#if I see another comment of kitty liking girls just came out of nowhere

[thefanficmonster]

Stranger In The Crowd

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: FLUFF, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Having recently ended the process of moving, Y/N is rightfully very tired but also very excited for the new chapter of her life. Funnily enough, this new chapter includes a newly formed long distance friendship/crush with a very special person from San Diego.

Requested by @boiled-onionrings Hi darling! Thank you so much for your wonderful request and I’m really sorry you’ve had to wait so long for it to be posted but here it finally is and I hope you enjoy the read! Love, Vy ❤

I let out a heavy sigh, relieved to finally be at home after such a long day of standing around in the Georgia heat with only a thin layer of fabric to protect my eyes and head from the scorching sun. Yeah, anyone who says that tent did well at protecting everyone under it today is nothing but a liar. I was in a short, strapless white summer dress, the fabric of which barely had any weight and consistency to provide heat of its own yet I still damn near melted. Ok, I’ll admit, some of the roasting heat probably came from the energy and force I put into singing the songs of my band’s new album ‘Starting At The End’. 

The mini concert we held in this large open field was meant as an introduction to the city of Savannah where all the band members - myself included - are actually from but we all moved to the West Coast to pursue our music career. And now that we’ve grown, and the majority of us are married, one of us is a father now as well, we’ve decided to return to our hometown. The decision was so spontaneous and was executed so quickly due to no one objecting to it that it still hasn’t me that I’m no longer in LA. The heat isn’t helping my ‘processing’ process but I’ll get to it eventually. Do I miss LA though? Not sure I do - I think I more miss the people I was closer to while I was there.

Suddenly, as if perfectly timed, my phone dings, notifying me that I’ve received a message. I don’t have to look to know it’s from - there’s only one person I actively text and his name is....

C ~ Your virtual buddy Corpse here, making sure you didn’t die of a heatstroke today. If you did indeed survive, just reply to this message, if not....don’t do anything, I guess.

I can’t help but giggle at the sight of the message. I promised Corpse I’d text him after the concert to let him know I was ok, but the even dragged out for longer than anticipated so I’m guessing he got worried.

How cute.

Me ~ Alive and well, but I do feel like a popped tire of an overloaded truck. Hope that’s a visually appealing description

Corpse and I met on the charity livestream Jacksepticeye organized and invited our band to so we could play Among Us with some of the best gamers and streamers on the internet. It was a huge honor and a ton of fun, definitely an event I’d like to repeat in the near future because I had such a good time and I know all my bandmates did too. We all got acquainted and even became official friends with the gamers that were practically our hosts, Corpse becoming the closest friends I’d earn. That livestream happened months ago and we still text just as consistently.

C ~ Oh I know EXACTLY what you mean. Anyway, as to not exhaust you further to force you into typing, how about you send me pictures to sum up your thoughts and emotions and plans for the evening

This is OUR THING trademark, mine and Corpse’s and no one can take it away from us. It’s a significant element of our friendship that enables us both to understand one another when one of us feels the way I described in my message - a popped tire or a deflated balloon. I’m usually the exhausted one - blame the many shows we do and the many meet-and-greets we organize for our lovely fans. It’s the type of exhaustion none of the band members mind at all, but we definitely need some time to recover from it.

As I go to sit down on my couch, the flower crown I’ve been wearing slips off the top of my head, falling on the floor, creating a soft noise that attracts the attention of one of my many cats - Sasha. She’s the youngest and most curious kitty in the family, always protected by the other four - Luna, Cassie, Silver and Lynn. Those four are far lazier and a lot more disinterested in comparison to Sasha who immediately runs over to see what’s fallen.

I smile to myself, taking the flower crown and undoing it to lessen it by a few stems to make it smaller, all the while being watched by the curious Sasha whose interest is rewarded in the end when I put the now adorably tiny flower crown on her head.

While she still hasn’t shaken the thing off I manage to snap a pic which I send to Corpse who opens it mere seconds after it was delivered. 

C ~ Sasha’s pulling off your aesthetic better than you. Sorry, someone had to let you know

I burst out laughing for two reasons - 1.The message itself, damn it! It’s hilarious; 2. Corpse has learnt the name of each one of my cats and never mixes them up - not even Luna and Lynn who look almost identical. That amount of attention to detail is astonishing and very meaningful to me, it genuinely warms my heart and that may or may not be dramatic but it’s definitely not exaggerated.

Me ~ You think I haven’t caught on yet? 

C ~ Well, if it makes you feel any better you pull off my aesthetic better than I do

He’s referring to the e-girl look I did for one show the band had in downtown LA one night. I was drunk and looking forward to trying new things so I improvised the hell out of my outfit but I apparently looked presentable enough to leave a good impression on Corpse despite the pic I sent him being a bit blurry and being a mirror selfie in the bathroom of the very bar we were performing in. It goes without saying that the mirror was dirty too - had a bunch of writing on it which Corpse said only added to the aesthetic. Looking back on it now I kinda agree, and luckily so did the fans in the comments of that same photo when I posted it on Instagram.

Me ~ Means a lot actually. Nowhere near enough to aid the burn of having a cat pull off cottagecore better than I do, but still helps XD

As if sensing that we’re talking about her, Sasha hops on the couch, poking her head over my phone to look down at the screen.

Now this is gonna be golden.

I take a selfie with my phone in my lap, the camera capturing both me and Sasha at a rather unflattering angle which has me losing my mind laughing when I send the picture to Corpse who immediately sends back a string of cry-laughing emojis.

C ~ I can’t tell which one of you is cuter

Me ~ If that was a compliment, I gotta say I appreciate it greatly

C ~ Just telling the truth ;)

It’s times like these that the butterflies in my stomach remind me just why I’ve started catching feelings for this man despite all the distance between us and despite barely knowing him - he knows me more than I know him but I don’t mind it, oddly enough.

I’m fond of our connection and though I sometimes dream of something more, I’m also content with what we already have considering that ‘something more’ seems rather unattainable as of now.

My phone dings again, clearing the fog of thoughts and presenting me with a new message from Corpse.

C ~ Oh, by the way, look what I got....

That message is followed up by a picture of a ticket. A plane ticket to Georgia! 

While I’m still busy stomaching this and dealing with my quickly rising excitement, he sends another message.

C ~ I hope to catch a The Silver Rays concert while I’m there. Heard they had an adorable frontwoman ;)

My breath catches in my throat as a wide grin spreads across my face. The thought of having Corpse so close to me sends those aforementioned butterflies in my stomach into a raving mood and they practically explode my insides with excitement and joy like I’ve never felt it before. I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that we’re about to go from having an entire country between us, to being just some ways away - him in the audience and me on stage without a single clue of who to look for. That’s part of the excitement though, I guess, part of the guessing game that’s gonna make our meeting all the more interesting.

He’ll be a stranger in the crowd and I’ll be a performer on a stage - seemingly two people who have no relation whatsoever. But damn does it go beyond that: No one has to know how hard I’m falling for that stranger in the crowd.

Me ~ I’ve heard so too, can’t confirm it though

If this is gonna be a guessing game, I’ll flip the tables a bit - I won’t take any guesses. I’ll let the answer come to me. I’ll give the first move over to the stranger in the crowd, let’s see what he does.

C ~ I’ll check and let you know, don’t worry

Not worried whatsoever, Corpsie. I’m not worried at all.

@maat-the-prescriptive  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @itsminniekat  @hacker-ghost  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios  @maehemscorpyus  @loraleiix  @letsloveimagines  @annshit  @i-cant-choose-a-username-help  @enigmaticmaze  @divine-artemis  @waterlilypat  @idontknowwhatthisisfam  @evi-ka  @classyandfabulous00  @redperson58  @lilysdaydreams @solowheein  @mythicalamphitrite  @axen-gers  @luckygirl144  @nj01  @buddyemily   @the-albino-lioness  @stardream14  @gdhdkfnn  @nomadicgypsyy  @preciousskye  @fluffysuicideunicornsworld  @o-kaelin  @manacharlotte  @awkward-youtube-trash  @lolalee24  @bonky-beerns  @meme-lord-and-savior-sebastian  @strawbrinkofdeath  @teenloves  @tams0527  @browneyespinkhair  @starstruckllamapuppy  @daisychains012  @y0ulooked  @tinytacosuitcaseflap @supernatural-is-my-only-life  @jula-pauline  @melodykitty  @just-that-bi-girl  @crazybutconfidentaf  @lowellshade @alphakees  @bellero  @weallneednamjesus  @starryhanji  @boiled-onionrings  @husherstan  @fockingwhore  @melaningoddessthings  @prettypastelpetals  @haleypearce  @godwhyamiawkward  @y-napotat  @daisychainyoonmin  @little-miss-rebel3  @free-wheelin-bi-sexual  @redmoon261 @darkacademic2  @wiseflamingoqueen  @into-the-end  @namikhai-i  @nastiablr  @thelittleplantlover  @mirktuan  @dont-hyuck @jjk-bunny  @vintagegothlover  @easygoingtheatre  @itsrandombooklover  @miiaivi  @emmybaybee  @befourgolden  @jjk-is-my-shit  @eternalteaaars  @spacebadgerx  @princesslunalight  @acequinn14  @samm48  @misselsbells06 @simp-lykawa  @fo-love  @marishimomura-blog  @therealglenncoco  @cinnamonbun332  @killtherandomness  @sanshinexxxsan  @fee-btheweeb  @press-lay  @cathleenpotgieter16  @jazzydoesstuff  @moonlxghtbay  @forestrain2000  @hyunjinhugs  @blood-of-fandoms  @lovellylies  @ukiyolixx  @simpforhpcharacters  @chrisdylan17  @parkerjisung  @pedernille  @theodonyous  @wineandionysus  @malfoystilinskii05  @morbid-x  @coryisagee  @jessewa26  @scoobydooluver97 @mindintheskies365  @raeanneinwonderland  @indecisive-empanada  @gluttonypalace  @loriane2503  @btsiguess-kpop  @khaoticbunny  @lucidlycactus  @smiithys  @rottenroyalebooks  @kpopgirlbtssvt  @fangirl-tc27  @fr0z3n-1  @notmesimpingfortechno  @shotarosleftpinky  @kunoi-chan  @idk-whats-wrong-with-me  @yikeroonie  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @poetry-and-tea  @ama-do-writing-stuff  @wishbonewolf  @emeraldxhope  @t0xick1tty  @kusuinko  @speakyourselfloveyourself  @sophia902103  @lo-manburg  @classsykittykat  @dmgama  @depressedpuppythatneedscoffee  @btsiguess-kpop  @akaashi-baby  @gun-jong-simp  @geschichtenfee  @yerapotato-wp  @browneyedgirl365  @thysagclub  @sparklycloudnight  @helloatomicshadow  @queentorresstuff @vtte @val-gal  @lucy-bunny17  @aaliyahh0  @katluckybear  @boyleanti  @straybids  @franchesca-791  @cosmicstorm19  @averyisbackinthetrashcan  @aomi-nabi  @xlanawriter  @allensimpsforcorpse  @sunnyrae-cessh  @ladykxxx08  @meowiemari  @renupf  @booklover76  @sra-verissimo

[seven-homosexual-dinosaurs]

Don’t let me go

Chapter 8: You guys deserve some fluff

Chptr 7  Chptr 6  Chptr 5  Chptr 4  Chptr 3  Chptr 2  Chptr 1

It had been a week, and Anne and Cathy had finally began to settle in. Catalina and Jane had both fussed over them, giving them clean (although slightly oversized) clothing and dressing their many (although minor) wounds, and the two had finally began settling in.

Anne shared a room with Kat, and although awkward and somewhat uncomfortable at first, the two had fallen into a comfortable sort of rhythm. Cathy shared a room with Jane, which soon became the source of teasing and yelling for reasons Catalina couldn’t possibly fathom. And so, the five fell into a sense of semi normalcy.

Which brings us to our current situation.

“Annie!” Kitty whined, trying to grab the letter Anne held above her head. “Give it back!”

“Who’s Anna and why have I never heard of her?” Anne questioned, switching the letter to her other hand as Kat almost grabbed it. Catalina stuck her head around the corner at the mention.

“Anna? She’s Kitty’s friend. Lives down the street, about a year younger than you,”

“Oh?” Kat took Anne’s momentary distraction to jump up, using Anne’s shoulder as a boost, and grab the letter. Scowling, she swatted Anne’s arm and crossed her own, gripping the letter tightly. Anne slung her arm around the girl affectionately, leaning against the doorframe.

“So, what’s the letter for?”

Kat blushed a bright pink, detaching herself from Anne’s embrace.

“I was gonna see if she wanted to go to the festival with me this weekend,”

Anne froze, a wide grin spreading across her face. 

“Kitty’s got a cru-ush!” she yelled in a sing song voice, yelping as Kat swatted the back of her head. Jane walked into the room, grabbing a glass of water before leaving.

“Anne, stop teasing your cousin,”

Anne smiled guiltily at the stern look Jane sent her way, smiling apologetically at Kat. “Sorry Kit,”

Kat shook her head good naturedly, heading towards the door.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go deliver this, wanna come with?”

Anne nodded, pulling her shoes onto her feet.

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

The two came across a little run down cottage surrounded by overgrown bushes. Looking around, Anne watched as Kat walked up to the door, letter clutched tightly in her hand. Three short knocks later, the door opened to show a young girl, probably no older than Anne herself. She wore short black hair with her bangs swept to one side of her face. She was tall and broad, though there was a certain air of youthfulness to her. Crimson eyes lit up as she opened the door.

“Hey Kat!” her eyes fell on Anne. “Who’s this?”

“This is my cousin Anne. Anne, meet Anna,”

Anne waved politely, inching closer to Kat. Leaning in slightly, she whispered into Kat’s ear.

“No chickening out now. You gotta commit,”

Kat glared at her playfully, swatting her arm. Anna watched on in confusion. 

“So, what brings you here?”

Kat paled slightly, sweat running down her brow. Fidgeting with her hands, she crumpled the letter in her grasp and stuffed it in her pocket. 

“Lina wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner!” she blurted out, a bright pink blush spreading across her face. Anne facepalmed behind her as Anna grinned happily. 

“Sure! Just make sure Jane makes desert,” she chirped, winking at Kat. Kat flushed an even deeper red as Anne sighed loudly. This was gonna be a long day.

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

“What the hell was that?!” Anne rounded on Kat, her hands on her hips. Kat grinned sheepishly, fiddling with a strand of hair. 

“The festival isn’t even that good anyways! If anything, we just dodged a bullet,”

Anne raised her eyebrow, staring at Kat. 

“This isn’t about that and you know it,”

Kat sighed, leaning against the wall of the cottage. “Whatever. It’s not important anyways,”

Anne regarded her, a dubious expression on her face. Kat withered under her incredulous gaze. 

“Whatever, I’ll give it to her tomorrow!”

Anne scoffed, taking Kat’s hand and leading them back to the house. “Chicken,”

“I’m not!” she whined, leaning against Anne dramatically. Anne giggled, ruffling Kat’s hair, prompting another whine of protest from the latter.

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

The six women ate in an awkward silence. Cathy sat to Anne’s right, who in turn sat next to Kat. Next to Kat sat Anna, who didn’t seem too bothered by the silence. Next, was Jane, who appeared to be trying to make conversation with little success. And finally, Catalina sat between Cathy and Jane, munching quietly on a roll of bread. Eventually, Cathy broke the silence.

“So Anna, how’d you and Kitty meet?”

Jane sighed in relief, thankful for the conversation starter. 

“Well for that, you need the story of how we got here first. If you don’t mind-?”

Anna swallowed down on a piece of carrot in her mouth, erupting into a fit of coughs as she choked on the vegetable. Kat offered her a glass of water, which she took gratefully.

“Not at all,” she choked out, face red and sweaty. 

Jane gave her a concerned look, which she quickly waved away. 

“If you insist...”

“So it was just a little after you were... taken,”

Anna looked up in confusion at this. Kat leaned towards her.

“I’ll explain later,” she whispered, prompting a thankful look in her direction from the rest of the women.

“Right, so, I met Lina a bit later. Cathy had already disappeared, so it was just her. We became friends a bit later, seeing as we had some.... common ground,” Jane cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“Anyways, I think I was... about twenty three? Yeah, that sounds about right. I’d just lost my job, and I couldn’t afford to pay rent. Lina offered her place, so me and Kat moved in so that we’d both be able to pay rent easier. Well, she’s technically the one paying, but I pay about half, so we’re even,”

“And I think that’s it!” she finished, looking around the room at her friends. “Kat, you wanna take it from there?”

Kat startled as attention shifted to her, shifting in her seat awkwardly. “Uh, sure,”

“Catalina was helping Jane settle in, so I went out to get a look around town. Eventually, these four boys come up to me and we start talking. They seemed nice, but then they got kind of pushy and touchy. Wanted me to go somewhere  with them and I guess it annoyed them when I said no,”

Kat inhaled deeply, setting her hands on her legs. 

“I started panicking and they got pushier. Then, Anna comes out of nowhere and starts trying to fight the guys. She managed to get them to leave, but she got beat up pretty bad in the process. I took her back to Lina’s place to patch her up, and it turns out Anna and Lina actually knew each other! Apparently Anna getting into fights with people like them is pretty common, so Lina always helps her whenever she gets beat up. So, yeah,”

Kat finished with an awkward smile, looking around. As the women finished with their meal, they followed Anna to the door to see her off. 

“Thanks for inviting me Lina!” she chirped, waving cheerfully. Catalina blinked, creasing her brow. 

“But I didn’t-”

Ann elbowed her in the ribs, staring at Kat, who’s eyes widened in panic.

“Just go with it,” she whispered frantically. Catalina nodded slowly.

“I mean- yeah, no problem!” 

Jane snorted as the door closed behind Anna. “Real smooth Lina, real smooth,”

And so, the women went their separate ways, with Cathy grabbing a book off the shelf and retreating to her and Jane’s room, Jane and Catalina heading off to clean the kitchen, and Anne and Kat retreating to their shared room. Flopping down onto her bed, Anne sighed, placing her hand over her eyes.

“Kitty, if you don’t ask Anna out by the end of the month I swear to god I will do it for you. Watching you two pine is so unbelievably painful.

“ANNE!”

@bunnyranger761 @annabanana2401 @ender1821 @snakesnack6 @laffytaffytealover   

Comment if you wanna join the tag list!!! :D

[bigboomboi]

Anchor- Bakugo X Reader

Words: 3431

Warnings: Cursing and slight mention of blood

A snarl echoed through the training field and Y/N swiped at Momo, who easily avoided her claws. Y/N ducked under Momo’s staff, and punched her in the chest, sending her to the ground. Momo grunted, but didn’t miss a beat and tripped her attacker, taking her to the ground as well. 

Growling, Y/N easily caught the staff aimed for her face, using it to flip the creative quirked girl over into the ground before trying to stand herself. But again, Momo was quick, kicking Y/N in the back, launching her through the dirt.

Momo stood and froze, noting Y/N’s adopted stance. Crouched on all fours, teeth sharpening further than they already were, a stripped tail sprouting. Momo hesitated her advance on Y/N as her eyes flashed, pupils thinning. Momo instantly reached for the blow dart, out of habit and fear.

But thankfully, Y/N shook her head, struggling to hold back her transformation. She slowly took several deep breaths before glaring at Momo again before charging her. Momo tightened her grip on her staff, seeing that Y/N stayed human. 

Dodging the swing of the metal bar, Y/N slashed at Momo again, her attacks much more frantic than before. She had to exert the unused aggravation somehow. So when Momo created a pair of restraints and snagged Y/N’s hands, Y/N simply vaulted the girl and yanked her handcuffs into Momo’s neck to choke her. To which she responded by reaching back doing the same thing with her own weapon.

The girls stood, back to back, awkwardly choking each other out for several moments before the need to shift returned. Much stronger than the first time. Panicking, Y/N backflipped over Momo again and tried to pull away from the tangle of limbs they were.

Her opponent noted the panic in Y/N’s eyes and released her, to kick her again. Sending her across the field before jumping back herself, giving Y/N space. And once again, Y/N stayed crouched, growling and panting hard. She was going to shift, she could feel it. Her grip on her form was slipping, so she did the best thing at the time.

She slammed her head into the ground.

“Y/N!” Momo gasped, holding herself back from moving to check on her at least until Y/N collapsed to the ground, effectively ending the match.

In mere moments the class surrounded the concussed student. “You can’t knock yourself out, everytime you almost fully shift, Y/N….” Aizawa muttered, rolling his eyes. 

Y/N groaned, and closed her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Give me a better option…”

“Figure out how to control your full shift.” Aizawa advised her.

"But, I can’t. I actually can’t.” She whimpered as Momo helped her up. “I get tranquilized everytime I full shift.”

Her quirk was an animal transformation, to be more specific she shifts into the world’s deadliest big cat. A Bengal Tiger. Coming from a family of shapeshifters, she was the only one with the quirk that couldn’t control her full shift.

“Fine, then in addition to the homework tonight. Brainstorm on some ways to keep a whole of your mind when you use your quirk.” Aizawa ordered, before dismissing the class. “Get to the nurse’s office.”

Later, back at the dorms Uraraka gently prodded, the bruises on Y/N’s cheeks with a cool towel. Despite the fact that Recovery girl fixed her broken nose and slight concussion, she advised Y/N to allow her bruises to heal naturally, for she far too exhausted to take in anymore accelerated healing. Y/N hissed and jerked away from her friend’s fingers when she poked a particularly sore bruise.  

“Okay, what if you wear a shock collar that tases you bv every few minutes.” Denki offered.

“She’s not actually an animal!” Mina punched his arm. 

“Technically … She is…” 

Somehow her extra homework turned into a dorm discussion, when they all gathered in the living room to hangout. As much as Y/N appreciated the help, they were getting nowhere. But the ideas they came up with were surprisingly creative. A safe word, a whistle, netting her until she calmed down. Really, even the shock collar wasn’t a bad idea.

“We could just spray you with water?” Kirishima commented. “Like what people do when their cats are being bad.”

“Yes, Kirishima. Let’s spray the rabid, Bengal Tiger with water and see if you don’t get mauled.” Y/N grumbled.

“She’s not some stupid house cat. She’s a deadly Tiger that can’t control herself.” Bakugo grumbled from next to her.

“Yes, thank you for the reminder, Mr. Anger Issues and Superiority Complex.” Y/N huffed, trying to move away from Uraraka’s caring hands.

“At least I don’t break my own nose to avoid mauling my friends.” He glared at her.

“Don’t worry, when you’re in the ring, I won’t.” She snapped back.

His hand crackled at the threat. “You wouldn’t get close to me, shitty woman.”

“Let’s see about that.” She snarled, her teeth elongating. Despite the slight crush she harbored for him, he was still an ass and she wouldn’t let him get away with talking down to her.

“O-okay! We should get back to finding a way to control yourself.” Midoriya panicked.

“Do whatever, I don’t give a fuck about it.” Bakugo broke eye contact and stood off the couch.

“Asshole.” Y/N mumbled, glaring while he stomped off. “But anyway. Any more ideas? Or is the shock collar the best thing we got?”

After a moment of silence, Kirishima perked up again. “What about an anchor or something. Like, from that american show with the werewolf dude and his nerdy sidekick.”

“Are you talking about Teen Wolf? Where he dated a chick that hunted his kind?” Jiro raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah. That.” He scratched the back of his neck. “But think about it. In the show, the werewolves needed an anchor to keep a hold of themselves. To keep them grounded.Like the Scott guy had his girlfriend as his anchor.”

“First off… She dumped him. Second… I don’t have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend.” Y/N sighed.

“Do you want one?” Denki asked hopeful only to be nailed in the face by a couch pillow. 

“Okay, yes, she did break up with him, but then he became his own anchor.” Kirishima added. “Remember yourself, who you are, where you are, why you’re here. Stuff like that. Or another person, a family member, Mina. Someone or something that means more to you than anything else.”

“An anchor…” She chewed her lip. What the fuck was her anchor going to be.

“Today, Y/N. Bakugo.” Aizawa matched up. “This time. I will be the only one with a tranq. Y/N you are to fully shift before the match is over.”

Y/N nodded, before turning to Mina, who gently adjusted the collar around Y/N’s neck. “Alright, Denki, remember only three time every minute if I’m wild, okay. Please don’t fry my brain.”

“Got it.” He nodded.

Y/N took a deep breath and stepped out on the field, standing across from Bakugo. He looked pointedly at her collar and scoffed at the fact that she actually went with the idea of it. His palms crackled and she activated her quirk partially, nails and teeth sharpening and amping her speed.

“Come on kitty, kitty, kitty.” He taunted before charging her.

She easily dodged his blasts, trying her best to find an opening, before he backed her into a corner. Snarling, she grabbed an explosive hand, aimed for her face and yanked him close only to thrust her foot into his chest. She smirked and followed his falling figure.

He grunted when he landed, but still managed to avoid her pounce. As he rolled over, he barely managed to slam his crackling palm into her side. Sending her rolling and gasping.

“Oi, I thought you were gonna let me have it, stupid cat.” He mocked.

“I’m just waiting for you to show me a reason to use my full quirk.” Y/N shrugged, hiding the pain in her ribs.

He growled and charged her again, this time she stood her ground, blocking his blows to the best of her ability. She easily ducked under his first and punch him in the stomach, before twisting to kick his side, pushing him to the ground, but he just swiped her legs from under her as he fell.

He was quick to pin her to the ground, sitting on her, and start slamming his exploding fists next to her head as she dodged. She growled, her want to shift pounding at the back of her skull. But she forced it down, knowing he was just toying with her, trying to piss her off enough to shift. She reached up and grabbed his collar and yanked his forehead into hers.

He groaned, dizzy, from the sudden head trauma, giving her an easy window to flip their position. She mimicked his own attack from moments before, but instead actually connected her fists to his jaw. Several hits in, Bakugo snagged her arm and flipped them again, twisting her arm out straight behind her back.

She cried out, and struggled against his grip but he only pulled tighter. Y/N panicked, he was going to break her arm if she didn’t pull out and the thought forced her fight or flight to kick in. She was shifting and needed to get him off.

Turning her head she glared at the foot next to her head and bit down on his calf muscle. He cursed, relinquishing some of his pull on her arm. She took the opportunity to free herself, rolling over, definitely straining the joint in her shoulder and using that same arm to push him into the dirt before scrambling to put a few feet in between them.

Like before with Momo, Bakugo watched Y/N crouch and struggle to control herself. As did the class, cheering for her to shift. She closed her eyes to steady her breathing as bones started to crack. Maybe if she transformed slowly she’d keep a hold.

Bakugo took his chance while she shifted and rushed her, palms popping.

A large paw extended claws forced him to duck, but not quick enough as a larger than normal Bengal Tiger pinned him to the ground. She snarled at him, warningly and opened her mouth to bite him, but she jerked as a sharp jolt was sent through her neck.

Bakugo was quick to thrust his foot into her chest, and roll away from her. She was already struggling to keep a hold of her mind, he saw the wild flicker in her eyes. 

“Y/N, remember to control it. Not let it control you.” Aizawa called to her, but she only turned to growl at him. She was completely gone already, and the shocks in her neck were only pissing her off.

She crouched and narrowed in on Bakugo before pouncing. Even with several feet between them, he barely managed to dodge her claws. She spun sharply to follow his dodge and leaped to bite him. He cursed and punched her with an exploding fist. She yelped and rolled through the dirt, her shock collar falling off, destroyed from his blast.

Now there was nothing to pull her back to reality. All that was running through her head was to attack. And she couldn’t help the idea, her conscience was slowly drowning in the instinct to hurt him. She growled at herself and tried to shake her mind clear but it didn’t help, nothing helped. 

She mentally felt faint, and seemed to be blacking out. Though she felt her body rush forwards and attack Bakugo, she couldn’t focus on the fact that she drew blood, tearing through his hero suit. Just the suffocation of her shift.

She was fading…

Further…

And further…

“Shit! Y/N, stop fucking biting the gauntlet!”

Blinking, she felt like an alarm went off as Bakugo shouted at her. She blinked, eyes locking on to his panicked ones. He struggled a bit more before he noticed her growls silenced. He froze looking at her.

“Y/N?” He gambled.

She blinked again, jaw loosening on his arm. She noted the blood on his cheek, an obvious scratch from her claws. Y/N slowly let go of his grenade piece and whimpered looking him over completely. He was bloody and bruised, thanks to her lack of control.

“Stop, stupid cat!” He noticed her backing away and quickly stopped her. “You’re doing it. You’re in control.”

He could clearly see the panic in her eyes, if he let her succumb to the overwhelming emotion, she’d lose herself again and he knew that. She whimpered when he reached out to her and he paused. Y/N heard a shout from behind her, it was only their attempts to call out to her conscience, and she whimpered shaking her head. Her grasp slipping again.

Bakugo sighed and grabbed her, his fingers deep in her fur. “Relax, Kitten. Look at me and only me.”

She did as she was told and tried to ignore the calls from the class. “See, you’re doing fine. You feel this?” She wasn’t sure if he meant his comforting fingers petting her or the feeling of control she had, but she jerked her head yes. “Remember it. Anytime you shift, okay? Don’t panic or you’ll lose it.”

She whined, licking apologetically at her bit mark on his arm. He pushed her face away, a slight pink colour tainting his cheeks. She licked and nipped at him playfully, feeling more comfortable now.

“Stop licking me, shitty woman!” He kept pushing away at her snout while she tried to lick his wounds. She ignored his protests and continued, now that she had better control, her emotions and feelings were multiplied and she couldn’t help but let them bubble over. Disguising her kisses as simultaneously apologizing and thanking him. 

Suddenly Y/N yelped and glared at her side, where the tranquil dart stuck her. Bakugo followed her gazed and cursed, reaching to yank it out but it was too late. She’d already collapsed into his lap, revealing Aizawa making his way to them.

“What the hell was that for?” Bakugo shouted, before returning his attention to the tiger whimpering in his lap. “Shit, Kitten.”

“She wasn’t in control.” He answered, easily.

“Yes, she was.” Bakugo sighed as she passed out. “She had control…” 

It had been a week since her match with Bakugo and Y/N had managed to avoid all contact with him since. No matter how hard he tried, she always seemed to slip out of his fingers. Even their friends started trying to trap her into seeing him.

It wasn’t that she was scared or anything, she just didn’t know what to do. She had the intense urge to touch him in someway, anyway. Holding his hand, hugging him… kissing him. But she knew that wouldn’t end well if she acted on her feelings.

“Y/N, babes, it’s us. We’ve brought dinner.” Urakaka’s voice called through her door.

Y/N sighed and stepped to the door. “You’re not trying to trick me again are you, cause I will bite.”

A moment of silence answered her before an actual voice did. “No, Y/N. It’s just us.”

Slowly, she opened the door to see her friends. She stepped aside to let them in and accept the curry Urakaka offered. They all sat and contemplated a way to start the conversation they’d all been putting off.

Finally, “What the fuck happened with Bakugo?” Mina yelped, tired of the pressure in the room.

“Nothing.” Y/N shrugged, pushing her food around on her plate. “I lost control and hurt him, like I always do.”

“He seems to think differently.” Jiro hummed.

“Yeah, well he was probably delirious from me slamming his head on the ground.” Y/N said.

Urakaka huffed. “Why are you trying to ignore the fact that he helped you control yourself?”

“Because, now I can’t shift without the thought of him in my head. If I try to think of anything other it will always revert back to him.” She snapped. “And it’s not just him! It’s wanting him. It’s my feelings for him and now I’m fucking scared to talk to him because when I fucking see him and want to run into his arms becuase I- fuck.” 

“Because what, Y/N. You gotta figure this out, because at this point, we’re going to tie you up, put you in a box and give you to him like a present.” Mina threatened.

“That sounds kinky, ribbit.” Tsu teased.

“Can’t I just avoid him forever.” Y/N whined.

“No!” They all quipped.

Hours later, once Y/N was sure everyone had gone to bed she slipped down to the kitchen. She didn’t finish her dinner, but that didn’t mean she’d waste it, she’d just take it for lunch so she could run straight to her hiding spot of the day. But first she had to find her bento.

Muttering quietly, she checked the lower cabinets, where they normally were placed, but found the area empty. She opened and closed each cabinet until she found them. On the very top shelf. 

Y/N grunted stretching to try and reach the lunch boxes, even though it was futile. She gave up and was about to climb the counter, knowing there was no one around to stop her- except the warm hand on her back. She froze, the light scent of warm caramel and a strong chest pinned her before her bento was placed in front of her.

For a long moment, they stayed frozen. While he hoped she’d turn and look at him, she was trying to will him to disappear. While she felt wonderfully serene with him so close, she needed him to leave. She wasn’t ready to face him yet. Not that she thought she’d ever be.

“Would you fucking look at me already?” Bakugo urged. Y/N shook her head, frantically, not trusting her voice.

“I’m not mad, if that’s what you’re worried about, idiot.” Again she shook her head.

“Then, for the love of fuck! Why are you avoiding me, shitty woman?” He snapped.

“Because I’m scared!” She admitted finally turning to face him.

“Like I said, I’m not mad at you.” He tried again.

“That’s not it, I’m just scared!” She glared at him. 

“Scare of what, Y/N?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but chickened out and pressed her lips together looking away. As panicked as she was, his proximity still calmed her. Tears welled in her eyes, not knowing what to do with her feelings. So she did what was best at the time; she slammed her head into his chest.

“Oi!” He grunted, ready to snap at her again, but paused when she mumbled something into his chest. “I can’t understand you into you whisper into my shirt, stupid.”

Taking a shaky breath, she spoke again, louder this time. “You’re my anchor.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “I’m your what?”

“You’re… ‘Someone that means more to you than anything else.’ An anchor, keeping me grounded, when I shift.” She explained softly. 

Bakugo paused for a minute, thinking carefully of what to say next as to not scare you away. “Why me?”

“Because… I…” Y/N stopped and tried her best to build up the strength to say it.

“Kitten,” He tugged her chin up to look her in the eyes before repeating her question. “Why me?” 

As cliche as it sounded, she couldn’t hide it or lie about it. There was nothing she could do about it. “Because I’m in love with you and I’m scared because I don’t know what I’ll do when you leave.”

She closed her eyes, bracing for his laugh. For rejection. Y/N felt his hand squeeze her hip and his nose bumped into her gently. She took a deep breath as he pressed her into the counter before his lips brushed over hers fleetingly.

“Who said I was going to leave?” 

Bonus:

Y/N and Bakugo laid cuddle together on the couch, watching a movie. Y/N was slowly dozing off, thanks to the warm fingers rubbing her back. At least she was until-

“I thought you said you didn’t want a boyfriend?” Denki pouted at the couple on the couch.

This time Bakugo nailed him in the face with the couch pillow. “Fuck off, Sparky.”

[sixqueendom]

New Fanfic: If Only You Would Listen, Chapter 1

So, after having a few requests to, I’ve decided to post my new fic on here as well as AO3. If you would prefer to read on AO3, I have included the link below! No real warnings for this one. Just the usual angst I'm sure you've grown accustomed to with my fics if you’ve read any of my previous work!

A huge thank you to Phoebe (@theatergirl06), Lilac (@timetoriseabove) and Blue (@pen-and-a-microphone) for beta-reading this fic! You guys are the best!

AO3 Link

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

Kitty decided she had had enough.  Everything was becoming overwhelming. The home she shared with the five other Queens suddenly felt overbearing and overly dominated by the others, so much so that she felt like she didn’t belong there anymore. Like she was an outcast. Sidelined. She didn’t feel like a priority to any of them, more a burden. An afterthought.

The truth was, Kitty was fed up with being mollycoddled by Jane. She was fed up of being treated like she was a child. But most of all, she was fed up of walking into a room, only for the lively chatter to descend into quietness, the other women refraining from talking openly for fear the topic might upset or offend her. They’d never told her that, but she knew. She was, after all, the vulnerable one in their eyes. The liability.

She appreciated Jane’s love and care towards her, she really did. It was nice to finally feel like someone genuinely cared about her, after a childhood with inattentive parents and ultimately being raised by her father’s negligent stepmother, the Dowager Duchess. For once, she felt wanted and loved. But as much as she appreciated it, Jane’s motherly care was smothering. Suffocating. Jane had always had a desperate longing to be a mother, having been robbed of the chance with her own son. So, naturally, with Kitty being the youngest, she projected all that energy onto her. But for Kitty, it was all too much. She didn’t feel she had any real independence. 

Eventually, she started to realise she was being excluded from conversations.

She’d accepted it at first. Perhaps she didn’t want to hear it. The conversations would just stir up old memories and rip off the superficial plaster she’d put on those wounds. That was, until she realised she was slowly losing her voice within the group, her right to speak for herself. Instead, the Queens were doing it on her behalf, assuming they knew what was best. Assuming they knew what she would say.

Last week, the Queens had all been invited to a podcast interview with an up and coming theatre critic, who had recently seen the show. The critic had analysed and dissected each of their individual songs and probed them for more details. When it came to Kitty’s song, she immediately saw the concerned faces of the others, like they anticipated a breakdown. Much to her annoyance, Anne butted in halfway through her response to a question. After that, Kitty noticed the subtle actions of the others: the critic saw it as casual banter, but it was really just a cover-up for the tougher questions regarding her past, an effort to keep things light-hearted in an attempt to stop it being so upsetting. What they didn’t realise was that Kitty had recounted her previous life so many times that, although still arguably painful to recall, it didn’t provoke the heightened emotions the Queens were probably expecting. She was tougher than that. Yet, by the end of the interview, Kitty felt like she hadn’t really contributed anything. 

A couple of nights later, there was a small incident at stage door when Kitty was approached by two young girls. As she happily signed their programmes, one of the girls piped up excitedly.

“I can’t wait to hear your next interview on Saturday! I’m going to send a question in for you to answer!”

Kitty frowned, but quickly concealed her confusion with a laugh. “Yeah, you should totally do that! I’ll try my best to answer as many as i can!”

On the Tube home, Kitty queried the conversation. “What’s this about an interview this weekend?”

Anne gasped. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you! We’ve got an interview with a theatre magazine on Saturday. They are also hosting a little Q&A session with the fans. Should be fun.”

Kitty leant back in her seat, going quiet. When were they actually going to tell her if she hadn’t prompted?

The next evening, when Kitty came downstairs to find the Queens huddled around the kitchen, seemingly in a deep conversation without her, it was the final straw. Right on cue, as soon as she walked in, the mood immediately changed and, like a flick of a switch, a hush fell over the room as the discussion dropped away. It always felt like she was disrupting them. Like she was gatecrashing a party. Uninvited and unwanted.

Kitty glanced from one Queen to another. 

“What are you all talking about?” It was an innocuous enough question. She kept her voice light, casual. There was no need at this point to get tense and uptight. 

Anna, in one corner, gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Nothing important. Just about that silly interview we have tomorrow.”

The interview with the magazine. The interview that she was also involved in.

Kitty blinked. “What about it?”

She caught Cathy giving a nervous glance across the room to Anna, her hands firmly cupped around her coffee mug as she leant against the kitchen counter. Kitty could sense the atmosphere in the room growing tense. After all, they weren’t stupid. They could tell where this was heading. 

Anne gave a shrug. “Just about what kind of questions we think they’ll ask. Just...boring stuff really.”

Here we go. Trying to assure her she wasn’t missing out on anything. That it wasn’t important enough for her voice to be included.

“It didn’t sound boring,” Kitty leant against the doorframe. “Sounds like a good idea, actually. Always best to be prepared for whatever they throw our way.” She was still maintaining her casual tone, but she could feel her patience being tested.

Jane, as always, was the first to get flustered, sensing that things were starting to head south and wanting to avoid confrontation. “Look,” she held up her hands. “Why don’t we just talk about this later when-”

“When what?” Kitty snapped. “When I’m back upstairs in my bedroom? When I’m out of earshot and can’t hear what you’re really talking about?”

Jane blinked. She didn’t know how to respond. Catherine bowed her head, staring at the lines of her hands. Across the table, Anne visibly squirmed in discomfort.

Kitty smirked. She’d caught them red-handed and now they didn’t know what to say. There was nowhere to hide. She raised an eyebrow expectantly, looking around the room for a response.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Have I made things a bit uncomfortable?”

This tense confrontation had come as a surprise for them. Out of them all, Kitty was largely overlooked, usually the quietest and the most reserved of the group. Sweet in nature and often quick to comply, she was the last one they’d expect to be interrogated by. But it was becoming clear that she was on the offence. Quite frankly, Kitty had reached the end of her tether. She wouldn’t tolerate being made to feel like a child, like an inconvenience, any longer. Whether it was the Queens’ intention or not, it still hurt. She still felt like she didn’t matter, that her words were worthless.

Finally, Cathy took a deep breath. “What is this all about, Kit?” Her words sounded so feeble. She wasn’t stupid - she knew exactly what was going on here - but she felt the need to break the awkward silence.

Her attempt only made Kitty scoff. “You all know exactly what this is about. I’m sick of this!” She yelled, her voice increasing in volume.

Jane bit her lip, the harsh tone of Kitty’s voice packing a sting that she really wasn’t accustomed to. Not from her sweet Kitty. She was trying to hold back tears, startled by this sudden outburst and hostility. Realising her discomfort, Catherine squeezed her hand under the table.

“Do I really not matter?” Kitty lowered her voice again, trying to keep composed. “Because sometimes I wonder if you’d all be better off without me!”

Anne looked up at that comment, hurt and panic in her eyes. “That’s not true! Of course you matter! Of course we want you here!”

“Then why don’t you ever include me?!” she cried, unable to conceal her trembling voice, despite her resolve not to cry. Crying would prove to them that she was volatile. It would justify their actions. “Why am I always the one treated like a child and left out of everything?”

“Kit, we’re not doing this to hurt you. We’re doing this to protect you and to stop you getting upset-” Anna started. 

“See, that’s just it, isn’t it? You all treat me like I’m some kind of porcelain doll that might fall and break. Don’t think I don’t notice you acting like you’re walking on eggshells when I’m around and pandering to my wishes like I’m a kid! I hate it!” Her frustration mounting, Kitty slammed her hand against the doorframe, making Jane visibly jump.

Catherine, remaining as composed as ever, thought quickly, trying to desperately diffuse the situation before it got the chance to escalate any further. “Kitty, why don’t you sit down and we can talk about this rationally?”

The suggestion only made Kitty laugh. “Oh, so now you want me to sit down and talk?”

She shook her head. “I’m sick and tired of being made to feel insignificant. Like I don’t matter. Because isn’t that what you say in the show? I think she’s the least relevant Katherine.” She changed her tone, trying to mimic the other Queens. ‘Oh, we can’t talk about that in front of Katherine, it’ll only make her upset’ Well, guess what? I want you to stop invalidating my opinions and my words, just because the topic of discussion might hurt me!”

“Kit, you know we don’t really mean that when we say that line in the show!” Cathy insisted.

“Well, it certainly feels like it!”

“We didn’t realise you felt like this…” Anna mumbled.

“Because you never thought to ask!” erupted Kitty, exasperated. “You were all so busy trying to keep me sheltered away that you never once thought to ask! You don’t want my opinion on anything! Precious little Katherine can’t think for herself and make her own choices and decisions! Why don’t you let me make up my own mind on whether a topic is too sensitive or not? I can always walk away, can’t I?”

“Like that other night at stage door. I was made to look so stupid because I was oblivious! I can’t believe a fan knew before I did! So, when were you all going to decide to tell me about the interview, hm? If it wasn’t for that girl mentioning it, I’d probably still be in the dark!”

“That was my fault!” Anne admitted, putting her hands up in surrender. “I genuinely forgot to tell you! Anna even mentioned it in the morning and I still forgot. I’m sorry.”

This admission from Anne seemed to soften Kitty slightly, her shoulders relaxing. It put the tiniest doubt in her head: maybe she was overthinking this all? Seeing Kitty relax a little and contemplate what Anne had said, Jane took the opportunity to try and reason with her and further dampen her anger. “Look, maybe you’re right. We’ve been unfair not including you. But none of us have done this to intentionally hurt you, love. You must know that. Neither do any of us see you less of an adult-”

“But Jane, you make me feel like a kid all the time! The constant prompting of what time I’ll be home when I go out, the constant fussing, it’s just too much! I’m constantly made to feel like I am incapable of doing anything for myself. I’m just as capable of being independent as Anne is, and you certainly don’t hover over her shoulder all the time!”

“I just like to make sure you’re okay…” Jane’s voice had gone quiet, almost a whisper.

“Well, you know what, Jane? It’s suffocating! You need to face up to the fact that trying to mother me isn’t going to bring back Edward!”

The words cut through Jane like a knife right to the heart. The others watched as the woman crumpled in front of them, before fleeing upstairs to the confines of her bedroom. Catherine  pushed her chair back and marched up to Kitty like a protective lioness, pinning her against the fridge.

“That is quite enough! Jane has done nothing but show you love and care, which is much more than any of your true family did for you. And this is how you repay her? You don’t deserve it. If you want to stop being treated like a child, you need to buck up your ideas and try and show some respect and gratitude. You should be ashamed of yourself, Katherine.” At that, she stormed off to console her friend.

Although Kitty had to admit that she’d regretted the words as soon as they’d come out of her mouth, she was determined to stand her ground. If she crumbled now, this whole confrontation was pointless. She looked to the three remaining Queens. 

After a long pause, Anna approached her, her jaw clenched, stone-faced. “You know, maybe you’re right, Kitty. Maybe we would be better off without you.” She grabbed her jacket from the back of a kitchen chair and stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind her. Anne and Cathy flinched.

Having long abandoned her mug of coffee, Cathy folded her arms. “If you wanted to be treated more like an adult, perhaps you should have thought about approaching this like one. We could have had a civilised talk, instead of this mess.” With a disappointed shake of her head, she too strode out. As she passed the table to leave, she cast an apologetic look to Anne.

Now, it was just the two of them. The two cousins. Sitting there at the table, Anne was bewildered. She hadn’t expected such an outburst, especially not from Kitty. She’d never thought her capable of causing so much upset, to get so angry. She suddenly felt like she’d lost a good friend. As quiet once again fell over the room, Anne wondered if she’d ever really known Kitty at all.

She was also consumed with guilt. They were so close, and yet, she hadn’t realised that what they’d been doing had proved so hurtful to her own cousin. What’s more, Kitty had never confided in her. There had never been any hint that she was feeling this way.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Anne mumbled, finally lifting her head to look at her cousin in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?” 

Kitty turned her face away. She was just so disappointed in them all. She felt utterly let down by the very people she trusted the most. 

“Anna didn’t mean what she said…” Anne made a pitiful attempt to show Kitty she was on her side. “She just upset-”

Tears pricking at her eyes, Kitty clenched her fists. But all the fight had gone out of her.

“Well, now you all know how I feel.”

Kitty whirled around and sought the refuge of her bedroom, throwing herself onto her bed as the sobs overcame her. Suddenly, all the fire in her belly was extinguished, replaced by a hollow emptiness. Now she realised the enormity of what she’d done, the potential consequences of her actions. Things had spiraled out of control, her words had become ammunition created by her pent-up frustration. She had just been so desperate for change. How long was she expected to tolerate it all? She feared if she’d waited much longer, her voice would be silenced altogether. She might as well just walk out the door. Now, consumed with the horrible dark thoughts that shrouded her as she cried into her pillow, she started to take the thought seriously. She didn’t fit here and the Queens now despised her. Seeing the disgust in Aragon’s face and Anna’s clear contempt said it all. Maybe she needed to prove it to herself, not them. To prove that she was capable of looking after herself, like she insisted? Being independent. 

She lifted herself from the bed, grabbed her rucksack from the wardrobe and blindly stuffed some clothes in, her vision still blurry with tears. She checked the contents of her purse: her bank card and £60 - it would be enough for now. As she fumbled for some essential items she thought she’d need, her hand fell on a polaroid photo - a black and white picture, taken of them all on stage after their first performance together. They all looked so happy, so united. Now, she’d ruined all of that. Yet, something made her take it with her, slipping it into the zip pocket of her bag. Just because they hated her, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss them. Lastly, she picked up her phone, staring at the lockscreen photo of her and Anne for a second before putting it back onto her bedside table. She didn’t really have a use for it now. 

You know, maybe you’re right, Kitty. Maybe we would be better off without you. 

After all, she was of course, the least relevant Katherine. They wouldn’t want to talk to her now.

At that, she tiptoed downstairs. She was relieved to see the kitchen was empty. Helping herself to a few biscuits, pieces of fruit, and granola bars, she took one last look as she slipped out of the back door.

And, just like that, Kitty disappeared into the night.

[blookmallow]

i finally rewatched Us watching for details... I also took a bunch of screenshots, I’ve mentioned before I live in santa cruz and grew up going to this boardwalk so im obsessed with this movie, I’m going to go try to take some better comparison shots sometime (here’s a few I took before) (and here’s a Tethered mannequin that was outside of the frightwalk for a while. i havent been inside for ages so I don’t know if they moved him inside or if he’s just gone now) (i HOPE they did something with the theme considering the frightwalk is literally a horror attraction beneath the boardwalk. i dont really want to go in there by myself though lmao. not a fan of animatronics jumping out and screaming at me) 

this is a lot, i have many things to say 

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

- the opening news segment is 11 at 11 

- you can faintly see adelaide/red’s reflection in the tv screen, with a toy rabbit (her shirt also has twin lines on it in multiple places but that could be looking too far lmao) 

- in the “Hands Across America” segment (aside from the obvious red figures linked together in the logo) : “from the golden gate bridge to the twin towers” another possible 11/twinning, and it starts in california, which is where the tethered revolution begins 

- on “from sea to shining sea” the exact same coastline image is just flipped 

(there’s also another 11 on the side of the TV here) 

- “This summer, 6 million people will tether themselves together” 

- brief mirroring in the boardwalk ad, not just two girls running on the beach but also two girls with upside down reflections in the ground, 

- fairly obvious one, but “find yourself” (as a sidenote there’s nothing in that spot irl, the roller coaster and the swings are real but there was never a ��vision quest’ or a ‘merlin forest’ as far as I know and there’s no door or anything there either, the interior shots must’ve been done separately somewhere else) (nothing’s left here from the movie now either, I have no idea when they filmed it because I never saw anything or heard anything about it) 

- adelaide/red whistles “the itsy bitsy spider” when the lights go out in the vision quest - “down came the rain and washed the spider out,” it’s raining outside when her tethered comes up (and she is dragged down). she also drops her red apple on the ground before she enters 

- zora’s rabbit shirt 

- everyone else is eating fast food of some kind, except adelaide, who is eating red strawberries 

as well as being a visual cue, its possible she has an aversion to meat if she was forced to eat raw rabbit as a child

- young adelaide arranging animals in the sand (it seems like some of the tethered tend to mirror their counterpart’s movements, so it’s possible she’s mirroring red, though it’s probably not that likely she’d be planning this early/the dance hasnt happened yet so its probably just foreshadowing) 

- young adelaide very pointedly watches “her” mother crying, saying “I just want my little girl back” - she will never have her little girl back again, though she doesn’t know it (I’m not sure if adelaide still remembers what she’s done at this point either) 

its also mentioned that ‘grandma’ has passed away as of the present time, likely adelaide’s mother (i dont remember if its stated outright but since the house belonged to the grandma, and it’s in santa cruz, that would line up) so. the tethered mother, if she’s still alive, would not kill red’s real mother in the uprising. dont know about the father, or if red knows/cares about this, but. thats there. that also means the original mother will never know what happened with her daughter (likely the father won’t either, it’s not clear if he’s still alive but there’s no mention of him being around/he’s not at the house so it seems likely he passed already too) 

- adelaide, her reflection, and a (not so) itsy bitsy spider 

theres even two spiders, one a toy, one real 

- jason crawls out of a cabinet at zora’s feet and scares her while she’s looking in a mirror (which is also a very pluto-like movement) 

- adelaide finds the toy rabbit in a box; assuming the intro was chronological, we saw “her” with it in the tv screen reflection before she went to the boardwalk, so this was red’s rabbit first (she probably does not remember this, though) (red also later finds this and cuts off the head, not sure why though)

- adelaide “sees” her child self in the room with her (in her memory) learning her dance alongside her reflection

 but the reflection is the one she “sees” looking directly at her 

(she’s also interrupted by hearing her son, above her, screaming because he’s trapped, but that might not be intentional) (though when red comes down here later, she is also interrupted by her son getting stuck in the closet too)

- she’s also wearing a choker necklace with a matching gold bracelet, maybe an allusion to. the choking and the handcuffs, again i might be looking into it too much, but. the white clothes which steadily become red with blood seems very intentional so i wouldnt be surprised if the jewelry was planned specifically too 

- its really hard to see and its a split second throwaway comment but kitty goes “oh isnt that beautiful” showing her the magazine and i thhiiiink thats a white girl in a native american headdress :’  ) probably doesnt have. much deeper meaning other than ‘clueless white friends’ but 

- guy buried in sand comes bursting to the surface again and scares his friends (also eyyooooo you can see the wharf in the background im down there all the time) (sorry this is still wild to me. i grew up here ive been to that beach like 9 million times)

- i didnt catch it and was waiting for it to be shown again and it wasnt and i dont want to go back for it but anyway jason has a drawing of a bunch of people holding hands in a line like the hands across america thing in his room, theres a lot of drawings around and we see his drawing of the first untethered, so he probably drew that as well

- jason has a hard time communicating, but he seems to use drawing as a way to express himself. he doesn’t tell his mother about the encounter with the old man (and only shrugs when he’s asked about it) but he does draw it. adelaide found self expression through dance when she was a child before she was able to talk, so he probably got those traits from her. her voice also goes low and hollow on the line “I just didn’t know if you were lost, or... taken” 

- her voice also gets very strange when she’s talking about her memory of the encounter in the vision quest. low, shaky, harsh. its fascinating hearing how much alike the voices are (obviously they’re both the same actress/if the tethered are clones it makes sense that they’d have identical vocal chords but like. red’s got a fucked up voice. hearing echos of that in adelaide is wild and i didnt notice it at all before) 

- its not clear whether adelaide actually remembers what she did, or even realizes she was the copy - is she trying to protect her family from what she believes was the girl who almost took her, or trying to stop her from getting her revenge? she describes the event to gabe as if she was the one who was attacked but escaped, and im not sure if she’s lying or has convinced herself that’s the truth

something’s going on with jason and pluto too but I don’t quite know what it is. when we first see jason he’s wearing a Jaws shirt, kind of a similar vibe to the thriller shirt, and when the tethered arrive he’s wearing a white tuxedo t shirt, white matching his mother’s white outfit. the others all go off to kill their doubles but pluto holds jason’s hand, sits with him quietly, watches his magic trick, he’s told to go “play” which. obviously has a violent undertone to it but he doesn’t actually try to kill him. i dont even remember seeing him with the scissors. why are jason and pluto different. why does pluto get stuck mirroring jason’s movements even to the point of his death but the others dont. why didn’t adelaide mirror red

i guess its possible its because pluto is the youngest in the family so maybe he hasn’t broken out of his connection yet? they didnt really ever explain how they learned to do that 

and as for the connection with adelaide it. could just be that jason takes after his mom more and zora takes after her dad more but that seems too simple. i mean theres the theory going around that jason was actually switched with his clone too at some point and its got some good points (jason forgetting the magic trick, getting stuck in the closet again, etc) but theres a whole line of logic to debunk that too so its just. What’s Going On Here  

cal 11 

i took the first pic to get a comparison shot at the same place later irl but then noticed the ambulance they come across is the same one (#2) they saw earlier 

pretty obvious but the real rabbit comes out through the picture of an identical rabbit (there’s also probably a “rabbit hole” allusion here) 

i noticed this before too but now i have a screenshot of it, im the rabbit in the background just chilling on the floor during the climax here

- im sure i must have seen this before but i forgot about it. the 11:11 guy’s tethered didn’t have a sign so he just.......carved it into his head

- it never healed, either, he did it badly enough to scar

- red says “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, how you could have taken me with you” - she doesn’t mean adelaide ran off and left her there. adelaide made the choice to trap her in the underground. its possible red might have even been thinking how she would have let adelaide come with her if given the chance, which. i mean, i dont know how her parents would have reacted to suddenly having identical twins out of nowhere, but like. knowing there’s a chance red might have accepted her. and all this could have been different 

this is definitely a movie that’s not really intended to be fully explained, there’s a lot of questions that aren’t really supposed to be answered, but nonetheless one of my biggest concerns is where do the clothes come from underground. red tells us they were all abandoned down there generations ago so nobody’s supervising or providing anything. how do they end up with copies of the clothing their counterparts are wearing. and here adelaide has a messed up faded old shirt that either looks similar to red’s shirt or is the same shirt just badly damaged, she switches it with red’s before she goes out for good so that explains how she gets the new shirt, but where did this one come from. why is it different if the other clothes aren’t

and of course there’s the whole question of “where did they all get these red jumpsuits from” but again. questions that aren’t really the point, i guess

[arolla-pine]

Fake Dating - p.13

(13) - Sun King

Next morning Marinette run out the house with excitement she couldn’t hide. Yesterday had been full of positive experiences, so she couldn’t wait the next trip.

“Good morning, M’Lady!” Adrien greeted her.

“Good morning, Kitty!” she smiled in reply. “Did you sleep well after our walk?”

“Perfectly! I oxygenated, so I slept like a baby. And you? Didn’t a summer breeze affect you?”

“Geez, what the hell that small talk means?” groaned Nino who got out the car. “Just dance a minuet to kill me faster.”

“It’s quite possible we’ll dance a minuet.” Adrien laughed.

“Really?” Marinette asked in surprise.

“I’m taking you to Versailles.”

“What an idea!” she snorted. “There will be crowds in the palace!”

“We’re going to the gardens. No chance to find us in such an area. We could even get lost in one of mazes and make plans.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you would like to do in mazes…” Nino muttered, and Marinette laughed although she knew that pretending of not hearing that would be more reasonable.

“We have two days left.” Adrien continued undiscouraged. “We have figured out the beginning of our relationship, now we have to learn as much as possible about each other.”

“And you’re boring again…” Nino commented. “It’s good that at least your girlfriend has a sense of humour, because there’s no fun with you…”

Marinette giggled. She had already got used to Nino’s taunts, especially after his yesterday contribution to the process of preparing ‘their story’. He was very helpful when Adrien or she had started to indulge in creating more and more incredible circumstances of their fake first meeting. Marinette liked how they had been working in the d’Auvers park on the counterfeit past. In result they had quite a possible story of meeting of two celebrities in a café. She felt a hint of jealousy that it hadn’t happened for real. Somewhere deep in her heart she wished to meet Adrien that way…

“Just imagine Alya Césaire’s face when she gets known that you run into me by accident in a café and didn’t recognise a popular model in me!” Adrien had laughed, when they were going back to Paris yesterday.

“She’ll roll her eyes and won’t believe in that. She got used to that I’m lying to her.”

“I’ll convince her.”

“Yeah, right… She’ll look at you with her X-ray eyes and she’ll ask suspiciously: ‘And you just fell in love at the first sight?’” Marinette tried to imitate the journalist’s voice and look. Nino chuckled amused by the girl, although he kept his attention to the road.

“Of course, not!” Adrien joined the game. “I assumed that it’s just another fangirl! But Marinette didn’t behave like a fangirl. Rather like someone who didn’t recognise me at all.”

“Damn, you’re good…” the girl muttered. “I’d buy it.”

“See? The plan is perfect!” he smiled satisfied. “Leave it up to me and we’ll be good.”

Yes, she really wanted to believe him.

They kept laughing and joking all the way back home. They had had great time for the whole day and they made significant progress in the preparations. If they managed to work on details today, only trivia would be left for the third day. Marinette still felt terrified when she was thinking about the set-up planned by Plagg, yet she began to believe that with Adrien by her side everything would go smoothly.

“Versailles, folks!” Nino informed suddenly.

“Already?” Marinette was surprised.

Was it possible that she had been silent for the whole drive here? How could she miss the opportunity to learn something new about her boyfriend? Instead she was staring out of the window and thinking about yesterday, not paying attention to the fact that Adrien was holding her hand for the entire way and stroking her palm with his thumb.

“Let’s go dancing the minuet, M’Lady.” He smiled letting her hand go.

“Yeah… Minuet…” she muttered, feeling her cheeks burning.

Damn it. Damn, damn, damn… It wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all! The more, Nino noticed her flush. That made her even more embarrassed.

She knew she had to regain her composure as soon as possible. First, she needed to drown out those strange emotions awakened by Adrien’s warm smile. That was a complete nonsense! She’d known him for two days! She knew nothing about him. That was illogical, irresponsible and absolutely unacceptable!

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked when they got out the car.

“Gardens, My Lady. To avoid crowds of tourists.”

“They will be in the gardens too.”

“I hope they’ll be more interested in nature than in the other walkers. Besides, I must admit that today you look totally unlike LadyBug again.”

“Yeah, I’m unrecognisable in this hat…” she muttered ironically.

“No, it’s not that…” he shook his head and came closer to her. Then he reached to her hair and touched it softly. “Maybe it’s because of hair down…” he whispered rather to himself than to her.

For a moment Marinette forgot how to breathe. Did he do it on purpose? Like yesterday with breaking a touch barrier? Or like today with stroking her palm for the whole drive to Versailles? She had no idea what the answer was. And she wasn’t sure she could ask him about it.

“I explained that yesterday that my everyday look differs from my professional one.” she said finally, when she remembered how to speak. “It’s quite useful, especially on days like this.”

“I wish I could do the same.”

“You didn’t have Tikki. She would take care of organising you some privacy. I’m so grateful that she thought about it in good time.  I wouldn’t even think that I’d need it in the future.”

“That’s why some people are singers and some other are their managers. You don’t have to think about everything.”

Suddenly, Nino appeared from nowhere and patted his friend in the back. Then he put a black cap on Adrien’s head.

“Don’t thank me, dude!” he muttered by the way and then he withdrew to a standard distance.

Marinette glanced at Adrien’s cap and burst out laughing. Nino probably had bought it in one of souvenir shops, because for sure it was one of Versailles gadgets. Where else could he buy a cap with inscription saying “Sun King”?

“What’s on it?” Adrien was intrigued, so he ripped the cap off and glared at his friend. “Very funny, really!”

“Bu-But…” Marinette was laughing. “It is…”

“What’s so funny?” he glanced uncertain at her.

Marinette calmed down immediately. She cleared her throat and explained:

“When I saw you for the first time, you were standing at the window and the sun was shining in your hair. You looked like your head was in the sun. And now you’re wearing a cap with inscription ‘Sun King’. Please, don’t tell it’s not funny for you.”

Adrien smiled in reply. For a moment he’d thought she was making fun of him. Meanwhile it was an inside joke thing.

“Does it mean I’ve been promoted from a prince to a king?” he asked.

“You were a frog in between, remember!” she gave him a wink.

“Only if you kiss me, remember…” he smiled meaningfully, and she blushed again.

“Beware, frog!” she answered back, then turned her back and ran away in a direction of the gardens.

He laughed, put his new cap on his head and followed her. He found her quickly in the entrance to a maze, where she was standing and laughing so hard that she was bent in half. He had to wait for a moment until she calmed down enough to explain what was so funny for her.

“Well… You know what Nino said this morning about what you wanted to do in the maze…” she said finally. “But this maze is a fake. Look, you can’t even hide or get lost there. You can see the other end through!”

“Maybe it’s more complicated somewhere inside?”

“Do you want to lose your shadower?” she asked in whisper.

“He’d break my both legs when he finds me… I’m not taking that risk. Besides, we should work first before we start having fun.”

“Nino was right. You’re a terrible bore.” She joked. “But… I have an idea how to combine fun and work.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll learn something about me, and we’ll visit the maze.”

“I’m in.” he nodded.

She took his hand, as if it was something quite natural for her now, and she led him to the maze. Nino followed them, but he wasn’t too enthusiastic about this trip. Too many shadows, corners, risks. Damn celebrities with their whims… In such moments he liked his job much less…

––

@marinettemarch 

Day 10 - Alter Egos

––

Fake Dating p.12  <-  Previous part  |  Next part  ->  Fake Dating p.14 

Start reading from the beginning

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Cactus Cats and Conclusions || Bea and Kaden

TIMING: March’s full moon PARTIES: @beatrice-blaze and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Bea might not actually be #werewolfconfirmed. Maybe. 

Dia, Bea’s cat, was usually one to greet her owner at the door. From whatever perch the cactus cat had found, she would come down to slyly brush by Bea’s leg. When the cat was absent at the door, her owner didn’t give much thought to it. Sometimes pets didn’t do what was expected. By dinner time Bea was worried. She’d seen Taki, Nell’s cat roaming around, so where was Dia? It took Bea a good hour of wandering around her house with a jar of cactus juice, one of Dia’s favorite treats, to come to the conclusion that Dia was in the woods. Asking for help wasn’t something Bea wanted to do, but her kitty needed her and she couldn’t refuse. She had sent Kaden a message asking for his help, since as an animal control officer he’d know how to deal with these situations. Or at least, she assumed he would. After he had confirmed he would help, she sent him her address, and waited on her porch with a worried expression (and her cactus juice) as she scanned for her cat. Seeing Kaden, she smiled tightly. “Hey! Thanks so much for coming by to help. I know you probably had stuff to do that wasn’t hunting for a cat in the woods, but...” She trailed off and shrugged. “I figured you’d be the right person to ask for help.”

Kaden was so fucking tired. Not sleeping was not going so great for Kaden. But that wasn't going to keep him home on a full moon. Nothing but his death bed was going to do that. And even then. He was gathering his gear, getting ready for the night. All he needed was to wait for his coffee to finish brewing before he headed out. Then he got a message. From Bea. The werewolf. His brows furrowed and he checked his watch. Not sunset yet. She was sure cutting it close, though. She mentioned something about her cat missing. Well he did say to call animal control next time she had an issue but still. Seemed risky. Unless she knew that he knew. And this was a trap. Guess coffee would have to wait. Putain. He packed up and headed to her house. There she was when he arrived, just standing on the porch like the sun wasn't on its way down out of the sky. "Hey. Yeah. Happy to help." Was she really going to act like this was real? Guess so "Uh, where was the last place you saw her?" His brow furrowed as he saw what she was carrying. "And why do you have a glass of green juice?

Bea 's fingers were held tight against the jar. Tonight was a full moon and, usually, she would keep herself and all the animals in the house safely locked in. She didn't know much about werewolves and if they were even interested in chasing around some little critters like the family cats, but she didn't like to take risks with Taki and Dia. "This morning, before I left to run some errands. She isn't usually one of those cats that hide. She's an outdoor cat, but she's usually back inside by sundown." She didn't want to tell him that she was worried because that might have made him ask why and she couldn't keep her mouth shut lately about anything. She glanced down at the juice, an awkward smile taking over her face. "She likes cactus juice a lot... Thought I could lure her out with it, but it didn't work." She had to stop herself from biting her lip, though the urge was there, she didn't like being out so close to dark on full moons. She heard that being bit would make witches lose their powers and she couldn't risk that. She wasn't anything without her magic. "I don't want her out there at night. If she's in the woods."

The crease in Kaden's brow deepened. He wasn't sure what angle she was going for anymore. Either she was an exceptionally good liar or she'd really lost her damn cat. He couldn't tell. Best to keep his guard up just in case. "Cactus juice? How do you find out a cat likes cactus juice?" There was definitely something odd going on. His left hand didn't stray too far from where Harbinger, his silver knife, was stored. "You checked the whole house, right? Sure she's not hiding somewhere?" Kaden didn't take his eyes off her for a second but he couldn't help but notice how quickly they were losing light outside. Any minute now. Was this really where she wanted to try and kill him? On her own fucking porch? Sure the house was mostly in the middle of nowhere but all the same.

"I think her breed likes it. They're common in the desert," Bea found herself absentmindedly telling him as she looked out to the edge of the woods again. She wasn't sure when Dia left the property, but she hoped the cat didn't go out too far. Bea wanted to avoid keeping Kaden in the woods for long tonight, she doubted an animal control officer would know what to do about a werewolf and she wasn't sure she was capable of fending off a fight. "Top to bottom. And Nell's cat, Taki, usually rats Dia out when she's been hiding too long." She found her little sister's cat was very good at running Dia out of hiding spaces when he got too bored to play alone. "I promise I wouldn't have called you out here if I thought Dia was still in the house. I really think she got lost hunting or something like that, I just don't want her out in the forest this late."

Kaden couldn't make any damn sense out of this. For a moment, he doubted everything he'd learned about her so far. Maybe she was just the one protecting the werewolf. Keeping him from hunting her family or friend by distracting her with a cat. Or leading him to the woods just at the right time. Or he could be right still. Sun wasn't completely gone yet. There was still time. For the time being, he'd have to play along. "Alright. Well, show me where she usually leaves the house. We'll go from there." He followed her, still ready to pull out his knife at a moment's notice. He kept his focus on her but made sure to stay alert to his surroundings. Just in case he really had walked into a more complicated trap than he'd anticipated. "Maybe I should have brought Abel. My dog. He might have been able to track her down. Or at least help." Not that he'd had any intention of bringing Abel with him. The last thing he needed during a fight with a wolf was his scaredy cat dog distracting him.

Bea found herself nervously playing with her bracelet. She hated when she fell back into her nervous habits, it really ruined the easy confidence she liked to portray she had. She shoved her hands in her pockets, "She usually leaves from my porch, I'll just take you around back to it." She didn't want to have to make him take off his shoes to walk through her room, just to put them back on. "Probably best not to bring him around, Dia is super skittish around dogs." She let out a soft chuckle as she led him to the backyard. "I guess I get nervous around big dogs too, so another example of a pet owner being like their pet, huh?" Glancing back at him, Bea finally took in his full appearance and had a rather bewildered expression on her face when she realized just how prepared he seemed to be for trouble. "I know last time I saw you in the woods you had a machete, but you seem stacked right now. Planning on getting into a fight with a mountain lion while we look for my cat?" Maybe Kaden knew more about tonight than he let on. Blanche had mentioned French hunters in town.

Kaden walked with her to the backyard and hell if he had a clue how any of this added up. A wolf like her pet cat? Okay, fucking weird. "Abel's a big softy, nothing to be afraid of, let me tell you. And a damn coward at that. Worst hunting dog I've ever seen. Guess pet is a little different from its owner in that case." He figured she'd been aware of his weapons the whole time. They were kind of hard to miss. Merde maybe she really was missing her cat. That made this even more fucking confusing. Did she not know what day it was? "Oh, yeah. I was, uh, out you know. Staking out an assignment. Earlier. In the woods. Reports of, a, uh, coyote or something wandering... around." Hopefully she'd buy it. "Plus, you know, it's a full moon tonight. Anything could happen." He tried to keep his tone light but the comment was still pointed, couldn't hide it. Before he let her reply to that, he crouched down and started to examine what he could see on the porch and in the backyard, looking for any signs of the cat specifically. It would probably be hard to tell if any tracks were new or old but it wouldn't hurt. Kaden kept his gaze soft enough that he could still see her out of his peripheral view, making sure he was ready to grab a weapon if the time came. He wouldn't be caught off guard, wouldn't let it happen.

Bea 's eyes narrowed at his excuse. "Must have been a big coyote to be carrying all that around." She shrugged, trying not to be obvious about the fact that she was considering who he was now, "You're the expert though. You'd know what you'd have to bring. What do you bring on nights like this?" Anything could happen. So he did know what tonight was. Blanche had mentioned Kaden to her before, called him an asshole and told her to beat him up, so she knew that Blanche knew him. She knew that Nell and Blanche weren't the fondest of Alain either, so she had to wonder if the girls just didn't like hunters. And all signs were pointing to Kaden being one of the French hunters that Blanche knew. She could call him out for it, but she wasn't sure she wanted to put herself out there just yet. She knew that he wasn't the witch hunter, but she didn't know where he stood on that matter. Better to be safe than sorry. "How many full moons have you experienced here, Kaden? Seen anything weird?"

Kaden could see her facade slipping away. So he had been right all along. "Pretty big, yeah. Wanted to be prepared, that's all. You know, just in case things got dangerous." He took a quick glance at his watch. Two minutes til the sun was fully down and everything changed. He was shocked she wasn't going to let on completely. "I've seen enough," he said as he stood up, crossing the porch and into the backyard. Might as well drop the pretense of looking for tracks and prepare himself for what was coming. His grip tightened around the blade, itching to pull it out of the holster and get this over with. "You know, it's not just in White Crest that things get weird during a full moon. It can get dangerous wherever you are. But I think you know that." Any moment now, it would happen. He was sure of it. Shame, too. He really didn't hate her.

Bea could feel her heart in her throat as she took in the sight of Kaden's hand going to his blade. Instinctively she took a step back away from him, her fight or flight kicking in as she started to see the full scope of what was going on right now. Did he think she was a threat? She was, of course, she could burn him right now, but he hadn't seemed on edge with her before. Had the witch hunter made a friend? Or did he think she was a werewolf? "Why are you grabbing your knife, Kaden?" She asked, her voice surprisingly soft and scared. She wished Nell was home, her little sister was always good in a fight and she had a feeling she was about to have to fight someone she thought was her friend. "If you want to start something right now, I have the advantage, this my home. I have wards here to protect me," She told him, her voice still soft, but there was a warning laced there.

"Come on, don't play dumb." For a moment, Kaden wondered if she didn't know she was a wolf, that this was her first time changing. But then he remembered the wolfsbane and that book. No, she knew. She had to. Normally by now, if they knew what they were, the wolf would admit it, come clean. Get a good moment of satisfaction of a trap well laid. Or so they thought. "We both know you're about to change. Just fess up, there's no lost cat, right? Just a trick so you could get me to come over and take down the hunter. Sorry to let you down, Bea, but it's going to take a lot more than that to kill me." He braced himself for the shift, ready to attack the wolf he was sure was going to appear. Any moment now. Yup, any second. ...She was going to turn, right? His eyes shifted to the sky, just for a second, not wanting to take his gaze off her for too long. Yeah, it was dark. Sun fully down. Still no wolf. Putain, what the hell was happening? He took a quick check of his watch. Huh. Three full minutes past sundown. Right. "You, uh, are going to change... right?"

As the dawning realization that Kaden thought she was a werewolf hit Bea, she let out an offended noise, quickly followed by a laugh. "You think I'm a werewolf?" She asked, her eyebrows knitted together as she looked at him open-mouthed. She lifted a shaking hand to produce a flame. "I'm a witch, you asshole. And my cat is missing." She truly tried to understand hunters, she knew it was just in their blood to go after certain supernatural creatures, but she was feeling far too offended to see Kaden's side of this whole. "Did you come here to kill me? I thought we were friends." She really had to reevaluate how she made friends, if they were going to try to kill her eventually. "And I swear to god, if you're still about to try to kill me, I will roast you alive," She told him, outraged at this entire situation. She was sure in the future, she would find it funny, but right now, she was just really annoyed.

"Putain de merde," Kaden muttered as he saw the fire in her hand, his eyes growing wider as the reality of the situation started to dawn on him. "You-- But I-- The silver?" It didn't make sense. She'd reacted to the silver. And the wolfsbane. A witch? How? When? What? He shook his head. No, he had every reason to believe he'd been right. "Hey, I thought you brought me here to fucking kill me, alright? I was only going to kill you if you were a--" He sighed and took his hand off the knife finally and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to-- Unless you are a, you know?" Stupid. Witches can't be werewolves. Fuck, his mother's words were coming back to him. Fuck. "It's just, I'm a hunter, it's what I-- And you had fucking wolfsbane and you reacted to the silver. I had every right to think you were a goddamn werewolf. It's not like I wanted to kill you but if it came down to it I wasn't just going to let you fucking tear me to shreds." Merde, merde, merde, he wanted to fucking kick something. He was still chock full of adrenaline and he hated feeling this fucking stupid and... something else. Something worse. That pit in his stomach was back. Guilt. That was it. Fuck. "You still want to find your fucking cat? That's not a fucking trap?"

"The silver?" Bea asked, exasperated at this entire situation. When had he even tried silver on her? He had a point, it would have made sense for her to bring him to her house to kill him, like she said, she had an advantage at her place. While his logic was sound, it didn't make her feel any better. "I'm not a wolf. You don't have to kill me," She told him, her arms crossing over her chest in a manner that mirrored her mother far too much for her comfort. "I guess you're one of the french hunters Blanche was telling me about then. I should figure that out sooner." Her eyebrows drew together again and she let out a frustrated huff of air. "Some covens use wolfsbane for incantations. My grandmother is particularly fond of the herb and I am in charge of keeping the family stocked up." In a way, it was nice to know that he wasn't looking forward to murdering her. She couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the fact that she thought that was comforting of all things. "Glad to know you didn't find me annoying enough to look forward to my death then," She joked before covering her mouth as giggles burst out of her. This entire thing was ridiculous. The tension that she had had was draining from her and now it was replaced by nervous, giddy energy. "No, my cat is really missing," She told him between nervous laughs.

"Putain, of course you know Blanche." Sure, at this point the french curse words were practically a cliche but Kaden couldn't help it. They just kept coming. He looked for a rock, a branch, fucking anything to kick. He saw nothing. He grumbled instead. "But yeah the silver, in your-- on my hand. The ring." He may have been the world's worst fucking hunter in that moment but he still had a feeling telling her he spiked her drink with silver was a bad look. Maybe even worse than trying to come to her own house to kill her. Toss up, really. He sighed and was about to fucking apologize when she started laughing. It was uncomfortable. The fuck was so funny? "You, uh, alright over there?" His brows furrowed together and he hesitated to walk over towards her. He didn't quite trust that she'd come round that quickly to the whole thing. Most people were a little fucking mad when they found out a hunter was trying to kill them in his experience. "Uh, so, yeah. Let's... your cat. Maybe?" He gave the ground around him a quick glance for any tracks, but it was hard to really give it a good look, he was too concerned she was going to break and throw that fucking fire at him for real.

Bea shrugged, "Blanche knows everyone in this town. She's my little sister's best friend, so I usually get to hear who pisses her off. Yourself included in that list. I think I get it now." Again, she found herself narrowing her eyes at him. "In my?" She prompted, though she did remember that awkward handshake they suffered through when they first met each other. "Sometimes I laugh after I get really nervous," She said the words tumbling out of her with no control. "And you just made me really nervous." She knew that adrenaline reacted with people differently, but she had always been the type to laugh after fights or rather traumatic situations. It was kind of embarrassing "I'm still mad at you," She pointed out, even though she knew it was rather hard to tell. The fire in her hand dimmed now as she took control of herself again, "Yeah, let's find Dia before something else does. Do you have a flashlight or do I need to be a human lantern?"

Kaden rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. So she caught that slip up, huh? Merde might as well say it now. This couldn't get any fucking worse. "In your, uh, coffee. Possibly. Maybe..." He almost wished he got the time wrong and that she'd just turn into a fucking wolf right about now and this would just be a simple, clear fight. No awkward laughter, no confessions, no feeling like an idiot. Just hunter and werewolf. Again, not that he wanted to kill her just, this was fucking awful. If he could just run away that'd be great. But no, he had to a fucking off duty house call to find a cat for a woman he was planning to kill a couple minutes ago. "I got it," he said as he pulled out a flashlight. He tentatively crouched down to check the tracks. Yeah, she said she wanted help, but he didn't trust her to keep him in her good graces after this to be perfectly honest. Kaden took a deep breath and focused back on the hunt. The real hunt. A less interesting hunt, albeit, but still. Faster he found her fucking cat, the faster he could find an actual werewolf. Looking at the ground beyond her porch, it was hard to say where the cat went. "Hmm, looks like it might be a little more worn over that way," he told her, pointing towards the left. "Can't say for sure but it might be a good place to start. Better than nothing." He stood and walked on ahead with the flashlight in hand.

Bea 's mouth opened in outrage again. "You put silver in my coffee? Of course, I reacted to it, it's gross!" She considered him for a long moment, "Have you actually ever tried what tastes like in coffee?" Kaden wasn't an idiot, she could tell, so she had to assume that he had never had to taste the silver before himself. She swore to herself if they ever got coffee again, she was going to make him try his coffee with whatever he slipped her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him again after this, yet. "So did you just sit with me that day to talk just because you thought I was a werewolf?" She asked tentatively, not sure she wanted to actually hear the answer. She had liked his company, so it would hurt to hear that he was only interested in being around her for his end goal. She supposed she couldn't blame him though. She finally extinguished the flame in her hand as she followed him. "Uh, don't touch her if you find her... She's a cactus cat and she is spikey."

Kaden winced at her words. "Maybe? And uh, no, not really. Why would I try silver in my coffee? I already know I'm not allergic." It only struck him afterwards that she probably asked if he'd tried it for some other reason. Fucking hell, why did he care if she was upset? This was a pretty obvious misunderstanding and she was a witch, she had to understand how this all worked, right? Fuck. Then she had to go and ask that. That fucking piece of shit pit in his stomach was back. Again. God, he used to never feel like this, what the fuck was wrong with him? "I mean... Maybe?" He sighed. "No. I mean, not entirely. I... Putain" He didn't fucking know. Everything was too fucking confusing and complicated. He shook his head and continued on forward, pushing through the bushes and , not meeting her eyes, still. He didn't want to feel any fucking worse than he did. "Let's find your-- Wait." His gaze shot to hers. "A fucking cactus cat? Were you going to tell me ever or just let me figure that out on my own later?" Sure, he wasn't really in a position to be the one outraged right now but that didn't stop him.

"Does maybe mean yes in Kaden speak?" Bea pressed her lips as she looked at him. "Well, you should try it. It's gross. Why didn't you put more in the coffee you got me after?" She knew herself well enough that she would have forced herself to drink that entire coffee had it been just as bad as the first one, simply because she wouldn't have wanted him to feel bad. It was odd to see him struggling with her question, but it was nice to have confirmation that his entire motivation wasn't to figure out what she was, even though she was sure that was his main goal. "It's complicated?" She asked, following after him. She stuck relatively close to him, feeling much more confident in the woods with a hunter than she did by herself (Or when she thought he was just an animal control officer). "I was going to tell you not to grab her! And then... I was going to figure out the rest on the way. I was too worried to make a good plan."

Kaden grumbled. "Maybe." Putain de merde, she had him figured out. And she just kept on asking harder and harder questions. Of fucking course she did. "Because. I just didn't, alright?" If he could get rid of the giant knot twisting in his stomach, he would. Everything was so much easier when he didn't get invested in people or involved in their lives. And here he was, trekking through the woods to hunt down a fucking cactus cat for a witch who clearly was not a fucking werewolf like he thought just a few minutes earlier in the night. And all it took was that one more question to make him snap. "I don't know! Look, I don't fucking know! I didn't spend a whole lot of time examining it. Because this-- I don't--" He stopped himself short and wanted to just yell in exasperation, but then he remembered they were actually trying to track a damn cat. So he let out a frustrated breath instead and tried to calm down. A little. "When you're a hunter and you know how things tend to go, you don't get close to people. Just in case. So I don't fucking know, alright? I couldn't think about it. It would make it too hard to--" As he paused to try and find the words he wanted to say, he heard something off in the distance and put his arm out in front of her to indicate she should stop, too. There was a rustling not too far off. Not sure if she could hear it, but he sure did. He fucking hoped it was the cat. And not something else.

Bea jumped as he snapped at her. She could tell her questions were annoying him, but she hadn't been prepared to hear his voice change like that. She was no stranger to people snapping at her, her sisters did it often enough, though that rarely helped her anticipate when friends or strangers would. She supposed, it should have been expected since she was badgering him with questions. "It would have made it hard for you to do what you had to do if I was a werewolf," She finished for him. "But I'm not so you don't have to worry about me anymore. You know what I am and I know what you are." She hadn't often thought about that aspect of the hunters' lives. Making friends in a town like this must be impossible when there were so many supernatural creatures. She paused when his arm went out and she tensed as she waited for him to make the next move. She really did not want a fight.

Kaden clenched his jaw. She really did have him fucking figured out. She said exactly what he'd been thinking but didn't want to ever say aloud. It was too fucking shameful to admit as a hunter. He could feel the disapproval from his parents at the thought alone even though it'd been years since. All he could do in response was nod. He didn't want to talk about it anymore, hell he didn't want to think about it anymore. Instead he stood and listened for a cat. Or whatever else was out there. Just rustling, something shifting in the distance. Kaden crouched down, free hand going towards the knife he had with him, just in case. His breath hitched in his throat as he strained to hear anything more, any indication. A small mew came from the bushes and he let out a sigh of relief. "I think she's close," he whispered. "That or it's a different lost cat." Or a foireaux cat. Didn't need to think about that possibility right now.

Bea felt for Kaden. She didn't know what led him to White Crest, but it couldn't be easy being here alone, which she assumed he was, and then having to isolate himself. She knew that a lot of people were less social than she was, but she had to imagine even the most introverted of people wanted to have someone they were close to. She made a soft clicking noise with her mouth and called out softly, "Dia." Slowly, she saw her, rather miserable looking, cat emerge from the bushes. Her collar was off, Bea assumed it must have fallen off somewhere between here and the house, and so the illusion that kept Dia looking like a fluffy house cat was gone. A few of the spines on her were broken and Bea tsked at her. "Your little adventure is over, missy," She told the sulking cat as she picked her up carefully. After years of owning a cactus cat, she had gotten good at making sure she wasn't going to get pricked by one of Dia's spines.

Kaden had to shake his head at the sight of a cat with spines all over it. Still, didn't want to admit it, but he was relieved to see the cat was safe and sound. Even if it was a strange fucking cat. He stood up straight and brushed some of the dirt off his pants. He thought about putting the knife away when he looked up and caught a glimpse of that moon. Yeah, better keep it handy. "We should get back. You know, given..." He pointed up to the sky, hoping she'd take the hint. After walking a little ways towards the house, looking straight down at the path in front of him, Kaden finally muttered, "Sorry. For... sorry." That was about all he could manage as an apology. He hoped that was enough. And he hoped he'd get a chance to find a real werewolf later tonight.

Bea nodded her agreeance. She had no desire to be spending any more time outside during the full moon, even if having a hunter present made it a little easier to stomach. She adjusted her hold on Dia to lightly touch Kaden's arm, in what she meant as a reassuring touch. "You're forgiven. What you do isn't easy. Even if it did piss me off at first, I get it." As the house came into view, she felt relief wash over her. She couldn't wait to go inside and have a glass of wine. This night had been entirely too stressful. "And I meant what I said before. You don't have to worry with me anymore since you know what I am. So, if you ever need a friend that you know for certain isn't turning into the big bad wolf every month, you have me."

[isitgintimeyet]

Letting Go

AO3

Previous

So, this is the penultimate chapter. Thanks for reading this story. All your likes and comments are really, really appreciated. Hope you enjoy...

Thanks as ever to @mo-nighean-rouge for the beta and @happytoobserve for the encouragement.

Warning: NSFW below the cut... not quite what Ms Austen had in mind!

Chapter 15: She Will Be Loved

It's not always rainbows and butterflies It's compromise that moves us along yeah My heart is full, and my door's always open You can come anytime you want yeah

Adam Levine, James Valentine

The uneasy silence fell once more as Claire and Jamie stood facing each other.

“I’ve brought you some scones.” Claire spoke as she held out the box to Jamie.

Jamie gave a half chuckle as he took the box from Claire. “Seems an awfa long way tae come tae deliver baked goods, but thank ye. Seeing as ye must have been on the road for a while, will ye no’ have a cup of tea? Da’s away today visiting with Jenny.”

Not waiting for a response, he led the way around the side of the house, through the back door and the rear hallway straight into the kitchen.

“Will ye wait here while I jes’ wash up? I’ve been with the horses all day, and I dinna think I smell sae good.”

He put the kettle on to boil and left Claire alone.

The kitchen was just as Claire remembered. She wandered around the room, lightly running her hand over the surfaces. The large wooden table, battered and worn from use by generations of Frasers still dominated the centre of the room. The matching dresser against the wall still held the traditional blue and white Spode dinner service. The kitchen walls were still liberally sprinkled with framed family photos added to over the years. Claire immediately recognised Jamie’s sister, Jenny and her husband, Ian in the photos now joined by a small boy and two girls: a toddler and a baby.

She stood admiring the happy family images and let her mind begin to drift. Was this the sort of family life she could have been part of… could still be part of? She suddenly realised, now that she was here at Lallybroch, she had absolutely no idea what to say to Jamie.

Claire was so engrossed in her thoughts as she gazed at the photographs that she wasn’t aware of Jamie’s return. She turned toward  the smell of cedarwood shower gel to find Jamie standing behind her. Now clad in a fresh shirt and jeans, his hair was damp from his quick shower.

“They're a fine looking family, aren’t they? My wee nephew and nieces, Jamie, Maggie and Kitty. And I dinna think Jenny will be stopping any time soon, no matter what Ian has tae say on the matter... She has his heart… he’s happy making her happy.” Jamie paused and cleared his throat. “Now, let me make that brew.”

Claire sat at the table while Jamie pottered around the kitchen, pouring tea, buttering scones. There was no small talk between them, each lost in their own thoughts.

He finally joined her at the table, sitting directly across from her.

“So, why have ye come, Claire? Why now?”

“I spoke with Jocasta. I think… I thought…” she struggled to find the words, still unsure of what to say. The risk of rejection lay like a dark cloud in her mind.

Jamie interrupted, his finger tapping against his mug of tea. He stared intently into it, unwilling to look at Claire.

“I have tae say something tae ye. I canna be quiet any longer. Ye are ma heart. There has never been anyone else but ye. Is this too late? Do ye still have feelings for me? Sassenach, I am yers. In eight years I never forgot ye. I tried… God, I tried… but there has never been anyone else. I ken when we met again I was no’ fair tae ye. I ken I was angry… weak and resentful, but all that time I loved ye. I didna want tae admit it, but I did. I never stopped, Sassenach.”

Finally his eyes met Claire’s. He took a breath and continued. “I ken there’s Frank now and I ken ye’re planning tae move away but is there any way ye can change yer mind? But, if ye tell me no, that’s it, dinna fear, I willna trouble ye again.”

The dark cloud lifted from Claire’s mind. She said nothing but leant forward and took Jamie's hand in her own, her thumb lightly stroking his palm. A smile lit up her face.

“Oh, Jamie, there is no Frank and me. I ended it a few weeks ago. I thought he could make me happy, but he wasn’t the one I wanted to be with. I have been planning to move away, but only because I didn’t want to have to see you in a new relationship. I thought after eight years I could let go but I couldn’t… I can’t. I don’t want to let go, Jamie... I never want to let go.”

And with that, Claire felt all the tension and sadness lift. A wave of happiness swept through her body… as her tears began to flow.

Jamie rushed to Claire’s side, drawing her close to him. She rested her head against his stomach, relishing the feel of his hard muscles against her cheek. His hands stroked her hair gently.

“Dinna cry, Sassenach,” he whispered. “It’s alright. Everything’s as it’s meant tae be.”

Eventually, the tears stopped. A piece of paper towel was thrust in front of her face.

“Blow.” Jamie instructed.

Claire looked up at him and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Jamie sighed. “I mean yer nose, Sassenach. Although, I may be hoping fer the alternative verra, verra soon…”

Obediently, Claire took the paper towel and blew her nose. He pulled a chair up next to her and sat. Taking her hands in his, he continued talking.

“I think I have another apology tae make tae ye. That night… after Anna’s accident… I’m sorry, I wasna as mindful as I should have been. I assumed ye were on the pill. Actually, that’s no’ right either… it never even crossed ma mind. I didna think about it until the drive home. I’m sorry. Were ye ok?”

“I’m as guilty as you, Jamie. I never thought about it until the morning. But I’m not on the pill, I haven’t been for eight years. I used the morning after pill. And I got tested… all ok.”

“Eight years? But…”

“I’ve had relationships, Jamie, if that’s what you wanted to know, but nothing serious, nothing I wanted to last. What about you?”

“Same as ye. No one special. No one touched ma heart.”

And with that, Jamie closed the small distance between them and kissed her softly on the lips. It was a kiss tender at first but deepened as all the years of longing were let go, all poured into this kiss.

It was Claire who broke away first.

“Jamie.” She tried to get his attention as his mouth shifted to the soft skin behind her earlobe, a long-remembered favourite of hers.

She shivered, but continued. “Jamie, I need to take the car back to John this evening. I promised.”

Jamie raised his head. “Aye, I’ll text him. Ye can take it back in the morning. He’ll understand. Ye will be going nowhere tonight. I want ye in ma bed, naked, all night. We’ve a lot of catching up tae do.”

“But we do need to talk about us.”

“Aye, I ken and we shall. But right now, I want ye so much, I canna wait. So, Sassenach, will ye come tae bed with me?”

Claire got up and started to walk to the door. Pausing briefly in the doorway, she pulled her t-shirt over her head and let it fall to the floor. She looked over her shoulder and smiled coyly as her bra strap slipped down her arm.

“Well, what are you waiting for, then?”

Jamie needed no second invitation.

****************

Claire lay still, totally cocooned in Jamie’s warmth, her spine pressed against his chest, her bottom positioned tight against his hips. His warm breath tickled the back of her neck as his hand casually cupped her breast.

In their haste to make love, the curtains remained open and sunlight streamed into Jamie’s bedroom.

Practically unchanged, and hardly used in eight years, Claire thought back to the last time they were together in this room. Their lovemaking had been rough and passionate, an attempt somehow to heal the rift between them, a respite from the arguments and pleadings. This had been the last time they were together before Jamie flew to America and Claire tried to pick up the pieces of her life here in Scotland.

Jamie shifted slightly. His thumb lazily stroked her nipple, making it stand to attention. He gave a little laugh.

“I ken exactly what ye’re thinking about… the last time ye were here in ma room... The things that were said. I’ve thought about it so much, especially now I’m back… home. And Sassenach, ye were right. I wasna prepared tae compromise. I wanted ye tae give up yer career, yer future and move with me. I wasna thinking about yer feelings. It was all about me. Well, I’ve changed. I’m willing tae compromise. If ye want tae stay in Glasgow, I’ll move tae Glasgow.”

“But how would that work? You came home to manage the stables. But you’d move for me?”

“Aye, I would. I can work with a manager. I’m sure Da would understand.”

“But, if your future is here at Lallybroch, I’d move up here… to Inverness or a private hospital in the area.”

“So we’re going tae argue now about who gets to compromise, are we?” Jamie laughed. “I canna believe it. We can figure it out… together we’ll sort it. However…”

He rolled Claire onto her back as his fingers slowly traced intricate patterns across her breasts and stomach. His eyes never left her face as she closed her eyes and sighed.

“... now is no’ the time fer conversation. All I want tae hear are those wee sounds ye make, that get me so hot...”

Jamie’s mouth now joined his fingers, his tongue circling each nipple in turn.

“... but, if ye do feel the need tae talk,” the rumble of his voice sent vibrations through Claire’s chest. “A few well chosen words of encouragement will never go amiss…”

Claire laughed and pulled his head up to hers. She kissed him firmly on the lips before pushing his head back down her body.

“I ken... exactly... what ye’re after… ye greedy… wee... vixen.” Jamie spoke as he planted a trail of kisses down her body before settling himself between her legs.

Claire moaned and shifted her hips as Jamie’s tongue started its explorations, tantalisingly slowly at first.

“Oh… yes... Jamie… mmm… yes… there… Oh, god… faster… faster, please…”

Jamie paused and looked up at Claire, her face flushed, her curls in wild abandon on the pillow. He had never seen a more beautiful image. She tightened her legs around him, urging him to continue. He laughed.

“Jamie,” she gasped, her speech barely coherent. “Please… you tease… not for eight years… I need it…”

He bent his head, his mouth and tongue returning quickly to Claire’s very centre. Her hands reached down to keep him firmly in place.

“Jamie… that’s it… yes… yes… I feel it… don’t stop… please, I’m coming… yes… oh god… YES.”

Claire screamed the last word as her thighs clamped tightly around Jamie’s head, before relaxing and freeing him. He moved up the bed to lie alongside her. He felt himself harden even more at the knowledge that he was the only man who knew Claire this intimately.

Claire opened her eyes and smiled at him. “That was amazing.”

He returned the smile. “Worth an eight-year wait?”

She kissed him lightly. “If you think I’m waiting another eight years, James Fraser, you are very much mistaken. That is definitely on the menu on a regular basis. And…”

Claire reached down and ran a finger along his erection. He moaned softly.

“And now it’s time for me to return the favour…”

*************

They lay together, hot and sweaty, with aching limbs intertwined. There was no need for conversation now, it was enough to hold each other, to touch each other, to satisfy the dreams of the past eight years.

Claire suddenly sat up. “Jamie, what time is your father home?”

“Why?” Jamie asked sleepily, trying to pull Claire back onto the pillows.

“Our clothes… well, mainly my clothes… my t-shirt’s in the kitchen. My jeans are on the stairs. I think my bra is on the bannister and I have absolutely no idea where my knickers are.”

“And I suppose ye want me tae get up and collect them all?”

Claire nodded happily.

Reluctantly, Jamie climbed out of bed and wrapped his bathrobe around himself.

“I suppose this is how it’s going tae be from now on then? Ye telling me what tae do and me doing it?”

Claire nodded again. “Jamie… and while you’re downstairs, how about a cup of tea? And maybe a scone?”

Jamie smiled as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

Claire smiled as she snuggled back under the covers.

All was right with the world.

*************************

Note 1: Jamie’s declaration is based on Captain Wentworth’s declaration to Anne in Persuasion.

Note 2: The last line is taken from Robert Browning’s poem ‘Pippa Passes’

[snowtimeisbesttime]

Thoughts and questions on Pesterquest Volumes 1 & 2! Two days late, but better late than never I guess!

Overall:

-[insert all the heart emoji pics ever]

-The title screen's kinda ominous, what with the music and the glitchy logo... Also kinda fitting for what goes down in certain routes of the launch volumes, though. (It should be noted that Friendsim's first volumes were relatively calm compared with later ones as well.)

~VOLUME 1~

-No fucking shit MC would be pissed off, and at Scratch specifically. Thankfully, the Best Guest (Spades Slick)'s here and has them covered while they go off on a new adventure... though if a certain other DS decides to poke around here and fuck shit up, methinks he's going to catch some fucking hands. And i'll be here cheering the MC on.

-MC now has the powers of the house juju (canonically the most powerful thingy in all the narrative, as it can retcon pretty much anything) and therefore the ability to zap anywhere... though it came at the cost of their memories of Friendsim. Obviously this had to happen because they had to forget they read Homestuck in order to properly befriend the cast, but in-universe... did they get “scratched” somehow? (Is that what happened to Fozzer back then?)

-Also, they were trying to go back to their friends in Alternia... we're going to have fun when we get to the Hivebent trolls. (inb4 the “probably vriska” thing comes back here; there's no way the MC isn't recovering their memories at some point)

-Scorist, sign of the Mutineer Mail

-And with the MC's yeeting of John's mail into a sewer, Pesterquest officially becomes a whole ass No SBURB AU. It's a shame the bunny had to be lost too, but there's a possible reason for that: breaking (more) timeloops, both here and in post-scratch Earth (Jake helping Jade build Liv Tyler the bunny)

-I hope they do get to play another, non- world-destroying game all together, though... wait, now that they're not playing Sburb they could play Minecraft, when it releases in about a month from now!!

-Unstoppable force (John wanting to know wtf happened to his mail) meets unmovable object (MC's willingness to keep digging themselves deeper in order to make friends)

-The beta kids are confirmed to be pretty much each other's only friends... :(

-MC looked like a weird alien on Alternia, but here on Earth they're just shaped like a friend, and nothing else.

-Dave's here too!! and he's also understandably concerned about this random Not Mailman that popped out of nowhere, at least at first. Considering we know Volume 4's title (The Loneliest Girl in the World) Volume 3 will probably feature him.

-mc Hass the ghost blanket

-MC says the house juju may belong to Lucifer... which obviously means Lord English, but might also refer to Vriska... (lucifer means “light- bringer”, and iirc vriska did have some overlap with the whole “demon without an eye and an arm” foreshadowing??)

-Considering Rose's volume, John probably finds out about the MC's powers in his good route, while in his bad one they both go on a stroll through time... then again, we don't know if this is like Friendsim, where only the good ends were “canon”...

-Whenever people need to Discuss Important Tactics, John's backyard's the first place anyone thinks about. Good to know there can be multiple people running around with retcon powers though.

-We get to see something of what led up to the Masterpiece, after who knows how long! And John gets to imagining what events will lead to him and his friends getting colorful pajamas, powers and four (4) new friends... not that he knows that *he specifically* won't have that future. John's bad route is... actually very depressing when you think about it...

-the first thing i thought of when john said that he thought Future Him & Co kept saying “english” was that they were telling jake to get off the pogo ride before he like fell off and fucking died or something... and then a while later i was like Wait Fuck They Meant Lord English He Sure As Hell Exists

-even back at the very beginning of homestuck, dad's dadly energies are too powerful

~VOLUME 2~

-This singlehandedly catapulted Rose to my Most Favorite Characters list; not that I didn't love her before, but now im love her even more.

-We know now that all the kids wanted to play SBURB, be it because of Weird Destiny Stuff or to have a good time with their friends, but Rose was the one who wanted to play the most... to talk with Jaspers again. This hasn't been addressed in this volume, but it might be in later ones.

-Good kitty, best cryptid. Also, Mom Lalonde's guide to lab intruders: sic a pumpkin tiger on 'em. Then again if she really thought we were a danger to her or to Rose we'd been sniped before we knew she was there...

-Rose doesn't have a short end; the first choice of her route only decides whether we befriend Cryptid Mc Whiskers (plus get some additional dialogue) or not...* or at least that's what i thought before seeing the image rips orz

-She's the kind of person who has a lot of interests but also has trouble settling down and focusing on one at a time... yall mind if i relate? (also, adhd rose??)

-And now we begin again the timeless MC tradition of “accumulating clothing from friends”. *At least in one route, apparently.

-MC gets into one of those “Screw This I'm Doing (What I Think Is) The Right Thing” moods, though they do mellow out later and Rose didn't take it badly. To be honest after the oatmeal thing I thought they'd head for the kitchen, rather than get rid of the alcohol; now we'll have to see if it has any effect...

-!!!!! Jade & Rose interacting ON SCREEN!!!! (also, Jade seems to still have access to Prospit despite the fact that they're not playing Sburb anymore... is this where “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” (the paradox space comic) hapens??)

-Bec's acting weird... wonder what's up with him.

-Then again, even in her good route Rose seems vaguely aware that something's different; in her bad route she straight up does Weird Light Shit, while apparently being able to hear MC's narration and probably referencing her Land (her comment about the rain lighting up a little). Looks like you can take the game away from the players, but you can't take the game out of the players... Rose's a Seer of Light whether she plays or not, and same with the others.

-Rose's routes are kind of weird in that the good one looks like it's going to be the bad one (re: MC getting in one of their stubborn moods, see two points above), while the bad one looks like it's the good one until it doesn't. Before getting there I genuinely thought Rose was going to have 2 good ends.

-We get some talk on wizards and witches, and we also get to read some fragments of Complacency of the Learned!!! Which is very much a subversion of typical wizard stuff, as Rose told us; even if she has a genuine interest in wizards she's still putting her own spin on things... kinda like fans interacting with content, maybe.

-Wizards hoard knowledge for themselves, while Rose, as a Seer of Light, explicitly guides others with her knowledge; from the SBURB walkthrough in GameFAQs (which she ripped from Earth's internet to upload it onto a server on the Furthest Ring, so it would help more people) to the book she wrote on the meteor. No wonder she despises them.

[chimchimsauce]

Sanctuary (6)

Summary: YN is a young girl, bright and ambitious, but due to her busy schedule, she’s been unable to make any real friends. When an ad for Saint Mary’s Sanctuary catches her attention, she never expected her life to be changed by a certain hybrid named Jimin.

Tags: @feed-my-geek-soul @raspberryhaterade @dinorahrodriguez @loriosborne @majestikblue @younginfluencernut-blog @jiminotopia @yady24 @amoretti-rossetti  @j-hofe7 @scared-money @alina-foxy @catwhipes @cloudyfelix @justfollowbacon @chims-kookies @hoodiebangtan @xanny91 @catarina-catycaty @lewd-lemon @yaseminflames @lulanii @jeonsdear @omgsasusakulover @let-fred-live @perfectlyfangirling @daddyjoonie @meganleafmusic

If you’d like to be added to the tag list, comment below!

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

YN ignores all of Taehyung’s calls, refusing to answer them. A part of her thinks she’s being a bit petty, but the larger part sparks in fury every time she even thinks about what happened at Saint Mary’s.

She’s only known Jimin for about a week and during that week she’s come to care for him, but his behavior was both uncalled for and frightening. The short interaction raised several red flags in her mind, causing her to want to avoid him and the Sanctuary altogether.

By Wednesday, she’s made up her mind. All the drama of Saint Mary’s isn’t worth it.

And Jimin seems to be unhealthily attached to her. Sticking around will only make it worse, right? It’ll be best just to quit cold turkey.

Determined, YN pulls out her phone and blocks both Taehyung’s and Saint Mary’s number, feeling bittersweet about it.

She hopes that nothing bad happens to Jimin because of her, but she doesn’t think Saint Mary’s is that type of place.

Another busy work week passes, keeping YN from having any thoughts of Jimin, Saint Mary’s, or Taehyung. As a matter of fact, she’s filed the entire strange encounter up to a weird but finished memory, one she’ll tell her future children about. She thinks everything is. Her blatant ignoring should have made that clear.

So why is there an all too familiar blonde headed hybrid lurking outside her door?

YN slows, trying to figure out what she should do.

On one hand, she’s never seen the wolf outside the walls of Saint Mary’s. He looks so different, the birds chirping in the air and him leaning against her wall. He almost takes her breath away, dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of laced-up black converse.

But on the other hand . . .

“I can smell you, you know,” he says, not glancing up even once.

“What are you doing here? How do you know where I live? It’s not okay just to show up at people’s houses, Jimin,” YN says, not moving any closer.

The wolf finally looks up at her.

“I needed to see you - to explain myself and to apologize. I was majorly out of hand,”

YN shakes her head.

“An apology doesn’t do anything. I want you to leave and never come near me again. I can’t be around someone like you,”

Jimin flinches slightly.

“Please just listen to me. Just let me explain myself. If you still want me to disappear, I’ll do it. I’ll leave you and never come near you again,” His voice trembles.

“If you’re going to talk, do it there. Don’t come any closer to me,”

“Okay,” he says, wetting his lips a bit, “I . . . well, I snuck out. Taehyung helped me. Lent me some of his clothes. I don’t like that I smell like him,”

“You couldn’t just leave? Why’d you have to sneak out?”

“You do realize that I’m a glorified pet, right YN? Nothing I’ve ever done has been because I wanted to do it. Saint Mary’s has given me the most freedom I’ve ever had, and even then I can only go to certain places at certain times. Hell, I can’t even sleep as long or as short as I’d like. We have bedtimes. I’m twenty - four. Twenty - four,”

Frustration rolls off of Jimin in waves, YN feeling pity beginning to bloom in her chest.

“But I’m not trying to be ungrateful to Saint Mary’s. The Sanctuary is a wonderful place with kind people, the kindest I’ve ever known . . . but I’m there for a reason. Every hybrid is . . .”

He seems to struggle with his next words.

“When I was born, I was taken from my mother almost immediately. Hybrids may not be human, but the bond we form between those we love is just as strong, if not stronger. So, to prevent problems in the future, children are taken away. We stay with a human nanny until we mature. I was eight years old when I left mine, a cold woman who never once said or did a kind thing to or for me. After that. we’re supposed to go to school. We don’t learn what human did. I couldn’t even read. Instead, hybrids get behavioral training until they can be sold to the highest bidder,”

“I thought you couldn’t be adopted until you turned twenty - one?”

He just laughs.

“As if the breeders cared about that little law. But no one really goes to their masters until fourteen or so. But not me. I never went to the behavioral school. At eight, one of the biggest politicians bought me for his daughter, who was ten at the time. It started off pretty great. The politician and his wife were both major assholes, but the girl was an angel. Truly. She taught me things, treated me like a friend instead of a pet. But . . .”

Jimin pauses abruptly, hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

“But she began to change at sixteen. At first, it was small changes, her no longer sneaking me dessert from the kitchen. But it spiraled. By the time she turned eighteen, she wouldn't even look at me anymore. Pretended I didn’t exist. Would brush past me, act like she couldn’t even see me. I started acting out, misbehaving and getting in trouble, enduring horrible punishments from her family all to regain her attention. I even ran away one day but came back just six hours and YN . . .”

Indescribable emotion clogs up his throat.

“There was another hybrid. I wasn’t even gone a whole day and they had adopted a new hybrid, a bunny. Her face was all lit up and happy. All I could do was watch from outside the windows as they all cooed and fawned over him. I knew it was over for me. They’d thrown the few things I owned out all over the front lawn, all of it ruined, Shredded, burned, soaked . . .”

He trembles, wrapping his arms around himself.

Unintentionally, YN had taken steps toward him, getting close enough to see the fresh set of tears gathered in his eyes. Jimin wipes them away angrily.

“I had nowhere to go. No clothes, no food, no money. You’ve got to understand, YN. She was my world. My entire universe. The only thing I had ever known. And it was all taken away from me. I was thrown away like trash,”

YN feels her heart shatter.

“I found out later that it was because she’d been ashamed that I’m a wolf. All of her friends had cute hybrids. Bunnies and kitties and hamsters. Docile creatures. She began to resent what I was,” Jimin says bitterly.

“The next years were the worst of my life. Shortly after I’d been abandoned, desperate, I signed a contract with an underground club. A strip joint for people too poor to afford a hybrid of their own. I did what I had to do. At first, it wasn’t so bad. I just bussed tables, cleaned up after shows. Took the hits when someone got too drunk and angry. But at the end of the day, I had food, even if it was always scraps from the day’s buffet, stale and cold. At least I had a place to sleep, even if I had to sleep with one eye open. I could never go anywhere, do anything. I spent two years there until the owner wanted to add me to the show. Life had taken everything from me. My family, my home, my independence. The only thing I had left was myself. But if I stayed, if I did what they wanted me to, I would have nothing. Be nothing. So I ran. Lived in the streets and picked up odd jobs when I could. I didn’t have an identity, so I never had the chance to do anything or make anything of myself. Hybrids aren’t people. Human enough to be used to feed someone’s desires, but not human enough to have a life in anything other than subservience. That’s what I did for the next five years. Took jobs from people who didn’t ask questions. Made enough to buy enough food to keep living and slept in whatever abandoned building I could find. This year, I managed to find a stable job working at a gas station. But one day, some teenagers thought it would be fun to break-in to rob the place,”

His eyes are hard.

“Hybrid or not, I can’t do anything against a crowd or eight people armed with blunt objects. So when they ran away because sirens could be heard in the air, I lay there, preparing to bleed out,”

Jimin looks up into the sky.

“I thought, ‘This is it. This is how I die. Live a pathetic life, die a pathetic death.’. But apparently, one of the EMTs figured out I was a hybrid when she took my vitals and I got courted off to Saint Mary’s,”

“And then,” he begins, looking at me like I held all the secrets to the universe, “I met you. You, who somehow smelled like home. Not a physical place, but the comfort and familiarity of home. And I just had to see you again. Meet you again. And when I did, you weren’t afraid of me. You didn’t treat me like the dirt under your shoes. You joked and laughed and cared. And I had to see you again and again and again. Because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,”

He’s crying now, they both are.

“And I’m sorry how I acted. I never meant to yell at you or make you feel bad. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just -,” his voice cracks into an ugly sob, “I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me. I wouldn’t either -”

The hybrid doesn’t get to utter another word before a pair of arms are wrapped around him like a vice. Instantly, his nostrils are flooded with her scent, Jimin burying his face in her neck.

Chapter 7

[leswansong]

Marichat May - Kitty Cats & Ballet Shoes

Day Seven: Roommates

[ A03 ]

   Sipping her warm coffee Marinette smiled down at the still sleeping thief on her white sofa, his breathing was strained and muffled, she couldn’t hold back her concern but there was nothing she could do until he woke up. Finding him in the halls falling asleep was a shock to her, he had always been so careful with who saw him and by the pale look in his face, something bad had happened to him. She couldn’t find it in herself to leave him there and the fact that her dance partner Leon was only a few minutes behind her forced her to act quickly.

  Checking her phone for the time she started to make breakfast for him. She grabbed her mother’s small recipe book because she could never remember when to add the cinnamon. She tried to keep the noise down as she started to mix in all the ingredients but she accidentally knocked a plastic cup off the counter. Wincing and looked over to Chat he shifted a little but didn’t wake up. Letting out a sigh of relief she picked up the cup and returned to her cooking, placing a pan down on the stove top, she buttered it and slowly brought the heat up under it when a sharp painful grown reached her ears.

  She glanced over, Chat was trying and failing to sit up, her hands reached for the stove dial and turned it off.

  “Chat wait!” she yelled trying to wash the excess butter off of her hands, “Lay down please.”

  He ignored her and continued to try and sit up, she groaned and dumped the tea towel she was using to dry her hands on the countertop and ran to him. She held herself back so she wouldn’t knock anything off of the small side tables littered around her apartment. Reaching his side she pushed him back down onto the sofa, he yelped in pain and she murmured him a quick apology.

  She waited a minute before asking him, “What happened?”

  He groaned, “Marinette,” he whined, “I’m-” he tried to say ‘fine’ but was caught off guard when a cough surfaced. He looked around and realised where he was. “How did I get here?”

  “I found you in the corridor, you were in and out of consciousness and I… I just couldn’t leave you there.”

  “I- You walked me down the streets…”

  “Yeah… No one noticed I made sure that I was roadside and my really large jacket hid most of your… suit,” she really had no idea how to explain what he was wearing.

  “Thank you,” her eyes met his and she felt the weight behind his words.

  “Are- Are you okay,” she stuttered, “What happened, you looked really- sick last night.”

  He averted his eyes and murmured something beyond her range of hearing, she frowned and was about to ask him to repeat himself when he did it for her.

   “I kinda crashed into a brick wall,” he told her sheepishly.

  “What!? How? Do you need to go to Hospit-“

  “No! Please don’t call an Ambulance, I’ll be fine,” his words were panicked.

  “Okay, Okay,” she said trying to calm him, “But how did you-“

  “End up crashing into a brick wall?” he finished her sentence for her.

  She nodded.

  He sighed and instantly gritted his teeth, “My grappling hook… I hadn’t used it before,” he explained, “And it was a little more effective than I thought and well…”

  “Did it hurt,” she asked even though she could tell it did.

  He paused and swallowed his pride before nodding his head, “I’ve got a few cracked ribs and easily a bruised lung among other minor injuries.”

  She frowned at the list, they sounded extremely painful and her head urged her, even more, to take him to a hospital but Chat had made it very clear his thoughts on it. Chat tried to sit up again but this time she gently pushed him back down.

  He sent her a slightly infuriated look.

  “Stay,” she commanded, “you’ll get extra pancakes if you do.”

  His eyes grew wide and he instantly complied with her demands.

  She smirked internally and headed back to the small kitchen making quick work of the batter sitting on the countertop. Soon she had two tall stacks of pancakes, one was slightly taller than the other, she placed the two plates down on her small round dining table. It took some time but eventually, she helped Chat over to the table, her shoulder protested the heavy weight on it as it hadn’t recovered from the night before but she bit her tongue and just dealt with it.

  “Thanks,” he replied happily already digging into the tall pile on his plate.

  Marinette tried to find something to break the silence but nothing came to mind, she wanted to ask him questions to get to know him better and she would have asked him if it weren’t for the crazy amount of ways he could interpret them. Very quickly Chat polished off his plate, Marinette pushed him what was left on her plate knowing that she definitely couldn’t finish it.

  “Thank you Marinette,” he said after he finished eating, “this… This was lovely but I’d best get going,” he used his extendable stick to help him stand.

  Her eyes grew wide at the sight she hadn’t seen anything like it. She shook her head to snap her back to what he had said, “No,” she protested, “You’re not going anywhere while you’re injured.”

  He sputtered, “Marinette, I’m- you can’t- I-“

  “I have a spare bedroom,” she told him, “and you’ll be using it until you heal.”

  He let out a huff and slumped back into his chair in defeat, he didn’t argue the point any further but Marinette could see that he really wanted to.

  Her eyes shot over quickly to her front door just to make sure she had locked it properly the night before, her keys were nowhere in sight although she didn’t doubt that if Chat really wanted to leave her door wouldn’t pose much of a challenge. Turning back to him she gave him a small smile and headed off to her spare room.

  She hadn’t exactly been in there for a while, the kittens had wandered their way in there and she had spent several minutes looking for them but her old sewing supplies still sat untouched with a small layer of dust atop them. She held her breath as to not breath any of it in, she felt around in one of the draws for a feather duster and gave everything a light dusting, it would have to be given a proper cleaning but that was a job for later. Her attention moved to the old trundle daybed to start setting it up, she pushed aside the small bedside table to convert the bed into a queen size one. It was the first time in a very long time that she had converted it and she had forgotten how heavy it was but using all her strength she triumphed. She tried to dress the bed as best as she could but it ultimately looked like she had just thrown everything on it.

  The sound of someone trying to open her locked front door reached her ears, she smiled and waited for Chat to slowly hobble over to her. She stuffed a pillow into its case and threw it onto the bed.

  “Marinette?”

  She spun on her heels to face him, he was using the doorway as support, “You shouldn’t be walking around,” she commented and picked up another pillowcase and pillow.

  He shrugged his shoulders, “I was bored.”

  “Here,” she threw the pillow she was holding towards him, once he had caught it she threw him the case, She picked up another pillow and started to stuff it into a case.

  “How long will I be staying,” he inquired.

  “Until you can walk without pain.”

  “That’s… A while, It takes bones like six weeks to heal.”

  “You’ve clearly never broken a bone.”

  “Only slightly,” he replied smiling, he threw her back the pillow which was now in its case.

  “Well, you’ll be staying until it heals.”

  “But-“ he tried to argue.

  “You’re staying,” she ordered.

  “The necklace.”

  “You’ll get another opportunity,” she threw her own pillow onto the bed.

  “No, I won’t.”

  She sighed and sat down on the bed, she patted the spot next to her urging him to sit and he reluctantly did.

  “Listen,” she started, “If you stay here for at least two weeks and I can see that you can at least walk with little pain, you can leave but not before then. I don’t want to find you seriously hurt in a corridor again.”

  “Okay…” he replied disheartened by her words, “But if I’m still here the night before the Gala, you have to help me steal the necklace.

  Marinette had to stop herself from Immediately agreeing, she had to think this through. If she agreed she could no longer turn him into the police because her fingerprints would be on it too and he could easily say that she was his accomplice in all of his other crimes as revenge. It dawned on her that she’d be the one stealing the necklace, she wouldn’t be playing some distant background role, she’d actually be in the room with the safe.

  “You’d have to crack the safe of course as well as everything I’d normally do like casing the place and making sure nothing is left up to chance since you’ve… well… made me your unofficial roommate and declared that I can’t walk,” he explained.

  “I- I get it, I’d- I’d essentially be you for a night,” her voice was small and she stuttered her way through the simple sentence.

  He smiled brightly at her, “Do we have a deal?”

  She took a deep breath and sighed, every fibre of her being told her not to say yes even if it got her a little revenge on Lila, the girl couldn’t and wouldn’t stop bragging about her getting the lead in the Christmas production. The thought of the girl flipped a switch in her head, she really couldn’t believe she was going to say yes, she shut her eyes and slowly nodded her head.

  “Great!” he replied a little too enthusiastically for her liking, she got the sudden feeling that he was planning something.

  She got up to leave only to feel his gloved hand reach out and grab her when she walked a little too far, she faced him.

  “Don’t worry Marinette, I won’t make you do anything too extreme, I promise.”

  How he managed to pick up on her insecurities baffled her but a small part of her was glad that he did and that he wasn’t going to push her boundaries because stealing was already extremely far out of her comfort zone.

  She smiled at him giving him a silent reply and exited the room.

  She wondered how she ended up in this position, just the thought of the thief used to terrify her and now, seeing him hurt in that hallway she never wanted to see him hurt again.

  Entering her kitchen, she got to work cleaning up the mess breakfast had caused, she scrubbed the pan cleaning off the baked in pancake residue, she wiped down the counter top all while regretting her decision to help Chat and asking him to stay. He would be in her very small apartment for at least two weeks, she definitely hadn’t thought that through.

  She wondered what Alya would think of her situation, her best friend would most likely insist that Marinette had a small crush on the man but Marinette knew that to untrue. She knew her own feelings very well and knew that she was nowhere near ready for another relationship not after how her last one ended. No, her relationship with Chat was a friendship slowly being built on trust even if her now slightly skewed moral compass tried to argue against it but it couldn’t ignore the facts, she texted him more than her other friends and with Alya out of the country Chat Noir was the only person she saw out of her dance classes and rehearsals.

  Marinette reached for a pen and started to write a small list of things she would have to get if Chat was actually going to be staying the full two weeks.

Made For @marichatmay

<—Previous                              Drabble Master List                              Next—>

[notgonnarememberthis]

A Dance With Death- Chapter 3

I am back from the void once again. I may or may not have slipped away while watching 10 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy,,,, But I am back just in time for them to announce when season 7 returns. I’ll see y’all there for the end! Until then I’ll be writing my little heart out.

When a brunette knocks on his door he half expected it to be Marcus and Kitty, come to chew him out for skipping out on Detective Cortez. However when he spies the gentle makeup and soft pastel colors he recognizes her as Kitty’s antithesis, Harper. Watson had warned him that she was inviting the young girl to his home as, not only was the girl her old assistant but she seemed to be the only person Watson implicitly trusts in the building. Overloaded with files Harper shuffles into the living room where Watson is seated, reading glasses perched on her nose as she reads through a list on her laptop.

“I grabbed everything I could on who you could’ve pissed off since I started and stopped working for you. Bad news, it’s a lot. Good news, I narrowed it down.” Her tone is light, joking almost. She’s likely dealing with the fact that she could’ve been in that office too. He’s long seen people in denial and he makes a mental note to tell Marcus to get her a recommended therapist. She, however, doesn’t seem to be exhibiting any signs of shock so he let’s her proceed.

While they come over the files he decides to make tea. Pulling a sprig of kale out of the fridge he marches over to Clyde’s terrarium gently placing his lunch in his bowl. He freezes mid-movement as he tunes into the conversation from the other room.

“So…” A gentle tone, likely the young brunette.

“So?” The echoing sentiment confirms that he’s identified the voices correctly. Against the voice echoing in the back of his mind that sounds suspiciously like Marcus he halts his movements listening in. After all, he won’t get a better opportunity than this to learn about Watson. She’s the one person he’s not been able to read in so long. Microexpressions are controlled, if not they’re at least subdued. Truth be told, it’s remarkable and he finds himself aching to know more, to learn more about her. It’s an urge he hasn’t felt towards an individual in far too long.

“He’s cute.” A moment of silence screams with the image of a quiet stand-off.

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“All I’m saying is- Hear me out.” Shifting marks her leaning closer. “You haven’t been seeing anyone since Rick. It’s been a year and a half. He’s cute and he has tattoos. It doesn’t have to be a big thing just a little thing or it could be a big thing if you want it to be-”

“Stop.” From his vantage point he can see Watson’s shadow holding up a hand. “I haven’t seen anyone in a year and a half because I’ve been running the NFL story for a year. I’ve been busy.”

“You said the same thing until Rick came along.”

“Enough.” She barks, a tone he’s only heard her use in the office setting. “You forget why we’re here. Someone is trying to kill me, he’s finding who. That’s it.”

“Mhmm.” She sounds relatively unphased by the forcefulness behind the words.

“Rick cheated on me with his ex-wife. He was using me to get married before she could. Everything I thought we had was made up by you and his assistant. You said so yourself.” A huffed breath. “The only person it worked out for was you and him.”

“Not exactly.” Another standoff. “We went different paths.”

“Different paths.”

“We’re playing for the same team?”

“Do you ever speak out of metaphors?” Annoyance laces through Watson’s tone.

“I’m gay.” A shocked beat falls between them. “It ended well at least. We’re still like… chill? That’s beside the point. Look, I just want you to be happy and I know work makes you happy but I also saw you when you were with Rick. You were giggly and soft!”

“Rude.”

“I’m just saying! You liked him… Or the him we made up?” She shifts again. “Just give it some thought? I promise no shenanigans.”

The silence that settles over them is much less tense, he can almost picture the small smile on Watson’s face. “He is cute.”

He nearly jumps when the kettle whistles loudly reminding the women that they’re not alone in the house. He shuffles again making himself busy as he grabs mugs and flipping off the boiler. Seemingly satisfied that he’s not listening to them, the two continue on a different, much less interesting conversation.

Gathering the supplies he returns to the living room to continue their search.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Day fades to night and back again. Watson falls asleep in a spare bedroom after he deemed it was far too late and unsafe for her to go home. Marcus drops off a new set of clothes for Watson around seven but doesn’t stick around for long. She wakes and changes without ceremony as it should be.

Around nine Kitty leaves for the office of Colm McAllister with the consult of Marcus to meet her there. He and Watson are to analyze from home, much to his chagrin. Thanks to their hacker collective Everyone they’ve gained access to the cameras in the room of the interview. Should Colm be their man they’ll be able to know within the hour.

Thus he finds himself set up with Watson watching one of many monitors as Mr. McAllister fervently denies any claim that he is trying to set a hit on Ms. Watson’s life. The aforementioned sits in the chair beside him, legs crossed over another. She’d unbuttoned her suit jacket to get more comfortable as her eyes dart across the screen hanging on every word said.

“Mr. McAllister, were you aware of the fact that Ms. Watson was attacked in her office yesterday?”

“This is getting nowhere.” He huffs. He’d believed the night before that Colm McAllister was their man after some digging. When Watson uncovered that he was using bribery to pull potential athletes to his team he lost everything: his job, his wife, and reputation he spent his entire life to build was vanished and he was shunned in the world of sports. However, from viewing the clips it was all too clear that Mr. McAllister is a coward of a man.

“He’s lying.” His head snaps to Watson whose eyes haven’t moved from the screen. She watches with an intensity he rarely sees in Kitty. It’s interesting.

“Why’s that?” He could see the signs for himself but he finds himself compelled by her. By what she knows.

“His body is turned towards the door so he clearly wants them to leave, which would be normal except his arms are crossed. He’s also looked at the clock on his desk five times in the past two minutes.” She stands hands fixing the wrinkles in her clothes absentmindedly. “He knows something but he isn’t saying what.”

“He’s not your attempted killer.”

“God no.” She scoffs. “His hands are shaking, sign of early onset Parkinson’s if I had to guess. There’s no way he would’ve been able to fire that gun and hit my window accurately.”

“Remarkable.” He nods. These were signs and behaviors it took him months to get Kitty to pick up on and she just named them all off the top of her head. He looks to her with a deep sort of fascination. Her eyes catch his and he can see the shock register in her features. Briefly he wonders when the last time she received a compliment on her work. “You’re remarkable.” He emphasizes, despite his best judgement.

“You don’t need to do that.” His eyebrows furrow at her tone. She sounds almost annoyed by his comment. “Don’t flatter me.”

“I assure you Watson, I only state facts. I think you’re extraordinary.”

Her lips part, eyes darting across his features searching for any answer to the questions that lie beneath her throat. He’s more prepared this time, when she crosses the distance of the room to him. When two perfectly manicured hands take his face into their touch. When her lips crash against his sending every nerve in his body into hyperdrive.

Together they stumble across the room, hands excitedly exploring. He needs to know so much about her. He needs to know how her hair feels between his fingers, the sounds he can tempt from her throat, the feel of her skin against his. Her fingers tug at his shirt pulling it from the tuck as her back collides with the wall. Their feet jarr at the sudden stop but their movements do not cease. His fingers move from her back to her hips feeling the tantalizing flesh barely brushing his fingertips. In a desperate need for air his lips move to her jaw, huffing against her skin. High pitched sighs escape her throat, the interview long forgotten in the heat of passion.

He pulls from her suddenly, the gears in his mind turning all over again. Her fingers are undoing his buttons quickly. “I don’t want to stop.” He groans against her skin. She laughs, a seductive noise against the shell of his ear. “I don’t want to stop.” It’s a plea this time, begging her to be the sane one. God he needs her to stop him before he acts foolish. He knows she won’t when her teeth nip at the spot beneath his jaw, threatening to pull him into the abyss. Her skin is so soft, like velvet but her lips burn him. He catches her hands halting the movement. His eyes meet hers once again as he rests her forehead against his.

In the end it’s him who breaks the connection. Against every fiber of his being he steps away from her. “Are you serious?” She scoffs. He can’t face her now. Not with the rejection he saw in her eyes, the hurt of being denied again. He crossed a line and all he can think about is how he wishes to touch her again. Guilt laces around his throat and pulls tightly.

“I need to focus.” His words come out cold, detached.

“You’re right. We need to figure out what Mr. McAllister knows and-”

“We don’t need to do anything.” He snaps. “No offense Ms. Watson but right now I need peace and quiet, or did you forget that it’s your life that is at stake?” He pushes her away because he can’t risk getting too close. He can’t become attached. Not now. He needs to focus so that he can find her attempted killer.

“No. No I didn’t.” Her heels echo clearly off the Brownstone floor as she grabs her coat. The slam of the door pierces him to the core but he must remain unphased.

He takes a deep breath delving back into his work.

[djinmer4]

Lord of the Rings (Ultimate AU)

“Hey, do you remember this?”  Kurt typed in a few commands in the Danger Room control center and the room shifted into a lush temperate forest.  Kitty looked around.  She patted a few trees, scuffed the ground underneath her and dipped one hand in the water.  “Everything looks good,” she said.  “The updates pushed through fine.  And no, I don’t remember this?  Should I?”

Kurt teleported out, leaving the control room empty.  Kitty had a brief image of Jamie freaking out, reminding them to always have a spotter.  The German bamfed in front of her, dressed in a cosplay outfit.  “Fair Kitten, the dragon will not breathe another breath of hellfire as long as your trusted Legolas-”

“Oh, this scenario,” Kitty sighed.  It had been a long time since they’ve done this before she had even gotten together with Peter.  Back when Piotr and Kurt had still been friends.

“No nostalgia for you?”

“I’ve always liked Eowyn more than Arwen.  The films haven’t changed my opinion.”

“Is that why you didn’t want to be rescued?”

“No, I didn’t want to be rescued because I had a lot of homework that evening.  Aaannddd I don’t like being a damsel in distress.  I’d rather rescue myself.”

“Oh.”  He fiddled with the bow and arrows he had brought.

“Don’t let me stop you if you want to play.  I’ll watch from the control room.”

“But it’s pointless if you’re not here.”

“Kurt . . . “

“I know.  I’m sorry.  It’s just . . . I wondered if we could go back to those days.  Before I screwed everything up.”

“We can’t.  Time moves in one direction only and without the knowledge we have today, we wouldn’t do anything different so it wouldn’t be worth it.”  She settled on an illusionary stump.  “Why this scenario in particular?”

“Oh, um, when Piotr and I came up with it, it was an attempt at getting you to like me.”

She stared at him but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.  “You were trying to woo me by rescuing me from a fake dragon?”

“Umwerben?  Freien?  Is that what ‘woo’ means?”

“’Woo’ means to court someone.  To make someone partial to something or someone.”

“I guess so.  It clearly didn’t work but I thought there was some hope.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, you did call me cute when you left.  Piotr said that cute is good.”

“I suspect I was being sarcastic at the time.”  She stretched hands over her head and back arching.  “It wasn’t a bad idea.  But it was bad timing on your part.  I might have played along then if I didn’t have something more urgent to do.”

“You have some free time now.”

“You really want to get me in that stupid corseted dress, don’t you?”

“Well, you did look very good in it.”  He peeked at her from the side of his eyes (not that anyone would be able to tell).

“I don’t know about that.  That dress was itchy and uncomfortable.”

“Would it help if it’s not the same dress?”

She turned to look at him fully.  “Why are you so bound and determined about this?”

“It can’t be because I want to be a better person?”

“That wouldn’t explain why you feel the need to seek out my company all the time.  It’s one thing to make things up to Piotr and Alison.  I’m not one of the people you harmed.”

“I couldn’t stand the thought of you being out of my life. I just had to have you. You can understand my reasoning for that right?”

“No, not really.”  

“Let me put it this way.  We were friends before.  You’re one of the only people who are still willing to be friends with me.  And I’m in love with you.”

“I’m having a hard time believing it.”  Kitty sighed.  “I don’t want to think about this right now.  Give me the dress, but I’ll be damned if I stand in one place while you get to slay the dragon.”

The blue dress was easier to move in than that white frock.

“I think you set the difficulty too high.”

“Nein, nein.  I’ve got this,” panted Kurt, teleporting away from the dragon’s fiery breath.  “Just give me a few seconds to get in the right position . . . “

Kitty flinched as another blast went past her, just missing the pole she was tied to.  “Please hurry, it’s getting awfully warm in this pit!”

“Phase out then!”

“I can’t!  Your stupid orcs used adamantium chains to tie me up!”

Kurt absent-mindedly made a note that apparently Excalibur-Britain had adamantium chains as part of its inventory.  Learn something new every day.

He bamfed over the dragon’s head and tried to slice through his neck.  The sword rebounded of its scales and he was sent into an uncontrolled spin.  A quick teleport got him down on the ground and he rolled to a stop at Kitty’s feet.  “Great work, Legolas.”  She commented dryly.  “Now how are you going to kill that thing?”

“Why in the tried and true method that Tolkien’s dragon slayers used!”  He pulled out his bow.  The dragon opened its mouth and inhaled.  Carefully aiming, Kurt fired an arrow into the dragon’s mouth.  Or rather he tried to.  Of all the armaments Weapon XVII had ever mastered, bow and arrow aren’t any of them.  The shot ended up nowhere near the dragon’s mouth.  Not at all discouraged, Kurt pulled another one from the quiver and fired again.  Closer this time.

“Kurt, now would be a good time to use the override!”

“It’s under control, Katzchen!”  Shot after shot.  Finally, one hit, not into the dragon’s mouth but its eye.  It reared back and loosed a fiery beam into the sky, clawing at its face.  Rather than try that again, Kurt turned to Kitty and freed her, carefully teleporting a few links of the chain away so she could pull loose from the pillar.  “Don’t I get a kiss, madchen?” he teased.

“Ask me that after the dragon’s dead.”  Kitty helped herself to one of his swords.  “Get me up over his head.”

“As you wish!”  Kurt teleported them over the flailing dragon.  Kitty pushed away, increasing her density as she fell.  She’d been aiming for the other eye, but an errant movement pushed her away so she settled for landing on its back and slashing its wings to shreds.  Her movements were uncoordinated but at least she knew which end was which.

Grounded, the dragon continued to howl.  Kurt, who had bamfed back to the ground after letting go of Kitty, took it upon himself to start shooting arrows at it again.  Unfortunately, even immobilized and blind in one eye, the dragon was still quite dangerous.  It growled, then bit down, taking the indigo man in one bite.

“Kurt!”

The dragon paused.  Then it convulsed, writhing around and forcing Kitty to take to the air to avoid being hit.  As the last of the death throws subsided it fell to its flank and its mouth gaped open.  Inside, Kitty could see Kurt.  He’d stabbed upward with his other sword when the dragon had chomped down on him and managed to pierce its brain.  As he crawled away from the corpse, Kitty carefully stepped down to help him up.

“I think we’ve both had enough for today.  Next time let’s do something easier, like ‘Pirates of the Carribean’.”

“I don’t think fighting a kraken would be any simpler than fighting a dragon but otherwise good point.  Computer override, schmetterling.  End program: ‘Rescue the Princess’.”

Kitty glared at him when she heard the name.  Kurt just shrugged.  “Piotr picked it out, not me.  So now that the dragon’s dead . . . “

The younger girl burst out laughing.  “Have you seen yourself?  You’re covered in dragon brains!  Go take a shower and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Kurt put up a small amount of grumbling but inside he agreed with her.  He hadn’t expected Excalibur’s Danger Room to be quite so realistic.  He’d nearly lost his grip on the sword when the dragon snapped him up and started drooling on him.  The German couldn’t wait to get clean.

[lairep]

Three Days

@yuyuisakura-hime Ahh, thank you for thinking they’re amazing! That’s so nice to hear ; w; I’m so happy aaaaa

Technically my requests are closed for now, but I have a lot of pending ones for that prompt still (since 2017 ahaha *sweats profusely*) and so... why not do this on the spot, yeah? Yeah. Hope you like this! c:

17: "When you asked me out, this is not what I had in mind"

Ao3 Link || Other Works

Three days ago, Chat Noir had an epiphany.

Three days ago, when another akuma terrorized Paris and Marinette Dupain-Cheng practically pushed him off a bridge as part of a convoluted plan to trap said akuma in a nearby wastebasket, Chat Noir realized something.

Three days ago, Chat realized that he had fallen in love with Marinette.

Two days ago, he asked her out on her balcony at three a.m. in the morning. She was sleepy and had thrown a shoe at him, thinking he was an intruder at first, but he managed to ask her out regardless.

One day ago, she gave her reply. It was a yes. A tentative, kind of confused “sure?” but it was a yes, nonetheless.

Today, they are going out on a date.

Or, they were supposed to be going out on a date.

But things are not working out the way he planned.

“When you asked me out,” Marinette begins, scrunching her nose at the smell and squinting her eyes at him, “this was not what I had in mind.”

Chat plucks a banana peel from his shoulder and tries to shake away grime from his left shoe. There’s nothing he can do about the smell though. “I swear, I’m better than this,” he says, tone almost teary, “I just sort of had a run in with a dog and fell in a dumpster?”

“Right,” Marinette says, her tone deceptively neutral as she adjusts the strap of her purse on her shoulder, “and what about those lipstick marks on your cheeks and neck?”

“Ah, that,” Chat flinches and wipes at his cheeks, ending up smearing grime on his face, “before I ran into the dog, I, um, got accosted by this group of people who turned out to be huge fans and, um… I got kissed? A lot?”

Marinette looks on, unimpressed.

“Unwillingly!” he amends quickly, realizing how he sounded, “I unwillingly got kissed, I swear! I didn’t ask them to! I ran away from them as fast as I could and that’s when I ended up stepping on the tail of this huge mastiff and it chased me three blocks down so I scaled this building and accidentally fell into a dumpster…” he trails off uncertainly as she squints at him some more.

“…so, the grime and the horrible smell are from you falling into the dumpster?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

Chat balks and avoids her gaze in embarrassment. “Well, not exactly. When I, uh, exited the dumpster I kind of maybe tripped and this manhole came out of nowhere and I… just sort of… stumbled into the sewer?”

Marinette tilts her head and looks pointedly at the mangled sliver of clear plastic and crushed flowers he holds together in one hand. “And I suppose that used to be a beautiful bouquet that got destroyed along the way?”

Chat nods meekly, looking down on the floor of her balcony. “Technically, it was run over by a bicycle after I managed to save it from the fans, the dog, and the sewer…”

Pathetic.

Even to his ears it all sounded pathetic.

Three days ago, he was this perfectly cool superhero in Marinette’s eyes.

Today, he’s the epitome of all things Marinette should not have in a boyfriend, potential or otherwise.

Marinette hums thoughtfully, appraising him with her eyes. She doesn’t look like she’s displeased, but Chat knows that’s only because she’s an exceptionally kind person. Any other girl would have left him in the air the moment he showed up two hours late with lipstick stains all over his face and smelling like he marinated in rotten egg yolks overnight, holding a sorry excuse for a bouquet in his grimy hands.

The fact that she didn’t shut her door in his face as soon as his horrible sewer smell wafted over was a pleasant surprise for him.

The date hasn’t even started yet. He’s still just at the “picking the date up from their home” stage, and already things are this bad.

Now, he fears, the date will never start. And along this failed date go his chances for any other dates in the future.

Marinette sighs, shakes her head, and turns her back from him without a word. Dejectedly, he also turns and takes his baton out to vault back home. Or maybe roam the city of Paris for a while and cry.

But before he could press the button, Marinette’s voice drifts over to him, tinged with confusion. “What are you doing now, you silly cat?”

“I…” he looks resolutely at his baton, refusing to meet her eyes, “I guess the date’s cancelled so I’m just going to go home…”

“Well, of course it’s cancelled,” Marinette says matter-of-factly, hands on her hips, “we’re not going anywhere with you looking and smelling like that.”

She’s right. Doesn’t make the words hurt any less though.

“Come on, then.”

Not that any of it is her fault. She has the right to cancel the date and berate him.

“Kitty, let’s go.”

He really messed this up.

“Chat.”

And now he’s lost his chance with her.

“Chat Noir!” Marinette yells.

“Yes, ma’am!” he answers automatically, startled out of his spiral of depressing thoughts.

She giggles a little, and the corners of his lips turn up involuntarily despite his gloom. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Inside, duh,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Or do you expect me to come back up here with a hose and wash the smell off you? Because just so you know, we don’t have a long enough hose for that.”

Chat blinks, taking a minute to process. Marinette looks at him patiently, waiting for an answer.

“You’re not mad?” he manages to ask quietly. “You… don’t hate me?”

“Why would I be mad?” she shoots back, smiling gently, almost amusedly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And even if you did, I wouldn’t hate you.”

He can’t describe what he’s feeling right now.

It’s like something warm is swelling up from his chest and threatening to burst.

He wants to laugh and cry at the same time and then throw a party and announce to the whole world that Marinette is the greatest person who ever lived and that he is so in love with her.

“So,” he begins, his face feeling like it’s going to split from how big and uncontrollable his grin was, “does this mean you’ll still go out with me?”

“Maybe not today,” Marinette says as she turns around, heading for her door. “Ask me again when you don’t smell like sewers and dumpsters.” She drops into her room and peeks her head out at him. “Are you coming or not?”

It was all he could do not to whoop and do a fist pump. Instead, he replies, “Coming, Princess!”

-

After an hour of a rather intense round of showering, scrubbing, and swatting away a hysterically laughing Plagg, Adrien transforms back into Chat Noir and exits the bathroom squeaky-clean, and—much to his delight—smelling like Marinette’s soap and shampoo.

Marinette is sitting on her chaise, watching him as he towels his hair. “You don’t smell anymore,” she comments, sniffing the air in his direction.

“Sure, I do,” he replies, grinning, “I smell nice.” Like you, he decides not to add.

Marinette rolls her eyes and pats the space on the floor in front of her. “Come here, I’ll dry your hair for you.”

He approaches obediently and sits down at the space between her legs. He tries not to think about her thighs on either side of him and instead looks down on the floor. “I’m really sorry about today,” he says earnestly, picking at the embroidered M on the towel, no doubt stitched on by Marinette herself. “I promise I’ll do better next time.”

Marinette plucks the towel from his hands and says, her tone lighthearted, “I guess if you’re going to be my boyfriend, I should expect more of these types of things in the future.”

“Boyfriend?!” Chat exclaims excitedly, his head whipping to her direction with breakneck speed. He could feel his face flushing and he knows he’s red to the tips of his ears. The real ones, not the magical ones.

“I said ‘if’, silly kitty,” she says, smiling indulgently as she starts up the hairdryer and runs her fingers through his damp hair. “You still haven’t taken me out on a proper date, so that title is still on hold. Now turn around so I can dry your hair.”

Chat obeys and happily leans into her touch, melting underneath the ministrations of her fingers and relaxing at the sound of the hairdryer and her soft humming.

Three days ago, he was just a superhero Marinette expected to save the day.

Today, he’s a potential boyfriend that Marinette expects to mess up, but still likes anyway.

He takes the hand sifting through his hair and presses his lips against her palm. She doesn’t pull away nor does she say anything, but he can see from the corner of his eyes that she’s blushing. Her humming has stopped and the hairdryer is facing an odd direction away from his head.

He smiles.

One day, maybe Marinette will have an epiphany and realize she’s in love with him too.

-

Three days later, she does.

[whispers in a small voice] buy me a coffee?

[mysmesomespacechips]

Merry Choi-mas! - Day 3

Summary: 12 days of Choi-mas: A collection of fluffy holiday-themed one-shots with the Choi twins. (AO3)

Playing in the Snow: Saeyoung x MC 

by @spacechip707

She looked like an angel, he thought. The snow cascaded from the grey skies, dusting her coat and hat with a delicate layer of white powder. Her dark lashes fluttered against her cheek, the brightness behind them accentuated by the snowflakes sticking to them. Saeyoung could practically see a halo forming around her knit hat as her fingers continued tracing lines into her snowman, completely oblivious to his presence.

Her beauty almost made him regret the pile of snow in his arms. Almost.

Those pretty lips let out the most horrified shriek when Saeyoung dropped the bundle of white onto her head. MC whirled around, her celestial eyes now donning a hellish glare as they narrowed on him. He was fast becoming the object of her wrath, but he still had enough gall to laugh at the small mountain that had amassed on her head. Her mittened hands swiped it off before balling into tight fists.

“Saeyoung, you’re going to get it!” she shouted.

Her pouty lips and tiny voice were hardly intimidating, but Saeyoung knew firsthand that her saintly looks could be deceiving. He bolted in the opposite direction, his scarf barely missing her grappling hands.

Her commitment was commendable, considering she was falling into the snow every ten seconds with her boot clad legs weighing her down. Still, her fury and the occasional snowball lobbed at his head was enough to get his own nimble feet dashing from one hiding spot to the next.

His lungs ached by the time he found refuge behind a large tree. He rested his back against the bark, leaned forward on his knees, and panted for breath. He peered around the trunk , spotting the disgruntled girl clambering over a particularly large boulder only to tumble sideways and disappear into the white fluff.

“So cute,” he muttered before sliding to the ground for a brief respite.

It was MC's idea to come out in the snow. Saeyoung had been hesitant at first, the cold always dredging up old memories of the brutal winter missions at his agency. But the world was bright today, even if the sky was dull. The white snow exuded a sense of purity, dousing him with a misplaced, albeit mischievous, innocence he barely had the chance to experience. No doubt, it was her plan all along.

As if being summoned by his thoughts, MC appeared from seemingly nowhere beside him and scattered any further contemplation. Saeyoung barely had time to to scramble to his feet before she pounced. His yelp was half muffled into his scarf, and his body collapsed sideways into the snow. The flying ice momentarily blinded his vision. A weight dropped onto his middle, and he squinted past his layers of scarves to find her straddling him.

A few flirtatious comments flitted near his tongue until he saw the ball of snow tightly packed in her glove. He tried wriggling away, but between her and the snow underneath him, he was firmly pinned in place. “MC, what are you doing with that?” he asked, a nervous titter escaping his throat.

“Depends,” she shrugged, an unsettling smirk resting on her mouth. “How good is your apology?”

He propped himself on his elbows and protruded his lower lip. “I’m sorry,” he said, heightening his voice to an almost babyish tone.

Her head tilted to the side. “Aww,”she cooed. “Cute, but still not good enough.”

Saeyoung shut his eyes, anticipating the glistening missile to collide with his face at some point. But instead, his entire body was jolted upwards. He cracked one eye open when he still didn’t experience any uncomfortably sensations. It was only then did he realize she was folding his collar open and slowly approaching his skin with the snowball.

Horror swallowed up any pleasure he received from initially creating a tiny avalanche on his wife’s head.

“No,” he breathed. His arms shot forward in attempts to keep hers at bay. “No, no! MC, not down the shirt--I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Despite the insistent revenge etched into her features, laughter spilled from her lips with every word. To his chagrin, it was contagious, and his begging sounded less serious than he hoped with his voice wavering in amusement.

“Nope,” she sung. "Still not good enough.”

She yanked on his jacket, creating a hole between his body and the fleece. Already, the brutal air raked down his bare chest and sent his frame shivering. His legs squirmed with the apprehension of ice splattering across skin. He clutched onto her wrist, digging his gloved fingers trying and failing to peel it away from its tight hold. “MC, baby, sweetheart, love of my life, please don’t do this to me. I love you. I’m sorry.”

“Tell that to my freezing back,” she grunted, struggling against his taut arms.

He stretched his neck past her shoulder and looked down her fluffy coat. “I’m sorry, MC’s back. There! Now please don’t--“

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Her hand slammed down against his chest, and the snow ball exploded. Pieces flew against his face and stuck to his hair while the rest went crumbling into his shirt. His throat squeezed out an odd, strangled cry. His shoulders scrunched all the way up to his ears as the pellets melted into ice water and dampened his shirt. The only thing he was aware of besides the dull stinging was MC's peals of laughter.

He curled on his side, effectively sending her tumbling to snow. He violently shuddered from his spot on the ground. MC regained her bearings and rolled her eyes. “Come on, it wasn’t that much snow.”

He glanced at her before rubbing his arms furiously. “I’m not shivering because of the snow,” he said, pushing himself up on all fours. “I’m shivering because of your cold heart.”

Indignation swept over her features followed by a short cry from her mouth. She scooped a handful of snow into her palm and hurled it at his head. It pitifully missed its target, landing on his shoulder instead, but Saeyoung still dramatically sprawled backwards into the snow. “The cruel ice queen has vanquished me again. Who will resurrect me?”

MC bit her lip, obviously trying to appear more affronted than she was. Offended people didn’t giggle like that. She cleared her throat and jerked the end of his scarf. “You started it! I was just calmly making my snowman, and you went ahead and dumped snow on my head.”

Saeyoung sighed. She was right. He clasped his own scarf and used it to reel her towards him. “We could come to a truce, but I need to be resurrected first.”

“Oh?”she asked, tucking her knees underneath her. Her hair tickled his cheek as she hovered over him. Her gaze traveled across his features, each one privy to her reserved wonderment. His face heated under such scrutiny, her searching glances making him feel so vulnerable…so cherished. So warm. He was suddenly very grateful for the mini blizzard inside his coat.

She must’ve noticed how much she had undone him with her attentions. Her lips unfolded into a wide grin, her cheeks growing rosier than they already were.

Saeyoung clutched his heart and groaned. “A beautiful smile! It’s very effective, but my heart is still frozen. Hurry, princess, before I am left an ice statue forever.”

Another melodic string of giggles drifted from her throat. “I thought I was a queen,” she argued.

Saeyoung rolled his eyes and gestured for her to keep playing along. MC obliged, as she always did, and tucked her hair behind her ear. The kiss she pressed against his cheek almost stung with its heat contrasting the coolness of his skin.

“Did that work?”she said, brow arching upwards.

A little too well, he thought. Saeyoung sat upright and inhaled deeply. He patted his chest and turned to her with a grim smile. “I’m alive for now. But would the lovely princess offer her magical powers again? Just to make sure.”

“Happily,”she said. She leaned towards him, her eyes closing, no doubt for a proper kiss. For the second time that day, Saeyoung regretted the snow he was packing into his hands, but it was necessary. For his dignity.

He jumped to his feet, relishing in her surprised face for a split second before tossing the snowball towards her. Unlike her, his aim was deadly accurate and the ball pelted her middle. She shrieked, half in delight and half in exasperation, and swept as much snow as she could against his legs.

He retaliated with more of his ammunition, collected off the snow-covered bushes behind him. After that, it became a full out war. Ribbons of white streamed through the air, and their laughter mingled together in the most ridiculous harmony. Ice pounded against Saeyoung's skin, sometimes slipping in his coat and burning his skin. But he didn’t mind it. His heart was lighter than any other winter before.

Their fight eventually slowed. MC’s projectiles came less often and with less force, and Saeyoung’s aim faltered with the state of his snow encrusted glasses. He brushed off the extra ice from his lenses, noticing her glowing red nose. She waved her arms when he lifted another snowball. “Break! Please,” she panted.

Saeyoung lifted his chin and scoffed. “I only accept surrender in the form of fresh hot chocolate.”

She chuckled lightly before shaking her head at his expense. “Okay, Defender of Justice, you will get your spoils. But we really should get inside before we catch cold.”

Saeyoung let out cry of triumph and waddled around in a little dance. Patient as ever, she hooked her arm in his and endured his prancing and bragging as they trekked back towards the bunker.

He stopped her, however, when they arrived at her abandoned little snowman. Really, it was only three lumps of snow piled together with two stick arms, and a stick nose in lieu of a carrot.

“Oh, you didn’t finish it,” he commented, noting the lack of clothing. She did add a pair of kitty ears though, of which Saeyoung heartily approved.

“Whose fault is that?” She returned, not unkindly.

He crouched down with a soft chuckle. He removed one of his scarves and placed it around the neck as a sign of amends. “There! Now all you need is glasses, and it could be me.”

MC ducked her head, her face reddening to match her nose. “Actually…”

Saeyoung dragged his gaze back to the snowman in question.

There was indeed a lopsided face, barely noticeable but still present. He could make out a smile, a few teeth, and what appeared to be his striped glasses scratched into the snow. A coo bubbled past his lips as the pieces clicked. “Aww, MC…you made me?”

She hummed softly, though most of it was slurred into her chattering teeth. “I was going to make both of us before we got—er—distracted.”

Saeyoung clicked his tongue and turned back to the crude likeness. His heart warmed a little at a second viewing, and he couldn’t help the smile tugging at his mouth. “Well, we can’t have a me without a you.”

“It’s really fine, Saeyoung! Please, I’m really cold and—“ MC’s protests died when the redhead flopped back into the snow, his arms spread wide. He moved them up and down, ignoring her questioning look.

Once he was satisfied with the grooves he created, he carefully stood to his feet and maneuvered around his creation to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his chin against her shoulder. He didn’t need to see her face to register her stunned silence. “Because you’re my snow angel,” he whispered in her ear. He pressed a short kiss to her cheek and tugged her along.

MC opened and closed her mouth several times, spouting nothing but broke syllables until they arrived at the front gate. She sighed, her breath crystallizing in the chill.

“You know, it’s so unfair,” she finally managed. Her eyes darted to his in a shy glance. “You won the snowball fight... and my heart. All in one day.”

His heart clenched at the shy and mildly proud grin on her face. He promptly pinched her cheek in response. “Then I somehow have the best luck in the world. I don’t deserve it,” he said, cupping her face tenderly.

“Saeyoung…” she began, his name being used with affection and admonition all at once.

“But,” he went on. “I do deserve some hot cocoa, if I remember correctly. And I’d really like it soon. You know, since a certain ice queen put snow down my shirt.”

“Saeyoung!” she said again with more fury. She crossed her arms, her features once again puffing into a pout that made his insides melt. “You really have to make up your mind. Am I an ice queen, a princess, or a snow angel?”

He really didn’t deserve her.

He tugged on her coat until she stumbled into his arms. He squeezed her as hard as he could with the layers of cloth and fluff between them. “You are all the above,” he announced. “Two parts royalty and one part divine.”

He reveled in the blush tainting her cheeks from the bestowed compliments. Unlike him, she deserved every one of them and more.

He momentarily spared her from further timidity and spouted out the Arabic needed to open the gate. She waddled into the bunker, fully flustered and eager to escape his shower of praises, while he chased after her, ever eager to continue.

Saeyoung may not have had good luck all his life. He may have had horrible memories of winter and Christmas, but now he had her. Her affections, her love, her care. All of it was enough for him. All of it was be enough to stave off his past--and also the cold that he would inevitably catch in the next few days.

[sour--strawberries]

Meow Cafe, part 12

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony)

universe: Figaro universe, cat cafe!au - Tony works as a barista in a cat cafe and Steve is totally smitten by him and Tony’s overly fluffy cat, Figaro

summary: The big opening of the new Meow Cafe is finally happening!

length: 5 791 words

warnings: this fic belongs to Figaro universe, not focused on tickling, but has some from time to time (some this time)

a/n: FINAL CHAPTER IS HERE! I hope you like it and look at the end for a special surprise! if you enjoyed this series, remember to like, reblog and send me your final thoughts, would love to hear how you liked this love and cat story!

———–

Meow Cafe, part 12

(part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11)

The work on new Meow Cafe was going smoothly and after another month it was fully furnished and equipped, sparkling new and clean, ready to accept cats and customers. Yet, the final and hardest test remained the one that would define everything.

"He is coming! He is coming!" Janet jumped away from the window, almost entangling herself in the curtains in the process. "The inspector is coming!!" she shrilled, cheeks becoming flushed from the nervous atmosphere.

"Calm down, Jan," Bruce advised, standing behind the bar, next to Pepper who was sipping some coffee.

"What if he won't like the cafe?! What if we did something wrong?! We will have to start all over again!!" Janet panicked further, skipping to Bruce and flailing arms in panic.

"He will like it, we did everything fine---"

"AND WHAT IF WE DIDN'T?!" Janet roared, grabbing Bruce by the collar and almost dragging him out from the bar area. Before Pepper had to intervene, there was a gentle sound of a bell ringing, indicating that someone pushed the door open. The inspector arrived.

"Hi!" Janet immediately let go of Bruce and turned around, her angry scowl turning into a welcoming smile. The girl needed only one second to change her mood dramatically. There was probably some medical term for that, but it wasn't important. "Welcome to Meow Cafe!"

The inspector seemed unfazed. He put his nose up and sniffed, still smelling some of the paint. Tony and Steve walked behind the inspector and smiled nervously at the crew gathered near the bar area.

"Glad you could find time for us," Pepper smiled, greeting their guest. "Janet will show you around," she said, needing to find the over-energetic girl some task, or she might kill them all.

"Of course!" Janet nodded enthusiastically, and the tour started.

The inspector took his time and went meticulously through every inch of Meow Cafe. The new furniture was met with approval, soft and inviting both for cats and humans. The big window had a nice warm spot where the sun was shining, perfect for naps. The new cat shelves were great, placed all over the cafe, with some tunnels between them for double the fun, all in nice, pastel, bright colors and with soft carpet on the top for double kitty comfort. The inspector tested the cat door leading to the cat room, full of cat beds and bowls and more shelves, and a comfy, old couch near the wall, Bruce found on a yard sale. The best was left for last. The playground. It had to be tested to accommodate all kitty needs and shapes and weights and ages, and the inspector examined every toy and shelf and cushion and every scratch pole. It took long, nervous minutes and everyone was getting anxious, trying to hold it in and not rush anything. In the end, the inspector came back to the bar area, looking as mysterious as when the tour started.

"Can I interest you in something to drink?" Janet asked friendly, hoping that it will earn them some additional points.

One, slowly drank, bowl of milk later, the inspector looked around the new cafe and sat his fluffy butt down on the floor. The moment was prolonging and Figaro licked around his mouth, getting the last drops of milk. Immediately, everyone looked to Tony, who had been sitting on the couch with Steve, waiting for translation.

Tony, trying to not choke on his own laughter, knowing how serious everyone was treating the situation, smiled and spread his arms. "He likes it!" he announced.

The Meow Cafe's crew cheered and Figaro closed his eyes in content. Yes, he could imagine his cat friends being comfortable in this new place.

***

"Hi! Welcome! So glad you could come!"

Steve was leaning against the bar and he couldn't keep the smile out of his face. Finally, the day came and it was the grand opening of the new Meow Cafe. Tomorrow, the cafe would be open for all customers while this was the opening for friends and family and people who adopted the cafe's pupils. Steve saw Pepper talking to the older couple, a marriage that had adopted his favorite Little Eye, Blondie and Crazeh, and chatting with the girl with blue eyes and dark bangs, one that gave a home to Shandi. Near the playground and watching the cats inside were three girls plus Janet, excitedly cooing over the cats and commenting how cute they were. Steve didn't know their names, but guessed that the chubby one with long, wavy hair in the middle was the one who adopted Cow, on her right was a girl with asymmetric hair in an unusual rusty orange color, Ariel's owner, and at the left was the one with long blond hair, tied in a bun, and by the hair, Steve made a connection that it was Rapunzel (whose real name still remained unknown), the one who adopted Tsuki. On one of the couches, was Sam and Rhodey, talking to a burly blond, who, as it turned out was neither William or Thud, but Thor, Gizmo's rightful owner, who had brought his brother along, a lanky dark-haired man, staying away from everyone and preferring to put his all attention on the cat in his lap. Steve focused on the cat for a bit. It was a striped tabby with white socks, looking suspiciously similar to Crazeh, although smaller and more muscular, enjoying a long petting session. The new cafe was much bigger than the previous one and could host up to fifteen cats instead of six. Currently, in the cafe was a lucky thirteen of cats. And Steve had to learn the names of all of them.

"That's Cajetan," someone said and Steve looked at Natasha who appeared out of nowhere. As the person who adopted Oliver, she was also invited to the first opening. "He is almost two years old, Bruce says that he is one of the youngest cats here."

Steve nodded and smiled. He could imagine that Bruce was excited as Tony was with all the new cats, but while Tony tend to blab a lot and change from one cat to the other, making it hard to keep track and memorize, Bruce had to be a better source of information.

"Tuma," Natasha pointed up at the cat shelves, where a beautiful tortoiseshell girl was looking down at everyone with her yellow-green eyes. "Pi Shu," on a shelf just below Tuma was another cat, this one resembling Cow a little bit, also black and white and green-eyed, looking at everyone suspiciously, "watch out for her, she gives love bites."

Steve laughed, not at all bothered by kitty love bites. Maybe in the past he did consider it a problem, but not anymore.

"Oh, and there is Zeus," Natasha smiled at the lean cat, a mix of calico and Siamese with unusually bright blue eyes sprinting between their legs to get to the cat's room. "Chased by Little Girl," she laughed, when a grayish-white blur followed Zeus, as both cats were playing with each other. "And there is my favorite, Clawson," Natasha's voice softened and she pointed at the window sill, where stretched out was a big, orange cat, the senior of the group, reaching almost fifteen years old, as finding homes for senior cats was still an important mission for Meow Cafe. Steve saw a resemblance to Oliver and it became clear why this particular cat became Nat's favorite. Maybe if things turn out well, Oliver will get a brother.

"Hey, you almost got them all," Steve looked at his friend, grateful for the short introduction.

"Yeah, almost," Natasha leaned out a little bit, seeing Clint, sitting on the floor and dangling a mouse on a stick in front of two cats, a honey striped cat, and an orange tabby. Izzy and Menina. Izzy was a four years old boy and Menina was an older lady, almost fourteen, but was as playful and energetic as the three times younger Izzy. Clint was laughing and looked perfectly happy, observing cats attempt to get the mice, and sometimes letting them nibble on the toy.

Steve counted the cats they saw so far. Two in the cat's room, six in the cafe area. That meant, that five more were somewhere around. His eyes went to the playground and he saw a small black cat, happily napping on one of the pillows.

"That's Kashi, right?" Steve asked Natasha, trying to remember some of the cats on his own. From what Tony told him, Kashi was a very shy kitty lady and preferred to stay in the playground area, approaching everyone with caution.

"Yeah, it is," Natasha confirmed, and laughed at a gray cat, walking back and forth through one of the tunnels, looking very happy, until the calico one with bright yellow eyes decided to make a surprise and jump on the tunnel, temporarily cutting off the entrance, until the cat wiggled out backwards, to the amusement of the three girls observing the cats. Poor Fezzick, attacked by Lina. Seemed that the younger cats had no respect for their older colleagues. Speaking of younger cats, on numerous fluffy pillows and gently pawing a toy mouse was Amber, gray and with golden eyes, the baby of the cat group, reaching one year. "I think that Celia is also in the playground---"

"Do you need anything?"

"We are good, Bruce," Natasha smiled at her unofficially second boyfriend. Bruce's hair seemed even curlier than usual, as he was rushing in the bar area, pouring coffee after coffee for all of their guests. Even his glasses seemed steamed.

"BRUCE!" Janet roared, appearing suddenly in the bar area, and leaning in to see how the coffee making was going, an empty tray propped against her hip, almost falling to the ground. Immediately, Bruce started to slap her away gently, because Pepper didn't approve of jumping against the sparkly new bar and chipping the paint off. "Our guests need coffee!"

"And we need more cake!" Tony yelled, waltzing past the small group, swiftly collecting empty coffee cups left on the tables. The coffee place was becoming more crowded, as more people who adopted the cats over the two years of Meow Cafe existence were showing up. Pepper basically stood by the door and greeted the new groups, guiding them briefly over the cafe before resuming her position.

"Hi, handsome!"

Steve yelped, and jumped up a little bit, when someone, undoubtedly Tony, while circling and collecting plates and cups, playfully slapped his ass. He only saw Tony's grin as his barista walked away to bus some tables.

"Then you two should come here and help me," Bruce replied through clenched teeth in a deep voice, keeping a low profile, unlike his colleges. Steve had to admit, that the seemingly harmless brunet seemed a lot more threatening out of sudden.

"You have help!" Jan exclaimed, stacking the coffee cups on a tray. "We left you with the new guy!"

New guy? Steve sipped his coffee, looking more alert. Tony didn't tell him that the person who was supposed to fill in for him started the job.

"NEW GUY! Move it!" Jan yelled, almost jumping over the bar and again, but being held back by Bruce.

"I am coming, I am coming!"

The door leading to the kitchen opened, and Steve's eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure with about dozen plates with neatly cut pieces of carrot cake.

"Bucky?!" Steve exclaimed, or would have, if he didn't have a mouthful of coffee and the liquid spilled from his mouth and trickled down his chin. Luckily, Natasha was alert and pressed a napkin to his mouth before any coffee could reach his shirt, but Steve still heard Tony's pearly laughter somewhere in the distance.  For being such a neat person in general, Steve was a huge spiller.

"As for a place that's supposed to be relaxing, you guys are awfully nervous," Bucky grumbled, making his way out of the bar, sporting a Meow Cafe apron worn over black jeans and buttoned shirt, "hi Nat, Steve. Have some cake," Bucky smiled cheekily and slid two plates over the bar. Once again it was up to Natasha to save the moment and catch both plates, as Steve was still too stunned to move.

"Less chit chat more work!" Janet urged, putting some cups of coffee on the empty place on the tray. "Our guests are waiting for coffee! You need to step up your game if you want to work here, you have some big shoes to fill in! Well, metaphorically big shoes, because Tony has tiny feet---"

Steve saw Bucky quickening his pace, clearly escaping from chattering Janet, who followed him closely, talking his ears off. Bucky working at a cat cafe. That was something Steve didn't expect. Clearly, Bucky's fondness for cats ran deeper than Steve thought…

"Let's go and sit," Natasha gently bumped shoulders with Steve's and pushed two plates with cakes into his hands, as she took their coffee. They went to the couch, the same one where Sam, Rhodey and Thor were sitting on, leaving Bruce on coffee duty and giving him some off time. Steve glanced at the back, and saw Tony making his way into the bar area, and taking out clean coffee cups out of the washing machine. Seemed that he won't be able to spend any time with Tony today… After all, it was the opening, a big day for everybody.

When Steve and Natasha made it to the couch, Bucky was serving the last pieces of cake, the very last one going to Sam.

"Saved you the biggest one, doll," he winked at his boyfriend and Sam beamed a proud smile.

"You managed to lose Janet?" Natasha asked with a teasing grin, sitting in the big armchair.

"She stopped to play with Cajetan and talk to that weird, sad kid," Bucky explained.

"That weird kid happens to be my brother," Thor sent Bucky an intimidating look, which lost a lot of threatening power, as the guy stuffed his mouth with carrot cake and had some icing around his lips.

"He is weird," Bucky repeated, totally unfazed.

"I think he is interesting," Natasha smiled, peaking at the man with the small cat in his lap.

"You guys don't seem alike," Steve put in his comment. It was obvious that siblings didn't always resemble each other, but at least they had similarities. Thor, was big and muscled and had a seemingly sunny personality. His brother was smaller in posture, pale and had black hair, and didn't seek company and clearly didn't feel well surrounded by people.

"He is my stepbrother," Thor explained in a small voice, still sounding a bit wounded and sending hurt looks towards Bucky.

"You really shouldn't be the one to judge people! Remember how we met? I gave you five dollars because I thought you were living on the street!" Sam laughed, putting his fork into the carrot cake and taking a bite.

"What?!" everyone exclaimed, as Bucky froze in silent panic.

"You told me you bumped into Sam on a street!" Steve accused Bucky. Another hidden secret. His friend was asking for a long talk.

"You need to tell us!" Natasha smiled wide and evil, crossing her legs for a more comfortable position.

"I am glad to know I wasn't the first one to think he was a homeless guy," Rhodey laughed.

"Believe me, you were not the first one," Steve shook his head. It happened more often than he would like to admit to, but well, that was his best friend.

"There is nothing to tell---" Bucky tried to cut the topic off, but Sam already started.

"I saw him at the subway station. He was sitting on the floor and playing guitar, so I stopped and gave him five dollars to buy himself something warm to eat. And then he used the same five dollars to buy me a coffee--"

"That's basically what I told you!" Bucky explained himself, feeling Steve's angry look.

"You left some parts out," Steve muttered, "and I told you to stop doing that!" he hissed, meaning Bucky's habit of playing guitar in the middle of the city. Bucky claimed that he was entertaining, for Steve, he was asking for trouble. "You will get yourself beaten up one day! Don't walk away when I am talking to you!" Steve kept yelling, as Bucky trotted to serve more coffee, moving his mouth to Steve's words and making faces, mocking him.

"--- and now he has a decent job! My parents keep asking about him and I can finally introduce him!" Sam finished the story, seemingly oblivious to Bucky and Steve's confrontation.

"Guys, better enjoy that carrot cake, we ran out!" Tony called, walking to his group of friends, and collecting the plates and cups he could. "But the honey cake finally cooled down!" he added quickly, noticing Thor's sad puppy look. That guy could eat.

"You started making honey cake again?!" Rhodey called, almost jumping out of his seat. "Dibs on a piece!" he raised his hand up and waved frantically.

"Of course, you will get some, honey bear."

"Oh, so here is the party for all cat people!" someone yelled out.

"Behave," came a deeper and mellow voice.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Sam raised his hand and waved to the two people standing in the doorway.

It was T'Challa and a friend. They walked to the group, T'Challa in long, broad steps, straight as a board, the other one moved softer, as if almost dancing to some disco music, which wasn't a wrong association as his shirt had a mix logos of old music bands.

"You all know T'Challa already," Rhodey introduced his work colleagues and T'Challa nodded to the group, "and this is Peter," he pointed to the other guy.

"Sup!" Peter clicked his tongue and made a finger gun at the group. He was blond and had some curly hair on top of his head and a light stubble. He was wearing a bomber jacket and jeans, and his style was clearly inspired by the 80s. A total opposite of T'Challa, who was wearing an all black suit, and looked refined and polished. Peter had some rough charm to himself.

"Hi! How is Ramzes?" someone asked, and Steve would focus on that, curious to hear how T'Challa was doing with the loud senior cat, if it wasn't for a whisper next to him.

"Wow, they are hot," Tony gaped at both men, the tray almost slipping out of his hands. What made him grip it back, was Steve's judging look, but what really sent panic down his spine, was the way Rhodey glared at him. Seemed that Tony still didn't learn. "… Hot in here!" Tony corrected himself, closing and opening his mouth in brief panic. "Who wants iced coffee?!" he called into the air, walking away with the tray, cups and plates clinking gently.

Steve should be offended. Yet, at this point, he only smiled to himself and shook his head at his boyfriend's behavior.

"Don't worry," Rhodey said and Steve looked at him, as Rhodey picked up some of the plates Tony left behind, "I know when that idiot is really in love," he stood up, and went to put the plates away.

Steve kept smiling and looked at the piece of carrot cake he was handed earlier, feeling something warm inside. He focused on that and started eating, listening to his friends talking.

***

"Sit down!"

"But---"

"You were standing for the whole day! Sit down!"

"But we need---"

"SIT. DOWN!!"

Pepper raised her hands up in a desperate gesture. Not having any other choice, she plopped down on the couch, obediently staying where her crew had pointed her to. "Here. I am sitting, happy?"

"Yes," Janet beamed, as Bucky and Bruce were cleaning the cafe, joined by Sam, Rhodey and Steve. "We will handle it, you rest!" Janet decided, walking away with Natasha to collect plates and cups from the tables. Clint and Tony were nowhere to be seen, but that probably meant that they were back in the cats' room, refilling the bowls with food and water and cleaning the litter boxes for the night.

The cafe was emptying, their guests already had left and cats were nestling for a night of sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day and cafe would function normally, ready to serve more guests and look for homes for the new cats.

"Did you count the cats?!" Pepper turned around from her place on the couch, when Tony and Clint walked out from the bar area.

"Six!" Tony called back, "seven more to find!"

"I am on it!" Clint took the job and walked to the playground area, ready to play 'spot the cat'.

"Before we turn the bar off, does anyone want something?! Coffee, tea?!" Bruce called and collected some orders, while the rest was cleaning. It didn't take long to clean with so many helpers, and soon the cafe became spotless again, ready for tomorrow.

"Thanks, guys. You all did a great job today," Pepper smiled gratefully as her crew and friends sat around her and the group enjoyed a last cup of coffee, mugs handed out by Clint and Janet.

"Milady, your coffee," Clint said charmingly, offering Natasha a cup of black and strong coffee. "As black and bitter as your soul, just the way you like it," he added with a cheerful grin and Natasha cooed a thank you, taking the cup and gesturing towards Bruce to join them.

Steve held his latte and Tony's double espresso and looked around for his boyfriend. He saw him at the other end of the cafe, alone and standing in front of the colorful wall. Steve made his way there, not recalling such colorful wall being in the cafe. Soon, it all made sense. He joined Tony and smiled at the black wall with photos all cats that had ever been adopted from Meow Cafe, in their forever homes, each photo signed by the owner in a colorful marker. Cow, Ariel, Tsuki, Crazeh… They were all there, including some cats Steve didn't have an occasion to meet. There were also current cats's photos on the wall, ready for adoption and looking for their humans. Steve remembered Meow Cafe guests crowding in this spot earlier, but didn't know why. It was a great memento and a tribute.

"That's incredible," Steve smiled, looking at Tony with love. "You helped all those cats, you know that? You helped them find a home," he said and he couldn't possibly love Tony anymore.

"I had some help," Tony answered and turned to Steve, smiling and a bit teary eyed. Thinking about his former pupils, always made him emotional. The mood changed drastically when he noticed what Steve was holding. "Is that a latte?!" he gasped out in horror, looking at the cup.

"Um… Yeah, but don't worry, it is for me, I have an espresso for you---"

"You have been drinking lattes the whole evening?!"

"Yes?"

"The hell--- BRUCE!!" Tony called, leaning out from behind Steve and looking at his group of friends, "you have been serving Steve lattes?! Regular or soy milk?! REGULAR OR SOY?!"

Bruce didn't answer. The way he curled between Natasha and Clint was an answer in itself. Hey, it was a busy night. He forgot. Bucky tsked and shook his head. It wasn't a secret that Steve was lactose intolerant, yet, sometimes it seemed that Steve was the one who forgot most often.

"Oh God," Tony whined, hiding face in his hands and after a while glaring at Steve through his fingers. "You are so not sleeping in my bed tonight!"

Steve couldn't help it. Tony looked so indignant and mad, he had to put the coffee on the nearby table, as he started to shake with silent laughter and it was hard to keep the cups steadily in his hands.

"I am serious!" Tony shrilled, pointing an accusing finger at Steve and not understanding what was so amusing about this situation, "last time you had milk, Fig was terrified! It was like an all-night artillery shooting!"

Steve did the only thing he could in this situation. He hugged wriggling Tony close and kept laughing until his hotheaded boyfriend ended his tantrum.

***

It was a week after the opening of the Meow Cafe and everything was going smoothly. Bucky got the job, and happily served coffee and took care of the cats, under Janet's watchful eye, whose enthusiasm and passion earned her the main barista title, that previously belonged to Tony. Sam finally introduced his parents to Bucky, inviting them to the Meow Cafe one evening. Bruce, Natasha and Clint could be seen more often together, becoming more open about their relationship. Even Rhodey finally bought an apartment in New York and could regularly meet with Pepper and Tony, without taking their friends' couch for the night. But most importantly, new cats were bonding with new people and had chances to find their forever homes. Soon, Meow Cafe had the first adoption and it was Peter, the guy T'Challa brought for the opening, who was the first one to adopt a cat and Cajetan found his forever home. And Tony and Steve kept working and being in a relationship and loved each other and possibly couldn't be happier.

Everything was just fine.

Just. Fine.

Fine.

Fine?

It was wrong.

Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

"Ah… Ah!! Hah!!"

"Meow!!"

"Tony…"

"Nghhh… No, don't--- AH!"

"MEOW!!"

It was wrong, wrong, wrong. His human was crying and it sounded like if he was in pain and he didn't know why. He needed to help him. Figaro started to frantically scratch on the locked door, needing to get inside. He needed to protect his friend.

"HAH! Ah ah ah!!"

"MEEEOOOW!!!"

"Tony!!"

"Yghhhh OKAY FINE!"

The door suddenly opened, and before Figaro could slide inside and attack with sharp claws whoever was hurting his friend, he was hoisted up and carried away, pressed to bare, human skin. Figaro blinked at that and saw the room moving and instead of being in the corridor, he suddenly found himself in the bathroom.

"Fiiiiig," Tony whined, locking the door and putting the cat down. Figaro immediately brushed around his human's legs, relieved to see that he was fine, although the lack of clothing and raised body temperature was a bit alarming.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, but Fig!" Tony snapped his fingers and crouched down to get to a more or less the same eye level as his cat, "focus now! Remember the talk we had?"

Figaro sat his fluffy butt down, looking at his human. They had many talks. He should be more specific. Humans were so unreasonable sometimes.

"The first one?" Tony emphasized. "The very first one? Come on, I know you can remember."

The first one…

Ooohh…

Figaro remembered. It was a long time ago. A very long time ago, when his hind paw was hurting and everything, including his human, seemed a lot bigger and scarier.

"We are here! This is where you live now!"

He looked around, seeing an unknown, big place. It was big, but also warm. He liked warm.

"This is where you will eat. Here I will put a litter box for you. And here is where we will sleep!"

His bright eyes followed, trying to take everything in. It seemed like a lot, but he would handle it.

"Oh, but first thing first…"

The human sat down and kept him on his lap. It was warm and soft, and he suddenly felt very sleepy.

"Listen," the human said, and stroked a single finger along his head and he closed his eyes in content. That felt nice. "I promise to keep you healthy, well fed and safe, and when the time comes, I will help you move on as quickly and painlessly as possible," the human said, sounding serious and he opened his eyes, feeling that it was an important moment, "in return, you will do your stuff into the litter box, won't wake me up at nights and allow me to get laid when I bring someone home, okay?"

A tiny meow. Not quite an agreement, as he didn't understand most of the words, but it seemed important to his human.

"Okay," human smiled, and scratched behind his ears. Nice. "You need a name…" human said, looking at him with a thoughtful face. "Can't think without music. Gimme a sec," human continued and slid the kitten gently off his lap, walking away. He didn't move away, when some loud noise filled the apartment and he curled in himself, eyes widening up in fear.

"Ooops, sorry!" human amended, making the noise quieter. It was a sound he never heard before. It was like screaming, but there was some pattern to it.

"You okay, buddy?" human asked sympathetically and sat back on the couch, taking him back in his lap. He continued to curl, alerted by the sound. Somehow it reminded him of his time outside, but it was different. He was safe now.

"My mom used to listen to this all the time," human said, closing his eyes and stroking a gentle hand along his back, remembering. It had to be a fond memory and he felt the happy vibes the person was giving.

"Meow," he said quietly, reminding of his presence.

"Hm? You like it too?" that's not exactly what the meow stand for, but he would train the human with time to better understand him. "Okay, so… How about Figaro? Do you like it as a name?"

"Meow!"

The human smiled and he felt he made something good happen. "Then it is settled. This will be your new name. Figaro!" 

During the years, Figaro tried to keep most of the promises. Yet, he felt scolded and lowered his beautiful head in shame.

"I knew you can remember."

Hmm, so get laid mean mating. A cat learns something new every day. He interrupted his humans mating. At least he knew it wasn't pain and could calm down.

"Okay, we will do it like this," Tony decided and Figaro saw bare feet walking away. Tony opened the closet under the sink where he kept the clean towels and put some out, for Figaro to squeeze in if he would decide to, and poured some water into the sink, in case if the cat got thirsty. Not the best conditions, but it would do for a while and he saw Figaro licking off droplets of water from the sink numerous times already, so it shouldn't be that bad.

"I will let you out soon, okay?" Tony said, petting his cat's head and walking to the door. Figaro closed his eyes, giving his human a permission to leave. Quietly, Tony slid out and closed the door. Figaro looked around the spacious bathroom and decided to nap for the time being. He walked to the closet and threw out with his paw some more of the towels and squeezed inside, curling into a little ball in the tight space. Purrfect.

***

It was so warm and nice. He was cuddled into a warm person and there was a hand scrubbing his head. He was practically melting.

Tony purred playfully at the morning affection, letting the other man know, that he was slowly wakening up. The scrubbing stopped for a moment and then continued with tender care.

"Good morning," Steve whispered, pressing lips to brunet's curly hair.

"Morning," Tony answered, stretching his legs and sinking back into Steve, not bothering to open his eyes. It was just too sweet to move and he could still feel the afterglow from the long, hot night they had.

"I have to get up," Steve said, moving his fingers to stroke along Tony's nape.

"No, you don't," Tony argued, not keen on letting his personal heater go.

"Yes, I do," Steve argued back and smiled, gently moving away and pressing kisses into Tony's face and tickling his ribs and sides gently when the stubborn brunet still didn't want to let go. Giggling and breathless, Tony dropped back into the bed and stayed entangled in the covers, smiling sweet and in love, getting the same smile back from the blond.

"I will get some lunch for us on way back," Steve promised, leaning down and kissing his boyfriend. Never enough of kisses. "And you can stay in bed and cuddle with Figaro now."

Tony scrunched his nose. Seeing that Steve mentioned him… Why their cat wasn't in bed with them? Figaro should be already between them and taking up space, instead they had a nice morning and woke up cuddled to each other---

Oh, son of a---

Steve almost fell off the bed, alarmed by the loud wheeze and the way Tony rushed out, bare feet running on the wooden floor. He heard him stopping in the corridor and opening the door loudly, almost ripping it out of the hinges.

"FIGARO!!" Tony called in real panic, as if spending half of the night in a closed bathroom, would scar his cat horribly. Figaro calmly peaked out his head from among the towels, happily sleeping in warmth and peace. Humans had to be always so loud.

"FIG, I AM SO SORRY!" Tony scrambled to his cat and took him out from among the towels and hugged close to his chest, cradling him in his arms. "MY POOR BABY!"

"Is Fig okay?!" Steve called from the bedroom, feeling alarmed by the cries, but also knowing that Tony could be overdramatic sometimes.

"NO THANKS TO YOU!" Tony yelled, deeply offended. "YOU MADE ME LOCK MY BABY AWAAAY!"

Steve raised his eyes to the ceiling. Drama, drama, drama. He would have to buy a package of bacon and a box of donuts on his way home to placate both Figaro and Tony.

So, this was what his life became…

He wouldn't trade it for the world.

And with that thought he went to the kitchen to prepare a breakfast for all of them, smiling on his way.

<-- previous chapter

thank you for loving this series and thank you to my friends and readers for letting me borrow their cats! look below for a surprise!

Meow Cafe Cats