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spiltscribbles · 4 years ago

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Worth It

~Notes: Oof, I know I have so many prompts in my inbox and I appreciate them so much! But I wanted to write something after dinner in dedication and a gift to the lovely Remus-John-Lupin!!!!!!!<3<3<3 I love you RJ and I appreciate you and your friendship so fucking much, so this is just a strange little gift from me to you in thanks for how kind you’ve always been to me since I joined this crazy fandom, ILY and you’re my favorite slag!!!!

Sirius silently reminds himself that he in fact likes Lily, he thinks she’s a total knock out and is happy that his brother is finally getting to date the girl of his dreams. He likes her damn it,! And one does not commit battery to folks that they like.

Assured that his pure irritation won’t bleed through his words, Sirius tries again in his most charming of inflections. “All I want is his number.”

“No,” she repeats, casually steadfast while poking at her salad— Not even bothering to flick her gaze up at an increasingly irate Sirius.

“Why are you being so fucking difficult!”

“Why are you still bitching about this,” she counters, finally giving him her undivided attention, even if it’s her glaring at him like she’d like to skewer Sirius on a stick.

“Hey guys, let’s chill.” James tries to mediate, laughing awkwardly between the pair of them, hand raised in concession and glasses going a bit skewed.

They promptly ignore him.

“I like him. What is so difficult to understand Evans? Aren’t you like supposed to be some brainiac or some shit?”

“It’s been like two months Black,” she says pointedly, grip on her fork tightening while her mouth curls unpleasantly. “That’s way past your ordinary infatuations, so why the hell do you still even care.”

Sirius bares his teeth, pinning her with a glower that once made an old school yard bully of Regulus’s actually piss his pants. So of course Lily doesn’t even flinch. “He’s cute.”

“You’re a dog.”

“You’re being a total ass.”

“And you’re a bastard.”

“But you love me though.”

“Just barely.”

“So you’ll give me Remus’s number?”

“Dream on.” she says with a lofty sniff and haughty flip of the hair, discarding her barely eaten lunch before swaggering over to where a group of her friends from the STEM club are sat, including Alice Flores and Dorcas Meadowes.

“Guess you’re back to square one Pads.” James says, unhelpful as fuck, so Sirius only flips him off before snatching back his calculus homework from a pitiful looking Peter.

“Fuck this.”

Sirius thinks of himself as a reasonable sort of guy.

He isn’t one for holding grudges or obsessing over perceived slights. He’s brilliant whether he’s playing linebacker on the field or taking a exam in class.

For fuck’s sake, Sirius can be plumped down in any and all social situations without warning, and can have the room eating out the palm of his hand within the first five minutes.

In layman’s terms, he’s decent and driven and downright charismatic. Mix this all together, and well Sirius thinks he’s a pretty fantastic fucking package— if he does say so himself. He can have his pick of the lot, truly. Especially when walking down the halls flocked by his best friend turned second brother on one end and little Petey, who’s a great hype man, on the other. So its only poetic justice that the one person who’s been able to swallow up all his attention is the one person who doesn’t even give him a second glance most days.

And that’s fucking ridiculous.

This is ridiculous! He is fucking ridiculous! No, record scratch. Remus fucking Lupin is the most ridiculous part of this all!

Remus lupin with his delightfully disheveled hair the color of gold and his crooked grin that’s everything darling in the world, and his big doe eyes that sometimes flare with green specs when he’s especially passionate in class or when he’s chatting with Lily in the halls. Remus lupin who’s only just moved here to Murray Hill from a small town in southern Illinois and who toppled Sirius’s world upside-down while he was at it.

The first time they met was completely on accident.

It was the week before classes began, and Sirius had only just come back from his family trip to their villa in Rome, and he was only meant to meet James at the coffee shop that Lily was working at now. They were suppose to head to the city and go out drinking to celebrate the start of their senior year. Sirius was suppose to find a nice, college aged girl to fuck because he’s given up on the boring lot that infests Hogwarts these days. It was suppose to be easy and fun and he was suppose to stay stringless and unattached as ever.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Sirius walked into the Howling Moon and was met by the sight of the most lovely, most gorgeous boy he’s ever met. Hand to God, it felt like one of those slow motion moments in a Romantic Comedy when the disgruntled, wayward lead first sets their eyes on that love interest— the one to out shine all others, the one who turns everything inside out and makes it all glitter gold.

“Hey there,” Remus had grinned like the fucking sun, slipping the pen from his ear and hand poised over the cups lining the counter. “What can I get ya?”

“Oh, erm— Yeah. Just a caramel macchiato, iced.”Sirius’s ordinarily smooth baritone almost fucking cracked while ordering, and Remus’s beautiful eyes had glittered.

“Would’ve taken you for a dark roast sort of guy.” He said, and Sirius swears that it was playful and flirtatious and a little mischievous too.

Sirius was in love.

“I’ve been known to partake in sweets, you know, if they catch my eye,” he replied, eyes lingering meaningfully up and down Remus’s slighter frame.

“What a come on,” Remus had laughed, head thrown back to show off his long neck and Sirius was so fucking gobsmacked at how it quite literally sounded like all the most splendid instruments woven together.

He had ducked his head, so unordinary bashful but so beyond pleased. “What can I say beautiful, you bring it out of me.”

“”Cute.” Remus had chuckled, cheeks going a fetching red and scribbling down the order. “Definitely one of the more interesting one liners I’ve gotten today.”

Sirius ignored the flare of jealousy over that, considering that he hasn’t gotten to even kiss him yet, and he should probably take this slow if he doesn’t want to screw it up. “Has anyone of those bastards mentioned how your eyes put the brownies on sale to shame?”

“No one as hot as you if I’m being honest,” Remus retorted, ringing him up and sinking his teeth into his plump bottom lip. And fuck, Sirius knew he was in trouble from then on.

They had talked for over half an hour about nothing at all in that tiny bistro while Remus was busy exchanging the coffee pots for a fresh batch and rearranging the baked goods, and it was amazing.

Sirius has always been someone who couldn’t sit still, who had to be fluttering all over the place to feel like he was actually headed somewhere, like he was getting something finished. But for the first time in too long, just sitting there, still and silent and besotted while Remus chatted about his hometown and moving half way across the country and his eccentric mother— Well Sirius felt completely balanced, completely calm. He felt like just as long as Remus was their chatting with him and smiling in that beguiling way of his, that Sirius could actually breathe without pressure. Like he knew what it meant to have a center.

So of course, right when he decided that he was going to snatch him up— to ask him out on a date before anyone else from their shitty class filled with degenerates and dick heads could— Lily of all people had swaggered in, and gave him a caustic sort of glower that plainly said, keep the fuck away.

Ordinarily Sirius would’ve completely ignored her warning, would’ve unashamedly and excitedly chased after the cutest fucking boy he’s ever laid his eyes on with an absurd sort of zeal. But he under estimated just how much sway Lily was able to cater with Remus in the few weeks they worked with one another before he had met him. So instead of starting off the year with a brand new, insanely pretty boyfriend wrapped around one arm, Sirius has just spent the past nine weeks pining like a fucking love sick loser. Like he was starring in some cheesy John Hughes movie from the damn 80s!

And this will not do, this is not all right, not okay at all.

Sirius needs to figure out a way to get close to Remus, and outside of Lily’s overbearing claws. Something that only Remus likes, that Sirius can partake in to prove himself worthy.

As he promenades down the hall towards his free period, Sirius creates a mental check list of the things he knows Remus enjoys.

Remus enjoys poetry, and Sirius knows that he’s part of the school’s award winning Forensics team. But they meet during the football practices so Sirius couldn’t even try to impress him in that arena until the spring. He also knows that Remus likes history, that he’s going to end up majoring in classics in University, but Sirius really doubts his ability to memorize the Iliad in the matter of a few hours— He’s good, but not that good.

“Jesus fuck is this hard,” he mutters nastily to himself, tugging at the ends of his dark hair before ramming straight into a display outside the southern wing of their preparatory school’s building.

He winces, not so much for the throbbing in his toes, but because of Marlene’s snappish attitude when he makes it so that the table shakes.

“Keep your head out your ass Black,” she scolds before going back to filing her nails. And Sirius is about to snipe right back at her— That is until he catches on the bright poster adorned with small rainbows and the words, GSA FOOD DRIVE spelt out in large lettering.

And oh!

“Eureka!”

“Pardon?” Marlene asks, nose wrinkled indelicately as she eyes him like he’s about to puke on her brand new Doc Martens again like last weekend. Holy shit, she should really get over it by now.

But Sirius is smart enough and tactful enough not to mention his thoughts on the matter, only smiles down at her with pure elation. “Marls, what if I said I had a brilliant idea to help our lovely GSA.”

“I’d accuse you to only doing it to try and get in Lupin’s pants since he’s our new VP.”

Sirius grapples for his chest, feigning indignant. “You pain me my old friend.”

Marlene snorts. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“That’s neither here nor there.”

“So are your chances with Lupin.”

“You’re a sick fuck McKinnon.”

“What do you want from me you gnat.”

“Let me help with the fundraiser.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll tell Lily to get Meadowes to notice you?”

Marlene glares at him now. “We’ve been fucking for like a month you prick.”

“Oh— Erm, then for some of that good old Bi unity?”

Marlene suddenly looks so very shrewd and Sirius hates how every fucking woman in his life could eat him whole for breakfast. “Absolutely not.”

“Fine, what the fuck do you want.”

“You cover Fabian’s costs for the goods when we go to that rave for 2KBABY in January.”

“Eh, didn’t you guys use to fuck?”

“Yes. But I don’t see the connection?”

“He won’t even give you a discount on the good shit?”

“Oh he does,” she leers, blue eyes glinting wickedly in the hallway light. “But I’d rather see you pay full price for’m.”

Sirius glares down at her, and repeats himself. “You. Are. A. Sick. Fuck.”

Marlene just lies back in her seat and returns to manicuring her nails. “Well if cheekbones isn’t worth the bother?”

“Fine,” Sirius all but growls out. “But we do this my way.”

“Scout’s honor handsome,” she absolutely beams, and Sirius reminds himself that this is all for Remus and that’s worth it at the end of the day.

It’s a week later, right before Thanksgiving break hits, and Sirius is sat in front of the cafeteria, smirking at the line of mostly pink faced girls and a few others amongst their midst, who have all queued up in front of him. A dollar in each of their hands, though he does see that a few have fives and even tens or more, and he doesn’t know how to subtly tell them that all he’s promising is a quick peck of his lips, and absolutely no other groping— including of his legendary ass or admittedly perfect abs.

“You’re just really enjoying yourself, aren’t you.” James hisses besides him after the latest girl— a blonde sophomore who’s decked out in Lulu Lemon for their only non uniform day of the week— scurries off. “Just a ego trip.”

“Jealous Jamie darling?” Sirius boasts, tipping back on his chair while Marlene collects the cash from the next five in line so that they can clammer closer towards him.

“I can’t believe all of them want to kiss you,” Peter marvels, round eyes completely in aw.

“I can’t believe you think this is how to get Remus’s attention,” Lily interjects huffily, lips set in a moody pout while perched on James’s lap to Sirius’s left.

“I bet you would’ve been in line if you weren’t dating Jamie here.” Sirius counters, smug as all get out, and laughing when all Lily deigns as a adequate response is her middle finger.

Sirius is on cloud nine. He can’t believe he didn’t think of this sooner! Remus loves all this shit, from the club to the charity. This is perfect! This basically guarantees that he’ll finally get a good smooch on him. And once their lips finally touch, Remus will surely feel the swarm of butterflies in his gut just like in those Harleyquin romance novels his cousin Narcissa would always read with a dreamy look on her face during their various Family vacations.

“You’re not gonna get him this way.”

“He’s not gonna know what hit’m Evans,” Sirius retorts, completely self assured.

One should never bet against Lily Marie Evans.

Sirius knows this now. But he still hates it with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

By the end of the lunch hour, Sirius’s earned over sixty bucks to the GSA’s fundraiser fund, and absolutely zero potential boyfriends who look like golden angels and make Sirius’s knees weak.

“I told you,” Lily says in that sing-song sort of voice that is so not appreciated right now. “Remus is not the type to kiss you in front of a huge crowd and after like a bunch of others. That’s not his style.”

Sirius is moody as all get out, and he’s irritated that he’s just wasted five dozen perfectly fine kisses on folks who aren’t Remus, so he doesn’t bother to hide his irritation when he gripes back at her, “Then tell me what the fuck is his style.”

Miraculously, that actually proved enough to get Lily to slow down her stroll, and cock her head curiously at him. “You actually care.”

“What the fuck have I been trying to tell you Evans!” He nearly shouts.

“I just thought— You know. That it was a game.”

Sirius’s face goes stoney, and he juts his chin away from her. “It’s not always a fucking game, all right. It’s not a game with him— I like him. I like Remus.”

“Oh,” Lily says very quietly, her face pulled in a thousand different directions before settling on something akin to solemn. “You should go to the music room for your free period today.”

Sirius quirks a brow at her, frowning while he asks, “Why?”

“Just trust me S,” she says, reaching over her hand to squeeze his forearm.

Sirius watches her walk off, hand in hand with James, and he feels a strange twisting to his heart when he imagines a very similar image— only with him and Remus and punctuated by plenty of kisses to the cheek, and jawline and lips too.

The music room is towards the back of the school, in a separate building along with the theatre and main auditorium.

The early autumnal chill lashes against Sirius’s face while he makes the track to the room, continuously chanting to himself that he actually trusts Lily and this is gonna be worth it if there’s a merciful God up there.

Once Sirius clammers in doors, he rubs his cold hands together, and shakes out his hair.

The first thing he hears is the soft strumming of a guitar, and finds himself in front of the music room after following its melodic toon.

Through the window he can spot the form of Remus bent over the instrument, his thick curls getting in his eyes and his steady hands plucking a few chords as he sits cross legged atop the piano.

Sirius feels his heart lodging in his throat at the sight of him, so beautiful and perfect and warm looking in that scarlet sweater. And he knows in his bones that this is some sort of unspoken blessing that Lily’s given him, so with a deep breath, Sirius opens the door and strolls in.

Remus starts slightly, going flushed once his eyes catch on Sirius’s own.

“Oh Sirius,” he greets, the corners of his mouth tipping into a smile that doesn’t ring true. “You pulled away from the haram?”

“That’s a bit much? Calling them a haram,” Sirius says cooly, hitching up besides him and swinging his long legs. “I just did it to help you.”

“Oh— Yeah,” Remus nods. “The GSA appreciates all the help we can get.” His words are quiet, and he’s rinsing a hand through his curls, so Sirius can tell that he’s a bit nervous. And it’s impossibly cute, but also not on. He doubts that he’ll ever get his kiss if Remus won’t even look at him in the eyes.

Gingerly, Sirius sets the pad of his pointer finger beneath Remus’s chin, lifting his gaze upwards. “Not the GSA— Though I appreciate the club’s work and your part in that.”

“Oh,” Remus says again, lips pursed and his throat pulsing when he swallows down. “Then—“

“I did it for you Remus,” Sirius repeats heatedly. “I did it because I’ve been mad for you since ever meeting you in August, and I can’t get your fucking face or name or lips or ass out of my head. And I thought that if maybe I pulled a dumb stunt like that, you would actually kiss me along with the lot of those idiots who can’t even hold a candle to you.”

“M—My ass?” Remus questions, voice going pitchy and face bright with emotion.

Sirius laughs, booming and bombastic. “You have the best ass I’ve ever seen Remus Lupin and it’s really obscene.”

Remus shoulder checks him, looking down and then back up through his lashes at Sirius and it’s a sight Sirius wish he can keep with him for the rest of his days.

“So you thought I’d want our first kiss to happen after you’ve just made out with half the school?”

Sirius grimaces, bending down so that their lips are only inches apart. “Listen, I can be a complete dumb ass on occasion.”

“Don’t forget arrogant.”

“Okay, fair.”

“And brash too.”

“Right.”

“Also you tend—“

Sirius places a soft hand over Remus’s supple lips, glaring teasingly at the other boy, who’s grinning like the cat who’s caught the canary, his eyes teeming with laughter.

Remus Lupin is going to be the death of him, Sirius knows it.

“Listen Lupin, I’d like a shred of self respect here, so I can actually muster up the courage to ask you out on a proper date already.”

Remus perks at that, so Sirius moves his grasp.

“You wanna ask me out?”

“Depends…. You wanna continue that little rant until I’m blue balled and gutless.”

“Hmm,” Remus inches closer, setting his hand over Sirius’s on the piano. “Nah, I think I’d rather do this.”

He leans forwards and Sirius barely has enough time to gather his bearings when he feels Remus’s mouth over his own and it’s literally every starlit promise and sugar burnt secret and sunlit afternoon all rolled into one. And Sirius feels his heart thud an uneven staccato when he grabs for either end of Remus’s waistline and plunges his tongue into his own and he lets himself get lost in the overwhelming feeling of it all.

#WOLFSTAR #REMUS LUPIN #SIRIUS BLACK #MARAUDERS #HARRY POTTER SERIES #💜rj💜#SPILT INK

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invisibleanonymousmonsters · 4 years ago

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no grave can hold my body down – 1/2

Character: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary: It took time to get Jason Todd away from the darkness. Sometimes it felt like he was always standing at a tipping point, at risk of completely losing himself. But not when he was with her. She made him better and she would continue to make him better.

Word Count: 5,500

A/N: I am very new to this fandom and extremely nervous to write something for it. To clarify, I have not read any of the comics. But I’ve watched a lot of the TV and movie adaptations, and have done a lot of research. Jason is much older in this – like 30? – and therefore the rest of the BatFam is older, as well. But this takes place after Jason Todd is resurrected, but is still on rocky territory with his family.

Jason dropped down to the fire escape of his apartment with a quietness that seemed impossible for how large he was.

On the other side of the small fire escape, Y/N sat with a blanket over her lap, a book in her hand, and a mug of coffee balanced perfectly on the metal grates.

“Thought I told you not to wait up for me,” Jason greeted, knowing she noticed his arrival, but just kept reading her book. His book, to be precise.

It was almost 4AM and Jason had called it a night after taking out an entire drug cartel. It had been a lot of waiting, until it finally led up to 20 minutes of utter chaos. He left them on a silver platter for the police to arrest them and actually clean up the mess.

Y/N finally looked up at him and he saw how tired her eyes seemed. But she gave him a soft smile, clearly happy to see him home and...alive.

A pang of guilt went through him. He did that to her.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she told him with a shrug.

Jason slowly nodded. Then he nudged his head towards the book, “Jane Eyre again?”

She smirked. “It’s a comfort read.”

He smiled back at her – which she couldn’t even see, because he was still wearing the red helmet that covered his entire head.

“You shouldn’t stay out here so long. It’s too cold.”

“I was waiting for you,” she countered.

“I thought you couldn’t sleep.”

“I couldn’t…because I was worried about you,” she finally admitted.

There it was.

“You have a voicemail on your cellphone. Alfred called,” she quickly added to change the subject.

Jason left his personal cellphone at home when he was on patrol, not wanting any sort of pointless distractions. Y/N had a direct line to his comms if there was an emergency, which was the only thing he cared about. His old family could figure out ways to contact him if they really wanted to. But he didn’t go out of his way to give them that info.

“Get inside before you catch a cold,” he told her as he nodded toward the open window.

She chuckled at his attempt to sound stern. It was hard for her to take it seriously. But she listened to him anyway, knowing that if she tried to ignore him, it would end in him dragging her inside. And that was not a physical battle she ever had a chance at winning.

30 minutes later, Y/N was laying in bed and still reading her book as Jason tried to erase the night.

He always took long, scolding showers after patrol. Even if there was no blood to be washed away, there was always a need to cleanse himself of…something.

Y/N had asked him if he was hurt as she crawled through the window back inside their apartment.

“I’m fine,” he’d insisted.

But she knew “fine” just meant he didn’t need stitches, or bones reset, or the need to call the actual doctor he had a certain under-the-table deal with. She also knew she shouldn’t be surprised when he took off his clothes and she would see new bruises and shallow cuts covering his skin.

Jason finally crawled into bed with nothing but his black briefs. His hair still wet from the burning shower he just took.

He let out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling.

It was always a battle for Y/N, trying to figure out when to leave Jason to his thoughts and when to force him to talk. She knew he couldn’t drown himself in his own mind. But she also knew she couldn’t pretend to be his therapist.

“J?” She asked him softly as she put her book down.

“Hmm?” He asked, looking at her.

“You OK?”

He nodded.

She let it be.

Jason turned his gaze back to the ceiling. “Alfred has a foundation to raise money for under-funded schools in Gotham. It’s all him, but it has Bruce’s name all over it so all the rich assholes will want to save face with the Wayne family by donating.”

“I can support that type of manipulation,” Y/N said with a smirk.

“He holds a gala at Wayne Manor for it every year. Gets them at least a mil every time.”

She listened closely.

Then Jason looked at her again. “He asked me to come this year.”

“Oh,” her face fell.

Jason had told Y/N about his tumultuous relationship with his family. While he mended most of the damage with his brothers, he wasn’t quite willing to do so with Bruce. Y/N didn’t try to push Jason to reconcile with his adoptive father. She understood his heartbreak and frustrations there. She wasn’t a huge fan of Bruce herself after learning the damage he’d done to her boyfriend.

But it was because of the past traumas that Y/N hadn’t met any of Jason’s hodgepodge, vigilante family.

She also guessed that it was his overprotectiveness of her that stopped him from wanting to fully submerge her in that part of his life. To Jason, the less she knew about the Bat Family, the safer she was.

“He asked me to bring you, too.” Jason suddenly added.

Y/N blinked. “I…I didn’t realize they knew about me.”

He smirked at that. “Of course they do.”

“Even Bruce?”

His smirk disappeared. “Well, I didn’t tell him. But he’s a nosey son of a bitch. And even if he didn’t figure it out for himself, one of my brothers probably ran their mouth.”

Y/N didn’t think Jason and Bruce had a conversation out of uniform since he became the Red Hood. Probably hadn’t even addressed each other by their actual names in years.

Y/N fully turned on her side to face her boyfriend and scooted closer. “What do you want to do?” She asked carefully.

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he too turned on his side and stole a look at her. She looked so tired, but still beautiful. He knew he put her through too much. He didn’t deserve her. And she deserved a better man than he could ever be. He had guilt on his conscience, blood on his hands. He was the poster child for the harshness that was Gotham. She was a normal woman who would’ve never gotten mixed up in this world if it weren’t for him.

But Y/N insisted that she wanted to be here. Told him so by just staying each and every day, and never questioning her decision. Even left New York City to slum it in Gotham with him.

Jason brushed some hair away from her face.

“You’d come with me?”

Her face scrunched from him even feeling the need to ask. “Of course.” Then she gave him a sad look, “I’ve been wanting to meet your family for awhile.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked.

Her eyes darkened. “You know why, J.”

He stayed silent.

“Listen, I know things haven’t been…good with your family. But I also know that they raised you. Whether you want to admit it or not, a lot of the man you are today is because of them. And I happen to love that man. So, yeah, I’ve wanted to meet them.”

Jason had a look full of love that he was trying to contain. “Come here,” he demanded with a grin.

Y/N giggled and moved into his arms.

Jason immediately pivoted her body so she was hovering over him. Without any hesitation, he pulled her down for a kiss.

“It’s gonna be filled with rich snobs and ass kissers. Don’t go hoping for a fun time,” he warned her as he narrowed his gaze playfully.

“Then you’re really gonna need me there. Who else is gonna make fun of them with you?” She teased.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. “Will this be a fancy affair?”

“Unfortunately.”

Her gaze darkened. “So, I’m gonna see you in a suit, huh?”

Jason pinched her sides.

Y/N yelped before laughing, “Do you even own a suit? I’ve never seen it in your closet.”

Suddenly he flipped her body so he was now the one hovering over her. Y/N couldn’t ignore Jason’s massive size when she was caged below him like that. “You’re on thin ice, kid.”

“Oooh. I’m so scared,” she mocked.

Jason almost looked offended.

But he sighed, getting back to the previous subject. “If I have to wear a suit, that means you have to wear a dress.”

“Or I could wear a suit, too.” She countered and raised a brow at him.

He smirked at her challenge. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in one either.”

That seemed to please her.

“I promise I’ll look real pretty. Ya know, really play the part of the arm candy for the famous Jason Todd.”

Jason scoffed. “You’re always beautiful.” Then his gaze darkened. “And the arm candy was always Bruce and Dick’s thing. Not mine.”

“OK. So what should I be?”

“My accomplice,” Jason confirmed.

——————————————————

Y/N fidgeted in the back seat of the car as the black car drove to the outskirts of Gotham and to the Wayne Estate.

Jason had sent her a text from his patrol comms about something coming up. Vague, as always. He did it to keep her in the dark as much as possible.

Apparently he’d tried to tell Alfred they couldn’t make it. But the old man wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily. He told Jason he’d send a car for Y/N and that he better show up too.

Y/N had worn her fanciest dress, curled her hair, and done her makeup to perfection. She knew she could dress the part, but it was the acting bit that had her stressed out.

Despite Jason’s relationship with his family, she still dreaded the thought that they wouldn’t like her and that they wouldn’t approve. Yeah, they were secretly vigilantes, but they were also the richest people in Gotham.

Y/N swallowed as the car parked right outside the front entrance of Wayne Manor. There seemed to already be hundreds of people there. Everyone looked rich and fancier than Y/N could ever even pretend to be.

‘You’re here for Jason. You’re here for Jason.’ She repeated in her mind as the driver opened the door for her and offered his hand.

Y/N told herself to become a character as she held her head high and made her way into the mansion.

“Mansion” didn’t even seem to cover it. Y/N felt like she was in a Jane Austen novel or Downton Abbey.

Guests eyed her as soon as she made her way inside. She was much younger than the general demographic of the party. It seemed that old money also meant literally old.

She did a once over to see if she could find Jason. But he was nowhere to be found. Y/N decided she needed a drink to face a gala full of unwelcoming strangers alone.

She ignored the curious and judgmental gazes as she made her way to one of the many bars set up through the home.

‘Maybe red was too much,’ her imposter syndrome was telling her. Clearly it was making her stick out. But she knew Jason loved seeing her in red.

Y/N quickly ordered a strong drink from the bartender, who was kind enough to sense that this young woman needed liquid courage and she needed it fast.

“Are you sure you meant to use that bottle?” A male voice came up beside her, speaking to the bartender on her behalf.

Y/N turned to see a very boyishly handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair so dark that it was almost black.

He gave that bartender a look and Y/N watched as he nervously grabbed the much more expensive brand – the one Y/N would never in her life buy for herself.

“Thank you,” Y/N said as politely as possible when the bartender slid the drink towards her.

Then she turned her attention to the young man. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He gave her a crooked smirk. “You deserve the very best.”

Y/N might not have ever met Jason’s brothers. But they were famous enough to make frequent appearances in the media. Everyone in Gotham knew what the Wayne kids looked like. Especially Dick Grayson, who seemed to thrive in the spotlight in a similar manner to his father.

“Oh? And how do you know what I deserve? You don’t know me at all,” Y/N challenged with a tilt of her head.

Her sass seemed to excite him.

“Well, I was hoping, since I saved you from the cheap stuff, that you’d give me a chance to.”

Y/N shook her head with an almost baffled smile. This faux charm and air of confidence was so unlike Jason’s. While Jason was quietly confident and sure of himself. It came almost from a place of nihilism. But Dick…Dick had an edge of haughtiness and self importance.

“Your reputation precedes you, Dick Grayson,” Y/N cooed, with mischievous glint in her gaze, before taking a sip of her drink. He was right: this was the good stuff.

Dick’s amusement seemed to falter now that she confessed to knowing exactly who he was. “And what reputation is that exactly?”

“Cocky, charming…flirtatious.”

Dick didn’t seem to mind these adjectives at all. In fact, he seemed rather proud of himself. He stepped a little closer to her. “It feels a little unfair that you seem to know me, but I haven’t even gotten your name.”

Y/N tried to suppress her smile. She was really starting to enjoy this little game. “You’ll realize soon enough.”

“Well, until then…” He stepped even closer and somehow managed to put his hand on her back without it feeling creepy. “Would you like to dance?”

“Move that hand any lower, Dick, and I’ll fuckin’ break it,” Jason said from behind Y/N.

Dick barely moved away from Y/N, but looked at his brother with confusion.

Y/N turned and maneuvered her body away from Dick’s grasp.

Then she smiled at Jason as she took in the sight of her boyfriend wearing a suit. Like, a real suit, not one made for a vigilante. He managed to tame his hair without using too much product. And his face had its signature scruff but cleaned up a bit.

“How long has this one been annoying you?” Jason asked her.

“Not long,” she replied before giving him a sweet kiss.

Y/N turned to face Dick again, but remained close to Jason’s side. On instinct alone, Jason placed his hand on her back and pulled her even closer. It wasn’t possessive, but a habit he formed to comfort himself.

Dick blinked as his mind clearly figured out the change in situation.

“You’re Y/N?” He asked her.

She smirked. “Told you that you’d realize it soon enough.”

“Dick, this is my girlfriend, Y/N. Y/N, this is, Dick Grayson.”

Y/N didn’t miss how Jason didn’t refer to Dick as his brother.

To his credit, Dick recovered rather quickly and politely offered his hand. Y/N didn’t hesitate to shake it. After all, she still wanted to make a good impression on his family. And the flirting was harmless.

“I apologize for…” Dick’s words died out.

“Hitting on me?” Y/N offered with a laugh. “I would say I’m flattered, but I’m sure I’m one of many women you will be making moves on tonight.”

“Do it again, and I’ll swap out the rubber bullets in my guns, Dick.” Jason half warned and half joked.

Dick seemed unfazed by the threat. “Why don’t you say it a little louder so more people can hear?”

Jason ignored his brother’s warning.

He turned his gaze down to Y/N. “Let’s go introduce you to Alfred.”

Jason held her hand as he made his way through the crowd. It wasn’t hard to do. Y/N assumed it had to do with him technically being a Wayne or perhaps it was his large and imposing frame that told people to get the hell out of his way.

Then Y/N was standing in front of an elderly man who had perfect posture and mischievous edge to his welcoming smile.

“Master Jason, I see that you have finally brought Ms. Y/L/N for me to meet,” Alfred said with a smile.

Out of all his siblings and father, Alfred seemed to be the only family member that Jason didn’t hold any sort of grudge against. Though Y/N wasn’t really sure what anyone would have against him. From everything she heard, he sounded absolutely lovely.

He held out his hand, which Y/N instantly went to shake. But instead, Alfred brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles. There was something about this family that made everything they do seem charming rather than creepy and uncomfortable.

Y/N laughed at the gesture. “It’s so nice to meet you, Alfred. I’ve heard so much about you.”

He patted her hand before letting it go gently. “I wish I could say the same for you, dear. But it would appear Master Jason prefers to keep you entirely to himself.”

She just gave him a polite – yet controlled – smile. Another side effect of Jason being overprotective of her.

“Thank you for sending the car for me. You didn’t have to do that,” she told him.

“Oh, nonsense. I would not allow this one to use any excuse for missing tonight.”

Y/N asked him about his foundation with genuine interest. Alfred answered all of her questions with enthusiasm. She wondered how often Alfred got to talk about normal things with the Wayne family. She could only imagine the manor was entirely consumed with matters of vigilantism.

Alfred also asked Y/N far more questions about herself than she was prepared for. It made her realize that Jason really did keep her quite the secret. Y/N knew she shouldn’t be offended by it, but it made her sad that Jason’s family had clearly shown such an interest in her. Had she known, she may have put more pressure on Jason to introduce her.

There was a lull in conversation when Alfred’s gaze turned to Jason.

“Have you spoken with him yet?” He asked evenly.

They all know who ‘him’ was.

“I’m here for you, Alfred.” Jason quickly answered. “And we’ve kept you selfishly to ourselves for far too long. I’m sure everyone here wants to talk with you.”

Nice save.

Alfred dipped his head and lowered his voice, “Oh, you are two of the few people here whom I actually wish to converse with…” He finished with a wink before leaving them.

“And here I thought you got all your charm from Bruce Wayne,” Y/N teased her boyfriend.

But when she looked up at Jason, he had a dazed looked in his eyes.

“Hey,” she squeezed his hand in comfort. “You don’t need to talk to him if you don’t want to. In fact, we can go now if you want.”

Jason snapped out of it then. “And leave without destroying this open bar? Absolutely not.” Then he seemed to take her in for the first time that night. “Plus, you deserve to be shown off.”

He leaned down to her ear. “I was so distracted with saving you from Dick that I didn’t get the chance to tell you how beautiful you looked tonight.”

No matter how many times he said things like that to her or made her feel this way, she still managed to blush at such compliments.

And for good measure, Jason sealed the praise with a kiss, lightly gripping her chin to make sure she didn’t escape too soon for his liking.

He barely pulled away from her lips when he smiled and muttered, “Come on. Let’s go steal ourselves a bottle of Dom Pérignon.”

“Jason,” she scolded in a whisper, “Those cost like $2,000!”

“Exactly.”

The next hour or so was filled with Jason and Y/N drinking champagne while standing in a corner that protected them from being interrupted. And Y/N did exactly as she promised: joking with Jason about all the stuck up rich people that just came to kiss ass and social climb.

They were laughing about an old man that was desperately trying to hit on a young woman half his age when someone politely cleared their throat beside them.

But Jason smiled at the interruption.

A young man, who couldn’t be older than his early 20s, was giving Y/N a delighted smile. However, the first thing she noticed were the shadows under his eyes and how tired he looked. But that didn’t stop his excitement from showing.

“Y/N, this is my younger brother, Tim Drake. Tim, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.”

With a dorky enthusiasm, he shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. We’ve all been annoying Jason about bringing you around for quite some time.”

She smiled, “So I’ve heard��” Then she gave Jason a subtle accusatory look.

Tim’s face turned serious, as if he just remembered why he came over in the first place. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Jason would you mind…umm…looking at something for me real quick?”

Jason’s back straightened.

Tim was trying to be polite to the two’s relationship by keeping out any and all details pertaining to their night life.

But it was clear to Y/N that was what Tim was referring to.

Jason looked down at her.

“You don’t have to babysit me,” she teased him. “Go. I can entertain myself.”

He kissed her cheek and whispered, “If I’m not back in 30 minutes, please come rescue me.”

She chuckled. “I would, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to find you...”

“I’ll bring him back in no time, Y/N. Promise.” Tim told her with a beaming smile.

Y/N watched them go and Jason gave her one last reluctant look over his shoulder before he disappeared around a corner.

Y/N sighed and poured another glass of champagne and told herself it was time to mingle. But when she looked up, there wasn’t a single person that looked like they had any interest in making new friends.

‘Some party this is,’ she thought to herself before abandoning her post and deciding to take herself on a tour of Wayne Manor.

Y/N decided she wanted to escape the curious and judgmental gazes of the party, and found herself in a darker hallway. Candles were lit everywhere, giving it a gothic semblance.

Y/N’s heartbeat quickened when she realized she’d discovered a hallway filled with artwork. Millions upon millions of dollars worth of artwork, to be precise.

She was glad no one else seemed to have wandered this far, for she could take her time to look at all of it.

“I think you might be the only guest of the manor who has ever taken the time to look at the artwork.”

Y/N jumped at the voice and turned to see the infamous Bruce Wayne watching her with what seemed to be amusement.

He was nearly as tall as Jason – nowhere near as stout, though. But that didn’t seem to matter because he had an intimidating presence that had Y/N realizing it made perfect sense that this man was also Batman.

She had no idea how long she’d been staring at the paintings. It was easy for her to get lost in art. It tended to consume her.

“Well, not everyone has a Caravaggio casually hanging in their home.”

Bruce chuckled at that.

“Sorry,” she quickly told him. “I didn’t mean to snoop. I feel like I’m at the Louvre.”

“Please,” he declined such an apology. “No one in that party could tell the difference between an oil and acrylic painting. It’s refreshing to meet someone who can appreciate art.” He paused. “Have you been?”

“Have I been where?”

“To the Louvre.”

“Oh,” she laughed. “Umm...no, sadly. It’s been my dream to go to Paris in general. I don’t speak French, though. So I don’t know how that would work out.”

Bruce Wayne seemed to be listening closely and had genuine interest in what she was saying. Which felt strange to her for some reason.

Suddenly, Y/N felt like she shouldn’t be talking to him. Jason made it clear he had no intention of making peace tonight. So Y/N figured she was meant to keep her distance as well.

“I’m…” she began.

“Y/F/N Y/L/N,” Bruce finished for her.

She raised a brow, unimpressed.

Of course Batman would know every single person coming into his home. He probably caught her lingering in this hallway from multiple hidden security cameras.

He reached out his hand. “Bruce Wayne.”

She hesitated, her eyes flickering between his fixed stare and his offered hand.

But it ended with her shaking it, nonetheless.

“Thank you for bringing Jason tonight. I have a feeling he would’ve never shown had it not been for you.”

Y/N’s jaw clenched in an attempt to stop herself from lashing out at Bruce.

Yes, Jason was protective of her. But Y/N was also protective of Jason.

It wasn’t the Wayne family that talked Jason out of the darkness. They weren’t the one who comforted him after his nightmares. They weren’t the one who kissed and touched the autopsy scars that he was ashamed of. They weren’t the one who made him realize he wasn’t a failure or a monster, that he was worth something.

That was Y/N.

And she wasn’t going to let any of them cause him to relapse.

“Did he tell you not to talk to me?” Bruce questioned.

He wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

Y/N narrowed her eyes. “Jason doesn’t tell me what to do.”

Bruce smirked at how she didn’t back down and met his confrontation with confidence. “You’re not too fond of me, are you?”

Y/N shifted her weight a bit, but kept quiet, not wanting to confirm or deny his suspicions.

“I’m not sure what Jason told–”

“He told me everything,” Y/N cut him off sharply.

Bruce tilted his head. “Surely not everything.” Proving that he knew Jason completely kept Y/N away from his vigilante and crime life.

Then Y/N lost her composure and took a step toward Bruce. “You call him your greatest failure,” she accused him.

“Because I let him down.”

“But it doesn’t matter how you meant it. How do you think that makes him feel?”

Bruce’s body tensed and his jaw tightened.

Suddenly a dog came running out of nowhere and nearly tackled Y/N. She managed to stay on her feet, but her glass of champagne was knocked from her grasp and shattered on the floor.

“Titus!” Bruce growled at the dog.

A second later, a boy came running.

“Damian, what did I tell you about keeping pets away from parties,” Bruce scolded.

“I apologize,” Damian told Y/N in a voice that should’ve belonged to an adult, rather than a pre-teen boy. But he seemed rather annoyed that he had to apologize to a stranger.

Y/N chuckled at the black Great Dane. She barely had to bend down to pet the giant dog. “It’s fine. Dogs are always my favorite people I meet at parties.”

Damian looked between his father and Y/N, immediately getting the sense that she was not the average party guest.

“Who’s she?” He asked bluntly.

“Damian, this is Y/F/N Y/L/N.” Bruce gestured with an upturned palm.

“Todd’s companion?” Damian stated, clearly sounding unimpressed.

Jesus. They really did all know about her.

“Damian…” was all Bruce said to warn his son.

“I don’t know what you see in him.”

“That’s enough, Damian.” Bruce snapped.

That finally got the boy to shut his mouth.

Y/N was about to tell both of them that it was fine. She had expected such greetings from Jason’s youngest brother.

But her attention was diverted when she noticed Jason standing at the edge of the hallway.

Bruce followed her gaze.

There was a stare down between the two men that felt like an hour to Y/N.

“Jason,” Bruce greeted steadily.

Jason looked at his family coldly. “Bruce,” he replied with even less emotion. Then he looked down at his youngest brother, “Demon Spawn.”

“Todd,” Damian spat back.

Jason’s gaze softened when it landed on Y/N. Ignoring the tension, he reached out a hand in her direction. “We should say our goodbyes to Alfred.”

Y/N nodded and walked to her boyfriend, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

He quickly guided them back to the party without a second glance to Bruce and Damian.

As soon as they were in a mass of people again, Y/N turned to Jason to ask him if he was OK. A part of her felt guilty, like she’d been caught doing something bad by being alone with Bruce Wayne.

But Jason seemed to sense her concern and spoke before she could. “I’m stealing another bottle of champagne before we go,” and quickly went to the bar.

“He lasted longer than I expected,” Dick’s voice came up beside her.

Y/N barely glanced at him. “I’m proud of him,” was all she replied, as they both watched him.

“I apologize for my behavior earlier. I’m afraid I didn’t give you the best first impression.”

Y/N fully turned to face him and laughed lightly. “I promise I won’t hold it against you.”

“I’m sure you think we’re all just being polite…but all of us really were looking forward to meeting you, Y/N.”

“Even Damian?” She teased.

Dick laughed. “Well, rumor is that Titus took an immediate liking to you. And Damian trusts his pets’ judgement of character more than any of ours.”

News really did travel fast in this family.

Y/N smiled at that. “I’ve wanted to meet all of you for so long. I’m glad we finally made it happen.” She went back to their original topic.

Dick winced. “I’d rather not think about what Jason’s said about us…”

“I think you might be pleasantly surprised,” she countered.

“Ready to go?” Jason interrupted, ignoring Dick.

For good measure, he dipped down to kiss Y/N’s bare shoulder.

“Yeah, let’s go say bye to Alfred.”

But she turned back to Dick. And to everyone’s surprise, she wrapped him into a hug. Dick was surprised, but welcomed the gesture.

“Please keep an eye on him out there,” she whispered to him quietly enough so Jason didn’t have a chance of overhearing.

“Of course,” he told her.

————————

Bruce pretended to be listening to a conversation with old family friends as he watched Y/N and Jason hug Alfred goodbye.

He noticed Y/N say something to Alfred that made the butler’s face go serious. Then she handed him a business card.

Bruce wanted to talk with Jason. He’d been both dreading and looking forward to tonight, hoping a miracle would occur and he could finally mend things with his son.

But the way Jason had looked at him, Bruce knew everything he was feeling and it was clear Jason wasn’t going to let things go between them any time soon.

Bruce politely excused himself and went to Alfred’s side.

“What was that last bit about?” Bruce asked, indirectly telling Alfred that he’d been observing their conversation.

Now the two men both watched Jason and Y/N from a window that gave a view of the front drive.

Y/N threw her head back and laughed loudly at something Jason had whispered in her ear.

“She asked if I could teach her first aid.”

They both know it went much deeper than first aid. Y/N was asking Alfred to show her how to stitch wounds, how to extract bullets, when to know Jason was too hurt to be fixed up by his inexperienced girlfriend.

“She’s good for him,” Bruce thought aloud.

“That she is, Master Bruce.”

“I forgot what his laugh sounded like.” Bruce paused for a moment before adding, “I’ve never seen him smile like this. Not even before…” His words died. They both knew what ‘before’ was referring to.

Suddenly Y/N pointed to Jason as she walked backwards, clearly giving him a warning of some sort.

But Jason ignored her as he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. One of his hands was wrapped tightly around her thighs, securing her body to his chest, while the other hand held a bottle of champagne.

They could hear Y/N’s laughter, even from inside the mansion.

Alfred observed how Bruce watched his second son. “You must give him more time, Master Bruce.”

However, Bruce said nothing in return.

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

Part 2

Please, please, please let me know what you think. I will take constructive criticism on my characterization of Jason Todd, as long as it’s done nicely😅

[Also, I finally stopped being lazy and made my own header. 😂]

952 notes · View notes

zodiyack · 4 years ago

Text

When The Past Follows

Requested by Anon: Hey I really love your writing and I was wondering if you could do a supernatural x the originals fanfic. Maybe the reader grew up with the Winchesters and both her and Dean have unexpressed feelings for each other so when they go to New Orleans for a case and a secret past relationship with Klaus comes to the surface things get...well...complicated.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader, mentioned previous Niklaus Mikaelson x Female!reader

Warnings: Angst, swearing, cocky Klaus

Words: 2,013

Summary: (See Request)

Taglist: @matth1w, @redspaceace-writes, @fandom-puff, @darling-i-read-it, @simonsbluee, @jenepleurepasbaby, @dpaccione, @psychkunox, @sebastianstanslefteyebrow, @sparklesmolwarriorprincess

Masterlist | The Originals Masterlist | Supernatural Masterlist

Some Years Ago . . .

“I love you.”

“I love you too...but-

“But what.” His words was not a question, but a command. A command to know her reasoning.

“I...I told you...I’m good to mess around, be involved but...” her hand caressed his face gently. The man leaned into her warm, soft skin, closing his eyes as a crestfallen look slid upon his face.

“Don’t say it-” he breathed softly.

As much as she wanted to comply to his request, though it was more of a demand, reality was the giant hurdle she simply couldn’t jump over. Going around would be cheating and running into it would do nothing to affect anything positively. Her only choice was to give up, for she’d tried and tried to jump over it for so damn long, her legs felt as though they were about to give out.

The moment was almost poetic, in a depressed, melancholy way. A single tear slipped from her eye before she sniffled and tore her hand from his face. “I have to leave soon. One of the consequences to that is that I can’t afford to fall in love. Not now, probably not ever. Especially not with someone...like...like...”

“Like me.” His eyes opened and the softness faded from his blue orbs. The feeling of tenderness no longer filled the air around them.

“No- not like that! It’s-”

“Yes, like that. If that’s how it is, if you believe I’m like the ones you hunt...so be it.”

The waterworks did their job and the dam broke, for she was unable to stop herself. “What? I-”

“Leave,” he hesitated, but not for long, turning his back on the woman he once loved, “before I tear your throat out.”

Present Day

“Where are we?” Y/n rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes, just waking up from a long nap that had lasted most of the drive. The last thing she remembered was curling up in the backseat and closing her eyes. Now, the car was somewhere new. It was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“On our way to New Orleans. We have a mission, remember?”

“Name sounds familiar.” She sighed, still stuck on digging through her memory. “How long until we stop?”

“Not that long, sweetie.” Dean assured her. He met her eyes through the mirror, a chuckle erupting from his throat when she raised her brow to the nickname. “We’ll wake you when we get there. You should rest some more.”

It took one second for her to shut her eyes and drift back into unconsciousness. This time, though, her sleep was not as pleasant. Somewhere, deep inside her, she knew what lied in New Orleans. And that part of her dreaded what was to come.

They arrived at a mansion of sorts, parking in the closest spot they could, which was hard due to the rowdy street. The Winchester brothers found it amusing, the cheeriness of the natives, the tourists itching to see every bit of what they thought was some normal place. Y/n, however, made the connection the second she laid eyes on the French Quarter.

“C’mon, we’re supposed to go inside this place.” Sam double checked the paper in his hand before nodding up to the gated mansion. Y/n’s eyes doubled in size, it felt like her heart dropped to her stomach.

“There?”

He nodded slowly but brushed it off as though she was simply making sure. A shudder ran through the three of them when they stepped onto the property. Everything felt off. The energy. The scent. The sight that greeted them;

Sam cringed, perturbed as the grotesque sound of fangs ripping into flesh became the only sound in the room. Noticing both the discomfort on the Winchesters’ faces and the uncomfortably familiar person they were staring at, Y/n took charge.

“Sorry to interrupt your meal, but we have some shit to do, and questions to ask.”

Klaus’ head turned, his body tense like a snake coiling to pounce on the oblivious little mouse. However, the second his eyes met Y/n’s, he relaxed, only for a second. Then his better-than-thou demeanor returned his infamous cheeky grin slipped upon his blood-stained lips.

“I thought I told you to leave, little mouse.” That’s what she was to him. Just another little creature for him to savagely drain.

What he didn’t know, was that over time, she became what was known as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, ironically. Spending most of her life with the Winchesters impacted her a lot, but after cutting Klaus from her life and spending more time with the brothers, she toughened up dramatically. “Yeah but then you hired us to rid ‘your city’ of some supernatural vermin, but the only vermin I see is you.”

“Feistier now, I love it. Pleasure to see you again, Y/n/n.” Rebekah descended from the staircase, a genuine smile on her painted lips as she greeted her old friend. “And you picked up some better friends. I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“Better as in not Klaus?” She asked. Then Y/n met the man in question’s eyes and held a bitter smile. “Couldn’t agree more.”

“Finally, someone sees my point. Anyways, I’ll guide you to my part of the problem while Nik discusses his with the boys.” The blond was quick to pull Y/n away and up to her room, pulling out a drink before she would actually take her to see what was in the Mikaelson cellar.

Without Y/n, the tension had thickened. More specifically, the tension between the two men who had ever loved her. Dean’s unspoken feelings and Klaus’ romantic trauma were unbeknownst to each other, but Klaus was no fool. He could pick up on Dean’s feelings from a mile away, and he was feeling rather petty at the moment.

The mischief in this expression grew a dangerous amount. “You and I are the same, friend.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dracula.” He held the look of disinterest.

Klaus gave an acknowledging nod to Dean’s jest-like-quip. “Sure you do. While we are of different species,” he paused, the corners of his mouth nearing his eyes with each second the passed by, “we are interested in the same prize.”

Dean began to sweat, informing Klaus that he did indeed know the subject of the matter, but still, he avoided giving into the antagonizing hybrid. “Nice to meet a man who likes his sandwiches, right Sammy?”

“I- ...What?”

“No, no. While it would be nice to get a bite of her, taste her sweet blood, I find it wouldn’t be as appetizing to you as it is to me?”

Sam stepped forward, “Back off, dude. Dean isn’t a vamp, and Y/n isn’t gonna be your next meal.”

“That’s not quite what I meant...” He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing and grin not yet faltering. “Sammy, is it?”

“It’s Sam to you.” Dean grumbled. “Look, Y/n can choose on her own.”

“Agreed.” Niklaus nodded. His lips were forming another word, but Dean interjected at record speed.

“But she has a brain, so don’t expect her to choose your fanged ass.”

“Dean!”

“Sam!”

“Enough.” Klaus’ playfully sinister expression dissipated into pure agitation. “It may be that she can choose with her own free will, but she has already chosen me once, who’s to say she wouldn’t be opposed to choosing me again?”

The hybrid’s cruel smile returned to his face as Dean visually tensed. Dean’s jaw and fists clenched. Had Sam not grabbed his arm, Dean probably would’ve swung at the cocky man in front of him. “We have some business to do, if you don’t mind showing us?”

“Ah, yes, right this way please.”

Rebekah’s, really Hayley Marshall and the werewolves of the Bayou’s, problem was solved, leaving Klaus’ to be taken care of before the three could return home. He drove them to some woodsy area, ushered them out of the car, and from then on, they walked. The four of them tried to stay together the best they could, but every now and then the group would drift slightly.

Another drift happened, Sam closer to Klaus who was leading the way. This was it. A free moment to ask. Dean had to take advantage of it. He neared Y/n cautiously before whispering in her ear, “Is it true?”

Y/n furrowed her brows in confusion. “Is what true?”

“That you and the Count,” he nodded his head in Klaus’ direction, “were up close and personal?”

“What?”

“Ya know... You guys were bangi-”

Y/n’s face scrunched, “No! I know what you meant- I just- Who told you that?”

“Mr. Wolf himself.”

Her expression morphed into one of rage. “What else did he tell you?”

Y/n grabbed Klaus’ arm, making Dean’s jaw clench and Klaus smile wickedly. She harshened her grip and planted her feat, telling him to stay behind with her. Dean threw a glance over his shoulder to Y/n but continued forward with Sam when she nodded reassuringly.

“I see, you really aren’t opposed to more-”

She rolled her eyes and let go of his arm to turn and face him. Although Klaus’ grin grew at her actions, it fell when he was shoved backwards. “Why the fuck are you such a dick?!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, love. The worst of them all is what I’ve always aimed to be.”

“Of course you have.” Another eye-roll. She was tired of his bullshit. It followed her for years, then she finally had other things on her mind, but here it was again. “Just tell me, why on earth you would bring up our relationship out of the blue. You were the one who spat on my heart, were you not?”

“That’s hardly the case! You broke my own when you said ‘but’ after claiming to love me!”

Red clouded her vision. “I did love you! Just...” Y/n tried to calm herself. “Tell me why you did it.”

“Couldn’t help myself. Perhaps I was jealous.”

Y/n scoffed. “Jealous? What’s there to be jealous of?”

“You really don’t see it?” He chuckled.

“See what?”

“I think your friend Dean got the point pretty quickly.”

The gears grinded, a mere moment passing by before- “What?! No- He doesn’t... Does he?... Even if he does...why...” It wasn’t the only thing that clicked. “You fucking asshole! Is this why you hired us? To get a rise out of the man I love?”

“On the contrary, I do have a rather annoying problem with some supernatural being, however, like I said, I couldn’t help but watch the envy in your little crush grow with each story I shared.”

Y/n shifted on her feet, furrowed her brows, and sighed heavily. “Lets catch up then. But once we deal with it, I want out of your life, and you out of mine.”

“Wha-”

“I said, we’re doing what you hired us to do, and then we’re gone.”

“Ar-”

“Yes! Yes, I’m fucking sure, Klaus! I never wanted to come back here anyways. You hired us, we responded. You wanna know why I’m pissed right now? Well, for one, you threatened me when I said I had to leave, then now, you had the fucking nerve to pick on Dean the second you noticed his feelings towards me when I’m not yours to be jealous over. You riled him up over something I try to forget.”

Her words made him flinch, tears leaving his eyes. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes.” She took a second for her tone to sink in, then turned back toward the boys, who were becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. “We’re finishing our case. When we’re done, I plan on living a happy life with Dean by my side, doing cases with him and his brother, maybe having a kid or two, and never, I mean never this time, seeing you ever again.”

Then, with one final shake of her head, she ran off to join the Winchesters. To say her words were easy to take in would be bullshit. And, she sighed, Klaus was full of that.

#dean winchester x reader #klaus mikaelson x reader #niklaus mikaelson x reader #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles #joseph morgan #supernatural x reader #imagine #the originals x reader #supernatural x the originals #zodiyack #tvd #to #supernatural #the originals #x reader #reader insert #sorry if this sucks!

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arashikitten · 4 years ago

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Jack and Maddie Fenton aren’t very Good Parents Here’s Why

Ok listen, I know it’s been a while since I posted for this fandom, and that I’ve already talked about this whole debacle, but I just really need to talk about it again Ok?

Because there really is a lot of fucked up stuff once you look into it. Let’s start somewhere simple: The Portal.

Now, anyone in the fandom knows how the story goes: Danny Fenton, a 14 year old about to start high school, goes into the basement of his house to see the massive portal his parents have built. Jack and Maddie plug it in, only for nothing to happen. Disappointed, they leave, meaning that Danny, Sam, and Tucker, three kids who are just barely into highschool, are left all alone in a lab full of dangerous machinery and chemicals.

Let me say that again: Jack and Maddie, two full grown adults, leave three kids alone in their basement surrounded by dangerous chemicals, heavy machinery, and the portal. You know, the thing that was meant to punch a hole through the fabric of reality? The finished version of the portal they built in college? The one that landed their best friend in the HOSPITAL, presumably for a couple of years?

Jack and Maddie knew the consequences of what could happen if the finished version of their portal turned on. They knew how dangerous that could be, both to them and Danny. And, as professional engineers, they should know just HOW DANGEROUS HEAVY MACHINERY CAN BE WHEN PLUGGED IN, EVEN IF IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT’S WORKING!!!! If any of them went into the portal, there would be a high chance of a deadly shock, or a piece of metal coming loose, or the machine suddenly starting up, all of which would end in injury and, in the case of the first and last point, a chance of death.

They knew this, and yet they left three, count it, three teenagers down there all on their own, and it is this gross display of negligence that resulted in Danny going into the portal, accidentally turning it on, and essentially dying. If Jack and Maddie had bothered to put the proper precautions into place, it is highly likely that this never would’ve happened: Danny wouldn’t be half-dead, ghosts wouldn’t be terrorizing Amity Park, yada yada yada.

But if that was the case, the show proper wouldn’t exist. So let’s say that this is just a one time thing. That Jack and Maddie thought that the warning sign on the door would be enough to dissuade Danny “what the hell is self-preservation” Fenton from going in with Sam “Fuck the rules” Manson and Tucker “I love tech more than life itself” Foley.

That STILL wouldn’t excuse the fact that they, as Danny’s parents, somehow didn’t notice that Danny was Phantom.

Now for Jack, this is a little more excusable: the guy somehow completely missed the fact that Vlad hated him and was flirting with his wife, despite the fact that Vlad barely even tried to hide it. Honestly, Vlad is about as subtle as a hammer to the face when it comes to his distaste for Jack, and Jack still doesn’t notice, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t be able to tell that Danny, who is much more careful about his secret around his parents, is Phantom.

That, however, does not excuse MADDIE, who has been shown to be much more aware of other people than Jack is. She knows that Danny is uncomfortable whenever she or Jack mention catching Phantom. She knows that Vlad and Danny clearly do not like each other, and she knows that Danny always seems very nervous whenever ghost equipment acts up around him. Also, knowing just how often Danny gets the shit kicked out of him by other ghosts, you would think that Maddie, ever the attentive mother, WOULD NOTICE that Danny often comes home with bruises, cuts, and other injuries. I mean honestly, Jazz noticed that something was up with Danny, and all it took was a couple of days of investigation for her to find out the truth. Maddie should definitely notice that something is going on with Danny.

And to her credit, I think that she does actually notice that change in Danny after the portal. I think (correct me if I’m wrong) that Maddie does express concern over her sons’ change in behavior.

My question is this: If Maddie KNOWS that something is wrong with Danny, if she KNOWS that he’s getting hurt, then WHY DOESN’T SHE INVESTIGATE??? WHY DOESN’T SHE LOOK INTO IT?? There’s no way in hell she doesn’t notice the fact that Danny’s getting injuries on a near-daily basis, or his sudden skittishness whenever one of their ghost detecting machines is acting up toward him, or the pained look whenever she or Jack brings up tearing apart Phantom “molecule by Molecule”.

SO THEN WHY. THE HELL. DOES SHE NOT LOOK INTO IT???? Like you know your son is coming home late, almost always with injuries, and you don’t investigate??? Your son could be getting bullied, or attacked, or whatever!! And if you combine the constant injuries, the tension whenever Phantom is brought up, the nervousness whenever one of the ghost targeting machines acts up? That, I would hope, should be MORE than enough cause for concern.

And yet, we never, EVER see Maddie mention it. At all. It’s frustrating, because we KNOW that she’s more observant than this, that she should be able to see that something is going on with Danny, but we never get any confirmation.

But enough of that. Let’s talk about JACK.

Now, we learn in one episode, I believe it’s Million Dollar Ghost, that the portal has a thing called the ecto-filtrator, which needs to be replaced every few months to prevent an explosion. Now, as opposed to doing the responsible thing, and replacing it himself, Jack tells Danny (who may I remind you, has been injured by lab equipment more than once and is notorious at school for being clumsy) to replace it. Did ya get that?

Jack, a certified professional, who has been working in the field for years, who knows how to navigate this type of thing without getting hurt, and who is 100% prepared to do something like this...

Sends Danny, who honestly shouldn’t be in the lab at all anyways, to replace a part in a highly dangerous machine that, if he fucks up, will explode. Jack does not know that Danny is half ghost. Jack does not know that Danny probably knows the lab even better than he does. Jack does know that Danny has a habit of procrastinating. Jack does know that, should Danny mess up even a little, that the resulting explosion would likely kill him. And Jack does know that Danny doesn’t wear his HazMat suit.

And yet, despite all this, Danny is the one who has to replace the ecto-filtrator. I just... really?

And the worst part, the worst part is that all of this? All of the word vomit you see above? That’s not even all of it! Not even close!

In summary, Jack and Maddie Fenton need to a) Pay more attention to their kids, especially Danny, and B), Have better Safety precautions in their lab to prevent both their kids and themselves from being hurt. Thank You, and Goodnight!

#Danny Phantom #danny fenton #jazz fenton #jack and maddie fenton #this time on star rants:#The fenton parents need to step the fuck up #because honestly #even if you are amazing scientists #You should not have a very dangerous portal to the afterlife in your damned basement #ESPECIALLY when you have two freaking kids with you!!#honestly

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pocket-luv101 · 4 years ago

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Deep Green Eyes - Gluttony Pair

Fandom: Servamp Ship: Gluttony Pair Characters: Illdio, Niccolo

Summary: Illdio and Niccolo meet and they form a contract. As they wait for the others to arrive, they talk and learn more about each other. (Gluttony Pair, Canon Divergence AU)

Lonely Eyes Series: KuroMahi // LawLicht // Tetsono // MahiSloth // Jekuni // (Gluttony Pair)

We might speak different languages; And we might have differences; But where you are; I'm right there too.

“What are you?” Niccolo couldn’t look away from the man who had rescued him. While he had stopped the rival mafia boss from hurting him further, he didn’t know whether he could trust him. He defeated the armed men with inhuman strength and speed. The strange man turned to him and Niccolo stiffened. He was tied to a chair and he frantically kicked his feet against the ground to push himself farther away from the man with white hair.

“You’re a man?” He asked and he reached out to him. From his shouts earlier, it was clear that he only saved him because he thought he was a woman. He didn’t know if he would be as compassionate to the heir of a mafia family. Niccolo held his breath as he took a strand of his long hair into his fingers. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they? There’s blood in your hair.”

“You killed your own comrades. They called you—” Niccolo repeated the name he heard yet he didn’t react to it. He was well aware of the complicated internal politics of a mafia family and how coups could occur. However, he doubted the man had killed his mafia leader for selfish power or blind anger. He looked up at him and he couldn’t find a hint of regret in his eyes. “Why would you turn against them?”

“We had a deal. I would work for him as long as he doesn’t hurt a woman, child or animal.” He said and he dropped his hand. His long hair slipped from his fingers. “My employer is dead. Nothin’ to do about it now. In this business, it’s hard to find someone who will keep that promise. I’m sure he would’ve broken it eventually.”

The man knelt behind him and Niccolo assumed that he intended to cut the rope binding his wrists. He was confused when he felt his warm breath brush over his skin. Niccolo turned his body to look over his shoulder as much as the rope would allow. He wrapped his hand around his wrist and he brought it closer to his lips. Then, he bit the rope and his sharp teeth tore through the thick bounding easily.

He was finally free and he turned in the chair to face the man. He looked into his red eyes and hesitantly asked, “Are you wearing red contacts?”

“My eyes are red because I’m a vampire.” He spoke so bluntly that Niccolo almost thought his claim was sarcastic. He didn’t appear to be lying though. Niccolo had heard stories of vampires and he couldn’t help but stiffen. However, the man was far from a cold monster who only thirsted blood. He defended the vulnerable and he didn’t try to bite him.

“When those men were beating me, they mentioned how they had an immortal man working with them. They said I shouldn’t anger them or else they’ll bring you out to beat me worse than I could imagine. It’s a little ironic that you’re the one to save me.” Niccolo chuckled despite the outlandish situation he found himself in. “Thank you.”

Niccolo stood on his weak legs and he winced the moment he shifted his weight. He was glad that his bones weren’t broken because he could stand at least. He faced the vampire and he smiled wearily. “You already helped me a lot but can I ask you a few questions? Is this place a hotel or your employer’s headquarters? Are there any guards waiting outside?”

“We’re in an abandoned building. The boss thought he didn’t need to bring many people with me here.” He watched Niccolo sway on the spot and he wondered how he expected to fight anyone in his condition. His eyes were drawn to the complex tattoo on Niccolo’s back and he knew that he was from a mafia or yakuza family. It was rare for normal citizens to have tattoos. “Why didn’t you tell them what they wanted to know? Being that stubborn will kill you, y’know?”

“I don’t think it’s being stubborn.” Niccolo looked down at the ground and his hair fell over his face to cover his emotions. World End took his black sweater and he placed it over Niccolo’s head. The gesture caused him to turn back to him and their eyes met. His voice was so low that he almost didn’t hear him. “A man who sells out his comrades doesn’t deserve to live.”

He knew all too well how it felt to fail someone who relied on him. Sometimes, he wished he had a stronger resolve where he could be ruthless like other mafia leaders. He would be able to protect everyone in his family and city if he wasn’t weak and hesitant. Niccolo grew up in the mafia so he knew it was naïve to hope he could fight a bloodless war.

Niccolo was shocked by the man’s next words. “You must be strong.”

“I wouldn’t call myself that.” Niccolo shook his head. His gaze moved between the bodies on the ground and the vampire. He didn’t know what kind of family they were to the vampire but he was alone now. Where would he go after this? Would he be left on the streets alone? The man was a vampire employed by a rival mafia family so it would be a risk to take him back to the Carpediem.

Despite that, Niccolo held out his hand to him. “I don’t know much about vampires but I want to repay you for helping me. My name is Niccolo… Niccolo Carpediem. What’s your name?”

“You can call me whatever you want. Our contract will need a name, a personal item and blood. I don’t really care what those three things are as long as I get to eat and fight.”

“A contract?” Niccolo didn’t understand what he could’ve meant and he assumed it was his own initiation of joining a mafia family. He didn’t have anything special to give him and he placed his hand in his pocket. A smooth fabric brushed over his fingers and he pulled out a napkin. His family name was embroidered on the corner of the napkin. His father had given him the napkin and he hoped it would be a suitable item for the moment.

Niccolo placed a hand on the chair to steady himself as he walked forward to stand in front of the vampire. He lifted the napkin and he wiped the blood from his forehead. He stared at his face and he thought of various names he could give him to form the contract. After he cleaned the blood from his face, he held out the napkin to him. He couldn’t help but notice how strong he appeared to be. If he didn’t know he was a vampire, he would guess that he was a god.

“Illdio.” When he spoke the name, a golden chain appeared and it fell in a circle around them. The bright light disorientated Niccolo and he instinctively flinched away from him. However, Illdio didn’t seem to be surprised by the chain. Niccolo moved his hand and he realized that the chain was attached to his wrist. The metal was surprisingly warm. “What is this?”

“Our contract.” His answer was brief. Illdio took his hand and he drew his wrist to his lips. The ropes that had bound his wrists had chaffed his skin and left a mark. He gently bit his wrist and mumbled against his skin. “The last thing we need is blood.”

“My friends should be here in twenty minutes. Let me talk to them first. They’ll never believe that you’re a vampire.” Niccolo told Illdio. They sat on a bench outside the abandoned building and he stared up at the moon. He couldn’t explain why the moon appeared different now that he knew vampires existed. He lightly traced his thumb over the bite mark on his wrist. “When you told me to give you a name for a contract, I thought it meant you would join my family. I don’t know if I can be an Eve.”

“I didn’t explain?” Illdio gave him a confused expression and tilted his head slightly. He only explained their contract in detail once they were outside the building. “You’re the leader of a mafia family, ain’t ya? Being an Eve is a little like that. You give me orders and I’ll fight for you. As long as I can eat and fight, I’m fine with whatever.”

“Are you? If I know you needed an Eve, I would’ve had Cappuccino be the one you made a contract with. He’s stronger than me and he’ll make a better Eve.” Since he was immortal, he could only imagine how many Eves Illdio had before him. His previous Eve was a mafia boss as well. “I don’t know what kind of Eve I’ll be but I want to be someone you rely on. I won’t hurt a child, woman or animal.”

“I already told you that it’s the Servamp who does the fightin’. Have you ever been in a fight before? You should consider cutting your hair. Someone can grab it easily in a struggle.” Illdio suggested. He reached out to him and he brushed his fingers over his bangs. Niccolo recalled how casually he had touched his hair earlier and he felt a little shy.

“I can’t cut my hair.” Niccolo shook his head. He tucked his dark hair behind his ear and explained, “My sister has started a family and rival mafia families target them. Tiramisu said I should put them in a safe house but it didn’t feel right to keep them locked up. We compromised that she would have a guard or me be with her whenever she leaves the safe house. I can’t fight but we look similar with our long hair. I’m a decent decoy at least.”

“My old boss kidnapped you thinking you were a woman. It wasn’t a mistake then.” Illdio muttered to himself but Niccolo heard him. He had looked unaffected by his Eve’s death during their first meeting. However, as he peered into his lonely eyes now, he questioned if his feelings were so blunt and simple. “You can’t win all your fights by putting yourself in danger and getting lucky like today. I’ll teach you how to fight.”

Niccolo wasn’t certain whether he would be a good match for him. Between the title of Eve and mafia leader, he questioned why the world pushed him into positions he felt unsuited for. He watched Illdio in the corner of his eyes and he had to note that he didn’t have an Italian accent when he spoke Japanese. Niccolo assumed he didn’t know Italian and he began to use the language. “I hope you don’t regret making me your Eve. I’m probably going to lean on you more than the others.”

A heavy sigh escaped Niccolo and he leaned back against the chair. He stared at the stars above him. “After Father died and left the family to me, everyone is watching me. My methods are different from Father’s because I’m too weak to take a life. Sometimes, I’m scared it’ll tear apart my family. They’ll lose trust in me and leave. People rely on me and I want to help them. It’s just… It feels like no one actually sees me. They only see what my father left behind. I feel alone sometimes.”

“Those things don’t make you weak.” Niccolo jumped in surprise when Illdio responded to him despite the different language. He had to wonder how he was able to read his mind after he added, “Our contract allows us to understand each other no matter what language each of us uses. It’s a little hard to explain.”

Illdio didn’t tell him that he was also able to read his emotions through his green eyes. He wouldn’t meet his gaze like a nervous cat. Yet, he saw a silent strength in his eyes that made him curious about the man. He was different from the other mafia bosses who had used him like a weapon. He hoped that Niccolo would be different and he found someone who could be his Eve.

#servamp #gluttony pair #servamp world end #servamp illdio #niccolo carpediem #fanfiction

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vannahfanfics · 4 years ago

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Distance

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Sora, Kairi

Additional Tags: Modern AU, College AU

Hey, hey, everyone! Here’s another story for @sokaiweek, this time for the prompt “Distance”! I hope you enjoy what I’ve thought up for today! <3

Kairi tapped her pencil incessantly against her desk, and her blue eyes constantly flicked to the clock on the wall, where the minute hand inched towards five p.m.: the end of her final class for the day. Normally, Kairi tried to pay attention in class— especially because Naminé grew bored within the first ten minutes and began doodling, so Kairi always had to provide her notes— but she was in no mood for college algebra today. As soon as the clock struck five, she would hightail it out of this building like Cinderella fleeing the ball, except Kairi wasn’t running from her suitor.

She was running towards him.

Her boyfriend, Sora, attended a university many hours away from hers. Under normal circumstances, they were good students and were diligent with their studies. Though this afforded them good grades, this also meant that their time to spend together was minimal. They’d scheduled a Skype call today, and it would be the first time they’d spoken in nearly two weeks— which was why Kairi had practically snapped her pencil banging it against the desk with impatience.

Finally, the clock struck five, and before the professor could even finish his announcements about some quiz next week, Kairi was tearing out the door. Her bag slapped against her thigh as she full-on sprinted towards her dorm, earning a few confused looks from the people walking at a more leisurely pace. In record time, she was throwing open her door (surprising her roommate, Selphie), wrenching her laptop out of her bag, and belly-flopping onto her bed.

As Kairi frantically typed in her password, Selphie turned in her computer chair to laugh at her.

“Calling Sora tonight?”

“Yes,” Kairi said, now waiting with bated breath for the call notification. She was hunched over the screen like a hungry fox, her hands laced over her lips and muffling her words. She looked over when Selphie rose from her chair and began gathering her things. “Oh, you don’t have to leave! I can go somewhere!”

“No, it’s okay. I have a study group in an hour, so I’ll just head off to the library early and start preparing. You kids have fun,” she teased with a wink, and then she was strutting out of the door. Kairi smiled at her friend’s consideration, but she then jumped violently when her laptop suddenly began to ring with the notification. She screamed as her laptop slipped off her comforter, and in her scramble to grab it before it hit the floor, she accidentally answered it. Therefore, Sora got a very flattering view up her nose while she hauled it up. He was laughing while she was setting it on her lap and trying not to look panicked, but her flushed face and disarrayed hair wasn’t helping.

“Drop your laptop?” he guessed, and she could only smile sheepishly. “You’re so cute,” he said while laughing again, and Kairi felt her heart flutter. She settled herself back against her pillows, and when she looked to the screen again, she realized that Sora was moving.

“Ah, are you calling from your phone?”

“Yep, I’m on a walk. It’s a nice evening,” he said, turning the phone around to show her the beautiful sunset, dying the sky a russet red-gold. It shone above the tall skyline, where skyscrapers were dotted with white squares of light. When he turned it back to his face, he smiled brightly and ran his fingers through his spikes of brown hair. “How was class today?”

“I don’t know. To be honest, I was too busy being excited,” she admitted with a cute, bashful smile. Sora’s face broke into a huge grin, and his cheeks turned pink with delight.

“You wanna know a secret? Me too,” he said, and Kairi giggled girlishly. “Riku was doggin’ on me all day, callin’ me a sap,” he pouted, and Kairi crooned sympathetically. “I can’t help it! It ain’t like I get to see ya as much as I want to.”

“I know.” Long-distance relationships sure had their challenges. She loved that Sora was attending a good university and pursuing a good career, but that didn’t make her feel any less lonely sometimes. She’d lie awake at night craving his touch and warmth. She’d daydream in class about their old dates, the way his hand fit so perfectly in hers and the sweetness of his kisses. They’d been at this for nearly a year already; Kairi didn’t know if she could survive the rest of university like this.

Her sadness must have shown on her face, because when she looked back to her laptop screen, Sora was smiling understandingly.

“I know it’s hard, Kairi. I appreciate you sticking it out for me,” he said, and she wanted to cry at the sheer amount of gratitude he was expressing. “I couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend.”

“And I couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend,” she countered shyly, grabbing her ankles and leaning back into the pillows while she balanced the laptop on her crossed legs. Sora chuckled at this, quickly texting someone on his phone before turning his attention back to her.

“Eh, I am pretty great,” he joked, and Kairi batted the laptop screen, though she would’ve much rather slapped him on the shoulder. Sora tipped back his head in laughter, his rosy face illuminated briefly by the passing light from a streetlamp. Yeah, you are pretty great, Kairi thought affectionately, roped in by the pure infectiousness of Sora’s laugh. Her endearment rapidly turned into a cold pang of sadness, and she pushed back into her pillows, trying to draw comfort from their soft embrace. It only worked a little.

“I really miss you,” she moped, and Sora gave her a sympathetic look.

“I know. I miss you too, Kairi, every minute of every day.” Ugh, how could she be sad when he dropped romantic one-liners like that? One second she was sulking, the next her heart was pounding because her boyfriend was so goddamn smooth. It was an exhausting back-and-forth, but she wouldn’t give it up for the world. He smiled into the camera at her, and she couldn’t help but give him a teensy smile in return. “Don’t worry. We’ll be able to see each other in person soon. Just hang on a little longer, okay?”

“Okay…” she relented, but jutted her lips out in a pout in the hopes it would speed up the process. Sora just gave her a little smirk. Ugh, he looked so handsome when he did that. She squirmed as her heart fluttered against her chest like a bird trying its best to escape her ribcage.

Sora was suddenly enveloped in light, as he was walking into a building. He lowered the phone to talk in a low voice to someone, and for a few seconds, all Kairi could see was the fabric of his cargo shorts. After finishing his brief conversation and walking a few paces down the hall, he lifted the phone back up to smile apologetically.

“Sorry.”

“Checking into the dorm?”

“Yeah, but… Not my dorm,” he said, his expression morphing into an absolutely diabolical grin. Kairi just gaped at him, absolutely unable to compute. Not his dorm? Then who’s dorm was it? Riku, Ventus, and Vanitas all lived in the same dorm as him, so who else could he possibly be visiting? He was snickering at her while she struggled to process his cryptic statement; in her camera, she could see the absolutely stupefied expression she was making, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. She couldn’t help it! She was absolutely, completely bewildered!

“You still haven’t figured it out?” he laughed as he stopped in front of a door, and Kairi just shook her head wildly in exasperation. Sora laughed again; then, with a meaningful raise of his eyebrows, he knocked on the door behind him.

Kairi literally screamed when she heard that tap-tap-tap echo through her dorm room. She didn’t even bother to shut her laptop, instead shoving it to the side and springing from her bed. Sora’s laughter bounced around the room as she raced across, but her bare feet caught on the area rug, causing her to slip. She just barely caught herself on the doorknob, and like a cartoon character, her feet scrabbled uselessly over the fabric until she bunched it up to hit the tile underneath. Once the rest of her body had caught up with her, she wrenched the door open to find Sora waiting, his arms spread wide and grin absolutely blinding.

“Sora!” she squealed, and Sora leat out an oomph! when she jumped at him. She clamped her legs around his middle and her arms around his neck, smothering his face with kisses, while Sora grabbed her hips and spun on his heel to keep his balance. He could barely get a word out between her onslaught of smooches, especially because he was too busy laughing. He carried Kairi back into her room and kicked the door shut behind them so they stopped bothering her dorm neighbors, and finally, Kairi stopped kissing him to grab his face and give it a squish.

“Is this real? Are you really here?”

“Well, I sure hope so,” Sora chuckled with a look down at himself, then back up at her. “It’d be pretty hard to explain if I wasn’t.”

“How did you even get in here?”

“Selphie let me in.”

“That—!” she gasped, but Sora shushed her by sweeping her up in a kiss of his own. Kairi hummed into the meeting of their lips, the closing of the distance that had pained her for so long. He kissed her again and again and again until they were running out of air, but he kept kissing her until the absolute last moment, and they broke apart panting and red-faced. Kairi caressed his cheeks lovingly, eyes sweeping up and down his face like she wanted to commit it to memory. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, the realization suddenly hitting her and making her choke up.

“Aw, Kairi,” Sora cooed as she latched onto him, burying her face into his neck while she cried. He rubbed her back soothingly, leaning his head against hers. “A good surprise?”

“Mhmm,” she mumbled pathetically into his skin, smearing tears all over it while she nuzzled in as deep as she could go. She breathed in deep to get that lovely scent of his, salt and ocean water and coconut. As it flooded her nose, calm flooded her too, and the tears dried as soon as they had come. She relaxed in his embrace, tired from all the sudden emotion. Sora pressed a few kisses into her hair while he carried her to her bed, and then he just unceremoniously threw her on it. Kairi squealed as she bounced on the mattress, but it was swallowed up by Sora crawling on top of her to kiss her again oh-so-sweetly.

“I love you,” he smiled once he’d had his fill of her kiss-swollen lips, leaning his forehead against hers. “So much it hurts sometimes.” There he went again with those damn one-liners. How was a girl supposed to deal with her heart nearly bursting out of her chest?

“I love you too,” she said. Though it felt like a lame reply in comparison, it was how she felt. Sora liked it well enough; he snuggled down into her, covering her in every inch of his warmth, and Sora responded in kind by wrapping him up like a koala hugging its tree. His hands massaged the flesh of her waist and hips in mindless, tender touches.

“Riku’s right,” he smirked suddenly. “I am kind of a sap.”

“Hehe, but you’re my sap,” she hummed, and Sora buried his face into her hair so deeply that she could feel his smile against his scalp.

“I can live with that.”

Kairi knew that he’d have to leave again soon, but she didn’t want to think about that. All she wanted to think about right now was him, his touch, his warmth, his love— the closure of the distance between them, if only for a moment.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2021 #sora x kairi #kairi x sora #kingdom hearts

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snarkwrites · 4 years ago

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six sexy words | reggie mantle; let me take care of you.

Notes:

Oh hello, hi. Guess whose inspiration has finally come back from the war? A while back, I was linked this really neat prompt list by a dear friend of mine and it.. Sparked a few things. So… I guess this is me, starting a new one shots collection?

All of these come from my own mind and I don’t take requests for one shots / prompts, btw.

This is the prelude to my Riverdale fic Gangsta. It kind of... explains how Alyssa wound up getting with Reggie in the first place. Events have been moved around / misplaced, etc.. Anyway.. yeah. I know nobody asked for this but here ya go.

Prompts:

taken from either [ HERE ] or [ HERE ] give or take. It could be one or the other or a mix of both at my own choosing.

catching his gaze lingering on you, i still remember everything about you, let me take care of you were the prompts used here.

Fandom / Character:

Riverdale | Reggie Mantle x Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa

Fic Alyssa Appears In:

[ here ] - read at your own risk. looose af canon compliance and some kind of dark themes are present (kind of an older guy manipulating a younger girl then stalking her sitch so be warned) and are hinted at here.

Warnings:

This one is kind of.. angsty. And there are some dark hints that people reading the fic linked above will pick up on. They're only vaguely hinted at here, btw, so... yeah.

A backstory literally no one asked for, lmaoooo.

Tagging:

@BRITHEDEMONSPAWN is the only one currently on my Riverdale tag list, so…

** if you want to be tagged in my Riverdale stuff, lmk!!**

Other Stuff:

[ ABOUT MY WRITING | TAG LIST DOC - IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED, THAT IS. | FANDOMS I WRITE FOR]

I looked up just as Reggie looked down. I could feel the weight of his stare every single time he shifted his gaze towards where I sat in the back booth of the diner.

A strawberry milkshake sat in front of me, untouched. I wasn’t even sure why I was at Pop’s. It’s pretty much the only place for all the lovey-dovey couples of Riverdale to come out on a Friday night anymore and I had to be a glutton for punishment because I knew that this meant the odds of me having a Valentine’s solo date in public, where people would look at me and judge or feel sorry for me for whatever reason, were high.

Not that it bothered me, but when you can feel everyone around you watching you like you’re a landmine or something, it gets old real quick.

A chair scraping loudly against the tiled floor of the diner as it was dragged over drew me out of my own thoughts and I braced myself. Preparing myself to look up from my phone and Snapchats that I had open to find Cheryl or Veronica or Betty sitting there, a sympathetic look in their eyes.

Instead, I looked up from a Snap my friend back in Chicago had sent me and my mouth opened in surprise a little because Reggie sat there, the backwards facing chair pressing into his chest.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“It’s just another Friday.” I muttered, shrugging as I took a few noisy slurps of my milkshake and eyed him. “No hot female company tonight?” I gave him a mocked look of shock as I said it, laughing softly when his response was to pout right back at me.

“I mean, if you count the red-head I’m currently lookin at and I’ve been tryin to talk to all night, then yeah.” Reggie answered.

His answer caught me off guard and as a result, some of the strawberry milkshake went down the wrong way and I choked a little. Reggie chuckled, reaching over to lightly pop me between the shoulder a few times as he gazed at me in concern and amusement. “You good, princess?”

“Super. That would’ve been one hell of an obit though. Girl dies on Valentine’s Day while drinking a milkshake alone and nearly choking to death on strawberry bits.” I laughed and Reggie raised a brow.

“Guess dark humor isn’t your forte, huh?” I teased gently and Reggie gave a quiet chuckle.

“So… How are you feeling about being back in Riverdale?”

“It is what it is.” I answered, shrugging as my eyes wandered around the diner, taking in all the happy couples of Riverdale High.

My gaze settled on Reggie again and I struggled to come up with something even halfway passing as a conversation starter. Maybe that wouldn’t have been such a struggle for me if I’d stop getting lost in the depths of dark brown eyes… Or the way his tongue trailed ever so slowly over the outline of his mouth.

I found myself wondering why he was even over here talking to me to begin with. There was a booth full of River Vixens further towards the back, all laughing and whispering, and yes, occasionally calling his name.

I locked eyes with one of them and the sour look she gave me had me rolling my eyes.

“Hey, it’s gettin late. I doubt Andrews would want his sister walkin home alone…” Reggie trailed off under my amused gaze. I gave a soft laugh, finishing the last of my milkshake.

“Are you asking permission to walk me home, Reggie?”

“What if I am, baby girl?”

“First of all, it’s Alyssa…” I reminded him knowing fully well that it’d go in one ear and out the other, because it always has with him. Reggie’s been a nickname kind of guy for as long as I’ve known him and been friends with him. It’s nice to see that some things haven’t changed, even if at times that can be a little bit grating.

Baby girl just… has negative ties to it for me at the moment.

I winced at the thought and Reggie chuckled. “Okay, princess. Gotcha.” he muttered, leaning in a little. Reaching out and swiping his thumb over my bottom lip. I tried so hard not to tense up or flinch and I found myself hoping against hope that the little bit I did tense up went unnoticed.

I didn’t feel like answering questions and I didn’t want Reggie thinking I was weird or he’d offended me or something because honestly, he hadn’t. The whole thing was a me problem and it was one I was trying not to think about because I just wanted it all completely behind me. Forgotten about.

“You okay?” he asked, a brow raised as he eyed me in concern.

Crap. He noticed.

Apparently, the fact that he’s observant as hell hasn’t changed either.

I gave a soft laugh and nodded. “I just wasn’t expecting that. But it’s okay.” I quickly offered.

Deeper down, I have to admit… If so much hadn’t happened to me in Chicago, I’d definitely be falling hard and fast for Reggie Mantle all over again right now.

I did feel something. A sliver of a spark.

,, Don’t even think about it. The last time you felt sparks, you wound up getting in way over your head. Look where that got you, Alyssa…” that nagging little voice in the back of my mind spoke up, drowning out any and all other thoughts.

He’s my friend. Walking home with a friend isn’t a bad thing.

,, as long as it stops at friendship. Do you really think he’s just going to settle for you? He’s one of the big men on campus. Every girl wants him. Why would he choose you with all your current issues and that big nasty past of yours hanging over your head, threatening to ruin everything?” - and with that thought acknowledged, I smiled and cleared my throat. Breaking through his thoughtful daze with a soft laugh. “Earth to Mantle… You in there?”

“Yeah, yeah. I was just thinkin.”

“About?” I asked the question before I could stop myself.

“About how nice it is havin you back in Riverdale, Alyssa. You were always one of my favorite people.”

I smiled fondly.

Sitting down the styrofoam cup I’d drained of it’s contents, I rose up from my spot on the booth and held out my hand. “C’mon, lug.. If you insist on walking me home, we should probably get going… Stupid town curfew.”

“It is kind of dumb, huh? I mean, it’s not like we actually have a serial killer here.”

“It’s not like we don’t either. Sorry. I watch too many true crime documentaries.”

“No, you just lived in that big city too long. You forgot how safe and isolated it really is here.” Reggie chuckled. He slipped an arm around me and I tensed a little before I could stop myself.

I know he noticed it again, but he lowered his arm. Gave me an apologetic smile.

“Hey… do they still have those swings out behind the elementary?” I asked as we stepped out of the diner. He eyed me and smiled. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, since we do have a little bit of time left before I absolutely must be walking in my father’s door, I thought maybe we could go sit on them and talk? Like we used to? For old times sake?”

Reggie gave a soft grin. “I’d like that.”

“Just don’t try to send me into orbit like the last time I let you push me, okay?”

Reggie chuckled, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared down at me.

I snapped my fingers in his face. “Hey…”

“Yeah, yeah. Look, I make no promises.” Reggie teased. I pouted up at him and we started to walk across the parking lot.

“You’re a lot quieter now, Alyssa. Skittish.. Are you sure you’re okay? I still remember everything about you and you weren’t skittish at all… If you wanna talk about it, you know you can talk to me, right?” Reggie asked as we walked towards the playground down the block. I sighed quietly.

“I’m not!” I spoke up, glancing up at him. Hoping he’d buy it and not keep pushing. Because I’m just not ready to talk about what I managed to get myself caught up in. And you just don’t want to see the disgusted look in his eyes when you do talk about it and he realizes just how stupid and pathetic you really are, the thought came but I shoved it out quickly. For the next minute or two, that heavy silence settled between us. I didn’t address the fact that he said I could talk to him. I know I could but… I just can’t right now. I need time. I need to get my head around everything.

And I don’t want to deal with the disgust I know he’ll probably feel. I know he will because I feel it, every single time I look at myself in the mirror. My parents and Archie keep insisting it’s not my fault, but all I can see is that I was the one who willingly got involved with the people I got involved with in the first place. I’m not stupid. I had to know that Dave didn’t really give a shit. That he was probably using me to stroke his own massive ego. That he purposely picked me when he sensed some deep hidden vulnerability. But I’m the one who let it happen. And I’m the one who let it go on for as long as it did and I allowed it to get to the scary point that it got to…

So yeah.. Pretty sure I don’t want to dump all this on Reggie Mantle and then see him look at me differently. I just… can’t.

I want to, but I can’t.

I hugged myself when the wind picked up, wishing I’d had the common sense to grab a thicker jacket before I left my dad’s house earlier. Reggie stopped our walk and slipped off his letterman’s jacket, holding it out. I eyed it and then him.

“Oh no. No. I’m not about to get my ass kicked by your fanclub.” I teased gently.

In reality, I knew that having the scent of his cologne so close to me would probably stick with me. It’d be too much temptation. Taking his jacket was a slippery slope.

“C’mon. Stop being so stubborn, woman. Look at you, shivering right now… You always took care of me back then. Let me take care of you, okay?”

He stepped closer. Not too close. Close enough that I knew if things were different, I’d totally be pouting right now because I’d want him closer. Before I could answer him, he slipped the jacket around my shoulders and I gave a soft and amused laugh. “Better, Reggie?”

“Yeah.” he answered. I tried not to notice it, but I couldn’t help myself. His eyes darted down and settled on my lips. His gaze lingered.

My heart hammered just a little harder against my chest.

I swallowed hard and cleared my throat, trying not to think about the way he was looking at me currently and the way it made me feel. Because someone’s made me feel that way before but they turned out to be the most toxic person I’ve ever known.

I just.. I don’t know if I can trust myself or anyone else right now.

But I want to. God, I want to.

#reggie mantle #reggie mantle fanfiction #reggie mantle fanfic #reggie mantle imagine #reggie mantle one shot #reggie mantle imagines #reggie mantle oneshot #my writing ; reggie mantle #my fics ; reggie mantle #my oneshots ; reggie mantle #// look at me go! two in a day!#// i am... rusty. but i'm trying to work through it #// pretty sure this too will flop but oh well. it is what it is.#// this is part of my riverdale fic - it's the 'prelude' if you will. kind of sets up things that have happened in the fic #// literally no one asked for this but I wanted it so ya'll get it #// suffer with me

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fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years ago

Text

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 5 - The Tanuki's Marriage

T/N: Hey y'all, here's Chapter 5. I didn't notice at first that the sentences in the original text were separated into paragraphs and stuff so I am putting that stuff here today lol Oh well, hope you all still enjoy. Also you can try the recipes but at your own risk, I am not liable for any mishaps for following these recipes lol

Also if you like this translation, you can heart it, share the link, reblog, I just respectfully ask that DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. This is my contribution to the scant English content of this fandom, and I worked really hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just copy-pasted everything. I even had to build the kanji in Jisho one by one. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

You can rave about this, rant about this, reblog, like, reply, but if possible please link back to this page. If you’re unsure how to do that, just copy the web address of this page. If you’re on a blogsite just insert the web address as a hyperlink as a link back to here. Honestly if this light novel was officially-published in English, I wouldn’t even be doing this right now... And if it did, I’d take this offline to support the publishers and Yuuma-sensei. Creators support creators, is what I believe in. I’ll prolly do 1-5 once 6-10 has been done, or however long I can manage to translate the raw texts, it can take a toll at times. As previously-mentioned in earlier chapters, if you stumbled upon this one, the two seasons of the anime covered volumes 1-5, so other than the extra details, you didn’t miss much stuff. Here’s chapter 5 now

P162 That is, the morning of the inn being closed for the day. Today in Yugao, is the debut appearance of the Kiseki beef shank made into beef stew. Since yesterday the meat has been soaked in red wine, and the ingredients for making Demi-glace sauce has been prepared. Because I have some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce that I prepared myself, I could successfully make Demi-glace sauce. Alas, Ginji-san handed over to me, with so much regret, his treasured but also very important red wine... "When we were given Kiseki beef, I decided that I wanted to make beef stew." Orio-ya is so generous, they gifted us so much with all cuts of the Kiseki beef. We couldn't eat all of these in one gulp so for sure it's all going to get refrigerated but, I was thinking that the beef shank is absolutely going to be made into beef stew.** I immediately pulled out the shanks soaked in red wine, and sauted them in the frying pan. After searing both sides, I added the red wine marinade with bay leaves and boiled them down. Ah, it's been a long while since Kakuriyo has been this peaceful, the fruity fragrance of the red wine... T/N: Yeah the tastiest part of any meat is the one that gets the most exercise and the nearest to the bones, but seriously, give it a chance to soften and it just has so much flavor. Just like the limbs of fowl, or pigs, the limbs just have so much flavor and collagen lol dang it no I can't be hungry now T_T Also marinating in red wine with bay leaf is a legit way to add flavor to red meat, if you're a meat eater you can try this. or if you want to kick it up a notch, use balsamic vinegar, either way it helps soften the tough meat parts. Of course, I can't guarantee if you'll like it, but I tried this once, it mellowed the beef taste and the annoying stench of the meat. But hey that's just my two cents lol try at your own risk P163 While the meat was boiling down in the red wine, I started cutting the vegetables that I'll add in the stew. White onions, garlic, and I added a lot of the seasonally-apt shimeji mushrooms. I sauted all of these in a pot, and added the boiled-down meat with the red wine and bay leaf marinade, and added more water before simmering these in a low fire. Slowly but surely, slowly but surely. It seems that it will be done boiling after an hour or so. "After this, hamburger. I will make a sauce for the hamburger." Not only beef stew, but I'm also deciding on cozying up today's menu with hamburger. I want to use the Kiseki beef in succession, and with the especially-made Demi-glace sauce I was also thinking that I want to serve Western-style hamburger here in Yugao. I promptly made a sauce for the ground Kiseki beef hamburger patty. A beef-only burger patty** without onions. Binders would be panko and cow's milk, sprinkled with salt and pepper and then mixed altogether, shaped into small flattened circles, and I have made the hamburger's shape. Yeah, this is 100% branded beef, a beef-only hamburger is somehow extravagant... With the ingredients that I normally have, the supply is always made affordable, and I want to serve a lot of Western-style food for the Ayakashi. "Aoi! This is terrible, terrible!" This time, it was O-ryo who flew inside Yugao. Normally it was Kasuga who does this. Why O-ryo? T/N: So historically, Japanese people didn't normally eat meat since it's an expensive product, and beef is the most expensive of all. Their burgers are normally beef and pork, or pork and chicken, mostly mixed meat so it won't be too expensive. I actually tried curry-flavored beef and pork deep-fried burger patty, it was actually good and crunchy. hwah... P164 I think she may be hungry, but it doesn't seem to be the case. O-ryo's face has gotten pale. "Kasuga, Kasuga is going to quit Tenjin-ya!" If she was extremely panicking, it's because of the sudden announcement. I couldn't understand where it all began, and I just blinked my eyes a lot. The simmering noise of the boiling pot echoes all around... "Wh.. What do you mean by that?" "That's the point! Really, Kasuga is going to quit? She’s gonna quit being a waitress, she's gonna leave?" "Wh..." Why? Before the inn's closing break, we ate amberjack shabu-shabu in our girls' night-out, we had fun while putting things together in the pot as we were chatting. "Kasuga.. Kasuga, she has decided to get married!" "Marriage, Kasuga, that Kasuga, who's she going to get married to?" "That girl, until now she hasn't told her personal history, but in reality she's unbelievably, an Ojou-sama!**" Speaking of the Ojou-sama that I met in Orio-ya, I remembered Yodoko Ojou-sama, I wonder if she's also an Ojou-sama from a rich family? T/N: Ojou-sama=お嬢様=a young girl or a daughter of a noble or a pampered upbringing. Yeah, I know right, even I was shocked. Oh well, we need a plot twist here lol And you think she's just a follower, but apparently Kasuga's got nobility in her blood. Ma, ma, maiya gwahahaha oh well who would’ve thought right? P165 "Kasuga, Kasuga is... The Emperial Court's Minister of the Right**, The Great Tanuki, Lord Ieyasu's youngest daughter!" "Whaaaat?!" Ehrm... My reaction was surprise, but it seemed that it was lacking as I had no idea what it meant. Simply put, she was the daughter of an esteemed person in Kakuriyo? O-ryo went "Ahhhhh come here right now!" and dragged me towards the main building. "A- Ai-chan! The pot is cooking, look after it! Mix it if it looks like it's about to get scorched!" "OK Aoi-sama!" Instantly, from inside the pendant Aoi-chan who already has her black-haired ogre-girl look jumped out. Wearing her personal apron, she tended to my precious pot. Immediately we went to the main building, and the excitement of every employee with the topic in question has pumped up. "That girl was somehow, unexpectedly, the Minister of the Right's daughter, wasn't she?" "Why is she a waitress here in Tenjin-ya?" I could only hear the hushed and surprised voices of the Ayakashi. "Oh well, anybody would be surprised. It's no match, the Minister of the Right's position is like a Hachiyo, an esteemed person. I had no idea and I pushed around and scolded Kasuga. I might get punished after this..." It wasn't only O-ryo who was worring about this. Even Akatsuki in the front desk, he also remembered, and for sure couldn't calm himself down as cold sweat T/N: It's like a left and right wing something, like two opposing factions in the government. Heh, too much political stuff, I don't even wanna touch that. Major spoiler alert: Our old pal Raijuu is a leftist. Ouch. P166 flows down his face. "Oh, I see." I was thinking of asking Kasuga's relative the Gesokuban Chiaki-san, but he wasn't in the lobby. The Gesokuban were in charge of the straw slippers and geta sandals of the guests, and their work is like bellboys that bring the luggage into the rooms, I often catch a sight of them before business hours. I have seen him call in a row the ogre kids who do a lot of different kinds of chores, and make a roll-call on them... "Say, Akatsuki, where's Chiaki-san?" "Ah.... Chiaki-san is with Kasuga in Odanna-sama's office. In relation to that, Chiaki-san is the Minister of the Right's younger brother.. If he was esteemed, I should have been more respectful to him..." Mortified at being too late now, Akatsuki had a distant look. Confirming about Kasuga and Chiaki-san's positions, they were from the North-west's Hachiyo, the Bunmon Tanuki. Kakuriyo's biggest and most difficult school to get into, "Bunmon Imperial University" is where the Hachiyo, who is also the University Director resides, and it seems that Chiaki-san is the son, and in turn Kasuga is the granddaughter. Incidentally, Chiaki-san's brother is Kasuga's father, which O-ryo and Akatsuki previously-mentioned has the position of the Minister of the Right in Kakuriyo. Talking about the North-western Lands, it is a college town, they have a prestigious university and large hospital institution, a research facility and a huge library, they have talented scholars and doctors, they have a lot of graduates that become government officials, it didn't engage in trade and commerce but the Hachiyo has great political powers, P167 it's a particularly unique place. But if that's the case, why were Chiaki-san and Kasuga working at Tenjin-ya? Also, why did she decide to quit working in Tenjin-ya now? "I'm.. Going to Odanna-sama's place." "Wait, Aoi, I'll go too!" O-ryo and I hurriedly left the front desk and climbed up the central staircase. "Hey, you two! Don't you dare disturb Odanna-sama... Oh well, I guess I'll go too" In the end, Akatsuki came with us too. The three of us went to the topmost floor where Odanna-sama's office was.

"Oh..." Outside the room, Ginji-san the Wakadanna-sama was standing with his arms crossed. When he saw us, he looked like he's saying "So, you've come?". "It's useless, guys, it's not work-related." "But... Ginji-san..." "I understand how you feel but... Hey!" I wasn't listening to anything that Ginji-san was saying, and we all placed our ears in the gap between the sliding doors, and eavesdropped P168 on the conversations inside. "Truly, your mind cannot be changed, Kasuga?" "... yes. I will quit Tenjin-ya, and I intend to marry into, the head of Hyourijou Castle in the Northern Lands." In such situations Odanna-sama's voice had always been calm and collected, even now when Kasuga has already reached a point where her mind cannot be entirely changed. "Chiaki, do you think that it's a good idea?" "...yes, Odanna-sama. With the marriage of the two, the instability of the Northern Lands, our North-western Lands can prove it and help hold the issues at bay. In addition to that, the chaotic Northern Lands can find a bit of stability." "...oh, I see." I wanted to hear more of Chiaki-san and Odanna-sama's conversations, but O-ryo suddenly raised her voice hysterically and shouted "Did she say Hyourijou Castle?!" "Hey O-ryo, shut up!" "But.. it's the head of the Hyourijou Castle of the Northern Lands!" "O-ryo be quiet!" Me and Akatsuki and O-ryo were suppressing our voices, when suddenly the sliding door opened with a rattle, and the three of us, like dangos, fell inside the room. "You lot..." P169 "O, Odanna-sama" Odanna-sama stared down at us with his astonished, red eyes. We tried to dodge it in any way, and the three of us just ended up wearing lop-sided smiles. "Aoi-chan, O-ryo sama, Bantou-sama" "Haha... So everyone eventually came, didn't they?" Even at Kasuga and Chiaki-san, the three of us smiled crooked smiles at them. "Say Kasuga, is it true that you're getting married to the head of Hyourijou Castle?" "O-ryo sama... Yep, that's the plan." "Even so! That head's an extremely old and senile, bedridden old man! You, are you going to get married to a senile old man who's about to die?!" O-ryo was very well-informed. Well, she did came from the Northern Lands. That's why her face was full of bewilderment. "It's not like that, O-ryo. The Hachiyo of the Northern Lands has finally been replaced." "...really?" "In the Northern Lands, the Great Old Sage who has been the Hachiyo for a very long time has retired. The next Hachiyo who took the position was the Old Sage's youngest grandchild, the Young Master of the Hyoujin** Tribe. Kasuga's marriage, is to that Young Master, Lord Kiyo." "..."

T/N: Hyoujin Clan- directly translates to Ice people Clan. Something. I did say previously in my earlier translations that direct translations will be minimized. Also if you’re interested on what Kiyo looks like, I’ll prolly post a photo here, he’s depicted in vol 8′s cover. Oh gawd, that’s a long way off but don’t worry fams we’ll get there somehow P170 It's impossible for me to know who that is, O-ryo who's acquainted with the dealings in the Northern Lands just looked puzzled, and Akatsuki just went blank. Behind us, was Ginji-san who, one way or another was the only one who looked like he had a full grasp of the situation. "Uhm, I...." Suddenly, Kasuga stood up, and only went to the entryway where the three of us were still lying down, and went in front of us. When I looked at her face she seemed like an adult, and in an instant, the cheerful and innocent Kasuga that I knew had gone off elsewhere, and I felt a painful sense of loss. Could it be that Kasuga, with regards to her engagement, in her heart she truly doesn't despise it? But from my point of view, I have no choice but to accept it. "When I saw these people's faces, somehow I felt hungry. Odanna-sama, what is good to eat on mornings like these?" "...Kasuga" Were we worrying that much, to that extent? Everyone understood that, and while we were in the middle of not saying anything, Odanna-sama wordlessly stared at me. I easily understood him without him saying anything. "Ka...Kasuga! If you want, let's go to Yugao. I'll give you something I made. For today, I made something called beef stew. I really want you to try it!" P171 "Beef stew?" "Yeah! I'll also give you hamburger steak that I cooked with it. It's like when Kasuga was in her Tanuki form, it's brown-colored cooked food. It's delicious--!" "..." Amidst the confusion they only got perplexed, and didn't even seem to hear that it was delicious. Everyone's faces only spelled "What is she even saying?". But the beef stew, it's definitely delicious!

I dragged Kasuga to Yugao. Before business hours, everyone else went back to their work posts, and it seems that I'll be taking care of her hunger. When we got to Yugao, Ai-chan has diligently looked after the pot for me. "Thank you, Ai-chan, you did a great job--" "OK--- I wanna eat something swee--t!" "As your reward, I'll give you some test-trial manjuu. Ah, that manjuu's a secret. We haven't given that to anyone yet." P172 "Yaaay!" Ai-chan with her manjuu, and her cup of milk, immediately sat on a chair and took her break. Now then. The time for the beef stew's ingredients to boil down has been sufficient. To this I'll put in some parboiled potatoes, and add more Demi-glace sauce, and add some seasonings while I mix it from time to time. Kasuga sat on the counter, and lazily propped her chin with her hands. "Kasuga, just wait for a little bit. The beef stew still needs to be boiled down some more. While it's doing that, I'll make you a little something to eat, OK? Have you eaten an avocado?" "...Avocado? I've seen one in an illustrated encyclopedia, but I haven't eaten one." "Hee hee. It's something like the ones in Utsushiyo, but in Kakuriyo, the Southern Lands where there's plently of heat they have started to grow it and other similar vegetables too. You might be surprised when you first try it, but once you get used to eating it you'll get hooked. It's because avocado is called 'the butter of the fields'." Butter isn't really something special in Kakuriyo, so she might not understand anything. But Kasuga's interest seemed to be deep, and her eyes got round with wonder. While the stew was boiling down, I went ahead to make something. Avocado and persimmon, the sweetness is entirely Japanese. P173 Firstly, the in-season persimmon's skin was peeled off, and the flesh cut into cubes. The avocado was also cut from the sides, the two halves were rotated on the round seed's axis, and between the half with no seed and the half that has the seed attached to it, the one without the seed was used. Doing that was quite fun. The lovely light green flesh of the fruit appeared. I quickly scraped the flesh off, and also cut those into cubes. Along with the persimmon cubes I cut a while ago, I served all of these in a glass bowl, and in true Japanese fashion mixed these altogether with a citrus dressing. Alright, it's nicely done. I served this with a spoon and placed it in front of Kasuga. "OK Kasuga, this is Japanese-style avocado and persimmon. Please try it." "Wah, it's pretty. Green and orange. I really love persimmon too, so I'm going to eat it now--" Instantly, Kasuga's face naturally fell into a smile. Holding a spoon, she took a huge bite, and tried the avocado that she was deeply interested in. "Wow, this is amazing. Feeling the avocado's texture for the first time, it's a fun and soft food, isn't it?" After this, she bit into the avocado and the persimmon at the same time. "Its seasoning, the persimmon's sweetness, its taste is really like a side-dish for rice." "Is that so? The persimmon's sweetness and the avocado's mellow texture and taste suit it well, and if it's just the persimmon it's going to be too sweet. The citrus fruit juice, along with toasted sesame seeds and soy sauce dressing give it a Japanese flavor and taste." P174 While Kasuga was eating a lot of the side dish, I took out the hamburger patties that I made that morning, and I pan-fried those in a shallow pot. When the surface looked brown enough, I poured in about two to three ladles of the beef stew, and simmered this for five minutes. And again, in a smaller frying pan I made a runny sunny side-up egg... "Kasuga, between white rice and bread, which one would you like? Beef stew goes well with either one..." "Hmmm.. Definitely it's rice." "OK, I get it. Even I too, like Western food with white rice, it's good enough." Along with the hamburger patty, I have asked Ai-chan to heat and cook some simple stir-fried foods and serve them in dishes, such as this beef stew. Par-boiled broccoli were also added as a fluffy touch. I added some cream and swirled it around with a spoon, and lastly I topped the hamburger with the runny sunny side-up egg. The white rice was also shaped into a sphere, and plopped it over a plate, like Western style. I placed all of those on a festive four-legged tray, and brought it to Kasuga's seat. "Alright. Tea house style, moon-viewing beef stew hamburger steak is served--" "Wooow. That really smells good. A while ago, the wafting smell made my stomach growl. There's also a fried egg on it-- And tonight's also a full moon, isn't it? It really looks like the Full Moon's spherical form." "Hee hee. Since it's already autumn, in Utsushiyo it's a time where anything with fried egg is "something for full moon viewing" and it's always added in a set meal." P175 In the food industry, a hamburger steak with a fried egg is called a moon-viewing burger, among others. When adding a runny fried egg, it always make it seem even more delicious, it's a mysterious and puzzling force. "And it's really a tanuki-colored cuisine, it is." "It's a fact that tanuki-colored cuisine is the model of deliciousness. If I could, I'll eat it for lunch.” If it was me, I would eat the beef stew with left-over toasted bread crusts on the side. Yep, it's enough to fill the stomach. I pried apart the meat with a spoon, and it crumbled off. I took a bite of that beef stew. Oooohh, the meat! The meat!! It's soft and moist, there's no stench, the thick and rich Demi-glace sauce really ties everything together. This is really over-the top extravagance! "Wow, wooow! What is this, this is soooo good Aoi-chan! The runny egg yolk, the hamburger and the stew eaten altogether, it's already the best. So many flavors all packed in one bite" Having one bite of the whole thing, the corners of Kasuga's mouth stretched wide, and her Tanuki ears went plip-plopping a lot. This time she bit into everything, including the large carrot chunks and the shimeji mushrooms. "Hmm... crumbly---" P176 Cooking food with Kakuriyo's state of the art Youkai-fire platter and spiritually-powered pot allows the fire to pass through the vegetables' core, the sweetness and deliciousness of the vegetables get trapped inside, and is suitable for cooking stews. "Aoi-chan you've already given me hamburgers before, but this is the first time that I've eaten beef stew. For me, I really enjoy foods like these. It's because foods like these have a rich taste and depth. I have read about these in a book, but I couldn't imagine how these would have tasted like." "Kasuga, you've read something about beef stew from a book?" "Yep, the library in the Land of Bunmon had so many books. There's also a book on the history of Utsushiyo's culture. It was a book that was about Western cuisines, when we. Were. Young. We had so much fun having wild imaginative ideas. Since I was a child, I was raised surrounded by so many books.” "..." We? Kasuga ate some more hamburger, and slurped in some more beef stew. After this she ate more white rice, and took in some beef stew again. All of the flavors blend well together in one bite, "Ah, it tastes good--", it makes the body weak. Seeing Kasuga's satisfied and fluffy face, I was delighted. While I was eating nearby, I initiated by saying that "The stew also tastes good with bread", and started eating as such. P177 In my case the umami envelops the bread, there's a resounding crunch, this has become a devilish food. Together, the bread crust that's always looked over, it has become an illusionary steak. "Phew, my stomach's all full!" After all that, our luxurious lunch has ended. Who would have thought that before business hours, we're already full and satiated? But for sure, without a doubt our strengths came back because of the food. "I'm glad that my stomach's gotten full. When you said that you were hungry, it was a surprise. Everyone was shocked. Back there when Kasuga said it out loud, it was of a large extent." "Ahaha. Well it was an important conversation with Odanna-sama, and I was already hungry for a while, it was because of Aoi-chan." "What are you saying? When I saw you, you didn't particularly appear to be hungry when you were talking with Odanna-sama." Uhm, yeah, that was a lie. "After that, just when it was about to get really serious, Odanna-sama pushed me to appear as "The I-wanted-to-help" person. "Really, Odanna-sama somehow made you do that? He's always dignified and composed, he doesn't give me that impression. In front of Aoi-chan, he's expected to be different." "Ah, when you see him that way, his movements are considerably mysterious." "Odanna-sama, he's really wrapped in mystery, isn't he?" P178 Kasuga and I, when talking about Odanna-sama, I realized that the meanings of "mysterious", were quite different. I recalled what my situation was, but after learning about Kasuga's circumstance the clarity has slowly gotten dimmer. "Say, Aoi-chan, are you going to get married to Odanna-sama?" She deliberately asked that question. I normally handle such questions lightly, but with Kasuga this time, it's a heavy-handed question. Her situation and mine's, they're a bit similar. "I'm not going to get married. I still have Yugao to tend to right now." Saying that, somewhat I couldn't understand why my body, in my chest, I felt so much discomfort. What the heck is this. "But Aoi-chan, you don't dislike Odanna-sama anymore?" "Well, uhm, hearing you say "dislike', it's not the answer anymore but.." "If that's the case, you like him now?" "Uhm, that is..." My eyes started swimming. Kasuga was determined to get into my head, and she looked at me quietly. "It sure doesn't seem to be that way. But I, do not know anything about Odanna-sama." That was more or less my refusal. Not really, I do know something about Odanna-sama. Contrary to what he looks like, he's a mischievous prankster, P179 and he's unsophisticatedly kind, when I see him make his moves, his strong drive leaves me wondering why... he has supported me in very important times, he's also become trustworthy, I've learned a lot being with him. And yet, I still don't know a lot about him. Odanna-sama's inner self that he holds dearly inside, I mostly don't know about it. I don't know anything about that, and he doesn't easily say anything about what he likes. Like myself for example, if I told someone that I knew nothing about "I like you", I still think that despite doing that, I still know nothing about them. "That is why, I would want to get to know more about Odanna-sama... But he's not telling me anything." "...Hmph" While Kasuga was grinning at me, I was drenched in cold sweat. What the heck, I feel like I wanted to run away... "Hee hee, that's good, Aoi-chan. It's very unnatural of you, but with time, as expected, you bestowed a great deal to Odanna-sama." ".. Kasuga?" Kasuga looked up at Yugao's celiing. Those eyes, they seem hollow somehow. "Kasuga, Kasuga getting married, you really don't dislike it?" I placed my hands on Kasuga's shoulders, and asked her earnestly. P180 It seemed that Kasuga has already been resolute of her marriage, and I wanted to ask what her true intent was. "Marriage to the Hachiyo of the Northern Lands. That is not a politically-motivated marriage." Kasuga continued to stare up at the ceiling, I only saw her flit her gaze to me once. Between those brown-colored bangs I could only see her eyes, she doesn't appear to be a mere waitress at all. Over there, she's already sharing the burden with the North-western's Hachiyo, being the daughter of Kakuriyo's Minister of the Right. A holder of many positions and degrees and ranks, but nevertheless a single Tanuki girl. "A politically-motivated marriage cannot be helped. If I do it by myself, so many risks and significances can arise. Bunmon Tanuki, are scheming creatures. Because Tanuki are extremely weak, it's the only way to live this long." Kasuga pointed to her head and suppressed a laugh. "The Hachiyo of the 'Land of Bunmon' is the Institutional Director Baba-sama**, and in each land the Tanuki under her command are sent out to gather and collect information and intel. Wherever you go and whichever way how, the Land of Bunmon will never be at a disadvantage. For example, my dad. He steadily accumulated power and influence in the Imperial Court, and eventually became the Minister of the Right. And then there's Tenjin-ya's Chiaki. That is my father's younger brother, he may be my uncle but when he was employed back there, he was an outstanding investigator. Odanna-sama likely knows the Tanuki's circumstances, and he must have deliberately hired Chiaki, I think." "... uhm.. Tanuki's circumstances?" "And now, I am going towards the Northern Lands. How I'll do that, I only have my T/N: Baba-sama, basically Kasuga's granny is the Hachiyo as well as the Institutional Director aka the President of the Imperial University in Bunmon. I am still wrapping my head around this. Honestly I am still confused and doubtful as to why I am even translating this sh** when I'm still actually learning Nihongo honestly I hope my translation even make sense to you all srsly I have no idea what I'm doing lol but rly send help pls T_T P181 intent to do so and nothing else. With that, gradually, bit by bit, leaping into the innermost parts of each land, the steadily increasing influence of us Bunmon Tanuki have been exposed. .. And that, is the way of the Bunmon Tanuki.** "..." That was an incredible story. Also, it's a really frightening tale. But with that reasoning and explanation of the circumstances, I am just as clueless as before. I wonder if Kasuga is fine with that. "Kasuga, have you fully grasped what marriage is? It seems that your fate was to be born under a Hachiyo's household but selecting your marriage partner, can you be honest with that?" "...Aoi-chan?" "I am, in a way worried and troubled about Kasuga and what could happen. Is it possible, that, if Kasuga is being forced to get married, then I..." For me, that has always been the case. But Kasuga hid her face in her sleeve and stiffled a laugh. "Aoi-chan. Everyone's like Aoi-chan, but I'm a girl who does not go against my destiny." ".. what?" Kasuga's speech, her explanations allowed her thoughts to pass through, and in some way she sounds like an earnest adult. With that gaze, and voice, and words. T/N: LOL I wanted to translate this part as "And that, is how the Bunmon Tanuki do." Srsly it's the direct transliteration of the original text lol if you understood the reference, Hi-five y'all P182 "I think Aoi-chan guessed that wrong. I didn't say that I was reluctant to get married. Rather, I was only anticipating it. Kiyo, is not someone that I didn't know." Kiyo. For sure, that's the name of the new Hachiyo of the Northern Lands. "Kasuga, you know the person you're going to get married to?" "Yep, I know him well. Because he's my childhood friend." "Childhood friend?!" "The last time that we met, I was still a small Tanuki. That being said, he's my first love." "Whaaaat?" Kasuga placed her index finger onto her lips and said "It's a secret". That was a shocking revelation. Surely, she did say something about her first love when we had the girls' night-out. "That's amazing, Kasuga. You're going to get married to your first love." ".. hee hee. Well, somehow he might not like me..." Kasuga's foolish demeanor, is a bit self-deprecating. But soon after that, a shadow fell over her facial expression. "I did have worries, it was a painful thought...That I didn't not want to get married**. When I leave Tenjin-ya, I'll be very very sad." Until now her calm voice has been OK, but her voice has started to shake a bit. With a face that's almost into tears, Kasuga broke into a smile. Her expression, it's easy to see that she's trying to hide her flurry of emotions, T/N: I told you guys, there's inception raised to the nth power with the double triple quadruple negatives srsly I can't even rn O_o P183 but I was emotionally welling up with what I truly feel inside. I see. Kasuga wasn't against her marriage at all. She's surely marrying the Hachiyo of the North. And therefore... she won't be staying at Tenjin-ya any longer. "Thank you, Aoi-chan. You gave me delicious food to eat. Aoi-chan's cooking, not only strengthens the weak body, but also fills an Ayakashi from the inside." "Ka, Kasuga..." "Aoi-chan, you're awesome. You came from an overwhelmingly unfavorable condition, and now this is where you've come. It's by your own strength." "..." "As for me, what will I do? My only plan is getting married to a Hachiyo, I only have myself." Eventually, Kasuga went back to Odanna-sama's office, she has to return and continue their talk. It's Kasuga's courageous attitude. As for me, I couldn't comprehend the entirety of her complicated heart, I could only fill up her hungry stomach and nothing else.

It was in the middle of Yugao's business hours. "What's wrong, Aoi-chan? Your face seems out of it, and you only keep sighing." "Are you sighing because there's not many customers?" P184 "It's not that. But yeah, that too." It was our frequent customers Juujirou-ojisan and Tsubame-obasan, the Ayakashi couple who lives in Gintengai, and for today had their feast of the beef stew topped with fried egg. The two were locals who didn't stay at Tenjin-ya, but goes into the baths and later to Yugao to have their meals, once a week. "Yet I was surprised. It seems that the Hachiyo of the North has been changed. It's in the newspaper extra delivered to Gintengai. The Hachiyo looks extremely young, it's the hot topic among everyone." Juujirou-ojisan slowly pulled the newspaper out, and opened it in front of me. "Ah! Can I look at that for a bit?" "Oops" I hurriedly borrowed and opened Juujirou-ojisan's newspaper that he was reading, and I eagerly looked at the newspaper publication's colored photo. On the picture, wrapped in a pure white kimono, and holding a Buddhist ringed staff made of ice, was an ephemeral-looking young man. "This boy..." As expected, he was still young. With regards to Ayakashi he's probably older than me, but based on what they look like, he looks about 15 years old. It's probably because Ayakashi live very long lives, when one is said to be very young, then the Hachiyo is probably very young indeed. That boy was Kasuga's first love. P185 Also, he is Kasuga's prospective husband. He's.. He's a handsome youth... "Would it be alright if that boy becomes the Hachiyo? Kiyo-sama is sickly, it's said that he's practically always in the University Hospital in the Land of Bunmon." "It can't be helped. There aren't any other successors among the clan of Hyoujin, you know." Snow lady, snow man, icicle lady and other generic names were used for the members of the Hyoujin clan's Ayakashi. Among the entire group, O-ryo surely fits in well. But O-ryo looks like an adult, remarkably... The ties of that one clan is so strong, it's peculiar that when one becomes the Northern Land's Hachiyo, they have to come from the pedigree line of the Hyoujin Clan's head, but they couldn't gain the support of the entire populace. "The previous generations of the north were majestic, but the successors were raised to be lazy and always sick and bedridden. It's a good thing that a strife between the foolish heirs erupted, other than the youngest grandson Kiyo-sama, they should all just die." "You're believing those rumors again! I'm sorry Aoi-chan, there has been unsettling stories among our people." Tsubame-obasan slapped the drunk Juujirou-ojisan's behind, and after a bit has left the restaurant. I sent off these regular customers, and finally Yugao's business hours has ended. The newspaper that they left as it was, I worried about it from time to time.

End of Chapter 5, Volume 6. Previous - Intermission 2 Next - Chapter 6

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

#Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel english fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 5 #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 5 english translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel translation

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xadoheandterra · 4 years ago

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Series: Semblance Title: Patriciate Fandom: Jak and Daxter Chapters: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI Characters: Jak, Daxter, Samos, Keira, Kid!Jak, Ashelin, Torn, Tess Tags: Worldbuilding, Accidentally King of Haven!Jak, hurt/comfort, things go wrong, things get better, things get worse again, slow build, slow burn, slow to update, cross posted, fantasy racism, canon divergence, been meaning to share this here Summary: “It’s yours,” Jak said softly. “Keep it…remember where you come from. At least one of us should remember….”

If Jak knew the consequences of that one, selfish choice…well, he’d probably have made the same decision either way.

Bloodlines mean a lot to any Havenite, whether you were actually born in the city or not.

Jak let the sounds of the Naughty Ottsel wash over him. He kept his forehead down on the table surrounded by his arms, a glass of whatever Daxter grabbed for him from the bar in his hands. Occasionally his ears twitched as he registered a conversation from elsewhere in the bar, but for the most part he let his mind drift in a sort of laze reminiscent of his time on the beaches of Sandover. Here Jak remained simply Jak. Not King Jak. Not Jak of the House of Mar. Just simple, old Jak who happened to absorb dark eco like water and turn into a monstrous beast when angry.

Jak never felt more grateful that only a select number of people even know about the kid, let alone the kid and him being the same person almost thirteen years apart.

“You know the Commander is looking everywhere for you?”

Jak huffed. “Isn’t everyone?” he grumbled, morosely, but didn’t bother to look up at the young Underground soldier Daxter all but adopted. He could hear her laugh faintly at his misery, or possibly at the irony of the situation. Jak sighed and shifted until his chin rested on the table. He debated the merits of nudging the drink over to tilt against his lips; could he maintain the necessary balance or would he spill the precious mixture all over the table?

“No one knows you’re here, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” she said. From this angle Jak could see her chin nestled in the palm of her hand, and he had to fight down a rather violent flinch. He couldn’t stop his ears’ twitch back, even if he could contain his facial reaction.

Fire-bright, darkly amused stared down at him; a face nestled on a hand with a grin he’d begun to loathe, a twisted smile, pain—so much pain, so much fear, hatred—he couldn’t stop it. He tried. He tried.

She sighed, shifted, and turned her head away.

“Sorry.”

Observant, Jak grumbled internally. He let his head fall back against the table, if only to hide the sudden burst of shame that wanted to grace his features.

“I know I look like him.”

Jak snorted.

“You and a prick,” Jak mumbled.

“Ain’t that the truth?” she laughed self-depreciatingly, and Jak could hear her tug up the red scarf that almost all members of the Underground seemed to wear. He wondered, not for the first time, if it actually marked them or not.

Jak also wondered if the red scarf he wore—the one now tightly wrapped up like a hood over his hair, the one he’d worn for over two years now—meant to foreshadow his eventual membership into the organization. Such thoughts inevitably lead down the road towards questions of his own independence—were his thoughts actually his anymore?—so he quickly stomped them down.

Still, Jak huffed another sigh and shifted to peer only at his drink, she made for decent company—her uncanny resemblance or not. He just wished she were less observant.

“You never ask for my name, you know?” she murmured. By the sound of the way the cloth moved, Jak figured she shifted her head in the direction of Daxter’s voice. Jak figured by the rise and fall of a story told it came from somewhere over by the bar itself.

“You don’t seem to mind Dax’s nicknames,” Jak shrugged, “and you don’t offer it.”

She hummed, tucked her feet up—probably towards her chin. She stood taller than him—everyone stood taller than him except for Tess, Jak admitted grumpily—but with better proportioned limbs than Jak’s gangly own.

“I’ve not really had a nickname,” she said. “Not one I liked before.”

“Dax’s good at ‘em,” Jak murmured, then shifted his drink closer to his face.

“You’ll get your clothes soaked doing that.”

“So?”

“Do you want to ruin your lovely red hood?”

“Drat.”

Jak let his head slip back down again, let the noise wash over him. Even her, the sound of her breathing and heartbeat, of her voice, he found more soothing than the time at the palace. He wondered if he could just sleep behind the bar at night instead of the plush bed Ashelin all but ordered him to use.

“Think Tess would mind if I slept here from now on?” Jak asked.

“I think it’s more if Lady Praxis would mind, instead.”

“Ashelin can shove it,” Jak grumped, and then opened his mouth to continue on when his companion tapped the table with her nails. It stood for the unspoken warning signal that someone grew close to listening distance who wasn’t aware of Jak being more than simply Jak.

“Hi,” his companion chirped, and Jak’s ear twitched to the sound of feet that thumped and thunked in an even rhythm.

“Hello there, firecracker,” Sig’s deep baritone eased what little tension that drifted into Jak’s shoulders away, and prompted Jak to raise a hand in greeting. “Hello there, cherry. You drinking yourself into a stupor?”

“I wish,” Jak growled. He sighed and sat up, gaze stubbornly and morosely on his drink.

Gorgeous, firecracker—whatever nickname people used for her in the moment—shifted over so that Sig could sit down beside her. Jak glanced up, took in the weary features, and glanced back down with a frown. Sig looked worse than the last time Jak saw him. How long ago had that even been? He remembered Sig at the party, but after that? Jak sighed again. He sighed a lot lately.

“You look troubled, cherry,” Sig arched an eyebrow, and Jak shifted one shoulder up. His arm twisted slightly, his brow ticked down—without Daxter no one really noticed the full meaning in the motion. “Boring, huh?”

“Close,” Jak mumbled, “and yeah, kind of. Not a lot to do, I guess.”

“Not a lot you’re getting to do,” Firecracker pointed out, and Sig arched the other eyebrow. “Commander Torn has Jak on ‘hero leave’ for the time being.” She even did the finger quotes and eye roll that Daxter would at the words, even added the little sneer. Jak would’ve called it cute, once, except now after all this time he found someone mimicking Daxter a bit creepy.

“That what he calling it?” Sig questioned with a snort.

“That’s what Dax’s calling it,” Jak corrected faintly, picked up his drink, and took a sip. Tess wandered over, dropped Sig off his drink, and then wandered away with a smile and a wink. “Torn calls it needed rest.” Jak scowled. Ashelin called it getting caught up on all the shit Samos should’ve taught, Jak internally grumped. Like he even really wanted the lessons to begin with.

Precursors he was the King of Hell. Jak dropped his head back to the table with a faint whine.

“I just want to shoot things in peace,” he sounded like a whiny teenager, damn him, but he hated politics.

“I hear ya,” Sig nodded, tipped back his drink, and sighed. “What with this crazy traveling embargo Haven’s got up and running I can’t go salvage crap.” Sig glanced to Jak. “Your friend Ashelin tell you anything about that?”

Jak huffed. “I’ve had enough of Ashelin right now, Sig.”

“That bad?”

Jak scowled at his drink, sighed, and stood up.

“I’m going to go find Keira,” he mumbled, and started off. He only paused when Sig called out, “By the way like your new headpiece!” For a moment Jak thought Sig meant his hair, then he remembered his scarf and grinned.

“Trying something new,” Jak shot back, and slipped out the door of the Naughty Ottsel.

Keira peaked her head out from underneath the zoomer she worked on when Samos went quiet. She’d just begun to actually fall into a rhythm to the tone of his lecture, so the sudden stop felt almost jarring. The aged sage stood tiredly, a contemplative frown on his face, gaze off in the distance. Keira sighed, pulled herself completely out from under the zoomer, and wiped her hands down with a rag.

“Daddy?” she asked, a faint tilt to her head in curious worry.

“Hm? What?” Samos jerked around twisted around, the logs at his feet clacked noisily on the metal-and-stone ground of the garage. “Ah, Keira. Yes, where was I?”

“Daddy are you okay?” Keira questioned. She set the rag down on the bench and walked over toward Samos, hands snapped out to grab him by the elbow. “Maybe you should sit down?”

“Keira I’m fine,” Samos brushed her grasping fingers away with a harrumph. “There is merely a lot on my mind, so much to prepare…so much you need to know!”

“I’m not going to take up anything political for a few years, daddy,” Keira pointed out carefully. “Just because you and the rest of the Underground decided to…push Jak into this doesn’t mean I have to suddenly do everything either. I’ve got a good job here, a good thing going…and after everything that happened this city needs a good mechanic and some decent distractions.”

Samos sighed and didn’t resist as Keira moved him towards the couch set up on the other side of the mechanic pit. Kiera had the thing installed after the fourth time Jak popped up with the kid out of nowhere, intent on hiding from KG patrols. There was even a bowl for Krieg, the crocadog—although where the darn thing got off to Keira didn’t know.

“I know, Keira,” Samos said wearily, “I just don’t want you to be unprepared. I didn’t anticipate this outcome, and….”

“…now Jak is floundering,” Keira rolled her eyes. “Yeah, daddy, I’ve heard the story. Daxter won’t stop about how you should’ve told Jak something—even if it was just stories.”

“I tried…I did, Keira,” Samos shook his head. “That boy never listened. In one ear, out the other—if only he listened then none of this would be the way it is!”

Keira frowned. She’d heard Samos make the same arguments, and yeah she understood his concerns. As kids Jak, Daxter, and sometimes even herself were quite willful. Jak and Daxter always got into trouble, always into a mess or a location they should’ve been well away from—a part of Keira worried about them, too—but in the years in Haven they’d grown up. They were stronger, older, and world-wearier than Keira even expected to see.

“Daddy…” Keira said softly, and nibbled on her lip. “We’ve…put a lot on Jak’s shoulders.”

“He’s a strong boy,” Samos waved off her concerns. “He can handle it.”

“We put a whole city on his shoulders,” Kiera pointed out. “Sandover was one thing, saving the Sages was one thing, stopping the Acherons was one thing…it involved travel and danger and fear, but daddy? This is a city. This isn’t just the Sages, or the Acherons, or dealing with Lurkers. There’s so much to Haven and Jak…I think Jak needs a break.”

“He’s fine.”

Keira didn’t believe Jak to be fine. In fact he barely reminded her of the Jak she knew. Sure the zoomer races made her think of the times Jak helped her test the A-Grav, and the few times she saw Jak on the hoverboard—it was like Jak surfing on land instead of off the beaches of Sandover. There were little things, small snippets of the fourteen year old boy she knew, but the majority of Jak stood as a tightly wound ball that just waited to go off. Kiera didn’t like to admit it, but she feared Jak in a way now. She feared what Jak became, what had been done to Jak these years in Haven.

“Dax said he spent two years in the prison,” Keira whispered. “That he spent two years looking for Jak.”

“Probably did the boy a world of good,” Samos harrumphed. “A little solitude to think never hurt anyone!”

“Daddy…” Keira sighed. “I…don’t think that’s what prison was like for Jak.”

Erol never once mentioned Jak being in prison, back in the first year that she’d asked. In fact he seemed completely unaware of who Jak actually was, unlike during the races this past year. More times than Keira liked to admit Erol came into her garage, charm and wit in equal measure, just to ask her about the mysterious racer whose zoomer she worked on. Keira didn’t mind gushing to Erol—this was Jak, after all—and given Erol’s response at the time he obviously knew who Jak was.

“Be careful, Keira. Your friend is dangerous, more than you know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Samos waved aside her concerns.

“If you say so, daddy,” Keira mumbled, and not for the first time wondered how long Samos sat in the prison.

Jak never did tell her just where he found Samos, but given the haunted look in his eyes it wasn’t anywhere nice. Keira patted Samos hand, gave him a wane sort of smile, and shifted over to her zoomer.

“You go back to work, dear,” Samos sighed, “and I think I’ll head over to Main Town and the Palace District.”

“Oh?”

“I have to reintroduce myself to what remains of the sage lines,” Samos continued with a huff. “Now that they know what I did in my errant youth there is quite a lot to make up for. Not that what I did was wrong; dare I say half this city wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for the Underground!”

“If you say so,” Keira said offhandedly, and Samos hobbled his way out of the garage. Keira watched him go, lips pressed thin. She looked back to the zoomer, and then looked away. Too much noise in her head, too many thoughts and concerns. Too many memories.

“Keira, I mean it; be careful around Jak. He’s not the boy you knew.”

Keira closed her eyes.

“Neither were you,” she muttered to the memory, and stepped around the zoomer. Maybe tinkering with the precursor artifacts were a better idea. Zoomers, right now, had too many bitter memories.

Halfway towards the Stadium and Jak decided not to visit Keira’s instead. He turned his feet over toward Main Town, and from there toward the upper noble houses. He kept his walk toward the shadows and fingered the passes in his pocket. Over the year he’d gotten quite the collection going. Red, the original card he’d found, then green, and then yellow for the areas connected to the agricultural sectors. Once, somewhere in the middle of the year when his rage started to mellow into something a bit less uncontrolled, but still fairly feral, Jak was given a pass for the upper crust of Main Town.

Now Jak found himself in control of two, but then he never did mention the first pass to anyone but Dax. He picked out the two passes from his pocket and stared at them contemplatively. Vin, way back in the early days, actually manage to lock the passes together into a wallet and Jak meant to use it—he did—but he always seemed to forget about the thing somewhere. Ashelin gave him something similar after being named King—said he should keep it on him at all times. Jak stuffed it into the sock drawer back at the palace in disgust.

If a wallet Jak must use, then he’d use the one Vin gave him—wherever it might’ve gone. He trusted Vin over anyone else with matters of technology, if only because Vin made sure Jak could follow along. Sure a lot of what the older man said went right over his head for the most part, but the fast-paced speed talking always felt like a slice of home. The way his eyes virtually glowed when he finally took off his goggles, the way they swirled like liquid blue eco, felt familiar. It reminded Jak that eco saturated blood beyond dark eco still existed in the world. That there was more than just dark eco here if you knew where to look. It felt like a slice of heaven in hell.

A house, lopsided and more ‘old world’ compared to the metal walls set in square designs with neat and perfect gardens, loomed up ahead. It looked rickety, worn and well cared for, and still somewhat chaotic and stranger. Tubes, wires—electronic devices of some make or model that Jak couldn’t understand—poked out of holes and out of a couple of windows. The eclectic design felt reminiscent of the Blue Sage’s hut that Jak sometimes visited as a child.

Jak slipped out of the shadows and into the blinking lights of the house in front of him. He pushed open the gate, ignored the way it creaked and groaned, and slipped past the overgrown front lawn. The flowers were pretty, as were the weeds that had over taken it, and the few pieces of discarded technology that seemed to thrive with the overgrowth. Calmly Jak picked his way towards the front door, raised his hand, and waved with a sort of faint smile.

“Uhm, hi,” he said, and shifted nervously on his feet. “I’m…sorry I didn’t call ahead. I—” The door swung open before Jak could continue, and Jak closed his eyes. He took in a shuddering breath and stepped past the threshold. Behind him the door slid back shut, and when Jak looked up it was into the eclectic, electric eyes of the person he came to visit.

“Jak.”

Jak breathed out a heavy, shuddering breath. “Hi, Zoe,” he mumbled. “Sorry I haven’t called.”

Matriarch Zoe smiled softly, the drawn lines of her aged face gentle and caring even as she lightly brushed her fingers against the red of his scarf, as if to tuck invisible hair behind his ear.

“You came now, child,” she said carefully, “and that’s all that matters. That’s all he’d want.”

Jak nodded once.

“Tea?” Zoe asked. “I was making Vin’s favorite.”

“Yeah,” Jak muttered. “That’d be great.”

#fic: patriciate #fic: semblance #jak and daxter #accidentally king of haven #canon divergence #wip #fanfic

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saiilorstars · 5 years ago

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.21: Being the Azalea // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Female OC

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Belén continues to struggle controlling her powers, even making the decision to hold back on being the Azalea for a while. That all gets put to the test when 'the Trickster' makes an appearance.

{Previous chapters}

Barry stood in front of his usual board in the precinct lab, while Joe sat behind. "Alright, this is everything that we know about Harrison Wells." Much like the case of his mother, he pulled down a secret board down to reveal a brand new case - Dr. Well's - on there. "Which is actually not a lot."

Joe thought it ironic despite the problem at hand. "Didn't you read a whole book about him?"

"Yeah, 600 pages, and the big takeaway is, he's enigmatic."

"Your mom was killed by a speedster. Wells' machine turned you into a speedster. That's way too many coincidences for this old cop."

Barry shook his head, at a complete loss. "Do you think that he wanted me to become the Flash?"

Joe shrugged. "Everything he's done since that night you got struck by lightning... bringing you to STAR Labs, giving you the suit, training you... it's all been to keep you safe."

"And to make me faster. Wells once said that he needed more speed from me. Why?"

"I don't know. But he wants something from you, Barry. We just need to figure out what it is."

Barry was feeling like patience should just be damned. "Well, let's go get him then. Let's get some answers!"

Joe stood up and walked up to the board to take a closer look. "We can't do that now as much as we might want to."

"Joe, you had your suspicions about Wells from the very beginning. You thought that he might be the man in yellow."

"Except the blood from your house didn't match him," Joe reminded.

"Alright, so maybe he's not the Reverse-Flash, but you think that he knows what happened that night. He may have the key to getting my dad out of prison."

Joe sighed and looked away from the board."Whatever Wells wants from you, it started 15 years ago. He's been patient. Scary patient. You gotta listen to me on this. We have to be just as patient."

"Hello?" came the familiar chirpy voice. Barry immediately pulled down the board's common - public - paper just as Belén walked in. Despite his quickness, Belén detected she had walked in on a moment she wasn't invited to. "I should have waited downstairs…" she apologetically chuckled.

"No, no, it's fine," Joe gave Barry a look on how close it had been. For the moment, it was decided no one would know about their investigation on Wells. "I was leaving anyways."

"I don't quite believe that," Belén stopped by a table full of what she considered interesting science things.

In an attempt to steer the conversation away from anything dangerous, Joe casually asked, "You guys made plans?"

It had worked.

Belén nodded and turned to the detective. "Barry's buying me the drink he promised me so that I wouldn't come with him to see Snart."

Joe made a face and glanced at Barry. "You bought her off with drinks?"

"Don't get used to it," warned Belén. "I'm much more expensive - first time it's a pass."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. Joe said his goodbyes and left the two in the lab. "Ready to go?" Barry went for his jacket left on the chair by the computer.

"Mhm…" Belén discreetly looked around, hoping to find something of a clue of what was truly going on.

Barry turned back as he put his jacket on and of course noticed her behavior. "Something's wrong?"

"You tell me," she lightly sighed. "For the last couple of days you've been...distant." Barry immediately, almost instinctively looked anywhere else that wasn't her. "Like you don't want to tell me something. I don't know, maybe...maybe you're rethinking this whole dating thing-"

"No that's not it!"

Belén smirked. Tricking him into admitting that had been far too easy and he was supposed to be the scientist. "So there is something?"

Barry shook his head. He couldn't tell her anything, at least not now. He thought it was the best call. He just forgot the part where she was a reporter.

"Barry, you know you can tell me anything right?" Belén spoke earnestly, and softly.

Nodding his head, Barry assured her he knew of this. Nothing left to say meant it was time for the drinks. Once they were out on the street, Barry felt it was time to cut the silence he knew was meant to make him come clean. Unfortunately for Belén, when he did speak up it wasn't to confess.

"I was thinking maybe we should try your training again…"

Belén's eyes widened, at first surprised but soon the fear filled her eyes. "You know I've been struggling out in the field..."

"I know but I also know that you're fighting it," Barry stopped walking to face her. "And it's for that same reason that you owe yourself to train."

"I know you're right, I really do," Belén took his hands, needing to feel his warmth and support. "Everything you're saying is right but...it's just difficult to accept," she sighed.

"I get it, you're scared-"

"No you don't, Barry," she shook her head. "You're sweet, but you don't get it. You have your powers like this," she made a fist with one of her hands. "Mine are like this-" she released her fist and waved her hand above her face. "My powers are complex and they scare me. If I lose control in one part, I lose control with everything."

"That's not true-"

"Yes it is!"

"Okay so we know that's not going away until we train again," Barry kept himself calm despite Belén's growing agitation with him. She needed calmness, understanding, something he was more than capable of giving. "Let's just...try one session. One session, you and I, and we can take it slow. Sound good?"

Belén stared at him for a minute before sighing. "I...I guess..."

"You can kick my ass for free," he said, smiling when she laughed. While she laughed, he swooped down and stole a kiss from her. She looped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Words could not express how much better Barry made her feel at moments like these. She doubted words were ever going to be enough to describe it.

A loud explosion from a distance cut their moment short. As they pulled away from each other, a second explosion rocked the ground. They saw smoke billowing into the sky not too far from where they stood.

"Go, it'll be too long if I go get changed first," Belén urged him to go without her.

As the Flash he arrived at the city park to find a disturbing sight. Small gifts strapped to small parachutes were coming down to the park, exploding upon landing. Now everyone was running away with their children but Barry spotted one particular blonde boy that was still anxiously awaiting to grab one more falling gift. Barry sped over and snatched the kid in time, returning him to his father who'd been looking for him.

Not long after that, the culprit happily revealed himself through a video that went online fast. A young man dressed like a modern jester in class black and white leather declared himself the Trickster. "Tricked ya. Look who's back. My tricks. My treat. But I'll give you something good to eat. Today's special. A city in ashes. The Trickster proudly welcomes you all to the new disorder."

In the cortex, Cisco paused the video once it was finished and scowled. "Talking in the third person. That's never a good sign."

Caitlin threw him an amused smile. "You're just mad because he named himself."

"Actually, he didn't," Joe turned around, having been watching the video as well. "20 years ago, Central City was hit by a series of terrorist attacks. One man killed at least ten civilians, two cops. That guy called himself The Trickster."

"So he's a copycat?" Belén tilted her head but soon was captured by the news Cisco had found online about the original Trickster.

"Whoa. Someone was rocking the unitard," Cisco did his best not to laugh knowing the situation was serious.

"James Jesse?" Belén read part of the headline.

"Like Jesse James, only more twisted," Joe briefly explained.

"Where is this Mr. Jesse now?" Wells inquired.

"He's serving several life sentences at Iron Heights. He was just about the most dangerous thing Central City had ever seen."

"You mean until the Particle Accelerator blew up," Barry corrected, and rather coldly that someone had noticed.

"Um... Barry and I will go see this James Jesse at Iron Heights, see if he can give us something that can help us catch his groupie," Joe announced, instigating the rest to get to work.

"I'll analyze the video and see if I can figure out the source," Cisco straightened up and started on the computer.

"I'm heading to work too," Belén began getting out of her chair. "The news is hot today so...they'll be needing me."

"C'mon," Barry walked towards her, "We'll give you a lift." He didn't wait for her to openly agree. He took her hand and almost pulled her out of the room.

"Hey, Joe. Is Barry doing all right?" inquired Wells. "He seems cranky."

Joe tried playing it off as casualness, "Even The Flash wakes up on the wrong side of the bed some mornings. He's fine."

If he the same speed powers as Barry, he would've used them there and then.

~0~

CC Picture News was up and alive with the newest criminal town as Belén had said. She entered the building and had to dodge several of her co-workers before they crashed into her. When she reached her desk she plopped down with a heavy sigh of relief she made it without spills of any kind. Just as she was putting down her purse, Noah came up to the desk.

"Belén, did you hear about the new criminal?"

Scoffing - politely - Belén put her elbows on her desk, chin on her hands. "I think everyone's heard about him."

"He's calling himself the Trickster," it didn't appear like Noah had paid attention. He moved around the desk to be side-to-side with her, laying out a couple of papers he had brought with him.

"Is he now?" Belén tried her best to sound in the dark about the situation.

"Yeah, and the crazier thing is there was another guy - like twenty years ago - with the same name," Noah shuffled through the papers to find the very article that Cisco had pulled up earlier about James Jesse. He handed it to Belén for her to read. "So I was thinking that maybe it was connected some way."

Belén raised an eyebrow, genuinely bemused by him. "What are you? A reporter or a detective?"

"Don't those two kind of the same thing?" Noah smirked and shared a small laugh with her. "This guy - the new Trickster - is doing similar attacks as James Jessee did. Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a fan?" Belén tried the easiest answer she could.

"Obvious answers, Belén," Noah sarcastically looked at her. "Or maybe there's something deeper in there."

"But what?"

"That's what we need to find out," Noah declared, much to her further bemusement. "I asked Iris if she wanted to get in on the article but she's too immersed in Mason's disappearance."

"Right," Belén glanced over her shoulder to see Iris working at her desk, very quietly too. "There's been nothing on him yet?"

"Nothing," Noah was beginning to clear off his papers from her desk. "Boss has tried calling him and everything, but there's no response."

"It's weird," Belén leaned back on her chair, thinking about her annoying co-worker who, she did admit, she kind of missed. It had been a week since Mason mysteriously disappeared without a trace. And while on the first couple of days Belén joked and considered it their break from him, it was becoming a bit of a worry for her.

~ 0 ~

After a wild goose chase trying to find the newest Trickster, Barry and Joe returned to STAR Labs. They'd seen the newest video the young Trickster posted, all of which was just another warning for the city.

"Whoever this Trickster is, he's certainly not shy," Joe remarked after watching the video.

"Well, not every criminal likes to hide in the dark," Barry snidely commented, much to Joe's irritation. He'd been trying to get Barry to keep those types of comments to himself until they knew something concrete about Wells, but apparently it was too difficult for Barry.

"Cisco, can you trace where the video was posted from?" he asked Cisco, hoping for the conversation to keep moving and that Barry would no longer talk.

"I tried, but this guy is using some crazy Felicity-caliber scrambler like I've never seen. The origin of the upload's coming from hundreds of different locations. Until he uploads another video, it's gonna be tough."

"This psychopath has the capability to destroy the city," Barry frowned.

Cisco liked being optimistic and clarified, "Hey, I said tough, not impossible."

"Barry, we'll catch him," Caitlin tried to resassure, like the others sensing something was off with him.

"We always do. Mr. Allen, a word please?" asked Wells. He led Barry into one of the side rooms again, the training room, where they could talk freely. "I know what's going on with you. I know what you're thinking."

Barry found it incredibly hard not to make the face he was making right now, as Wells had his back to him. "Do you?"

"I know going up to Iron Heights prison and conversing with Mr. Jesse has brought about feelings of your father. How could it not?"

Barry forced himself to go with it and sighed. "Yeah, no, it's, uh, it's been really tough knowing that my mom's killer is still out there."

"Of course. But we'll find him, together. You have my word."

Barry wondered what fat good that was but on the outside politely said, "Thank you."

"For now, how about we focus on finding this Trickster before anybody else gets hurt?"

Silently, Barry gave a nod and forced himself to go at a normal pace outside the room. Right now, he just couldn't stand being near Dr. Wells.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, Bells?" Iris quietly approached Belén by the printer.

Belén pressed the printing button and glanced at her friend, immediately noticing the timid demeanor in Iris. "Hey girl, what's up?" Iris opened her mouth to say what she wanted but at the last moment closed it and plastered a little, fake smile. "Iris?" Belén tilted her head, gesturing her to say what she needed to.

Sighing, Iris took a discreet look around in case anyone would hear. When she spoke, it was still quiet. "Have you heard anything about Mason?"

"No, I'm just as lost as you are," Belén shrugged, glancing to see if her papers were printing out correctly.

"Yeah, well, I talked to Eddie about it at the CCPD but he's got a load of work because of that Trickster guy so Mason's case would be last priority," Iris then bit her lip while nervously smiling.

"I feel like there's a favor to be asked," Belén said after seeing Iris' face.

Iris stepped a little closer and spoke even quieter, a faint whisper merely. "Do you think you could ask the Flash and the Azalea to look into it?"

"I-I'm sorry?" Belén was caught off guard by this question that she nearly dropped her papers she'd been picking up from the printer.

"I know it's a humongous favor and I will owe you big time but I'm just really worried here," Iris tried her best to sound reasonable. "When Mason is on a story, nothing is getting in his way. I mean, he considers threats minor annoyances."

"I know that," Belén nodded her head, "But...to ask the Flash and the Azalea? I don't...I don't know…"

"It's the best idea considering where the police's attention is at the moment."

"I don't know...I mean, I don't know how to contact them," Belén tried to say but Iris gave her a 'really' expression that shut down that excuse.

"The Flash personally came to give you the story of the week - for sure he'll come if you ask. C'mon, Bells. Look if you don't wanna go then I guess I can just go back on my old blog and see if one of them answers-"

"No!" Belén said far too fast. At Iris' bemused face she tried correcting it in some way. "I mean, I guess I can look into it." She would prefer to keep this call on the down-low. The last thing they needed was for Iris to put herself in danger using that old blog of hers.

Iris' expression flipped like a switch after hearing that. "So then you'll do it!?"

Now Belén was caught back because she knew that was basically what she had said. "Well, um...I mean...I guess...I can give...one a call..?"

"You're such a good friend!" Iris threw her arms around Belén, giving her a ridiculous excited hug which made Belén laugh in the end.

~ 0 ~

"We have got a problem," Belén walked into STAR Labs later that day, surely enough finding Barry, Caitlin and Cisco there.

"You know-" Cisco turned on his chair to face her direction, "-most people say 'good afternoon'."

Belén rolled her eyes and plopped her bag over his lap, continuing her conversation. "Iris just asked me to get in contact with the Flash and the Azalea."

"Really?" Caitlin spoke before Barry could. "She hasn't done that in a long time. I actually thought she forgot about it completely."

"Yeah well, with Mason's disappearance she's up and active again," Belén sighed and now looked at Barry. "I don't know what to do but at that moment I had to tell her okay. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, I know how Iris can get sometimes," Barry walked over and gave her a hug.

"I'm still sorry, I should have told her I would think about it so I could come talk to you about it," she looked up at him. "But my big mouth said I'd call you and I guess me."

"She's not gonna give up until one of us goes," Barry said, thinking about the possible ways this could go.

"So who goes?" asked Cisco curiously.

"Barry," Belén instantly said, earning herself a wide-eyed response from the man. "Can we get a moment guys?" she looked at the other two. "Just a minute, I promise."

"Sure," Caitlin got up first and motioned Cisco to follow her out.

Now Barry didn't need to think twice to know what Belén was going to tell him. And while it was frustrating to go through this again, he understood she was just scared to use her powers around Iris. "You don't want to go see Iris as the Azalea because you're scared you'll lose control, right?"

"That-" Belén pointed at him, "-is why I like you. You're incredibly smart."

Her forced smile didn't fool him. Swaying his head, he came up with an alternative way to approach the same subject. "Or, we could both go and I could keep an eye on you…"

"I wouldn't be comfortable," Belén quietly objected. Her expression wasn't one that was ready to argue the hell out of it. She had decided it already, and was just waiting for him to get on board with the idea.

"First you're scared of training and now you wanna pull back on your time being the Azalea? Bells, c'mon!"

"I don't know what I want to do, Barry, to be honest," Belén admitted for the first time. "I became the Azalea to find my brother but...now my brother's evil so what does it really matter if I stop being the Azalea?"

"Hey it matters," Barry was looking at her incredulously. "Because when you came to Central City wearing that mask you made a commitment to the people. And Bells, the people love you," Belén scoffed, "They do. You've become a part of the city and nobody wants to see her go."

Belén stared hard at the floor, truly thinking about his words and the meaning he put into them. Seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her from behind, actually making her think he gave a mean hug. "Can you just please go for tonight?" she whispered, tilting her head to look at him. "And then...we can continue discussing...I promise."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," Barry said, although making it a conditional 'okay'. "What's the story?"

"Um…" Belén thought about it for a moment, "...I gave you a call?"

Barry laughed. "So you're just casually going to let it out that you have the Flash's number?"

"Fine - e-mail," Belén shrugged and turned around. "WhatsApp?"

"Now you're just playing with me!"

Belén nodded her head, chuckling. "Maybe a little," she admitted and draped her arms over his shoulders for another hug. "But we better get our stories straight because Iris West is no fool."

"No she is not," agreed Barry and both laughed again.

~ 0 ~

Needless to say that when Iris got a call from Belén telling her it was all set up, the reporter was up and thanking Belén up to who knew what Gods. It was so nice to hear someone happy that Belén didn't mind Iris picking the place for their meeting.

"You still have a key to this place?" Belén was cautious as they both walked into the closed Jitters' in the night.

Iris smiled deviously to herself as she closed the door behind them. "They don't quite know I still have it."

"Shouldn't you - I don't know - give it back to them?" The response Belén got was a loud laughter. "Okay, so, um...I don't suppose there's still coffee behind there?" Belén leaned towards the counter in case there was a random pot of coffee she knew was probably not going to be there.

At that moment, Barry sped in through the back door of the place and was careful to stay in the shadows. Iris was stunned to see him again, and while Belén walked away from the counter, the other reporter tried gathering her words so she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Mind my asking but why are we meeting here?" Barry genuinely asked them both while taking a look at the place.

"Ask my friend," Belén replied, chuckling.

"I still have a key," shrugged Iris, although her attempted casual demeanor was not going so well.

"So what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Iris has a problem…" Belén trailed off and glanced back at Iris who'd stayed a bit behind.

"U-um, my coworker, Mason Bridge is missing," Iris remembered the severity of her problem and got over her nervousness. "He's not at home. He's not answering his phone. I mean, it's not like him. I am really worried that something bad has happened."

"Truthfully so am I," admitted Belén after a moment, "I mean, yeah Mason was a bit of a prick but...his job was everything to him. He wouldn't leave it like that."

"I'm...sure he's fine," Barry tried sounding convincing but the look he was getting from Belén told him he was failing. Even in darkness her eyes were burning on him.

And now that he was avoiding her look, Belén detected there was something he wasn't telling her. Without thinking, she stepped towards him, closer, much to Iris' curiosity. "I know Mason - longer than Iris, and definitely more than you - and I know that he wouldn't do something like this.''

"Maybe he's-"

Belén sighed when she saw him going in another excuse attempt. "Will you look into it? ...for me?"

Even if he could show his face at her at that moment Barry knew he probably wouldn't. Those pleading eyes of her was stronger than she knew, and it was already a part of him - a part of the Flash - to help Belén Palayta. Of course he would do it for her.

"For you, anything," he responded in a soft voice.

Belén smiled at him. She couldn't help but remember their first meetings like this, where she hadn't known who he was, and the feelings that perhaps were there at the time. All those reprimands and denying with Nina made her laugh inside. If only she had known then where she would be now.

"Heads up," Cisco's voice in the suit's earpod startled Barry. "Trickster's broadcasting again."

Barry looked past Belén to Iris, the latter now with an unreadable face. "Can I borrow your laptop?"

Iris blinked away her stupor and nodded. "Um, sure. Help…" but Barry sped over in half a second to get her laptop. By the time Iris turned around he was already working at it. "...yourself…"

Belén hurriedly crossed the room to get a closer look at the screen. It was the young Trickster again, making a new recording. This time he stood in front of a wooden box with a drawn picture of a cartoon bomb.

"Get ready for the games to begin! I have...a bomb. It's a big bomb. It'll make a big bang and then a big hole and then a big drop in the pop-ulation. But never say The Trickster is not fair. The bomb is somewhere between 52nd Street and Avenue B."

"Oh my God," Iris covered her mouth in disgust at the new trick on them.

Belén wasn't surprised, much like Barry. He got up quickly and turned to her, both silently agreeing he should he going while she stayed with Iris.

"Be careful okay?" He couldn't leave without saying first.

She nodded her head, slightly smiling. "Of course. But you too."

With a smile of his own, Barry sped out of the building. Belén moved to the computer, barely closing its lid when Iris blurted, "Oh my God! He likes you!"

"What?" Belén tried keeping her widened eyes out of sight while picking up Iris' laptop from the table.

"The Flash - he likes you! Oh my God, that's why he kept coming to you with all the stories," Iris walked straight up to her, wearing a cross of amusement and surprise on her face. "Belén, what he did - all he did - was for you. He so likes you."

The laugh that came out of Belén was not one that clearly defended her proclaimed innocence. "Iris, you're just confused."

"Oh no I am not! I was watching you two, and it was...it was like I was intruding on some private meeting," she looked to the side, "Can you imagine what Barry would feel like if he knew this?"

Belén fought the urge to respond with the truth. She didn't want Iris thinking there was some kind of cheating going on. Because if that was the case then she would tell Iris everything right there.

"You gotta be careful, Belén," Iris continued, taking her laptop back. "I mean, he does know you're going out with someone right?"

A quirky smile spread across Belén's face. "Oh, he knows alright. Trust me."

"Good," Iris nodded.

"You're putting way too much thought into this," Belén laughed and made way for the door.

"I can't believe you hadn't noticed!" Iris went after her, still very much in shock. "The frikin Flash likes you! How does that feel!? To have the city's hero's heart?"

Belén shook her head, holding the door for Iris, while trying not to laugh again. "You're exaggerating. Have I mentioned you're crazy too?"

"No I am not!" Iris exclaimed, and she didn't give up on the topic as they headed home.

~0~

Like the police, Barry was doing his best to find the bomb before it went off. Speeding through, he went through every last building and corner through the streets the young Trickster had covered. At the end, he stopped for a moment to get in contact with the others.

"Guys, I can't find it. I need your help!"

"There's nothing on traffic cams or CCTV," Caitlin reported after an intensive search.

Cisco agreed. "I re-tasked the STAR Labs satellite to scan the area for incendiary devices. A bomb that large should be giving off some kind of thermal or chemical signature."

"Well, then why can't you find it?" Barry asked, rather impatient and frantic.

And then it clicked. "Because it's a trick. The bomb's not there," informed Wells.

"No, it has to be. I'm gonna keep looking."

Wells shook his head. "That is what he wants, for you and the police to keep running around in circles. There is something else going on, Barry. I can feel it. Now, trust me."

Barry thought about it for a short second and decided he really couldn't trust Wells anymore. "I'm gonna keep looking," he declared instead and continued to speed through the streets.

"Barry?" called Wells but the metahuman didn't answer anymore.

Cisco, confused like Caitlin, glanced at Wells. "Why doesn't he just listen to you?"

Barry continued ignoring the others as he went in search of the bomb. He eventually came across an old basement in one of the buildings that contained the familiar box.

"I found it!" He exclaimed and opened up the box. Unfortunately, he found the words 'Tricked you' on the lid inside, and he realized that the box was empty.

It was then that Cisco got a ping from the Iron Heights prison. Looking into it, he discovered it was far worse than usual.

"There's an explosion at Iron Heights!"

Well tried not to sound a know it all but he had been correct. "This was all a diversion. The prison was the real target. James Jesse. I guess he's tricked us all."

Hearing this, Barry quit the basement and got in contact with Joe through the earpod.

"Joe, there's no bomb in this city. It was a diversion so The Trickster could help James Jesse escape."

"I know," responded Joe, sounding grim. "We just got surveillance footage from Iron Heights. Jesse got away. Barry, look, they took a hostage."

Barry frowned, feeling even worse then. If he had listened earlier he would've been there. "Well, who did he take? A guard? The warden?"

"No. Your dad."

~0~

Night had turned into morning, and while everyone at STAR Labs and the CCPD worked long and hard, they were only able to solve one thing.

"We were able to identify the other Trickster," Joe told the rest of the team. "His name's Axel Walker, age 25. Apparently him and James have been corresponding through snail mail for over a decade."

"I should have been there," Barry kept repeating ever since he had entered the cortex. He was beyond furious...and beyond terrified.

"We're gonna find your dad, okay?" Caitlin assured, although she didn't know how her words would go on him.

Barry ignored them as he got up from his chair. "I guess I should have listened to you," he sourly aimed at Wells then left the place in a stalk.

No one blamed Barry for his mood, it was perfectly understandable. Still, there were decisions they didn't quite agree with but didn't voice it. And a while later, one of those decisions walked in.

"Please tell me we have more news on these maniac," Belén walked in holding a cup of Jitters coffee in one hand. As she drank, she noticed the uneasy glances the group was sharing. "What is it?"

"We wanted to call you…" Cisco resorted to an explanation she probably did deserve, "...but Barry said no…"

"To tell me what?" Belén frowned, lowering her coffee and bag.

"Last night we figured out the bomb was a diversion...and James Jesse escaped," Caitlin slowly explained, glancing at the others just to make sure they were all on board.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something worse?" Belén spoke her intuition she now felt at the pit of her stomach.

"He took a hostage with him," Joe said, and like a bandage he ripped it off with the truth. "It was Barry's dad."

Belén's eyes widened till they couldn't. The first few seconds displayed shock but then came the inevitable irritation from not being told right away. "How could nobody have told me about this!? It's mighty important!"

"Barry decided to hold it off for the night," Dr. Wells explained, not that it mattered for Belén was rightly angry now.

"Well, I'm gonna go tell him why that was wrong," she declared, hastily setting her things down at the desk. "Where the hell is he!?"

"You know, maybe it's not the best time…" Cisco began but was promptly silenced with a glare. "He's down in the pipeline,."

With a huff, Belén turned and marched out of the room. Everyone else turned on Cisco with disapproving looks for his easy answers.

"She scares me," Cisco said like it should've been a reasonable excuse.

~ 0 ~

The plan was to scold Barry for his stupid decision and then, ultimately, try and comfort him during the hard time Belén was sure he was going through. But then she found him in the pipeline sitting on the floor alone. She silently walked towards him, feeling her initial annoyance fading the more she looked at him. By the time she reached him, the idea of scolding him had been thrown out the window.

"Hey," she greeted softly, taking a seat on her knees right beside him.

He didn't seem surprised she was visiting him, but he did look nervous. "You know…?"

"Oh that you decided not to tell me your father had been kidnapped last night because in your deluded mind it was much better for me to be in the dark?"

He draped his arms over his knees he'd pulled up and leaned his head on them. "I just...thought you deserved to sleep well for tonight."

"While I appreciate that, I would much rather prefer to be in the know of what's happening in my boyfriend's life. Especially when it concerns his father's life."

"Are you mad?" Barry asked, truthfully a little worried he would now have to worry about that.

"I was annoyed," Belén rolled her eyes. "But I'm letting it slide because you're cute and you have a lot on your plate today."

"I am sorry though," he raised his head but couldn't afford to look at her at the moment. He felt all the fear inside mixing with anger and yet another layer of fear.

"It's okay," Belén rubbed his arm and scooted closer to him. "How are you?"

Barry truly did consider words to voice his feelings but...it became difficult to find the right words that would express them. "I don't...I don't know if my dad's still alive," came out of his mouth. He hadn't realized that his eyes were becoming teary.

"Of course he is," Belén quickly said. "James took your father as proper leverage and that only works as long as he's alive." A couple seconds later she wondered if those had been truly the best words she could come up with. "Plus," she then added, trying lift up the mood, "everyone upstairs is looking to find him."

That was supposed to reassure Barry but now all he thought of was the fact that the person who may have murdered his mother was now dealing with his father's fate. He closed his eyes, releasing a tiny, shaky sigh through his lips.

"I can't...I can't do this…" he struggled.

Belén took that as still regarding his father's situation and three her arms over him, forming a side hug. "We're gonna find him, I promise you. I will go out there as the Azalea if I have to but your dad is coming back. I swear." She planted a kiss on his cheek with a bright smile just for him.

Feeling her touch made him smile. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. Belén saw sad, teary eyes before her and wanted nothing more than to make the pain go away. If roles were reversed, she was sure Barry would think the same way for her. She had so much she wanted to give to him - she wanted to see him happy - and she knew how she would start.

Leaning forwards, she pressed a short kiss to his lips. When she pulled away she sported a tint of pink on her cheeks, but a smile nonetheless was on her face. In that moment Barry had never felt so grateful to have something good - particularly this good - in his life. He reached with one hand to brush his fingers across her cheeks. Without warning, he shifted a bit on his side and kissed her again. While it had been a surprise for her, Belén fell into the moment and let it continue for as long as they could. If only breathing hadn't been an issue.

With a bright red face, Belén smiled sheepishly. "I think...you are definitely my best boyfriend."

Barry made a bemused face at her. "Really?"

"Definitely best kisser," she nodded, chuckling when she practically saw his ego swell.

"Well…" he began, making her laugh even more.

"Okay, I take that comment back," she said when she could talk without laughing. After a short minute she sobered up and took his nearest hand. "Look, no matter what, you are not alone in this. I am here, right beside you."

"Thank you, Bells," Barry said, interlacing his fingers with hers.

"I'm gonna go call work and tell them I can't do tonight's event so that I can stay here," Belén announced, already making a move to get up when Barry protested and pulled her down.

"What event?"

Belén rolled her eyes. "It's not important. The mayor's having a fundraiser and they wanted me, Noah and Iris to visit to get some info."

"That sounds important…"

"It's really not…"

"I don't want you to get into trouble because of me, okay? Please, just go to your event-"

Belén was already shaking her head in refusal. "I'm not leaving you."

"It really would make me feel better knowing you are doing your job that I know is important to you," Barry covered their interlocked hands with his other one. Belén seemed might unsure of this idea but Barry was persistent. "I promise if anything happens I'll call you."

"Barry…"

"I will speed you there myself if I have to," he resorted to warnings, much to her amusement.

"You don't even know where it is!"

"Power of Google, my dear, it's very helpful."

Belén sighed in resignation. "Fine. But there goes me trying to be a good girlfriend by sticking with you when you need me."

Barry scoffed. "What are you talking about? I think you are my best girlfriend that I've ever had."

A small giggle escaped through Belén's lips as she remarked, "You've only had two girlfriends before me, Barry, so I don't think it really counts."

Barry frowned. "No more hanging out with Iris."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and got up, pulling him with her. "You let me know if anything happens okay? No matter what."

"I promise," Barry truthfully returned. Satisfied with his response, she gave him a quick - but meaningful - hug then hurried out.

Watching her go, Barry realized he had felt a little better after her visit. She just had that power on him.

~ 0 ~

In a nice pink, laced dress Belén attended the public mayor's fundraising along with Iris and Noah. The three walked up to the check in table where they showed their work identifications to the check-in people.

"You sure you're okay?" Iris asked her after they had left the check-in table.

"No, but I'm here anyways," Belén responded with nothing but the truth.

"Barry told you it was fine," Iris reminded, accepting a glass of champagne from a young man on the way. "This is your work, after all, and you don't play with it."

"Champagne, miss?" an older waiter man stopped beside with a tray of champagne glasses.

"Thanks," in her distraction she didn't see just who was the waiter offering her the drink. She took the glass and right away took a sip.

Noah took second glass and did the same thing. "Relax, Belén," he distractedly said, not really caring what was going on.

Iris walked over to the mayor she spotted near the platform and began a conversation. Noah remained beside Belén watching the procession, but discreetly noticed her constantly checking her phone. He was sure it had to do something with the Flash considering they still had the runaway prisoner, and more so considering they'd taken her boyfriend's father as a hostage.

Then it hit. An idea.

"You know Belén, this is sort of relating back to my initial thoughts about these metahumans," he began, turning to her. This time she didn't appear angry nor irritated at the least by his comment. "It's bad news - the lot of them. Look what they did to your boyfriend's father."

"Technically, James Jesse is not a metahuman," Belén corrected, still moaning a suave attitude. "He's a regular crazy criminal."

"But he's got the Flash after him and because of it he took some poor man to threaten him with."

"This isn't the Flash's fault, Noah. It was...an unfortunate event. And I am sure he is out there looking for Henry Allen."

"They're bad news, and they need to be eliminated at their core."

Now this struck Belén oddly, especially the determination in Noah's voice. She lowered her glass and looked to the side, considering what all this meant. "You mean...like...eliminate the leader? Who would that be exactly?" she chuckled then, shaking her head. "You better not think it's the Flash because that's ridiculous."

"Of course not," Noah responded, well aware he was letting more loose than he wanted. "But he's part of it. He's in league with them."

Belén really struggled not to sound so bias but it was difficult knowing how wrong Noah was. "And in your mind who the hell runs the strings with the metahumans?"

"STAR Labs," Noah wasn't afraid to answer. He looked Belén dead in the eyes, despite her mixture of emotions at the moment, and explained more. "Dr. Wells is responsible for all the metahumans in the first place, as well as all the causalities that followed. Everyone who works there is also at fault for creating the particle accelerator."

Surprise was gone, as well as confusion. All that filled Belén at that moment was nothing but anger. "I'm going to remind you that my boyfriend was saved by those people-"

"-because of guilt," Noah snapped, unable to keep his own biases away. "Need I remind you that it was because this stupid accelerator was created my mother - my last parent - died? Belén, even your own father was killed by a metahuman!"

"That had nothing to do with Wells nor STAR Labs!" Belén pointed out, her voice rising so that others were beginning to look at them. "Metahumans think for their selves - their thoughts are not run by STAR Labs. And the fact you think all this is possible really shows me the kind of person you are."

"Oh, really?" scoffed Noah.

"Yes, really," mimicked Belén. "You're not the type of friend I want to have nor work with." Giving him a narrowed look, she walked away before things escalated more.

"Hey-" Iris stopped her near the platform, one hand on Belén's arm, "-what was that all about?" she discreetly nodded towards Noah who'd remained far in the back.

"He's an idiot, that's what," Belén angrily rolled her eyes.

"What he do?" Iris asked in concern, truthfully rarely seeing her friend so worked up about something unless it was important.

"I'd rather not waste my breath on him," Belén answered and plastered a little smile to get by.

At that moment, someone took the stage and the podium. "Welcome, welcome," began the elder man - a James Jesse - who seemed delighted with the turn out of his plans, "Centrla City's finest. How about a toast to Mayor Anthony Bellows? He doesn't just yell at his staff, he bellows!" But hardly anyone in the crowd laughed to his joke. Belén squinted her eyes at the properly dressed waiter, trying to figure out who he was. "You see what I did there with the wordplay and the...tough crowd."

The Mayor had hastily made his way up to the stage to see it all stopped. "Excuse me," he said to James after placing a hand on the microphone, "Who are you?"

"How quickly they forget," James mumbled to his partner - and apparent son - Axel who stood beside him now. He cleared his throat, getting ready to make the presentation of his life. "James Jesse, your honor, aka-" he ruffled his hair and smirked as he faced the crowd, "-The Trickster. And I'm here to relieve you fine people from all your money. Because we know if you're in this room, you've got loads of it."

"Oh no," Belén's eyes widened.

"What makes you think that anyone in this room would give you a cent?" the Mayor seemed to want to laugh at what he thought was an utter hoax.

"Because that champagne they just slurped down like so much fruit punch... I added a little something special to it," James said to the crowd, and everyone began suspiciously looking at their glasses. "Trimethylmercury 32. Poison. Without the antidote, you'll begin to feel the effects in about, oh, um... One hour."

A couple seconds later one man started coughing loudly, and in his stumbles he came forwards to reveal he had some sort of foam slipping through his mouth.

"I remember you," James pointed at him with a widened smile. "You got to the party about an hour early. I offered you the very first glass of champagne."

The man continued to cough until the foam covered his throat. He collapsed on the ground dead minutes later.

James chuckled along with Axel. "An hour is plenty of time for all of you to call your bankers and transfer everything you have to the account number on the bottom of your glass," he gestured to the crowd to get started. "Once my young friend and I are rich, you'll get the antidote. If any of you decide to call 911 instead, well, then we switch to lead poisoning." As a show, he pulled out a gun and raised high in the air to issue the start of the blackmail.

"We'll see about that," Belén mumbled and pulled Iris towards the middle of the crowd where they would hopefully blend in.

"What are you doing!?" Iris whispered-yelled at her when she saw Belén pulling her phone out.

"Shhh," Belén put a finger on her lips as she hit a number. She shifted Iris so that both faced the front and Belén left her phone between them while Jesse continued to talk.

~ 0 ~

"Anything?" Joe asked the three STAR Labs employees who did, truthfully, worked at fast paced on the computers.

"I'm scanning all the traffic cams in the city. I got nothing," Cisco took a moment to look at Joe but quickly got back to the computer.

Barry was at the threshold of the cortex listening to everyone yet not really listening at the same time. The only reason he snapped out of his trance was because he felt his phone vibrating in his jean's pocket. He pulled it out to see Belén's name and answered it.

"Bells?" he answered but received a some indistinct talking from the other side. As he paid more attention, he realized he knew one of the voices that was speaking over everyone else's. "Guys?" he quickly leaned off the threshold and rushed for the desk. "It's Belén's phone but listen…"

Putting his phone on speaker they all heard James Jesse on the other line.

'How many of you feel the Trimethyline 32 coursing through your veins, hmm?'

"That's him. That's Jesse," Barry urgently said, realizing Belén was somehow with him and more people.

"Cisco, can you ping her phone?" Joe immediately asked.

"Just find out where the mayor's having a fundraiser," Barry said to Cisco. "She, Iris and Noah are there for their jobs."

"Iris is there!?" Joe nearly lost it.

"I'm on it," Cisco quickly searched for the location.

Meanwhile, Caitlin had been searching for the strange name James had mentioned and came to some bad results. "Trimethylmercury 32 is a relatively fast-acting poison."

"Is there a cure?" Barry panicked.

"Yes," Wells assured. "Yes. We can start synthesizing the antidote right now."

"Hurry - Belén is there and she's...not exactly herself," Barry left it at that for the moment. He knew why she had called him in the first place. She didn't feel confident enough to come out as the Azalea. She needed him. And he was going to help her.

~ 0 ~

Belén had long stuffed her phone inside her bag and kept Iris close to her while everyone called for their bank accounts to be drained. She couldn't find Noah anywhere though. Despite their argument she didn't want him to get hurt.

"I don't see him," Iris said quietly as they continued their search through the crowd.

"Just...keep looking, he has to be around here somewhere," Belén politely moved around a couple who were fervently talking on their respective cellphones.

"Maybe he's just drunk and doesn't even realize what's going on," Iris suggested.

They were now at the front and as they were moving down, James cut in front of them.

"Eugh, what do you want?" Belén took a step back with Iris.

"You know, I've been in prison for 20 years," he informed with a widened smirk, but neither woman was amused.

"Then you'll know the routine when you get sent back," Iris promptly replied, instigating a deep glare from the man in response.

"You're not getting away with it," Belén declared, much to the man's amusement. "The Flash is gonna get you."

"Oh really?" it was James' turn to scoff in disbelief.

"Yes and-"

But James was blasted with a shot of ice that pushed him against the wall across the room. Belén was so stunned that Iris had to pull her back as another blast shot past her.

"I'm gonna need that antidote now," Azul stood on the platform with his hands glowing blue, indicating there was to be a third blow coming.

"What is he doing here?" frowned Belén. Azul hopped off the stage with eyes trained on James - the latter being surprised of this new metahuman he hadn't been expecting. But as Azul got closer Belén noticed there was something off in his eyes - was he drunk?

"Oh my god he's drunk," Belén mumbled, stepping back with Iris.

"What!?" Iris gaped. What kind of metahuman was this!?

"I said: GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE!" Azul made to hit again but this time Barry had come in - as the Flash - and blocked him.

"You reek of champagne," he frowned.

"Get the hell out of my way, speedy," Azul went to use his powers but Barry was far quicker and chucked him across the stage.

After making a quick glance to see if Belén was fine he went for the real problem. He grabbed James by the collars and pinned him on the wall again. "Where's Henry Allen?"

James was groggy but not that much to not know when to put the second part of his plan to action. "He's where you'll be soon. Heaven!"

Axel appeared and slapped something on Barry's wrist. When Barry looked down he saw some sort of contraption beginning to beep.

"Are you familiar with the movie Speed?" asked James with a wicked smile. "Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock? See, you're the bus, and that's the bomb. A kinetic bomb, actually, and if you go below 600 miles per hour, it'll explode. Same thing happens if you try to remove it."

"Here we go," Axel declared and flipped a switch on the contraption that lit it up.

"Ooh, it's active. Run, run, run, run, run!" laughed James.

Barry had only a second to think before he dashed out of the building. Belén swallowed hard as she saw her last help leave.

"Great, what happens now?" Iris looked around. "Where's the Azalea?"

The mere question made Belén shake a little. She bit her nail and happened to look down where she saw her phone lighting up inside her bag. She could clearly see the name 'Cisco' on it and panicked even more. She stuffed her things over the cellphone and tried to not to think about it. But as seconds ticked by, minutes ticked by, it was becoming a real struggle. Azul was getting up from the stage, looking ready to fight again. And drunk.

"Someone needs to stop him…" Iris was desperately looking about as if someone else was going to step in before anyone got hurt.

"He's coming back," Belén said as a means of comfort. But the moment Azul struck a bystander in the crowd all calmness went to hell.

"I WANT THE ANTIDOTE!" He shouted, actively searching for the two culprits that merged within the crowd. No one dared leave the building because of the poison, causing even more pandemonium. "If I don't get the antidote people will get hurt - fork it over!"

And to prove his point, he shot mystical ice bits that grazed some of the crowd and actually stabbed someone on the leg.

"Oh my God!" Iris clapped a hand to her mouth.

Belén was, also, horrified that Azul was going to these measures to get the antidote. He truly was out of his mind for the night.

"Where's the Azalea!?" Iris kept her hopes up that the MIA partner would show up.

Belén knew it was useless to reassure that the Flash was coming back to help them. Azul was making his way through, hurting those he passed by. She also kept hearing her phone vibrate amongst the things she carried in her bag, reminding that STAR Labs was still pushing her to be someone she was afraid of.

But even then, she didn't have her suit. If she wanted to keep her identity a secret she would have to...go green. That terrified her to the core.

"WHERE IS IT!?" screamed Azul as he came to a stop in the middle of the crowd. Everyone retracted several steps away but he yanked the nearest attendee, a suited man, by the collars. "I guess I'll have to shake it out of everyone until it appears."

From the corner, Belén was able to see James Jesse and Axel trying to sneak into another hiding spot. Due to that, she missed Azul throwing the innocent man back. Iris yelped when the man landed mere inches from her feet.

"How about you princess?" Azul turned on her. "Think we can get some answers if I come for you next?"

Iris felt her feet frozen at the floor from fear. But when she looked down she saw that it wasn't actually from fear. Azul had made ice creep up to her heels and tips.

"I-I don't have anything!" Iris exclaimed, dropping her bag instantly.

"Let's find out who does," Azul said with a warning blue hand.

But at the same time he was struck from the side, across the face, by a thick, green vine that knocked him to the floor. Iris gasped and quickly looked for the source she was already assuming who was the Azalea.

Sure enough, she stood at the other side, with her emerald green, scaly skin. Without her suit she had entrusted her vines and roots to cover it up and at least impersonate some new vine dress. Her pulled hair remained the same but covered in bits of vines.

"Woah, new look," Iris remarked while immediately moving around to return to the crowd.

Belén didn't waste time in talking to her, for she could feel the terrible turmoil inside her. She didn't want to lose control in the middle of so many people. Looking to her right, she thrust a hand forwards, barring James and Axel a clean hideout. "You better give these people their antidotes now."

"And what if we don't?" challenged Axel.

Belén raised an eyebrow. Using the same vine, she swatted them like bugs against a wall. "That gets to happen again...and again...and again."

"Watch out!" she heard Iris frantically call to her. She barely had time to process when she felt a blow to the stomach that sent her to the floor, flat on her back.

Azul had gotten up and was ready for some payback. "I am sick and tired of your stupid brother giving you freebies!" He struck her with shards of ice that pinned her to the floor. She hissed at their coldness, and grew even more concerned when she felt a growl trying to escape her lips. "You shouldn't even be allowed to join us," continued Azul, who was now walking for her, "No, you should die like everyone else in STAR Labs. Because you are and will always be in league with them instead of your own family!" During his words, he kept shooting at her, although now she was trying to defend herself.

Belén growled and swung a vine towards him, grabbing him by the waist and smacking him to the ground. She could feel her mind frazzling with so many different thoughts and emotions, most of them not in her control. Nearly screaming she entangled him with vines here and there, wrapping him like a cocoon till he couldn't move anymore. Then, wearily, she turned where she had left James and Axel across.

"Your turn," she whispered and made a step forwards when she felt a sharp jab at her arm. "Ow!" the pain she felt snapped her out of early trance, allowing her to see that Barry had returned with an antidote...and thankfully with no exploding contraption on his wrist.

Barry exchanged a look with her, showing he was overly worried and this time so was Belén. Because she remembered this time.

"It's okay. You've all been given an antidote," he addressed the stricken crowd who was left looking from one odd person to the next.

"Over there," Belén pointed Barry towards the two criminals on the floor.

He sped towards them and picked both up."Now where is Henry Allen? You're going to prison either way, James."

"Unless you want me to go all swatty again," warned Belén who was already conjuring up another vine.

Seeing that made James sing like a canary.

~0~

"Now I want you to take it easy alright?" Caitlin warned Belén after securing the last bandage on the side of Belén's stomach. "You don't heal fast like others-"

Belén made a loud, clearly annoyed, sigh. "Yeah, believe me, I've figured that out the hard way." She tilted her head upon remembering certain difficult memories. "Oliver's not very gentle when it comes to body injuries."

Caitlin laughed and returned all her tools to the metal table beside the bed Belén sat upon. When Belén lowered down her blouse, Caitlin called to the rest of the team outside. "She's decent!"

Belén made a face at her choice of words. "I'd like to clarify that I was always decent," she said as she got up.

"You know what I'd like some clarification on," Cisco said the moment he and Dr. Wells came into the room, "is how on earth you didn't get worst hits by Azul?"

"A little clarification on Mr. Allen's words wouldn't be bad either," Wells added, instigating a very nervous reaction from Belén.

"He-he said something?"

"He said you weren't exactly yourself," Caitlin looked down at her with a small smile.

"Let us remind you that you are here so that we can help you, Miss Palayta," Wells reminded with a pointed look her way.

"Um…" Belén scratched the side of her head.

Cisco walked to her side, swinging a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You know you can tell us anything."

Belén nodded her head. If course she knew that. It was practically embedded in her head. It just didn't mean it was easy for her. "So, um, when I first got my powers...there was this...this ability I could sort of do...that I actually hated. Hate."

"What kind of ability?" Wells leaned forwards on his chair to better hear.

"The kind where I go all green with scaly skin type," Belén answered at light speed, leaving Cisco and Caitlin to decipher what she had said.

Wells had grasped her words on the first try and was now experiencing a state of surprise. "You turn...all green?" he gestured with his hand to his face.

"Yes," Belén nodded. "But...but I didn't want anyone to know so I hid it. I hid it deep down and left it there."

"And now it's trying to break free with it controlling you," Wells concluded within the minute, getting a shameful nod from her in response.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Cisco asked her, forgetting his surprise to comfort her.

"Yeah," Caitlin put a hand on her arm, "We could have helped you."

"Barry was trying to help me," Belén explained. "But that's sorta when I lost control…"

"What happens exactly?" Wells pushed her to talk.

"I, uh, I lose myself, basically. I go fully aggressive when someone starts attacking me - it's like the trigger I think."

"Interesting," Wells leaned back on his chair, looking far more bemused than Belén would've liked, "A self-preservation trigger."

"A whatta-what now?" Belén blinked.

"Self-preservation - like every man for himself sort of thing," Cisco simplified it for her. "In your case, every metahuman for them self."

"Well, I'd like to get rid of it," she declared. "It's horrible not being in control of your own body and mind. It's worst knowing that I can hurt people with it."

"That's only because you've kept it buried," Wells clarified her. "If you want to control it then you have to be able to use it whenever you want to, not the other way around."

"It scares me. That's why I'm debating about being the Azalea. Every time I remotely become her, I can feel this other side creeping to the surface."

"Don't worry, we're going to help you control it," Wells promised. "Do you trust us?" He said, no one but him knowing the test laid out before her.

Without a doubt, Belén nodded. "Of course."

"In the meantime," Cisco began walking her out, letting Caitlin and Wells follow behind, "We've got Azul nicely locked down in the pipeline." Although that was bitter news in itself.

"Yeah, I can't believe I just imprisoned my co-worker," Belén shook her head. She felt like an idiot, honestly. Her brother had no doubt set Noah up at CC Pictures to keep an eye on her. She felt disgusted, frankly.

"Noah's not going anywhere, trust me," Cisco assured her.

"I always did say I'd lock them up if I ever got the chance," Belén quietly said. She felt momentary relief when she saw Barry walking into the cortex. She immediately rushed to go up and hug him. "I had to tell them everything," she said, clinging tightly to him.

"Everything?"

"That I'm a hideous green monster," Belén briefly explained and pulled away. She realized he hadn't come alone as there was Joe and the man she presumed to be Barry's father. "Is that your father?"

"Yes!" Barry quickly turned around to formally introduce them.

"Well there goes my first impression," Belén hung her head with a long sigh.

"You're fine," Barry rubbed her back affectionately. "Bells, this is my dad," he gestured to his father who was already looking amused by her.

"Henry Allen," the older man reached to shake her hand. "But I'm sure you already know that."

Belén sheepishly shook his hand with a tiny nervous smile. "Belén Palayta, but...I'm sure you already know that, well, I'm a hideous green monster."

"No, you are not," Barry scolded her playfully.

"You really are not," agreed Henry. "You're very pretty, actually."

"I can see where Barry got his good-natured compliments," Belén nudged the man in question beside her. "Are you taking notes for future situations?"

"I like her," Henry told Barry with a chuckle. "And let me tell you-" he now looked at Belén, "-that he-" he pointed at Barry, "-likes you as well."

"Dad," Barry stiffened, beginning to feel that embarrassment he was sure others experienced when their parents started talking too much around a girlfriend or boyfriend.

"He talks about you a lot," Henry said, more on purpose now.

"Dad!" Barry made a cutting motion across his neck. Belén just laughed and curled her arm around his waist, leaning her head on his arm.

"I like knowing this piece of information, thank you very much, Mr. Allen."

Henry nodded, and then, more soberly, said, "And I also heard about your father. I'm very sorry." He was sure this was another reason why his son found comfort with this woman. If it had been the same speedster that killed Nora, Belén was probably feeling the same way Barry had all those years ago.

"Thank you," Belén softly said. "I've been able to get through it thanks to everyone here, especially your son. He's very good at helping people."

Everyone agreed.

~ 0 ~

"Brazil?" Iris couldn't help make the face she was making after hearing what Eddie had come up with after searching for her co-worker, Mason. She shifted on the couch, both currently at her father's where they were to have dinner together. "Why...why would Mason move to Brazil?"

Eddie wanted to sell this story as best as possible, even though he hated the idea of lying to his girlfriend. But, it was what Joe wanted and - apparently - Barry as well. He was still in heavy shock from discovering the latter was the Flash, but now was not the time to freak out. "Apparently there was a girl involved, and he decided to go hike the Amazon with her for a year, you know, live off the grid, write his memoirs or something."

"Wow," Iris looked down for a moment. "I guess you really don't know anyone. Wait till Belén finds out."

And at that moment, her father walked in alone. "Hey, baby, everything good?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," she brushed off the Mason topic, deciding it was enough for now. She got up from couch. "Um, dinner will be ready in a jiff, okay? Is Barry not coming?"

"No, he had a date thing…"

"Okay," Iris shrugged and grabbed her phone from the coffee table before heading for the kitchen.

When Joe was sure she wasn't listening, he went directly for Eddie. "She buy it?"

Eddie sighed. "I think so."

"Keeping her in the dark, it's for her safety."

"That is debatable," Eddie sharply responded, "and we will have that debate. But for right now, what's our next move? How do we figure out what Wells is up to?"

"Right now, we're not sure," confessed Joe. "We need to wait until Barry gets back so we can talk."

Eddie gave a nod, but still openly displayed his disapproval of this plan of secrecy. A part of him wished he hadn't been told anything.

~0~

"Barry, I don't understand, what are we doing here?" Belén said as Barry held the door open for her to walk into the flower shop.

Since it was dark there weren't many people there, allowing almost a perfect glance at every plant being sold there. Barry took her hand and led her direct towards the side near the display window.

"I wanted you to see this," he explained upon stopping in front of a full display of colored Azaleas. Belén's eyes flickered from one flower to the next, bemused by their variety. "I know it's a bit weird to end the date at a flower shop but I promise there is a meaning behind this."

"They're Azaleas," Belén looked at him curiously.

"They're selling them now, all over the city," he began smiling, "And they're doing it in honor of you, Bells."

"...me?" she repeated quietly. "But I haven't done anything special…"

"Yes you have, Belén! And I am so tired of hearing you say otherwise. You don't see it because you're scared, and it's normal, but this city loves you. You are their hero too, no matter what you look like. And people want you here. I want you here too."

Belén looked at him a long time, processing his words and feelings. Of course she wanted to be there too, but it didn't take away her fears. Then again, it really wasn't just her in the equation anymore. There was the city who, apparently, yearned for her to continue being their hero. She didn't want to let anyone down. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to be afraid of herself anymore.

"I guess...we have to practice first thing in the morning," she whispered, making Barry quickly smile.

"Absolutely-"

"And I'm talking serious practicing-"

"-sign me up-"

"-with no holding back-"

"Difficult," paused Barry, giving her a look, "But doable. For you."

And so, with a deep breath, Belén agreed to once again continue this new training session with the promise this time it would be effective. After all, this time everyone would be helping her.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen fics #the flash imagines #barry allen imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

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runnfromtheak · 5 years ago

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fanfic author’s tagging game (yay!)

Thank ya darling for tagging me!!!! @boyblunder-thedarkheir!!!!!

AO3 Name(s): LostandLonelyBirds aka RUNNFROMTHEAK

Fandom(s): Primarily Batfamily (so, Dick Grayson) and Young Justice (along with DCU obviously, but I also dabble into Miralculous Ladybug, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, and MCU (none of which I will ever seriously write for? Idk man).

Number of fics: 22 I will admit to (how do you have so many, my dear @boyblunder-thedarkheir? What is your secret?)

1. Fic you spent the most time on: Are we talking writing or thinking about writing, cause those are two very different answers. I spent the most time writing this bitch of a fic I’m working on right now, and the most time thinking about the two latest installments of my main series, Death is But An Illusion (aka How Could He and How Could It Be). I agonize over every goddamn detail with Dick’s anger, Jason’s Jason-ness, and every person’s every move and word. I am a mess, and I’m going to be murdered if I don’t update them soon. I am not sorry about that XD

2. Fic you spent the least time on: You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) aka my pick-your-own-canon clusterfuck of Dark!Dick Grayson and Dick Grayson being traumatized and tortured with no comfort (Some of them are so fucked up I question my own mind). I take less than an hour to write 80% of them, cause they’re short, and they very rarely take any time to plan. Fun and easy!

3. Longest Fic: At present, he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn) is my longest, but the fic I’ve been hinting at on my other tumblr, @lostandlonelybirds is easily double the length (why do I do this to myself? Why am I like this?) the long boi (named one, not the one I won’t shut up about) is easily my best fic at the moment, and I’m so excited to write a sequel whenever I get the chance.

4. Shortest Fic: With Bated Breath and Pain You See (We're Nothing More Than Memories) technically, I have one shorter than that, but it’s a collab that wasn’t my original idea so I’m not counting it :)

5. Most Hits: You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) why do you people like this trash-fire so much? I don’t understand

6. Most Kudos: How Could He which does not surprise me.

7. Most Comment Threads: Technically, How Could He followed by the trash-fire AU title thing I’m too lazy to type again, but I’m gonna love on this one: Just Close Your Eyes (No One Can Hurt You Now) because it’s my baby, and it deserves it okay?

8. Fave Fic You Wrote: Ooo we are doing a top five.

5. How Could It Be (Jason is precious and sad and Dick is oblivious, and I love one-sided pining wayyyy too much)

4. How Could He (I put my life force into this stupid fic, so ofc it’s here)

3. I'm Scared to Live But I'm Scared to Die (I'm Numb Inside) (the suicidal boy, major trigger warning)

2. I See Things That Nobody Else Sees (And It's Slowly Killing Me) (the only fic I’ve ever written from Cass’s perspective, and definitely one of the creepiest and most fucked up. Bruce does not look good here)

1. he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn) (so ummm Bruce doesn’t look good here either? RHATO #25 if DC wasn’t cowardly and let Dick react how he actually would, aka fuck Batman is the new motto)

9. Rewrites?: Fuck. All my older ones? Everything? Who knows.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning:

Let’s do two. I’m nice.

First comes from How Could It Be:

“You loved him,” Donna says, ignoring his barb. “You loved him, and no one’s seen you or heard from you and I’m concerned, damnit.”

She punches his shoulder roughly, and he’s reminded of her strength, no matter how small she seems in her dead best friend’s sweater.

“I’m fine. Peachy-keen. Couldn’t be fuckin’ better. Honestly, you should be more concerned with Replacement, don’t think he’s slept in—”

“Jason.” Her voice is firm, even as her eyes swim with tears and she holds her arms tight to herself, breathing in the well-loved item’s scent. Jason wonders when Dick wore it last, if Donna had taken it from his abandoned Gotham Penthouse or his Chicago Apartment. He wonders if he’d left it draped over the couch, like the natural disaster he was, or if it had been folded neatly in a drawer.

For someone who prides himself on not being sentimental, Jason suddenly wishes he had something of Dick’s too.

“I’m here because I care, and because if Dick was here, he’d be doing the same thing I am.”

“But he ain’t here,” Jason snaps, “Is he?”

Donna’s head falls, and he feels like a giant jerk. He just… reacts poorly to that name, hasn’t heard it spoken since the transmission and subsequent funeral, since the guy he’d had the hots for since wearing the scaly panties had his mask ripped away and his life taken in front of Bruce’s eyes (who, to absolutely no one’s surprise, failed to save his son).

In the aftermath, no one said Dick Grayson’s name, always Nightwing, or some inane nickname the superhero community had for him. Last time he said it was to Damian, a failed attempt at comfort. But even Jason’s form of mutual grieving had been better than any of Bruce’s shit ideas. Bastard immortalized the ripped costume from his own son’s corpse (not that it had been the first time) and hadn’t even had the decency to give it a plaque (No ‘Good Soldier’ or ‘Good Son’, just a bare glass case with a bloody suit). Which… was weird. Jason was far from B’s best friend, but even he noticed something seemed strange, off, just not quite right. Like the funeral he didn’t speak at, like the breakdown none of them had witnessed beyond a one-off rage fit

“B, what the fuck happened down here?”

The Batcave was a disaster, dents glaringly obvious in several vehicles and a large spiderweb crack across the Batcomputer. Bruce closes the screen down, but Jason manages to catch a spiraling eye.

“Nothing, just…”

Bruce looks at the spare Nightwing costume none of them had taken down yet, still clean and ready for use (too bad its owner died and would never wear it again).

“Dick?” Jason questions, and the way Bruce’s eyes snap to his face is almost suspicious, almost enough to arouse concern.

“Yes. I—”

Jason sits next to Bruce on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I miss him too, Old Man. Don’t mean you need to be an ass about it.”

A memorial next to Jason’s own, but Dickhead’s is empty and broken from Damian’s fists and grief, and Jason’s is just gone. No one told him why, it was just gone.

Kind of like Dick.

He wonders if Bruce would have told him if the video hadn’t been broadcast, if he would’ve told anyone. B did love his fuckin’ secrets.

“No,” she whispers, and he can hear the tears in her voice, can feel her grief as keenly as his own. It’s palpable, tangible, “He’s dead, and I’m alive, and I don’t know how to handle it.”

And then, to Jason’s mounting horror, she starts crying openly.

…..

Second comes from my one I’m working on rn with Stray!Dick called I See Sunset In Your Eyes (I Hate This Part Right Here)

“Come on,” Wally says with a pout, dragging an overly amused Jason and Dick with him through the karaoke bar doors. “Donna and Roy are waiting for us, and Dick had to take forever to primp.”

Dick shrugs with a grin.

“Beauty takes time, time I can tell you did not take.”

Jason snorts, and Wally glares at him.

“At least I don’t take five hours to finish getting ready.”

“At least I can last longer than five minutes.”

“Ouch!” Roy butts in, throwing an arm around Jason and Dick’s shoulders. “Claws are out tonight!”

“Speaking from experience?” Jason asks, eyebrow raised.

Dick smirks without comment, sauntering past the group towards the table Donna’s lounging at.

“Hey gorgeous twin of mine,” He greets with a kiss to her eyes. She smirks, rolling her eyes at him.

“You’re just stroking your own ego with the twin tacked on, Wonder Boy.”

Dick bumps his shoulder against hers.

“Can’t I stroke both our egos?”

“You can stroke mine,” Wally mutters, turning red when Stray winks at his phrasing. Jason and Roy both facepalm, groaning. “Not what I meant guys!”

“Why Kid Idiot,” Dick replies, hand on his heart, “I had no idea you could be so forward~!”

Wally glares, waving over the waitress.

“Round of shots, on this dick,” he jerks his thumb at Stray, offering up his fake ID. She doesn’t bother checking it, probably because this is Gotham, and they were all in uniform. “Whisky, please.”

“Trying to get me drunk?” Jason jokes. It is, after all, his first big outing with the Titans for non-mission reasons. Stray had practically dragged him out of the Manor with a wink at Alfred and a middle finger for Bruce, saying that Jason needed to have fun outside of books.

Jason knows better than arguing with Dick Grayson-Kyle when he wants something, Stray trained him well.

“Of course, Batboy,” Roy replies, “It’s not a Titans outing if Stray is fully dressed and everyone’s sober.”

Dick shrugs.

“You’ll have to get some real liquor in me if you want me to do anything like last time.”

“Last time?” Jason asks, looking to Donna for an answer. Dick snorts. You get near naked one time…

“Boy Blunder ended up in just his boxers in a dancing cage drunk of his ass. Everyone thought he was one of the strippers, and he made, what, three-hundred dollars in bills?”

“Five-hundred,” Dick replies proudly, offering the waitress a twenty as she came back with their drinks. “Keep the change, darlin’!” He adds with a wink.

She flushes, making Jason frown.

Stray, of course, notices this and elbows Jason.

“Don’t get jealous, Blue Jay, it’s not becoming.”

Jason does not blush. He doesn’t, and that’s the hill he will die on.

“I’m not. On an unrelated note, pass me a shot.”

Jason is the master of changing the subject, Stray thinks sarcastically, passing him a shot and downing one of his own.

“Five bucks says alley cat blacks out,” Roy says smugly as Dick makes a face, the way he always did with heavier liquors. He glares at the redhead, who shrugs unapologetically.

Donna eyes them both speculatively, taking a sip of her own drink.

“Twenty says he gives a lap dance before he blacks out.”

Roy snorts.

“I’ll take it,” and to Dick, “Don’t do it, for me.”

Dick bats his eyes innocently.

“Lil’ old me? I would never do something so…” He trails a finger down Roy’s chest, making him swallow roughly. “Scandalous.”

Donna grins victoriously as Roy groans, trying and failing to hide his excitement.

“I hate you. I hate you both.”

Tagging whoever sees this, I suppose?

#dcu #dick grayson #my writing #stray!dick

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luckycheesefoodie321 · 5 years ago

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Prince of Tennis (2019) meme

I was tagged by @hardworkingprocrastinator aka @rupru-russiaxprussia whom I do believe I ranted with about the Imperial Pair ship, and the unexpected potential of Si Yang x Qi Ying… so thanking you kindly for another excuse to rave about ChinaPuri… sooo uhhh time for some fun times!!

Tagging: I have 0 idea who to tag because we a smaller fandom

Warning: I have not watched or read the original manga/anime soooooo I’m in an even smaller subset of the fandom babeyyyy!!! It has also been a couple months since I watched the show, so there is a strong chance I’ll have forgotten names and situations, and just general thoughts I have... BUT WHATEVER time to rant to the thirteen people who’ve watched ChinaPuri!!!

Questions:

1. Favorite character(s)? 2. Favorite school team(s)? 3. Favorite coach(es)? 4. Favorite supporting cast member(s)? (characters who aren’t regulars, aren’t on tennis teams etc.) 5. Favorite original character(s) in the adaptation? 6. Who do you think enacted their role best? 7. Favorite singles match? 8. Favorite doubles match? 9. Favorite story arc? 10. Most amusing tenipuri scene(s)/moment(s)/running joke(s)? 11. What did you like most about the adaptation? 12. What do you think the adaptation could have improved on? 13. Any other thoughts you want to share?

Answers: THIS ISH GETS LONGGGGG SO CUT OFF NOW

1. Favorite character(s)?

MU SI YANG BABEYYYYY!!! I already love a stoic glasses boi, but Mu Si Yang (again not TeniPuri Tezuka, just ChinaPuri Si Yang) may be one of my favourite takes on the stoic glasses boi… like I don’t often enjoy live action versions of anime, especially because the acting is never the best (and granted this one too, had some okay performances) but the guy who plays Mu Si Yang melted my heart… he was the stony-faced serious captain, who could deliver a subtle joke that left you snickering… but he was also the determined, earnest, crazy talented leader with his own hidden struggles who just wanted to take his team and friends as far as they go into competition… which is an essential part of any good sports drama… and he captured it so perfectly… and I love him.. he’s so beautiful too… I would fall in love with him in a heartbeat, and I don’t often say that about characters (like I love them but never in love ya dig?)

Zhou Zhi was a close favourite…basically I just love the two genius senpais…

2. Favorite school team(s)?

Oh god… Yu Feng maybe? We spend the most time with them, they have the most screen time of all the other teams…we have a whole training arc where they’re continuously winning against the struggling to evolve Yu Qing…very reminiscent of the Karasuno-Nekoma rivalry in that they help each other get better… I would’ve loved to see the rivalry/camaraderie develop even more so that when Si Yang leaves, the relief at having this network of tennis friends would’ve been that much more powerful…

Also I really enjoy Xu Ziping’s hustle… I love the story of Yu Feng…they had a shitty coach and had to make a deal to keep winning in order to even remain an official team… and when Yu Qing faced Yu Feng, I really couldn’t tell who I wanted to root for because I knew there was real weight behind every loss for Yu Feng…

After that, maybe No. 6… they’re so chill, they’re not straining for each win and just enjoying their time on the court…and the Old Coach dude was a great character to introduce...

3. Favorite coach(es)?

Maybe No. 6’s coach… I legit can’t remember his name but he oozes skill and experience without all the stress of younger coaches who bend over backwards for success… and while, again, the circumstances surrounding his appearance was a bit waffle-y in execution (which is about par for live action adaptations), I love that he serves as a sage outsider who can assess in three seconds what kind of player Lu Xia is, and what he needs to do to improve… I love me a good wise character who still knows how to inspire people in a fun way but you never, for a second, doubt that what they’re saying is legit advice, even if their mannerisms are goofy…

4. Favorite supporting cast member(s)? (characters who aren’t regulars, aren’t on tennis teams etc.)

Oh I mean…Stretcher Bros for life amirite? They were great…they were just hanging out, trying out.. Huang Jing is kinda jerk-ish, but he’s the starting antagonist who turns out to have a pure heart and a genuine love of the sport (kinda like Tsukishima Kei from Haikyuu!! or the GoMs from Kuroko no Basuke)… and Xiu Wen is such a soft boi who wants to shower in peace without girls being in the locker room…

Put these two besties together forever…and I just love how cuddly they are with each other…no hesitation to hold hands or hug…it’s gooood

5. Favorite original character(s) in the adaptation?

Um…idk who’s an original character??? Again never watched the original anime/read the manga!

SO IMMA CHANGE THIS TO FAVOURITE SHIP!

5.5. Favourite ship? (Get ready my friendsss issa long one)

Si Yang x Qi Ying my friendssss… a super unexpected pairing that came outta nowhere!!! Because the trailer clearly shows (or maybe it doesn’t and I forgot) that Lu Xia and Qi Ying are gonna be THE THING but then we get hit with the surprise senpai-kouhai/team manager ship and I’m like uhhh were you planning this or am I reading into it too much???

Like y’all they were flirting right in the beginning… that whole bit where she stands outside the change rooms and Si Yang confronts her, and she begs him to add Lu Xia to the team (even tho he already did) and he was weirdly teasing her about the roster when he had no reason to, and she was kinda bantering back with him and she fully called him out later on… i was like, umm this is a vibe

They just kept getting thrown together in weird ways…aside from Lu Xia, she’s probably had the most interactions with Si Yang of all the other team members… she’s the only one he calls Xiao~ like the boys in the tennis club have their nicknames like Dachi, Ah Mu, Ah Yan, but only Qi Ying is Xiao Ying!! he’s not a nickname guy… and maybe if it were a girl/cheerleader thing, you’d think he’d call Peng Xiang, Xiao Xiang BUT NO… only Qi Ying gets called Xiao Ying!!!

AND ANOTHER THING: other than Lu Xia, he’s the only one concerned for Qi Yang, despite what he says, when she gets caught in the rain and gets sick… he fully visits her in her room, and receives the call about her health after they send her to the hospital… he says everyones worried BUT YO they’re straight up just bored and end up having a pillow fight…sooooo can’t be that worried…

AND ONE MORE THING: Qi Ying, I get she’s this weird mascot/team manager figure on their team (even tho she’s meant to be a cheerleader but they never invite Peng Xiang to any of their team dinners or their training camp) BUT WHEN SI YANG RETURNS HOME, THEY SEND IN QI YING TO GREET HIM and they have this whole charming convo where she teases him...and they were chatting as if they always had this banter going on but they’d only talked like 3 or 4 times on screen before then, so there’s this whole relationship she has with the tennis team (not just Lu Xia) that is implied but we don’t really see it! And when she teasingly calls him Captain Si Yang after he returns to China, he had the softest smileeee!!! HE TOTALLY DOES HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR HER!! He didn’t want her to think he wasn’t happy to see her... and then she leads him to their surprise party in the club room and he just keeps saying Xiao Ying… like damn you keep trying to establish the Lu Xia x Qi Ying ship (and it is a decently strong ship) but Si Yang x Qi Ying is soooo good!

After this Rival Pair, and then Golden Pair - our resident married couple

(POST Here: all the gay faves they didn’t even try to hide)

(POST Here: almost confirmed ships by the end)

6. Who do you think enacted their role best?

I…I think this is obvious… NEXT

Jk… other than Si Yang, I really enjoyed the guy who plays Lu Xia - Peng Yu Chang… he played the typical “stoic, super talented/genius sports idiot” type prolific in sports anime (like Furuya from Daiya no A, Kageyama from Haikyuu!!, Midorima from KnB)… but he was never too stuck in his head, and he was never mean… too often there’ll be a moment where this type of character is played too seriously, gets stuck in their own head, and lashes out at anyone they deem getting in their way, especially when they feel they’re stuck in a rut… which Lu Xia is in, for essentially the entirety of the show, in one form or another…

But PYC played Lu Xia as this mildly cocky, but still incredibly enthusiastic young genius who is looking for the next big challenge so as to further himself, but is so obsessed with this one opponent (his dad), that he can’t see the bigger picture and realise his entire way of playing is a mirror of the very opponent he’s trying to overcome… but even at the height of his stagnation, he’s never mean to Qi Ying, who tries her best to support and encourage him… while he does distance himself from the team, it’s not an active dismissal of their assistance or support… he can play a straight faced comic when embarrassed/discombobulated (like Si Yang when faced with Yan Juice), but also always participates in most of the weird antics his team is up to… and it never feels OOC and thats clearly a result of Peng Yu Chang’s subtle acting…

ALSO PENG YU CHANG IS IN OUR SHINING DAYS, A SUPER UNDERRATED CHINESE FILM THAT HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE ADAPTED INTO LIKE, A ONE SEASON SHOW AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT

7. Favorite singles match?

Oh pfft… please… PLEASE IS THERE EVEN A QUESTION it was arguably the best match of the whole show, it was what we were all waiting for, a super tension filled, super hyped up match because it features my favourite character, who has simultaneously been promoted as THE BEST PLAYER ON THE TEAM but also super injured and avoiding over-exertion… MU SI YANG…against his personal rival, whom had never tasted defeat before, and subsequently trained like crazy, throwing all of the money at professional players, FOR A YEAR, in order to be ready to face him… JI JING WU

That’s right baby, its the Imperial Pair Match (I do hope I’m using all these nicknames correctly..I just tried to pick them up from the anime/manga to save time writing out their names XD)…

This match is everything you ever want in a match…it’s a gritty, no-holds-barred, all-out, clash-of-titans-style face-off between probably the two most talented players in that whole (province? Prefecture? Idk China regional names) BUT YEAH THESE TWO ARE CLEARLY TOP TIER PLAYERS WHO FINALLY GO HEAD TO HEAD… it’s a year in the making, Ji Jing Wu is in peak physical condition, but Si Yang is not…and yet we see Si Yang powering through the literal agony of an arm injury that threatens complete destruction of not only his tennis career, but his general usage of that arm… and for glory and to bring his team to the national stage, Si Yang lays it all on the line… and he still gives Ji Jing Wu a run for his goddamn money… he matches him hit for hit, and at one point he was even WINNING…and had it not been for his arm, I swear up and down that he would’ve beaten Jingwu…

BUT THAT’S NOT EVEN THE BEST PART… i mean, all sports anime and just shounen anime in general have those moments where the characters are down and out and summoning the power of friendship and determination to their side to go above and beyond the physical limitations of their bodies… NO THE ACTUAL BEST PART WAS JI JINGWU’S RESPONSE TO THE WHOLE SITUATION

The goddamn respect he gave Si Yang.. this is his rival, the only person he’s ever viewed as equal and even superior to his own skills (at least as far as people the same age as him go)… Jingwu wants to beat him so bad… and he’s heard the rumours about Si Yang’s injury, and he even sees for himself how bad the injury is… but as a skilled player who recognises skill himself, he does not do Si Yang the disrespect of going easy on him… what kind of arrogant prick has that kind of nerve to give less than their best to someone who is giving them 120% effort… no, Ji Jingwu doesn’t hesitate to hit back full power, even as he’s yelling at Si Yang to stop before his arm is utterly destroyed… because the last thing any person of talent would want, is to see another person lose such an incredible gift… but even worse than that, have that person realise someone was going easy on them... it was so goddamn beautiful… and when Jingwu grips Si Yang’s hand and raises it high because he and everyone there knows who the real winner of that match is…they all know that they just witnessed something incredible, and he wants everyone in the stands to not only acknowledge it… but remember it…

And then he proceeds to fund Si Yang’s surgery, his flight, his meals, his rehabilitation, AS WELL AS take care of his team… and if that isn’t love, idk what is… like they don’t even disguise the hard core DEDICATION AND LOVE... Jingwu has obsessed over Si Yang for a year and it goddamn shows

Honourable Mention: I really enjoyed Zhou Zi versus the demon child whose eyes go red…we finally get to see Zhou Zi stretch his legs and push himself and I LOVED THAT… like he’s actually trying his best and that’s dope… also the match against the captain of the team his little brother his on… he basically led this cocky motherfucker by the nose for 5 games, pretends to be losing, and then destroys him in the following 7…

OH AND I GOTTA SHOUT OUT MY OTHER GLASSES BOI YAN ZHIMING VERSUS HIS BEST GUY FRIEND FROM YOUTH… that was a beautiful evolution of Ah Yan transcending but also evolving his data tennis against his childhood friend and it feels good ya know?

8. Favorite doubles match?

Oh pfft anything with the Rival Pair… they bicker like cat and dog, but then you put them on the court together, and suddenly their chemistry is through the roof… also Baiyang and Qiao Chen are a stronger couple than Qiao Chen and Yu Xing Zi and that’s the damn tea

(Same two posts for why that tea)

9. Favorite story arc?

Oh man… ummm training arc with Yu Feng was fun but it was definitely beaten out by the “village raises a child” arc when Si Yang leaves, so literally all their previous opponents step up to encourage, train, or otherwise intimidate Yu Qing into giving it their all, improving, and ultimately winning the finals… plus this arc gave so much depth to the network of teams who all have the same aspirations, in the end, and want to push forward the people who beat them to not let their loss be in vain…and that’s pure…

10. Most amusing tenipuri scene(s)/moment(s)/running joke(s)?

Yan Juice... especially the first time NEXT

Honourable Mentions: When Lu Xia gets stood up by Xinglong Lu Xia running interference on Qi Ying’s admirer in the final ep When Zhou Bros run into Lu Xia in the dressing rooms Stretcher Bros trying to become Painter Bros

11. What did you like most about the adaptation?

It captured the essence of a good sports anime: power of friendship, ridiculous action sequences of outrageous moves that would never be allowed in real life, determination and guts is all you need to succeed, that all-or-nothing mentality of high schoolers who suddenly have tunnel vision and no future thinking whatsoever, and decide to risk life and limb for one match… plus it kept a charming and comedic beat running throughout, really endeared you to the characters, and their struggles... AND NO ONE WAS MEAN... well I mean Ya Jiuxin was an angry bitter jerk for a hot second, but he ended up being endeared towards the lil fluffball kouhai of his, and we all know he loves Xinglong in his heart of hearts... other characters like Jingwu, or demon child, or Zhou Yu’s captain were cocky or arrogant, but they were never mean to each other, and respected each other’s game play even if they were defeated.. a couple were poor losers, but they didn’t throw a fit or try to get revenge or anything like that... everyone, in general, had some decency to them, and in fact all of Yu Qing was a super nice...sometimes too nice and self-deprecating that you wanted to smack them...

12. What do you think the adaptation could have improved on?

This is mostly just a consequence of live action adaptations of sports anime where they have to condense a whole lot of story that is already condensed from the manga into a palatable show that anyone, not necessarily pre-existing fans of the original source, can enjoy… the story around the characters seemed waffle-y and disjointed… sometimes things would happen but wouldn’t connect smoothly to the next thing that happens… there was this whole implied close relationship between Qi Ying and the team that just was never shown… I would’ve preferred they made her an official manager, so it would make sense that she’d be so close to the team, when for whatever reason, Peng Xiang wasn’t…even tho they’re both cheer captains…

The match sequences were cut down a little too much (tho I get why)… I would have loved that final training arc to be extended, to fully flesh out how discombobulated Yu Qing was when Si Yang had to leave, and how forcefully the other teams picked them up and got them better… so to develop the dynamic between the teams before this would’ve been good, but obviously they can only got the core actors of each team at a time… hence that barbecue scene… but if they’d pulled off something like the Haikyuu!! Tokyo training arc, or even something like in KnB where the teams were thrown together in wacky hijinks or impromptu match situations to develop their camaraderie (and they sorta tried to but nothing really came of the interactions), it would’ve made the final training arc THAT MUCH MORE heartwarming and I would have cried..

13. Any other thoughts you want to share?

I’ve already said enough. The end.

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wereallsaloonaticshere · 5 years ago

Text

Fight blackmail with blackmail

Summery: Eduardo blackmails Edward and Thompson to steal money for them, but Juan feels bad about it so he gives Edward and Thompson blackmail to use against Eduardo.

Tw internalized homophobia, blackmail

Fandom: Eddsworld, Saloonatics

Word count: 3144

This was a collaboration I did with @aubdawgdrawz, they made a drawing for the story and I wrote it basically.

It’s quite a lovely night. Twinkling silver lights glow above them, highlighted by the pitch black a lack of sun causes. These nights are a constant for everyone in the town of Spit bucket, including a certain detective and sheriff.

“I quite liked that one.” Edward says, walking side by side with Thompson, “I felt it had a nice flow from scene to scene, and the character’s romance wasn’t forced at all.”

“I liked the horse.” The two men paused and looked at each other. Then chuckled and continued walking up the steps to their house.

“I liked him too.” Edward takes out the keys and fumbles, looking for the right one, “I was surprised he turned out to be the killer in the end. Even I didn’t find any signs for that.”

“I think they just wanted ta shock the audience. The people who made it aren’t ‘xactly what I’d call geniuses.”

“Oh, and I am?”

“Nope.” Thompson says, then directly after Edward breaks out in giggles.

“Oh, how sweet. My eternal love.” Edward places his hand on Thompson’s shoulder and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Make it a real one.” Thompson teases, and pulls Edward down by the collar, kissing him on the lips.

“Oi, Thompson!” Edward says, after they’ve pulled apart, “Someone might see us!” He smiles as he opens the door, and the two walk into their home.

It would’ve been a perfect night, had Juan not overheard it from the other side of the house. Had Juan not taken pictures of their kiss with his new camera.

A fist slams onto the counter, and Eduardo smirks as Thompson turns to face him in his chair. Thompson tackles him, pinning him to the floor.

“Lotta nerve ya got, ta come back here.” Thompson stretches his arm toward his desk, trying to reach the handcuffs. “Why are ya smilin’, anywho? What’re ya planning?”

“I know about you.” Eduardo said

“What’re you-”

“I know about you and Edward.” Eduardo says, and with that, Thompson freezes. “Disgusting.” He adds for unneeded clarity.

Gritting his teeth, Thompson lets go, and they both stand up. He leans against his desk, trying to stay cool.

“What do ya mean?”

“My partner in crime took photos of it.” Eduardo takes a few out of his pocket and shows them to him. Thompson bolts to grab it but Eduardo holds it high above his head, and grabs Thompson’s arm.

“Give ‘em ta me. I’ll do...I’ll do anything.” Thompson says, with his eye wide open. Eduardo’s lips curls. He crosses his arms.

“Anything? Is that so?”

“Man, I sure do love being a bandit!” Eduardo says, lying on top of a literal pile of gold coins and paper money.

“Yo también.” Marco says, cleaning a mirror with his shirt, angling the reflective part away from him to avoid seeing his reflection.

“What?” Eduardo asks. As Eduardo complains about Marco only knowing Spanish, Juan tinkers with his camera on the other side of the room.

Recently, when a professional cameraman moved to town, wanting, “...a breath a fresh, countryside air...”, he left his door unlocked. The three bandits saw their chance and ransacked the place, taking everything they could see. The cameraman was devastated, obviously, but for Juan it was one of the best things to ever happen to him. He got his very own camera! And a good one at that; the latest model.

“Pose!” Juan says, taking the camera in both hands and pointing it at his partners.

“Juan, you don’t need to take pictures of everything!” Eduardo says, sitting up and crossing his arms.

“Lucky I do though! ‘Else we wouldn’t have all this stuff!” Juan takes the photo. Eduardo runs a hand through his hair, and turns to Marco, continuing his mildly racist one-sided conversation. “I’ma head out and take more-”

“Bye.” Eduardo says, still looking at Marco.

Juan rolls his eyes and walks out. He wanders here and there, without a real destination in mind.

A blue butterfly in the corner, just about to land on a leaf. A cactus with pink flowers dotted across it. A house with two men talking through the window, which probably wouldn’t turn out too good, considering the time of night. Time had flown by, apparently. You wouldn’t really be able to see anything other than a clouded swirl against a black backdrop.

Wait. The two men were the British man and the Sheriff! And they were talking...Juan could just about make out what they were saying.

“I just feel so guilty.” Edward says, running a hand through his hair, voice tainted by exhaustion.

“Don’t be. They’re savages, the lot of ‘em.” Juan frowns as Thompson says it.

“Maybe we should just...let them tell the public.” A pause as Thompson stares with wide, judgmental eyes. “I just think-”

“What? You think ruinin’ our lives is the right answer? How?”

“How could it not be? I know it’ll be rough-”

“Rough? We’ll get killed! You already know how harshly people treat people like us! Or were the bandits ruining our lives not enough evidence for you?”

“Well, my apologies if I don’t like stealing from the bank!”

“And I do?!”

As they continued arguing, Juan started to break into a cold sweat.

Cops don’t like stealing. This is information he already knew, of course, but...they were doing it anyways. To keep each other safe, even though they hated it.

Juan had told Eduardo and given him the picture because he knew that would get the gang more money. But seeing how it affected them, how it broke apart something special and private...Juan didn’t need all that gold, and neither did the others.

But Juan isn’t as stupid as he looked. He knows just asking them wouldn’t work at all. His mind wandered a tad, as it tended to do, and he thought of the phrase ‘fight fire with fire’. The thing to fight blackmail with was more blackmail, clearly. But what would convince Eduardo to give the pictures back?

Juan’s blood ran slightly cooler. The sketches. Juan, of course, still had them all. He knew what the right thing to do was. He ran back to base.

Back at base, Eduardo and Marco were already asleep. Juan doesn’t bother walking on his tip-toes, since both men are heavy sleepers. He uncovers two floorboards in the corner where he slept, and gingerly pulls out the box, opening it.

Eduardo used to be an artist, until he stopped, along with other things, drawing. He’d draw whatever he wanted to remember. And boy, did Eduardo want to remember Juan exactly. The slope of his jawline, his crooked smile, his soft yet calloused skin.

So he drew him, filled entire sketchbooks with Juan and him. Holding hands, kissing, other things. Anything he could think of. At first they were drawn few and far between, but when Juan thumbed through one of the books and said he loved them, it seemed like Eduardo had a dip pen attached to his hand.

But it didn’t last. Eduardo’s dad found the books, and he wasn’t exactly okay with what was in them. The two were just younger than 18 when that happened. A few years later, after Juan decided to become a bandit, they met again. Juan went to hug him but got shoved away. Eduardo acted like he had never met him before. It hit Juan in a soft spot, but he went along with it, knowing whatever Eduardo’s dad did to him wasn’t the greatest. But Eduardo was a different person, harsher, meaner. There were still times when his old self would come out, but it would so quickly be stifled Juan would wonder if he imagined it.

Juan looks in the box and pulls out a thin pad of paper, about 20 or so pieces. Juan, throughout the years, had probably seen these a million times, but that didn’t stop him from looking again, blushing at his past, at the feelings he used to know. At the boy he once loved, and the man he wasn’t sure he knew. Each drawing, each stroke of the pen, was carefully done, the signature in the corner of every one.

He put the pad in his coat pocket, closed the box and put it back in the floor, as if nothing has been or ever was there. He looked across the room at Eduardo. He hadn’t been the nicest, or least hypocritical person lately. He deserved this.

On his walk back to the sheriff’s house, he thought about their time together, all those years ago. The jokes, the spats, the love. Juan had loved Eduardo, and these drawings had love written all over them.

He wondered if Eduardo even remembers making them, or if he forced himself to forget.

There’s a knocking on the door, and Edward gets up first to answer it.

“Hel-” Juan shoves past him and walks over to their dinner table, placing the sketchpad on it, face down.

“I’m really sorry, I am. So, so here,” Juan points at the pad, his other hand clenched in his pocket, and walks back towards the still opened door, “tell Eduardo that if he puts the film out you’ll put the drawings out. I really didn’t, I really didn’t mean to, to hurt you guys.” Why were tears flooding his eyes?

Thompson, a little taller than him, blocks the exit.

“What’re you sorry for, boy?” Thompson says, balling his hands into fists.

“I...I told Eduardo about you guys.” Juan added quickly, “But I’m making it right! I gave you fire to use against his fire!”

“He’s going to burn our house down?” Edward asks, with more disbelief than fear.

“No, no, I-I just meant...”

“You’re helping us get back at him?” Thompson says and squints.

“Yeah, ‘xactly!”

“Pardon, but I find it hard to believe you’d help us when you’re the one who got us here in the first place.” Edward glared.

“Yeah, and how’d we even use these? It has his signature, but he could just say he didn’t draw them and that it’s another Eduardo. He ain’t famous or nothin’, no one’s gonna recognize it.” Thompson says, walking over to the table and inspecting them. He raises his eyebrows. “Though, if he did make ‘em...”

“Then...I could vouch for you, ‘cause I saw him draw them. Eye witness, right?” Juan tries to bargain.

“...The man in these drawin’s is you, bandit.” Thompson says, slowly. “Ya know that’d-”

“Put me in danger. I’m okay with it.” Juan stands straighter. “I just feel...guilty. I shouldn’t’ve let this go so far.”

“You shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Edward says, and crosses his arms.

“Yeah, I know, but...I dunno. I guess I just did it because it’s us against the world, and I wanted to win.”

“That’s incredibly childish.” Edward rolled his eyes.

“So ya try an’ ruin our lives? We could lose our jobs, or get murdered over this!”

“I’m sorry.” Juan says, and inches toward the door. “But just...when ya show Eduardo that, don’t tell him I gave it ta you guys.”

“Hey! We ain’t done yet here-!” Thompson started, but Juan had already started running out the door.

Edward began looking over the drawings .

“These are actually...we could use these.” Edward says.

“I think it’d be kinda-”

“We would never actually publish them, of course.” Edward says, closing the door. “But we could simply bluff. I mean, they held it over our heads, why not return the favor?”

“I like the way you think, Ed.”

“Thank you dear.” He kisses him on the forehead. “Do you want to go fuck up that bastard’s life now, or shall we wait ‘till sunrise?” Thompson, slightly taken aback by Edward’s swearing, smiles.

“Hmm...I reckon we should wait until the next time we meet up for demands. Then spring it on him.” Thompson grins.

“Swell idea, love.”

A knock on the door.

“Oh?” Edward asks, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.” Eduardo says from behind the door.

“Oh, right!” Edward opens the door, “Come in! Come in!”

“...Why are you being so pleasant?” Eduardo glares, crossing his arms, “Ya know what? I don’t even care. So, what I want you two-”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” Edward slams the door shut.

“Oh?” Eduardo laughs, “Then, I guess I’ll just have to-” Edward whips out a certain drawing pad.

“What?” Eduardo’s eyes suddenly widen, and he takes a step back. Just as he’s about to pounce, Thompson jumps on him, pinning him to the floor again. “What’s-”

“Hand over the pictures, or we release these,” He waves the book just above Eduardo’s head, “to the press,” Edward states, standing over him.

“What do I care what the public thinks of me?! They already hate me!” Eduardo thrashed against the man, but Thompson had a strong grip.

“Maybe they do, but will fellow criminals? What’ll they think of ya then?” Thompson spits, “No more help from fellow gangs.”

“...How did you even-”

“Juan.” Edward and Thompson say at the same time. He might’ve helped them in the end, but he did start this whole thing, after all. Some anger was still harbored for the short man.

“Ugh!” Eduardo yelled. “...Fine. I’ll give you the pictures by sundown. But destroy those in front of me first.”

“That’s not how things work around here.” Edward crouches down, “You give us the pictures first. We wouldn’t lie to you - we’re cops after all. You’re more likely to con us then vice-versa.”

“...Fine. I’ll do it.” Eduardo says, “Just don’t tell anyone. I’m not like that anymore.”

“...Go.” Thompson lets go of Eduardo and he walks out of the house, frazzled and angry. Betrayed.

“Hey, Juan?” Eduardo says through gritted teeth. Marco knew this tone; he walks out of the base and goes for a quick - or long - stroll.

“Uh, yeah?” Juan focuses his eyes intently on his book, not looking up from it. He swallows.

“May I have a word?” Fists shaking with white knuckles, Eduardo glares with all that’s left in him at the man across the room, staring at his book in the corner.

“Sh-sure. Just, um...just…” Juan’s hands start shaking. His eyes scan for Marco. He isn’t here. No one to help him if things get out of hand.

“JUST WHAT?!” Eduardo stomps his foot on the ground and storms over to Juan. Juan stands up, but it’s too late to move. On second thought, perhaps the corner of the room wasn’t the smartest place to hide. Eduardo lifts him by the collar and slams him against the corner. Juan’s trapped. He cowers, pressing himself further into the wall. “YOU...”

Tears prick Eduardo’s eyes. Oh, how he hates it. He squeezes his eyes shut, his teeth grind together.

“You ruined everything.” Eduardo seethes, “You’ve always ruined everything. You ruined. My. LIFE!”

“Hey! I didn’t - I didn’t ruin your life!” Juan defends himself, “Your dad did!”

At that, Eduardo’s blood turns to freezing cold slush. He drops Juan and takes a step back.

“You...” Eduardo begins visibly shaking now, and crosses his arms as a short-hand to hugging himself. He shakes his head, “I-”

“We could’a ran away together, just you ‘n me! I swear, ‘Duardo, you were the best thing that’d ever happen ta’ me.” Juan gripped his arms, “But then you had to leave, and when we met again, it was like you were a different person!” He took a step forward and gestured that he wanted to hold Eduardo’s hands. Eduardo puts his hands in his pockets, then crosses his arms again, taking a step back. “You were - we were so happy back then. I guess I kept them because I wanted to remember that for a while.”

“Maybe you were happy,” Eduardo paused for a second, “but I wasn’t! Maybe I never wanted you, maybe you just heard what you wanted to hear!”

Juan narrowed his eyes at him. “I know what I heard. I know all those times we’d talk for hours about our future, about anything, about each other.” He clenched his fists, “You didn’t say platonic things to me, bunny.”

“...Whatever I did when I was a punk-ass kid means nothing,” He tried to keep his voice from shaking, “you betrayed me, and went behind my back to the cops! What we said to each other years ago is worthless, so get out of my face about it.”

“No, I won’t, because I refuse to believe those dozens of books filled with drawin’s don’t mean nothing to you, because throughout the years, they’ve always meant somethin’ to me, whenever I’ve looked at ‘em.”

“...what?” Eduardo asks.

“Uh...the drawin’s?” Juan squints. “I still look at ‘em all the time.”

Eduardo sucked in a breath at the realization. He couldn’t believe he had kept them. All of them. And still cared to look.

“Did ya really think I’d just throw ‘em out?” Juan says to fill to gap in conversation. “They really are pretty-”

“Just, shut up.” Eduardo runs a hand through his hair. He’s blushing, slightly. Then, in a much softer voice that resembled defeat more than gentleness, “...Please.”

Juan opens his mouth to say something, but cuts himself off. He almost offered a hug, but stopped himself there, to. He hears Eduardo mumble something about his habit of drawing biting him in the ass twice, and he pauses, and decides to sail into uncharted territory.

“What your dad did ta you must’a been awful. I…” Juan can’t quite find the right words, “I don’t know how to make it better, but...can I try?” He stepped forward and again held out his hands for Eduardo to take. Eduardo just stared at them with a fixed gaze. “You-you don’t have to if you, if you don’t-”

Eduardo pulls Juan into a hug, and before either of them really have time to process it, Eduardo pulls out.

“...Sorry for, uh, hurting your head.” Eduardo looks at his feet. He adds softly, “I’ll...try to not get so angry in the future.”

“It’s fine -”

“No, it’s not.” Eduardo massages the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry.”

“...I accept. I just want you ta be happy.” Juan says, and smiles, “Like when we were kids.”

“I don’t think I can ever be that person again.” Tears fall from his eyes just as fast as he can wipe them up, “I just can’t. Not after everything.”

“Well…” Juan says, “then I’ll settle for happier.”

#shipsworld #tw internalized homophobia #tw blackmail #tw cursing #fanfic #my stuff #stuff i made #My writing #fanfiction #tomedd #jonuardo #juan x eduardo #im not all that proud of this honestly #maybe i should stop writing at 1 haha #but i dunno one of my mutuals liked it #fight blackmail with blackmail

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botaniia · 5 years ago

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127

Some 127 thoughts because I promised myself I’d jot these down for future reference before I forget what I initially thought of it

Overall probably one of my fav chapters in a long time because it gave us that sweet, sweet character interaction that I’d been looking forward to since the start of the alliance.

Jean is the absolute real MVP here. Before he was an okay character to me, I liked him but not extraordinarily much, but this chapter moved him very close to the top of the list. What a beast. I commend Yams for giving him that emotional release

I’m so happy we got to see his internal struggles. I feel like in a way it mirrors his choice to join the Survey Corps. His thoughts were very similar back then as well. Very interesting to see that this longing for comfort, safety, and luxury is still with him after all these years

“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything” is an absolutely masterful line. Who’d a thunk I’d be broken already on page 2?

Hanji’s refusal to allow mass genocide is commendable. People have been calling her too optimistic, but I don’t think you can deny that genocide is ever a viable option. Saying that genocide is no option isn’t meant to be a solution to the question “what should we do”, it’s stating that there are things that shouldn’t be done. Hanji is right, you cowards

That said, Jean addressing what they should do then is also necessary. I wonder if Isayama saw any of the fandom discussion or if he simply predicted the nature of the discussions, because he nuanced every single point raised very well and gave a satisfying acknowledgement of the complexity of the situation.

“You can’t just massacre everyone! Like hell there’s a good reason to do that!” I want this printed out and framed on my wall. That expression is so powerful and shows us how Hanji ultimately wants a peaceful resolution to this. It tells us a lot about who she is and why she’s struggling with the current predicament.

That spread of everyone sitting by the campfire is absolutely amazing. The tension! The dichotomy between Jean and Hanji as they’re singled out in their own separate panel! The divide between Marley and Paradis with Onyakopon and Yelena in the middle!

It was at this point I realised that I was only at page 11 and we were about to witness 34 pages of exactly what I’d been hoping for when the alliance formed. We knew confrontation was coming and did it deliver!

Interesting to get an insight into Magath’s thoughts. He always struck me as being less racist than most Marleyans, but apparently I overestimated the extent to which he was fair in his judgment of Eldians. Some major points:

Assuming that every Paradisian would be happy with genocide and would happily live in a world where only they were still alive. He may think more positively of Eldians than your average Marley higher-up, but he still has a prejudiced look on Paradisians. At the same time, he barely had any interaction with them. I’m curious to see how his vision could change when working side-by-side with them.

“In other words, you’re telling me you developed a sense of justice” are you projecting, my man

I did find the shade about letting Eren and Zeke make contact fitting. Must’ve been a shock for the gang that they were wrong and I can see why he’d question it

Jean calling out Magath will be the subject of my dreams for a long time.

Theo “we provoked you numerous times and then you attacked us back, ya demons!?” Magath everyone

We’re mentioning Eren’s mom now? Because you’re absolutely right, Jean. I always thought that it was wrong to call for some violent justice to be carried out against Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie when it’s really their superiors, the ones who chose to send them there, that deserve this treatment. The fact that Magath also had such a great involvement in the warrior project is something that deserved attention called to it, so this feels very nice

“You killed hundreds” “well you killed thousands” “okay but you enslaved our people” is exactly why it’s necessary to look past both sides’ past mistakes. Genocide is never okay, and the history shouldn’t be erased, but both sides have shit they can fling at each other. Both sides have wronged the other. There is no one who comes out on top morally speaking, so it’s pointless to argue that now. That’s what’s been bothering me about the “x is actually the bad guy here” talk in the communities, regardless of who x is.

Sure, Hanji says she’s talking to Jean, but really she’s talking to Magath and throwing shade about the fact that he’s being bitter about the fact that the evil selfish Paradis devils are trying to stop the rumbling from destroying everything

“Would someone who’d change their mind because of that commit genocide?” are you projecting, Annie? Was there anything that could’ve been said to her that could’ve made her stop the initial attack on the walls?

Annie slept for five years only to drop outta her crystal and absolutely obliterate the scouts with some harsh truths. She seems so reasonable at the moment and I can sorta admire her dedication to her father.

I want to marry Yelena for everything she said in her trip down memory lane because this was exactly what I had been hoping for this whole chapter and she just gave it to us like that

The panels are on-point. Framing the person she was accusing while also placing their primary victims in the background. Excellent artwork

You know you’re starved for content when just mentioning Bertholdt’s name got me excited.

“Using the power you stole from Bertholdt Hoover” the rational part in me knows that no one had a choice on that day and the only outcome was his death, even if cool motive, still murder was applicable in the situation. The irrational part in me is cheering Yelena on for wording it like that.

It seems like Reiner and Annie know that Armin inherited the colossal and that Sasha is dead? If they hadn’t, they probably wouldn’t have just sat there staring when learning it for the first time. I’ve seen people annoyed at the fact that these facts were glossed over without much reaction out of the other characters, but I kinda get it. The chapter was already packed with details. Would an acknowledgement have been nice? Yeah, sure, it would’ve been extremely fitting in this conversation, and the fact that it wasn’t there definitely doesn’t do anything to diminish my fear that Bert will never be addressed again. But this chapter already deals with Jean’s anger over Marco’s death, so I get why it wouldn’t fit inside the same chapter. I also feel like Reiner doesn’t believe he has the right to be mad or sad about Bert’s death, exactly because of the things all three of them did. As much as I would have loved some acknowledgement, I think we can’t ignore that the lack of a reaction tells a lot about Reiner and Annie and how they have dealt with this issue in the past. I’m only hoping that they still interact with Armin in some way and give me the content I have been STARVING for. Just a drop, Isayama, please

Armin still looking like a kicked puppy when she says that though. He truly got the real Bert experience of getting orders to be the most destructive force in the assault and then getting to deal with the emotional aftermath, huh

The looks exchanged between the 104th and the kids... God damn, what a perfect page that is. Jean glancing down a panel after he was called out for nearly killing Falco. Gabi getting the true Braun experience of regretting actions she can never take back even if she wants to now. Someone save these children and shelter them from the worst, because I am not happy that literal 12-year-olds are still with the gang. Yams I beg you keep these kids away from combat, I will find out where you live

Yelena did all of that to sow hatred amongst the new alliance, so much effort to put into words what no one dared talk about in this awkward situation, and Jean manages to talk it away and turn it from destructive to constructive. What a man. Seriously, his character development and the guy he’s become are an inspiration.

“What was it again? Your close friend’s name you told me before?” and it was at that moment Reiner realised he should’ve pulled the trigger

It’s very telling that both Annie and Reiner are speaking so openly and so honestly about what they have done after years of secrecy and lies around their former soldier colleagues. In a way, I can imagine that despite the dread of having to tell Jean this, it’s at least something to finally be able to speak the truth.

I gotta give it to Reiner that he did well speaking up and clarifying that he was the one who was responsible for the death. People always seem to either deem Annie as his killer or split the blame evenly between the three, but while Annie was obeying orders she couldn’t disobey and Bertholdt was doing nothing to prevent it from happening, at the end of the day Reiner is the one who decided that Marco was going to die. So I ain’t even mad that only he gets beaten for it.

Isayama’s expression game is on point for Jean especially this chapter. I can’t wait to see this animated, truly. If this scene were excellent already, this moment will define it. Everyone’s reaction to it is touching. Mikasa showing a rare moment of true grieving sorrow (though I have noticed that post-timeskip, she looks saddened more often than she looks determined) Armin looking like he had a clue that this was the case already, either through deduction or through Bertmin mechanisms (give us the memories, Yams) Connie’s stoic and bitter reaction (still tired of learning that the people who betrayed him are even worse than he thought, but not surprised in the slightest) Reiner and Annie looking pretty exhausted and done with themselves. Fuck. Good page.

“He said we still haven’t talked” narrative mic drop, hot damn

Jean could have easily used this information as a reason to leave the alliance. He so easily could have, and I don’t think anyone in the world would’ve thought it an overreaction. Instead, he was constructive and he remained calm for the greater good. He had more courage, more self-restraint than any other character in this group, and I seriously think this is the pinnacle of his character development. What a great guy.

“Jean that’s my line”

At first I didn’t quite get why Reiner decided to “push his luck” with Jean and tell him that additional stuff, but after giving it some thought it is actually really obvious. This is the most desperate looking we’ve seen him in a long time, and I’d argue that this is even more emotional than what he showed when Eren first lured him into that basement. Marco’s murder was a tragedy and a traumatic experience. With his fellow warriors, he couldn’t truthfully express the guilt he felt over it because he was responsible and he couldn’t show any attachment to the island devils when he was the one constantly checking Annie and Bertholdt’s allegiances. Back in Marley, there was no one he could be honest to because why would a good honourary Marleyan have empathy for a Paradis devil? This murder has been festering inside Reiner’s mind for so long. He couldn’t tell anyone about it and there was no one to judge him for it. He couldn’t just let Jean turn this into something constructive, that’d be far too merciful on him. No matter which shape it took, he needed to confess what he had done and he can’t stress enough that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness. Not from Jean, anyway. But if he wants a chance at ever being able to live with himself again, he had to do this. Add to that that he didn’t know at all what to do anymore (something he literally states), I think it’s fair to say he was looking for some type of closure, even if he hadn’t a clue how to get it.

I, and I’m saying this as a big Reiner fan, have never been as satisfied with a turn of events as seeing Jean beat the living hell out of Reiner in the most visceral, most violent way he could think of in that moment of raw anger. Jean already showed so much restraint in this conversation, so you can’t even call this a rash decision. Reiner had it coming.

The fact that Reiner accepts it without any attempt to defend himself is pretty admirable in its own right, and is again telling of his mental state and self image

Despite the anger, despite the fact that he had probably hoped to see it happen someday, despite the absolute hatred for Reiner, Connie still decided to stop Jean. Despite his damage, deep down you can still see the person he was so many years ago, the person who wants to put an end to conflict.

Gabi, darling... I already liked her just because people unreasonably hate her, but this moment is so character-defining that I can’t help but love her for this. At the start of the Marley arc, Falco is a defensive person and Gabi an offensive person. While we’ve seen Falco forced to be more offensive, Gabi generally stayed on the attack even after her realisation. Here, she could have easily chosen to attack Jean to stop his assault, but instead she threw herself between Reiner and the kick. “Gabi is trash” people love to shout while she decides to sacrifice her own safety to prevent Reiner from being hurt any more. She, a regular human girl who is literally 12, defended an adult titan shifter built like a tank who could’ve easily regenerated from the damage and who clearly deserved the beating. And believe me, at her age a kick like that can be lethal if it lands in the wrong spot. This is the moment where she stole my heart. She has turned into the perfect candidate for the armoured titan.

People saying that it’s good that Gabi got that final kick: have you considered she’s not only, again, literally 12, but also deeply apologetic for what she did and likely a key player in defending Paradis in the future?

Falco is a gentleman and he’s a good kid

Annie caring for Reiner... I didn’t know I needed that in my life, but honestly the idea that she’s looking out for him now (compare to her kicking Reiner back on the first day of the mission) makes me unreasonably happy. They’re the two survivors out of a group of the only four people in the world who can understand what they’ve been through, please look after each other!

The manga has a habit of making the cycle of hatred continue when one character is already sorry about their actions towards the person who next adapts the cycle. It was good to see Jean take the mature option and choose to consciously break it. No one would’ve faulted him had he left that night, but he still came back. He still showed kindness to two children, one he had wronged and one who had wronged him. That’s why Jean is our MVP.

I can’t be the only one who sees some 845 Jean in the way he wakes up and yells at Reiner, right? Also, what a gorgeous contrast between gently shaking awake Gabi and assuring her everything’s right, and giving Reiner a very rude awakening

If there was ever a parallel to make me believe that Reiner may be getting some closure, it’s this one

And despite all the tension and anger, I feel like we’re finally reaching a point where Reiner is finding closure. I’ve said this before, but his suffering only finds meaning if it leads to something, otherwise it just isn’t satisfying. He’s not gonna be forgiven by his former comrades. He knows this and he can accept this. But it’s off his chest and he got the reaction he deserved out of confessing his sins. At this point, I can only hope that this paves the way towards forgiving himself, because lord knows the guy deserves some peace of mind.

I’m walking the fine line between “Annie truly wanted to know where she fit in after all this and we are getting answers in the future” and “Yams is telling us very clearly that he’ll never answer this question”

Jean, my man, you got plenty of practice on everyone’s favourite punching bag, now go replicate everything you just did on Floch!

There’s gonna be lots of death next chapter, huh

Some other, more minor thoughts

Marco is still a cutie, even when in Jean’s conscience vision.

Remember in 2013/14 when the fandom would get pissy over people finding Marco important and would say that Yams killed him just because he could? Remember when a few months ago even, people were still posting “Marco happened so long ago, Jean doesn’t care about him that much guys, get over it”? Remember when Jean remembered the ashes of his dead friend last chapter? Remember when Jean beat the ever-loving shit out of Reiner when learning he orchestrated Marco’s death? Yeah

Reiner looked unhappy about not being in a depression nap right now the entire chapter long

Need me that panel of Annie with her ring framed on the wall

#SnK #SnK 127 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #AoT #SnK spoilers #AoT spoilers #127 spoilers #127 #botaniia posts

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