#i doubt people will read this but it felt relevant | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

baby-alien11 · 1 year

Text

Online haters (Y/N Ulrich Universe)

This idea came to me while I was at the gym suddenly thinking on the words that my classmates on elementary and intermedia school used to say to me (I was a victim of bullying and the school didn't do a thing, fortunately I switched schools in my last year of intermedia school), and I used that awful experience as inspiration

The next chapter will be posted on my birthday (is in may, I'm a taurus)

taglist: @volturi-girl-imagines @dessxoxsworld @aonungsgirlfriend @ethanlandryluver

something feels off about this relationship

maybe this is for publicity

yeah, besides she isn't THAT pretty

she doesn't seem as in it as Jack does

she looks a little fake, don't get me wrong, she seems nice but...

maybe she is with him for fame

she's a nepo baby, you know how they are

That were some of the replies you saw on a tweet that appeared in your timeline during the night when you openned Twitter due to not be able to sleep, a part of you wanted to report the tweet for spam but the other wanted to keep reading the rest of the replies

That was the part that won

Reply after reply was more hurtful than the other, seeing people doubting your relationship with Jack and posting "proofs" just increased your sadness

The caption that made you burst into tears was a whole thread called "proofs that Y/N and Jack's relationship is fake"

Since you entered the world of social media at the age of thirteen, you knew that the hate comments were a daily thing, you saw it when you spend summers in the Riverdale set on how most of the cast commented having them or the way Melissa recieved them after Scream 5, but you didn't know how it felt

Until now...

Deciding that you've seen enough of that, you turn your phone off to get to sleep but you still couldn't because anytime you closed your eyes, the only thing you saw was all that tweets again and again

During the whole night you only played with baby dragon Jake while looking at your celling, noticing it was a new day when the door of your room was openned by your father

"Good morning, tornado", Skeet greeted entering the room to open the curtains, "You woke up early?"

"I couldn't sleep", you sighed sitting in your bed

"What? Why?", Skeet answered sitting in your bed, "What happened?"

Without saying a word, you took your phone to open Twitter and show him the tweets that you saved, for the next minutes you saw how your father's face scrunched in anger for the words on the screen

"How did you find these?", Skeet interrogate you returning the phone to you

"Last night after videocalling Jack, I couldn't sleep and I went into Instagram and then Twitter, and after scrolling for a while, they appeared in my timeline"

"You know, the people who write this kind of stuff, are jealous and they don't know what to do with their lives, so they just spread hate everywhere, and we don't listen to them or take them seriously, understood?"

"Yes dad, but I sill feel awful, why the sudden hate? All my life I've been your little shadow and I haven't done anything controversial or bad"

"I know, but people like to hate on people who are gainning relevance, and you kid, are on the way to become one of the best VFX make up artist in the industry"

"You think?"

"In the five classes that you already had, I can see awards in your future"

Feeling emotional, you hug your dad at what he responded in the same way tightening the hug

"Hey, today is my flight to go to the convention, but I don't want to leave you alone after this"

"My passport expired last week, mom lives in London, and Jakob and Naiia are travelling"

"Kid, let me find a solution, just get up from bed and go get some breakfast, listen to your old man"

Laughing for his last comment, you were about to get out of your bed your phone started to sound at the notifications of a few messages making you smile because you knew who was sending them

my champ

BABYYYYYYY

WAKE UP

IT'S A NEW BEAUTIFUL DAY

my beautiful girl

good morning love

are you already on the set??

my champ

since five in the morning

I can't believe it's snowing in the middle of april

I wish you were here

my beautiful girl

I wish I was there with you too

That's what I get for not checking my passport

my champ

hey, are you feeling well?

your texts feel a little off

For a moment you consider to tell him about the tweets but you didn't want to distract him from the filming of his new movie

my beautiful girl

yeah, it's just that I didn't slept too much

I had a little insomnia

my champ

you should sleep a little after getting breakfast

to feel better

my beautiful girl

definetely I'm going to take that advice

my champ

and if I have free time during that we could facetime

my beautiful girl

yes to everything

my champ

it's a date

Smiling for the conversation, both of you continued chatting until he was called to film

"Kid, pack a suitcase for four days", Skeet announced appearing in your door with his phone on hand

"What? Dad, my passport is expired"

"I already know that, you are going to stay in Anna's house"

"I thought she was with Jack on Canada", you frowned

"I talked to her, she said she needed to come back for work, so you are staying with her until I come back, now get up and pack your things"

Finnally getting up from bed, you change into some of you regular clothes with Jack's favorite pink hoodie on top, to start packing some clothes, personal stuff plus your laptop and the materials to keep practicing your VFX make up on you

Once your suitcase and backpack were ready, both of you went to the car that was waiting to take them to their destinies

Thankfully, Jack's house wasn't so far from yours so after a thirty minute drive, the car stopped in the driveway where Anna was already waiting in the entrance

After getting your luggage and saying goodbye to your dad, you walk towards the house meeting with Anna in the middle

"Hi angel", Anna greeted while hugging you, "Skeet told me you weren't feeling well, want to talk about it?"

"Hi Anna", you responded, "Yeah, I would like to"

When your things were inside Jack's room, you and Anna went to the kitchen where the both of you started to make breakfast

"So, what happenned?", Anna asked while the waffles were being cooked

"Some nasty tweets about me that I found last night", you sighed

Taking your phone out, you entered to Twitter and showed her the tweet with all the responses

"Honey, I don't want to read them because I know that everything they say is false", Anna said causing tears to start pooling in your eyes, "You are one of the most wonderful girls that I've ever known, and I'm glad that you are in mine and Jack's lifes, have you told him about this situation?"

"We talked earlier but I didn't told him, I know he's filming and I don't want to distract him, he's excited about this role"

"You'll have to tell him at some point"

"I know, it's just that I don't want to distract him"

"If you don't tell him, I will", Anna joked serving the waffles

Laughing for that phrase, you help to bring the rest of the things to the table for breakfast

After finishing breakfast and helping to clean the kitchen, you went to Jack's room to unpack some things and have the nap that he suggested early in the morning, including the facetime that both of you agreed to do

"There she is", Jack exclaimed making you smile, "Wait, is that my room?"

"Yeah, dad didn't want to left me alone while he's at the convention because I didn't felt good, so he talked to your mom and here I am"

"Is because you didn't slept all night?"

"Yeah, and I didn't slept for some things that I read", at that point you felt tears starting to fall out of your eyes which you tried to clean, "Some tweets about me, about us"

"Baby..."

"There's no death threats fortunately, but it still feels awful to read those things"

"You are none of the horrible things that people say on the internet, you are the sweetest and most gorgeous girl I've ever met, and I'm happy that we were the only minors during Scream 6", that phrase made you laugh, causing Jack to feel proud for getting a smile from you, "Don't let those type of comments get to you, they don't know how you are, they don't know you how the people who love you does, like I love you"

"I love you too", you smiled

Seeing how your eyes were closing due to the lack of sleep, Jack convinced you to take the nap he suggested, staying in the videocall the whole time, even reading a fairy tale with fun voices causing you to laugh loud, until during the second story you finnaly managed to fall asleep

When Jack noticed that you were asleep, he took a screenshot because he tough you looked cute sleeping while hugging baby dragon Jake, before hanging up to enter Instagram and post something about the theme

yn.ulrich, masonthegooding, misstrinitybliss and 156, 530 more

jackchampion I remember the first time I saw Y/N, it was during the welcome reunion before fimlimg Scream VI, we were the only "kids" in there and we started talking, at that moment I realised that she was chaotic, good soul and heart, the purest vibes that I ever felt, kind, humble, gorgeous, cares about every living being, intelligent, creative and much more adjectives that aren't enough to describe how wonderful she is

Seeing the girl you love crying over nasty tweets about her and about our relationship was heartbreaking, she doesn't deserve any of that, she doesn't bother anyone, she doesn't mess with anyone, nobody should suffer things like this because some of you think things that are completely false

So, pelase, if you are one of the people who posted those tweets or responded to them, delete it, because you are messing with the mental health of someone I love

Comments disabled

#baby alien creations #jack champion imagine #jack champion x you #jack champion scream #jack champion x reader #jack champion #y/n ulrich universe #skeet ulrich #ethan landry x fem!reader #jack champion angst #jack champion comfort

386 notes · View notes

agentrouka-blog · 2 months

Note

Do you think Sansa would mind that Robb disinherited her? I haven’t read all the books, but I recently saw a Sansa’ quote that she never thought to have a claim

Well, he didn't disinherit her. He placed Jon ahead of her in the line of succession in order to foil the Lannister plan of claiming Winterfell through her.

Ultimately, I think this move would hurt Sansa far less than the knowledge that he could have traded for her but chose not to. Though I doubt GRRM will take the time to explore that. Sansa connects no personal ambition to her claim, though she grows to connect it to her sense of home and belonging and return.

Sansa always had a place in the line of succession. The quote you refer to highlights how unlikely she considered it to become relevant:

But she had not forgotten his words, either. The heir to Winterfell, she would think as she lay abed at night. It's your claim they mean to wed. Sansa had grown up with three brothers. She never thought to have a claim, but with Bran and Rickon dead . . . It doesn't matter, there's still Robb, he's a man grown now, and soon he'll wed and have a son. Anyway, Willas Tyrell will have Highgarden, what would he want with Winterfell? (ASOS, Sansa II)

Later, she is well aware of what this claim means for her. It makes her a target of other people's ambitions.

Tyrell or Lannister, it makes no matter, it's not me they want, only my claim. (ASOS, Sansa III)

At least I am safe here. Joffrey is dead, he cannot hurt me anymore, and I am only a bastard girl now. Alayne Stone has no husband and no claim. And her aunt would soon be here as well. The long nightmare of King's Landing was behind her, and her mockery of a marriage as well. She could make herself a new home here, just as Petyr said. [...] The thought made Sansa weary. All she knew of Robert Arryn was that he was a little boy, and sickly. It is not me she wants her son to marry, it is my claim. No one will ever marry me for love. But lying came easy to her now. (ASOS, Sansa VI)

GRRM begins the next chapter by having Sansa rebuild the entire castle from memory using snow. Which is pretty heavy-handed symbolism that depicts - without spelling it out - a growing sense of identification with her claim, with the role of bearing the legacy of House Stark and Winterfell. It is not ambition so much a responsibility and personal attachment that guides her.

The next books culminates with a re-emergance of her claim's importance:

Jon Arryn's bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . . . and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out with your long auburn hair, clad in a maiden's cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back . . . why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright. So those are your gifts from me, my sweet Sansa . . . Harry, the Eyrie, and Winterfell. That's worth another kiss now, don't you think?" (AFFC, Alayne II)

Regardless of the actual sincerity of this plan on Littlefinger's part, we are painted a credible image of what Sansa's claim means politically, and she accepts this function of her claim.

To find out that this claim is removed from her would always be ambiguous and depend on context. If she is displaced by Bran and Rickon, it means her beloved brothers are alive. She would be jubilant. If she is displaced by Jon Snow, she may feel more conflicted in knowing her brother Robb disposed of her relevance in this way and how her mother would have felt about it. This might also play into initial concerns on her part how Jon will deal with the competiton that her claim presents in a world where bastardy carries social stigma. It may well put her in danger from other people's politics again.

That is IF Robb's will even becomes public knowledge. GRRM may well keep its impact focused on what it means to Jon in tandem with the reveal of his parentage - giving him two optional identities to privately choose from that cancel out each other.

#sansa stark #robb's will #northern succession #jon snow

37 notes · View notes

vanishedinvain · 2 months

Text

𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩

summary: the night before anthony and simon's duel from benedict's perspective.

warnings: angst, anxiety

a/n: wc: 546. this is a cut scene from ch. ii. of perfect all-american bitch, my benedict bridgerton x reader series where benedict becomes the viscount, but can be read as a standalone since this is a flashback sequence! despite how long the chapters already are, that's after i've spent a full day editing them lol, so i'm thinking of posting scenes that i've cut/would've liked to include in the main story but wasn't super relevant to the plot (like this one)

Benedict and Colin exited the study feeling about a decade older than when they walked in. Anthony had provided them grimly detailed instructions on what to do in both of the worst case scenarios. The two younger brothers congregated in Benedict’s bedchamber to go over the logistics one last time.

Colin was to remain on guard at the home. He would arrange for a hired hack to be at the house to transport Anthony to either the docks or the hospital. He needed to keep Daphne from interfering, their other siblings away from any violent sights, and their mother calm.

Benedict needed to contact the solicitor to secure their financials. They would need to give notice of either death or disappearance to the people of Aubrey village and to Parliament. They might have the Bow Street Runners called on them in a few days time. Benedict might have to arrange for the funeral and a casket and—

Oh dear, the room was spinning.

Benedict had been running through the list in his head for the past few hours, his cursed version of counting sheep. Colin was snoring on the bench at the foot of the bed, occasionally bumping against the frame.

Colin seemed a great deal calmer than Benedict. He seemed quite sure that the duke would yield, or that they would both fire their pistols wide. Perhaps, he was truly that optimistic, if a bit naive. But perhaps, he was only putting up a front. Because when Benedict suggested Colin go back to his own bedchamber once they were through, his younger brother had insisted he was too comfortable to move.

It was a bald-faced lie if he ever saw one. Colin was taller than Benedict, which meant his legs were scrunched up when he was horizontal on the bench. But he managed to fall asleep anyway, and Benedict draped a spare blanket over him before retiring to bed himself.

And truthfully, Benedict did not want to be alone either. If this was their last night of normality, he would rather spend it together than apart. He laid staring at the ceiling until the first streams of sunlight threatened to breach the inky sky.

It was time.

They made their way down to Anthony’s study. This would be Colin’s post; close enough to the main entrance to execute his tasks, but hidden away from the staff, and more importantly, their mother.

Benedict clasped a hand on Colin’s shoulder; he hoped the gesture came across strong and reassuring, but Benedict felt more like he was grasping onto a life-jacket.

Colin was still boyish, the baby fat not quite melted off his face, and looked entirely too young to be dealing with this. He mirrored his brother, also grabbing Benedict’s shoulder. “This whole affair will all be over in a few short hours,” Colin said with a small smile.

Benedict couldn’t bring himself to agree as it would be disingenuous. There was something peculiar in the air this morning, as hokey as that sounded. Something just wasn’t sitting right with him, but he couldn’t put doubts in Colin’s head.

He was the older one, so act like it. “The only way out is through,” he said with the solemn resolve to bring this business to an end.

why was this cut? as much as i liked exploring the relationship between colin and benedict (tbh i love getting the chance to explore any bridgerton sibling relationship hence why beneloise got a whole prologue), but 1. i was approaching a ridiculous word count and 2. it didn't entirely make sense for benedict to start the story from the night before.

taglist: @daddy-obrien @noirrose21-blog @loviyysev1045 @giuseppeverd1 @chauchirem @camilalexa93 @books-with-se @alexlovesfiction @dreamssfyre @czarinera @chris9683 @g4ns3y @kindbearqueen @mattelbaby @witchyvoman @ayidipinursue @fairyellieee @78-bratz-doll @simbaaas-stuff @starcollector13 @bonitoflakes071 @dallamdoll @2005priness @mythixlly @sickmarriedandying @takemeoutrose @boojaynaqueen @amaliarosewood @everybodys-favorite516 @abrose11 @bluelittleblackgirl @guppypuppy84 @mayalopes @how2besalty @reginageorje @aprilthearcher @5hundreddaysofsummer @niniackerman @bonjour28 @thebazil3 @answrr @quadrisl @livingvicariously1 @bitchyally @renintheszn @napollya @bitchfuckdotcom @imagandom @bugg06 @my-queen-rhaenyra-targaryen @cassiejpg @mrspotterlupinblack @jinx53 @naclara98421 @themeanestlittlewitch @dpaccione @rainybabe25 @mysticenvy @crazymar15 @scooper-trooper @universal-s1ut @fairyfelicitysmoak @tittiemama @rr1tualz @giulssmediobolud4 @pastelpunkpercy @ladybird-666 @sparky2020sworld @radstrangerdinosaur @lillyrosenight

if you weren’t tagged, check your privacy settings!

#bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton x reader #bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton fic #bridgerton imagine #bridgerton netflix #bridgerton x reader #colin bridgerton #colin bridgerton fic #benedict bridgerton fic

36 notes · View notes

buckysgrace · 2 months

Text

Five

Illicit Affair Masterlist Professor!Steve Harrington x fem!OC

CW: Drinking, intoxicated dry humping, some spitting

Steve can't seem to get away from Daphne.

“Did you look over my paper then?” Daphne asked as she furrowed her dark eyebrows together, making him wince as the dreaded topic came forward. He liked to meet with each of his students at each point in the semester, but it was always harder to meet with the ones that were struggling. He wasn’t sure how to be reassuring.

“I did,” He agreed as he stared down at his folder, unsure of how to go forward, “Did you read through the instructions?” He pulled his glasses out, putting them on as he looked at where he had printed off her paper and marked it up.

“Yeah,” She replied gloomily as she lingered a little too close to him, “I guess it didn’t make sense then.” She crossed her legs before she began to bounce them up and down, the tip of her shoe hitting against his chair.

He thought it was odd that despite it being so cold outside, she still wore dresses and skirts. Not even long ones. Short ones that were just a little too revealing in his opinion. He wasn’t sure how her legs didn’t break off from the freezing temperatures.

“It did for the most part,” He started, not wanting her to doubt herself, “But I think you’re mixing up the names. Or most of the people.” He told her softly, not mentioning that many of the names she had mixed up had been the names of locations as well.

“The textbook is really confusing,” She admitted, making him nod his head in agreement, “I think it just all gets jumbled.” She pressed her fingers up to her thick lips, furrowing her eyebrows as she continued to stare at his notes in worry.

“It happens,” He told her quickly, thinking of his own issues through grade school, “Maybe if you tried to organize the names by people and places to start with it would be a little less confusing.” He suggested, trying to recall where he had put his highlighters. He really did think that would make it just a little easier for her.

He glanced back towards her a second later when the room grew silent, slightly tense. Her blue eyes were glazed over with tears, the hue a brighter blue than usual. Her bottom lip trembled as she blinked rapidly, taking a deep exhale.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He said quickly, feeling like an ass suddenly as he faced her. He felt like his environment in this classroom was a lot less strict than how it had been when he taught high schoolers. He wasn’t sure how he had managed to leave her in tears.

“It’s not your fault,” She sniffled as she stared up at the ceiling, laughing to herself, “I’m just having like a midlife crisis.” She began as she threw her hands up a second later, fat tears rolling down her flushed cheeks as she shook her head.

“I think you’re too young for that,” He offered kindly, “Why are you taking this class anyways?” He asked curiously, tilting his head down to try and get a better look at her. He couldn’t remember her mentioning what her degree was. But it didn’t seem to be in ancient histories or anything relevant to that.

“For the credits,” She admitted as she pushed her hair out of her face, “I don’t need this class. It was just something random that I thought would be easy.” She explained with a shrug of her shoulders. He smiled softly, knowing that many people probably thought his class was a breeze.

“To help your degree?” He searched for clarity, wanting her to elaborate on what she was wanting to achieve. He thought it would be easier for her to find classes that were more directed towards her degree.

“No,” She shook her head, “I was going to be a nurse but that fell through and now I don’t know what to do. And then my long term boyfriend cheated on me with my twin brother and they’re getting married, which is like great. And now I’m crying in front of you and yeah.” She cried again, holding her face in her hands as he blinked slowly as he processed everything at once. He had also been cheated on in the past, but she hadn’t left him for his twin. That sounded painful.

“Sounds like it’s been an eventful year,” He spoke up softly, unsure of what he was really supposed to say to comfort her, “You know you can drop this class if it’s too hard or stressful.” He rested a hand along her back, rubbing her shoulder blades softly.

“I can’t,” She sniffled as she rubbed at her eyes, “I need something to distract me so I don’t end up falling apart. Or breaking down. Which I guess is happening right now.” She laughed once again, dropping her hands as she looked up at him in defeat.

“I felt like crying when I turned thirty,” He chuckled as he faced her, “If that makes you feel any better. Life can be rough.” He dropped his hand, feeling like his palm was burning from where he had touched her.

“I’m sorry for crying in front of you.” She took a deep breath, calming herself down as he thought about reaching out to reassure her once again.

“Don’t apologize,” He told her seriously as he gave her knee a little squeeze, “It’s okay. I’m sorry about everything that happened to you, your brother seems like a dick.” He added seriously, staring at the way her skin looked underneath his.

“He used to be my best friend,” She sighed deeply as she lazily stretched her legs out, “This is embarrassing. I’m going to change the subject now. Um, how can I make my grade better?” He thought about adding something else but then decided against it, wanting to honor her wishes of moving past what she had just said.

“Maybe some tutoring would help?” He suggested, “No offense but your papers are atrocious too.” He chuckled softly, sure that there was no other way to break it to her.

“I wanted to be a nurse,” She said with a laugh, “I’m good at math and science. Writing is not my strong point.” She pointed out as she stared at the paper, looking as if it might bite her.

“It wasn’t mine either,” He admitted as he scanned her paper again, “What days are you available?” He asked her, watching as she blinked the rest of her tears from her eyes.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays after two.” She replied as she straightened out her shoulders, inhaling deeply as she pressed a smile to her lips once again. He liked the way she smiled.

“How about you come by my office at three then,” He started as he wrote down the building and room number, “You can just text me when you are on your way.” He added a second later, watching the way her smile grew.

“You’re giving me your number?” She faced him quickly, eyebrows raised as he chuckled at her question. If only it was that easy.

“It’s in the syllabus,” He pointed out with a smug grin, “You and your peers are pretty terrible at writing out emails. And someone usually finds my number anyway.” He added, although he hadn’t had much of an issue with it since he’d tried at the university. High school had been worse. Kids were weird.

“I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say any of that,” She grinned as she tapped her bare knee against his clothed one, “And just go with that you gave me your number.” She giggled as she stood, leaving his eyebrows raised as he took in her forwardness. He invited it, however. It was nice.

“This is professional.” He reminded her, trying to keep as stern as he could. But he couldn’t. He was smiling right along with her. Fuck. She drove him crazy.

“Of course,” She nodded her head along, grinning playfully, “But I can still be your favorite student. The vibes are still there.” She added a second later, making him furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

“The what?” He tilted his head, laughing softly at the odd words she spoke with sometimes. She dropped her shoulders, looking at him dramatically before she shook her head.

“Never mind,” She shook her head as she picked up her bag from the floor, still smiling, “I will definitely only text you for educational purposes of course.” She added teasingly, pointing her phone at him in a playful manner.

“Don’t text after ten,” He added as she headed towards the door, “I’m in bed at that time.” He replied as he lazily twisted back and forth in his chair. Although, he wouldn’t mind if he woke up to a few late night texts from her. He couldn’t say that about many people.

“Not all of the time,” She reminded him gleefully, “See you soon. And thank you for the help!” She added as she left from the door, his eyes lingering at the way the back of her dress rose over her thighs. He leaned back in his chair, groaning at the impending doom that settled over him. This was gonna be harder than he thought.

“Next time I’m picking where we go.” Robin spoke up, looking disgruntled as they passed a plate of fries back and forth. She was sipping on a mojito as she sat close to him, somehow managing to convince him to go out for the second time that week on the condition that he picked the location. Another bar. He needed another drink.

“What’s wrong with this place?” He asked seriously as he brought his third beer up to his lips. He wasn’t meaning to go out and drink this much, but it was the weekend. He could worry about grading papers another day.

“You only pick bars,” She whined as she dramatically kicked her feet out, “And not any of the fun ones.” She grumbled before she shoved another handful of fries into her mouth.

“The last time you picked out the bar I only got hit on by men.” He reminded her, shaking his head as he scanned the bar. It was busy, but he didn’t really see anyone that he’d want to approach.

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy yourself.” She replied, making him snort as he recalled the memory. He looked at her curiously, noting the judgemental expression that formed on her features as she looked behind him.

“Hi,” Daphne grinned as she approached, stumbling forward with flushed cheeks and hazy eyes, “S’nice to see you again, professor.” She replied as she fake saluted him before she began to laugh again. He looked at her surprised, sure that it was just his luck to run into her when he was searching for anyone else. His hole suddenly seemed a lot deeper.

“Nice to see you too,” He grinned as he turned towards her curiously, “You look like you’ve been having fun.” He replied, unsure of how she wasn’t freezing in the outfit she wore. It was a sparkly, pink two piece set. Her crop top just barely covered her chest and left her midriff completely exposed. Her skirt rested snuggly on her hips, but had a slit on the left side of her leg that raced nearly up to her hip.

“I had like so many shots,” She said dramatically as she blew her bangs out of her eyes, resting lazily against the bar as she tapped her index finger across her other fingers, “And two apple-tinis, uh a mai tai. I might get another. Or a long island iced tea.” She pressed her lips together, the mauve color slightly smeared as she thought about it.

“Maybe some water,” He suggested as he took another bite from his fry, noting the sluggish way she kept sliding back and forth. Her smile was painted on her face, like everything was amusing, “This is Daphne, by the way.” He said as he turned towards Robin.

“You’re funny,” She grinned as she leaned forward to boop his nose, “I like the shape.” She said with a nod of her head, looking too fascinated as she traced her finger across his nose. Electricity traveled across his face, his heart hammering a little roughly against the side of his neck.

He was silent for a second, shivers racing up his spine at the way she traced her fingers along his face. He wished he had the strength to brush her off, but he didn’t want to. He liked the way her fingers felt on his skin, how her eyes twinkled even in the dim room.

“Are you the one that sent the boobs?” Robin asked suddenly, breaking him from his trance as he looked back to her in horror. Daphne’s hand dropped rather roughly against the side of the bar.

“You talked about my boobs?” She laughed as she brought her hand up to her chest, looking rather flattered as he thought about melting into the floor. He kicked at Robin’s stool.

“No, no,” He said quickly as he sent Robin a quick glare, “She’s just full of it.” He added underneath his breath, watching the way she innocently held up her hands and laughed. He turned towards Daphne, gulping at how close she had moved to him.

“You didn’t like them?” She pouted, features dropping as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He took another chug from his beer, inviting the buzzing sensation that rushed through him.

“I never saw them,” Robin shot back quickly, “So I can’t have an opinion on them.” She added quickly, looking worried as if she had done something bad. He rolled his eyes, fairly certain that she had looked at the picture the last time she went through his phone.

“What about now?” Daphne asked seriously, acting before either of them could react as she flipped her pink sparkly top over her small tits. They bounced from the rough action, her nipples hard and puffy as he suddenly couldn’t find any words to say. Like his brain had just disconnected from his tongue. She laughed as she stumbled back shirt remaining tucked over her boobs as she held onto the bar for support.

“Steve!” Robin snapped, trying to reach forward as he was finally snapped out of his stupor. He roughly swallowed the fry that he had been chewing on, wincing before he reached forward and tugged the tight cropped shirt back in place. He ignored the feeling of her skin on his, fearing that he might recall a previous memory if he didn’t shut it down.

“I’m pretty sure your top is supposed to stay over your boobs.” He replied as he glanced up at her, wondering if she realized what she had done. He glanced around, trying to see if anyone else had.

“I don’t think I’m gonna remember doing that in the morning.” She giggled as she held onto him, looking a little too gleeful. Alcohol must make her frisky.

“I don’t think you are either,” He laughed as his fingertips brushed against her bare midriff, “Did you come with your friends?” He asked as he glanced behind her, but didn’t get very far in his search. He didn’t know what they looked like.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” She giggled as she leaned forward again, cocking her eyebrows lazily as he forced his arms to drop to his sides.

“Never,” He teased, trying to ignore the warmth that spread through him as she leaned up against him and began to run her fingers through his hair, “Professional.” He mumbled softly, very aware of Robin’s eyes lingering on them. And he could feel his own walls cracking.

“This is totally professional, don’t you think?” Daphne turned towards Robin, her lips pulled into a cheesy grin as she continued to tangle her fingers through his hair.

“Oh absolutely.” Robin nodded her head in agreement, an incredulous expression on her features. She was clearly baffled, probably surprised as to whom he’d gotten himself involved with this time.

“Let me get you and your friend a drink,” She said as she stood a little straighter, “Please.” She pouted out her lips, looking too sweet for him to deny. There was nothing wrong with her ordering him a drink. It was fine, just friendly.

“How long have you been here?” Robin asked in amusement as Daphne struggled to crawl on top of the stool. He had a feeling it had to do with the large heels she had on.

“I don’t know,” She answered after she tried to think about it, “We went to a few different places before this.” She replied as she passed the shots down the table, grinning proudly before she passed down the beers they’d ordered.

“Are you celebrating something?” Robin asked curiously, making a face before she took her shot. Steve pressed his up to his lips, grinning before he downed it quickly. He liked tequila.

“Uh no,” She giggled, “More like forgetting something. Not me crying in your classroom earlier. Well, maybe a little bit of that too.” She added as she held up her index finger, laughing as she crossed her ankles lazily.

“You made her cry?” Robin asked horrified, smacking at his arm before he swatted her away.

“I didn’t make her cry,” He clarified quickly, “She’s going through a rough time.” He replied instead, not really sure if he should air out Daphne’s dirty laundry. It really wasn’t his business.

“My ex boyfriend of like three years cheated on me,” She began to explain again, “With my twin brother.” She gestured back to herself, speaking about it more freely this time. Probably thanks to the alcohol.

“Oh.” Robin said softly.

“And now they’re getting married.”

“Oh.” She added deeper, eyes wide as she glanced towards Steve in horror. He shrugged his shoulders, still unsure of how to comfort her. He didn’t have any siblings that he’d be able to relate that betrayal to.

“But what can you do, you know?” Daphne asked as she shook her head, gesturing her hands about as she spoke, “It’s just like life, I guess. Very shitty but I do love my brother so it’s just hard.”

“What about your ex?” Robin asked, “Did you love him?” She asked softly as the music changed in the background, turning more slower as Daphne scooted a little closer to them. He shifted a bit, inviting her knees up against the side of his leg.

“No,” She answered quickly, eyes a little wide, “I thought we were going to split up regardless but he could have, like not cheated.” She explained, rambling a little bit like she was unsure about her answer as well.

“Men just think with their dicks,” Robin added as she shoved at Steve’s stool, “Which is why women are better.” She said with a knowing look. He thought about bringing Jessie up but then decided against it. He’d still need a few more rounds before he brought up cheating exes.

“You’d like my sister,” She answered, “Big lesbian. Hates men. She’s kinda mean though.” She nodded her head along, laughing as she thought about it.

“Hm,” Steve turned back to Robin, grinning in amusement, “Sounds like your type.” He referenced the type of women she’d been chasing around recently.

“Very funny,” Robin shook her head as she chugged down the remainder of her drink, “What do we think about that one?” She asked, gently motioning towards a dark haired woman across the bar. Steve observed her for a moment.

“I don’t think so,” He said with a shake of his head, “She just came from a group of guys.” He pointed out, taking another gulp from his drink as Daphne leaned closer.

“What are we talking about?” She stammered out, narrowing her eyes as Robin shifted uncomfortably in her spot.

“Trying to figure out if she’s into women or not,” He explained, trying to ignore the way her fingers latched against his skin, “Robin is shy.” He said a moment later as she nodded her head along.

“I’ll be right back.” Daphne answered, standing and almost tripping as she waddled off. He pressed a palm over his mouth, laughing to himself as Robin gasped in horror.

“We need more drinks,” She ordered quickly, eyes wide as she held her hand out and waited. She took a shot, watching from the corner of her eye, “What are you doing with her?” She asked as she stuck her tongue out, eyes squinted in disgust as he pulled his shot up to his lips.

“Nothing,” He told her quickly as he glanced towards Daphne, crossing his arms over his chest, “There’s no relationship at all.” He felt the smile forming on his lips despite his defensive stance as a familiar buzz spread through him.

“Does she realize that?” She asked as she shoved at his arm again, making him scoff. Of course Daphne knew that. She was just a little too drunk. He was getting there too.

“Yeah, she does,” He defended the both of them, “She’s just a bit, uh, eccentric.” He replied as he nodded his head, unable to help the grin as Daphne wobbled back over with a napkin in her hands.

“She gave you her number,” Daphne announced proudly, a little too loudly, “But I uh couldn’t remember your name. I’m Daphne by the way.” She continued to talk over the beat of the music, swaying to it.

“It was nice to meet you, Daphne,” Robin said as she gave her hand another little shake, “My name is Robin by the way.” She pointed out, making Daphne’s eyes widen in understanding as she happily took the paper.

“Like the bird, I like it,” She giggled as she waved at her, “It was nice to meet you!” She shouted happily as she waddled back over to Steve.

“Uh uh,” He laughed as he pulled his drink away from her, finishing his beer before she could steal it from him, “I think you’ve had enough.” He told her seriously, eyes slanting a bit as the room warmed to him too. He liked how close she was.

“Do you want to step outside with me?” She asked him, speaking into his ear, “I gotta walk back soon.” She explained to him, making him shake his head softly.

“You can’t walk back.” He told her, his hand moving on its own as he reached out to hold onto her hips. She was really petite. He felt a lot larger than she did.

“My phone is dead and I can’t call an Uber,” She explained as she looked around, “And I may or may not have run off without my friends.” She giggled softly, smiling as she messed with the buttons on his shirt.

“I’ll order one for you,” He told her as he reached for his phone in his pocket, shifting away so she couldn’t grab it, “Are you alright for a few minutes?”

“Oh yeah,” Robin snorted as she looked at him, “I’m ordering more fries though.” She replied, grinning from ear to ear as Daphne repeated her address to him several times.

He ensured that the ride was confirmed before he walked out with her, his balance a little off as he slammed his shoulder into the door. He winced, laughing as she roughly kicked the door open in support of him.

“You sure you’re not cold?” He asked as she turned towards him, sauntering as another cold breeze smacked against him. He wasn’t sure how she seemed unaffected.

“Walking in the freezing cold half-dressed will sober me up so quickly, just watch.” She gestured her hands out widely, grinning as she began to walk away. He wasn’t sure where she was going, but he followed behind regardless.

“You’re a character.” He told her seriously. She wasn’t at all what he thought she would be. But he liked that too.

“I’ve been told,” She admitted as she linked their fingers together, “And spoiled. I’m the youngest child.” She told him as they approached a little 24 hour stall. He wondered if there were any coats inside of there. He thought that she needed one.

“Explains why you can’t take no for an answer.” He teased her, ignoring how his fingers burned against hers. It was probably due to the cold. He stopped her, not wanting her to go too far.

“You haven’t outright said no,” She giggled softly, “I’d back off if that was the case. Do you want me to?” She replied seriously, looking a little horrified as she came to a complete stop. He shook his head, not feeling forced at all.

“Not really,” He leaned against the side of the building as he looked down at her, counting the stars that were shining in her eyes, ““You know what’s always good when you’re drunk?” He asked her, watching the way her eyes flashed in curiosity.

“A cigarette,” She answered at the same time he pulled his carton out, “You know these taste awful any other time. I had a different ex that used to vape.” She brought up a second later, squinting her eyes as she thought about the memory.

“Yeah?” He asked, glancing down as he flicked the lighter a few times until he got it lit, “Did you prefer that?” He asked curiously, putting his lighter away before he took a deep inhale.

“I guess I didn’t really care,” She shrugged her shoulders as she took the cigarette from his mouth, “What about you?” She asked him this time, pressing it in between her lips as she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Never tried,” He watched as she took a long drag, holding the smoke in her lungs before she exhaled deeply, “I don’t even like smoking that much.” He admitted, wrinkling his nose softly at the way she blew the smoke towards his face.

“Then why are you smoking?” She teased him, passing the cigarette back towards him. He chuckled as he took a long drag from it this time, blowing it back playfully towards her face.

“Because of you,” He told her seriously, watching the way her eyebrows raised on her forehead, “You’re kinda stressing me out.” He admitted slyly, taking another drag as she measured him up.

“In a good way?” She questioned him, red hair twisting in front of her face as another breeze hit her. He crushed the cigarette out against the side of the building, moving his hands so he could move her hair from her face. She giggled, her eyes not as hazy as they had been earlier.

His hands fell to her hips, brushing over the odd sequins on her skirt as he pulled her flush against him. He blamed it on the beers he’d had, on the shot that she’d given him. His nose brushed against hers, his lips parting as he thought about how nice her mouth had felt against his many months ago.

She moved her palms across his chest, rubbing across his shirt as she stood on her tippy toes as they shared the same deep inhale. He could feel his heart thumping roughly against his ribs, vibrating through his body as he swallowed the guilty feeling. One kiss couldn’t hurt.

He captured her mouth with his lips, kissing her deeply as he felt himself melting against her warm skin. His lips dragged against her soft ones slowly, savoring the taste and feel of her as his hands drifted lower on her hips. He cupped her ass, squeezing softly and earning a little squeak from her before she continued to trail her lips against his.

“Daphne,” He sighed as he pulled away, keeping his eyes shut as she continued to kiss along his chin and jaw, “We can’t.” He tilted his head to the side, chewing on his bottom lip as her tongue traced out against his skin again.

“Why?” She hummed against his skin, licking at his neck as she slunk her hands into the back of his jean pockets, “We’re not at school. You’re not teaching right now.” She pointed out, dragging her lips back up towards his chin.

“Doesn’t change our relationship.” He sighed softly as he looked down at her, wondering if there was a way to convince her to drop this class. His mind was too buzzed at the moment to really care if he was being honest.

“So,” She whispered softly, “You’re attracted to me and I’m attracted to you, so what’s the problem?” She questioned as she stepped closer to him, demanding an answer.

“I could lose my job,” He said with a laugh, although he wasn’t too worried about it at the moment. He would be fucked if anyone saw him this close to her anyways, “Are you always this forward?”

��Sometimes,” She giggled softly, “Why? Do you like it?” She took a few steps back, stepping into the darker alley as he raised his eyebrows. He felt his heart hammering, his veins burning as she raised her top up over her chest once again.

He watched silently, all of his blood racing to his cock as she removed her top completely. Her smirk grew in confidence as she reached for the side of her skirt, unzipping it until it fell to the ground.

“What?” She grinned as she stood in front of him, wearing only the thin thong she had on underneath her skirt, “Not like you haven’t seen any of it before.” She added playfully as she turned her body back and forth, showing off her curves.

“Mhm,” He hummed in response, eyes tracing over her slender body as he crossed his ankles out in front of him, “Do you usually walk around naked?” He asked as he bounced back from staring at her round ass, meeting her eyes once again.

“Not usually,” She grinned as she swayed her hips, walking towards him, “Just felt right I guess.” She replied as she tilted her head up towards him, making his lips curl into a little smirk.

“You remember what I said about keeping it professional?” He asked her curiously, knowing that line had become so muddled that he could no longer see it. The alcohol was coursing through his system, erasing any feelings of guilt or worry.

“Mhm.” She confirmed with a smug smile. He drifted his eyes over her soft skin, taking in how tiny she looked in comparison to him. She had been just a little shorter than Robin, nothing too severe. But she was petite, small shoulders and narrow hips that looked even tinier against his large hand.

“You’re making it really hard.” He told her softly, seriously as he knew that he’d be damned if anyone else knew about this. Or about them kissing earlier. It was too risky, yet he felt himself drawn towards her even more. Part of him wondered if it was worth the risk.

“Am I?” She grinned at him mischievously as she slowly pressed herself against his bulge, “Because I’m like really horny right now.” She whispered before she began to laugh, like it was a secret. He was already well aware of how she felt.

“I can tell.” He chuckled as he moved his hands to her hips, giving her a soft squeeze before he moved his palms further up. She was right. They weren’t at school right now. No one else had to know.

“It was all the shots.” She whined dramatically as his hands fell to her boobs, cupping them softly as she leaned into his touch. He felt his cock stirring underneath her soft flesh, his heart pounding in his chest as her nipples dragged against his palms.

“Makes you frisky.” He hummed, his bottom lip gently brushing against hers. He sighed deeply, mouth slowly parting as he invited her into a deep kiss.

He savored the taste of cigarette smoke and the sweet alcohol on her tongue, his hands slowly moving to her hips once again as her palms fell to his chest. He flicked his tongue inside of her mouth, swirling it softly against her own as she began to drag her hips down against his aching bulge.

He sighed against her mouth, slowly rocking his hips upwards as he craved the feeling of her warmth against his cock. He could feel her wetness seeping through her thong, dragging along the way his cock was throbbing underneath her.

“Daph,” He groaned as his lips fell open against hers, his mind fuzzy as the pleasure raced up his spine. He dug his fingers into her hips, clinging to her as he dragged his cock against the drenched material of her panties, “Jesus.”

“Yeah?” She giggled softly, moaning breathlessly against his mouth as she continued to grind her soft cunt along his long cock, “Wish I could feel you inside me.” She whimpered softly as he pressed her up against the building, hooking a leg over his waist.

He groaned against her mouth, picturing how warm and wet her cunt would feel around his girth at the moment. Much better than his hand, but he recognized that it couldn’t happen. This shouldn’t be happening either, but he felt like he was in too far.

She trailed her mouth across his chin again, licking softly as he continued to rut his hips up against her wet panties. He closed his eyes, desperately wanting to feel her bare skin against his. The urge to strip his pants down was growing.

She gripped his chin, dragging him further down to her mouth as the hazy look spread through her eyes. He groaned as he kneaded at her ass this time, sighing against her mouth as she puckered her lips together.

She spit, drooling into his mouth as a deep whimper left his chest. It was unexpected, so dirty and filthy that his heart hammered roughly inside of his chest. His cock ached, twitching before he came roughly inside of his boxers.

“Fuck!” He hissed, whining softly as he pressed against her cunt roughly. He fell flat against her, squishing her between him and the building as his high washed over him. He hadn’t come inside of his pants since high school. Jesus.

He stared at her with a mixture of shock and disbelief, the gears in his mind twisting as he drifted his hands down her sides. It was then that he noticed the goosebumps on her skin, her ice cold flesh.

“Jesus,” He pulled away, mind slowly clearing and legs quivering as he reached for her clothes. He huffed underneath his breath, feeling like he had been under a spell as he quickly began to redress her, “You’re freezing.” He pointed out, struggling with her zipper and she whined.

“No fair,” She huffed as he stuck her shirt on over her head, “You got to finish.” She protested, making him feel that much worse as he felt the mess in his boxers. He had been all over her in public, where anyone could see.

He stayed quiet as the sound of honking drew him further out of his stupor. He checked his phone, confirming her Uber had arrived before he tugged her forward. He did a quick confirmation that it was the right one before he dropped his coat from his shoulders and put it over her.

“Smells like you,” She giggled, eyes still hazy as he held the door open for her, “You sure you don’t want to join me?” She teased, wiggling her eyebrows as he felt an uncomfortable feeling settling over him. Why did she have to be so desirable?

“Have a good night.” He smiled at her, ensuring that she was buckled and safe before he shut the door. He winced as the car drove off, sighing as the cold stuck to his bones. He was royall fucked.

Not only did he let her strip down in public, he’d also humped her like a dog and let her spit in his mouth. And came in his pants in only a few minutes. Jesus. There was something wrong with him.

“You took forever.” Robin commented once he joined her again, making him squirm as he tried to play it off. He could pretend everything was fine, even though the buzz was beginning to wear off.

“I was waiting for her Uber with her,” He scoffed as he fixed his hair, “She could’ve gotten hurt on her own.” He explained, shaking his head as he stared at the table. He couldn’t look at her. She would know.

“Uh huh,” She nodded along, “I don’t want your excuses, you’re nasty.” She shoved at him, leaving him gasping as he shook her accusation away. She was all knowing smirks, making him that much more frantic.

“I didn’t do anything.” He said as he shook his head, running his hands through his hair as he tried to get his heart to stop pounding. Damn it.

“Did your pants get that memo?” She asked as she glanced down slowly to his jeans, making him stall before he followed suit. He stared at the obvious wet spot, making his face flush all over again.

“Fuck.”

#steve harrington #Steve Harrington smut #Steve Harrington x fem!oc #steve harrington x original character #Steve Harrington x female!oc #Steve x Daphne #Illicit Affairs #Steve Harrington fanfiction #Steve Harrington series #Steve Harrington x oc smut #Steve Harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #Professor!Steve Harrington #Professor Steve Harrington #Professor x student

40 notes · View notes

deathblacksmoke · 6 months

Text

Dramamine—Part 9

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x Nick Ruffilo

Series Summary: Cynical, brooding bartender Nick meets too-earnest, pretty boy singer Noah when The Rabbit's Foot starts hosting an open mic night.

CW: a little bit of angst and self-doubt, a little bit of backstory, self-serving pretty flowery apologies, and i made the boys kiss again

*Content warnings are updated by chapter*

Word Count: 1.7K

dividers by @cafekitsune 💐

He’s about ready to own up to it when Autumn walks in, admit what he’s done and face the consequences. He’s pissed her off before and survived — he doesn’t doubt he can do it again.

She sidles up beside him at the register and he’s going to tell on himself when she says something that makes his eyes widen. “Nick texted you?”

His mind reels, wondering how she knows. When he glances over, he’s expecting anger in her expression, or at the very least annoyance. Instead he finds her smiling at him, expression soft.

“How did you know?” he inquires, wracking his brain for an explanation but coming up with nothing. His stomach turns when he envisions Autumn pounding on the door of Nick’s house, or barging into the bar, berating a stranger for something that shouldn’t be her problem. Autumn, as always, coming to his rescue when he can’t do it himself.

He feels sick.

“Do you remember my friend Jasmine?” Autumn offers, and there’s a beat when he questions the relevance of the question. He remembers her vaguely — she and Autumn were friends while Noah was living in Baltimore, a coworker from the university. They’d met once, when Noah came home for the weekend, but he didn’t stick around. It just didn’t feel like home anymore. He was happy that she had someone like Jasmine to fill the void he’d left when he vanished.

He distantly wonders why they don’t see each other anymore before his heart drops, remembering what happened to her. He sees her face, his mind traveling to the photo on the end table in Nick’s living room. Her pretty dark hair, her kind smile.

He doesn’t know how he didn’t connect it, and he feels painfully foolish. Not knowing what else to say, he nods.

“He’s a good guy, Noah,” Autumn utters, a sigh on the edge of her voice as if she hates to admit it. He knows that she’s right, and just recently he would have done anything for her to think so, but right now it makes him feel like he’s out of people on his side. He still needs her on his side. “He’s been through a hell of a lot, but he wants to fix this.”

He imagines how the conversation might go tonight. His mind conjures the image of an apology, at Autumn’s instruction, but yet another letdown. It isn’t the first time someone hasn’t wanted him, and he’s sure it won’t be the last. Already, he’s itching to disappear again. Asheville might be nice this time.

It already took everything in him to come back here. It took even more out of him to open his heart again, and he really thought he’d picked the right one this time — it felt right, didn’t it?

His mind shifts suddenly back to the last time something felt right, the overwhelming joy he’d felt, and rapidly to the look on Aiden’s face when Noah had the nerve to ask if he wanted to get married, to the bellowing laughter and the pity painted across his face that read oh, you poor thing. When he got home from work the next day, half of the apartment was emptied out. He didn’t see him again, but every inch of Richmond stunk of the 3 years of memories they made together.

He knows what it’s like to want to disappear. He knows how hard it is to come back. It isn’t the same, but he knows how it feels for your life to stop dead in its tracks.

It’s a little past 8 already, anxiety bubbling up in his gut as he’s pacing back and forth across his living room. There’s a part of him hoping that Nick doesn’t show, leaving Noah to fill in the blanks on his own, fizzling out slowly and painfully but without a direct and detailed hit to his ego.

Autumn and the guys have gone out to give them privacy, and the thought of being left alone for even a moment after Nick shatters him all over again makes his chest ache. He doesn’t want them to be here to watch it happen, but he still wishes they’d stayed. He can’t be by himself.

His spiral is interrupted by three knocks in quick succession.

He’s nauseated, shaking with nerves, but he can’t deny that he misses Nick. He misses his face, his voice, the way his lips spread into a smile seemingly against his will. At least he’ll get to see him one last time before he disappears from Noah’s life for good, another black mark on his romantic history.

When he swings the door open with shaking hands, he finds himself unprepared for what he sees on the other side. Nick, looking more timid than Noah’s ever seen him, with a hastily put together bouquet of flowers and the most hopeful expression in his eyes.

It’s not at all what he expected.

“I’m sorry I’m a little late, I—” Nick starts, unsteady on his feet and jittery. Noah won’t let himself get his hopes up, but the urge to reach out and touch him is almost unbearable. This was a terrible idea. “I didn’t ask Aut what flowers you like, so…I hope you like hydrangeas.”

He envisions Nick at the shop, agonizing over which flowers to choose to let Noah down easy. He imagines him speaking with a kind stranger who passes by behind him, asking for advice, hurriedly placing together blue hydrangeas, baby’s breath, eucalyptus leaves, and hoping for the best as he rushes out. It’s a lot of effort to put into a heartbreak.

And Noah does love hydrangeas. An awfully pretty flower to sit in a vase on his coffee table to taunt him as he agonizes through his loss.

He guides Nick inside and tries not to let his mind drift backwards to their last encounter on this couch. It’s a struggle every time he’s in this room, not letting himself relive every moment, the floating feeling to the sinking, empty nothing.

They should have done this somewhere else. He’s not looking forward to adding another painful memory to the living room’s history, especially if he wants to stick around after this one.

Each second Nick spends fiddling with his hands instead of making eye contact and getting on with it drags. The bouquet sits sadly on the coffee table and he wonders if he should busy himself with putting them in a vase with water, a distraction from the impending whatever, but he doesn’t want to waste the water. He should probably throw them out.

“You can rip the band-aid off, Nick,” Noah starts, and he isn’t expecting the surprised and hurt expression that casts itself across Nick’s face. His eyes get so sad, concern obvious, and it’s only then that Noah wonders if this might be a different kind of visit altogether. Even through the overwhelming feeling of dread, he feels awfully soft for him. “It’s okay, Nicky, I’m listening.”

“I’m so sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t want you, or that you weren’t making me happy,” Nick starts, and Noah feels as the weight begins to lift off his shoulders, as the tightness in his chest loosens. Nick takes a few deep breaths, a sort of shaky breathing that Noah recognizes. He doesn’t want to let himself have hope, but he watches as the nerves he recognizes in Nick take a different shape than he’d expected. “I haven’t been that happy in a long time, Noah, and I didn’t think it was something that I deserved. It scared the shit out of me.”

It’s against Noah’s own will when the tears start falling. There’s a tiny but clawing part of him that still thinks this is bad—that these flowery, pretty apologies are just an elaborate setup for a letdown that makes Nick look good at the end of it all. When Nick reaches out to place a shaky hand hesitantly on Noah’s knee, still speaking but Noah can’t make out a single thing through all the whooshing in his ears, Noah feels hope for the first time. He forces himself to focus.

“I’m sorry, I’m listening,” Noah says, and the smile Noah loves shows itself for the first time this visit—a wide grin spreading across Nick’s face although his nerves are still so blatant. Nick reaches out to touch Noah’s face, and he almost wants to shy away but doesn’t. He lets Nick trace a thumb over his cheek, wipe away his tears, just in case this is the last time he can have this.

“I know I still have a lot to do to make it up to you, but you deserve to be really happy, and I want to be the one to make you happy,” Nick says, and there’s such sincerity in his tone that it’s unmistakable. There are tear tracks down his cheeks, too, and Noah knows he means it. “If you’ll let me give it a try. I may not be any good.”

It’s something they’ll have to talk about further. They’ll have to spend a lot of time working through it, and Noah will have to give him a lot of shit, but his focus narrows in on one thing. And that’s having him.

He scoots himself closer to Nick, watches him relax as Noah places a hand on his cheek.

“I would never ask you to unlove her,” Noah says, to which Nick is quick to nod. “Just talk to me. Make a little room for me.”

“I promise I will,” Nick responds, placing a hand over Noah’s on his cheek and the poor thing is still shaking. Noah hasn’t felt so steady in a long time.

He pours his heart into the kiss they share, finding himself praying that they can keep this. That for once, he can get what he wants. He feels that hope grow just that little bit bigger when Nick’s lips move to his cheek, a sigh of relief pressed into the skin of Noah’s face.

“No boy has ever bought me flowers before,” Noah whispers, feeling Nick’s grin spread once more, pulling Noah ever closer.

tags: @concretenoah . @circle-with-me . @darksigns-exe . @ladyveronikawrites . @agravemisstake . @monotoniscreaming . @cookiesupplier . @bngurngheart . @jiizzy . @screamsinsilver . @iknownothingpeople . @anameunmusical . @sitkowski . @baddestomens . @itsafullmoon . @collapsedglasshouses

#bad omens fic #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens rpf #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian fanfiction #noah sebastian rpf #nicholas ruffilo fic #nicholas ruffilo fanfiction #nicholas ruffilo rpf #nick ruffilo fic #nick ruffilo fanfiction #nick ruffilo rpf #noah sebastian x nick ruffilo #noah sebastian x nicholas ruffilo #deathblacksmoke works #fic: dramamine

57 notes · View notes

moxie-girl · 8 days

Text

DRDT EP 13/14 ANALYSIS/THEORIES

I said I'd do this once I collected my thoughts! haha Warning! This is super long…

To start, I'm going to pick apart all the stuff I predicted for ep. 13 (I'll try not to make it too long…)

Levi's Secret

Well. Levi sure did admit to. All that! I think this eliminates any last doubts I personally had about him being the killer… (your honor just because I'm a serial killer doesn't mean I killed that specific person /ref) I really like that he isn't shown as a bad person just because he lacks empathy, and he's actually actively trying to be a good person… the fact that he just admitted his secret because he thought it was the right thing to do is so funny though, there go all my theories lol! (I'm still a little worried about rule 14 though…)

Ace's (Almost) Murder

Yeah!! This is probably what we're gonna spend episode 14 talking about, with murder method and alibis, etc. I still don't think it was Nico though! (I want to say I called that it'd be relevant, but it felt a little obvious…)

The Murder Method

I think we can say this has been all figured out, with the method being exactly what several people much smarter than me all figured out.

The Possible Culprits

Rose was still acting a little odd, but I think Whit on the other hand, despite whatever all that was, is off the hook for now, so my number 1 suspect is still Hu! I'm like 90% sure she was the one who tried to kill Ace, at least, and that's become very important now!

Secrets

Well, we got all the secrets figured out! (Hu :( ) The fandom interpretation was pretty much correct, except for Teruko's (we'll get to that later…) I do hope that after this trial, some of the secrets that are not relevant/haven't really been discussed do get adressed, because I could even see them becoming motives for murder again. But also, I just want the characters to talk about them! (gimme that juicy juicy angst…)

Ace

He didn't re-open his injury or really freak out like I expected, but we got some vulnerability (and a new sprite!) from Ace, and considering next episode is probably gonna focus a ton on him, I'm still expecting at least one of the two to happen…

Teruko

Luckily for Teruko, we didn't have anything unlucky happen to her this episode! But she sure did get her time in the protag spotlight anyway, I'm glad she didn't let the mistake from last episode get her down!

☆ ☆ ☆

Also, my bingo card! I got a bingo!! (ft. my messy tiny notes if you want to read them)

A few of my other bingo predictions I'm still going to hold on to for the next (few) episodes, but now, onto some new stuff!

Final Arei Flashback

Whoooah boy was that scene a doozy. I'm starting to think David's murderous rage towards the blackened at the start of the trial was genuine, because me too, man. I'm really glad Arei got at least a little bit of closure before she died, though! She also had an interesting take on the "good person" role, something that has been very important to this trial thus far and will likely continue to be. (I'm thinking that the killer may have had a "good person"-related motivation for killing, which is why it's the chapter's overarching theme?)

Also, to adress the elephant in the room… EDEN??? Well, no wonder Xander "didn't expect her to attack [him] like that" - and from her expression I wonder if she expected it either - I'm really looking forward to learning more about what, exactly, happened before the killing game that involved them! I didn't really believe in Mastermind!Eden before this, but it's starting to look pretty plausible... (Also Xander is the king of haunting the narrative oh my god lol)

Teruko's Secret

Many of us, myself included, were hoping/guessing/assuming that when all the secrets were figured out, David would reveal that he actually had Teruko's, not Xander's. While that didn't happen, the way he reacted after she claimed "her" secret essentially confirms it, as does a lot of other evidence:

That secret being hers would complete a secret circle of Teruko -> Rose -> Whit -> David -> Teruko and a secret pair of Xander <--> Min, which makes sense considering all other secret swaps are either circles of four or in pairs.

Xander and Min would have each other's secrets logically since neither of them can receive secrets, so theirs would probably be separated from the rest.

MonoTV's line about not knowing whether they're all correct feels like a reminder/a hint that some of the secrets are incorrect, and those two feel like the most likely options.

Teruko apparently has no idea which secret is actually hers, so may have just guessed the one that sounded more like her, except we know she never knew her parents and only had one sibling (as does Charles… I wonder if he'll notice)

EDIT: I cant believe I almost forgot, but I feel like David’s attitude towards Xander (and Teruko) makes more sense with these secrets, because why would he idolize Xander if the killing game was his fault, but he would idolize him if he thought Xander was trying to end the killing game by killing Teruko, the person David now thinks/knows is at fault.

However, since David didn't claim out loud that Teruko was lying, it's likely that this piece of information will become relevant much later in the series, and he'll be keeping it to himself for now.

Veronika and Hu

When did Veronika and Hu make their pact? And how did Hu, presumably the one who wanted to make the pact, know that Veronika had her secret? Also, what on earth do you mean, Veronika, that your secret isn't the worst thing you've done???? This little section with the two of them could just be entirely innocent and a way for the dev to get the rest of the secrets on the board, and let Veronika be a little unhinged as she tends to be, but I get the feeling at least some of this is relevant. (I'm betting on either Accomplice!Veronika or Veronika's actual "worst thing" being important to a later trial…)

David

Ohhhhh, David. I feel like Veronika with how much I want to psychoalanize this guy. He is on the verge of a breakdown, and I can feel it! The question being, of course, whether Arei's death was enough to make it happen this chapter, or whether this is something that's gonna last another chapter or two before coming to a head. My money's on the second option, because I think this trial is about to be about Ace and his impending breakdown :)

I do hope after this trial we do get to see a little more of what David's actually like beyond his facades/the roles he's been playing! Also, as much as I'd like to see David survive and have to deal with the consequences of revealing his "true" personality on live television, I think it's more likely he'll go the way of DR antags trying to end the killing game via self-sacrifice.

(We also better keep a close eye on anyone who tries to befriend or help David in Ch3, because they're gonna die next! /j)

J's Morality

This is a short one, but I just wanted to comment on another analysis I saw point out that J has been one of the most vocal people anytime murder has been brought up. I think that behind her rougher personality, J is a more empathetic person, and/or has very strong morals, making her a narrative foil to Levi now, so I do hope the two of them interact in Ch3!

Whit??

Whit. Whit why do you know so much about hanging??? Being serious though, I saw someone else bring up that his mother might have died by hanging and he researched it afterwards as a coping mechanism or something? That's the saddest possible explanation, but it does make the most sense by far… I honestly don't think that Whit is the killer, because then why would he be being so helpful in figuring out the murder method, but he's still so weird and suspicious sometimes.

Nico!

Even though I still don't think it was Nico (crime scene makes more sense if seen as Nico trying to help Ace, they may have just admitted to it because it was the less confrontational option, next ep is def not the last one and I think it'll be about proving who it was other than Nico, and if you look at Nico's secret quote…) I still do hope they get the chance to get mad! Get mad at Ace! Get mad at David! Get mad at whoever the (attempted) killer was for putting the blame on them! Idk I just want them to have their moment.

☆ ☆ ☆

And finally, here are my new bingo cards for the next episode:

(I can't believe ep14 is gonna be 40 mins + there's a "non-spoiler" thumbnail rn oooooh I'm so nervous)

#godd i missed being in a fandom w weekly episodes + theorizing its soooo fun #drdt #drdt spoilers #danganronpa despair time #hu jing #nico hakobyan #ace markey #arei nageishi #teruko tawaki #david chiem #drdt theory

31 notes · View notes

rosie-b · 4 months

Text

True Blue

Chapter 15: Trust Falls

“Marinette.” Gabriel cut her off with a solemn voice. “Listen to me. Adrien started wearing a ring last evening.”

Marinette blinked in confusion.

“Okay? Is that relevant to Golden Bug checking on civilians?”

“Yesterday, you told Golden Bug to switch his Miraculous with Chat Grise. He would have to stop wearing his earrings and start wearing a ring instead. Just like Adrien did,” M. Agreste exclaimed, raising his voice.

Marinette’s heart stopped.

You can read the rest on AO3 or below!

The akuma battle went flawlessly— from Golden Bug and Chat Grise’s perspectives, at least. Bluewing and Hawk Moth lost again.

Marinette found herself distracted by the akuma throughout the battle, which contributed to their loss. She knew they were the innocent doubts of a civilian, but she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Adrien was right when he accused Hawk Moth of manipulating people into becoming victims of his akumas. Each time the purple butterfly mask flashed over Reverser’s eyes, she remembered the pained look that had flashed over Nathaniel’s face when the same thing happened to him as Evillustrator. She remembered the way another person had seemed to take over his mind on the boat, forcing him to tie her to the railing and threaten her life.

She remembered what it felt like to be just a pawn. And she wondered.

There hadn’t been enough time for Golden Bug and Chat Grise to exchange their Miraculous, so there was no advantage for Bluewing to hide the weakness of her wandering thoughts behind. The battle took a turn for the better when Golden Bug and Chat Grise were each struck by Reverser’s paper airplanes, but despite how indecisive Golden Bug became and how boomingly loud Chat Grise was, making it impossible for her to hide, Bluewing ultimately lost to the power of Lucky Charm.

And her fan got Cataclysmed. Again.

Overall, though, Marinette managed to avoid botching the battle; after all, it was thanks to her distractions that Reverser was able to hit Golden Bug and Chat Grise. (She hadn’t expected the flirty line she’d pilfered from Adrien’s repertoire to have such an effect on Golden Bug, but she wasn’t complaining. It had been satisfying to be the one making him blush and trip over his feet, for once.)

She’d have to try that trick again sometime— if it was appropriate, of course! All she wanted to do was trip Golden Bug up and create an opening for the akuma. Her flirting with Golden Bug was nothing if not professional.

Professional, like Bluewing was when she took the opportunity after her defeat to inform Hawk Moth that Golden Bug and Chat Grise would likely be switching their Miraculous within the next day or two.

“What?” Hawk Moth demanded, his voice booming in the earpiece Bluewing had found in the base of her fan after the Miracle Cure restored it post-battle.

“Golden Bug stopped by my balcony before the fight. He doesn’t suspect me,” she quickly assured Hawk Moth, “He just wanted to make sure I wasn’t in danger of being akumatized because of my nightmare. I pried for a little information,” Marinette said, wincing at the white lie, “And he admitted to feeling like he’s losing to us, even if he wins against the akumas. So I suggested he and Chat Grise switch Miraculous again, to practice in case they ever need to switch Miraculous in a fight again.”

Hawk Moth growled. “Why would you tell him to do that? It sounds like you want him to be more capable of defeating us!”

“I know it does, but I have a plan. Before they can get any practice in, we should attack with another akuma. Not now, in case they still haven’t switched, but before too long. Give them a few days to think it over, and then send an akuma; we can catch them off guard and attack with an advantage!”

Bluewing waited anxiously to hear what M. Agreste would say. It was a risky plan, to be sure, and maybe she was half-motivated by how good Golden Bug looked in black, but she did think her idea was worth a shot! She just hoped that Hawk Moth agreed.

“I see,” he eventually said with a hum. “This might work. I approve, Bluewing, and I appreciate you taking some initiative. With an attitude like this, we may soon have our victory!”

“You’re welcome! I hope we do,” Marinette said.

Yet even as she spoke, doubt coiled in her stomach. Adrien and Golden Bug’s warnings, while probably wrong, wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Very well. Goodbye for now, Bluewing. Be ready to seize our chance.”

Hawk Moth hung up, and Bluewing quickly ducked out of her hiding spot to head home. Her work for the day was done.

__*__*__*__*__

The next day was Saturday, and for once, Marinette had nothing scheduled. So she decided to just relax and try to work through the confusion of the past few days, in honor of Nathalie’s advice.

As she rinsed her dishes after breakfast, though, Marinette found herself frowning as she tried to prepare herself to meet the new secretary on Monday. She still couldn’t believe Nathalie had just quit! Had the stress of working for Hawk Moth finally gotten to her? Had she just not cared about Adrien and Marinette as much as she seemed to?

Whatever the reason for Nathalie’s short-notice departure had been, Marinette couldn’t help but feel a bit of resentment toward her for it. After all, Gabriel, Nathalie and she had arguably the most important jobs in all Paris! What could possibly take priority over saving the world?

Adrien didn’t seem to share the same view, though. If he knew what Nathalie had been helping his father to do, maybe he would have begged her to quit. But then again, maybe he would have finally realized that Hawk Moth and Bluewing were not his enemies.

Marinette was startled to learn that Adrien didn’t think saving his mother was worth using the Wish, but she was still hopeful that he’d change his mind if he knew the circumstance just a bit better! The problem was that he was used to the narrative of Golden Bug and Chat Grise being the heroes. After all, he was friends with the Goldenblogger herself, and no one hated Hawk Moth more than Alya and the other super-fans of the ‘heroes!’

Marinette may have been friends with Alya, too, but she had inside knowledge to protect her from the media’s bias. If only Gabriel had trusted his son with that knowledge from the beginning, they wouldn’t be in such a mess now! Sometimes she wondered if he’d sent Adrien to public school just to keep him away from the house while he was busy with his akumatizations. The thought brought a scowl to Marinette’s face.

Still, Marinette was determined not to let her doubts and anger get the best of her, so she decided to help her parents in the bakery and then watch a movie to distract herself from her emotions. It worked like a charm at first, but eventually, reality began forcing its way in. Still, Marinette had had worse days.

Halfway through lunchtime, Marinette’s phone started buzzing with an incoming call. She didn’t think anything of it at first. When she saw it was coming from Gabriel, she was intrigued, since he normally didn’t contact her outside of the mansion.

She excused herself and answered the call as she made her way to her room.

“Marinette,” Gabriel said in a low voice. “I have some important information to share with you. It’s critical to our success, so if you are not in one already, get to a secure location. Make sure no one can overhear what I am going to say.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. She was in her room now, and no one else was there except Duusu, who was sleeping on one corner of her pillow. They’d seemed pretty wiped out by the trip to Adrien’s room, and so Marinette was letting Duusu rest. She’d asked if anything was wrong, but Duusu said they were fine, it was just the memories of the past decade and a half re-settling in their brain.

Marinette agreed that that was an awful lot of memories, even for a kwami, and was more than happy to leave Duusu alone until they felt better or until Hawk Moth sent out another akuma.

“We’re secure,” Marinette confirmed to M. Agreste. “No one is around to overhear.”

“Good. Now I need you to tell me if Golden Bug has ever contacted you, outside your suit, before.”

Marinette frowned, her stomach twisting. “Sir, if you think I’m secretly working with him, I assure you, I am not. We are enemies.”

“I know that,” Gabriel snapped. “Just tell me, has he ever visited your balcony before? He was comfortable enough talking with you to share his own insecurities and take your advice. So tell me, do you know why?”

“No, I don’t,” Marinette quickly responded. “The first time I met him was during Evillustrator, but we didn’t spend much time together after he rescued me. He did check in on me a while after that, but that was because Adrien asked him to. He thought I was down and wanted to cheer me up. Golden Bug is interested in making sure me and the other civilians are safe from akumatization,” she admitted, feeling her stomach churn. Where was M. Agreste going with this?

“Adrien sent Golden Bug to your balcony? He told you that?” Gabriel sounded stressed by this information, as if his son was supposed to inherently mistrust Golden Bug and never talk to him.

“Uh, yes. Oh, and Golden Bug also broke into my room to wake me up when Sandboy gave me a nightmare. He didn’t leave until he knew I was okay. Then, since he noticed I was still shaken up, he stopped by again today and I gave him the advice to switch Miraculous after a short chat.” She hesitated, still unsure of M. Agreste’s goal with this conversation. “He’s just really friendly, sir. Why are you asking?”

Gabriel exhaled sharply and muttered a curse. “Golden Bug cares about you, specifically, far more than any other civilian. I’ve never heard of him checking in on any other akuma targets. He cares about you, Marinette.”

He sounded upset about that, Marinette noted. But this didn’t sound so unusual to her; checking up on civilians was just something Golden Bug did. As far as she knew, this was normal behavior for him!

“I’m sure he’s checked in on other people before, M. Agreste. What about after the—”

“Marinette.” Gabriel cut her off with a solemn voice. “Listen to me. Adrien started wearing a ring last evening.”

Marinette blinked in confusion.

“Okay? Is that relevant to Golden Bug checking on civilians?”

Marinette’s heart stopped. M. Agreste thought that his own son was his arch-nemesis? That couldn’t be true. For so many reasons, it couldn’t be true! She had to make Gabriel see reason.

Taking a deep breath, she ventured, “Just because Adrien started wearing a ring around the same time Golden Bug and Chat Grise might have switched Miraculous, that doesn’t mean that they’re the same person. Maybe Adrien just likes rings! Or maybe he’s taking inspiration from his favorite hero.”

Marinette’s mind raced as she thought of explanations for this coincidence. It had to be just that, just a trick Mr. Agreste’s mind was playing on him! It was just the stress of being Hawk Moth catching up to him, it had to be! She couldn’t bear to think that she’d been fighting her best friend this whole time. She would have recognized him! Wouldn’t she?

Gabriel made a dismissive noise. “Marinette, have you ever noticed how Adrien usually wears his hair? It’s not a style I picked for him, though I let him wear it since it frames his face well. But he chose it deliberately to hide his ears, his Miraculous,” he hissed. “Adrien is Golden Bug, and that makes him a traitor!”

Marinette flinched at Gabriel’s tone. “No, Adrien’s not a traitor!” she cried.

The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. Gabriel slowly breathed out, just barely audibly, as if to question her audacious outburst.

Marinette, too, was surprised by her own words. But Gabriel was acting unstable! If she didn’t speak up, then who would?

“Adrien’s not a traitor,” Marinette repeated in a quieter voice. “And I’m sure he has a good explanation for his new ring. You should ask him yourself, if you still don’t trust him.”

Marinette could feel M. Agreste’s glower through the phone. “Miss Dupain-Cheng. There is no other explanation I can think of for this. Golden Bug took a personal interest in you, and Adrien has, too. We both know the depth of his emotions, misplaced though they may be. They share the same sympathies, the same childish behavior, and now they share a ring. Your advice prompted our enemy to reveal himself: Adrien is Golden Bug.”

“Okay, well, I still think you should ask him first,” Marinette countered, and her heart beat wildly as she spoke. “I don’t believe they’re the same person. Besides, we still don’t have proof that Golden Bug even has Grise’s Miraculous! We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a minute.

Then Gabriel spoke. “You’re right, we need proof that they switched Miraculous. Fine! I will discover the truth some other way. Thank you for your honesty, Marinette. You may go back to whatever it is you were doing.”

He hung up, and Marinette’s shoulders sagged in relief.

She’d managed to make M. Agreste stop and think. But would it be enough to change his mind? She hoped it was; there was no way Adrien was Golden Bug!

As if her thoughts had summoned it, Marinette’s phone buzzed with a text from Adrien that moment. Curious, she checked what it was and found that he’d sent her a cat meme, a sure sign that he was bored.

Silly kitty, she responded to the text. Adrien sent a few cat emojis, and then a longer text.

Father stuck me with a surprise photoshoot, it read. I’m bored out of my mind and they’re only on styling my hair.

Marinette giggled, then sobered. Maybe this photoshoot was part of M. Agreste’s plan to find out whether Adrien and Golden Bug were the same person? Was he planning to send an akuma to see if Adrien would suddenly vanish from the set?

Teen model problems strike again, she responded. Hang in there! I’ll make sure my parents save some extra pastries to give you on Monday to cheer you up.

Adrien thanked her in his usual, dramatic fashion. She smiled at his effusive texts, happy that they were still such good friends. It meant he didn’t suspect her after the stunt she’d pulled as Bluewing the other day, and that even Dark Cupid couldn’t tear them apart. They were the best of friends, completely the opposite of her relationship with Golden Bug! It was more proof that Adrien was not Golden Bug, regardless of what his father thought.

Marinette spent a half hour cleaning her room, a rare occasion that had been becoming more necessary each day. Her bad mood from earlier was still threatening to return, but the quick interaction with Adrien left her feeling better than she had all day.

She just hoped M. Agreste wouldn’t do anything to spoil her afternoon.

A few minutes later, she received another call from him. Sighing, she picked up, hoping that this time, he was just calling to say she was right and Adrien was not a traitorous enemy withholding a Miraculous from them. (Even if he was Golden Bug, Marinette found herself thinking, that wouldn’t make him a traitor. That particular label could only apply if he’d been told what his father was trying to do from the start and had pretended to side with him.)

“I am going to send out an akuma shortly,” Gabriel brusquely told Marinette. “Conditions are ripe, and with any luck, we will soon have conclusive proof on whether or not Adrien is Golden Bug. That is what you wanted, correct?”

Marinette nodded. “Yes. You have taken into account that Adrien is at a photoshoot right now, right? You know I don’t want any akumas to put him in danger.”

Gabriel sighed. “Just transform, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I am aware of your sensitivities. Rest assured that I am taking the best course of action.”

Marinette frowned. “Okay, sir. Which way should Bluewing head?”

“Head towards the park. I haven’t yet akumatized anyone, but I will have my champion soon enough. Oh, and Marinette?”

“Yes?”

“Now that Duusu’s brooch is healed, I’m hoping you will take the next step to help me. There is no risk to doing it now, so I want you to create a sentimonster to help us win this fight. Without one, we may fail again, but with a sentimonster of our own, we shall achieve victory. You know what you must do, Bluewing. Do not let me down again.”

“Sir,” Marinette shot back in a tight voice, “I told you before, I won’t create a senti. They’re not monsters; Adrien is proof enough of that! Whatever I create would have its own mind and life. But Golden Bug and Chat Grise wouldn’t know that; they’d find and break or control the amok, which would violate the senti’s rights. I know you don’t agree with me, but I do believe that creating a senti for the express purpose of battle would be a misuse of the Miraculous power. I will help with this akuma, but you know the boundaries I set. Don’t make me cross them!”

Silent for a moment, M. Agreste let out a sigh. “Fine, ignore my advice. But I think you will soon agree with me that sentimonsters will be necessary for our victory.”

As M. Agreste hung up, Marinette struggled to hold in a sigh. Why did he have to be so moody? She understood that his fear of Adrien being Golden Bug would affect his emotions, but that didn’t give him the right to try and force her to break her moral code. He needed to calm down and act reasonably.

Besides, he was sending an akuma to the park? Plenty of Adrien’s photoshoots were done there. She could only hope the one he was in now was being shot somewhere else.

Marinette climbed up to her loft, feeling disgruntled.

“Duusu,” she called, leaning over her bed to gently poke them with a finger. “Duusu, wake up.”

Duusu opened one violet eye and slowly rose up from the pillow, stretching and yawning.

“Hello master,” they said. “What is it?”

“Don’t call me master,” she reminded Duusu. “I’m just Marinette!”

Duusu blinked. “Oh, right. You are a nice holder, then. But I don’t have many memories of you talking to me yet.”

Marinette winced. “I wasn’t allowed to talk to you while your brooch was broken. M. Agreste was afraid of what you’d tell me while you were... um, not in your right mind. But now that you’re better, I hope we’ll become closer!”

Duusu smiled. “I’d like that, ma—e Marinette! But I’m still not completely better; my memory is still fixing itself. Why did you wake me up?”

“Ah! M. Agreste called and told me that he’s going to create another akuma. We’re going to need to transform and get out there to help him.”

Duusu hesitated. “A champion? The Guardian must have seen great need to send out a call for Nooroo’s Miraculous to be put in play. Is there some kind of threat to Paris?”

“Yes,” Marinette said. “But it’s not one recognized by the Guadian. He is the one who created it! This time, Hawk Moth and I are working to undo the harm caused by the Guardian’s rules. We’re doing it to save your old holders, like I saved you. But to do that, we need a Wish.”

Duusu’s eyes widened. “What? No! Wishes are dangerous, Marinette! If you don’t know what you’re doing, then... bad things happen,” they said, staring off into the distance. “Bad, bad things!”

Marinette frowned. “Worse will happen if we don’t make the Wish. Has the Guardian lied to you, too? I promise we’re doing what’s best for Paris.”

But something about the words did not feel right to say.

Marinette hesitated, then added, “Or at least I am. The last thing I want to do is cause more harm than has already been done to the world.”

Duusu narrowed their eyes. “Okay, then. Maybe I forgot something else, and I just need to remember what happened. Should we go, then?”

Marinette nodded. “Thank you for trusting me, Duusu. Spread my feathers!”

As soon as her transformation ended, Bluewing headed out to the park. Along the way, she saw a horde of people carrying posters of Adrien from the perfume ad he’d recently starred in.

“What are they doing?” she asked herself as she watched them run down a series of alleys, chasing each other and taking pictures or live streams of what was going on.

Bluewing dropped down into the alley once they’d all passed through, only to meet a latecomer dressed up like Adrien. The similarities between them was so uncanny, it made her take a step back.

“Bluewing! Did you see which way Adrien went?” the boy gushed, seemingly not at all concerned to have run into a person widely considered to be both evil and dangerous.

Bluewing’s heart stopped. Was this the akuma?

“Adrien? No, why? What happened?”

The boy grinned. “He was doing an outdoor photoshoot, and then took a break! Now’s our chance to catch up to him and show some appreciation!”

Bluewing scowled. “Is there an akuma?” she asked. “How did this chase get started?”

Not-Adrien shrugged. “I don’t think so. No, there’s no akuma, it’s just the power of Adrien making us go crazy for him!”

Bluewing watched in disgust as the boy ran off to catch up with the rest of the mob.

“Worse than normal paparazzi,” she muttered.

Pulling out her fan, she opened the screen in its base and briefly checked the news. No reports of an akuma so far. Good. That would have been her last straw with Gabriel, regardless of his concerns about Golden Bug!

Left with a bit of time on her hands, Bluewing wondered whether she should try to make it to the head of the stampede, to rescue Adrien from his predicament. But maybe the akuma would show up soon, and then Hawk Moth would accuse her of ignoring her job and letting Golden Bug and Chat Grise win!

While she hid in a corner to ponder this, another person stepped into the alley by Bluewing. Holding in a gasp, she peeked out to check who this was and how much of a threat they presented to Adrien. This person cast a long, thick shadow, and as they came into view, she could see their muscly build, broad shoulders, and... sideburns?

There was no threat at all! This was the Gorilla, which meant that Adrien was just minutes away from being saved.

Then Marinette saw the deep scowl on the Gorilla’s face, and heard the low growl emitting from his throat. He was not happy to have lost his charge again.

And the akuma flapping around him proved it.

Marinette pressed a hand over her mouth in shock as she saw the akuma wedge itself in between the Gorilla’s clenched fingers, melding with the phone inside his fist. A butterfly outline lit up around the Gorilla’s eyes, and he grunted, stopping his slow march and standing up straight. Raising his free hand, the Gorilla pressed it against his forehead, seemingly trying to resist the akuma’s influence

But Hawk Moth’s symbol stayed where it was, and though the Gorilla shook his head and gritted his teeth, his attempts to lose the akuma were weakening every second.

Horrified, Marinette watched from the shadows as the Gorilla continued trying to fight off the akuma. He looked like he was in pain from the effort, and she was just about to risk revealing herself to help him break out of the akuma’s hold when the Gorilla suddenly stilled, his head bowed low.

Then a purple light flared around him, rippling his appearance and distorting it. When it faded, Hawk Moth’s new akuma stood where Adrien’s bodyguard had.

The Gorilla’s attempts to resist akumatization had failed.

Bluewing struggled to accept what she was seeing as the new akuma stormed off, causing a path of destruction to follow him as he continued his search for Adrien.

Hawk Moth had just akumatized someone against their will. More than that, he’d chosen Adrien’s own bodyguard to akumatize. He was putting Adrien at risk, and he knew it! He had to know it!

Bluewing scowled and took off after Gorizilla. This little game of Gabriel’s was going too far.

As she avoided the hordes of people screaming while they escaped the King Kong-ish akuma, Bluewing took out her earpiece and called Hawk Moth.

“The akuma. You chose Adrien’s bodyguard?” she accused as soon as he picked up. “This can only put him in more danger. I warned you not to do that!”

“On the contrary,” Hawk Moth responded smoothly. “By choosing Adrien’s bodyguard, I am simply making sure we know where Adrien is at all times. He slipped away too easily. Furthermore, he will not be in danger; this is his bodyguard. Gorizilla is the least likely person to hurt Adrien.”

Bluewing growled. “You’d better be right. This akuma is putting you on thin ice, Hawk Moth. Be careful; I’m running out of reasons to trust you.”

Hawk Moth scoffed. “I am the only one who’s bothered telling you the truth, Bluewing. I gave you the power to defend Adrien and you still don’t want to use it, so Gorizilla will keep Adrien safe for you. If you don’t trust me, blame no one but yourself! Now excuse me, I’m in the middle of business of the utmost importance.”

He hung up. Bluewing launched herself after Gorizilla, feeling rage build in her veins as she saw that the akuma had caught up to Adrien during the call. He was wrapped in the akuma’s fist, struggling to free himself.

And yet, he didn’t seem to be hurt. Bluewing stumbled to a halt when she noticed the gentle, but firm, hold which Gorizilla kept Adrien in. He was trapped, yes, but he seemed to be all right.

The sound of a yo-yo zipped through the air, and Bluewing turned to face Golden Bug.

A blue-armored hero with long, dark hair stood in his place.

“Chat Grise,” Bluewing said in surprise. Had Golden Bug taken Marinette’s advice, then?

“It’s Lady Steel,” her opponent snarled. “Tell the akuma to drop Adrien, now.”

Bluewing frowned. “Believe me, I wish I could,” she said. “But I’m afraid the only way this particular akuma will leave him alone is if you give me your Miraculous; you and Golden Bug— er, Chat, both.”

Lady Steel lowered herself into a threatening stance. “Not happening.”

As she clashed with Lady Steel, Bluewing caught Gorizilla’s movement out of the corner of her eye. Civilians screamed and ran as he stomped across the city blocks, over to the Montparnasse tower.

Then, he began climbing it, letting out a challenging roar once he reached the top.

Is Hawk Moth insane? Bluewing wondered. As she faltered, Lady Steel delivered a combo of hits that left her on the ground, wheezing. Lady Steel swung away before Bluewing could get up.

But she didn’t really want to. That would mean she’d have to return to ugly old reality, where Adrien was being dangled off the top of a skyscraper by Hawk Moth’s own akuma, his old bodyguard.

Gabriel had sent another akuma after his son, and he’d done it on purpose, against the Gorilla’s will. She’d seen the mask appear over Gorizilla’s eyes before he climbed up the tower; she knew whose fault it was that Adrien’s life was in danger now.

Hawk Moth was trying to get Adrien to transform, just to prove the theory that he was Golden Bug. And he had no problem with putting Adrien’s life in danger to do that.

Bluewing pushed herself off the ground, energized by her rage. Hawk Moth was not thinking clearly, and he refused to listen to her, when she tried to force him to! He was out of control.

Then again, now that the ‘heroes’ had traded Miraculous, she and Hawk Moth held the advantage. If she ignored Hawk Moth’s ploy, maybe Bluewing could defeat Lady Steel and Black Cat or whatever name Golden Bug would be going by when he showed up. If she played her cards right, then this nightmare could still end today!

Marinette’s heart raced as she approached the Montparnasse, leaping onto its steep side from the nearest building and running up to the top at full speed.

Pulling out her earpiece again, Bluewing popped it in and called Hawk Moth, determined to at least communicate her moves, so that they could coordinate better. She dodged Lady Steel’s yo-yo swipe, but hesitated to strike back. Where was Golden Bug? He should be here by now!

The battle was just getting started, she reminded herself as Hawk Moth picked up. He’ll be here soon enough.

“Bluewing. Why are you calling me again?” Hawk Moth asked.

Bluewing lashed out at Lady Steel with her fan, aiming for her ears. Lady Steel fell back with a grunt, leaving Bluewing with a little room.

“Just trying this thing called communication. Don’t know if you’ve heard of it. I’ll whisper my moves ahead of time so you know what I’m doing, that’s all.”

“Acceptable, I suppose,” Hawk Moth said, and fell silent.

For a few minutes, Bluewing, Lady Steel, and Gorizilla fought, the latter fighter inhibited by his need to keep holding Adrien. From the cage of Gorizilla’s fingers, Adrien yelled encouragement for Lady Steel and tried to distract Bluewing, which worked disappointingly well.

Her advantage was rapidly disappearing, even with an akuma to back her up.

The mask appeared over Gorizilla’s eyes again, and he grunted loudly at Bluewing.

It was a message from Hawk Moth, and she knew what it meant.

“Use your power. Create a sentimonster,” Hawk Moth hissed in her ear. “This fight must end soon!”

Marinette had several issues with his demand, which she’d already told him. Even if she didn’t, she failed to see how a sentimonster would reduce, not increase, the amount of danger Adrien was in!

“No,” she huffed out, lashing at Lady Steel, who caught the fan in her hand.

“Catacly— wait.”

Bluewing smirked and twisted out of Lady Steel’s grasp.

“Care to try that again?” she taunted. “Maybe you’ll have better luck this time!”

Bluewing groaned as Lady Steel’s eyes lit up.

“Lucky Charm!” she called.

“Ha. Better luck. Nice one,” Adrien said with a laugh, and then flinched as Gorizilla squeezed him tighter.

A red and black-spotted flower fell into Lady Steel’s waiting hands.

“A freesia?” she asked, bewildered.

“Pity. I’m not even allergic!” Bluewing remarked as she kicked Lady Steel’s legs out from under her.

Gorizilla brought his free fist down, and Lady Steel moved out of the way just in time. The tower shuddered, and Bluewing was fairly certain she heard shards of glass fall from the windows and hit the ground.

Adrien cried out, and Bluewing and Gorizilla twisted to look at him. He didn’t seem hurt, but it was clear that he was afraid, despite the bravado he’d taunted Bluewing with.

Gorizilla looked upset, and he began to open his fist. Was he letting Adrien go?

Then Hawk Moth’s symbol flashed over Gorizilla’s face, and he grunted as, once again, he fought the akuma’s influence.

“What are you doing?” Bluewing asked Hawk Moth over the earpiece.

He didn’t answer, too busy talking to the akuma instead, and soon, just like last time, Gorizilla lost to the power of the Butterfly. Marinette watched as Gorizilla’s face smoothed out, becoming impassive and devoid of emotion as the akuma took over.

He backed away from Lady Steel, who had used Bluewing’s distraction to sneak up on Gorizilla, and stood close to the tower’s edge, clutching Adrien tightly.

“We still need proof,” Hawk Moth finally responded in a clipped tone. “Get Lady Steel’s Miraculous.”

Bluewing obediently moved toward her opponent, pouncing on Lady Steel and falling to the floor with her. They rolled, fighting for dominance, and Bluewing guided their path away from the akuma. Lady Steel didn’t seem to mind that much; she seemed reluctant to risk running into Gorizilla and startling him into dropping Adrien over the edge.

Bluewing pinned Lady Steel beneath her, ready to make her move for the Miraculous, but her position was too loose. Lady Steel took advantage of her mistake and kicked Bluewing off before throwing her yo-yo at her. Bluewing dodged, but the yo-yo wrapped around her arm, pulling her off balance. She wobbled on her feet, but quickly raised her arm and spun back out of the yo-yo's grip in time to meet Lady Steel’s lunge and keep fighting.

“We do need a sentimonster,” Hawk Moth hissed insistently through the earpiece as Bluewing grappled with Lady Steel. “You know it’s the truth, even if you keep denying it. Well, soon you will see reason, and I will have my proof.”

“Hold on— bit of a problem here,” Bluewing panted, aiming a kick at Lady Steel’s stomach.

Lady Steel caught it with her hands, and shoved Bluewing back and off balance again. The two circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move first, when a sharp cry came from Adrien’s direction.

Bluewing turned in time to see Gorizilla raise his fists up to his head, fighting a command from Hawk Moth once again. Lady Steel took advantage of her distraction to grab the base of Bluewing’s fan, but she couldn’t pull it out of Marinette’s tight grip.

“Adrien,” Bluewing whispered, noting the precarious position he and Gorizilla were in.

His former bodyguard was slipping back under the akuma’s control, lowering his hands from his head. Adrien, still held tightly in Gorizilla’s right hand, was now dangling directly over the edge of the skyscraper. His eyes widened as he stopped struggling to get free, looking down in fear as Gorizilla seemed to relax further.

The purple akuma mask vanished as Gorizilla’s expression calmed, his shoulders falling in relaxation. Bluewing sighed in relief, glad that the situation was back under control. Beside her, Lady Steel let out a shaky exhale. But in front of them, Adrien shivered and closed his eyes.

Gorizilla’s fist had stopped moving, but as Bluewing squinted in his direction, she thought she saw his fingers twitch. Lady Steel saw it, too, and she tugged harder of Bluewing’s fan before giving up and throwing a punch at her face. She wanted to get to Adrien, Bluewing could tell as she reflexively fought back. They both wanted to make sure he was safe. But Hawk Moth had chosen the Gorilla for a reason, right? Gorizilla was only keeping Adrien safe.

Bluewing flipped backwards, out of Lady Steel’s range, momentarily losing sight of Adrien. When she straightened, she lunged towards Lady Steel, but she wasn’t looking. Her attention was on Gorizilla, instead, as his fingers loosened, one by one.

Bluewing froze, unable to process what was happening, as Gorizilla dropped Adrien over the skyscraper’s edge.

For a moment, Lady Steel and Bluewing both watched in horror. As Adrien disappeared from sight without even a scream, Bluewing felt like she’d been punched. The feeling rapidly worsened as what she’d just seen sunk in.

Gorizilla dropped Adrien. He’s going to die, all because of an akuma Hawk Moth promised I could trust! And it was all after Gorizilla received a new command.

Bluewing sank to her knees, feeling like she was going to throw up. How could M. Agreste do this? Hadn’t he claimed to be fighting for his son? Then why would he endanger his son like this? Just to find out whether he was Golden Bug or not?

No! He wouldn’t! This had to be some kind of mistake.

Maybe Gorizilla wasn’t supposed to drop Adrien; maybe he’d been trying to fight the real command and couldn’t and messed up and now Adrien was falling from the top of a skyscraper.

While Bluewing fought off her despair and forced herself to stand up, ready to fight, Lady Steel let out a bellow of rage and charged toward the edge of the roof. She pulled out her yo-yo, readying it to save Adrien, and Gorizilla watched her closely as the mask reappeared around his eyes.

Bluewing sighed in relief. Hawk Moth was probably ordering Gorizilla to let Lady Steel go! Now she could save Adrien. He was going to be okay!

But just as Lady Steel swung her yo-yo out and leapt toward Adrien, Gorizilla reached out and caught her, wrapping her tightly in his fist as he glared first at her, then at Bluewing.

A cry of despair tore from Bluewing’s throat, and Lady Steel screamed, kicking Gorizilla and fighting to free herself from his grasp.

He only squeezed her tighter, pinning her arms down and restricting her movement further.

As Bluewing watched, horrified, the akuma turned to look at her. Hawk Moth’s mask reappeared over his face, and he pointedly looked down, where Adrien was still falling, then at the fan Marinette was holding. The message was clear.

You want to save him? Then make a sentimonster. Now.

The mask vanished, replaced by Hawk Moth’s voice in her ear. “Do it.”

Bluewing shuddered at the spiteful command.

Adrien’s fall wasn’t a mistake. This was Gabriel’s twisted ploy, meant to force Adrien to transform if he was Golden Bug, and to force Bluewing to create a sentimonster to save him if he was not.

Hawk Moth had done this on purpose. There couldn’t be much time left to save Adrien, and yet M. Agreste still prioritized controlling her (and Adrien’s own bodyguard) over letting Lady Steel save his son.

Bluewing’s eyes filled with tears as she ran towards Gorizilla, pleading with broken half-words that made no sense and did nothing to change Adrien’s fate. Could Hawk Moth even hear her? He must see her through the akuma’s eyes, but he did nothing, just forced Gorizilla to keep holding hostage Adrien’s only hope for salvation.

But something about the way Bluewing’s face twisted up as she begged Hawk Moth to change his mind must have affected Lady Steel, because she, too, was watching. And unlike Hawk Moth, she seemed to be listening.

She struggled once more to get free, but only succeeded in freeing one arm. Looking at the Lucky Charm she’d summoned, which lay forgotten on the roof, Lady Steel then looked at her enemy.

“Bluewing,” she rasped out, pinning Marinette with her gaze.

And then, with the one hand she’d managed to free, Lady Steel tossed Bluewing her yo-yo.

Marinette dropped her fan and caught the yo-yo on instinct, feeling confused but realizing the same thing Lady Steel had within seconds.

Today, they shared the same enemy. Hawk Moth had gone too far, and now they fought to save the same boy. Lady Steel couldn’t do it herself, trapped as she was. But with the help of her yo-yo, Bluewing could.

So before Gorizilla could react, she hooked the yo-yo's string around her finger, flung the yo-yo out and down, hooking it on some unseen anchor, and launched herself off the building. The earpiece connecting her to Hawk Moth’s outraged voice fell out as she leaped, dislodged by the force with which the yo-yo tugged her downwards.

As Bluewing fell, travelling much more quickly than Adrien had, she caught sight of a distant crowd gathered on the road, and between her and them was Adrien. He’d twisted around at the sound of the yo-yo, and now he was looking up and Bluewing, eyes wide and full of a fearful kind of hope.

Adrien opened his mouth to say something, but the wind tore it away from his lips before it could reach Bluewing’s ears fully-formed.

They were close to the ground now, and getting closer. But before Bluewing saved herself, she needed to make sure Adrien would be safe, too.

Bluewing fell farther, and the last few centimeters of separation between her and Adrien vanished. She quickly wrapped her arm around Adrien, pulling him close to her as she tossed her yo-yo out again, pulling them forward rather than down.

Adrien buried his face in her neck, and she tested the elasticity of the yo-yo's pull, praying it would work to slow them down enough.

They fell in an arc, passing over the confused, shouting crowd, heading for the next city block over. Again and again, Bluewing tossed out the yo-yo, each time gaining a little more control, slowing their descent even more while they travelled away from the last of the scattered crowd, until finally, she felt safe enough to slowly drop down to the ground, Adrien still tucked securely under her arm.

Immediately, Bluewing pulled back from Adrien and began checking him over, gently touching the area under his arms to see if he’d been bruised when she grabbed him. He stood still and let her, looking down at her with an open yet unreadable expression.

Bluewing let out a shaky sigh and pulled him down into a hug, cradling his head against her neck and tightening her fingers around his hair. He melted into her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing like he never wanted to let go. A wet spot grew on Marinette’s shoulder, but she didn’t mind. It was proof that Adrien was still alive, that she’d saved him, that Hawk Moth had failed.

Her heart broke at that thought, and she pressed herself closer to Adrien as tears of her own began to fall.

Adrien had nearly died. He’d nearly been killed, and it was Hawk Moth’s fault; Hawk Moth’s plan!

He’d lied to Bluewing. He’d promised that Gorizilla would keep Adrien safe, but that wasn’t true. Gabriel had chosen the Gorilla to make sure that his akuma caught Adrien, to keep tabs on him and make sure he couldn’t turn into Golden Bug (not that he was Golden Bug).

Hawk Moth had tried to pressure Bluewing into creating a disposable sentibeing, and when that failed, he tried again to convince her by throwing Adrien from the top of a skyscraper, apparently to see if that would force Adrien to transform into Golden Bug, or at least convince Bluewing to create a senti to save him if he didn’t.

What a mess.

And how much more did Hawk Moth lie about? Marinette wondered as she forced herself to stop crying and focus on the situation she’d gotten herself into.

Adrien had already stopped crying, and now he was the one cradling Bluewing, rubbing her back and humming softly in her ear.

She didn’t deserve his comfort.

“Adrien,” she choked out, pushing herself away from his embrace.

She looked up at him, unsure what expression she’d find on his face. Whatever she’d thought it might be, it didn’t prepare for the soft, tender way Adrien was gazing down on her. A blush covered his cheeks, and Marinette realized that she could feel the strength of his emotions through the brooch on her chest if she concentrated.

She’d never done that before. It felt good.

Adrien’s emotions were as warm as his embrace had been, heating up her chest and filling it with a wave as deep as the ocean. Bluewing closed her eyes, thrilling at the sensation of it, feeling trust and happiness and love radiate from Adrien. It was soothing and addicting and the most confusing thing that she’d ever known.

“You should hate me,” she whispered, opening her eyes to find that she was cradling Adrien’s hand to her chest.

The shocked ‘O’ of his mouth was curving into a smile as he looked down at it.

“You saved me,” he whispered. His voice was hushed, almost awed.

Marinette was happy that she could still hear it. She was happy she’d saved him.

She was very confused as to how a boy who’d seen her as a villain for so long, even after she tried explaining herself, could suddenly trust her now. Could love her. Was this just Adrien’s emotions for Marinette coming through the brooch?

They were deeper than she’d ever dreamed.

“I had to,” she whispered in return. Bluewing let go of Adrien’s hand, letting it drop back to his side. “And you have to go. He’ll be looking for you. Stay safe, away from the battle.”

“Ma— Bluewing, what are you doing?” Adrien asked, and Bluewing felt a ripple of fear and confusion come through the brooch.

“I don’t want to leave you, believe me. But I couldn’t stand it if I let you get hurt! I lo— I mean,” she stuttered, feeling a blush stain her own cheeks red. “I care about you. I’m glad you’re all right. But now, you have to stay away from Gorizilla. I don’t want Hawk Moth to hurt you,” she pleaded.

Adrien looked down at her for a second, his confusion receding, his fear gone.

Then he pulled her into a short hug, turning to press a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you,” he murmured, sending shivers down Marinette’s spine. “I’m glad you did the right thing.”

She swallowed as Adrien stepped back. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

Bluewing watched as Adrien turned to go, before turning to face her again.

Hesitantly, he asked, “Is Hawk Moth going to be mad at you for this?”

Dread shot through Marinette. “Yes,” she said. “He will be.”

“Are you going to leave him? Will you join Golden Bug and Chat Grise?”

Marinette hesitated. “You need to go, Adrien. There’s still an akuma, you know.”

Adrien frowned, and his stubborn behavior sent its echo through her brooch.

“But you will, right? You know the truth now.”

Bluewing felt tears prick her eyes again. “Just go, Adrien. I don’t know what to do.”

Adrien offered a small smile to her as he began to leave. “You will, Bluewing. I know you’ll do the right thing!”

Bluewing felt his assurance, his trust, through the brooch, and a small smile of her own curved her lips.

Maybe she would be able to live up to Adrien’s hopeful expectation. But as it turned out, she never had before.

As Bluewing stood there, considering, the yo-yo Lady Steel had lent her vanished from her hand. She'd had to detransform, then.

I hope she’s safe, Marinette thought, heading off to find a safe spot of her own to detransform. I hope they’re all safe. Especially Adrien.

It had taken a while, but now, she understood why she’d been so devastated by Hawk Moth’s attack on him. Any person being put in danger like that would have upset her, but Adrien...

What she’d felt from him through the brooch wasn’t all that different from what she felt for him. Wasn’t that odd? She’d spent all this time worried about her crush on Golden Bug, and here she was in love with Adrien!

But it didn’t matter now; Bluewing realized that there was a far more important matter to take care of. Gabriel Agreste was not the man she’d once thought he was. He’d called Adrien a traitor with no proof, only baseless suspicions; he was willing to risk killing his son just to prove he was Golden Bug— and he’d lied to Marinette to get her to go along with his plan! He was manipulating her; how much, she didn’t know, but it was obvious that he’d lied about more than just Gorizilla protecting Adrien.

After all, he’d lied about asking for permission to akumatize people. A months-old baby giving informed consent to terrorize Paris? Adrien was right, that was ridiculous!

Hawk Moth had deceived her.

The Guardian. The Wish. How much more had he lied to her about? What about Nathalie; had she quit, or was she fired?

What if he’d killed her?

Marinette’s heart raced as she ducked into a hidden alcove and released her transformation.

“Duusu,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Yes, Marinette?”

Marinette swallowed and looked up, meeting the kwami’s eyes with a determined expression.

“We need to talk.”

#true blue #bluewing au #ml fanfic #rosie-b writing #miraculous ladybug

40 notes · View notes

its-in-the-woods · 22 days

Text

Coyote Head - Part 11 - Screams in the woods

master list

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part9, Part 10,

Pairing: Cooper Howard x Lucy Maclean

Includes many other characters from Fallout

Synopsis: Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!”

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning: Animal/people death, dead animal mutilation, general horror, religious themes, Alternative Universe, Slow Burn, Death, Aging, Family Feuding, Older Man/Younger Woman,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. So you have been warned. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

**Strap in and get ready for a ride kiddos**

Harris and Margie are looking between Cooper and Lucy, the Bible between them. Lucy had brought it over to show them and ask questions about the names on the front page, but she was now being stonewalled. The whole thing felt ridiculous, Lucy was still doubting the validity of any of what was happening.

“I don’t know about these names,” Harris said, looking over the names, his glasses making his eyes look huge. The large man had been on edge since they arrived, his shoulder scrunched body tight.

Lucy blows some air out through her nose, “You said you were lookin’ for the bible, the night me and Cooper got attacked.”

Margie glares at Harris, “Harris, for Saint Peter’s sake, just tell the girl what you know. Or I will piece together what I can, and give her what I know.”

Harris sighs, Cooper looking at Lucy trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Lucy shrugs at him, fiddling with her cup, her fingers itching for a cigarette. It had been a bad idea to start that up while all this stress was happening.

“Margie, you know I was never close with my Dad. Anything he knew about the bible was passed to Tim. Not to me.” Harris was still trying to skirt the subject, fingers twisting around each other as he looked at everyone.

“Oh, horseshit!” Margie hollered, the little woman’s face going red, as she glared at him. Lucy was taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Fine. Fine.”

Margie stood up grabbing a black jar and pouring a tall glass. “None of you get any, 'cause I sure ain’t in the mood.”

Harris, Lucy, and Cooper both cringing back as if being scolded with a belt. Lucy’s heart pounding as she tries to keep herself composed, hoping against hope she gets some answers.

“Now, the MacLean’s have always had secrets. Their crops always good, and cows are always plump. Back in the day before vaccines, they barely ever lost a child. Heck, I barely ever saw any of them get sick.” Margie took a sip of her black drink. “Now we all had theories, all wondered what they were doing. They never cut back more forest than they needed, and always leased at low rates. Yet they wanted for nothing.”

Margie takes a moment to look at everyone, at the table, before she continues.

“Then Albert died, and Tim took over. What Harris won’t tell y’all is that the whole family had been practicing devil magic.” Margie states no venom behind her words. “Bring offerings to this forest spirit, god, whatever. Not for me to judge.”

Cooper fiddles with the edge of his cup, his shoulders moving forward, as he makes himself smaller. Lucy felt her stomach twist, she had never been religious, but calling it devil magic seemed too harsh. Even with the Anton Lavey quote in her Grandpa’s handwriting.

“Whatever Tim did, it worked. But your Grandma was raised in the church. I loved Shirley and she put up with a lot of stuff. When Tim wanted to bring Hank into the fold.” Margie looked over at Harris. “She said no. Said all of it had to stop, wasn’t going to be a part of it passing down.”

Harris shifts, taking his glasses off and putting them on the table. “As soon as Tim stopped, things started to go south. It wasn’t instant. It was little things, minor flooding in a field that had never flooded before. Seeds not taking as well as they should. Losing more calves than normal.”

Margie nods, letting out a sigh, she got up and brought some glasses over. Pouring small amounts for each, before sitting down, still glaring at her husband as he speaks about his family.

“We wrote it off as a bad year.” Harris sighs, fiddling with the cup but not taking a sip. “But it kept getting worse, and worse. Blanche kept telling Harris that he needed to start doing the offering again.”

Lucy took a sip of the black drink, it was bitter, but also strangely sweet, most likely gooseberries.

“Shirley kept saying no, and then Blanche died.” Harris swallows, “Found her lying right by her chickens.” He finally takes a drink, wincing at the sweetness. “All her chickens were gone, and the thing had taken her eyes.”

Cooper looks pale as he stares down at his cup, Lucy finishing hers in a quick swig. She rubs her hand along his knee hoping to help ease him. The thought of her great grandma laid out dead by her prized chickens was horrid.

“So, Tim decided it was time to start up again.” Harris says, “Shirley was beside herself, thought her husband had lost it. “

“But it worked,” Lucy spoke, “Things got better, crops grew, cows birthed easily, no one got sick anymore.”

Harris nods, finally sipping the drink, “I didn’t want to believe it either. How could bringing a loaf of bread, or bundle of herbs, make the ground seem so much richer.”

“Why didn’t you tell Lucy?” Cooper interjects, fingers running over the rim of the glass in several circles.

Harris leans back, taking another small sip of the liquid, Margie pouring everyone a little more of the makeshift brew.

“Tim said it ended with him.” Harris finally spoke, “When he came to tell me he was dying.” The man looked out into his yard, eyes glassy as he spoke. “He was different, it was the first time I’d seen him look so content with life. Tim kept going on and on about how it was finally going to be over. That he would finally be free, the whole family won’t have to worry anymore.”

“We should have told you Lucy, should have been more forward about the whole situation. But Tim was adamant it was over,” Margie adds, Lucy feels a cold spread of anxiety spill from her ribs out into her stomach.

“But then we found the coyote head, us being attacked in the trailer,” Lucy states, “But you still kept it from me.”

“I didn’t think you’d be ready for this, especially after what happened. We wanted to give it some time. So you could heal before we dropped the family past on you.” Harris replies, reaching to squeeze Lucy’s hand. She pulls away, a feeling of betrayal still sitting tight in her chest.

“You’ve barely been here two months,” Margie states trying to calm the room. “We know now, and we can help make it right.”

Lucy shakes her head, “We don’t even know what we need to make right.” She slides her chair backward. “We are going to go help John this afternoon. After that, we should all sit down and go over the journals and bible together, maybe?”

Harris’ brows furrowed, “Lucy, I don’t think it’s wise to go in there. I know you want to help-”

“It’s my land, my property, my problem,” Lucy states as she stands up, “I am not sitting on the sidelines anymore.”

***

Lucy, Cooper, John, and Bert stand at the edge of the forest, Lucy had done up a crude map of the trails she could mostly remember. She had photocopied them so each person had one, radios, and compasses were passed around. Each ATV was checked over making sure fuel tanks were full. Guns carefully strapped into place, along with extra clips. Lucy hoped they wouldn't need them. On top of that they strapped on crates with rope, knives, tools, and first aid kits, along with anything else they might need.

“So we each take a trail, stick to the path, mark it as we go so we can find our way out. The yellow fence line is parkland, we won’t go past that. Barbwire is either John’s land to the west or Cooper’s to the east. If you make it that far there should be gates that you can use to circle back up to the road. See anything-” Lucy stops her speech for a moment collecting herself. “I mean anything, weird, strange, cow, whatever, you radio. There is no point in any of us getting hurt. Sunsets around nine, but we should try to get out by no later than eight.”

The men nod, at her words, Lucy surprising herself by how calm and level-headed she felt. Not to mention the men listening to her, and not arguing with what she had to say. It felt odd being the one in charge, but this was also her land. It didn’t feel like hers, it didn’t feel like anyones, but if there was anyone who needed to be held accountable for it it was Lucy. She was tired and scared, but she was not going back down, not now.

“The radios we have should cover the whole area without an issue, if you run into issues and can’t get a hold of us come back here,” Cooper adds, making sure everyone nods. “All the families have been told if they don’t hear from us by nine to send emergency crews in.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Bert chirps, looking out towards the gaping mouth of the forest.

Lucy inwardly cringing, she and Cooper had decided not to fill in the others about the supernatural possibilities. Having people scared would help no one. Lucy wasn’t even sure she fully believed any of it. Was something really haunting the woods? Was her grandfather really feeding it? Had it taken her Dad?

“It’s just precaution,” John adds, peering towards their destination and waking Lucy from her musing. “Never know, better safe than sorry.”

“Well, let’s get going.” Bert smiles, jumping onto the four-wheel, he starts it up and takes off towards the trees.

Lucy feels her heart clench in her chest, a low ringing buzz just above the sound of the engine. She takes off after Bert, heading down southeast, Cooper goes directly east, Bert goes southwest, and John goes west. The trees had fully flushed out, leaves defusing the light, and the trails were clear despite having not been used much. She rode at a good clip, fast enough to keep moving but slow enough to take in what was around her.

The radio sits on her handlebars crackled occasionally, Lucy wanted to stop every time it made a sound, but made herself continue. Every shadow, discoloration, and movement had her head turning. The further she went, the darker the place seemed to get. The hair on her arm starts to stand up, even under the heavy sweater. She couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, feeling like something was following her. Something was watching her, just on the other side of a tree or bush.

Lucy stops as the radio crackles, her heart pounding in her chest, waiting to hear anything. When nothing came Lucy went to start up again, when a twig snapped to her right. Head turning almost painfully fast to look that way, nothing. Another snapped behind her, hair prickling at the back of her neck. Turning slower this time, Lucy nearly screams, as a black shadow slinks away behind a tree.

Her hand is on the radio now, tensed up in a panic, her shoulder gathered up against her ears. With no other movement, she goes to turn the machine back on when it crackles.

“This is John, did someone else go directly west?” John’s voice crackles across the forest. Lucy grabs her compass from her pocket seeing that she is still pointing mostly southwest.

“Lucy here, I am heading southwest,” Lucy replies, Bert comes over the radio saying that he is also mostly south. It was a tense moment before Cooper replies that he had turned so that he was going northeast.

“Alright, umm, guess we’ll call that weird then. I am gonna start heading up the northwest side towards the gate.” John radios, before it goes silent again. She couldn’t help but hear the hesitation in his voice, whatever was out there had spotted them.

Lucy takes one last look around her, eyes narrowing in on the grey flesh of a stripped tree stump. She gets off her ATV and walks towards it, her heart thudding against her ears. The image of a fresh coyote head on top of stripped wood flashed in her mind. As she walks up to it she can see bones lying around. If you weren’t looking for it, it would have just blended into the forest. She stops a yard or so from it. The tingling feeling of anxiety rushes down her neck like cold water.

Turning around in a full circle Lucy could just see further another stump. She would bet money that it was also surrounded by bones. Walking quickly back to her ATV she pulls out the map and marks it approximately. How many were out here? Was this like the stumps that were in the bible? The illustration had shown sigils or ruins, but now they were worn from years of wear.

She turns her ATV on and continues southeast, eyes peeled for any other out-of-place signs. As she drove she would stop and note down other stumps, if she went and stood at one looking west she could see all of them in what was becoming a half-moon shape. Four total, Lucy’s gut feeling was there would be thirteen, one for each month. Placed on purpose, spaced evenly, all surrounded by bone. Every single one made her skin crawl and made her wonder if she was losing her mind.

The radio crackled again, Lucy stopping immediately and listening. More crackling, muffled noises, then nothing. Her heart lurched, stomach twisting as she waited for any word.

“I think-” Interference, “A cow,” It was Bert, “Least what’s left off it.”

“Where are you?” Lucy asked, already turning the machine around so that she could head in the right direction. She’d start to head west and hope that she could find Bert.

“If you head to the main trail-” Static, Lucy fires up the ATV keeping the radio turned up. “Southwest-” Lucy strained to hear, “-go directly south.” His voice seemed softer and softer and Lucy roared towards him. “next fork - west“

“Roger, roger,” We are heading your way, Cooper's voice rang over the radio. She felt her heart clench knowing that he was not far away, it was both comforting and concerning.

“Shouldn’t be far,” John added, Lucy's heart thundering in her chest, fingers aching from holding onto the handlebars so tightly. She kept looking over her shoulder, searching for something in the woods she couldn’t see. The bumps and jumps of the machine propelled her forward. The trees opened into the middle clearing, Lucy skillfully following down southwest. Behind her she could make out the roar of another engine, looking back she could just make out Cooper’s white hat.

It was a comfort knowing that he was close behind her, hitting the fork she went south. Her radio crackling but nothing, she continued along the path ducking past brushes as they slapped towards her. Mouth dry as she tries to urge the thing forward. A burst of static echoed louder than the previous almost stopping Lucy.

“HELP,”

Lucy grabbed the walkie doing her best to continue to drive one-handed. “BERT.”

“It’s here,”

“What what is it,” John calls out over the radio. “I am not far, Bert. Hold on.”

“Oh god,”

“Oh god.”

Lucy clipped the walkie back on, riding as fast as the old ATV would go, she could hear Cooper not far behind her. As she hit the fork to head west a scream rang out, Lucy felt her ears ring. Her eyes blurring as the world spun, she blinks several times trying to make her eyes work.

“Bert, Bert,” Cooper called over and over, Lucy hearing his voice behind her and in front of her as they roared towards their destination.

Lucy spotting John flying up coming to join the west trail, his hat had been lost somewhere along the way. Lucy slows down to let him go ahead, Cooper now only a dozen yards behind her. Bushes and trees slap her face as they road toward Bert should have been.

As they came up over a hill Lucy had a split second of red lights warning her as she skidded to a stop just beside John. The man was off his ATV, gun in hand as he made his way over to the empty four-wheeler. Lucy parked hers, grabbing her gun and extra clip in her pocket. Cooper is skidding to a stop a moment behind them, the three of them gathering at the empty ATV. There are skid marks behind the machine, a few scuffs in the ground, and his gun was gone.

“Bert,” Lucy calls out, his name echoing through the tree, her voice bouncing around like she was in a funhouse. “Bert! Come on, answer us!”

“No sign of the Bert, or the cow,” John says, looking around the place, all of them naturally staying close to each other. Lucy faces one way, and Cooper faces the opposite of her. A perfect triangle as they move. “No sign of anything really.”

Cooper moves over, Lucy watching him as he walks past the ATV. Her eyes spotted what he was looking at, another stump, stripped of bark. Some of the symbols were more pronounced on this one, almost looking fresh.

“Is that another stump?” Lucy asks, moving towards where Cooper is now crouching down. He’d take out a knife to uncover some bones that lay covered in dirt around it. Lucy reaching out to trace over the ruins, the ringing in her ears stopping as she followed them all over the stump.

Cooper looks up, his hazel eyes barely visible under the shadow of his hat, “I saw some when I was driving around. All had bones around them like this.”

“W-w-what are those?” John’s face was pale, his hand fiddling with the stock of his gun. He had walked over to stand near the other two.

“I am not sure. I don’t remember seeing this many before.” Lucy replies, trying to keep her voice level and calm. Her mind played over all the different illustrations of symbols, people standing around a stump. The face of the coyote flashed behind her eyes.

“But these are old. Like really old.” John points out, jumping when a twig breaks, his breath is ragged as he looks around.

Lucy and Cooper both stand looking towards the noise, Cooper swiftly pocketing the knife to replace it with the rifle. They all stand for a moment, the silence swallowing them.

“Bert! Bert!” Lucy calls out again, hoping that it was him walking back towards them. “Where are you? Call out so we can come get you.”

John was now backing up towards his ATV, Lucy could see that he was shaking as he looked out towards the forest. It felt darker, much darker than it should have been for mid-afternoon. It was as if all the light was slowly being sucked out from around them.

“Somethin’s wrong,” Cooper murmured, making Lucy jump as his hand clasps her shoulder. He was starting to push her towards the four-wheelers, she could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest.

“We should call Harris,” Lucy says the dread had now seeped into her bones. Cooper was right, Bert wasn’t replying and there was no sign of him.

“No signal this deep in.” John replied phone in a shaky hand, “Probably thirty minutes from anywhere that would have a signal.”

Another twig snap had them all whirling, again facing nothing but trees and bushes.

Lucy

Ringing splitting Lucy’s head as her name came spilling from every direction. Double over she covers her ears, trying to get it to stop. Cooper is in the same position, forehead creased as he groans. John stares at both of them as he stands perfectly still, eyes wide, phone dropping to the ground as his mouth falls open.

Cooper

John swings around, clearly hearing what they are. Lucy slowly tries to right herself, her eyes blurry as she tries to focus. Cooper leaning heavily against the stump, the forest is spinning past them. She falls and hits the ground, her body screaming at her to keep moving but it feels like someone has put a lead blanket across her body.

“John,” Lucy croaks, trying to get his attention. He looks like he is miles away, a small pin prick in the distance. “Go, get Harris.”

John is stooping down behind herm helping Cooper up. “No, I am staying with you.” He is beside her now, his hands under her arms as he hoists her against the machine.

Lucy - Cooper - John

They all stood now, heads as clear as possible the sound of their names coming from all directions. The echoing impossibly around them as if it was coming from hundreds of different voices, tones, and places. The place is so dark they might as well be in a cave, not able to see more than a few yards ahead of them. The wind picking up moves trees above, sending shivers across all of them, the only noise beside their panting breath.

“That-what- what the fuck,” John states, eyes wide as he looks around. Lucy barely kept herself standing, her legs wobbly as the voice kept screaming their names

“Lucy!” Bert’s voice carries, this time sounding less like static ringing and more human.

Lucy moves towards it, her feet moving without thought, Cooper immediately grabbing her arm. “Lucy, we can’t. We don’t know what that is.”

“It’s Bert,” Lucy protests, trying to move away from him, Cooper’s grip only tightening further. He was right, she knew that, she knew it didn't sound right. Yet she wanted to go to them, she needed to go to them.

“Lucy, think about this. We need to stop and think.” Cooper demands, somehow breaking through the fog. “We gotta stick together. Can either leave and get help, or we all go look for Bert.”

A screech breaks through the air, right in front of them as John’s body falls forward, something grabbing his ankle and starting to drag him backward. Lucy is stunned for a moment before she jumps forward, gun abandoned as she chases after John. His face rubs against the dirt hands desperately trying to grab onto anything and everything he can. A shot rings out in the air, Lucy instinctively duckling down. Her knees hit the ground and she rolls for a second before she is back up. John continues to scream as he grabs for purchase onto a tree.

Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!” Her hands find his, his eyes wide as he screams.

Part Twelve

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

*I I know I know cliff hangers, but what's a horror read without a cliff hanger?

*want to be on the tag list? add your name below

@toogaytofunctiondangit , @hiddlebatchedloki @whatsorceressisthis @dichromaniac @autumncryptids

@therealcozyaxoltol

24 notes · View notes

prettyboykatsuki · 3 months

Text

extended authors note for another name for homesick

hey...lmao

first of all. i want to give a shoutout again to @ficsforgaza for hosting this event and giving me and my followers a nice way to fundraiser through our community. i just wanted a place to promote them and encourage people to donate and participate in the event. thank you for your hard work!

second, i'm writing this preemptively. i.e. before the fic is even finished. the way things are going right now, i have no doubt that i'm going to need some kind of authors note

this fic got more serious than i thought it would. which yeah, makes sense. i initially just planned on making this a horny fic with a little hint of bi4bi undertones but somewhere along the lines it started being about queerness and growing up on the whole.

there is definitely some sexism and homphobia relevant to omegaverse lore in here. there is also a lot of references to puberty.

specifically, though - there's a scene where reading experiences sexual harassment while very underage. and i felt that needed more context.

the scene itself is reader being on the train home while experiencing their first heat and their feelings of disgust in relation to their body's instinctual response to touch / sexual harassment by an older alpha.

i wondered if i should include this scene a lot before writing it but ultimately, it felt like betrayal to this readers struggles and characterization to not as it shapes their life and worldview.

the scene itself is not strictly necessary for you to read. it's intended to be more true to life in a way i know might be triggering so i will include an indicator for the scenes stop and start. but i wanted to give some explanation before that.

in general, i hope this fic doesn't upset anyone. i write a lot of incredibly dark content but it's very different imo to be writing something that handles such serious real life subject matter and i wanted to at least try to handle it with some level of delicacy.

it's really not my strong suit, nor is world building. im actually so dogshit at both its hilarious so imagine my horror and dismay when this fic won the poll. fdkjfskjd.

either way, i wanted to at least try to handle these themes with some care and i hope at the very least you can give me benefit of the doubt when it comes to how i've written.

this fic isn't meant to dismiss labels, but rather to emphasize that labels come secondary to acceptance and that love takes a lot of different forms. and i hope to any young queer people who don't full know which way they land that you're not obligated to put yourself in a box.

anyways. thank you for letting me yap and i hope you enjoy the fic. if nothing else, i hope the porn is hot.

love,

fang.

#aristotle.txt #keep tag #awfh.fic

38 notes · View notes

karuvapatta · 6 months

Text

so hey, remember when I said I wasn't going to write any more Jonelias? but then things happened, we started chatting about a fantasy AU on the Jonelias discord server, and, uh. I wrote a short ficlet set in said AU...?

***

Jon knocked on the door, once, twice; his hands shook slightly, so the rhythm of it was unpleasantly erratic. Should he knock again? He didn’t want to appear rude or impatient, but he also didn’t want to risk being too quiet. If the man didn’t hear him, if he thought Jon was running late—

“Come in.”

He took in a steadying breath and pushed the door open. Immediately he stepped into a patch of sunlight, streaming directly from the huge, ornate window on the opposite wall. He blinked, narrowed his eyes; the desk was silhouetted against the bright sky, and it took him a moment to adjust.

“Mr Sims, I presume?”

“I—yes. Jonathan Sims. Er.” Jon cleared his throat. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Master Bouchard. It’s an. An honour.”

“Oh, the pleasure is all mine,” Master Bouchard said smoothly. “Please, take a seat.”

He gestured at a chair in front of his desk. Jon took a few careful steps in its direction, and then sat down on the edge of the seat, taking care not to slouch. The bag he forgot to take off his shoulder dangled awkwardly. He had to shuffle around to remove it, and first placed it on his lap, before setting it down on the floor next to the chair. His hands were sweaty; he wiped them off on his trousers before he could think better of it, and then attempted to smooth the resultant creases in the fabric. His left cuff rode up an inch, so he tugged it down, and made sure it laid snug and secure around his wrist. Only then did he manage to look up.

Master Bouchard was watching him, the corner of his mouth twitching momentarily before settling into a polite smile. His steel-grey eyes flickered down to Jon’s hands, no doubt noting all the nervous gestures. His gaze felt—weighty. Not unsympathetic, just—

Jon swallowed.

“Shall we begin, then?” Bouchard asked. “Your resume is quite impressive for one so young, Mr Sims. Five publications across two journals…”

“Three,” Jon said. “I mean—I wrote three articles. For the other two, I was a co-author… mostly editorial input…” Again, he tried to clear his throat. He shouldn’t have interrupted a Master; he should have kept his mouth shut. Damn.

But Bouchard didn’t seem frazzled by the blatant disrespect. He opened a file on his desk – Jon’s file. Jon’s resume, his letter of recommendation, a printout of the articles, his diploma… Bouchard skimmed the contents. Had he read them before? He must have had. Or maybe he didn’t have time in his busy schedule to review every single applicant. But, then again – why invite Jon for a meeting?

“Why do you want to study Divination, Mr Sims?” Bouchard asked.

This question, Jon knew to expect. He managed to recite his well-rehearsed answer with no incriminating pauses or unnecessary repetitions. Finally.

“What about practical spellwork?” Bouchard asked.

Jon paused for a second. “I don’t—I’m not really well-versed in that area. I prefer theory to practice.”

“Did you take any of the relevant courses?”

Damn. Damn.

“I, uh,” Jon stammered. “I took one semester of the introductory module. It was—well—it wasn’t a subject I wanted to pursue.”

Let that be it, Jon thought. Obviously it came up; it had to come up. Very few people enrolled at the Institute to study theory.

“Can you show me what you have learned?”

“I didn’t learn anything,” Jon said sharply. He flinched, then, at the tone of his voice, and at the implications – that he was too lazy or too stupid to learn. It made him look exceedingly unprofessional. “I meant—I don’t see how this is relevant to the position I’m applying for,” he amended. Then, hastily: “Master.”

“A peculiar question,” Bouchard said. “You yourself wrote several paragraphs on the potential interference of errant magic on pre-existing enchantments.”

“I do not use magic,” Jon said. “I won’t be causing any interferences.”

“Even so. Accidents happen.”

“They won’t.” Jon grabbed his sleeve and shoved it upwards, exposing his wrist, and the thin, silver bracelet encircling it, with its webbing of faintly pulsating strands. “Whatever magic I might accidentally use will be fully suppressed. It’s not going to be a problem.”

Bouchard was watching him attentively, gaze flickering between the bracelet and Jon’s face. He didn’t seem surprised; was it written down somewhere in Jon’s file, then? Or did he have some other means of detecting such objects? Some mages were reportedly able to sense the subtle alterations in a person’s aura, the miniscule difference between absent and suppressed magic, even without the relevant spells or implements. But Jon could hardly believe those reports. They seemed rather far-fetched.

“May I?” Bouchard asked. His meaning became clear when he leaned forward and extended his hand, palm up, inviting. Jon examined it, warily. Was he expected to remove the bracelet? Bouchard wasn’t expecting him to do something that foolish, did he?

It seemed rude to keep him waiting, though. And Jon was on thin enough ground as it was. So, slowly, he placed his hand on the desk, within range of Bouchard’s touch.

He couldn’t help flinching in his seat when the man’s long, slender fingers brushed his bare skin. Bouchard’s hand was warm, textured with callouses, scars and imperfections; its movements were clever and purposeful, as he examined the bracelet. He wasn’t using magic, as far as Jon could tell. Or maybe he was, and it was too subtle for Jon to notice.

“Remarkable,” Bouchard said under his breath.

Jon slipped his hand from the man’s hold and drew back, tugging the sleeve down, nearly to the level of his knuckles, to make sure the thing was completely covered. He didn’t want to meet Bouchard’s gaze. Mostly, he just wanted to go home.

#jonelias #the magnus archives #elias bouchard #jonathan sims

32 notes · View notes

paingoes · 3 months

Text

Destroyer - Moonshine

(Masterlist)

dont tell the others, but this is my favorite chapter by far

(Content: fainting, nausea, overexertion, alcohol, crying)

==================

Things were ramping up quickly. The missions now came almost back to back, the temporal limitations of space the only obstacle to their continuity. Delta was out in the field at least once a week. Not every job was as dramatic as the deadly laser light show had been, but they were hitting critical targets for the Empire. After the display at the mech site, money suddenly flowed in. Life aboard the Thorn grew a bit more bearable for the soldiers, now getting reacquainted with the affluence that followed the Empire. Simon had been given better tech to train with and was putting it to good use. Delta snapped the heads off of the dummies without a second thought, perhaps dangerously overtrained in his responsiveness. All the excitement was getting to him. He clenched his fist to destroy the next test-dummy and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor.

“Alright, that’s enough for today,” Simon tilted him onto his side, in recovery position. Delta winced as the shock wore off, a dull headache replacing it. Once his head had stopped spinning uncontrollably, he carefully sat up, trying not to vomit from the exertion. Simon sat cross-legged beside him, offering him a juicebox and some crackers. Anything heavier would’ve just added to the nausea.

“How are you feeling, champ?” Simon asked, nudging the juice closer to him, “Feels like we’ve hardly had time to talk recently.”

“I’m okay, sir,” Delta murmured. His head was between his knees, waiting for the rest of the vertigo to drop off, “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Yeah, but with all the changes, y’know. I wanted to check in on you,” Simon leaned in, trying to study his expression, “Emotionally, I mean. See if you were adjusting okay.”

“I’m stable,” Delta said. This was always the answer that got doctors to leave him alone. They’d pry, sometimes, trying to get a more detailed picture of his mental state. It was all just to evaluate his fitness. He would never give them reason to doubt it. He was stable - and you didn’t have to worry about him breaking down or going postal or anything like that.

Simon looked disappointed. He pulled his bag closer, retrieving a medium-sized paperback from it. The cover was a deep red. He offered it to Delta, who immediately began to flip through it.

“It’s a treatise on empire and succession. I know it’s not what you’re usually into, but it seemed relevant, with all that’s going on right now. I thought you might appreciate it,” Simon shrugged, “I have more once you’re finished with that one. I know you read fast.”

“Thank you, sir,” Delta said softly, placing the book beside him. His eyes flitted up, sensing movement from the balcony. A few people had entered, he didn’t know how long ago. They were watching him. Simon noticed too, a tired grin appearing on his face.

“Just some seniors. Probably want to see what all the fuss is about. Finish your meal, kid. We’re not giving free shows.” Simon patted him on the back. Delta flinched at the touch, then felt ashamed at having done so. He sipped at the juicebox pensively.

============

Delta waited outside of Paris’s door. It’d been a minute with no response, but he heard motion inside. He lightly rapped his knuckles against the steel door, stepping back just in case.

This time, Paris opened it immediately. “The fuck do you want?”

There were other people in the room with him, talking loudly amongst themselves, laughing.

“You said-“

Paris didn’t even wait for him to finish, “I’m busy. Take the day off.”

The door slammed shut in his face.

============

This was fine, really. It gave Delta a chance to rest, catch up on the books he’d been reading. But he found himself strangely restless, wanting to pace along the floors of the ship. It was so much busier than it had been a few weeks ago. When he stepped into the central hub, a wave of déjà vu washed over him. There were the Emperor’s old generals and commanders, each of them orbited by their respective factions. He hadn’t seen most of them since his childhood. He was surprised Paris had even allowed them onboard.

Delta was content to observe from the shadows. Most people went out of their way to avoid him, but with his hair tied up and baggy clothing on, he was not so immediately recognizable. He hovered close to the group that belonged to the General Nezu. Though he wasn’t present himself, Delta recognized many of the staff’s faces. Nezu had worked particularly close with the Emperor, especially towards the end. His people had been spread out across several tables, but as their lunchtime drew nearer, they began to disperse. They localized closer and closer to the leftmost exit of the workspace. Delta noticed the laptop left unguarded.

He didn’t know why he did it. He’d never considered himself particularly sneaky, but then again, he’d never really been given the opportunity. With nobody looking, he used a soft aura of telekinetic energy to slide the laptop off the desk and into his hands. He hid it on the inside of his hoodie, then walked silently and swiftly back to his room. He propped up his chair in front of the door so that it couldn’t be opened from the outside. He put out a little pulse, searching for hidden cameras, making sure none had been installed since the last time he checked. Nothing. He knelt down beside the bed and opened the laptop hinges up, just a little bit, enough to tape up the front camera. Then he opened it up completely.

It hadn’t autolocked in the time it took to reach his room, thank god. The first thing he did was to disable the passcode lock. He’d never been able to use a personal computer before, but Simon had shown him how it worked when he was curious. He’d even given him books on it. Delta sat up abruptly, moving over to his desk. There was a small flash drive in the bottom drawer. He had nabbed it a few weeks ago, but he hadn’t been able to see what was on it until now. He took the compsci textbook out of its pile, sending the others in it crashing to the ground. He startled at the noise, but rushed back to the laptop to finish the mission. He slammed the drive into the USB port, but it didn’t enter. He flipped it over, trying the other side. Still nothing. He flipped it a final time and it slid in smoothly.

The flash drive itself was mostly empty. There were a few folders he would check out later, but for now, he was focused on copying everything the laptop had onto it. It gave him an estimate of 45 minutes. While he waited, he looked through the windows already opened on the screen. One of them was the Empire portal. Another, the site of one of their ship venders. The last was an email inbox with a financial spreadsheet pulled up. Delta ripped out one of the blank pages from the textbook, jotting down the username and passwords of the websites that were open. He saved the email and the password. Then, he clicked around on the browser, searching for other websites with info he could scrape up. But he didn’t know how to navigate the browser intuitively and began to get scared of triggering some alarm. He looked anxiously at the countdown, waiting for the rest of the files to load.

Delta ejected the drive, taking a deep breath. He hid it back in the drawer, then turned the laptop off. He flipped it over, feeling the device with his hands, letting his powers give him a sense of the small mechanisms inside of it. He was now glad for the precision practice; it let him swiftly unscrew the bottom of it and begin to disassemble the computer’s guts, searching it over for any signs of a location tracker. When he found none, he gave a sigh of relief, disconnecting the laptop’s battery. He stored them separately, hiding them in a bag beneath his mattress. Then he sat on the mattress, innocently, trying to look calm. It was enough for one day. His hands were shaking too bad to even type, he wasn’t going to push it anymore. He took the book Simon had given him, rolling onto his side to read it.

============

It was well past dinner time when he finally looked up, remembering where he was. Though he wanted to stay in his room, he figured he should probably go eat something before tomorrow. They sprang missions on him all the time now and they were a lot more miserable if he was undereating the day of. He removed the chair from the door, slipping out into the hall.

He was just outside of the kitchen when he heard a soft sobbing. He did a double take, looking down the hall. In one of the offshoot corridors, all the way down by the end, a figure was collapsed against the wall and crying into their hands. With a start, Delta realized it was Paris. He was piss drunk.

Delta kept walking. The institute he’d grown up in had nurtured certain traits in its students, and empathy was not among them. Nor was excessive emotionality valued in the empire. He filled up his bag with fruit and granola bars, ready to hide out in his room the rest of the night. But as he exited and saw Paris quiet, now toppled over, he felt a small twinge of concern. He hesitated, weighing over the options in his head. Nobody would know if he left, least of all Paris. He wouldn’t even remember any of this in the morning. But it wouldn’t do good to have the prince passed out defenseless, on a ship swarming with his enemies. Delta rolled his eyes, readjusting the bag on his shoulder before heading down the hall.

“Your Highness?” Delta bent down beside the still form, prodding him gently, “Paris?”

Paris groaned. His face was puffy with a drunken blush. Tear tracks were still visible. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

“Leave me alone,” he whined.

“Alright,” Delta stood up.

“Waitno. Please,” Paris said, his speech slurring. He sounded so sad. “Mm sorry. Don’t go.”

He reached a hand out to grasp Delta’s sleeve, but it wasn’t demanding. It was pleading. He looked like he was going to cry again. Delta gently removed his hand.

“C’mon. Stand up,” he offered both hands to Paris, who took them cautiously. Paris stood up shakily. He was both taller and heavier than Delta - and much stronger, even when he wasn’t trying to be. Delta nearly fell over as Paris leaned on him.

“Wherewe going?” He mumbled.

“Bed,” Delta told him. Paris let out a small giggle, before remembering how miserable he was.

“They fucking left meee,” Paris’s voice was both high and raspy. Delta walked him down the hall. He took him into the elevator, confident they would not make it up the stairs. Delta shushed him, which did not work.

“They’re all juss snakes and vipers. They don’t have feeeeelings. None of em care.” His voice was weepy and without venom. “Nobody care. How am I supposed to save this? Is ruined. I can’t.”

The elevator door dinged open. Delta half-pushed, half-carried him out. Paris took the wall for support, which was a great help. They managed to stumble down the remaining length of the hallway until they’d arrived at Paris’s room. Delta had to scan the keycard for him; he was looking at it like he didn’t know what it was. Delta fumbled for the lightswitch, throwing Paris off in the general direction of the bed. Delta shut the door, looking around the room. It was totally trashed, even worse than usual. Bottles laid everywhere, as well as various loose articles of clothing, makeup and face paint. He pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he’d be the one to clean it up in the morning. Paris was crumpled up on the bed, still fully dressed.

“Do you want to take your shoes off?” Delta asked him, keeping a considerable distance. Paris kicked them off with real signs of struggle, even worse when he had to remove his jacket. With a sigh, Delta unbuttoned the front for him, peeling it off his shoulders. He was slick with sweat and grime. Not seeming to care, Paris collapsed back down on the bed, at least this time managing to get his head on the pillow. Delta moved to bring him a glass of water from the bathroom sink.

“Thank you,” Paris said sweetly as he placed the glass down on the nightstand.

“Don’t mention it,” Delta rolled his eyes. He jumped when Paris reached for his wrist.

“Stay?” Paris begged, “Please stay.”

Delta wrenched his wrist away. “Absolutely not. You’ll beat the shit out of me if I’m still here in the morning.”

“Nuh I won’t,” Paris promised, “Please stay.”

“Goodnight, Your Highness,” Delta backed out the door, flipping the light off.

~~~

Tags: @catnykit @indigoviolet311 @snakebites-and-ink

#whump #living weapon whumpee #whump scenario #whump community #whump prompt #hurt/comfort #h/c #fainting #alcohol #magic exhaustion #crying #destroyer #delta #paris

22 notes · View notes