hand was an honour Adrien held with pride. In the hallway Mylène glanced at them, glanced away casually, and then her gaze snapped back, accompanied by unashamed jaw-dropping. She elbowed Ivan, who looked around and blinked at the two, before grinning excitedly. They started to whisper between themselves. Adrien stifled a laugh.

“So,” He murmured as they walked, “How many people know about your huge crush on me, exactly?”

Marinette groaned. “No.”

“Because if Alya and Nino were shipping us…”

“Please, there are too many names to remember. You are the one person who didn’t know.”

“Was everyone on team Marinette-Adrien?”

“Adrienette.”

“What?”

Marinette looked away, face blushing a lovely shade of red. “Nothing.”

Adrien hummed and swung their joined hands. After a moment, Marinette gathered her courage and spoke again.

“Most people were on the team. Except for Chloe, of course.”

“Chloe’s always the exception.” Adrien noted.

They stepped inside the class, and Rose began to squeal. Adrien jumped at the pitch of it – all eyes were on them suddenly. He smiled nervously at the wide-mouthed stares.

“Uh, hi?”

“Congratulations!” Rose squealed. She rushed down from her chair to hug Marinette and Adrien in turn, swiftly followed by a grinning Alya who slung an arm around her best friend’s shoulder.

“Mari! Why didn’t you say something earlier? Congrats you two!”

The class was loud with cheers and excited voices. Kim laughed from his seat, “Adrien, bro! We thought you were gonna be oblivious forever.”

“Well, what can I say?” Adrien shrugged, fingers still tangled with Marinette’s. “I saw the light.”

“Oh, this is wonderful!” Rose cried. She glanced back to the very stiff figure sitting at her desk, “Lila, I told you they would figure it out!”

“Yes, you did.” Lila’s voice dripped with saccharine contempt. Adrien could feel her glare drilling into him from across the classroom. He suppressed the animalistic urge to bristle and hiss, instead sending a sweet smile towards the teeth-gritting girl. ‘Look out. You have no idea who you’re messing with.’

“So, when did this happen?” Alya urged. Marinette shrugged.

“This weekend. We went out, and talked, and… well.” She slightly lifted their joined hands, and the girls cooed. Marinette’s cheeks were flushed with happiness – even Lila’s presence didn’t seem to impact her. Adrien wished she could be this happy all the time. Damn it if he wasn’t going to try and make it so. “I’m expecting some rabid fangirl lashback though.”

Alya crinkled her nose. “Ew. Don’t worry Mari, we’ve got your back.”

“I know. Thank you.”                

“Soooo,” Alya leaned in towards the new couple, “I was wondering, would you guys object to a slight seat change today? I really want to sit next to my boyfriend, and – gosh – that leaves you two together in the front row!”

“Real smooth, Alya.” Alix elbowed her with a snort. Marinette laughed.

“I’d like that. Adrien?”

“Definitely.” He said fervently.

“Oh, and do you guys want to have lunch at my house?” Marinette offered Nino and Alya. Nino sighed happily.

“Ah, Dupain-Cheng pastries. It’s been too long.”

“So that’s a yes.” Alya clarified.

 The classes went quickly, with Marinette by Adrien’s side. When she was waiting for the other students to finish up with their note taking, she would doodle in the corners of her sketchbook. Adrien picked up her pen to draw a little love heart on her cast. She returned the favour on the back of his hand. At lunch time he, Marinette, Alya and Nino met outside the classroom to walk to Marinette’s house. They were about to start off when a voice called out.

“Oh! Would you mind if I joined you?” Lila’s sickeningly sweet cry made Adrien stiffen. Marinette bit her lip, hard, as Alya and Nino turned to see the brunette hurrying over. Alya tipped her head with a confused smile.

“Of course, girl, but I thought you were busy? You said you were having lunch with… a special someone?” Alya pointed surreptitiously to her earrings. Lila sighed, an impressive show of disappointment.

“Oh, I was so looking forward to having lunch together, but she had to cancel! Her partner got into trouble and she had to go and bail him out again. Honestly, cats can be so troublesome can’t they?”

Oh. Cats, earrings. Was Lila really talking about Ladybug? Having lunch with Ladybug? Not only was that an incredibly stupid thing to brag about, given the whole being-targeted-by-a-supervillain thing, but Lila had picked the wrong people to boast to. Adrien was almost ready to give her a cataclysm to the face.

But he wasn’t suited up right now, and Alya had already invited Lila along with a smile and a reassurance that she was sure it wasn’t personal, Lila’s bestie was a very busy person after all. A quick glance at Marinette’s uninjured arm revealed the way her fists were clenched. Adrien threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. I know. It’s bullshit.

“Are you guys coming?” Nino called from up ahead. The others had already started off. Adrien pasted on his model smile.

“Yep! We’ll catch up to you in a sec.”

“Adrien.” Marinette whispered. He turned to her, allowed his smile to drop into a scowl that mirrored hers. “I don’t want Lila in my house.”

He shuddered. “Ugh, I know, I’ve already had that experience. She’s creepy.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She whispered desperately. “Lila hates me. What if she gets her hands on something important? What if she finds the miracle box? Or lies to my parents? Or spills paint on my ball gown commission? She knows I’m being commissioned by Clara Nightingale, she asked Alya about it the other day. I’ve been working on it for weeks, if she ruins it I’ll have to start again and buy all the fabrics with my own money and the bakery will go broke and Maman and Papa will have to sell and I’ll never get a job in fashion and I’ll live on the streets and get stabbed in a mugging and-”

Adrien squeezed her hand, and Marinette trailed off.

“It’ll be fine.” He promised. “We won’t go to your house.”

Marinette looked up at him with such desperation, that Adrien felt his heart break. Had he really made her feel like this? That no one was here for her? Adrien lifted her hand to kiss it before turning to call after the three students on the footpath ahead of them.

“Guys, hold up! Marinette forgot about a huge order her parents have at the bakery, if we go there we’ll just be in the way. There’s a cool café down the road we can go to instead.”

Lila’s eyes widened like a kicked puppy’s. “I-I don’t have any money with me, I gave it all to Prince’s Ali’s charity for disabled orphans.” She put on a pained smile. “It’s okay, though. I don’t need to get anything – my diabetes won’t be a huge problem if I skip a meal or two. It’s enough to just spend time with my favourite people.”

Alya ‘awww’ed and slung an arm around Lila’s shoulder. “Mari, are you sure we can’t just stop by your place? Your folks have plenty of food they don’t sell, right?”

Marinette squeaked. Adrien spoke over her smoothly. “Don’t worry, Lila! I’ll pay for your lunch. It’s the least I can do, after how good you are to those disabled orphans.”

He could feel Lila’s glare, and it was hilarious. She said sweetly, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly take your money!”

“I’m literally rich. Besides, wouldn’t it be the same if you took Marinette’s food?” He smiled at the fuming girl. “Please, let me treat you. I’d do the same for any friend.”

He was really laying it on thick now, he could tell from Marinette’s stifled giggle. At Lila’s side, however, Alya hadn’t picked up on the passive aggressive note. She was beaming as she linked arms with Nino and Lila. “Great! Let’s go, before lunch time runs out.”

Marinette and Adrien followed behind. As they walked Marinette leaned in to murmur, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Adrien whispered back. “Your knight in shining leather is always here to help.”

She snorted and bumped him. Adrien grinned.

“It’s a tail as old as time. Fur as long as I can remember, it’s always been the princess and her alley cat against the world.” Marinette groaned, but the sparkle in her eye betrayed her. “What’s wrong, Milady? Are you feline okay? You didn’t catch a cold or something, did you?”

“What secrets are you two whispering about?” Nino joked. Adrien sent him an innocent smile.

“I have no idea what you mean. I’m just complimenting my beautiful girlfriend.” He leaned in to Marinette to add, “Let me know if all the whiskering is bugging you.”

Marinette laughed out loud. “Please, Adrien. Please get some new material.”

“Why would I, when I have the purrfect puns already?” He lowered his voice again. “Seriously though, if I am annoying you or if Lila’s making you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.”

“I will, kitty.” Marinette smiled. Adrien was thrilled that he could make her smile like that. He would tell awful puns every day for the rest of his life if it would make Marinette smile.

They walked together, with a liar, to go get lunch.

  ­­­Two months later

“Are you sure about this?” Adrien asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time as Marinette shoved her bag into her locker. She still held her newly-uncasted arm carefully against her body, out of habit. “I can do it instead, it doesn’t have to be you.”

“Yes it does.” Marinette closed her locker firmly. “I have to do this. You just make sure to get it all, okay? You have an important part.”

“Of course, Milady.” Adrien wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her hair. Marinette hummed happily and buried her face in his jacket. And everything was wonderful for a short, blissful moment.

There was a faint zipping sound, and then Plagg stuck his head through the wall of the deserted locker room and barked, “She’s alone in the courtyard. Now’s the time, Pigtails.”

Adrien wished this moment would never end. Alas, he could not hold the love of his life forever. Marinette proved that when she lifted her head.

“Okay.” She pulled in a deep breath and smiled up at Adrien.

“You’ve got this.” He told her. She nodded.

“Yeah. Okay. Tikki, spots on.”

  When it was over Adrien rushed to meet Marinette in the garden behind the school, tucked away between trees and bundles of flowers. She had beaten him there and had already detransformed, Tikki sitting on a nearby branch and munching on a cookie. When Adrien arrived she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and lifted her arms.

“Hey, hey.” Adrien ran into her embrace and hugged her tightly. She was shaking. “It’s okay. You did it. You were amazing Marinette, and now it’s all over.”

“I know.” Marinette mumbled again him. “I just can’t believe…”

“I know.” He held her firmly and Marinette returned the gesture, clutching at his back. “You’re done. You can relax now.”

Marinette made a muffled sound. Adrien stroked her hair.

“Do you wanna go home?”

She nodded, not lifting her face from his chest.

“Do you wanna be alone?”

She shook her head.

“Do you wanna cuddle and watch cartoons?”

Marinette nodded again.

“Do you wanna watch the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie and laugh at all the stuff that they got wrong?”

Another nod. Adrien kissed the top of her head.

“Then that can be arranged. And we’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”

“When it comes.” Marinette mumbled.

  Adrien walked to the front of the class the next morning just before school was due to start. Most of the students were already in their seats – including Marinette, who Adrien had insisted was due for a break. She had already done the heavy lifting of the plan, now Adrien could see it through. Besides, she didn’t need Lila targeting her even more for this. Speaking of Lila, Adrien could feel the girl’s suspicious glare drilling into his back as he spoke to Ms. Bustier.

“Excuse me miss, is it alright if I show the class something before the lesson starts? It’s urgent.”

She frowned from her desk. “Can it wait? We have a lot of important information to cover this lesson.”

“Ms. Bustier, this is very important information. I think everyone should see it as soon as possible – including you and the other teachers.”

She shook her head. “Mister Agreste, I really don’t see what could be so important that you must interrupt my lesson. Why don’t you go and sit down, and talk to the principal at lunch?”

“Because it concerns my classmates and-”

“All the more reason for it to be dealt with discreetly – we don’t need a spectacle.”

“You didn’t give Marinette that luxury.” Chloe called mildly from the front seat. Adrien turned to stare at her in disbelief. “You called her out in front of everyone during that whole cheating scandal. Why not give Adrien the same luxury? Or do I need to bring my daddy into this?” She pulled out her phone threateningly and Miss Bustier whitened.

“That will not be necessary, Chloe. I’m sure a… a few minutes is fine.”

“It won’t take long.” Adrien assured, sending Chloe a grateful look. She smiled smugly. Adrien quickly plugged in his USB and opened the document, taking a breath to raise his voice to the whole class.

“Thank you all for your time. At first I wasn’t sure if I should share this – but after doing a bit of research, I’ve found some worrying things that I think everyone here should know about.” Adrien could feel Lila’s glare searing through his forehead. He resisted the urge to smirk at her, instead schooling his expression into hesitance and worry. He had a part to play – the innocent bystander. After all, a malicious witness wasn’t very trustworthy. “I sent a copy to Mr. Damocles and the Ladyblog – Alya, you probably haven’t seen it yet – but I think it’s important that you all watch it before anyone else.”

Marinette met his eye, and nodded. Adrien smiled at her and pressed play.

[lloydskywalkers]

So on the incredibly rare occasion that I do write romance, I have the ability to write one (1) single romance and that is all, and that’s Dumb Fools in Love. Which hopefully fits here, because it’s Glass Girl’s namesake day, so i gotta at least try for @speedythecat, it’s what she desERVES.

(happy valentines this is disgusting fluff anyways i love u speedy)

Lloyd likes the way construction paper sounds. It’s kind of therapeutic, the sound it makes as he drags the scissors through the middle. It’s even more satisfying when he uses them to start stabbing gaping holes through the paper, because he went and ruined the stupid heart shape again, and now he’s running out of pink and red construction paper that doesn’t look like he took a vicious katana to it and went crazy.

“Stupid scissors—”

He doesn’t know if Rain even likes pink or red that much, Lloyd reminds himself dismally, as he untangles his fingers from the scissors. Just that they’re thematically appropriate to the essence of the holiday, or whatever, and they apparently must’ve been the only two colors that existed when whoever came up with Valentine’s Day was around. He hasn’t even found actual purple in any of the little cards he’s seen, just some floral lavender.

Lloyd glances down to the pile of pink and red paper strewn across the table in front of him, then back to the instructions he’s printed out for himself. Then back to the paper.

Maybe he can just like, die instead.

Lloyd is about ninety percent sure that he can’t be the only person to ever look up “how to make Valentine’s Day cards” on the internet before, but it still feels like a crushing blow to his pride and an overall dumb move in general as he does.

But he’s only slightly desperate right now, and he really doesn’t want to reach fully desperate, so he’s willing to suck up his pride if it means not totally ruining his girlfriend’s hopes and dreams by giving her a sub-par and ultimately disappointing Valentine’s Day card that looks like he doesn’t even understand the holiday in the first place.

To be fair, though, he kinda doesn’t.

Like, Lloyd knows what Valentine’s Day is, obviously. He’s not an idiot. He’s just…never really participated in it…as a person. It seems like all the others have cute little stories of getting paper cut-outs and candy hearts in grade school (which he can get behind, if there’s candy), but Lloyd’s experience in grade school was general scorn toward anything love-related at all. Valentine’s Day was well out of the question. Lloyd didn’t even know it existed until he walked straight into a street stand that looked like red and pink had thrown up all over it, before being drowned in like, twenty-dozen bouquets of roses.

He’d been an awful brat of a child then, so at the time, he’d dealt with it by kicking the stand over and being totally grossed out. Now, however, he’s left wondering if those bouquets are worth the money, or if he should invest in the slightly bigger ones they sell over on the east side stands.

How the tables have turned, Lloyd sighs miserably to himself, struggling to peel another stubborn strip of glitter glue from his hand where it’s dried there, sparkling mockingly at him.  Finally digging the glue free, Lloyd brushes his hands off and glances down at his paper.

Go for handmade.

Well, that one’s easy, ‘cause there’s no way Lloyd’s physically bringing himself to walk into a store and buy Rain some cheesy card with a bunch of generic hearts on it. This, of course, leaves the problem that Lloyd now has to come up with the card, and the only thing that’s coming to mind are generic, cheesy hearts.

Hmm. Lloyd taps the edge of the table, humming beneath his breath. He can draw pretty well, but he’s not like, an artist. Not like Cole is, or anything. Lloyd is a lot better at cartoon characters and funny little caricatures of the others than he is, say, detailed roses or something.

Rain likes cats, right? he muses. He could draw a cat, and then maybe have it holding a heart, or something. That’d be kinda cute, maybe. And then he’d get to make some awful pun like “you’re paw-sitively purr-fect”—

Lloyd slams his head down on the table. Nope. This is why he’s not allowed to come up with the idea himself. He’s worse than all the awful grocery store cards put together.

Something in his nose tickles, and he sneezes, sending up sparkly dust all around him. Lloyd blinks, then bites back a moan. Belatedly, he realizes he’s just dunked his head in glitter dust.

It could’ve been the glue, he tries to comfort himself.

Figuring he’s already doomed, Lloyd makes peace with the fact that he’s just going to live the rest of his day resembling a blond disco ball, and lifts his head to return to task, squinting at what’s next on the list.

Make it personal.

Again, that one should be easy too, because it’s Rain. But what’s supposed to count as personal? Is it like, I-love-you personal, or here’s-a-reference-to-inside-joke-number-fifty-eight kind of personal? Should he do both? He and Rain have too many inside jokes, though, it’ll take him half the day to pick one, and he’s already running out of time. Rain’s supposed to be back at noon, and Lloyd does not have that kind of time to kill.

He drums his fingers against the table-top, staring at the outlined drawing of Rain his fingers have absently started sketching out, right next to his doodles of little cats and a mini-Overlord raging terror on the glitter glue scattered across the paper.

Lloyd frowns at the last one. Oops. Well, he can’t give her this now.

“Is that supposed to be the Overlord? You can’t give Rain that for Valentine’s Day.”

Lloyd jumps half a foot out of his chair and slams his knee into the table just so that his entire leg goes dead, his shriek of surprise strangling off as he chokes on the erupting cloud of glitter dust.

By the time he winds down coughing, wiping the reflexive tears from his eyes and glaring, Kai is just staring at him, mildly concerned and whole lot unimpressed.

“A little warning, please.”

“I’ve been standing here for five minutes, bud, it’s not my fault you’re in dreamland.” Kai glances down at the table-top of scattered construction paper and glitter dust, and his mouth trembles, like he’s holding back laughter. “Are you…trying to make a card, or mass-murdering our construction paper supply?”

Lloyd feels his cheeks go scarlet, and he sputters. “I’m not — no, I’m just—” He waves his hands in the air, wishing he could disappear. “Valentine’s Day,” he finally says, haplessly. “Rain. Card.”

“Ah,” Kai says, nodding. He eyes the butchered pile of paper. “It’s going…good, then?”

Lloyd buries his face in his hands, groaning. “I keep ruining it. I’ve never done Valentine’s Day before, Kai, this is a disaster. Rain’s gonna hate it.”

“Aw, don’t say that,” Kai says, sliding into the chair next to him, patting him on the shoulder. “Rain’ll be fine with…whatever…you end up making. It’s not that big a deal.” He laughs, rolling his eyes. “I mean, it’s not like she’s going to get horribly upset because you butchered her favorite holiday and dump you for some chump with better taste.”

Lloyd freezes dead, his eyes widening. He has not yet considered this option. What if he does ruin Rain’s entire holiday with his awful gift? What if, by completely disrespecting her last name’s namesake — thing — she does get horribly upset and runs off with like, Ariya to the desert or something, and—

Kai blinks, then his eyes go wide. “Lloyd, wait — no, it was a joke, Lloyd, don’t get that look on your face — Nya!”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

And that’s how Lloyd ends up cornered by his entire team at the kitchen table, covered in glitter dust and currently living out his worst life as they try to decide the best way for him not to totally sabotage his love life in one go.

“Honestly, I never really got Valentine’s Day,” Kai remarks. “I didn’t get the whole grade school experience as much, since we homeschooled for the most part. It’s just a lot of hearts and chocolate and flowers and stuff, right?”

“Um, it’s a lot more than that,” Jay rolls his eyes. “It was classroom warfare. Your like, entire life status was measured by how many Valentines you’d get. It was totally lame,” he scowls.

“I dunno, I always got a whole lot,” Cole muses. “I could never figure out why, though. I wasn’t super popular, or anything...”

They all stare at Cole for a beat, where he stands haloed beneath the kitchen lights in all his wavy-haired glory.

“Hopeless,” Jay sighs.

“This isn’t grade school, though,” Nya says. “This is Lloyd’s actual relationship, which we are helping him with, so let’s hear actual helpful stuff, please.”

“Again,” Kai shrugs. “Flowers. Chocolate. Hearts. Bam, you’re good.”

“For crying out loud,” Jay groans. “How do magazines keep labeling you the smooth one.”

“Hold on, he’s got a point with the chocolate part,” Cole points out.

“Of course, you would choose that part to focus on,” Zane sighs.

“Guys, enough,” Nya cuts over them. “I said helpful stuff, not the most generic ideas ever. I mean, chocolate’s nice, but Lloyd’ll probably eat it all before it gets to Rain anyways—”

“I would not!” Lloyd protests.

“—and the card’s gonna be the focal point, so hearts are covered.” Nya glances down the pile of butchered construction paper in front of Lloyd, and winces. “We’ll, uh, help you with that part. But first, let’s plan.” She tugs a half-torn piece of construction paper toward her, uncapping a marker. “What all does Rain like, for starters?”

“Well,” Lloyd pauses, thinking. “She does like flowers, and — no, no I am not going to ask Lief for help, no way, not a chance.”

“Just a suggestion!” Jay throws his hands up in defense. “He’s her friend, though, so he’d probably have some ideas, y’know?”

“So. Not. Worth it.”

“Okay, okay, geez.”

Nya rolls her eyes, but scribbles ‘flowers — not from Lief’ on the paper anyways. “Good, but that’s still pretty standard stuff. Anything else a little more creative? Something that really says Rain to you.”

“She likes rocks,” Lloyd nods.

The marker squeaks violently on the paper, and Nya makes a dying sound in the back of her throat. Kai breaks into snickering, and Jay whacks him on the shoulder, giggling.

“There you go, bud, perfect Valentine’s gift. Give her a rock.”

“No,” Nya says firmly, glaring at Jay. She then turns the glare on Lloyd, who immediately shrinks lower in his seat. “Rocks, Lloyd, really — okay. Okay, do you know anything else she likes? That’s not rocks?”

“Uh, she likes…glass?” Lloyd says, weakly. “And um, seashells. And tea, and — she really does like rocks, I’m serious! Like, cool ones—“

“You are not giving Rain a rock for Valentine’s Day!”

“A cool rock!”

“That doesn’t make it any more acceptable!”

“Ughhh.” Lloyd slides down in his chair with a dying moan, throwing his arms over his face. “You ruin everything. She likes those little paper cranes, I guess. And, uh…”

“You,” Zane reminds him. “She likes you. Therefore, she will most likely love anything you give her, since it’s from you.”

Normally, Lloyd would just scoff at that, but Zane’s voice is so sincere it actually helps, a little. Lloyd sits up in his seat a bit, his crossed arms loosening. “Well…”

“Yeah! So why don’t you just draw her a cat that says like, ‘you’re purr-fect’, or something?” Jay suggests. “That sounds like you.”

Lloyd slams his head against the table, once again accidentally dunking himself in glitter dust. He can’t bring himself to care this time, because the whole world apparently just knows him for terrible puns.

“Stop being so melodramatic, you’re going to remind her of her brother,” Nya clips. Lloyd chokes on his tongue, and dissolves into a fit of manic sputtering as Kai claps him on the back, encouraging him to breathe.

“—was just a joke, Lloyd, don’t take her seriously.”

“—time and place, Nya, time and place—!”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It takes several disastrous attempts and more than a few marker wars — Kai in particular is sporting some spectacular pink sharpie marks along the side of his face, and Lloyd’s got streaking red marks across his forearms as the price for protecting his own face — but Lloyd end up with one brightly-colored, cursive-lettered Valentine’s card for Rain.

He’s feeling pretty confident in it, actually. It says everything he wants it to say, while looking pretty but dignified, and it’s only got one cat on it, so he’s — he’s pretty sure Rain will like it. A lot more than any of his other disastrous attempts, he assures himself. Now all he’s gotta do is grab the flowers Nya made him promise to get, and according to both Wikihow and his family, he’ll have the perfect Valentine. Armed with that knowledge, Lloyd strides confidently for the kitchen table to grab an envelope.

Only to freeze dead when he comes face-to-face with Rain, who’s bent over studying said disastrous attempts from earlier, that he’s left out in full view on the kitchen table like a complete moron.

Rain’s currently got one of his first attempts in her hands, her finger tracing the little design he’d drawn. Her hair’s down right now, all silvery and smooth and falling over her face, so he can’t see her expression.

Lloyd is highly considering running for the hills by like, hurling himself out the kitchen window, when Rain turns around, the end her nose still red from the outside cold, freckles standing out more than usual on her cheeks. Lloyd freezes in place.

She holds up one of the ruined cards. “Are all these...for me?”

Lloyd’s soul makes the executively wise decision to exit his body right then.

“They’re — I — no, they’re for, uh—”

Lloyd’s mind backfires. Shoot, he can’t say they’re for someone else, they’ve got ‘I love you’ and other sappy stuff all over them, what’s he supposed to do—

“They’re, uh, for my grandmother.”

Rain raises an eyebrow. “Your grandmother…named Rain,” she says slowly, reading the name that’s brightly plastered everywhere.

“Her name’s Rain too,” Lloyd tries, weakly.

Rain raises her other eyebrow. She wordlessly holds up one of the cards, pointing to where “Rain Allira Valentine” is highlighted. Lloyd mentally makes a note to murder Kai later as her finger slides down to the “Mr. Rain Valentine” right below, her lips trembling as she tries to hold back a snicker.

“Um.” At least she’s laughing, Lloyd tells himself. She hasn't run off to the desert yet. “I have a better one for you, I swear. Those are just — really, really bad first attempts, which you were never supposed to see, ever.”

Please forget they ever existed, is on the tip of his tongue, but Rain’s expressions softens, her eyes fond as she looks from the cards to him.

“I don’t know, these are…kinda sweet,” she admits, her cheeks going a bit pink.

“Oh,” Lloyd says, his own face heating. “That’s! That’s good, I guess. I mean, this new one’s — it’s a whole lot better, though, and uh…” He frantically rubs the back of his head, trying to get his brain back online and working properly again. Unfortunately, the action sends a tiny shower of sparkles raining from his hand, and Lloyd remembers in horror that he never got that glitter dust out.

Rain smirks, biting back a laugh. “Hold on,” she says, stepping in close. “You’ve got some — here.”

She pushes a hand through his hair, her fingers gently tangling through the thick blond strands before pulling away, leaving her fingers stained in glitter dust. She gives a tiny snicker, then brushes at his hair with her other hand, neatly sweeping a shower of glitter dust from it before carefully tousling his hair back in place.

“There,” she says. “Now you don’t look as much like a disco ball.”

“Maybe I wanted to look like a disco ball,” Lloyd says, petulantly. “Lloyd Disco Ball Garmadon, that’s me.”

“Then I’d have to make you another Valentine’s card,” Rain says, and Lloyd finally spots the envelope she’s been keeping behind her back. “Because I definitely messed up your middle name, if that’s the case.”

Lloyd blinks rapidly. “Wait, you got me one?”

Rain freezes, looking unsure. “Um…yes? That’s kind of…the point, right? You give Valentine’s to people you lo—like—um, love.”

Lloyd’s definitely red now. “I-I probably wouldn’t know,” he finally stammers. “Darkley’s wasn’t too big on Valentine’s.”

Lloyd immediately wants to hit himself, because Rain’s here being sweet and talking about love, and he’s bringing up Darkley’s like a motor-mouthed moron. And now Rain looks sad, and is it too late for Lloyd to pitch himself out the window—?

“Well, lucky for you, I know all about it,” Rain suddenly says, firmly. “You’ll just have to spend the day with me, so I can give you the run-down.”

“That I can do,” Lloyd grins brightly in relief.

“It’s a date, then,” Rain beams, before her smile hitches in laughter. “And you, um, you have more glitter. On your cheek.”

Lloyd wipes quickly at his face. “Oh, come on — did I get it?”

“No, now you’re just — okay, stop, I’ll get it, hold on.”

Rain steps nearer again, brushing her thumb across his cheek once, then again. “There,” she nods satisfied. She doesn’t move back, though, standing close enough that Lloyd can count her freckles, and see every shade of teal in her eyes. There’s a hint of a smile left on her face, and Lloyd swallows. This would probably be like, the perfect time to—

“For FSM’s sake, kiss her, you moron, she’s totally set you up for it—”

Kai’s voice cuts off in a strangled choking sound as Nya throttles him while both Rain and Lloyd go scarlet, and Lloyd makes another mental note to murder Kai a second time later.

“Wanna go out?” Lloyd suggests hastily, his face flaming. “The candy’s probably not gonna be on sale yet, but I bet we can get someone to cut us a deal.”

“Yes,” Rain nods fervently. “Let’s — out. Go out. Of here, sounds good.”

“Great,” Lloyd says, then snatches both their jackets from the hook before fleeing, Rain trailing behind him as they sprint past the others, stifling laughter as Lloyd desperately avoids making eye contact with anyone. Rain’s muffling giggles too, though, and Lloyd can’t help breathing out a laugh as he flings open the doors tumbling out into the chilly February weather.

“So, I have a question,” he says, as their footsteps fall into pace down the street. “What do you think of like, rocks as a present?”

“Hm, I don’t know. Is it like, a cool rock?”

“I mean, hypothetically? Yeah, a super cool rock.”

“Well, if it’s super cool. Then that’d be a good one, I guess.”

“I knew it—!”

[deadontheinsidebut]

congrats on 100!!! may i have a matchup pls? i’m a 5’6 straight girl with black hair & brown eyes. i’m an isfj & gemini. i’m fairly reserved & quiet, but i can be social! i’m that worried mom friend, i’m told, but i try not to be naggy! i love cats & rainy weather. i enjoy playing sports (i have a competitive side), reading, writing, learning new things & sometimes drawing! oh, my humor consists of horrible puns & sarcastic comments (but to close friends)! i’m an awkward dork c’: thank you! 💛

Hi bb!! Thank you!! I’m so excited to see where my blog goes from here. Okay so I had 3 options in mind but I chose the one that matched all your points so pls hear me out before you dismiss the poor bby🥺👉🏻👈🏻💗✨ hopefully you enjoy anyway! 😌✨💗✨

I match you with...

✨Lev Haiba✨

^^ creds to the wonderful artist that blessed us with this version of Lev

you’re so lucky that you’re 5′6 because that’s taller than the average height for a girl but like, you deserve someone tall like Lev because he’s 6′5 

you’re the ISFJ type which is the defender and they are sensitive with excellent analytical skills. they’re reserved yet have great people skills 

they’re receptive to change and new ideas. This contrasts Lev’s ESFP personality which is the entertainer 

the entertainer gets caught up in the excitement and is easily absorbed into the spotlight but are actually emotionally in tune with how their close ones feel

in a relationship, you two would constantly motivate and support one another as the defender personality type loves to take care of their family and friends and provide practical and emotional support

this is extremely important for you and Lev because he’ll act as the extroverted and spontaneous one while you act as the reserved and organized 

not only that, Lev needs a mom typa gf in his life who will be able to put him in his place when he reaches too far or goes way out of boundaries while he will encourage you to have a more carefree view on life

you both are sensing, feeling personalities so you both process conflicts/thoughts emotionally which helps with communication which equals less fights

he’s literally on the Nekoma team which is the cats team so... you bet your ass you’re gonna adopt a cat together 

I feel like he would be the kind to hover over you and cover both you and him with his jacket when it’s raining hard

and the rain will just become this romantic thing to you guys and every time it rains, your relationship just feels a little lighter and the downfall doesn’t feel too cold

you love playing sports AND you’re competitive? purr-fect (ew sorry)

Lev’s rivalry with Hinata literally pushes him to do better so when the one person he loves more than anything is competitive?? He’ll be reaching his full potential in no time

everyone thinks he’s intimidating at first because of his height and piercing eyes, but he’s really just a big goofball who wants to play around and make you laugh

he’s always down to be dorky and make horrible puns with you even when YOU think you’re horrible at them

he just matches your energy so well and if he senses that you’re getting awkward in a scenario, he’ll turn his attention to you and make sure you’re having fun as well

You, Lev, and Yamamoto are all competing in your own little Puns Competition and you’re in the lead

Whoever loses has to be spiked in the face with a vball so good on you for not losing

Also I feel like you would just get along so well with his sister?? She’s alr a goddess but now y’all can be goddesses together and have girl talk about lev

10/10 the goofy couple that balances each other out and brings out the best in one another

[sweetmusingss]

I could hear your voice calling me and even though it was very late morning, I had been working on making you some breakfast. I knew it would be good for you to get some food in you and help you feel better. I turn the heat down on the stove, quickly going to your room. "Good morning, baby. I kept the curtains closed and I have some Advil and water there for you on your night stand. I am just making breakfast right now and I will bring it right in here to you in a moment, okay? You don't even have to get out of bed," I say, kissing your forehead gently before going back to the kitchen. I put the finishing touches on breakfast before putting it all on a tray and bringing it to your bedroom.

Seb groans after you finished explaining, feeling so awful that he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to keep his food down. "Thank you, baby." He doesn't speak very loudly, his voice being rough and quiet, matching how he was feeling. He leans over and gulps down the water and the Advil before burying his face back into his pillow and groaning some more, silently cursing Chris and Mackie and everyone else who poured liquor down his throat last night.

__

Emma was brought back to reality when she heard your voice. Though she hadn't sensed your presence at first, all it took was her hearing your voice for her to be reminded of where she was. She smiled when turning to you and she nodded at you. "Yes, Mommy," she said as she met your eyes, giving you a meaningful look. It was the first time she had called you that in front of Megan and she felt proud of herself even though she knew it probably wouldn't be a big deal to anyone else to give into their kinks so easily. However, Emma was always fighting against herself and this was the first she was truly just letting go and being herself without overthinking everything. "I colored a picture just for you," she says, showing you her picture. She had colored a photo of a dolphin jumping out of the ocean, seashells all over the beach. She had colored the seashells all different colors, the photo reminding her of both you and Megan and your previous trip.

My heart melts as she refers to me as Mommy in front of Megan, assuming she must've talked to the other girl about all of this. "Oh, baby. Thank you! You know dolphins are my favorite!" I take the picture from her and cup her cheeks, pecking her lips a few times. "I'm gonna put it on the refrigerator so I can see it every single day. Thank you, princess." I was so happy that Emma was so carefree on this trip and that she was just letting go. I just worried that once she got back to Maine where she had to be the sheriff and hold herself together without me or Megan there, it wouldn't be as easy to get her back into this mindset the next time I saw her in a month.

Megan hands me a picture she colored of a cat that she colored pink with the writing "You're Purr-fect", smiling shyly as she handed it to me. She knew I was still upset with her and that there'd be a conversation once Emma went back to Maine, but that didn't mean she couldn't pull on my heartstrings just a little bit in the mean time. "Because you love cats and pink and you are perfect, mommy."

I never thought in my life I'd have two gorgeous girlfriends, but even more so, I never thought that I'd have two gorgeous girlfriends who depended on me in such a personal and intimate way. I smile at her drawing, walking over to Megan and doing the same action I just did with Emma, cupping her cheeks and pecking her lips. "Thank you angel. I'll put this one on the refrigerator, too. Thank you. It's perfect." I stand back up, holding both the pictures in my hands. "Do you girls need anything else?"

[danielslilangel]

I’m Feline You- ML Fic

This is chapter one of a new fic I had a dream about yesterday where Chat Noir/Adrien is dating you. Not sure where it’s gonna go, but here it is!

                                                        Chapter One

“Where are you, stupid cat?” I whisper to myself as I take on last look outside before closing the door, locking it. If he decides he wants in later, that’s his problem, I think.

I hadn’t planned on going to sleep for quite a while since we had made plans so I sighed and plopped down on my gray love seat. Curling my feet underneath of me to keep them warm, I picked up the remote and watched as the TV flickered to life on the wall across from me.

“Shit, the candles!” I jumped up and ran to the bedroom to douse out the dancing flames before I forgot again and burned the house down. Already almost did that twice this month.

When I walked back into the living room, I stumbled towards the couch to grab the remote again and unmute it as I read the newest news headline.

LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR TRAPPED IN FRONT OF EFFILE TOWER!

“This is Nadja Chamack reporting live from the scene where Ladybug and Chat Noir have just been captured by the latest akuma, Shepherd. He corralled our superheroes in a pen in front of the Effile Tower.”

I couldn’t help but stare at the screen, eyes wide, frozen to the spot. Until they helicopter camera zoomed in on Chat Noir’s face. As soon as I saw the panic in those emerald green eyes, I was running towards the door, barely stopping to grab my keys off the hook where they hung to the right of the doorframe.

I have never been more thankful for the mandatory clearance zones during akuma attacks than I am right now! While my apartment wasn’t far from the largest landmark in Paris, on any other day at any other time it would have taken me almost an hour to get there because of the traffic. Luckily this akuma struck at midnight on a Tuesday so I should be able to get there in a few minutes.

I’ve never gone above the speed limit before, but I didn’t once look down at my speedometer as I floored it, speeding past stop signs and stoplights, with only one thought on my mind. I have to save my kitty!

It was barely two minutes later when I turned and saw the akuma ahead. I didn’t even take the keys out of the ignition as I threw it and park and jumped from my little Mini Cooper. I could hear the akuma victim making a long-winded speech about being the only one able to defeat the famous pair as I crept behind him. The helicopter overhead moved and the spotlight briefly illuminated me, drawing both superheroes eyes to me. Luckily, this akuma was pretty egotistical so he continued talking like nothing was wrong.

I watched as Ladybug’s mouth opened and prepared myself in case she gave away my position trying to “save me”. Chat Noir was faster though and his voice rang out, cutting off both Ladybug and the akuma.

“You know Shepherd, that WHISTLE is really cool!”

“Really Chat, you think now is the best time to be giving out compliments?”

Now is the perfect time for it, I thought as I smiled, happy that he had known exactly what I was here for.

“I’m going to start with removing Ladybug’s earrings and then I’ll grab your ring too Chat Noir!”

Now directly behind the akuma, I lurched forward and ripped the silver whistle from his palm and threw it to the ground, watching as it shattered into a dozen tiny pieces.

“What?” The akuma screamed as the little purple butterfly crawled out from the largest piece of the silver charm and he fell to the ground unconscious, returning to normal. The metal gates that had been keeping Ladybug and Chat Noir held hostage released them and I didn’t spare a second glance towards Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo and captured the nasty bug. I ran straight for Chat and threw my arms around his neck, squeezing him tight as he caught me.

“Chat. Chat. Chat” I cried out. Nestling my face into the exposed skin of his neck, I pressed a kiss to him and whispered, “Adrien.”

His warm breath tickled my scalp as he rested his chin on my head and murmured my name. I knew he wouldn’t scold me for coming as I had just saved him. He knew he would have done the same thing if our roles were reversed.

“You’re so lucky I wasn’t ready to go to sleep just yet. You had me really worried when you didn’t show up tonight.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was on my way when the Ladyblog alerted us.” He finally let go of you, but didn’t step back far as he reached an arm behind his head and smile sadly. “I should have texted or something. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Red erupted all around us as millions of ladybugs flew around, healing all the damage that Shepherd had caused. Ladybug walked towards us, her face unreadable as she took in our proximity to each other.

“It’s okay,” I leaned towards him to whisper in his ear, “you can make it up to me when we get back to my place.”

“That sounds absolutely paw-fect, darling.” His smile was wicked and I couldn’t wait to see that expression again and again in my bed.

Ladybug cleared her throat, cutting me off right before I could tell him just that.

“Thank you for the help, but please, next time, leave it to us. We don’t want civilians getting injured.”

“No promises Ladybug.” I shrugged my shoulders as she set her mouth into a hard line. I knew she had more that she wanted to say, but I didn’t feel up to getting lectured by her. I just wanted to race back home and start my very long evening of no sleep. I turned back to Chat. “I’ll see you later, Chaton.”

He smirked as I winked at him and headed back to my unattended car, hips shaking just a little more than usual as I felt his heated gaze on my backside.

“Who is that?” I heard Ladybug ask.

“My girlfriend.” I looked back and watched the dorky smile spread across his lips. “I gotta go, Bug!”

As I drove home, I watched him catapult himself over rooftops and lampposts, headed in the same direction. As I looked back in my rearview mirror, I saw Ladybug standing where we had both left her, arms crossed and a peculiar look on her face.

 I closed the door behind me and smiled at the soft click the latch made as it locked. My smile only grew wider as I heard the soft thud my boyfriend made as he landed on the balcony outside my bedroom window.

“You could’ve just come up the stairs and in the front door like a normal person, you know?”

“Of course I could have, but where’s the fun in that?” His voice was lower than usual as he stalked closer to me, running his nails gently across the wall as I backed myself towards the corner where my bed was. The soft scratching sound set my nerves on fire and I felt myself begin to warm with desire.

“Where is the fun indeed.” Without taking my gaze off of him, I lifted myself up onto my bed and scooted backwards as he drew closer, sliding himself over top of me as my head rested against the tufted headboard.

“I guess I need to thank you for coming and rescuing my sorry ass,” he said as he trailed a clawed hand up my side. It tingled more than tickled and I had to hold back a moan already.

“You do.”

“But first, I think I need to punish you for doing something so reckless.” He nipped at my neck and I couldn’t bite back the soft whimper that feel from my parted lips.

“Yes, you do.”

He kissed up my jaw to the corner of my mouth before skipping over my lips and repeating his trail again on the other side. As I growled, hungry for the taste of him on my lips, he rumbled darkly, purring his contentment.

“If you’re going to do that, you better put that purring to good use.”

I caught another sight of his wicked smile as he poked his tongue out at me, shimming down my body, lower and lower.

“Hmmm,” he purred harder and louder. “You mean I should do this?” As his tongue ran over my panties and his fingers gripped my thighs, I threw my head back.

“I mean exactly that.”

He laughed, the sound bright and warm and I watched as a green glow filled the room.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this for one night. I’m gonna go watch Netflix!” Plagg was quick to flee the bedroom as he phased through the closed door.

“I know my kitty can purr, but can my Adrien?” I ran my right hand through his blond locks and tugged on the ends slightly.

Large emerald eyes peered up at me from the end of the bed and I nearly combusted from the view of him between my legs. “I guess you’ll just have to stay right there and find out.”