#like someone used my art as inspiration for their phone case design???

[rainypebble07]

I was overdue for a phone case redesign. Guess what inspired me

medium: miscellaneous nail polish

WHAT THAT'S ACTUALLY SO COOL- 10/10 phone case, stegosaurwill looks amazing in his red flannel.

But the poor guy is about to get hit by an asteroid too, so... rip I guess

That's just so crazy and I absolutely love it, good job!!!

[ashdreams2023]

Uhm, hello!

If you wouldn't mind, could you write a fix about Loki and a fem!reader in which the reader loves doing their nails, but wants to test designs out on someone else first before doing them on herself and she ends up using Loki, who very begrudgingly agrees [ and secretly enjoys the results! ]

Yes yes fluffy fluff

Loki x reader who likes nail art

Every once in a while Loki would spend his later afternoons looking at you painting your nails, he liked how good you care at it, like a subtle art it was, you always look inspiration from your phone and try to recreate them.

Just last month you managed to paint a whole pond of koi fish swimming.

"You know I can try some work on you if you’re willing" your offer intrigued him, it was new and why not, it didn’t case him any harm "your cuticles need some work"

"I suppose I should be a gentleman and accept my maiden��s offer"

You rolled your eyes then grabbed his hands to start your work, he was a little spectacle about the whole thing but eventually relaxes when he realizes it actually feels kinda nice. 

"This won’t hurt so calm yourself"

He rolls his eyes but keeps his eyes focused on the small clippers you just used on his dead skin.

"They’re clean…I wash my hands" his words were debunked by the sight of you digging the gunk stuck underneath his nails.

Your handwork was very delicate "So what will be it? Butterflies or the sunset in Asgard"

"Is that even a question dove?"

A chuckled left your lips before you got back to work, the brush movement was significantly detailed, like a small portrait. 

"Almost done, don’t move…"

"I’m not moving!"

Eventually you were done and just put his nails under the light to dry off equally, with a last coat of protection your master piece was finished.

"What do you think?"

Loki stared at his nails, you kept them a decent length, only a few inches over his natural nail length, the earthy colors with the gold was stunning, the streaks of your brush, he’s mind blown seeing such talent.

"It is…incredible, you have hands of gold my dove…how did you learn this?" he took your hands, he kissed your knuckles.

You licked your lips then said "Well I had a lot of time to practice, I used to work on my friend’s nails but recently it’s only been me and my mechanic hand"

Loki titled his head "you can try designs on me…" he looked down at his nails, his mother would’ve liked these, they were more her style.

"Really? You know you’re risking your freedom to my hands my prince" You smirked playfully then kissed his cheek for trusting you.

He raised a brow at you but scoffed "I’ll take my chances little dove"

[polycraftory]

Critical Role Leatherworking Projects

I wanted to write these all down in one place so I can link back to finished project photos and how to guides later.

These are the cosplay projects we currently have in the works: Nott Level 10, Laudna Level 3, and Imogen Level 13! These will all be completed by NY Comic Con 2024. I also have notes on my Imogen Level 3 cosplay that is currently on hiatus and I'm also planning a Jester cosplay for NYCC 2025.

If anyone would be interested in buy guides or even how tos on this sort of leatherworking for cosplay (general ones or cosplay specific), please let me know! I feel like leatherworking was a hard craft for me to break into because a lot of info on the internet is not at all written for a queer femme or a younger person in mind. If I can make this incredible craft more accessible, I'd really love to!

All the cosplay notes & links under the read more since it got long.

I also include the links to the tag I use to track each of the projects and some of our general cosplay/crafting tags in case you are curious about the rest of the cosplay construction other than the leatherworking.

Also psst if you like critical role we run an etsy and we already have some critical role shirts.

General Links

These all link to tags on our blog for easy navigation. Someone in our polycule has decided to specialize in every element of cosplay construction and I'm trying to document it all! We also just do a lot of general crafting. You can check out our pinned post for a larger tag directory!

Leatherworking

Crafting

Cosplay

Critical Role Cosplay

Specific Projects

Projects that are in bolded italics are completed.

Nott

Level 10

Our Project Tag: Nott the Brave Cosplay

This is her goblin look but with the yellow dress. For belt accessories, we decided to take some inspiration from her level 11 Veth outfit as well as her earlier level stuff instead of sticking close to the official art for the leatherworking.

WIP Photos With All Accessories & Belt

Double Wrap Belt - to hold Many Things. Most of this belt is complete with progress photos to be posted soon. All that's left to do here is sew around the entire border for longevity and finish. I attached the buckle and belt keeper with snaps instead of rivets so the hardware could be changed out for other cosplays. I am creating a guide on how to make a double wrap / super long belt (it usually requires seaming two belts together).

Button Pouch - Completed Photos - Progress Photos & Buy Guide - This is a belt attachment designed to hold buttons to hand out at comic con.

Bigger Belt Bag - Completed Photos & Notes - Progress Photos & Buy Guide - This is to hide a phone / money.

Potion Bottle Holder - Progress Photos & Buy Guide - This is another belt attachment. The leatherworking for this is done, but I'm not posting finished photos until I melt wax over the cork on the bottle.

Flask Holder - Completed Photos Soon - Progress Photo w/ Official Art Comparison - Yet another belt attachment. I'm making my own pattern for this to exactly match her level 10 flask and I'm very excited! It's got such fun cut outs. I'm considering selling these with a flask if there is interest since I made the pattern entirely from scratch.

Laudna

Level 3

Our Project Tag: Laudna Cosplay (link will be added later!)

Attempting to get as close as possible to the official art.

Belt Bag - I am so in love with the shape of this little bag I am so excited to make this. I am going to make my own pattern for this and size it up a bit so Gabe can hide their phone in there, and I'm going to make it so the lace wrap at the front is purely decorative with a hidden snap closure for easier phone access.

Two Brown Belts On Top Of A Black Belt - Even though I try to usually make my cosplay leather projects more modular / more adaptable for other cosplay or day to day use, this is So Specific and it's got to be designed to sit right despite all the stuff attached to it via rope / ribbon. My plan is to make a thick (3-4 inches?) black belt/panel (with corset lacing in the back). I decided to directly attach the two brown belts to the corset belt so they'd stay in place and so I can hide rivets to support the ribbon with stuff on it and due to the fact that I'm using 3D printed belt buckles that are decorative rather than functional. WIP pictures soon!

Imogen

Our Project Tags: Imogeon Temult Cosplay, Imogen Temult Level 3 Cosplay, Imogen Temult Level 13 Cosplay (link will be added later!)

Level 3

Currently On Hiatus - her new outfit fucks so hard (and I'm a black leather girlie at heart) so I set aside a bunch of already done cosplay work to pivot but I will get back to this. The plan here was to be as accurate as possible to her level 3 official art.

Waist Double Layer Belt / Harness - I have a design already worked out for this that very closely mimics the design in the official art. I planned for it to be modular so that you could snap the harness on and off as well as detach the belt pouch so it might be flexible for use in other cosplays/adventure core wear.

Coin Pouch - Completed Photos - I modified a pouch pattern to add the x criss cross lace detailing down the one side. This was my first ever leatherworking project.

Knife Thigh Holster

Project Note: Dyeing leather light brown/saddle brown is not very forgiving (I really hecked up my belt dip dye the first time) so if possible buy the leather already dyed the right color or practice on darker colors first is my recommendation to save yourself some heart ache (or, like, actually use dye reducer and dye in multiple passes but I couldn't figure out how I was going to store a bunch of reduced dye in my tiny apartment so c'est la vie)

Level 13

Knife Thigh Holster (but black & gold this time) - also a custom design. I'm giving this an attachment via swivel clip to my belt loop to act like a garter belt and keep the holster from sliding down. Instead of fucking around with tooling when I don't have time to learn a whole new skillset, I'm cutting a second thin layer of leather to add 3d moon and star embellishments.

Leather Corset - I'm probably modding an existing leather corset since I don't know if I'm Emotionally Ready to make one from scratch. Her corset doesn't look like it has boning but I want mine to because I like the structure. Trying to find gold moon hardware that doesn't have a face on it may be the death of me (why moon buckle have face on it!?!) - Update: I've decided to table this for this year and use a plain black corset that fits me well. I'll probably return to this as a later upgrade to the cosplay.

And Then What?

Jester Level 2 and whatever else my partners decide to cosplay next year. I also have some non-cosplay leather projects on the docket but I'll leave that for another post.

[imincollege]

 Nouveau Karty

This work is for me to practice the art of nouveau. This semester the features I’m working on are several Nouveau pieces, these cards are meant to enhance the work I already have. I have often been told you need to have work you can tell is by the same artist. I have mostly one-off assignments that look nice by themselves, but I have been longing for artwork I can display as a whole. Le Style Mucha calls me. I enjoy its objective beauty, the time and work, the classical mixture of wild nature and man-made geometry, and the serenity of the landscapes. This work is for the elevation of my portfolio, the enjoyment of the layman, and to challenge me on how much work I can do with a set of (aesthetic) restrictions. On display in a show, they will be placed in a clear binder so one can flip through the pages, but in their natural state, the work will be placed in a specially designed box, painted in the same fashion as the cards. The work is meant to be a coffee table item, simple, garnering attention for a little, and then passed to the next person. There is room for higher production, whether it be Callender pictures, tile-matching games for children, or greeting cards for these designs. The work is meant to be easily commercialized if I were to begin selling my work. Think of this in the same vein that Leonardo kept the Mona Lisa at hand. Phone cases, laptop stickers, tapestries to hang- something quick for me to grab when someone asks “What do you do? Art? Are you any good?” now instead of rolling my eyes because the answer is yes, but you won’t have any context for the work, I can pull out this set and receive an “Oh! Nice, old timey, I think I saw that in a museum once, would you make me a painting?”. And while the answer to that will be “No, I won’t paint your hairless cat I don’t care how much you plan on underpaying me” I can point to this set of work, and say “I’m glad you like it, here’s the fixed price.”

The Nouveau Karty project is a collection of 20-56 watercolor scenes inspired from Art Nouveau lithographs and 19th-century Japanese landscape paintings. They’ll be stored in a cardboard box decorated in the same fashion with classic Le Style Mucha branding. They are meant to be coffee table trinkets, items that spark pleasantry and aesthetic unity amongst themselves. Each card is meant to be stared at, a standstill works on its own but highlights and accentuates itself and its surrounding works. A deck of cards, with the number side replaced with Art Nouveau scenes and graphics. It will come in a painted box, also featuring Nouveau graphics. Anywhere from 20- 56 trading cards and their designed box will be produced, depending on the intricacy of the design, and the amount of lamination materials available to me.

USE OF: Watercolor paper Watercolors Scissors Playing cards Possibly a laminator Card Sleeves glue 2-5 cards will be produced each Wednesday until the project is due, the first week being spent making 60 thumbnails for references. The last week will be spent organizing and putting protection on cards.

REFERENCING: Alphonse Mucha- Mucha Foundation and Masterworks book Hayao Miyazaki- My Neighbor Hayao book Hiroshi Yoshida Dream Scapes - Stephanie Pui Mun Law, book The main goal besides visual pleasure would be to mass produce a complete set of work in a short time. Successful portfolios have art you can tell are from the same person. I do not have a complete body of work and to immediately soot myself into a higher art status, a portfolio I can share with peers and employers. Each part of the work will share a piece of belonging with the others. Many people in contemporary art make art for the sake of controversy but forget that art is also for aesthetic purposes. This is meant to be strictly pleasing. Art devoid of message, or propaganda, no theory or purpose besides simply enjoyment. These works could be mass-produced, a feeling of something nice to have, handmade and special. Each scene should make the viewer think “That’s nice, I wish there was a real place that looked like this/ had these colors/ were actually this ornate”, This should be a scene intellectually accessible to most people, in or outside of the art world. People who understand the work would understand the technical process and appreciate the uniformity but also its uniqueness- ( a goal of mine to balance the two) - while anyone passing by would admire its beauty.

[desi-firms]

Coffee-Themed Products: The Latest Trends in Motivation and Inspiration

Coffee has long been a staple in many people’s daily routines, and it’s no surprise that coffee-themed products are becoming increasingly popular. From t-shirts and mugs to phone cases and wall art, coffee lovers can now show their love for the beloved beverage in a variety of ways.

One of the most popular trends in coffee-themed products is the use of motivational and inspirational quotes. These quotes often revolve around the idea that coffee is not just a drink, but a source of energy and inspiration. From simple phrases like “Coffee is love in a cup” to more complex motivational sayings like “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today”, these quotes serve as a reminder to take a break and appreciate the small things in life.

Another trend in coffee-themed products is the use of minimalist designs. These designs often feature simple illustrations of a coffee cup or bean, or the word “coffee” in a bold font. These designs are popular because they are easy to read and understand, and they can be incorporated into a wide range of products, from mugs and t-shirts to phone cases and wall art.

Coffee-themed products are also becoming increasingly popular as gifts. Whether it’s a mug or a t-shirt, these products make great gifts for coffee lovers of all ages. They’re also a great way to show someone you care, and they’re often more personal than a simple gift card.

In conclusion, coffee-themed products are becoming increasingly popular, and there are a variety of trends that are driving this trend. From motivational and inspirational quotes to minimalist designs, these products offer a way for coffee lovers to show their love for the beloved beverage. If you’re looking for a unique and personal gift, or simply looking to express your own love for coffee, there are plenty of options available. And as a final note, if you’re looking for high-quality coffee themed t-shirts and mugs, be sure to check out my etsy shop where you’ll find a wide range of products that will satisfy your coffee cravings and help you to express your love for coffee.

Visit my Etsy Store: https://ohnb.etsy.com

[ace-of-hearts-and-spades]

ASK GAME ASK GAME ASK GAME

(feel free to leave some out, I know it's a lot)

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

23. strange habits?

24. favorite crystal?

33. most used phrase in your phone?

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

67. good luck charms?

70. left or right handed?

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

85. fairy tales or mythology?

95. favorite app on your phone?

96. desktop background?

HELL YEAHHHHHH ASK GAME ╰(*°▽°*)╯

1. Coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

I love a good coffee mug, especially one with a fun little design on it.

5. Do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

Plastic cup. I’ll usually buy them in soda cans and pour them into a plastic cup because I hate drinking from the cans. I’ve never figured out how the fuck to do that hfkafhakjfhsahjf.

16. Most comfortable position to sit in?

Cross-legged and hunched over my computer like a gremlin

23. Strange habits?

Sometimes I drink lemonade with a spoon. As if it’s soup or something

I avoid the number 9 if possible. For example, I’ll refuse to sit in the ninth seat of a movie theater. It’s silly and superstitious, but I can’t help it

I avoid saying certain words linked to phobias of mine

24. Favorite crystal?

Ametrine

33. Most used phrase in your phone?

How do you tell that???? I have no idea lol. Probably just “Ok"

40. Weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Weirdest thing to ever happen at my school was that I never went to school lol. I’ve done online schooling my entire life (up until college) due to medical issues and severe anxiety

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

Maybe a peach? Because I’m soft and sweet and fuzzy like a peach. Also because I write smut and people think peaches look like butts. Or maybe a blackberry. It’s a very goth berry imo

49. What saying or quote do you live by?

“Common things being common…” It’s a medical phrase that generally makes the case that less severe things are far more common than major deadly things. I.e., the pain in your abdomen is probably your period, not appendicitis; the back pain is probably just your chronic back issues acting up again, not a sign of kidney failure. That sort of thing. As someone with the unfortunate combination of OCD, germaphobia, extreme medical anxiety, and chronic pain and medical issues, it’s a really helpful phrase to remember.

61. Favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“The only thing that’s impossible is impossibility!” – Phineas Flynn from Phineas and Ferb. It’s a quote that inspired me a lot when I was younger.

67. Good luck charms?

An Irish pendant from my Grandmother, my hippo plushie, the number 13, other things I’m forgetting….

70. Left or right handed?

Right-handed

76. What’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

French fries for sure

85. Fairy tales or mythology?

Oooooo tough one. I’d have to say mythology! I love learning about the beliefs and traditions of different cultures, and it’s something I love to develop in my own original stories as well.

95. Favorite app on your phone?

The Notes app and music app are my besties

96. Desktop background?

Concept art of Kopaka from Bionicle Gen. 2 (under the cut)

[jisungsplatforms]

[Chapter I: Let’s Party!]

Pairing: Producer/Music Major! Han Jisung x Photographer! fem! reader

Genre: NSFW! Smut; non idol au, college au, strangers to lovers

Warnings: strong language, use of alcoholic beverages, drunken antics, ?? jackson wang is throwing a party?? (jk he’s not aljsks. changbin is tho), nothing filthy in this chapter, unfortunately :/ just plot build up

Chapter word count: 2.6k words

Taglist: @hyunjeongins @seungstarss @es-kay-zee @hyunjinsplaything @formidxble @freckledquokka (want to be added? send an ask or a dm! <3)

Haven University; school of the elite. From the academically inclined to the artistically blessed, only those who were gifted with such talents are accepted to augment their potential. The perfect school for the sensational.

...And like every other school with young hormonal adults, also the perfect school for a good fuck.

“Another outstanding submission, Y/n! Keep up the great work!”

You smiled at your photography teacher, Mr. Kim, bowing humbly as you thanked him. You were proud. Praise after praise for your picture taking skills only heightened your motivation to be the best even more. Photography has always been your passion. Ever since you were given your very first camera at the age of 5 years old- which, in retrospect, was actually a toy camera, you already knew that it is something you would want to pursue.

In the middle of your teacher’s praises with another student, the bell rang. “Looks like we ran out of time, folks. Great job again, Seungmin. Everyone, class dismissed,” he said, jokingly using shooing gestures. “Now hurry up and get out of my face, you delinquents. Lunch time awaits. Go replenish your life force.”

You began gathering your belongings, slinging your precious DSLR camera around your neck. “Outstanding submission, young photographer.” You heard someone say. You turned around to see Seungmin grinning at you.

You snort out a laugh. “Thanks. Great job to you too, Seungmo.” Seungmin was about to respond when your instructor’s voice interrupted.

“Oh. Except Y/n. Please stay a little bit after class, for me, dear.” You and Seungmin shared a glance, nodding for him to go ahead without you. He pats your shoulder, bidding you goodbye. You continued packing your things into your bag. As the rest of the students left the room, you walked towards Mr. Kim’s desk, waiting for his word. “Hello, Y/n.”

“Hello, sir. You wanted to talk to me?”

“Ah yes. I wanted to ask you this,” your instructor paused, sitting on his desk. “How much do you love photography?”

You paused, wanting to convey the exact feelings you wanted to express. “Photography is an escape for me,” you answered. “It’s another form of art that helps people convey the emotions and stories people want to tell. Some people express their emotions through music and lyrics, others through paintings, and others through dance. For me, personally, I’m not all that good in any of those aspects, sir. That is why I work so hard when it comes to this class, and in photography in general.” You unconsciously caressed the camera slung around your neck. “And to me, the stories behind a photo is a lot more intimate in a way that I just can’t explain.”

“Because...this is the only way for you to express yourself? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” You nodded. Mr. Kim hummed in thought. “I see.” He stood up and walked to you, placing his warm hands on your shoulder. “I admire you, kid.”

“You...admire me?” You were confused. The teacher admires his student? Isn’t it usually the other way around?

“Oh yeah. Is that hard to believe?”

“Uhm...Kinda, yeah.”

Mr. Kim laughed mirthfully, amused by your bewilderment and doubt. “Well, believe it. You have spunk. Soul. Your work impart emotions I have never seen from my other students before. You’re passionate about what you do, and I like that. You take digital arts very seriously.”

You laughed awkwardly, the amount of praise your instructor was giving you made you happy. “I do, sir. Kinda a shame not a lot of people even consider it an art.”

“Indeed,” he replied, sitting down on his desk. “Which is why I wanted to give you an impromptu assignment. I want to assign you a story telling type of assignment; to write a story using your photography skills, if that makes sense.”

“Hm, yes? I think I get a jist of what you're trying to tell me.”

“Excellent. I just want to use this to monitor your skills, Y/n. You’re a very talented person, the most talented I’ve ever had even. I just want to see how much of that potential you really have so I can help you blossom it into something greater.”

“Oh,” you draw out, somewhat understanding why he picked you. “I see, sir. I’m honored that you’ve picked me.”

“You should,” he joked. “Now, I want you to photograph the following- write or type this down before you forget.” You hastily whipped out your phone from your pocket. “Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay. I want you to capture the perfect scenes. Give me something that gives you joy. Something that makes you emotional, good or bad or even both, if you can. Something you fear, and finally, something that you love unconditionally. These are all supposed to be different photos, by the way. Got that?”

You finished typing a few seconds later. “And...got it.”

“Awesome!” he smiled. “Just know that I’ll be giving you only 3 months to complete the assignment. I hope that this isn’t too much to ask of you, but I’m sure someone as ambitious as you doesn’t mind, right?”

“Nope, sir! Everything will be a-okay!”

“I’m glad! Now move along and get to the canteen already. I’m sure you’re just as hungry as I am.”

You giggled, making your way to the door. “Thank you sir! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Oh, finally! There you are! We were starving waiting for you!” You rolled your eyes at Minho, who immediately decided to pick on you the second you entered his field of sight.

“Shut up, you could’ve eaten without me you know?”

“Nah, cause what kind of friends would we be if you ate without you?”

“You just want to steal some of my food, don’t you?”

Minho scoffed and went quiet, prompting Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin to laugh. “Caught you red-handed, Hyung,” Hyunjin teased, which backfired immediately causing him to chant an apology after Minho gave him a look.

“So why did you take so long, Y/n?” Jeongin asked.

“Oh, Mr. Kim wanted to give me an extra assignment.”

“Extra assignment?” Seungmin questioned. “What for?”

You shrugged, sitting down. “Uh, to test me? I’m not sure but I honestly think that there’s something more behind it. Not in like a bad way, just to clarify. I mean, he did acknowledge that I’m the best in his class after all.”

Seungmin snorted. “I just know you meant that unironically.” You jokingly blew a raspberry at him.

“Of course Y/n is the best!” Hyunjin stuck his chin up. “Let’s be honest, anyone could be the best if they use me as their model!”

“Hey, Hyunjin? You wanna eat this straw?” Minho threatened, making Hyunjin shut up.

“No...?”

“Good. Get off your high horse, prince charming.”

The three of you laughed. “Poor Hyunjin,” Jeongin sympathized sardonically.

“Hyunjin please stick to dancing and uh- not dying,” you said. “I still need you alive for some more upcoming projects.”

“For me too,” said Seungmin. “I might start using you as my model as well.”

Hyunjin fake cried, “Y’all just like me for my looks!”

“I mean, there’s no denying you are incredibly handsome but we like your personality too, Hyunie, don’t worry,” you cheered him up, then turned to Jeongin. “What about you, Yeni? How’re you holding up now that Lix is gone?”

Jeongin gasped. “I miss him! I’m so lonely now, especially when I have theatre! I feel so awkward now that girls swarm up to me instead- and you know I’m a shy boy!”

“Hey! At least you’re more popular now!” Minho laughed.

“Well, now we have no choice but to remember Felix in our hearts,” Seungmin replied.

“I’m not fucking dead. I just switched majors!” the four of you turned to see Felix pouting at you all.

“Well, you’re dead to me!” Jeongin wailed. “Going from a theatre major to a dance major. How could you?!”

Felix chuckled, sitting down between Seungmin and Jeongin. “I’m sorry! You know I’ll still see you though, buddy!”

“Why don’t you just switch to a regular vocal major next semester, Yeni?” you asked.

“Nah. I originally did want to go for just regular vocal studies but, you know, even if I did accidently sign up for the class, I ended up finding something else I wanna do. Plus, theatre is surprisingly fun! You know, find something new that’ll change your life every day.”

“Yup! Especially since they often collab with the dance majors so we get to see each other a lot!” Hyunjin beamed while Minho nodded in acknowledgment.

“Oh, speaking of dancing,” Minho chimed in. “You guys wanna go to a party I was invited to?”

“No,” Seungmin immediately responded.

“No, not you, I knew you would say no. I meant the others.”

Hyunjin nodded, “I was invited to the same party you’re talking about, so yeah.”

“Can’t,” Felix replied. “I’m still getting used to my new major and I still have a few assignments to catch up on.”

Jeongin hummed in agreement. “Same here. We have a play coming up soon and I’m a lead this time, so I gotta stay home to rehearse as much as I can.”

Minho made a stank face, “Aww. Lame.” He turned to you. “What about you, Y/n? You down?”

You thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“Really?” All 5 boys looked at you incredulously.

“Yeah. I might find some inspiration while I’m there. Besides you know I’ll just be leeching off of Hyunie and Min the whole time.”

Minho and Hyunjin high-fived, cheering a quiet ‘yes!’ Hyunjin giggled. “This is great cause we might need a designated back up driver in case I get drunk and Minho-hyung abandons me!”

“Now that you’ve said that, I might seriously consider that,” Minho grinned. “We’ll pick you up at 8 sharp! Y/n!”

‘8:53pm’ You wanted to go home already.

The boys, true to their word, picked you up at 8:00pm. With little to no traffic- and the fact that Hyunjin actually got ready early so that they wouldn’t be an hour late- the three of you made it to the party around 8:20pm. Even then there were already a lot of people there.

“What the fuck. This house is huge!” you gawked. “Can you even consider this a house still?!”

Hyunjin shrugged. “I’d say this more of a mansion at this point.” All you do mutter a constant chant of ‘what the fuck. what the fuck’ over and over again. “Who’s house is this again, Minho?”

“Changbin’s, remember? Jisung said they’re celebrating in his house,” Minho replied.

“Well this Changbin dude is LOADED,” you mused. Even in the dim lighting, you could see the elegance of the house, which most likely costs more than your entire tuition. “I’d hate to be the one who has to clean up the place.” The boys lead you to the kitchen, helping you avoid the crowd cause, in your words, ‘ew yucky people’. There, they brought you to two men wearing all black, who were hanging out on the island counter. Their names were Changbin- the handsome rich boy who owns the house, the lucky bastard- and Chan- another handsome rich boy with the cutest laugh and dimples, both really sweet and hilarious men, whom you very much enjoyed talking to...

That was the last memory you had before it went downhill.

It took 33 minutes and 4 soju bottles later for Hyunjin to get drunk. Chan and Changbin were back at the booth, manning the song list for the night while Minho was somewhere with some guy in a red beanie doing absolutely nothing, so here you were: stuck babysitting your best friend. “Y/n! Y/n!”

You sighed hearing Hyunjin drunkenly call you. Again. “Yes, Hyunie?”

“I looove you~!” he sang while giving you finger hearts, rocking on the balls of his feet. You sighed again, rubbing your temple.

“Yeah yeah. I know. Love you too.”

“Y/n!” Your left eye twitched. You whipped out your phone from your bra to text Minho.

Me: You bitch.

Help me

Minho ho ho 😼: Hi

No

You glowered. You quickly glanced up to check Hyunjin, who was now sitting on the carpeted floor in front of you, counting his luscious black hair.

Me: He’s-he’s counting his hair… Please get him. It’s like watching a bird repeatedly hitting glass

Minho ho ho 😼: At least he’s not making any trouble now, is he?

He fucking jinxed it. Hyunjin stood up with a shocked look on his face. “What’s wrong, Hyunjin?”

“It’s my favorite song!” he cheered, starting to dance along. You have to admit, even when he’s drunk, he’s still an exceptional dancer. Texting Minho a quick ‘fuck you’. You put your phone back between your breasts to go back to monitoring him, preparing yourself in case you needed to tackle Hyunjin down.

“Heyyy, Y/n!” Minho suddenly draped his arm around your shoulder. Taking your eyes off of Hyunjin, you glared at your lazy, backstabbing friend, shoving his arm off of you.

“Asshole, you’re ten minutes late.”

“Oh I'm not here for Hyunjin. I need your phone.” You look at him audaciously.

“What the- why?”

“My-uh-phone died?” he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Your eyes briefly flickered towards Minho’s friend, who, in return, looked down bashfully, red faced. Hm. Weird. You rolled your eyes, nonchalantly reaching into your shirt to get your phone. Minho didn’t even hide his grimace. He cringed, “It’s warm...and wet?”

“Shut up. I’m sweating, okay? And I don’t have any pockets on me.”

Minho nodded, going back to his little friend. Before you could scold him, you heard Hyunjin screaming. You turned around to find him running to the front door. Oh shit. You started pushing people to run after him

You groaned in disgust, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of here. You pushed your way out of the crowd, cringing at the feeling of touching numerous dirty, unknown people. Where in the world is the fucking exit? In the midst of the sweaty, drunken bodies, your eyes met. It was like time had stopped; no one within the vicinity seemed to not have mattered anymore. With just a smirk and a flirty wink from the chubby-cheeked boy in the red beanie, you knew…

...you just had to fuck him

Hold on, Y/n. Your friend might get fucking ran over! You snapped out of it. With a flustered face, you continued shoving your way through, wrangling Minho on the way. “Come on, fucker. You’re helping me. Let’s go,” you sneered while Minho complained.

After 30 minutes of chasing and wrestling, the drunken beast was tamed. The night ended with Minho driving you all home instead while you and Hyunjin cuddled in the backseat against your will. Minho took great pleasure in knowing that he wasn’t Hyunjin’s cuddle buddy, laughing every time you tried unlatching yourself from him, which made the long haired boy cry. Your sadistic friend dropped you home first, apologizing for not being much of a help tonight. “To make it up to you, I have something for you,” he suspiciously said, wiggling his eyebrows, before giving your phone back and driving off.

You relaxed on your bed, happy that you were rid of those dirty, smelly clothes. You grabbed your phone to text Minho. Assuming that the messages app was left on your conversation with him, you started texting, not paying any mind to the fact that the chat was blank.

Me: Thanks for taking me I guess. I didn’t get anything other than unwanted kisses from Hyunjin ew but it’s aight.

Speaking of aight…Do you think you can give me your friend’s number? 👁👁 The one with the red beanie.

Cause sir, not to be nsfw or anything but he is one fine ass man that I’d like to fuck

Almost immediately, the three bubbles appeared. You were surprised that Minho would reply that fast, thinking we was still on the road with Hyunjin. The reply you got, however, made your heart drop.

Min’s hoe: uh...hi? 👋🏻

this is minho’s “fine ass friend with the red beanie” 👁👁

Shitshitshitshit SHIT

[NEXT CHAPTER]

A/n: Sorry no smut in this chapter just plot build up :(( (which i’m a sucker for) and a lot of dialogue. But Trust me. Everything written in this chapter will fall into place with the future chapters. And who know, next chapter might be 🥵

[manikas-whims]

okay your Green Arrow X Kanej AU is amazing. I absolutely love the idea of Inej being the hooded vigilante and Kaz as her hacker partner

but if not fic, can you at least write some headcanons, I'm dying!!! Arrow was my shit back in 2014!

Okay! So here we go..

since I'm writing proper headcanons, I'll change Inej's vigilante name from Green Arrow to "Wraith" and make other plot changes as i feel like..:)

Tagging @kanejweek

under Day 4: Corrupted Ambition

Inspired by this moodboard

Kanej Vigilante AU Headcanons

Part 1 | Next»>

• It all started when 19 yo Inej Ghafa was out on a cruise with her parents after a big success in the business workings of the Ghafa Industries

• On around the 3rd day of cruise, due to a heavy storm, a shipwreck occurs

• Inej gets separated in the chaos and wakes up one morning to find herself ashore an unknown island.

• For days she wanders, having lived a life of luxury and love under the care of her parents, she believes she won't survive long.

Then several days later, when she's on the brink of passing out, a strange man finds her. He takes her to his hideout and offers her potable water (unlike the sea water on the shores) and also some fruits from the island.

At first she's cautious and keeps her distance but slowly comes to trust this man.

• The man trains her in survival skills and to her surprise, even teaches her some combat skills. She doesn't know which one cause she's unfamiliar with martial arts.

Finally the man teaches her using his makeshift weapons. And she finds she really enjoys using knives 🔪 and bow & arrows 🏹

﹏ time skip: 5 years later ﹏

• Inej is praying before the grave of the strange man who is now dead (due to mysterious reasons).

• She sees an airplane passing over the island. She burns a big stack of dead leaves & animal dung.

The plane spots the fire and then helps her get back. Someone on the plane recognizes her as the young heiress to the Ghafa Industries.

• Turns out she is the only one who was lucky enough to survive. There were no bodies discovered of her parents after the shipwreck.

• She is sent back to her home to live with her immediate aunt (from her father's side) and it takes her a few weeks to adjust.

• Meanwhile the news about her return is all over media. But her aunt protects her from any interviews.

• A Return Party is held for her where she reunites with her college bestfriend Nina Zenik.

• There's lots of hugs and crying and catching up to do. Nina has become well-known Fashion Designer.

• Ghafa Industries is currently being run by her father's former business partner Per Haskell.

Haskell doesn't hand over any authority to her as he believes a girl who'd been assumed dead for 5 years, isn't in the right state of mind to run a company.

But Inej doesn't trust Haskell at all. In fact, the more she encounters him, the more she begins to think the whole shipwreck was a planned thing to eradicate her family and gain ownership of Ghafa Industries.

• She decides to snoop around a bit into her parents' mansion and also at Haskell's home. And with the skills she's acquired under training from that man from the island, its pretty easy for her to scale walls and disappear like a ghost.

• She finds an old diary with her father's initials on it and takes it back home.

• The entire diary is full of a long list of names of people from other famous corporations. And she has no idea what this means.

• So left at a dead end and kinda bummed, she has no idea where to look or what should be her next step.

Thats when Nina Zenik pops up!

• Nina drops by at night and after some drinks and a batch of waffles, Inej ends up telling her (only vaguely) that she needs help figuring out some information because she doesn't trust Haskell.

• Nina nods and begins ranting about how shady Haskell seems.

Then Nina looks around as if to check no one is listening, and whispers, "You should totally see Dirtyhands."

"Who's Dirtyhands?" Inej is confused.

"He's a well-known hacker, a thief of secrets! I took his help a year ago to spy on my ex. That's how I discovered she was cheating!"

Inej rolls her eyes. "Are you sure this guy can actually help me?"

"There's no harm trying." Nina shrugs and picks up her phone.

Inej's phone buzzes the message tone as Nina sends her a name and address.

Inej eyes widen a little. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Nina winks. "He just likes to keep a low-profile by working at company's with a good reputation."

﹏ next morning ﹏

• Inej is still unsure because the details Nina had sent her last night belonged to an employee of the Ghafa Industries itself.

• She takes a breath and walks into the building that her parents had worked hard on from scratch.

• The receptionist immediately recognizes her and says, "Let me call your Uncle Mr. Haskell-"

"No need to disturb him." Inej says hurriedly and instead asks about the person Nina had sent her to see.

• With the details, Inej steps into the lift and stops on the 6th Floor: IT Section

• She searches around a bit and finally finds his room.

• She walks in and a guy clad in a casual black button-up and pants instantly turns around at the noise.

• "Umm..Kaz Brekker?" Inej begins. "I'm—"

"Inej Ghafa." the guy says curtly, his voice a brush of stone against stone. "That rich girl who has come back from the dead. Everyone knows who you are!"

Inej nods tensely. "Okay I need your help."

"Did Haskell send you here?"

"No, I don't need permission from Uncle Haskell to see anyone from my parents company!" she answers in frustration.

"In that case, there should'nt be any issues if I just call up your Uncle and ask him before helping y—"

"Dirtyhands!" she yells quickly and now he tenses.

His calm demeanor changes and he narrows his eyes on her. "How do you know that alias?"

"I have my sources." She answers as coolly as she can.

• Kaz Brekker looks around in thought for a moment. "Okay I'll help you but what do I get in return?"

"Anything within my reach." She says in annoyance.

"Anything?" He asks with raised brows, mischief glimmering in his coffee brown eyes.

Inej feels as if she's getting pulled into some kind of trap but agrees with a nod in the end.

"The deal is the deal." He says, bringing out his palm to her. They shake hands.

• Inej pulls out her father's diary from her jacket and gives him the first name from the long list. "Look up this guy and find everything on him. Even the darkest details."

Kaz gives her a suspicious look. "You're upto something bad."

"Just do as I say, we made a deal!"

He sighs but begins searching up, glancing occasionally at the door to make sure no one else walks in.

• Within two minutes he's done.

"Your guy is loaded like you." He comments, then adds in a quite voice. "He's also involved in illegal sales of weapons around the city."

• Inej just nods. "Thank you. What do you want in return?"

Kaz leans back in his chair and shrugs. "I'll think about it and tell you."

She nods again and motions to leave.

"What if I disclose our conversation to someone?" He asks just as she's at the door.

She turns, her grin threatening. "Then I'll just disclose the famous hacker Dirtyhands' identity."

His lips curve down in silent defeat. She leaves.

*thats all for now! Since it was getting too long. Let me know anon if you want a continuation of how Inej's first task as the vigilante Wraith ensues..And how Kaz gets tangled in it 😉

SoC Masterlist

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Lovebug (3/10)

Summary:  

“It might be a bug.”

“A bug?”

“Sometimes the developers of this application make mistakes. This is our first time meeting I’m sure so…Isn’t it a bit weird that we just met for the first time and it rings like this? And for two strangers to coincidentally ring each other’s alarms?“

Levi is the developer of the Love Alarm App and Hange is married to Zeke.

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 4 5

Notes: So I was really planning on my posting the next chapter tonight and wahhhh right on time @renrampant posted this beautiful piece of art inspired by lovebug. I hope this chapter satisfies <3. I hope the zekehan kiss which will be coming in a chapter or two does justice to the art too.

Levi was a man of his word and he always had been. The night he created his tinder profile, such a penchant had turned out to be more than just an inconvenient truth.

Something so ideally simple as to create a tinder profile, shouldn’t have taken him more than a few hours. Yet, Levi found himself searching, grappling for the right words to say, finding some way to make himself more attractive than he actually was. It turned out with his own meagre attributes, drawing the right person was an altogether daunting task.

Maybe he was overthinking that night. Overthinking had been enough though to leave him exhausted, retiring for the night even before he even noticed he had forgotten to place the phone by his bedside.

When he came into his senses again, sunlight was streaming through the room, turning even the dimmest corners a little less black and a little more gray. The phone was a warm heavy weight vibrating on his chest.

He had to leave for the office soon.

His sleeping schedule only provided him a generous hour and a half to shower and to commute. Frustration at not being able to complete his bio the night before had him sluggish. It had him unwillingly reaching towards the back of his mind as he showered, as he shaved and pulled his light sweater on.

He considered extirpating that nagging thought. All you have to do is put a bio right? Levi thought to himself as he made his way to the subway station. He memorized the way to work like the back of his hand, all the way until the train platform He took the risk of walking straight ahead, eyes completely glued to the screen in front of him.

How it had taken him so much focus to decide on a bio. How it had taken him so much energy and thought. He didn’t know.

Levi though was a man of his word and thus, he had ended up clicking save after typing only a few simple straightforward words.

'Currently software testing. If interested, please swipe right.’

***

“So Levi, you’re a software tester?”

Levi found himself stifling a surprise snort at that question. The sound had come out as something he managed to disguise as a clearing of his throat. Hopefully it worked.

They had just settled on one of the corner seats of a chain coffee shop, a conservative choice for a first date. That is, if he were planning on impressing her. The date felt more like an obligation than an actual passion project. And obligations always had Levi’s mind running on overdrive, even with things as simple as ice breakers.

He didn’t expect that to have been the first line of conversation. He didn’t even know how to pronounce her name yet. The woman was looking expectantly though, bending a little forward. Whether she had been feigning interest or whether she had been genuinely interested, Levi couldn’t really tell.

Technically he tested software for a living and he didn’t need to really expose himself as the head engineer of the software so he settled for a nod.

“Oh, what kind of software do you test?” The woman in front of him pressed.

Levi snuck a glance at his phone under the table. Lynn. But was it pronounced ‘lint?’ Or was it pronounced ‘line?’

He was overthinking again. But when the woman had pronounced his own name correctly, it seemed almost criminal to have to mispronounce her name. Maybe he could table that question for a while.

Or never go on a date with her again. Levi thought to himself as he looked back up at her with the most casual face he could muster. “I test biology related software,” he answered. He purposely kept it vague. He had to note she was also a love alarm user. She had mentioned that part in her bio. Bringing it up in a conversation though was another issue altogether. If he brought it up, she might ask. If the conversation continued, she might ask more.

Did he want to expose then that he was the one who had designed the actual application?

“Biology sounds very interesting,” she commented. She didn’t seem interested in Biology though.

Not as interested as Hange. That quick comparison came like an uninvited visitor and Levi found himself just slapping the phone on top of the table on impulse. The clack of the phone on the table, the metal on hardwood rattled him enough to drive those thoughts away.

Lynn jumped in surprise. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Levi felt the blood rush to his face. When he was thinking longingly about someone married, and comparing her to Lynn, his date for the day, blushing seemed like an almost welcome sensation. “I heard you use the love alarm,” Levi started. When he was already making a fool of himself, might as well go straight to the point.

“You would like to check if we’re attracted to each other huh?” She asked. “But I don’t think we’d find out by the first date…”

“I said on my profile, I wanted to test a software so that’s why I’m here now actually.” Those words forced themselves out of Levi and they came out as a disturbed flow, as guttural sounds that burned in his throat. In the end, the honest man inside him prevailed.

“Test?” Lynn had been nice enough at least to mirror him and put her phone on the table. “You wanna test the love alarm now?”

Levi nodded as he fixed his eyes on the screen in front of him. He was familiar enough with the banner in the front of the screen to know with just a quick glance. The love alarm was active.

He didn’t have to open the application or pull down the banner to know the result. He was all too familiar with how the application would work even when placed on silent mode. The banner should at least appear, with the words ‘Someone nearby is in love with you.’

If there were at least two people around them then, if somebody else rang it, Levi would have been compelled to check. Both applications were void of hearts though. Levi closed the application and pocketed his phone. “It looks like we aren’t attracted to each other.” He only realized as those words escaped from his lips, how awkward or maybe how rude of a comment it came out as.

Lynn’s eyes were wide for a second before she furrowed her brows, framing those brown eyes. “Of course, we just met. I think attraction is something that can be built over time right?” Lynn answered.

“You’re not wrong,” Levi said. Really, he didn’t even believe he could be someone who could rattle off facts about love. Hange had said it herself, he was a little inexperienced.

He wanted to be right about it though. He wanted to believe attraction could be built over time. By extension, he wanted to hold on to the possibility that attraction could also dissipate into apathy. After all, all those emotions should have been in the same ballpark.

“So what do you think?” Lynn asked. She had said some words before that but maybe Levi had reflected too deeply to have processed anything more than the face of the woman before him.

If he blinked and squinted a little afterward, he could pretend that same wavy brown hair was Hange’s. Hange’s hair though was a little shorter and a little messier and when bright light shone at it from certain angles, it came off as a little red. Hange’s eyes were a little bigger and her face was a little rounder.

Lynn was just too different from Hange to ever be Hange.

When Levi let his vision blur though, let it focus on her features slowly then all at once, he could play pretend. When looking from his peripherals, settling for blurs instead of clear pictures, he could pretend the brown hair was Hange’s, the waves that fell on her shoulders as just another layer.

He didn’t even notice it, even after they had split the bill and when she turned down his half hearted offer to take her home. That was until her last greeting came out as they parted ways along the main street that led up to the train station.

Her last greeting was a long way off from a conventional goodbye but it had done its job to get Levi’s attention.

“By the way Levi, my name isn’t Hange.” She unmatched him on tinder after that.

***

Levi decided to put a small note under his name.

Software Engineer. Currently testing software. If interested please swipe right.

It turned out though, there were people who never read bios. “So, what do you do for a living?” The woman in front of him asked. His case in point.

Hange likes reading. An invasive thought tore through him then and Levi wondered how that could have ever been related to the situation at hand.

When he questioned himself, he found out why he even reflected on it in the first place. Right, since Hange likes reading, she wouldn’t have overlooked my bio if she found me on tinder.

Of course, she wouldn’t have tinder. Levi took a deep breath then, reminding himself for the nth time that he was going to have to settle for people who weren’t married to billionaire business tycoons.

He was going to have to settle for people who weren’t Hange.

But he didn’t have to settle for her either. She was underwhelmed yet underwhelming at the same time and Levi was starting to miss Lynn already as the more desirable option.

He quickly shook his head. You don’t have to see any of these people again. All you have to do is turn the love alarm on and watch it ring. But he was feeling so underwhelmed, so disappointed with the turn out of the date in front of him just minutes into meeting her. He had entertained just the thought of cancelling their food there, the only thing stopping him being the wasted food and the poor waitress who would have to clean the mess. So he decided he could at least stay long enough to at least try.

“So, have you heard of the love alarm Nanaba?” Levi asked. He may have put just a little more emphasis in her name. After all, he didn’t want the Lynn-Hange incident happening again.

“Of course, who hasn’t learned about the love alarm app? Actually I have it with me right now.” Nanaba pulled out her phone and dropped it in front of him.

Ten years of hard and stressful work made Levi immune to even the slightest compliments. “You wanna do some testing?” He asked. “Don’t you want to see if we’re compatible?”

Compatible. That was a complex word and Levi started to doubt the applicability of that application in determining compatibility. It was a love alarm, not a compatibility alarm.

Nanaba grinned. “Sure but I have to tell you, I don’t think it actually works.”

Levi raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He hoped it seemed genuine though. “Really?” When he momentarily thought back to the numerous support tickets logged just within the past two weeks thought, his expression may have turned just a little genuine. It was a mess of an application after all.

“I’ve been using it for a few months already... And it hasn’t rung, not even once. .”

Maybe nobody likes you. Levi had some ironclad rules about testing, always start with user errors, not with application errors and that had him instinctively blaming her but he had to note, most people had one to two matches, Nanaba didn’t look particularly unlikeable either. Just with the thought of statistics, it should have at least rung once if she kept it on regularly.

Levi quickly switched from his engineering hat to his much more empathetic yet still very shitty customer service persona. “Maybe you just haven’t found the one who could ring it for you?” The words tasted so sweet they almost instantly clabbered into sour milk in his mouth. He felt like he was in some sappy Korean drama.

“Well, it rang with my friend Mike once but we don’t see each other that way…”

“Oh, really? Then why did you say it’s broken?”

“Because it rang with my best friend and that doesn’t count...” Nanaba wanted to say more. It was all over her face and her tone.

Levi was in no mood though to play love counselor. But he wasn’t an asshole enough to cancel the food and ditch a seemingly sad woman either. The food came at the right time when Levi was entertaining the prospect of just leaving.

Nanaba looked very much in the mood to speak, speak about something a little more emotional, a little more serious than hobbies and Levi found himself hesitant to force the conversation elsewhere.

Levi came out of that date with no second date, no results. Nanaba on the other hand came out of that date with new found confidence to confess her feelings to her long time best friend.

By the time they had exited the shop, Levi was already swiping again, grumbling obscenities about how testing wasn’t supposed to be that hard.

***

“Rico Brzenska,” Levi said. There were only too many ways to mispronounce ‘Rico.’ Still, two failed dates had him careful about names already. “So what do you do for a living?” And careful about other things as well.

“I’m a student.”

Levi almost spit his tea out at that. He should have been more careful. He had read her bio, she had mentioned something about a love alarm app and that had him swiping right already. He was sure if he had seen any indication of a minor, he would have swiped left. “Really? What kind of student?” He asked, having gone subtly for his phone and pushing it further under the table.

“A graduate student taking business and commerce.”

Levi only had to take a quick glance at his settings to be sure, there were no chances of him dating a minor, as long as nobody was lying about their age on tinder. Being an honest man though, Levi had a harder time looking through white lies.

Such awareness had him studying her round face, her large blue eyes for a little longer. She could have been a minor. Or he could just be paranoid.

But when dating a minor could actually mean jail time, Levi didn’t want to take any chances. “Do you have any ID on you?”

“ID?” Rico frowned. “Why would you need an ID?”

“You said in your bio you wanted to test the love alarm right?”

Rico nodded. “Yes, I just wanna make sure before I start dating someone, we already have the initial attraction. I don’t wanna waste my time with people who aren’t attracted to me or I’m not attracted to, if you get what I mean?”

In response, Levi hummed in understanding. He did get what she meant. The last thing he wanted to do though was inadvertently ring the love alarm of someone a good many years younger than him and risk jail time. He probably wouldn’t ring it anyway.

But just in case. Levi put his phone out on the table, leaving one hand outstretched as if to wait for an ID.

No ID. No Love Alarm. He was sure that was the sign he was giving.

"Wait you don't think I'm off age do you? You think I'm lying on my profile?"

"No, I don't think you are," Levi said. Maybe his expression betrayed his words.

Rico eventually let go of an ID, a school ID from a familiar university logo Levi was sure he had seen a few times. And her face then had been one of pure irritation and maybe a hint of fury.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "There? Legal enough for you?"

Still a student, still too young to be engaging in anything with an older man, at least by Levi's standards. Still, he found himself almost obligated to just test the alarm in front of her.

Rico didn't look happy at all to be heavily scrutinized, or doubted. When she activated her application, Levi saw it as a cue to activate his own.

All you have to do is press the button. Levi told himself. He knew it wouldn't ring. He felt no attraction to her but paranoia had his brain going in all sorts of directions at once. Maybe the blood that rushed through his cheeks then was love. Maybe his hands shaking then were nervousness and excitement at meeting one's destined partner.

Also Rico wore glasses. For some reason, that had him thinking back to someone else with glasses, he wondered for a second if her eyes were much larger without those on. And he wondered if it was similar for Hange.

How such a long train of thought could have occupied him in such a short frame of time, interrupted by a quick sleight of hand, Levi didn't know.

But it had ended so abruptly, almost violently with the familiar cacophony of two love alarms ringing at once.

For a second, Levi sat frozen on the table as his mind went ahead, racing over theories and potential testing methods to deduce the root behind the outcome.

Do I have a glasses kink? That had been Levi's first thought. He looked down at his own phone to see the one heart and the bright message on top.

One person nearby is in love with you.

His second thought had been a little more objective. It's a bug. He told himself. I'll just have to do further testing.

Rico’s eyes were wide in shock. For a few seconds or so, she struggled to move and he couldn’t blame her. After all, the ringing of multiple love alarms in such a silent place like a cafe on a weekday morning was a scene that definitely had the potential to catch some people’s attention.

Levi couldn’t be too sure. He didn’t want to survey his surroundings either so he narrowed his view to just his own love alarm and back at Rico. The latter went for her phone.

From his own angle, Levi couldn’t see her interface but he was familiar with the way she had swiped it, to know she had turned it off. The two love alarms continued to ring in the silence. Even with the tension and awkwardness so thick that made it difficult to slog through, his brain was still moving.

He was blessed with at least enough deduction skills to quickly figure it out for himself.

He was in love with someone else in the room. But who? He surveyed his surroundings, keeping his view closed to only one person at a time. That gave him enough time to brush away the rest of the stares that surfaced from having made such a scene with the harsh ring of the love alarm.

Only after scanning for a second longer did his spatial awareness catch up to him. The other ringing was coming from behind. Levi turned behind him, quickly enough to catch the mop of chestnut brown hair. Fortunately, he had been slow and careful enough to pull away at the last second, missing her forehead by a hair’s breadth.

“Watch where you’re fucking going!” That had been Levi’s first instinct. After all, he was still seeing red, just imagining their heads slamming into each other in the middle of a very silent cafe.

The brunette in front of him, put one finger to her masked mouth, pointing at one of the old fashioned signs just above her seat.

In silence, there is eloquence. It read.

Hange was a very eloquent person. Levi had read enough messages from her and stalked enough of her works to know that much. Any other day, maybe any other minute, he would have been happy to listen, learn a thing or two from the master of diplomacy.

But Hange had virtually come out of nowhere. In the middle of a date.

Giving her a onceover though, noting her masked face. The only two things that made her recognizable then was her mop of brown hair tied in a ponytail and her masked mouth. Still, that had been more than enough for Levi to have seen through it.

She had settled on the seat behind him. The way she looked back at him and the way she had seemed a little too relaxed with a half finished cup of coffee just in front of her, Levi was sure she had been there for a while.

How much did she hear? Levi couldn’t ask just yet. The alarms were still ringing and as soon as Levi turned it off on his end, it stopped. Yet people continued to stare. More importantly, Rico was still staring from behind him.

“Do you two know each other?” She asked.

The answer didn’t come as quickly for Levi as he would have wanted it too. They knew each other, they’ve met at least twice. They’ve eaten out together once. But technically, did it count as ‘knew?’ Did Hange feel the same way?”

“We’re colleagues, working on the same project,” Hange answered for him.

Levi almost instantly realized he liked that answer. Colleagues. It was definitely more intimate than ‘knew each other.’ While at the same time, it held more respect in one’s skills and talent than the word ‘friends.’ And it implied in its own little way that Hange cared about the project just as much as he did.

It had been difficult to muster a straight face then. Still, he pushed forward, nodding when he struggled to stifle the motions of his mouth and the blood that rushed to his face then.

“But the… the love alarm… it…” Rico continued to speak. She shifted her eyes quickly between both Levi and Hange. “And you…” Her eyes fixed on Hange then.

Levi followed her eyes instinctively. Did Rico recognize Hange? He couldn’t confirm it for himself. Soon after that, Rico didn’t say anything in response. Instead she blinked back surprise. She started to clean out her things and place them into her bag.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Levi wanted to pull her back. For a split second, he had reached out his hand, grasping his hand before pulling quickly back. He didn’t mind losing the chance at a second date. Just the thought of putting someone in such a tight and uncomfortable position had his stomach turning. He couldn’t for the life of him tell what she was thinking but he at least felt the tension.

Rico didn't have the most eloquent response either. “Sorry about this… I guess on my end it just feels wrong meddling in somebody else’s relationship… I don’t wanna be the one who’d stop people from getting together.”

Levi was quick to understand though. His thoughts flew back to Nanaba just a date ago and the long one sided counseling session which consisted of Nanaba’s long drawn monologues and Levi’s own grunts of understanding. The date which eventually ended with Nanaba finally figuring out for herself the best course of action.

You know, you’re right, Both of our love alarms rang. And that’s the whole point of this app right? If they both ring, it’s a sign, we should act on it.

And that was the whole point of the love alarm. How many times had he reviewed marketing material, love story commercials which ended with that same message?

Levi opened his mouth ready to speak up. By then, Rico was already out the door, any evidence of her presence just a second ago disappearing within seconds of her leaving. The chimes by the store entrance gradually slowed to a weak dance, the people who watched her leave eventually fell back to whatever they were doing beforehand, and Levi’s own protests had deadened into a light whisper.

It’s a bug. Besides, she’s married. The words had settled in his tongue like a familiar friend and he was sure if given the chance, he would have managed to say it loud and clear.

Levi looked back in his phone to see Rico had unmatched him, just a little too quickly.

“I think we should get that bug fixed soon,” Hange whispered. She sounded like she was stifling a laugh.

"For someone who's worried about the bug, you looked like you had a swell time ringing our alarms just a while ago," Levi said bitterly.

"Zeke's on a business trip and I'm bored and lonely."

“Well, don't take it out on me.” Levi took out his wallet and dropped the cash by the side of his drink, counting enough to pay for Rico’s drink too. He didn’t think too much about the receipt or the change.

The murmurs around him were more than enough to have him hurrying out of the cafe. Did they recognize Hange?

He thought it an appropriate time to satisfy his curiosity when they were both a good distance from the shop. “Do you think people recognize you as Zeke Jaeger’s partner?”

Hange put one finger to her mask. “I saw you outside the shop and when I thought of ringing your love alarm, I did what I could to prepare." Her eyes were still smiling though and Levi was sure there was a laugh behind that mask. "Besides, even though most people recognize Zeke, I don't think they'd notice me. I don’t join the interviews or events as much as he does,” Hange said.

Levi noticed though that Hange was the type to just get lost in her surroundings. Ort hat was at least what Levi had picked up on her the first few times they have gone together. She quickly relaxed after that short and quick question and answer, and in the way that she navigated through the crowds a little too clumsily yet a little too playfully, Levi found evidence backing up his mini theory.

Even if anybody did recognize her, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. And that little realization had made it much harder for Levi to stomach what just happened in the cafe. They needed to get the bug fixed fast. “Let’s go back to the office, maybe do some more testing.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here now?” Hange asked, pointing towards the general direction of their building. “I visited your office this morning because I didn't have much to doand I thought I could be helpful. You weren’t there so I asked around and one of the people from the support team told me you were out. She said probably in your favorite tea shop.”

“You met Petra?” Levi asked. “Redhead? Short?” He soon added, noting her confused expression.

Hange snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s her name.”

“Yeah, she knows my favorite tea shop. Gets me my favorite mix of tea leaves every year for Christmas,” Levi said, more to fill the air with at least some conversation on the way back.

It took Levi a while to notice Hange had peeked at his face even as he averted his gaze, looking elsewhere.

She spoke up. “Say… Have you ever tried testing your love alarm on her?”

***

Petra was one of the newer employees, a little shy but particularly mature for her age. She was notably competent and had a particularly better handle of her emotions than most of the other colleagues. Her most important asset had been her level headedness even under the pressure of scrutiny. Petra was the type of person to know when she was attracted to someone and she was the type of person to admit it for the sake of a smoother testing process.

Thus, she was one of Levi's favorite volunteers when testing the love alarm.

And Levi was sure, to some degree she could have liked him. If he were to consider her words as truth, and the hearts at the bottom of the screen as some indication.

When they were testing every release on fifty employees over a one week period, putting results side by side with checklists and biometrics tests, they were as thorough as it could be. It was always the case that when it was the two of them testing with each other, Levi’s love alarm always rang, Petra’s didn’t. Every single time, Petra would tag that instance as ‘QA passed.’

It could have been a placebo effect or it could have also been just an admittance to get the testing process done just a little faster but Petra never seemed like the type, breezing through the awkward scenes that came with testing a love application like they were part of a job. If it ever bothered her, she never showed it.  

Levi’s alarm never rang in any of the tests he had ever taken anyway. When he double checked though, lining up the results side by side with checklists of what to look out for when one was in love, he found that it never had been a big deal. He had never been attracted to anyone in particular anyway.

“So, I’m the only one your love alarm rang with huh?” Hange asked.

Except maybe Hange.“Yeah, when doing QA work, I’ve had to test with the other employees and it never rang with any of them,” Levi admitted.

“How does QA work?”

“We test with employees, users… All on a volunteer basis if I may clarify.” Levi added that last part for just a touch of professionalism. “We have acceptable ranges for biometrics, checklists and we have a certain number of results which need to fit there to consider a release viable.”

“Why don’t we test using the QA procedure?”

“Because the QA process is a logistical nightmare. We plan a venue. We plan a schedule and we have to get a certain number of people to show up.”

“No, I meant… What if we try it, just the two of us. We answer the checklists, we take each other's biometrics and see if that falls in the exact range for ‘love'?” Hange suggested and her excitable tone only made it seem like she was suggesting something almost revolutionary.

Levi sighed. “I’d rather we use QA testing as a last resort.”

Hange’s face fell. “Why?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because…” Levi would have liked to leave it at that. As he looked at Hange who had leaned on the wall, crossing her arms and staring back at him expectantly, he remembered, it was a professional relationship. If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers so he settled for something seemingly acceptable yet very pathetic in the grand scheme of things. “We’re going to have to answer standardized psychology quizzes and take some physical tests.”

“And I’m sure you’d have a few samples lying around. Let’s see what information we can get,” Hange said.

There were other reasons Levi had been hesitant to suggest such an exam in the first place. It had been difficult to grasp for the exact reasons until they arrived in the conference room Levi had reserved.

The room was a vacuum that had the special power of just drowning out voices, footsteps from just outside the hallway. The tables were empty, the white board put away towards the side of the room. It was clean, empty, void of any presence or even trace of it. It made Levi just a little more painfully aware of his heartbeat, his moist palms and his wild uncoordinated breathing.

He might just fail the physical exam. More specifically, he might just fail if he took it then, at the exact moment.

Grasping for some win, or at the least some comfort in that situation, he had half the mind to run through the ‘Am I in love?’ checklist or at least what he remembered from it. If he were a little honest, there might have been some things he would have checked.

But it didn’t mean he would fail it right?

“What do you think?” Hange pressed. She had settled for one of the chairs in the room.

Levi had answers, but he couldn’t share it just yet. Inviting her to take that meant that he was entertaining the prospect that they might just be in love with her---a cursed prospect.

“Or do you have any other ideas?” Hange asked. She cocked her head to one side in thought.

“If you give me a little more time to come up with something…” Levi said.

“Petra told me you have a week or two before they release the next fix. You’ve done most of the coding work. You just need to fix this bug right?” Hange was very talkative. It turned out Petra had been just a little talkative too with the right prodding by Hange. “Why don’t you wanna just test it now?” Hange's face darkened then to something almost threatening.

And maybe Levi was a little intimidated. He quickly turned away, unable to control whatever expression would force itself out of him then.

“Levi?” Her voice was grating. The echoing in the room didn’t do much to help alleviate it. “Come on, please? I want this investment as much as you do.”

If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers.

But it didn’t have to be the correct answers. “Fine,” Levi said. “You know, maybe the way we test this application… the way we test for love might actually be flawed so maybe some feedback from a researcher like you could be useful.”

Hange grinned from ear to ear, the ominous face of a while ago just a memory Levi could probably forget. “So where do we start?”

***

Testing for the biological numbers was quick with the right tools.

Heart rate. Hormone levels. Stress Levels. Pain Sensitivity. They had all the right test kits on hand with a document detailing the acceptable range.

All reasonable levels, albeit a little too far from the midpoint that Levi held on to the possibility that maybe they could log it all in as some coincidence. The checklists were just a little more difficult and maybe Levi was just thinking a little too far off that he had started to have a mini identity crisis.

I think about my partner a few times a day.

Partner: Referring to the person one tests the application with. Levi was aware of that much having tested the application long before. Yet for some reason, he had to loudly remind himself of that, even within the confines of his mind.

He entertained hypotheses. If Hange were his partner, that would be polyamory and that could even start the scandal of the year, or even the decade. He didn’t want to be part of that.

So he ticked ‘never’ because technically Hange wasn’t his partner anyway.

I want to be with my partner everyday.

Hange was Zeke's partner. Just the idea of getting in between a married couple had Levi's stomach turning and it had been easy to tick never right next to it.

My partner trusts me.

It was too early to tell, or so that was what Levi told himself then.

The word ‘partner’ had been a convenient term. Zeke had been a convenient presence in his mind. And that had him ticking all the 'nevers' towards the edge of the page just a little more confidently.

Technically, Hange wasn’t his partner. Technically they just met, so words like trust, amicability, happiness, charisma, compatibility and charm, didn’t have to apply to them just yet. A few minutes later, he had checked enough ‘nevers’ to have armed himself with the confidence to look her in the eye.

Hange though wasn’t reciprocating, looking deep in thought with whatever question she had been answering. She bit her lip.

Hange eventually met his gaze. Instead of being just a little more satisfied, Levi was a little disappointed, more in himself than in anyone else. For that few seconds that Hange bit her lower lip in thought, her cheekbones had seemed fuller, her hazel eyes held an almost imperceptible yet still very enthralling glimmer, and regretfully, he didn’t take the time to relish it when it was right in front of him.

“How’s the test?” Levi asked.

“It’s fine,” Hange said.

Levi slid his own answers towards her. “We just have to calculate the number of ‘always,’ the number of 'sometimes,' the number of ‘nevers’ and just match it on the document over here.” He turned his laptop towards her.

“I can do it,” Hange said, pulling the laptop towards herself. The next few minutes passed in silence. Levi stared at the ceiling, trying to keep his heartbeat in time with the clack of the keyboard. Hange typed fast and chaotically but in a way, there was rhythm and order and that had helped him get into a position where he could just drop his shoulders and fall back on the chair behind him.

“You don’t think I trust you?” Hange asked.

“It’s too early to tell right?” Levi said. That answer had been scripted and it slipped out of his mouth easily.

Hange’s let out a light sound, a cross between with a hum and a chuckle. “Well, to tell you the truth, I put here that I didn’t trust you either.”

“Well that makes both of us, I guess,” Levi said.

Hange continued to type, filling the room with some predictable rhythm, a predictable rhythm his own wild heartbeat failed to provide. Eventually, it stopped, with one loud clack on the ‘enter’ button or at least, Levi guessed it was the enter button.

Soon after, Hange leaned back on the backrest of her own chair. “Biometrics all fall in the acceptable range. Test results all fall in the unacceptable range,” she said, her tone unreadable. Too professional but Levi surmised it could be her usual ‘research’ tone. He hadn’t known her long enough to be certain.

“Maybe we should get to know each other first and try to answer again?” Hange suggested. “We just met so I can’t fully trust you yet but I think, we could get along with the right…”

Environment? Amount of time? Mutual Processing? Levi couldn’t be too sure of the answer. She had said something else after the word ‘right’ or maybe she didn’t. Still, there was a problem that needed to be solved, there was an issue that needed to be addressed that extended beyond the need to resolve the feelings between two strangers.

Or two colleagues. Levi decided he liked the word colleagues better. “So what do you suggest Hange?” Levi asked.

“I wanna do further research with this application. We can tweak whatever processes you’re using now to QA, whatever processes you’re using to determine whether people are in love. Maybe we just have to fix that a bit.”

“This application took years to develop. It’s gonna be difficult to overturn a lot of the processes.”

“Without the right funding…” Hange said. She wagged her finger and gave Levi a knowing look.

Levi narrowed his eyes accusingly at Hange. “So how’s convincing Zeke been going?”

“That’s the caveat,” Hange said. “He’s not a very techy guy. He’s an investor and scientist more than anything and sometimes, even with the right proposition, he’ll stick to some really weird reasons why he wouldn’t invest in something. I don’t blame him though since millions of dollars are usually on the line with each investment.”

" So, I’m guessing you tried to convince him?”

Hange nodded. “I did. And it looks like he won’t budge unless you fix that ‘bug.’”

“The bug which caused his love alarm to not ring around you?” And the bug which is causing our love alarms to ring. Levi added silently to himself. “Can you explain to him that we need the money to continue improving the system?”

“I’ve been with him for years, Levi. I know how he is.”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

Hange hummed. “I don’t know how programming works but...Maybe you can program the application to make it work just the way that Zeke likes it... For the time being?”

***

No. Just no.

Those were the words written all over Petra’s expression. Levi only had to look at the other faces around him to be very much sure, everyone agreed with Petra

For posterity’s sake, he repeated those words. “I understand that the regression test is done but unless I am able to get to the bottom of this bug, we won’t be able to release the fixes,” Levi said. He kept his words soft, yet still loud enough to echo through the conference room. He said it slowly and clearly. Just in case it was a bit harder to hear through shock and surprise.

“Sir, a lot of the fixes in this release have been promised for months,” Petra argued. The professionalism in her voice was still admirably apparent.

“Erwin’s orders. I’m just repeating them now,” Levi said.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Gunther asked. “Have you found the reason behind it? I’m guessing if you do… we might have to make some changes to the code and go through regression testing again.”

“If ever that happens, I’ll handle the testing on my end,” Levi said. “It wouldn't be too hard, it’s just a blip in the code.”

“So you’ve found the cause?” Eld asked.

“Yes.” If Levi didn’t open his mouth to speak then, he was sure no one would have for the next few minutes. There was something festering in the silence, some common sentiment that he sensed among them, among those doubtful faces tinged with irritation and confusion.

He had always told them before. Always assume a user error first. And there was an apparent user error which he was sure everyone was entertaining.

What if Hange just didn’t love Zeke? A prospect that was ambrosia to Levi’s lips but at the same time a piece of ambrosia that he was sure was laced with poison. He couldn’t chew it, he couldn’t swallow for fear of just letting go for a few seconds longer, letting a smile curl up his lips during the most inopportune times.

Levi turned to Oluo in particular who he guessed would have been the one most likely to bring it up. The latter remained begrudgingly silent. It looked like no one else wanted to bring it up either. After all, Zeke was a huge opportunity for company growth, a huge opportunity for investment.

Eld spoke up.“If there’s anything we can do, just please ask. It might be too difficult of an investigation to do for one person.”

Levi shook his head. “I think this is an investigation I’d rather do alone.” There were parts of the investigation he hadn’t admitted to the team yet. All they had gotten in the report from Erwin was that Zeke’s alarm didn’t ring with Hange there but the scandal of their alarms ringing together was something he didn’t want circulating around the building.

And more importantly, there was another plan he and Hange have been entertaining, an almost unscrupulous scheme and he didn’t want anyone else involved.

***

It felt like he had run a marathon and he had been doing that slow jog for at least three days already. Or maybe it felt like he was trudging through a dessert and had been trapped there for the past three days.

He couldn’t tell for sure but his throat was constantly dry, his heart was constantly beating fast and any notification from Hange was either a water break or an oasis.

Three days ago, Zeke came back from his business trip. Four days ago, Levi sent the apk file to Hange.

“It’s a test build,” Levi said as soon as she confirmed she received it. “A test build I hard coded just for Zeke’s use.”

“Meaning…”

“Just say it’s a test build. Say I’ve fixed the code.”

“Meaning…”

“I hardcoded his data and the expected result. If he opens the alarm around you, his phone will ring," Levi explained. "It’s just a quick fix for now.”

Just a quick fix. Levi told himself multiple times. He had changed the code drastically enough though that the love alarm wouldn’t work as an expected love alarm, having customized it just to fit Zeke’s desires. For just long enough to get the money and long enough to find the actual cause of the bug.

“And tell him we’re asking for feedback before we release it,” Levi had added then.

The last time he had met her was three days ago when he dropped her the file, explained its use and when she had promised to download the apk file to Zeke’s phone.

She sent intermittent updates over the four day period. He liked it. He was enjoying it. He had confidence in the application.

Levi had to ruefully note though that the conversation never strayed too much from work. As expected from colleagues, as expected from business partners working towards the same goal.

Maybe a few times he had asked some vague questions just to get a hint of her daily life.

How’s Zeke? How are you guys?

Still, the answers always went back to updates on the application. When he was trudging to the desert or while running through some dirt track in his mind, even when the water tasted too artificially like plastic---too professional for his taste---he settled for it.

That was the only water he had after all.

Hange limited herself to ten messages a day, mentioning something about being bad at replying, apologizing for late replies. Levi had to admit though when he was working, he was guilty of a similar thing. Yet he found himself just a little irritable, a little desolate at such an outcome.

A week after he had last seen Hange, he decided to start reading the books about love again.

Love is a choice. Overused.

To love others, one must love themselves. He got that already.

Levi dropped his reader by the side of his bed and stared at the blank ceiling above him. The books on love were biased. They created for themselves an assumption, an assumption that she was his and whatever he had to deal with was some inner turmoil inside him, an inability to love. But what if he was willing to love? What if it was just a matter of circumstances just not letting him indulge in such an emotion.

He had entertained that for just a second before brushing away the nagging thought and the annoyingly sticky guilt that clung to it. Maybe there was merit in just turning off his emotions then, just discarding the overall idea of love. He deleted the books Hange had sent him from his ebook reader.

If the company got the funds, if Hange got the greenlight on her research, he would see her again, he would be forced to read those books and they would be forced to work together.

Then and there, he didn’t need to think about it just yet. He didn’t have to put himself through the pain of analyzing circumstances and emotions that left a heavy weight and an ache in his chest.

He could forget Hange until then. He could ignore her messages and maybe focus on something else like an action movie or a video game. He had streaming service subscriptions, he had game emulators on his laptop. Soon he discovered, with the right combination of focus, willpower just getting through slow starts, it was easy to immerse himself in something as mundane as a city building game.

He was halfway through building one of his farms and was already attached to the regular city goers of the small city he created for himself when his phone rang. That abrupt and grating sound had been enough of a reminder, Levi still wasn’t completely over being sad. He quickly reached for the phone on the side of his bench in an ungraceful and seemingly desperate chain of motions that had him almost ashamed of himself.

His laptop had been one of the victims, toppling over to the side of the bed but by god’s grace it had only skimmed the edges before laying flat on its side.

Levi muttered a soft curse. This message better be worth it. And the only message he decided would be worth it, would be a message from Hange which didn’t involve that stupid application.

Leviiiiiii are you free? :))))))))))

Free when? Levi was quick to reply. Now? Tomorrow? Next week? Really, he was always free, it was just a matter of asking for a leave and opening his schedule. He didn’t want to seem so pathetic as to tell her that though

Long weekend this weekend so Zeke offered to take us south to one of our country clubs.

Us?

Erwin is coming too. Levi didn't’ know whether to feel relieved or disappointed at that exposition. Before he could reply though, the messages kept coming.

Think of it as a thank you for the app ;)

And a start to a great partnership ;)

Hange had too many smileys, too many winky faces but recently, she had started to pepper her messages with just a little too much. They were colleagues, very friendly colleagues. For a second, he wondered how many smileys Hange used when messaging Zeke.

Still, Levi saw some glimmer of hope and optimism in the fact that they were creating a special bond in their own way.

And who would he be to turn down a special invite from a special colleague. I’ll see you there then :) He added his own smiley in the end, trying to forget the fact that he had wasted a good few seconds vacillating between the winking smiley face and the normal one.

Hange’s reply came quickly and maybe a little more enthusiastically. Okay! We’ll pick you up Friday night at the office :D

Levi was grateful at least he had something to look forward to.

[beanieman]

Shinalice Tattoo And Flowershop AU: Shin Gets A Tattoo

(Their designs in this are from by the wonderful art @yttdie made that inspired me to write this fic. You should go check their art out, it’s so good!) 

Shin lingers outside the door to the tattoo parlor, clutching a bouquet to his chest. He's really going to do it. He's going to get his first tattoo. He's not sure if he's shaking from excitement or nerves as he enters the small parlor. It's the first one Shin's ever been inside. It's not at all the shady place movies depict them as. Abstract art lines, black walls, and Alice's colorful flowers are placed in a vase on the front desk. Next to the vase is a small bell with a sticky note reading "Ring Me!" attached. Shin takes notice that Alice's handwriting is surprisingly neat as he rings the bell.

"Coming!!!"

Alice pops his head out from a small room in the back, giving a wave and genuine grin when they lock eyes. It makes a heat rush to his face that Shin wasn't expecting. Today was an awful day to use a headband to push the hair away from his face. Now all his crimson blushes are on display for all to see. But Alice doesn't seem to notice as his eyes glint with recognition.

"Shin! Did you finally come to take me up on your offer? I remember it vividly! You gifted me flowers for free, and I'll repay my debt by giving you a discount on a tattoo!"

"So you remembered...I want to cash in on our deal. I brought more flowers for your shop. I was thinking they'd be a good reference for my tattoo."

He hands over the bright blue bouquet he was carrying while avoiding eye contact. Handing off flowers may be his job, but most of his clients aren't handsome tattoo artists.

He notices how tenderly Alice takes them like they could be made of glass. For a man who looks so intimidating, he's much more gentle than he looks.

"What are these called?"

"Forget me not's. Ahaha, I was thinking getting a cluster on the back of my hand would look cool..."

"We'll match in that case!"

Alice holds his hand out, showing again the daffodil-covered skull on the back of his hand. It was a big inspiration for him. He loved the way the tattoo looked under the cool blue lights of the flower shop. But for Alice to point it out so bluntly like that....it makes him a little flustered. It doesn't help when Alice puts his hand on his back to guide him over to a chair in the corner.

For a second, he gets so caught up in the euphoria of having an attractive man caress him that he forgets he's about to get a needle shoved into his skin.

But then Alice brings out the ink.

And reality hits.

This is going to be painful.

Looking around, he tries to find anything to distract him as the needle begins to buzz. His eyes land on Alice's muscular arms covered in tattoos. He has a sleeve with multiple sections. At the very top is ink with a deer's head laying on top of a flower bed. In the middle of his arm are chains surrounded by a wall of blue. And at the very bottom, a lone X that looks like it marks a treasure on a map. If nothing else, it's the perfect conversation starter.

"Do your tattoos have meaning?"

The needle is already touching his skin before Alice can respond. Bright colors explode under the tip as the flower begins to form. It's painful, but he tries to focus on Alice, whose eyes are narrowed steadily in unbreakable concentration.

"A few! The chains you see are to recall my time in a band of legends!! As a symbol of the end, I had the letter X tattooed when I departed from that very same band."

"And the deer?"

"They're majestic! Not every tattoo has to have meaning."

Alice's hand works with a speed Shin has never seen. He's grateful for it. His only goal going into this was to not pass out by the end. Which seems more reachable with how fast Alice works.

"What about your tattoo? Do these forget me not's have a meaning to you?"

"N-Not really. I just like flowers."

He gesture's to the tiny daisies plastered around his pale blue shirt as proof, but his words aren't entirely true. Forget me nots symbolize true love and respect. They're a promise that you'll never forget the receiver because of how deep your affection runs. The idea of someone caring that much for him one day... it's a nice thought. But to admit all that to an acquaintance? Not happening.

They banter back and forth for another hour. What he learns about Alice is he can make a conversation out of anything. Even seeing birds soaring out the window gets them on the topic of air travel. His charisma is admirable, but not more than his tattoo skills.

His pen flows quickly and steadily, producing thin lines that pop under the blue coloring. His bedside manner isn't bad either. Even with such an intense pain that pierces his hand, Alice keeps him distracted, making it easier to ignore. He makes it so easy to ignore, in fact, that when Alice proudly proclaims

"It's done!"

Shin can hardly believe his ears. He looks down at the ink that's now stained into his skin. He didn't get his hopes up for the final product, but...he loves it. It's everything he wanted it to be and more. Alice looks satisfied with the final product as well. He beams with pride at Shin's look of awe. He must see that look ten times a day, and yet he still looks thrilled at Shin's joy.

"Are you impressed, Shin? It's some of my finest work! Be proud to be adorned with my talent, mwahaha."

"Heh...looks really good, Alice. The flowers were a good trade….so about paying."

Alice looks down to Shin's newly tattooed hand and back to his face. He glances away and shrugs his shoulders casually.

"Consider it repayment for the flowers. You don't have to pay anything at all! Just leave a good review on our establishment page, please, and thank you."

"Eh?! Well, if you say so...Are you expecting more flowers to make up for the price?"

"W-Well, no, not at all. But perhaps we could get a coffee sometime? To make up for the difference. If you don't want to, don't worry yourself-"

For the second time today, he can't believe his ears. It almost sounds like...Alice is asking him out on a date. Surely he means as friends. Yea, that's all it is. Their places of business are side by side. Why wouldn't they want to get to know each other more? Not that he's opposed to treating it as a date...but no need to make assumptions.

"Uh, yeah-that sounds good! Ahaha, really good! Er...I should get your number…."

They exchange numbers with shaky hands. Both of them trying to look cool as they put the digits into their phone. Shin can feel how crimson his face is. He needs to get out of here before he does something stupid, "I need to get back to my shop. Flowers won't sell themselves. I'll text you later."

"Good luck on your ventures! I'll be searching for the best possible spot to find coffee in the meantime."

Shin turns to wave goodbye, only for the door to stop him as he runs face-first into the glass. A thumping sound echoes through the small shop as he stumbles back.

"Are you okay??"

"Yes!!"

He doesn't look back to see Alice's confused face as he darts to from the shop and back to his own. He's in such a hurry; he doesn't even see a woman dressed in black enter the parlor behind him.

But she distracts Alice's attention from his blunder, as she's a face he knows well.

"The hell? Was that the flower shop guy you wouldn't shut up about?" Alice feels heat rushing to his face at the call out. Okay, he might have a crush on the cute flower man next door. Sue him.

"Yes! Yes, it was."

[cheri-cheri]

[L&N] Charlie’s Date Translation - Sentimental Games

Note: This is a very casual translation, which means descriptions are heavily summarised, and you’ll also come across my unfiltered thoughts!

Suggested sequence: Fleeing Together -> Sentimental Games -> Born with Wings

Charlie’s Character Introduction: here

The date begins with MC about to board a cruise where a charity auction is taking place

She’s especially looking forward to seeing a pair of Cape Jasmine Gloves from the previous century in hopes of getting inspiration for her own designs

She gets stopped by the ticketing staff who warns her that since she only has a media personnel ticket, she can’t go in and can only take pictures from outside

MC: [sad] Did I make a wasted trip?

??: Why would it be a wasted trip?

She turns around and sees this hot mess:

Charlie: You didn’t make a wasted trip. You’ve seen me now, haven’t you?

MC: ...what are you doing here?

Charlie: *flaunts his ticket* I was specially invited to participate in the auction as a distinguished guest, of course.

Charlie: *spots the media personnel ticket* In order to glance at me from a distance, you didn’t hesitate to catch a chill outside the venue?

MC: How’s that possible-

Charlie: Not bad. I’m touched. *nods and enters through the VIP passageway*

Charlie: *hands ticket to staff* My female companion is behind me.

MC: ???

Charlie: What? Not coming in?

MC: *thinks about the Cape Jasmine Gloves* ...fine!

-

MC heads to a cafe

Charlie: You’re quite a strange woman. Instead of going to my exclusive resting area, you insisted on running to such a remote corner.

MC: I don’t seem to remember forcing you to come to the cafe with me.

Charlie: You’re my female companion. Of course we should move about together. 

MC: *about to retort but remembers that it’s thanks to him that she could enter* Hmph.

Charlie: There are many comfortable spots on the cruise suitable for two people to pass the time. You could think about where we should go later.

MC: Who wants to go anywhere with you...

Charlie: Apart from you, who else?

MC: I came here for a purpose, not to monkey around with you. 

Charlie: Oh? What purpose? Tell me about it. I’m in a pretty good mood and could consider fulfilling it for you.

MC: Thanks, but I. Don’t. Need. It!

Charlie: If you don’t say anything, I’ll make a guess. There’s something you want to buy at the auction today? Art? An antique? Jewels or haute couture?

MC: *doesn’t even look at him*

Charlie: *looks her up and down*

MC: What are you up to now?

Charlie: Your outfit isn’t bad today.

Since it’s a retro-themed auction, MC wore a black formal dress

Just as she's wondering why Charlie randomly brought it up, he opens his beautiful mouth

Charlie: But you seem to be missing some accessories... How about Auction Item No. 3, the red ruby necklace? I could buy it for you.

MC: I don’t need it! How many times do you want me to repeat myself...

Charlie: Fine, fine. Anyway, you already have a red accessory, so you don’t need it.

MC looks at the red ring on her finger

But Charlie points at himself and his red suit LOL

Charlie: Your red accessory is here.

MC: ...you’re so silly! *secretly admits that their outfits match very well*

Charlie: In that case, I’ll give you something else. What about Auction Item No. 5 - the Cape Jasmine Gloves?

MC: !

Charlie: So your purpose for coming here today is for those gloves.

MC: No, I never even thought about participating in the auction...

Charlie: *whips out phone* Let me see how much these gloves are worth...

He receives a notification on his phone and has to leave to meet a friend

He invites her to join them since it’s only a matter of time before she has to meet his friends LOL But MC says “NO THANKS”

So he tells her that she could go to the highest level once she’s done walking around. And if she gets lost, she could head to the broadcast room

MC: Broadcast room?

Charlie: *draws closer to her* You could go to the broadcast room and announce that you’re looking for your husband. 

MC: Definitely not looking for a husband. It’s more like looking for a little child! *leaves and hears Charlie’s soft laughter from behind*

-

MC relaxes outside and thinks of where she should go. The date splits into four options:

Option 1: First Class Area on the 4th Floor

Option 2: Highest Floor

Option 3: Second Floor Hall

Option 4: Fourth Floor Seating Area

[ OPTION 1: FIRST CLASS AREA ON THE 4TH FLOOR ]

MC: ...I’m not heading up to look for him. I just want to ask him where the auction’s taking place!

She knocks on his door. He’s shocked to see her, but he composes himself and invites her in after teasing her about not saying what she genuinely feels

He grabs her wrist and tugs her into the room

MC: What are you doing? Let go...

Charlie: I want to show you something.

MC: What is it? I don’t-

Charlie: *opens a black box* Are you sure you aren’t going to look?

It’s obviously the Cape Jasmine Gloves

Charlie starts putting on the gloves uhiefjnksd

MC: Slow down! This is a treasure from the previous century!

Charlie: So what if they’re from the previous century? Aren’t they still gloves? *puts on gloves and stretches out his hand to MC*

MC: What are you doing...?

Charlie: I’m letting you touch them. Don’t you want to experience the design and texture of the gloves? What are you waiting for? You might not have such an opportunity next time.

*cue gameplay where you get to touch him like in MLQC’s Go See Him*

Charlie: Looks like you aren’t feeling the gloves at all, but want to feel me properly instead.

MC: ?!

MC: ...it’s better if I don’t use my hands. I’ll just look.

Charlie: No need. Continue. *places hand in her palm*

MC starts touching his hand and he gently hooks his fingers with hers LOL

Charlie: Why’d you stop?

MC: [blushing] ...I’m just thinking about its quality!

Charlie: This material is very thin, and I can feel your body temperature. It’s rare. *slowly holds her hand*

MC: *RETRACTS HAND* O-oh yes... how did you get these gloves...

Charlie: Didn’t I tell you? I bought these gloves.

MC: Bought them?! How did you do it so quickly? I even thought of asking you where the auction venue is...

Charlie: Is there a difference between who bought it? *puts gloves back into box*

Charlie: Take them. Study them slowly.

-> Head to epilogue

[ OPTION 2: HIGHEST FLOOR ]

Charlie: It’s rare for you to be so obedient. You were really preparing to look for me on the highest floor? Let’s go then. Just one level up.

MC: Wait, I wasn’t looking for you! I just wanted to enjoy the breeze!

They stand together and there’s a line which goes, “miraculously, he doesn’t talk” HAHAHA

She suddenly feels nervous

MC: ...why aren’t you participating in the auction? *their eyes meet and she feels her heart beating rapidly*

*Cues gameplay which is akin to ASMR*

Charlie: As compared to the auction, I’m more interested in something else.

Charlie: Also, isn’t a coincidental that each time I think of “it”, “it” happens to appear.

Charlie: Will you be able to find me no matter where I am?

Charlie: Even though I know that my charm is infinite, installing a GPS on someone is illegal.

Charlie: That isn’t the case? Even at such an empty corner, you were able to “meet” me coincidentally.

MC: *walks away*

Charlie: Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Enjoy the breeze for a while longer.

Charlie: Bored? Let me tell you that other places on the cruise are even more boring...

Charlie: At least... there are some things worth looking forward to over here.

Charlie: : Hm? You didn’t hear me clearly?

Charlie: I said...

Charlie: Of course you can’t hear if you’re so far away.

Charlie: This is better.

Charlie: I said that having my fiancée by my side gives me a sense of anticipation...

Charlie: What? Are you leaving just like this?

Charlie: Fine. About those gloves... just treat it as though I didn’t buy them.

Charlie: Looks like you still have some interest in me.

Charlie: I purchased the pair of gloves you liked. Just now.

Charlie: Why? Because I didn’t want your attention to be somewhere else.

Charlie: I needed to ensure that your gaze would remain on me from beginning to end.

Charlie: Only me.

-> Head to epilogue

[ OPTION 3: SECOND FLOOR HALL ]

This is where the auction is being held, and MC quickly realises that unlike traditional auctions, there are gambling tables around

Aside from having enough money, competing buyers have to play Texas hold ‘em to have the right to bid

Someone is about to purchase the gloves, and MC recognises him as a buyer with a bad reputation who handles treasures very poorly

MC walks over angrily and says she’d compete with him

CHARLIE ARRIVES

The buyer tries to find fault with them e.g. saying that it’s unfair that they’re playing 2 against 1

Charlie responds by saying that although the rules have a limit of 2 seats, it doesn’t stipulate the number of people who can be present

So Charlie pulls MC onto his lap

Charlie: If you can abide by the rules of having one seat, we wouldn’t mind if all the bodyguards sit on your lap.

Charlie: *tightens grip on MC’s waist* Right, dear? 

MC: [blushing] Haha, yeah...

Charlie: Sit properly. Don’t let me get distracted.

So MC slings her arm around his neck awkwardly while the game continues LOL

Unsurprisingly, he wins

MC looks at the gloves and Charlie tells her that instead of looking at them while standing up, she could sit on his lap

She refuses

-> Head to epilogue

[ OPTION 4: THIRD FLOOR SEATING AREA ]

She sees the gloves in a display cabinet from afar

Since she doesn't have the VIP ticket, she’s prohibited from going closer

But it’s okay because Charlie’s here to save the day

Charlie: Since you’re already here, why avoid me now?

MC: Don’t make it sound like I came here specially to look for you.

Charlie: There aren’t many people who get shy as easily as you.

MC: *forces out a laugh*

Charlie: You’re speechless, aren’t you? After all, we’re engaged. You don’t have to be so indirect with me. Let’s go. Don’t just stand here in a silly manner.

MC: *forgets to retort because she sees the gloves*

Charlie: You...

MC: *is unable to hear him because she’s distracted by the gloves* So beautiful...

Charlie: *waves his hand in front of her*

MC: Don’t block me...

Charlie: Is it really that nice to look at? I’m sitting right here and your line of sight is drawn to something else? Truly incomprehensible.

MC: You’re the one who’s incomprehensible. What’s there to compete... *continues staring at the gloves*

Charlie: Fine, you should seize this opportunity to look as much as you want. After all, you won’t be able to see it ever again soon.

MC: What’s that supposed to mean?

Charlie: Someone already bought those gloves.

MC finds out that someone offered twenty times the original amount for them

MC: Who bought them...

Charlie: You want to know? *sips red wine*

Charlie points at the buyer with the bad reputation from Option 3

MC gripes because she recognises him as someone who simply views these items as investments, not treasures

Charlie shares some wisdom on how people will always have differing perspectives. Someone may view an item as treasure, while another person views it as insignificant. And one has no right to intervene with how they treat the item

But she’s still angry and says that there’s innate value in everything

Charlie offers her a carton of red wine as repayment for her “speech”

MC says she doesn’t need it:

Charlie: If you don’t want wine, I could give you something else. For example... how about that pair of gloves?

MC: Hasn’t it already been sold?

Charlie: According to the rules, I could offer an even greater amount of money to intercept the auction.

MC: No need... even if you were to fork out a huge sum of money to buy it, I’m unable to repay you.

Charlie: You’re my fiancée. There’s no need to repay me.

MC: *glares at him*

Charlie: Don’t you want any other auction items? Anything here is fine.

MC: Are you sure that anything’s fine?

Charlie: Of course. I always say what I mean.

MC: In that case... you can be my auction item!

Charlie: *shocked* So that’s how you like to play.

MC: W-what... I was just wanted to pretend to be a “bad owner” and let you experience the pain of being an auction item!

Charlie: Do you think this bottle of wine knows pain?

MC: Do you know what personification is? Also, my main point is to teach you and correct your mistaken views!

Charlie: *nods and smiles*

Charlie: Understood, my Master.

Charlie: Tell me. How do you plan to be mischievous?

MC: *instantly regrets*

MC: F-first, stand up.

Charlie: As you command.

Charlie: *stands* What’s your next command?

MC: Mm... pour two cups of red wine for me.

Charlie: This is the first time I’m pouring wine for someone. It feels pretty novel.

MC: *in a fluster because she finds his side profile handsome LOL*

Charlie: I know. Your next command is to feed you, isn’t it?

MC: ...of course not!

Charlie: There’s no need to be shy. Guessing my master’s preferences and commands is what I should be doing.

MC wonders why she feels as though she’s the one being punished instead

Just as the glass is about to reach her lips, she swiftly picks up the other glass

And clinks them together LOL

HIS FACE:

MC: That’s all for today! I hereby announce that you’re now free! 

Charlie: You’re too easily satisfied, which leaves me barely any sense of fulfilment.

MC: I don’t care about your sense of fulfilment...

Charlie: *calls the staff over* I want to intercept Auction No. 5. Those Cape Jasmine Gloves.

MC: You’re really buying them?!

Charlie: *nods* When the gloves are brought over, I’ll give you ten minutes to appreciate them. As for the remaining time, you can appreciate me.

MC: *nods*

Charlie: You’re looking forward to it that much?

MC: Of course. How could I not seize this chance to see a great master’s work at close range?

Charlie: You’re pretty slow sometimes.

MC: Huh?

Charlie: Why didn’t you think that the gloves would be a waste with me?

MC: I... *realises that she instinctively knew he’s a good boi*

Charlie: Forget it. Relax, I know that you’re interested in those gloves.

MC: Why are you bringing me into this?

Charlie: I cherish the things you cherish. Naturally, you’d cherish me a little more.

MC: Your logic is unreasonable. Ordinary people truly can’t keep up with you...

Charlie: I was never an ordinary person. Also, it’s fine as long as my fiancée can keep up with me. Why should I care about others? *tucks MC’s hair behind her ear*

MC: *heartbeat goes wild*

-> Head to the epilogue

[ EPILOGUE ]

After the auction is over, MC is back at the cafe and writing down inspiration in her notebook

Charlie sits down next to her

Charlie: Lady, are you used to neglecting me?

MC: ...what are you doing here instead of resting on the highest floor?

Charlie: You aren’t resting either. Is it because there isn’t a place to sleep? You’re free to sleep on my bed anytime.

MC: Stop! I’m not tired!

Charlie: *sees that MC is sketching gloves* Gloves again. Did those Cape Jasmine Gloves inspire you that much?

MC explains that the designer was inspired by surgical gloves, which is why it’s so light and thin

MC: Thirty years ago, a female dressmaker who had a complicated illness was saved by a kind doctor in her time of despair. The other party didn’t claim medical fees, and even gave her treatments to re-ignite her hope in life. After she was cured, she spent many years specially designing this pair of gloves for the doctor. How is it? Isn’t it very romantic?

Charlie: But the story I heard was a little different from yours. The reason why the doctor saved the female dressmaker was purely because he liked to research complicated illnesses. The female dressmaker’s illness was very rare. In his personal biography, the female dressmaker was called “Patient No. 47″. He never thought about encouraging or helping anyone. Everything was simply an assumption by the other party. How is it? Do you find it not as romantic now?

MC: *speechless, then looks down at the design* No. I don’t think that’s all. Look here. 

MC: *points at a tiny stitched lotus on the Cape Jasmine Gloves* I’ve seen images of this. At first, there weren’t any flowers on the gloves. After she passed away, the doctor likely asked someone to stitch it on. Aside from symbolising faithfulness and purity, lotuses symbolise adoration. So this represents the love between two people! Perhaps a beginning sparked by curiosity can genuinely bloom with fate’s design.

Charlie: *in a daze for a moment* So the reason why this pair of gloves met me, a doctor, is also fate’s design?

MC: *nods* Maybe...

Charlie: *leans in closer* In that case, you’re the same.

MC: Me?

Charlie: I’m referring to... fate’s design. I look forward to it - whether it’s the blooming or bearing fruit.

[ressyfaerie]

Request: I saw this tattoo programme where 2 lesbian friends went on and they got to pick the other's tattoo and they can't look till it's done. One picked "you mean everything" for the friend and she was so worried about her seeing in case she hated it. Then hers (from her friend) was "I love you". This had them all emotional and got them both to confess & get together. Anywaaaay, a similar idea for Tyka?

Sorry for the late response! I’m working again and still recovering! This is the LAST FIC REQUEST of this askbox being open!

Soooo likkee. Once upon a time I talked to someone about a tattoo shop AU? This gave me some serious inspiration sooooooo here we gooooo

Halfway through I remembered! I (mentally?) based a lot of this idea on @ishkajules tattoo tyka shop AU!

Oh, disclaimer, I want a tattoo but know NOTHING about them aaaahhhahaha

“You’re a great artist, but you’re scaring away your clients.”

“Why do you care, Tala?”

“I don’t. They come to me after you reject them, or make them so uncomfortable they sit in the next chair over.”

“So then, why are you telling me this?”

Kai cleaned his equipment. It was nearing the end of the day, he figured he wouldn’t have any more walk-in customers.

“I just thought I’d let you know. You’re losing us money. If you don’t fix it, I’ll change your pay to commission only.”

Kai scowled. Who did he think he was? Threatening his pay like that?

“Like I said. You’re a phenomenal artist. But you're lucky I hired you. No one else will with your personality.”

Kai gave him a glare, “I’ll try to do better, boss.”

“Good. Keep that mouth in check.” Tala gave him a ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.

As soon as he turned away Kai rolled his eyes.

The bell in the shop rang.

“Hello! Welcome, how can we help you?” Tala welcomed the new customer with his regular fake friendly greeting.

“Hey... I’m Tyson.”

The kid seemed nervous. He didn’t have any art on his body.

Blank canvas.

“Um. Is Kai here?”

“Kai? Are you looking for him specifically?”

“Yeah! I follow his stuff on instagram and I really want my first tattoo to be done by him!”

The boy’s face brightened the whole shop. Kai’s lip curled.

“Of course! Let me get him for you!”

Tala made his way to Kai in the corner, he got up in his face.

“Listen, this kid’s a newbie—”

Kai rolled his eyes, “you know I don’t ink tattoo virgins—”

“Think of it as a blank canvas. As artists we all like a good canvas, look at him! He’s perfect!”

Kai took a look at this Tyson character. He hated to admit Tala was right. He was a good blank canvas. But Kai hated working with newbie clients; always so nervous, worried about the pain. He would just rather work with a regular.

Tala got angrier, “you will tattoo him. You’ll do exactly what he wants, and above all, you will be nice.”

“Or else what?”

Tala shrugged his shoulders and smiled, “or else you’re fired.”

Kai didn’t want to admit that Tala's threat got to him. He sighed, played off as if he was slightly annoyed but obedient, “fine.”

“Good. Now go do your job.” Tala pointed to the front desk where the new client was waiting.

Kai shot Tala a glare, as he made his way to the desk. He put on his biggest fakest smile.

“Hey, I’m Kai.”

Tyson held a backpack around his shoulder, he grasped it firmly, while giving Kai the widest grin.

“I’ve been following you for a long time! I um… decided when I had enough money I wanted my first tattoo to be done by you…”

Awkward silence.

“Uh, what do you have in mind?” Kai learned how much it hurt when you kept smiling.

“I know you specialize in birds… I would love to have a red phoenix. Eventually I want a dragon. But I’d love to start with your strongest area!”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

Tyson watched Kai like he was a celebrity. He had a popular art account, but that was about it. Kai just stared back at him.

“Um... I think I want it on my back…” Tyson trailed off as he grew more nervous.

“That’s a good choice. Do any designs come to mind?”

Tyson bit his lip, he looked up to the ceiling in thought, “oh!” He pulled out his phone.

He passed it to Kai showing him an old post of his. It wasn’t his best work, but he understood why he liked it.

“I can do that design easily.” Kai wondered why he was so worried—”

“I just… Don’t want it exactly like this.”

Ah right. Newbies.

“So what do you have in mind then?” Kai’s eyebrow twitched.

“I um.” Tyson rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks turned a bit red.

Kai sighed, “kid, I can’t work on you if I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Tala called to Kai, “Hey Kai! Don’t forget about your happy little tattoo gun over here!”

Kai reluctantly put on his big smile, “yeah boss, I haven't forgotten!”

He turned back to Tyson. “So what are your ideas?”

Tyson bit his lip.

“Do you have a reference I can make a design off of? Anything?”

“I… do.”

“Then show it to me.”

Tyson exhaled, then slid his backpack off his shoulder. He opened it and pulled out a sketchbook. He had it turned away from Kai making sure he wouldn’t see. He flipped through a few pages, and turned it towards Kai.

Kai grabbed it, and placed it down on the counter. He saw the sketch of the phoenix that was clearly an imitation of his style… with a twist.

Kai found himself impressed. It was a good design.

“I’ve worked on this for a few months… I’m pretty confident this is what I want… What do you think of it?”

Kai was trying to be extra nice, but he couldn't deny it was good. “It’s well done.”

“Thanks!” Tyson grinned.

The more Kai inspected the drawing the more detailed it became, it gave him new inspiration, a kind he never had before.

“Do you..” Kai cleared his throat and prodded the page with his finger. “Do you want this exact design or a design done by me?”

Tyson looked ecstatic, “would you be willing to make me an original design!?”

Kai thought for a moment. His original designs were usually reserved for regulars or people willing to drop more cash. But something about this design called to him…

He convinced himself he was inspired by his jealousy. He couldn't let this poor imitation see the world.

“I can make you a design based on this one.”

“Really!? Wow, thanks!”

“Can I borrow this sketch book?” Kai asked, while flipping the book closed.

“Um…”

“I need the design.”

“Could you take a picture?”

“I’d prefer to work with the original.” Kai’s lips hurt from smiling.

“Okay… You can borrow it.” It seemed Tyson was an extremely shy guy. “Be careful with it, okay?”

“I will.”

Kai stayed late in the shop. He worked in the studio.

“I’m locking up. Kai, I’m surprised you're still here?” Tala twirled the keys around his finger.

Kai was hunched over the small desk. He had already drawn out a few sketches. Tala inspected his work over his shoulder.

“Can you not?” Kai spat back.

“It’s a good design. I’m surprised you're putting so much effort into this kid's request. It’s not like you.”

Kai shrugged.

“He’s not loaded, you know? You’re not going to make up for it in tips.”

“I know.”

Tala felt a strange proud emotion emerge. “Alright,” he dropped the keys on the desk. “You can lock up. Have fun with your drawings.”

Kai watched the keys as they fell in front of him. He heard the door open, and close.

He sighed, then scrunched up the paper he was working with into a ball, and tossed it into the bin with the rest of the failed projects.

The sketchbook laid in front of him. He wanted to take a look at the design again. But he had lost the bookmark.

Shit.

He had to look through the book to find the right page.

There better not be anything dirty in here…

He opened it to another design.

Oh, wow.

It was a dragon, scribbled with faint watercolour. Kai grew curious, what other masterpieces did this book hold?

He began to flip through, curiously studying each design.

There were tons of dragons. Kai was interested, as he had always wanted a dragon tattoo, but he hadn’t yet met an artist who could ink scales the way he wanted.

These designs were so close to what he wanted, until—

He turned to a page with a very detailed dragon design. It took up the whole page. The colours were perfect, mixes of blues and silver. He was immediately captivated by it. His mouth hung open slightly.

It had been a long time since an art piece caught his attention.

He ran his finger down the page, careful not to smudge the drawing.

“Wow.”

Two days later Tyson came back to the shop, eagerly awaiting his tattoo.

Tala gestures to Kai from across the shop, pointing to the front desk where Tyson had just entered. He mouthed the words ‘be nice!’. Kai looked to the ceiling to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

Kai got up from his station. The night before he had pulled an all-nighter. Until finally—he came out with the perfect piece. He knew Tyson would love it. He was upset with himself for putting so much thought into it, after all, he was just a newbie.

Kai tossed a black file folder on the desk.

Tyson jumped a bit, then settled back in with his backpack on his shoulder, “good morning, Kai!”

Kai put on a smile, “good morning.”

Tyson tilted his head, it was kind of cute, “did you manage to come up with anything? I know it hasn’t been long—”

“I did, I think you’ll enjoy it.” Kai opened the folder and revealed a paper, he placed it on the desk and flipped it around to show the blue-haired boy.

“Woah! Holy shit that’s so cool!” Tyson placed both his hands on the corners, admired it with an open mouth.

“Is it what you wanted?” Kai accidentally let his smile drop as he awaited the response.

“It’s perfect!” Tyson was so happy you could see his dimples.

It made Kai perform… maybe… a real smile.

“I have a test here, do you want to see what it would look like?”

“Can I? Oh man that’s so fucking cool…”

Kai gestured behind the desk, Tyson happily pushed himself through the gate. Kai pointed to his station “that’s my chair, put your stuff anywhere out of my way. Take your shirt off.”

Tyson suddenly stopped smiling and froze, Kai almost ran into him.

“Hey!” Kai started to lose his temper, but saw Tala’s red hair in the corner of his eye, he took a deep breath. “You said you wanted it on your back didn’t you?”

“Yeah…” Tyson answered back nervously.

Kai dropped the folder on his desk near the chair, “then take off your shirt and lay on your stomach.”

Tyson swallowed a hard lump in his throat.

Kai just stared at him.

Newbies. It’s just some skin. So annoying.

Tyson let his bag slide to the floor, he kicked it to the corner of the room, then he folded his arms.

Kai turned around, ready to place the stencil, then he frowned, “why do you still have your shirt on?”

Tyson went to say something, but stopped.

Kai sighed, “it’s just bare skin. I’ve worked on way more intimate body parts. You have nothing to worry about.”

Tyson shrugged, he acted confident but Kai could tell he was nervous. He grasped the ends of his shirt and rolled it over his head, throwing it on top of his bag.

“Now lay down.” Kai gestured to the chair that was horizontal from the last client.

Tyon nodded, and laid down in front of Kai, “is it going to hurt!?”

Kai closed his eyes for a moment, it took everything in him to not retort with sass, “it’s just a sticker, so we can determine the placement. It won’t hurt.”

Tyson nodded.

Kai flicked his arm, “you need to have your arms near your sides… like this.”

Kai had grabbed his closest arm and manipulated it like a rag doll, Tyson hid his face, hoping his idol didn’t see him blush.

“Okay, I’m applying it now.”

Kai expertly placed the test paper exactly where Tyson had described he wanted it. Along his right shoulder. Tyson barely moved, but Kai wasn’t sure how he would react when the actual inking started.

“Done. Take a look in the mirror.”

Tyson jumped up, nearly running to the full length mirror in the shop, twirling his body so he could see it better.

“Wow! It’s so cool!” His voice rang through the whole shop, even Tala’s client looked up from his chair.

“Thank you, Kai!”

“No problem.” Kai sat down in his chair, he picked up his tattoo gun and started to tinker with it, he looked at Tyson. “So are you ready?”

Tyson’s eyes grew wide, “r—right now!?”

Kai gave him a genuine grin, “no better time than the present.”

Tyson made his way back to Kai’s station. He looked down at the chair, “is it going to take a while?”

Kai nodded, “I’ll do the outline today. Then you can come back tomorrow and we will ink as much as we can.”

Tyson sat on the chair, still too nervous to lay down.

“Hey kid!”

Tyson looked around the shop for the echoing voice.

It came from the client on Tala’s chair. He was covered in different tattoos, “don’t be worried! But remember it's addicting! Once you get one you can’t stop!”

Tyson laughed, “thanks man!”

The man gave Tyson a thumbs up, Tala smirked in Kai’s direction.

He must enjoy torturing me… asshole.

Tyson gave Kai a huge smile, “I’m ready!”

“Good.” Kai had reached over to his station, he placed a pair of glasses on his face.

“You wear glasses!?” Tyson was intrigued.

“Yeah? Why is that surprising?” Kai wondered why Tyson cared so much, they just met after all.

Tyson mumbled, “you just… never shared anything on your instagram I guess…”

“There’s more to me than my online persona. Get on your stomach.”

Tyson instantly obeyed. He curled in his fists.

Kai made the necessary procedures, he wiped his back with a sterile wipe, Tyson shivered.

Kai had to bite his tongue from sighing.

“Sorry… it was cold.” Tyson muttered.

“It’s fine, don’t worry.” Kai tried to reassure him but realized he had never really reassured anyone before.

Kai prepared the gun, Tyson turned his head to him, “how much… is it going to hurt?”

God damn it. Why do they always ask...

“Not as much as you’re going to love it.”

Kai impressed himself with his response.

Tyson nodded, and turned his head away from Kai.

“Alright, I’m starting.”

Kai had done it a million times before, but it was Tyson’s first. When the gun first ran along his skin he tensed up, he made a quiet high pitched noise. Kai kept going.

He kept tensing up, too much, it would ruin the work, and Kai’s concentration. Kai stopped for a moment, “you have to untense. It hurts now but it’ll go numb soon, then it won’t be so bad.”

Kai just saw the back of Tyson’s head as he nodded.

Kai grasped his shoulder, “good, now untense.”

Tyson tried to loosen up, but his muscles were still tight.

“Breathe.”

Kai wasn’t sure what to do, but he still had his hand on his shoulder, he gave Tyson a gentle rub with the edge of his thumb.

He heard Tyson exhale, and his whole body relaxed.

“Good job.” Kai readjusted his glasses, and continued. He was leaning over Tyson’s body.

Tyson was aware just how close his idol was, he could feel his breathing as he worked. His face turned red. Over the next hour he grew used to it. He was loving the closeness. He was excited to see what it looked like done.

Tala was surprised, usually Kai put his earbuds in and avoided talking to clients. But this time, Kai kept glancing at Tyson’s hair, as if he wanted to say something, but was stalling. At just over the hour mark, Kai made his move.

“I have to admit. I looked through your sketchbook.”

Tyson jumped, “what?”

“Don’t move—”

“Sorry, but why did you do that?”

“I lost the page the design was on. Then I just kept looking.”

Tyson went silent, clearly he was upset.

Kai stopped for a second, “they’re really good.” he immediately started again.

Tyson went stone cold.

Kai continued, “your dragons are insanely intricate. I’ve never seen scale work like yours. Are they all original?”

Tyson hesitated, “yes…”

“I’m quite fond of the silver-blue dragon, the one near the end.”

“I know which one you’re talking about. It’s one of my favourites too.”

“Mhm.” Kai trailed off, still not ready to ask the question he wanted to.

A few hours later, Kai stopped, “I think that’s good for today.”

Kai put his equipment down, and laid his glasses back on his desk.

Tyson went to get up, “ow…”

“Sore?”

“Yeah, I’ve been in this position too long…”

Tyson slowly rose to a sitting position. Kai admired his shoulder.

It’s great work. I did well.

“I want to see it!” Tyson jumped to his feet making his way to the mirror. He looked in the mirror and gasped in awe.

Tala had approached, he observed the design and raised an eyebrow, “it’s really good, Kai.”

Kai crossed his arms, “come back tomorrow. I’ll colour it. But it will be a bit of work.”

Tala agreed, “it might be best to split the coloring into two appointments. Since it’s his first… How was it, Tyson?”

Tyson was still admiring his tattoo, “the pain? It was fine once I got used to it, Kai really helped.”

“Really!?” Tala looked at Kai in disbelief.

Kai shot him a glare.

Tyson put his shirt back on while Tala described how to take care of it. They made their way to the front desk and finished off some paperwork.

Tala had gone back to his desk, still within earshot.

“Thanks so much. Kai! It’s going to be awesome!” Tyson grinned, “but um… can I have my sketchbook back?”

Kai nodded, then went back to his station, and came back with the book, he slid it across the table, but held on to it when Tyson tried to take it.

Kai didn’t let go of the book, he looked into Tyson’s eyes, with his first genuine expression, “I have a question. About your design.”

“Huh?” Tyson looked up to Kai. He was positive there was nothing he could ask that he wouldn’t know himself.

“I want to buy it.”

“What?” Tyson’s voice rang with disbelief.

“Well, I don’t want to buy the rights. Just the design, so I can have it tattooed.”

“You want my design!?”

“Yes, is that a problem?”

Tala’s ear twitched, the situation tickled his interest, and he made his way back to the counter.

“I uh—um.” Tyson was lost for words.

“How much?” Kai badgered him.

Tala intervened, “Kai leave the poor kid alone, let him think on it.”

Kai looked at Tyson, Tyson stared back.

Tyson let go of the book, “keep the book till tomorrow… I’ll think about what you said…”

Tyson backed up towards the door, “b—bye! See you tomorrow!”

He had left the shop faster than either of them could say bye.

Kai still held the sketchbook, he looked down at it. Tala was immediately furious.

“Kai Hiwatari, what the hell!? Are you an ass or head over heels? You’re going to bully some rookie artist into stealing his design? What is wrong with you—”

Kai had opened the book to his favourite page. Tala’s voice changed right away.

“Shit.”

Kai held the open book close to his chest, “I know. It’s well done.”

“You’re not kidding, here let me see—”

Kai handed him the book. Tala admired the drawing for a long time. Before flipping through the book. He let out a long high pitched whistle.

“Could you do it?” Kai asked.

“Do what?”

“Could you tattoo this for me? I want it on my right shoulder—”

Tala laughed, “no. My specialty lies in fangs and fur. I’ve never done a dragon, plus these scales… this could only be done by the original artist.”

Tala looked up from the book, “if you love this design, it has to be done by the original artist. Does he know how to use a gun?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Ah, shame.”

“How come?”

Tala went back to flipping through pages, “because I'd hire him on the spot.”

Kai was dumbfounded, “for real?”

“Absolutely.”

Dude I have so many more ideas for this AU it’s INSANE. AAAH but this is all I have time for now <3 if there’s a demand for more I might write more!

[3416]

Hi there, I think I saw a while ago that you are a film student? I am too! I've been having a really difficult time lately staying creative and staying motivated to keep studying this (as much as I love film and would love to work in it one day). I was wondering (if you are willing) if you had any advice on how to stay motivated and creative during the duration of studying/making short films, etc? I have a double major so I haven't taken a film production class in a while (bc I was focusing on getting the other majors classes outta the way) and I feel so burned out that I can't even think of ideas anymore (this seems to persist no matter how much I remove myself from the situation) and that I can't even do it anymore. Thank you!

hi there, anon!!

first of all, i'm honored you'd even think to ask me this, lol. i am a film student but pretty new to it all still. i'm kinda split between theoretical and production stuff right now, but i totally relate to this struggle!! being creative on demand for these classes can be... very complicated, and i have a pretty high intensity production class this semester that's forced me to be coming up with projects one right after another with various limitations. i can't speak to the quality of my own stuff or how successful i've been bc i kinda feel like a fraud for a film student but fklsjdfkl, i follow a lot of production ppl from various things i've been obsessed with throughout the years, so i've seen some advice and tried it. i'm gonna put it below a cut bc it's kind of long but ❣️❣️

in terms of generating ideas.. some of the best advice i've seen is to consume other media but like... intentionally. a lot of the times, we can turn on a show and just be passively and mindlessly watching or use it to relax, but the second you start paying attention to the actual craft of it and studying it, the production design and the camerawork and the editing and the sound etc, you can start to pick up on your own tastes and preferences. and that's kind of working backwards but sometimes a particular shot can be inspiring enough that it's something you want to recreate and you can build ideas backwards that way. read reviews, watch director's cuts with commentary. read books and plays and poems and song lyrics. think of just iconography or symbolism or aesthetics you enjoy and build from that. brainstorming sessions in general are just really important too (sober or...... not), like getting into the headspace where you can just think without distractions. this almost always involves handwriting stuff for me. it gives me time to process and literally no idea is too dumb at that point, write down everything. also people watching?? or just intently listening to the stories of people around you or picking someone that's kind of a Character™ personality wise and building a story around a fictionalized version of them. for years, i've been keeping a note in my phone about just genuinely funny or surprising stories/situations i've heard in case i ever want to use them in the future.

also, for one of my classes, we watched this really interesting lars von trier documentary called "the five obstructions" which was essentially about forcing another filmmaker to deconstruct his own short film and remake it 5 different ways, with a different set of limitations every time. it was inspiring in terms of learning to see how to work with what is at your disposal. also, i know this is class and rubric dependent, but try not to limit yourself to like one kind of idea. like ... don't get stuck trying to make something just narrative or just documentary or just experimental or WHATEVER it is. i've been lucky enough to be in a class where we have kind of free rein this semester, but there is art in documentation and in just playing around sometimes. inspiration comes from literally anywhere, but i find that for me, a lot of my ideas work themselves backwards and i start out inspired by something visually pleasing or a line i love or a person i know.

i know this might not be the best advice, i'm still just a student myself and it's not like i'm overcome with the best ideas you've ever seen, lol, but i think it's important to set side time that's JUST for the brainstorming process. like studying and keeping up with everything else is stressful, but there needs to be built in time to really think through ideas and i struggle with that sometimes myself!! i wanna be go-go-go but it's just not doable. try to be kind to yourself and if you're not feeling it anymore, you're just not!! i'm wishing you lots of luck and inspiration, and i hope things go smoothly for you for the rest of your schooling ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 50

Ok so here is the Silencer inspired Chapter but obviously, I had to change directions with this in order to work with the story. I think this turned out really well. It took a bit of time and I struggled a little with some of it but thanks to my good friend, @naruwitch, I was able to get past that. I also may have taken a bit of inspiration from Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra to help me visualize how to write certain parts. Anyway I hope you guys like it :D

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

Chapter Fifty: Blackout

~The Grand Paris Hotel~

 "My good old friend, Bob! How wonderful to see you again," Mayor Bourgeois gasped, greeting the producer and shaking his hand as he walked to him with XY. The mayor smiled and turned to XY, pinching his cheeks a little. "And you brought little Xavier-Yves with you too!"

 "Uh my peeps call me XY, Mr Mayor," He declared, pushing his hand away and making a sign with his hands as he glanced to the side. "Xavier-Yves sounds way too-"

 "XY! Of course!" The mayor gasped, cutting him off as he excited moved his hands around. "Famous DJ XY!"

 He laughed, pushing them towards a table and chairs. The two took the hint and sat down before glancing up at the mayor.

 "It's such an honor for the Palace to receive such a fantastic artist and his father!" He declared, making Bob smirk. Of course, the mayor was sucking up to them. It's what he always did in order to make sure he had very powerful friends. Of course, he was dumb enough not to realize that Bob didn't see him as a friend. Not at all. Andre was just another way to the top for Bob and while he remained useful, Bob would keep him around but the moment he no longer had a use, Bob would drop him like a ton of bricks. He had no time for anyone he couldn't use. He smiled and turned his head to Andre.

 "Does that mean dinner's on the house then?" He asked, smirking. Almost instantly, Andre begins to stutter and panic as he didn't want to reject his friend but he didn't want to give them a free meal either. Seeing his expression, Bob began to laugh, causing him to relax a little. "I'm joking,"

 "You're too much, Bob," He laughed before pointing at him. "Always the comedian. Enjoy your meal. Bon appétit,"

 As soon as the mayor was out of earshot, Bob let out a sigh.

 "Eh, I tried," He muttered before looking at his son. "Ok, we need to talk about this special TV appearance you're gonna be making. We need to make sure it's a full success! After all, this is a major promotional event for us, especially since Jagged left the label and got the number one 1 spot again. We need to kick him off that throne and make him regret leaving. Now have you got any new material to premiere? New ideas?"

 "Course not, Dad. You know I never have any ideas," XY replied before the two of them laughed. "Besides, you don't need to worry about that has-been. He might be number one right now but I'll easily knock him back down once I release a new single,"

 "Excellent," Bob smirked. "So let's here what you've ripped- I mean come up so far,"

 XY took out his netbook and placed it on the table before turning to face his father and pressed play. The music that came out was repetitive and boring but Bob ignored them and listened it, moving his shoulders a little as he did before he noticed something. He held up his hand, causing XY to pause the song.

 "Isn't it a bit similar to what you were doing last year?" He asked, causing XY to blink at him before he turned the netbook around and pressed the icon for last year's song. He pressed play and listened to it, moving his shoulders slightly as he did before chuckling as he realized it was in fact similar to it.

 "Oh yeah," He grinned, glancing over at his father. "I guessed I ripped off my own music,"

 He laughed in an obnoxious way, causing Bob to join in with him.

 "Never mind. No one will know the difference anyway," He declared, not even fazed. Even if a couple of people noticed, there would be a hundred people who wouldn't and would lap up whatever they released. Fans were desperate in that way. "Image is king! What kind of visuals you got going? Any concepts?"

"Any what?" XY asked, looking confused. 

 "Ah, forget it. I'll use the same plan that's made me the rich man I am today," Bob declared, pointing his thumb at himself before moving his hand to the side of his mouth. He leaned in and moved his eyes around as if looking for people watching him. "If you're short on great ideas, 'borrow' someone else's,"

 The two of them burst into loud laughter, causing a number of people to glance at them with concern as well as disgust. It's not like the two were quiet about their plan to rip off other musicians.

 ~A Couple of Days Later~

 "Guys!" Marinette called out as she rushed down the steps, causing Luka and Ivan to look at her, along with Rose and Juleka. She stopped in front of them and held her legs a little as she caught her breathe before straightening up. "I have something I need to show you,"

 "What is it?" Rose asked, curious as Marinette took out her phone and brought up a video. Kitty Section surrounded her and looked at her phone as she pressed play on the video. Bob Roth appeared on the screen and began to talk about how his studio was looking for new talent and had created a competition to find it. The goal was to create a music video with great visual and musical skill within two weeks. The prize was getting to play live in KIDZ+ Studios on one of their shows. The video finished, causing Kitten Section to gasp in surprise. 

 "It's the perfect opportunity to showcase Kitty Section," She gasped, making Luka pull a thinking face. He could pull in favors with Jagged but he didn't want to use his dad in that way. Besides, this way they could prove their worth. It would also mean they could show off some of Marinette's designs as she had been planning to make some for them.

 "And the stage clothes you designed, Marinette," He added in, making her look at him as her cheeks turned pink. She giggled shyly before shaking her head.

 "If we all pitch in two weeks is more then enough time to make an awesome video!" She declared in an energetic way as she looked at them all. "Everyone in?"

 "Here we go!" Rose declared, holding up her arm before the five of them high fived together, shouting out their name before they pulled away.

 "Why don't we get started tonight?" Luka suggested, making Marinette look at him. "We have band practice planned anyway so Marinette, you can come over with your sketch pad and listen to us while we play. Hopefully, it will help give you inspiration,"

 "That's a great idea, Luka," She grinned, making him smile back as Juleka and Rose shared a look. "I'll just have to go and grab my stuff then we can head there,"

 "Hey, why don't we go ahead and Luka, you can go with Marinette to collect her stuff?" Juleka suggested, causing both of them to blush. She smirked a little at their reactions. "We can give Ma a head's up and start setting up the instruments,"

 "Um... sure? If Marinette doesn't mind?" He asked, causing her to grin and grab his hand, pulling him to the bakery as Rose shouted for him to pick up some snacks as well. Luka gave her a wave as an answer and walked with Marinette, keeping hold of her hand as he did. She glanced back at him and gave him a shy smile before they walked into the bakery. She let go of his hand and walked over to Sabine, gently kissing her cheek as she greeted her.

 "Hey, Mama," She smiled. "I'm going over to Luka's for a bit but I'll be home for dinner if that's ok?"

 "Of course, dear," She smiled before waving to Luka. "Hello, Luka. It's nice to see you again,"

 "You too, Mrs Ch- I mean Sabine," He replied, correcting himself as Marinette walked back over to him and pulled him into the apartment, waving to her father as they passed him in the back of the bakery. Tom waved back as the two of them climbed the stairs and headed up into Marinette's room. As soon as they entered, she went straight to emptying her bag and switching out her sketchpads from her practice one to her professional one. Luka rose an eyebrow as he watched her take out her pencil case and put in her bag as well. "How come you don't bring those ones to school?"

 "Lila and Chloe," She replied, making him frown. "Chloe use to laugh at my designs and even stole a design before. As for Lila, she had tried to get her hands on my work and destroy it. I managed to get it back before she did any real damage but since then I've left my professional sketchpad here. As for my pencils and pens, I've never brought them to school. They're pretty expensive so I'd rather not bring them to a place where people can easily get them. It's not like my locker is secure or anything,"

 "I'm sorry," He muttered, making her look to him before she shook his head.

 "Oh, it's not your fault, Luka," She smiled. "I'd actually trust you with those things. I know you would take care of them and you won't steal my work, even if you were into fashion,"

 "Of course, I wouldn't," He replied, making her smile a little. "I actually hate it when people steal art work regardless of what media it is. It's just wrong,"

 "Yeah, it is," She nodded, zipping up her bag and putting it on. "Well, I have everything I need so let's go get some snacks,"

 "Sounds good to me," He smiled, making her smile back. The two of them headed back downstairs and went to grab some pastries. Sabine came over and handed them a bag each, making Luka smile. "Thank you,"

 "There should be enough for everyone," She replied, making him smile a little more before Marinette thanked her and said goodbye. Luka waved as they left the bakery and walked towards the Seine in a comfortable silence. Marinette was happily humming a little bit, making him smile a little.

 "What?" She asked as she caught his glance. He chuckled and gently ruffled her hair, making her giggle.

 "You seem happy," He smiled, making her blush a little before she smiled shyly at him.

 "I am," She replied, playing with the straps of her bag. "I get to design awesome costumes for an awesome musician... I mean awesome musicians!"

 "I'm glad you're designing stuff for us, Marinette," He smiled, making her look at him. "I love your designs. They're always so authentic and original. You capture people's songs and turn them into beautiful designs,"

 "Luka," She gasped, blushing. "I-I'm glad you like them,"

 "Of course, I do," He smiled as they came to the liberty. Rose waved to them as Luka opened the gate on the plank and gestured for Marinette to step across. She smiled shyly at him and climbed onto the ship. He followed, closing the gate behind them as Juleka did a sound test on her bass. His guitar was leaning against the side, waiting for him to play it. "We bring snacks,"

 "Excellent!" Ivan grinned as Luka put down the bag of snacks and took off his own bag, placing it to the side. Marinette took a seat and took out her sketchpad and pencil case as Luka crossed over to his guitar and picked it up. He slid the strap over his shoulders and plugged it, testing the sound and making sure it was tuned. He tweaked it a little before playing again and smiling as he was satisfied with the sound. 

 "Ready?" He asked the others, getting a nod of Juleka.

 "Yeah!" Rose declared as Ivan picked up his drum sticks. He clicked them together, counting them in as Marinette opened her sketchpad to the sheets where she had started to work on some concepts for them already. She took out her pencil as they started to play, causing her to look up at them. "You know I love unicorns and nothing makes me feel better!"

 She smiled and began to outline one of the mask designs she had before glancing up a little. Luka looked over at her and gave her a soft smile as her eyes connected with him. She blushed a little and shyly looked back at her book before she continued to draw out the masks as an idea began to form in her head. She turned to a fresh page and began to draw out the idea, sketching out Rose first. Once she had done her base drawing for her, she moved on to Juleka then Ivan and finally Luka. With those done, she began to design outfit ideas and play around with different masks. She wanted Rose's to be a little bit different to the others as she was the lead singer but she didn't want it too different as they were still part of the same band. She also wanted to make Luka's and Juleka's similar to represent that they are siblings. She glanced up again and found herself slightly mesmerized as Luka played a bit of a solo before quickly glancing back down as a light blush came over her cheeks. Over the next two weeks, she spend as much as time with them as she could, causing her ideas to flow onto paper as she listened to them to play. Luka would come over to her during the breaks and take a look at the drawings. He helped her pick out which designs she would create and during school hours, they would meet for break and lunch to talk over the ideas they had. She drew final designs for each of them. With Rose, she went with a primarily pink mask with dark details and an aqua green horn. She picked out rounded shoulder pads that had stars on them and a pink chest plate, that was cropped, with the kitty section logo on it. With Juleka, she went with a primarily purple theme but she put in hints of pink to represent her relationship with Rose. She chose a star design for Juleka's mask. She painted it pink with a blue outline. The pink was for Rose but the blue for Luka. For her outfit, she created a triangular shaped collar that extended over her shoulders and chest in a light purple shade. She decided to go with something subtle for Juleka as she was a quiet person. With Ivan, she took a bit of inspiration from Leatherback. She wasn't sure why but he kind of reminded her of Ivan a little. She created a circular chest plate similar to Leatherback's costume but instead of been a turtle shell design and green, she made it red and gold with a similarly colored Kitty Section logo in the middle. The straps that connected to it were a dark scarlet with a gold trim and with gold studs going up it. His mask's base was white but she drew out a design similar to flames around the eyes, coloring it red. The horn was a dark scarlet red and she had also added some arm guards with spikes on them. In her sketch book, she posed him with his arms above his head as if he was gonna smash something. She drew out his name like a brick wall and even drew a little bit of debris as well. She had done something similar with Rose and Juleka as well. Juleka's name was done in a curled style with the star in the back ground. She was stood with her hands in front of her and a shy smile on her face. Behind her, Marinette had drawn a flag with the kitty section logo on it and her bass guitar to the side. With Rose, Marinette drew her jumping excitedly with her hands stretched out in a claw like pose. Her name was drawn in a style similar to Juleka's but she had swirls around it instead of a star. With Luka, she had drawn him as if he was walking forward with his arms out slightly. She put lines and little stars around him to emphasis the movement. His name was drawn out in bold letters with little stars around them too and she drawn several types of lightning bolts. She had settled with a simple one that would cover his right eye in the same place as Juleka's star. His mask's main color would be white but the lightening bolt was blue with a pink outline. The horn on his mask was a metallic teal blue and his outfit had curved shoulder pads with added spikes on the edges. They were glittery blue with little stars inside them and a white outline while the shoulder pads were a light blue. His chest plate was the same color as the shoulder pads and had a nine pointed star in the middle. It was a glittery blue with a pink outline and a kitty section logo in it. She had also created him a fanned collar with spikes that was teal blue in color. When the outfits were created, she took them straight to the liberty and helped them get into them. Luka gave her a thumbs up when she checked his before she handed him the mask she made as the others put on theirs. She took a step back and grinned as they posed, making her laugh. They couldn't complete the video that day as she still had to make some props but the hardest part was done for now. That night she began working on the props and even managed to get a good amount done before she had to go on patrol. Luckily, she didn't have to make much as the liberty had some flags already up. She created a large rainbow with the kitty section logo in the middle of it. She added pink stars and purple lightning bolts to it to make it stand out more and she even painted up Ivan's drums with the kitty section logo and a beautiful butterfly pattern in purple, orange, pink, red and green. When it came to filming, Luka helped her set up the props and they put a purple back drop around the area they were to film in. Once that was done, the band got into the position and Marinette began to film. While she had been designing their outfits, they had been practicing the song and coming up with a few dance moves as part of it. Rose made a clawing movement towards the camera before Luka and Juleka moved side to side as they played. Marinette couldn't help but feel proud as she filmed them. Luka moved over to Rose and the two of them made clawing movements towards the camera. Marinette smiled happily as the song came to a stop before stopping the recording. With the main parts done, all was left was to edit the video and submit it. Marinette took home the camera and uploaded to her computer, editing almost straight away. It took a couple of days in between school, akumas and patrols but once satisfied, she invited Kitty Section around to watch it. They were really happy with it and it needed no extra editing so they submitted it to the contest before pulling Marinette in for a group hug.

 ~Couple of Days after the Contest ended~

 "And nothing makes me feel better!" Rose sang as the song finished before she held up her fingers in a peace sign. 

 "Wow! This is so awesome," Luka gasped. He hadn't felt this energetic in a while but it was hard not to. Everyone was so excited about the contest and they had been practicing pretty much non stop for the last two weeks but it didn't feel like a chore. It was fun and exciting. "We're so in the moment! This song is fun and totally sincere!"

 He smiled before glancing over Marinette, who was sat on the sofa. She was looking at her phone but her expression was one of worry and sadness. Luka frowned a little before walking over to her.

 "Hey, Marinette," He stated, causing her to look up at him as he sat down. "Still no news about the contest?"

 "Maybe they didn't like our song," She replied, looking sad. Luka instantly placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

 "They must have received a ton of videos," He explained. "They probably haven't made their pick yet,"

 She gave him a small smile and nodded a little as his words reassured her. Of course, lots of other musicians had entered. It was the chance of a life time after all.

 "Uh oh," Ivan gasped, making them both look to him as he stared out of the window before he looked back at them. "You better take a look at this, guys!"

 Marinette and Luka looked at each other before jumping up and moving over to one of the other portholes before glancing out as Rose and Juleka moved to the other one and did the same. The screen on the TVi studio was showing a performance by XY but to their horror, it looked stupidly similar to their video. Marinette quickly took out her phone and pulled up the live stream to play it, showing XY playing a really bad version of I love Unicorns.

 "Cause I love my unicorns and my fluffy blue bunnies too!" He sung while literally hitting the DJ deck he was using. Luka gritted his teeth as he glared at the video. The song ended with XY crossing his arms before it switched to Alec Cataldi.

 "Wow! Loving the new look, XY! You've really out done yourself this time," He declared, glancing at the camera as the so called musician came over to him. "How did you come up with a style that's so... original?"

 "It's all in here!" He replied, taking his head and making Luka let out a small growl. 

 "But that's our original style!" Ivan gasped as Marinette gripped the phone tightly.

 "Your unicorn and your mask," Luka gasped, looking at Marinette. He was annoyed on her behalf and judging by the look on her face, she was annoyed on his behalf as well.

 "That's your melody! It's your music! That's... That's not fair!" She declared as she looked at them. "That should be you guys up there on TV!"

 She frowned as she looked at them before turning around and glaring at the large screen, showing XY.

 "There better be a good explanation for this!" She declared, clutching her phone before she turned to the others. "We need to have it out with Bob Roth and XY! Let's head to the studio!"

 As soon as she declared that, the band nodded and rushed out of the boat. Luka and Marinette were in front as the other three followed them but Luka wasn't sure if there was a good explanation. To him, it was clear what had happened. XY had stolen their style and music. He wasn't really surprised since he had seen the way XY had acted towards Jagged and this was obviously his attempt to get back on the number one spot. They came to a stop as they saw the TVi building. Outside of the doorway were two security guards. Marinette took a deep breathe and stormed over to them with the rest of the band.

 "Can we help you?" One of them asked, glancing at them.

 "We need to see XY and Bob Roth," Marinette replied, making the men frown.

 "They're not here right now," One of them replied, making Marinette click her tongue.

 "Seriously?" She gasped before pointing to the screen on top. "They're right there on live screen!"

 "You're not allowed in," He replied again, making them frown. "You're not invited and the show's already started,"

 "But it's our show!" Marinette argued, annoyed as Luka frowned.

 "Not our problem, Miss," The other one answered, making them frown a little more before Luka turned to Marinette, who gave him an identical look. The two of them smiled at each other before turning to the others.

 "Come on, guys... we'll work out something else," Luka sighed, leading them away from the doors with Rose muttering something about not giving up. They walked down the stairs to the Seine, taking them out of the line of sight of the security guards. Since they were hidden, Luka stopped the group from walking and turned to Marinette with a mischief glint in his eye. Rose, Juleka and Ivan rose an eyebrow as they noticed Marinette had the same look in her eyes. "You think what I'm thinking?"

 "Find a way to sneak in and confront Bob Roth and XY?" She asked, making him grin.

 "Exactly," He smirked before the two of them pulled identical expressions. "How to do it though?"

 "Well, we need to distract the security guards," Marinette replied, frowning as she tapped her finger against her chin. Luka glanced over the wall and looked over at the building. The guards were still stood there but they were talking to each other. Luka glanced over to his friends and smiled as his luck vision kicked in. Ivan got highlighted then Juleka and Rose before he looked back at the building. The two security guards got lit up then the doors before he looked back again. Finally, Marinette got lit up.

 "I've got a plan," He announced, smiling as he moved over to them, causing them to look at him in surprise. "Rose, Juleka, you're gonna pretend you're been chased by an akuma, who will be played by Ivan. That should be enough to get security guards' attention then Marinette, me and you will sneak past them,"

 "Ok but how am I gonna be an akuma?" Ivan asked as Luka thought before snapping his fingers together.

 "Your kitty section costume. We're close enough to the Liberty to go grab it," He replied, getting a nod of everyone. "I'll go grab it. You guys keep an eye on the guards and text me if the show ends,"

 "We will," Marinette replied, getting a nod of him before he ran off. Tikki poked her head out of his pocket as he got closer to the boathouse. 

 "Do you think Bob Roth and XY will admit what they've done?" She asked as he walked across the gangplank and went below decks.

 "I don't know but we have to find out why they did this," He replied, grabbing Ivan's costume and mask. "It's just wrong,"

 "Definitely," Tikki huffed, crossing her arms. "They should be ashamed of themselves,"

 "Yeah. Let's get back to the others," He replied, opening his jacket so she could fly into his inner pocket. He had asked Marinette to create an inner pocket in his jacket for Tikki. Of course, Marinette had no idea that it was for a kwami but she did it for him anyway. He ran back to the others and held out the costume to Ivan, who grinned before he took it and put it on. He fixed on his mask before turning to Luka.

 "You sure this will work?" He asked, making the guitarist nod.

 "It will work," He grinned, giving the drummer a thumbs up. Ivan grinned at him before roaring out loud. Rose and Juleka instantly screamed and ran up the stairs as Ivan chased them, shouting about how their friend had akumatized and to call Anatis and Lady Noir at once. Luka watched as the security guards kept their eyes on them. They told them it wasn't working but they also weren't aware of the full plan. Luka carefully took Marinette's hand and led her closer to the building, hiding against the edge closest to the door as they did. Rose screamed again, causing one of the guards to sigh in annoyance.

 "Stop messing around, kids," He declared as Luka and Marinette sneaked closer. "It's not going to work,"

 "We've got work to do," The other replied as the door opened and the two of them slipped inside. "So get out of here and go watch the show at home,"

 The door closed as Marinette and Luka looked around. The lobby was completely empty, making their plan a lot easier. They walked over to the lifts and pressed the call button, causing one of the doors to open. They got inside and pressed the button for the studio that XY was in. The door's closed and the lift began to move up. Marinette turned to Luka and gave him a smile.

 "That was a great plan, Luka," She grinned, making him smile.

 "Wouldn't have been able to pull it without you guys," He smiled as the lift pinged and the doors opened. He glanced around as he stepped out with Marinette. They weren't sure where the entrance to the studio would be. They stopped as a woman walked by, heading towards a door. Marinette tapped Luka's arm and pointed at her before she disappeared into the studio. Luka nodded and the two of them ran over to the door she had gone through. They carefully pushed it open and peered in. XY was stood next to Alec Cataldi.

 "So, tell me, where did you get this inspiration for all this new material?" He asked as XY looked at him. 

 "Oh, it's nothing really," He replied, moving his head to the side. "I came with the whole song in like five minutes,"

 "In five minutes?" Luka gasped, annoyed. "He couldn't even sing it the way it was suppose to be sung!"

 "And his mask isn't even a good rip off," Marinette replied, equally annoyed. She glanced over and noticed Bob Roth stood behind the camera line. She rushed inside the studio and over to him. "Mr Roth!"

 He turned to look at him with a blank face.

 "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng," She explained, making him frown. There was a hint of recognition in his eyes, causing her to realize he knew her but he couldn't place where from. "I'm the one who sent you the kitty section video!"

 "Video?" He asked in an aggressive manner. "What video? I don't know what you're talking about, Kid!"

 "Maybe I can jog your memory!" She declared, taking out her phone and holding it up to him as it played the video, causing him to look at it. "Look! The costumes, the masks, the music, the dance moves... they're all the same,"

 "There's no comparison!" Mr Roth declared, crossing his arms before he gestured to the phone as XY joined him, mimicking his father's pose as he looked at them with disgust. "This here is some amateur garage band. My son is a solo artist,"

 "Son?" Luka questioned as he put his arm around XY, who had started to smirk.

 "You guys play instruments, his music is all digital," He continued, pointing to XY. "Our unicorn is much more cooler and our masks are nothing like yours,"

 "That's not true!" Luka yelled, surprising Marinette as he glared at them. "You copied Marinette's costumes!"

 "And it's the exact same song!" Marinette added in, looking at the two thieves. "You stole Luka's music!"

 "Oh, come on! Let's not exaggerate now," XY stated as he looked at them. "We may have been just a little... inspired! That's all but I thought you would know that given that your father is a musician,"

 "Ah, that's right," Mr Roth smirked as he looked at Luka. "I thought I recognized you. You're Jagged's son,"

 "My father has nothing to do this with this!" Luka growled, making the two of them look at him in surprise. "And you weren't inspired! You flat out stole!"

 He walked up to XY and poked him in the chest as he looked at him in an angry manner.

 "You didn't design this mask!" He yelled as he grabbed the mask off XY and ripped it off him, causing the DJ to rub the side of his face in pain. "Marinette did!"

 "Look, it's not too late to do the right thing!" Marinette gasped, causing Luka to look at her in surprise. Even though he really shouldn't be. Of course, Marinette was gonna try and appeal to their better selves. She always saw the good everyone, even those who didn't deserve it. Luka was even sure that she probably still managed to see good in someone like Lila despite what she's done. "Just tell the truth and let Kitty Section appear on the show! That's all we're asking,"

 "Yeah," Mr Roth replied in a disbelieving tone before he pointed at them. "First, they'll want to be in the show then they'll be asking for a cut of the profits! No way! Never show or heard of Kitten Division!"

 Luka gritted his teeth as he felt his anger rising but Tikki gently pressed her paw to his chest, causing him to remember that he couldn't risk been akumatized. He took a deep breathe and turned to Marinette.

 "Forget it, Marinette," He gasped, gently grabbing her shoulder to lead her away. He didn't her to get akumatized over this either. "It's no big deal. Let's just go,"

 "No!" She gasped, pulling away from him. "It's not fair! I won't stand by and let my friends' work get stolen!"

 She stormed over to Mr Roth and XY as Luka looked at her in amazement. Despite the situation, he could feel himself falling for her harder then before. 

 "If you won't tell the truth then I will!" She threatened, surprising Luka again as she pointed to Bob Roth. "Right now! On the air! Live!"

 She stormed pass Mr Roth but suddenly grabbed her arm, making look at him and Luka to step forward as the urge to protect her kicked in.

 "If you do that, I'll tell them that you're the copy cats, not me!" He declared as she yanked her arm free from him. Luka gritted his teeth as his anger began to rise again. "I've got all of the music biz eating out of my hand! So who do you think they're gonna believe? Me or a group of nobodies?"

 He glanced over at Luka as he spoke, causing Luka to narrow his eyes and growl a little. He wasn't a nobody and neither was Marinette. None of Kitty Section were and how dare Bob Roth imply that they are. Mr Roth turned back to Marinette as he continued to threaten her.

 "You'll never have a future in this business! You'll never make another costume!" He declared, pointing his fat digit at Marinette, who stepped back. "And there will be no more music for your buddies! Because as far as everyone's concerned, you'll be the rip off artists!"

 He pointed at Marinette, making her flinch back as Luka flinched and glared at the man, getting angrier as he watched him. Not only was Bob Roth threatening Marinette but he had also stole their project and the way he was acting was reminding Luka of his step father. The way he towered over Marinette was mirrored how Issac would tower over Luka when he was younger. It was making him more angrier then he already was. How dare Mr Roth threatened the girl he loved?! How dare he steal her hard work and claim it as his own?! Sure, he was pissed that he had stole his work but he was more annoyed at that Marinette had been caught up with it. He growled as he gripped the mask in his hand, seething with anger.

 "I can destroy your future with a snap of my fingers!" Bob Roth laughed as Marinette looked up at him in horror. He laughed as she stepped away, causing Luka to growl again as he failed to notice the akuma that was fluttering towards him. "Not quite so cocky now, are we?!"

 The akuma entered his mask, opening the psychic link to Hawkmoth.

 "Silencer," The super villain stated, causing Luka's body to freeze up as he realized what was happening. "I am Hawkmoth. This man is the voice of evil and I'm giving you the power to silence him for good! All I ask in return is-"

 A buzzing noise interrupted Hawkmoth's speech, confusing both him and Luka as they heard it.

 "What?" Hawkmoth gasped as he wondered what it was. It resembled white noise but confused the hell out of Hawkmoth. He had never came across this before. Meanwhile, Luka gripped his head, groaning as white noise continued to filled his mind, causing him to drop the mask. He lifted his other hand to his head as it began to get louder and louder. He could hear Marinette yelling but it sounded so far away. "Silencer, I-"

 "Shut up!" He shouted, surprising everyone around him. It felt like his mind was going to explode. "G-Get out of my head!"

 "Luka!" Marinette gasped somewhere from in front of him but she still sounded really far away and the white noise was still around but he could hear something else within it. It was a voice saying something in a language he didn't understand. It seemed to be repeating something and it almost felt like it was trying to break through but he couldn't handle it. The sound was tearing his mind apart. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor as his body began to convulse violently. He heard Marinette's scream and he was afraid of what was happening but he couldn't stop his body as he fitted.

 ~Meanwhile~

 "Silencer! Answer me!" Hawkmoth shouted as he had no idea what was going on. He could feel extreme fear and panic coming from the boy and he could hear the white noise but it was dramatically reduced for him. "I demand an answer!"

 "You're not welcome here," A deep voice that definitely didn't belong to the boy replied, sending shivers down his spine before the connection was forcefully broken. He blinked in completely surprise as he hadn't called back the akuma nor had the boy rejected it and it wasn't purified. It had just been pushed out. He blinked in surprise before ordering his akuma to move around. He frowned as he used it's eyes to see what was going on but gasped in surprise. The boy who he had targeted was on the floor, violently fitting as Marinette Dupain-Cheng was trying to helping. Bob Roth was stood to the side, looking completely shocked while XY was backing away in fear. 

 "Go to XY!" He ordered, causing the akuma to flutter over to him and enter his head band. XY growled as the connection opened to Hawkmoth. "Blackout, I am Hawkmoth. These wannabe rock-stars are accusing you of stealing their original material. Well, I'm giving you the ability to take away something from them. All I ask in return is for you to get me Anatis' and Lady Noir' miraculous and find out what happened to that boy. Do we have a deal?"

 "Yes, Hawkmoth," XY replied, accepting the power.

 ~Back to Marinette~

 "Do you have any idea-" XY stated as Luka suddenly groaned, causing the three of them to look at him as he gripped his head, dropping the rip off mask as he did. Marinette gasped as she saw it had turned black. She rushed over to him as he stepped back and groaned. 

 "Luka!" She gasped, worried. "Luka! Listen to me, you don't need-"

 "Shut up!" He shouted, gripping his hair as his face screwed up in pain. She covered her mouth as she wasn't sure what to do. "Get out of my head!"

 "Luka!" She gasped, going to encourage him but his eyes suddenly rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor, convulsing violent. She let out a scream and rushed to his side. She grabbed his head as tears filled her eyes before she looked up at Mr Roth and XY. "Phone an ambulance!"

 Bob stepped back in fear as Luka continued to fit. Marinette tried to calm herself as best as she could. Since Mr Roth and XY weren't helping, she grabbed her phone and dialed 112. The phone rang for a few seconds before it answered.

 "Hello! I need an ambulance!" She gasped in a panicked voice. The woman on the phone told her to take a deep breathe and explain the situation. Marinette took one. "It's my friend. He's having some kind of fit. He needs medical-"

 "Yes, Hawkmoth," XY suddenly declared, causing her to gasp and look over as he got consumed by the purple smog before some kind of shock wave exploded from him, knocking everyone back and plunging everyone in darkness as the purple smog disappeared. Marinette pushed herself up and looked at her phone, gasping as she saw it was now dead before she looked over at Luka. He had stopped fitting but his eyes were still rolled up and he didn't appear to be responsive. Marinette leaned over him and frowned as she wasn't sure what to do. She had to get him out of here. She thought about transforming but the sound of footsteps caught her attention, causing her to gasp as the akumatized XY walked over. He was one of the more scarier akumas she had seen. His hair was made of blue flames and his headband was black. He wore a black vest with spiked shoulder pads and a bright blue hem. Underneath it was a black fishnet top that covered some of his stomach. His pants were blue with yellow triangles and he had a black belt around around his waist with a lightning bolt shaped belt buckle. It was purple with a yellow line. The same lightening bolt was on his mask but the rest of it was purple. His eyes were light blue with purple scleras and he had black lips as well as fangs. His skin was light blue and he had black fingerless gloves on. His boots were black with blue flames on them and his fingers were skeletal. His ears were pixie like, had two black bands on his right arm and he had a bass guitar around his back that was back with a blue flame on it. Marinette gulped as he stood in front of her. "Hawkmoth wants to know what happened to your little boyfriend,"

 "Leave him alone!" She gasped as he leaned down and grabbed her, shoving her aside. "He needs medical help!"

 "I could crush him right now," He smirked, causing Marinette to get scramble and try to find something in the darkness. Her fingers found something, causing her to feel it. She smiled as she realized it was a fire extinguisher. She pulled it off and set it up as XY leaned over Luka. She aimed it at him and sprayed him with it, causing him to yell out as she managed to out his flames for now. She picked it up when it ran out and threw it at him, causing him to scream and dive out of the way as she rushed over to Luka. She slapped his cheeks, causing him to groan but he wasn't quite awake yet. She tried to pull him out of the studio as XY got back up. "You little- ahhh!"

 He dived out of the way as several rafters came crashing down as Marinette managed to reach the door. She tried to find the handle but it suddenly opened, allowing her to drag Luka out with difficulty. It wasn't that he was large or anything but he was a dead weight. She gasped as she saw to green eyes before letting out a sigh when she realized it was Plagg. She gasped and pulled Luka to the side before letting out a breathe. He groaned, causing Plagg to hide in her purse as he coughed.

 "M-Marinette..." He gasped, making her let out a sigh of relief. "W-why... dark..."

 "There was a blackout and we have an akuma who seems to want to know what happened to you," She explained, making him groan.

 "Need... Anatis..." He muttered, trying to move. Marinette helped him leaning against the wall as he groaned. "Feel.. sick..."

 "I'm not surprised," She mumbled, gently placing her hand on his head before her fear got the better off her. "Luka, you scared me. You started to fit and I didn't know what to do,"

 "I'm.. sorry...." He muttered, making her let out a small sigh.

 "It's not your fault," She replied as they heard a crash. She gulped as she realized it was probably Blackout. "Think you can walk?"

 "M-Maybe. Might... need help..." He admitted, making her nod. She moved over to him and helped him up, getting him to lean on her as they began to walk away from where they were, feeling the wall as they did. They turned the corner, just as Blackout burst through the door. Marinette's eyes began to adjust in the dark as she looked around, still feeling the wall as she did. She made felt a door and moved her hand over it, realizing it was a push door. She felt something on it and realized it was a metal sign. She moved her hand across it and gasped quietly as she realized it was the woman's toilets. She pushed open the door and helped Luka inside before helping him sit against the wall. 

 "Stay in here," She ordered, going to get up but Luka grabbed her hand.

 "D-Don't go," He muttered, making her frown. She had to leave him but part of her didn't want to.

 "I'm just gonna go on the roof and flag down Lady Noir or Anatis," She replied, gently placing her hand on his cheek. "You'll be safe in here as the akuma won't think to look in the women toilets for you,"

 "Me-Melody," He muttered before groaning. "B-Be careful,"

 "I'll try," She replied, biting her lip before she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'll get them to send paramedics as soon as they can for you and I'll be back as soon as I can too,"

 Before he could answer, she rushed outside and away from the bathroom. She hated leaving him, especially given how weak he was but she had to protect him. He was too important to her not to and she could keep the akuma away from him as Lady Noir. As soon as she was far enough, she transformed into Lady Noir and went looking for the akuma.

 ~Back to Luka~

 As soon as Marinette left the room, Tikki flew out of his pocket and pressed her hand to Luka's cheek. She gasped as she realized he was hotter then usual and his breathing was weak.

 "Luka, you need a doctor," She gasped as his breathing got swallow as if he was struggling with it. "Luka!"

 "I'm... ok..." He gasped, trying to get up but he fell back onto the floor. "I... need to... protect... her..."

 "Luka, you're in no fit state to transform let alone fight," She gasped, concerned. She had no idea what happened. She knew he was close to been akumatized but because of the seizure, he hadn't. Had his natural luck causes it? She wouldn't consider it lucky but in a backward way, it was.

 "I h-have to..." He gasped, pushing himself up again. "T-Tikki... spots o-on,"

 She got sucked into his earrings, transforming him in Anatis as he fell to the floor again. He pushed himself up and took a step forward, groaning as he felt dizzy. He felt the room shake, causing him to frown before he took a step forward and left the bathroom. He made his way through the building blindly, using the wall as a guide. He managed to make his way up where the shaking and crashes were coming from before he held a voice yell that he recognized as Lady Noir. She came flying through the doors of the studio and landed near him as the akuma stepped out.

 "Now you'll see why they call me Blackout!" He declared, taking out his bass guitar and strumming it. Anatis uses the last of his strength to rush in front of her and used his yoyo to block the attack as Lady Noir got up but he couldn't hold it back and was knocked into her, causing him to fall to the ground as he breathed in heavily as his head began to buzz again and feel like it was splitting. He could feel himself falling backwards into darkness as he began to lose consciousness. Lady Noir didn't notice as she jumped up and used her baton to redirect Blackout's attack. Blackout growled as she smirked at him.

 "Think you can get us a lucky charm, Annie," She grinned but frowned when he didn't reply. She redirected Blackout's attack before kicking him back and attacking him. "Annie! A little help here!"

 He didn't answer again, causing her to look behind her and gasp. He was slumped to the ground with his head bowed, causing her to gasp.

 "Annie!" She cried out, allowing Blackout to take advantage. He hit her with his sound wave, throwing her back into the wall but when she got back up, she gasped as she could no longer see properly in the dark. All she could see was Blackout's flaming hair. He laughed and began to walk over to her as she held out her baton but she couldn't fight Blackout and protect Luka while protecting Anatis. She had to get him out of there. She bit her lip and prayed that Luka would forgive her. "Cataclysm!"

 She slammed her hand onto the wall behind her, causing it to crumble as a hole appeared in, allowing sunlight into the building. Blackout cried out and jumped from it, allowing her to grab Anatis and lift him up before she jumped out of the building and to the next one. It wasn't easy but she managed to carry him as best as she could to Master Fu's. He was slipping in and out conscious, making her worry. She burst through the door, causing Master Fu to look up in surprise before he gasped and rushed over to them.

 "What happened to him?" He asked as he helped her get him to the massage mat, getting him to lie down. "Lady Noir?"

 "I d-don't know..." She gasped, tears in her eyes. She explained that she had been fighting Blackout and that he had tried to protect her from been hit by a sound wave. Master Fu frowned as he listened. "But it weaken him dramatically and I don't understand why! I mean I got hit by the wave but all it did was take away my night vision,"

 "This is most unusual," He replied, getting up and gesturing for her to come over to him as her ring beeped. He led her into a different room, just before her transformation dropped and turned to her as she handed some cheese to Plagg. Anatis may be semi-consciousness but that doesn't mean he wanted to risk their identities. He grabbed some equipment that made Marinette give him a strange look as Plagg ate his cheese. When he was done, Marinette transformed back into Lady Noir and followed Master Fu back into the main room. He placed the equipment down next to Anatis and got back up. Wayzz was sat with him as he breathed shallowly. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was pain. Master Fu walked over to the phonograph and took out the miracle box before bringing it over to her. "Lady Noir, you must chose an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the miraculous and return them to me,"

 "What about Anatis?" She frowned as she looked over at him. "Don't we need him to fix everything and capture the akuma?"

 "I will see if I can restore his energies and heal him but you must try and capture the akuma," He replied, making her nod. "I will give you one of my enchanted jars in case,"

 "Alright," She nodded before glancing at the miraculous. "I don't know these as well as Annie does but I do know that Blackout didn't like it when I created a hole in the building and sunlight came in and I could also use someone who can sneak up on him,"

 "In that case, I recommend the Rooster and the Tiger," Master Fu recommended, making her look at him. "The Rooster can use Flare, which allows them to create a burst of bright light and the Tiger can use Veil, which makes it's user completely invisible until they either touch something or they run out of their time,"

 "Those two would be perfect!" Lady Noir gasped before frowning. "But can I even bring two out?"

 "Normally, I wouldn't advise it but with Anatis out of commission this time, I am suggesting it," Master Fu replied, causing Lady Noir to nod and grab the two miraculous. Master Fu got up and walked out of the room as she went to the draw and put the two miraculous in their boxes before placing them in her pocket. She moved over to Anatis and knelt down next to him, gently moving his hair as his eyelids fluttered a little.

 "Don't worry, Annie," She whispered. "I'll find a way to fix this,"

 Master Fu came back in and handed her a jar before she took off out of the window and jumped across the rooftops. For her allies, she needed people who have a strong sense of justice and who can handle tough situations. She also needed someone who is a quick thinker and logical and she knew exactly who was perfect for it. She landed on the school roof and jumped down, heading straight to the computer room. It was a bit of a shot in the dark as it was a Saturday but she knew a number of students did extra classes on a Saturday if they weren't hanging out with their friends.  As soon as she entered the room, she saw who she was looking for. Max was trying to get the computers and Marvok to work again.

 "Max Kante," She called, getting his attention. He gasped and jumped in surprise as she strolled over to him. "I need your help,"

 "Is there an akuma?" He asked, getting a nod of her. "Anatis sent you to get help?"

 "Anatis... is hurt..." She muttered, looking to the side. "I've got him to someone who can help but I can't just let this akuma continue to rampage,"

 "I understand but I'm not sure how I can help," Max replied, frowning as Lady Noir reached into her pocket and took out the box that contained the Rooster miraculous. Max blinked as he looked at it.

 "Max Kante, here is the miraculous of the Rooster which grants the power of Illumination," She explained, making him stare at it at surprise. "You will use it for the greater good,"

 Max gaped at her in surprise before slowly taking the box.

 "Once the mission is done, you must return the miraculous to me," She explained, making him nod. "Can I trust you?"

 "You can count on me one hundred percent, Lady Noir," He replied, opening it. A bright orange glow appeared out of it and circled around him, causing him to gasp before it manifested in a small creature that resembled a rooster, who stretched and looked at him.

 "Hello, I'm Orriko," It stated, making him know. "Who are you?"

 "Um... hello, my name's Max," He replied, making Orriko nod before they turned around and frowned as they looked around. "Is something wrong?"

 "Where's the young master?" Orriko asked, looking at Lady Noir. She glanced to the side sadly. "Is he ok?"

 "He's with Master Fu," She answered, making the rooster nod. "Orriko was it? We need to face Blackout but I don't know much about your power so I can't really explain it to Max,"

 "No need to worry, mistress," They replied, making her blush a little before turning back to Max. "To transform, all you need to say is Orriko, Sunrise and to detransform it's Orriko, Sunset. The power you will have is called Flare. Calling upon it will allow you to create a flash of bright light with your arrows,"

 "Ok," Max replied, nodding as he slipped on the thumb ring. "Orriko, Sunrise!"

 Orriko got sucked into the ring, charging it up. Max swiped his hand over his hand, changing it's color to red and orange before the golden energy spreaded across his body, creating his outfit. It was most orange that faded in yellow but his legs had dark teal green on them. He had red shoulder pads and a bright orange neck area that was triangle-shaped. His gloves were a dark teal green with red spikes and his boots were yellow. He moved his hand across his eyes, creating his mask which was most red but with a yellow nose area that was shaped like a beak. His quiver appeared on his side and his bow appeared on his back before a red belt appeared around his waist, completely the transformation. 

 "Whoa," He muttered, holding his hands up as he looked at him.

 "Not bad," Lady Noir smiled, making him nod. "You'll need a name though,"

 "Call me Apollo," He smiled, making her nod. "What's the plan?"

 "We just need to pick up one more person," She explained, making him nod. "Would you mind waiting for me on the rooftop?"

 "Of course, Lady Noir," He nodded, making her smile. "Would you like me to do anything while I'm waiting?"

 "Well, you could study your user's guide," She explained, making him nod. "Your bow will have a build in phone and manual,"

 "Interesting," He replied, jumping up to the roof as she rushed to the art room and looked around. There were but none of them called out to her for the tiger. She apologized to them and rushed back out  before looking around the other classrooms. She frowned to herself as she continued to do so. She needed to find someone and soon.

 "Lady Noir?" A voice called, making her turn around as Nino stared at her. "Is everything ok, dudette?"

 "Are you alone?" She asked, making him nod.

 "Yeah, I wanted to work on some lyrics," He replied, making her nod. "Where's Anatis?"

 "He's... um... he's hurt... the akuma did something to him. I got him to safety but I need help," She admitted sadly, making Nino gasp before clearing his throat and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I can't defeat Blackout on my own,"

 "I'll help you as best I can, dudette," He replied, making her nod. "Though not sure what use I'll be,"

 "Actually," She muttered, wiping her eyes a little before taking out the box with the tiger miraculous before holding up. "You can be more helpful then you realize,"

 "Is that what I think it is?" He asked, making her smile.

 "Nino Lahiffe, here is the miraculous of the tiger which grants the ability of invisibility," She declared, making him stare at it. "You will use it for the greater good, if you are willing?"

 "Definitely, dudette," He replied, taking the box.

 "Once the mission is done, you must return the miraculous to me," She explained, making him nod. "Can I trust you?"

 "I got your back, dudette," He reassured as he opened the box, causing a magenta colored ball of light to appear and fly around him before it manifested into a small tiger like creature. "Whoa, what are you? Are you like a genie or something?"

 "I'm a Kwami," It replied, crossing it's arm. "The name is Roarr and I can grant you powers,"

 "Um Roarr, would you mind explain your power to Nino?" Lady Noir asked, causing Roarr to look at her before they glanced around, frowning. "Anatis isn't here... I know you're more familiar with him but-"

 "No worries, Lady Noir," Roarr grinned, making her look at them in surprise. "The boss talks about you quite a bit and since he trusts you, we trust you. Besides, us cats gotta stick together,"

 Lady Noir smiled before nodding. Roarr turned to Nino.

 "So, Cub, the transformation words are Roarr, Leap out and to detransform, it's Roarr, Crouch Down," They explained, making the DJ nod. "And then there's your special power. My specialty is been sneaky. I grant the ability to turn invisible. Since you're a cub, it will only last five minutes then you'll transform back... but if you touch anything before that, you will be revealed. To activate it, just say Veil. Got it, Cub?"

 "I think so, Dude," Nino replied, taking out the Panjas Bracelet and putting it on his hand. He glanced at it as it turned into a simple silver bracelet connected to a simple silver ring before looking up at Roarr, who nodded. Nino held up his hand and grinned. "Roarr, Leap Out!"

 Roarr got sucked into the bracelet, charging it up before a magenta light moved up his arm as he moved around. It created a dark purple suit with magenta colored strips around it. His boots were black with dark purple strips on them and styled as combat styles. His gloves and mask matched his boots and he had a dark purple hood over his head with two tiger ears poking out. His eyes were catlike and brown in color. The light created a purple belt that was long enough to resemble a tail, finishing the transformation. 

 "Whoa, this is so cool," He gasped as he looked at himself. "This is legit,"

 "I'm glad you're impressed," She smiled, making him nod. "You're gonna need a name,"

 "Call me Sabertooth," He grinned, making her smile before the two of them left the room and jumped onto the roof, where Apollo was waiting. Lady Noir walked over to him and greeted him as Sabertooth walked behind her.

 "Sabertooth, this is Apollo," She introduced, causing the boys to shake hands before Apollo turned to her.

 "I have analysed the user's guide but I also discovered that there is an ongoing live stream with Blackout," He explained, showing her on his bow. "He is demanding that we hand him the miraculous as usual but he is also demanding that Luka Couffaine be handed over to him,"

 "What does he want with Lu... I mean Mr Couffaine?" Sabertooth asked, making her frown. 

 "The akuma Blackout is XY. He stole music from Mr Couffaine," She explained, making them frown. "And Mr Couffaine found out. I think Blackout wants to get rid of Mr Couffaine so he can't tell the truth. What's the threat this time?"

 "He's threatening to plunge the city into darkness," Apollo replied, making her nod. "But he hasn't left the TVi studio. Instead, he's been live streaming from there but I don't understand why he hasn't left,"

 "Because he can't," Lady Noir replied, making them look at her. "He can't go in light,"

 "Then my power will come in use," Apollo replied, making her nod. "What's the plan?"

 "We need to get into the studio and confront him," She replied, frowning. She wondered how Anatis did it. "Let's go!"

 ~Back to Master Fu's Place~

 Master Fu frowned as he crushed up some herbs in a bowl to create an incense that might help with Anatis' condition. He was really weak and kept slipping in and out of consciousness. He added the crushed herbs to another bowl that had a charcoal disc in it before picking up the bowl and knelt next to him, picking up a fan and using it to waft the smoke towards him. Anatis groaned and moved his head, making Master Fu frown.

 "Luka, if you can hear me, I need you to detransform," He explained, hoping he could. He needed to talk to Tikki and find out what had happened. He had a feeling that it wasn't to do with the akuma. Luka didn't reply at first, making him frown. However, Luka groaned, making Fu look at him.

 "T-Tikki..." He muttered, making him gasp. "S-Spots... off..."

 The red light appeared as his costume disappeared, causing Tikki to manifest. Luka's head flopped to the side as Master Fu caught her but she flew out of his hands and landed next to Luka's head, gently placing her paw on his cheek.

 "Luka," She muttered, frowning before looking up at Master Fu. "Can you heal him?"

 "I can try but I need to know what happened," He replied, making her nod. "Lady Noir told me he got hit by Blackout's power but the miraculous should have protected him from any physical effects,"

 "It wasn't Blackout," Tikki explained, making Master Fu looked at her as she looked worried before she let out a sigh. "Luka almost become an akuma today. He and Marinette were trying to deal with a man called Mr Roth and the DJ XY stealing their artwork. Luka was willing to let it go but then Mr Roth threatened Marinette and Luka got so angry that Hawkmoth sent an akuma to him. It technically possessed him but something happened to him. He started to grip his head and told it to shut up and get out of his head. I thought he was talking to Hawkmoth but then he collapsed to the floor and had a seizure. While he did, Hawkmoth recalled the akuma,"

 "Oh my," Master Fu replied, frowning. "I've never heard of an akuma causing someone to have a seizure. Of course, I imagine him getting hit by Blackout didn't help. I think I may be able to restore his energies to heal him,"

 "Please do, Master," Tikki gasped, looking at Luka. "I'm worried,"

 Master Fu nodded and went into over to the equipment he needed to heal Luka's chi. He began to work using his crystals and gongs but it seemed to taking longer then usual. Tikki bit her lip as she watched, hoping that Luka would be ok. She didn't understand what had happened but she knew that he needed to be ok. She would never forgive Hawkmoth if he wasn't. Master Fu tapped his gong again before holding his hands over Luka's chest, reading his energies. He gasped as he opened his eyes before doing the action again, causing Tikki to frown.

 "Master, what's wrong?" She asked, making him frown as he moved his hands. "Master?"

 "It is most strange," He replied, making her frown. "I can sense Luka's aura but I can also sense a second aura or present. Are you sure the akuma was called back?"

 "Yes," She replied, certain. "It went into XY's headband, turning him into the Blackout,"

 "That can't be right," Master Fu stated, making her frown. "When a butterfly user recalls an akuma, it is purified but if it is rejected by the host, it remains charged,"

 "That means Luka rejected it," She gasped, causing Master Fu to look at him as Luka's eyes lids flick. "Can't you get rid of the second aura?"

 "No, it could damage Luka's soul if I did," He replied, making her frown. "I don't know if this second present is just his subconscious manifesting itself or if it is something possessing him. Either way, it is too dangerous, especially if it causes his seizure,"

 "You think this other presence might possessing him?" She asked, frowning as she glanced over at him. She bit her lip again before glancing back at Fu. "Do you think it could be Hawkmoth himself?"

 "I don't know, Tikki," He replied, frowning. "I don't know,"

 ~Back to Luka~

 Silencer, I am Hawkmoth...

 Luka!!  Leave him alone!

 Luka, you need a doctor! Luka!!

 I could do with a little help here! Annie? Annie!!

 You're not welcome here... Luka groaned and gripped his head as images flashed through his mind, causing his headache to feel so much more worst then it already did. He didn't understand why he was seeing them but he knew that they weren't his memories or even times where he had been in them but at the same time, he did know them. They seemed very familiar to him but he couldn't explain why. He groaned and gripped his head even more before slipping farther into darkness before he jolted awake. He slowly sat up as he heard a strange humming and could smell herbs been cooked. It instantly reminded him of the special potions that Master Fu made for the kwamis. He rubbed his eyes as he still felt tired and his brain still hurt but he instantly went on edge when he heard someone moving around. Finally paying attention to his surroundings, he realized very quickly that he wasn't in Master Fu's apartment or in his room at the Liberty as he looked around. In fact, he didn't recognize the place he was in. He jumped up but instantly felt dizzy, causing him stumble back and grip his head as the buzzing came back. He slid down the wall to the ground as he gripped his head. He had no idea how he got where he was but he knew he had to get back. Marinette and Lady Noir needed him. There was an akuma and he had to save people but he felt so weak and tired. He wasn't sure what was wrong but he knew something was. He couldn't remember exactly what happened but he had heard Marinette screaming. He gripped his head as the buzzing noise continued to get louder and louder until it got to the point where he had to cover his ears. He flinched as someone touched his arm, making him look up in surprise at a man who was knelt in front of him. He was dressed in clothing that was definitely not modern. In fact, it reminded Luka of the kind of clothing he expected a farmer from ancient China would wear. The majority of the man's hair was short but the part that was long was tied into a low ponytail. He wore a simple gray hanfu with loose pants that were tied just below his knees. He had a short robe over his main clothing that was blue in color and had short sleeves and had flat black shoes on that resembled martial art shoes. He was taller then Luka and good few years older. If he had to guess, he would say this man was in his early twenties. He looked at Luka, taking him in with his silver eyes, causing Luka blinked and looked again. Yeah, this man's eyes were definitely silver. That wasn't natural but Luka found he wasn't afraid of him. In fact, Luka felt like he could trust him and that he wasn't a threat. Despite not knowing that he had never seen him before, Luka found that he somehow recognized the man. He was extremely familiar to him. He felt like an old friend who he hadn't seen in years. He couldn't explain it but he instantly felt calmer in the man's presence. The man smiled gently at him before gently placing his hand on his head, causing Luka to gasp in surprise as he felt his energy been restored. He tilted his head back as his eyes turned completely silver before he slumped into darkness. When he woke up, he found himself back in Master Fu's apartment. He groaned and slowly sat up, causing Tikki to flutter over

 "Luka?!" She gasped, making him blink and look at her but to her surprise, his eyes were silver instead of his usual blue. She frowned a little. "Are... are you ok?"

 "I'm fine, Tikki," He smiled, standing up causing her and Master Fu to look at him quite confused. He glanced around before noticing Master Fu and realized how he got here. Lady Noir must have brought him but she was no where to be seen, which mean she had gone back to fight Blackout. He transformed before saying goodbye to Master Fu and leaving the apartment. He swung across the buildings until he came to the TVi studio. He swung into the building through the hole in the side of it and landed down, frowning as he noticed the majority of the building was dark. He frowned to himself and decided to proceed with caution as he walked through the darkness. To his surprise, his eyes adjusted a lot quicker then usual and while it wasn't perfect, he could see better then he expected. He heard yelling and shouting coming from deeper in the building and broke into a run as he followed it. He stopped at the door and carefully opened it, slipping inside. Two heroes he didn't recognize were trying to take out Blackout and protect Lady Noir who was down on the ground. Blackout growled and used his guitar to knock both of them back, repeatedly hitting them with the sound wave before they felt on the floor. He stalked over to Lady Noir who was weakly trying to get up. She got to her feet and tried to attack Blackout, only for him to punch her before he lifted her up by the throat, causing a wave of panic and angry to flow through him as she struggled against him.

 "Now to take your miraculous, Pretty Kitty," Blackout smirked as she tried to grab at his hand. He lifted his other one but Anatis threw the yoyo, wrapping it around his arm and pulling him back, causing him to drop Lady Noir as he fell. She gasped for breathe as Blackout to get up and growl as he faced him. "Oh, you're back. I thought you had ran off with your tail between your legs, Anatis! Well, now I can claim your miraculous!"

 "Not on my watch, asshole," He growled, spinning his yoyo around as Blackout ran at him, swinging at him. Anatis blocked his fist and knocked him back as one of the other heroes managed to get up and rush over to Lady Noir, helping her up. Anatis spun around and kicked Blackout, sending him flying before he threw his yoyo and wrapped it around some of the rafters before pulling them down on Blackout, causing him to scream before he rushed over to the last hero and helped him up, following the other hero out with Lady Noir. Anatis led them to the area where the hole was. "Is everyone ok?"

 "Annie!" Lady Noir gasped, hugging him and catching him off guard before she pulled away and cupped his face, causing him to blush. "Are you ok?! I was so worried,"

 "I'm fine, Kitten," He smiled, making her frown a little as he pulled away from her. He seemed off to her and why were his eyes silver? Was it from Blackout's attack? She frowned a little.

 "Are you sure you're ok?"

 "I'm still weakened from Blackout's earlier attack but the cure should fix that," He replied, smiling before he looked other at the other two. "I see you made some friends.,"

 "Oh, this is Sabertooth and Apollo," She replied, smiling shyly. "I needed help,"

 "Blackout is tough," He replied, frowning. "But hasn't followed us out,"

 "It's probably because of the light," Lady Noir replied, making Anatis give her a puzzled look. "It seems that he can't go in it,"

 "I'm guess that's why you picked the Rooster," Anatis grinned, making Lady Noir smile before he glanced over at Sabertooth. He realized he was using the tiger miraclous but despite that, it seemed that they were struggling to fight Blackout. He frowned as he thought about it. "What's Blackout's power?"

 "He can create sound waves that are is more then just shock waves," She sighed, making him frown. "He has caused a literal black out but it seems he is able to take away abilities from people but not in a traditional way. When you were hurt earlier, he took advantage and hit me with his sound blast. It took away my ability to see in the dark,"

 "I'm sorry, Kitty" He muttered, making her frown. "I should have been more careful. As a result, you-"

 "No! It's not your fault, Annie," She gasped, holding up his hands. "I was reckless,"

 "Still," He muttered, looking to the side before shaking his head. "We need a plan to defeat Blackout. Do we know what where his akuma is?"

 "In his headband,"

 "Ok," He nodded before throwing up his yoyo. "Lucky charm,"

 A pair of glasses appeared out thin air, causing him to frown as he caught them. Just what was he suppose to do with these? He put one pair on, gasping before taking them back off. Lady Noir rose an eyebrow.

 "Night vision glasses," He smiled before glancing around in the luck vision. He frowned as he couldn't see the solution before sighing. "But I can't see how to use these so let's review what we know,"

 "Well, he's taken away your ability to work out how to use the lucky charm and my ability to see in the dark," Lady Noir sighed before Anatis gasped and clicked his fingers.

 "Of course, he may have taken away our sight in a way but what if we could restore yours?" He asked, making her blink at him before she gasped as she realized what he meant.

 "Night vision glasses!" She gasped, making him nod. "But won't he be able to switch them off?"

 "These aren't modern night vision goggles," He replied, making them look at him. "They have special lens that will help you see in the dark. Admittedly, not as well as your actual night vision but they'll work and it also means that they don't have a power source,"

 "Meaning Blackout can't switch them off," Lady Noir gasped, grinning. "So what's the plan?"

 "You wear these but we need to work out what else we know," Anatis replied, making the others nod. "Let's start with what did I miss?"

 "Well, he freaked out when I used my power to create this hole," Lady Noir replied, making Anatis give her a confused look. "That's why I grabbed the Rooster. It has Flare,"

 "The ability to create a blast of light," He muttered, nodding. "I think I'm forming a plan,"

 "Do tell,"

 "Ok, Lady Noir, me and you are going to distract him while Apollo fires his arrows from a distance. When he's distracted with us, Apollo can use Flare to blind him..." He muttered, frowning. The three other heroes gave him a confused look. "But even blinded he could still grab our miraculous and use his ability. How does he use his ability?"

 "He uses a guitar," Sabertooth replied, causing Anatis to look at him before nodding.

 "Ok, revised plan," He nodded, grinning as he did. "Me and Lady Noir will distract Blackout and disarm him while Sabertooth.. you uses Veil and sneak up on him. Apollo, you're gonna need to use Flare but don't use it straight away. Wait until my signal,"

 "Yes, Anatis," The Rooster nodded.

 "Also, Sabertooth, don't use Veil straight ok? Try and get behind him first as you'll only have five minutes of invisibility when you use it," He replied, making him nod. "Alright, let's go!"

 The four heroes rushed back into the darkness. Lady Noir put on the night vision glasses and gave Anatis a thumbs up before they burst through the door. Blackout growled and went to blast them with a sound wave as Sabertooth sneaked through the shadows. Blackout gasped as Lady Noir blocked it with her baton and attacked him as if she could see in the dark again.

 "No! I took your sight from you!!" He shouted, shocked before trying to block Anatis' attack and Apollo's arrows as they heard Sabertooth move.

 "Veil," He whispered, completely disappearing from everyone's sight. Lady Noir knocked out the guitar out of Blackout's hand and Anatis threw his yoyo, wrapping it around the guitar and putting it towards him. He smashed it on the floor, causing Blackout to gasp.

 "How dare you!" He shouted, charging at him and trying to hit him. Anatis blocked his attack and kicked him back, making him growl as he fell to the floor.

 "Apollo! Now!" He shouted as Blackout got up, saying something about ripping Anatis in half.

 "Flare!" Apollo crowed, causing his arrow to glow a little before he fired it at the ground. The moment it hit the floor, it exploded into a bright light, causing Blackout to scream and cover his eyes. Sabertooth suddenly appeared as he grabbed his headband.

 "Lady Noir, catch!" He shouted, throwing it to her.

 "Cataclysm!" She shouted as she caught it, turning it into dust. It crumbled onto the floor as the akuma escaped, allowing Anatis to take out his yoyo and capture the akuma as Blackout slumped down, now completely docile. He walked over to Lady Noir and took the night vision glasses she was holding out, smiling a little at her before he threw them up in the air.

 "Miraculous Ladybugs!" He called out, causing it to explode into the cure before it spreaded over Paris, fixing everything then came back to the Studio and swarmed around, fixing everything in the studio before wrapping around the heroes as the lights turned back on. Blackout turned black into XY and looked around confused as Bob Roth came out of his hiding place. 

 "Finally!" He declared. "It took you heroes long enough to fix everything! Where's that musician?! It's his fault my son got akumatized! I'm gonna sue him and his little girlfriend,"

 Lady Noir let out a growl and stormed over to Bob Roth, making him blink as Apollo and Sabertooth crossed their arms. Anatis glared at him before glancing around and smirked as the camera was lit up in his luck vision. He tapped Sabertooth's arm and nodded towards it. Sabertooth smiled and moved over, turning it on and pointing it towards Bob Roth and Lady Noir.

 "With all due respect, Mr Roth! None of this would have happened if you hadn't stole Kitty Sections' music and costumes!" She gasped, growling. "That akuma wasn't even intended for your son! It was intended for the musician who you ripped off and if you had told the truth in the first place, none of this would have happened... but you can still fix this. You can tell the truth, Mr Roth,"

 "Are you crazy?!" He growled, causing Lady Noir to make a hissing noise. "Do you really think that I'm gonna do that?  That I'm tell the world that I stole Kitty Section's songs and that kid's girlfriend's costumes for my useless son?! Ha! Not if I can help it!"

 Lady Noir gritted her teeth as Anatis walked over and gently put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him.

 "Don't worry, Lady Noir," He smiled, making both Bob and Lady Noir look at him. "I think the truth will out,"

 "Oh and why's that, you overgrown beetle?!" Bob growled, making Anatis smirk before he pointed to the camera.

 "Because, Mr Roth," He smiled as Bob glanced over. "You're live on air,"

 "W-What?!" He gasped, shocked as Sabertooth waved at him. Anatis' miraculous beeped, causing him to move his hand to his earrings before he turned to the others.

 "Sorry guys. This bug has to get going," He smiled, getting a nod of them before Lady Noir turned to the other two.  He rushed outside and made his way into the bathroom where Marinette had originally hid Luka. The transformation dropped and he caught Tikki as his eyes turned back to blue. However, a sudden wave of nausea hit him, causing him to suddenly gag before he let go of Tikki and rushing to the toilet. He gasped as he threw up before slumping to the ground, causing Tikki to rush over to him. He groaned and curled up as his headache came back with a vengeance, closing his eyes as he did. It was too bright in there. Tikki gasped as she heard someone opening the door. She quickly dived into his jacket as Marinette rushed inside and over to him.

 "Luka!" She gasped, kneeling down in front of him. She gently placed her hand on his head as he groaned and slowly opened his eyes as she looked away. "He's in here!!"

 "M-Mari..." He muttered, making her look back at him. "Need... to..."

 "Ssh, it's ok, Luka," She whispered as two paramedics came in the bathroom. Luka felt his eyes getting heavily before he fell back into darkness. "Luka!"

 ~At the Hospital~

 Luka groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around. The room he was in was dimly lit but he recognized it as a hospital room. It was getting dark outside as the sun was setting. He let out a little sigh before glancing over to the side. Marinette was sat in a chair with a blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was messy and she was breathing lightly, making him smile a little as he looked at her. Next to her was Juleka and Rose. Like Marinette, they were also asleep but Rose was sat on Juleka's lap. A third seat was near the other side of his bed but didn't contain anyone. He frowned a little but the door to his room opened, causing him to look over as his mother walked in with a doctor.

 "The good news is his brain scans showed no damage and- oh," He replied, looking over at him before he smiled as he walked over. Anarka gasped and rushed over to him.

 "Luka! You're awake!" She shouted, hugging him. Her yells causes the three girls to jolt awake before they blinked over at him.

 "Luka!" Rose cried, joining in on the hug.

 "I'm ok," He mumbled, though his voice was a little horse. The doctor called them off and checked out him, shining a light in his eyes and asking him a number of questions. He answered them as best as he could before the Doctor declared that he was alright for now. He smiled at Anarka before walking out of the room. Luka sighed and looked at his friends and family. "S-Sorry for worrying you all,"

 "Luka, you don't have to apology," Marinette gasped before a dark look came into her eyes. "That piece of trash, Bob Roth, should be the one apologizing! If he had to the truth then you wouldn't have nearly been akumatized!"

 "I was nearly akumatized?" He asked, a little confused. As he thought about it, his memory was a little blurry even as Anatis. Anarka cleared her throat and gestured for Rose and Juleka to leave, joining them and promising to get some food for them and Marinette.

 "Yeah and you... you had a seizure, Luka," Marinette gasped, surprising him as she had tears in her eyes and a haunted look. "I was so scared and then XY got akumatized and he tried to go after you... I tried my best to protect you... Luckily, Lady Noir and Anatis turned up with some new friends and defeated him but we got separated and I was terrified you would..."

 A sob escaped her lips, causing Luka to reach out and take her hand.

 "I'm ok, Melody," He smiled, making her look at him and nod. "But what happened with Bob Roth? Is he still insisting that he didn't steal?"

 "N-No, actually Lady Noir and Anatis exposed him live on air," She gasped, making him blink. "And Jagged got involved. He's suing Bob on your behalf. He was here earlier with Penny and Adrien came by with Chloe and Kagami to see how you were. Ivan and Mylene were here yesterday and Marc came with Alix, Nathaniel and Aurore. Even Alya came by with Nino. Lila tried to get in but we blocked her,"

 "H-How long was I out for?"

 "A week," She explained, surprising him. "You were in and out of consciousness,"

 "I'm sorry," He muttered, making her shake her head. "Do they know why I had a seizure?"

 "They have no idea," She frowned. "You've had brain scans but they all came back normal. No damage was done either,"

 "That's good," He nodded as she linked her hand in his. "What else did I miss?"

 "Well, Mr Roth has offered Kitty Section a record deal and a place to play 'I love Unicorns' Live at the TVi studio as his attempt to deal with the damage to his reputation," She explained before telling him what he missed. Luka happily listened to her as she spoke before his mother came back in. She told him that the doctors wanted to keep him over night to make sure he was ok. He nodded and talked to them before having something small to eat. Gradually, Marinette and his family had to go home, leaving him alone. He let out a small sigh before closing his eyes.

 "Luka?" Tikki's voice caught his attention, causing him to open his eyes again and smile at her. She rushed over and hugged his cheek. "I was so worried,"

 "I'm ok," He reassured, gently stroking her head. She looked up at him.

 "Master Fu came by to see if you were ok," She explained, making him nod. 

 "Does he know what happened to me?" He asked, making her sigh. "Tikki?"

 "He has a theory," She explained, making frown. "He believes that the akuma made have clashed with your empathy and basically you got hit with a backlash of magic,"

 "Oh," He replied, making her nod as he began to feel sleepy again. Tikki gently placed her hand on his arm as he closed his eyes again.

 "Rest, Luka,"

 ~At the TVi Studio a Few Days after Luka got Released from Hospital~

 "And now please welcome the next big thing in town! Kitty Section!" Alec declared at the camera. Luka smiled and went to walk over with the others but Marinette gently grabbed his hand and said his name, causing him to turn to her. She had a light blush on her cheeks and was looking down shyly. He smiled a little and stepped closer to her.

 "Luka, did you really mean those things you said when you were recovering in hospital?" She asked, surprising him. He had talked to her a couple of times since waking up but she had explained that he had said some things to her during the week he was recovering from the akuma attack but he didn't remember what he said. He only remembered the day he probably woke up but the week before he had no memory of. Tikki explained that it was probably a side effect of the magical backlash he experienced but it disappointed him a little. He let a small sigh.

 "I'm sorry, Marinette," He muttered, frowning. "But I don't remember... what did I say?"

 "Oh, nothing," She gasped, blushing even more. "It was nothing at all. You were recovering from Hawkmoth's attack after all,"

 "I don't know what I could have possibly said. I just hope it wasn't anything mean," He sighed, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with a blush on her cheeks. He felt Tikki gently tapped his side as if to tell him just to tell her. Sure, every time he had tried something had gone wrong but not this time. "Cause you're the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. As clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. You're the music that's been playing inside my head since the first day we met,"

 He gave her a soft smile as she blushed at his words before gently pulling away and walking over to the rest of Kitty Section as Marinette blushed. He had no idea but he had repeated the exact words he had muttered to her when she had visited him. She had been so worried about him and visited him every day she could after school. Sometimes he was conscious and sometimes he wasn't. When he was conscious, he was kind of out of it, like he was drunk but she figured it was a side effect of the seizure he had. Of course, it was during this time he told her those exact words. It had caused her to have a mini spiral of panic but by the end of it, she had come to a conclusion. She was in love with him and judging by the fact that he had repeated those words while he was lucid, he may feel the same way.

 "T-That was a declaration of love," She gasped, blushing before looking at Plagg. "Right, Plagg?"

 "Yeah and one of the most gross I've ever heard," He gagged, making her chuckle. "Tikki would love it though,"

 She shook her head and looked up as Kitty Section started to play.

 "You know I love Unicorns! And nothing makes me feel better!" Rose sang as Luka and Juleka leaned against each other as they played. Luka moved over to Rose and the two of them made the clawing movement with their hands before he moved away from her and glanced over at Marinette, causing her to smile gently as her eyes met his. Yep, she was well and truly in love with Luka Couffaine.

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

Next Chapter: Chapter 51

[spiras-stargazer]

Hey all!

These are some Hannibal fic Ideas free to any home. I don't have time to write the full story down but I have these Ideas in my head that won't go away. At least this way they're free to live and grow. Take them as you please or don't.

Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham

1. Old West Time Travel - As they fall from the cliff they are teleported back to the old west (in my mind it Red Read 2 Online by Valentine; teleported by old gods or whatever teleports that guy in the single player from the 20's) Will arrives alone and becomes a bounty hunter (moves to Saint Denis figuring Hannibal will end up there.) Hannibal arrives months later and is nursed back to health by the owner of the ranch hand saloon/bar and stays in the area because it's the sort of place Will might like. When a few rude ranch hands go missing and a bounty is posted the two finally meet up again.

2. AU Hannibal did not become a serial killer and he struggles to find meaning or happiness in his life. After meeting with Alana he offers his services to the FBI and is called in to help on the Minnesota Shrike case. He meets Special Agent Will Graham, the rudest man he's had the displeasure of knowing but despite that there's something about the man that keeps drawing Hannibal in. And then someone starts murdering people and deliberately leaving idea kits for inspiration on how to turn the corpses into works of art....'This is Your Design'

3. HanaHaki Disease - after they recover in Cuba, Will is ready to admit to Hannibal that he has feelings for him, but Hannibal has started a rebound relationship with their one of their neighbors, another criminal. (Happy Ending please)

4. Frustrated Hannibal - Hannibal is inconvenienced daily by the depth of his feelings for Will and often walks away from anything they try to do together muttering to himself in Lithuanian. Will thinks he's making Hannibal angry so he turns on the charm. At this rate Hannibal might forget English completely.

5. Merlin AU/reincarnation- Merlin, or Will as he goes by these days, gave up on Arthur ever coming back and moves to America trying to find his place in a world where magic has been all but forgotten. Arthur, or Hannibal now, had been reincarnated but with no Merlin to guide or help save him, Hannibal is forced to save himself and gives in to dark urges of despair and loneliness after the events of his childhood. Fast forward to Hannibal meeting Will in Jack's office. He immediately warms to the prickly profiler because he's the closest person to Merlin he's ever found. When he catches a the familiar flicker of gold in Will's eyes he decides to do everything he can to keep Will close. And Will...well he hasn't met anyone that frustrated him this much since Arth...oh no...(bonus points for Will trying to step back into his servant role and still managing to be the worst servant Hannibal has ever had, but Hannibal realizing he loved Will for it)

6. Dragon Goes House Hunting/Hannibal crossover - Hannibal didn't imagine after leaving his home and the rest of the elves he'd end up in real-estate, finding homes for others when he didn't feel at home anywhere himself. He also didn't imagine that one day a rude blue dragon named Will would be particularly hard to house. Yet here they are, at the 63rd property and he already can tell Will is going to say no. If he didn't know better he'd swear Will is only interested in traveling with him for his company...

7. Lucifer/Hannibal crossover - Hannibal shifted uncomfortably, cell phone in hand "We need to go to Los Angeles." Will looked up over the edge of his tablet, "Whatever it is, order it online." "I...I owe someone a large favor and they have called in their marker." "I'll bite. Who in the world could you owe that kind of favor to? The kind that could get us imprisoned and/or killed." Hannibal visibly braced himself for Will's reaction, "Lucifer Morningstar." Will put the tablet down, "That's...the Devil." "He's apparently now God. He's getting married to a former police detective and wants me to be the head chef at his wedding." Will snorted and picked up his tablet again, "I knew it was only a matter of time before eating all that people meat made you crazy." "Will I'm serious..."

8. Merkin/Merpeople - Will is the demi-god son of Calypso herself and out of all her children, Will is the only one to prefer fresh water to sea water. When the sea goddess tells Will it's time to return to the ocean and come into his full potential, he refuses. Calypso is furious and she lays a curse on Will that forces him to transform regularly into his Merman from and bathe his body in the sea water he dislikes. As the curse worsens, Will calls in sick to work and reschedules his therapy appointments again and again. Worried Will is extremely sick, Hannibal goes out to Will's house and finds the merman trapped in a cramped, hastily constructed large wooden box, lined with trap and filled with sea water, half starved and completely helpless. Hannibal nurses Will back to health and then goes to Calypso to strike a deal to free his beloved from the curse. (Bonus points for Hannibal being a god/spirit of vengeance)

9. Cuddly Will - Hannibal notices Will loves to cuddle up to him but Will refuses to initiate any touches himself so Hannibal makes ridiculous excuses for Will to be close to him.

10. Tailor and the Carpenter - Hannibal always begins a new chapter in his life by taking up a new skill. Music, surgery, cooking, drawing, therapy, art restoration, languages...the safe house in Cuba was where he planned to become a tailor and sell his wares locally, maybe online. He assumed Will would spend his time fishing or volunteering at an animal shelter but then power tools and work benches start appearing in their garage, large pieces of drift wood take over the backyard and the shrill scream of a buzz saw covers the sound of the ocean. However it's all worth it when Will brings in his wild and dark stained crafts.

[justcourttee]

And They Were Roommates-Pt 2

Marinette woke to the piercing ring from her alarm clock. With a groan, she blindly hit her nightstand, trying to find the snooze. 

“Marinette! If you snooze, you’ll be late again! Professor Brookes may like you, but she did threaten that one more tardy to the meetings and you’ll be fired!”

Tikki pulled at a strand of Marinette’s hair trying to pull the girl from her bed. 

“Tikki it’s just five more minutes, please!” 

“Dupen-Chang, Tikki wanted to wake you the nice way but if you don’t get your ass out of bed in the next five seconds, I will dump a cup of ice down your shirt.”

Marinette’s eyes flew open as she sat straight up, scowling at the sight of Chloe and Tikki high-fiving. 

“I hate you two.”

“Mhm, now go shower. You look and smell like you just wrestled with pigs.”

Chloe’s nose scrunched up as she threw a towel at the girl. Marinette rolled out of bed with a heavy sigh, trudging to the bathroom. 

��Chloe, will you pick me out an outfit?”

“Already done, now hurry up!”

Turning on the water, Marinette noticed the dark ink covering her skin. A beautiful robin stretched from her wrist to her elbow, every last detail drawn with care. She sucked in a sharp breath as she allowed her fingers to trace over the artwork. As she stepped into the shower, her eyes never left the picture, scared her soulmate would erase it before she had a chance to photograph it for later inspiration. 

Turning off the water, she wrapped her towel around her body tightly before racing back to her room, almost diving for her phone. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth from the pure concentration of capturing the art at the right angle. Once she was sure it was photographed properly, she fumbled for the pen on her nightstand. 

“I love waking up to your artwork, would you mind leaving it for the day?”

She stared intently at her hand, waiting for his response that couldn’t seem to come fast enough. 

“Dupen-Chang! If you want a ride, you better be dressed in the next five minutes!”

Chloe's voice echoed through the apartment, snapping Marinette out of her trance. Within three minutes, she pulled on the dress Chloe had laid out and managed to pull her hair back in a messy bun, sticking a pen through it just in case. She was working on the heels when she finally felt the tingle. 

“Sorry Angel, important interview today. I’ll leave you something tomorrow though. Promise” 

Marinette let out a defeated sigh, but tried to push it out of her mind. After all, she couldn’t be mad, he had a life too, one he didn’t want to publicize and she could respect that. Putting the final touches on her outfit, she grabbed her purse, leaning down beside the dollhouse to allow Tikki to fly in. 

“Dupen-Chang!”

“Coming Chloe!”

Tikki let out a giggle as Marinette rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long day. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

“Ms. Dupen-Chang, can I see you in my office please?”

Marinette internally groaned as she plastered a smile on her face. She picked up her design book, throwing a cover over the mannequin before she turned to walk toward the professor's office. 

“What can I do for you Professor Brookes?” Her smile was sickly sweet as she stared down at the woman. 

“Sit, please.” Brookes didn’t even look up from her paperwork, just made a vague gesture to the seat in front of her desk. After several minutes, she finally looked up, making a show of clicking her pen shut. 

“Do you know why I called you in Marinette?”

“Because you were lonely and wanted someone to talk to?”

She offered the woman a pity smile, but Professor Brookes was not having it.

“You have refused every offer I have arranged for you in the past three months. Marinette, what did I tell you when you accepted this position in my work field for young entrepreneurs?”

Marinette let out a sigh, her eyes falling to the ground. 

“It’s easier to work under a big name and break away than it is to build your own empire. But Professor-”

“Exactly. So tell me, why exactly have you refused not only Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld, but now I hear that Audrey Bourgeois has been after you for years now and you’ve refused her as well!”

Marinette bit her lip, trying her best to level her breathing before she snapped at the woman. 

“With all due respect Professor Brookes, they don’t want my name on the designs. I can’t make a name for myself if everyone else is taking credit for my work. If there’s any way you can find me an internship under someone who will let me be myself I’d be more than glad to take them on.”

It was Professor Brookes turn to sigh as she slipped off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You’re a talented girl Marinette, nobody is denying that. But you just don’t understand how the business world works. This work field is for entrepreneurs who will listen to my advice, not do everything in their power to ignore it.”

“I understand if you want me to relinquish my position Professor Brookes. I’m sure you could fill it easily.” 

The professor looked up, her face unreadable as she stared down the designer. Several minutes passed and a sinking feeling began to settle in Marinette’s gut. 

“Ms. Dupen-Chang, what you’re asking me to do is to find you a sponsor. They’ll put their good name on the line for you, allow you to take credit for your work, and in return you’ll give them a portion of your profit. That’s anywhere from 5%-25% depending on how the sponsor operates. If I do this for you, you are going to have to up your production levels from one outfit a week to three, which means you’ll need to be here for three days instead of just one. Is this something you really want?”

Marinette’s heart pounded in her chest as she felt her body flood with relief. 

“It is. I really want a sponsor.”

“Then it’s settled, I’ll need you to complete a portfolio including pictures of models wearing your designs and at least three test designs that I can send to possible contenders. The test designs allow them to view your work up close and personal to look at stitchwork and such. I’m assuming you already have models in mind seeing as you live with two of them?”

Marinette nodded, her heart feeling as if it were about to explode with joy. 

“I won’t let you down Professor Brookes.”

The designer stood hastily, practically running back to her workstation. 

“I’ll need all of that before the first day of spring semester Marinette!”

The professor's voice echoed in her ears but she was too stunned to care. She was getting a real chance and that meant she had to put everything into the next month. Sitting on the spinning chair, Marinette pulled out her phone to view the picture she had taken earlier. Admiring his sketch, an idea began to form in her head as she cleared the workstation, laying out her various pencils. 

After a couple minutes of sketching, her phone began to buzz. At first she ignored it, trying to focus on her design, but after the third time, she finally gave in. 

“Chloe, I’m sorry, I know I said 3 but it’s looking like 5 or 6 instead, I finally got the break I was hoping for.”

“Well that’s great Dupen-Chang, but you see, I have a guy here responding to the ad placed this morning and I just wanted to ask if we could interview him without you.”

Marinette sat down her pencil, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. She distinctly remembered emailing Julia for the spot, but she never sent in the ad. So either Julia’s newest boyfriend was applying or someone from the news team was.

“He’s not dating Julia is he?”

“I don’t know, let me ask. Hey! You! You’re not dating Julia, right? No? He said no.”

Marinette shook her head as she looked up at the ceiling, trying her best to send apologies to the boy. 

“So?”

“Go ahead Chloe, that’s assuming you haven’t chased him off already. I’ll be ready to go in an hour.”

“Great, you’re the best. Congrats on your break, I’ll order some food from that italian restaurant near our apartment to celebrate.”

Before Marinette could even respond, the line went dead, leaving her to stare at her sketchbook in slight despair. The poor guy would be scared senseless before she even got a chance to meet him. With a sigh, she returned to her sketch, determined to finish at least one design before she left for the day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marinette waved bye to Professor Brookes before she made her way up the stairs to her apartment. She had texted both Chloe and Adrien several times, but neither came to pick her up, something she was going to lay into them for. 

“Hey guys what’s the deal-”

She stopped in her tracks as her eyes couldn’t process the sight in front of her. Adrien was playing Ultimate Mecha Strike V, but that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem lied in the fact that some guy she had never seen before was battling him using her lucky controller. 

“Hey Mari! Meet Damian Al Ghul, our new roommate!”

The guy stood up, offering his hand, but Marinette’s eyes weren’t focused on his. Instead, she watched in horror as he tossed her control backwards onto the couch, the force sending it flying to the floor.

“Damian huh?” She pushed past his outstretched hand to pick up her controller, examining it for any cracks or chips in the paint job.

“Yes?” He moved his hand to awkwardly rub the back of his neck, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Marinette sent a sour look at Adrien who only shrugged. 

“Damian is a double major as well Mari, history and business, sound familiar?”

“I hear you are quite competent in both subjects.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, setting her controller on the coffee table before standing to face the man.

“I’m more than ‘competent’, I excel in both with a perfect 4.0 GPA.”

Damian scoffed sending a wave of fury through the girl. Just who did this guy think he was? Adrien watched the interaction, amusement clearly written on his face. 

“So Mari, you want to play the winner of this round?”

“No, thanks. I’m going to study. My first final is on Tuesday, just ask Chloe to leave my food in the microwave, I’ll get to it later.”

Without another word, she marched back to her bedroom, shutting the door harder than she meant to. She pulled out her sketchbook, opening it to her unfinished design from earlier. Her pencil hovered over the page as she tried to remember the feeling she had earlier. 

“Tikki, how did I manage to let him get under my skin in less than five minutes?”

She let out a groan as she fell backwards onto her bed as the kwamii let out a giggle. 

“He’s got a unique personality, very straightforward Marinette. He almost reminds me of Chloe when I first met her.”

“That has to be it. PTSD from when I was 13 and Chloe was still a menace. I just don’t think I’m going to be able to get back into this design tonight.”

“That’s okay Marinette, let’s work on the last essay for your Grad school application!”

Marinette sat up to reach for her laptop, pulling up her browser that never closed. The Metropolis University website was still up, her application reading 95% complete. She clicked on the textbox and attempted to zoom in on the final question that had been bugging her for a week now. 

‘How will you use your education to benefit the world?’

“Why does my degree have to benefit the world Tikki? I just want to do something I love, can’t that just be enough?”

“You’ll think of something Marinette, you always do!”

“Yeah,” the girl huffed out a puff of air, leaning forward to reread the question for the hundredth time. “I always do.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Around 10:30, Chloe stumbled into their room, tearing through her closest.

“Marinette, come clubbing with me and Adrikins! He needs a distraction for the night or two if you know what I mean.”

She let out a giggle as she pulled out her favorite dress, not even bothering to shut the bedroom door before throwing off her top. 

“Chloe! We’re living with another guy now!”

“Yeah yeah Mari, you’re the only straight one here so there’s no problem!”

“Just because you’re not straight, doesn’t mean he can’t oogle at you.”

Chloe stood up, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the girl. 

“Oogle? How old are you? 75?”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she stood up to pull her dress over her head. With her help, Chloe finished touching up her makeup. 

“So you gonna come with us?”

Marinette shook her head at her, earning a pout from the blonde. 

“Boo, you and Damian are both lame.”

Picking up her clutch, she opened it long enough for Pollen to fly in before shutting it tight. 

“You losers have fun tonight staying home.”

“I think I’ll just barricade myself in here instead.”

“Whatever.”

Adrien appeared in their doorway, equally tipsy as he offered Chloe his hand. Marinette watched with worry as they made their way to the front door, both stumbling over their feet at every other step. 

“Are you guys taking an Uber at least?”

“Yes mom!” They both looked at each other in shock before dissolving in a fit of laughter. Marinette rolled her eyes, waving goodbye as they slammed the front door shut.

With a sigh, she made her way to the microwave, hitting the reheat button for her pasta inside. 

“Is that an every weekend occurrence?”

Marinette jumped, whipping around to find Damian leaning against the kitchen counter, his face expressionless. 

“How about next time a warning like ‘Hey Marinette’ or ‘Whatcha doing?”

He didn’t reply, just remained stoic as he waited for her answer.

“No, it's not, just an occurrence whenever Adrien gets his heart broken. So try a monthly thing.”

He nodded in response, watching her carefully. Marinette shifted under his gaze, trying to keep her cool and not melt into a puddle. He may be a jerk, but he was still a hot jerk. The ding of the microwave severed the tension between them as she opened the drawer beside her, pulling out a fork. Sliding out her pasta, she didn’t even check to see if it had heated all the way through before she rushed past Damian and back to the safety of her room. 

He didn’t follow, but she heard him let out a thoughtful hum before he made his way back to his room, shutting his door. Letting out a sigh, she stirred through her pasta, reaching for the pen beside her bed. 

“How’d your interview go?”

She was halfway through her pasta when she felt the tingling. 

“Aced it. How was your day Angel? I apologize for not writing sooner.”

She rolled her eyes at his formalness, trying not to let her smile get the best of her. 

“I finally got my break. I’ll be getting a sponsor!”

Finishing the last bite of her pasta, Marinette weighed the risk of running into Damian again if she went to put up her dishes. Deciding it was too great, she set the plate on her nightstand, mentally preparing herself for the backlash she would get from hungover Chloe in the morning.

“That’s fantastic, I hope it works in your favor habibti.”

A shiver ran down her spin as her cheeks flushed red. She had used google translate a few times of the names he gave her and was surprised to find the Arabic traces. When she asked him about it, he just brushed it off to being from his mother’s side, never bringing it up again. Picking up her pen, she etched a small Robin on her arm, leaving a space beside it to write;

“Your pictures always inspire my designs. I can’t wait to see what you leave me tomorrow.”

A minute hadn’t even passed before he responded. 

“If you wash your arm off now, you won’t have to wait.”

Her heart picked up pace as she rushed into the bathroom, scrubbing furiously at her arm. She returned to her bed, toweling off the few wet spots as she watched in awe as pen strokes tickled her skin. 

“He’s so talented Marinette!”

Marinette smiled as she watched his delicate art slowly cover her arm, her mind drifting from the stress of the day. 

“He really is Tikki, he really is.”

Tag List:

@damianette-is-life @ladybug-182 @fusser90 @thestressmademedoit @dast218 @thezestywalru @jardimazul @olynix @dorkus-minimus @xahriia @kris-pines04 @urbanpineapplefarmer @moonlightstar64 @itsmeevie01 @little-lady-bird @alexandriamw @lozzybowe @emmdaenovice @loysydark @toodaloo-kangaroo @jessigurl-design @aegyobutpsycho2 @stark-morgoona @kris-pines04 @rebecarojas07