#happy wednesday i wrote about these freaks again

[foxboyclit]

the delights of drow inventions

In which the Nydallas acquire a new toy (yes this is the aforementioned tentacle porn)

Iphis was far from inexperienced in the art of subtlety, but knowing him as well as Minisstra did gave insight to thoughts not so expertly hidden. She noticed the way he eyed curiously  at the tentacle rod hanging from her belt, as well as the suppressed intrigue across his face whenever he saw it unleashed. With just the two of them sharing tea in the estate’s garden, she took the opportunity to ask.

“You’ve recently taken an interest in some of the weapons on my belt. Do you wish to share this newfound curiosity?”

She smiled internally at the sight of Iphis’ pause, then the slow, deliberate swallow of his tea as a beautiful shade of indigo blotted his cheeks.

“I- I’m sorry for letting my mind wander, Mistress.”

“Save the apologies for when you’re actually in trouble. You know who to relay your fantasies to.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re no stranger to arcane tentacles’ more creative uses,” he began, “you’ve caught me wondering the possibilities of said magic in a more intimate setting.”

The spell to summon a writhing mass of tendrils was unfortunately out of Iphis’ expertise; besides, Minisstra did not find any pleasure in fussing over spell components and the complexities of modifications. An item designed for the same purpose was preferred, and thankfully there were no shortage of wizards in the city eager for a matron’s coin.

“Tell me, Ra’soltha, how you would feel about exploring the uses of a more precise tentacle rod.”

Iphis cleared his throat, “That would interest me very much, Mistress.”

The hint of a smile crept into her voice. “See, that was not so hard to admit, was it? Give it some patience, and you shall be rewarded with a new toy.”

—

Finding someone capable of reconfiguring a magic item common to Menzoberranzan was hardly an issue, and all it took was a sharp glare to prevent any questions surrounding why Minisstra commissioned a non-lethal variant. After having the rod inspected and attuned, she summoned Iphis to kneel at her feet, arms crossed behind his back.

 “Close your eyes,” and as he obeyed, Minisstra held the rod in front of him. She directed one tentacle to slither up his thigh, watching his breath hitch at its traveling before wrapping around his flesh, giving a light squeeze.

Another followed suit, its grip tightening as well along with the first as they spread his thighs apart, giving just enough room for a third to slide in between. 

Iphis gasped at the sudden pull and the soft, slick appendage teasing his slit, then uttered a curious sound as another tentacle hooked itself under his chin, tilting his head upwards. 

“Have you identified your new toy, Ra’soltha?”

“A tentacle rod,” he breathed, “but I only remember them having three appendages.” 

“Your memory is correct, can you name any other modifications?” The tentacle between his legs curled its end, taking his clit gently and stroking it which drew a soft moan from him.

“Their material is…softer. More flexible than standard rubber.”

She patted his cheek. “Good boy, keep your mouth open now.”

 And he did, keeping his head inclined as the tentacle caressing his chin found its way into his mouth. The muffled sound of his moan as he took it obediently and sucked was an exquisite one, bested only by his slight gag as the tentacle pushed deeper into his throat. 

She extracted it, the tendril coated in a slick layer of saliva, almost as much as Iphis’ lips, still connected by a thin string as it slid out. The sight was delicious, one Minisstra hoped to savor till the end of her days. 

“Look at you, already reduced to a soaking mess.” The tentacle between his legs slipped inside of him, the sound emphasizing her degrading.  “I can only imagine how wet you were as you fantasized about this.”

It pushed in deeper, the tip curling at just the right spot to make Iphis squirm and cry out. The two tentacles held his legs open, precise training kept his arms behind his back. He could writhe all he wanted, whine pathetically as the tentacle fucked him, it wouldn’t cause them to act on anyone but Minisstra’s desires. When he wore debauchery this well, why would she ever want to stop?

The tentacle that had fucked his throat now stilled him by catching a fistful of hair, and Iphis’ eyes wrenched open as she pulled, his lust clouded gaze forcibly meeting hers.

“Tell me, was it hard to conceal this much arousal as the priestesses walked by with this?”

“Yes, Mistress,” he cried, “all I could think of was you, and what’d you do to me!”

“Is that all your degenerate mind is capable of? You can’t conceive of anything else but being used, how pathetic. It’s almost adorable.”

She pulled him into a kiss, her hand replacing the tentacle coiled in his hair as it slithered to caress his body. The tendril wrapped itself around his hip, and she pulled him into a standing position as those between his legs kept them spread, displaying their exploration of his cunt in the most beautiful way. 

“And what do you say when your perversions are indulged?”

“Thank you, Mistress.” the tentacle inside him curled at the perfect spot again, the one around his hip snaking down to his clit. He gasped out a litany of more thanks which broke into a sob. 

“Good boy, never forgetting your manners. Come for me, now.”  She swallowed his moan into a deep kiss as it pitched to almost a scream, holding him close to her chest as his orgasm left him twitching and weak. The tentacles loosened their grasp until only her arms kept him upright, and she gently scooped him up and carried him to bed.

She laid Iphis down as she cleaned him up, then massaged the tension out of his thighs, working a salve into his skin that would soothe the round indigo splotches left by the tentacles’ suckers. He sighed contently, mumbling half-discernable gratitudes as she cared for him. 

“Well done, lince’sa. You took it all beautifully.” Her fingers ran through his hair once more, this time gently, and he leaned into the slow strokes with a sleepy hum. 

“Thank you Mistress,” he muttered. “I very much like the new toy. Please put this in the rotation.”

“I believe I will,” she leaned in to kiss his forehead, unable to hide the soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Not that she cared to try, anyway.

 “Now, would you like some tea?”

Iphis nodded, and with Minisstra returning with the mugs of a delicate herbal blend, their ritual marked its end.

[honey-worm]

R.I.P Liam Payne.

Many things went on through my head the day I found out that a member of One Direction passed away. It was Wednesday October 16th, 2024 around 3pm. I was having a pretty normal day at work until I got the news via text from a friend.

"Bitch Liam Payne from One Direction died" "You're fucking joking"

I was in literal shock. I really thought they she was joking (if you can even joke about death.) I went on Instagram and the first post was, of course, Liam passing away at the age of 31. I literally booked it to the restroom to scroll down multiple social media platforms, verifying what I had just read and messaging friends back who were also freaking out. People who I haven't talked to in years, you know, the ones I would just scroll by on Facebook, stated that I was the first one they thought of. They wondered if I had posted about it. I didn't realize how big of a fan I was until they mentioned it to me because it's not like we were ever best friends back when 1D was the it band. I honestly couldn't believe it. There was just no way that Liam Payne, from one of the biggest boybands in the world, was no longer with us in the flesh.

After the devastating news, the next hour at work was a blur. I couldn't concentrate on what was needing to be done. None of my coworkers were going through what I was feeling. Though, I already knew they wouldn't understand... They're all 50+ years old. I had no one to talk to about this.

The moment I got into my car after work, my Made in the A.M. album CD was already playing. I checked Twitter and TikTok, feeling the emotions of every single directioner. Retweet this, retweet that. Repost this, repost that. I got myself off the apps and headed home, singing along to the boys I hold so close to my heart. I started to cry because suddenly I was 17 again and things would never be the same. The songs would never be the same. All my 1D memories were flooding in rapidly. All the tweets, all the fanfictions, all the youtube videos, all the posters, all the merch, all the talk... All of it. Teenage me was surfacing.

As I got home, I took my dogs out, fed them, and immediately got into bed. Back to doom scrolling. I needed to be with people who understood me. Tweet after tweet. I was reading everyone's tweets about how sad we all are and how so many of us don't have anyone in our real lives to understand the impact this actually has. We all gathered on social media to start grieving. It felt like we had jumped back in time, constantly tweeting and talking about a boyband that made us so incredibly happy during such bad times in our lives. My whole timeline was filled with photos of the boys again. Every tweet was a directioner, just like it was 11+ years ago. It was such a bittersweet feeling. Happy because it's all about the boys again, but, upsetting because it's all about the boys again due to a tragic death of one of them. We aren't teenagers anymore. I wasn't just grieving Liam, I was grieving my inner teen. Grieving the fact that we'll never get to go back to that time again. It was such a weird feeling. I'd cry, be fine, feel numb, dissociate, go back to crying, back to being fine, cry again, go numb... It was a literal rollercoaster of emotions.

What's so crazy to me is that I spent the 2 weeks prior of this loss, binging all 1D songs. I was in the middle of reminiscing about my teenage years of being absolutely obsessed with the band, rereading the fanfic I wrote when I was 19, watching frat boy Harry edits, remembering the way I felt during those times...... Then Liam dies??? What was the universe up to??? I couldn't believe that every day for 14 days, I was listening to all albums before, during, and after work. They were just on all day every day. I was reliving my teenage years, remembering how infatuated I was with "frat boy" Harry. The one that made me fall in love with 1D in the first place.

Myself, and so many others, were never expecting a tragedy to happen to one of our idols so early on in life. We weren't expecting to experience such a loss at the ripe ages of early 20s-early 30s.

I hope that all fans are spending their time with loved ones (online or in real life) during this time because what you're going through is so so valid. You aren't alone. The whole world is mourning such a big part of our lives. Continue to let 1D live on. Watch those YouTube videos, read those fanfictions, listen to those 1D songs, watch those 1D movies.

You and that inner child deserve to relive such a happy time during a traumatic chapter.

And please remember to love one another. Continue to be a lover. Give love, choose love. Love everyone, always. No matter what, treat people with kindness. You never know what someone is going through.

All my love,

R. x

[krash-and-co]

wdym by the infantilisation of george? genuinely asking as I haven't rlly seen that myself ahah but could you elaborate/give some examples?

note: I edited this ask after posting bc i wasnt done and also didn't say stuff entirely the way I meant lmao. I probably got redundant but idek what I wrote anymore, also there's a tldr at the end.

oh hey !! yeah, something ive seen are karim's (specifically this version) autistic traits and how they were portrayed in his fanon. some people either reduce him to or focus his character heavily on his 'cute' or 'childish' autistic traits, and this kind of becomes his main identity. he's autistic, and his childishness is pounced on and multiplied by fandom, because they want him to be cute like autistics are. he's autistic, and therefore vulnerable and dependent. a baby, not as capable as Lucy and Lockwood, which is nowhere near true. see the problem? /gen not only is it an unrealistic depiction of autism, but it can make people uncomfortable and be harmful.

I will mention this is an unfortunately common thing both in general fandom and irl, not something I expect one post to change. I am just sharing thoughts here :] but anyways lol

yes we as autistics can be childish. yes it may even be cute to you. yes we may feel childish ourselves, comfortably so, and that's totally fine. but it's when our whole being is warped into that one stereotype it becomes a problem. it's when people forget the rest about us, and we're your fandom vessel for angst and fluff where cute tiktok autism is our whole personality and we're not really a person anymore but a little pet people coo over. objecitified. people want to embrace these 'dependant' characters and they mean well, but the treatment of autistic traits can be.... uncomfortable. because, I mean, where does that leave you if you share these same traits? you likely don't want to be treated in such a way; you know you aren't some child to be coddled. but these characters are, and it feels wrong.

in good portrayals of autism and its acceptance, we can have all our autistic traits-- yes even the cute ones you want to baby us over, and yes even the weird and negative ones youd rather ignore, and still be treated as an equal, like george is. we wont be coddled more than a neurotypical, not treated as lesser in maturity or awareness, or shoved in a box. lockwood and co is like that to George, which is wonderful. as is most of the fandom, which is even better.

however I have seen this in fics and hc posts most notably, and it's a glaring contrast compared to the most works, and I do wonder if others have noticed and it leaves them with a funny taste in their mouth too.

not to get all preachy on this fine Wednesday at 2 in the morning, though.

tl;dr: reducing an autistic person to vulnerability and a childish nature, with malevolent intentions or not, is harmful. george is capable and badass !!! and honestly? it makes me as an autistic uncomfortable, seeing people with my traits treated like that over them by fandom, even though they mean well. balance is key. not being a total freak over our cutie patootie autistic faces is also. <- /hj /silly

obligatory end message where I mention again this isn't something horribly common in this fandom around my side of tumblr, at least, but I have seen it and wanted to ask if 1) y'all noticed it with George too and 2) share thoughts lol

ty for the ask, always happy to clarify my posts for y'all !! :]

[tailsfan]

Wishing Star

This is a little idea I had for Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday, though it is Tails centric...

Well I wrote it for fun, and I hope everyone likes it!

Everyone was in their beds, with full stomachs, sleeping without care…

Everyone….

Except one….

The little kit looked up at the dark sky, that was decorated with millions of shimmering stars…

Unlike the rest of the people on the Island, the kit didn't sleep… he didn't have food to eat… nor a bed to lay on…

Instead he was stuck outside in the forest, left alone with the unbearable pain that stung at every corner of his body…

The little fox shut his eyes shut tight, in attempt to block out his emotions that were bubbling up…

Tears fell out of the three year old's eyes, as he shivered at the cold air that blew.

No kid deserved to face that… Though he did…

All because of his two tails…

The child couldn't help but think what would have happened if he didn't have two tails… What if he only had one?

Would his parents not have left him?

Would he be loved?

Would he have a house to stay in?

Would he never be alone?

…

Tears were rolling down the kit's fur, as he looked down at his worn out mismatched shoes… He pushed on his arm that was still bleeding from the scratch he received from the teenaged tiger earlier…

He wanted it to stop hurting…

He wanted to be warm…

He wanted to be full…

He wanted to feel happy like all the other kids he's seen…

He- He wanted to be loved…

…

How silly…

He knew that those things would never happen…

He was just a two tailed freak that no one cared about…

That no one loved…

…

The little fox looked back up at the night sky. It was a cold day, much to the fox's distress, however the sight of the sky was breath taking…

Suddenly, a star flew across the sky!

"H-Huh?!" the kit exclaimed, in a raspy voice, "A s-sootin' s-staw?"

The kit remembered what he once heard at a park…

' "Look at this!" a young cat exclaimed showing off her new toy to a group of kids…

"Wow!" "How did you get that?" the kids exclaimed.

"I saw a shooting star yesterday! And I wished on it and my wish came true!"

The kit wondered whether it was true or not…

The logical side of him knew that there was no way that could happen; however the kid side of him urged to make a wish… And so he did…

Remembering the words the cat recited he closed his eyes and spoke:

"Stawwight, staw bwight, fiwst staw I see to-tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight!" before taking a breath in and thinking about what he should wish for… He could wish for unlimited food, so he would never starve again! Or a home to stay in! Or a thicker coat to last through the winter! Taking another breath of air, the kid said,

"I wish someone will love me…"

~'0'~

It has been two years since Miles wished on the star…

Looking up at the dark sky, the same place where he when he was three he looked up at the sky.

He had grown a lot the last two years…

He stopped believing in all of those kid fantasies that kids his age and oler still believed in…

He knew better than that…

He knows that the world hates him, and the only way to get something he has to work for it…

He has to get his hands messy…

And life will never make him getting what he wants easy…

Miles managed to get food…. though he still starved often…

He managed to find a place to sleep… though he got messy often…

He managed to stay warm… though he still froze often…

The main point is that he was able to work for all of those…

He 'stole' any food he could find thrown away…

He searched for caves and dug burrows for hours…

He looked for as many thin blankets as he could for days…

He worked for all of that…

But… How is he supposed to work to get loved?!

But Miles still tried…

He helped fix people's machines… only to get kicked…

He tried to clean up the park… only to get garbage dumped on him…

He supported people when they were weak… only to get punched…

No matter what he did, no one understands him…

No one loves him…

Because he is a freak… and that is a fact…

and no wish can change that…

Looking back up at the stars, Miles sees another shooting star…

Unlike before he continues to stare at the sky…

He didn't wish…

Since even if he did…

He would never be loved…

~'0'~

"Hey Tails, look it is a shooting star!" Sonic said pointing up towards it.

Tails followed Sonic's gaze and his eyes bet the said star.

"Let's wish shall we?" Sonic asked with a smile.

Tails saw Sonic closed his eyes tight, clearly making a wish…

Tails continued to look at Sonic…

He already wished on the star…

And since then he no longer believed in wishes…

Even so… His wish became true…

Maybe everyone's wishes become true… The better ones just need time to work…

"Why didn't you wish?" Sonic said looking at Tails with a confused expression.

"I don't need anything!" Tails said with a shrug, "Besides my wish is right beside me!"

Sonic looked around before pointing at himself in question "Me?!"

"Yup! I've got the best older brother ever! What else do I need?"

"Ohhh, come here you little ball of fur!" Sonic said pulling Tails into a tight hug.

The two of them stared at the beautiful night sky, before Sonic broke the silence.

"Do you know what I wished for?" Sonic whispered.

"What?" Tails asked, curious.

"I wished to always have you by my side! And for the two of us to have the best times together!" Sonic said!

'And I wished to be loved, and I hadn't been for the longest time…

But I am now!'

I hope everyone liked it! I know it is pretty short, but I thought it was a cute idea!

[theunstuffedpepper]

I realized that I’ve never really documented my L&D experience with any of my boys. Memory fades, but anyone who has gone through it knows that there are some moments and aspects of labor and delivery that you know will stay fresh in your mind for a long, long time.

This will probably get lengthy - fair warning.

For a bit of background, my first and second experiences with labor and delivery were complete opposites in everything except arrival time; both boys arrived in week 38 (38+3 and 38+4, to be specific).

My first involved an induction due to preeclampsia concerns. I was working remotely and got a call from my doctor on Wednesday - I was 38+0 and they told me that due to the protein levels in my urine from my 37-week appointment, they wanted to induce me. That same day. After a bit of freaking out and calling B, we packed up and headed to the hospital. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent passing the time, letting things... ripen. My body was NOT ready. By Saturday, though, I was ready for pitocin. I labored for about 6 hours and was still only at 2cm, so I requested an epidural. An hour after the epidural, my doctor came in to tell me that if things hadn't progressed any further, I'd be getting a C-section. She checked me and I was fully dilated +2. Thank god for that epidural. One more hour of pushing and he arrived. The whole experience was off, though. It wasn't a great labor and delivery experience for me, though I was very grateful because it could have been much worse and much harder, but it was only the start of a very, very difficult year of my life. PPD is no joke.

My second was quite the opposite. Again, I was working remotely at home, and I wrote an email to my boss the morning I started going into labor to tell him I thought I'd best hang up my hat. We called my parents to come watch Holden. They arrived to our house by 1pm, we got to the hospital at 2pm, and the baby was born at 4pm. It was wickedly painful - my water broke on the way to the hospital - and to this day, I've never experienced physical pain like that in my life. It progressed FAST and furious and my body told me when it was time to push, even before the doctors did. Two pushes and he was here.

I guess that brings me to my third and final labor/delivery experience. You may already know that we had a false alarm and spent the day at the hospital two days before the baby was actually born, frustratingly being sent home at the end of that day because I was still only 3cm dilated. That was Wednesday. Friday morning, my contractions woke me up at 4am and I knew in my gut that it was Actually Time. I woke B up, we woke up my parents who were already staying at our place that night, and we left. The hour-long drive to the hospital was stressful but we made it. We were admitted at 6am. After vomiting once and laboring for much longer than I wanted without any pain management, I was finally given the epidural around - what was it, 7cm? I think so. It was only about 75% effective, but it was certainly enough to take the edge off and it was a welcome relief. My labors move fast, apparently. The L&D nurse was so incredibly kind and encouraging - telling me I was doing amazing, that my pain tolerance is incredibly high, and that I was cranking out those contractions. When I was fully dilated, the midwife (who also saw me for my false alarm and who I had become very fond of by that point) told me we were ready to go. Let's push this baby out. Four pushes and there he was. He had arrived at 39+2. He looks just like Holden did as a newborn. He's healthy and happy and it's been absolute smooth sailing as far as his health goes, thank goodness. That's all I wanted.

So, with that, the family is feeling very complete. It was a scary thought, but now it's mostly just a welcome one. I won't have to go through the pain, anxiety, and trauma of another pregnancy, labor, and delivery again. That part of the journey is thankfully in the rear view. There was a time when I thought I wouldn't have kids - at that time, I never would have believed you if you told me I'd end up having three. Now, though, I can't imagine not having done it. Life has a way of doing that, I suppose.

[confused-bi-queer]

It’s Wednesday and I’m trying to not freak out because I’ll return to school on Monday and goodbye writing time:c

Thanks for the tag @palimpsessed @larkral​ @stitchyqueer and @cutestkilla​ 

I’m a bit bad with fic recs BUT I’ve been reading long fics lately since I had the time and the last one was Poison In His Blood by notcanoncompliant. I really enjoyed that fic. Stars werewolf!Simon. And I just loved it. Even bookmarked it.

Well, now to the good part.

Regarding my Ballet AU, I’m struggling to end Chapter 14 but here’s some words from Chapter 10, which is the next chapter to come out.

Do you think Baz has suffered enough? Well. It’s Simon’s turn now.

“Snow,” I call him as he drinks the last sip of his water. He looks my way, and raises his eyebrows, silently asking me to go on. “Doesn’t your mum have alcohol? Or something to drink?”

It is getting sort of late, and the drinks always come after a splendid dinner. If we were at the Manor and Father liked Snow, he would have pulled out a bottle of alcohol already to continue with the lovely night. Joking around by getting just a bit tipsy.

His expression darkens a bit. He shakes his head, putting down his glass.

“She…” He sighs, looking away. “She doesn’t like me drinking. It’s bad augury.”

“May I ask for what?”

He keeps looking away.

“Dad was an alcoholic bastard and—Well, I guess you can imagine the rest.”

I really like this chapter, because it led me to write other 4 more, but the words aren’t getting out at all, so I decided to leave that fic alone for now because I’m going to get sick of it if I try to write more. WHICH IS WHY I found myself writing the next chapter for Protecting you like a Pitch. 

I have to admit that I feel like that fic is really meh for people who read my stuff for no reason. And it doesn’t make any sense because it’s literally my most popular fic, most kudoed, most bookmarked, most everything, and it still feels smol to me.

But well. Ignored the fic for five months and wrote Chapter 18 last night. I just published it, actually. So here’s a few words because I can’t never leave the boys be happy:

I always dreamed of the Mage loving me; he was my savour, after all, so I thought expecting those feelings from him was only logical. He must have had his reasons to show Watford to me, right? Other than wanting a soldier? A puppet?

I look at Baz, and I can’t help feeling that he was right all these years.

I was the Mage’s little dog, following after its owner without a question.

Of course Baz has apologised for having offended me so many times—I have as well—, but his words were always true. And I always knew, but I tried to fool myself. I tried to accept the Mage’s screams, his reprimands, and disappointed looks, because I genuinely thought I was the problem. And I was. Wasn’t as well.

Watching Baz defend me in such a feral way because it was unfair and wrong for the Mage to treat me the way he had always treated me was a shocker. My world turned upside down.

The chapter isn’t about exclusively that, but I thought of the Mage being an asshole and thought of making these two wips have that in common.

Welp, now tagging! @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @martsonmars @tea-brigade @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @forabeatofadrum @bazzybelle @bookish-bogwitch @moodandmist @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @erzbethluna @johnwgrey @captain-aralias @basiltonbutliketheherb @ileadacharmedlife @kherub @artsyunderstudy @dragoneggos @sillyunicorn @ionlydrinkhotwater @foolofabookwyrm-activated @raenestee @whatevertheweather @ic3-que3n @angelsfalling16 @hushed-chorus @whogaveyoupermission @yeonjunenby @kohatenz @ineffable-grimm-pitch @ninemagicks @nightimedreamersworld @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @onepintobean @shrekgogurt

[petrichorium]

I literally wake up every wednesday full of anxiety now 😃 I'm still reading the manga cause I can't stand the thought of something bad happening and me finding out second-hand. way back when I started jjk I said if this veers too far into torture porn territory (like aot in my opinion) I'll drop it. but now I can't 😭

I wrote an in-depth response but tumblr ate it and I cannot be assed to write it all up again sorry

But in essence: ur so valid, I have not given a shit about jjk since the end of the extermination arc, I feel like the end to this fight is already obvious so everyone freaking out about it every week pisses me off bc Im basically already mourning, & it just feels like gege is being spiteful and I truly wish he’d just drop the series if he hates it that much.

I would be happy to be proven wrong tho

[asmutwriter]

Welcome to the Freak Show (Part 17)

When I wrote this part and the next part I defiantly cried. I feel like that says more about me and the fact I was on my period rather then the fact this was actually sad or well written but enjoy non the less

Eddie x Reader

WORD COUNT: 2704

From beginning / Previous / Next / Master List

WARNINGS: season 4 spoilers, swearing, mentions of death, mentions of murder, mourning

DISCLAIMERS

-  This is fiction. Please always talk to your partner before doing anything and make sure they are ok with what you are doing beforehand

As promised Eddie stays the night. You call in sick to work for the next couple of days. When he doesn’t turn up at your house you start to relax again. Hopefully you’ll never see him again. The whole time Eddie stays with you. He misses school but, as he says, that isn’t unusual for him so they won’t be surprised. Once he knows your feeling calmer he goes back to his on the Saturday. Alice comes over and joins you for the weekend. Staying with you until you have work on Monday. She sits in the restaurant with you throughout your whole shift. Reading whilst you work. Then she drives you back to your house. You comfort her and tell her you’ll be fine on your own so she leaves. And you are. 

You’ve heard rumours that Chris went back to the army camp so you were happy to be by yourself again. You see Eddie on Wednesday after. You hang out together and he notices you seem a lot more cheerful. He doesn’t ask about it as he doesn’t want to stress you, but he can tell you are happier. You help him with his studies, knowing his exams are in a few weeks. 

Today was no different. It was the beginning of March. The first Wednesday of March in fact. You go through his English with him. Quizzing him on the book he’s meant to know relatively off by heart. Half way through you reading a passage to him he takes your wrist. You look at him confused. He pushes your sleeve up slightly and points at a small moon tattoo that’s on the inside of your wrist. “I wanted to have one that both matched but was also unique on my other wrist. Given that you did the one on my left arm” he nods

“How many you got now then” you count on your hands before holding up six fingers. He smiles “Let’s see”

“So I’ve got that one which you saw. Then I managed to get this one” you show behind your ear that there’s a design of flowers and swirls. You look around slightly before lifting your shirt up. Showing your side boob to him where a little heart outline sits. “I did them all myself apart from the one behind my ear. I got that one done by my friend” he nods

“I’m sorry for being a bad influence on you” you laugh as you pull your shirt down again

“I had tattoos before I met you”

“Correction. You had a tattoo before you met me. Singular. Now you have six″ you laugh again and nod

“True. True” you go to carry on reading but he shushes you, gently lowering the book

“Enough now. Please” you chuckle 

“Fine. We can carry on next Wednesday” he lets out an annoyed groan as you laugh. “I know you dislike it but if you pass then you can leave school by the end of this year. Unfortunately you have to go through the torture of revision” he falls backwards from the bench, his legs still over the seat as his body lies on the floor. You laugh, standing up and leaning over the table to look at him

“I’m dead”

“Come on” you reach your hands out to help him up, which he grabs and you pull him up. 

“Are you thinking of going to college next year?” you shake your head

“I don’t think I’ll get anything out of college to be honest. I don’t want a fancy job. I just want to earn money” you pick at your fingers

“How are your parents coping with that though?” you laugh

“They think I should become a doctor. Because that’s the career Michael has chosen” he laughs slightly as you smile at him, looking at your hands “My aim in life is to find a man that I can have children with. I’m not bothered by my career. I want a family” he nods and looks at you

“How’s that going for you?”

“Not well. Most of the men I’ve gone on dates with just try and get in my pants. Or they start proposing straight away”

“Jesus”

“Yeah not fun. But the joys of dating I suppose. Got to go through the nutters before finding ‘the one’”

"What’s ‘the one’ for you then?”

“Oh god. I don’t know if I have a type... sense of humour is always good. Slightly protective of me. Not badly so, but the kind of guy who will hold my hand in public if he sees other guys looking at me. But also doesn’t care if I go out on my own. Kind as well. I guess the stuff that every girl says they want in a man though, right?” he nods slightly “What’s your type?”

“I don’t know. Never really thought about it. Every girl I’ve been with seems to only want me to make someone else jealous or mad. I just take it whenever I can because it’s rare that a girl actually likes me for me”

“To clarify. I like you for who you are. I appreciate I’m probably not someone you’d get romantically involved with but I do like you for you and I am a girl” he laughs slightly

“You are one of my few female friends though” he thinks for a moment “in fact my only female friend. And also longest female friend”

“Thanks dude”

“I never would’ve thought we’d be as close as we are. You are one of my best friends. I feel like I could tell you anything” you smile

“Yeah I feel the same. You and Alice are the two I trust the most”

“I’m honoured. Truly” he smiles at you as you smile at him

“We should go back. I’ll see you next week though?” he nods

“See you next week”

-

Two weeks pass. You’ve finished studying with Eddie on your usual Wednesday meetup and are chatting away. "You are wrong. Chocolate is defiantly the best flavour of ice cream”

“Nah man. Defiantly rum and raisin”

“Are you saying that purely because it has rum in it?”

“It’s an alcoholic desert, what’s not to love!” you laugh as you lean back slightly and look up at the sky. You feel his eyes trail down your body. You look at him, his eyes darting away quickly. Looking at his watch “Shit its getting late”

“I’ll see you next Wednesday right?” he nods

“It’s the holidays next week so I have no school” you laugh as he stands up and does what you assume to be a happy dance but you aren’t to sure. You laugh as you watch him

“Why don’t you come round for the holiday? We can spend the week together. We can chill out and I can quiz you on your upcoming exams”

“You had me at the coming over part. But the exam part I’ll pass on”

“Come on. You won’t even notice. We can do a drinking game whilst I quiz you. Something like we go through the questions at the back of the book and whoever guesses it the slowest has to drink. Can’t possibly think of how that could go wrong” he laughs 

“I like the sound of that more... Sure. I’ll see you on Saturday morning, say about 11?” you nod and smile

“I look forward to it”

-

Saturday comes about. Now Eddie has never been punctual but it was 11:45 and you were worried. You gnaw at your bottom lip as you wait by the door. Your phone rings making you jump. You rush over to it “Hello?”

“Turn on the news. Now” Alice says. Rushing over you turn the TV on. The news anchor speaks as you watch in horror 

“-teen been found murdered. We aren’t sure what led to this brutal attack but-”

“Isn’t that where Eddie lives?” you hear Alice whisper on the other end of the phone.

“I- no. No. It can’t be him” you shake your head in disbelief. Eyes glued to the screen. You shake your head and drop the phone as you see his trailer in the background. Tears stream down your face as fear washes over you. You fall to the ground and hug your legs. Hands going to your eyes as you start to cry. About 20 minutes pass and a knock on the door makes you aware of the world around you but only for a moment. Alice manages to open the door. You don’t care how, you just feel her come and sit by you and hug you, stroking your hair as you cry. Her eyes stay fixed on the screen. 

“Liz. It’s not him...” you look up

“-Body of the teenage girl was left-”

“It’s not him... But that’s his house...”

“Oh Liz” you look at Alice as she strokes your hair.

-

You wait with Alice all day. She even stays overnight. You hope he’ll turn up on Sunday morning but no luck, so you get dressed from yesterday’s clothes. Grabbing a bag and head out to his trailer. You see his home surrounded by police and tape. You walk around the area. Hoping for any signs of him but you find nothing. You stand near where the commotion is. Listening in. They just say that the body of Chrissy Cunningham was found dead at the scene. You go back to your house. Alice still there “You ok?” you nod

“It’s not him. Chrissy from school, the year below us. It was her they found dead”

“In his house?” you nod

“But he’s not dead...”

“He just likely committed a murder” you nod. 

“We can find him. Please. Hess probably scared and confused and we have to help him”

“I’m sorry Liz. I love you. You know I do. But I’m not helping you find someone who’s just murdered a girl our age”

“We don’t know he did it”

“We don’t know he didn’t do it either. I’m sorry. I truly am” you nod slightly. Thinking about what she just said.

“He was meant to come over yesterday... do you-” Tears prick at your eyes as you look up at her “do you think if she wasn’t killed I would’ve been?” she lets out a sigh, running her hands through her hair and shaking her head

“I don’t know...”

“Do you really think he murdered her?”

“I hope he didn’t but the evidence isn’t in his favour” you wipe your eyes as she comes over and hugs you. You hug her back. “I need to go home ok? I’ll be back tomorrow after my shift though” she holds your face between hands hands, forcing you to look at her “You’ll be ok. If he turns up here, please call me or the police” you nod slightly. 

Every day you go by his trailer. Hoping to find something. Someone. But no luck. You wear the necklace he got for you. The small chain dangling round your neck. Wanting him to be close to you. You get into the shower. First one in about a week. Then the earthquake hits. Once it passes you quickly chuck on some clothes and run outside. Helping those who were hurt immediately outside of your home from the events.

The next day you help set up the small refuge centre for those who were made homeless from the earthquake. Taking along your old clothes, some food and blankets. Even some old toys. Helping out wherever you can. You notice his uncle walk in. Alone. Going to the missing person’s board and placing a poster. Your heart sinks. They still hadn’t found Eddie? You mentally shake yourself.

Another day goes past. You go via his trailer in hopes of any sign of life before heading to the centre. Alice meets you there. Helping you fold clothes and place them into different genres. Women, men’s and children’s. Then you hear a young boy call out for Mr Munson. You look up slightly. Seeing a boy with curly hair talking to the uncle. You see them exchange words, the younger starting to get teary. You try and listen in on what they’re saying. “I-I’m so sorry” you see the boy hand him a necklace. Eddies necklace. You feel tears prick your eyes. Alice turns to you, going to say something about the dress she was holding up but stops

“Liz...?” you shake your head, tears starting to fall from your cheeks. Looking at her

“He-He’s dead” you whisper.

“Oh no, Liz” she says, going to hug you. You shake your head 

“I’m sorry... I-I need a minute” you place the shirt you were holding down. Tears falling down your face as you drive back to your house. Getting in, shutting the door behind you. You let out a scream. You collapse to the ground. Hiding your face in your hands as hours go past as you cry. You eventually get up. Knowing time has passed as the sun is no longer up. You go into your room. Grabbing out the Iron Maiden shirt he had gifted you. Taking off all your clothes and placing it on your body as well as the jacket he’d gifted you. Then grabbing Fred the bear you curl up onto your bed. Crying into the soft fur of the bear until you fall asleep. 

The next day you wake up. Your whole body feeling numb. You go to work, knowing you have a shift but you do it out of routine. You don’t have the mental strength. You also wear the same shirt you wore at night. Plus the jacket. Only taking it off when your boss says something. The next day you do the same thing. Wearing the same shirt and jacket. Just wondering round like a zombie. Doing chores, making yourself eat and drink. But your mind is blank. You cry whenever you have a free moment to yourself. So you try and be busy. Working overtime more. It’s been 4 days since you found out the news about Eddie. Your boss sees you cleaning tables and walks over. ”It’s your day off. Go home”

“Please. I need to be here”

“You haven’t left here in 20 hours. Go home. Get some rest. Eat and drink. I’ll see you in a couple of days” you nod slightly. Walking back to your house. You get in. Collapsing onto your bed. As soon as you hit the pillow you start crying. All the memories of him flooding your brain. How he laughed. His smile. Him trying to distract you from helping him revise. You lie on your back. Kissing the necklace that was around your neck. “I’m sorry Eddie. I’m so sorry. You were the best thing that happened to me... and you’ll never know” you hide your face. Gently crying yourself to sleep. 

-

A few weeks pass. Although you were still mourning Eddie’s death you had started to get back to normal. You had arranged with your parents that you would move out of Hawkins as it now had too many bad memories associated with it. So you lived in boxes. Thankfully they were rich enough to be able to buy you a place outright so you didn’t need to worry about selling the house before you moved. You had managed to shower in the recent week. Not wanting to so that the scent of his shirt stayed on you for longer. But you had managed to shower and wash, even clean the house up a bit as you were currently living in boxes. You were just looking at houses at the moment, waiting for the right one to show up before you moved out. As soon as you found it your parents would pay for it and you would be living your new life. Out of habit you would go to your usual meeting spot every Wednesday. You knew no one went there so you would take a book or some paper and go and relax for an hour or so. You found it helped you feel closer to him even when you knew he couldn’t be with you anymore

TAGS

@karma2223 @fknemily @sammararaven

[harleysarchive]

Among You and Me - Corpse x Reader Oneshot (part 2)

Fandom: Corpse, youtubers Warning: Profanity, a lot of swear words, fluffiness, quite long Pairing: Corpse x f!reader Summary: You and Corpse continues with your conversations and it makes you realize that you have feelings for each other. 

Requested

< Previous | Next >

After Corpse had followed you on instagram the two of you talked like nonstop for days. It almost felt like you had known him for years. You had the same humor and he talked about some horror stories he wanted to do and you thought they sounded cool - but not wanting to admit that they scared you as well. You talked about school and how stressed out you were for the essays and exams that were coming up soon.

“I have an exam next Wednesday so I will be off the internet the whole day :(“ you wrote and buried your head in your pillow. 

“That sucks big time.”

“It doesss.”

“Wait… Then you will miss my upcoming stream that day :(“

Shit, you thought. You really wanted to see his stream but right now you don’t have time for it. Which sucks even more than school.

“Probably, I’m sorry :(“ you said and locked your phone to get ready for school.

Corpse POV.

I read the message she sent again and didn’t know what to answer. My brain was so tired so it had problems with coming up with coherent replies. I was not prepared for how the feeling of hurt and sadness that came with that response.

Why did I react like this, of course she has other stuff to do than to watch my stream…

But I couldn’t shake the hurt feeling from my chest. Even though we only had talked for a couple of days it felt like we had known each other for longer than that. She felt like a close friend almost. And when she was with me on my streams, it reduced my anxiety and my nervousness to know that she was watching, somehow it eased my nerves a lot.

Why do I need you there with me to feel safe? he thought to himself and started to type in a response.

“It’s okay, nail those exams for me ;)” he hit send. Thoughts fucking exams that is keeping you away from my stream.

Wait, wait, where the fuck did that thought come from? 

I shook my head, trying to think about something else. I pressed on (Y/N)’s profile on instagram and started to go through her feed. There were some selfies, some pictures of nature and different places where she had been. Some pictures with friends and some with her family. I stopped on a specific selfie of her. She looked so beautiful on it, all I could do was to admire it - and her. Then I did something I thought I’d never do. I took a screenshot of the photo and saved it as my background on my phone.

I will never meet her so this won’t do any harm, I told myself before I fell asleep.

Your POV.

You threw your bag at the couch and fell down face first in the bed. School was killing you at the moment and it wasn’t better with the essays that were piling up on your schedule. You groaned into the pillow and then took up your phone, one message from instagram. You opened it and it was from Corpse. Your heart made a little extra jump everytime you saw the name appear, and that he had answered you. You smiled and read the text. 

“It’s okay, nail those exams for me ;)”

“I will try my best to ace them, just for you ;)” you felt bold writing the last part. But what the hell right? 

You hit send and waited for him to respond. He was probably asleep now, knowing his weird sleeping schedule. Not wanting to wait the whole day - it would drive you nuts and also give you thoughts like “what if I’m annoying or disturbing him?” “what if my message woke him up and he’ll get mad and never want to talk to me again?” “what if…” you know?

You opened your texted book and tried your hardest to study, but it was hard when your mind was constantly wanders away to Corpse - the man that has been on your mind all the time lately and you didn’t mind it really. 

Is it possible to fall in love with someone that you haven’t met? you thought. Because if it is so, then I’m fucked...

Corpse POV.

I must’ve slept for more than three hours for the first time in weeks because I almost didn’t feel dead. I looked over at my phone and I had two messages. One from Dave checking up on me and one from (Y/N). I checked (Y/N)’s message first.

“I will try my best to ace them, just for you ;)”

I got a warm feeling on my chest reading the last part, just for you. I liked that. I liked that a lot actually, more than I liked to admit to myself. I looked at my background picture and there she was smiling at me. Even though it was just a picture from instagram it felt like she smiled at me. And only to me. Some confidence sparked inside of me and I messaged her again.

“Can I get your number?”

Your POV.

You had taken a break from your studying and were watching Mark, Bob, Wade and Sean playing Phasmophobia. It was hilarious to watch. Your phone lit up and you had gotten a message from Corpse on instagram. 

“Can I get your number?”

You stared at the message, he wanted your number. Your thumbs were typing but were shaking so bad, all this kinds of emotions can’t be good for you. 

“Of course!” you typed and then wrote down your number to him. You hit send and bit nervously on your nails. Not long after you got a message from an unknown number.

Hey is this (Y/N)?

Yes is it! Corpse?

Oh thank god! I was nervous I had typed in it wrong and were messaging some weirdo.

You smiled at the two of you continued your conversations throughout the evening.

Some days later it was Wednesday and you had one of your exams. You were a little bit nervous but not a lot. You had tried your best to study, even with obvious distractions, and you had got some informations in your brain. 

Wish me luck on my exam! you send to Corpse, knowing fully that he was sleeping, it was early in the morning, or perhaps he hasn’t even gone to bed yet. Yoy got a ding on your phone.

Good luck (Y/N), not that you need it you are a smart girl. But I know that you are going to kill it 🖤

The heart in the end made your heart jump. 

How am I suppose to consentrate when he sends me stuff like that? 

The exam went like a dream, you knew all the answers to all the questions and it went by fast. You felt pleased with yourself and looked at the clock and it was just before noon. Corpse livestream had just begun!

If I grab a quick lunch I can get home before it is over! you thought to yourself and walked as fast as you could towards the school cafeteria and then straight home.

You made it just in the middle of the stream, they were playing Among Us and Corpse were super nervous. You felt bad for him because you knew that he was great at the game. He didn’t have to be so hard on himself. An idea popped up in your head. You donated 10$ to his stream and wrote:

“You are doing great Corpse and my exam went great ;) much love (Y/N)” 

Now you were just waiting to see if he will notice the message. 

Corpse POV.

My hands were shaking so bad, more than usual. It was normal for me to be nervous before and during a stream but today my nerves were going crazy. I was making rookie mistakes as a impostor, like wtf I am supposed to be the number one impostor here. 

Fuck I wish my hands would stop shaking so bad, why am I so nervous? Well I knew the answer to the question but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. (Y/N) wasn’t here watch and it sucked so bad. I felt lonely and anxious. I looked over at the chat and was that I had recieved a donation with a message.

“”You are doing great Corpse and my exam went great ;) much love (Y/N)” Why thank you-... Wait a minute, (Y/N)?” my voiced cracked at the end of the sentence and I am sure someone caughed up with my surprised and overly excited tone. I took up my phone and texted her fast.

Please tell me that was you who wrote that.

I waited and I saw the three dots going of, not helping with my anxiety one bit.

Yes it was me, I finished much earlier with my exam than I anticipated, so I hurried home to see your stream. 

My heart became all warm over her message and I didn’t even notice that I had held my breath before I let out a huge sigh. She hurried home to watch me. My hands were shaking but not over my nervousness, but from excitement and, i don’t know happiness maybe. Three dots appeared again on the screen.

I couldn’t leave you alone when I know how nervous you get when you’re streaming.

Fuck... That sentence made me fall over the edge, if I haven’t already. I am falling for (Y/N) and I haven’t even met her... 

Yet.

A/N: Upon many requests, here is part two! It made me so happy to see all the comments on my first oneshot and how well recieved it got. Thank you all so freaking much! :D

Tags:

@annshit @artist-bby @polahorvat @wibblytimey @sadlysober @usuie12 @lunaruss @yeolliedokai @fanworrior @kirislut @deathcompass @pillowjj @simonsbluee @reddeserths  

[melaninkimchi]

Beauty Supply Imagine (Bang Chan x Reader)

You know the vibes alreadyyyy, this one is specifically for our melanated girlies. Real wholesome. Wrote this list style imagine eons ago and just go around to posting, please enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - You run a beauty supply with stray kids -You and Chris are the store managers -One of you is always there, so your shifts barely overlap (although you wish they did all the time) -You usually are scheduled to work open shift from 10am to 4pm, sometimes you have to come in earlier for the weekly deliveries -Seungmin always helps you open on weekdays, and usually Minho is there too -Seungmin is your favorite responsible baby, Minho and you are two crackheads in a peapod -On weekends Jeongin comes in to help, along with Felix -Felix is your special fairy baby, you would do anything for him, well almost anything -Jeongin is too grown for his own good so you ignore him sometimes -Chris is usually closing from 4-10 with Changbin and Hyunjin on weeknights -When they have night classes, Jisung comes in, and picks up extra hours on weekends -Felix does weekend close with Chris sometimes and pulls a double -It's how he affords all those skins in LoL -Anyway your shop is highly profitable -Your expertise is crochet hair. And wigs...you love secretly trying on wigs -One time Chris came in 30 mins early and caught you while your two minions were up front at register -He laughed his butt off and pulled on his own wig -While you adjusted it for him you realized how handsome he was -And almost kissed his dimple -That was scary cause then you had to try to recover from almost imprinting your clear gloss on the man's cheek -Another time the shop got in a limited-edition order of satin lined bonnets -He knew you always needed a spare bonnet -So one night while he was stocking, he had Hyunjin ring him up one -"Dude you don't need this." -"How do you know I don't need this?" -He came in early again the next day and presented it to you while you were tagging the kaneklon -You hugged him so tight -It made him so happy, he felt all sparkly and warm -After that he would ask you if you ever needed anything -Even before all that, he'd volunteer to work a double for you so you could have two days off instead of one -On Wednesdays the shop owner manager-nim would man the store with his co-owner manager-nim 2 -"Y/N, take Thursday off too, I'll open at 10, it's just 12 hours." -"Noooo, you know boss doesn't like us to go overtime." -"Okay well, how about on Friday you can stay til 6, the I'll just come in then to inventory and do deposit." -"Fine Chris..." But thank heavens for that cause sometimes you did need two days off in a row -Then he'd come in at 4 anyway to follow you around and make you laugh until he clocked in officially -One time you tried to cover him like that -"I appreciate the offer, but I'm saving money so need the hours" -"For what, you roommate with two other dudes" "Maybe it's a surprise for someone I really care about." -Then he stared at you for too long and you got scared and ran to hide in the bundled weave section -After y'all had worked together for almost a year, he asked you for his first favor -"Switch shifts with me" -"Sure, no problem" -You got to sleep in and finish your mini twists all before work -You closed with Jisung who became your best buddy in hours and Hyunjin who u quickly brought under submission -You were texting your roommate to ask her to pick you because your car was getting fixed -And you noticed a car pull up out front at 9:50 -You were instantly annoyed The store closed at 9, y'all would just use the last hour to stock, clean up and close registers -"Who is this? I mean really?" You peeked out and saw Chris grinning at the door -In his hands were flowers, a bunch of carnations -"Dude what?" -" These are for you y/n. Would you honor me with a late dinner at the river walk?" -All you could think about was how adorable he looked in his beanie with his sweater sleeves rolled up -"Freaking yes, let me grab my purse and tell the boys we're leaving" -The boys were already in back putting on their jackets (they saw everything from the aisle where y'all kept the haircolor) -The date was superb, he prepared fruits and pastries and pizza and bought your favorite drink -And

asked to hold your hand while y'all walked -And complimented the new gems you got to put in your twists -Needless to say, he quickly became the best boyfriend -Cause how could you say no to being his girl -He buys you satin lined ball caps with the backs big enough to put your puff through -He encourages all your hair changes -He always believes in you and when you tell him you want to open your own store one day, he is your number one supporter

[spooky-z]

Leaving the Mask Behind

Warning:

This story contains language, OOC, Asian bamfs and moral ambiguity.

Maribat by @ozmav​

9.3K

Translations for this story:

妹妹 (mèi mei) – young sister

姉貴 (aneki) – older sister

anh - elder brother / em – younger brother

混蛋 (hún dàn) – bastard

やりまん (yariman) – slu*

女武芸者 (onna-bugeisha) – female martial artist

瓢虫 (piáo chóng) – ladybug

竜 (ryū) – dragon

con khỉ - monkey

大人 (dàrén) - used for an official or a person in authority

meaning "chief" or "leader" -  رئیس (raʾīs)

さま(sama) – respectful to higher rank person

悪 霊(akuryoo) – demon / biblical type

▫▪▪

"I don't believe that... That... Ugh!" Marinette screamed angrily at the walls of her room.

It had been almost twenty minutes since she had been walking back and forth grunting in anger and cursing Lila Rossi's existence. Marinette couldn't believe the audacity of that freaking Italian! She really did that.

“妹妹(mèi mei)! What happened this time?” Kagami invaded the nervous girl's room, without bothering to knock on the hatch door, after all, Kagami Tsurugi was part of the family.

"She did it again, 姉 貴(aneki)!" Marinette replied, throwing a paper ball into Kagami's hands. “That 混蛋(hún dàn)! If I get my hands on that Italian, I'll kill her!”

Ignoring Marinette's outbreak in the background, Kagami carefully stretched the paper, trying not to tear it. She thought it was just another bad joke that Lila had made again; like the one from the previous week, where she wrote a letter all in Italian offending Marinette and lying to the class saying it was a letter praising the girl.

Of course, not even in a million years, she expected to find the "ULTIMATE WARRIOR" in thick letters, painted in red and gold on top of the paper. Much less the words “SELECTED” and the names of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Kagami Tsurugi and Lê Chiến Kim.

Kagami had to read and reread what was written on the paper because she was too stunned by what she was seeing. She couldn't believe that Lila had the courage to enroll them in a combat competition program.

Even more because it was no secret that the program was the extreme of the extreme. Kagami still remembered a competitor who had to be forcibly removed from the competition, for having left three teams - nine people - disabled beyond measure; one of the victims had almost lost his leg movements because he was hit hard by the guy's blade.

For God's sake! Competitors had to sign documents exempting the program from any liability in the event of a fatality.

And Lila signed them up for it. Even though she knew everything, she signed them up because she wanted to see them suffer.

“That や り ま ん(yariman)!” Kagami spat, crumpling the paper again and throwing it to the floor in anger. "Let me get my 短刀(tantō) and we can cut her throat without having to get our hands dirty with her rotten blood."

Marinette sighed in devastation.

"I knew that defending Chloe from Lila's lies would have consequences, but that?" She pointed to the paper ball on the floor. "This is sadism."

Kagami sat on the chaise, pulling the girl with her. She was still simmering with anger, but remembered that she was the oldest there, by a year, but older. So Kagami had to show maturity and comfort her younger sister.

"What she’s doing- what did she did... This is no longer about revenge, mèi mei." Kagami put her arm around the girl's shoulders in comfort. “She's doing it all just to hurt you. Even if you didn't defend Chloe, Lila would find another way to attack you.”

Marinette dropped her head on Kagami's shoulder, tired of it. Tired of Lila Rossi.

“If it were just me, that's would be fine. I would accept it because it wouldn't make a difference to me, but it involved you and anh.”

Kagami laughed. The truth and certainty in Marinette's words made her happy. Knowing that she had a person beside her like Marinette - and Kim - was a gift that she would never be able to pay her parents.

"But at least it's me and em." She answered. "Have you ever thought if she put Chloe and that girl- Rose?"

Marinette snorted, imagining that. "That would have been a colossal disaster."

The two sat on the chaise in a comfortable silence. It was normal, when the two were without Kim, for silence to be part of their day. Both Kagami and Marinette expressed their feelings better through actions.

They were both sitting for a few minutes when the sound of doors slamming and heavy footsteps running downstairs caught their attention. Both recognizing the rhino that was tap dancing around Marinette's house.

It wasn't long before a very smiling Kim's head appeared in the open hatch.

He paced the room in a familiar comfort. Kim practically lived there.

"Mèi mei, aneki!" He said excitedly. "Why do you two looks like death?"

Kagami pointed the paper ball to the floor. "Read."

The boy frowned at Kagami's tone. She hardly spoke like that when it was just the three of them, keeping her cold behavior only to people outside the family.

He picked up the crumpled paper and stretched it without care, his eyes skimming over the written words.

Kim looked up at them. His expression was unreadable.

"You who signed us up, mèi mei?"

Marinette snorted insulted, and pulled her head away from Kagami's shoulder.

“Of course not, anh. This is the work of our dear and beloved, Lila Rossi."

'Hm' came from him. The eyes going back to the paper, analytical. Probably thinking about something that Marinette and Kagami hadn't thought of yet, as they were both too angry for that.

Many believed that Kim was a silly boy. Obviously, he made a point of acting like the jester with his classmates and in a way, he was, but no one but the family knew about the real Kim.

The smart, cold, strategist and merciless Kim. Of the three, Kim was the most likely to participate in a carnage and still make it look like a trip to the mall.

"I think we should accept this opportunity, 灌(Guàn)." He said clinical.

Kagami shuddered in surprise at the boy's words. Marinette beside the girl, had the same reaction. Of the three there, Kim was the most heavily camouflaged, so for him to suggest that meant...

"... You don't intend to pretend anymore." Marinette said Kagami's thoughts aloud.

The boy sighed, looking older and more tired. The paper was still firm in his hand.

"Technically, we are not pretending, just... not being completely sincere." He pointed. "But yes. That's exactly what I'm saying.”

"But Kim-Giáp, you know that as soon as we are 'sincere', things will change." Kagami said, hope growing in her heart. She hated having to put on a mask to leave home and interact with people. "There will be no turning back."

“There is nothing else for us here. Guàn has been suffering to remain civilized in order not to attract the attention of her parents, I am tired of having to make a fool of myself for those idiots and you, Kagami, also do not like having to put on the ‘girl without friends’ mask, to keep the peace." He sat down heavily next to Marinette. "Mars, if you agree, I want to do this."

Marinette stared at the floor, lost in thought.

Kim was right, of course. None of the three could take it until they were eighteen or finished the lycée to get rid of their classmates, Bustier or Lila. But Marinette also feared, because of the three, she was the person who would have the most changes in life.

After all, the agreement was that as soon as she decided to become Cheng's head, the engagement- her engagement, would be understood as accepted. And maybe Marinette was still a little afraid to leave the comfort, because she didn't know who her promised husband was.

But then she thought about the hell that Dupont was being and how just changing schools would not solve the problems of the three. They were suffocating being something they were not.

She lifted her head and looked at the boy.

"So, you better say goodbye to that blond hair." And smiled. Kagami practically vibrated with joy beside her.

Kim rolled his eyes before shoving her with his shoulder.

"At least I won't be forced to see those awful pig tails anymore."

"HEY!"

"He's right."

“Aneki!”

Now they just needed to finish enrolling for the program, let families know about the change in plans and what the expected consequences are.

They only had a month to settle everything and compete in the program.

▫▪▪

For a month the trio did not appear in Dupont.

In the first week, Lila was easily the first to notice the lack of a certain girl in the classroom, internally congratulating herself for breaking another one.

Next were Max and Alix, believing that Kim was sick. They went to the boy's house only to come across a “property for sale” sign. Needless to say, they came back to school confused and sad.

The third person to notice was surprisingly, Chloe Bourgeois. The girl only realized that Dupain-Cheng and Lê Chiến were missing when Lila started spreading lies about her and Marinette was not there to act as guardian of morals.

Nino and Sabrina noticed at the same time, but neither of them paid much attention because they knew the duo and knew that sporadically, Marinette and Kim (and Kagami) would disappear for a while and then return as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the class noticed at the same time as Bustier. One Wednesday, in the middle of the third week absent, the teacher entered the classroom with heavy eyes and hunched shoulders. The word "transferred" and the names "Marinette, Kim" were all they got before Alix became a berserker.

Alya didn't even blink at the announcement. Glad that Lila was safe now that her mother managed to get rid of her daughter's bullies.

Adrien failed to maintain the perfect model expression. When he arrived at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, he was greeted with employees never seen before. No sign of Marinette or her parents.

He also realized that Kagami was strangely absent from fencing classes and that the calls went directly to voicemail. The blood ran cold in his veins.

▫▪▪

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, on a strangely sunny Monday in Gotham; a letter with a thick envelope and sealed with a ladybug coat of arms arrived at Wayne Mansion.

They were all together for breakfast when Alfred, the butler, handed the red, black wax-sealed envelope to Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's youngest son.

His father, his brothers and his almost brothers, curious about the unusual situation.

When he opened the letter and realized its contents, a deformed smile took over the face that until then, was always frowning.

Everyone was able to hear the ‘Finally’ coming from the boy, before he disappeared upstairs without exchanging a word with the family.

“Damian Al Ghul Wayne, we would like to announce that Cheng Guàn will finally be taking over the Cheng head next month. She accepted her role as head of the family and will be announcing through her participation in Ultimate Warrior, accompanied by the heads of Tsurugi and Lê.

We would like to challenge you one last time, as a demonstration that Cheng Guàn is more than able to walk and fight alongside you.

Best regards,

Cheng Hua.”

Not very traditional, but it would do.

As he read the program rules, the only thought in the boy's mind was that he and his brothers were going to have a lot of fun ending up with anyone who wasn't even minimally decent.

▫▪▪

Marinette was just finishing tying the laces on her boot when Kim fully armored came in with the phone to the ear.

While he was finishing talking to what was probably his ‘war assistant’ - if the Vietnamese indicated anything - she watched her brother well, now that he wasn’t trying to hide under the jester mask.

Giáp had dyed his hair back to its natural color, removing the blonde once and for all. He preferred not to cut his hair completely, leaving the sides and nape shorter than the top, combed with gel to the side. Like a businessman.

His tactical military suit was identical to that of Kagami and Guàn, only further reinforced in places of impact such as fists and knees. The face had full protection to prevent accidents, only the eyes uncovered, but only because he had taken off his glasses since they were not yet in the field.

He would fight only with fists at first.

Kagami was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, meditating. Her tactical suit was a little more mixed with her kendo suit, since she was wearing her armor over her clothes. The 胴(dō) on her chest, 小 手(kote) on her wrists, 垂 れ(tare) on her waist, and the 面(men) lying comfortably on the floor beside her, along with her twin 刀(katana) with red blades and the 十 文字 槍(jūmonji yari) that she had won for her sixteenth birthday last year.

There was also a cloth mask covering her nose and mouth, and sports glasses over her eyes to keep out dust.

Guàn wore the totally pure military tactical suit. A little more pulled into an anti-riot suit, but not as bulky, because she didn't want to impair her mobility and her mask was a totally black ballistic mask.

On the table in the tiny waiting room - a tent - there were two types of rifles: A Colt M4 and an Arctic Warfare; two Glock and a Revolver with tranquilizer ammunition ready to reload. The five were airsoft guns. In addition to two training Cold Steel. The armament just for her.

It was as soon as Giáp hung up the phone and Kagami opened her eyes, that a staff appeared at the door of their tent warning that the competition would start in five minutes, saying it was time to finish getting ready because they would soon come to pick them up.

The three looked at each other with equally bloody smiles.

▫▪▪

ULTIMATE WARRIOR is a war-type competition program.

With each team consisting of three (3) competitors, they will have to fight against each group in order to redeem the One (1) Million Euro prize. That is, the team must defeat all other teams in order to redeem the prize. Only one team leaves UW undefeated.

The competition takes place once a year and is hosted in ghost towns around the world and recorded live for TV channels. It has no minimum duration, with the maximum reached being 5h.

UW is a very prestigious event; participants are usually military or combatants of some kind.

The minimum age for participation is sixteen (16) and the maximum is thirty (30).

Non-lethal weapons are allowed.

Competitors are eliminated by voluntary withdrawal, if they are knocked out or by serious injuries.

Any type of aggression that results in fatalities or near fatalities is completely prohibited. The punishment for breaking the rule is jail.

▫▪▪

As the UW was something really important worldwide, almost like the Olympics or the World Cup, the day was given as a holiday by all countries in the world; then everyone would sit in front of their televisions and watch the competition cheering for their favorite or those from their country.

In Paris, the city hall set up a screen under the Eiffel Tower and the population came with their families to watch with the rest of the Parisians.

That was no different that year. Mlle. Bustier’s class all together, some accompanied by their parents or siblings and others - like Lila - alone or with their bodyguards - like Adrien -.

They were sitting on the lawn having silly conversations when Mylène's voice caught everyone's attention.

“... Isn't that Adrien's friend? Kagami? I guess." The blonde raised his head to look around, but couldn't find the girl.

"I don't see anyone like her." He replied confused.

"Oh." Rose sighed. “On the screen. It's Kim.”

And everyone turned to see that it was actually Kim, Kagami and Marinette on the screen, being announced as Team B.

"What..." Alix sighed in disbelief.

"... And in team B, we have Lê Chiến Giáp, only 16 years old." The camera focused on who Kim should be - they were not sure, as the person was completely camouflaged in tactical clothing and a mask, and the hair did not appear to be blond -, standing with a broad chest and quite intimidating.

Half the screen was divided, one that filmed Kim and the other with his info and a 3x4 photo of his face.

"He will be the fists of team B. The boy knows how to throw a punch, Will!" One of the narrators continued.

"Yeah, Smith! But have you seen his teammate, Tsurugi Kagami?" The camera started to focus on Kagami, dressed as a Japanese warrior, but also totally unrecognizable. There were two swords stuck in her back - camera showing details of the armor - and in her hand, a trident-like spear. "She is 17 years old!"

Like Kim, there was a 3x4 photo of her with the written info.

“The girl is a real 女 武 芸 者(onna-bugeisha)!” The first narrator, Will, said excitedly.

"But let's not forget about 16-year-old Cheng Guàn!" The footage changed to the third person, fully dressed as a military soldier, a plain black mask that left only her blue eyes uncovered. She, Guàn, had two rifles attached to her back, a Glock attached to each thigh, a Revolver just below the Glock on her right thigh. In addition to a black knife attached to each boot.

The 3x4 photo of Marinette Dupain-Cheng appearing on the screen with the info.

"She'll be the team's sniper!" Smith announced. "This year's contestants..." And they started talking about the rest of the participants, but Mlle. Bustier’s class stopped paying attention.

They were unresponsive.

Or at least almost everyone.

"Wow, I didn't know they were going to participate." Nino commented surprised, but not shocked like the rest of the class. "Did you know that, Chloe?"

The blonde - who for some reason had accompanied them, even without being invited - looked at the boy shaking her head. "No. I was not informed that they would participate. Only that they wouldn't be available for a while.” She sighed. “Did you hear anything, ‘Brina?”

Sabrina looked up from the tablet, shrugging. "Only they'll be back in a week." She replied softly. "Mom has been getting busier and busier, but she told me that soon they would tell us."

Nino nodded, seeming to understand what Sabrina meant and Chloe leaned back in the beach chair she had taken. The conversation dying there.

"Since when are you close to Marinette or Kim?" Ivan asked confused. He never saw any of them minimally close to each other.

"And the ice queen." Alya commented acidly, eyes narrowed on Nino.

"Ah, our parents work for them." Sabrina replied disinterestedly.

"We've known each other since diapers, dude." Nino shook his head.

"What- and why I never heard about it before?” Alix asked with their disregard. "I'm Kim's best friend and he never told me about it."

"Maybe because he didn't want to tell." Chloe murmured, not loud enough for Alix to hear, but loud enough for Adrien and Lila, who were closest to her besides Sabrina and Nino.

Adrien winced at the sharp edge of the words. He didn't like that at all.

Lila, on the other hand, was excited to watch Marinette suffer live for the whole world, but was also a little irritated by the attention she was receiving.

"But I don't understand..." She sighed in delight; they were once again focused on her. “Marinette's parents are just bakers, Kagami's mother is just a fencer and Kim's... What do Kim's parents do? I don't think I've met them before.” She frowned.

She had never seen or heard of Kim's parents.

"Now that you mention it, I also never saw Kim's parents." Max said shocked. "Every time I went to his house, he was alone."

Alya looked back at the atypical trio. Chloe, Nino and Sabrina.

"You are going to tell us right now what is happening!"

Chloe raised her eyebrow, not liking Alya's demanding tone. "Or what, Césaire?"

Alya opened her mouth to reply, but Adrien was faster.

"Nino?"

“My bad, dude. It is not something I am allowed to tell.” The boy shrugged guiltily.

"Yet." Sabrina said out of the blue and everyone looked at the girl waiting for her to elaborate, but she kept quiet.

"-Oh, it's starting." Rose pointed to the screen and the students soon calmed down, their eyes avid on the screen.

▫▪▪

"... 竜(ryū) there are two heading your way." Guàn said in the communicator, her voice muffled by the ballistic mask.

The trained eyes on the street below her, providing cover for Kagami and Giáp to eliminate the other competitors.

"Understood." She heard Kagami respond through the headset. “Con khỉ goes on the right and I on the left. Do any of them have weapons, 瓢虫(piáo chóng)?”

She watched Giáp hide against the stone walls of the hut across the street and Kagami disappear into the hut a little further from where she and Giáp were.

“One unarmed and one with knives. I'm trying to find the third, but no sign of him." She breathed heavily. “Con khỉ the target is fast approaching. Ryū, target at ninety degrees.”

Guàn didn't need to see to know that both Giáp and Kagami had ambushed their targets, but even so, she didn't take her eyes off them.

It was always beautiful to see how gracefully Kagami handled the jūmonji yari or how Giáp did not hesitate to reach the pressure points on the enemy's body, never using too much brute force, only skill and knowledge.

That was why she was almost a little too late to notice the presence in the ruin in which she was hiding. But it was only almost.

The competitor - Team E, she read on the stripe attached to his arm, not much older than her -, didn't have time to react. She was flexible and had the knowledge. Even though he was a combatant, he was no match for her at full capacity.

Guàn was quick to take the knife out of her boot and throw it at him as a distraction. The sniper rifle forgotten in the previous post. She ran while he fumbled with the gun in his hands; she didn't think twice about kicking the back of his knee and when he fell heavily on the clay floor, she didn't hesitate to shoot twice with the Glock.

One dart in the thigh and one in the arm. Where protection was less effective, since the Kevlar did not cover and was just the fabric of the suit covering.

"The third has been neutralized." She said as she put the Glock back in her thigh holster.

"The second too." Giáp replied a little breathlessly. That mask was probably restricting his breathing. Even more because he was a heavy fighter.

"The first one gave up." Kagami said with a mocking tone. The girl hated it when she started to cheer up in a fight and then the person just gave up, for not being able to keep up with her.

“Calm down, Ryū. There are still three- “A siren sounded; the team alert cleared.

"Team E, Team A, Team C eliminated." The announcer's voice loud enough for all the competitors in the Craco ruin - Italy - to be able to hear. “We will have a ten-minute break for competitors to hydrate and replenish their energy.”

"What were you going to say?" Kagami snorted.

It hadn't even been an hour of combat and three teams had already been eliminated. They had taken team E and team A.

Team A was a bunch of filthy elitist pigs, acting contemptuously with them as if they were Asian, were worth less or were easy to beat.

Guàn loved to break the jaw of the leader of the three, Kagami may have stabbed the third a little more violently than recommended and Giáp may have broken the tibia of the second. But it wasn’t like they got a reprimand for it.

Perhaps the producers have turned a blind eye to the rules, only to see the three white supremacists having their asses delivered by three Asian teenagers.

"Okay, we have two to eliminate yet."

She expected them to be a little more challenging.

▫▪▪

In Paris, the class was at different levels of breathing difficulties, but of all, Lila was the most affected.

She didn't know that Dupain-Cheng could be so scary.

"How can she move like this, if she can barely walk straight without falling or hitting something?!" Alya seemed personally offended by Marinette's recent acquired skill.

Chloe snorted mocking the girl.

"Are you serious, Césaire?" She crossed her arms, without patience. "You said you were the girl's best friend for almost a year and you don't know that she can knock someone out with her eyes closed and her hands tied?!"

Alya opened her mouth, but nothing came out in her defense.

"Chloe!" Nino scolded the blonde and Alya felt her heart heat up for being defended by the boy. "It is not their fault that they are ignorant about Guàn's life." And Alya's heart ached with the harsh words.

"They can't talk about it, remember Chlo?" Sabrina asked sweetly, trying to calm Chloe.

The blonde turned her face in a tantrum. There was a pout there.

"I didn't know that Kim knew how to fight." Nathaniel said softly, almost without a voice.

“There is a lot that you don't know about Kim. Or Marinette.” Sabrina said enigmatically.

Adrien was starting to think that they didn't really know anything about the two classmates and the only three who did for some reason wouldn't open their mouth at all.

But he had faith that when the two returned, everything would finally come together. And he would have a very serious conversation with Kagami about hiding things from him.

▫▪▪

Damian was growing more and more impatient. Until that moment he had not yet found his fiancée.

Sure, he had a brief glimpse of her and the other two heads, but all three were armored to the top and he couldn't even make out what color her eyes were. Only that her hair was long and so dark that when the sunlight hit, the color changed to a deep blue.

He, Dick and Jason had eliminated two teams - C and D - with only team B missing. Her team. But somehow, they couldn't find the team anywhere in the ruins of Craco. It was as if they had evaporated with the air.

"I spotted them Demon!" Jason's voice came over the communicator. “They are at the highest point on the e-ek hill! Shit I almost got hit by a dart.”

Damian didn't think twice about leaving his post and running the streets of Craco, closer and closer to the top. On the way, he spotted Dick fighting the man of Team B.

He found Jason crouched behind a rock that was supposed to be the wall of one of the houses, trying not to be hit by the tranquilizer projectiles.

"I'm going up!" He signaled to Jason. "Cover me."

He ran to the entrance to the tower, barely avoiding the projectiles being fired at him. Jason right behind him and Dick alone fighting the other guy.

Damian barely stepped on the top floor when he had to block the yari's blade with his katana. He was fighting the Team B swordswoman and Jason going head to head with Cheng Guàn, Damian's fiancée. The two of them in a shooting contest.

▫▪▪

The Parisian population was quiet. All barely breathing with their eyes glued to the screen. The class was not much different from them. Even Nino, Chloe and Sabrina watched the final confrontation with glazed eyes.

They watched as both Marinette and the other competitor- Jason ran out of ammunition and weapons, without thinking twice about throwing themselves into a fist fight.

They held their breath when it looked like Marinette was finally running out of stamina, Jason taking more and more of the girl's escape routes. Until-

"Piáo chóng!" Kagami screamed, distracting Jason momentarily, while throwing the trident towards Marinette before blocking the sword of the other competitor- Damian, with her own sword.

The girl was not at all surprised by the call and took the trident effortlessly, looking used to the movement. And before Jason could hit her, Marinette threw herself out the window.

"IS SHE CRAZY?!" Surprisingly it was Juleka who screamed. The shy girl was paler than normal.

But no one looked away from the screen. Everyone watching the way Marinette stuck the trident in the clay wall of the house, stopping her fall and the way she landed on the shoulders of Team F’s third competitor-Dick, strangling him with her thighs.

"DO YOU SURRENDER?!" She shouted at him, squeezing his neck even tighter.

"..." Dick was still standing, slapping his hands on her legs and trying to dislodge the girl off him, but the guy had no chance.

As soon as he managed to loosen her grip and breathe properly, three projectiles hit one on the butt, and the other two on each thigh. He fell hard to the ground, Marinette barely having time to jump out of the man. Kim standing behind them with Marinette's revolver.

“Thanks, Con khỉ-“ She didn't finish speaking before running away from Dick's body, Jason arriving like a bull. "GIÁP!"

Kim threw the revolver at Marinette and she fired at the enemy without even thinking. They blinked in time to see five projectiles lodged in his neck before Jason passed out. Avoiding Dick's body for just a few inches.

"Wow, they were a lot more trained than the others." Marinette commented to Kim, neither of them looking worried about Kagami, who was still fighting Damian inside the house.

The split screen showing Kagami's fight and the street where Kim and Marinette were.

“Well, he managed to hit me five times. That means something.” Kim replied relaxed.

"Oh really? This is surprising.” Marinette whistled, impressed.

There was an awkward silence.

"Shall we help aneki?"

“Nah. Let her have fun.”

And the two sat on the floor, watching the group of rescuers on the show take Jason and Dick away.

"I wish I had brought a book." Kim sighed in disappointment and soon Kagami and Damian's fight took over the entire screen.

What the hell?!

▫▪▪

Tsurugi and Wayne were walking in circles, analyzing the level of danger and skill.

Kagami knew who Damian was, she knew this was Guàn's fiancé, because it was her idea to send the letter inviting him to participate in the competition. Because she wanted to make sure he was able to accompany Guàn when she demanded.

Of course, Kagami knew that it was impossible for Damian to be completely useless because he was the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul, grandson of Ra’s Al Ghul; but she wanted to personally test how good he was, because she would accept nothing but the best for Guàn.

Then she convinced Sabine Cheng-Cheng Hua to send the letter.

"I'm glad you accepted our invitation, 悪 霊(akuryoo)." She said, the tip of the katana towards the ground.

Damian tilted his head, intrigued by the way he was called.

It was not popular knowledge the way his family called him.

"I'm grateful." He nods. "It’s always good to test my skills with experienced people."

"Let's finish this."

"D'accord."

▫▪▪

Damian had given up.

Damian Al Ghul Wayne had given up.

After Tsurugi declared defeat, Damian lowered the katana and said 'I give up' directly to the camera, leaving the clay house with her.

That was a shock to Damian's family. But Alfred's discreet smile said that giving up had a much deeper reason than just giving up a fight.

▫▪▪

Guàn and Giáp got off the ground as soon as they saw movements coming from the house where Kagami was fighting with the other competitor.

Guàn had the revolver hidden behind her back, cautious. Until the fireworks went off in the sky.

"Team B is the winner of Ultimate Warrior!" The announcer shouted excitedly. “For the first time since Ultimate Warrior debuted, a group of teenagers won the contest! What a day my friends, what a day!”

The announcer was speaking something, the program staff showing up from where they were hiding, Giáp was snorting with pride as he took off his mask and glasses, but Guàn was more focused on the teenager who accompanied Kagami.

In the middle of the dispute she barely had time to analyze him while running away from his teammate's punches, but at that moment, without imminent danger, Guàn's eyes were solely focused on him.

And he was not much different from her.

Guàn barely had time to pull the ballistic mask off her face before he was standing inches from her, forcing her to lift her chin so she could look him in the eye.

"It’s a pleasure to finally be able to meet my fiancée." The boy took her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on her knuckles without caring about the glove. "You were magnificent against my brother." He said as he lowered her hand.

Guàn raised an eyebrow, a charming smile taking over her expression.

“Oh? I am flattered." She replied, the words sliding sweet as honey. "Cheng Guàn, head of the Cheng." Inclining her head, as an informal bow, Guàn didn’t look away from him for a second.

"Damian Al Ghul Wayne, current Demon’s head."

Demon's head, huh.

She liked the sound of that.

▫▪▪

Adrien was feeling strange.

Marinette's team had won and so she was fraternizing with the enemy in a very non-Marinette way.

"It’s a pleasure to finally be able to meet my fiancée.” And he kissed her hand, his greedy, sticky eyes on the girl.

They still had communicators, so everyone was able to hear what they were talking about.

"Fiancée? Did I hear that right?” Max murmured.

"Oh, so this is him." Chloe said disinterestedly.

"He still looks like a serial killer." Nino said, an amused tone in his voice.

"Cheng Guàn, head of the Cheng." Marinette's voice cut through the confused murmurs.

Cheng Guàn? Cheng's head? What the hell was Marinette talking about?!

Classmates seemed increasingly lost.

"Damian Al Ghul Wayne, current Demon’s head." The boy with Marinette replied.

... they were really confused.

And Adrien strangely homicidal.

▫▪▪

After receiving the check of one million-euro, Guàn, Kagami and Giáp were in the car driven by Bai, the driver of the Cheng family.

There was a car in the front with Cheng's bodyguards and another in the back with Tsurugi and Lê's.

After her fiancé introduced themselves, they talked for a while without tactical microphones, being formally introduced to his brothers.

The warning had been given.

Cheng's head was engaged to the demon's head and anyone who tried anything against either of them should expect retaliation from Tsurugi, Lê and Wayne. In addition of Al Ghul.

▫▪▪

It had been a week.

A week since Ultimate Warrior, since Kagami, Marinette and Kim won the competition exhibiting skills that no one knew they had.

The situation in the classroom was a little more tense than usual.

Alya having argued with Nino because he refused to say anything about what happened and ended up breaking up with the boy, thinking he would reconsider for loving her, but he hadn't even blinked twice before leaving the girl talking to herself.

Since then, he sat in the back with Chloe and Sabrina. The three of them sitting comfortably in one seat.

Adrien had tried to extract something from Chloe, using the excuse of best friend wanting to spend time together; but the girl was not fooled by the trick, dismissing Adrien as soon as the boy opened his mouth to speak.

Lila was strangely sulky and silent. Even Alya was unable to cheer up the Italian. She was constantly having to answer mysterious phone calls that only made her more and more furious. Nobody knew how to bring it up, fearing that she would fight with them for meddling in her private affairs, so they just kept their distance.

It was on a Wednesday, exactly a month and fifteen days after they disappeared from Paris, that the class got their first glimpse of Kim, inside a luxury car accompanied by three men twice as big as him. But it had been too quick for them to be sure it was really the boy, so in the end they ignored what they saw.

But it was on Friday, a month and seventeen days, that they actually saw Marinette coming out of the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Alya didn't think twice before running up to her, dragging the entire class along - not that they didn't want to go -. She wanted answers and she was going to get it!

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you're going to tell me right now what's going on-" She shouted at first, not caring how much attention she was drawing from the people around her, but the words died in her mouth. For the first time noticing what Marinette was wearing.

The girl was wearing something that Alya had only seen in the Chinese dramas that Marinette watched with her when they were still friends. She remembers the name, hanfu, when the girl explained the different types.

The top was pearly white, the neckline crossed in a 'y' shape. The pleated skirt was a light blue with embroidery of white roses on the hem, the length reaching above the foot - maxi, she remembered Marinette saying -. At the waist, the white lace of the skirt wrapped around the waistband, holding the skirt in place; the same embroidery on the hem of the skirt was also on the ends of the white fabric. Above the hanfu, a thin transparent peach tunic.

On her feet, white kitten heels and the hair, was loose reaching the middle of her back.

She looked ethereal.

"Oh, Alya." The girl sighed as if she had barely recognized Alya. "How are you?" She asks.

Besides clothing, Marinette's way of talking had changed abruptly. There was a delicacy, but also a certain kind of power. As if she were a very important person who had cleared five minutes of her busy schedule to exchange a few words with her classmates.

"Wwhy are you dressed like that, Marinette?" Rose stammered.

It wasn't a strange outfit, not really. It was very beautiful and sophisticated, but very different from what Marinette used to wear normally. Not even the familiar pig tails were in sight.

"Family business." Marinette replied without going into details.

Suddenly, a man wearing a black suit stepped out of the BMW parked on the sidewalk and approached Marinette nimbly. Not sparing even a glance at the group of teenagers around her.

“Guàn 大人(dàrén) I was informed that Al Ghul dàrén is on his way.” The man said to the girl. He put a finger to his ear, where everyone noticed a discreet phone - like those American movies about secret agents -. "Lê and Tsurugi dàrén are accompanying him."

“Thank you, Bai. I will wait inside.” She smiled softly at the man who, after a complete bow, went back inside the black BMW.

"Who is he? And why is he calling you that strange way?” Alix asked, annoyed. She was sure the man was talking about Kim.

Marinette looked back at the class, focusing on Alix.

"This is Cheng Bai, my driver and bodyguard." She responded politely. "I wish I could stay and talk, but I really have to get in." Marinette pointed to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

The girl didn't wait for anyone to answer, before turning around so she could enter the bakery. She was totally insensitive to her classmates.

"Dàrén!" They recognized Sabrina's voice before they even saw her leaving the bakery with Chloe and Nino right behind. “I have updates from- oh! Hey guys, what are you doing here?” She changed the subject when she noticed the class frozen on the sidewalk.

"... We saw Marinette." Juleka replied blandly. She was feeling super uncomfortable with that situation.

"Oh, I understand." The redhead waved mechanically, looking just as uncomfortable.

Chloe ignored the class completely, talking quietly to Marinette and Nino just waved from a distance, showing no desire to approach, even with Adrien in the middle of his colleagues.

Alya seemed to wake up when she saw the three around Marinette. A feeling of betrayal burning in her stomach, but not knowing if it was about Marinette or Nino.

“Girl, what's going on? Why did you disappear?” She asked. "You went missing for a month with Kim, came out of nowhere on a show that I didn't even know you liked, and you were acting different!"

Marinette stopped talking to Chloe to look at Alya. The blank expression, hard as marble.

“Does this have anything to do with Lila? Is that why you are doing this?” Alya continued, not caring about anything else. “We can help you, Marinette. If you leave us, we can help you get over it!”

Chloe, Sabrina and Nino had incredulous expressions on their faces. None of the three believed in Alya's lack of awareness. The blogger seemed unable to think rationally before acting or speaking.

Perhaps that was why Lila had clawed at her so deeply.

"Why would mèi mei need your help?" Someone behind the class asked and they turned around in alarm, only to find Kim, Kagami and- was that Ultimate Warrior contestant Damian Wayne?!

There were also five men and two women in the same style as the man before, Bai, following them closely.

"Kim?!"

"Kagami!"

"What the hell is he doing here?" Adrien murmured poisonously. The look piercing Damian.

The three newcomers were wearing traditional clothing from their culture, as was Marinette.

Kim was wearing slim fit pants, probably cotton, as it didn't look rough. Over his pants, there was a - ao dai, Alix thought. Having seen Kim wear them before, but the old ones were much simpler than what he wore at that moment - which reached knee-high, with buttons on the right side of his chest - like a chef's jacket - and golden embroidery along the sleeves, hem and along the left shoulder to the end of the rib on the right side. There were two slits, one on each side of the body. Derby shined on his feet.

The entire set was black, except for the golden embroidery of ao dai.

Kagami's style was vaguely similar to Marinette's, but with very noticeable differences and a little ‘heavier’. Kimono was the name? Ivan was not sure.

The top part was made up of two layers. The first was white, visible through the collar of the second, which was black with a floral print that varied between purple, white, pink and orange. Both 'y' shaped collars. The sleeves were relatively large, with pieces falling by the side even though the girl had her arm raised between Kim's. The skirt as well as the top was in two layers. The first was a dark green, only two inches showing and the second was red. Pleated and tied right below the chest.

It was less flowing than Marinette's.

On her feet, white socks and wooden sandals.

The third- Damian Al Ghul Wayne, the demon head, was wearing a... dress? No, Nathaniel did not know the name for that outfit, but he did know that most men in the Middle East wore it.

The fabric was pure white - looking quite expensive -; in the throat there was a detail that went down to the middle of the chest, it was probably hiding a zipper or buttons; there was a discreet pocket on his right chest and long sleeves, adjusted on the wrist with the same detail that was around his neck. The hem of the garment reached to the middle of the shin, where it was possible to see centimeters of cotton trousers also white and on his feet, beige Oxford.

Finally, he had a scarf squared with red and white, wrapped around his hair.

"I’m waiting, Césaire." Kim asked again, not looking happy with the lack of response. "Why would she need help?"

Alya snorted, annoyed by the question.

"For what else, Kim?" She asked petulantly. "I'm talking about this obsession and envy that Marinette has towards Lila."

While Kim kept a blank expression, Kagami raised an eyebrow, a scornful smile opening on her lips. Damian hadn't even stopped to greet them, he just walked right past them before pulling Marinette into a tight hug.

Kagami gently tapped Kim's arm that was wrapped around hers and he let her go, while maintaining his haughty pose.

"Why would mèi mei envy Lila, when Lila is just a cockroach?" She asked, Adrien winced at the hardness of her words. “Who is Lila compared to Cheng Guàn? No one. So, I don't know why you insist on this idea of envy.”

Mlle. Bustier's students were in various degrees scandalized. They were used to Kagami's abruptness, but she was always a blunt-non-aggressive type, where words came out rude without intention.

But here she was, being rude and deliberately aggressive.

Lila was soon putting on her best victim mask. With tearful eyes and a fluttering pout.

“Wwhy would you say something like that, Kagami? I never did you any harm, so why are you being a bully?” She sniffed, her voice shrill and fake.

Alya wrapped her arms around the Italian, Rose following closely, sandwiching the girl between them.

"Kagami, don't you think you're being too harsh?" Adrien asked, a pleading gleam in his eyes. "This is just a misunderstanding, isn't it?!" He smiled hopefully, believing that Kagami, like Marinette, would let Lila through without a hitch.

"Why the hell would it be a misunderstanding?" Kagami countered, her eyes growing colder and colder. Kim beside her had a disgusted expression. "She knows pretty well that she is on a tightrope, so she shouldn't be feeding Césaire's stupidity."

And Lila stiffened between the two girls, her face going pale.

"What does that mean?" Mylène asked.

"It means that mother Rossi found out about baby Rossi's antics after she was demoted from her embassy position." Kim replied, satisfaction dripping from his words.

Alya's eyes widened, Adrien gasped in shock and the rest of the class was incredulous.

"Did you dare to conspire against Lila's mother, Marinette?!" She turned to the girl who was talking privately with Nino, Sabrina, Chloe and Damian. Alya's voice caught their attention, again. "Have you gotten so mean, to the point of destroying an honest woman's career?"

Marinette's expression hardened, her gaze sharpening in a way they had never seen before.

"Have you ever in your life stopped to think before opening your mouth?" She asked acidly. "Eventually you're going to piss off someone not as benevolent as me and the results will be disastrous for you."

"... That seemed like a threat." Ivan murmured, his eyes darting nervously over the men and women in suits and possibly armed around them.

"The Cheng don't make threats, Ivan." Marinette looked at him. The icy blue of her eyes pierced him. "They just go and do it."

"That right there! What is this about Chengs, the Demon's head? Why are you acting this way? And why did you move out?” Alix asked, already irritated by everything. Frustrated by the lack of answers.

"You were born in Paris and live here, but have never heard of the Three Families?" Damian asked skeptically. "I understand that you don't know what the Demon's Head means, but not knowing about the Three Families is at least stupid."

"Is this about that legend of France's three richest families?" Nathaniel asked confused. ‘Three Families’ was no stranger to him, but he couldn’t remember exactly where he had heard about it.

“Not exactly... The Three Families are, as the name says, three families. The three main families of the global mafia." Max replied, his eyes wide as he understood the general situation. "The Three Families are composed of Tsuruchi- or rather, Tsurugi." He looked at Kagami. "Lien-Lê," He looks at Kim. "And the Chang-Cheng." And finally, he looks at Marinette.

"Alternative names have been used to hide the real identities of families, but valid information is available to those who are really looking." Kim nodded, enjoying Max's intelligence.

"And if I'm not wrong, the Demon's Head correlates with the League of Assassins, a highly trained clan of hired assassins." The boy spoke again, his eyes flicking over Damian.

Damian smiled scarily. "This and much more." He says in response. "It’s good that there is someone with brain cells in this class."

"So, you mean you four are part of the mafia?" Rose asked shakily.

"We are not part of the mafia." Kagami replied.

"We are the mafia." Marinette completed.

"Then again, why the hell would Guàn be jealous of an Italian girl who only gets attention by lying every second she breathes?" Kim crossed his arms, demanding a response from Alya.

The girl flinched, instinctively turning away from him and Lila.

"III-" She closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. For the first time using reason before emotion.

“Well, while this little meeting has been good, Guàn, Giáp, Damian and I have a place to be. So, if you would excuse us, we’d like to go now.” Kagami said rudely, before dragging Kim and Marinette by the arms to the bakery.

Damian, Chloe, Nino and Sabrina following behind with the bodyguards.

"Ah!" Marinette stopped abruptly, turning back to the class. "Adrien?"

The model jumped, surprised to be called.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously.

"Let Gabriel know that his presence was requested at an audience with the Three Families." She said. Adrien felt like there was a glacier in his stomach. "We have some pending issues to deal with."

Marinette looked at the model waiting for confirmation that he understood what she had said and he nodded mechanically. Fear licking his bones.

She smiled at him before looking at Lila, who was strangely pale next to Rose.

"And Lila?" The girl barely looked up to face her. "Behave. You and I know that you don't want my wrath.”

The girl looked down at the floor, completely subdued and Marinette went back into the bakery without looking back. Everyone coming in soon after, just Sabrina staying behind.

“Max, you will receive an email with important documents about Mlle. Rossi.” She said to the boy. "I hope you make good use of it."

Lila saw her reign collapse like a tower of cards.

And there was no way to escape because she knew she wouldn't be safe anywhere.

▫▪▪

"Cheng-さ ま(sama), was it really wise to expose yourself like that?" Tetsuya, one of Kagami's bodyguards, asked respectfully. "You are at risk of them opening their mouth to someone who might be really problematic."

Guàn smiled kindly at the man, finding his concern cute.

"They are not going to do that."

"How can you be so sure?"

"First because they are too scared of possible retaliation, second that they are too busy now tearing up Lila Rossi." She replied nonchalantly. "Sabrina sent a compilation of all her lies with evidence and facts to Max. They will keep themselves busy for at least until next month with this."

"The only persons we should be concerned with at the moment are Lila Rossi and Alya Césaire." Giáp said seriously. The hard line of his mouth showed how uncomfortable he was with the two girls.

"... Can't we just disappear with them?" Damian asked condescendingly. Caring nothing for the implications of his words.

"No." Kagami was succinct. "If they disappeared now, we would be the prime suspects and even if justice cannot touch us, we would be in evidence." The frown said how bitter she felt about it. "More than we already are."

Kagami would be the first person of the three to suggest getting rid of the problem, but because the three of them in evidence - for having participated in the UW -, that would not be possible.

"Why don't we leave Lila to the police to handle?" Sabrina asked uncertainly, everyone turning to look at her. "She's old enough to be judged by the justice both here and in Italy."

"Wait-" Nino looked at Sabrina in surprise. "Is Lila a criminal or are we planting evidence?"

"Oh, please!" Chloe rolled her eyes. “Rossi doesn't need us to do the dirty work. Her file is dirtier than the sewers in Paris.”

“So, we have a solution for Lila. Thanks Sabrina.” Guàn smiled at the redhead and the girl screeched, before hiding her red face behind the tablet.

Kagami and Guàn were two frighteningly charming young women and Sabrina's gay heart was too weak to withstand such direct attacks.

"Now we need something about Césaire and her gossip blog." Giáp said.

They all sat in silence pondering possible routes.

"Oh!" Nino sighed, an idea forming in his head.

"What is it, Nino?" Kagami asked.

"What is the best way to destroy a journalist?"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion until Damian smiled badly. "A journalist is destroyed by his reputation." He replied. "Spreading fake news, being a tabloid writer and things like that."

"Exactly." Nino nodded his head.

"If Alya tried to expose us, her blog would be enough for all credibility to fall apart." Damian continued. "I've seen one of my dad's associates use this to stifle any news about our... Activities, that escaped to the media."

"Not to mention that she is just a teenager." Qadira, one of Damian's bodyguards, said it out loud. She opened her eyes wide when she noticed everyone looking at her and then she lowered her head to Damian, her expression chastened. "I'm sorry for my boldness, رئیس(raʾīs)."

The sharp edges on Damian's mouth softened.

“Relax Qadira. We are among friends.” He replies and the woman straightens up, slowly nodding at him. "Now elaborate what you said to us."

She hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again.

“I meant that she is just a teenager. No adult will take her seriously, even if her blog is not brought as evidence of her inability to judge or check the facts.”

"Not to mention that she seemed to be a very troubled teenager." Oma, Damian's second bodyguard, pointed. “I don't think she is an immediate risk here. She’s too volatile to be taken seriously.” She shrugged.

"Well, it looks like everything is settled." Giáp raised his arm to check the time on his wristwatch. "Just in time for us to kick Gabriel Agreste's ass."

Marinette turned to Kagami's bodyguard, a sweet smile on her face.

"See, Tetsuya?" She said. "Nothing to worry about."

▫▪▪

"So mèi mei is engaged to the Demon's head." Giáp said suddenly. "That means we have to find our own, aneki."

He and Kagami were sitting on the leather couch, reading some important documents about companies belonging to the Three Families.

The girl looked up from the paper in her hands, no reaction beyond that.

"... I call dibs on Sabrina and Chloe." She responded quickly.

Giáp smiled conspiratorially.

"Great, because Nino is mine."

And then the two went back to reading the documents lying on the table.

... Totally ignoring the people around them, including the three mentioned, who were at different levels of embarrassment.

[tag list]

@justafanwarrior​ @ash-amg​ @neakco​ @g-arya​ @loveswifi​ @actual-disaster-human​ @wannajointhecrabcult​ @lozzybowe​  @iamablinkmarvelarmy​ @saays-bitch @xxmdsxx​ @nicknnie​ @damianette-is-life​ @thegirlwhosawdeath

[tiedyemillenialbullshit]

Hope is a Heartache

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Summary: You and Bucky are a series of missed opportunities, but will that stop you both from being happy?

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, sexual situations, swearing, angst, LOTS of angst, fluff

A/N: I’m not sure when I became the kween of angst, but here we are. I think if I wrote smut, I’d die so maybe someday I’ll try that. For now here we are.

Written listening to: Hope is a Heartache by LEON

“How would I ever tell her that? What, that I think she’s the most stunning, hilarious, powerful, brave, most amazing woman I’ve ever met? She’d freak out, I’m like her best friend on the team, Steve.”

“I don’t know pal, but I can’t keep looking at you like this. Every time she walks by you stop breathing.”

Bucky never felt so sick to his stomach as he did when he thought about you and whatshisface. You had been on the team about as long as he had. You were both “freshmen” as Sam loved to joke, together. At first, you annoyed the shit out of him. Always going on about how he needed to try harder at this or move faster at that. Buck always confided in Steve about how much you pissed him off until finally one day Steve snapped. “DUDE. YOU. LOVE. Y/N. If you won’t admit it to me, at least admit it to yourself.”

Bucky remembers telling him exactly where he can shove it before stomping out of the Captain’s office to the gym. He had walked in on you taking some sort of frustration out on a punching bag. You didn’t hear him come in, so he stood in the shadow of the doorway and watched you. You stopped after a few moments to rip your gloves off, fix your ponytail, huff out a swear or four and decide to start punching again sans gloves.

Bucky knew in that instant he didn’t want a different partner on missions. He didn’t want you to want to go on morning runs with anyone else. He didn’t want to trust anyone else besides you.

You remember that day too. You were pissed at him, convinced he was trying to make you look bad because in Steve’s eyes, he could do no wrong. So who cares right? Oh you just wanted to hit him. That’s why you had elected to not place your boxing gloves back on and instead just rely on the tape wrapping your knuckles to not break your skin open.

You heard something behind you, and when you spun around you saw him watching you. At first, this wasn’t startling, the asshole had a serious staring problem, but he wasn’t mad. He was just watching you move. Nothing about his demeanor was menacing like it usually was. It was like Frosty had melted and standing before you was this man.

You decided then that you didn’t anyone else sparing with you in the gym, you didn’t want anyone else giving you a hard time because you couldn’t chug a beer as fast as Thor, and you didn’t want him to want anyone else as his partner.

It was like something clicked into place that day, a thread between the two of you pulled taught. You couldn’t place the feeling, you never had it before.

“Earth to Bucky. *white noise* Paging James Buchanan Barnes *white noise* Will the tin man please join us in this debriefing-“ Bucky finally recognized Sam was talking to him.

“Sorry, what?” Buck knew he was red in the face, but honestly didn’t care. Not after the sleepless night he had after witnessing you kiss your new boyfriend goodnight.

“We were discussing Wednesday’s mission, Bucky. You good?” Steve had a concerned look on his face for his best friend.

You were staring right back at Bucky as he sternly answered “I’m fine. Couldn’t sleep last night. Kept having a nightmare about some prick invading my space.”

The team exchanged glances, but that just confirmed to you that he did see you kiss Nick. You thought you heard someone shuffling inside quickly after giving your new boyfriend a lingering kiss goodnight. What was his fucking problem?

“I hate it when that happens. Maybe you should just try minding your own business in real life, then you wouldn’t have nightmares about it at night.” You shot back not breaking eye contact.

Bucky stood and left. The team knew better than to try and reason with a pissed off super soldier, so they let him leave the meeting early.

You practically ran out of the meeting as soon as it was concluded.

“What the fuck was that about?” Nat asked as she was following you uninvited into your room. Besides Bucky, she was your closest friend. Your closest friend, and your nosiest friend.

“Bucky saw me kissing Nick last night and took that as a signed permission slip to act like a fucking asshole, I don’t know. He never likes any of the guys I bring around. Honestly, that’s probably why they don’t last.” You really liked Nick, and you weren’t going to let Bucky scare this one off. Which would be a feat, seeing as your best friend was the former Winter Soldier.

“Y/N, do you think he ‘scares’ all of them off because he wishes he was them?” Nat looked at you without giving away too much of her thought process.

“What, like he wants to be my boyfriend? Come ON Nat, this is Bucky. It’s BUCKY. Even if he did have feelings for me, he’d never tell me. Because he’s BUCKY.” You weren’t sure why you were secretly hoping she argued with you about that. You always liked Bucky. But you were a professional, those feelings got pushed down a long, long time ago.

“I don’t know, Steve said-“

“OH. So now Bucky and I are the topic of your pillow talk, Nat? Great! Look, just because it worked out for you and Steve that way doesn’t mean it’ll work out for me and Buck like that.” You shot back.

“WOAH. I was going to say that Steve said he had been off lately, it probably doesn’t have anything to do with you, Y/N.”

“Oh, well, I mean, I knew that. Whatever, okay?” You stumbled. “It’s not going to happen. I’m with Nick and I’m happy for once. Whatever his issue is, he can talk to his therapist about it, I’m done being that too.”

One year later

“Y/N. Hi. Uh, I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Bucky stammers to you as he’s holding the hand of some innocent enough looking blonde.

“You mean in my own kitchen? Funny how that works out. I was just leaving.” You say to him. The thought crosses your mind to introduce yourself to his new play-thing, but that will just make it seem so much more permanent. You hope your self-dismissal makes her feel awkward enough to leave but you know that won’t happen.

After the disaster that was your relationship with Nick ended after 9 months, you swore off men, including Bucky. He had eventually apologized for his behavior during that debriefing and things seemed to go back to normal. You now realize “normal” is just your funny way of saying “compartmentalizing.” Things were okay between you two because you never talked about Nick and he never asked.

After it ended between you two, he didn’t even ask. You chucked it up to him giving you your space. But that was a few months ago, and now you see why he wasn’t asking you about it.

“Night, Y/N.” Bucky calls after you.

“At least one of us seems like we’ll have a goodnight,” you yell back at him as you retreat into the hallway.

You think you hear him mumble something to his date and then you hear footsteps behind you, so you slow your pace a bit.

“What’s your fucking problem? Amanda doesn’t deserve your wrath the first time she comes over.” Bucky hush yells at you.

“The first time?! Buck, our rooms are right next to each other or did you forget that?” You actually yell at him.

“Oh trust me, how could I forget? With all the sex you had for 9 fucking months straight, the sound of you moaning is literally engrained into my mind forever and you KNOW how hard that is to do.” Bucky is screaming at you now.

“FUCK YOU JAMES.” You yell as you turn and walk towards the stairs.

“DON’T FUCKING CALL ME THAT,” he screams.

Good. Now no sex for him.

You wait until you get to the stairwell to let loose the tears threatening to spill over. You didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of winning the fight. You two had fought so many times in your friendship. The other Avengers knew to just leave two be when you got into these kind of moods.

You and Nick didn’t work out for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was your relationship with Bucky. He was so protective over you, and a few months ago when that stopped you realized you didn’t miss his protection, you missed how he looked at you. You missed the possibility that there was something there between the two of you. It was clear he had given up, and you hated that. He felt cold and distant. Shortly after that, Nick stopped coming around and you didn’t care.

Just as you sit down to let yourself unleash in between the second and third floors, you hear the first story doors open. You go completely quiet as to not want to alert anyone you were sitting on the stairs crying like a teenager experiencing their first heartbreak.

You think you hear whimpering or what could be shushed crying. You lean over the railing to look down at who it is. Sitting there with his head in his hands is Bucky. You don’t make a noise.

“Fucking collect yourself Barnes, she’s just being a bitch. Deal with her tomorrow.”

You didn’t realize you had that much of an impact on him, you only wanted to ruin his desire to have sex with her.

Satisfied and feeling slightly guilty, you walk back to your room for the night, not caring if he hears you.

Two months later

“Is this seat taken?” You turn to the side and look up to see Bucky looking down at you sheepishly.

“Where’s your hot date? I saved two seats for you and Amanda,” you say back to Bucky, genuinely interested in where his date was. After that awful night, you decided to put forth an effort to make things better with him. No one is kidding themselves that when you have personal stuff going on behind the scenes of work partners, it makes work in the field that much harder.

“Uh, she’s not going to make it,” he says with sad eyes.

“Oh, is she okay?”

“Uh yeah, we’re just not. We broke up this morning. Thanks for saving two seats though, that was nice of you Y/N.” Bucky sits down next to you and you wrap an arm around the back of his chair.

“I’m sorry Buck, I really did like her. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am now,” he looks at you with a slight smile to his face. You hold his gaze for a few seconds longer than normal before ruffling his hair as the DJ comes over the music.

“Ladiesssss and gentlemeeennnn please welcome to the stage…”

“I can’t believe Sam dragged us all to a strip club for his birthday,” you whisper in Bucky’s ear as the music gets louder.

“I know, look at Steve I think he’s about to have a stroke.” You and Bucky share a laugh and for a second, it’s like you’re back in your early days on the team when it seemed like all you two had was each other.

Once the girls found out the Avengers were in their midst, it was game over. If Sam’s goal was to black out tonight, he accomplished that almost immediately. Liquor was free, dances were free, and unsurprisingly the team was having an amazing time. Besides the waitresses and a few dancers, no one came into your circle, and it ended up being a really fun night. You and Bucky were having so much fun, you couldn’t remember the last time you laughed as hard as you were.

You even noticed Bucky turning down a dance or two, redirecting the girl’s attention to Thor, or the much more enthused, Sam. You expected a newly single Buck to want the attention, but he was not having it.

As the night went on, you caught Bucky staring at you, and more and more you held his stare with a curve to your lips that was reserved just for him.

“Coincidentally” the strip club was next to Sam’s favorite bar. The team decided that was the logical next destination, but you were exhausted and it must’ve been showing on your face.

“Hey doll, why don’t you say we Irish exist these assholes and head home? I’m exhausted.”

“Fuck. Yes. PLEASE let’s go!” You exclaimed as if Bucky was reading your mind. You didn’t want to be the one to suggest it, but you were so happy he did.

You both stand in line with the team but disappear behind everyone as they all head in. Bucky throws an arm around your shoulders as you walk down the street.

“You know, I’m kind of glad it’s just us the rest of the night, that was too much togetherness for me,” Bucky says. You’re blushing and you know he means he’s happy to have a friend, but you find your stomach buzzing with the hope he means something else.

“Same here,” you laugh, “what do you want to do? Grab a cab and head home? Movie? Are you spent?”

“For you? Not at all.” He’s got that dumb grin on your face that makes you want to either kiss him or smack him so he stops distracting you.

“What’re you staring at sweetheart?” You realize it’s getting harder to hide your emotions. He just broke up with Amanda, and maybe it’s the alcohol or the atmosphere, but you can’t stop the word vomit.

You stop him on the sidewalk under the streetlight. There’s no one really out on this street.

“Are we ever going to get it right?” Ope, there it is.

“Get what right?” Bucky is looking at you confused and you’re hoping you can somehow telepathically tell him you mean the two of you. Together. Finally.

“Us.”

Bucky just keeps staring at you like he did that day at the gym. Neither of you say anything, he’s got a hand on your upper arm, resting there.

The regret starts to set in. Things were just getting back to a good place between the two of you, and you just ruined it.

“You know, Amanda and I didn’t work out for a few reasons, but the main one being... ugh, shit, the main reason is that she isn’t you, Y/N.” Bucky just spoke the words you’ve wanted to hear the most but it doesn’t register at first.

He must see that either on your face or through your lack of response. You feel him pulling you in, and right before he moves his lips over yours, it hits you like a train. You love him. Your stubborn, angry, beautiful, amazing Bucky.

You kiss him back with an intensity you didn’t know was in you. You break the kiss and start giggling against his mouth.

“What! I’m not that bad of a kisser!” He’s laughing now with you.

“Sorry, sorry, I just can’t believe this is finally happening. And on a secluded street, under a street lamp. Write a romance novel already, Barnes.”

Your lips to God’s ears, a group of people start walking your way. Bucky looks around and pulls you into a small walkway between two apartment buildings.

“Come here, I wasn’t done with you.” He’s kissing you up against the brick wall like a man starved and you don’t care if anyone sees you, you’ve never felt this happy in your life.

“Let’s just do this, you and me. I’m sick of pretending like you aren’t my person,” you say against his lips.

“Y/N, I want nothing else, ever.”

[oonajaeadira]

Wonderland Wednesday - send this to 6 fic authors that have swept you up and away with your favorite characters. Let them know you love and appreciate all the hard work they put into their works. ✏️ 📖 💕

Adira, my lovely Adira, this is the perfect moment to scream about how much I love your writing and you! I'll be forever grateful that you pulled me into the fandom with your incredible stories and your sweet personality. And now to gush about your writing

First Pats, of course, he must go first, I love that man and the story you created around a character we don't even get to see in the show. I know I say this at every opportunity but I freaking love that story, you've created something wonderful and I can't wait to see where you take it

And the sweet series, omg you captured Javi so incredibly well, now that I've watched the movie I'm going to revisit it soon and fall for him all over again

Bookshop!Ezra is amazing and I smile whenever I think of him and of the story you wrote him and the happy ending you gave him. That's for sure a comfort story

And what to say about the Dulces Sueños one except that I love it and you write Pero so well

And all of your other one-shots are wonderful, and I´m so happy now that I´m looking through your masterlist that I still have so many stories left to visit and to smile with

Oh. Oh my sweetest Bee.

You are, hands down, one of the nicest people I know. How could I not love you up and take your hand and go running through Pedroland with you???

I'm so happy you've made good friends here--some of my very favorite people are Pedro people and their stories are my heart. I'm very glad you are among them.

All of these kind things you've said about my writing just make me ache to get back at them. For you, abejalita, I will do my best.

<3

[kraiyan]

i made my own little headcannons to fit in if michael and jeremy were dating and a bunch of other stuff that i don’t want to spoil so take my headcannons and please don’t pay attention to my overuse of the words ‘so’ and ‘like’

i wrote this headcannons for me in my notes so there are mentions of panic/anxiety attacks, light mentions of an eating disorder, nightmares, and self harm but i’ll just put a trigger warning for when those parts show up and if i missed anything that is triggering please let me know

- michael is trans and gay and jeremy is bisexual

- i think they would’ve been friends since kindergarten so they grew up telling each other EVERYTHING

- i feel like michael was really girly as a kid but in like 6th grade he just completely switched to like tomboy but he didn’t do on purpose it just happened

- then in seventh grade michael told jeremy he wanted to be a boy then after that with help from jeremy he came out to his moms

- michael had a crush in jeremy since 7th grade but i don’t think jeremy was his first crush

- i think since michael was straight when he was a girl he just assumed he was straight as a boy and his sexual awakening was captain sparklez

- michael has two moms and jeremys mom would’ve died in a car accident so it’s just him and his dad

- i imagine they confessed to each other in their second year of high school

- (TW: mentions of abuse) jeremy realized he liked michael in freshman year and it was really bad he could not stop thinking about him so when he got squip squip l would not stop punishing him for it

- so jeremy definitely has some problems with his bisexuality

- after years of pining for each other when they finally kissed jeremy could not stop panicking about it

- like they went to sleep fine but he was internally panicking and he tried to keep it together but the next day he absolutely broke just started sobbing saying over and over again “is this okay, are we okay”

- michael is the type to listen to a vulgar music to help his dysphoria

- so him and jeremy are in his car michael plugs in his phone and just starts singings “hoes want to be seen with me and i like their big thick titties”

- and jeremy can do nothing else but be like michael what the fuck

- they decided to keep their relationship a secret and not tell anyone bc of jeremy still coming to terms with himself and he didn’t think his dad would understand

- but i feel like michael moms had already pieced together that they were dating and jeremy didn’t mind that they knew bc they’re literally lesbians but every time jeremy came over from that point forward they had to keep their door open

-(TW: mention of an eating disorder) in a different angstier au jeremy would struggle with eating as a control thing after squip

- (TW: mention of an eating disorder) in an angstier au michael would have an eating disorder cause dysphoria

- i feel like once he realized he was trans he had really bad dysphoria but like with therapy and stuff he got over it

- so i think michael really liked afycso and had it on a vinyl and now jeremy knows all the words

- they don’t do anything at school because jeremy is still uncomfortable so they just pursuit their relationship between closed doors and michaels car in an empty parking lot

- i feel like they both got really excited when michael got referred to as sir for the first time

- jeremy and michael grew up together but ironically when puberty hit michael started to wear baggy clothes than he wore a binder than he wore super baggy clothes to hide his tits after coming out but during squip he had time to self reflect and work on his dysphoria so when jeremy saw michael outside of school he kinda said TITS and was so caught off guard by them

-(TW: mentions of self harm scars) i think michael has sh scars due to losing his childhood best friend and the whole panic attack in the bathroom thing and jeremys seen them but didn’t bring it up to michael because they’re fading so he obviously doesn’t do it anymore but it was a huge shock for jeremy to find out

- they never brought it up tho and it was never discussed bc who cares it was in the past

- michael pants his nails black and i think on some very rare occasion jeremy would paint his nails too (like the way karl paint his) and michael has lots of nail polish cuz on the rare occasion he paints his nails different colors and he repainted his nails every two weeks

- no matter how many times michael has changed in the same room as jeremy even let jeremy help take off his binder jeremy will never not get shy when he changes and will always ask to go into another room

- jeremy is a coffee person but not hot coffe because he always drinks it too early and burns his tongue

- he originally bought his hoodie™️ in really huge size to battle dysphoria but that just made the hoodie last for years

- jeremys name in michaels phone is something very gay and lovey and shit and michaels name on jeremys phone is just michael :)

- jeremy would come home all suspicious and and red faced after him and michael came from an empty parking lot that his dad would not stop begging him to meet this girlfriend of his

- i don’t think jeremy told his dad him and michael were playing a game or something and they kiss jeremys dad comes in and is like what 😦

-and his dad is shocked that he has been pushing girlfriend but he has a boyfriend and is just soooooo awkward about it and never sees michael the same but never makes any rules about them bc he doesn’t want to be homophobic 😭

- i don’t think he was really not supportive but it took him a bit to get used to it but it was so new to him and he was just so phased he just kinda talked to jeremy about his sexuality then left it at that

- they are like gendebend bubbline (marshal lee and the other one yk)

- michael has a queen vinyl the listen to a lot

- so i think michael would still smoke a bit and one time he convinced jeremy to do it with him and jeremy mainly coughed a lot then they just made out the rest of the time but they didn’t tell their parents they would be staying out after school and they both got in trouble

- michael gets blue raspberry and jeremy gets cherry but he also gets coke sometimes too (slushy flavors)

- at the beginning of their relationship they had to take it really slow so that jeremy would feel coqmfortable

- (TW: mentions of panic attacks) so jeremy has nightmares of squip and he wakes up having panic attacks and it’s really tiring bc he only gets 2 hours of sleep if he has these nightmares

- (TW: mentions of panic attacks) i feel like along with his nightmares he also had panic attacks that squip would punish him for pursuing a relationship with a guy let alone michael

- so after he got over his nightmares he just struggled with sleeping and nighttime in general like just fear around going to sleep

- so he often stayed up alll night to avoid sleeping and would like go to bed at 6 or on a good day 4 or 5

- so i think to get over his fear he had to make a routine first he would make some sort of hot drink or just water (mostly sleepy time tea) then he would text michael that he was going to sleep he also wears the same pajamas every time he goes to sleep just to make sure the routine really works then lastly he reads a comic book then he goes to bed

- i think the reason jeremy couldn’t sleep well after getting over the nightmares is because even if squip doesn’t haunt him enough to show up in his dreams anymore it still haunts him enough to stress him out constantly so he doesn’t sleep well

- to conclude the nightmare and sleeping saga jeremy basically has a night routine and sleeps with a night light

- i feel like they both go to therapy but we’re to scared to tell each other (and they both started going to therapy before they started dating)

- so fast forward they’re dating and are trying to plan a date and jeremys like i’m busy on monday at 1 and my dad needs me to help him with something on tuesday so how about wednesday at 3 and michaels like i have somewhere to be like at 3:30 and jeremys like where do you have to be and michaels like where do YOU have to be and so they count to three and say where they’re going to be and they both say therapy and then they’re like you go to therapy i think that would be so cute

- so michael has really thick glasses like his vision is awful so if jeremy is mad at michael he would wake up early and move his glasses over so michael would have to struggle to get out of bed and look for them with his poor ass vision

- he can see things right in front of his face but as soon as it moves a bit too far it’s blurry

- and speaking of his galsses if they’re really kissing along the way jeremy would take of his glasses so they could get closer to each other’s faces (like how elle and tao do in heartstopper )

- michael and jeremy have been friends way too long to not have practiced kissing with each other

- i think christine was a long time crush for jeremy so he definitely practiced kissing michael a lot since they were in 6th grade and michael was just soaking that shit up

- he’d be like what if she wants to make out we should practice that and jeremys like oh yeah you’re right and michael would be so freaking happy

- but they definitely got caught by jeremys dad and he laughed it off cause what else are you meant to when your 11 year old son and his 12 year old best friend are kissing each other

- they didn’t do it anymore after that cause they were soooooooooo embarrassed

- so i don’t talk about the rest of the characters but i’m about to make a headcannon including them so i’m gonna say my headcannons

- so chole is demisexual and panromantic

- brooke is a lesbian

- rich is bisexual and trans

- jake is pan

- jenna is questioning or straight

- and christine is aro/ace

- so i think jeremy and christine dated for a bit then christine broke up with him cause she was all like i can see the way you look at michael and also because she realized she was feeling intense platonic attraction not romantic

- and also i think they’re all friends so they have a group chat where they send homework answers and stuff

- so i think one time jeremy is doing his nighttime routine but this particular night he’s really tired so he texts michael goodnight bby <3 love u then skips the comic book reading and goes to bed but he sent it to their group chat so as soon as he got situated into bed all he hears is his phone going off so he has to check and it’s just everyone freaking out

- so he like fully sits up is looking at his phone in complete shock then realizes he never said a name so they are like who’s this mystery girl

- so he calls michael tells him about the situation then decides he’s ready to come out

- so the next day they’re more handsy then usual like jeremy wiped something off his face michael saw that he was cold and pulled him real close and their friends are like okayyyyy

- but mind you christine knew that jeremy liked michael so she knew exactly what was happening

- so at the end of the day their friend group is making plans to hang out but everyone was busy so jeremy goes well i’ll see you guys tomorrow waves at everyone kisses michael then starts walking to his house then michaels like yea i’m gonna head home to and like drives away and from that day forward their friends would not stop teasing them and were impressed they could keep there secret for so long

- so i feel like michaels moms both have jobs that run late so mom #1 is an er nurse and mom #2 is an account so this leaves michael a lot of time of being alone in his house so naturally you need to take advantage

- so one time mom #2 gets home and walks in just to see jeremy fully on the counter making out with her son

- i don’t think they got in trouble but his mom was like please not on the counter

- and then there was another time where mom #1 came home on her break cause she doesn’t live far from the er so she like yells to michael that she’s home

- and so naturally you come down to hug your mom so he comes down to greet his mom with a red faced jeremy behind him and his mom thought this was so fucking funny but as soon as she’s done laughing she immediately goes anytime jeremys over the doors open and that was the end of it

- everyone has this one thing that someone does that make them all blushy and stuff

- for jeremy it’s when michael wears fitting clothes cause michael is known to wear hoodies or just baggy clothes in general so when michael does get hot and needs to like put something on he puts on one of those body fitting v necks and jeremy losses his shit like he’s fully blushing and avoiding eye contact and since michael changed cause he was hot he’s sure that jeremy is so hot that his face is turning red and he’s embarrassed to say to take off his cardigan so the entire time jeremy is being full homo for his boyfriend michael is thinking he’s about to pass out from a heat stroke

- so i think jeremy enjoys this so much that for the first week of spring michael will only wear fitted clothes because jeremy loves it

- for michael it’s when he’s kissing jeremys neck and jeremy runs his hand thru his hair and pulls it a little when this happens michael loses all common sense one because jeremys enjoying himself so much that he has to kinda tug on michaels hair and two he’s enjoying it so much he doesn’t have time to think that squip is going to punish him and that makes michael just lose his mind so by the time they’ve pulled apart jeremy as sooooo many hickies and they both look at each other like what the fuck did we just do

- moving right along i feel like when jeremy wakes up at night and is terrified to go back to sleep if him and michael are sleeping together he will like hug him until he gets back to sleep and it works every time

- when they were like 7 jeremy got really sick with the flu and michael was so scared that he was going to die so he kissed him while he was sleeping because if his best friend was gonna die so was he and the next day he got really sick with the flu and jeremy would not stop crying because he thought that since michael refused to leave his side he got him sick…they’re idiots

- jeremy is the type to go to school with the worst fever ever he could throw up in the middle of the school day and still not go to the nurse and if he got sick during junior year forget it you had to strap him down to his bed if you wanted him to take a day off like michael had to sedecue him into staying in bed and taking medication so that he could feel better

[alpacaparkaseok]

Lost & Found - 8

Pairing: Park Jimin x soulmate (oc)

Warnings: Insecurity, anxiety, abandonment

Word Count: 3.7k

a/n: Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well so far, enjoy this update! Let me know your thoughts!

Chapter 8. Face Yourself

series masterlist

“You know, I kind of expected to see you again.” Christina leads me into her home, waiting for me to remove my shoes before walking further into the house. It has an industrial look to it, giving off a generally cold feeling. Something about it though makes the house feel warm.

It’s probably Christina. Despite not being overjoyed to see me, she still emits a friendly aura. That is, until Elle decides to hop out and snoop about.

“Er…” Christina rubs her nose harshly, eyeing my cat. “I’m actually pretty allergic to cats…”

I launch into action, scooping Elle up in my arms even though she protests with a pitiful hiss. “I’m so sorry, if I’d have known-”

“It’s not your fault,” Christina replies, gesturing toward a familiar gray door. “Are you alright with leaving your cat in the warehouse while we chat?”

Nodding, I walk over and pry the door open. A blast of cool air hits me, taking my breath away and resulting in a sigh of long-suffering from Elle. Christina reaches into the warehouse, flicking on the light and the heat.

“Would your cat like...um...a bowl of milk? To sip on while she waits?”

I can’t help but smile at Christina’s offer. Glancing down at Elle, I watch the way her tail flicks back and forth as she wanders about the warehouse. “That would be great, actually.”

Once Elle has been taken care of and Christina has moved us to her kitchen, I allow myself to recall the events of a couple weeks ago. I’m passed a mug of apple cider, heart aching at the similarities from before.

Christina offers me a seat on one of the stools, standing on the opposite side of the island. She takes a long sip of the cider, a faraway look in her eyes. I wonder if she’s remembering the last time we shared a drink together.

When I told her who my soulmate was, and she suddenly became very, very quiet.

“So what brings you back here?” Christina asks, finally breaking the memory-laden silence. I look at the mug in my hands for a long moment, collecting my thoughts.

“I…” my vision clouds over for a moment, and I take a deep breath. Once the tears have receded, I try again. “I’ve been told to come to terms with my actions. With all that I’ve done wrong.”

“To make it right?” Christina asks, her expression betraying nothing of her innermost thoughts. “Because like I said, I don’t do refunds. Can’t, actually.”

I finally look up at Christina, really looking at her for the first time.

Her hair is dark and thick, falling below her ribcage. It’s long. Today it’s down, lightly curled.

It makes her look soft. Normal.

So at odds with her choice in profession.

“No,” I respond. “No, not that. I’ve been instructed to...to forgive myself…?”

Christina blinks, resting her elbows against the countertop. “You don’t sound very convinced.”

“That’s probably because I’m not.”

Nodding along, Christina looks down at her hands. She begins to trace the lines in her palms, allowing herself a moment to think. After a few heartbeats, she looks back up at me. “It sounds like you’re seeing someone about this,” she points to my left hand that I have wrapped around the mug. The cut thread hangs there, barely touching the top of the island.

“I am.”

“A trained professional?”

“Yes.”

She lets out what appears to be a sigh of relief. “Good.” Flicking her hair over her shoulder - how did I never notice how long her hair is? - she furrows her brows ever so slightly. “So...why are you here? Not that I want you to leave, I’m just a little confused. Isn’t this place...aren’t I a part of your problem?”

I blink, letting her words sink in. “Christina, you’re not a problem to be fixed.”

An indescribable emotion flickers across her face, but it’s gone before I can put a name to it. Instead she straightens up, moving to put the apple cider back in the fridge. “Then explain to me just what you plan to do here today.”

With her back turned to me I have no idea what she’s thinking or if I’ve already overstepped my bounds, but I venture on. “Well...I don’t really get it. You know, the forgiving part. I’ve heard about it a lot, sure. I guess I just don’t have a lot of practice in it, though.” Christina turns back around, resuming her spot across the island from me. “And it just seemed to me like maybe you do, I guess.”

She’s back to tracing her palm now, absorbing my request. Slowly, she tilts her head to one side, looking at me with unadulterated curiosity. “You want me to teach you how to forgive yourself?”

I nod hesitantly, hoping it’s the right answer. Christina scoffs, a challenge in her eyes.

“How can I teach you about forgiveness when it’s clear you don’t want to forgive yourself?”

“W-what-”

“You want me to explain it to you step by step? It isn’t something that you can just check off of a to-do list, Jolie. I need you to understand that.” Christina rises up to her full height, running her hands through her hair. “You can’t just move through the motions and hold yourself up to the list of qualifications for forgiveness and hope you make it. Because you won’t. Every single time, you will fall short. We all do. And it really sucks, but it’s true. How do you think people find it in them to forgive themselves when they’re completely aware of just how much they’re lacking?”

My heart hammers, the truthfulness in her words pounding into me like an anvil. At a loss, my mouth simply opens and closes like a fish. She sees my dilemma, raising her eyebrows.

“Because they care.” Christina lets out a deep breath, her eyes never leaving my face. I feel absolutely naked before her, all of my flaws laid out like a buffet. It’s impossible for me to move, to run away, though. I can hardly breathe as is. She continues on, a fire in her eyes.

“They care enough about themselves to know that even though they will never meet the expectations laid out for them, they deserve to be forgiven.” Christina’s voice comes out thick with emotion, unshed tears welling up in her eyes. “And that is what you lack, Jolie. You want to suffer. You want to use the pain that’s building up inside of you as some sort of way to atone for what you’ve done. But it doesn’t work like that.”

Sitting there at Christina’s kitchen island, the words hanging in the air above me, I can’t find it in me to lie. Not when this woman stands before me, battle-worn from life and still fighting, would know in an instant.

I can’t lie to myself anymore.

Eyes falling to my mug of apple cider, I see myself reflected in its murky contents. My own pitiful, broken self staring back at me.

“I’m so tired of lying to myself,” I whisper. I hardly notice Christina coming around the island and taking up a spot beside me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

When I finally find it in me to look at her, I see nothing but calm understanding.

Like she knows. Like she’s been here before, in some capacity. Judging from the severed thread she sports, chances are she knows exactly what sort of heart-wrenching pain is wracking my soul right now.

With a soft, heart-broken smile, Christina whispers back, “Then start with the truth.”

✂

“Honestly, she’s a fool for not texting you back. That last text you sent was gold.” Jin stares at an unopened box of churros, rubbing his belly before leaning forward to pry it open. “Pure gold, I tell you.”

“Yeah,” Jimin cringes as he watches Jin take a bite of the churro. They’ve eaten to the point of stomach-aches. “That’s because you wrote it.”

“Exactly.”

Jimin’s cell phone sits in the middle of the table, under constant surveillance by the seven boys. An hour has passed since he sent off the last text to Jolie; a quip about how Elle must have taken pity on him.

When he hadn’t received a message within the first two minutes, he’d wanted to send something else. Taehyung had stopped him, ordering him to eat and breathe for a few minutes. What had begun as a temporary distraction had now dragged on for far too long, in Jimin’s opinion.

With dread in his stomach, he asks, “What if she’s freaked out about texting a guy so soon after everything? She’s probably not in a place to even think about talking with other guys. Do you think she’s ghosting me?”

This makes even Jin pause in his act of gorging himself, swallowing harshly and launching himself into a coughing fit. Jungkook slaps him on the back, frowning.

“No…” the maknae protests weakly. “She wouldn’t ghost you...would she?”

“Well, she doesn’t really have the best track record when it comes to me,” Jimin jokes, the attempt falling flat as everyone sullenly agrees.

Sighing, Taehyung grabs Jimin’s phone and extends it to him. “What are you gonna say?”

Unlocking his phone, Jimin sighs heavily. “Erm...apologize for the lame joke?”

“Hey!” Jin feigns offense, taking an angry bite of his churro.

“Good move,” Taehyung whispers. Jimin chuckles, pulling up the text conversation. Once he types out the message, he shows it to his members. They all agree, although Jin does so a little sulkily.

“Ok and...sent.”

Me: Sorry for the dumb joke...I guess it wasn’t as funny as I initially thought 😅

Jimin sets the phone back down on the edge of the table, struggling to stomp down on the hope growing in his chest. No matter what he does, he can’t stop seeing Jolie in his mind. The way she smiled at Elle, hauling her groceries up to her apartment.

How can his soulmate live so close to him and yet still be so far away?

Namjoon groans as he sits up, looking at an email he just received on his phone. Hobi frowns, reading over his shoulder.

“What is it?” Jimin asks. Namjoon and Hobi share a look before seemingly coming to an agreement.

“It’s just another message from Bang PD,” Namjoon sighs, rubbing his face. “Fans are still...freaking out about everything.”

Jimin blinks, having almost forgotten about the outside world for a moment. “What are they doing?”

“They’re just convinced that Bighit is hiding your soulmate, trying to control the situation. Some of them are fine with it, but there’s a significant amount that are offended.”

“Mainly offended because they think that you don’t trust them enough to still show up to our events,” Yoongi clarifies, giving the younger boy an apologetic smile. Jimin’s eyes become glazed over, mind running rampant with what people must be saying about him.

Hobi jumps in, hating to see that look on Jimin’s face. “But we’re taking the ‘no comment’ route, remember? So they’ll just have to sit tight until you’re ready to come back.”

It’s quiet for a moment before Namjoon speaks again. “Bang PD is just a little worried about our upcoming muster. You know, about fan’s reactions when you aren’t there and-”

“I’ll come.”

Everyone looks to Jimin in pure shock, Taehyung immediately jumping in. “No, it’ll be fine Jiminie, really. You don’t need to come. It’s only been two weeks, take more time.”

Jimin hardly even blinks. “And the muster is in...what, five days? That’s about three weeks of a break for me. I can’t just sit around like this anymore, you guys. I’m losing it.”

Jungkook speaks up from where he’d been quietly sitting beside Jin. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you need to jump back into full concert mode. That’s too much to ask of yourself.”

Everyone seems inclined to agree, already nodding their heads. Jimin sees his window of opportunity closing, and takes a shot before it’s gone.

“One song.” Jimin scoots onto the edge of the sofa, running a hand through his hair. “Just let me do one song with you guys. Enough to let everyone see me, that I’m alright. That they don’t need to...worry about me hiding a soulmate from them.”

“I don’t know, Jimin…” Namjoon begins, twirling his phone in his hands. “It’s probably going to be really intense, and once you get out there you can never go back to the peace you’ve got right now. People will be practically knocking down our door to get answers.”

“I know. Just...I want to see them.” Glancing down at his phone which still hasn’t received a text back, Jimin sighs. “Just one song. I can’t hide forever. And I don’t think I want to.”

Namjoon begrudgingly agrees to bring it up with Bang PD, not promising anything. Either way, Jimin lets out a sigh of relief at the thought of possibly getting to perform soon. Despite the certain problems that are bound to follow, at least he can hold a mic again. See Army.

He’s not completely sure if it’s the right time, but it feels like the right step. Staring at his phone and praying for it to light up with a message from his soulmate, Jimin voices his thoughts aloud.

“I think she needs to know that she hasn’t wrecked my life beyond repair, you know?” Reaching forward, he flips his phone so he can no longer see the screen. “I can live with the pain.”

✂

“Just because you can survive the pain doesn’t mean you should consign yourself to a life full of it.”

Christina is on her second mug of apple cider, the smell of blueberry muffins permeating the air in the living room. We moved here to a little while ago, Christina deeming this conversation worthy of her comfy couches.

I nod along with wide eyes, almost wishing that I had a notebook with me. The way that Christina speaks to me makes me want to write down every word.

Pure honesty. That’s what it is.

“Can I ask what made you get into this business?” I ask, suddenly needing to know more about what made Christina the way that she is.

A dark cloud intercepts Christina’s kind gaze, and she chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment. “I...it’s a long story.”

“Do I look like I have a life?” My comment earns me a sharp chuckle from Christina, who gets into a more comfortable position on the couch. The grays and white undertones of the room makes the small fire in the fireplace pop out all the more.

“Good point. Either way, I’m not a very big fan of going into too much detail where my story is concerned.” Setting her mug down on the coffee table, she takes a deep breath in before letting it out. “Long story short...I met my soulmate. Fell in love with him, actually.”

My eyes instinctively fall to her cut thread, my stomach knotting up with whatever dreadful fact is coming next.

“What I considered to be a pure, beautiful relationship turned into something like Stockholm Syndrome. My soulmate he...he believed that I was his, and only his. He slowly cut off all communication with my family, my friends. At first I didn’t notice what he was doing, but when I came to my senses...let’s just say I did everything in my power to get out.”

I remain frozen in my seat, heart nearly stopping. “Christina, that’s horrible.”

“It was. But the moral of the story is that I got out. I got help. And in turn, I help others the only way I know how.” She glances down at my left hand, something like regret lingering there in her eyes. “I don’t usually ask my clients any questions. I know when I was running and trying to cut my thread, the last thing I wanted was to bring up my history. However, with you...I wish I would’ve asked.”

It stings, but it makes sense. I fidget a little in my seat, twirling my thread around my finger. “Would you have turned me away if you knew the truth?”

Christina sits quietly for a moment, chewing on the question. “I definitely would have tried to get you to think it through a bit more. Maybe I would have turned you away, I don’t know. If I’d have known that Park Jimin was on the other end of that string....I don’t know if I would have been able to stomach doing that to him.”

I nod. It would appear that in my desperation, I’d forgotten that my decisions would harm more people than just those directly connected to the thread around my finger.

“I’m assuming you’re a fan?” I ask a little drily. Like flicking on a switch, Christina’s eyes light up.

“Oh, absolutely. But especially of Jimin.” I feel my eyebrows arch, a fresh wave of guilt sluicing through me. Christina doesn’t begin to curse me, though. “You know his song ‘Promise’? On those days after I’d cut the thread and felt my will slipping, like I might go back to my soulmate after everything he’d done to me...I’d listen to that song. I’d promise myself over and over again that I wouldn’t throw it all away. I guess you could say that, in a way, he saved me.”

The fire pops and hisses in the fireplace, filling the temporary silence. Christina grabs her mug, taking another sip before realizing that it’s empty. She gets up, excusing herself while she goes to the kitchen to get some more cider.

Alone in the small living room, I stare at that fire while different thoughts vie for my attention. Watching the flames, I stumble upon another truth. One that blasts a door open on my understanding of the past two weeks. Of what drove me here, to Christina’s, on that fateful night. Thread in tow, begging for it to be cut.

Jimin creates. He creates beautiful opportunities for people, second chances for people like Christina who so desperately needed one. He’s there, for people he’s never met and never will meet, cheering them on in their endeavors.

And me? I destroy. I’ve always seen that in myself. So when I saw Jimin up on stage that night, completely entranced by him as he bounced around and danced and smiled, I knew that there was a stark difference between us. I could admire that difference, from a distance.

Yet when I saw the way my string followed his ever so slightly...as my eyes traced the thread between us, coming to the same conclusion every time that it was Park Jimin who was on the other side, I believed it to be a mistake.

How could I be paired with someone so good? How could a devil be tied to an angel?

And yet...Christina reenters the room, smiling warmly at me as though I wasn’t the one that made her unknowingly cause harm to one of her idols. It’s Christina, who sits across from me with her third cup of apple cider, that makes me realize that perhaps fate was right all along.

Christina destroys bonds for a living. She destroys seemingly unbreakable bonds, for a price. And what is supposed to be the most horrifying profession of all, comes from a place of sympathy. Of charity.

Perhaps destruction clears the path for creation.

Maybe, just maybe, Park Jimin and I are a perfect match.

✂

The moon has risen by the time Jimin gets a reply. He’s just fallen onto his bed, his hair still wet from his shower, when his phone vibrates.

He nearly rolls off of his bed and onto the floor in an attempt to retrieve his phone, but he manages to stay upright. His heart launches into a frenzy at the sight of Jolie’s name on his phone, and immediately he’s back to replaying the scene of her in his head.

Jolie (Elle): Sorry, I was visiting a friend and lost track of time. And yes, the joke was lame. I’m glad that you can admit it 😂

Jimin chuckles, making a mental note to tell Jin that his joke really was lame. He stares at the screen for a moment longer, struggling to come up with something to reply. Before he can write anything, however, three dots pop up as Jolie types something in.

He stares and stares at those three dots, sucking on his bottom lip. When the text comes through, he lets out a shout of triumph.

Jolie (Elle): Also, I think that Elle misses you. Either that or she’s mad at me for ignoring her

Taking a deep breath, Jimin types out a reply. He rereads it a couple of times before giving in and hitting send.

Me: I’m sure she does. How dare you ignore her? Don’t you know that she’s royalty?

Jolie (Elle): Oh no.

Jolie (Elle): She’s got you wrapped around her finger.

Me: I think you meant paw 😼

Jolie (Elle): This entire conversation is ridiculous, I hope you know that 😂

Huffing out a laugh, Jimin brings his pillow to his chest. Oh, he’s aware of the ridiculous nature of the conversation. But if it’s the only way he can communicate with his soulmate, then so be it.

Me: I’m aware, don’t worry. I’d better let you get some rest. Give Elle some cuddles for me, will you?

A part of him hopes that Jolie will protest, insisting that they talk for longer. However, he gets the next best thing.

A photo of Elle, sitting at the end of a bed and looking at the camera like she’s posing for a portrait. Jolie sends a message a heartbeat later.

Jolie (Elle): She won’t let me touch her right now...she’s still angry 😂 but when she forgives me, I’ll be sure to tell her that the cuddles are from you.

Jolie (Elle): Goodnight!

“I’ll talk to her tomorrow,” Jimin whispers to himself in an attempt to calm his beating heart. He stares at the photo for a moment longer, taking in as much detail as he possibly can. Jolie isn’t in it, but the outline of her legs under the blanket are enough to remind Jimin that this is real. It’s all real.

And he’ll talk to her tomorrow.

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taglist is open! comment/send an ask, or click on the link in the series masterlist!

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[spicywarl0ck]

WIP-Wednesday

I got tagged so often the past weeks, but I was so busy with exchange things that I couldn’t take part. But today, thanks @noire-pandora for tagging me this week. Allow me to drop a snippet of the last chapter of Unleashed that I’m currently working on. Pairing: Solavellan

Adhlea was nervous when she studied herself in the mirror, her hands fidgeting on the dress she wore. She’d made sure to put on the new lingerie set she bought a week ago, a dream that was made out of white lace. She could only hope that Solas liked it… at least if it came to the thing she imagined.

It was somehow weird to plan something like this out, especially when her heart beat so crazy in her chest. Was this crazy? Should she wear something else? What if this went so entirely wrong? Creators, she really shouldn’t have invited him over for dinner after all.

She twitched when the doorbell rang, pulling her out of her stupor. And when she opened the door to take a look at Solas, she was sure that her heart stopped beating for a moment.

He looked so good in the loose sweater and jeans he whore, his glasses framing his eyes. It made her feel shy again, especially when she regarded how his lips curved into a smirk. That man radiated authority even without the suit he used for his job.

‘I’m sorry. I know I have arrived earlier than agreed.’ he apologised to her, his lips twitching as he regarded her. ‘But, I brought something to make up for it.’ Solas added as he handed her a book about the ancient ruins she wrote her dissertation about.

‘Oh… no, it’s fine.’ she stumbled a bit over her own words, her heart fluttering as she took the book. He really remembered, after all, causing her to smile fondly. ‘Thank you.’ Adhlea added in a soft breath before she stepped aside to let him in.

‘Uh... Please make yourself comfortable.’ Creators, she really was a nervous mess right now, while he looked absolutely stunning. She could see his straight posture while he let his eyes dart around her small but clean flat. Did he like it? Solas was tough to read sometimes. He paused in front of one of the bookshelves, studying the titles before he turned to her. And, all it took was his eyes to make her shiver pleasantly. She really crushed hard on him after all.

‘You look beautiful.’ he addressed her without any shame or embarrassment, causing her cheeks to flush even more. She had planned for this, and yet, she couldn’t help that words affected her. But the way he said it had just been so gentle, his expression so soft when he looked at her.

‘Thank you.’ she replied bashfully, not sure what to say exactly. It was the first time she invited someone over for dinner, and the fact that she couldn’t do anything with herself right now was even worse. Dinner was prepared and all in the oven already; there was nothing left for her to do. Except…‘Do you want to drink something?’ Adhlea blurted out, luring a chuckle out from Solas lips. It was still one of the most perfect sounds she ever heard, and a tiny part of her couldn’t help but swoon.

‘There is no need to feel so nervous.’ His greyish eyes focussed on her while she’d retreated behind the Kitchen counter awkwardly. ‘I promise that I will be at my best behaviour.’ he added as his lips curved into a mischievous smile. ‘Except, of course, you don’t wish for that at all.’

His eyes made her heart beat even faster in her chest, causing her hands to shake as they poured him a coffee. She knew by now that he was not fond of tea at all, which was something that made her happy. Not that he hated tea, of course, but the fact that she knew.

There had been a few things she learned about him in the past weeks. For example, he was a punctual man, fluent in many languages and a control freak. Not the toxic kind, but the type who wouldn’t let someone else drive his car. She didn’t know why he was like this, but she also didn’t mind much. As someone who was organised herself, she found that she could live with someone eccentric.

Not that she could imagine being with anyone else at this point anyway. I’m tagging:

@charlatron  @elveny @scharoux @zuendwinkel  @queen-kass-the-writer  @schoute @pikapeppa @jacklyn-flynn​  @thefoxinboots​ @wardenari​ @jentrevellan​ @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold​  @dalish-rogue​ @lavellanvibes​ @musetta3 @starsandskies @ashalle-art  @hollyand-writes @dismalzelenka