#i address chloe's situation a bit more here finally

[pavlovianpanic]

For Nathan: Would it scare him, and how much, if someone took pictures of Nathan as he does the women he knows (drugs him, undresses him, maybe binds him but photographs him for sure) would he be terrified or aroused? If he knew someone wanted to do that to him, would he hurt them or let them?

this is a really interesting question, and i hope to answer it properly? but not drag on.

nathan's interest in bondage isn't something i think he's actually been able to outright experiment with with others, if that makes sense? he's very interested in it, and the dark room photos of the victims lean into bondage territory with being restricted by the ankles and wrists (there are obvious differences in like safe bondage and bdsm and what is actually not okay in the community, so nathan is an outlier to that community because he isn't a) actively even participating as a member, just an observer and b) is essentially not doing it by the community's standards of practice). he has photos on his walls suggesting it, i lean into headcanons of probably some private portfolio pieces (likely not even his work tbh, not dark room stuff, likely pieces he really likes and printed off for inspo).

we have sort of a clear understanding of what nathan's part in this all is. he knows mark well (he thinks), he actively pursues being his mentee, mark mentors nathan as they use the dark room together, mark is the one taking the pictures / nathan is getting the drugs, the girls, and doing a lot of the legwork basically so mark can take the shot, and we can assume by a cut note that nathan was likely more involved before. i say this because mark is coaching nathan, and nathan is very talented (they tell us this all the time basically). but nathan's involvement is limited to degrees so that mark and sean can have their goals individually met and equally matched (they are starting to become strained now ... again, it's happening again). a lot of this is about mark's ego, of course. they are individuals but are feeding into each other.

with chloe, nathan tries to emulate what mark is doing / what basically he did to rachel and failed at the first time himself. killing rachel was a mistake. nathan didn't mean to. i'll go over why nathan is in that photo with rachel in that other ask actually, you'll have more context to why i think nathan killed rachel. i've inferred it in mark posts but i'll address it directly soon.

nathan tries to get chloe to a state of semi-undress, it's said outright by chloe that he drugged her in his room, there's a photo of her to prove this, she woke up, found him crawling over her, kicked him, broke a lamp, and managed to flee (ie live). the lamp has been highly talked about for some reason on reddit, but basically like, i think nathan was using it as lighting for his photo. chloe always describes nathan as "crawling over her" and infers heavily that he's trying to sexually assault her, which affirms he sexually assaulted kate (which i have proven).

you can tell by the way rachel is photographed and dressed ... there's just a lot, which actually again i'll go over in another ask haha.

so now we're here: nathan is sort of ... he's actively hurting people but he's starting to now photograph it. he was through mark, essentially, and now is doing it himself. in-game, so to us, chloe is the first we really see of this aside from rachel. he wasn't brave enough until after kate. the video really inspired him, i guess.

which brings us to your question finally: nathan is now in a position of being submissive. he is being exploited the way he has been exploiting others as a direct 1-for-1.

aroused or terrified? primarily the latter. being so stripped now of this other part of his power, one of the few parts of himself he "controlled" (weaponized, hurt others with, used his body as a weapon in the way he handles a gun), he has almost nothing to verify he is essentially real even. being fed your just desserts is never tasty; being force-fed your own medicine?

worse. especially for nathan. he has a lot to swallow here. while this indication stops at mostly ... nathan is the one being in bondage over doing the dominating, inferring nothing else is going really past drug, strip, position, photograph. there's still a level of "safety" he has here that he doesn't offer most others, or at least kate and chloe (and rachel) outright. being so vulnerable, so open, and so exposed against his will is everything nathan is seeking to avoid ...

because he is actively doing that to others. he wants to be the one in control, or he thinks he does.

i don't think he would actually know what to do once he has it; he's spent his whole life fighting for something he doesn't really understand what to do with once he has it. that vibe? so like, yes, he fatansizes being the dom, but he's only had such casual sex consensually and has done the other things i've addressed, so like? he's not going to find a bdsm club at blackwell, right, and arcadia bay is small, he's not in portland where there are 100 strip clubs every five steps. it's just not the same? if he were in portland, he actually could have found some healthy sex expression.

being forced into this situation? not good. he would totally crumble, i think.

... being recommended? or like knowing someone has a fantasy about him, so long as they're like idk someone he could fuck with? maybe he'd be more willing to say he'd be down? regardless if he's attracted to them, having a fantasy about him affirms nathan. he wants to be desired even if he is not desired back. if not desired? feared works fine. liked is good, but not always possible. but like ... if someone were to suggest they wanna tie him up and have a session with him, he might not react so well. nathan is very chaotic, yet oddly predictable, but admittedly, this ask is interesting because it flips the narrative a lot for him.

i don't know if nathan could handle being submissive. well ... okay, he is kind of submissive to victoria if they sleep together, but that took a long time to get going, and she's not even really dominating him. she's more telling him how / what to do (she's not even experienced, she's just trying to stay two steps ahead of him jfc). like she rides him, he'll go down on her if she tells him to, etc. more that kind of thing. he's complacent for her. that's a better word. not so much for anyone else, i don't think. i guess rachel? rachel probably would fall into someone he would probably appease more? but i don't see them as very romantic / more one-sided from him.

nathan doesn't seem shy about being on camera necessarily but i don't think it's also his preferred. he wants to take the pictures, not really be in them unless they're like idk ones for his friends / party pics / etc. he's not really wanting to model here.

[marengogo]

Well Well Well … - 2 : Let’s Watch A Clip!

Forgive Me - by Chloe x Halle  [Ungodly Hour]

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]

–🐺–🐺–🐺–

Hello Everyone! How’s life been treating you? If it’s been good, I’m hella happy for you! If it’s been shit, I’m up there with you 😬 but hey, we probably used to it, so we’ll be fine (#trust). Now, let’s take a little look at what’s been going on in ARMYworld as of recent (and no, I’ll not address enlistment here, but yes, I will in another post). So, it would appear that pics and videos from「LOVE YOURSELF, SPEAK YOURSELF: The Final」started dropping yesterday and guuurl/boooi/Eeenby… There’s been a little bit of drama aye?!

Mainly between the usual shakespearean factions (... just another way for me to say: DRAMATIC AF GROUPS, aka some group of shippers), which was brought about by one particular clip involving none other than our dearest JK: Surprise, sur-fucking-prise! I swear, the boy can’t take a single step in the general direction of nowhere coz, the second he does, some will measure the distance between his right foot and left and equate it to the distance between either JM or Tae’s right and left foot just to conclude that: [INSERT MOST RECENT CONSPIRACY]. 

Alas, Jeon Jungkook is a powerful Conspiracy Magnet, it's a sad truth. Now, whether or not he actually had an unknowing and unfortunate hand in this predicament, is a post for another time. What we want to do now is to take a look at the clip that caused so much SCANDAL! And take it from there, shall we?:

TWEET LINK

Now, before we proceed I’ll need you all to maybe not listen to the song that I am listening to right now, if it is not calming to you. Find a song that keeps you mellow and serene, and ready to observe facts in an educated and unbiased way. When you are all ready, we shall begin, alright?

So to spice things up a little, let’s refer to TKKers as Capulets and JKKers as Montagues, just to keep it in the Shakespearean vibe. As you might and/or might not know, I really hate generalising but, based on experience, the majority of Capulets can’t be reasoned with, like, it’s some crazy-ass-shit up in that neck of the woods, and granted there’s definitely some Montagues that are just as crazy, but the ratio is 9725:1. 

Moving on, following are the families narratives, following the clip in question:

CAPULATES: “Everything Jikook does is scripted”.

MONTAGUES: “Staff knows Jungkook, so where is the lie?”.

For those that may not know, this whole thing escalated hella quick. I was at work, trying to work, while dealing with a personal situation of my own, after which I quickly looked at my timeline and HolyMolyGuacamole. I thought JK couldn’t create a post more controversial than the “Happy Birthday Bro” one but, Bro!, was I wrong! 

Mind you, as per usual the involved Capulates came ready for senseless war, hence Montagues had the right to defend themselves from the dumbest of accusations, but what all of this seemed to cause was a very clear divide of two truths which could both be valid, but my people, we all know that the truth is and always will be one. In this case, the one truth is that JK managed to, unwillingly, put himself on the spot. Yeah ...

And before I continue, I must, and I will, preface that JK does, without a doubt, not only highly respects (amongst many other things) JM but loves Serendipity, immensely as proven by the following:

TWEET LINK

(☝🏾 looks like the same tweet, from the beginning of this post, but its not ☝🏾)

Now, try to recall a situation where something happened and regardless of whether the information you are receiving is true or not, you just want to know how this something came to be. If you are like me, and you just need to know, trusting that there is no way in hell your words will be misconstrued, you will ask whatever question. But then, at times, this funny thing happen where, once you’ve spoken you realise that is not just about your curiosity, it’s about everything else related to it, but it’s too late, you’ve spoken up, your words are out in the world and you are on the fucking spot. And many may not know or realise this but, being put on the spot is a flight or fight response.

It is almost spooky weird how sometimes words suddenly seem to change in meaning from how you thought them in your brain after you’ve uttered them [typed them]. Funny ain’t it? Had the meaning of his words not changed, JK (like anyone else) would have stayed silent, waiting for the member of staff to answer his question, as he sat firmly by his own words. But that was definitely not the case. And I’m not sure of the meaning that his sentence morphed into, but JK didn’t stay quiet waiting for a reply from their staff member. No. In fact, he laughed over her words and started poking JM, who actually brought up his finger to do their usual “I am you, you are me” but JK didn’t notice, and he wasn’t going to because I don’t think that was his intent to begin with. His poking, like the laughing, all felt like a reaction to divert attention from what he’d just asked.

Now we can sit here and argue on whether or not it was wrong for the member of staff to have filled in the blanks for JK, homegurl was most likely just doing her job and trying to speed up the process by choosing an answer she believed to be 100% likely. Had she envisioned  JK’s reaction, do you think she would have proceeded with it? She most likely even panicked, perceiving JK’s reaction as a misjudgment and let him know right-away that he could change it.

“It’s all about the delivery!” These are the words I was told by my brother, who's been trying to act as a peacemaker between my mother and I. If I controlled the manner in which I say what I want to say or even at times just refrain from saying certain things, I might bring forth less damage with my mom 😬(but that was very TMI so yeah let's not dwell too much on that…). But the truth is, once again, in my head they all sounded like things I have the right to say, but once they are out, it's like, … damn. And, in my opinion, it’s like JK also felt the same.

JK’s favourite song might have been Euphoria, which is not a stretch, we all know that homeboi loves that song in particular. But regardless of why he decided to still go ahead with Serendipity, he obviously made it known that he was going to, if not Jimin would not have been literally all up in his face asking him “which one did you like the best?”

TWEET LINK

What actually is the point in all of this is how he decided to reveal said selection. JM was all in his face? JK could have replied by singing and staying in his place. But no. He counter-attacked Jimin’s face-up and got closer himself, and you’ll notice JM taking steps back as JK keeps moving forward, while they maintain eye-contact. I mean …

Hence, If I were the person who had to write the scenario/script for this part of the concert, hoping for the best outcome, ideally, with a band like BTS, you’d have all members naturally interact with each other. Having JK just choose his own song wouldn’t have served for much interaction with anyone, so I’m guessing homegurl stopped and thought “who does he usually interact with? What song does he usually sing?” and she got her answer. And hey! I might be wrong, so please let me know another song by any of the other members of BTS which JK sang, and mimicked as often as Serendiptiy; … I’ll be waiting.

Always respectfully yours,

Marengo.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Guiltrip!

Alright, so this one is a bit more of a serious one for me. But I'll be going in order of the episode so the more serious talk will be a bit further down! First thing we get is this lovely moment:

I've already addressed it in a post, but I'll say it again here. Guiltrip is episode 11, several episodes take place before Guiltrip that we haven't seen yet, so this is awhile after Marinette and Luka broke up. We also know that Marinette has always had feelings for Adrien, even when she was with Luka. Luka always knew that fact too. None of this is new and is to be expected, obviously, when Love Square is endgame. But! I also want to point out here that this is just a soft look. Very gentle, very common. I see people looking at each other both in real life and in other shows all the time. A look that says "I adore you". And I think it's sweet! Very subtle, but enough. Something's wrong with Rose. We never get told (in this episode anyway) what it is, but it's a chronic illness that's a worry in Rose's life, ever since she was young. I feel really bad for Juleka, knowing that her friend's been struggling with an illness, and whenever something happens she has to worry about it alone. Also that really sucks when you try to cheer somebody up and make a joke, that because you were mislead about a situation you end up making things worse. Poor Marinette. :c Adrien when he realizes he's bumped into someone (and the pink bubbles to remind us of Marinette's feelings for him):

Adrien when he realizes just who it was he bumped into!:

Scroll up now and look at how Marinette was looking at Adrien earlier that day. It's the exact same look. Yet, something feels different from usual to me, idk. But continuing on. Marinette gets slightly jumbled with her words, but manages to give herself a kick and says nope not now! Good for her! You can't expect to change overnight, but she's working on it.

She looks to the side, gathering her surroundings for a split second and she misses the top step. I'd like to say that this is just a joke for the show but well, this kind of thing has happened to me a lot because I'm that much of a klutz so I feel for her here. (On Halloween I forgot that there was another step as I was walking down as I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't walk on my foot for 2 weeks. It's a serious problem, guys. Really. xDD) Marinette had told Adrien she's concerned it was something she said that upset Juleka and Adrien tells her while sometimes she doesn't make sense, what she says is never mean. This scene reminds me of when Ladybug's worried about something and Chat Noir's there to keep her grounded and remind her of how things really are. I very much appreciate seeing such a scene with Adrienette! Makes the Love Square much more rounded. Also the way he stops her and says let him go talk to her to try to help the situation and any possible misunderstandings from taking place. ;-;

Can I just say... oh my gosh. He went from determined, to hearing Marinette trying to comfort her, to looking with confidence "This girl is amazing." and the whole Ladynoir vibe I'm getting from this scene makes me happy. The thing that's unrealistic about this scene though is you expect to tell me that 8 kids went down those stairs and came up behind them and Marinette, Adrien, and Juleka didn't hear? XD Now here's where the serious comes in. Rose is hospitalized with an illness we don't know about, but has been a long-term thing that has Juleka really worried a lot. That must be so stressful :c I'm going to be honest and say I never really saw Julerose romantically. Like I can see how people do, but to me, I could see that their bond was really unique. It didn't really fit completely in the "BFF" category either. But if felt like there was more to them that I didn't really understand. I think the best example off the top of my head was during Zombizou, when Rose was going to help Chloe after she slid down Chat's stick and she went too fast for him to catch her. Juleka seemed especially worried and concerned for her. Rose never seemed to get concerned about Juleka in the same way Juleka was about Rose. Juleka's always been more protective and worried and it was always one of those things that made me go "hmm, interesting". Now this episode finally explains why and I'm honestly super glad for it. Because this kind of a relationship is not a common one in media, especially kids media. Partially because having such serious illnesses in young people is not particularly common, and having someone who's so caring and protective of that person is even less common. And most people probably don't realize how amazing it is to have health problems and then have someone in their life who acts like Juleka does for Rose. I had a life-threatening illness as a kid, one that still affects me greatly today. When in school, my friends knew about it without me having to say anything unfortunately, and while they didn't usually treat me differently, sometimes they were pretty ignorant and didn't understand why I wasn't "normal" like them. They asked questions that were harder ones to answer, and tended to forget my answers. I got a lot of "I know you have X problem but I still don't see why you can't..." as well as thinking I was lying if I said I wasn't well and couldn't go to a party, and that was hard to deal with, being limited in what you can do which makes you different and being judged for things out of your control. So seeing these kids who only know something's wrong with her, but are willing to do so much to make her life better and happier, not judging her at all, wanting to take care of her no questions asked was really heart-warming for me. I only had one friend during that time that was anything close to this. I never had to explain anything to him if I didn't want to. He never asked me personal questions I didn't want to answer. And he seemed to know what he could do to make things for me easier if I was having a hard time without me ever saying so. And this is another reminder to me that this show is aimed at kids. To show kids that they'll likely encounter someone around their age that's going through something serious like a health problem, and what that kid needs most is kindness and not to be made to feel like they're even more different from the other kids than they already feel. The way they handled that aspect of it for such a short, limited intro to it, I think they did good. I discussed this next bit with a friend. She mentioned it first, the trope where those with chronic or serious illnesses are usually an "inspiration". With this episode, you kind of get the feeling that because Rose's been through so much, she's therefore a really positive and bubbly person and it kind of gives off the vibe that if you don't view things the way she does, then you're not doing it right. "What matters isn't the problem, but how you handle it." While I agree with this, and that when you come out of or regularly deal with

such hard times, automatically trying to see the world better and brighter can easily happen, but it's not exactly realistic either, at least not to the extent Rose and other people the media has portrayed. For one, I think you have to have always been more of that kind of person from the start to realistically be so positive. As my friend said and I agree, positivity is just who Rose is, she's not who she is just for the sake of a trope. But honestly, when you've gone through something so difficult, and if life continues to throw you more difficulties on top of it, being positive so much can sometimes turn into a negative and be harmful too. When you've been through a lot, it's important to allow yourself to feel the negative too because it's part of dealing with such problems. And if you've been through a lot in life and you haven't come out of it being all sunshine and rainbows, always looking on the brighter side of things, that's perfectly okay. Life's hard and tends not to work out how we'd like, or even for the better sometimes. If being positive and hopeful after struggling is hard to do, you're not bad or wrong for feeling that way, everybody handles things differently. c: ANYWAY, moving on to the rest of the episode! Juleka being all irritated and worried that the class was going to expose her spilling Rose's secret xD While the situation isn't ideal, it's nice that this is the most involved she's seemed with everyone in the entire duration of the show. But Rose knows something's up, and I love that she talks to her about it and realizes that she should've told everyone herself instead of Juleka being the only one who knew. Which has been such a burden on her. (Oh no, what if this is a reflection of Alya knowing Marinette's Ladybug later on? I'm hoping not.) Ugh these children and how much they care about Rose! These kids are the absolute best. But then they kind of ruin it a little with going overboard. Which, frankly, I think is just ignorance of her situation really. I mean, we don't know what exactly is wrong with Rose. Just that she ends up in the hospital. If they knew about her condition, what causes her to get sick, what to look out for, etc, they'd be much more informed and much less likely to be frantic whenever something's not perfectly "normal" with her. All of these kids are going to be overprotective parents someday, aren't they?

Okay so like... are Adrien and Marinette going to question at all how Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up immediately after Juleka was akumatized, and no damage had happened outside of the school for it to be known to the public? Literally the only ones that could've possibly known were the class to have shown up that fast. ??? I am confusion. "I can't help my best friend face his father." "No, Nino..." Two things: The fact that THIS is what he's feeling guilty about? My poor Nino! Dx I just love him, he really doesn't get enough love and appreciation imo. Also, um, isn't Ladybug like right by Chat? Didn't she hear that? What? Idk but I feel like we're really missing something here. Usually we get things that are kind of hints, that make us wonder if they know right, but this? This is a bit too blaring-in-your-face, and there's two major things so close together. Really strange. Chat about to use Cataclysm on himself. Good grief that was not expected. Chat Blanc threatened to destroy himself along with everything else. Now Chat Noir while affected with negative emotions from an akuma almost Cataclysmed himself. This show really is getting deep and dark isn't it. o.o Also is there something Adrien needs to work out with someone...? Daizzi and Rose saying the other's so cute, ugh they're both so cute! And Pigella's costume and transformation is so adorable omg. Okay so Pigella's power allows people to see their biggest wish, the thing that'd make them the most happy and feel positive emotions. I know some people probably think "That's it?" Considering that Shadow Moth preys on people's negative emotions, such a power is actually extremely useful facing Shadow Moth. (And let's not forget, that while that's her power, she has the ability to fight and make a difference just from being transformed too) BUT AWWW Juleka's wish! And her face when Pigella said it aloud. ;-; Am I the only one wondering if Pigella may someday use her power on Shadow Moth and that's how they learn his motive? I'm so impressed with how Rose knew how to handle everything. She knew she can't slip up with Juleka. She knew to sneak away to detransform and come back as Rose. She knew to subtly give the Miraculous back so nobody would ever know she had it. Even Chat Noir had no idea! I don't know why, I'm just so very proud of that. "She doesn't need a Miraculous to be a superhero." She really has the characteristics of one, and I can't wait to see more of Pigella. Also I'm really wondering. This scene here:

All the kids that are part of that friend group are there...except Marinette and Adrien, of course. Alya knows why Marinette isn't there. But is she wondering about why Adrien isn't there too? LOL Marinette being like "I'm taking your pillow back, sorry! Gotta wait for it like everyone else." and the boys being like LE GASP. Marinette's right, she's not fragile! The fact Rose jokes with her and makes everyone laugh, and Chloe saying "Hey, why doesn't everyone laugh when I say something like that?!" Adrien: Because in your case, it's never a joke. Chloe: Hm, that's true. Which is super funny, especially how he just so casually says it. But also it really shows again how Chloe wants to be liked. She wishes the kids would laugh when she makes comments, but it's because they're said in a serious/obnoxious way, instead of making light of something like in Rose's case here, that they don't. I know she talked about it with Ladybug in an episode, but it again shows that that's what she'd like. All that needs to happen is someone helping her get there. Maybe Zoe and Luka will somehow help with that later on. Anyway, this was a really great episode! I feel like some things might not make quite as much sense as they should if we got it in order, but what can you do when Gloob has to air them? Even a friend of mine who's been doing what she can to avoid spoilers, still got spoiled. She's having to delete tumblr to avoid future spoilers because people can't help themselves and tag things properly. So thanks Gloob. :P All we wanted was the episodes in order. We've waited this long for S4, we can wait a bit longer. But they gotta make money I guess. I'm glad other countries are trying their best to keep it in order anyway. c: Guiltrip also has some really great Adrienette moments, and covered a more serious topic which was really interesting and shows how much the show's changing. Especially with some of the choice of camera angles and movements! Like the zoom-in on the door with Adrien and Marinette, the boys LE GASP scene. Very cool artistic choices! Looking forward to the episodes that come before this one to try to help fill in some of the gaps! And apologies to those that frequently read these posts from me, I started writing it up late and couldn't finish so you get it the day after instead. xD

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Warmth

For Maribat March day 3 theme warmth

Master List

Dick was excited, he found out that there was a carnival happening in Metropolis and to his delight everyone’s schedule was free. So, whether they wanted to or not, they were going! 

Unfortunately, because they can’t leave their city abandoned, Bruce, Duke, and Alfred would be staying. Damian had wanted to stay too, but he wasn’t going to let that happen, he wanted brother bonding. Which he had already gotten with Duke when he found out he couldn’t come. 

Everything was great, there wasn’t a lot of traffic and there were still a few empty parking spaces when they arrived. Now, there were quite a few activities he saw on the carnival’s website that he wanted to do. As he turned around to address his family he noticed someone missing. It wasn’t Damian or Jason like he had expected and it wasn’t Tim or Steph. No, this time it was Cass. 

He knew they hadn’t left her behind, which means she had ditched them, but why? 

“Have any of you seen Cass?” Dick asked, eyes darting around to see if he could spot her. 

“No we haven’t.” Steph responded, just as confused. 

“TT, if Cass can leave why can’t we?” Damian scoffed. 

“Cass didn’t leave, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Dick responded, trying to convince everyone including himself. 

They started searching, when Jason called them all over to him. “I tried looking at the tracker we have on Cass’s phone but it’s turned off, and then she sent us this.” He turned his phone around to show them all the text she had sent, ‘I’m currently with a friend, I will meet up with you guys later. Enjoy yourselves.’ 

The message seemed like something Cass would say. Just as everyone finished reading the text they were sent another one, by Alfred. ‘Miss Cass is safe, you do not need to worry. She has already informed me of her plan. You will have to plan another bonding trip with Cass next time, Master Dick. Enjoy the carnival and I will alert you if Cass is in trouble.’ 

“Of course Alfred would know that she was going to ditch us and not tell us.” Damian remarked, he felt no ill will towards the butler/grandfather figure, however he wished Cass would’ve taken him with her. 

“Cass probably asked Alfred not to tell us,” Steph assured, “But while we’re here we should enjoy it. Alfred will tell us if anything is wrong with Cass and if we happen to spot her before we’re supposed to leave, maybe we can meet her friend.” 

Everyone agreed and Dick started to drag them all to the first activity. It was going to be a long afternoon. 

-

Cass didn’t want to ditch her family, but she was already planning on going to the carnival before Dick decided to drag them to it. Marinette had found out about the carnival a week before Dick. While she lived in New York she had planned for her and Cass to meet up at the carnival in Metropolis. 

Things had gotten pretty busy in her life, between maintaining her grades in college and getting ready to soon take over Style Queen. While her best friend Chloe would be taking over the business side, she would be taking over the fashion side and that was still a whole lot of responsibility. She was just happy she would get to spend time with her girlfriend. 

Did her family know about Marinette, no. Well, Alfred knew because she told him, he would’ve found out anyway. She was happy her honorary grandfather was helping her. She would love for Marinette to meet her family, one day. But right now her girlfriend was stressed enough as it is and her family would not help if they were to meet. They would add to her stress if anything. 

That’s why Cass had been making sure to steer clear of where her family was supposed to be. She had memorized Dick’s schedule of what they were going to be doing when, just to make sure that they didn’t catch her with her girlfriend. There was definitely going to be a talk interrogation later, but right now, staring at her girlfriend’s carefree smile, she would think about the consequences later. 

“What do you want to do next Cass?�� Marinette asked, holding a stuffed animal that she was planning on giving away. Yet just as she said this her stomach grumbled.

Cass grinned at her girlfriend, signing, “Let’s eat food,” before grabbing Marinette and dragging her to a place she saw selling hot dogs earlier. 

They quickly ate their food, with Marinette making comments about how Cass could eat the monstrosity that was mustard and Cass making weird faces at the ketchup on Marinette’s hotdog. Both knew their chosen condiments were superior. 

By now it was starting to get dark, they had already played most of the games, with Marinette giving every single prize she won to a little kid she saw staring, and they were wondering what to do next. Cass knew that her family was planning on going on the ferris wheel a little later, so she figured that if she and Marinette went now they would be able to evade her family. Marinette had wanted to leave early and still go on the ferris wheel and this gave Cass enough time to turn her trackers back on at the entrance once Marinette had left. 

“Go to the ferris wheel?” Cass signed. Marinette nodded her head eagerly, quickly throwing away their trash before taking Cass’s hand and walking towards the ferris wheel. 

After a 10 minute wait Cass and Marinette were being loaded into their cart. Marinette was all smiles and Cass even let a small smile creep onto her face at the sight. However, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her family getting in line for the ferris wheel. As they were making their way up, she turned her head slightly to face them and it was then that she made eye contact with Damian. She let a small smile show on her face before they were out of view and she turned back to her girlfriend. 

-

Damian was not happy with his current situation. Dick had been dragging them to all the different carnival games and food stands when he just wanted to go home. Was it satisfying when he beat one of the rigged games, yes, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be here. 

But at last they were doing the final thing on Dick’s list, the ferris wheel. Steph and Jason were arguing over something, Dick was trying to play peacekeeper, and Tim was on his phone. As Damian observed those already on the ferris wheel, he spotted a familiar girl being loaded in. His thoughts were confirmed when said girl turned and looked him in the eye and had the audacity to smirk at him. 

“Grayson, Todd, Drake, Brown.” Damian stated, when they turned to look at him he nodded his head in Cass’s direction. They all turned to see what he was motioning too and Dick gasped. 

“Is that Cass?” 

“Yeah it is, but who is that girl she’s with?” Steph asked the obvious question. 

“I just got a picture of her. It’s a little blurry but I think I’ll be able to do a facial recognition when we get back to the manor.” Tim added in. 

“How come Cass never told us about her friend?” Dick asked, a tiny bit of hurt could be heard in his voice. 

“Probably cause she knew we would scare her off.” Tim retorted, trying to clear up the picture as much as he could. 

“Or because she’s not just a friend.” Jason piped up, for the first time since the start of the conversation. 

“Todd what do you mean by that?” Damian sneered, but he was curious as to what Jason meant. 

Jason proceeded to snatch the phone from Tim’s hand and pointed to the picture. “For starters, they look much closer than ‘friends’ would be, Cass looks much more relaxed than she is with any of her other friends, and they’re holding hands.” 

Everyone took a closer look at the photo and sure enough Jason was right. 

“Wait, those are great points and all but what if…” Dick started but was interrupted by Jason. 

“They’re also making out right now.” 

Tim went to his camera app and zoomed onto the cart Cass and her ‘friend’ were in. Sure enough, they were kissing. Not full on making out like Jason had said, but still very intimate. 

“We are definitely questioning her later, right?” Steph asked, breaking the silence. 

She was met with 4 nods before they were being loaded into their own carts. 

-

“Thanks for coming with me Cass.” Marinette tells her girlfriend while they sit at the top of the ferris wheel. 

“Welcome.” Cass signs. However, Cass also notices how her girlfriend is shivering and signs, “You’re cold.” 

She proceeds to remove her jacket and place it on Marinette’s shoulders. 

“It’s fine Cass, really.” Marinette tries and fails to convince her. 

“Much better.” And Cass was right about that, Marinette had stopped shivering and was much more relaxed under the warmth of her jacket. 

“Yeah, yeah. So how is your family gonna react?” Marinette changes the subject. 

“Badly,” Cass signs, “But it’s okay. I have you.” Before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

“Yeah, I love you Cass.” Marinette whispers to her girlfriend giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. 

“I love you.” Cass simply states, returning the kiss with one of her own and cuddling with her girlfriend until their cart comes back down. With a couple more kisses and a plan to get together soon Marinette leaves for the bus to New York, while Cass waits at the entrance for her family. It’s when a chilly breeze blows that she realizes Marinette still has her jacket. One more thing to add to the interrogation that’s coming her way. 

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I think the world would be a better place if we got more Cassinette! So I give you Cassinette! If Cass seems out of character I apologize, I have no prior experience writing her. 

@maribatmarch-2k21

[adonis-koo]

Blue Spring

| 3 |

↳ Summary: Jeon Jungkook, only well known as the youngest (and hottest) dad at the daycare, he’s got it all, the looks, the sweetheart personality, the body, but here’s what gets everyone- he doesn’t wear a wedding ring. The only problem lies in his fickle one year old daughter that hates just about every daycare worker out there…Well…besides you that is. Which of course leads to Jungkook liking you just as much as his daughter…if not maybe a little too much.

Or in other words…You and Jungkook are secretly crushing on one another but too shy to admit it.

↳ Pairing: Single dad!Jungkook/Reader

↳ Genre: Daycare AU, Slice of life, copious amounts of fluff, a hair of angst, future smut

Word Count: 6k

Previous | Next

The next day came just as quick as the last and just as anticipated Seo Yeon had came to pick Mina up, shooting you a nasty sneer, you did your best to keep a straight face as you watched Mina screech at being pulled away from you, her little arms pitifully reaching for you as fat tears rolled down her face. Her mom ignored her cries as she grabbed Mina’s backpack and left.

Sighing you leaned against your seat before tutting, Jungkook really wasn’t joking about her not liking her mom.

After you had finished shift you planned on grabbing some fast food before heading back for the dorm to study up on your upcoming test, your phone had sudden alerted you to a new text, pausing in the parking lot you glanced at the phone as you furrowed your brows, was one of your roommates going to ask you to get something for them? You had told them if anyone wanted anything to shoot you a text as you were all going to study together but…

You felt a non expect sweat break on your neck at the sight of who it was from.

[Jungkook 06:32]

‘Hey! I was wondering if you wanted to come over? Making stir fry with kimchi and I don’t think I can eat it all by myself’

Nibbling against your lip you tried your best to swallow the lump in your throat, he wanted you to come over….? You had done so plenty of times before, whether it was to watch Mina on the weekend or for movie night, but Mina was always present. Being alone with Jungkook....you wouldn’t lie, you felt a little scared.

Scared wasn’t the right term, you felt safe with Jungkook, but anything could happen when it was just the two of you, alone....Pressing your lips together you felt your stomach growl as you rubbed your forehead, you promised your roommates you’d study with them tonight too...But dinner wouldn’t hurt right? Then you’d go straight back home! Yeah that’s all, you were just having dinner together….alone...in his house…

Before you could talk yourself out of it you were already hurriedly typing before you changed your mind.

[06:35]

‘That sounds amazing omg! You really wouldn’t mind me crashing to steal your food?’

[Jungkook 06:35]

‘It’s not stealing if I’m offering it for free baby ~ See you in ten’

You felt your heart lurch into your throat as your eyes honed in on the four little letters, baby? When had Jungkook ever addressed you by a pet name before? Was that even appropriate after what had happened yesterday? Forcing your phone back into your pocket you pushed your nervousness away as you drove to his house.

Knocking against his door you calmed your breath, dinner! It was just dinner, that’s all it was, just dinner. The door opened wide to a beaming Jungkook, you even felt a little bad at how in the gutter your mind had been when you saw how boyish his expression was, “Come on I just finished up, let’s eat before it gets cold,” He ushered you in as you let out a laugh, hoping it didn’t sound a relieved as you felt, “Sorry for the abrupt text but I’m not used to eating alone,” He feebishly rubbed the back of his neck as you both sat down at the table, “Mina usually has dinner with me….”

“It’s okay I don’t mind,” You shrugged with a tiny smile, timidly tugging on a strand of your hair before beginning to pile the delicious smelling stir fry onto your plate and his kimchi looked to die for, was there anything this man couldn’t do? “I’m sure it’s weird without Mina here, I’m so used to her greeting me anytime I come over.”

Oh god, you hope it didn’t come across like you were only here for Mina! Jungkook only smiled fondly though as he began to eat while he nodded, “Tell me about it, Seo Yeon’s sister is getting married so they’re prepping for the wedding tomorrow, that’s why Mina is over there so it’s just me myself and I the next few days.”

You glanced at your plate as you smiled, you could only imagine her with her hair attempted in curls and a pretty puffy white dress on to match the wedding theme, she’d look adorable, “Uh Y/n…” He suddenly cleared his throat, gaining your attention, looking a little sheepish as scratched his nose, eyes suddenly darting away from yours, “I just...wanted to apologize again for what happened yesterday.”

The anger and frustration you had felt the other day had faded and your heart softened at his meek expression, offering you a tiny smile before suddenly looking back down at his food and attempting to play off his actions by eating more, “It’s alright, It’s not the first time I’ve dealt with a pissed parent before. But…” You pressed your lips together as you looked away, “Let’s not fixate on that, it was just a mistake after all. What about you? I figured you’d probably stay holed up at work to get more of the DLC’s mechanics balanced.”

Jungkook groaned as he leaned back in his seat despite the breathy chuckle leaving his lips, “No, coworkers make me wanna pull my hair out, I was able to fix up over half the melee weaponry stats Saturday but at what cost? Told them they can kindly go fuck themselves next time they fire half of our team.” Jungkook pecked at his food looking a little huffy as you laughed, you thought it was cute in all honesty.

Jungkook had been a little shy when he first told you about his love of video games, but he loved them so much he had turned it into a career as he found he loved the developing side to games as well, being such a big computer nerd had gotten him far up in the design team. You couldn’t help but find it endearing watching how passionately he talked about it.

Dinner had been amazing of course, Jungkook was an amazing cook but apparently his mom and dad ran a restaurant therefore growing up he was always surrounded by amazing cooks and had learned from the best. You could see the pride in his eyes when you complimented on how delicious his kimchi was, only to answer that it was his mother's recipe. Adorable.

Staying curled up against the couch you wrapped the blanket around you tighter, Jungkook had managed to pull your legs over his lap as he leaned in a little closer, the avengers playing and your popcorn had been left unattended on the coffee table.

Instead you felt your throat become a little dry at Jungkook’s arms wrapped around you, you knew he worked out but Jesus, you could feel the definition in his body and it was making your heart thump in your chest. Calm down okay, you’re just cuddling! That’s normal!

“Mmm y’know I’m really glad I finally got the courage to ask you out?” You tried not to tense at Jungkook’s whispered words as he let his nose drop into the crook of your neck, his confession sending a tingling sensation against your spine as he nudged your skin a little, “I just...I don’t know, It's been so long since I’ve felt so connected to someone, it’s nice.”

Your heart felt a little warmer at his words and your body began to relax in his grip even going as far as to reciprocate his nuzzle, your lips pulling into a shy smile as you hummed, “It is, it’s been a long time since I’ve dated anyone. It is nice. Lisa and Chloe,” You paused a little as you felt a bit embarrassed at your confession, “They tried convincing me for the longest time you liked me but…”

Jungkook pulled away from your neck a little, a toothy bunny smile on his lips as he raised his brows a little, “But?” His forehead nearly brushing against yours.

Rubbing your cheek a little your smile became a little shy, “But I didn’t believe them. I just assumed you liked me because I was the only worker Mina liked.” It felt a little silly to think about now, all the times he was sheepish while talking to you, the way his cheeks would tint pink ever so slightly when you brightly smiled at him.

It seemed so obvious despite his rather shy nature, Jungkook’s smile became a little bashful yet his eyes sparked playfulness as he chuckled, “Well it didn’t really help that the hints I dropped were extremely subtle. But we’re here now aren’t we?”

His nose was brushing against yours and you felt that dry patch in your throat return, his eyes were so pretty this close up, they were a deep warm brown, almost like a cozy cup of coffee first thing in the morning or the sweetest last piece of chocolate, they made your heart beat faster and your face flush, “We are.”

You felt your breath hitch at the way his nose rubbed against yours, your fluttering shut as you felt a small hesitation in the gap between you both, Jungkook was the one that determinedly closed it, his lips were just as soft as they looked as they tenderly worked against your own, his hands caressing your face as you leaned into the kiss.

His lips were so addicting, was it really your fault that you had let out a soft whine at the way he nibbled against your bottom, your lips almost quivering if they had the chance before immediately admitting defeat and parting your lips, his tongue pushing into your mouth as he began lathing against your own tongue in dominance.

Your once gentle kiss became more and more heated by the moment as you let out a gurgled whine, one hand shuffling to your waist to help situate you as you climbed into his lap, your body becoming lit with heat and neediness.

Straddling his hips you were only allowed a second to breath from breaking the kiss before he grabbed your chin roughly, lips sealed back against your and his tongue demanding entrance into your mouth once more, meekly parting your lips as you let him have his way, hands greedily grabbing and squeezing at your waist as you whimpered into his mouth, your hips beginning to wiggle against his only to jump slightly at the half hard on you felt.

If your cheeks weren’t hot before they were now at the idea of how large he would be when he was fully hardened, your hips just as eager as you as they continued grinding against him. What you hadn’t expected was a loud phone ring causing you both to jump, Jungkook’s lips finally detaching themselves from yours as you tried to catch your breath.

Digging out his phone you expected him to toss it aside before returning to your needy self, instead he bit his lip as he sighed, “Shit, sorry, I need to take this.” He didn’t seem necessarily happy to take the call but did regardless, “Yeah Seo Yeon?”

What mood had been set had instantly deflated in you as you felt your senses come back to you, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in his lap while he was talking to his ex wife, you felt dirty. Even if they were divorced and Jungkook was free to see you, you still felt dirty, maybe like a second option, “Uh yeah a 1 to 2T should fit her just fine, she’s rather petite though so it might be a little big- you guys can always pin it if you needed too- isn’t this a little late considering the is the day after tomorrow?”

You understood, Jungkook answered because it was for Mina’s sake but...You had already pulled yourself off his lap, his eyes immediately locking to your figure as you mustered a weak smile before awkwardly glancing at your lap, why did you feel like a third wheel when he was only on the phone?

Jungkook hung up only a minute later, as you reached down for the strap of your bag that had made home slumped against the leg of the coffee table, “Ah sorry- they needed to make sure Mina’s dress was going to fit properly.”

“No, it’s- it’s okay...I uh…” You could hardly look at him as you grabbed your bag, a timid yet apprehensive look on your face as you finally glanced at him, “I should go….I promised my roommates that I’d study with them tonight so…”

You could visibly see the way Jungkook’s eyes dimmed, rubbing the back of his neck as he attempted to smile though it looked pitiful and strained, “Yeah- yeah of course! Thanks for coming over, I really enjoyed it.”

“Yeah, it was fun. I’ll see you later.” Was it sad you didn’t even wait for him to say goodbye?

“Ouch, you were that close to doing it and then his ex called?” Chloe stirred her coffee as she cringed, they both looked at you in pity as you groaned, pressing your hands into your face as Lisa stood up at the sound of one of the boys and girls fighting over one playing with the other.

Sighing you rubbed your forehead before glancing back at the table, you hadn’t seen Lisa or Chloe over the weekend and had been dying to tell them in hopes of some sort of advice, “I just don’t know what to do Chloe! I know it’s my insecurity but everytime I think I’m okay with the fact that he’s a single dad and he has an ex wife it just jumps back out again! I mean really, I guess it’s just making me wonder if I really want to be involved in this.”

Chloe sent you a sympathetic smile as she set her coffee down, “I think it’s normal in this type of scenario but honestly babe if you really like him then it’s just something you’re going to have to tolerate, and even be supportive of at times, not in the fact of him seeing his ex, but supporting him wanting to make the effort to keep in contact with her for the sake of Mina.”

Picking at your fingernails you sighed, she was right of course, you did really like Jungkook, he was handsome, he had the sweetest personality and was so boyish and competitive over silly things like video games or that time he took you and Mina bowling and he had to prove to those stupid college fratboys he was the superior bowler. Or that time he did his best Peppa Pig impression to make Mina giggle. Or- You got the point.

But you just couldn’t shake the idea of him and Seo Yeon together out of your head, even though they weren’t together anymore it was clear she was still very attached to him and he still complied even if it was disgruntled, they made a good looking couple. God, you really were insecure, weren’t you? You groaned internally, this wasn’t high school! You shouldn’t even feel like this!

“I know...It’s just confusing right now...I still feel bad, I mean, it was...intense, until she called.” You laid your arms out on the table as you set your chin on them as your gaze flickered to the clock, he was late. Jungkook always dropped Mina off at 7:25, five minutes before you usually arrived, it was already nearing the last quarter of eight am....Maybe he got Seo Yeon to watch her today since she’s such a good mother.

You felt a stroke of guilt click inside you, she was Mina’s mother, she had every right to watch her over you. Why did you feel so jealous all of a sudden? Pressing your lips together you only sulked as Chloe gave you a pat on the back. You waited, and waited, and waited some more but Jungkook never dropped Mina off, no text, no call, nothing, it was Monday, as in the day you’d usually go home with Jungkook and Mina to hang out...Your lips quirked into a frown as you sat in your car...you guessed that were cancelled now huh….

There was always Friday...except there wasn’t. Again, Jungkook didn’t show up with Mina, again throughout the week and you had hoped he’d make an appearance Friday but once again, nothing.

You couldn’t help but feel worry begin to eat away at you, constantly debating with your coworkers on whether you should just text him to ask if he was still alive but you could never fully commit yourself. You had become sulkier throughout the week much to your coworkers sadness.

Staying zoned out half the time when you weren’t refereeing fights, bribing kids into nap time or picking up the room when it was a wreck of toys, you missed him. You really missed him. Your roommates had even noticed and tried getting you to get you out there, to ‘find’ someone else. But you didn’t want to find someone else, you wanted to see Jungkooks stupid bunny smile.

You wanted to watch the way he pinched his brows in annoyance when he ranted about someone at work or the way his eyes lit up in victory when he won a match in Overwatch, or how fond and soft his face became when he watched Mina playing with her stuffed animals.

You wanted all of it. And now you had none of it.

Sleep had become less and less and your thoughts only became more focused on Jungkook any moment you weren’t working or studying, and even then he still lingered in the back of your mind.

Did he go back to Seo Yeon? Was that it? Did he change his mind, she was Mina’s mother, the wife that he concieved her with. What the hell did you know about raising a child anyways? You couldn’t stop your glum thoughts as you rubbed your eyes, setting down your coffee as your coworkers greeted you, another day, another disappointment.

It was better this way, you’d never be the person Mina would need growing up, she’d probably hate you later on and view you like an ugly stepmother. You were pulled out of your thoughts at one of the girls tugging on your shirt while asking if they could use the bathroom, standing up you nodded as you gave a smile, “Of course hun.” Walking over to the gated off bathroom you opened it but not before reminding her to shut the door as she went to try and pull up her shirt which made you frantically tell her to shut the door.

After a moment it registered and she did as told as you sighed running a hand through your hair before a tiny laugh escaped you, kids really had no sense of privacy, did they? You made sure she washed her hands after she swung the door open announcing she was done before letting her back out to play once more. Turning around you swallowed thickly at the sight of black tufts of hair that matched the little girls longer hair braided in pigtails.

Rather than greet them you meekly turned back around, sitting at the train table with a few of the other kids as you smiled, well aware it was dull as you helped build the long train, feeling eyes train on you from far away along with the familiar cries of Mina, “Babygirl look, She’s right here.” You weakly glanced up at the long legs that struggled to walk because of Mina who clung to him with a whine, “C’mon don’t be pouty she’s right here if you’d just look.”

You hated how much your heart fluttered at his playful voice as he scooped Mina up as she gave a delighted gurgle, as if knowing he was right and just wanting to be difficult, sitting down next to you he set her in his lap, he was early today, “See? She’s making a pretty cool train huh?” Jungkook observed as he grabbed one of the trainee pieces, it looked tiny in his hand compared to Mina’s as he gave it to her, she inspected it carefully, letting the wheel roll against her tiny finger as she continued to roll it as if mesmerized.

“Uh hey….” Jungkook murmured, his gaze focused on Mina, you didn’t say anything, only glancing back at the table as you felt that pit in your stomach return again. Tension that had already been present seemed to grow even stronger as Jungkook bit against his lip.

Taking a slow inhale you finally let out a bitter chuckle, your eyes glaring weakly into the three piece train you built as you huffed a breath of air, “You could have just told me you didn’t wanna see me anymore, I-I mean it’s fine. I’m used to rejection y’know? It’s- it’s not like-”

“Woah, hey, hey, hey. I never- Y/n I never said I didn’t want to see you anymore-” “Yeah that’s what I mean-” “No! It’s not like that,” Jungkook cut you off once more as you sighed, glancing back at the train table as you rested your chin against it, monotonously pushing the train back and forth, “Look I’m sorry okay? I meant to text you, I really did but it’s just been crazy. I...I told Seo Yeon, about us. I told her to give me more space so I could spend more time with you and she’s just been,” Jungkook stopped himself from swearing as he cleared his voice a little, “Crazy, said she was going to file for full custody over Mina and that she could take Mina away if she really wanted too, it’s been insane. I just...You could have texted me too, I would have replied in a heartbeat.”

If you didn’t feel bad before you felt even worse now, god you were an adult! And you let something as feeble as insecurity get the better of you, “...I know...I just figured you probably wanted space or something...” It was the truth, in reality, you figured it was probably something akin to that. But now looking back on it of course this was all for Mina, the only reason Jungkook would miss a week of daycare would be for Mina, the way he’d forget to text you to let you know, for her. Jungkook was the most loyal and dedicated dad you had ever met, and you had met a lot.

“Oh sweetheart,” Jungkook sighed, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at your slumped puppy like figure, had you really been moping around the whole week? He felt his heart crumple a little at the sight as he let his hand reach out and stroke through your hair, “Can I take you out tonight when I pick up Mina, I could really use a distraction with everything that’s going on, and I really want to make it up to you,” He finally let his bunny smile tug on his lips, “If you’ll let me.”

“Of course you can.” You mumbled, not taking your eyes off the train as you continued to roll it back and forth.

You could hear Jungkook's honeyed laugh, you missed it’s deep warmth as he fondly stroked your hair, “Then perk up baby, you look prettier when you smile.” There it was, that pet name again that had your stomach sent into a frenzy, a tiny smile tugging on your lips as you shyly glanced back at him, his eyes affectionate in that same way he always looked at Mina, except he was looking at you, letting his hand curve down your head to your chin as he gave it a soft squeeze, “There you go. I need to go but I’ll see you soon okay?”

You nodded as he set Mina on your lap who didn’t even regard her dad as he kissed her forehead, her eyes still trained on the wheel she spun as she made herself comfortable on your lap.

You couldn’t help but laugh at her furrowed brows and how trained her focus was. Your heart admittedly felt a lot lighter and you felt a lot siller. If you stood a chance at all with becoming a part of Jungkook and Mina’s life you’d definitely have to toughen up your soft skin. For them.

The day had gone by surprisingly quick, the only hiccup was Mina whining about naptime, she had tugged on your hand as if trying to get you to nap with her.

Sighing you shook your head, you had admittedly entertained her a lot of days when you watched her at Jungkook’s often taking naps with her when it was time. Eventually after sitting down and reading a story to her she eventually fell asleep.

Craft time went well despite Mina trying to kick away another little girl while sitting in your lap and coloring over your princess picture you had been working on for the past three hours, oh well. Jungkook didn’t come back until around four.

The ride had been quiet though, your figure leaned against the window as you glanced out it, there was no tension anymore, but you knew the quietness wasn’t normal either. Jungkook’s gaze flickered to you a few times before he sighed, pulling the car into park as you noticed the droplets of rain splatter against the glass, “C’mon talk to me, what’s bothering you?”

“I’m not bothered…” You replied, shrugging a little as your eyes fleetingly met his for a moment before dropping once more, sighing as you pressed your lips together to gather your thoughts. Jungkook waited patiently as if knowing you were in thought.

Giving a small sigh your lips quivered a little as you lowered your gaze, “I...I just wanted to apologize I guess…I mean, I’ve just let my insecurity get the better of me everytime we’re together and- and I’m going to be honest with you Jungkook, you’re probably better off finding someone older than me or- or hell I don’t know a single mom or something. Because I doubt I’m equipped to handle any of this. I have no clue how any of this works.”

You felt a certain level of shame wash over you at your words but they were the truth, stepping into Jungkook’s life meant stepping into Mina’s as well and that came with a lot of responsibility you weren’t sure you would be able to manage. And admittedly, you didn’t want to lead Jungkook on if you genuinely couldn’t see yourself committing.

“Y/n…” Jungkook murmured softly watching you delicately, the way you fumbled with your fingers and your gaze had stayed dropped on your lap. You looked oddly timid and ashamed of yourself when you really had no reason to be, “Look, I can understand where you’re coming from,” Jungkook sighed softly, his own gaze falling to the steering wheel as he murmured.

“Being a parent isn’t easy, but nobody is ever truly prepared for it. I know I wasn’t. But I don’t want a single mom, or someone older than you. I like you Y/n.” His hand reached over, encasing yours making you glance up meekly at his warm expression, “And if you don’t want to do this, or be a part of this…” His smile looked a little strained and didn’t quite meet his eyes, as if it hurt to think about, “I wouldn’t blame you. But if you’re feeling insecure just because you don’t think you’d be any good then I’m going to insist you keep dating me.”

You couldn’t stop the ugly snort from escaping you as Jungkook’s lips curled into a mutual smile, his thumb brushing against the top of your hand, “Because I think you’d make an amazing mother, you love Mina just as much as I do. And you’re always so sweet with children, and you’re always considering what others think and putting them first-” “Stop! Stop! Stop!” “- I’m just stating the truth.” Jungkook chuckled as you pressed your hands to your ears repeatedly chanting the single word. Your face flushed and you felt flustered that Jungkook really thought that highly of you.

“And I don’t mean to scare you off either,” Jungkook laughed as you pressed your hands to your face, letting out a strangled noise as he gently ruffled your hair, “I just want to reassure you. I know being with me means being with Mina, and it is a lot of responsibility, but I know you’d be amazing. And even if you feel like you won’t I’ll help you the whole way through. Okay?”

You nibbled against your lip, his eyes were so warm and comforting, how could you ever resist when they were so sweet and sincere? You gave a tiny nod before timidly glancing at your lap. Jungkook had parted his lips as if to continue but a toy had interrupted your conversation, the stuffed bear hitting the window and fussy gurgles from Mina sounded in the back, “Alright, alright we get it you’re hungry!” Jungkook huffed as he glanced back, her tiny lips tugging into a smile as she giggled while clapping her hands as if happy to have his attention back on her.

You couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped you before you both got out of the car, Jungkook picked her up from her car seat while you made sure to grab her stuffed bear.

Mina excitedly bounced against him as she happily babbled at you with bright doe eyes, her arms reaching out as she leaned her body forward, “You are so spoilt.” Jungkook tutted as he poked her side, gaining a giggle from her as the smile tugged on your lips, letting him pass her off to you as she happily swung her stuffed animal about. You sat down at the table as Jungkook pulled up a booster seat. Mina was always wiggly but having you here must have excited her sense she seemed to squirm even more making her even harder to get sat down.

Buckling her, you smiled softly as her little hand wrapped around your finger, her brows pinching as her babbled slowed as if trying to say something. The sad truth about being a daycare worker was...you had heard kids' first words before their parents ever did...instead of saying something it was mutually agreed to let the parent announce it to you rather than promptly tell them they had been babbling words for days at the daycare if not weeks. Mina however, had yet to speak her first words but she was certainly trying her best.

Chuckling you pulled from her grip making her concentration break as she whined, “I’m sorry honey, we need to order.” You poked her cheek making a giggle erupt from her throat as the smile tugged on your cheek. The waitress seemed delighted at the three of you as she took your order before heading to the front once more.

Spending time with Jungkook like this was much needed, his bright smile and his deep laugh while you both talked about work and who had been annoying, what absurd things you had to deal with because of the kids. Whatever doubt that had been planted inside you seemed to vanish with each conversation.

Mina eventually getting fussy and wanting to toddle around, she was quite independent for only having been one years old. You both had set her down at the little play area before resuming your conversation, “No really, you haven’t dated anyone since the divorce?” You really couldn’t believe it. Jungkook was so handsome and he was such a sweetheart, it was hard to imagine him single for this long.

Jungkook leaned back in his seat, his smile evident as he sighed, running a hand through his hair, pausing his movement to look at you as you began to laugh, “Why is that hard to believe?” You felt your face flush at the confident smirk he sent you, “I’ve slept with a few girls if that’s what you’re insinuating.”

You could hear his throaty chuckle due to your hands covering your face as you felt yourself choke on your words. In the beginning, you and Jungkook were both rather timid, hyper aware of not wanting to mess anything up. But as time continued on Jungkook was the one that seemed to be more confident in his flirting, whereas you would coil away in embarrassment. It wasn’t a bad thing, but his teasing...admittedly did turn you on…

“That’s not what I meant!” You whined as you shuffled in your seat, your eyes jumping to Mina out of habit from being at the daycare for so long as you watched her play before glancing back at Jungkook’s relaxed, yet amused figure.

“Your reaction was still cute,” Jungkook remarked as you glanced away with a scowl making him laugh softly, “In all honesty, I just wasn’t interested in dating for a long time. Like I said, I’ve had a few flings but they were never interested in taking it further, and neither was I. While it may be hard to imagine, I do tend to scare women away when I mention the dad part.”

You leaned your head against your hand, your eyes lingering on Mina’s figure that curiously kept trying to tug the block out of the wall, not understanding it was glued and unable to come undone, she even gave a whine in frustration, “Given the circumstances I can understand why you wouldn’t be interested, given Seo Yeon,” You gave a bit of an exasperated puff of air, “But what changed your mind?” You didn’t want to blatantly ask him why he decided to give things a try with you, but you were interested as to why. What was different about you compared to any other girl?

Jungkook pressed his lips together for a moment in thought before shrugging, “Well I think the most obvious reasoning was when we first met, I went home every day thinking about what the workers told me about how Mina was, and then we met you and she instantly liked you.”

You couldn’t help the tiny smile tug on your lips, feeling your cheeks flush a little, “I was just relieved at first. I didn’t really think anything of it until a few months later when I went to pick Mina up and saw her sitting in your lap. You were rambling about how Mulan's dress wasn’t pink though you thought it was a good color because that was what Mina was using,” Your brows raised and your lips parted his words, his gaze focused on Mina but his eyes were fond at the memory.

“And when I came in she fell off your lap from squirming so much because she saw me. You picked her up while cooing when she bursted into tears...You were the first person she’d let pick her up in a fit of tears besides me...And I don’t know, I guess seeing you both in that moment, seeing your expression when she bursted into tears...It just made me think, and the more I thought about it, the more it just seemed to...fit.”

You felt your face flush as you glanced at him, the loud whine before a sudden screech immediately making your gaze snap to Mina who had tugged against the block before accidentally throwing her weight a little too harshly back making her trip onto her bottom. Fat crocodile tears leaked from her eyes as she looked to you, her little arms stretching out as sobs bubbled from her lips, “Poor baby, what a mean block!” You cooed as you walked over to her, kneeling down, before squishing her sides, “Does Mina feel a little better?” Tears trickled from her eyes despite the little giggle escaping her your fingers tickling her sides making her giggle more, a whine escaped her lips as she stretched her arms up wanting you to hold her, “Awwh c’mere baby.”

You picked her up as she pressed her little head against the crook of your neck as she began to cry again, “So dramatic!” You laughed as you glanced at Jungkook making him laugh as well, letting his head rest against the palm of his hand as he glanced at you both sofly, “She loves making a scene doesn’t she?”

“She probably noticed we were too close and needed to intervene,” Jungkook tutted as he stood up and walked over, poking Mina as he leaned in a little, “Isn’t that right princess? You need mine and Y/n’s attention don’t you?” His voice was high pitched and cooed as Mina sniffled before glancing up at Jungkook’s voice, a toothy smile on her face as she clapped her hands together.

You felt your lips curl into a timid smile as his eyes flickered up to meet yours, his own smile coiling into a smirk making your gaze immediately drop. God he could be intimidating when he wanted.

“How dare you let that slut hold our child!”

You both jolted at the screech from behind you, turning around you were sure your face had drain of any color as your eyes locked with Seo Yeon who looked utterly pissed off. You couldn’t help but hold Mina tighter to your chest, “I should have known this whore was messing with your head!” Seo Yeon sneered as she marched over.

Jungkook immediately stepped in front of you protectively, his shoulders stiff and his jaw gritted, “What? Did you hunt me down to try and take my daughter away? To what? Try and threaten me and my girlfriend?” Your heart was beating frantically with adrenaline as you glanced at Seo Yeon’s glaring daggers.

“I came to see the slut that’s brainwashed you!” Seo Yeon seethed, her eyes burning into your figure as if hoping you’d turn to ash where you stood, you could feel your lips quiver a little as your gaze dropped, “Jungkook we belong together with our daughter! Now get Mina away from her and let’s go and talk this out!”

Jungkook took a step back, you couldn’t see his expression but you imagined it didn’t look pleasant in the least, “Seo Yeon,” His voice was deeper than normal as he growled lowly, “It’s over between us. It’s been over since the divorce. No amount of threatening or begging will make me take you back. I’m happy now and I’m not going to ruin that because of you.”

Seo Yeon’s eyes were brimmed with both anger and tears, her lips quivering but Jungkook wouldn’t even let her speak, “And don’t even fucking threaten custudy over Mina because I will win that battle. If you care about your daughter at all, you’ll fucking let this go and move on.”

“She’s completely fooled you Jungkook!” She nearly screamed, her fists curled up but Jungkook ignored her words, turning towards you to wrap an arm around you, muttering a ‘lets go’. His words suddenly bringing awareness to your surroundings, so many people were staring! How embarrassing, “I won’t let that slut ruin our lives!”

Jungkook practically pushed you out the door, his shoulders tense and his expression dark and brooding. You fumbled with putting Mina in her car seat, quickly buckling her with the fear of Seo Yeon chasing after you both. Sitting in the front seat it was quiet as the rain pattered against the glass.

Neither of you spoke a word and you could feel tension practically crawling in the air with it’s gritty uncomfortable tone. It wasn’t until Jungkook parked in the driveway of his house that you both stilled. The rain had led up but still gently pattered. You wanted to speak, but you didn’t know what to say.

What you didn’t expect was the loud thud to sound in the car, Jungkook’s palm slamming against the steering wheel making you jump as he beat his hands against it harshly, “She pisses me off so fucking much!” You leered back a little, concern written in your eyes as he slammed the steering wheel one last time before his fingers weakly coiled around it.

It was quiet for another moment before you sighed softly, reaching out to let your hand gently grab his bicep, his muscles tensed at your touch and he refused to meet your gaze, “Jungkook, I promise everything is going to be okay.” His muscles began to relax under your grip before he let out a shaky breath.

Your heart practically crumbled at the way his eyes were on the brink of tears, behind his anger was raw fear, fear of potentially losing Mina. He would be devastated. Jungkook couldn’t even bring himself to speak, his lips only trembling and defeatedly closing his eyes as tears slid down his cheeks.

Leaning over you wrapped your arms around him, burying your nose into his hair as you closed your eyes, Jungkook needed you now more than ever, you weren’t going to let your insecurity get the better of you, not now, not anymore, “Everything will be okay.”

Note: I hope you all enjoyed this part! Things have gotten saucy in more ways then one! I am a Lazy™️ hoe so there will be a time jump next chapter but regardless I hope you guys like the story thus far!

[dramatic-squirrel]

Damianette December Day 9- book

It may be confusing when the boys are speaking English and when they’re speaking French but, generally, they are speaking English unless they are addressing Marinette directly.

@daminette-december2019-2020

Considering how awful it had gone the last time the class had done this, it was surprising that Ms. Bustier’s class was once again at the Grand Paris to try the various jobs around the hotel. True to her previous actions, Chloe still did her utmost to drag Marinette down, this time, she was stuck cleaning the lobby.

The joke was on Chloe though, because Marinette wasn’t so spoiled that she didn’t appreciate what janitors and cleaning maids did. It was just cleaning, not like it was going to hurt her.

As she was vacuuming the couch, she found something between the cushions, a book. “Hey Tikki, what do you think this is?” she opened it up a bit and saw a sketch of a city skyline. The city was unfamiliar to her but it definitely helped her figure out that she was holding a sketchbook.

“D.a. G.W.,” that was the only thing that indicated who it might belong to. “Should we give this to the front desk, right Tikki? It’s probably a hotel guest’s if it was in the lobby, they’d probably be able to find them based on the initials or at least hold it until they came back.” She looked back to where Chloe was sitting, filing her nails, and groaned slightly. “Or maybe we try to find them ourselves?”

“Marinette. You know the right thing to do here would be to give Chloe the sketchbook and leave it to the lobby clerk.” the kwami understood Marinette’s frustration but, was also dedicated to guiding her partner on the right path.

“Yeah, I know you’re right. I just wish you weren’t,” she made her way to the front desk. “Someone left this behind Chloe.”

The blond glanced at her. “And? What do you want me to do about it? Just throw that dirty book away and be done with it. Do your job properly, Dupain-Cheng.” That was about how well Marinette expected the conversation to go. Instead of talking back and making the situation worse, she held herself back, Chloe would just make some snide comment or complain to her father.

Turning around, she decided to finish the job she had been given and then asked Ms. Bustier if she could try to find the owner of the sketchbook. As someone who frequently used one herself, she knew how important sketchbooks were to an artist, and based on the details of the first sketch she saw, the owner of the book was definitely an artist.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s great that you got permission Marinette.”

“It is Tikki. Now we just need to get Chloe away from the computer. Luckily she’s easy to read.” Marinette walked up to the lobby desk again after she was sure the Lobby Clerk was still gone. “Hey, Chloe. Did you see all of those fans fawning over Adrien on the Hotel’s rooftop. He’s practically surrounded by them.” Rage instantly filled Chloe’s face when she heard those words.

“No one’s allowed close to my Adrikins except me.” And voila, the front desk was missing one Chloe Bourgeois. Marinette slipped behind the desk, once Chloe was safely in the elevator and went to search up the guest in the database. 

She looked up last names beginning with W first, to see if any fit the initials she found in the book. Unfortunately, she was out of luck there. On the bright side, it wasn’t a long list to go through, so she managed to finish quickly. 

It then occurred to her that perhaps, like her last name, this person also had two last names, so she looked through the names that began with A next. She still didn’t find anything. Checking the time, she noticed that Chloe might be back soon so she had to come up with a new plan.

“What if you looked for the person based on where they live?” It was Tikki’s suggestion. 

“That might work but, I don’t know where they’re from.”

“But, perhaps the sketchbook might give you some clues as to where they may be from. The cityscape at the beginning could be where this person lives, they may find inspiration from the things around them, kind of like you.”

“It’s worth a shot,” she hesitated a bit before she started turning the pages of the book. It felt kind of invasive to go through someone’s sketches without their permission but there was no telling if they would ever find their sketchbook otherwise.

“Oh, wow,” the pictures were genuinely breathtaking. It was like Tikki thought, most of the pictures were of a city, and based on the architecture, it seemed like it was the same city. A few pictures of animals appeared, and one of a fantasy creature but, mostly it was a city. 

It seemed that the owner liked to sketch more secluded or lesser-known spots since none of the places had any distinguishing features, especially none she could recognize, until she turned the page, and saw a building with the words “Wayne Enterprise” on the side of the building. There was no mistaking where that building was. “Gotham! Tikki, they’re from Gotham!”

She hurriedly looked up the location on the computer and saw a booking by a Richard Grayson for three rooms on the 5th floor. And they were still there, which was a relief because she wasn’t sure what she would do if they had left Paris already.

The name didn’t match the sketchbook, but it occurred to her just then, that perhaps the owner themselves didn’t make the booking and was traveling with friends or family. Slipping from behind the desk she made her way to the elevator just as it arrived. Out of it, Chloe dragging a reluctant Adrien exited. Adrien caught her eye and winked at her.

Being her superhero partner for the past 3 years, he knew when she was scheming something, and he knew just how to go along with her crazy plans. Sending him a grateful smile, she entered the elevator and made her way to the room number she had found.

Standing in front of the hotel room, she began to second guess herself. They might not even be there right now, or maybe she got the wrong room. Just as she was determined to leave and find one of the actual employees to take care of the situation, the door in front of her opened. She came face to face with a man, black hair and insanely blue eyes, who stared at her just as she stared at him.

“Oh god, Bruce found another one, didn’t he. Dick! Can you please tell Bruce to stop adopting children?” The man spoke in English so she couldn’t quite follow along with what he said only something about children and the fact that he was addressing someone else.

“Excuse me?” she hoped he understood French. “I found this sketchbook in the lobby and I think it might belong to someone staying in this hotel room.” The man’s eyes finally saw the book in her hands just as another almost identically looking man came to the door.

He seemed half asleep as he stood in the threshold holding a cup of coffee in his hand. “What’re going on about Jason. Bruce didn’t adopt anyone recently, Alfred already asked me to keep an eye on any adoption papers that might be processing with his name on it. I’d know if he was adopting someone.” the sleepy man’s eyes landed on her and the cup in his hand fell to the floor with a crash. “Shit. I didn’t think about foreign countries. I’ve got to go tell Alfred.”

The first man grabbed the other one before he could leave. “Relax, it was a false alarm, she’s just returning something for Damian.” He turned to her, “I’ll take it, I know who it belongs to.” Up to that point, Marinette didn’t quite get what was going on, but she was sure that she didn’t entirely trust these people. It was hard to follow their  English but their actions were weird.

“I’m sorry Monsieur, but I would feel more comfortable if I gave it to the actual owner of the book, instead of… his acquaintance.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to meet the brat. He’ll probably accuse you of stealing. It would be better to give it one of us to pass along.” The skepticism remained on her face. That was when a voice came from behind the two men in the doorway.

“Get out of the damn way, you morons. I can’t leave the room with you blocking the entrance.” 

The first man sighed in resignation when the voice came through and stepped aside. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped now. It’s this demon spawn’s sketchbook.” she turned to see the artist that she had been looking for.

He was about average height, although compared to the person who had initially opened the door, he was small. His skin was also more tanned than his acquaintances, and although they share the same black hair, his eyes were a brilliant green, more vibrant than even Adrien’s.

“Excuse me, Monsieur,” she called out to him. “I seemed to have found your sketchbook in the hotel lobby. Is this your book?” he stopped in his tracks when she started talking. 

Numbly, he nodded his head. Recognizing that he hadn’t properly answered, he cleared his throat. “Sorry. Yes, that’s my book.” his responses, while curt were far from insulting as the other man had suggested. Holding the book out to him, their fingers touched as he grabbed the book.

His touch was warm and gentle and it startled her enough that she accidentally let go of the book. Apparently, he was also startled for he too, let go of the sketchbook, and it fell to the floor with a resounding thud.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to let go so soon,” Marinette bent down to pick up the book.

“It’s okay. I’m at fault as well.” He took the book from her outstretched hand. “Thank you, for finding my sketchbook and returning it to me.”

“No problem. I understand how devastating it might be to lose a sketchbook, I’m happy I could bring it back to you.” she smiled at him and then checked the watch she was wearing. It was almost time for her class to leave. “I need to head back but, it was wonderful meeting you.” she waved and turned around towards the elevator.

Damian stared at her back as she left. Only, when she had already been gone for a few minutes did he notice a book on the ground. Picking it up, he saw the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng written on the front, and, opening up the front page he saw that it was her sketchbook. 

It seemed that this time he was going to have to find her.

[wedontdeservethestars]

Hi! I saw your post about requests. Since you are accepting requests, can i request something for Chloe Frazer and Elena Fisher, as a romantic ship, from Uncharted please? Thank you! Have a nice day!

Ok! I! LOVE THIS SHIP!! Ever since I heard the word "sunshine" come out of Chloe's mouth in the second game, I have been OBSESSED with their dynamic. I like the idea of them becoming friends after 2 (let's just pretend Nate and Elena aren't together shh shh) and then Chloe slowly falling for Elena long-distance,,, so:

Here’s what Chloe knows: Elena is very, very cute and has a very sweet look on the world.

And although naïve about it at times, she’s extremely smart. It’s clear that she hasn’t gone through life unscathed, but she somehow seems to hide all her scars and put on a brave face for the future.

At first, Chloe thinks she just wants to be like Elena in that regard: unafraid of the future and confident in her abilities to do good, no matter the situation

As time goes on and they talk more, their conversations becoming more casual and comfortable, hardly a day goes by where they don’t at least text each other a quick “Good morning!”

Knowing Elena’s especially busy schedule, it makes Chloe feel all tingly knowing that she’s making specific time to talk to her. It’s a really familiar kind of tingle that she isn’t sure she likes, since Elena wouldn’t feel the same way…………(right?)

Besides, Chloe has WAY too many commitment issues and walls set up. Most of her relationships have been either hit-and-runs, or month-long-hit-and-runs. Deep relationships aren’t really her thing.

Well. Anyway. It doesn’t matter. Because Elena is in the States and Chloe is in the UK. So. There. Ha!

Except one day Chloe is out getting groceries at a local market she likes to browse through and Sweet Jesus Is That Elena Fisher????? Standing over by the freshly baked bread??????????? Or is that an angel with pure blonde hair and a camera--

Chloe’s first instinct is to just turn around and walk away. It’s too weird that she’s just here, especially without telling her first that she would be in her home country. So there’s no way it’s Elena. Right? Right. No way. Just a weird coincidence. Sometimes people just look like other people, Chloe. It happens.

Oh nope never mind she’s turned around and that is DEFINITELY Elena.

Chloe spends a little time watching her, trying to figure out what the hell she’s doing here, until she finally musters up the courage to go up to her and say hi.

Elena is eager to see her and also just as surprised. It actually does turn out to be a total coincidence that she was sent out on a job to Chloe’s exact city (they’ve never even exchanged addresses, Chloe realizes as they talk).

Like the gentlelady she is, Chloe invites her over for a drink after Elena is done with work for the day, to which Elena eagerly accepts.

“See you then, sunshine.” Chloe immediately hates herself for using the old nickname. It seems too affectionate for someone she’s only met in person once before this, even if they have been talking so often lately…

Nevertheless, Elena beams. It’s...radiant, to say the least.

The evening starts off business-casual. They make small talk, they take small sips of drinks. Still feeling a little anxious about the whole situation, Chloe drinks a little more. Elena, seeming to take it as a bit of a challenge, matches her. And suddenly they’ve probably had WAY too much to drink and they’re outside on the terrace.

Elena is gushing about a project she’s working on, and then bitching about her boss a little too loudly--someone across the square yells at her to shut up and go to bed, which sends both women into a fit of laughter. Elena falls back into her chair and almost falls over. Chloe reaches out to help steady her, and looks up.

Elena is so close to her.

She’s still giggling softly to herself, her eyes glassy and scrunched in the corners. Her grey-blues meet Chloe’s dark browns.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,” Chloe blurts out suddenly.

Elena seems to sober a little bit, surprised at the comment, but doesn’t lose her smile. “Oh...thanks.”

“I mean it.” Now that she’s started, she can’t stop. “Ever since I saw you, it’s...your so...and--and it’s hard to stop, to stop thinking about you…”

“Oh?” A blush overcomes Elena’s cheeks and she looks away for a moment, her eyes landing on the streets below.

Chloe panics. “I mean--shit, um…”

“Chloe, I…” She giggles again and looks down into her drink. It’s nearly empty. “I had no idea you felt like that about me…”

“I don’t!” There are those walls she set up in her head, again.

“You don’t?”

Chloe notes the tone in her voice and reels back once again. “Er...I mean, what...what do you think ‘like that’ means? Because--maybe I do…”

Elena studies her face for a moment. There’s silence, and then she just smiles. “I’ve never seen you this drunk before.”

“Well...same goes for you, sunshine.”

“Sunshine,” she repeats with a smile. “You always call me that.”

“S’what you are,” she answers truthfully. “A little ray of sunshine in this dark place…”

“You’re a lot sweeter when you’re drunk,” Elena circles back. “And more nervous.”

“You make me nervous,” Chloe replies cautiously, gauging for a reaction.

“I don’t mean to. You can loosen up, y’know.” When she doesn’t get an answer, Elena continues. “So, uh...I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what--?” Chloe starts, but is cut off by the feelings of Elena’s lips on hers.

It.

Is.

Heaven.

They’re so much softer than she could have imagined, plush and pillowy against her own, tasting of clean chapstick and a little like beer. Chloe melts into it, letting a hand slide up towards her hair and combing her fingers through it. It falls out of it’s neat ponytail and down to her shoulders. Elena smiles and brushes it back over her ear as she pulls away.

“That.”

“Was that your…?”

“First time kissing another woman?” She laughed a little, a certain edge of nervousness but also freedom to her voice. “Yes.”

“Was it okay?” Chloe smiled.

“Better than you could know.”

“Oh, I think I do.” Chloe starts to lean in again. “But, just in case...how about we try again?”

“I could go for another round,” Elena smirks back.

[prompts-adrien-sugar]

OK I'm gonna talk about a subject that's kinda touchy but really sincerely needs to be said.

Some people in this fandom i genuinely admire and like, but here's the thing. Some of y'all in this fandom can be a bit insensitive to allot of issues (racism, sexism, abuse, etc) and some still try real hard to act like you don't and it's honestly really f*cking trifling/concerning, cause like y'all act like y'all don't do that, and it really aggravates me.

First onto the problem with racism this fandom has. Y'all have no qualms going on and on about the evident whitewashing the show does to it's characters of colour at times like what they did to rena's model, etc(trust me i feel the same way at times but saying that mari is white bc she doesn't wear chinese garb etc is really concerning and feels really weird when white fans try to say this bc not allot of ppl who come from different cultures outward go and dress in their ethnic garb at home in all places (and honestly, whenever iusuallysee art of this it's fine but at times it comesoff a bit fetishizy(especially whenever someonetries to draw mari in diferent clothes and all they do is a "certain" style. and it's concerning that y'all have the opposite argument about sabine (even though i also i have qualms about that too.) but then getting angry when poc try to tell y'all to stop drawing characters a certain way (whitewashing (how funny how y'all go on about this and then do it in art or other media by lightening skin colour or changing features) or darkening the skin on a villain alligned character instead of trying to learn from those criticisms is in and of itself, a whole hypocritical mess bc y'all try to make some valid crits of the show but it all goes down the drain when y'all turn around and do this witchhunting/whitewashing bs. Then there's the fact that y'all salters almost always make alya the villain and chloe a support in a huge amount of saltfics without even seeing what kinds of connotations could arise from that. Like do you not see the problem in twisting the main character's best friend who actually has a personality of her own into the villain when she's black and making the lighter skinned bully the hero. At all.

Next onto the sexism (funny thing is its funny how both sides play into this). First we have how the fandom treats Marinette and Adrien. When mishaps happen to Mari, the salty part of the fandom tends to jump up and say that either her classmates are always laughing at her and more complaints that don't make any sense because if y'all have actually watched some parts of the show even, any scene when marinette has a mishap happen to her in front of classmates you'd see they're not laughing at her, but with her. (and you'd think that the nyc special would show y'all that the wouldn't laugh at her accidents or problems if she's in genuine distress.) Then we have the minor villains Felix and Lila with how the fandom still holds onto this merit that canon felix is a good person underneath a cold persona (now this could've been truefor pv!felix or fanon felix and i don't hate him, it actually the opposite, i kinda want to see what other moties the character has in store for us.) what i don't like is how some parts of the fandom put him on a better merit than lila when we don't even know his full character just as yet while we've already gotten to know how shady of a person lila is.

now finally onto the abuse aspect. i saved this one for last bc this is a touchy subject for me at times, in any aspects i can name bc here's the thing, this fandom loves to either: make claims that a certain character (adrien) is not facing any sort of abuse bc he's a guy or that he shouldn't be taking it or he should stand up for it (or worse saying he deserves it and saying that gabriel/lila should continue with it?! looking at 4 or more certain salters who have been getting on my last f-ing nerve with that) and i'm just like please stop and think about it for a second. And i don't want to hear the "it's a tv show" angle which i've heard way too many damn times bc If you were in a situation like that and it starts to escalate, how would you feel if someone online was making fun of your plight online over an over like a damn broken record player hmm? Cause i relate to adrien on a few aspects of his life and seeing y'all repeat the same cold takes about how he could just leave, or how chat blanc can't happen bc gabriel isn't like that is frankly, all too worrying bc i have been in that place and so have many others and seeing y'all say that gabe/lila/nathalie are all morally better bc of certain struggles they face is another hypocritical thing that some of y'all salters need to address bc y'all would rather say these people behave better than an abused kid.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

which bmc scenes make you the softest bc for me it's gotta be most of the stagedorks scenes ESPECIALLY a guy that i'd kinda be into. mostly bc of christine cause her and michael are my favs (i love them all sm though) but also bc of jeremy because he is a close second to both of them. also vimh but vimh makes me cry a lot although nowadays i can hardly watch one scene without at the very least tearing up. anyways yeah which ones make you soft

i simply rewatched bmc and took notes for this and really got off track at points in the sense of sticking to What Makes You Softest but that’s how it goes babey

ACT ONE - in mts when jeremy is just having a whole moment being smitten in christine's presence while she's inelegantly picking herself up off the floor and smearing on lip balm and adjusting a skirt wedgie - jeremy and michael just being default that glad to meet each other in the middle of a random schoolday - michael hyping up jeremy's crush on christine and just encouraging this momentum to get jeremy to sign up for the play - ilpr.....that christine stops after like, the first two verses and goes back to her book b/c she doesn't figure someone's looking to listen to her beyond that but then she sees jeremy's still 110% paying attention and the whole rest of the song enfolds with increasing enthusiasm - jake doing that whole bit "all the pressure i feel to be the best at everything all the time" lmao classic stuff here, depressing content delivered in this humorousse way. charming moment - "leave me alone, i've had a bad day" - 2pg......when michael taps jeremy on the shoulder to get jeremy to join in on his choreo, which jeremy then does.....that michael asks if jeremy will be too cool for Video Games and jeremy just responds Emotionally Directly......we love the Favorite Person moment......that this song just ends with the two of them grooving 2gether god bless - jeremy stammering and Tics and Fidgeting when the squip remarks uponst it - jeremy delivering the Looking Pretty Sexy Brooke as awkwardly as possible and she's just like "thanks :)" - jeremy's own Theatricality coming out......hey hamlet - jeremy spinning around in place alternately addressing both brooke and the squip with "oh i'm supposed to meet my friend michael" - nice little detail wherein brooke signals for chloe to join in on her choreo - speaking of, v fond of the Moment jeremy is in on both their choreo......brooke sort of alarming jeremy with her whole attempted grande finale, straw and all, ft. the first instance of her messing with his hair so much she's just tugging his entire head around - cute that jake and rich have a sort of 2pg-esque handshake routine too - jeremy's "that's sad, what should i do" reaction re: jenna - rich's Earnest invitation to come over and play xbox... - "bonjour, jeremy" "ooh brooke!" and this whole exchange, her complimenting him, him laughing at "That Was French" and remembering to ask about pinkberry - love the whole choreo sequence/s in sync up, especially fond of his Moments with the girls, bumping hips with chloe (twice), hearing some Gossip from jenna, posing with brooke.... ;__; - the bowling alley performance art exchange before agtikbi ;____; - agtikbi......the glittery hearts choreo.....the whatever! the interlude or whatever!!! the I Guess A Part Of Me section hhhhoughhh ;o; ;o; ;o; ;o; ;o; that she pulls him into a hug and puts her head against his shoulder omggg ;_________; - brooke just trying to interact with jeremy the Right Way w/o any guidance on the bleachers and it continues to be awkward and funny....like comforting just his Leg while he converses w/his squip.....how she just ends up Physically pushing him around by the hands and head and shoulder and etc......whole situation here in upgrade.mp3 clearly less than Ideal but jeremy and brooke are nevertheless very cute individually And together - meanwhile jake also trying to genuinely Be With christine in upgrade is also charming lol, quitting archery to hang w/a girl like her.... - i always love when the Playful Shove brooke gives jeremy at "but at the mall, you looked at me" pushes him back a whole few steps....this moment of them truly Getting each other sans anyone else's interference.....tres magnifique - jeremy being That psyched to see michael for the first time (in like, less than one full day lol)....michael being That psyched just hearing that jeremy's cool scifi thing worked out after all - lgw ;_________________________; - like i'm some normal, handsome guy..... - giving us All that silence after "The Problem Has Always Been Me" - the whole bit where he launches into the "I'm Not The [series of insults]" and i've realized it's really especially a stretch to say i'm Soft for these moments in lgw but i Am vulnerable and that's its power. little 1" tall will roland on my screen here just made me shed a real tear doing That.....

ACT TWO - brooke's Howl at the end of her verse lmawooo - oughhh jeremy and brooke Greeting each other at the party too, jeremy unable to disappoint her and going for the Real Compliment, just v charming. rip - jake and jeremy's danceoff lol hell yes and then jake just having Misunderstood the costume plan between him and christine lol - the squip getting in on the dancing :) go you funky little ai - jeremy and brooke singing that last verse of Halloween v enthusiastically at each other, - again that jeremy is just genuinely glad to see michael.... - the inherent intimacy of singing mitb b/c your bff dumped you..... - AGTIKBI REPRISE..... ;______________________________; hhhhuouuuoh my god :'3 the lil detail that at the Height of things christine is Shy and turns away.....just. This Scene oh my god - soft in a vulnerable way like, rip to jenna where we're seeing chloe's Lack Of Enthusiasm in accepting a call from her :[ - the Shift at the start of the pants song :] - and the lil mitb reprise during said pants song lmao, also always having a great time w/this concept of "maybe this teen having a rough time needs some guidance from someone grown w/all that bonus maturity here" - i wish there was a way i could help everyone but i don't know how so i guess i'll just do theatre..... - jenna being Moved simply being asked for the first time ever How She Is u_u then her being like "....Okay!" lmfao jenna's great - just have to say in whatever context i'm v fond of pitiful children there at the end lmfao the bass kicks in like that and we're having a great time - the audience always having that response to "all the way to broadway" - jeremy going "you came to see me in the play? :)" like, that he's processing the significance of that in the middle of these Very Raised Stakes - i'm soft for will roland's vocal glitching mouth noises live every night!!! - jeremy like "ha! >:)" flipping his squip off after he's successfully Apologized lmfaoooo love him - but then having that real And I'm Stronger Than You Think I Am victory like :'| - that michael's been by like a ton btw during jeremy's probably somewhat concerning coma. also cherish the lil dance he does while they're celebrating mr. heere's bepantsedness - jake and jeremy sharing a Dab - and just the Popular Kids actively seeking him out to help re: christine b/c they just Want To Be Supportive.....very nice - this vimh interlude or whatever with christine and jeremy like jlsdfhh i think of this all the time - me and the voices in my head have made up our collective mind ;__; what do they say we should do ;______; and the Woohoo! ;_______________; - huoughh kiss and you KNOW especially the [jeremy spinning away in sheer enthusiasm] of 2.0 just KILLS THE MAN ;O; - jeremy not missing a beat despite the squip's interruption leeet's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - the more than survive na na na na na na na na na na na's but they're all So, and jeremy ending With everyone but also there with Himself and it's so Good and Everything Wants What Vimh Has!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hhrough ;0; - that jason does that spin at curtain call w/his excellent squip costume... - that in virtually any given curtain call when they get into line together there's that lil ritual of george smacking will's ass lmao love languages

i mean tl;dr quite Same in that like, most likely to inspire tearing up over something or other includes agtikbi reprise and vimh which is just like, again any finale wants what it has, and the I Guess A Part Of Me bit of the non-reprise agtikbi like Oof augh this is so cute, and lgw always Gets me, and while i was rewatching speaking of being soft and move-able i was also just continually struck with delight over various moments throughout, and noticing little details for the first time thank god. just Vulnerable the whole time

[frazzledsoul]

So I thought I'd talk a bit about the Eternals "leak" that popped up on Reddit a few weeks ago.

don't say I didn't warn you

So the main thing that bothers me about this leak is that the Reddit mods were power-hungry dicks about the entire situation. Marvel spoiler culture isn't as toxic and competitive in the same way that I think say, GoT fan culture is but it still is kind of a rat race between scoopers with varying degrees of believability who compete for clicks and nerd credibility and Patreon bucks and since Marvel stans can be very gullible most of the rumors they spread are absolute crap.

That said, the mods stepped into it big time with this one because this came out after the Wandavision disappointment where a lot of Marvel fans got hyped up on a lot of crazy promises they thought the show was making to them and blamed them when none of them came true. A lot of scoopers said some things would happen in that finale that didn't actually happen and the mods started manually approving posts so that only stuff they could trust would show up. The problem is after the Wandavision situation where so many scoopers that were deemed reliable had been wrong putting up a plot summary like this with nothing more reliable than "just trust us, bro" doesn't cut it. And then the Reddit mods cozied up to a con artist on Twitter who pretended to work for Marvel (but didn't) as "proof" that this leak was real (he turned out to be stealing someone else's identity). When I pointed this out on the sub, people got angry because no one was supposed to question the word of the mods. But for those reasons alone, I'm doubtful this leak is real.

That said, could this be true? Sure. I hate to burst the bubble of Kit Harington/Black Knight fans, but he has never publicly been identified as Black Knight in any official media for this movie and he has been left off all of the leaked merch as well as the cast list shown at the expo several months ago, even though he has been listed as part of the cast by official sources. He did not film long with the rest of the cast in Spain (this is where they filmed most of the pre-modern stuff) although he was allegedly flown in and out there: Salma also was not with them the entire time they were filming there. The public footage we've seen of him in London is entirely modern-day stuff with Gemma that seems to focus on the love triangle. This isn't to say that Black Knight can't be a thing later on, but it may not be a thing right away. There have also been rumors that he was part of Dr Strange 2, which has been filming in London the past few months: security has been really tight on that set and no one seems to know anything. He did move with his wife and child to NYC in the last couple of weeks of filming but that doesn't mean he didn't film something in London before then.

As far as Ajak goes, every single leak I have read about Eternals has her dying. I don't see her surviving the movie no matter what else happens.

Evil Ikaris? I love it. Bring it on.

Harry Styles showing up at the very end? Gawd no. It doesn't strike me as a coincidence that the people who have most heavily pimped this leak are obsessed with Harry Styles.

I don't think the footage today proved or disproved this leak any: there were several characters who were missing or barely there, and the only thing that really stands out is the camera crew following Kingo, which was in the comics and isn't that far-fetched given how much Kumail has talked about his character being a Bollywood star. So the jury's still out.

The shakiest part of all of this is the claim that post-credit scenes were shown to the audience even though the music and the VFX were unfinished (and Zhao is still editing the film). That never happens in test screenings. Also this screening allegedly happened a few weeks after reshoots took place in LA (again, not clear if Kit was involved but because his son seems to have been born shortly beforehand and he didn't seem to initially film in LA other fans have doubted it). It just doesn't add up to me because it would have been too soon. Also bear in mind that there lots of rumors for ages that his superhero suit wasn't "working" and had to be added in post-production. There is a lot here that's iffy. After seeing Nomadland recently I also am dubious that Chloe Zhao is behind a plot where aliens don't want to save humanity anyway.

The other thing I want to address is the ugly rumors that Kevin Feige decided that Gemma Chan was too "difficult to work with" and demanded that Zhao reduce her screentime in order to highlight Richard Madden. The "scooper" who was spreading this rumor around has also claimed that this leak is true even though her role doesn't change and Ikaris is secretly a villain. They wanted to focus on Ikaris more by making him....the bad guy instead of the hero? Even after Kevin Feige went out and said that Sersi is the main character, the scooper still claimed that he was right and that the ending was changed and also that Gemma was always the lead (so did they reduce her screentime or didn't they? How can it be reduced and this leak also be true? Is he arguing that the film wanted to highlight Madden more by making his character evil? Pick a misogynistic side and stick to it, dude). The footage we saw today definitely did not highlight Madden at the expense of anyone else, so it seems that claptrap was always fake.

As for the rest of it, I guess we'll see.

[thirium-fiction]

Be Back Soon (Markus x Reader)

Word Count: 3k+

Request:  Maybe a Markus fic where reader works at CyberLife but secretly helps repair deviants?

A/N: AhHhh this request was so interesting! I chose to use the violent revolution route for Markus because it worked better. I had some fun with this one and I’m pretty proud of it despite getting a little carried away with the background. I’m sorry I just love giving huge amounts of content for a story!

Warnings: Slight swearing and angst

-

You had worked for CyberLife for awhile now, having been close friends with Elijah Kamski when he was younger and was just getting started with studying androids and his business. The two of you first met in college and you heard all about the 12-year-old who got into the University of Colbridge. It was practically unbelievable when you first heard about it. You worked your ass off to get to where you were at 18 and when you found out a pre-teen did the same? It’d be a lie to say that it didn’t cause a little bit of jealousy. But, he turned out to be a pretty kind kid. Sure, he had a bit of an ego to him considering he was among some of the top students in the United States and they were all older than him. Yet he still knew when to draw the line if he wanted to make connections for his future company.

And that’s how Elijah began to connect with you.

Both of you were studying AI when he noticed your inability of accepting the possibility that any form of artificial intelligence could be nothing more than what their creators designed them to be. It was an extremely dangerous mindset that you had considering how advanced technology was becoming. The idea that androids were just machines was safe. Didn’t you want to be safe? Considering how many verbal debates you’ve gotten into over the subject, apparently not. 

As a matter of fact, your stubbornness on the subject granted you the ability to help with Elijah’s Turing test for Chloe. You did it once through a computer, asking a series of questions for both Chloe, who was pretending to be human, and the actual human who had to convince you they were the actual person and not an android. Chloe passed with flying colors and you were shocked to realize that you assumed the human was an android.

You did another form of the same test but in person this time to see how she’d look in public situations around others. You had never met Chloe so you had no idea what she looked like. Another female was in the room and had to convince you once again that she was the human while Chloe did the same. Chloe’s expressions and responses were just - so -  natural. It really solidified your idea that machines can be so much more. But, people can just refute you by saying that Elijah designed her to make you believe that.

Nevertheless, she fooled you again and was the first android to pass the Turing test in 2022.

CyberLife began pumping out androids to the public like never before. People were willing to spend thousands of dollars just so they didn’t have to do “extras” like chores, caring for family, transportation, and other forms of work. And once humans got their hands on them, they practically became children and destroyed what was meant for them to enjoy. It was sickening what you’ve seen them do and how openly they’d talk about such abuse. You tried going to Elijah multiple times about the problem you’ve seen.

“There’s nothing I can do.” He would say to you like always. “I can’t control what people decide to do with their product.”

“They’re not products!” You’d shout at him, infuriated by how he was handling the situation yet again. 

Then he’d leave the room without saying anything else. 

Elijah became increasingly more distant once he heard about Amanda’s death during February of 2027. You knew they had been extremely close with her being his mentor along with being his professor as well. She was your professor too but they had a bond that you were never able to form with her. And, not more than a year later, the CEO of CyberLife resigned from his position and left out of the blue. He never told you of his plans or where he was going. He left a simple sticky note on his desk addressed to you that read:

I’ll be back soon.

It’s been ten years and there was still no word from him.

So, you continued life how you usually would. You went to work for CyberLife as a normal manufacturing employee under a new boss (who was a complete jackass). But, as time went by, more and more “deviants” started to make the news. They were always badly damaged after escaping the their owners after injuring/and or killing them so they would stand out from a crowd. You knew the media was purposefully blocking out the part where they were doing it out of self-defense. Humans couldn’t possibly be held accountable at all.

You had enough of the bullshit.

Every once in awhile, these deviants would find their way back to the CyberLife warehouses. You occasionally had some manufacturing work to be done there so you spent some of your shifts around those branches. Those androids who were luckily enough to make it that far were usually in dire need of biocomponents to keep themselves going. You’d catch them trying to steal whatever they could get their hands on but instead of reporting them like you should, you decided you could help them instead. They were always frightened at first, afraid you’d turn on them or take them apart right then and there. You always made sure to make them feel at ease through the process of repairment. If there wounds were too great, you offered them the option to continue or to stop. Some would carry on despite knowing they had little time left while others gave up on the table right in front of you. 

It wasn’t long until more and more heard of your name and looked for you as a source of safety. Eventually, it reached a point where hiding them became increasingly difficult. It was hard to take care of multiple beaten up androids in one night while also having to get your work done. There have been a couple close calls where you had to convince your coworkers you were just fixing up regular androids for clients. You could only use the same excuse for so long if the only robots you were repairing were horribly beaten. 

It was saddening how many came your way looking for some type of assistance. If they were comfortable enough, they’d tell you why they ran away in the first place. After that, some would let you know that their plan was to find Jericho and meet Markus himself. 

Ah, Markus. 

You had heard of the android hero before. He was practically a wanted criminal across the United States because of his revolution. His face was all over the news after his speech and fires and violent riots followed not long after. He was an intimidating and scary figure to most humans but you couldn’t help but understand where he was coming from. For years, androids have been beaten down and oppressed by society because they were seen as less than to humans. It wasn’t surprising that he was angered by it. 

You never would’ve guessed you’d come face-to-face with such a legend, however. 

You were walking around the warehouse lot, enjoying a bit of fresh air after having been inside forever from loads of paperwork. It was dark out and luckily the area had some pretty substantial lighting or else you would’ve been left completely blind to your environment. Yet, it wasn’t enough for you to notice the figures running towards you in the distance. You didn’t even realize you weren’t alone until you heard footsteps closer behind you. Expecting some of your regular coworkers, you put a tired smile on your face and turned around but immediately froze once you saw a familiar pair of determined blue and green eyes. 

“It’s you.” You whispered in awe, your heart racing in both excitement and slight fear. “Both the hero and the terrorist.”

Markus just barely tensed at your words, not ever having planned to be labeled as a terrorist by anyone. He’s heard it through the media numerous times but someone doesn’t ever really get used to that sort of thing.

The redheaded woman next to him (who you knew was also an android from your experience with them) walked up to him and gently grabbed his arm. “I don’t trust this. They’re human, Markus. They can easily report us to the authorities. We should find help somewhere else.” She muttered, turning her head away so you couldn’t really tell what she was saying.

The RK200 pulled his arm away from her grasp before returning his attention back to you. “You’re (Y/N), correct?”

You nodded, still shocked to be in the presence of such a figure among the potential future of artificial intelligence. “In the actual flesh.” You laughed, trying to ease your own nervousness more than anything. When no laughs were thrown back at your sad excuse of a joke, you cleared your throat and stood tall. “U-Uh, yes. I’m (Y/N).”

Markus glanced between his group of friends and the woman gave him a look of disapproval. He gave her an apologetic look back before hesitantly stepping out of the way to reveal an injured PL600 being carried by a PJ500 model. “We need your help.” He said quickly, looking around to make sure there was no one nearby. When he noticed your lack of response, he gave you a pleading look. “Please.”

You blinked a few times and rubbed your face before slightly shaking your head. “If you were caught here, I couldn’t possibly fathom what would -” Your eyes fell on the blonde android in front of you, blue thirium slowly oozing out between his fingers as he held his wound. You could tell this wasn’t his first rodeo with injuries. Actually, all of them seemed experienced with this type of situation. Taking a deep breath, you finally nodded and ushered them to follow you. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. But, I can’t guarantee anything.”

You saw Markus’ shoulders relax and he gave you a kind smile with a nod as a thanks. Your heart skipped a beat at such a sight. He was actually quite handsome and whoever had him before he became deviant must’ve been very lucky. 

You led them into a discreet room towards the back of the warehouse with a table in the middle of it. Everyone knew that’s where you worked for the most part so not many ever came by to interrupt you. It was surrounded with different materials for your operations with an apron in the corner, perfectly clean as if it wasn’t covered in blue blood many times before. 

Thank God for thirium evaporation. You would’ve been given away a long time ago if it wasn’t for that. 

“Set him down there, please.” You ordered, pointing to the table as you turned your back to them and put the apron on. Once you tied the knot behind you, you swiveled around and froze at the amount of androids in the room. Four. You rarely ever got to experience more than one at a time when deviants would come to see you. Sighing, you shuffled over to the door and leaned outside, taking one last survey of the area to see if anyone was around before closing it and locking it. 

You noticed the PJ500 model and the woman stand by each other in the corner away from you as Markus stood over the injured android. You put on a pair of surgeon gloves and walked over to the table that was already starting to be stained blue. “Can I ask what the rest of your names are?” You ask, breaking the heavy silence in the room.

“Simon…” The PL600 grunted as you slowly removed his hand away from his covered wound to inspect what happened.

The other man in the corner in the room was next to reply. “Josh.”

The girl was last and the most cautious. It was obvious she still didn’t trust you despite having heard a lot about you from the others back at Jericho. You were human after all.

“And that’s North.” Markus said on her behalf, his gaze lingering on her a bit as sort of a ‘knock it off’ before he looks at Simon once more. “We’re not used to this kind of...treatment from a human. We’ve all had out fair share of unpleasant encounters with them. So, going to one for help is certainly new for us.” 

You chuckle a bit before grabbing a pair of tweezers nearby and gently moving the skin and parts around inside the wound, trying to find what you were looking for. “It’s alright.” You shrugged, feeling your tool knock into something small and hard. “You guys aren’t the first to be suspicious of my intentions.”

“Hey, Markus.” Josh piped up from his corner. “North and I are gonna stand outside on watch. That alright?”

The leader gave them a small nod. “Just be careful.”

You waited until they left to continue speaking. “I’m surprised careful is still in your vocabulary considering how much trouble you’ve gotten yourselves into.”

A snort came from Simon at your remark which was a little jarring to you. You had to remind yourself they couldn’t feel physical pain like humans can. Once you pulled out the object from his wound, it healed like usual (must’ve been clogging his system) and you handed him a cup of blue liquid for him to drink to replenish what he lost. He took it and thanked you softly before downing it in a blink of an eye. When he was finished, he stood up and swiftly placed the cup back in your hands.

“You truly are a miracle worker like they say.” Simon states, a gracious expression on his face as he give you a little bow. “Thank you.”

You watched as he left the room to meet with the others with only a slight limp. It was obvious he was much more gentler than the people he was around. Almost like a lost child.

“I’d like to thank you once again as well.” Markus said, his tall stature causing him to hover over you. “We would’ve lost many of ours if it wasn’t for you.”

“How could I deny a legend?” You smirk, beginning to put away your tools so it can at least look a little tidier for the next deviant that comes along.

He raised his eyebrows briefly, breaking eyes contact with a smile of his own before he paused, suddenly overwhelmed with confusion. “All humans hate us.” His statement made you stop in the middle of putting an item away and face him. “What’s stopping you from doing the same?”

You pursed your lips in thought, having never considered the possibility of you hating androids like others have. “Have all humans been terrible in your experience?”

The question made Markus’ stare fall to the floor in sadness once he remembered his time with Carl. “No, actually. Quite the opposite.”

“The same goes for humans with androids. People are scared of what they don’t know.”

“We’re scared of what we do know, (Y/N). You’re one of the few who actually sees us for what we are. The rest will never understand.”

“They won’t understand if you don’t give them a chance to.” You whipped out your phone and pulled up an image from online and showed it to him. “They will never give you a chance if they see this.”

Fire. Chaos. Screaming. Crying. Deviants. Humans.

That’s what was on the screen. 

You were showing him a result of one of his many riots from a different perspective.

“They will only see you as an enemy, if they haven’t already, if you continue things this way.”

Markus gently pushed the screen away from him and stepped away from you. “I came here for help and I received it. I don’t need a lecture along with it.” He shook his head, hatred making its way across his features. “You spend years researching what I live everyday. Even you will never truly see what it’s like for us. Do not tell me what is right from wrong.”

He began walking towards the door before you stopped him with a hold on his wrist. “What was your life like before all this?”

His back was to you, not even bothering to turn around. “I was Carl Manfred’s android.”

You let out a little gasp and quickly dropped your grasp on him. You’d seen the articles about the famous artist losing his life to a heart attack. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Markus moved his head to the side to look at you, still not turning fully. “He’d still be alive if humans hadn’t gotten in the way.” His shoulders fell, his determined leader facade beginning to crack. “If only I hadn’t listened. If I had pushed back and not endured. He’d still be here.” 

That’s when he decided to face you fully, revealing the worn down look on his face. The weight of a whole revolution showing itself in one single expression. 

“Now, I’m fixing that mistake.” He hissed, a fiery look in eyes. “I’m pushing back.”

Despite the fact you barely knew him, you wanted to reach out and hold him, letting it know it was gonna be alright. And somehow you suspected that he knew that’s what you were thinking, and he backed away from you once more.  

“I don’t need your pity.”

The android made his way to the door, his long coat flowing behind him triumphantly despite him being so tired (or, at least, what tired would be for an android). You resisted the urge to call out to him and ask him to stay. There was so much more about him that you wanted to know. But, you knew deep down that he’d might not ever feel comfortable enough to share what he’s truly been through with someone like you. A human. 

He gave you one last purposeful look before leaving you with the last words that Elijah gave you before his disappearance.

“I’ll be back soon.”

-

[masterlist]

TAGS:

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[skaylanphear]

None of y’all are actually understanding The Puppeteer 2 (spoilers ahead)

Okay, so it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written any meta on this show. Mostly because a lot of episodes are now focused on things I don’t care so much about, BUT I was rather inspired by Puppeteer 2, especially since SO MANY PEOPLE seem to be missing the entire point of the episode.

Now, I’m not giving the writers of the show a ton of credit--they have their good and bad moments. But given the obvious budget of this episode as well as the sheer amount of dialogue, I think it’s pretty fair to assume at least some thought was put into this episode. 

So, first and foremost, there were a few points made during this episode.

Let’s start with the Wax Museum and why it’s so pertinent to this episode. The Wax Museum is made entirely up of celebrities. Though we have encountered Adrien and his status before, this is one of the most direct ways they could have drawn attention to it. There is a clear line in this episode--Adrien is a celebrity, his friends are not. Yes, the akumas had wax statues, but the victims and their akumas are not the same people, so to say.

So here we have an “honor” that is only ever granted to celebrities (wax figures) and we have Adrien coming in to work on his. But before that, we have a constant back and forth in the car as to why Marinette is even there--is she Adrien’s friend? His lover? Just a fan of wax statues? This is important because it is less a reflection of Adrien and Marinette’s characters as it is Marinette’s own, let’s say, psychological confusion over how she views Adrien. We’ve seen here make stupid, flustered claims about Adrien before, and these conversations are forcing her to face that head on, even if Adrien remains oblivious as always. 

During the conversation up to the top of the building, we are faced with more of this confusion. Namely, Adrien’s interpretation of his relationship with Marinette versus her own. Granted, Nino brings to light a lot of the problems, but he is less the cause so much as the vehicle with which Marinette’s own inability to be honest is being portrayed. Her behavior causes confusion, even if Adrien is unable to fully grasp that (which is all the more part of the problem). Alya, Nino, and Adrien are ALL responding to the issue of Marinette’s feelings in different ways, because THEY are confused as to what she actually wants and what they’re meant to be doing. Marinette says one thing and then backs out a moment later. As someone who recently went through something similar, my initial indecisiveness to admit my feelings to the person I liked caused a lot of back and forth confusion for the people I had told. Marinette’s situation has spiraled FAR beyond that, which is all the more reason we’re getting these vastly different interpretations as far as how her friends are meant to be reacting. The POINT is that her indecisiveness and timidity is confusing and this is becoming a problem. 

The other thing that I think is interesting in the following scene--which will lead me back around to my main point--is the fact that despite having come with Adrien to support him because the wax stuff is going to be long and boring, all his friends abandon him when he’s literally trapped in the vice of “celebrity.” Granted, Nino and Alya leaving is a bit of a device to move the plot forward, but Marinette also leaving kind of wraps the whole thing up in a neat bow. She’s supposed to confess and ultimately can’t. And instead of staying with Adrien as a good friend should despite her inability, she leaves as a flustered mess. 

Adrien is now alone, his hand clamped in a wax trap. In a lot of ways, this is extremely symbolic of his status as a celebrity and his friends not being a part of that. That Marinette left as a flustered mess only makes this worse, especially since she left him in a manner that is very similar to how a flustered fan might react if they become overwelmed. 

This is important because we’re now seeing a very clear implication that though she desires to know Adrien and has done many things to be a good friend to him, Marinette is still haunted by this “idea” of Adrien that she has that isn’t at all factual. And while I don’t think it’s celebrity worship, as some would argue, I do think that the metaphor of celebrity worship in this episode is a very good use of Adrien’s character. We are seeing that Marinette interprets Adrien in a light that is not entirely realistic, which doesn’t help anyone. 

This metaphor is only further expanded after her discussion with Tikki. While Tikki’s advice might seem helpful, what it really does is further support the notion that Marinette’s entire infatuation with Adrien is shadowed by false idealizations. She creates a persona to act as in order to communicate with him. She is literally creating a role for herself that she thinks will allow her to exist in Adrien’s, I guess, “proximity” so as to allow her to “get what she wants,” so to speak. She’s acting--as in, she’s lying. Just as much to herself, I think, as she is Adrien. 

And this whole thing is only made worse by Adrien’s “prank.” He symbolically becomes nothing more than a wax statue during the entire time that Marinette is playing her “role.” She even goes on a tangent about all the great characteristics he has as a statue, highlighting a lot of shallow aspects of why she’s attracted to him. Granted, I think there’s more to it than that (her feelings, I mean), but she’s so confused by the “more” that it’s hardly relevant if she can’t voice her feelings in the first place, beyond how “perfect” she thinks he is. 

Now, this is the “cringe” part of the episode that everyone is complaining about. But to be honest, I really didn’t think it was that bad. It clearly shows Marinette’s idealization of Adrien, as well as the “form” Adrien has within that idealization. That she said all the silly things she did (again, playing her role) and kissed him, while embarrassing, is wholly within her character. Given her tendency to fantasize on extreme levels, I think I’d be more surprised if she didn’t try to kiss Adrien’s wax statue. I get people are annoyed with Marinette constantly being the cause of bad things, or the butt of jokes, etc, but I don’t think that this situation is wholly unfounded given her personality. It was very in character for her to act that way, and I think it made a rather valid point about her feelings for Adrien. After all, she and Adrien may be “friends,” but they’re clearly not close enough for him to feel certain about what she really thinks of him, so she can’t be that close to him, which means there is a bit of shallowness on her side as far as her feelings, even is she would prefer it be different. 

Now, another complaint people have been voicing about the episode is “why can’t Marrinette have a tastefully handled confession like Chat?” And while a lot of you didn’t seem to realize this, the episode actually addresses that.

When Chat Noir flirts with Ladybug, she actually stops fighting to ask him how he so easily is able to express his feelings, because she has such a hard time doing the same thing. He responds with some line about how the people you care about should know how you feel, but the whole point of that episode was to illustrate the differences between Adrien and Marinette, and kind of explain why Marinette’s confession is so long in coming while Chat Noir has confessed, like, two or three times now.

For better or worse, Marinette’s inability to be honest about her feelings for Adrien is a huge conflict surrounding her character and has been from the beginning. Much bigger than Chat’s conflict over his feelings for Ladybug, which tend to be addressed in a more, let’s say, lighthearted manner than Marinette’s feelings for Adrien. Adrien is a very forthcoming person. He likes to think the best in people and is very honest about how he feels with almost anyone. And while I think he should probably re-evaluate the behavior he thinks is acceptable from other people, he mostly deals with any kind of conflict straight out. He doesn’t sit and stew like Marinette does, he doesn’t even waste time thinking about Chloe and Lila. Adrien would much rather think about the good than the bad. In fact, he would much rather ignore the bad (which is probably why he tried confessing so many times--likely hoping for a different outcome. Optimists, amiright?)

Marinette is NOTHING like this. She will sit and stew and plan and make herself anxious and scared and angry over things that would slide off Adrien’s back like water slides off ducks (thank you, Crowley). Marinette confessing is a much bigger roadblock because of this difference in their personalities. And it’s also why she gets all sweet on Chat for his reasoning behind why he can express his feelings so easily, because he makes it sound so simple, which is exactly what Marinette needs. Not overly complicated plans (Nino and Alya) or anything like that. She needs to be able to push back on her anxiety, walk up to Adrien, and just say it (much like how she kissed his cheek in the finale of the last season). No attempts made by her to confess will EVER succeed so long as there is any kind of convoluted plan surrounding it. 

The writers were literally giving the viewers a direct comparison between Adrien and Marinette as far as how they deal with their feelings and y’all missed it because you were too busy being mad. While Adrien overly simplifies situations--which can be both good and bad--Marinette is more likely to overly complicate things--which is also both good and bad. Where Adrien might fail to see how complex a situation is, Marinette will, whereas Adrien is able to make things simpler where Marinette cannot. You even see it in their fighting styles. Adrien ALWAYS goes for the obvious physical attack, while Marinette is the one to strategize. IT HAS BEEN A LITERAL PART OF THEIR PERSONALITIES FROM THE BEGINNING AND YOU ALL MISSED IT!     

The point of this episode was to illustrate Marinette’s issues with her feelings for Adrien, as well as draw comparisons between them so as to better understand why Marinette’s attempts to confess ALWAYS FAIL! 

Until Marinette can pull back enough to see Adrien less as a terrifying mountain to climb and more like a simple set of stairs, she will not be able to reach him. 

And that is the tea. 

[fandom-necromancer]

The right Choice

This was prompted by an awesome anon! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 [Part 1]

‘And? How are the preparations coming along?’, Nines asked, leaning at the entrance of the breakroom as his brother rummaged through the cupboards trying to find the hidden decaf package. ‘Urgh, don’t ask me. I didn’t know it was so much work to plan a wedding.’ Nines smiled and casually opened one of the doors to show Connor what he was searching for. ‘At least we finally have a date set. You are coming, right?’ ‘Of course’, Nines answered. ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ ‘Oh, just… Would you mind leaving Gavin at home? It’s our wedding and you know how he can be… Please?’ Nines clenched his jaw. ‘Well, that you should rather ask the man himself. It’s ridiculous you can’t get over your damn argument. What was it again? A coffee?’ ‘It was a gun to my head, for god’s sake! And despite that it is his shitty attitude. I just don’t want him there when it’s such a special day. If you want we can have a… family dinner later, but…’ ‘I will talk with him about it. But let me tell you one thing, Connor, this won’t better your relationship.’

Nines walked back to his desk to continue with his work. He decided to talk with Gavin in private at home, so there was no chance of them starting a fight. ‘Hey, Gavin, Connor is planning his wedding’, He began, as he was finished doing the dishes and Gavin sat at the table thumbing at a tablet. ‘Okay?’, Gavin said, looking up and waiting for him to continue. ‘I am invited.’ ‘Obviously, you are brothers.’ ‘He asked me to… he doesn’t want you there.’

Gavin sighed, putting the tablet down. ‘Thank phck.’ ‘What?’ ‘Excuse me, darling, but I’m not that keen on going to the pricks wedding. I would have gone with you, if you wanted it, but it’s just… awkward.’ ‘And here I was ready to start a fight with Connor over this’, Nines sighed and sat next to him at the table. ‘Aw, hey. That would be sweet of you, but really. Go and have a fancy wedding party. I’m fine staying at home for some movie night with Tina. I will think of something. Just… You know it’s not my thing to play pretend.’ ‘Okay. I’m still angry with him that he excludes you on this, but if it’s mutual there is nothing I can do.’ Gavin leaned forwards, taking his hand. ‘Hey. I’m sorry this whole family thing isn’t as perfect as you’d like it to be. I… Okay, listen close cause this is commitment: I will try to better my relationship with your brother, deal? I will… I don’t know. I guess apologize? But that won’t happen tomorrow, so you have fun at your brother’s wedding. Embarrass him a bit for me, then I’m fine.’ ‘Okay.’

At that time Gavin didn’t know yet this whole wedding thing would blow up this large. Nines was often gone, helping Connor shopping or deciding on what colours to pick. Gavin frankly was bored by now, cleaning, cuddling with his cat or watching TV. But there was only so much to do until he ended up sprawled out on the sofa, waiting for Nines to return. It may have been one of the few occasions, he actually was glad he got a phone call. ‘Reed?’ ‘Oh, Chloe! How are you? Hell, that’s ages now we talked…’ ‘Yeah, sorry, you know I’m bad with staying in contact.’ ‘A wedding? You too? Hmm? Nah, nevermind, just a… colleague. Maybe it’s just the season for it.’ ‘Will I come? Hey, of course! Free food!’ He laughed as the woman on the other side began scolding him. ‘Hey, hey, calm down. Sure, I will come. Just send me the address, I will be there.’

-

Connor was more than just anxious. This would seal it and he wanted everything to be perfect. Chloe was getting dressed as she wanted to follow the ridiculous human tradition of surprising him with her dress. As if Connor wouldn’t be smitten no matter what she wore. He tried to calm his nerves by talking with the guests and welcoming them. A few groups had formed, his co-workers from the precinct talking to each other. Then there were the people Chloe had invited, mostly contacts from Cyberlife she made friends with. Elijah stood with them too. And at last there were the people from former Jericho. He spotted his brother standing with the police fraction. As soon as Nines saw him too, he excused himself and came towards him. With a honest smile the other RK hugged him. ‘I’m so happy for you Connor. Are you nervous?’ ‘You have no idea, brother.’ ‘It will be perfect. There is no need to be nervous.’ ‘I know, but I still am.’ ‘And there are still people who think of us as logical machines’, Nines joked. ‘Heh, yeah…’ Connor let his eyes wander and suddenly froze.

‘Nines! You told me you talked to him!’ ‘What are you talking about?’, the android asked clueless at the suddenly accusing words. ‘Gavin! Why the hell is he here?’ Nines followed his eyes and yes, there was Gavin. He just came out of the small building Chloe had went into to get dressed. He had been laughing with some of Chloe’s friends until he froze similarly to Connor. ‘Shit…’

‘I didn’t bring him, Connor, I swear’, Nines tried to keep the android from whatever he was planning. ‘Gavin said he had no interest in attending your wedding!’ But the older unit was already hurrying over and Nines decided to follow short. ‘Reed! What are you doing here?’, Connor shouted. ‘Connor? No way she marries a prick like you!’, Gavin began simultaneously. Nines could just watch. ‘What do you mean, she?’, Connor then asked, caught off guard. ‘Chloe! She invited me to her wedding, I didn’t know it was the same phcking wedding Nines told me you wanted me not to be at!’ ‘Wait’, Nines interrupted, hoping to deescalate the situation. ‘Where do you know Chloe from?’ ‘Because of Eli, idiot’, Gavin chuckled. ‘She was his assistant and companion for so long, why shouldn’t I know her?’ ‘Eli as in… Elijah Kamski?’, Connor asked. ‘For scanners on legs you sure don’t know much, huh? He’s my brother? Well, half-brother technically, but-‘ ‘You can’t be serious!’, Nines whispered in surprise. ‘Hey we can’t all get the genius genes, okay? Ask him, if you want. But I think it is more important for you to get ready’, Gavin told Connor. ‘Your future wife is nearly finished and if you don’t make this day perfect for her, I will kick your ass at your own wedding, tin-can.’

That made Connor recoil and look at his watch. ‘Shit…’ He looked towards the other guests, then back to Gavin, who sighed. ‘Listen, Connor. I am still here to start a fight with later. But I think we can push our differences aside for a day, can’t we?’ Reluctantly the android nodded. ‘For a day…’

-

Half an hour later, Nines stood in front of a small podium, watching Chloe come up to him lead by Elijah. She was beautiful. And the baby-blue dress just added even more to it. It was the happiest Connor had been by far in his life. Still, as they stood next to each other and listened to the wedding speech, he couldn’t help but send a short question over their interface. >Did you invite Gavin? Chloe looked at him in surprise, but then she smiled. >Ah, I forgot you two work together. Yes, he is Eli’s brother. A real sweetheart once you know him. Connor couldn’t help but lift his brows in despair. Sweetheart? Gavin? He shook his head. Well, this was his wedding. He really shouldn’t think of his brother’s unfortunate choice in partners. He just had to come to terms he would have to get to know the man after all. But if that was the prize for marrying Chloe, then it was an easy decision for Connor.

‘I do.’

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

I want to tell you... (Part 7.)

Description: Nathan Drake is not the exact definition of an unhappy man. His job is steady, his friends still see him from time to time, he plays football, but his marriage is his main problem. Many things will change when a special person comes to his life.

Part Summary: It was becoming more and more obvious that something isn’t right between Nate and Elena, just as he was discovering how much of an amazing person you were.

A/N: A lot has changed ever since I started this damn series... It is MORE than a year old. And I still do love Nathan, he deserves all the love and cuteness, smut and attention his brother gets. Like... I love Sam too, and y’all know that, but sometimes you need the softness and love in your life. ♥

A/N: Just a quick reminder that this Nate is in his early 30s’ and Sully is in his early 40s’. It takes place after Honor Among Thieves, where Nate and Elena and Nate got married, but didn’t found the way to work the things out.

Word counter: 2.8 K

Tagging: @missdictatorme​, @peakymarvels​, @nemodoren​, @flavorishy​

Series master list: H E R E

Nathan’s car sing-along playlist: H E R E

Nathan couldn't believe what he had just done. His blue eyes were scanning the phone, his lungs weren't getting the amount of air they needed and his heart was racing. He had just called you. Asked you if you'd like to hang out with him. And you said yes. Nate breathed out steadily, and before he could stop himself, he was doing his happy dance.

Nathan, being a grown-up he seemed to be with his muscles and 5'11 height was a small kid inside an adult's man body. For starters, he was always singing and dancing when he was happy, or when he tried to kill some time in his car - and he wasn't a good singer at all. He had his happy dances when no-one could see him dancing. Another thing was that this man adored the movie Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and he cried every damn time he saw the movie. He loved to buy himself an ice-cream, was loud, and loved to laugh. He was dorky in his own, irresistible way as Elena often put it.

Oh, Nathan stopped. What would've Elena think about this? She would be most probably cool with him seeing a friend, right? Like, he went with Frazer for beers and stuff, why would be Elena worried about him going to play some Scrabble with another friend? A girl he had just met? A girl he was all over his heels for? Nathan shook his head as he stood in front of half-emptied wardrobe since El had taken most of her things with her, already dialing her number. She answered after a small while.

"Hey, hey, did something happened?" - She mumbled sleepily, having Nathan curse under his breath. He forgot about the time difference thingy. He was creating various looks on the bed, thinking about what is most suitable for the occasion.

"No, I'm fine, I don't have anything broken just yet, the flat didn't catch on fire, everything's fine here." - The man named every horror scenario he could think of, finishing it with a slight chuckle. Elena on the other side didn't find it funny at all, leaving a frustrated sigh to make her husband realize she isn't in the mood for his jests. - "But Sully has a girlfriend." - He mentioned just, by the way, settling on a dark blue t-shirt and khaki pants that made his ass popping as Chloe told him many times. These pants were old, but they were still presentable.

"And you're calling me at three a.m. to tell me that Victor found himself a girlfriend? Nate... I have to wake up early today." - Elena sighed, doing something in the background. She knew that once Nate had woken her up, she won't be able to fall asleep again, so she went to make her a cup of coffee.

"I am not calling you at three a.m. just to tell you that Sully has a girlfriend, who is at least fifteen younger, by the way. I'm calling you because a friend asked me if I wouldn't mind hanging out with her because her boyfriend is at work, so..." - He left out a small pause, rolling his eyes around, walking around the flat like a little boy.

"Nathan, let me remind you that you're thirty-and-something years old man who has the right to decide who he wants to hang out with." - "And won't you be mad ar me, or jealous, or something?" - "Do you want me to?" - Elena asked with a dry chuckle. Nathan didn't expect that Elena would be so cool about this. He expected a lot, but not such a calm attitude. Nathan had quite a time while trying to come up with an answer for Elena.

"Listen, I just wanted to let you know." - Nate sighed in the end, waiting for a moment before hearing Elena chuckle on the other side of the phone. - "Yeah, but you still woke me up this early. Unforgivable." - The woman joked and for a moment, Nate felt seriously bad about himself and the whole situation around you. - "I love you." - Nate whispered after a moment, waiting for her answer. But, just like the last time, there was no I love you said back.

"Enjoy the hangout and don't drink too much. You know how much you love Notting Hill when you're drunk. Bye." - His wife whispered in the end, ending the call. The man felt hurt for a reason he couldn't exactly name. Nathan was an endless romantic with his whole soul - he loved to cook surprise dinner for Elena when they were together, he brought her flowers at least once a week, bought her some sweets when he felt like the needs to sweeten her life a bit and he once even did the cliché thing with petals leading to the bed. This man needed to feel he's being loved, that he's being appreciated and cared for.

Yet Elena seemed to be super-distant even if she knew about it. But Nathan wasn't the type to pressure into doing things, he was too sweet for that. He cared for the woman and wanted nothing more than seeing her contained. And so far, it seemed she's more or less feeling happy in some way.

After ten minutes of preparations, like styling his hair with water and finding the best was to style his t-shirt, he set to go to the market, as he promised you. This man loved ratatouille with his whole heart. It was somehow reminding him of the days when everything was way simpler. When he was younger and he and Sam were traveling through the states, he was the one doing the cooking when they didn't have enough money for picking something at a Chinese restaurant. And ratatouille was simple and quick, not that much expansive. And his lemon cake? Jesus, you'll love it.

Nate was just arguing about the cost of the zucchinis when you texted him your address, telling him you somehow managed to clean the place up. Which filled Nate with new energy - so much that he paid a horrendous amount of money for a couple of fresh zucchinis. It wasn't too far from the market, so maybe, if you'd like to know where to get the best fresh goods, he could take you there. Nathan caught himself grinning and humming a song when he finally walked through your street - you lived in the modern, yet indie-feeling one. The houses were small, almost as if in a Mexican village and each of them had a different color. There was a bright, yellow one, then one with a blood-red facade, grass-green one, and your house had a color of the sky. It could be known that you're a student, as you told him because bands and independent artists were playing on the streets until the deep night, so the rant was significantly reduced and this was a part of the city young people lived in.

Yet it filled Nate with this sort of energy and it made him grin as he watched a guitarist serenading for some tourist, who was giggling. It made him feel a bit younger than he was... Well, he wasn't old by any means, but he still was a dude in his thirties, so he wasn't the youngest in the game either. But soon enough, he was calling you as he stood in front of the door, tapping his feet around nervously. Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name, and before he could say something, he saw you leaning down from your balcony, waving your hands wildly.

"Watch out for the keys!" - You cried out, pulling your hand out so he would see them. First, he chuckled and then nodded, so you let them fall. It was the first time you've seen someone catch the keys to their palm. It took him barely a minute to run the stairs up and dear Lord, he had this grin as soon as he saw you. You had this jean overall with one of the suspenders fallen off your shoulder, a white t-shirt and messy hair. Jesus, you were looking even better than Nate remembered you.

"Hey there." - You smiled goofily, stepping aside from the door, finding the man in. - "And welcome to my kingdom. Please, we hope you don't mind a bit of mess." - You giggled and stopped him when he wanted to take his shoes off.

"I don't mind a mess since I am a bit of one myself." - Nathan answered back playfully, finding this new sense of confidence inside of him. It made him feel good when you laughed out loud at the statement, shaking your head with an unbelieving smile. Your place was really cute and as far as Nate could tell, it suited you... And your boyfriend. Most of the things was still in the boxes, the furniture was unassembled and... - "Why didn't you tell me that you need help with painting the walls?" - Nate asked you.

Jesus, that didn't even cross your mind. Nathan was still a stranger to you, even if you called him a friend already. You met for this one afternoon a week or so ago during the storm, but you hadn't talked since that day. He didn't even text you or anything. So, naturally, it didn't come across that you could ask Nate to help you with accommodating the new household. The only thing you've had fully equipped was a kitchen - and that was because you already bought the flat with an equipped kitchen and bathroom.

"Calm your horses, I've had enough of a hard time to make sure the water is running so you can cook me the damn lunch. I'm starving." - A joke left you as you opened up the living room windows. Nate's expression was enough for you to start explaining. - "Mike usually does this stuff, I'm the worst technician you could befriend, so, don't ask me to repair stuff for you, okay?" - Oh shit, Mike. Your boyfriend. Right. Don't let your feelings get the best of you, Nate, the man spoke with himself.

"So, what does lunch, Scrabble, and painting your living room sound like?" - Nate asked and put all the vegetables on the table, smiling at you daringly.

"Oh, no, no, no. I asked you to hang out with me, not to slave work for me." - You marched right next to him, pulling out some knives, pans, and pots for him. - "And you'd ruin your t-shirt and I don't want to buy you a whole new one. I'll manage on my own." - This made the man chuckle as you still kept talking to him while chaotically running around, assembling the dishes for him. You were going through various boxes on the ground, having a slight furrow on your face.

"Yeah, I can see how you're managing with these tomcats all over the wall, good job. I mean it, I have a day off anyway." - The man answered you with a soft giggle at the end, already working with the vegetables. What surprised him was that you stood next to him in the next minute, helping him with the cooking.

"Your wife would be angry that you wouldn't be home for dinner. It must've already weirded her out that you're going to cook lunch for this random girl." - The topic of Elena made Nate gulp quietly, letting the playful grin disappear from his face. For a moment, you thought you hit the soft spot, but then the man bumped with his elbow to your upper arm.

"Elena... She's out of the states now. She's working on an article in Thailand, and for your information, she was proud of her hubby doing such a gentleman thing about not letting a girl starve to death." - Oh, crap. Nathan wished for the things to be as he was interpreting them. He wished to talk about with Elena, because maybe if their relationship would've been better, he wouldn't crush on you straightaway. But those were only speculations. What could Nathan know?

"Do you have her picture? I'm kinda curious about what she looks like. If that isn't... Too weird, of course." - You stuttered out. Nathan was caught off guard with your wish, but in the end, he wiped his hands and pulled his phone up, showing you a photo from their most recent vacation in Brazil. She was smiling into the camera, holding a glass of wine and her hair was let down. She was also beautifully tanned at the time. You opened up your mouth, smiling at the sight of Nathan's wife. - "Wow. She's like... Pretty. You're one lucky guy, Nate, I tell you." - As if, Nathan answered, but he did his best to nod and hum in agreement.

When this weird little thingy about Elena was off the table, you both concentrated on your cooking. Nathan could see why you told him that you're not the best cook either, but you were doing his best to help him. But the pie was even more fun to prepare than the ratatouille. First, you shoved the main course into the oven, making the sweet end after that. It was both looking miraculous to you since you would eat anything the man would serve you. And no matter how hot the food was, you had some appetite. Nathan hadn't seen anyone eat his food with such a passion for a long time - not even in the restaurant.

When the lunch was over, you pulled an old box with scrabble out of nowhere, putting on the table. - "Now, now, what you have to understand, Nate, is that this box is a relic. I wouldn't be surprised if it would be older than me... So, naturally, most of the letters are missing and you'll have to have hella imagination playing this game." - You presented him, putting the board down. This was a nice spent time while letting the food settle down inside of you - you were laughing a lot with Nathan and his main tactic. The man was trying to convince you that most of the words he made up were real. Soon, you pulled a dictionary, and Nate knew he's screwed at the moment.

When you proved Nathan you're actually like... Ten times smarter than him, it was the time to paint your living room. The sun was slowly setting down, so you lit up every light you could find and blasted some playlists on your laptop, making the man dance at once song. Which made you laugh from the bottom of your heart.

"What?" - Nate turned to you with the roll in his hand, already having paint on his face.

"This was... So... Terrible. I suppose you hadn't picked Elena on your dancing skills, huh?" - You mumbled, drying the tears off. Then, you stepped forward to take the paint from his face, still chuckling at the memory of him dancing. But Nathan's world just stopped for a moment when he felt your hands running on his face, your fingertips touching him gently. It made his heart jump a bit higher with joy, even if he had to fought the urge to lean into the warm touch.

"Unfortunately not, but, I am just a good dancer and you're jealous." - Nate teased you when he gained his consciousness back, making you stop as you watched his face unbelievably. With a burst of laughter, you smacked his shoulder playfully, leaning away.

"That's how it is?" - You asked, finding a different song in the playlist to show Mr. Drake how real dancers dance-like. - "Yeah, that's how it is." - Nate answered light-heartedly, looking at you already vibing to another song. With one daring look, you turned at him, making the craziest dance creations Nathan had ever seen. After a while of your theatrics, the man finally chuckled, continuing with painting the wall. He was leaving around eight in the evening, just a while before Mike came home from work and listened about your adventurous day.

On his way home, Nathan stopped at one of the artists, listening to the girl playing guitar and singing for someone she was deeply in love with. And instead of Elena, he was thinking about you when he was putting a few dollars to the guitar case. He couldn't wait to see you again.

[bubblyani]

Envy makes Two

(Lucifer Morningstar x Reader)

A Lucifer Morningstar Fic

Author’s Note: Very excited to share this story with all of you. Enjoyed expanding on this idea. My heart says this needs another part, hope you all agree. Enjoy!

The LAPD, a place where the occupants never rested, and on a constant pursuit for answers to serve justice. So when the elevator doors opened with a ding, you made sure your entrance was worth making. Your skirt swished from side to side to rhythm as you strutted in with confidence and with much purpose among the hubbub and officers of the law.

“Ma’am, can I help you with something?”

You halted the moment a smartly dressed policewoman addressed you. Turning around, you smiled as you stood beside an empty desk.

“Yes, I’m looking for Detective Decker”

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“Are you sure she can help?”

Detective Chloe Decker may trust the skills of her partner Lucifer Morningstar, but this time she needed more convincing, especially when it involved getting one of his friends to help on a case.

“Oh come now Detective, stop with this uncertainty…” Lucifer said, watching her study some photographs in the Forensics Lab, “I’m sure she can provide us with much required information-Ah! Speak of the me…Y/N!”

Beaming, you felt your heart light up the moment he called out your name. Lucifer walked towards you with open arms, swooping in with a tight embrace, which made you giggle. “Darling, thank you so much for coming in during your busy schedule”. 


“Oh no…Of course hun” you said, “Besides, I was on my way to a lunch meeting anyways so, all good” you responded, placing your hand on his clothed bicep. Coming to realization, Lucifer put his hands together.

“Introductions of course…how rude of me. Y/N Y/L/N meet my partner Detective Chloe Decker, LAPD”

Decker was in full surprise when you extended your hand with great enthusiasm. “Oh my goodness, finally in the flesh. It’s so great to meet you , I’ve heard …so many things about you” you said excitedly. Her surprise allowed her to smile as her blue eyes shone bright.

“Oh all good I hope” she said. “Yes” you did not hesitate to respond in an instant. You could not get over how amazing Chloe appeared to be. The bravery she displayed in all stories you’ve heard from your dear friend, was quite evident by the mere looks of her. And her beauty certainly did not fail to make an appearance.

“So how did you both know each other?” Decker asked “Oh you know…the usual” You replied so casually, “I walked into LUX one day with a bleeding forehead looking for ice…” “And we’ve been friends ever since…” Lucifer finished, watching Chloe’s surprised expression with amusement. “You know, I gotta be honest…” she said, leaning in, inviting your attention “I never thought someone like you would actually be his…friend ” her voice softening by the end.

“Oh…” Your eyes widened with realization, “Oh hoho…” breaking into laughter, you continued “I’m not that kind of friend. I mean…clearly you remember when all those women came by the precinct that one time. And I clearly remember not being there hehe. And… keep in mind that those women were actually hot… I am nowhere near them” you guffawed with sincerity.

Chloe opened her mouth. “Oh I beg to differ darling…” Until Lucifer interrupted from afar, wearing a cheeky grin. Recovering from your laughter, you motioned towards him, “Meh…there he goes, being all charitable” you teased, inciting a grin out of the detective. You really hoped you made a good impression on her. You wanted to. After all, she was Lucifer’s coworker.

“So…” you said, rubbing your hands together, “What can I help you guys with?”

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

“So basically, the last person in her call history was Chef Gomez?” “…before she died, yes”

You inhaled deeply, trying hard to take in the information with concentration. Decker continued, “Is there anything you know about Gomez that might help?”

“Hmm… Let’s see…” you said, eyebrows furrowed with as you searched through all the files in your laptop, anything about Pablo Gomez that might provide a clue.

“Ma’am, would you like some coffee?”

Tilting up, you found yourself locking eyes with a pair of green ones. They seemingly belonged to an officer. He was handsome, in a conventional sense. And he stood smiling holding a cup of coffee towards you.

“Oh…sure. Thanks” you said, accepting the beverage. With a nod, he left.

Clicking his tongue, you heard Lucifer scoff, “I would’ve gotten you coffee if you wanted, you know…” he snapped in hushed tone. You turned your head to him.

“Actually I didn’t want any…” you responded innocently, confused to his sudden mood change. Shrugging ones shoulders, you resumed your search. A minute later, you sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry you guys…” you began, “I just…I can’t find anything…” you scowled, “Based on all my records and reviews and background checks, there’s nothing special that you guys won’t have”

Nodding, Decker and Lucifer stepped out of the room. Folding your laptop, you knew they were looking for other options. You sighed again, for you felt useless. Especially being Lucifer’s friend, you just wanted to help out more. You did not want his suggestion to be a lost cause.

“Coffee’s not sitting right with you today huh?”

Breaking into a fake chuckle, you stood straight  the moment you realized the ‘coffee cop’ showed up in front of you again. “I’m not in the coffee mood I guess…” you said, trying to avoid conversation “but thanks anyway” yet not forgetting your politeness. “Well, you’re very welcome” he said, extending his hand “Frank Reed” “Y/N Y/L/N…nice to meet you, Officer” You both shook hands. He chuckled, “Please, call me Frank”. This time it was you who chuckled, “Oh no…this is your workplace so I really shouldn’t” “Well aren’t you by the book?” He said amusingly, “Just my type…” “Ah…” You paused, aware of the situation at play, “Haha…I wouldn’t call myself that exactly…” pressing your lips, you tried to smile but failed. You weren’t so convinced. “So anyways…uh…” Reed began, “I was wondering-”

“Y/N!”

Startled yet relieved, you looked over to find Lucifer briskly walking over to you. “Yeah?” You asked with enthusiasm. “What are you still doing here?” He asked with all seriousness, “Don’t you have the lunch meeting?” “Shit!” You cried out, “Yeah…I almost forgot” smacking yourself in the head, “ Oh thanks so much…” quickly grabbing your handbag, you patted him on the chest before you excused yourself from the room, dashing off in a hurry. Stepping out of the room, Lucifer watched you with a chuckle. “Was that your friend?” A soft groan left Lucifer’s lips, when Officer Reed brought forth the question, joining him. 
“Who? Oh you mean Ms. Y/L/N?” Lucifer asked, “Yes she is…quite a close one too” he added with pride. “Lucky…” Reed muttered, making the devil roll his eyes, “ Hey…is she single-” “Oh! Sorry… I think I’m getting an urgent call…” quickly placing the phone in his ear, Lucifer continued, “Hello? Ah yes…”

Occupied in full pretense, Lucifer moved away whilst stealthily watching Officer Reed staring at you disappearing into the elevator doors. As he put his phone down, Lucifer didn’t know why a random police officer such as Reed would suddenly be the center of his attention. And why his fist clenched tightly by the mere thought of him.

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

Your foot kept tapping away with nervousness as you stood in the elevator. Putting your phone back in your bag, you exhaled loudly.

“Come on…come on!” You whispered. The moment the doors opened,  you celebrated under your breath while running in.

Only to be stopped by a man.

“Whoa ma’am, you need to slow down” the calming voice of Detective Daniel Espinoza caught your attention.

“Lucifer…Decker…” you panted, “Where are they? I’ve been calling them  so many times but I can’t get through…” you said with concern. 

“They’re out on the case…” he said, “Ma’am you really need to calm down” You sighed, aware of the hurried state you were in, “I’m sorry…I’ll just wait for them”. Sitting in front of Decker’s desk with your legs crossed, you wished time would go by fast. You didn’t expect to be back at the precinct the following day but here you were. Staring at Decker’s name plate, your mind began to wander. Were they in trouble? Even if they were, they’d be alright, you were sure. Being a cop, Decker probably knew what she was doing. Letting out a huge sigh, you realized how much you admired Chloe. But the more you admired her, the higher the probability of Lucifer feeling the same. Suddenly, the thought of it made you feel sour. Why would it? You wondered. Why were you feeling this way?

“Y/N?”

A woman’s voice called out. You looked ahead. She was young, hispanic, wearing a ponytail.
“Yes that’s me” you replied, waking up from your train of thoughts. Suddenly, you saw a smile form on her face, “Hey! I’m Ella…Ella Lopez”.

Your jaw dropped.

“The Ella? The forensics Ella?” Your tone quickly changed into excitement as you stood up in a flash, “Oh my god…I’m just so happy to meet you. I heard about you guys all the time from Lucifer”

“Wow…” she said, genuinely surprised, “ that’s so great he talks about us…Awww…Lucifer’s the best”

“I couldn’t agree more” you said. Silently agreeing to all that Lucifer had said, you also realized Ella’s bubbly nature was simply infectious, and you were a witness. 
“So listen…I’m heading over to the forensics room, you can join me if you want…”

“Yeah sure…” you agree instantly, more than happy to join her on the walk over, “You know…I know it’s not my place but…do you ever consider working in there with some music on?” “No… way!…” Ella exclaimed, suddenly stopping on her tracks, “I totally do that”. Eyes widened with excitement, you gasped.

“Really?”

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

“You seem a bit tense…” Decker remarked, her eyebrows raised, “…you okay?”

That was all that she could ask from Lucifer when he kept looking at his phone. “Well if you must know…I’m not” he snapped back through gritted teeth, stepping out of the elevator. They were unexpectedly welcomed by Dan.

“Hey…Lucifer-” “Oh…Spill it Douche!” “Y/N…” Dan stressed, “…your friend? she’s here” “Oh…” caught by surprise, Lucifer said, “..really?” His expression grew brighter, “ Well…thank you Dan…” he said as he walked on ahead. Shaking his head, Dan shot Decker a look, “What’s with him today?”
“I…really don’t know”

Walking swiftly, Lucifer followed the sound of music, which led him to the forensics room. Little did he know You and Ella had begun your bonding ritual by passionately singing along to “Bust a Move”. All the while Ella worked and you watched, bobbing your head up and down.

Relief washed over Morningstar as he found you safe and sound.

“Ahem!”

Stopping yourselves from more embarrassment, the both of you turned as Decker cleared her throat.

“Oh my goodness..where were you guys?” You walked over to them, with your hands on your chest, “I was trying to call but no answer-”

“Sorry darling, but we actually paid a visit to one of Chef Gomez’s friends.  Turns out the gentleman was more into stabbing than talking…”

Covering your mouth, you gasped, “No…Lucifer! Are you okay?”

“No…Nothing to worry about…” he replied, “ the Detective managed to save the day just in time”. Sighing, you folded your arms “You weren’t kidding about the dangers of this job huh?” “I assure you, I’m alright…” Lucifer said, his palm resting on your shoulder, “…now toss those concerns away and give me a smile, you should know, it lights up the room” Scoffing, you couldn’t help but smile in response. Decker stepped forward.

“Y/N…do you have something for us?” “YES…before I forget” 

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“…. It’s no surprise that man tried to stab you. Because Chef Gomez…he actually used to be in Juvie. He would never talk about it but… I clearly remember him accidentally spilling it out at a party when he was pretty…” you paused, “…high” you said, watching the look of interest arise appear in your friend’s face, “I never documented this anywhere cause I didn’t think it’d matter, but I think this could be sensitive enough for you to get him to talk…” Listening intently, Decker nodded.

“Got it…Thanks Y/N” she said, before quickly leaving the room.

“Well done, my little Trooper” Lucifer purred, pride visibly strong in his voice as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder. Relieved, your smile did not seem to fade, “Thanks…I was so worried I couldn’t help you before”.

“Oh nonsense…” he said, “I’m sure we’ll make great progress with this…”

Nodding, you really hoped he was right. Decker reappeared before you.

“Lucifer…a word”

“Oh…excuse me darling…” he said, giving your shoulder an affectionate squeeze. Watching him walk over to Decker, you found yourself sighing. You sighed, thinking how lucky they were to be able to work with each other, how they got to spend so much time together. How you suddenly wished you’d get the same privilege.

Wait…what? You shook your head in confusion.

“You okay ?” Ella’s worried voice filled your ears. Rubbing your temples, you chuckled. “Yeah…I’m good” you said, giving the thumbs up.

“Made new friends huh?”

Officer Reed didn’t fail to not notice your presence here, nor did it fail to surprise you “Oh…Hey” you said, giving a small wave. Ella looked over at the both of you.

“You know her, Frank?”

He grinned. 
“Was lucky enough to meet her yesterday” he said, giving you a small wink. Nodding, you politely smiled. Flattery was not something you disliked, but for some reason you weren’t exactly comfortable with his version. And it clearly made you miss flattery and compliments from one person in particular.

“Listen…I was wondering” Reed began, forcing you to fold your arms in discomfort, “…there’s this really great pizza place nearby…I’d love to take you out one day”

“Oh…” you exhaled, “really?…um…wow!” You continued monotonously.

“I mean you don’t have to say anything now but…here’s my number” he said, handing you a slip of paper, “…call me when you’re hungry” he said, with another smile.

Looking over at the crime-solving partners in discussion, you felt a slight pain in your heart. You hated feeling this way. You suddenly never felt so alone. A few seconds was enough for Lucifer to notice your gaze on him, but too late as you turned back to Reed. Accepting it, you looked into the paper with much focus for you had a hard time looking at Reed. His gaze on you was intense and full of interest, but not the kind that you preferred. You felt invaded.

“Thanks…I’ll-” “Right! Well…Excuse us!”

Suddenly appearing before you, Lucifer cried out grabbing you by the wrist. The slip of paper crumpled in your hand in response to your tense physical reaction, especially when Lucifer Morningstar literally dragged you out of the room.

“Wha? What’s going on?” You asked with confusion.

“As much as your assistance was much appreciated Ms.Y/L/N…” he began.

“Ms.Y/L/N? Since when did you use my last name?” You hissed, even more confused.

“…. Unfortunatley we must ask you to leave” he said. Your jaw dropped.

“What? Why? What the hell? Lucifer!”

You managed to catch your balance as you were released from his iron grip, ending up in the elevator. Waving with confusion, you watched Lucifer’s serious expression remain intact, then disappearing as the elevator doors closed on you. What the hell?

Turning away, Lucifer’s own eyes widened by witnessing the surprised expressions of Chloe Decker and Ella Lopez.


“What just happened?” Decker asked.

“Yeah man…” Ella added, “I was really getting along with Y/N today”

“Well…” he hesitated, “the precinct…isn’t it still the hotbed to danger?”

“Lucifer…” Ella began, “She was here for almost half an hour without you. And you weren’t complaining…” throwing her hands up in frustration, she continued , “Seriously, you’d get all tense whenever Reed would stop b-”

Pausing, a realization came over her.

“Oh…” snapping her fingers, she simply could not believe it, “…Damn!”

“What?” Lucifer asked worryingly, “What has the damned to do with this?”

“Of course! it makes perfect sense now” Decker agreed with Ella, as they both nodded together,  finally solving a different case.

“Ladies! I would very much appreciate if you both just stop talking in riddles for once!” The Civilian Consultant ironically had a hard time handling this without a dose of heavy impatience. Sighing, Ella looked at him whilst shaking her head.

“Oh Lucifer…you idiot!”

___________________________________________

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it. I’m feeling Part 2 is in order...whatcha think?

Let me know if you wanna get tagged for the next part ;)

PART 2 HERE

Check out my MASTERLIST for more :)

[in-the-name-of-the-manga]

Burning Bridges, Building Confidence Prologue

When Marinette's life starts going downhill from the machinations of a liar, she's never felt more alone.

However, a familiar face reappears in Marinette's life after nine years, an event which shakes the situation up, both in and out of her mask. With a new player on the field, friends become enemies and some enemies become friends.

With her new friends at her back, Marinette begins to learn that to move on, some bridges just have to burn. And the match is being lit.

Updates Bi-weekly. Special thanks to @bigcheeseyboi for being my beta reader on this, especially with how long some of these chapters are.

AO3 Link

Marinette felt something off about the air as she wandered down the halls of her school. It felt like an eternity for her to get to the end of the hallway. At the end was the only light coming out of any of the classrooms, accompanied by voices. Her feet seemed to move of her own accord, using an energy her mind and body seemed to lack.

“Thank you so much everyone!” A voice said. Where was the voice from? It made her gut twist and her hairs stand on end. She got to the room and pushed the door open.

The room wasn’t a classroom, it looked like a fairytale wedding venue. Marinette felt a spark run up her spine and saw her clothes had become some mixture between a traditional Chinese wedding dress and a gorgeous trumpet gown, white accented with red; pink and black appearing in the details on the skirt. Her hair felt longer, pulled halfway up in a bun with apple blossom decorations. Thankfully she still felt the energy of her miraculous in her ears.

She stepped into the room, wary of touching anything as she picked up her skirt just enough that she could walk gently. Joy washed over her body, this was her day, the day she’d marry the love of her life. This was her happy ending, the stress of Hawkmoth was behind her and she was marrying someone that loved her completely. She noticed her name on a stray invitation, but she couldn’t read the other name, her eyes couldn’t seem to focus on it. Returning the invitation to the table, she wandered around the area.

Beautiful apple blossom decor mixed with gorgeous white, gold, and black decor. Sometimes she’d see a burst of red in the form of roses or blue in the form of tulips. They both stood out and blended with the deep applewood walls and the cream colored walls. As Marinette studied the cake, one of her parents’ handiwork no doubt, and the custom figures on the top were likely hers, the voice came again.

“This is my happiest day, I’m so glad you could join me on my wedding day!” The voice wasn’t hers. Marinette moved as quick as she could to the large doors that the voice came from, noting the beautifully done makeup on her reflection as she passed. She turned back and noticed the door had vanished. Picking up her dress she wandered inside, hearing a cheering crowd.

She spotted several familiar faces in the crowd, but there were some she couldn't find. Where were her parents? Her Nonna? Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny? Where was Chloe? The crowd shifted and she could see the couple in the center. Adrien looking wholly uncomfortable and not acting like the groom his ill fitted suit. Next to him, clad in an atrocity that no one with eye would ever consider a dress, let alone one for a wedding, was….

Lila.

The Italian looked like she'd just sauntered in off the streets in a wedding dress made of dime store materials and hatred, gaudy makeup like an 80s Barbie, that hideous mop of sausage hair completely unchanged, and was that orange lipstick!?

Marinette wanted to vomit.

“To the bride!” They cheered. “To the groom!”

“What?” Marinette breathed, bluebell eyes wide. This couldn’t be happening. This was her wedding day, Lila shouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the venue, she wasn’t even invited, and Adrien looked too poorly dressed to be the groom. Where was her other half? She spun around, skirt flaring as she tried to find someone, anyone , who could give her answers.

“Marinette quit looking for attention and come cheer on the newlyweds!” Alya yelled, glaring at someone just over her shoulder, in the glaringly opposite direction of Marinette herself.

“Alya what are you doing!?” Marinette yelled, not noticing how distorted her voice sounded. “I’m right here! My name’s on all the invitations! Can’t you see it isn’t their wedding!? Lila’s lying again!”

“Marinette don’t be selfish!” Kim called, again not in the direction of the actual bride. “Just be happy for them!”

Marinette ran around the group, trying to get their attention. Each time she called out, they spat some insult or admonishment about how she should be celebrating the false bride at the true bride’s wedding. Finally she yelled,

“You’re not even looking at me!” She heard a sob, two sobs, a whole symphony of sobs. The true bride spun on her heels and ran toward the noise. Suddenly it all became clear.

Her mother, dressed in a gown similar to those of the rest of the bridal party, a soft pink with an apple blossom ornament in her hair, sobbed on the ground. Her father embraced his wife, drowning her in his large form, large tears rolling down his face. Nonna was crying, comforted by her grandfather, while Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny were crying too.

“Mama? Papa?” Marinette approached warily. “Nonna? Uncle Jagged? What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Her shoes clacked on the flooring as she approached, only to screech to a halt as she saw what they were crowded around.

It was her. Face ashen and dress covered in blood splatter. Her nails were bloody and broken, while her eyes looked sunken. Right over her heart was what had to be the result of several stab wounds, spreading the blood off her still form and across the floor.

“Can you believe Marinette?” A voice called over her shoulder. “Faking a stab wound for attention, bet she got her entire family in on it.”

“What the hell is wrong with you people!?” Marinette yelled. “I’ve been stabbed! I’m dead! Oh my god I’m dead at my own wedding!”

She ran to the crowd, anger boiling under her skin. She shoved past Nathaniel and Alix, bursting into the center around the false couple. “What are you people doing!? There’s a dead body over there and they’re clearly NOT the people getting married today! That liar is wearing cheap dress that looks like it came from a halloween store and she,” Marinette spun on her heel only to stop. “She killed me.”

Lila, seemingly the only one able to see the true Marinette standing in front of her, stood proud, her cheap dress covered in blood splatter, a still gorey knife in the place of a bouquet. An evil grin was stretched across her face, “I’m so happy that everyone I love could join me on my wedding day.” She said, as if it were the truth. A blood red string wound it’s way around from her fingertips to the joints of those around her. The guests were no longer people, they were puppets, strings held by a liar.

“I told you you’d lose everything,” Lila sneered, glaring at the bride. “Your life will be in shambles, because no one will love you, no one will be at your side.”

Before Marinette could react, the faux bride slammed the knife into the bride’s chest.

~~~~~~~~

Marinette awoke with a yell, bolting upright. Her eyes jolted around the room, scared she’d find a lying Italian with a knife in her room. Tikki was at her side in a moment.

“Marinette breathe,” She urged. “It was just a dream.”

“It was horrible Tikki,” Marinette said, shaking like a leaf. “I-I was at the school, then it was my w-wedding. But Lila was there, acting like it was her wedding. Everyone was telling me I was causing a scene, but I wasn’t even there! They were talking to my dead body in a corner, Lila had killed me, her dress was bloody and everything, but they thought I was faking. T-then, she stabbed me and I woke up.”

Tikki frowned, wiping tears from her chosen’s eyes, tilting the girl’s head up with a paw. “Marinette, I promise you, nothing like that will ever happen, not on my watch. As long as I’m kicking, she will never be able to come after you like that, no one will.”

“Thank you Tikki,” Marinette sniffled. She wiped her eyes again and looked over at the clock, it was a little past three thirty, and she needed as much sleep as she could get. “I’ll try to go back to sleep, good night Tikki.”

“Good night Marinette,” the red kwami kissed her chosen’s forehead, leaving a bit of magic glowing on the spot. “Have some good dreams this time.”

As Marinette drifted off to happy memories and the feeling of flying over the Parisian night sky, Tikki settled down next to her, angrier and more determined than ever that things needed to change.

~~~~~~

Elsewhere in Paris a car pulled up to a more upscale multi-floor abode. The doors opened and a teenager stepped out. Nodding their thanks to the driver, they got their bags out of the trunk of the car, allowing the driver to leave. The teen checked their phone’s address book.

“This is the place,” they said in English. They lifted their bags over their shoulders and moved up the steps. When they got to the door they knocked boldly. The light flickered on in the living room and the door clicked before opening.

Standing before them was a woman with the same brown hair and green eyes. Wrapped in a bathrobe and wearing slippers, tears sprung into the woman’s eyes.

“Hi Mom.” The two collapsed into a hug, neither afraid of the tears running down their cheeks attracting any akuma. They were tears of joy after all.