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countrymusiclover · 1 year ago

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1 - Never Get a Break

Part 2

Family is More than Blood

@secretdreamlandmentality

Mature don't read if you're not 18 +

When we're young, we're taught the distinction between a hero and a villain,good and evil,a savior and a lost cause.

But what if the only real difference is just who's telling the story?

I come from a long line of the villains in the tales you've heard about vampires,werewolves, witches, and everything in between.

The school behind these gates protects the secrets of people like me and my children.

My name is Raelyn Mikaelson, I was born a siphon witch of the Gemini coven. The wife to Klaus Mikaelson and the mother to his four beautiful children…the only vampire in existence to be able to have children once they turn.

I could go into the long and complicated story and how all this happened but you already know everything for the most part. So let’s jump into what has happened since two years ago we finally put the Hollow down and we rid the world of its magic forever.

Hope, Alina and Missy are eighteen now. Andrea is finally a teenager. I can hardly believe it. Little Henrik is seven now. And if I’m right Lizzie and Josie should be fifteen and will turn sixteen soon. I know if you were still here you would be over the moon about all of this.

Hope isn’t a full Tribrid yet she still needs to become a vampire. Missy has become a heretic like me and J. Oh Alina and Jackson are going to school together and she has now become what I call her a werewitch. Andrea should follow her path someday when she and Henrik trigger their wolf curse. Then my little boy will have to die and become a hybrid just like his father.

Caroline has run off again in search of a cure for the merge before her twins turn twenty-two. I try to remain hopeful she will find one since I can’t provide it for her anymore ... .oh Jacob and Hayley are living with us in Mystic Falls even though we aren’t actually there at the moment.

You know Klaus, he promised me the world and everything and he won’t go back on a promise. Regardless I love and miss you with all my heart, I’m not sure why I am writing these letters even though you can’t ever read them, but it has become a hobby. I’ll write more later.

Love you mom, Rae.

Closing the book on my lap I lifted my head upwards seeing my husband come in from the kitchen in our hotel room. He insisted we have the best sweat possible. He smiled, tossing me a blood bag that we had kept in the mini fridge. "With all the letters you wrote to her you could have a whole book written, love."

"Yeah a book that no one can know about. With it saying supernatural creatures are actually real. I'm not sure a publisher would believe anything I'm saying." I sent him a glare tearing open the blood bag drinking from it slowly.

He came and sat down beside me making the bed dip at his weight. His eyes softened when he focused on me. “I could just compel them to ignore that little detail.”

“Then it wouldn’t be real, Nikkaus. If I ever wanted to tell our story. I want everything to be real. Everything to be true and see people’s reactions. But that’s not what you want to talk about is it?” I sent him a smirk, being able to read him like the back of my hand after all these years.

Klaus flopped down beside me on the bed crossing his arms behind his head. “So where do you wish to go in this big wide world next?”

“Nik, we’ve literally almost been all over the planet. New Orleans, then Paris, then Italy. I mean honestly we can’t just snap our fingers and run all over the earth.” I shook my head at him rolling onto my side so we were facing each other.

He reached up playing with hair in between his fingers while he spoke. “We’re vampires, Raelyn. We can do whatever we want. Especially you and me. After all, we are two of the strongest creatures on the planet.”

“Ah I see. You’re still holding back what you want to talk about. Spit it out or I’ll find out through a tickle ear.” I threatened him with a playful smirk on my face scooting closer to him.

Klaus used his vampire speed vamping above me trapping me in between his body and the mattress of the bed. “You said that we would try again for another baby once the kids were older. The triplets are adults now so…can we?”

“Oh my god you’re ridiculous Niklaus. I have only been denying for two years and it’s already driving you crazy!” I smacked his chest with my hands feeling my face turn red at the thoughts running through my mind.

I wouldn’t lie to myself and say that I didn’t want to sleep with him again. I mean we would always be attracted to one another forever. But we had both agreed that until things had settled down that we would do it again. After Lucien/Marcel and the Hollow we had been separated every time we were so close to a stable relationship with our kids. I couldn’t live through anymore time apart from the man I loved. "You're ridiculous, Nik. Are you seriously that needy.” I couldn’t not tease him not believing that he would be so demanding of us sleeping together again. I mean of course I enjoy it who wouldn’t when you have someone like him.

I attempted to get up from the bed but he snagged my wrist holding me still in my place.

He spun me back down onto the bed holding my wrists above my head. “Raelyn, surely you’ve felt the desire too. I mean it can’t just be me now..”

He trailed his hand underneath my shirt feeling me jump at his fingertips. “Nik please , ah!”

Klaus leans down, capturing my lips with his in a deep hungry kiss. I kissed him back gently before he started moving kisses down my face. “Ah ah I see what I do to you, Mrs. Mikaelson. That you are so sensitive just as I am.” He kissed down, nuzzling his nose into my neck as he went.

“Ohh Klaus!” I moaned, throwing my head back against the pillows. One hand was bawling the fabric of his shirt in my fingers.

He moaned, crashing his lips onto mine again where I wrapped my arms around his neck. “See you don’t want to leave this bed just as much as I do. Hmm…you can’t….help…yourself either.”

“Klaus stop. I…if you’re going to tease me…get it over with please!” I scooted up onto the pillows feeling my chest heaving up and down with the veins going underneath my eyes.

Klaus sat up on his knees shrugging his gray Henley over his head tossing it somewhere across the room. He moved his hands down to my shirt, tearing it in half. “Gentle or dominant, love?” He questioned throwing my torn shirt off the edge of the bed.

“Either way I don’t care. I just want you right now.” I told him, taking his face in my hands, I drew him in for another kiss.

He smiled into the kiss moving one hand through my hair deepening the kiss. Our hands were moving everywhere across each other. We both began to moan when he fisted the other's hair. “If we have another baby….ah…what should we name it.” My husband breathed out holding himself up by his hands on either side.

“Niklaus shut up and make love to me!” I began to move against him and leaned up pressing my lips down upon his. He embraced me back instantly when my fingers dug into his back, drawing blood that would heal later. He ran his body over every inch of my body he could reach, both of us slick with sweat as he moved against one another, our pants and moans filling the room.

The bed was moving against our actions where he kept hitting the specific spot that we both moaned afterwards to. He broke the kiss where I held his face in my hands tracing his cheek with him thrusting into me slowly. “Rae, I love you!” He moaned when I pulled his head downward burying my face in his neck nuzzling my nose and kissing into his skin.

“I love you too, Nik.” Grabbing a hold of his shoulders I flipped him onto his back catching him off guard where he flashed his hybrid eyes up at me.

He put his hands behind his head looking longingly up at me like this with him. His eyes scanned my neck before he sat up with me sitting on his lap. “Do you want to give this another go?” He traced his thumb over the vein in my neck.

“Absolutely. We belong to each other.” I smiled, brushing my long hair out of his way. My eyes never left his while put his head in the crook of my neck breaking the skin and drinking my sweet blood.

Not wasting a second I buried my face into his neck drinking his blood with the same gentle yet needy feeling running through our veins at this moment. He kept his face in the crook of my neck while our bodies were just molding against each other. We shortly reached our heights in only a matter of minutes where he drew his head back when I harshly tugged on his hair until the phone was ringing like crazy . “Bloody hell…you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Who is it?” I grabbed my phone from the nightstand with me still staying as close to Nik as I was.

Hope’s voice came through the phone shocking us both never thinking we would hear something like that. “Mom. Dad, we just had to face a dragon. Alairc wants you guys to come back to school now.”

“Uh okay. We’ll book the next flight home.” Hanging up the phone Klaus sent me the same confused look before we separated and got dressed, both annoyed that we apparently couldn’t have a rest from craziness. Especially when we live in Mystic Falls.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

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aemcndtargaryen · 2 years ago

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not me coming out of the tags to leave a comment, who am i? (i had to tho i have too much to say lol)

He must be in agony, but he doesn’t show it; and hasn’t that been true all his life? - going for the jugular right off the bat eh

He wears a ghost of a smile, soft yet victorious.

No one can take you away from him now. No one can untangle all the strings that bind you together.💜💜💜

reader cleaning him up after the battle, even his sapphire eye and aemond just: He is perfectly at ease as you do this. He entrusts himself entirely to you.🥺🥺🥺

the maester: “This is a gruesome task, princess. You need not subject yourself to such unpleasantness, especially in your…condition.”

reader: My place is here

Aemond: proud

me: in tears

“You have lost, Lord Hightower. Go back to the Reach and do not return unless you find yourself in need of having your head separated from your body.” - lol aemond aint playing around😂🔪

axel: spewing his bs

aemond: “Hm.” Aemond chuckles, low and contemptuous. He lifts your hand and kisses the back of it.

“She is an asset.”🥺

“Go on, do it,” Aemond seethes, his blue eye blazing maniacally, his sapphire gleaming. He is grinning. Blood drips from his swollen, half-stitched arm. The needle swings from the length of thread like a man from a noose. “Do it, Lord Hightower. Draw your sword. Give me an excuse to bury you. I have already killed one man today. I’d be happy to double that number.”

the way im in love with this fic and with your writing, that line about slicing the fututres throat has been stuck in my mind since i read it like 2 chapters ago and now i had that needle line stuck in my head all day. idk it might be a weird thing to fixate on but The needle swings from the length of thread like a man from a noose. like this line goes so hard and its such a minute detail, but also somehow helps paint such a vivid picture, and makes it more real, like i can legit see this scene if that makes sense.

“I have met my match in her. I will have no other.”🥺😭🤧💜

“You are lucky that I have brought to your side Vhagar, and swordsmanship, and wit, and this excruciatingly heavy, inborn burden of duty that Aegon so obviously lacks. I have never asked you for anything. I have never sought to build a future for myself that diverges from the ambitions of this family.

This is the one thing I must have for myself. She is my restitution. She is a gift from the gods.”😍🥺😭🤧💜

“I’m sorry that I’ve caused you so much suffering.”

“No, no,” Aemond murmurs. He whisks your tears away with his left thumb. It is rough and calloused, expert, practiced, precise. “You have not caused it. You have cured it.” - YOU HAVE CURED IT CAN YOU HEAR ME SCREAMING I-😭🤧

“I’ll have to get an egg. A dragon egg. The most perfect egg there is.”

You are mystified. “Why?”

He smiles at you, a dreamy, content smile. “For the baby.”

the way you described alicent and cristons rs? honestly you have such a way with words i-

He looks at her in a way that makes you think of septons marveling at statues of the Mother or the Warrior or the Smith, gods they can speak to as often as they like but never meet. There is something hopeless and yet worshipful about it. There is something sacred.

also aemond almost always having you on his good side so he can keep an eye on you, make sure you are ok and always touching you, amsentmindedly, as if to make sure youre still there? nobody touch me🥺😭🤧

“Actually, I’m praying for a swift and easy delivery of whatever variety of child it is.”

Our child doesn’t need the name of a great warrior. They will be one no matter what we call them.”

Them, you think. Not him. Aemond didn’t say him.

- king shit👑 also the way he was so worried about reader, going off to winterfell on his own to get her the flowers i-

HELENA: Helaena murmurs to her butterfly: “He waits in the lagoon, coiled, red.”

“Moon on the water, fire in the sky, moon on the water…”

ME: taking notes📝

Larys waits for an invitation to sit down. Everyone else waits for him to leave. - lol take a hint ya creep. the way even helaes bugs left when he showed up, then came back when he left pls

Otto glowers at Aegon. “What have you done now?” - the way he immediately thinks it was aegon pls😂

aegon half drunk but still cluing in and drenching that creep in wine to protect the reader - “Oh, there I go again. You should retire to clean yourself up, Lord Larys. And perhaps get lost if you attempt to return to us.” - hes such a lil shit, i luv him your honour

ALICENTS WHOLE SPEECH

QUEEN BEHAVIOR

“No, I think that love—uncomplicated, undutiful, unambitious love—can be allowed to prevail this once. If only this once.”

THE WAY SHE CAME THROUGH FOR HER FAV SON

also:

“She is kind to my daughter, she carries my grandchild, she makes my son happy.

I will not hear any further slanders against her. And that is exactly what these words are, Lord Larys. Slander.

But tread carefully when you speak of my children. I count her as one of them now.” - get wercked larys, he seriously miscalculated there.

Otto has the right of it: “That fucking ferret.” 😂💀

also that bit about the laurel trees?😭🤧

They remind you of your mother—they share her name—and that once caused you pain like the nick of a blade. Increasingly, you find solace in it.

“Perhaps that’s what Vhagar can eat. Wealthy, yearning maidens.” - LOL😂

“How is she?” He is drunk, but only moderately. He sits down on the rim of a fountain and you join him.

“Thriving. Jovial. You could ask her yourself, you know.”

“That’s not how we do things.

- THATS NOT HOW WE DO THINGS AEGON HUN I-😭🤧

“Sometimes I fear I’m losing him to the past instead of joining him in the future”

- the forshadowing of it all, but also aegon comforting reader:

“You are his future. You, and the baby, and this family. The Greens. That’s all that exists to him.”💜💜💜

READER ASKING AEGON TO HELP AND SUPPORT AEMOND IF STH HAPPENS TO HER I-

He sighs. “I don’t think I have it in me to be a good anything.”

“You do. I know you do. I can see it.”

- BRB CRYING, I CANT WAIT TO SEE AEGONS CORONATION WITH READER THERE TBH

AEGON RUNNING TO GREET AEMOND AND GET HIM TO HURRY UP COS HE MIGHT STILL HAVE TIME TO SAY GOODBYE I- 😭😭😭

“I don’t want to die like my mother.”

“You are not dying. Look at me, look at me…” He grabs your face roughly with both hands. “You are not dying, I promise you that you’re not. You are in battle, but you are winning.”

“I’ll help you,” Aemond says. “Alright? We’ll do this together. I’ll help you. I won’t leave you for a second. I won’t leave until it’s over.”

“I’m sorry,” you tell Aemond, barely conscious, the room dimming to black. Blood flows in a torrent from your life-robbing womb.

“No,” he replies. You can feel the dampness of tears on his right cheek. “It’s not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry—”

ill take all the angst happily, as long as its followed up by sweet fluff lol. so so happy mum and daughter are both fine after that harrowing experience. ngl you had me worried there for a second

THIS WHOLE CONVO. I LOVE READER AND AEGONS RS SO MUCH. THEIR BANTER? FUCKIN TOP TIER🔥🔥🔥

Aegon bypasses all the cooing and admiring and sits down beside you on the bed, one brimming cup in each hand.

“Hi. I brought you some pomegranate juice.” He hands you a cup.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d have much interest in this. Are you here to see the baby?”

“No.” He touches your forehead—feeling for fever—and then your cheeks. “You scared me.”

“Not as much as I scared myself, I assure you.”

“Don’t do that again.”

“He’s so in love with her, I think we’ll have to have twenty children.”

“That would be a new record, surely.”

“Why, do you only have nineteen?”

“You fucking bitch,” he says, smiling enormously, and clinks his cup against yours.

Ottos one redeeming quality continues to be his love for his (great)granddaughters - the way he was showing lil laurel around and introducing her to everything even tho she was clrealy sleeping was so cute of him (cant believe you have me praising otto the cunt hightower but here we are)

also aemond hovering and wanting his lil baby back in his arms was so cute, he loves her so much i-

AEMOND INTRODUCING HIS BABY TO VHAGAR I- 😭🤧💜

“Fire,” Aemond says, laying his bare palm to Vhagar’s flesh. Then he smooths his hand over your daughter’s sparse, downy hair. “And blood.”

ALSO NAMING HER AFTER READERS MOM, KNOWING HOW MUCH HER MOM MEANT TO HER I- AND THE BEST HUSBAND AND BEST DADDY OF WESTEROS AWARD GOES TOOOO AEMOND TARGARYEN BYE👑

Exactly eight weeks later—seeking to secure Lucerys Targaryen’s claim to Driftmark—Rhaenyra and Daemon set sail from Dragonstone, bound for the flourishing, golden shores of King’s Landing.

AND THE PLOT THICKENS

IM SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT COMES NEXT AND HOW THE SHOWS EVENTS WILL UNFOLD NOW

Have You No Idea That You’re In Deep? [Chapter 6: You Are In Battle]

Aemond is a fearless, enigmatic prince and the most renowned dragonrider of the Greens. You are a daughter of House Mormont and a lady-in-waiting to Princess Helaena. You can’t ignore each other, even though you probably should. In fact, you might have found a love worth killing for.

A/N: Hi all!! Thank you so much for your friendship, encouragement, emotional ranting, humor, compliments, questions, and love throughout this fic’s short lifetime. You better believe that EVERY! SINGLE! reblog/tag/ask/comment/etc I receive lights up my life like dragonfire. I also wanted to let you know in advance that the last 2 chapters of this fic will have a LOT going on, so it might take me a little longer than usual to get them published. I appreciate your patience! Hopefully they will be worth the wait. 💜

Song inspiration: “Do I Wanna Know?” by Arctic Monkeys.

Chapter warnings: Language, violence, some sexual content, witchcraft (per usual), drama at brunch, Axel being a sore loser, Larys being a snake, Helaena being prophetic, Aegon being Aegon, time skips, childbirth, dragons, extreme fluff, extreme angst, y’all know I cannot help myself I am an angst monster and I will not apologize!!!

Word count: 7.1k.

Link to chapter list (and all my writing): HERE.

Taglist: @crispmarshmallow @tclegane @daddysfavoritesexkitten @poohxlove @imagine-all-the-imagines @nsainmoonchild @skythighs @bratfleck @thesadvampire @yor72 @xcharlottemikaelsonx @loverandqueenofdragons @omgsuperstarg @endless-ineffabilities @devynsshitposts @vencuyot @ladylannisterxo @ariesbabycitlaly @cranberryjulce @abcdefghi-lmnopqrstuvwxyz @liathelioness @mirandastuckinthe80s @haezen @fairaardirascenarios @darkened-writer @weepingfashionwritingplaid @signyvenetia @abrielleholland @crossingallmine @burningcoffeetimetravel @yummycastiel @lol-im-done @lovemissyhoneybee @nomugglesallowed @witchmoon @yoshiplushie @torchbearerkyle @sweetashoneyhoney @quartzs-posts @lauraneedstochill @nctma15 @queenofshinigamis @rapoficeandfire @hinata7346 @curiouser-an-curiouser@meadowofsinfulthoughts @imjustboredso @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @myspotofcraziness @bregarc @mikariell95 @doingfondue

💜 Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist! (Also I’m sincerely sorry if Tumblr refuses to tag you!!!) 💜

He must be in agony, but he doesn’t show it; and hasn’t that been true all his life?

He declines offers of milk of the poppy. His right arm has been set—the bone snapped back into place with a wet, jolting click—and now the maester is sewing the wound closed. This serrated scar will join all the others he carries, scars of the flesh, scars of the soul. You sit to Aemond’s left, on his blind side, only so he can drape his arm around the back of your chair while the other is being repaired. There is a strange, hushed tranquility that has settled over you both here in Aemond’s chambers. He wears a ghost of a smile, soft yet victorious. No one can take you away from him now. No one can untangle all the strings that bind you together. With a damp cloth, you clean the viscous half-dried blood from his nose, his mouth, his cheeks, his forehead. His face is already bruising, mottled with shades of violet and blue. You remove his eyepatch so you can—with the most careful hands—wipe the crimson from the mangled remnants of his eyelid. He is perfectly at ease as you do this. He entrusts himself entirely to you.

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#anyway watch me crawl back to the tags next time cos that's where I thrive #but this fic is so fuckin good and there's too much to praise #And I love sharing my fav quotes but when I have too many it's hard to do in the tags #I feel like I went a bit overboard there I hope I made sense tho I swear I'm not insane lol i just love this fic too much #I can not wait to see what you have in store for us next #But do take your time no rush well be here (im)patiently waiting #Also the way I'm not ready for this fic to end? How do we only have 2 chapters left😭😭😭#I hope you continue to write for aemond after this too bcos you do it so well #🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻#Thanks for this masterpiece #Aemond targaryen x reader #Mormont!reader #Dadmond #pregnant!reader #Wip series #Fav #Read

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thefrsers · 3 years ago

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CAITRIONA BALFE | 94TH ACADEMY AWARDS 2022

#caitriona balfe #caitrionabalfeedit #oscarr 2022 #94th academy awards #belfast movie #outlander cast #outlandercastedit #gifs #mine #her smile honestly can cure anything its true #she just looks so stunning such a vision of beauty and elegance #she ATE it up #go my little rockstar <3

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chilling-seavey · 4 years ago

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idk if you've already been asked this one, but a blurb of Daniel proposing to Avalon? (i loved the first date one! <3)

Emma. You cured my burnout. I stayed up late to write this because it inspired me so. I thank you with every part of my heart omghgh

A/N To anyone reading this, please let me know if you want to be added or removed to my qtvtp series taglist! :)

February 14, 2019

Avalon honestly forgot it was Valentine’s Day until she walked into the kitchen to find two dozen roses on the island framed in three mustard yellow and navy blue Louis shopping bags and Daniel standing behind the spread with a cocky smirk and a mug of coffee in hand.

He took a sip, raising a casual eyebrow to her, “Morning, honey.”

Avalon scoffed with a tired smile at the over-the-top surprise and shuffled over to him to kiss him good morning. The feeling of his lips on hers had her smiling ever wider and she slid her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Daniel whispered, scratching his fingertips gently across her back with the hand that wasn’t holding his cup of coffee.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.” Avalon smiled sweetly, leaning up to kiss him again.

They lingered there a moment before Daniel was stepping back, “I’m late for work. I’ll be home in good time tonight, okay? We have reservations for an early dinner at 5 at BOA.”

He kissed her again.

“What about these bags?” Avalon asked.

“Open ‘em. Pick something to wear tonight.” Daniel said with a smile, kissing her again before he was tossing back the rest of his coffee and set the empty mug in the sink.

Avalon shuffled shyly over to the spread on the counter and peeked into one of the large bags as Daniel got his shoes on and his keys from the bowl by the door. She watched him gather his things before he was at her side again, pulling her close by her waist, and left her with a strong kiss to her lips.

“I love you.” he said, barely waiting for her answer as he headed for the door.

“I love you!” Avalon called after him just as the front door closed behind him.

She stood in silence for a moment, still having yet to have even woken up all the way, and sighed. She picked up the heavy bouquet of red roses and gave them a good sniff before taking them with her to find a vase from under the sink. The clothing bags sat waiting on the counter as she trimmed each flower stem and set them neatly in the glass vase, her patience more impressive than her curiosity. She always liked flowers. She could do without expensive clothes.

Even still, in the quiet of the house, Avalon took the bags to the master bedroom and set them on the desk in the corner. She straightened out the white sheets over the king size bed and made it up with the few decorative pillows before staring to open her gift. Two dinner dresses were pulled from one bag and draped over the end of the bed: one white with a black collar and one red with a white bodice. The second bag held a pair of black pumps and a black clutch purse. The smallest bag held two different sets of jewelry – a necklace and earrings – one set in silver and one set in rose gold.

Avalon admired the silver set and tilted the box slightly to watch how the morning sun glittered over the diamonds through the glass doors. She snapped the lid shut and set it down on the bed with the rest of the items. A price tag was left behind on the red dress and the number $5,050.00 stared up at her. She exhaled deeply and flipped the tag over so she didn’t have to look at it.

She hated when people bought her things – especially Daniel – because could never measure up…it made her feel like such a burden. But it was a gift and he loved to buy her things and see her in the clothes he would pick out for her so, after lunch, she got herself into the red dress.

Daniel’s smile when he came home and saw her all dolled up in the pretty things he bought her was enough to make it worth it. She was finishing up her makeup in the ensuite and he came up behind her to lean down and kiss her cheek.

“You look gorgeous, honey.”

Avalon leaned back slightly to look up at him with a soft smile, “Thank you.”

With one more kiss, he left her to finish getting ready and to tidy himself up from work. In enough time to make their reservation – Daniel was hurrying as to not be late for something for once which was a nice change for Avalon – they left the house and drove farther into the city. BOA was the most expensive steakhouse in Los Angeles and was visited by many different celebrities. Since their reservation was so early – the sun had yet to set even – they beat the paparazzi to the doors which was a relief and Daniel passed the keys to the valet and led his girlfriend inside without trouble.

They ate together in the dim romantic lighting of the steakhouse, hands brushing from across the table and as they eventually waited for their dessert, Daniel traced the curves of her hand with his finger. She just stared at him; his fading blonde dye admits the roots of brown, his collarbones that peaked out of the top of his unbuttoned collared shirt below the white tee he had underneath, and the perfect cupid’s bow that made up his lips. He was that most beautiful thing she ever saw.

They shared a dessert and Daniel paid the bill – with a generous tip – and they were out of the restaurant and in the car just as the sun was starting to dip behind the buildings of the city.

Avalon leaned over the centre console to kiss him, “Thank you for dinner.”

“Of course.” Daniel smiled at her as they did up their seat belts. “But I have one more Valentine’s Day surprise.”

“Oh God. Alright.” Avalon chuckled.

“The beach?”

“I’d love that.” she grinned. She always loved the beach. Daniel knew this about her well.

They drove the few minutes away to the shore hand in hand, soft music playing through the radio as the past the bustling city streets and plentiful other couples enjoying the early hours of the evening together. Daniel found a parking spot just a bit away from Santa Monica Pier and turned off the car.

“It’s a surprise so I have to blindfold you.” he said.

“Oo. Okay.” Avalon giggled.

Daniel opened the glove box, chuckling at her little lip bite, and pulled out a silk blindfold. She helped him carefully pull it down over her nicely done hair and set it over her eyes. When he kissed her and she startled, he knew it was doing its job.

He got out of the car and hurried around the other side before opening her door for her and helped her step out on the pavement.

“My heels won’t walk well in sand.” Avalon said hesitantly as she balanced herself on his arm.

“Step out. I brought you flats.” Daniel instructed, bending down to help her change her shoes quickly.

“My prince charming.” Avalon teased.

He only chuckled, keeping steady so she could hold her hands on his shoulders while he slid her feet into the black flats instead. The heels were tossed onto the floor of the Tesla and then the door was closed. She was blind to her surroundings but Daniel silently greeted the little camera crew and photographer who were hired to meet them there for that exact time and he started to lead her out of the parking lot and onto the sand.

“I’m nervous.” Avalon whispered and she clung a bit tighter onto Daniel’s arm with both hands.

“Nothing to be nervous about, Aves.” Daniel replied softly, walking slowly to let the camera crew could tuck a microphone in his back pocket of his black jeans just so the audio could be picked up more easily.

When the set up came into view was when his nerves started to set in a little but he only lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her soft skin. She leaned into him as they walked.

The sun was setting almost to the horizon which cast a beautiful romantic orange glow over the sand and illuminated in perfect shadows the seven large black letters that spelt out Marry Me at the end of a makeshift aisle framed in rose pedals and plentiful candles. A few strangers stood a ways off to watch, some with their phones out to record the scene, but the only sound was the gentle crashing of waves on the shore. Daniel and Avalon fell to a stop at the front of the little aisle.

“Trust me?” he asked against her ear.

She nodded.

“Okay.” he took his arm from her and moved away a few steps so he was standing at the end of the aisle, right in front of the letters. “You can look.”

Avalon hesitated a moment but she reached for her blindfold and carefully pulled it off. Daniel took a deep breath as her eyes adjusted to the light and she processed what she was looking at. Her mouth fell open but also broke into a little smile, hands reaching to cover her grin in surprise.

“Come here, honey.” he called softly, holding out a hand to her.

Avalon walked slowly towards him, taking in the rose petals and twinkling candles and the setting sun over the ocean behind them. It was beautiful. The gentle breeze from the water ruffled her hair and the angle at which she stood had the sun making her cheeks glow rosy and sparkled in her brown eyes. It felt like he was falling for her all over again; that same nervous gleeful uncertainty that filled his heart on their very first date.

“Avalon Rose,” Daniel whispered, sliding his fingers into hers and brought her hands up to kiss tenderly as he stared longingly into her eyes, “my one true love. You have shown me what living is…what commitment is…what love is…and endless other lessons that I thought I already knew before I met you. Truth is, I didn’t know anything before you…my story starts with you and I want it to end with you. You’re my world, my therapist, my cuddle buddy, my tone deaf music connoisseur, my partner in crime, my true love, my forever, and my always.”

Avalon’s bottom lip trembled as she listened to his whispered words of adoration, staring into his light eyes like she had every single day before that. He was home to her.

Daniel dropped one of her hands to reach into his pocket and pulled out a Tiffany’s blue box. He opened it as he got down on one knee, revealing the impressively sized pear shape diamond ring that sparkled in the evening sun.

“You’re it for me, Ava. You’re my entire future, baby. I can’t see life with anyone but you by my side. Will you marry me?”

“Yeah.” Avalon breathed without even a second of hesitation, nodding quickly, “Yeah, of course, Daniel.”

He stood up as she pulled him in for a kiss and he wrapped her arm in his arms and lifted her off the sand as the people nearby applauded. She smiled shyly into his neck as he set her back on her feet and he only beamed with pride as he slid the ring on her finger.

“Beautiful.” Daniel whispered, tucking her hand in his to kiss her fingers and then dipped down to kiss her lips, “You’re beautiful.”

“I love you.” Avalon breathed, pulling him in to keep his lips on hers for a few more lingering kisses.

“I love you.” Daniel replied easily, wrapping her up close again. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Tag List: @jonahlovescoffee @randomlimelightxxx @stuffofseaveyy @hopinglimelight @tempus-ut-luceant @br4nd1s @xkelsev @hiya-its-amber @the-girl-who-cried-wolf @bessonbae

#🔪#daniel seavey #why dont we

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heyyyharry · 4 years ago

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Chapter 12: Shadow Man

(from ‘The Winter and The Crown’)

…in which they come home and so much has changed.

Word count: 5k

AU: queen!y/n, commander!harry

Description: Y/N and Harry set off on a new adventure to find ‘the cure’ for an ancient curse, meanwhile, the enemies are plotting to take her kingdom.

Wattpad link (Reyna as Y/N)

A/N:

Did I just write 5k words in 2 days? Fuck yeah I did :) Sorry for being unproductive and depressed, that was very unsexy of me lmao. I’ve recovered from a long sleep. Don’t worry.

But hey, at least I finished this chapter before Nevada finished counting their votes :)

"I remember everything."

Y/N had waited too long to hear this. She'd made up scenarios in her head of how this would happen. Yet standing in front of him now, she didn't know what to do. He leaned in with a broad expectant smile, and she shoved him away as hard as she could.

"What was that for?" he gasped.

"How do I know you're real?" she hissed, taking a step back only to realise she'd fall into the water if she'd gone further.

Harry cocked his head to the side and studied her like a swordsman with his opponent. She thought he was about to attack, but once she'd regained her composure, she realised he was waiting for her to recognise him.

He extended a hand and moved in. She froze, second-guessing his intentions. To her surprise, he lifted her hand by the wrist and placed it against his chest. It wasn't until now that she noticed the wind had died and the snow had stopped falling. The forest was so still, like it was holding its breath, waiting to see how this scene would unfold.

"How about this?" he asked, knowing she could feel his heartbeats, so alive, so human, against her palm. "Your hand is cold," he chuckled, his voice breathy. She didn't answer, knowing the fact that she missed him too much could blind her judgement.

Harry's nose scrunched up in disappointment as he let out a breath. "How about...this?" And he let her touch his face. His cheek was warm, or her hand was just too cold. "Better?"

She pursed her lips, feeling the beginning of a smile as Harry closed the distance between them. He pressed his forehead to hers. And when she silently gave him permission with a single look, he leaned in and captured her mouth with his own.

He tasted like memories, like winter, like the forest that nearly killed them. And when he drew back, her eyes stayed shut until she could finally breathe again.

"You believe me now?" he asked, brushing his thumbs over her flushed cheeks.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, giggling. "You stupid bastard."

Harry started laughing, too. Then, he kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, "Did you miss me?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave a nod, her face buried into his wet shirt.

"Good. I missed you, too," he said, contently.

She pulled back. "Did you get your memory back when I kissed you on the cliff? Was that why you jumped?"

"No." He tucked her hair behind her ears. "I jumped because I loved you and couldn't bear the thought of losing you. I told you, didn't I? When you truly love someone, the love won't go away."

Y/N swore her heart grew so big her whole chest might explode. She smiled and pressed her fingers against his shoulder, his chest, touching all the places she'd missed. This was too good to be true. She needed to be reminded that he was real.

On her tiptoes, she kissed him softly at first, and then with an ache inside her, she pushed herself closer against him. His hands pressed against her ribs as if he wanted to leave little bruises everywhere his fingertips rested. Maybe for all the same reasons. To be certain that she was real.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," he said, his eyebrows sloped down at the edges. "I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"You won't," she said.

He shook his head; he didn't believe her, either. "I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid. Never of you," she claimed despite a wretched knot of fear growing in her gut. She was afraid of so many things, and at one point, that fear would consume her. But until then, she could pretend it didn't exist.

She folded herself into him as his arms draped around her waist, his breath hot at her neck. He placed his lips at the soft place below her ear and ran his fingers through her dripping hair, warming her skin with his.

"So you remember everything?" she asked after a long hug.

"Yeah," he told her, pulling back. His eyebrow arched, reminding her of the playful side of him she hadn't seen in so long. "I also remember you telling me that you were in love with Lance."

"Did I?"

"You did, Your Majesty," he teased. "You said we went on this excursion because Lance was sick and you had to save him."

Y/N pressed her fist against her mouth and nose as she chortled. "We're doing this for you, stupid! You were going to die."

Harry blinked, taken aback. "What?"

"When Mary messed with your memories, she'd taken away many years of your life and hers. So we had to find the lake." Y/N's smile dropped as she looked over her shoulder. "This lake. It was the only chance to reverse the spell and save you."

When she turned back to him, a grateful smile had taken over his face. "You did that for me?"

She lifted her shoulders. "And for Isolde. This water could save lives."

Harry scoffed as he placed his hands on his hips. "Just lie and say you did it only for me."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Fine. I did it only for you."

"As you should." He happily booped her nose. "Also, Lance?"

She knew he wouldn't let this topic go no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. So she sucked in a breath. "Promise you won't be mad?"

"I'll never get mad at you."

"Except for that one time you tried to kill me."

He lifted both of his hands. "That wasn't me, but good point."

Y/N laughed nervously before she thinned her lips, looking for the right words. This was much harder than she'd thought.

"I slept with Lance."

Harry's smile reduced to a firm line as soon as he heard the confession. The way he gaped at Y/N made her believe he could never trust her again. The ball of fear within her grew, fluttering inside her chest, becoming a hammer that could smash her apart.

"Oh, wow," was his response.

She took his hand and squeezed. "You promised you wouldn't be mad."

"I'm not," he told her. "I just...wasn't expecting that. I thought you were going to say you'd kissed him..."

"It was only once," she mumbled.

Harry regarded her with a sad look that made her wonder if he was feeling sorry for him, her, both of them, or Lance. She decided not to question as he cupped her cheeks again, lifting her face. "It's fine, darling. I understand how hard it must have been for you. I couldn't be there."

"I thought you were dead."

"I know."

His chest rose with each breath, his flat green eyes so wretchedly deep and dark that she could tell there was disquiet in him. There was more he wanted to say, questions he wanted to ask. She almost reached up on her tiptoes and forestalled him with her lips. She could blot out his thoughts, swallow down his worry and make it untrue. But right before she could find out what was on his mind, they were interrupted by a rustling sound coming from the trees. She clung onto his arms when the moonlight deer stepped out of the shadow.

Its eyes shone like two silver coins dropped into a black pool. It spoke with the melodic voice of a woman, "Come with me, Saviour. I'll show you the way out of here."

"Wait," Y/N said, stepping around Harry to get to the creature. "Are you the witch in the story? Did you die here?"

Silence.

"Please answer me. I need to have an explanation for these visions I've been having."

"Those are memories from your past life," said the deer. "You, my Queen, is a descendant of the first High King."

"I know."

"And blood calls to blood," the deer said. "King Lokesh. He was in love with the daughter of the moon."

The shadow man, Y/N thought. The witch's lover was the King.

"He failed her, though. His one true heir and one true love had died in this lake. Lokesh had cried for days on the lakeshore until one day, he drowned himself."

A chill coursed right through Y/N. She swore she could hear a distant cry. Or perhaps it was just the wind.

"And what did you mean when you said those were memories from my past life?"

The deer didn't answer this question. It turned quietly and trailed back into the forest.

Y/N returned her gaze to Harry, who was too baffled to make a sound. She gave him a reassuring smile and laced her fingers with his. "Let's go. We must get back to the castle."

Lance shut the window and padded over to the fireplace where stood the young woman with the burned face.

Mary kept her head down, holding both hands against her stomach as Lance looked her up and down. It was hard to read her. She'd shown no emotions when she'd seen George Wallace's dead body lying in the snow. Now standing here alone with Lance in this room, she looked nothing more than a scared little girl.

"You must believe me, Your Majesty," she pleaded, her voice trembling. "I'm not dangerous."

"If I thought you were dangerous, we wouldn't be talking like this," he answered calmly. "I know you haven't been honest with me."

Silence.

"I have questions for you, Mary."

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty. You can ask me anything."

"Swear to me that you'll answer them honestly."

"I swear, Your Majesty. I swear on my life."

"And your sister's life."

"My sister's dead."

"Not both of them are dead."

Mary lifted her screwed up face. She seemed hesitant at first. Then, quietly, she said, "I swear."

"Good. Now tell me, did you kill George Wallace?"

"No," Mary answered without a pause. "But I know who did."

"Who?"

"Calanthe."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Calanthe?"

"She must have sent someone here to kill him. She needed a reason to start the war."

"And so she sacrificed her most trusted advisor?"

Mary's eyes sharpened at once. "Her most trusted advisor is the Monks now. The rest of the court are just her pawns." She bit down on the words before they came out, bitter and clenched. "I'm one myself, Your Majesty."

Though Lance couldn't have guessed it, and he hated himself for that, he wasn't at all in shock to hear her confession. "Why did she send you here?" he asked, stunned by how calm he sounded even though his thoughts were all tangled.

"I must convince Queen Y/N to travel to the North Mountain to find the lake."

"Which doesn't exist?"

"It does exist, Your Majesty. But only Queen Y/N can find it."

"Blood calls to blood," Lance murmured to himself. Mary probably heard him, because she gave a quiet nod. "So Calanthe wanted Y/N to lead her to it?"

Mary bit her lip as she nodded again. "But the forest protected the Queen. Calanthe's people weren't able to find her. At least...that was what George Wallace had told me. I was supposed to see him before he..."

She never finished that sentence.

"So are Harry's life and yours really threatened or was it another lie?" Lance asked.

"It was not a lie, Your Majesty. All magic comes with a price."

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath. He settled into a chair by the fire and sat with his legs spread and hands on his knees. "I've been having these visions," he said.

Mary was quiet for a moment. "They're real," she then told him. "They're not visions. They're memories."

The final word grabbed Lance's attention. His eyes snapped up to Mary's.

The girl somehow found the courage to take two steps nearer, her whole wretched face was visible in the firelight. "When my sister said that Queen Y/N would be the saviour, she was talking about the war between the North and the South. She predicted that there would be a war as vicious and bloody as the one that had divided one hundred kingdoms into four high courts. King Lokesh had led the war. He made a deal with the Gods, to trade his firstborn for victory. But...he fell in love with a witch. And his selfishness had cost him her life."

"The witch in the story."

"Yes. Lokesh failed to fulfil his agreement so he died an unknown death, and the Gods punished the people with unchanged seasons. That's why the North is buried in snow all year round, and its ruler would always face a tragic death and have to carry a life full of regrets. Queen Y/N, however, is the exception. Lokesh started the war. And she's going to end it."

Lance pondered over those words for a long moment. "But...what did it have to do with me? It doesn't explain the things I've seen."

"Do you know...do you know about reincarnation?"

"What?"

"Reincarnation," Mary repeated. "It's the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or form. It's usually the ones with unfinished business in their previous lives. They're given a second chance to fix their mistakes. Don't you find it strange? This...pull between you two? Does it sometimes feel like...like...like you've known her forever?"

Lance went numb for a second, then he burst out laughing. Mary gaped at him, speechless and appalled.

"Why should I believe you after you just admitted to being a spy?" he asked.

She swallowed. "You don't have to believe me, Your Majesty. But...I decided to confess because I'd realised that I couldn't keep doing it anymore. I'd die no matter what. Calanthe doesn't care about me." Mary buried her face into her hands and took an exasperated inhale. "My fate is bound to the Monks by my fire tattoo. I must die when they die. And I want them to. I want Queen Y/N to win this war."

A knock on the door pulled their attention away from the conversation. Lance rose from the chair as soon as he told the person to come in.

The door creaked open, and there was Jo, who was surprised to see Mary. "Can I speak with you, Your Majesty?" she asked Lance.

Lance nodded and dismissed her with a wave, saying he'd be right out there. When she left and shut the door, he turned back to Mary, who was now as pale as a ghost.

"Please don't tell Jo," she begged.

"I'm not going to," he said, holding his hands together behind his back. "But take my advice. Never keep secrets from the people you care about."

She said nothing, just staring at her feet. So he walked out without giving her a second glance. A lot would have changed tonight, not only for the two of them, but for every single soul in this castle.

Harry knew something had changed.

It wasn't the fact that the guards at the gate looked at him and Y/N as if they were two dead bodies washed in by the tides. It wasn't the fact that the servants whispered to each other in the corridor as he passed by. It wasn't the fact that he and Y/N were the ones in filthy clothes, and yet she still looked like a Queen while he had never felt more out of place.

Something had changed, because Y/N had changed.

He didn't expect her to be the same girl he'd fallen in love with after all the trauma she'd been through. But the change wasn't mental or physical. It was her heart. It was different now.

She'd saved him. But what if in saving him, she'd lost a piece of herself that she'd never get back?

The fear deepened inside Harry the moment the door burst open and Lance rushed into the room. Harry didn't have to be a mind reader to understand that look.

Without exchanging a word, Lance strode straight towards Y/N, who immediately crashed into his arms. Like two pieces of a broken heart, they held each other, scared that one or both of them might fade away as soon as they let go.

Y/N opened her mouth, about to say something, and suddenly Harry was terrified of what she was going to say. What she would admit in the heat of the moment.

But Lance didn't let her speak. He turned to a guard. "Call for the Russos and the Queen's lady-in-waiting," he ordered.

"Lance–" Y/N started.

Lance cut her off by telling Harry, "Welcome home," and took in Y/N's haggard appearance one last time before he left. Just as fast as he'd arrived.

Y/N clenched her fist against her heart. Devastated maybe. They'd been gone for two weeks which had felt like months. This wasn't the warm welcome she'd expected from someone she was going to marry.

"Y/N!"

Jo burst into the room, holding up her skirts as she ran towards Y/N and almost tackled the Queen to the floor. Kenny and Stefan were here, too. They were thrilled to hear that Harry had got his memories back and that they'd found the lake. All Y/N had to do was tell one guard at the gate and now the entire castle had found out.

She took her time answering their friends' questions and asked them questions about themselves. Harry knew she wanted to ask about Lance as well, but she didn't want to bring him up, or perhaps just not in front of Harry.

"We don't remember the way back to the lake," Y/N told Jo, Kenny and Stefan. "I tried to draw the map in my head as the deer led us back to the horses. I wanted to come back with our army to get the water, but as soon as we were out of the woods, neither of us could remember the directions. They probably don't want to be found."

"They?" asked Kenny.

Y/N didn't answer.

Harry knew she hadn't told him everything. After all, she was the only one who could communicate with the deer. He'd been too happy to be with her again to ask about it before. But after seeing her with Lance, it occurred to Harry that he might know much less than he'd thought he had.

Why was he anxious? They had returned home safely. There was no reason for him to feel like he was more likely to lose her now than before. Harry kept wondering to himself while watching Y/N laugh with the others.

She put her arms around his neck. He held her tightly, kissed her rose-shaped lips and pressed his nose into her hair. He didn't think she knew how much she upended him. The question he'd almost asked at the lake still lingered on his lips. He couldn't say it.

With her holding him, the dark of the forest felt so far away. Her fingertips blotted out the cold of the winter. She was the only thing that made him whole. It was better this way.

But Y/N, my love, how do you feel about him?

Y/N could not believe it.

She was fuming. Her thoughts were racing. She marched straight to the meeting room and demanded the guards to let her in. A queen should not be excluded from a meeting with her own court.

All courtiers rose as she entered, while Lance stayed seated in his high chair at the end of the long table. He only acknowledged her with a single glance.

"An emissary was killed in my castle and I had to hear it from my lady-in-waiting?!" Y/N shouted at the men in the room. Silence ensued. Frantic looks were exchanged.

"I told everyone not to tell you," Lance spoke, his voice as calm as she remembered.

Suddenly, she hated him.

She hated him for his attitude. For how cold he'd been to her when he'd seen her earlier in the throne room. Perhaps he wasn't happy to see her alive. Perhaps he'd been hoping that she'd been dead so he could take the throne.

Deep down, unfortunately, she knew he wasn't like that.

Every single time she tried to make him the villain so she wouldn't feel bad about what she'd done with him, those memories would start creeping back into her mind. She couldn't make sense of her own feelings then, yet she knew at that moment, when he'd kissed and touched her, her feelings for him had been true.

"You'd just gone through hell and back, my love," Lance said. "How did you expect me to expect you to take that news?"

Y/N scoffed as she crossed her arms. "So instead you expected me to take my rest and leave the fate of my kingdom to you men?"

"No." He lifted his shoulders. "We were just going to help you make the final decision. However, I'm glad you could join us."

Y/N furiously flopped down into the other high chair as Lance flicked his fingers for a general to continue speaking. When they locked eyes for the second time, Lance's expression relented like a silent apology.

"Lance, wait!" Y/N called as she chased after him after the meeting.

A lot didn't sit right with her, but the one thing she cared the most at the moment was what had happened to Lance in the two weeks she'd been away. He didn't seem like an entirely different person. This was the same Lance she'd met. But now that she was more familiar with the one who would spend long nights in her chamber and chase away her nightmares, she couldn't bear seeing him this way.

"What do you think we should do with Mary?" she asked, falling into steps beside him.

"Nothing. She's still helpful, and we still have no proof that she did it," Lance said as he marched on with his hands behind his back.

Y/N thought about leaving him alone as he didn't seem to want to talk. The problem was she needed to talk to him. Despite what he thought was going through her mind right now, she did care about him a lot.

"How...how have you been?" she ventured.

He gave her a quick glance, his eyes distant and nonchalant. "Tired," he said. "Anxious. Angry."

"Oh..."

"Not because of you."

Y/N came to a halt at the same time Lance stopped and turned to face her. "Tired because I haven't slept for days. Anxious because George Wallace is dead, and the innocent people of Isolde would have to pay that price. And angry because..."

She waited for him to finish, but he hesitated. "Of Calanthe?" she asked.

His mouth twitched as he shook his head. "Not just Calanthe. But don't worry about it."

"So Calanthe...and me?"

"No."

Just as Y/N thought he wasn't going to continue, he did. "And me."

Y/N bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

Lance chuckled as he gave a wave of dismissal. "As I said, don't worry about it."

It was hard not to worry when he'd been acting strange ever since she returned. She'd thought he'd be happy to see her, because she knew for a fact that she'd almost burst into tears when she'd seen him.

"I wish you'd be honest with me for once." The words slipped out before she could think twice.

Slowly, Lance spun around, his grey eyes dark and troubled. "I have not lied to you," he claimed. "Not even once."

Y/N folded her arms over her chest. "Not lying isn't the same as being honest."

Lance let out a scoff, running his fingers through his raven hair. Y/N lifted her chin as he came closer. So close it unsettled her.

"If you need me to spell it out," he said roughly, "you're either a fool or a liar yourself."

She swallowed a lump in her throat, trying not to let her anxiety take control. "How about you tell me what's happening to you and I'll tell you what I am?"

Lance considered her, his mouth curled to its favoured side. "The reason I'm angry at myself," he said, slowly, "is because there's going to be a war, and I know for a fact that I'm going to trade my life for yours."

Y/N stiffened at the answer. She parted her lips, unable to make a sound. Her reaction seemed to have amused Lance more than it hurt him. He cocked his head to a side and smiled mischievously. "So what are you, Y/N? A liar or a fool?"

Y/N thinned her lips, still speechless. She was rearranging her thoughts, trying to form proper sentences that wouldn't leave her looking stupid, when suddenly, Lance lifted a hand and flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder. Her body grew tense as he breathed out a laugh. "And since you want the truth, well," he said, without looking at her. "I love you."

"What?"

"I love you," he repeated, this time, with confidence.

The lump in her throat grew bigger as she tried to gulp it down. When she spoke, she almost didn't recognise her own feeble voice. "But? Finish your sentence."

"That was my sentence, silly." He grinned tentatively.

"There's always the second half," she mumbled.

It was sad but true. Not many people had told her those words without something else to it.

A frown transformed Lance's face as he stood taller, his jawlines sharpened in the firelight. "I love you," he said. "I know you don't love me in return. But some people do love without conditions, Y/N." There was a pause before a shadow of a melancholic smile crossed his regal features. "Perhaps I broke your heart in a different life," he said, "and now it's your payback."

She wasn't sure what he meant, yet she didn't get a chance to ask. The pressure against her lungs made it hard for her to breathe let alone speak. Without waiting for her response, Lance spun on his heels and left, taking long strides until he disappeared into the shadow.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles series

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cafeinthemoon · 4 years ago

Text

The Leaves of Her Garden - Chapter XII

Title: The Leaves of Her Garden

Genre: Fanfiction

Pairing: Madara Uchiha x reader

Rating: Mature

Word count: 1241

Chapter (s): 12/?

Warning(s): nothing serious honestly, just more intimacy and mentions to pain and discomfort

Read the previous chapters here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Interlude, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11

Symbols: 🌙 | ➕ | ▶

Willingness

You turned on the futon and your eyes, still adjusting to the darkness, caught a glimpse of the moonlight filtered by the porch’s thin walls. Thanks to it, you spotted Madara’s shape approaching and taking the empty space beside you.

At first, because each of you did your part in your agreement, you thought he was just going to lay down, forget about you and sleep, so you returned to your previous position, with your back turned on him, and closed your eyes. And that’s why you startled when you felt his arms surrounding you, followed by his right leg entwining with yours, pulling you tight against him. So, the connection between you two created by his dojutsu was not a momentary trick? It seemed to be the case.

For a moment, you were afraid that he was going to take you for the second time and considered asking him not to: you were still sore, and things could get worse if you repeated the experience in so little time. However, he didn’t make any advance towards it; he just held you close and stood still, as if he needed you to get some rest himself.

For a long time, you didn’t dare make a movement. You thought you wouldn’t be able to: your experience already told you how strong was his grip, but now that you were not suppose to leave the futon until tomorrow and thus had to stay under its influence for hours, you thought you were going to suffocate.

Soon you started to feel the discomfort of lying on one side for a long time and needed to change your position. To your surprise, he gave you some space when you tried to do it, as if he was aware of everything.

Maybe he was, for he was not sleeping at all.

- You are restless – though he spoke in a whisper, his voice echoed in the silent space – Is there something wrong?

- No – was your automatic response.

- Are you sure? – he insisted; you sensed his hand slipping from your waist to you r inner thigh – Does it hurt? Is the pain disturbing your sleep?

Indeed it was, so despite the warmth rising to your face, you chose to be honest about it.

- Yes – you replied, your voice sounding strange to your own ears – Please… can you do something about it?

Madara moved his arms away from you and seemed to sit on the mattress. He told you to turn to his side and you obeyed; as soon as you did it, you felt the palm of his right hand under your belly button, groping through your skin as if he wanted to find the precise spot of your uterus. Once he found it, you sensed the warmth of his skin transferring itself to your body; when you looked down, you noticed a greenish phosphorescence emanating from his hand and your eyes widened in surprise: you already have heard about the healing techniques created by the shinobi, but you’ve never had the chance to witness their use until then.

You heard him giggled: even in the dark, he seemed to understand your feelings.

- Let me say that I am not proficient in this style of ninjutsu – he said as an apology – But I believe it is going to be enough for your current circumstances. Now, stand still, girl. Close your eyes. Try to relax your mind. Do not concentrate your thoughts on your discomfort. Instead, think about the healing. Think about my hand. Imagine that you are already sleeping.

It was hard at the beginning, but you tried to do as he said. And after some minutes, you started to sense the effects of the technique. Your body was no longer under that strange sensation of tiredness, nor your muscles were tense anymore, which helped you to relax and take your focus away from the pain. Soon, you were feeling sleepy again, and the pain slowly diminished.

When he noticed these changes, he decided it was the time to improve his method: his hand moved away from your belly and he s tarted using both his hands to caress your inner thighs, which seemed to be sore too. This time he didn’t take too long to cure your discomfort: the problem on your thighs was not but fatigue; soon, they were healed. However, his hands didn’t finish their work yet: it was possible that he sensed your need for caresses, so he took time on it. You couldn’t see your own face in the dark and without a mirror, but you were sure that your cheeks were red as you felt divided between the modesty you wanted to maintain as the quiet girl you were and the boldness of expressing your pleasure to the person responsible for it.

To you, it was still strange to see how easily he could interpret what was going through your mind and your body. With a single look or touch, he was able to identify your physical needs and the direction of your thoughts, and then act accordingly. Was he really that wise, or were you just too easy to read? You didn’t know.

You didn’t see any problem in letting him lead the course of events, despite the abrupt way you came into his life, his house and his bed, barely knowing him and now having your life on his hands. Was it an effect of the power in his eyes, this sudden willingness, this desire to trust him with everything you had? Or were you just tired of carrying everything all by yourself? Whatever the case, it was good to be touched, to be held by his hands, to be kept hidden and protected under that disguise, not having to worry about your past, your nightmares and your pain because now you were Madara Uchiha’s wife, among all women the last who had to care about such things.

Well, was it right to act like this? Was it wise? Were those questions still valid now that you’ve reached so far? You didn’t know, and it seemed that the more you thought about this, the more he intensified his stroking, to not having you focus on anything but what he was doing to you. He had you, and that was all.

Soon your body reached that sensation of climax for the second time, and all those thoughts disappeared as you entered a state of complete relaxation. Madara moved his hands away from you, and you felt the weight of his body over you right after; was he going to take you? You waited to find out, but he just approached his lips and left soft kisses on your mouth and your temple, just like he did before.

He returned to his spot on the mattress and passed his arms around you again. This time his strong grip didn’t bother you: instead, you felt some gratitude for having it there. You weren’t hurting, nor crying or ashamed anymore; now there were only sleep, warm and shadows to surround you besides him. The future or the next day would come anyway, but for a moment they were none of your concern.

- Madara… – you heard yourself whispering before you could stop.

- Y/n? – he replied; you smiled to yourself at that: it was good that he kept calling you by your true name after everything.

- Thank you.

#misserso93 fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #madara x reader #madara fanfiction #madara x you

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overclockedroulette · 3 years ago

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this one’s for you squirrel xoxo ty for the writer’s block cure

not sure if I’ve ever talked about Tyrhzu on this blog? oh well, have this anyway.

mykie your space-themed naming conventions for pets has ruined me. also hope you don’t mind me using clover and indoril I NEEDED PET OWNERS ANd they run an animal sanctuary so. best option.

unnamed aubilon worker my beloved

~~~

Ten minutes. That’s all his incompetent coworker was supposed to take - and, since when was he assigned work with other people anyway? If he didn’t know any better, he’d assume Kirren was trying to get the kid killed (but if that were the case, he would have just been asked, like every other time). He sighed and checked his watch. Thirty minutes. Half a fucking hour he’d had to spend in the porch of this dumb animal shelter, waiting for this idiot to pick up… whatever they had been asked to pick up (honestly, he hadn’t been listening; he didn’t particularly care), and having to deal with this… dumb dog.

He wasn’t quite sure what breed it was (again, he didn’t care), or even what it was for, but the owners - these two elven women with matching tattoos, one of them clearly far more confident than the other - had assured him that it wasn’t dangerous. Which he had laughed about. Because the thing didn’t look dangerous: it looked stupid. It just kept… trying to be around him, no matter how much he shooed it away or ignored it, with a clear disregard for its personal safety. He muttered a few curses and shoved it away again, letting out a short laugh as it slumped down, dejected, at his feet.

“Fuck off, mutt,” he hissed, laughing internally about the familiar terminology coming from his end, this time. But the dog seemed to take this as an invitation rather than a curse, and perked up as if its name had been called, standing up and wagging its tail emphatically just in front of the bench he was sat on. He considered kicking it.

“Luna,” he murmured, grabbing the thing’s collar and reading the name aloud. And he laughed - audibly - at the irony of the whole thing. “Fucking Luna.”

The dog - Luna - perked up again, resting its head on his lap and staring up at him with wide, excited eyes while he considered the pros and cons of impromptu canicide.

“Piss off.”

It whined, nuzzling its head into his thighs. Avarice groaned.

“Really. Go do… whatever it is you do. Somewhere else.”

It didn’t move. Just kept staring at him.

“You’re annoying.”

Nothing.

“Move.”

Still nothing. Just a long, mute pause and heavy eye contact, until Avarice finally sighed and relented, irritably moving one hand to ruffle the fur on the top of its head - because maybe that’d make it go away - and pointedly avoiding eye contact when it got excited.

“Now will you leave me al-” and the dog was already in his lap. He gave up fairly easily after that.

He laughed quietly when Luna curled up on top of him, letting him absentmindedly stroke her fur as he spoke, with a soft kind of intonation that anybody who knew him would bolt at the first sound of.

“Persistent little darling, aren’t you?” he chuckled. “Well, I hope you’re happy. If you were a person, you’d probably have lost a limb by now.” He laughed again, and then paused. “But then, I suppose no person would have the guts to get close enough. I respect it.”

And he paused again, contemplating. And he laughed.

“It’s funny, actually. I could break your bones with my bare hands, if I tried hard enough. I probably wouldn’t hesitate,” and his voice started to waver, “I could cut you open and watch everything that keeps you alive spill onto the floor. There’s every chance I’ll murder at least one of your owners, in the future. I’d watch you bleed out and feel nothing.”

He was raking his nails across the skin of his left arm, now, bleeding from the mistaken incisions. His breath hitched. “I’d watch anyone bleed out and feel nothing. I have. And I do feel nothing, because I’m not a coward, I’m useful, I’m better, I’m not-”

And he suddenly started to realise how much his arm stung, and felt the blood dripping onto the poor dog’s coat, as Luna nuzzled the offending hand away from his bleeding arm and firmly back into her fur. He laughed. “Ah- my apologies for stopping, darling,” and continued running his hands smoothly down her back, letting her settle down again. He’d have to clean his arm later.

It was silent for a few more minutes, Avarice absently petting the excited ball of fur in his lap and trying not to think about his wounded upper arm, before he spoke again, more wondering aloud than anything else, not even bothering to look at the thing.

“Why aren’t you scared of me?”

Silence.

“I suppose it’s just stupidity. Although, animals are supposed to be able to sense danger, aren’t they? There’s no reason for you to be this close. Especially to… to someone like- ah-” he paused: took a deep breath. “To someone like me. Oh- don’t look at me like that, you know what I mean. I’m not exactly a good person, am I? Or… particularly safe. But I’ve gotten better!” he insisted. “In terms of being safe, I mean. I’m better than I was, aren’t I? I don’t- except, I never did, because I’m not- because I didn’t- because I’m not him, I’m not, I can’t be-”

His words were choked out of him in a strangled, dry sob. And everything was quiet while Avarice gathered his thoughts. Thoughts that were his. That came from him, and nobody else. Because he was himself. And never anything else. And he buried his head in that stupid dog’s fur and tried his hardest not to cry, because he refused to, because he didn’t need to, because-

Because the last time he cried, he wasn’t him. And he wouldn’t go back.

“Fuck, I miss Tyrhzu,” he whispered, barely audible, still buried in Luna’s coat. And it was the first time he’d said that name in well over eight years, and it felt unnatural, wholly wrong. And everything came back. The laughing, the fights, the chatter, the comfort; the screaming; the feeling of a blade deep, deep in flesh; the raw, unadulterated grief that had consumed him so wholly for years; the feeling of reaching in the dark, screaming until his throat was hoarse for someone (for him) and grasping only silent air. And he was sobbing, now: weeping into this dog’s fur, who just curled up closer to him and let him cry - or, rather, everything but, because he yelled and sobbed and the stinging in his throat became unbearable, and nothing came out but noise. He was screaming. Screaming eight years of repressed grief into the fur of a creature that hadn’t been scared of him. And when he got up, he breathed in deeper than he had in months. And he muttered a “thank you” to the dog as he continued stroking its silver-speckled fur.

When his coworker returned, along with the two elven women, he didn’t mention it. He just shooed the dog off his lap and claimed it had “insisted.” Which was true. And he had sorted the problem of his injured arm by simply glaring violently at anyone who looked like they were going to bring it up. The taller, red-haired elf seemed concerned about the dog’s condition - which was fair - although the smaller didn’t look worried at all. She just smiled, reached down to pet the dog’s neck, and looked up at Avarice.

“Say, did you know that dogs can tell when their owners are upset?”

“Excuse me?”

She laughed. “I didn’t mean it to be an accusation! Just a fact. Luna here-” she reached down to ruffle her fur again, “-has always been good at that. Very good with people, too.”

“Can you tell she plays favourites?” the taller elf murmured, nudging Avarice with her elbow and laughing at her partner’s affronted expression. He echoed that laughter.

“Quite. I… daresay I’d do the same.” And he reached down to stroke her again, leaving his coworker dumbstruck as they began to set up their belongings to leave. “Oh, and by the way?”

The coworker nodded tentatively in acknowledgement.

“You make me wait that long for anything, ever again, and you’re dead.”

#tyrhzu my beloved #AVARICE my beloved #luna. my. beloved.#i swear to god i almost choked when i asked for the name of their dog #kinda funny #unnamed aubilon worker my beloved<3 #avarice kiriatta #i'll make a post about tyrhzu later #just for context #in the meantime. just.#guess <3 #hurt/comfort #tw self harm #oc #oc writing #oc hurt/comfort #tw grief

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ghostiewriter · 4 years ago

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prologue | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ’s life is thrown upside down after a school trip. Now he just decide what to do about his newly found powers and discover just how much his life has changed.

Warnings: contains strong language, a teeny sliver of sexual references, just the three boys being dumbasses? a small smidge of angst (it barely counts) and some fighting, kinda amateur but he’ll learn eventually

Word Count: 8.2K (I’m so sorry)

A/N: ahhh so here’s the prologue! Hope you guys enjoy, it’s a bit of a mess and it wasn’t meant to be this long but oh well! This is just to kinda set up the world, I promise the chapters won’t be this messy! There will be way more Kiara in the next chapter as well, don’t worry! Like I said, this is just a filler chapter! Also this is unedited and I am kinda unwell so lets hope this makes sense :) feel free to leave any feedback!!

masterlist // taglist // ao3

JJ prided himself in always loving an adventure. A random trip at 3am when one of his buds felt down? Hell yeah! An exploration through the streets of New York when he decided to ditch his Spanish final? Let’s go, dude! A spontaneous road trip with his boys during summer? JJ was down! But this? This just felt like some sick joke.

Admittedly, JJ wasn’t listening in class when the trip was announced. And as Pope liked to remind him every couple of minutes, this whole situation could have been avoided if he had listened in class. But can you blame the guy? A whole day off school to visit some big corporation uptown where he was getting a free lunch—JJ would be stupid to reject that. Yet, JJ should’ve known there would’ve been some catch, some flaw in this trip. And that flaw was that he had to spend the day walking around Cameron Industries, the biggest nerd fest on the East coast.

JJ was bored out of his mind.

Pope was ecstatic beyond belief.

John B was ready to punch JJ in the face if opened his mouth to complain one more time.

“Why call it a trip when all we do is listen to these dudes in lab coats droning on about some weird gene thing? Like c’mon! A trip is meant for relaxing. Where the fuck am I gonna relax around here, huh? The fucking gift shop—“

“Shut up,” John B hissed at the blonde, smacking JJ’s arm for good measure, to which the blond dramatically whined at. “Just please…shut up. You’ve got one more hour until lunch, alright? Don’t ruin this for him.”

JJ huffed as he glanced over at Pope, who was eagerly questioning every scientist they came across. As much as it pained him to agree with John B, he did have a point. There weren’t enough fingers in the world to count the amount of times JJ had dragged Pope into some anxiety-provoking, impulsive situation. The least he could do is suck it up a little and mope silently as they walk through countless fancy labs that probably each cost more than his apartment complex altogether.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so chuff,” JJ huffed, his fingers twisting the rings that adorned his hands—a force of habit when he was uncomfortable and bored. “You usually back me up on this kinda stuff—“ But JJ didn’t need to finish his question. Oh no, because the answer was right there.

JJ smirked as he turned to John B, one eyebrow raised in question. However, his friend seemed much more content staring at Sarah Cameron from where she stood near the front of the group, smiling towards the tour guide like they were close friends. Which they probably were considering they were standing in the building her father owned.

Ward Cameron. Renowned scientist, billionaire and founder of Cameron Industries. A true inspiration. What started as a hopeless experiment in his high school chemistry lab ended up forging Ward Cameron’s path to success in the biggest multibillion-dollar multinational corporation that held the future for chemical engineering. JJ just thought he was some lucky rich kid that had daddy’s money to support his dream.

And it was for that reason that JJ rolled his eyes, nudging his friend out of his daze. “You do know you don’t stand a chance, right?” JJ commented.

Harsh but true. JJ and the rest of the kids that attended this trip went to Midtown High School. True to its name, it was smack bang in the middle of two very different livelihoods. Uptown Queens: home to the kids who live of old money, designer clothes and trust funds. And Downtown Queens: home to working-middle class who would spend the rest of their lives making a sliver of the uptown folks’ wages.

Take a wild guess which area JJ is from.

However, some old dude in the 60s decided to try and bridge the gap between the classes and thus, the school was born. All it did was let each know how much they resented the other. Yet, John B had fallen into the alluded mind-set of that old geezer and set his eyes on Sarah Cameron, the most uptown chick you’ll get. And of course, JJ was there to remind him of that very fact and push him off that imaginary bridge. It was a fool’s hope to combine the uptown and downtown folk; it was a fool’s hope to try and make them get along. It won’t happen now nor ever.

John B flipped him off. JJ only grinned in response.

Nonetheless, that ended up being the most exciting part of the hour. JJ shuffled along at the back of the group, his eyes constantly wandering around the labs. Did he have any clue what any of it was? Hell no, but he was naturally curious and couldn’t help his hands from wandering. Sue him, he was a teenage boy with ADHD and a knack for getting into trouble—he was bound to do something stupid.

His interest in science perked up a bit when he noticed a small enclosure of what looked like completely normal spiders, yet as their tour guide spoke, they were anything but normal.

“Our team have been working on taking the genetic code of three separate species of arachnids and combining them to form a super-spider. One which can survive and reproduce and live as any other would. It is the first step in the future of genetic engineering and modification. With this technology, we could find cures to diseases that were deemed impossible to cure. We could form a stronger, better human race—“

“Isn’t that unethical?” A voice interrupted. Everyone’s head snapped towards the curly-haired girl that stood by Sarah Cameron’s side. JJ knew very little about her—considering this was honestly the first time he had seen her—and he wasn’t complaining…nor was he actually listening to what she was saying. “I mean, won’t this just introduce a future of designer babies and a superiority of the genetically modified over the natural?”

“I understand your concerns,” The tour guide—a young redhead who honestly didn’t look a day over twenty-two but then again, JJ guessed everyone around here was some sort of genius. “But I can assure you there are a number of protocols behind this research that would prevent such a thing from happening.”

“Can you really stop the rich from getting what they want?” Ironic considering she was a rich, uptown chick.

An awkward silence washed over the group before the teacher quickly cleared their throat and directed the tour guide to continue.

JJ—being the foolishly bored teenager he was—made his way over to the unknown girl, standing next to her as they looked at the spiders in the enclosure.

“Poor things.” She sighed sadly. JJ only raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it.

“You know,” He began, his voice smooth and suave—the usual JJ charm he used on girls. “I totally agree with you on all those…ethic…things…” He trailed off, risking a glance towards the girl who only narrowed her eyes at him.

“Really?” She questioned, nodding her head for him to continue.

“Yeah, I mean, save the animals, am I right?” He grinned, nervously scratching the nape of his neck. The girl seemed unamused.

“Uh huh, sure thing, buddy.” She stated before turning to catch up with the group. But JJ’s voice stopped her once again.

“How about I take you out some time? And then you can tell me all about all this ethic stuff.” He proposed, his usual charming smirk on his lips. He was a lady’s man, he knew he was gorgeous and JJ would be a fool if he didn’t use it to his advantage. One small date to charm her before JJ wiggled his way into her bed, then boom—they never have to speak to each other again. Plus, this girl may be one of Sarah Cameron’s wee minions, but JJ didn’t let class get in the way of his ‘love’ life. He just resents the lot of those uptown kids in every other aspect of his life. No harm in fraternizing with the enemy, right? What other people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. It’s just a little bit of fun.

“Do you even know my name?” She asked him, her arms crossed over her chest. It took a lot of self-control for JJ not to follow the movement. He cleared his throat, leaning one hand against the enclosure.

“Uh…Samantha?”

“Nice try, asshole.” And with that, she turned around to join the group.

JJ stood there, a little dumbfounded by the encounter. He was taken aback not only by the fact she had just rejected him, but with the sass in which she did so. He would be lying if he didn’t say it was a little hot, but he expected it. Uptown kids always thought there were better, superior to the downtown kids.

But JJ didn’t wallow in his rejection for long when he felt a sharp, stinging pain on his hand. He glanced down, seeing a spider on the back of his hand and his instant reaction was to shake it off. “Little shit!” He hissed, looking down at the small bite mark on his skin.

“Hey, dude, you comin’?” He heard John B call out. He glanced around, unable to spot the spider. He shrugged, JJ has had worse than a small spider bite. He’ll survive.

“Yeah, I’m starving, let’s go!”

Little did JJ know that was his last day as a normal, hyperactive teen.

**********

“I’m telling you something is fucking wrong with me!”

Both boys looked at their blond friend with sceptic looks. It was Saturday morning and far too early to deal with JJ nonsense. Especially when they could barely understand what he was going on about. It was around 6am when John B and Pope received a very distressed call from JJ. Neither one was very sure for what reason, all they heard was ‘freaky’ and ‘fuck’ multiple times during the call. But he sounded like he was really going through something so they eventually went over—arriving at JJ’s place at 7:30am. JJ was too on edge to even try and call them out on it.

“Dude, breathe,” Pope muttered, watching JJ run holes in his carpet from how much he was pacing. “Calm down a little—“

“I can’t calm down, Pope!” JJ snapped, looking at his friends who seemed far too calm. “Like I don’t know if I am freaked out or pumped but just—“ He paused, seeing the look of confusion on his friends’ faces. He huffed and pulled his shirt off, looking at them expectedly. They didn’t react.

“JJ, did you really call us down here on SATURDAY MORNING because you have another birthmark that looks like George Clooney because I will literally murder you—“

“No, no!” JJ hissed before pointing down to his abs, and then his arms. Then he began flexing, yet he was met with blank expressions again.

“Dude, as much as I love staring at your abs, what the fuck are we meant to be looking at?” Pope asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“They are different!”

“They are?”

“They are!”

“Uh…how?”

JJ scoffed, as if it were obvious. “They are more defined!”

“…more defined?”

“Clearly!”

John B let out an unattractive snort, pushing his hair back as he leaned back against the wall, all his worry for his friend now gone. He was honestly concerned it was something important. “What’s next? Is your hair too perfect, J? Need a bag to cover how gorgeous you are?” Pope snickered along with him.

“I mean, I am having a good hair day…” JJ trailed off before shaking his head and turning to the two of them again. “But that isn’t all, okay? It gets freakier!”

Both boys looked at JJ with amusement from their spots on his bed.

JJ rolled his eyes before he stretched his hand out, his palm facing the ceiling with his two middle fingers pressed into his palm. Not even seconds later, a THWAP echoed through the now-silent bedroom.

Both teenagers looked down at the string of substance that just existed their friend’s wrist, completely shell-shocked. It was John B who spoke first, looking away from the white substance on JJ’s bed.

“Is that like…the same as…did you just—“ John B points down to his groin area, only for JJ to grimace.

“Dude, no! EW! I didn’t just jizz from my wrist!”

“It looks like you just did.”

Pope quickly kneeled down next to the bed, hesitantly reaching to touch the stuff, ignoring John B’s comments on how disgusting it was. “It feels like…silk,” He murmured in confusion before pulling his hand away, noticing how it stuck to his skin. “And it’s sticky.”

John B gagged in the back, but JJ ignored him. “It’s like glue, a really strong glue! And then after like twenty minutes, it disappears!” He told Pope as he reached for the scissors to help his sticky situation.

“How did you do that though?” Pope’s mind was reeling with the possibilities, the science behind the completely inhumane thing JJ had just done and he had witnessed with his very own eyes.

“I don’t fucking know!”

“Does it have anything to do with that weird-ass bump on your hand?” John B perked up, nodding towards JJ. All three boys’ gazes shifted to his left hand, where in fact there was a small red bump, no bigger than a grape at most.

“Nah, dude, that’s just from the spider bite yesterday.” JJ answered with a shrug. Pope chocked on the air, looking at JJ like he had three heads.

“I—you mean the fucking GENETICALLY MODIFIED SPIDERS FROM THE LAB?!” JJ winced, trying to shush Pope but there was no avail, this boy was going off on a rant. “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you tell anyone yesterday? JJ, those could’ve been poisonous or had long term effects or—“

“Made you some weird mutant with cool powers.” John B added. He quickly shut up when he received the ‘look’ from Pope.

“We have to tell someone at Cameron Industries.” Pope concluded. JJ was quick to pipe up, taking a few steps away from Pope on instinct.

“What, no way! They are gonna stick me under some fancy microscope or inject me with needles full of…stuff! I’m not going back into that geek galore!” JJ stated. Pope looked like he was ready to open his mouth, and start spouting out arguments as to why JJ should head over to the professional scientists over his weird, overnight mutation. But it was actually John B who came to a more mutual conclusion.

“Or we just do our own tests,” John B shrugged, both boys turning to look at him with fairly discombobulated expressions. “C’mon, Pope is basically a scientist and he is smart enough to figure out whatever the hell is going on with you!”

“I don’t have half the equipment they would have—“ Pope tried to argue.

“Look, we aren’t going to find out anything through a microscope. The best way is just go out there and test what he can do. How hard can it be?” John B grinned.

Pope wanted to argue that it was very hard. Though he had read countless papers on the genetically modified spiders, even he didn’t know enough to do a full conclusive examination on JJ and his new state. He didn’t have half the things he needed, but when he looked over at JJ and saw a much more relaxed—and hopeful—expression on his face from when he had suggested returning to the lab, Pope sighed and shook his head a little.

“Just so you both know, I am going to say, ‘I told you so’ when this goes downhill.”

**********

That is how JJ, Pope and John B found themselves standing on the roof of JJ’s apartment complex, the busy streets of New York oblivious to the scientific discovery that is happening above them. JJ couldn’t tear his eyes off the skyline, finding something about it much more relaxing that the potential of just what his new body could do. He was scared—no, scratch that—he was nervous, anxious if you will. JJ couldn’t lie that a part of him was excited. It felt surreal, like something out of one of those comics he used to nick from the uptown kids. Then again, JJ wasn’t very fond of the idea of being some new scientific discovery. It made him feel like he would end up like one of those poor frogs they had to dissect in biology—poor fuckers.

“Okay, so the spiders were made from three separate species to optimize their physical properties—being able to adapt to new environments, heightened senses to avoid predators, enhanced strength and speed, stronger material to create webs for larger prey—all that jazz. No research has been done on the psychological properties though.” Pope rambled, his hands moving wildly whilst both boys stared at him with clueless expressions.

“Which means?”

“JJ could have some really cool powers but could also be going totally insane,” Pope said with a sheepish shrug. “Like I’m talking full Tasmanian devil mode here—“

“Very reassuring, dude.” JJ stated bluntly. He took it all back, he wasn’t excited. He was terrified now. He glanced down at the small bite on his hand, which was slowly deflating as time passed. JJ wasn’t sure if he was relieved or worried that the second the bite disappeared, it could mean something really bad—like him turning into some massive humanoid arachnid that attacks the city. He shivered at the thought. “Right, let’s just get on with this.”

John B clapped a hand on his back, a small smile on his lips. “You’ll be fine, dude, alright? You’re in good hands.” He tried to reassure JJ. And JJ knew that everything Pope was saying was just to help him understand what was going on too, but he couldn’t help but think there was a small part of Pope that enjoyed using JJ as a lab rat. He was a scientist, could you really blame him?

“Yeah, I know.” He said with a curt nod.

“Let’s try the web again, see how far you can shoot it.” Pope piped up, moving to stand on the other side of JJ. “The average spider can shoot a web to about four feet, but these spiders have the DNA of the Darwin Bark Spiders which can shoot webs up to eighty-two feet. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you could reach the same, maybe more.” He then gestured for JJ to try it out, pointing towards the building opposite then, which was only around eight feet away, at most.

JJ took a deep breath before extending his hand out, the THWAP sounding clear despite the ongoing traffic down below. Yet, the web barely shot out a couple of inches before landing on the edge of the roof with a disappointing splat.

“Well then…” John B trailed off, all three boys staring at the failed web shot.

“You clearly weren’t trying, just concentrate!” Pope said with a clap of his hands. He only received a blank stare from JJ.

“I was trying, dumbass! It’s harder than it looks. It…feels weird, man. Like a sneeze…from my wrist!” He huffed, but Pope only nudged his shoulder to try again.

JJ sighed and turned to face the opposite building again. He raised his arm, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to imagine the web shooting out and reaching the opposing roof. He tried to imagine more web fluid being shot out his wrist, he tried to imagine like he actually knew what he was doing. Not even a second later, the THWAP sound was heard and suddenly there was a white rope of silk extending from JJ’s hand onto the next roof over.

“Holy shit!”

JJ grabbed the web, giving the web a light tug. He was expecting for the web to break, for his hand to be covered in web fluid. But instead the web remained, strong and sturdy as though it was bolted onto the roof.

“This is crazy, dude.”

He snapped his hand back, watching the web breakaway from his palm and flop, hanging from the brick wall like a pathetic piece of string. “That was cool as fuck,” He murmured as he glanced down at his wrists in shock. He gently ran his thumb over his wrist, a delightful shiver running down his back. It caused him to smile a little, thinking about just how far he could shoot these webs.

“Dude, you could swing around like Tarzan now.” John B snickered. JJ gave him a deadpan look but he couldn’t help himself from glancing down at his wrists again.

“You think?”

“Only one way to find out.” John B grinned.

Pope’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly began to shake his head. “You don’t know if the web is strong enough to hold his weight, he could hurt himself or—“

“You calling me fat?” JJ gasped with a pout, a hand placed over his heart. “You offend me, Pope. Thought you were better than this.”

“If calling you fat will stop you from swinging off a building like an idiot then yes, I am calling you fat.” He hissed.

JJ grinned, his eyes quickly searching around before he noticed a large satellite pole sticking out from one of the nearby buildings. It was a bit further away, but JJ let the pride of his last success get to his head. “I can do it, bud, don’t worry about it.”

“That’s my boy!”

“Don’t encourage him!”

“He can do it!”

“How the fuck do you know that!?”

“Sixth sense, my dude.”

JJ blocked out the bickering, taking a couple of steps back from the edge of the roof. A running start never hurt anyone, right? He rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck from left to right. Never once did he let his gaze shift away from the satellite pole. He crouched down a little, already feeling the adrenaline build up in him. “Diver down, boys.” He grinned before he began sprinting to the edge of the building. As he reached the edge, he pushed himself off and extended his arm out, imagining the web wrapping around the pole and seconds later it did. He held the web tightly in his grip as he felt himself swinging towards the building. Whoops and cheers could be heard, though JJ wasn’t sure if they were coming from him or the boys back on the roof.

“JJ, THE WALL! LOOK OUT!”

But JJ was a little too pumped up to even comprehend what Pope was screaming until he noticed the brick wall getting closer. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ The words echoed in his head and he tried to think of a way to slow himself down. But it was useless as he found himself colliding with the wall, his eyes clenched shut on impact.

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned, his limbs sprawled out like a starfish. A part of him thought he was dead, that maybe he hit the wall way too hard, he had a lot of momentum after all. But the muffled screams coming from his friends was enough to tell him that he was very much alive. “I’m alive!” He yelled out, slowly beginning to blink his eyes open, finding himself face to face with a brick wall. “What the…” He trailed off when he glanced at his hands, finding them attached to the brick wall.

His heart was pounding when he looked down, seeing that he was attached to the wall, very far up from the ground, with nothing suspending him. His mind was reeling, almost as though he was waiting for himself to fall and his body to meet the ground. But it never happened.

“You’re like an actual fucking spider, dude!” He heard John B yell, as though he was right beside him, which caused him to wince a little. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing them still very far away on that roof.

JJ shook his head and glanced up, seeing the edge of the roof a couple of feet from where he was stuck on the wall. He took a deep breath before slowly removing one hand, and when he was sure he wasn’t going to fall, he moved it up higher. Slowly, JJ found himself scaling the side of the building, his heart beating wildly even as he pulled himself over the edge, both feet finding the solid ground of the roof. He turned back to look at his friends, both of whom looked shocked beyond belief.

“What the hell…” He could hear Pope whisper, which only caused JJ’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

“This is a lot more complicated than I thought.” He muttered to himself, only now realising that the bite mark on his hand was long gone.

**********

JJ winced a little as he heard the bell ring, indicating the end of this period and the start of lunch—his favourite subject. Yet, JJ wasn’t exactly jumping out of his seat as usual. It was now Monday and everyone was back at school. JJ, Pope and John B had spent the better use of the whole weekend to run around, using JJ like some lab rat and seeing just what he could and couldn’t do. And JJ was fucking exhausted. The amount of times he had face-planted into a wall was beyond funny and he had learnt the hard way that the more on edge he was, the more sensitive he was…well, to everything. The sound of the chairs screeching against the floor made him cringe, the bright LED lights made him want to cry and the feeling of his sweater against his skin was scratchy and uncomfortable. JJ sure as hell wasn’t hyped for his newly found powers if this is what the rest of his life is going to be like.

The blond sighed to himself as he shoved his stuff into his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the cafeteria once he left the class. He kept his head down, finding the small shuffles of his vans against the floor were helping him from cussing out every single student that bumped into him, making him honestly want to scream and stay six feet away from everyone. He tried to reassure himself that he was half way through the day, that he only had a couple of hours left and then he could preferably go hide in a hole somewhere for the rest of his life. Okay, that is a little dramatic but a dark hole sounded great to JJ right now.

But here’s the thing, JJ is a Maybank. He has the good ol’ Maybank luck, which means even when he feels shit, the universe is out to make his life worse. And the universe sent that in the form of Rafe Cameron and his loyal little minions, Topper Thornton and Kelce Smith. Midtown High’s own version of the Plastics, some may say.

By some, I mean JJ. But hey, don’t judge. He was forced into watch Mean Girls by one of his flings awhile back and he won’t lie, the movie slaps. But that is besides the point.

“Oi, Maybank!”

JJ inwardly groaned at the sound of Rafe’s voice. He would much rather hear nails on a chalkboard than whatever Rafe had to say. JJ wouldn’t consider them bullies, they were simply the top tier of the uptown kids who had some sort of superiority complex. And JJ had no issue on challenging them, it was far too easy to wind up a bunch of rich kids who weren’t used to being called out on their bullshit. And it just stuck. They would say something stupid to try and provoke him, and most of the time JJ’s words were enough for them to leave him alone. He had the satisfaction of punching Rafe in the face a few times, but usually Pope and John B were quick to hold him back. After all, it would backfire on JJ if he got into trouble with an uptown kid.

“What do you want?” JJ huffed out, glancing up at the trio. The sight of the three of them almost brought a smile to his lips. Uptown kids and their need to follow trends, they wore the same outfit in different variations and it honestly made JJ want to laugh. The classic preppy look with their pastel sweaters and tennis shoes, it made JJ want to gag. But he contained his vomit as Rafe spoke up.

“Aw, c’mon, Maybank. That all you got today? A bit pathetic.” Rafe snickered, the other two laughing along with their leader. JJ rolled his eyes. The funniest thing about them was their outfits.

“As much as I’d love to talk to you little pastel powerpuff girls, I have much better things to do in my life,” JJ said with a sarcastic smile on his lips as he side-stepped the trio, attempting to make his way past them. He really didn’t have the patience to deal with them today. He had happily planned to steal food from Pope and take a nap for the hour. But the second he felt Rafe’s hand on his shoulder, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening.

“Watch your mouth, Maybank.” Rafe spat, his hand tightening on JJ’s shoulder. The act made him want to cringe away and rip off his skin. The feeling of his hand on his shoulder, his thumb brushing that little bit of skin near the neckline of his sweater, it made JJ want to gag. It felt horrible. He wanted that feeling gone.

“Piss off, Cameron.” He scoffed, harshly jerking his shoulder so Rafe’s hand would lose its grip but it only tightened. In an act of desperation, JJ did the only thing that seemed reasonable. He shoved Rafe away. Now normally, it would be enough to have Rafe stumble a few steps so JJ can make a quick exit. But JJ just so happened to have forgotten that this wasn’t like every other normal time. He wasn’t normal anymore. So, his shove was much more than a wee push, it was more like completely winding Rafe. JJ couldn’t help but cringe when he heard the sound of Rafe’s body colliding with the lockers before he slumped to the ground, a dent now evident in the lockers from the collision. Topper and Kelce looked at JJ with mixed looks of confusion and fear before rushing to their friend’s aid.

“Oh my god, Rafe!”

JJ’s head snapped to the end of the hallway where he could see Sarah Cameron, but she wasn’t alone. Beside her was the curly haired girl from the trip. His eyes widened a little when his gaze met hers, but he was only met with a glare from the mysterious beauty.

“What’s your problem?” She hissed at JJ as the two girls got closer, now seeing the full effect of what JJ had done. JJ gulped a little, his fingers tapping the side of his legs as he tried to think this through. What could he say, ‘oh sorry, kinda lost control of my new powers, I’ll be a little more careful next time’. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

“He started it!” JJ blurted out, only to mentally smack himself at how childish he sounded. “I barely touched him, he was being dramatic!” He added but the looks of uncertainty didn’t reassure him that they bought it. He was in the lion’s den here, a downtown kid surrounded by the privileged. He was never going to win. So, he did the only sane thing any downtown kid would do. He got out of there as quick as he could.

“He could be concussed!” Sarah Cameron spoke up for the first time, a frown on her face as she met JJ’s gaze. He could almost feel the judgement oozing from her.

“Maybe he will finally have some brain cells knocked into him!” And with that, JJ ran out of that hallway and didn’t stop running until he was far away from the school.

**********

“I’m sorry what?”

Following the fiasco on Monday, JJ’s week hadn’t been much better. Most of it was spent avoiding the uptown crew whilst simultaneously keeping a low profile, which is very hard for someone like JJ. He was used to being the class clown, milking any attention he got. Now he felt like he was under house arrest or something, trapped to keep to himself and work out what the hell was happening to him. But true to their commitment of being his best friends, John B and Pope were right there beside him. It had been a long and stressful week but they made it through. It was a little exhausting on them but they had each other to lean on. JJ was just glad he wasn’t alone.

But now, sat in Pope’s bedroom on the Saturday night, looking between the two boys with a very concerned look, JJ wasn’t sure his weekend was going to be any more relaxing. He knew the three of them combined weren’t the best combinations. They probably shared a brain cell between them and even then, it mostly resided with Pope and his weird, random facts. They had come up with some really strange, out-there ideas before—like the time they tried to give John B a perm with household products or when they convinced themselves they could do a road trip in John B’s crappy van. But this was the icing on the cake. This was enough for JJ to confirm that his friends had completely lost their mind.

“Think about it!” John B continued, practically rolling on the balls of his feet in excitement. JJ raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt him. To be honest, JJ wasn’t even sure where to start with how bad of an idea this was. “You have these super cool powers that are totally useless to everyday life, so why not put them to use? You could be like—the next Batman or something!”

“Batman was a rich dude who made gadgets. He doesn’t even have any powers. How the hell would I be like Batman?”

“Okay, bad example,” Pope piped up. “But just think about it. You could make a difference, be a hero!”

“A really badass superhero!” John B added.

JJ looked at them with a frown on his face. This now just seemed like a deranged joke. He was waiting for them to laugh, to say it was just a silly joke and move on with their usual weekend plans. But they didn’t. They continued.

“I mean, we could be a team! The three of us! You’ll go out and do all the crime fighting, Pope can make crazy gadgets and do all the…tech stuff and I can be your guy in the chair, you know?”

“My guy in the chair?”

“Yeah, you know, the guy in the headset…surrounded by screens…telling you where to go when you need extra help and stuff.”

“What?”

“Like Pope would set it up, but I would be the mastermind behind it! Like you’re stuck in a building and can’t find a way out, I would help you find a route. Your guy in the chair!”

JJ only shook his head, pressing his fingers to his temples to try and not completely lose his temper.

“And like every superhero ever, you’ll need a suit. So, I went looking through some stuff and I found my mum’s sewing machine,” Pope fumbled around in his pocket before he pulled out a small bunch of red fabric. He threw it to JJ, which he easily caught. JJ then realised it was like a ski mask, with two small holes for his eyes. “It’s not much but we can work on it, keep your identity secret and everything.”

“Oh, and you’ll need a badass name! I was thinking like Night Monkey, or—“

“—Spiderling!” Pope interrupted with a grin, clearly proud of it. But JJ had enough.

“Can the both of you just shut up!” He snapped, both boys instantly quieting down, looking at JJ with concerned looks. “Okay, are you out of your mind? Me? A superhero? Hate to fucking break it to you but I am not the superhero type guy, alright? I’m not your friendly neighbourhood nice guy helping old ladies cross the street or getting cats out of the tree! I could give zero fucks about the law cause all its there for is rich idiots to manipulate and use to ruin lives of people like us!” JJ cried out to them, letting go of any hope he had on trying to keep his cool.

“People like us don’t become heroes, alright? We are usually the ones that get locked up. And knowing my luck, I will be thrown straight into some loony house, in a straitjacket because of these powers! You guys have to be absolute fools if you think any of this would work.” JJ huffed as he stood up, shoving the mask into his pocket before making his way to the door. “I don’t care about other people, alright? I care about you guys, my mum and most importantly, myself. Why the hell should I risk my life for a world that won’t appreciate it anyways.” Both boys stood there stunned, looking at JJ with wide eyes and parted lips.

“JJ—“

“No, okay? Superheroes are meant for comic books and movies, not real life, alright? Grow up.” And with that, JJ slammed the door as he left the apartment.

JJ scoffed, muttering to himself as he walked through the dark streets of New York, deciding to take the longer route back home. He needed the time to clear his head, grasp his thoughts. He didn’t know what the boys were thinking, he was definitely not fit to be a hero. Were they out of their minds? Give a guy some abnormal powers and suddenly he should be putting on a cape and preaching morals. That wasn’t JJ, that would never be JJ. He was selfish, arrogant at times and beyond prideful. But he was aware. He knew what he was and he knew he didn’t have what it took to be a hero. Pope and John B needed to stop being ignorant and see that.

He rolled his eyes at the thought and continued his way back to his building complex, hands shoved in his pockets with his right-hand clenching around the fabric of the mask. Small puffs escaped his lips as JJ started regretting taking the long way home. It was October and winter was promising to come early, JJ could tell that much by the stinging cold against his cheeks. The cold was just the cherry on top of his bitter mood.

Yet, as JJ continued to make his way home, he could hear the sound of people talking, causing a frown to form on his face. JJ had walked this way many times, especially during the night, and the chance of passing someone down these streets were fairly rare. Maybe the odd one here or there, but a group of people? Definitely not common.

At first, he ignored it. He had gotten used to the heightened senses over the week, being able to hear things from a distance even when he didn’t try. For all he knew, he could be hearing the muttering of some people a few blocks over. So, he ignored it and carried on walking. But then it started getting louder and clearer. JJ felt his whole body go on alert, the hair on his arm standing up, like his body knew something was off. He could feel it in his gut, a horrible realisation that this wasn’t going to be his usual walk home.

It wasn’t until when JJ turned the corner that he realised just what he had walked into. There stood around five men, all wearing masks that covered the lower half of their faces. They were dressed in all black, probably to draw less attention to themselves, but JJ could see the glint of guns in the light of the lampposts shining down on the street. They stood outside a building, three of them seeming to try and block the view of the other two. It was then when JJ’s brain actually caught up with what he was seeing and realised what the building was. A bank. These guys were trying to rob a bank.

Well shit.

The way JJ saw it, he had two options here. He could turn around, pretend he didn’t see anything and let them get on with what they were doing. Chances were they would either get caught by the police or he would see that the bank had been successfully robbed tomorrow morning on the news. Or JJ could do something about it. He quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket, only to see that it was dead. Of course, it was the good ol’ Maybank luck. He shoved it back into his pocket and looked towards the five men.

Then an idea popped into his head. A stupid, insane idea that was nothing short of self-deprecating and downright dumb. It was short of one of the worst ideas he had ever had. JJ had done a lot of weird stuff in his life but this definitely tops it all. And the worst part was that he was going through with it, because as much as he hated it, it was his only choice right now.

“I’m gonna regret this.” JJ huffed to himself as he snatched the mask out of his pocket and pulled it down over his face, adjusting it so he could see through the small holes Pope had made. He let out a breath, shaking his shoulders a little as he tried to pump himself up, get his adrenaline going.

“You got this, it’s not like they have guns or anything,” JJ muttered to himself as he placed his hands on the wall of the building across from the bank, the one he was currently hiding around so the bank robbers wouldn’t see him, before he began to scale the building. I mean, who would expect the enemy coming from above, right?

He stopped around half way up the building, thanks to the heightened senses he was able to still see the criminals clearly. He watched them closely, seeing only the three men that were on lookout where the one with guns. “Oh, let’s hope this works.” He whispered to himself before extending his arm out.

“What the fuck!” One of them called out as his gun was snatched from his hands in the blink of an eye, his two friends following a similar reaction. JJ wasn’t even thinking about where he was throwing the guns, just as long as they were nowhere near these dudes when he confronted them.

He watched them freak out, yelling at each other as they looked around for the culprit to their missing guns. He heard the half-ass threats they used and tried not to snort before he shot a web to one of the lampposts nearby and swung down, landing gracefully at the top of the lamppost.

“Guys, I hate to break it to you but someone lied, bank doesn’t open until tomorrow morning.” JJ called out to them, giving a small shrug. All five heads snapped up to look at him, and the glares he was receiving was enough to tell him that these guys weren’t big jokesters.

“Piss off, kid, this is none of your business.” One of them replied in a blunt, scruffy voice. It honestly made JJ cringe a little.

“You see,” JJ sighed. “I’ve made it my business so…” He trailed off before snapping his wrist, a web shooting out to stick to the head of the closest criminal and with a firm tug, his head hit the pole before he slumped to the ground.

One of the men growled at JJ, clearly not happy about some weird kid interrupting their wee heist. “You had your warning, kid. Come down and play with the adults.” He taunted before JJ noticed the glimmer of something in the light. A knife. Of-fucking-course the gun wasn’t the only weapon they had on them.

“That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?” He commented, shooting a web to wrap around the criminal’s wrist, prepared to pull it out of his grasp, only for the robber to tug the web instead, sending JJ flying off the lamppost and falling on his ass to the ground. “Fuck!” He hissed as he quickly jumped to his feet.

“Life is unfair,” The criminal muttered before reaching to punch JJ but he easily dodged it. The speed and agility with which he moved with clearly distracting the criminal long enough for JJ to kick him hard enough that sent him stumbling back into the wall. JJ barely had time to process it before he snapped his hand to the left, stopping a fist that was inches away from his face.

“Nice try, asshole.” He huffed before twisting the criminal’s arm before sending a swift punch to his jaw. There was a satisfying pop sound that told JJ he would be preoccupied for at least a couple of minutes.

He then noticed two of the criminals trying to corner him, and he couldn’t help but smirk a little under the mask at just how cliché it seemed. In seconds, JJ has webs shooting out each wrist, attaching to the chests of each men, before yanking the two towards each other. Groans echoed through the empty street as both men collided with each other.

JJ’s head snapped to the side when he heard an angry battle call as he saw the man with the now dislocated jaw running towards him. JJ crouched down a little before he began running towards the criminal, his arms hooking around his knees. He kept running forwards until JJ felt glass smash around him and the two of them fell through. He quickly got up, wincing at the window he had just broken before turning to the criminal and giving him a good smack in the face—he definitely wasn’t holding back with his strength on that one.

JJ began to work fast, not knowing how long each of the criminals would stay dazed and unconscious for. In no time, he had them piled together, a healthy amount of web fluid keeping them tied together. They wouldn’t be going anywhere—at least for twenty minutes. But it was just JJ’s luck that he didn’t have to worry about that time limit because not even seconds after he finished, he heard the sirens and saw the blue lights flashing down the streets.

Police cars began to surround the bank, creating a semi-circle to prevent any possible escape. Officers began to exit their vehicles, guns set and loaded and now aimed towards JJ. “This is NYPD, keep your hands where we can see them!” One officer called out.

“Shit,” JJ muttered to himself as he raised his hands in the air, watching as officers slowly approached the crime scene.

He watched as a look of confusion washed over their faces as they took in the scene: the smashed window, the five tied up men, the weird silky rope that was binding them together and of course, JJ in his crappy mask.

He watched as they evaluated the situation. Watched as they tried to piece it all together before one officer—the badge telling JJ her name was Captain Peterkin—stopped in front of JJ with raised eyebrows. “Did you do this?”

“Sure did, ma’am.”

“Why?” Another officer perked up, JJ could see his badge said Officer Shoupe.

“They were robbing a bank, what did you want me to do? Sit around making daisy chains until you showed up?” JJ immediately defended, glaring as best as he could with the mask on his face.

Peterkin smiled a little before she cleared her throat, JJ’s attention shifting to her. “Then I guess we owe you a great deal of thanks for your work.”

“All in a day’s work, can I leave now? I’m sure the security cameras will give you all the answers you need.” JJ stated as he already began to take a few steps away from the crime scene, walking backwards.

“Can we at least know your name?” Peterkin asked.

JJ looked down at his wrists before he snapped them up, watching as the web attached to nearby building. He looked at Peterkin and couldn’t help grin under his mask as he answered her question before tugging on the web and swinging away into the night.

“Call me Spider-Man.”

Taglist: @alphinias @popcornhook @loveyatopluto @teamnick @peanutbelley @iccyyyybitch @jiara-maybank @donkey-is-my-spirit-animal @carissarose16 @unspokenfaith @largedenominationsplease @jiaaras @homebody-nobody @smileymikey @hvitstark @shaymq7 @hmspogue @falseungodlyhours @aarchiess @rcsales @raeoffuckingsunshine @jjskiaras @parker-holland-osterfield @thesadprose

#jiara #outer banks #obx #jj maybank #kiara carrera #jj maybank x kiara carrera #outer banks fanfiction #jiara fanfiction #obx fic #my fic #spiderman au #marvel #tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

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tinkonka · 4 years ago

Text

sirinoel: trapped in the past

setting: after the mishap at the horror storytelling session. words: 2,448. content warning: descriptions of organs/disturbing imagery. characters: sirius gibson, noel levine, claire elford this was originally intended to be platonic, but i don’t mind for it to be romantically interpreted! enjoy :)

It is not unfamiliar to Sirius how ostracized 'witches’ are by the world around him. He wouldn't know if a person before him was a heinous witch, nor would he take out his frustrations on someone in the first place, unlike the many members of the public that did so without hesitation. It was the way of the society before him - witch, bad. Nicholas, mayor of Ribecca, good. Although Sirius knew that execrable man was buried 6 feet under, his distaste for him still sat sour on his tongue.

To him, and him only, he was the villain, and she was his hero. Lady Dorothy, who had taken him in, shown him love. Surely, someone as compassionate as her would be rendered a good person in society - he was doubtful he was the only one with whom Lady Dorothy had shown kindness. And yet like puppets on a string, the public ate up the artificial story like a moth to a flame. She went down in history as an unwelcome demon.

So of course it was reasonable for Sirius to be upset, yes? Though the curses he had spat out whilst bombarding Ashe with feeble kicks and punches may have been unnecessary, the words of disdain that had slipped out the researchers mouth was deemed a perfect excuse to shut him up. It was explainable that the others would defend him, given his reaction, and yet here Sirius sat, gaze fixated on his hands which were quivering in response to the thoughts that seemed to be burning into his mind.

It was the only thing he wanted to look at. He was sure if he glanced up to pay mind to some inanimate object, he would witness the horrific incident 12 years ago for a second time, where Lady Dorothy had so hastily departed from his life. Organs spread along the walls, gouged out eyes scattered as if they were merely childlike toys - as if the room in which multiple people died were a playroom. Blood, blood, so much blood. The smell was suffocating.

And lo and behold, he was alone. Alone in this wretched room. Most days, he would find solace in his own company, but now it felt like his own shadow was taunting him from another world, prompting him to think of 'what if's despite the tragedy having been over for a long time.

She would come back, he told himself. No matter how long he would have to wait, his heroine would come back and he would prove them all wrong.

"Just keep calm... it's over. She will come back." He whispered, willing himself to keep the tears down, to keep the 12 years of trauma secreted. Honestly, the one moment he wished to let out his emotions, and there were people inhabiting the once lonesome mansion. The size of the place made it so he was confident that he wouldn't be heard, but given the circumstances he didn't have much doubt someone would come to say some pointless words.

Consolation, resentment, neither mattered to him. Simple sympathetic platitudes wouldn't cure his unhappiness.

And as he seemed to predict the future, there came a couple of knocks that snapped him out of his stupor. Followed by a few moments of silence, and then they began for a second time, accompanied by calls for him by two familiar sounding voices.

At this hour? Sirius grumbled to himself, forcing himself to look to the clock. Luckily for him, the sudden spikes of dissonance had grounded him back to reality, and Lady Dorothy's bedroom appeared as it was mere minutes ago. No mustached man pointing a revolver at him, no intestines thrown around as if they were party streamers.

He was safe. And he hoped this would remain, as he promptly stood up to answer the door. Hands still trembling ever-so-slightly, he rubbed his face, just in case some tears had fallen astray without his knowledge. With hesitance, he twisted the knob and opened it slowly.

"Sirius!" Ah, it was Noel and Claire. Predictable.

"Siriuuus!!" Claire exclaimed, overjoyed to see his presence for some reason he fails to comprehend. Combined with Noel's excited smile, the two of them being here, and Claire's usual jubilant demeanor despite the dreary circumstances... frankly, Sirius was baffled.

"Ugh, what's wrong with you two? Do you know what time it is?" He grumbled, a scowl set on his face per usual.

"Wah! Sorry!" came Claire's apology.

"We're sorry!" Noel added. Honestly, the two of them are still doing this?

"...What are you here for?" Sirius decided on saying, his expression softening as he gazed over his two childhood friends.

"...We were worried..." Noel replied, rubbing his arm with his left hand meekly. He chuckled weakly with a small smile. "Haha, though I guess you're okay... Hm?"

Unwarranted, Noel took a step closer to Sirius, squinting with concentration as he analyzed the smaller males face. Aforementioned smaller male was definitely not having the best night - and in response to this, took a step back.

"Whatever do you think you're doing? I'm fine, see?" He scowled. Maintaining eye contact, Sirius could see (even with only one side of his face) that Noel had found what he was searching for.

"...Have you been crying?"

...What?

"...Huh?"

"Your eyes are swollen... and you're a little red." Noel continued with a worried expression, gaze still centered on Sirius' face.

"Oh, dear!" Claire exclaimed, moving forward to stand adjacent to her light-haired companion. "Are you sure you're okay? Can we come in? I'm great at cheering people u-"

"I don't want your flimsy condolence!" Sirius waved a hand dismissively, his face heating up. "I'm fine. I don't need to be consoled. You'd do well to just leave me be."

"Whaaat?! That's not true! Everybody wants help when they're upset, right?" Claire argued obliviously, placing her hands on her hips. Seems she had yet to figure out when Sirius was genuine, that at certain times talking back was deemed a personal attack. Her energy then dulled as she fixed her stare on Sirius' face with a smaller smile than before - one that was sympathetic rather than joyful. "We're here for you, okay? You can tell us-"

"What part of 'leave me alone' do you fail to comprehend?! You're as thickheaded as you've always been- everything was just FINE before you decided to come back!" Sirius shot back angrily, his hands balling into a fist as he progressively got frustrated.

"...Come back?"

Ah, shoot. A slip of the tongue - as composed as he usually was, Sirius found himself seething at her words that likely had good intent - and had so senselessly spat out things he had wished to keep to himself.

"What do you mean, 'come back'? I haven't come here-"

"AHHRGG! Just forget it, okay?! It doesn't matter!" He could feel the tears building up, and yet he stupidly preserved. "Just leave as you did all that time ago! See if I give a damn!"

"Sirius, stop." Noel, who had been keeping his silence, placed his hands on Sirius' shoulders, appearing stern - something extremely foreign to Sirius. He was too stunned to take Noels hands off his shoulders - his serious expression wasn't something Sirius had witnessed before. "...Claire, would you mind leaving us alone for a little?" He turned to the shorter girl beside him, who in response, nodded with a meek expression.

"...Let me know if you need anything, alright?" She mumbled, and with that, she walked off with her head hung low.

Now with the usually boisterous girl absent, Sirius' attention immediately turned to the more pivotal objective - not to confront Noel, who undoubtedly had things to say, but to keep the lump in his throat down. It had been years since Sirius had cried, and with company, he didn't want to start now. He couldn't start now.

Head spinning, no words left his mouth as Noel led him into his room, shutting the door behind him as he led Sirius over the desks in which he would spend a long amount of time slumped over, attempting to complete some work. Upon seeing the protective charms he had recently finished, he was once again reminded of his precious violet-haired witch.

And the world turned red.

Suddenly heaving for breath, Sirius slumped over, his hands rushing up to his face in an attempt to hide from the horror that had befallen him. The pungent, estranged smell of blood that he hadn't suffered for years had quickly made its home back in his nostrils. And before he knew it, the anguish he had worked so hard to conceal came pouring out in a single go.

He was too far gone to hear the cries of alarm that undoubtedly came from his childhood friend, too trapped in the past to realize he was now on the ground, curling up instinctively as he sobbed out years of pain.

And as quickly as it started, it halted with a foreign warmth that had enveloped his body, eyes flying open to reveal aforementioned childhood companion holding Sirius in a tight hug.

"Take deep breaths. You're fine, you're safe." He could hear him properly now. Noel's smooth voice never failed to ground him, whether had been an explosive outburst or being too wrapped in a book - Sirius would recognize his voice no matter what the circumstance.

And with no hesitation, Sirius melted into the touch. It was comical how long he had denied needing to be held, how he had voiced his distaste for physical affection - and yet he had so quickly surrendered his boundaries.

"I- I-"

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here." came the comfort that he swore he detested. He clung onto Noel's blazer tightly as he wept and wept - and he wondered if he held on tight enough he would be able to prevent Noel from leaving.

If he kept Noel close, perhaps he wouldn't have to be alone again.

And thankfully enough, Noel showed no signs of departing any time soon. He seemed content to hold Sirius for as long as he needed, making the effort to continue the small circular rubbing motions on Sirius' back, which were accompanying soft shushing noises - both of which were helping tremendously.

"I promise you that Claire means no harm - none of them do." Noel murmured quietly after a few minutes, head dipping into Sirius' hair. "Ashe may have spoken out of line, but that's no reason to resort to violence, okay? His words may have hurt... but there were other things you could've done."

All Sirius could do in response was hiccup softly, having no energy for some verbose remark. He understood that - he was never one to act erratically, and his sudden desire to hurt also left him surprised. But Lady Dorothy? A murderer? It was as if his pain was no longer valid - like his attachment to the witch was inferior.

He'd be damned to let the researcher continue. To let him slander his heroine even more. Despite that, he wished he could've responded more appropriately - a course of action that didn't require physical abuse.

"...I'm sorry..." He managed to croak out, leaning further into Noel's chest. He could hear a small chuckle leave the taller boys mouth - and now pacified, he knew he meant more good than evil.

"Now, now, where's this meekness coming from?" Taking his arms off of Sirius' back (much to Sirius' dismay), Noel placed them on Sirius' cheeks, forcing the lilac haired boy to meet Noel's single cerulean eye. "Where's the headstrong guy that I know and love?"

"...Quit using words like that, you." Sirius, now feeling a little better, got up on his own and gently took Noel's hands away so that he wouldn’t feel the heat on Sirius’ cheeks. "An apology is an apology. I don't need to possess a certain demeanor to feel remorse."

"Haha." giggled Noel, his usual smile returning to his face. "I know. But... I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"...Yes, I understand." Sirius replied quietly, his gaze shifting downwards. It's not like he didn't feel apologetic - he just felt like he was owed an apology as well. If simple words from a mere stranger were able to bring him to his lowest point, then surely he was guaranteed some words of remorse, right?

"...Well, I'm feeling sleepy, so... you can leave." Sirius muttered, getting back up on his feet. An awkward close to the emotional outburst, yes, but Sirius was in no mood to spare feelings at this moment. Luckily, Noel knew of his hidden sincerity, evident as he stood up along with Sirius.

"Right, okay. Are you... going to be alright?" Although Noel had just spent time consoling him, he was still able to show some additional concern. How he did that effortlessly, Sirius had no clue.

"Yes, I'll be alright." He sighed, bringing a hand to his face to wipe the tearstains. "...Thank you. For... uh." At a loss for words, he gestured to his undoubtedly red face. "Assisting."

"Don't mention it. I'm happy to help." Noel smiled softly in response, and walked past Sirius with a pat on the shoulder. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight to you as well." Sirius replied, and with the click of a now shut door, Sirius was alone. However, this time it was okay. He found solace in the silence, rather than before where it seemed to choke him.

With a deep, long sigh, he made his way over to the bathroom, washing his face with cold refreshing water. Taking a look at himself in the mirror, he cringed - it had truly been a long, long time since he had seen himself look this upset, so teary-eyed and, quite frankly, disgusting.

But strangely, he felt relieved. He hadn't realized how much he needed to cry. It was amazing how light his head felt after only a few brief moments of tears. It was... nice, for a change.

Padding over to his bed, he crawled in, and with another sigh, he let his eyelids shut, welcoming the hopefully dreamless sleep that enveloped him quickly with a heavy, comforting mist.

And as he drifted off, he could hear the familiar sweet melodies of the woman he held so dear, sending him off to sleep as she did 12 years ago when he was plagued with nightmares. No longer did the memory of her bring him sadness, but instead, as he slowly fell into his thoughtless slumber, it brought happiness.

And for the first time in years, he fell asleep with a smile.

#witch's heart #sirius gibson #noel levine #claire elford #this took a few days to write whoops

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muthaz-rapapa · 4 years ago

Text

Let’s talk TroPreCure! (^∀^ 🌺)

i’m so stupidly proud of this dumb pun “tropurikyua~”, hahahahaha

Last post of the year and wow is there are lot to be excited for!

I even had to make a list for the stuff I want to talk about and I’m sure I already forgot one or two things but we’ll get to them as we continue to float~ along the wave to February 28th, mmkay? :)

Now for what has peaked my interest so far. And yes, we have to talk about the following first:

1) HealPre the shortest Precure season??

Unless they plan for double features in February (which I doubt but you never know), HealPre is likely going to reach only 45 episodes long instead of the usual 48~50 before TroPre I’m using this shortening of the title for now so if there’s a better alternative, tell me and I’ll switch out begins its broadcast.

Understandable because the producers probably want to get back to their normal scheduling as soon as possible (toy sales, y’know) and I suspect pushing the start of the new season back by a month is the most they’re willing to compromise.

As for me, I’m quite happy about this since HealPre’s lost its hold on my attention a while ago so the sooner TroPre gets here, the better. Though the downside might be a scrambled climax and a rushed, underwhelming ending for HealPre (I dunno if it’s January’s titles that feel a bit messy or if the hiatus is still throwing me off) but whatever. We’ll refresh ourselves with the new blood Cures so it’s all good.

2) Tropical movie announced for Autumn 2021, no All Stars??

(source)

First saw this mentioned on Youtube somewhere but it’s all over the fandom forums by now. I mean, HealPre’s movie is set for March, the usual time slot for All Stars release. If Toei intended for there to be an All Stars in 2021, there’s no way they would announce the seasonal movie before it so speculations of them skipping it this year are probably true.

To squeeze it somewhere between March and October-ish would force them to readjust their budgets as well and I don’t think even Toei wants to go through that extra hassle after all the trouble the pandemic’s caused for everyone already. It’s just easier to resume All Stars in 2022.

That, and I think Laura being a major character in TroPre despite not having a Cure title (yet) would make for an awkward situation when the three latest teams gather so perhaps that’s also one of the reasons. But I’ll get back to Laura in a bit.

3) Cure Summer is a RAINBOW Cure

So god help me if I see anyone calling her a Pink Cure.

Yes, she’s the lead Cure for this season. NO, she is not a Pink Cure.

Look, even the official website has a rainbow overlay for her profile pic and text font while everyone else’s respective theme colors are a solid hue:

Therefore, RAINBOW.

In promotional material and merchandising, they’re probably going to advertise her primarily with pink bah and at worst, she might occasionally be labeled as a White Cure with multiple subcolors (her outfit is not pink-dominant) but definitely NOT. PINK.

...also, this goes without saying but f***yea, we finally got a lead Cure practically and unabashedly wearing the LGBTQ flag and you cannot tell me otherwise, Toei!

Own up to it! Declare Manatsu/Cure Summer as the Precure queer icon!

I’m not gonna stop yellin’ until you do! 😠

4) Laura = obvious midseason Cure is obvious

First of all, Laura is a babe. I already love her the best and she’s not even Precure yet. <3

Anyways, the set-up is pretty much in the description. Important main character who’s not a mascot, stated to have a self-confident personality and just speaks her mind (oooh, I like~ :D), magical/foreign being from another world looking for Precure to save her home, possesses her own special item(s), has aspirations to become the next Queen (so she’s a princess-candidate or something to that effect, I suppose).

We’ve seen various combinations of these traits in past midseason (and a few starter) Cures so nobody should be surprised when we all guessed that one of the Cures would be a real live mermaid.

The only question is why not just make Laura a Cure from the get-go if she’s introduced to us at the beginning (like Hime or Lala) and having a team of five with no unnecessary extra add-ons later on (like Smile).

Well, there’s a simple answer for that: formula.

Toei is afraid that if they don’t spit out some new animation sequence at the halfway and third quarter points of the show, the kids will lose interest and abandon the series altogether. Which means failed toy sales. Oh nooo... [/sarcasm]

...Yea.

And this way they can also have Laura available in the Cure lineup for the next All Stars in 2022 instead of making her sit the fight out if we were going to have one in 2021. I’m convinced that’s gotta be one of the reasons. *shrug*

But ok, whatever. Her debut is gonna be later, that’s all. She’s a delayed Cure. Midseason Cure, same difference.

Moving along to the more important stuff now like what’s her Cure name gonna be, y/y?

Well, knowing Toei, a translation of the term “mermaid” into another language is the most predictable route even though we already have a Cure Mermaid. Not like that ever stopped them from repeating words before (ex. Cure Happy vs Cure Felice). Though if they do go down that road, I hope they opt for the Spanish/Italian “sirena” and not the French “sirène” because the latter sounds too close to how Cure Selene is pronounced in Japanese. And, putting it nicely, we all know Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is as off kilter as can be.

Hell, even the the Portuguese “sereia” sounds aesthetic as hell so it’d be nice if they can just remember there are other languages that exist out there besides Japanese, English and French when making the final decision at the writing table! *stomps foot* >:/

Alternatively, “nereid” or “naiad” are good choices too but they remind me too much of Greek myths and Laura’s from the Grand Ocean which covers more than just a couple of seas (Greece is surrounded by three, btw) so...

I dunno. But whatever it’s gonna be, she’s definitely got a strong association with water and her powers will probably be based on that.

As for theme color, since there’s noticeably no blue or green Cure in the starter lineup, it’s likely she will take up that spot when she debuts around ep 20.

Pink is also open since Cure Summer, again, is technically not a Pink Cure and Laura’s hair and tail fin are hot and light pink respectively but looking at Laura’s design and concept, does anyone seriously believe that?

Her upper torso consists of aquamarine while the body of her tail is definitely some shade of cyan, implying they’re aiming for somewhere around the middle of green and blue on the lighter spectrum.

And yea, I’m aware that green and blue are considered exchangeable in some perspectives with how close some of their shades are to each other but officially, I think Laura’s gonna be grouped with the Green Cures.

Cuz of the hair. If Laura’s gonna keep it the same or a similar shade after transforming, that is. The Blues have always had cool-colored hair so putting Laura in with them might disrupt that harmony whereas if you put her with the few Greens there are (including Parfait), she’d fit right in.

I mean, we’ll see but that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, I just want to say that I love how they added frills to her arms instead of letting her elbows go bare naked. It definitely makes her look more like a genuine mermaid than if she didn’t have them (remember, half fish doesn’t mean half the body :P).

5) Magical Items

Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the transformation device being a compact again even though one of the main motifs is make-up this season. But at least, as far as Precure compacts goes, the Tropical one is my favorite cuz of how cute and delightfully colorful its toy version looks! So I guess I’m okay with it.

The Heart Rouge Rod, though? ...I dunno. I think it would’ve been fine without that...straw (?) jutting out at the top. It looks weird, doesn’t it look weird? :S

As for the collectible clip-ons, I can live without those for the rest of my life. Yeesh.

Laura’s items, the Aqua Pot and the Ocean Prism Mirror.

Again with the portable, travel-size housing. *sigh* 😩

Alright, I can let this year slide cuz Laura (I’m so soft for her, omg) probably won’t be getting legs for 20 weeks so she’s got to move about on land somehow. But unless they’re really thinking about turning this idea of carrying your apartment around in your bag/pocket/purse into a reality (cuz that would be effin’ awesome), please be more creative with your toys.

On the other hand, I’m much more interested in the Ocean Prism Mirror but from what Kusyami (the Precure merchandise reviews I follow on Youtube) said in his latest vid, this is the ED dance item so don’t know if it’ll actually have an relevance to the story or not. But I did hear him mention it having something to do with the Queen as well and since Laura wishes to become Queen, maybe it’ll be important after all? Maybe it’s her transformation device?

That’d be super cool. Let’s continue the trend of the midseason Cure having a different transformation item than the starters. Honestly, we should alternate every other year or two but we’ve gone three seasons with all of them using the same henshin gimmicks up till HealPre and I just want a break from that.

6) Fin sleeves??

These look so impractical for combat so maybe it’s exclusive to group attacks.

And/or a sort of precursor to the super forms?

*GASP* Does that mean they all eventually turn into mermaids? 🤩

7) Yui finally became Precure!! 😭

lol, it’s all crack from this point on so don’t take it too seriously but man, after Yuni’s deceptive braids, I thought I wasn’t gonna see anything that reminded me of Yui for a while and lo behold, Sango.

kehehehehehe xD;

Though Yui might be closer to Minori in terms of personal interests (fairytales and storybooks).

8) Akira, the actual Onee-chan version

I didn’t think this when I first saw her but once I read “Onee-san” in her profile, there’s no saving you now. Sorry, Asuka. 😅

Also, damn, do her sandals make her feet look big! Compare them to the heels she wears as Flamingo. Are they even the same?! lololol

9) ...this sounds awfully familiar...

Translation:

Tokimeku Tokonatsu! [Exciting/Thrilling Everlasting Summer!] Cure Summer! Kirameku Hoseki! [Sparkling Jewel!] Cure Coral! Hirameku Fuurutsu! [Flashing Fruit!] Cure Papaya!

Japanese reiteration:

Mallow/Mao: Pink no tokimeki! Lillie: Blue no kirameki! Lana/Suiren: Yellow no kagayaki!

….........

@Toei

Care to explain yourselves, punks?!

୧(ʘ ∀ ʘ ╬)

#it is 1:30 AM and im hungry and still have to do work on new year's eve so i'll come back to amuse-rage later #tropical rouge! precure #precure 2021 #cure summer #cure coral #cure papaya #cure flamingo #laura la mer

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zuffer-weird-girl · 5 years ago

Text

"No. Absolutely not. Cancel it." He growled while you made a hurt and desperate sound at the immediate answer of your boyfriend.

"Kai please! My sister don't have anyone else to take care of her kids, and she is desperate!" You pleaded while he only arched one eyebrow at you.

"Then she should had hired a babysitter. Not give trouble for their sibling." He scoffed and returned his attention to the papers in front of him.

You sighed out loud and burried your face a bit in your hands.

"Then I guess I'm sending her a message to take them to my old apartment instead..."

He stopped abruptly on his reading to look at you.

"That won't be possible either." He said nonchantly while you arched a eyebrow.

"W-why not?"

"I sold your apartment." He said normally whil eyou widen your eyes in horror at your boyfriend's words.

"wHAT?!" you almost shouted while he sighed for you to lower your tone of voice "K-k-Kai! Why?!"

"First, you are living in here long enough, so that place won't be useful for you anymore. Second, we were in need of money and I talked to you about it."

"I don't remember you saying ANYTHING about selling my apartment!" He lifted one finger for you to wait before showing you in his cellphone a chat that you two exchanged.

Damn your distracted brain...

"Why do we again need that much money?" You sighed in hopeless.

He... wouldn't talk much about that issue right now... he was first going to talk with Pops. Later you.

"Is just a project from the yakusa angel, nothing to fuss over with."

You sighed again before frowning at your cellphone nuzzling on the pocket of your jeans.

"Anyway. The kids and I are staying in here aparently."

You merely deadpanned at his glare before you heard a muffled honk from the outside.

"You know, I can talk with that sister of yours and then-"

"Kai, no. Thanks a lot, but no. I know how my boyfriend is." You giggled while he frowned and debated with himself if he should lock the door or not...

He never met those one, but... he wasn't a fan of children... in the slightest.

It didn't take much for you to enter house with one girl and one boy holding each hand of yours, the girl had a wary look on her face while clinging to you while the boy looked around with nothing but interest.

"Its such a big place in here auntie (Y/n)!" The boy exclaimed while you laughed at his energy.

"Alright guys, remembering that this house has extremely importance; and quite honestly I have no idea how your parents let me take care of you two in here; so please be careful alrighty?" You crouched down to be eye level with the children, teh girl nodded while the boy smiled and high fived your hand.

Kai watched with a wary look on his face your interactions, sighing in defeat and choosing to place his hands on his pockets and come to you.

"Ah! Kai!" You smiled at him while the boy chosed to tilt his head at him while the girl stared blankly at him back "Those two little precious thing are my nephews! (B/n) and (G/n)!" You looked at them back with a smile that made both ease a bit their nerves.

"I see. Just instruct them to not cause any messes. You know how much I despise it." He said nonchalantly while making his way out... only deadpanning when he heard the boy asking why he said that and you simply answered that he was a cleaning maniac.

He is going to have a long talk with you.

Your laughter along with the kids made him lose focus more than once...

What it was so fun about those little pests? Children are loud, annoying, never follow your orders correctly and dirty... he couldn't get why and even how you could be genuinely happy around one of those.

After two screams of the kids he made his way out, thinking about the worst and his heart almost jumped at seing you layed on the grass with eyes completely closed and the kids shocking you a bit.

"I told you it was a bad idea you idiot!" The girl said in irritation while she shook you and begged you to wake up.

"It was just to be a little scare! Not to make aunt faint!" The boy exclaimed while doing the same thing as his sister.

His jaw clenched as his hands turned into fists, already preparing to demand answers from those brats on what they had done with his angel before you suddenly opened your eyes and screamed to scare them.

"Ha! Think only you two can do pranks?! Take that then!" You grabbed both of the children and gave each one of them raspberries on their necks, the boy succumbed into laughter as the girl squirmed and begged for you to stop, trying her hardest to not laugh.

... huh. So he didn't needed to worry. The sign in front of him seemed almost... cozy even.

Wait... what?

He walked through the halls, screeching a bit his wrist from all of his writing before he heard your voice from the kitchen.

"So you kiddos want what for eating? Already warning that junk food is not a option..." he heard nothing for a bit seconds before you whined "I'm sorry! Please dont do the pouts! I can make something else though!"

"Oh!" He heard the boy's voice "I know something then!"

Curiosity spoked louder than his knowledge so he peaked a bit on the kitchen, enough to look but the necessary for not being caught.

"Peanut sandwich!" The boy exclaimed while the girl arched a eyebrow at him.

"Mommy doesn't let you eat those things." The boy pouted at her before making a 'shh' sound to her while she rolled her eyes at him.

"Thanks for the honesty (G/n). Mommy also told me this due to your allergy mister!" You poked teh boy's nose as he poked his tongue out with a smile.

"Hum..." you brought your hand and poked your chin a couple of times with your index finger a bit before snapping your fingers "How about some sandwiches that are not all boring healthy neither much junky then?"

The kids looked at eachother before nodding while you giggled at their actions and quickly made their specific ones.

He noticed that the girl was by one or two even years older than the boy, and was definitely more reserved than her brother while the boy was simply the energy itself. But even the two being so different, both widened their eyes in awe after they took their bites when you handed their lunches.

"Amazing auntie!" The boy exclaimed before unpolitely digging his food while the girl simply stared in awe.

"Aunt, please cook instead of my mommy. Please."

"God no." You said in exasperation "She might kill me for that sweetie, dont do that."

He smirked a bit at that as he made his way out with hands on his pockets.

"I can see that when we have children she is the one spoiling the brats..." he muttered to himself before abruptly stopping on his tracks and widening his eyes in horror of what he just said.

Him? You? Children? You guys weren't even marriage! Why the hell was he even speaking about damn brats?!

No way that you and him were going to have a kid. Those gave much work, planning and pacience-

"You kiddos want me to what?" His attention got back to you as he listened your voice this time coming from the living room... aparently you just got there since minutes ago you were in teh kitchen.

"Tell is a story!" The boy exclaimed while the girl hummed in agreement.

"You always comes with the best stories aunt, please?" Teh girl asked while he followed your voices, catching the you had sitted down and the kids on both of your sides.

"Alright then..."

You chosed a fairly tale, a not much know of but it was slightly impressive how calm and... gentle you were with your words, the way you carresed the kids hair was similiar with how you carresed his own hair on a bad day..

He never noticed neither catched that you looked like the best example of a... real mother. Caring and loving... his own mother he couldn't point neither convince himself of only one time that she acted like this way with him.

He had so many troubles with his biological... that he never thought that true love with a child was even possible. He owned his life to Pops, but the yakusa was almost deprived of womans, and even some of them were generally like their atmosphere. Rigg, cold, reserved...

Yourself acted like that as well when the necessary time came... but never with him. And aparently you loved your nephews to treat them like he did.

He immediately got out and walked through the houses with a frown on his forehead... thoughts of you holding a baby on your arms and being just as or even more gentle and lovingly with a child that was also... his. A child thhat he had no shame neither disgust to have with you...

Dear lord what was happening?! When his heart started to beat so fast? When he started to care for children in the first place?! God you two weren't even marriage why on hell he was-

"Chisaki?" He snapped from hsi thoughts to see Pops looking at him with a concerned face "My boy, I called you at least five times and you didn't even listened?"

"I'm sick." He said nonchalantly to the elder "I need to find a cure or a treatment."

The old man only got more concerned as he looked at his sucessor.

"What do you mean? You seem perfectly fine at least physically. What is the issue?"

"Ever since (Y/n)'s nephews got here it started." He brought his hand to hold his chin in thought "Maybe it was because of them... I'm not sure, they are too young to have a quirk so it's not that either."

"You're feeling like you have a fever then young man?"

"No. Is not that. Ever since they came I can't stop thinking of (Y/n) with a child on her arms, a toddler or even a infant. That looks like me and her, a mix or whatever."

The elder let out a disbelieving laugh which only triggered Chisaki even more.

"So you're telling me that you're having baby fever?" Thhe way Chisaki's eyes widen in horror were quite concerning for Pops and he almost went to speak if it wasn't-

"You're joking that is a actual illness... Fuck, I need to find a cure, buy it or something-"

"Kai. I raised you better than this... please." The elder interrupted while Chisaki only glared at the man, whose face was just as unimpressed as his.

#overhaul x reader #overhaul scenario #fanfic overhaul #overhaul #chisaki kai imagine scenario #kai chisaki x reader #chisaki kai x reader #chisaki kai #kai chisaki #bnha imagine #bnha characters #bnha villains #bnha x reader #bnha #my writing #zuffer writing

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charming-2d-boys · 4 years ago

Note

I always seem to find myself coming and checking your blog everyday for any new posts, cuz your writing is so amazing sksjdj—💜💜💜 If it's not too much trouble, could I possibly request Hisoka with a fem werewolf s/o? Maybe she's been hiding the fact that she's a werewolf from him and he eventually found out?

Awwww, thank you so much! I'm glad you like what I write 😄

And now we have something supernatural too? 😶

And with Hisoka? 😮

Anon, thank you, truly! I can't wait to write this! 😍

Warning: pretty long

A/N: I’ve read about werewolves’ characteristics and ways of transforming, so if you see anything that doesn’t really fit with what you know, this is why

No secrets - Hisoka x Werewolf!Reader

You really didn’t for things to go this far. You thought that this relationship would be something temporary, that Hisoka would eventually get bored of you or you’d get too tired of his games. But things didn’t really seem to go south, except for those pretty rare moments. Instead, you’d found yourself in a relationship that managed to last for more than a year. And Hisoka was actually okay with it and you were both happy.

And somehow, you had managed to hide your true nature from your boyfriend. You always told him that your job required you to leave for somewhere around 3 days - before, during and after the full moon - and it was always a secret place. Yes, Hisoka was curious and asked you where you were working and what you were even doing that required this, but you told him that even this was classified. He wanted to find out and was very close to using all of his connections just to satisfy his curiosity, but that would’ve meant breaking your trust in him and he couldn’t risk that.

You knew that if the relationship kept getting more serious, you'd have to tell Hisoka since you didn't want to lie to him, especially about something so important. But it was so hard to talk about something like this. Most people would think you were crazy, but you were even more terrified of how Hisoka would react to the news. His girlfriend, a werewolf. It sounded crazy even to you.

But you had been dealing with this ever since you were a kid - family curse, from the little knowledge your parents knew - and all of it because of some stupid ancestor who thought it would fun to screw around with a witch and break her heart, only for her to retaliate by cursing him.

You had tried pretty much everything out there that would supposedly cure your lycanthropy, but so far, nothing had seemed to work. You just wanted to be normal, continue living your life and have your quirky, but adventurous and passionate relationship with Hisoka. Was it too much to ask for?

"Earth to (Y/N)~ ♦️ What’s keeping you so busy in your mind? ♠️" Your boyfriend poked your forehead playfully, a teasing smile gracing your eyes as soon as you looked up at him from where you were sitting down on the couch.

"Oh, sorry. Just thinking about stuff. Did you need anything?"

"Hmm, just wondering if you want to go somewhere this weekend? I don't have anything to do until the middle of next week. ♥️" Your boyfriend was hopeful that you'd say yes. You'd had to reschedule several dates because of your "job" and it was honestly making it harder and harder for Hisoka to keep his curiosity at bay.

“Oh, umm, I don’t... think I can.” Your voice was sheepish and you actually felt bad. The full moon was going to happen on Saturday and you couldn’t risk it. You spotted Hisoka’s shoulders sagging slightly in disappointment, but his face kept its playful smile. God, you felt awful. If only it wasn’t so dangerous for him - despite knowing how strong he was - you would’ve caved in and stayed with him until he got sick of you.

“Job again? ♠️” You could only nod, your eyes boring holes into the ground, before he smiled wider and left towards the bathroom, telling you he’d go and take a shower. You sighed in defeat and held your head in your hands, trying to think of ways to make it up to him. You knew that what you were doing was unfair to Hisoka and you felt so guilty from constantly having to lie to him that you were actually shocked that the relationship still seemed to be going so well. You could only wonder if it would last, though.

On Friday morning, you were hauling your packed bag to your car, Hisoka trailing behind you as his hands were in his pockets, golden eyes watching you closely. You closed the car door before turning towards your boyfriend, smiling at his tousled hair and casual, comfy clothes that he wore at home. There was a little smile on his face at the sight of yours and he only smiled wider when you hugged him tight, kissing his cheek before pulling him into you so you could place a kiss on his lips as well. His arms were already around you, relaxed and content to have you so close to you. Hisoka only wanted to have you right there with him. But he’d already made up his mind: this was the last time something like this was happening.

“I’ll miss you, but I’ll be back on Monday. I love you, Hisoka.” You hugged him tightly and felt him hug you back, with him swinging your body around from side to side slowly.

“Me too~ ♥️” His lips pecked the side of your head before he let you go and watched as you pulled out of your parking spot and left, waving at him one last time.

The usual road to the little cabin you’d been staying in during every full moon for, all those years, was clear of any traffic and only seemed to go deeper into the forest and away from civilization with every passing moment. It had been bought by your parents years before and given to you especially. By the time you got there, it was already night and you took your bag inside before unpacking everything.

The place was clean, save for a very thin layer of dust on pretty much every surface of furniture. You’d imagined that since you’d have to come here so often, the place might as well be kept clean, nice and cosy. By now, it almost felt like a home away from home. If only you weren’t alone here, it would’ve been great. But you couldn’t risk Hisoka getting hurt because of you, or anyone else for that matter. Which is why you were so far away from anything and anyone.

Despite keeping most of your sanity during those nights, you could become unpredictable sometimes, though you recovered quickly, and you were scared of what you could be capable of. And the thought of not remembering what had happened the night before because of this was one of your biggest fears. When morning came, you were always happy to have all of the memories about what you’d done and where you’d been. You had never lost control and had only heard stories about some of your ancestors and relatives, but it was sickening nevertheless.

You made yourself comfortable and prepared dinner before sitting down and watching some TV. The fireplace kept everything warm and you actually felt yourself relax, trying to prolong the feeling for as long as you could before the full moon the next day would arrive. You actually spent some time reading and relaxing, fully taking advantage of your alone time before you’d have to leave again. Going to sleep without Hisoka to keep you warm and safe was a little hard to do, but you eventually managed to fall asleep.

The next day was spent gathering more firewood and checking your supplies before restocking for the next month. You always brought just enough and a bit more, just in case. The rest of your remaining time was spent doing pretty much anything you could while the feeling of dread was slowly making itself more present in your body and mind. You were used to it, but at the same time, it still made you anxious and scared. The upcoming moon’s influence already made you fidgety and you constantly glanced at the clock, counting down the hours.

You slowly felt it and before you knew it, you were already shedding your clothes, feeling your skin almost boiling with heat before you stepped outside. The transformation was always painful. The bones cracking and almost feeling like breaking as your body elongated; the feeling of fur breaking through the skin as it covered every bit of available skin; the ears growing atop your head and your face changing to look like that of a wolf. It was a quick, but almost unbearably painful process.

By the time you opened your eyes, the moon was full and bright, not yet high in the sky but already prominent. Your senses heightened and you could feel and hear someone nearby, watching you attentively. Your eyes were sharp as they turned towards the source of your discomfort and you took a few steps closer, growling to show whoever was there that you were ready to pounce if they were a threat.

“(Y/N), it’s me. ♣” You stopped dead in your tracks at the sound of Hisoka’s voice. You could only watch in something between shock and fear as he appeared from the treeline, slowly walking towards you. He didn’t look scared, not really, but he was still slightly shocked, you could clearly see it on his face. “Do you remember me, lovely? ♥️️” You only nodded, letting your arms drop to your sides, no longer feeling threatened.

“Are you okay? You’re not going to eat me, will you? ♦️” He asked playfully and if you could, you would’ve laughed. Instead you shook your head, sitting down on the ground as Hisoka did the same and stood in front you. “Can you talk? ♠️” Another headshake. “I want to talk about this when you’re back to normal, okay, lovely? ♥️️” Again, you nodded.

You stayed for a few minutes in silence before Hisoka got up, making you look at him questioningly.

“Now then...” If he asked you to fight him, you swore you were going to rip him a new one. And you were sure Machi wouldn’t be able to help him. “How about we go for a walk? Maybe show me how this whole process changes you~ ♠️” You guessed you could do that. Your sharp claws and fangs could certainly do some damage and the fact that your speed had increased, as well as your senses heightening definitely made Hisoka curious about those new changes. And that’s how you spent the entire night, going through the vast forest with Hisoka in tow: showing him what you could do, “answering” to his yes or no questions and howling when your jerk of a boyfriend did it, triggering you to do the same. You could only growl at him, but it was all bark and no bite.

When the moon was waning and the sun’s light was slowly starting to light up the sky, you both started walking back towards the cabin, Hisoka going inside to bring you a blanket. Going back to being a human was, weirdly, a lot less painful, but it left you exhausted, hence why Hisoka quickly wrapped you up and carried you inside where the fire had made everything toasty. You quickly pulled some clothes on before your boyfriend laid on the large couch with you, hugging you to his chest and with the blanket wrapped tightly around you to warm you up.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I was scared.” You said quietly, glancing at him. You meant it and you hoped he could sense it. Hisoka only looked at you, searching your face. He could understand, somewhat, but you still needed to have a lengthy talk, something you were both aware of.

“We’ll talk later about this. Now we should sleep. Okay, lovely? ♥️️” Hisoka’s voice was quiet as his knuckles ran over your cheek. “I’m not leaving that easily, just so you know~ ♦️” His lips touched your forehead briefly before he pulled you into his body and warmth, finally feeling safe as you both fell asleep. You were sure that things would turn out well in the end.

#hxh #hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter x reader #hunter x reader #hisoka #hisoka morrow #hisoka x reader #hisoka morrow x reader #hxh hisoka #hxh writing

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quicksilversquared · 4 years ago

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The Substitute Ladybug: Chapter 11

Final chapter!

After Lila takes things too far and Marinette ends up with a broken leg, Paris is going to have to deal with a different superhero arrangement for a bit. Having to share her superhero identity with her parents before Hawkmoth can be defeated isn’t something that Marinette had planned on doing, but- well, it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.

links in the reblog

Getting to go out again- heading down the stairs without the help of a lift, bounding out the door, rushing unencumbered down the sidewalk to the spot where she was going to meet up with her friends- was amazing.

Tripping over a raised bit of sidewalk because she wasn't being careful and going flying with a squawk... well, that was a lot less fun.

But at least Adrien was right there to catch her before she could hit the ground.

"Easy there," Adrien said with a laugh, setting Marinette back up on her feet. "Man, you're off crutches and already speeding around, huh?"

Marinette laughed, even as she felt her cheeks heating up. "Yeah. I'm just excited, I guess."

"I don't blame you. And no crutches?"

"The doctor said that I'm all good to go, as long as I don't overdo it." Marinette grimaced down at the uneven bit of sidewalk. "Though maybe I should hold off on the running down the sidewalk for a bit. I'm sure someone would be concerned if I showed up with my knees all scraped up not even a day after getting the cast off."

If she were being honest, that someone might very well be her. After weeks of being in a cast, Marinette couldn't help but be a little paranoid that she would re-injure herself and her taste of freedom and normalcy would be snatched away again by further weeks of casts and crutches and bedrest.

Adrien made a face. "Yeah, that wouldn't be the best. I can't imagine your parents banning you from doing things like my father would, but they probably wouldn't be happy." He paused, then flashed her a smile, clearly deciding to move on. "It must nice to have everything back to normal, huh?"

"So nice," Marinette told him. "I can do stairs again! My parents and I are going to work on taking the lifts down and returning them this weekend, so then we can have the stairs all clear again. And they moved me back to my normal room last night and it's so nice to be back and have access to all of my stuff again. Especially my sewing supplies! My parents had offered to bring stuff down, but there were too many things I might need and I didn't want them to dig for things I requested and get everything messed up."

"Yeah, I can imagine how easy that would be," Adrien agreed. "I've seen your sewing set-up and all of the boxes you have. I don't know how you find anything, but I'm sure you have some sort of system."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. It makes sense in my head." She probably should buy a proper storage system at some point- a modular storage system with a bunch of drawers would be easier to organize than a heap of shoeboxes of all sizes- but that would have to wait until summer.

Honestly, it would be best if it could be customizable and added onto as her collection of tools and materials expanded, which meant that she might end up making it on her own. Which definitely meant waiting until summer, but her shoeboxes could last until then. One or two might need a bit of assistance from some duct tape, but that was fine.

"I'm glad that I got to come out today," Adrien told her as they headed the short distance down the block to their meeting point. Alya and Nino were nowhere in sight yet, but that wasn't surprising. After all, both she and Adrien were running early to their lunch-and-ice-cream get-together. "Father and Nathalie initially wanted me to tag along on some luncheon with one of Father's business partners, even though whenever I have to do those, I need to stay completely silent unless directly addressed. Which happens maybe once per lunch, and it's always really obvious that they're just addressing me to be polite and acknowledge that I'm there instead of just outright ignoring me."

"I'm glad they let you come today," Marinette told him. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to go to a fancy lunch and be expected to exist as- well, as decoration, really. The closest thing she had ever done was go out with her parents to meet some of their friends or extended family, people that she didn't really know well and felt a bit awkward around. But they always tried to include her for at least part of the conversation and if she wanted to ask them any questions, she could. "Lunch at the cafe probably won't be as fancy as your father's luncheon, but it should be more fun!"

"Better company, too," Adrien told her, grinning. "And sometimes fancy food is overrated. Honestly, a panini and some soup sounds amazing. And- hey, there's Alya and Nino! It's about time, slowpokes!" he called. "Hurry up!"

"We're coming, calm down!" Nino called back, not picking up the pace at all. "It's not our fault that you two decided to come early!"

Adrien just shrugged. "I was looking forward to coming out, so sue me!"

"I'm just glad your pops finally saw sense and let you out." Nino finally drew close enough to exchange a fist bump with Adrien, grinning at him before turning his attention to Marinette. "So, what did the doctor say? Your cast is off- all good things?"

"All good things," Marinette confirmed. "My leg's healed well, now I just have to build the muscle back up. And that's going to be a bit of a process, but at least it won't test my patience as much as the cast and crutches did."

"Nice!"

It didn't take them long to reach the cafe and place their orders, then crowd around a small table to wait for their lunch to be delivered. Their knees jostled each other as they settled- it definitely wasn't a table meant for four people- but Marinette couldn't help but grin, definitely more excited than she really should be for what was a fairly simple outing. It was just that, well, everything was normal again.

"A hot lunch, a cold treat, and great company- what else could you ask for?" Adrien asked happily as their food got delivered to their table. "What a perfect day!"

They all nodded, already digging into their food. Marinette let out a happy hum as the blend of cheeses in her sandwich that she had ordered hit her tongue. It was the perfect temperature, hot enough to warm her up but not so scalding as to burn her tongue when she took a bite.

"Well, at the risk of sounding like an old dodder, how about a toast?" Alya asked after a minute of happy munching had passed. "To the rest of the school year only being exciting in good ways?"

"Oh, man, I'll drink to that," Nino said at once, accidentally sending his cup sloshing when he clinked it against Alya's a little too quickly. "No more nasty surprises! We've had enough of that this year already."

Marinette nodded, thinking back. There had been a lot of crappy things that had happened in the past year- the Heroes Day attack, Lila's return (and everything that went along with it), her loss of Master Fu's support and the reveal of all (or almost all)of the temporary superheroes, and then her broken leg. Then Nino and Alya- most of their classmates, really- had been hit pretty hard by the reveal of Lila's true colors and the realization that none of her 'connections' were actually real.

Maybe most of the year had been pretty good, but there had been a lot of pretty harsh lows.

"I think we could all do with a few nice surprises," Adrien agreed, lifting his cup as well. "Or at the very least, a bit of calm."

Marinette smiled, thinking of her superhero life. After all the madness of the past couple of months, calm with some nice surprises sounded absolutely perfect.

Luckily for the superheroes, several days passed before Hawkmoth struck again. Ladybug and Chat Noir spent the time doing nightly patrols, racing across the rooftops and practicing some of their battle skills as best they could without getting spotted, or at least without getting spotted close enough for anyone to notice that it was Ladybug and not Coccinelle out. Chat Noir was still being more careful with her than usual- they had to abandon tag because he wasn't trying, just because their tag usually involved tackling- but thankfully he hadn't let that carry over to their battle, instead falling back to their usual smooth dynamic.

Well. Their usual smooth dynamic, with some adjustments. Their nightly patrols had helped them suss out Ladybug's new limits and weak spots ahead of their battle, allowing them to figure out how they might account for that while Ladybug recovered. There was less flirting and more focus- Ladybug suspected that either Coccinelle had said something about timing of puns and flirting and when it would take away from their focus, or Chat Noir had just gotten used to having incredibly focused and fast-paced fights with Vipera, when they never had the time for joking around and any punning could get in the way of Vipera's instructions- and that meant that they were smacking down on the akuma almost as hard as they had been when it was Coccinelle and Chat Noir on the battlefield, with Vipera in their ears.

Ladybug grinned as Chat Noir taunted the akuma, pulling its attention over to him as she dodged in, jumping and flipping over the akuma's shoulder in a controlled tumble so she could snag the corrupted pin holding the akuma's cap on, yanking it off and landing only with a slight stumble. Ladybug crushed the pin as the akuma's (very limited) mind-controlled army stumbled to a halt, purifying the butterfly and releasing it into the air. Chat Noir came over to join her as she called for her Cure, his grin just as wide as her own.

"That went really well," Chat Noir said happily as Ladybug returned the restored pin to the akuma victim. "Only ten minutes, and that was with a mind-control akuma too! And not all of those ten minutes were spent fighting, even."

Ladybug grinned, turning to face him. "Yeah, three minutes of us being out and transformed was just watching the cameras like I did as Vipera to figure out the powers and where the akuma was. Maybe we just got lucky this fight and it won't help as much all the time, but..."

"I think it's a good idea to do that all the time," Chat Noir said, extending his baton enough that he could lean forward on it, beaming over at her. "It's scoping out the fight in advance and gathering intel without having cars and spider webs and random powers getting flung at us. Maybe it won't help as much every time, but when it does..."

Ladybug nodded. If they could shave down battle times at all, it would be worth it. Especially since- well, there were still parts of the battle that could have gone more smoothly, even with their preparation. They needed every advantage they could get.

"Ladybug! Ladybug, a quick word!"

"Aaand here come the reporters," Chat Noir said with a small sigh. He flashed a smile at Ladybug. "Are you good to give a statement now, or should we bounce?"

"I'm good," Ladybug told him. "It'll just be a quick comment anyway."

Chat Noir nodded, still not looking completely convinced. "Okay, if you're sure-"

"Ladybug! Are you back for good? What was the nature of your injury? Will we see Coccinelle again, or will she come out with a different Miraculous? Can you give a statement to Paris about why you decided to leave on vacation in the middle-"

"If anyone questions why I took well-deserved time off, I won't be answering any questions and Coccinelle will come after you," Ladybug told them tartly, cutting across the cacophony of overlapping voices, and the reporters promptly shut up and sent a dark look at the man who had asked about Ladybug's vacation. "As for the rest- yes, I'm back, though Coccinelle and I have not ruled out her occasionally coming out in my place as needed. And I'd like to thank Paris for accepting her with open arms, even without a heads-up that there was going to be a temporary switch." She flashed the cameras a grin and a peace sign. "Peace out, Paris!'

And with that, she flung out her yo-yo and was off like a shot. There were a few cries of protest from behind her since she hadn't answered all of the questions, really, just one. She hadn't said anything about her injury, or if Coccinelle might come out with a different Miraculous, or-

"Wow, you might need to call Coccinelle out again to go after the reporters," Chat Noir commented, landing on the roof behind her. "I can understand being curious about if Coccinelle will come out again, but I thought she made it clear that people need to respect your privacy and not push for details."

"Well, if they can't manage to cut it out, my mom is teaching me her patented Icy Mom Glare." Ladybug giggled. "Though I might rename it to the Patented Superhero Glare, since Mom Glare just comes with implications."

"Good idea." Chat Noir fell quiet for a moment, glancing her way a few times like he wanted to say something. Ladybug raised a curious eyebrow at him, and he glanced away again before letting out a sigh. "So. Uh. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, if we have time."

"I'm sitting at just under four minutes," Ladybug told him. "Go ahead."

"Right. So. Uh." Chat Noir rand a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "So I swear that I'm not just bringing it up now because we have less than five minutes left on our timers and you can't get that mad at me in that amount of time, really. But I've been thinking back to my last few battles and patrols with Coccinelle- well, the patrols, really, not so much the battles, there wasn't much time for talking then-"

He was definitely babbling now, but Ladybug just settled back against a chimney and waited.

"-anyway, I didn't really notice anything off at the time, but I think that maybe, possibly, potentially, your, uh. Mom might suspect who I am."

There was a pause. Ladybug blinked.

"I mean, I don't know for sure, and I still don't understand how it could be at all likely, but some of the things she said, sometimes- I mean, it's possible that I just told her stuff and then forgot that I did and I'm just jumping to conclusions. But. uh. I thought it might be important to mention." Chat Noir let out a sigh. "I know you said during the picnic that it was okay for me to talk to your mom and it wouldn't be the end of the world if she figured me out, but I still wasn't expecting it to actually happen. And I worry about what that means for us keeping our identities secret from each other."

Well. She hadn't been planning on passing on Tikki's comment quite yet, since they were only one fight in and she had wanted to have maybe a couple weeks of normal battles again before doing any sort of identity reveal reassessment, just to let the dust and fuss around her return settle a bit first. But maybe she was just overthinking things and it would be better to just keep Chat Noir clued in. Then they could both be in on the same loop and maybe discuss their theories about Tikki's words.

"Actually, about that," Ladybug started slowly, and Chat Noir's ears twitched towards her. "Tikki and I were talking a few weeks ago about identity stuff, and she said that we were getting closer to being able to do a reveal. Like, I thought we would have to wait until Hawkmoth gets defeated, but apparently it's a possibility that we won't have to wait for that. I don't know what, exactly, she's looking for," she added quickly, because really all Tikki had said was something about getting closer and maturation and growth and in all honesty, she didn't fully understand what, exactly, Tikki was referring to, which was probably why her kwami had told her not to try to force the growth. If she tried to explain it to Chat Noir... well, she could easily muddle everything up and might accidentally end up insulting him somehow. "Or how long it would take for us to get there. But the whole leg thing somehow got us closer."

Somehow wasn't exactly the right word for it- Ladybug had noticed some subtle shifts in their relationship compared to before her leg got broken- but she didn't want to draw attention to those shifts. Somehow she suspected that, like Adrien's change in attitude towards Chloe (which was continuing, even as Chloe dug her heels in stubbornly), pointing it out directly might only serve to make him uncomfortable.

Even if she had wanted to try, Ladybug wasn't even sure that she would be able to find the words to describe the differences. Some, like the focus during the battle and the flirting retreating back to fully playful, were easy enough to put her finger on. Others...

Well, others were not, shifts too subtle to really pick out what exactly had changed. It was all good changes, though.

Chat Noir lit up, grinning. "That's cool! So it's really not as big of a deal as I was worried it might be."

"Tikki still wants us to wait if possible, but yeah, the world's not going to end or anything if we slip up and figure each other out." Ladybug grinned as well, unable to help getting caught up in Chat Noir's excitement. "I kind of wish she had said more, but..."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, I hope," Chat Noir told her. He wriggled in place, clearly hyped up about the news, and then he half-pounced on her, scooping Ladybug up in an excited hug. "This week has been amazing. You're back, we got to hang out with bonus patrols, our first post-return battle was a super success, and we might get to share our identities and- and hang out outside of the masks soon! Or at least before we defeat Hawkmoth," he corrected himself before Ladybug could say anything. He set her down, still grinning. "That's amazing."

"It has been a pretty good week," Ladybug agreed, beaming. Maybe it was early in her post-recovery return, but so far, so good. She leaned forward, hugging her partner tightly. "Here's to hoping that it keeps going that way."

"Yeah." Chat Noir glanced down at her, his expression entirely fond. "I hope so, too."

Another week passed and at school, Marinette slipped back into her normal routine easily enough. She could take the stairs on her own now, no more piggyback rides or taking the elevator necessary. Adrien usually stuck close by when they were on the stairs, close enough to steady her in case she ever tripped- which she hadn't, not yet- but that was the only major change from before.

And it was hardly a bad change, either. Maybe Marinette had come to the conclusion that she needed to hold off on dating until Hawkmoth was taken care of, but getting a bit of extra attention from Adrien was never a bad thing. She was getting used to it now, and not blushing as much or messing up her words when he slung his arm around her shoulder or wound his arm through hers as they walked to class together.

(She wasn't going to read too far into his sudden closeness. Maybe Alya was right and he had developed a crush on her, but maybe he was just making sure that she wouldn't get knocked around and risk breaking her leg again, so soon after getting the cast off. Which- well, it wasn't going to happen, not with the amount of healing that she had done with Tikki's help, but she wasn't going to mention her magically sped-up healing to her friends. It would just open the door to too much questioning.)

The week had two more akuma battles- Tanker joined them for one, not because they were struggling but just because it was the bakery's day off- and several patrols. The patrols weren't strictly necessary- they hadn't regularly done them before, since they had been so busy and overwhelmed- but with the newly-shortened battles, they had more free time to spend together. It also gave the two superheroes time to hang out and tease and joke around when there wasn't the pressure of a battle hanging over them, so they could buckle down and be super-focused during battles without sacrificing their friendship and their bantering dynamic. It was something that Marinette really wanted to be able to keep doing long-term, as long as her schedule allowed for it.

(Tikki really, really liked that arrangement, though she wouldn't tell Marinette exactly why. Marinette suspected that it had something to do with the whole 'growing' thing that Tikki had talked about before. Marinette wasn't going to overthink it, though. Patrols were time for her to have fun with her partner and use the Miraculous to relax- and to get more exercise so that she could start building up her strength and endurance again, that was an extra bonus- and she wasn't going to ruin that time by wondering if they were growing as much as her kwami had hoped.)

Marinette wasn't willing to just let things continue as they were, though. It would be easy enough to sit back and fall into a new routine, one with patrols with Chat Noir and battles that occasionally included her parents. It was working really well, after all. But she had learned a lot while she was sidelined, about strategy and long-term planning, and she wanted to keep working on that. Sure, akuma battles were better now, but it would be absolutely fantastic if they didn't have akuma attacks anymore. If Hawkmoth and Mayura were defeated, she wouldn't have to worry about attacks disrupting her day or waking her up at night. She and Chat Noir could hang out safely during the day, instead of having to stay up late, and could help out around the city when it was more convenient for them. Everyone would be safer, and the city wouldn't have to worry about Hawkmoth preying on their emotions.

It was a nice thought, and Marinette wanted to get there sooner rather than later. And that meant being proactive with her approach and planning what she could do to change things up and throw Hawkmoth off.

She already had some plans in place of things that she could switch up at random, of course. Ladybug could swap out for Coccinelle and Vipera. Her dad could come out as Tanker- and Hawkmoth was definitely scared of Tanker after the beatdown that he had gotten- and her mom could bring out bonus Miraculous or deliver them to backup holders directly, instead of them having to suspend the battle to sneak Miraculous out.

And if that wasn't enough to turn the tides in their favor- well. They could switch things up even more. One of the things that Marinette's time on the sidelines had taught her was that one of the hallmarks of a good leader was recognizing when she might do more good in another position. Maybe she loved being on the battlefield and being Ladybug, but if she was more effective as Vipera and her mom could fill Ladybug's shoes without compromising an overly large amount on fighting ability...

It was just a thought, something for her to consider and keep in mind as more of their battles unfolded. Marinette would have to talk to the kwamis to get their opinions, and of course it was possible that an adult Snake would be able to unlock more- not powers, necessarily, but perhaps flexibility. If the timer-stop could be continuously adjusted instead of having just one fixed reset point with an adult holder, that would be a valuable thing to know. It would make what she had done as Vipera not nearly as difficult to do, so- in theory, at least- then one of her parents could take over as the Snake instead.

It would still be smart not to reset to the very closest point, just for flexibility reasons, but it wouldn't require remembering dozens of resets' worth of instructions.

That was a good starting point, Marinette decided as she settled back into her bed. Above her, she could see the shadows on her balcony shifting in the breeze, pale moonlight beaming down from above. She had a framework in place, things to ask about and try out and see what worked best. There would be a lot of moving parts around and trying new things and constantly shaking things up while keeping track of all of it, but that didn't worry Marinette.

After all, with Chat Noir and her parents by her side, anything was possible.

#Miraculous Ladybug #The Substitute Ladybug #My writing #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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onthepageoftears · 5 years ago

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What Was Lost — Pt 1 (Jaskier x Reader) || Witcher

A/N: Okay so i started writing this and it was superrrr long, so i decided to split it into two. The second part will come out tomorrow, don’t you worry. Anyway, this is yet another entry for @thewitcherbingo so I hope everyone enjoys! Also, this was based on a post in the witcher tag that is linked below :)

Summary: Y/N, a famous bard, is cursed by a sorceress and loses her voice, leaving her only hope to get it back with the famous Witcher and her rival, Jaskier.

(based on this post)

Bingo Square Filled: Rivalry

Warnings: mentions of loss, grief, death, sex, drinking all the good stuff lmao; also fluff and angst!!

Word Count: 2,257

Please Don’t Plagiarize My Work!

(Pt 2)

Loss was not something you were unfamiliar with.

The haziness of loss clouded over you throughout your whole life. One step after the other, you experienced what it meant to be disappointed and left behind — never really on purpose, but that didn’t mean you weren’t bitter about it. Bitter at the world, yes, but also at yourself.

Your mother died soon after she gave birth to you; her short, but wholly loving embrace was only a memory you had from what others told you. Not knowing what it was like to have a mother made the loss of her feel less than what it should have been; you felt complete with the life you had, though the curiosity of what a mother’s touch felt like barely left your mind. Still, being surrounded by the rest of your family kept your loss from overtaking your life, and for a while, you were a relatively content child.

And then, your father didn’t come home.

He had been attacked by bandits — any merchant was at that risk, but never did it cross your mind that your very own father could be a victim. Of course, your naive mind was flipped upside down when you went looking for him and found his cart ripped apart only a couple miles down the road from your village. Everything was taken, including your father’s life, and you were once again reminded of how heavy your heart could feel when something was ripped away from it.

As you tried to make it in the world, you felt loss tracking your every move. It was a cloud that was just on the brink of churning up a thunderstorm right over your head. But, as you grew, the cloud shrank, until it was totally gone. You were finally free of what it meant to lose because you had gained so much. But the freedom from loss never truly left a person, and you would soon realize that despite a large gain, loss would always be lingering around the corner.

—

You were a fiery bard. It was one of your famous attributes, one of the things that kept people coming to your performances. That, and your singing voice. It was an unusually unique thing — your father used to call it a gift that no one knew existed. Your voice was as fiery and passionate as you were, and bards from near and far envied you for it.

And you fed off of that, like a leech from the nearby river. You loved the way other bards watched you perform with a hateful glint in their eyes that could only be described as friendly competition. It was what kept you going — that, and the coin. You had made a name for yourself in your own time, but it was all worth it. You had people nearly begging to hear your voice, others begging to have your voice, and some wishing it was gone completely.

“Jaskier.” You emerged from the cheering crowd and smirked at the fellow bard; your set had just ended and happened to be preceding the young man in front of you. Though the crowd seemed overjoyed, he was quite the opposite.

“Y/N.” He practically seethed. “Quite the show.”

“It was, wasn’t it?" Your smile never left despite the man’s hateful expression.

Though you’d hate to admit it, Jaskier was your best competition. He wasn’t always — once you were almost an inspiration to him, despite you two being around the same age. But as soon as he met Geralt, the mysterious witcher, he finally found what he was good at performing. It was honestly quite sad when Jaskier would go out on adventures, as none of the other bards had the guts to challenge you.

Even though you two had quite the rivalry, you had a lot of respect for the bard. You had seen him rise in his career, seen the good and the bad from him, and in the end, you knew he was quite the talent. You weren’t sure how he felt about you, but that wasn’t something you needed to know — just like he didn’t need to know of your slight admiration of him.

You flashed Jaskier a bigger smile. “I can only hope your performance will keep the crowd excited.”

“Oh, it will, I can promise you that.”

“Your promises hold the validity of a drunken sailor.”

“And your voice the beauty of a Drowner’s bum.” This time, Jaskier smiled. Despite the vile words that escape his lips, he seemed happy to be back.

You rolled your eyes. “A Drowner’s bum is beautiful to someone.” You tapped underneath your eye. “The eye of the beholder.”

“More like the ear of the beholder.” Jaskier’s eyes purposefully ran down your body, then back to your face. “Did you ever think you’d be helping the world if your voice was…gone?”

“Of course not. If that were true, maybe you’d be the one the crowd was calling on for an encore.” You quirked a brow and his eyes flicked to the crowd that was chanting your name. He took his cup of ale and threw the rest of the liquid back into his mouth, letting out a frustrated groan as he slipped past you. “Good luck!” You called, and he scrunched his nose aggressively at you; you only laughed at his gesture and took his seat at the bar.

As you waited for your drink, your mind wondered about what Jaskier said. He was kidding, you hoped, but you thought — gods forbid — if you didn’t have your famously known voice, what would you do? What would make you happy?

You shook the thought away. Ever since you were a child, singing was a way to make the bad times okay. It didn’t cure all your pain, but it simmered it, and because of that you were here. It was silly to think of such events, so you decided to put your mind on more important matters.

The cup of fresh ale was on your lips when you heard the woman speak.

“The mind is a strange thing.”

You turned your head slightly — the voice was soft, but loud. Like a whisper only you could hear. It was especially surprising because Jaskier had already started his performance, where everyone was singing along and making as much racket as they could. Yet still, you could hear the woman’s voice.

She was quite young looking, but her eyes seemed even wiser than what her age inferred — something told you she lived longer on this Earth than anyone you had ever met; which, to be fair, wasn’t saying much. Still, the slight twitch in her smile sent a shiver down your spine.

You placed down your drink. “What was that?”

“The mind.” The woman slinked into the open space between your seat and the man next to you. “It is quite strange, don’t you think?”

“I think I’m too sober for this.” You laughed and took another gulp of your drink. After gritting your teeth from the strength of the ale, you turned to the woman. “Do you want an autograph?”

She kept a steady smile. “No. I want you to help you find what you are missing.”

Your eyebrows furrowed at the calmness of her statement. This woman had to be crazy; perhaps she was playing a joke on you. But the look in her eyes told you otherwise. You stuttered. “Ex-excuse me?” You watched as the woman took out a small jar. She opened the lid and gestured for you to look inside. You didn’t. “What the hell is this?”

Though before you could hear her clearly, now her words were just a distant whisper. It was another language, surely, and the longer she spoke the more uneasy you felt. As you opened your mouth to speak, a strong wince of pain burrowed in the bottom of your throat, making you grab your neck with a free hand. You looked back at the older woman, who closed up the jar and waved it in front of your face. Your eyes caught a small rune-like symbol on the bottle before she placed it back in her pouch.

“When you find me, you will know.”

In the blink of an eye, her unsettling smile was gone. And so was your voice.

Just like that, the cloud of loss had returned. Your heart felt so heavy that it weighed you down as you desperately clawed at the emptiness of your throat. You wanted to scream for someone to grab the woman, to help you, for anything — but you couldn't. You grabbed at the people around you, forcing them to turn and glare. But as you dropped to the floor, the people knew something was wrong — they crowded around, towering over you with their fearful eyes and loud shrieks of worry. As you searched the faces for someone who could help, you realized the only thing you could do in that moment was let the world around you go dark.

—

You woke up in a room that you knew wasn’t your own. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened (being a bard had its perks) but it would be the first time you saw a person waiting over you.

“Oh, thank the gods you aren’t dead.” Jaskier’s relieved face hovered over your own, only leaning back once you widened your eyes at his presence. “The crowd was worried. They would’ve had a riot if you didn’t wake up.”

You frowned and opened your mouth to speak. Did I faint? But your voice made no sound.

Panic rose in your chest as you sat up, your hand raising to grasp at your throat. So it wasn’t a dream. Your eyes watered almost immediately, both from the fear that banged against your ears and the scratches you were leaving on your own neck.

“Hey, hey — woah, woah, woah okay, calm down. Calm down, Y/N.” Jaskier sat on the bed next to you and grabbed your hands as they clawed at your skin — despite your silent protest, he held them down in your lap. His eyes scanned your face as you tried to scream the words you were thinking.

“Can you…can you not speak?”

You shook your head and, trying to relax your shaking hands, let out what would have been a long sigh.

Jaskier stared at you for a moment, squinting his eyes as he processed what was happening. He lifted his hands and placed one on his chin. “So you weren’t trying to sabotage my set?” You could only glare at him, but he was too busy mumbling to himself. “Yes, well, either way, it worked.”

You slapped him in the arm, bringing his attention back to you.

“Right. You can’t speak — or sing. Oh. Oh boy. This is not good for you.”

“What do you remember?”

The voice took you aback, and as you swiveled your head to the other side of the room, there stood the famous witcher from Jaskier’s songs. Geralt. You had never had a proper introduction, though you supposed now wasn’t the time.

You closed your eyes and tried to shake the memories back into place — after fainting, you were still feeling a little lightheaded. Still, your mind drifted back to the moment before, when the woman smiled all too politely in your face. I want to help you find what you are missing. But what you were missing?

You opened your eyes and looked at the men who stared back at you. With an eye roll, you made a gesture of writing.

“Ah, yes.” Jaskier snapped his fingers towards Geralt. “The notebook, by the table.”

Geralt picked up the notebook and quill and handed it to you with a nod. “Geralt, by the way.”

You nodded back, somehow getting used to the loss of your own voice. Without dwelling on it too much, you wrote what you were thinking.

Once you handed it to him, Jaskier read your note out loud, “‘She said something was missing.’” He looked up and blinked. “What was missing?”

You widened your eyes at him with a clenched jaw, as if to say ‘how should I know’. He shrugged.

Geralt huffed. “Anything else you remember?”

You closed your eyes and tried to think of the woman. Creepy smile, bright but aged eyes, the clear whisper of her voice, the jar—

You scribbled on the notebook and flipped the page towards Geralt.

Geralt frowned. “A jar with a rune. Looks like a rune for — oh.”

You frowned. Jaskier answered for you. “Oh?”

“It’s old — very old. The only sorceress I know of that uses it —“

“A sorceress?” Jaskier exclaimed for you. He jumped up from the bed, nearly hopping in his spot. “Now this is interesting.”

This time, Geralt spoke for you, “It wasn’t interesting enough with a lost voice?”

“Of course it was. But a sorceress? This could be the greatest tale of all the Continent. And beyond!” Jaskier turned to you with a grimace. “No offense.”

You flipped him the bird. Then, picked up the pen and wrote: Fix?

Geralt nodded at the writing. “I know where the sorceress lives. We can be there in under a week if we leave in the morning.”

“Wonderful!” Jaskier clapped his hands together and smiled way too brightly. “Tomorrow it is!”

You supposed you didn’t have much of a choice. You closed your eyes and let out a silent breath, wishing this nightmare would be over soon.

———————————————————————————————————

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