#my mom and i had an amazing chat that took me back down to earth

[fawn-princess]

i haven’t seen my niece in weeks and today she ran up to me, gave me a hug, ran her hand thru my hair and told me i look like barbie 😭💕

[hertzwritings]

Summer nights dream

A/N: This is a request from the always amazing, sweet and lovely @one-sweet-gubler based on this ask. I hope I do you justice, my love! I did extend it a little, tiny bit, but hopefully you’ll love it!

Feedback feeds the soul and requests are always open!

MASTERLIST

HENRY + CHARACTERS MASTERLIST

ASK ME ANYTHING/REQUESTS

Pairing: Henry Cavill x reader

Warnings: Language, FLUFF, smidge of angst if you squint

“Are you sure you can’t make it?” you asked, packing the last in your bag before turning to him. He smiled sadly and wrapped you in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, love, I truly, honestly wish I could.” He kissed the top of your head softly. You sighed against his chest and wrapped your arms around him, letting yourself be enveloped in his scent. “I know… I could cancel?” You said, voice muffled by his shirt. He chuckled softly, the sound vibrating in your head. “You won’t. And you shouldn’t. It’s been a while since you’ve seen your family, my darling.” He pulled away a little, looking in your eyes. “It’ll be fine, I promise.” You groaned.

“I just…” You closed your eyes. “I just don’t want to hear any remarks, you know.” He raised his eyebrow.

“What remarks?” you pursed your lips.

“It’s just… Every time there’s a family gathering, some asshole of a cousin is like… oh, he’s not here? Aha, so he finally got bored of you? And I literally can’t handle it.” He narrowed his eyes and held your head in his hands, forcing you to look at him.

“I would never be bored of you, never. Having you in my life is the best thing to ever happen to me, no matter what other people may say.” You sighed and jutted your bottom lip out. It was hard for you to believe him - you were just you and he was Henry Cavill, this man, this God on earth and he chose you. “You listen to me, darling.” He kissed you tenderly.

“I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. You know that, right?” You nodded, your eyes wet.

“You always have these goddamn quotes and they make me turn into mush. I can’t ever be that eloquent.” You grumbled. He chuckled and kissed you again.

“I never need you to be. You could never tell me that you loved me, and I’d still know it.”

“You did it again.”

“Sorry, love.” He didn’t sound sorry at all, but grabbed your bag and took it to the car and turned to you.

“You’ll see me before you know it.” He said before kissing you deeply. You responded to it with enthusiasm, wrapping your arms around his neck. He smiled against your lips.

“I love you.” He said, his eyes a calm sea. You smiled back and kissed his nose.

“As I love you.” You got in the car and rolled your window down before calling out of the window to him.

“When I get back, I’m demanding you play The Witcher with me!” He laughed.

“Alright!”

“Love you!” You yelled out as you started to drive to the stupid family function.

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

It was some barbeque-thing, something your parents insisted was a Very Important Thing to do with the entirety of the extended family - every aunt, uncle, cousin, grandmother and their cat was invited and you hated it. Well, no, not hated, but it was so much. You didn’t have the energy to chit chat with everybody, especially after you and Henry had gone public with your relationship. Nobody ever asked about you but more about him, your relationship, what famous people you’d met.. It was grating. You weren’t a person anymore, apparently, just a way to get gossip.

You pulled into your parents driveway, already hearing the chatter and smelling the barbeque before you turned the engine off. You drew a deep breath and readied yourself for the oncoming talks.

You didn’t even bother going inside of the house, just slipping in through the gate to the garden. Your mom was the first to see you, her face lighting up in a wide smile and she jogged to you and wrapped you in a tight hug.

“Hi, mom.” you said with a smile.

“Hi, sweetheart! I’m so happy you’re here, it’s been too long!” She pulled away, holding your arms and running her eyes over you. “You’ve lost weight.” You rolled your eyes.

“No, mom, I haven’t. It’s also only been three weeks since we saw each other.” She smiled.

“Still too long. Henry isn’t coming?” She asked, looking over your shoulder. You shook your head.

“No, he had work.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.” She said and pointed behind her to the gathering of family. “Go say hi to everyone. Food’s ready in an hour or so, your dad is grabbing more beer from the garage.” You nodded with a smile as you began walking to your family, all of them shouting their hellos and your name.

“So did your superhero finally get tired of you?” Your cousin asked with a self satisfied grin.

“No. He had work, you assole.” you said, rolling your eyes. He looked very much like he didn’t believe you and you didn’t want to engage in this conversation, so you turned to your aunt and hugged her.

“So nice to see you. Have you done anything interesting since the last time I saw you?” You sighed. “Any fun things, events…?” She nudged.

“No, it’s been pretty quiet lately.” Her face fell. “Sorry for my lack of fun times.” You said under your breath as she walked away.

Two hours later, your head was about to explode. All you heard was questions about Henry, red carpets, that one dress you wore that made your stomach look a little like you were pregnant, and you should actually get on that soon… It was exhausting. You had half a mind to leave already, go back home and bury yourself under your blankets.

“Oh, I didn’t think you were coming, Y/N said you had work!” Your mom’s voice cut through the chatter and you turned to her, your smile suddenly wide - Henry was walking through the gate, a big smile on his face and a bottle of wine in his hand. “Hi, Mrs. Y/L/N.” he hugged her and she swatted his shoulder.

“How many times have I told you to call me by my first name?” He smiled crookedly, charming as ever and handed her the wine.

“Sorry, Mrs. Y/L/N.” He winked at her and his eyes caught yours. Your cousin looked awestruck and his wife quickly fixed her hair, pushed her chest out and smiled at Henry, who didn’t even look at her. He came to you and gave you a soft, longing kiss.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, still in shock. “I thought…” He kissed you again.

“Got off early, Had to be with my favourite girl.” He said and pulled you to your feet.

“I’m actually a little late.” He said and you quirked a brow at him in confusion.

“Late?” He nodded, catching your dad’s eye - your dad grinned at you and wrapped his arm around your mom.

“Yes, late.” He took a step back from you, holding your hand and got to one knee.

“What the shit…” You mumbled, completely taken aback. Gasps sounded around the garden, all other sounds completely gone. It was just the wind, the birds and Henry.

“Y/N. I know from experience that poets were right; love is eternal.” He smiled at you with soft eyes. His hand was so steady, keeping you calm, because your own was shaking wildly, not really sure what to expect from him right now - whatever you thought, you didn’t dare believe was happening at all. Several family members had pulled their phones out, filming the declaration happening in front of them.

“When I saw you, I fell in love and you smiled, because you knew. I have loved you through times, ages and limitless universes, waiting for you. When I finally found you, I made a promise to myself to never, ever let you go, my love. I have never loved so completely as I do right now. Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own, and even in pain and sickness, it would still be dear.” His eyes were glazed, a little wet and your breath hitched. No fucking way this was happening. You felt warm tears sliding down your cheeks and quickly wiped them away.

“I want you to know that you have been the last and final dream of my soul, and that soul is completely yours.” He drew a deep breath before pulling out a velvet box from his pocket and looked at you with the softest eyes you'd ever seen. Your cheeks hurt.

“My night has become a sunny dawn because of you, and I hope you’ll do me the honour of making my life into a blazing summer. I love you with all that I am, all that I have and will ever have, and I give myself to you fully.” He smiled and opened the box.

“Y/N Y/L/N, will you do me the honour to be the brightest light in my life and be my wife?”

Silence lay thick around the garden, everyone holding their breath as they waited for your answer. You smiled and got down on your knees in front of him, wrapping your hands around his face, tears sliding effortlessly from your eyes.

“I want you today, tomorrow, next week and the rest of my life. Yes.” You answered.

He lit up in a dazzling smile rivalling the sun, and kissed you, happy tears mixing with your smiles and lips, and he pulled you to stand with him, never letting your lips go. When he finally did, he slid the ring on your finger, and the garden erupted in applause and cheers, shouts of happiness and you couldn’t care less.

Henry stood in front of you with wet eyes and kissed you gently, your hand still in his.

“I love you, and that’s the beginning and end of everything.” You smiled and kissed him again, ready for your forever to start.

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

TAGLIST:

@acaceta @summersong69 @luclittlepond @keiva1000

@a-skov @thatonechickhere @summersong69 @themanfromu

@spookyboogyuniverse

[lily-drake]

Death

Death was nothing new in Marinette’s life.  In fact it played a large role.  Her friends and city had died a hundred times over.  Her brother.  Her funny, smart, loving, dramatic brother had died at the hands of a mad man.  She didn’t think it was wrong for her to use the horse miraculous to visit her brother's grave.  It was officially five years after all.  He would be 20, he would have loved to plan out her 16th birthday this year.  She sat down and read Pride and Prejudice out loud, only a few tears falling as she glanced at the grave every so often.  She had also brought a bouquet of white lilies, statices, red carnations, and white daisies.  Soft grass laid over the dirt, the sun gleamed above, and sometimes when she would lean against the grave it was almost like she could feel him.

Dark storm clouds began to cloud the sky, and she knew she would have to leave soon, though she didn’t want to.  Dad would be upset if he caught her, though considering how many weeds she had to remove from the grave and how abandoned it looked, she doubted anyone had visited any time soon.  Suddenly the rain began to pour down and it felt like the earth shook.  She felt a great imbalance, but where, and how?  She touched both of her ears and she could feel her miraculous still there, Tikki even poked her head out from her bag with a look of fear.  A shiver ran down Marinette’s spine as rain came pouring down soaking everything in sight.  She looked around, and she kept spinning searching for something, anything that could have caused or been affected by the imbalance.  She waited there for many minutes just waiting, when she felt the dirt beneath her feet begin to shift a little.  She quickly moved away and watched as the dirt slowly moved and shifted.  She felt sick, because the dirt moving was directly where Jason was lying in eternal rest.  This couldn’t be right, this must be some mistake!  Her brother had died, she had seen the body, it haunted her nightmares for so many nights.  He’s been gone for five years!  This can’t be possible without some type of wish.

The grass began to move and shift away, and a fleshy mud covered hand raised from the ground causing a scream to rip from her lungs.  Her body sprung into action before her mind caught up to her beginning to help dig up her brother's grave, and when she saw the jet black hair covered in dirt and mud she knew that it was him.  She heaved him out from the hole and stared in shocked horror as he just sat there staring at her.  His eyes were the same blue she remembered, but they were so clouded.  Fear, confusion, and nothing shown in his eyes, like he wasn’t even truly there.  This must be a dream, it has to be, no, a nightmare.  Her brother shouldn’t be back, he died, she saw his limp body in dad’s hands, even if Alfred and bluebird tried to stop her.  But the imbalance was real, she could tell, and he was affected by it.

Slowly she raised her hand and hesitantly placed a hand on his cheek.  He leaned into her hand, though his eyes were still clouded and void.  He may be alive, but he wasn’t fully…alive.  She tackled her older brother into a hug and began sobbing onto him, but just sat there, head leaning against hers.  Pressing her ear against his chest she could hear his gentle heartbeat, and just for a moment everything seemed like it would be ok.  Then she felt a sharp prick in her neck and the world faded to black.

________

Marinette awoke to darkness.  She tried to sit up and felt her hands held behind her back being held together by something cold and thick.  Memories flooded back into her mind and she snapped into awareness and looked around.  It was dark, though there was a small light coming from a window far above where she could not ever reach.  The walls seemed to be made of thick stones and there was a heavy iron door a few feet in front of her.  Jason wasn’t there though, he wasn’t in the room, she didn’t understand.  Suddenly the door opened and she looked up and saw her mother’s green eyes.  Her panic grew again, how did she get here, was she captured too?  She had visited her often in Paris.  She was very vague about her job, and she knew it was probably sketchy, but could it be bad enough to be captured?

“Marinette, My Darling.  I apologize for your treatment, I did not realize that you were part of this.”

Talia rushed towards her daughter and unlocked the chains.  She was pulled into a tight hug that Marinette quickly returned.  After a few moments she pulled away but held her shoulders gently.

“I must show you something, come.”

Talia quickly stood and helped her daughter to her feet and walked swiftly through the calls of Nanda Parabat.

“What is mom?”

Talia smiled at that, she had always loved when her daughter called her that.

“It’s a surprise, My Flower.”

A few more twists though hallways and they stopped in front of a thick wooden door.

“I want you to meet someone.”

The door was pushed open and there sat a small baby in a crip with dark black hair, tanned skin, and dark green eyes.  Marinette gasped and covered her mouth,

“Meet your brother, Damian.”

Marinette slowly walked over and stared at Damian through the top of the crib.  He silently watched and studied her without making a sound.

“He’s about 3 months old.”

Talia said, smiling happily as she watched her daughter run her fingers through Damian’s small tresses of hair.  With a snap of her finger one of her shadows stepped next to her.

“Bring Jason.”

And with that order they were gone returning a few minutes later with a boy who was alive physically, but was mentally gone.  She could fix that though, it would be the last resort if all else failed, but she could fix it.  Marinette looked up when she heard Jason’s footsteps and her bright smile fell slightly into a small sad one.

“Jay-Jay.”

She whispered softly as she took slow steps towards the boy.  She quickly ran and hugged him again.  He no longer smelled like mud and he wasn’t wearing his suit, and he was….he was alive again!  Tears fell down her cheeks, because she missed him so much.

________

Marinette stayed with her mom in what she learned was Nanda Parabat.  She trained with Jason, but he was catatonic, just going through the motions blankly.  It worried her, especially as she watched her mother grow more anxious.  She cared for her little brother, and wondered if her dad knew, or if he would even care.  She often looked at Paris news for when she needed to go for Akuma attacks, but if her host parents even realized she was gone.  They hadn’t, nor had any of her “friends” apparently as they hadn’t sent her a single thing from the weeks she’s been gone.

Marinette knew that Nada Parabat wasn’t a good place, knew that the people were bad, knew that her grandfather was the head of it.  He didn’t seem to care who she was, he just thought she was some nurse for Damian, and she was thankful for that.  She knew that the Lazarus Pits were here, what they did, how they were made, how her grandfather used them for selfish purposes.  She didn’t do anything though, she was mad at her father for sending her away, mad that he adopted a bee kid only a year after he sent her away, mad that he never talked to her, mad that Dick never fought for her or looked for her, mad that Jason was forced to wake up and climb his way out of his grave only to be practically brain dead, mad that her classmates believed lies over her, mad that her host parents believed them and treated her like dirt or an invisible object meant to seen and not heard, mad that Chat Noir would leave her during battles because she didn’t return his affections, and mad that no one cared that she was gone!  So she trained as hard as she could, made sure that she perfected everything her mother threw at her.  Took care of her family and made sure they knew how thankful she was for them and loved them.  Then when she finally got a text from someone it was insults for being a horrible person and hurting Lila when she hadn’t been there for weeks!

She threw her phone at the wall and the crack echoed around the room.  Her breathing was harsh and ragged and then the tears she had been holding back finally fell.  Sobs wracked her body as she bit her lip to keep silent.  She tried to take in deep shuddering breaths, but it was no use and the sobs came out.  Her knees felt weak and she crumpled to the ground.  The door burst open and she saw her mom there knife in hand looking around the room with swift deadly eyes.  When she didn’t see any visible threats she kneeled in front of her daughter and looked directly into her eyes.  Eyes a storming blue that flooded with tears and made her heart ache and her want to murder whoever made her precious daughter look so broken.

“My Flower, what’s wrong?”

“N-nobody cares ab-about me!  No one cares that I’m g-gone.  Everyb-body hates me, and I’m so tired of it!  I’ll n-never be enough for an-anybody and I’m t-trying so h-hard to do wh-what everyone needs or exp-ects me to be!”

Marinette stuttered out between sobs.  Talia glared at that and felt anger at Bruce.  She thought that he at least checked in with her every once in a while.  She had guessed wrong then.  She pulled her daughter into a hug and let her cry against her shoulder.

“Shh, shh.  It’s okay.  You are perfect the way you are Marinette.  You don’t have to prove anything to me.  You’re such a good sister, you train so hard, and you have so many amazing skills and talents.  You are enough, don’t let anyone say anything different.”

Marinette gripped onto her mom and they both just sat there in silence as Marinette finally just cried.  After who knows how long Marinette gently pushed away and looked her mom directly in the eyes with complete seriousness said,

“I want you to help me fake my death.  If everyone wants to pretend I’m gone or wants me to disappear, then fine.  I will.  I don’t want to be seen anymore.”

Talia stared at her daughter in shock for a moment then gave her a small smile.

“It will be done my dear, you will be free.”

“Thank you mom.”

Taglist:

@queenz-z @aespades @fandomsaremylifeline @stainedglassm @toodaloo-kangaroo @prettylittlebutterflie @trippingovermyfeet @liquid-luck-00 @unoriginalmess @buginetye @miraculouslydumb @laurcad123

[doyumacy]

ʀɪᴅᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ - 4

ʏᴜᴛᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ x ᴍᴀʀᴋ ʟᴇᴇ

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ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 4,7k

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: @coffee-prince-kyungsoo

5, 6, 7

“marco,” donghyuck calls mark, entering the warehouse.

mark hums in response, checking his phone. “sup, hyuck?”

“i have great news,” he smirks. “i was doing numbers, and after we’re done doing business with doyoung we’ll have enough to move to japan.”

mark nods. “okay cool. why japan tho?”

“street races are way cooler there,” hyuck shrugs. “and girls are hotter.”

mark rolls his eyes. “yeah sure. tell jeno and yves.”

“damn, aren’t you gonna be sad when you leave y/n?” donghyuck looks at him.

mark rubs his left cheek, still checking his phone. “nope. it’s just sex.”

“fine. i’ll have everything settled,” donghyuck walks to his car. “maybe two months?”

“yes, two or three months.” mark nods.

when donghyuck leaves, mark places his phone on the couch and stares at the wall. it’s not going to be hard leaving, right?

right.

it’s just casual sex.

two people having fun and that’s it.

no feelings involved.

he shakes his head, groaning to himself. the last thing he needs is falling for some chick he’ll never see again

(...)

“y/n?” jaehyun calls you from the kitchen.

“yes?” you reply from the couch in the living room.

“can you come and help me?”

you stand up and go to the kitchen. jaehyun is standing next to the stove, holding a box. he’s focused on reading the instructions on the back. he sees you and hands it to you. “could you translate it to me?”

you take the box and you frown. it’s written in spanish. “i don’t speak spanish, jaehyun.”

“yes you do, i’ve heard you speaking it.” he cocks an eyebrow.

you laugh. “i memorize words and repeat them. it doesn't necessarily mean i speak it fluently.”

jaehyun rolls his eyes. “is someone in this house fluent in spanish?” he raises his voice.

jisung enters the kitchen, he opens the fridge and takes out a blueberry gatorade. “i’m not. sorry.”

jaehyun groans. “you two are useless. get out of my kitchen.”

you look at him. “it’s my house?”

“just… get out,” jaehyun waves you off. “you too, jisung.”

“what are you even trying to make?” jisung laughs.

“tortillas,” jaehyun sighs.

jisung looks at you and you both burst out laughing. jaehyun crosses his arms on his chest. “what’s so funny?”

“why can’t you just google the recipe?” you say.

“because i thought you were fluent and bought this cornflour!” jaehyun glances at you.

you sigh. “use google translate.”

“jisung, i heard you took some spanish classes,” jaehyun looks at him.

“i think you heard wrong, my friend. i took chinese lessons once,” jisung giggles.

“completely useless, as i said,” jaehyun shakes his head.

“what is my boy jaehyun upset about?” johnny asks, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen.

you turn and see johnny, and behind him is mark who leans on the other side of the doorframe.

you slightly blush, remembering how good he fucked you nights ago. your legs on your chest, he pounding into you. mark smiles at you, guessing what’s going through your mind right now.

“jaehyun thought y/n was fluent in spanish,” jisung shrugs and sits on the kitchen counter.

“and you’re not?” mark looks at you.

“no,” you chuckle. “i wish i was.”

“see, our dad is korean but we have different mothers.” johnny tilts his head. “of course, my mother is korean and so is my dad. and the woman who my dad cheated on is not. who happens to be her mom. and i don't remember her mom speaking in spanish.”

you squint your eyes. “they didn’t need to hear you married dad fucked my mom.”

“ouch,” johnny places a hand on his chest. “that hurt.”

“deserved it,” you smile at him.

“you’re rude,” johnny pouts.

jisung sighs dramatically. “i should’ve gone to an orphanage.”

“jisung!” you stare at him.

he smiles showing his teeth. you shake your head and take johnny’s lips in your fist and push him away so you can get out of the kitchen. “you should be used to.”

“so is anyone going to help me to make tortillas?” jaehyun groans.

“dude, there’s a store that already sells tortillas like 2 blocks from here!” johnny looks at him.

you leave jaehyun and johnny bickering and jisung as their audience and go back to the living room, sitting on the black leather couch in front of the tv. mark follows you.

“so… you two hate each other or something?” mark asks, confused.

you look at him and tap on the couch so he can sit next to you. “i sometimes want to put his head inside of a microwave and turn it on, but i love him.”

“that’s even more confusing,” mark jokes.

you smile. “we grew up together. he was a year old when his dad cheated on his mom and his mom left our dad, leaving johnny as well.”

“so your mom raised you both?”

you nod. “yeah. i mean, kind of?”

mark tilts his head quizzically. “kind of?”

you sigh deeply. “my mom died when johnny was 7 and i was 5. it was tough, but johnny has had it tougher, you know? losing both mother figures… and i don’t remember my mom much.”

“i’m sorry, y/n.” mark rests his hand on your right shoulder. “i shouldn’t have asked.”

“it’s okay,” you smile slightly.

“what about your dad?”

“my dad remarried,” you giggle and rub your chin. “he uhm started dating johnny’s physics teacher when he was in high school and they now live in san luis obispo.”

“do you visit him often?” mark rests his elbow on the backrest of the couch.

you shake your head. “not really. he doesn’t like the lifestyle we have so keep pushing away, you know? the last time i saw him was maybe 5 years? i think it was his wedding.”

wraps his hand with yours and looks at you. “he’s missing you out. you’re amazing,  extraordinary, incredible, unbelievable…” he kisses your hand.

you can’t explain to yourself why your heart is going faster?

you like him.

fuck off.

mark releases your hand when he hears johnny coming to the living room. he stares at you both. “what were you doing”?

“just chatting,” you sgruh.

johnny hums, taking his jacket. “by the way, y/n, next time you bring someone please tell them to keep it down.”

mark’s eyes widen open. you laugh. “it wasn’t my guy. it was me.”

my guy.

johnny makes a face. “oh please. you’re disgusting.”

“you started it!” you giggle.

“can’t the dude afford an hotel?” johnny scoffs and looks at mark. “you’d take her to your place at least, right?”

mark feels like he’s choking on his saliva and you look at him. is he blushing? mark getting shy? no way.

“i highly believe mark would take to his place instead of fucking me next to my brothers’ rooms,” you smirk.

johnny grins. “you two think i’m some kind of an idiot, don’t you?”

now your mouth drops to the floor and marks wishes the earth would swallow him. johnny laughs. “fucking mark, you think you could bang my sister without me finding out? you got some balls, dude.”

“but i - he- how?” you stare at johnny.

“you two always look at each other as if you were undressing you. all the hickeys pretty much in the same spot…” johnny shrugs.

“he’s lying,” jisung wraps an arm around johnny’s shoulders. “i saw you two.”

“you what?!” you almost scream.

“i think i’m gonna pass out,” mark murmurs.

“but i told you they’d admit it,” johnny looks at jisung. “you owe me $20 big boy.”

“damn it,” jisung groans, taking his wallet out, handing johnny a $20 bill.

you and mark stare at each other, not knowing what to exactly say.

“listen, i don’t care about your relationship as long as you don’t knock her up,” johnny warns mark. “or give her something.”

“johnny oh my god, just… shut up!” you clench your jaw.

“hey, i’m the oldest here,” he stares at you, placing his hands on his hips. “and as her older brother, i give you permission to date her. it’s alright.”

“we’re not dating,” you murmur between teeth.

“dude, you’re totally screwing this up,” jisung laughs. “look at mark! he’s red as a tomato!”

“jisung, be quiet please.” johnny looks at him. “thank you. where was i? ah! right. since you’re not dating then i give you permission to bang her, but not when jisung or me is around. it’s weird.”

“okay, that’s enough. this is embarrassing.” you say, standing up and leaving the three men.

johnny whistles. “that was alright. i’m a great brother, aren’t i?” he smiles proudly.

“i really feel sorry for you future kids,” jisung mutters.

“hey!” johnny stares at him.

mark inhales deeply and looks at johnny. “dude, listen, i’m sorry, i really w-”

johnny waves his hand. “do as you want, mark. but let me tell you something, if you hurt her i will chop off your dick and feed it to my neighbor's dog. it’s a promise.” johnny smiles at him.

mark gulps. johnny is not kidding.

“got it, canadian boy?” johnny asks.

mark nods. “perfectly.”

“fine!” johnny nods. “let’s go mark, we got business to attend.”

(...)

mark whistles. forty kilos of remarkably potent methamphetamine. almost worth it in half million dollars.

mark sees johnny coming out of a bedroom with a black haired guy walking next to him. mark doesn’t recognise him and he thinks he’s an old friend from johnny.

and he is.

“mark, this is yuta. yuta, this is mark,” johnny introduces them to each other.

yuta stares at mark and remembers seeing him leaving the same room as you the night of the party.

he’s the guy you’re now fucking.

but yuta knows he has no right to be upset since he made a choice, and by making that choice he knows he lost you.

“nice to meet you, yuta.” mark extends his hand.

yuta shakes it. “you too, mark.”

“awkward,” johnny hums. “okay. thank you for coming, yuta. we need to leave now before doyoung gets all crazy thinking we chickened out.”

yuta nods, still staring at mark. “i’ll be off the radar. take care of y/n.” yuta looks at johnny.

“always,” johnny nods.

yuta gives mark one last glance and he leaves. mark sighs deeply. “are you okay with this?”

johnny looks at mark. “what do you mean?”

“lying to y/n…”

johnny rubs his forehead. “i had no choice, mark.”

mark nods. “forget i asked. it’s none of my business.”

“yeah, it is not.” johnny walks to his car. “whatever is going on between you two you cannot tell her, mark.”

“and i won’t.” mark assures him.

johnny and mark drive from south los angeles to beverly hills, where doyoung’s apartment is.

when they arrive at the building, mark and johnny can tell doyoung is all about luxury: he lives in one of the best zones in los angeles and he only wears expensive brands. as expected.

they get a code to go up to his place and once they’re outside, doyoung’s bodyguard check them in case they decided to carry  a gun. clear, they enter to his apartment and johnny whistles. “motherfucker knows how to use his money.”

“of course i do,” doyoung speaks behind them.

mark turns around and he sees doyoung walking to the bar counter. “did you bring my candies?”

“yes.” johnny replies and tosses him the backpack and a small bag.

doyoung makes a signal to his bodyguard and he walks and picks up the bags, empiting them. he places the drug on the counter and takes out a scale from underneath. the bodyguard looks at doyoung and nods. doyoung waves him off and pours some whisky on his glass. “you sure yuta made this?”

“yes.” johnny answers.

“alright.” doyoung tosses him a wad of wills. “200k and i’ll give you the rest when the rest of the shit is sold.”

“we agreed on 300k,” johnny looks at him.

“i gotta make sure it’s yuta’s meth,” doyoung stares at him. “now get out of my place.”

“fucker,” johnny mumbles.

mark clears his throat and walks to doyoung. “thinking you’ll be selling that shit three times more, you’ll be getting around 8 million. so we’re gonna want more than just 300k.”

doyoung cocks an eyebrow at him and then stares at johnny. doyoung opens his mouth to reply him back but mark does it first. “how do i know it? basic math. you normally would sell five grams for 60 bucks and you have 40 kilos. and right now, the price for a kilo of meth is 12 grand.”

doyoung squints his eyes. “how much do you want?”

“a million.”

doyoung laughs. “i’ll give you 500k, that’s the last offer.”

“okay,” mark smirks. “then this is the last time we’ll be making business.” mark turns to johnny. “johnny, my contact in canada will give us so much more.”

johnny doesn't’ know shit about mark’s ‘contact’ in canada. in fact, he doesn't even know anything about it.

until he catches it.

“yeah,” johnny shrugs. “thanks, but next load will be for him. sorry doyoung.”

mark and johnny walk towards the door. doyoung groans and places his glass on the counter. “fine. one million, but next load i want 80 kilos.”

“you’ll have them,” mark assures him.

“now leave before i change my mind and blow your brains up.”

when johnny and mark get to johnny’s car, johnny turns to mark. “are you nuts?!”

“doyoung is a bitch, he was going to pay us shit and we’re doing the dirty work!” mark stares at him. “a part of it.”

“how in hell are we gonna get him 80 kilos of meth?” johnny rubs his face with the palms of his hands. “yuta won’t agreed.”

“then we gotta make him,” mark shrugs.

johnny frowns and looks at him. “what is your evil mind planning?”

“my mind isn’t evil,” mark scoffs. “i just… i thought of pushing him a bit to help us.”

“he’s going to kill you, you know?” johnny says as he turns the car on.

“i’ll be rich and dead,” mark pinches his nose. “what else can i ask?”

(...)

you are not sure what got you to take the photo. you are even less sure what got you to hit send.

since mark left your house with johnny that afternoon, you didn't see him or hear from him and you miss him.

so you do something you think you’d never do again.

shirt off. tits out.

chewing on your fingernails and staring at your phone screen. waiting.

mark opens the door of his apartment and drops down on the couch. his phone buzzes and he smiles when he sees your name on the screen. he unlocks the phone and he freezes. heart racing as he bites his lips. his throat bobs, amd he slightly groans at how quickly his jeans are growing tight.

you’re smiling directly into the camera. breast squished together and cheeks rosy pink. his cocks is painguyll nard now and he feels pathetic at how hard he got just for seeing your shirtless.

when his hand starts slowly trailing down his torso, his phone pings again. he sees the message is from you once more.

did you like it?

fuck yes. the things i wanna do to you right now… you're so hot.

;)

want me to return the favour?

you're sitting on your bed, holding your phone in your hand and you nip at your lip.

yes.

then you wait, staring down at the phone. just the thought of him taking a photo on the other end of the phone is making you wet, just imagining him slipping a hand into his already tight jeans and -

your phone pings and you unlock it. you almost drop your phone when the picture pops out. mark has a nice cock, but surprisingly, it isn’t his cock that draws your eyes first, but his hand. you imagine his hand wrapping your neck slightly. choking you. that hand is wrapped now firmly around the base of his pretty cock. flushed red and dripping with pre-cum.

the hand not gripping your phone slowly slips down your stomach and into your panties. you’re shocked to find yourself wet, gently rubbing circles around your clit as you stare at mark’s dick. how bad you want to clean it up with your tongue.

you manage to type with your shaking hand, dipping one finger inside of yourself.

i’m so wet for you.

you get a response minutes after, but you’re too busy thrusting a finger in and out yourself. then another message

another angle. the camera is higher this time, giving you a perfect view of his face. his black hair is messy and plastered to his forehead with sweat. his cheeks are flushed pink and his shirt is bunched up around his ribcage. he’s looking right at you, eyes half lidded. hand still tightly wrapped around his cock.

fuck it, you decide and hit the video call button.

mark jumps when his phone starts to ring. his hand shakes when he hits accept. you pop onto his screen, cheeks flushed, sweat dripping down your brow, mouth hung open and panting.

“h-hey mark,” you breathe, breaking off into a moan halfway through his name. you just moaned his name.

“ah,” his throat bobs, still slowly working his cock. “hey…”

“i thought this might be uhm...” it’s now that he notices the way your free arm is moving. something is happening off screen, he can guess what it is. you have a shaky breath and manage a nervous smile, “...you know, easier? than the photos…”

“ah, yes.” a nervous laugh comes up out of his chest, “i was having trouble typing. my hands are kind of busy.”

you smile softly, but a twitch of your lips betrays your nerves. “do you still want to see?”

a noise that could almost be called a whimper escapes mark’s mouth at the thought, “y-yeah. i mean if you are willing to show someone like me then i would be… very happy..”

he watches as you take a deep breath, and begin panning the camera down past your breasts, over the curve of stomach, before it finally focuses in on your fingers, dipping slowly in and out of your dripping center. he chokes on a sound, half a moan, half a laugh as he watches you languidly fingering yourself. first just one finger, but then quickly two.

“you weren’t kidding about how wet you are…” he breathes, completely in awe of you.

mark hears the nervous ring of your laugh from off camera, “y-yeah.” you breathe shakily, fingers still continuing their ministrations.

your thumb reaches up and brushes across your clit, he sees your thighs shake and he licks his lips, tightening the grip of his hand around his weeping cock, “i’d give anything to be there right now.”

there is a little fumbling, and then the camera comes back up your face, bright red and smiling shyly as you refuse to make eye contact with the phone screen, “so do i.”

there’s a lull in conversation. your eyes turn to meet his through the screen, and for a moment he is just jerking off to your expression. the way your eyes clench shut, the way you hiss through your teeth. he can see your arm moving faster, he can’t help but wonder how many fingers are inside you now. can’t help but think it were his fingers insead.

“mark?” you ask, voice high pitched and almost mewling.

he gulps, his hips are bucking up into his hand now. you look so beautiful like this, “yes?”

you meet the approximation of his eyes, chewing your lower lip nervously, “are you still-?”

mark nods, “yeah I-“

“can i see?”

his heart is racing, but he nods and shuffles a little higher up on the pillows. mark takes a deep breath in through his nose and switches his phone to the back facing camera. he watches your eyes blow wide and your mouth drops open in a moan, “fuck… it’s so pretty. you’re so pretty.”

mark laughs, slowly bringing his fist up to the head of his cock and teasing the tip with the pad of his thumb. he can see that your eyes are following the movement, “you really like it?”

“if i was there with you it would have been in my mouth like half an hour ago.”

mark groans at that, head falling backward on his pillow as he flips the camera back around, “you’re torturing me.”

“the faces you’re making… i love them,” you whisper, biting down hard on your lower lip to hide a moan. your arm is moving even faster, breasts shaking with the movement.

mark keeps pumping his cock even faster and you hear him choke a moan.

he can feel himself getting close, there’s a tightness in the pit of his stomach that is just begging him to let it go. keening and moaning, eyes scrunching shut as his hips guide his palm into a particularly delicious stroke, he can here you whimpering and mewling on the other end of the phone, and if he listens hard enough he can hear the wet sounds of your fingers pumping into and out of your sex.

“ah mark, i wish it was your fingers inside of me.”

he feels those words in his insides, from his stomach all the way out to the tips of his fingers. it is like a bolt of lightning to his heart, to his cock, to his everything. you want him. his mouth drops open, and words escape him before he can think better of it, “i- fuck” he gasps as his thumb brushes over his weeping slit, drool running down over his chin, “i want your mouth on me. i want it so badly ah shit i-”

you don't stop touching yourself, twitching and gasping, getting closer and closer just watching him as he shatters. the moment that breaks you,  your final snap is when you catch a glimpse of his wrist giving himself one last pump off screen. his brow furrowing and a delicious moan escaping his perfect lips, splattering his bare torso with his cum.

it’s too much. with a breathless moan you feel yourself tip over the edge, your insides tightening, toes curling and the world goes white behind your eyes. all you can think about is mark. your hand is shaking when you finally slip your fingers out of yourself and wipe them on your bare thigh, when you open your eyes you can see mark laying back on the armrest and breathing deeply as he comes back down.

you giggle, “so…”

mark cracks open an eye, “so…”

“do you want to keep talking?” you grab a shirt and pull it on over your head, “or was that...it?”

you watch as mark runs a hand through the mess of his hair, he gives you a sleepy smile, “i need to clean up, but i can leave the audio on if you want?”

“yeah.” you reply, “that sounds good.”

(...)

a few days later, you end up driving all the way to orange county to meet doyoung and do what’s asked you.

“there’s my star,” doyoung greets you, smiling while walking towards you. his bodyguard walking behind him.

you smile at him back. “you didn’t tell me it was going to be crowded tonight.”

“word got spread the famous y/n suh will be racing tonight against the rookie jwi,” he smiles sideways and leans against your car.

you take a deep breath. “are they here?”

doyoung shakes his head. “he’ll come.”

“is there something else i need to know?” you inquire.

“he never gets off his car; he just races and then leaves. one of his friends collects the money and that’s their routine,” doyoung crosses his arms on his chest. “his technique is quite impressive.”

“what is it?” you turn around, expecting him to arrive.

“double clutching,” doyoung announces. you turn to him, surprised. “i know. he’s fucking insane, he matches up engine speed with cluth speed between downshifts and gets smoother transitions.”

you place your hands on your hips and furrow your eyebrows. “i can come up with something better than that.”

doyoung grins maliciously. “i hope you do. i want that fucker out.”

a green subaru wrx makes their way, all eyes on it. he’s the mysterious driver no one ever has seen. and to be honest, you want to know who’s sindie the car. he stops his car next to you and makes its engine roar. “don’t fail me, y/n.” doyoung stares at you, before exiting the start line.

you get into the car and start the engine, your car sounding loud as the people around you.

you grip at the wheel and turn around, eyeing the green car. you wonder if he’s nervous.

the race is not a regular race. the race will start in newport beach to santa ana. 12.9 miles. it’s risky and dangerous, but you tell yourself you’re gonna do great. you know all of the streets. the gps system in your car traces the path you have to run.you hold the hand break, to do what you know the best, drift.

you are fully focusing on the street and the cars in the middle, you’re not going to run the random chance to hit any car and have an awful accident. you look through the mirror and can’t see the green subaru, you keep shifting the velocities, slowing down the speed to be able to turn to the left. you are still ahead of the race. where are you green subaru? you think, gripping the steering wheel tighter. you keep running straight, when suddenly the green subaru appears from an interjection coming from the right side, almost hitting your car.

“piece of shit,” you murmur.

the subaru guy's next movement is hitting the nitro, leaving you behind. you see the downs the shifts to the third velocity, slows the speed, drifts in the curve when turn to the left. the subaru goes ahead by a few inches. when he passes the finish line, the wind that the car gets due to the high speed, lifts up a few skirts from some of the women there. and he keeps going straight.

he’s gone.

you lift the hand brake, burning the tired roughly and the car ending in a horizontal position. you have lost the race.

“you knew i was going to lose?” you follow doyoung.

“yeah,” he says as he walks to his luxurious car.

“then why did you even bother to ask me to race against him?”

doyoung turns. “because then you can come up with something better. this time.” he stares at you. “something useful to make him lose.”

“why do you care? just ask the dude to race for you,” you scoff.

“i’ve already tried.” doyoung states. “and whoever that asshole is making me lose money and races.”

“races?” you frown.

“the underground races in moreno valley and san bernardino, all are of his idea.” he rubs his forehead. “if you know the streets, then you know who runs car races and drugs, and that’s me.”

“so he’s hurt your pride.” you look at him.

“he’s now messing with my businesses,” he clicks his tongue. “when you finally get him, i’m gonna stop him from racing but i’m also gonna fucking kill him and feed him to my dogs.”

“that sounds like your problem,” you comment and sigh. “just… call me when the next race is.”

“i will,” he nods. “suh?

“you better get him, or you’re gonna end up like him: as dog food.” he stares at you.

you gulp

****

sorry for taking so long to update guys !! who do you think is jwi??

[camillemonty]

Crush

JJ x Reader|Kook

Summary: You just moved to outer banks and you are not so thrilled about your new kook life as your parents and are curious about how your summer will be. As the summer goes on surprises come along with ups and downs, tears and laughter, new friends and family.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (p1), Chapter 4 (p2)

Chapter 5 - Midsummer

It’s been five days since the kegger, five days since you broke up with Liam. You haven’t talked to anyone but your mom and your best friend. You haven’t go out either, been distracted enough by your mom, moving furniture all around the house and the books you start reading but don’t finish. You told your mom about Liam, just the breakup, she never really liked him, and she was right, she always is. Liam hasn’t come to your house either, but for that you were thankful. You were at the dock laying on one of the benches listening to music when a boat stopped in front of you.

“y/n” you hear Sarah, as you put on pause the music.

You sat on the bench and looked at her, the rest of the group in the boat. “Hey” you smiled.

"We are going to the marsh, do you want to come with us?” she asked

“Oh don’t worry there’s no need…” you started but John B cuts you off.

“We want you to come” he said.

“Well just give me five minutes” you smiled.

You went back home to put on a swimsuit and threw a towel in your backpack. Downstairs you opened the fridge and saw a six-pack of beer, you grabbed it, the same thing with a couple of bags of chips you saw, tossing all in a pool bag from your mom, finally you took your keys and went out, towards the boat that was waiting for you.

“Wow what you got there?” JJ questioned while grabbing the bag for you as you hop in.

“Well I couldn’t come with empty hands” you shrug “I'll feel guilty about it” 

John B made his way to the marsh, but not without giving you a little tour and talk about all kind of stuff that had happened in Outer Banks. As soon as the boat stopped JJ and Pope jumped in the water, the day was hot and you wanted to toss your shirt out but deep inside you felt a little insecure, so you didn’t do it, Kie was already shirtless, soaking up the sun, and Sarah was whispering stuff in John B’s ear, you just leaned back closing your eyes, face up to the sun while your hair fell out the boat, you could hear the splashing coming from JJ and Pope and the giggles between John B and Sarah. Nearly falling asleep a patting on your leg catches your attention, you slightly opened your eyes it was Kiara.

“Are you coming?” she asked. You sat and saw around you, everyone was in the water.

“C’mon Y/n” John B called you. 

You stood up and took your shirt off, JJ watching every move you made, you took your shorts off, and standing next to Kie, about to jump, you felt JJ’s glare on you, Kie jumped first and you followed her, the water was amazing, removing every sign of heat in your body, you popped your head out of the water and swam close to the group.

“Good isn’t it” asked Sarah. 

“Oh yes” you nodded.

“Wait till we go to the beach” JJ said.

“Yeah, you have to come with us” Kie agreed. You felt your heart get warmer.

“So are you liking outer banks?” John B questioned.

“Yes… I am” you nodded.

JJ started a water fight right after that, so the next thing you know is that everyone was fighting back in between giggles, insults, screams, and splashes. After a while in the water you all decided to come out and eat something, you were the last one to get into the boat, taking JJ hand as help, you gave him a shy smile and went to the other side, he looked at you, his eyes lingering your body almost all exposed, Pope noticed it and slapped JJ in the back of the head. 

“What was that for?” JJ asked 

“Just taking you out of your trance” he chuckled pointing at you with his chin making JJ rolls his eyes.

You put on your shirt and sat next to Kie to help her with the food while Sarah was grabbing the beer. Kie handed Pope a sandwich, they looked at each other and smiled, you glanced in between the two, something was happening with them. She gave you another one and chinned up at JJ, you turned at him, offering the sandwich with a smile.

“Thank you princess” he said grabbing it, his fingers touching yours. You rolled your eyes with the faint of a smile on your lips.

Sarah handed you a beer, you all were quiet for a second, enjoying the food. “So Y/n” started John B, mouth still full “Why did you move here?”

You took a sip of the beer “My dad was offered a job here” you explained.

“Sorry if I ask but how’s that your Liam moved here too?” Pope questioned.

“Our dads work together” you grab a bite from your sandwich, he nodded.

The chat went on, they all asked you a lot of stuff, and later John B and the guys started to tell you their funny stories and adventures, how they all met, the hundreds of fights JJ has been on, how they met Kiara, and that at the beginning Kiara and Sarah hated each other but that they were like best friends now. Kiara talked to you about how she wanted to make a campaign to save the turtles, and that we have to save the earth. They were all so friendly, you liked them a lot; they were their own little family and loved each other so much, you were happy that they invited you to spend the day with them. The beers were over and so all the food, the sun was starting to set behind, you were all laying across the boat, just talking. JJ was seating next to Kiara, she was next to you. You saw JJ lighting up the joint, he blows out the smoke and saw you looking at him, with a smirk on his face he extended his arm in front of Kie and offered you the cigarette without saying a word, just like the other night, you grabbed it and placed it in between your lips, took a drag, and returned it, unaware that everyone was looking at the exchange, they all glanced in between each other, with confused smiles, JJ took another drag and then offered it to Kie.

“Didn’t know you smoke” said Pope.

“I don’t” you replied.

“Didn’t know you were a liar” JJ scoffed.

All the looks on him now “I only took a drag the other night” you narrowed your eyes. The other four looked at each other again, a scowl on their faces.

“The other night?” Kie asked, the shadow of teasing in her voice. 

“At the Kegger” said JJ simply. With more confusing looks, as well as widen eyes and smiles, they were getting brand new information.

“When?” was the only thing that came out of Pope's mouth.

"After I broke up with Liam, he went to ask me if I was ok and then offered me a drag” you shrug, thinking it was no big deal.

“Oh he did” John B does his best not to laugh “such a gentleman” he teased. 

JJ rolled his eyes “I thought you were with a touron” Kie tilted her head in question. That's when you understood where the fun came from, he didn't tell his friends he was with you that night.  You felt a little embarrassed and awkward.

“I was, this was before, and then I went back with the touron” JJ shrugs. They looked at each other, knowing they will continue to tease him when you weren’t around.

“Last jump?” Sarah offered, noticing in your eyes that you were uncomfortable, standing up at the edge, giving a glance around the boat.

“Last jump” Kie and John B agreed with her, being followed by Pope.

You were left in the boat with JJ, he stood up and looked down at you “coming?” he asked. 

You nodded and stood up at the edge, looking at the others swimming, the sun already making shadows in the water. JJ stood up next to you, very close, you turned to look at him, his blue eyes looking straight into yours; you could see the smile on his lips when his hand touched your side, pushing you into the water, but even with the surprise you were fast enough and grabbed his hand, pulling him with you. You pop out your head first laughing at his failure. He came out to the surface and shook his head, getting his blonde hair off his face.

“I’ll kill you” he said laughing.

You were all in the boat, going back home. You felt tired and your skin was hot, pretty sure you had a sunburn. You saw your house in the distance and started to get your things together.

“What are you doing this weekend?” John B asked.

"I’ll probably go looking for a dress” you replied.

“For what?” JJ questioned.

“Midsummer” you said like it was no big deal.

“Are you going?” asked Sarah with a big smile on her face, you nodded “Oh my god yes!” she hugged you “we are going to have so much fun” she turned to see Kie.

“Not that I’m not excited for you coming is that I didn’t want to go in the first place” Kie explained herself.

“Don’t worry I didn’t know I was going until five days ago” you said.

"Who are you going with?" Sarah asked.

"Lane" you replied, the look on her face changed, like a sad look, you took a mental note to ask Lane about it.

The boat stopped in front of the dock and you hopped out. You turned back at them and said goodbye, they said it back and started their way home. You entered your room and threw your backpack on the floor, went straight into the shower, and put your pj’s on, downstairs you find your mom and she reproached you for the fact that you didn’t put on sunscreen. You grabbed something to eat and went back to your room, deciding it was time to text Lane.

-Hey!- 

-Hey!!!- She replied immediately.

-Do you still want me to go dress hunting with you?-

-Of course I want to!-

The days went fast in the solitude of your house, you spent your day reading and scrolling through your phone. You didn’t want to go out by yourself in case you ran into Liam. You had seen him once since the breakup, he was at the front door of his house with the other guys, you were coming back home for a walk and it was for the way they saw you that you don’t want to go alone. You hated this, hated that he was your neighbor; at least until the summer ended.

Saturday arrived before you could notice it. You walked out of the third boutique and you were exhausted, you had tried on at least 20 dresses and didn’t like any of them, Lane had tried more and she felt the same.

“I could use a break right now” you sigh.

“Oh I was about to say the same thing” she nodded.

You two walked in the direction she thought this Caffe shop would be and thank god it was there. You two sat at a little table and waited for someone to come to grab your order, both of you ordered an ice tea, the heat was just too much. The guy arrived with your drinks and you both thanked him. It was deliciously refreshing.

���Can I ask you something?” you asked after a while and she nodded “What happened between you and Sarah?”

Her eyes widened in surprise not expecting that question “we were like best friends, but when she started dating John B she totally bailed on me and the girls” you nodded at her response "I don’t hate her if that’s what you are thinking”

"I wasn't thinking that" you said.

You sat tiredly in the chair, waiting for Lane to come out with dress number eight "Ok, I think I found it” you looked up, she was wearing a navy blue long dress, with little stripes on her shoulders, her back was naked, but the front was more reserved, she looked amazing.

“Wow” you said “that’s definitely going to attract some glances, good glances” you corrected.

She smiled at you and then at her reflection “your turn”

You tried the third dress you grabbed and it was beautiful, it was a baby pink silk dress, long until your ankles, it had a cut on one of the sides, but not too high, your back was covered and the V cut was revealing but not too much, it was flattering. You stepped outside of the dressing room waiting for Lane’s opinion, she looked at you and for the smile on her face, you knew she liked it.

“Oh my god it's perfect” she clapped and you smiled shyly.

The week flew and before you could notice it was already Friday, midsummer was today. You were nervous, everything Lane could talk about was the party, she was telling you all the gossip from past midsummer but her voice was a blur in the background.

"Earth to y/n" she said as she moved her hand in front of your face "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing I'm just nervous" you shrugged your shoulders.

She smiled "c'mon we will have fun" she squeezed your hand and glanced over the magazine in her lap again. 

You were at a salon, she begged you to come with her to get your makeup and hair done, it was full of other girls all of them getting ready for tonight. 

You look at your reflection in the full-length mirror from Lane's room and your jaw almost touched the floor, the silk of the dress waved down in your body showing the golden heels you bought for the dress, the makeup even better than what you could imagine, pink smokey eyes and nude lipstick, simple but beautiful.

"Girl you look amazing" Lane said from behind. You turned at her, she looked amazing too, her makeup a little more exaggerated than yours.  

"Me? Look at you" you said, she smiled and turned around, showing her self. 

She handed you a little flower crown that matched the color of your dress, you took it, confusion in your eyes "it's a tradition" she said grabbing hers and puts it on her head. 

The Island Club was beautiful, the entrance was decorated with flowers and little lights. There were already a lot of people, all dressed up, you saw your parents in the distance as you walked through the entrance. Lane and you walked toward a huge glass door, outside there was a big terrace and a lot more people, most of them younger, you saw Liam, with Rafe and the rest, Rebecca hanging on Liam's arm. Lane squeezed your hand and smiled at you.

"Let's go for drinks" She spoke. You nodded and followed her.

She lied to the bartender saying the drinks were for your parents. Both of you laughed as you two hid behind a bush. Lane's eyes dilated and a silly smile appeared on her lips. You looked at where she was looking and saw Peter and his friends. Peter saw her immediately and came towards you two. He said hi, his eyes lost in Lane's as she smiled. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. All of his friends chuckled at him.

"Hey get off my sister" said one of the guys that came with him getting in between them. Lane rolled her eyes and hugged him.

"I missed you" she said as he hugs her back "this is y/n" he pulled him back and introduced you.

"Nice to meet you" you said.

"Cooper" he shakes your hand as he glances at you up and down.

You did the same thing, he was brunette as Lane, with bright green eyes and a charming smile. He is wearing a light grey tux and his hair to the side.

You were listening to one of Peter's friends talk for about an hour when Cooper that was next to Lane walked away, standing now next to you. 

"Hey" he smiled at you "When did you arrive" He asked.

"Almost a month ago" 

"Oh nice, are you liking Outer Banks?" 

"Yes"

"I'm glad to hear that" he smiled again "have you gone to the bar at lighthouse yet?" You shook your head "well that's a problem" he said joking.

"Why?" You asked.

"Well because is a very beautiful place with a nice view and I can't believe no one has taken you there" 

"Well that's Lane's fault" you replied joking.

He shook his head and tickled with his tongue "that sister of mine" you both laughed "Me, on the other hand, can make a difference and take you one of these days, if you want" he glanced at you, a flirty smile in his face.

"I'll think about it" you smiled.

The two of you continued chatting for a long time, he took every chance he could to compliment you or telling you that you looked beautiful tonight, you felt flattered not in a million times you would have imagined that someone would try to flirt with you tonight, much less Lane's brother. You saw Sarah and Kie in the distance and excused yourself out to go find them.

"Hey" you said when you were close enough. Both turned around and gave you a big smile. 

"Hey" Sarah hugged you, followed by Kie "you look beautiful" 

"You two look amazing too" you replied. 

"You are not drinking?" Kie notices your empty hands and shook her head, disappearing just for a moment to come back with another glass of champagne for you "if we have to go through this night better do it drunk" 

"C'mon, let's dance" Sarah took your now empty glasses and dragged you to two to the dancefloor. 

In between laughs, turns and hidden glasses of champagne the three of you were having so much fun. Even Lane and Peter's friend joined you, the girls putting on pause their fight. You were dancing with Lane, back to back to some music, until you felt a hand grabbing you by the waist and hand, turning you to face him, making you slow dance as the song changed. 

"Hello" said Liam, you tried to pull him away but he was stronger and his grip on you only got harder "I just want to talk"

"Well I don't" you hissed.

"C'mon y/n, don't be a brat," he said, "I just want to know how are you doing?"

"I was doing just fine until you arrived" he rolls his eyes and grabs you even tighter, your chests squeezed into each other "don't you have a date to go to?" 

He smiled "but we are having fun" his hand went down your spine. Your eyes widen while you try to push him off.

"Get off me" you mad whispered a devilish smirk on his lips. 

"Don't you miss being this close to me?" He whispered back. The smell of alcohol hits you. You looked into his reds eyes and a shiver ran down your spine, remembering the night he hit you. You pushed him once more and a laugh escaped from his lips "Don't you miss the feel of my lips" he kissed you in the neck.

"Stop it" your voice almost broke, making him chuckle. 

"Everything ok?" The sudden voice makes you both turn. 

"Yes, everything is ok" Liam answered. 

Cooper looked you in the eyes and realized you were uncomfortable, not to say scared "May I have a dance with the lady?" He asked and without expecting an answer he grabs Liam's arm and took your hand "thank you" he gently pulled you from his grip and placed your hand in his shoulder, forcing Liam to let go of your other hand, you looked at the harsh expression on Liam's face, knowing this little conversation wasn't over, he walks away and you let go a relaxed sigh.

"thanks" 

"Are you ok?" He asked and you nod "not that I want to intrude but you looked a little scared back there so can I ask what was that about?" He said as you two swung around with the slow music. 

"He is my ex" you explained "we broke up a week ago" 

"Oh I see" he nodded "so you were scared because he was drunk" you glanced at him with surprise "you could smell the guy from like 5 feets away" he said "not to mention his eyes gave him away" you didn't say anything and kept swinging around until the song ended "do you want to go grab something to drink?"

"Yeah I would like to" you both smiled as he offered you his arm, you took it laughing. 

The Van parked in front of the Island Club and the guys hopped out of it, walking to a side of the big house when they could see the party going. 

"Did you texted Sarah?" JJ asked.

"Yes she told me to give her 5 minutes" said John B. as the three arrived at the beach entrance of the terrace. 

JJ glanced all over the people looking for the familiar faces of the girls when he saw you, close to where he was standing, his eyes wandered all your body, looking carefully at everything your dress covered and everything that doesn't. He already thought you were pretty, even if he didn't want to admit it, but tonight you were even more beautiful if that was possible, your hair fell over your shoulders to the middle of your back, your eyes looked brighter because of the makeup and your lips looked more provocative than ever. He swallowed thickly at the thoughts that went through his mind at the moment.

John B and Pope looked at his friend in his hypnosis and couldn't resist the quiet laugh that escaped from their mouths. 

"Dude, are you ok?" Pope asked.

"What?" JJ turned around in confusion, making the guys laugh harder.

"You are so into y/n" John B said. 

"No, I'm not" JJ lied. 

"I've never seen that face on you before" Pope stated.

"What face?" JJ questioned. 

"I should have taken a picture" said Pope and JJ roll his eyes. 

"Why don't you admit it dude?" John B wrapped his arm around JJ's shoulders. 

"There's nothing to admit" JJ growled.

"C'mon man" Pope started. 

"Shut up" JJ huffed and got out of John B's arm "Call your girl, let's get out of here" 

John B texted Sarah, telling her to invite you too. 

JJ took s few steps away from the boys, so he could look at you without being teased, that is when he noticed that you weren't alone. You were talking and laughing to a Kook he knew too well. Jealousy filled his veins as he saw him guide you to another place, his hand in your back. He lost you in the crowd and walked back to the boys.

"Why are they taking so long?" JJ asked. 

"They are just saying goodbye" John B lied. 

You followed Cooper at one of the tables, while he talked about the trip his dad made him go to. He was nice but deep down gave you the same vibe as Rafe, he liked to brag about everything he had and the things he has done, thinking that made him more interesting. But the big difference was that you enjoyed his company and the fact that being with him kept Liam away. 

"Hey y/n" Sarah interrupted him "we are going to the beach and the guys told me to invite you" 

You felt your chest get warmer as a smile appeared on your face, not that you weren't having fun here but the fact that they wanted you to come with them made you happy. 

"Sure I'll go" you nodded "just let me say goodbye" you turned your head to Cooper, he took a step ahead and kissed you on the cheek.

"See you around" he said. 

You smiled and walked towards Lane to say goodbye, she hugged you. 

You followed the girls towards the beach and got out the terrace, in the distance you saw the three guys standing. When you were close enough you and JJ locked stares. You gave him a little smile and he did the same.

"Well hello girls" John b talked, the three of you said hi. "Let's get going" 

The group walked to the Van and hopped in, the drive to the beach was fun, music blasting through the speaker as they all sang along the lyrics. John B parked in front of an empty boneyard. You all got out of the van and Pope pulled out a keg beer and a pack of red solo cups. When you arrived at the sand, you and the other two took off your heels and walked towards the boys, where they were already making the bonfire. You all sat around it and started talking. 

"Did you liked your first midsummer y/n?" Pope asked you. 

"It was fun" you nodded "for a Kook party" everyone laughed.

"C'mon I saw you having fun with Cooper" Kie teased and winked at you. JJ rolls his eyes as the same warm he felt earlier filled his chest again.

"Cooper? Copper Miller?" John B. asked as you nod taking a sip from your beer. "I didn't know he was back" 

The talk went on for a few minutes until Sarah came up with the idea of playing a drinking game. 

"Let's play never have I ever!" She almost screamed. The group huffed at Sarah's idea.

"Ok I'll start" said Kie as she settled in the sand "I've never swum naked on the marsh" his eyes straight to JJ, he rolls his eyes and drinks the beer "I knew it!" She laughed.

"I've never sent someone a nude" he said knowing Kiara would drink, but for the surprise of everyone, you drank too.

"Look at that" Jonh B. teased. 

JJ's glare fell on you, you looked at him, his eyes a little darker than before "you go" he said to you.

"I'm very bad at this" you chuckle "but since I'm pretty sure you all had… I've never gone surfing" 

They all laughed and drank from their beers. The rest of the game went on, you and the rest of the group were laughing your lungs out, half of the barrel already gone. You felt your body warmer but couldn't know if it was for the alcohol or the fire in front of you, so when you touched your cheeks and barely felt anything you knew it was the alcohol. You were now seated in between Sarah and Kie. Once every couple of minutes you glanced up to find the blue eyes already looking at you, the orange light barely illuminating his face. You don't know if it was all because of the alcohol in your system but JJ was more handsome than ever, his messy blond hair back, his arms that showed off from his tank top, the blue eyes that got brighter every time he laughed and the constant smirk on his face made you feel something deep down in your stomach. 

Every time JJ catched you looking at him made his chest feel tighter, he could notice that you were examining all of him, he saw your eyes wandering his body, a smirk covered his face, glad that he caught your attention. And he couldn't help but to do the same, every time you looked away he took the chance to look at you better, your dress raised up a little for how you were seating, showing more of your smooth skin, his eyes traveled all the way from your legs to your arms, giving a glance to your collarbones and cleavage, he stopped in your face, the cut on your lips was gone, your eyes were bright and narrowed a little every time you laughed or smiled. 

Let's go to the water" said Sarah all of the sudden taking you both out of your trance. Everyone agreed screaming and got up in a jump, leaving you alone in the sand. 

"You are not coming?" JJ asked making everyone to look at you

You shook your head "I… I don't like it" 

"You don't like the water?" asked Pope with confusion.

"No, it just that…" you shrug "It scares me" you admitted murmuring.

"What scares you exactly?" JJ asked frowning his browns.

"It's dark, I can't see my feets" all of them resisted the laugh.

"C'mon at least soak your feets a little" Sarah insisted.

You nodded and stood up, not without stumbling, realizing that you were more than a little drunk. They chuckled at you, you did the same. The guys took off their shirts and threw them in the sand. You walked behind them, and couldn't stop yourself from biting your lower lip as you looked at JJ's back. 

"I'll wait for you here" you said as you stopped walking when the water hit your ankles, grabbing your dress by the edge.

They all nodded. You saw how they jumped into the water, swimming away, heads popping out in the distance, water until their necks. It gave you chills only to look at them and the thought of being next to them. From where you stand you could see John B and Sarah hugging and Pope and Kie dangerously close, JJ was nowhere to be found, which worried you, but he popped out close to them. You closed your eyes, feeling the sand in between your toes and the sound of the waves, a bad idea because since you were drunk you felt like everything around was moving. You opened your eyes again and played with the sand in your feets. You hear a little splash and saw JJ closer to you, he swam until he could be on his feet and walked until the water arrived at his waist. You took a couple of steps, water now arriving at your knees. 

"I see you are getting brave" he teased.

"No, I'm not" you chuckled "maybe is the beer" JJ laughed.

"Take another step" he said and you shook your head "C'mon y/n" he insisted "here take my hand" you shook your head again "C'mon trust me" 

"I don't want to ruin the dress" you offered as an excuse. 

"You can always take it to the laundry" he said quickly "Just until your waist"

You gave him a doubting glare but accepted his hand, he smiled at you, making his eyes almost shut. You started to walk towards him, without realizing that with every step you made he made one too, going deeper. The water arrived at your waist quickly and you stopped. 

"C'mon" he looked at you right in the eyes. You don't know why but you took another step, making him smile. JJ felt something jumped in his stomach at the fact that you trusted him to take another step. In the distance, the other four were watching you two, glances in between them. 

The water was now at your chest, the fabric of the dress stuck to your body, you breathed heavily and didn't know if it was for the cold water or the terror of not seeing half of your body. 

"Don't look down, look at me" JJ said and you nodded.  His blue eyes looking straight at yours and the wet hair all over his head, half of his naked chest was still outside. You squeezed his hand, he took another step, and suddenly JJ had the water on his neck. "Ok, just one more y/n" 

As you took that last steep you felt the sand disappeared down at your feets. "Oh my God," you whispered.

He grabbed you by your forearms, you did the same thing. He smiled at you and you did it back "See it's not that bad" he said making you laugh. 

"Said that to yourself" you replied. 

You looked at him now that he was so close, scanning his face, the little scar on his cheek, probably from a recent fight, his blue eyes, his lips, he was definitely the most handsome guy you have seen since you arrived in Outer Banks. You thought that since the day he leaned over the table at the ice cream shop, but you had only admitted to yourself now.

"Don't look at me like that" he said, but he didn't mean it. He liked the way your eyes wandered in his face.

Your checks tinted in red as you let go a little laugh "sorry" 

The next thing he did, he did it on purpose, JJ carefully moved one of his feet closer to your leg, barely touching you. You jumped in the water pulling him closer to you into a hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you even closer, your chests squeezed into other others. JJ felt something in his chest, happy that his plan worked out, not sorry at all.

"Something touched my leg" you said, your mouth in his ear.

"Maybe a little fish" he said grabbing you tightly. 

You two stayed like that for a while, you were too scared to talk so JJ just enjoyed having you that close.

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[sturchling]

In the heroes day's episode. Did Lila's mom say somthing about a meeting with the embassy and talk about "How useless LB and CH were"?? Wonder how that meeting go??

Here you go! Hope you like it! 

When Heroes Day happened, Lila hadn’t realized what her mother had just said. In Lila’s urgency in keeping her mother from talking to the school, she had caused herself a whole new problem. Mrs. Rossi was very concerned about all of these akumatizations. Especially since most of them were close to her daughter. Lila hadn’t even been able to go to school in several weeks. This Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed pretty incompetent as heroes. Luckily, Mrs. Rossi and her daughter haven’t been put in a position to meet them yet, and Mrs. Rossi hoped they never had to meet. Seeing her daughter quickly close the blinds to hide from whatever is outside made Mrs. Rossi feel even worse. She was determined to do something to help fix this for her daughter. She was going to make Paris a safe place for her. “All these akumatizations are really concerning. I’ll bring it up at our next embassy meeting.” With that, Mrs. Rossi kissed Lila on the head and left for work.

 -------------------

Lila hadn’t registered what her mother had said at the time, but now she was panicked. If her mom looked into this, it would all be over for Lila. But Lila knew there wasn’t an embassy meeting planned for a while. This gave Lila some time to come up with a plan. About a week after Heroes Day, she saw her mom come home from work and Mrs. Rossi said, “Good news Lila. There will be an embassy meeting in four days, and I was given some time to speak at the meeting. I’ll be able to try and come up with a solution for all of these akumatizations that haven’t been resolved. I’ll start working on my presentation right now.” Now Lila was worried. She had to keep her mom from digging too deep. Lila put on her best smile and hoped this worked, “Don’t worry about it mom. I can do it for you. I have a lot of free time now since school is closed, and it would help teach me how to research. You just focus on what you want to say, I will get the facts for you!” Her mother looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, “If you are sure it won’t be any trouble, then I agree. I think it would be a good learning experience for you. But I will look over your work before the meeting. To make sure it is ready to show at the meeting.” “Yes mom! Leave it to me!”

  -------------------

Lila spent the rest of the night working on this stupid presentation. Not like she could foist it off on a classmate. The whole class loves that stupid bug, and they think that Lila and Ladybug are best friends. If they knew that Lila had been badmouthing Ladybug, then it is all over for Lila. She filled the presentation with all the lies she had told her mother. The schools being closed, the akumas left to run free through the city, and the ineptitude of Ladybug and Chat Noir. She made sure to Photoshop some images to make them really moving, but more importantly convincing. Lila eventually sat back and admired her handiwork. She was sure this would fool everyone at that stupid embassy meeting. This would keep her lies safe, for a little while longer at least. Now she just had to hope the rest of the diplomats were as gullible as her mother.

  -------------------

Lila showed the presentation to her mother the next day. Mrs. Rossi was very impressed by her daughter’s work. The presentation was very thorough and covered everything that Lila had told her about, while still being succinct and well organized. Lila had even thought ahead enough to include a works cited page. Mrs. Rossi praised her daughter and told her she was very happy that Lila had helped her with this project. Mrs. Rossi felt confident going into the meeting in three days, with a presentation this nice. For the next few days, Mrs. Rossi practiced what she was going to say, and Lila helped her with that as well. Lila seemed to have developed a love of research, she always volunteered to check the facts for Mrs. Rossi. Mrs. Rossi was very proud of her daughter. Lila’s school opened back up the day before the meeting, Lila saying that Mr. Damocles and the rest of the staff were finally deakumatized by Ladybug. Lila seemed excited to go back to school and see all her friends, and Mrs. Rossi was happy that Lila’s life would have a semblance of normalcy again. Soon it was the day of the meeting and Mrs. Rossi thought she was ready. She had no idea the storm she was about to walk into.

  -------------------

Mrs. Rossi had just finished giving her presentation. She had thought people would jump into action and start suggesting ideas to help. Instead, she was met with stunned and angry silence. The tension in the room was palpable. Just as Mrs. Rossi thought that the silence would last forever, one of her coworkers spoke up, “With all due respect Mrs. Rossi, what on earth are you talking about?” Mrs. Rossi was shocked, what did he mean by that? “Was there something you needed me to clarify from the presentation? I understand it was a lot of information.” The entire room was looking at her like she had grown a second head. From the back of the room, a young woman, spoke up, “Mrs. Rossi, there are no akumas running around. Akuma attacks do happen, but they have never shut a school down. At most, they cause an early dismissal. Typically, Ladybug and Chat Noir have the akuma issue resolved within an hour or two. Why would you insult Paris’ heroes like this?”  Mrs. Rossi was shocked. “What do you mean? My daughter’s school has been shut down for months and her principal has been akumatized for just about as long.” Now Mrs. Rossi was growing frustrated, as she watched some people in the room role their eyes. The first coworker that had said something looks at Mrs. Rossi with a very condescending look on his face, “Your daughter goes to Francoise Dupont right? That school has never been shut down for an extended time because of an akuma. And the principal, Mr. Damocles was deakumatized within a few hours of the akuma alert. Whoever told you otherwise is lying to you. Next time you want to present something, make sure to fact check it. Ladybug and Chat Noir may be incredibly young, but they have been doing an amazing job.” Ladybug and Chat Noir were young? From what Lila had told her, they sounded like lazy adults. Though Mrs. Rossi was beginning to realize that Lila was not a reliable source of information. Mrs. Rossi was incredibly embarrassed as she sat down. The meeting was quickly adjourned after Mrs. Rossi’s embarrassment. Mrs. Rossi went to her desk and began checking everything that Lila had told her. She quickly realized everything that Lila had told her was false. Every source Mrs. Rossi could find said the same thing; that Ladybug was an extremely capable hero and saved the day all the time. And her coworkers were right, these heroes were very young, they looked to be about Lila’s age. Lila had never even told her that she had been akumatized several times. There was no announcement from the school saying they had been closed either. Mrs. Rossi had never been more furious in her life! She couldn’t believe Lila would lie to her like this! And Lila had even lied about school, her daughter had been truant for who knows how long. The lying ends now. Mrs. Rossi took an early lunch and headed to the school, determined to get some answers.

  -------------------

Lila was having a pretty good day. The class was so excited to see her ‘back from Achu’ and were hanging off her every word. It was now free time for the class and she was in the middle of telling the class how, ‘Prince Ali was so happy to hear about my new plans for our go green charities’ when out of no where the door to the class room slammed open. Lila paled as she saw her mother storm into the room. Mrs. Rossi looked FURIOUS and Lila knew this meant trouble. Lila braced herself as her mom got ready to yell, the class still to stunned to question who this strange woman was, “LILA ELIANA ROSSI! How dare you lie to me! I have never been more embarrassed in my life! I just made a fool out of myself in front of everyone at that meeting using your presentation. And now I find out that you lied about the school being closed!? You have been truant for this whole time!? Do you have any idea how much trouble I could be in for this!? You had better explain yourself right now young lady!” The class continued to stare in shock while Lila was panicking. This couldn’t be happening. Her mother was about to ruin everything for Lila. Those stupid people at the embassy just had to reveal Lila to her mother. Lila quickly tried to deescalate the situation and get her mother away from the rest of the class. “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?” Mrs. Rossi laughed coldly, “Yes we should, I think the principle should be involved in this conversation. Let’s go young lady.” Mrs. Bustier snaps out of her surprise, “Now wait just a moment ma’am, who are you?” Mrs. Rossi whipped around, “I am Lila’s mother. You are her teacher, right? Mrs. Bustier? You should come with us too; you should be a part of this conversation too.” Mrs. Bustier reluctantly agreed, telling the rest of the class to read chapter 10 from their history books while she was gone. The whole class was just staring at Lila as she descended the steps and left with her mother. The whole time they were walking to the principal’s office, Lila was trying to come up with a way to salvage everything. But Lila’s struggle was futile, she couldn’t think of a way out of this mess.

  -------------------

Lila was right, there wasn’t a way out of this mess. Her mother revealed to both Mr. Damocles and Mrs. Bustier that they had not been in Achu the last few months. She told the pair of educators what Lila had told her about the school being closed. It wasn’t long after that the rest of Lila’s lies had been exposed. All of the different disabilities and ailments she had claimed to have, including the lying disease. Mr. Damocles also revealed how Lila had caused another student to be unjustly expelled. Mrs. Rossi was furious at her daughter for causing so much trouble! After everything was revealed, it was decided that Lila would be expelled because of the truancy and the faking different disabilities. Especially once Mr. Damocles realized that since there is no lying disease, Lila was trying to get Marinette expelled on purpose. Before they left, Lila was made to apologize to the class for her lies, since they had been taking notes and doing homework for her because of her ‘injuries’. The class was furious at Lila for tricking them. Marinette was thankful that Lila had been uncovered before she was able to carry out her threat. She did have to fight Lila as an akuma later that day, but she was perfectly fine with that. Especially when she heard that Mrs. Rossi decided to send Lila to relatives back in Italy to make sure she wouldn’t be akumatized again. Things returned to normal in Mrs. Bustier’s class pretty quickly after Lila left. Marinette was just happy that the liar was out of her life for good, and she had Mrs. Rossi to thank for it.

[suituuup]

pieces - chapter thirteen

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca didn’t expect to see her again dancing in a strip club, out of all places.

rated: E (drug use and emotional abuse in early chapters)

ao3 link

*

It didn’t take long for Beca to realize that Sarah was right. 

She probably had been oblivious to her feelings for Chloe or chalked them up to close friendship because Sarah was in the picture, but as soon as her guilt over breaking-up with Sarah faded away a couple of weeks ago, it felt as though a veil lifted. 

Her whole being lit up every time she saw Chloe, and she craved those soft moments with her, either talking about Bean, or working on the nursery, or cuddling up on the couch. 

Beca didn’t know if Chloe felt the same way, and even if she did, she was probably miles away from being ready to launch into a relationship, between the baby and her recovery. 

She focused on her music in the meantime, writing three more songs to go with that one piece she came up with the day after she saw Chloe again. One was about being brave, another about getting redemption, and the last one about finding happiness. All about Chloe, and how much her journey inspired Beca. 

Beca came home pretty late from the office that night, wrapping up the final versions of all four songs with Luke. She found Chloe on the couch watching a sitcom and padded over. Chloe was now shy of 22 weeks and sporting the most adorable baby bump.

They had worked on the nursery over the last two weekends, hanging cute, colorful pictures of several woodland animals and sticking colorful, minimalist tree wall decals on the opposite wall. The crib, changing table, and car seat had been ordered, and Beca was planning a surprise baby shower with Aubrey, a month after the Bellas reunion, which was taking place in two weeks at a cabin upstate. 

“Hey,” Beca murmured, plopping down beside her. “How was your day?” 

“Pretty good. Bean and I went for a walk, then we met up with Aubrey for lunch, and napped for most of the afternoon. She’s kicking like crazy right now, though.” 

Beca grinned. “Yeah?” She cleared her throat, hesitant. “Can I… feel?” 

“Of course,” Chloe said softly, taking Beca’s hand and setting it on the left side of her stomach. “That’s where her foot was just a second ago.” 

Beca folded her legs under her and sat back on her heels to be more comfortable, silence descending upon them as they waited. After a minute, she glanced at Chloe. “Maybe it’s not strong enough to be felt from the outside, yet?” 

“No, it’s not that. I think she’s stopped.” 

“Oh,” Beca let out in slight disappointment. Just as she was about to pull her hand away, she felt a light tap against her palm and gasped. “Oh my god, I felt it!” 

A giggle burst from Chloe’s mouth. “That was a strong one.” 

“That’s amazing,” Beca mused aloud, her voice sticking to her throat a bit. Yes, she was about to cry over Chloe’s baby kicking, that’s how soft this whole thing had made her. “Jesus Beale, your kid is turning me into a giant puddle of mush.” 

Chloe chuckled, moving Beca’s hand to a new spot and keeping hers on top. Bean kicked again, pulling another gasp from Beca. 

“Does it hurt?” Beca found herself asking, her gaze sweeping upwards to watch Chloe’s expression. 

“It’s a little bit uncomfortable whenever she kicks in the ribs, but other than that, no.” Chloe moved her hand to another spot, tracking the next kick. “How was your day? You’re home pretty late.” 

“Yeah, Luke and I added the finishing touches to my EP.” 

Chloe’s eyes lit up. “When is it going to be out?” 

“We still have to get the art for the cover, so probably in a couple of weeks, right after the Bellas reunion.” Chloe nodded slowly. “Are you excited to see the girls?” 

“I’m… a bit nervous to be honest. What are they gonna think?” 

Beca smiled. “They’re going to think that you’re a badass.” Chloe broke eye-contact, shaking her head as looked down to her lap. “Hey, I’m serious. None of them are going to judge you. And just like Aubrey and I, they’re going to be so happy to have you back in their lives.” 

Chloe hesitantly met her gaze. “You really think so?” 

A firm nod. “I know so.” 

Chloe managed a smile and a faint nod. “Okay.” 

The following two weeks were busy for Beca as she focused on promoting her EP and tied some loose ends before the Bellas reunion so she wouldn’t be bothered that weekend. Early on that mid-August Saturday morning, they set off to Lake Placid, having planned to meet the Bellas there by lunchtime. Chloe didn’t mention anything, but Beca could tell she was nervous from all the cooking she had done in the past few days, enough to feed an army. 

She was glad, however, that Chloe used that as a stress-reliever as opposed to falling back into bad habits. 

They made it to the cabin Beca rented just before 1 pm, and Beca heard Chloe suck in a sharp breath as soon as she killed the engine, her expression similar to when they made it to her parents’ two months ago.

“It’ll be okay,” Beca murmured, covering Chloe’s hand with her own and squeezing it. She was a bit worried about there being alcohol, as Chloe insisted they shouldn’t have to restrain themselves for her sake. 

“Thanks,” Chloe breathed out, flipping her hand over and holding Beca’s for a moment. “Okay, let’s do this.” 

Most of them had made it there last night as they were flying in, shouts and laughter carrying from the backyard, where the outdoor pool was. It was sunny and way too hot for Beca’s liking, but she didn’t say a word, as being pregnant in that weather was definitely worse. 

If Chloe was uncomfortable with the temperature, she didn’t let it show, looking gorgeous in her yellow maternity summer dress. 

Stepping inside, they set the food bags on the kitchen island and Beca walked towards the open bay window, Chloe following behind. 

“Hey nerds,” she called out as she stepped out on the patio just as Amy made a cannonball, the splashing water nearly drenching her. “Dude!” 

“Sup Shortstack?” Amy greeted as she emerged a few beats later. 

“Chloe!” Beca turned around to see Stacie striding over and hugging Chloe tightly. “I’ve missed you.” 

“Hey Stace,” Chloe murmured, embracing her back. “I’ve missed you, too.” 

As Beca had predicted, the Bellas took it all in one stride, greeting Chloe like it hadn’t been over six years since they last saw one another and making her feel like a part of the group without a second thought. 

Now able to relax, Beca helped herself to a drink, watching from afar as Chloe met Stacie’s three-year-old daughter for the first time, a fond smile etched in her features. It was clear from that first exchange with Bella that Chloe would rock this mom thing, given how much of a natural she was around kids. 

After lunch, the girls made the most of the pool, either playing various games in the water or sunbathing in the lounge chairs. Beca was content soaking it all in at the table, sipping on a margarita. Her gaze often wandered to Chloe as she chatted with Jessica while reclining on a chair, clad in a bikini with one hand rubbing her belly. 

It was easy for her thoughts to escape towards what it could be if she and Chloe were to become something more. Raising Bean together, buying a house somewhere outside the city, getting a dog, possibly getting married...

“Oi, Mitchell.” 

Beca snapped out of her reverie, clearing her throat in embarrassment as Stacie plopped down next to her. “What’s up, Stace?” 

“You good?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You looked like you were having a moment.” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Beca assured her and smiled, setting her drink down before pushing to her feet. She wanted to get in on the pool action, but her bathing suit was upstairs in her overnight bag. “I’m gonna go change.” 

“Be quiet if you’re going upstairs?” Stacie asked. “I just put Bella down for her nap.” 

“No problem.” 

Beca headed to her room and changed into her bikini, sliding her denim shorts back on and grabbing her sunscreen as she didn’t want to resemble a lobster tonight. As she quietly headed down the hallway towards the stairs, she couldn’t help but freeze when she heard her name behind a door left slightly ajar. 

“Feelings? For Beca?” 

It was Aubrey’s voice. Beca knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she really couldn’t get her feet to move, curiosity rooting them down. 

A sigh that belonged to Chloe followed. “I was convinced it was just my hormones going wild at first. But then something happened the other night when she felt Bean kick for the first time. You should have seen her reaction, Bree... she was completely moved by it, and it’s like I felt my heart double in size. And I think about her non-stop, even when I need to… take care of myself.” 

“Oh my god, ew, Chloe!” Aubrey hissed while Beca nearly choked on her saliva, her entire body feeling as though it just caught on fire. “I don’t need to hear that.” 

“I’m sorry!” Chloe whispered, stifling a laugh. “What I mean by that is that it’s not just platonic love or gratitude because of everything she did for me lately. I’m physically attracted to her, too. It feels exactly the same as it did in Barden.” 

Beca’s heart stuttered at that. Chloe had feelings for her back then, too? 

“Are you going to tell her?” Aubrey asked softly. 

“I…” Chloe hesitated. “I want to. But I’m just getting my life back together, I’m not ready for a relationship yet. And I’m also… scared she might not feel the same way.” 

Beca forced herself to walk away, knowing that what she was doing wasn’t right. Her brain reeled from the onslaught of information all evening long. She was physically there, but her mind felt thousands of miles away, her thoughts going back and forth between that night at Barden, and if she should tell Chloe about how she felt. 

She retreated to her room before the others, not that it surprised anyone as she was, along with Aubrey, considered the grandma of the group. She had just slipped into bed when a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” she called out softly. 

The door opened just wide enough for Chloe to step inside, and she shut it behind her, padding over to the bed. “You okay? You’ve seemed off tonight.” 

Beca nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. I promise.” She patted the space next to her. “Wanna hang out here for a bit?” 

As Chloe nodded and shuffled to lie next to her atop the covers, Beca felt her heartbeat quicken. It was odd, knowing for certain Chloe had feelings for her and holding the cards in her own hands. 

“Today was a lot of fun,” Chloe murmured as she sat propped against the pillows, bracing a hand over her stomach. “You were right. The girls don’t care about my past.” 

“Well, your past doesn’t define you,” Beca said with a soft smile. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.” 

“Are you nervous about tomorrow? About your EP coming out?” 

Beca shook her head. “Not really. I didn’t write those songs with the goal to hit the top of the charts, so I don’t exactly feel any pressure.” At Chloe’s slight tilt of the head, she added, “I wrote them because they helped me work through some of my feelings. Especially the first one.” 

Twisting her head to the right, she grabbed her phone and her headphones, plugging them in before gently setting them over Chloe’s ears. She puffed out a breath and pressed play, willing her ratcheting heart to chill the fuck out as Chloe closed her eyes and listened. 

The song only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like the longest of Beca’s life. Chloe’s lids slowly opened, and she lowered the headphones so that they hung around her neck, her gaze full of questions. 

“It’s about us,” she whispered, no doubt having picked up the few hints woven into the lyrics. 

Beca swallowed, nodding. She had never felt at ease pouring her heart out, and she sucked in a deep breath through her nose, puffing it out through her lips. “You remember when I told you about listening to your gut?” Chloe gave a faint nod. “That’s what I should have done that morning after because not telling you how I felt was the biggest mistake of my life.”

She briefly glanced down. “I had broken Jesse’s heart just a little while before, and I was scared that I just wasn’t made for relationships. So I didn’t say anything, because I couldn’t break your heart, either. I would have never forgiven myself if I did.” 

Chloe remained silent for half-a-minute, processing Beca’s words. “I knew you were in love with me,” she admitted softly. “And I had the feeling you were just scared, so I didn’t push you. I figured… you just needed time, and I was ready to wait for you. But then…” she cleared her throat, her eyes flickering down. “My life skidded out of control.” 

Beca’s heart suddenly feels heavy with the weight of regret. She can’t help but wonder how different things could have been, had she been honest with Chloe that morning. But she willed her mind to come back to the present because there was no point in wallowing in the should-haves and what-ifs. Not when she was being given a second chance. 

No chickening out this time. She wasn’t a kid anymore. 

“I want to be with you, Chlo,” she murmured, her throat shrinking with emotions as she forced her gaze to remain locked with Chloe’s. “These past few months… living with you and being by your side through this journey-- it made me fall in love with you all over again.” 

Chloe closed her eyes, and a few tears toppled down her cheeks. She released a long breath. “I want that, too. I do,” she croaked out, and something that had been poking at Beca’s heart suddenly vanished. Chloe reached out to swipe her palm over both cheeks, her other hand sliding into Beca’s. “I just need some time. I need to find a more stable mindset before I open that door.” 

“I know,” Beca whispered, blinking back her own tears. “And I’ll wait, this time. For however long it takes. I promise.” 

“I know,” Chloe echoed, her thumb slowly stroking Beca’s knuckles back and forth. “I trust you.” 

They shared a soft smile, and Beca didn’t think she had felt this light, ever. 

“I guess I should head to bed,” Chloe said after a moment of comfortable silence. 

Beca nodded. “Okay.” Releasing Chloe’s hand, she rubbed her palm over Chloe’s belly gently. “Night Bean.” 

Chloe stood up and cast her short wave when she made it to the door, shutting it softly behind her.

[n0wornever]

Bad Liar - Reggie x Reader

enemies to lovers with reggie, pretty please?🥺

You got it babe ;) This was so tough to write due to the fact that Reggie is a normally a teddy bear, but I did my best!

“Seriously Y/N, you’ve been playing guitar for how long and you’re still making that mistake,” She looked up to see his smart smirk and rolled her eyes, focusing back on her hands on the strings. 

He laughed a little to himself before walking away. She sighed, dropping her fingers from their placements and muttering “tool” under her breath. 

It was never a contest, but they made it one. Even though Reggie and Y/N’s mothers were best friends and the two were forced into playdates since the age of two, the connection never really stuck. What made it worse was when they both started playing music. 

Their bands started playing similar shows and always competed against each other in their school’s battle of the bands. They were both extremely competitive, trying to throw the other one off until after their performances. Y/N grabbed her guitar and walked inside, meeting her mom in the kitchen.

“I saw you talking to Reg outside, how is he doing?”

She scoffed “How would I know mom? We aren’t exactly...close.”

Her mom shook her head “You two used to be so cute when you were little, practically attached at the hip.”

She rolled her eyes as her mother went on her usual nostalgic tirade. She placed her elbows on the table and leaned her cheeks against her hands as she watched her mom talk. 

She daydreamed about her band’s next performance. The battle of the bands was two weeks away and Jocelyn, Flynn and herself were barely ready. It was hard enough when Julie broke it to them that she was leaving the band to join Reggie’s but when she walked past the phantoms rehearsing the other night, she knew that they were next level. She had to step up her game too as their new lead singer. 

She pulled out her phone and texted the band group-chat.

“Rehearsal tomorrow?”

Flynn replied in seconds “Duh, of course” 

Joce answered with a simple thumbs up emoji, ever a poet with her responses. She shut off her phone and found her mom still talking. She rose out of her chair, interrupting her next sentence. 

“Mom, I’m exhausted, I’m going to go upstairs.”

She jogged up the stairs and sat down on her bed, pulling her guitar onto her lap. She played around with chords for awhile before propping her phone on a mini tripod and pressing record. She played a short cover of She is Love by Parachute, smiling through the lyrics. She reached over and pressed stop, dragging it over into the Instagram app and pressing post. 

She placed her phone down and laid back in her bed, staring at the ceiling. A few moments later she heard her phone ping and picked up her device. She looked at the screen in confusion as one notification stood out of the few she received. 

“UrLeadGuitaristReg liked your video” 

She shook her head, clicking on his profile picture. She scrolled down his timeline, looking at all of the photos of him and the band. A video popped up of Reggie and Luke making instruments out of household items and giggling like schoolgirls at each other and a smirk slowly fell across her face. She quickly shut off the screen and threw her phone down on the bed. 

2 weeks later

It was performance night and she was actually shaking with anticipation. The past few rehearsals had actually went extremely well for her and the girls and she actually thought they may stand a chance against Julie and The Phantoms this time around. She took a spot in the front row to support Jules, clutching Flynn’s hand in hers. 

She watched as her friend flew across the stage and her grin grew. Although she missed her in their group, it was clear that she was in her element....and she smiled watching her pass off the mic with Luke during their shared duet at the end of the song. She took a mental note to follow-up with her on that moment later. 

As the band took their bows and leapt off stage, the girls scurried back to get ready for their set. As she slung her guitar over her shoulder she heard a voice perk up behind her. 

“No acoustic tonight?”

She looked up to see Reggie’s smug expression fixed on her. She rolled her eyes, placing her pick before responding. 

“Nah, not really my stage style.” 

He chuckled “Too bad, I kinda liked it.” 

Her forehead scrunched in confusion as she saw him turn and leave the stage. She shook it off before turning back to her bandmates. Flynn gave her a curious smile but she just moved to talk business. 

“Girls, we got this.” She smiled, placing her hand in the middle, the other two bandmates followed suit. They counted down from three, shouting “Neon Dream” as their hands rose. 

They stepped out on stage and she noticed a familiar face in the center of the crowd. Reggie stood with his arms crossed, whispering something to Luke before bringing his gaze back to her. Their eyes locked for a second but she brought her gaze up to the ceiling, focusing on Jocelyn’s beats before her entrance. 

Their songs went off without a hitch. Y/N couldn’t help but smile as she felt the bass in her chest and her hands flew. After their final verse, the girls moved the top of the stage hand in hand to take their bows. She heard a single “woo!” from the crowd, looking over to be met by those same dark eyes. She smirked, rolling her eyes in his direction before turning to exit the stage.

“Reggie is...interested in you tonight,” Flynn said, taking a swig out of her water. 

“He was just trying to distract me...prick.” 

Jocelyn shook her head at her bandmate, twirling the stick in her hand, “I don’t think so Y/N, his eyes were locked on you during our entire performance. I think I even caught him nodding along to the beat. 

Y/N laughed, turning to set down her guitar, “Whatever ladies, I wouldn’t worry about it-” 

She turned to see both of her bandmates missing, and instead Reggie standing in front of her. She pursed her lips before approaching him. 

“Here to tell me everything I did wrong in that performance I assume?”

Reggie shook his head, letting out a short laugh “Nah, I wanted to congratulate you. You really put your foot into those guitar solos tonight.”

She stared blankly at him, blinking. “Earth to Reggie, did you forget that you hate me?” 

He rolled his eyes at her, moving closer in her direction. She felt her heart race a bit, pushing that feeling down quickly. 

“I don’t hate you Y/N, you’re obnoxiously competitive...but I don’t hate you.”

She thought back to all of the guitar riff offs the two had, the amount of insults they spewed at each other and remained dumbfounded at his response. 

She scoffed at this suggestion before replying “I’m competitive?! Have you met YOU!?” 

His eyebrows rose, an amused smile falling across his lips as his gaze fell from her balled fists up to her scrunched nose. He placed a hand on her shoulder as he moved to walk past her, leaning in to whisper in her ear last minute.

“You’re kind of cute when you’re fired up.” 

She felt her face warm from the combination of his warm breath near her ear and his compliment. She watched as he fell out of view and scurried over to find her bandmates to await the awards portion of the evening. 

All the bands moved toward the front of the auditorium and the room was filled with hushed conversation. She finally found Flynn and Jocelyn and they both gave her a smirk. 

“What was that all about?” Flynn floated her finger between her and Reggie, who stood a few feet away talking with Alex. 

“Nothing, he was just...trying to get me off my A game.” 

Flynn’s jaw locked, looking at her friend in amazement “Uh huh... Right.” 

Their conversation was stopped by the feedback of the mic. The school principal took the stage, a small envelope in her hand. She smiled, thanking everyone for coming out before announcing the winners. 

“And the moment you’ve all been waiting for....the winner of the 2020 battle of the bands is.......” She paused, opening her letter and smiling “Neon Dream” 

Y/N froze for a second before Flynn’s hand slapping her back brought her back to reality. They went up on stage and grabbed their trophy and gave their thank you speech. As they turned to leave the stage, her eyes met Reggie once more. A seemingly real smile plastered across his face as he clapped in her direction. She let the corner of her mouth raise upward before walking backstage.

The girls squealed as they waited at the entrance of the school for their parents to pick them up, taking turns holding the trophy. She saw Flynn’s face change, turning her lips up in a smirk as she looked behind her. 

“Joce, I think I left something inside, can you go in and grab it with me.”

“What do you mean I-” 

Flynn grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her backward. Y/N felt someone sit down beside her and turned to see Reggie extremely close to her and felt that familiar blush take control over her face.

“Congratulations, Y/N.” 

“Thanks.”

A silence fell over them. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see him staring at her, both of their gazes darting within seconds of meeting. She heard him take a deep breath in before speaking.

“Can we call a truce or something?”

She looked over at him sharply, leaning her head slightly to the right “What?”

He smiled again, rubbing his neck with his arm. “I’m kind of tired of pretending to hate you.”

She laughed, bringing her knees up to her chest “So, you don’t actually hate me?”

He shook his head “Actually, it’s quite the opposite.” She tried to stop her mind from immediately trying to decode that phrase. She let her eyes move toward his again and held out her hand.

“I agree, a truce.” 

He looked at her hand, smirking before shaking it. Their hands stayed locked for a second more before she wiggled her hand out of his grip. 

“So...since we’re cool now, I was wondering if you’d like to maybe jam out some time?” 

She smiled “A band collab? That’d be pretty sweet-” 

He cut her off, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I was actually thinking maybe just a guitar collab, between you and me?” She watched as his face went pink and she looked down to the ground to stop him from seeing her growing smile.

“Oh. That’d be cool too, I guess.”

He exhaled, pushing his hands against the ground to stand back up on the pavement. She looked up at him, his smile lit against the peach sky. 

“Cool...It’s a date.” 

As he walked away, she leaned her chin on her knees and let herself smile fully, shaking her head. 

.

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Tag list: @marinettepotterandplagg​, @lukeys-giggle​, @joshy-obx, @epikskool, @daisiesforlacey, @bestdressedandstressed, @txrii, @musicconversedance, @dasexydevitt13, @bathtimejish, @xplrreylo, @lovesanimals, @kiss-themoongoodbye

[my-sherlock221b]

Supernatural Rewatch Ramblings: Dead in the Water

This episode is the first one to be directed by Kim Manners. It was written by Raelle Tucker and Sera Gamble. It is still the MoTW format and once again the ‘monster’ is something that was created by human action. Ordinary seeming stories—of bullying, lies, cover up—with deadly consequences.

Read below the cut for more and also watch out for the add-ons by my partner in crime @soulmates-for-real​ who does the most amazing gifsets and image galleries 😎

It reminded me of this quote:

“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

It is a chilling experience—both the actual monster when we do finally see it and the backstory of what really happened. These monsters are all created by the flawed human beings. Here is another quote from the same source which could well be the underlying bedrock of the two very different approaches we see Sam and Dean take in later episodes to the whole saving people hunting things.

“Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person.” .

Philosophical overtones aside, we are also getting more glimpses into the heads and hearts of the two leads.

It is already obvious that Dean has put the whole ‘Dad- is- missing- and- hasn’t- been-home-in -a -few-days stuff’ on the back burner till …ummm  forever ? cos he has Sammy in front of his eyes who is sitting shotgun and being completely brotherly and sniping and bitching while also being boyfriend- level possessive.

As I said in the earlier review- I was just so swept away by the swashbuckling swagger of Dean that so obviously was an armour for his vulnerability that I almost didn’t notice Sam much. This is the episode where he became something more for me. Someone who was also finding out what Dean was all about at the same time as we were.

Someone who could pull him down to earth with a sharp: ‘People don’t just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them.’

But also reach out to him and remind him that they ‘can’t save everyone’.

In an early scene in the episode Sam scolds Dean for even starting to flirt with the waitress. 

He smirks when Andrea shoots Dean down. He mocks Dean’s pick- up line about kids are the best. He seems pleased in a very petty way that Dean’s attempt has failed and that he has no choice now but to hang out with Sam and to give him his full attention.

The episode does have plot holes –that house Lucas draws and the history of the friendship of the two men and the missing boy surely must be well known to everyone in that small town, including Lucas’s mother and how come no one joins the dots etc. etc.

But small quibbles aside, we get to see that the past casts long shadows—whether sins of the past or just events of the past. ( again a parallel to the lives of the Winchesters themselves. And in later seasons we find out just how far back into the past those shadows reach!)

We see that Dean connects with the mute boy, Lucas, but then we learn that he can do this because he had also shut down after he saw his mother die and he knows how scary the world can seem and how he needed to make himself brave to carry on.

Sam watches from the sidelines and we can see him have an ‘oh ok’ moment as he stores away this information because it has clearly never been discussed in the family earlier. Kudos to Jared for being amazing with the ‘active listening’ that Sheila O’Malley references so often.

So despite Sam challenging him to name 3 kids he even knows, we see that Dean actually focusses on the kid throughout. The shared sense of loss aside, maybe Dean also sees himself as the protector of all little kids especially after the Shtriga incident. (which we don’t know anything about yet) (and we do see him bond with kids in every episode that involves kids. It is adorable !!)

In this episode Dean is almost drowning in his dad’s leather jacket and the way the silver ring looks on his hand is just ridiculously sexy…sigh….and that amulet right where it belongs…..deeper sigh. Then the cocky grin, the unsubtle flirting, all macho/manly/me- so- hetero/me- see- me- conquer on the outside but the soft squidgy child- whispering caramel centre, the trauma of being a motherless kid—having become motherless in a brutal way, a missing and probably almost cruel dad, a brother he raised as his own who walked out on him to go seek his own dreams….all these layers are being put together slowly for us.

Dean is not what he seemed to be and that brash swashbuckling exterior hides a very complex and interesting person. The script and direction were excellent of course but Jensen brought to it just the perfect balance of bad-boy + I wuv hugs.

Sam is still finding his way into the story and we are still watching things from Dean’s perspective as narrator which is fascinating to realize during the re-watch. As I have mentioned earlier, I was so swept away by Dean that it took me a very long time to focus on Sam as a separate person.

Ok, now, all together shout--- --WHY do people DO the following things??!!!

Put hands elbow deep into a sink, give lifts to obvious deranged malevolent spirits in human form, ‘let’s split up so we can cover more ground’, go into a shower/bath in a scary scene—can’t they HEAR the dun-dun-dun music score in the background?!! Sheesh.

Anyway.     *eyeroll*

In a not- at- all- very- surprising turn of events Sam and Dean’s fake identity is called out and they are asked to leave town, which they do. But ….of course Dean does a very dramatic turn on the highway and takes them back to make sure the kid is ok!

Then Sam rescues the mother from the lethal bath- tub while Dean makes sure the kid is safe. Then they start to connect even more dots and eventually we see an incredible heroic rescue scene in the scary lake with Dean and the boy.

Jensen had described this shot in some interview as the most terrifying scene he had ever done apparently because he was responsible not only for doing the scene right but also for the young boy’s safety underwater.

What a fabulous visual we do get finally, with the boy in his embrace as they shoot out of the water!

That lake with its dark water is one super creepy place. That very first scene where we see the girl swimming from an underwater perspective had me yelling at the screen for her to GET OUT NOW.

So, finally, all is sorted and revenge has been had and bad folks die, good folks live and as they leave the town of course Lucas chats with Dean and they high five and just like the sister in the Wendigo episode, the young mother in this one also gives Dean a kiss on his cheek. Dean of course blushes and goes all gruff and drives off with Sam smirking in the shotgun seat.

The pattern is beginning to be established.

I am loving it!😍

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The gag reel of this episode shows Jensen leaping into Jared’s arms.

This is the third episode only. So they have known each other only for a couple of months at this point?! Hmm…my J2 tinhat is also shining. And also wow. I mean Jensen is NOT a tiny guy.

  Here are some other possibly more erudite and informed reviews if you would like to go down that rabbit hole like I did.

This one is cool https://the-orbit.net/entequilaesverdad/2016/05/10/supernatural-s1-e3-dead-water-summary/ and gives a fun and interesting score at the end which goes like this

Episode 3 counts:

Woman in the Fridge: 1

For Sophie Carlton being the first to get murdered by the vengeful spirit. It’s obviously meant to hook us harder: I mean, nobody would care as much about obnoxious brother Will, right?

Revenge from Beyond the Grave: 4

Sophie Carlton, Will Carlton, Bill Carlton, and Jake Devins.

Brotherly Love: 2

I had to give one to Sam for cock-blocking his brother right at the start. Another point goes to Dean’s sick-of-your-attitude lecture to his little brother, throwing Sam’s decision to go to college while Dean stayed behind with their dad in his face.

Toxic Masculinity: 1

For Dean downplaying his grief when Sam draws him out about the aftermath of their mother’s death.

Swimming in Sexism: 2

For Will Carlton’s comment to his sister that “guys don’t like buff girls.” I added a point for all the times they had Dean hitting on any available woman. They do want us to be extra-very sure he’s hetero, don’t they?

Cumulative Counts: Dean’s Man Tears: 3

One point awarded for all Dean’s choking up about Mom. We’re now three for three, folks.

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This review totally calls out Dean LOL. I love the reviews that were written as first watch because they are without the benefit of hindsight we have on a re-watch.

.

http://markwatches.net/reviews/2013/11/mark-watches-supernatural-s01e03-dead-in-the-water/

“It was fascinating to me, then, that through this, Sam was able to learn about Dean’s own emotional reasoning behind his hunting. Of course, Dean, being the most stereotypical dude of all dudes who ever duded, has to immediately act like feelings aren’t cool because BLEH. Okay, that is one aspect of Dean that I’m not terribly interested in, especially since he expresses feelings like every five seconds. The whole “I am a straight man and I’m very straight and look at that butt straight I’m straight” thing is already exhausting because I get it. You don’t need to tell me this every five seconds.” 

The comments to this review are also super entertaining with gems like this:

“So, if you knew that someone had drowned in the lake recently and their body was never found, WHY WOULD YOU STILL GO SWIMMING IN THE LAKE? Especially if two people had. It wouldn't make you think, "Hey, maybe there's something dangerous in that lake?" This show has some of the least genre savvy people EVER. Like, for example, once this mysterious death thing shows up in a sink, why would anyone want to take a bath or really ever fill any basin with water again? Seriously, is this the Bad Decision Olympics?”

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Here is an awesome review from Fangasm also

https://fangasmthebook.com/2021/01/13/looking-back-on-dead-in-the-water-classic-supernatural/

[degenerate-otaku]

Another one shot of Future Gohan and Trunks for yall

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13896221/1/Before-the-Rain

(Links in case you prefer)

In the times that had followed the androids' destruction, younger generations were highly protected, as they were the earth's only hope. The government set up an initiative to get more children out of dangerous cities that housed gangs and violence.

Children and any family they had would move to countryside camps, wherein they would receive food, safety and education in return for doing manual labour such as farming and sewing, as well as taking care of the sick.

Trunks somewhat hated this, as it meant that many children in West City, including his own friends often moved away when things got too difficult, leaving him isolated, in terms of having friends his own age.

Sure, sometimes he'd visit, taking the underground railway system, or by hopping on the nimbus, or even flying when he had learnt to do so, but it felt like an arduous task.

However, when Gohan decided to volunteer as a teacher, Trunks thought it would be a good idea to attend full time, as the pair could go together. Trunks was surprised when the day before Gohan revealed he was rather nervous about it.

“C'mon, you're an amazing teacher to me, so I'm sure you'll be able to teach more kids!” Trunks reassured him, snuggling into bed. He always loved when Gohan would stay over at his house, it was so comforting to know he was right there beside him.

“Yeah...but that's you...and I've known you since you were born...and there's a lot of kids!” Gohan hung up his smart looking outfit, which Trunks remarked as being nerdy, on a hanger, before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Trust me, they aren't as annoying as me. You'll be fine...Good night.” Trunks smiled at him before switching off his light and pretending to be asleep before Gohan could worry further.

Gohan sighed and tucked the boy in a little more before heading to sleep himself.

The next day, the pair flew to the makeshift school building, and landed away from sight before coming in together.

To keep Gohan distracted from his nerves, which Trunks viewed as highly irrational, considering Gohan was also "The Golden Warrior", he inquired,

“Doesn't your mom cook for the kids here a lot? My friends said that a lady called Miss Son is the most amazing lunch lady ever.”

“Huh? Oh...yeah,” Gohan laughed, lifting his head from the book held in his hands.

“I mean...she's used to cooking in massive quantities for me and for when my dad was around...it's a chance for her to share her...motherly-ness.” He smiled, then stopped at the door, listening to the sound of children chattering inside.

“You can do this!” Trunks grinned, taking his bag off his shoulder as he stepped in, Gohan following, the class immediately silenced, intrigued by the smart young man, that was clearly strong looking, his muscles bulging even in his clothes.

“Uh...Good morning class!” He began, picking up a pen and writing his name on the board.

“My name is Mr Son...and I will be your new teacher!” He smiled politely, awaiting a response.

“Oh my god, are you married to the lunch lady?!” A girl exclaimed.

Gohan frantically shook his head, “N-no, she's my mom!” His face had gone red as the class giggled, but he soon regained composure, laughing it off.

“Gosh, she cooks like that for you all the time?!” Another kid chimed in and he scratched the back of his head,

“Yeah...I guess so! I just hope she doesn't come in and embarrass me!” He answered.

Trunks gazed up at him from where he was sitting. He was glad to see his best friend adapting so well to his new job.

“Alright! Our first task is going to be a written task, which I'll get you to read aloud at the end.” He instructed them, handing out some paper, taking a look at every one of his new students.

“I want you all to write about what you did during your summer. Which programs did you volunteer in? Did you visit anywhere?”

He returned to his position at the front and passionately spoke, “I really wanna know about you guys! Oh...maybe I should take the register to learn your names...tell me if I mispronounce any!”

Gohan sat down, getting out the list of names and calling them out, one by one, receiving a pleasant "Good morning, Mr Son“ each time. It was strange to hear Trunks call him that, and by the sound of it, the title was strange for the boy to speak aloud too. The two just had to pretend as if they didn't know each other, Gohan made it a priority not to show favouritism towards him, but he knew it would be difficult.

He loved that boy unconditionally.

”Sir, how long do we have?“ A girl named Cherri, who he knew to be Trunks' friend that used to live not far from Capsule Corp, asked.

”Oh...right, I forgot to tell you that! Uh...you have until half past.“ He answered, before scribbling down more lesson ideas in his book.

The truth was that he had no clue about what he was doing. He was planning his lessons as he went along.

The time passed quickly, and Gohan decided to pick out random students to read out what they had wrote. A few passed, and he made some notes about them in his book.

”Alright, last but not least is Trunks.“ Gohan called out to him, snapping the boy out of a daydream.

”Oh, ok...“ He reluctantly stood and read from the paper, ”Last summer, I mostly stayed at home, played video games and studied. I went to the beach with my mom a few times....uhh I watched TV and...uh yeah.“ He sat back down.

”...that's it? That's all you wrote?“ Gohan glared at his student, hoping he had a good response.

”Yeah.“ Trunks replied, thinking nothing of it.

”Trunks, you had half an hour and you wrote 3 sentences.“ Gohan sounded stern and the class silently watched.

”Well, you already know what I did last summer, Gohan-“ Trunks gasped and the class was confused.

”Wait, is he your brother?“ The boy next to Trunks, who was also his good friend asked and the whole class started chatting.

Gohan cleared his throat and sighed,

”Yes...well...I am very close to Trunks, our families are too...but this does not mean I favour him over any of you.“ He calmed the situation, then spoke directly to Trunks,

”I need you to show the same level of respect to me as everyone else in here, too, ok? It is the morning of the first day, so I will let this slide, but please give more effort.“

Trunks nodded, but rolled his eyes, slumping back in his chair, when Gohan turned to the whiteboard and wrote down the title of the next lesson, before collecting in the students' essays and handing out exercise books.

The next lesson would be a boring maths lesson, which Trunks sat through. He was ahead of his peers in scientific and mathematical subjects, thanks to his master's teaching, so sitting through a recap of something he found so simple was like watching paint dry.

Whenever Trunks raised his hand, he felt like Gohan always asked someone else. He didn't like being ignored.

He knew the answers to everything, it was incredibly annoying to hear someone who clearly didn't know something harder than expanding brackets in algebra, try to solve the equation on the board that Trunks could do in his head.

Gohan was encouraging and made sure the students felt no shame in making mistakes.

”Alright, Cherri, so now you need to get the unknowns on one side of the equation.“ Gohan advised her, writing on the board the step she just explained with his help.

The girl stammered, her face going a little red from the attention.

”The answer is 4!“ Trunks, finally fed up, called out the answer.

”Well, yes, that is correct, but I wasn't asking you, I was asking Cherri.“ Gohan put down his pen and his serious tone returned.

”She obviously didn't know!“ Trunks folded his arms, determined to not apologise for doing what he thought was right.

”It's rude to interrupt, regardless.“ Gohan told him, before moving on.

Finally, it was time for break and when Trunks decided he was going to talk to Gohan, he was surprised to find girls in his class talking to him instead, asking him tons of questions.

”So, you work out?“ One asked, taking a look at his arms.

”Of course he does, just look at him!“ Her friend cut in and Gohan blushed and nodded, explaining his reasons, which Trunks knew to be false.

”Oh, hey, Trunks!“ Gohan spotted him and took his opportunity to get out of that conversation.

”I wanted to have a chat about before.“ He approached his pupil, who was causing him some concern.

”Oh...same.“ Trunks fiddled with the sleeves of his jumper, something he always did when he was nervous, which Gohan took notice of.

”Why did you feel like you could do that?“ Gohan's voice was calm; it always made Trunks feel more at ease.

”I dunno...it just felt like...you were ignoring me. I just got a bit fed up...because I already knew the stuff and you weren't asking me.“ The teen shrugged his shoulders, not meeting his eye.

”Trunks,“ Gohan placed his hand on his shoulder, making the boy glance up at him.

”I just want to know what the others know. I know you're able to do this, but most of them aren't.“

Gohan did make sense, but Trunks was stubborn. His mother said it was a trait of his father, though she was stubborn too.

”I spend a lot of time with you...and I love spending time with you...but it's not fair to give you all my focus...

You know I really love you, right?“

That was enough to make Trunks smile.

”I know...thanks, Gohan...I mean Mr Son.“ Trunks giggled before running off.

Gohan watched as the other kids played together gleefully. It was heartwarming to see them be actual kids and enjoy their disrupted youth. It only made him more determined to fight for their safety and teach them well.

'I might be an even better teacher than you, Mr Piccolo...'

He smirked, hoping Piccolo could hear him somewhere, feeling proud of him.

[colonel-insomniac]

A Toast, Because I’m Mr. Loverman

@my-blood-is-maple-syrup was the one to suggest this so thank them for my break in the deaths of these characters :D. ANYWAYS happy pride month :3

“I’m headed straight for the floor…” 

Pon felt like the world was spinning. Everything moved too fast, and when did he get outside? The world was a blur, and nothing made sense anyways, so why bother trying to make sense of it now? He could spin and spin and spin and maybe it still wouldn’t be enough, they might demand more spinning from him still. 

Who ‘they’ were, he wasn’t entirely sure, and didn’t know if he could be bothered enough to figure that one out. The world like this was dizzying, clusters of light in the dark glittering like stones on a dark dress, and boy did it remind him of home. Or, what had been his home. He supposed Earth was that now. 

Sometimes, Pon felt like maybe he missed Azurelle, missed his mom the most. If he could go back for just a moment to talk to her, he didn’t know what he’d say besides how much he wished she could join them. 

“The alcohol’s served its tour…”

But, this was a wedding, and therefore was not the place to dwell over sad thoughts and he came to a standstill, the world slowly catching up. Trying to focus on the happy couple happily chatting with guests. Kai and Ezra really compliment each other so well, and Pon’s not at all jealous of either of them. He feels that if that love were to ever come to him, it would happen on its own terms, and until then, he really should just be content with who he has in his life right now. Sometimes, though, he caught himself daydreaming of the day when he found the right person. 

If anyone thought that Ezra looked happy, one look at Kai would challenge that thought. Pon’s best friend looked about ready to burst from happiness, eyes glancing to Ezra where they stayed. Pon kind of wished he had a camera on him, so he could capture the soft smile playing on Kai’s face and the look of adoration lingering in his eyes. 

“And it's headed straight for my skin, leaving me daft and dim...”

Pon remembers Ezra coming to him, confiding in him on how much he wanted to propose to Kai. They’d been going steady for three years, and it was obvious to anyone who saw them interact that they were undeniably in love, that they were each others other half. Romantically, of course. Pon would forever be Kai’s platonic other half. 

Pon had to play nonchalant as he did some investigating on Ezra’s behalf, but the thought of how happy Kai would be was almost enough to crack him. Almost, Pon knows how to keep a secret. 

Like every couple, they had fought a couple times, but they never found themselves able to stay mad at one another, and often they’d start apologizing to each other so often that Pon stepped in and graciously accepted their apologies for putting them through this. 

And at some point during the investigation for Ezra, Kai had confided in Pon too, but unlike Ezra, Kai was worried. He remembered the concerned look on his friends face, as he told Pon that Ezra had been withdrawn from Kai for a couple days. It had looked like worrying over Ezra was eating Kai alive. 

Pon knew exactly why Ezra was acting like that, but could understand exactly why Kai was so worried. Both knew that their Earth born friend still had trouble sleeping most nights, and that on the ones he was able to sleep on, often woke up with a racing heart, panic in his throat, and an incessant need to check in on Kai and Pon. He usually didn’t go back to bed after those nights, and was typically withdrawn for quite some time, almost always sitting on the balcony and staring out into the distance. 

“I've got this shake in my legs, shaking the thoughts from my head…”

So when Kai was grabbing them drinks, Pon quickly texted Ezra a message conveying the general information on Kai’s thoughts. Ezra had responded reminding Pon he just needed to know what ring to get, and then he was ready to set the reservation. He had added that he would call Kai; and true to his word, Pon then saw Kai pull his own phone out of his pocket and glance at the caller ID before accepting the call. 

By the time Kai had exited the store, Pon could tell his mood had lifted considerably, a small smile playing on his friends face. 

They wandered aimlessly around the mall, though Pon did eventually manage to direct Kai to a jewelry store by placing his friend in front of the mirrors. Fate did its thing, and sure enough he was walking in, peering over the selection. Pon prodded Kai, asking questions nonchalantly to guage what style Kai was into. 

“But who put these waves in the door, I crack and out I pour…”

It seemed that Kai was into silver more than gold, and a little simpler in design than some of the flashy ones. Pon made sure to snap some pictures of the rings pointed out, sending them to Ezra. That night, Ezra had returned from “somewhere,” and pulled Pon into his room, tossing him a small bag. 

The box was covered with soft crushed black velvet, and pressing a small button released the lid from the base. Under the soft lights of the room, the ring glittered slightly. It was a simple silver and onyx band, blood red rubies accenting the small heart designed on the ring. Gorgeous, that was the only word to describe the propped ring. 

Pon nodded, closing the lid with a quit snap, and tossed it to Ezra, “He’s gonna love that, good job.” Ezra returned the nod, placing the box in the top drawer of his dresser before exiting the room. 

Pon followed, almost missing the way Ezra gently brushed the hair off Kai’s face as his best friend napped on the couch. 

Of course Pon was invited the night of the proposal. It was to some upscale restaurant, something Ezra had saved for. Kai of course had had questions, all of which Ezra just laughed and ensured that he just wanted to splurge for this at least once. He’d insisted that Kai was worth saving the money up for, to which Kai blushed in response and Pon stuck a finger in his mouth to mimc gagging. 

The restaurant was dim, and the food was nice. Pon had surveyed the layout several times just to take in everything. He found that sometimes with restaurants, they tried to imitate dim light effortlessly, but there was always something artificial about them. He turned his attention back to the happy couple, where Kai was laughing about something Ezra said that Pon had missed. However, Pon didn’t miss the look on Ezra’s face, stupidly in love. By the time they’d finished the meal, Pon could tell Ezra was getting restless, fiddling with the box in his pocket. 

He’d glanced at Pon, who nodded before casting his gaze at his best friend, talking about some story or another. Ezra patiently waited for Kai to finish before standing and hitting the edge of his cup with a fork. Those in the vicinity turned to give their attention, and those further back had followed suit. 

“I'm Mr. Loverman, and I miss my lover, man. I'm Mr. Loverman, oh, and I miss my lover…” 

“I’m not all that great with words,” He began, eyes shifting from person to person. “But for these past three years, I have found myself falling deeply in love with this man.” The patrons blinked at Pon, who shook his head and jerked a thumb Kai’s way. 

“He knows how to comfort me, and he knows me better than I think anyone ever has. I’d like to say that I know him the same way, but I know I’m not the perfect guy, and if you asked me, I would dare say he deserves better.” Kai frowned, confused. “But, I do know that I love him so much, and I know he loves me just the same way.” Pon watched as Ezra extended a hand to Kai, who took it and allowed himself to be pulled up. 

Kai looked confused, but the moment Ezra started getting down on one knee, he gasped, hands flying to his mouth. He looked at Pon, who was barely able to contain the grin forcing its way up, and Kai narrowed his eyes at him before turning back to listen as Ezra finally ended his long, tiring speech professing his undying love to Kai with “Will you marry me?” Kai, who was thoroughly crying now, nodded before throwing himself to Ezra. They were both lucky in Pon’s opinion, Ezra was able to stay steady enough so neither of them fell to the restaurant floor as the patrons cheered. There was no telling what germs were there.

“The ways in which you talk to me have me wishin' I were gone, the ways that you say my name, have me runnin' on and on…”

Of course, Pon was there for the wedding planning, that’s why it turned out looking as good as it did. But, that was just his own opinion, Ezra and Kai might have said otherwise. And so now, here they were. It was nighttime, they’d been married by someone who’s qualifications were a little gray, but he was a funky man, so it was alright. 

Currently, the funky dude in question was dominating the dance floor, getting the attention of everyone in the room. Besides Pon, who was still closely watching Kai and Ezra. Had he been honest with himself, he might mention being scared of what comes next. From the very moment Ezra relayed the desire to propose to Kai, Pon had been unable to quit thinking about what was to come. 

He didn’t want it to seem like he wasn’t happy for the duo, because he really was. Pon genuinely though they were each others soulmate, he supposes he was just afraid of being lonely. In truth, he felt like he had a hard time making friends, and being open. Sometimes it was just hard to do. 

“Oh, I'm cramping up, I'm cramping up, but you're cracking up, you're cracking up…”

Was he worried over nothing? He knows they won’t forget him, or at least he thinks they won’t forget him. Speaking of, they looked at each other as a different song played, and Pon watched as they joined together to dance slowly. He watched as they swayed together, and didn’t miss how Kai started blushing in embarrassment, or how Ezra then said something or another that got Kai to focus only on that moment. His ability to do that for Kai was amazing to Pon, and a large reason why he was able to trust Ezra to not hurt his best friend.

Now that he thought of it, the world had stopped spinning when the couple did. That was an intriguing piece of information for Pon to think over. Was there a correlation, or was the connection only in his head? Maybe he’d had too much of whatever it was that he drunk. 

An idea popped into his head at that, and he knew just the perfect thing for it, too. But he would wait until they finished their dance to set his plan in motion. It was a simple one, really. He was going to do his best to embarrass the newlyweds. After all, was it a wedding if people didn’t have something to talk about afterwards?

Exactly, so he patiently waited, winking when he made eye contact with Kai. His friend opted to playfully glare at him and stick his tongue out at Pon. Several guests turned to see what was happening, a few of them laughing when they realized it was just towards Pon. 

“I'm Mr. Loverman, and I miss my lover, man; I'm Mr. Loverman, oh, and I miss my lover…”

But soon enough, the song ended, and Pon gestured at the DJ to stop for a moment, taking a microphone after getting a nod of approval from said DJ. He winks at the gaping couple, nervous but determined. The point wasn’t to sound good and it looked like both Kai and Ezra knew this. 

He turned back around, forgetting that he hadn’t yet told the DJ what song he was looking for. When he got a thumbs up from said person, he spun back around. The song immediately launched into a verse, which, when Pon had initially heard the music, intrigued him. Usually, music began with an instrumentals, so if Pon wanted to sit here and analyze this particularly interesting piece, he absolutely could. 

Flinging an arm out, he purposefully sang off-key, watching as everyone cringed at the awkward sound resulting. 

“I’ve shattered now, I’m spilling out upon this linoleum ground…” 

For his own sake, and the sake of retaining the ability to go on, he was able to block out the thought of everyone looking at him and instead pretended he was goofing around with Kai and Ezra. He’d done it often enough that it was easy to achieve. 

He also forced his thoughts on loneliness out of his mind. This was supposed to be a light-hearted and funny ordeal. There should be no space for that in his head anyways. He switched the hand he was holding the microphone in, shimmying around, preparing for the dramatic ending he had planned. 

“I’m reeling in my brain again before it can get back to you. Oh what am I supposed to do without you?”

He finished the song, bowing when everyone began to clap. “Thank you all, I’ll be here all night.” He got a few chuckles out of that and hopped off the stage after handing the mic back. 

“Pon,” Kai began, “Why would you do that?!” He placed his hands over his face in faux embarrassment. 

“Did you not get it the first time? Must I go sing the song again?” Pon jabbed a thumb in reference to the booth, taking a step backward, towards it. 

Kai shook his head immediately. “No, no, I get it.” Ezra laughed, covering his mouth. 

“You guys are such clowns.” 

“I'm Mr. Loverman, and I miss my lover, man…”

Kai turned and when he made eye contact with Ezra, Pon knew he was about to be subjected to more romantic gestures. Sickening, truly. 

He waited until they started to kiss and made a loud gagging noise, sticking a finger in his throat to emphasize his disgust. “And you guys are nasty dorks.” 

Kai stuck his tongue out at Pon, and Ezra rolled his eyes at his statement. “Don’t worry, we’ll find you someone here. Consider it an apology for being disgusting, oh great Pon.” Kai grabbed a hold of Ezra’s hand and used his other to pretend to scan the room, and Ezra tapped his chin thoughtfully. 

“You won’t find anyone.” And of course at that moment, Ezra’s face brightened and an evil grin took over his face. 

“Over there! Hey, you!!” Across the ballroom, a tall, dark, and handsome (anchovy) man turned, pointing at himself. Ezra nodded, and waved him over. 

Pon ducked and tried to scuttle away, but the Iron Grip of Kai’s hand latched onto his arm. For such a short dude he had incredible strength, and it doesn’t show. Darn Kai. 

“I'm Mr. Loverman, oh, and I miss my lover…”

The guy was sweet, and they wound up talking on the balcony for a couple hours. Unbeknownst to Pon, Kai and Ezra poked their heads out to check in on them, the guy catching their eyes and nodding ever so slightly at them. Several times Ezra had to cover Kai’s mouth with his hand to stifle his now-husband’s giggles. 

[wolfy2109]

Tokka Week 2020: Family💖💖

(just another one-shot)

It's been months since I've seen her, I left thinking it'll be a matter of weeks. The councils of both the tribes had agreed and even I didn't anticipate a resistance. I wondered from time to time how she felt when she got to know that I'll be kept longer and was in a civil war of sorts again,if she'll show up in her metal armour again. The thought of how that armour clings tightly around her upper body was enough to make a grown man day dream. He thought about how soft her cheeks and lips were,all he wanted to was kiss her, passionately. He thought about holding his baby girl in his arms and kissing her forehead,she was the brightest child in the world according to him. He hoped Toph hadn't been too hard on her.

By the time he reached the door step,his every muscle was torn from tiredness,his head hurt from the long hours of sleepless travel(troubles in the ship). But his heart was so full of happiness,his mind full of thoughts and activities to do with both of his girls. He knocked the door and one of his known servants opened the door, thankfully. "Bo, it's so good to see you. Can you get some guys to put all this luggage in my room?" Sokka said,he was the kind of guy who treated servants with more respect than anyone,water tribe had engrained these values of compassion for one and all in him well enough. However,Bo didn't match his enthusiasm,he looked rather flustered, uncomfortable. He didn't meet his eyes when he answered "Sure sir,welcome back. I'll get right at it. ". Sokka was a chief,a strategist and a warrior he knew damn well that something was going on,he raised an eyebrow at Bo,to which Bo replied "did the news reach you?". Sokka worriedly replied "what news?. Is Toph okay?. Is she gone for another dangerous case?. Is Lin-" ,he was then cut off by a "nothing, she's just in an important meeting and will be late,your daughter will be in the study as of now,you can meet her."

Bo then rushed off and Sokka knew something was off but he didn't care,he was seeing Lin after 6 months,he entered the study and saw her dedicatedly reading some book on the history of earth kingdom,when she looked at him,her eyes sparked up with excitement. She ran to him and hugged him,he picked her up. "You're getting bigger,young chief" he told Lin. She giggled and gave him the biggest kiss on the cheek. They spent the entire afternoon talking about how he had fought cleverly and bravely and stopped a civil war and how Lin had aced the basics of earth bending forms. They were laughing like two six year olds,one of them was and well the other was, let's just say not six at all.

Nonetheless they talked like equals,like a true father and daughter duo. They both were fascinated with each other's stories,proud of their achievements and blissful to be back together again. Sokka told Lin that she didn't have to go to any class today, she'll be home spending "quality time" with her father and Lin was more than pleased with this offer.

Sokka went to take a bath after his lunch with Lin and found the two servants who were supposed to bring his luggage up to his room chatting. "I don't know how it's going to be like when he finds out. He has no idea." .The other servant replied "only a matter of time before it all blows up in her face,the nasty attitude,the bringing a guy in the house a week after he left.". Sokka couldn't believe what he had just heard,his body was paralyzed. He felt like he could no longer function. When he had gotten together with Toph he knew it was real,she made him the happiest man on the planet,their comfort with each other was unparalleled. He had been gone longer and she too,why didn't she wait this time. He was no Kanto,he was Sokka,her long time friend,her colleague,her family. He immediately stopped the thoughts from going any further and consuming him. He believed in her and her love. After his bath,his distress had still not eased.

As much as he didn't want to involve Lin in this he had to. Reassuring and horrible thoughts kept gushing his mind,the thoughts had reached the brim of his mind. He went to Lin,she was in her room playing with some of the toys he had got from his home,her fascination with them lit up her face. She was the most adorable child he had ever seen and also the smartest,he took great pride in raising her.

Sokka taught her how to use some of the toys and after five matches of Pai-sho which he deliberately let her win,Lin was tired. Sokka sat next to her,he didn't want to involve her in this and get to know how insecure her father is being right now but he had no other choice. "Lin,has some man been coming home lately?." ,he asked. His tone was a semi-friendly one but it masked fear,a lot of it, nervousness and denial to believe anything other than no. "Yeah,there has been. He has been coming every week since you've left. He is amazing,he brings me these amazing gummies and-", before Lin could complete,Sokka got up and told her to go and play with some of her friends for a while,he had some work to do. Before Lin could stop him and cling to him,he stormed out of the room.

There was no servant in his sight or he would have beaten the truth out of them. His mind was now an utter mess ,"how could she?.We were so happy,we didn't give it the name of a marriage but we were one happy family. She couldn't. She wouldn't have. Maybe it was Aang,maybe he's in town. Maybe it's the servant who reads her notices and letters. It can't be, I trust her and her love for me." ,all these thoughts were enough for him to stop mid-way and rub his forehead that was still aching from the lack of sleep. He was angry at her,who was this man after all?. He was angry at himself,how can his trust in her be so fickle.

He entered his room,their room. And he saw her. Face turned the other side. She was in her armour but something seemed wierd. She wasn't standing in the attention position she had mastered,she looked fragile. He never thought a day would come when she looked…….weak. "Toph" his voice was full of emotions for a second his mind had forgotten all about this other man,his voice was soft, calming and on the verge of cracking. They both were always on duty,they spent months like these often,Toph would go off and Sokka would stay with Lin and vice versa. But every time they saw each other after their period of separation,they spent the whole night talking, hugging, being happy that they were safe, mocking each other and what not. These memories calmed Sokka down.

He heard a gasp,he could see that she had lifted one hand and probably put it at her mouth?,her face was facing the other side. "Wouldn't you turn around?" He asked her. It was obvious now,he was crying. He heard a muffled sob. "I'm sorry Sokka, I don't know what to do, I'm happy to see you, I am, I really am but I don't know how to say this to you",her voice was cracking after every five words. Sokka's heart sank,so there is another man,he thought. He took a step back,he felt devastated,angry, miserable, heart broken and it wasn't long before he would've started shouting at her,he couldn't handle it.

He did everything right,he loved her right,if she didn't want him home,she could have sent a letter. Hawkie was always here to deliver anyway. "Look me in the eye and say it,Toph.",his voice asserted dominance,she had only heard him talk like this on battle fields to the people who answer to him. But it was not only dominance,his voice sounded like he was repressing anger and pain,a lot of it. So he knew,she thought. She hated his reaction,as scared as she was,she didn't expect THIS.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sokka. It's all my fault,if it hurts you so much get out of here, I've done all this once and I'll do it a second time.",she turned around in fury. Sokka scoffed and was about to say something when he saw it.

Was it a baby bump?. He hadn't seen her in the nine months when she was pregnant with Lin but here she was, standing with one hand on her stomach and the other on her back. She continued in fury "do you know how it was like for me?. A week after you left I found out about THIS. But I thought it wouldn't be as hard for me because now you were here,you would look after our child,Sokka!!". She sat on the bed side and tried to continue screaming when Sokka came down at his knees and touched the baby bump. He kissed it,his touch was so gentle, she had missed it so much. Toph breathed sharply,the gesture came as a surprise to her. "What are you doing?" She said. "Why didn't you tell me Toph, I would've-" he was cut off by Toph,"come right away? That's why. I didn't want to put you in a situation where you had to choose between your duties and your family. Whether or not you would have liked this,you would've been effected by it. You were at war for crying out loud. I was so scared for you,so worried about you-". Sokka shut her up with a kiss that was filled with longing and love and an apology?. She thought. They both leaned in, losing themselves completely in this,cheeks wet from tears and eyes shut close. This moment lasted forever,they took moments off where Sokka stroked her hair and she kissed his hand.

They were then interrupted by a coughing sound and when they pulled away,Sokka saw a man at the door,he carried a small bag and had spectacles. "Sokka,this is my doctor. He makes sure of my health,my mom and dad send him in every 4-5 days because of their paranoia." Sokka kissed her nose and whispered "I'm sorry" in her ear. Before she could ask him for what,he bombarded the doctor with questions "is the child going to be healthy?. Is Toph fine?. Why is her bump still so small?. When is it going to kick?. Will it be a bender or a non bender,does it know that it doesn't matter?. Is it a boy or a girl?.". He spent hours getting filled up on her pregnancy months that he had not been a part of from the doctor, Toph just lay on the bed smiling and grinning. Occasionally saying things like "Meathead STOP,YOU ARE EMBARRASSING!!" and laughing at his replies that went like "then what are you?".

She adored him with all her heart,she finally was with the right man,this one would stick around,this one pushes her to be a better parent everyday,this one means the world to her. Her mind was at so much ease,sometime after the doctor left and Sokka had kissed her and hugged her and jumped around her in excitement and love and also explained what he had thought was going on and got scolded for it,Lin peeked through the door. She thought she was hiding properly but both Sokka and Toph knew she was here. "Lin!!!! Why didn't you tell me?!. You're getting a sister or a brother." Sokka exclaimed,"I'm sorry, I thought you already knew" Lin sounded overly apologetic. "No,no sweetie, it's fine,dad's here,come sit with us". He picked her up and placed her near Toph's belly.

There they were,three of them looking like a real family. No marriage,not even Sokka's biological child but he didn't care,Lin was hers and so was Toph. There was another baby coming and they were a perfect family. They spent the evening getting ready for a fancy dinner at Toph's favorite restaurant(cravings you know),Sokka kept obsessing about just how beautiful Toph was and she kept touching him whenever she could,brushing hands,nose rubs,hugs. Pregnancy had made her soft,she thought. No,it was Sokka,he always makes her this way and she loves it. As Sokka carried Lin on his shoulders,Toph brushed her hair with her hand. Sokka looked at her face with love and adoration, excitement for this new chapter of their lives and she knew he was looking. She even blushed a little. God,how Sokka loved making her blush. "Gonna stare at me all night meathead or are we ever gonna leave?." She smirked and they all went to have dinner. And so just an overly happy family at an overly expensive restaurant with an overly protective man who glared at every man who looked at his woman and kid who looked at his daughter enjoyed their meal in peace or their idea of peace.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 4

(Original idea here)

(Master post)

_______________________________________________________________________

The rest of the school day was a blur for Marinette. She felt like she was practically floating through her classes. Sure her notes might have suffered, but thankfully Alya was more then willing to share hers.

Marinette practically skipped home as she greeted her parents at the entrance.

“Hello my little macaroon, How was school?” Her papa asked as he pulled out a  tray of freshly baked bread.

“It was wonderful.” Marinette singsonged.

Her father put the tray down. Hugging his daughter and handing her a macaroon. Marinette smiled at her baker dad and thanked him before running up to her room.

Marinette went up to her room and jumped for joy. Her red Kwami companion flew out of her jacket.

“Can you believe it Tikki? Adrien said he was happy that we were compatible! He does see me as more then a friend.” Marinette swooned.

“It appears that one little app has a way of changing one’s perspective on things. I am happy for you Marinette.” The red kwami spoke as she flew to hug Marinette’s cheek.

“Life is full of surprises and small things can make big changes, you are a prime example of that Tikki. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to be ladybug.”

Tikki smiled at the comparison.

“You flatter me.” Tikki giggled.

Marinette pulled out her phone and opened the app. Smiling as she looked at her compatibility list. Adrien’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. It was such a beautiful sight.

Marinette knew it was a bit early to be super excited but she couldn't help but feel a little excited as she felt her mind filled up with possible future scenarios of what it would be like dating Adrien. 

Walking through the park and getting ice cream, playing video games, having Adrien model some of my in progress designs, us having dinner with mama and papa, kissing in a movie theater. Oh and i would need to tell chat noir that I was in a relationship and he would need to cut out the flirting.

Marinette found that thought snap her back to the real world. Tikki noticed her change in expression.

“Marinette?” 

The designer moved to her bed and sat down. Her mind replaying that thought.

She would have to tell chat noir.

She doesn't want to string him along, and she has been saying that she had feelings for another guy. This shouldn't be bothering her as much as it was. She wasn't a fan of his constant flirting especially during an akuma battle ... but there were also those moments, when he dropped the flirty attitude, when he was genuine and sweet, the moments when he would do anything for her, the moments where he showed why she and him made such a good team. It was in those moments that seemed to pop up more and more that made her... question her feelings about him.

 But she knew that she was still in love with Adrien however, she still didn't want to break his heart. The cat was a good guy and a good partner. She would need to tell him the truth if things did happen between her and Adrien, it was only right.

“What I am gonna tell Chat noir?” Marinette asked more to herself then to her Kwami.

Tikki paused. Of course that was a factor. Marinette wasn't aware of the truth. But it wasn't like she could tell Marinette that Adrien was Chat noir, even though she really wanted to.

“I am sure that when the time comes, everything that needs to happen will happen. Who knows, maybe chat noir is using the app and ends up finding someone he is compatible with. There is still plenty of time before anything needs to be said.”

Marinette smiled a bit, Tikki did have a point. Maybe the cat would find someone. She would want that person to treat him well, so when they do reveal their identities, she will make sure that girl will be a good person. Maybe she and Adrien can go on double dates with chat noir. Of course Marinette realized she was getting ahead of herself again.

“You’re right Tikki. I am getting a head of myself. It might also be too early to assume that Adrien and I do remain 100% compatible or even at the top of the other’s list. I guess I was just happy there was a chance.” The ladybug Kwami nuzzled her chosen’s cheek.

“Regardless of outcome, app or not, wherever your heart goes will be somewhere wonderful.” Tikki promised.

_______________________________________________________________________

“You know looking at that screen for too long is bad for your eyes.” a black cat Kwami commented. 

Adrien was laying on his couch as the news played in the background. he wasn't really paying much attention to the world around him.

Adrien hardly even remembered getting home, the day was pretty much a blur after his talk with Marinette. His conversation with her replaying in his mind. His eyes looking at the open app at his compatibility list. Marinette’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. The more he looked at it, the more he kept finding himself thinking it fit.

“Adrien? Earth to Adrien?” Plagg flailed his arms as he tried to get Adrien’s attention.

The model smiled as he started to think about all of the things that could happen if she and him started dating.

Double dates with Nino and alya, Going out for ice cream in the park, going to those charity events that father funds but never attends, Marinette cheering me on in my fencing matches. maybe she could even join in on learning Chinese with me. Marinette did say she wanted to learn more and having someone learn with me would be pretty great. Going to the movies together and kissing... But what about ladybug.

Adrien felt his thoughts snap back to the real world where he noticed Plagg trying to get his attention.

“Hello? Earth to Mr. oblivious! Can you hear me.”

“Plagg, what am I gonna tell Ladybug?” Adrien questioned as his smile began fading.

Plagg stopped his attention seeking.

“Oh, so when you want to talk now you want to listen.” Plagg rolled his eyes.

“Sorry Plagg, what were you going to say.” Adrien apologized. Adrien sat up to listen to his Kwami companion.

“Can you get more of that cheese with the orange rind? That one is Delicious.” Plagg inquired.

Adrien sighed.

“Sure, I will put an order in this weekend.”

Plagg smiled.

“Okay, now what were you saying about Ladybug? Weren't you convinced she Marinette was Ladybug because of that whole soulmate bit?” Plagg commented, but then realized he might be implying Marinette is ladybug and quickly spoke up again. “Which is not to say that I am saying it is or is not her.”

“I know Plagg. It would be amazing if Ladybug and Marinette were the same person, but with my luck, it is likely not the case. It is already beyond my normal luck that someone I know is 100% compatible with me, and its someone as wonderful as Marinette.” Adrien answered.

“I have been chasing Ladybug for so long. I want to hold out hope that maybe she would come to fall in love with me. But I think I can't ignore the possibility that Ladybug is stuck on that other guy. I am gonna need to tell her I am giving up my pursuit.”

“Wow, don't you think thats unnecessary? Why not just not mention it while you date Marinette in case things don't work out with Marinette?” Plagg points out.

“Plagg, its Marinette were talking about, she is an amazing person and I doubt I would ever want to not date her. The only way it wouldn't work out is if I messed up badly, like not giving up on Ladybug. It wouldn't be fair to Marinette that I am leaving a part of my heart for Ladybug. Thats why what happened with Kagami in the Ice rink went so shaky, I didn't let go like I thought I did. So I need to let Ladybug know the truth.” Adrien explained.

Plagg nodded. He understood how Adrien had this mindset of being 100% into something or was not interested at all. He rarely half-assed things if ever. Fencing? 100% invested. Piano? 0% only plays because his mother did and his father wants him to continue. Adrien was someone that when he can be emotional, he was all for it. It was part of what made him a great chat noir.

“Alright, but you do still have time before then. So you don't need to worry so much yet. Just relax and let things happen how they happen.”

“I think you are right Plagg, I will let things happen as they happen. No need to push yet.” Adrien said relieved.

“Yup, the best option is usually the one that requires no effort.” Plagg advised.

“I don't think thats always true.” Adrien disagreed.

“Things would be less complicated if you just relaxed more.”

Adrien was about to respond, but his phone buzzed. He looked to see a text from Nino.

‘Dude, did you get the Soulmate searcher App? Alya mentioned you would try it out’

Adrien responded

‘Yea’

‘Nice dude! so who did you get on da list? Can you snap a pic?’

Adrien Paused. It was a private list, He really shouldn't be sending it out. But it was Nino and Nino can keep it a secret.

‘Promise not to share it with anyone?’

‘Alya too?’

‘Alya can know but no one else? Promise’

‘Bros honor’

Adrien hesitated for a moment. But he trusted Nino. He took a screenshot and sent Nino the pics.

Plagg looked at Adrien.

“You might want to wrap up that conversation.” Plagg answered as he pointed to the tv.

Adrien looked to see the news was reporting an Akuma attack.

“Plagg Claws out!”

_______________________________________________________________________

“Thanks for watching Chris for me on such short notice. I really wanted to check out that sale on new headphones and Chris isn't exactly feeling so great. I don't want to drag him out of bed when he is feeling like this. You are really clutch right now Lila.” The Dj praised 

“Its no problem at all. Thanks for letting me borrow your phone to message my mom. Mine really needs to charge right now.” Lila replied

“You are really doing me a solid. Just let me know when your mom responds.” Nino assured. “I am gonna let Chris know you will be watching him for a bit.”

“Of course. Take your time.” Lila assures.

She was was watching the phone closely. Waiting for Adrien’s response.

A minute passes and the picture shows up.

The brunette smiles as she forwards the 2 photos to her phone from Nino’s phone and then deleting the exchange between her and Nino. She covers her tracks. Deleting the messages between Adrien and him after sending a.

‘Nice, we can talk about it tomorrow.’

She smiles as she closes the phone.

“I am all done.” Lila calls out. 

Nino walks back in and happily takes his phone, unaware of the events that just transpired.

“Hope you get a good deal.” Lila exclaimed as she waved Nino off. The door closes and Lila smiles.

She goes to her phone that had been charging.

“Now lets see where Marinette is on this list.”

Lila clicked the photo and started at the bottom of the list. The first photo was the bottom half of the list.

“She isn't below the top 5, this might be a bit of a pain.” Lila groaned.

Lila still felt confident, 

So what if Marinette ranked in the top five. I just need to find the number one person and copy their answers and beating that annoying pigtailed pest will be easy.

Lila clicked on the other photo to look to see who was on it.

“Kagami is number two? Ugh! Another pain to deal with later. But wait, Marinette isn't anywhere below the second spot... No...”

Lila looked at the first place spot and her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. Marinette was at the TOP. She was ranked number one? And just when Lila thought it couldn't get any worse, she saw the compatibility percentage.

“No way...” Lila dropped her phone.

“You have to be Fucking kidding me!!” Lila screamed loud enough to be heard from outside. But Nino had put his headphones in as he was heading out and just missed hearing the girls anguish.

______________________________________________________________________

Part 4 is finished (And the streak of Over 1000 notes for each part is still alive. I am amazed thank you all.)

If you want part 5, please let me know. I love hearing feedback and it feeds my impulsive need to write. And I am just gonna say it. (But I will say that getting to this one might take a bit more time since its a weekday tomorrow.)

[drethanramslay]

Chapter 1

Pairing: Cassian X MC (for this chapter)

Warning: Light swearing and check out this post to know how we are gonna go about this mini series 😊

Word count: 3K

Taglist: @choices-love-affair @miyakokurono @openheart12 @trappedinfandoms @noboundariesplease @nooruleman @madampugzalot @sekizincimektup @dailydoseofchoices @choicesfanaf @choiceskaavya @junggoku @flyawayboo @whatchique @vampiregirlsblog (let me know if you want to added or removed from the taglist 😊)

Songs: Heartless by The Weeknd

I love parties.

What is not to love? The free buffet of food, drinks and woman can make a guy’s day. I had got off work and was hella tired but, at the same time, I was in a celebratory mood. I had just returned from the Caribbean, finishing another WITSEC case, with the witness returned to his family. The reunion was so emotional and the mom made me sit down and eat with them.

There was so much love there and it made me feel like an outsider. I’m still unfamiliar with ‘love’ as a concept. Be it, familial or romantic. It’s foreign to me.

My mom died from a robbery gone wrong when I was just 8 years. My dad raised me after my mom died. He used to be so busy and I think I know why. He was grieving and he threw himself into work so that it could reduce the burden on his heart. But, he didn’t make me feel neglected. He loved me and I often used to think of him as a superhero. The Sunday’s where we would play ball in the park are one of the many good memories I have of him.

He passed away when I was 13 years and it was the worst phase in my life. I don’t know why, but nobody was ready to adopt me or foster me so I was thrown into an orphanage.

It was hell on earth.

The kids there were so primal and aggressive. Regular fights would break out and I swear they were so crazy that it seemed like one of the kids would die. I had to sleep with an eye open all the time.

It was a very dingy and dark place. Water supply and living accommodation sucked. But at least, the school I went to was good. At the age of 15, I swore to study so hard that I could get out of the country.

I mean, Kenmare had its pretty sites and wonderful views but when it’s dark, all the monsters come out.

I got into the army as soon as I graduated high school. It wasn’t much but at least I didn’t have to go to bed with an empty stomach. I started saving up money by doing odd jobs so that I could collect enough to get into a university in the States.

So, I slogged my ass and got a scholarship to Boston University. I packed my bags and never looked back at my fucked up childhood. I worked on re-inventing me. I was no longer the scrawny and scared 16 year old, but I was the 20 year old heart throb, Cassian Keane.

I always wanted to get into law enforcement. Think of it like a tribute to my mom. I don’t remember much but I can remember some memories. Like how she loved baking and singing songs as she worked in the house. I do remember that she loved me so much.

But, the one thing I’ve learnt is that, you should learn from the past but not hold on to it. I wouldn’t have ever moved on if I kept on crying about how life treated me.

Just shove it in a safe and don’t open it.

As the lift soared to the terrace level I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head of all the thoughts running in my head.

The lift dinged and I opened my eyes.

Show time, Keane.

——————————————————————————————————–

It was a high profile party. I did see a couple of actors and CEO’s of various companies. They were all chatting animatedly and drinking expensive champagne in crystal flutes.

A band was playing lively music which could be heard through the speakers and the entire terrace was decorated with fairy lights. I was on the 60th floor and I could clearly see the sun glinting over the the bay, making the water sparkle and glimmer.

In short the area was sophisticated as fuck.

And I couldn’t help but feel out of place. I usually play off all my discomfort with my nonchalance but still no matter how much I pretend, I know that this is not my scene.

I took the overpriced whiskey which the waiters were serving and my eyes roamed around the party, observing the people, the place and the closest exit. It had become like a second nature. Observe, map the area and stay alert.

As my eyes wandered, it locked on to the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen in my life. She was standing there chatting with a friend. Her luscious shiny brown locks fell over her shoulder as she laughed at something the other person said.

She was wearing a red number, which fit her like a second skin, making all the curves prominent. She had a great ass, not gonna lie. And her skin… It was caramel in colour and under the setting sun, she looked exotic.

In short one of the most beautiful creatures God had made on this earth. I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.

I could see the friend leaning in to tell something to her and at that moment her cerulean eyes met mine.

And it seemed like the world stopped.

People disappeared until it was just me and her.

She gave a confident smile and I swear my heart dropped.

She headed inside and I followed her, like a sailor to a siren.

It wasn’t really hard to find her among the crowd near the bar. Almost all eyes were on her, stunned by her sphere of prettiness. You really needed to be blind to ignore such a beauty.

By the time I reached her, I could hear the sleazeball of a bartender shamelessly hitting on her. The jealousy that I felt made me uneasy but, I shrugged it off.

What would I know about that anyway?

I saw the discomfort and the scowl on her face. She was struggling to keep him at bay so I decided to step in.

I mean, who doesn’t love a knight in the shining armor?

Smoothly cutting in, I spoke in a playful voice, “Did I hear that right? The barkeep’s giving away drinks for a kiss? Sounds like something the whole bar would want to know.”

The barkeep’s face turned red. “It’s not an open invitation.” He replied curtly.

“Or a welcome one for that matter.” The beautiful woman responded, her eyes swirling with anger.

“Then it’s only fair her drink should be free of cost to make up for the..” I leaned forward on my elbows and gave him a chilling stare. “…inconvenience.”

Grumbling he gave me the drinks and went back to his work. I turned to look at her, and gave her lopsided grin.

“You know, I don’t need saving.” She said as she leaned on the bar. I knew that she was going to say that.

I lifted my hands in fake surrender. “I just came here to get a free drink.” I had perfected the art of flirtation and with a little smoldering gaze,any woman could fall for me.

She giggled and took the glass from me, her fingers tracing the ridges if my knuckles.

“I must say, you’ve got great taste in uisce beatha. Most people around here think Irish whiskey is something they put in their coffee.” I said as I took a sip of the smokey whiskey.

“Thanks, I know. That’s why I ordered it.”

I chuckled lowly and shook my head at her feisty nature. She was something, all right. Clinking my glass to hers, I said, “Slainte. Here’s to you knowing exactly what you like.”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and looked at me and I swear, it felt like she could see through my soul.

“It makes things much more efficient. There’s no point in wasting time when you know what you want.”

With that, she waved a waiter over and took a honeyed cream puff off their appetizer tray, grabbing a second to hold out to me.

“For example, I love sweet things.”

Smirking, I took the puff on a napkin and pulled it towards me. “Thanks. It seems you live in the right place. Though I’d prefer some hole in the wall fish n’ chips over the fancy stuff any day.”

And that’s the truth. The amount of money spent on this overrated cream puff could get me some delicious take out and cheap beer.

She bit into the pastry slowly, letting the tiniest bit of cream coat her lips before you suck your bottom lip to remove it. My eyes flickering on to the luscious red lips which were teasing me and slowly arousing me.

God, I want to bite that lip.

“I prefer finding the best of the best. The challenge makes it more enjoyable.” She gave a catty smile.

She is one vixen.

“Sounds like I could learn a lot from you.” I spoke in a husky voice and I saw her eyes dilate.

“Maybe. But right now I was hoping you’d tell me your name.” She asked, as she twirled her finger around the rim of her glass.

“Cassian. What’s yours?”

“Adira.” Her name just rolled out of your mouth like honey.

“That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful lady.” I took her hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. I heard the sharp intake of her breath.

She is so responsive… Wonder how would she responds when I have her naked underneath me…

“Well, Adira… it was lovely to meet you. I’ll let you get back to enjoying the rest of your night.”

I wasn’t actually going to vanish but, gotta keep the ladies wanting more.

But what she did next, surprised me.

She snaked an arm out, and slid her dainty fingers through one of my belt loops, using it to pull me closer to her. I raised an eyebrow and she just smirked.

“Not so fast. I’m not letting you go without a dance.”

Giving her my signature lopsided smile I help my hand out to her. “I’m starting to get the feeling that I couldn’t refuse you anything. Lead the way, Adira.”

——————————————————————————————————–

The phone rang at an ungodly hour and I groaned.

I reached all around and finally found it amidst the tangled sheet. The bed was empty and it wasn’t much of a surprise but it kinda made me crave her.

She was amazing and the sex we had was mind blowing. I think she is the first person to step a foot inside my house. And she definitely was the first person to whom I submitted.

There were so many 'firsts’ last night and that just made me wonder if that was the end of our story.

Maybe I might drop a text…

“Yup?”

“Hey Keane. We have a new case for you. How long will you be here in?” Tomas spoke into the phone.

“Is there coffee and donuts from 'Dunkin Donuts’?” I said as I sat up, rubbing my eyes and eyeing the alarm clock on the bedside table.

4:45 am.

“Obviously Cassian. What do you think I am? An immature?"I swear, I could hear Tomas roll his eyes through the phone.

Smiling, I headed to the washroom to get on with my morning chores.

"I’ll be there in ten.”

——————————————————————————————————–

I got my steaming hot cup of coffee and poured two spoons of sugar in them before stirring.

“What you got there, Marshall Keane?” A bright eyed police officer eyed my cup. “Is it Irish coffee?”

I threw my head back and laughed at the stereotype. “It’s black coffee. Rookie, just because I’m Irish doesn’t mean I am every stereotype you have seen in your life.”  I patted his back and headed towards my office.

It was definitely an upgrade from my cramped up desk. I could sit back and kick up my legs without anyone saying anything. I had my space and I could relax without anyone, figuratively and literally, breathing down my neck.

And I could see it in Tomas’s eyes, the itch to promote me. My back to back successes in the recent cases and the huge underground drug bust I led, it was no surprise. I just knew that he would give me a promotion and I honestly, could not wait.

I loved my job and took it very seriously.

I found Tomas standing in, through the window and I entered. “Good morning, sir. What’s up?” I asked as I leaned against my desk.

“Well, we found a person who witnessed the murder of Sean Kelly by the O'Connell’s.” He said as he turned towards me, face grave.

“Shit. Is the witness okay?” I said as I picked up the file he had kept on my table.

“Yeah… I made Miss Lockhart familiar with the gravity of the situation. She is going into WITSEC and this is your case. This witness could help us in cracking the case wide open and we can finally arrest Killian and Maeve.” As he stepped out of the office and I fell in step with him.

I opened the case file and found what all they had got on the redheads. It wasn’t much but it was a start.

“Your witness is in my office and you are the lead in this case. You both will be shifting to Nantucket for the summer until the heat dies down here and we can get enough evidence. Then, we will get her to testify.” We turned and walked down the hallway to his office and I saw Nwosu grumbling in his office.

“What’s up Nwosu’s ass?” I asked with an amused grin.

“That would be the witness. She cussed him out in front of the entire precinct. She is a feisty one, I’ll give you that. I will just check upon the living accommodation for the two of you.” Tomas said as he headed in the opposite direction. I chuckled as I knocked on the door.

“Miss Lockhart. This is US Marshall Keane. I will be working your case with Tomas.”

As she opened the door to his office the smile that was playing on my lips died down when I saw my witness.

It was Adira.

“Cassian? You are a US Marshall?” She exclaimed.

I immediately shut the door behind me and she looked as if she had seen a ghost.

“Shit. Adira I thought I would never see you again… Are you okay?” I asked.

“Y-yeah.. I just changed into the clothes they gave me and I- I dyed my hair platinum blonde.” She said as she consciously ran her hand through the silky short locks.

“You look magnificent.” I smiled at her, as I took in the floral dress and the new hairdo.

“And you look hot in that uniform. You almost make me wish I had stayed back for a round two.”

Crossing my arms, I leaned against the wall. “I was hoping you would have stayed back for much more.”

A pretty blush dusted her cheeks. She looked up through her eyelashes. “Your mouth is nothing but trouble, Cassian Keane.”

I was going to respond but the phone rang, breaking us from our reverie. I ran my hand through my hair, and patted the man bun, trying to get my cool together.

“Okay Adira. I have been assigned lead on your case. It’s my chance at a huge promotion. Tomas is my supervisor and if he found out we knew each other…”

Adira’s eyes widened. “He would take you off the case?!”

“Yeah. If we were involved in any way, I’d be considered compromised. And who knows when I’d get another shot at this.” I have her my best puppy eyes expression, hoping that she understood where I was coming from.

“I know this is a lot to ask but, can you keep our history a secret?”

Her eyes turned cold and suddenly it looked like I was looking at a different person. “I don’t think it will be that easy.”

My eyes widened. The hell?

“You purposefully hid the truth from me and now you want to act as if what we had was nothing? Don’t you think it seems a little too convenient from my view?”

“Adira- Fuck it was everything to me but your life and my job is on the line! Can’t you understand?” I said.

She rolled her eyes as she looked down on her manicure, bored. “Fine. I will believe you. I will keep your secret, but you owe me.”

Tomas entered the office with a cheerful grin. “Everything good? Did you both get acquainted with each other?”

With glimmering blue eyes she sent a smile towards Tomas’s direction. “Yeah.. Feels like I have known him for a long time.”

A startled choking noise emerged from me, which I quickly covered up with a cough.

And at that point, all I could think of was, how truly fucked I was.

How the hell am i going to survive this summer?

hello hello we back at it again😎

the first two to three chapters will be similar to what pb put up so that we can get a feel of the premise

like, comment and reblog:))

[zekroudon]

Passing the Baton

Coming back from work, Adrien never expected to find something from his past on his desk.  Raising and caring for your children is never easy, but sometimes, he wishes he could do more.

Discussion between a loving father and his son. You can read it on Ao3 here!

Stopping in front of the door to my home, I fiddle with the keys before unlocking the door and entering. As I close the door behind me, light rain starts to pour, as if the sky was crying. A heavy silence greets me. Growing up in a cold mansion, I’m used to cold emotionless silence, but in a house that was once filled with laughs, screams, and joy, it’s overwhelmingly out of place. I can’t say the lack of warmth pleases me, which has grown usual since everything that happened…

 I spot some camembert wrappings on the counter, probably left there by Plagg without Hugo noticing. I chuckle as I pick them up and throw them in the trash, remembering my teenage years living with the cheese-eating kwami. So much has changed since then. I notice the absence of Emma’s shoes and Louis’ sports bag, meaning they must still be out, probably with their friends, or Ethan in Emma’s case.

 As I walk past my wife’s office, the absence of humming and buzzing from the different sewing machines hits me like Stoneheart's fist. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Everything will be alright, everyone is safe. I turn around and enter my room.

 I drop my shoulder bag next to my chair. I sigh noticing the piles of papers I have yet to mark. I’ll have to work on some of them tonight if I want to give them back by the end of the week. The joys of being a teacher... I open the curtains to let the remaining light in my office. The grey clouds taunt me as if they know something I don’t. Something sparkles on my desk and catches my eye.

 A black ring with a cat paw symbol on top.

 What is it doing on my desk? Is it really the miraculous, or just another one of Plagg’s pranks? It should be with Hugo now, he’s been Chat Noir for nearly three weeks now…

 I slide it on my finger and it turns a silver-grey. My stomach sinks as the flash of green light fades, leaving the black kwami before me. All the blood is drained from my face, turning my skin as white as a sheet of paper. Not that I didn’t miss Plagg, and I’m glad he didn’t fall in the hands of an ill-intended person once again, but      why is he not with my son?  

 “Plagg? Why… Where’s Hugo? Is he alright?” I turn around and dive to my drawer, taking the Miracle box and opening it. Other than the ladybug, cat, dragon, snake, and butterfly, they all seem to be in their spot.

 “Meh, people were talking behind his back at school, some stupid journalists harassed him once again, he said he wasn’t worthy of my miraculous and that’s the last thing I remember before he slid the ring off.” He shrugs it off, but being my kwami for so long, I can see in his eyes that he’s worried.

     Oh    ... Those stupid journalists are trying to throw me and my wife into the mud by targeting our son. I’m disgusted at how they used the recent events knowing we wouldn’t notice their idiotic articles and pandering. It’s not the first time it happened, but Hugo has always been the most sensitive of the three. Louis thrives in their attention and Emma ignores them, but their baby brother would rather be left alone.

 Someone knocks on my door frame, bringing me back to Earth. I turn and see bright blue eyes filled with worry looking at me accompanied by a sad smile. Her black hair cascades past her shoulders, her mother’s spitting image. She steps forward to hug me, but she stops in her tracks when she notices the black Kwami hovering next to my shoulder.

 “He heard, didn’t he?” She asks Plagg, continuing once he nodded. “Louis called them out, and I felt that Hugo was hurt, Nooroo did too, but I didn’t think he’d relinquish you…”

 “He did, and now we should go and find him.” Says the Kwami.

 “He’s not in his bedroom, do you have any idea of where he could be?” She asks me.

 I’m startled by her certainty of it before noticing the small brooch in her hair. Right, I gave her the Butterfly Miraculous since she can’t be Ladybug any more. How could I forget that? She lays her hand on my forearm, trying to reassure me.

 “He’s going to be okay, he’s strong.”

 “I’ll go look outside, stay here and wait to see if he comes back. Try and call him.” I look at Plagg before adding “Like old times?”

 “Can I have some cam....”

 “Plagg, claws out!”

 A small smile stretches my lips at his antics while the magic costume appears on my body. The rush of energy is even stronger than what I remembered. The black fabric covers my body in the same design I wore a few years ago. The two ears stand on top of my head and the belt tail swooshes worriedly behind my back.

 I give my daughter the salute that was once so characteristic to me before opening my window and jumping outside under the cold autumn rain.

 I shiver as the freezing water flattens my hair and runs on my body. The cat part in me hates rain, even though it was raining the day I met Marinette and it grew to have a romantic significance for us. Using my baton, I raise myself over the buildings to scan the city from above. If Hugo is out in this weather, he’ll get sick in no time...

 The grey sky is barely distinguishable from the rooftops, the color has faded from everything. Cars still roam the streets, but most passersby have gotten cover. On the dimmed bright side, I’m more likely to go unnoticed as Hugo’s suit is quite different than mine and word of Chat Noir’s reappearance would spread like wildfire in Paris.

 I stop on top of the bakery, hoping to channel a bit of my wife’s good luck and extend my weapon once again. I make sure to be as silent as possible, there is no need to bother her with this right now.

 I’m a good father, I should be able to handle this myself, right?

 Anyway, it isn’t like I could ask her for help right now, I don’t know if she has remembered me yet…

 In the nearby park, the statue that was erected for us so many years ago, in our beginnings as Paris’ heroes, still stands strong against the wind and rain. Things were simpler then, yet I wouldn’t change anything that happened. I have three amazing kids, a loving wife, and a life I enjoy plenty.

 Something moves behind the statue, only noticeable with my enhanced sight. It looks like a mop of dark hair. A flicker lights up in my chest, it must be him…

 I land far enough to not startle the person, but they keep their head down, either ignoring me or hasn’t heard me. As I walk closer, I recognize Hugo with his usual Chat Noir t-shirt and hoodie. He took the saying hiding in plain sight very seriously, though he has always been one of my biggest fans. Hunched on himself like this, he looks as small as he was years ago when I cradled him in my arms as opposed to the strong young man he grew into, just like his grandfather, well, not      him    , obviously.

 I sit next to him, ignoring the squelching sound of the soaked ground under me. I snake my arm around his shoulders and he leans into me.

 We stay silent for a bit, the droning sound of the rain deafens, my ears focussing on my son’s breathing and sporadic sobs. I would like so much to give him a shell, which is ironic since he used the turtle previously, to protect him behind him and fight people who hurt him, but I can’t.

 I can’t overprotect him, I wouldn’t do him any favors. Some would say that he has to learn to grow a thicker skin, but I hate that. He was born into celebrity because of me, because of his mother. The last in a line of models and heroes. Grandson of amazing bakers, but also the biggest terrorist Paris has ever known. His brother and sister thrived in the spotlight, but he never liked it. Huge shadows cast by us and enormous shoes to fill for him.

 “I love you.”

 It doesn’t feel enough. It doesn’t feel strong enough for everything to convey to him, but I don’t really know what else to say. I want him to talk to me, to help me understand so I can help him feel better in return, but I can’t force him to. It has to be his choice, his decision. I tighten my hold on him and I lean my head on his.

 “Do you want to talk about what happened? I’m here for you if you want.”

 Here, I stretched him a pole, or a baton in our case, I just have to hope he takes it. He seems to calm down a bit, his breathing returning to something more regular.

 “I don’t know… I’m just tired, mad, I don’t know… It feels like everyone is against me, that the world is mocking me and punishing me for not doing my job and failed at protecting mom against Lady Papillon’s akuma… Because of me she had to give up guardianship and all her memories…”

 “It’s not your fault, just like it wasn’t mine or Emma’s… It’s Lila’s. She kept akumatizing people, she manipulated Ethan to akumatize him under her control, she tricked all of us. You didn’t do any of that. If anything, you saved the day. You protected the Ladybug and got back the Cat miraculous with Louis! You even dual-wielded before your siblings. To be honest, I was a mess having to fight your mother and seeing her lose all her memories as she said the incantation…”

 “But why make me Chat Noir? Wasn’t I better as Jade Turtle? Why give the grandson of Hawkmoth the Cat Miraculous? The press would go wild and…”

 “Then why give his son the miraculous? Was it a bad decision? What about your sister, did we make a bad decision making her Ladybug?”

 “Of course not! You were the best Chat Noir ever and Mom couldn’t have defeated Hawkmoth and Mayura without you! And even though Emma’s time was cut short, she was an amazing Ladybug too, just like Mom.” He looks at me with horrified eyes, offended that I would say such a thing.

 “So then, why would making you Chat Noir be a bad idea? You are kind, compassionate, caring, incredibly smart. You use Cata… um, your power in ways I would never have thought of. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with taking care of Plagg, you know how he is…”

 “Yeah, different in so many      ways    .”

 I chuckle at his pun, a true Chat Noir.

 “See, you even make great puns, that’s a sign of a great black cat!”

 Even though I don’t see him, I feel him rolling his eyes just like his mother.

 “So tell me, why do you think you are not suited to wield this ameowzing miraculous?”

 “People… the journalists, they keep saying that I’m becoming like      him    , that I’m a social recluse, that never goes to events and that I’m rude to people. And… I’m not...thin enough…”

 The last part is barely audible, less than a whisper. If it weren’t for my feline auditory senses, I wouldn’t have heard.

 But thin enough? I know he’s more on the bulky side, having inherited Tom’s stature and my height, but he’s not fat or overweight…

 “And I don’t love Coccinelle like you love Mom or Emma likes Ethan, even when you were in your ‘just a friend’ phase… I like her, sure, but only as a friend… Since I’m Chat Noir, shouldn’t I be in love with her? Didn’t you and Mom say that Ladybug and Chat Noir are always made for each other?”

 “Okay, slow down, one thing at a time. You need your space, there’s nothing wrong about it. You are more introverted and it’s okay. I don’t even remember any event you have missed, so they’re probably making stuff up for clicks and views.”

 I turn to him and place my palm on his soaked shirt, near his heart.

 “But, this right here, as long as it beats, you won’t become like him. You have so much love to give others, anyone on it’s receiving end knows how much you care and love, how lucky they are. Maybe you don’t show it in big gestures as I do, but in smaller ones and by being there for others. Gabriel never did. He was cold, distant, heartless, and cruel. To him, everyone was a pawn, a chess piece meant to be sacrificed if it meant he reached his goal. You two are absolutely nothing alike.”

 He looks at me with big green eyes, still red from crying, but for a second, it’s like I was looking at my four-year-old when he found a shiny stone for Plagg, his “imaginary” friend. Full of hope and kindness.

 “And I don’t know who said that you are ugly, but it’s also a lie.”

 “Well, only me… and maybe some of my classmates, I don’t know… They mocked me for not being a model like Emma and Louis, that it was probably because I’m too ugly to be a model… I guess it must have gotten inside my head...”

 “Mom offered it to you a few times and you always refused, we wouldn’t have forced you to do something you don’t like. And beauty doesn’t come from outside, but from what’s inside, and you’re shiningly beautiful. Many of the models I’ve worked with back then and now may look “good”, with six-packs and all, but they are mean and cold. Anyway, most of what companies sell us is fake, models are starving to be so cut, you don’t want to do that. Mari’s company is one of the only ones where models don’t need to starve themselves and she has lines for everyone.”

 I pause to breathe and think about what to answer to his last question. I always knew me and Marinette were meant to be, even if we had our moments of doubts, and I never questioned it. Emma and Ethan seem to love each other, even though I thought she would hate him for what happened. It shows how compassionate she is and understanding.

 “I don’t think that you are a bad Chat Noir for not loving Coccinelle. Feelings do change over time, and maybe later you’ll have those feelings for her, or never. Don’t base your worth as Chat Noir around whether or not you love her. Maybe you’ll be the first Chat Noir in history to not love his Ladybug, but it doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing.”

 “But, how do you know that you love someone? LIke that kind of love?”

 “I guess that they always brighten any room they’re in, you feel good when you are with them and make you want to spend more time with them. Your eyes are always following them and your body is drawn to them in surprising ways. You want to kiss them, hug, cuddle, which you can totally do with friends too! Well, maybe not the kissing part… Even though it's different for everyone, when it will happen, you’ll know. You will feel it in your heart. When I met your mom, I was amazed by how strong, and amazing she was. Mere seconds prior, she was unsure of herself and scared, but she faced Hawkmoth and talked back, assuring the city that we would protect them. I also fell in love with the girl whom I apologized to and gave her an umbrella under the rain. She made me laugh and smile in a way I hadn’t for a long time, it was like thunder had struck. For me, that was love, for you, it might be different, but it’s okay. Love is scary, it’s like jumping into the unknown and you can’t prepare enough for it, other than trusting and believing in yourself... Does anyone make you feel that way?”

 Maybe he’ll have the same bad luck, or good luck, to fall for his civilian partner as I did, but it would be unlikely since they never met before.

 “I think so…”

 To my chagrin, he’s closing himself again. But it’s okay, I’ll love him no matter what. I tighten my hold on his shoulders in a way I hope is reassuring.

 It seems to work a little, so I try to nudge him a bit farther.

 “Even if you don’t, it’s okay. Aromantic people still find happiness in life, romantic love is not necessary to be happy and have a fulfilling life, it’s not the only kind of love. I’m not well versed in the matter, but I did some research after I heard some students talking about it.”

 I must have said the right thing because he brightens a little and continues.

 “ I do feel what you described, sometimes, but it wasn’t… with a girl.”

 I feel him flinch against me and distance himself as if I was about to shout at him, disown him or something. It hurts a bit, but I’m more thankful and honored that he told me. I can’t imagine how scary it is to tell someone something like that.

 I snake my other arm around him and pull him for a tight hug. His cold wet clothes stick to his skin and my costume, but I feel him warming up against me.

 “Let’s go somewhere safe from the rain, you’re freezing.” I tell him softly.

 He nods and I take him on my back like we used to do when he was little and clad in his tiny kitty costume. Some people brought their restless kids on car rides, we took them to the Parisian rooftops as superheroes. It worked like a charm every time. He grew up a lot since then, they all did. They are becoming young adults ready to face the world together.

 Thankful for my enhanced strength, I make sure that Hugo is holding on tightly before leaping off with my baton.

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

 While he dried up, I went to a nearby coffee shop to get us something warm. It was one of our favorites when we were young and in collège. We used to go there often as friends, or on dates.

 it was still as cozy and welcoming as I remembered, though I had to detransform to not alarm everyone with Chat Noir’s very temporary return. Anyway, my goal wasn’t to stay for long anyway, only to order a cup of coffee and hot cocoa.

 I rejoin him on one of Notre-Dame’s towers. He’s wistfully looking at the Seine as if someone or something was calling him.

 I spot The Liberty 2, now Luka’s home, it’s windows lit up with warm and inviting lights. Turning to my son, I realize that he’s been looking at the boat all along.

 “So, that person that you like, how are they like?”

 “I… Um… He’s kind, grounding even. He’s always there to listen when I’m too far gone in my worrying or that I’m panicking. I know I can just go to him and he’ll play something for me... In a weird way, it’s as if spending time with him recharges my battery, you know?”

 “I know the feeling, I used to feel the same every time I went to the bakery to eat croissants because I had a particularly rough day or I spent an afternoon playing videogames with Nino.”

 “I’m afraid of telling him how I feel, what if it ruins things between us, what if he doesn’t want to talk to me ever again because of it? What if he’s homophobic, what if…”

 “Do you really think he could be homophobic? If he’s half as awesome as you make him up to be, he’ll accept you just as you are. You’re amazing too, and if he doesn’t return your feelings, it’s not the end of the world, I know that there’s someone out there for you.”

 “Probably not, well, I doubt it. I fell asleep on him once… Don’t look at me like that, it was an accident! I was tired, and he was playing his guitar, and when I woke up, my head was on his chest and he was sleeping too. I was so embarrassed…”

 “Well, you didn’t spend four years calling the love of your life a very good friend, I think Nino still has nightmares about that. You can’t even imagine the number of plans Marinette made with Alya and the girls to try and get me to notice her or her to confess her feelings to me. You falling asleep on your crush is cute, even though you think it’s embarrassing.”

 A comfortable silence installs himself between us, only broken by the sound of rain hitting the stone. He leans his head on my shoulder and I hug him once again. I feel my chest rumble in a small content purr, glad to have my son safe with me.

 “You can still purr?” He asks, surprised.

 “Apparently, it is not something you lose easily after being Chat Noir for more than twenty years…”

 “It’s okay, I always liked when you purred, it meant that you were happy.”

 “And you deserve to purr too. This is for you, you more than deserve it.”

 I take the silver baton from my back and give it to him.

 “      Je te passe le flambeau, le baton.    It’s your turn to be Chat Noir, your version of the black cat. If ever you are doubting yourself, or unsure, know that I will always believe in you and love you. You might be the first Chat Noir to like a guy, but it only means one thing, that you were born to make history.”

 “I’ll do it. I’ll protect Paris and forge my own path. I’m sorry for scaring you, I should have talked to you before doing something stupid like this…“

 He pulls me in a hug, a soft embrace. Stepping back, happiness and warmth return to his features, as if the dark clouds that were filling his mind had been pierced by the rays of sunlight. Smiling, I call off my transformation and slide off the ring from my finger. I expected to feel more nostalgic about it, but I know I did my time with Plagg, I already moved on. Anyway, I know that he’ll never be far, and I’ll cherish my memories of my time as a hero as long as I can.

 I extend my hand to him, the miraculous resting in my palm.

 “Hugo Dupain-Cheng, this is the miraculous of the Black Cat, which grants the power of destruction. You will use it for the greater good.”

 “Of course, I’ll try and not be as catastrophic as the last one. Clawsome as I am, there’s no one better for the job.”

 He definitely is my son, there are no doubts about that.

 He smirks as he takes the ring and slides it on his finger. As Plagg reappears, Hugo grabs him and hugs him to his chest. I hear the kwami groan a bit before accepting his fate. A small purr reaches my ear, but I’ll say that it’s the stones and wood of the cathedral to keep his “strong and intimidating” character.

 “I’m so sorry Plagg, I won’t give you up again, I promise.”

 “Alright, alright, but I’m starving! I want Camembert, and some Pont L’Évêque too.”

 My face scrunches in revulsion, hit by memories of how bad that particular cheese smelt. Hugo seems to be aware of it, but he’s too happy to be back with his kwami to care much. It’s obvious he’s not the one doing the laundry and finding melted cheese in pockets and socks…

 He transforms, doing his own little choreography as the green energy covers his body. Black and green ears stand on top of his head, black belt tail swishing behind him. His two peridot feline eyes filled with joy staring at me.

 I climb on his back and it’s my turn to be carried around Paris.

 “See, I told you that you’re a great black cat, but now let’s head home, I'm getting hungry too.”

[koganeirou]

me before playing blue lions: haha I’m not like ~other girls~ I don’t like Dimitri and I think he’s boring and basic.

me after playing blue lions: I will die for Dimitri.

I finally finished Azure Moon!! Can’t believe it took me 4 damn months to finish this route. Just like with Crimson Flower, I decided to do a very long write up of my thoughts of this route after letting my thoughts marinate for a bit. There will be spoilers for both Azure Moon and Crimson Flower. Also disclaimer: these are just my personal opinions.

Tldr: this route was so fucking good!!!! I jumped ship from being team Edie/BE to team Dimitri/BL faster than Sylvain jumps girlfriends because I enjoyed this route more than Crimson Flower in almost every way possible. The Blue Lions are my KIDS and I will die for each and every one of them. Blue Lions may not be my first route/house, but this is where my heart rightfully lies. 

I guess the first thing I should get out of the way are the negatives. While this isn’t really a complaint about AM specifically and more so the narrative over the entire game... the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri seems really stupid and contrived. In other games, war happens because the villain is evil. In this game, war happens because the villain is fucking stupid. Basically, I still ain’t convinced that Edelgard’s war was ever necessary LMAO. She straight up nuked the church’s authority and relevancy out of orbit the chapter before the time skip, so she technically already accomplished her goal; why she still feels the need to go on a savage conquest alludes me. 

Speaking of nuking the church’s relevancy out of orbit, that’s exactly what happened to Rhea LOL. Despite all the church goons clamoring every .5 seconds about how they gotta save Rhea, we literally never see her again at all after the time skip, even at the end of the game. It makes no sense why Edelgard would keep Rhea imprisoned and not kill her, especially when Rhea seemingly served no greater purpose to Edelgard and became completely irrelevant in the war phase.

Edie says some mumbo jumbo of “I weighed the victims of this war against the victims of the world and I deem that there will be less victims of war” like bitch, how??? How do you tangibly quantify “victims of this world”. If she means “people who had a shitty life because of shitty society”, then those people are always going to exist because every society has its flaws. Even if you change society, you aren’t decreasing that number because you’re only solving problems by creating new ones (Edelgard’s specialty). Also the mental gymnastics you have to do to be tortured by an evil organization only to team up with said evil organization to take down another organization that, unless I missed something, isn’t even directly responsible for the death of all your siblings??? In both CF and AM, Edelgard comes off as incredibly thoughtless and illogical in her actions and I can’t help but feel that if she had been just a little bit more diplomatic, then maybe, just maybe, she could have found a better solution without starting a bloody war.

This brings me to the god forsaken chat between Edelgard and Dimitri. Dimitri demanding to know why Edelgard started the war only for her to go “it was the only way” has about the same narrative weight as “Riku why did you become one with the darkness?!” “Because I’m the worst”. Instead of bitching about whose ~ideals~ are better, how about y’all sit down and actually discuss what each person wants to accomplish and maybe figure out a way to accomplish these goals without murdering each other over it? Not that I think Edelgard would accept anything BUT murder, but jesus, this is why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to actual children.

Speaking of why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to children, god that Gronder battle. I get that it’s supposed to be an epic showdown between the three houses that mirrored the mock battle pre time skip but... the Kingdom had literally NO reason to fight the Alliance!!! The reasons they provided to justify why the Kingdom and Alliance couldn’t team up at Gronder was so fucking dumb, especially when two chapters down the line, Claude is knocking at our door begging for help. I will say tho, I never knew how much I appreciated himbo in distress Claude until now lmao.

Rodrigue's death was also really poorly done imo. As much as I liked having Dimitri’s father figure be the one to snap him out of his insanity, (I love found father/son relationships...) how on earth are you guys so fucking incompetent that you let this tiny little girl kill Rodrigue??? It doesn’t help that the exact same thing happened with Jeralt and Monica. This... just ain’t it, chief. 

I think the biggest bone I have to pick at AM specifically is... so what the fuck is the truth behind the Tragedy of Duscur LMAO??? They literally blue balled me by dropping the bomb of “Dimitri’s step mom may have conspired in it” ONLY TO NOT DO ANYTHING WITH IT. I assume that the full truth behind the Duscur tragedy will probably be revealed in VW (I hope) because it involves the slithers but it’s highkey ridiculous that the BL goons... never actually find out what really happened, and why. And I get that the story is about them moving on from their trauma and the past, but they should have at least figured out the actual truth behind it so they can get the closure they deserve???

Despite the gripes I have with some of the writing, unless VW or SS is mind blowingly amazing, this route will easily stand as the best route for me, because.... it is kind of is mind blowingly amazing. I wholeheartedly love character driven stories, and this route absolutely delivers in that respect-- the character writing is amazing and is essentially the heart of this story. To think Dimitri and the Blue Lions were the lord/house I was least interested in at first. Even after hearing people talk about what the BL goons and Dimitri’s character arc was roughly about, I was still blown away by just how damn fucking good it was, and this route exceeded my expectations in every way possible. 

When playing CF, I struggled to connect with a lot of the beagles; I didn’t have that problem at all with the BL goons and the route does a phenomenal job at making me actually give a shit about these characters and their problems. Childhood friend squad (+Marianne and Ashe) are easily my favourite characters in this game by a landslide, and the dynamic between not only the childhood friend squad, but all the BL goons, was just so, so amazing. Watching these characters that are seemingly joined by a single tragedy, rise above all their suffering as they grow, heal, and overcome hardship together is just so... MY KIDS... MY HEART..... I really got the sense of not only their shared pain, but also shared intimacy, care, and friendship. Their support conversations with each other had everything; from goofy and fun, to soothing and nurturing, to painful and harrowing. 

The connections that the BL goons have to the pre time skip missions gave part 1 story so much more meaning, and it only gets better after the time skip. I really appreciate that the BL bean boys actually feel relevant to the main story, and that their input and opinions actually mattered. The cast’s struggle to come to a consensus on the best course of action during the war phase made them feel like actual people with opinions, unlike in CF, where everyone was just a mindless passenger to Edie’s not so merry joyride. This also made Dimitri’s arc way more impactful because the narrative actually holds him accountable for the consequences that his behavior/poor decisions had on others. What I also really liked about the war phase is that you could just feel how war torn the kingdom was and how much everything went to shit after the time skip. I felt really strongly to the characters’ sense of hopelessness at fighting a losing battle as they struggled to keep their home land in tact while everything just kept spiraling out of control and deteriorating further. 

So to see the BL goon beans slowly, one battle at a time, turn the tide of the war and push back against the corner they were backed in, was SO fulfilling and rewarding. The battle of Fhirdiad is probably my favourite battle in the entire game because it felt like all the suffering and toiling that the BL goons went through was finally worth it, and just watching the kingdom slowly heal after being liberated was just such a good feeling. This kind of payoff is something I think CF sorely lacked, since tbh, I struggled to celebrate Edie’s victories with her. Though I do appreciate how Edie’s a much more threatening antagonistic force than either Dimitri or Rhea were in CF too bad Edelgard’s boss battle was pathetically easy and Dimitri shredded through her armor like swiss cheese... at least Rhea put up a slightly challenging fight.

I could gush about the characters all day, but Dimitri? He makes this game, 100%. This truly felt like his story and he was the star of this route. On a superficial level, I’m a basic bitch as well as a slut for angsty boys who have trouble talking about their trauma because I want them to rail me. I fucking loved his feral personality it was just so fun to watch and interact with LMAO 10/10 would let him use me until the flesh falls from my bones. His dialogue in this state is just so demeaning, belittling and raw that it somehow comes a full circle and becomes charming I promise I’m not a sick masochist.

I’m also a degenerate and dimileth is my otp. The way the relationship between Dimitri and Byleth develops over the game truly felt like a bond forged over time. The way Dimitri admits that he couldn’t trust Byleth at first because he was put off by the way they could “kill without batting an eye”, to being so elated when he sees them smile for the first time that he’s completely mesmerized when they starts expressing emotion... oof, talk about otp material. I think what really sold me is the way he’s their anchor after Jeralt’s death; their emotional support both in a traditional sense, but also in a darker sense when he declares he will kill anyone so they desire it because their enemies are his enemies. Character A declaring they’d die for character B? Soft shit. Character A declaring they’d kill for character B? A+ romance right there, boys. 

On a non superficial level, Dimitri’s character arc of his fall from grace and subsequent redemption was absolutely phenomenal. Just seeing how far he sinks, how far he goes, only to see how far he climbs his way back up after hitting rock bottom, was such a roller coaster and I loved every minute of it. I also probably like revenge stories more than I care to admit. Dimitri has everything; blood lust, cruelty, obsession, but also empathy and compassion so extreme that it’s his very own innate kindness that drives him into insanity, which is what makes him such a compelling character in my eyes. The extremity of his psychosis was absolutely heart breaking, but despite everything, him making the conscious decision to change for the better and rise up to fulfill his role as king was just astounding to watch. 

I will say though... maybe I have a screwed up moral compass but tbh Dimitri brutally killing imperial soldires didn’t really upset me because... this is war??? That he didn’t even start?? Everyone is killing everyone??? Even if he never went feral, he’d still be killing because his bloody kingdom is being invaded?????? But I digress.

While I think just how damn avoidable everything was kind of detracts from the tragedy of his relationship with Edelgard, I still really loved how steadfast and unconditional his love for her was (after he stops going feral), and you can tell just how much she meant to him every time he spoke of her. I also love how the dagger kind of becomes a symbolic motif throughout the story, and Edie throwing the dagger at him in the final cutscene as a sign of her wholehearted rejection of him was just fucking depressing, but also very fitting of her character. 

I adore the whole overarching narrative and themes surrounding grief and death, befitting of a war game. How, as tempting as it is to constantly keep the memory of the dead alive, there comes a point where you have to move on and not let your life be ruled by those no longer around. The way that the characters react to the death of loved ones and grieve so differently was a huge highlight of the BL squad’s characterizations, which just makes them feel more alive and human. Honestly, no words can really describe just how incredible of an experience Azure Moon was.

Anyway my order from favourite to least favourite BL goon bean boys are: Dimitri > Ashe >/= Sylvain >/= Felix > Ingrid > Mercedes > Annette > Dedue. (I love Ashe/Sylvain/Felix almost equally LOL)

tldr my experience with Azure Moon:

tfw my second best girl is childhood friends with all the best boys in the entIRE GAME and she settles for a guy with a dead wife, daughter, and most likely triple her age :|.

I’ll be finally playing Golden Deer next, which I’m gonna do on NG+ Maddening so.... hope that goes well!!