#if its not clear I love Poison Ivy and I just put an entire other post in the tags lol

[sparkling12]

I'm curious, in general do we prefer Poison Ivy with Green Skin or Nah?

oh reblog for more responses please lol

[peanutbutterjelly-pie]

The Thing About Poison Ivy

Summary: Castiel doesn't know what poison ivy looks like and Dean has to endure the consequences.

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 2k

[read on ao3]

+

The thing is, Castiel loves nature.

He prefers to be outdoors, explore all the hidden nooks, and just enjoy the greenery around him. Especially with some birds singing in the trees and bees buzzing through the air.

However, the other thing is, he knows nothing about nature.

He constantly appreciates its beauty, of course, but he can't name one single plant or flower to save his life. Not even the most common examples spur any kind of recognition in him.

And that is where the problem begins.

---

Castiel has been sitting in this meeting for about half an hour and he finds himself absolutely unable to concentrate on anything.

He knows he should, as head of the Accounting Department he is, without any doubt, supposed to be well ahead of the quarterly numbers, but this time around the voices in the room just melt into some incoherent white noise in his head. The people present could actually plan his murder just about now and Castiel would have been none the wiser.

No, his entire attention is focused on his hands.

His hands, which are red and itchy and are slowly driving him insane.

He noticed it first this morning and instantly put some lotion on it. Usually this is more than effective, that specific brand a constant in his life for a very long time now. He's never had any troubles with it before.

But now it proves to be inefficient in the most spectacular way.

Castiel bites on his bottom lip while he rubs his hands against each other to give them some much needed friction. He's well aware that you shouldn't agitate a rash like that, but it's either this or smacking his forehead repeatedly against the hard mahogany table in front of him.

“… you alright, Castiel?” eventually a voice right next to him penetrates his consciousness.

Castiel blinks and glances upwards, only to see himself confronted with everyone staring at him. By the looks on their faces it's fair to assume they have been trying to coax Castiel's attention for some time now, quite unsuccessfully until this very moment.

Castiel can't help getting a little flustered at all the eyes peering at him expectantly. “Um …”

“Are you okay, Castiel?” his coworker Anna, sitting on the chair beside him, repeats her question, clear concern in her tone.

“Yes, yes,” Castiel hurries to reassure them. “I just – it appears I'm suffering from an irritating rash and it's a bit distracting, I apologize –”

Anna just waves him off, a soft smile on her face, while Balthazar right across from him eyes Castiel's hands skeptically.

“You're from Russia, aren't you?” he wonders.

Castiel simply frowns at him, not sure what this has to do with the issue at hand. “Uh, yes?”

Balthazar leans closer. “Do you have any idea what poison ivy looks like?”

As the rest of the attendees immediately start to mutter with each other, nodding their heads as though they're suddenly understanding everything, Castiel just presses his lips into a thin line.

Poison ivy?

Well, that surely sounds bad.

“You've been on a camping trip with your boyfriend this weekend, right?” Balthazar asks.

Fiancé, Castiel wants to correct him on instinct, but in the last second is able to refrain himself.

It's a new thing, Dean having proposed to him just a day ago, early in the morning next to the wonderful lake they had been staying for that extended weekend, and so far they haven't even told their families yet. Castiel certainly needs to reveal this new status of his relationship to his own parents first before blurting it out in front of his colleagues.

Either way, that's not the most important issue right now.

“You think …?” Castiel stares down at his flamingly red hands.

“I guess you touched something you shouldn't have touched,” Anna says with sympathy. “Poison ivy can be a bitch like that.”

Castiel grimaces. “Is it bad?” he wonders. “Because it does sound bad –”

Balthazar chuckles. “Don't worry, you won't die or anything. Your hands aren't gonna fall off either.”

“There are some remedies and ointments,” Anna explains. “And in severe cases steroids. But from the looks of it I don't think that's gonna be necessary for you.”

“Why don't you cut the meeting short for today and pay your cute doctor boyfriend a visit?” Balthazar proposes, once again that specific smirk on his lips he always wears when he's mentioning Dean. “I'm sure he'll help you out.”

He adds a wink to that, for good measure.

Castiel responds with an eye roll before turning back towards Anna. “So it's really not bad?”

“Well,” she mumbles. “Depends what you touched after picking up the poison ivy.”

Castiel's mind automatically switches back to the moment.

How he gathered a bunch of nice looking flowers and plants from that beautiful meadow, not having a care in the world. And how he ended up distracted soon afterwards by Dean climbing out of the lake, all wet and so very naked …

One thing led to another …

Castiel's eyes abruptly widen in shock at the memory.

Oh shit!

---

Dean is not having a good day.

It started with his alarm clock somehow failing to wake him up properly which naturally ended up with him having to rush to work in a hurry, ignoring speed limits and eventually, annoyingly rightfully so, getting pulled over by the police for his offense.

So in the end he arrived late at work, found his desk almost drowning in paperwork because people apparently believed his just punishment for taking a few days of vacation would be an extensive amount of bureaucracy, and didn't even manage to get a hold of a decent cup of coffee before he was ambushed from all sides.

That's been two hours ago and Dean is just miserable.

Currently he's leading a group of people through the cardiology department and he's got no real idea whether they're students or interns or actual doctors, but Dean doesn't give a damn at this point. He just distributes assignments at random and hopes that nobody will die till the end of his shift.

Fuck it, he's tired and hungry and his private area has been itching like crazy since this morning because apparently he's suddenly allergic to their laundry detergent or whatever.

Yeah, Dean is nothaving a good day.

It brightens immensely, however, when he suddenly spots Cas in the hallway sprinting into his direction. In the back of his mind Dean knows that Cas is actually supposed to be in some super important meeting right now, but he is way too happy to see him to dwell on this for long.

“Cas,” he says cheerfully as his fiancé stops in front of him. “Nice of you to stop by.”

Dean would have loved to pull him into his arms and give him a proper kiss or preferably even a sinful make-out session, but they're standing close to his boss's office and the last thing he needs today is a write up for indecent behavior in the workplace.

Furthermore, Cas actually doesn't look like he's in any mood to get all hot and bothered now. On the contrary, his face is a grimace of guilt and despair.

Dean's heart misses a beat at that sight.

“Shit, you okay?”

Cas takes a deep breath, obviously more than reluctant to go on. “Let me start with an apology, Dean,” he says. “Because I'm truly sorry. I just didn't know –”

Dean certainly doesn't like the sound of that. “What happened?”

Cas starts to squirm right there on the spot. It's more than obvious that he'd rather be anywhere else but here and that's clearly more than unusual. Normally he loves to be in Dean's company (and the feeling is absolutely mutual). Now, however, he seems like he just wants to run and never return.

“In my defense, I'm Russian,” Cas states.

Which explains … nothing.

“Uh … I know?” Dean says, not really sure what kind of reaction Cas is expecting to this non-news.

“And there isn't such a thing as poison ivy where I grew up,” Cas defends himself. “Though, to be fair, I'm simply bad with nature, I probably wouldn't even have been able to name it if I would have lived next to it all my life –”

“Cas, sweetheart,” Dean hastily cuts in, sensing a long rant coming his way. “Just tell me what the problem is?”

“We were camping,” Cas says, like he thinks Dean might've already forgotten. “And I have no idea what poison ivy looks like.”

He glances at his own hands which appear weirdly red, now that Dean is paying attention to them.

And then Cas glances at Dean's groin area.

Dean blinks.

Looks at Cas.

At the hands.

At his own crotch.

Repeats it all over again.

While the wheels in his head are turning and turning and turning …

And then the itch starts again, this time worse than before …

Oh … damn …

“Are you kiddingme??”

---

They retreat to an empty examination room and Dean doesn't hesitate to open the waistband of his pants and take a peek inside.

And yep …

There is redness and freaking blisters –

“Oh fuck,” he curses. “Jesus Christ!”

“Let me take a look,” Cas demands, already grabbing for Dean's waistband.

Dean, however, takes a step back. “Oh no, dude, forget it! Don't you think you have done enough?”

Cas pouts. “Dean …”

“What were you even thinking?” Dean grumbles.

Cas sighs. “I just wanted to make a wildflower bouquet.”

Dean rolls his eyes. And at the same time he's so obnoxiously endeared he wants to scream.

“My coworkers told me it's not that bad …” Cas tries.

“Yeah, for your hands,” Dean points out. “But my dick looks like an alien right now.”

For a second it seems like Cas is about to grasp for the waistband again, but eventually he walks backwards, towards the door. “I'm getting you a doctor.”

“I am a doctor!” Dean reminds him.

“A cardiologist,” Cas states. “Besides, we should let someone else take a look.”

“No, Cas, wait –”

But it's too late, Cas is already gone.

Only to return sometime later with Charlie in tow. She has been working in the emergency room since forever and they've been friends since that moment five years ago when Dean had been called to a patient with cardiac arrest right there in the parking lot in his very first week and Charlie helped him not to freak out. They went for a beer afterwards and the rest is history.

“Okay, what's going on?” Charlie wonders. “Your boyfriend told me to look at your penis and I'm not really sure what to make of that.”

“Fiancé,” Dean corrects automatically.

And then winces when Cas stares at him accusatorily.

Charlie, meanwhile, freezes right there on the spot. “Wait, really?”

She stares at them with wide eyes for a moment and then squeals happily, pulling Cas right next to her into a crushing embrace.

“Oh my God, I'm so happy for you, guys!” she exclaims, apparently only milliseconds away from breaking into a dorky celebration dance. “I always knew you were meant to be – so how did it happen? Who popped the question? Where –?”

“Charlie,” Cas interrupts. “Dean's penis is an alien right now. How about we focus on that at first?”

Charlie stops her gleeful rambling to stare at them in confusion again. “Okay – what?”

Dean sighs. “As you know we went camping this weekend. And well, apparently Cas doesn't know what poison ivy looks like …”

He gestures at his crotch.

And thankfully Charlie seems to connect the dots rather quickly. “Oh. Oh.”

She glances back and forth between them.

Before breaking into hysterical laughter.

“Oh man, that's sogonna end up in my toast for the wedding!” she announces happily. “This is wonderful –”

“What about doctor-patient confidentiality?” Dean reminds her with a scoff.

“Well, so far nobody has officially asked me if I could be your doctor for this very special case,” Charlie points out. “So right now we're just a bunch of friends talking with each other.”

Dean rolls his eyes.

Great.

“How about you put your training to good use and help me?” he asks through gritted teeth.

Charlie claps her hands joyfully. “Then let's take care of your little problem!”

“It's actually not that little –”

“Hush, you stupid man, and let me do my job.”

---

After a thorough and very awkward examination (at least awkward for Dean – Charlie seems to have the time of her life) Charlie prescribes him some meds and gives him further instructions about how to proceed before she leaves the room to hurry to the pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Dean pulls his pants back up and sighs as he looks over to Cas who's been standing in the corner the whole time, looking extra guilty.

And Dean just can't stand to see him that way.

He beckons Cas to come closer and after some hesitation the man seems unable to resist.

“Aw, c'mon, don't feel bad,” Dean says soothingly while slowly pulling Cas into his arms. “It's not like you've done it on purpose or something.”

“But still, without me –” Cas begins.

“Without you that camping trip would've been no fun at all,” Dean cut him off with the truth. “And it's really not that bad, okay? You know me, I can be a little drama queen sometimes.”

The corners of Cas' lips tug upwards tentatively. “Well, there is no arguing that –”

Dean pretends to be insulted for all of 0.002 seconds before he leans in for a soft peck. “Love ya, weirdo.”

He brushes gently over Cas' finger, right where his engagement ring sat all of yesterday. Dean had been so stupidly happy to see it there it nearly drove him nuts.

“You should put your ring on,” he says, the memory way too good to let it stay just a memory for long.

Cas, however, pulls a face. “My hands are red and swollen right now.”

“Well, after you're better,” Dean clarifies. “Just – I wanna shout it from the rooftops. Show you off to everyone.”

This time Cas seems to be on board because he grins brightly and presses a sensual kiss onto Dean's lips.

And Dean is reminded once more that he's the luckiest guy alive.

Even with his alien penis.

[spencers-renaissance]

my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Summary: Emily leaves. Her heart is breaking. JJ follows. Hers is waking up.

Tags: angst with a happy ending, fluff, mutual pining, crying, first kiss, around s7, no henry 

Pairing: Emily Prentiss x Jennifer Jareau

Word Count: 1.3k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

Emily’s heart hurts.

She’d made the decision a little over a week ago and given her notice to Hotch before she could rethink it. This is the right thing to do, as painful as it is. Poison ivy has been wrapping itself around her heart for the last six years, slowly constricting as it squeezes all the life out of her, her old self bleeding out as she falls deeper and deeper in love with Jennifer Jareau.

JJ is happy; Emily is not. It’s as simple as knowing that she can’t turn up at work every day and feel herself break a little more. The worst part is that she loves her with all the tiny shattered pieces of her bleeding heart, and the longer it goes on, the more convinced she is that she will only continue to wade deeper into the weighty ocean of heartache she’s already close to drowning under.

She’d asked Hotch to keep it quiet: she has no intention of telling a soul. She doesn’t know how to. How do you leave the only family you’ve ever known without losing the last few shreds of happiness, of sanity you have left? Emily has no idea, but she knows that a long, drawn out, teary goodbye is not the answer.

So. She works her last case. She leaves. She flies to London, then to Manchester. She doesn’t intend on ever coming back.

⭐️

JJ is furious. The kind of wet, blazing anger that sears your lungs when it’s fuelled by hot, grief-filled misery. How dare Emily leave her like that?

She can’t stop crying: she tears up on the jet when she sits across from Emily’s usual seat, she cries in the toilets when anyone mentions her name, she sobs in bed at night, thinking of their drunken sleepovers and the feeling of Emily’s hand in hers. A curious thought forms at the back of her mind only days after the news of her loss breaks, and the more she entertains it, the more its truth starts to take her breath away, crushing her windpipe and snatching the air from her lungs.

She has never been happier than she has in times spent with Emily Prentiss.

Taking stock of her life, considering all the things she dreams of, thinking about every time she’s cried over the past few weeks, she breaks up with Will. It’s the most painful thing she’s ever done, but she can only feel relief when she cries into Penelope’s shoulder as Spencer pours them all generous glasses of white wine. She got out before they got really serious, before kids or marriage could complicate matters even further, and if that’s the only thing she has to be thankful for tonight, then she’ll take it.

“You have to go to London,” Spencer says quietly later that evening, when they’re all lying next to one another on Penelope’s carpet. They have bellies full of wine and friendship, but she doesn’t like the way it mixes with the heartache that’s made its home in hers.

“I know,” she whispers, reaching for his hand and squeezing it tightly, before doing the same with Penelope’s. “I love you.” She wishes she was saying it to someone else.

⭐️

She waits for Emily on a bench opposite the interpol office. It’s cold in England, so she’s wrapped up in a thick, knitted scarf with a blue bobble hat obscuring half her face. Emily spots her immediately. She does a double take, stares as though convinced her eyes are deceiving her, raises her hand to her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut before running across the road, straight into JJ’s open arms.

“Please tell me you’re here for the reason I think you are,” Emily begs as she pulls back from their tight embrace. Her eyes are so deep, so sad, and JJ’s heart breaks a few million times.

“I’m here… because it took you leaving to show me that Will is not my soulmate,” she says, both her voice and eyes wet as she laughs — half happily, half nervously, “you are, Emily.”

Her face crumples at those words and she sits on the bench, leaning forward and placing her elbows on her knees before burrowing her face in her hands. Her shoulders shake in minute sobs as emotion consumes her entire being for a moment.

JJ is at a loss, but she doesn’t realise that Emily’s been in love for six years, and that sort of emotion takes a toll on a person. So she sits down next to her on the bench, and reaches her freezing hand for one of Emily’s, coaxing her face away from its protective cocoon.

“Em,” she whispers, everything she’s asking in one syllable immediately clear to the other woman sitting on this cold metal bench, coated in chipping blue paint, in the middle of Autumnal Manchester.

“I’m sorry,” she says, meeting JJ’s wide eyes with her own. “I just—”

Watching her struggle for the right words, seeing the warring emotions in her sweet, soulful eyes, JJ cuts her off. “Emily,” she says firmly, holding her hand even tighter, “I’m in love with you.”

She half-expects to set her crying again, but Emily’s face softens and relaxes, gentle sensitivity replacing the anxious restlessness written into every movement in the muscles of her eyes, her cheeks, her mouth. She has a sudden urge to touch the storybook in front of her, so she does. A shaking, wind-frozen palm rests against Emily’s wet cheek, and she leans in, pressing her lips to the ones she’s dreamed of for the last few weeks.

Emily wastes no time kissing back, reaching a hand to the back of JJ’s neck, tangling her fingers in her hair. Her other hand roams from her neck, to her shoulder, her arm, before coming to grip the fabric of JJ’s coat as if to pull her even closer, all the complex emotions of falling in love pouring themselves out as they kiss one another with the gentle ferocity of reunited soulmates. Which, JJ supposes, they are.

When they eventually pull apart, Emily rests her forehead against JJ’s. “I’m in love with you, too,” she whispers, her words almost stolen by the cold wind, shaking the dying leaves from the trees surrounding them. “Dinner?”

JJ laughs happily, standing up from the bench as she reaches a hand out. Emily takes it, and their cold fingers intertwine as they walk down the street towards an Italian restaurant she promises is the best in town.

⭐️

Emily’s heart is bursting.

JJ’s still sleeping as she bustles around her kitchen, putting the coffee machine on as she preps some croissant dough and turns the oven on, so she can put them in as soon as her girlfriend wakes up. They’d spent the last month in Manchester together, taking evening walks and spending their weekends in bed, wrapped up in clean white sheets as their favourite TV shows played out across the room.

She’d sworn on her flight to London that she would never return to Virginia. Sure, she might come home to the US at some point — after all, a VISA only lasts so long — but Virginia is everything JJ is: sweet, warm, and so, so off-limits. She knew if she ever stepped foot in that state again, she’d crawl home to the only person her heart has ever cried for, and she couldn’t do that to herself.

Now, though, their suitcases are half-packed in the bedroom, almost ready for their flight home to Quantico.

JJ’s hair isn’t brushed when she pads into the kitchen half an hour after Emily wakes up. She has morning breath and a zit is forming on her chin, but Emily’s lips split into a grin as soon as she lays eyes on her. Opening her arms, JJ steps into them, and their bodies press against one another, so warm, so soft.

This, Emily thinks, is all she wants for the rest of her days. For as long as JJ will have her.

The soft look in JJ’s eyes as they pull away, the soft, warm palm against her hip, tells her that she won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @strippersenseii

[arrowofcarnations]

I’m Gonna Thrill You Tonight

Written for the eleventh day of Fic-O-Ween 2020, the Halloween-themed Sweater Weather/Coast to Coast fest organized by the wonderful M @opaleyedragon. This was such an awesome idea—thank you for putting this together so well and so quickly!

Thank you a million times over to SW & C2C author Hazel @lumosinlove for letting us play in her universe with her incredible characters. And a huge thanks to the lovely people of the SW discord for their support, encouragement, and inspiration. Y’all are the best hype squad a girl could ask for!

Title yanked from one of the all-time greatest Halloween jams, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Enjoy, goblins and ghoulies~

(Note: This work is rated E, so avert your eyes if you are a minor, please!)

~

It was Halloween night, and Finn O’Hara was going to die.

“Knutty won’t let you die,” Logan replied with a grin. “He’ll literally figure out how to resurrect you just so he has help with the food.”

Finn watched Logan watching himself in the bedroom mirror, turning this way and that as his green eyes looked over his costume. “No, I mean like—” Finn flung a hand out in Logan’s direction, making an up and down motion. “Look at you. Look at you.”

Logan’s amused smile slid into something more devious as he turned around to face Finn. The Batman costume he’d bought for this year’s team Halloween party was far more family-friendly than the one he’d worn at Harvard all those years ago, but it was still tight, the black spandex of the jumpsuit stretching over his broad chest and thighs in ways that were making it impossible for Finn to think about putting cupcakes on platters and filling the candy bowl downstairs for the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.

He crossed the room to put his hands on Finn’s hips, holding him there as he leaned up and brushed his lips against Finn’s in a barely-there kiss. “Who knew you had such a thing for Batman, eh?” he teased.

Finn huffed out a laugh, catching Logan in a firmer kiss that lingered as he let his hands roam up Logan’s arms and down his back, feeling the hard muscle beneath the fabric. “I have a thing for you as Batman,” he said, which was true to a maybe-embarrassing degree. He could feel the heat of those green eyes, sharp and intense as they peered at him through the dark mask, going straight to a hallowed place just below the plastic yellow belt of his Robin costume.

Logan’s smile widened at the admission and he gave Finn a playful butt tap, the same way he’d do on the ice. After a moment, though, his mouth fell into a more serious line, brows knitting in thought.

“What?” Finn asked, sensing the shift in mood.

“No, just…” Logan bit the inside of his cheek as his eyes searched Finn’s. “This—me in this costume—it’s not making you sad, right?”

Finn’s heart pulled a little at that—seeing Logan in the cape and cowl again had, unsurprisingly, brought up a lot of old memories—but he meant it when he smiled at Logan and shook his head no. “It’s not,” he murmured, giving Logan’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “It might’ve a year ago, maybe, but now…” He pressed his hands to the expanse of Logan’s chest, palms warmed by the heat of Logan’s body. “I can touch you the way I want. And tell you I love you. And that you make a fucking hot Batman.”

Logan was smiling again, the worry smoothed out of his face. He leaned in to kiss the hollow of Finn’s throat, the press of it more tender than teasing. “D’accord. Bon.”

“Da-core. Bone.”

Logan groaned like Finn had just told an awful joke, but he was fighting a grin even as he shook his head. “Please don’t,” he said. “Your accent hurts me.”

“Hey, Batman and Robin, let’s hustle,” Leo called, his footsteps in the hall getting louder until he was joining them in the room. “Everybody’s on their way.”

Finn and Logan looked over at him, their mouths falling open simultaneously. Finn wasn’t sure what he’d imagined when Leo had told them he’d be dressing up as Poison Ivy, but any mental images he’d enjoyed over the past week or two paled in comparison to the real thing.

The real thing was standing in his bedroom, all six-feet-three-inches of him, his tight green jumpsuit adorned with leaves and twisting vines that were thicker in strategic places. His shoes were the same color, blending into the rest of the outfit and making his already-long legs look like they went on forever. Finn’s mouth watered as his eyes trailed down the low (low, low) V-cut of the suit down those mile-long legs and back up again to Leo’s face. He was looking at them expectantly, one eyebrow raised beneath a halo of blond, leaf-strewn curls.

Logan cleared his throat. “Holy…”

“Shit,” Finn finished for him, voice low and emphatic. “Look. At. You.”

Watching Leo’s expression morph from confused to surprised to flattered made Finn’s heart swell. He didn’t know how Leo could be at all surprised by their reaction, given what he was wearing, but the earnest flush rising on his cheeks told Finn he hadn’t quite been expecting to drop any jaws.

“No time,” Leo said with a head shake, but he was smiling brightly under the glow of their praise. “Dumo and Celeste are like, five minutes away. If we start this now…”

But Finn was already crossing the room to Leo, needing to be closer, needing to touch. “We’ll never go downstairs, because we’ll spend the rest of the night worshipping you,” he said, letting his fingertips trail down the bare stretch of skin from Leo’s throat to the end of his sternum.

“Ouais,” Logan hummed in agreement, coming up to stand on Leo’s opposite side and nip playfully at his earlobe, chasing it with a kiss. “Très sexy, Nut.”

“Oh god.” Leo was laughing and taking a step back, hands on each of their shoulders to keep them at bay, but the flush on his cheeks that was now working its way down his neck gave him away. Finn smiled; he loved a flustered Leo, loved being the one to fluster him. “No time.”

“You said five minutes,” Logan said, undeterred.

“Yeah,” Finn added. “I can work with five minutes. We all know Lo can work with five minutes.”

Finn laughed as Logan gave his shoulder a shove. Leo just shook his head again. Then his smile slanted a bit, looking more like a smirk, as his eyes traveled from Logan to Finn and back again. “Later,” he said, voice low and full of promise. “When we have hours, not minutes.” He kissed them, one after the other, and said, “Come on, I’m not letting these cupcakes burn!”

Leo was already out the door as Finn and Logan looked at each other with raised brows.

“We’re making him wear that every fucking year,” Logan said.

Finn kissed him through a smile. “Oh, yeah. And not just on Halloween. Birthdays, anniversaries, days that end in Y…”

~

Leo was glad they’d volunteered to host this year. Since he and Finn had been roommates before getting together, and they’d already been living together when Logan moved in, they’d never thrown the kind of housewarming party that other newly shacked-up people in relationships often did. It was always fun when the whole team could get together like this with their families, and the fact that it was here, in this space Leo now shared with both his loves, made it that much sweeter.

That was the last coherent thought Leo had before the chaos of the night began. Not two seconds after he got the last of the food set out, the entryway filled with the sound of “Happy Halloween!” being shouted in unison by the entire Dumais clan. By the time Leo reached them, the kids were already all over Logan, chattering a mile a minute and showing him the candy haul they’d collected so far. Finn hugged Celeste and fist bumped Pascal before he was jogging down the front steps to help James and Lily, who’d just pulled up with baby Harry and some party supplies in tow.

“This is exciting,” Celeste said, kissing Leo’s cheek as she took off her coat to reveal her classic Wonder Woman costume underneath. “We’re finally the ones visiting you three.”

“Oui, we’ll see if Logan’s gotten any neater since his time under our roof,” Pascal, who was decked out as Superman, added.

“A little,” Leo said, smiling as he thought about how Logan had started making his bed and throwing clothes into drawers whenever he knew the three of them would be sleeping in his room. “Not in hotels, though—it still looks like a hurricane blew through when we’re on roadies.”

“Hey Knutty, Tremz,” James said, pulling the mask on his Spider-Man costume over his head to give them the full effect and spreading his arms. “Awesome, right? We should theme these things every year. Whose idea was heroes and villains?”

“Finn’s,” Leo said before Lily came up behind them, Finn trailing a bit behind her with the bags. She looked spot-on in her Mary Jane costume, and had Harry—dressed as the only spider Leo could ever call cute—balanced on her hip.

“Oh, hello,” Lily said, raising her eyebrows before going in for a one-armed hug. “You’re putting us all to shame, Poison Ivy.”

“Right?!” Finn yelled from the top of the steps. Logan said it at the same time, shooting Leo a wink as he put Katie up on his shoulders. It warmed Leo’s chest like it did every time, and he suspected that would never change.

Over the next hour, more and more people showed up until the entire team was packed into Leo, Logan, and Finn’s place. By the time Leo was pouring himself a second cup of punch, the party was well and truly underway. The players and their families were eating, drinking, and chatting, complimenting and chirping each other’s costume choices in equal measure; tiny fingers grabbed fistfuls of candy from the bowls scattered throughout the living room, hallway, and kitchen; and orange and purple string lights cast a festive glow through the decorated house.

Thriller was playing through the sound system Finn had recently set up downstairs, and Leo watched on as James—Peter Parker’s Spider-Man—and Thomas—Miles Morales’s Spider-Man—tried to have a dance-off to decide whose costume was superior. (Tried being the operative word, as James’s list of talents did not include dancing.) Lily had her palm over her face, and Noelle, looking cute as Gwen Stacy, was laughing beside her.

It made Leo want to play the observer for another minute or two, to commit this night to memory. He made his way around the living room, sipping his drink as he went. He smiled as he caught sight of Kasey, appropriately dressed up as Mr. Freeze, and chatted with him for a couple of minutes before leaving him at the mercy of Natalie, grinning and tipsy and objectively stunning in her Catwoman suit. The only couple getting more handsy than them was Sirius and Remus. Sirius, ever the captain, had shown up as Captain America, and Remus had his arms wrapped around his back underneath the shield resting there as they kissed in the far corner of the room. Sirius pulled back to nose at Remus’s jaw and Remus laughed when he saw his face, swiping a hand across Sirius’s cheek. Leo realized Sirius was covered in smudges of black where Remus’s Winter Soldier eye makeup had rubbed off on his skin.

Heat trickled in Leo’s gut as he thought about what Logan and Finn would look like wearing that makeup—what they’d look like if Leo wore that makeup and made out with them in a dark corner, gray-black marks smeared over their cheeks, their mouths. He blinked and took a long drink from the plastic cup in his hand, shelving that distracting mental image even as he vowed to find a costume that required eyeliner for next year.

“Gross, isn’t it?” a voice beside him said. Leo turned to see Regulus, who just rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit at the lovebirds across the way. “Like, I’m happy for them and everything, but do they have to do this all the time? Don’t their lips ever go numb?”

Leo laughed and, noticing Regulus’s cup was empty, passed him his own half-full one with a look that said, here, you’ll need this. He didn’t have siblings, but he guessed just about everyone would feel how Regulus did when it came to their brother’s PDA. He’d noticed that Regulus seemed genuinely baffled by kissing and sex in general, though, and wondered not for the first time if Regulus experienced that kind of attraction. Now wasn’t the time to get into it, so Leo chirped him for his Loki costume instead, flicking one of the wings on his helmet. “Nice antennae.”

“Nice chest hair,” Regulus quipped back. “Did the zipper fall off that thing, or?”

Leo laughed loudly, which made Regulus laugh, and they passed the cup of punch back and forth for a few minutes, talking about hockey, travel schedules, the upcoming holidays. Eventually the Dumais kids found Regulus and started asking him to go, tugging on his cape and hoisting their pillowcases over their shoulders.

“Trick-or-treating duty,” Regulus said by way of explanation before herding (or being herded by) his charges out the front door. As Leo watched them leave, he caught sight of someone he didn’t recognize; a woman who looked maybe a few years older than him with dark skin and criss-crossing goddess braids that rested over the plates of her Valkyrie armor.

She walked over to another woman dressed as Captain Marvel, putting a hand on the small of her back as she talked to—Finn, Leo realized. Captain Marvel gave Finn a brief hug, and Finn said something that made both women laugh before heading into the kitchen. When they turned around, Leo recognized her as June. He’d known she was coming; Finn had suggested inviting her once they knew they were hosting, and Leo and Logan had agreed—Leo perhaps a little more readily than Logan. Leo understood that. He hadn’t had much time to feel anything other than confusion about June, but Logan had been wildly jealous—had been set up by her and Finn to be jealous—and it was clear the thought of her still rankled him slightly.

June and her—friend?—found Logan in the crowd, and Leo raised his eyebrows, taking a few steps toward that side of the room to head off any potential awkwardness, but decided to see how it played out first.

“Hey, Nutter Butter,” Finn said as he came up behind him, tilting his head to press a kiss to the side of Leo’s neck. He pressed a fresh drink into Leo’s hand before following Leo’s gaze across the room. “Uh oh. You think he’s okay over there?”

Leo hummed an affirmative, kissing Finn’s mouth briefly. “I think so,” he said. “I can jump in if things get tense. I think he’s fine, though, Harz.”

And it did seem that way; Logan definitely looked awkward, his smile somewhat forced, but then June said something to him that loosened him up and pulled a small, real grin out of him. Finn let out a breath Leo guessed he’d been holding, and he rested his head against Leo’s for a moment, temple to temple.

“I’m glad,” he said, stepping back to look at Leo. “I wouldn’t bring her around if you guys weren’t completely, 100-percent good with it, but I’m glad you are.” He paused, looking at Leo questioningly.

“I am,” Leo confirmed. “You should ask Logan again later, but I’m sure he’ll say the same thing.”

Finn nodded, taking an absentminded sip of his drink. A shadow of something flickered across his face, and Leo put a hand on the back of his neck, thumb rubbing small circles against the soft skin behind his ear. “He forgives you for all that,” Leo murmured. “You know he does. Don’t keep punishing yourself, sweetheart.”

Finn whined at the endearment, tilting his head back into the touch before shaking his head as if to clear it. “Why you gotta be so cute when you read my mind, Honeynut?” he said with a grin that compelled Leo to kiss him again. “Okay, so. June’s here, and she’s cool, and her girlfriend is cool, too, and I’m happy.”

Girlfriend, Leo thought. That answered that question. He let his free hand brush Finn’s hair back and kissed his forehead just above his Robin mask. “I’m happy, too,” he said. He was warm from the drinks, from his costume, from Finn’s body heat. Warm from Logan’s laugh traveling across the room. Warm from the happiness that filled his chest, so much fuller than Leo’d ever imagined it could be. “Love you, Fish.”

Warm from the brightness of Finn’s smile. “Love you, too.”

~

Logan was feeling good. He was a few rum and cokes in, maybe a little tipsy, and smiling as he caught up with Celeste and Pascal. He still saw them all the time, but it was different now that he wasn’t living with them, and he was glad to have a chance to spend that extra time with them—particularly Celeste, since there was always time during practice and travel to talk to Dumo.

He was grabbing a snack from a nearby table—he didn’t want to get too drunk, not before Leo could make good on his promise from earlier—when a “Hi, Logan” made him look up.

June. June and someone he didn’t know, both of them looking at him and smiling expectantly.

While he was fine with June coming—he knew she and Finn had stayed friends, and he trusted Finn completely—he’d sort of been hoping to avoid running into her after the impression he made at Christmas, at family skate. They hadn’t been his finest moments, and he still felt flickers of jealousy over her, though it was somewhat removed from him now, more like an echo.

“Hey, June,” Logan said with a nod and thin smile. “Nice costume. Yours, too, uh…”

“Amalia,” June said, gesturing to the woman in the Valkyrie costume as she extended her hand to Logan. “My girlfriend. ‘Malia, this is Finn’s boyfriend.”

“Ah, the famous Logan,” Amalia said with a warm smile and a firm handshake. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Part of Logan’s mind was stuck on girlfriend, but he gave a small, awkward laugh, looking nervously between them. “Famous? That doesn’t sound too good.”

“Oh, no,” Amalia said with a reassuring wave of her hand. “I just meant, I’m finally meeting the guy Finn talks to June about nonstop. Well, one of the guys.”

June hummed in agreement through a sip of her own drink. From this close, Logan could smell the boozy mix—mostly tequila, maybe some lime, too—and a hazy memory of him, Finn, and Leo doing body shots off each other after last season’s finals win swam briefly through his mind. “We’ll have to find Leo later and say hi,” June said to Amalia before looking back at Logan. “Thanks for inviting us. This is the most fun I’ve had on Halloween since...probably ever.”

“Same,” Logan said. “And yeah, no problem.”

June hesitated for a second, then seemed to make up her mind as she added, “And sorry for, you know. All the times we’ve met before now.”

That, combined with the sight of June’s free hand resting against the small of Amalia’s back in the almost-unconscious way Finn always did with him, pulled a real smile out of Logan, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Those were definitely less fun,” he said. “But it’s okay. It’s all good now.”

June’s smile was open and genuine as she said, “Yeah, seems that way, doesn’t it? It all worked out.” Her gaze was nothing short of adoring as she looked at Amalia, both of them grinning at each other as Amalia sipped her drink. “Still, I felt like I should apologize. The whole ‘going to family skate with Finn’ thing was mostly my idea. I thought, you know, this dude needs a fire lit under his ass! He needs to get a little jealous! But I’m pretty sure all it did was make you both miserable.”

“You were right, though,” Logan said before he could stop himself. He hadn’t planned on spilling his guts to his boyfriend’s ex tonight. Maybe the rum had loosened him up a little more than he’d thought, or maybe he was starting to like June despite himself, but he decided he could afford to let his guard down just a bit. “I did need a fire under me. It took a couple more matches, but eventually I woke up.”

June pursed her lips against a smile, giving Logan’s shoulder a brief squeeze. “I’m glad you did,” she said. “I can tell how happy Finn is. He’s crazy about you guys.”

Logan’s eyes searched the crowded room until they landed on Finn, beautiful and ridiculous in his Robin costume with his mouth trailing kisses up Leo’s neck and jaw, pulling a dimpled smile out of Leo. He wondered if he’d ever be able to look across a room at them and not be blown away by his love, by his own wild luck.

“I’m crazy about them,” he murmured half to himself, rubbing the heel of his hand absently over his full heart.

~

Later, Logan was sidestepping spiderwebs and skeletons to make his way to his bedroom. The house was quiet and still, the last few guests having poured themselves into taxis about twenty minutes ago, and he was dying to get out of his snug, overly warm costume and crawl under the covers with his boys. Just as he was unclipping the utility belt to slide it off his hips, he heard the bedroom door swing open a little further and the click of Finn’s black boots as he walked up behind him.

“Hey, don’t take that off yet,” Finn said lowly, arms snaking around Logan’s waist as he pressed his chest against Logan’s back. Logan sighed as Finn kissed the nape of his neck with a slow tenderness. He let his head fall forward to give Finn better access, closing his eyes and letting everything fall away that wasn’t Finn’s body solid against his, Finn’s mouth hot on his skin.

“I’m sweating in this thing,” Logan complained, but made no move to pull away from Finn or take off the costume. He changed tactics, turning in Finn’s arms to kiss him properly. “What, you don’t want me naked?”

“No, I do, I do,” Finn said, letting his hands trail up Logan’s abs and chest to rest on his shoulders. He did that a few more times, running his hands over Logan’s body as though to make sure he was really standing there. There was something in his expression Logan couldn’t quite read.

“Quoi?”

Finn stilled as he turned his brown eyes up to Logan’s, looking at him in a way that made Logan feel like he was naked already, all of him exposed for Finn to see. It used to be scary, being on the receiving end of that look from him, but Logan saw Finn now, too. Really saw him. “I’m just thinking,” Finn said like he was choosing his words carefully, “About all the things I wanted the last time I saw you in this costume. Everything I wanted to say to you, do to you.”

Logan’s heart ached at that. “Finn,” he started, frowning.

Finn held up a hand. “No,” he said gently, smiling. “It’s okay. I just meant...I loved you then, even when I’d barely known you three months. And I love you more now. So...leave it on? Just for a minute.” His hands found Logan’s hips, thumb circling precisely over the fleur-de-lis tattoo hiding under the material of the costume. That he could find it without even glancing down sent heat spiking through Logan’s body, and he splayed his own hands across Finn’s back underneath his red vest. Finn leaned in to kiss him, but before he closed the distance, he whispered, “Let me do all those things I thought about for so long.”

Unable to wait another second, Logan pitched forward, crashing their mouths together. They kissed until their lips were swollen and bitten-red, hands roaming and feet stumbling backwards until Finn’s back collided with the dresser drawers by the bed. Seeing an opportunity, Logan wrapped his arms around Finn more securely, lifted him off the ground and sat him on top of the dresser in one smooth motion.

When he pulled back, Finn just smiled at him bewilderedly, letting his head fall back against the wall. “Fuck,” Finn said, huffing out a breathless laugh as he blinked at the ceiling.

The cheap costume fabric was doing nothing to hide the outline of Finn’s hardening cock, and Logan his lip as he eyed it, palming his own dick briefly. The dynamic between them was always shifting depending on the mood, but Logan didn’t usually throw Finn onto pieces of furniture. Judging by Finn’s reaction, he was thinking he should do it more often. “Yeah? Tu aimes ça?” Logan asked, lips against Finn’s neck.

Finn had heard that phrase enough times to know its meaning. “Uh, yeah,” he said like it was obvious. “That was fucking hot, Lo. Didn’t know you could lift me that easy.”

“I bench more than you weigh,” Logan chirped back even as he kissed a trail over Finn’s collarbone.

Finn was still for a moment, and Logan thought maybe he was just having too good a time to respond, but then he sprung into action, hopping off the dresser and hauling Logan into his arms. A startled laugh burst out of Logan as Finn walked them over to the bed and threw him onto it, his back bouncing as he hit the mattress.

Their laughter slid into moans as they wrestled playfully for control, pressing each other down with their body weight and getting more and more distracted by their sloppy, heated kisses. Logan let himself be bracketed by Finn’s arms and legs, pinned by a pair of brown eyes that no longer had any trace of sadness in them. Logan reached behind Finn’s head to pull the tie of his mask free, tossing the fabric aside. Then he did the same with his own mask.

“Want to see all of you, mon rouge,” Logan said, stroking a thumb across Finn’s freckled cheek.

Finn leaned into it, smiling like there was nowhere else he’d rather be, and kissed him again.

~

They were tangled up in each other like that, touching and kissing and slowly rocking their hips against each other, when footsteps approached from down the hall, stopping beside the bed.

“I was gonna suggest we take a shower first, but…” Leo trailed off, eyes trailing over them both. “This is good. This is really good.”

“Hey, baby,” Finn smiled as Leo knelt on the bedspread, one hand going to tangle in Logan’s hair and the other pressed to the center of Finn’s back. He and Leo met each other in a kiss, and Leo hummed as he felt Logan’s hand creeping up his thigh to tease at his still-soft cock, obscured by the layers of his costume.

“Leo,” Logan said, sounding so genuinely delighted by his presence that Leo momentarily forgot about all the sex he wanted to have and just smiled at him, heart flipping in his chest. He bent over to kiss him soundly. “Logan,” he said back, smiling widely. “I promised you hours, didn’t I?”

“Oui,” Logan nodded, squeezing the swell of muscle above Leo’s knee. “Time for plenty of showers.”

Leo laughed, then turned his head as he felt Finn cradle his jaw. “Those fucking dimples,” Finn mumbled half to himself, “Kill me every time.”

Leo let Finn kiss him for a few heady moments, just feeling the two of them, feeling out the mood. He pulled back to look at their position, Finn on top of Logan and Leo knelt beside them both, and suddenly knew what he wanted.

“Take the rest of his costume off, Fish,” Leo murmured. He brushed a hand over Finn’s still-clothed cock and felt him twitch, heard his shaky inhale. “Then yours. Show him how hard he’s making you.”

It was a little bit of a gamble; though this side of Leo had come out more than a few times by now with Logan, he hadn’t yet tried giving orders to Finn in bed. He knew Finn liked to top, to be in control and throw himself into making his partners feel good—he knew that was what made Finn feel good—but he didn’t intend to boss Finn around quite the same way as he might with Logan.

“Would you like that, Tremz?” Leo added, brushing a thumb across Logan’s lips. Logan nodded, groaning. He kissed the pad of Leo’s thumb, green eyes darting between the two of them.

Seeing how much Logan was already into it made Finn’s eyes go wide and dark, and he hurried to get Logan naked as quickly as possible. Leo smiled to himself as he unzipped his own costume, happy his instincts seemed to have been right.

When the last scraps of fabric were on the floor, nothing but miles of bare skin between them, Leo stretched out on his side next to Logan, who was looking up at Finn walking himself forward on his knees. Finn straddled him again, closing a hand around Logan’s cock. Logan moaned and rolled his hips and fuck, Leo could watch Finn bring him off like that and be perfectly content, but he had other plans.

He wrapped a hand around his own dick, which was filling fast, and looked at Logan’s flushed face on the pillow beside him. Logan kissed him fiercely, like he hadn’t had the chance in weeks, and Leo moaned into his mouth, twitching in his own hand. He bit Logan’s bottom lip gently, then less gently, and Logan made a pleased sound, chasing Leo’s mouth as he pulled away.

Leo ran his knuckles down Logan’s cheek, overcome with fondness for this boy who’d had thicker walls than anyone Leo had ever met and was now so quick to show affection, to lay his heart bare in front of them. After a moment, he recovered himself enough to remember his plan and said in the steadiest voice he could manage, “Shhh, sweetheart. I know what you want. You want to suck Finn’s cock. You want to have him in your mouth. Right?”

“Oh, fuck. Oui, yes,” Logan said. Leo heard Finn swear under his breath, too, and he knew he had them. He looked at Finn. “Go on, Harzy. Give him what he wants.”

Finn shifted to plant his knees on either side of Logan’s head as Logan propped himself up on the pillows. He paused to catch Leo’s mouth in a bruising kiss before gripping himself at the base and slowly inching into Logan’s mouth, careful not to choke him. Logan couldn’t take Finn as deeply in this position, but that didn’t seem to matter; Logan groaned loudly, fingers digging into Finn’s thighs, and Leo’s heart stuttered in his chest as he saw Finn’s expression. He looked wrecked, his red hair a riot and a deep, rosy flush working its way down his face and neck.

For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of their breathing. Then Leo pushed himself up to kneel behind Finn, kissing and biting at his neck and shoulders. He steadied Finn’s hips with his hands, then pushed them forward slightly, causing his cock to slide further into Logan’s mouth.

“Knutty,” Finn gasped, reaching around to give Leo’s ass a squeeze. “Holy shit.”

“That’s it,” Leo said, starting to build up a rhythm until he was gently rocking Finn in and out of Logan. He kept one hand on Finn’s hip, guiding, while he reached the other behind himself to take Logan’s dripping cock in his hand. “Just like this. He loves it, Finn. He’s so hard, leaking all over himself. I can feel it.”

Logan was practically writhing beneath them, hands in a white-knuckled grip on Leo and Finn’s thighs as Finn fed him his cock and Leo jerked him off. The position was awkward, and Leo knew he wouldn’t be able to stay there long, but he kept it up until the muscles in his arm started to protest the angle. He shifted backwards until he could lower himself between Logan’s legs, licking a stripe up his length. Logan cried out around Finn, and Finn looked over his shoulder to see what Leo was doing, biting his lip around a groan.

“Wanna make him come like this?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow as he smiled at Finn.

Finn, who had stilled as he turned his attention to Leo, nodded quickly. “Only if I can make you come next,” he said, flashing a grin that sent heat spiking through Leo. Logan pinched Finn’s ass, startling an “ow!” out of him.

“Allez,” Logan urged after pulling his mouth off Finn’s cock. His voice was already shot, and Leo had to give his own heavy cock a squeeze at the sound.

Finn smiled down at Logan, touching his leaking tip to Logan’s swollen, spit-slicked lips. Logan opened his mouth immediately, teasing the head the way he knew drove Finn wild every time, and they fell back into their rhythm, Logan taking Finn as far as he could manage. Leo’s focus turned to Logan’s cock, thick and tempting in his fist. He took him into his mouth and lost himself in it, rocking his hips absently against the mattress to take the edge off his own need.

Their onslaught of attention soon proved too much, and Logan’s legs started to tremble beneath Leo’s hands. Leo upped his pace, bobbing on Logan’s cock until Logan cried out around Finn, his whole body tensing as he started to spill down Leo’s throat.

“Fuck yes,” Finn said shakily as Leo worked him through it. He and Logan locked eyes as Logan rode out his orgasm, his rhythm on Finn’s cock faltering. “So good, Lo, baby. That’s it. Come for us.”

Logan eventually stilled, sinking back against the bed as his softening cock slipped out of Leo’s mouth. Leo pressed a gentle kiss to his tip before sitting up on his knees toward the foot of the bed. Finn pulled back, too, cock red and shining as he stretched out on top of Logan to kiss and nuzzle him. Leo knew Finn loved this part; sharing in the hazy bliss of his partners’ afterglow, regardless of whether he’d come yet himself. Leo loved Finn’s punch-drunk smile, loved how close Logan was holding him.

He was surprised when Finn suddenly turned around and leapt at him, catching him around the waist. They were kneeling chest to chest, Logan watching them with a lazy grin from where he’d curled up on his side. Finn brought his hands up to cradle Leo’s face, looking at him like he’d just invented sex, and Leo loved that, too.

“Your turn,” Finn said, his smile playful and warm.

“It’s not gonna take much,” Leo said, hissing as Finn pressed closer, bringing their cocks together. “Fuck, Finn.”

Finn wrapped a hand around both of them, giving a few experimental strokes. He quirked a brow at Leo, a question in his eyes. Leo, who in all honesty was halfway there already, nodded quickly, gripping Finn’s biceps. “Yeah, like this,” he breathed, urging him on with a rock of his hips.

It only took a few dozen strokes for Leo to get there, calling out his boyfriends’ names as Finn stayed with him through it, not letting up until Leo was twitching and sensitive.

Leo brought a hand up to Finn’s face, breathless and reverent as he held Finn’s gaze. “I love you,” he said softly before kissing him.

Finn kissed him back, smiling. “Love you so much, nutter butter.”

Leo shifted and Finn gasped, and he looked down to see Finn’s cock still achingly hard between them. “Sweetheart,” he said, reaching down to wrap a hand around him. “How do you want it?”

“Sur mon visage.” Logan murmured it, practically a purr, and Leo’s spent cock gave a valiant twitch at the image.

“Oh god,” Leo said with a groan.

“What?” Finn asked, looking back and forth between them. “What’s that mean?”

“He wants you to come on him,” Leo translated, eyes on Logan as he said it. “On his face.”

“Oh god,” Finn echoed. He kissed Leo once more before getting into a good position, his knees on either side of Logan’s chest. Logan rolled onto his back and looked up at him, licking his lips in a way that made Finn groan and grip himself tightly.

Leo stretched out on his side next to them as Finn started to bring himself off. It was mesmerizing to watch, and Leo had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before they were all ready to go again. Leo reached over to stroke the swell of Finn’s ass, feeling the tension coiled under his skin. Finn’s face was screwed up in pleasure, his fist a blur on his cock.

“Open your eyes, Finn,” Leo heard himself say. He was so lost in the moment that he hardly knew what he was saying anymore. “He wants you to see how good he looks when you come all over him.”

“Holy fuck,” Finn said tightly, blinking his eyes open to look at Leo, then Logan, whose own eyes flickered from Finn’s face to his cock. “Lo, I’m—I’m gonna—”

“Allez, Finn, allez,” Logan breathed. He curled his hands around the backs of Finn’s knees, urging him on. Then he opened his mouth, pushing his tongue over his bottom lip obscenely, and that was it; Finn came with a shout, painting thick stripes across Logan’s face.

Finn came for what felt like ages, and then the three of them collapsed in a sweaty heap, limbs tangled together as they caught their breaths and came down from their shared high. When Finn came back to himself and rolled off the bed to head toward the bathroom, Leo didn’t fight him on it. He let Finn clean the mess off Logan’s face with gentle strokes, and hummed as Logan shuffled closer to kiss him while Finn swiped the towel over their stomachs and between their legs.

“That was so good,” Logan sighed against Leo’s lips. “Love you, peanut.”

Leo kissed his nose. “Love you, Tremz.” Finn settled in on Logan’s other side, nuzzling into his thick brown hair, and the three of them stayed like that for a long few minutes, wound up in each other.

Leo was hovering on the edge of a doze when he heard Finn say, “Don’t think I forgot about earlier, Knutty. I fully plan to worship you all night as promised.”

With his eyes closed and his body warm and pleasantly weighed-down by the two of them, Leo smiled. “I’m in favor of that,” he said, letting the pull of sleep overtake him for the moment. It was Halloween night, and there was plenty of time left to send shivers up his boys’ spines.

[its-karma-bitches-00]

ENDGAME

Chapter 3: 5 Years Later.

Description: So... I know many Daminette fans don't like Damian being younger than Marinette so 🚨SPoiler AleRT 🚨 Damian is gonna be younger for a while but an event happens that gets their ages exchanged. (Sort of)

Warning; swearing, angst.

Summary: its 5 years now, since half the human race was wiped out...

Previously

"Bruce" Selina called before completely fading out. The same happened to Steph, Cass, Chloe, Alfred, Dick, Duke, Kate and lastly...

Marinette.

That day, Half the world was wiped out because of the infinity stones.

Never to return ever again.

***

The entire world was mourning.

mourning over the loss of their families, Friends.

Gotham was worse and better, less thieves but more sadness.

Poison ivy looked at her wilting flowers, The sunshine of Gotham was gone, Marinette was gone.

So was Harley.

The justice league, at least what was remaining of them, Tried everything they thought of, anything you name it but none of them succeeded.

The rest of the Wayne's could only mourn. They lost the only people that could cheer them...

Tim tried his best to mend his family, but he couldn't mend himself. Damian and Bruce avoided everyone. Like father, like son. Damian couldn't believe it. He remembered that night clear as day. The day the people he most loved vanished. He missed Marinette the most, her bright smile, her laughter, her big blue mesmerizing eyes.

Tikki and the rest of the kwamis would try and fail at bringing their beloved guardian/owner back. Damian was the new guardian now. But he wasn't an official guardian ,No, not without Marinette granting it.

Five years passed by.

The world moved on.

Tim was the new Co-CEO of Wayne enterprises. Damian was a sophomore. Jason was Jason... Just kidding. He met a girl named Rose Wilson, Slade Wilsons daughter. Yes, Slade a.k.a deathstroke . And Bruce was still Batman.

Damian walked down the porch calmly, sensing Tim's anger from a mile. He walked straight at the old black car before opening the door and sitting in.

"You know for a young person, you walk really slowly." Tim said, driving out of the open gates "sorry old man." Damian snorted sarcastically "you could have just gone to Wayne enterprise, I could have hot wired one of Jason old bikes"

"Yeah, No. besides I like dropping you to school demon spawn" Tim smiled

"Don't fucking call me that"

"Language" Tim said sternly "I know Alfred isn't here but that doesn't mean you can forget your manners"

"Yeah... is that why you like dropping me off to school? Sitting in Alfred's place thinking about...Them."

"Yeah"

"Remember that day when We tried to make those cookies?" Damian asked staring out the window.

"Oh god, they were so damn salty" Tim laughed "Alfred and Mari were so angry at the mess we made, Do you remember Mari?"

"Yeah, of course" Damian answered

"You guys were pretty close."

"I guess"

"And boy, did you flirt a lot with her! You were ridiculous at flirting!" Tim laughed

"He's right, you know?" Plagg finally spoke up, popped out of Damian's bag

"why are you taking his side?!" Damian hissed

"Give me camembert and maybe I won't."

"Oh God, please don't take that out." Tim scrunched his nose in disgust when he saw Damian reaching out to his bag. Plagg eagerly sniffed on the piece of Camembert before eating it whole.

"Oh heavens" Tim gagged

"Stop being so dramatic. besides, Damien was actually much better at flirting then you were." Plagg smirked, keeping his promise "did you know that sometimes the other kwamis and I watch you try flirting? Ahhhh...it was an amazing comedy show"

Damian choked trying to contain his laughter as Tim glared at both of them "it's not funny!"

The ride was Quiet... until Tim asked him something unexpected "have you found a new ladybug miraculous holder?"

"No." He said, bluntly

"You're not looking" Tim sighed "Damian, you have to. You cannot use the cat miraculous for long without the Ladybug miraculous". Damian remained silent, unable to answer. How could he do that? He just...couldn't.

"I'll see you later Drake." The boy said putting on his blazer and opening his pocket to let Plagg in.

"See you later baby brother." Tim smiled "oh, by the way...I think she would really like you."

"Who?" Damian asked, confused

"Marinette"

Damian face turned beet red and Tim looked at him surprise "OMG! Are you blushing?!, baby bird obviously didn't move on from his childhood crush."

"Shut the hell up Drake." Damian hissed looking around in embarrassment "you are so dead."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try" he winked before speeding away

***

Damian sighed during the mathematics period, why did he have to come to Gotham university anyway? He knew everything he needed to and being there was a total waste of time. He raised a hand asking the teachers permission to use the washroom, she nodded as he walked out the classroom.

Damian splashed water on his face. Looking at the mirror, sighing

"I've been thinking bout' what Tim said and I think you should look for another ladybug." Plagg blurted out causing Damian to freeze

"We've already talked about this Plagg, NO"

"Damian you were bound to her, I know. But she's gone. They're gone. You have to accept that. Do you think they would want this? Find another one. Move on"

"I can't"

"That's because you're not trying! whether you like it or not Marinette is gone!" Plagg yelled "The only reason you can't move on is that you're choosing not to. She wouldn't want that, she would never want that. she didn't know that you were at her Cat! she just thought that you were a temporary fit until she found the right one. But you weren't, and when She figured that out she tota-"

"What's that noise?" Damian interrupted

"Seriously? I was in the middle of my speech!" Plagg huffed.

Damien walked outside looking around only to find chaos, students of every grade were running about and most of them were rushing at the exits.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Damian yelled over the loud noise, at his friend- I mean accomplices.

"They're back!, They're back!, They're back!" Maps yelled excitedly, almost jumping at him

"Who's back?!"

"The people who disappeared 5 years ago!"

-----

THIS STORY IS FROM MY WATTPAD ACCOUNT

@Aquaqueen2020

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

@lyhoradka​ tagged me in that post about five bits of text from written media that are burned into your brain and, kindly, gave me a theme of places. i am going to annotate this because i am a bitch

1. holy places are dark places. the wisdom that we get in them is not thin and clear like water but thick and dark like blood. - cs lewis, till we have faces

im almost certain ive misremembered this one but its better this way. clive what the devil fuck were you trying to say with till we have faces. burn it down and start over with this. i have a sidenote about hope faith and love but thats beyond the scope of this discussion

2. night falls. the workers put down their tools and point to the sky. “there is the blueprint,” they say.  invisible cities, italo calvino

again idr if its sky or stars. this is the description of thecla from invisible cities, kindly appointed to me by my good friend venus. this is not the strongest one but it is a strong one and its for Me and i remember it. inna thought i was going to make this whole post about haunted houses and this one is completely the opposite; i’ll consider it aspirational

3. walk to the east till you can walk no more. swim east until you pass the sunrise; swim east until you pass the stars; swim east until you come to the edge of the sky. there you will find yourself on the shores of a different land. even in that place, they shall know your name, and mine. - adel, kc danine/unlikely flowerings, jenna moran

sorry i cheated on this one bc i looked up the attribution and found my memory was wrong. but i cut it up to match what i thought. this one is actually a combo with

3a. the sea will be the color night behind glass. then, slowly, it becomes green: first rain-wet slate, then darkest jade. green as fresh emeralds. green as remembered rivers - the sun beneath the sea, sunless seas

again ive hashed the first part of that but green as remembered rivers lives in my head rent free. these two live under the heading “an exile in the uttermost east”

4. THIS IS NOT A PLACE OF HONOR. NO HIGHLY VALUED DEED IS REMEMBERED HERE. NOTHING OF VALUE IS STORED HERE. 

the warning continues of course but the basis is here. the idea that we cannot produce something so horrifying and terrifying that it does not also fascinate us, as you might guess, fascinates me. nightmare and obsession are such close brothers

5. a woman drew her hair out tight/and fiddled in the violet light/and upside down in air were towers/tolling reminiscent bells that kept the hours/and voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.

in my head sean bean reads these lines in his civ vi voice. why did so much weird fiction pattern weird bits of worldbuilding after this bit. not that i am immune. voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhauuusted wells

BONUS CONTENT

so many things i wanted to add that werent written or that i didnt have memorized perfectly enough

1i. the, like, entire first half of to tundra by los camp, which i will reproduce below

meet me at st nicholas among the oaks behind the church that sway like pigtailed girls as summer wind whistles around your bare-shin knees and the forsythia leaves in the shade lay with me tickled by the feather reeds thats where the trees grow old under the ivys hold as you in my two arms equally safe from harm and in a hazy daydream our bodies married the stream and we broke down into pebbles and silt the water ran from the fields until the oceans we filled and found the seabed the comfiest quilt

there was more life in the weeds than in the few hundred seats that rose from transept to chancel to nave [...]

2i. prim leaves her father’s house. i won’t reproduce the whole story here but there’s a girl prim and her father is the god hansa and they live in a house of iron nails and one day her dad is killed and she has to go bury him and takes nothing but his corpse and a single iron nail. and she traipses all across creation and the void looking for somewhere to bury him but every time she tries his corpse shouts at her for being shit at it. and eventually she collapses, and drops the nail and it springs right up into the same exact house, and she imagines crawling in there with her fathers corpse to die next to him and freaks out and then

A pale face came before her and she was abruptly struck from her despair as though by a great hammer. A beautiful stranger had appeared, mild and tall, of milky flesh, spare in figure, but radiant in voice and visage. "I know you," said the stranger in a small voice, "you are Prim."

"I was Hansa's orphan, the slave, Prim," croaked Prim in response, "and now I am nobody, just a small dirty thing in great emptiness and here I will die."

"No," said the stranger, and the clarity and firmness of her voice and smile send a shock through Prim, "you are Prim, and Prim only, and Prim you shall be." And Prim there realized her tears had made a great pool and she was greeting her own reflection. And she fell into that murky pool and straight away it turned clear as crystal and Prim vomited forth a great black knot from very deep within her, and her body was scoured and lashed by the icy waters of that pool, and great draughts of poisonous filth and despondency were drawn in rushing gasps from her wounds, and her skin was sealed and her soiled trappings were purged and the caked illness and death was ripped away and she rose from that pool fresh and humming. Her back straightened and she scarcely thought on her father's corpse or the faintest echo of that iron house.  That is how Prim left her father's house.

so basically abaddon scooped all of tsiy and every other haunted house writer in like five thousand words

3i. berenike

From my words you will have reached the conclusion that the real Berenice is a temporal succession of different cities, alternately just and unjust. But what I wanted to warn you about is something else: all the future Berenices are already present in this instant, wrapped one within the other, confined, crammed, inextricable.

4i. a ghost does not come to stand in the dark doorway of your room because it is an 18th century orphan girl named annie. a ghost comes to stand in the doorway of your room because the doorway is where things come to stand. - i am in eskew, david ward

the formats all fucked up now huh. this has influenced my thoughts on both psychogeo and necromancy. what a fucking guy. theres also the pope lick bridge one but

5i. i hope you will forgive me for including a bit from tsiy

I opened my eyes. I was kneeling at the base of a tree, at the top of a grassy hill, under starry night. Dad was standing a little ways back, head craned back to look at the tree. "What is this place to you?" he asked, looking around. The island came to an abrupt stop at the edges; it wasn't a floating island in space or anything, there just.....wasn't anything beyond the edge of it. Like looking past the edge of your own eyesight -- not the blackness of eyelids, but the colorless place beyond.

"I'll die here someday," I said, and meant it.

i really need to work on getting places and haunted places into the new draft. im slacking. but im also not allowed to go back and change anything rn or ill just never get anywhere

[ashestoashesjc]

A Necromancer & His Zombie Boyfriend Take A Hike

Short Story 1/2/3/(4)/5/6/7/8/9/10

Relax. Relax. Inhale, exhale; you know the routine. This isn’t the first time you and Sett have been alone with unsuspecting humans. Just the first time where the goal has been for everyone to leave as alive as when they arrived. Simple.

Jen had texted the directions to The Goovenmeyer Hiking Trail, a public entrance to Goovenmeyer Forest, days before the planned excursion was to take place, and so Ulrick had just as much time with which to let his irrational worries ferment. 

In the logical portion of his elixir and glyph-addled mind, Ulrick knew there was nothing to worry about. That forming normal, healthy friendships was good for Sett. Good for both of them. But a nagging splinter dug at a place he couldn’t reach. 

He tried to disguise his busy hive of thoughts, but Sett, of course, caught on to the minuscule valley made from his dipping eyebrows, the tightness of a face steeped in sullen contemplation.

"You seem stressed,” Sett signed, retrieving a sealed, plastic package from his bomber jacket. “Beef jerky?"

"Where'd you get beef jerky?" asked Ulrick. He took a short pause. "And you don't eat?" 

"Yeah, I know," Sett signed. "It's more for the atmosphere." 

Sett stabbed one of the leathery sticks at his masked mouth, but seeing it fail to improve Ulrick’s mood, returned it to its pouch and put an arm around his shoulder. 

“Really, what’s up?” signed Sett with his available hand. 

“It’s stupid.”

“It never is.” 

Ulrick let out a rolling sigh. He stood from their seat at the bench and paced about the entrance of the hiking trail. “Supermarkets in the dead of night, deserted movie theaters, dates on moonlit rooftops. I did those things to protect us, yes, but it was also because…” He looked to Ulrick. “I like when it’s just the two of us. I’m selfish that way.” 

The mask covered Sett’s face, but Ulrick could imagine the goofy, tilted grin underneath from the light shining in his eyes. It urged half a smile out of him before his paranoia could steal back its throne. 

“That’s changing now, and that’s fine, and I’m happy for you. But a small part of me can’t help but wonder…” 

“Wonder...?” “What would they do if they knew?” 

“Knew what?” came a familiar voice from behind them, where a small parking area accommodated an RV, the boys’ rusted red jalopy, and a newly arrived blue sedan. 

It was Jen, followed closely by a backpack-lugging Diane, looking equally curious. 

"That..." started Ulrick, feeling the vacuum of space closing in around him, sucking the air from his lungs. 

"That we've never been hiking before,” Sett cut in with lightspeed fingerwork. “Didn't want you to look down on us rookies." 

Ulrick could not have managed to look at Sett with more gratitude. "Cat's out of the bag, I guess." 

"Ha! Don't you pink bellies worry about that. Everyone's a first timer once,” chortled Diane. 

“Yeah, except you, Di. You were born an outdoorswoman.” 

Exaggerating a shocked expression, Diane said, “That ain’t true! I was born a Led Zeppelin fan, and everything else has been window dressing.” 

Then Jen snorted, not dissimilarly to the way Diane had when the four had met. Ulrick wondered who’d picked it up from whom. 

“Well!” Jen said, clapping her hands together. “Di might have a compass for a brain, but I have something just as good.” She reached into a pocket of her explorer shorts and brought out a smartphone, plastered in psychedelic peace-symbol stickers. “A compass on my cell phone.”

“And I’ve read about a few sights off the beaten path that we’ve just got to check out,” she said. “Y’know, time permitting.” 

“Oh yeah, wandering blindly into the unfamiliar wilderness. That’s never gotten anyone brutally murdered,” scoffed Ulrick.

Jen suddenly placed her hands on Ulrick’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes, her voice silvery and therapeutic. “I see you, I hear you, I feel you,” she said, each emphasized syllable accompanied by a gentle shoulder clap. 

A stammered “Uh…” was the only response Ulrick could muster. 

Turning back to the trail ahead, she began marching. “And we’re off!” 

Irregular stone slabs acted as their guide into the forested incline, but it wasn’t long before they and the beaten path were old acquaintances. Really, it seemed like they’d forgone any path at all, intended or otherwise, as they squeezed past vine-twisted tree trunks, maneuvered around prickly poisonous bushes, crossed rushing, turbulent streams. 

From the clearing at which they found themselves, the whispers of fast moving water could be made out. Jogging up to her position at the head of the group, Sett tapped Diane on the shoulder. “I’ll race you to the next stream,” he signed. Diane agreed with a haughty laugh as the two took off in a sprint. For having only a fraction of the functioning tendons, Sett kept up remarkably well but Diane’s calves were pistons. Jen and Ulrick shared in the rolling of eyes, and after they and Sett had all caught up to the race winner, their spirits were high. On their way over the stream in question, however - wide and deep, nearly a river - Ulrick’s foot missed its landing on the collapsed tree the group had fashioned into a bridge. 

Before he had time to fully assess the situation or Sett’s hand had time to make contact with his, his mouth was flooded with water, and, as the remaining trio stood, frozen in shock, he was shooting rapidly down the violent torrent toward a sound of rushing water so massive, it took not a woodswoman to know what awaited him. 

But it was their woodswoman, Diane, who ripped herself from her jacket, and dove into the frigid gnashing. Her legs beat with a polished verve that contrasted Ulrick’s desperate flails more strongly with every inch of the gap she closed. Then she’d passed him. Her legs kept pumping. 

Only flashes of vision stolen between each blinding crash of the waves revealed to Diane the rock jutting up at her left. She paddled toward it as best she could, knowing she’d made it only when her hand was secured around firm granite. 

She gasped for air, bobbed above and below water level, but managed to swing around with fingers outstretched nearly as far as they would go. 

Wait. Wait. Wait. Now!

She grasped just the slightest bit further, used her legs to propel herself forward. For a microsecond, she was sure she’d waited too long, and then, almost in answer, felt her hand clasp around something bony and warm. “I got you!” she shouted over the scream of the rapids. 

Diane, grip on the mossy boulder growing ever more tentative, soon found a hand around her own wrist as she and Ulrick were dragged, dripping and shivering, onto the gravelly shore. 

The two gave haggard, drained, heaving breaths as Sett ensured they were entirely out of harm’s way, and Jen, sobbing, wrapped her arms around Diane’s neck. 

“This better have been worth it,” Ulrick said when he was dry and warm enough to say anything at all. But when, at the supposed end of their expedition, Jen pulled aside a curtain of vines, what unfolded before them convinced Ulrick it just might have been. 

Ahead, a narrow cavern, lined virtually floor-to-stalactite-riddled-ceiling with glowing, blueish-green mushrooms, tinted each of the four’s awe-stricken faces the very same alien hue. The spotted fungi curved up proudly from their places inset in the stony walls, as if to say, This is our home, and you are right to be astounded. And they were. 

Their jaws were still slack as they made their way out of the small, magical cave, crossed the fallen tree over angry waves, avoided the alluring embrace of stinging nettle. It was by the third time they’d encountered the same twisty, knotted elm, however, that their wonderment had begun to give way to weary impatience. 

"We're not lost. I know exactly where we are," Jen said, yanking free her phone from her pocket. She glanced at the screen for a brief moment and then announced, "We're lost. I have no idea where we are." 

She turned the blank screen to the other three, audibly clicking the 'power' button. "My phone must have died."  

“Don’t fret; there’s no guarantee it’ll stay that way,” signed Sett.

“Your optimism is so refreshing!” Jen said with a happy sigh.

A ragged groan escaped Diane. "Why didn't you charge it last night?"

"Why didn't you remind me to charge it? You know I always forget. And you knew we were going on a hike, too. So irresponsible," Jen said, shaking her head. 

"You!" laugh-shouted Diane before she took off to chase a now-squealing Jen through the isolated wooded area in which they found themselves until they’d run out of sight. 

Ulrick rolled his eyes, "God, is that what we look like?" 

Walking over and sitting next to Ulrick on a log, Sett lowered his mask, gnawed a piece of beef jerky, gave a series of loud smacks, and his head a shake. "Gffrrra rmmrrr. <Heck nah. We're way cuter,>" he spat, shooting out dried, fibrous bits. 

Ulrick’s eyes squinted instinctively to avoid the meat spray. I love this man, he thought dreamily.

"Grgrrrgrr. <Wow, this really tastes better raw,>" he grunted, hocking grisly chunks onto the ground. He handed Ulrick the bag of dehydrated cow bits. "Grgrrr rgrrrRRr. <Here. Can't even look at them.>"

"But you know..." said Ulrick, depositing the package into a coat pocket. "Apart from almost going over a waterfall, ending up hopelessly lost, and getting poison ivy in places I’d rather not mention, this honestly hasn't been the worst." 

"GrrrRr? <Great, even?>"

"Let's not get carried away."

Then, a scream. And not of the marital variety. A murder of crows poured out over the treetops. 

Ulrick and Sett looked to each other, and then, at once, took off after the sound. 

What they discovered upon following the shriek was a somewhat cozy recess, marred only by an edge of burnt, toppled trees, the result of a recent firestorm, and by an eight-foot behemoth of teeth and rage that now cornered a comparatively small Diane and Jen, the latter shaking in the protective arms of the former. 

The bear hadn’t noticed their arrival and Sett, without making a sound, used the advantage to pick up a sizeable rock and sneak behind the foam-mouthed beast. He lobbed the stone directly at its head.

“What are you doing!” Ulrick whispered tightly. 

Sett began signing, “While it’s distracted, get them--” but couldn’t complete the thought as a freight train concentrated in the size of a burly paw forced the words from his fingers and sent his body flying like a limp doll into the shattered, splintery remains of ruined trees.

The broken spikes tore through his chest; the bow of a vessel emerging through fog. 

Like a marionette, strings severed, Jen instantly collapsed. 

"Se--!" Ulrick very nearly screamed, before Di's hand clapped over his mouth. 

"Bad time to scream," she whispered, eyes hovering between the bear and Jen’s supine, unconscious form. 

Drool dripped in strings from the bear's growling, vibrating maw as it decided who it would first maul, and Ulrick's eyes zipped erratically from rock to branch for anything to offer aid or solace. But the only thing his eyes fell to were the bits of chewed jerky Sett had earlier discarded. 

By the time the thought had wormed its way into his consciousness, he was already hands-deep in a jacket pocket. When the hand reappeared, it gripped Sett's parcel of 100% American USDA-approved beef jerky. Almost immediately, the bear was rapt.

“Go...” Ulrick said, collecting his indomitable fear and anger into a single swing, “...get it!” 

And then the package was sailing overhead, deeper into the forest, a ton of muscle and fur and claw galumphing off single-mindedly after it.

The moment the bear had trudged out of sight, Ulrick and Diane were on the rush to Sett’s impaled, lifeless body. The jagged, wooden knives protruding through his chest were painted at their ends by a dark liquid that might have been dried blood, but for its smell. 

“I don’t know if we should…” started Diane, but Ulrick was already beneath one of Sett’s arms, knees bent to allow himself leverage and traction. He shoved and heaved and grunted but barely did the large mass of man budge.

Sweat gathered in rivulets at Ulrick’s forehead as his strain and frustration and sorrow mounted. Each push of his feet left a deeper rut in the ground where there’d once been grass.

“Well?” he cried to Diane, still struggling, wet eyes reflecting the falling light. 

Sighing at the futility of it all, she nonetheless took her place under the other of Sett’s armpits. And the two, though it seemed to take a small, tense forever of bone-fatiguing, swear-filled thrusts, hoisted free Sett’s immobile cadaver from the gnarled, blackened teeth of Mother Nature. 

They’d laid him down on the ground, Ulrick himself sprawled out and breathing heavily, not accustomed to the extent of physical exertion, when Diane decided, without Ulrick’s notice, that Sett’s damaged clothes had to be removed, his wounds cleaned and dressed, if he stood any slim chance of recovery. 

Ulrick looked up, but too late, and the expression stapled to Diane’s face as he saw himself through her eyes was one he knew he’d never forget. 

"Look,” Ulrick said, standing but making sure not to venture any closer. “Let's get out of the forest alive and... I'll tell you everything, okay?"

Diane hadn’t peered up at him once since they’d dislodged Sett’s body from the tree, and she didn’t start now. 

"Okay," she said at length.

Polaris guiding her path, alongside the occasional stop to confirm by way of western-pointing spiderwebs her directional accuracy, Diane led the wiped, half-unconscious quartet of hikers back, after an arduous trek through an unkind night, back to their fabled starting point, her carrying Jen bridal-style, Sett slung over her and Ulrick’s shoulders. Woodswoman, indeed. 

"I'd hoped I would come up with a good excuse on the way here, or that we'd just die first, which would have admittedly been easier,” said Ulrick as they approached the entrance, feeling Diane’s eyes wearing down on him. 

"And?” she said. 

"And I didn't come up with a good excuse. There isn't one. You should know the truth. Sett's..."

A grumbling between them alerted them to Sett’s slow reentrance into the world of the conscious, though not of the living. Ulrick clasped Sett's face in his hands, the two falling to their knees. Sett smiled, the black muck smudged about his features like a Rorschach. 

"I missed you, too," Sett signed groggily, bringing tears to the corners of Ulrick's eyes.

"Let's sit him down," Ulrick suggested, wiping water away, a streak of the muck lingering on his cheek.

As they began to lift him away, Sett craned his neck up to Diane and gave a weakly signed, “Thank you.”

On the wooden bench sitting outside the trail’s entry point, Jen and Sett were positioned next to each other, asleep, head resting on head; and farther back, inside the trail itself, where the trees loomed tall and close, where they couldn’t be overheard, stood Ulrick and Diane, the wordlessness tangible. 

Crickets chirped listlessly in the background. Fireflies drew unplanned paths through humid night air. The absence of sound, of chatter, of life, meant to swallow them completely, make the unsaid forever unsayable. 

When Diane, after a silent eternity, uttered, looking at no one, “I know what he is.” 

Nothing moved. 

“I heard about him staying underwater for goddamn near an hour back at the resort. I thought... maybe he's just good at holding his breath." Diane gave a short, mirthless laugh, seemingly at herself. "Then, today."

She paused, and after what felt like a long while, finally said, "That tree should've killed him, and we both know it. And that blood. That…” She stopped.

“Whatever it was, it wasn't blood...”

Pointedly looking to Ulrick, who couldn’t bring himself to look back, she said, “You wondered what would happen if we knew. Well, now I know. I know what he is." 

Ulrick said nothing. There was nothing to say, and his silence was all the confirmation she needed. 

"What I want to know is,” she said, tone betraying no particular emotion, “how you did it."

"What?” Ulrick said, looked up in confusion as if he’d heard the words wrong. “How I..."

"How you brought him back. I want to know how."

"It's... it's an ancient art. You don't just do it. You need years of training."

The response took a second of thought, and then, as if it’d been obvious, Diane said, "Then you do it. Bring someone back for me." 

"That's... not a good idea,” Ulrick said.

She blew air from her nose. "Oh, but bringing Sett back. That was a good idea?"

"That was different,” Ulrick retorted too quickly. 

"How?” She was then looking him gravely in the eyes. “How was it different?"

His gaze darted to the busy forest floor. "It... just was." 

"Huh,” said Diane, a sound and a sentiment. As if the conversation had ended there, she turned and straightened her leather jacket. 

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Sorry I asked. Don't worry about it." At that, Diane began to make her departure toward the entrance and the parking lot, where only the red and blue cars remained. 

"You…” said Ulrick to her back, unable to will himself to move. “You won't tell anyone about us, will you?"

Diane paused, pretended not to hear him and then continued to exit when, just before she left the small copse of trees forever to return to Jen, unawares, dozing peacefully on the bench, to her life, to her own devices, Ulrick called out.

"Wait," he nearly whispered, and Diane stopped in her tracks, not turning around. His fists balled at his side. "Okay... fine. I'll do it."

"I'll resurrect someone for you."

[kelelamentia]

Plant Charming

Plant Charming

 Because I want to add to Marinette’s growing list of admirers.

@ozmav

 On a street in Paris:

 A male figure stood.

“She’s here, I hope I don’t scare her.” He walked toward a very specific bakery.

  On Marinette’s balcony:

 Marinette was tending to her garden; watering and weeding, and just enjoying here flowers.  This was something Lila and her class couldn’t take from her; just like designing, it gave her some peace of mind.  Tikki was flying around the flowers like she was dancing, when she stopped.

“Marinette I’m going inside to eat some cookies, would you to come?” Tikki asked.

“No thanks Tikki, I want to stay out here a bit longer.”

“Okay Marinette have fun.” With that Tikki disappeared down the hatch.

Marinette was left alone with her garden.  As she went about her business Marinette was singing a soft tune, never noticing a large vine growing until a voice came.

“My, what a lovely voice.” Marinette turned around, almost throwing her watering can, and saw a boy about her age standing on a large vine. “Hello, are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

He had long red hair that just reached past his shoulders in a pony tail, green eyes and pale skin. He wore a white buttoned-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms, a pair of nice light blue jeans, and some brown loafers.

“Y-Yes, I am, who are you?” Was he an Akuma, Marinette wondered?

“I am Emmanuel ‘Mandrake’ Isley; but you can call me Manny, I am the son of Gotham’s Poison Ivy and I’m here to thank you.” Manny greeted giving a slight bow to Marinette.

Marinette was put high alert as soon as he said ‘Poison Ivy’; he was much more dangerous than an Akuma, but him wanting to say ‘thank you’ through her off.

“Thank me?” she asked.

“Yes, you remember your trip to Gotham?”

Marinette nodded yes.

“So, you remember how you organized the mass clean up of Gotham’s parks; when no one else would, after my Mother and a few others went on a rampage?”

“I didn’t plan it alone, I had friends helping me.” Marinette informed.

Manny just nodded his head.

“True, the Wayne family helped, but you were that driving force weren’t you; you even managed to set up a better recycling system for Gotham’s park’s, and that’s more than my Mother has ever done and for that I says thank you.”

“You don’t sound like you’re happy with your mother…” Marinette commented.

“She is my Mother and to some degree I do love her,” Manny sighed, “And I share her love of plants and her idea of eco friendly things, but with the way she handles her reaction to pollution and litter; it is a miracle that the people of Gotham aren’t terrified of going green.”

Manny stood up straight and Marinette in the eye; still standing on the vine and said.

“So please, Marinette don’t be afraid of me.  I am not my Mother; I plan to help the green movement the right way.”

He sounded so pure in his intentions, so Marinette was willing to give him a benefit of a doubt.

“It’s nice to meet you Manny.” Marinette smiled “I’m Marinette, but I guess you already knew that…”

“You just a lovely bloom, aren’t you?” Manny laughed softly. “I wish I could say my intentions here were completely unselfish, but I was hoping I could have your help as well Marinette.”

“With what?” Marinette asked, tilting her head to the side.

“May come on to your balcony first?  This might be a long talk and my vine will likely attract some attention.” Manny made a gesture with his hand, indicating to her balcony and his vine.

“Oh! Sure!” Marinette was so used to Chat just coming on to balcony; into her space, that she never thought about anyone asking for her permission.

Manny thanked her as he hopped down; the vine receding from once it came.

“Thank you, lovely Marigold.”

Marinette blushed at the nick-name but did her best to focus.

“What would you like me to help with Manny?”

“Many things really, but todays goal would be to create a logo.” Manny admitted.

“You want to start your own awareness group?” Marinette asked.

“Yes, I want to do this the right way and I’ll start from the bottom up.”

They sat down on a bench Marinette had set up there to discuss what Manny wanted his logo to look like.  It was not a quick talk as Marinette keep giving new ideas and a outside perspective for Manny.  Eventually they came up with a logo for Manny to use and he had to leave.

“Please forgive me my lovely Marigold, but I must leave.”

“It’s fine Manny.”

“At least let me pay you.”

“No Manny, you’re starting from the ground up; with who you’re related to acting as an obstacle. Let this be my good luck gift to you.”

Manny gave Marinette a charming smile.

“You really a bloom amongst the weeds Marinette, at least let me give you this.” Manny reached out his hand over her flowers, after a moment a vine curled up and around his hand; creating a circlet.  After the circlet was complete flowers began to bloom; marigolds more accurately.

Once the flower crown was finished Manny placed gently it on Marinette’s head.

“For the lovely queen Marigold, to repay her kind heart.”

Marinette was blushing hard at Manny’s words.

Manny smiled once more at Marinette before walking to the edge of her roof, he got up on the railing and turned to face her.  With her attention on him he gave Marinette a wink and salute just before flipping off the roof saying.

“Adieu”

Then he was gone.

Marinette just stood there, she couldn’t believe what had just happened to her.

“Marinette?” A small voice sounded from the roof hatch.

Turned and went to her room.

“I’m sorry Tikki, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Tikki flew up and cuddled Marinette’s cheek.

“Its fine Marinette but that was a risk.”

“I know,” Marinette sighed, “But he didn’t feel dangerous.”

“He’s from Gotham, right? Maybe call Damian and ask about him.”

“That’s a good idea Tikki, I’ll do that.”

"Granted, you were going to call him no matter what, you miss him."

"That's true." Marinette nodded her head.

"Now if only you could ask him out."

"TIKKI!"

  Later with Damian when Marinette called:

 Marinette was on speaker phone with Damian and his family.

“Emmanuel ‘Mandrake’ Isley?  Yeah that’s Poison Ivy’s kid, but he doesn’t seem to want to follow in her foot steps; he even left Gotham, no one knew where he went until you called Marinette.” Tim explained, looking at a computer, not giving out any more information than what a normal civilian would know.

*Is he going to hurt anyone? *

“No, you’re in the clear on that one Mari.  He really doesn’t want to be like his Mother, he’s even been cleared by Batman…mostly.” Tim confirmed.

*That’s good; I’d hate to think that his kindness was all an act. *

“Kindness?” Damian asked.

*He asked for permission to jump onto my balcony and he wants to start his own ‘Go green’ campaign from the ground up. He came to me to get help with a logo, he was very much a gentleman the entire time. *

“That’s good to hear he didn’t try anything Marinette, promise to let us know if that changes; okay?” Dick said, watch Damian’s eye twitch in irritation.

*I promise, you guys will be the first to know. *

“Good.” Damian stated bluntly.

“Hey Short-Stack?” Jason asked. “How did he pay you for the logo?”

*I didn’t accept payment from him; even though he said he wanted to. He’s starting from the ground up with nothing to really back him besides his mother’s reputation, which isn’t a good thing. *

“That’s very kind of you Mari.”

*Thank you, Dick, but since he could pay me; he gave me a flower crown he grew right in front of me, it was very sweet. *

Dick, Jason and Tim were watching Damian start to seethe.

*And he seems to like calling me Marigold; that is what the flower crown was made of, actually. *

“How the h*ll did I miss the obvious nick-name!” Jason groaned, “It literally has the word ‘Mari’ in it.”

*Sorry Jason, but you won’t be able to use it now. *

Damian was starting to look apocalyptic and Dick and Tim were trying to keep him from exploding which Marinette was on the phone.

*I should go now; I have some homework to do before bed. *

“That’s I good idea Mari, it was great talking with you!” Dick chirped, while having his hands firmly on Damian’s shoulders.

*Night guys! Night Damian! *

“Night Marinette!” Was the group farewell.

Once the phone call was disconnected Jason decided it would be fun to take a few shots at Damian.

“Looks like Demon Spawn had some competition for Pixie-dusts attention.”

“Jason!” Dick scolded.

“He’s right you know, and Mandrake is apparently better at talking to people as well, the Brat is at a disadvantage.”

“Die Drake!” Damian launched himself at his brother.

“I’ll go ask Bruce to book a trip to Paris.” Dick sighed, walking out of the room, leave Tim and Damian brawling and Jason laughing.

  Next Day in Paris with Manny:

 Manny was in the park exercising another one his powers; talking to plants, he asked them about the lovely Marigold.

‘She’s sweet.’ They said.

‘She’s kind.’ They praised.

‘She’s hurting.’ They grieved.

“Hurting?” Manny asked.

They spoke of a liar; one of stories that were far too good to be true, of classmates with no common sense, and of a boy with false promises.

“This cannot be allowed to continue.” Manny murmured.

The plants told Manny of the liar’s favorite lie, one he would very good at exploiting.

“Thank you, my friends; this gives me chance to help Marigold remove the weeds in her life.” Manny looked towards the sky, “I should also make my intentions towards her clear, I would hate for her to misunderstand me.”

  After school with Marinette:

 Marinette was happy to rush out of school, but unfortunately Lila and her herd of sheep were right behind her.

“Prince Ali said we should get together soon again; apparently he misses me.” Lila was boasting about her green program with Prince Ali again, and the class was eating it up.

“You’re so lucky Lila.” Rose sighed.

“Girl you are something else.” Alya cheered.

Marinette rolled her eyes, a quick web search would be all it would take to debunk that lie, but if she were the one doing it, they would never even listen.  Since Marinette wasn’t watching where she was going, she bumped into someone at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette apologized, not looking at the persons face.

“Its fine Marigold, my plan was to ‘Bump’ into you anyway.”

Marinette shot up at the voice.

“Manny!” Marinette blinked in surprise, “What brings you here?”

“Why? Can’t I visit you Marigold?” Manny questioned, delivering a kiss to the back of Marinette’s hand making her blush.

As Marinette tried to stammer a reply, the class; Lila mostly, saw the scene.  They were surprised to see a handsome young man giving a kiss to Marinettte’s hand.  Lila was not about to allow Marinette to have any happiness.

“Hello there, are you new?” Lila asked, in a very fake sweet voice.

Manny only gave her a passing glance.

“Don’t mind me; I’m just here to talk Marigold about a ‘Go Green’ program.”

Lila thought this was perfect.

“I could help you; you know. I helped Prince Ali with a GLOBAL green program a couple years ago.”

Lila was wrong.

“Really?  What the name of the program?” Manny asked, now looking directly at Lila.

“N-Name?” Lila stuttered; she never came up with one.

“Yeah, the name; how else am I to look up and join your ‘Global’ program if I don’t know its name?” Manny inquired.

“Umm…I don’t remember it?” Lila tried.

“What? You don’t remember the name of your OWN program?”

Marinette was staring in awe at Manny; did he some how plan this?

“Well, I can get very busy…” Lila began, Manny never her finish.

“I suppose that is understandable, but a quick web search should clear everything up.  I mean there can only be only so many green programs Prince Ali is a part of.” Manny offered.

“To bad my phone died earlier, so I can’t do that right now.”

Lila was getting nervous, this conversation with this guy was drawing a crowd; normally something she would like, but he is poking holes in her story she wasn’t prepared for.  No one had thought about ‘joining’ her ‘green program’.

Alya ended up being Manny’s ally and Lila’s enemy.

“Don’t worry girl! I got your back!” Alya yelled, whipping out her phone.

After a couple a minutes Alya started frowning.

“What’s wrong Alya?” Rose asked.

“I went to Prince Ali’s website,” Alya started “But, there’s nothing about a green program there; any green program…”

The class looked over at Lila.

“H-He hasn’t had anyone update the site in a while.” Lila excused.

“In years?” Manny’s question came out more as a statement.

Marinette was quiet, watching as one of Lila’s biggest lies crumbled; other members of the class were now pulling out their phones to double check.  Why didn’t they do that when Marinette said she was lying?

“Why would you lie about that Lila?” Rose was near tears.

“I-I’m sorry,” Lila faked sniffed. “But I promise; I did meet Jagged Stone and traveled the world. I’ve even met the Wayne family, the youngest; Damian, just loves me!”

The class; ever the sheep, began to close in on Lila in admiration when a hard voice growled.

“I’ve never met you before in my life, you lying harpy!”

Everyone to see a very angry Damian Wayne; dressed in a polo shirt and some slacks.

“Damian!” Marinette cheered. “I didn’t know you were coming to Paris!”

“I wanted to surprise you Angel.” Damian faced Marinette with a smile, the complete opposite of what he was giving Lila, before turning back to the class. “Don’t EVER use my name; or that of my families, for your gain.  If I find out that you have continued along ridiculous tales, you will be hearing from the Wayne family lawyers.”

Lila was turning white in the face, well as white as her tan would allow her to be.

“Two very massive tales you’ve told have turned out to be lies; one of them being a few years old apparently.” Manny tutted.

“She probably has more lies she’s told; anyone who’s willing to tell such big lies always have multiple stories, I know the type.” Damian sneered.

“When you first started talking, I thought you were just a weed growing in the garden, but it is clear to me now that you are nothing but a slug; gnawing at the roots of plants, destroying them for your own nourishment.” Manny stated, shaking his head.

Damian turned to face the class.

“Did ANY of you check anything?”

The class looks sheepish.

“Disgusting; next she’ll be saying she knows Jagged Stone.” Damian turned his nose up at the class.

"Ah, it seems you missed that part.  She said that just before you got here." Manny informed.

"Really?" Damian said sarcastically. "How did she meet him?"

"She rescued his kitten from an airport runway, he even wrote a song about her!" Alya argued, deep down praying this was true.

Damian and Manny looked at Alya in disbelief.

"Oh God," Damian choked out. "Aren't you the supposed 'journalist'?  The creator of the 'Ladyblog’?  A quick search would have told you Jagged Stone never had a cat, he doesn't like them."

"Not to mention that civilians aren't allowed on runways." Manny chipped in.

"And did you really not ask Marinette?" Damian continued. "Someone who knows him PERSONALLY; as in HAS HIS NUMBER!"

"W-We forgot?" Alya tried, though it came out as more of a question.

"Forgot or chose to ignore?" Manny asked.

The class couldn’t give an answer that didn't sound bad.

"Okay, maybe Lila lied about meeting people, but she saved Max from losing an eye!" Alya insisted.

Damian was intrigued.

"How did she 'save' him?"

Lila winced, know what was about to be said sounded out right dumb.

"She kept a napkin from hitting his eye and cutting it out."

Alya looked very proud when she said that, but the looks she got from Damian and Manny, Marinette was just shaking her head, dimmed the pride she felt.

"A napkin?  She 'saved' him from a napkin?" Manny heard about this from the plants, but to hear it out loud was a different thing.

Damian had a look of horror on his face and turned to Marinette.

"Angel, I can't in good conscience let you continue going to this school, it lowers your IQ and removes common sense.  You are brilliant and I would never be able to live with myself if you lost that because of something that I could have helped you avoid."

"HEY!" the class out raged.

"He's right, you know." Manny defended. "Which one of you is Max?"

"I am." Max stepped forward and Manny took a good look at him.

"How is it possible to lose an eye to a NAPKIN?! And even if it were possible; you're wearing glasses, so you would have had protection from it in the first place!"

Max could only squirm in place at Manny’s statement.

“Right then,” Damian nodded his head. “Marinette will ask Father to transfer you to Gotham Academy. You will have nothing but the best for you there.”

“Damian, that’s very sweet of you to offer, but I couldn’t leave Paris and my parents just yet.” Marinette gently objected.

“She also wouldn’t be safe in Gotham Wayne,” Manny cut in. “Not to mention that Gotham Academy would do nothing to help her with her dream of being a designer.”

“Then I would be happy to help her to get into an art school in Paris Isley” Damian said, looking up schools on his phone. “Here is an excellent one Angel and it’s not too far from your home.”

“Guys please!  It is very sweet of you to offer, but I want to get in on my own merit; not because of who I know.”

Damian and Manny gave a soft look to Marinette.

“Of course Angel, it was rude of us to assume what you want.” Damian apologized.

“Forgive us Marigold?” Manny asked.

“I forgive you, but please try not to do it again; okay?” Marinette asked at the end.

“Promise.” They said in synchronise.

“Thank you.”

With the promise made Damian and Manny looked back at the class; who were on their phones trying, and failing, to find SOMETHING to support Lila.

They found nothing.

Marinette’s classmate’s felt horrible, what have they done...

“Marinette...” Alya started, but was cut off by the girl herself.

“No Alya, you could have done all this when I first said she was a liar 2 years ago; all of you could have, but you CHOSE not to because you liked her words better than the truth. So the way you’re feeling now is not my fault, it’s yours.”

Alya and a few others started to tear up.  Adrien tried to come to their rescue.

“Come on Marinette they feel bad enough as it is.”

“Again, that is their fault, not mine. Marinette stood strong, having long gotten over Adrien.

“But...”

“No, no ‘buts’’.  This has been a long time coming and now they’re facing the results of their actions. Part of the reason it’s this bad is because of you Adrien.”

Adrien jerked back like he was slapped, the class gasped.

“You were the one to say we shouldn’t expose her lies remember; because ‘They’re not hurting anyone’. It hurt me when I was sent the back without being allowed to give any input, it hurt me when my ‘friends’ just dismissed me as jealous until they needed something from me, it hurt me when you promised to have my back only to go back on it not a moment later.”

Adrien gulped, he didn’t want to believe what Marinette was saying.

“Lila could have been Akumatized...”

“I WAS NEARLY AKUMATIZED 6 TIMES YOU JERK!!!!!” Marinette finally yelled “Do really not care about my safety?!”

The entire class recoiled, 6 near misses, they could have encountered an Akumatized Marinette. Someone who’s smart and creative, someone who could give Ladybug a run for her money; and they almost had to face her.

“I...” Adrien started.

“NO!  No more fake apologies, no more false promises.  I’m no longer going to be this class’ doormat and scape goat, if you want something from now on; you have to earn it like a normal person!” Marinette finalized.

Marinette was panting after her rant; Damian wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“We should get you away from these people Angel; they are clearly bad for your health.”

Manny gently grabbed one of the fists she made during her rant and began trying to rub the tension out of it.

“Wayne is right Marigold, this much stress will cause you to wilt.”

They began leading Marinette away; back to her family’s bakery, not before throwing a hard glare back at the class.

The class watch the trio walk away, some with tears running down their faces, knowing they blown it with their Everyday Ladybug; all for some girl with pretty words and no proof.

  At Marinette’s Famliy Bakery:

All three people were sitting on Marinette’s balcony; the girl tired from her emotional outburst, was leaning on Damian’s should to her left and to her right Manny was playing with her fingers.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Marinette finally breathed.

“Don’t be Angel, you needed to let that out.” Damian comforted.

“There is no shame in expressing yourself Marigold.” Manny assured.

“Thank you Damian, Manny.”

They sat quietly for awhile before Damian asked a question.

“Were you truly nearly turned into that monster’s minion 6 times Angel?”

“...Yes” Came the hesitant answer.

“Why didn’t tell me Angel? My family and I would have done something!”

“I didn’t want to worry you or your family Damian.  Besides what could you have done?”

“A transfer of schools would have happened.” Damian admitted.

“Yes, because Gotham is a safe place.” Manny said sarcastically.

Damian shot him a look.

“Guys please don’t fight; I really don’t have the energy to keep up with you right now.” Marinette interrupted.

“Fine.” The boys agreed.

“Thank you.” Marinette sighed.

They stayed like until Marinette fell asleep.  That’s when a discussion started between the two young men.

“It seems we both like this lovely bloom.”

“I suppose it is to be expected, Marinette is an Angel.”

There was a brief pause.

“You shouldn’t be near her; your life is dangerous.” Damian started.

“And you should?  Your family is one of the biggest targets in Gotham.” Manny quipped back.

They were at a stalemate.

“You know,” Manny began. “Neither one of us is really gets to decide this.”

Damian reluctantly nodded his head.

“True and in the end, it is her happiness that matters, but it doesn’t mean I won’t try for her affections.”

“Then we understand each other Wayne.”

  The next day:

Marinette was walking into her classroom, on time for once, greeted by stares and silence.  She expected that, but what she didn’t expect was the large bouquet of flowers sitting on her desk.  It was beautiful, roses, lilies, snap dragons, marigolds all combined together.

Marinette walked up the stairs, becoming more aware of the looks she was getting with each step. Once she reached her desk Marinette saw a note, opening it; it read:

To the lovely Marigold,

May these flowers brighten your day, like your smile brightens mine.

Sincerely,

Manny.

Marinette couldn’t help but turn slightly pink, why did Manny have to do this?

“Hey girl, who’s it from?” Alya asked.

“That’s none of your concern Alya.” Marinette huffed, she couldn’t believe she was going to try and act like nothing had ever happen between them.

Alya flinched, but backed down, the teacher came in and the lesson began.

Time flew by rather quickly and soon it was after lunch and everyone was returning to their classrooms, only when Marinette walked in there was a second surprise waiting for her.

There sitting on her desk, beside the flowers, were three bags.  Upon opening them Marinette learned the bags contained various pieces of high-quality fabric; again, there was a note.

To my beloved Angel,

I hope this helps bring your dreams into creation.

Yours truly,

Damian.

Marinette turned a bright red; she knew Damian was a sweet heart.

“Marinette, who is it from?” Adrien asked this time.

“Again, its not any of your concern.” Marinette stated.

Adrien didn’t seem ready to back down, but the teacher came and started class again.

 After class:

Marinette was making her way down the front steps, gifts in hand, with Adrien close behind her.

“Marinette, those things…”

She stopped him before he got any farther.

“These are gifts Adrien; you have no say in them, and I didn’t ask the people gifting them to do so during school.  That was their own decision.  And if you try to make it seem like this my plan to make the others feel bad you will be leaving with a limp.”

Adrien took a couple steps away from Marinette hearing that.

“None of this is my fault Adrien, it’s Lila’s.  All she had to do was not lie and be a decent person and none of this would have happened, but I suppose it’s a good thing she did lie.  She just proved to me how little I meant to you or the class outside what I can do for you and guess what?  I decided I deserve better friends and partners.”

Marinette’s rant was firm, not loud, but Adrien felt like it was shouted next to his ear.

A slow clap from behind Marinette reached them, they turned and saw Damian.

“Well put Angel, but I feel it was a little understated; you deserve the world in my opinion.”

“Damian!” Marinette greeted. “I wasn’t expecting you here!”

“I came to help get you home, I didn’t want my gift and you school items to drag you down.” Damian said, walking over to her, he glanced at the flowers she was holding as well. “Though it seems I’m not the only one who thought you deserved a gift.”

“Apparently…” Marinette trailed off, unsure how to answer Damian.

“They are lovely though,” Damian admitted, grabbing a lily and placing it in Marinette’s hair; causing her to blush. “and I adore seeing you happy above all.”

“Damian.” Marinette sighed.

“I best be getting you home now Angel, unless there was something else you wanted to do before that?” Damian asked.

“No Damian, home sounds wonderful.” Marinette smiled.

Damian nodded his head and started leading Marinette to a car nearby.  He helped her place her gifts in the back and held open the passenger door for her to get in.  But, before the door closed Adrien heard Marinette ask.

“Damian, I have a great idea for a suit I would like to make you, would you like to see it?”

“I would love to Angel.”

Damian then closed the car door, got in on the other side and drove away; leaving Adrien standing at the school alone, with the understanding that he was not going to get his way.

The next several days were very similar, Marinette would find flowers on her desk from Manny in the morning and a range of gifts from Damian, from sewing supplies to some small pieces of jewelry.  Marinette was flattered, but she didn’t want material objects.

One day she finally got to meet with them in the park.

“Guys, this very sweet of you, but I don’t need all this.”

“We know that Marigold,” Manny said. “We want to do all of that though.”

“Indeed Angel,” Damian agreed. “like I said before, you deserve the world.”

“What am I going to do with you guys?” Marinette moaned, turning a bright red.

“Well…” Manny started. “There is something.”

“What?” Marinette asked.

“You can answer a question Marigold?” The red-haired boy asked.

“Sure.”

“Are you attracted to either one of us?  And if so, would you like to go on a date with that person?”

Marinette was stunned at Manny’s question, Damian saw this and explained.

“Angel, we both have feels for you and we both want you to be happy.  If you say ‘No’ to one or both of us we will back off.”

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it, and then released it.

“First of all, both of you are wonderful people, you respected me and stood up for me when I needed it, any person would be lucky to have a relationship with you.”

She turned to Manny.

“Manny you are charming and sweet, you have a wonderful dream and are well under way to achieving it, but I’m sorry; I’m not attracted to you.”

Manny gave a sad smile.

“I understand Marigold, may I still call you that?”

“You can Manny.” Marinette confirmed, nodding her head.

Marinette then turned to Damian.

“Damian you are a strong, kind (in your own way) and a driven individual.  Since I’ve met you, you’ve listened to my ideas, you’ve mdke me smile and you’ve challenged me to do my best.  I am attracted to Damian and I very like you as well, I have for a while, but I never worked up the nerve to ask you out.”

Marinette was blushing as she finished.

Damian was wide eyed in awe, Marinette; his Angel, liked him.  He could have asked her out sooner and she would have said yes!  He wasted so much time!

“You honor me Angel.” Damian said, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. “I promise to be the partner you deserve.”

Manny was still smiling sadly, but, like Damian said earlier, Marinette’s happiness and consent was the important part in all of this.

“Just be aware Wayne, you break her heart; I’ll break you.”

Damian looked Manny in the eye.

“If I break her heart, I’ll come find you so you can.”

“I’m glad we understand each other Wayne.” Manny turned to Marinette. “I think its time I move on from Paris Marigold, I have many ventures to take and more people to talk to.”

“Good luck Manny.” Marinette smiled.

Manny gave one last salute to Marinette before leaving.

Once he was out of sighted Marinette sighed.

“Why do I feel like I just chased him out of Paris.”

“You didn’t do that Angel,” Damian assured, wrapping his arms around her. “His plans for a good ‘Go green’ program involved him traveling around and talking to all that he could.”

“True,” Marinette agreed. “I hope he finds happiness though.”

“I’m sure he will Angel.” Damian nodded his head. “Now, would the lovely Angel Marinette accompany me on a date?”

Marinette giggled.

“I’d like that Damian.”

Marinette began guiding Damian to her favorite café for their first, and proper, date.

 End.

That was Pant Charming.

 Also

 Extra 1:

 Why there was no Akumas:

Hawkmoth – Go my Akuma darken their heart.

Butterfly - *Gets eaten by a strange Venus fly trap*

Hawkmoth – Right…Let’s try this again, go my Akuma darken…

Butterfly #2 - *Gets eaten by a strange Venus fly trap*

Hawkmoth - *Eye twitching* R-Right, third times the charm, go my…

Butterfly #3 - *Gets eaten by a strange Venus fly trap*

Hawkmoth – You know what? I think I’ll just stop for today.

  Extra 2:

 Mari - *Looking up new schools*

Tikki - *Looking over her shoulder* This is a nice Marinette.

Mari - *Nodding her head* Yeah it is, this is the one Damian was talking about.

Tikki – A new school will be good for you and it’s an art school, so you’ll have more subjects focusing on fashion.

Mari – Yeah and it will be nice to get away from that toxic class.  Just because they know Lila’s lying now, it doesn’t change what they did to me.

Tikki - *Angry* - They got away with a slap on the wrist if ask me.

Mari – Maybe, but I don’t think they would survive anything designed by you…or Damian…or Manny…or Damian’s family…

[abigailnussbaum]

Harley Quinn, She-Ra, and the redemptive power of friendship

I watched the first episode of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn cartoon last year, and concluded that it was well done but not for me. The show seemed a little too in love with in-your-face violence, a little too deliberately outrageous. The positive reactions convinced me to give it a second look, and as it turns out Harley Quinn really is as good as everyone has been saying. You do need to accept a cheerfully cavalier attitude towards a lot of gruesome violence as the show’s buy-in, but I was actually impressed by how deftly Harley Quinn walks the line between humor and violence, while still stressing that some things are out of bounds for (some of) its characters. Add to that a well-crafted portrait of Gotham complete with a lot of familiar faces, some great storytelling and character work, and impressively gonzo set-pieces, and it’s easily one of my favorite superhero stories ever, not just in animation.

I was struck, while watching the first season, by the similarities between Harley Quinn and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Obviously, the two shows are very distinct despite both being female-led animated shows. She-Ra is an all-audiences series with an earnest tone and a strong emphasis on heroism. Harley Quinn is entirely unsuitable for children, and nearly all of its characters are villains. But both are also series about the redemptive power of friendship, and female friendship in particular (also, from what I’ve heard about Harley Quinn’s second season, a friendship that eventually turns romantic). In Harley Quinn’s opening episode, she escapes Arkham Asylum with the help of Poison Ivy, after waiting a year for the Joker to rescue her. Ivy helps Harley realize that the Joker never really cared about her, and that she can be a better and more successful supervillain without him. The rest of the season concerns Harley’s attempts to prove just that.

I found myself thinking that Harley Quinn addressed a lot of the problems I had with how She-Ra depicted this theme, while at the same benefiting from its distinct tone and subject matter. I’d like to talk about some of the things it does better.

For starters, Harley Quinn treats friendhip as an ongoing process. Harley and Ivy are already friends at the beginning of the series, and it’s their friendship that gives Harley the strength to break with Joker, and to believe in her own ability to become an independent supervillain. But Harley also backslides over the course of the first season. She takes the Joker back and regrets it. She ignores Ivy’s advice, especially about the types of people she should be associating with and the organizations she strives to join. And when she achieves professional success, she ignores the needs of not just Ivy, but of the crew she’s recruited over the course of the season. Harley’s journey throughout the season is one of realizing that she’s been a bad friend to the very people who have helped her to grow beyond the Joker, and of figuring out how to be better to them - in other words, the very things that She-Ra lets characters like Catra or Entrapta off the hook for.

At the same time, Harley Quinn also condemns toxic relationships and argues for their dissolution. This is most obvious in the case of the Joker, who repeatedly makes overtures towards Harley only to betray her. But if the Joker is too obviously untrustworthy, engaging in classic abusive behavior such as gaslighting Harley, belittling her abilities, and working to isolate her from her friends, there are also other characters throughout the season whose relationships with Harley initially seem more nurturing, only to reveal themselves as predatory. Harley bonds with the supervillain Queen of Fables over the difficulties of being a female supervillain, but eventually realizes that the other woman will happily stomp over her to achieve her own goals. And she tries to reconnect with her family, forgiving her gambling-addict father’s past exploitation of her, only for him to turn around and try to make money off of her again. Again and again, the show concludes that there are some people whom it is right and proper to shut out of your life - even to extent of acknowledging that when Harley apologizes to Ivy for letting her down, it is entirely possible that Ivy might still decide to end their relationship. To me that’s an essential corollary to She-Ra’s emphasis on friendship and second chances, the recognition that some people aren’t worth the effort.

Harley Quinn doesn’t pretend that becoming a better friend makes you a good person. This is, of course, my core problem with She-Ra, the way that it conflates personal friendship with a more global morality, and allows characters who have done a great deal of evil on the latter front to skate off with hardly any condemnation or consequences, because they’ve become someone’s friend. Harley Quinn is better at realizing that the two don’t really have that much to do with one another. To be clear, this is much easier to do when you’re telling a comedic story about unrepentant supervillains, than in a straight-faced story about heroes saving the world. But another way of putting that is that She-Ra fatally splits its focus whereas Harley Quinn wisely narrows it in a way that more successfully brings its message across. All of the show’s supervillain characters are capable of emotional growth and of choosing to be there for the people they care about (though a lot of them, like the Joker, choose not to do that). But this has nothing to do with their willingness to kill, maim, and cause general mayhem, because how you treat the people closest to you often doesn’t say much about how you view humanity as a whole.

Finally, and despite the above, Harley Quinn doesn’t ignore the difference between good and evil. One very easy approach to take in a story that prioritizes personal relationships above all else and sets itself among villains is to make the “good guys” look just as bad - corrupt, or inept, or priggish. That’s the approach She-Ra creator Novelle Stevenson took in her graphic novel Nimona, in which the league of superheroes are basically keeping themselves in a steady supply of villains by engaging in autocratic, abusive behavior. Harley Quinn could have easily taken this path, but it doesn’t. Though superheroes appear only rarely in the show, they are uniformly depicted as positive characters, good at their job and usually on the right side of things. When they say that Harley and her crew should be sent back to Arkham, you can’t help but conclude that they’re right, and the only reason we don’t want that to happen is that we like Harley. More than that, we like watching her relationships with Ivy and the rest of her crew develop and deepen. Again, this is the show walking an incredibly narrow line, getting us to root for a villain on emotional grounds, without ignoring the actual evil they’re doing. Harley Quinn is almost certainly never going to pivot its title character to full-on good guy status (even when Harley does heroic things, she usually only saves her friends, not the rest of Gotham), and that’s fine. We can enjoy the show as a story about one woman’s growth towards better emotional health (not to mention, a funny and violent cartoon) without pretending that she’s something she isn’t.

[lov3nerdstuff]

Dark Stars {Part 9}

*Loki x OFC*

Part: 9/10

Words: 3k

Warnings: nudity, teasing, no smut tho

Summary: ~Loki could just let her die here and now. His problems would be solved and he could go back to his usual ways. But then he would forever be left with an unsolved mystery and he hated the prospect of that even more than the fear of what would happen if she lived.~

A story of what happens when Loki stumbles upon someone who is like him in every way. Only better. Oh, and they just happen save Asgard too.

A.N.: To celebrate over 1000 people following me (how insane is that?!), I decided to share the newly edited version of the very first Loki fanfiction I ever wrote! Enjoy the mischief 💚

All Parts can be found on my Masterlist!

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"Oh yes!" Ivy grinned. "We found the man who poisoned the city... A council member seeking revenge for his own miserable existence. He's down in the water supply system with a few of his creepy plants, and you really might want to clean that up before any of the poisoned water gets into the wrong tunnels. And you might also want to make sure there are no poisoned foods left in the palace or the city."

"What? The man's still down there? Alone?!" Thor asked in confusion, staring first at Ivy, then at Loki.

"Yeah, but he's dead, so… no need to worry about that." Ivy shrugged. "Just tell the guards to clean that mess up and you're good to go."

"I didn't think you'd get the issue sorted out this fast, really, I'm impressed. But I'm not your personal palace servant!" Thor put his arms into his sides with a frown. "You can't come here every day to tell me what to do!"

"Yeah, I'm also quite disappointed that it didn't take us longer to find him… I was hoping for a spectacular chase, an exciting adventure… while all we got was a mere 'meh'. But at least now there won't be any more people dying, so that's nice. You're welcome!" Ivy smirked to herself, and Loki chuckled.

Thor on the other hand only sighed. "Maybe if I tell father about this incident and polish it up a little in the dramatics, he might let my brother return to the palace."

"Who said I want to come back?" Loki rose his eyebrows at Thor in question, unimpressed by the thunderer's attempt to right wrongs that weren't his own.

"Oh come on, I can hardly imagine that you enjoy living down in the streets! I will talk to our father about the issue and then I will speak with you again. We shall meet tomorrow at sunset, far back in the palace gardens." Thor smiled to himself, obviously very content with his idea.

"I'm only coming back if Ivy can come with me." Loki said calmly. "Either that, or this will be the very last you see of us."

With that, Loki had taken hold of Ivy's arm and they once more disappeared in an instant, leaving Thor alone on his grand balcony.

_____

Thor sighed to himself once they were gone. He had always wanted for Loki to find someone who loved him dearly and truthfully, but now he wasn't so sure of that concept anymore. They would either heal each other from their bitterness, from their brokenness, or together they would be the end of everything Thor believed to know.

_____

"So… Going back to the palace, huh?" Ivy asked in a stained voice once they had reached the secret opening and walked over to their spot with the still dirty blankets. However, Ivy didn't feel like sitting, or resting in any way… She felt gross and bruised and thus only leaned against the cold stone wall as she came to stand next to their provisional camp.

"Don't you think a real bed would be more comfortable than freezing on a blanket every night?" Loki asked with a small laugh. "It's only going to get colder and wetter as the year passes."

"Well, I have never before minded the weather." Ivy commented with an indifferent shrug. "And right now it's still warm and comfortable… We could stay here, you know… And try to make it work." She started rubbing her face, noticing how the sweat and the dirt of the streets still lingered on her body like a second skin that clung to her physique like it clung to her mind. In addition the obvious weardowns, she still felt the gross man's hands on her skin, even if he had barely gotten the chance to touch her at all. Still, unwanted touch brought back unpleasant memories.

"This place… It's not enough. Not right now, and definitely not for an eternity." Loki spoke quietly, looking into Ivy's eyes with such positive determination that it confused her more than it pained her.

"If you think like that, then maybe I'm not enough for you either." Ivy replied calmly, but the sadness in her voice was cold and bitter like a veil of venom. She turned to look away, avoiding his eyes for she didn't want to see pity yet again, nor whatever else he had meant to say. No, Ivy was too tired to deal with his shifts of mind. If he was pulling back again now, after everything, she wouldn't stop him. Not again.

Loki on the other hand placed a gentle finger under her chin, making her look back up at him. "I think you misunderstand my words…" He leaned his head down so his forehead was touching the top of hers, his voice only a breath. "I think this place is not enough for you… I want to give you so much more than this… I want to give you everything."

Ivy's eyes fluttered shut as she tried to calm her breathing, heart echoing in her ears like thunder. "Why would you say that? I'm not like you, I don't yearn for grandness… or for a palace. I was raised on the streets, I've lived on the streets my whole life and that's also where I will die. I have no right to ask for everything. Nor do I deserve it."

Loki lifted a hand, pushing a strand of hair out of her face in a movement so tender it made her heart sigh. "You deserve it more than anybody else." His hand went from caressing her cheek, slowly trailing down to her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her delicate skin.

"How could I possibly go back to the palace with you in the knowledge of how they treated you? I saw what you saw… I felt what they made you feel. If they think you're a monster, what will they think of me? Who am I, Loki, to keep them from hurting you yet again?"

"You are my queen." He replied easily, as if speaking a universal truth. "And I am your humble servant."

It didn't take any more words for Ivy to realize that she would never in her life love something as much as she loved Loki. Not freedom, not being right… not anything.

She brought her hands up to his cheeks and pulled him against her until their lips touched at last, for a kiss so gentle it made her heart flutter and her skin tingle as if under electricity. And Loki kissed her back, softly at first, but slowly all the affection, the passion and the desperation his heart had harbored deepened the kiss to become of such an intensity it made Ivy hold onto him as the only solid thing in a crazy spinning world. The feeling of his chilled lips moving against hers cleared her mind from every worry the world had to offer and every sorrow that was left within her from the past or present. There was only a future in this kiss, a promise of light.

A small moan escaped her lips and she pressed her body against his as tightly as possible, desperate for his touch, for closeness, for comfort.

But Loki pulled away, only a few inches, to look into her darkened eyes. "This is not the right time, my love…"

"Huh?" Ivy stared at him, through a haze of emotions, frustrated at the loss of his lips on her own.

"You deserve so much more than a quick makeout on the dusty ground... You deserve to be worshiped like the goddess you are."

"I deserve you!" Ivy pouted a little, poking him in the chest with her index finger. "And I didn't think you'd be the 'taking it slow' kind of person…" She winked at him, teasing, knowing exactly how to push his buttons by now.

Loki let out a short laugh, followed by a humored smirk. "Ivy, I think you know exactly what kind of person I am. And you know that I'm not as shallow as this." The seductiveness in his voice, the way he towered over her, his eyes so dark and intense that his mere gaze on her made Ivy press her back into the stone wall behind her for support. It really wasn't fair that he was getting to play with her... But two could play at this game.

In an instant, she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and switched their position around, pressing his back against the stone wall with her entire body weight. Sure, he probably could've freed himself, but it was the gesture that counted after all.

Loki's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise and amusement, and Ivy could've sworn they darkened even more. Hiding her grin behind another smirk, she let her hands slowly wander down from his collar, fingers brushing against his neck, over his chest, and down to the hem of his biting, tracing it with one single finger. But then she stopped abruptly, taking an entire step backwards, and thus breaking every physical contact, but not once their locked gaze.

Now it was Loki's turn to protest, at least with his eyes, for surely begging, or pouting, he deemed below his pride. And still, Ivy could tell how much their little game was affecting him, and how pissed he was at her for pulling back. But that was what payback is all about, after all.

"I think I should really get cleaned up now, if you don't mind…" She grinned at him and sauntered over to the pool, first kicking off her boots, then dropping her jacket, pants following, until she stood at the edge of the water in nothing but his shirt. For a short moment that grew longer and longer in accordance with the stretching shadows on the grass, she hesitated. And waited. The sun was gone by now, and the light breeze made her shiver involuntarily, but also sobered her mind from her pressing need for his touch. Sure, she still craved his physical affection as much as the comfort of his mere presence, but that would also mean having to reveal her body with all its flaws and scars. It wasn't like she was ashamed or shy of herself, but she didn't want him to think she was a weak for having gotten beat up so many times over… a fragile object, a doll shattered and put back together. There had been quite a few times already when people had seen her naked, but it had always been without her consent. And the memory of all those times she had been touched or hurt for the pleasure of others didn't just vanish because someone, for once, was good for her, to her.

Ivy felt ridiculous for even thinking about it; Loki was the first person who ever truly cared about her. He would never hurt her like that nor consciously act in a way that was uncomfortable to her. She smiled at the thought. He was a much nicer person than he believed himself to be.

"May I join?" Loki asked then, his voice coming from so close behind her all of a sudden that it made her jump a little.

He could tell the mood had shifted with every item of clothing she had lost, and by merely looking at her now, shivering and waiting, he knew that this was not the time nor the place indeed.

"I can leave if you want to clean yourself." He said gently, as she turned around to face him.

Ivy wrapped her arms around her still mostly covered body and observed Loki's face for a moment. He didn't look angry, or disappointed or anything that would've made her feel guilty for pulling back now. There was only understanding and sincere worry in his eyes. Love, even.

"No." Ivy heard herself say before her mind caught on. "Don't leave."

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, my love…" He said and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Whatever it is you wish for me to do, I will."

"Undress." Ivy commanded in a quiet, yet determined voice. "Without magic."

Loki lifted his eyebrows in surprise, but obeyed without another comment. He didn't try to make it any kind of seductive, or even longer than necessary… he simply took the pieces of clothing off one by one and discarded them on the ground.

Ivy watched intently, her eyes never leaving his until he was completely bare, and obviously still comfortable under his burning gaze. Only then she dared to truly look at him, taking in every inch of his being, tracing his skin with her eyes as she wished to let her hands do.

"No deceptions..." She said quietly, her voice hoarse. Loki sighed slightly, turning his back to her before doing as he was told and dropping every magic he had used to disguise the scars and wounds he had collected over the last centuries. He couldn't see her face, but he could hear a slight gasp.

To Ivy's eye, he was marvelous, in every aspect of his being. Not flawless, but perfect in a different way, a better way.

"I know… It happens when one steps onto a lot of people's feet. Which I happen to do quite often honestly." He said with a small and breathy laugh, turning back around towards Ivy, only to find her smiling almost affectionately.

"Am I that funny?" He asked, trying not to let on how insecure he truly felt about showing her the imprints his past had left on his body. It wasn't anything he had ever considered doing, as he himself felt repulsed by the many scars on his body, as he did by the ones left on his soul.

"No, you're not funny. At least not right now. I'm only very glad that you let me see." She smiled as she dropped her hands to her side, relaxing visibly under his insecure yet intent gaze.

"Well, I hardly had a choice, did I?" He chuckled, a little calmer now about his lack of covering magic, and still completely at ease with his lack of clothing. "You told me to undress and here I am now, bare to my soul and at your very mercy."

"I think I should return the favor." Ivy said in a breath and carefully pulled the shirt over her head, still reluctant to move too harshly after being pierced by a blade like a damn roast. Carelessly she dropped the piece of fabric to the ground, then turned to the side, showing him her own scars on her back and her ribcage. "See? You're not the only one."

Loki's eyes were fixed on her, taking in the beauty that was her body in the rapidly fading daylight. It pained him to see that once she had been hurt like this, but it also made him realize over and over again how strong she was for still being here, with him, with trust that he wouldn't hurt her yet again. Maybe she was stronger than him even.

Ivy enjoyed his gaze on her, despite her insecurities, and the look of absolute awe in his eyes made her feel all tingly once again and a lot more certain about her next words.

"I still wanna bath, so…" She said and held out a hand to him. "Join me?"

With a huge smile he took her hand and followed her into the freezing cold water, yet again surprised that Ivy didn't even flinch as the coldness met her heated skin. Oh, she definitely was stronger than him…

It took a few seconds before Ivy's body adjusted to the cold, but then she let go of Loki's hand and let herself fall backwards into the dark water.

The cold numbed her body just enough for it to still be bearable, and the sheer darkness and quiet around her made her smile. Being underwater was such a calming sensation… like a darkness, but without the pain. Ivy stayed like that for as long as she could, before coming back up for air at last.

"For a moment I thought you wanted to drown yourself." Loki chuckled from a few feet away.

"Nah, not today. Maybe later." She winked at him, slowly starting to rub the dirt off her skin with a sigh. This wasn't as luxurious as Loki's bathroom, but it still felt heavenly.

Finally she sighed once more in contentment when she was clean and the feeling of foreign hands was gone from her body. Once more she leaned backwards into the water, her body curving while she smoothed out her hair in an attempted to untangle it somehow. Then, having more or less succeeded, she moved through the water to stand in front of Loki. His hair was hanging around his face in wet strands and the water droplets on his skin glistened in the moonlight like he was some ancient sea creature. It looked so breathtakingly beautiful that it was almost cheesy to a certain extent. But Ivy had to smile nonetheless.

"Do you feel better now, my sweet?" Loki asked quietly, and for an answer, Ivy gently placed a hand in his neck and pulled him down into a soft kiss, which he returned just as lightly, while his hand reached around her waist, pulling her flush against his body.

"Tell me if you want me to stop." He whispered and his lips left hers, breathing kisses light as feathers down her jaw to her neck, nibbling at the soft skin while his one hand remained on her back, holding her tightly against him, leaving the other to explore the wonders of her ravishing body.

Ivy's fingers entangled in his hair on their own account, and his name spilled from her lips like a prayer as he moved to caress not only her body, but also her soul.

______________________________

Tags:

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Aaah this is the second to last part already! It's probably not the best steamy stuff I've written (it's definitely not), but yeah... Hope you enjoyed this nonetheless! 😊🥰

[fyeahbatcat]

Just finished Batman: Hush the animated movie. What are your thoughts on it?

Alright, everyone. Here we go:

Batman: Hush Movie Full review

To begin, as I’ve stated here previously, Batman: Hush is a very important story to me. It was the first Batman comic that I ever read many years ago. In the sixteen years since its original publication it has undergone at least nine different editions and is still one of the most recommended and critically praised Batman stories of the modern era. It was the starting point for many people in the Batman fandom, and I still believe that it is the most pinnacle story regarding Batman and Catwoman’s relationship. The fact that it’s still so influential, nearly twenty years later, in indicative of its importance and merit.

When DC Comics announced last summer that they were officially making Hush into an animated movie I was happy, but I cannot say that I was excited. This was due to unrelated factors that were happening simultaneous to its announcement that obliterated my faith in DC Comics as a whole. You can imagine my dismay when I learned that instead of creating a direct adaptation, in the same vein as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Year One, they would be changing the story to fit in with their current New 52 inspired animated universe.

As anyone whose been following me for a while may have observed; I’m highly critical. I can usually find the good and bad in something and when I’m giving my take on things from my perspective it’s pretty fair and balanced. I was fully aware that the Hush movie made changes to the story and knew going in that I would have to temper my expectations, but I still gave it a chance.

Many will say that the film should be viewed on its own merit, and I generally tend to agree. If not held up to the book the movie is watchable and very easy to enjoy. But it’s an adaptation. An adaptation of one of the best and most popular Batman stories of all time. An ambitious and operatic year long event from Jeph Loeb, and one that I personally hold in the highest regards. Completely divorcing the movie from its source material is unfeasible.

With that said; as I review this movie I will be critiquing as loosely inspiredimagination of the Batman: Hush comic, and only making comparisons to demonstrate potential compromises of the story or the characters.

***Obvious spoilers ahead***

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

After many years of begging, pleading, rumors, and teasing the Batman: Hush animated film was finally released during SDCC weekend. The basic plot remained intact: a mysterious new villain named Hush targets Batman’s crime fighting career as well as his personal life, which is further complicated by his burgeoning romance with Catwoman. While making concessions that range from minor to pivotal the movie manages to be different while maintaining a degree of familiarity. All the most iconic scenes are there in one aspect or another, with only one notable exception; the Jason Todd graveyard scene.

There’s not much to say about the general plot. It for the most part, stays true to the essence of the story, while being different in execution. Most changes were traversable, while others were pointless and baffling. The first questionable change occurs early in the movie, when Catwoman delivers the stolen money to Poison Ivy; Ivy kisses Catwoman, which she does not reciprocate. In the original script for the book, I believe, that Ivy did kiss Catwoman, but Jeph Loeb was told by editorial to remove it, because it was “too much.”

It was clear in the comic book that Ivy was using her powers to mind-control Catwoman. In that context kissing her would have made more sense. In the movie the extent of her influence over Catwoman is unclear. It appears that she is blackmailing Catwoman. Catwoman’s coldness and irritation afterwards implies that she has maintained some degree of self-awareness. Her use of coercion rather than force renders the kiss pointless, and its intention to merely be salacious.

Other needless changes involve swapping out characters. Bane, for some reason, has taken the place of Killer Croc. Damian Wayne has taken the place of Tim Drake, and Amanda Waller makes a token appearance, but both proceed to only have one scene.

As Rick Austin from FortressofSolitude put it:

Some changes to the original story are surface-level questionable, making you wonder why they changed them at all – like substituting Killer Croc for Bane, for instance. Presumably it was done for recognition and name value, and barely has any relevance to the story. Huntress is replaced by Batgirl, probably for the similar reasons, but that’s more important and naturally means Oracle’s role in the story is gone. Slowly but surely, the small tweaks begin to have a big knock-on effect. Important lines of dialogue have been jettisoned, some elements have been removed and some characters replace others just to make this fit with other recent DC animated films.

The movie takes a more action/adventure route rather than a character driven mystery, chugging along at breakneck pace making several plot concessions along the way. What it does manage to improve from the book, as far as a Batman and Catwoman shipper can see, is it beefs up Batman and Catwoman’s ill-fated romance, by way of a montage depicting adorable, if at times out-of-character, domesticity that even involves matching his and hers robes. Its inclusion was more fan-servicey than plot driven, but the ship isn’t doing well right now so I’m not about to complain about that.

What I will complain about isn’t what was added to the romance, but what was excluded from it. The film cuts out all the most important scenes that demonstrate why the dynamics of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship works for them. Yes, we get the rooftop kiss that has graced a thousand screensavers and Batman ultimately making the decision to reveal his identity to Catwoman, but everything in service of Catwoman’s perspective are removed entirely.

The scene from the book when Catwoman admonishes Batman for saving her instead of going after the Joker after she is shot at the opera, is changed to Catwoman merely telling Batman to go after Harley Quinn.

If you ever choose to rescue…me again over catching the bad guy…I swear I’ll scratch your eyes out. I’m not some kid you took in and trained.

This scene is important because this is where Catwoman affirms how she sees herself in this relationship: she is Batman’s equal and she expects– demands– that he treat her as such. These changes seem benign at first, until it becomes clear later why they were made. More on that in a bit.

The original script for Hush also included a tasteful post-coital scene that was ultimately cut by editorial. The scene makes its way back into the movie in lieu of some of the more emotionally intimate moments, like Selina dialoguing with Alfred in the bat-cave. The dialogue also fails to compensate for this. Batman and Catwoman’s pillow talk topic include how Batman used to think Catwoman was a kleptomaniac.

“You were beautiful, intelligent, and brilliant,” he tells her. “I assumed if you were stealing it was because you couldn’t control it.” I see this come up in fandom every now and again, and Catwoman cannot be a kleptomaniac because kleptomania is an impulse control disorder. Catwoman steals for profit and executes elaborate premeditated heists. I can see why other people would make that mistake, but the world’s greatest detective should have more cognizance.

Most of the changes to film are surface-level and trivial, but where the movie majorly fails is when they attempt to fix things that weren’t broken to begin with.

The most major change doesn’t occur until the final act of the movie when it is revealed that Hush is actually the Riddler. At first, I thought this was a misdirect, but no. The Riddler is really Hush and Tommy Elliot was just a plot device, and he is really dead. Like in the book, Riddler gained knowledge of Batman’s identity while in the Lazarus Pit, and decides to take revenge by going after Bruce Wayne’s friends and loved ones.

This change is nonsensical and renders Tommy Elliot’s role in the movie essential meaningless. He is a mere plot device, a shamefully underdeveloped plot device, intended to provide Batman with angst. Villains targeting Batman’s loved ones is all too familiar occurrence, but audiences barely get to know Tommy long enough understand the depths of Batman’s grief and mourning.

As I’m sure all of you are aware at this point that in the book it is revealed that Hush is Tommy Elliot. Substituting Tommy for Riddler diminishes the impact of the reveal and Hush’s motivations. Tommy, Bruce’s close childhood friend, has a personal vendetta against Bruce. He uses his friendship, familiarity, and access to Bruce Wayne to attack him both personally and as Batman. It also complicates Batman’s relationship with Hush as a villain. The Riddler being Hush is just a theatrical Gotham villain pretending to be a different theatrical Gotham villain for no reason whatsoever.  

Towards the end of the movie Riddler kidnaps Catwoman and tries to kill her in an elaborate trap. Since Bruce was damseled early in the movie, I didn’t so much mind that they did the same to Catwoman. I like that Batman and Catwoman can depend on each other, and it demonstrates a degree of equality in their relationship. However, while Batman was only incidentally damseled for maybe 60 seconds, Catwoman was subtly threatened with rape for intervening on his behalf and later got the full-on woman-tied-to-railroad-tracks-treatment. Predictably Batman shows up and saves the day.

THE UGLY

Batman: Hush made several missteps that I was willing to overlook, and almost got through its entire 82-minute run time before doing the only thing that I considered truly egregious.

After the ensuing fight the building begins to collapse and Catwoman leaves Riddler to die, after Batman attempts to save him. Batman argues that they could’ve saved Riddler instead of letting him die. Catwoman becomes angry. “You’re crazy! You’re absolutely insane,” she exclaims melodramatically. Batman and Catwoman decide that their moral differences are too stark and break up, but leave the door open for the future.

This is where the movie took an unexpected turn for the worse. This is where the reason why so many changes to Catwoman’s character becomes clear.

Batman goes out as the voice of morality and looks like the hero, and Catwoman is completely thrown under the bus to make it happen.

Early in the movie during the famous battle of Metropolis when Superman is under the influence of Poison Ivy, Catwoman throws Lois Lane off a building to snap him out of the spell. Later when Superman is out of earshot Batman tells Catwoman that throwing Lois off the building was not part of the plan and that he did not approve of her methods. In the book it was Batman’s idea to throw Lois from the building. This moment frequently makes appearances on Worst-Things-Batman-Has-Ever-Done lists on comic sites.

During the opera scene Catwoman attempting to stop Batman from killing the Joker in a fit of rage was also cut. Here it was Batman who was acting morally questionable, and Catwoman was the reasonable and morally righteous one, so to speak.

These, along with Catwoman allowing Riddler to die, are intended to make Catwoman seem like she has a cursory attitude towards killing, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. All of this inevitably shifts all the blame for the relationship not working out on Catwoman. Catwoman’s flaws are irreconcilable while Batman is the blameless voice of reason. This is abominable at best, and sexist at worst.  

The book ends similarly and yet profoundly different. Upon the announcement of the film some people were hoping for the ending to be changed to something presumably happier for Bruce and Selina. In the book Batman and Catwoman break up, but under much different circumstances.

I personally feel that the ending to the original was appropriate for the story. Batman sabotages their relationship pushes Catwoman away because he realized was not ready for the vulnerability required in that type of relationship, It ends  on a bittersweet note. Batman and Catwoman can have a relationship “someday.” All they need is a little more time, and it’s Batman who need to be a little bit different.

Even as things end Loeb simply and perfectly sums up why Batman and Catwoman work:

We are who we are. That’s why this works.

The film makes fundamental differences, that can only be remedied by Catwoman changing herself, are the root of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship dysfunction.

The changes to Catwoman’s character occur only to justify the ending. The filmmakers went to great lengths to villainize Catwoman to make it seem like it was all her personal shortcomings that ended things instead of Batman’s to make him seem more heroic. It relegates Batman and Catwoman’s relationship  to a tool to demonstrate Batman’s inflexible moral code.

To add insult to injury, as Batman and Catwoman’s relationship comes to an end, Selina tells Bruce bitterly that she changed herself to be with him and was willing to continue changing. This robs Selina the agency of having reformed on her own, in a film that has already diminished much of her voice and independence.

It’s almost laughable that Selina once told Huntress that reforming was worthwhile, “as long as you’re doing it for yourself, and not for what someone else thinks of you,” in the same book the movie was based on.

Some dude (and it’s a dude; I checked) read the book, saw this panel, then decided to have her say literally the opposite. I wish I was making this up.

On its own the Batman: Hush movie is watchable. The casual viewer and batcat shippers alike can easily find something to enjoy. But watchable is a low bar to pass when based on one of the most popular Batman stories of our era. What should have been an exceptionally easy recipe for success did not exceed the bare minimum. It’s drab, bland, and dark animation style does not hold up to Jim Lee’s iconic penciling or Scott Williams’ colorful fills. The changes to the story are generally acceptable, until the final act of the movie when things go off the rails.

Ultimately the movie exceptionally fails at capturing the dynamics of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship, trading in much of the depth and intimacy for shower sex and pet names. On its own Batman: Hush stands as a mindlessly entertaining adaptation, loosely inspired by a Batman story of mystery and intrigue. Held up to the source material, it’s a pale and grotesque imitation.  

[twitchesandstitches]

some crossthicc harley and ivy thoughts

i’ve gotten some poison ivy related asks aND, i’ve been watching the new Harley Quinn show and you better believe i love it. so, some thoughts on IVy and Harley in this AU:

Harley herself has been suggested in some currently unfinished WIPs to be an elf, possibly a wood elf. However, switching bodies is fairly simple for the powerful characters in this AU so she could just as easily be a hyena-mutant, a tiefling, a cute vorcha-asari hybrid, or anything like that. Generally, she will have some hyena based mods, such as sharp teeth and a stripey mane running down her back that she ties with cute decorations; when she powers up, these mutate into more extreme forms, such as massive bone-crushing teeth.

Harley’s powers are literally cartoon physics personified; her body is incredibly adaptable and elastic, and she can transform herself in ways similar to old school cartoons. She can blow air into her thumb and pump up her arm into a massive bludgeon, she can slam into objects and bounce off like she was made of rubber. She can actually treat her body like its made out of rubber, bouncing off objects and deflecting attacks, and stretch incredibly far! This power is very extensive, and effectively Harley can freely warp herself and reality around her in cartoony, chaotic ways... but only if its done in a funny way. she basically weaponizes cartoon physics and the world around her. She can have even more explicitly cartoony traits if desired; sometimes she produces not milk, but an ink-like substance. (Regardless it has a potent kick but is helpful for dealing with mental problems. If you don’t mind some weird hallucinations!)

Harley’s personality draws on some of the more aggressive and independent interpretations of her; she’s EXTREMELY chaotic and impulsive, and has a fairly vicious ego at times. She is extremely loyal, for good and ill (as her victimization by the Joker will show), and she has a real mean streak once she feels she has a reason to turn on someone. She is, nonetheless, a brilliant psychologist with deep insight into those around her, and she freely exploits this in her role as the team handler of the Task Force X cell she is a part of. It’s also pretty clear that her mindset is... weird. its not so much that she’s putting on a role, but that her mind now consists of a few extreme elements who take charge and direct her based on what her best need is. 

Poison Ivy’s species is also deliberately ambigious; its assumed that she was most likely an asari, but she’s a chaotic blend of various species now, and regardless of her current body, she is always partially plant based and clearly some kind of plant being. She can be a flourana, for sure, but its often hybridized with something else; this doesn’t appear to be a conscious choice on her part, either, but a consequence of her abilities.

Ivy’s powers, as per canon, allow her to control plants, speed up their growth and direct them in various ways; turning trees into living plant constructs, turning ordinary plants into gigantic and monstrous versions of themselves, or growing vines to use as tentacles against her foes. this applies even to the plant matter of her own body. She also has a few unique abilities particular to this version of her; she naturally produces a potent poison from her body, causing her plump lips to produce a toxin that has as many nasty or benign traits as she wants, and her massive breasts produce a potent sap that is useful in industrial processes, is incredibly nutritious, and is a sort of universal fertilizer. it also is very mutagenic, and tends to cause plant transformations.

most importantly, ivy’s powers work on a planetary scale; she can alter the plant life of entire planets, introducing mutations to entire ecosystems and species at once. In theory, she could destroy worlds with ease, erasing all animal life. In practice, this has benign aspects; she can terraform planets VERY easily using plants as a vector, can uplift plants into intelligent beings, and her extremely fertile body can also create life and Energon within herself, so she can populate worlds entirely on her own. She’s thus almost permanently gravid, and one of her roles is recreating extinct species.

Ivy draws largely from her recent portrayals; in spite of her seductress image, she’s actually a fairly sarcastic, down-to-earth practical person who tends to find the weaponizing of sexuality as a regrettable asset she’d rather not deal with. (if she genuinely does her sexy seductress thing, its a sign she really likes you, she’s just got a weird way of expressing it.) she is first and foremost a scientist, and is fascinated by new discoveries. she tends to refer to the Task Force’s labors as the Work, and she loves Harley deeply, and started because of her.

Ivy is rarely seen actively on the Task Force’s squads because despite her immense power, she’s more comfortable doing the groundwork; she is a researcher and a world-maker, but she’s not adverse to being mission control, or from directly fighting if she HAS to.

If absolutely necessary, Ivy can transform into a monster form that some suggest is divine in nature; this turns her into a massive plant monster girl that closely resembles her mutant plant form in Batman Vs the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; a towering beast with venus flytrap limbs, a lower body resembling roots and vines. Her upper body is farily humanoid, but extremely thick and hyper curvy, with red vines billowing out into combat forms, and organic missile launchers swelling up from her arms and shoulders to spit seeds at foes; with her powers, these seeds can function as explosives, sprout into constricting traps, grow into carnivore plants that swalllow enemies whole, or deploy her toxins in a gas form.

monster ivy has elements of venus flytraps, pitcher plants, mangrove trees, and other such plant life hybridized into her current body’s design; she tends to adopt this form full time when off the clock, and is usually so massive she comprises her own ecosystem. Even other giants are lost upon her massive lengths; she comprises an island-continent unto herself in the realm of the Task Force!

[sunshinewhale]

an oxeye daisy

he loves me, he loves me not.

pairing: minhyuk x reader  pov: unnamed reader, second person, mostly past tense

genre: angst  word vomit: ~2800

warnings: i’m just writing the same stuff in different words and different situations. lol.

notes: not proofread. i was trying to do something small and short and quick but it turned into a monster. this was only supposed to be ~500 words.

Autumn wind caresses your skin with soft chills, but it pales in comparison to the frozen wasteland in your empty chest. It’s numb. The playground before you is flowing with youth and joyful screams of delight. It’s not as contagious as you thought it would be.

A child comes up to you. She clutches a tangled garden of flowers in her chubby hands, and specks of dirt glitter on her dress coat. Shyly, she offers one out to you. Your numbness thaws a little at the way her small baby fingers are clumsy and unpracticed.

You smile and thank her, taking the flower by the stem. You twirl it in your fingers and tell her it’s pretty and that she’s even prettier. The child beams with unrestrained glee and runs back towards the playground with a bounce in her steps.

Your sight focuses on the flower again, and it’s anything but pretty.

It’s withering. The stem is crumpled and bent horribly out of shape. The petals are carelessly smushed, discoloured and ruined at the tips. It was well on the way to death’s door before it was unearthed from its roots in the name of childish innocence.

A wild wave of nostalgia overcomes you. You wish you could to return to the honeyed fairy tales of childhood, when you didn’t understand how something as good and pure as love could ruthlessly maim beating hearts.

You run your finger over the wispy petals, and gingerly pluck one off.

He loves me.

And another.

He loves me not.

Another.

He loves me.

Minhyuk burst into your life on a somber spring day. He had carried the sun on his shoulders like he was meant to illuminate your starless sky.

You were strangers, then. At best, friends of friends, though you weren’t really sure what Kihyun considered Minhyuk to be.

That didn’t stop him.

He was so alight with life. He glowed with the watercolours of sunrise and the universe seemed to bloom into existence under his fingertips. He chattered on about anything and everything, weaving a unique melody of thrill and mischief that tickled your ears. The world excited him, the ordinary amazed him, and he wanted to share his exhilaration with you. It was annoying, but it was so annoyingly endearing.

“You don’t understand! Listen to me,” he said breathlessly, wonderstruck and awe thrumming in his voice. “We’re in such a boundless galaxy with years and years of history and look! We’ve meet here, in the same time and at the same place! That’s a miracle in itself! Wouldn’t it be such a shame if we don’t become friends?”

You remember feeling something in your wary heart stir, for the first time. Minhyuk had made a mere crack at the edge of your steel fortress, but it was enough for a trickle of his warmth to seep through and reach the slumbering eros beneath.

He loves me not.

Sworn to secrecy under the velvet moon, he confided that you weren’t exactly his type. Not that he really had a type, he hurried to explain, because types are such an inflexible concept and everyone is worth loving anyway, but he was furiously drawn to people who painted their souls vividly with emotion and wore vulnerability like golden armour.

You wore it like weakness.

He had thought you were solid diamond. Almost too unapproachable, too stiff, too aloof, too alike Kihyun. The lover in him ached, throbbing at the far distance you had withdrawn into yourself. He wanted to show you the magic the world hid in plain sight, but he had only meant to become your friend. He had a difficult time with guarded hearts that refused to flower in the sincerity of spring.

He loves me.

But then, he confessed, he saw how he made you smile for the first time, so silently sweet because you thought he wasn’t watching, and he fell just a little bit in love. He coaxed you to laugh for the first time and he fell a little bit harder. His heart swelled to the heavens and it couldn’t decide between skipping beats or beating faster when he began to realize how effortless your smiles and your laughter came for him, and only for him. Like the North star dazzling amongst billions of other identical stars, he felt so, so special.

One day, he watched you as your eyes hooked onto him in a sea of strangers. He watched as your face lit up in an indescribable, iridescent glow and the way your lips smoothly curled upwards in unrestrained beauty, and he fell completely, utterly, hopelessly.

“It was so enchanting, I couldn’t control it at all,” he breathed love against your lips, “I thought, we were definitely meant to be more than friends. I yearned to become yours.”

You placed your fingers over the heat of his heart, and you traced your name on his moonlit skin, as if you were searing it into memory.

“Is this mine, then?”

“Only yours,” he took your hand into his, and kissed his declaration into your soul as the night and all its stars bore witness, “and don’t you dare give it back.”

He loves me not.

You had hardened the outer layers of your heart into stone because you wanted to protect yourself against the dangers of unbridled passion, of loving and being loved in return. Minhyuk had given himself to you in sweet surrender, but you were reluctant to throw yourself in wholly. Just the very idea of loving entirely, emotionally, unconditionally, had always been difficult for you.

But Minhyuk made it so ridiculously easy.

He settled into your daily life as naturally as the sun rose at dawn and set at dusk. Whale-shaped cushions made themselves home on your couch, another coffee mug in the kitchen, an extra toothbrush in the bathroom. You fell into silken bedsheets with him each night, and you woke up to his handsomeness each morning. You were budding, bountiful and bright, allowing your roots to tangle with his as you bloomed thornless red roses and white ivy without poison.

You had stars in your eyes, and you were drowning in everything about Minhyuk.

His adorable uneven blink. The husky pitch of his voice. The precious crinkles of his eyes. The puppy-like curve of his smile. His large, warm hands.

His laughter was pure sunshine after the rain. He kissed like fresh dewdrops sparkling on the grass during sunrise, and embraced you securely like the way the summer sea hugged the horizon. His silly antics brightened even the bleakest of your days, and you’ve never felt so saturated with colour.

Minhyuk almost had you entirely. Almost. You were barely able to hold a small part of yourself back, but your sanity demanded you to do it. It was your last line of defence, your last hope before the ground underneath you gave way to raw vulnerability. It was small enough that it would’ve been inconsequential, but like everything else about you, he had noticed.

“You’re so enduringly careful, so cautious,” he asked into the dim light of the rising morning, “have you been hurt before?”

You tensed. Your shoulders curled into yourself out of defense, and unconsciously, you turned away from him slightly.

“No, but I’m afraid of being hurt. My heart is weak, and if I hurt I will shatter and I won’t know how to pick up the pieces and put myself back together,” your half-whispers had barely sounded in the soft silence, “that makes me afraid of you, too.”

He pulled you into his arms to unravel you, to undo the insecure knots you had wound yourself into. Minhyuk touched his forehead against yours, patiently coaxing you to look at him, and with little resistance, you locked onto his unwavering gaze.

You had nearly forgotten how to breathe.

His pupils were crystal clear and unbearably sincere. You saw endless love reflected in them, and then, you saw yourself.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” he sweared, and his voice promised you eternity, “I’ll be careful, too. I won’t hurt you.”

He paused, body stilling. His eyes widened round, like he suddenly had a life-changing revelation.

“Oh my god, I would even eat a cucumber for you.”

Minhyuk had made a face, his nose scrunched in disgust as if the very thought of eating the cursed vegetable brought him pain. You remember your fear washing away into the unknowns of the ocean, genuine fondness bubbling in its place as you promised you would never subject him to such cruelty.

He loves me.

Without even trying, he left his traces on your forever.

He was the love you dreamed about in childish fantasies, the one that lived in every fairytale and every myth, every legend. The love that made mere mortals defy gods, destroyed kings and brought great empires to war and to fall into ruin. He was the love that made miracles that you could never even imagine, happen.

And miracle, he did. Minhyuk made quick work and smoothly demolished down every last barrier that shielded your heart from the world. He didn’t leave a single brick behind in his wake. Your heart was beating naked on your sleeve, bearing his name in bolded love letters.

Your heart was so in bliss you could barely contain yourself.

“I was so reserved, Minhyuk, wasn’t it hard? I think I was hard to love.”

He chuckled at your query, a mischievous glint in his laughter as he teased, “I’m not going to lie, you’re still a little hard to love. I’m amazing, I know.”

You pouted, and amusement shook his shoulders. Adoration oozed from his entire being as he patted your cheek like he was consoling a spoiled child, but the slight scrunch of his brow told you he was giving it some serious thought.

“It was a little hard, but the hardest thing was convincing you to let me love you. Compared to that, loving you came so, so easily.”

He cradled your face as if he was holding the most precious treasure in his hands. His eyes lowered as his voice grew tender, “but you know, when I saw the beginnings of love in your eyes, I knew it was worth everything. “

“You’re worth everything,” he repeated, and his lips found yours.

He loves me not.

Spring came to an end. Spring always came to an end.

On the water’s surface, there wasn’t a single flaw. Stars never stopped twinkling in your eyes whenever you caught his gaze, and you were constantly a crisp reflection in his. Kihyun had begun to joke about being invited to your summer wedding. Minhyuk was beyond delighted that someone else saw you so clearly in his future, and you took the idea as naturally as the changing season. Love firmly rooted you two together, and in unending selflessness, both of you would do anything for each other.

Maybe, there were warning signs hanging in the air all along, like small ripples that sailors paid no mind. Maybe, the hazy promises of love had made you two both willfully blind.

Minhyuk was the perfect child of fate and destiny, and you were the other side of the coin, ingrained in choice and chances. His heart was big and his love limitless, he gave too much and at times, it felt too intense. There was too much to bear. On your worst days, you wanted him to give less, to meet your needs halfway and give you a chance to breathe. You didn’t mind suffocating in his soul, but you were new in your steps and you had just learned to trust yourself in the hands of another. For you, this territory was unfamiliar, still strangely foreign. He mistook that for doubt because you didn’t feel secure enough in his embrace, so he gave you even more.

Maybe, that was your downfall.

He loves me.

You knew Minhyuk would never leave you because he had promised you forever, and that was simply an absolute truth. Every last cell in his body was willing to follow you in eternal vow, everything else be damned.

You are worth everything, his words had echoed in your mind.

No matter what Minhyuk thought, you weren’t everything. 

You couldn’t be everything. 

So beneath, the current was turbulent. In a book of relationships, there was a page you two just couldn’t agree on. He continued to pour his love onto you until his veins were dry and his pulse was weak with exhaustion, and he still insisted it wasn’t enough. Because you understood Minhyuk and his good intentions, you let his love fill you until it ached raw and wounded. You readily endured it even though the fullness bruised you, the blood underneath your skin silently screaming too much.

Like a sluggish toxin, love’s name gradually became weary and loving put a heavy strain on both of you. However much you and Minhyuk were willing, you knew it wasn’t right. The flowers of your roses began to wilt, but the vines thrived, growing sharp thorns. Your ivy buds shrivelled, feeding sickeningly sweet poison instead of honey nectar.

You knew, then.

When the sun dipped below the skyline and it began raining on the last day of spring, you murdered his beating heart.

“We’ve been trying too hard, Minhyuk, maybe we’re meant to just be friends.”

Your eyes had already been wet before the words even left you. Fear settled into the lines of his face as he reached out for you, to console you, to hold you and deny you of what he knew you intended to do. He tucked your head into the curve of his neck, and his fingers curled into you desperately like you would disappear if he let you go.

The comfort of his warmth broke you, and in a shuddering breath, you grieved in his arms. Your tears burned stains into his skin, and in an instant, you felt new wetness that didn’t belong to you.

“No, no, no, don’t cry,” his voice cracked, and his hands shook as they cradled your face, “you can’t cry because of me.”

Then Minhyuk had cried too, until his eyes turned bloodshot and his throat was hoarse with heartbreak.

“I love you,” he sobbed, “I’m sorry I ended up hurting you, I’m sorry I wasn’t careful enough, I’m so sorry—”

“You were careful. You didn’t hurt me. Maybe, it just hurts to love, but I chose to love you regardless,” you kissed his watery eyelids and ignored the sting of fresh tears at the back of your eyes, “I know you’ve been hurting too. We did our best.”

The sound of his weeping heart rang in your ears. It didn’t want to let go, and in all the truths of the universe, neither did you. 

One of the truths deafened you to his pain, gripped your hand and forced you to go.

What you want isn’t always what you need, the truth had said, what he wants isn’t always what he needs.

Minhyuk had promised he would never hurt you, and it was you that made him a liar.

He loves me not.

You had blinked, and autumn arrived at your doorstep.

Your life seems even bleaker than when you first met him. Your vision is colourless and your eyes cannot adjust to the vibrancy of the warm tones of harvest. All you can think of are of wilted leaves, barren trees, and dying flowers that have been robbed of too much time.

The skies are thick with cloudy misery, and the mornings are starting to darken into longer nights. You hardly see sunlight on the sidewalk, nowadays.

Even if it’s somewhere else, you hope the sun is still shining.

He loves me.

You hope he’s alright. 

You hope the gaping wound you left him as a parting gift has healed.

He loves me not.

You hope he has his head held high and he’s found light and life in autumn.

He loves me.

(He deserves to be happy, more than anyone else.)

He loves me not—

Your fingers tremble.

There’s a single petal remaining, limply hanging on the flower in your hands.

He loves me.

Bitterness claws up your throat and you can’t help but smile dryly at the cruelness of the universe. Familiar wetness stings your eyes and you breathe away the urge to cry.

You’ve should’ve known better than to think just loving would be enough.

The petals scattered at your feet look like fragmented pieces of memories from your spring. You watch as the autumn breeze picks up and carries them away.

You crouch down and carelessly cover the flower and the lone petal with loose earth. You bury Minhyuk and his starry kisses and sunlit smiles. You bury the what ifs and the maybes and the it could have beens.

It doesn’t matter, anymore.

His shattered heart is already six feet under.

[yoshimickster]

RWBY Volume 6 Episode “Alone in the Woods” Micksterecap-THINGS HAPPEN FINALLY!

Hey everybody hoping you had a good week, mine’s had some bumps but I’m still dancin’ so WHATEVS-lets get to Micksterecap!

OUR EPISODE STARTS OUT-

-with Ruby thinking about reenacting her favorite scene from “An American Tail”, moon and everything-BUT-

2:05 -CAN’T due to Bumblebee angst. Look at Weiss in the middle there, no WAY she doesn’t know she’ a buffer between the two of them. Girl just wants to be warm, why does she also have to be in between passive aggressive romance drama?

Its sad times like this when a girl JUST needs a stable adult to talk to, so she GOES to Qrow-

-aaaaaaaaaaand he’s drinking...super. Way to keep it together, one of only 2 stable adults. He then tells her that he’s okay and that he’ll wake everyone up in the morning because he’s the STABLE adult he is!

A CUT TO-Maria telling Oscar about the late man of the house Bartleby, and how the farming community was going through a BIT of tough times, which I’m SURE he didn’t try to solve by using the dark arts...so sure.

Ruby than tells everyone they gotta go to sleep as they gotta get out of this rejected Evil Dead setting ASAP, which I’m sure Qrow will DEFINITELY be awake to wake up everbod-

4:13 Oooooooooooooooooooooh Qrooooooooooooooow...you got a problem man. That’s an ENTIRELY different bottle of booze. AND-just when you think his drinking problem couldn’t be even MORE of a problem-

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH she woke up before him and saw him in this state. We’re getting real here folks, we’re tackling alcoholism, WE’RE DOING IT FOLKS!

In a FIT of anger-

-Ruby SMASHES that shit-

-WAKING-his drunk ass up-

-making him INSTANTLY realize he broke a promise due to his drinking...we are getting DANGEROUSLY close to very special episode territory here folks.

Ruby than gives him a sweet hug telling him he could talk to her and Yang about stuff, but like many people with a problem Qrow brushes it off...uuuuuuuuuuuuuh...HAMMERS! Sorry...trying to make a joke here but its just...SUCH an angst fest!

5:36 Everyone else is awake, hell Weiss even welded a hitchemup to Bumblebee(the bike not the ship) with her dust magic so the cart will attach to it! When Weiss learned welding I do NOT know but I’m glad she did!

EITHER WAY everything goes out fine without ANY proble-

-aaaaaaaaaand Qrow’s Misfortune pops the tire (Ruby, HIDE THE BOOZE).

This single deflated tired sparks a chain reaction of mental anguish, where everyone is practically giving up on the mission, Yang even tells Ruby she should just throw the Jinn lamp down the well ALSO-

7:43 These three just...STARE at Ruby until she drops it in the well...like weird sleepy zombies. Ruby attempts to toss that sucker down the well-

-while ALSO sporting a sleepy zombie demeanor like everyone else which I’m SO SURE won’t mean anything later-BUT THEN-

“Hey kid...you like balloons?”

Ruby than drops the lamp, LOGICALLY freaks out about it ALL WHILE-

-these...three sleepy bitches don’t give a SHIT! If you can ‘t tell by now, some CLEAR devil magic is being had here.

Ruby somehow being the ONLY person to not be sleepified, gets her team to join her in getting the magical lamp that the bad guy wants that is STILL a freakin priority! And I’m sure Qrow, being a mature man of body and mind will FIGHT BACK the curse holding them-

Qrow: Everyone do whatever, I’m gonna drink away my feelings.

Ooooooooooooooh right, depression.

9:29 Team RWBY jumps down the well without receiving fall damage, in what is CLEARLY Killer Croc’s level in Batman Arkham Asylum. Get the Poison Ivy spores and then GET OUT OF THERE! The four than search for the lamp-ALL WHILE-

Maria continues to read Bartelby’s diary which I’m sure will have NOOOOOOOOOOOOO relevance at all...absolutely none.

After slightly more emo than usual Blake points out their scroll’s flashlights are useless when they’re looking for a glowing lamp of infinite glowing-

-BAM-they finds that shit, and I’m sure NOTHING bad will happen when they go look for it, not Salem’s crew, not White Fang-bangers, not nightmare Grimm that suck away your will to care about anything creating utter and total apath-

-ooooooooooooooh crap, RUN OLD WOMAN! RUN AND HELP THOSE FOUR TEENAGERS WHO AREN’T USED TO THE SOUL CRUSHING NOTHINGNESS!

OH SWEET JESUS-they’re all bendy and moaning, and GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! They even freak out Ruby-

-BUT thankfully-

-THAT was enough to wake them up from their case of the SERIOUS mondays. TERROR-the greatest alarm clock of all! Ruby THEN introduces them to the monsters of the week-

-DAMMIT-I wish I could get a better picture of how unsettling they all are, like freaky inky skeletons. Ruby then gives the FIRST volley-

11:12

-WHICH does nothing! That’s what you get for forgetting those super cross-bullets from the character short Ruby...and RWBY in general, what the hell happened to those things? Its even worse when the Apathy uses-EMO SHRIEK-

And its SUPER effective! THANKFULLY THOUGH-

OLD LADY MARIA APPEARS to save the day...by...encouraging them to run! Hey, helping’s helping, I’m not picky.

Maria: LET’S GO LESBIANS, LET’S GO!

Team RWBYM then runs ALL throughout the catacombs, running into more and more of these Grimm zombie fucks and JUST when they get to the exit-

-AND they hit em with another depression wave, they make Blue Diamond look like Holly Blue!

12:29 That don’d stop Maria, the little Yoda that could from trying to open the door-BUT-to no avail! Strong will power has its limits. ALSO-Blake has the most...HORRIFYING reaction to the Apathy’s power-

Blake:...its fine.

While she just LIES down, complacent in the absolute nothingness the Apathy gave them, just CREEPY!

Things are just NOT looking good folks, the music keeps getting creepier, the Grimm keep getting closer, and the PROM is tomorrow! But RIGHT before one of the skeledudes try to Freddy Kruger Blake-

Ruby: NO-not my sister’s almost girlfriend!

WOO-silver eyes-STUN THOSE LITTLE BITCHES!

Things seem good for like THREE seconds, Yang rushes to the door to bash it open BUT-

-they blast them with YET ANOTHER emo wave-RIGHT before Yang could get to the door.

Yang: NO-I can’t reach one of my two almost girlfriends!

Don’t lie, some of you were thinking shippy thoughts with that shot, and you DISGUST ME!

13:54 Once again its up to RWBY Grandma Katara to SAVE the day!

Maria: Ruby, what color are your eyes?

By...asking questions about eye color apparently! Also her goggles don’t look THAT distorted, I’m amazed she hasn’t guessed their silver.

Maria than gives her the ULTIMATE pep-talk, Ruby gets up and REVEALS-

-SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HA GRIMM DISINTEGRATION POWERS! AWESOME! H-wait...did Ozpin KNOW about how Silver Eye powers WORKED? Cos if he did...wwwwwwwwwwwhy didn’t he get Ruby a tutor? Because that is one BAD ASS super power!

Either way it was an attack SO awesome-

-that it fixed Maria’s eyes! HUZZAH!

Yang bashes the exit’s door, REVEALING IT LEADS TO-

15:22 -THE HOUSE...uh, yeah where else would it lead? I’m just saying EVERYONE here is surprised, including Weiss and Ruby who saw the door LAST episode. Man, intense magical apathy must do TERRORS on the memory-WHICH-is actually true for those for depression. They ALSO see-

DRUNKLE QROW-who has been ABSOLUTELY useless this ENTIRE episode due to the Apathy amplifying his depression. Seriously, I want to point out he DOES look worse in this episode than others, most times he was a functional drunk, this time he went full off the wagon.

Everybody decides to logically leave this hellish house of hell-housery-RIGHT BEFORE THE ANIMATORS-

15:37 Give us SHIP BAIT! GLORIOUS GLORIOUS SHIP BAIT!

Either way, Weiss who is absolutely DONE with being scared and apathetic does the ONLY logical thing one can do in this situation-

-SET SOME BITCHES ON FIRE! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH-their gonna toast up NICE with all that wood and alcohol there!

After pushing a belligerent Drunkle Qrow who EVENTUALLY notices the death monsters-

16:26 See that look? THAT is a combo look of both breaking from a plus 10 apathy enchantment AND instant sobriety!

Either way, everyone gets on the cart attached to Bumblebee and they get OUT OF THERE-

...rather...smoothly I gotta say! I mean what is that, 25 miles an hour? Bumblebee has a GOOD amount of horsepower for a motorcycle, wander why Yang had so much trouble trudging it through the snow earlier.

Everybody than says sorry for ever saying they’d want to quit the debatably futile mission of stopping an immortal witch, Maria gives final backstory on the apathy inducing monsters they fought being rounded up there by dumb-ass Bartleby who just didn’t want to pay Hunstmen and thought putting his friends and family into a state of constant apathy was a good idea, bla bla bla-TELL US WHAT WE ALL READY KNOW WOMAN!

Ruby: Ms Calavera, how do you know so much about the Grimm, and in the tunnels you know exactly what to say to make my eyes do that...how?

Maria: Well, isn’t it obvious girl...I had silver eyes!

BAM-a creepy as hell horror episode, more examples of Qrow’s drinking being a LEGIT problem, and SECRETS REVEALED in Maria being a Silver-eyes! DAMN what a good episode, hell the Apathy are almost as creepy as the Nuckaleave, and I LOVES the Nuckaleave!

Either way, fun episode, if you want to support my Patreon or Kofi just ask or message me, SEE YA NEXT WEEK ON MICKSTERECAPS!

[catastrophicideass]

King of Terrasen

a/n: Rowan after Aelin is taken from him by Maeve (it’s v angsty)

for @house-of-galathynius bc i told her i would write this a whole ass month ago and she actually waited till now i’m so sorry Chloe 

Prince Rowan Whitethorne of Doranelle entered his cabin, alone at last. That title he had used for the entirety of his existence now held a bitter taste- but not as much as Rowan Whitethorne, King of Terrasen. He was supposed to have been Consort to QueenAelin Galanthynius Whitethorne.

Rowan was exhausted. Not just where his body screamed in pain at his every movement, bruises blooming like poison ivy creeping over nearly his whole body, half-healed cuts threatening to seep with blood. Not even where a burnout nearly overwhelmed him, where he could taste death in his mouth, where his body begged for reprieve and almost forced him to collapse and allow his magic to recover. No, it was a gruesome combination of those and the endless weight he felt in his soul.

He wanted to be furious at her, and gods he was. How could she think that they could ever survive without her; how could she think that he even wanted to?

But at the same time, he wasn’t- he knew why she did what she did. He knew she thought she was protecting them all and offering them a chance of a better future. But this was them- they fought the odds at every godsdamned turn and won. Why did she give up on them now?

He had knelt in the sand on that wretched beach, his body unable to do anything but stare at the distant horizon where his entire life had just vanished, his mind completely hollow and blank, his senses dulled into a terrible numbness. He didn’t notice Gavriel nearing him, didn’t notice him until he sat on the sand next to him and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. The best he’d been able to summon was a nod, a barely imperceptible acknowledgement at best.

“She told us to tell you something before she… before Maeve took her. She said she’s sorry that she lied. That even though it was all borrowed time from the beginning, she wishes she had more of it with you. She wanted you to remember the promises you made and that you fight for Terrasen. And thank you, for walking that dark path with her back to the light,” Gavriel said, his voice as broken as how Rowan felt inside.

“Wants,” Rowan corrected, his hoarse voice barely above a whisper.

“What?”

“Not what she wanted. Its what she wants,” Rowan cleared his throat, his voice getting stronger as his mind rid itself of the fog and neared a resolution,” She’s not dead yet and she’s not going to die.”

That had been nine hours ago and though his body wanted nothing more than to collapse he couldn’t- not yet. He had to complete what his wife had started, had to organise the multitude of armies she had somehow manage to assemble without anyone knowing, had to follow through plans she’d long set in place.

He wasn’t sure where he fit into her plan anymore.

Last night- gods that felt like an eternity ago- when she said she wanted to marry him, his male instincts had gone into overdrive; that carnal pleasure at claiming her and promising himself to her in every way he knew how was coursing through his blood and was singing for more. There was nothing he wanted more than to fall onto his knees and give himself up to her- offer himself to protect, to serve, to love.

He didn’t know he’d end up falling onto his knees with sheer helpless scarcely a day later.

Their marriage had been brief, its consummation not nearly as thorough as he would’ve liked. All they had was half an hour: fifteen minutes to get married, with Aelin her favourite oversized white shirt of his that she’d somehow turned into a dress by cinching the waist and Rowan in a green embroidered coat he stole from Fenrys. Their vows were short but thorough, completed by the unspoken words that hung with crystal clarity in her gold-rimmed eyes. Then they had another fifteen minutes of heaven, of reprieve, or pleasure as they lost themselves in each other in the most primal of ways, both of them demanding and craving for more, never getting enough.

What had been a comforting piece of relief in the cacophony of the world surrounding them had now turned into torture for him; he had vowed to protect her, promised to be by her side no matter what, swore he would do her no harm and yet, it had taken him just a day to break all his promises.

Rowan stumbled towards the bed, barely making it before his body threatened to give. His hands hung limply at his side, his back was curved as if under immense pressure and his eyes were tightly shut against the memories of today.

Seeing Aelin’s blood specked shirt, smelling the lingering scent of Maeve and iron and feeling the ghost of every whip-lash his Fireheart had to endure was heart-shattering enough- he felt like his insides were disintegrating from the loss, like his own body couldn’t stand the thought of such an integral part of himself was lost. But what he had to do in the aftermath was almost worse.

Centuries of bloodshed and seeing eviscerated limbs, battlefields painted red with the remnants of people, the ringing of wailing mourners and still nothing made his stomach roil in vicious protest than when he had to pretend Lysandra was his Fireheart. It was the most jarring feeling to look into Aelin’s eyes and realize that the words that had flowed so easily between them through a quirked eyebrow or an tilt in her lips were now missing. Lysandra played her part perfectly, she got all of Aelin’s mannerisms right but the stark disappearance of that bond between them was unnerving, it was like watching a person play the violin but not being able to hear any sound.

Lysandra would be joining him in the room soon enough. He didn’t know if he could stand it, being in physically the same space as an imposter. It wasn’t fair to Lys, he knew that, knew that they were only doing this for Aelin but it didn’t make it any easier.

Rowan felt like he couldn’t breathe, like his chest was caving in, like his magic was weeping. All the emotion he had been holding back with crumbling force of will now threatened to overpower him, ambushed his every sense, spilled into his mating bond.  He couldn’t help it- a choked sound escaped his lips. He hadn’t cried in centuries, had cared about nothing enough to evoke such emotion from him. His back curved in on himself and his hands tangled in his hair, twisting to the point of pain. He tried to take a breath, tried to calm the rising panic but it was futile; his breath was as harsh as shards of glass. Tears slipped out of his eyes, falling past his cheekbones and jaw- parts that she had kissed, her lips roaming over every inch of his face like she was satiating her hunger but never quite succeeding- and didn’t show any sign of stopping. The weight pushing down on his chest forced another sob out of him, his whole being shuddered with the effort to push it back down and to stay strong like she wanted him to. He didn’t have time for weakness, couldn’t afford the liberty of vulnerability.

He could hear footsteps in the distance, could hear Lys’ dragging steps make their way to his and Aelin’s cabin. And so, Rowan Whitethorne, Consort to the Queen of Terrasen, swallowed the lump in his throat, pushed the tears away from his red-rimmed and hooded eyes and put on the mask of King of Terrasen. 

[dumbledearme]

chapter forty-three—freedom and courage

Okay... So I may or may not have stolen Elizabeth Swan's speech from Pirates of the Caribbean. What can I say, I'm a huge fan. (So credit’s hers)

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act V — Walking On Water

Part VI — But if you're not convinced that I'm invincible, put me to the test! I'd love to lay this rivalry to rest.

"What did they do to my city?" Andy's voice sounded tight and angry. She stood with the other campers looking down at New York. She could see almost everything from there and what she saw was the calmness, the silence. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent. What had they done?

Traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.

Andy shook her head. "No. Morpheus must have put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

Anthony and Andy went to find Argus. The man was rummaging around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Anthony. When he set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty.

"A video shield?" Andy guessed.

"One of Daedalus's ideas," Anthony said. "I had Beckendorf make this before- Well, it bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. It will let us see what's going on across the city. Thank you, Argus."

Argus grunted.

"You'd better get back to camp," Andy told him. "Guard it as best as you can." Then she called Mrs O'Leary. "Hey, girl. Remember Grover? The satyr? I need you to find him. We're going to need his help." The dog gave her a sloppy wet kiss and raced off north.

Anthony and Andy went back to the others.

"I don't get it," Pollux was saying. "Why didn't we fall asleep, too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena answered. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want millions of mortals to sleep, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

"How do you know that?" Andy asked.

Silena blushed. "I'm not just a pretty face."

"Andy," Anthony said; he was looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."

The image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat a packed with demigods in full Greek armor.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," she said. "Quick."

Anthony shifted the scene south to the harbor. Staten Island Ferry was plowing trough the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and whole pack of hell-hounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of telkhines.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons.

"What's happening to the other mortals?" Andy asked. "I mean, is the whole state asleep?"

Anthony frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

"Kronos is slowing time."

"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner said.

"Somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic," Anthony sounded really frustrated. "The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.

Anthony nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help."

Andy turned to her friends, to their stunned, scared faces. "Alright, demigods. We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Andy, Manhattan is huge."

"And we're going to hold it. We have to."

"She's right," Anthony stood up. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They've got boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

Andy almost smiled. "And you've got me."

Michael seemed confused. "How does that help us?"

Andy tried not to be offended. "Dude, child of land and sea? Try to keep up, Michael. We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, a least on their first try. That would be the most direct way here. So Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy. Do whatever you need to do, but keep them out there. Connor, take half of Hermes's cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover Brooklyn Bridge. Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens – Midtown Tunnel." Andy closed her eyes trying to think of what she'd forgotten. "Um, the Holland Tunnel. Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got. The 59th Street Bridge," she glanced at Anthony. "Athena?"

He nodded and turned to his siblings. "Malcolm, take the Athena cabin, activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"I'll go with Andy," he added.

Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two." There were some giggles.

"Yeah, I'm gonna let that pass because I know you're all nervous," Andy said. "But the next one gets a smack on the ear."

Jake Mason cleared his throat. "I think you forgot the Lincoln Tunnel, Andy."

Andy swallowed a bad word. Then a girl's voice called: "How about you leave that to us?" The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

"Thank the gods," Anthony murmured as Thalia hugged him. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

Andy glanced at all of them. "It's time, boys and girls. You are the greatest heroes of this millennium," she told them. "I know I said we didn't have a choice, that we have to do this. That's not true. Each one of you are here by choice. And when the enemy look at us, they will see that freedom. They will hear the ring of our swords and they will know what we can do! By the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs, and the courage of our hearts. Demigods," she raised Riptide in the air, "for Olympus!"

They shouted in response, and their voices echoed around the sleeping city.

On their way, Anthony decided to stop in the middle of East 23rd. He stood before a bronze statue of a dude sitting in a chair with his legs crossed.

"Why is..." Andy approached to see the name, "William H Seward important?"

"He was a New York governor," Anthony said. "Minor demigod – son of Hebe." He climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.

"Don't tell me he's an automaton," Andy said.

Anthony smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."

"To attack Olympus or defend it?"

Anthony shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating its brethren all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous, though. You know how unpredictable automatons are." He pressed the tip of Seward's boot, and the statue stood up. "Hello, William."

"Bill," Andy suggested.

"Shut up," Anthony asked her. "Uh... Governor Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."

Seward jumped off his pedestal and went clanking off toward the east.

"He's not very polite," Andy said.

"He's probably going to wake Confucius," Anthony guessed.

"Do they know we're not the enemy?"

"I think so."

Then a ball of green light exploded in the evening sky, somewhere over the East River. "We need to hurry," Andy said.

"Perhaps you shouldn't go alone," Anthony said staring at the dark water.

"Uh, unless you can breath underwater, I don't think there's much you can do."

He sighed. "You are so annoying."

"No. I'm just right. Which must be an unpleasant surprise for you. Also I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles. I'm invisible."

He crossed his arms, trying to keep his face serious. "I think you meant invincible."

"I meant to make you smile." Andy winked and jumped into the river. She tried to find the spot where the Hudson and the East River's currents seemed equal. There she shouted, "Hey! I heard you guys are so polluted you're embarrassed to show your faces. I heard the East River is more toxic, but the Hudson smells worse. Or is it the other way around?"

The water shimmered. Two giant forms appeared in front of her. The god of the East River said, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Or are you just extra stupid?"

The spirit of the Hudson scoffed, "You're the expert on stupid, East."

"Watch it, Hudson," East growled. "Stay on your side of the island and mind your own business."

"Or what? You'll throw another garbage barge at me?"

"Hey!" Andy shouted. "We've got a bigger problem."

"The kid's right," East snarled. "Let's both killed her, then we'll fight each other."

"Sounds good," Hudson said. Before Andy could protest, scraps of garbage surged off the bottom and flew straight at her from both directions – broken glass, rocks, cans, tires. But the debris shattered against her skin.

The two river gods stared at her. "Took a dip in the Styx?" Hudson asked. Andy nodded. Both rivers made disgusted sounds.

"Well, that's perfect," East said. "Now, how do we kill her?"

"Listen to me," Andy said. "Kronos's army is invading Manhattan!"

"Don't you think we know that?" East asked.

"Then stop them," she pleaded. "Drown them. Sink their boats."

"Why should we?" Hudson grumbled.

"I can pay you," she said taking out a sand dollar from her pocket. It'd been a birthday gift from Poseidon. The river gods's eyes widened. She broke the sand dollar in half. "You each get half," she told them. "In exchange, you keep all of Kronos's forces away from Manhattan."

"Oh, man," Hudson whimpered. "It's been so long since I was clean."

"The power of Poseidon," East murmured. "The guy's a jerk, but he sure knows how to sweep pollution away."

They looked at each other and spoke as one: "Deal."

Andy gave them each a sand dollar half.

East flickered his hand. "Invaders just got sunk."

Hudson snapped his fingers. "Bunch of hell-hounds just took a dive."

"Thank you!" Andy said. "And stay clean!"

Back on shore, Anthony was looking pretty shaken. Andy was all wet, but he held her tight in his arms like he thought she'd never resurface again.

"All good," she said. "The rivers are safe."

"We've got other problems," he told her. "I just talked to Michael. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. The Minotaur is leading the enemy."

An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. The Apollo campers would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows, building fiery barricades. Hell-hounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away.

Michael Yew had a bandaged cut on his arm but he was smiling like he was having the greatest time. "Glad you could join us," he said. "Where are the other reinforcements?"

"For now, we're it," Andy said.

"Then we're dead," he said joyfully.

"Do you still have the flying chariot?" Anthony asked.

Michael shook his head. "Nah. Left it at camp. Told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. Look! Here come the uglies!" He drew an arrow and launched it toward the enemy. When it landed, it unleashed a blast. The nearest car exploded. A lot of monsters disintegrated. Others ran. Michael laughed maniacally, but the other monsters were still coming. "We need to fall back," he said. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."

"No," Andy said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Andy drew her sword. Anthony moved like he was ready to follow her, but Andy shook her head. "I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, it's you."

Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."

Andy glanced at him. "Oh, Michael. Get a girlfriend. She'll say nice things like that to you."

She focused back on Anthony who nodded reluctantly. "All right. Get moving."

"Don't I get a kiss for good luck?" she asked. "It's tradition!"

Anthony drew his knife and stared at the army marching toward them. "Find me, Seaweed Brain. And then I'll kiss you."

"Ha!" Michael laughed. "Too bad."

"Nobody asked you, Michael," Andy muttered. She walked up the bridge in plain sight, straight toward the enemy. The Minotaur was in the middle of the invading legion. When it saw her, his eyes burned with hatred. He bellowed to let her know he remembered all too well.

A few dracaenae threw flaming javelins at her. Andy knocked them aside. A hell-hound lunged and she stabbed it, mentally apologizing to Mrs O'Leary. More monsters surged forward – snakes and giants and telkhines – but the Minotaur roared at them, and they backed off. He unstrapped his axe and swung it around.

Andy raised her sword and sliced the axe in half like it was nothing. "Moo?" he grunted, uncertain. Andy spun and kicked him in the snout. He staggered backward, trying to regain his footing, then lowered his head to charge. He never got the chance though. Her sword flashed – slicing off one horn, then the other. The Minotaur tried to grab her, but Andy rolled away. He bellowed in rage. He charged and she ran for the edge of the bridge, pushing some dracaenae out of the way.

The Minotaur ran after her. Then Andy changed direction, jumped and stabbed her sword into his breastplate. He exploded in gold dust. Andy turned toward the rest of his army. It was now roughly one hundred and ninety-nine to one.

She spread her arms. "Who's next, you bitches?" None dared move. So Andy charged. She sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hell-hounds melted to shadow. She slashed and stabbed and whirled, and she even laughed – a crazy laugh that scared her as much as it did her enemies.

The Apollo campers were behind her, shooting arrows, disrupting every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled. Andy followed them with the Apollo campers at her heels.

"That's what I'm talking about!" yelled Michael Yew. They drove the monsters toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

"Andy!" Anthony yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

The monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. Andy recognized the leader as Kronos himself. Anthony and the Apollo campers faltered. Kronos gazed in their direction. "Pull back!" Andy shouted. The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. "Retreat!" Andy commanded. "I'll hold them."

In a matter of seconds they were on her. Michael and his archers tried to retreat, but Anthony stayed behind with Andy, fighting with his knife and mirrored shield as they slowly backed up the bridge.

Kronos's cavalry swirled around them, slashing and yelling insults. Andy tried to wound his men, not kill, which slowed her down. But they were demigods, they were people, and she couldn't bring herself to kill them.

Andy stood shoulder to shoulder with Anthony. They'd almost made it to the middle of the bridge when it happened. Andy fell the knife approaching her weak spot. She was about to turn, but then Anthony was the one falling. Andy watched, stunned, puzzled. Her head spun. He couldn't have known... Nobody did.

She locked eyes with the enemy demigod: Ethan Nakamura. Why wasn't he dead yet? How had he survived? Why hadn't she killed him when she had the chance? Andy slammed him in the face with her sword hilt. "Stay back!" She slashed the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from Anthony.

Kronos smiled. He towered above her on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. "Bravely fought, Andy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender. Or the boy dies."

Anthony groaned something Andy didn't understand. The situation didn't seem to register in her head. His shirt was soaked with blood, blood so bright it twisted her stomach. What could she do?

It was Blackjack who came to the rescue. He swooped down and clamped his teeth on the straps of Anthony's armor. They soared away over the river before the enemy could even react.

Kronos dismounted. Andy was still a little dizzy but she met his first strike with Riptide. The impact shook the entire bridge, but Andy held her ground. Kronos's smile wavered. Andy kicked his legs from under him. His scythe skittered across the pavement. Andy stabbed downward, but Kronos rolled aside and regained his footing. His scythe flew back to his hands.

"You had the courage to visit the Styx," he studied her, looking mildly annoyed. "I had to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you had supplied my host body instead... No matter. I'm still more powerful. I am a Titan!" He struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted Andy backward. Even his own men were blown off the edge of the bridge.

Andy got to her feet. "Make the bridge collapse!" Michael Yew shouted. Andy looked down and saw the fissures in the pavement. It was all or nothing.

She stabbed Riptide into the bridge. The magic blade sank to its hilt in asphalt. Water shot from the crack. Andy pulled Riptide and the fissure grew. The bridge shook and began to crumble. Within a few seconds, a fifty-foot chasm opened between Andy and Kronos.

The Titan lord looked at the rising sun and smiled. "Until this evening, Jackson." He mounted his horse and led his army away.

Andy turned around to thank Michael but couldn't find him anywhere. She searched the wreckage, but he wasn't there.

Then Silena came running toward her. "Andy!" she yelled. "Come quickly! It's... It's Anthony!"