#it’s more so that I’m hurt because Mal’s been so distant already

[yourqueenb]

Thank you for your answer, and thank you for putting so much thought into that 💞💞💞 mal and nia are my main LIs and at first I was really glad that at least two members of the party stayed with each other and mb even got closer but I can see how it would be annoying and/or sad for people who romance one of them exclusively. I think that I mostly just want to see eeal bonds between our party bc idk it just feels a bit hollow? In the first book they were just thrown together by chance but a whole year has passed and without MC there to hold them together it just shows how much less there is with exception of some banter and general sympathy towards one another. I also think that excluding Threep and other non-romancable characters from the main friend group makes most of the dynamic in choices hollow bc lmao all these people are here to try and fuck us and no one cares about each other beyond that. I don't really like TRR or TF but I feel like friendship was so much richer in previous books, like those two series, OH and TE - and in PM they managed to create a poly route where I could feel solid platonic bonds between people other than MC and LIs (Sloane and Hayden, Steve and Hayden or Damien and Nadia). Or mb I'm just a bit underwhelmed with the current plot course in blades lmao (sorry for rambling around the same three thoughts I just can't seem to gather my thoughts on this whole thing together 🫡)

I’m so sorry, I meant to respond to this sooner. But no, I completely get what you’re saying! You made some good points.

Even though all of these characters were kind of thrown together in book 1, personally I did feel like they were more like a family by the end of it. And I think that’s one of the reasons why everyone loved Blades so much. However, I do understand why the bonds aren’t as tight in this book. It makes sense for there to be some distance between everyone after what happened to MC and the apparent strife it caused. But I feel like they haven’t done enough to fully bring the group back together again and reform those poignant emotional bonds.

As you basically said with the exception of some banter and general sympathy towards one another, pretty much all of the focus is on each member’s relationship with MC alone. And even those relationships are very one sided with each person relying on MC for support, but not giving much in return. When the main cast is tied together by genuine relationships with each other rather than simply all waiting for their turns in MC’s bed, it’s really great to see and makes for a better book overall. That’s why the Pend Pals are still my personal favorite friend group to this day.

I will say that I actually don’t feel like the relationship dynamics in Blades specifically are hollow because everyone’s trying to sleep with MC though. And maybe that’s because I’m only romancing Mal (and flirting with Aerin on the side). But yeah, I think it’s because the writers have really been ignoring the opportunities to capitalize off of emotional beats (which I’ve said a few times before) rather than the characters just not having more to their relationships at all

[sl-newsie]

Spelled (Carlos de Vil x Sanderson Daughter) Ch. 18: Broken

Carlos’ POV

Magica’s trying hard to understand, she really is. And I really like that. Most of the others around here couldn’t care less about us, yet she acts as if she’s a villain kid herself sometimes. After she leaves me to go talk to Ben I go find the others in Mal and Evie’s dorm, with everyone looking a bit uneasy and jumpy.

“Um, hey guys.” I wave awkwardly. No one says anything, and Dude answers by licking my nose. “Huh, you’re right, buddy. No one’s happy.”

“Nice family reunion, huh?” Jay chortles darkly. “Not exactly the warm, friendly greeting I was expecting.”

“It’s because we’ve been stuck in this candyland of niceness. They’re our parents, Jay. On the Isle? The one with all the wicked evil and all that? We- we can’t lose sight of what’s important.” Mal seems distant but tries to cover up what’s wrong by turning away to look at her spellbook.

“You want to break Ben’s love spell?” Evie asks when she reads the page Mal’s looking at.

“You’re gonna break the spell?” I panic and nearly drop Dude. “But that means… that means Magica won’t like me anymore!”

Mal shrugs and avoids my gaze. “I just thought keeping Ben under the spell would be a little… mean.”

“You’re the daughter of Maleficent. Since when do you care about being mean?” I rage.

“And you’re the son of Cruella de Vil, yet you’re still hanging around with that goody-goody!”

My hands are in fists, and I’m shaking in a silent rage that threatens to burst.

“Mal, you don’t understand. I’ve found a girl who makes me feel- happy! And she doesn’t care that I’m a VK! I’m not just going to let you ruin my only chance with her just because you suddenly feel guilty.”

“God, Carlos! She already knows about the love spell!” Mal drones in a whiney voice like it’s obvious. “She obviously did something to make it wear off and figured we originally had it planned for Ben.”

I do a double-take. Is she right? How does Mal know the spell wore off? She’s acted as though she loves me, how could she fake it? That would’ve been cruel for her standards, so… Has she really loved me all this time?

“Wait- so everything she’s done, everything she’s said up to this point has been the truth, no spell at all?” 

Evie’s sadness melts away and she comes over to take my hand. “Yes, Carlos. Before Ben came to get Mal for their date she warned us not to harm him, along with saying she knew about the love spell. We don’t know how she broke free, but until yesterday afternoon she’s been acting on her own accord. Magica really does love you.”

The hidden forest. Everything she showed me, everything she said… was all because she trusts me. She loves me.

I stagger back a bit and go to sit on the couch, ignoring Jay’s teasing smirk.

“This is a puzzle, huh guys?” I try to lighten the mood and hope someone offers some help, but only Dude tries to help by jumping up to sit on my lap.

“Yeah, and now Magica’s got an edge on us. For all we know she’s probably spilling her guts out to Ben right now!” Mal spurts as she waves her arms frantically.

I shake my head, still staring at the ground while I pet Dude. “I don't think she’ll tell. She would’ve said something earlier to Fairy Godmother, and as long as Magica thinks we won’t hurt Ben then she won’t say anything.”

Evie tries to stay calm and takes a deep breath. “Let’s just get through this stupid family day without the whole operation turning into an exploding powder keg. We can’t afford any more mistakes. Our parents are counting on us.”

“I’m not sure I like that,” Jay comments from across the room. “After seeing how different Auradon is from the Isle, are we still on board with this? This whole… betraying and stealing routine?”

Mal scoffs. “This coming from Jafar’s son? I thought backstabbing and stealing was your hobby.”

Jay gets up to argue but I block him with my arm, while Evie stands in the center of the room with a stern look.

“Everybody be quiet! Listen to us! We can all agree that being brought here has changed us, and we’ve all found something or someone that’s made our lives brighter. But Mal’s right. We can’t lose focus of what’s important.” She pauses and looks outside at the darkening sunset. “Right now we’ve got to get through tomorrow, so let’s all just go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll regroup in the morning.”

I wish it weren’t true, but I’m more scared of my mother than the authorities here. I just wish Magica didn’t have to come between the middle. But I will draw the line with Dude. No one’s going to make a coat out of him, no matter how much mom wants to.

Mal walks to the door and holds it open, indicating she wants us out with no further discussion.

Jay, still scowling, storms out without another word. I pick Dude up again and go to follow Jay, but stop to look at Mal when I get to the door.

“Mal, I know you’re upset, but I know you’re strong enough to move on. Just because the love spell’s broken doesn't mean your life will be too."

“I’m brewing the antidote tonight, Carlos. But it’s for Ben.” She starts to close the door, but then adds bitterly: “Be lucky you found someone who loves you as you are, not just because they’re under a spell.”

I try to apologize but she slams the door shut. Dude lets out a high-pitched whine and signals me to start back to my dorm. Thankfully no one’s around to see the big grin on my face.

“She loves me! Do you hear that, bud? She loves me!” 

I can’t believe it! Out of all the luck I’ve had, my life might actually be turning around. If only we didn’t have to take over the world.

I get back to the dorm to find Jay sulking by the window. I try to greet him, only to get a rough grunt in response.

“She could’ve at least tried to see my side,” Jay grumbles. “We all know she’s falling for Ben, yet she’s still gung-ho with impressing her mom.”

“We all know how Maleficent can get when she doesn’t get her way. This whole new world is new to us, Jay, and Mal’s trying to hold onto how we used to be.” I set Dude on my bed and go to look for his food bowl. “Just give her some time and maybe she’ll change her mind?”

Jay just grunts, unconvinced. “Yeah. Maybe. I just hope there's food at the party tomorrow”

I ignore him and busy myself by filling Dude’s bowl. At least you’re not mad. This is a happy day, the day I find out that there’s someone in my life who loves me.

But how do I let her know I feel the same?

[sanktyastag]

I know people have already talked about the changes Mal has gone through in his show adaptation vs his book self - most of which are changes people generally agree are for the better, since they’re sanding off some of his less endearing character traits. But something that baffles me are the changes that they didn’t make as a consequence to the changes that they did. And by that, I mean, some key pieces of dialogue.

And even more specifically, this dialogue choice:

And to explain why this line of dialogue doesn’t make sense to me in the show, I need to talk a bit about the original book context for it:

In the books, Alina has been harboring a one-sided crush on Mal for years. And I don’t mean she thought it was a one-sided crush, when really they were both mutually pining for each other. I mean that Mal genuinely didn’t have romantic feelings for her in the beginning. Or at least, not ones he acknowledged:

“Wrong. I was planning how to sneak into the Grisha pavilion and snag myself a cute Corporalnik.”

Mal laughed. I hesitated by the door. This was the hardest part of being around him - other than the way he made my heart do clumsy acrobatics. I hated hiding how much the stupid things he did hurt me, but I hated the idea of him finding out even more.

This is something Alina battles with herself over for most of the beginning of SaB, before she’s taken to the Little Palace. She had a close relationship with Mal in Keramzin, when they were both just two kids in an orphanage. And then they join the second army and Mal is suddenly a popular, capable, respected soldier in people’s eyes, while Alina is stuck battling her own resentment at her inability to fit in, as well as some pretty gnarly feelings of inadequacy.

Feelings of inadequacy that are a reoccuring issue with her - in the beginning, she describes herself as a mapmaker “and not even a very good mapmaker”. With Botkin, she’s unable to keep up with the other Grisha in physical combat, and with Baghra, she’s unable to master her Grisha abilities. It can be summed up nice and tidy in the Siege and Storm quote, when Alina isn’t using her powers because she’s in hiding with Mal:

I was so frail and clumsy that I’d barely managed to keep my job packing jurda at one of the fieldhouses. It brought in mere pennies, but I’d insisted on working, on trying to help. I felt like I had when we were kids: capable Mal and useless Alina.

So at the beginning of the books, Mal gets the chance to gain acceptance and respect from his peers, and Alina is stuck feeling inadequate and ineffectual. The natural progression of this type of rift is that they would begin to grow apart: Mal would make friends and find a sense of belonging, and Alina would remain alienated and isolated from her peers. Which is exactly what happens. It takes less than a year for them to change from being inseparable, to a normal, casual friendship:

“So what are you doing here?” When we’d first started our military service a year ago, Mal had visited me almost every night. But he hadn’t come by in months.

And that’s pretty much how their relationship stays until they’re reunited after the Little Palace. It comes to a head with Mal talking about his jealousy over seeing her with the Darkling, and with Alina admitting she’d been happier at the Little Palace than she’d been in a long time, largely because she’d finally found what Mal had found in the second army: A place she fits in and feels accepted:

“That night at the palace when I saw you on that stage with him, you looked so happy. Like you belonged with him. I can’t get that picture out of my head.”

“I was happy,” I admitted. “In that moment, I was happy. I’m not like you, Mal. I never really fit in the way that you did. I never really belonged anywhere.”

“You belonged with me,” he said quietly.

“No, Mal. Not really. Not for a long time.”

And this is where that “I’m sorry it took me so long to see you” line drops. It’s specifically about Mal acknowledging that he started taking Alina for granted when they joined the second army, because he was so caught up in finally feeling like he could belong somewhere, and feel pride in himself, he stopped prioritizing their friendship. Which is a very understandable thing!

The books don’t really go into this, but at this point in the story, it feels like something Alina might finally be in a place where she could understand how he felt: living a life where you’re taught to be grateful for other people’s charity, and that you’re a burden on other people, and then suddenly being put in a position where your existence isn’t just tolerated, but celebrated and respected, is a very validating and heady experience. It’s easy to get caught up in a new life where you don’t have to think about how ashamed you felt in your past, and can instead be the person you’ve always wanted to be. It’s a shared experience of theirs that I feel like would have been worth exploring. What actually happens is that they seem to play resentment tag around each other throughout the trilogy, with one of them getting the chance to be respected amongst their peers, and the other feeling inadequate and resentful about it, and then something coming along that flips the dynamic, over and over again.

But I digress - so here is the context of that line in the book:

“I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I’d catch myself walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I’d seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I’d realize that you weren’t there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don’t tell me we don’t belong together,” he said fiercely. He was very close now, and my heart was suddenly hammering in my chest. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”

Now, when we look at the show... none of this is really relevant? We never get the sense that their relationship has changed from what they were like in Keramzin. Mal doesn’t grow distant from Alina - it’s almost the opposite. The only reason they aren’t together at the beginning of the show is because their units weren’t together. It’s not Mal creating distance, it’s their job. And the second that he gets the chance, he seeks her out. In the flashback, as well, we see him immediately look for her, and he goes so far as to hit someone with a glass, because he was told the guy said something shitty to Alina, just so he can be with her in a cell.

Similarly, instead of them sitting at separate tables in the mess hall, Alina simply doesn’t get served at all (because Racism), and so Mal goes out of his way to steal food from a Grisha tent, just to cheer her up.

He’s present, attentive, loyal, and completely in tune with her emotionally. He is, I would argue, also completely in love with her (which is something I think they flipped from the books - I get the impression that Mal’s been in love with Alina for a long time, and Alina is the one who hasn’t quite made the leap from “best friend” to “romantic interest” in the show, although that’s obviously a personal interpretation). So what, exactly, is he apologizing for in that scene? What about her didn’t he see?

The only way I can try to make sense of the scene now, is that he’s apologizing for perhaps not realizing she was a Grisha? Or maybe for inadvertently “making” her repress her powers for all this time, because she didn’t want to be separated from him? And that works, I guess, except that the lead up to this apology is Alina saying that Mal looked at her “with fear in his eyes” back in Kribirsk, after he finds out she’s Grisha. And that’s, again, a book thing. In the books, Mal apologizes for just standing there as she’s taken away, for not chasing after her. In the show... he does chase after her. He does literally everything in his power to go to her. There’s no pause, there’s no moment of doubt. The last time she sees him, he is afraid for her, as she’s being taken away, but he is not, for one moment, afraid of her. So I just... don’t get where that line comes from.

It seems weird to completely erase all of Mal’s flaws from the books, but then keep the dialogue where he apologizes for how those flaws have negatively impacted their relationship, without recontextualizing the apology into an appropriately impactful moment.

[classicrocksex]

Angus Young - NSFW Something Different

You felt so guilty for what happened the night before. There wasn’t anything in particular that you did wrong but you felt bad because you knew you hurt Ang’s feelings. He knew you didn’t mean anything by it. Angus is a very sweet and sensual lover but sometimes you wished that he would be just a little bit rougher. It wasn’t that sex wasn’t amazing with him because it was, you just wanted to spice things up a bit. You’ve never brought it up to Angus not wanting to hurt his feelings, you know, if he got his feelings hurt by you not being in the mood you could only imagine how he would feel when you told him you wanted him to do something different. He knew every place to touch, kiss, suck, lick, everything, he truly was amazing. He knew your body almost better than you did and this is why you felt so bad.

_______________________________________________________________________

You had just stepped out of the bathroom from a long shower when Angus started kissing your lips sweetly and running his fingers through your wet hair. “You’re so beautiful angel.” You smiled against his lips. He moved his lips to your neck and gave wet feather-like kisses and this made your head fall back. One of his hands held the back of your head while the other held your hip. His lips trailed down to your collarbone and he lightly sucked. Just enough to feel it. You snapped out of the trance that he put you in by jerking and looking at him. “Are you okay, angel? What’s wrong? Did I do something?” He gave you the sweetest, most panicked look.

“No baby. Just not really feeling it.” You felt awful but it was true. You loved sex with him, you just wanted it different. 

“Okay.. Are you sure I didn’t do anything? I’m so sorry if I die-” 

“Angus, baby, you’re just fine. I promise.” He gave you a small smile, not really believing you. You couldn’t be mad at him. How could he know what you wanted if you didn’t tell him exactly what you desired? He couldn’t. 

The rest of the night Angus seemed kind of distant. He still cuddled with you and made you the hot tea you could never figure out how to make like he does. When it was time for bed he still held you in his arms and rubbed your back until you fell asleep. Right before you got there he told you that he loves you and how beautiful you are. You smiled into him, too tired to respond back, you hummed. He watched you sleep while thinking about what in the world has got you acting so off when it comes to sex the past few weeks. You guys still had sex but he noticed how you had seemed kind of shy and distant when it was usually you who instigated it. He petted your hair until he succumbed to his tiredness. 

_______________________________________________________________________

While you sat at your desk in the office of your shared home, typing out the chapter of your next book on the typewriter, feeling awful guilt from the night before, Angus was in the studio recording the album Highway to Hell. 

“Angus, what is the problem?” Malcolm said rather loudly when Angus seemed to not quite grasp the riff he had just played for the guys a few days before. They were going over the next song as a whole before it was officially recorded in the rehearsal area, though Bon still hadn’t written any lyrics.

“Piss off! I’ll get it. Just give me a second.” 

“I’ve given you several seconds.” It was the brother in him. 

“I’m trying here mate!” Angus was so off. His playing, his attitude, demeanor, everything. 

“Just let him be, Mal. Maybe he didn’t get laid last night.” Bon half joked. Angus shot him a look. 

“That’ll do it.” Cliff said through a smile. 

“Ah! So that’s the problem isn’t it? Can’t get the pussy off your mind can you mate?” The guys giggled, even Malcolm. The problem was is it did have to do with sex, he wasn’t pent up because the two of you didn’t get intimate the night before - well, kind of - he just could not figure out for the life of him why you were acting so weird about having sex with him. Bon almost felt bad when he saw the next look on Angus’ face. It wasn’t of anger or frustration but bewilderment and a hint of embarrassment. “Ang, what is going on?” 

“Nothin’ Bon. Just having an off day.” By this time, Phil and Cliff were noticing that something was for sure not right. Malcolm felt bad for getting so frustrated with him. Ang is his baby brother and he knows when something’s wrong, and something is very wrong. “Can we run it back again? I’m sure I’ll have it this time.” Malcolm sighed and gave Phil the ‘go ahead’. 

“One, two, three, four!” Moments into the song Angus messed up the riff… again. He not so calmly said ‘fuck this’ and angrily put his guitar on it’s stand and stormed out of the rehearsal room. Bon, Cliff, Malcolm, and Phil looked at each other in total confusion. 

“I don’t know.” Malcolm stated as he shook his head. 

“Did he get into an argument with Y/N?” Phil asked. “He always gets like this when they have a fight.” It’s not that you two fought often and that’s why it always fucked Angus up terribly when you guys did. 

“Not that I know of, no. Usually he calls me asking how to fix it. I’ve never seen him so nervous as when they bicker. It’s almost funny watching him panic about her being pinched with him.” Malcolm chuckled. “Hell, maybe that’s what it is. Maybe she’s just stressed about her new book and he’s taking it personal.” Phil, Cliff and Bon nodded to each other, the idea making complete sense. 

“Little guy takes everything personal.” Bon stated matter-of-factly. 

“True.” Malcolm smiled, chalking Angus’ odd behaviour to his sensitivity. All four of them laughed at the realization of how sensitive he can be. Malcolm was still worried though. He figured the two of you would be fine, he’s worried about time in the studio. 

Angus stormed out into the open backyard of the building the studio was located. He lit up a cigarette, feeling bad because he knew you didn’t like it when he smoked, you wanted him to be healthy. Angus just needed to take the edge off. 

“There you are, mate.” Angus jumped at Malcolm’s sudden voice. Malcolm chuckled. 

“Christ, Mal! You scared the bloody piss out of me!” Angus stated harshly. He took another drag of his cigarette and looked at his worried brother noticing how Malcolm had his hands in his pockets looking at the cancer stick. “Argh, alright. Have a light.” He handed Malcolm his pack with a lighter stuffed in there. 

“Thanks.” Malcolm said in a low voice. “Hey, doesn’t Y/N not like when you smoke these?” 

“No… she doesn’t. She says they stink and will kill me. I suppose she’s correct.” Angus’ eyes always lit up when it came to you but he seemed a bit sad when Malcolm brought up your care for your lover. “I can’t seem to do anything right lately so what does it matter if I do smoke..” Malcolm rolled his eyes and Angus’ comment. Ang knew he was being a bit of a baby but he didn’t care at the moment. 

“Listen, Ang, everyone has their off days but you have to push through them. I’m sure the mess ups on the riff are just you overthinking it.” Malcolm was usually right when it came to these things but today it wasn’t that he was overthinking the guitar, it’s that he couldn’t think about the guitar. Malcolm knew it wasn’t the guitar he was thinking about but he had to get Angus to talk somehow. 

“That’s it, Mal. I can’t think about music right now.” His brother hit the nail right on the head. 

“Well, then what’re you thinking about? Did you and Y/N have a fight?” 

“No. Everything has been great. We get along, we’re goofy, always joking, she’s perfect, she’s just seemed distant.” Now they were getting somewhere. 

“She’s probably just stressed about writing her book, like how you get stressed about the music. Nothin’ different.” 

“It’s not that. Yes, she’s stressed but she’s been normal... but distant.”

“Please explain to me how one can be normal and distant… because you make no sense.” Angus gave him a side eye and took a few moments to answer, trying to get the courage to tell his older brother what was actually bugging him.

“She’s just seemed to shy away sexually the past few weeks. I mean we still have the most amazing sex everyday, almost two or three times a da-”

“Okay, go on.” Malcolm loved his brother but he didn’t want to hear all of the details of his sex life. Angus rolled his eyes. 

“As I was saying… She just doesn’t seem as into it. Like last night, she got out of the shower and I started to kiss her a bit and she kind of shrugged me off. Y/N is usually the one who is trying to get me to do the dirty but she acts like she wants none of it. I asked her if I did something and she said no.” Malcolm listened closely. He felt bad because he knows what it feels like to have the woman you love the most not want to be physical. 

“Have you tried talking to her about it after that?”

“No. I don’t want to make her feel like she has to get in bed with me whenever I want because that’s not it. I just wonder if I’m doing something wrong.” Angus actually seemed hurt. 

“Maybe it’s what you’re not doing.” Bon said through a smirk. Angus jumped ever higher than when Malcolm scared him. 

“What the fuck! You guys make me piss me shorts when you come up behind me like that!” 

Phil, Cliff, Bon and Malcolm giggled. “Oh so you were all listening, huh?!” Angus asked angrily. He felt like his ego couldn’t get bruised much more than it already had been. 

“Bon heard ‘sexually’ and came running.” Cliff explained. “Come inside. It’s easier to eavesdrop if we’re all in the same room.” Angus gave him a dirty look. 

“Listen here you fucker, I oughta kic-”

“Angus, you’re not gonna do shit, now come on.” Malcolm said through a smile. Angus drudgingly followed them inside. 

Everyone found a seat inside and Bon was sitting in front of Angus with a smile and his legs crossed, like a therapist. 

“Will you please wipe that stupid looking smirk off your face?” 

“My gosh, Ang. Do you need your dick sucked?” Phil made a joke out of the issue.  

“You guys, guys. Come on now. That’s enough.” Malcolm said. “Angus maybe you do need to talk to Bon about this because when it comes to sex, you know he’s the one to go to.” Angus gave Bon a look of defeat and Bon grinned harder than before, liking the recognition of having a good reputation with women.

“Talk to me, little one.” 

“Well, you liste- don’t fucking call me that.” Bon couldn’t hold back his ornery smile. He thought for a second.

“Is sex always the same? Do you guys fuck only in one place, in only one way?” 

“No.” Angus knew you liked different positions. 

“Okay, that’s good. How many places and positions?” Bon asked seriously. 

“What does that have to do with anything?!” 

“Just answer the damn question.”

“I don’t know, two or three. Each.”

“What positions and where?” Angus gave him a look but reluctantly answered. 

“Cowgirl or missionary.. Either in bed or on the couch..” Bon gave him a look of disapproval. 

“Is it sweet and slow?”

“Usually, sometimes a bit quicker.” 

“But still sweet.”

“Yes.” 

“Does she wear the pants in the relationship?” 

“...yes.” Cliff, Phil, Bon and even Malcolm all gave each other a look, knowing what Bon was going to advise next. “What?” Angus asked, feeling left out.

“Maybe she wants you to absolutely ravage her.” Angus choked. The guys giggled. 

“I could never! I don’t want to disrespect her and much less hurt her!” 

“But Ang, maybe that’s what she wants.” Phil teasingly explained. “You know. Pull her hair, choke her, maybe even smack her..” 

“Spit in her mouth, spank her, call her every degrading word or phase you could think of..” Cliff suggested. Angus was disgusted; not by the acts but by the thought of making you feel bad about yourself. 

“Listen, I know you don’t want to hear this, sometimes Linda wants it like that.” Angus looked at his brother with wide eyes. “Not all the time but sometimes that’s what she prefers and don’t get me wrong it can be very arousing.” 

“Angus. You’re not going to hurt her or make her feel shit if that’s what she wants. If you feel like you’re just treating her like the soiled little groupies, you’re not. It’s to please her and you please her because you love her, if that’s what she wants it’s not a sign of disrespect, it’s love believe it or not. She’ll feel empowered. It sounds crazy but I promise you that.” Bon explained. It sounded so stupid but it’s true. If you love a woman, you’ll do what pleases her. It started to click with Angus. 

There were several silent moments in the room before Angus spoke up. “I can’t just walk in and tell her she’s a slut then choke her.. What if that’s not what she wants..” The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

“That’s why you ask her, you bloody goof.” Phil said. 

“How do I do that?” 

“It amazes me how someone who is so confident and powerful on stage is such a pussy in real life.” Phil said as he was examining his drum sticks. 

“I am not a pussy.” said Angus. 

“Meh, kind of.” Angus just stared at Phil. 

“Alright now that we’ve got that out of the way are you guys ready to go back to work?” Everyone was actually surprised that Malcolm let them take up this much time without music, so they all agreed it was time to accomplish something. 

Meanwhile, back at home you decided to take a break from writing. You knew you needed to tell Angus why you’ve been so distant. You hated seeing him hurt so you figured why not hit two birds with one stone? Wear some super sexy lingerie to apologize and to make you feel more confident in telling him all the dirty things you want. You remembered there was a set you’d never worn for him just because of lack of occasion, these were the things you wanted to do. Wear the sluttiest things when he got home from a long day at the studio and get on your knees for him at the door. You wanted to show him how much you appreciate him. He usually got home about the same time everyday so you figured there was no better time to do this than now. 

You curled your hair and put on the lightest makeup, just to give it a little extra something. Digging through the drawer where you kept your panties you found the strappy, black lace bra, panties, garter, and stockings that accentuated your body in all the right places. You couldn’t stop looking at yourself in the mirror and admiring how you looked, how you felt. Prancing around the house in your smutty atire you poured yourself a glass of wine. Angus wasn’t the biggest drinker and in turn you weren’t either so the smallest amount of alcohol would give you a light buzz. 

You passed by a mirror in the hallway and decided to rough your hair up a bit, making it look a bit sexier. The garage door opened and you heard a car door slam. Moments later a door opened and shut. 

“Y/N. I’m home, baby! Where are you?” Angus’ sweet voice called out. He saw the bottle of wine sitting on the counter and figured you were having a drink in your office, trying to get work done. He put his things down and headed for your office around the corner. 

“Angus, I’m upstairs!” He smiled at your voice and quickly hopped up the stairs. 

“How was your da-” Angus saw you leaning on the doorway of your shared bedroom. “Holy shit.” You giggled. “What uh, what’s got you all dressed up, angel?” He asked as his eyes trailed along your body.

“No reason in particular, just wanted to. Do you like it?” The grin on your face told him that you knew he did. He stepped towards you and you laced your fingers in his belt loops pulling him into you as you backed the two of you towards the bed. He couldn’t stop his eyes from trailing up and down. You looked so sexy and he couldn’t decide which part was the sexiest. “You know I really think we should try something... what do you think?” This snapped him out of his thoughts. Were the sex gods really allowing him to get out of the question of asking her what he needs to do to get her off? Could he really be that lucky? Angus nodded his head slowly lifting his hands to your waist. 

“That’s funny that you say that, angel. I was going to ask you the same thing.” 

“Yeah?” You said in a low voice. “What do you want to do to me... daddy?” You smirked and bit your lip. Angus pushed you on the bed, the word daddy making him go crazy but the word giving him the permission to do what the guys recommended. 

“I want to get rough with you.” Angus started, running his hands along your body, you moaned. “I want to pull your hair.” He put his head in your neck and sucked and bit between sentences. “I want to choke you.” You reached your hand in his hair and tugged. “I want to spank you... I want to make you scream... make you beg... slap you... spit in your mouth...” By now your whole body was writhing under him. 

“Daddy, please. I want you to treat me like a dirty little whore.” Angus grunted, standing up he pulled you with him. 

“On your knees.” You obeyed. He unbuckled his jeans and pushed them down just enough so his cock could spring up in front of your face. You licked your lips, looking up at him with big eyes. “Suck.” You took his cock in your mouth and he put his hands on the back of your head and pushed. Gagging on his cock, you became extremely wet. This is what you wanted. You wanted Angus to be rough with you and treat you like a slut. 

With his cock inside your mouth and a hand in your hair he held the side of your face. “You’re so fucking pretty like this baby. You know that? You look so good with me cock down your throat.” The only thing you could do was look up at him through your lashes with tears and mascara running down your face. It turned you on to see him in such intense pleasure. Angus would go from staring intently at the scene in front of him to throwing his head back. You could see the sweat starting to form on his face but the two of you were just getting started. “You love it when I treat you like this don’t you baby? Making you choke on me cock..” His accent, his attitude, absolutely everything about him in this moment made you want to do things you couldn’t even explain. “You like it when I treat you like a slut? Hm?” He pulled his cock from your mouth and lightly smacked your face. You moaned. 

“I love it when you treat me like this daddy.” Angus gave you a sinister chuckle. By this time you had spit all over your face and hands; it ran down your chest and into your lap. He smacked your face again. “Mmm. Daddy, fuck.” 

“Get on the bed.” He grabbed your panties and pulled them down roughly. Once they were off Angus ran his nails down your thighs and this made you gasp. “You like that baby? Do you like it when daddy gets rough with you?” You moaned. He then rolled you over so you were on your stomach. He ran his fingers up your back and unhooked your bra. You flipped your hair to the side as you looked back at him. The look on his face was pure seduction, pure trance. His hands were squeezing your thighs and he reached down and licked your left thigh. 

“Angus, fuck.” *SLAP* He smacked your ass hard and this made you yelp.

“Bad girl. You’re daddy’s bad girl. Call me daddy.” He went back to licking, nipping and sucking your thighs. 

“Daddy, please fuck me, I want you to fuck me so bad.”

“Patience, angel.” Angus’ tongue trailed up your right ass cheek and his left hand reached your hair and yanked back. 

“Oh shit, daddy. Mmm.” The giggle that came out of your mouth when you hummed could’ve made him lose the little control he had left. By now Angus was straddling your ass and you could feel his warm, hard cock on your ass as he still had your head pulled back by your hair. You looked up at him with the sweetest eyes and he hummed. His right hand went to your neck and he lightly squeezed. “Mmmm.” He then lightly smacked your face. “Daddy.” He smacked again. “Ah, daddy.” 

Angus shifted his weight off of you, told you to roll back over and placed your hands above your head. He straddled you once again and he leaned down, hand on your throat, hand by your head balancing himself above you, giving you the deepest, nastiest, sexiest kiss. He bit down on your lip and you moaned. “Oh you dirty girl, like that don’t you?” You nodded frantically. He slid down your body putting his face in front of your warm pussy. “Keep your hands above your head for me, angel.”

Angus’ fingers ran lightly up your soaking wet slit and up to your clit. Your back arched and you let out little pants. His soft lips met your clit and his fingers slipped inside your pussy. Slowly moving his fingers in and out Angus gave sweet licks to your clit and you moaned loudly.

“Daddy, that feels so good. Mmm! Please don’t stop.” You started grinding your hips into his face as he moved his tongue and fingers faster. Angus felt your hands move to his hair and he immediately stopped. You whined.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep your hands above your head?” Your hands flew back above your head, but it was too late; Angus gave a hard slap to your inner right thigh. You arched your back and let out a loud moan. You honestly didn’t think he’d get into this but it’s exactly what you wanted. “Disobey me again and I’ll bend you over me knee.” He dug his face back in between your thighs. You wished your hands were in his hair tugging and pushing his tongue harder into you, but you didn’t want to risk making this stop, as hot as getting spanked sounded. Your fingers twisted the bedsheets and you ground your hips into his face even harder causing him to hold your hips down with his left arm, his right still working his fingers hard. The sounds leaving your mouth could’ve shattered windows. 

You were so close to cumming and he knew this because your moans always got louder and louder. He felt your walls tighten around his fingers and he stopped. If looks could kill, Angus would’ve dropped dead. 

“Seriously?!” You were so pissed at him. 

“What angel?” Angus asked innocently. 

“Why did you stop?” 

“I don’t want you to cum yet.” He said simply. “I want to make you beg for it.”

“Daddy, can I please cum?” You asked him nicely. 

Angus thought for a minute, “No.” He began giving sweet kisses to the insides of your thighs. 

“Please, daddy. I’ll be a good girl for you. I’ll do wha-” The phone by the bed started ringing and Angus got an idea. 

“Answer it.” You gave him a look of confusion. “Answer it, angel.” You picked up the phone. 

“Hello… Oh hey Bon. I’m doing good, how are you… Well that’s good to hear… Yeah, he’s right AH.” Angus put his fingers back into your tight hole. 

“Keep the conversation going.” You looked at him as if he was crazy, but he buried his face in your pussy. 

“Y-yeah. I’m okay. Are you good?” You were trying your hardest to keep your voice steady on the phone. “Oh good. No-oh he hasn’t. He hasn’t had the cha-ah-nce to… He’s been cooking.” You could feel Angus smile against your clit. “Yes, Bon. I swear I’m f-fine… It’s co-ming along… The-re’s only a few ch-ah-pters left…” You didn’t know this but Bon had a pretty good idea on what was happening. He’s heard the two of you through hotel walls and it sounded awfully similar. The entire situation had your head spinning with pleasure and you could feel yourself on the edge. “I told you, he’s co-ooking… mmmhhmmm…” You whined. Angus was now hitting your G-Spot perfectly with his fingers and had his tongue making circles on your clit. You hit your peak and seemed to forget that you were on the phone with his band mate. “Agh. Fuck! Oh my god fuck that feels so good. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” By now you had dropped the phone by your head and were letting out a long string of moans and curse words while your whole body was shaking. Your hands were in his hair but he kept going. “Mmm. Fuck, daddy it’s too much, it’s too much.”

Bon was still on the other end of the phone and he felt almost like a proud brother. Angus took his advice. He didn’t necessarily mean fuck you on the phone but clearly he was taking control by making you talk to Bon while he was sweetly torturing you. He had only called to ask if you guys wanted to go out for a few drinks, maybe to knock the edge off for the two of you but it had seemed like all was working out just fine. 

By now Angus had slowly come to a stop and was rubbing your thigh looking up at you with a smile. He climbed up and gave you a sweet kiss, letting you taste your own juices on his lips. He grabbed the phone.

“Hello… Oh hey Bon!” It slipped your mind that he was on the phone and you gave Angus a panicked look but he smiled at you letting you know that it was all okay. “Yeah… I think I got it figured out…” An idea entered your mind. Payback. Angus had never pulled up his pants from the blowjob earlier so you slid down the bed and took his cock in your hands. “Ye-AH. Mmhmm..” You gave him a devious look and took him in your mouth. “N-no. She’s ri-ght here… Fuck. Bon I gotta go..” 

Angus walked into the studio praying that Bon hadn’t told the guys about events of the night before but he knew better.

“Hey daddy.” Cliff said rather loudly and Angus went white. “What? Does it only turn you on when Y/N calls you that?” The guys giggled. 

“Yup. Sure fucking does, asshole.” Angus gave Bon the dirtiest look.  

“Don’t look at me like that! You’re the one that told her to stay on the phone…” Bon said through a Chesire-cat smile. “I finished the lyrics to the song we were working on… It’s called ‘Touch too Much’.” Everyone gave each other knowing looks, because Bon had told them about you telling Angus that it was too much last night. 

“I hate you.” 

“I love you more… daddy.” Everyone gave a loud laugh, Angus even cracked a smile. 

[ecclais-fouoras]

SOFTER ON THE INSIDE

Ch2 and 3

Read Ch1

Waring: mention of self harm

The morning after you went to get breakfast and miss venable at everyone except you. You couldn't tell if she was mad or what she felt, she was colder than usual and you were worried you'd hurt her. After breakfast you went back to the library like you always did.

You didn't realize you were singing out loud as you were painting again.

Le corps nu sur le sol

J'me fais du mal depuis des années

La main sur les yeux

Pas envie de la retirer, hey

Y a pas de place pour les faibles

Y a pas de place pour les regrets

Le cœur sur le sol

Relève-toi faut pas déconner

J'ai ces bruits dans ma tête et j'aimerais que

ça cesse mais en vain hoh

J'ouvre un peu les yeux, des couleurs, des photos me reviennent hoh

Tous ces bruits dans ma tête faut que ça cesse

J'ai perdu la tête

Où est le chemin de ma maison?

Quoi qu'il advienne

Je retrouverai les clés d'la raison

J'ai perdu la tête

Où est le chemin de ma maison?

Quoi qu'il advienne

Quoi qu'il advienne

Le regard des gens j'en ai que faire

Qui sont-ils pour me juger?

Un pardon à mon père (ouais)

Insolente je l'ai été

Dans les yeux de mon frère

Ouais des claques il s'en est bouffé

Sur les joues de ma mère

Des rivières se sont écoulées

J'ai ces bruits dans ma tête et j'aimerais que ça cesse mais en vain hoh

J'ouvre un peu les yeux, des couleurs, des photos me reviennent hoh

Tous ces bruits dans ma tête faut que ça cesse

J'ai perdu la tête

Où est le chemin de ma maison?

Quoi qu'il advienne

Je retrouverai les clés d'la raison

J'ai perdu la tête

Où est le chemin de ma maison?

Quoi qu'il advienne

Je retrouverai les clés d'la raison

J'ai perdu la tête

Où est le chemin de ma maison?

Quoi qu'il advienne

Je retrouverai les clés d'la raison

J'ai perdu la tête, ouais

Hm, mm

Quoi qu'il advienne

Je retrouverai les clés d'la raison

"That was beautiful y/n"

She spoke softly and you jumped.

She was standing at the door leaning on her cane.

"Oh God ms Venable you scared me"

She Looked down out your words.

"What's going on ? Did I say something..?"

"No, not at all miss y/l/n", "you've been distant lately" she laughed slightly and replied

"Because you thought we were close at one point ?!"

This was unlike her to reply so coldly to you, and you were a bit hurt that you thought you meant something to her.

"Oh well...i..just"

"Pathetic"

"Well if you just came here to insulte me, you might as well find someone else, I'm working"

"Working...of course ! And i am here tap dancing"

"Aha very funny ms Venable, yes i am working, painting is a long process, it takes hours to perfect."

"..."

"Now you can stand here and keep being in a bad mood, or you can sit with me and try to paint a little"

She opened her mouth to protest, but she considered you for a minute and sat.

"Here" you said as you cut a piece of hair from her red locks. "WHAT?"

You began to put it  on a stick and began circling it with a tiny rope.

"Calm down I'm just making a brush"

"Here" you said as you handed it to her.

The two of you painted for a few hours and chatted. "Look...what is that? "It's a cow ! Are you blind" you both laughed "well with what you painted i wish I were !"

"No you don't !"

"You're right I don't....if I was blind I wouldn't be able to look at you... noor paint"

You brushed a hair that had escape her haircut, and looked at her eyes.

"You have such pretty eyes"

"...i..i "

"You do, they look warm, steady, elegant like some dravite."

She met your gaze and her eyes were glossy with tears threatening to spill.

"Oh...ms Ven... Wilhelmina i didn't mean to hurt you"

You said as you stroke her cheek. She composed herself and spoke.

"You did not hurt me, and Don't think flattery will get you anywhere."

"Ms venable i thought we were passed that point...I'm not trying to do anything or "get anywhere". I enjoy spending time with you, genuinely. And look we both painted and it was fun"

She looked back at the work in front of her, and it was her portrait, how did she not notice before ?

"Oh..you painted me? I...why would you do that"

"Because you were here, it inspired me and 

You have a beautiful face." "..i.."

"Just say thank you, don't overthink it Wilhelmina"

"Thank you y/n"

You both started at each other for a while and her eyes switched back and forth from your lips to your eyes. You cupped her cheek and leaned in to place a kiss her mouth slowly. But this time she kissed you back, and held your neck as your hand landed on her hips.

You pulled away but kept caressing her cheek. "You're not going to run away from me again ? Please.." she replied by closing the gap between you again. "We should go before anyone sees us". "Where ?"

You took her hand and lead her to your room,  when you were both at the door you asked her if she felt alright "Mina, are you okay ?"

"Yes...yes i just...don't know what we'll do"

"We can read, talk or do Both or none and just kiss"

"I like all these things..." She almost sounded ashamed that she could want that.

"Ok, well get in"

---

"This poem is my favorite... here can I read it to you ?"

"Of course y/n"

"Never trust a mirror,

For the mirror always lies,

It makes you think that all your worth,

Can be seen from the outside.

Never trust a mirror,

It only shows you skin deep,

You can't see how your eyelids flutter,

When you're drifting off to sleep,

It doesn't show you what he sees,

When you're only being you,

Or how your eyes just light up,

When you're loving what you do,

It doesn't capture when you're smiling,

Where no one else can see,

And your reflection cannot tell you,

Everything you mean to me,

Never trust a mirror,

For it only shows your skin,

And if you think that it dictates your worth,

It's time you looked within.

Erin hanson."

"This poem got me through most of high school" you giggled and sat back on your bed next to her.

"What did you thi...oh mina" she was now crying quietly.

"I'm fine"

"No you're not, and that's okay"

"It's just..what you read..."

"I Know i was the same the first time I heard it. My sister read it to me when I was 13 on my bathroom floor"

"What were you doing on the floor?"

"...i might have been bleeding out...for some reason"

"What reason ? And why were you bleeding out with your sister ?!"

"She was waiting for the paramedics, and i perhaps maybe had sliced my wrist"

"WHAT"

"come on i already told you I used to self harm"

"But those are different things"

"Well often self harm doesn't lead to suicide attempt but I had an episode and I needed to kill myself so I could find my inner skin or something like that...it was a weird thing"

"I can imagine.."

You both laughed it off and kept talking for a while.

When silence started to get heavy you took her head and kissed her again, as things progressed the kiss grew heavier and she moaned against your face. "Mmm...you taste so sweet" you said between kisses.

Hands started to roam up and down her body, resting on her hips digging your nails a little. You laid her on the bed and took of her shoes, then went for the dress. "Wait..."

"What honey ?" "Honey..??!", "Well you taste As sweet as honey so...". "Okay..i just don't want to take it off yet..." "Oh that's perfectly fine Mina, we don't have to do it tonight"

"I'm sorry...plus i need to change the rules before I break them with you" you gave her one last sweet kiss. And she started to get up and find her cane.

"Don't ever apologize for that ever, you don't own anything to anyone and you are right, we can't break your rule"

She was at the door, and you blew out one last kiss, she laughed softly and left.

You didn't stop thinking of her and were almost late for dinner.

Ch3

Warning smut

You were cleaning your room in the morning just after breakfast, yes you knew the grey's were here for that but a big part of you felt that it wasn't fair. Even in the apocalypse, social classes were maintained as if they were something more important than life itself. That outraged you, the bare though that people were spending what could be their last days serving ungreatful rich people. Besides cleaning was a good occupation and distracted you from wanting to see mina all day everyday and have your new relationship exposed to them.

As you were twirling around and setting clothes in your drawers, you were singing like the world wasn't watching.

My God, I'm so lonely

So I open the window

To hear sounds of people

To hear sounds of people

Venus, planet of love

Was destroyed by global warming

Did its people want too much too?

Did its people want too much?

And I don't want your pity

I just want somebody near me

Guess I'm a coward

I just want to feel alright

And I know no one will save me

I just need someone to kiss

Give me one good honest kiss

And I'll be alright

Nobody, nobody, nobody

Nobody, nobody

I've been big and small

And big and small

And big and small again

And still nobody wants me

Still nobody wants me

And I know no one will save me

I'm just asking for a kiss

Give me one good movie kiss

And I'll be alright

Nobody, nobody, nobody

Nobody, nobody

Ooh, nobody, nobody

Nobody, nobody, nobody

Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody

"I want you"

You practically dropped the pile you were holding in shock. As wilhelmina stood by the door watching patiently for you to stop singing.

"Oh god mina ! You scared me"

"I can see that as your eyes almost left your head in surprise."

"Well I.. I'm...I was jus-"

"I know, I'm sorry for scaring you darling."

"I'm beginning to think you purposefully want to straddle me since you make quite a habit of coming whenever I sing like an angry teenager in my room" she approached you slowly

"Well y/n I love your voice"

"And I love you" you leaned and kissed her nose sweetly.

"What was that for"

"No reason, I just felt like it" you replied pressing her closer to you and her head came to a rest in your neck.

"You smell really good y/n" you chuckled softly against her and it vibrated against her lips.

"Yeah..absolutely not related to the fact that I've just showered and put on perfume"

She let out a giggle and you melted. You couldn't help but feel thankful that she was letting her heart open to you like this, letting you see her and her truly, not the persona she put up so people wouldn't get through her and actually hurt her.

"I love having you so close to me wilhelmina"

She looked up with her dull eyes and whispered

"...you do.?"

"Of course I do why wouldn't I ? I've got the prettiest girl inside my arms."

"....I..I'm not the prettiest girl"

Her lips quivered and she looked like she was about to cry.

You parted to look in her eyes, "darling you are. I look at you and I'm just so amazed by your beauty, please see yourself how I do"

"Don't lie to me y/n"

You smiled sadly and kissed her cheek and then her nose, chin, cheek and finally lips.

"Look into my eyes and tell me I'm lying to you."

"What?"

"Look into my eyes. You are beautiful, gorgeous, smart and sexy wilhelmina. Look, do my eyes tell you I'm lying ?"

She couldn't help the smile that creeped on her face as she saw your eyes filled with truth.

"No"

"Exactly baby" you kept kissing her and she drew in a deep breath before she starting making out with you. Her hands hurried over your clothes desperately trying to take of the fabric that clouded her vision of your body.

Her fingers fumbling your buttons and unfastening them quickly. Her hand finding your bra covered breast and kneaded it slightly. You led out a low growl your own hands found her zipper to pull it down running your hand on her hips pressing her even tighter through the kiss and grabbing her boob earning a moan followed by many small whippers. She rushed you to further in the room to reach the foot of the bed and you stopped her hands resting yours on her wrists.

"Wa..wait...wait..wait a minute honey.."  she pulled away concerned.

"What's going on ?? Don't you want me? Omg you don't..I'm sorry I overstepped your boundaries and you don't wanna have sex with me. What was I thinking? I'm so sorry...what's wrong with me ? Why did I think you could ever wa...."

"Hey, hey, hey stop baby. Wilhelmina. Let me speak before you assume what I want or don't want."

"But you sai..."

"I told you to wait a minute, not only do we have all the time in the world, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay with this" she looked up and got closer to you

"Oh" she said before kissing you again and running her hands to sit you on the mattress

"I am"

" what about your rules mina ?"

"I said no unauthorized sex, im autorizing this one"

"Okay but have you ever done this before ?"

She looked down at her feet and blushed

"No... I... I'm still a virgin. No one ever wanted me enough to try"

"Oh mina.. Don't be embarrassed it's totally fine if you've never had sex. And they were blind because anyone who likes women will agree with me that you are simply really hot."

"Okay.." you took her hand and made her sit on her bed

"And I think that as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm I should take the lead huh?"

Yes please" you pressed your lips against hers and started to take her further on the bed and settled her on the pillows. You pointed at her dress

"Can I take this off of you?"

"Yes..." She said breathless and shivering with anticipation. Your hands fumbled the fabric and pulled her dress down to rest on the floor. A moan escaped her mouth and she bit her lips to stop the sounds form coming out as your fingers unhooked her bra and played with her nipples.

"Don't. I wanna hear you. Every sound I can get out of your sweet mouth."

Her breath hitched when your hands found the waistband of her panties gently slapping her pelvis with it. Tugging them down while still looking her eyes to make sure she was alright with that and you dived in, wasting no more time to taste her sweetness. She was already glistening with want and you took

Her clit into your mouth while rubbing her nipple in one hand and hooking her leg over your shoulder with the other one. "Look at me baby. I want to see your beautiful face When I make you cum, do you think you can do that for me?"

"Uh...uh...y..yes.. god y/n"

"Do you want my fingers inside of you babygirl ?"

"...I...I...d..don't know...how does it feel?" You looked up and made soft patterns with your thumb on her thigh

Do you want to try and see ?"

"Yes"

‌You delved back into her and kept liking her in bold stripes and soft sucks. And as soon as she was ready you slowly plunged a finger in her, then added another one and curled them inside of her entrance. Her hands found your hair and she wiggled on the bed before she went stiff a loud moan and series of whimpers of your name.

"UH UH Y/N AAH FUCK...KEEP GOING"

you helped her ride out her high and didn't stop until she came again a second time.You took your fingers and sucked her juices of off one of them before puting the other one in her mouth for her to taste. You were perfect darling, I love you" "..mm...you too, and I can't even begin to explain how much you mean to me and how much I  love you y/n" You cuddled closer to her and started to drift off to sleep. "..babe ?". "Mm? "...well you don't want me to reciprocate ?"

[undercoverclover]

Land Or Sea

Part 1

Genre: A giant mix of angst, fluff and spice if you want to call it that?

Pairing: Lee x Ari

Warnings: Mentions of death... I think that's it?

Word Count: ≈6k total

-My twist on The Little Mermaid for the Tell A Fairytale event hosted by @acewriters 

“Ari! Wait for me! You know it’s harder for me to swim with my hurt fin!” I hear from behind me. Looking back I see the bright orange hair covering my friends eyes. Brushing it aside, he huffs at me.

“Oh come on, River. Don’t be such a guppy!” I laugh. My younger friend, though he was almost a whole half a tail taller than me, had hurt his fin two weeks ago and though it had gotten a lot better, he was still slower than me.

“Oh hush you or I’m going to tell Mal that you’re going where you're not supposed to be.” I hear him snicker.

“Go right on ahead, then I’ll tell her that you were with me. Let’s see who’s in the dog house then.” I look behind me at his face. Noticing his lips in a tight line and his eyes glaring knives at me, I grin.

“That’s what I thought.” I snicker.

Mal is my best friend and the royal advisor to my father, Triton, the king of the sea. She is so much fun to be around, but let us get caught in a forbidden area and I’d never hear the end of it. River is her boyfriend, so it’d be double trouble for him… Especially with the hurt fin.

We push a little further, finally noticing the sunken ship we’d been looking for.

“There it is, River!” I smile, waving him forward to hurry.

"You know, if we get caught. Your father is going to throw us in the dungeon for a week." He smiles.

"That's why we can't get caught. Duh."

Swimming to the window, I peek inside. "AH!" jump back as an eel slides out. Grasping my chest, I hear River behind me laughing hysterically. Shooting him a look, I slip through the window. He stands guard as I search to see what I can find. Seeing something shine on the floor out of the corner of my eye, I look over to notice a ballerina figurine.

I pick it up, putting it in the bag on my back.

"Ari, come on. The waters are getting darker. We need to get back."

"Just 5 more minutes."

"Ari, now." He said, starting to get agitated.

"5 more minutes Ri!" I plead.

"Ariel! Let's go now!" He demanded.

"Fine!" I grumble, "I swear."

Heading back out of the window, I noticed it had gotten darker. It looked like there was a storm rolling in, but there were no signs of it when we came this way.

"Alright, we need to hurry back." I say, avoiding his 'I told you so' gaze.

Swimming as fast as he could, I tried to help him.

"Okay, this is my bad. We should have left earlier."

"I couldn't have left earlier. Now, let's get moving. Mal is going to have our tails for this."

Right, I’d had to wait on him because he’d wanted to spend time with Mal before she had to go to my father’s council meeting. Those things always lasted forever.

Finally reaching the city, we parted ways and I headed home. Swimming in the door, I notice Mal in the living room.

"We need to talk." She says.

We go up to my room and I place my bag on my desk.

"You missed the meeting today."

"What meeting? I never go- Oh snap! I completely forgot I was supposed to be there today. I'm sorry Mal!" I say, feeling horrid.

"Your father is furious. You may want to apologize to him, not me. I have a feeling someone else is going to be apologizing to me."

"I will… I'm going."

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

Apologizing to my father had been a failure. I'd spent most of the evening trying to apologize. I'm grounded, even though I'm an adult. The joy of being a princess, you never fully escaped.

I'd made my way back to my room after that chaos and collapsed on my bed. Looking out of my window, I see something flickering at the top of the water.

It was distant but I got curious. Swimming closer, I notice it's flames! I swim up. There's pieces of wood and trinkets falling everywhere now, I have to dodge them.

I poke my head above the water and hear men screaming for someone from a lifeboat.

"Lee! Lee? Where are you?" They yell. They look around frantically, but never see me or the man. They head away. I'm assuming giving up hope.

I begin wandering around and looking, pushing pieces out of my way.

I happen to notice him stuck on a piece of wood drifting off in the opposite direction. He had been hit by something, knocking him out and had a cut on his head.

"Oh! Wait!" But they were already too far gone. I decide to take him myself. I grab the wood and push him in the direction of the beach a few miles away. It wasn't easy but I managed. He weighed more than he looked and I'm not huge myself, but I finally made it to shore. The sun was coming up now. The only thing I could do was drag him off the wood and onto what little sand I could get to.

He was beautiful. Brown hair that was fluffy after it had dried on the way here, sharp features and a small scar on his left side of his face.

He groaned.

Oh no… I start to head back to the water.

His eyes flutter open and look directly at me, his brown eyes shining in the morning sun, "You saved me."

"I did. If not you would have drowned. Now, I have to leave. I'm sorry."

"Wait!"

It was too late, I was already in the water and swimming home.

Wow. A human. A man. A gorgeous one at that…

I make my way into my bedroom window and get under my blankets, hoping nobody noticed I was missing.

"Where have you been?" I hear from the corner of my room. I jump and look over.

"River! You can't do that to someone!"

"Answer the question, Ari."

"I took a swim. Now I'm going back to sleep."

"Yeah okay. If you say so." He swims out of the window, agitated and I lay there daydreaming of the man I saved.

The next few days that passed, all I could see was his face. I want to see him again. I will. I'll go and see him tonight! I manage to keep my excitement down to a minimum, only River and Mal notice. Which is normal because I spend a lot of time with them.

I go to bed early, and sneak out. Swimming until I arrive at the beach where I'd left him. He was walking along it. His brown hair straight, in a white sweater and slacks. He was holding his shoes as he walked, feeling the sand on his feet. I wish I could do that.

He looks my way and I hide behind a rock.

"Hello? I saw you! Please don't be shy!"

"I'm sorry! I'm not supposed to be here! It's forbidden!" I yell to him from behind the rock.

"But you saved me."

"I did and I'd do it again."

"At least tell me your name."

"I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Please!"

I'd gone under before I could say more. I feel bad about leaving him standing there so I decide to go back there tonight to see if he was there. Lo’ and behold, he was. I decide to swim close enough so he could see me.

“What’s your name?” Lee asks, wide brown eyes looking in my direction, as if he’s not believing what he’s seeing.

“Why should I tell you? So you can tell all your friends of my existence and they can hunt me down?” I say.

“No! Of course not! I’m in awe… I want to thank the woman that saved my life, properly.” My mouth opens in shock as he continues, “I saw a glimpse of you last time, I just want to know your name to match your face. Which is much more beautiful up close, if I may say.”

“Ariel.”

“Ariel? Well, it’s so nice to meet you Ariel. Thank you for risking your life to save mine.” He smiles.

“Ari.” I say, smiling, “Call me Ari.”

I went back the next few nights, singing to signal him that I’d arrived, I waited for him to come out. He hears me and comes out, smiling, coming to sit on the rock at our meeting spot. We talk until he’s so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open and I had to tell him I’d come back tomorrow because I need to get back before my father wakes. We continued this for a few weeks and I grew to love talking to him. He was funny and handsome and I became comfortable with him. He’s the first human to see me, the first human I felt a connection to.

I couldn’t hide my happiness any longer, I had to tell someone. I knock on Mal’s door, after returning from my visit with Lee, so it was around 6 a.m. River answers, with a strange look on his face.

“What are you doing here so early and why are you so smiley?” He asks.

“I need to talk to your girlfriend.”

“Alright, come in.” He says, moving aside so I can slip by, “she’s in the bedroom still.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Opening their bedroom door, I see Mal laying in bed, reading. She’s normally up and ready for work by now.

“Hey. You’re here early this morning.” She chuckles, closing her book.

“Yes, I am. I haven’t been to bed yet,” My smile fades, worrying about her. “Are you okay? Normally you are about to come to the palace. You’ve felt sick for a few weeks lately.”

“I’m fine, I just needed a day off. I was grateful your father approved,”

“Of course he would! You’re like a daughter to him, not just his advisor. He takes anything that you say seriously. So if you needed a day, he’d do it in a heartbeat.” I smile.

She smiles at me and pats my hand, “You guys and Riv are the only family I have, I’m happy with that. Now tell me, why did you come in here smiling to no end.

“It’s a slightly long story. Do you have time? And remember, this is best friend territory, okay? Completely sworn to secrecy, until death”

“I have all day. Well, as much as needed. I’d like to stay in this bed all day if possible.” She smiles and nods. I chuckle and dive into my story about everything, starting with the shipwreck.

Her face went from mortified that I was being so careless, to understanding. To say she was mad at first, was an understatement…

“Why would you do this, repeatedly, without telling anyone Ariel? Do you know how stupid that was? You could have been hurt!” She panics, causing River to come in and check on her.

“Please, Mal, calm down. Let me explain.” She calms down, but River doesn’t want to leave her side. Mal reassures him she’s fine now and leaves us to finish our talk. She breathes deep a few times and signals me to continue.

I explain what has been going on and the talks Lee and I have had. About how he is an only child, and his parents passed away when he was in school far away. How he’s managing the small kingdom he runs, on his own. I also explain that he’s seen me and that he is the type, like she, to hold that secret until death. She isn’t happy that I showed myself to a human, but she understands taking leaps of faith because Mal and River were never supposed to be together either. Seeing her understand what I’m dealing with and being there for me even though she’s not happy with the situation, I feel tears in my eyes. She’s genuinely happy for me. And her and River’s hopeful love story of forbidden love, leads me into my next dilemma.

I also tell her that I think I love him,,,

She smiles widely, “I always tell you not to do what I’ve done. Seems you one upped me, in that department anyway. You fell for a human, but I have my own secret to tell you.” I smile and laugh. Grabbing the pillow beside her and smacking her with it playfully.

“Someone has to make you look good. What is your secret? Tell me. Tell me.”

She leans forward and whispers in my ear. My eyes get wide and I’m so happy that I could scream. She shushes me and I hold in my excitement.

“Mhmm. Sure. So as your best friend, when are you going back to meet him?”

“Tonight. I really need to get home to sleep for a while.” I laugh looking at the time, 8:43 a.m.

“Yeah, you may want to, in case your dad looks for you this morning.” She laughs.

River knocks on the door and pokes his head in, “May I have my girlfriend back now?”

“Yes, you may. I was just about to leave.” I smile, getting up and giving her a hug, “Thank you for understanding.”

She nods, “Just remember to let me know some way that you’re going. I don’t care if you leave a pebble on my windowsill.”

I laugh but agree and head home, finding my bed and drifting off to sleep within minutes. I wake up to eat before slipping out for the night. I swing by Mal’s and place a pebble I’d painted a yellow smiley face with a blue heart, on her window; smiling I take off to meet Lee.

I began to sing when I went tonight, hoping he'd hear me and appear, yet he didn’t… I decide to wait for him. I'm beginning to worry after a few hours of him not showing...

"He's not here my dear." I hear behind me. Spinning around, I see the sea witch.

"Why? What's going on?"

"He's sick, my dear."

"Sick? Sick how!?"

"He fell ill yesterday morning."

"But that's impossible! I spoke to him just last night!"

"Well, he must have hidden it really well or really wanted to talk to you."

"Oh no. No! I have to get to him. I have to help him."

I need to find a way. I would.

“I'm sorry. I've got to go." I start to go around the witch to get home.

"I can help him."

"What do you mean you can help him?" I ask, cautiously.

"I can fix him for a price."

“What price?” I ask, more nervous this time.

“Give me your voice and I’ll fix him right now.” she demands.

“You could do that?”

“Yes, I could.”

“I- I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Well, if you decide to. Follow the current south from the castle. I assume you know how to get there though.”

I nod and take off home.

I swim as fast as I can and make it back before dawn. Instead of going home, I make a stop at Mal’s. I need to talk to her. Knocking on her door, I realize she may still be asleep, even though she gets up early, it’s still too early for her.

To my surprise, she answers the door…”Ari, what are you doing here? Is everything alright at the castle?” she asks, her eyes growing worrisome.

“At the castle, yes. But, I need your advice as my best friend and not the royal advisor.” I say.

She asks me to come in and I begin telling her everything. River is still asleep, so it’s like old times.

“So, you’re saying that you really love him? Even though you barely know him and may never know him in any other way and you want to help him?” She asks, “And yes, I know you feel like you know him through your talks.”

“Yes. And I know it sounds weird, but I have to.”

“Best friend’s advice only? Don’t go to the witch. She’s mean and cruel. Scope the beach out and make sure she’s not lying. Maybe your father would grant you time on land, if you told him it was to only make sure he was okay?” she suggests.

“Okay, I’ll talk to father when I get home. Thank you, Mal.”

“You’re welcome, Ari. And do me a favor, don’t take River out so far next time. His fin is doing better, but it’s been aching again for the past few days.” She smiles, coming to hug me and send me on my way.

“You got it. Thanks again.” I hug her back and head home.

Father was already awake and in the dining area. I decided to tell him the truth. Even if it meant getting punished.

“You did what?” He demands, getting angry.

“Father, please.” I plead, “I told you what I did and I’ve found out he’s sick. I need to see him and help.”

“You disobeyed me too many times, Ariel. Absolutely not! Why should I even remotely want to do this for you?”

“Because I love him! And I will do this one way or another Father, please. I’m asking for your help, not the help I’ve been offered already, but I will go to her if that’s the only option I have.”

“You think you love him. What other offer?” he says, angrily.

I stand tall, even though my insides are twisting from anxiety, “The sea witch.”

“Ariel, you will do no such thing! She’s a witch and an evil one at that!” He says, getting up from his seat.

“I will father. I may be a princess, but I am also an adult.”

“Ariel…” He says, hurt by my words.

I turn and walk out, hoping he’ll think about it and agree.

“Wait,” he says and I turn around, “I will help you, on one condition.”

“What? Anything, please.”

“I will grant you legs in order to go help him for 2 days and only two. But at the end of the second day, you will come back home. No questions or complaints. You will come back home and resume your duties as princess.”

“Deal.” I say, without hesitation.

With reluctance, even after I promise to come back, my father agrees to take me at the end of the night.

“Ariel, what are you planning on doing?” I hear as I come out of the dining area, where father had been eating breakfast. I look around and see River, arms crossed, looking at me.

“I’m doing what I have to do,” I reply.

“Mal told me. You don’t have to do this. You don’t know this man.”

“I do, River. I really do. Please don’t do this. Mal trusts me, that’s all I’m asking from you.” I say, sadly.

He shakes his head at me. “I hope so.”

He leaves and I get things ready and make some medicine for Lee, hoping it will work better than human medicine. I get completely ready and when I finish, I decide to nap.

“Ariel, wake up.” I hear and I shift in my bed.

“Ariel.” I hear again, opening my eyes slowly.

“What is it father?” I ask.

“Are you still wanting to go?” He asks. I jump up and grab my bag and the dress I was planning to wear.

“I’m ready.” I say, in a serious tone.

He smiles, “You really are willing to do this?

“It’s the easiest decision of my life, Father.” I smile at him.

“You really are your mother’s daughter. The most like her out of you and your sisters.”

I feel tears sting my eyes. My mother had fallen ill after she had me and passed. I never knew her like my 4 sisters did and always wondered. I hug my father tightly, happy to hear what he told me.

“Now, come Ariel, let’s get this done.”

I nod and we set out for the beach where I had met Lee on many nights and talked until early morning. We swim for a while, not bothered by the silence between us. Once we get there, I speak first, “This is it, What do I do now?” I ask, looking at my father.

“Go to him, do what you must and be back in two days' time. I will be waiting here at the same time as now.” He says and I smile and hug him tightly.

“Thank you. I love you.” I say, quietly.

I head close to shore to where I could touch sand and my father swirls his trident on top of the water. Feeling weird sensations in my fins, I look down, only to notice legs. Human legs… I smile, looking up at my father and wave my toes at him.

He laughs, tossing my bag at me. I grab the blue dress wrapped around my bag and slip it on, it’s wet, but it’ll dry soon enough.

“Be safe and strong, my darling Ariel. I will see you soon.” He says, smiling sadly and disappearing under the water to return to our home.

[ourladylennon]

I love talking about India and the whole thing, so I have some more to add:

After the return from India the incident happened where Cynthia walked in on John and Yoko (the night where they recorded Two Virgins). A couple of days later, when Cynthia returned home, John assured her that he still loved her, “more than ever”. But when Cynthia asked him to come with him to New York (with Paul), John said no. And after his return he informed Cynthia that he wanted a divorce. So, I think, even more interesting as to what happened in India is what happened in New York. If you like to entertain the idea that there was something between John and Paul, I think it must’ve been there. Also, New York is where John met Linda for the first time. I think that was the straw to break the camel’s back. He didn’t feel close to Cynthia anymore, he probably felt guilty about failing as a father and husband and now it must’ve felt like his best friend left him for another woman.

Regarding the Pattie interview, it’s really only that sentence. 😂 Not really a revelation, just funny to see that she’s maybe “one of us”, being curious about the whole India issue.

God, yes. I hate this story more than others because it’s so fucked up. I mean he just put her through the ringer and dragged her emotions all over the place. Not only did he tell/give her the impression they would remain together and everything was fine, but according to Cyn, John actually suggested and sent her on holiday in Greece and when she returned....there they were. Yoko was in their house, in their clothes. And he yet again, convinced her he wanted to be with her and they would make it work, but you’re right- turned around and denied her going to NY with them. He started getting distant on her again. What’s even shittier about it all is that she decided to go to Italy around this time because she needed to get away from everything- all the back and forth and hurt and despair- and he actually sent the message of divorce to her while she was away on holiday in Italy. Cynthia has always maintained that she thought John had her followed/spied on while she was on vacation, and thus why she received news of the divorce at 2 am when she arrived back at her hotel (and because the divorce stated on grounds of adultery between her and Roberto Bassanini whom she had went out with that very night).

Like this period of his/their life is just an absolute clusterfuck. I truthfully don’t understand his vehement refusal of her coming to NY. I hadn’t really thought about it until you said it, tbh. Now I’m scratching my head. I initially thought “isn’t that where Yoko was living,” but she was staying in London at the time so it does make you wonder- wtf? Was it that he’d already changed his mind and did not want to be with her and just flat out said no; did he want alone time with Paul; both? I’d never thought before but I mean, off the top of my head, I can’t recall many other instances where it was just him and Paul since before Beatlemania....I mean, right? (Mal & Neil were also there so not entirely alone, I suppose). Cynthia makes it out to seem like he was very adamant about her not going though. Even if it had nothing to do with Paul, it does make you wonder. 

HA! Shoot if I was Pattie or any of them I would have been straight spectatin 🧐

[mrsbhandari]

Shutter - Part 2

a/n: HI it me!! i don’t really have much to say lmao, but i hope you like it!! also the cover of vogue looks like this, by the lovely @lxdy-starfury, and is like the entire inspiration behind this fic so yee!

warnings: some language but that’s really it

words: 2k

tags: @lxdy-starfury, @huntress1024, @anotherbeingsworld, @brightpinkpeppercorn, @chaotic-ramsay-queen

#

“Can you believe I got his number?” 

“You what?”

“We talked a little bit after the shoot.” Nia guiltily fidgeted with her tea cup, her ring making small clicks against the porcelain. 

“Okay, talking is very much different from getting his number. You have a billionaire’s phone number.” Incredulous, Naexi sat back in the plush seat of the book store lounge area, shaking her head. “So now what? Is he gonna be your sugar daddy?”

“What?! No!” Nia blushed furiously. “I don’t like him...that way.”

“Sure. And I didn’t just get credited with the cover of Vogue.”

“Congratulations, by the way.” Nia tried to change the subject, which Naexi picked up on and allowed. Nia grabbed the latest issue of Vogue off the table in front of them, admiring the glossy cover of Tyril with his hair in a messy ponytail and a somber look behind his glasses. ���He was...unexpected, though?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I expected him to be like all of those aloof and distant love interests in romance novels.”

“And how did he seem to you?”

“He was really sweet! Super warm, like you could just talk to him all day about everything and he would totally understand.” Naexi hummed, looking down into her coffee. “What? How did he seem to you?”

“I’m...not sure.” She shook her head and looked back up to her friend, giving an easy smile. “He felt nice enough, but I totally bet it’s all some act. He’s definitely a vampire.”

“At least he’s attractive.” 

Naexi sent a glance down to the magazine. “Maybe.”

#

“So what I’m getting from this is...you’re in love?” 

“That’s absurd! I am in nothing of the sort.” Tyril sat straight up in his chair, which was a direct contrast to Mal, whose feet were spread as he lounged lazily in the wire seat. Despite the cold, they sat in the outside seating section of a small cafe, right near small space heaters set up by the table. “I never said anything about even liking the woman--”

“Alright, alright, chill out. I was only joking, but it sure seems like I might’ve been right.” Mal sent a smug smile over the table and raised an eyebrow. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Dude, you want to impress her? You want her approval? You noticed the smell of her lotion? I diagnose you with love, bud.” He crossed his arms and briefly glanced towards his bike that was parked across the street; a car seemed to be driving kind of close to it. When he returned his gaze to Tyril, his friend was pensively staring at the half-eaten pastry on his plate and chewing on his nail. Reaching across the table, Mal plucked Tyril’s hand out of his mouth and held it on the table top to get him to stop. “It’s not a bad thing.”

“I don’t have time for it, though. That’s the problem.”

“C’mon, Ty. We both know that’s bullshit. You’re into her, but you’re afraid of getting hurt and don’t want to take a risk.” Mal squeezed his friend’s hand. “I agree that what happened with Kaya sucked, but you have to be willing to step back out on the edge to see the view, even if you might fall.”

“Poetry is supposed to be my thing, Volari.” 

“What, I’m not allowed to be romantic?” He batted his eyelashes and placed a hand under his chin, prompting a small smile from Tyril. 

“Not with that haircut, you’re not.”

“Hey!” 

#

“Um…” Naexi cautiously eyed the large vase of flowers on her desk, tapping her coworker Belana on the shoulder before approaching the tulips. “What is this? Who delivered these?”

“Well, they look a lot like tulips and a delivery guy just came with them about ten minutes ago. Who’s the admirer?” Belana wiggled her eyebrows, laughing when Naexi shoved her shoulder. 

“As if I know.” She set her bag down and dug through the jungle of vibrant red to find a small card. The gold inscription read “When I’m around you, I lose my focus,” paired with a tiny drawing of camera in simple black ink. It wasn’t signed. 

“Well?”

“I have no clue what to make of it.” She handed the card to Belana, who burst out laughing at the joke. 

“That’s a good one! Because you’re a photographer!” 

“No, stop, please. My stomach hurts from laughing so hard.” Snatching the card back, she read it again before pushing the vase to a miraculously unoccupied corner of her desk and placing the card in one of her frames, the one housing the picture of Nia and her on a work trip in Paris. Nia was a bookkeeper at a small bookstore, but she abused the hell out of Vogue’s plus one policy on trips. She grabbed her phone and found Nia’s text conversation quickly, typing out a short message asking about the flowers.

NIA: that’s so weird! I have no clue who could have sent them.

#

Nia definitely had a clue who could have sent them. She had so much of a clue, in fact, that she scrolled down to her conversation with Tyril, the exact person who sent them. 

NIA ELLARIOUS: She got them! And she doesn’t know who sent them.

TYRIL STARFURY: Did she like them?

NIA ELLARIOUS: Hm, I’m not sure. She didn’t say anything about them, just that she wasn’t sure who they were from. We’re having lunch today, I can ask her then.

TYRIL STARFURY : I can’t thank you enough! I hope this isn’t awkward, being somewhat of a spy for your friend. 

NIA ELLARIOUS: Of course not! I think it’s incredibly sweet what you’re doing.

TYRIL STARFURY: Thank you, I’m very nervous about it working. 

NIA ELLARIOUS: Don’t be! It will all work out, I can promise you that. 

TYRIL STARFURY: Thank you.

Nia slipped her phone into an apron pocket and went back to humming as she dusted the shelves. 

#

“I’ve probably gained twenty pounds since you’ve started working here. These pastries are to die for,” Naexi moaned as she bit into her chocolate croissant, savoring the flakiness of the breading that practically melted in her mouth. 

“Me, too,” Nia sighed, nervously fidgeting with her apron. 

“What’s got you all nervous?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing!” She offered a shaky smile, which did nothing to squash Naexi’s suspicions. 

“So we’re lying to each other now?” 

“No, of course not!” Nia struggled to come up with a believable lie that could easily segue into talking about the flowers. “I’m just still trying to think who would’ve sent you flowers today. Very odd.”

“To be honest, I kind of forgot about them.”

“Really?!” Nia set down her teacup before she had the chance to drop it. “I know if someone sent me flowers, I would be thinking about it for the rest of the day.” Naexi hummed. “What?”

“Now that I’m thinking about it again, it is kind of weird. I haven’t been dating in a while, so who could’ve done it? And obviously they were sent by someone who barely knows me, because the joke was….not my style.” 

Smirking, Nia spoke before she could stop herself. “Maybe that’s why you’re so cranky. You need to put yourself out there more.” 

After a small moment of silence seemed to be occupied by Naexi’s thoughts, she waved her hands. “I think not. No significant other is going to keep me from being my grouchy self. Sorry to disappoint.”

Nia threw her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “I’d never want you to change.” For the rest of her lunch break, the two girls sat and talked while watching people pass outside the window of the store. As soon as Naexi left, Nia eagerly fished out her phone and found Tyril’s text conversation.

#

“I shouldn’t have gone with that inscription.” Tyril was pacing back and forth in his office between where Imtura sat in one chair and Mal sat in another. He was chewing on his nail again, and Mal stood to take his hand away again. He sat back down in his chair with a firm grip on Tyril’s hand, limiting the length of the billionaire’s pacing while still not stopping it. 

“Will you stop panicking? I’m sure the girl loved it,” Imtura reassured, barely looking up from her phone. “It was a pretty funny joke.”

“But what if she doesn’t like jokes?!” Tyril exclaimed, running a hand through his hair and pulling some pieces out of its tidy half-up do. 

“Ty!” Mal stood and grabbed his friend’s other hand, forcing him to stop and look at him. “I’ve never seen you like this. C’mon, talk to me.” 

“I’ve just never done something like this. Flirting and relationships and what have you....It’s all foreign to me. I want to make sure it’s perfect.” He jumped as his phone went off in his pocket.

NIA ELLARIOUS: She still doesn’t have any idea who sent the flowers, but she doesn’t really like puns. Especially about her job. 

TYRIL STARFURY: That is...most unfortunate. Thank you so much for your help.

NIA ELLARIOUS: Would you like to come by the shop and have lunch with me on Thursday?

He looked at the date; It was Tuesday.

TYRIL STARFURY: I would love to. 

NIA ELLARIOUS: See you then!

“I knew I shouldn’t have gone with your idea, Mal.” 

“She didn’t like the joke? Sounds like this girl’s a real snooze, if you ask me.”

“Good thing he’s not,” Imtura joked, dodging a punch from Mal. 

“Well, Nia invited me to lunch with her on Thursday--” He was cut off by his phone ringing, his father’s contact flashing on the screen. “Pardon. Hello, Father?”

“Tyril, I hope you are doing well.”

“You as well, Father. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” In his seat, Mal cringed at the formalities. 

“I’ve sent the information to your email, but I wanted to remind you directly about a charity gala I’m hosting next week, for the company.”

Mal rolled his eyes, but Tyril snapped his fingers and gave him a stern look, akin to a mother scolding a child. “Yes, of course.”

“Your sister has a date, so I would have to ask you to bring one as well. It would look good for the company.” Tyril opened his mouth to speak, but his father beat him to it. “Mal is already invited as a high ranking member of the company, therefore he cannot count as your plus one.” 

“Yes, sir. I will find a date for your gala.” 

“Thank you, Tyril. Goodbye.”

“Good bye.” Tyril continued to look at the phone, even after his father hung up.

“Well.” Clapping his hands together, Mal stood up and sighed, placing his hands on his hips and swiveling his body to crack his back. “He’s even more of a snooze than the girl.”

#

“Are you kidding me? Again?!” Naexi exclaimed, throwing her bag down on her chair since her desk was occupied by yet another large vase of flowers, this time peach dahlias. “Who is doing this?” Belana peeked over to her coworker’s desk, whistling at the sight of the large collection of flowers. 

“Damn! Wait, what logo is on the card?” Naexi fished the card out. 

“It says it’s from a place called Loola’s.” While Belana typed something into her laptop, Naexi read the card aloud. “‘For a woman with a unique view of the world and the means to capture it.’”

“Holy shit!”

“I don’t think it’s that good, but I--”

“Not that. I looked up a bouquet of peach dahlias from Loola’s and it looks like that one cost about a hundred and ten bucks.” 

Naexi blinked. “It still isn’t signed. I don’t…” she trailed off, looking again at the bouquet before whipping out her phone and texting Nia. 

NIA: Wow, another one?

NAEXI: Yeah! Belana says it cost 100$

Despite knowing who sent it, Nia’s eyes still widened at her phone. 

NIA: Seriously?! Any idea who it’s from yet?

NAEXI: Nope.

NIA: We can brainstorm tomorrow over lunch.

[hopingforromanoff]

I Love You, Goodbye

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Words:1,368

Requests are open, so feel free to send in requests and I will do my best to get them posted ASAP.

Warnings: medical stuff and talk of character death

A/N: This hurt and is super sad but i’m really proud at how this turned out. I MAY do a second part but i’m not 100% sure how I want to end this, let me know what you guys think!

My Masterlist

The thick covering of the trees caused the sky to almost vanish, only allowing a few specs of blue to break through the green umbrella of leaves. The scorching sun began to soak up the water from the recent rain however the mud still squelched beneath your feet. The only other movement present was the occasional bird, fluttering by singing it’s song and squirrels diving between nearby branches. Your lungs struggled to get oxygen to your already weakened muscles; you could do this, you had to do this.

The ground hardened under your feet as more light began to break through the foliage that surrounded you.The warmth of the sun heated your already burning skin. A brown frog hopped around the path in front of you, pausing for a moment before continuing its way into the leaves that littered the muddy ground.  Your foot splashed in a shallow puddle briefly cooling your fevered body. Just a few more feet Y/N, just a few more feet, you can do this.

By the time you reached the top, you were completely out of breath. Your legs stumbled on the uneven ground, Natasha’s hand fell to your back, steadying you. You glanced down at the water below you, thinking about how nice the cool water would feel on your skin. A stream of water flowed into the lake as children splashed on the nearby beach. They giggled as they chased each other, not a care in the world. You wished you could be so carefree but you couldn’t, not in this life, you wouldn’t get the chance.

“Baby-” Natasha started.

“Shh Tasha, just let me enjoy this, one last time” your words were faint and barely audible. A warm breeze ran over you, drying the tears that had begun to trickle down your cheeks.

“I won’t allow this to happen Y/N, I won’t just watch you die” you felt wet tears hit your shoulder as she pulled you close to her.

“We don’t have any choice”

                                           ~24 Hours Earlier~

Steve and Natasha’s laughter filled the air as you entered the mission room. The sound of your combat boots echoed as you approached them.

“You’re back early” Steve greeted you with a smile.

“I told you it would be a piece of cake Rogers. Are you doubting my mad skills?” You pulled the small black flash drive from the back pocket of your suit and proudly pressed it into Steve’s open hand.

“Oh I never doubt you. I’ve seen how you work, I’m just surprised that they let go of this information so easily” Steve flipped the drive around in his hands, examining it.

Nat’s lips moved however, no audible words came out. Steve laughed in response but you couldn’t hear it. You stumbled away, trying to come to terms with the loss of your hearing. Your vision blurred as your sense of sight began to go. Natasha supported your drooping neck as your eyes frantically tried to keep focus on her blurred face.

The pain started as a dull ache in the center of your brain that rapidly spread through your head and extended down your body. You cried out as your legs finally gave out from under you. You didn’t hit the ground though as someone caught you and lifted you into their arms. The movement made you nauseous and you had to resist the urge to throw up all over Steve.

The pain had at least doubled by the time you made it to the medical wing. People rushing around you, pushing Natasha away and beginning to poke and prod you. Your shaking hand reached for hers.

“I’m here Baby” her voice managed to break through the ringing in your ears.

A sharp needle pierced your arm, shooting heavy pain-killers into your veins. It coursed through you, dulling the pain as it went.

The tests had been long and tedious, blood test after blood test, multiple MRI’s and CAT scans, all taking you away from Natasha for far too long. All you wanted to do was be in her arms. You had to be dosed with fresh pain-killers every few hours or the pain would return, stronger each and every time. With each dose, you only wished for it to be over. When you finally were able to return to Natasha’s arms you were shaking like a weak and scared puppy; the combination of heavy medication and fear left you weak and fearful.

The look on Bruce’s face when he returned didn’t inspire any hope in you.

“I’m sorry Y/N” he started, almost looking like he was going to cry himself. “We are unsure but we think this is something that Hydra did to you, probably when you were still young, long before we pulled you out” he paused trying to figure out the best thing to say.

“It must be some sort of fail-safe, a kill switch to stop you from spreading their secrets”

“What are you trying to say?” Steve speaks up from the corner of the room, where he had sat lurking in the shadows hoping that you could not see his fear and concern.

“Umm well it’s designed to destroy neural tissue, it will cause extreme pain, grand mal seizures, cell damage and eventually neuron death” Bruce’s voice was shaking as he spoke.

“Bruce. English Please” Natasha broke away from you and began to pace the length of the room.

“What he means is that I’m gonna die. Very slowly and painfully” Natasha didn’t stick around long enough to see your reaction as the door slammed behind her.

                                               ~Present Day~

You had ultimately made the decision to go peacefully while you slept, you had already suffered through one seizure last night and you didn’t want that again. While Natasha hadn’t been exactly happy with your decision, she couldn’t watch you suffer either. You and Nat spent what little time you had left doing the things you loved. They had not been exactly sure how long you had but the seizure last night had made their decision. If you wanted it to be peaceful, it had to be now.

Natasha’s presence lit the otherwise dull hospital room. You didn’t know how she would cope without you but you hoped she would find love again. You hoped it would be as ever consuming as the love you felt for her. You hoped she would feel a spark every time they touched and she would never want to let go. It brought joy to you to know that you would leave this world being completely and wholly loved by her and you hoped she would get the same in the very distant future when her time eventually came.

Your skin pinched as Bruce inserted the needle into your hand. They had decided the best way for this to go down was to pump you full of pain-killers and then send you into a coma while you waited for death to come for you.

“I’m going to give you two a few minutes while I get everything ready” You smiled thankfully at Bruce as he left the room.

“Y/N, please this can’t happen, there has to be another way, I can’t live without you” Natasha’s tears hit the mattress beside you.

“Tony and Bruce have been trying to find another way, they would have found another way by now” you kissed her. “Please be strong Natasha, I need you to let me go”

“I can’t be happy without you” she wiped your tears from your face softly.

Bruce returned, he asked if you were ready and you only managed a nod in response. As soon as he started the IV you could feel the medicine weighing your body down.

You stroked Natasha’s tear-stained cheek. Her eyes met yours, and you tried your hardest to remember them, because you knew after today you would never see her again. Sleep began to pull you in .

“Goodbye,I love you Natasha” you whispered as your head fell gently against the pillow and your eyes fluttered shut.

“Baby, please don’t go, I lov-” Your consciousness faded and her final words disappeared with you into the silent and black void.

[nikkzwrites]

My Love is Pure | Malcolm Reed x Reader Fic |

This is a Squeal to An Angel With a Smile on Her Face One-shot I did here.

Words: ~1.2k

Warnings: Angst, Tear Jerky,

Your name danced on his voice more than you could count, but every time made your heart race. He used to be such a scrawny know it all kid who was your best friend’s older brother.

Tha poor boy was someone you and your best friend would playfully torment. He never seemed to mind. In fact, he always seemed so distant. He always reflected your warmth right back towards you though. 

You didn’t know why you waved to him when you saw him at the wedding. It was as if you had forgotten everything that had happened. You kept your face painted with a smile as he lead you to a more private part of the gardens. The strings of your heart pulled threatening to show all over your face.

Malcolm was packing up getting ready for his move. He took a long sigh of relief. He was finally getting out of the small village. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his sister pacing in the hallway. He called over to her, “Aye, what are you doing there?”

“Oh,” Madeline replied nervously. Her face blushed as she tried to come up with an excuse to delay her brother to give her best friend more time to get there. “You know,” she drawled out. She smiled when she realized the perfect plan, “Could you tell me what all these merit badges are?”

“Right now,” He complained. His voice echoed into the present where he was complaining about how he wished he could have had more time in private before having to show up for a wedding right when he got back home.

You nodded. Your lip trembled. He was right in a way. He was almost never home, not that you could actually believe it was fully because of his job. You knew him. If he felt drawn to come back, he had about sixteen years after he left to come to visit. 

In that time, you had grown without him. You had thought you moved on. He was gone for so long. Yet, the moment he was standing, laughing, and teasing you, you felt like you were back. Your heart missing in action.

That day, you tried to get to the Reeds as fast as you could when you heard the news. You ran. Madeline hadn’t known when her brother was leaving. He was very private about that. Hell, Malcolm didn’t even tell you. You tripped onto the gravel road. Pain scratched itself into your knees and palms. You shook it off. You stood and continued running to their house.

You looked at your drink in your hand. The champagne swirled with your restlessness. You were slowly catching up and it felt more like small talk. It wasn’t until you heard him ask if you had anyone with you. You looked up at him then turned back to the rest of the party to study who was there trying to remember if you had brought anyone.

Malcolm laughed a little bit. He leaned to tease into your ear, “What, you don’t remember if you brought someone?”

You huffed at him and said, “Don’t judge me about that. I just…” You spotted him. He was someone who was popular at your school. He had stayed in town to become a doctor. Madeline adored having him to “gawk” at according to her. You leaned over to Malcolm, “He’s over there actually. I just wanted to try and find him in the crowd.”

Malcolm looked up to see the man laughing with his sister and family. His heart ached for a second. He bit his lip to remind himself that it had been years and it wasn’t really his place to say anything. He sighed and asked, “So Madeline has been dogging on you to marry him?”

You were only sixteen when you called out to him. Your throat ached from screaming across the lawn down his drive. “MAL-COLM,” You screamed. Your voice was already hoarse from crying.

He looked up as he heard his name being yelled. The eighteen-year-old boy looked to see the girl he had fallen in love with yelling to him. He gave her a shaky smile and a small wave to tell her that he heard her. His heart broke as he knew he was leaving her without a word. Malcolm had hoped that Madeline would have told her a bit too late so that he wouldn’t have had to bear the guilt of seeing her.

You shook your head at his question. It was just an automatic response. You looked up to see him still staring at the man. He must have felt you looking at him because he blinked and went to look at his own drink for a second. You spoke up to comfort him, “Not really. I think she just likes to stare at him if I’m telling the truth.” You smiled and pet his back.

Malcolm looked back at you surprised, “Then who is she trying to coerce you into marrying then if it’s not the man you are seeing?”

You stood across the lawn from him. You tried to scream out, “I love you!” Tears rolled down your face as you ran up to the car. You slid across the grass. Refusing to get up at that point, you sobbed into the dirt. You hit your bleeding fists into the wet greenery that had cushioned you.

Malcolm’s eyes widened when he saw you fall over into the grass faced down. He threw his bag down and bolted to you. He slid and grabbed onto you gently. He pulled you up to see your face dripping with tears and snot. Tears fought their way behind his own eyes. His eyelid instinctively closed to help relieve the pressure. Wetness fell down his own cheeks.

Before he had the chance to say anything, you wrapped yourself around his waist. You wept into his shirt, “Please don’t go. You don’t have to.” You pulled away to plead into his eyes, “Please… Malcolm. I love you.” You buried your face into him again. “You don’t have to leave. You don’t have to go. Promise me you won’t leave me,” You blubbered into his waist.

“His name is Malcolm Reed and he is probably the biggest idiot and ass I’ve ever known,” You finished off your drink before joining the rest of the party. Tears rolled down your face. You didn’t have the strength to look back to see that Malcolm had swallowed the knot in his throat allowing tears to drain from his eyes as well.

Malcolm held you as you had just confessed to him. He had to stay strong. He couldn’t let you see how much this hurt him. He pulled your face out of his waist. Just like every prince in the story, he tilted the girl he loved’s chin up so that he could kiss her. He wrapped his other arm around you. When he pulled away, he forced both of you up. He placed a kiss on your head before allowing his mother and sister to rush you inside to take care of your wounds. He gave you a shaky smile before turning back to get into the car with his father. 

Leaving you there just as you just left him standing at the wedding with more questions than answers.

[haljathefangirlcat]

MOR mozalieri angst and galadred jb 👀

OH MY GOD ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU’RE INTO MOR TOO SDFGHJKLSDFGHJKLK

... ahem. These are both really short because I jotted them down as a spur of the moment thing  and I have absolutely no idea when or if I’ll actually make something out of them. So I’m just gonna post everything I wrote for them since it counts as “a little snippet” anyway, lol.

The first one is angsty af and entirely the fault of that part of L'Assasymphonie where Salieri is playing with the knife while ranting about his impostor syndrome and his inferiority complex. Uh, and Le Bien Qui Fait Mal, too, but that goes without saying. If it ever went anywhere, it would probably include very pained love/professional admiration confessions, a idiots in love/mutual pining “wait, no, I’m pining for you but you wouldn’t even look at me!” “are you kidding me, I’m the one pining but I thought you hated me!” moment, and PLENTY of hurt/comfort. I have absolutely no idea about anything else, though, because I don’t even know where or when even the scene I came up with is set... which would be a pretty important thing to know, from a practical standpoint, tbh.

TW FOR SELF-HARM AND VIOLENT IMAGERY

He’d only ever thought of what it was like to love like that. To feel the bright-bladed knife plunge and twist and dig inside his chest, tenderly cut through quivering flesh and sinew, saw his ribcage open to open up his heart to the burning beauty and white-hot light streaming in from above. To seek that pain and hide away from that pleasure, and curse the man who was the cause of both while cursing himself for letting him hold such power over him, for loving him and for hating him, for always failing to live up to him, to be like him.

He’d never spared one thought to consider what it might be like to be loved like that. To be made aware that your very existence was a spring of endless suffering for one who claimed to feel an ever-growing affection for you, to be made into an obsession in the black of night and an ivory idol bathed in golden sunrises, to become an inescapable curse. To have that much power, and not rejoice in it or even want it. To not be cruel enough to stomach it.

Mozart didn’t need to mock him with his brash laugh or hurl cold words at him. It was the softness in his voice that made guilt well up in his gut like pouring venom into a bowl until it overflowed; it was the sadness in his gaze that cooled his heart until he shivered. It was his own shame at himself, washing over him once again in new, sudden, crashing waves for new, sudden, piercing reasons, that brought him down on his knees, brought his head in his hands.

And Mozart, he came down to him. He lowered himself and crouched on the floor to reach him. Put his arms around his shoulders for a moment, then drew back and took Salieri’s wrists in his hands, holding them gently, gingerly. Scared, or disgusted, or perhaps just careful not to stain himself with his blood. It was starting to cool. It felt sticky, dirty.

«Come with me,» Mozart said, and drew Salieri’s hands away from his face. Some distant part of Salieri’s mind felt he should not allow that so easily, but the rest of him just felt tired, so he did. How strange that even though he was the one shaking, his breath ragged and hitching, it should be Mozart to cry. He wanted to laugh at the sight, but found he couldn’t. He could only let himself be dragged up to his feet, and then into a chair when he started feeling lightheaded.

He even obediently raised his hand and stayed put as Mozart ran to fetch warm water, soap, and clean cloth.

The second one is, once again, inspired by one of your fics. ;) Remember when you wrote that artist!Jaime/tattoo artist!Brienne fic where they bonded over Arthurian characters and I was like, “someone should introduce both of them to the concept of Galahad/Mordred because they’d love it so much for their own different reasons?” Ideally, this should be the fic where they actually get introduced to it... if it ever went somewhere.

The basic plot would be: “Jaime was overjoyed when he found out he could pour his old love for all things Arthurian AND his passion for drawing into fandom. His first fanart were all very dramatic, very romantic Mists of Avalon -inspired Arthur/Morgana pieces because he identified with that due to his ‘fated’ relationship with C., but as that started to go sour, he branched out into edgy, purposefully badwrong Arthur/Morgause stuff. Eventually, he found out about Galahad/Mordred and got really into the whole ‘doomed man on the path to making all the wrong choices finds redemption through connecting with another misfit with a high moral drive and noble nature who may have his own issues but believes there’s something good in him for some reason’ aspect of it. That’s when Brienne, budding fanwriter mostly into gen stuff due to romance bringing back bad memories, found his art and unexpectedly got hooked to the whole ‘noble-hearted and justice-loving misfit can’t really connect with anyone on a deeper level until he meets snarky, sad not-so-doomed man who actually sees HIM beyond both the brave knight thing and the ‘will never fit in anyway’ thing’ aspect. Now, they regularly chat through comments and tags and the occasional message. But things get more complicated when Jaime, who actually lost a hand in an incident years ago and had to relearn to draw after that while suffering the ableism of the usual suspects, finds the courage to post selfies on his blog both with and without his prosthetic hand to show the world and himself that the hardships he had to overcome don’t mean he’s less of a person or less of an artist or less in any way. That’s when Brienne goes from finding him interesting and funny and actually pretty charming to finding him HOT. Which scares her a whole lot due to her past experiences. But that’s okay because they’ll never see each other irl anyway, right? Unless they find out they actually live in the same city and Jaime asks her to meet to work on a collaboration they’ve been thinking of for a while but never really got to work on until now...”

And here’s what I currently have:

But then Mordred is staring at him again with those too-green eyes of his, except that this time there’s no mockery or coldness in them, and Galahad’s been warned again and again not to get too close to him and he’s been told over and over that he can’t trust him, but now he thinks that maybe, maybe he really does understand –

 Brienne stares at her screen. She actually described Mordred’s eyes as gray. Didn’t she? Usually, she picks dark gray, or dark brown, or dark. And yet, in this one story, they’re suddenly green.

Okay, time to take a break from revising. She gets up from her chair, rolls back her shoulders, and goes to grab a snack and a glass of water. She tries not to wonder what’s gotten into her – but she doesn’t really need to anyway, because she has a feeling she already knows.

Not that there’s anything bad about it. In a way, it only makes sense. He’s the artist who got her into the ship in the first place, and they’ve had a few pleasant conversations in the notes to his posts and, eventually, in the comments to her fics. So, it’s not that big of a deal if she associates him with these characters. And… well, recently he’s started posting selfies on his tumblr. And fine, she might have some sort of pathetic little celebrity crush – is that even the right term? Is he a Tumblr celebrity? – on him. Truth to be told, it’s not even as pathetic as the crushes she’s had when she was still in school, because at least he’s never insulted her or made fun of her looks, and she’s reasonably sure he wouldn’t even if he ever had the chance to. Which he won’t get, but anyway…

Anyway.

Apparently, the lines might blur when she’s distracted. Big deal.

[edelwoodsouls]

all roads lead - ch. 7

When his mother dies, Stiles runs away, straight into danger - only to be saved by Peter Hale. Seven years later, after burying their alpha, Stiles and Malia return home.

Word Count: 4,433 | Also on Ao3 | Other Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8,

Chapter 7: GROWTH

The next morning, John takes Malia and Stiles down to the station.

"Can we walk?" Malia asks through a mouthful of toast over the breakfast table. "We took the fastest route to get here, and I never want to see the inside of a car or bus again."

Stiles cringes at the instantly curious glint in the rest of the table's eye - the fastest? What were they running from? -  but his father just nods.

As the others leave for school, Stiles catches Isaac by the door. He's already regretting it as the taller boy regards him with suspicion, but he also knows that making peace, making friends with the people he's living with - the pack he's rivalling - can only help.

"I just, uh, wanted to say, about last night-"

"Oh, uh-" Isaac flinches back at the reminder; Stiles barrels through before the conversation can derail.

"I don't need to know what happened to you, man. I just wanted to say, if these douche twins are getting you detention for something you never did, it can't really hurt to do the things the school already thinks you're guilty of, right?"

Isaac narrows his eyes. "Are you telling me I should beat up the twins." It comes out flat, less question than deadpan statement.

Stiles kinda likes this kid. "I'm not saying anything, dude. Just something to think about."

As he ducks away to go find Malia, he swears he sees Isaac smirk.

His lighter mood doesn't last long. Whilst walking down the roads towards town, shrouded by foliage and that strangely charged forest air, seems to clear something in his lungs; walking through the centre of Beacon Hills feels like slowly peeling off his skin. With every step, the last seven years seem to flee him. He is shrinking into that scared, angry ten year old who knew nothing of the real world, and it makes him itch like ants crawling through his veins.

Everything feels so much smaller. The long walk from his or Scott's house, usually only completed with the aid of their parents' cars, now breezes by. The buildings that towered over him seem so short he could touch their roofs.

Maybe it's because he hit his crazy growth spurt just after leaving, shooting up inches overnight - at the meagre age of eleven he had already rivalled his alpha, a fact he never let Peter live down. Or maybe it's living in a city full of skyscrapers. Maybe it's just the confidence that comes with knowing he is the most dangerous thing for miles, that anything that could challenge or threaten him now would pale in comparison to- well, everything else.

But that well of confidence seems buried, far from reach as the past crawls over his skin. In a city like New York, everything faded quickly into the background. Buildings came up and down, climbing higher and higher towards the clouds. The names and contents of shops were more like revolving doors than staples of the community. Here in Beacon Hills, time seems to have frozen. There is the clock tower, still broken ten years after it ground to a halt. The ice-cream shop that never seems to have customers yet remains open, even through the winter months.

There is something aching in his heart that he refuses to label.

Stiles had hoped that the long stretch of time since he was last seen in Beacon Hills would keep the watchful eyes of a small town away from him. But while no one recognises the sheriff's son, everyone recognises the sheriff. People look up from their shopping, gaze out of cafe windows, stop in the street to watch the sheriff walking into town with two strange teenagers trailing behind him. Stiles wants to fold in on himself - his anonymity has been a weapon he's wielded for as long as he can remember.

Malia squares her shoulders, grips his hand tight in hers.

As they approach the sheriff's station, Stiles' pace slows. Even with a father in law enforcement, places and people such as these have only ever registered as a threat. Here in Beacon Hills, they are the reason Peter's family was never avenged. The reason Malia had to be broken out of Eichen House. In New York they had all been in the pockets of various supernatural groups. Being arrested had nothing to do with what you did wrong, and everything to do with who you were, or who you had pissed off.

Stiles got off relatively lucky, as a white guy. They still make his skin crawl, and the toxic scent of gunmetal and overentitlement only adds to the sickness growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Stiles?" his father asks, stood in the doorway. The light casts off-putting shadows across his face.

"I'm fine," he swallows, allowing one of his many masks to slip effortlessly over his features. Bright eyes, vageuly concerned smile. He curls one fist full of claws deep into his pocket, the other fastened firmly in Malia's grip.

"You with me?" he asks her, watching her distant expression. Her experiences here, though almost a year ago, have never led to good things.

"Mmhm," Malia nods noncomittally, as if she isn't hearing hollow screams in her ears, as if her claws haven't begun to dig painfully into Stiles' palm.

"We can wait outside," he suggests.

"No we can't. I'm just being ridiculous."

"Malia." He turns to face her, blocking vieher w of the station. "You're never being ridiculous. I would burn this whole place down in an instant if you asked me. You're allowed to find things hard, to say no to things."

"But you-"

"I am hardly the poster boy for mental health and healthy coping mechanisms. Just because I have a habit of exposing myself to my triggers doesn't mean you should force yourself into those situations."

Malia bites her lip, eyes drifting behind him to where John is waiting, no doubt confused or concerned. "I think I can do this." When Stiles doesn't move, she touches her hand to the side of his face. "Really. If I need to leave, I promise I will."

They go inside, ignoring the sheriff's expression. The Stiles who idolised his father and his career is long dead.

The next few hours are a whirlwind of paperwork and curious stares that Stiles barely registers. There's closing his and Malia's missing persons cases, filling out statements that everyone knows are little more than a patchwork of thinly connected lies, filled with more blanks than words. The deputies are all overly helpful, coming over to offer coffee, biscuits, anything that will give them a glimpse to take back for gossip.

Then comes dealing with the school - and dealing with Eichen House. The former is nothing more than a few phone calls, the scheduling of an aptitude test for the next day. An inquiry into the education the two of them have had in the past few years, to which they shrug. "Home-schooled," they say, which is sort of true - if you count home-school as learning to pick out a single voice from an entire city of noise, memorising ancient alphabets and magical herbs.

A far more useful education, in Stiles' opinion.

The latter goes suspiciously easy, Malia's claws gripped into Stiles' flesh the whole time. John leaves him and Malia in the hallway while he makes a call behind the locked door of his office. Five minutes later, he emerges with a grimacing smile.

"Everything's cleared up," John says, talking to Malia but looking at his son, and Stiles wonders just what strings his father had to pull to make this miracle happen. How worried he should be.

But the door of the sheriff's station is lined with mountain ash, so neither of them heard a thing. If he wasn't sure of his father's supernatural knowledge, he is now.

How often has the station been subject to supernatural attack?

By the time the wheels of bureaucracy have been set fully in motion, it's well into the afternoon. The autumn air is beginning to turn cold as the sun sinks towards the horizon, and Stiles feels a weight lifting from his shoulders. He's always preferred the cover of darkness, the way the world gets quieter but never quite still. It feels like a breath of fresh air after months below ground.

"I've got a lot to finish up here," John apologises, glancing out at the sky. "If you kids want to make your way home, go ahead."

"Is it okay if we wander around town a bit?" Malia asks. "We'll be back for dinner."

John hesitates before nodding - having his son back for only a day, letting him out of sight must feel like losing him all over again.

"It's okay, dad," Stiles insists. "We can look after ourselves."

"Just be safe," his father sighs. "There's been a lot of animal attacks in the past few months, even in town." The alpha pack. Of course. But what reason would they have to go after him and Malia when they're hiding their scents?

But the sheriff isn't finished. His eyes dart nervously. "And... it's possible there's a serial killer working in Beacon Hills right now."

That is not what Stiles expected. Even in a supernaturally charged town, a serial killer? That's something saved for cities like the one they just left.

"A serial killer?" Stiles asks, trying to keep his voice nonchalant.

"RItual murderer as far as we can tell, yeah. So please be careful. Stay together. Come home before dark."

"Of course, yeah. Love you dad!" Stiles ushers Malia out of the station as fast as he can appear casual.

"Stiles, you're smiling." Malia looks half amused as they begin wandering aimlessly around town.

"Am I?"

"You know most people don't get excited about serial killers."

"Yeah, but a serial killer in this town, Mal. Ritual murders. That's magical nonsense if ever I heard it. Remember that guy in New York who used blood sacrifices for his healing potions?"

"Of course I remember. Their whole pack was exiled."

"Exactly. We already know there are two packs in town." He'd informed Malia of everything he overheard from Scott and Melissa at dinner, though she doesn't seem half as worried about it as he is. "And every pack has an emissary."

"We don't have an emissary."

"That's cos we have me."

He doesn't know why he's able to do magic. It's hereditary, Peter had told him, and he supposes his mother might have had a gift and never had the chance to tell him- but surely his father would have known? Whatever the reason, his power is significantly weaker than it should be, supposedly since he's no longer human.

Still, Peter had insisted on getting him training; any unexpected edge was a good one in New York. He can't handle mountain ash or mistletoe, but he can conjure a flickering light, or unlock a door. He has enough ability to sense magic in the air, enough knowledge to decipher its workings.

Enough of a spark to draw a trickster spirit like a moth to a flame.

"So you want to investigate? What happened to being normal teenagers?"

"Is that what you want?" Stiles asks, genuinely.

Malia's face twists. "Not really. Especially if there's a threat. I'd like... to find things to care about. People. A place. Something that might be a safe, even for a little while. And we're supernatural- normal was never really our thing."

"Okay then." Stiles smiles. A project, a place to call home, the lack of blood on the air (at least for now) - it's all he really needs to thrive. "First things first we've gotta steal the case files from my dad."

"You haven't even checked the newspapers yet."

Stiles is about to come up with a witty response to that, when he all but slams into someone waiting on the sidewalk by the public library. He leaps back, a mess of instinctual clumsiness and supernatural grace. "Sorry, sorry-"

"It's okay, really," the girl says, brushing herself off, already pushing away. Stiles blinks. It's been seven years, but he would recognise that strawberry blonde hair, those intelligent green eyes, anywhere.

"Lydia? Lydia Martin?"

She frowns, eyes narrowing in suspicion at him. She's grown tall in the years since he left, though the alarmingly high heels may have something to do with it. Her face is a perfectly painted canvas of makeup and confidence. Her clothes and posture are immaculate despite their run-in moments before.

Everything about this girl is practiced and careful.

"Do I know you?" she asks, dismissively, but there's a sharp wariness to her tone.

"Stiles!" The yell comes from across the street, and Stiles flinches a mile, not used to being recognised or addressed. He turns to the source of the voice and finds Scott running across the street - which is thankfully mostly empty.

"Stiles?" Lydia asks, mask breaking in shock. "Stilinski?"

"Um, yeah?" Stiles rubs the back of his neck, suddenly awkward. "I just got back yesterday."

"You just 'got back'? You've been missing for seven years."

"And now I'm not?"

Scott joins them on their side of the street. "Hey, Lyds," Scott smiles to her, and that is something Stiles wasn't expecting, either. Is Scott popular now? When will he stop being surprised by this town? "I see you've met Stiles and Malia."

"You didn't think to mention the small fact that the sheriff's presumed-dead son had turned up back in town? We've been at school for a whole day and it- what, just slipped your mind? Come on, McCall."

"Sorry," Scott looks up bashfully through his eyelashes, an expression even the most heartless person would forgive instantly. He turns to look at Stiles with a stern expression. "In my defence, I was trying to do damage control all day."

"Isaac?" Stiles asks. "Good for him. I hope he made those detentions worth it."

Lydia snorts. "You put him up to that? He drove Aiden's bike into the school hallway and framed him for it."

Okay; Stiles loves this kid.

"You're just bitter cos you're sleeping with the enemy," Scott mutters, earning himself a sharp elbow in the ribs from Lydia. They dissolve into bickering - remarkably like siblings, Stiles thinks - as if he and Malia aren't even there. Their camaraderie is enough for him to do a double-take, to check the scents on the wind again.

Lydia isn't a werewolf, but there's something. Like the smell of dust and grass, the dampness of mist. It clings to her in flickers and starts, as if unsure it belongs to her.

Why does everything in this town have to be supernatural and connected?

Not that New York was much different, in his experience.

Growing up in New York had been good for Stiles, he had always liked to think. That first year had been rough, both he and Peter angry and guilty and filled with so much grief they could barely stand. But when Stiles had stumbled back into their apartment, missing for almost two weeks, with a fully grown coyote pacing at his heels, everything had changed.

He hadn't even tried to convince her to stay in the preserve - he wanted to leave her side as little as she wanted to leave him, but the bond calling him back to New York, to Peter, had been just as strong. Convincing bus drivers to let her on, that she was really just an overly large service dog, had been the real challenge.

Peter didn't even have the dignity to look surprised. His icy eyes blinked between the two of them, as if tracing the newly forged bond tying them together. "A pack of strays if ever I saw one," he smirked.

It had taken several days for Peter to figure out how to force Malia's change. She spent them basking in their attention, lying sprawled across the bed, follwing him around the apartment. She tried to play the piano with her paws - to Peter's infinite frustration - and stood on the kitchen counter while he cooked dinner, stealing slivers of meat from the frying pan.

By the time she was human again, Stiles knew Peter had fallen just as in love with this girl as he had.

Now that there were two of them, however, Peter put his foot down. Stiles had too much time on his hands, and Peter too little. And that meant school.

Forging the papers was easy enough. And in a city as large as New York, being the new kids wasn't that out of place.

But he was the boy who flinched at loud noises. Who never stopped moving or talking, too clumsy or too fast, never just right. And she was the girl who behaved more like an animal; who had missed three years of school due to a tragedy she still had yet to mention. And that made them outcasts.

Which was fine by Stiles. In Beacon Hills he'd had only two friends - Scott, and a quiet, introspective boy named Theo. He didn't thrive off large crowds. He did his school work, excelled at the sciences and utterly failed at English. He knew what he was good at, and bad at, and didn't need anyone else's approval.

Looking back, it wasn't exactly a healthy mindset. But he had been happy enough with Malia. She was funny, and brusque. She spoke her mind and didn't act like she had a care in the world, though he was witness to every flinch and nightmare, and the way she got frustrated and angry in situations that exposed how little she knew compared to her peers. She cuddled him for warmth at night, always shivering, and woke him when his dreams began to drown him.

She hated school as much as he hated the people inside it, always falling asleep in class or ditching altogether. He's sure there are more than a dozen tables covered in deep claw marks around the middle and high schools they attended. And after, she would drag him out to the woods, or to the latest restaurant she'd discovered that served deer. She was such a contradiction of animal and human, filled with a young spirit and an old heart.

Seeing the world through her eyes was as different, as wonderful, as the contrast between his human and wolf eyes.

Every Friday, Stiles managed to keep Malia's attention on school work for two hours - certainly not long enough to cover everything that made her mutilate tables, but enough to ground her, to keep her grades wavering between a C and a D. They had traded this agreement in exchange for Stiles learning how to cast warming charms from his magical tutor. He had sewn them into every piece of clothing Malia owned and she, clearly not expecting him to actually follow through, was stuck in the school library once a week.

A year before Malia left to try Beacon Hills on for size, he sat in their usual spot. Malia had bunked off their last two sessions to see her new girlfriend, whom Stiles was so sure would be out the door before long he hadn't bothered to learn her name.

Which is why he was so stunned to see Malia saunter up to the desk and throw herself into a chair, followed by an awkward-looking girl in cute black pigtails and a tartan skirt.

"What's the subject today?" Malia asked, spilling the entire contents of her locker onto the table.

"Uh, math, as usual," Stiles stumbled over his words, unsure of how to behave around this new girl. "You've been maintaining a D in that for months."

"Just because they can't find the x right there on the page doesn't mean I'm the idiot."

The girl, still hovering uncertainly, let out a laugh - cute, and genuine. Stiles felt a sudden rush of jealousy - no, just protectiveness - rise up inside him.

"Who are you?" he asked with all the force a fourteen year old could muster, not bothering to hide his feelings.

"Stiles, play nice," Malia rolled her eyes at him. "This is Kira. Yukimura. She's struggling with math as well, and since you're such a good teacher, I thought you could tutor us both." The girl gave a small wave and took a seat beside Malia.

Stiles gave Malia what he hoped was the most annoyed glare in the world. Yukimura. His magical tutor didn't talk about much outside of their lesson material, but she'd mentioned her daughter a couple times before. What was Malia thinking, mixing these two antithetical sides of their lives?

Peter had insisted on training Stiles - but their pack had no emissary to do the work. Stiles never asked him where he got his alpha power from, what happened to the pack - and the emissary - left behind. He didn't want to break the tentatively steady ground they'd all found for themselves these past few years. But their pack had been regarded with suspicion for it - new alphas didn't just appear, especially in such heavily contested territory as New York.

Maybe if they'd known his real last name was Hale, they might have been less suspicious. Or more, Stiles can't decide. Whatever the possibilities, their pack had been outsiders on that front, too; no one willing to lend their emissary to this ragtag bunch of strays.

So Peter had turned to an old kitsune, one who had given up most of her power to her child but still had the knowledge to explain the mechanisms and techniques of the craft. She was over nine hundred, after all - there was nothing she hadn't seen.

Stiles could smell the fox on this girl, when he focused. Barely more than a wisp, a spark of power that would no doubt burst into flames over the next couple of years. Was Malia hoping to add to their family? Did she seriously just like this girl?

The answer to all these questions, Stiles would later learn, was of course. Because Malia is a pack animal at heart, filled to the brim with feelings she never really learned how to voice, and a special eye for stray, wounded creatures. She wants to care, if only someone would teach her how- and neither Stiles nor Peter could do that.

But Kira could. She was kind and curious - a lot like Scott, he thinks now. And powerful.

Curiosity had won out. Kira was attentive, asking all the right questions, prompting Malia's work when she was hesitant to ask. He hated to admit it then, but it was the most productive session they'd ever had. He'd even managed to smile Kira goodbye when they left her at the bus stop.

"I knew it," Malia grinned as they made their way back to the apartment. She was practically bouncing.

"Knew what?" Stiles grumbled, more acting the part of annoyed than feeling it by now.

"You're lonely." Stiles started to scoff, but she cut him off. "I've literally never seen you that animated. More arm waving than ever. You stink of loneliness, even if you never noticed. You cut yourself off from people before they can get close to you, that way they never have the ammunition to hurt you."

"You sound like you've eaten a psychology textbook."

"I'm not wrong. Stiles, no man is an island."

"That's definitely from a textbook."

"Actually it's from trivia about The Incredibles. Doesn't make it any less true."

"So you just happened to pick the one girl at school with a known connection to the supernatural."

He doesn't think he'd seen Malia blush until that second. "She yelled at some girls who were teasing me about being stupid."

"You're not-"

"Shut up, Stiles," Malia glared at him. "The point is she's cute, and I like her, and if she's going to be in my life then she's going to be in yours, too. Might as well be friends."

"I think Noshiko could kill me and leave no trace."

"So could I. What's your point?"

And that had been that. Kira had folded seamlessly into their lives, and Stiles had been surprised by the space his heart made to fit her.

Like everything in their lives, that had collapsed several weeks ago in a rush of blood and electricity. He couldn't have know, of course he couldn't, that the nogitsune he let inside had a personal vendetta against Kira's mother.

But her horrified expression is burnt into the backs of his eyelids in the flashes of her flickering foxfire. The easy grin on his face as he drank in the chaos. The riddle he left her with.

 What do liars do after death?

He had considered Kira a friend, maybe even pack, and the memories of that first meeting come rushing back to him as he watches Scott and Lydia. Scott, an alpha who has control, who is so effortlessly kind and put together that even other supernaturals flock to him. The way a fox should have made her home with them, if only Stiles hadn't ruined absolutely everything.

It takes him a moment to realise he's been staring into space, and the other three are looking at him. "Hm?" Malia gives him a knowing look that says she's going to try and make him talk about this later.

"Me and Lyds are supposed to be meeting up with Isaac and a couple others," Scott says. "If you wanted to come?"

A couple others. Stiles is pretty sure that's code for pack. Isn't this what he wanted? To ingratiate himself to the resident pack of the town, so that when their charade of normalcy inevitably comes crashing down, they might not kill him and Malia on sight?

Can he start again afresh, or is the blood doomed to follow him?

"Sounds awesome," Malia says. After all, she's always been the most forward of the two of them. The one who builds bridges whilst Stiles burns them down.

But he'd like to see Isaac again. He'd like to meet the rest of Scott McCall's pack, figure out just how much danger this boy has surrounded himself with to remain so kind. He still needs to find Derek and Laura Hale.

Beacon Hills is not New York; so far from it, no matter how tethered Stiles and the supernatural are to the both of them. The other shoe will undoubtedly drop eventually, soon - it's the one fact life has only convinced him of more as the years pass.

May as well make the best of the sunshine while it lasts.

[saiilorstars]

The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 16: Clarity

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: The Originals

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

Requested tag: @queenmj10​

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Mikael has Maleny and is hell-bent on making Klaus finally pay for everything done in the past. Still, despite her situation, Maleny finally comes to terms with her feelings.

Klaus angrily paced back and forth outside Davina's cabin as he left a voicemail to Elijah, "Elijah, where are you? Mikael is loose with the stake, and Maleny is a hostage, and I am weaponless and in need of reinforcement. Urgently!"

He hung up and returned to the cabin where Kol was calmly rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, Davina still unconscious, "Wake her up," Klaus ordered him, "Tell her to get Mikael back here, now."

"Well, let me- let me think about that," Kol tilted his head in pretend thought, "No! I've got nothing against Maleny, honestly - she was my little mischievous companion after all."

"Okay, now is our time, Maleny," Kol declared to the older blonde beside him.

The two were standing side by side a short distance from a table full of various snacks the villagers had put out for their evening celebration. No one was supposed to have any until the celebration properly started.

Just as Kol started for the table, Maleny anxiously grabbed his arm, pulling him back, "You know we're not supposed to touch anything," she reminded him, "There are rules-"

"Oh c'mon, Maleny," Kol turned to her, pleading with her, "We went over this - remember the plan?"

"Ummm..." Maleny looked to the side, feeling guilty for having even thought about going with his plan.

"Mal?" Kol asked again, giving her a pout, "I said we would share and you know I don't disappoint my adoptive sister, so..."

At that Maleny, arched an eyebrow, "You make Rebekah suffer some times."

"Yeah, but half the time she deserves it," Kol shrugged then smiled at her, "But you're not like her. You're nicer, you're definitely a lot more fun than she is. You're like the sister I always wanted."

"Oh, don't be rude," Maleny playfully hit his arm, "And fine...but I want some berries," she pointed to the bowl of her favorite fruit.

"Got it," Kol beamed, sloppily kissing her cheek before heading out to do their plan.

Maleny chuckled to herself, heading to do her task of distraction in the meantime. She was to distract the one preparing the tables, Miss Heartfield - a terrible, strict old woman. If Maleny was honest, she was terrified by the woman but Kol promised her it wouldn't take more than two minutes max for him to snatch up what they wanted.

Kol kept to his word - in two minutes flat he was motioning to Maleny it was time to go. Giggling like a child would, the blonde scurried after him.

"I told you it would be easy," Kol said as they sat down on the ground, their backs against a home wall, both of them munching on their respective snacks.

"I am never doing that again," Maleny warned him as she dropped a couple of berries into her mouth, but both knew that was false.

She had said the same thing mere days ago.

Kol smiled to himself after reliving his memory. He then looked back at Klaus who remained furious than ever by the entrance of the cabin, "Self preservation, you see," he continued his excuse, "I stay in here, Mikael can't get to me. Well, go on then."

Klaus actually felt like killing Kol on the spot for his dismissal at the problem. But he saw there was no use in wasting time with Kol, "We're not done here!" he warned and then sped out to find Maleny.

~ 0 ~

Somewhere deep in the woods by the bayou, Mikael dragged along Maleny in a tight hold.

"You know, I remember you being awful and unnecessarily cruel but this is beyond ridiculous!" the blonde angrily shouted, almost able to hide her fear that coursed through her blood.

"And I seem to remember you weren't a big mouth back then," Mikael replied in a snarky tone, "I assume Niklaus taught you that."

"Who, by the way, is already looking for you," Maleny glared at him, "And we all know what happens when Klaus Mikaelson loses his temper."

Mikael sneered as he came to a stop, "Oh, you are an amusing girl - always have been. But let me tell you, amuseming and entertaining will have you killed eventually," he pointed Papa Tunde's blade at her, "And because you are oh-so-close to Niklaus, your end will be even sooner."

Maleny raised an eyebrow, "And you believe somehow this will make me go against him? If you believed you could do that you wouldn't have taken me as leverage. Because that's why you took me, isn't it?"

Though Mikael was irritated the plan was so easily visible, he stated, "Once I threaten to dismember you in front of him, Klaus will hesitate. And, in that moment of weakness, I shall end him."

"This is so wrong!" Maleny erupted into angry shouts, shaking off Mikael's arm in the process. He knew she couldn't out run him anyways so he let her be, "You have never seen Klaus as your son and when there was finally real proof that he actually wasn't, you went hysterical. You've literally been obsessing over the death of someone whose fatal flaw is that he was fathered by another guy! If there's anyone you should be going after it's Esther - she's the one who betrayed you."

"Hush! You are the enabler of the weak!" Mikael pointed, "No wonder he always sought your company."

"Cos I understood him, clearly," Maleny argued, but her mind wronged her by reminding her of a period where that wasn't true.

Maleny was quietly tending to pile of cloths inside her home when she happened to look up and see Klaus passing by. Immediately, she dropped her things and called for him, "Klaus!" she ran for her open door.

"Stay there!" the newly made vampire (or hybrid) ordered her just as she came to the door.

Startled, Maleny froze in her spot, "I...I know what happened out there," she nodded for the forest, "Rebekah, she...told me."

"Then you know what I have become," Klaus opened his arms and walked towards her, unable to really look her in the eyes, "A beast..."

Maleny's eyes lowered in clear sympathy for him, "I'm sorry...I..."

She'd heard from Esther about the savagery state Klaus had entered early at dawn, unable to control himself (as well as the others) after trying to decently feed off people in the forest. They would have died if they hadn't been stopped by Mikael and Finn. She'd wanted to go find him immediately but Esther had stopped her, warning Maleny of the danger she would be placing herself in.

"You are going to stay in there, Maleny," Klaus pointed towards Maleny's home, making the blonde take a quick glance back, "and you are not going to look for me-"

Maleny blinked in confusion, "What? But I-" and when she tried taking a step out of her house Klaus shouted.

"Stay in there!"

The blonde flinched under the harsh tone. Her blue eyes had widened, not in horror but of pain. She was quite used to her father using the same tone to talk to her, but never from Klaus.

"Maleny, I am...something bad," Klaus said, putting in simpler terms, "I have to feed off people to survive and it is a difficult struggle to have control."

"That's not your fault," Maleny whispered, her hand reaching out to his only to have him step back, "Klaus, why are you doing this?" her eyes began rapidly blinking as they watered, "I know what you are. I am not afraid."

"But I am," Klaus confessed under a shaky tone, "You do not understand Maleny. I can hear your heart pumping blood, blood I now crave, blood that warms your pink cheeks. And the last thing I want is for you to become my next prey."

Maleny's tears had begun running down her face, "I know you won't hurt me…"

"Give me time, Maleny. Pain is the last thing I want to cause you."

"Then stop this madness right now," Maleny weakly ordered, stepping out of her home's boundary. She purposely inched closer to him, running her fingers up his arm, "Let me be there for you. I can...I can help you..." she offered, though no specific ideas came to mind at the moment.

Klaus nearly fell under her charms as she brushed her lips against his. But her delicious, human scent became more prominent in the air, and her heartbeat rang in his ears. He pushed her away, making her stumble back into her home, " Stay away from me, Maleny," he whispered, doing a surprisingly good job of hiding his tears, "Stay indoors, where I cannot reach you - nor my siblings," with his final warning he turned away and walked off.

Maleny shut her eyes as she remembered the awful period she'd spent lonesomely whilst Klaus kept away from her. She didn't realize Mikael had taken an interest in distant music that had carried over through their silence.

"I hear music," he declared, glancing back at her, "And, where there's music, there's food."

"Oh," Maleny crinkled her nose, "leave them alone."

"Would you rather it be you I feed off, then?" Mikael challenged, coming back to her.

"Frankly, yes," Maleny nodded, making him laugh.

"How heroic of you," he snagged Maleny by the arm, dragging her towards his next meal's location, "Where'd you learn that one? Because it certainly wasn't from that hybrid."

"This may come as a shocker to you, Mikael, but I do have qualities that are all mine," Maleny rolled her eyes.

But Mikael sneered in return, dismissing her statement, "Oh please, ever since I could remember you were after my family like a lost-"

"I had lost my mother, you ignorant fool!" Maleny snapped, and soon saw the error she made when Mikael abruptly stopped and faced her with rage. Knowing he would break her if he overdid it, he settled for a hard strike across the face. Maleny fell to the ground, drowning her painful screeches as best she could. She looked up, mustering up her courage, "My life was hell after my mother died. My father was cruel and did nothing but hit me and treat me like a servant. I wasn't 'after your family' - I loved them like they were my own."

"Oh how truly sappy," Mikael rolled his eyes and turned away from her, trying to once again locate the distant music.

"Don't be snappish because you weren't able to learn what love was," Maleny said, earning herself a threatening glare back.

"And you think you know what that is?" he challenged, quickly getting the answer.

"Yes, I do-"

"Oh, really?"

"-I know what it is," Maleny spoke over him, "I do. I felt it before I even knew what it was."

Mikael stalked back to her, leaning down as she was still on the ground, "You think what you felt for Niklaus was..." he sardonically laughed, "...love?"

Maleny looked to the side, "Yes...there was no other word for it. Finn, Elijah, and Kol, I loved them to bits and pieces but...as brothers. They were my brothers. But Klaus, I..." she sighed, "...he made the simplest of things such puzzles..."

"Maleny," Rebekah came up to the blonde girl that was just coming out from the forest with a basket of damp clothes on her side, "Oh, thank God I found you. I need your help!"

Maleny didn't even get a word in before Rebekah dragged her by the arm towards a wooden table full of materials needed for basket making, "Let me guess," Maleny began when Rebekah cut her off frantically.

"I completely forgot I had to do this and now my mother is going to come back and shout at me or worse - she's going to-"

"Rebekah," Maleny rose her voice, completely amused by her. Rebekah blinked rapidly, trying to calm, while Maleny put down her basket on the edge of the table, "I can help you. I just finished washing clothes so I have time."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rebekah beamed and got straight to work with the blonde beside her.

"Now dear Maleny," they heard Elijah's voice, "don't tell me you're honestly falling for our sister's clever lies."

Maleny looked up, as did Rebekah, and saw Elijah and Klaus coming towards them. Immediately her hands fumbled with the bits she held between her fingers.

"I am not lying," Rebekah huffed, indignant of her brother's accusation.

"Just last week you asked poor Maleny to help you in..." Klaus stopped a moment to remember the task but frowned and looked at Maleny, "...what was it again, Mal?"

"U-uh...fruit collecting," Maleny answered almost instantaneously.

"Right, and then two days ago she asked you to...?"

"Help her wash clothes."

Rebekah looked between her brother and Maleny, at first annoyed Maleny was just giving into the accusations but then she saw Maleny's face and, well...she sighed in defeat. Anything Klaus wanted to know from her she would automatically spill. However, she failed to see Klaus' face whenever Maleny spoke.

Elijah did not. He was outright bemused by the sudden silence that fell between the four. Maleny had returned to her basket making, though her fingers seemed to have lost their talent like if she had never even learned. Meanwhile, Klaus took to staring at her like she was doing the most interesting craft in the world.

But Maleny's yelp cut through the awkward air. She had accidentally poked herself and drew blood from her index finger. "Maybe I won't help," she said afterwards, wincing as she touched her finger, "Ow..."

"Here," Klaus gently took her hand into his, startling Maleny. She blushed madly, rapidly blinking. She felt her heart beating so violently she actually thought for a minute it would simply burst. It was an annoyance sometimes, honestly, to constantly be nervous around someone to the point where it became true fear they might muck it up some way. But she never wished for it to stop.

Maleny smiled to herself, forgetting the monstrous man she had inches from her, "Even to making a bloody basket was difficult for me..." she actually forgot the feelings Klaus provoked - and probably without even knowing it.

Mikael had heard enough and yanked the woman to her feet, gripping both her wrists, "You were doomed from the start, then," he declared and dragged her for the nearby human camp settlement, ignoring her struggles.

~ 0 ~

"Hayley!" Cami came frantically through the courtyard of the compound, "Hayley!"

"What!?" Hayley came out from one of the rooms upstairs, "I know you're kinda new at this but you realize I have super hearing, right?"

Cami ignored the sarcasm with a shake of her head, "Has Elijah came back yet!?"

The name of the Original put Hayley on edge, "...no."

Cami deeply sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "He's gonna MIA and that's not like him. I told you, he should've came in last night."

Hayley shifted on her feet as she admitted, "I couldn't quite track Oliver either."

That sent Cami a whole new wave of worriment, "If they're both missing then something happened, something Esther did I'm sure."

"We've got to find them," Hayley muttered and hurriedly went for the stairs.

"Please," Cami nearly sounded like she was begging, but she simply couldn't help it.

Even Gia had told her to calm down and just let Elijah call her when he called her. She made Cami rethink all of this 'distancing' idea with how worried she was over the Original. It certainly didn't seem like Cami wanted to stay away.

~ 0 ~

Mikael dragged Maleny into a run-down warehouse and once they were at the center of the prime room he shoved her to the dirty floor.

"You're a monster!" Maleny pushed her hair out of her face and glared up at the man, "But then that's nothing new. You've always been a monster, a cruel man, and always towards Klaus."

"I didn't always hate him," Mikael interjected, "When Klaus was born, I was overjoyed. I thought, 'This one- this one has the eyes of a warrior. He will be worthy.' But, my hope was short-lived. And, when I found out that he wasn't really my son, my relief was glorious. But, that passed with the knowledge that he was begat of a beast."

"Esther's infidelity was not his fault!" Maleny felt like a broken record as she said those words, "How do I get that through your thick head!?"

"Everything that followed was because of Niklaus' obsession with the wolves! He ventured out to watch them turn under the full moon, and he took my youngest son, Henrik. He was but a child, and he was torn apart."

"But that was an accident!" Maleny got up to her feet.

"An accident?" Mikael nearly lost it then, "AN ACCIDENT? HE MURDERED MY WIFE! HIS OWN MOTHER! Who sought to cleanse him of his beast-like nature! He betrayed me. He turned my entire family against me! And yet, you defend him?"

"You didn't need anyone to make your children turn against you!" Maleny shouted right back but her voice hardly equaled his roar, "You were an awful father right from the start! Everything that happened was because of you - you and Esther."

"And what about you, my dear?" Mikael appeared to be amused by her, "Are you going to forget you participated in the very spell that created vampires?"

A distraught Esther and Mikael were coming out of a friend's (or ex-friend now) house when Maleny approached them, appearing rather nervous.

"I can help," the blonde declared, her fingers playing with each other as a way to relieve her nervousness. Esther looked at the young woman, expecting some explanation, "I know what you're trying to do to Klaus and the others...and I want to help."

"You?" Mikael couldn't help the scoff come from his mouth.

However, Esther seemed less reluctant, "Now wait a minute, I have taught her everything she knows and she is Abigail's daughter, meaning her power is grand."

"I will help as much as I can," Maleny promised.

"Do you even understand what we are trying to do?" Mikael wondered.

"Not completely," Maleny admitted sheepishly, "but I know you are trying to help Klaus and I will do anything to facilitate that."

Esther exchanged a brief glance with Mikael and quickly compiled an easy lie to really get the girl, "We want to strengthen our children, make it so that no one can hurt them."

Maleny seemed pleased with what she heard and smiled, "Then I will most definitely help. All I ask in return is that you allow me to keep seeing your children. I have lost who I loved most when I was a child and I do not wish for that to repeat itself."

Mikael smirked and nodded, "Then it is a deal, child."

"No, I stand by what I did," Maleny straightened up, "Because when I did it I was told it would strengthen them, never to make them into vampires. You and Esther lied, and that is why it's your fault. Do not stand there and blame me, Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah or any of your children for being what they are - for what you and your wife did."

Mikael super sped up to her and grabbed her by the neck, "I used to have appreciation for you," he seemed to be studying her face, "As a child you reminded me of my eldest daughter who died. When you grew up, I thought you would make a fine addition to the family as the wife of one of my sons..."

"I would've happily done that," Maleny coughed as the air struggled to get into her lungs.

"Oh no, no - you speak of Niklaus when I speak of my true sons," Mikael gripped her throat just a little tighter. Maleny's hands flung to his arms, trying to push him off, "Perhaps Finn? Elijah? or Kol? He was nearer to your age..."

"That would've happened over my dead body!" Maleny shouted and kicked his shin. While it did no actual harm, Mikael was forced to let go of her from the sudden spark of pain. Maleny immediately took a deep breath.

"You are a stupid girl," Mikael snatched her by the arm, baring his fangs out for her.

"N-n-n-n-no! Don't-"

But Mikael bit down on her neck and Maleny screamed in utter pain.

~ 0 ~

In the location of Mikael's earlier meal in the woods stood Klaus who finished feeding off the remainders of the living humans. He needed all the bits of strength he could gather if he wanted to save Maleny. His mind was buzzing with all the different strategies that could possibly guarantee Maleny returning home with her life, even if it was just her who was left alive. He hadn't stopped cursing himself for being the complete careless man he kept swearing to Maleny he wouldn't be to keep her safe. Every time he got the smallest distraction (and usually by her ironically) she was hurt.

His phone ringing interrupted his grim thoughts, and when he answered he didn't bother hiding his impatience and rage, "What the hell do you want now, Hayley!? I'm a busy."

"That's rude, even for you," Hayley said back, and Klaus could picture her rolling her eyes, "I take it you've done no progress with Maleny whatso-"

"Don't speak further if you know what's good for you!" Klaus snapped, "Was there a point to this phone call?"

"Something has happened to Elijah. He was supposed to be our decoy last night, and now he's vanished. There's blood everywhere- werewolf and vampire. There's a trail. Cami and I need you to help us track it."

Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose as he mentally added one more problem to his list, "Well, as much as I might like to help you find my brother, I have more pressing matters as the moment."

"What's more important than your own brother?" Hayley indignantly inquired.

"Not 'more important' simply a main priority," Klaus clarified, "Starting with the only one out of all of us that still has a live, beating heart."

"Maleny?" Hayley repeated, confused, "What's happened?"

"Mikael took her," Klaus answered, his rage bubbling in each of the words, "He took her and I'm trying to find her - on my own - before she's truly hurt."

"So you have a plan, then?"

"Not exactly. Mikael now has Tunde's blade and the white oak stake but I'm sure I'll come up with something."

"Klaus, are you out of your mind!?"

"Frankly, yes, but I'm sure that'll go away once I find Maleny...because I will find her," Klaus almost promised at the spot, "And then I'm gonna end this. Either Mikael or I will be ash by day's end."

"I think we would all prefer for the ashes to be Mikael's," Hayley cut in, sounding less irritated than before, "Be careful, and bring back Mal. Cami and I will work to get Elijah back."

"Sounds like a plan," Klaus said, though really the thought of his family hadn't even crossed his mind once since he'd began searching for Maleny. There was no room to think of anything else that didn't involve Maleny.

~ 0 ~

Cami was inside the bedroom she often used in the compound when she stayed overnight. She held Elijah's gifted journal in her hands, skimming a couple paragraphs across several pages. When she heard footsteps nearing, she looked up and saw Hayley coming in. She closed her journal, awkwardly placing her hands over it like she were protecting it from unwanted eyes.

Hayley saw the action and lightly smiled, "I'm not gonna pick the lock and peek," she playfully warned.

"Sorry," Cami flushed and looked down.

"You know Elijah often looked at that thing while you were gone," Hayley leaned against the dresser, smirking at Cami's horrified face, "I literally mean staring at its covers," Hayley clarified, "As if Elijah would peak into you diary."

"Right..." Cami bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty for thinking Elijah would read her private thoughts when he was the one who gifted her the journal.

"He missed you a lot," Hayley said quietly, "I think he would be happy to see you this concerned over him."

"Just because I left didn't mean I stopped caring for you guys," Cami shrugged.

"Oh c'mon, Cami, if Elijah had done the same thing you did wouldn't you feel a little distraught?"

Cami sighed, rubbing her face in frustration, "God, I messed up. I didn't...I didn't mean to cause all this trouble. I was having problems of my own and I just...I took an abrupt decision, okay? Everyone does it."

"Agreed," Hayley raised her hands to show her neutral side.

"I just...I just want him back here," Cami then said quieter, "Is Klaus on his way?"

"Yeah, about that..." Hayley pushed herself off the dresser and walked about in the room, "...see, there's another problem that he really has to take care of right now."

"What?" Cami frowned. "Is he serious? We need him here to help us find Elijah!"

"Cami," Hayley sharply looked at her, "he's trying to find Maleny."

Cami blinked rapidly for a couple seconds, "C-come again now? Why would he need to find Maleny? I thought he was following her?"

"They found Mikael, apparently, and I guess he broke free from Davina's spell or something because he took Maleny..."

"What!?" Cami jumped from her spot on the bed, letting her journal fall to the floor, "My cousin's missing and you didn't tell me right away!?"

"Sorry," Hayley meekly apologized, "Look, he's going to find Mal and we're going to find Elijah."

"We need to help find Maleny," Cami shook her head, quickly prioritizing in her mind.

"What? But what about Elijah?"

"You said that this place," Cami gestured to the compound, "was home for me too and that everyone here was family. We find the person who needs more help. Elijah's an Original and wherever he is he can't die but Maleny can. He would want us to go find her first."

Hayley could hear Elijah saying something similar, as he once showed it when he chose her before Klaus and Rebekah during Celeste's awful game. It was necessary prioritizing.

~ 0 ~

It wasn't long before Klaus caught up with Mikael's trail to the abandoned warehouse. He was walking in with no weapons save a makeshift stake from a discarded shovel he found outside. It was nothing compared to what Mikael possessed but it was all there was and he was going to fight no matter what.

He barely contained himself he came into the warehouse and found Mikael holding Maleny at knife-point. He could see Maleny already weakened by the dried up blood on her neck from an earlier feeding - her face of cuts and dirt were the prominent second. Her eyes begged to be helped as the knife poked her flesh.

"You're gonna pay for hurting her," he angrily warned, moving for them but Mikael purposely pricked Maleny's neck to keep him back, "You always talk about what a 'man' should do and yet you use a mortal in your fights?"

Mikael scowled at the accusation, "I don't need a mortal in my battles - I already have two weapons that could easily kill you. She was merely insurance that you followed the trail. However, I did make her a promise that I'd drain the rest of her right in front of your eyes, just before you burn."

"LET HER GO!" roared Klaus, baring his hybrid face. He charged with enough speed to prevent Mikael from threatening Maleny again. He pushed Mikael across the room towards the wall, but from the great blow they broke into the second room.

Maleny fell to the floor and gasped, her hand flying to her blood-covered neck. She winced at the many crashes from the other room and looked around for anything that could help bring down Mikael. She decided nothing could beat the white oak stake but it didn't mean she couldn't use her magic to help Klaus get an advantage over Mikael. Pushing herself up to her feet, she drew a big breath and focused on a spell.

In the next room, Klaus had gotten Mikael down to the floor and was able to retrieve the white oak stake. However, Mikael then flung to Papa Tunde's blade towards Maleny, making Klaus leave speed into the main room to catch the blade before it could hurt Maleny. In doing so, he allowed Mikael to retrieve the white oak stake again from the floor. Mikael wasn't one to waste time so sped up to Klaus and stabbed him in the chest.

To Maleny, it almost felt as if her world has stopped then, "NOO!" she screamed in horror.

Klaus gave his own shriek of pain, his face beginning to desiccate with the stake embedded in his chest. Mikael eagerly awaited for the fire to begin and truly end Klaus but when nothing happened he became furious.

"Why aren't you burning? If you were dead, it would burn. Burn!"

Maleny's breath hitched in her throat when she realized the same thing. There was a spell brewing and it was close by. Whatever it was, it was holding back the stake's power, meaning there was still time to save Klaus. As soon as Mikael left the room to find the mysterious spell's origin, Maleny dashed towards Klaus.

She dropped to her knees and began pulling on the stake, trying to get it out, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," she grunted, ignoring her teary eyes as best she could. She didn't know when the spell would stop so she needed to be quick, but her weakness had proven a little stronger, "Isabelle, please help," she whispered and took a deep breath and she reached out to her French coven's help. Once she felt the power source through her veins, she finally pulled the stake from Klaus' chest.

She began smiling when she saw the color return to his face, even though it would take a little longer for him to wake up. What she would give to hear one of his sarcastic remarks, or anything for that matter. Because if he spoke, he would be fine, and then she would be fine too.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mikael's voice startled her into getting up.

She gripped the stake in her hands, holding towards him, "Stay the hell away from us! Or, I swear to God, I'll kill you myself."

Mikael looked mildly impressed, "You have a warrior's heart. Perhaps I'll keep it as a souvenir."

"That's funny - you think I'm alone in this," Maleny smirked with a tilt of her head, "One thing about witches, most of us stand together," she lowered the stake and mustered all her energy to match Isabelle's coven's and with a powerful gust of wind flung Mikael back against a wall, "I am not the naive girl of forest anymore, Mikael. I've learned my share of battle techniques with the centuries!" she made for it to cause an aneurysm, though it was simultaneously draining what little energy she had left.

Thankfully, Hayley appeared, along with Marcel, and started pounding on Mikael. Cami ran straight in for her blonde cousin who wobbled on her feet.

"Now, ENOUGH!" Mikael roared in rage, finally able to shove Marcel backwards, "This night has been a long parade of fools. I'll enjoy killing every last one of you."

Klaus finally woke up with a gasp and wasted no time in getting up. Hayley grabbed a silver chain off the floor and threw it around Mikael's neck, pulling hard enough to knock him off his feet.

"Yeah, I wouldn't bet on it," she cast a smirk.

Davina entered the room in a hasty run, her neck oozing with blood Mikael had decided to feed on due to her spell. She went straight for Maleny, feeling awful she'd let her get caught in the crossfire. Though that also added to the many opponents Mikael already had - and that he knew.

"It's over, Mikael. You're outnumbered," Klaus called out to the man, "Are you going to beg for your miserable life?"

Mikael laughed, "You think having people makes you strong? It proves how weak you are. Come find me when you don't have fools, women and children fighting your battles," he threw them a scrap of wood at them before speeding out of the place.

The relief flooding the room became evident with the sighs that came out of everyone. After things got settled, Hayley and Marcel went to give the immediate area a final check for Mikael. Davina knew she had to get back to her 'friend' Kol who was outside, probably unconscious from Mikael's attack, but she wanted to have a word with Maleny first. She only took two steps forwards when Cami blocked the way.

"Cami, I just want to-"

"You've overdid it this time, Davina," the blonde scolded, though it was clear Cami struggled to be severely angry. She was still used to seeing Davina as just some kid who continued to be caught in crossfires of supernaturals. But now that she was a vampire, she had to force herself to see Davina as what she was: a witch with great power.

"I know," Davina agreed, but she wasn't sorry for trying to kill Klaus. She was only sorry Maleny got hurt and Marcel nearly died.

"Then you know I don't want to see you right now," Maleny called from her spot across the room, now sitting down on a wooden bench. She was waiting for Klaus to return with something to help her clean herself up. She needed Davina to be out of the room by that time that happened. God knows what the raging hybrid might do to the teen then.

"Mal, I'm really sorry," Davina ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

"I know you are," Maleny could tell by her face the teen was genuinely sorry for her actions but it didn't erase all that happened, "I just don't want to see you right now. I think I'm entitled that after the day I had."

"If I can just explain-"

"Explain what, Davina?" Maleny couldn't help the cold tone lacing her words. She would've stood up if she felt herself again but for the moment she was stuck to the bench, "That you wanted to kill Klaus? Yeah, I heard the story. There's nothing to explain."

"You can't defend him, Mal! He's not a good person-"

"And neither are you, but you don't see me calling you out," Maleny said sourly, "I know what Klaus did to you and you don't know how sorry I am for that. You didn't deserve it."

"He killed Tim!" Davina exclaimed, her anger getting the best of her, "How can you defend that? Do you know how that feels?"

"See that's what I want you to think about," Maleny replied with, "If you know how that feels, losing someone you care about...why would you want to condemn to feel the same thing? After centuries of this curse, I...I don't think I could bear losing him anymore. If he dies then I will follow him."

"Mal, he's not…" Davina's eyes widened, gesturing back, "...he's not...he's not a good person! He's not worth it! You can do so much better-"

"I already have what I want from life and rest assure I will fight against anyone who threatens that," and however she could, she managed to stand but when Cami saw her wobbly legs she ran over to help, "And I'm sorry Davina, but if that means I have to fight you too...then I will."

Davina's eyes became glossy with the declaration, but she would not back down from what she felt was right, "Well," she swallowed down, "then I guess you've picked your side."

"I don't hate you Davina," Maleny whispered, "You're like a little sister to me..."

"I don't hate you either," Davina replied with the same whisper-like tone. Seeing there was no other thing to do, she turned on her heels and walked out.

Maleny sniffled and Cami slowly sat her down, "I'm sorry, Mal."

"For what?" Maleny sighed, "It wasn't you that tried to kill Klaus. I should be thanking you, actually. I heard Elijah's missing and yet you came down to help."

"Yeah well, Marcel learned what was going on and if Klaus dies so does he so that's how we got our ride here."

"And you?" Maleny looked at her cousin studiously, "You've gone for two weeks and you suddenly came by to help?" Cami guiltily looked to the side, "What happened, Cami?" Maleny asked quietly, "Elijah came back and said you two had a disagreement or something…"

"Petty disagreement," Cami dismissed the Original's topic with a clear of her throat.

"Right, well that 'petty disagreement'," Maleny did air quotation marks, "had Elijah moping around like never before," she then noticed the blush creeping over Cami's cheek, making her begin to smirk, "Cami...is there something you'd like to share with me?"

Cami thanked her lucky stars that Klaus came into the room as she was no where near ready to talk about that with Maleny.

"Not much but I did find this," the hybrid waved a long towel in his hand, "Marcel might be pretty irritated I ransacked his car."

Maleny smiled as he came up to them and Cami felt it was time to for her to go, "I'll go see if Hayley and Marcel are back," she excused herself with rapidness and hurried out.

"What's wrong with her?" Klaus asked curiously as he watched the blonde vampire head out rapidly.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she's got the hots for your brother but doesn't realize it yet," Maleny shrugged casually and took the towel from him, "But don't tell anyone I said that."

Klaus would've laughed at her if it hadn't been for everything that had happened earlier. He bent down in front of her to clear up the dried blood from her when she noticed the stab wound on his chest hadn't cleared up yet.

"Is that going to hurt longer?" she whispered, gently placing a hand over the wound.

"It'll be fine soon enough," Klaus took her hand and gripped it, "You pulled the stake out in the nick of time. A moment longer, and I would have been done for."

Horrified to even hear that thought, she shook her head, "Don't even say it. I don't...I don't ever want to hear the possibility of that. Instead, I'd like to hear how we plan to kill Mikael as soon as we get the chance. Because I want him dead - to ashes if possible."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the cold bluntness in her tone, "Well, and here I thought you'd be getting rest and-"

"Listen," Maleny stopped him with her other hand, "When we stop Mikael and find Elijah then you can be a good nurse this time and put me to bed…" and then she thought how that sounded out a second later, "...okay, that sounded less awkward in my head," Klaus smirked and Maleny, embarrassed, laughed and hid her face behind her hands, "Shut up, just shut up and don't say anything."

Klaus lowered her hands from her face and softened as he reached to touch the bite marks still clear on her neck, "You shouldn't have been caught in this…"

"I've always been in this and that's the way I want it to be," Maleny firmly told him, "This is my side, my choice and no one's going to take it from me," surprised, Klaus blinked and slowly began to smile.

"You made your decision," Klaus felt like a child the way he said it, unable to hide his relief and happiness as he cupped her face.

"In the end, this is my family," Maleny softly said, purposely leaning forwards, "I came so far and I'm not losing any one of you for anything nor anyone."

She had the most beautiful of smiles across her face, so Klaus thought. He traced her lips with a thumb, wondering what kind of scold he would get from her if he stole a kiss off her. Unfortunately, mere seconds after he decided going for one, the others returned.

"So, Mikael's no where to be seen," Hayley announced, eyeing the pink-faced Maleny.

Klaus rose to his feet and turned to the trio, looking less embarrassed than Maleny, "I appreciate your assistance."

Marcel smiled, "Well, hey! You die, I die. Just call me selfish," but his eyes moved to Maleny and for the first time since they met, he spoke to her a in a kind tone, "I'm glad you're okay too, Maleny."

The blonde nodded, "Thank you. I'm glad my cousin's been in good care for this past week. I really appreciate that."

"And now that everything's a little better, I think we all need to turn our attention to Elijah," Cami reminded them all, hoping she didn't sound rude, "And we should hurry up."

And just like she wanted, they did.

~ 0 ~

One day passed and to everyone's misfortune (especially Cami's) Elijah was no where in sight. It led Klaus to do his common strategies when time was turning precious - torture. Consequently, in her piano room, Maleny desperately tried to drown out the shrill cries of pain by trying to successfully reproduce a tune Elijah had been meaning to teach her.

"Lavender's blue..." she mumbled to herself, wincing every now and then, "...lavender...lavender..." but then came the biggest scream possible and she quit, "Ah!" she growled in frustration and raised her hands, balling them into fists.

It had been her ridiculous attempt to get over being kidnapped and nearly killed instead of going for the usual 'take a rest and nap' thing. Clearly, nothing would be working. Taking a breath, she got up and left the room.

She passed Klaus' bedroom in favor of Hayley's, knowing the first was locked for clear reasons. Hayley was already having a conversation with Klaus in the nursery room, the connecting doors of Klaus' room also shut.

"So, the word 'interrogation' has lost the meaning I knew about," Maleny walked in more or less annoyed with the disturbance.

"Turns out witches are delicate creatures," Klaus said without thinking and earned himself a mock glare.

"Thanks," Maleny crossed her arms.

"Of course not you, love," Klaus casually corrected himself, unaware of the blush and smile the blonde acquired from the comment, "No matter! I suspected my mother had Elijah captive."

"Great," Haley started fishing for her phone in her jeans' pocket, "Then let's call Cami and tell her. She's been out looking with Gia."

But Klaus refused with a shake of his head, "Esther is too powerful. She won't be easily found. I need to draw her out."

"On your own," Maleny blinked, "That's too dangerous."

"Well you can't come with me, can you?" Klaus countered with and quickly shut Hayley down before she nominated herself, "And since you need someone to watch over you, Hayley's staying here."

"Are we really going through this whole babysitting thing again?" Maleny raised an eyebrow, "Because I think I've dealt with worse things now."

"Look, if either of you come," Klaus gestured between her and Hayley, "then my mother will be sure to use one of you - if not both of you - to thwart me. I can't save Elijah if I'm busy saving you," he moved to close the doors again when Maleny stopped him.

"Can we talk afterwards, then?" Maleny inquired in low whisper, "It's really important," and yet even though it was so important she hadn't had the chance to talk to him about it since they returned from Mikael's adventure. Klaus had immediately set to finding Elijah all through the day and the morning.

"Afterwards," Klaus promised with a wide smile, moving back into his room.

Maleny sighed and whirled around to Hayley, looking more than disappointed. Hayley patted her arm and started leading her back to her own room on the other side of the nursery, "There, there, you want a drink?"

Maleny playfully rolled her eyes, "You can't get me drunk to forget my problems, Hayley. One of these days, it's not going to work."

Hayley laughed as they walked out of her room when they both heard a new voice calling out from the courtyard.

"Hello?" it was a young woman's voice...and French too, "Hello? Is anyone in here?"

Maleny's eyes widened as she recognized the voice and therefore the woman. She quickly ran up to the banister and looked down to see a tall, dark-haired woman standing in the middle, curiously looking around.

Hayley came up beside her, confused of what was happening, "Who's that, Mal?"

Maleny smiled at the woman below, "Amarrah!"

~ 0 ~

Cami and Gia walked into Marcel's apartment wearing glum faces, though the blonde looked more upset as was expected. After patrolling the Quarter, and the Algiers, they came up with nothing new on Elijah.

"So I'm assuming the search wasn't a success?" Marcel asked from the couch.

"Do you see an Original with us?" Cami sarcastically motioned to the space around her.

"She's a bit cranky cos she hasn't slept at all," Gia sarcastically smiled as she plopped down to the couch across Marcel, "We did what you advised - kept a low profile - went all over the city but there's no sign of Elijah anywhere."

"Yeah," Marcel nodded, "The humans I know said the same thing. Maybe Klaus is having better luck?"

"He would've called me already," Cami rubbed her face in pure frustration. She could not believe Elijah had been gone for days now and without leaving a trace.

"Actually," Hayley strolled into the room, "He would not have. Mal would kill him if he did."

Cami quickly turned around for the brunette, "Has he found him yet?"

"No," Hayley shook her head, "But I could use a rescue mission team again."

"For Elijah…?"

"Nope, that's all Klaus," Hayley clarified, "I'm talking about Oliver. Now, he and Elijah were fighting the werewolves together. I've heard that Oliver's been captured and is about to be executed. Now, look- if we can save Oliver, then we might be able to find out where Elijah is."

Marcel thought the plan wrong and made his question, "Kay, so what do you want from us?"

"Just a little distraction. Esther's son, Finn, he's the one that's controlling the werewolves. If you can keep him out of the way, I can go get Ollie myself."

"You can't take on all those wolves by yourself. You'll get killed, and then I'll get killed for letting it happen."

Hayley sighed, "I'm not going in alone. The werewolves may be answering to the witches, but they still have an Alpha. I just have to find him."

"Jackson?" Cami recalled the name of Hayley's supposed betrothed and frowned, "He's been gone for months now. How do you expect to find him?"

Hayley didn't have a clear plan but she knew she was going to find him no matter what, "Are you in or out?"

Cami bit her lip, glancing at the window, "But Elijah…"

"Will be found by Klaus," Hayley assured.

"And Mal…?"

"She sort of has company today," Hayley crossed her arms, "So she'll be pretty safe with that woman. Cami, I really need your help. Can I count on you?"

Cami looked at the brunette and nodded, "Of course," and she motioned for Hayley to lead the way.

~ 0 ~

Amarrah Collins, daughter of one of the heads in the French coven that helped Maleny recuperate, sat on the foot of Maleny's bed intently studying every aspect of Maleny's bedroom. The expression on Amarrah's face led Maleny to believe she was angry - or at the very least annoyed. To be fair, Maleny was also annoyed with her abrupt presence because she knew Isabelle had sent the daughter to look after her.

"You were kidnapped," Amarrah broke the tensed silence in the room, finally returning her emerald green eyes to Maleny, the blonde leaning against her dresser.

"I suppose Isabelle felt the channeling of powers..." Maleny sighed, but was far stunned after Amarrah made a revelation.

"I have been in the Quarter for two weeks now and I am, frankly, appalled with your situation and the Mikaelsons."

"Wh-what-"

"How in the hell does this all powerful hybrid think it safe for you to wander the streets on your own when you could be hunted down?"

Maleny was blinking rapidly, her mind racing to let it sink in that Amarrah had basically been witness to all that occurred in the last two weeks. Amarrah was a genuinely fun person to be around with - a very witty woman - but when she was angry God help the people who are on the receiving end.

"Maleny, I thought this man, though impulsive as you said, was responsible," Amarrah crossed her arms, quite frankly disappointed she hadn't gotten a chance to meet this Klaus to give him a piece of her mind.

"He is-" Maleny meekly began but Amarrah wasn't finished.

"You have been in and out of this compound and mostly on your own. Very few times have I witnessed either the brunette woman accompanying you. My mother was right - you are in way over your head."

"Now wait a minute," Maleny straightened up, "People can't be with me 24/7. I can walk now, Ams, and I have enough power to defend myself."

"That's not the point," Amarrah interjected, "If someone finds to your last corpse and so happens to know witches they can bring you down."

"Thanks Ams," Maleny walked away from her French friend.

Amarrah sighed, softening somewhat, "You know I care for you, Mal, but I am very concerned for you alright? You told my mother Esther was back and, well...she's crazy!"

"I noticed," Maleny sarcastically said back, pretending to fiddle with a cardigan draped over her vanity desk chair.

"And then you were kidnapped. Do you know how crazy I went when I figured it out!? Mal, I was up and ready to call Mum!"

"You didn't actually do that did you!?" Maleny had whirled around in terror of the idea.

"No," Amarrah assured, "But I feel like I should have. I had no idea how to find you without anything of yours."

"I'm back, and I'm okay," Maleny gestured to her perfectly well appearance.

"I am very relieved," Amarrah sternly said, "But I am very serious about your security guards around here."

Maleny groaned and walked over to her bed, promptly letting herself fall flat on her back. She shut her eyes, "Please, not you too. Anyone but you. You're the fun one! The party one!"

"Am not," Amarrah shot her an offended look, "I'm a Police detective for crying out loud! I don't party."

"But you are still the fun one," Maleny insisted, opening her eyes, "And I am begging you not to talk about my 'safety measures'. For all that is good please spare me it."

Amarrah held her hands in surrender, "I suppose I'm not the first one who's brought it up?"

"You suppose right. Everyone does it - it's like the hot news of every freaking day. But oh! There's no one who does it more than Klaus."

"Hm, I guess there had to be something he did right in the midst of all this," Amarrah pretended to mutter to herself and got a whack on the arm from Maleny, "He couldn't be all bad, I meant."

"He's not bad to me, Ams. We can have our arguments and silent treatments but...even when you saw me out in the Quarter alone I knew he was somewhere in the crowd watching me over."

"Seriously?" Amarrah glanced at the blonde, doubtful. She had figured out there must have been a falling out between Maleny and Klaus during the two weeks she had been there, but she did come to believe the hybrid had just let her friend roam the streets on her own. "How would you know that? Did you see him?"

"Nope."

"Then how would you know?" she insisted again.

Maleny smiled to herself, staring up at the ceiling, "Because that's what he always does. It's actually kind of cute that he thinks I don't know he does it."

Amarrah made a face at that but Maleny didn't see it due to her dreamy stare up above, "You have one weird relationship, have I mentioned?"

Maleny sighed, "It's unique. And I like unique. But you know what I would really like more?"

"What?"

"To actually be in a proper, official relationship."

Amarrah gaped then, "You mean you're still..." she made a gesture with her hand, "...not together?"

"We've been busy," Maleny mumbled, "Arguing...and then solving problems...and arguing...a lot…" at the look Amarrah gave Maleny groaned, "It's not because of him. It's actually my fault."

"How so?"

"It's me being afraid, like usual," Maleny sighed, "It took one of my friends to give me a reality check. I've been meaning to talk to him but there's been some interruptions. But hopefully, when Klaus finds his brother we'll get some free time and I can tell him that I love him."

"I mean...if that's what you want to do," Amarrah scratched her head. Maleny rolled her eyes, knowing quite well that her friend disagreed with her love life. But, unlike Davina, she didn't constantly try to turn her away from it. She understood that it wasn't something she could understand. She was barely twenty six and hadn't really left her ranch town home in France in all of her life.

"I do," Maleny said with absolutely no doubt in her mind.

Amarrah then looked at her again, amusingly smiling, "You have such a weird relationship though..."

Maleny matched her smile, grateful they were slowly falling into their normal selves again, "Hey, at one point in our lives, Klaus and I were normal. It just another story of girl likes boy, boy likes girl."

"Yeah, before boy's parents turned boy into a hungry vampire," Amarrah reminded.

"Something girl also helped them to do," Maleny sat upright and shrugged, "But even after that, it was all good. I mean, there was a point where Klaus pushed me away while he learned to control himself, but eventually he did and we were okay again. All this that's happened, while bad, I wouldn't give up for a 'redo'."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," Maleny nodded, "Because if we had stayed human we would have been dead for centuries now. There would be no New Orleans, no Cami, no Hayley, no Amarrah," she nudged the dark haired woman, "No French ranch...no little Hope Mikaelson."

"But there could have been different Mikaelson children," Amarrah didn't fail to bring up, "A child, Mal. Children. And they would be yours and Klaus. You wouldn't have been a step mother to some kid."

"I haven't even met Hope and I already love her to bits so please don't ever make it sound like it would be a burden to care for her," Maleny sharply scolded, understanding it hadn't been Amarrah's intention but she never wanted to hear something like that again, "And as for my own kids...they would've been nice - Klaus and I did have plans - but...it didn't happen. And it's sad, but there's nothing to do now."

Amarrah put an arm around Maleny's shoulders, "You're right, though," she said, in an attempt to uplift the mood she had brought down, "All this may be weird but you do sure love your weirdness."

That Maleny chuckle, "Oh Ams, I've missed you. And I'm fairly crossed you didn't come to me the moment you arrived to the Quarter."

"Sorry," Amarrah retracted her arm and stood up, Maleny noticing the sudden change in her tone, "I got, unintentionally, mixed up in a problem."

"What do you mean?"

Amarrah bit her lip nervously, "Mal, there's something you need to know."

"Like?"

"Okay," Amarrah sucked in a big breath and said it all in one go, "By accident I sort of made myself friends with the man I believe is your almost-boyfriend's older brother."

"Finn?" Maleny's mouth fell open.

"Mhm, please don't tell my mother! She will definitely kill me!"

"Ams, what's wrong with you!?"

"I didn't know who he was until a week ago! I thought he was just some guy renting me my apartment!"

"He's passing himself off as your landlord?" Maleny made a face, beginning to grow angry.

"I swear I was going to handle it on my own but I don't exactly know how to deal with a Mikaelson! Especially with a powerful witch like Finn."

"We'd need more people for that job," Maleny pointed, "But for now, I think you may be able to help out with another problem. Ams, I seriously hate to ask you but do you think you could help one of my friends today?"

"Sure, I guess," Amarrah shrugged, "But what's that go to do with this?"

"Because I'm pretty sure you're the key to helping Hayley save her friend from execution today," Maleny sighed and got up, walking to her nightstand where her phone laid.

~ 0 ~

And so that was how Amarrah found herself opening the door to her apartment for 'Vincent' (Finn) later on that day. Meeting up with this Hayley woman, they devised a plan in which Amarrah would keep Vincent occupied for an entire afternoon while she saved her friend Oliver from dying. That was why her kitchen's sink was an utter disaster.

'Vincent' may probably not even leave until late night came by.

And Finn having no idea who Amarrah herself was nor the trick being played, went right along with it.

~ 0 ~

Maleny read the text message Amarrah managed to send her a couple minutes back. She then texted Hayley to freely move on with her plan to save Ollie. Afterwards, the blonde headed for her room in the compound, still glum she'd been practically sent back like a kid to wait out the danger. Without Klaus, Elijah nor Hayley to 'look after her' Maleny was put under Cami's jurisdiction...though Cami herself wasn't too pleased with the plan. But since Hayley had technically found a much easier way to distract Finn, there hadn't been a need for much backup.

"Still nothing," a distraught Cami walked into Maleny's room, throwing off her jacket in frustration, "I thought Klaus was supposed to be good at hunting people down. Why hasn't he called?"

"Because he's still looking," Maleny said the obvious and earned a mock-glare from Cami.

"This isn't funny!" the blonde vampire exclaimed, "Elijah disappeared without a trace. Esther could be hurting him right now!"

"I doubt it, honestly," Maleny dismissed it casually as she continued ripping out pages from her journal, "Esther can be twisted but her methods are non life-threatening. She just wants them to accept her offer."

"You mean the one to place them, Hayley and I into mortal bodies?" Cami scoffed at the absurdity and went to sit on Maleny's bed.

Maleny sat at the edge and was filling up her area with balled papers, "The very one. Of course for me the offer is to get my previous corpse back and finally end the curse."

Cami shifted to face the blonde, "But can she really do it, though? Can she find your corpse?"

"I don't think she has to look very far," Maleny said and Cami tilted her head curiously, waiting for a clarification. Maleny stopped ripping up papers to look at her cousin, "It took me longer to figure out but I finally did. Esther has had my corpse this entire time."

Cami's eyes widened, "What!? How would you know!?"

"Because she never said to find my corpse, she was always keen on making sure I understood she could end the curse," Maleny elaborated the brief clue but clue nonetheless, "Anyone offering me a deal would begin more specifically by assuring me they would help me find the corpse. She's so calm about this curse and someone who has no pawns to play wouldn't be. She has my corpse somewhere, hidden no doubt."

"And you say this calmly?" Cami blinked rapidly, "If you've known this why didn't you say something?"

"Because I only just realized it," Maleny sighed.

"Are you going to tell Klaus?"

"Eventually, but after he gets Elijah back. Priorities."

Cami gave a nod of understanding. She seemed to be grateful for Maleny's way of thinking. Right now, their main priority was getting Elijah back. She really missed the Original in the sharp suit. Time seemed to pass far slower than it normally would, and it would continue to until Klaus returned with Elijah.

~ 0 ~

"You know, I liked this whole distracting thing," Amarrah chuckled over the phone, making Maleny roll her eyes. She should've figured Amarrah would be laughing over the grave situation. Amarrah always talked about adventure back in France, how she wanted to travel and do new things. Maleny wondered if these were the sorts of things Amarrah was thinking about.

"Well, Hayley says thanks," Maleny stood at the doorway of her room, actively waiting for the return of Klaus and hopefully Elijah, "She got Ollie back. She's in the bayou right now with him and apparently Jackson."

"But you know, speaking strategically, this thing could be good for you guys," Amarrah paused for a minute, "I think he may like me."

"No, trust me," Maleny shook her head, "Finn has only ever loved one woman and I doubt she'll ever make an appearance. You're some type of pawn for him and Esther."

"Oh, thanks," Amarrah laughed for a minute before going sober, "I meant that this little thing your friend Finn has with me can come in handy when you need another distraction - or even information. Haven't you heard the saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

"Except I doubt that saying was talking about a thousand-old witch and her son," Maleny leaned off the door fringe and sighed.

"I'm only saying, Mal. It can come in handy."

"Thank you Amarrah, seriously," Maleny said quietly, "And I'm glad you decided to tell me you were here. Though I'm still not content that Isabelle made you come just to keep an eye on me."

"It's alright," Amarrah said, "The entire family's worried about you, Mal. You've been our most precious possession for centuries."

"Because that doesn't make me feel weird," Maleny laughed, her cheeks a bright pink.

"You are, hush! Now, I must leave you for sleep. Goodnight, Mal. And...good luck with your special talk tonight."

Maleny then blushed deeper, "Goodnight Amarrah," she quickly said back then hung up.

Just as she returned to her bedroom, she heard noise from downstairs. She quickly left her cellphone in her room and ran out, barely catching Klaus going into Elijah's room upstairs.

"Cami!" Maleny immediately called for and ran for Elijah's bedroom. Elijah was laid flat on his bed, his clothes torn and disheveled, "What happened to him?" she asked Klaus quietly.

"My mother," Klaus muttered just as Cami hurried inside.

"Oh my God!" the blonde was in horror but nonetheless ran for Elijah's side, "What the hell happened to him?" she didn't know how to care for him, nor even how to touch him fearing she would only hurt him. He was breathing erratically and shifting in his sleep, which Cami figured wasn't really 'asleep' but some sort of trance or spell.

"It was Esther, she had him in the cemetery and did God knows what," Klaus shook his head and headed out of the room.

"How do we help him?" Cami turned after him but remained put.

"I don't know yet," Klaus answered and glanced to his brother, for once having no idea how to help, "Esther said he would be asleep for an entire day, and then...I don't know..."

Esther had shown Elijah 'the error of his ways' and left him in that state. There would be dire consequences and Klaus could only fear what they were.

[ximagineanythingx]

Let me take care of you: Christen Press Imagine

A/N: this is my first imagine. not sure if it’s good but I decided to give it a shot. I apologise for any mistakes :)

I groaned while holding my ankle. I got tackled again. I have been laying on the grass more than playing at this point. ''Can you continue playing?'' The medic asked while moving my ankle to see my reaction. I nodded my head and stood up with the help of the medic. I walked the pain off, being supported by my teammates. The foul was once again not called much to my disappointment. I felt someone rubbing my shoulders. I turned my head and was met with the green-eyed girl I have grown to love. ''I just want this game to be over already,’’ I quietly mumbled shaking my head. Chris gave me a small supportive smile.

 We are in the 60th minute of our match against Mexico and have scored two goals. The first was assisted by Mal and scored by Alex in the 30th minute and the second was assisted by me and scored by Chris in the 55th minute. The game continued and in the 70th minute, Mexico managed to slip past our defenders to score a goal. I felt my heart sink. We were now leading only by one. And with this amount of time left our priorities were not letting Mexican players score or scoring another goal. I was running down the field with one of our opponents pulling on my jersey. I passed the ball to Christen who skillfully managed to slip past most of the players. Christens shot hit the crossbar. I jumped trying to score a header, but instead, I collided with one of the Mexican players. I fell to the ground. Tears were filling my eyes, and I had a hard time focusing my eyes. ‘’Y/N! GET THE MEDIC!’’I heard someone yell, but it sounded distant and echoey. I felt someone touching my face. ‘’Get her off the pitch’’ ‘’Is she going to be okay?’’.

I opened my eyes. My head was hurting. ‘’Y/N,’’ someone said. When my eyes focused, I saw Ali, Ash, Tobin, and Christen all sitting around me, worried expressions on their faces. I looked around recognizing it as one of the hotel rooms. Maybe my hotel room. ‘’Did we win?’’I asked softly.‘’Yeah kid we won. 2-1,’’Ash answered with a small chuckle.‘’We were so worried,’’ Ali said rubbing my arm. I gave them an apologetic smile ‘’don’t worry I’m fine…See?’’. ‘’We’ll let you rest now’’ Tobin said giving me a soft hug. The girls left, and I turned to look at Chris who was still sitting on the bed with me. She was holding my hand, our fingers interlocked. I blushed, taking in her facial expression. She looked as if she’d been crying. ‘’Are you alright Chris?’’ I asked her. She met my eyes. ‘’I should be asking you that’’ she replied and brushed a lonely strand of hair behind my ear. I looked at her waiting for her to answer my question. ‘’You scared me that’s all’’ she whispered rubbing my knuckles with her thumb.‘’I’m sorry,’’ I replied. She looked at me and gave me one of her small smiles. I returned the smile and held eye contact. She cleared her throat and let go of my hand. I frowned. ‘’I’m going to go take a shower..I’ll come to check on you afterward okay?’’ she asked me softly collecting her belongings ‘’At least try to eat something,’’ she added before walking out the door. I was laying on the bed thinking. I was confused. Christen is super open about everything but at the same time, she refuses to talk to me sometimes. I hope she doesn’t now I like her. That would ruin everything. I don’t care if she isn’t mine, I just need her in my life. I was supposed to room with Mal, but she was on a date with her boyfriend. I was bored, so I decided to go to the gym. Whenever I need to clear my thoughts, I go work out. It keeps my mind busy while at the same time clears it. 

I walked out of my hotel room and into the elevator. I took the elevator down to the second floor where the gym is. I walked inside and saw Alex sitting with Allie and Kelley. Kelley and Allie were arguing about something while Alex just sat back and watched them. ‘’Hello girls’’ I greeted them. Their heads turned to look at me. ‘’Y/N hi’’ Alex said in disbelief and stood up to embrace me in a hug. I was knocked onto the floor and groaned. Alex was laying beside me shaking her head. ‘’Kelley are you serious…this girl has a concussion and you decide to knock her over’’ Allie yelled and pulled Kelley up by the arm. I chuckled as Alex helped me up. ‘’Are you feeling any better?’’ Kelley asked me I smirked and said ‘’well not anymore since you almost killed me back there’’. ‘’Oh, you’re fine stop complaining’’ she scoffed. I chuckled. ‘’You want to lift weights with me?’’ Alex asked me and I nodded immediately. We started to work out while Kelley and Allie were goofing around the gym. I was doing bench presses when I heard my name being called. I recognized the voice that I had memorized well. ‘’Do you know where Y/N is? I can’t find her’’ Christens voice filled the gym. I could hear it was laced with worry which made me feel guilty. Alex lifted the weight from me and I stood up. I got dizzy and stumbled. My head was hurting. In no time I felt two strong arms holding me up. ‘’Sit’’ Chris told me. ‘’I’m fine’’ I gently replied trying to push her off. She pushed me back down. 

I looked around to get one of the other girls to help me calm Christen down but there was no one but us in the gym. Of course, they left. Screw all of them. Christen moved to get me the water bottle that was sitting on the floor by the door. I stood up trying to get Chris to see I was in fact okay. ‘’What are you doing? You’re hurt’’ she asked me angrily. ‘’I don’t have time to be hurt’’ I replied extending my arms to keep her at an arm’s length. ‘’Y/N you have a concussion. Let me take care of you’’ she tried reasoning annoyed at my behavior. ‘’I’m fine’’ I said trying to move past her. Instead, she grabbed my hand pulling me to the bench gently making me sit. ‘’You are not fine’’ she said crossing her arms, eyes looking at me disapprovingly. I got up ,,Christen can you stop babying me..I’m not a kid I know how I feel and where my limits are. YOU NEED TO STOP!’’ I told her loudly. ‘’I’m not babying you. I care about you Y/N. And it bothers me to see you doing this to yourself’’ Chris said softly. 

I felt bad about yelling at her. ‘’I know I’m sorry. But you are confusing me’’ I told her honestly. She looked at me her face now showing signs of confusion. ‘’What do you mean?’’ She asked me. I took a deep breath and sat back down. She joined me again, searching my face for an answer. ‘’I can’t do this’’ I said. She immediately grabbed my hands saying ‘’you can’’. ‘’No I really can’t because it might change everything’’ I told her, burying my face into my hands. I felt soft hands grab both sides of my face making me look at her. She was now sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of me. ‘’Y/N there is nothing you can say anything to me that will make me feel differently’’ she told me softly caressing my face. I took a deep breath and looked at her. This was it. The moment that could break everything. ‘’Chris I…’’ I started. She smiled waiting for me to speak again. ‘’I like you...Like more than a friend and I have for a long while. I just didn’t want to tell you because you’re one of the best people in my life. I never thought I would ever find someone I love as much as I’ve grown to love you. I know you don’t feel the same and that’s completely fine I just-‘’ I was cut off by Christen's lips pressing against mine. She slowly kept caressing my face. I kissed her back lovingly. After air had become a problem, we pulled apart. ‘’Sorry you were rambling’’ she told me giving me a wide smile. I laughed loudly and leaned in for one last kiss. ‘’Come on dork let’s go back to the hotel room’’ she told me and interlocked our fingers.

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

All Those Things They Couldn’t Say - A Runaway Baudelaires AU

{ao3} {tumblr} {masterlist}

Chapter Thirty-One - Remnants

The children did not dare speak for most of the climb. Sunny stopped screaming and kicking and demanding to go back up and bite Esmé’s arm off after a while, and settled to lean against Klaus as he moved down. Klaus would stop occasionally when Duncan started slipping, reaching up to touch his foot and make sure he regained his balance, and when Isadora did the same, Violet reached down to hold onto her until she was certain she could keep going. The scarves were not the best material for climbing, and they had no idea how long they had to go, so it was quite tense. 

They climbed down for at least an hour, maybe two, in relative silence. Then, finally, Duncan said, “Do… do you know what this reminds me of?” 

They didn’t respond immediately, a little scared to open their mouths. Klaus even glanced up to make sure Duncan wasn’t starting to slip. 

“We were at the fair once.” Duncan said, his voice distant as he continued his descent. “We had to be… five or six. And I wanted a balloon more than anything else in the world. I begged until Father bought me one. I don’t even remember why I wanted it, I… must’ve just thought it was pretty. I let go on accident while we were in line for popcorn, and I… I ran after it.” 

Violet shut her eyes. She’d been to a couple fairs, and sometimes they’d even had some fun there. It was dangerous, but her parents always wanted them to have a bit of enjoyment here or there. She’d once bought three balloons with spare change, and tied them together to see if they’d make her fly. They had not, but it was worth a try. 

“I ran after it,” Duncan recalled, as they continued, not slowing, “And- and it got caught in a tree. I couldn’t climb for shit so I just started jumping and crying. And… then you found me, Isa. You and Quigley.” 

“I don’t even remember that.” Isadora admitted, very softly. 

“I’m sure you don’t.” Duncan sighed. “But… you saw me crying. Quigley told me to calm down and Father could get me another one, but I was so upset that this one was stuck, I- I didn’t want it to stay trapped. And… Isa, you just grabbed a branch and hoisted yourself up.” 

Klaus reached up to make sure Duncan was steady, as the rope had shaken slightly, but he found that Duncan was just quietly crying. He patted his leg gently, hoping that’d be a comfort; he couldn’t do much else. 

“You just went up, and I didn’t even know you could climb that well.” Duncan said. “You always yelled at Quigley to get down when he climbed, but you were so good at it. And- and you got to the balloon, and untangled it, and brought it back down. You skinned your knee when you landed, and got a splinter or something - I remember crying even more because you were hurt, but you just tied the balloon to my wrist so I  wouldn’t lose it. We- we’d just learned how to tie knots. And you told me not to- not to worry about it…” 

He fell silent again, and Isadora struggled to find words to say. She really had no recollection of this incident whatsoever. 

“You wanna know something?” Duncan whispered. “I… kept the balloon. It didn’t deflate for the longest time, and when it did I kept it in a drawer. Because that was the special balloon my sister rescued for me.” 

Nobody knew what to say. 

Duncan let go of the rope with one hand to wipe his face with his sleeve, and then whispered, “So. Yeah. That’s what this reminded me of.” 

They continued downward for only a minute more, before Klaus said, “I found the ground.” 

He jumped down and stepped back, reaching into his bag for his flashlight. Once he flickered it on, Duncan had already reached the ground, and was waiting on the girls. Isadora slid down and immediately went over to her brother, pulling him into a hug. They kept embracing even as Violet reached the floor. She tugged on the rope once more and said, “Yeah, it was a bit longer than we thought, but we made it. And Sunny managed to injure that bitch- though, Sunny, I would prefer if you did not just jump at our enemies, okay?” 

“Iwdi?” Sunny huffed. “Well, it worked, didn’t it?” 

Violet pulled her ribbon out of her hair and gestured around. Klaus shone his light until they reached what seemed to be a doorway. Violet went over to the Quagmires, waiting until Isadora pulled away, still keeping an arm linked with her triplet’s, before saying, “We’ve got an exit.” 

Isadora nodded, and the children went through the door. Violet let out a sigh inside. “VFD tunnel.” 

“Well, at least it’s a way out.” Klaus said. He moved in front, holding his flashlight out. “Come on, gang.” 

They walked for quite some time, which was a bit difficult with how already tired their limbs were from the climb down. Sunny fell asleep against Klaus’s chest, but awoke only a few minutes later when they finally reached a trapdoor. They almost missed it, with how little light came through, but Violet noticed the handle and stopped them, having Klaus shine his light up to see the wood of the door. She then had Isadora lift her up while she picked the lock, muttering under her breath. When she got it, she flipped the door open and immediately hoisted herself onto the floor. She glanced around, just seeing a simple, dusty library. She sighed and leaned back down, holding out her arms to help Isadora up. They both then helped their brothers to the floor, and Klaus carefully let Sunny out of her straps, holding her hand to help her walk forwards a bit. 

“Where do you think we are?” Isadora asked. 

“Still in the city, probably.” Violet shrugged. “Didn’t walk far. Will be a decent place to crash for a bit until we can get the fuck out.” 

“Quando?” Sunny asked. 

“I don’t know.” Violet admitted. She moved to the library shelves, running a hand over the books. She coughed as a spray of dust hit her. “Fuck. Well, folks, I’m pretty sure this building’s been abandoned for a long-ass time.” 

“I found a piano.” Klaus said, walking Sunny over to the instrument. He pressed a key, and then flinched. “Whoa. Yeah, really out of tune.” 

Isadora moved to a grandfather clock, which looked like it had stopped long ago. “This is eerie.” 

“Maybe someone lives here and just doesn’t care.” Duncan suggested, though he looked unconvinced. He moved to the nearest doorway, peering through and calling Hellos and Is anyone heres for a few minutes, while Violet and Klaus helped Sunny walk over the carpet, which had been mostly dirited and destroyed. 

Isadora peered at a couple spiderwebs, before making her way to Duncan. “Yeah, I think I saw a rat over there. We should probably move out.” 

“We can probably find a decent room. We’ve slept in worse.” Violet said. “At least the floor sounds stable. The structure of this library seems to be good.” 

“I don’t think it’s a library.” Duncan said. “The hall out there had a couple old portraits and shit, and a bunch of rooms, and the one swinging open looked more like a dining room. This is probably just a library in an old house.” 

“Who would abandon all these books?” Isadora asked. 

Violet paused, and then said, “Let’s see the dining room, then.” 

While Klaus helped Sunny step over the door’s threshold, they made their way to a swinging door whose knob had fallen off. Klaus shone his light in, and they saw a long dining table, probably meant for a party with a large number of guests. There were cupboards and shelves littering the area, but there were also books stashed atop dressers and inside glass cases. 

“This person must have really loved books.” Duncan said, pulling out his commonplace book and starting to take notes. “There’s a lot. But they’re all still here. Maybe the person died and nobody picked up their stuff?” 

“Maybe they had to leave quickly.” Klaus sighed. “We’ve had to leave behind cool stuff before.” 

“And then didn’t come back for years?” Isadora moved to a cracked, broken window, running a hand over the dusty sill. 

“Look, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll probably leave soon anyway.” Klaus said. “We-” 

“Violet?” Sunny called. 

They all turned to the oldest girl at Sunny’s call, to see that she was standing, frozen, over three books, piled onto the edge of the table. She was staring down, her eyes wide and with a strange feeling behind them- horror? No, she didn’t seem scared. Sadness? A bit too active a spark in her eyes. 

Recognition. That was it. A surprised recognition. 

Violet ran her hand over the spines, letting dust sprinkle to the ground. 

“Les Fleurs du mal.” she read, her voice barely audible. “We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The Blue Aspic.” 

Klaus picked up Sunny, walking over with confusion written across his face. “Those first two-” 

“Bayuh,” Sunny said. “Our parents’ favorites, right?” 

Violet nodded shakily. “And Blue Aspic… She reached down, touching the spine. “That was Lemony’s. Mother told us that once, remember?” 

“I never understood that.” Klaus said. “But why-” 

His breath caught in his throat. 

Duncan and Isadora turned, confused, watching as he stumbled back into a creaky chair, sitting down and staring into nothing, a stunned silence spreading over all the children. Sunny gasped and leaned forwards, reaching to brush her hand against Violet’s, while Violet just kept her eyes on the books. 

“Violet?” Isadora asked. “Are you okay?” 

Violet slowly, slowly, shook her head. 

“I think,” she said, “This is our house.” 

Isadora and Duncan fell completely silent. Violet, meanwhile, wandered to one of the cupboards, sliding it open and stepping back to let the dust fall out. She peered inside at the old books and jars, reaching forward to take a novel out- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. She’d never read it. Maybe she would have, if she’d grown up here. 

“These are the remnants of what… what we were supposed to have.” she said, staring down at the cover. “If we never… went running.” 

Klaus hugged Sunny tight, as Sunny started to cry. “Can you…” he took a deep breath. “This place must have been beautiful before Mother and Father- before they had to leave.” 

Duncan nodded, and sadly ran his hand over the wall. “You can see what the paint must have been, the designs.” 

“Everything here used to be so pretty.” Isadora nodded, looking at a vase that had toppled to the ground and been subsequently covered by cobwebs. 

Violet took a breath, before waving the book in the wind to break the dust off it, and then sliding it into her bag. “I- I have to see something.” she said, and she took off. Without a word, the others quickly followed. 

Violet ran down the hall until she reached a large foyer. A chandelier still hung from the ceiling, though it looked like it was about to fall at any instant, and there was a creaky door, with a lock over it and fallen boards behind it, seen through the low windows. Violet ignored the door, instead going for the stairs. She found them to be sturdy enough, so she raced up, letting her sleeve rub against the railing, causing dust to scatter behind her and over the side. She heard the others running behind her, but at this point, her head was buzzing, with just one thought in her mind. 

On the second story, she opened each door, peering inside for only an instant before moving on. Another library. A bathroom. A broom closet. A master bedroom. A study. No, no, no… 

Then she found the right door, and when she opened it, she fell from her heightened, almost frenzied state into one of complete stillness. Not the normal stillness she got when she froze- she still stepped forward, but there was a reverence in it she had never had before. The stillness was in her heart; for a moment, all her feelings had stopped, all her emotions halted to just give her a moment to look ahead. 

Klaus came in after her, and then froze behind her, putting a hand over his mouth. Sunny slid to the ground, and when she, too, realized what they were looking at she said a quiet, “Oh.” 

Duncan and Isadora arrived just in time to see Violet carefully slide to her knees, her hands throwing themselves onto the ground to steady her as she stared inside. And as the Quagmires looked in, they also saw the painted clouds and birds, faded and chipped from fifteen years away. They saw boxes and crates, never to be unpacked, left with the intention of decorations or unbuilt furniture never to be built. But there was some- a dresser with a music box atop it, and a statue of a carousel. The drawers were painted with purple stripes and swirls, and the handles still had the remains of fifteen-year-old glitter. A rocking chair had tipped over in the corner, a moth-eaten cushion beside it. 

And pushed against the wall was a broken crib, a small mobile hung over it. The mobile had delicately-crafted stars, the color long since faded, and when the door swung shut, the slight breeze caused it to turn a little. 

Violet remained frozen, just staring at the crib. 

Duncan and Isadora quietly stepped in, almost wondering if they shouldn’t be here. Klaus made his way over to the music box, picking it up off the dresser. Sunny reached up her arms for it, and he handed it to her, before picking up the carousel. Sunny opened the music box, a few soft notes playing out- the Quagmires couldn’t place the tune, though it sounded to be in common meter. 

Klaus shook his head, “I- I thought Mother and Father didn’t have us until they went on the run. So… were they just trying? Or-” 

Sunny shook her head. 

“What do you mean, Sunny?” Isadora asked. 

Sunny held up the music box. “Eton,” she said. “There’s a note inside.” 

Duncan took it from her, as Klaus slowly put the carousel back and picked up Sunny again, hugging her tight. He looked down, and said, “It’s written onto the bottom of the box.” He read it aloud, for all of them to hear. 

To our Violet, May this help you sleep well. We’ll make the world a song for you. - L.S. 

Klaus shut his eyes. “Lemony prepared the room?” 

“Probably before… before your parents decided they had to leave.” Isadora said, hugging herself and leaning onto Duncan’s shoulder, looking down at the faint writing. “That’s why it’s unfinished, he realized that- that they weren’t going to use it.” 

“But… why…” 

“Cause he was our Dad.” Violet said. 

Everyone fell silent. Violet still hadn’t moved from her position, on her knees, on the floor. Her eyes were shut. She’d processed what they’d all said behind her, and put it all together, and now she never wanted to get up. 

“Our parents loved him, and he loved them.” Violet whispered, lowering her head. Her hair fell over her shoulders, brushing her cheeks. “And now he’s gone. And so is all this.” 

Duncan slowly reached over and wound the music box. The notes carried some more. 

Klaus walked over to Violet, kneeling beside her. He looked at her face, and then wondered how long she’d been crying. 

He put his hand on her shoulder, and Sunny touched her arm. Violet didn’t look over at them, but she did speak again. 

“We’re not running again.” she whispered. “We’re going to find our parents, and kill the bastard keeping them from us. Who caused… this.” 

Nobody said anything, and they just let the music box play on. 

Esmé dramatically fainted onto the sofa. “Darling, I can’t possibly do any more work today. Those fucking children tried to kill me.” 

“The baby bit you. Babies bite all the time.” Olaf groaned. 

Their recent hideout was thankfully near enough for Esmé to reach in a short amount of time, and while the rest of the Henchpeople were out in the city looking for the children, Fernald remained behind with a map. After he finished tracing a path- no small feat, considering he had hooks- he waved towards his boss. 

“See, Esmé? Hooky’s doing work for us.” 

Fernald brought the map over, laying it out on the ground. “They just left Prufrock, yes? So if we assume they take the roads, they’ll probably go this way.” 

Olaf looked down at the route, and then smiled very, very darkly. He reached down and pointed at a spot, about halfway to the City in that direction. 

Fernald’s eyes widened. “Uh, boss, I really don’t think-” 

“Shut up, Hooky. Esmé?” 

She groaned and looked up. “What?” 

“We need you to pay off a bus driver to have an unscheduled stop.” 

“Can’t we just wait until they reach the city?” 

“Oh, no, my dear,” Olaf said, and then he gestured for her to look at the area he was pointing at. “Look what they could run into on the way.” 

Esmé glanced down, and then beamed.

[inceptionbigbang]

The complete list of fics available for the Inception Big Bang 2019 is here!

Works are numbered, without the authors names to preserve the mystery. Artists, when you're ready to make your decision send us an email or a tumblr message with your top 3 choices. Fics will be claimed depending on availability, on a first come first served basis. 

On this round we will only assign one artist per fic. Artists that wish to claim a second fic, or that wish to work on a fic that has already been claimed should check out the second round, on July 2nd. All fics will be open for all.

Without further delay, here they are:

1. Arthur and Eames meet as trust fund teens in a Manhattan private school. Eames is a new student who's just moved from overseas, and him and Arthur hit it off immediately. Friendship turns to a whirlwind summer romance, until Eames is forced to move back to London. They meet again many years later when Arthur has to kidnap Eames for a job.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

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2. A songfic featuring Aubrey by Bread, studying Arthur and Eames and what their relationship might have been like before the Fischer job. The characters aren't going to resemble fanon (Arthur's closed-off persona and Eames's flirtiness). I'm going to try to expand more on what Nolan gave us during the movie (Arthur's straightforwardness and Eames's aloof/cold personality). Basically, Eames is distant and Arthur chases.

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Teen and Up - Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

* There might be a torture scene, but I'm still debating on whether or not I want that in the story.

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3. A fic about arthur and eames and their first meeting in the military to all their other meetings in the criminal underworld of dreamshare. not that long, i'm aiming for 2.5k or maybe 3k if i can. i wanted to focus on their totems and how eames could use forging as a totem (because if he can't forge then he must be awake, right?) but he has a totem just in case. and arthur has a totem (the die from the movie) that he uses a lot more except when he happens to be taken and tortured for some secret or another and the only thing that convinces his brain that he isn't dreaming is the way eames stands when arthur aims a gun at him? if that makes sense....

here's a little bit of what i have written so far:

he’s more surprised at the lack of surprise he feels when eames digs a poker chip out of his desk. its blood red with gold and white accents, worth five thousand dollars at the particular casino it came from, disregarding the fact that it was arthur’s shitty first and last attempt at a real world forge after he participated in a poker game eames held on base many years ago and realized half the chips in the set were fake, pocketing a one thousand dollar chip to use as a reference.

“our totems match,” eames murmurs, flipping the chip over his knuckles with a concentration a bit too intense for something he could do in his sleep (ha).

“match how?” he asks, sipping a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed because eames wanted to use the electric juicer. he's tempted to pull out his die from his pocket and roll to see it land on five, even though he knows this isn’t a dream.

“i have something that you made, and you have something i made. also, there’s some significance with the number five.”

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

*I put the Graphic Depictions of Violence just to be safe but i think it's less than what's shown in the film? because it's supposed to be like an after-torture scene where arthur is like "ouch i'm super hurt and drugged and don't know if i'm dreaming" but again i don't think it's any more graphic than the film at least. might keep that tag just to be safe though idk

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4. When dreamshare is first developed, no one has totems. They've always gone into dreams for short amounts of time and always with another person, so there's no chance of someone forgetting their reality. Mal's friend Pip has consistently been pushing the boundaries of dreaming, and one day she decides to go a later deeper without Mal. When Mal wakes up, she realizes that Pip is still asleep and she has to go down after her where she basically incepts Pip with the idea of totems.

Gen

General audiences

No content warnings apply

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5. There was a small lake behind Arthur's house. The following night, he sat at its edge and stared at the moon's reflection in the water.

See something you like?

Arthur turned. A man was sitting next to him.

"Hello," Arthur said. "Thank you for helping me get home last night."

The moon smiled. "How did you know it was me?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. He picked up a pebble and tossed it into the water, watching the waves ripple the reflection. "How can you be here and there at the same time?"

The moon leaned back on his elbows and stared up at the sky. "Same way I can be in the lake and the sky at the same time."

Arthur frowned. "That's not the same thing. The lake's just reflecting the light from the moon. From you."

The moon turned to smile brightly at him. "Well aren't you a smart one, hm?" He leaned in and whispered, "I'm a reflection, too. We all are, at the end of the day."

Arthur thought about that. It didn't make sense, but that didn't mean it was wrong. He looked up at the moon in the sky, then at the moon sitting next to him.

"My name's Arthur," he offered. "What's your name?"

The moon looked at him strangely. "Eames. You can call me Eames."

"I'm going to be an astronaut, Eames," Arthur said. "Then I can come and visit you in the sky."

Eames smiled again. Arthur wouldn't have thought the moon liked to smile. "I would like that very much," Eames said. "Very much, indeed."

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content Warnings Apply

This fic is a canon AU and will ultimately include the events in Inception.

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6. Eames on vacation after inception and stumbling upon Arthur; floppy haired, tanned and just completely the opposite of how Eames has ever seen him before.

Hawaii looked good on him, no better than good...

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

.

7. It’s a follow up story to Cat Person.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040948

First story summary:

Arthur misses his cat and would very much like to get another. He gets Eames instead.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

Set in the Star Trek Universe

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8. This is an academia AU! Arthur is a struggling young professor trying to find his niche, Eames is the mysterious colleague he keeps (inadvisedly!) hooking up with at conferences.

Arthur/Eames

Mature

No content warnings apply

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9. When Eames first moved to America, he was at a loss for things to cook. He wasn’t used to the supermarkets and ingredients he needed were expensive. So he Googled food bloggers and found Arthur’s blog. The weekly updates keep Eames going in his boring office job. It takes him a few months before he gets the courage to comment but it’s all downhill from there. Eames is lost with Arthur’s sardonic commentary and when Arthur’s next recipe is one Eames requested, he knows he’s in bad.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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10. Arthur is a flight attendant. Eames is a passenger.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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11. Haunted House AU. Arthur’s working at a popular horror maze escape place to make some extra money over the summer. It’s far from his dream job—making minimum wage crouching behind dark trap doors and chasing random couples and tourists—but at least he gets to vent his frustrations about his coworkers (who are, frankly, driving him insane day by day) by literally screaming at customers. Then there’s Eames, who finds haunted houses boring, overrated, and not the least bit frightening, but is willing to humor a friend (Ariadne?) by accompanying her. But an encounter (and some painfully obvious flirting) with the cute guy under the ghoul mask is enough to make him want to come back again, and again, and again—

FEATURING:

- Cobb as the owner/boss and the only guy who actually takes his job seriously. He probably squints a lot because sunlight genuinely hurts his eyes lmao - Mal as his wife, who used to be an actress but left to start a business with Dom. Super sweet and kind of protective of their employees. Plays the main ghost. She’s terrifying. - Yusuf doing their costumes and makeup!!!!

- Arthur getting the job in the first place because his screams are so full of rage (let! him! rest!)

- Eames blowing all his cash on haunted house admission fees so he can flirt with Arthur (who plays different roles on different days, maybe? but Eames can always recognize him, even under the masks/makeup)

- he’s not trying to be creepy, he just wants to ask if he can see him outside of work/get his number—but something always goes wrong before he can

- Arthur being frustrated because Eames is a) distracting, and b) not easily scared, which doesn’t look good for his job. And it annoys him because he has a track record of being able to freak out anyone. He takes it upon himself to make him scream at least once (I haven’t decided how he does, but he does, eventually. Eames probably jokes about screaming with something other than fear, but i am too babey to write any sexytimes)

- maybe??? mild h/c?? Dumbass Drunk College Students coming in all wanting to prove to their friends that they're the Alpha Male, picking a fight and being super violent/rowdy/destructive, + arthur getting hurt/generally kind of shaken up; that’s the first night he lets eames really talk to him outside of the job, maybe even lets him take him home (i dont know if im including this scene for sure but..perhaps)

- Ariadne getting them banned from the haunted house after reflexively slapping Arthur in the face with a rubber snake (Cobb takes the ‘no touching the actors’ rule seriously—especially after what happened^). Eames thinks he’s lost his chance for good, but Arthur finds him outside and finally makes the first move :)

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

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12. Arthur is in love with Eames, and he's pretty sure Eames is at least interested in him back. Only problem? Arthur is ace, and not at all sure how Eames is going to react to that. But Arthur's going to talk to him about it, because the alternative is to lose even his friendship with the forger, and that's just not on.

Only the team is also determined to set the two of them up. Will that end up being a wrecking ball to Arthur's fragile attempts at making things work with Eames?

STORY OUTLINE:

Arthur is ace, and no one knows. When Eames invites Arthur to join him for Christmas, Arthur panics and says no - and spends the whole of Christmas regretting it. The team comes back from Christmas break, and everything is awkward. Arthur knows he has to say something or ruin his relationship with Eames forever, and he's going to do that at the New Year's party where Eames will hopefully be in a good enough

But unbeknownst to him, he's not the only one who's realized something needs to happen. Cobb, Ariadne and Yusuf agree that an intervention is in order. And when better to set their two friends up than at New Years? Get them kissing and surely the tension between them will resolve itself.

What could possibly go wrong?

At the New Year's party, Ariadne suggests playing a game of spin the bottle. Arthur is less than enthused, but Cobb and Yusuf both back up the idea. They play a few rounds before it lands on Eames, whom Ariadne dares to make out with Arthur.

There's an awkward beat before Eames moves to do it. Arthur reacts by freezing and shying away physically. Eames takes this a rejection and leaves the room. Arthur sits there, frozen, and then leaves too.

He goes to the bathroom and breaks down, blaming himself for being so stupid and backwards. Eames hears him, and comes in and comforts him. Once Eames realizes what the problem is - that Arthur is ace - he promises Arthur that it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be close to him. Cue happy end credits.

Arthur/Eames

General

No content warnings apply

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13. Arthur learned a long time ago that he was special, and no else could see the strings.

Or, ‘everything is still the same, but Arthur can see Red Strings of Fate’ AU.

There are moments when Arthur thinks he needs to tell Eames about the strings. Owes him the truth, he thinks, Eames deserves to know. Other times – well.

Eames knows enough, and he has secrets of his own. Arthur is allowed this one.

Maybe someday it will come up on Sunday brunch, or something.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I can see red strings that I’m pretty sure are tied up to being literal soulmates and we have one. Get it? Tied up hehe. Anyway, no pressure or anything. Love the sex.”

Yeah, Arthur, that would go lovely.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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Ok folks, the next fics are or may eventually get explicit. Minors, we love you guys! Stay safe. Don’t claim them.

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14. Arthur has a goldfish which, long story short, he has convinced himself he only needs to keep alive to prove he is not a hot mess. Except now it’s not looking so good and has a weird sore on its side and he doesn’t know what to do but he can’t just let it DIE. So he takes it to the vet and is scoffed at and told it is a feeder goldfish, they cost less than a dollar, just get a new one.

Two vets later and he’s at the end of his rope when he meets Dr Eames, whose dog is introduced as his PA and goes on all his rounds with him. Dr Eames doesn’t even question it, just starts the exam and tells Arthur to pet the dog and start at the beginning while he works.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature - Explicit

No Content warnings apply*

* Discussions of parental death.

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15. Eames is working with Arthur the first time in a long while, only now it seems that he has a huge crush on Arthur. He doesn't know how else to get rid of the crush and he really can't concentrate on the job when he's thinking about Arthur all the time, so he asks Arthur to have sex with him, to get the crush out of his system. Arthur agrees surprisingly easily and sex is great, but afterwards Arthur doesn't seem happy and Eames' crush is worse than ever. The more Eames tries to get rid of his crush, the more it sticks, and the less Arthur is talking to him. After the job, Eames has some time to think and he realises that maybe neither of them really wanted for him to get over Arthur. He goes to see Arthur to talk to him about it, but they end up kissing and stuff as well.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

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16. Summary: Eames hasn't seen Arthur in almost four years.

Pseudo- Winter Soldier AU.

--

There's no response from Arthur, no recognition in his eyes. No banter, no teasing – a coldness that would leave any lesser man with severe frostbite.

"... Arthur?" The words sound so raw, so gutted in Eames’ mouth. "Are you-" are you alive? Are you dead? Am I dreaming?

He reaches for his poker chip.

But before he can trace the ridges for the familiar grooves, a shot rings out loud like a crack of lightning.

And the last thing that Eames sees is Arthur and how he always remembers him: in his whip-black suit and a smoking gun in his hand.

Bang.

A single bullet tears through Eames' temples, and he is ripped open, pain lighting every nerve in his body like a pinball machine – and he prays to god that this is merely a dream so he can finally wake up.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

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17. “Taxiing an injured delivery boy around the neighbourhood to help him complete his remaining orders had not been a contender on Eames’ list of potential scenarios for the night. Instead of the morose teenager bleeding onto the synthetic leather of the passenger seat, and the short stack of pizza boxes sliding to and fro across the backseat, the Brit had rather imagined his rental car would serve far more nefarious purposes tonight." -- Essentially, Pizza Delivery Porn Guy Crack A/E AU. Aim: comedic tone with bowchikkawowow.

*Arthur isn't the teenager. He is a customer who ordered pizza.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*There is mention of a traffic accident - no detail, but it might not be someone's cup of tea. Also, not yet at the sexual scene so don't know whether I'll stop at M or go to E.

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18. In the court of the vampire supreme Saito, ambitious human noblemen Eames and Arthur battle for the coveted position of favorite bestower. Winner takes life everlasting.

Arthur/Saito

Side: Arthur/Eames

Arthur/Dom Cobb

Eames/Saito

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Bloodplay, Extreme Sadomasochism. Possible Necrophilia

.

19. Arthur is an undercover narcotics officer posing as a high school senior. Eames is his teacher, who is taken with Arthur and who feels terrible for lusting after a student. Arthur takes down the bad guys, saves Eames' life, then they smash (after Eames finds out he's a fully grown adult person).

Arthur/Eames

Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*Eames is (shamefully) interested in Arthur, who he thinks is 18 and also his student.

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20. Pre-movie: Dom and Mal are a dominant/dominant couple who want to find a sub they can play with together. Arthur is interested in trying to fill that role.

Arthur/Dom Cobb/Mal Cobb

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*BDSM, bondage, dominance/submission, spanking/flogging, roleplay.