#i had room on my current sketchbook page so i did this real quick

[swasdoodles]

Hi! Can you draw Spike The Dragon of the episode titled The Last Problem from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic? Please.

forgot how goofy he looked in the skip

[rainsoughtflowers]

Sae-byeok x female reader headcannon where they’re best friends in college (squid game doesn’t happen) and Sae falls in love with her?? and there’s a lot of mutual pining and with a happy ending as a well (:

sunset blooms

tw/cw - none.

a/n - modern au brain rot go brrrrr. also shoutout to my moot @scaramew for letting me scream inside their dms and helping me with the ideas :))

- the classic dating trope.

- you both were, of course, friends before the strange mutual agreement, having met due to several similar classes and a group project.

- at first conversations bled with unfamiliarity and caution, but with the amount of days spent huddled into a corner of the library, eyes burning and sleep tugging at the back of your minds, contact remained even after the assignment had been finished.

- sae byeok brought up the idea one evening whilst in her room, during the time midterms were coming up. the looming dates had almost all students scrambling to their books and cramming as much information as possible, all for the sake of a relaxing winter break.

- leaning against the frame of her bed as she scribbled into her sketchbook, sae byeok had nudged you gently against your foot, “are you doing anything for the holidays?”

- you repeated the action, before dropping your pencil against the blurring words of the page, “not really. i was honestly just thinking of staying on campus.”

- she hummed, still heavily concentrated on whatever drawing she was currently working on, “you should come with me.”

- “you mean spend christmas break at your house?”

- “yeah.”

- you leaned forward, grinning from ear to ear, “awh, your parents liked me that much?”

- you had gone with sae byeok to visit her family only once, a birthday dinner hosted at her home. it had surprised you at first, that she’d invite you to such an event when at the time you were still in the early stages of your friendship, but you had agreed nonetheless, meeting the lovely parents and younger brother.

- “they do. especially cheol.”

- “alright, i’ll go then.”

- you had returned your attention back towards your book, only to pause when the scratch of pencil against paper had stopped. a quick glance showed sae byeok had finally paused her actions, staring at you and appearing conflicted.

- “is there something else?”

- “well, you should know. my parents think we’re dating.”

- you snorted, before laughing even further when she stared at you confused. she had always looked so cute clueless, “seriously?”

- she nodded, causing you to lower your book and shift in your position.

- “okay, so, what did you tell them?”

- “i told them yes.”

- “could’ve at least asked me out first.”

- “they’ve been bothering me about it, i just wanted to get them to stop.”

- “so now i’m going to your house as your partner?”

- “just for the two weeks.”

- “and what’s in it for me? my affection isn’t free, sae-byeok.”

- “i’ll do your homework.”

- “deal.”

- “you agreed to that quickly.”

- “no homework is no homework. now when do we start?”

- it was about an hour car ride to sae byeok’s home. as she sat relaxed behind the wheel, you laid sprawled across the passenger seat, mindlessly switching through the stations for a song. eventually however, she let out an irritated sigh at the continuous clicking of the buttons.

- “just pick a song already.” she muttered, sending you a quick glare from the corners of her vision.

- “they all suck!” you defended, switching the station a couple more times before finally sinking into the cushions of the seat. you reached for the bag of chips bought previously, popping a chip into your mouth before speaking.

- “so, any rules we gotta establish?”

- she shrugged, reaching for your bag, “as long as it looks real i don’t care what we do.”

- a mischievous grin laid playfully on your lips, reaching over and pinching her cheek, “so i can call you my beautiful angel?”

- sae byeok groaned, releasing one hand from the wheel to swat your hand away, “anything but that.”

- you laughed at her expression, dropping your arm and waving off her worries,“fine fine, no nicknames.”

- a silence would settle, and you’d direct your attention towards the houses blurring by outside the window. a small tapping, most likely her fingers against the wheel, also filled your senses, and you’d believe that the subject had been dropped before she spoke in quite, mumbled words, “you can call me love.”

- you turned your head and rested your gaze on her face, unchanging but heavily set on the expanding road before her as if to escape the knowing smile you wore, “oh? what’s this? the cold hearted sae byeok has a preference?”

- “shut up.”

- “you shouldn’t be so mean to your partner.”

- “technically, you aren’t my partner yet,” somehow she had stolen a chip from your bag, causing you to yell out a small ‘hey!’ in response, “so i can be as mean as i want to.”

- when you arrived, you were greeted by two heart warming hugs.

- the first was from cheol, who came stumbling down the stairs and practically threw himself at you. brown eyes peered up at you excitedly, and you laughed while ruffling his hair and squeezing him just as tight.

- “hey buddy! missed me?”

- “yeah! does this mean you’re spending christmas with us?”

- “yup! you get me for two weeks.”

- “we have to play board games together! i’ve been practicing.”

- “oh so you think you can beat me? i’d like to see you try.”

- “cheol, aren’t you excited to see me?” sae byeok asked, to which he shrugged while continuing to pull on your arm.

- “i see you all the time.”

- “ha! hear that, love?” you grinned, the nickname easily falling through the cracks of your lips. you ignored the skip of your heart when she stared at you in a way you couldn’t explain, “your brother likes me better.”

- she narrowed her eyes at you, opening her mouth to speak only to pause when her mother came to the front door and embraced the girl in a tight hug, “sae! how was the ride over?”

- “it was fine mom.”

- “and you brought (name)! hello dear,” she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around your figure, a small laugh escaping your lips, “i’m so glad you could join us this year.”

- “me too ma’am.”

- she gasped, pulling away but still firmly gripping your upper arm, “oh no call me mom! you’re basically apart of the family now.”

- “ah really?” your cheeks heated up, sharing a quick look with sae byeok before smiling nervously, “thank you.”

- “dinner will start soon, so you two can drop of your bags in sae-byeok’s room.”

- said girl helped you bring the small suitcase filled with your belongings up the stairs, kicking open the door of her bedroom before dropping them on the floor. quickly, while grinning, you sprawled yourself over the mattress laid out onto the floor.

- “so much comfier than the car.” you followed her figure as she shuffled around the small room, eyeing the way she gazed fondly at the photos stuck to her walls, “you think i’m doing a good job so far?”

- she shrugged, kicking you lightly on the side as a indication for you to get up, “we’ll see how you do during dinner.”

- it was almost overwhelming the amount of questions you both were bombarded with while sitting around the small table filled with food.

- “how did you two meet?”

- “when did you guys get together?”

- “what kinda wedding do you want?”

- “have you kissed?”

- the last question was cheol’s, to which a pink flushed both you and the girl’s cheeks. neither of you discussed the physical part of the fake relationship, making it hard to answer without stuttering over your words.

- “uh of course!” you laughed, before quickly stuffing some rice into your mouth.

- “cheol, you shouldn’t ask such questions!”

- “how about you all stop asking questions?” all eyes turned towards sae byeok, who was currently glaring at the three guilty for their previous actions. you huffed out another small laugh, before proceeding to stuff your face once more.

- night came, and when cheol had been tucked away and both parents left a small kiss against the side of your head, sae byeok smoothed down the sheets of the mattress.

- both of you had already freshened up, showered and changed into comfier clothes for the night. the girl leaned back once she finished, staring at the small space surely not fit for two people.

- “i can sleep somewhere else.” she spoke, shifting so she could stand. hastily, and without thinking, you gripped her wrist, causing her to pause on her actions and stare at you.

- “it’s okay. we’ve slept in the same bed before, haven’t we?”

- she blinked, and you could feel the heat scorch your cheeks at her own flushed ones, “well, yeah-”

- “then let’s sleep. together.”

- another long beat of silence, before sae byeok nodded. quickly, to save any further embarrassment, you laid down into the comforter, burrowing yourself under the blanket and breathing out a shaky breath when you felt her do the same.

- you couldn’t quite place why it felt different. it was true that more than once while studying or simply hanging out you’d fallen asleep in her dorm, and sae byeok had done the same. and yet, you could barely relax, let along close your eyes, not when you were suddenly vaguely aware of the breaths leaving her lips, or the small shifts of movement as she tried to get comfortable. you couldn’t ignore the warmth of her body pressed against yours, tightening your chest and leaving you restless.

- “i cant sleep.” you eventually mumbled into the dark, feeling her shift as if to let you know that she too, was still awake.

- through what little darkness your eyes had adjusted to, you could see the outline of her face close to yours, though you could not see the expression on her face as she spoke, “sorry about dinner.”

- “it’s alright,” you pause, before averting your eyes towards the side and picking at the edge of the blanket, “although, cheol is right.”

- you could feel her eyes on you, tilting her head towards the side in confusion, “about?”

- “the uh,” you were grateful for the absence of light, for she wouldn’t be able to spot the flustered expression on your face, “the kiss thing.”

- “oh.”

- “i uh-i saw the mistletoe around your house. what are we gonna do about that?”

- “we can just avoid it.”

- you couldn’t help the disappointment that settled on your chest, nor the words that continued to spill through your mouth, “but what if-what if we can’t? then…”

- “hm?”

- you swallowed thickly, feeling the pounding of your heart carry on in your ears, “we should practice.”

- “practice?”

- “yeah! have you ever…kissed anyone before?”

- “no.”

- “really?”

- “i haven’t liked anyone before.”

- “then…maybe we should-uh just so your family doesn’t get suspicious-”

- “okay.”

- “i mean-wait, really?”

- another nod, and you found yourself drifting your gaze to the appendages of her mouth. you swallowed thickly once more, voice coming out shaky.

- “then…can i..?”

- sae byeok didn’t answer, simply shifting within the dark to get closer. your heart skipped a beat feeling the gentle placement of her hands on your cheeks, breaths coming out shaky from both your lips. there truly was no need for you both to practice, she was right in being able to avoid such an action throughout the two weeks. and yet…you didn’t stop her from brushing her nose against yours, or the gentle press of her lips against your own.

- a small sigh, content, was pressed against her skin, and your own fingers found themselves reaching up and tugging lightly on the strands near her neck. the pressure was gentle, unsure, and when she had pulled away, the appendages still ghosted along your lips. it wasn’t until you leant forward, craving the essence that dripped with the gentle movements of them slotting together did you realize the pounding of your chest and the burn scorching your face.

- when you pulled away once more, you were quick to bury yourself into the pillows supporting your head, both to save yourself from her spotting your flustered state, and the need to continue crossing the boundary that should’ve stayed unexplored.

- how would you go about the next two weeks without wanting to kiss her every night?

- “sleepy now?” she asked quietly, receiving just a small nod from you in response. you could hear the small breath she let out, and sae byeok gingerly pressed her lips against your hair, or at least if felt like so, before remaining quiet for the rest the night.

- mornings at sae byeok’s home were your favorite.

- perhaps it was waking up to the warmth of her body still tightly pressed against yours, even more so than when you had fallen into slumber. seeing the relaxed expression on her face while she slept and the messy strands and groggy tone of voice when she did eventually wake up.

- maybe it was the breakfast her mother made when you both stumbled down to eat, aroma filling your senses and the taste of home lingering on your tongue.

- eventually however, you’d find yourself being torn from the warmth and into the bitter cold outside, bundled in layers upon layers of sweaters and shivering limbs. all cheol’s idea, despite his mom arguing it was far too early in the morning for you all to be out and about. but you couldn’t sit back and watch his defeated look, offering to accompany him through the blankets of white.

- “ever made a snowman?”

- “sae tries to help me, but she sucks at it.”

- “unsurprising. let’s show her how it’s done.”

- you and cheol would get to work, rolling large lumps of snow into spheres and heaving out breaths when trying to stack them atop each other. your hands could feel the cold through the fabric of your gloves, cheeks stinging from the temperature of the air. and laughter would ring in your ears, especially when the young boy would come running with rocks for a mouth and two sticks for hands.

- “aren’t you freezing?”

- sae byeok would grin down at you, hugging her own jacket close to her body. it appeared she had just left the heat of her own home, eyeing the half finished snow man in her front yard and you and her brother decorating and smoothing the molded snow.

- “me? cold? never.”

- “actually, they’ve been shivering since we got here!” cheol’s blunt response had you laughing and throwing a handful of snow in his direction, causing him to shake of the excess before speaking, “you should hug them big sis!”

- the look exchanged had you trying to determine if the red on your cheeks was due to the cold or the flustered expression on her face. quickly, despite how the image had already engraved itself into your mind, you busied yourself with adjusting the scarf around the snowman’s neck.

- “ah, i’m sure a hot drink would be just fine-”

- the rest of your words got caught in your throat, encased by the warmth and sudden weight of a human body. you didn’t have to look to know it was her, only you would recognize the smell of clean laundry and feel the strands tickling your skin. even her breaths, shaky, were hot against your skin upon the back of your neck.

- “better?” she mumbled quietly, tracing those very words until they engraved themselves on your figure.

- “yeah,” you’d breathed out, swallowing thickly to let the lump in your throat pass, “much better.”

- the rest of your time outside would be spent finishing your snow men, then proceeding to the ground to allow your weight upon the blanket of white. laughter would ring in the air, heavy with euphoria as you spread your arms and legs in hopes to mold them into an angel. even sae byeok, with only a jacket around her figure, lay beside you, fingers brushing against yours.

- the rest of your visit went by smoothly.

- when gifts were opened a smile broke out upon everyone’s lips, and hundreds of pictures were taken in order to hold the memories.

- hot cocoa would be made, whipped cream swiped on your nose, and marshmallows stuck to the roof of your mouths.

- nights were spent at the kitchen table, a competition between you and cheol to see who would prevail in the board games he had accumulated since your last visit.

- and your favorite moments were in bed, sae byeok’s body against your own as your lips ran across her skin. each press was gentle, lazy even with the sleep always accompanying the back of your minds. yet you ached for just one last touch, one last kiss to leave upon the freckles kissing her skin.

- disappointed was an understatement to describe how you felt your last day there.

- you tried to make the most of it, helping sae byeok’s mother with breakfast and playing one last board game with cheol. you took in the framed photos running along the hall as well as the shoes by the front door. you engraved every little detail in hopes to remember the feelings and memories made within the walls of her home.

- “hey,” she had spoken from the doorway, leaning against the frame as you had sluggishly gotten to work folding your clothes. it surprised you, the way she dressed as if about to leave for somewhere, yet you listened intently nonetheless, “i have something i want to show you.”

- the drive there wasn’t long, and the silence was deafening. normally you were content with no words exchanged, however it felt different. as if something, a question, lingered in the air.

- eventually the car pulled to a slow stop by a small hill, tall enough that you could not see past it but not too overwhelming to have you breathless from the sheer thought of it. sae-byeok’s hands click off the low hum of the radio and proceeds to turn off the car, her figure smiling at you through the fog of your window.

- you followed her quietly up the side of the small landform, hands buried within the pockets of your sweater and the texture of your scarf scratching the side of your neck. it was dark, only the streetlights illuminating your path, and your breath could be seen in small clouds that lingered in the air. you almost laughed at the sight, purposely exhaling to make them bigger.

- your breaths came in short by the time you made it to the top, finding the girl in a similar state. red seemed to singe her cheeks more noticeably than yours, and although you found the sight cute and wanted to tease her, you remained quiet still, suddenly finding it hard to speak. why was that so? you had no problem before, finding every opportunity to mess with her. and yet, your heart seemed to beat too fast within your chest to allow the words to fall as easily as they did before.

- “it’s over there. the uh, the thing.” she mumbled, proceeding to take those last few steps towards a lone bench seated in front of a railing. you followed her, eyes sparkling when you were finally able to look over the heavy mounds of snow.

-hundreds of lights twinkled in the distance, some a warm yellow glow from the rooms inside a building and others from the decorations still left up despite the passing of the holiday. you imagined she came here often, if not for the fond look in her gaze but the engraving of her initials in the wood planks of the seat.

- your fingers moved to grip the railing, leaning over ever so slightly to peer more closely at the scene. you could hear her find her own spot beside your figure, close enough that her arms brushed gently against your own.

- silence settled once more, yet tension still rose like before on the drive over. you would’ve let it be similar to that time, however the words were already fumbling from your lips.

- “i…had a lot of fun. you’re family is great. really.”

- a small, wistful smile settled on her lips, “i told you, they really like you.”

- “yeah.”

- “things…they looked real, right?”

- you sputtered a light laugh, “had almost everyone fooled.”

- “(name)”

- “sae-byeok”

- you both laughed, before you motioned for her to proceed.

- brown eyes moved to settle back onto the landscape of the city, her body gently rocking back and forward on her feet, “i just uhm, you’re welcome to come back. we’re friends, you know?”

- friends. right. the past two weeks were just pretend after all. even the late nights spent growing drunk on each other’s touch was for the sake of pretend.

- “yeah, we are.”

- she nodded, continuing to stare quietly. and you took the time to watch. to take in the never ending red covering her cheeks and the freckles hiding behind the hues. the curly strands peeking out from the hat you forced on her head so her ears wouldn’t hurt. the gentle clouds escaping her lips, one’s you had engraved upon the expanse of your skin and could know based on touch alone.

- you had spent so much time learning about each other. and this girl, you had learned to love her too.

- “but what if i don’t want to be friends.” you had said to quick too take back.

- “you don’t?”

- “no, i dont. i don’t think i can be your friend sae-byeok.”

- your heart broke at the hurt that flashed across her features, and more so when she spoke quietly with another nod, “alright.”

- “i just mean,” you paused, exhaling a shaky breath and reaching a hand up to bundle up the fabric across your chest, “i can’t be your friend when i feel this way.”

- sae-byeok gave you a curious and confused glance, and you internally screamed in frustration at her lack of understanding.

- with whatever last bit of confidence you possessed you took her hand and placed it over your chest, allowing her warm fingers to feel the rapid pounding of your heart.

- “i know we said it’d only last the two weeks. but i want to alter our agreement.” slowly you pushed her hand away, and instead interlocked her fingers with your own, “let’s extend it. i want to fake date you for longer than that.”

- she blinked, hickory blending with your own as you tried to focus on standing still. each second that passed in silence however had you only more restless, and you could feel the pounding in your heart increase.

- “okay.”

- “really?”

- “i’m not doing that much homework though.”

- “no! no i just mean,” you brought your free hand up to your face as a poor attempt to hide your flustered state, “i just want to stay by your side.”

- sae-byeok, lovely and warm, embraced you, head burrowed in the fabrics on your body. your surprised only lasted a moment before you returned it, holding on as if she would leave were you to let go. fingers bunching fabric, hot breaths tickling skin and her presence so close you were practically one, leaving you struggling to find purchase on the ground.

- “okay,” she agreed once more, her lips pressing gently against your face as she spoke in soft, quiet whispers, “as long as you stay by my side too.”

menu. upside down peach cake.

[sevendeadlymorons]

hello! can i request for the brother and undateables (if you don’t want simeon is just okay) headcanons for seeing mc sketches book and mc drew some positions with them? thank you! (sorry if i bothered you and my english is not will)

Sorry for the delay in writing your request, i really like this idea and I will get right on it for you :)

You absolutely did not bother me whatsoever and your English was great btw x

Brothers + Undateables Reaction to Seeing MC’s Sketchbook

——————————————————

Lucifer

Saw it lying on your desk when he came in to clean your room

He was never one to pry but he eventually found himself flicking through the pages of the book

Each page was filled with sketches of flowers or scenery or the cats that wander outside the house

He was so intrigued by these intricate drawings of yours, finding himself rather impressed by the skill you had

Around about the end, he notices sketches of his brothers, each in particular poses, drawn in such beautiful detail

He smiles to himself as he continues to flick through multiple pages of Asmo, not really surprised that he’s the main model of your drawings

That’s when he came across one of him

It was him sitting down in his study, enjoying the sound of one of his records. He didn’t even know you drew him.

It looked so real, like it was a photo. The way the shading was so perfect and how you drew his small smile so delicately. Incredible.

He was so taken back, he had to see more

Walks past you in the corridor with your sketchbook behind his back

I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if he borrowed it for a little while

Mammon

Bust into your room to tell you about this massive loss he had gambling again but you weren’t there

He looked around but all he could find was a singular book lay open on your bed

One peek couldn’t hurt, he thought, already flicking through the contents of the book

His eyes widen as he saw more and more of your art, each drawing so filled with detail

Since when was his human so talented, and when were they planning on telling him?

He kept flicking through until he saw his brothers in several different poses

He felt kind of hurt that you’d never asked him to model for you before

Each page that went by, the more impressed he was

This has gotta be worth a lot with how incredible these drawings are

Suddenly, he reached one of him. He was surprised since you’ve never asked him to model for you so when did you draw this?

It was him smiling while counting his money in his room. He didn’t want to know how you got this to be honest

But he was amazed by the detail put in. The amount of time you must have put into this makes his cheeks blush like crazy at the thought of you drawing something so time consuming for him

He ran out, notebook to chest, flicking through the pages with a goofy smile on his face in his room

Leviathan

Didn’t mean to snoop, just casually found it open on your desk so how could he resist...

His jaw dropped as he flicked through, admiring the never ending sketches of scenery or animals

Literally woooaaahhh’s in his head after looking at each drawing

Gets to his brothers drawings and he’s amazed

You can draw realistic too??!

His mind is running wild at the thought of you drawing all his favourite anime characters

Wonders if there’s any of him but he can’t remember you asking him to pose for any so he gets sorta upset

Who’d want to draw a yucky otaku like him anyway

Continues to flick through, still trying to get over how good the one before was until he sees the one on the next page and he’s starting all over again

In complete awe at how incredible they all were, each detail perfect and the facial features were sharp and precise every single time

Onto the next page and he felt his heart beat out of his chest. No way, could it be...

It was a drawing of him, focused on his game with this concentrated look on his face. When did you even draw that?! He feels his entire face burning up as he stares at himself. You drew him so well...

Clutches the book to his chest, very very close to tears, and runs off to find you to ask you to draw him and Ruri-Chan

Satan

Walks past and sees you drawing in this little book so peeps over your shoulder to see what you were doing

He’s overcome with surprise as he stares at your beautiful drawing of the flower that was sitting on the table in front of you

He crosses his arms on top of your head and laughs as you jump out of your seat, holding the notebook tightly to your chest

He apologise for snooping but tells you how incredible he thinks your art is, watching your face closely as it turns red

He asks if he can see more as your current drawing had intrigued him, and held out his hand to you

You hesitate but happily hand it over, sitting back down and patting the seat next to you

You watch as he flicks through, his eyebrows raising every few times, then looking over and flashing you a smile

Why didn’t he know about this? These drawings were incredible

He especially liked the drawings of the stray cats outside, as his face lit up, pointing and telling you the names of the ones you drew

When he got to his brothers, he couldn’t help but be massively impressive at the intricate detail you put into them as well as the unique poses you put them in to

He doesn’t remember you asking him to pose for anything but he continues to flick through, hopeful

As he flick the page, he comes face to face with a drawing of him. His eyes widen as he scans over the drawing of him holding a book between his fingers as his face looking tranquil and calm.

He looks over at you who had a nervous face, obviously trying to figure out if he liked it or not, to which he smiles widely and tells you he’ll be borrowing it as he’d really like to see more

Asmodeus

You left a book in his room after he’d finished paining your nails

He went to go return it to you when he felt the sudden urge to take a peek inside before hand

Maybe it’s something erotic, he thinks, as he begins to open the book on his bed

When he first sees your drawings, it’s so much better than anything erotic he’s ever seen

His lips twist into a sweet smile as he flicks through the book, his hand resting on his chin, making small humming noises every few seconds

He never knew you were an artist!

The drawings of his brothers were beautiful and he felt sorta jealous that he hasn’t seen a single one of him yet

He desperately turned page after page, searching for drawings of him

At the final page, he finally saw himself. He was speechless as he stares at the incredibly drawn masterpiece of him.

It was of him sitting sweetly on the couch, looking at his freshly paint nails with delight, the drawing perfectly capturing the mood of the moment

He squeals as he hugs the book to his chest as if it was his prized possession

He goes running after you to ask if he could model for more of your art as it was love at first sight

Beelzebub

On his daily snoop around in your room for snacks when he saw a small notebook on your desk

He didn’t want to invade your privacy but he was just too tempted, one peek wouldn’t hurt

He opened it and was greeted by your incredible art. He stopped eating and stared at it, completely in shock at how good they were

He kept flicking through all your little quick draws. Flowers, animals and food. He especially liked those ones

When he came across his brothers, all in these complex poses, he smiled wide and began flicking through to find him, quite excited to see what you drew for him

He went past Belphie’s and a sweet smile spread across his face as he imagined you trying to keep him awake so you could draw him

He kept flipping through but there was still no sign of him. He felt sorta left out at that thought but kept on going through hopefully

Finally, on the very last page, was a drawing of him. It wasn’t like any of his brothers tho, it was him completely in his zone

He had a burger in his hand and was going in to bite down on it, a grin plastered on his lips as the perfect detail showed joy in his eyes

He stares on, wide eyed. This was amazing. He wanted to keep it and store it somewhere so he could look at it forever

Picks up the book to go find you, wandering around like an excited puppy

He was going to give you the biggest hug you’ve ever experienced

Belphegor

Was asleep on the sofa opposite you when the sound of a pencil sketching on a piece of paper woke him up, so he opens his eyes and begins to sit up, rubbing his eyes and looking towards where the sound was coming from

Immediately sees you drawing away into a book, to which he raises his eyebrow and walks behinds you to take a peek

You didn’t seem to notice him getting up as you were completely focused on your sketch so he looks over your shoulder to see a sketch of... him.

Were you just drawing him sleeping?

Thought it was sorta cute actually

He admired how you delicately put in extra minor details that made the drawing look so realistic to him

He couldn’t take his eyes off it, your drawing was incredible

And you drew him lookin good too

You felt something tickle your neck so you turned around quickly to see Belphie peering over your shoulder, staring straight at your art, a big smile plastered on his smug face

Your face burns up in embarrassment as you realise he saw you drawing him sleeping but he just responds with a small laugh and a pat on the head as he jumps over the couch to sit next to you, offering out his hand in a way of saying “let me see”

He flicks through all your nature sketches and the ones of him and Beel, not really bothering about his other brothers, a persistent smile on his lips and a hand glued to your thigh

He was impressed, but surprised he never knew. He really wanted to take it so he could look at it more

So he did just that. Stood up, sketchbook in hand, straight towards the attic to binge through every single drawing in there

Diavolo

You came over to him and asked him to hold your book while you went to go do something, to which he agreed and carried on with his work

He kept eying it on the desk next to him. He’s never been one to snoop, but he couldn’t help but look at it

He flicked through the pages, each one filled to the brim with sketches, doodles and beautiful portraits

He couldn’t believe his eyes, you drew these?

The artwork was captivating, so stunning and detailed with each one he flipped through

He chose well when he picked you to be his exchange student, so talented

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of you putting the brothers into these poses and making them sit still for hours while you drew them

He found that a smile appeared on his face as he looked at all the antics the brothers get into which you skilfully drew to savour the moment

That’s when he found himself. Sat graciously on his throne with a huge grin on his face. The detail so incredible it looked almost real. His jaw dropping slightly at the mere sight of it

When was this drawn?

But he didn’t care, he was smiling giddily at it. Honoured you’d spend your personal time drawing him

He knows who his next royal artist is going to be

Barbatos

Diavolo had a little party organised for you and the brothers and when he saw you enter with a book lodged under your arm, he was rather intrigued

Watches as you walk out mid way through the event to an empty room, book still in hand, and so he decides to follow you in case you wanted company

Walks in to see you, pencil in hand, scribbling away at the book

He sits next to you and you jump, startled at his sudden presence

He asks what it is you’re doing and stares down at your open book, watching his eyebrows raise in surprise at your art work

Your face flushes pink as he offers out his hand, asking to see more. You nod and hand it over to him, watching him flick through the pages

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Your art was excellent and so detailed. Even the small sketches were near perfection

He looks over at you and flashes you a small genuine smile of delight

When he sees the drawings of the brothers, he chuckles and compliments you on how well drawn they are

When he turned the next page, he didn’t expect to see himself though

He was sat cross legged with a cup of tea in his fingers, his face visibly delighted

He clears his throat in surprise, hiding the obvious grin on his lips, and hands it back to you, giving you a small pat on the shoulder as he exits the room

He was amazed. He’ll be mentioning this to Diavolo for sure

Simeon

You honestly come to the angel whenever you need peace from the brothers, so he’s seen you sketching away in that little pad of yours several times, but never actually seen what’s inside of it

One day, you got up to go get something and asked him to look after the book for you, to which he nodded and held the book in his lap

Now... Simeon never snoops, but looking down at your sketchbook, curiosity took over him

He opened it and lay it on his lap, staring down at the multiple little drawings you had scattered on one page

He smiles and turns to the next page, once again greeted by more of your amazing drawings of cats, birds, trees, followers and the House of Lamentation

He keeps turning the page, drawing after drawing, each one seemingly getting better than the last

When he saw the little drawing of Luke he couldn’t help but chuckle at how sweet he looked. He’d have to ask you if he could keep it later

Then he saw the brothers and he admired how well you drew them all, each detail drawn to perfection. He most enjoyed their demon forms and how beautiful they all looked

As soon as he flicked to a drawing of him, he stopped in his tracks, staring down at your sketch in disbelief

He didn’t care too much about when you drew it, all he cared about was how astonishing you made him look

He was stood with his hand on his hip, a small smile displayed on his face as his cloak carefully draped around his arms

He put the book back before you re-entered the room. He’ll ask you if he could take another look later

Solomon

Couldn’t help but notice you sketching something in class, since you share a lot of them together and it happens almost every lesson

He doesn’t really care at first but when he finds it laying on the table after you’d forgotten it, he couldn’t help but look

First couple of pages were filled with small sketches and he was pretty impressed. He does a bit of doodling and draws his summoning circles himself so looking at your art was pretty intriguing to him

When he sees the drawing of the brothers, he realises you’ve actually got a hell of a talent for drawing

He decides to go find you and return it, but he’ll keep flicking through as he walks, because he’d really like to see more

As he’s walking and flicking through, a smile begins to form on his face as he sees sketches of Luke and Simeon having a tea party together, something he knew went on weekly with the 3 of you

He stops walking as he stumbles across something he never expected to see

It was him, practising his spells with a focused look on his face

He has absolutely no clue when you drew you and honestly, slightly creeped out

Ignores it though since the drawing of him came out pretty good and the details you put on his face were incredibly done. He felt himself blush slightly at the fact you actually took the time to draw him

Eventually found you and yelled out your name, waving the sketchbook in his hand as he watched you rush over, your cheeks burning red as you cover your face. He smiles sweetly as he walks off

This guy couldn’t get any more sketchy even if he tried

Luke

Simeon needed to talk to Lucifer, so he brought Luke along since he was bored. He started wandered the house when those two began talking about things he didn’t understand.

He reaches your room and knocks on the door, but there was no answer, so he let himself in

Kid can’t keep his hands to himself, he’s touchin everything he sees. So when he sees a book on your desk, he can’t help himself

Sits on your bed and opens it, his eyes widening as he’s greeted by several incredible sketches

He’s having the time of his life flicking through them all, going through flower after flower, the stray cats he sees outside the house and of course, the demons

He thought all the drawings were the coolest things he’s ever seen in his life

He had to show Simeon

He was about to go running to show him when one of them caught his eye. It was a drawing of him?

He was stood on a stool baking his cakes. The intricate details standing out, making him gawk in awe. He didn’t know when you drew this, but he didn’t care. You made him look amazing

The drawing of him made his eyes tear up, he was so so happy that you drew him

Wiped his eyes and clung to the book, running into the room where Simeon was so he could show him your beautiful drawings too

This was so damn fun to write, but fuck did it take days to do :,)

[hologramband]

One Day p1

Alive!Luke x Fem!Reader Modern AU Word Count: 2.6k A/n: hehehe here’s the first part! I have it mostly planned out, there should be 3-4 parts! Lmk what you think! Summary: A shy girl is used to floating under the radar, keeping to herself most of the time, all was well until an opportunity fell into her lap, but what will these new people bring with them?

You were really good at staying right under everyone's radar at Los Feliz. You knew everyone, everyone knew you, but you didn’t have anything more than just a surface relationship with your classmates. You didn’t mind that, it was harder to get hurt this way. You got accepted to the Performing Arts High School with your ability to dance, but have always found your real talent lies within your visual art. Whether you were using paints, pencils, or a pen, you loved the way that your hand flew over the paper and created an image that represented your many different emotions.

In a way it made sense how you loved both dance and drawing, both sharing the flowing of movements to express things that words cannot. It was easier for you to express your emotions and thoughts in these mediums since social connection was hard for you. You had tried it once, really connecting with a person, but it ended up coming back and hurting you, causing you to shut down, so you weren't in a rush to try again any time soon. You floated down the hallways with ease, only having to stop at your locker to grab the remaining textbooks you need for the next few classes. While you were stopped you heard your name called from across the hallway, looking up to see Julie raising her hand in a small wave. “Hey, (y/n)! I like your top!” She came to a stop by your locker smiling. “Thanks! It was my moms, she just found this box of old clothes from when she was in school, this one just really stuck out to me.” You smiled down at yourself and looked back up at the girl to see three boys approaching. You felt heat subtly rise to your cheeks and you tried to focus your eyes on Julie. “Hey Jules, you ready to go to class?” Luke spoke as soon as they reached her side, sending you a nod of acknowledgement when he noticed you standing in front of them. Alex and Reggie both raised their hands with small waves in greeting to you. You smiled in return and turned back to close your locker, swinging your backpack on in the process. “Well, I gotta get to class too, see ya around.” You smiled back at the group and heard Julie call after you. “See you in Art!” You turned slightly and waved in return. Julie and you were pretty decent friends, you talked to her more than anyone else at the school, she had a good balance of how to get to know you without pushing you. You had met the boys a few times in passing, much like the previous occurrence, them not really speaking much more than a ‘hello’ here and there. There was something about Luke though, he never failed to send a storm of butterflies loose in your stomach. He probably didn’t even remember your name, but you could remember all the details of his face, not in a weird way, just in an artistic way, ya know? He had such a coolness about him, like he could totally embarrass himself but brush it off like it was nothing, like he meant to do it even. You thought you were getting better with your anxiety around people, but as soon as that boy was in front of you, it seemed as if your brain forgot how to function. You shook the boy from your thoughts as you continued through your day, classes went by like they typically do, all your general classes like math and english were in the first half of the day, the second half being taken by your dance class and then art. It was simple to say that you much preferred the second half of classes. In dance you went about as normal, running through a few routines and while wrapping up your teacher mentioned something about a new project that would be announced tomorrow. After changing you made your way to your final class where Julie had already arrived and claimed a table for the two of you. “Hi!” she smiled up at you. “Hi! How were your classes today?” You replied, starting a conversation that you hoped would carry throughout the class. You really did like talking with Julie, she was so sweet and really made you feel like she wanted to get to know you. The first day of class she noticed you were sitting alone and she took this as an opportunity to introduce herself, commenting on the particular band tee you had on, being able to strike up a conversation instantly. You admired her for this, the confidence she had when walking in a room was just astounding to you. The two of you went about the class in a way that you similarly would, talking about this and that while sketching away in your respective books, her only pausing to write ideas in her song notebook when an idea would hit. The class you were in didn’t have many actual assignments, just that you needed around 3 small pieces turned in periodically and one larger one for your final at the end of the semester, it made it an easy free flowing environment where there wasn’t too much pressure to stress on any one thing. Before you knew it the ding of the bell was going off overhead and you and Julie started packing up your things, she quickened her pace when she saw the boys waiting at the door for her. “You guys have practice today?” You giggled at her rushed movements. “Yeah,” she laughed as she zipped her bag closed, “Luke and I just finished up a new song too so I’m really excited to get back to the garage to figure out the music behind it.” She smiled up at you and you returned the affection. “Well don’t let me hold you up! Hope it all goes well! See you tomorrow!” You waved to the girl as she ran to the door, only pausing to throw a wave back at you. You laughed and shook your head at the girls' antics and went about your day as usual, starting your walk back home, you didn’t live too far and enjoyed the fresh air and time to recollect after the school day. After getting home you grabbed a quick snack and retreated to your room to finish a sketch that you had been working on in class today. Digging through your bag your heart rate increased when you pulled the red covered book to see the top covered in multiple stickers, this wasn’t your book, it was Julies song book, meaning she was currently in possession of your sketchbook. She must have grabbed yours on mistake when she was packing up quickly. You lightly sighed as you pulled out your phone to text her about the accidental switch-up. She replied instantly just realizing the mistake herself, then invited you over to switch them back and possibly hear some of the songs they were working on, looking for an outsider's opinion. You hesitated in saying yes, did you really need your book back that bad? Sighing, you sent back an okay and asked for an address, as nervous as you were to hang around the guys, more specifically Luke, you remembered how excited Julie was to go over the new song, the one that was probably sitting in the book you were holding in your hands. You threw on a light jacket and grabbed your backpack, for reasons unexplainable to you it just always just felt safer to walk around with a backpack on, and you were on your way to Julies. You could feel your nerves rising with each step you took towards her house, by the time you stood at the end of her driveway you felt like your heart was in your throat. “Calm down, (y/n), it’s just a little hangout to get your book back and hear a few songs, no biggie, nothing to fret about at all.” you whispered to yourself, taking one last deep breath before continuing your walk up her driveway. You had just come into view from the garage when you heard Julie calling out your name. “(Y/n)! How was your walk?” Julie ran out to meet you, now walking beside you into the garage. “It was good! You actually live closer to me than I thought, it was only like a 15 minute walk,” you smiled at her and you continued the small talk until you looked up and met eyes with the brunette guitarist. “(Y/n), these are the guys, Alex, Reggie and Luke,” she introduced them to you and you raised your hand in a wave. “Yeah, i’ve seen you guys perform before, you’re all really good!” you smiled and met each of their gazes. “Thanks! And that was all our old stuff, just wait until you hear what we have coming, um..” Luke stuttered realizing he didn’t know your name. You went to say it but Alex beat you to it. “(Y/n) you idiot,” he hit the back of Luke's head, while rolling his eyes. A blush rose to Luke’s face and he laughed it off. “I-I knew that, I-I just-” “You’re at the school for dance right?” Alex spoke again, interrupting and trying to take the attention off of the stuttering Luke. You smiled and nodded. “Yeah! I’m on a dance scholarship, so that's my main focus but my second is visual art, which reminds me,” You take your backpack off and pull out Julies song book, “here’s this!” She smiles and takes it from you. “Ugh thanks so much, I don’t know what I would have done if I lost this, Reggie can you grab her sketchbook? It’s on the piano!” Julie opened her book and smiled looking at the page. “Oh wow,” you heard Reggie mutter causing everyone to turn to him, “(y/n) this stuff is like, really good.” You blushed and looked down at your feet, you’ve never been good at accepting compliments. “Dude, boundaries!” Julie muttered reaching for the book, but Luke got to it first, taking his own turn looking through the pages. Your heart jumped when he started smiling at the pages he was flipping through, you didn’t have anything in there that you kept hidden, it was just that no one had ever gone through your work before. “You have so many different styles, this one is like a cartoon, but then the next one is like hyper realistic.” Luke looks up to make eye contact and you felt a blush rise to your cheeks. Alex took the second of him being distracted to pull the book away from him and hand it back to you. “I’m sorry for them, they still haven’t figured out what it means to respect someone's privacy.” He narrowed his eyes at his two bandmates. “You know,” you opened the book in your hands to search for a particular page, “I actually have something of each of you individually. I sketched them out the night after I saw one of your guys’ gigs.” You scrunch your face in concentration, you feel everyone rush to stand behind you when you finally find it. You look around at them to take in their reactions, their eyes were all glued to the papers you were displaying in front of you, Reggies mouth falling open. “Oh! Is this why you asked for the pictures my dad took of that night?” Julie looked up at you. “Yeah, I wanted to be able to add the details of everyone's chosen instruments and get some added information on where the highlights were from the lights,” you looked at each of their faces again and made a rash decision to gently tear the pages from your book, handing them to each respective person. Each person held them gently in their hands, then looked up to you in amazement. You just shrugged your shoulders in response, not knowing what else to say. “Well,” you looked out the window and saw the setting sun, “I better start my walk back to my house, it’s getting dark and I wanna get back before that happens. Enjoy the pictures guys!” You smile and turn to walk away, all the band still shocked to silence. “She’s never torn a page from her book before,” you hear Julie tell the boys as you walk further down the driveway, smiling to yourself. It was true, you never pull pages from your sketchbook, not this one at least, it was the better quality of all the other ones you had. You typically just used the less expensive books for class, you go through all the pages so quickly you didn’t want to waste the one’s in your higher quality notebook for the rough sketches, but the pages that you drew the band on were in the higher quality notebook, you had taken the time to really get them right, and they turned out fantastic. Your mother had always told you to spread joy where you can, and after seeing all their faces you knew that it was only right to let them have the pages that they were looking at. You arrived home and couldn’t wipe the smile off your face, there might be something there with them, an opportunity to make new friends, to open up. This idea makes you both nervous and excited, you let these thoughts and ideas later lull you to sleep. --- The next day at school you were walking to your locker when Julie caught your eye, she was waiting in her phone by your locker door. You would usually see her in passing in the mornings, but this is new. “Hey Julie, what’s up?” You greet the curly haired girl at your locker. “Hey (y/n)! Not much really, just watched to catch you this morning and run an idea past you…” She smiles and looks around her before returning her gaze back to you. “Okay? Is everything alright? You seem nervous,” you giggled at her antics and went back to putting the combination into your locker. “Yeah, yeah, I just know you take a while to open up and get close with new people, and I don’t wanna rush you into anything you aren’t ready for, but the boys and I were wondering if-” She gets cut off by a yell from down the hallway. “JULIE! HAVE YOU ASKED HER YET?” You turn to see all three boys running towards you, Julie facepalming at Reggies yell. “Geez Reg, she literally just got here. There's no need to yell,” Julie rolls her eyes at them and looks back to you. “Anyways, we were wondering if you wanted to make more designs and stuff for the band, like for posters and maybe album art one day.” She smiles at you after finishing. “You-you want me to… really?” Your eyes widen in shock. “Yeah! We all really like what you did with those portraits, and you’re pretty chill letting us keep them and all, we want you to be a part of our band, even if it isn’t you on stage with us, you’ll keep things looking cool.” Luke says as he leans against the lockers beside you. “Plus, then you’ll be able to hang out with us more!” Reggie pipes in. They all look at each other then back at you. “So,” Alex smiles at you, “What do ya think?” A million thoughts fly through your mind at once, they really want you to hang out with them more? They liked what you did? You looked at them all, looking back at you, and smiled. “I’d love to.”

tag list ✨

@gia-kerks​ @fangirlangioma​

[makaias-trash-heap]

Can I request a midorima finding out his s/o is an artist and helping her improve with art?? (she suddenly asks him to do a small pose (Move his head a bit etc) see loose sketches on their notes/see unfinished painting on her room?? whichever one u like or all of them idk 💓💓) tyyy

Soooo I’m just gonna be real with you and say I have no clue how long you’ve waited so patiently for this and also thank you for that! Funnily enough, I actually made an artist OC girlfriend for him....a bit ago actually....pretty sure she was the last thing I posted. SO THIS WAS PERFECT! THANK YOU! I hope you love it!

(As always I take zero credit for the art or Midorima. The only thing in this I take ownership of is the OC Mira...I need disclaimers for like everything else I’ve written)

Mira sighs in frustration at the blank page in her sketchbook. Her most recent assignment was just to sketch a male portrait and for some reason she was struggling with it. She’s looked up multiple reference photos to use for inspiration but hasn’t been happy with any of her previous drawings. She glances at her phone when she gets a text from Midorima asking if they were still meeting today. She replied with a quick yes saying she was home and to just come in the door would be unlocked. She put her phone down going back to her sketchbook attempting to start again. She was mostly through the basic outline when someone knocked on her door. She sighs putting her sketchbook aside and standing up already knowing who was at the door.

“You know I said you could just come in. I left the door unlocked for you.” Mira said opening the door.

“It’s rude to just walk into someone else’s home nanodayo.” Midorima plainly states fixing his glasses.

Mira rolls her eyes smiling and moves to let him in, “Come in. Excuse the mess.”

Mira followed Midorima into the apartment, stopping in the living room to look around. Being his girlfriend did not spare her the not so subtle judgmental looks he would send her way now and then. Like the one she’s receiving right now after seeing the crumpled up pieces of paper, pencils, and erasers that littered her living room floor and chair.

“I tried to warn you.” Mira simply shrugged, moving past him to start picking up the mess.

He stands there watching her another second before moving to help her clean up, occasionally inspecting the paper he’s picking up.

“What is all of this?” He finally asks, standing up and smoothing out one of the papers.

She turns her attention to him, “One of my failed attempts at my most current assignment.” 

He looks back up at her from the paper, “Assignment?”

She nods. “Yeah I’m in art school right now and my class assignment was just a male portrait.”

“And it hasn’t been coming along very well I take it.”

“Not at all, technically they’re all pretty sound, but I just don’t like any of them.” 

Midorima throws away the last paper and looks back to her, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Mira shrugs, “Not really unless you think you can model for me.”

At first it’s just an offhanded response to his question, but after a second of serious consideration she stops and looks at him.

He notices after a second and quickly shakes his head, “Mira no, that is not happening.”

“Hey you offered, come on, I’ve had art block all week so far and this is due in two days.”

He continues to stare at her for a second before sighing and looks away from her, “What do you need me to do?”

She smiles at him and looks around grabbing a chair and moving it by the window, “Just sit here and don’t move until I tell you to. We can take breaks if you need but I should still get it done today.”

Midorima nods sitting in the chair a little stiffly, “Like this?”

Mira looks over him and smiles, “Try to make this as natural as possible. And make sure you’re comfortable, you’re going to be in whatever position you choose for a while.”

He shifts a bit to get comfortable before turning back to her, “Is this ok.”

She looks at him again, picking up her sketchbook and charcoal pencils from the floor and moves to where she’ll be sitting to see how everything should look.

“Can you turn your head a bit more towards the light?”

He does as she asks, glancing in her direction for approval.

She smiles at him and nods, “Perfect, like I said if you need a break to stretch or use the bathroom or need something just let me know, I can always move my lamp by you if need be, natural lighting is usually better.”

He nods thanking her and then she gets to work on her drawing, working off of the outline she’d started before he showed up. A little over an hour into the process she looks up to check on him.

“Hey, still doing ok?”

He nods not moving from his position, “I’m fine.” 

She smiles going back to work looking between him and the sketchbook. Mira stopped a bit later setting down the sketchbook and pencil.

“You can go ahead and get up and stretch. I'm taking a break for a second.”

Midorima nodded getting up and stretching, “Are you nearly finished?”

Mira looks down at her sketchbook and nods, “Just about, mostly just shading at this point. Thank you again for helping with this, I really appreciate it.”

“Just don’t expect it to be a common thing to happen.” He grumbles looking away from her.

She smiles and goes into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water for both of them before going back into the living room. He takes the water nodding thanks.

“Ready to get back to it?” She asks taking a drink and setting her water aside.

He nods setting the water down and getting back into his chair. She settles back down getting situated to start drawing again. She looks over her drawing as she finishes and looks up at him.

“Alright you can get up now, I’m done.”

Midorima gets up and stretches again and then comes over to look at the drawing.

She looks up at him and smiles, “What do you think?”

He looks over her shoulder down at the drawing, “It looks good, I’m impressed.”

She looks up at him and smiles, “Thanks. I actually have something to turn in now.”

She closes her sketchbook and looks at the clock, “It’s getting pretty late, I’m sorry I kept you here for this most of the day.”

He looks at the time and shrugs, “I planned on spending most of the day here anyhow. So I guess how it was spent doesn’t matter much. I should head home though, it’s getting late.” 

She nods towards the kitchen, “Did you want to get something to eat before you go?”

He shakes his head, “That’s ok, thank you though. I’ll talk to you again soon.”

She smiles and nods walking him to the door, “I’ll see you soon.”

She leans up and kisses him on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly and grumble before quickly kissing to top of her head and rushing out the door saying goodbye. Mira chuckles closing the door behind him.

[beautifultypewriter]

Fooled Around and Fell in Love ~ Sir Gwaine

Requested: Yes / by Anonymous

Warnings: Needles (Reader is a tattoo artist) and mentions of blood

Word Count: 1,938 (I am so so sorry. This got so out of hand)

Pairing: Sir Gwaine x reader

Summary: It’s a modern AU! Percival takes Gwaine to his favorite tattoo artist so the man can get his first tattoo. Gwaine definitely did not count on the artist being this cute and he definitely did not count on catching real feelings.

A/N: This is a little bit inspired by Miranda Lambert’s cover of Fooled Around and Fell in Love (Originally by Elvin Bishop). I didn’t describe Gwaine’s tattoo because I really don’t know what he would get. Like I thought about it, but I couldn’t come up with anything.

You were at the front counter, working on a design for one of your clients while you waited for your next appointment. A regular of yours, Percival, was bringing in one of his buddies for his first tattoo. You always loved doing first tattoos because more often than not, you saw that person again and again. It was like once you got one, you caught some kind of tattoo fever. That’s how Percival became one of your regulars. He had come in for his first tattoo and you warned him about the fever, but he had only laughed and dismissed your claim. Then he was back at the shop a week later with an idea for his second tattoo and you were laughing out your ‘I told you so.’

 The bell above the door rang and you stopped what you were doing to look up at the two men who entered. The first you recognized as Percival, the same big smile on his face that he always had. The man behind him must have been his friend. This man was a bit shorter than Percival with long, dark hair and though he tried to hide it behind his smile, you could tell that he was a little bit nervous. Percival strolled over to the counter, leaned across it and kissed your cheek quickly.

 You smiled at him, “Hey, Perce.” He nodded to you and you looked behind him, holding your hand out to the other man, “Hi, I’m Y/N.”

 He stepped forward, taking your hand in his, “Gwaine.”

 You nodded, “Percival tells me that this is your first tattoo?”

 Gwaine nodded as he looked around the shop, “Yep.” He looked back at you, his eyes trailing down your body and back up again.

 He grinned at you as you nodded to the couches across the room, “Shall we?” Percival leaned against the counter as he pushed Gwaine towards the couch. You gave him a look, but he only smiled back. Grabbing your sketchbook and pencil, you made your way over to the couch, turning to a clean page and sitting beside Gwaine. You looked at him, “So what were you thinking?” Gwaine launched into all the details he wanted to put into his tattoo and where he wanted it. You nodded along as you made notes in your book and started some first sketches.

 When Gwaine was done speaking, he contented himself to just watch you as you worked. Your pencil scratched against the paper as you started a new design before quickly scratching it out and moving to an open space to start a third design. Gwaine watched you shake your head and start a new design, smiling when he noticed your tongue poke out slightly, your eyes squinted in concentration. Soon you had an entire page filled with various designs that all incorporated what Gwaine was looking for. You handed him the sketchbook, “What do you think? Anything jumping out at you?” He took the book from you, his eyes scanning every one of your designs, nodding at some and moving quickly over others.

 He pointed to one of the designs in the middle of the page, “Oh that’s it right there.”

 You looked over at the one he had chosen, “Yeah? Did you want to make any changes?”

 Gwaine shook his head as he handed you the book, “Nope, it’s perfect.” He grinned at you, leaning slightly closer to you. You leaned into him before quickly standing from the couch.

 “Great. I’ll get the stencil ready.” You heard Percival snort as you turned and headed back to the counter to gather your necessary supplies. The couch creaked as Gwaine stood to follow you. Smiling to yourself, you got started on the stencil. When you had finished, you looked up at the clock on the wall before turning to the two men, “Alright, so did you want to schedule an appointment to get this done or did you wanna do it right now?” You raised an eyebrow at Gwaine.

 He stared back, his own eyebrow quirking up, “I’ve got the time now.”

 You smiled as you grabbed the stencil and moved from behind the counter, “Perfect.” You motioned for Gwaine to follow you and led him to the back where several chairs were set up. You motioned to your chair and Gwaine sat down. Percival sat in a nearby chair and the two whispered quietly among themselves as you gathered everything you were going to need. Walking back to the pair, you nodded at Gwaine, “Alright, shirt off.”

 The man smirked at you, “In a rush to get my clothes off?”

 You smirked back, “Only so I can get you done and out of my shop.” Percival laughed and you winked at Gwaine. He only shook his head as he peeled his shirt off and folded it in his lap. You sat on your stool and wheeled yourself as close to Gwaine as you could get. You set the stencil on his chest and after a few adjustments, you were ready. Gwaine looked down at you as you fired up the tattoo gun and dipped it in the ink. Turning back, you looked up at him, “Ready, pretty boy?”

 He smirked at you, “Oh, so you think I’m pretty?”

 You placed your free hand on his chest as you leaned close to his body, “For now.” You glanced up at him, “You won’t be in a minute though.”

 He chuckled, “Why do you say that?”

 You smirked as you turned back to the task at hand, “No one ever is.” Then you pressed the needle to his skin, seeing him grimace out of the corner of your eye. Percival laughed loudly as you chuckled quietly to yourself. You followed every line with precision, occasionally getting more ink or stopping to wipe the excess and the blood off.

 Gwaine had insisted that it didn’t hurt, but you could see him wince every now and again and he looked more than relieved when you pulled back and announced that he was done. You bandaged him up and went through the care instructions with him, giving him the same package you gave to all your clients with written instructions, extra bandages, a bottle of antimicrobial soap, and a tube of anitbacterial ointment. You had even warned him about the tattoo fever, joking that you would see him again soon. After you settled up and made sure he had no other questions, you sent him on his way, sure he would be calling for another appointment soon.

 Sure enough, Gwaine had returned to the shop shortly after his first tattoo, but it was not for more ink. It was to flirt with you and to ask you on a date. You had been a bit hesitant about getting involved with him, but you figured one date wouldn’t hurt, so you agreed.

 You were wrong though. One date could hurt a lot and it currently did. You had thought that things had gone well, but it had been five days since what you thought was a wonderful night and you still hadn’t heard anything from Gwaine. Not even a single text. It seemed Gwaine had not shared in your feelings and that was hurting you more than you thought it would.

 The bell above the door rang and you looked up to see Percival walking up to the counter. You smiled at him, “Hey. Ready to finish that up?” You gestured to his arm and he nodded, following you into the back. He sat in the chair as you got everything ready. You worked in silence, concentrating on filling in the last of his large bicep tattoo.

 When you finished, Percival looked over your work, “Thanks, Y/N, this is really amazing.”

 You looked away from your tools, “Yeah, it came out really nice.” You smiled at him, “I’ll see you later?” He nodded and stood up, walking towards the front of the shop.

 Then he stopped and walked back over to you, “Actually, Y/N, can you do me a favor?”

 You looked up at him, “Sure, what do you need?”

 Percival sighed, “Don’t write Gwaine off yet.” Shaking your head, you scoffed. Percival held his hand out, “Please, just listen to me-”

 You turned away from him, “I don’t want to talk about Gwaine, Perce.” You finished cleaning your station and then just sat with your hands in your lap. You really didn’t want to talk about Gwaine and especially not with his best friend.

 Percival sighed, “Please, Y/N. He’s an idiot, but… just please.”

 You spun around to look at him, “My mind is open.” You held your arms out to the side as you sighed.

 Percival smiled, “Thank you.” He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to your cheek before waving and leaving the shop. You went back to cleaning everything up, making sure all of the equipment was properly sanitized and everything was back in its place. At some point during your sweep of the shop, your coworkers called out their goodbyes and left.

 You were alone at the counter, working on a few sketches when you had some peace and quiet. Then the bell above the door rang. Strange, you thought you had locked it. Shaking your head, you looked up, “I’m sorry, but we’re closed for the day.” Your eyes met Gwaine’s and you frowned. He moved further into the shop, letting the door fall shut behind him.

 He smiled at you, “You have a minute to talk?” You grabbed all of your papers, pushing them into a messy pile and picking them up.

 You moved around the counter, heading for your bag, “Go on, I guess.” You refused to look at him as you packed up your stuff and slung your jacket over your shoulders.

 Gwaine sighed, “I’m sorry that I didn’t call you when I said I was going to.”

 You turned sharply, “Oh, you’re sorry?” You let out one humorless laugh, “Well that changes everything.”

 Gwaine looked down to his boots, “I know you’re upset, and I deserve all of what you want to dish out,” you nodded and he moved closer, “but I really am sorry and I’m not gonna stand here and give you excuses because there are no excuses for what I did. I’m just gonna say that I felt something real for you and I wasn’t prepared for it.” He looked up at you, “I handled it all wrong and I’m hoping against all hope that you’d be willing to give me a second chance even though I don’t deserve it.”

 You crossed your arms over your chest, staring at the nervous man in front of you, “No, you don’t.” He winced as he looked past you at the shop’s wall. You sighed, “I felt something real for you too, Gwaine.” His eyes snapped back to you, hope building in them. You sighed again, dropping your hands to your sides, “And it hurt when you blew me off.” His eyes turned sad again and he frowned. It was quiet for a few minutes as neither of you could look at the other. Finally, you stepped over to him and placed your hand on his arm, “I appreciate your apology and you’re forgiven.” Gwaine stared at your hand as a small smile broke out on his face. Your hand slid down to grip his and he looked at you. You smiled, “Do you want to go for a coffee?”

 He nodded, “Yes.” Your smile widened as you nodded to the door and the two of you left the shop.

[loubuggins]

Girlfriend

A/N: This story was inspired by an idea given to me by @zuppizup. Thank you, friend! As always, please read and review! 

Summary: The misunderstanding that he was sure would have come around at some point in their relationship and here it was. The inevitable cultural clash. “Rayla, do you know what girlfriend means?”

The first time she heard the word, it had caught her off guard. She and Callum were sitting on the steps leading to the Dragon Queen’s chamber, going about their usual verbal sparring.

“There's no way me ears are that big.” She scolded him as she glared at the open pages of his journal. She looked pointedly at his latest creation, a sketch of her petting Zym in the very spot they were currently sitting in. He had been adding details to the drawing while they cuddled together, enjoying the rare moment of quiet.

“I didn’t make them big.” He defended himself. “Only pointed, because they are.”

The elf shook her head in disapproval. “Ya made them almost as long as me head!”

For added emphasis, she waved a hand beside her face, gesturing to her actual ears. The boy looked up from his drawing and studied her for a second. His green eyes darkened as he concentrated on the body part in question. His stare was a little unnerving to the girl, but he seemed to either ignore or simply not notice the way she began to squirm and awkwardly try to catch his gaze. After what felt like hours, the young artist looked back to his page. His eyes then flickered back and forth between his sketch and his muse. She could practically see the gears turning in his mind as he took her critique seriously and compared his work with the real thing.

His lips finally parted as he appeared to be preparing a retort, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sudden interruption of one of their friends.

“Hey, Callum!” The familiar voice of Soren, a Crown Guard, called out to them from across the foyer. In his large arms, he held baskets filled with bread and fruits. “Quit flirting with your girlfriend and come help me feed the troops!”

The younger boy blushed and sighed as he closed his book. “Duty calls.” He mumbled to her, a hint of an apology behind his words. He handed her the leather-bound pages and placed a quick kiss on her cheek before standing up to meet Soren outside. She returned his gesture with a small smile and watched him go.

It had only been a few days since the final battle against Viren and his mutated army. Many of those who had fought in the battle were still camping at the base of the Storm Spire. The Spire itself could only house so many people, not to mention how difficult it would be for Callum and Ibis to perform the special breathing spell on all those people. So they found it best to let the armies rest on the ground before they returned to their proper homes. Thanks to Callum’s new ability to sprout wings where his arms should be, it had made traveling from the top of the Spire down to the ground and back up again much quicker than taking the endless stairs. However, his skill also meant he had to be gone at different times throughout the day, which made alone time all the more difficult.

But their lack of bonding time was not what gripped her thoughts as she sat alone on the top step. Instead, there was a word that the older blonde had used that replayed in her mind on a loop.

Girlfriend?

The word made no sense. Sure it may be easier to say than “the girl who is your friend” or “your friend that happens to be a girl.” But it still sounded wrong. Besides, she was not just Callum’s friend. She had it on a pretty solid record that her relationship with the human mage was well beyond that of just being friends. Perhaps Soren was just unaware of the change in their status? It seemed hard to believe, even for someone as slow to the mark as Soren. They weren’t hiding their relationship and Callum always seemed so eager to tell people that they were now “a thing” as he referred to it.

“But why else would he call me Callum’s girlfriend?”

The question nagged at her as she left her spot and went to return her love’s sketchbook to his room for safekeeping.

~#~#~

She had honestly forgotten about the word after that. At some point in her thinking, she had finally decided that it was no more than just Soren’s playful teasing of the teenage prince and left it at that. She had meant to ask Callum about it later, but when he finally returned, the question had slipped her mind.

It was not until two days later that she remembered and this time, the strange word was used by Callum himself. It was deliberate too. The humans were preparing to leave the Spire and begin their journey back to the human kingdoms. It was her first time back on the ground since she first climbed the steep steps of the mountain with Callum, Ezran, and Zym. Callum had wanted to come to say his goodbyes and had invited her along. She did not know many humans, but she was familiar with a few by this point. She especially wanted to spend every second she still could with Callum’s brother, who had become like a little brother to her as well. So she had agreed to join him, even if leaving Zym was making her anxious.

When they had first arrived at the temporary camp, they helped with the packing. Though Ezran was a King now and Callum was still a Prince, they all still felt the need to lend a helping hand in the cleanup. As the three were working on wrapping up a tent, they were interrupted by a group of somewhat familiar-looking humans. Corvus she remembers, the burly brown man kept his confident stance beside a woman leading them toward the three kids. She could not name the woman, but her white robes and pointed look made her seem like someone of significance. On the woman’s other side was Callum’s Aunt Amaya, who Rayla probably knew best among the group. She respected the general and she was glad that the feeling seemed mutual now.

Ezran was the first to look up and acknowledge them. He greeted them with a polite smile and nod, stopping what he had been doing to meet up with them. Rayla stared at them for a moment, then shrugged and went back to helping Callum fold the fabric of the tent. She figured it was just “Kingly Business” that did not concern her. That was until the woman in white called out Callum’s name. They had just put away the remainder of the tent, so the prince moved to join the other humans. On instinct, Rayla moved to follow him, then quickly stopped herself. This was probably a human thing. Part of his royal duties. It was strange to think of him like royalty. Sure she would frequently mock his royal title, but to her, he was just Callum. An up and coming mage who loved to joke around, doodle in his book, and talk about his feelings. He was her best friend and the only person she has ever fallen in love with. He was a prince, yes, but she saw him as so much more.

She was surprised when he stopped just a few steps ahead of her and turned to give her an expectant smile. He even held out his hand to her, waiting for her to come along. She was not sure if she was actually welcomed to participate in whatever conversation the humans were having, but Callum made it clear that he would not be joining them without her. With a grin on her face, she ran up beside him and eagerly took his hand into hers.

They approached the group of adults together, stopping to stand at Ezran’s side. Rayla studied their faces to try and gauge their reactions to seeing her. Corvus looked perplexed as he stared at her and Callum’s intertwined hands, but he did not seem to disapprove. Amaya gave the young couple a knowing look instead, along with a small smile. The only person Rayla has yet to meet was the blonde woman who had called them over here, but if she was surprised to see an elf and a human holding hands, she did not show it.

“Prince Callum,” the older woman greeted respectfully, adding a short bow that made Rayla feel slightly awkward. “I am saddened to hear you will not be returning to Katolis with us.”

The boy gave her a polite nod in return. “I wish I could come back and help Ezran, but we’ve talked about it and we agree I am more needed here.”

The woman nodded in understanding. “Yes, with your new elf companion.” Her eyes fell on the elf in question. “Well, I hope you know she is welcome to return with you. Do not feel that you must stay behind to be with her.”

Rayla’s hand tightened around Callum’s and her friendly demeanor began to crack. Heat rose in the boy’s cheeks and he quickly exchanged a look with his elven counterpart.

“Oh erm uh, thank you Opeli, I’m glad to hear that. But the main reason we are staying is to take care of Zym. Rayla and I will be putting together a new Dragon Guard. I’m also going to try learning some more magic while I’m here too.”

Opeli regarded the couple thoughtfully, their discomfort clearly unknown to the advisor. “Of course. Might I add, Prince Callum, that your friend and I have not been formally introduced.”

“Oh, right!” The boy looked apologetic as he gestured his free hand over to the girl at his side. “Rayla, this is Opeli. She’s a royal advisor to the King and a member of Ezran’s council.” He then waved his hand over to the blonde. “Opeli, this is Rayla, my...girlfriend.”

He said the word slowly as if he were tasting the word on his lips and enjoying hearing the sound of it. His chest swelled and his posture straightened as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. The silly mage was practically beaming and for what Rayla did not understand. For she was incredibly pissed.

~#~#~

“Girlfriend, eh? Is that really all you see me as?”

She had been giving him the cold shoulder since their conversation with Ezran’s royal council and Callum had been trying to fix whatever he had said or done wrong to upset her so much ever since. But the poor prince was struggling to get it out of her all day. At least until they reached her empty room in the Storm Spire, where she finally felt comfortable enough to voice her frustrations. Though Callum still wore a look of utter confusion as she glared at him with her arms crossed over her chest, awaiting his response.

But all he could sputter out was a befuddled “What?”

Rayla let out an indignant sigh. “I know us being together is weird to people.” She began as she started pacing the room. “ I know not everyone is going to approve. It will be plenty hard for me to tell Ethari and the rest of Silvergrove about us, but I wasn’t going to lie to them, Callum. I was going to tell them the truth about us, even if I'd be the first elf in history to be ghosted twice!” She came to a halt just inches in front of him and held up two fingers for added emphasis.

“Wait, Rayla, what are you talking about?” He blinked at her as his mind raced to keep up.

“I’m talking about how I love you enough that I’m not afraid of others knowing about it. And up until now, I thought that you weren’t either, but clearly, I was wrong.” She bit back as she folded her arms again. This time her angry stare came with a few tears pulling in the corners of her eyes, threatening to roll down her flushed cheeks.

Callum hated seeing her like this. He did not understand what was causing her so much anguish, but he could not stand being a part of it. He felt his own anger begin to bubble up in his chest, but it was more so at himself than at her.

“Rayla, what do you mean? Of course, I’m not afraid of that! I was the one who asked you if we should tell the Dragon Queen just a week ago! And I told Ez, and my Aunt Amaya, and Ibis, and...and...Rayla I’ve told everyone about us!” He flailed his hands in the air as he looked on to her with exasperation.

His dramatic flair did nothing to dampen her hardened glare. “Yes, but only as your girlfriend.” She stressed out the friend part of the word with the venom of a Soulfang.

Callum blinked at her, his baffled look not leaving his face. “Yes, my girlfriend. What else would I call you? Is there some Moonshadow elf word for girlfriend I should know about?”

The elf gave him an indignant scuff. “We simply call it ‘a friend.’” She bit back in retort.

The mage just stared at her and his voice dropped low. “But Rayla, you’re so much more to me than just a friend.”

Rayla’s hard stare faltered silently at the shift of his tone. She shuffled her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. With her eyes downcast, she spoke up again, softly this time, “If I am, then why do ya keep callin’ me your friend?”

Callum straightened and his mouth fell a gap. He stood there silently searching for the right words in response to her admission. Friend. How could she possibly think that she was just a friend to him? Of course, they were friends, best friends in fact! But they were also something so much more.

“Girlfriend, Rayla. You’re my girl...wait.” And then it dawned on him. The real reason this argument had come about. The misunderstanding that he was sure would have come around at some point in their relationship and here it was. The inevitable cultural clash. “Rayla, do you know what girlfriend means?”

“Of course I know what it means. I’m not daft!” She objected before quickly adding, “It means a girl who is your friend.”

Callum’s face instantly morphed with understanding, a relieved grin spreading across his lips. “No, it means the exact opposite.”

It was Rayla’s turn to look dumbfounded. “What?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped short. He thought about it for a moment, trying to decide the best way for him to explain. “Girlfriend is what someone calls the girl they love.” He started, looking back up at her with an affectionate glint in his eyes. “The girl they have a ‘thing’ with.” He pointed between the both of them. “Don’t elves have a word like that?”

The elf stood astonished for a moment, simply staring wide-eyed at the human boy. Then his words finally soaked in. Her cheeks felt hot as a crimson blush crept it’s way up her neck. She quickly averted her gaze and rubbed the length of her forearms.

“Well, now I feel stupid.” She admitted in a small voice.

Callum’s grin fell as he caught on to her embarrassment. Closing the space between them, he gently ran his hands over her wrists and pulled her crossed arms apart. He slid his fingers over the back of her palms and intertwined their fingers together.

“I’ve never heard someone be referred to as a girlfriend before, but I know Ethari used to call Runaan ‘my heart’ and my parents used to call each other ‘my love.’” Rayla explained, visibly relaxing under his touch. The boy simply smiled reassuringly as he listened to her. “Calling someone yours is the most endearing you get. At least to a Moonshadow Elf.”

“I’m sorry, Rayla.”

Her head snapped up at that. “Sorry? For what?”

“I should have asked you if it was okay, to call you my girlfriend that is. I was just so excited by the idea of actually having a girlfriend and one as beautiful and amazing as you are! And everyone else was calling you my girlfriend so I guess I just started using it too.”

She nodded in understanding. “I should have asked about it earlier. But I had honestly forgotten about it until today. I don’t mind being your girlfriend, Callum.”

The boy perked up at that.

“Now that I know what it means.” She quickly added.

His smile returned and he gave her hands a loving squeeze. “Well, maybe I should call you something from your culture, my heart.” He flashed her a toothy grin.

She shuddered and shook her head. “Bleh no, that’s way too sappy.”

Her disgusted expression earned her a laugh from her prince. “Well, now I’ve got to call you that.” He teased as he pulled her closer and gave her a flirtatious waggle of his eyebrows.

She scoffed at him, yanking her hands back and taking a step back. She tried to shoot him the deadliest glare she could muster in that moment, which was only slightly scary. “Don’t.”

Her command only made him laugh even harder. The sound of his laughter filled the room and made her heart feel lighter.

“Okay, fine, but I will find something that you’ll like.” He declared with an unusual amount of confidence.

“Good luck with that.” She deadpanned as she turned to walked away, but she was stopped by the rise in his voice.

“Wait!” He called out and she paused to look back at him over her shoulder.

“What are you going to call me?” He asked as he caught up to her.

“I call you lots of things.” She offered before smirking at him. “But maybe I’ll try boyfriend.”

He blushed. “Ha, more like manfriend.” He joked while lifting his arm to show off his lean muscles that he had been building since the start of their journey.

His girlfriend rolled her eyes and nudged his side, but laughter still escaped her lips.

“Stupid Prince.”

[nightingiall]

head in the clouds: part vii

{story page} // {read on wattpad} // {characters}

Rory thinks she’s forgotten how to function like a normal human being. 

She feels stuck in a dream-like daze, mind replaying the events of the other night on loop. It seems as though every time she thinks about it, she remembers more. Remembers fingertips skimming along her jawline only to tangle in her hair, a hand planted to the small of her back holding her close, being pressed against a warm body and feeling as though this was the only thing that was right in the world. 

She’s so consumed by these thoughts that she keeps forgetting that she has to visit real-life sometimes. This morning, she over-poured her coffee, not realizing until it was spilling over and burning her fingers. She put butter onto her bagel instead of cream cheese, texted Gigi instead of her mom, and nearly put salt instead of sugar into Gigi’s tea. 

It goes without saying that her roommate is not impressed. 

“Girl, what is up with you lately?” Gigi huffs at her latest transgression: she’d handed her the wrong set of keys this morning which led to her being locked out until Rory could get back and let her in. 

Gigi kicks off her shoes at the door and heads straight to the kitchen to wash her hands and grab a glass of water. Meanwhile, Rory lingers, taking her time in actually stepping inside because she knows what is about to happen next and she’s not sure how to explain it all to her best friend. 

Gigi notices because of course she does, watching her warily as she steps in and hangs her bag. “What happened?” she asks simply, presumably unable to take the silence anymore. 

Rory averts her eyes, already trying to plan an escape to her room. But deep down she knows that she’s not getting out of this conversation, so the current game plan is to buy enough time until she can figure out what to say. “Nothing.” 

Gigi clears her throat, quickly stepping in front of her to give her a serious look. “Don’t play with me, Rory. What happened?”

She responds with a shrug, still not making eye contact. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Her attempt to get around her friend turns out to be futile, Gigi effectively blocking her off and sending her a glare this time. “Rory, I swear to god, if you don’t tell me now then I’ll get it out of you somehow and you know my methods aren’t always pretty.” 

Rory knows better than to mess with her. Gigi is persuasive when she wants to be but she’s known for getting to the bottom of things in unconventional ways and Rory did not want to take her up on that offer. So she sighs, trudging towards the couch and plopping down into it, wishing distantly that it would just swallow her whole. 

“It’s Niall, isn’t it.” That is not a question, and Gigi makes it clear when she stands in front of her, hands on her hips, glass of water still clutched in one of them. “What did he do?”

Rory realizes that she doesn’t know how to explain because she has no idea what actually happened. They were drunk, Rory said some dumb things, Niall kissed her, and then everything after that is a mess. She’s spent every waking moment attempting to unravel the tangled strands of memory that are jumbled up in her mind but still can’t wrap her head around what exactly went wrong. She doesn’t know why he abruptly left afterwards or why he won’t respond to her texts. As usual, everything was great until it wasn’t, and now nothing makes sense. 

“Rory, jeez, can you get out of your head for five minutes and talk to me?” Gigi is eyeing her with concern now, sitting on the couch next to her, and Rory sighs, wishing once again that she could just evaporate into thin air and not have to deal with her nosy friend at the moment. 

“He kissed me.” It feels strangely rousing to say it out loud, like it really happened and wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. 

Gigi gasps, clearly shocked and confused because she slides her glass onto the coffee table to give Rory her full attention. “Seriously?” she asks, and Rory nods, a sigh filtering through her lips once again. “Then why on earth are you so upset? Isn’t that what you wanted.” 

And it is what she’s wanted. For as long as she’s realized how attracted she is to him, all she’s wanted was to kiss him. But Niall’s reaction afterwards is still playing on loop in her head, like a broken tape. “Yeah, but,” she huffs, feeling too many things at once and unable to articulate any of them, “now I feel like everything is weird because after it happened he like...left so fast and...now he won’t answer my texts and…” She groans exasperatedly, sinking deeper into the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest. “I don’t know.” 

Gigi is silent, taking in her words, and it’s a long moment before she speaks again. “Have you tried going over to his place?” 

Rory shakes her head, but the idea did occur to her, especially since they didn’t share lifeguard shifts today. “Should I?” 

At that, Gigi gives her a small smile, placing a reassuring hand over hers. “You like him, right?” 

Rory’s cheeks fill with warmth. She likes him so much she forgets how to breathe around him. “Yeah,” she whispers, hugging the pillow closer. 

“Then go and tell him.” Gigi gives her hand a squeeze. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Rory scoffs, pouting. “He can reject me and say that he regrets everything that happened.” 

Gigi’s smile softens as she shakes her head. “You know, I have a feeling that there’s an extremely low chance of that happening.” 

It only takes a few more moments of cajoling for Rory to huff in agreement, and she heads to her room to get out of her lifeguard clothes and take a quick shower. She washes the chlorine from her skin and gets changed into a comfortable but nice outfit, meticulously applying her favorite lip gloss for good measure. As she’s emptying her bag for her phone, she finds her sketchbook. 

A tired sigh works its way through her at the sight of it. She has yet to find inspiration to draw something good, and is beginning to think that she’s maybe lost her touch. She used to be able to draw all day. No one could ever pry her sketchbook from her hands. And now, she feels as though she hasn’t created anything special or unique in a long time, simply mindlessly dragging her pencil across the pages on some days. 

Or so she thought. 

Because when she opens the book now, she finds that she has been inadvertently creating something meaningful after all. Spilled across page after page is a summary of her entire summer. At first glance, it may not be as obvious, but she sees it with each flip through the book. Niall’s hands curled into Spike’s fur as the cat curls into his lap; Niall’s fingers caught mid-movement drumming a tune onto his water bottle; Niall emerging through the water of the pool, water stretched like jelly over him as he hasn’t yet broken the surface; Niall in the middle of a laugh, blurred fairy lights hanging over him like stars. 

Niall.

He’s everywhere, scattered across the pages of her sketchbook, and despite the fact that many of the drawings don’t include his face or identifiable features, it’s all of him. Rory came back to Hightstown because it’s tradition, because she wanted to move past last summer, because she wanted to find inspiration for her drawings, the artist in her clawing at her chest, waiting for release through her fingers. And she realizes now that her inspiration has been right in front of her the whole time.

Rory remembers wondering whether it was possible for her to be able to just draw her feelings, that perhaps that would be easier than trying to put them into words. And now she sees that she has. All summer she’s been drawing her feelings, been pouring her heart out throughout the pages of her book, without even recognizing it. 

And suddenly, she knows what she has to do.

***

Rory shoves her sketchbook into her bag and walks out of her place with a fire in her eyes. She’s a woman on a mission and she’s going to set everything right tonight. 

There are 19 days left of summer and it’s time to tell Niall how she feels.

***

Rory is fuming.

It’s still insufferably hot out at the pool today, but it doesn’t compare to the hot ball of anger simmering within her, a slow, boiling roll that is threatening to burst and spill over. The feeling only grows the longer she looks at Niall, sitting in the lifeguard chair across from her on the other side of the pool. 

At least he has the gall to look nervous at the way she’s glaring at him through her sunglasses, a scarlet flush spreading down his neck to his chest. His fingers are not rhythmically drumming against his water bottle today. Instead, he haphazardly taps against it, a messy staccato that is clearly not set against a song or tune.

Rory bitterly thinks that it’s good that he’s nervous. Because she could scream at him she’s so angry. Because he kissed her and now he’s ignoring her and she hasn’t been able to get ahold of him long enough to ask why. 

She’d gone over to his place last night, armed with her sketchbook and all of her unspoken feelings, ready to tell him that she’s spent the whole summer falling for him and that she couldn’t stop. A nervous lump had formed in her throat, growing larger with each step she took towards his place, and by the time she had made it to his door, she felt like she could pass out with how much she couldn’t breathe. 

But the nerves quickly evaporated, being replaced with concern and then frustration, because no matter how long she knocked, he would not open the door. She checked through his windows and even called out his name only to receive no response. And because she didn’t want to cause a scene or draw attention to his place because of Spike, she then had no choice but to return to her place with her tail between her legs, humiliation stinging at her. 

Still, she was more concerned than upset, wondering if he was okay, wondering if perhaps it wasn’t his intention to ignore her but something else was going on. She wouldn’t know until she saw him though, because her texts and calls were going unanswered as well. 

It wasn’t until she arrived at the pool for her shift in the morning that the multitude of emotions swirling within her threatened to erupt into a full blown rage. He’d completely avoided her when she’d tried to get his attention and he isn’t behind her in the rotation and Rory is so annoyed that she could scream. 

Because...what did it all mean? Did he regret everything? Did he wish he could take back that moment that he kissed her and suddenly it was as though all the stars aligned and everything was so right? He had to have felt it too, the way everything seemed to click into place, the way nothing else could ever compare. He had to. 

And Rory couldn’t lie to herself and deny that the anger was a mask for the drop of discouragement she felt in her stomach whenever he averted his eyes from her gaze. She couldn’t ignore the way she could feel her heart beating in her throat every time she envisioned confronting him only to be rejected. She couldn’t--she wouldn’t be able to handle it. If he told her that he regretted kissing her then she knew her heart would break into a million pieces. 

As the day goes on, she feels her anger simmering away into dread, into apprehension, and suddenly she’s afraid to even confront him at all. Her mind is telling her that perhaps it is better if he doesn’t have to reject her, that perhaps it is better if she just takes the hint and moves on. And they don’t have to talk about it. And they can just pretend this whole summer never happened. 

But then she thinks of her sketchbook, laying on her bed back at her place, where she left it after flipping through it again this morning, and she realizes that the memory of this summer, even if they left it like it is right now, would never leave her. It would haunt her, in her dreams, in her sketchbook. Those drawings would always remind her of what could have been. And she doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want an almost. She wants something real. 

This thing with Niall...it’s the most real thing she’s ever experienced. Whenever she’s with him she feels like she does when she’s drawing, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, like she’s alive. Whenever she’s with Niall, everything feels right. 

She frowns when she looks at him now, sulking into her lifeguard chair. All she wants is to talk to him and she doesn’t know what to do. 

The hours of their shift seem to stretch on for an eternity. With each passing moment Rory feels more and more restless. She’s never hated having to stay in one spot for such a long period of time more until right now, as every single emotion under the sun courses through her. From dejection to annoyance to confusion to uneasiness, Rory feels like she’s lived an entire lifetime in the hours she’s spent sitting there staring at Niall. 

Someone blows the whistle to signal for adult swim and they rotate again. It’s the last rotation of their shift and it just so happens to be Rory’s break. Normally, when this happens, she simply gathers her things to get ready to head out. But today, she waits. If the way Niall had been wriggling in his chair every time he made eye contact with her was any indication, she knows she’ll have to try and get to him before he can slip away. 

So she waits in the secluded entryway of the locker rooms, left alone with her thoughts and tangled web of feelings coursing through her. She wonders now what she should say, how she should act, what her most prevalent emotion is. She tries to only think about all of the things she wants to say to him instead of what he might say back. If she continues to conjure up every single worst case scenario in her mind then she’ll only psych herself out and never approach him at all. 

“Rory,” someone hisses, and when she snaps out of her thoughts she finds that it’s Alejandra speed-walking towards her. She’s wearing an expression that looks like a mixture of concern and bewilderment. “What is happening? Did you and Niall break up before you even got together?”

Rory sighs, frowning to herself. Of course she noticed. “It’s complicated,” is all she can think to say, because she doesn’t know how else to explain. Then, she brightens slightly, an idea coming to her. “Can you help with distracting everyone else while I grab him? He always walks to the Shacks with Zafar and Shane and I really need to talk to him.” 

Alejandra grins at her, eyes lighting up. “Of course.” Then, a sort of wistful look falls over her features as she clasps her hands over her chest. “Anything for young love.”

And so, they wait. Alejandra and Gigi are similar in the sense that they have this uncanny ability to just pull information out of a person, so Rory ends up divulging bits and pieces to her as they keep lookout for Niall. Alejandra calls her an idiot for not running after him the same night he kissed her and Rory pitifully huffs that she was drunk and too stunned to function. 

They bicker back and forth for a few more moments until they spot him, freezing and glancing at each other, conviction written all over their faces, and it’s barely a moment until they’re both rushing out of the locker room. Rory doesn’t have time to second guess herself. She hasn’t even yet planned what she’s going to say because it’s seconds before Alejandra is intercepting the boys, distracting them with a conversation about someone needing help procuring a keg for a party, buying Rory enough time for her to grab Niall’s hand and tug him away. 

“What--” he stumbles out, tripping slightly over his feet with how abruptly she pulls him, but allows her to lead him anyway when he realizes what’s happening. “Rory--oh--”

“Shhh,” she gets out. She has no idea where she’s taking him until she sees the pool supply shed nearby and tugs him towards it. “Just follow me.” 

Her voice escapes her more curtly than she intends and she can feel Niall’s steps hesitate behind her as a result. “Rory I’m really sorry,” he blurts out just as she’s getting the shed door open. She gives him a look only to find his eyes widened as he watches her nervously, following her inside like a wounded puppy, and she’s barely closing the door behind her before he starts babbling. “I didn’t mean to like, avoid you or anything but I was so nervous that you were going to be upset and--” He pauses to acknowledge whatever expression she throws him, holding his hands out cautiously. “Okay you are upset and that is completely valid because I’ve been a prick--”

“Niall,” Rory huffs, belatedly realizing that perhaps she didn’t need to stress over what to say to him since he seems to have thought of everything for her.

“--and I swear it was never my intention to come across as a jerk because I’m really not like a stereotypical ‘Shack guy’ who has no regard for other people’s feelings--”

“Niall, I know--”

“--it’s just that I really wanted to kiss you all summer and I was drunk and I don’t really know what came over me and I’m so fucking sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way I swear I’m not the kind of guy to try and take advantage of you or anything and I was really nervous that you’d think poorly of me and never want to see me again because I was impulsive and stupid and--”

“Niall, seriously, just--” Rory is overwhelmed with all the words he’s throwing at her and she wonders if he’s going to stop and breathe anytime soon because she’s been holding her breath throughout this entire exchange and she can really use some oxygen to her brain right now, but he just keeps going. 

“--I was only avoiding you because I didn’t know how to face you after everything and I didn’t know if I’d ruined our friendship and I know you’ve already been through a lot and I didn’t want to be another dumbass that fucked with your feelings but then I realized today that that’s exactly what I’ve done and I’m so sorry, I really--”

“Jesus Niall, shut up!” Rory finally takes a breath to clear the thoughts running wild in her mind, scrubbing her hands over her flushed cheeks to try and cool them down, eyes clenched shut as she tries to regain her focus. She doesn’t even know where to begin after everything he’s just said, all of her emotions tangled in a knot within her, but when she opens her eyes to look at him, taking in his wide eyes and heaving chest and a scarlet red blush that traveled the length of his neck only to disappear into the collar of his long-sleeved white tee, she realizes that for once, she should stop thinking about everything so much. She should just listen to the strong and sure sound of her heart, tugging her in the direction of this boy who has turned her whole world around in the matter of a season. Taking a singular step towards him, bridging only a fraction of what feels like an expansive gap between them, she breathes, “I’m not upset with you.” 

Niall watches her like she’s just told him she can pluck the sun out of the sky, those bright blue eyes swirling with a storm of emotions much like the way she’s feeling, and he, too, takes a deep breath. “You’re not?” he whispers, as though the wooden walls surrounding them are not allowed to hear. 

Rory shakes her head. She feels alight with energy, a warm sensation flowing through her, a fuse ready to blow at any moment. “Well...I was. But not because you kissed me. For what happened after.” 

Niall is looking at her like she has the ability to break him, vulnerability coursing through him, and she doesn’t know what to do with that, the power he’s given her by placing his heart in her hands. Because if he hadn’t kissed her, they wouldn’t have been here now. Rory might have never broached the subject and they might still be tiptoeing around their feelings for each other. 

“I just--” She, once again, has no idea what to say, wishing that she remembered to bring her sketchbook so she could just show it to him and he can see her heart laid bare across the pages. “I can’t stop--” The words are all lodged in her throat, desperation and longing and want thrumming through her veins, her whole body shaking with it, goosebumps rippling over her skin the longer she looks at him. Niall, for his part, watches her hesitantly, hopefully, and, like always, she’s consumed by him.

All she can think about is kissing him, the last memory of his lips on hers activating a desire within her that’s unlike any she’s ever experienced. She wants so bad that she can’t even remember how to breathe anymore, all of the emotions that have been at war inside her for the past few days welling up until she’s nearly moved to tears. And she can’t take it anymore. It’s clawing at her, the way she feels for him, ripping at her chest in desperate need of release. So she’s not even thinking when she closes the gap between them to wrap her arms behind his neck to pull him into her, crashing her lips to his. 

She kisses him so hard it knocks the wind out of her, and she’s gasping for breath as he moans softly into her mouth, his own arms wrapping around her to hold her closer, tilting his head to kiss her deeply. She feels like she can’t be close enough, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt along his shoulders, tugging him towards her as she pours her entire soul into this kiss. 

It’s more frenzied than the first time, more desperate, like they have something to prove, like this could be the last kiss they ever have. Niall holds her like she’s made of glass, hands smoothing up the ridges of her spine, delicate touches of warmth that seep into her skin and tumble around in her chest. His lips trail down her jawline, leaving a searing hot trail towards the hinge where he rolls the skin there gently between his teeth, a shuddery sigh working its way out of her throat. He retraces the path of the sound, pressing feather light kisses down her neck and over her collarbones and back up again until he’s hovering over her lips. 

“Rory,” he breathes, but she can’t help the way she pulls him into a long, languid kiss again, her fingers tangled into the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. She thinks perhaps that he’s like a better version of coffee or alcohol, highly addictive and a habit she would not mind forming. And she’d keep kissing him if he didn’t have something he just has to say to her, pulling away from her lips again. “Rors.” His voice is hushed and raspy around the edges, and when she peels her eyes open she finds that his are blown out into a darker, duskier blue. He’s watching her like he did after the first time this happened again, like he’s somehow terrified and elated at the same time. 

The look he gives her has something flaring up high into her chest and all she knows is that she cannot lose him now that she has him. “What?” she asks, the word escaping her in a ragged whisper. Her hands move to hold his face, fingertips skimming across his warm, flushed skin as she searches his eyes to find whatever it is that has him hesitating. “Tell me, please.” She’s begging but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t want him to slip through her fingers. This is the only thing in a long time that has her feeling like the whole universe has somehow clicked into place for her, and she can’t let him be an almost. “I can’t do this back and forth,” she says, shaking her head desperately, “so tell me what’s on your mind.” 

She can see the way he gulps by how his throat moves. He leans into her touch, a hand coming up to close around her wrist, holding her to him. “I like you, Rory,” he murmurs, gaze locked to hers, and a surge of euphoric butterflies flutter within her at his words. “So much. And, I don’t know if this makes me selfish...” he averts his eyes for a moment and she pulls him back to her, holding onto his every word with bated breath, his eyes a blazing, electric blue now, a magnetic current keeping them tangled within each other. “And I know that summer is ending...but, I don’t want to be just one night, or one summer to you.” He brings his other hand up to her wrist too, pulling her hands down to hold them against his chest. “I don’t want ‘just friends’ with you. I want--”

“Rory!” There’s a commotion happening outside the storage shed, the voice calling out her name muffled from the barriers between them. “Niall! Where are you guys!?” Rory sends Niall a puzzled sort of look because the voice sounds a lot like Gigi’s, but then she gets distracted by the gorgeous pink flush of his skin and ruby red of his lips that her brain momentarily stops working. “Rory,” the voice calls out again, and she begrudgingly untangles herself from Niall and heads towards the door. 

If it is indeed one of her friends then she’ll probably throw something at them because now is not the time nor the moment to be interrupting. She pulls the door open, stepping out slightly as she searches for who is causing all the ruckus only for her eyes to land on her roommate. Gigi sees her too, immediately running over, and Rory doesn't have time to lament at her terrible timing before she’s relaying the worst possible news. 

“They’re doing room checks!” Gigi is huffing as though she’s just marathoned there, her hands pressed to her knees as she attempts to catch her breath. “Leslie called me to tell me. She was trying to reach you.” She then looks towards Niall who has somehow appeared by her side, and Rory glances at him only to spot the disheveled look of him. If Gigi notices the state of the two of them then she doesn’t mention it. “They’re heading over to the Shacks first. I think they’re looking for the cat.” 

“Shit,” Niall and Rory mutter at the same time, and just like that, they’re off, the moment they shared a few minutes ago being filed to the back of their minds as this new issue takes precedence. “What do we do?” Niall asks Gigi as they follow her up the path that leads to the Shacks, panic coloring his voice. 

Gigi brushes a stray strand of her hair back into her head band, huffing exasperatedly. “I have no idea. But apparently Leslie has a plan.” 

Rory wastes no time in fishing her phone out of her waterproof bag and thumbing through her recent calls for Leslie’s number, calling her immediately. She can feel Niall’s nervous energy radiating in waves off of him and it makes her infinitely more on edge. Leslie answers and Rory blurts out, “What are we going to do?”

Leslie must hear how stressed she is because she calmly says, “Okay, just relax. I’ve got a plan. Who’s with you right now.” 

Rory glances at her friends, who are watching her anxiously. They’ve all stopped walking at this point. “Just Gigi and Niall.” 

“Good.” There’s a commotion on Leslie’s end and it almost sounds like she dropped her phone. Rory can make out Harry’s voice on the other end as well as a few expletives paired with the words hurry and heavy, or something along those lines. “Right,” comes Leslie’s voice again, and she sounds a bit out of breath. Rory puts her phone on speaker, with the lowest volume possible, and they all huddle around it. “I’m with Harry. We’ve got Spike and all of his stuff and are heading over to yours and Gigi’s place. Tell Niall to go to the Shacks so they can check his apartment right now and you guys head to your place.” 

Both Rory and Gigi look up at Niall, whose skin is now flushed for an entirely different reason, and he widens his eyes at them. “You promise Spike will be safe right?” he asks into the phone. 

“Yes, I promise,” Leslie says reassuringly, and Rory doesn't know how she can stay so calm when they’re currently in a very stressful situation. 

If the managers find Spike then not only will they all get in heaps of trouble, but they’ll return him to Mrs. Dreyfuss, and who knows what she’ll do to them and Spike. She says none of this out loud, though, instead sending Niall the most comforting smile she can muster as she encourages him that Leslie knows what she’s doing and that he shouldn’t worry. “It’ll be fine,” she says softly, giving his fingers a squeeze, frowning to herself at the way his responding smile doesn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll text you to keep you in the loop.”   

She and Gigi watch him nod and hesitantly continue down the path that will lead to his place before they sigh to each other and turn to head in the opposite direction. 

“Are you gonna explain this plan or what?” Gigi asks into the phone, rather impatiently, but Rory is too busy trying to bat away all the worst case scenarios that spark in her mind. 

Leslie explains that after the managers check the Shacks, they’ll head over to the Residences, and since Gigi and Rory’s place are near the entrance and will be among the first to be checked, Harry and Leslie will hide out until that happens and then give them Spike once the managers move on. Then they’ll head over to their places to meet up with the managers for their own room checks. 

It all sounds very straight-forward. And if all goes to plan, then they will have nothing to worry about and Niall will get to keep Spike. But Rory can’t help how nervous she is at it all. It’s one thing to keep a cat, which Niall stole--or saved depending on how one looked at it--hidden from everyone, but it’s a completely different game to do whatever it is they’re doing now. 

Rory and Gigi quickly get to their place and wait. This turns out to be the worst part, the waiting, even though they both know Niall will be fine and that Spike is with Harry and Leslie. They pass time by making tea and alternating between watching TV and scrolling through social media. 

Rory tries not to obsessively check her texts but she can’t help it. She thinks back to the beginning of the summer when she told Niall she would not help him hide his stupid stolen cat, and now she’s here, doing that exact thing. She’s grateful, in this moment, that Gigi, Harry, and Leslie were able to step in and help out as well, because she doesn’t know what they would have done if it was just her and Niall keeping this secret. 

Finally, her phone buzzes with a text. Niall’s name flashes across her screen with a message that reads: All clear. Rory lets out a sigh of relief, even though this is far from over. 

Harry sends her a text a few moments later: Heads up, they’re heading up to your place.

Sure enough, it’s not long until there’s a knock at their door, and Gigi sends her a nervous look before she goes to answer it. Someone from HR walks in and explains that they’re conducting a random room search. They both invite them in and watch as they look around, the HR rep explaining that this is all procedural and they’re not looking for anything in particular. At that, Rory and Gigi glance knowingly at one another, because in the years they’ve been working summers at Hightstown, they’ve never had a room search before. 

After a few moments, the rep seems satisfied with the state of their suite and takes their leave. Rory and Gigi politely see him and his entourage out before hurriedly shutting the door and running for Rory’s phone on the coffee table, which is already ringing by the time she gets to it. 

It’s Harry: “We’re at your back window!” he gets out quickly, and Gigi rushes towards the window in her room, Rory not far behind her. She’s grateful that they have a ground floor suite because this would have been a problem otherwise. 

After a brief struggle, Gigi gets the window open, and Leslie gingerly hands her the half-open duffel, Spike’s head poking out the slightest bit. Even from the tiny gap Rory can see him frowning at them. “Careful,” Leslie grunts as the bag clears the window, “he’s a heavy one.” 

Rory helps with sliding the bag into the room before facing Leslie and Harry, both of them sporting red cheeks and huffing for breath slightly. “Thanks guys,” she says, smiling. “No one suspects anything, right?”

Harry shakes his head, smiling back. “Nah. The only thing they found at some places were people’s weed stashes, but other than that, I think we’re in the clear.” 

Leslie nods, sending Rory a reassuring grin. “Take care, alright? We better get going. When everything cools down we can help with getting him back to Niall’s.” 

Rory waves at them and, just like that, they’re off, running over to their own places before the HR rep shows up. When she closes the window and draws the curtains, she turns around only to find that Gigi has managed to get Spike out of the bag, the cat meowing in what sounds like annoyance at the both of them, perpetual frown intact. Rory looks at Gigi, both of them still jittery from the rush of adrenaline caused by this whole thing, and they can’t help but laugh at how bizarre this all is. 

“You’re a whole load of trouble, aren’t you,” Gigi says to Spike, crouching down to run her fingers across his fur, earning a purr from him. “But you’re cute so I guess you’re worth it.” 

Rory laughs again and they both lure Spike to the living room where they all curl up on the couch, heaving a huge sigh of relief. While the day is not yet over, they’re in the clear now, and that’s all that matters at the moment. She reaches for her phone to shoot a text to Niall letting him know that everything went to plan. 

Spike doesn’t seem to be in the mood for cuddling, instead nuzzling into a corner of the couch and promptly falling asleep, probably tired from the day’s adventures, so Rory and Gigi busy themselves with warming leftovers for dinner. They laugh to themselves for a while, and Gigi remarks that this is perhaps the most eventful summer she’s ever had at Hightstown. Rory readily agrees, glancing over to the couch where this large, frowny, but impossibly cute cat is peacefully slumbering. 

Now that the whole Spike situation has been dealt with, Gigi quickly segues into talking about the elephant in the room, waggling her brows at her roommate as she teases her. “So,” she starts, twirling her fork around a lump of spaghetti, “what were you and Niall doing in the pool shed.”

Rory huffs at her, rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless. Her heart flutters in her chest as she recalls Niall’s words from earlier, that he likes her, that he’s wanted to kiss her the whole summer, that he wants more with her. “Nothing,” she mutters into her plate.

Gigi simply laughs, loud and hearty, and Rory blushes at the sound of it. “You are so whipped for him.” 

Rory rolls her eyes again, but this conversation reminds her of one they had at the beginning of the summer, sitting at this very table, of Gigi teasing and Rory glaring and it’s interesting how the summer has developed since that moment. She endures a round of good-natured joking from her roommate as they finish up dinner and tidy the kitchen. She can’t even retort like she always does because she’s still processing the day’s events and Gigi isn’t even wrong about anything anyway. 

They talk for a few more moments--sans teasing this time--before Gigi heads to her room to grab her clothes, announcing that she’ll be taking a bath. She always spends forever in the bathroom so Rory decides to make herself comfortable on the couch, switching on a movie before getting distracted with a knock on her door. 

She freezes, glancing apprehensively in the direction which Gigi disappeared to only to hear the shower turn on. When it’s clear that she is the one that will have to deal with this, she sighs to herself, slowly making her way towards the door. As her fingers close around the knob, she gulps nervously, hoping that it’s someone she knows and not the HR rep again. 

She hesitantly cracks it open, peering out through the small gap only to find that she needn’t have worried at all, her favorite serene blue eyes blinking back at her, and just like that, her heart slows to a calm beat. “Hey,” she breathes, opening the door fully for him. 

Niall smiles in that soft, bashful way of his and it makes her heart skip a beat. “Hey.” He steps in and she closes the door behind him, turning around only to find that he’s standing incredibly close, the warmth of his skin radiating towards her, and she’s suddenly reminded of how it felt to be all wrapped up in him, how his lips were on hers not even a few hours ago, how much she craves him still. 

“Spike’s in the living room,” is what comes out of her mouth, even though she really wants nothing more than to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into her again. 

He nods, sweet smile intact as he lets her lead the way. Once he spots Spike on the couch, he quickly makes his way towards him, hands nuzzling against the cat’s face as he murmurs, “My Spikey boy. You’re safe now.” Spike purrs happily against Niall’s touch, closing his eyes almost blissfully as he stretches against Niall’s lap, and Rory can’t help the way she smiles fondly at the sight. 

Watching Niall laugh softly with the cat, his demeanor gentle and pleasant, she’s reminded of how much she likes him, of how just the sight of him can have a wave of comfort wash over her. She remembers now how he spilled his own feelings to her earlier, wide and honest eyes watching her hopefully, and she hasn’t yet gotten the chance to tell him her truth. 

This changes tonight. She knows that she can’t let him leave without coming clean, without letting him know that she cannot, for the life of her, get him out of her head. Not after she now knows how it feels to be held by him like he’s afraid to break her, not after she now knows how it feels to be truly consumed by him, his lips on hers, his hands brushing across her skin. 

She hurries to her bedroom to grab the sketchbook that’s still resting on her covers, her heart beating a million miles a minute. Anticipation thrums through her skin as she makes her way back to the living room, mind running wild at the thought that this is finally happening, that she’s finally doing this, and there’s no way she’s backing down now. 

She finds him where she left him, perched on the couch with Spike, and when he sees her approaching, he smiles at her, standing up with his hands shoved nervously into his pockets. She’s not sure what look she’s wearing but when she gets closer, his eyes soften a bit, smile faltering only slightly. “Everything okay?” he asks, voice soft and gentle in the silence of the living room. 

Rory takes a deep breath, nodding nervously. She doesn’t know what to say so she just unceremoniously hands him her sketchbook. Niall looks at her quizzically before he takes it, his hands brushing against hers as he does. “Open it,” she says, voice nearly a whisper. Her heart is beating as though she’s just run a marathon. 

He wordlessly flips it open, mindlessly going through the pages, eyes lingering on every single one. She sees the exact moment realization dawns on him, his features softening as he takes in a breath. He trails his fingers across the one of him and Spike, one she drew the night she agreed to help him with his whole stolen cat situation, and he looks up at her, blue eyes brightened up like the twinkling stars in the night sky. 

And then, the words just flow out of her. “I like you, too,” she says quietly, twisting her fingers together. “I think I always kinda knew, but I didn’t really think much about it. Our friendship made me so happy that I guess I was too afraid of potentially ruining it.” Niall places the book down on the couch, Spike having long wandered off somewhere, and steps into her space, eyes never leaving hers. “But now…” she breathes, voice catching slightly in her throat as he presses a hand to her lower back. “I realize that I don’t want just friends with you either.” 

Niall’s smile grows impossibly wide at that, his fingers reaching out to brush her hair behind her ear before he gently caresses her face. And this time, when he leans in to kiss her, it’s soft and tender and perfect. It’s not a frenzied, desperate kiss, but one that feels like a promise, like a beginning, like everything Rory has ever wanted. 

And she wouldn’t change it for the world.

***

This is how it starts, this new chapter of their lives, this new era in their relationship.

This is how it starts and there are only 18 days of summer left. 

--

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[dawnwave16]

Fashion Central

Takes place before the Magi Love Kingdom movie for UtaPri and after chapter 280 for Skip Beat.

It should have been an enjoyable three-week school trip to Japan. Three weeks of seeing the sights, learning a bit about the culture and soaking up new experiences in a new country. Except it hadn't been so far. Lila had taken credit for all the tours that had been booked. They’d had to fund-raise over €50 000 for it and thanks to Lila, Marinette had had to do most of the work herself. Chloe’s dad had donated a decent chunk of money for the trip but it still took multiple bake sales, car washes, raffles, auctions and even a go fund me page to reach their goal. She had even had to pay for certain tours out her own pocket as Mlle Bustier had insisted those tours be included in their trip. Once it had been met, however, Lila had swooped in and claimed all the credit for it. She had done this so often that Lila’s actions didn’t surprise Marinette anymore, though it still stung.

The flight had gone well and despite all her travels, Lila had made a fuss of how uncomfortable her seat was and had had the whole class in a rush to offer her their travel pillows. They had made snide remarks about the fact that Marinette hadn’t offered her pillow, even though Marinette was using hers and they hadn’t even thought to use theirs. Marinette had simply put her headphones on and played the set of four unreleased Jagged Stone songs as she designed his new album cover. She spent the first 3 hours of the 12.5-hour flight doing the album cover making sure she was happy with it before saving it and sitting back to relax. She changed her playlist to one she had made that included some of the songs from the idol groups Starish, Quartet Night and Heavens. She even included some of Fuwa Sho’s songs simply so that she could recognise them but they weren’t ones she truly enjoyed.

She knew that most of her class hadn’t taken the time to learn Japanese but as soon as she knew where they would be going she had gone to Kagami’s mother and requested her help. She had picked up the language quickly and while she knew she wasn’t fluent and had difficulty reading it she could speak enough of it to ask for directions if she needed them. She would also be able to understand their tour guides even if they didn’t speak French. She was at the point when she didn’t care if her classmates understand what was being said or not. In her opinion, they had chosen the destination, so it was their responsibility to ensure they could understand anything.

Three years ago she would have done just about anything for her class but she no longer cared. They only turned to her when it was convenient for them these days and that wasn’t something she was willing to deal with anymore. She was the new Guardian of the Miraculous and had been ever since Master Fu had been killed by Hawkmoth. Marianne had been with Fu at the time but she hadn’t been able to do anything to help. The only good thing was that Hawkmoth hadn’t been able to get the Miracle Box nor was he able to gain any of the Miraculous’ secrets as they had moved them a week earlier. Fu had even had the forethought to make sure that the real translations of the Grimoire were on a password-protected flash drive and that only fake versions were left on the tablet. As a result, she had been able to cast a spell that would stop Mayura and Hawkmoth being able to use their powers, although it wouldn't stop them from being able to transform. If they did transform though they would fall very ill for three days for each time they transformed while the spell was in effect.

She had the Miracle box in her luggage as she didn’t want her parents to find it if they ever went into her room. She didn’t think they would, but she didn’t want to risk it either, especially since Lila had spread enough of her poison that although her parents still loved her, they weren't as trusting as they used to be. It was currently disguised as a normal jewellery box, but if anyone went into her bag with the intent to steal from her or destroy her things, they would be unable to find it at all. She didn’t trust Lila not to try destroying her things after all.

The first couple of days in Japan had gone well enough. Marinette had managed to get the only individual capsule room as no one wanted to share with her so she had made sure that she locked all her things away whenever she left. She had made sure that any clothes that she had set aside for any special occasions were kept beneath the false bottom of her bag when she packed it. In truth anything she placed any value in or that could be easily destroyed was hidden in compartments within her bags, she had also made sure to include at least two days worth of everyday clothes in the sealed compartments, just in case. It had proven to be a good idea when she had seen a fine powder on the edge of her bag which had proven to be itching powder. So she had had to send all the clothes from the normal part of her bag to be washed. Alix and Kim had been very annoyed when they had seen that their 'prank' hadn't worked.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

On the fourth day, the class was in Japan, she woke up without her alarm. At first, she was happy about this only for Tikki to hold up her phone sadly. It had been hacked overnight and all her alarms had been deleted. As had all her pictures and numbers and any documents she had stored on it, even some of her games! Marinette sighed, grateful that she had taken to keeping everything important written down in a notebook, that was easily overlooked. She was also grateful that she had backed up all her phone data on a cloud server under an alias as she no longer trusted Max. Seeing that it was already 9 am and that her class left for their day trip at 8.30 Marinette decided that she wouldn’t bother to join them. They would soon find that she had made all the reservations in her name and not under the school’s name so they wouldn’t be granted access without her.

Instead, she decided that she would take her sketchbook and go to the park that she had seen on her map. Tikki flew into the messenger bag that Marinette had brought with her instead of a handbag and the two of them left the hotel. Marinette chose to stop at a coffee shop and get something to eat on the way to the park. She wasn’t sure what she wanted so she got a simple bento and a green tea to go and carried on. When she got to the park she noticed a large area of it was surrounded by cameras and decided to avoid it.

The universe had other ideas for her however as no sooner had she settled down and started drawing then there was a huge commotion. She packed everything away and walked over to the girl that was dressed in a blindingly pink overall with orange hair. The girl was sitting on the ground looking very upset about something. Perhaps it was her Ladybug side kicking in, or maybe she just couldn't help herself these days, but Marinette couldn't help but get up to see if she could help. 

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked her, all the while trying to make sure she had the right words and pronunciation.

“I’m alright,” the girl replied sadly, “But the clothes that I was carrying probably aren’t.”

It was then that Marinette looked around and saw all the clothes strewn around them on the grass. She also saw that the girl was on the verge of having a panic attack and made a quick decision. 

“Would you like some help?”

“Yes please!”

Marinette helped the girl pick up the clothes and made sure that there were no grass stains on them. She also checked for any that had rips or tears and made sure they went to one side so that they could be repaired, explaining to her companion why she was doing that and rushing to reassure her that she would help with any repairs needed. Finally, they had all the clothes in two piles and Marinette made sure to get the pile that needed repairs before letting her pink clothed companion lead the way.

“My name is Marinette by the way”

“I'm Mogami Kyoko,” the girl replied, “ You didn't give your surname are you really alright with me using your first name?” Marinette could have kicked herself for forgetting the custom of only using surnames until you were granted the persons permission to use their first name.

“My surname is Dupain-Cheng, so I think it might be easier to just use my first name. Feel free to shorten that to Mari if you like. My friend's mom said that it might be easier to pronounce than my full name.” Marinette babbled with a blush to cover for her mistake. “I'm from France so I tend to forget some things. Feel free to correct my pronunciation as well as I've only just learned how to speak Japanese and I know I still say things wrong on occasion.”

“If that's the case you speak well for a non-native speaker.”

Marinette jumped as a male voice spoke from somewhere on her right. She looked around and couldn't stop herself from blushing. She had been so focused on Kyoko that she hadn't noticed they had reached where they needed to be and that almost everybody was looking at them. She was mortified to realise that almost every single person around them was famous. The one that had spoken was Ren Tsuruga, no Tsuruga Ren she corrected herself mentally. The other men that were standing around her were the members of Starish, Quartet Night and Heavens. 

“I'm sorry if I'm intruding, I saw Mogami-san slip and wanted to help her. I offered to help anything that might have been damaged...” Marinette didn't realise she slipped into French in her flustered state, however, it seemed that he still understood her as he held up a hand with a smile.

“It's quite alright Mlle. Dupain-Cheng,” he said in French a smile on his face. “These things happen. Thank you for helping Mogami-san. You said you could help fix anything that is damaged?”

Marinette looked at him in surprise,

she hadn't known that he would be able to speak French, though it made sense that he could as he is a model along with being an actor.

“I can,” she reassured everyone. “I design in my free time. I hadn't expected to be doing anything today as my class left me behind so I came to the park to relax and do some sketching. If I can help instead that would be great!” She had switched back to Japanese so that everyone could understand her, which everyone seemed to appreciate if she was to judge by the smiles they all wore.

The person in charge of all the outfits walked over at that moment. “If you could help that would be appreciated greatly as we are running short of time as we had a few people call in sick. I'd also like to see some of your designs if I could?”

Marinette handed over her latest sketchbook in answer before asking for some needle and thread and getting to work on all the repairs. She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't notice the time flying by until someone tapped her on her shoulder.

“Lunchtime!” Kyoko chirped. “It's important not to miss meals. Judging by how focused you were I'd guess you're as bad as Tsuruga-san about remembering to eat though. Please don't tell me that you eat like a bird too?”

“Trust me, I eat way more than a bird ever would,” Marinette said with a laugh. “I've been known to eat enough that people wonder how I stay so small!” Kyoko nodded.

“People wonder the same thing about me. Did you know that your sketchbook has been passed around and almost everyone here has seen it? Even I stole a look and I must say, your designs are amazing!”

Marinette blushed, then thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't put Jagged's newer requests in that book. The downside though was that the was the sketchbook in question was the one she had been sketching in while listening to music from all three idol groups that were currently present and as a result, there were outfits for almost all of them in it. Each of the idols had a different outfit depending on how she pictured them in her mind's eye, yet if you looked at them, each group had a common theme running through it.

For Starish she had gone with a smart-casual vibe, the base colours were Black and gold, yet each idol had a colour as well as certain details that made the outfit unique to them. Quarter Night had an old school formal vibe with the base being a dove grey tone with robins egg blue as accents. This time instead of colour being used to make each outfit unique, she had made sure the cut of each outfit was as unique as the idol wearing it. Heavens had given her more of a challenge as she had wanted to make their outfits look like they had been made from the night sky itself, in an inky blue with silver accents. She had settled for a modern semi-formal look, that was meant to look messy enough to give the illusion of them falling yet still smart enough to be seen in public wearing.

“Thanks, I tend to draw any idea that crosses my mind when I get inspired. Sometimes it's by what I see, sometimes by what I hear and some of the weirder designs that I've drawn come from what I've smelt.” Marinette explained, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Do you always sing while you sew?” Otoya Ittoki asked suddenly.

Marinette froze in embarrassment, her cheeks a shade of red that put her suit to shame.

“I- I what?” She stammered.

“Yes, you were singing as you were fixing all the outfits. I think the song was Set it All Free from the movie Sing,” Ai Mikaze stated rather matter of factually.

“Ugh, I can't believe no one has ever pointed that out to me! Wait don't tell me...” Marinette trailed off as she dived for her bag, completely forgetting that she had an audience, all of whom were chuckling softly by this stage. She was extremely grateful that she had taken the time to re-enter some of the more important numbers under code names, back into her phone before leaving the hotel that morning. She was also grateful for the fact that the person she was about to call was currently in Japan for a working vacation. 

“Got it! Now, where was it? There! Come on, please pick up... Penny! It's Marinette here, I've just had it pointed out to me that I sing while I sow. Please tell me Uncle J has never recorded me as I was repairing any of his things... He has! Oh no! Okay has he shown anyone or... Few! No, I just don't think I have a great voice and... Penny! I can't do that! His reputation would tank and then it would be my fault and... Yeah, I get that but still! That's only when there's no-one else around and it's not likely to make anyone worried for his sanity!... Thanks, Penny... Oh, the Album cover? It's almost done as are the next set of Sunglasses so I'll email the designs to you by Sunday at the latest! All the best Penny and don't let Fang boss you around any more than Uncle J does.” 

Ranmaru Kurosaki's jaw dropped when he heard what the flustered girl was saying. He only knew of one person who had connections to the names Fang and Penny, and that was Jagged Stone the Rock and Roll artist who had inspired him to reach for his dream. That this girl had simply grabbed her phone and been able to call The Jagged Stone's manager stunned him. It was then that the rest of what she had said, thankful that it was still in Japanese, made its way into his mind and he froze.

“Are you Neti? Jagged Stone's designer and adopted niece? The one he always brags about in interviews?” He demanded.

“Yes?” Marinette replied hesitantly. “I don't normally spread that around though as I'm still in school and I don't want people to try to be my friends just because they know I'm a designer. It's bad enough one girl in our class does that already with other celebrities, I don't want to make it worse.”

She sighed fidgeting slightly before adding “To be honest I wanted to wait until after I finished the online courses I've been doing for ESMOD before I became too well known. I pushed myself to graduate from high school early but despite the school board recognising the fact that I've graduated, the headmaster still demands that I stay with my class as though I'm still a student. At least with sitting at the back, I don't have to worry about anyone seeing what I'm working on. The downside is due to my classes animosity towards me, I can't risk bringing anything that could be important to the school. I even have to be careful with what's on my digital devices.” She sighed again then shrugged. “Three more months and I'll be free,” she murmured more to herself than to them but several people still heard her.

“What do you mean? Is there a reason you were alone in the park today and thus that you were able to spend the day helping Mogami-san and the team with repairing all these outfits?” Tsuruga Ren asked?

Marinette flushed as she sighed yet again and felt very embarrassed but knew that she probably wouldn't be able to leave without telling them the whole story. She braced herself to do just that when she suddenly found herself looking up at the sky with a heavy object sitting on her and wiggling happily.

“Fang! Get off of Neti! You know better, what if she had been busy with something and you damaged it?” An amused yet angry voice yelled drawing nearer as each moment passed.

“Hi Fang, mind getting off of me? I need to greet your daddy and Penny, I was also talking to these nice people and that was rude of you to interrupt.” Marinette was fussing over the salt-water croc as she spoke, reassuring him that she wasn't hurt nor was she angry. In response, the croc rolled onto his back, and in the process off of Marinette, begging for belly scratches much as a dog would. She finally looked up and saw Jagged and Penny smiling down at her and the stunned look on everybody else's faces. 

“Why does everybody look so surprised? I had already admitted to knowing Uncle J and Penny so it isn't anything new.” Marinette asked looking bewildered.

It was Camus who answered. “It's one thing to hear that someone knows someone famous and is famous in their own right. It is entirely something else to see for one's self that it's true. Even for Idols like ourselves.”

“Oh! Sorry,” Marinette replied with a soft blush. 

Kyoko suddenly spoke up, “It's so cool to meet someone connected to the entertainment industry that won't be directly in the spotlight! What do you love most about fashion?”

That was all that was needed to draw Marinette out of her embarrassment, though it didn't hurt that Penny had pulled Jagged away by his ear with him protesting loudly the whole way. From the sounds of it he had run off as soon as Fangs mysterious ability to find her where ever she was kicked in and as Jagged had been in the middle of an interview at the time, Penny was less than impressed. Fang simply trotted along behind them happily, content at having received his scratches for the day.

For the rest of the afternoon, the two girls spoke whenever they had a free moment with topics ranging from school to fashion to their childhoods and even to the topic of cooking and baking. Eventually, Kyoko gave in and asked if Marinette would like to join her later that day to trade recipes, which Marinette agreed to. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

They met up that night after Marinette cleared it with Mlle Bustier. Marinette had been sneaky with her wording though and as she had it in writing there was nothing Mlle Bustier or the class could do about it. For the remainder of the trip, Marinette could pretty much do as she pleased, up to and including missing all the scheduled tours. The class would soon find she had booked some of the better ones in her name, not under the school's name and if she wasn't there when they went on them, the tour wouldn't happen. 

Mlle Bustier had not been happy when Marinette had refused to let them use her name to get into the ones booked under it and had even tried

to punish Marinette when she found out that Marinette had emailed with her picture when she booked as a precaution against Lila claiming that she was Marinette. Marinette had looked at her teacher and tartly stated that the only reason she was still there was because of the incompetence of the school staff and the insistence of the headmaster. She had then shown Mlle Bustier the certified copies of her graduation certificates as well as the very agreement the Mlle Bustier had signed when Marinette had asked to be allowed to do her own thing for the rest of the trip. That had killed all arguments coming from her teacher although it hadn't killed the glares that were being sent her way whenever Marinette made an appearance at the hotel.

On the second day of hanging out with Kyoko, Marinette was introduced to the president of LME. Marinette took one look at him and pulled out her sketchbook. Within seconds she had redesigned his outfit and told him that if he was going to wear cos-play outfits as everyday wear he should at least try to make them a little more practical while still keeping his flamboyant style in mind. It took her a few moments before she remembered who she was talking to before she had a small panic attack but he just laughed and asked if he could commission a few outfits from her. She had also received a massive commission for all of the outfits for the Magi Love Kingdom concert. She wasn't too sure about one of the outfit sets but as it's what they had asked for something fun and off the wall so that's what she had designed.

That was how she found herself working in a design studio in the LME building less than a week later. Since she hadn't had access to her normal sewing supplies, Takarada Lory had given her permission to use one of the lesser-used design rooms. As it was already fitted out with dress forms, sewing machines and other much-needed sowing equipment all Marinette had had to supply was her time and the cloth along with any matching thread that she would be using. Currently, she was working on all the designs she had drawn up for Lory so that she could start working on the concert outfits ASAP. She was grateful that she wouldn't have to make the basic shirts for her screen-print set though.

Marinette had been working hard on the outfits until Kyoko had entered the room and dragged her down to a café area within the building to join her for lunch, LME Hearts. On a normal day, this wouldn't be an issue but today was not a normal day. Today her class was booked to do the tour of LME and it was one of the ones booked under the school's name instead of hers.

The two girls had just sat down to lunch chatting animatedly about different styles of clothes and how they influenced how each character was seen on screen depending on what the style was when a screech cut through the air.

“You! What are you doing here? It's bad enough that you've ruined the school trip by getting us banned from certain tours but now you show up without a shred of remorse for basically stealing the money needed for those tours on one of the few we could still go on.”

Marinette turned at the sound of Ayla's diatribe against her and listened in absolute boredom as Ayla laid out her complaints. Just as she took a breath to continue Marinette decided enough was enough.

“I recommend you get your facts straight before you start complaining Césaire.” Marinette's voice was sharp as she spoke. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Kyoko frantically texting someone but Marinette didn't dwell on that.

“The tours that you were unable to take were not paid for out of the money that the class but out of money I had earned from my commissions. The only reason I booked them in the first place was because I felt compelled to. Either way that money has since been refunded to me as I cancelled them due to your actions. You wouldn't have been able to take them as they were booked under my name for the very reason I have just given you aka I PAID FOR THEM! Had one of you not hacked my phone a week ago, you would still be able to take those tours.” 

Marinette's tone as she spoke was fraught with anger and she had crossed her arms across her chest as she spoke. She knew she was probably being slightly cruel but she was past caring. Adrien was frantically trying to get her attention, probably to tell her to calm down and stick to the status quo but Marinette no longer cared. Why should she? The only times Adrien spoke to her these days was to tell her to calm down and to take the high ground. It was as her class started screaming at her again that Marinette noticed the ring on Adrien's finger. A ring she recognised as being Chat Noir's ring from when she had been Lady Noir. 

Marinette cursed softly then muttered the spell that would cause Plagg to bring the ring to her when it was safe for him to do so. If Adrien couldn't support her as a civilian, how could she trust him to support her as Ladybug? Chat Noir hadn't been at three-quarters of the more recent battles anyway. She wished she could use the same spell to bring the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculi to her but the caster had to be able to see the Miraculous and be within a certain distance for it to be effective. She wished that she hadn't figured out that Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person but what's done was done and she had to accept that. 

She knew that Adrien was a good person, just miss guided at times, who had too much faith in people due to his very sheltered upbringing. She also knew that the main reason that he refused to act against Lila was because he had grown up in an environment that had made clear to him that if you ignored the lies and rumours that were spread through magazines, they went away. If only real life was the same.

Marinette realised she was getting distracted so she quickly returned her attention to what was happening in front of her, only to have to stop herself from rolling her eyes. As usual, Lila was making herself out to be the victim saying that Marinette was jealous and that she was lying about having paid for the extra tours herself. Marinette shook her head and turned her attention back to Kyoko to apologise for what was happening, only for Kyoko to explain she had had to deal with something similar due to her childhood friend turned adversary slash pet peeve Fuwa Sho. Marinette was about to say more when she felt movement behind her and started to turn again. 

Her movement was soon halted as she felt something warm and wet trickle down her back. She sighed and said a quick prayer of thanks for the fact that what she was wearing was something that was easy to clean and that she had an extra shirt in her bag.

“Seriously?” half moaned as she turned to face the perpetrator and came face to face with Alix. “How old are you again, five? That was just plain stupid and juvenile as well as being a waste of good coffee! Ugh!” Marinette took her jacket off to check how bad it was and shook her head. “Well, this will need a wash soon but at least it won't stain.”

“Pass it here,” Kyoko piped up. She couldn't understand most of what was being said as she had only just started to learn French but she from what she could see, she knew that the jacket would need to be cleaned as would the shirt. “We have a washing machine and dryer in the building for some of the costumes and in case of accidents. There are also spare clothes that might fit if you need them.”

Marinette gratefully handed her jacket over and was about to start talking to her class again when Jagged walked in, Penny running after him scolding him.

“Neti, I need a break! Sing with me?” He exclaimed then gave her puppy eyes as he asked her to sing with him. 

Marinette nodded then reflexively caught the guitar that was carelessly chucked in her direction. She headed to the small stage in LME Hearts and smirked at him then played the opening riffs of Do What You Gotta Do (From "Descendants 3") by Dove Cameron and Cheyenne Jackson. He laughed and nodded, joining in on the keyboard, using it to add in the extra instruments that were needed for the song and started the duet with both of them goofing off completely and acting as though they were the characters in the song. 

They were so busy teasing each other while singing that neither of them noticed her classes stunned looks nor the person that was streaming their little performance. By the end of the song, they had ended up being back to back in a way that practically screamed that they had done the routine before. Jagged then started a new song that was more bass-heavy and Marinette closed her eyes before singing in a clear voice. The song wasn't one anybody in the café recognised though. (Alright by Tadpole) The song seemed to have been written especially for the girl that was singing it as fit her a little too well for her classes comfort.

Lila, seeing that the attention was no longer on her, tried to make up another story only to find a rather intimidating man staring down at her. 

“You are Lila Rossi, yes?” He asked in a slightly accented though very firm voice which caught the attention of most of the class as well as Mlle Bustier's attention.

“Yes, I am,” Lila replied in what she thought was a confident tone of voice.

“Good. I am Lory Takrarada. I own this building as well as the agency that is run within it. You have 10minutes to remove yourself before I lay charges against you for assault and deformation.”

“You can't do that!” Mlle Bustier exclaimed.

“Ah but I can” Lory stated with a soft smile. “You see, when I met Marinette a few days ago I thought her name sounded familiar, so I did a little digging. What I found shocked me. Multiple complaints of bullying placed by her against the very class she had travelled here with. Some of those can be traced back to before you joined her class but the majority were placed after you joined. I then found Mlle Césaire's tabloid-style blog and all the tripe that she has posted on it. Since that is a public blog, I sent the links to a number of the people mentioned on it. Each of those people has laid charges against both Mlle Césaire and Mlle Rossi.” Lory's stern expression hadn't changed despite the news he was delivering to them.

“Tabloid! I'll have you know I checked my facts before posting anything!” Alya spluttered indignantly.

“No you didn't, or you wouldn't be in the situation you are now in.”

“You can't lay any charges against us as we are not Japanese citizens,” Lila said confidently.

“I think you'll find he can, Mlle Rossi,” a stern-looking woman said as she walked over. “I am Mogami Saena. I will be representing Mlle Dupain-Cheng along with everyone else you are being charged by. Before you ask, yes, I am qualified to do so as I took the international exams.”

“But, but Maritrash isn't even a proper designer!” Alya chocked out.

Marinette had walked over soon after Lory had approached Lila. “Actually, Césaire, thanks to being left behind when my phone got hacked, I have been able to meet several people. One of those people was Takarada-sama here and when he saw my designs he contacted a good friend of his with copies I had given him. As soon as she saw them, she had a contract sent through to him. I am now a proud designer for Swan Designs under Julie Hizuri nee Swan herself. I'm returning to Paris to finish my education at Esmod but after that, I will be moving here to work with Takarada-sama on various projects.”

“ESMOD! You haven't graduated from my class yet!” Mlle Bustier said in shock.

“I'm only in your class because M. Damocles is too lazy to fill in the paperwork that says I've already graduated despite the board of governors and the Department of Education having processed my exams already.” Marinette's voice was dry as she spoke, telling the class exactly what she thought of what she had just said.

“I told you all that the other day, as well as showed you my certificates if you remember. Either way, I'm done. I'm over being treated like something I'm not. I'm tired of being your scapegoat and I'm tired of you telling me to be a good influence on your class when it's not my job." 

Marinette then turned and walked over to where Kyoko was waiting for her. The two girls left together to get Marinette into a clean shirt so that her current one and her jacket could be washed.

Paris six months later:

Marinette looked around her room for the last time. She had finally finished sorting out the paperwork that had been needed to be completed for her to move her main study location from Paris to Tokyo. While the paperwork itself had been completed quickly, she had had to find and beat Hawkmoth before thinking about submitting her request. Finding out that Gabriel Agreste had been Hawkmoth had come as a very nasty surprise for Marinette but she hadn't let it affect her passion for fashion. It had just made her even happier that she had agreed to sign with Swan Designs.

Her class had been very subdued for the rest of the trip to Japan and had become prime bait for Hawkmoth after their return. While Marinette wasn't happy about using her classmates that way, she had done so anyway. She had set a trap to lure Hawkmoth out of his lair and once he was in view she had used the same spell for his Miraculous that she had used for Chat Noir’s. When Nooroo had shown up in her room later that night looking exhausted and on the verge of collapse she had been quick to give him a potion that removed the negative energy from him. By doing this she fixed the damage that Hawkmoth had done to the Miraculous as well as freed Nooroo to be able to reveal who Hawkmoth had been.

This let Marinette figure out who Mayura was and from there it had been simple for her to sneak into the Agreste mansion with Trixx's help. She had quickly stolen everything Miraculous related for the safe and set a virus into the computer network that whipped all of their saved data about the Miraculous. It was while she was doing a final check for anything she might have missed within the mansion that she had found Mrs Agreste. It turned out she was in a coma from using a Broken Miraculous too often. After some quick thinking, Marinette had been able to basically kidnap her and get her to a hospital. Since she hadn't used her powers, she was able to explain to the hospital what needed to be done to heal her. A quick trip home to brew the correct potions and Mrs Agreste was on the road to recovery without anyone being the wiser.

Marinette couldn't wait to get back to Japan and start attending their branch of ESMOD whilst still working for Swan Designs. She knew that the friends she had made during her trip there were true friends and she was eager to see them again. As for the video that had been streamed of Jagged and herself goofing around in LA Hearts, well it had gone viral in next to no time and Jagged's popularity had skyrocketed. Her own had too but she hadn't let it influence her. She still firmly believed that she was a normal girl, who lived a mostly normal life. She just had a touch more luck than most people! 

The lawsuits that Lila and Alya were facing had made Lila's mother ship her back to Italy to start attending a reform school there to make up for all the school she had missed in France. Signora Rossi had not been happy when she had found out what Lila had done and had supported the people who were suing her daughter. Lila would spend her life paying all the fines that her lies had racked up.

Alya had been devastated when, upon arrival back home, her parents had made her take down her blog and leave a message on its old domain with an explanation of what had happened. They had proofread it to make sure that Alya hadn't lied or tried to shift the blame before allowing her to post it. Much like Lila, Alya would have to spend a long time working to pay off the fines she had.

As for Adrien and the rest of Marinette's old class, they had had to deal with numerous counselling sessions about toxic people and relationships. Adrien had eventually decided to become a scientist instead of following his father's career choice for him. He had been depressed when he had realised that his ring was gone but it was that loss that had made him see what was happening to himself and others around him.

[magickdream-creations]

Chapter Seven :: The Calm

“Always be genuine. People can sense when someone isn't being themselves.” - Jeffree Star

Laughter rang throughout the lair in differentiating pitches and tones. Pure, honest, unfiltered laughter. The whole group was lounging about enjoying their dinner of several large pizzas with varying topping combos. The story swaps had them all in stitches except for Casey Jones, who had a soured embarrassed expression as the current tale was a recount of his first encounter with the turtles and their master.

"Tell me you didn't actually fall for it, Jones!" Dorian was gripping his side with his right hand while the left kept him upright by bracing against the floor. Casey gave the man a pointed glare as an answer which only served to make Dorian start up another fit of laughter.

"Oh, he totally fell for it!" Michelangelo grabbed out a slice of three-cheese before leaning back in his spot on the couch.

"Hauled balls straight at Master Splinter and got his ass handed to 'em!" Raphael leaned over and bumped fists with Mikey earning a slight groan from Casey that made both teens roar with laughter again. The two youngest had found it far more hilarious since they had been the ones who had baited him into the whole ordeal.

"Kiss my ass you two," Casey grumbled before taking a drink from his soda trying his best to not let them get under his skin any more than they already had. He had not been at all amused by the recount of his unfortunate meeting though, if he were honest he would not have changed it one bit.

“Oh, that is absolutely priceless! I would have loved to have seen the look on your face Casey.” Lyra wiped a laughter induced tear from her eyes before grabbing out another slice of pepperoni for herself.

“So the whole Elite Eight thing you've mentioned in one of your stories. Is that a fancy group or some sort of ranking system?” April was genuinely curious about the inner workings of their clan. She had never heard about them until tonight and the reporter in her could not help but want in on more for a story. Dorian had almost choked on the bite of pizza he had taken but was able to chase it down with some soda before answering.

"In a sense, both assumptions would be correct. The Elite Eight is the highest skilled assassins throughout the whole organization and the four of us fall under those ranks." He watched as April leaned closer as if hoping for more detailed information on the group which only made Dorian chuckle.

"What are the ranks and what determines those ranks?" April was full of questions she wanted to be answered which in that instant seemed to make Dorian a little nervous. He knew what she was up to and he was a bit leery of telling inner workings to someone who had no real way to defend themselves. A quick scan around the room told him everyone else was listening intently to the new topic of conversation now. There was no getting around it.

“Listen. I don't mind telling you but you have to swear you will not go public with any of this until we have taken down the corruption. It is for your own safety April that you play it like you never met us or know anything about the Black Lotus. Promise?” Dorian gave a quick thought and looked over to Casey not knowing much about the guy other than he was a former cop turned vigilante. He was not taken chances on anyone getting hurt over stories. “That goes for you as well Jones. Promise?”

“Promise,” the two spoke in unison as everyone settled in more comfortably to hear the explanation Dorian was about to give them.

“Our ranks are determined by the eight codes of Bushido. The one you show most of is the rank you are put under.”

“There are only seven codes of Bushido.” Leonardo raised a brow but the tone he spoke in sounded a bit unsure which got a small chuckle from Dorian.

“Seven spoken yes but, there is an eighth one that is a sort of unspoken one that everyone should always follow when they learn or enact the Bushido way. The eight codes are as follows and in order; justice, courage, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty, wisdom, and mercy. Mercy is the one that no matter what you must show to your opponent.” Dorian paused in his explaining long enough to finish off the soda he had been working on and popped open a new one. It was enough time to let the information he gave so far sink in.

"So each of you represented a code more so than the others and that's how you're ranked? Does age not effect it at all?" Donatello was quite curious about how their ranks worked since it would mean who they had thought was the leader of their assassin friends very well could not be the leader. Dorian shifted a little from where he sat and that elicited a stifled giggle from Lyra.

“Nope! Age has nothing to do with it. We're just really nice to our big brother and let him play leader when we're out on missions.” Lyra got up and went over to Arietta who had sat away from the group to doodle in her sketchpad while she had eaten. The youngest quickly attached herself in a fierce hug causing Arietta's earbuds to pop out and the ebony-haired assassin looked not at all pleased at the interruption.

“Do you mind?”

“In fact, Arietta here is the highest ranked out of the four of us!” Lyra grinned not really paying mind that she had interrupted her sister's sketching zen. Arietta rolled her eyes having understood fully what the topic of conversation was just by what her little sister had said.

“That ranking system is ridiculous,” she spoke in a not so amused tone as she closed up her sketchbook. Her cheeks were lightly tinged with a blush of embarrassment.

“So how come Arietta isn't the leader?” Mikey was a following everything about the ranking system but the fact that the higher ranked assassin was not the one leading the team was a little confusing. Why would they have a ranking system if they did not adhere to it?

“There are several reasons. This mission tonight has really been the only mission all four of us have been on together. They never send more than two of the elites out at the same time and it's rare that the missions really call for something so drastic. Arietta over there hardly gets sent out with anyone since she doesn't play well with others." Calliope grinned up from her book on medicinal properties of plants. The way the spine was worn down showed how many times she opened it and read the contents within.

“They call it her being courageous and we call it being rash and foolish.” Lyra let out a giggle as she let go of her hold on Arietta to make her way back to the spot she had claimed on the floor. She scooted herself near the table covered with pizza boxes and picked up her slice that she had neglected in her moment of teasing.

“So says the honest one.” Arietta stuck her tongue out at her little sister and shook her head gently when she received a grin right back. With a sigh of defeat she shut off her music but she opened her sketchbook up once again to the page she had been working on. A small wave of her hand in Dorian's direction was the only signal she was going to give that she was fine with the topic at hand and that he could continue.

"Well, that covers the virtue parts of the ranking. To better protect our identities we were each given a code name in Japanese that are animals. Those animals we somehow fit so that's how the figureheads came up with the concept. I will tell them to you in English so it doesn't get redundant. The order by rank are as follows; dragon, fox, raccoon, rabbit, crow, wolf, cat, and rat. We've never had the pleasure of working with Ryuu or Nezumi before and Neko we've only ever met in passing." Dorian pulled out his final slice of pizza and took a bite figuring that was a good explanation to give to April on the ranking system of their organization.

"What about Karasu?" Master Splinter had begun versing himself in Japanese over the years as a way to pass the time so figuring out the code name for the one that wasn't mentioned did not take much thought.

“Oh, we know him pretty well. Arietta knows him even more so than we do.” The tone Lyra had spoken in was enough to suggest something on the more romantic side which caused Arietta to snap her attention up quickly.

“Damn it Lyra I told you we're just really good friends! I turned his ass down flat. End of story!”

“Right. Is that why he would follow you around like a lost puppy or got super depressed when you were away on missions?” Lyra's words instantly turned Arietta's expression from one of embarrassment to one of agitation in mere seconds. The youngest let out a squeak of surprise as her sister came racing toward her. Lyra acted fast and shot up from the floor launching herself over the table towards the couch in a rapid jump. She used the spacing between Michelangelo and Donatello, whom both were innocently sitting on the couch, so she could get behind the furniture and further her escape plan.

“I'm going to box your ears Lyra!” Arietta was right behind her little sister following the exact same path the rainbow haired sibling was taking. The laughter ringing out from everyone was not phasing her irritation in the slightest instead, it was only fueling it more.

"Someone grab her! She's on a war path," Usagi laughed out as she ran from the back of the couch to the recliner Raphael was lounging in. She jumped the sides and prayed she would be saved but her next course would be to head back towards the couch in hopes that Mikey or Donnie would be her saviors. Raph was not about to miss out on evening the score so just as Arietta tried clearing his lap as a hurdle to get to Lyra he grabbed her around her waist mid-jump making sure to grip her tight against him.

"Let me go Red!" Arietta squirmed with all of her might to try and get out of his hold to no avail. He had a damn good grip and he was not making any move to let her go. Lyra gave a victory sign with her fingers and that triumphant grin made Arietta want to pummel her sister even more so than before.

"Not a chance Foxy." Raph grinned as he kept a tight hold on her but he was nice enough to make sure he did not hurt her in any way. "Now we're even. Two to two."

“Asshole.” Arietta stopped her struggling knowing now that her efforts were completely futile. She resigned to sitting across his lap with her arms folded over her chest. She gave a slight huff of defeat.

"You love me." He grinned at her making sure only she could hear what he said that time as the laughter started dying down. She only rolled her eyes at him and turned a hard glare toward her sister who at that point was claiming her spot on the floor again. In all actuality, Arietta was trying to hide the small blush that tinged her cheeks from Raphael. She was not quite sure how to react to sitting in his lap even spite the reason for her being in the situation in the first place.

“So what was it like for you guys growing up? Did you get to go watch movies or play sports?” Casey smirked as he grabbed out the last slice of jalapeno and bacon. He put the now empty box on top of the others stacked at the side of the table.

"We didn't really have what you would call a normal childhood. Most of our lives we spent training to become the lethal weapons we are. If we weren't training we studied academically at the compound. We had a very tight and strict schedule we had to follow by." Calliope put her book down on the arm of the chair she was in before she got up to retrieve more food. She put a slice of spinach artichoke on a plate and deciding to be merciful she grabbed up two slices of Hawaiian before taking the extra plate over to Arietta. She smiled seeing the excitement light up in those violet eyes when Arietta took the plate from her and she sat her own in her chair deciding to be even nicer to her younger sibling. Retrieving the sketchbook and pens Calliope brought them to the artist and set them in her lap before taking her seat again with her refill of pizza.

“We weren't completely in the dark though. We would sneak out when we could to go to the movies or go spend a few hours in the arcades. There were a handful of times Lyra and Calliope would go to the mall on their little shopping sprees.” Dorian chuckled lightly remembering the many times when he had to listen to them act like giddy school girls while they showed off their newest purchases.

"I always thought it was funny that Hisoka knew we got new stuff but never got on to us about where we got it from or how we got it." Lyra mused out that thought and Arietta stiffened in the middle of taking a bite of her pizza. Raph only raised a brow at her as she took the bite before giving him a shake of her head subtly. He filed that away as something to ask at a later time. Another question was more pertinent for him to ask anyway.

“So did you guys get to choose your weapons or were they chosen for you?” He knew that had been a good one to ask since it caused his brothers to perk up and pay closer attention. Their weapons had been chosen for them carefully by Master Splinter and they had all been equally curious if others had been dealt the same way. Dorian was looking at the ceiling for the moment as if he was plucking the strings of thought from the very air above them.

"As initiates, we all trained in various weapon styles. Some we excelled at more than others but I suppose it was neither us nor the Weapons Master that chose. It was the weapons themselves that chose us. They just kind of fit like gloves I guess." Dorian gave a small shrug since he never really put much thought to it. He just simply knew his naginata was his and his alone. "We have many weapons in our arsenal but our main ones are our deadliest when we use them."

"Way to get all mystical on them, Dee." Arietta teased her brother as she switched out her now empty plate for her sketchbook. Her statement caused laughter to rise from all of them and even Dorian got a chuckle out of it.

“Any favorite missions you guys want to tell?” Michelangelo scooted out on his cushion of the couch with a cheesy grin on his face. After a most of the night had been spent with the four brothers recounting their own adventures. He was excited to hear a few of the assassins' tales.

“Barcelona.” Both Arietta and Dorian spoke out in quick unison while Lyra and Calliope merely groaned out together. Calliope picked her book back up to continue reading while Lyra put her face in her palm in exasperation.

“You're going to scar everybody with that one.” The rainbow haired girl moved her hand from her face to give Dorian a lighthearted glare. He answered her back with a small grin.

“What happened in Barcelona?” Leonardo was actually genuinely curious to hear about one of Dorian's missions. The more they got to know the Quintus siblings the more he began to get more curious about how Dorian worked. He crossed his arms as if to shut those thoughts in completely and lock them up tight.

“I'll let my beautiful wife over there tell this one.” Dorian looked over to Arietta who in turn was glaring daggers at him.

“I will end you.” She growled out to her big brother.

"You two were married?" Raphael was about as shocked as everyone else at that one. He could hear Casey still trying to clear his airway from his drink going down the wrong pipe. "Hold up, you're brother and sister, right? How would that even work?"

"That is the absolute worse way to start a story, Dorian." Arietta pinched the bridge of her nose to keep a small headache at bay. "We weren't really married we just pretending to be for the sake of the mission. This was only the second mission Dorian and I have ever been on. The other mission isn't near as lighthearted but we'll save that one for another time."

“Promise?!” Mikey interjected with such a hopeful tone that Arietta could not help but to laugh with the rest of the group. She moved her hand from her face and looked to the youngest turtle to give him a small nod. She made a cross sign over her chest to seal in that she promised she would before she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest to begin the tale.

"This happened about four years ago and our mark was the Prime Minister of Spain. The guy was using his political position as a way to keep up the flow of drugs and human trafficking. He was pretty bold about it but very thorough in making sure nothing connected back to him. The guy was a total devil and the Black Lotus was hired to get rid of him once and for all. Since pretty much everyone else had missions of their own it fell to Dorian and me to get the job done. We posed as a drug kingpin and wife so we could attend the grand masquerade party the man was holding at his estate." She paused her story and took a drink from the soda Raphael offered her before she continued on.

“It didn't take much to become buddies with the guy. He was a completely disgusting pig. He talked a bit of business with Dorian while I did my best act of playing a very sexually needy wife. A few drinks in and the guy was practically begging for us to let him in on the action or even just watch.” Arietta shivered recalling the way the guy would subtly rub against her arm or place his hand against her back.

“This sounds like something out of a movie,” April spoke gently trying to stomach the thoughts of the two siblings having to deal with such a sleazy man.

“Sometimes the movies get it right. We found his proposition as an opportunity to get him alone and away from his bodyguards so we agreed.” She gave a small shrug as she calmly told the story but she felt Raph nudge her side and she looked at him. His eyes held a bit of shocked curiosity and she had a feeling about what she was going to ask her.

“Did you two actually do anything to each other?” He did not flat out ask it but it got his point across making Arietta scoff slightly before she punched his bicep lightly.

"Oh hell no! Dorian was able to slip the poison into the Prime Minister's drink while we were in the room and we had to stall for about ten minutes for it to take effect. The most we had to do was put on an intense make-out session and my dress came off. That was it. Once the guy hit the floor we were out of there to catch our scheduled extraction flight back to Japan. No one even knew he was dead until the late afternoon and by that time we were back to the compound getting set up with our next orders." She picked up the plate from her lap intending on leaning over far enough to put it on the table. Dorian just had to open his big mouth though.

“Isn't my wife a bad ass babe?” He laughed out at his joke but yelled out as the plate Arietta had smacked him right in the forehead all Frisbee style. He rubbed his head as the room erupted into more laughter.

"You had better sleep with one eye open big brother," Calliope smirked and got a glare from Dorian in return.

“Speaking of sleep. We'd better head home and catch up on our rest.” Casey stood up and stretched a bit before fishing out the keys to the van. April stood up and gave a small stretch of her own and a little yawn to go with it.

“We're both off of work so if you guys need anything just get a hold of us.” She paused a moment and held back a laugh before she pointed at the now passed out Lyra. The bubbly young woman was using her arms as pillows as she slept against the table. “Somebody has a head start.”

"Yeah, all that hyper happiness makes her crash out like she just came down from a sugar high." Dorian stood up and was about to scoop up his sister when he felt pressure on his shoulder. He looked to the source and was a little confused to see Donnie was the one who had stopped him.

“Let me take her. I've got to get a start on going through all the data she helped me collect anyway.” Dorian gave the turtle a small nod and watched as he carefully scooped up his youngest sister with such gentle care as if she was made of glass. He could not help but smile as Donatello headed toward the spare room that had been set up as a bedroom for the four of them. Master Splinter got up from his chair and cleared his throat to get the attention of those who remained in the room.

"I suggest you all get some rest. We will begin team training once Lyra and Calliope return from their errands." He gave a tilt of his head to bid them all a good night before he headed toward his room to retire. Arietta let out a soft groan and buried her face into her sketchbook for a moment.

“It won't be that bad.” Raphael poked her side and she pulled the sketchbook away just enough to give him a slight glare.

“Have you never really work as a team?” Mikey's voice held a little concern with the way Arietta was reacting to the prospect of teamwork. Arietta closed up her sketchbook and set it on the arm of the recliner before she patted Raph's arms to let her up. He did not argue with her and let her up watching her make her way towards the room. When she was out of sight the brothers looked to the two remaining Quintus siblings. Dorian gave a shake of his head as Calliope closed her book up for the final time.

"We do find strength in working as one unit, Arietta, however, believes it better for herself to work alone. Believe me when I say that patience will be the key with her. She'll learn to do it but it will just take a lot of time and more than likely a lot of arguing." Calliope got up and started to the room but she paused seeing Arietta walking back out wearing dark jeans, combat boots, and a black hoodie. Quietly Callie grabbed a hold of her sister's arm to stop her. They locked eyes but neither said anything to one another.

“Where do you think you're going?” Dorian spoke out killing the silence as she stood up and went over to the two. His tone had an almost fatherly quality to it.

“If you want me to even think about giving this whole team thing a shot you'll let me go get some me time first. I've got to get a clear head.” Arietta looked to Dorian but she showed no real anger or agitation at either one of her siblings. Calliope let go of the arm she had in her grip and she sighed gently. Leonardo had got up from the couch and approached the trio keeping his eyes locked on Arietta.

“You're not going out there by yourself. It's too dangerous.” He readied himself for an argument as the woman was about to open her mouth to speak. Another voice completely cut her off before she could take the breath to talk.

“I'll go with 'er.” They all turned to Raphael who had been the one to speak up and he only shrugged at them. Leo smirked and looked to Ari who at that second pulled her hood over head.

“I'll go too.” He gave Dorian a smirk as the guy looked up at him in surprise. “We'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble.”

“Great. Just what I needed. Two babysitters,” Arietta spoke in a chuckled tone but her whole body instantly tensed as Callie pulled her into a fierce hug.

"You have got your tessen?" She smiled as her younger sister nodded and gave a pat on the back rather than return the hug. Callie let her go and gave both Raph and Leo a very stern no-nonsense look. "You all had better come back safe. Two hours tops or I swear Dorian and I will come find you."

"Yes, ma'am." Leonardo smiled and lead the way as Arietta followed behind them. Raphael took up position behind her and leaned closer to the ebony-haired assassin.

“Motherly much?”

“I heard that!” Calliope shouted out which made the three of them hurry out of there. Mikey let out a small laugh having enjoyed seeing his older brothers get a little spooked.

“Remind me never to make you angry, Callie.”

[rufousnmacska]

Museum Day

A modern manorian au request

Part 1

Part 2

“Don’t give yourself a headache.”

Manon looked up from the microscope and rubbed her eyes, giving them a moment to adjust. The preparation work on this fossil was so delicate she needed the scope to see properly. Fossil prep was tedious and could definitely cause headaches, but she enjoyed it. Seeing something spring to life out of the rock matrix was rewarding, even if it took a long time. And the work was quiet, meditative. The only bad part was that she wasn’t getting paid. It was her day off yet she was at the museum, volunteering in this lab for the boost to her university applications.

“I’m almost done for the day,” she told Ghislaine.

Asterin had met Ghislaine a couple of years ago. Manon was still unsure how, but when her cousin found out Ghislaine was a paleontologist at the museum, she’d brought her to the next Blackbeak family dinner. It took almost a year for her to get Manon a job there, what with reduced funding and not many openings. Once she got in, Manon made sure to spread the word that she wanted to learn anything and everything. Most of her spare time was spent helping out in labs and with exhibits.

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow? Like, work work?” Ghislaine asked, standing up to stretch. She rubbed her eyes too and groaned. “I don’t know what’s worse. The scope or the computer.”

“At least I don’t need reading glasses yet, old lady,” Manon teased, trying to get a few more particles free from the ammonite.

“Oh hey,” Ghislaine said innocently. “Look at this.”

Manon turned to find Ghislaine giving her the finger and she snorted. “I’m only a few years behind you. Soon you can throw it back in my face.”

“I will. But for now, I’m leaving. Which means you are too. It’s Friday and I need a drink. What’s Asterin doing tonight? Want to have her meet us?”

Manon finished the section she was working on and cleaned up her area. “I think she’s free.” As Ghislaine texted Asterin, Manon gathered her things. She caught her reflection in a glass case and frowned. Quickly, so Ghislaine wouldn’t see, she redid her braid and told herself it was because it was falling in her face.

A few minutes later, as they walked through the main dinosaur hall, she repeated that excuse in her head. But it didn’t matter. She knew it was a lie. She knew it the moment she saw Dorian sitting in front of an exhibit at the other end of the room. The moment her heart jumped against her chest.

It had been a few weeks since that nightmare of a tour. Only, it hadn’t really been a nightmare. Another lie she told herself. She couldn’t get him out of her head. Hadn’t been able to, really, since the night they’d first met. But seeing him here, in the light of day, brought him front and center in her mind.

Since then, Dorian had been back to the museum eight times. Sometimes with his brother, sometimes on his own. Not that she was counting. The first time he’d just waved hello from afar, not coming to talk to her. And that’s how it went, her disappoint growing with each sighting. Whether she was giving a tour or not, if she saw him, he waved and went about his business. What his business here was, she didn’t know.

“Are you okay?”

Manon realized she’d stopped to stare at him.

“I’ve seen him around a lot lately,” Ghislaine said, casting an appreciative eye towards Dorian. “Do you know him?”

“Yes,” she admitted, though she refused to go into detail when Ghislaine pressed her. His back was to them, so she could have easily kept walking. Instead, she said, “You go ahead. Tell Asterin I’ll call her tomorrow.”

Ghislaine very politely said nothing, but her devilish grin made Manon laugh. “Okay. Have a good night.”

She waited til her friend was out of sight and started towards Dorian. He was sitting on a bench, bent over something in his lap. As she approached, he sat up and stared at the skeleton on display in front of him.

“Deinonychus,” she said, by way of greeting. “The velociraptor in Jurassic Park was based off this guy.”

Dorian twisted slowly around, his face comically bemused. “Was nothing in that movie accurate? No feathers. Fake velociraptor. The T. rex chasing down a car. Everything I knew is a lie.”

With a heavy sigh, that didn’t cover up her laugh, Manon sat down next to him. She was surprised to find a sketchbook in his lap and a bag overflowing with art supplies on the floor next to him. He winked and said hello then went back to his drawing.

The page held different renditions of the skeleton, rough outlines of various poses and movements that he’d imagined from the skeleton. But he was working on a full color reproduction of the dinosaur as it would have looked in real life. Pulling a bright green colored pencil from the bunch he clasped in one hand, he started to add foliage around the deinonychus.

Manon watched, silent and amazed by his talent. She had seen scientists make sketches of fossils and anatomy, but she didn’t know anyone who could bring a creature to life so easily. It looked effortless. Of course she knew that it wasn’t. Even for someone born with natural artistic talent, it took plenty of time and hard work to get good and stay good.

Noticing his hand had stopped, she looked up to find him smiling at her. Oh no, she thought. I’m screwed. She almost laughed out loud. Too late, that already happened.

“So what is your favorite exhibit?” she asked, hoping the catch in her voice wasn’t that obvious.

He looked at her for a second before saying, “Currently I have four, and I can’t decide between them. Maybe, dinner in exchange for your professional opinion on which one I should choose?”

Manon glanced back to his sketchbook. It was large and worn, and it looked like he was more than half way through it. “Deal,” she said. “Only if you show me the rest of your work.”

A grin lit up his face and she couldn’t help but return it. “Oh, that was already included in the dinner,” he said, bending to stuff everything into his bag. She wondered how anything survived the process.

“So you woo women with your dinosaur drawings?” she teased.

“Only one woman,” he said, giving her a heated look that she felt deep down through her chest. Then he leaned in, conspiratorially, and said, “I think I might have a chance with her.”

Manon closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Let’s go, witchling,” he said, pulling her up. “I know a good burger place a few streets down.”

*****

The restaurant wasn’t far, and even though that placed it in the central part of the city, it had an air of seclusion Dorian liked. It didn’t hurt that Gavriel’s brother Lorcan owned it, ensuring some amount of privacy.

It hadn’t happened to him often, but just one encounter with the city’s paparazzi had been too many. Dorian learned quickly how to avoid them - he rarely ever discussed anything important with his mother. She and her friends were of the opinion that only the lower classes bothered with trashy gossip sites. Of course, he was almost positive her friends were the ones selling their secrets. His mother knew it. There was no way she couldn’t. But as long as she had money to buy things and travel wherever she wanted in luxury, she didn’t care. Her bank account was her main interest these days.

The streets were crowded and it was starting to rain, so he and Manon walked quickly to the restaurant. Lorcan wasn’t behind the bar, but Dorian knew the waiter so they got a booth in the back corner. After he took their drink orders, they sat in awkward silence.

“So when did you-”

“How did you-”

They both spoke at once, and then stopped. Dorian motioned for her to go ahead.

“How did you learn to draw so well? Are you a professional artist?”

He pulled the sketchbook he’d been using out of his bag and handed it to her. “As promised,” he said, smiling as she eagerly began flipping through the pages. “I took art classes in high school, and I’ve had a couple in college. But I’m in my final year of architecture. So, not a professional.”

Not looking up, she shrugged and said, “That’s artistic. I’d say it qualifies.”

He couldn’t help feeling a burst of pride at her expression each time she turned a page. Most of the sketches were a mess. Quick impressions of displays and objects from the museum - an assortment of skulls, artifacts, taxidermy, and sketches of the building’s architecture. Only the last few pages held more complete drawings done in color instead of pencil. But she took her time, examining every detail.

“I recognize almost everything in here,” she said, her eyes finally leaving the book to meet his. “This is amazing. You’re really talented.”

“Thanks,” Dorian said, feeling a slight warmth creep over his cheeks. He was used to receiving compliments. As a Havilliard, he’d learned at a young age that most of them were fake, usually given with the hope of some kind of favor in return. Manon looked and sounded so genuine, and it felt so refreshing, that he wondered when he’d last been given real praise.

When they ordered food, the waiter made the mistake of questioning Manon’s choice of medium rare for her burger, thinking she might be grossed out by any blood. The look she gave the poor guy was beyond lethal. He hoped to never be on the receiving end of that stare. or, maybe a part of him did, he thought, realizing his pulse was racing. The waiter left and she turned to see him holding back laughter.

“What? I like red meat,” she said, still annoyed. “The bloodier, the better.”

Dorian held his hands up. “I didn’t say anything. Besides, I-”

Just then, his phone started to ring. It was the ringtone he had for Hollin, otherwise, he would have ignored it. And since Hollin only texted and rarely called...

“Sorry, I should get this,” he said. “It’s my brother.”

“Sure,” she said, sensing his tension and moving to stand. “Do you want me to give you some privacy?”

As he answered, he shook his head and she sat back down. “Hollin? What do you-”

Before he could finish, Hollin started rattling on so fast, Dorian could barely understand him. “Wait, slow down. I’m not hearing you.” He heard his brother inhale and exhale a few times. Manon was watching him with concern. “Okay, now tell me what’s happening? Are you alright?”

“Uncle Perrington,” Hollin said, making an effort to get the words out. “I got home late and ... he ... he must have been drinking and-”

“Where are you now?” Dorian asked, and he saw Manon grab her things, put his book in a bag and throw on her coat.

“I'm at Terran’s. I didn’t know where else to go. His house is the closest.” Hollin's words were starting to run together again.

“Okay. Deep breaths. Are his parents home?”

“Yeah. But... I don’t want to stay here.”

“Don’t worry,” Dorian said, giving Manon a look before they both stood and headed for the exit. “I’m on my way.”

Thankfully, he was parked close by, but he still ran, Manon right beside him. He didn’t think of telling her not to. All he could think of was Hollin. And how he should have taken his brother out of that house the moment his dad died. He should have fought to get his trust fund, should have done more to keep him safe.

When they got to his car, he expected to give her a quick apology and be on his way, but she went for the passenger side door.

“You don’t need to come,” he said, hesitating before getting in. This was already bad enough. He didn’t think he could handle her seeing the ugly truth behind his rich and famous family. But she only stared at him across the roof of the car, her fierce eyes giving him an answer. If he really wanted her to stay behind, she would. But she was willing to go. No matter what.

“Okay,” he said, and they both jumped in.

*****

Manon waited in the car while Dorian went inside the house - mansion - to get his brother. Her foot was tapping involuntarily, and she couldn’t stop her hands from fidgeting.

Dorian had said little on the ride here, but she could guess enough. The death of Dorian Sr., and how the man’s brother had taken over the company, was all over the news a few months back. And a person didn’t need to stay on top of things to know Perrington Havilliard was a prick. With the family money, he’d avoided a handful of white-collar criminal convictions, some DUIs. There were rumors he’d done worse, but nothing ever stuck.

Imagining what he might do to a kid wasn’t hard. That was something she knew first hand.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for them to come outside. Dorian stopped at the door to thank a woman who must be the friend’s mom. Hollin practically ran to the car and got in the back, not thinking anything of her sitting in the front seat. She stole a glance back at him, relieved to see that despite looking shaken, he seemed unharmed. At least, physically.

“Sorry I messed up your date,” he said.

Twisting around in her seat, she frowned, “Who said this was a date?” He smiled, as she’d hoped, and she could see a little of his older brother in the expression.

“Dorian did. He talks about you all the time.”

Feeling her cheeks flush hot, she turned away from him. “Oh he does? That sounds creepy.”

Hollin sat forward, worried he was messing things up for his brother. “No, not like that. Mostly he talks about the museum. He’d never been to the natural history part until my class trip. Just the art side. I think he really liked it. Not just because of you either.”

Manon laughed and Hollin relaxed, just as Dorian got in the car. Seeing their faces, he opened his mouth to ask something but Manon gave him a little shake of her head. He examined Hollin, then her.

Her face was heating again under his gaze, so she said, “Are you hungry Hollin? We didn’t eat yet.”

“Sure,” he said. His excitement fell as he remembered. “I don’t have my bag, or homework, or anything. You’re not taking me back there are you?”

“No,” Dorian said, pulling out of the driveway. “I’ll get your things tomorrow. You can stay with me tonight.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he swore and said, “Gavriel’s parents are here this weekend. My apartment is packed. We can just get a hotel room. Then figure things out next week. Okay?”

Hollin agreed, seeming to believe the cheeriness Dorian was projecting. But she saw through it. It reminded her of Asterin. A few years older than her, Asterin had acted this way countless times after their grandmother had gone on one of her rampages. Dorian caught her staring at him and his brows dipped in concern.

“I’ve got room. You both can stay with me,” she blurted out, surprising everyone, herself included, with the offer. Hollin immediately agreed while Dorian quietly tried to turn her down. “It’s nothing fancy, but it might be better than a hotel. We can order pizza.”

That was a lie. They could afford a penthouse suite for god’s sake. And Dorian had seen her place. He knew her reasoning was bullshit. But after asking several times if she was sure, he relented.

He thanked her with what was probably the sweetest, most genuine smile she’d ever seen. Heart racing, she made herself stare straight ahead.

“Can we get pineapple?” Hollin asked. Dorian groaned loudly, and the brothers began what seemed to be a longstanding argument.

The bickering ended when she interrupted, “Yes, you can get pineapple." Dorian shot her a wounded look as Hollin celebrated in the back seat. “My house, my rules,” she said, totally forgetting what they’d done there. And what rules she’d made him follow that night. His smirk brought it all back though.

*****

Hollin had fallen asleep on Manon’s couch shortly after dinner. Dorian hadn’t asked him for many details aside from whether he was hurt. He’d managed to get out before Perrington could physically stop him, but the kid was scared. As he watched his brother sleep, Dorian’s anger, at himself as much as at their uncle, was starting to flood back.

Manon sat down at the table with a beer and handed him one.

Tonight, she’d been incredible. Not just by going with him, but letting them stay here, distracting Hollin and making him feel... normal. Like a kid. Not some fragile thing to be pitied or talked down to. It made him wonder if she’d had to deal with something like this before. The thought didn’t sit well and he pushed it from his mind.

“So, tomorrow...” she prompted.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Tomorrow, I will talk to Hollin and call a lawyer.”

“For custody? Don’t you already have one? A lawyer I mean.”

“A family lawyer,” he said. “I’ve known him most of my life, but I wouldn’t say that I trust him. And yes, for custody. I should have done it way before now.” He tore at the label on the beer bottle. “I thought it could wait. That we could wait until I graduated. But that was stupid. And selfish.”

Manon rested her chin in her hand. “You don’t have your own money.”

Dorian laughed, grim and humorless. “Nope. I have some. No more than most people though.” She arched an eyebrow. “Okay,” he said. “More than some. But not enough that I could live on my own.”

“In my defense,” she said, glancing around the apartment she lived in alone, “this building is shitty and thankfully, this neighborhood has been overlooked by the gentrification brigade.” She tipped her beer at him. “But I understand what you’re saying.”

He smiled, enjoying the easy way they could talk to each other. “My friend Chaol’s dad is a lawyer. He’s a bit of an asshole, but I think he’ll help. And I’ve got some money, but my trust fund won’t be available for another couple of years. I’m hoping to find a loophole.”

She looked across the room to where Hollin slept. “Well, for what it’s worth, I hope you do.”

Before he could think, Dorian reached across to take Manon’s hand. She didn’t pull away, but her eyes flared. He held on, long enough to say, “Thank you.” He opened his mouth to go on, but he didn’t know what more he could say. “Thank you,” he repeated.

Manon’s face softened and he let go of her hand. She bit her lip and asked, “So you never told me what your favorite exhibits are.”

“Ah,” he said, “I thought I’d gotten out of the inquisition, but I guess not.” She offered him the remaining pineapple pizza in exchange for not answering, but he passed it up.

“Well, I wasn’t lying about the pterosaurs. You could probably tell from the sketchbook. I’m not sure which of them specifically. They all scare the shit out of me. But when I’m there I can’t stop staring at them.”

“Yeah, their size is a little disconcerting,” she agreed.

“And them walking on all fours?” He cringed, took a drink and said, “I like them, but in the way someone who’s not into heights might like roller coasters. The whale exhibit was good. And I also liked the Age of Mammals hall. The irish elk actually might be my favorite. I know everyone goes for the dinosaurs, but the mammals are just as interesting.“

Manon’s lips twitched and she nodded approvingly. “And the fourth?” she asked. Dorian’s eyes widened with surprise. “You said there were four,” she added.

“I did.” He didn’t hide his pleasure that she’d remembered. “The entomology wing. The...” he paused, thinking, then said, “the lepidoptera.”

Manon laughed quietly. “After those others I would not have guessed the butterfly exhibit.”

“Would you like to know my favorite rock?”

“I’ve created a monster,” she teased, standing and putting her beer bottle in the sink.

He joined her and there was an awkward silence as they realized it was late. And Hollin was on the couch. And she had one bed.

“I’ll sleep out here,” he said, ignoring the ungentlemanly voice in his head telling him to wait and see if she offered to share. “You have to work tomorrow,” he added. “And I think it’d be better for me to stay near him.”

She gave him a little smile, and it made her whole face light up. The sight of her - so beautiful and tender - revived that voice and he was about to reconsider when she pointed into the living room. “There are extra blankets in the chest. And pillows are on the couch.”

Before he could say goodnight, she placed her hand on his chest and stood on her tiptoes. The kiss was feather light on his lips. The opposite of the kisses they’d shared that previous night. Kisses that were passionate and hungry and breathless, as if time was rushing by them. Kisses that had been perfect for the moment.

This kiss, soft and plush and chaste, was perfect too. And far more intimate than all the others.

“Goodnight,” she said, then disappeared down the hallway.

“Goodnight, witchling.”

To be continued...

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[quicksilversquared]

The Designer and the Twins

When Adrien volunteers to look after Alya's twin sisters for a bit but ends up having to go to a piano lesson instead, it forces Mr. Agreste to step in and look after the girls himself. How hard can babysitting two young girls be?

As it turns out, it can be VERY hard.

links in the reblog

                                          tumblr give me back my line break

Gabriel Agreste was in the middle of a round of edits on some evening dress designs Saturday afternoon when he heard the front doors open. He spared only a single glance in that direction- no doubt it was Adrien, returning from whatever outing he had managed to persuade Nathalie to allow, just in time for piano lessons- before returning his attention to his work.

The squeals of excitement yanked his head back up a moment later. He frowned, sitting up fully and staring in the direction of the atrium. Two voices- young, definitely girls, and sounding nearly the same- exclaimed over how large it was, how there was no color, how the other should look at the big painting, could they play in the plants-

Gabriel Agreste pushed himself up out of his chair and strode to the office door, scowling out into the atrium. The first thing he saw was Adrien, trying his best to contain two young girls that came up to hip-height. They were running to and fro, trying to look at everything all at once.

He cleared his throat, unimpressed. Adrien's head whipped around, but the girls didn't slow down at all. Gabriel spared them a glance, then turned his attention on his son. Adrien was cringing a bit as he watched the girls tugging at a door, but he straightened as he turned to Gabriel.

"Father, I can explain," Adrien said quickly, gesturing to the girls. "These are Alya's sisters. I was helping Alya bring some books for our project back to her house so we could work on it there during the week, but then her bike hit a hole and it fell over and she got a really bad cut on her leg. So her older sister had to bring her to the hospital because she'll probably need stitches, but her younger sisters still needed to be watched, so..."

"So you offered," Gabriel finished, entirely unamused. "Forgetting, I'm sure, that you're meant to have piano lessons in three minutes? Your instructor is already waiting for you in the lounge."

Adrien froze, gaze shooting back to the twin girls. They had finally paused in their exploration, glancing between Adrien and Gabriel with wide eyes. "Uhh..."

"Were none of your other friends available to help?" Gabriel demanded. "Or were none of them willing?"

"They- well-" Adrien shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. "Nino is on the other side of the city- he's got family over, apparently, and they were going to a roller garden- and Marinette is busy right now, Alya said. She's already babysitting Madam Chamack's daughter, and Manon is a handful just by herself."

Gabriel glanced at the two other girls. They were giggling over something between the two of them. Then he looked back at Adrien, who was looking a little stressed, and he considered.

Adrien had to attend his piano lesson, of course. He had gone without lessons for a while now because his instructor had been gone on vacation and then sick leave for several weeks already, and there were several things that Gabriel had already asked the instructor to work on so that Adrien would be able to perform at the Gabriel winter investor's dinner. Adrien wouldn't be able to concentrate or learn a thing with the twins around, that was obvious. They were unruly and Adrien had absolutely no experience with kids. He wouldn't be able to control them. Gabriel, however, had raised a kid- or helped raise a child, at least, considering that Emilie and their old nanny had done most of the work so that he could focus on designing- and was aware of how to keep kids under control.

There was no other option, really. If the twins went along for the lessons, Adrien's instructor could very well quit and then Gabriel would have to waste some of his time finding a suitable replacement. A quick mental cost-benefits analysis confirmed that, and he sighed before addressing Adrien. "Very well. I'll watch them while you attend your lesson. As soon as it's over, though, remember to come collect them at once."

Adrien lit up. "Really? You would do that, Father? Thank you so much!"

"No more lollygagging now, go," Gabriel instructed, and Adrien scampered off as instructed. The twins made to follow, until he cleared his throat. "Girls, you'll be coming with me. Adrien has lessons right now."

"Lessons! Ew!" they chorused in almost disturbing unison, turning away from Adrien at once. "Lessons are yucky! They're boring and we have to sit still!"

...okay, yeah, forget almost disturbing unison. That was disturbing unison.

"We'll come into my office," Gabriel continued. "And then I'll, uh..."

He came up blank. It had been too long since Adrien had been the twins' age, and Gabriel hadn't exactly been a particularly involved parent at that time. He would have Nathalie search up some activities, or perhaps take over the babysitting herself, but she was currently out on lunch break.

Surely he could manage alone until she came back. She was due to return any time now.

"Can we have juice?" one twin asked, tugging at Gabriel's sleeve as they entered the office.

"And cookies?" the other added on, tugging the other sleeve.

Gabriel resisted the urge to rip his arms away from both of them. That would no doubt end in tears, and he neither wanted to nor knew how to deal with tears. "I- fine. Wait here for one minute, I'll page the kitchen staff to bring up juice and cookies."

"Yay!"

Well, so far, so good, Gabriel figured as he headed across the room to Nathalie's intercom to order two cups of juice and two plates of cookies. It was important to keep kids fed and hydrated, and getting them a small snack would keep them from whining. They could sit down on the floor and eat, and he could return to his designing and actually get some work done.

"Can we see what you're drawing?" one twin wanted to know as soon as Gabriel had ordered their food and headed back to his desk. "Is it something pretty?"

Her sister pushed her. "Dummy, adults don't draw! They only write!"

"No they don't! Look, see, all of the drawings of dresses!"

Gabriel stiffened as he suddenly found himself surrounded by two small, curious girls, one on either side of his chair. "Now girls, go back over to the door and wait nicely-"

"Why are you drawing dresses?" one twin asked. "Boys don't wear dresses! Can you draw a dress for me?"

"I design-"

"I want a dress, too!"

"But I asked first!"

Gabriel moved his sketchbook and the loose pages of designs out of their reach. "I am trying to work here, girls, go-"

His movement bumped his computer mouse, minimizing the window that he had up and revealing the one behind it, which was the Ladyblog. That was an immediate distraction for the twin terrors at his elbows.

"Look, it's the Ladyblog!"

"Our sister runs that! Does she know you look at it?"

"Everybody in Paris looks at it!"

"Yeah, because Ladybug is so cool! MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" they cheered in unison, both miming throwing a Lucky Charm up into the air.

"You should design something for Ladybug!"

"Are you any good at designing?"

"Do you sew, too? I don't see any needles!"

"You asked for juice and cookies, sir?"

Gabriel tried not to slump in relief as the twins promptly abandoned him to run to their chef, who did quite a good job of not reacting as he handed out two cups of juice and two plates of cookies before making a hasty exit. Now that was them distracted for the time being, so he could actually think about what to do next. Clearly the twins would not be content to simply sit in silence until Adrien came to collect them- they didn't seem at all intimidated by his raised voice, which suggested that they probably got ordered around quite often but never saw any real consequences- so he would have to find some way to entertain them. Without, of course, exerting any real effort himself. He had work to do, after all, and couldn't be bothered with spending any extended amount of time dealing with kids.

Even as he thought that, his Miraculous started to warm. Somewhere in the city, someone was upset enough to get akumatized. Gabriel almost automatically moved to get up and head for his elevator before realizing that he couldn't. There were two very, very nosy pairs of eyes in his office, and they would absolutely blab about anything strange that they saw. And with their sister running the Ladyblog...

He scowled and sat back down. Within a couple minutes, his Miraculous started cooling back down again, the opportunity gone.

"We want to watch cartoons!"

Gabriel startled out of his thoughts, his attention going back to the twins. They had finished off their cookies already- and he was going to have someone come up and clean, because there were crumbs all over the floor and one of the girls had clearly spilled a bit of her juice- and were headed back over for him, this time with chocolate-smeared fingers and sticky hands.

He panicked for a moment, then realized that they had literally just handed him a distraction- cartoons. While he had heard plenty in the news lately telling parents not to let their kids get raised by screens and to limit TV time, he was neither the parent of these two little terrors nor their guardian, and so that didn't apply to him. But he did know that he would have to find some age-appropriate cartoons for the girls to watch, because otherwise he would have their parents coming after him with "concerns" and he really had neither the time nor the patience to deal with that. They would no doubt do the same if he yelled at the girls to get them to behave, so he had to watch himself.

"All right, all right, I'll set up some cartoons- if you promise to sit still and watch," Gabriel told them. "No running around or anything."

"We promise!"

Gabriel tried not to grumble as he headed for Nathalie's computer. He knew that she had Netflix on her computer because she liked having cooking shows on in the background as she worked her way through particularly tedious paperwork, which he normally rolled his eyes at but right now he couldn't be more grateful that she had a resource like that on hand for him to borrow. She was logged in, which was good, and Gabriel went ahead and flipped through the listings of cartoons.

...he really wasn't familiar with what was age-appropriate for kids that small. Gabriel didn't know what any of the shows were- he had no reason to be- so the most he had to go off on was the pictures. And pictures could be misleading. He had seen enough commercials recently to know that there were some very young-looking designs for shows that had much more adult humor. So after a couple minutes of waffling with increasingly impatient twins at his elbow, Gabriel picked the youngest-looking show- surely it would be safe- and clicked on it, letting the first episode load a bit before turning the computer to the kids. It took a minute to get them seated- they were each convinced that the other was closer, which resulted in a bit of pushing back and forth before Gabriel finally got them to cut it out- and then he could finally, finally get back to his seat and start up his work on reviewing the designs again.

It had only just occurred to him that these two had made up the akuma Sapotis and that they had been quite the handful as akumas. They hadn't listened when he warned them about the trap, only wanting to run around and eat what they wanted and go to the amusement park and stay up and night and watch cartoons and...and not listen to rules.

Gabriel was starting to suspect that maybe things wouldn't go quite as smoothly as he had initially thought, but now the twins were settled in front of the computer screen and listening to some show with obnoxious music and high-pitched voices. It was distracting, but he could tune it out well enough. It took a few minutes for him to get back into the designing groove and figure out where he had left off. The design that he was reviewing was from one of his younger designers, which meant that it was easy enough to pick out where the lines needed to be altered just a touch and mark a change in the type of fabric. The piece was original and creative, though, inspiring enough that Gabriel set it aside for a moment to grab another sheet of paper, sketching out the starting lines for a matching suit to go along with the dress. It would be close-cut, absolutely tailored to perfection and creating a bit of an illusion of broader shoulders.

These pieces would end up on the runway, Gabriel was positive. Paired pieces were always popular.

He had just started scribbling down detail on the side of the paper when he glanced up briefly and spotted Nathalie's computer playing to an audience of...zero.

Frowning, Gabriel sat up fully. The sound of giggling caught his ear, and he spun around to see one twin crouching next to one of his mannequins, the hem of the dress there draped over her head like a wedding veil.

"No playing with the dresses!" Gabriel barked, and both girls jumped before scrambling away from the mannequin. He frowned over at the dress- he would have to get it cleaned soon to remove any chocolate-y fingerprints that might have gotten on the fabrics- before returning his attention to the girls. "I thought you were watching cartoons!"

"Those cartoons are boring," the first twin complained. "They're for babies."

"They're so dumb," Twin No. 2 chimed in. "I don't wanna watch a baby show. Do you have fabric scraps we can play with?"

Gabriel frowned. All of the fabric scraps that he had around the office were exclusive Gabriel print samples, or silks and embroidered pieces or things that he had beaded. They weren't things that he wanted ruined or accidentally going home with the girls. "No. And you promised-"

"But it's a baby show!"

Movement by the door caught Gabriel's eye, and he turned in relief to see an unimpressed Nathalie standing there, surveying the scene in front of her. He opened his mouth to ask her to take the girls- surely she could entertain them elsewhere in the house- but Nathalie beat him to it.

"I'll be taking a late lunch now," Nathalie told him, turning to stride right back out the door. "I will see you in a bit, Mr. Agreste."

"You were just out on lunch, Nathalie!" Gabriel objected, jolting straight up in his chair.

"And I was just summoned to the Gabriel building on urgent business," Nathalie continued as though she hadn't heard him, pulling out her phone and consulting it as though an email had just come in. "So I have to go sort that out. I will be back...at some point."

And before Gabriel could protest, she was gone. He gaped after her for a few seconds- she was his employee, she couldn't do that!- then turned back to the girls still tugging at his elbows, trying not to growl in frustration.

He had to remember, if he lost his temper, it would get back to their parents. If it got back to their parents...

So Gabriel took a deep breath, glanced at the clock- was it broken? Surely more time had passed than that!- and then turned back to the twins. "Okay, what do you want to watch?"

The girls lit up, hopping up and down and yammering at him faster than he could follow. He let them tug him up out of his chair and towards the computer, having them point out the show that they wanted to watch instead. They then spent five minutes arguing over which show they wanted to see out of a pick of four or five things before settling on one. Sighing with relief (and trying his best to ignore the headache starting to build at the edges of his temples), Gabriel clicked on the first episode that came up, arranged the computer to the twins' satisfaction, and returned to his seat. He glanced up as the cartoon started to play and- okay, he could already tell that the cartoon was a bit less babyish than the first one, though it still had annoyingly high-pitched voices for all of the characters. The girls seemed content, so Gabriel gave himself a pat on his back and returned his attention to his designs. Several minutes later, he was just getting back into designing mode. He picked up his pencil, and-

"We've seen this episode already!"

"Yeah! I don't wanna see it again, I already know what happens!"

"We've seen this so many times!"

Gabriel let out a long breath through his nose as he was unceremoniously ripped from designer mode yet again. The twins were already clambering to their feet, clearly ready to abandon their activity and start tearing through his office again. He stood before they could get too far, strode to the computer, and maneuvered back to the menu to pick out another episode. It started playing, and the twins sat back down.

Hopefully he would get more than three minutes to himself this time.

They got past the intro without incident, and Gabriel turned his attention back to his work. He had almost gotten back into the groove when the complaints started up again.

"I've seen this already! This is an old episode!"

"Really old!"

"I'll change it, I'll change it, just keep sitting!" Gabriel said hastily, completely willing to agree to anything to get them to shut up already. Thank god he and Emilie had gotten a nanny to get Adrien past this age, and thank god that they had only had one kid. Having two or more- having twins- would have been a nightmare. And hadn't Adrien said that there were four kids in the Ladyblogger's family? That would be awful. "How many episodes of this have you seen?"

There was some whispering between the two girls, and then some arguing. Finally they resurfaced with a shrug and an unhelpful "I don't know".

Small children were maddening.

Gabriel selected another episode, this time just a little further along. There weren't that many episodes listed, so if they had selected this show it meant that there had to be some that they hadn't seen yet, right?

Apparently not. Over the next thirty minutes, the girls kept interrupting him every few minutes, taking anywhere between three to six minutes to recognize an episode and start complaining. At one point, they lost interest in the cartoons entirely and started asking if they could have cake. With a groan, Gabriel realized that he shouldn't have given in so easily to their request earlier. It had been a test to see how much they could get away with, and he had failed it.

He also missed another prime akumatization opportunity. Two so close together was rare, and yet he couldn't slip away and take advantage of it.

"Of all the days for Adrien to have a two-hour lesson instead of a one-hour one," Gabriel groaned as he pushed his work to the side again to put an end to the complaining that had started anew. The twins were looking antsy now that so much time had passed without them watching all the way through an episode, and he had to wonder how much longer he would last.

Would it be possible for him to go online and hire a babysitter to finish up the time? If they stayed in the house, surely no one could complain? But it seemed unlikely that he would be able to find someone on such short notice, and it would take time for them to arrive. Besides, finding a babysitter online would require actually having more than a couple consecutive minutes to focus on that, and he didn't have more than a couple consecutive minutes, not with the girls needing constant attention.

Three more episode switches later, and Gabriel was ready to start pulling his hair out. Right before he was about to snap at the girls to just sit down and enjoy an old episode, the door buzzer rang. Gabriel dove for it, welcoming the interruption. Maybe Nathalie had sent a babysitter. Maybe the twins' family had finally decided to come pick them up. Maybe-

It was one of Adrien's classmates, the designer girl- Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he remembered. Next to her stood another very small child, her brown pigtails barely reaching the bottom of the camera.

He couldn't deal with another small child, he really couldn't.

"I'm here to collect Ella and Etta!" Marinette said with a cheerful wave at the camera. "Adrien texted me and said that he left them with Mr. Agreste?"

"He did," Gabriel said at once, noting the way that Ms. Dupain-Cheng startled. Clearly she had been expecting Nathalie at the other end. He pressed the button to open the gates. "Enter."

"Who was that?" one of the twins wanted to know at once. "A new babysitter?"

"Yes-" Gabriel started, but they were already on their feet and racing out to the atrium. Just as they got there, Marinette stepped in with the other small girl in tow. She took one look at the racing girls and raised one eyebrow, planting her free hand on her hip.

"Ella! Etta! Is that how we behave indoors? And when we are guests in someone's house?"

Much to Gabriel's surprise, both twins slowed down and shook their heads. "No..."

"I didn't think so." Marinette turned her attention to Gabriel. "I hope that they've been behaving themselves."

Gabriel opened his mouth to answer before thinking better of it. He didn't need to admit to a fourteen-year-old that he had been having trouble keeping two five-year-olds in line, not when they had settled down so quickly at her demand. Instead, he changed the subject. "Are the twins' parents finally back home to take them? Or your friend?"

Much to his surprise, Marinette shook her head. "No, not yet. Alya needs stitches and a tetanus shot, so she and Nora aren't going to be home for a while, and their parents are super-busy right now and can't leave work early. We're going to go over to the TV studio to drop off Manon and after that, I was planning on taking Ella and Etta back to their apartment so that they won't be destroying anyone else's house." She paused, glancing over in the direction that faint piano music could be heard coming from. "I. Uh. If it wouldn't be too much to ask, I would really appreciate it if Adrien could come over and help out, so I'm not the only one watching these two."

"I will send him over once he finishes his piano lessons," Gabriel promised at once, partly so Marinette wouldn't change her mind about taking the twins and partly because Adrien had offered to take up that responsibility in the first place and he needed to understand what following through would be like so that he wouldn't do it again in the future.

A chorus of whining followed Gabriel's words, and he looked over to see both twins pouting at Marinette.

"I don't want to go on a walk!"

"Yeah, that's too far! And it's too hot!"

"I want to stay here and watch cartoons and eat cookies!"

"And drink orange juice!"

The small girl holding Marinette's hand stomped her foot and turned to her babysitter. "I want cookies, too!"

"Cookies and no walking!"

Gabriel's headache spiked as the whining got louder, but Marinette only frowned at them. "Manon, you've already had cookies. Also that's too bad, we're going on a walk. No, you don't get a say in this. Now thank Mr. Agreste and we'll be leaving."

"But I don't want to!"

"Yeah!"

"If you don't behave, I'll tell your parents and you won't get dessert for a month and you'll have to go to bed early," Marinette warned them, and Gabriel watched in utter disbelief as the twins straightened up and promptly fell into line next to her. "Now what do we say to Mr. Agreste?"

"Thank you!"

Gabriel could only nod in response as the group headed back out the door, following Marinette down the steps and across the courtyard like a line of little ducklings. He waited until they had exited the gates and turned the corner before heading back into his office and collapsing into his chair.

He could deal with uncooperative suppliers and diva clients all day long, but two young children wore him out in a heartbeat. If Ms. Dupain-Cheng hadn't shown up, he- he-

He didn't know what he would have done. His patience had been gone, he had been at his wit's end, and the twins had just been whining and whining and whining.

Ms. Dupain-Cheng deserved a reward of some sort for coming in and rescuing him from those little monsters, Gabriel decided as he reached across his desk for some aspirin. Nothing obvious, of course, because he couldn't let on that he had had any problems with the twins, but she hadn't had to come over and add two more little terrors on top of the handful of a girl that she had already been babysitting. She could have just continued with her day and assumed that he was fully capable of dealing with the twins until Adrien finished his piano lesson, which is what he assumed most teens her age would have done.

Perhaps he would grant her immunity from getting akumatized, Gabriel decided after a minute's thought. He wasn't experienced enough to be able to identify individual imprints himself, but Nooroo could and he could block her imprint's emotions from getting picked up by the Miraculous upon request. Gabriel had heard talk that it wasn't a particularly pleasant experience for those who hadn't gotten akumatized voluntarily. Something about how their memories during that time were fuzzy or lost completely, which was terribly disorienting. He hadn't experienced the same, of course, and neither had Nathalie, but the two of them were special cases. Everyone else had to deal with holes in their memories and a nagging sense of confusion, neither of which were pleasant.

Yes, that was what he would do. It would be a way to express his thanks without giving away that he was doing that at all, Ms. Dupain-Cheng would no doubt appreciate being able to express her emotions safely, and it wasn't as though it would be any great loss to him.

There would always be other people to akumatize, after all, and giving one normal teenage girl a free pass out wasn't going to make any big difference in the long run.

[gansey-just-gansey]

Under the Needle part Two

“Get up.”

Ronan's body rocked back and forth with the shaking of the bed underneath him. He rolled over onto his stomach, groaning.

“Lynch. Get up.”

He opened one eye, looking groggily at Gansey.

“Jesus, what happened to you?” Gansey was standing over Ronan, kicking the bed frame. Once he confirmed that Ronan was awake he went over to the desk and started looking for something in the mess of books and loose papers that seemed to have no organizational system to speak of.

“Nothing. I ran into a couple frat bros after the tour, they gave me some beer.” He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, stretching out on the mattress.

“Enough to make you pass out for the night, apparently. Did you even stay for the whole tour?” Gansey asked, though he phrased it in a way that made Ronan think he already knew the answer.

“No, I ditched the end. That guide was shit, by the way. Boring as all fuck. I went walking around town instead of coming back here to wait for you. Saw some shops.” Ronan sat up suddenly. “Oh, fuck,” he muttered, throwing the blankets off himself.

“What? What's wrong?” Gansey looked around, searching for what could have upset Ronan now.

The beautiful boy's face flashed through Ronan's mind. Adam. “I need some paper.”

“For what?” Gansey asked, but he started opening his backpack, looking for a spare piece for Ronan.

“And a pen. Or a pencil, whatever you have. I have to write down some tattoo ideas, quickly.”

Gansey looked up from his backpack. He pushed his glasses up and squinted at Ronan as though he could read a further explanation from Ronan's face. “I beg your pardon?”

“A tattoo. I need ideas for one and I need to write them down.” Ronan snapped his fingers twice, reaching for the pad of paper he could see peeking out from the bag. Gansey let him take it and handed him a pencil from behind his ear.

“You're getting a tattoo?”

“Yup.”

“Declan will have a heart attack.”

“That's about half the point of getting it,” Ronan looked up long enough to give Gansey a devilish smile. There was no reason for Gansey to know the real reason for Ronan's very sudden and very permanent decision.

Gansey shook his head but knew better than to fight Ronan on anything having to do with Declan at this moment, which is exactly why Ronan let him think that was all it was about.

Ronan scribbled several things down in quick succession. Then he looked back over his list and ripped it out of the notebook. None of these were anything that Ronan actually wanted on his body forever. He crumpled the paper and threw it in the general direction of Gansey's trash can.

“Problem?” Gansey asked.

“Yeah, there's a fucking problem. I have no idea what would make for a good back tattoo,” Ronan gripped the pencil tightly, nearly snapping it. He couldn't go back to the shop without a single idea.

“All right, well why don't you think of something important to you? Then you can take that general idea to an artist and have a conversation about whether it would make for a decent tattoo design.”

Something important to Ronan. What was important to Ronan? He didn't get attached to anything that could become unattached to him. Matthew and Gansey gave him the only glimpses of unconditional love he got. But he wasn't very well about to get them tattooed on him.

But maybe it didn't have to be something external. What did Ronan live for?

There was only one thing.

Ronan started scribbling frantically. “You're a fucking genius, Gansey.” He folded up the paper and shoved it roughly in his pocket. Then he stood up and made to leave, but Gansey grabbed his arm as he passed.

“Wait let me just get my shoes-”

“What do you need to come for?”

“I want to check that this is a reputable tattoo shop. You have been known to make rash decisions occasionally.” Ronan rolled his eyes. “What's the name of this place anyway?” Gansey pulled out his phone.

“It's- uh....” Ronan scrambled for the name, but he hadn't been paying attention when he followed Adam into the shop. He hadn't even noticed it was a tattoo parlor at first.

“You don't even know the name? Did you just walk by it and decide right then to get a tattoo?” Gansey asked exasperatedly.

“Yeah, pretty much. I remember the way to it though. Are you coming or not?”

It was Gansey's turn to roll his eyes, but he pulled his boat shoes on and grabbed the key to his room, locking it behind them.

It was a quick ten minute walk to the parlor, just off official campus grounds.

“Cabeswater Tattoo,” Gansey said, looking at the sign hanging on the door. It was very obvious, but Ronan had been more than a little distracted the last time he was here.

They walked into the shop, the small bell chiming their arrival. The same girl from last time was once again atop the display case, this time smacking gum. She looked up when the boys came in, raising one eyebrow when she saw Ronan, who just now noticed that he was in the same clothes as yesterday, and the other one followed when she took in Gansey in all his khaki glory. He gave her an awkward little wave. She blew a large bubble and popped it with a sharp snap.

“You're back,” she said to Ronan. “We had a pool going.”

“Who's we?” Ronan asked, walking farther into the shop.

The girl gestured between herself and the pale boy  leaning back in the chair at his own station who had been tattooing the tramp stamp yesterday. “Noah and me. He bet you wouldn't but I had a feeling you'd back here today,” she looked smug.

“Well you were right. Congratulations. Where's Adam?” Ronan asked impatiently. The girl's smug face grew.

“Back here,” came a voice from the employee only room Adam had escaped to yesterday. He came out, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth. “Oh, you're back.”

“Yes, we have established that I have, in fact, come back. Can we move on now?” Ronan said irritably.

Adam shrugged and gestured him over to his station again. Gansey stayed near the display case, inspecting the different kinds of body jewelry it held and asking the girl what each one was for. Ronan could see his face pale when she explained what a Prince Albert piercing was.

Adam rolled the stool back up next to the tattoo chair, which Ronan took a seat in once again, this time letting his legs hang over the side so that his knees brushed Adam's. Ronan took small satisfaction in this minor contact but didn't let it show. Instead, he got down to business.

“I have an idea for my tattoo.”

“You're still set on getting this whole back piece?” Adam didn't sound surprised, just tired.

“I am,” Ronan answered firmly, leaving no room for arguments.

“All right, whatever you want, man. What's your idea?” he asked.

“Well, it's more of a vague idea than anything solid.”

“I'm sure I can work with whatever you decided,” Adam said, flipping to a clean sheet in his sketchbook.

“Dreams.”

“Dreams?”

“Dreams,” Ronan repeated confidently. Adam stared at him in way that screamed exhaustion, like Ronan was just another in a long line of nonsensical occurrences he had experienced that day. “I told you it was a vague idea.”

“And I told you I could work with whatever you gave me,” Adam responded. His fingers were already starting to carve shadows into the fresh page. His other hand found its way into his hair, propping his head up. “Tell me what you think when you think of dreams.”

Ronan handed him the list he had made back in Gansey's room. 

“Orphan Girl, raven, and night horrors? “

Ronan grunted, chewing on the leather bands he always kept on his wrists. 

“Okay, who is Orphan Girl?” Adam asked. 

“This girl that appears in my dreams sometimes. She kind of guides me I guess, “ Ronan said, releasing the bands from his teeth. 

“I see. And the night horrors?”

“They’re violent things. Black. Tall. They all have claws and a beak.”

“Unguibus et rostro,” Adam said under his breath.

“What?” Ronan was sure he must have heard the other boy wrong. There was no way this boy with the delicate hands and the Southern drawl was currently speaking latin to him.

“Nothing,” Adam said, putting the list in between two pages of his sketchbook and went back to plotting out the dark design. “So do you want me to draw up each of things for you or do you want me to try to incorporate all of them into one design?”

“Actually I was thinking it’s a vague concept, maybe a vague design would be better,” Ronan reasoned.

“Makes sense to me, “ Adam nodded. The lines were beginning to come together to make a somewhat cohesive picture. It wasn't even close to done but there was some solid line work laid out. “I can work with that. Let me draw something up and you can tell me if you like it or if you want me to change anything. You’re welcome to hang around the shop or you can leave a number and I can call when-” 

“I’ll stick around here, thanks,” Ronan interrupted quickly. “My friend seems interested in... the jewelry.” Ronan looked back at Gansey, who now had the attention of both the short girl and pale boy named Noah. Adam was already focused back on his drawing by the time Ronan looked back.

He got up and went over to stand next to Gansey, who was lecturing the other two on the importance of ley lines.

“They're intersecting lines of energy that connect many significant sacred sites. They kind of intersect like this.” He took a piece of paper and a pencil off the front desk and drew a slightly rounded triangle with lines crossed. Ronan rolled his eyes. Of course Gansey had already roped them into a conversation about ley lines and Glendower.

“That's badass,” Noah said, totally enraptured.

“I think so, too,” Gansey said, beaming.

“You should get those lines tattooed on you,” the girl said, snapping her gum again.

“Oh that would be even more badass,” Noah said. “Good thinking, Blue.”

“I don't know about that,” Gansey chuckled nervously.

“You should,” Ronan said, trying to hold in his laughter. “It would be so badass.”

“I can do it now,” Noah offered. “You've got time while Adam draws up his design. I can use your drawing to make a stencil real quick.”

“I don't know, I'm not sure where I would even get them,” Gansey said doubtfully.

The girl, apparently named Blue, blew a big bubble and let it pop. “Over your heart, because you let them guide you.”

“You're an unstoppable good idea machine today,” Noah said, pointing at Blue.

“Well I actually don't hate that,” Gansey rubbed his hand over his chest.

Ronan eyes were wide with surprise. He hadn't thought Gansey would actually go through with getting a tattoo, but it looked like he was seriously considering it.

“Hell yeah, man,” Noah reached out for a high five. Gansey smiled slightly and slapped Noah's hand. “Let me go make the stencil and you can see if you like it. If you don't, don't get it. But if you do, you let me put it on you today.”

“I suppose that isn't the worst idea,” Gansey acquiesced. “Okay, go draw it up or whatever you have to do.”

Holy shit. Gansey was going to get a tattoo. Or think about getting a tattoo. Whatever. Gansey wasn't one to rush into big decisions like this. Ronan was about to ask him what the hell, but then he saw how Gansey was looking at Blue. So he was trying to impress a girl. Well who was Ronan to stop him? Here he was getting a full back piece just to see a beautiful boy and feel his delicate hands. Ronan decided to let Gansey do whatever the fuck he wanted. Not that Gansey listened to him all that often, anyway.

Ronan slung himself haphazardly into Noah's tattoo chair and tried not to stare across the room at Adam, who was deep into his sketchbook. His hand was still in his hair, propping up his head. Instead, Ronan watched Gansey and Blue, who were still talking about the tattoo.

“All right, let's get that shirt off,” Noah said, holding a stencil sheet by the tip.

Gansey stripped it off and threw it at Ronan, who caught it just before it flopped in his face. Ronan noticed that Blue was trying not to stare at Gansey's chest and just barely failing. Gansey flexed slightly and Ronan fought not to roll his eyes again.

Noah carefully placed the stencil over Gansey's heart and pulled it off gently, leaving a purple outline of the lines Gansey had drawn.

Gansey turned to look at it in the mirror. “It looks good,” Blue offered from behind him.

“Yeah it does,” Noah agreed.

“Ronan?” Gansey turned back to him so he could check it out.

“Fuck yeah, Gansey. You should get it,” Ronan said, reaching his fist out for him to bump.

“Yeah?” he looked in the mirror again. “I do rather like it.”

“'I do rather like it',” Ronan mimicked in a higher pitched voice.

“Ronan,” Gansey said. Then, “Yes. Yeah, put it on me.”

“Yes!” Noah high fived Blue. The girl was so short she had to jump to reach Noah's hand.

Ronan got up so Gansey could take his place in the tattoo chair. Blue came to stand near Ronan while Noah prepped the station.

“Okay, you ready?” Noah asked, the needle poised over Gansey's heart.

“Ready as I'll ever be,” Gansey replied.

Noah smiled and began tracing the stencil with black ink.

“This doesn't hurt as bad as I thought,” Gansey said after a minute.

“Oh just wait, it builds,” Blue said around her gum.

They waited in silence for a couple minutes, the only sound in the shop the buzzing of the needle. Slowly, Gansey's eyebrows started pulling down, his face going from relaxed to uncomfortable.

“It's not as bad as I thought,” he repeated. “But it definitely hurts more than when it started.”

Blue laughed. “Yeah, the constant irritation makes it get worse over time. Lucky for you this is a small tattoo so it won't take as long. You however,” Blue pointed at Ronan, “will have it a lot worse with a whole back tattoo.”

Ronan bared his teeth at her in a savage smile. “I think I can handle it.” She shrugged.

“All right, we're done,” Noah announced. “Go check it out in the mirror.”

Gansey got up and looked at his angry red chest. “It looks amazing, Noah. Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?”

“Ronan,” Adam called from the other side of the shop. Ronan immediately headed over, leaving Gansey to talk money with Noah.

“What's up?” Ronan asked, trying to be nonchalant, though in reality he was about to hyperventilate at the sound of his name coming out of Adam's mouth.

“I finished the first design, I wanted your thoughts on it,” Adam said.

“You're already finished? Jesus fuck,” Ronan swore. It had only been about half an hour.

Adam's lips curled up in a self-conscious smile. Ronan nearly swore again. He had thought it impossible for Adam to be any more beautiful until he saw that smile.

“You allowed me quite a bit of artistic freedom so I really got into it. You want to check it out?” He offered Ronan the sketchbook.

“Holy fuck, this is awesome.” Ronan reverently touched the page. The design was abstract, dark and sharp looking. Feathers floated around it, and a single claw would hook over the back of his neck above his collar. Adam had perfectly captured the general feel of Ronan's dreams without even having to ask.

“You like it?”

“It's perfect.”

“Okay, great. We have to talk logistics though.”

“Logistics?” Ronan asked, confused. What was there besides putting it on and tattooing it?

“It'll take probably about twenty hours total, and most likely cost around four thousand. Is that going to work for you?”

Fuck, twenty hours. Twenty hours of Adam, of his beautiful face and delicate hands and being touched by him. Ronan didn't know how he was going to bear twenty hours of Adam tattooing him.

Adam cleared his throat, and Ronan realized he had just been standing there, staring at him.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah that's fine. Money isn't a problem. So how do we do this? Start today and hopefully finish it tomorrow or what?”

Adam laughed out loud, a deep and musical sound.

“What are you laughing at?” Ronan demanded.

“We can't do this all in two sittings,” Adam chuckled. “We could probably do it in four hour increments, if you can handle it.”

“It's going to be five sittings?”

“Most likely, if you think you can get through the pain.”

“I think I'll be able to handle it,” Ronan scoffed.

“Then yeah, five sittings, and they'll have to be about two weeks apart,” Adam said, standing up and stretching out his long limbs.

“Two weeks? Each?” Ronan asked incredulously.

“Maybe three, it depends on how fast you heal,” Adam shrugged.

“I'm only supposed to be here for the weekend.”

“I'm afraid that's just how it is. I won't do a sloppy rush job,” he said firmly.

Ronan thought for a minute. Five sittings would take about ten to fifteen weeks. Almost a whole semester.

Fuck.

“I'll work it out,” he said finally.

“Great. I'll blow up the design and get a stencil. Take your shirt off and wait by my station,” Adam said over his shoulder, walking to the back room Noah had disappeared into earlier.

Ronan did as he was told. As he was waiting, Gansey wandered back over to stand next to him.

“So you're getting the tattoo?” he asked.

“Part of it, apparently,” Ronan grunted.

“You're going to need more sessions?”

“Yup.”

“But you leave tomorrow.”

“No.”

“No? No what?”

“I'm not leaving tomorrow.”

“You're not?”

“Nope, I'm enrolling.”

[girlafraidinacoma]

In The Lap of the Gods: Chapter Three -  ‘Don’t Forget to Smile!’

Summary: What do you get when you mix a tight-knit art community, young, hot-blooded twenty-something university students and good old-fashioned British Rock & Roll? Probably the next best hope for art and music that generation has to offer. With her friends’ band skyrocketing to fame, what exactly does a girl do when she suddenly finds herself sitting in the lap of the gods? The answer: do the only thing she can do, rise to the occasion of course!

Pairing: Gwilym Lee!Brian May x Original Female Character [chill guys, this WILL be a Bri fic…eventually].

Warnings: ummm mentions alcohol??? That’s it.

Words: 1.7k+

Author’s Note: They finally meet!!!! So I made cover art for the fic, I really hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did making it. As always, feel free to comment, reblog or leave a like it if you want.

Kind of AU, contains both elements from real life and the Bo Rhap universe, so imagine whoever you prefer whether they be the real thing or the Bo Rhap Boys–be free.

[Link to the Ao3 fic!]

Chapter Playlist:

1. Ramble On - Led Zeppelin 2. Hello, I love You - The Doors

Chapter Three - 'Don't Forget To Smile!'

London, 1969.

It all started with a couple of drawings. Pencil or charcoal drawings, quick studies of hands, profiles of people and renders of the view of the street from the flat Roger and Freddie shared. They sat in a small pile in their living room, under a couple of magazines that Brian had been perusing to pass the time. What had caught his eye however was a detailed portrait of Jimi Hendrix with his Stratocaster. It wasn’t just on some scrap bit of paper either, it was made on thick stock, the kind that artists used, and it had rough edges as if it were originally a larger piece of parchment that was carefully divided into several A4 pages.

Jimi was dressed in an open flowy shirt and had his eyes closed in concentration, the light from above him casted deep shadows upon his face. It didn’t look like Fred’s handiwork, and he had seen numerous other ones he had done before. There was a distinct impression on the bottom right hand corner of the page, the artist’s initial he would have guessed; it was a long and swooping line like the body of a snake and formed a slanted capital 'W'. Brian didn’t really know much about art, and was more comfortable measuring the distance between stars, or better, fluffing about on his guitar, but he decided he liked it very much.

“Rog,” he said, calling the attention of the man currently buttering a piece of toast in the kitchen.

“Yeah?”

Brian sidled up to his friend, showing what he had in his hand, “Is this yours?”

“Hm?” Roger turned his gaze at the drawing, swallowing the bread he was chewing he said, “No, a friend of mine drew that.”

“Do you think-- Could I have it?” Brian asked sheepishly, his eyes still admiring the pencil work.

“Good isn’t it? I’ve got one of Jane Fonda in my room,” he grinned with a wiggle of his brows, “Yeah, don’t think she’d mind, she leaves loads round here.” His friend had turned back to his meal, slathering more jam on his toast.

“Thanks.” Brian said, pleased.

Weeks later, after he’s hung his favorite new picture up on his bedroom wall at home, Brian was back at Fred and Roger’s place, hoping to talk to the blonde about their upcoming gig that week. The door to their flat was unsurprisingly not locked, still he gave a short knock at the door to warn people of his entrance. He had made the mistake twice or three times before of walking in on Roger with a lady friend. Why he hadn’t taken them to his room or at least locked the door, was beyond Brian’s comprehension. He suddenly felt a great sympathy for Freddie whom had to live with Roger’s antics on the daily.

What he was met with inside however was a lulling pitter-patter of percussion, and the warm strum of an electric guitar over Robert Plant’s familiar vocals. Neither Fred nor Roger was anywhere to be seen, but someone had left the record player on. The music of Zeppelin was like a balm to Brian’s ears as Page’s guitar played the quick rise and fall of notes on the fretboard. He made a beeline to the player in the living room, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. He was so engrossed in his study of the vinyl jacket that he failed to notice the other person in the room.

“Can I help you?” a voice from the armchair asked.

Brian whipped around so fast he had dropped the empty vinyl sleeve. He had a hand to his chest and he felt his hammering pulse beneath his shirt. “Sorry,” he said, going for the item he had dropped. “I didn’t see you there.”

The person smiled at him from where she sat, eyes dancing at his priceless expression having been so caught off-guard. It was a woman, close to his age, and she had a purple scarf tied around her wavy brown hair which cascaded down her shoulder. She sat sideways in her seat and her lean legs were draped over one arm of the chair while her back was supported by the other. Her feet were angled towards the end table with the stack of magazines. Despite the way she had so casually perched on Freddie’s armchair, she was holding herself so easily and so regally that she could have been Cleopatra on her throne.

“Er, I was looking for Rog?” Brian answered in reply to her initial question.

“He’s still asleep.”  

“Right, right.” Brian nodded, his gaze flickering over to the door of Roger’s room. Of course he’d still be asleep, it was only half past twelve after all. He took the seat across from her on the sofa. “I’m --”

“You’re Brian, aren’t you?” she finished for him.

“Sorry,” he said, apologising once more. “Have we met? I thought I’m usually better at remembering these things.” Brian was scratching his curly head trying to put her face to a name.

“No, no. Only Roger mentioned he was in a band and that he had a friend called Brian who played guitar. Dark curly hair, tall, lacks fashion sense, lost puppy-dog eyes.”

“Rog said I looked like a... puppy ?”

The girl chuckled, “Just my observation.” Her tone was cheeky, but not unkind.

“Oh,” he said with a blush.

“I’m only playing,” she laughed, there was a rosy tinge to her cheeks. “I like your eyes, they’re very nice; and I don’t think you’ve got terrible taste in clothes.”

“Um, thanks.” He said, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. He didn’t think that she was lying; though looking down at his simple pinstripe button down and dark trousers ensemble, and knowing his eyes to be a rather plain blue, Brian thought himself to be rather unremarkable.

“Could afford to pop open a few buttons though,” she mused, “And maybe roll up the sleeves?” Her brown eyes, a shade or two deeper than her hair, sparkled in the early afternoon light. He might have blamed Led Zeppelin, or maybe the way her hair fell around her like a halo, it may have been due to the fact that her eyes had never left his during their entire interaction thus far, or perhaps it was a combination of all of these things, but Brian was utterly smitten.

“I um, appreciate the pointers.”

“Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective.” The girl said with warmth.

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air 'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair But Gollum, and the evil one Crept up and slipped away with her, her, her, yeah Ah, there's nothing I can do now I guess I'll keep on

They spend the next minute or so in relative quiet, happy to let the song speak for them. That was...until Brian next chose to open his mouth, “So, you're...here for Rog?” It was more of a statement than a question at this point.

“Hmm?” The girl raised her eyebrows.

“You and Rog, you’re-- here f-for him -- with - with him?” Put one beautiful girl in front of him and the astrophysics major is reduced to a stuttering idiot. His fingers tapped on his knees anxiously, he sees her lips press into a thin line and her eyes grow stormy.

“Right, because men and women can’t ever just be friends?” Her accusation was followed with his dumbfounded silence. She felt mortified and her chest burned. “D’you go around assuming every woman that’s ever stepped foot in this flat has slept with your mate, or am I just special?”

“I didn’t really er-- that is, I know that sounds…” he struggled for the words.

“No, no, it’s fine. It was just your observation.” she said, having lost the humour in her voice. It seemed as though their conversation had officially ended. It was then that Brian noticed the sketchbook in her lap, and the charcoal held between her fingers. But before he could peek at what she had been doing, she had closed the book shut and reached for her satchel propped against her chair.

The door to Freddie’s bedroom opened unceremoniously and the man came out fully dressed, keys jangling in hand. “Sorry to make you wait, I couldn’t find my other bloody shoe.” Freddie was surprised to find Brian there that afternoon, and especially so, finding the taller man looking quite ill and confused. “I see you’ve met Brian.”

“Yep.” the girl said, putting her things into her bag.

Fred might have guessed as to what led to this uncomfortable situation: one, Roger had never been the type who was short of female companions; two, for someone normally so articulate, Brian had probably one of the worst cases of foot in mouth syndrome Freddie’s ever been witness to; and three, his poor new friend has entirely no idea of the effect she had on the opposite sex. This scenario appeared to make the most sense to him. Seeking to relieve the tension, Fred had thought a speedy escape would be their best course of action. Collecting their coats in a calm fashion, he beckoned to her, “Coming, darling?”

“Born ready, Freddie.” she replied, her face was an impassive mask as she spared one last look to Brian before walking out the door with Fred.

Brian, rooted in his spot on the sofa, released a long suffering groan into his hand. He had gone and done it now, alright. He really had no luck with women, and he felt like a true dolt. He somehow managed to insult a mutual friend of both his best mate as well as that of that best mate’s flatmate all in one fell swoop. And he didn't even know the poor girl’s name.

Standing up, he walked over to where she had just been. Her seat was still warm, and by the end table was another set of fresh drawings. It appeared she been working on a flyer for their upcoming gig; ironic, given the circumstance, in large bold letters it mocked him saying, ‘DON’T FORGET TO SMILE!’.

Sure enough, on the bottom right-hand corner was a single initial, a pristine, looping 'W'.

I can't find my bluebird I listen to my bluebird sing I can't find my bluebird I keep rambling, baby I keep rambling, baby

[linguisticswithlester]

Let Me Memorize Your Eyes - Chapter Seven: Curiosity (Almost) Killed the Cat 

Rating: NR

Chapter:  7/?

Word Count: 2239

Warnings: Nope, None I think

Notes: Hey! I am so sorry this chapter took so long to come about. I had to severely do some adulting these last two weeks and haven't had time for much else. I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long but, I should be back to posting every Monday! I may have Chapter 8 up some time this week as well to make up for the two weeks I missed so, if you want, look forward to that.I hope you enjoy this chapter! 

Summary: Phil is a struggling artist with bruised trust and Dan is a talented baker working in a coffee shop trying to forget his smoldering past. When their paths cross will Dan end up being Phil’s new muse? Or will he be the one thing keeping Phil from putting a brush to canvas ever again?

[Read on AO3]

[Start at the Beginning]

     Dan took out the wash rag and tucked Phil’s book into the pocket of his apron. Finishing the last few tables that were left still unclean, Dan set out to quickly wipe them down and be on his way. This was Dan’s first night closing, and while he didn't know the formal closing procedure here, Dan treated it like he did his own shop back home. He made sure everything was wiped down, any and every machine was shut off; windows were wiped and leftover baked goods boxed up and ready to be donated.

    He didn't mind cleaning; it was therapeutic in a way. Watching as things once dirty or smudged become clean and ready for round two was comforting. Maybe that could be him one day.

     “Hey, what's that?” Becca asked as she slung a towel over her shoulder and gestured to Dan’s waist.

    “Oh, I found it over where Phil was sitting. I think it may be his sketchbook or something.” Dan reached down and pulled the book from its resting place; It really was a beautiful book.

    “Hmm….” Becca stated as she put her finger to her chin to make it look like she was deep in thought, “...should we look inside to see if his contact information is in there?” Something about the way she said that made Dan guess she really didn't care about contact info; a look of mischief was written on her face.

    Hesitant, Dan replied, “I don't really think that’s a good idea. Phil seemed pretty protective of this book and doesn't really want anyone to see in it right now.” He looked down at the ink covered book in his hands and he couldn't lie, he was curious to see what was inside. “If he really does come in everyday like you said he does, then we can give it to him tomorrow night. Hell, he might even come back for it in the morning once he realizes its missing.”

    Becca flashed a bewildering smile that could put the Joker out of business, “Yeah,” she said dragging the word out adding uncertainty to it, “or we could just have a peek inside, see what he has been working on, close it, put it in a safe spot for him to come pick up tomorrow and, what he doesn't know won’t kill him, yeah?” Said with one breath, Dan was impressed.

    He knew that if the situation was reversed and this was his book, he would be a worried mess right about now and would hope whoever found it would respect his privacy. However, curiosity was always something he fought with. Some days it paid off, other times it caused him unnecessary pain. Becca was the devil on his shoulder and tonight she was saying kill the cat.  

     Dan just wanted to take a look at the last drawing Phil was working on, that’s all. He wouldn’t look at any other pages in the book, just that one and be done with it. That wouldn’t be that bad would it? Phil did say he wasn't comfortable sharing his work right now but, damn, Dan wanted to take a peek. It looked like someone Dan knew and it was driving Dan mad that that he couldn't place who it was. What if they had a mutual friend… maybe it would give them a chance to hang out, outside of the cafe…

     The devil was getting louder.

    “So what about it, Dan? To peek or not to peek?”

    Before Dan could answer, a loud banging came from the front door.  

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    An out of breath Phil was banging on the front door. Trying the door handle one more time, knowing fully well that it would still be locked just like it was four seconds ago, he peeked in and saw Dan and Becca standing by the counter.

    Oh god…

    Phil’s stomach fell out of his ass and was currently running down the street looking for a good place to bury itself.

    Dan had the book.

    He looked over at Phil through the window with an expression on his face that Phil couldn't read. Did he already look through it? Did he see the umpteen drawings and sketches that Phil had in there that were of Dan and his curly locks? Was the expression one of disgust and pity? Phil’s heart started to beat at an alarming rate and his palms got clammy and started to shake.

    “Remain calm, Phil. He could have just found it and haven’t had the chance to look through it yet.” His said to himself trying to contain his composure and not look like a lunatic outside of a coffee shop.

    Sending a friendly wave to them in the shop while trying to look casual, Becca ran over to the door to unlock it. Dan still had the book resting between his hands.

    Shit.

    “Hey, Phil! Back for your book?” Becca asked full of life and, was that a hint of amusement too? Did she go through it?

    “Hey, yeah. I realized I had left it behind as I got a few blocks down. I got nervous someone might have found it. But I see you guys have it so I shouldn't have been worried.” He added that last bit to reassure himself more than anything. He leaned his head forward and motioned to Dan holding the book in an unnatural way. Hands on both sides, white knuckled and the book was completely horizontal.

Phil was sure he read it.

    “Oh yeah, I found this just a few minutes ago as I went to wipe the tables down. I thought it looked familiar.” Dan said as he still held the book in that uncomfortable position and made his way closer to where Phil and Becca where standing. He let out a huff of breath that could have been taken for a poor attempt of a laugh. “Don't worry we kept it safe for you.” Dan added trying to sound light and airy and not like he almost got caught going through it.

    “Oh great.” Phil said acting as casual as he possibly could while reaching for the book that held all his secrets. How could he have been so careless?

    “I really appreciate you guys grabbing it for me and for letting me back in to get it. I know you guys are closed and everything, so thank you.” Having the book back in his possession calmed his fears a little bit. Now to figure out if they looked inside. Any other person would just come out and ask if they did but, Phil couldn't ask that; Not right now. He would have to come up with a way to get them to say if they did or not.

    As Phil grabbed the book from Dan, their hands brushed together in a cliché fashion. Dan’s hands were soft and they slipped right through the grasp that would have been Phil’s. They felt like they knew pain but, they also felt like the world would never even think of hurting someone so soft and pure. As Dan’s hands fully left Phil’s, he could have sworn he heard slight gasp as the contact left.

    Phil looked up at Dan to see the younger boy’s eyes drifting to anything other than Phil. He must have seen the drawings…

    “Hey Phil!” Becca’s voice pierced Phil's thoughts that had been over taken by worry. “Since it’s late and we’re basically all closed up here, want to walk out with us? I would hate for you to be walking by yourself at this hour.”

    Dan and Phil both shot her a glare. Dan let out a laugh and shook his head real slow. Phil just raised an eyebrow.

    “What?” She asked, raising her arms above her shoulders? “Oh! Sorry, my mother instincts kick in from time to time. No arguing, we are walking out together no matter what kind of look you boys give me.” And with that, Becca turned around with a quick snap of the hair she had up in a bun and headed to the back to get her stuff.

    “Haha, I haven't seen Becca in mom mode before. It suits her.” Phil said turning to face the brunette. Trying not to let his fears eat him away, Phil smiled. “I guess I'm walking out with you guys then.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels looking down at his feet.

    “This is gonna be some walk” Phil thought to himself as Dan rushed to follow Becca back into the employee area. He shook his head and waited.

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 Once Dan knew that he was far enough from Phil for him to be able to hear, he ran back to where Becca was. She was calmly grabbing her purse out of her locker, seeming unbothered by the events that just took place.

     “Becca! What was that?” Dan shrieked as he threw his apron off. He was slightly huffing in breath, not sure if that was because of the slight exercise that just took place or the fact that Phil almost saw them going through his book, the one thing Phil has asked them not to do.

    Slowing turning to hang up her apron on the hook labeled “Becca” she looked at Dan over her shoulder and smirked.

    “What? I would feel bad if we made him walk home all alone on a night like this.” She said smoothly, not phased at all.

    “That's not what I'm talking about. We almost got caught looking through something he told us not to.”

    “Oh so you would have looked, huh? Giving me that judgmental glare and all along you were gonna go with it. I see how it is.” She looked Dan up and down as she said that, hand on her hip; her mom stare was pretty good too.

    “Besides, if he wouldn't have left his book here, you may not of had the opportunity to talk with him outside of work. Now, you get to walk him home. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do on the first date.”

    Dan choked on his breathe, “W-what?”

    “Dan, I have only seen you guys in the same room twice and I can already tell you're smitten. You look at him like he is the most beautiful person that has walked this face of this planet. Your eyes do way more talking than your mouth.”

    “I-” Nothing came; he had no follow up. Was it really that obvious? No, it couldn't be. He was in long-term relationship; it must just be the lighting making his eyes look like a star-struck lover.

    “Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's go. We don't want to kept Mr. Lester waiting.” Becca replied heading for door. She flipped her head in an over dramatic fashion as to show her point.

    Dan just stood there with his arms by his side. What just happened? Why was his stomach doing the flippy over thing? It couldn't be because of the thought of Phil... could it?

    With a deep breath in, Dan emerged from the backroom after a few minutes with his phone in hand.

    “Okay, ready to go?”

    Phil looked up at Dan through his framed glasses and Dan finally got to see his eyes. They were blue with a hint of yellow and even some green; they were beautiful. To compare them to the ocean would be an understatement.

    “Ready if you are.” Phil said grabbing he straps of his book bag that set on either side of his chest.

    “Off we go!” Becca threw her arm forward pointing towards the direction of the exit.

    Gathering together and heading for the door, Dan was the one who reached for the handle to open it, letting Phil and Becca trail behind. He still didn't have a key to the shop yet so Becca had to lock it up.

    “Okay, boys. That walk from the counter to the front door was fun and it is a memory I will cherish forever but, I actually have a ride tonight. One of my girlfriends came to pick me up so we can see a late showing to a movie, so I unfortunately can't continue on with this journey.” She switched her glaze to Phil. “Now, don't worry. Dan will walk you all the way back to your flat. I remember you mentioned you didn't live that far from here, so it won’t be problem at all, if he does. He himself, doesn't live but five minutes from here.”

Dan sucked in a breath and shot Becca his best “what the hell are you doing?” Face. This wasn’t part of the agreement. Hell, there was no agreement to begin with.

    “Night, Phil. I'm glad we were able to keep your precious book safe for you. I hope you have a great night.” Dan hated the way she said great… what was she implying?

    Becca walked over to Dan and went in for a hug.

    She got close and wrapped her arms around Dan’s neck. He felt the breath of her words on his neck as she spoke them, “You're welcome, Daniel.” Slowly leaving his ears burning, she turned towards the car parked across the street. She looked back, saying bye once more before leaving Dan alone with the man who made his heart skip a beat with every glance.

    Now what?

[gooddame]

A Rosy Thorn In My Side Part 2

This is a follow up of A Rosy Thorn In My Side, title courtesy of @austennerdita2533 and story for the lovely and kind @kickassfu who encourage me to make it as long as humanly possible.

*Still surly and fluffy, maybe one or two cuss word*

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Present day

Klaus rubbed at his face in annoyance as he scuttled through the home his family was allowed to live on in the Forbes estate off the side of the gardens. That morning had been a righteous mess, he thought as he undid the rest of the buttons on his dress shirt failing at keeping the images of Caroline in a distraught state from just being near him. Just when he thought he would have a moment of peace he opened his bedroom door to find his brother scouring his sketchbook as he sat on his bed.

“Kol, get out of my room,” he forcibly suggested to his younger brother no longer able to keep the aggravation from his tone as he was able to with the press.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss me brother,” Kol mused as he shut the leather cover of the book and set it aside on the nightstand.

Klaus prepared himself for what felt like an aneurysm, “And why on earth would that be?” he inquired as he removed his shirt and shoved out of the shoes that had been sent over for him to wear.

His brother chuckled as he found his way off of the bed that didn’t belong to him, “Because I’ve just found the receipt for the secret car you plan on using to escape your wedding,” his brother taunted as procured the white form from his pocket,.

Klaus snatched the sheet from his brother’s hand, “That was not for your eyes,” he grit out as he pulled on one of his older Henley’s hanging off of a chair.

Kol observed him with amusement, “Neither was Princess Caroline’s lady in waiting but I still bedded her on the first night she was here,” Kol thought out loud thinking of the first time he set eyes on Bonnie.

The last thing Klaus wanted to be reminded of was the time both Caroline and Bonnie had arrived after this morning’s wedding announcement. He’d spent the last six years recovering from that night, both of them. The kingdom had struggled a great deal to silence the media’s murmurs that the woman he had been with that night was her. A secret he still held even when questioned by the king himself and the only thing that had saved them both was that Caroline had done two things, told the truth and dyed her hair blonde once again.

“Get out,” he hissed pausing only to place a hand on his brother’s chest gripping his shirt, “And if you value your life,” he warned with a withering look.

“Oi Nik,” Kol groaned as he fought himself out of his older brother’s grasp only to be saved by their sister who happened to be walking by with mild interest.

“He’s worse than usual,” Rebekah stated as she leaned herself against the doorway of Klaus’ bedroom smiling at the dour looks of her brother’s faces.

Klaus looked from one sibling to the other, “Will you both bloody stop with the smiles?” he whined as he crossed the room reaching for his sketchpad.

Kol laughed as he escaped the bedroom leaving Klaus with his younger sister who seemed to watch him with an air of grace that could be mistaken for snobbery, “You’re being an insufferable twat,” she told him reminding him of what Caroline had said when they were together last.

“I suppose that’s fair,” he muttered as he ripped out the pages filled with Caroline’s face out uncaring of what his sister might think about it as he flicked on the fireplace.

“You always laughed about how I loved too easily,” she muttered reaching for the door knob, “Are you so far gone for this princess?” she asked softly.

The question gave him pause, “No, Bekah,” he sighed, “I’m simply trying to get through this whole fiasco with a clear head,” he assured her with a wave of dismissal.

“Sorry dear brother,” she sighed as she went to close the door behind herself, “I can’t help you there,” he heard her say as he started burning the pages to ash.

Mikael well and truly was supernatural if he could curse him from the grave like this, cursed to marry the woman he loved while she loathed him. When he had first found out that Caroline was betrothed it had felt like a stake to the heart, a dagger reopening old wounds. To his surprise he was the groom, Mikael had ensured it over time, with Finn in the clergy and Elijah having married early, it left Klaus as Mikael’s only viable option.

He watched the last of the pages flourish as ash before he set himself down at his desk reaching inside the drawer for the one thing he’d allowed himself to keep. Tattered and yellowed from time was the receipt from the nightclub, the only thing that was real, kept the memory of her lips, her yes, the delicate feel of her skin under her jacket be more than that of fantasy. He remembered Mikael had raged the morning after pulling him from his bed and knocking him straight into the wall.

“Another whore,” he’d growled, it was first and only time Klaus had hit back.

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Flashback/morning after

Caroline returned to the castle dead on her feet after having left Klaus behind in the bar careful at every angle she parked the old truck in the garage just where it was before. With a moment’s pause Caroline decided to remove the keyring to keep as a memory before setting the keys back. She slipped back through her windows, her sheets having been hidden all this time thanks to the rose bushes that were nearly glued to the threshold.

Little thought was given to how he would come back here, how he had come to be here, and if she would ever see him again. Caroline hadn’t allowed such thoughts to penetrate her as she stripped out of her leather jacket and jeans before tugging at her bed sheets and pulling them through the window. Deciding against tossing them on the bed she shoved the duvet over and snuggled inside until her whole body heated in delight.  She smiled feeling sleep sweep over her as she thought about ruffled brown curls under her fingertips and perfect pink swollen lips sighing in satisfaction when darkness consumed her. The sun had been most unfriendly to her a few hours later as she rolled over on her plush bed snuggling into her pillow when her name was called from her common room.

“Caroline,” her father’s voice resounded as he pushed open the door of her bedroom startling her awake in his fury.

She sat up quickly sensing the tension rolling off of her father in waves, her hands wiping away whatever sleep she had lingering in her eyes as she replied, “Yes father,” in a half-exhausted tone.

Bill threw the newspaper in his hand at the duvet, his eyes like lasers as she reached for the stack her eyes landing on the front page photograph. “What is this?” he asked sharply as dread filled her.

Caroline’s eyes were glued to the photo, her red waves partially covering her face and his perfect jaw line dong it’s best to cover the rest, “A newspaper,” she muttered as she read the headline, ‘Heartbreak Mikaelson, At It Again’, “What’s going on?”

The bedroom door opened more primly than before, her mother stepping into the room with a distressed look and another newspaper, “This,” her father cried.

The headline was different she noted and the photo was from another angle, “Niklaus?” she read aloud admiring the picture that had her hands on his waist.

“Is it you or someone who looks like you?” Her mother tested breaking the eye contest Caroline and her father were currently competing in.

“Does it matter if no one can prove it,” she asked feeling trapped in her own bedroom much like when she was a child, the need to escape making her hands twitch.

“I’ve asked for Niklaus to join us for breakfast and no one has found him,” her father’s voice turned in her ears as he shouted, “Is he hiding in here?”

“What,” Caroline cried dumbfounded at the accusation her father had flung at her, “No,” she told him as she grasped desperately for her robe.

“Scour the rooms,” he demanded as guards loitered her bedroom defiling it as they search for a man that would not be found here.

“You’re not going to find anyone,” Caroline exclaimed as she managed to loop a knot through her robe so she could stand as they searched under her bed, “This is insane!”

Her father crossed the room to grip her arm as he pressed her for answers, “Is this you,” his words cut, his grip intensified as he wore her down.

“Yes,” she hissed pulling herself free of his grasp before anyone could question the strain of her answer or the beguiling tears forming in her eyes.

“Bill, stop,” she heard her mother say far too late as she clutched her arm, rubbing softly at the red marks forming as the guards cleared her most private space.

Bill turned his attention to his wife, “I knew sending her to America was a bad idea but I had to listen to you,” he shouted shocking both women.

“Your wife,” Liz reminded him as if he had forgotten as Caroline sunk further into the back wall closest to her, “A former commoner, or is it that you still see me as one?”

“Shit,” Caroline muttered practically reliving her worst childhood memory, the one that had sent her to America at the age of 12, her parents sucked.

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Present day / A week later                

Caroline felt her hands shaking as she set down her curling wand not willing to risk burning herself over a simple case of nerves. At least that was what she told herself as Bonnie reentered her bedroom with a magnificent look on her face that was tarnished when she saw the look of panic in Caroline’s eyes.

“I’m freaking out Bonnie,” she admitted as Bonnie rushed across the room, “I need your help, my mom is going crazy planning this wedding that apparently is now in a week. Did you know that?”

“Whoa, Care, breathe,” Bonnie pleaded as she sat next to her friend on her bench near the vanity hugging her, “You’re mom is like right behind me.”

Like magic her bedroom door opened and Caroline wondered how she ever got any privacy, “Caroline, I’d like a word,” Liz entreated without leaving room to say no.

“Just a minute, mother,” the Princess sighed as she gave Bonnie one last affectionate squeeze before letting her go in order to stand.

“I’ll be outside,” her best friend dismissed herself giving Caroline a thumbs up from behind her mother.

Caroline felt her heart warm, Bonnie with all her brains and beauty had never left her side in the last six years since she’d convinced her to move to the castle with her. They had faced a lot of hurdles together since the first day of middle school when they met and in many ways the brunette was her sibling, her sister. Lost in the memories of their shared childhood Caroline hadn’t noticed her mother had come to stand by her side near the window.

“I know you’re not happy,” Liz began making Caroline believe there was some hope for their relationship after all as she reached for her, “But your country,” her mother continued and Caroline deflated, “I appreciate what you are doing.”

The Princess nodded, “Which is exactly why I am going through with it,” she insisted with a generic grin, “Even if he is,” she started to bite out.

“Caroline,” her mother warned as the door to her bedroom swung open once more revealing her best friend perfect face, sometimes Bonnie was the only reason she was sane.

“Simply a lovely human being,” Caroline finished just as pleasantly as her royal etiquette would allow even when Bonnie snickered obviously aware of whom they were discussing.

“I was just going to ask if you were still going to go on that walk with me later,” she inquired gently as she clung to the door still fairly uncomfortable around Caroline’s mother.

“Yeah Bon, I promise,” she assured her with a quick smile noting the look of disapproval on her mother’s face.

“It’s yes,” her mother corrected looking more at Bonnie than at Caroline so she made a face behind her mother back in order to make Bonnie laugh instead of tremble in her mother’s wake.

“Yes,” she corrected herself when her mother looked back at her as if sensing she was up to something but finding nothing amiss.

Liz waited for Bonnie to wave goodbye before she address her daughter once more, “Caroline, I know you two have history but Niklaus,” she pressed quietly.

Caroline huffed without meaning to, “Klaus, he prefers Klaus,” she corrected her mother as she took to pacing the floor in an unladylike fashion that clearly displayed her nerves.

“Niklaus,” her mother pressed on purposely missing her correction, “Will be here later to see you,” she revealed surprising Caroline and also reminding her that her mother never really came around just to ask how she was.

Caroline stopped in her tracks listening to her mother, “I do hope he can join you for some, amiable photos for the press on your walk,” she suggested moderately.

“Of course mother,” Caroline replied as primly as possible.

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AN: Hopefully tomorrow I will post the follow up of this chapter. Please enjoy and happy reading!