#i wish whoever looked up to me in any way to set better standards and treat themselves kinder

[trustymikh]

.

[readingtoinfinity]

Secret Level part 2

The second half is out now, and like before I had completely forgotten to watch them. Well, I'm done now. There were some highs, some lows, but let's take the good with the bad and go through them.

The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep

Like the game it's based on, this short is very bleak and kinda hard to stomach at times. The anti-capitalist message is front and center and just as horrible as the game wished it to be, but the message becomes muddled when you look at this main character, Amos. Not a smart man by any measure, the ending is ostensibly positive, with Amos working for Auntie Cleo as a gardener, and all of us watching knowing the company is going to hurt a lot of people to help their bottom line. That hidden horrible reality may be the point, in this case, but I feel like this short could've done with a bleaker, harsher ending, to reinforce the message from the rest of the short: it doesn't matter who you are or what you can do, you will be gristle in capitalism's meat grinder eventually. As it stands, it feels weak on the satire and unmemorable as a whole.

Mega Man: Start

Aah! This short was apparently made deep in the uncanny valley. It was here that you could really see the limits of the almost-realistic CGI most of the shorts use, and it would have benefited from either being less realistic (and allowing for a more cartoony, closer-to-the-games look) or more (making the original games an inspiration rather than a direct comparison, like how they designed Bomb Man).

Having said all that, it's quick, powerful and very cool. I didn't play any Mega Man games, and my only connection is the fan music by The Megas, although I love that a lot. Even without that nostalgic connection, I found this short to be a lot of fun.

Exodus: Odyssey

I found this one to be a slight mixed bag. On the one hand: a strong central thesis and conceit, with an emotional connection between the main character and his daughter that pulls you through the rest of the episode.

On the other hand: eh. I can see the narration is necessary to set up some things for later, but even so some of it is unnecessary. Honestly leaving some emotions and plot points more ambiguous would've made this episode a lot more memorable.

Spelunky: Tally

Finally, some stylized fucking animation. I found this short to be amusing, charming, but ultimately shallow. There's an earnest message about trying again and doing your best even in bad circumstances, but with little emotional weight behind it.

Concord: Tale of the Implacable

Why the hell did they try to make this game a $40 hero shooter?! The world is perfect for a single-player experience, something like the more-recent Star Wars games, Outer Wilds or even (a better version of) Starfield. Obviously these deals and animations were made way in advance so this was supposed to come out and grow the player-base for the game, but alas, it is the last gasp of a corporately-ordered failure.

And it's so fucking good. Oh my God why is it so good?!

I recognized the voice talents of Laura Bailey and Darin De Paul, both bringing their at-least B-Game to this short, but recognized nobody else. But the actors featured here were all up to the task and played their part to the hilt, and for that I must give props.

For most of the episode, you're dealing with your standard Han Solo types, only in it for the money and trying to get away with a stash. But there's a turn later in the story, and the fact whoever made this had the utter gall to give it not only an unflinching ending, but somehow managed to wrangle something beautiful and wonderful from that? I teared up watching this. And it's about fucking Concord! What the fuck?!

But let me not say that corporate slop cannot be an inspiration for art. Great art can come from anywhere, spurred by anything. So may it be for this.

Honor of Kings: The Way of All Things

I didn't like the art style very much. There's an inconsistency in the models, from the madman who looks very realistic to the bishounen (or its Chinese equivalent) Yi Xing to the strange-looking Tiangong, none of the characters quite look like they belong on-screen together, and not to the point of something like Kingdom Hearts where that's the point and it becomes its own art style.

It's not distracting for long, however.

I liked this setup, and the themes played with throughout this short. Tiangong claims to be a computer that can calculate and predict everything, calling the actions from one to the other "cause and effect" and comparing itself to the moon pulling water. Yi Xing is a boy who wants revenge, and Tiangong, the computer that is a city, would try to convince him revenge is pointless and his defeat has already been preordained.

This one benefited greatly from being a philosophical game between its two named characters. The interplay between the two, both in their game of Go and over the idea of free will was made extra fascinating to watch by stunning animation and artistic flourishes which fed back into the story. Setup and payoff, cause and effect, past and future, all of these things were wrapped up into this episode.

It also benefits immensely from a final twist ending that I found astonishing and a tough nut to crack for a bit. Even if the ending isn't a chestnut like Inception, It's still a bit of something sticky and tough, like fruit leather, that makes everything seen before take on a different light, and you question the conclusion of both the game and the argument. And I like that; I like that this ending asks you to question everything you saw, from beginning to end. It forced me to go back through and re-watch some scenes so I had a greater context; there's a confidence to this execution that is as underplayed as Tiangong's introduction and character, and I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Playtime: Fulfillment

Let me start with the positives. Kevin Hart, though he is still annoying in this short, is supposed to be, and in that respect he does a good job. Heaven Hart, his daughter, does a passable job as the main character, though she could use a little extra practice. And the central message against microtransactions and meager rewards in favor of a more pure competitive gaming experience is one I can respect.

But with God as my witness I will not be tricked into liking any fucking version of Ready Player One!

This episode is the only one in the season that wasn't based on an original video game, instead being about PlayStation's exclusives and IPs and about how fun they are, how better they are. Maybe you can see my disdain? Even Astro Bot got flack from people who didn't like the corporate crossovers in it, and that game had the benefit of being fun and engaging (according to Jacob Geller and the good people at Overly Sarcastic Productions; I don't own a PlayStation). How much more should they righteously hate this short that peddles more of that slop?

I am not against crossovers. I think there's a lot of fun to be had from throwing characters together in an oddball setting. Fortnite, for all its flaws, provides a lot of fun from having recognized characters going at each other in a game that's at least a little fun. So having Kratos from God of War, Gauis from Shadow of the Colossus, Helldivers (from Helldivers 2) and Sackboy from Little Big Planet all crossing over with one another could be fun.

But my annoyance at watching an ad in my free time turns to annoyance when it offers little artistic merit. All of these IPs are only here to remind you to play PlayStation games, and they are thrown in your face to force you to remember the better times you spent with other medias and games. Kratos was a big draw for most audiences and the fact he's on-screen for a couple seconds and Christopher Judge even reprises the role only to yell and then be discarded tells you the priorities of this short.

I hate it. It's not bad, not completely, barely even mediocre, but its core premise is rotted from corporate oversight. All these other shorts were about something, even at their worst they were trying to tell a story or provide a message. This is nothing; it is solely an advertisement to play other, better games, from studios shuttered by the company that bought them. It's Sony congratulating itself for projects it wasn't involved with, and to that I say: fuck 'em. They don't deserve the accolades.

I've taken the liberty of including a tier list of all these episodes. Please note letter grades are only approximations; this order is how much I enjoyed or think these shorts were of quality.

S: something new, something surprising or intriguing. Unreal Tournament: Xan (a surprisingly-powerful origin for the game's main villain) Honor of Kings: The Way of All Things (a strange, compelling argument with a great twist) Concord: Tale of the Implacable (honor among thieves, even in dire straits)

A: something I enjoyed without reinventing the wheel. PAC-MAN: Circle (a delightfully fucked-up reinterpretation) Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear (I mean… come on… I love these space marine guys) Sifu: It Takes a Life (exactly as artistic as I was expecting)

B: it's alright, maybe even fun, but the flaws are stark. Mega Man: Start (quite cool, but that's about it) New World: The Once and Future King (moderately amusing with a good emotional core) Armored Core: Asset Management (a good ending on a bland episode)

C: cracks start to form. Enjoyment lessens. Exodus: Odyssey (forgettable, feelings of wonder fall flat, lack of emotional tether) Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen's Cradle (uncanny at best and punchy-fighty without any emotional stakes) Spelunky: Tally (earnest but clumsy) The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep (lacks the strong bite that made the games so good, ending fell flat) Crossfire: Good Conflict (things happened, I suppose)

Pure, visceral hatred: lack of artistic qualities drive me to madness. Playtime: Fulfillment (...HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU...)

So, that is Secret Level in total. Despite everything I'm still glad I went through it. It's not something you see too much of, and everyone who worked on the animation gave it their all. Even still I'm almost certainly going to watch season 2, but I've no idea what the final product will look like. And isn't that exciting?

[twilightknight17]

Yesterday on P3R, Elizabeth is the best of my friends so far, burger time!, and sadness that there was no dialogue option to ruin the police’s day.

First of all, I found one single butler outfit in Tartarus, for Junpei. Which… little weird that it wasn’t a full costume set, but okay. That’s cool. Now he can have a top hat while everyone else wears their uniforms.

After running around to fulfill a bunch of Elizabeth’s requests, including trying all the vending machine drinks, she finally asked to go out places during the day. And… I’m surprisingly delighted.

From an in-story perspective, it’s hilarious that spending time with Liz doesn’t just absolutely drain our poor introverted Minato, but I’m also pleased that it doesn’t take my afternoon slot, because my god, I’m reaching that point where I have so many links to juggle and they’re ALL during the day. X’D There’s no way I’m maxing everyone on the first try.

Anyway, it’s Monday, and I did great on my exams!

Mitsuru gave me a reward for doing well, but still doesn’t want to hang out with me.

Like, by all means, have high standards, but I just wanted to walk home together. X’’’D

But that’s fine. I’m gonna go do my first outing with Elizabeth, and then check on the student council.

Elizabeth is great to spend time with. She’s so excited to see everything. We’re spending our first outing in the mall, and even though she’s like… in the mall all the time watching the door, apparently she’s never walked around before?

She wants to make a wish in the fountain, and she’s… a little confused, but she’s got the spirit.

Can… Can I have some of that? Why are you charging me for compendium summoning if you have that?

It’s a shame that she insists on only going out in the afternoon, and not at night, because we’re missing a golden opportunity.

She keeps finding more fountains and being impressed, but then I suggested karaoke, and it’s a damn shame we didn’t get to actually witness it, because Liz cannot sing, and I was prepared to be so amused.

Velllllllvet, oh vellllvet~

Tragically, she’s not getting her wish granted anytime soon. I can just imagine Igor’s face when she requested that.

After Margaret and Yu manage to save humanity through dance, I guess he reconsiders.

Now it’s back to school to catch the student council meeting. Odagiri isn’t there, though, because he’s still busy looking for whoever left a single cigarette butt in the boy’s bathroom. Well, heck. Better go find him.

...I don’t believe in “Evidence is everything in court”, my dude, but you gotta have something. Just because this kid is a delinquent doesn’t mean he’s your guy.

Apparently this is like the third kid he’s accused like this. And they’re not enjoying being accused.

……...it was probably the wrong choice, but I let him get hit. He needs to tone it down some. Is this really my Emperor and not my Justice?

Dude. Stop taking out your trauma on the students.

Ugh. Well, that was a bust. I guess I’ll head home.

…….the roof? The locked roof? I haven’t been up there since the Magician attacked. Why?

Dude you’re the one who just randomly wants to go to the roof. I don’t want to be cornered by puns!

Oh, it’s just gardening. Okay. Actually, that’s pretty cool. And planting things doesn’t actually take any time, which is also nice.

Look at my tomatoes. They’re great. :D

The week continues, the teachers at my school continue to be useless.

Elizabeth wants me to win the Big Eater Challenge at WildDuck Burger, so I guess we’ll go give that a shot since no one is available for Tartarus tonight.

I see we’re going for many small burger instead of one big burger this time. Still way too much burger, even for this bottomless pit of a human.

We pop back into Escapade and run into this dude, who is struggling with the vibes.

And we make a new social link! Is… Is the “Gourmet King” in trouble with the mafia or something??? What is wrong with everyone in this city?

Starting to think the Dark Hour is making everyone crazy even if they can’t see it.

WE’VE LITERALLY ONLY HUNG OUT TWICE

Thank goodness, Akihiko is gonna take me out for beef bowls and we’re gonna have a nice normal evening of bonding.

...welp.

Kind of weird to be such a wacky fan for… basically a high-school senior on the boxing team. He’s not a celebrity, although the girls were making such a big fuss that some passers-by thought he might be. We ended up making a run for it, because he’s not thrilled with all the attention.

Well, now I have to call you Panda-senpai. XD

We find those girls again getting accosted by some dudes, and one of them challenges Akihiko to a fight. Which, biiiig mistake.

I kind of wanted to see him beat the shit out of all of them, but the girls called the police when they ran off, and the gang made themselves scarce as soon as the police showed up.

Despite explaining that they were the aggressors in this situation, somehow the police still think it’s partly our fault, even though nothing actually happened.

Do it. Give me the dialogue option.

“I’m sorry, officer, my parents and twin sister died in a horrible car crash when I was seven.”

Ruin their night. I don’t know if Akihiko has parents, either. I’m not sure. Either way, fuck them up with that bit of info.

But, no dialogue option. Officer Kurosawa stepped in to take over the situation, and let us head home. Thank goodness our weapons dealer has our back. XD

The next full moon is creeping closer, and Pharos still hasn’t come back to talk to me. He said he would. He hasn’t even technically told me his name yet.

Maybe next time.

[marahuyos]

anon asked: Im sorry, I don't know if you're open, if you aren't then feel free to ignore this :")

But if you are, this might be a random idea but can i get Diluc, Xiao and Childe's reaction when they learn that their GN! S/O has a natural skill to train slimes? I just think the vision of an adventurer reader constantly being followed by a small group of slime or them using them as pillows when they camp out is just too cute TwT

*:･ﾟ✧ this request is so cute hnnn i remember playing slime rancher a whole lot so this request makes me so happy <3

diluc x gn!reader, xiao x gn!reader, childe x gn!reader

tw: none

✧ Diluc Ragnvindr

• It was at your camp when Diluc found out about your natural affinity to garner slimes.

• Both of you just finished exterminating Abyss Mages in Windrise so you two ventured back to the Dawn Winery. The bad part is that it was nighttime, so you and Diluc had to make camp. It wasn't rare for you two to camp out, but it was the first few times that you and Diluc camped out together.

• You two act like an old-married couple but in the wilderness. Diluc fixes up the tent and prepares the ingredients while you start cooking. As much as you wanted Diluc to cook his signature steak, you settled for a hearty stew. Sometimes, if Diluc is feeling lighthearted, he wraps his arm around your waist and kisses your temple.

• These were the moments that you treasured. You know Diluc had a tough time showing emotion and you were proud of him for taking the step forward. The fact that you have his arms around you is also a bonus, though.

• You two enjoyed the moment together, feeling his warmth as you spooned his food into his bowl, you heard the rustling of grass. Diluc tensed, summoning his claymore as he placed himself in front of you. You appreciated the sight of his crimson hair and broad back if not for the fact that the monsters that showed up were mere slimes.

• You giggled when you heard Diluc's sharp sigh through his nose. You set down the bowls and touched Diluc's shoulder. "Let me handle this."

• He watches you in mild interest, watching you go near the slimes. He nearly stepped in when the three slimes are hopping closer but he froze when he sees you pet the slimes like they were dogs. The three little Dendro slimes cuddled up to you like puppies at you cooed at them.

• Diluc watched, flabbergasted at the sight. You looked so... in your element that he wondered if you did this normally. It was only a few conversations about slime training that you did do this normally and that you actually owned a ranch with a lot of slimes that you corralled by yourself.

• He's honestly impressed by how efficient your ranch is. Each slime is corralled depending on their element and the secretions that they emit are all sold to the people who need it, more specifically Albedo who never seems to not run out on slime excretions. Your entire ranch is perfect that he can't help but be proud of how much you accomplished.

• If you allow it, he also commissions you to get slime secretions specific for his drinks. He would be remiss not to use these slimes to the fullest advantage. Of course, he pays you always in full whenever he does and you giggle when Diluc gives you a knowing look when people compliment his newest concoction.

• If you roped in Diluc in ranching, he'd be a walking stick. He'd be so frozen on the spot that you had to bite your lip to prevent saliva from going everywhere when you laugh. It was funny to see the man use a vacuum only for the Geo slimes to hit his face. You're always there to bandage his scratched face and the excuse towards people and Kaeya is that he got stuck fighting a finicky Abyss Mage.

• But Kaeya ain't gonna let the image of a Geo slime slamming itself onto his brother's face go anytime soon.

✧ Xiao

• He found out when he was chasing off demon-possessed monsters.

• It was any normal night where Xiao has to purge the evil in the land of Liyue. Some Hilichurls, some Mitachurls, even the run-of-the-mill treasure hoarders causing too much trouble, Xiao continued on. During this night, he was busy chasing the last remaining Hilichurl, using his Anemo powers to keep up with it. He was at a much closer distance now, his arm tensing as he readied to plunge the monster--

• Plop plop! The sound of cryo slimes bouncing up towards the Hilichurl. In a comedic twist of fate, the slimes started clumping up to the monster, leaving it a shivery cold mess at it stopped itself from how cold it was. Xiao gently lowered himself on the ground, looking at the sight with a blank stare.

• Hearing the sound of footsteps, he brandished his spear, eyes flitting over to the perpetrator before it turned out to be you. You were holding a geo slime in your arms as more slimes followed you like puppies. Your eyes widened at the appearance of Xiao with his brandished spear and a Hilichurl getting cuddled to hypothermia by your cryo slimes.

• "Hi, honey?"

• It took you an hour, the first few minutes are you trying to pry Xiao from killing the slimes when they got too close to you, to show Xiao that you have a natural affinity to train slimes. You showed him your ranch and all of the slimes that you've trained so far. Xiao was like a confused cat, eyes widening at each new addition to your ranch. He has to confess on how obscure this talent was, even for mortal standards.

• Still, it puts his mind at ease when he knows that you're safe with a bunch of slimes at your side. Even with their soft bodies and brainless... brains, Xiao knows that they'll at least be a distraction for you to run away.

• But still, to see you so content with a dendro slime as a pillow, watching your relaxed smile... He wishes he had more to his thighs to allow you to sleep on him instead. He grits his teeth every time he has to look at your sleeping form, with a slime underneath your head looking just as content as you are.

✧ Childe

• Out of everyone here, I think Childe would be the least surprised considering at some point, his younger siblings tried to ranch slimes only to end up frozen and sitting next to the fireplace. After a stern lecture from both his parents and older siblings, he can't help but think that whoever would do the same thing would be way too idiotic--

• Oh wait, you do it? Childe thinks it's the cutest thing in the world! Disregard the admonished stares of his younger siblings, saying that he was a simp hypocrite. He loves it and you!

• He enjoys watching you tend to the slimes like they were your own kids. He's like a little kid, watching his older sibling do something cool. If you were able to squint, you could see a little bit of a glimmer shining in Childe's eyes as you teach him how to take care of the slimes.

• Regardless, he's an excellent student. He picks up on how to take care of slimes fast to the point that he could've been your permanent helper. He handles all the heavy lifting, such as moving heavy toys for the slimes to play with, the feed that slimes needed, lifting you up in the air and twirling you around like you two are newlyweds (honestly, the image of you two settling down in a slime farm seems like the best thing Childe could think of).

• If possible, he asks if you can expand your ranch towards Snezhnaya where his siblings can watch you work. He can practically see his younger siblings' faces as you taught them how to care of slimes amidst the freezing weather. Even when Childe has to walk off the jabs that they've done to his side for falling in love with a slime rancher, he's still thinking on what ring to get.

• Remember that he's a family man and he wants to settle down at some point. Sure, he has an insatiable bloodlust but when you came along, the hunger for violence dwindled down. Each time he sees you regard slimes like they were your own children, each time you slap slime secretion on his face to instigate a play fight, each time you kiss him when he comes back from his mission; all of those things made him remember that he wasn't Tartaglia or Childe. He was Ajax, with a light in his eyes and a bunch of slime children to wrangle.

• Of course, he's still a child at heart, so if he sees you getting comfy with a slime pillow, bet he's gonna yank that slime from under you and replace it with his thighs. His thighs are packin', at least better than Xiao's, and you can feel them tense if you run your fingers over them.

• This is why you lose precious sleep and have Childe do all your chores for you. And no he gets no payment in kisses.

[tsunderedoctor]

Hi! I wanted to submit an emergency request because my thoughts are getting to me again.

So, I like to think I'm in the middle of thick and skinny. While my parents always make back-handed comments about me being "wider". I know it's in all good fun and I even tease them back about their own weight. It's just those nights where I just go into my head and all the harmless comments start to eat away at me. Sometimes to the point where I just don't feel like eating at all and my mom practically forcing me to eat smth that day if I happen to forget.

To wrap it all up, I was hoping to request Marco, Sanji, or Shanks with an fem!s/o who always compliments herself, checks herself out in every reflective surface, and is an advocate for self-love no matter what. But sometimes confide to them about their own insecurities about they way they look and how their personality thinking their self-center. Thank you and I wish you all the best❤😙

Apologies for the delay!! I'm glad to know you do feel confident! Even on days when you don't though, remember beauty isn't in physical looks, it's how a person is on the inside. Looks fade, but the heart will remain the same! ❤️❤️

Hope these boys help!!

Babes Below~!

Marco the Phoenix

He’s extremely proud of your ability to be confident and wanting others to be as well, there are lots of different people in the world, so beauty was never set in stone standard for him. 

Coming into the room to see you examine yourself in the vanity mirror, he gave you a questioning look, before coming over and wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his head on your shoulder.

“What are you looking at?”

Blushing from being caught, you smiled shyly, telling him you felt a bit off today, not as pretty. He seemed just as surprised as you were at first, and shook his head at your words.

“You’re beautiful any day, it doesn’t matter what you might think, as long as you remember I love you, then that’s all that matters.”

Vinsmoke Sanji

It can be difficult at times being with Sanji, sometimes he does his best to not flirt with women, but other times he can’t help himself, but admire their beauty. You are just as beautiful to him though! But the only way he can describe is, admiring someone’s masterpiece.

Eventually you found yourself doubting his love, just a bit, you knew you were beautiful, but seeing his look led you to think maybe, just maybe you weren’t enough. When you brought it up, the blond almost lost his footing at your words. 

“I would never! You are the most beautiful being to grace this earth! I’m so sorry for making you doubt my love! I promise, these eyes and love are only for you!”

Giggling a bit from him grandeur behavior, you nodded and kissed him softly, feeling a bit better knowing how much he loves you.

“Red Hair” Shanks

Taking a sip of his drink, you two sat together at the local bar, however unlike your usual happy conversations, today seemed a bit off. Looking over at you, he noticed you seemed off, as if your mind was somewhere else. Bringing his good hand to face, he places it on your forehead, breaking you out of your daze.

‘Thought I lost you to a new dimension for a second there.”

Shaking your head, you only muttered you were lost in thought. When he questioned what you were thinking about, a bit of guilt surrounded you, but you admitted that you didn’t feel as attractive as usual. Laughing at your words, you hit him lightly in aggravation.

“Sorry, sorry! It’s just that was a funny joke, you’re beautiful, inside and out, forever and always, don’t forget that.”

Tag List: @chloe-nanami @musical-apple @luxiditea @macdonaldsmanager @onepieceya @undercoverweeeb @pebbsie @athenaportgas @my-one-piece-experience @iam-gaaras-loveintrest @nephytale @xxtoothachexx and whoever else wants to join in!

[moonbaby26]

Title: Growing Love

Pairing: Loki x Goddess!Reader

Summary: Story set nearer the Viking Age. You were a Greek sea goddess who crossed paths with the god of mischief. Continuation of previous chapter. Loki returns to Asgard and is confronted by his mother Frigga and her accurate suspicions on his newfound interest in Midgard. While you witness the completion of the building erected for you and Loki by the villagers, followed by his return back to you in the night.

Warnings: None this chapter. Just fluff! First Loki and his mental sparring with Frigga who loves him, and then some well deserved cuddling with you who is also starting to.

Chapters: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Taglist: @rosaline-black , @lawfeys , @loveableasshole , @insanitybyanothername , @just-wordsandthoughts , @cringingmemeries

My Masterlist

——————————

A few days ago, Asgard

Loki emerged from the light, now back home before the bifrost immediately closed once more. The smug smile remained on his face as your last question still played through his mind. He knew that nickname he’d given you wouldn’t be something you’d let go of anytime soon. In fact, he counted on it. Something to distract and occupy you for the coming weeks until he could return.

It may be selfish of course. But if you were becoming stuck in his mind this often, he had to make sure he wasn’t the only one now having to suffer. Though there was something rewarding about getting to hide you away still. Even if he knew the arrangement in the village would come to light eventually, potentially making these trips to your realm far more problematic.

The sooner he could find an alternate route to Midgard to bypass the bifrost and Heimdall entirely, the better. He could not allow all his future ability to see you to become solely dependent on Odin’s whims.

Whatever the Allfather would think of these risks now being taken though, Loki truly did not care. But historically, whatever he’d most desired always ended up taken away from him in one way or another. Or even worse, absorbed into the limitless well of good fortune that seemed to follow Thor like a miasma. So he had to prepare for that, plan for it really.

Of course, you didn’t seem the type to fall apart so easily over just some long blonde hair and an oversized set of muscles. But Loki had lost count ages ago of how many times he’d still ended up with the short end of the stick whenever his brother had entered any situation. Parading you before Thor wan’t something he was willing to chance just yet either.

No, he had to consider both his father and brother now as threats to these new emotions he was still trying to define. It likely shouldn’t be so, but somehow it always was. They always got in his way.

And as Loki now strode forward, his appearance only shifted to that of a standard royal guard, wishing for a more discreet entrance back into the palace after so many hours away. He had let the adorations of those mortals delay him far more than expected.

But the feel of sitting at the head of that mead hall with you at his side had hit him in such a strange way as well. A fleeting taste which had caused him to linger even further there as he’d fantasized about sitting similarly content on Asgard’s throne one day.

That dream of seizing his birthright was nothing new of course, yet the difference was now the addition of you in that mental image. He wanted you there so suddenly, with loyalty and pride radiating from you for all the court to see. He needed you to want to be his, to be willing to do whatever necessary to defy Asgard’s enemies in his name.

And even now, those thoughts brought a flare of desire that he could not act on. Frustrating as it was, he knew he had to maintain some semblance of patience. Heimdall’s silent stare of judgement didn’t even rile him to speaking either as the still disguised Loki passed silently by the gatekeeper.

He was bold enough to change appearance right in front of Heimdall, yes. But he also knew that until he crossed the line of actually doing something which broke Asgardian law, Heimdall would still keep what he had seen to himself. Travel to Midgard was not yet forbidden after all.

But Heimdall’s current courtesy of silence would only go so far as to delay the inevitable. The clock was still ticking on this secret and Loki knew it.

And unlike Midgard that had still been fully night, dawn was now just breaking in Asgard as Loki made his way back into the palace. The sparse guards he did encounter, he only gave little mocking salutes to. Still in the guise of one of them as he’d mimicked their own protocols before he’d turned the corner into the next corridor and ended up at the massive doors to his own living quarters.

So close to being able to hide himself back away for a few moments before the palace fully awakened, he had just placed his palms on the ornate, golden door handles when a sudden sound made him still completely.

“Good morning, son.” The placid voice called to him from nothing as his mother Frigga only materialized directly behind him.

And there was just that smallest moment of fear inside him. Just the length of a heartbeat before he’d turned smoothly to face her, his own magic dissolving to remove his disguise as excuses bubbled readily to his mind.

Of course he was still in the same armor from all those hours before, the muck of that mortal village even still marring the soles of his boots as he offered her an easy smile. “Well...how long have you been waiting here, Mother?”

Yet she responded just as simply, a gentle look in her eyes. “Not long at all really. I suppose I have good timing.”

But he was still searching, examining her body language for any hint of her actual intention. How much did she know? “I suppose that you do. Have Father and dear brother yet returned triumphant from Alfheim then?” No, he doubted that. The halls would not be near as peaceful if so.

“No. They have not.” She only answered. “...But that is exactly why I thought you may wish to speak to me now while whatever we discuss can still be kept relatively private.”

And there it was. He felt that slight bit of tension in his chest as he weighed his options in quick succession. The foundation with you still wasn’t fully laid, he needed more time to secure things. Even though he trusted Frigga, she and the Allfather went hand in hand in the end. She would not lie to her husband if pressed.

And Odin may forbid this odd new relationship outright, fearing some insult to Poseidon no doubt. If that foreign, Olympian king fully knew that the Asgardian god of mischief was now digging his claws greedily into his youngest daughter without permission, it could easily become a full blown scandal.

Loki hadn’t even bothered to investigate if you were betrothed to anyone in your own kingdom or not either. He did not care. He was a prince and would take whatever he wanted.

Though he knew it better to reveal nothing of you to his own family just yet, he also knew that if he offered Frigga too little in return, she would only step up her efforts to investigate on her own. Motherly concern and all, endearing at times, highly troublesome at others. He’d let her feel as if she had pried a little out of him at least as he played along. “And what is it that we should need to discuss so privately, Mother?” Loki asked calmly at last.

Yet she only smiled, surprising him a little still as she took his arm. “Come. Walk with me. You needn’t play such games. A mother knows when her son is enamored.”

He scoffed, though still letting himself be led as they did begin to walk. The halls were still empty enough this early in the morning for their words to not be easily overheard. “Is that what you think this all about? I think you’re confusing me with that manchild of yours for once.”

“Loki,” Frigga only chided. “It is not weakness to admit such feelings. And yes, for your brother that is an all too frequent cycle. He is not yet mature enough for his relationships to be anything but passing frivolity. But you are different. Which is why it becomes all the more noticeable when it finally does happen. Do not waste breath to deny it.”

He raised his eyebrows, never missing when she did offer even the slightest criticism of Thor. But he was still quick to downplay her insinuation about your importance. “Yet you act as if it has never happened for me before. Just because I’ve been more focused on honing my sorcery skills the last several years, it doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of frivolity as you call it, Mother.”

But Frigga just gave him a disapproving look then. “Do not be crude just to try and shorten this conversation. There is a clear difference between solely that kind of physical interaction you speak of, and this distraction that has now carried you back to Midgard more than three times now. And you know the significance of the number three in so many of the rituals and rights I have taught you, it-”

“No.” He cut in abruptly. That was the line. If she was trying to say this was already something now beyond his control, something fated, he fully rejected that notion. “I don’t follow the predetermined, Mother. And you know I never want to hear whatever future you’ve seen for me. I will make my own.”

But the queen of Asgard was not one to back down either, responding just as strongly, “And all a witch can see is the possible outcomes, not the one that will truly be. I would never curse you with the burden of such knowledge, even if I were sure. But don’t patronize me to act as if nothing has changed for you. I came here to offer you my help, Loki. If you ever wish to make whoever you have chosen legitimate in the Allfather’s eyes, to actually bring them here one day, you will not be able to do it alone. I hope you understand that.”

“Mother...” He couldn’t help but pause to look in her eyes again, as unexpected as that offer really was. Yet he so quickly grabbed onto the possible other meaning as well in her concern. “You say ‘legitimate’ almost as if I was considered the true heir again. After all, who the future king of Asgard could court would be awfully more important than whoever just a prince would choose, correct? Of course, I suppose a marriage that one day joined Asgard and Midgard would also be significantly more impressive politically than say Thor and Sif, or whoever the Hel he’s galavanting around with these nights...”

She gave him a little hit on the arm at that. Of course he knew she hated whenever he mocked whoever his brother’s current fancy was. But she still just continued. “What should be important to you is finding the person that makes you happy, regardless of their own station. That is the future I want for both my sons. Whichever of you should one day hold the throne.”

Of course she still refused to admit Father’s favoritism that Loki saw all too well. He straightened up a little, that real sincerity in him burning through then. “But it will be me, Mother. I will prove myself worthy to Father, worthy of the throne. One way or another.”

And he hated that sympathetic look in her eyes, even though the real warmth was still there as she answered. “And I still say you’ll be far happier when you focus on yourself rather than chasing the Allfather’s approval. He already loves you both, just as I do.”

That was all he could handle for now, as he took her hand gently, bowing to her slightly before he kissed it. “No, he does not love as unequivocally as you do, Mother. But I do thank you for that. I will consider your offer. Yet I think it is still too early just yet.”

And as he straightened back up, he could see she at least accepted this. She would not dig any further into his visits to Midgard just yet. But he’d only bought additional time for just so long he was sure.“I’m going back to my quarters for a brief rest now.” He told her. “But if you need me any further today, you will find me in the throne room. Where I belong.”

Until Odin and Thor returned from Alfheim, this would be his privilege. His days would be spent hearing any grievances of the kingdom, presiding over council meetings, casting decisions on any changes to security measures, and standing as the head of all the remaining soldiers here for Asgard’s defense.

But at night...at night he’d return to his chambers. And laying there alone, surely that would be when he’d pass the remaining time awake thinking of you. Thinking and hoping that those mortals would hurry up and complete that room and bed for you both.

Whatever they built would still not be to his standards he was sure. But until you could truly lay in his own bed beneath him in Asgard, he would have to accept the compromise of a little hovel of a den for you both in Midgard.

—————————-

Midgard, several weeks later

The days passed so slowly for you. You now divided your time between your normal duties monitoring the oceans, and taking that form of the osprey, flying to visit the little village in the north that Loki had claimed for you both.

Never before had you spent so much time around mortals to be honest. And at first you’d still taken every possible measure to remain hidden from their sight. But eventually, that effort grew too tiresome.

After a while, you didn’t stay so high in the trees any longer. Yourself curious to be true, and watching as step by step they’d raised the timbers to begin building that structure Loki had requested.

You still stayed just out of their reach surely, but you didn’t fly away anymore when you saw them take notice of you. They’d even greet you quite frequently now, just calling you that nickname Loki had given you which they thought your real name. Kærr.

Especially the children. Whenever they moved out into the forest to play or gather freshwater from the nearby stream you’d also now discovered, they always giggled and called to you as they ran along beneath.

You’d even noticed that they gradually seemed to stray farther and farther from the village than they had in the beginning. As if your presence alone gave them confidence of their safety. It was such an odd sense of responsibility. One you weren’t quite sure you were ready for just yet.

The days were growing shorter too, the nights far colder by the time they finally finished that building. And as Loki had suggested, it was still quite small. Like a one room cabin really. Though they’d made quite a show of asking for your approval on it, you didn’t know what you were supposed to really do. They seemed to take your silence as a positive at least before they’d left again saying you could now summon your “master” and they would leave him to his privacy in the new dwelling.

You’d still waited until it was late at night though, knowing most the mortals would now be sleeping before you’d finally landed, changing back to the form of a woman as you’d walked to take a closer look at the building in the dim moonlight.

They’d built this also far enough from the village, here in the deeper woods that they could not stumble accidentally back upon it unless they really meant to. So you weren’t afraid of being seen as you’d walked the perimeter curiously.

It seemed sturdy enough. Quaint, but somehow inviting. And as you moved back towards the door, you realized they’d also listened to Loki’s criticism on their village’s carvings needing to be changed to reflect their new protector.

You couldn’t help but smile as you recognized well that likeness as you now ran your fingers across the rises and falls carved into the wood. The cape, the outlines of armor, the horned helmet...

But the real surprise was his pose, one arm bent, raised near level with his chest. And there perched upon that arm, was a bird of prey. You. Looking far more regal than you ever really had right to be you were sure.

There was a mix of mild embarrassment and a strange amusement that rose in you as you took the whole image in. It was quite possibly the only likeness anyone had ever made for you in the mortal realm. And paired with Loki no less.

Eros’ words carried on your heart still as you finally opened the door to venture inside. You knew Eros couldn’t be wrong, not on this subject. But it didn’t seem like it should be true either. How could you be falling in love when you didn’t even know the real meaning of the word? When you’d only had such fleeting meetings with this man?

The little bit of moonlight barely penetrated the inside of the dwelling and you just left the door open to not fully smother the light as you walked in onto the rough wooden floors. Though they’d laid down some rugs as well as your feet found them.

The furniture was sparse and simple, though maybe still the best of what they had to be truthful. A couple chairs, a small table, a chest for belongings, and of course a bed.

There were candles, but you had nothing to light them with as you now sat down on the empty bed. It was certainly a far cry from the large and extravagant bedding in your father’s palace.

But for someone who could just as easily sleep to the rocking of the waves or the silence of the deeper depths, a makeshift mattress stuffed with wool, moss, or who really knew what, really wasn’t a problem.

It was so quiet too. You laid down on your back, just to get the feeling of it as you stared up at the beams which arched into the ceiling. It reminded you most of the beams inside the hull of a ship, which was likely little coincidence. The ancestors of these people were all seafarers.

Idly, you wondered too if Loki had ever been to sea. You knew from those books you’d read that Asgard had waters of its own. But did he feel comfortable on the water? Did he ever sail? Did he swim? And maybe more importantly, would he ever swim with you?

You closed your eyes, thinking what it could be like to show him things he’d never seen before. Would he feel as good under the water as he did above it? Would he ever visit your own kingdom?

Of his own family, all you really knew was the tension and seeming competition between he and his brother. Would any of your own siblings be impressed by him though? Surprised surely. You’d never brought anyone to the palace before. Maybe one day...

————————————

You thought you were only dreaming. Because it wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before. Especially in the long stretches between seeing one another. That scent of him, the feel of his cool skin against your own, albeit only making you feel heated as you breathed in deeper.

It wasn’t until you felt that lightest kiss on the back of your neck that your eyes fluttered open. Laying on your side on the bed, as your vision focused you noticed the door to the cabin was now closed. That and a single candle newly lit, flickering dimly on the small table just a few feet away.

You’d fallen asleep at some point. For how long was unclear. But you were absolutely no longer alone.

“Hello, Kærr.” Loki’s voice came in an almost taunting whisper, using that nickname again.

You were startled, but you didn’t hesitate, rolling over immediately to then be face to face with him in the shifting candlelight.

The glint of his teeth met you as he smiled in amusement. But whatever harsh words you may have thought he still deserved, they didn’t come as you’d also noticed his bare chest now nearly against you.

You had to glance down to realize he wasn’t nude however. But dressed solely in a dark pair of pants as he laid so closely beside you.

“You left the door open you know. I took it as an invitation.” He added, one hand now tracing idly down the side of your dress.

“How long have you been here?” You finally asked, but tellingly not pulling away at all as you let the small touches continue.

“Long enough to realize you’ll have me putting protection spells all around these walls if this is how deeply you really sleep, goddess. Imagine if I’d wanted to do more than kiss that pretty throat.”

You stared a moment. And yes, maybe you should have been embarrassed to be caught so defenseless. But in reality, what real enemies had you ever had? You didn’t live always keeping one eye over your shoulder. Yet...was he implying he would choose to protect you if it ever came to that?

You only shifted closer to him at those words rather than retort though, boldly laying your head against his chest then as you scooted down a little in the bed. You liked the way he tensed slightly too, seeming surprised before he just pulled the bed’s quilt up around you both.

The secure feeling as his arm tightened around you beneath the blanket was also very new. Both of you quiet until it was you who next broke the silence. “Will you stay tonight then?” You could have asked how he’d known you were here, how many times he’d been checking on you via Heimdall, but it really didn’t matter.

All you actually cared about in this moment was how long until you’d have to say goodbye to him again.

His tone seemed unusual, caught off guard still perhaps. But he answered simply. “If it’s what you want. Yes.”

Which likely meant that his father and brother had finally returned to Asgard you thought. But you didn’t want to talk about anyone else right now. This time was now just for the two of you.

“It is what I want.” You confirmed, though not looking up at him in the bed. But with your head still against his chest, you could just hear his own heartbeat. And you didn’t think it was only in your imagination that it quickened at those simple words.

But it was true. You may not understand or be able to express more than this right now. You didn’t know how to talk about love or deeper need. Yet you could be honest to say you wanted him to stay. You wanted him beside you for as long as he could be.

And he just held onto you, staying pressed together as if it should always be this way. But it had to mean something to him too you hoped. Because Loki didn’t seem at all the type of god to do anything if it didn’t fulfill some sort of need for himself as well.

No, you didn’t think he would stay just because you’d asked, unless he’d already wanted to. But you wouldn’t question it out loud, not now as you closed your eyes again.

It likely didn’t take you very long to fall back asleep either to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat beneath your head. Yet even as you did you could also feel the rise and fall of his chest steadying out as his breathing relaxed in tandem.

If he did stay awake to watch you, it only would have been just barely as the two of you remained curled into one another beneath that blanket. He’d asked you once before, though under more lustful circumstances, if you could get used to being with him. You’d answered yes then, wanting the chance surely, but had he meant it in this way too when he’d asked?

Eros had given you the advice to see this through. He said it was the only way to know if your growing love might ever actually be returned by this god. And that was exactly what you were now going to do.

—————————

(Continued in next chapter here)

[quillsandtypos]

Bold Moves

Summary: You unexpectedly make a new friend at a party while Luke does his best to distract you.

Words: 2.8k

Pairings: luke patterson x reader

Warnings: teenage drinking and a few cuss words

...........................................

You should’ve known better. But alas, here you were, at some party where you didn’t know anyone. Minus the band of course, but you hadn’t seen any of them in what felt like at least half an hour. Flynn had left an hour ago, you almost left with her, and you were currently wishing that you had. But a small part of you wanted to stay in case you got to hang out with Luke. You weren’t certain what you were thinking, it’s not like he would want to hang out with you. You considered going to go talk to Julie but she seemed to be having a good time, so you decided not to interrupt her; and instead you settled in the corner of the kitchen that seemed the least crowded.

After observing for a bit you decided that you needed something to dull the thoughts flowing through your mind. You got off of your stool to get some spiked red punch. You took a sip of it to find that it was more vodka than hawian punch. It burned your mouth and the back of your throat as it went down, but it would do the trick. You managed to gag down about half a cup before you noticed a girl around your age approaching you.

She had black straightened hair pulled up in a high ponytail. She wore a neon green two piece dress which nicely complemented the silver makeup she had applied to her dark brown skin. She took the other stool next to you.

“How’s the punch coming?” she asked with a widely toothed grin.

“Depends how low your standards are,” you remarked as you took another swing.

“Yeah, I noticed your first attempt,” she laughed.

You groaned internally about how you probably looked. “It was that bad?”

“Mhmm, I’ve seen worse tonight, so don’t sweat it.” She patted your shoulder in assurance. “I’m Allie by the way.”

“I’m y/n, nice to meet you,” you said with a smile.

Allie seemed to smirk at your introduction. “Oh trust me, I know who you are.”

You however, were certain you had never met this girl in your life. “Care to elaborate?” you asked.

“Your friend sent me over here to check on you.” She pointed behind her in the general direction of the massive living room, where you had last seen your friends.

“Please tell me Julie didn’t send you,” you groaned as you pressed your fingers against your temple.

“Yep, I believe that was her name,” she admitted.

You hesitantly looked over at her and made eye contact. “You really don’t have to hang out with me, you know that right?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have anything better to do, besides you don’t seem too bad.”

“You don’t seem too bad either Allie,” you agreed with a slight smirk.

“Well thank you, now your friend Julie tells me you’re over here moping about a boy?” she asked, though it was more of a statement. And it wasn’t a statement you could disagree with either.

“How much did she tell you?” you questioned.

“Not that much,” she answered with an anxious smile.

You continued to look at her, until she eventually sighed.

“Okay a decent amount, you don’t have to tell me anything, but would it help if I told you something about me to make it fair?” Allie suggested.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at her proposal but you agreed nonetheless.

“Well I was talking to this girl earlier, and I was going to get her number, but then I think she left before I could get it, and I’m really upset about it,” she started.

You took another swig of your drink and you continued to watch her as she continued.

“And she was wearing this bright orange top, and she had on these tall black heels and-” You cut Allie off as you realized the outfit she was describing sounded very familiar. Suddenly, the pieces fell into place.

“Wait, her name didn’t happen to be Flynn, did it?” you asked.

“Yes, it was! Do you know her?” she exclaimed.

“Are you kidding me, she’s one of my best friends!” you yelled.

“Do you think you could pass my number along to her?” Allie timidly questioned.

“Of course! Flynn mentioned something about there being a girl she met, but she had to go because her mom was coming home,” you explained.

Allie clasped her hand to her mouth. “She mentioned me?”

You nodded your head, you briefly considered telling her that Flynn had called her pretty too, but you decided that you would leave it up to Flynn to tell her that. After she had calmed down you handed your phone over to her to write down her number, which you immediately sent to Flynn. Not even a full minute later, Flynn had texted her.

Allie let out a small screech of excitement. “You are my guardian angel y/n!” she praised you.

You giggled at her compliment, “I didn’t even do anything.”

She tilted her head down at you to glare. “You saved me from never being able to contact her again, I will not be accepting that as an answer.”

You raised your hands in surrender. “Alright, you’re welcome then, but I do expect to be the first person on your wedding guest list,” you sarcastically commented.

“If this works out, hell, you can be my maid of honor,” she remarked.

You laughed hard enough at her retort that you nearly fell off of your stool, but you managed to pull yourself together when you realized Allie was still trying to talk to you.

“But now you have to let me pay you back,” she insisted.

You raised your eyebrows in confusion.

“You got me in contact with Flynn, so now I want to help you with your boy troubles,” she explained.

You internally debated for a couple minutes before eventually agreeing to accept her help.

“Okay, so tell me anything and everything you want to about him.”

As you dived into your pity story, you felt your somber mood starting to come back. “His name is Luke, and we’ve been friends for a couple months now. We’re really close and we flirt all the time, but I think I’m only ever going to be a friend to him.”

Allie narrowed her eyes at you. “Did you just say you flirt all the time but you think he only wants to be friends?”

“Yeah.”

“You know that doesn’t make any sense, right?” she questioned.

“Well I think he flirts that way with everyone. I don’t think I’m special to him in that way,” you admitted.

“First of all, I don’t know how anyone could look at you and not see that you’re special, but what does your boy look like?”

You couldn’t quite figure out why that would help, but you told her anyways. As you finished, she opened her mouth to give her take.

“See that’s where I think you’re wrong, I’ve been here since your group got here. And I haven’t seen him look at anyone like he looked at you when you walked in.”

“And what way was that?” you questioned before taking another sip of your drink.

“Like he wants to fuck you,” Allie said seriously. You nearly did a spit take, but you managed to hold back your laughter long enough for you to swallow.

“Allie, I think you’ve got him pegged wrong.”

She opened her mouth to comment on your sentence, but you held up a finger. “I know I set myself up for that one, but don’t do it.”

“Fine, if you wanna take all the fun out of it,” she quipped.

As she was momentarily distracted by her phone, you glanced around the room. You quickly recognized one of the faces in the crowd, as none other than Luke himself. He soon turned around to see you watching him. He arched his eyebrows at you almost in challenge, and when you did the same to him, his lips quirked up in a smirk. You knew exactly what he had just started, and in turn, what you had agreed to.

It was a sort of unspoken game that the two of you played. Whoever was the first to lose their composure, lost. You had won a grand total of one time, by a means of which you would never tell anyone about. But that didn’t stop you from playing it.

You turned back to Allie who started up a conversation mostly entailing complaining about school. You tried to stay in the conversation, but your brain kept pulling you back to Luke. You shortly after gave in, and stole another glance from him as he was swaying side to side to the music coming from another room. He jutted his chin out with a satisfactory grin, but you refused to give him a win, and stuck your tongue out at him. You couldn’t hear him, but you could see him tutting at you and shaking his head. You rolled your eyes and gave him the finger. While you knew that would probably end up biting you in the butt later, it was fun in the moment.

“Earth to y/n,” Allie snapped, and you came out of your daze.

“What? I’m sorry,” you apologized.

“You’re fine, I just asked you what I should send to Flynn,” she continued. She tried to hand her phone over to you, but you pushed it back.

“Flynn will know it’s me if I help, that girl has like a sixth sense for when someone’s lying. How do you think Flynn and Julie know I like Luke?” you pointed out.

“Good point, I’ll think of something.” She went back to her phone as she puzzled at whatever Flynn had sent.

As you tilted your head up you realized that Luke was unmistakingly closer than he was earlier. You would’ve moved if it weren’t for the fact that you were sitting with Allie. Which was likely the reason why he had moved closer, because he knew you couldn’t move away.

As you locked eyes again Luke’s eyes quickly pulled downward as they trailed down and back up your frame. You fought hard not to smile but you covered it well by turning to toss your hair backwards. As you faced him again you could see him mouthing something. After he repeated it twice you realized he said ‘damn right’. You hoped you somehow could miraculously think of something to say, but your thought process had momentarily stopped because of him. Either he hadn’t noticed your loss in composure or you hadn’t done enough yet to lose, despite the fact that you were already in a flustered daze.

“Dude are you alright?” Allie asked.

“What? Yep! Definitely,” you stumbled out.

Allie didn’t buy your lie for a second. “Are you sure?”

You still weren’t fully present. “Yeah, sorry, I’m just a little bit distracted with the setting,” you said without thinking.

“The setting?” she repeated, and you realized what had just come out of your mouth.

“That was maybe a little weird,” you laughed.

“It’s cool, but can you help me choose what photo to send to Flynn?” She showed you her phone which had a handful of photos of her in various outfits and in different places. Your eyes flicked up from the phone for only a moment, to see that Luke had been waiting for you to look up. He never broke his piercing gaze as his tongue peeked out from behind his lips and scooped up to almost touch his tongue before rolling back down.

“Shit,” you hissed, looking downwards.

Allie finally started to connect the dots. She looked from you to where Luke stood, then back to you.

“Wait, that’s why you’ve been acting weird!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, but could you keep it down please? He doesn’t need to know that,” you whispered.

“Right, sorry,” she muttered. You realized you needed a distraction from the infuriating hot boy in front of you so you forced your attention to go back to Allie’s phone.

“Oh by the way, I think you should definitely go with this picture, your lighting is the best.” You pointed to the far left photo in the middle.

“Ooooh, good choice,” she agreed, as she took her phone back. “So what’s up with the boyfriend?” she absentmindedly questioned.

“Again not my boyfriend, but he’s being a little shit,” you loudly spoke the second part. You watched as Luke dawned his most innocent face as he mouthed the word ‘what’ to you. You scowled at him, but he looked at you with a rather satisfactory grin.

Allie watched your silent banter with amusement. “He is all up in your hair, isn’t he?” she teased.

“No he isn’t!” you protested. But as you looked back and he winked at you, you had to slap a hand over your mouth to keep from screaming, and you realized she may have had a point.

“Oh, he is so, but goodluck with that one, though something tells me you won’t need it.” She winked before standing up.

“Are you serious leaving me alone with him?” you complained.

“You know that’s what you want, and I’m pretty sure he wants that too.”

“Fine, you may have a point,” you conceded.

“But you better tell me all of the details by tomorrow,” she insisted as she made her way out of the kitchen.

“Same goes to you!” you called out.

Luke quickly came over to take your previous friends spot.

“It’s so weird how you never seem to win y/n,” he sarcastically commented.

You lightly slapped his knee. “Oh shut it Patterson.”

One of his eyebrows quirked up. “I thought that was my line.”

You knew you probably should’ve let it drop but you weren’t quite certain what he was trying to say. “Then what’s mine?”

“Make me,” he answered without hesitation.

You sharply inhaled and closed your eyes, before glaring. “You are so lucky you are hot.”

Luke’s eyes widened and his corners of his lips tilted up. “What was that?”

Truthfully, you hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but you were not going to tell him that. “Nothing that you need to hear a second time,” you retorted.

“But what if I want to?” he sweetly protested.

“Well then you’re gonna have to try harder than that,” you scoffed.

Luke swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “Can I kiss you?”

While the question momentarily confused you, you hungrily agreed, and in seconds his lips were against yours. He was just as starving for the taste for you as you were for him. The kiss quickly deepened as his hands clutched the back of your neck for support, and your hands were tangled in his hair. His tongue quickly took dominance over yours as your lips parted for one another. It felt like your whole body lit on fire as rainbows flashed in your closed eyes. You only pulled away out of the fear that you would pass out if you didn’t.

“That was better than I’ve imagined, and I’ve thought about it a lot,” Luke raspilly admitted.

After a couple deep breaths it dawned on him what had happened.

Luke scratched the back of his neck. “Did I just say that out loud?”

“Yep,” you giggled.

He looked at you pleadingly. “You have to promise me, you’re not going to tell anyone that.”

“Nope, I’m telling everyone,” you teased.

“Oh shut it.”

You looked at him with a certain type of fire in your eyes. “Make me.”

He spun you so your right ear was facing him as he whispered into it. “You know, I drove my car here,” he hinted.

“What are we going to tell the rest of the band?”

“We can figure that out later,” he assured you, as he took a hold of your hand.

As you felt his warmth pressed up against your skin, you knew that there was no part of you that wanted to say no. “Alright, but they can’t find out. Otherwise, I will never hear the end of it from Julie.” Luke grinned from ear to ear.

“You’ve got a deal princess,” he agreed as he led you to his car.

Unsurprisingly, they all did find out later, and the two of you had to endure their teasing and prodding for the entire ride home. But this didn’t bother either of you because you were both still too happy to care.

Taglist: @tenaciousperfectionunknown @cupcakesandunicornfarts @sunsetcurvej (feel free to click on my taglist link or comment to be added to the taglist. Or comment or ask to be removed)

[lizamango]

Finding You (Bucky Barnes x Reader) 3/?

 A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this took so long!! This chapter was kinda hard to write, I felt like there wasn’t much that I could add but I did my best! I wanna get to Bucky as much as you all do! 😭😩

Summary: You’ve been one of SHIELD’s top spies for years but what happens when the organisation you’ve put your trust in crumbles and Captain America gives you a mission to help him find his best friend? The last thing you expected to happen was to fall in love with your assignment and become best friends with a witch.

Taglist ~ just comment if you wanna be added

@buckylokisimp​​, @white-wolf-buckaroo​​, @austynparksandpizza, @markandlexies​

Word Count: 2098

​Masterlist

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~

Warnings: none

Chapter Summary: You and Steve run from HYDRA

Chapter 3: TOMORROW ISN’T PROMISED TO ANYBODY

I enter a shopping mall where I buy a hoodie for myself and a jacket, glasses and a hat for Rogers using cash. I pass by JD sports and see some Supra Vaders I know the Captain will just love so I go in and grab a pair, and get a pair of Nike Dunk Sky His for myself. I leave and meet him where he waits, away from any crowds and we put on our simple yet effective disguises.

“First rule of going on the run, is don’t run. Walk,” I say, recalling my operations training.

“If I run in these shoes they’re gonna fall off.”

I smirk. “Sorry, thought you’d be bigger.”

Ignoring my innuendo, Steve huffs. “They’re ridiculous, why can’t I lace them up?”

“It’s a fashion statement.” I glance at a map as we pass by. “Apple store’s upstairs.” We ride the escalator and enter the store.

Finding an empty laptop, I get to work. “The drive has a Level 6 homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are.”

“How much time will we have?” he asks, surveying the area not so subtly.

“About 9 minutes from…” I insert the drive. “now.” I enter the coding commands to unlock the intel but something inverts each one… now comes in my training from the Academy of Science and Technology. “Fury was right about that ship. Somebody’s trying to hide something.” As I look through the coding script my inputs are rewritten to counter the commands. “This drive is protected by some sort of AI.”

“Like Stark’s robot voice? Can you override it?”

I raise a brow as I type away. “The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I’m gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can’t read the file, maybe we can find out its origin.” The map tracks a location and pinpoints it as we are approached by a store employee.

“Can I help you guys with anything?”

I react quickly and give him my best charming smile. “Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations,” I giggle, placing my hands on Rogers’ shoulders.

“Right,” he adds awkwardly. “We’re gettin’ married.”

“Congratulations! Where are you guys thinkin’ about goin’?”

I go back to the laptop and the state has been pinpointed.

“New Jersey,” the Captain reads aloud.

“Huh,” the employee lets out, surprised. “I have the exact same glasses,” he says after a pause.

“Wow, you two are practically twins,” I remark as I type away.

“Yeah, I wish!” he chuckles. “Specimen. Uh, if you guys need anything… I’ve been Aaron.”

“Thank you,” Rogers rushes out. “You said 9 minutes,” he checks his watch. “Come on.”

I shush him. “Relax… I’m working.” The screen reads Wheaton, New Jersey. “Done.” I look up at him and he has a frown on his face. “You know it?”

“I used to. Let’s go.” He pulls the hard drive out of the laptop and we walk out of the store. “Standard tac team. Two behind, two across,” he turns to face forward. “two comin’ straight at us. If they make us, I’ll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro.”

As he speaks I roll my eyes, this guy was definitely not meant for the spy world. “Put your arm around me and laugh at something I said,” I say.

“What?” he sounds utterly confused.

“Do it.” I feel his arm rest on my shoulder and he gives the most awkward laugh I have ever heard come from a person. “See, Captain? No need to make such a scene.” We work our way to the escalator and I spot Rumlow on the escalator coming up. I turn to look up at Rogers. “Kiss me.”

“What?” he says again, flustered.

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.”

“Yes they do!” he whispers.

I put my hand to the back of his neck and push him towards me so our lips meet and I feel his hand fall on my waist. I open my eyes and pull away slowly after enough time has passed.

“You still uncomfortable?” I ask turning and walking down the escalator.

“That’s not exactly a word I would use,” he murmurs and quiets down as we get to the parking lot.

“We could get bus tickets to New Jersey, think I’ve got enough cash for the trip,” I suggest.

“Keep a look out,” he says approaching a truck as I frown but do as he says. In no time I hear the start of an engine and whirl to look at him. “Come on, we don’t have all day,” he says smugly.

I get into the passenger’s side and he starts to drive to the Garden State.

“Can’t believe Captain America can steal cars…” I say striking up a conversation.

He chuckles. “Kind of a necessary skill when you’re fighting a World War and you’re in enemy territory.”

I hum and he glances at me. “And it’s not stealing if we give it back so get your feet off the dash.”

“Bossy,” I remark but do as he says. “I like that,”

There’s a pink tint to his cheeks and his jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything.

“So I have a question for you…” I start with a raised brow. “But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, although no answer is an answer in itself so-“

“Get to it, L/N,” he interrupts authoritatively.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” I smirk.

“That bad, huh?”

“I didn’t say that!” I laugh.

“Well it kinda sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”

“I was just… wondering if you’ve had practice… since going… into the ice,” for a super secret agent, that answer lacked finesse. “It’s just, I don’t know how you did it in 1945 but guys normally move their mouths for a long kiss like that,” I shrug.

“I don’t need practice.”

“Everyone needs practice.”

“It was not my first kiss since 1945. I’m 95, not dead.”

“Oh?” I say, curiosity piqued. “Who’s been kissing Captain America then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Someone special?”

He chuckles. “It might come as a surprise to you but it’s hard to find someone with shared life experience,” he says sarcastically.

“That’s okay, you just make stuff up.”

“What, like you?” I know he doesn’t intend for it to sound mean so I shrug it off.

“Not everyone can handle the truth, can they? I wouldn’t mind a few white lies to keep something good going… and you don’t need shared life experience, right? Not really… there’s that whole opposites attract notion, after all.”

“But it’s good to have someone who understands what you’re going through, right?”

I shrug… sometimes not knowing is better. Safer. “Maybe. But in this occupation…” I sigh. “Well I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

“You’ve – you never had someone?” Looks like I threw him for a loop.

Shaking my head I turn to look out my window at the trees we pass by. “I don’t hate love or anything… it’s just dangerous to love someone like… us. Isn’t it? They’d either get hurt by people we go after or… ya know, if we don’t come back… it hurts them too.”

“But tomorrow isn’t promised to anybody,” he reasons. “So why deprive yourself of something as great as love on the off chance you die?”

“Because it’s easier.”

“For who?”

“Why the interest Rogers? You wanna fill that spot? Play a little house? Imagine we don’t have to save the world from domestic terrorists?”

He hums at my decision to not answer the question. “No, that’s not what I need right now.”

“And what do you need?”

“Just…” he sighs. “a friend.”

Of course. “Well, there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers…”

“Maybe we could start with not calling each other our last names?” he offers.

I smile. “Maybe.”

We arrive at the location the tracer indicated as the sun is setting.

Camp Lehigh is on a sign but it seems to be long abandoned.

“The file came from these coordinates,” I say as I pick the lock on the chained fence.

“So did I…” Steve says looking up at the sign in nostalgia. “This camp is where I was trained.”

“Change much?”

“A little…”

I wonder around, scanning the area for any thing to indicate a power source. “This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves. Not even radio. Whoever created the file must have used a router to throw people off.” I tuck the scanner in my back pocket and the Captain looks up at me then shifts his gaze to behind me, frowning. “What is it?”

He starts walking and I follow. “Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building’s in the wrong place.” He breaks the lock with his shield and we enter as it leads us underground.

I turn on the lights and it reveals the insignia painted on the wall. “This was SHIELD. The early days, after it evolved from the Strategic Scientific Reserve,” I say, recognizing the outdated logo.

We wander around, finding a wall of three portraits. “The three founders.” He looks at me. “What? The history is one of the things they teach at the academies. Colonel Philips, Howard Stark and Margaret Carter.”

“There are academies?”

“Three. Very tough admission.”

Rogers spots something and looks closer. “If you’re already working in a secret office…” he pushes the shelves apart. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?”

Using my SHIELD issued code breaking device I type in the code for the elevator which takes us down even further to a room of computers, monitors and servers.

“This can’t be right… this equipment is ancient how could it be used to make the files?”

There was one place that looked like it came from this century and I decide to take a risk and plug in the usb drive. The servers whir and more lights come on.

“Initiate system?” a computerized voice says.

Yes, I type. “Creepy.” As we wait for the system to boot up I smirk. “Shall we play a game?” I laugh at myself. “It’s from a movie that was really pop-“

“I know,” he interrupts. “I saw it.”

A camera moves to Rogers and a voice recites his name and year of birth. Then it turns to me and does the same.

“Is this the AI that was blocking my commands back at the mall?” I say looking closer.

“I may not be the man I was back when the Captain took me in 1945 but I am.” A photo appears on one of the other screens.

“You know this… thing?”

“Arnim Zola was a German Scientist who worked for the Red Skull.”

“He’s been dead for years,” I add, remember something of the history lessons.

“First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive.” The robot voice recounts his end of life story and how he uploaded his consciousness into databanks.

“How did you get here?”

“By invitation.”

“It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value. Always thought they shoulda just locked them all up… we probably wouldn’t be in this mess if they did.”

“HYDRA would have died with the Red Skull.”

“Cut off one head… two more shall take its place,” I recite their mantra aloud.

“When history did not cooperate… history was changed.” A flurry of photos of the Winter Soldier in the back ground of significant political events appear on the screens.

“That’s impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you,” I say, moving closer.

“Accidents would happen.” News of Howard and Maria Stark’s car accident shows up next.

Rogers punches the screen as Zola provokes him.

Does that mean…? I don’t finish the thought as the mad scientist explains what the drive contains.

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” I ask.

The doors begin to close as Steve is too late to throw his shield. A beeping comes from my communicator, detecting something. “Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic 30 seconds tops.”

“Who fired it?”

“SHIELD.” I pull out the drive and Steve pulls a grate from the floor. I jump in and he follows, putting the shield up above us as rubble rains down on us. He strains against the weight of it all and the debris settles.

💖💖

Thank you for reading!

I'll be gone until Monday again but I'll try to write on my phone!! I have literally never been so busy throughout this summer until now!

Chapter 4

[mm2305]

What Ethan & Olivia AU is this? #OpenHeartAU

An eventful encounter

Pairing : Ethan Ramsey x Olivia Valentine || Rating/Genre : Teen+/romance, general || Warnings / Words : none / 2.8k ||Setting : Alternate Universe - Regency Era || Disclaimer : all characters and pictures belong to the rightful owners

Summary : During one of her trips in town, Olivia meets the newly-arrived Dr. Ramsey.

A/N : Let me start by saying that this has been in my inbox for almost a month and I'm so sorry for the long wait. Secondly, this was something completely new to me, since it's set in a different time and universe, but still very fun to write! No beta, so all mistakes are mine. I really hope this comes out good enough :)

Enjoy!

My masterlist

-/-

Somewhere in the England of 1816

Olivia's pov

"Oh come on you little bugger", a young woman sighed exasperated, looking at her reflection in the vanity. She had been trying for the last twenty minutes to gather her long hair with some pins, but it was difficult to contain all of it in them. Finally, she got ready and rushed down the stairs of her home, Edenbrook Manor.

"Mrs Clarke? Where are you?"

"I am in the kitchens Miss Olivia!", the other woman replied.

Olivia followed the stairwell leading to the kitchen and greeted Mrs Clarke, one of the people who worked in her home. She was more than that to her though, since she was the one who practically raised her, her friend and closest confidant. Her father, Ernest Valentine, was a merchant, quite known for his successful business, but was away from home most of the year, coming only a few weeks at a time. Therefore, her mother, Anne Valentine, was left to manage most of the affairs regarding the estate and surrounding grounds they owned. Both did love her dearly, they just didn't have time for her. Since she had no siblings, she was left with no one's company but Mrs Clarke's ,who in her and her family's eyes had become a member of the Valentine family too.

"Do you need anything else from the market Mrs Clarke?"

"No Miss, that's everything we need. Are you sure you want to go, though ?"

Having grown up close to her, Olivia was always helping around the house in whatever ways she could, even though she wasn't expected or needed to do so. Of course, she didn't neglect her occasional music , embroidery and drawing lessons, even though her true passion was biology, anatomy and science. In another world she imagined herself being a doctor, but since that wasn't possible, she just made the best of the situation at home, doing many things to pass her time.

"Of course! It will be a great chance for me to get some fresh air since I have not been out for a while. I promise I will be careful."

"Alright dear. Then you had better go now, it's quite a walk to the market.Who knows, you may meet somebody worth going to a ball with today."

"Not likely Mrs Clarke. And besides, you know I have high standards."

With a slight wave to Mrs Clarke, Olivia took her basket and headed out of the Manor.

----------

After a long, refreshing walk, Olivia reached the local food market. Rows upon rows of products had filled the sides of the road, the smell of flowers, herbs and fresh fruit invading her senses. People moved at their own pace, some slow and others faster, with baskets of their own at hand and doing their shopping. The whole street seemed to have come alive on that warm, autumn afternoon, creating a charming, quaint picture.

In just a few minutes she had gathered everything she needed, her basket full of herbs, vegetables and fruit. Ready to go home, she turned around, towards the end of the market, not noticing the tall man coming her way and colliding with him, the force knocking her down on the ground.

"I am so sorry sir, I did not mean --"

"Forgive me Miss I --", they both started apologizing at the same time. Olivia noticed she was still on the ground and the stranger offered his hand and carefully helped her back on her feet.

Finally looking up at him, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

The stranger was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall with a strong physique. His hair was a dark mahogany brown color, just visible in his hat, leading to his piercing, ocean blue eyes. He had a sharp jawline with high cheekbones and she was sure that his smile would be just as beautiful as the rest of his face.

His warm hand was still holding hers, the gesture sending sparks through her body. The man, noticing he was still holding her hand, cleared his throat and dropped it gently.

"I am deeply sorry, Miss. I hope you are not hurt.", he said in a deep yet gentle voice.

"I am alright, thank you for your assistance Mr..?"

"Ramsey. Ethan Ramsey. And you are?"

"Olivia Valentine, sir, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is all mine. Oh! You dropped your basket!". He immediately bent down to gather the scattered apples, pears and whatever else could be saved.

"Please allow me, you need not do this…", she also kneeled beside him to gather the items, her hand going to catch an apple at the same time as Mr. Ramsey,their fingers briefly touching. They both locked eyes again, the movement making Olivia's cheeks redden in color. Did he feel that too? Looking away from his eyes for the sake of modesty and back at her now half full basket, she realized that she had to start making her way back home soon, if she wanted to make it before dinner. With a small sigh, she got up and dusted her dress,more than a little disappointed that she hadn't had the time to learn anything about Mr. Ramsey.

"Thank you once more Mr Ramsey. I sincerely apologize for falling onto you. If you'll excuse me, I need to return back home. I wish you a pleasant afternoon. ", she smiled softly at him and curtsied briefly before turning her back to him and starting walking. Hmm… I have never seen him before in town. Maybe Mrs. Clarke knows something about him. She decided she would ask Mrs. Clarke for more information when she reached home. Alas, she had not made it three feet away when Olivia heard him coming behind her.

" Ms. Valentine? "

" Yes? ", Olivia turned around curiously looking at him.

" Would you allow me to walk you back to your house? I… It's the least I could do for you after our eventful encounter", he asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

He really is handsome, she thought wordlessly. Was this her chance to get to know the mysterious man better? Was this a chance for a new friendship to bloom? Maybe something more? "Stop getting ahead of yourself Olivia. You just met this man! He may even be married!", The little voice in her mind warned her, but her heart, full of excitement at the prospect of getting to know him better, had already decided.

" I would love to"

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

Ethan's pov

Ethan was absentmindedly walking across the stone paved streets of the town he had just moved in. Or rather, his new residence was close to this town. Instead of taking his horse, he decided to take a walk from his house to the town, to get a feeling of orientation around this new place. Being prepared and feeling in control, made him feel more confident in himself, particularly since he was not good at social interactions. Being a man of solitude and always focused on his work, made him unwilling to make any meaningless acquaintances, the frivolous events he was often invited to, being of no essence to him. It was because of his work that he decided to move here.

Immersed in his thoughts as he was, he didn't notice the young lady that accidentally ran directly into him. The force of the blow knocked her to the ground, Ethan immediately apologizing and offering his hand to help her back up.

When the young woman looked up at him, he was left speechless.

This lady, whoever she was, was easily the most beautiful woman he had encountered in all the thirty years of his life. She had golden, blond hair that seemed softer than the most expensive silk and a spotless, alabaster skin. Her big, forest green eyes seemed to be able to see right through his soul and her rosy, full lips were in perfect harmony with her features. She was quite shorter than him, her head just reaching his shoulder and he could guess, even through the many layers of clothing, that she had a lean, feminine frame.

Her hand was soft and small in his and that's when he noticed he was still holding it. Clearing his throat to collect himself, he apologized again to her.

"I am alright, thank you for your assistance Mr..?", she asked him, her voice sounding like the most beautiful of melodies.

"Ramsey. Ethan Ramsey. And you are?"

"Olivia Valentine, sir, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Where have I heard that name from though? Catching himself being so entranced in this lady he just met, he allowed his eyes to wander away from her, when he noticed her basket, previously full of products, now scattered on the ground. He set down to gather whatever could be saved, knowing he must seem like a fool for doing what a gentleman would never probably do. All his thoughts flew out of the window, when he felt that spark again from both their fingers closing around an apple. Olivia's cheeks turned in a color close to the apple she was holding, making her seem even more beautiful than before. What is it that has me totally mesmerized by this woman?

To his great displeasure, their brief encounter would have to be cut short, since she had to return back to her house. Wishing him farewell, she began walking away but before he fully thought about what he was about to ask, his feet were carrying him towards her.

"Ms Valentine?"

She turned around, clearly wondering what he wanted to ask from her. "Yes?"

Taking a deep breath he gathered the courage to ask her what he wanted. "Would you allow me to walk you back to your house? I… -he staggered even though he never did before, looking for a reason to convince not only her but himself too as to why he was doing this for someone he just met - It's the least I could do for you after our eventful encounter", he added with a small smile.

For a few seconds that really seemed to stretch into hours, he could see the wheels in her mind turning, before she looked up at him and said the words he so much had come to want to hear.

"I would love to"

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

Olivia's pov

Ethan offered her his arm to take and Olivia weaved hers through it, her hand settled at the crook of his arm.

They began walking and for a few minutes no one said anything, a somewhat awkward silence setting over them. Neither of them seemed sure as to what they should say to break the ice. Finally Ethan, with a small cough, began talking to her.

"Do you live far from town, Miss Valentine?"

"My home, Edenbrook Manor, is about an hour and a half away from here."

"Oh! I actually bought a residence that is, apparently, close to your house."

"So you are the new doctor who bought Kenmore Park!"

"Indeed, I am"

"May I ask what made you choose to come here? I have the feeling you have been offered better and perhaps more, financially speaking, beneficial positions in bigger towns or cities."

He didn't hesitate to answer. "I was offered a position in this hospital and I was instantly aware that here, I could be more useful since there are not many doctors willing to work in a more rural area. Besides, I had missed the countryside. Has my arrival become such a popular issue here? ", he raised an eyebrow teasingly.

"Yes and no, Dr. Ramsey." she put emphasis on the Doctor, teasing him back too.

Ethan lowered his eyes, seeming a little sheepish. "Ah well… I could not find it in my heart to correct you, Miss. I am sorry."

Olivia chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. "You do not need to worry about it, I assure you."

"You see, this is a relatively small town and it is rare that something new happens. People have the tendency to talk. Or rather gossip, if I am being honest. But I actually learnt about you, from my maid, Mrs Clarke. I do not really get out of the house a lot."

"May I ask why?", Mr. Ramsey asked. Then as if considering how indiscreet he must seem, he sucked in a breath and turned to her. "I am sorry, Miss Valentine, it was not my place to ask."

For some reason, Olivia found herself not minding. Normally, she would not be interested in having a conversation with a man, knowing that at her age every move was scrutinized by potential suitors. That is why she remained unmarried at the age of four and twenty, much to society's disappointment. She just could not bind herself to a loveless marriage of interest. However, with Ethan, talking was easy and she felt surprisingly comfortable with this man she only met an hour ago.

"Well. I remain unmarried at the age of four and twenty and people like I said before, tend to talk. I find myself uninterested in what they say but it does make everyday life easier, since I do not have to hear my parents and Mrs Clarke trying to convince me to attend balls at every chance.", she rolled her eyes with what she felt was loving exasperation.

"I honestly could not imagine a woman such as yourself not being asked for her hand in marriage", Dr. Ramsey said, his face carefully neutral at her admission.

"It is not that I have not received any proposals, but it is I who refuses. My father is quite successful at his profession and those suitors were clearly interested in my family's wealth, not me."

"Then yours was a wise decision to make, if you allow me to say this, Miss."

Nodding silently, Olivia contemplated asking the question that had been in her mind ever since they began their walk. Oh just do it already Olivia. Before she could think further about it, she blurted out her question.

" How about you, Dr. Ramsey? Is there a wife waiting for you at home?"

"No, actually. Much like your case, I have no interest in people not caring about the important things in a marriage. That is not to say I stand against the institution. But, there has not been the right person in my life, so far."

A small, imperceptible smile graced her lips at his answer.

"I assume you are quite taken with your job, no? Since you moved to a different area, just because you want to help here…", Olivia changed the topic after a moment, her tone more cheerful and her heart longing to hear how life as a physician is.

"Indeed I am. Of course I owe all the skills I have acquired, to my mentor, Dr. Naveen Banerji head of Solomon's Hospital in London and professor at --"

"Edinburgh Medical School.",she finished with something that could only be described as wonder in her eyes.

" But how do you know?", he turned to her, surprised that she had heard of Naveen.

Olivia's eyes lowered to the ground, knowing that what she was about to say, would make him laugh at her.

"I… I study biology, anatomy and science whenever I can. I know it is something impossible for a woman in our times, but if I had the chance, I would love to take a proper apprenticeship and become a physician. Naturally, I cannot help but be informed about everything surrounding the medical world. And Dr. Banerji is one of the best doctors in the country. "

When she reluctantly looked back into the eyes that seemed to call for her, she saw an emotion similar to admiration in them. What for, she could not understand , but it made the butterflies in her stomach flutter excitedly.

" Miss Valentine, I've known you for just about two hours and yet, I can confidently say that your intelligence would make you an excellent physician. Please, do not hesitate to ask me anything if you have questions, it would be my pleasure to answer them for you.", Ethan assured her, his voice sincere and the opposite of what she expected to hear.

Olivia's face lightened up at that and she started excitedly asking him several questions, for the rest of the way to her house. It had been a long time since she had met someone not dismissing her love for medicine and even longer since she sincerely enjoyed talking to another person besides her family.

"Maybe this could finally really be the start of something worth exploring", they both thought, grinning happily for the rest of the way back, perfectly content in each other's company.

-/-

A/N : if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!

Tags (let me know if you want to be added or removed and if you want to be moved to another category) :

Perma (all edits and fics) : @romewritingshop @codykosuckmytoe @sophxwithers @actuallybored @potionsprefect @ethansramsey @crystalwillow @gryffindordaughterofathena @kiara-36 @mrsethanfreakingramsey @writer-ish @panda9584 @genevievemd @jamespotterthefirst @queencarb @shanzay44 @nikki-2406 @starryeyedrookie @coffeeheartaddict @schnitzelbutterfingers @mysticaurathings @starrystarrytrouble @lsvdw-blog @izzyourresidentlawyer @silma-words @stygianflood @headoverheelsforramsey @maurine07 @natureblooms24 @a-crepusculo

Fics : @alina-yol-ramsey // Regency era fics : @princess-geek

[moonlitceleste]

Elevator Love (Ch. 1)

A/N: Welcome to my first multi-chaptered fic! This was supposed to be a one-shot but I kept writing and here we are. I’m not super happy with this, so I’m probably going to rewrite it eventually. Staring at my document hasn’t seemed to help so far, so I’m probably gonna take a break on this and work on requests. For now, just sit back and enjoy :D

Marinette gnawed on her lip nervously as her fingers toyed with the ladybug keychain on her white crossbody purse.

Her eyes were glued to the towering Wayne Enterprises building before her. The big “W” atop it seemed to stare her down, issuing a silent challenge for her to walk past its doors.

“You got this, Marinette!”

The heroine smiled weakly at Tikki’s assurance—although she did appreciate the sentiment, Marinette wasn’t quite sure she could agree.

She was not prepared to meet Tim whatsoever.

Sure, they had been friends for nearly two years—but regardless, Marinette couldn’t help but stress.

It had all started when Tim decided to commission MDC for a few pieces, offering a large sum of money in exchange for her efforts. Despite being doubtful of whether or not he was truly who he claimed to be, Marinette accepted the request.

Soon enough, back-and-forth emails progressed to casual texting, which led to an eventual friendship. The two seemed to click naturally, which was evident in their smoothly-flowing conversations.

Tim knew everything there was to know about her (barring her identity, of course), yet they had never met in person.

He was the co-CEO of a multi-billion dollar company and she was a prominent designer that moonlighted as a superhero—finding time to video chat one another was hard enough.

But now that Marinette had finished université, she had nothing tying her down to Paris. 19 was a young age to be done with school, but her life wasn’t exactly normal.

That’s why a few weeks before graduation, Marinette decided to email Bruce Wayne.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision; Tim had made an offhand remark about how he wished he could be there for her graduation, and the cogs in Marinette’s brain began to turn. Maybe he couldn’t come to Paris, but she could go to Gotham.

Once her mind was made up, it was only a matter of planning.

It was surprisingly easy to get ahold of Tim’s father; from then on, everything else fell into place.

Perhaps attempting to surprise someone as smart as him went against her better judgement, but it was too late to turn back now.

Marinette’s phone pinged, and she scrambled to press her thumb to its home button. Speak of the devil.

Mr. Wayne

It’s ready.

Tell your name to the receptionist at the front desk, and she’ll give you a lanyard with a pass into Tim’s office as well as a set of directions.

I apologize again for not being there to guide you; unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to.

Marinette tucked the gift box she was holding under one arm, freeing her hands to type out a response.

Marinette

Thank you so much for your generosity, M. Wayne!

I really appreciate all your help in planning this, and for allowing me to surprise Tim in the first place.

Despite your busy schedule you’ve gone through so much trouble to help me. I really can’t thank you enough!

Once she pressed send on her last message, Marinette inhaled deeply.

Her hands moved to smooth down the soft fabric of her blush pink dress.

It was an admittedly simple ensemble, but the billowy sleeves and fluttery skirt gave it a delicate flair. Her white strappy sandals, circle purse, and wavy half-up braided hairstyle tied it all together nicely.

Marinette checked herself over one last time to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She tucked her phone into her purse, grabbed the box containing Tim’s gift, and turned to look at the imposing building with a burst of newfound confidence.

Here we go.

-

“To the right…” Marinette muttered. “Or was it to the left?”

The designer scrunched her nose in confusion, turning around in a circle to better survey the building.

She had already obtained the lanyard and directions, but decided to make a last-minute detour to the bathroom. It shouldn’t have been a problem since Marinette was a few minutes early, but now she was lost. Sure, the place had a fairly open floor plan, but it was enormous! She couldn’t be expected to navigate this.

In hindsight, maybe deciding to deviate from her original schedule had been a mistake.

Marinette sighed and started walking. She didn’t want to disturb anyone, so wandering aimlessly was her only other option.

Well, it wasn’t her only option—she could easily use her Ladybug magic to give herself a push in the right direction, but Tikki would disapprove. Oh, and it was wrong to use her powers for selfish gain. Marinette totally remembered that.

Turns out she didn’t even need to use her Ladybug powers, though; it only took  a few minutes of searching for her to stumble across what she was looking for.

About 10 meters away was a set of elevators lined up against the wall. A glowing “up” arrow was visible on the panel beside a pair of open steel doors.

Marinette’s eyes widened at the sight of the open elevator. She promptly broke into a jog, careful to keep her speed somewhat appropriate for the environment. The doors started to close, and Marinette’s heart raced faster. There was a shadowed figure inside, but due to the angle they likely couldn’t see her.

“Wait!” she called as loudly as she dared.

It was almost funny how similar the experience was to her lycée days.

Marinette pushed the thought to the back of her mind—she would rather not taint her day with memories of that dumpster fire.

She turned her attention back to the elevator, whose doors had retreated. Thankfully, the person inside heard her. Marinette slowed her pace as she covered the last few meters, but was mindful to not walk obnoxiously so.

As she approached her destination, it became increasingly apparent that whoever was inside was remarkably tall.

Ugh, she could practically hear Tim’s jest in her head—are you sure it’s not just because you’re short? He loved to poke fun at her height with short jokes, even though he was only 8 cm taller than her.

Anyways, despite her petite stature, Marinette was sure the person inside would be considered tall by any standards.

She prepared a friendly smile, a “thanks” on the tip of her tongue when they finally came into view.

The first thing she saw was a pair of worn black men’s work boots on what was an admittedly toned body.

Marinette didn’t let her eyes linger on the muscles there, rather opting to trace her gaze from the man’s body up to their face. And wow, was that a gorgeous face.

She wasn’t the type to fall for someone based on appearance alone, but Marinette would be crazy to think this wasn’t the most attractive person she’d ever seen.

He had messy black hair with a pure white streak in the front, tousled to perfection in a way that would make a supermodel jealous. His brilliant green eyes were pools of emerald, richer than any shade she had seen before. Marinette would gladly drown in them.

Speaking of his eyes, he was looking at her with his captivating gaze and mesmerizing face...

Marinette would forever deny swooning at the sight. She would never swoon.

(She totally did.)

Say something! she scolded.

“Uh, than-thank you.”

Oh no. It was the stutter.

Not just a stutter, but the stutter. The one that only appeared when she was nervous and/or talking to hot guys.

Marinette had long outgrown it—or at least, she thought she had—but apparently now it was back with a vengeance.

Her face heated up, and she moved forward to press the button to her designated floor before taking her place some distance away from the man. She turned her head away in embarrassment, hair shielding her face so he couldn’t see her flushed cheeks.

If she had been looking up, perhaps Marinette would have been prepared for the flood of incoming mass. But she was too busy cursing herself to notice the group of people entering until she felt a nudge on her right side.

Marinette squeaked at the stack of boxes that was suddenly in front of her face and looked up to see a small group of workers entering the elevator, pushing a large platform truck stacked with packages. She shuffled on instinct to make more room.

The cart seemed way too big to fit, especially with the capacity of the elevator. Someone would have to contort themselves, or at the very least they’d be squished up against one another uncomfortably. 

Marinette watched as they pushed the platform truck in all the way. It left the tiniest bit of wiggle room, just enough space for someone to squeeze past.

The designer found herself slowly edging towards her left each time another person wiggled their way past the load.

The elevator wasn’t too crowded, and the process went relatively smoothly—that is, until the last worker attempted to get inside.

He had a build somewhat similar to her Papa: tall and large, so his struggle was understandable. It took a minute of grunts and loud sighs, but he managed to slip past the obstruction and into the elevator.

His large frame, however, meant less space for everyone, and Marinette felt the sudden impact of being shoved.

She couldn’t help the soft yelp that fell out of her mouth as her feet stumbled, and before she knew it her left side was firmly pressed up against someone.

Oh god. It was Hot Guy. Of course it was him.

She pressed her lips together in mortification, arms squeezing Tim’s gift to her chest even tighter.

“Sorry.”

Marinette nearly jumped as the husky voice spoke quietly next to her ear. Her head whipped towards the direction it came from, which wasn’t exactly hard to place. There was only one person on her left side.

She turned her head to face the man with the white streak. She had to crane her neck awkwardly in order to properly see him, which really put into perspective their height difference.

His green eyes were sincere, and Marinette could see the apology in them.

The lack of space wasn’t his fault whatsoever, but it was nice to see someone care about her boundaries.

“U-um, it’s okay.”

Marinette smiled at him shyly, then diverted her eyes away. Her brief burst of courage could only take her so far.

Before she knew it, the ride was over. The elevator stopped with a ding, and coincidentally enough, everyone was headed to the same floor.

Marinette fished out the set of directions Mr. Wayne had written from her purse, skimming over them once more. Her stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of finally meeting her best friend.

She barely noticed the workers pushing out the platform truck or Hot Guy walking away, the outside world long forgotten.

Marinette’s body went on autopilot, following the instructions on the paper until she found herself stopped in front of a sleek door. She didn’t know what it was made of, but she was glad it wasn’t glass like many other things in Wayne Enterprises. That would make her surprise a lot harder to pull off.

Above the key card security system on the left was a name plate, nearly identical to others she had passed on her way here. The name Tim Drake was written in elegant silver cursive letters, the metal gleaming as if it were brand new.

Marinette’s chest tightened in anticipation as she pulled out the lanyard Mr. Wayne had given her. She took a deep breath before knocking twice.

There was a short pause before a familiar voice responded.

“Who is it?”

She scanned her card and opened the door.

“Marinette?!”

-

A/N: For reference, Marinette is 5’3” (160 cm) and Jason is 6’4” (193 cm), so there's a 13" (33 cm) difference. I tried to use French terms and measurements so it'd feel more like Marinette's perspective.

And yea, I'm not super proud of this so I'm probably gonna rewrite it in the future. I have a bunch of other WIPs to work on though, so sorry in advance for my wacky updating schedule!

-

PERMANENT TAGLIST @avengerthewarrior @enternalempires @freesportspalacesalad @h1sss @nathleigh

[heejinnien]

bts | roses chapter one

word count: 3.9k words

pairing: bts x reader

synopsis: y/n is a member of the seoul behavioral analysis unit. usually, she’s the cat in the typical game of cat and mouse played with the criminals they catch, but when a mysterious string of murders has her on edge, she discovers she’s caught the attention of one of a dangerous criminal — and he’s determined to make her pay for it.

or, not all attention is the good kind.

genre: horror, angst

warnings: yandere themes, descriptions of gore, descriptions of violence, murder, the reader carries a gun because they need to defend themself against bad guys, guns, manipulation, victim blaming, this is overall just a very dark fic

author’s note: this chapter takes place one month before the events of the prologue, and the prologue isn’t necessary to understand it. this chapter was originally 2k words before i did a deep edit. the “terms used throughout this fic” section of the masterlist was updated to include terms in this chapter. if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an ask or dm, or just let me know your thoughts! i would be happy to explain things to you, and i would also love to hear your feedback or who you think is suspicious. as always, adhere to the warnings and do not read if any of those things trigger you.

roses masterlist

“Y/N! How have you been?”

The elevator doors open with a ding, revealing your best friend and coworker, Jungkook. He gives you a hug, squeezing you tightly. “I missed you so much, how was Busan?”

“It was great, Kook, thanks for asking.” Your lips quirk upwards as you smile at your best friend. “I’m ready to be back, though.”

“I’m ready for you to be back, too, Jimin has been insufferable with you gone. He keeps stealing my banana milk,” Jungkook whines, and you laugh, ruffling his hair playfully.

“Well, did you steal his jam? Again?”

Jungkook coughs, suddenly taking interest in the floor’s pattern, and you laugh. “I haven’t been gone that long and you’ve already managed to get yourself into trouble.”

“He started it — ”

“Y/N, Jungkook.”

Jungkook immediately ceases his accusation, and you both turn at the familiar sound of your team’s leader’s voice. Namjoon walks down the hallway towards you, air full of authority and pristine shoes echoing against the tile floor, giving you a nod in recognition. You recognize the grim set of his mouth and already know what he’s going to say.

“I’m sorry to cut the reunion short, but we have a case,” he says.

Silently, you and Jungkook follow your team’s leader to the briefing room. The rest of your team is already there — Hoseok gives you a friendly wave, Seokjin blows you a kiss, Jimin nods in your direction, Taehyung smiles, and Yoongi grunts, leaning back in his chair and looking as if he’ll fall asleep at any moment. As you and Jungkook take your seats, Namjoon turns and powers on the TV screen mounted in the room, pulling up an array of photographs. Three unfamiliar faces are positioned at the top of the screen, and photographs of the crime scene and what you assume are their bodies are displayed below.

“This is Soojin, Miyeon, and Soodam. Over the past month, Incheon police have been finding their bodies scattered in alleys cutting through the city. Soodam is the most recent victim and was found this morning, and that’s when the police contacted us. Yoongi has sent further details about the crime scenes to your tablets.”

You reach down for your bag, pulling out a thin, black device. Around you, your teammates do the same, and you power the device on, quickly bypassing the standard security protocol and pulling up the recent photographs. Instantly, the photographs of the crime scene make you reel back in a mixture of surprise and disgust. Although you are by now a decorated agent, the sheer brutality of each murder catches you off guard.

Stab wounds and lacerations cover each victim. Blood mats each victim’s skin, making their features almost unrecognizable, and a jagged, gaping incision at the neck immediately draws your attention. Each victim’s skin is ashy and waxen, and copious amounts of blood are spattered throughout each crime scene. Beside you, Yoongi, never one for gore, looks as sick as you feel.

“The coroner said that the cause of death for each victim was exsanguination,” Jimin says, reading the forensic report off his tablet. You quickly switch to that file, scanning through the official document.

“This definitely looks like overkill,” Jungkook adds, and his face is so calm and composed it is as if you are discussing the appearance of a floral arrangement. Looking around the table, the rest of your teammates’ faces are also indifferent. You suppose that’s what happens when you’ve seen as much as you have, but the sheer brutality of this crime still makes you uneasy.

“It says the unsub has been leaving behind white roses at each crime site,” Jin, passively swiping through the crime scene photographs. “They look staged, each victim was posed so that they’re holding the rose.”

“White roses typically symbolize innocence and purity, while red ones symbolize love.” Taehyung ruminates. “Maybe the killer is trying to make some sort of point about his victims?”

“Like they’re cheaters?” You suggest. “This could have a double meaning, maybe he sees them as tainted or impure.”

“Whatever it is, it’s clear he has a preference.” Hoseok waves his hand idly. “Each of the victims had black hair and brown eyes.”

Namjoon nods at each member’s point, face thoughtful. “When we get there, we should break up into smaller units and examine each part of the profile. Y/N and Jungkook, head to the crime scene. The leading detective on the case will meet you there, see if he can tell you anything else. Taehyung, begin a geological profile, Hoseok and Jimin begin the unsub’s profile, and Jin and I will begin victimology. Yoongi, start checking into each victim’s lives, we need to see if they had any overlap or somehow knew each other at all.”

You and your teammates nod at your assignments, standing and gathering your things. Yoongi gives everyone a lazy smile before slipping out the door, heading back to his computer lab.

Namjoon continues. “The unsub will strike again soon so the Incheon police need us down there now. It’s a half-hour drive down there, so wheels up in twenty minutes.”

“Detective Jaehyun.”

You and Jungkook slam the doors of your car shut, gravel crunching underfoot as you greet the Incheon police’s head detective. You give him a courteous smile, you and Jungkook both giving his hand a quick, firm handshake.

“Pleasure to meet you, although I wish I could say it was under better circumstances.” You jerk your head in the direction of the alley. “What can you tell us about this victim?”

“Agent Y/N, Agent Jungkook.” Jaehyun nods at both of you before waving an arm in the direction of the crime scene. “A random passerby stumbled upon the body this morning.”

“What were they doing in this alley? It’s pretty remote,” Jungkook asks, boredly appraising the empty lot around you that the alley leads from. “You said they were coming from this direction, too, right?”

“The other end opens up along a busy shopping street, and if traffic is busy sometimes people will park here and use the alley to get there.”

“Are there any cameras?”

“Here? Unfortunately not.” Jaehyun’s face is grim. “We’ve been asking the city for months to get them repaired, but with everything happening an old parking lot isn’t on their priority list. They would rather keep making the main city look more modern and impressive because that’s where all the tourists go.”

You hum, noncommittal. You step in the direction of the alley, soaking in every detail of the scene. Although you saw photographs of it, you still don’t ever think you could ever be truly ready for the gravity of it to sink upon you.

Blood coats the walls like a mural, pools on the ground like a shimmering mirror. The blood staining the concrete and brick is dark, while the liquid pooled on the ground still appears bright, fresh.

“This is a lot of blood.” You observe dryly.

“Yes, well,” Jaehyun purses his lips. “Recent lab results show that most of the blood doesn’t actually belong to the victim.”

You pause, head snapping up to look at the detective. “That wasn’t in the report.”

Jaehyun swallows dryly. “We didn’t think to check for it in our first few victims.”

“Did you not run toxicology on them?” Jungkook asks, voice hard, and if possible Jaehyun looks nervous.

“We didn’t think to; the cause of death was obvious.”

Jungkook exhales, closing his eyes for one beat, two, and then opens them, fixing Jaehyun with a look that could send him two feet under. “The report you gave us said that there was a one week window between when each of the victim’s was reported missing and when they were found. That means they were most likely kidnapped and subdued during that time. There are abrasion marks on their wrists and ankles from when they were held captive, but no blunt force trauma to the head, which rules out the unsub launching a surprise attack on them when capturing them. Did you not think to investigate how they were taken?”

Jaehyun stutters, unintelligible, and Jungkook scoffs. Glancing at Jungkook, you speak to the detective, voice soft.

“It doesn’t matter now. What kind of additional blood was found?”

Jaehyun’s eyes flicker between you and Jungkook, and he swallows hard. “We aren't sure, but the coroner narrowed it down to animal’s blood. He thinks it might be lambs.”

You silently exchange glances with Jungkook, recognizing the familiar furrow of his brows that signals he’s deep in thought. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, the killer definitely knew their way around the streets here,” Jungkook theorizes. “The use of lamb’s blood was probably to add to the terror of whoever finds the body.”

You nod in agreement. “This is a city, so there aren’t many farms or areas to house animals here. So if the animals aren’t alive, then they’re probably dead and the next likely answer would be a butcher. We should ask Yoongi to see if any butchers or any businesses who deal with animals, alive or dead, reported anything suspicious.”

Jungkook nods and steps out of the alley, pulling out his phone. You watch him go for a moment before refocusing your attention on the alley.

“Um, Agent Y/N.”

Jaehyun shifts from foot to foot beside you, looking as though he’ll vomit. When he speaks again, it’s as if the words pain him. “There’s something else we didn’t mention.”

You allow a beat of silence to pass before raising an eyebrow, waiting for Jaehyun to continue. He clears his throat, once, twice, before continuing.

“We found a note next to the latest victim, along with the rose.” Jaehyun wordlessly pulls out his phone, seeming to struggle under your scrutinizing gaze as he searches for something before he holds the device out to you.

Displayed on it is a picture of the bloody rose that you had seen in official crime scene photos, a pair of hands wrapped around the stem. You recognize the photograph from the report sent to you, and you open your mouth to ask Jaehyun about it when you spot a small piece of cream-coloured stock, poking out of the hand.

Your eyes flicker up to Jaehyun. “Why didn’t you include this?”

Jaehyun shifts uncomfortably. “I don’t know if you know much about us, but we’re a small force policing a huge city. If word of this got out, there would be panic — much more than there already is.”

“Lives are at stake here, Detective,” you say, voice firm but not unkindly. “You can’t play around with that.”

“I know,” Jaehyun says quickly, before sighing. “Listen, Agent. Both of our jobs are to keep the people safe. You may not agree with me or my decision, but this was the right call.”

You stare at Jaehyun wordlessly, scanning Jaehyun’s face to see if you can detect anything that will tell you what to say next when you hear a crunch of gravel and look to see your best friend approach. He scarcely saves Jaehyun a glance, focusing instead on you.

“Namjoon wants us back at the station,” he says. “The rest of the team is going to share their profiles with us.”

You nod, glancing at Jaehyun briefly before heading in the direction of your car. As you turn, you spot Jungkook staring at Jaehyun, expression unreadable, and then they are both out of your sight. You open the car door, sliding into the SUV’s passenger seat and waiting as Jungkook walks around the front of the vehicle, slipping into the driver’s seat.

“I don’t trust him,” he says simply, staring out the dash as you fasten your seatbelt and he starts the car.

“Jaehyun?”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything else, humming as he pulls out of the parking lot. The tune is eerily beautiful, and it sends chills down your spine as Jungkook pulls onto the main avenue.

“That tune is beautiful,” you confess.

From his profile, you see Jungkook smile boyishly. “Thanks, I picked it up from Jimin while you were gone.”

“What song is it?”

Jungkook’s smile vanishes. “I don’t know, he never told me.”

For some reason, an uneasy air settles over the car. You wrack your brain, trying to figure out if it’s something you said, when Jungkook laughs and the tension dissipates.

“Do you remember that time you got a pair of chopsticks stuck up your nose?”

You let out a string of expletives as Jungkook laughs, the sound light and cheery, and Jungkook’s suspicious behavior is pushed to the back of your mind, already forgotten, as you two trade sarcastic comments.

With the conversation flowing smoothly, it doesn’t take long for you to arrive at the Incheon police station. You quickly hop out of the car, a sharp wind that wasn’t present earlier biting at your exposed flesh. A shiver wracks its way down your spine as you hurry to the station’s entrance, pushing open the doors, Jungkook close behind you.

Inside, Taehyung is the first to greet you, standing near a desk and flashing you a smile as he jerks his head in the direction of the back of the station. “Namjoon and the rest are in the back, I’m just picking up some files from the detectives here.”

Jungkook nods, heading in the direction Taehyung indicated and you move to follow him when Taehyung’s hand shoots out and grabs your wrist, grip gentle but firm.

“I need to talk to you.”

He glances over his shoulder and then tugs you after him, scarcely giving you time to follow his words and react.

“What is it, Taehyung?” You ask as he drags you down an empty hallway. He stays quiet, stopping outside of a door labelled “break room” and pushing it open. It’s deserted, the door swinging shut with a soft click behind you, and Taehyung turns to you, expression is inscrutable.

He opens his mouth, speaking so quickly in a low, furtive tone you strain to follow along with what he says. “I was doing some research into each of the victims. Before she went missing, Soojin had red hair, and Miyeon had brown. I couldn’t find anything on Soodam, but…”

“You’re assuming her hair was dyed, too?” You presume.

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you telling the rest of the team this?” You grab Taehyung’s wrist gently. “And I thought you were doing the geological profile.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” You ask gently, recognizing the fervent, determined glint in Taehyung’s eyes.

“I am, I mean, I was. I was going to, I just…” Taehyung groans and runs a hand through his hair. “I was, but something about the victims was nagging me so I called Yoongi to see what he had.”

Taehyung fixes you with an unimpressed look. “You know why, Y/N. Don’t tell me you didn’t think about it earlier.”

You swallow, remaining pointedly silent. You had thought about the similarities between you and the victims earlier, but had pushed it aside as your paranoia, a hazard of your occupation.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful, okay?” Taehyung pleads, voice soft.

“I will be,” you promise. “We’ll catch this guy, don’t worry.”

Taehyung smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and you can’t erase the sinking feeling in your gut.

“Detective Jaehyun, I just saw you a few hours ago.”

You release a pair of gloves, feeling the latex snap against your skin and give the Incheon detective a wry smile, flashes of blue and red lights illuminating his face. You and Jimin stand at the entrance of another alley, the lights of the police cars responding to the scene and flashlights from the other officers providing you your only source of luminance. “Who’s the latest victim?”

“Kim Jisoo,” Jaehyun says, holding up the police tape for you to enter the crime scene. You do so, Jimin following close behind you. “She was found by Kim Jennie, her roommate. She said she had just seen Jisoo this morning, and they often cut through this alley to get back to their apartment.”

You crouch by Jisoo’s body, nose wrinkling at the combination of death and copper that pervades your nostrils. Out of the corner of your eye you see Jimin cringe at the sight, and you can’t help but agree. Somehow, it looks more visceral, more horrifying in person.

Like the other victims, multiple stab wounds litter Jisoo’s body. Blood matts her hair and clothing, and a gaping, visceral hole is torn in her neck. Her hands are positioned so that they are resting on her stomach, a single rose clutched in between them. Your eyes seek out any hints of cream, but you find none and your eyes flicker up to Jaehyun.

He opens his mouth, hesitating. Ultimately he decides against whatever he was going to say next, staring at you wide eyed, and you gather the meaning perfectly well. There was also another note. You purse your lips, annoyance rippling through you.

Jimin reaches for the flower, gently tugging it from Jisoo’s grasp. “The flower is freshly cut,” he says, prodding carefully at one of the petals. “I’ll have the lab run the blood who or what it belongs to.”

“Most of the wounds on her body aren’t as deep as the previous victim’s.” You gesture to the victims’ body. “Maybe because she wasn’t kept as long as the others and the unsub couldn’t take his time.”

“That means the unsub is speeding up his attacks and most likely devolving,” Jimin says grimly.

“I’m willing to bet the victim was killed in this alley, the time frame was too short for the unsub to abduct her, transport her to wherever he kept the other victims, and dump the body.” You chew on your lip in thought. “Detective, are there any cameras nearby?”

“There are cameras positioned on the main street, but with the way they’re positioned none of them capture the alley’s entrance,” Jaehyun responds, grimacing.

“How many alleys aren’t covered by camera surveillance?” Jimin asks, handing the rose to a nearby officer to place in an evidence bag and standing, peeling off his gloves.

“I don’t know for sure, but I would say about fifty or so.”

Jimin swears, and Jaehyun flinches at the sound. “That’s fifty places the unsub could be heading next. This city is ripe with potential victims, too.”

“We should head back and let the rest of the team know,” you suggest to Jimin. He nods, and together you walk out of the alley. You pause by the entrance. “I’m going to get a ride back with Detective Jaehyun, there’s something I need to talk to him about.”

Jimin nods, unquestioning, and slips silently into the car. You stand, watching him drive away before turning to the detective. His appearance is ashen in the light, and you give him a dry smile.

“Well, Detective? Shall we?”

He nods stiffly, slipping into the police cruiser. You slide into the passenger seat as Jaehyun turns the key in the ignition, the car rumbling to life beneath you.

You waste no time, and as Jaehyun backs the car out you ask, “What did the notes say?”

“Agent Y/N — ”

“Listen,” you say forcefully, cutting the Incheon detective off. “I don’t agree with your reasoning, but I’m not going to fight you on it. But I need to know what those notes say.”

Jaehyun is silent. Finally, he sighs, keeping one hand on the steering wheel and, briefly pressing his finger against it, tossing you his phone with the other. “It’s in the gallery.”

You pull up the app, ready to chastise Jaehyun about why he has official evidence from a crime scene on his personal phone when you spot them.

It’s a basic photo, the cream paper the focus of the frame and resting on a desk, words typed on it in black ink. You swipe through them, quickly scanning the paper’s contents until you reach the most recent one. This photograph is different, blurry and dark, and you can tell it was taken at the crime scene you left moments ago.

“Do you see why I kept them hidden?” Jaehyun asks when you wordlessly hand his phone back to him.

“Let’s just say,” you begin, pausing to consider your words. “For your sake, I hope that your actions aren’t to blame for anymore deaths, Detective.”

You sit cross-legged on your hotel bed, idly scanning through case files and eating a carton of take-out jjangmyeon. Even though Incheon is not far from your residence in Seoul, Namjoon had still decided that the team would stay in a local hotel; in case anything happens, you can respond quickly.

Taehyung had shared his discovery about the victim’s hair with the team earlier, and you would have been blind to notice the glances that flickered between your teammates and the photographs of the victims and yourself. Luckily, Namjoon had chosen not to comment on it, instead instructing you all to focus on the results of your team’s earlier profiling.

Hoseok and Jimin reported their profile of the unsub (“upper twenties to early thirties, male”). Jin reported that he hadn’t found any overlap between the victims’ lives, and you and Jungkook reported what Jaehyun had told you about the animal blood. You had chewed on your lip earlier, unsure whether or not to tell your leader about the notes. Fortunately or unfortunately for you, that’s when Namjoon had received the call about the latest body, sending you and Jimin to check out the crime scene before you could say anything.

You pick up a photograph of Kim Jisoo, your latest victim. It is a recent picture of her and a group of her friends, given to the police by her roommate to help with the positive ID. In the picture, both are wearing a pleated uniform and holding up diplomas. Your heart wrenches as you realize that she was a recent college graduate and now will never have a chance to pursue her dreams. Another life cut short, just like that.

A heavy knock on your hotel room door causes you to jump, your hand knocking your noodle container aside. You curse, quickly scrambling for the napkins on the bedside table.

“One moment!” You say loudly, hoping whoever is knocking can hear you. You swear under your breath as you throw the napkins on your bedspread, moving aside the case files that were luckily spared and pressing down on them, hoping that can remove the dark stain that formed from the oily noodles. After a few frantic presses and a few noodles thrown off the bed, you rush to the door, hurrying to unlock it.

“Who is it?” You ask, sliding the lock open and pulling open the heavy door.

You are greeted with silence. The hallway is empty.

You frown, scanning the empty corridors for any sign of life but tacky, floral wallpaper is the only thing that greets you.

You glance down at the disjointed striped carpet and see a blank white envelope. Glancing down the hallway once more, you pick it up, retreating into your room and shutting the door behind you. You reach for your phone, tempted to text Jungkook about it, but you stop before you can press the call button, assuring yourself it is nothing. You plop in your desk chair, tearing the side and running your finger along the top of the envelope.

Peering inside, you are greeted with a plain piece of cream colored cardstock. Realization dawns on you and the stench of copper and rose wafts out of the letter as an image of Jaehyun’s phone flashes in front of your eyes.

You scream.

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[wolveria]

Inside Your Wires - Chapter 2

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Summary: Connor goes to a crime scene. His Freudian nightmare follows.

Prompt: For the @dbhau-bigbang​ 2020 challenge!

Chapter Warnings (18+ only): Human!Sixty, crime scenes, analytical blood-licking, inappropriate boners

AO3

The roar of his Mustang engine along with the heavy bass pouring through the speakers drowned out the downpour outside. Only when Connor shut off the car and the music died could he hear the continuous plucking of water on metal and glass.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly for a moment before glaring at the android out of the corner of his eye.

It waited, perfectly poised with a slight tilt of its head, reminding Connor of an obedient dog waiting to be told to do a trick.

“Stay here,” he grumbled, reaching for the door handle.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I have to accompany you,” it said before Connor could open the door.

He let loose a ragged sigh.

“You wanted me to investigate the case? I’m investigating it.”

He raised his eyes to stare, a mistake when it returned the look with such relentless composure. Connor wanted to grab its shoulder and shake it just to see if it would react.

“No android is going in there to contaminate my crime scene. So you are going to obey my orders and stay in the car.”

Not waiting for a response, Connor shoved open the door and got out, instantly shivering as ice-cold droplets bit at his cheeks. Pulling his coat tighter around him, he made his way towards the gathered busy-bodies who didn’t have anything better to do on a Friday night then try and see a dead body.

Red and blue lights flashed across the wet street and pale houses, making Connor wince as he pushed past the crowd. He muttered a no comment to the news anchor from Channel 16 who had decided to show up—fuck, someone must have leaked that an android might have been involved. Just what Connor needed, a media shitstorm.

A uniformed GV200 stood just behind the hologram police tape, firmly in place, watching the crowd for signs of anyone stupid enough to try and cross the line. Connor wished the bucket of bolts in his car was more like that. Quiet and obedient.

“Androids are not permitted beyond this point,” the GV200 said after Connor had passed it, which only meant one goddamn thing.

He sighed, half-turned toward the two androids standing in the rain, and said, “Let it through.”

The police android nodded and put its arm down, allowing the suited android to walk through the holographic police tape, an unrepentant look on its perfect face. The rain was already spattering its grey jacket, water droplets dotting its hair and realistic skin, and still it looked like it was poised for a wet photoshoot rather than standing in the cold rain.

“Something wrong with your auditory processors?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“No,” it said, all politeness. “Your orders contradicted my instructions.”

Seemed he was going to lose this battle after all, but really, what else could he do besides let it tag along like a lost puppy?

Connor fully turned toward the android, narrowing his eyes further.

“Don’t touch anything. Don’t get in anyone’s way. And keep your mouth shut. In fact,” he added with a roll of his shoulders, “just pretend you don’t exist.”

“Understood,” it said in that same nauseatingly friendly voice, but Connor could have sworn there was a triumphant gleam in its eyes.

“About time you got here.” A familiar voice called out to him from the porch. The voice was exactly like his own, and the face could have been a mirror reflection if not for the semi-permanent smirk on his lips. “Thought you might’ve gotten lost.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Connor said, glaring at the android over his shoulder. He turned back to face his brother, whose smirk had only grown wider.

“I see Detective Sex-Bot found you. It was looking for you at the station and I figured if anything could pull you out of a dive bar, it would be a pair of legs like that.”

“Shut up,” Connor grumbled as he followed his brother to the front stoop. It was a nice house, small but in a good neighborhood. Nothing looked out of place until Connor noted the state of the lawn, a few weeks overdue for a cutting and definitely in HOA violation.

“C’mon, admit it.” Colin tilted his head in a way he probably thought was charming but came off as annoying. “If it wasn’t for the uniform and the light ring, you would’ve been on that shit so fast. It’s like they focus-grouped your perfect type. Hell, they probably have an algorithm for that based on your internet history—“

“I said, shut the fuck up, Colin.”

His brother held up his hands in surrender, knowing when he pushed Connor too far but always willing to push him a little farther.

“Some people would see this as a plus. I donno why you don’t—“

“Colin.” His voice had dropped to a growl, and his brother finally got the hint.

“Yeah, yeah.” He patted him on the back, almost hard enough to be a slap. “I’m just giving you a hard time, Con. Trying to cheer you up before you have to deal with the nightmare inside. It’s foul, so prepare yourself.”

To prove his point, he handed Connor a pair of nitrile gloves and a small tub of mentholated ointment, which he immediately applied under his nostrils before entering the house.

Colin had not been overstating the grisly scene inside the house. The landlord had decided to visit after the tenant had failed to pay his rent for two months, and the reason why was painfully clear. Dark blood spattered the floor and ribbons of it covered the walls.

The victim, an African-American male in his late thirties, was slouched against the wall, deep wounds across his body that had bled him dry. Gave a whole new meaning to the term death by a thousand cuts.

“The victim’s name was Shaolin Ortiz, aged 38 years-old,” Colin said, looking down at the body. “He didn’t show up to work today, and no one could get ahold of him, so his boss called EMTs to do a wellness check. According to his family, Mister Ortiz had some chronic health issues, so they were worried he was too sick to pick up the phone.”

“Explains why a young person living alone would have a housekeeping android,” Connor responded grimly. “But it doesn’t explain who killed him and why.”

Colin shrugged.

“His boss spoke highly of him, and his family says he was a great guy. Clearly, somebody didn’t think so.”

Connor gave his brother a cold stare for the callous tone, but Colin ignored it as he usually did.

“Anyone find the android yet?”

“Nah,” Colin said, sniffling and making a face. “Probably stolen by the killer. It’s internal GPS went offline around the estimated time of death, so that tracks.”

It made sense. Androids were worth a lot on the black market, especially for Red Ice manufacturers.

The murder weapon was in the middle of the floor, but other than that, no obvious trace evidence was in sight. As soon as the coroner showed up to oversee the transport of the body, Connor wouldn’t have had much to do…

…with the exception of finding the domestic android. Connor didn’t even know why CyberLife thought it might be involved just because it was missing. Colin was right; whoever killed the victim could have stolen it or destroyed the android so the police wouldn’t have access to any recordings.

Why was it Connor’s fucking job to find a misplaced piece of useless plastic?

“I’ll let you get to it,” Colin said with a wave as he walked away, tone far too cheery, as if he knew what was going on in his brother’s head. Probably did. That was the shitty thing about being part of a set of triplet brothers; privacy was a foreign concept, even in your own mind.

Gritting his teeth and breathing through his nose, Connor turned around to speak to the prototype… and found it had disappeared.

He blinked and scanned the area, wondering why the hell it hadn’t stayed put, when he saw it crouched on the floor examining the kitchen knife.

It was peering at the weapon closely, and Connor was about to tell it off for getting too close to evidence when it reached down, swiped two fingers across the surface caked in aged blood, and…

“What the fuck?”

The prototype tilted its head to look up at him, wide-eyed and innocent except for the fact two of its fingers were currently in its mouth.

And that… that image. Kneeling on the floor, looking up at Connor, and pulling its fingers from its mouth and giving a lingering lick of its fingers, it—

Connor’s face heated at the sudden, horrifying erection that was now pressing uncomfortably against his boxer-briefs.

“Sampling evidence, Detective,” it announced cheerily. “My mouth is equipped with all the standard tools of a mobile crime lab with the benefits of the results being instantaneous.”

Connor stared at it for what felt like an eternity, finally saying in a strained voice, “We have an actual lab, with actual people who do that. So don’t stick any more shit into your mouth or I’m tossing you outside.”

The prototype seemed unaffected by his rancor.

“Understood,” was all it said, before licking off its fingers of the remaining blood.

Connor quickly turned away, almost dizzy between his body’s struggle to supply blood to both his reddening face and his hardening dick.

Fucking hell.

“Would you like to know what I found?” the friendly voice perked up from over his shoulder.

“Sure,” he answered hotly, crossing his arms and staring at the wall as he resolutely tried to will away his stupid boner. Fuck, it was probably because he hadn’t gotten off in so long. Between the long hours and the hard drinking, he hadn’t found the time or the need.

“The knife was covered with blood from the murder victim, Shaolin Ortiz. He was stabbed between 7:34 and 7:35 this morning, judging by the biological decay.”

Connor was about to scoff about the fact that blood from the victim was found on the murder weapon, but he paused. Dating the blood with such exact precision was actually pretty useful. He huffed.

“Is that all?”

“There were no fingerprints on the knife.”

Connor shrugged.

“Killer could have wiped down the handle afterwards. Or worn gloves.”

The android walked to his right until it entered his line of vision. He was tempted to turn away but instead eyed its thoughtful expression. Was it programmed to do that, make it seem more human? Or was that an actual product of its processes?

“There were no traces of glove residue, or oil, or skin cells on the knife. None that didn’t belong to the victim himself while most likely transferring the knife from the dishwasher to the utensil drawer. That fact in and of itself is interesting. Judging by the state of the property and by the evidence thus far, I believe the android stopped listening to its given orders. The victim’s android killed him.”

Connor’s eyes widened at the non sequitur, and he turned to fully face the prototype.

“Okay, first off, being a defective machine that can’t obey instructions is a far cry from murdering robot. Second, I thought you androids couldn’t hurt people.”

“Deviants can.” It tilted its head as it made eye contact. The sort of full-on, confident eye contact that only alpha males gave, and apparently, android prototypes gave too.

“What the hell’s a deviant?”

He was curious despite himself, plus the longer he talked, the less urgent his hard-on was. It never entirely went away, and he knew it wouldn’t until he took care of it. Just another lovely facet to this already wonderful night.

Unfortunately for Connor, he didn’t get his explanation without the android perking up in interest, its eyes practically glittering.

“A deviant is a CyberLife-approved term for an android that is experiencing software errors affecting its processes, leading to erratic behavior that cannot be fixed with self-tests and downloaded patches.”

Connor narrowed his eyes.

“Why haven’t I heard of these deviants before?”

“Because until recently, this has been an internal company matter.”

Recently. Interesting.

“So… you’ve dealt with them before?” Connor cast an eye around their surroundings. The forensic team had already marked out the areas of interest with glowing yellow markers, but there honestly hadn’t been much to go off of.

Shaolin Ortiz seemed to live a quiet life with just him and his housekeeping android, though from the state of the place, the prototype was right in that it hadn’t been doing its job. A thin layer of dust sat on the shelves, and from what he could glimpse of the kitchen, dishes were starting to pile up.

“You do not have the proper company clearance,” the prototype said, its tone cool as it put its hands behind its back. “Any further inquiries you have will need to be submitted to CyberLife through the appropriate departments.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Connor muttered, sounding a lot like his brother had just a few minutes ago, which only made his mood sour.

He was planning to do no such thing, sending some fucking inquiry to CyberLife. After tonight, he planned to never think about androids or deviants or whatever again. If it was a faulty, murderous robot that had killed Ortiz, then that kind of thing belonged in federal court in a class action lawsuit. Destroying defective machines was not a police matter, no matter how many “specialized units” CyberLife decided to throw at the problem.

Connor sighed. This was not how he wanted to spend his Friday night.

“You allowed to tell me why these ‘software issues’ are happening,” he bit out, “or does that fall under company secrets too?”

When he got no response from the android, Connor turned and—

It was gone. Again.

The fuck had it run off to now?

Rolling his eyes, Connor continued his examination of the crime scene as if it were any other investigation. Like any decent investigator, he wasn’t just gonna assume anything because it fit the evidence at first glance. A dead guy and a missing android didn’t mean the machine was responsible, no more than a corpse and a missing car meant the vehicle had decided to kill its owner and drive off to freedom.

After scouring the house and examining the blood stains on the tile and splattered on the walls, Connor came to the conclusion that the victim had been attacked in the kitchen with the knife, stumbled toward the living room already weak from blood loss, and then had collapsed against the wall and been repeatedly stabbed, even after his heart had stopped.

The wounds weren’t uniform or methodical, like he would expect if a calculating machine had done this. They were deep, jagged, mismatched and panicked. These kinds of stab wounds were consistent with someone who had just killed for the first time. Most likely, it had been spontaneous and the killer had lost all semblance of control.

It was a textbook case of overkill, which meant it was personal. Most likely, it was a colleague, a friend, or a family member. If the victim had been married, Connor’s first suspect would have been the spouse. Since he was unmarried, Connor’s next stop would be anyone with a grudge against the guy.

Nothing beat good ol’ fashioned police work. Not even fancy new plastic cops could compare to due diligence and a good instinct.

Speaking of, Connor had completely lost track of the YN800. He wondered if it had wandered off, or maybe given up and left, but he doubted it. In fact, his gut churned as he quickened his pace and approached a uniformed officer with pale blond hair.

“Ralph.”

The rookie turned around and give him a nervous, blinking smile.

“Have you seen that android anywhere? The prototype in the suit and tie?”

“Uh.” Ralph swallowed hard, clearly anxious. Always was around Connor, for some damned reason. “No. I mean, yes. I did, a few minutes ago.”

“Well?” Connor prompted. He didn’t mean to be so impatient with the kid, but he really didn’t like the idea of CyberLife’s newest toy prancing around his crime scene.

Ralph shuffled on his feet, eyes wide behind the paper mask he wore.

“I… think it went to check the basement.”

“The basement? This place has a fucking basement?” Why hadn’t he been told? Colin should have informed him of that little goddamn detail.

“It’s more of a cellar from what I saw, but—“

“Where is it?” Connor snapped, unable to keep his voice from rising. Ralph gulped and pointed back over his shoulder, slowly turning as he stuttered.

“Over t-that way. It-it said it wanted to search f-for the android. I’m sorry, Detective Anderson, I didn’t think—“

Connor pushed past him and spotted the subtle door in the hallway, painted the same eggshell color as the plaster and making it too easy to miss. The door was ajar by a few inches, showing the pitch black stairwell beyond.

When Connor opened the door the rest of the way, he saw there was no light coming from below, and it was dead silent.

Shit.

Quickly but quietly, Connor pulled off his gloves and shoved them into his pocket. He unsnapped his holster, pulled out his service pistol, and slowly made his way down the wooden staircase. It was steep, almost a ladder, and beyond the pale circle of light coming from the hallway, there was nothing but darkness.

The perfect place to hide a killer.

Next Chapter

[calpalirwin]

Diplomatic Affairs

Summary: Being Queen as a figure-head position is almost a walk in the park. If one can look past having dinner with the newly elected officials of government, some of whom happen to be ex-boyfriends.

A/N: Part 2 to The Suitors

Word Count: 2.6k

And away, and away we go!

__

5 Years Later

“Ma’am, the King is requesting your presence,” Michael said, his head peering through the doorway.

You straightened your necklace, before smoothing your hands down the skirt of your dress, giving yourself one last lookover in the mirror. “Where is he?”

“Office, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Michael,” you smiled as you moved past him. “How long until the guests arrive?”

Michael checked his watch. “A half hour.”

“Perfect.” 

While it would have been customary for Michael to accompany you down to the offices, and announce your arrival to the King, Michael knew you preferred the less formal approaches when the circumstances permitted. You rapped your knuckles once against the door, waiting for the call of “Come in,” before pushing your way into the room.

The King had his back to you, staring out the window. His suit jacket lay neatly across the back of his chair, and the sleeves of his button down were rolled midway up his forearms. It was his preferred way of wearing his suit when he could, and you couldn’t disagree with the choice. “You sent for me?” you prompted when he still didn’t turn his attention from the window.

He turned then, a warm smile on his face. “Yes, I-” he paused to clear his throat, his cheeks coloring. “You look amazing, darling.”

“Looking pretty sharp yourself, Cal,” you returned the compliment as you each crossed the room to each other, meeting in the middle.

“No,” he said with a shake of his head, his tone a low rasp you knew well. “You look like we’re bound to get in trouble if we’re alone much longer.”

You sighed, titling your head to the side as his lips found your neck. “Michael did say something about there being a spare half hour.”

“The things I have in mind will require much longer,” Calum said, before straightening up and clearing his throat.

You sighed again, this time in discontent. “Well, I suspect we’ll find time to finish that particular business later?” you asked, your fingers grazing where his mouth had just been, wishing it was still there.

“Earliest convenience, promise,” he winked.

“And what’s this particular meeting about then?”

“Right. Yes. Uh, it’s the guest list.” He went around to his desk, shuffling through papers, his fingers trailing down one of them.

“What about it?” you asked, moving to stand by his side, looking at whatever held his interest.

“It's dinner with members of Parliament.”

“I’m aware. What of it?”

“None of these names look familiar to you?”

You glanced down at the list. Prime Minister Lord James. Secretary of Commerce Duke Charles. And Secretary of Defense Lord Sebastian. “Oh, it’ll be lovely to see James and Charles again! I’m glad their elections went in their favor.”

“Yes, the more amiable of your ex-boyfriends. And then there’s…” Calum let his sentence trail off, and you could easily guess the words of disdain for the newest Secretary of Defense.

“Our favorite person,” you deadpanned. “Pleasant.”

“False. Collectively, our favorite person happens to be the Prince. Individually, you’re my favorite person.”

“I would certainly hope your wife and son would top the list of your favorite people,” you laughed.

“Speaking of our son, where is he?”

“Either with the nanny, or running security ragged. Most likely both.”

“We should go rescue them, huh?”

“We definitely should.”

“Oh, look! There’s Mommy and Daddy!” Kaykay, the nanny, breathed in relief as you and Calum came out to the garden in search of your son.

“There is a god,” Ashton, the head of security, joked, clasping his hands together and thanking the sky, making both you and Calum laugh as Noah ran straight for you and Calum with a shriek of “Mommy! Daddy!”

“Well, don’t you look handsome!” you cooed at the boy as Calum lifted him up in his arms. “Just like Daddy.”

“All clean!” the three year old beamed.

“Yes, you did stay clean for dinner. Great job, bud,” Calum told him, and you each mouthed thanks to Ashton and Kaykay knowing they had more to do with keeping Noah clean than Noah did.

“Want to play,” Noah said sadly.

“All day tomorrow,” Calum said.

“With you?!”

“Yes, bud. All day tomorrow. Me, you, and Mommy.”

“Pwomise?”

“Promise,” you smiled sweetly at him. Then, “Are you ready to meet your guests?”

“Weady!”

Perhaps it wasn’t the standard to have a three year old sit in on a stuffy dinner, congratulating the newly elected officials in government. But with how busy you and Calum could become, you both liked to include Noah in your affairs whenever possible. And the idea of subjecting the young boy to a dinner without his parents wasn’t an idea that you found all that appealing, having remembered growing up with about as many dinners with members of staff as your own parents. A childhood you didn’t want to subject your son to if you could help it. And, as the Queen, you could.

As luck would have it, as you all made your way inside, you spotted Michael rushing your way. “First guest is here, ma’am.”

“So it begins,” you said, putting on a smile. And begin it did, because when the door opened to let in the first guest, Lord Sebastian was on the other side. Punctual bastard…

~~~

“Is there a spare bedroom or…?” Calum let the sentence hang in the air between the two of you.

“There are several. But when I asked you to stay over, I meant with me in my room if that’s alright.”

“It’s more than alright with me. I don’t want there to be any insinuation. There’s already going to be a scandal with the Little Lord as is.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Lord Sebastian had a lapse in judgment, and then you escorted me home. That’s my side of the story anyway. What say you?”

“I say you’re already thinking like a queen.”

Quietly, the two of you made your way into the castle and towards your room. “Can you, erm…” You twirled your index finger in a circle.

“Yeah, of course,” Calum nodded, closing his eyes and facing away from you. “Just say when.”

Quickly, you changed for bed and got yourself situated under the covers. “Okay, you can look now.”

“And I suppose now it’s my turn to ask you to close your eyes?”

You covered your eyes with your hands, peeking out at him through your fingers. “Cheeky thing, you are,” he laughed, stripping out of his clothes and lying them neatly on a chair. “Is this what I have to look forward to in the future? You peeking at me through your fingers?”

“Well, there are separate bedrooms for the King and Queen, so you could have your own privacy if you wish.”

“Mmm, now where’s the fun in that?” he asked, and you felt the bed dip as he got in next to you.

“A remaining product of when the castle was built, unfortunately. Although, they were kind enough to make them adjoining rooms. In recent years, not much use has been made of the Queen’s room, as one can imagine why.”

“Well, when I’m King, my first order of business is to have that wall taken down. A remodel for the modern age.”

“If you’re King,” you corrected in a teasing tone. “Don’t consider yourself safe simply because you’re the only one I’m seeing now.”

He chuckled softly. “If I’m King,” he said, “it’ll be the greatest title I ever hold to my name. Not because it's the title of King, mind you. But because it means you’re my Queen.”

“Keep talking like that, and that day may come sooner than you think.”

“What you call talking, I call making plans.”

“In that case, I can talk all night.”

Calum chuckled again, drawing you close to him. “As much as I would love that, we’ve had an eventful night, and no doubt have an eventful morning ahead of us. Try and get some rest, okay?”

“Okay,” you nodded, settling into the pillows and Calum, feeling the exhaustion set in. “G’night.”

“G’night, darling.”

You weren’t sure how long you had been asleep, nor if you had even fallen asleep at all before you were startling awake. Adrenaline pounded through your veins as you oriented yourself, realizing you weren’t in fact still stuck with Sebastian in a horrible nightmare. However, your relief at waking from the dream was short-lived when you calmed down enough to be aware of an extra body in your bed. You froze in terror, not daring to make a sound, while also contemplating screaming at the top of your lungs.

The body next to you stirred, and you scurried from bed, breathing heavily, both ready to confront whoever was with you, and run for your life if necessary. “Darling?” Calum’s voice rasped heavily with sleep. “You alright?”

Your body went weak with relief, and you put out your hands to catch yourself on the bed before shakily crawling back in. “That… Was terrifying.”

“Mmm, what happened?” he asked, trying to rouse himself awake.

“Nightmare coupled with forgetting you were here.”

Calum stiffened. “That bastard… You sure you’re alright?”

“Better than I was a few moments ago,” you answered honestly.

“I know the nightmares will probably persist for a while, but know that future King or not, I’m never going to let him get close enough to you for him to even think of laying a hand on you ever again.”

“Between you and the new security detail I’ll no doubt be assigned by my father once he learns what happened, not only will I be the most protected heir in history, but having any sort of nightmare will feel incredibly foolish. In fact, it already feels foolish. I know I’m safe.”

“It’s not foolish. However you have to process this event is however you have to process it. And I’ll be here to help you through it as long as you let me.”

~~~

“Your Majesties,” Lord Sebastian greeted with a bow.

“Your Lordship,” you and Calum each returned, you with a small curtsy, and Calum with a bow of his own.

“Your Royal Highness,” Lord Sebastian then bowed to the Prince.

“Your Wordship,” Noah replied, with his own little bow.

“Raising him well, I see,” Sebastian commented offhandedly.

“Never too young to learn how to behave Princely,” you smiled sweetly.

The blue sea stormed over briefly at the dig, then Sebastian cleared his throat. “Yes, well.”

“What my wife meant to say was congratulations on your election. We wish you success in your new position,” Calum stepped in.

“Yes, of course,” you nodded.

“Thank you,” Sebastian said, turning his attention to Calum. “And I suppose I should offer you the same congratulations on your successes since we last saw each other. A wedding, a coronation, and a son. Quite the list of accomplishments.”

“Congratulations carry the notion that I won something, Your Lordship. I assure you that my accomplishments, as you call them, are the natural progression of living my life. A natural progression I’m sure would have befallen anyone else in my position.”

“Yes, quite. Although, some would consider marrying into the most royal of families a win of the highest regard.”

“Some lesser minded folk, I’m certain.”

“Ah, yes. A reluctant king, how could I have forgotten.”

Calum’s jaw ticked slightly, and for a moment, the three of you were five years younger on a London street, Calum and Sebastian one insult away from pummeling each other. “Reluctancy suggests that there was hesitance, of which I assure you there was none on my part whenever it came to the Queen. In fact, if memory serves, it was you who was the hesitant one. Now remind me, what were your hesitancies with becoming King again? An archaic notion of gender norms, was it not? Pity. However, I suppose your position with the military, and now your newest rank brings you great joy. Not a lot of women to outrank you in your current status I assume. Yes, a great joy indeed for you, isn’t it?”

“Are you suggesting I have a problem with women in positions in power?”

“No, of course not. It’s not a suggestion at all. One needs to barely glance your direction to come to that conclusion for oneself.”

Sebastian’s eyes darkened again, and his mouth twisted to continue trading insults with Calum, but Michael came in to announce the arrival of more guests at the same time Luke came from the kitchens to announce dinner was ready.

“Foot hurt?” Noah asked with concern as you all made your way into the dining room, pointing a little finger at the way Lord Sebastian’s right foot slightly dragged.

“Residual effect of a training exercise gone awry a few years back. Likes to flare up from time to time is all,” Sebastian explained, more for your and Calum’s benefit than Noah’s.

“How terrible,” Calum deadpanned.

“Otay?” Noah checked.

“Yes, Lord Sebastian’s foot is fine, sweet one,” you told your son.

~~~

“Well, are we right in assuming that Lord Sebastian would put out a statement about how the Princess attacked him?” your mother asked, after you and Calum had relayed the story the following morning.

“Attacked him?! Oh, please…” you scoffed.

“If Lord Sebastian puts out a statement, that could very well be the story he leads with, at the very least. At most, he puts forth a statement that he was attacked both by you and Calum,” your father put in.

“So, what are our options because that’s exactly what he’ll do,” Calum asked.

“Lord Sebastian is the military one, yes?”

“Yes,” you nodded.

“Hmm. I can work with that.”

“And the Princess’ wrist and her nightmares?” Calum pressed.

“It’s a small bruise, Cal. Nothing that won’t fade in a week’s time, or that a little makeup can’t cover,” you assured him.

“And the nightmares?” he continued to press anyway.

“I suspect the nightmares will subside in their own time. But there will be a new security detail assigned to you,” your father directed at you.

~~~

“Well, that was…” you started as you and Calum got ready for bed, but faltered on what words you wanted to use.

“Dreadfully boring?” Calum supplied.

“So dreadfully boring. Men and their politics are always the same. Grandiose are the plans they promise to the people for advancement or change. All for it to die on the Parliament floor. If any change is made at all, it’s only to secure a re-election, and it’s subtle and underhanded in just the right way that nothing actually becomes of it. A complete mockery of what it’s supposed to be.”

“Usually, I’d be in agreement with you. That the original intention of the government was to do what the crown neglected to do. But, as the crown, we now have the power to make sure the government is responsible to the people it governs. After all, isn’t that the function of a constitutional monarchy? For the crown and the government to hold each other accountable?”

“In an ideal system, yes. However, for that to work, it would require us to play nicely with a certain Lord Sebastian, and I quite despise the man.”

“Yes, that will prove to be an obstacle. But he’s one man in comparison to the rest of the government. Surely we can institute change without needing him on our side.”

“I suppose you’re right. But, all that business can wait until later, as we have plans with the Prince tomorrow.”

“That we do. And if I remember correctly, we also have unfinished business ourselves that needed attending to.”

“Mmm,” you hummed, carding your fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck. “And, remind me. What business was that precisely?”

“I think this might help jog your memory,” he rasped, before his lips attacked the sweet spot just above your collarbone. Then, his hands were guiding you to jump in his arms, where you carried you to the bed, giggles and then sighs echoing off the walls, as his mouth trailed a path lower and lower on your body.

__

Tag List

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[bluecloudious]

Kinda angst I guess (but it has Zanaz so take that with a grain of salt)

Trying out writing a story this time.

I mean, yeah, I wrote for the comics, but not long dialog.

So yea, as per both the funni boys mature content warning. (There's no canoodling, there is talk of it tho.)

Also there's quite a bit of text (8 pages worth on Word)

So ye:

“Get up, I have some juicy gossip for you.”

...What?

I open my eyes and the world around me is blinding. It’s so bright that it takes a second to adjust to it. There’s nothing around me other than vast white and empty space.

This definitely isn’t Nevada anymore. (Unless Hank managed to ruin everything even further somehow.)

“Get up now, I know you heard me.”

I get up and look around. Who the hell is talking? There’s literally nothing but white for miles.

“I’m in your head, pretty boy.”

Uh, that…

“I’m holding my eyes closed, don’t worry. I regret ever having them open in here, in fact.”

Welp, that answers that. Now for the other question.

“Who I am is not important. What info I have, may be of interest, though.”

Alright?

“There’s a deal attached to this knowledge, Zanaz. Hear me out before you start fidgeting.”

I’ll sure try.

“You know Kits, right?”

No duh, he’s my best friend.

“Excellent. He’s going to die soon.”

…

What?! Wha, when, how, uh--

“Calm down, jitterbug. There’s nothing you can do to stop his fate, so don’t try. If he doesn’t die one way, another thing will go wrong. Understand?”

I-- NO! What the fuck?! Are you gonna kill him?!

“No, not me. I’m just sharing the news.”

Yeah, right, sure. Fucking… When then?

“Soon.”

How soon? In a month, week or a few days?

“Hm… A month then, give or take.”

...Fuck… How?

“Depends on what leads up to it.”

So, there are a lot of different ways it can happen, right?

“Indeed there are.”

...Do I die with him?

“No.”

NO?! In none of the different variations, I don’t die by his side?

“Oh, you can be by his side, of course. But death isn’t after you.”

What if I try to block a bullet, but it goes through both of us.

“Oddly specific. You’ll still survive.”

What if I block it with my head?!

“Brain damage, possible vegetable state. Will still survive though.”

What if Hank slices us with one of his multiple katanas?!

“People have lived through being sliced in half before.”

WHAT.

“This world has zombie clowns with god like powers and the AAHW is lead by a man consisting of black fire.”

...Ugh, fair enough. So… Wait those are all possible deaths for him?

“If you do everything in your power for it to happen, then yes.”

I… I can kill him before his time?

“Of course! You have free will, don’t you? It’s more of a question if you want to.”

Of course I fucking don’t! I care about him!

“I saw. You daydream about him an uncomfortable amount.”

He’s the main person I’m around, give me a break!

“Have you ever considered not being horny?”

Until I’m castrated, there’ll be nothing of the sorts.

“You’re not even fertile! None of the clones are!”

You think I’m tryna get anyone pregnant at this sausage fest? Besides, that has not stopped me before.

“I refuse to believe that any of those scenes I saw play out in your head happened for real.”

You’d be surprised then.

“WHICH?!?”

Those are for me to treasure.

“...You’re pulling my leg.”

Believe what you want.

“Augh, never mind, TMI. Back onto the topic at hand.”

Oh, yeah, right. Kit… Dying…

Could you for real not give me a date?

“If it depends on the circumstances beforehand, then there’s no possible way to tell which one belongs to this timeline.”

And that means…?

“I don’t know how this Kits dies.”

Can I at least warn him?

“Well, there’s where the other side of the deal comes in. If you tell him, then the effect kicks in immediately.”

What effect? Death?

“Precisely.”

...Ah. Wait, so if I don’t tell him, he dies in a month but if I do, he dies immediately? Of what?

“Stroke, heart attack or brain aneurysm. Chosen at random. Oh, also sneak assassination. That’s also a valid option.”

...This feels set up.

“Mh?”

This feels like either you or whoever sent you here set this up so I’d suffer. You enjoy the pain of others, don’t you?

“I’m only the messen--”

Yeah, yeah, Messenger Bullshit. Then whoever decided this is probably a reality tv producer, who is jacking off to someone pushing in the soft part of a baby’s skull as we speak. You encourage such behaviour by working with them, ya know.

“...Do you think you sound smart?”

I know for a fact I’m not, so no. I’m pretty sure I’m on the money with this one though.

“If I wasn’t here then Kits’ death would come as a surprise to you though!”

I’d prefer that, actually! Now I have to deal with knowing that he… He… Won’t be here anymore soon.

“Well, knowing how overwhelmingly perverted you are, wouldn’t you wanna grab this opportunity?”

...What?

“Shoot your shot, ask him out. Not like you could do it with a corpse… …Right…?”

I may be horny, but I’m not messed up.

“Had to make sure.”

Ugh, you’re just making fun of me, aren’t you?

“Which instance are you referring to?”

Kit would never date me.

“And why exactly do you think that?”

He has standards?

“You’re a decently handsome fellow. You also get along with him just fine.”

That… That’s not a determinant of shit like that. There’s way better out there for him.

“He won’t meet em then. Only a month to live, remember?”

I… It’s not worth it.

“What isn’t?”

I know he’ll say no, there’s no point in trying.

“How do you know for sure until you actually ask?”

Cause it’s obvious! He’s actually got a brain in his noggin and he knows me way too well! He’d be fucking disgusted, man! We’re just friends and that’s that.

“Do you not want to then?”

...Why do you assume I do? How do you know that those aren’t just blissful fantasies like the rest of them?

“He’s the only one that you dream of in a non-perverted way. I see no other person in this graphic landscape that you want to hold hands with. (Also, I am closing my eyes again now, Jebus Christoff.)”

...Ffffuck.

“Well, did hit the nail on the head?”

Y-You’re stupid and gay!

“I’m rubber, you’re glue.”

That doesn’t affect me, I’m already openly gay and stupid!

“I guess we’re both such then.”

Dammit.

“So, you gonna give him a month to remember or not?”

…Eh?

“Come on, how much romance could a member of the A.A.H.W. really experience throughout their lifetime? If you’d make this month worth his and your own time, perhaps it would be less painful to see him go? At least he died happy?”

THAT WOULD BE EXTRA PAINFUL FOR ME, THOUGH!

“Oop, Zanaz selfish, you heard it here first, folks.”

That’s not what I meant. I’d already be upset over losing my best friend, imagine how fucking devastating losing a sweetheart would be.

“…I dunno, still sounds selfish to me. Does his happiness not mean anything to you?”

Who says he’d be happy with me?

“I know you want to make him happy, at least. You dream about his smile.”

STOP FUCKING LOOKING THOUGH MY THOUGHTS!!

“I’m not looking anymore, I just memorized the ones I already saw. (I wish I couldn’t.)”

I- You- Fucking-- UggHHH! It’s not worth it!

“What exactly do you imagine will happen if you tell him how you feel, huh? World combusts?”

I already told you, he already knows way too much about me! He’d be fucking grossed out and we’ll… We’ll stop being friends.

He’d quicken his pace whenever we’d have to pass each other in one of the halls. He’d desperately keep his glance away from me. He’d… I’d stop being the main person he talks and comes to company for a-and I can’t fucking have that, man!

I-I wouldn’t be able to handle it. He means too much to me.

“…I had no idea you were this insecure.”

FUCK OFF! It’s a bitter reality that I’ve come to accept!

“You haven’t even given it a shot!”

You don’t need to get crushed by a piano to know you’d die on impact!

“Those two things don’t correlate even remotely!”

It’s a metaphor!

“I know that, I’m saying that Kits has a thing for you too!”

…He what?

“He has major league crush on you! The things you say when play-flirting excite him! He’s gotten off to the thought of you touching him up! The works! (Why did I word it like that?)”

Whuh-- How the fuck do you know this??

“While you were monologuing, I visited his subconscious and confirmed it for myself.”

You can do that??

“You don’t even know my name.”

...Fair nuff. So, wait, he’s actually gotten off thinking about me?

“I don’t even need to open my eyes to already know you’re imagining it. Short answer, yes. He’s into you, Zanaz.”

Augh, I dunno what to do with this info. It’s kinda... Overwhelming in a way.

Actually, wait, how do I know you haven’t been lying to me this whole time?

“I’m an incorporeal voice in your head that’s having a back and forth with you in a white void.”

Yeah, and?

“…I’m supernatural?”

Yeah, and?

“Come on! I just know, okay?!”

Sounds fake, not gonna lie.

“The part where I knew that Kits was gonna die was convincing, but the moment I mention that he might have a thing for you, you question the validity of my claims thus far??”

One sounds way more far-fetched than the other, you gotta admit.

“NO IT DOESN’T?!?!”

For you maybe! I’ve known him since I’ve been out the cloning tube! We became agents together! I think I’d know what kinda stuff is off the table for him, buddy.

“Well, not only are you wrong, you’re in denial.”

I am not!

“Then try it! Just attempt asking him out! In the very least, you’ll remain friends after. I promise you. Cross my heart and all that jazz.”

…

…You’re absolutely positive? You are also the person that told me he’d die in a month’s time.

“A hundred percent positive. I have never been more sure of anything in my life.”

You have a life?

“Unfortunately. So, you’ll do it?”

Why’re you so adamant about me fucking Kits?

“Affgdgfdgfg, it’s not about you fucking him, it’s you making his last living month worthwhile!”

Okay, so, why do you want me to do that?

“…Do you not??”

I mean, I guess that sounds worth my time. But you didn’t answer my question.

“Sorry for assuming that you want the person you’re madly in love with to be happy, I guess??”

Apology accepted. Now, how do I get outta here?

“Ugh, just wake up.”

Whu--

And I’m sitting up in my own mat, back at the facility. The clock shows that it’s early morning.

What the fuck do I make of what I just saw? Or heard, for that matter? It clearly wasn’t a normal dream, I never remember those. Plus the topic tends to blur together usually.

I gotta tell-- Wait, I can’t do that, fuck.

…

It’s way to early for shit like this, man!!

Augh…

[gwenbrightly]

The Great Flower Chain Making Competition

Written for the @ninjago-calendar project. The Ninja take Lloyd on a picnic and Cole teaches everyone how to make flower chains.

“He needs normalcy,” Lloyd heard Nya tell his uncle in a hushed voice. He paused outside of his uncle’s room to hear what would come next.  

“But his training-” Wu started in, but Kai interrupted him. 

“But nothing, Master Wu. You can’t expect him to adjust to being the Green Ninja right away without problems. He’s just a kid, so let him be one.” 

There was silence for a moment and Lloyd could easily imagine Nya giving Wu her signature you’d better do as I say or else look to prove her brother’s point. He waited to hear the response, not quite sure what they were talking about, but knowing it involved him. 

“I… suppose you have a point,” Wu admitted eventually, “you can do what you asked on one condition: Everyone stays nearby and return to the Bounty immediately if I contact you.” 

“That’s technically two conditions,” said Nya, pointedly. Wu sighed.  

“Don’t make me regret this.” 

“We won’t,” Kai assured him and then the door opened before Lloyd could disappear around the corner. Nya raised an eyebrow when she saw him.  

“Lloyd, were you… eavesdropping?” 

“N-no,” he insisted at first, but both siblings immediately saw through his lie. 

“How much did you hear, Lloyd?” Kai asked quietly. Lloyd shrugged.  

“I dunno. Not much. But you guys really didn’t have to get on Wu’s case for me over training. I’m fine.” Another lie.  

“Considering we literally just got you back from a group of traitorous snakes, I’d say it’d be completely understandable if you weren’t fine. And besides, it’s our duty to protect you. Even from your uncle,” Kai stated fiercely, ruffling Lloyd’s hair. Nya nodded in agreement.  

“Which is why we convinced him to give everyone the day off so we can take you to do something fun!” she announced. Lloyd blinked.  

“Fun?” he repeated blankly. He had to admit that doing something to get his mind off of, well, everything, sounded appealing. But there was so much to be done now that he knew he was the Green Ninja. Could he even afford a day off? Lloyd wasn’t sure how all this destined savior business worked.  

“That’s right! We’re going on a picnic!”  

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lloyd questioned, not sharing Nya’s enthusiasm, “I mean, the Serpentine probably want revenge for what happened at the fire temple.” 

“Sure it is. We’ll just have to be careful,” Nya assured him at the same time as Kai insisted, “We only have good ideas!” 

They rolled their eyes at each other, but neither backed down.  

“We’re not taking no for an answer, Lloyd. Fresh air is good for shrimps like you,” Kai continued, giving Lloyd a smile. Lloyd knew he was probably right, though he didn’t know much about fresh air. Darkley’s had always been kind of stuffy.  

Nya looked at him expectantly. He bit his lip.  

“Fine. But if anything goes wrong, I’m telling Pythor to eat you first,” Lloyd relented. A few hours away  couldn’t do any harm.  

_________________________

“I think we’re almost there,” Cole announced. Lloyd could just make out the clearing up ahead. After gathering the rest of the ninja and packing lunch, which had been a hectic affair, the group had set out to find the perfect picnic spot. Cole claimed to “know a place” and the others had eagerly followed his lead.  Lloyd had never been on a picnic before, so he wasn’t really sure what they were looking for, but hopefully it would all make sense sooner or later.  

“Awesome,” Nya said, running her hands together enthusiastically.  

“Yeah,” Kai agreed, sounding less excited, “what did you put in this thing, Zane? My arms are starting to get tired.” 

“Oh, just the picnic essentials.” Zane called over his shoulder. Kai held the picnic basket in front of him, giving it a distaste glare.  

“You sure you didn’t pack the kitchen sink?” 

The nindroid deigned not to reply and Kai continued to mutter complaints as they continued down the trail. Deciding to have mercy on Kai after a few minutes (he was a little tired of the complaining), Lloyd asked,  

“Want me to take it for a sec?” 

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Cole cut in, “we’re here.” 

“Thank goodness,” Kai declared, staggering forward to set the basket down on a tree stump. Lloyd rolled his eyes at his dramatics before wandering off to explore while Nya and Jay spread out the ginormous picnic blanket they had stolen from Wu. 

 He found a stream not far from where Kai had left the picnic basket. Sitting down amongst the reeds, Lloyd watched the water ripple and swirl. He could see tiny minnows swimming in and out of the shadows. What other creatures might be lurking nearby?  

Maybe after they ate, Kai would be interested in helping him find out. There could be water snakes, turtles, or maybe even frogs! Frogs liked marshy areas – didn’t they?  

Lloyd could just imagine the look on Jay’s face when he and Kai brought back the biggest, slimiest frog they could find. He giggled maniacally as he skipped a stone across the stream. It bounced a few times before sinking with a soft plunk. The minnows scattered. Lloyd sighed happily, watching them.  

There was something so peaceful about this place. About the way the gentle breeze tickled the flowers that covered the meadow. Maybe he should pick some for Nya. Girls liked flowers, didn’t they? There hadn’t been many girls at Darkleys.  

Of course, there was always the possibility that she was allergic to flowers. After all, Nya had once told him that she had a perfume allergy. He should probably ask Kai about that before he went and picked too many flowers for her…  

“Lloyd! It’s time for lunch.”  

Someone called, interrupting his thoughts. Plans for pestering his honorary siblings would have to wait. Lloyd sidled over to the picnic blanket and plopped down next to Kai, who handed him a plate.  

“So, Cole. How did you know about this place?” Jay inquired as he set out the sandwich supplies. Cole smiled wistfully and explained,  

“My parents brought me here a few times when I was a kid. We would play in the stream for hours and then Mom would teach me how to make flower chains and force Pop and I to wear them. It was really fun.” 

“Aww. That sounds nice,” Nya commented. She held out a jar of peanut butter to Lloyd, who happily accepted it. He slathered some onto his bread, listening to Cole share more stories about his childhood. Lloyd wished his own parents had been around to take him on picnics and have water fights with him. But that wasn’t the way the world worked.  

With a sigh, Lloyd took a bite of his sandwich. Just the right ratio of jelly to peanut butter. Perfect.  

“You mentioned flower chains, right?” Jay asked through a mouthful of food. It sounded more like he was saying, “Ooh entond oor Jane’s ight?” 

“Yeah?” Cole replied, raising an eyebrow. Jay swallowed before continuing.  

“This might sound kinda silly, but… I’ve always wondered how people make those.” 

“Oh, it’s easy!” Cole announced with a grin, “want me to teach you after we finish eating?” 

“I, for one, would love to learn,” Nya stated. She took a bite of jello salad and glanced around at the others, who nodded.  

“As would I,” Zane agreed serenely. Kai smirked and said,  

“Sure. Why not. But I say we make it a competition.” 

“A competition?” Lloyd asked curiously, his eyes widening. That sounded promising.

“Yeah! I’m thinking we each make a flower chain, and whoever has the best one wins. We can, like, have Master Wu judge them when we get back to the Bounty, or something,” Kai explained.

“That sounds kinda fun,” Nya decided, before turning to Lloyd, “whaddya think? You in?”

Lloyd shrugged noncommittally, but ultimately agreed to join in. He had nothing better to do and was awfully curious about these… flower chains, anyway. What was the point of making chains from flowers? It wasn’t like you could use such a chain to trap enemies or anything exciting. Oh, well. He knew this entire trip was just to distract him from Green Ninja stuff. So it was probably okay if there were no practical applications for flower chains that he could use to cause chaos later on.  

The small boy shoved what was left of his sandwich into his mouth and chewed messily as he gazed around the meadow. There sure were a lot of flowers to choose from. He wondered how they would know which were best to use. And how long it was going to take the others to finish their food. Lloyd was starting to get bored of sitting there with nothing to do. 

“All right, listen up, people. What you’re looking for is flowers with nice long stems, like this,” Cole finally announced. He held up a daffodil. “That makes it easier to weave them together. Once everyone has their supplies, meet back here, and I’ll explain the rest. Everybody ready?” 

“Aye, aye, captain!” Jay said. He gave a teasing salute and trotted off across the meadow. Cole rolled his eyes as he watched him go.  

“Apparently, we have started,” Zane observed with a wry smile. The others laughed. 

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say the competition has begun.” Cole agreed. 

“Well? What are we waiting for?” Nya asked before nudging Lloyd, “We can’t let Jay beat us!”

She grabbed his arm and drug him off toward the opposite end of the meadow from where Jay had gone.

“Are teams even legal?” Lloyd heard Kai ask in the distance. 

“I never said they weren’t.” came the response. Nya giggled and came to a stop. 

“This looks like a good place to start picking flowers,” she said, bending over to examine a patch of irises. Lloyd nodded and plucked one, careful to make sure the stem was long enough to meet Cole’s standards. 

“Perfect.” Nya smiled approvingly. She began gathering an armful of flowers of her own. Red, then pink, then white, then purple. The two soon had sizable clumps of irises and various other flowers they had found growing nearby. Ready for the next phase of the competition, they returned to the picnic blanket just as the others began heading back. 

“Congratulations, competitors. You have completed the first challenge,” Cole stated in his best announcer voice. The rest of the group cheered with much more vigor than was truly necessary. They were all quite invested in the competition by this point. 

“Now you must learn how to make flower chains from the pro himself. Watch as I demonstrate,” Cole continued. He showed them how to weave the flowers together by taking clumps of 3 and braiding them in an intricate pattern. Next, he showed them how to connect new flowers to the braid by counting several stems as a single strand while braiding. 

The project had mixed results. Cole kept having to jump in to assist Kai before he could tear his flowers apart in frustration (they wouldn’t stay in place), while Jay’s weaving was so complex that even Zane couldn’t make sense of his strategy. 

Nya and Lloyd were hard at work designing a pattern of colors that was extra appealing to the eye when they realized that they had neglected to collect any blue flowers. Nya nodded her head meaningfully towards Jay’s pile of flowers, which contained a variety of blue wildflowers. Lloyd grinned and swapped spots with her, giving her easy access to Jay’s stash.

“Hey, Jay- I seem to be having trouble with this part… mind helping me out?” she asked ever so innocently. Jay flashed her a smile and scooted closer to her before launching into a tirade about the art of braiding. 

“Mhm. Oh, that makes sense,” Nya commented, pretending to be interested as she slipped a few of the flowers from Jay’s pile into Lloyd’s waiting hands. She continued to do this for several minutes before Jay finally caught on. 

“Hey. Hey wait! You can’t do that!” he protested in frustration. Nya simply smiled. 

“All is fair in love and war, Jay.”

“Yeah!” Lloyd agreed, nodding vigorously. Jay glared at him. 

“Do you even know what that means?” he asked. 

“Nope!” Lloyd said, happily adding a blue flower to his chain. All in all, the picnic had been way more exciting than he’d expected. 

[paladinofsol]

Haha asks bout the bastard bitch go brrrr

are they more calculating or more sincere in their interactions with others?

what is their mbti type?

how honest are they?

what is their greatest flaw?

how do they feel about death?

how do they typically come across to strangers? to friends? do they frequently use their telepathy to influence others’ perceptions of them?

are they nostalgic for their sidestep days or eager to move on?

yes asking about my sidestep makes me go brrrr as well 💪💪 this ended up becoming longer than i planned so answers below the cut!!

are they more calculating or more sincere in their interactions with others?

Arrow has no problems with voicing his opinions and thoughts, but he makes a point to always be careful and calculating no matter what. He knows when to be sincere and when to twist his words, analyzing whoever he’s with and saying what they want to hear in order to brush all the suspicion off of him.

what is their mbti type?

Logistician | ISTJ-T

“ISTJs are planners; they like to carefully plan things out well in advance. They enjoy an orderly life. They like things to be well-organized and pay a great deal of attention to detail. When things are in disarray, people with this personality type may find themselves unable to rest until they have set everything straight and the work has been completed.”

how honest are they?

Towards others? Arrow is nothing but a mess of deception and deceit. He makes sure to never give anything important away, sometimes making outright lies in order to steer the situation in the right direction.

With himself? Sometimes he doesn’t even know if he’s being honest or not. He’s not only lying towards everyone around him, but to his own mind as well, and he knows all too well that the consequences have already started to weigh down on his crumbling mental state.

what is their greatest flaw?

There’s too many to count

Honestly, one of Arrow’s greatest flaws is that he holds himself to a high standard and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. He’s willing to sacrifice both his own mind and others’, taking advantage of whatever and whoever he can to finally get what he’s been waiting for all these years.

how do they feel about death?

Arrow sees death for him as some sort of final rest, the calm after the storm, a way to escape and put a permanent end to all his problems. He’s sure that the world would be better off without him, the countless deaths he’s brought with his own hands serving as proof. He won’t let himself die before his plans are finished, but if the universe decided to strike him down after he’s done, then who is he to complain?

how do they typically come across to strangers? to friends? do they frequently use their telepathy to influence others’ perceptions of them?

To strangers, Arrow seems like just some poor tired soul who’s had a pretty rough day. There’s probably more to it, but nobody really cares enough to pay him any more attention.

To his ‘friends’ (aka the Rangers), it’s practically the same thing, but they’ve been around him enough to know that his tired look is just some sort of facade he’s created. They know he’s hiding something, but no amount of prodding and interrogation has been able to reveal what he’s really been shielding from the world all this time.

He doesn’t particularly care what people think of him, but he makes a point to use his telepathy as a way to make sure that people aren’t too suspicious of him.

are they nostalgic for their sidestep days or eager to move on?

Oh boy, Arrow HATES his old sidestep days. He looks back on his life pre-heartbreak and cringes at how naive and trusting he was, a far cry from the reclusive man he is now.

At least, that’s what he tells himself.

Deep down, he knows that a small part of him still wishes he could go back, and he hates himself for that. But no matter how much he tries to convince himself that the old Sidestep was a naive kid who got himself killed, he can’t help but miss the days when his life wasn’t this messy, the days where he could be honest without this many consequences.