#if I was ambitious and my life wasn’t on fire I might decide to do a CQL Pride drawing every day for hanguang june

[anotherdescentintomadness]

Happy Pride!

Hanguang-jun for Pride Month 🌈✌🏼

Here’s the 2nd one. And the 3rd one. And now a 4th one. 5th.

Happy Pride everyone!

(Please don’t repost, but thanks for any reblogs 🫶🏼)

[age-of-greta]

The Sun

The Sun presents a feeling of optimism and fulfillment. It represents the dawn which follows the darkest of nights.

Author’s note: wow hi!!! It’s been a minute! Life has been busy, but I have been thinking of this fic for a while. This one is entirely spontaneous and will have no posting schedule. Just as soon and I can get it written it will be out. I hope you guys enjoy :)

Pairing: Josh x reader and Jake x reader

Warnings: cursing, angst, adult themes, alcoholic consumption, smoking

Word count: 10.1 k

PART 1:

“I can’t fucking stand you! Matter of fact, I hate you!” You scream, your voice raw with emotion.

He lets out a laugh. “Yeah, right back at you Sugar.”

You’re boiling inside. Filled with rage, sadness, and anger. You can’t decide which emotion is the most prominent at the moment. You blink away the hot tears that have formed in your eyes. You feel the sting of them rolling down your cheeks.

“I’m fucking done. We are done. It’s over.” You say, with still a hint of anger, but at least you weren’t screaming this time.

He stares at you for a moment. Blank expression, impossible to read. You think maybe for 0.1 seconds you see a hint of sorrow in his eyes, but with him that would be impossible.

Eventually he scoffs at you. “Fine by me.”

He stays for a few moments with his eyes lingering on you.

“Get the fuck out!” You shout, while tears spill down your face.

Then he’s out the door as fast as it started. Leaving you there in a puddle of your own tears and rage.

Nothing had ever made you feel this way before. You were unsure how you would ever feel normal again. But there was one thing that you were entirely sure of- you fucking hated Jake Kiszka.

**

Teal is so tacky. It’s one of the tackiest colors to exist, you had decided. That's what you were doing at this very moment staring at a teal handbag that you would like to set on fire. It was sitting on a bar next to an equally tacky girl. You realized how insane you felt, but you needed to do something to distract your mind from the truth. Tonight was your third date with a guy named Aiden. He was fine, there was nothing wrong with him. He was attractive, ambitious, successful, and nice. But a part of you knew you were already so bored with him. You never knew how to pick a good guy. Which is why you tried your best to give Aiden a fair shake. Nonetheless, here you were sitting at a booth only thinking of a teal purse. You had decided to meet for drinks after work. You wore a hot pink blazer with a white tank turtleneck and a matching hot pink skirt, that might have been a little too short for work. You wore white tall boots, with gold jewelry. Your hair was done in loose curls and you had on a full face of makeup. This wasn’t your normal attire to work, but you knew you had a date tonight. Out of the corner of your eye you see Aiden pop in. You breathe in and prepare yourself. He’s in a nice gray suit. He always looks nice.

“Hey! So sorry I’m late. Traffic was awful.” Aiden says, reaching down to hug you.

You hug him back. “Oh no you’re fine! I just got here myself. How was your day?��

He smiles at you. “It was great actually. I had a really big pitch that I think went well for me. But I’m happier now that I’m here with you. How was your day?”

You make sure to smile at that, even if it did make you cringe a little. “Well that’s great. My day was good. Rather mundane I suppose, but work feels like that everyday.”

He chuckles. “You’re right about that. Ready for some drinks? A martini right?”

You nod your head. “Yes please.”

“Great. I’ll be right back. You look beautiful by the way.” He says with a smile before he heads over to the bar.

You take a moment to breathe in a little. Aiden was so nice. You had already decided that you would go on another date with him when he would inevitably ask later. You picked at your nails while you waited for your date and drink. You eyed the door constantly, that wasn’t a good sign. It was somewhat stuffy inside, but maybe that was in your head. You were just finding something to complain about. You had been like that for a while. Anytime a man would show interest you bounced. The truth is you were looking for someone to set your soul on fire. You craved a love so deep, that even the ocean would be jealous.

Instead you got guys like Aiden. Again, nothing wrong with him. But he didn’t ignite you. You knew who was to blame, but you hated to even think of him. So you chose to do this same routine over and over. Dating- then never speaking again. It’s not like you necessarily needed a man in your life, you were perfectly content with your life as is. But you wanted excitement again. Maybe if you gave Aiden a chance he could be that for you. Though you doubted it. You continued to eye the door. It wasn’t really busy, but every now and then someone would walk in. Mostly people in suits off to commence nefarious activities, then wake up and do it all again tomorrow. That life never spoke to you, but here you were smack dab in the middle of it. Funny how life works.

You fiddled around with your nails some more, damn you needed to get them done. You glanced up and thought your eyes were playing tricks on you.

Hair.

Then he spoke.

Immediately you felt chills run down your spine. There’s a voice you hadn’t heard in years. There’s no way. You creep your head around the corner and see four very familiar faces. Your blood runs cold and your face becomes incredibly pale. Holy shit.

You whip your head back into your booth trying to stay out of their line of sight. What were they doing here? Why were they here? What?

Just then Aiden returns and hands you your martini. He frowns at you when he sees your face. “Hey, is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You blink a few times and nod your head. “I’m um- I’m fine.”

He sits back down across from you and takes your hand. “Are you sure?”

Just then that voice rings from right behind you. Now it’s closer.

“Oh shit. Well hey Sugar.”

You turn around and Jake is standing over you with a shit eating grin plastered on his face. You’re absolutely shocked and horrified. You try to speak but nothing comes out.

“I thought I heard your voice.” He flicks his eyes over to Aiden and extends his hand. “Hi. Jake Kiszka.”

Aiden gives him a strange look, but eventually extends his hand and says “Aiden.”

Finally you are able to muster up the courage to speak. “Jake.” You say calmly. “What are you doing here?”

He smirks at you. “I could ask you the same thing, Sugar. We were out scouting bars. We just moved here and I’ve got to say, you were the last person I was expecting to see tonight.”

You furrowed your brows while your voice goes up an octave higher. “What? You just moved here? Like from Michigan?”

Then the rest of them make their way over. You see Sam, Danny, and your old friend Josh.

Aiden clears his throat, clearly sensing your tension. “How do you guys know each other?”

Jake flicks his eyes to you and gives a wide smile. “Old friends.”

Aiden huffs a little at that. “Okay. Well looks like you have some catching up to do, with your old friends. I’ll call you tomorrow? I’d love to plan something if you’re free Saturday.”

You look back over at Aiden and nod your head.

He excuses himself and slides out of the booth.

“Bye Aiden! Lovely meeting you!” Jake yells out.

Jackass.

The other three are now approaching the table.

“Holy shit!” Sam exclaims when he sees you.

“Oh, hi Sam.”

Then you’re standing up and Sam hugs you, then Danny’s hugging you. Then you see Josh.

“Hi.” He says, standing there with his arms around his back. “Long time no see.”

You are unsure of what to say to that. “Hi Josh.”

“So, can we join you or what?” Jake asks.

You let out a breath and then motion your hand for them to all sit in your booth.

Jake scoots in right next to you. Immediately you feel the need to down your whole martini so you do.

“Whew. Damn Sugar. You okay?” Jake asks, nudging you.

You nod. “Yeah. Just wasn’t expecting such a-“ You pause. “Reunion.”

Josh smiles at you. “I can tell. Well don’t fret if it’s unpleasant for you. It’s just temporary. We are here with a new label working on an album. They decided to rent a house out to us for the next few months.”

You feel bad all of a sudden. You loved Josh. You and he had been friends for years. That was until you started dating Jake. You see, you and Josh had been friends after meeting in a coffee shop in Detroit. You had grown close with all of them, but Josh was your best friend. You two were practically inseparable. You pretty much did everything together. Then, one night you and Jake hooked up and the rest was history. It was hard on Josh. But you were too enamored by Jake to quit. You both had fallen fast and hard. Taking things way too fast, but it felt euphoric. Jake was like a drug. The highs were so high. But the lows were so low. You and Jake were only together for around 10 months. It was a toxic and crazy relationship. The only thing you and Jake were ever good at was sex. To this day no one made you come as hard as he had. But Jake acted like a selfish child. You two spent more time arguing than anything else. When you had broken up you had cut off all contact with all of them. You couldn’t bear it any longer. Josh had tried to reach out to you, but you ignored it. You wanted to forget Jake had ever existed- and that meant cutting off all people who reminded you of him. Then, you had moved to Nashville and gone on with life. You hadn’t seen or spoken to any of them since the break up.

“No it’s not that it’s unpleasant at all. Just unexpected. I never pegged you guys to settle down in… Nashville.” You said, trying to give a convincing smile.

Jake chimes in. “Settle down? We aren’t necessarily doing that. It’s temporary. I fear domesticity.”

You scoff. “Yep. I know.”

Jake laughs at you. “Good one.”

Josh changes the subject. “So what are you up to these days?”

You shift your gaze to Josh. “Well nothing as exciting as you guys. I work at a marketing firm and I have a Beta fish.”

Josh smiles at you. “That does sound exciting. Marketing huh? I can totally see it.”

You nod. “Congratulations to you all by the way on your success.”

“Thank you! We’ve been trying. It’s been a while since the garage band days.” Sam says.

“Yeah. It seems as if we’ve all grown up.” You say, still trying to push back negative feelings.

“Sam, Josh, you guys wanna go get drinks?” Danny asks, obviously trying to give you and Jake a moment to speak.

They both agree and follow Danny to the bar.

“I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks!” Jake yells to them and Sam gives him a thumbs up.

Then it’s just you two alone again. You turn around to face Jake. He’s still wearing that same smirk.

“You know Sugar, I’m digging the pink. You look good.”

You try not to let those words affect you. “Thanks.” You reply flatly.

“So, Aiden?” Jake asks.

You take a sip of the other martini on the table. “What about him?”

Jake hums. “Doesn’t really scream to me your type.”

“Oh yeah? Well what is my type?” You poke.

“Me.” Jake says and grins ear to ear.

You swig the martini again. “Funny.”

“C’mon Sugar. Lighten up. We’re just two old friends catching up.”

You pinch your face up and look at him. “Oh is that what we are?”

Jake smirks at you. “Okay well you know- ex lovers, future lovers. It’s all the same.”

You roll your eyes at him. He was always so full of charm which drove you crazy.

The other three returned with drinks in hand.

“So what are we getting up to tonight? It feels just like old times now.” Sam says with a bright smile.

You start to shut that down. “Count me out unfortunately. I have to work in the morning.”

It gets a little quiet.

“Well what are you doing this weekend?” Josh asks.

“I have pilates, but other than that I guess I’m free.” You reply.

“Does Aiden know that?” Jake teases.

You roll your eyes again.

“We have a show we’re doing this weekend. Would love if you could come and see us play after all this time.” Josh adds.

You pause for a minute, contemplating your options. But you didn’t want to seem so abrasive to Josh, you really did feel bad for ghosting him the way that you did. “Yeah, that sounds fun. I’ll be there.”

Josh smiles at you. “Great.”

“We can have a pass up front for you. Then I guess maybe uh Jake could text you the details?” Sam says cautiously.

Jake chuckles. “I’m blocked.”

Sam falls quiet, fearing maybe he had stirred something up between the two of you.

You try to lighten the situation. “Oh yeah? How do you know that?”

Jake shrugged. “I’ve reached out here and there. It’s never gone through.”

Yikes.

You clear your throat. “Josh? Do you still have my number? If not I can text you.”

“I’ve still got it.” Josh says lightly.

You half smile. “Great. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to slip out of here. It was truly great seeing you guys.”

“Care if I walk you out?” Josh asks.

You weren’t really expecting that.

“Oh yeah sure.” You reply.

You smile and nod everyone else off and Jake has that same smirk on his face.

“See ya soon Sugar.” Jake says, eyeing you up and down.

“Jake.” Is all you say with a nod.

Then you and Josh are walking out of the bar. It’s definitely awkward and there’s so much to be said, but you’re so unsure where to start.

“I’m just right here.” You say motioning over towards your car. “Thank you for walking me.”

Josh gives you a small smile. “So if I text you are you actually going to respond?”

Ouch.

“Josh I-“ You start.

He holds his hand up to you. “I’m only teasing. I know it was a weird situation.”

There was the sweet and understanding Josh he had always been. “It was. But there was still no excuse for me to do what I did to you.”

Josh shakes his head. “Consider it water under the bridge.”

You give a small sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you Saturday?” Josh questions.

You nod. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Josh smiles. “Good.”

“Hug?” You say extending your arms out.

Josh obliged and stepped in and hugged you. It felt like comfort. You smiled into his shirt. When you both let each other go. Josh was reciprocating that smile.

“I’m glad I ran into you tonight. Get home safe.”

“Me too. Bye Josh.”

“Bye.”

Then he stood outside and watched you pull out, waving you off.

Your head was running a million miles an hour. What just happened? You felt like you wanted to vomit, half bile, half rainbows. All you knew was that now you had to prepare for a Saturday with your ex-boyfriend, old best friend, and their band.

**

Saturday had rolled around quicker than you had anticipated. You huffed as you threw your pilates bag into your car. In a way you were ready to work out all of the anxiousness and frustration you felt. Your pilates studio wasn’t too far from your townhouse. It was in an upscale little plaza next to a smoothie shop, which you would definitely be taking advantage of after. Once you arrived you checked into your class and rolled out your mat. You took a few deep breaths and adjusted your attire. You wore a rather loud pair of green leggings that fit you like tights, and a white sports bra top. You unlaced your white sneakers, letting your bare feet hit the mat. You felt grounded, drained of negative energy. Pilates was always an outlet for your stress, better that than alcohol.

After an intense session you felt reborn. You rolled up your mat and hit the locker room, splashing cold water on your face. You took your hair down and watched it cascade down your shoulders, it had gotten so long. You dried your face with a clean towel and wiped the sweat from your hairline. You rolled on some deodorant and you were vibrating with excitement at the thought of the peanut butter banana protein smoothie you were about to inhale. After dropping off your items in your car you walked with some pep in your step to the entrance of the smoothie cafe only to be met with confusion.

Jake?

He saw you through the door as soon as you saw him, his face lighting up with a smile as he got up to meet you at the door.

“Hey Sug. What a pleasant surprise.” He greeted, as you stepped in.

“Are you stalking me?” You ask, half serious.

He lets out a chuckle. “You wish. No, Josh and I are here meeting with our social media manager. She wanted smoothies, but I’ve got to say I was hoping this pilates studio next door was the one you frequented.”

You glance around him and see Josh at the table giving you a wave while a blonde girl scrolled through a laptop.

“So why this smoothie place? Did you search for one closest to a pilates studio?” You ask in an accusatory tone.

“You overestimate me Sug. This was just the closest one to our house.” He replies coolly.

“Closest?” You ask with pinched brows.

“Yeah. Our house is somewhat secluded I guess. It’s a few miles behind that block of townhomes.”

“Motherfucker.” You whisper.

Jake looks at you strangely. “What?”

”Nothing.” You say dismissively.

He cracks that annoyingly perfect smile at you. “Don’t tell me you live close to there?”

You glance up at him, always finding it hard to lie to him “I do.”

”Well I’ll be damned. What does fate have in store for us Sug?” He asks through a smirk.

You scoff at him. He was ridiculous.

“Let me at least buy you a smoothie and you can come join us.” Jake offers.

You make a face at him. “I don’t need you to buy my smoothie Jake.”

He cracks a smile at you and places his hand on your lower back ushering you towards the ordering station. “I know you don’t need me to. But I want to. Y’know good karma and all.”

You scoff. “It would take a lot more than a smoothie to give you good karma.”

He lets out a small laugh. “You’re right.”

You two order and stand by the counter while you’re waiting on all of the smoothies. He had ordered one for him, Josh, and the laptop girl too.

You try to tune Jake out but you can feel his eyes burning into you.

“What?” You ask, looking over at him.

“Ah nothing. I thought pink was your color, but it might be green.” He suggests with a smirk, while nodding his head towards your tight green leggings that are practically painted on you.

You roll your eyes but feel your face flushing red. Thankfully, they call your order number up and you grab your smoothie and Josh’s while Jake waits for whatever else he ordered. You walk towards the booth and are greeted with a smiley Josh. You decide to slide in next to him, the blonde girl barely looks up from her computer.

“Ah I thought that was you. I didn’t know you would be joining us this morning?��� Josh questions, almost as if he would believe that you and Jake had planned this.

You lightly laughed at that notion. “Yeah me either. My pilates studio is next door. I come here religiously for these protein shakes.”

“Pilates and protein? What happened to my beer and mac & cheese girl?” He teases with a bright smile.

You huff a laugh, but before you can respond Jake comes buzzing over to the table. “Here ya go Dev.” Jake says, sliding over to the blonde girl who was so wrapped up in her computer. However, that’s not the case anymore.

She flashes a smile to Jake. “Oh thank you Jake.” She says, her voice thick with sweetness.

Oh she likes him. You can tell by the way her eyes light up when she sees him. You get it, you really do. But why is it bothering you?

Josh clears his throat. “Okay, well maybe proper introductions are in order here? Devan this is y/n. We all go way back.”

Jake snickers at that. “Yeah, way back.”

You flick a brief look of judgment at Jake, but you notice your heart rate quicken.

“Yes… and this is Devan, she is our newly hired social media coordinator. She’s brilliant. I figured you two might have some common ground with your marketing career?” Josh offers.

Devan meets your eyes. She’s pretty. Moderately short dirty blonde hair with platinum highlights, blue eyes lined perfectly with black eyeliner and encased in black rimmed large eye glasses. You weren’t sure if they were for seeing or fashion, but they looked great on her. She was trendy in a business casual way. Very much a Nashville girl.

You flashed her a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Devan.”

She offers you a tight lipped smile before averting her eyes back to her computer. “Mhm likewise.”

Oh. You would completely understand her demeanor had she behaved like this the whole time. Work is work. However, she lit up like a Christmas tree for Jake. So you were led to believe that you and her would not be making each other friendship bracelets anytime soon.

“Jake, can you tell me what you think of this filter?” Devan asks in that sickeningly sweet voice again.

Jake glances up at you slightly with a grin and scoots closer to Devan. He brushes his hand with hers as he scrolls on the mousepad and you see her cheeks dust with pink. “Oh wow. Devan this is beautiful. We really are so lucky to have hired you.” He says nudging her shoulder. “Josh, look at this.”

Jake spins the computer around and you glance at the photo. It’s a fucking black and white picture with grain. You now know Jake is trying to put on an act since you’re here.

Josh purses his lips. “Yeah… absolutely. Looks great.”

He has always been so kind.

Your attention is diverted when your phone starts to vibrate on the table.

Aiden Rodgers flashes upon your screen and Jake sees it before you do.

“Sorry guys. I’m going to get out of here and take this call.” You look over directly to Josh. “I’ll see you later?”

Josh gives you a polite smile. “Yeah of course.”

You grab your phone that’s still lighting up the table and glance up at Jake before shuffling out of the booth.

“See you tonight. Do feel free to bring Aiden, Sug.” Jake says with a sly smile.

You make a face at him. Why did he always manage to get under your skin? As you walked off you took a deep breath and answered your phone.

**

Lunch with Aiden went perfectly well. You had fibbed a little and said that you had a family thing come up for the evening, so Aiden offered lunch. He took you to a cute little patio restaurant where you indulged in a salmon and goat cheese salad with a lemon blueberry mojito. He was funny and charming. But you couldn’t help but let your mind drift elsewhere while he was speaking. You sent Aiden off with a hug and a promise to call him soon. Now you sat in your living room nursing a wine cooler contemplating what you would even wear tonight. What is the attire for attending your rockstar ex-boyfriend’s concert? Part of you wanted to bail on the whole night and not even go, but you couldn’t do that to Josh. Despite all of the shit with Jake, Josh was always there for you. It was about time you showed some reciprocation after all this time.

You groaned and peeled yourself off of your couch. There was a laundry list of things that needed to be done before tonight and you had better get started. Your phone buzzed whilst you were in the middle of an everything shower. When you climbed out you check it immediately to see a text from Josh:

After party tonight at our house. Would love for you to come and you’re more than welcome to stay. Pack a swimsuit!

You felt a swirl of emotions hit you. You missed them and you knew going would be fun. But were you ready to be around Jake for longer than 10 minutes? You dried off and tried to do anything but contemplate how the night might play out. Once you had completed all of your skincare, you threw your hair up to dry in a turban towel and picked through your closet. You fingered through your dresses, business casual blouses, and blazers. Nothing spoke to you. Then, it hit you.

Black.

Jake had said he loved you in pink and green, but you still remember the way he trembled when you wore black. You tried to reason with yourself that the sole reason you were choosing your outfit was not based on him, but you were drawing blanks.

Once you applied sultry makeup and put bouncing curls in your hair you were ready to get dressed. You picked up your lingerie-esk black see through cami adorned with lace. It was entirely sheer except for the front. You decided to pair it with a longer silk black skirt with a high slit and black strappy heels. Once, you were dressed, you accessorized and sprayed yourself with a perfume that made you smell like a walking dessert. You might have taken a liquid shot of courage before you got into your Uber to head to the venue.

There was a line of fans outside and you smiled to yourself knowing that their dream was coming to fruition. You clicked your heels on the pavement up towards the box office, carrying your small duffle bag and gave them your name. You were given a lanyard and entrance to the side door where a rather muscular man led you down empty hallways. He smiled and attempted to strike a flirty conversation with you while taking your bag to carry it, but you were already bored of him as he droned on about how important he was. Finally you had made it to a lounge area where you saw Danny rummaging through the fridge with Sam hot on his heels. You laughed to yourself at a memory that had come to mind seeing the scene before you. Josh had always called them tweedle dee and tweedle dumb in the most endearing way. Where there was one the other surely would be in tow.

“Y/n! Hey! You look hot!” Sam yelled, rather loudly as soon as he noticed your presence.

“I believe this is where I leave you ma’am.” Muscles said, sitting your bag down on a chair. “If you require my assistance later or need help getting to your seat, here’s my number.”

You politely accepted his small slip of paper and tried to pretend like you didn’t see his wink.

“You made it!” Josh stated enthusiastically heading your way.

You wrapped him in a warm embrace. “I’m done dodging you.”

He smiled at those words. “Promise?”

”Pinky.” You said, extending your finger out towards him.

This was something you and Josh had done in the past. The most serious of vows, your pinky promises.

You saw his heart swell at your action, happy to have his best friend back. That was short lived when you felt a cloud come into the room. You could sense his eyes on you.

“Want a drink?” Josh asked, nodding towards the small wet bar.

“Just a vodka soda please.”

As one twin left you, another approached. Jake didn’t say a word as he took you in with his eyes. Scanning you up and down no doubtably undressing you with his eyes. You tried not to let that affect you.

”Jake.”

He nodded towards you. “Sugar. You look… just wow. Takes me back to a different time.”

Your face slightly reddens at his admission. You expected more of a sleazy conversation from Jake rather than an unintentional trip down memory lane.

The mood shifts entirely when Josh comes back with a vodka soda and two limes.

“You remembered.” You say to Josh with a smile, gesturing towards the extra lime.

“Of course. How could I forget?” He replies with a grin.

Jake clears his throat. “Well glad you could make it. We have a hell of a show tonight and I assume you’ll be at our house later of course for the party?”

You give a quick glance to Josh, who is looking at you hopefully. “Yep. I’ll be there.”

Jake flashes you a mischievous grin. “Excellent. Enjoy yourself tonight Sug.” Then he heads off to converse with one of his technicians.

“Rather brooding isn’t he?” Josh jabs.

You snicker at that. “I’ll say.”

Josh turns towards you and places a hand on your back. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”

A wave of guilt mixed with sentimentality rushes through your veins. You loved Josh. No matter what happened with Jake, he was still that beautiful shining beacon of light for you. It was then you had decided to focus on him rather than concern yourself with whatever Jake may do. “I missed you too Josh, so much.”

“Alright everyone! Openers are about to go on. I need you all dressed and ready to shoot some social media content in ten!”

You glance across the room and see Devan with an iPad in hand. She was wearing a similar stylish business casual outfit like she had previously worn. When she finally looked up from her screen she noticed you immediately and gave a harsh face. It was brief, but you had caught it.

“Devan can we push this back a little? Y/n just got here and I’d like to show her around.” Josh asks.

Devan makes a face a Josh before tapping furiously on her tablet. “Eh sorry no can do Josh. The best I could do is an additional fifteen minutes but that will cut into Danny’s tik tok later. Besides, we need to make sure we are staying somewhat confidential with our filming so that nothing gets leaked.”

You felt a pit form in your stomach. She didn’t want you around and you were intruding on their work.

“Uh Devan she’s basically family.” Sam chimes in. “She wouldn’t dare leak anything.”

“No, it’s fine!” You try to say as nonchalant as possible. “I wanted to catch some of the opening act anyway. You guys go and get dressed and do your thing.”

Josh gives you a sad look, but eventually nods on.

“I’ll call that security guard to come fetch you. Oh! Jake! I need your feedback on something.” Devan says, hurrying over towards Jake who looks at you with raised brows.

“One sec Dev. Gonna walk y/n to her seat.” He says, shuffling past her.

He walks up to you with a pleased smile and sticks his arm out. “Shall we?”

You give him a pointed look and huff before grabbing his arm. “Break a leg.” You say to Josh with a smile.

He gives you a half hearted smile back and nods. You wondered why his mood had seemed to change, but Jake’s voice quickly snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Excited?”

You hum. “I supposed. Eager to see how much you’ve all changed.”

Jake chews on his cheeks before he speaks. “I guess we all have… changed quite a bit. Grew up a little.”

You laugh. “Oh, have you? That seems far-fetched for some of you.”

He huffs a laugh back. “You’re talking about Sam right?”

“Oh most definitely.” You snicker, but can’t hide the smile that creeps out. “You didn’t have to walk me, you know. I can manage.”

“And leave that meathead to try and sweep you off your feet? No way Sugar, I’m the only one who can do that. Besides, these halls can be empty. No one around. Private really.” He retorts with a shit eating grin.

There he is. You roll your eyes. “Oh Jake, you really always have been ever so charming.”

“You flatter me. But in all honesty it can be difficult to navigate around backstage. When we first started playing at bigger venues I would get lost just trying to find somewhere to smoke a fucking cigarette.”

“Cigarettes? That’s a nasty little habit.” You say with faux disapproval.

He turns towards you and sets his eyes on yours. “Quite. Sometimes the things that can hurt you the most are what you want more than anything. You crave it.”

You feel your heartbeat quicken at that statement. Your chest starts to blaze with an indescribable feeling, but before you can respond you’re interrupted.

“VIP guest? I’ll usher her over to side stage.” A crew member says approaching you and Jake.

Jake clears his throat and nods at the man. “Yep, thank you.”

Then he turns away and heads in the opposite direction without looking back at you. You felt your brain spinning as you blinked to come back to reality. You were taken to your seat where you were surprisingly close to the stage. You weren’t necessarily in seats, but had a foldout chair side stage on the floor. Your mind drifted to what they might play and if Jake played with as much passion as he used to. When you two had dated you were mesmerized watching him play. His dedication, his intensity, the way his body swayed around that guitar, the facial expressions, the sweat, his…hands. Stop. You couldn’t think that way. That time was over. You have moved on. You were over Jake. Right? You hated him. Didn’t you? You massaged your temples and requested a drink from a crew member. When it arrived you nursed the burning liquid in attempt to suppress whatever in the hell your psyche was feeling. You tried to concentrate on the openers, but before you knew it their set was over and you were left thinking what the next setlist might be. Since you went no contact, you did not go out of your way to search for them or their music. You only know the early days. The early days. Would they play it? Your song? They used to play it all the time. A catchy song written drunkenly by Jake and Josh one night when they were younger, but you were the driven force behind its publication. They played it all the time. It was a great jam song, but no one knew Jake had dedicated it to you. Anxiousness swirled in your stomach as you anticipated the mere minutes before they would take to the stage. You had to admit there was quite a turn out. They had fans and not just casual ones either. A part of you felt proud while another solem that you had missed the build up to this moment.

The lights dimmed and cheering ensued. Then you heard those familiar chords billow through the speaker. It couldn’t be. Your song? They started with your song? Josh’s wailing fills the venue and Jake’s fingers move at lightning speed to match his twin. Highway Tune. Your song.

So sweet. So fine. So nice. Oh my.

Jake used to jokingly say this to you all the time. Your body betrayed you as you swayed to that ever so familiar sound, the build up to the catchiest little riff that has haunted you for years. For a moment Jake’s eyes meet yours and a bright smile appears on his face followed by a wink. He knew what he was doing. The song comes to a close and you hold your breath in anticipation to see if they do it. Danny beats the skin off of his drums, Sam plucks wildly at his bass, Jake strums and struts, you see Josh take a breath and then look at you before the close out.

Sugarrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

**

You were reeling after the last two hours of whatever that was. A rush of conflicting emotions assaults all of your senses as you make your way backstage. Starting off with your song and then you heard a song that made a pit form in your stomach. You’re The One. Was that about you? Timeline wise it would make sense. You wouldn’t dare ask in fear of being embarrassed if it wasn’t about you. But you had a gut feeling that it was.

All of a sudden they all rush back into the green room high off adrenaline.

“So, what did you think?” Danny asks, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from his chest.

“You guys were phenomenal. Seriously, I was blown away.”

Danny smiles, clearly pleased with your answer while Sam pulls you into his side for a hug.

“Feels so nostalgic in here huh?”

You let out a small laugh. “Sure does Sammy.”

“Nostalgia for sure Sug.” Jake says, pressing a freshly poured glass of some dark liquid to his lips. His eyes are intense as they study you, trying to see if there’s any falter behind you.

You breath out when you see Josh and take the opportunity to get you out of this weird eye contact that you have with Jake. “Josh! Oh my god, your voice! You were absolutely amazing. So grown up now.”

He smiles sweetly at you. “You’re too kind. It’s been a work in progress for a while.”

“I can tell. I always knew you were talented but I just- wow.”

He blushes slightly at that.

“Yeah yeah enough of the love fest. Can we please go home and start drinking?” Sam says in a faux annoyed tone while sending you a wink.

“Don’t have to ask me twice. Wanna ride with me Sug?” Jake asks looking towards you with raised eyebrows

You swallow thickly at that. “I’ll hang back with Josh. Gotta find my bags anyway.”

“Suit yourself.”

**

“Josh!” You say in a fit of giggles as he matches your laughs.

“What? It’s true! He absolutely looked like he was snorting steroids.”

You and Josh had left the venue and were headed back to the house. You thought you would be anxious, but neither you nor Josh had shut up or quit laughing. It all felt so natural, just like it once did.

“We’re just around this corner here.” He says, whipping his jeep to the left.

“Josh.” You start. “I have a confession.”

He raises his eyebrows at you. “Yeah?”

“See those trees back there? Just to the right of that little park?”

He quints and nods.

“I live back there.”

His mouth falls open. “No shit?”

You laugh and nod. “I’m so serious! I live in one of those townhomes. That’s why I was so weirded out when I ran into you guys at the smoothie cafe.”

Josh grins and taps the steering wheel. “Hell. Small world. Who would have thought?”

“It’s the universe bringing us back together Joshy.” You say playfully giving his arm a light tap.

His grin turns into a full on smile at that. “I’ll hold you to that.”

When you arrived Josh grabbed your bag and ushered you inside. The house was quite big, definitely bigger than your townhome. There was loud music blasting inside and a slew of bodies which didn’t look familiar to you.

“Wanna take this to my room?” Josh yells over the music.

You nod and grab his hand as he leads you up the stairs.

“Shit it’s loud down there. I’m going to fix that when we get back there. I don’t wear earpieces to protect my ears on stage only to have it ruined at a shitty house party.” Josh says, as he shuts his door.

His room is so very Josh. There’s a white plush king bed in the center, perfectly made. A John Denver poster hangs on a blank wall with a few plants scattered around. But your favorite feature is a small reading nook that Josh has made out of his relatively small windowsill.

“Josh, this is so cute.” You say, running your fingers through his books. You two had always been avid readers and you were delighted to see his new found fame hadn’t changed him.

He gives you a bashful grin. “I guess. I just need a space that’s just for me. Somewhere to escape from the normal insanity that is my life.”

You shrug at him. “Understandable. The reason I chose the townhome I’m in is solely because of a clawfoot tub in my bathroom. I will sit in that thing for hours after a long day at work.”

“You still stay in there long enough to be a mermaid?”

You nod and smile. Josh use to always call you a mermaid because of your extensive baths.

“Ready to head down? I’ve got to kill this music before we get the damn cops called on us.”

You agree and follow him down the stairs. He introduces you to a few dozen people who you couldn’t possibly remember before taking two tequila shots. He throws you a seltzers and a leaves you with a promise to return as soon as he gets the music turned down. You sip on your drink as you can feel the two shots of tequila already working it’s way into your system. You took the time to walk around the house and explore. Careful to avoid any unwanted interactions. You finally found yourself in a small corner of the living room observing some vinyl that was hanging. It seems their collection had almost doubled since you last saw it.

You weren’t alone for long when you felt his presence near you. It was magnetic the way you two had always gravitated towards one another and you knew he was fighting that pull just as much as you had.

“Enjoying yourself Sugar?” Jake asks, leaning in closer than necessary so you can hear him. Immediately you can smell the booze on him. Was he trying to drink away the feelings he felt just like you were?

“Having a splendid time Jacob. Thank you.” You reply, cordially.

He laughs and presses his back up to the wall, observing the party with you. “Why do I always find you in a corner by yourself? You should be out there mingling and mixing.” He teases.

You scoff. “We all aren’t social butterflies like you I suppose.”

Jake turns back and leans in closer to you. “Don’t play coy with me Sug. Don’t forget, I know you. You are very personable. Dare I say charming even?”

You take this opportunity to poke back at him. “Charming? I think I use my charm a little bit differently than you.”

He clicks his tongue and brings his glass up to his lips. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I use my charm simply in a way that any human would; for the purpose of social interaction. Right? You use your charm to try and get panties to drop. So why are you lecturing me? You need to get out there and mix and mingle instead of standing in this corner.”

Jake studies you as you speak and takes a step even closer. He stares directly in your eyes, his slightly red and half-lidded. “Fair, but there’s only one person here that I want to try that charm out with.”

You tried not to flinch at his words, but that hit you like a bullet train. “Yeah?”

He leaned down, bracing himself on the wall. “Yeah.” He whispers into your neck. His hot breath fanning on a sweet spot that caused goosebumps to form everywhere. “And I can only get to her in this corner. Unless of course she would like to accompany me upstairs? We could do a lot of mixing and mingling up there.”

Fuck.

You feel a rush in your chest as Jake’s eyes bounce from your eyes to your lips.

Oh but his lips.

Slightly wet from nursing his drink, but so perfectly plump and pink. You tried to remember how they felt when they used to graze every inch of your skin. That thought alone sent shivers down your spine. You felt frozen in time as your heart was thudding. Maybe it was the alcohol in your system or maybe it was the burning sensation of lust coursing through your veins, but you were going to kiss him. No you were going to fuck him. You didn’t care, all of your inhibitions had long flown out the window. You stared back at him intently and fluttered your eyes tilting your head forward. He leaned in slowly and parted his lips. You followed suit. His nose brushed yours and electricity shot down your spine. This was it.

“Jake!”

Damnit.

You both spun around to see Josh heading your way. Jake huffed a few curse words under his breath as you instinctively took a step back.

Josh makes his way over to you and runs his fingers through his hair. “Thank god I found you. That redhead is looking for you. She’s been following me around for the last few minutes. Something about plans you had?”

Redhead?

Your stomach sinks slightly at that and you feel embarrassed that it did. Of course he has little flings or hell even multiple girlfriends.

Jake cocks his head at his twin and narrows his eyes at him. Almost like he cannot believe what he just said. There’s a long pause of silence between the two of them, neither breaking eye contact from the other.

Finally, Jake lets out a huff and glances back at you before walking off.

You were now beyond grateful that Josh cockblocked you.

“Such a sour puss. You ready to go swimming?” Josh asks you with a grin.

You match his. “Absolutely.”

**

You stared at yourself in the mirror feeling a little self conscious as you took in your body in the black bikini. Jake hadn’t seen your body in a while. Not since you had become more womanly and of course the months of pilates classes. You knew you looked attractive, sure but you still had those voices inside your head criticizing every imperfection. You massaged your temples to get out of your own head and threw on a large Nirvana t-shirt with some leather flip flops before leaving Josh’s bathroom.

“Ready?” He asked you, sitting patiently in his windowsill. “I got us towels.”

You let out a small laugh. “Thank you. Yes, let's go.”

You and Josh descend the stairs and head outside. There’s a decent amount of people there. You don’t scan around looking for Jake, instead keeping your eyes on Josh as he plops your towels down on a chair. He’s wearing light orange swim trunks that match his tan perfectly. It’s just now that you realize how fit he looks. He has really filled out since you last saw him.

You take off your t-shirt and slide off your flip flops, placing them all on the chair. When you glance up your eyes meet Jake’s. He’s staring at you, mouth slightly agape. He’s in the pool, with a fair skinned girl with red hair laughing and straddling him. Her arms are on his shoulders and instantly jealousy creeps down your spine. Why were you jealous? You couldn’t say, but you were. You peeled your eyes away from Jake and headed towards Josh, who was at the cooler fetching you drinks.

“Hot tub?” You ask him walking up behind him.

“Oh yeah sure-“ He turns around and his eyes scan your body. He’s not being nonchalant about it and when he catches himself his face dusts red and he clears his throat. “Yeah hot tub it is.”

You and Josh pad your way to the hot tub, opposite to where Jake and the red head were. You see Sam sitting in there animatedly speaking to Danny. You giggle because you can tell he’s intoxicated.

“Wow wow wow!” Sam whistles wildly at you two approaching. “Josh, you look incredible!”

Josh laughs at his brothers antics while taking your hand to help you climb into the hot tub. The warm water goes from slightly uncomfortable to pleasant the more you sink down in it. You crack your watermelon tequila seltzer and cheers with Josh as you get settled, opting to share a jet together.

“Sammy boy, how much have you had to drink tonight?” Josh pokes.

He throws his hand up at you two. “I lost count. I’m just trying to celebrate! Enjoy the lovely night with lovely people!”

Danny groaned at the end of that sentence and handed Sam a bottle of water. “Drink this.”

“Ah! The gang’s all back together. Where’s Jake? I’m surprised he peeled himself away from you.” Sam giggles. “He was eye fucking you all night on that stage.”

It got quiet.

“He’s in the pool.” Danny offers, bluntly.

Sam cranes his head around to look for his older brother. “Oh. Shit. Is that one Holly or Katie?”

“Holly.” Josh interjects. “Katie is the other one.”

Other one.

Sam sucks in his cheeks and turns towards you. “Sorry. I know that might be awkward for you. It’s nothing serious.”

You let out a laugh. “It’s okay Sam. It doesn't bother me.” You lie. “That was a long time ago.”

“Sam, no one was thinking that. You’re the one making things weird.” Danny says through a laugh.

Sam lets out a breath. “Pshhhhhh. Nope. Come on we all remember how they used to-“

“Sam!” Josh snaps, somewhat abruptly. “Let it be. Can we not traumatize her again?”

You play it off. “It’s fine I promise. But tell me about this house? It’s insane! You guys are living here for how long?”

Josh faces you. “It is. I’m very grateful they gave us such a big place to write this album. We used to go in the smallest cabins in the woods and hold up for weeks. But I think we should be here for at least a good six to nine months.”

You swallow at that. How would you be around them or him for that long? “Wow. Sounds like you guys will be busy then.”

Danny rolls his eyes. “We would be if we could stay on topic.”

You smile at that. “Not much has changed, has it?”

Sam sips his water. “Not even a little bit.”

**

Eventually the party had died down and the crowd began to disperse. Danny and Sam were on cleanup duty while you and Josh both quickly took a rinse shower and put dry clothes back on. You were done first, so you decided to head back down wearing gray sweat shorts with a white cropped tank. Your hair was slightly damp and had curled up significantly.

“Need any help?” You ask Sam as you see him throwing cups on a trash bag.

“That would be great.” He offers with a big smile.

You get to work and grab a bottle of cleaning solution with paper towels and being spraying and wiping down the sticky surfaces, while Sam finishes picking up trash and begins to sweep.

“You’re too sweet, you know that? I’ve always thought so.”

You giggle at his drunk confessional. “Thank you Sammy. So are you.”

He shrugs. “I guess. I’m sorry if I made you upset earlier. I’m just glad to see that you don’t have an achy Jakey heart.”

You can’t help but laugh at that one. “It’s okay, really. I’m a big girl.”

Sam grins at you. “I know you are. But for what it’s worth, he hasn’t really been the same since- you know. Despite how he acts it really fucked him up. He never said a word to indicate it, but we could all tell. I’m sure you heard that song tonight. He would absolutely kill me for saying all of this to you right now, but I feel like you should know it. If for nothing but closure. Fuck, I know I’m drunk and I’m oversharing here.”

You feel like the wind has been sucked out of you. A pool of emotions you absolutely cannot identify swirl in you. Does Jake have feelings for you? After all this time? That song? Were you right?

You’re interrupted abruptly by Josh climbing down the stairs. “Sammy, why do you have our guest working?”

Sam clears his throat, trying to drop all of the conversation that had just occurred between you two. “She volunteered because she is kind. Unlike a certain diva I know.”

“Please. Jake and I have the next clean up- that was the agreement.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “Yeah yeah. Help me take this trash out.”

Josh gives you a head nod as he grabs two bags of trash and walks with Sam towards the door.

Then you’re left in your own thoughts, absentmindedly putting away things that you have no idea where they go.

“So who are you?”

You whip your head around to see redhead approaching you. She’s still in her neon pink bikini tracking pools of water on the floors Sam had just cleaned.

You try not to narrow your eyes at her as you tell her your name. “Old friend of theirs.”

She takes in what you say. “Hm, old friend? I don’t think I’ve ever heard them talk about you.”

You’re a bit taken back by her nastiness. “And you are?”

“Holly.” She says with a smile. “Jake’s good friend. Thank you for helping clean up and all, but the party’s over. I think we’ll get it from here.”

Okay now you narrow your eyes at her. She doesn’t know you and you have a good inkling she doesn’t know how much of good friends you and Jake used to be. “Appreciate your tip and all, but I’m staying here tonight.”

She makes a face at you. “What are you taking the couch or something?”

“No.” Josh’s voice peaks from behind you. “Not that’s it’s any of your concern, but she’s staying with me.”

She drops a considerable amount of attitude with Josh in the room. “Oh! No, yeah I just didn’t know.”

She heads back outside as Josh scoffs. “Don’t worry about her.”

You flash him a smile. “What? She seems so friendly.”

He nudges your shoulder. “You have no idea.”

You and Josh had decided to go outside to make sure everything else was done before you had retired to bed. You found Jake sitting in a chair with redhead practically on top of him. His eyes found yours when you stepped outside, but you looked away quickly and refused to look back.

“Is Sam making a fucking fire?” Josh asks through a laugh.

Danny walks by and places his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Indeed he is. Something about old times sake and a card game?”

A smile spreads across your face. “Rummy? That’s what we used to all play when we were high out of our minds.”

“Bingo!” Sam yells from a distance. “And you’re in luck baby because look what I have!” He holds up a sandwich bag full of joints.

You shake your head and smile at Josh. “Oh my god.”

He throws his arm around you. “Are you up for this?”

You think about it for a second. Contemplating being around Jake and redhead even longer. You didn’t want to be a buzzkill though, so you bit your lip and nodded your head.

You all eventually gathered around the table. You seated yourself next to Josh and Sam, trying to steer away from Jake. It was to no use when he sat down directly in front of you. His eyes bore into yours, but again you wouldn’t look at him.

“Wanna shuffle Sug?” Jake asks you, attempting to hand the cards in your direction.

You can see redhead squish her face up at the pet name.

“Sure.” You take the cards and begin to shuffle them around before dealing.

Sam lights up and starts to pass the joints around. You collect your cards and take a joint from Josh, watching him take a drag. You bring the joint to your lips and take a small hit, not wanting to do too much for the night. The smoke fills your lungs and you feel that light sensation rush to your head. You close your eyes and exhale, deciding to take another puff before passing it back to Sam. It’s not long until all of you are red eyed and smiley. The first few games were won by you and Danny, then the cards got tossed to the side stories began to flow. At this point the cotton mouth began to set it.

“Gonna go grab a bottle of water. Want one?” You turn to Josh.

He gives you a smile. “Please.”

You head towards the house and go to the bathroom first, relieving your bladder. You wash your hands and stare at the mirror, trying to fix the slight black smudge under your eyes. You were tired and ready to call it a night. Once you headed back into the kitchen you were startled by a body standing there.

“Fuck! Jake, you scared me.”

He laughs. “Sorry Sugar. Just wanted to come and check on you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You are.” His voice was like velvet. He was always somehow more attractive when he was stoned.

“Careful Jake. Don’t want your friend out there to hear.” You say nonchalantly, grabbing two bottles of water.

Jake gives you a devilish grin and steps closer. Backing you up into the countertops. “Oh come on now Sugar. Just say the words and she’s gone.”

You look up at him, studying that beautiful face. “I’m good actually.”

You shimmy out from underneath him heading back outside to Josh. You let out a deep breath before returning to the group.

“Thanks love.” Josh says, taking the bottle from you.

Jake returns to the group not uttering a word.

“I’m tired.” You announce to Josh.

“Yeah me too.” Redhead states. “Jake can we go to bed babe?”

You glance up at him. He looks at you with raised eyebrows, almost asking you. You avoid his glance and he mutters a “yeah” towards her. It sort of felt like a stab to your gut, but you wouldn’t give it any attention.

“Good night guys!” Redhead yells, toting Jake’s arm all the way inside.

You and Josh helped put the fire out before heading back inside.

“What a damn day.” Josh jokes, handing you toothpaste to put on your toothbrush.

You huff a laugh. “Tell me about it. Also I’m freezing, why is it so cold in here?”

“Daniel insists we keep the house at a crisp 68. Michigan blood isn’t used to this Tennessee heat.”

You snicker. “You would all boil if you came to my place.”

“You’ve adapted well I see.”

You shrug. “I’ve always preferred to be closer to The Sun I guess. Makes me happy.”

Josh smiles at you. “I know what you mean.”

You both brush your teeth side by side. A part of it felt so domestic, like it was something that you two had done every night forever. You chalk it off to being high and climb into bed with your once best friend.

You snuggled down into his plush sheets and both crack a few jokes before drifting off to sleep. Somehow, Josh’s arm found it’s way wrapped around you. You were no longer freezing; you were now warm.

Both inside and out.

***

Thank you for reading :)

[cringe-time]

I am so fucking fed up with everything. I wish I never went to school for art cuz now I have an art degree and every single job I find is looking for someone for a senior position, or something for motion graphic design, which I’m terrible at and hate. No one is looking for illustrators cuz they can just use ai for free, no one is looking for entry level animators, and the thing is I HATE practicing animation. I wish I chose a degree that didn’t involve so much self motivated work cuz I am the least self motivated person in the world. I might be able to practice animation if it wasn’t to the end of “so I can move out and pay rent and retire someday”, KNOWING that even if I was a half decent animator there would have to be a miracle to get a job that would pay enough for all that. It all just feels so pointless. And it doesn’t help that every single job description involves “working in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines” and “able to work on multiple projects at once”, which sounds like recruiter slang for “we’re gonna overload you with work for barely any pay”. I don’t like art enough to work harder to get better to MAYBE, if I’m lucky, get a job that breaks my back with work making nothing. My mom is always telling me that I need to work hard now and do everything I can now to get a job in art but the thing is I DONT WANT TO. It seems like no matter what job I get in art I’ll hate it cuz they’re gonna overload me with work I’m bad at, and I’m not even gonna get paid enough to live, assuming they don’t fire me and replace me with ai. She’s an accountant and I was considering going back to school for accounting so I think she’s trying to make sure I don’t follow in her footsteps and get a stressful soul crushing job, but for me that’s what pretty much any art job is gonna be too, so I’d rather get one that ensures I’ll be able to move out, afford rent and groceries, and retire.

And every time I try to look for art jobs I get so overwhelmed and stressed I always end up crying, without fail. So I don’t think that’s a good sign. I’m not good at researching so it’s hard to find jobs to apply for, I’m not good at lying so it’s hard to write resumes and cover letters saying “working in animation is my passion and im great at it”, I’m only ok at animating cuz it feels so pointless to practice when I hate it, and I’m barely improving, and you need to be the best of the best to get a job.

I think my mom has a point that a normal 9-5 is hell cuz you don’t have any free time, but I really don’t know what else to do. I don’t think I’d mind being a janitor but janitors don’t get paid a living wage. I’m not an ambitious person, and I wanna say I wish someone told me you kinda need to be ambitious and self motivated to be an artist, but they DID. AND I DIDNT LISTEN. I literally said “whatever, I’ll figure it out.” cuz I didn’t wanna think about what else I could do cuz I couldn’t think of a single other thing. I wish it wasn’t expected to decide what you wanna do for the rest of your life at 17. I wish there was a job that existed that both would pay me enough to live comfortably and not be hell on earth. I wish I didn’t need to get a job at all. I wish I could just turn off the part of my brain that cares about fun and comfort so I could just force myself to work. I don’t wanna put together a demo reel, I don’t wanna write a different resume and cover letter for every application, I don’t wanna prove what I can/can’t do to every recruiter. I just wanna say “I have the qualifications, I can do accounting, hire me please”.

And im terrified that if i do go back to school for something else like environmental science or accounting that it’ll be the same thing all over again, where I realize I hate it but I don’t know what else to do, so I just drift along, graduate, and end up stuck cuz finding a decent job in that field is impossible if you don’t care that much and can’t force yourself to spend all day applying to stuff you hate hoping you don’t hear back from them every day all the time. I just don’t know what to do

[sylvies-chen]

This might be an unpopular question or opinion, but is Tim giving up a job he loves for his relationship with Lucy a good or romantic thing?

I love them but if I'm honest if Lucy or another woman decided to give up a job they love or switch to something else for their relationship I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be considered romantic or the right thing to do.

I think that’s a fair question because something like this could definitely lead to resentments down the road if not done properly. But honestly, it’s been a relationship trope in television for a while now. Take Ben and Leslie from Parks & Recreation, for example. Ben straight-up takes the hit and gets fired from his job (of being her boss) for Leslie, because he knew he loved her and so the job he had didn’t matter. And I don’t think people questioned it (though I wasn’t in the fandom when it aired so idk how it was received). Or think of Will from Criminal Minds who left his hometown— and his entire home state, even— to be with JJ. Think of Jonah from Superstore who was ready to move to California to be with Amy just because she got a job promotion, and who only stayed at a terrible job for years because of her, which holds a kind of equivalent. There’s just countless examples of characters (specifically male ones) prioritizing their relationship over their career. Even though it may not be realistic for real life relationships, I still find it to be generally romantic in nature I think especially because it’s men who are expected to be ambitious and career-driven above all else and so defying that tenet of like “masculinity” or that stereotype by not expecting the woman to have to put her career on hold is what I think people like to see. That’s just my take on it anyways!

Sorry, that was just a tangent on my thoughts about that trope in general. But to answer your question in regards to Chenford, I think in their case it is allowed to be romantic and good because we know it’s not going to be permanent?? Obviously Tim Bradford is not going to be at a desk job for the rest of his life. They’re already scheming to find him a new position and he’s a main character who’s too physical to ever be benched/sidelined like that for more than a few episodes. Like. It’s cable television. You know they are going to find some shiny new position that is somehow just the perfect setup for him to be in the field and yet not Lucy’s direct superior. They’ll make some miraculous solution. (Either that or they’ll have him come back to Sergeant and he and Lucy will have to face the music together which… ehhh I don’t think that’s in the cards.) To me, at least, this sacrifice is a very romantic gesture, but it’s also permitted to be so becauss there won’t be any long-term resentments due to the fact that… yeah. They’re not letting him rot at a desk. They’re going to come up with something somehow some way. It’s just how network television does it. 😅

[kuroopaisen]

tiny love || 14

➵ as tooru’s younger sister, falling in love with iwaizumi hajime is easy. your feelings aren’t ignored, either. after finally telling him the truth, there’s a lot of tension in the air.

warnings: f!reader

wc: 2k

m.list | ch. 13 ↞ ch. 14 ↠ ch. 15

Try as you might, you just couldn’t pay attention to your lecture.

The lecturer droned on in the archetypal slow drawl, slowly clicking through their powerpoint for each new point. Thank God they had the decency to upload the PDF after the lecture – you’d just take all the important notes from that.

Getting back to some sense of normalcy, back to the thrum of everyday life, was supposed to take your mind off things. But it didn’t. Tooru, Hajime, the whole damn mess – it still wavered in the back of your mind, flickering in and out of conscious thought.

It was almost impossible to ignore.

“Give him time,” Iwaizumi had said, exhausted. “It’s up to him now.”

He was right. You knew that. But it didn’t make you feel any better.

Your phone buzzed in your lap. Frowning, you looked down and turned the screen upwards.

Everything stopped. Your eyes shot wide, your heart beating erratically to the tempo of the ringing.

You gathered your things up in an instant and fled from the lecture hall as unobtrusively as possible, hands trembling as you jabbed at the ‘answer call’ icon.

The girls’ bathroom seemed to be empty as you rushed through the doors and sought out the closest cubicle. You held the phone up to your ear as you sat down on the toilet lid, breathless.

“Hello?”

A silence answered you. Had you been too late? Just missed it? Would it be amiss to call back immed—

“Hey.” Tooru’s voice was tight, sharp, unfamiliar.

“Hey,” you echoed, a queasy uneasiness settling in your stomach. Why was he calling you now? Why hadn’t he warned you?

You hadn’t been given any time to prepare.

Maybe he’d done that on purpose. Maybe he was trying to catch you off-guard.

“Did you… did you want to talk?” You asked.

Some part of you still wanted to fight, to get all scrappy and shout again. You didn’t want to grovel, to beg him for forgiveness, to rebuke anything you’d said prior.

But you didn’t want to throw this all away, either. He’s still your brother; even if he’s a brat, even if he’s selfish, even if he’s inconsiderate.

“Yeah,” he swallowed.

You bit the inside of your cheek, totally at a loss of what to say next.

God, this was so awkward. You’d never had this much trouble talking to your brother before. Well, trouble, maybe, but discomfort… It’s almost worse than the anger. At least there’s something to say during the fire. There’s just ash in the aftermath.

“I just…” Tooru sighed. You could visualise him gripping his hair with frustration, or touching his forehead with the tips of his fingers. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Ah.

That was the question, wasn’t it?

If you’d just said something all those years ago, maybe you could’ve avoided this entire debacle. But how were you supposed to know? You didn’t know anything when you were in high school.

You hadn’t known that you’d be sitting in your university’s bathroom, halfway across the world from home, feeling like you were about to spew your guts out because the thought of talking to your brother terrified you so damn much.

The only time you’d ever been scared of Tooru was when Hajime was involved. But scared of what?  

“I… I thought you’d be mad,” you mumbled.

It sounded silly now. Scared of Tooru? Scared of your own damn brother? Pathetic.

But you weren’t the only one.

“And Iwaizumi, he…” It was all a blur, but you could remember one thing. The fear of disapproval.

Iwaizumi had been terrified that Tooru would disapprove. Worst of all, he’d been afraid that Tooru would misunderstand it all.

“He told me that one of the other guys on the team asked about me,” you said quietly, “and that you got really mad.”

Tooru laughed. “What, he thought I’d disapprove of him just because I didn’t want Yahaba getting anywhere near my sister?”

“I heard you got pretty mad,” you mumbled. In truth, you were still kind of pissed about that. Tooru had no say in who you did and didn’t date – much less who had a right to a relationship with you.

Although, you felt you’d made that much clear the last time you’d spoken to him.

“And let me guess,” Tooru sighed after a long moment, “Iwaizumi didn’t want to create a big mess and pit us against each other and break a bunch of hearts.”

“Mhm,” you nodded slowly.

“Sounds about right…” Tooru grumbled.

“He also was worried that you’d think…” You swallowed roughly, the words sticking to your throat. “That you’d think he was messing around with me.”

It was the worst thing he’d said. The implication that he wasn’t serious, that it was all a game to him; of everything he’d said that awful day, that’d hurt the most.

“Messing around with you?” Tooru scoffed. “Like he’s the type of guy to do that…”

There was comfort in hearing those words. But they have a different pallor from the last time you’d spoken with him; had Hajime’s words moved him so much? What had been said between them? You hadn’t asked out of fear, but maybe you should’ve…

“You sounded pretty angry the other day,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, but…”

There was still a terseness in his voice, an edge that he couldn’t soften.

He was trying. Hard. He wasn’t hiding how he felt, but he was… containing it. Was he coddling you?

No. No, he was trying to be reasonable. You couldn’t fault him for that, at least.

“Look… I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m not mad,” Tooru sighed.

Your gut twisted, your instincts screaming at you to hang up, to avoid Tooru for the rest of time, to do anything you could to avoid that anger. You’d faced it once; you never wanted to face it again.

But Tooru didn’t raise his voice. If he really was still mad, he was stymieing it gently, keeping it contained.

“I just…” His words were quiet, barely audible. “I just want to understand what went wrong.”

Your thoughts skidded to a halt. “What went wrong?”

That’s… a big question. A really big question. One with all sorts of caveats, countless nooks and crannies to fall into and get lost in. Hell, you weren’t even sure if the two of you had the same interpretation of that question.

“Well… neither of you told me, right? But from the sounds of it, you got pretty hurt.”

That felt like an understatement. But what would Tooru know? What could Tooru know?

“I… I don’t know, Tooru,” you sighed. You were no longer the kid you were back then. “Hajime made the decisions but I… I just went along with it. I didn’t… advocate for myself, I guess.”

You couldn’t blame yourself for that. There you were, infatuated with your older brother’s friend, and terrified of making a mess.

And that’d been considerate of you. There was no reason to be upset with yourself for thinking about others.

But you’d forgotten yourself, letting your own feelings get shoved aside for a ‘maybe’. ‘Maybe’ you’d break up. ‘Maybe’ Tooru would be mad. ‘Maybe’ it’d cause a mess. How were you supposed to live your life protecting other people from possibilities, from problems that hadn’t even taken root?

A ‘maybe’ meant you could prepare. Meant you could make promises, make vows, make sure that the outcome wouldn’t be as bad as any of you feared. As much as you could.

“I think Iwaizumi was more scared than I was,” you admitted.

Perhaps it’s not your secret to tell; frankly, you don’t really know if it’s true. But you knew Iwaizumi, and you knew his heart.

You hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but it felt like the truth. Maybe he’d had more to lose than you. Maybe he was worried that his relationship with Tooru would never recover. You had the safety net of being a family member; someone he’d have to forgive one day, even if the mere act of dating his friend seemed like an insurmountable transgression to him.

Iwaizumi didn’t have that security.

Tooru was quiet for a long moment before sighing. “What, did he feel like he was betraying me or something?”

Your stomach twisted at his choice of words.

“Not… not that I ‘own’ you,” he mumbled, as though tripping over what he just said. “But, you know… teenage brains and all that. They’re not exactly reasonable.”

You bit your lip, frowning. “I mean, I can’t be sure… You’d have to ask him about that.”

“Right…” Tooru sighed for what felt like the thousandth time this conversation. Well, at least he wasn’t shouting.

“Can I ask you a question?” Tooru asked, surprisingly apprehensive.

“Sure.”

“Did you ever hate me for it?’

The question shot through you with a jolt.

The unfortunate truth was yes. In a way, you had. It was hard not to feel some kind of bitterness towards him – for being so bright, for being so ambitious. And of course, for what happened with Iwaizumi. It felt like you’d lived half your life in a shadow, unable to distinguish yourself as anything other than ‘Tooru’s younger sister.’

But there was no way to say that. Not when it’s complicated. Not when it’s your brother.

“Nevermind,” Tooru said, clearing his throat. “Look, just… keep me in the loop from now on, okay?”

You grimaced. “You want to know all the details?”

“Of course not!” He damn near shrieked. “Just… you know. If you break up, or if you get engaged… stuff like that.”

Your face flushed hot. “Tooru—”

“Okay, that’s all!” He hummed. “See you later!”

“Wait, Toor—”

The phone buzzed against your ear, a sure sign that Tooru had taken his leave. You sighed, letting all the tension that’d gathered in your chest dissipate in your breath.

That was… weird.

But not unwelcome. Not unwelcome at all. Everything was uncertain; maybe Tooru would change his mind. Maybe he’d decide that, actually, he hated the idea of this and he’d disown you if you kept dating Iwaizumi.

But right then, sitting in your tiny university cubicle, you realised something.

It was all in your hands, now. You could choose the way forward.

✧ ✧ ✧

“Hajime!” You called as you rushed through your front door, bag in tow.

“Yeah?” He was standing in the kitchen, clad only in a pair of grey sweatpants as he unpacked the dishwasher.

You didn’t even take the time to marvel at the sight. The only thing on your mind was rushing towards him and throwing your arms around his neck.

“Everything okay?” He chuckled, placing a firm hand on your back.

“Mhm,” you hummed into his neck, revelling in his warmth. He was always so warm; your own man-sized furnace. Did his sheer amount of muscle mass have something to do with that?

“You’re back early,” he said after a moment.

“Oh, yeah,” you grinned, tilting your head back to look at him. “I left my lecture early.”

Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at you.

“It’s fine,” you giggled, “I’ll just watch it later.”

Iwaizumi sighed, tutting under his breath as he leant in to press a gentle kiss to your lips. You knew he didn’t have the heart to actually scold you; not when your arms were wrapped around him.

You hummed into the kiss, slipping one of your hands into his hair.

It was nice, being with him like this. There was nothing to worry about anymore; you didn’t need to hide this. You didn’t need to push your feelings to the side and hope you’d just get over them. Finally, finally, it was okay to feel this way. To bare your heart without any shame.

It was one thing to stand up for yourself, to assert your right to do what you wanted.

But knowing that the one thing that’d always been holding you back, that’d taken your feelings hostage for God knew how long…

Everything just felt lighter.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Son of none

Based off this post: Aka Percy Weasley was abandoned by his family and I don’t think they realised just how much danger an 18 civilian blood traitor son would be when stuck behind enemy lines. Well never fear, a fic is here as if I don’t have any other drafts...any whoooo

@transparentfreakpursepanda

Warning for blood, torture, self loathing. Mentions of bullying and neglect. Cursing.

(Also while writing this I was listening to Polaris by Natewantstobattle and...yeah if you want more angst while reading this listen to them and think of Percy :)  )

Percy deserved this.

Knowing that didn't change things. It didn’t make it easier to make it duck past the office that had once belonged to Barty Crouch Sr without feeling dread and greif. As harsh as the man could be and that he had not bothered to learn Percy's name... Percy still mourned his loss. For all that he was, Barty Crouch Sr had been a good man.

Life at the ministry taught him quickly, that kind of wizard was few and far between.

He wondered if the look Barty Crouch Sr had shared with his son before his death wax the same his father had shared with him the day he left.

Maybe it wasn't wise to compare yourself to a deranged murderer, but if that's the kind of wizard his family thought he was...

"Weasley"

It was stern, drenched in spite that was not unlike his old potions professor. But sadly even Snapes treatment of him in class did not hold a candle to what was happening now.

Percy lifted his head, it felt heavy. Infact all of him felt that he was on fire. The figure infront of him came into focus, not that Perch could quite recall his name. Edward? No that didn't seem right. Not Edward was his wand in hand and looked very annoyed, his dark mark was on full display.

Percy became very well aware in that moment that he couldn't move. He was bound to a chair in a room that looked very much like a cellar. He was still in his ministry robes, though they were dirty and tattered and stained in something.

It took Percy longer than he should've to realise it was his own blood. Not that he knew where he was bleeding from. "You Gryffindors and your bloody stubbornness" sneered Not Edward, he was a broad man, towering over Percy.

"You're wasting my time, and yours of you don't hurry up and tell me where your family is hiding." Percy shook his head, defiantly even if his body protested at the sudden movement. "Like I said before, even if I did know, I would never tell you." 

And than Not Edward would shout profanities all the while using his subordinates to use Percy as target practice till he passed out. That had been the cycle for... Well he wasn't sure for how long. Apart from the first time when Percy had weaved a convincing story about the family heading to Romania to hide away with Charlie...a whole false hunt that ended with the brand he now had on his arm. 

But this time was different.

Not Edward smirked "thought you'd say that, no matter. We've found out how to get there attention, and they'll hand themselves over." Percy laughed, it was a strangled and it sent another wave of pain through his body.

Not Edward was still smirking, in fact if anything his confidence grew. "And better yet, you're going to the bait that brings them here." And that stopped Percy laughing at once, he was quieter. "What makes you think they'd come" the words were barely above a whisper that echoed throughout the room.

Not Edward (Percy really needed to learn this man's name for his own internal monologue's sake) rolled his eyes "don't pull that on me, you Weasely's are more attached than a bunch of grapes. Rest assured, they'll be coming one way or another."

With that he left. Percy tried not to think about the fact a death eater had more confidence in his families arrival than he did. His mind wandered to the day he left, guilt pooled in his stomach. No amount of head trauma would erase the disgust and rage in Arthur’s eyes, Percy knew at that moment he had lost all right to call the man father. 

He could never look him in the eye again, he couldn’t even look himself in the mirror without seeing him staring back. His mothers eyes haunted him, she’d been the only one to try to reach out but he had slammed that back in her face. Not that Percy should have been surprised, he’d always been a parasite. 

If anything they must’ve been relived to be rid of him. 

They wouldn’t come, he knew that. Than why did his heart race, did tears threaten to fall and his stomach churn at the thought? Percy thought of his siblings, young and old...they wouldn’t have given him a second thought. Fred and George would mourn the loss of their favourite target, but they would move on they all would if they hadn’t already. 

For Percy though, this was the end of the line. 

_______________________________________________________________

Weasley family dinners were always something else, Bill knew this better than most. He smiled to Fleur who sat at his side, amusement on her face as they both watched Molly do as she does best. It was organised chaos at its finest, and while Shell cottage was a far cry from the Burrow, somehow it all came together. Harry was laughing at a story Ginny and the twins were telling, Charlie and Hermione were actually helping Molly along with Arthur. 

But even with how familiar it was, it was missing a certain brother rolling his eyes at the story and telling the true ending to the annoyance of the twins. Who would than direct the others to helping out with dinner to there mothers amusement. 

Percy. 

Ever since the watch, a muggle watch at that had arrived on his wedding day, with no name for the sender but only Bill’s name signed by an all too familiar handwriting...Bill hadn’t been able to take his mind of his little brother. His absence at his wedding and just seeing him around the house stuck out like a sore thumb to Bill. He wasn’t the only one either, he could see how his Mum would pause her eyes searching before looking down and moving onto something else.

Much like now when she put down the plates and realised that she’d left a little extra to the side. “Mum, I get that you miss him but you can’t keep doing this. Percy’s not coming back” the first to say it was Charlie, his voice soft like he was talking to an irate dragon. “Good riddance” that came from Ginny, in that whisper that wasn’t even trying to be quiet. 

Instantly Molly became much like a dragon. “Ginevera Molly Weasley, don’t you dare speak about your brother like that!” She yelled, hot tears burning in her eyes. “Molly...” Interjected Arthur, putting a calming hand on his wife’s shoulder “you can’t blame her for her anger. Come on, let’s dig in.” And that should have been the end of it but Molly turned to him, her own temper boiling. 

“Don’t you start, Arthur. Don’t you tell me I should be sat eating dinner while my son is out all alone.” She spat. “Mum, it’s fine Percy’s probably having high tea with the new minister, talking about the importance of  cauldron bottoms” snickered Fred, “pfft yeah, just sat around telling the dark lord about his book report” agreed George. Bill frowned, as did Fleur but that was nothing compared to Molly. 

Her gaze hardened and the twins shut up instantly, they’d never seen her this mad. “I dont care if you hate him, I don’t care if this isn’t my home...you speak of my son following HIM, get out of my sight now.” She said, slumping into a nearby chair. Bill stood up, putting his own hand in his mums which she took gratefully. “Percy may be the most ambitious lion around, but he wouldn’t join you know who. He left to join the ministry because that's what he believed in, death eaters isn’t even in the equation.”

And Bill meant those words. More than he ever thought he would. 

“Though is there any difference between the death eaters and the ministry anymore?” Asked Harry, the place was filled with them after all. “Yeah? Might be but they’ve kept the employees, not that I know what’s going on in there anymore.” Said Arthur, adding his 2 galleon’s into the mix. “And there not going to take kindly to a Weasley” Said Hermione, making everyone look down as if they hadn’t just realised that. 

It didn’t matter if Percy had disowned himself, his family was very much publicly fighting the people he was now stuck with. 

And that was when fate decided to be extra cruel and the radio burst into life. 

“Greetings from the Ministry. Our daily transmission has already been received today but we have an exceptional treat for the wizarding public. We will be instead hosting an interview with one of our newest employees, give a hand folks to Percival Ignatius Weasley.”

Everyone in the room froze, and yet Ron who was the only one of the family minus Fleur not to speak, ran to the radio and put the volume as loud as he could. 

“Say hello your family, Percival.” Taunted the voice, it was very gleeful as it spoke. No response was heard. “Oh, silly me I forgot how many hours you young people work, not to worry let’s get him up boys.” 

A splash was heard and a shuddering scream. “Morning Percival, sorry do you prefer Percy? Don’t care, lets start the interview. So Percival, how are you finding the ministry?” Everyone sat with baited breathe.

And yet it was there Percy who, through shuddered breaths managed to whisper a “fuck you...fuck you and your ministry”

“Well that is very rude, and here I thought your mother would have taught you manners” “don’t...don’t you talk about her.” Said Percy, Molly broke down into tears and Bill held her close. Unable to tear his gaze from the radio, no one could. 

“What do you want to say them? I’m sure they’ve missed you. In fact, just for you we’ll be hosting a party. And there all invited to the ministry, so long as they bring a certain Mr Potter.” 

There was a silence before “don’t come...don’t. Whatever you do, don’t... it’s fine. I’m fine, I love it here.” He laughed, everyone cringed at the sound he made, as if he was choking. “It’s fine, don’t come...parties are overrated yeah.” The transmission started cutting off, Ron frantically along with the twins tried to get it working. 

They heard “too busy. Don’t come, Harry don’t...stay where you are!” Before the  transmission cut off.

No one could speak, horror was etched into all of there faces. The twins were scrabbling over themselves with wand in hand to track where the transmission had come from. 

The Ministry. 

“We’re going...now” said Molly, standing up. Her tears were gone, grabbing for her wand and coat. “Molly...be rationale, we need to plan this.” Said Arthur, Molly spun on her heel and glared. “I am not going to sit here while those...monsters torture MY son! Planning will take to long, did you hear him Arthur?! Did you hear your son crying out in pain...he doesn’t have long left...” Arthur looked down, unable to respond. 

Molly looked at the rest of the family, her gaze saying it all: You can come with me or you can stay. The first to stand was Bill, closely followed by Fleur who met his thankful gaze with a determined smile. Charlie and Ron were next, grabbing there wands with Harry and Hermione following. Ginny and the twins exchanged guilty looks but stood. Arthur couldn’t look at any of them, he simply picked up his wand. 

“Harry, I understand if you wish to stay” said Molly, he shook his head. “I might not know him well but Percy’s family 2...I cant sit here while you guys go even with the danger.” He replied, and somehow that was all it was, Percy was family...enough said. 

And so the family of lions got up and left, to find the one they left behind. 

_______________________________________________________

Percy was terrified.

A part of him argued that he should be grateful they came at all for him. Maybe it was out of pity, out of ensuring that he wasn't able to be used against them.

Yes, that's all it was. He was nothing afterall, he was merely a civilian in a war.

And yet hearing Molly tearfully and frantically whisper his name. Hearing Hermione yell the counterspell to his imprisonment to Ron who did so perfectly. Seeing the light of spells cast by Ginny and the twins to stun Not Edward... (Who was apparently called Edgar... Eh close enough.)

Feeling Charlie carry him in his arms, mumbling curse words. Smelling Arthur's cologne.

It all felt right. It was warmth that he couldn't remember experiencing. It was enough to lull him to a facade that everything was fine.

But when his wounds were healed and he saw them all looking at him... Percy knew he had to shelf that dream. "I told you not to come" was the first thing he said, averting his gaze. (Couldn't look them in the eye)

"And you must've lost a few screws if you thought we wouldn't" said Bill, meeting Percy's gaze. "You shouldn't have" is all he replied. "And what, let you be killed by the ministry?" Gaped Ginny. Percy shrugged "wouldn't have made much difference, you've only gone and put yourselves in more danger."

"Are you... Are you fucking with us right now?" Asked Fred, incredously. "No, im too busy ranting about cauldron bottoms to do that." And if Fred paused, Percy didn't see it.

Seeing as no one was getting anyway, Bill sat beside Percy who immediately felt on edge. "Thanks for the watch" he said simply. Everyone blinked in confusion and than realisation as no one has known where Bill's new watch had come from. Percy smiled faintly "You're welcome, reminded me of you."

"Although, I do wish you could've gave it in person" continued Bill, testing the waters. Percy surprised him by shaking his head "no you wouldn't have. It was your day, I wasn't going to ruin it." Bill frowned "is that what you think?" Percy shrugged again "it's what I've been told."

"You are way to chill after being tortured" said Charlie, Percy looked at his bandaged arms and snorted. "Eh? It's nothing new. That guy was just there for the theatrics, sadist if you ask me." Charlie raised an eyebrow "nothing new?" Percy nodded "yeah, what you think the ministry that's so far up Voldermorts ass would allow me to work there without some 'interviews'."

Everyone paled.

"But than why stay there?" Asked Arthur, Percy froze. Steeling himself, switching from calm to panic to calm in an instant but they all saw. "I've got business there, things I need to get done and ensure are done. Speaking of which, thanks for the rescue but I should be off."

He didn't belong here. Not anymore.

"Percy, you can stay." Said Molly, already standing up to get his room prepared. "No, I can't. I have work, I have a duty... And I'm no longer part of this family." When he said that, Percy felt like the wind was knocked out of him but stood his ground. "Percy... That's not true.."

Percy met Arthur's gaze, his father's eyes. "Really? Than pray tell why did no one tell me you were all in hiding... Or a warning? And don't say it was impossible because I managed to send a parcel to a location I didn't even know about nor knew existed."

No one could answer that.

"I'll be off, and don't worry I won't tell them anything. Just do what you do best, and leave me alone." Arthur managed to grab Percy's wrist though he hissed in pain and pulled his arm back like he'd been burnt. "Don't.. Touch me, Arthur Weasely."

Arthur recoiled, Percy looked away. "I spent my whole life wanting to be someone you could be proud off...I listened to all the critism and yes I was a prat. But the moment I made my own choice you already made me aware I didn't belong in my own house. I’m sorry...that I’m not athletic like Ginny, I’m not smart like Ron or as successful as Bill and Charlie, I’m not a hero like a Ron or fun like Fred and George. That I’m just plain ol prat Percy.”

He began to walk away. Just like he did before.

"That choice was against following Dumbledor, turning against the light." Said Molly, wanting him to understand. Percy laughed, with no humour at all but glaring hard. Rage emanated from him.

"I'm sorry if I choose not to stand behind an old coot who routinely sends an abused boy to his abusers, who nearly got 3 11 yearolds killed because he wanted to weed out a possibility. Who nearly got thousands of children killed and did nothing to save Ginny with the chamber. The man who wouldn't give an innocent man a trial and got him sent to the worst prison for 12 years... Who put teenagers in a death game and let an underage kid join because why not. That man is a monster and I refuse to follow someone like that. But no that means I'm blindly following authority." He sneered, staring at them all.

"And the ministry? Because as corrupt and fucked up as it is I know I can do something. That changes can be made in the systems to benefit everyone, Dumbledor is someone who breeds child solider’s and let's a known abuser teach at his school and somehow I’m the only one who isn't okay with that."

And with that Percy left, no one knew what to say. They simply sat in silence, absorbing everything they just heard. Ginny thought about how Percy had profusely apologised after she was free from the chamber, how he’d made time for her since than. Ron thought of all the times they’d have an adventure and Percy would watch over them like a mother hen. 

Bill and Charlie recalled when Percy would still come to them for help before he started Hogwarts. When they found him bruised and broken from bullies except this was because of them. “He really thinks that doesn’t he...?” Said Fred, George nodded. Neither could smile, guilt pooled in their hearts that they didn’t think he felt like that. 

Molly sobbed for her son who was once again lost and Arthur wondered where he had gone wrong to lose his son all over again. 

________________________________________________

Meanwhile Percy entered a muggle flat in London. Alone again just like he belonged, laying on his bed and looking at the brand on his arm.

'Son of none'

And if that didn't hurt most of all.

Suffice to say they all things to think about for when they’d meet again. 

[pocketramblr]

other main character meta- Ochako, pt 1

<part 2>

“Could you send me there?” you ask, while i blink, confused. “The world where someone else is the main character? not because i have any hypocritical biases against the one i got, just curious how the fandom meta changes.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” I nod, thinking, before tapping my wand against your forehead. “Let’s start with Ochako.”

"I'm going to warn you now- I will have to slightly adjust the plot like I did with Mirio, just to actually let her be the main character."

"Yeah, that checks out." You nod, thinking about certain arcs where the female fighting teams get no coverage while the dudes get four different backstory reveals and full fight focus.

"Very well."

The show begins with a brief narration by the girl of quirks and super hero fights- all flashy. Then it zooms out to show the destruction, and a small construction team moving in as Ochako explains that just as there are new careers in society for heroes, there's also a bigger market for construction companies, one of which her own family runs.

"I've always wanted to help them with it, and my quirk would be useful"- a tiny, adorable Ochako finally appears, making rocks in a park float- "but to get a work license like that is expensive and selective- you've got to make a lot of court appearances and convince them why is a good idea and won't destroy the economy. It's much easier to get a hero license."

Then she explains: "Of course, once you have a hero license, you can make a lot more money than just by helping the company. Especially if... Your family company isn't doing very well." A series of tired but loving parents are shown working all hours to make ends meet.

"I want to help them- my parents. They've done everything for me, and they deserve a break. So that's why I'm going to be a hero- their hero."

The training montage is quick, using her quirk during school in training, after school in secret, around the house. She saves up money too, and studies, aiming for a scholarship.

She applies and tests for many hero schools, and the exams all vary widely.

The first episode ends with her looking up at UA, her final one, the one she really hopes to get into.

"Oh, that's nice." You nod. "And we even get to know her parents' quirks here."

"Yep." I agree. "In general, there's a lot more of a look at the financial side. It's pretty interesting."

"And the fandom?"

"Well, certain people get praised for the bare minimum, but I'll admit having a female lead is super uncommon for shonen jump." It's an improvement, though it's up in the air how much of one it will be. "There's also, because we saw a lot more hero schools, a ton of "students at different school" fics, either because they were expelled or because of the danger UA gets into."

"I do kinda feel like this universe is lucky for that sort of world building." You nod.

"It's very cool to see the takes on the aus. But, I will say there's a cost for this world building- the AfO stuff reeeeally comes out of nowhere and tends to not be popular with fans."

The next episode starts, and Ochako helps a boy from falling. "Love interest alert!" The fans notice quickly when the cute boy blushes and doesn't manage to say much before she walks away.

"They caught on quick." You note.

"And they aren't wrong." Not that it's any real feat to be right.

The exam starts, and Ochako is off in a flash. You see a few glimpses of future classmates- Iida, Aoyama, Kirishima.

She does well, racking up villain points and rescue points, until she's a little too ambitious and falls into the rubble. Her nausea is well established by now, everyone knows she's at her limit.

She can't get up.

The green haired boy comes back and stops the zero pointer.

And breaks every bone in the process.

Ochako saves him in return, lifting up the rubble and stopping his fall.

And then vomits violently afterwards.

"You know, I think quirks suck, actually." The fandom tends to agree on this after that episode/chapter. "But it is interesting that there's such a price for the powers, balances it really well."

"Ha." You shake your head. "They caught onto that, quicker."

"Yep." I can't even say it's more highlighted here, it's the exact same way it was shown in our universe- down to the sparkling rainbow puke.

"Though..." You can't quite imagine that's the only thing the fandom is saying isn't actually that great.

"Ding ding ding." I nod. "Did our own main character get treated just like a damsel in distress? Sure, she saved him back, but that just meant she could have floated away on her own in that time, even if it made her sick. Better that than dead. Is it the sexism?" I shrug. "Most decide to wait and see a bit, and by the time they work together in the first battle exercise figure it's a pretty even split between them saving each other."

"So no sexism?" You get happy at that thought.

I cough. "Ah, no. Both in the show and the fandom. You wouldn't believe how many grown men complain about the lady mc, even as they keep watching."

"And have her body pillow."

"Please don't make me think about that." I cover my eyes, but don't deny that it's true. "Anyway, yeah. Get ready for a lot of people to point out that even though the main character is a girl, every single other girl is flat as cardboard so far and that she only has developed friends that are guys."

"Hey, they aren't flat-"

"In the first season? Yeah they are. Unless you meant, physically, in which case..."

"I didn't." You protest. "But I guess I can see your point, at the start."

"Right. Let's continue on."

Uraraka goes to Present Mic to offer her points. The man pats her on the head, and skyrockets to the position of fandom dad.

"It's all about Dadmic and then Dadzawa here," I explain. "The fans were very disappointed to learn Mic wasn't her homeroom teacher, but yeah... He got a huge head start before Dadzawa fics got going."

"Nice. And it's all fanon?"

"Yeah, it may be a good thing he's not actually in it much, or they might realize how much they just made up on their own."

Then she gets accepted in, on hero and rescue points- she's third place overall, and she gets the scholarship.

On the first day of school, she actually gets to know her love interest's name- Midoriya!

There's also the quirk assessment, which really leads to the "expelled to another school" au and the "fire Aizawa and replace him with better Mic" aus, the first of which lasts much longer in the fandom use, but the second one was just as passionate for a while.

Iida becomes the second friend, and gives her the "Infinity Girl" nickname- which actually is the fandom assumption of what her hero name will be for quite a while, a la 'ground zero'.

Then it's time for All Might's first appearance on screen, to much applause of the students, and the announcement that they get their costumes.

During the first battle exercise, there's a lot more lingering camera work in the changing rooms. Ochako gets to expand a lot more on how she didn't want her costume to be that tight. It's uncomfortable, especially when she thinks about wearing it in front of everyone.

"Oh, I forgot she didn't like it at first... Does she just, get used to it here?" It sounds horrible for the plot to just say 'get used to it' to the main character being sexualized by costume makers outside of her control, especially as a child.

"Not on my watch." I mumble, waving the wand. "Don't worry, she'll actually get more costume changes each time, like some other characters."

"Oh good."

Mineta, regrettably, still exists. You find the fandom manages to be even more violent in his removal.

The battle does even out the opinions on Midoriya, as well as lead to a boost in Iida's with his charming little attempt at thinking villainously.

And cements Bakugo as rather hated. No one has really liked him, when the first thing he did was blow up at Midoriya, then get revealed to have called him a cruel nickname all this time. And then specifically hunt him down because all he cares about it beating him up.

"Yeah he's not gonna get a lot of fans here huh."

"He sure never gets first place in the popularity poll." I agree. "Most consider him the subversion of the rival trope to show is just stupid and violent and in real life, people like that don't go anywhere."

"Most?"

I look away. "How dumb of a discourse do you think you could see today?"

"Oh please, show me." You lean in. "It's nice to not have to deal with it in my universe, so I don't care."

The discourse is such.

Bakugo is gay-coded for Midoriya, the violence is a result of him being shoved off for a girl's love interest when she should be single and independent, and the homophobic creator is vilifying all gay people by saying they are predatory to poor straight boys with refused.

"They............... What."

"If it makes you feel better, that's a very brief minority of the fandom. My favorite response to it was "he's not gay-coded, he's bully coded you sanctimonious sumph of a shmuck.""

"Oh good," you sigh. "I'm glad we don't have to deal with actual queerphobic tropes like that."

I stare at you.

"What?"

I sigh. "Nothing, put a pin in that until I bring up the predatory bi thing with Toga."

Your eyes widen, and you start to have some regrets.

"Anyway, we can talk shipping later. Time for more."

The 'exit sign Iida' gives him a boost in being shipped with Ochako, (as well as Yaoyorozu) and also the general idea that "Ochako has two hands."

That one hand can have a boyfriend with a lot of cash to spare for her and the other is also played with.

"I missed the main trio, like this." You smile as they walk off into the sunset after school.

"Yeah." I agree. "Anyway, time for some near death experiences."

The USJ marks the start of the gradual, gradual growth of Dadzawa fics. It also focuses far more on Ochako, Mina, Sero, and Iida having to think strategically to get around Kurogiri. It's only after Iida escapes that we cut back to a slightly abridged version of how Midoriya was doing, then the other kids, before help arrives.

He does still through his first non bone breaking punch though, which makes the audience happy.

All Might saves the day. Aizawa is battered afterwards. Many fans start out by saying they were disappointed, since this was supposed to be the first big fight, and the kids didn't do much. Many others say in response that's the point- we're looking at first years, they had to think and help each other, but in the end they had to rely on adults.

And then the sports festival is announced. They want to do well, because this is how they get work-week placements, which could become internship offers.

Ochako thinks about Hado Nejire, the only intern of a top ten hero, and senior at UA, along with a few others who are on the up and up. She's determined.

"Really? You're bringing in the big three early?" You ask, glancing at my wand.

It's not sparkling.

I cross my arms with a huff. "Look. Nejire is at this point the only intern in the top ten, she would have been recognizable to the students for that, even if they didn't recognize the big three (which really means that they aren't actually called the Big Three by everyone, or at least not a wide enough group for it to be as big a deal as it's treated. Anyway.) But she wasn't, even if she should have been the most famous of the bunch, considering the coverage the first years got in just their first night. That's because a certain someone doesn't actually think of his female characters much, but he has to in this universe, so."

"Ok, yeah, that's fair. So does that change the sports festival?"

"Not... Much." I admit.

“What?”

“Well, keep in mind in the first universe, our main character didn’t make it past the second round in the one-on-one’s. So she’s not exactly guaranteed a win here either.”

You have to nod, admitting that is true.

“And the conflict isn’t so much about having to live up to any predecessor or breaking down some people’s walls via breaking bones.” I tap my wand against my chin, thinking. “There really is two- one about Midoriya, and one about Ochako’s parents.”

“Oh?”

“One, there’s been the Uraraka’s not happy about how much danger Ochako’s been in. Its been hinted at in the phone calls, but really shows up when we get to see them at home before the SF for the first time since she moved for school. They aren’t sure if she can stay there herself, or if the right thing to do would be to pull her out and maybe try a smaller school.”

“I suppose that's fair, if they haven't been able to actually see her or her progress.”

“Right. The second one is- well. in this, Izuku’s win of the first round, and then breaking out of brainwashing, is more about really piling on how good his mind is- all that brain power. This adds more pressure when we see Ochako being offered a plan from him to beat Bakugo.”

“Oh that does sound neat.”

“Yep- but of course, she still refuses. It’s held up as a worse thing, strategically, initially- but then she comes up with a plan that Midoriya confirms in the stands is better than his, and proves to her parents that she’s smart and skilled enough to handle continuing at the school.”

You smile. “That is a cool arc to do, i guess, if very not traditional. But what about all the character setup and growth with Shinsou and Todoroki?”

“Oh, Shinsou’s largely gets delegated all the way later for the joint training arc, where Ochako’s team is directly against him. Todoroki...” I begin to giggle.

You wait for me to answer, getting more concerned the longer i laugh.

“Pocket?”

“Sorry, sorry, yeah. He actually tells her himself in this canon, a bit after stain. Oh! right, i forgot- the cheerleader incident.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes. of course they need this merch opportunity! But yes, it happens. The... shall we say, non-body-pillow portion of the fandom, generally saw it as the end of any goodwill to Kaminari, who had previously been seen as a tertiary possible love interest, since he’d flirted with her on the first day. Flirt, but harmless, and unlikely to be important. Then there was that breach of trust and international embarrassment, and anyway he’s basically the second least likely in 1a to be shipped with her now.”

“Wow. So none of that changed?”

“Well, the setup wasn’t under narration from Todoroki about how his mother was bought for her body and how much that sucked and impacted her and the family while on screen we see multiple girls tricked into barring their bodies and its treated as a laugh instead?”

You stare at me. “I’m not sure if that’s better or worse.”

“Neither am I.”

“So, the Todoroki reveal?”

“Right. So, first you need to know the Stain thing- the claims he has against ‘false’ heroes focusing on money is better spotlighted. After Stain’s arrest, Ochako hears a couple of sidekicks at Gunhead’s agency-”

“Wait!” you interrupt. “She still interned with Gunhead? Then what was the point of showing Nejire and Ryukyuu earlier?”

I try not to massage my forehead. “To build up to it. She only made it to the first of the final round, she couldn’t get an internship with a top tenner yet. She’s also got to learn how to disarm someone who fights with a knife. These things build up over more time, small steps.”

“Ah.” You’re satisfied, and let me continue.

“Right, so, Overhears a couple of them talking about Stain’s philosophy and ends up just feeling really bad about it for a bit, trying to figure out if she’s actually being selfish or a bad hero for, you know, wanting her family to not be crushed due to capitalism.”

“Poor girl.” You shake your head in sympathy, the freeze. “Oh. did not intend that pun.”

“It’s alright, i know what you mean. And yeah, she bottles it up for a bit, until the second day back at school. Then Iida reminds her that him bottling things up last week got several kids in mortal danger, and she begrudgingly admits that he has a point and tells them about what has been bugging her.”

“And they comfort her?”

“Well, Todoroki also offers to tell off Kaminari because at this point his mention of stain upset both her and iida, but yes, A lot of reassurances.”

You squint. “I feel like shippers.”

“You’re learning! Yes, Todoroki is just a bit behind Iida in terms of popularity shipping with her. and she does basically get shipped A Lot with each girl in her class too, like imagine double to triple the amount with each girl now, and for the minor guys- but yeah. There’s a lottttt of ships. This was basically called ‘todoroki’s introduction into ochako’s harem’ in the fandom.”

Shipping. fandom just can’t escape it.

“So, then she learns about Todoroki’s past? oh, and what about Hosu? Does she- and everyone else- actually think Endeavor saved the three??”

I snort. “Oh, no. Todoroki’s flat ‘yeah my father totally helped us, as you read on the official report’ basically tipped the fandom off that something else had. But nothing confirmed either, you know? Filling in the hosu gap is another trope in fics that is pretty common.”

“Neat.”

“Yep. But yeah Todoroki tells her his backstory a bit after his introduction into her ‘harem’ of friends. It’s really played up more to caution Ochako- its alright for her to want to help her family, and to work for money to do that. But Rei accepted the marriage offer for money for her family too, and it ended up breaking her. Ochako has to accept a balance- she can work to help her family, and its good, but there are some things she cannot morally do to help them, and other things that she shouldn’t do because she has to take care of her own health first.”

“Ohhhh.” You hadn’t quite expected that, but you sorta liked it, now that you thought about it.

I smile. “It is pretty neat, yeah.” I glance at my watch. “Look, i hate to cut you off, but this post is gonna end up thrice the length of Mirio’s and i think tumblr might stop me, so we’re gonna have to do a two-parter.”

“That’s fine.” You are gracious for what you’ve gotten so far, and do have questions that you’re excited to see answered for the rest of the series. “It’s been fun.”

“It has been.” I agree. “Lets take a break, but you can ask me any questions too, before I return for part two.”

<part 2>

[tallyovie-writes]

Arsonists's Lullaby R.A.B.

SONGFIC

Summary: Regulus finds a soul like his in a person he would have never guessed

Author's note: unedited, after 3 exams, 1 am, please be kind I know it starts slow but there will be more parts

1.6k words

When I was a child, I heard voices

Some would sing and some would scream

You soon find you have few choices

I learned the voices died with me

At 5 years old, Regulus Arcturus Black learned that family did not always mean blood. He had yet to figure out the true meaning of the word, but he knew what he had was a dark echo of an utopist dream.

His childhood was dominated by a gray filter, muffling the sounds, numbing the emotions, stretching the minutes forever. On certain days, the lights grew darker, shadowing the world into almost black. Black like his name, black like the soul he will grow up to have. The ticking of the clocks were too loud, the walls too high, his mothers steps on the creaking stairs too firm in a world of doubt and uncertainty.

When I was a child, I'd sit for hours

Staring into open flame

Something in it had a power

Could barely tear my eyes away

Sometimes, for split seconds, burgundy took over the darkness. The lifelessness in the manor disappeared, and compensating for life's previous absence it channelled all of its heat into hate. Hate for an empty mother from Sirius, hate for a son who did not fit traditions from his mother.

Hate from Regulus, who possessed the survival instinct of laying low and keeping to himself but his brother did not. And Regulus resented him in these moments. For all the plates in million pieces, previously broken on the wall, for all the harsh words leaving their father's mouth, for all the clever little punishments their mother put them through. Them, because getting caught in the crossfire of a traditional Black "family" argument meant everyone's suffering.

It was a flame barely extinguishable. It meant the only display of emotions aside from the rare brotherly moments he shared with Sirius.

Emotions lead to addiction. And if anger is the only feeling fuelled, darkness starts to grow.

All you have is your fire

And the place you need to reach

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

That fire burned a self preservation so deep in him, that Regulus recognized he needed power in order to make it in this world. Power to stay strong, make it through between his ambitious peers and most importantly to guard himself. The blatant, headstrong bravery Sirius took upon arriving at Hogwarts made school holidays a hellish wartime at home.

Regulus learned not to engage. The moment the edges of his self-made cell threatened to break, he carefully tucked in his emotions once again. He didn't want to cut out feeling at all, he deemed that too dangerous for his liking. No. He just didn't let his emotions get the best of him. A man ruled by his feelings is a terrifying sight. He mentally injected himself with an anaesthetic in public, and behind four walls he let himself carefully examine them. It wasn't easy. The tangled web of emotional strings, numbed most of the time, screamed for air. Screamed for understanding, for letting go, for caring. But he cut those last remaining ties with love the moment Sirius got sorted into Gryffindor.

When I was 16, my senses fooled me

Thought gasoline was on my clothes

I knew that something would always rule me

I knew the scent was mine alone

At 16 years old Regulus Arcturus Black saw a way in the darkness. He didn't dare call it a glimmer of hope. Hope was a privilege only offered to the good and divine, to the pure and just. He was neither, he thought.

Perhaps he was right. For now. But fate has a way of changing the tides and replacing the figures on the chessboard.

He has long lost the map to his emotions. They were carefully tucked away in a forgotten pocket somewhere around his heart, but as one man, he couldn't untangle them alone. Not like he wanted to.

His salvation arrived in the face of a charismatic leader. He had answers to Regulus's questions that he long sought to find. Ever since he was a child he associated power with stability and control over one's life, and this stranger offered power on a silver plate. He couldn't have been worse. Of course in hindsight, everything seems more clear.

But as he was shrouded in darkness, he chose to become a part of the dark as well.

All you have is your fire

And the place you need to reach

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

One of the main problems in Regulus's logic was that he thought that being a Death Eater would solve all of his insecurities and instability. At first it seemed to work, building a new world by idealistic wishes and getting rid of the dangers life proposed helped setting his nerves right. But as the curls of the smoke threatened to suffocate him, his decision pressed hard on his shoulder.

He knew there was no out of this. The Dark Lord's silver tongue has lost its magic, he could detect the empty lies, the manipulation, the sinister force. He could detect it, because it takes one to know another, and he was a master in the arts of manipulation and lying. Why wouldn't he be? He spent all of his childhood perfecting the image of the pureblood son his family wanted him to be. And he did not fail. Keeping it up during Hogwarts has become a natural instinct, but also demolished his true self.

What was the true soul of Regulus Arcturus Black?

When I was a man I thought it ended

When I knew love's perfect ache

But my peace has always depended

On all the ashes in my wake

He thought he would never find it out. But then you came along and wrecked his carefully planted walls. At first he hated you for that.

You were obnoxious and the true image of what a pureblood offspring should be. What he should be.

He would have never thought that someone could be a better liar and manipulator than him. Regulus needed years of careful examination to see the cracks in your armour and the rare slips in character. At first, he was sure that his mind was imagining things that were not there. After years of reading his slytherin peers, your occasional un-slytherin-like behaviour peaked his curiosity.

One day he was sitting at the Slytherin table when an idea struck. You didn't sit far away, so you had to be pulled into the conversation too.

"Snape!" Regulus called to the oily haired seventh year. "Heard He recruited you. You finally pulled your head out of your ass?"

Of course he has seen the err of his decision by now, so Regulus asked him this for two reasons.

One: he had to keep up appearances.

Two: he wanted to see how you reacted.

He had been spending the last few weeks noticing your subtle icks regarding certain subjects. So far his theory seemed to prove true.

On the outside an appraising look sat on your face.

But Regulus learned to discover the signs. And he was once again right as he noticed the tip of your ring finger hardly pushed against your thumb nail, leaving a mark. Subtle, but still a tell tale sign of someone who is not fully on board with the subject.

One day he decided to corner you.

"I know the game you are playing" he didn't mean to sound so threatening, but it came out like that.

A snake doesn't crack under pressure, so you looked him in the eye and let a sly smile spread across your face.

"Please, do enlighten me. What game am I playing? Or is it better if I ask which game of mine you are referring to? I am a busy woman."

He let your comment fly.

"I noticed the tip of your ring finger is bruised. I would bandage it. The past few weeks you must have been careless and cut it. Wouldn't want any infection, would you?" he looked deep into your eyes, transferring the other meaning of his words.

You knew what he meant. Lately, you spotted the Black boy's eyes on you. In the Great Hall, during classes, those grey orbs never left you. You thought he harbored a silly little crush on you. Now you realized your mistake. The question however remained. What will he do with this information?

You are getting careless, if I noticed, someone might too. Someone you wouldn't want to notice. His eyes said.

Your House was not meant for easy friendships. The rising of The Dark Lord supported a lot of back stabbings for meaningless praises, so you had to be careful.

With a last nod he turned his back on you and walked away, leaving you with only frustration and more questions. Could the Slytherin Silver Boy share your views? Maybe when Hell freezes over.

Regulus knew, he should have said; I know the game you are playing, because I am playing it too.

All you have is your fire

And the place you need to reach

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep 'em on a leash

Fate sat on her chair and watched the two young snakes step on their shared path. Neither of them knew yet what this little encounter will set into motion.

But Fate knew and mourned the loss of another great story that has not even started, but was already told.

She sipped her wine and caressed the head of one of her demons.

[avengershumanresources]

blood 7 - Strange/Stark!Reader

Relationship: Dr. Strange/Princess!Stark!Reader

Rating: M

Warnings: Adult Themes, eventual smut, adult language, implied sexual violence, general violence

Synopsis: Reader is the daughter of the legendary King Anthony Stark, Uniter of Lands, The Iron Defender, and leader of the realm. When the king disappears during battle, hope is lost and he is presumed dead.

When the late king’s uncle, Obadiah, takes the throne until your brother Peter is of age, he quickly arranges a marriage for you with a wicked king in a neighboring kingdom.

With the realms politics in question, and rumors of an upcoming siege to overthrow Peter’s rule before it starts, you quickly learn who is loyal to the crown and who is not.

part 6 - part 8 (coming April 13th)

Masterlist

Chapter Playlist

CHAPTER WARNING: Yee-har, thar be smut afoot in this here chapter. 18+

7- a king

Anthony Stark hadn’t expected all of this to come of his death. He foresaw of some of it.  

Of Obadiah’s imminent betrayal and Brock’s general ambition, but when Wanda had approached him with her vision all those years ago, he couldn’t have understood what it all meant. 

Now, however, he realized the violence that was soon to arrive at his kingdom’s doorstep. It was an uneasy feeling; the responsibility bestowed upon him to put men’s lives at risk. To make widows and orphans because of inter family squabbles. 

But Tony knew that Obadiah and Brock both presented far larger threats in the long term. 

A king who is hungry for power will never stop to consider the least fortunate in his rule. 

It was a mantra Tony had created for himself after his father had let entire villages fall to win back some petty golden toy during the War of the Giants. In the end, the lives lost had been worthless and the giants returned to their mountains with more spoils than they’d started. 

It had made him sick. 

That was the moment Tony decided to be a better man. A better king. He took pride in his unselfish rule and lack of war among those who shared the boundary with his kingdom. By a miracle he’d gotten Brock into line, but Obadiah had gotten a taste of power from his position in the Giant’s War and wanted more.

Rumors turned to plots, and all at once Tony knew his family and legacy was in danger. He had a troubled relationship with the Wakandans after one of his own barons killed their king in a quest for vengeance after the Giant’s War. Steve had volunteered as ambassador with the shadowy James Barnes (who’d long had a positive relationship with T’Challa) and they’d managed to broker a deal benefiting both nations. 

And Asgard. 

That was a whole other bag of complications. 

Odin had long been distrustful of Tony’s first wife, the late Queen Alexandra due to her Vanir lineage. The Asgardians had fought for centuries trying to eradicate what they’d seen as a dangerous race of uncontrollable magic users. 

Odin had been a step in the right direction, after replacing his late father, but the prejudices still remained and Tony’s marriage to one of the few remaining Vanir royals had soured what little relations they’d had. 

Still, in the end, they’d protected you when he so desperately needed help the Asgardians could only provide. To that, he’d offered her hand to the princes, and Odin took the offer into consideration, only backing off when an agreement was made between the two boys and yourself that affections lay elsewhere.

Which brought him to his latest challenge. Your engagement to the monster king, Brock Rumlow. 

The popular story was that he’d had his late wife killed when she hadn’t produced a male heir. Every female baby prior had been fed to the dogs and at last, when her fifth pregnancy had yielded yet another female, she fell mysteriously ill and died a few nights later. Some say a villager found the baby’s water logged corpse shortly after. 

From a strategic perspective, it made sense. You hadn’t been called upon by any serious suitors, often running around the kingdom with a begrudging Stephen on your coattails, and you were still young enough to bare a child or two. 

Brock needed a means of securing trust in the kingdom, and marrying one of its beloved daughters was the way to do it. Not to mention, Obadiah got his army, Peter would be overthrown when he attempted to take his birthright, and both men would share in the mutual benefits of being involved in one of the strongest economies in history. 

It was a clear cut plan for control of the kingdom, and it would have been more than enough for Tony to take action.

Except for one small caveat.

You. 

You’d been born of the same Vanir blood as your mother and even as a days old infant, you had shown the Master Sorceress at the time an insurmountable measure of power. 

It was an old and finicky magic, the woman had warned before your mother’s body had even cooled in bed. You would need trining, but there was no one left to provide. 

The Asgardians had been thorough in destroying the ancient texts and any remaining Vanir had long fallen into hiding, often using enchanted amulets and trinkets to conceal their seidr from those with wicked intentions. 

Your mother had been a victim of such vicious greed. She’d been open with her abilities, sharing a close bond with Orin’s own wife and his young son, Loki. The pair had conspired to learn all the forbidden secrets of the Vanir, and she’d begun to accumulate quite the library of resources from old temples and Asgardian burial tombs. 

Frigga helped her translate and in turn, the relationship with the royal families had warmed considerably until a few days before your birth. 

Things had fallen apart so quickly. The Northern Kree empire had infiltrated the castle after hearing rumors of the queen’s power. Someone had once written that a single drop of Vanir blood was worth thousands in gold pieces. A bandit had gotten through the gates while she labored, he had ambushed her in the birthing chambers and despite putting up an admirable fight- died with a dagger stabbed through her heart. 

The beast had tried to cut it free in front of the midwives. 

The Master Sorceress had only stepped from the room a moment to freshen up her herbal remedies. By the time anyone had made it to her side, she had died, and you’d been cut free of her with that same knife. 

“Your majesty?” Wanda inquired, approaching where he sat by the fire of the rebellion campsite.

“Yes?” He blinked up, returning to the present at hand. The men who were preparing for battle around him. The women sharpening weapons and sewing leather.  

The people he had asked to rise up for the betterment of the kingdom. The people who were prepared to die by his side for a secure future. 

“Master Strange is to meet at my cottage in the hour,” she explained. 

“And what would you advise Master Sorceress?” he asked, an amused expression on his face. “Shall we let him in on our secret?” 

“With less than seven days to the wedding, it might be wise,” she reasoned sardonically. “Natalia has her own mission in securing the support from within. Master Strange is working with Peter and Loki on securing the vulnerable.” 

“Do you think he told him?” Tony looked down at the fire pensively. 

“Who?” 

“Loki,” he clarified. “He and Master Mordo were among the few who knew. They had to have mentioned something to him. He’s- well- I’m not entirely sure what he is to her now, but he’s certainly one of the closest lines of protection to her.”

“Assuming the rune hasn’t already faded, I would think he either told him or Stephen found out for himself, my liege,” Wanda sat down on the log next to time, her gaze following his into the flames. “Her power is what Amora desires. It needs to be concealed until the princess is in safe hands.”

“Then he knows,” Tony decided, nodding to himself. “Amora would have done something stupid if the seidr had broken through completely. Someone is keeping it under control.”

“I’ll find out,” Wanda promised. “Would you like to speak to him?”

Tony made a disgruntled noise at the thought of approaching the sorcerer. House Strange had long served under the Stark banner, proudly riding at the front of the line when called upon for battle. When they sent their oldest to train at Kamar-Taj, Tony had been surprised.

The boy had a knack for strategy and was sharp as a needle point. Tony could have seen the young man easily rise in leadership in the house, ruling his own militiamen and managing the family affairs. 

But apparently he had no interest in it, and in an unorthodox fashion, the assets had been passed to their eldest daughter. 

Granted, in the end, none of that mattered- as the entire family estate had been stricken by a particularly nasty plague. The sole survivor was Stephen, who’d been away at Kamar-Taj when he’d gotten the news. 

He’d rushed home, and in the process gotten sick himself, but with the help of his fellow sorcerers, recovered with the only remnants of the illness remaining in his hands. He often told others it had been a riding accident. Only a select few knew the truth and devastation of his loss. 

Tony had met with the young man on his sickbed, assuring him the assets would remain in the family. That the castle would maintain the property while he fulfilled his obligations to Kamar-Taj. After all, there was no greater calling than to a life of service and compassion. It was the least Tony could do. 

Well, until you had scared off every Master to cross the castle threshold and he’d gotten desperate and asked the boy for a favor.

He should have known better. You were close in age. Equally as ambitious and cunning. For years you’d been sneaking through passages and around the villages at night, often with Natalia at your side. 

Stephen just made it easier, and helped Tony rest a little easier knowing the man would give his life for you, if need be. 

Tony wasn’t dumb. He’d seen it the first night the you had met. 

The sneaking smiles, the conspiratorial whispers in the corners of the ballroom, and when Peter’s cat turned into a lion almost identical to the Stark sigil, Tony knew that one day he might allow that young man to break the oaths he’d made for a single exception. 

“Your highness?” Wanda pried gently for a clearer answer. 

“Yes, I’ll speak to him,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. About a great many things.

(—)

“I somehow don’t believe you just found out about this,” you stated, sitting cross legged on one of the strewn about cushions, a teapot floating delicately from the palm of your hand. 

“I’ve learned a number of thing recently,” he replied dryly. “Like Mordo is alive, and Brock wants to kill Obadiah once you’re wed.”

You lost your focus and the cup shattered on the ground. 

“He what?” you gaped at Stephen while he repaired the ceramic cup with a wave of his hand. 

“It ties into the whole secret magic thing, but it really isn’t an ideal situation,” he explained, setting the cup aside and dropping to the cushion across from you. 

“I guess it’s good I’ve pestered you for your books over the years,” you mused, flexing your fingers in the air in front of you.

“It isn’t the same,” he sighed, watching while you lifted a few other stray objects and paused them between the two of you. “Seidr is... there isn’t documentation. The books were destroyed. Kamar-Taj had a few tomes but the Vanir language is nearly impossible to translate at this point.”

“What about Loki? Or Frigga?” you asked, moving both your hands at once and dropping a feather into his lap with a grin. 

“Believe it or not, I’ve been focused on other issues,” he muttered dryly. “We’re going to have to seal this before you leave.”

“But you said it’s what preventing Amora from taking over my head,” you reminded him pointedly, summoning a small flame from an incantation you’d studied the day before. Extinguishing it between your palms, you looked up at him for a better excuse. 

“But it is also the reason Brock is forcing you into a marriage and so she can control you, and in turn, your power better than you can,” he explained tersely. “She can’t know you’ve gotten partial control over it. Let her underestimate you, but until you can learn to conceal the energy yourself, you can’t risk exposure.”

“So am I being sealed or not?” you asked impatiently, floating a candle from you to him. He took it with an amused half-smile, extinguishing the light with a quick puff of air. “Can you do a... half seal? Hide the energy, keep some of the good parts?”

“Gods, I don’t know,” he groaned, shaking his head while he seat the canclde aside. “This is entirely new territory that I was not trained for.”

“That must mean you’re a terrible Sorcerer Supreme. What fool put you in charge?” you teased, reaching forward and tapping the top of his nose playfully. 

“It’s not my fault you’re a freakish anomaly that’s supposed to be extinct,” he mumbled, pulling a frown while you laughed. “Give me your wrist.”

“Fine, but when this over I demand you help me train properly,” you stated and though he  continued grumbling under his breath about being too old for your games, he agreed. “And Loki helps too.”

“Not part of the deal,” Stephen scowled. 

“Fine, I’ll marry him then,” you smirked back at him. “You still haven’t asked, so I guess when my wedding tragically falls through, I’ll have to find respite with him.”

He pulled you forward, a glint in his eyes that sent a shiver through your entire body. 

“I’m not going to chase after a betrothed woman, it’s bad taste,” he hummed, fingers crawling up your wrist and intertwining with your fingers. “I have a reputation to uphold, even if you feel comfortable hiding away with strange men in dark places.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” you whispered, sitting up on your knees and tilting your head.

“Do you not think I’m funny?” he murmured, reaching with his free head and tilting back your chin. A smile played on the corners of your mouth, both of you sizing the other up and daring the other to make the first move. 

“I can think of many things you are,” you lifted his hand and pressed a tender kiss to his palm. “But funny?”

“You laugh at all of my clever wit, don’t try to deceive me princess, I know the truth,” Stephen sharply pulled your hand forward, forcing you to fall into his chest. He held your lower back, gazing down at you adoringly. “You’re trying to hide it, but I see it in your eyes.”

“Do you know what I see in your eyes?” your voice cracked ever so slightly, your hand cradling his cheek, your thumb lightly tracing the sharp features. 

“What do you see?” 

“Strength,” you murmured, transfixed by his opalescent gaze. All at once, it was like you were seeing him for the first time. You could feel the energy radiating off of him, seeing the waves of magic as they ripples through his body. “Devotion to... Stephen you’re beautiful.”

“Or so the stars whisper to the earth below,” his voice was soft, gentle, while his hand guided itself up your arm to your cheek. “But, what the stars do not see is their own radiance, their own ethereal light shimmering across the velvet heavens above. The stars do not know how the Earth worships the very flicker of their existence, tells stories of their magnificence and beauty. The do not know how the Earth finds its meaning in what little time it steals away to them in the night.”

It all happened very quickly after that. 

You peeled at his robes, he worked at your corset, a frenzy of hands and mouths tasting one another in a way neither had ever imagined. 

Discarding the corset, he worked his hands up your blouse, fingers lightly teasing the tip of your nipple until you let out a satisfied moan. Robes loose, you pushed him back against a nearby pile of cushions, climbing between his legs and peppering hungry kisses up and down his neck until he growled, clawing at your hips. 

“If you’re-,” he tired protesting while you pulled away more clothing, pressing his leg between yours and letting out a whimper of pleasure when he shifted in just the right way. 

That seemed to set something off in him. 

He was over you, flipping you to the ground and pulling what little clothing remained between you, your naked bodies now flush. Stephen moved down to your breast, drawing a nipple between his teeth and watching you squirm under him at the incredible sensation. 

“Please,” you mewed, an absolute wreck under him. 

He took his time, moving to the other nipple and repeating his actions until you were begging for any kind of release. 

“Needy are we?” he murmured in your ear, his voice low and so controlled, you couldn’t understand how he could stand it. Goosebumps erupted over your body, and he just smirked, continuing his exploration.  

Teasing a finger at your entrance, he looked to you for final approval before easing the digit into you. 

“Gods,” he hissed, moving the finger at an agonizingly slow speed. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes upon.”

He caught you in a kiss, speeding up his hand below, his thumb searching for the sensitive nub of nerves. When he grazed over the tender area, you nearly shot out of yourself, the sensation feeling downright sinful. 

Pulling his finger out, you let out another whimper, this one of protest at the emptiness inside of you. 

“Are you certain-?” he asked again, eyes scanning your face for any sign of hesitation or doubt. 

“I’ve never been more certain of anything,” you replied honestly. It wasn’t an exaggeration. You’d been a make up to this point, untouched and with no interest in engaging in such outrageous behavior.

Yet with him, you wished you could give more. Your body. Your soul. Your love. What did it matter anymore? He was yours, sitting before you and showing you through his loving car assess and sensations you’d never known before this moment. 

He eased himself in, giving you time to adjust to his length, the member much larger than his single finger. But Gods, did he feel incredible. 

You’d never thought so much emotion and pleasure could occur in a single moment. For this tiny hidden corner of the universe, you felt like your souls had collided and merged. 

It was a far cry from how Nat had told you it was. 

This was- you anticipated each of his movements, raising your hips to meet his as he crashed inside of you. Your brain couldn’t form coherent thoughts and when he started to coax something feral from within your core, you let him lead you through it. 

Pumping in time with strokes to your clit, you clenched your walls around him, pulling a hissed curse from the sorcerer. 

A few more pumps and a final circle around the sensitive area and you felt your orgasm crash over you. 

At first, you thought you’d done something wrong. Did you break something? How did this feel so incredible and overwhelming all at once? 

While you rode out your bliss, you felt his hips tighten, finishing with a final grunt.

You both stated at one another, eyes wide, trying to catch your breath. 

“Have you-,” you started but paused. “Like that before-?” 

It was no secret Stephen wasn’t exactly a virgin. He had his vows but they were against attachment, not sex, and sometimes, as he put it, the spirit needed to be revitalized. 

You’d called him a creep and moved on, but Gods did you understand now. 

“I don’t know what happened,” he blinked, looking thoroughly bewildered. “That’s... I’ve never- my gods, you’re incredible.”

He pulled out, dropping to the ground next to you with a huff. 

“I have a potion,” he muttered, pointing to the table above them. “Prevents pregnancy.”

“And here I thought you were devoted to me,” you poked him in the rib and he just laughed. 

“I am,” he insisted. “However, I’m not devoted enough to end up in the gallows for deflowering a princess who is betrothed to a ruthless king. My apologies, my grace.”

“Hm, I’m sure I can find someone willing to make that sacrifice for me,” you hummed. 

“And a fool he will be,” he leaned up on his elbow. “I still win the day. He would be hanged and I still get my princess.”

“Your princess?” 

“Has it been any other way?” he asked, quirking a brow. “Truly, if I’m mistaken, tell me. I don’t want to sound too over ambitious.”

You considered it briefly. Had it? 

No, you knew from the moment you spied those eyes at the ball welcoming him to the castle that he was your future. You just hadn’t realized what that meant at the time. 

There was no world, no life, where you could live without him by your side. 

The thought sobered you quickly, your upcoming nuptials springing to mind, the spell locking you in your private world, now lifted. 

“Would you have asked my father?” you asked. 

“In another life, we would have been married by now,” he answered earnestly. “I’m a fool for having hesitated and nearly missed my chance at an eternity by your side.” 

“And Brock?” you asked, the name leaving a sour taste in your mouth. Stephen’s expression darkened at mention of the man. 

“I’ll kill him before he touches you,” he vowed. “I will not yield your heart to such a monster, and I will stop this. I cannot risk you leaving my side. Not again, my love.”

You leaned forward and kissed him, soft, intimate, and gentle. Stephen wasn’t a fighter. 

Certainly he could fight, but you knew him well enough to know that violence was a last option after all other options had been tried. And here he was preparing to declare a one man war on your betrothed. 

Truly, the heavens were smiling upon you in this life.

(—)

Later that evening, when Stephen had returned you safely to your quarters, he met with Wanda at her cottage at the edge of the woods to discuss the next steps in the plan. 

When she caught sight of him, her expression shifted from confused to elated to-

“What is it?” he asked, knowing she’d gotten a read of what he’d been up to previously. 

“Do well to conceal your thoughts,” she warned, leading him inside. 

“Conceal what-?” he asked after her, stopping in his tracks when he saw Anthony sitting at her table, sipping at a large horn of water. 

Tony stood up, giving the man a once over, brows raised as he took him in. 

“You couldn’t wait until the wedding night?” he grumbled, dropping back down in his chair with a long sigh. 

(—)

8- a secret

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[missdawnandherdusk]

Slytherin Extensive Dating a Malfoy Headcanons:

Here’s to all of my lovely Slytherin followers!

You’re sorted into Slytherin and you don’t quite understand why, but there had to be a reason. Draco didn’t quite understand either but not like he cares. pffft. nope. 

You’re a odd Slytherin. No one can deny your ambition or hesitancy to do things just right, but there are some times that you surprise everyone

Draco thinks you don’t belong in Slytherin but damn you’re good at Quidditch

You play as a Keeper. He thinks that it’s stupid but you give him a flash of your smile and maybe he’s forgotten what he’s supposed to be doing on the field too

He swears your part veela because people just stop and do things for you all the time

“Oh, I’ve forgotten my quill, does anyone have an extra?” There are about ten at your disposal from others that you always return with that same distracting smile not that he noticed 

You always get out of trouble, no matter what it is. With Filch or Snape or McGonagall. You just had a way with words and it frustrated him

And oh the way you snark at Potter. It’s not cruel like his normal taunts but you always have a way to sneak that smile in and a wicked quip leaving both he and Harry gaping after you

When Buckbeak goes to attack him, you’re right there, smiling and speaking softly to the beast and it backs down, charmed like everyone else “It’s alright, there’s no need to feel threatened, just calm,” Buckbeak then lets you and Draco approach and you give him that smile and the boy is a goner

“Malfoy?” You call his attention. “Huh what?” He blinks. “Are you alright?” You laugh and maybe he wasn’t paying attention the first time you asked him

You always looked so put together and confident whenever he was around, whenever he noticed you, you were always smiling and flawless and it wasn’t fair in his opinion because it just looked so effortless

First years from any house are hanging onto your every word because you’re always there to show them the way or give them advice on how to get on a professor’s good side which has him sulking because you never talk to him like that

Oh but wait until someone crosses you. He thought you had the patience of a saint but bloody hell 

One of your friends lies to you constantly? Someone betrays you? Oh you have receipts and evidence lined up against them. People from other houses and different years are at your defense because they know it just like you do. You’re ex-friend is a backbiter and damn Merlin if they think you’ll let them get away with it and honestly Draco can’t decide if he’s scared or turned on when he sees the fires of hell in your eyes

But then you catch sight of him and your smile is back and you wave and he’s gawking because yeah he’s definitely both scared and turned on

Even though everyone whispers around the school about what went down, you still hold your head high and still look flawless

But one night he finds you in the Slytherin common room, sitting in the window seat, watching the murky water of the lake, crying silently Draco starts panicking because what is he supposed to do you’re always put together what do you mean you’re crying alone

“Uh... are you okay?” He has no idea why he’s asking, but he can’t just leave you here... can he? 

You immediately wipe away your tears and smile, but Draco can see right through this one. He leans against the wall beside the window, waiting for you to explain

“Am... am I really vindictive, manipulative, and controlling?” You seem so insecure as you hug your knees. “I... I know Slytherins are cunning and ambitious... but I don’t want to be a bad person...”

He’s staring again because you always seem to keep him on his toes for trying to figure you out. And he’s never seen you as anything less than perfect and he’s not stopping now. You’re just more real

“You’re not a bad person,” He finally says, sitting on the window seat with you. Teary-eyed you look at him, and now he’s furious towards whoever thought they could make you think you’re a bad person

You laugh hopelessly and again, wipe away your tears. “Thanks Draco,” It’s the first time you’ve ever used his first name

He just nods and leaves you to your thoughts again. Now he’s asking around to what could possibly have you so upset and doubting of yourself even though you’re still put together in the halls, your head held high and maybe he hopes that someone might understand him back he’s not as put together as he seems either

You often come to him now when you’re really stressed out and you don’t want anyone else to know, but you know Draco won’t tell anyone nor judge you

Sometimes he just knows where to find you when you’re thinking alone and he has some sort of sweet, or tea, or something. You two just sit together, not saying anything, but not acting like you have it all together either

You notice in Fourth Year that Draco starts to slip through the cracks of falling into being like his father and you know he’s scared to be like his father but you also know what it’s like to not know what else to do

Draco notices that you’re getting a lot of attention from Viktor Krum and his school buddies. They all seem to have fallen for the same smile that he did but they couldn’t have you, they would never understand you like he did. How dare they even think it

“Do you want to go to the first task with me?” You ask him and he snaps his quill because Merlin how do you move so quietly “Me? Why don’t you go with one of your Durmstrang blokes?” He snaps. 

You gape at him. Sure, you knew you were getting attention from those guys, but was it really enough to make Draco jealous? “I don’t want to go with them, they’re entitled uncivilized imbeciles.” You scoff. “I want to go with you. Idiot!” Then you storm off. 

Draco realizes oh my stars I fucked up shitshitshitshitshitshit uh um bloody hell what to i do

So he chases after you and grabs your hand in the middle of that hall between classes so there are students everywhere

“I’m sorry,” He rushes out and you tilt your head, waiting. “If... if you still want to go with me...” 

“Malfoy bothering you?” One of the Durmstrang asks, coming up beside you, placing a hand on your shoulder and Draco’s blood just boils

But before Draco can get his wand out, you have the guy on the floor groaning in pain taking him down muggle style and Draco has gone back to being scared and turned on You smile at him and take his hand, on your way to the pitch to watch the task

He guesses that you’re dating now? No one ever offiaclly said anything and not much has changed except you always find him in the halls and hold his hand and maybe his most recent batch of Amortentia smells just like your perfume and favorite sweet... And maybe yours smells just like his cologne and favorite tea...

He eventually gets the words out: “Do you want to go out with me?” He’s stuttering and blushing because you two are alone and he doesn’t have to be Mr. PerfectTM and you’re smiling at him again and you’re making it so difficult for him and you know it

“Well duh,” You finally laugh. “You’re so dense sometimes Dray,” 

Everyone thinking that you are the EliteTM couple on campus because of how well you both charade perfection...

When you’re really just total goofballs. You like doodling stupid things on his notes and he always has a cheesy pickup lines at the ready. You two flirt but it’s more like banter because you’re already his and Merlin does everyone ship it 

Tickle fights / “For you my lady,” “Well thank you kind sir,” / Inside jokes / Maybe a prank or two that eventually escalates and ends when Draco has vibrant blue hair and you get the last laugh but merlin does he look good

His parents and your parents believe that they have the perfect couple between you two. Such decorum and tradition, and refinement. (And you and Draco are flying upside down on your brooms, running barefoot through the Manors, making a mess in the kitchen trying to bake without magic, blasting music in the halls and singing off key and dancing) Narcissa knows all of this and adores that you bring such joy to Draco’s life

Umbridge has met her match with you. She is completely enchanted with you, even though you’re running an underground network against her at the school and she doesn’t have the slightest idea Draco is so impressed and Merlin does he love how cunning you are

When No Nose comes back and fear is a constant lingering in the school and amongst Slytherins, you slowly drop your prefect facade and let others know it’s okay to not be okay. “Little Miss Perfect isn’t so perfect is she?” “No, but I am real,” 

You get fascinated with Dark Magic, because well, everyone keeps talking about it and you think that it’s stupid to be afraid of something you don’t know about so you learn and it doesn’t seem so scary when you realize there are counter curses and jinxes that spread like wildfire in the school in an underground network you and Hermione set up

Draco takes the Dark Mark, and so do you. You won’t leave him on his own. You want loyal and cunning and ambitious? Bring it No Nose who honestly believes that you’re on his side and for his cause because who can lie to him? You can.

 You stay at the Manor with Draco during the holidays. It’s almost vital that both you and Draco pull your masks of perfection back on for the sake of surviving. Which leave you both doing things that has you breaking down in each other arms in the quiet of the night because how did it come to this?

Using the same underground network, you feed encrypted information to the Golden Trio and Hogwarts. You always go down and talk with Luna and keep her company behind a silencing charm or two

You punch Pansy in the face when she suggests handing over Harry. 

You and Draco both stand with Hogwarts during the battle. You actually laugh when confusion breaks out across the Death Eaters and No Nose and you have the urge to scream “I’m a Slytherin! Who did you think you were dealing with!?” And maybe you do

After the war it’s hard facing anyone because for so long they thought that you and Draco had gone dark side, but slowly tensions ease and things get better and there’s a light at the end of the table.

You and Draco redeem the Slytherin House and later after you’re married to each other, McGonagall comes and asks you to teach and to be the Head of House for Slytherin

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[ranposlittle]

hi!! i love your work! can i request a nsfw scenario with chuuya and fem s/o topping or pegging him ? thank you !!!

Genre: NSFW, Little Scenarios

Tags: Pegging, Femdom, Strong language, A bit of degradation

▮ ❝ Hello, anons~ I hope you don't mind that I'll collectively answer your requests. I'm truly not well-versed in the act of pegging and tbh it's not my cup of tea. But I wanted to challenge myself so I hope you'd like this~ (>︿<｡) ❞

It was no secret to anyone who has met you that you certainly are always on top of everything that you do.

You're ambitious, driven and independent. That's what magnetized him towards you in the first place, and he will never try to change that.

He's proud of who you are and to be honest, it kind of inflates his ego– because behind close doors, he gets to be the one with the most control.

That's how it is usually, anyway. Tonight, however, is anything but usual.

·⊹⊱— 「 𝙳𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚒 • 𝙾𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚞 」 —⊰⊹·

“Careful, my darling. You might hurt me with that.” Dazai chuckled nervously.

He spoke as if you're pressing a knife against his throat, but you really can't blame him. After all, you are pressing the lubed up tip of your strap-on dildo on his barely prepared asshole.

“Don't worry. Believe it or not, I've done this before.”

Dazai harshly sucked air through his gritted teeth as you slowly pushed your way inside the tight passage of his anus. Pain and pleasure instantly mixed and coursed within the blood on his veins, foiling his attempt to recollect the bridge of events that led him to be bound, naked and face down on your bed like a sacrificial offering. Which he probably is given the lack of foreplay and regard for his overall well-being, he's sure you're doing this as a punishment more than anything.

“I'm not stupid, Dazai,” you declared as you push the last inch of the dildo inside him. “I know that you keep flirting with other women in front of me to make me jealous, even if I've warned you multiple times.”

You don't have to be a detective to notice the side glances he would give you while running a finger on some other girl's jaw or how he would deliberately comment on someone else's beauty even if you're right beside him. He's been acting up like a spoiled brat ever since you got a big project that you've been working on most of the time and barely paid him any attention. You supposed that you underestimated how needy your boyfriend can be but you really wouldn't tolerate such bratty attitude from anyone. It's time for you to put him in his proper place.

Dazai scoffed arrogantly, preparing to give you a snappy comeback. But with just one hard thrust, his words dissipated into nothing but a pained groaned. You didn't really want to give your boyfriend a chance to sweet talk his way out of this, so you followed up with your actions. Blow after blow, thrust after thrust– Dazai was trying his hardest to keep himself stable while you recklessly plow him.

His cock was flushed against the mattress but it still manages to achingly twitch every time you hit that special spot deep within him. The small friction his erection is getting from your movement is enough to make him cream, and he's very conscious about the possibility that he has already stained your sheets with the pre-cum he failed to prevent leaking out.

“I hope by now you've understood that you belong to me as much as I belong to you,” you stated. “I can fuck you as hard as you fuck me.”

Dazai sneered, “That's for sure.”

Despite the beads of sweat rolling down his face and the awkward way his usual smirk is quirked up on his lips, it gave you much delight to know that your seemingly confident boyfriend enjoys being dominated over like this as much as you do. You smirked and gave one of his ass cheeks a stinging smack before re-adjusting your position and burying your dildo deeper inside him.

Dazai cried out, choking in between chanting your name and vocalizing his moans that won't stop escaping his throat.

“So good,” he said in a low whisper but somehow still made its way on your ears.

His moans began to be more relaxed now, he's definitely feeling more of the pleasure than the initial sting of being pegged. You pinned yourself in position by grabbing on Dazai's hips and began to pound him even harder than you already have.

Each one of your violent pushes knocked the wind out of Dazai's lungs, but he couldn't care less because, as your dildo reach the deepest parts of his hole, it sends him flying in to the sky. You're hitting the places he himself never knew existed; spots that makes his eyes roll so far back in his head and make his whole body numb from the overwhelming pleasure.

Dazai clenched his jaw hard as you hit a specific bundle of nerves over and over again, taking him higher and higher, further and further to the edge, and before he knew it– his defenses crashed down on him.

With your dildo still planted deep inside him, Dazai screaming out your name was your only warning before he tightly pressed his lips together and let his cum unload, spurting wildly out of his cock. Visible white lines are made after another, painting a some sort of pattern of strokes on your sheets that could be considered artistic if it was made by a different material.

You smiled proudly with what you've done, keeping your thrusts deep and controlled as you let your boyfriend finish his release. While Dazai is still dazed and high from such an explosive ejaculation, you took the chance to lean in to his ear. With the sweetest voice you could do, you gave him another threat if he ever decided to pull such an act on you again.

“Maybe next time, I'll have you wear a butt plug when you go to work and make you play with it while your co-workers are around.”

In which, your mischievous boyfriend replied with an amused chuckle.

·⊹⊱— 「 𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚞𝚢𝚊 • 𝙽𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊 」 —⊰⊹·

“Shit,” he exhaled, tears collecting at the edges of his eyes. “Slow down, babe.”

Chuuya's soft plea was tantalizing but given the way he looks beneath you, slowing down isn't really something you'd want to do. Both of his hands are handcuffed on either side of the bed frame, trembling legs splayed wide open for you and his cock visibly twitching with every brutal thrust you gave him.

You smirked at him, eyes darkened with lust as you ignored his contorted face to go in an even faster pace. Chuuya growled and cursed, eyes shut tightly and fists clenched as he tries to get accustomed to being the one taking all the blows.

“What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? A little excitement?” Your tone was sharp like daggers and along with the burning sting on his ass hole, he felt a prick on his chest.

It's true that lately he had been neglecting you, he even thought about breaking up. He didn't think it was fair to keep all of this from you though, so he decided to tell you about it. The spark between the two of you is starting to die, he says. He needs a bit more excitement in his life, he says. Well maybe he just need a reminder as to who he's exactly talking to.

With every sputtering curses, shaky whimper and throaty groaned that Chuuya let's out, your pride swells up. Your attention dropped from his flustered face and down to his needy cock, its pre-cum already threatening to trickle down his shaft.

You grabbed it with vigor, instantly pumping it as mercilessly as your thrusts. Your reward came from your boyfriend's little cries and begs for a little break.

“(Y/N)... Please... I–” he choked out.

“What? Are you going to come? I guess you really liked being fucked hard, don't you?” You asked but Chuuya can't give you a coherent answer even if he wanted to. All he can muster is a string of broken curses and pleads.

Still feeling unsatisfied, you ordered him.

“Say it. I want you to beg me to let you come.”

You saw his frown deepened but nothing left his lips but drawn out moans. You gave him a particularly rough thrust before stopping everything at once. His eyes shot open, and looked at you with some degree of horror.

“Alright, alright. Fine,” Chuuya blurted out, taking a deep breath and then sighing.

“I–” another deep breath. He clenched his jaw on the thought of throwing every ounce of his pride as a man out of the window but his ache for a release prevails over his logic. “I– I want to come, okay? Wait, no. Please let me come.”

It made you scoff with how pathetic he sounded like, but you still didn't have him exactly where you want him to. So, you rub your thumbs along the swollen tip of his cock and demanded: “Again.”

Chuuya's face once again contorted in agony. Any residue of what once was his dignity is now wiped off as he let himself completely surrender to you.

“Just fuck me and let me come, goddammit!” He exclaimed. “Please just let me come.”

“See? That wasn't so hard.” You smirked at him, and he just clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Now, you get a reward.”

Once your hips started to move, Chuuya's head planted once more on the pillow underneath him. His abs constantly clenching and unclenching as his breathing gets more uneven with every one of your swings and strokes.

You remained silent as you picked up on your pace, letting your boyfriend's screams and moans occupy your ears. You let the hunger for lust and power blaze a fire in your core and consume you as you watch Chuuya's features tighten. His cock started to twitch wildly on your palm, his cried got louder and more desperate and as you gave another one hard push inside the walls of his abused anus, Chuuya came unraveling in front of you.

His voice rang throughout the four walls of the bedroom as ribbons upon ribbons of his white, warm cum squirted out his cock and decorated his own toned body.

The rest of his ejaculation was squeezed out of him by the shallow pulses of your dildo deep inside his ass, and he let out an almost animalistic growl as he spills every last drop that he have.

When he was done, he cursed you in the most loving way as he tried to stabilize his own breathing.

You pulled out unannounced, making him hiss for the last time. Without saying a word, you left him there to think about what he told you about his feelings. Maybe he'll change his mind whilst he soaks on his own cum.

[no-whump-on-main]

Apartment 307-6 (Harmful Healing)

start here last chapter

requested by anon

TW: Death threats made in this chapter

Morning came, and for the first time since her capture, Elora wasn’t up anxiously waiting for the man to return. She was fast asleep when he strolled in; her body was weakened and exhausted from the day prior, the perfect storm for her to rest deeply, and for a long time.

Her pleasant dreams and hours of rest shattered, though, when she awoke to a rough hand grabbing and shaking her shoulder. She blinked tiredly for a few seconds before registering that it was his hand grabbing her, and at that point, she flinched, pushing back against the wall as she tried to scramble out of his grip. His hand didn’t release her, though, and her eyes were bright and fearful as she looked up at him, her whole body shaking just the slightest bit.

He huffed. “So flinchy. You’re going to have to learn that you’re mine somehow, someday. Don’t forget that.”

Elora said nothing, keeping her fear and anger and disgust to herself. Please be looking for me, mom. Please.

He pulled away, finally, standing up straight. She knew from when he attacked her that he was a couple inches shorter than her, but when she was chained down, forced to stare up at him, he felt immeasurably tall, immeasurably powerful.

She could still feel his hand on her shoulder like it had been made of acid, still seeping and burning into her skin. It might as well have been. She’d always enjoyed affection, gentle little touches here and there from people who loved her-but every time the man touched her, it felt wrong. Awful. Like fire against her skin.

He coughed, as if to gain her attention, like he didn’t already have it, every bit of his presence keeping her on edge.

“Since you’ve decided you don’t want anything to do with the plant, we’re going to try something else I know you can do.”

Elora’s expression darkened, her mind filling with all the terrible possibilities of whatever the hell that could mean. What else did he know?

Without warning, he pulled out his pocket knife and slashed it along her thigh, dangerously close to the large, sloppily-stitched wound from the first day. In one slice, another hole was torn in her pants, and a small, bloodied red line formed. Elora whimpered, but didn’t have much else of a reaction; he had given her much worse pain so far. She didn’t understand the purpose of this, here and now, when she’d had so much worse. The pain was sharp, but minimal, stinging as her blood started to coagulate in the air.

“Heal it,” the man instructed.

Her heart sank.

He knew that, too?

“I-” the girl started, before Clyde grasped her chin and dug his dirty fingernails into her skin.

“You know what happens when you don’t listen. You know. It’s not that fucking hard, Elora.”

She swallowed, hard. She could feel her heart thumping in her throat, rhythmically, like an instrument. Thumpthump, thumpthump, thumpthump-

In a way, he was right. It wouldn’t be hard to give in. In all honesty, it would be easy.

The lines were beginning to blur between what resistance was beneficial to her psyche, and what would be better for her to just let go.

But this, she knew she wanted to resist. Needed to.

Her healing was only ever meant to help others. Never herself. She’d tried, several times, to heal her own body, and the results were always horrifically painful. Whenever she used her magic to heal, she absorbed the pain of the individual that she was healing; it was a simple transfer of energy. She took away the wound, closed up the edges, and bore just the pain, not the physical injury, briefly, just how brief depending on the severity of the wound. She never took much joy in it, but for situations that called for her help- emergencies, hurt kids, severe bleeding or head injuries, and the like-she’d do it. After all, she bore the pain for a much shorter amount of time than those who had been hurt in the first place. It felt like her duty to help, when it would be so much easier for her to take the pain temporarily than for the one who attained it in the first place to hold onto it for days, weeks, months, even.

But that blessing, the ability to transfer another’s pain to herself, to give mercy, became a curse, when turned on herself. Instead of experiencing just her own, usual level of pain, it reverberated like an echo chamber, intensifying every second until it was explosive, muchmore than she could handle. She phantom-experienced her own pain twice over initially, and then quadrupled and so on, going on and on, growing exponentially from there, leading to an amplified misery like no other. Even healing a tiny bruise off of her own skin felt like healing a bullet wound.

And the man was making cuts. Big ones.

“I c-can’t do that,” she stammered.

He tilted her chin up with the blade of the knife, forcing her to tilt her head back in order to escape the sharp point.

“Yes you can,” he growled.

She looked over at him, cold fear in her eyes.

“Y-you don’t understand,” she continued. “I can’t.”

“Elora.”

The man’s voice was eerily calm. He didn’t have to say another word; that tone, and the glare, were enough to make her skin crawl.

“Y-you’re right about the healing,” she stammered, “but that’s just for others. I c-can’t do it to myself, it doesn’t work like that. Don’t you-don’t you think I would’ve healed myself and run away from here a-already, if I could?”

He sighed heavily, standing up straight and spinning the knife around casually.

“You can,” he said. “You just don’t want to. It hurts you, I know. But what’s a little pain, in comparison to your life, my lark? I’m being gentle, light with this knife. But just as easily, I could dig it deep into your throat, cut you ear to ear. You’d be gone within minutes. Is that what you want? If I were you, I’d choose a little pain, no?”

There he was with those nicknames again. Elora swallowed, staring ahead at the wall in silence, her eyes blurring in and out of focus as she looked at the white tiles. She still didn’t know him very well, but he didn’t seem to be lying. No, he seemed impulsive, impulsive enough to kill her simply for noncompliance.

And she didn’t want to die.

“Okay,” she whispered.

She placed her hands on either edge of the cut on her thigh, inhaling deeply before closing her eyes, focusing deeply on directing her magic to the wound.

She wasn’t watching it, but she could feel it as it started to close, the pain going from a small throb to a roaring wave in just a few moments.

Clyde stood there, watching in pure awe. He didn’t pay much attention to her agony, too focused on staring at the healing wound in amazement. That was quite the trick, and a useful one, too. Imagine how much you could punish her, over and over, simply by making her heal herself up only to repeat the same torture.

It didn’t take much longer than ten or fifteen seconds, but by the end, she was writhing in agony, sucking in breaths sharply through her teeth. When she finally did open her eyes, she saw her skin, perfectly clear and in tact, like the man had never cut her.

“Do it again,” he instructed.

Elora let out a shaky breath. “Please,” she started. “You know it-”

“Did I ask you if you wanted to? No, I told you to do it again.”

Elora looked down, biting her lip. Do it, or he’ll kill you.

“Where?” She asked. “You just-you only cut me once, just now.”

He huffed. “I suggest you choose another spot yourself. You’re covered in plenty of cuts. Unless you’d like me to slash you again, hmm?”

She shook her head immediately, pausing for a moment to think. What would hurt the least to heal?

The cuts on her arm from yesterday. They had already started to close up, and they were small. Just one wouldn’t take her very long. She moved her hand and covered one cut with her fingers, taking a moment to focus and breathe before she began.

The man smiled. “Ambitious, aren’t you? Go on then, since you chose your arm. Fix them all.”

Her heart dropped. “N-no! You said one more! I didn’t mean-”

He cut her off again. “Right, and now I said them all. Go on. Do I need to remind you of the consequences your actions can bring?”

He’ll kill you. He will.

She shook her head, trying to be calm. She would-she had to try.

She whimpered as soon as her magic made contact with the first cut. Her fingers on the hand of the arm being healed curled up and grabbed a fistful of her shirt, trying to brace herself against the pain. It didn’t do much. The dread was almost as bad as the pain, cold fear seeping into her every time she looked at her arm. It was cut up and down-there were at least thirty of them, maybe more.

Worse than anything else was the man’s glare. He was staring at her, with an amused sense of wonder. Every time she looked up, she saw him smiling.

She tried to do as he told her. She did. She knew he would kill her. But after cut six or seven-she had a hard time keeping track, especially because they disappeared without a scar-she let her healing arm drop, her fingers twitching slightly. She couldn’t do it anymore. The pain that had grown was excruciating, worse than anything that had happened before, and her energy was near completely depleted.

“Why the hell did you stop?” the man shouted at her. She looked away from him. She was so exhausted, it was hard to focus. She’d just woken up, but she wanted to curl up and sleep. Using that much magic, in a way she was never supposed to, felt like it sucked the life force out of her just like a leech.

“I-I can only do so much,” she explained. “O-only have so much in me.” Her body was starting to droop, just about ready to give in to sleep.

Clyde didn’t like that answer. He grabbed her arm roughly and returned it to the cuts, but even he could feel that she was becoming loose and limp, from what he assumed was pure exhaustion. When he let her arm down and nothing happened besides a quiet groan from the girl, he gave up.

“That was hardly anything. God, you’re useless. We’ll have to work on that, and your...disregard of my authority. You know, I think I know exactly what to do. Perhaps we’ll take a little trip away from the bathtub tomorrow.”

With that, he turned and left the bathroom. Moments later, Elora turned on her side and slept, left without the time awake to wonder what he meant by that.

@exploringspaceinpyjamas @badthingshappenbingo

(let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist!)

[jamilelucato]

together [F. W.] || pt.1

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Slytherin!reader

together MASTERLIST || PART 2

Summary: Professor McGonagall has had enough of yours and Weasley’s pranks. She has an idea of how to stop it, but will it be enough?

A/N: So... I thought a lot about this, should I do, should I not... I decided to go with it. It’ll probably be big because Goblet of Fire is big and this fanfic is supposed to happen at that book. Yeah... hope you all like it! Leave your comments about it please!

It’ll have a second part, and probably a third, so if you wanna be tagged, just ask!

Words: 7.866

"There's a bet goin' round..." the girl sitting next to y/N started.

"So I've heard..." you replied, faking indifference.

The Hogwarts Express was packed with students, all waiting to arrive at Hogwarts soon. y/N and Reyna, best friends since year 1, were sitting together at a compartment. There had been two other girls with them, but they had left for buying snacks. y/N doubted that was true since Reyna had just left herself to fetch snacks and was already back with chocolate frogs. Reyna was having the time of her life with the sweeties, but y/N wasn't interested. She was planning something bigger, something that was supposed to happen once she arrived at school, and because of all the required preparation, she wasn't very focused on the chocolate.

That didn't mean she didn't know about the gossip that was spreading inside the train.

"Well, it's a bet on who is going to be the biggest prankster of the year" started saying Reyna, pausing just to get another bite.

"Is it so?" you had now stopped writing on your notebook and glanced at your friend.

"You are one of the options and I've put my money on you, so I just hope you're not planning on being an angel this year," she said, finally. Her bright blue eyes showed she was scared of your reaction. And she was. Aside from school, you two didn't talk much. She would eventually spill some gossip, and you would make some jokes, but that was as far as your friendship had reached.

"Which are the other available options?" you asked, still playing dumb.

"Hm... someone put Draco on the list, but he's just a mean boy, not a prankster," she said, focused on the food in front of her. She ate so much, you always wondered how she managed her weight since yourself lately was having a problem with it. "Of course, Fred and George are on the list as well—"

You needed to hear no more. You were not intending on playing the saint this year, you spend your whole summer making plans to prank everyone at Hogwarts, but you thought that, maybe, without the Weasley Twins as rivals, you wouldn't need to be doing much. Knowing now that they were on the list for the title of prankster of the year, you knew you wouldn't have it easy.

"Glad you put your money on me, Reyna. I will be going after that title, do not worry" you assured her. She smiled and breathed hard, relieved.

"Three galleons, y/N. Please don't make me lose." You laughed at her insinuation. Losing for the Weasleys was not on your plans. God, could you imagine the look on their faces if they were nominated the biggest prankster of Hogwarts? HA! Not a chance, not this year.

"I'm starting next week, if my calculations are correct, it would be the best time. If you want some advice, stay away from the bathroom closer to the Library" you thought that maybe it would be a step forward in the friendship if you gave her a chance to scape your prank.

"I shall stay away from there, then" she giggled, eating another chocolate frog.

The other two girls that were sitting in the same compartment with you did not reappear and that caused curiosity; Reyna said they were probably snogging someone — "I hear Lee Jordan has an eye out for the blondie" — but you theorized they might just be scared of you since they were one year younger than you and Hufflepuffs.

"Malfoy does us no right. Filth boy, we Slytherins used to have a better reputation" you complained.

"I don't think it's Malfoy's only fault. You heard what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, right? This year will be worse than ever for us..." said Reyna, with a concerned look.

Without her house uniform, one would never point her as a Slytherin, at least not by her looks. Her sparkly blue eyes combined with her light brown hair and her plump prink cheeks would be a direct ticket to Hufflepuff at least, but no. Aside from the looks, Reyna was very ambitious and clever. A true leader if you knew what that could look like.

"I just hate that we have such disrespectful fame around muggle-borns or muggles themselves. It's not all of us, you know" she continued, biting her lip. "Speaking of which, I've decided to be friends with the first years, especially the muggle-borns, to you know, change their views. Would you like to be a part of it?"

You considered. "If I have the time, yeah, I guess. Tell me when and what is needed, I'll try to provide a hand. Smart idea, by the way."

"Thanks, y/N."

Although Reyna was smiling at you for the compliment, it was not her that thanked you. You turned around to face who was the owner of the voice.

Fred and George Weasley stood supported on the parapet of the compartment door. One of them had a bright smile on, which you considered it had to be Fred, 'cause George was generally a little bit shyer.

"What you want?" you asked, sharp, not in the mood for their sassiness.

"To see you, gorgeous flower, isn't it obvious?" Fred widened his smile while George held in a laugh.

Reyna was laughing already, unable to remain serious.

"Well, you've got your stare. Mind going back to where you came now?" you replied, pressing your lips against each other, hoping to look impatient.

It wasn't their presence that disturbed you — even though, it did, a bit —, it was the fact that you had open in your hands the notebook with all of your plans for the year, every single prank you spend nights preparing, that only needed some small adjustments due to changes the school might have gone through, like schedules or something.

"Georgie, doesn't she look worried?" Fred asked his twin, completely ignoring your request.

George smiled. "She does, Freddie."

You rolled your eyes at their act, while your friend laughs only became louder and louder.

"She's sad because she won't be the biggest prankster this year" Fred pointed out, with a casual tone, like he was telling something everybody should know.

You felt your body boil with anger.

"We'll see, Weasleys" you replied, looking down at your notebook and closing it. Fred seemed to have noticed your movement. "This is my year," you said, smiling with your arms crossed.

"I don't quite think so, y/N," George said, crossing his arms as well.

"This is my— our year," said Fred, correcting himself along the way, including his brother to the prize.

Reyna had stopped laughing, maybe worried about losing the money she had bet.

"See you around, y/N" Fred finally said, leaving the entrance of the compartment followed by his brother. One second late, the Hufflepuffs that were once sitting with you, came back, with giggles and swollen lips.

They sat in front of you and Reyna, exchanging looks, but didn't seem frightened of you anymore. Reyna looked at you too, like she wanted you to notice their lips. You rolled your eyes. Naive girls. Kissing, really? There's so much more to do than dating, like pranks for example. That's hella more important.

***

"A bit wet, aren't you, y/N?"

The question came from Draco Malfoy, who sat in front of you. You resisted rolling your eyes. Malfoy wasn't worth it. And, yes, you were soaking wet. Soon as you arrived at Hogwarts, Peeves, the school's poltergeist was throwing water bombs at the students. Unluckily, you were one of the ones that got hit. Straight at your hair, it was leaving a wet path every place you walked.

Crabbe and Goyle didn't take much longer to find Draco and sit next to him, one at each side. They seemed desperate for the dinner, looking at each end of the table nervously, trying to see if there was anything already available to eat.

Reyna, sitting right next to you didn't seem so different from the boys. She wasn't looking pleased with Malfoy next to us, because she was planning on having the new kids sitting with us. There was, however, still room available for newcomers at her right, so she cooled off when the new students started sitting.

"Hi! My name's Reyna. Any trouble you guys find yourselves in, you can talk to me" she said, smiling in a scary way that made the kids lean away.

"Or me!" you added, trying to look relaxed instead of the fake smile. "I'm y/N, by the way. Sixth year." You pointed out in case the kids couldn't find you just by name.

"Don't recall you girls being Prefects..." said a loud voice, coming from behind you. "Find me when in trouble, kids."

Slytherin's prefect completely ignored Reyna's and your angry looks and walked on to sit at the end of the table, next to the last girl that was welcomed in just some minutes ago.

When the dinner finally was served, Reyna seemed to have forgotten about the new students, because she had eyes only for the food. Not that you were any different — Hogwarts' house-elves always did a marvellous job at the kitchen.

After eating so much you and Reyna could have exploded, Dumbledore started to talk about this new year ahead of you all, and how something was going to be different. He got interrupted, tho, by a man that had just walked in. You recognized the mate at that instant: it was no other than Moody, old friends with your family. He was kind of an older friend to you. It seemed weird tho when he didn't shake a hand at your direction once he faced the crowd of students, but you thought he just hadn't spotted you.

Dumbledore continued. "We are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, and the event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

If you were drinking something, you could have spit all over Malfoy.

"You're JOKING!" you screamed, realizing seconds later that Fred Weasley, from across the Great Hall had screamed the same.

Draco laughed at your reaction, whereas Dumbledore continued his speech. "I am not joking, Miss y/L/N and Mr Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent joke...." he kept on going about it. However, you weren't listening anymore— you knew all you needed about the Triwizard Tournament, you had read all about it while growing up, and had reread at your first time at Hogwarts, in hopes you could participate. And now, the chance stood there, right in front of you.

"Well, that explains why no Quidditch this year", said Draco, with a bit of disappointment. Was he thinking about participating? Could he make his father force Dumbledore to select him? Merlin, you hoped not.

Being a part of the Tournament was way more important than playing pranks against the school. Besides, that was one in a lifetime opportunity.

Everything was perfect, so you couldn't be more than excited for October to come as soon as it could until Dumbledore explained one more rule: the Tournament would only accept students seventeen or older.

You let out an undecipherable scream, and it wasn't just you.

How could Dumbledore stop you from putting your name? Just because of what? A couple of months? Oh, you were definitely gonna plot to get in the competition.

When you and the rest of the students were allowed to go to your dormitories, you kept on looking around, trying to find the other two people that you were sure were gonna try to get in as well.

Fred and George were smirking at each other, the pure expression of troublemaking. The same you had on your face.

***

The morning after Dumbledore announced Hogwarts would be participating at the Triwizard Tournament was loud. very loud. Everywhere y/N went, every class you attended, some students were talking about it like they had just heard about it.

They all seemed very excited, especially the students from the 7th year. y/N just wished she had someone to talk about it in the way she wanted. You could have talked about it with Reyna, but she wasn't as excited as you. She thought the Tournament was dangerous.

"I've been reading some stuff about it — Cho Chang allowed me to read from her book — and it said that the Tournament has truly killed a lot of students" she complained, sitting next to you at potions.

The Weasleys Twins were at that class too, and they seemed very much like you: pretending to pay attention to Snape, but writing ideas for getting in the Tournament instead.

There was just one difference though. "Mr Weasley, could you please tell me when did I say a thing about" Snape read from the piece of paper he confiscated from the boys' table " 'casting a spell at our tournament registration'?"

You knew how to cover-up.

"Griffindor just lost 20 points thanks to you," Snape said, with his monotone. You tried not to laugh.

"20 points?!" Fred shouted, not believing it.

"Ten for each of you" the Professor explained. "And I can take more if you two don't start paying attention."

It had been a week after that comedic Potion class, but the school was still the same — everybody anxious about the newcomers and the competition.

When you arrived at the Great Hall, probably the whole house was already there, mouths crowded with food. You sat far from the others, at your house table, but Reyna wasn't at there yet, so you ended up alone.

You were a bit worried about your friend, Reyna was generally never late for meals, she felt hungrier than a lion most of the time, but there was nothing you could do about her missing. You knew she was friends with the kitchen house-elves, so if she lost track of time and if she was yet hungry, she'd steal something straight from the source.

The plan you had for attacking the girls' restroom near the Library was perfect, every calculation of time redone so it would be right. The potion was ready, hidden inside your black robe.

You looked at your wristwatch, confirming the time. Breathing hard, you were feeling your heartbeats increase. It was now or never. You got up from the Slytherin table, not giving anybody a last look. You had the next period free since you had dropped Divination this year.

Behind you, however, two red-heads were following, tiptoes, with a similar — if not the same — potion you hid in your robes in their hands. They saw your approach to the same direction they were planning on going, so they decided to slow down, making their presence unknown for you.

It was when you were close to the restrooms' doors that you heard an excited voice exclaim behind you: "So you decided to copy us."

Slowly taking your hand out of your robe without getting the potion out, you turned back, facing the twins. You had a surprise face on, although a bit relieved that they were not a teacher.

"I reckon I'm some steps ahead of you" you replied, smartly.

"Just because we let you" George smiled, crossing his arms in front of his chest, while his brother held up the flask with the magical potion. You looked at it, recognizing it at first sight.

"Besides, we can easily catch up to you — we have bigger legs" Fred added, raising an eyebrow, slowly positioning himself to run.

You copied the older twin.

"Let's see who drops it first" you challenged, taking your potion out of your robe and running towards the girls' toilets, opening it with one single hand, not looking back once to see what the twins were doing.

It wasn't crowd, only three girls stood by the sinks — by the looks of it, three Gryffindors. You ran to one of the toilets, bursting the door open, quickly depositing the potion inside of it. You pulled your hood up, covering at least the back of your head and your forehead, and ran out of that place.

It didn't take more than two seconds, the BLAMs and BOOMs came right after you started running, followed by two red-heads. You were all laughing, listening to the screams contaminating the school, as the place got crowded and crowded and you were heading to the Library, to pretend having been quietly reading, when you heard a spell cast.

"Simul iuncta!"

You stopped running involuntarily before falling on the ground. Next to you, very next to you actually, were Fred, also laying as someone had pulled him back.

You tried to get up, but failed, so you just turned your head back, to see what had happened and who had cast it.

Students had crowded around the toilets' doors, looking confused, some even scared. There was a bit left of white smoke, but it was better scattered.

Professor McGonagall stood like a statue, her lip was shaping a sulky beak as she looked over you and Fred. Her wand was on her hand in a position as if she had just cast a spell. Now you knew who had stopped you from running away.

Fred was also looking around, not scared of McGonagall — of course, as she were his head of the house. He was looking for George, the other twin you had noticed to be gone.

"What you did to me?" you asked, trying again to get up, but failing. Fred Weasley noticed your difficulty and offered you his hands. Not wanting to stay one more minute on the ground, you accepted it, as he helped you get up — so did you help him.

"A charm Flitwick has been trying to work with me. I guess it finally worked," she explained, sounding too happy with her accomplished. "Lucky I was nearby, huh?"

She started frowning again, to your discomfort. She, then, shook her hands at the rest of the students, making them disappear from there.

"What it did to us? It wasn't a freezing spell" Fred noticed, as he started walking towards the Professor but being pulled again with a thud. He fell right at your foot, and you instantly helped him up. "When will it pass?"

"It won't", she said, shrugging.

"You cast a spell on us that won't pass? Is it forever?" you asked, raising your voice, as you tried to get closer to her, Fred following your steps. This time, you two didn't fall.

"No, it's until I say it is." She smiled slowly, showing no teeth. "It's some binding spell."

You looked at Fred, confused, but he had no idea of what she was talking about.

"It makes the two near wizards connected" she continued, looking down at her wand, "that's why you both stopped running, that's why you were falling. Look at your wrists", she suggested.

You and Fred turned your faces slowly down, were your hands — your right and his left — stood considerably close, but not yet touching.

"I thought it would get the other Mr Weasley, but he saw me coming and ran away before my spellcasting."

"But I'm innocent!" you claimed, trying to pull your hand to yourself and failing, to McGonagall's satisfaction.

"This Weasley came from the boys' restroom, saw that myself, and I know for sure George Weasley wouldn't have the courage to enter a girls' toilet." The Professor stood still.

"Well, isn't he a Gryffindor?" you pointed out, making McGonagall tilt her head slightly to the left, showing improvement. But you did have a point, at least you thought so, I mean, aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?

"I can trackback that potion threw at the girls' toilet back to you, if you'd like" McGonagal suggested, making you snort, defeated.

"But Minerva, can't I just get detention? Do I really have to spend some hours with this dimwitted?" you complained, appealing for using her first name.

"Ouch," Fred grumbled. You rolled your eyes at him.

"Some hours? I guess you could see it like that if it makes it easier. However, my verdict is for you two to spend more than a month tightened together. In fact, due to last years, hm,— events —, you've both caused the school, it'd be better if you stayed like this the whole year."

"WHAT" you and Fred shouted, like two spoiled little girls.

"You heard me correct. You two, — actually, George does too, so it's you three — cause too much trouble for me to let you free around when we are about to receive visitants from other schools. Can you imagine the look they'll give us to see we are such messy school?"

Professor Minerva sounded confident with her decision, but you just couldn't accept it. It made no sense, she could not arrest you to this pathetic red-haired boy — besides, you had a year of pranks planned, how would you become the best prankster of Hogwarts with him around, knowing all your moves?

"We are a boy and girl, Minerva, how do you expect us to go to the toilet?" you asked, remembering an important issue, without having to say you were actually worried about your jokes.

She seemed to think for a while, before walking close to you. "I believe it can be stretched, a bit, for fifteen minutes, enough time for a shower and other things." She then pointed her wand at yours and Fred's wrist that were close but not touching. She said something you didn't hear. "I made it 30 minutes, 15 for each of you. If well planned, I believe it can be enough."

She started walking away again, but Fred's question stopped her. "We are from different houses, how are we supposed to sleep? Or go to classes?" he said, lifting his left hand and you followed the movement with your right hand.

He seemed as worried as you, which made you see he was indeed ready to be a good opponent at the whole thing of winning the bet of the best prankster.

"Exceptions, my dear Mr Weasley. Professor Flitwick will be more than happy to hear that his spell worked, so he probably won't say a thing about the new form of detention I just started," she said, smiling slightly, delicately crossing her arms. "So, you can discuss with each other to whose room you'll be using to sleep, and I’ll be pleasured to provide an extra mattress."

"Professor Snape will hear about this and he won't like it, Minerva" you commented, still using her first name, but it seemed to make her only angrier.

"Professor Snape will understand the situation. I bet he'll be happy to have a Slytherin controlling one of his worse Gryffindors."

The red-haired boy appeared ready to argue, but the Professor continued: "And don't call me Minerva, Miss y/L/N. That's disrespectful."

"Disrespectful is this!" you exclaimed, pointing to your hand.

"Let's say this — you have until the end of the next month. If until the arrival of the students from other schools, you two manage to behave, respect yourselves and respect the school, I'll set you free" she said, making things easier, but not much. She seemed to think she made things too easy though, cause she added: "And I'll talk to each professor to see if your behaviours at classes are better."

The Weasley looked at you like he knew that was the end of the line. There was nothing else they could do. Minerva McGonagall didn't seem ready to give in. Two months sounded better than the whole year, as she originally planned. It wasn't better, but you guessed you deserved it because you were pretty sure the damaged in the toilet was gonna last forever.

"No chance we can get detention?" you asked, one last time, lowering your voice.

"Expelled or this. Your pick."

"Fine" you mumbled, shrugging.

Minerva smiled, happy with an argument won. She possibly was thinking she had them at her hands. "That's it, off you go. I'll get someone to clean your mess. Feel like I've punished you enough."

"Yeah, you have" grunted Weasley, pointing with his head for you to walk.

As soon as you were out of Professor's sight, George reappeared. Fred hit him in his forearm. "Where were you, bloody dimwitted?"

"Running from McGonagall. She didn't look happy when she saw us leaving the restroom," the twin said.

"You tell me about it!" you exclaimed, wrinkling your forehead.

"Could have warned me, huh?" Fred hit his brother once more.

George, however, looked at both of you, standing very close to each other. It wasn't common.

"What she did with you two? Detention?"

"Worse than that," you said, avoiding eye contact.

"Expelled?"

"She cursed us together or whatever. It's Flitwick's spell, actually." Fred started explaining to his twin everything McGonagall had just said while you stood bored, next to the corridor wall.

George started laughing at the end of the explanation. You and Fred rolled eyes at him, who didn't seem to care and kept on laughing. "That's gonna be fun to watch. So whose table are you two gonna eat at?"

You fastly answered. "Slytherin's."

"No way!" Fred protested.

You shrugged. "Fine, then we eat at Gryffindor's and you sleep in a room full of Slytherin's girls. Your pick." You smiled, confident.

He shook himself, a mixture of disgust and fear, which would make you angry if you weren't used to the Gryffindor's reaction to the Slytherins. Bunch of prejudiced!

"Fine" he gave in, a bit uncomfortably. You were about to start smiling when you remembered that now you would have to sleep in a room full of boys. Not that you were against Gryffindor — you were not in favour either — but the fact that it was a room with teenage boys gave you a little shiver, it didn't matter which house they were in.

Since you both had the same class next — Herbology —, you and Fred didn't need to argue whose schedule to follow. George was walking right next to his brother, talking excitedly but low about something you hadn't quite understand what. At first, you thought it was their next prank, so you paid attention, but then it had nothing to do with trolling students, so you gave up.

A lot of students stared at you three, mainly when you arrived at the greenhouse Professor Sprout awaited for the rest of the class. All the eyes were at the trio: some were confused, some disgusted, but the weirdest of all was two girls from Slytherin that didn't stop whispering to each other.

Slytherins and Gryffindors tended to stay apart at every class they took together, so people started dazzling over you three again when you didn't step away from the boys. They didn't seem to notice you couldn't get away from Fred, no matter how hard you tried.

"I guess you three were the only students missing... Let's start," said Sprout, putting on brown gloves. She started the class refreshing our memories form the plants we had worked within the last year, so most of the students weren't paying attention.

The two Slytherins girls hadn't stopped gossiping either, so you decided to go slowly towards them. Fred notice what you were trying to do, and although Lee Jordan was entertaining enough, telling him something, he walked close to the girls as well, making it easier for you.

"You know it's not polite to listen to people's conversation," he said, close to you left ear as he stood behind you. You rolled your eyes, but he couldn't see it. You started messing with the plant in front of you, so you could have a cover, even though you had no idea what kind of plant that was.

"Threesome, definitely," one of the girls said, the one that most resembled you.

"Isn't that some type of treason tho?" the tall one said.

"What? No! I mean, I wouldn't do it, you know," you reckon that girl was related to the Black family, although she was not Black herself. "Principally not with... a Weasley."

"It's probably just one of them," said a blonde girl, joining in the conversation with a little sharp tone, like she didn't like what she was hearing. They weren't able to see you because they had their backs turned at your direction.

"Get me out of here" you whispered to Fred, starting to get disgusted by what you were hearing. You didn't think he would much more than walking away but went a bit extreme.

"Professor Sprout, y/N almost heard a Mandrake scream without earplugs" he started.

"— Oh! Are you okay, honey?"

"She needs a bit of air, that's all. I'll take her outside." Fred continued.

Professor started walking in your direction and held her hands together.

"Please do so, Mr Weasley. Take her to Madam Pomfrey if needed. Those Mandrake are dangerous things!" she said, getting close to the plant you were once laying with to use as a disguise in case the girls noticed you were listening to their whispers.

Fred reached for your elbow. "Look sick." You didn't need to listen twice. You tilted your head, walking with no grace like you were about to pass out.

He took you out and suggested for you to sit on the grass not too far from the greenhouse you were. He followed you immediately, probably scared of being pulled down by the Bonding Charm.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "What happened there? I just heard voices, but not words, if that makes sense."

"Thank you, by the way," you said, pressing your lips together. "Those girls were gossiping about... us, I think."

"It's ridiculous, just because we walked in together?" he wondered, looking repulse.

"I don't feel like you noticed, but I'm always alone. I'm always the last to leave a class and always the first to arrive. Always." you revealed. "And then, the second week back, and I walk in with both Weasley Twins so close... one would think something is off."

"Aren't they the messed-up ones?" he asked.

"The what?"

"Messed-up. It's Lee's nickname for them because they always have weird ideas. Think of any gossip you've heard that didn't make any sense. They were probably the ones that came up with it," he explained, and suddenly, it made sense. You never bothered learning their names, although you sure knew their parents'.

Putting use to your memory, they had once started gossip about Goyle being an Animagus, and that's like the hardest potion ever, besides being illegal if the Ministry is unaware.

"You don't need to tell me what they were saying..." started Fred, "but I'd really like to know"

You smiled. "Not a chance."

The class had probably finished because you saw the rest of the students leaving the greenhouse. Lee Jordan, a tall and muscular boy, with dreadlocks approached you, followed by George Weasley.

"It wasn't about you," he said, surprising you when he stared straight to you eyes. "It's about Hermione."

"Hermione??" you repeated, getting up before being pulled down harsh since Fred's wrist didn't follow yours. "Isn't she like, fourteen?"

"I know, right? Those girls are disgusting," he commented, putting his tongue out. You laughed a bit, finally getting up since Fred started doing the same.

Fred and George exchanged looks at you two, not understanding what you were talking about.

"Don't tell them!" you said to Lee, realising how easy was to talk to him.

As you told Fred, you were always alone. Sometimes you ate with Reyna, but that was it. She had other friends herself. Sometimes, also, you were annoyed by Malfoy, but most of the time, you succeed escaping from him.

The Weasley Twins always talked to you but in a provocative or mocking tone. It was those kinds of conversations that didn't get anyone anywhere.

Lee Jordan seemed nice tho, every time he narrated the Quidditch games, he showed excitement about it — although he never made justice to the Slytherins.

The boy laughed it off. "It'll be nice to keep a secret from them."

"I don't like it, Freddie."

"I don't like it either, Georgie"

The twins' comments made both you and Lee started laughing again, while you walked together to the inside of the castle.

"What are you having now?" you asked Fred. "I'm not in the mood for Care of Magical Creatures."

All three boys looked at you.

"Nothing against Hagrid!" you exclaimed, in your defence. They appeared offended by your comment. "I just... he has us working with weird creatures in the middle of the forest... As you saw in Herbology, I'm not what you'd call a nature friend."

Fred sighed. "Did you even know you were playing with Mandrake until I had said it?" You twisted your face letting out a 'no' in a low voice. He smiled. "Let's go then. I'm having Transfiguration now."

"Geez... Ready to be a pain in Minerva's ass?" you asked, lifting an eyebrow.

George looked back at you. "Minerva?"

"It's her name."

"It's her first name," he replied.

"That annoys her ass even more" you pointed out, making him wrinkle his nose.

Lee Jordan stopped at sight. "Can we please stop mention Professor McGonagall's ass?"

You all laughed out loud, heading to class.

***

The day had gone by slowlier than you wanted it. McGonagall looked pleased as you and Fred walking for class without misbehaving, although you did raise your hand for stupid questions a lot, to annoy her since she always felt obliged to answer.

Fred's last class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which you were not much excited. You greeted him as you and Fred walked in, bumping into each other to pass the door, and, even though, he retributed, he didn't seem thrilled about it like he had forgotten who you are.

The class was good, anyway, since he was more experienced than every other teacher you had had. Fred and George seemed extra passionate about what they had just experienced.

"He just showed us how much behind we were in the coolest way possible! No other professor would've had the courage!" George exclaimed, trying to copy Moody's way of holding his wand.

Fred laughed, but you ignored it. As you were getting close to the entrance, you smiled. "Ready, redhead?"

Fred was confused. "To what?"

For the older twin, being around you all day wasn't annoying at all. He thought at first that it would be weird as you both never exchanged more than three phrases without they being a threat, but you surprised him by being an enjoyable company.

You were smart, probably more than him, which as a handful of help in his classes. You were sharing his books, since Fred didn't dare to get yours at the Slytherin's room, and you had no problem with it. You did take the liberty to write over his books, what didn't matter to him, because you had cute lettering and you knew more about what you were writing than he ever did.

Besides, every time he or his brother made a joke, you'd start laughing until your belly hurts, in a charming way that he liked.

"Ready to sit at the Slytherin's table, of course!" you said, harshly touching his shoulder.

"Do I have to?" his head slightly downturned while he maintained eye contact.

"Unless you want to sleep in my room" your eyes gleamed, causing George to laugh.

Fred wrinkled his nose, discontent. "Fine. Bye, brother. It was nice knowing you, see you never again!"

"Don't be so dramatic!" you exclaimed.

"A Gryffindor at their table?" he replied. "I'll reckon I'll be dead before I eat."

You rolled your eyes as you dragged him by his arm, just above the elbow. George walked towards Gryffindor's table, waving his brother goodbye.

You looked at the horrified faces that followed, and not just from the Slytherin's table. Some students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked at you with quite a surprised look. All the attention made you embarrassed, so you held your chin close to your body.

"Don't be ashamed now" Fred whispered. You didn't understand what he meant by it.

"What you mean?" you asked, finally sitting down next to Reyna, who you were glad to spot the face amongst the Slytherin's.

Two first years — at least you thought they were first years because they looked young and you didn't recognize their faces — were sitting at each side of her, so you sat in front of her, with Fred at you right.

She was distracted by her conversation with the kids, but she immediately faced up as you sat down.

"Hi, y/N! And Fred" she added his name when she noticed the red-hair with freckles.

Fred shook his head to say hi. The first years looked confused as what should they be doing with the presence of a Gryffindor. "Oh, no panic! Everybody is allowed to sit on the table they want. We tend to sit together, that's all" Reyna explained with a smile.

Her display wasn't satisfactory though, as the kids scattered like mice. Reyna wasn't frustrated. She only wanted privacy to ask you what was going on.

"Some Ravenclaws were saying that you two conjured it during Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh, no. We've been tied up way before that," you nodded. "Remember my advice on the first day?"

"How wrong did you manage to be?" she asked, her nose in the air.

"No, that went — as planned," you were about to say 'well' but that was far from the truth. "McGonagall caught us and cursed us."

"You were planning it together? You are not a duo at the bet!" she complained, putting chips in her mouth.

You and the twin exchanged looks. "Of course not! We bumped into each other, and McGonagall thought us being together for months was a great idea. Now I plan to make Minerva's life a living hell."

"Wouldn't be wise, she could take house points off of you."

You stared at Reyna. "She wouldn't dare," and, with the best impression of Draco you could do, you continued, "because my father will hear about this!"

You sent them both into convulsions.

"I don't get your whole intimacy with the Professor" Fred wondered out loud.

You shrugged. "Minerva's very close to my parents — my mom. I reckon they are somewhat of third cousins..." you explained with a disinterested tone only to notice they were both shocked. "What? It's no big deal!"

"You are related to Professor McGonagall??" Fred asked with a loud voice. "That's freaking awesome!"

Reyna shook her head, agreeing with Fred.

"It's way distant," you objected, looking down at the plate in front of you.

"Doesn't matter! It's something anyone would brag about!" Reyna said after swallow her food.

"Explains why you insist on calling her by her first name" Fred sighed.

You ignored the excitement of the two. It was funny watching Fred in the Slytherin's table. He was scared at first, but now he was feeling welcomed. You were astonished that nobody at the table caused a scene, like Malfoy, but not surprised with how friendly Reyna was towards the red-haired.

Still, dinner was rather quiet.

You three got up together, heading to Slytherin's common room. Much to Fred's disappointment, you needed to get your things out of your room before moving to Gryffindor's Tower.

"Has the gossip spread very quickly?" you asked Reyna at the entrance of the chambers.

"Well, yes," she answered. "They all don't know the truth, only the ones that had classes with Flitwick, 'cause he seemed proud his spell worked."

You looked at Fred that looked frightened after Reyna said the password.

"Hm, Rey?" you called out your friend. "Could you get my things for me? I don't think someone is ready to walk in that place. Besides, it wouldn't be smart, considering how many times he has pranked the house."

Reyna agreed and disappeared inside the portrait.

"Thanks for that" he whispered after you both leaned over a wall.

"No problem," you replied, with a sad smile. "So... was eating with my kind that hard?"

"People don't bother you much, do they?" he retributed with a lopsided grin. "Is Reyna... your only friend?" he asked with apprehension.

Frowning, you tugged a lock of your hair. "Yes, I guess. It's not easy making friends in Slytherin when you're not a pure-blood, and you haven't vowed to kill everyone that represents a danger to your power," you explained, using hyperbole.

Fred avoided looking at your eyes. You thought he was feeling sorry for you, but, honestly, he just didn't know what to say. At his house, he was never alone, he grew up surrounded by friends, and once he arrived Hogwarts, it was no different, in part because most of his brothers were in school with him.

"Oh! Here you go," Reyna reappeared, giving your luggage back to you.

"Thanks, Rey"

Your friend looked back at Fred and you and kept doing that for some seconds. "What?" you whispered, letting your right hand closer to Fred's left and tilting your head towards her.

"Are you ok with this? Because you know... one owl to your parents and this would be over" she suggested, worried about you.

"It's just until October ends. I don't wanna bother mom with this, or cause a disagreement with Minerva."

Reyna relaxed her expression. Fred was pretending not to hear, staring at the ceiling. He agreed with you. It was just for a short period; after that, Fred would be free to join the Triwizard Tournament — how he was going to do it was yet to be determined — and to win the best prankster of Hogwarts bet. There was no need to worry Mr Weasley with something that he created himself.

The stares followed you two until you finally arrived at Gryfindor's common room, Fred was walking a bit slower due to your luggage on his hands. You looked at it, astonished. Full of squashy armchairs and tables, the common room was decorated in several shades of red, making quite welcoming and a polar opposite to Slytherin's one.

Some students were already inside, talking and playing games. Across where you stood, Harry and Ron did their homework.

Ron saw you as you walked in, but Harry seemed not to notice. Fred signalized for his brother to stay shut, so Ron didn't move, as he was planning to confront you.

"I guess you rather... go to my room?" Fred deduced. You shook your head in affirmation, relieved to leave a place with tons of Gryffindors staring at you, confused.

He was guiding you up the stairs, but he suddenly stopped when the whispered grew louder. He turned back but did not face you. He looked to his fellow housemates.

"McGonagall punished us, but it's no big deal. Get used to it. She'll be here for more than a month" then, he grabbed your hand and hushed you upstairs.

Once arriving at his room, you both burst into laughter, falling over his bed. "What was that?" you asked, between giggles.

"I would have to explain sooner or later, so I decided to do it quickly."

He smiled widely, closing his eyes for a second. You admired his humour — he was not like you, you'd never have the guts to do that. Guess that's why you weren't a Gryffindor.

"So... With who do you share a room?" you asked, finally looking around. The room had the same structure as yours — beds at every corner. Yet, it was coloured with shades of red and brown, while yours was with greens and greys.

"My brother, 'course. Lee, as well," he said, looking down to the left side of his bed, just like you were doing, "and Kenneth Towler."

The fact that both of you were staring the floor was because there was a mattress as if someone knew you would end up sleeping in his room.

Fred Weasley narrowed his eyes.

"I'll never understand Professor McGonagall's methods," he said, laying back at his pillow. You laughed at his relaxation.

The door sprung with George and Lee's entrance.

"So you two have been causing scenes all around the school?" George asked, sitting at the end of his bed, and Lee supported his back at the same bed.

You rolled your eyes, "not true."

"We just had some fun over their faces," Fred said, making his brother laugh.

"Well, thanks to us, everybody now knows the truth since you two were not worried to clarify," Lee Jordan said, taking his coat off and dropping at his bed. "I've told most of the students why you are stuck together."

"Most of them did not believe; they think you two are dating!" George commented, outraged.

You pulled your brows together in a frown. "That would make no sense! Who would allow us to walk to each other's classes and common rooms?"

"And that's why who invented that rumour was the Messed-Ups," Lee said, and you giggled with them, knowing now who the nickname referenced.

You four spend the night playing games, most of them mimic, what according to George was way wickeder with you — "Towler makes it much easier for Fred and me to win". Even though you broke the twins' duo, they didn't seem to matter. The first two rounds George and Lee managed to win, but you and Fred won the last three, making you the winners of the night.

When it was too late for you all to be awake — and after a complained from Kenneth who was trying to sleep — you decided it was time to go to bed.

"No, no, no" Fred protested when he noticed you were getting to the mattress on the floor. "Mom taught me well enough to never let a girl sleep on the floor. Especially when it's kind of my fault we're stuck together."

"It's my fault too," you replied, not very happy to take his bed.

"y/N, just take my bed," he said, in a harsh tone, "and tomorrow you won't be angry at me."

"Because of the bed? I would never be mad!"

"I didn't mean the bed, but yeah, come on, take it," he sighed, and you finally accepted it.

Fred's bed was way more comfortable than you were expecting, so it wasn't a problem sleeping on it. It did bother having to let your right arm fall on the floor so your wrist could remain close to Fred's, but you thought it was more painful for him.

The night ended up alright, with dreamless sleep, but you couldn't stop waking up in the middle of the night wondering why it was more of a party than a punishment.

PART 2

[riddlegecko]

i cannot think of anything good i apologise but perhaps just emma and anya Hanging Out?

Right so this made me remember a joke I've been wanting to post about Anya being Omega from the Sonic 06 real-time fandub, so this is going to be very stupid. Also, I've never smoked A Weed before, so this might be Completely Incorrect.

It had been a rather long day, for both Emma and Anya. On top of dealing with shitty customers all day, Hidgens had nearly set the lecture hall on fire during a rather... ambitious demonstration. And Anya? Well, she just had nothing to do today. Staying in Emma's apartment all alone wasn't particularly exciting. Though considering Emma's air of irritation when she arrived home, Anya decided it was probably best she didn't complain about her boredom.

The two hadn't made much conversation once Emma had returned home. Emma had simply thrown two Ramen cups in the microwave for the two roommates to feast on, turned on her laptop, and let Netflix play in the background while she poured over her college textbooks.

It wasn't until Emma had finished studying and lit up a very strange looking cigarette that Anya said anything of note.

"What's that?" she asked as Emma blew a puff of smoke from her mouth.

"Huh?" Emma huffed out as she looked to Anya, who simply gestured towards the lit bundle between her fingers. "Oh, this? It's a joint."

"A joint?" Anya echoed, unenlightened.

"Y'know," Emma said, waving the 'joint' around and sending trails of smoke flying through the apartment. "Like for weed?"

At Anya's befuddled silence, Emma's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Anya, do you not know what weed is?" she asked.

"I know what weeds are," Anya replied incredulously. "Are you smoking dandelions or some shit?"

Emma snorted before taking another puff of the joint. "No, it's not dandelions," she snickered, amused. "It's just something you smoke to take the edge off, y'know? Like cigarettes, but with more... flavor, I guess?"

"I guess that makes sense..." Anya muttered, standing up to go open a window, and possibly turn the ceiling fan on. If Emma was gonna be blowing smoke everywhere, then they had to get some fresh air in the place.

When Anya sat back down on the couch, Emma held the joint out for her. "You wanna take a hit?" she asked.

Anya eyed the smoking stick suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, if you don't wanna try it, I'm not gonna force you," Emma said with a shrug. "I just figured I'd let you give it a try."

After a moment of careful deliberation, Anya gave a shrug of her own. "Ah, what the hell?" she decided, taking the joint from Emma's hand. "I'll give it a shot."

"Alright, Anya!" Emma exclaimed, enthused. "Just a heads-up, the feeling takes a bit of getting used to, it might hurt a bit at first. Oh! And don't inhale too fa-"

Before Emma could finish giving her expert advice, Anya took a rather aggressive hit from the blunt. Emma shot up, expecting her double to go into an equally aggressive coughing fit. But instead, Anya simply exhaled the smoke from her mouth with a spaced out expression. She didn't say anything. Emma eyed her identical roommate with concern.

"Anya?" she piped up. "You okay, pal?"

It was at that moment that Anya's eyes suddenly widened. "Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

Anya continued to hold the syllable, her voice completely monotone. A disbelieving grin spread across Emma's face.

"What the fuck?" she asked in bemusement.

"-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

"Keep holding it, keep holding it!" Emma egged her double on, busting out into delighted laughter when she did, in fact, keep holding it. "Yes! Yes!"

"-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit," Anya finally finished, causing her roommate to double over with hysterical laughter, no pun intended. She looked over at Emma, and tilted her head to the side in bafflement at the sight of her pretend sister lying back on the futon as she howled with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I have never, in my entire life, seen somebody react to weed like that!" Emma cackled, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying and failing to compose herself. "Oh my god, I wish I'd been recording that!"

"Recording what?"

"I-it's nothing," Emma stammered out, still giggling despite her clear attempts to stop laughing. She took a deep breath, finally managing to calm herself down. "You can keep the joint, pal, you've earned it."

"Oh! Okay!" Anya complied with a very 'surprised, but not complaining' look on her face. She looked back down at the joint between her fingers with a curious glint in her eyes. "But seriously, what did I do?"

"Hopefully something that'll happen again..." Emma murmured in reply, subtly readying her phone's camera in hopes of capturing another one of her roommate's... unique responses to weed.

[thefantasygirl3]

Negaverse stories: Bushroot's backstory

Genre/warnings: Comedy, Slice of life, Action, Drama.

Word count: 3 581

Summary:  After the events of Darkwing Duck coming to the Negaverse and helping the now called “Darkwing Ducks” save st. Canard, the four heroes   decided to adopt the adorable little Gosalyn, buy a house and start a   life together. But the little duckling is curious over how all her dads became heroes to start with, so she asks them to tell her that story.

Notes:  The third story out of four, featuring the friendly four. I almost forgot to upload it here, but here it is. Only one more to go. Link  to other parts of the story: 1 - Megavolt. 2 - Quackerjack. 4 - Liquidator.

It was 9:00 am in st. Canard. Most kids were busy in school, learning their ABCs and 123s. Emphasis on "most". In the Darkwing ducks' household, the little duckling Gosalyn was laying in bed with an ice pack on her head. She had gotten sick that morning and her parents had made her stay home, which she thought stunk! What is she going to do when she's stuck in bed? While she's laying like a sack of sneezing potatoes in bed, all her friends are having fun at school, playing with their new dolls and talking about their pets. She wanted to hang out with all the other kids! But at least she wasn't completely alone, not only was Bushroot home, as he was a stay-at-home-dad, but Quackerjack also left Mr. Banana brain to keep her company while her papa was busy.

She let out a big, bored sigh and sank more into her bed, almost disappearing in the covers. But then she heard something from outside her window, making her push herself up with a groan and head over to take a peek. And outside she saw her papa, Bushroot, kneeled down by his garden and tending to the pretty little flowers, yet to bloom while he hummed happily. His fly trap was helping him by carrying the watering can for him. One of the buds started to make strange little noises before it burst out crying like a child. He gasped softly and bent down to give the baby bud soothing pats to calm it down. "Shhhh. Don't cry, my widdle baby! It's ok! Shhhh… it's ok. Go back to sleep. Papa's here" he whispered in a baby voice to the bud as it stopped crying.

Gosalyn puffed up her cheeks grumpily and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her papa acting like that to one of his mutated flowers. Always doting on them like babies. He never treated her like that! Was she getting jealous of flowers? Yes! Yes she was!

She walked over to the door to head out into the garden, but was interrupted as she let out a big, loud sneeze. She snivled and rubbed her beak of snot while glancing back at the bed, where Banana brain was looking over at her while lying lazily on the bed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just going outside" she told him with a stuffy nose before she sniffed a bit and continued towards the stairs. 

As she was half way down the stairs, she spotted the plant man starting to hurry inside and soon thereafter spotted the sick little girl dragging herself down from her room. "Oh nonono!" he shouted surprised as he ran over towards her and stopped her at the end of the stairwell. "Chickpea! You shouldn't be walking around! You should be trying to sleep the sickness off!" the nervous duck man started to gently usher her up the stairs, until he noticed her grumpy face and came to a stop.

"Hun? What's the matter? You don't look happy" he muttered concerned and crouched down to be on her level. "... I was lonely" she mumbled and lowered her head, getting red cheeks from the feeling of embarrassment. The plant let out a big sigh and stood up so he could walk over towards the couch. Gosalyn, without a word, followed after him and crawled up beside him. "Dandelion, you need to rest. But if you're feeling lonely, I guess I can sit with you for a while. So… what did you want to do?" He asked while reaching an arm out to wrap around her and pull her in closer. "... can you… tell me about when you became a hero?" She muttered weakly and looked up at him with a pair of puppy eyes. "Ah… so it's my turn now? I… guess it was inevitable. Very well… I can't say no to you when you make those eyes" he let out a soft chuckle before giving his daughter a smile and giving her a gentle hug.

Before I became… this, I used to be the head scientist in a food lab. We would find the best, cheapest ways to make our food. But I was… let's just say rebellious and used the lab to make my own interesting food experiments. See I wasn't exactly cooperative, I would bully the scientists beneath me to get my way and I'd use all of the equipment to do my own things. I'd even manipulate and bully my boss so I had him in my grasp as well. There was only one person I couldn't push around in the workplace and that was ms. Rhoda Dendron. 

Rhoda… she was… beautiful. She was smart and headstrong, an amazing addition to our little lab team. She'd treat me so coldly and would not give me the time of day at all. And I was crazy over her. She was so confident, I just couldn't help but fall head over heels in love with this feisty woman. But she absolutely despised me. She saw me as a jerk who disrespected everyone and didn't mind using others for my own self gain. And… she was kind of right. I'd be so nice and romantic to her, but she couldn't care less.

"What? Why would you like someone who doesn't like you?" Gosalyn asked confused as she nuzzled into her papa's side, glancing up at him slightly. Bushroot blushed up lightly and looked away from her, a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead. "Um… well… she was… you know! She was pretty! And confident!" He tried to excuse himself while getting progressively redder. "Eh. It's fine. Love is weird. Please keep going" she told him softly as she dismissed the question as fast as she had asked it.

Anyways. One day, I was working in the lab, ordering around the other two scientists to do my work for me while I was investigating the growth of my lovely little plants. They were rushing around with hamburgers or something, doing whatever it was we were trying to do at the time. I honestly can't remember. But then, suddenly, one of the guys ran into me and spilled ketchup all over my plant. I gasped in shock and turned to him, face covered in rage. "You MORONS!" I yelled "Can't you watch where you're going?! You might just have ruined my experiment!". The other man ran over and helped his friend up, looking at me while apologizing. "Why I OUGHTA-" as I was just threatening them, I heard the door open and I looked up to see Rhoda enter. I was immediately smitten and I reached out to pull up the scared scientist I had just raised my hand to, finishing my sentence with "Help you up, you poor man!". 

She simply gave me the dirtiest look and turned her head away, walking straight past me without any acknowledgement. I just watched her walk past and ignore me, throwing my labmates to the floor in frustration. As soon as I did, the door opened again and my boss came in. He looked over at me with a big grin. "Ah! Mr. Bushroot sir! It's great to see how far you've gotten on today's assignment! I really am lucky to have you on the team!" He kept praising me, like always. I just huffed at him and went back to clean my plant off. "It's really those two you should be thanking! Reginald was probably playing with his flowers the whole time!" Rhoda scoffed as she took out her lab notes and pens, glaring back at me like I was the scum of the earth. My boss turned to her with a gasp and stormed over with an angry look. "Ms. Dendron! We don't make such harsh, unfounded statements towards our labmates! Plus, he wasn't the one who came late today, now was he?" He scolded her while she simply rolled her eyes and looked at him irritated. "And because of your tardiness, I will be forced to cut your pay!" He added on, finally earning a reaction out of her. "What?! How dare you?!" She barked in shock. 

I shot up straight as I heard that, realizing I could do something that I thought would be sure to make her like me. "Um, actually! I asked her to get me some documents that I really needed! That's why she came in a little late. Those documents were very important" I told my boss calmly while I slid up beside him, giving Rhoda a smug grin and a raise of my eyebrows. She frowned grumpily at me. "Oh! Very well then! Sorry for the confusion! Carry on!" My boss told the two of us before he left the room. I turned to Rhoda to smile at her, but she just turned away from me and huffed angrily. "Thanks, but I don't need your pity! I'd rather be fired!" She growled at me before storming off to her papers again. I was left standing there, sour and annoyed. I just stared and muttered under my breath "I will impress you… you'll see. I'll be amazing the next time you see me".

That evening I went back to my green house where I conducted most of my experiments. I was determined to show Rhoda what she was missing out on, so I had decided to put my most ambitious project into play. I had been working on a way for people to survive on only water and sunlight, just like plants do. If I could somehow combine a plant's DNA with a person's physical form then I was sure I would be on the front of every magazine and newspaper. But most importantly, Rhoda would be so impressed that she'd fall in love with me instantly. At least that's what I thought at the time. So I set up the machine, connecting a simple house plant to one end and getting myself ready for the other end. But before I started, I had set up a camera to film my achievement and I had just pressed record and started talking to the camera. "Attempt number 14, time 6:42 pm. Date- wait. The recording lists the date. He he! Well I have finalized all the components of the photosynthesis converter and I believe now is the perfect time to try it out on a living subject. And that will be me! Thank me later for making you famous, future me! Oh! And if I die and you find this tape, Rhoda, I want to say that I love you and that you deserve my position in the lab. I formally give it to her if this is seen after my death. Alright! Let's begin!" I finished my statement and ran over to the lab table so I could lay down on it. I hooked myself up and started the process, watching myself and the plant get raised up from the ground.

Everything became blurry after that. I barely remember anything until a while after I had woken up. I must have stumbled around in a daze for a while until I regained my composure. When I did, I was laying on a big leaf, as if it had caught my fall. My head was spinning and pounding, making my vision all white. When everything in my lab started fading into view, I finally sat up and rubbed my head, groaning and whining. Then I heard the sound of a gasp, catching my attention. I looked up and saw none other than my love herself, Rhoda, staring at me in absolute horror before letting out a blood curdling scream. I screamed too and shot up from the leaf. "Ms. Dendron! Wh-what are you doing-?!" Before I could finish, she grabbed a nearby broom and started hitting me with it. I yelped in pain at her hits and started to back away from her, backing up into a window where I saw a frightening sight.

I was a plant. I had turned myself into a duck-plant-mutant, green with a head full of petals. I was shocked, until I got another whack by the broom. I turned around to her and pleaded "W-wait! Rhoda! I-i-it's me! Reginald Bushroot!". She stopped hitting me and stared surprised. "Mr. Bushroot?!?" She asked in disbelief as I let out a sigh of relief. She then smacked me again, even though she just realized it was me. "H-hey! Stop! Stop hitting me! I'm not a monster! H-h-help! HELP ME!!!" I yelled and begged as she kept hitting me, until she stopped all of a sudden and screamed in fear. I looked up and saw one of my plants had grabbed a hold of her arm and was pulling her away from me, as if it was trying to save me. Instinctively, I ran over and grabbed her other arm, yelling "No! Let go of her! Don't hurt her!". And it did exactly that, releasing her and pulling back. We were both left in stunned silence, until Rhoda broke it with "you… can talk to plants now?!". "No… no! I never meant for this to happen! I was supposed to photosynthesize! I was going to eat like a plant, not be one! I'm going to be INFAMOUS Now! I'll be some sort of freak of nature, literally! It's awful! It's horrible! It's-!" I kept rambling and pacing back and forth, starting to panic over what an awful failure this experiment was. 

"Amazing! You're a super duck! You can make plants do what you want! That's so impressive!" She suddenly interrupted me, making me stiffen up in surprise. "It… is?" I muttered, clearly having this flattered grin on my face, judging by the sudden thoughtful grin that she got. "Oh… of course it is! Reggie! This is so cool! If I knew you could do something like this… why I'm just sorry for how I've acted!" Rhoda said in this sugar sweet voice, tilting towards me and giving me these big pretty eyes. I just blushed up and felt my body start to shake, like there was an assault of butterflies in my stomach. "R-re-r-reggie…?" I could only utter before I collapsed backwards, getting caught by the branches of a tree behind me before I hit the ground. "Oh you're so silly, Reggie. It's kinda cute" she commented with a small giggle.

Me and Rhoda had moved toward the front door of the greenhouse while I explained to her what happened. She interrupted me somewhere near the end by putting a finger to my beak. "No need to explain more. Why don't we go outside and try those powers out, huh?" She suggested as we headed out through the door and stood outside. I felt a little nervous as I removed her hand and smiled nervously. "Um… I'm not sure I should do that. What if someone sees me? I'll be taken away!" I told her, looking around nervously to make sure no one was around. Rhoda leaned over and grabbed my arm, whispering softly "do it for me". I just gulped and walked past her, looking around for something to do to impress her. I saw a few pretty flowers bit away and thought they would do nicely. '"Alright! How about you show me some fun tricks, cuties?" I asked kindly, watching as the flowers grew up taller and twisted around each other delicately. I watched with this big smile on my face, until they suddenly reached out to grab the nearby bench and threw it into a lamp post. "Oh no! Don't do that!" I gasped and tried to pull the flowers back while the lamp post collapsed at the middle and came crashing down beside me. Those tiny flowers sure were strong! Rhoda just watched me, mumbling something, sounding very impressed by what just happened.

"I'm sorry Rhoda! I didn't Think they would get so violent. Maybe I am just a monster now! I make plants come to life and attack people!" I started panicking as me and her were heading back inside. "Oh you're being silly, Reggie! Maybe… they just misunderstood you! Or wanted… to impress you? Who cares anyways? What you did was really amazing! Imagine what you could do with these powers. You could rule the whole city. With your… girlfriend by your side?" she told me as she hung onto my shoulders and gave me this sensual look. I just stared at her, not able to enjoy the moment after her mentioning the ruling the city thing. I just removed her arms and backed up a bit. "Ha ha! Funny joke!" I just said while still backing away. "No! I'm serious! You and I could finally make a mark on history! Who cares about science anymore!? We could be more than scientists! Reggie!" She insisted as she started to approach me more, this devilish smile on her face. "Uuuh! R-rhoda! I think you're misunderstanding me! I'm not an evil scientist! I just want to experiment with plants!" I insisted as I backed up faster, a big leaf coming down to help hide me since I was clearly scared. 

"Ugh! What's wrong with you, Bushroot?! Why are you such a coward?! You weren't acting like this in the lab! Guess I finally see who you really are, a loser! You have this fantastic opportunity and you're not taking it!" Rhoda suddenly started yelling at me as she swatted the leaf out of the way and stomped closer, causing me to fall backwards and crawl back towards my lab area. I grabbed the machine that mutated me and used it to pull myself up off the floor, looking at the angry woman horrified. Her attention was pulled towards the machine and her scowl turned to a light frown. "Well if you're not using these powers, then I will" she growled and ran to connect herself to the machine. But I grabbed her with my vine arms and threw her back away from it. "No! I'm not letting this happen to anyone else! I'M NOT CREATING ANOTHER MONSTER! THIS MACHINE WILL NEVER BE ACTIVATED AGAIN! EVER!!!" I started screaming as I turned around to face the machine. "PLANTS! DESTROY IT!!!" I demanded with a stomp, watching as the biggest plant in the room reached down to grab a hold of the whole appliance, ripping it off of it's wires. "NO!!!" Rhoda screamed and grabbed the emergency axe, swinging it at the tall flora and making it drop the apparatus back down. It broke open in a huge explosion, knocking me out cold.

I don't remember much after that. I was out for quite some time. I just remember my consciousness fading in and out as I was trapped under the debris. At one point, I could hear faint talking, yelling, as if there were people trying to put out the fire I assume was going on around me. Then my sight faded back in when I was free from the collapsed greenhouse. I was watching it grow further and further away as I was seemingly being carried away by someone wearing rather colorful clothes. When I finally woke up completely, I was staring at an unfamiliar roof, laying on a mattress, bandaged up and treated. I sat up and saw these two people in weird outfits sitting nearby, sighing in relief as they saw me awake. "Hey! You're ok!" The duck in the jester outfit cheered and smiled brightly at me. I completely ignored him and said the first thing on my mind. "My lab… what happened to…?" Before I could finish, the look on the rat's face told me everything I needed to know. It was all gone. My life work was gone. My eyes filled with tears and I just cried quietly. "H-hey! Not everything burned! This little guy made it!" The rat then said as he ushered over this adorable venus fly trap to me, which licked my face and nuzzled me gently. I just cried and hugged onto him tightly, letting the tears just flow as I began to sob uncontrollably. The rat and duck moved closer to me and tried to comfort me the best they could. I was crying like a baby for quite some time.

"After that… the guys took care of me until I was back on my feet. When I was, I told them my story and they offered to let me join them and help them fight crime. So that's what I did. And now I'm here" Bushroot finished his story and smiled down at his kid, who was half asleep in his lap, cuddling up to him. "So she didn't really like you… that's awful" She commented and let out a yawn. "It was… the biggest heartbreak of my life. I was never able to feel attracted to another woman after that. But I did find love… in my wonderful family!" He sighed as he hugged onto her gently and patted her head. Gosalyn smiled brightly and closed her eyes, muttering "I love you, papa". "I love you too" Bushroot responded with a huge grin, picking her up to head off to bed. Spike the fly trap took a peek out of curiosity, making the duck hush him softly. "Shhh. Let the angel sleep" he whispered before carrying her off to her room, Spike close behind.

[inkrabbit]

Even if I Die Tonight - Snippet

I have 2 other snippets I've worked on, but I'm deciding to post this one. Maybe I'll post the others, maybe not. They might not be the same when I actually get to them in the story, but this is the idea/premise I have for it now.

Summary: This takes place right after Dan loses a fight with a stronger criminal, only to be saved by Richard.

Word count: 1,727

@rentheisopod @kukukape @luciewarrenx3

He's out of breath, clothes sticking to his body. The old fire inside of him is slowly going out and he's so tempted to just give up right here. The laughter that was once so faint is right behind him, heavy footsteps walking around so the man stands before him, clicking his tongue.

“Aw, poor little Irish,” The blade of the ax comes to rest on his shoulder, and a chill crawls up his spine. He feels the man trail it over his jacket, the tip making contact with the base of his neck before sliding it up and trailing through his hair. He can't respond, too exhausted to form the words. Moving the ax so it's back to resting on his shoulder, Vincent crouches down, smiling at him. “You really are stupid, ain't ya? Followed her around blindly. Didn't even check to see if you were her bait.”

He doesn't want to hear him anymore. His eyes slip shut, and he tries to focus on anything other than the weapon that's still close by his neck. He tries to think of the group, his family, his little brother. But it only scares him more. What would happen to all of them? He was sure DedSec would continue on, but he couldn't imagine how his family would react. He was terrified of leaving Sam alone.

“Look at me!” The command is enough to bring him back to reality, and he winces when Vincent grabs his face, forcing him to look up. The man is looking him over, a wicked grin on his face. “Ya know, I think red is your color.”

He gathers the blood in his mouth, spitting it into the criminal's face. It's enough to make him recoil, releasing his grasp and shoving him back. The wind is knocked out of him when his back makes contact with the floor, and the lights hanging above are blinding. He supposed this was it, hearing Vincent let out a string of insults. The ax scrapes against the ground, and his heart picks up when he doesn't hear it anymore. Tired hazel eyes stare up at the man, weapon resting against his shoulder as he towers over him. It's when he hears that familiar click in the distance that hope surges through him.

“Ya should've saw the warning signs,” Vincent sneers, readying himself to strike. With the last of his strength, Dan forces himself to turn at the last second, the ax coming down with a force that shakes the surrounding ground, implanting itself in the floor and he can't help but flinch violently. Vincent's low growl is cut off by the sharp sound of Rabbit's old rifle, and he hears the bullet rip through the man. Another shot rings out, and when he hears the man finally fall to the ground, he lets out a shaky breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. Still, he can't bring himself to roll back over or even get up. He feels so weak, and it looks like his vision is getting darker.

He perks up at the sound of footsteps, hissing when a hand grips his shoulder and rolls him onto his back. Richard towers over him, the rifle slung over his shoulder as he admires the cuts and gashes that decorate his body. A scoff escapes his lips.

“Look at you,” he sighs, kneeling beside him as he starts to undo his tie. “Even with eight years of military training, you let some brute get the better of you. I would've expected more from someone who excelled in hand-to-hand combat.”

Dan rolls his eyes, pushing the man back and groaning as he uses the last of his strength to sit up. It's a lot harder than he thought it would be, his body throbbing and on fire. If it wasn't for Richard gently pushing his upper back, he wouldn't have made it. The tie is wrapped around his bicep, covering the deep gash he had received from the ax catching him.

“Yes, I've read over your file,” he continues, “Why exactly did you assault your lieutenant?”

“'Cause he was a cunt?” His reply is bitter and snappy, the memories of his lieutenant being enough to reignite that fire inside of him and give him the extra strength he needed to finally stand up. Richard helps him still, pulling his arm so it's around his shoulders as he hooks his own arm around his waist. “Used to get off on kickin' around the homeless. One day, I just... snapped.”

“Nearly killed him, too,” he adds on. They're slowly starting to walk out of the compound, Richard stopping anytime the man needed a moment to collect himself. Once past the high brick walls, they finally stop. Dan leans against the wall, sliding down and sitting on the ground. He feels exhausted, his eyes starting to droop. Richard moves beside him, crouching down and sitting on the balls of his shoes.

“Bastard would've deserved it,” Dan breathes out, staring absentmindedly at the treeline before them. “Thought I had killed him, when someone managed to pull me off. Couldn't recognize the fucker's face when I was done.”

Silence falls between them for a bit, and it's enough to coax Dan into letting his eyes slip shut. The cool breeze sends a shiver up his spine, washing over the blood that's drying against his skin. Hearing the leaves rustle in the distance, it's all so calming. He's so tired, and the peacefulness of the world around them is enough to lull him into slumber.

“Come on,” Richard's firm tone is enough to bring him back to reality, the man once more helping him up and forcing him to walk. He blinks his eyes open a few times, lids heavy and sticky from the blood that's covered his face. “What was your home life like?”

“Me home life?” he repeats, glancing over to look at him. “With me family and all that shite?”

“Yes, your family,” Ah, he knows what he's doing now. A small smile spreads across his face, letting out a soft chuckle. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Little brother, Sam,” he confesses, “Haven't talked to him much after... well-”

“I understand,” He seems to know what he's trying to describe, and he notes how the man's lips purse in disgust. “What about your parents?”

“Hate me da,” Dan grumbles, his own smile falling at the thought of the man. “Always fought with him. Heh, he used to put cigarettes out on me when I was a kid. Didn't stop until I got old enough to fight back.”

“Christ. No wonder you're the way you are,” Maybe he was right. It was no secret to Dan that his childhood wasn't the most joyful. He had often found himself hiding away in his room when he was younger, desperate to escape his father's wrath. “Suppose we're just... different people. I had my fair share of abuse as a child myself.”

“Oh?” Now this was a surprise. Dan always assumed Richard had the perfect little family everyone dreams of. The white picket fence and the loving, doting parents that you find in those cliché movies.

“My mother was... well, she left much to be desired,” he grumbles, those dark eyes cast down to the ground as they walk down the path. How far were they exactly from London? Maybe a five minute walk? Would he last until then? “My father died when I was fourteen, and she just got worse. Always made me feel like I wasn't enough, so I studied more to prove her wrong. Deprived myself of a social life in order to graduate with honors.”

“At least ya did better than me,” he laughs. The talking actually helps. He's able to focus on something other than the searing pain that's coursing through his body. “Dunno how I graduated. Would go out every night, just to get away from me da. Got in so much trouble.”

“What was Ireland like?” A soft hum reverberates in his throat as he thinks.

“Beautiful,” he breathes, “Me brother and I used to go hiking a few times a week. Swim in the lake nearby, anything to get out of the house. Used to stay out all night.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Yeah, every day. But... London needs me.”

“You seem very ambitious to help the city.”

“'Course. You've seen all the shite that's going on.”

“Yes, I have. And I know we have very differing views.”

He can hear the ambiance of the city now, that familiarity washing over him. He focuses on keeping his eyes open as he walks, listening to the soft bustling of London that slowly grows louder as they get closer. All he wants is to go home, lay down and fall asleep. But with how Richard keeps jerking him around here and there, he assumes he won't be able to rest anytime soon.

“I suppose we're even now. My life for yours and all that,” Richard finally says softly, “Though, I do suppose I did more work than you. Got my hands dirty and killed a man, whereas you just opened my cell.”

“Ah, shut it, Rich,” He didn't want to hear that snide attitude as the man led him back into the city. A soft chuckle rings out, but it doesn't last long before it's cut off abruptly.

“That's... the first time you've used my name,” Had it been? He supposed he was right. He hadn't spoken much to the man, and he had even referred to him by his last name when he unlocked the cell in the safehouse. A soft huff escapes Dan's lips.

“Well, guess we're on first name basis now,” he jokes. It's getting harder to stay awake now, and he's stumbling here and there. He can feel Richard pull at him, trying to keep him upright, grumbling softly. Was it about how heavy he was getting? Even if he wanted to know, he can't ask. His knees buckle beneath him and he falls forward, feeling his arm slip away from the man's shoulders. The world around him goes black as he hits the sidewalk.