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soulmate-game · 4 years ago

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“Are you paw-sitive this is alright?” Selina half-purred half-asked. The slender cat thief was dressed casually— for her, anyway— in a floor length amethyst purple gown that swept just barely above the floor, accentuating her curves and coming down in a deep V neck that was just barely within the constraints of being acceptable for public appearances. Her companion, almost half a foot shorter even in her short heels, was a stark contrast. It was as if all the two women had in common was their hair color, a rich deep black that shimmered blue in the right lighting.

Marinette, with her hair done up in two buns and wearing a sensible pink-and-white cheongsam top with apple blossom embroidery paired with an ankle-length denim skirt that had a knee-high slit in the front, nodded even as she eyed her friend’s choice of outfit with a small frown.

“Of course. Bruce is in the media’s eye all the time, and he knows I don’t have a care for the spotlight. But you do,” Marinette stopped talking for a second, snapping her fingers and reaching into her purse. She pulled out a gorgeous inch-thick collar necklace that was made entirely of thick panels of flawless silver and high-quality diamond. At the very center of the collar necklace, where it would hang right in the center of Selina’s collarbone, was a diamond-and-obsidian cat face. “I knew I was forgetting something! Bourgeois owed me a favor for doing the outfit for her last magazine cover pro bono, so I asked for this as payment. It’s exactly what your outfit is missing.”

Just because Marinette didn’t like revealing clothing didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate someone else wearing one well, after all. And Selina wore her dress perfectly.

Selina quirked an eyebrow, eyeing the necklace with her expert gaze. Gently, she trailed her fingertips over the tops of the diamonds in the thick bands of the collar as a small smile flicked over her lips. She raised her eyes up to Marinette’s, light green eyes sparkling with mischief and knowing.

“You got this as a bribe for me, didn’t you kitten?”

Marinette smiled unashamedly. “I know you’re a proud lesbian, but would you mind playing the role of Bruce’s girlfriend, just for the media? And only while you’re single, of course. If you ever want out, you only have to say the word. Bruce already agreed, but he also doesn’t mind continuing to play the careless bachelor if you aren’t willing.”

Selina scoffed, rolling her eyes and grabbing the necklace. Effortlessly, she swung it around her neck and clasped it in place. “Please, darling. You and I both know it drives you up a wall when Brucie is hounded by gold diggers every time he steps foot out of that mansion of his. I’ll play the camera-girlfriend, but only for a maximum of a year. And you two can only call on me one a week at most, a girl’s gotta have some time to herself.”

Marinette nodded eagerly. “That’s fine! We probably won’t even call on you that much, Bruce is planning to play the ‘we want to keep our relationship pretty low-key’ card for now. Just an appearance once a month or two ought to satisfy those vampiric paparazzi.”

Selina just smiled. She had practically adopted Marinette years previous, during a trip to Paris where she had found out she apparently had a male doppelgänger. Now the two were sisters in all but official (Not-forged) legal documents. And because of that, Bruce had somehow become her brother.

Which Bruce later found out, meant that Selina would relentlessly tease him every time she needed to appear as his “girlfriend.”

Relentlessly.

But Marinette and Bruce had a Plan. She wasn’t quite ready to make a public appearance as his real girlfriend, mostly because of loose ends that still had to be tied back in France. She was making so many trips back and forth between the two countries that they couldn’t see each other in person much to begin with, so they also didn’t want their few in-person meetings tainted by greedy D-rate journalists.

But yes, they had a Plan. One year was the perfect time frame for the last stretch of said plan. Marinette would tie up the last few things she had to do in Paris, start an official branch of her fashion company in Gotham, and they would stage an entire break-up with Selina, a three-month “break” to “recover” and then a suitably dramatic, romantic “meet-cute” between the two of them to start what the media would see as a love-at-first-sight, fairytale relationship.

Nobody needed to know about Marinette and Bruce’s five-year pining session, or their one-year fumble through figuring out how to date one another before actually getting it right, or the most recent three-years of dealing with the fact that they were both highly experienced hero/vigilantes, the leaders of their own hero teams, and highly accomplished business people.

It was a hard relationship utterly riddled with drama, but they had finally reached the stable point where they were ready to commit. Sort of. They just needed Selina to fake-date Bruce in the public eye for a couple months, and then everything would be fine.

—*—*—*—*—*

One year and three months later.

Marinette shifted her purse on her shoulder. This would be her first time in over five years actually setting foot inside the Wayne Manor. She was excited to see Alfred again, and to hash out the last details for her and Bruce’s public “meet-cute.” But Alfred didn’t open the door this time, a short green-eyed boy with an all-too-familiar frown on his face did.

And once again, Marinette knew that Selina was not the mother. Her pseudo-sister was, as she had said so long ago, a very proud lesbian. But Marinette did know of a past fling of Bruce’s who did possess the proper genes to help create a child of this age.

Marinette smiled, pushing her inner rage at the thought of Talia Al Ghul out of her mind. She was still pissed beyond all rational thought when she heard about what Talia had done to Bruce. But this child was not at fault for any of it, only an innocent by-product.

“Hello. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Would you mind telling Alfred I’m here?”

“Tt. Why should I?” The apparently bratty boy asked, crossing his arms and glaring straight at her. Marinette felt her eye twitch.

“I am a close friend of Bruce— Would I be correct in assuming he’s your biological father?” Immediately upon her question, the boy’s eyes widened ever so slightly in shock before his glare intensified. Marinette chuckled. “He didn’t tell me that he adopted any new children, and he always tells me when he adopts. Which means he didn’t have to adopt you, suggesting you are related to him directly. You can’t be a cousin or nephew, he has no living blood family. And all his pseudo-siblings are alive and fine, so you weren’t left to his care in anybody’s will,” she deduced out loud for him. “Plus, the green eyes and tan skin— I know of exactly one of Bruce’s past… suitors… who happens to fit the timeframe and features necessary.”

The boy raised an eyebrow. “Most assume that I am that harlot Selina Kyle’s spawn,” he snapped, but it lacked the same heat this time around. He was now analyzing her face closely, and Marinette noticed. She was careful to keep her eagerness toned down. She really just wanted to see Bruce and be able to hug and cuddle him for the first time in almost a year, and this child was her only obstacle at the moment. A very stubborn one.

Marinette sighed. “Selina is like a sibling to me, don’t call her a harlot. If Selina was ever pregnant, I would have known. Hell, Selina would have given me her baby to raise because she doesn’t have any interest in being a mother. Now, the polite thing to do when someone introduces themselves is so introduce yourself back. Not interrogate or intimidate them.”

The boy huffed, straightening his emerald turtleneck and rolling his shoulders back. “I am Damian Wayne,” he replied imperiously. “And Father has never mentioned a friend by the name Marinette. Which leads me to believe you are yet another no good hopeful suitor, and Father is still recovering after he and Kyle finally split up for good.”

Marinette froze, and slowly her eyes narrowed. “He never mentioned my name? Ever?”

“Tt. I already said no.”

Finally, the shape of Alfred Pennyworth came into view behind Damian. He had obviously heard the last bit of the conversation, because he just sighed and shared a long suffering look with Marinette. It was that look that made Marinette’s eye twitch a second time.

“Alfred,” she said slowly. “Has he mentioned me at all to any of his kids?”

“He has not,” Alfred replied. “And furthermore, Miss Selina would not stop giving him a hard time whenever he had to call her out for an appearance. It seems all of the children mistook their relationship for actually being of a romantic nature.”

Damian spun to the butler, eyes wide and swimming with a multitude of emotions. “What do you mean, ‘actually’, Alfred?”

“He means,” Marinette began before Alfred had the chance. Her eyes were narrowed, matching storms of dark, furious blue. “That Selina was only pretending to be Bruce’s girlfriend so that the press and gold-diggers would leave him alone. And apparently I need to beat some sense into my stupid, idiotic boyfriend, who I should have known would do something like this,” she looked up at Alfred, jaw clenching. “That man would never be able to pass for a functioning human without either you or me keeping his head screwed on. Where is he?”

“Not at the manor currently, Mademoiselle Marinette.”

“Alfred.”

The butler gave Marinette a rather mischievous little grin. “Master Bruce has forbade me from telling you where he is currently, he wanted you to stay at the manor and sleep the jet lag off until he got back. But I can tell you that he is not currently on Earth or on a mission.”

“Alfred!” Damian hissed, shocked that the man would say something so revealing. Alfred was the perfect secret keeper, why would he tell someone Bruce had never mentioned something so telling?”

“Oh, calm yourself Master Damian,” Alfred soothed. “Marinette has known about Master Bruce’s nighttime activities since before you were born. If anything, I believe he rightfully deserves the wake up call he is about to receive.”

Marinette nodded, eyes still stormy and determined. “Alright, so he’s at the Watchtower. The Zeta tunes are still in the Batcave, right?” When Alfred nodded, Marinette wasted no time. She easily slid around Damian and stormed into the manor, finding her way to the Batcave on pure muscle memory and rage.

“Wait, Alfred! I demand an explanation!” Damian’s loud voice slowly grew quieter as Marinette stormed down into the cave, ignoring how Alfred began to calmly explain the situation to the boy. She just slid right in to the Zeta tube, and commanded the computer to send her to the Watchtower.

“P-001, codename LADYBUG, recognized.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Batman pinched his nose from where he stood at the head of the meeting room in the watchtower. The briefing was supposed to start over an hour ago, but Hal Jordan had been twenty minutes late. No surprise there. But still, SuperMan had insisted that they wait until everyone arrived. And really, normally Batman would too. Except that his long time girlfriend was going to be landing in Gotham any minute now, and he would rather be back at the manor to greet her.

And the asinine argument that had been going on for the past forty minutes was finally going to end, even if Bruce had to hogtie every last one of his insufferable coworkers himself and force them through the rest of the meeting strapped to their chairs.

“Okay, can we PLEASE begin the meeting now, or so help me I will break out my kryptonite restraints,” he threatened darkly. He might have only mentioned Kryptonite, but everyone knew that that threat was actually aimed at all of them. Batman knew every last one of their weaknesses and was not above being petty when they strained his last nerve.

Quickly getting the hint, the entire room rushed to fill their seats and at least fake at paying attention. But of course, nothing goes quite right in the life of Bruce Wayne. Right as he turned on the slideshow he had prepared and began the meeting, the sound of an enraged woman’s voice echoed down the hallway in a deafening roar.

“BRUCE THOMAS WAYNE, YOU ARE IN SOOOO MUCH TROUBLE!”

Batman felt as if someone had just shoved him into a cryogenic freezer, a harsh shiver of dread running down his spine. There was exactly one person who could terrify him with a single word, and it just so happened to be the woman he was hiding a wedding ring from.

For the past eight years, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Oh shit,” Bruce breathed, but found he was unable to move from his spot. Yes, he wanted to see Marinette so badly that it hurt. But he also would like to stay alive.

SuperMan leaned forward, not really concerned since Batman would have reacted much differently had the voice been coming from a real threat. Instead, the man leveled his old friend with a very teasing smirk.

“Why is your heart suddenly racing?”

Bruce could only glare daggers at Clark before the door to the meeting room swung open, a tiny French woman standing there in a long, formal white-and-pink knee-length gown with a cheongsam neckline and one of her leaf-green heels held in each hand threateningly.

“You absolute idiot! When I said I wanted to keep our relationship out of the public eye, I didn’t mean to keep me a secret from EVERYBODY!”

“But darling—“ Bruce cut himself off as he was forced to dodge one deadly-accurate piece of flying footwear. “You don’t understand. The boys cannot keep a secret to save their life.”

“They have secret identities, don’t they?” She slipped her other shoe back on. She had known that her shoe never had a chance of hitting, and with Bruce in full Batman gear, even if it had hit him the high heel would have felt like she had only thrown a pillow. Had it been otherwise, she wouldn’t have even joked about throwing her shoes at him. But as it stood, she knew none of the normal things she had on her would be able to so much as make Bruce say “ow.”

Marinette placed both of her fists on her hips, marching up to Batman and pulling him down the full foot it took for him to be able to look her in the eye. His resulting gulp was clearly audible, and visible, to everyone else in the room. “You absolute, emotionally dense moron,” her voice had dropped from a yell to a mildly fond, but still very annoyed, grumble. “Your kids are mostly adults now, you know. And you never told me about Damian either. Did you honestly think I’d be mad?” Bruce looked away from her, which was honestly all the answer she needed. Marinette sighed, letting him go and softening her voice. “You need to trust your kids more, Bruce. I never wanted you to keep me a secret from your family, or even your close friends. Just the annoying ass paparazzi. And trust me a little bit more, yeah? I know it isn’t exactly your strong suit, but I’ve known you long enough that you should know I’m not gonna run for the hills just because you have a biological kid that wasn’t with me.” Marinette risked giving him a slightly vulnerable, lopsided smile. And Bruce immediately deciphered what it meant. His shoulders slumped.

The cost of using the Ladybug Miraculous for so long was that Marinette had to give up her fertility. She could never have children of her own, and Bruce had felt guilty that he had had a biological child, even though he hadn’t exactly consented to it, without her. But now he could see where he went wrong.

Marinette was just happy to have another piece of him to take care of. She never would have resented him for what had happened with Talia. And, seeing all of those facts written on her face now, he felt more than a little blind.

“... sorry.”

Marinette just huffed out a short, soft laugh before grabbing Bruce by the bicep. She turned to look at the other heroes still in the room, half of them uncomfortable with seeing such an emotional display while the others looked like they were incredibly invested in a good soap opera. She shot them a grin.

“I’m stealing him for the next few days, okay? Don’t worry, I’m sure you can make do with making Diana read the slideshow. I know from experience that it has everything you guys need to know and more. Don’t call us, I’ll field all your contact to Agent A!!” With that, she dragged Bruce by the arm out of the room.

To be fair, he wasn’t exactly resisting. Even if the reunion was far from ideal, just having this little bit of contact was extremely relaxing for the vigilante. When they reached the Zeta Tubes, he stopped Marinette and pulled her in for a kiss.

When they inevitably pulled away for breath, he smiled at her. “As soon as we get back, I’ll call everyone in and explain the situation,” he promised. “And then, we can spend the rest of the night doing whatever you want.”

Marinette smiled back, shoving him into the Zeta Tube. “Then get ready, because I wanna sleep off this damn jet lag and I plan on cuddling you like a koala the whole time. No escape.”

“B-001, Codename BATMAN. Recognized.”

“Can’t wait,” he replied right before he was whisked off. The sound of the love of his life laughing followed him through until he reached the other end of the teleportation.

—*—*—*—*—*

@maribat-writing-and-prompts

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #brucinette

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cocogum · 4 years ago

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Weird HxH Facts you might’ve not noticed before (part 1)

Fact #1 : Leorio admitted to jerking off while Gon and Killua were risking their lives during the Chimera ant arc.

Explanation:

In the Election Arc (chapter 332), Leorio was chosen by the hunters to be one of the four remaining candidates to be Chairman.

Leorio didn’t know what to say for his speech but he knew that he had to save Gon.

So he tries convincing the public to try and help him to save his friend.

During his explanation, he talked about how he was a bad friend to Gon by LITERALLY CONFESSING TO EVERYONE that while Gon and Killua were risking their lives, he was jerking off and kept inviting girls over.

(the last panel when they all clap looks so wrong out of context dear god-)

Fact #2 : Gon and Killua never talked to someone of their age.

Explanation:

Even when Gon and Killua went through so much, they were mostly always around adults.

And by the same age, I mean literally the same.

This means that Zushi doesn’t count since he’s way younger than them.

Same for Alluka since she’s younger too but also because she’s Killua’s sibling so Killua was only able to talk to her because she was family.

Can you imagine that?

They never even once saw or talked to someone of their age whether it would be a boy or a girl.

Not even once.

Fact #3: Melody’s real name is not Melody

Explanation:

Melody has been called by many people as... Melody.

But her real name is far from how ‘Melody’ sounds like.

Apparently, her real name is Jerome Valdemoro.

When you learn her name you feel a bit weirded out since you’re so used to her other one ‘Melody’ (not to mention that Valdemoro sounds more like Voldemort especially when you compare the two’s physical appearance LOL IM SORRY MELODY I STILL LOVE U💞)

There are possible reasons as to why she’s called Melody instead.

1. She wants to remain anonymous until she gets her real body back.

2. ‘Melody’ is her nickname so it’s much easier to say.

3. Her cursed body makes her look like a boy and that her name ‘Jerome’ isn’t helping her in this situation, she prefers being called ‘Melody’ until she gets her real body back.

Fact #4: Kurapika was actually wearing two earrings

Explanation:

We always see Kurapika wearing one earring because it was the only one visible to us.

But he has actually been wearing more than one this whole time.

We just have never seen his other earring.

It would be weird that we have never seen it when he’s wearing two of them.

Fact #5: Chrollo is a floor master

Explanation:

In chapter 351, the commentator for Hisoka and Chrollo’s match, specifically labeled Chrollo as a floor master.

This means that at some point, Chrollo went to Padokea, LEGALLY fought at Heaven’s Arena and respected the country’s rules despite being a thief and mass murderer.

Fact #6: Kurapika is Nostrade’s Young Family Boss

Explanation:

Right when we get reintroduced to Kurapika, we get a small panel underneath him explaining his current status.

In Japanese however, it translates to “Nostrade’s Young Family Boss”.

At first glance, we might think that this isn’t such a big deal but when you take a moment to analyze what the meaning behind it means...

then oh boy.

Get ready for this one.

He is NOT the leader of the Nostrade organisation.

The panel is being very explicit about his status.

He is the head of the Nostrade family there is a huge difference between these two.

(Thank you for thelegitnumbkid and anotherworldash for this explanation☺️)

In Asian counterparts of the criminal organisations (such as the mafia) they all work like family organisations.

This means they need a male heir to continue on the family business (much like how the Zoldycks work even tho they’re professional assassins they still use that same technique)

This could as well be the criminal sub-culture of how the mafia in general functions.

And since the Nostrade family only has a daughter and not a son, they would then need a male to continue on the family business.

So the fact that Kurapika married Neon is a very bold statement to claim.

But the evidence is right there.

Many say that Kurapika killed Neon (I’m not saying she’s dead but this is another theory for another day 😉) but that logic doesn’t make any sense.

He precisely stated that he never killed anyone besides one of the phantom troupe members (Uvogin).

Whenever he had to acquire the eyes of his comrades from collectors, he had to either threaten them or coax them.

Fact #7: Between the main four, the viewers never saw Kurapika cry

Explanation:

Gon, Killua and Leorio have been seen crying multiple times out of sadness and sorrow.

But despite Kurapika’s background, you would think that he would be the one known to cry the most and yet that wasn’t the case.

He obviously feels a lot of pain and guilt in his heart but it’s obvious that he’s keeping it all to himself and at some point, he might just break down like how Gon did.

It’s simply so ironic to see the one who lost the most people not crying.

#hunter x hunter #hxh #weird facts #Kurapika #what the hell has Leorio been doing???#PFFFFTTT- JEROME #I STILL LOVE U MELODY #Kurapika is drowning in an indescribable emptiness #killua might become the next Leorio wtf-#MY BOYS NEED SOCIALIZING #what the heck has you been doin

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bonniebird · 4 years ago

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Klaus’ True Love (Part Two)

Klaus Mikaelson x Immortal!Fem!Reader

Summary: A thousand years ago Klaus lost her. The only girl he ever truly loved but now he's found her again, he's not letting her go without answers.

Part One

Part Three

Part Four

“So you found the spell, what do you want from me?” Klaus asked furiously. He’d been called to the boarding house, pulled away from his watch over you inspecting his art, to deal with inferior creatures that seemed unable to function without him.

“Bonnie isn’t powerful enough to use the spell.” Elena said defensively, stepping in front of Bonnie when Klaus bared his fangs at her.

“Well I’ll have someone find you a stronger witch.” He snapped before vanishing leaving them to wonder where he was keeping you.

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

“You look different now.” Klaus smiled when you jumped and turned away from the painting in front of you.

“I don’t want this spell lifted, I don’t want to lose Elena and Jer… Aunt Judith.” Your fingers reached out to brush the paint and he gently caught your hand.

“You never could keep those hands to yourself.” You looked up at him as he swallowed and twisted his fingers into yours, before you got uncomfortable enough to pull away, he dropped your hand and hurried over to the corner of the room.

“I managed to save your flower for you… when we first settled in Fell’s church you said you’d never seen something that could rival the beauty of the sun setting over the sea.” He pulled back the panel that had stood against one wall, revealing a large pot of dirt with the same flowers that grew around your window pane at home,

“Aunt Judith thinks it’s odd the flower seems to grow just for me.” You muttered, forgetting to fill in the vampire on what it was you meant but he seemed more engrossed in watching you finger the delicate purple petals.

“I named it after you, it has become very popular.” He smiled at you and moved away, leaving you with the plant.

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

“Thank you.” you whispered. Despite the kidnapping and threats against your siblings Klaus seemed… oddly indifferent to upsetting you, unlike Damon who almost tore your throat out the first time you met.

“A small gesture for a love I lost.” He muttered. You ran your fingers across one of the many sculptures and pulled your hand back, he was right, you learnt by touch and the desire to hold everything you saw was almost a hidden need.

“How did I get like this, clearly what you have told me is true enough for my sister and her brood of vampires to believe you.” You ask, settling down on the end of your bed as you waited for his answer.

“It is a very long story (Y/N) one that I will not know all of until you remember yourself.” He hesitated for a moment before beginning to speak.

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

“What have you done, she had no part of this… have you become so blinded by your need for power that innocent people must die?” Klaus hissed at his father hysterically as you didn’t resurface from the lake beneath him.

“You are a savage animal, what I did was mercy compared to a life with you.” Mikael spat back. He didn’t notice the flower you’d dropped being crushed beneath his boot but the desperate hybrid’s fingers plucked it from the ground and cradled it in his hands.

“Father, how could you do it?” Rebekah yelled bravely as she tore through the woods, following the sounds of her brother’s despair. He raised a hand to slap her but Elijah appeared just in time to take the blow.

“I will not be questioned by my own children.” He hissed, storming away, leaving the siblings to comfort one another.

Your gasp for air was sad and desperate, drawing the attention of the Mikaelson patriarch. He watched you pull yourself from the lake, sitting for a moment to take stock of what happened to you, before making his presence known.

“I never thought we ourselves could create another.” His ramblings made no sense to you as he held your chin up so he could look at your face closely.

“What have you done to me?” You sobbed. He frowned before lifting you to your feet by your arm.

“You must eat; do not worry I will find a witch to keep you safe from my wife’s bastard.” His voice attempted to be soft and comforting but made your skin crawl. You didn’t dare cry out for help, assuming he would have killed Niklaus for attacking him and showing such defiance.

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

“So he used compulsion to keep me under his control, why didn’t it wear off when he died?” You asked. Before you could panic Klaus was on his feet gently placing his hands on your shoulder.

“The witches, he forced the Gilbert’s, Lockwood’s and Bennet’s to protect you and the tradition was passed down, I have no doubt your Aunt knows something of your secret but hasn’t the heart to say anything… admittedly from me but not only did that guarantee your obedience, it erased any oddity of your ageing.” He took his hands away as you shook your head and pushed his arms.

“Aging oddity, I remember my birthdays and Elena’s birth… we fought over who could hold Jeremy first, my mother told me off on my sixth birthday for pushing Elena off a chair.” You yell at him frantically, pacing the room. He reached to comfort you but you shoved him away as tears fell down your cheeks.

“They are not real memory’s, the power in the land here keeps everyone human from seeing the truth.” You let Klaus wrap you in his arms as your legs gave out underneath you.

“But… No, I… you’re not taking those memories from me by undoing that spell.” You say firmly pounding your fists against the vampire’s chest.

“They will still remain (Y/N), if they didn’t everyone in Fell’s Church would know that you haven’t aged for a thousand years… all it will mean is, you will remember me and your real parents.” His voice cracked a little as he felt you give into the longing to rest yourself against him.

“But what if they don’t?” You whispered. He didn’t reply as he kissed your forehead and sat you back on the end of your bed.

“I will find a witch powerful enough to make sure they do.” He beckoned you to follow him and led you to a car with blacked out windows, indicating for the man in the front to take you wherever you wanted to go and shut the door without another word to you.

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

“Elena!” You ran up the Boarding house drive, wrapping your arms around your sister and began sobbing into her shoulder.

“Listen to me even if you forget… we forget, we love you, when Mom and Dad died you were with us and you lost them to and everything with Jer… you’ll always be our sister.” You smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks before embracing Bonnie.

“I’m sorry if I’d have known what Grams was doing…” You hugged your best friend and smiled.

“You always do what’s right Bonnie; you can’t fix something you don’t know is broken.” She grinned at you.

“Well this is all very touching lady’s but I have to prepare my home for an invasion of narcissistic immortals so if we could move it inside.” Damon snapped from behind you. you shared a silent smile with Stefan as you fell in step with him.

Three hours later Klaus and two other vampires appeared in the doorway dragging a woman they claimed to be causing trouble for several vampires. You reluctantly agreed to sit where they told you and Bonnie began hovering over the witch’s shoulder to make sure she was doing the spell correctly.

She began chanting something over and over, the room seemed to heave and shrink around you until it vanished entirely and there was just a plain door with a bolt in front of you. without hesitation you opened the door and let what was behind it wash over you.

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

“(Y/N) …. Oh god please be ok, please… don’t leave us.” Elena’s tears felt like cold droplets of ice on your skin and for a moment you couldn’t move.

“Drink this.” The blond woman that Klaus had come with was kneeling on the other side of you, holding a slightly warm baggie of blood.

“Rebekah.” You muttered, taking the bag and tearing it open drinking whatever you hadn’t split.

“Drink the witch, she’s no use for anything else.” Damon muttered when your hungry gaze fixed on your sister.

“What happened to her?” You asked as Rebekah helped you away from Elena and over to the now dead witch.

“Some spells kill us if we’re too weak.” Bonnie’s voice was wavering, no doubt the whole dead witch and vampire subject was hitting her a little harder than she liked to let on.

“Well as long as she’s dead and it stops me from devouring you all.” You muttered. You went to sink your new fangs into her neck only to have Klaus stop you.

“You drink from her like that we’ll have a town with no blood supply.” He stepped between you and the witch, sinking his teeth into her neck, before pulling away and indicating for you to feed from the marks he’d left.

Your gaze on Klaus lasted longer than needed and it wasn’t until he sat next to the witch and pulled you into his lap that you noticed everyone else had moved to the next room. His lips found yours in a kiss that held a deep longing and need that you felt your heart would explode if it lasted much longer.

“I hope you know I will never be without you again.” He whispered, brushing tendrils of hair from your face as he looked up at you. you placed a gentle kiss on his lips, smiling to yourself when he moaned and curled his hands into the chair to stop himself from touching you.

“I feel horrible.” You muttered, ruining the moment when your fangs extended and refused to vanish again.

“You haven’t eaten properly for a long time; magic supplementing is a form of witchly torture so you’re going to be starving.” He shifted so you could feed without leaving his embrace and without much prompting you sank your teeth into the witch’s neck.

He moved your hair out of his way and had to sink his fangs into his lip to stop himself from moaning at the sight of you feeding, feeling the rush of power the blood was giving you.

#klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson #the originals #bonniebird

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peterxwade24 · 4 years ago

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Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 7

So, who’s ready for Gotham ft. Thana and friends? Also, Uncles Ed and John show up at the end so, look out for that.

Anyways...

Jason woke up early that next day, and he decided he was just going to have a little bit of a lie in. He smiled and pulled Damian closer, shushing him when he made a noise in protest. “I’m pretty sure the girls are going to join us in a little bit, and then Tim a little while after that.”

Just like he expected, Steph and Cass joined them in the bed not too long after he said it, and then Tim joined in a few minutes after the girls. The five of them laid in bed, everyone finding comfort in each other. No words were passed between the family, they didn’t feel the need to speak.

That’s where Dick and Wally, and their kids, found them about an hour later.

“Why weren’t we called to join the cuddle pile?” Dick pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, while Mar’i, Jay, and Iris ducked around their fathers and climbed into the bed. They, like Damian, chose a Wayne and clung to them. Mar’i clung to Tim, Iris clung to Steph and Jai clung to Cass.

“There’s a nine-year-old practically asleep on my chest. My phone is on my nightstand. None of them brought their phones to my bed.” Jason whispered and carded his fingers through Damian’s hair.

Dick shot a look at Wally, Wally simply shrugged as though to say “when in Rome” before he too got into the bed.

“C’mon Dickiebird. We don’t have anything to do today. We don’t start guiding or protecting them till tomorrow.” Jason’s words were slightly slurred in his comfortable state.

Dick huffed good-naturedly before climbing into the bed with his family and the Wests.

---

Tim’s phone blared from the room he’d claimed, stirring the almost completely asleep cuddle pile into wakefulness.

Jason frowned and shifted Damian from his chest to Steph’s other side. “I’ll be right back. Imma go answer Timber’s phone.” Jason slowly got out of the bed, being careful to not displace the other kids, and quietly left the room. He made his way into Tim’s room, grabbed his phone off of the night stand, and, without looking at the caller ID, answered the phone. “Timothy Jackson Drake’s phone, Jason speaking.”

“Why do you have his phone?” Bruce’s irritated voice came over the line.

“Because Tim’s in my bed asleep with most of my family and he left his phone on the nightstand next to the bed he sleeps in.” Jason’s voice didn’t change despite a grin forming on his face. “If something’s gone wrong at Wayne Enterprises, then shouldn’t you as the CEO be stepping up to solve it? And not your seventeen year old son.”

“You have no-” Bruce growled.

“I have no what? Room to care about my little brother? Right to care that my brothers and sisters would perish in your care?” Jason’s tone took on a deadly edge. “I have killed for less. I have killed to keep my son safe. I am not above maiming in the defense of those I love.” Jason hung up the phone and put it back down on the nightstand with a weighted sigh. He turned and the only indication he was surprised by Cass’s appearance was a slight widening to his eyes. “Hey Cass.”

Cass simply walked towards her brother and let herself slump against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him in her own display of thanks.

Jason simply rubbed circles into the older girl’s back. “I will not let him hurt any of you ever again. Harvey and I will fight tooth and nail if we have to, he has already given up his parental rights to Damian. You and Steph and Tim are just as much my siblings as you are my kids, well, you not so much a kid but you know what I mean.”

Cass shook with silent laughter and nodded. She patted Jason’s back and pulled back. She flashed him a smile before pulling him back to the rest of the family.

---

Jason smiled as Damian ran around the park with Mar’i, Jai and Iris. Damian hadn’t had many opportunities to open up to children his age, as there hadn’t been any in the league, and despite the fact that he was older than the other three the four of them got along fairly well. Jason watched as Dick fretted over the three younger kids, Wally stood beside him with a small affectionate grin on his face. Tim was riding a skateboard around the park, Bart keeping pace beside him. Cass sat with Kon while Steph, Cassie and Cissie chatted a few paces away from the other two.

Damian, Mar’i, Jai and Iris ran around the park, weaving around other patrons and laughing. Damian looked over his shoulder at the other three when he ran into someone.

“Are you okay? Oh I’m so sorry.” A girl, who was with the person Damian ran into, spoke with a French accent. She was significantly taller than her companion with long black hair, the bangs and tips of which were dyed purple, and copper coloured eyes. She fretted over both Damian and her friend, who Damian was finally taking in. Her friend was short, just a head or two taller than Damian, with blue eyes and short pink hair, part of which was pulled back into a spiky ponytail.

Damian nodded. “I’m fine.”

Mar’i, Jai and Iris, upon seeing Damian standing, turned and ran to get their fathers.

The taller girl nervously flicked her bangs out of her face before frowning. “Are you sure you’re okay? Alix doesn’t always look where she’s skating.”

The other girl, apparently named Alix, looked ready to comment when Dick and Wally approached.

“Are you okay Damian?” Dick’s tone was filled with concern while Wally hung back with the three other kids.

“I’m fine Uncle Dick.” Damian frowned, “where’s Baba?”

“He’s gathering the other three, then they’ll be over here.” Dick reassured his young brother/nephew.

Jason ran to his son and scooped him up. “Oh Kutlat Saghira. Are you okay?” He turned to look at the French teens and smiled. “Thank you for stopping to make sure he was fine.”

Alix’s eyes widened before nodding. “Yeah, uh, no problem.”

Juleka gave a shy smile and nodded. “It was the least we could do.”

-*-*-*

Thana stared at her friends, the three who had always had her back and the two newest additions to their ranks. She took a moment to thank Plagg and Tikki, without whom she may never have met her closest friends and allies. She took in her friends and the way that all of their outfits seemed to go together without being obnoxiously matchy-matchy.

Alix seemed to be vibrating in her shoes, which were custom made turtle shell patterned Heelys. She wore dark gray distressed jeans with a dark forest green racerback tank top. She had a black and red men’s flannel over her tank with a red beanie perched on the top of her head. She had a dark green turtle themed shoulder bag strapped across her back.

Nino, standing next to Alix, had similar shoes done in snake skin instead of turtle shell. He wore loose-fitting blue denim jeans with several snake related patches around the side seems, he had a gray collared shirt under a red sweatshirt. He had a black shoulder bag across his back, on the opposite side Alix’s was. He had his normal headphones around his head while he had a pair of black headphones atop his head.

Adrien wore black and white checkered vans with white socks. His pants were salmon with baby pink criss-crossing stripes covering them. He wore a baby pink sweater with a light gray fanny pack.

Chloé wore a layered yellow skirt with a pair of foxes chasing each other around her hem, her skirt was made up of a solid layer of yellow silk under two or three layers of tulle. She had a white crop top tank under a red knit cardigan. She had an orange coloured baguette purse at her side. She had black converse with black socks to finish off her outfit.

Kim wore a pair of black running shoes, with gray sweatpants and a white shirt. He had a red zippered hoodie on top of that. He had a tiny gray ox with a smaller black cat curled up on its back on the hem of his shirt.

Thana had a pair of black running shoes, with gray leggings and a white tank top. She had a red crop top hoodie made of the hoodie she’d received from Jason all those years ago with a few added panels. Her tank top had little depictions of the Vietnamese zodiac animals on her chest.

Alix smiled brighty. “So, Kiti, you’ll never guess who I ran into, almost literally, yesterday.”

Thana hummed in acknowledgement as she led the group to the elevator. “Who’d you run into Rùa?”

“Oh, just, your brother, his brother, and an assortment of children.” Alix grinned as Thana froze and turned to look at her.

“What?” Thana’s voice was almost too quiet to hear, prompting Kim to drape his arm across her shoulders while Nino settled his normal headphones around Thana’s neck.

Chloé stared at Adrien, her blue eyes seeming to stare into Adrien’s soul.

“Hey, Al, that maybe wasn’t the best thing to say when we’re trying to get to the lobby to go on a tour with the rest of our class.” Adrien attempted to gently tell her off, but it backfired.

“Whatever.” Alix slunk ahead of them into the elevator.

---

Adrien looked at Alix forlornly as Alix chatted with Juleka. He knew he’d have to apologize eventually, he may have one fear as Monsieur Punaise (which was his partner) but he had two fears as Adrien Agreste, and they were disappointing his father and an angry Chloé Bourgeois. He shook his head and looked back at Chloé, who had a frown on her face as her eyes continued to scan the streets.

Nino fiddled with his phone as he kept pace a step behind Chloé but a step ahead of Thana and Kim. He looked to be fully absorbed in his phone but he was quick to pull Chloé away from the street a few moments before a car came whizzing past.

Their tour guide, a pleasant man who’d introduced himself as Richard, despite the fact that the bodyguard had snorted in response before neglecting to introduce himself, led them around Gotham. He pointed out all of the touristy destinations, while Thana mumbled what could be considered sad facts about each place.

Thana kept flicking her eyes to the bodyguard, there was only one Gothamite with the exact same build as their bodyguard with the same scars littering his cheeks and jaw. She was worrying the cuffs of her jacket sleeves when she heard the distinctive tap of her Uncle Ed’s cane. She whipped around to attempt to locate him, before seeing him and his tacky suit and her Uncle John and his equally as tacky suit approaching from behind Kim. She broke away from the group, causing the rest of her class (as well as the tour guide and bodyguard) to turn to stare at her as she threw herself into her Uncle Ed’s arms.

“Little Hood. It’s good to see you.” Her Uncle Ed held her close while Uncle John finally reached the duo.

“Hey Mini Todd.” Her Uncle John ruffled her hair before settling an arm around Ed’s shoulders.

The three reunited for a moment under the watchful eyes of the class’ bodyguard, Thana’s friends, and Marinette’s class. Kim pulled out his phone to take a picture to send to his Mẹ, because she had asked for any updates on Thana’s family situation. Nino took a picture to send to Thana, because he knew she’d want to have photographic evidence of when she reunited with her two of her uncles.

“I missed you two so much.” Thana whispered into Ed’s neck while John settled his hand on the back of Thana’s head.

“We missed you too.” John assured their niece, he knew that she’d had doubts about whether or not they had actually missed her as much as she’d missed them, and he hated her father for giving her that complex every day.

Lila let out a blood-curdling scream before appearing to tremble as she pointed at the trio. “Marinette is hugging The Riddler and Scarecrow!” Lila then proceeded to pretend to faint, luckily for her Alya was right there to catch her, unluckily for her everyone else was focused on their classmate and that fact that she appeared to have tears streaming down her cheeks.

Taglist:

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitch @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky @susiej1118 @bluesimani @thatonecroc

#maribat #ml crossover #mlb crossover #ml x dc #mlb x dc #Safety Found in Red Sleeves #SFIRS

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amydancepants-peralta · 4 years ago

Text

The 5 times Jake & Amy tried to get some ‘alone time’ during the holidays (and the 1 time they’re successful)

Here is my entry into the @b99fandomevents Summer 2020 Challenge, for @peraltasames 💗 also available on ao3, as it is a little long ☺️

(For those of you playing at home, only part 2 is NSFW 🙊)

Part 1:

(where it all begins)

Attempt number 1: The Santiago Family Holiday House

“Thought I might find you here.”

Lifting her head up from its resting place in the crook of her arm, Amy doesn’t even try to suppress the smile that began to creep onto her face the moment she’d picked up on Jake’s voice.

She cocks her head to the side as he falters mid-step, an obvious blush creeping onto his cheeks as he lifts his hands, raising two bottles in mock surrender. “I mean, obviously I didn’t know that you’d be out here … I’ve never been here before and that’s giving off some real Creepy New Boyfriend vibes. You know what, I’m just going to reset and start again.” Digging one sneakered heel into the landing, he does a quick full body turn before Amy can give any type of reassurance; blinking quickly when their eyes meet again to indicate a Full Reset. “Hey, Ames! Your brother mentioned that you might be out here, so I thought I’d do something completely non-stalkery and bring you a drink.”

Chuckling, Amy reaches out for one of the offered bottles, riding that still new high that comes from hearing Jake Peralta refer to himself as her boyfriend. “Thanks, babe.”

It’s Jake’s turn to grin right back, clearly enjoying her use of their favourite new term for each other; a colloquial word that still seemed kinda new - given it’s only been four months since they got together - yet somehow fits so well it’s almost a little strange to remember a time when they couldn’t refer to each other as such. There’s a shared giddiness that floats between them as they clink bottles and take a sip, and her cheeks kinda hurt from smiling this much, but Amy really doesn’t care.

Gesturing at the expanse of the relatively simple deck, Jake takes in the wooden panelling of the exterior walls before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. “So … this is your little secret hideout, I hear?”

Nodding, Amy returns to her earlier position leaning against the high railing in front of her, letting out a soft yeah as her free hand runs along the timber paling.

Built by her grandfather as a home away from the city several decades ago, the Santiago Lake House has long been considered a place of refuge for the family. With six of her brothers, two uncles and her father Victor on the force, common holidays were rarely guaranteed off; and so this year they had elected a non-particular weekend in June as their opportunity for all to come together. Save for a last-minute issue at Victor’s precinct pulling him away from the festivities, all eight Santiago siblings (and their mother Camila) had arrived earlier today for a well overdue holiday.

While the majority of her family often preferred to gather around the oversized back deck, from a young age Amy had gravitated towards the more intimate side balcony that overlooked the water. Stretching out from the family room situated on the second floor, the surrounding tree tops lent a sense of privacy the back deck couldn’t completely offer; and on the evenings when things began to feel a little too loud, Amy would often come up here to decompress, watching the night slip by as the moon silvered the lake before her.

Taking a sip of his beer, Jake moves to stand next to Amy, resting his weight against the banister as he drinks in the view. “I really like it.” A small army of goosebumps appear on Amy’s skin, despite the dusk’s only slightly fading heat, as his arm brushes against her skin. “Perfectly compact, with a great view.” She can sense him grin, shoulder nudging against hers. “Feels like you.”

Amy feels her cheeks heat up as a blush washes over her, grateful that the relative darkness of the almost night sky would be able to hide her reaction. Jake was the very first boyfriend she’d ever brought to the lake house - a fact that Manny had announced very loudly in the middle of the private tour she had been giving earlier - and the look of elation and pride that had taken over Jake’s features at the discovery has remained fresh in her mind for the past few hours.

(It had never been an overly deliberate action, to keep previous boyfriends away from the lake house, but the thought of Jake joining in, within a minute of the date being set, had been so automatic that Amy is only now realising that the concept of being here without him had seemed completely illogical.)

A melody played from Luis’ acoustic guitar is carried up to the two of them by a sudden breeze, cutting through the tops of the surrounding pine, and Amy lets out a small shiver: forever and always susceptible to the cold, regardless of the lingering summer heat. Without missing a beat; Jake moves to stand behind her - covering her back with his front with the instinct of not only a gentleman, but a man who is very quickly taking complete hold of her heart.

His arms come to rest besides hers along the edge of the bannister, and quietly Amy hopes that he cannot feel the rapid pounding of her heart through her jacket. It felt a little ridiculous to act this way, like some kind of lovesick teenager drawing hearts all over her notebook, but dating Jake for the past four months doesn’t seem to have taken the edge off the way his presence made her feel.

“So …. Tell me about David.”

As hard as she tries to avoid it, Amy feels her shoulders tense up - the urge to let out an exaggerated UGH almost too strong to resist. She’d only touched on David’s presence briefly on the drive up to the lake house, and despite her own personal reservations, she supposed it was sort of fair that Jake might have a few questions. Letting out a calming breath, Amy gives herself a quick reminder to keep her responding tone light. “What would you like to know?”

“Uhh … well, look - the way his photo is displayed on that mantel in the formal lounge, and the clear adoration in your mother’s voice whenever his name came up made me wonder if he was on some super secret mission to Mars or something.” Shaking his head, Jake knocks the lip of the beer bottle against his forehead. “I honestly spent the first twenty minutes of polite chatter frantically rewinding all of our conversations over the last few years in my head, trying to remember you ever bringing up something like that. Thank god he walked in when he did, or I’m sure I would’ve ended up saying something really stupid.”

Knowing that Jake can’t necessarily see her (okay, perhaps childish) reaction, Amy rolls her eyes at the mention of Camila’s unfiltered reverence when it comes to David. “Yeah, he’s basically the ‘Do No Wrong’ guy … The Golden Child, as Julian and I like to call him. It’s kinda always been like that, ever since he came home from first grade with a report card filled with gold star stickers and praise from literally every teacher he’d ever been in contact with.”

Swallowing his last swig of beer, Jake scoffs into the night sky. “Gold stars are cool, I guess. But any fool knows that the scratch-n-sniff stickers are where it’s really at.”

“Obviously. Strawberry, the clear winner.”

His free hand landing on her forearm, Jake squeezes gently. “I’d always been partial to grape, but strawberry just reminds me of that chapstick you use before bed now, and I am a big fan of those strawberry kisses to start my morning.”

Craning her head to the side slightly, Amy flashes Jake a grin before meeting him halfway for a soft kiss. She, too, had become a big fan of morning kisses … and afternoon kisses, night kisses … basically any time she got to feel the pressure of Jake’s lips against her own was a winner in her book - and she knows she’s being a little ridiculous but she also really, really likes him. Remembering their previous conversation as she pulls away, Amy shakes her head slightly before looking out onto the lake again.

“It’s worse at home, if I’m being honest - it’s basically the same shrine on the mantel, only at home we have a piano in the living room as well. So … how well you’re doing at school or work or whatever, determines your position either on the piano or the wall of shame above the staircase.”

“I mean … I’m sure it’s not meant to feel like a wall of shame, babe.”

Amy nods, letting out a quick I want to believe you laugh. “Tell that to Tony. One semester, he wasn’t focusing as much as normal, and his grade dropped by a whole level. Two days after he came home with the results, Mama conveniently decided to do a redesign of the living room - one that just so happened to include the shuffling of Tony’s school portrait from next to mine on the piano, to sitting at the bottom of the staircase.”

Taking a long sip of Cristal, Amy pauses to take stock of the conversation. It felt slightly traitorous to be talking to Jake about the hierarchy that - prior to this evening - she’d only ever discussed with her brothers (minus one). There’s never been a question over whether their mother loved them dearly - an abundance of love was palpable between the walls of both their family home and the holiday house - but it was also impossible to deny that the shadow of David’s successes, paired with Camila’s obvious praise, had loomed over Amy’s shoulders during her many late night study sessions.

This wasn’t the first time talking to Jake had led to Amy admitting more than she would to most - he had that (at times, irritating) ability to sneak past her guard long before they’d been anything more than colleagues. But one of her most favourite details of their new relationship, aside from the why-did-we-wait-so-long-for-this sex, was the amount of nights they would stay up just … talking. They’d learnt more about each other in the past four months than the last two years combined, and still she craves more. Shaking her now empty bottle, Amy stoops to place it on the ground beside her before straightening, sighing in contentment as Jake’s shoulders rest against hers once again.

“Eventually, Tony’s photo found its way back to the piano .. but the message was pretty clear.” Letting out a rueful laugh, she shakes her head slightly. “It’s no secret that I love a bit of friendly competition. But … it’d be kinda nice if the rungs of the ladder weren’t always so far away from each other.”

At the feeling of Jake’s lips pressing into her hair Amy lets out one last sigh, surprising herself with just how lighter her shoulders seem to feel. A silence stretches between them as Jake drains the last of his beer, and just when she’s about to change the subject completely, he speaks.

“So. There’s a little known fact about me, that you should probably be made aware of now that we’re all smooshing booties offical stylez and whatever.”

Her lips curl up at the term. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yup. Obviously you’re already aware of my titles as Greatest Detective Ever, Badass MC, Amazing Lover, Fierce Defender of Good from Evil ..”

“Oh god, is this list ever going to end?”

“… Master dunker at B-ball, unofficially official taste tester of any and all sour candies … but! What you might not know is that I am also a crazy good Hype Man. Like .. the best. All the others can just go home coz I kick the most butt at hyping things up and that’s just the facts.”

Turning her head slightly towards Jake, Amy glances up at her boyfriend from the corner of her eyes. “I feel like there was a point you were making, here?”

Depositing his empty bottle along the far edge of the banister, Jake’s hands return to weave their fingers through both of Amy’s, staying close as she watches him take a heavy swallow. Sensing that something important was about to be said, and that Jake may not be at the Locked Eyes Grand Gesture stage just yet, she trains her gaze towards the lake and waits.

“What I’m saying, Ames, is that I am officially signing up to be your hype man. I will literally have zero hesitation in pointing out your awesomeness to anybody that doesn’t immediately see it, and I just ..” Pausing for a moment, he shuffles closer to her back, squeezing their gripped fingers tightly, and she takes no hesitation in squeezing right back. “You need to know that … no matter what happens. I’m always going to be there, cheering you on.”

The unspoken definition of the no matter what happens hangs between them, the mere mention of anything but the two of them staying together sounding both unwelcome and impossible, and Amy nods against his chest.

“I just …. They could rewire the stars with your accolades, Ames. The fact that it goes over anybody’s head baffles me, let alone somewhere like here.”

She nods again, temporarily unable to speak as unexpected tears begin to threaten their escape. There were an abundance of reports and awards that spoke of her achievements, and logically she knew that any task that she set her mind to could be mastered with relative ease.

But to know that Jake not only noticed her triumphs, but wanted to actually (and, perhaps literally) shout them from the rooftops, meant more to Amy than she could have anticipated.

He presses another kiss to her hair, and she holds onto him tightly. There’s so much familiarity surrounding her right now - from the scratch of the logwood bannisters; the filtered laughter of her brothers and their extended families, to the slightly acrid smell of burnt marshmallows as Luis once again fails to make a decent s’more.

Jake’s cologne with it’s spicy notes, and the overall sense of warmth he exudes, should feel foreign amongst it all … but standing here on the balcony with his arms stretched out comfortably on top of her own, Amy cannot deny that it feels less like an intrusion, and more like the final piece of life’s puzzle locking into place.

Her voice cuts through the night, tone soft as she rests her head briefly against Jake’s shoulder. “I’m really glad you’re here, Jake.”

The bridge of Jake’s nose brushes her temple as he dips his head lower, pressing a kiss against her cheekbone, and her heart skips at the simple intimacy of it all. “Me too, Ames.”

His fingers, still interlaced with hers, tighten as he pulls their arms closer to her middle; holding the two of them in a tight embrace as his continues a trail of kisses, letting out a quiet sigh as he follows her jawline. It’s as his teeth begin to graze the outside edge of her earlobe - a guaranteed winning choice - that he begins to whisper, the warmth of his breath sending shivers down her spine. “So if I’m officially the first boyfriend you’ve brought here … does that mean there’s a bed somewhere that needs breaking in?”

Grinning, Amy turns in his embrace, releasing her grip on his hands so that she can throw her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and nod. He gives her a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows, absorbing her laughter with a slightly longer kiss as his arms wrap around her lower body, and it only takes a moment when he pulls away and looks down at her - but in a moment, she knows.

It’s a combination of things - a curated list of all of her favourite details about him coming together on a hazy June evening: the softness of his touch every time he was near; the warmth of his breath when it ghosted over her skin, the way he made her feel like she was the only person in the world that he could ever want to kiss. She knows that it’s still technically early days, but as his fingers tip gently underneath her chin and draw her closer for the kind of kiss one doesn’t forget easily, Amy knows for sure that she is most definitely falling in love with Jake Peralta.

It’s the kind of thought - the kind of kiss - that distracts even the most focused of people, and for that reason alone Amy doesn’t hear the heavy thud of Manny’s boots bounding up the staircase until it’s accompanied by his loud Busted! tone.

“Okay amantes - time to come and at least pretend to be sociable with the family, yah?”

Amy’s lips pull away from Jake’s with a smack, swivelling her head towards her brother as she fixes him with a glare. “We’re here for an entire weekend, Manny. Plenty of time for family stuff.”

That frustratingly mischievous glint appears in her brother’s eyes - a sure sign of danger ahead - and Amy pulls away slightly from Jake. “Ah-huh. No biggie, Ma’s just been asking about your new boyfriend Jake, and is wondering where you’d gotten to … I’ll just tell her you’re both up here exploring the backs of each other’s throats, if that’s cool?”

Grabbing her wrist quickly, Jake yelps out a quick “Nope!”, gently pulling Amy towards the staircase. “We were actually just talking about how we should go down and join the crowd, weren’t we Ames?”

Manny makes little to no effort to conceal his laughter as Amy’s response is a continuation of her glare, and he half-turns towards Jake as all three begin their descent towards the back deck. “FYI, my bedroom is right next to yours, and I sleep real light … wouldn’t want to have to tell Mama about the things that go bump in the night, hey hermana?”

“You’ll get yours, manito.” Amy mumbles, linking hands with Jake as they move further away from their private oasis.

There was a very good chance that this was Manny’s version of revenge (she may or may not have stumbled on her brother & his boyfriend last year, something she still swears to have been an accident) but now she’s both turned on and frustrated; knowing that as long as Manny has anything to do with it, there will be No Sex for her and Jake at the lake house.

Truly, she couldn’t think of a worse way to begin a holiday.

(… is that a red light blinking?)

Attempt number 2: Santa Barbara

Jake’s eyebrows lift in surprise as the strength of Amy’s shove forces him into the couch cushions below, body barely settling against the base before she begins scrambling onto his lap.

Responding to his shock with a satisfied grin, Amy rests her hands on either side of his face to pull him in for a kiss, catching his soft moans and joining them with her own as it deepens.

It isn’t until she’s begun to graze her teeth against the base of his neck that she catches her breath, whispering as her body begins to grind down against his - “I’m totally blaming you for this, by the way.”

“I’m not sure what I’m taking the blame for, but as long as you keep kissing me like that I’m pretty much going to admit to anything.”

She laughs, sinking her teeth gently into his shoulder and leaving a kiss in their wake. “You and your hands, stroking up and down my back all night while I was trying to be the attentive and supportive sister. It was driving me crazy, you don’t know how close I came to dragging you into the coat closet.”

The two of them had flown to Santa Barbara for a long weekend to show their support for Amy’s closest (aka: secretly favourite) brother, Miguel. As the only Santiago child not to join the NYPD, Miguel had instead chosen to become a specialist in the medical field, relocating to follow a promotion in California. This evening he was receiving an award from his peers at a gala uptown, and both Jake and Amy had jumped at the chance to attend - if for no other reason than a chance to get away, after months of double shifts and leads that had taken them absolutely nowhere.

Amy had chosen a new dress for the occasion - black material that shimmered in just the right way, with a low-scoop back to avoid the unbearable summer heat. Paired with her signature studs and heels high enough to do some serious damage if provoked, she’d felt like a million dollars walking into the gala on Jake’s arm - and had smiled ever so proudly as Miguel received his award.

The rest of the night, however, has become a vague memory … because all she can remember feeling - all she can remember even thinking about - was the way Jake’s fingers felt as they feathered against her exposed skin. With his arm draped over her chair he’d been given the perfect amount of leeway throughout the ceremony, and the non-sensical patterns of unconscious action on her boyfriend’s end had sent a parade of tingles all over her body with every lap.

Safe to say, once all the awards have been presented and they’d had the chance to congratulate Miguel once again, Amy had slammed down her fourth drink and found a convenient reason for her and Jake to leave. Immediately.

“To be fair Ames, you do look amazing tonight,” Jake mumbled in-between kisses, running his hand over the expanse of her back to demonstrate his appreciation. “Honestly, I’m blaming the dress for making my already hot girlfriend Super Mega Hot.”

She rewards his sweet declaration with a heated kiss, hands making quick work of his tie - loosening the knot with practised ease (she does, after all, fasten and loosen his work tie most days) and casting the fabric aside as she begins to tackle his buttons.

A beachside mansion, owned by a friend of Roger’s, had been offered to be their accommodation for the weekend - an olive branch of sorts towards Jake that he’d begrudgingly accepted (the notion of his parents dating each other, something he was slowly coming to terms with). Their delayed flight this afternoon had meant that Jake and Amy barely had time to dump their bags before getting changed and leaving again, but the floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive layout she’d picked up on their way out the door already suggested a very comfortable few days ahead.

It is, in fact, only as Jake drops a quick kiss to her lips, suggesting they move things into the bedroom, that Amy stands and actually takes stock of her surroundings (a combination of four drinks and an irresistible partner can clearly only lead to a distracted mind).

Tugging onto her boyfriend’s hand as he continues leading her towards the hallway, Amy lets out a quiet wait a minute - and it’s just enough to pique Jake’s interest, turning to see what it is that’s caught Amy’s attention.

“Ames?”

Raising her finger in a curious point, Amy surveys the room. “Cameras.” At Jake’s silence, she points them out as she slowly circumnavigates the room. “One, two .. I count four altogether. Four cameras, three of them video. Trained to face the furniture, and not the beach.”

Hands on hips, Jake moves further into the centre of the room, frowning. “Yeah, that is a little weird.”

Her eyebrows knit together as she walks towards the bookshelf next to the tv unit, inspecting a container that managed to catch her eye. “Jake, there are like five different handcuffs in here. All of them furry.” Turning her head, she begins to read a few of the labels attached on a row of VHS tapes. Genna and Nicolai … Matt and Lennon … “Cockpit Larry and the Mile High Stewardi?” Swivelling quickly, Amy turns to gasp at Jake. “Babe … what sort of place has your father organised for us?”

Running his hand along the back of his neck, Jake shakes his head quickly. “Let’s not panic just yet, Ames. This could all just be a series of coincidences that when put together seem really weird, but actually aren’t. It .. looks like a normal house - except for all the cameras that seem to be directed towards the couch we were definitely just making out on, maybe a few sex tapes and what, in hindsight, might definitely be release papers waiting for us on the kitchen bench.”

“There’s what, where?”

“In fact, I bet if I lift the lid off of this bowl thing, we’ll find some delicious candy or potpourri or something … and it’s lube. Many, many bottles of lube. Hey, we’ve got the same flavour!”

Amy’s eyes widen, her face paling significantly as she feels her stomach drop to her feet. “Oh god, this is a sex dungeon isn’t it?”

“If not, it’s the background of at least a few porn videos.” Gripping the base of his hair in frustration, Jake lifts his head to curse at the ceiling. “I should’ve known Roger wouldn’t know anybody with a normal house!”

Sensing the panic build up inside of her, Amy scours the room for her purse and heels, both of which had been discarded near the entryway mid-makeout. The arousal that had been coursing through her mere minutes ago has all but disappeared, replaced by the overwhelming urge to take a shower. She was all for porn, just as long as she wasn’t the star of it (one simply doesn’t find NYPD’s youngest female captain on RedTube) - and this house was the kind of place that, under a black light, would resemble a Jackson Pollock. “Jake, we need to leave. We almost had sex in here!”

“Almost being the keyword, Ames. Unless … ”

“Jake!”

“Coming, my love! Title of the sex tape that we definitely didn’t make here!”

(i’m sensing a pattern here …)

Attempt Number 3: The Beach House

“Jake! Jake’s girlfriend! I just pulled Charles’s ear away from your bedroom door, thought you might wanna know!”

Startled, Jake lifts his head up so quickly it hurts his neck a little, both confused and irritated that his earlier activity of planting a series of kisses along Amy’s bare torso has been so rudely interrupted. “Wait, was that …?”

Raising her head off of the pillow, Amy meets his startled gaze with her own. “Did she just - ”

Their suspicions (and, in all honesty - their worst fears) were confirmed a mere second later as another voice booms through their (thankfully, locked) bedroom door.

“I’ve had a very stressful week, Gina! What better way to lull myself into a restful sleep than by listening to the sweet lovemaking of America’s Dream Couple?”

“Oh my god, BOYLE!”

Jake’s knees slide against the sheets as he sits up, lending a hand to Amy as she follows suit. He lets out a defeated sigh as she pushes the hem of her shirt downwards again, leaning forward to grip his arm as he calls through the door - “Boundaries, Charles! … Thank you, Gina!”

“It’s a virtual feast for the ears, you guys! Very soothing, to bear audio witness to the actualisation of love beyond a doorway. It’s only weird if we make it weird.”

“It’s weird and creepy and not okay, Boyle!” Squeezing his eyes shut, Jake cringes at the sheer notion of it. Using his best nope voice, he continues. “Good night!”

From their position on the bed, Jake and Amy hear the faint sound of Gina muttering come on, you weirdo; and they wait in careful silence, sharing flustered looks.

The entire squad had all met up at Boyle’s ex-wife’s beach house this weekend, eager to continue the yearly tradition now that Holt and Jake had finally returned from Florida a month prior. After a day of fun and frivolity (the two of them perhaps being a little unsubtle as they openly checked each other out in their swimwear); the happily reunited couple had snuck away as the evening’s drinks began to die down for a little … alone time.

It had been Jake’s version of paradise, with Amy’s skin still feeling warm and sun kissed as his hands roamed her gorgeous body, and with a schedule of Absolutely Nothing planned for the following day, he intended to keep things going well into the early hours.

That is, of course, until Charles (and Gina, but … mainly Charles) had put a total stop to it.

Amy’s hand squeezes Jake’s bicep, casting a wary glance towards the door before softly speaking. “Wow, that was close.”

“Yeah. I never thought I would say this in relation to sex, but … thank god for Gina.”

“I don’t even want to imagine the alternative.”

Shaking his head, Jake swears under his breath. “You know what this is, right?”

“Charles forgetting basic social normalities, and grossly overstepping the line?”

“No. I mean, yes - that, too. But I think the main culprit here is the curse.”

“The curse?”

“The No Nookie Curse. Tell me you’ve noticed it Ames, it can’t just be me.”

Cocking her head to the side, Amy tests out the term. “The No Nookie Curse?”

Scooting closer to his girlfriend, Jake rests his palms against Amy’s thighs with the practiced comfort of someone who knows her body better than his own. “Every single time we tried to initiate sexy times when we’re on holiday, something happens to interrupt us. I’m telling you, we’re cursed.” He grimaces, rolling his eyes. “Which is probably because I didn’t forward that email on to seven of my closest friends back in 2013, but I was busy that day and - ”

“Jake. There’s no way we’re cursed. We had sex on our last holiday … didn’t we?”

“Do you mean that weekend at Dave’s cool beachfront mansion, that was also definitely used for porn films?”

“Oh right, the sex den. Okay, but that’s a one-off. We’ve been on plenty of holidays prior to that.”

“Like the lake house, where we were both so paranoid that Mama Santiago would find out what we were doing that we barely moved each evening?”

“Yeah, when you add it up like that it really doesn’t sound great.”

“I mean … there was lots of sex on the cruise once Doug Judy disappeared. Good sex, too - not that we ever have bad sex. But that was really good, life-affirming, post-declarations-of-love sex, that I’m completely certain we were able to have because we were in international waters, and therefore outside the curses’s jurisdiction.”

Covering Jake’s hands with her own, Amy squeezes gently at the mention of their cruise holiday and leans in for a chaste kiss. “I’m pretty sure curse’s don’t have jurisdictions, babe.”

“How can you be so sure, Ames? All I know is, whenever we’re on holiday and we try to get the good kind of naked, something always comes along and stops us. And it really is a travesty, because you always get this crazy sexy vacation glow about you that just makes me want to cover your body in kisses, and yet somehow it just never seems to happen.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought a lot about this, huh?”

“Lets just say it’s been eating away at me for a while now.”

A lewd joke dies on Amy’s lips as she looks over at her boyfriend, taking in the obvious frustration in his face and realising how seriously he was taking the issue. “Babe, I promise. There is no such thing as a curse.” Planting her hand on the other side of the bed, she lifts herself up, straddling his lap as he moves quickly to tent his legs behind her. “And I am going to prove it to you - right here, right now.”

His hands land on Amy’s waist, holding her steady as she scrapes the edge of her teeth against his curve of his neck, carding her fingers through his shorter hair while her body slowly gyrates on his lap. “God I love you, Ames.”

“Mmm.” Amy takes in a deep breath, relishing the scent of the man she’d missed for so long, sighing when his hands reach down to squeeze her butt. “I love you too, Jake.”

The curse, the previous interruption … pretty much any kind of detail other than his name was disappearing from Jake’s mind with every press of Amy's warm lips against his skin, and he lets out a soft moan, gripping her body tighter as his hands begin to wander to her front.

THUD.

“OW! Rosa!”

“What the hell, Boyle! I know Gina just pulled you away from here!”

Their kissing coming to an abrupt stop, Amy groans, tucking her head into the juncture of Jake’s neck and shoulder. “Oh my god, again?!”

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Jake falls back onto the mattress, taking Amy with him and curling both arms around her protectively. They listen as Charles and Rosa squabble in the hallway outside, choosing not to acknowledge the horror of it all this time around. With a defeated grumble, Amy reaches for the comforter, covering them both up before returning to her safe place (i.e., Jake’s shoulder).

“What was that you were saying, about curses not existing?”

(okay, now the universe is just messing with us)

Attempt Number 4: Team Building in Deer River

It’s Jake’s absent-minded humming of his current favourite song that puts a tranquil smile on Amy’s face on their return to the campsite, keeping her grip around his waist tight as the leaves crunch loudly beneath their feet.

Together with the squad, they had spent the day attending a team building event in Deer River - a state forest just far enough from the city that camping overnight had been the safest option.

After a full day of trust falls, puzzle solving and a group scavenger hunt, the couple had strategically erected their tent further away from the rest of their team, hoping to afford a little bit of privacy (and perhaps, a safe enough distance from Charles). Following Jake’s exoneration, and the brand new addition of a shiny ring on Amy’s finger, a night away underneath the stars was exactly what they needed; and once everything was set up the two of them had wandered off into the woods for some time to themselves.

(Aka: totally disappearing into the surrounding trees and starting a makeout session that lasted longer than either had anticipated.)

(So much so, that the sun had almost completely set by the time they pulled away from each other, hastily returning each of their clothing to a suitable state before heading back.)

Intent on proving that the No Nookie Curse was only an amalgamation of Jake’s paranoid thoughts, Amy was determined to get back to the campsite and settle themselves into bed before anyone or anything could interrupt them. Her plan involved waiting out the rest of the squad’s bedtime routines, before demonstrating to the love of her life that vacation sex was not only a) possible, it was also b) definitely happening.

Whistling the last few bars of his song, Jake tightens his arm around Amy’s shoulder as a strong wind runs through the surrounding greenery - the fifth gust since they started walking back, all of them gaining in strength - already regretting not grabbing her scarf from their luggage earlier.

“Just throwing it out there, babe? Still on Team Outdoor Sex. Sex in the woods sounds hella cool. Daytime sex, though. Now that the sun has clocked out, and the wind has clocked in, it’s actually kinda really cold.”

“Daytime outdoor sex does sound cool, if you disregard the bugs that will crawl all over you, the ticks that will suck on your blood and potentially give you Lyme disease … the bears that could come along at any second and attack us …”

“Really ramping up on the sexy talk there, Ames.”

Rolling her eyes, Amy squeezes Jake’s hand, linking their fingers together. “All of these are things that would interrupt us, and while I’m still not saying that curses exist, I do think we should try to avoid any temptation for things to go wrong.”

“You’ve put a binder together about this, haven’t you?”

“Not a binder per se, but I’ve definitely done a decent amount of research.” Stopping just shy of the clearing, Amy turns to face her fiancé, wrapping her arms around his waist. “After all, this is the first time we’ve been able to get away since getting engaged. A night away is just what we need, and I’m not letting a thing stop us from taking full advantage of this opportunity.”

Pushing herself up onto her tippy-toes, Amy pecks a quick kiss onto Jake’s lips, satisfyingly noticing their still swollen state from earlier activities. “Besides, if the wind stays like this, I’m going to need something to help keep me warm, Peralta.”

“I’m sure I could think of something,” he mumbles in reply, leaning in for another chaste kiss and groaning when Amy pulls away, grabbing his hand and leading him back towards the camping ground.

Quickly reverting back to their previous positioning - hand over shoulder, arm wrapped around waist - Amy is giggling at something that Jake has just whispered in her ear when Holt comes into sight, raising her free hand in a silent wave as they near him.

“Peralta. Santiago. I’m thankful to have ended up on the same path as the two of you, as it was exactly your presence that I was seeking.”

Pushing a stray lock of hair out of her eye line, Amy nods. “Jake and I went for a walk and must have lost track of the time, sir.” From beside her, Jake subtly nudges his hip into her own, and she resists the urge to elbow him in the ribs. “What did you need us for? Do you need a hand with your tent?”

Wincing, Holt shakes his head slowly. “Ahh, no. Unfortunately, it would appear that your tent was not as securely fastened to the camping ground as previously suggested.”

Amy feels Jake’s hand slide down her back as it falls away - much like their hopes for the rest of the evening would soon do - and she looks over at her superior, confused. “Captain?”

Turning, Holt points through the clearing towards the river, where in the fading light Amy and Jake can faintly make out the tip of their tent as it floats further away from solid ground.

Oh.

“The trouble with openings such as this, is that the prevailing weather meets very little resistance - and so as the wind has grown stronger we have all had to readjust our footings in regards to our own domiciles. Regrettably, such distractions meant that the rapidly loosening fixtures on your tent went unnoticed by the squad. Your lodging managed to catch the wind and set itself adrift on the water before anybody had a chance to attempt recovery.”

Running a hand down his face, Jake lets out a frustrated groan. “Looks like we’re roughing it in the dirt tonight, babe.”

“Weren’t our sleeping bags in the tent as well?” Amy responds, her face falling as Jake nods slowly.

Holt raises his hand, clearly intending to stop the couple from spiralling into total hopelessness. “Fortunately, Kevin and I recently purchased a two room tent that has the ability to sleep ten people, which provides plenty of room for the two of us and Cheddar. Provided you have an adequate amount of your allergy medication with you, Santiago, we can relocate him to our side of the canvas and offer you shelter for the evening. Perhaps in the morning, we will be able to organise a retrieval of your now absent tent.”

Resting his hand on the small of Amy’s back, Jake nods once again. “There’s a spare packet in our bags, which thankfully are still in the common area.”

“Very well. Follow me, then. Kevin has already begun making provisions for your stay, and I’m sure your earlier activities have left you eager for rest.”

Thankful, but also more than a little bit crushed that their plans had fallen apart so swiftly, Jake and Amy follow their captain through the campsite with fallen shoulders.

Jake waits until Holt has passed through the mesh lining into their other ‘room’ before muttering low enough for only Amy’s ears to pick up - “The No Nookie Curse strikes again.”

And truthfully, Amy cannot come up with a single rebuttal - choosing instead to cup her fiancé’s face, and offer a soft kiss in commiseration. Perhaps curses were real, after all.

(seriously, how do those guys do it?)

Attempt Number 5: Romance on the beach

“I’m telling you, Ames. There has to be a secret propellor or something under there. There just has to be. I literally cannot think of any other way.”

Her shoulders shaking from all the laughter, Amy reaches out to rest her arms on either side of her husband’s neck and breaks her chuckle for a kiss. “I know, babe. You’re totally right.”

“I just … how else do they do it?”

Shaking her head, Amy breaks out into another round of laughter, keeping her grip tight so that Jake knows it isn’t directed at him (but rather, the situation at hand).

The Hamptons was their address for the next three days, the location of choice for Tony and his partner Luella’s upcoming wedding. In true Peraltiago Vacation style, emergency renovations to the widespread home that all Santiago siblings were staying in had meant that they were short one room, and Jake and Amy had been the lucky couple to be allocated the sofa bed in the living room as their place of rest.

(A fact that, once broken to them, had led to Jake coughing the word Cursed! under his breath, and in all honesty - this time Amy knew he was absolutely right.)

Fresh from their honeymoon (which, once their captain had left them in peace, had involved a lot of sex … amazingly mind-blowing, sometimes costumed sex - which only served to prove that the international waters clause of the curse still held strong), both of them had entered holiday mode with a renewed vigour to finally set things straight.

Having a sunken living room, with a wraparound balcony looking down at them from above for a bedroom, led to Jake thinking creatively - pulling Amy towards the beach on the first evening, lifting her into his arms and running both of them straight into the ocean.

It was the stuff of fantasies: floating in the water with the one you heart adored, holding onto each other tightly as you make love, the waves lapping around you and the world disappearing for just a little while. The kind of scene that every person has seen in a movie, or read in a book, and one that the newlyweds had actually intended to try on their honeymoon before realising that the beaches surrounding their hotel were rarely secluded enough for such activities.

The reality, however, was vastly different - with the two quickly realising that the art of treading water, while clinging to each other and trying desperately not to drown, did not a sexy tryst make.

It was mid-kiss that Jake finally broke away, sputtering out “Are the guys in all the movies secretly dolphins or something?”, all the while pushing frantic strokes through the water in an effort to stay afloat; causing Amy to burst into laughter - tears streaking down your face, ribs sore from all the shaking kind of laughter - clinging to her husband like a koala as he slowly walked them back towards the shore.

Joining Amy in her mirth, Jake leads her over to the towels that he’d dumped on the sand earlier, spreading them out haphazardly and pulling his wife down to meet him. “Okay, so now we know. Sex in the water = not as easy as it looks.”

Thankful to have chosen a dress for their intended walk on the beach, Amy lifts the wet fabric from her thigh, squeezing out a small fountain of water as she gives Jake a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, babe. It was definitely worth a shot - and bonus points for spontaneity. Very hot.”

Jake’s hand comes to rest on her bared thigh, stroking her skin gently before leaning in for a kiss. “It’s easy to find reasons for spontaneous sex, when you have a wife as hot as I do.”

“Mmm,” Amy moans into his mouth, abandoning the skirt and letting it fall back down with a splat. The sand beneath the towel shifts as she digs her knees in; scrambling closer to Jake to deepen the kiss, knowing all too well that her horniness level was still sitting low on simmer.

She breaks the kiss to nibble on Jake’s earlobe as his hand slides further up the dress, fingertips sliding over her butt, and Amy climbs onto his lap, lifting her hips slightly in silent invitation. Her underwear slides down a moment later, lifting her knees and then her ankles until they’re being tucked into Jake’s pocket, and she takes advantage of the freedom by grinding down on his growing erection.

Despite the cool sea water still dripping down her skin, Jake’s hands feel warm as he moves to caress her once more, palm digging into her derriere as he pulls her in for a heavy kiss, and suddenly Amy thinks she’s beginning to understand all the reasons why ‘sex on the beach’ is such a popular term.

Jake’s fingers caress her folds shortly after, dipping one finger in before following with another, and it's everything Amy has been craving for, her husband’s lips leaving a trail of kisses along her jawline while she writhes on his lap.

It’s only as his hand pulls away, and her hips continue to sway closer to Jake’s body, that a whole other sensation begins to form. Yanking her mouth away from the hickey she’d been creating on Jake’s neck, Amy presses a hand to his chest and whispers - “Jake! The sand.”

“Mmm, yeah. All soft and warm, it’s kinda hot.”

Shaking her head, Amy rears back further, only to let out a sharp cry. “No, Jake! I think the sand has gotten into … places.”

He blinks, shaking himself out of his makeout stupor. “Wait. Ames, are you okay?”

“My vagina is on fire, babe.”

Scrambling upwards, Jake reaches out to help Amy stand, wincing at her obvious discomfort. “Do you want to go back into the water?”

Amy shakes her head quickly. “I need a shower, pronto. Oh god, I can feel all the little grains scraping.”

“Oh no, it would have been on my hands, and then I … I’m so sorry, Ames.” Turning, Jake presents his back to her, bending lower. “Here, jump up and I’ll carry you back to the house and straight into the shower. I’m so sorry, babe."

His hands dig into her lower thigh as Amy rests her upper body against her husband’s back, pressing her forehead into his shoulder blade and letting out a groan. “Okay universe, we get it! The No Nookie curse is real!”

“It’s real and it sucks!” Jake’s voice comes out in a huff as he rushes through the sand, grateful that they hadn’t strayed too far from the house.

“Ugh, why have people named a drink after this?!”

Part 2:

(and the 1 time they’re successful)

(I'm definitely seeing stars)

Jake’s grip on his wife’s hand holds strong as he leads her up to the highest point of the house, pausing at the base of the final set of stairs and gesturing for her to take the lead. Amy gives him a curious look as she passes him, clearly intrigued, and he whispers a compliment directed at her butt (always a favourite) as they both begin their ascent.

Holt and Kevin’s vow renewal ceremony was (finally!) taking place this coming weekend, and the squad - plus partners and children alike - had all convened earlier today at their allocated accommodation in the Berkshires.

The house - like many in the surrounding neighbourhood - was larger than the precinct and all of their homes combined; stretching out into various wings and drawing the eye upward with it’s high ceilings and exposed stonework. This time, Jake and Amy had gone to great lengths to ensure they were allocated their own room towards the opposite end of the home, large enough to accommodate a now eight months old Mac while also ensuring a modicum of privacy - a concept dearly treasured, after so many disastrous attempts.

Exhausted after a full day of sticking to a rigid schedule of rehearsals and preparations alike, Jake had waited until they’d been able to lull their son to sleep in his travel cot before luring Amy into the hallway with the promise of a surprise; and he’s not entirely sure if it his proposal to her several years ago that finally got Amy on board with his surprises, or if it was just indicative of the trust he’d been able to earn - but either way, she follows eagerly with an excited grin.

He hears the excited gasp that escapes her mouth as the door at the top swings open, the full extent of his plan coming to fruition as Amy moves further into the landing and turns to him with eyes that sparkled. “Jake … this is amazing!”

Tucking both hands into his pockets, Jake puts on his best humble brag face as he joins his wife in the centre of the alcove. “So I did a little research on this place before we got here, and as it turns out the owner/builder was a massive fan of stargazing.” Nodding towards the low set walls that wrapped around the base, he turns to Amy with a proud grin. “They’d built this landing solely for that purpose. And tonight, it is our little hideaway.”

Amy’s eyes soften as she takes in the surrounding tea light candles, the blow-up mattress covered in blankets and pillows in the middle of it all, and the bottle of wine still chilling in a bucket of ice to the side. “Wow, babe. You really pulled out all the stops on this one.”

“One could say .. a whole binders worth of preparation.”

Her head swivels towards him, and he grins triumphantly. “You made a binder for this?”

“You haven’t even heard the best part. The door we just went through is the only way in or out, and I have the key right here in my pocket. Rosa has stepped in to keep an eye on Mac, and has promised that she will only call if it’s an emergency. She also seems to have figured out what we are doing up here, and appears to be equal parts impressed and disgusted.”

Amy nods, moving closer and resting her hands on either side of Jake’s neck.

“Holt and Kevin are off with Laverne, Charles and Genevieve have taken Nikolaj camping half an hour away, and Terry and Sharon are exhausted from chasing after their kids all day. Hitchcock and Scully had both an apple pie and a cake after dinner, so I can only assume that they’ve slipped into some sort of post-sugar high coma.” Leaning in to press a soft kiss at the edge of Amy’s lips, Jake pulls away with a grin. “What I’m saying, my darling, is that there is almost no chance of us getting interrupted.”

Moving closer still, Amy wraps both arms around Jake’s neck, carding her fingers through his slightly overgrown curls as she draws him in for a heart-pounding kiss. “Looks like we’re kicking a certain curse’s butt tonight.”

Nodding, Jake initiates another kiss, waiting until he feels Amy melt completely in his arms before grazing his lips along the edge of her cheek, peppering tiny kisses in their wake. “While I am definitely looking forward to breaking the curse, this is mainly just me wanting you to feel good, babe.”

“Mmm. I’d say you’re on the right track.”

His teeth scrape lightly against her earlobe as he lets out a soft laugh, pulling their bodies closer together. “You work so hard, Ames .. and you do so much for Mac and I. You deserve to have a holiday, and really relax.” Continuing the path paved earlier, Jake reaches the juncture of her neck and swipes his tongue against her warm skin. “Let me make you feel good, babe.”

Amy lets out a moan, Jake’s hands wandering down the front of her jeans, cupping her centre through the fabric and rubbing with a slow rhythm; and he pulls away with a sly grin.

“There is one tiny detail that we need to take into consideration, actually.” Raising one hand, Jake gestures towards the open design of the landing. “Out here it’s just you, me and the stars … and sound travels like crazy.” He drops a tender kiss to her lips, leaving the intimation of both his and hers tendency to get a little loud during sex unspoken. “In fact, you could even say it’s - ” leaning in, he flips into his Best Sexy Tone - “omnidirectional.”

“Oh, mama …”

“We’re going to have to try really hard to stay quiet, babe.” Tightening his grip around her waist, Jake lowers his body slightly and Amy picks up on the queue, wrapping her legs around her husband as he moves them towards the blankets. He lowers her carefully, shaking his head in wonder as she gazes back up at him: looking like some kind of heavenly creation amongst the mixture of candlelight and stars. “I’m so in love with you, Amy Santiago.”

A soft blush creeps onto her cheeks, and Amy crooks her finger in a silent request for her husband’s presence, sinking her teeth into her lower lip as he covers her body with his own. “I love you too, Jake.”

Her hips tilt marginally upwards, rubbing her body against the fabric of Jake’s own jeans as she reaches for his fly, making quick work of the barriers as her hand slides inside to grip his rapidly growing erection. Quick to follow suit, Jake pulls away from their embrace only to tug both his and Amy’s jeans off completely, casting both of their tops and underwear aside haphazardly and mentally congratulating his earlier decision to use battery-powered candles over real ones. Setting fire to the highest point of a house is a great way to kill a mood - and ruin a wedding - and there wasn’t a single way that he was going to let the two of them be interrupted tonight.

His erection rubs against Amy’s naked thigh as he covers her body once again, sweeping his hand over her curves as his hand heads directly to her centre. He covers her mouth with his own while his fingers begin to explore, taking in the moisture they find and gently massaging just the way Amy loves. Her hips sway beneath Jake’s torso, working with his deft touch as her hand moves to circle his cock, squeezing and pumping slowly … a familiar move that only made Jake last a full two minutes the last time she tried it.

The two of them are straight-up moaning by now, rotating between messy kisses and heated breaths against shoulders and necks as they both work each other up with expert precision. Contorting his back, Jake moves to sink his teeth into the edge of Amy’s right breast, desperate for a taste of her arousal but knowing all too well that if he moves too far away from her mouth, his wife will begin to really cry out, and the risk of exposure was just too great.

Instead, he slides back up to press his lips against hers, the desire obvious as his bare crotch ruts against her own. Amy’s responding moan is stuttered, her attempts to keep everything quiet obvious, and he grins.

“You’re doing so well at staying quiet, Ames … god you’re so sexy.” Tongue sweeping against hers, absorbing the moans that were gaining in intensity, Jake’s thumb rubs persistently at her clit, matching the tempo of her rotating wrist as they push each other closer and closer to the edge.

“Oh god Jake … fuck me. Fuck me now, fuck me hard.”

Looping his elbow under one of her knees, Jake moves into position and enters Amy in a single thrust, feeling momentarily breathless as the warmth of her surrounds him completely. Her other leg swings around to rest on his butt, holding him close as he pulls out and slams back in again, and truly, this has to be the closest thing to heaven.

Pressing one hand into the base of the landing, Jake pushes down for leverage as he returns his right hand to Amy’s clit - resuming the circled patterns he’d initiated earlier - and Amy sinks her teeth into Jake’s shoulder as she comes with a muffled shout. The feeling of her walls pulsing around his cock makes him descend into a state of almost madness, increasing the intensity of his thrusts until it’s all just pure instinct, chasing the euphoric high but nowhere near ready for any of this to end.

Slipping her other leg from his grip, Amy digs her fingers into Jake’s shoulders as she rolls him onto his back, keeping their hips joined as much as possible to avoid any chance of disruption. Her body is slick with sweat as she rises above him, planting her hands on his chest and looking down at her husband with a flushed and satisfied grin, rising and falling as she takes over Jake’s steady pace.

“This is the best idea you’ve ever had,” she whispers, leaning down to circle her tongue over his nipples, sucking a love bite into his pec as she goes. “Fuck, this feels so good.” Rising again, Amy leans back until her hair is trailing down her spine, and the sight in front of him nearly pushes Jake over the edge completely.

She looked so incredible like this, bare and open and clearly just letting her body take over as she swivels her hips into his thrusts, his cock glistening with her arousal as she slides up and down. Jake has known, for a long time now, that there is nobody in the world that could ever be as beautiful as Amy Santiago, and tonight only serves to solidify his belief.

There’s a bit more of a curve to her skin now, a soft swell to her belly that stands as proof of the their amazing son; and he knows that at times she feels self-conscious of the changes she cannot control, but he fell in love with Amy for a million reasons, and her body was only one of them. His body has changed as well, after all; and probably will again over the course of the next fifty years, and there is nothing that will ever change the way they feel about each other.

He tents his legs to a low degree behind her, offering support as his hands begin to cover every expanse of her body, thumbing the inverted arch of her breasts with reverence as they bounce against their joint movements. Jake's not sure if he’ll ever win the lottery, but it’s clear that he’s already reached the jackpot right here in this moment, watching Amy hurtle ever closer to another orgasm.

It’s the faltered breaths and the occasional stilling of her hips that tells Jake that his wife is nearly there, and with gentle coaxing she falls forward again, mashing her lips against his as their chests press together. Knowing that this is an angle that both of them enjoy, Jake digs his fingers into Amy’s butt as he lifts his hips off the ground, hammering into Amy as the steady motion presses her clit against his pelvis, whispering her name over and over as her fingers grip his hair by the roots. Her body begins to shake, followed by a whisper of babe I’m close, and Jake pushes his body a degree or two higher.

There’s a sharp sting against his skin as Amy comes, her mouth clamped over the edge of his shoulder as the need to scream is just too powerful, the vibrations of her moans reverberating into his intoxicated mind. The sheer mixture of pleasure and pain is all Jake needs to let go completely, pouring himself inside his wife as calls out her name without suppression, and Amy’s hand clamps quickly over his mouth before the sound of his climax can travel too far.

It takes a long while for either Jake or Amy to be able to speak, their bodies a jumble mess as they struggle to catch their breath, the silence only broken as Amy cranes her neck back towards the sky and gasps - “Wow, you really can see so many stars from here!”

From beside her Jake nods, still partially in a state of seeing stars of his own as his heart begins to return to a normal pace. He lets out a gradual sigh as Amy shifts closer to him, curling her arm around his waist and tucking her head into his shoulder.

Wrapping his left arm around her naked body (he’s not sure there’ll ever be a time when he will ever have enough of it), Jake raises his right hand for a high five. “We did it, Ames. We broke the curse.”

Amy’s responding laugh is loud, and probably carried over the grounds, but Jake doesn’t care at all anymore, and she meets his hand with a triumphant slap. “Yeah we did! Suck it, universe!”

His grip grows tighter, seizing the blanket with the tips of his fingers and sliding it over their skin before his wife has a chance to feel the coolness of the night’s sky. He knows that they should probably head downstairs soon, sneak back into their bedroom and relieve Aunty Roro of her babysitting duties, but the afterglow of this moment feels too sweet to give away - Mac has been sleeping through the night for a solid two months now, and he knows that if anything had gone wrong they’d have known well before now.

Amy’s lips ghost against his bicep as she lets her eyelids flutter close for a moment (a post-sex power nap often needed, rarely lasting longer than thirty minutes), and Jake smiles at the sight, letting her nestle in to his embrace as he gazes through the glass ceiling above them to watch the stars.

He already knows that he won’t be able to find anything brighter than their future up there in the darkness, but for now, he’s content to watch the world pass them by for just a little bit longer.

#I hope you like this!#best of both worlds with the smut and fluff again #b99fandomevents #b99 summer 2020 fic exchange #my writing #Peraltiago smut #Peraltiago fluff #b99fic #b99 fic

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harmonytre · 4 years ago

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Random DP Dream

I had a dream about Danny Phantom. Keep in mind I know very little about it, so please no spoilers. It was supposed to take place in the “first episode” and was a POV dream, meaning I shared a body with Danny. Our thoughts were split into mine, his, and ours. He couldn’t hear my thoughts unless they were close to his and he’d consider it his subconscious or something. This will be in first person. Danny’s thoughts will be in italics and mine in bold. Both will be in both and thoughts after the story will be in (parentheses).

Anyway, it started off in my house, arguing with my older and younger sister. They were both daring me to dye my hair white. I lost a bet at some point, so I HAD to, but we were deciding what type of white.

Our dad and some of the scientists came in and said it was time. We rushed to get ready to go to the lab in the basement, and our mom was late. While we were waiting, my dad lectured me on types of ghosts, from yokai, phantoms, banshees, etc. I looked at the diagram in my hands as he said something about “the ones in the middle are like snake people.” They were sorted by height and included whether they could interact with living beings.

I spotted Doraemon closer to the right and on the left were taller ghosts called Guardians. Dad explained about them being rare legends who protect other ghosts. I recognized one as one of the scientists in the room, based on ��previews” of the show. At least, in the dream. There was also something to the left of the snake people that would prove important. I think they were called Thaglamites? Oh cool.

Our mom finally arrived, so I got ready. They strapped me to a chair. Everyone including my siblings would simply watch. I volunteered for this. Based on a comic on tumblr, I also expected to try fixing a broken panel and meeting the Grim Reaper, but neither of those happened.

The chair entered the machine on a conveyor belt. I waited a few seconds, then screamed out in pain with a bright light. The next part was pretty trippy. There were lots of flashing lights and images and sounds. Why would they put that in a kids show? Reminds me of the banned Porygon episode of Pokemon. At one point, there were people that looked like a photo turned on Difference and Divide, or similar to the “still a piece of garbage” meme. (Also, the song “Seasons of Love” got stuck in my head during this scene and by the time I woke up.)

Eventually, we stopped in a hallway like thing, with quartz columns and a red carpet. We were blocked off by things you see in banks, but more regal with golden stands and red material. (Yes, I mean we. This was the one part of the dream I saw Danny separate from I. Almost as if it was an out-of-body experience eyyyyyyy. I don’t know if Danny also experienced it. I did.)

All of the people in the line, including Danny were brightly glowing. Some were sad, some angry, some content. I started shouting. “I’m not supposed to be here! It’s not my time! I can’t be dead!”

“Why, kid?” Says a middle-aged man. “Because you’re younger? Grow up. You’re dead, deal with it.”

“No, because I still have things to do.” (Danny then listed things I would not know, as they are part of HIS life, but I will try to remember.) Besides, I knew it was not true, because there wouldn’t be a show if Danny straight up died in the first episode. “I have to go to school. I have to take care of my little sister. I have to be there for my family!” Suddenly, he popped out of view. Just simply gone.

I stayed behind a little longer and saw some people’s reactions. “So, we just say important stuff we still have to do?” And they started shouting. None were successful.

I finally joined Danny’s POV again. I was outside the school. My family was unpacking from the SUV. My parents were teachers and it was the first day of school for the others. They were all sad. I knew why, but Danny had yet to figure it out. I was happy I was alive again. I tried to speak with them, but they never heard. They spoke softly about Danny, but they needed to go to school. (Either they weren’t allowed enough time to grieve the loss of a family member, or this was at least a few weeks later. But school was supposed to start a few days after I left. Ah, the first then. Or they want to make sure they get signed up for classes early. My family’s like that. Oh, okay.)

I was sad and cried against a neighboring car. My appearance was the same in the car mirror? Yet, I was nonexistent. I followed my family inside, hoping to find something somewhere to help. Our school consisted mostly of humans, but had the occasional monster too. (Including other fandoms apparently.) Still, no one could see me.

But, someone did. Or at least I thought so. And it was the one group of people I DIDN’T want seeing me. My bullies. They chased me through the school, to the confused faces of others. A flower popped out of the floor. “Hi, I’m Flowey the flower-AUGH!” One of the bullies nearly trampled him. (This is what I meant by other fandoms, but it’s the only one I recognized. What about the yokai one? Shush! I saw an episode of that years ago.)

I tripped and it hurt. I hopped on a table, then realized. They couldn’t actually see me, just things I move or affect. Although no one could feel me, I could move objects. They didn’t even know it was me! Yeah, they’re the type to randomly fight air. Yet, somehow, their punches still stung. I hung to the ceiling and stayed still. They slowly went away, huffing. I sighed and dropped to the ground. I couldn’t even pass through objects. Lame. (And your puny strength was still the same. That hurt our arms. Shut up.) I leaned against the table, contemplative.

A teacher called out names from the doorway to the gym. One name caught my attention. “Danny Fenton?” My head flew up. He was staring directly at me. I looked around me, as if he was calling someone else. “Yes, you Danny. Come on in.” I walked in, extremely confused, yet a little excited that someone saw me! But is it dangerous? I’ll find out, I guess.

There was a rectangle table set up on one side of the gym. There were six people already seated. One of my friends, Sam, gestured to me to sit in between her and another girl. (I had to look up Sam’s name. Yeah, because you haven’t even watched the show. You’re probably writing me out of character too. Yeah probably.) Sam looked smug. The teacher spoke up as he stood on the opposite side of the table.

“Welcome, fellow Thaglamites.” I thought back to the diagram before. They were invisible to the human eye, but could interact with objects. Yep, fit the description. But why was Sam here? I saw her often, so I could definitely see her? Did she die recently?

As I was on the edge of waking up, the rest blurred. So all I can remember is the other girl flirting with me which I was uncomfortable with, the Guardian scientist I knew being a guest speaker, finding out there were multiple ways to become a Thaglamite (so Sam DIDN’T die), and learning Thaglamites COULD be seen after some practice (Sam was one for years).

Anyway, this was fun to write and probably very far off from the actual episode. I should get around to watching it someday asdfghjkl. (Also, I now realize Doraemon is not a yokai. He’s a time travelling cat.)

#dream #writing #Danny Phantom #Flowey #Doraemon?#this was fun to write lol #HarmonyTRE

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emekaemy · 5 years ago

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I used to look down on Mikasa Eren shippers, as I found the ship so cliche and sister brotherly. But strangely, it was this infamous chapter, 112 which made me rethink about their relationship. This chapter has showed that their supposedly sibling-like (?) relationship is more complicated than it seems.

The emotional density of Eren's speech in 112 made me doubt about him seeing Mikasa as a sister. Whether the feelings are positive or negative- I believe a person can not hold those strong feelings towards someone in his sister's position. During the talk, Eren seemed to experience too much tension to be platonic. This way of talk can be adressed to an ex- girlfriend when you know she has feelings for you but somehow she hurt you and you want her to be hurt as well. Because you know that she loves you and she will be hurt.

If Eren really thought that their relationship was only the Ackerbond, he wouldn't tell all these to break her heart. And Mikasa wouldn't be deeply hurt. He well knows that what Mikasa feels for him is more than a robotic tie and she is a young lady who has feelings for him. Eren sure knows this.

Especially one part of 112 drew my attention:

Mikasa: It was all because of you Eren. You saved my life and put this scarf around me-

Eren: I TOLD you to put your hands on the table!!

I think her sentence about the SCARF hit the very soft spot of Eren, her talk was getting too intense for him to handle the situation, he was scared of showing emotion and changed the talk about their memories by cutting her off harshly. I think the harshness of his reaction to Mikasa's sentence gives him away. (Please read ch 121, Eren's fragility while he's watching the scarf memory.)

His hate confrontation was quite passionate. To me, Eren had never looked like some rude opposite gender as he did in chapter 112. I thought I was not reading a seinen, it looked like a scene from a different genre of manga.

It's possible that after Mikasa's almost kiss&confession, Eren's puberty started (LOL) and it could be the very first moment he saw her in a newlight. But later on he was shocked and disappointed because of the Ackerman past. So, his intention was to break her heart as a revenge. (Some say he was just acting in order to break the Ackerman curse but nobody can act that well and Eren was overwhelmed with emotion, he was glaring!) Still, deep inside, he's aware that Mikasa loves him. There's no way Eren forgot what happened between him and Mikasa in ch 50, Dina Fritz scene.

During his absence, though his mind was busy, Eren still must have contemplated on Mikasa and the nature of his relationship with Mikasa.

We don't know if he will show his real motive and apologize, or he is just telling the truth. We know nothing yet. But the moment itself appeared to me that Eren has (or one time had) feelings for Mikasa. The dialogue didn't seem to me like two siblings' bickering. This chapter is the turning point (though it consists of insult and supposedly negative feelings) where I perceived Eren a male and Mikasa as female. (I know this may sound weird.)

They grew up together as play friends (age 9–10) and after the Colossus they bonded for 6 years. Although they had been bickering and bitter sweet there hadn't occured any big change in their relationship for many years. Except ch 50, It had been stable. (Their fans were frustrated because not much happened in 3 seasons yet, they were too young: 9–15 years old, two orphans, especially Eren with PTSD - too immature to feel that way) So I claim that there had to be a huge earthquake moment between them. (Sadly, not leading to a positive way, instead, to a seemingly negative direction for their shippers)

We can be sure that chapter 112 won't be their final interaction. Even if Eren's harshness may continue for a while, they need to face with each other more openly, before Eren dies. (Hopefully he doesn't)

Nobody who can feel wants such a terrible goodbye to the girl he cared.

If this notorious moment is explained and solved in a good way, I have a hunch that their relationship won't be the same. In other words, their bond may deepen into another aspect. Only something reversely positive and heavier can change this, that red scarf has to be rewrapped around her neck by the same person, if you know what I mean. But I'm really curious how Eren will react to the absence of the scarf when they come face to face, if they ever make up.

The- hate you - moment may lead to a change of their long time undefined relationship. They seem to have entered into a different path. In season 4 (and in the flashbacks where Mikasa learns she is royal and when in railway Eren is talking about whom to hand over his power) Eren really behaves like a young man and acts emotional about or around Mikasa. Especially the railway flashback: They stare at each other and blush! There is no need to mention what kind of emotions do cause blushing…

When season 4 is animated, adult Mikasa and Eren's chemistry will be even more distinguishable.

I like the chapter 107, when Historia laughs at Mikasa: Why did you show your wristband only to Eren? And Eren is almost sneering : So what? Eren must have felt that Historia is the embodiment of the audience shipping them. She may have looked like a giggling high school girl. He and Mikasa have given a big piece of gossip to her. Eren's amused expression continues even in the next panel.

Some people shipping Historia and Eren may think Eren is annoyed at Historia for pairing him with Mikasa. But I perceived it a funny moment where Eren was amused at the fact that because of a girly instinct, Historia knew there was something going on between him and Mikasa.

With the commotion in 112, the author has also created some material and reached to a path to make a drastic change in the relationship. I know he hates cliche romances, but with 112, their relationship is now far from being cliche. It has become rather complicated.

I'm almost glad to read 112. Though it was harsh, Eren and Mikasa had their moment. He is sure to have gained emotional depth. To feel something (love or hate) requires emotional depth. Between the ages of 9 - 15, Eren was neutral to all the girls in the series but only Mikasa, a caring, sibling-like figure, was different.

However, she is still different from other girls in his perspective: this time being the figure he supposedly hates, the figure whose heart he intentionally breaks. Gosh, these are very strong vibes, hinting to a reverse position in which his love could be very strong just the same.

In the 4th season when they are drawn side to side, one can feel the chemistry. Mikasa and Eren do not resemble to siblings anymore.

Their shippers must be devastated after 112. I, who despised the ship must admit that I'm now on the verge of shipping. I believe that we will be seeing the red scarf one more time. Its role hasn't finished yet.

Besides, I can't imagine a situation in which Mikasa is in love with another guy and Eren is OK with this. He can not handle being the second important man in her life.

From the interviews, I get that the author respects Mikasa so much that he does not feel like setting her as the hero's girl. And this is one of the reasons he opened the way for her independence. But being independent doesn't necessarily mean abandoning your beloved ones.

Besides, If Mikasa was his love interest in the beginning, her character would be ruined. But the manga is coming to an end. So, if something gets real, it won't ruin Mikasa. Her character depth and her charisma have already been confirmed in many chapters.

They love each other very much. She is clearly shown to have romantic feelings for him. They are not siblings. So I believe, one day Eren will be more open to her and assuming he survives, they will be together.

From now on, we will have an independent young woman and a young man. He had already announced his independency, then she threw away her collar as a sign of her independency. Hopefully, we won't be seeing Mikasa protecting and sticking to him like a mother or an older sister.

I don't want to sound too optimistic. The title question is: does Eren have feelings for Mikasa? And my answer is yes, he does.

Unfortunately, they probably won't kiss or confess, contrary to how the shippers expect. I think it will only be implied to the reader that their feelings are more than platonic and it's all. This could be the best scenario. Still, one can not blame the shippers. It was the same author who created the characters, their bond and wrote their beautiful moments.

As a conclusion; the look on his face, especially his narrowed eyes in ch 121 show whatever Eren feels for Mikasa is rather strong.

Although the chapter showed his eyes generally large with wildness, in this image he is stuck between a sad smile and a cry.

Yes, he is overwhelmed with emotion, again. Whether he says he hates her or sees himself wrapping the scarf around her, he is overwhelmed. When our subject is Mikasa, he is just too overwhelmed with strong feelings.

Everybody says Eren went through so much character development and became very mature in the 4th season. Just the same, this Eren can feel deep love towards a young woman who has always been there when he needed. And her name probably starts with M.

#Source: L. Sonia Nishimiya #Eremika #Mikasa #Eren #ErenXMikasa #MikasaXEren #anti-eremika

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aeruthien · 4 years ago

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The Originals: Hunger Games AU

Set in the same universe as this post, but about two years earlier.

Hope you all enjoy!

-----

The eyes of the gathered crowd burn on his skin as Elijah makes his way towards the elevated table belonging to the Mikaelson family. Some of the attendees nod at him with exaggerated sympathy, their pitying glances framed by the heavy make up and excessive hairdo of the upper class.

As if they could ever understand. As if they had been there with him, in those final moments of the game.

In a way they had been.

It had been broadcasted to the entire country after all.

He is shaking by the time he reaches the table. The side panels provide a blessed illusion of privacy and gratefully, he sinks into the cushions of the round seat.

The Mikaelson high table is not as grandly decorated as those surrounding it. While his father was keen on maintaining their public appearance, the image he wanted to portray was one of brutal efficiency, not extravagance.

Elijah wore basic clothes, and only a single line of dark charcoal beneath his eyes. It would have been frowned upon, had he not been the latest victor in a family of victors.

Mikael, his father, had killed more than half of his fellow tributes, a record which was still unbroken. His mother Esther had used the opposite strategy, reserving her strength while she pitted her fellow tributes against each other, until those remaining could easily be slaughtered.

Since they were both careers of district one, and of similar age, their union had been inevitable. Their children, in turn, had no choice but to continue their legacy, and Mikael and Esther had made it their mission to give them the best fighting chance they had.

But their effort had been negated when Elijah’s two oldest siblings had been chosen in the reaping at the same time. Only one could win. Finn had survived, while Freya had not.

“A drink, sir?”

Elijah snaps his head up, startled, whole body tense. His fingers automatically search for a weapon, but of course, there is none.

“Just water please,” he rasps.

Dead his mind screeches at him. You would have been dead!

He shivers, closing his eyes as the waitress walks away, her steps slightly faster than before.

Ordering alcohol to numb his mind was growing more tempting by the day, if only to provide him temporary relief from the images that still haunted him. But Finn’s dead eyes and swaying gait, and his father’s red, angry face have stopped him.

Elijah couldn’t afford that. He couldn’t afford to fall apart.

As he sips from the water, the rest of his family arrives. Mikael is flanked by Kol and Rebekah, while Niklaus trails behind, head held low. They had been training, and no doubt each of them supports new bruises.

Kol and Rebekah slip into the round seat first, and followed by Mikael. Niklaus’ only choice is to either take a seat next to their father, or block Elijah’s exit.

Their eyes meet, and Elijah’s own flash of panic is mirrored in his younger brother.

Elijah stands quickly.

“Come Niklaus,” he says smoothly, covering up the way his chest had constricted. “Why don’t you sit next to Rebekah?”

He allows Niklaus to sit first before sliding back on his seat. Niklaus bumps his knee under the table in gratitude.

Mikael eyes the exchange disapprovingly, but thankfully doesn’t comment.

The waitress returns to take up their order, and their drinks arrive slightly later.

Kol is chatting happily about a new weapon he tried out, a war axe with a cylinder which could be filled with poison, given that that was present in the arena.

“What about you, Niklaus?” Mikael asks. “How would you take advantage of such a weapon?”

Niklaus blinks, mouth gaping. He knows the answer, of that Elijah is sure. Niklaus had done well enough when they had trained together before. His brother has a good eye for plants. He was mostly interested in using the colors for paint, but the same procedure of extracting the pigment could be used for the poison.

Elijah nudges his brother with his foot in a way he hopes is encouraging.

“Well…” Niklaus starts, voice trembling. He reaches for his juice, buying himself some time.

“You could, uhm…”

His hands are shaking. His fingers miss the glass, and in a flare of panic, he knocks over his glass. The liquid spills over the table, and Elijah quickly pulls his arms away.

“You fool!” Mikael huffs.

Niklaus flinches, desperately pulling out some napkins from the dispenser to stop the juice from running on the floor.

“Don’t worry,” Elijah says. The juice has seeped into his sleeve so he takes a napkin and presses it against his arm.

“I’ll get the waitress, they can-”

The stain doesn’t disappear.

Annoyed, Elijah wipes at it more frantically.

“They can help-”

A high pitched screech starts to ring in his ears.

The juice is red. Just like…

Mikael is still shouting, and Niklaus looks up at Elijah worriedly, but their voices are muffled.

He can’t breath.

Tatia stares up at him with pained filled eyes.

His sleeves are drenched her blood.

The forest floor is drenched in her blood.

No.

Elijah stumbles away from the table, heedless of the looks his family sends him.

Hide. He has to hide.

Blindly, he pushes himself through the crowd, and crashes through the door of the men’s restroom.

He has barely reached one of the stalls when his stomach heaves. Retching, he collapses down next to the decorated toilet bowl, throwing up the little food he had managed to eat.

His whole body is shaking, and his breath comes in panicked gasps.

“You have to kill me,” Tatia whispers in his ear, so quietly not even the microphones can pick it up. She leads his hand up beneath her shirt, right below her breasts. To the audience, it would seem like an intimate moment, one last chance for the lovers to be together before their final stand against the three other remaining tributes.

His fingers touch the swollen flesh around the bite. The poison would kill her, whether she was victorious or not.

“No,” he mumbles, pressing his head against the cool stone of the toilet. “No, please.”

“He needs you, Elijah,” Tatia continues. “Klaus needs you.”

Tears are spilling over his cheeks.

“I can’t do this,” he whispers desperately.

Three resounding booms fill the air as the other tributes fall, and then there is only the two of them left.

Tatia turns to him, determined.

They fight. It is brutal, and fierce, and it is all for show.

She is dying. His brother needs him.

The final BOOM is deafening.

“Elijah?”

Elijah jerks up, fists flying up in defense.

“Brother, it is me.”

Niklaus.

Elijah sinks back against the cold wall, only now realizing how lucky he was that the stalls were empty. He is completely drained, and all he wants to do is curl up and hide from the world.

Niklaus looks down at him, eyes filled with worry.

“I’m fine,” Elijah rasps. Hysterical laughter bubbles up in his throat at that statement. Who is he trying to fool?

He forces the laughter away.

His brother needs him.

With one hand against the wall for support, he pushes himself upright. His legs are shaking, but he manages to stand.

Niklaus has grabbed a towel, and Elijah wipes it over his face. The eye liner leaves dark stains, so Elijah throws it in the trash bin when he is done.

“Elijah?”

Niklaus shuffles his feet nervously, and Elijah sighs.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he says gently.

Niklaus shakes his head.

“No, that’s not…”

He holds out a piece of paper. Elijah frowns and takes it carefully. The paper is thick, and one side is decorated with the Mikaelson M, giving it legal status. On the other side is a message written in dark swirly letters.

Victor Elijah Mikaelson is requested to attend suite 1382 in the Capitol State Hotel, this evening at…

Elijah goes completely still.

“A man came up, and Father send me to find you,” Niklaus says in a small voice.

Elijah nods. His mind is blank. It was only a matter of time before he was requested, but somehow, the news refuses to land.

“You’ll need to fix your eyeliner. I can help.”

Niklaus pulls out a stick of dark charcoal from his inner pocket. He must have nicked it from the dressing table for one of his drawings.

Elijah sinks down on one of the closed toilet seats. Niklaus’ fingers move deftly across his face, trailing feather light touches on Elijah’s skin.

Elijah leans into him.

Please don’t stop.

He doesn’t say the words out loud, and Niklaus pulls away far too quickly.

Elijah takes a deep breath and looks at himself in the mirror. His brother has added intricate details, somehow balancing the simplicity of the charcoal with a more refined style.

“Thank you. It looks beautiful.”

Niklaus smiles shyly.

For a split second, Elijah thinks of running. Take Niklaus. Take Rebekah and Kol, and leave. They could falsify their identities, take the train to the outer districts, disappear into the crowds.

Niklaus had asked it once in the deep of the night when he had sneaked into Elijah’s bedroom, only days before the reaping.

It seemed impossible then.

It is impossible now.

Elijah is famous. Their whole family is. They wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Walk with me?” he asks instead.

Niklaus nods, and together they leave the restroom.

Elijah doesn’t know what to expect. Finn had never been forthcoming about the times when he was requested.

But Elijah would weather it.

For Niklaus’ sake, if nothing else.

#the originals #to hunger games au #to au #elijah mikaelson #klaus mikaelson #klelijah #well here is more!#their charactirisation is based on when they were children #since they are basically children here #and Mikael is still around #so klaus isn't well... klaus #(yet)#hamilton voice: just you wait #enjoy!

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imaginethathaikyuu · 6 years ago

Note

as a fellow akaashi whore, may i request s/o being the manager nd dating him in secret or something?? idk just fluff i just love him

sooo…. when you requested this you probably expected a short little scenario, but… uh… take a look at that word count yikeslook, idk what happened but this scenario has taken over my life for a week now. and here are the results. (oh, and, spoiler alert: his s/o isn’t the team’s manager… uh… oops? also, akaashi whores UNITE)

most importantly: round of applause for my beta reader, editor in chief, very good friend who has way too high of a tolerance for my bullshit and dumb ideas, @heichou-in-my-head, better known as pip. i don’t know how you do it, but holy shit is this honeybun grateful for you pippy. sorry my trouble with tenses gave you a hard time with this one, but what else do you expect from me? (seriously, thank you for all you do for me! ^_^)

without further ado….. word count: 7883fem reader

“This is Akaashi.”

Back when your parents told you they’d be hiring a new gardener, you’d expected someone just as old as your last one. It appeared they’d managed to find a college student who was the same age as you instead.

“You can call me Keiji, if you want to.”

And it was weird - your parents quickly accepted the boy into your family. You recall feeling as though they expected the two of you to develop a relationship resembling something like siblings.

But after two months of him working for your family, you’d done nothing but embarrass yourself in front of him.

Even the other morning, you’d walked into the kitchen wearing what you’d slept in - a t-shirt and your underwear - toothbrush in mouth, bedhead out in full force, just about to grab a bottle of water from the fridge when you noticed: the boy was standing at the sink washing his hands, eyeing you with vague amusement. You remember gratefully noting that he didn’t glance down to your lower half.

How polite.

The snicker he gave you wasn’t very polite, though.

“Good morning,” he said, “sleeping beauty.”

You pulled your toothbrush from your mouth with a scoff.

“It’s not that late,” you mumbled, grabbing the bottle and beating a hasty retreat to your room.

—

Akaashi ended up doing more than just gardening work; observing his competence and willingness to do just about any task they could come up with, your parents immediately decided the entire house needed some work done. And there was no job Akaashi couldn’t do! He built shelves, painted walls, repaired fences - you’d even seen him under the hood of your dad’s car. He added these uncomplainingly to his main tasks of mowing the lawn, tending to the flower beds and bushes, weeding and re-potting, and occasionally working on the garden furniture. It was a wonder he had any time for school.

You stare at him now; he’d just knocked on your door, pulling you out of a deep Youtube video hole, and greeted you with, “I’m supposed to take down your curtains.”

“…what?” You glance back at your window confusedly.

“Your curtains - I’m supposed to take them down. And put these new ones up.”

“Oh.” You’d assumed your dad would change your curtains, but at this point it’s a given he’d get Akaashi to do it. “Uh… sure, okay.”

You settle back into your bed while he brings a step stool and a few tools in. The silence as he works is awkward, even tense, and it doesn’t seem like Akaashi’s going to break it - you decide you’ll have to do it.

“So, do you only own dark blue t-shirts?”

“Do you own pants?”

Damn. You’d hoped all those times you’d walked around in just your underwear had gone unnoticed by him.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” you shoot back, trying to mask your embarrassment. “You know, I used to be able to roam freely before my parents adopted you.”

He snorts. “Adopted?”

You sit up to get a better look at him. “What, you don’t feel like they’ve adopted you?”

“Considering I go home at the end of the day, no.”

“That’s the next step, Keiji - we have a spare room!”

He chuckles, instantly lightening the tense atmosphere. You realise this is the first time you’ve seen him smile genuinely and not just out of politeness - the old curtains are now down and the golden sunlight shines on his face, enhancing his features softly. For some reason you can’t take your eyes off him.

“I don’t think my own parents would appreciate me getting a new family.”

“I guess that’s true,” you laugh. “What do you have left to do today?”

His tongue sticks out just a bit as he focuses on twisting a screw into the wall. “Mow the lawn.”

“Perfect excuse to make lemonade then, don’t you think?”

Akaashi takes a step back to judge his work. The curtains are up, they’re even, and they look nice.

“Cliche,” he says, looking over to you. “But I agree.”

—

The summer sun is hot. Much hotter than you remember it being last year. And the best place to get away from that heat? Your air conditioned bedroom, obviously.

Your mom isn’t inclined to agree, though.

“Why don’t you get out of bed?”

“Mom…”

“Y/N, you’ve had two weeks of summer break and you’ve spent the whole time cooped up in this room. Your father is worried sick!”

You groan again. “I’m relaxing!”

“Well, you need to get some sun,” your mother continues. “Akaashi is outside painting the fence. I told him you’d be joining him. Get going!”

She leaves your bedroom with a huff, and you force yourself to roll out of bed. You put on appropriate clothes for painting and head to the backyard.

Akaashi’s wearing his trademarked blue t-shirt, paint supplies on a tarp next to him.

“Nice to see you out of that cave,” he says without looking at you.

You roll your eyes in response, crossing your arms and waiting for him to give you instructions.

“You actually want to help?”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” you reply, turning around to see your mother watching you from inside the house. You wave at her dramatically, and she waves back before walking away from the window.

He kneels down to prepare the paint. “I’ve already cleaned it and applied a primer,” he tells you. “So we can start painting now.”

You’re not sure what primer is for, but the quicker you finish painting, the quicker you can get out of this heat - you’re not going to bother asking.

He hands you a large brush and a tin can of white paint, and then walks away.

“Is that it?”

He laughs. “It isn’t rocket science! Just start painting!”

As it turns out, Akaashi had way too much faith in you. You’ve only finished painting about a third of the fence when he stands next to you, having already finished the other two thirds.

“Someone likes to take their time,” he says, painting the last panel.

“You’re just too fast!”

“You didn’t have to be so meticulous.” He takes the paint brush and can from you. “But thanks for the help.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before we started?”

“I didn’t think I had to.”

“Hey, it looks good!”

Both of you turn around to find your mother judging the paint job.

“How did she do, Keiji? Be honest!”

The boy looks over at you with a smile. “She didn’t do half bad. It was nice having company.”

“She’ll have to help out more often.”

After that, your parents jump at any chance to have you help Akaashi with his work. Without giving you payment, of course.

“You could learn a lot from the boy,” your dad says later on. “You need to learn how to do some hard work.”

“I think we managed to hire a trustworthy boy,” your mother chimes in.

“He can teach you about taking care of yourself. At least until you find a man like him to do it all. Someone with deeper pockets, hopefully.”

For some reason you’re really not a fan of the tone of voice your father uses, but at the same time you don’t really know what he means by it. Rather than being offended for Akaashi’s sake, you continue the conversation.

“Can’t I just hire someone like you guys?”

After a moment of thought, your mom speaks up. “Of course that’s an option! Maybe Keiji will even be around to work for you.”

You nod, not really knowing how to reply. You couldn’t genuinely see Akaashi working for you - but maybe working the whole summer with him wouldn’t be so bad, if it meant getting to know him better.

—

A knock on the front door pulls you out of the movie you were watching. When you answer, you find a familiar face.

“Is your dad home?”

You shake your head. “No, he’s having a late night at work. Won’t be back until early in the morning.”

“What about your mom?”

“On a trip,” you reply, bringing Akaashi inside.

“Well, do you have any idea why your dad called me here, then?”

“Oh, probably for me, sorry.”

His brows furrow, and the smile you sent him only confuses him more.

“My bathtub’s drain was clogged, but I told him I’d figure it out myself. I guess he didn’t trust my plumbing skills.”

“Did you fix it?”

“I…tried!”

He sighs. “Which bathroom?”

“The one in my room…”

You have no idea how he plans to fix the clog with no tools, but you don’t stop him as he makes his way to the bathroom. You sit at the kitchen table and wait for him to come back.

It takes much less time than you expected, and he’s drying his hands with a towel when he walks into the kitchen.

“Did you fix it?!”

He nods, wiping his brow. “Maybe I should’ve used that as a teachable moment for you.”

“No thanks. I never want to look at a drain again - I tried looking up instructions, but nothing would work. I tried for at least thirty minutes!”

“It isn’t that hard,” he replies under his breath. He sits across the table from you. “What are you doing home anyway? Don’t you have friends to keep you company? You know, instead of your gardener.”

“Are you implying I told my dad to invite you here on purpose?”

“A clogged drain isn’t that dire, but your dad definitely made it out to be.”

“Whatever,” you scoff. “I was going to make dinner, and since you’re here, you can help.”

“I’m a gardener, not a chef.”

You stand and begin pulling ingredients out of the fridge. “That’s what recipes are for - I won’t let you mess anything up, don’t worry.”

“Fine - don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Thirty minutes later the entire kitchen was filled with smoke.

“How did you burn rice?!”

“I don’t know - all I did was pour it into the pot!”

“With or without water?”

“…shit.”

—

Akaashi was hopeful that when fall came around, it’d mean less work. He was very mistaken. You’d even told him, “knowing my dad, he’ll find something for you to do.”

And the man did. For a month, Akaashi had to rake leaves once a week - which included cleaning the gutters - and when he wasn’t doing that, he was cleaning old tools that had been in your garage for years.

The first day he does the raking you watch him through the living room window in agony, waiting for him to get a big pile collected.

And as soon as he turns his back…

Your giggles were the only warning he had before he saw leaves go flying.

“My dad told me to help, so I thought I’d give you more work!”

“Y/N,” he says with a groan, but your laughter forces him to laugh with you. “That took half an hour!”

“I’ll rake them again! Help me up.”

He grabs your hand - only to be pulled down into the remaining leaf pile beside you, making you laugh even harder when he groans.

“Isn’t it fun?”

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” he says. But you notice that as he stands up and pulls you with him, he doesn’t deny it. “Once I jumped in a pile of leaves my dad was raking, and he was so pissed,” he admits with a laugh, looking happy at the memory.

“Did you have to rake them up after that, like I have to?”

He answers by handing you a rake. “I had to rake them for the rest of the season. For everyone in our neighborhood.”

“God, that must’ve sucked.”

“It paid well,” he replies. “I was able to buy my parents Christmas gifts that year because of it.”

“That’s sweet, Keiji.”

“Enough ass kissing, get to work.”

He walks away while you scoff, leaving you alone to rake up the mess you made - but you both have smiles on your faces.

—

As winter approached, Akaashi was spending even more of his time with you when he was meant to be working. You’d call him into your room for his opinion on an outfit or make him stay an hour longer so he could have lunch with you; you even often texted each other. Your friendship flourished, and the two of you felt more than comfortable around each other now - a stark comparison to nearly six months ago.

He was at your home every Monday and some Thursdays ready to work, without fail. They quickly became your favorite days of the week.

This Monday the wind was roaring outside as you curled up on the couch, fireplace ablaze to keep you warm. You were sure Akaashi wouldn’t come today - the last time you looked outside everything was covered in snow, even parts of the road - so when the doorbell rings it makes you jump a little.

You open the door, knowing Akaashi would be on the other side. “You’re late!” you say before hurrying back to your spot on the couch.

He pulls his beanie off, letting his messy hair free. “I know - the snow was getting bad. Had to shovel my driveway.”

“Tardiness is unacceptable, Akaashi.”

He scoffs at you. “Tardiness is next to godliness -”

“That’s timeliness.”

Your dad walks into the room from the kitchen, interrupting your conversation. “Akaashi, what’re you doing here?”

“Wasn’t I supposed to work on something in the attic today, or… something?”

He takes off his scarf as he speaks, and you stare at his rosy cheeks. His skin must’ve been flushed from the cold - you think he looks absolutely precious.

He catches you staring at him, but you didn’t look away. Before you probably would’ve been embarrassed to be caught eyeing the boy, but now you were looking forward to him teasing you for it.

“Well, yeah, but have you seen the weather? I didn’t think you’d bother showing up.”

Of course he’d seen the weather - but he also hadn’t seen you in a week. And for some reason, he missed you - so he made a point to get to work today.

“I appreciate the work. Especially since the holidays are coming up.”

“Alright…” your dad says with an understanding sigh. “Come on, then.”

You assume your dad leads him to the attic. Before walking away, Akaashi pulls his hoodie off, giving you a good view of his toned stomach when his shirt raises up. And instead of hanging it on the coat rack, he throws it at you with a smirk.

“Hey!”

“It’s to keep you warm!” he laughs before quickly catching up with his boss.

You don’t see him again until you’re having dinner. Your mother invites him to stay and eat, and when he sits across from you, you make sure to give his leg a playful kick.

“Shouldn’t you write Keiji up for being late today, bossman?”

“I had an excuse,” the boy argues.

“But you were a good four hours late.”

Keiji finally kicks your leg back, rolling his eyes.

“At least I showed up at all,” he replies. He looks down at his watch and half-gasps at the time. “I should get home, though - thank you for the meal.”

He stands up and your mother follows him. “Are you sure the roads are safe?” Nobody responds as she walks over to a window, seeing nothing but thick snow falling from the evening sky. “The road’s completely covered! I don’t want you driving in this weather. You should stay here for the night.”

“Keiji, we get to have a sleepover,” you tease.

“I couldn’t impose -”

“I insist,” your mom says. “You can sleep in the living room. Help him feel at home, Y/N.”

“Sure,” you reply. You would’ve given a sassier reply just to tease Akaashi even more, but you were busy wondering about his worried expression.

“Maybe the snow will lighten up soon,” he says.

“I doubt it,” your father says to him. The man stands and puts a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder. “Just stay here until the morning, don’t bother risking the drive. Y/N, don’t pester him too much.”

“I’ll try.”

After wishing you goodnight, your parents head off to their bedroom for bed.

“Do you want me to get the futon out for you?”

“If you don’t mind,” Akaashi says as he pulls out his cell phone. With a sigh, he continues. “My brother is going to be pissed.”

“You have a brother?” you ask, making your way to the closet where the futon and blankets are stored.

“Yeah, he’s 7.”

You had known Akaashi for what felt like a long time, and you thought you knew him well. But even after all this time, and after learning so much about him, you knew almost nothing about his home life.

Wanting to know more, you ask, “what’s his name?”

You turn your head to find him with his phone pressed to his ear.

“Hey, can you put Koichi on? Yeah, thanks.”

You turn back and focus on setting up his futon in the middle of the living room, but you can’t help overhearing his phone call since he’s only standing in the doorway.

“Hey, kid. I know I was supposed to be home before it got dark, but… no, playing in the snow is going to have to wait until tomorrow… I know I promised, but I have to stay here - no, the roads aren’t safe to drive…”

You find yourself feeling very curious about what Akaashi’s brother is like, what their relationship is like; you just want to sit and talk to him about his life and family, learning everything about him. But you’re sure he’d feel uncomfortable with that. It’d probably feel more like an interrogation to him.

It does seem unfair though. He knew virtually everything about you and your family. Would you have to become his handyman in order to learn more about him?

“Hey, you didn’t have to do all that for me.”

You look up and see he’s now back in the living room with you, phone call completed. You were already done setting up his futon as well as spreading out the bedspread.

“It’s fine!” you say. “I’ll get you an extra blanket, too.”

“Thanks, Y/N.”

“No problem, Keiji.”

You get the blanket for him and decide to turn in early, heading back up to your room with a cheerful ‘good night’.

When you wake up, the first thing you think is how cold you are. It’s unbearable; you curl your limbs into your body, pull your blanket up to your chin, but it’s no use. It feels like the blanket is only making you colder.

You open your eyes to check the time; you expect to see the sun shining through your window, but it’s still dark out. You click your phone on and are surprised to find that it’s only 1 am - and also that your phone isn’t charging, even though it’s plugged in.

You switch your bedside lamp on: nothing.

“Huh.”

The snow must have knocked the power out. That would explain your room’s temperature.

There’s no way you can fall asleep in your cold bedroom, so using your phone as a flashlight, you make your way to the living room, with thoughts of the fireplace and a certain boy and the warmth both of them can offer.

You’re excited to see Akaashi already has a fire burning in the fireplace, and he’s sat up in the futon, the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head.

“Keiji,” you whisper before sitting next to him. “I need warmth!”

“You’re in the right place, then.”

You sit down next to him in front of the fireplace, sitting much closer to him than you first intended.

“You’re shivering,” he says with a laugh, pushing his hood down. “Are you really that cold?”

You nod, pulling your knees up to your chest and hugging them close.

“Here,” Akaashi says, pulling his hoodie off and handing it to you. “It’s warm.”

“Won’t you be cold?” you ask, pulling the sweatshirt on. You immediately feel warmer, and the scent of Akaashi’s cologne quickly takes over your senses.

He shakes his head. “Not if I’m under a blanket,” he says as he scoots up, getting under the two large blankets. “Do you want to lay down with me?”

Instead of answering, you just crawl over to him. He holds the blanket up for you, inviting you under, and you gratefully accept.

“Do you feel better?” Akaashi asks after you get comfortable.

“I’m so warm,” you say, almost in disbelief. You open your eyes and give him a wide, content smile. “Are you warm?”

He nods. You’re sharing a pillow; his face is quite close to yours. But not uncomfortably close. You like laying next to him like this.

“…are you still worried about your brother?”

“A little,” he says with an awkward laugh. “He wanted to play in the snow together.”

“He’ll be okay, I’m sure,” you say before yawning. “I didn’t know you even had a brother. Does he look like you?”

Akaashi smiles. “Basically identical.”

“I’d love to meet him.”

Your eyes are closed now, and you can feel yourself falling asleep, but you try to hold it back.

“I’d like that,” Akaashi replies, and his voice is much quieter than it was before.

He closes his eyes too, but he’s nowhere near falling asleep. He isn’t even tired. How could he manage to fall asleep while you’re laying right next to him?

So he opens his eyes again, and lets himself look at you. The fire lights up the room with an orange glow, gently cascading on your face. And he’s gone; his heart is beating fast, he’s smiling for no reason, his entire body feels warm - and he’s sure it isn’t because of the fire.

He wants you to wake up. He wants you to look at him like he’s looking at you. He wants to keep talking to you, to tell you everything about himself.

But at the same time, he loves how peaceful you look. He never thought he’d get the chance to see you sleeping - and he kind of feels like a creep for watching you, but he figures that just this once, it’s okay. After all, you did crawl into bed beside him.

You snuggle into the pillow and your hair falls into your face, and Akaashi takes a chance and brushes it away. His touch is soft, he’s sure, but when he pulls his hand away your eyes slowly open.

“Are you cold?”

He shakes his head, but you scoot closer to him anyway.

“I can keep you warm,” you say softly, wrapping your arm around his waist and pressing your face against the top of his chest. “I haven’t cuddled in so long…”

“Me neither,” he replies. He’s trying to relax, because he’s sure you can feel how tense he is.

“Then we should cuddle more often.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.”

He swears he’s going to pass out, because he’s holding his breath and his heart is beating so fast and his mind is racing.

He’s not sure if this is appropriate - in fact, he knows it isn’t. He feels dizzy just thinking about what your father - his boss - would say if he knew the two of you were here in each other’s arms.

But maybe that doesn’t matter for now, and maybe he could get away with doing this just once.

So he relaxes and he breathes and he closes his eyes, but he doesn’t fall asleep for a while - he has to keep an eye on the fireplace, anyway. He lays there with your body pressed against his, your arms wrapped around him, for what’s probably hours. And he’s never felt more comfortable.

—

Even though it wasn’t his intention, cuddling together turns out to be more than a one-time thing.

For the rest of the winter you made a habit of inviting him to your room, always to keep you warm. And he never really had any complaints until the day you expressed that you want to do more with him.

It was overwhelming. So much so that after you had that conversation with him, he had to avoid you. It was hard to avoid someone who lived in the house he worked in, though, so his attempts were unsuccessful.

One day he’s in the kitchen washing his hands when you come into the room and pull him out into the hall.

“What’s up?” he asks as you lead him around the corner, holding his hand behind you. “I’m not done working -”

You stop and turn to him, leaning against the wall behind you. You pull him closer and take a deep breath, remembering the conversation the two of you had a few days ago, when you expressed your feelings and told him how badly you wanted to be closer to him - and when he told you he feels the same way.

“You already know.”

He tries his best to hold back his reaction. He knows what you mean. But still, he shakes his head.

“I want you to… kiss me.”

He’s avoiding eye contact with you now, and you squeeze his hand. He doesn’t squeeze back.

“What?”

“Don’t you want to?” you ask. He doesn’t reply. “Keiji…”

For the first time that evening, he looks at you in the eye. “Don’t… say my name like that.”

“Why not?”

Blue eyes bore into yours. You know he’s trying hard to keep that exasperated look on his face. You’re trying hard to swallow the lump forming in your throat. Had he lied when he said he wanted you too?

“Keiji… you said you want to.”

His eyes close, his hand squeezes yours tight.

“I can’t,” he says, shaking his head. “If your parents found out -”

“No one has to know.”

“They’ll know,” he replies.

“One kiss,” you say, looking at his lips. The curiosity was eating away at you now. “It’s harmless.”

Akaashi knows that isn’t true. And if you genuinely believe that then his feelings are already hurt. Because this isn’t harmless - especially if it really is just one kiss.

You’d spent the last few months being forbidden fucking fruit - one taste wouldn’t be enough for him. He knows that. You should too.

So he shakes his head again, letting out a breath that sounds like a groan, and he keeps his eyes squeezed shut so he doesn’t have to look at your tantalizing lips again.

“I… I can’t.”

Being rejected isn’t something you expected to happen. So you look down to your feet. You drop Akaashi’s hand. After getting used to your touch, he misses the feeling already.

“Okay…” you reply. It’s hard to speak to him now, knowing that he didn’t mean what he said before, and you’re embarrassed.

You know your next words will sound pathetic, but you can’t hold them back. “If you… change your mind, you know where to find me, I guess.”

And then you walk away, knowing both of you would regret your actions that day.

—

After that, the two of you were back to square one. You remember feeling as if the last few months hadn’t even happened - you stopped talking, you stopped cuddling, you even stopped looking at each other.

It was hard for both of you. Akaashi was convinced that after he rejected you, you started purposefully walking around the house scantily clad even more than before. It’d been two weeks since then, and it was driving him fucking crazy.

He could deal with it, though.

That day, however - that day was the last straw.

He’d walked into your house - at this point, your parents had told him to just let himself in. And the sight he walked in on was something he’d never get out of his head.

You were on the couch…and you weren’t alone. You were lying with someone else on top of you, your lips attached to his. To make it worse, it was a guy Akaashi was sure he recognized from his high school volleyball days.

It was like walking in on a car crash. His heart sank into his stomach, it felt like he was going to throw up, he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to pull his hair out, he wanted to yell, to cry. But all he could think to do was run out. He forgot about the job he was meant to be doing today.

And then he sat alone in his car for awhile.

He hoped you got what you wanted - because he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to walk into that house again.

—

“Long time no see,” you mumble when you walk into the kitchen. You see him stiffen at the sound of your voice.

Akaashi had taken a two week “vacation”, according to your dad, but you knew the real reason he’d stayed away.

“Wonder why,” he replies, his sarcastic tone matching yours. He definitely wasn’t happy to be speaking to you.

“Yeah,” you say. “I wonder.”

Akaashi can’t take it anymore. Not only is your tone absolutely unbearable, but the way you’d been treating him - even before he caught you with another guy - was nothing but disrespectful.

“Do you get off on hurting my feelings or something?”

“What -”

“You know what you’re doing. Don’t act innocent.”

He turns to look at you, clearly feeling confident. You don’t feel the same.

“I didn’t mean for you to walk in…”

“We both know that’s bullshit -”

“No it isn’t.”

After a beat of silence, Akaashi asks a question that he’s been dying to ask for two weeks now. “What, is he your boyfriend or something?”

“No.”

The truth is you did hate yourself for being caught like that, if only because you were sorry it hurt Akaashi to see it.

“You don’t want to kiss me. But he did. So I kissed him.”

That had been a bad choice - you knew it the moment you invited the boy over. It wasn’t helpful to anyone, particularly the guy whom you had no feelings for.

“And I don’t understand why you’re so upset when you never wanted me in the first place -”

“I wanted to kiss you!”

“Then why didn’t you?!” You know you shouldn’t raise your voice, but Akaashi doesn’t seem fazed by it.

“Because I could lose my job! And I wouldn’t be able to stop myself - it wouldn’t just be one kiss, but you don’t - you don’t understand that!”

You take a while to reply. Akaashi takes that chance to look away from you, to run a hand through his hair, to realize what the fuck he just said.

“What if I don’t want you to stop?”

“Don’t say that.”

“I still want to kiss you, Keiji!” you say loudly, glad your parents are at work. “Even after you rejected me - and you can do it again! I don’t care!”

Then kiss me - he’s so close to saying it. But he can’t open his mouth.

“I’m going to my room. Go do your work -”

“Wait -”

You stop in your tracks and wait for him to continue.

“If I lose my job for this -”

“You won’t.”

He walks closer to you, ignoring what you said. “If I lose my job for this, you’re buying my brother’s birthday presents.”

“You aren’t going to get fired, unless you’re a bad kisser and I make my dad fire you so I never have to see you again.”

He rolls his eyes. “Do you want me to kiss you or not?”

You don’t bother replying, because Akaashi puts his hands on each side of your face. He pulls you close, but he goes slow, as if he’s working up the courage to do it.

“Is this your first kiss?”

“Shut up.”

And then he kisses you - it’s sweet and soft and gentle, and while you expected all of those things, fireworks don’t fly like you thought they would. You don’t feel sparks of electricity across your whole body. Maybe it’s because it’s not rushed, or because it isn’t spontaneous.

But the way his hands are holding your face feel perfect. His thumb grazes your skin carefully, and his hands are gentle despite being rough and worn from countless hours of hard work.

It doesn’t last very long; he pulls away before you can even move your lips much. And when you open your eyes, his are still closed - and he’s smiling so wide.

You know kissing is supposed to lead to more, in fact you assumed you’d be taking each other’s clothes off by now, but all you really want to do is cuddle with him for a while.

“When will you be done working?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Because I want to take a nap.”

“We can take a nap,” he laughs.

“And I want to kiss you more.”

He nods. “I’ll kiss you more. As much as you want.”

—

You think back on the period that followed with great affection, the blessed honeymoon phase. As spring approached and the weather started to get warmer, your relationship with Akaashi blossomed along with the wild daffodils in your backyard. Even though he was nervous about your parents finding out, requesting that you keep your relationship status a secret so he wouldn’t risk losing his job, you both felt very happy with how things were going. You were comfortable with him, and he absolutely adored you.

When you informed him of your love of spring flowers he demanded you help plant some in the flowerbeds. He told you he’d plant whatever you wanted, even taking you to a flower shop so you could pick them out.

You decided on red marigolds. Akaashi planted the seeds with tender care, and you made sure to water them on the days he wasn’t working.

The two of you bonded over waiting for the flowers to bloom - you were impatient, and Akaashi was worried they wouldn’t grow.

But they did - the two of you were over the moon when they sprouted, you remember fondly, sitting on the edge of the porch with him, both looking at the flowerbed.

“I’m so excited for them to bloom,” you say.

“Me too.”

You turn your head and look at Akaashi. He gives you a small smile, and you feel your heart speed up just looking at him. He’s so cute that it hurts, but you can’t even look away from him.

But you have to; you look around, making sure no one just so happens to be looking, and then you quickly steal a kiss from him.

“What was that for?” he asks.

You shrug. “You just look cute, that’s all.”

Akaashi looks around in the same way you had, before kissing you again quickly.

“Right back at you,” he replies, before letting his hand rest on yours.

You lean your head against his shoulder and smile wide as he presses a kiss to the top of your head. You flip your hand over so you could lock your fingers together.

Akaashi feels something he’d never felt before, not with anyone else or even with you, until right now. He’s so comforted by you; this moment is cozy and relaxed and tranquil and every other word like that he can think of. He wants to be with you, right there, for as long as he can.

He squeezes your hand. He wants more of this - more of you.

“Y/N,” he says quietly, and you pull back to look up at him.

He smiles again before ducking down to kiss you one more time. This one lasts longer, he kisses you hard and makes the most out of the short time before he has to pull away.

He doesn’t want to pull away at all, but he’s glad he did - because the door behind you opens right then.

“Keiji, I’m glad I caught you before you left -”

Your mom is none the wiser, or at least it seems so. Akaashi pulls away from you quickly, praying she didn’t see anything.

“We’re having a little neighborhood get-together tomorrow here at noon, and I thought it’d be fun for you to come!”

He nods, looking back at her. “Sure, I’ll be there.”

“Great! Oh and Y/N, the neighbor’s son is home for spring break and we’ve invited him too. You’ll have to wear something nice.”

You nod in response and Akaashi stands. “Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I better get going.”

With that he walks to his car, and you stand to face your mom.

“What were you two doing?” she asks.

You shrug. “Just talking.”

“He’s a nice boy,” she says with a knowing smile. “But, you know, the Kindaichi’s son has been away at university at Cornell. You know, your father’s old alma mater. And he’s on the road to joining your father’s company.”

“That’s nice,” you hum, trying your best to avoid the conversation altogether.

“I’m just saying, that’s the kind of man your father and I want for you. So we think you should give Yutaro a chance, okay?”

You simply nod along as she speaks, trying not to blow your cover and expose your and Akaashi’s relationship. This appears to be good enough for her as she retreats back inside soon after, leaving you to ponder.

You aren’t thinking about your future or what kind of man you want for yourself right now. At this point, the only thing you know is that you want to date Akaashi - even if your parents don’t approve. Their opinion of Akaashi isn’t really clear to you, but what you do know is that in some way, they judge his home life.

He doesn’t share much of it with you, but you know his life isn’t easy. He doesn’t have much, and everything he does have is the product of hard work. He definitely isn’t away at a prestigious school and there would be no well-paying suit-and-tie job waiting for him in a few years, either, no handy contacts to help slide him into a junior partner position at a family friend’s company.

But do those facts make him less desirable than someone with more money in their pockets?

You know your parents have good intentions, they mean well, they only ever wanted the best for you. But to you, the best has never meant smart or rich - the best always meant down to earth, caring, personable, supportive and encouraging. Akaashi is all of that plus more.

Even so, you know you have to put on a show for your parents’ sake - or rather, for Akaashi’s sake.

And the next day, that’s exactly what you do.

You aren’t able to talk to Akaashi much at the party because your parents are too busy basically trying to sell you to the Kindaichi’s, but after about an hour or so you’re able to get away from them. You grab Akaashi and make a break for it, trying your best not to get spotted.

You bring Akaashi around to the front porch and sit in the same places you sat the day before.

“This is the worst,” you say, covering your face with both hands.

“At least you look nice.”

You sigh. “Mom forced me to wear this dress. Apparently red is Cornell’s school color or something.”

“He really goes to Cornell?”

“Yeah. And it definitely shows in his bland as fuck personality.”

Akaashi nods. “Are you considering…”

“What do you mean?” You look over at him. “Not in a million years. I don’t care how much money he has.”

“Your parents seem to like him, though.”

“Well, we both know who I like. And he doesn’t go to Cornell. And I’m going to tell them that.”

“You’re what?”

“Y/N - there you are, I’ve been looking all over. Aren’t you going to tell Yutaro goodbye?”

You turn and look at your dad. “Do I have to?”

“You need to make a good first impression -”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”

When your dad reluctantly walks away, Akaashi grabs your arm.

“You can’t tell them -”

“Why not? You’re great at what you do, if they fire you then you can get a job almost anywhere else - and if they don’t approve, I don’t care.”

“Y/N -”

“Keiji, I want to take us more seriously.”

Akaashi closes his eyes and shakes his head. And you don’t want to stress him out with this - you know he already has a lot going on.

But if he doesn’t want to tell them now, will he ever? Will he choose to keep your relationship a secret forever? And will you always have to settle for it?

You don’t know - nor do you really have the time to think about it right now.

“Okay. Sorry. I won’t tell them anything.”

With that, you get up and go back to the backyard where your parents are waiting expectantly. Akaashi isn’t far behind you.

He’d been feeling awkward the entire party. And having to watch you, dressed up nicely for another guy, faking interest and forcing smiles - it just makes him feel shit, especially because if he could just get over his fears of judgement then you wouldn’t have to deal with this stupid charade.

But he also has to admit to an even more powerful emotion: he’s jealous. He realizes that he wants to be the guy your parents are rooting for, he wants to be the one they believe could take care of their daughter, he wants to be the one you dress up for. But he doesn’t even know if his community college had school colors. And he does know that your parents would never accept him as a match for their daughter.

But he’ll be damned if he’s gonna lose you to some goofy-looking guy whose most interesting characteristic is that they go to a prestigious school - and just watching the boy awkwardly trying to touch your shoulder pisses him off. Can’t he see you shying away?

‘Cornell’ tries again; Akaashi sees you flinch.

That does it.

“It’d be a nice day for a drive, don’t you think?” he hears as he approaches you both.

“…yeah, sure,” you reply, brushing your hair behind your ear. You aren’t even making eye contact with the guy - Ivy League apparently isn’t smart enough to take the hint.

Once he’s close enough, Akaashi puts his hand on the small of your back. “Hey, Y/N.”

You send him a grateful look for the interruption, but the guy in front of you only looks annoyed.

“Excuse me - who are you? I don’t think we were introduced.”

The guy’s fake politeness only added fuel to the fire.

“Akaashi.”

“You can call me Kindaichi - or Yutaro.”

He holds his hand out, and Akaashi doesn’t shake it.

“Look, no offense, but I don’t think my girlfriend is all that interested. Try not being so oblivious.”

With that, he takes your hand and leads you away over to the empty patio.

“Were you jealous, Keiji?”

“Shut up.”

“Just admit it!” you laugh.

He rolls his eyes and refuses to admit anything - even though he knows you’re right.

You tug on his hand; he turns and looks at you slowly. You see the exhilaration mixed with anxiety in his eyes. It matches what you feel in your heart.

“That’s the first person we’ve told about our relationship, by the way.”

–

Later that night, Akaashi texts you and tells you he’s done keeping things secret - he’s ready to be more serious about the relationship, too. You agree to tell your parents the next morning.

Akaashi proceeds to demand that you call him when you’re finished with the conversation; when you do finally call him, he spends at least two minutes anxiously asking questions - you can’t get a word in.

“…are they disappointed? Do they want you to date someone better? With more money? Shit - do I even still have a job?”

“Do you want an answer, or do you just want to keep asking questions?”

His answer is a sigh, and there’s a long silence before you tell him how things went.

“…you know they already knew?”

“They… what?”

“We didn’t do a good job at hiding things, apparently,” you laugh. “And they both talked it over last night, and they agree you’re probably better for me than anyone else.”

“You mean I was worried for nothing?”

“Yeah, babe. Oh, also, dad says you have a lot of yard work to do Thursday, so you should get here early.”

“Sure.”

“Wait - get here extra early, and we can have breakfast together.”

He snorts. “By early, you mean noon, right? I know you like getting your sleep -”

“Shut up!”

—

That Thursday, you wait impatiently for your boyfriend to arrive - you stand at the door to keep a look-out for him. When you see his car pull into your driveway, you quickly run outside.

“Keiji, they bloomed!”

“The flowers we planted?”

“Yeah, come on, you have to see them!”

You pull him around the house to the flowerbeds, where dozens of red and orange marigolds are freshly bloomed.

“You were worried about them for nothing,” you say. “Growing flowers is easy.”

“We all know I worry too much, you don’t have to bring it up anymore.”

His words make both of you laugh, and you stand there together looking at the flowers for a while.

“Aren’t they pretty?”

“They are,” he replies. Standing behind you, he wraps his arms around you, resting his chin on your shoulder so he can still see the flowers.

“What should we plant next year?”

“Hm… something bigger. A bush, maybe?”

You nod in agreement before leading him back inside to have breakfast - your parents will be joining you, after which he’ll get on with his chores for the day. He’s surprised at how comfortable he feels around your parents, how nothing feels different. He was worried for nothing - he’d have to remember to stop worrying so much.

But next year, when the two of you plant rose bushes, he can’t stop worrying about whether they’d bloom or not - they took a while, much longer than the marigolds. But all that worrying was worth it for the day he came over to find you sat on the porch, holding a red rose.

“I think all your worrying helps them grow.”

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes he replies, “I think you’re right. For once, anyways.”

He decides marigolds are easier, though. And that’s what you’d go with from now on.

#akaashi keiji #akaashi keiji x reader #akaashi x reader #haikyuu one shot #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #fluff #scenario #if u read that whole thing thank you asdfjlg

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ourooboroos · 5 years ago

Text

something in the way you look at me

Summary: Even though so many of Magnus’s texts (clean texts, too, not innuendos or dirty talk or anything -- just kind, friendly texts) had Alec blushing, Alec couldn’t wait to see him again. He was positive he would make a fool of himself, that’s just how he operated, but regardless, he wanted to see Magnus again. That brief time in the bookstore had not been enough. Not enough to get to know each other, obviously, and not nearly enough to appreciate Magnus’s carefully styled hair, inimitable style, and easy grace.

So Alec asked him out. Read on my AO3 or under the cut!

I don't know how or why I feel different in your eyes -Christian Bautista, "Missing Piece"

It wasn’t like Alec had a bad childhood.

He was safe; he never questioned where his next meal would come from, or whether he would have a bed to sleep in at night. His parents provided him with toys and three siblings and every opportunity he could ask for, like guitar lessons, carpools to swim practice, and a laptop when he went away to college. Even his adopted brother, Jace, couldn’t say the same about all of these things until the Lightwood family took him in at age ten. It’s not like Alec had any misconceptions about how lucky and privileged he was.

But he did sometimes feel like something was missing. He just didn’t know what.

Alec was 20 when he met Magnus.

The campus bookstore was crowded; it made sense, it was two days before classes started and students were piling in to buy necessary texts. Alec was working the register, a bit tired due to the early start to his shift, and had just handed change back to a nice blonde girl when a man stepped forward. He was just a few inches shorter than Alec’s impressive 6’3” and dressed to kill in a silky-looking deep red button down shirt and tight black pants. Necklaces draped across his neck and hid under his collar and he placed two large history books on the counter. Alec saw painted nails and various rings glinting under the fluorescent lights above them. He scanned the books’ barcodes with a gulp.

“Buying or renting?” he managed, chancing a glance at the man and immediately regretting it. His face burned as deep brown eyes lined in kohl stare back at him, a smirk playing on the man’s lips.

“Renting.”

“That’s 145 dollars.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and handed him a credit card. After completing the transaction, the other man signing a receipt, Alec handed him his books, ignoring the way their fingers brushed. “Good luck,” he said.

The other man’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “You, too.”

Alec tried to be subtle as he watched him walk away, his hips swaying this way and that with his books clutched in his arms, but when he looked towards the next customer in front of him he found her staring with raised eyebrows. Oops.

Smiling sheepishly, he quickly grabbed the man’s receipt to put away when he noticed something -- on the bottom, written in curvy script, was Magnus followed by ten numbers -- and he could feel his face flushing as he quietly set it aside to deal with later.

He grinned at the next customer in line. “Buying or renting?”

That night, as Izzy was cooking dinner (Alec told her she didn’t have to, and secretly he would’ve preferred if she didn’t, but she never listened), Alec stared at his phone. He had entered Magnus’s number at the end of his shift before putting the receipt back in its place, but he wasn’t sure what to do now. And he was realizing that whether he and Magnus talk at all is all in his control, and wasn’t that frightening? He’d never made the first move -- or, he guessed, second move, since Magnus had given him his number after all -- especially not on a guy as attractive as Magnus.

“Dinner’s ready!” Izzy’s voice echoed through their open kitchen and living area, startling Alec out of his thoughts. Before he could think about it any longer, he quickly tapped out Hey, it’s the cashier from the bookstore. I hope it’s alright that I’m texting and sent it to Magnus in the hopes that Izzy’s disaster of a dinner would distract him from waiting for a text back.

It turned out not even Izzy could ruin Stouffer’s premade lasagna and a simple salad, and Alec’s phone vibrated in his pocket in the middle of the meal.

Alec hadn’t come to the realization that he was gay all at once. It wasn’t like there was some earth-shattering moment where he suddenly just knew. It was more like he experienced a lot of little moments that added up to this inevitable realization.

The one that stood out to him the most was the time he took the chance in 11th grade to audition for the school musical. It was completely unlike him, and to be completely honest, he only did it because Andrew Underhill always auditioned and always got a leading role. Andrew Underhill was cute. And he was the only openly gay student at Alicante High.

But Alec pretended it was because of Lydia Branwell.

Lydia was awesome. She had a graceful yet take-no-shit way about her. She was the class president and Alec was certain that she could kick his ass if she wanted to. They had been friends since 5th grade. And when he knew and could find the words, Lydia was the first person Alec told.

Anyway, during one fateful rehearsal, Alec caught wind of a party being held that Friday night. He hadn’t been invited, but that was fine with him -- he wasn’t a big party guy. It was not fine with Lydia, who pleaded with him to come along, offering to let him copy her chemistry homework for the rest of the week. And of course Alec caved. (But he didn’t copy her homework. Much.)

The basement was dimly lit and walled with wood panelling, music pumping through an iPod hooked up to an old stereo. It was sweaty and gross as dozens of teens danced sloppily, some spilling out the sliding glass doors into the backyard and lounging around the pool. Soon, glass bottles of alcohol mixed with teenage hormones led a large crowd to play Spin the Bottle. As Lydia dragged Alec into the circle he was overwhelmed by the feeling that this was a scene in a the teen drama that was somebody’s life, and he was an extra. He sat cross-legged next to Lydia and giggled and watched the bottle spin round and round, classmates sharing awkward, inebriated kisses. The bottle had blessedly passed him every time until suddenly… it didn’t.

Alec’s eyes widened. The green-eyed girl across from him, the one who had spun the bottle, looked familiar but he couldn’t place her in his boozy fog. Maybe they had stats class together? She crawled across the large circle towards him, and he swallowed, tense. When she reached him, she paused, glancing from his eyes to his lips and back again, asking silently for permission. The other students cheered. So Alec leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

And he felt nothing.

It was a perfectly decent kiss, but Alec found his thoughts wandering even in the few seconds their lips were connected. She tasted like vodka punch mixed with a fruity lip gloss, and their lips slid together, and Alec felt nothing except confusion at how he was analyzing this whole event so factually.

It wasn’t how he thought his first kiss would be.

They broke apart and Alec offered a small rueful smile. She pecked his cheek and backed into her spot in the circle. A few others took their turns and Alec sat silently, picking at the rubber of his Converse and wondering what it all meant. And that, of course, was when it was Underhill’s turn.

Alec knew what was going to happen even before it did. Underhill took the bottle in his right hand and spun it and Alec watched, nearly boiling over with nerves, as it landed on him.

Underhill’s eyes were questioning as he looked at Alec. The students around him were quiet, and Alec could hear someone suck in a quick breath. Nobody knew how Alec would react. Nobody knew that he had been waiting, wanting, to kiss Underhill for months.

So when Alec nodded minutely and he and Underhill met in the middle of the circle, he paused only briefly before grabbing the back of Underhill’s neck and pulling him in.

That was the moment it all came together for Alec. Every hint he’d felt -- how he couldn’t take his eyes off Underhill when he walked in the room; how, while Jace was preoccupied with Lara Croft, he was more interested in Nathan Drake; how his stomach churned every time his parents tried to reassure him that one day he would settle down with a “nice girl” -- combined and formed a cohesive thought in his head, one that maybe he’d known before but had been too afraid to really consciously consider. He was gay.

He was gay, and he figured it out mid-kiss with Andrew Underhill in a classmate’s dingy basement.

At the time, Alec thought that knowing that he was gay might be the thing he had been missing. He thought that, since he’d figured it out, the missing puzzle piece might appear and slide into place. But even once he’d come out -- once he’d told Lydia, who just smiled and hugged him; once he’d told Izzy and Jace and Max, who reacted as kindly as he had known they would; once he’d told his parents, who didn’t disown him but didn’t want to talk about it, either; once he’d told Andrew, and asked him on a date, and kissed him in the Dairy Queen -- he still felt that hole. He was more himself than he had ever been, but he still didn’t feel complete.

M: If I had a problem with you texting me, I wouldn’t have given you my number. ;) Alec stared at the text. The boy from the bookstore -- Magnus -- had texted him back. With a winky face. And his face had turned red just reading it. How embarrassing.

Alec exhaled, thumbing a message back. He’s halfway through an introduction when another text comes through.

M: I fear I’m at a disadvantage, though, seeing as how you know my name and I don’t know yours.

A: It’s Alec. M: Hmm. Short for Alexander? A handsome name for a handsome man.

It, somehow, was easier from there.

Even though so many of Magnus’s texts (clean texts, too, not innuendos or dirty talk or anything -- just kind, friendly texts) had Alec blushing, Alec couldn’t wait to see him again. He was positive he would make a fool of himself, that’s just how he operated, but regardless, he wanted to see Magnus again. That brief time in the bookstore had not been enough. Not enough to get to know each other, obviously, and not nearly enough to appreciate Magnus’s carefully styled hair, inimitable style, and easy grace.

So Alec asked him out.

He called him, this time, felt it would be more appropriate than a text, if a bit harder. When Magnus picked up, curious, Alec felt his heart beat like a hummingbird’s wings.

“Oh, hello.” Magnus’s voice was teasing, happy. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Alexander?”

Alec swallowed, willing his nerves to go away, and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Do you… would you like to meet up for coffee, sometime?” He winced at the way his voice cracked.

Magnus hummed. Alec smiled at the sound, even as his nerves raced. “Is it a date?”

“Preferably,” Alec all but stuttered.

“Then yes, I think I would.”

The coffee shop near campus was small and nearly empty, odd considering classes had started and it was usually a prime studying spot. Alec waited, sitting at a table in the corner, eyes on the door. When Magnus walked in, he couldn’t help but stare. Magnus was wearing blue skinny jeans and a thin burgundy sweater. He had on the same layering of necklaces and rings he did on the bookstore, his hair was swept back in a sort of faux-hawk, and his eyeliner was dark and intense. He was absolutely beautiful. And when he saw Alec, his face lit up.

As they sat and talked, laughing about anecdotes from class and how they’d chosen their majors, Magnus scooted a little closer and put his hand atop Alec’s. It was warm and soft and felt right. The butterflies in Alec's stomach settled.

And he felt something, some missing piece, some part of a puzzle, fall into place.

#malec #shadowhunters #alec lightwood #magnus bane #alec x magnus #fic #ficlet #linkscap writes #college au #mundane au

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goldcndays · 5 years ago

Text

[ SOFIA CARSON / ALETHEIA / POLEMOS / MUSE 45 ] / [ FRANCESCA CORTEZ ] is a [ 22 ] year old [ LAW ] major. [ SHE ] is/are known for being [ DILIGENT & INTELLIGENT ] but [ BLUNT & COLD ]. when i think of them, i imagine [ BLACK COFFEE, HOUNDSTOOTH, & CRISP NEW TEXTBOOKS ]. and even though they’re a proud HU student now, we all have our roots. theirs run back to them being a [ MHP (TERRA) ] graduate ]. i asked around and it turns out they [ AREN’T ] an AOP student. in their interview, they managed to woo the admissions team by [ PRESENTING A PAPER ARGUING BOTH SIDES OF A POLITICAL ISSUE ]. i guess that’s all there is to know! unless… [ sky / 24 / mst / she/her ]

bullet points.

raised in new york to second-generation colombian parents, francesca had it instilled in her from a young age the importance of working hard and achieving high standards. this has led her to try to be the best in her life, no matter the cost ( much to her benefit and detriment ).

she was a ‘miracle baby’, conceived via ivf after a long fertility journey, and because of that, all of her parents’ hopes and dreams have been pinned on her ever since she can remember. her parents have been good to her, but their expectations are high, and they never let her forget this --- nor does she let herself forget it.

she’s always achieved high grades, done all the extracurriculars she can possibly manage ( and then some ), and been the golden child. those who knew her at mhp probably wondered if she had any flaws or any vulnerabilities ( she does ). this only extended to her life at hatchett university, where she’s in her senior year but has been putting her best foot forward since day one, constantly striving to be the best she can be.

she can tend to have a blistering effect on others; she’s harsh, direct, and to-the-point. she doesn’t have time for bullshit, and her label ‘aggression’ finds its way out through harsh comebacks in the heat of the moment and carefully-crafted texts that cut where it hurts. she takes no prisoners, and if you’re in her way --- watch out.

connection ideas.

best friend(s) / ride or die. --- idk if anyone can stomach francesca’s demeanor but hopefully there’s someone out there, hmu

unlikely friends --- a friendship that shouldn’t work bc they’re total opposites, but somehow it does.

sister/brother/sibling figure --- francesca never grew up with siblings, so she’d love to have that close kind of relationship with somebody

confidant --- someone she can tell everything to and really be vulnerable about the things that bother her or hurt the most, they would see her softer side that she doesn’t show to anyone else

friends from mhp --- whether they were close or not, gimme ppl from her high school days!

friend turned enemy --- they were the closest, best friends even, and then things turned sour... now your muse is on francesca’s sh#t list, for whatever reason.

rival --- they hate each other and are always competing for the same things, same goals, same achievements

friends with benefits / no strings attached --- francesca has ~needs~ and she’d definitely love some no-strings-attached hook ups!

one night stand --- someone she hooked up with one time, and whether it’s awkward now or totally chill ?? who knows

flirtationship --- the vibes are ~there~ but it’s not 100% clear what the verdict is ur honor

booty call --- she calls them when she’s feeling Sad or drunk and just wants to get a little lovin’

first love --- the first person she ever loved, when she was softer and a bit newer to life, trying to figure out everything. they would probably have seen a softer side of her.

the one that got away --- a relationship that ended and there are lingering feelings and questions about what could have been

skinny love --- ok i’m soft... so a super angsty plot where the timing was never right or they were never able to fully admit their feelings to each other and it just never has worked out, even though they both feel the same.

rekindled flame --- for whatever reason they ended things, and now that they’re back at hatchett they’re back to feeling some type of way... how they handle that is up to us :~)

hatefucking --- she has self-respect but not that much... gimme a connection where they can’t stand each other but the sexual tension is off the charts and then in dark rooms they find each other and don’t admit what happened after the lights turn on

will they won’t they --- i love the drama and angst of it all :(

anything else you can think of --- literally down for anything!

stats.

name: francesca ximena cortez rojas age: 22 gender & pronouns: cis female, she/her orientation: bisexual birthday: april 20 residence: hatchett university (new york city when not at school) birth place: long island, new york parents: eduardo cortez rivera & elena rojas quintero siblings: n/a ethnicity: colombian occupation: law student at hatchett u pets: n/a

appearance.

hair: brown eyes: brown wears glasses? no complexion: clear height: 5′7″ scars: tattoos: n/a. piercings: n/a. faceclaim(s): sofia carson

personality.

mental: good zodiac sign: aries hogwarts house: slytherin + positive traits: diligent, intelligent, loyal, forthright - negative traits: blunt, cold, harsh, uncaring aesthetics: black coffee, houndstooth, crisp new textbooks, wood paneled bookshelves, white dress shirts, mini-skirts, black heels, cardigans & blazers, highlighters and note-taking, the burn of your eyes when you stay up too late studying, pulling an all nighter and yet showing up with lipstick on anyway, striving for complete perfection no matter the cost

subplot.

THE TIDE IS HIGH.

once upon a time, QUINCY, MUSE FORTY-THREE, MUSE FORTY-FOUR and FRANCESCA went on a beautiful hike down to the popular beach nearby, neptune’s cove. although they’d been many times for beach days, they’d never taken the chance to explore the infamous caves there until that day. FRANCESCA was interested in seeing everything, and led the others down twists and turns until they realized none of them were entirely sure how to get back. with the tide rolling in soon, they decided to try and find their way back, but the darkness in the caves led to QUINCY falling and severely hurting themselves. unable to make it out quickly with so much rock and debris, the group grew nervous. FRANCESCA eventually suggested that they leave and ‘return with more help’, but the other three knew there wasn’t enough time for that. stung with betrayal, QUINCY shamed FRANCESCA for being willing to abandon them and leading them so far out to begin with. FRANCESCA took this as an excuse to exit, leaving the other three behind. although FRANCESCA called the coast guard as soon as they got out and far enough to catch a signal, the others were furious. QUINCY did a short hospital stint for their injuries after the fact, while MUSE FORTY-THREE and MUSE FORTY-FOUR were left to wonder if FRANCESCA could be trusted anymore. it’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. so we have to ask: did they manage to bury the hatchet?

#ok hopefully this is enough info for now!!! perhaps more to come #hatchet:intro #‹ └ * 𝙁𝙄𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 :: 𝐨𝐨𝐜 —— tired all the time. ›

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ivorysoda · 6 years ago

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Why I don’t believe Touya’s hair is red

I never make such long posts, but bear with me here. I don’t think Todoroki Touya’s hair is completely red(I specifically think he’s the boy with white hair and red streaks), and here’s why:

It was never red in the manga

The overall consensus is that since Touya has a fire quirk his hair must be red, right? I see a lot of people referencing that one flashback in the anime; you know, the one Shouto has of all his siblings?

But wait, something’s wrong here. In the manga none of the children but Shouto had a lot of Enji’s red hair, seen here:

You could argue that the anime changed it per request of Horikoshi to fit with how he decided the story would go, but then why wouldn’t he change his hair in the second flashback, which came much later in the manga? It’s possible it was for consistency, but at one point Horikoshi would have to change it to red, why not as soon as possible, so as not to confuse the readers as much? So then, why did the anime change it?

Well, the most logical explanation is that there isn’t actually a reason for the change. Bones seems to make sudden unnecessary changes quite a bit, to be completely honest. They mostly change eye color, however they have done a few major changes, especially the interaction between Bakugou and Best Jeanist in season 2 (analysis done by @plusultra-fox, please check it out).

Both Iida and Mic had their eye colors changed; Iida from red to blue and Mic from red to green. It could possibly be because the animators thought red eyes seemed too villainous for hero characters like Mic and Iida, but they also changed Fuyumi’s eyes from blue to grey.

Bones could have decided the other two siblings were irrelevant, with only Fuyumi being known at the time, and changed their hair colors for convenience(easier to animate and in order to distinguish them?).

Whatever the reason Bones has for changing the colors of characters, it still stands that the siblings in both flashbacks in the manga have the same color hair, even after the release of the anime episode.

His mother never mentions him specifically

Here we see the iconic flashback of the moment right before Rei burned Shouto’s left side. What does this have to do with Touya, though? Rei says, “The children, they’re... Like him more and more every day. And Shoto... His left side. Sometimes I look at him and hate what I see.” She specifically mentions only Shouto’s left side, the side with red hair and blue eyes. If Touya had red hair, it would be more prominent than only Shouto’s left side, especially if he had blue eyes(which would be true if you believe in the Dabi Todoroki theory, which I’ll get into more later). Rei would’ve mentioned Touya looking like Enji if he had red hair.

It’s possible Horikoshi didn’t want to draw too much attention to the other siblings this early on in the manga, but if you pair this with the fact that in the manga both of Shouto’s older brothers have mostly white hair, it makes a lot more sense.

His body is like his mother’s

If you’re a fan of the Dabi Todoroki theory, you know this one well. In another of Shouto’s flashbacks, he remembers Enji training him, who also mentions Touya.

“Touya’s case was regrettable. He possesses even greater firepower than mine, and yet... He inherited Rei’s weak constitution.”

In the raws, “weak constitution” is “冷の性質,” or “cold nature,” implying that Touya’s body was made for ice, but instead he got a fire quirk, and not just that he had a weak or frail body(I’ve seen a lot of theories that Touya is the smallest in the flashbacks because of this, but Natsuo and Touya’s age differences would be too great for their height to be that different). Considering the association between hair color and quirks, then Touya having all or mostly white hair makes a lot of sense. In the manga flashbacks of the children, we see the smaller boy has all white hair, and the taller boy has mostly white hair with red streaks on the side and under. Unless Natsuo, who we’ve seen with all white hair, bleached his, the taller child would be Touya. The majority of his hair is white, correlating with his so called “cold nature,” while the red streaks represent his fire quirk.

Why he could be the boy with red and white hair/Taking into consideration the Dabi Todoroki theory

Keeping all of this in mind, now I’ll be addressing specifically the arguments that Touya is the smallest child in the flashbacks and the theory that Touya is Dabi.

Obviously a lot of the base for this theory is the scene in the anime with Shouto’s siblings, where the child in the middle has red hair. In the manga the middle child(location, not age) has completely white hair, styled down. The same child appears in the later flashback, where the height difference between the siblings is much more clear. Since many people believe that Dabi is Touya, and that he is the red haired child because he has a fire quirk, that means he is the smallest child in the flashback. Again, however, considering their ages and the fact that Natsuo has only been shown to have pure white hair, just like that child, it would make the most sense for the smallest to be Natsuo.

I’ve seen reasoning based on hairstyles, however, it has been shown in the manga that characters may change their hairstyle, especially because of life-altering events. Specifically Kirishima, but Toga is also seen with her hair down in a few of her flashbacks.

It wouldn’t be illogical for Natsuo and Touya to have gone through circumstances that inspired them to change their appearances, i.e. whatever happened to Touya that Natsuo mentions here:

Speaking of this panel, Natsuo is the one who brings it up, out of all his siblings. This could possibly be hinting at a closer relationship between Natsuo and Touya. Assuming Touya is Dabi, and that “what happened with big bro Touya” was that he ran away/was kicked out/was severely injured, after Touya’s absence Natsuo may have taken after Touya and started styling his hair like his older brother. Likewise, Touya, if he is Dabi, would have wanted to erase all ties with his old self and change his hairstyle and color.

Overall, I’m just really hoping to see the reveal of Touya soon. Personally I believe in the Dabi Todoroki theory, and I think it would definitely be cool for him to have naturally red and white hair, just like Shouto. It would definitely make for an interesting and very obvious reveal if he was shown with both colors in his hair; how often do you see people walking around with red and white hair, blue eyes, and a fire quirk, after all?

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #touya #todoroki touya #dabi is a todoroki #dabi is touya #touya's hair color #theories #bnha thoughts #bnha theory #my post #long post

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naruwitch · 5 years ago

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 3: Rise of Voltron Part 3

Everyone within the lion held onto the walls and chair for dear life as they traveled at breakneck speeds through the wormhole. They were going so fast it felt like their skin was peeling off. Out of all of them, Rivalz strangely seemed to be the calmest. Fortunately, it didn't last long as the lion exited the wormhole seconds later, which closed behind them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woah…" Rivalz muttered, "That was-"

Before Rivalz could complete his sentence, Shirley couldn't hold her lunch any longer. She vomited to the side of the control panel, making everyone cringe in disgust. Milly and Kallen even wrinkled their noses to block the smell as they were the closest to the poor girl.

"Sorry," she muttered in embarrassment before hurling again.

"I'm surprised you took this long, Shirley," Milly commented with sympathy, still wrinkling her nose.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations…" Suzaku observed, "...we must be a long, long way from Earth."

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet," Rivalz informed them as they approached a planet that looked very similar to Earth, "I think... I think it's going home."

With a burst of speed from the lion, it soared towards the lush planet full of forests, mountains, and oceans almost identical to Earth. Unfortunately, the group didn't have time to enjoy the scenery as they held on for dear life again as the lion descended. Lelouch and Milly were holding onto the back wall while the others were hanging onto Rivalz's pilot seat.

"Guys, personal space! Rai, your breath is killing me!" he complained.

"Uh, is it just me, or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?" Shirley asked, "Why are we even listening to a robotic lion anyway?!"

"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?" Rivalz pointed out.

"I don't know if you noticed," Kallen hissed, "but we're in an alien warship!"

"What's up with you, Kallen? You don't normally act like this." Milly noticed with a raised eyebrow of suspicion.

Kallen growled, "Look, I'm frustrated with this situation and terrified because Rivalz is the one flying this thing!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Everyone, knock it off!" Lelouch exclaimed, "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now!"

"Lelouch's right," Suzaku agreed, "if we're going to get through this, we need to do it together!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Rai.

"First, we need to know where we're going," Lelouch deduced, "Rivalz?"

"I… don't know," Rivalz admitted. He looked around at the others who were staring at him, "I'm sorry the lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shhh! Listen. I think I hear something."

"I hear it too," Milly said.

"Yeah," Shirley said, "it sounds like a… high-pitched squeal…" Before anyone could ponder what it was, Rivalz's fart finally made itself present. Disgusted reactions emanated from the group as they all covered their mouths and noses to block out Rivalz's fart as the boy himself smirked in amusement.

"But seriously, there's a castle up ahead," Rivalz said. Everyone looked up as the mechanical lion approached a mountaintop overlooking a vast ocean. The mountain itself seemed to form around a large white metallic building consisting of seven spires, with cyan blue outlines and windows. The formation made it look like a mystical castle from the Middle Ages of Europe with a few touches of the Empire's futuristic Knightmare Frame tech. The group stared in awe as they descended further towards the structure. The sun shone off the castle, making it look like pure silver. It felt like they had stepped into a fairytale of old, and judging from everything that had happened to them so far, it wasn't too far fetched.

The lion slowly descended towards the castle as its eyes glowed a bright yellow, followed by the cyan blue lights of the castle lighting up as well. The lion landed at what appeared to be the entrance to the castle, and bent down with an open mouth, waiting for its passengers to exit.

"Everyone, keep your guard up," Lelouch warned them.

"Something wrong?" asked Milly.

"No, Lelouch is right," Suzaku agreed, "we were already attacked by aliens once already, we don't want that to happen again."

The group of seven cautiously exited the lion and looked around, taking in the landscape. Then suddenly, the lion jolted and stood back up.

"No, no! I knew it was going to eat us! No!" Shirley shrieked as she leaped behind Lelouch. Instead of eating them, though, the lion roared mightily at the door, loud enough to shake the ground. The door glowed cyan blue in its outlines and opened, kicking up dust as it did so. It wasn't long before the castle was free to be entered.

The group looked at the entrance in a mixture of shock and awe as Shirley peaked out from behind Lelouch.

"Oh, the door is open," she spoke robotically in realization before turning to face the lion, "I guess I was wrong about you."

Deciding not to waste time investigating, they cautiously entered the castle. It was pitch black save for a few faint outlines of cyan blue along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Despite this, it was still hard to see where they were going, so they kept bumping into each other.

"Hello?" Shirley tentatively called out after wandering around for a while. The group stopped and stared at her as if she was crazy. What if whoever was in here was dangerous? She could've just given their location away.

"You know," observed Rai as the group came to a stop at a stairwell, "from the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger…"

Suddenly the room illuminated with a blue beam that shined down on the group, allowing for more of the castle's layout to be visible. The place they were in appeared to be a ballroom of sorts with the stairwell in front and glowing lanterns off to the side.

"Hold for identity scan," a computerized voice spoke as rays of blue light and mist rose up from the floor, rolling over their bodies in a scanning motion. It felt like they were being covered in a warm blanket as it ran over them.

"Why are we here?" Lelouch demanded as the scan finished its job, "What do you want with us?!"

The computer didn't answer. Instead, the same mist that surrounded the group during the identity scan rose up and filtered into the unlit lanterns that lined the walls, illuminating a path that led out of the ballroom.

"I guess we're going that way," Suzaku said before following Lelouch.

The farther the group walked down the halls of the castle, the more 'mist lights' seemed to turn on as if guiding them somewhere.

"Hello?" this time, Milly's voice echoed throughout the castle after a while of walking. As they went further into the castle, Milly, Shirley, and even Rai seemed to take turns calling out into the darkness, hoping for signs of life.

The group walked through hallway after hallway. Descended or ascended staircase after staircase until they finally reached what appeared to the center of the castle. The metallic doors leading inside slid open for them. It led to a large circular room with the center a few inches taller than the rest of the floor, and similar circles surrounding it. A central control panel stood at the head of it. Surrounding it were several pod-like objects, all with the same cyan blue outlines that matched the rest of the castle's decor.

"Where are we?" asked Rivalz, speaking for the first time since entering the castle.

"This is some kind of... control room!" Rai exclaimed in realization as the central control panel's buttons suddenly lit up. Gears shifted, and steam emerged from one side of the room, along with the sound of sliding doors opening. Two pod-like structures rose from the floor. The windows were partially transparent, allowing the group to at least see the outlines of two people inside of them. From what could be made out, it appeared to be a man and a woman.

"These-these two aren't dead, are they?!" Shirley asked, mildly freaked out.

Shirley soon got her answer as the pod suddenly glowed, and steam billowed from beneath it. The blue shell that surrounded the figure seemed to dissolve into sparkles of stardust, fully revealing the woman inside.

The woman wore a long blue and white dress, had dark-colored skin, sea-foam colored hair that descended in long waves down her back, pink crescent shapes around her eyes. Her most distinguishing feature was her pointy elf-like ears, with purple triangle-shaped earrings hanging from them. And to top it off, she had a golden circlet-style diadem around her forehead with a single blue gem in the center. She looked very similar to some elfish people found in some videogames on Earth.

The woman's eyes snapped open as she gasped, extending her hand as if to grab something that was in front of her, even though nothing was there.

"Father!" She cried as she stumbled out of the pod, and would've fallen if Rivalz hadn't rushed over to catch her.

The woman groaned, gripping Rivalz's arms to balance herself and looked up drowsily at the teenager that caught her.

Now that Rivalz had a good look at her face, he saw that the woman was quite beautiful. He blushed before flashing her one of his trademark smiles. "Well, hello there," trying to act charming.

"Who are you? Where am I?" the woman asked, speaking in a thick Britannian-like accent that would have made several of Lelouch's half-siblings jealous.

"I'm Rivalz, and you're right here in my arms," he answered smoothly.

The woman looked up at him curiously.

"Your… ears."

He raised an eyebrow and looking in the direction of the body part, "Yeah…?"

"They're hideous," she said bluntly, as she stood on her own two feet he took a small step away from him, still staring at his eyes in disgust, "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing's wrong with them!" Rivalz exclaimed defensively, "They heard exactly what you said about them-whoa!"

Rivalz was caught by surprise as the woman suddenly gripped his ear, twisted him around, and forced him onto his knees, holding his right arm behind his back. For a slim looking woman, she was incredibly strong, and Rivalz had to fight back the tears because of how hard she was holding his ear.

"Who are you?!" the woman demanded, "Where is King Alfor?! What are you doing in my castle?!"

"A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know!" Rivalz cried out, struggling not to break down in tears. His suffering finally came to an end, though, as the woman let go and addressed the other student council members.

"How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin?" she asked, "What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?"

"Look, lady, we don't know what's going on or what the hell you're talking about!" Kallen exclaimed defensively.

"Can you tell us who you are?" asked Lelouch a little more cordially, "Maybe we can help you."

"...I am Princess Allura of planet Altea." she answered as she approached the central control panel, "I've got to find out where we are, and how long we've been asleep." Allura put her hands on both sides of the control panel, which lit up in bright cyan blue, and a translucent screen appeared in the center of it.

"Okay," Suzaku said, looking at the screen along with Rai, "that's how that works."

Suddenly, the second pod opened as well to reveal a tall, white-skinned man with orange hair and a bushy mustache. He also had pointed elf-like ears and blue markings at the corners of his eyes. He gasped as he saw Rivalz.

"Ah! Enemy combatants!" the man exclaimed as he jumped from his pod and attempted to jump kick Rivalz, who quickly shifted out of the way. The act resulted in him nearly falling to the floor. Still, the man managed to regain his balance by holding onto Allura's sleeping pod.

"Whoa, quiznack! You're lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees." the man also spoke in a think Britannian accent just like Allura. "Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so - and one, two, three - sleeping time!" he said, demonstrating everything with hand gestures and snapped his fingers at the end.

"Oh yeah?" Rivalz smiled smugly, "Well before you did that, I'd," he jumped and kicked into the air in a mediocre karate move, "like that."

"Oh, really? Well, how could you do that when I've already come at you with this? Ha, ha, ha, hey!" the man retaliated with fake karate moves of his own. It didn't seem to intimidate Rivalz in the slightest.

"Rivalz," Lelouch groaned in annoyance and embarrassment at the display.

"It can not be," Allura suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" the man asked, suddenly alarmed.

"We've been asleep for ten thousand years!"

o~o

(Flashback)

Everything was in flames around them. It was their final battle against Zarkon, the leader of the Galra, and the Alteans had lost horribly. A purple battleship approached the castle as the face of their enemy appeared on the computer screen before them.

"Zarkon!" King Alfor growled.

"Your fleet has been destroyed Alfor, I will be there shortly to claim Voltron."

As the screen switched off, a massive purple laser shot at the castle, damaging it significantly. The Castle quickly lost power.

"Father," Allura spoke to the man before her, "we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late!"

"It's already too late," the king replied, "We must send the Lions away, we can't risk them falling into Zarkon's hands!"

"We can't give up hope!" Allura exclaimed desperately, hoping to change her father's mind.

"I am sorry, daughter," the king approached Allura, placing a hand on her cheek lovingly, "if all goes well, I shall see you again soon."

The last thing Allura remembered before blacking out was seeing her father's face and his voice telling her he loved her.

o~o

Allura grit her teeth, "Planet Altea and all the planets in our Solar System have been destroyed! Coran, Father, is gone, our entire civilization… Zarkon!"

"Zarkon?" everyone questioned semi-unison.

"He was the king of the Galra," Allura explained, "a vile creature, and an enemy to all free people!"

Before anyone else could comment on this, Rai suddenly gasped and then yelled, holding his head like he was in immense pain. His left eye also burned in agony for a moment. He could hear the muffled voices of his classmates exclaim in worry as he collapsed onto his knees. Images he'd long forgotten flashed through his mind, along with the terrifying face of a monster. And suddenly, Rai remembered.

"Rai!" Shirley asked urgently, kneeling down by the blonde, "Rai, are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Rai muttered, "I-I remembered something!"

This caught everyone's attention, especially Lelouch and Milly's, as they were the ones who initially found him in his amnesiac state.

"What did you remember?" asked Lelouch in curious urgency.

"That Zarkon guy… I was his prisoner!" he revealed as he gritted his teeth in hatred.

Everyone gasped at this. How was this possible? And if it was true, how did Rai escape and end up at Ashford of all places?

"Are you absolutely sure, Rai?" asked Milly.

"Positive." was the response.

"He's still alive?!" Allura exclaimed in shock before scowling in anger, "Impossible!"

"I can't explain it, but it's true! He's searching for a superweapon called Voltron!"

"He's searching for it because he knows it is the only thing that can defeat him," Allura explained, "and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

o~o

Levitating purple crystals glowed in a way they hadn't in millennia. A hunched figure gasped as if she had been holding her breath for an extended time, and had just come up for air. The woman emerged from the chamber, her eyes a bright yellow and dark indigo skin. On her face were markings that looked like tears of blood descending from her eyes, and long white hair flowing down behind her hood.

"The Blue Lion has returned," she reported approaching the Galra who stood by a window of the ship, proudly gazing at his fleet, "and now I sense a resurgence of Altean energy."

"Alfor's daughter lives… How?" Zarkon asked, turning to the woman for answers.

"I know not… but it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours."

"Yes, I shall wipe that foul race from the universe forever, and take back Voltron. Contact my commanders."

o~o

At another area of the universe, a few hours away from the planet Arus, where Allura's castle rested, another Galra ship was patrolling the area. The commander inside was just reattaching his mechanical arm when he was called for an audience with Zarkon.

"Commander Sendak, the Princess of Altea is alive and is hiding in your sector; we believe she alone knows the whereabouts of the remaining Lions. Your battle fleet is the closest to her location. Retrieve her and the Lions. With them all, the Galra Empire will be unstoppable." Zarkon ordered.

"I fight for the empire," Commander Sendak replied, on bended knee, "I conquer in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way, and none ever will. Vrepit sa! Set a course for Arus."

o~o

"Princess, you must eat," Coran said, "it's been ten thousand years!"

"I'm not hungry," she replied, shaking her head.

"Wait, ten thousand years?" questioned Rivalz, "That's like one thousand plus ten."

"That's times ten, Rivalz." Kallen corrected.

"Whatever!" he shrugged.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast and I starving," Shirley said, eying the weird green alien food hovering in front of them. It didn't look like the most appetizing thing in the world, looking more like mashed up veggies covered in boogers than anything else.

"Yeah, but you've thrown up at least five times," Milly pointed out in slight disgust.

"That's true," she nodded. Unable to hold back her appetite anymore, she tentatively picking off some of the goo and tried it. The taste wasn't terrible (it didn't taste amazing either though), but the texture was definitely something to get used to. Shirley nearly gagged as the substance seemed to slide down her throat like a slimy avocado.

As Shirley and Milly were sampling the Altean food, Lelouch, Rai, and Suzaku took a moment to truly admire the details of the palace. It was simply extraordinary and far more beautiful than anything the Britannians could put together. The technology was so advanced they might as well have stepped into a sci-fi movie. At the same time, though, they could definitely sense something supernatural about the castle, almost like it was alive.

"I can't believe your civilization made such advanced technology ten thousand years ago," Suzaku said in awe. "It must have been an incredible place."

"Yes, it was," Coran said sadly, "but now it is gone, and we're the last Alteans alive."

Allura's eyes flooded with tears as she hugged Coran, sobs racking her body. Lelouch clenched his fists, not out of anger towards Allura, but more to himself for choosing to leave Nunnally. The circumstances may have given him little to no choice, but he could have figured out something had he thought hard enough. He wouldn't be able to hold Nunnally the way Coran was holding Allura for a very long time now, if ever.

The two separated, though, when a squeaking sound came from the sleeping pod. She gasped in delight at seeing a small group of Altean mice, waving and smiling at her. "Looks like we're not the last after all."

This was short-lived, though, as the control panel suddenly started beeping in alarm. One of the screens glowed a bright red as a screen opened to reveal a purple Galra ship slowly approaching the planet.

"A Galra Battleship has set its tracker to us!" Coran gasped.

"How did they find us?" Allura asked, holding the mice in her hands.

"Did they follow us!?" asked Rai in alarm.

"No, they didn't," said another female voice coming from the control room entrance. Turning to the sound, and the group saw a green-haired woman with golden-yellow eyes wearing what appeared to be a loose straight jacket with its buckles undone.

Suzaku recognized her immediately, "Hey! You're that-"

"C.C.," Lelouch interrupted Suzaku, "what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I snuck onto that Lion when you weren't looking. And I must agree with Kallen on this one Rivalz, you're flying could use some work."

"Lelouch, who's this?" Milly asked suspiciously.

"This is C.C. We're... uh…"

"Accomplices," C.C. replied nonchalantly, "and as for why I'm here, I thought I made it clear to you, Lelouch. I don't let my contractors die, hence why I'm accompanying you."

"Contractor? Lelouch, what's she talking about," Shirley asked accusingly.

"We can discuss that later," C.C. answered before Lelouch could, "if I'm not mistaken, we have an alien ship about to attack this castle correct? How long before they arrive exactly?"

Suzaku gave both C.C. and Lelouch a look that clearly said, 'we WILL discuss this later,' along with similar looks from most of the others, Allura and Coran included.

Coran did answer C.C.'s question, though, "At their speed, let's see... carry the two... I-I'd say maybe a couple of days?"

"Good, let them come," Allura said with a determined look. She then turned and at the seven Britannians, Honorary, Half-Blooded, and Full-blooded. "By the time they get here, you seven will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire."

"Princess," Lelouch said, getting right down to business, "if there are seven of these Lions, how are we going to find the rest?"

Allura didn't say anything as she put the mice back down. She led the group to the main bridge of the castle and walked towards the center of the room. A large crystal directly above her head shone down with a brilliant blue light around her. She closed her eyes in concentration.

"King Alfor connected the Lions to Allura's life force," Coran explained, "she alone is the key to the Lions' whereabouts."

Allura's eyes suddenly opened again, and the blue beam expanded around her. As a result, the light separated into multiple particles surrounding the room and engulfing everyone in it. The lights dimmed, allowing only the blue lights to be visible. That is when everyone realized that the particles were stars. They were standing in a 3-D model of the entire universe.

"These are… coordinates!" Rai suddenly realized, seeing all the stars and planets floating around them.

"Hey look," Suzaku said, seeing an image of the Blue and Black Lions side by side on one of the planets, "the Black Lion looks like in the same location as the Blue Lion."

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran commented, seemingly quite impressed how smart this simple human indeed was. Suzaku seemed to catch on to what Coran was saying, however, and to put it simply, he wasn't that amused.

"Very observant," Allura said with a warm smile, "that's because the Black Lion is in the castle."

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle," Coran explained, "it can only be freed if the other six Lions are present."

"As you've found, the Lions choose their pilots," Allura further explained, "it is a mystical bond, and can not be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their Lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."

The princess moved her hand swiftly, and the coordinates move in one direction as if on a computer screen. The image of the Black Lion floated in front of them, but slowly approached Lelouch, "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times. Someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why Lelouch, you will pilot the Black Lion."

Allura waved her hand again, and this time the image of a green lion appeared, next to a planet that seemed to be covered in a lush green jungle. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Rai, you will pilot the Green Lion."

"The Blue Lion," Rivalz smirked cockily at the mention of his Lion, "is the most confident and friendliest of the Lions. Relying on optimism of the situation to keep the team together. As you already do, Rivalz, you will pilot the Blue Lion."

"Called it!" Rivalz smirked.

"The Orange Lion is caring and kind," Allura continued as the image of another Lion appeared by what looked more like a meteor than a planet. It hovered in front of Shirley, "Its pilot is the one who puts the needs of others above their own. Their heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

"Me?!" Shirley squeaked in alarm, pointing to herself.

"The Yellow Lion is the most diligent of the Lions," a yellow lion appeared by a planet that seemed to shine like stars by Milly. "Knowing when goals must be accomplished and when keeping the others focused on their goal. Milly, the pilot of the Yellow Lion, will be you." Milly hummed in thought, as the Lion did seem to match her personality in the 'getting things done' department.

"The Purple Lion is the most honorable of the Lions," Allura said as she materialized the image of the Purple Lion, though it wasn't connected to any coordinates. "That is also why it is one of the more difficult ones to control. The one who pilots it must be someone who is not ashamed of their beliefs and is willing to stay true to them as well. Because of this, Suzaku, the Purple Lion will be piloted by you."

At the mention of beliefs and values, no one, except C.C., noticed how Lelouch seemed to glare subtly at Suzaku. It appeared he was still bitter about how Suzaku refused to join the Black Knights after they went through the trouble of rescuing him.

'This could become a problem,' C.C. thought to herself.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master," just like with the Purple Lion, Allura allowed the Red Lion to materialize, but there weren't any coordinates with it. "It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone," the Red Lion hovered in front of Kallen, "Kallen, you will pilot the Red Lion."

"What?!" exclaimed Shirley in disbelief, along with most of the other student council members, "Kallen? Seriously?!" Though their doubt was understandable. Kallen had yet to reveal that 'Kallen Stadtfeld' was just a front and that she was really Kallen Kozuki, a terrorist, and elite knightmare pilot.

"Unfortunately, I can not locate the coordinates to the Red or Purple Lions yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need some work."

"Don't worry, we'll find them soon," Coran said, "They don't call me 'the Coranic' for nothing… It's because it sounds like 'mechanic,' so uh… Coranic… Mechanic. It's not- it doesn't sound exactly like it, it's similar."

All seven of the Lions suddenly came to life, roared, and ran around their respective pilots and shooting off into the sky like shooting stars. Everyone shielded their eyes as the lights of the castle allowed Arus's natural light to enter the room. They watched in awe as the legendary hero, Voltron, stood before them with all the colors of their respective Lions, the head of the black Lion revealing his face, wielding a magnificent sword.

"Once all the Lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known. The Defender of the Universe!"

The image of the warrior vanished into sparkles, leaving everyone watching in shock, wonder, and even a little fear. The robotic warrior was far more impressive than any knightmare frame model they've seen. However, it was still intimidating to know that the seven of them would be the ones piloting it. Even Suzaku was nervous. Sure, he was the pilot of one of the most advanced knightmare frames in the world right now. The Lancelot he could handle, but a giant robotic lion? Would it feel the same way or not?

"Awesome!" Rivalz exclaimed as a brief moment of silence.

"Wait. Okay, so we're going to be in there and flying lions," Shirley spoke, "got that part. How do I insert in the legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? And if it is, should I use the toilet first? You guys have those, right?"

"We don't have much time," Lelouch said, taking command as he was to be the leader of Voltron, "Milly and I will go after the Yellow Lion. Rivalz, you take Shirley and get the Orange one," he glanced at C.C., "C.C., will you go with Rai and get the Green Lion?"

"If I must," the immortal shrugged nonchalantly.

"Suzaku, Kallen, you two stay here. When you find the Purple or Red Lions go get them." The two of them nodded in understanding.

"In the meantime, I'll get the Castle's defenses ready," Allura said, "they'll be sorely needed."

"I'll ready some pods, and load in the coordinates so you can reach the Green and Yellow Lions," Coran spoke as he proceeded to do just that.

Milly, Lelouch, Rai, and C.C. followed Coran to the pods that he prepared for their journeys. They had sleek silver vehicle outlines with neon blue around the edges that seemed to be a trademark of the castle. While they loaded in, Shirley and Rivalz returned to the Blue Lion.

After the two groups got settled in the pods, he handed Milly and Rai a device, "These are the coordinates for the Lions you'll be looking for. Once you land, they should lead you right to them."

Rai, being the most techno-savvy of the group, pressed a blue button on the device. It caused a screen to pop up that had the image of the planet where the Green Lion was located. Milly followed the action, seeing where the Yellow Lion was.

Shortly after, the three teams were launched into the atmosphere of Arus, two in pods, and the other in the Blue Lion. Lelouch and C.C. piloted the pods as Milly and Rai sat in the passenger seats. A computer screen soon appeared in front of them with Coran's face on it. The same happened for Shirley and Rivalz in the Blue Lion.

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other Lions open for about two of your Earth hours," Coran explained to them, as the wormholes opened in front of them. They shimmered like the ocean in the evening. "So you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is, according to my readings, all three planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives."

"Wait, what?!/Say what?!/Come again?!" were the responses that followed. None of them realized that Coran was joking as they could quickly locate the Blue Lion, and the two pods also had tracking devices in them.

"Well, enjoy the trip!"

"Wait a minute!/Hold on!/I did not receive the memo for this!" the protests went silent as the pods and lion disappeared in the wormholes.

#Fanfiction #AU #Code Geass #Voltron #lelouch lamperouge #kallen stadtfeld #suzaku kururugi #rai (lost colors)#shirley fenette #rivalz cardemonde #milly ashford #princess allura #coran #voltron lions

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jewlwpet · 6 years ago

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Let’s dissect the titles of each track on Seazer’s upcoming new Utena album!!

(EDIT: IMPORTANT UPDATE: J. A. Seazer made some last-minute changes to the tracklist after I made this post; I discussed those changes here).

1) 青銅製の人形俳優譚オルフェウス洞窟劇場/Chant of Bronze Puppet Actors: Orpheus Grotto Theatre

There was a famous real-life “Grotto of Orpheus” that Seazer is most likely referencing! It doesn’t exist anymore, but you can see a detailed engraving of it here. It was made by Tommasso and Alessandro Francini for Henri IV of France. You can read about it and see another engraving here.

My guess as to what the song will be about: The grotto of Orpheus existed to glorify the prince by showing that he had so much power at his command, he could create a marvel like this. However, the object of wonder was a mechanical illusion: empty movement, so to speak. This was around the same time that some scientists began voicing the idea that perhaps the whole cosmos was like a machine built by God. This suggests the question, though it went unvoiced, of whether we ourselves are merely puppet-actors upon a cosmic stage.

(More under the cut--this will be long).

2) 宇宙卵プロトゴノス ―すなわちアンドロギュヌスのポラリザシオン(分極作用)―/Cosmic Egg Protogonos ―Namely Androgynous Polarization (Polarizing Action)―

This one is actually pretty straightforward if you understand Seazer’s language.

This song makes use of the Orphic creation narrative. Seazer used it before in a now lost version of Absolute Destiny Apocalypse (original source now here). Note: At the time when I posted that translation, I was under the mistaken impression that it was the same as the version on the Ohtori Kuruhi CD (because Seazer frequently does use pronunciation totally different from how something’s written). It is not; that set of lyrics is in fact the one used again more recently in the “complete version” in the Barbara CD.

Protogonos (literally “first-born”), also called Phanes (“bring to light”) ( "You scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and throughout this world you brought pure light. For this I call you Phanes.") was described by Damascius as “the first [god] expressible and acceptable to human ears.” They hatched from the primordial Cosmic Egg, generated by Time (Chronos) and sometimes also Inevitability (Ananke).

Another tradition claims that a triad of the first three “intelligible principles” hatched from the egg. “What is this triad, then? The egg; the dyad of the two natures inside it--male and female--[Ouranos... and Gaia... Heaven and Earth], and the plurality of the various seeds between; and thirdly an incorporeal god with golden wings on his shoulders, bulls' heads growing upon his flanks, and on his head a monstrous serpent, presenting the appearance of all kinds of animal forms . . . And the third god of the third triad this theology too celebrates as Protogonos (First-Born).”

Another fact about Protogonos: They were a dying-and-rising god.

Since the title seems to focus on the severance of male from female (androgynous polarization), here are some passages that focus on that (source).

And he [Epicurus] says that the world began in the likeness of an egg, and the Wind [the entwined forms of Khronos (Chronos, Time) and Ananke (Inevitability)] encircling the egg serpent-fashion like a wreath or a belt then began to constrict nature. As it tried to squeeze all the matter with greater force, it divided the world into the two hemispheres, and after that the atoms sorted themselves out, the lighter and finer ones in the universe floating above and becoming the Bright Air [Aither (Aether)] and the most rarefied Wind [probably Khaos (Chaos, Air)], while the heaviest and dirtiest have veered down, become the Earth (Ge) [Gaia], both the dry land and the fluid waters [Pontos the Sea]. And the atoms move by themselves and through themselves within the revolution of the Sky and the Stars, everything still being driven round by the serpentiform wind [of Khronos and Ananke].

Ere land and sea and the all-covering sky were made, in the whole world the countenance of nature was the same, all one, well named Chaos, a raw and undivided mass, naught but a lifeless bulk, with warring seeds of ill-joined elements compressed together.... Though there were land and sea and air, the land no foot could tread, no creature swim the sea, the air was lightless; nothing kept its form, all objects were at odds, since in one mass cold essence fought with hot, and moist with dry, and hard with soft and light with things of weight. This strife a God (Deus) [probably Phanes], with nature's blessing, solved; who severed land from sky and sea from land, and from the denser vapours set apart the ethereal sky; and, each from the blind heap resolved and freed, he fastened in its place appropriate in peace and harmony. The fiery weightless force of heaven's vault flashed up and claimed the topmost citadel; next came the air in lightness and in place; the thicker earth with grosser elements sank burdened by its weight; lowest and last the girdling waters pent the solid globe. So into shape whatever god it was reduced the primal matter and prescribed its several parts.

Incidentally, the repeated severance and rejoining (solve et coagula) of male/female and above/below, was a key component of alchemy (of course, the materials they worked with were inanimate, but the alchemists insisted on gendering and even sexualizing them, always).

Protogonos bears some resemblance to the Gnostic demiurge, (shaper of the material world, creator of humans, associated with severance and procreation). However, the Gnostics denigrated the demiurge, whereas Protogonos was venerated. One could also make

3) ミッシング&ブーピープ ―快楽の園の修道院のイメージ― /Missing and Bo-Peep -Image of the Monastery’s Garden of Earthly Delights-

Okay. Bo-Peep is, of course, a little girl in a nursery rhyme who’s lost her sheep but gets them back, wagging their tails behind them (wagging meant bringing). There’s an extended version where it’s specified that they’d actually lost their tails (but she found those too and reattached them). Before all that, “bo-peep” was used to refer to the children’s game of peekaboo, and in the Middle Ages, it was also a euphemism for being stood in a pillory. The Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych by Bosch (viewable in detail here--arguably technically safe for work but only because it’s Art [tm]). From Wikipedia:

As so little is known of Bosch's life or intentions, interpretations of his intent have ranged from an admonition of worldly fleshy indulgence, to a dire warning on the perils of life's temptations, to an evocation of ultimate sexual joy. The intricacy of its symbolism, particularly that of the central panel, has led to a wide range of scholarly interpretations over the centuries. Twentieth-century art historians are divided as to whether the triptych's central panel is a moral warning or a panorama of paradise lost.

There’s also speculation that Bosch’s art (as a whole) is based on “esoteric knowledge lost to history.” The ambiguity is perfect for RGU.

I like this interpretation:

According to art historian Virginia Tuttle, the scene is "highly unconventional [and] cannot be identified as any of the events from the Book of Genesis traditionally depicted in Western art". Some of the images contradict the innocence expected in the Garden of Eden. Tuttle and other critics have interpreted the gaze of Adam upon his wife as lustful, and indicative of the Christian belief that humanity was doomed from the beginning... Art historian Charles de Tolnay believed that, through the seductive gaze of Adam, the left panel already shows God's waning influence upon the newly created earth. This view is reinforced by the rendering of God in the outer panels as a tiny figure in comparison to the immensity of the earth. According to Hans Belting, the three inner panels seek to broadly convey the Old Testament notion that, before the Fall, there was no defined boundary between good and evil; humanity in its innocence was unaware of consequence.

This is of course very different from the traditional Christian view of Genesis, which is that before the Fall, there was no sexual desire. In many Gnostic texts, however, “original sin” is something that existed before the creation of the world; thus there was no innocence of any kind in Eden. The “original sinner” in this view was generally said to be Sophia (Wisdom, an Anthylike figure sometimes known as “the Bride,” who was both revered and maligned), an attribute of the Godhead, which was made up of syzygies, complementary pairs of principles, described variously as spouses and/or siblings, who (because they were God) reproduced without lust. But it was this same Sophia who breathed life and spirit into humanity, making them more than just bodies.

In this belief humans were inherently sinful creatures from the very beginning; it was also said that it was wrong for the demiurge to separate Eve from Adam (I believe this was the same text that said “This world is a mistake”--by the way, the demiurge was supposedly brought into existence by Sophia, but they’re enemies).

There’s also this idea that Bosch followed the ideas attributed to a Gnostic sect called the Adamites (unfortunately, the only contemporary sources we have on them are anti-Gnostic propaganda, so we cannot know how much of it is based in reality), which basically advocated freedom from all moral laws; the last image seems to suggest otherwise, but it certainly is, at least, a theme.

Incidentally, this triptych has been used for the covers of at least two books by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, whose works Seazer draws on extensively according to my research.

Anyway, for my attempt at putting the pieces of the title together... However you interpret the triptych, it’s not something you’d expect to see in a monastery. Wikipedia indicates a general consensus that it was probably commissioned by a lay person, not a member of the clergy. So the title suggests a contrast, or a confluence of opposites, rather like that title from his last Utena album, “Monastic Life is a Flesh Apocalypse.”

4) 幾何学とエロス/Geometry and Eros

This is, word-for-word, the title of a 1974 essay by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, whom, as I said before, I have known Seazer to draw from very frequently. It was published in this book, which also contains an essay on the “cosmic egg” concept and an essay on the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.

I have it from book reviews that “Geometry and Eros” discusses the 18th-century French Neoclassical architext Ledoux and the supposed “spiritual analogy” between his works and those of his contemporaries Fourier and Sade. Now, unfortunately, there are two different “Fourier”s from this time period that are both feasible candidates: the mathematician Joseph Fourier and the utopian socialist philosopher Charles Fourier. I lean towards the latter, however, because Shibusawa had published a translation of his essay “Archibras,” which Seazer drew on for Tsuwabuki’s duel song, Conical Absolute Egg Archibras. I suppose Ledoux would represent “geometry” and the other two “eros,” assuming I have the right Fourier.

Apparently, Shibusawa criticized Emil Kaufmann’s commentary on Ledoux, but I don’t know specifics on that.

5) 少女錬金術師/Girl Alchemist

The main question is whether this is Utena or Anthy, because the meaning would be different in either case. But alchemy is about unifying opposites, and they both do embody opposites, just in different ways. And they are opposites of each other, even though traditionally, in alchemy, the union of opposites is exclusively framed in heterosexual terms--think Angel Androgynous. This heterosexual union--often, incidentally, described as one of brother and sister--is meant to lead to the birth of the “philosophical child,” which can be interpreted as a new self. It’s kind of like Nanami’s Egg, actually, though that did not use the incest metaphor since one of RGU’s themes is how incest inhibits individuation.

Interestingly, while almost(?) all the surviving alchemical texts (at least in the Western tradition, which is what I’ve studied) were written by men, many of them stated that the first alchemist was a woman, and a Jewish woman at that. Unfortunately, all we know of her is from what men wrote about her.

There’s a quotation attributed to her that has an interesting interpretation by Jung, which you can read about here. Alchemy as a metaphor for psychological individuation is something he wrote about extensively, and it definitely makes sense in this context although it’s not, imo, the only meaning alchemy has in RGU. Marie Louise von Franz wrote about it extensively also! The two of them worked closely together as well as individually.

6) 人間人形 ―空想・イン・ザ・架空―/Human Puppet -Fantasy in the Imaginary-

(I’ve got nothing, other than the metaphor of puppets which I already touched on).

7) 絶対天秤卵/Absolute Balance Egg

This is not a new song. It’s taken from 2006 Banyu Inryoku production, Illusion-Flesh Verse Drama “Black in the Dark.” Of course, this is nothing new; even the duel songs were recycled (and this was Ikuhara’s idea, not Seazer’s), so this is just an extension of that. I found its tracklist in this review; it’s described as an “improvised reverberation poem of flesh burning up in the dark,” which must be from a playbill or something because it’s such a Seazer description.

Apparently, the “intro” (written in katakana) to this song was taken directly from “Paint it Black.” I can’t guarantee this will carry into our version, but if you hear anything that sounds suspiciously like The Rolling Stones... I called it.

Actually, I should note: It’s possible that Absolute Balance Egg is from an even older Seazer production and was recycled in both this play and this CD. One can never rule that out.

8) 人間人形 ―空想・イン・ザ・架空―/Philosophical Bread (?) Seed

This sounds like an alchemy thing, and I’m not ruling that out, but the results that I found searching “philosophical bread” showed me it’s a very common metaphor used in many contexts. Generally it refers to “higher learning” of spiritual matters, sometimes specifically “to know the mind of God.” Sometimes it’s treated as the ultimate endeavor, sometimes as pointless. Seeds, I suppose, would be the beginning of that.

Note: "Bread,” in Japanese, is パン (pan) , and the Greek god Pan sometimes has his name written the same way. It’s very possible that パン is actually referring to the god here and shouldn’t be translated as “bread,” but we don’t know at this point. Either is plausible.

9) 法王驢馬寓意画意オペレッタ1 ―その声は人間の鳴き声に似る―/The Pope Ass Allegory Symbolism Operetta 1 -That Voice Is Like the Cry of a Human Being

The Papal Ass or Pope Ass, known from its use in a highly influential pamphlet by Martin Luther and Melanchthon, is often described as a caricature of the Pope. However, it’s not satirical like most modern political cartoons.It’s in fact based on the “monstrous birth” reports that were very popular at the time; this genre was referenced in the Rose Egg Sophia CD. To fully understand what the Papal Ass meant to its original audience, it’s necessary to have some understanding of the genre, so I’ll go into that.

It’s important to understand that such records are not always made-up, although they are frequently exaggerated. For instance, researching the term クシュポデュメー (no, I don’t know how to spell it) from Rose Egg Sophia’s Puchibanshou song (doragon no kodomo, offspring of a dragon) led me to a description of a “dragon” born with two heads, four arms, two legs, and one pelvis, said to have been part of the court of James III of Scotland. As a matter of fact, this bodily description corresponds to contemporary reports of a pair of conjoined twins known as the Scottish brothers, who were part of this king’s court. Many so-called “monsters,” from medieval times up until the xth century, were people. This particular one, however, was an animal, an actual donkey (or ass).

Luther wrote this for an updated 1535 version of the pamphlet:

The Papal Ass is itself a dreadful, ugly, terrifying picture, and the longer one looks at it, the more terrifying it seems. However nothing is so completely terrifying as the fact that God himself made and revealed such a wonder and such a monstrous image. If a human had invented, carved or painted it, one would scorn or laugh at it. However since the highest Majesty himself created and depicted it, the whole world should be dismayed and quake, for from it one fully understands what he thought of and intended.

From Monstrous Births and Visual Culture in Sixteenth-Century Germany by Jennifer Spinks:

I was able to find a book, Monstrous Births and Visual Culture in Sixteenth-Century Germany, that goes into great detail on how this was used by the early Protestant movement and has an entire chapter on this pamphlet: “Monstrous births could be viewed in positive and sympathetic terms, as the previous chapters have demonstrated. Yet this 1523 pamphlet by the two most important figures of the Lutheran Reformation forms a decisive shift in attitude, in which interpretation and representation became not only more polemical – and particularly anti-papal – but took on a notably apocalyptic aspect.” Of the Papal Ass and one of its contemporaries, the moon-calf, the author says, “The bodies of the monsters became texts to be read and argumentatively decoded using highly visual language.”

Notably, Luther and his coauthor did not invent the Papal Ass; they only named it. As Jennifer Spinks writes in this book:

The Papal Ass, washed up on the banks of the Tiber in Rome in 1495, made its way to Germany in visual form via an engraving by the Bohemian artist Wenzel von Olmutz, published in the late fifteenth century. Several decades later, and perhaps prompted by his colleague Melanchthon... Luther first became intrigued by the then-nameless monstrous birth and sought to incorporate it into his eschatological world view. He wrote a homiletic epistle that year (on the second Sunday in Advent, concerning Luke 21:25–33) titled ‘A Christian and well-substantiated proof of the Day of Judgement, and of the signs that it cannot now be far off ’. Although they were not referred to in Luke, Luther explicitly added monstrous creatures to his list and framed this addition as an attack on Rome and the papacy.

As for the pamphlet that made the Papal Ass famous, however, the section devoted to the Papal Ass was written by Luther’s coauthor, not Luther himself. Spinks states:

Melanchthon analyses the creature one body part at a time, utilizing biblical references, and conveying a central message about the corruption of the church in Rome as revealed by its bizarre physical structure. He begins his analysis of the Papal Ass with a reference to the Book of Daniel: ‘God has always indicated his grace or wrath by many signs, and in particular He has used such miracles for speaking to the rulers, as we see in Daniel’.

Melanchthon, she writes, “presents God in the guise of an artist who uses his creations to convey visual messages.”

The Papal Ass... has an almost jarring, collage-like combination of sharply delineated but ill-matching body parts. Step by step, Melanchthon describes and interprets these individual elements. He begins with... ‘Firstly, the head of the ass represents the Pope’. The Pope, he indicates... has brought the church into a worldly and physical, rather than spiritual, state. The low state of the ass in the animal kingdom is underscored through a reference to Exodus 13:13, in which first-born children and animals are consecrated to God: ‘but every fi rst-born donkey you will redeem with a lamb or kid; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck’. That is, God does not value donkeys (or asses) as he does other creatures. That the head of the Papal Ass is formed in this way is a true sign of the creature’s low state.

Next, Melanchthon addresses one hand, which ‘like an elephant’s foot rep-resents the spiritual regime of the Pope’. As forcefully as an elephant, the Pope’s ‘regime’ makes its way into and corrupts souls with innumerable and intolerable laws. Melanchthon adds, in a metaphor that it is easy to imagine seizing the imagination of audiences: ‘like the great heavy elephant it tramples and grinds down everything that it comes across’. The human-shaped other hand of the Papal Ass, in turn, represented the Pope’s worldly ‘regiment’; that is, those secular rulers who gave support to the papal office. In Cranach’s woodcut accompanying the text, these hands are neatly displayed one above the other, emphasizing through contrast the peculiarity of the elephant hand. The right foot of the creature, in the form of the foot of an ox, is aligned by Melanchthon with the elephant-shaped right hand. The foot represents the servants of the church: ‘the papal teachers, preachers, priests and confessors, and particularly the scholastic theologians’. That is, it refers to those responsible, in the Pope’s name, for oppressing the ‘poor folk’ (‘arme volck’) with their activities. Identifying papal supporters with the End Times, Melanchthon refers the reader to Matthew 24:4: ‘There will come false Christians and false prophets’. The other foot, in the shape of a claw, is aligned with the human-shaped hand. It represents canons, as worldly servants of the popes. Melanchthon’s language becomes still more physical in the next section, in which the female belly and breasts of the Papal Ass are described: “[these] represent the body of the papacy: that is Cardinals, bishops, clerics, monks, students ... their life is simply guzzling food, boozing, unchaste lechery, and leading the ‘good life’ on earth.”

Melanchthon’s understanding of the belly and breasts as especially potent symbols was to be intensified in a revised 1535 edition of the pamphlet... In this 1523 version, however, he turns fairly rapidly to the arms, legs and back of the creature, with a metaphor that is a little less obvious: the scales on these body parts represent secular rulers, who tolerate the failings of the papal system, effectively protecting it as they cling on to its ‘body’. This passage makes a particularly intriguing visual appeal to the reader or listener. The innocuous scales represented in the woodcut must be imaginatively reconfigured by the reader into a multitude of earthly rulers. Much more anthropomorphic in form are the faces of the old man and dragon (‘trach’) that emerge from the Papal Ass’s backside. The man represents the coming end of the papacy, already growing old; the dragon represents the bulls and books published by popes with the purpose of universally enforcing their will. Melanchthon’s tenth and final point shifts away from the body of the creature and to the location where it was found: Rome... The distinctive shape of the Castel Sant Angelo in Rome is carefully delineated, and for those not familiar with the famous tower, the fluttering flag with the crossed papal keys could inform even the least educated of the connection with Rome and the papacy. The tower to the right is the Tor di nona, used as the papal prison. Dramatically, in his final point, Melanchthon claims that finding the creature dead, ‘confirms that the papacy is coming to an end’.

Also:

In 1535 Melanchthon prepared a new edition of his text on the Papal Ass, still illustrated by the original Cranach image. Melanchthon’s expanded text takes sharper, more polemical aim at the papacy in a number of short new passages, including one on the ass’s head as a demonstration of the foolishness of the Pope, and another on the human hand as a sign the worldly, aggressive ambitions of the Pope. Two particularly substantial new sections dramatically increase the anti-papal and also the apocalyptic import of the Papal Ass. Several new pages on the breasts and belly of the creature emphasize the themes of whoring and sin (and implicitly, perhaps, refer to the whore of Babylon), while the ‘shameless female belly’ (‘vnuerschampt frawen bauch’) represents the Antichrist’s worst excesses.

More from Spinks about what made this method of symbolism unique:

Some pre-Reformation publications had ascribed specific meanings to individual body parts in monstrous births, like the conjoined foreheads of the Worms twins. Yet none had so rigorously and polemically done so as Luther and Melanchthon’s publication. This pamphlet is at the heart of a tangible shift in the representation and interpretation of monstrous births, and one that fitted the aggressively polemical culture of the early Reformation... This period saw the rise of vigorous debates and fundamental shifts in visual culture. The most famous of these developments was the wave of iconoclasm, which saw the destruction of religious images and objects. More moderate ‘reforms’ of imagery included a move to remove any hint of lasciviousness (especially in female figures) in the images on church walls. Martin Luther had a pragmatic attitude towards the use of religious images, and contributed to a culture of visual propaganda that stood on the borderline of the religious and the secular. One of the most important aspects of the visual culture of the Reformation was the vigorous use of printed propaganda, deployed.. with remarkable success. Robert Scribner observed that ‘Luther and other reformers spoke of pious images as masks (larvae) behind which the devil lurked, hoping to lure souls to damnation’. This did not mean that Luther rejected the use of images, and Scribner provided examples of how what he called the ‘semiology of arousal’ (which went well beyond the sensual) could be ‘employed also for its revelatory effect, especially in Reformation propaganda, putting into practice Luther’s notion of the masks of the devil disguising diabolical reality’... Religious imagery nonetheless increasingly moved outside relatively controlled environments like church walls and elite manuscripts, and into the turbulent new world created by the widely available printed image.... Luther’s ideas about visual images are closely bound up with his views on the apocalyptic Book of Revelation – a connection seen in microcosm in the 1523 pamphlet.

The Apocalypse While Albrecht Dürer had created what many regard as the definitive illustrated series of the Apocalypse in 1498, a flood of other versions appeared in the first half of the sixteenth century.74 The increasing popularity of the Book of Revelation as a subject for illustration during the sixteenth century was evidently connected to the growth of an apocalyptic world view... In this environment there was a tangible value in giving shape to apocalyptic imagery, and a ready audience for the new editions that came onto the market. As Bernd Moeller has identified, the End Times (‘Endzeit’) were one of the four most popular subjects for sermons preached in German towns in the early Reformation period.

Another updated version was published in 1549 without Melanchthon’s permission, edited to include past writings of his that he had since renounced in favor of compromise.

Flacius... uses Melanchthon’s text on the Papal Ass... as a springboard to oppose any religious compromise... In an introductory text, Flacius argues that the papacy can be represented in both words and images as worse than the devil or the whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelation. He maintains the highly visual language used by Luther and Melanchthon, and even concludes by claiming that the arts of geometrical and arithmetical proportions are inadequate for the present times, which demanded instead a ‘new swinish art’ (‘newen Sewkunst’). Later in the pamphlet, Flacius adds additional texts that talk of the disastrous events leading up to the Last Days, specifically identifying the Pope as the Whore of Babylon, holding up her goblet, drunk on the blood of Christ, and seated on the back of the seven-headed beast which represented Rome itself (and also the ‘Roemische Reich’, or Roman Empire) and its support of the papacy. The increasingly voluptuous body of the Papal Ass accords with this emphasis on the Babylonian woman.

After this point, “wonder books,” which “collected together monstrous births and various other wonders and disasters across decades, centuries or even millennia,” became more and more common. Apparently, “negative and also apocalyptic rhetoric about monstrous births became still more deeply entrenched in this genre.” By 1569 (when Catholics started appropriating this trend for their counter-Reformation), “Monstrous births and the apocalyptic Book of Revelation were closely enmeshed, and overwhelmingly presented as such in German Reformation and Counter-Reformation print culture.”

Final note: The way “Pope Ass” is written in the title is nonstandard, which is why I went with the literal translation rather than the more common phrase “Papal Ass.” I did find one search result for this phrase that wasn’t about this album, indicating that it’s used in yet another Shibusawa book, 夢の宇宙誌 (this was also the only pre-Seazerian source I could find for クシュポデュメー).

未来のヒユネロトマキア ―狂恋夢・薔薇物語・愛の秘法伝授―/The Future Hypnerotomachia - The Strife of Love in a Dream・The Tale of the Rose・Love’s Secret Initiation -

So... there are many parts to this.

The Future Hypnerotomachia:

That's a reference to the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (”The Strife of Love in a Dream” is included at the end of the title in some editions; it’s a translation of hypnerotomachia) and possibly also The Future Eve (referenced in the Rose Egg Sophia CD, specifically in its version of Saionji’s duel song). You can look in my tag on tumblr for my thoughts as to what that book might signify in relation to Utena.

As for The Tale of the Rose, we all know it as the play in episode 34, but there’s another “Tale of the Rose” I think Seazer is referencing here as well. Seazer mentioned “the medieval Tale of the Rose” as one of the inspirations for the Rose Egg Sophia in its liner notes (I’m working on a translation, off and on). It’s this book. The Japanese title is written the same was as the title of the play is written on the tickets in episode 34; it does not have much in common with the play, but you can think of it as “a way duelists look at Anthy.” You can also think of it as something possibly taught uncritically at Ohtori; you can certainly see its worldview reflected in, say, Miki.

The last part of the title isn’t a specific text, as far as I know, but it does have a traceable origin in, once again, Shibusawa, specifically his essay collection 胡桃の中の世界.

Since this title is about the themes of two or three entire books, I think I will make a Separate post for how those texts relate to Utena--and, of course, a new, updated one once we have the actual lyrics. And possibly another one several years from now when I inevitably translate 胡桃の中の世界.

#revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #rgu #sku #j. a. seazer #tatsuhiko shibusawa #this post has been a long time coming

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