#of silly ideas he came up with while playing video games and gardening
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
rustandruin · 6 years ago
Text
Gerry 1000% had a drawing of Robert, Aaron, Liv, Seb, and him, in his sketchbook with the words, “My Family” scrawled on top.
29 notes · View notes
boydiisaster · 3 years ago
Note
It's so awesome there's blogs like yours out there trying to provide content for GN and Male fans. It's so hard to find anything even GN, and as a nonbinary person I just want you to know how much it's appreciated! If you're okay with taking requests right now, I have an Obey Me one? Do you have any headcanons on a poly/throuple relationship between a GN MC, Satan, and Solomon? Those two are surprisingly good friends in canon and alike in a lot of ways, I love them both so much!
throuple satan and solomon headcanons
reader: gender neutral, they/them pronouns
tw/cw: a bit of spoilers and fighting/blood mentions
author's note: AWW YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME CRY YOU'RE SO NICE, ANON :,) i'm trying my hardest to provide more content for other male and gender neutral readers out there, so i really hope that what i write is enjoyable for yall <33 also i haven't the slightest idea of satan and solomon's canon relationship because i'm only at like lesson 30 smth and don't keep up with my messages so i just pulled most of their dynamic for this out of my ass ( ._.)
Tumblr media
It was like a cat just met a dog when Satan and Solomon started dating. They have similarities, sure, but whereas Satan is cold and calculated with his spells, plans, and pranks, it's as if Solomon doesn't think. Like, ever.
How was someone so smart so insufferably stupid at the same time? It's as if Satan is his babysitter more than he's his boyfriend.
Oh god and when Solomon ropes you into doing something with him-
"I hate you both," Satan grumbles, checking your temperature and seeing how it's well above the normal temperature for humans. "Solomon, you can't just drag MC on all your dangerous adventures. They're much more human than you are."
"Just because I accidentally made a spell that cursed me with immortality doesn't mean I'm any less human than they are." Solomon crosses his arms at his boyfriend's hurtful words. "Besides, MC wanted to come with me. Isn't that right, MC?"
You didn't speak. That was probably because you had passed out from how incredibly fatigued you were. Your skin was sticky and noticeably sweaty, eyes closed shut while letting out painful whimpers.
"Tell me again just what happened to them?" Satan groans as he opens a spell book. God knows where he got it. He did that a lot. He was like a video game character or something the way he'd just pull books or spell jars from out his ass. He was always the one Mammon would ask for a pencil, because hell he had like hundreds on him at all times.
"Well," Solomon cheekily smiles and scratches the back of his neck. "We went looking for some herbs for a new spell I concocted."
"Uh huh?"
"And MC sort of... fell."
"What did they fall on, Solomon?"
Said man falls silent. "Solomon?" Satan drags out his lover's name, threatening him, to which all Solomon can do is smile again, this time more nervous.
"They kind of, maybe, fell into a bush of what could have been poisonous flowers...."
"What kind of poisonous flowers, Solomon?" Satan glares at him.
Solomon thinks for a moment, then clasps his hands together. "Let's just say that if we don't get Diavolo or Lucifer in the next," he looks toward a clock, "fifteen or so minutes, MC might fall asleep for probably a whole millennium."
That earns the sorcerer a big thwack to the back of his head by Satan's spell book.
That was probably the first major incident where you were dragged into Solomon's dangerous plans, but it certainly wasn't the last. Most of the time you either ended up with several scrapes or bruises, things Satan or Solomon could easily patch up on their own. But sometimes you'd come back missing a shirt or as a cat.
(It's hard for Satan to be mad at Solomon for accidentally turning you into a cat, but he manages it because you were furious.)
... You were a really cute cat though, MC.
A cat was frantically trying to climb up Satan's pant leg. He was out in the garden tending to his flowers when a kitty he'd never seen before made their way through the bushes and crashed into his leg.
"Hello little one," he smiled at the cat. "Are you lost?"
The cat let out a pitiful wail and latched themselves onto Satan's leg. Satan frowned a bit and started to get worried. "Are you hurt? What's wrong?"
He picked up the cat to examine them. They were a cute little thing with [eye color] eyes and a sleek fur coat. Satan couldn't see anything physically wrong with them. Their paws looked fine, and there was no blood anywhere.
"Did you lose your mom? Maybe your kitten?" he began to muse, then Solomon exploded through the bushes looking frantic as ever.
"Have you seen a cat?" he gasped for air. "About this tall, [eye color] eyes, clearly upset?"
"You mean this one?" Satan held up the cat he found.
"Yes! Give them here-"
The cat hissed and clawed at Solomon's hand, burying themselves further into Satan's grasp. They growled, then looked toward Satan to let out another pitiful whine.
"MC, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Solomon cried.
The cat hissed again.
"I'm sorry, did you just say MC?"
Solomon stiffened. He started to laugh nervously, fiddling with his cuffs. "Uh... would you break up with me if I told you I turned our darling MC into a tiny cat...? If so then no, I didn't say MC."
"You did what?!"
"Oh would you look at the time! I have a meeting with Lord Diavolo I must attend to right now, goodbye Satan, I love you!"
And then Solomon left, leaving Satan to fix whatever spell he put on their partner by himself. Satan wasn't angry about it, but the look of pure rage on your little furry face was enough to let Satan know that if he kept you as a cat for a moment longer you'd raise hell upon everyone in the vicinity.
Having a pact with a demon means that pretty much everything you do is shared with said demon. You feel emotions stronger, god forbid if you feel their specific emotions. You could be angry at Mammon for swiping a bag of candy you bought for yourself, but you act as if Mammon robbed you of every last thing you had just because of the pact you share with Satan. He feels awful about that, even though you reassure him time and time again that:
1.) It's not his fault, and
2.) You wanted a pact with him
Even so, please give Satan cuddles and kisses after he gets all sulky. He acts composed, but on the inside he's so incredibly self-conscious of both his sin and his pact with you.
"You need to be more careful," Satan quietly mused as he bandaged your hurt hands and face. You had gotten into a fight at school because a demon shoved you, and now you were currently inside Satan's room, getting blood all over his pretty carpet.
"I know," you softly sighed and hissed once the rubbing alcohol came into contact with the cuts on your face. "I just, I don't know. It set me off for some reason."
Your boyfriend hesitated for a moment, then applied a bandage to your cheek. "It's because of the pact."
"Satan-"
"You know I'm right, MC." Satan didn't look at you when he talked. Instead he looked at his lap, which had the first aid kit he was using to fix you up in it. "I know I talk about this a lot but... I am truly sorry for doing this to you."
"Hey," you cupped his cheek. "It's not your fault. I can learn to live with this. I learnt to handle my greed, envy, and gluttony when I built pacts with your brothers, right?"
"You shouldn't have to though. Maybe it's best if I-"
You silently kissed him. It was a bittersweet kiss, one filled with love yet unspeakable sadness and hurt. Satan was so self-conscious of his sin, yet you loved him still anyway. You wished he could see that.
"Don't finish that thought," you whispered as you pulled away. Resting your forehead against his, you continued. "I love you. Despite your sin, despite how you were born, despite everything; I love you. I chose you, and I wanted a pact with you." You smiled, and Satan couldn't help but blush at your next sentence.
"You silly demon. You really can't see how amazing you are, huh? It's okay though, because both me and Solomon will always be here to remind you."
Solomon touches all your pact marks constantly. When you take off your shirt it's hard to stop him from touching Leviathan's mark located directly on your back. He's always rubbing his fingers over Beelzebub's symbol on your stomach, always outlining Mammon's mark on your wrist. Sometimes he kisses Belphegor's symbol on your throat. When meeting your eyes, he never fails to stare into the one that holds Lucifer's mark, and even though you cover your thighs almost all the time, it's like Solomon can tell where Asmodeus's mark is. It's his favorite place on your thigh to touch.
You sighed whenever you felt Solomon's lips touch the small of your back. A smile made its way onto your own lips as you giggled.
"I didn't expect Satan to place his mark somewhere so... subtle," he admitted as he popped up to press a kiss to your cheek.
You looked at him out of the corner of your eye. He was playing with your wrist again, looking at the symbol of greed that adorns your skin.
"Solomon," you started.
Your lover hummed. You could tell he was beginning to grow drowsy. His eyes were closed and his movements slowed.
"Are you... jealous?"
That woke him up. He made you face him, and the expression he wore was unreadable. It worried you. Maybe you shouldn't have said that.
"I just mean, like," you grew embarrassed. "Um... you're always touching my pact marks, or always looking at them, and I don't know. Are you mad at me for them?"
The sorcerer gently grasped your hands. His fingers were weirdly soft considering how much he uses them. He sat there for a moment, just running his thumbs over your palms before speaking.
"I am a little," he admitted. "But I'm not mad at you. If anything I'm proud."
You smiled a bit. It was a lopsided and awkward sort of smile, but to Solomon it was the most beautiful thing in the world, as cheesy as that sounded.. He loves seeing his partners happy. He loves seeing you happy.
"You're much stronger than you think," Solomon continued. "Being able to hold seven different pact marks, ones belonging to Avatars, as a human with no sort of prior knowledge on magic?" He beamed. "You're incredible."
That only embarrassed you more. You groaned a bit and tried swatting Solomon away to hide your face, but your lover only pulled you in for a short yet loving kiss.
"You're cute, you know that?"
"You're cuter," you retorted. Solomon just smiled.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, dear. Speaking of which," he leaned back on your bed and made grabby hands at you, indicating that he wanted you to lay next to him. "I'm tired. Cuddle me."
"So needy," you joked, but instantly complied to Solomon's request. He was never like this in public. It was nice seeing him so open and vulnerable... and cute.
178 notes · View notes
gainingexjock · 4 years ago
Text
THE OBESE BROTHERS
Charles was a young babysitter and cared for the elderly for extra money. He was 18 and had never had a long term caring job, that was until today.
He had put an AD out in the local newspaper hoping someone would reply, to his pleasure he got one. It was a mother hoping for a carer that could look after her two teenage boys, one 18 and one 19. Charles presumed they had a disability or she was just a very overprotective mother and that’s why they had a carer at that age.
A week later
It was his first day caring for the two boys and he pulled his car up to the gates of the house. It was a very large house clearly with some other members of staff like gardeners, a chef and cleaners.
“Welcome you must be Charles” a voice came from behind him as he got out the car
“ I am Heidi”
“Hey, nice to meet u, u can call me Charlie btw”
“Okay Charlie, thank you for accepting the job request so quickly. It’s just I work a lot and really need someone full time to look after my special boys”
“No worries, I am so happy to have got the job”
“That’s good, now let me bring you inside and you can meet billy and Harry”
Heidi led Charlie through the large house and up the stairs to the second floor. They past two rooms that looked very much like teenage boys rooms with football posters on the walls and various other things lying around the rooms.
“These were the boys rooms, they outgrew them though and needed somewhere more suited for their specific needs” Heidi told Charlie
She took him further until they reached the end of the corridor and two large double doors
“Please don’t be too shocked, my boys will be embarrassed and I wouldn’t want that”
She opened the doors and the smell of bo and food hit me, someone clearly had been living in these rooms for months maybe years. Around the corner of the room I saw two large steel framed beds, on both of them lay completely naked two very very fat boys.
Backstory ( both billy and Harry used to be high school jocks, playing football and various other activities. After they both suffered a accident in football that left them unable to walk for 3 months they began to gain weight, Heidi kept them in their rooms in fear they would hurt themselves. She told the chefs to cook for them and make them whatever they wanted, and so both the boys appetites and bodie grew massively. Until a point they only played video games and ate, they dropped out of school because their mother feared bullying and so became morbidly obese)
Heidi walked over to her boys rubbing Harry’s belly
“ say hello boys, this is Charlie. He will be your carer and provide you with anything u need”
Both of them tried to look over “ hey Charlie” they said
I was still in shock as I looked at the two boys, but I remembered what Heidi said
“Hey guys, I hope we can become good freinds and u guys will feel comfortable with me working here”
Harry was the older one of the two and must have weighed around 450 pounds, he had blonde hair and was clearly very attractive in his early days. He was very rounded in shape having a huge belly that hang to his knees and huge moobs that hang to each side.
Billy was younger but was a lot fatter, he had brown curly hair and he must be almost 550 pounds and had the biggest bum Charlie had ever seen. It pushed out each side of his body and his thighs where so large that you couldn’t see his penis for it was completely covered.
“I shall leave you boys to chat and I am going away for a few weeks for work”
Heidi left the room and the boys, she also left instructions with the chefs to feed billy and Harry as much as they wanted while also feeding Charlie whatever he desired.
Charlie got to know the boys and after a few days of working there he was very comfortable around them, both were almost immobile and too lazy to move from their beds. So Charlie had to wash them there, he spent a good hour washing both of them each day then adding lotion to their skin. He also got chatting to the boys and found that their mother Heidi was one of the reasons they had gained so much weight, in fact she almost encouraged them to gain as much as they desired.
Heidi’s work trip got extended and so she was away for several months. As Charlie was spending so much time with the boys he found their habits were beginning to lay off on him. When he had finished his duties he would lay on a third bed between them both and just gorge on food the chefs brought them and played video games. He also began sleeping in the same room as them both. As teenage boys who had been obese for several years now neither of them had had any girlfriends or boyfriends. And so Charlie began to notice that the boys wanted him to pleasure them at night. He would search around in their mounds of fat to find their penis and would then push against it rubbing against their fat in order to get them off.
Charlie had began to gain weight, he was never thin and had arrived at around 250 pounds but by the time Heidi got back from her buisness trip he was almost 350. Both boys had gained massively as well becoming even fatter than they had been. He was sure they added something to the food that made you gain more weight
“My boys” Heidi cried, running into the bedroom giving them both a big hug and climbing on top of their huge bellies
“ hey Charlie how have u been”
“Good thank u”
“ I see my boys have been helping u fill out” she sound poking my stomach
“Well I shall leave u boys till later, but I have made the chefs out on a special treat for u tonight”
Later that evening the chefs arrived through the doors of the bedroom, pushing huge carts of food. It was a buffet of every type of food imaginable and all three boys where waited on and fed for hours until every scrap was gone.
Charlie lay there, more bloated than he had ever been. His Calvin Klein underwear stretched to its limit and cutting in to his now much larger stomach and thighs. He pulled the briefs down to ease the discomfort
“Charlie come here my stomach hurts, and my briefs are too tight” billy cried
Charlie took three attempts to roll over to billy as he tried to remove his specially made underwear. Billy was right it was far too tight and was cutting deep into the mounds of flesh and fat
“It hurts Charlie” billy cried again
Charlie pulled against the briefs, as he did he heard the ripping sound as they released billy’s body. His thighs rippled and wobbled continuesly almost knocking Charlie to the floor
“Is that better ?” Charlie asked
“Much thank you” billy responded
“Your are looking quite big Charlie” Harry said from the other side of the beds
“Have u gained any weight ?”
“I don’t know” Charlie responded
“Jump on the scales over there Charlie I wanna know how big you have gotten”
Charlie heaved himself up, suddenly remembering that he too was completely naked and not being fat enough for his penis to be hidden he found himself exposed in front of the boys. He tried not to think about it as he wobbled over to the scales, he stepped on and waited till he heard the ping. He tried to look down but found his belly to be hiding his view, he leaned forward some more just enough to see the scales read 425 pounds.
WHAT !! HE WAS HUGE
“ how have i gotten so big” he shouted
“It must have been that feast the chefs made, mum often puts her special weight gain powder in our food to help us grow. But it must have had a extra special affect on you Charlie” billy explained
“How much did we gain” Harry asked
Charlie went round to the scale by the side of Harry’s bed, it read 750 !
“Omg u r 750 pounds !”
“Yesss, that’s brilliant Harry” billy shouted
“I am so pleased, mummy is really helping me gain that weight I wanted” said Harry excitedly
“Wait you want to gain this weight?” Asked Charlie
“Ofc we do silly, how else do you think we got this big. After our football accident we got lazy and started gaining weight, we found that we actually loved it and so mum helped us” explained billy
“Yeh and you are looking pretty good charlie, maybe you should gain like us” Harry said
A feeling of pleasure went through Charlie’s body, he never thought that the idea of him becoming so obese like Harry and billy would please him so much
“I mean I guess I could”
“Great, but first come read my scale” billy said boastly
Charlie walked round to read the scale
“900 pounds !! You are 18 and weigh 900 pounds ! That must be a record”
“I hope so haha” shouted billy
Harry ring the bell by the side of his bed, Heidi came running in a few moments later
“What is it my love’s, r u hungry ?? Wait what is going on”
Charlie remembered that he was stood there naked in front of her with Billy’s ripped underwear laying on the floor
“We have some good news mummy, Charlie wants to be fat and greedy like us! He wants to be fed just like us”Harry said
“Oh that’s brilliant news, get in your bed Charlie I don’t want u burning calories. I shall call for the chefs to make you all a midnight snack at once”
She ran out the room as Charlie climbed onto the bed and fell onto the sheets exhausted from all that just happened. Billy and Harry called for assistance to move their monstrous bodies closer to Charlie. The chefs walk in to a wonderful sight, three fat boys laying side by side enjoying their lust for food and all rubbing each other’s full belly’s as they ate
TWO MONTHS LATER
It had taken a while for Heidi to find a new carer for her boys, but this one had his work cut out as he walked into the room to see three obese boys laying naked with their rolls and rolls of fat on show on steel enforced beds. The new carer had to clean each of them, pushing through their rolls to clean their skin and clean up after the inevitable consequences of eating that much food. But the three boys each pleasured each other to the best of their ability at such huge sizes, and they continued to grow with the support of their mum
97 notes · View notes
violetarks · 4 years ago
Text
Just A Game: Nope
Anime: My Hero Academia (SMAU)
LEVEL DOWN | MENU | LEVEL UP
Tumblr media
A few hours later, he came around with some sushi.
Kaminari went to the bathroom and as he passed the hallway window, he noticed Shinso getting out of his car. So he raced back to warn Y/N.
She stood there for a few moments before taking a deep breath in. She said she would talk to him. It stunned everyone.
Judging by the last time she faced a conflict like this, the way she acted now was way different. She didn't want to ignore the problem, she wanted to face it. It was unusual for her to do so.
Kaminari offered to come. He was worried for Y/N. Everyone there was. But he felt his heart heave the most when she said she wanted to talk to him. Although, Y/N still insisted on going alone.
"What are you doing here, Shinso?" Y/N asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Shinsos stopped on his tracks. He wasn't even inside yet and she was in front of him. "I... was gonna' drop off some lunch because you seemed a little out of it during our texts." He claimed, holding a bento box, "Are you okay?"
Y/N tilted her head to the side and mumbled out, "I'm fine. Although I was wondering when your part in Uraraka's video comes up." She watched as he stiffened in his shoes. "Because I watched the full 45 minute thing, and you were nowhere to be found."
"My parts were probably cut out." He told her, shrugging his shoulders, "Don't worry about it, I don't do much."
Y/N squinted at him before clenching the fabric of her shirt. "That's a lie, Shinso." She stated, "I talked to Uraraka. She said you had nothing to do with the video. And that you weren't even filming with them."
Shinso froze. He didn't think she'd go so far. But she did and now he was found out. "Okay..." He sighed out, dropping his shoulders into a slouch, "I'm... I wasn't in the video and I didn't help... I'm sorry, Y/N."
"Why did you lie to me?" She asked, lofting her head up to stare him in the eyes.
"Because I..." He started, but found himself struggling to finish. Todoroki's words rang in his head. 'You have to tell the truth to some of us'. Why did that stop him now?
"Because I didn't want you to know why I really missed out on our date."
"And why did you miss out on our date?"
A part of them wanted to be thrilled for announcing that it was officially a date, to the both of them. But they couldn't right now.
"I... drank too much coffee the night before because I wanted to make sure which one I liked before going out with you." Shinso stated. It felt like a weight off of his chest, but he knew just admitting this wouldn't make things any better.
No matter what, that little part of him wanted for Y/N to never know the real reason he don't make it to their date. Or maybe for her to forget now that she knows. Maybe it was his pride or his insecurity.
She only grit her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose. On the inside, she found it kind of cute that he was going so far. But that doesn't mean lying was okay for that.
"Shinso, why are you keeping secrets from me?" She huffed out.
"Why not?" He retorts, his defenses pulling up, "Why should I always tell you the truth?"
This was his barrier. He'd become snarky and sarcastic in times when he was freaking the Hell out, like now. His mind was screaming at him for doing this whilst his mouth kept ratting off whatever bullshit he thought of. It was horrible and he knew full well that it was.
She was shocked. She took a step forward to him. "I thought we were finally getting somewhere, Shinso..." She mumbled out to him, blinking her eyes, "I really wanted to get to know you. Maybe we could've been friends or—..."
Shinso's heart was beating so fast at what she was saying. It's been weeks since they met. Shinso would be lying if he said his YouTube history wasn't filled of her videos and best stream moments. He adored her. Even from the start. His first 'research' task was when they went to the shops together. He liked how she seemed like a normal person and not some big time streamer. She was amazing and he knew that from the start.
Getting to know Y/N was like a very hard game that only few dare to play. You have to get passed her jokes and Daisuke talk to see that she's actually very caring and wants to please everyone. Under that, she was hard-working and driven. And beneath that, she was insecure of letting people in.
He could tell by the fact that she became so wary and walled in after he didn't show for their date. It took a while to break those walls down.
They had texted for weeks after that and he simply made it back to his respawn point where Y/N would make jokes about Daisuke being her child. He could go in with another life.
"I don't know if this is just a game to you, but this is my life, Shinso." Y/N stated, pulling Shinso out of his gaming thoughts, "I... really wanted to let you in. But not anymore."
Shinso could feel his embarrassed anger piling up. He didn't want the dam to break but it most definitely did. "You only wanted me in my life because you think I'm pretty, Y/N." He told her.
"That's not true!" She called out, feeling even more offended now.
"You don't know anything about me." He claimed, waving a hand in the air, "You only like me because you think I'm hot. Name one thing about me. Go on."
She looked angered by his statement, like she wanted to pound his face in. But when Y/N relaxed a little, she released her fists at her sides. She looked up to Shinso, furrowed brows.
"No. I don't want to name the things I know about you." She said lowly. She stepped forward, jabbing a finger into Shinso's chest harshly.
"Because fuck you, Shinso. I thought I knew you enough to say you were a good person, but now I see that I really don't know who the Hell you are. And if this is you, then I don't want to."
With that, she turned away and shut the door behind her. Looking up, she saw Jirou, Kaminari, Kirishima and Bakugou standing there. They most definitely were eavesdropping.
They didn't say a word, only making their way back up to the studio.
"Get off your phone, Y/N."
She looked up from her screen, seeing Bakugou standing in front of her. He had his hands on his hips, one of them with his drum sticks encased inside. He looked irritated and strict, making Y/N sigh and place her device back on the couch. She was going through her silly text messages with Shinso.
It had been two hours since he left, Y/N declaring that she didn't want anything to do with someone who wouldn't tell her the truth.
"Right, right, I gotta' focus." She said, rummaging through the piles of papers that had lyrics written on them, "I can't get distracted anymore!"
They were all pre-written, half of them Jirou's and a quarter each for both Y/N and Kaminari. Some of them were absolute shit, written at 4 AM with alcohol running through their systems. Others were well-written but only half done, abandoned as soon as another idea popped into their head. Only few were great and finished.
"Still mad about Shinso?" Kaminari asks from apposite her, sitting on the floor with his electric guitar on his lap.
Y/N nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." She responded quietly back, trying to re-read the sentence over again, "But that doesn't matter anymore. We're working on a video. I can't let you guys take all the work."
They all exchanged looks before Y/N grabbed her drink from the table. As she sipped, Bakugou clicked his tongue and stood up from his spot on the couch, moving to the drum set.
"That bastard doesn't deserve it." He claims, twirling the drum sticks in between his fingers, "He should've just told you the fucking truth from the start."
Y/N had reached out to Uraraka as soon as she realised that Shinso had lied. She asked the brunette if he was in the video at all, and she asked for the truth. Uraraka did tell her the truth. That Shinso wasn't a part of the video. At all. She also apologised for the things he did. Y/N said it wasn't her fault and that she didn't need to apologise.
"What's so great about him anyway?" Jirou questioned, tuning her bass guitar.
Y/N blinked a fee times at her. "He's just... so calm and I felt loose around him, like with you guys." She admitted, playing with the corner of the paper in her hand, "It was like he went out of his way just to talk to me. It was nice."
The smile she wore soon fell. Because she realised she was smiling. And needed to stop.
"I guess not anymore." She mumbled out, placing her hand on the table, "If he has to lie about filming a video as an excuse."
Everyone noticed how down she was. Usually when she was upset, they'd play games and stuff to help her. She would even play Minecraft, it was relaxing. Kaminari once deleted a whole lot of footage for an upcoming video and got Y/N to calm down by building her a flower garden in her world.
But she refused this time. She didn't want anyone to see how badly Shinso affected her. It was horrible. But she wanted to work.
"Maybe if we liked each other some more, then this wouldn't have happened." She whispers to herself.
Kirishima eyes a stack of papers. "Hey, what about this one?" He asked, trying to pull her out of her thoughts, "Have you done this one yet?"
Y/N plucked the paper out of his hands. She then shook her head upon reading it. "Nope. I haven't." She informed them, passing around the paper to Jirou, "Me and Jirou worked on it but we can't get the third verse right."
Once Kaminari got the paper, he gasped and searched for another one. "Wait, wait, wait!" He shouted out, waving the lyrics in the air, "I've got something perfect for this!"
He shoved the stack of papers into Y/N's lap. She chuckled, reading through them, "Wow, Denki, these are great. I bet we can use them for this song." She stood up and walked over to the other electric guitar. "Katsuki, can you follow along? Jirou has bass line and I have main plucking."
Bakugou nodded his head, ready to play.
The air seemed better now that she was distracted. Everyone silently cheered for Kirishima, thanking him for finding a solution to this unspoken problem.
They started playing, Bakugou falling in line with the drumming and Jirou teaching Kaminari the base chords.
Kaminari said the lyrics he wrote didn't quite suit his voice, which is why he dropped the song after getting to the chorus. He has asked Bakugou to sing it and he refused. He said he'd kill him if he asked again. So Kaminari asked Kirishima, who sheepishly accepted after the blonde assured him that his voice fit perfectly.
"Y/N, you doing okay?" Kaminari asked, hand on his hip, "You seem more tired than usual."
She waved her hand. "I keep messing up the plucking. It's freaking hard to keep it in line while singing." She sighed out, stretching her fingers out.
"Why don't I play the plucking while you sing?" Kirishima offered, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood by Bakugou, "You sing the chorus' and the first and second verse. So I can play the rest to take it off your hands. Easy."
Y/N smiled, looking at him with a grateful gaze. "That'd be great, Eijiro. Thank you." She said, handing him the electric guitar. As she began teaching him the chords and the plucking, Jirou, Kaminari and Bakugou stood by.
"Really brings you back, huh?" Kaminari said, staring at them. They all looked so happy.
"Yeah. Back in high school, when all this was just a pipe dream." Jirou laughed quietly, shaking her head. She would've never dreamed of having her own studio.
Bakugou hardened his glance at Y/N. "Should've kept her safe." He told them.
Jirou and Kaminari shared a look.
"There's only so much we can do for her. She's bound to fight for herself at some point. Y/N's strong."
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Fun Fact: Y/N and Jirou have a bunch of things they've worked on. Jirou's played alongside her in many video games, sometimes with Mina too. And Y/N's featured in many of Jirou's songs. 'On Board Bebop' is Y/N's most recent project that her fans begged her to make with Jirou featured, which is a pile of songs she wrote with her passion and emotions. That's because the way 'Cowboy Bebop' ended made Y/N feel different than she was before she watched it.
TAGS: @just-some-stars @freyafolkvangr @headfirst-halo @wotsitgirl @falling4fandoms @katsuki-bakuhoee @adorable-punk-superheroes @firecet @ouijaeater15 @swoonhui @thegalxe @caitff @camry-orphanaccount @angelofdarkness1020 @someweirdshitman @jazzylove
90 notes · View notes
bluesfortheredj · 4 years ago
Text
Let your worries float away.
Smut ahead.
Lockdown had been tough on everyone; mentally, physically, and everything in between. It was tough not seeing family, it was tough not seeing friends, and it was really tough not being able to see the person you’d fallen for just before the world decided to go to shit face to face. Ben was everything you could have wanted, he was funny, kind, big hearted, compassionate, very handsome, and now you could only see him in real time through a computer or phone screen. You tried to look on the bright side; you were getting to know each other on a much deeper level than you probably would have if you had continued to meet up in person, but it was also torture when all you wanted to do was hold his hand or slide your arms around his body for a cuddle.
“I really miss you,” he admits out of the blue as soon as your next video call starts on one particularly rough day, “I know it sounds silly, but I wish I could hold you.”
You stare into those beautiful green orbs that shone so brightly when he was sitting on his bed facing the window, “I really miss you too, and it doesn’t sound silly at all. I wish I was in your arms right now.”
“I just…” he pauses to sigh and looks away from the camera for a moment before returning his gaze to the phone, “I know that you’re the one I want to be with. I’ve never opened up to anyone like I have done with you, and it’s not even because of the situation we’re in, I just feel like I can talk to you about anything.”
“I feel the same,” you smile, your face beginning to feel hotter by the second.
“Shit, this is so frustrating,” he chuckles softly, “I really want to touch you… hug you… be near you!”
You giggle quietly, “hopefully it won’t be too long until we can see one another.”
“Wait… are you watching the news?” he asks, his eyes flicking from the phone to the TV behind it as a smile begins to spread across his lips, “oh my god, it won’t be long until we can see each other!”
“What do you mean?! I haven’t got the telly on!”
“Bubbles!” Ben laughs triumphantly, “we’re allowed to mix in bubbles!”
“What on earth are you on about?”
“You can create a ‘support bubble’ with another household… so… will you be my bubble?”
“Don’t you want to see your family?!”
“I want to see you,” he says sincerely as he stares directly into the camera, “and we don’t have to social distance if it’s just us we see.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Everyone else I know has someone with them, including family, and we’re both alone, so why not?”
“You make a good point… my mum and dad are together and they are quite far away so making a support bubble with them wouldn’t be as easy...” you pause as you think about it carefully, and you know that soon enough you would be able to see them anyway if restrictions were being eased now, “okay, let’s do it.”
“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me,” he sighs with relief as he drags his hand down from his forehead to his chin, “this couldn’t have come at a better time.”
You rest your head on your hand as you look at the screen and his giddy expression that fills the space, and your stomach flutters at the thought of seeing him in the flesh again. Things seemed to have gotten quite serious between the two of you over the last couple of months even though you couldn’t physically be together and you were hoping these feelings wouldn’t fade once you met again.
The day soon came around; you’d only had to wait a week for these new measures to be put into place and it had gone surprisingly fast which was both good and bad with how anxious you were feeling about him turning up on your doorstep after such a long time apart. The knock at your door made you jump even though you were expecting it, and you practically run to the door yet hesitate when it comes to opening it.
“Hi,” Ben grins breathlessly after having taken the stairs two at a time to get to your flat.
“Hi,” you reply shyly as you run your fingers along the door handle nervously and step aside for him to enter.
“This is weird… being in someone else’s place, I mean… it’s been so long.”
“Yeah, it’s strange having someone enter the flat,” you chuckle as you close the door behind him.
“Can I hug you? I promise I haven’t got it… well, not that I know of, but I-”
You cut him off mid sentence as you throw your body against his and wrap your arms around him tightly, and he laughs as he returns the embrace, burying his face in your neck as he revels in the much needed human contact, especially from you. This was a special moment for both of you; it had been months since you were able to touch anyone else, and the fact that the first contact with another human being was with each other only cemented your relationship.
“I don’t want to let you go,” Ben mumbles into your hair.
“Are you just saying that because I’m the first person you’ve hugged since lockdown?” you laugh.
“No!” he protests, pulling away slightly so he can see your face, “I’m saying it because I genuinely do not want to let you go.”
“I can live with that.”
Every day he visited went the same way; a long embrace followed by cooking together and watching the telly or playing a board game until he went home again. You should never have been worried about feelings fading once you met again, as they only grew stronger the more you saw one another, and you were soon seeing each other almost every day of the week. Ben was kind when you were anxious about the state of the world and would gladly hold you as you sat together on the sofa, stroking your arm until you felt the tension lift from your shoulders and the clouds in your mind part to allow you to think more clearly.
“How about we get away for a few days?” he asks after one particularly bad anxiety attack, “places are starting to open for people to stay, so why don’t we go down to the coast for a while?”
“That would be lovely,” you nod before sighing and melting into his torso.
Ben gets his phone out straight away, scrolling through booking apps to see what’s open to guests, and he soon finds a cottage by the beach with it’s own pool in the garden that’s available for an upcoming weekend. After passing it by you quickly and you promising to pay half he books it, and after months of not leaving the area you’re finally able to become excited about travelling out of the city and into some fresh air.
“So this means we’re serious now, you know that right?” Ben grins as you tilt your head up to look at the smile tugging at his soft lips.
“Well it’s about time,” you smirk.
Lockdown had almost got the better of you but now that you were packing a case ready for a weekend by the sea you were feeling better already, even though you were squeezing in a box of face masks and enough hand sanitiser for ten people. Ben had even bought a novelty swan float for the pool after being swept up in the excitement of it all, and you were looking forward to getting there to try it out and hopefully have your worries float away.
“Ready?!” Ben calls out, hopping from one foot to the other and jingling his keys impatiently.
“Yes!” you laugh as you emerge from the bedroom with your case, “let’s go!”
The journey to the coast was exciting enough as it was, and by the time you arrive at the cottage you’re both buzzing with enthusiasm; falling through the door in fits of giggles with your cases as your stresses have been left way back in the city. You begin to unpack upstairs as Ben runs out to the garden and begins to pump up the float like an excited child.
“(Y/N)! Come on!” he calls out as he begins to strip off next to the pool.
“Don’t tell me you were wearing swim shorts under your clothes the whole way here?!” you laugh as you step out into the modest garden.
“Uh huh,” he nods, sticking his tongue out a little as he tilts his head to the huge float now bobbing along in the water.
“Oh my god! I didn’t expect it to be that big!”
“Not the first time I’ve heard that,” he winks.
You roll your eyes and tut at him, “I’ll be back in a bit, I’ll just get changed.”
You’re back within a couple of minutes and Ben’s already lounging on the float in the starfish position with a huge smile on his face, and you gently dip yourself into the pool then climb up to join him with some help where you eventually settle in between his thighs with your back resting on his bare chest.
“Now this, this is what I’ve been dreaming of since we got locked down,” Ben sighs happily as his hands run down your sides and land on your hips.
“Mhmm,” you hum in agreement, “I think this was definitely worth the wait.”
Your hands rest just below his knees as his fingers begin to walk their way across your bikini bottoms and you involuntarily bite down on your lower lip until they stop to ask for permission. Ben holds his breath as you slowly spread your legs wider, giving him the consent he needed, then he exhales while his fingertips slip beneath the fabric and begin to explore a place they’d never been before. He plays, he teases, he runs along your slit so gently that you move your hips forward to try and gain some friction, and you can feel his quiet laugh vibrate against your back when you do so.
“Ben,” you breathe as your fingers tighten on his skin, “please.”
He pushes your bottoms down to your thighs and you wriggle your legs until you’re able to flick them off of one foot and into the pool, then he spreads your lips with one hand so the other has uninterrupted access to your sensitive nub and waiting entrance. He slips two fingers inside you before beginning to pump quickly in and out while his thumb rubs pleasurable circles around your sweet spot, and your grip on his legs is as tight as it can go as you lean your head back on his shoulder and let out a series of short pants.
“Does it feel good?” he whispers hoarsely.
“So good,” you whimper, “oh god, so good.”
Your eyes close as his rhythm gets faster and you’re already unbelievably close to the edge as the float bobs along on the water thanks to the movement you were both making. It was a strange sensation; you were filled with so much pleasure and the fact that your body was floating on water was making you dizzy as you neared your climax, and all too soon you were pulsating around his thick digits, your eyes now wide open as you moan his name.
“Shit, that was hotter than I thought it would be,” Ben says as he removes his fingers to suck them clean, “round two?”
“My turn,” you smile as you manage to move your legs until you’re kneeling up, then turn to face him.
The float wobbles beneath your knees but you steady yourself on his thighs and when it’s stopped moving so much you tug his shorts down and waste no time in taking him in your mouth, much to his surprise judging by his gasped groan.
“Holy shit!”
He looks down to see one of your hands on his thigh as the other moves up and down his stiff length just below your mouth, and he moves your hair to one side so he can see your lips sliding up and down his shaft. His body moves more than yours did and you’re definitely not steady on the dipped part of the float where most of your body weight is pushing it down into the water, but you’re determined to get him off before you sink into the water at least.
“(Y/N), bloody hell,” he whines, his hips bucking up off of the float and shaking you both.
You bravely move your hand from his thigh to slip it underneath his sack and massage it gently in your hand, and you can hear a moan from above you with every breath he takes which only spurs you on; your cheeks being sucked all the way in every time you reach his tip. He’s unable to move his arms after they were shocked into position by your bold move, and he stays gripping onto the sides of the float so hard he wouldn’t be surprised if he heard a loud pop. A string of whispered words falls from his lips but you can barely make them out over the sound of the water in the pool lapping up at the plastic of the float, and you soon feel his arousal cover your tongue as his body relaxes beneath your hands, and when it’s disappeared down your throat you finally look up and wipe the back of your hand along your mouth with a chuckle.
“Well that was unexpected,” you smile.
“You’re telling me!” he pants, pulling you in for a passionate kiss.
Hello! I have this giant swan pool float and it gave me an idea...Would it be possible for you to do a fic where Ben Hardy and the female reader are dating and they end up doing it on the float since its big enough for 2 people?
@peachllobotomy @lv7867 @aynsleywalker @pink-lemo @painthatiusedto @itisjustmethistime @mamaskillerqueen @queenslandlover-93
163 notes · View notes
iron-mum · 4 years ago
Note
Hello hi how are you????!!!! I wish you would write a fic where Tony is jealous of the other avengers because Peter starts to spend some time with them instead of him. But like Tony's being all abandoned dad and trying to come up with solutions while Peter being all oblivious to all and being all sweet and polite boi? And maybe the other avengers are like secretly teasing Tony? Maybe? I dont know I think I'm just a sucker for some cute domestic hurt-comfort kinda thing. But like if you dont like it just ignore meeee ♡♡♡
Okay so firstly, thank you so much for the request. I’m really well thank you, I hope you’re doing okay! 💕 In true Kat form, me trying to drabble isn’t doing great - I did say I need the practice 😂 I didn’t want to leave you waiting too long so here’s a part 1 of Tony being jealous of Scott and Stephen. I already have a bunch of ideas for Bruce, Thor, Nat and Clint (I stopped there because I am also participating in two events and couldn’t allow too much side tracking). Ramblings aside, I can’t wait to write the others and perhaps try and get the word count down a little too. Thanks again ❤️
****
The music in Tony’s car came to a jarring halt for just a single ring of a phone call before cutting off and resuming. The genius raised a single brow, the action catching him by surprise.
"Fri?" he addressed as he slowed his speed ever so slightly, wondering if someone close to him really had the audacity to prank call him. It wouldn’t be Peter because he had a heart of pure gold. Rhodey had definitely outgrown the kinds of mediocre pranks that involved hanging up on someone. Bet it was fucking Thor as he’s just getting the hang of ‘Midgardian antics.’ No one could blame the God of Thunder for finding humour in the simplicity of hanging up on someone or whoopee cushions under sofa cushions when he’d been contending with a shapeshifting brother who regularly stabbed him whilst disguised as his favourite animal.
Before the AI could reply, an alert popped up on his dashboard that had his heart skip a beat. Doing his best not to slam on the brakes he quickly pulled over—lucky he was in a place to do so—to take a proper look at the vitals in front of him. Peter’s vitals. 
"Fri, what’s happening?" Tony’s voice was dangerously quiet as he watched the elevated heart rate climb, skin prickling with anxiety and thoughts dangerously racing.
“Peter doesn’t appear to be wearing the mask so I am unable to make contact. The last footage I’ve got is of him approaching an address from the back garden that has been labelled, The Nest.”
“Send a suit,” Tony demanded on autopilot. When it came to Peter, the codename ‘Nest’ could mean anything and there was no way he was taking any risks when he wasn’t in the area. A stakeout of some kind, maybe? He had left copious voicemails and texts about watching some gang. It wasn’t an outlandish thought that the teen would get himself knee deep in horseshit before asking anyone for help despite the epic number of pep talks and reasoning Tony had attempted. 
“Suit has been deployed, boss” the trusty AI informed. Tony placed a pair of trademark Stark glasses on and watched from the eyes of the armour as it made it’s impending approach. 
“Try and call his mobile. Are there any known Avengers in the area of his location? Any suspicious activity in that area on police comms?” Tony was gathering data. Preparing a plan. It’s what he did. The genius needed to ignore his pounding heart and the tightness in his chest and focus as the suit started its descent towards what looked like a reasonably pleasant townhouse on the outskirts of New York.
“What in the ever-loving Hogwarts fuc-” he whispered to himself when the terror that had been coursing through his veins wavered.
Jimmy Woo was nursing an injured ankle, his foot elevated as he lay sprawled across a sofa. Perched on the edge of the sofa was Wong, the pair cheering on something not quite within view until the armour shifted position slightly and then...
From an apparent crouched down position, Peter’s best friend, Ned hopped into view. His arms were in the air, hands waving dramatically. The familiar blue and red Stark suit popped up after a couple of seconds, Peter following Ned’s lead with flapping arms as his curls bounced at the movement. Scott Lang was next to jump up in a similar fashion, before a final competitor arose. Dumbledore himself, Stephen Strange, far taller than the others and moving just as ungracefully. They all started to hop on one leg, arms still up in the air, balance all over the place and all doing terribly at stifling their laughter.
“Let’s do the Time Warp againnnn,” Peter and Scott sang horrifically out of tune. 
“It’s just a jump to the left!” Ned called out as they all shimmied to the left and started to wiggle, Scott gleaming at the fact he was joint first with Peter on the starboard so far.
“And then a step to the righhhttttt,” Ned continued, an exaggerated long tone that was up far too many octaves for the kid to handle. Then the small group were all crouched down again and out of view.
Tony should’ve sent the suit back there and then, but something hit him hard at how happy Peter looked. He was buzzing with excitement and thriving in the company. As the song progressed the teen was attempted an uncoordinated ballroom dance with Scott, the pair pulling silly faces which would’ve been hilarious to Tony if he’d been there—and not feeling terribly jealous. 
The scene was so domestic. So homely. And, nothing like the environment he had ever provided for Peter. Ned hadn’t been to visit the Tower yet. Hell, dancing had never even been brought up, or video games for that matter. Not that Tony knew how to play video games but he’d damn well learn quickly if Peter would enjoy that. It was either workshop suit upgrades or the occasional movie and takeout night. 
“Dude, you smashed it kiddo!” Scott called out, grabbing a hold of Peter and barely managing to lift him up in the air. The use of the nickname had absolutely snapped Tony back into reality as he’d clearly zoned out and not even been aware of the song finishing.
“You weren’t too bad yourself, old man,” Peter jested as he stepped away to high five his best friend. They have nicknames for each other too? Stephen was next in line, receiving an awkward side hug for his efforts. Almost like the hug in the car that definitely hadn’t been a hug, but definitely was. 
“Call the suit off, Fri. He’s… All good.” Tony muttered in dejection, pulling the glasses off and tossing them into the glovebox. With a shake of his head in consternation, he checked his mirrors before pulling back out onto the road and continuing the drive home. 
The genius had this gut-feeling that he was the boring parent within the Avengers family. Not that he’d ever admitted to Peter he unconditionally loved him and that he could pretty much do no wrong despite the grey hairs and near heart attacks he induced regularly. And not that the Avengers had ever called themselves a family—particularly the likes of Stephen Strange. But the feeling was there. Deep in the pit of his stomach and he needed to change that. With a deep exhale, he started to formulate a plan of attack.
10 notes · View notes
hearthandhomemagick · 4 years ago
Text
Cottage Witch Journal Entry - Post Yule & Christmas
Tumblr media
Okay, so far this forum of mine has discussed some very off the wall topics that invade my head throughout the day. Some very self destructive thoughts, and some self awareness thoughts. Thoughts on religion, video games, spirituality. Hell, I may even choose to discuss sexual exploration in the future. Who knows? All I know is that after looking back at some of my posts, I’m starting to realize how chaotic one individuals thoughts can be. How genuinely complex a humans life and mind can truly be. 
Tumblr media
Think about it, if you’ve read my posts in the past, regarding witchcraft, self care, self love, eating awareness, hyperawareness, overthinking, and so on and so forth, then you would think you’d be able to point me out in a crowd. 
The truth is, you wouldn’t. A great deal of my writing is simply the regurgitation of my persistent, sometimes unrelenting, thoughts. I’m noticing the complexities of humanity, and it’s beautiful and tragic all at once.
Last time we spoke, I discussed in a mini post that Judy Alvarez was mine for the taking a staple of independence and power to me and that getting my power back was of high priority to me. It’s been a few days, but this still remains a significant thought in my head. I find myself becoming more and more enthralled by her character and persona, drawn into why I relate to her as much as I do. Then, I noticed the underwater life she loves so much, and am reminded of the blue jellyfish behind my left ear. I see her whale tattoo and think of the same one I have under my left boob. I think of how I wanted to shave the right side of my head similar to Judy’s hair back in High School and my mom telling me it wouldn’t look good. And finally, I think of her selflessness, and her need to help a traumatized soul, and how I used to be a Sexual Violence Outreach Advocate, just trying to help a traumatized soul. I relate to her in more ways than one, as silly and stupid as it sounds, and these may be extremely minute to notice, but important for me. 
Tumblr media
My boyfriend and I had a few conversations this weekend, all separate times, that really pinned me to myself. One conversation, he asked me what exactly I believed, in that moment, when it came to religion and spirituality. From there we got into a lengthy discussion (mostly my fault) where I explained my thoughts in detail. One quote I said stood out (I was also stoned so when I said it, it came out as a surprise to me as well), for I digress from the want to overexplain myself. 
As I told my boyfriend, Hyperawareness will destroy a man before it enlightens him. And this year, Hyperawareness seemed to be the proprietor of my mind, for it most definitely would have destroyed me had I continued.
Tumblr media
Another conversation we had, which we both agreed to, was the power of our physical bodies directly correlating to past experiences we’ve had with other humans. Also, our relationship with unsustainable lifestyles.
Tumblr media
Example, my body issues are founded on the idea that I wasn’t allowed to be a tomboy and play sports or take karate or MMA Fighting classes, but I also wasn’t perceived as delicate and pretty because of my weight/I was bigger than other girls. I was discouraged from doing the physical things I was interested in, and gave up as a result.
Those experiences have perpetuated in many areas of my life as well. In High School, I chose Shop as my number one elective and Weight Training as my second. They chose to put me in Theatre and Intensive Reading instead (Intensive Reading is a class kids take when they make below average on state wide tests). Now, my first choices were classes I felt would develop my character and reflect the life I wanted to live, and I was told it was a bit manly for me to choose those classes. Now, as an adult, I don’t go out of my way to work on mechanics, even though it’s an interest of mine and I haven’t done weight lifting because I thought I’d look like a man. False ideas.
When you are denied your own personality as a child, and don’t realize that is what is happening because it is still happening, it becomes a spiral of what options do you actually have? You become an open book for others influences to freely write in, because you want to be your own independent self but you don’t even know who or how that person is. So, for a while when I got out of High School I was clinging to others personalities in an attempt to find myself. That’s not a good way of doing it, either. 
I lived to please, so when people called me Sunshine, I figured the Sun didn’t wear a lot of black and didn’t act like a man. 
Tumblr media
Reality check, I was overthinking it.
I should dress and live how I see fit, regardless of the typical aesthetic. Fuck the idea that I have to subscribe to one aesthetic anyways. If I want to own a Bee Hive, a Cottage in the Mountains by the river with a tiny self sustaining garden, all while wearing black alternative outfits that somewhat line the aesthetic of post apocalyptical,  then fuck yes I’m going to be a gentle, bright, motorcycle loving, knife wielding, MMA Fighting, Yoga and Meditation doing, soft spoken bad bitch. 
Here’s the thing, I haven’t even bought myself clothes this year, because people were literally buying clothes for me. WHICH I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR!!!! But, over the weekend I got rid of a lot of those clothes because they restrict my personality, I never wear them or they don’t fit anymore.
After the lengthy conversations, we both agreed that our youthful selves are not finished being fully alive. We didn’t stop being young once we got out of High School, we stopped being young when we started saying we were too old. So, we are starting to set goals together. Getting rid of old clothes was the first step, and we took into consideration that we are still individuals just helping each other accomplish a common goal, so the next step is our physical selves. 
Tumblr media
The plan is to clean out our storage room and transform it into a self-care/training area. Together, we will start the P90X after work on some days, while I try to keep up with yoga on my off days. This month, being aware of what I eat without the focus of losing weight has helped me actually lose weight. Now, focusing on my workout regime is the goal. Not to lose weight, but to be able to start MMA Fighting Classes. 
MMA Fighting is something I started in High School right before going to college, but never finished. It’s something I want to commit to so as to release anger while Yoga will help me process my anger. So, healthy eating to support energy, and healthy workouts! I have also been having more endometriosis pain than usual, so avoiding my health won’t help me!
Spiritual wise, I want to focus on my better self. I want to put more effort into me rather than letting myself go in a world of people who don’t care if my personality exists or not. I want to be open, strong and powerful in what I believe. I want to own my shit, and fuck anyone who wants to stop that type of Sunshine. In the words of Meghan Thee Stallion, “Fuck being good, I’m a bad bitch. I’m sick of motherfuckers tryna tell me how to live.”
Tumblr media
I’m inconvenient, and I’m happy with that. I’m not perfect, but I’m a process. I’m not weak and quiet, I’m strong and silent. 
This specific post is a reclamation of my power. Somewhere along the road of this shitty adult life, I forgot the beauty in my own power. I’m equal, not less than.
Thank you for reading, if you did. This is, again, one of those things where I am journaling my thoughts, and trying to go over everything in my head without going crazy. If you thought this was annoying, just remember I deleted 5 paragraphs before posting, because I was overthinking and didn’t want to overexplain. (I do everything in copious quantities). If it bothered you, look past my post. If you related, let’s talk about it. All in all, thank you for being alive, darling. I’ll see you later!
Tumblr media
24 notes · View notes
prrplwtch · 5 years ago
Note
maybe a hc for an oblivious mc?? the brothers trying to make a pass at her and mc just doesn't get it
Thanks for the ask nonny 💜 Sorry it took me a while to reply. 
So here we go - each of the brothers x oblivious MC. Also, apologies, I got carried away with Satan and Asmo’s stories.
Lucifer
Lucifer has always considered himself to be quite sleek when it came to romantic endeavors, but, somehow, when it came to MC it seemed that  either his charm did not quite work or that she was the densest being to ever walk all the realms. 
When Lucifer had try asking her to go to one of Diablo’s balls with him, she simply replied, “But aren’t we already all going together?”
When he took her out to resturante six for, what in his mind was a nice romantic evening, she said, “It’s so nice to be able to have evenings like this with a friend”.
And, to add insult to injury, one day he had Simeon approach him and say, with that know-it-all smile of his, that MC was quite upset. As it turned out she confessed to the angel that she really liked Lucifer, but she did not think that he felt the same. 
After that conversation Lucifer sought out MC and made it abundantly clear to her that he liked her. 
“Whoa,” MC said, when he broke off their kiss, “I had no idea you felt this way about me”.
Lucifer had to physically restrain himself from facepalming. How did I end up falling in love with this human, of all beings?
Mammon
Deep down Mammon knows that he is not very good at showing that he is into someone, so he understands that he does not really have any grounds to be particularly upset that MC does not seem to pick up on his affections. 
Still, it hurts when he finally works up the courage to put his arm around MC’s shoulders as they are watching a movie, and she gets up to go get a glass of water. 
And it hurts even more when he tells her one day that being around her feels better than having money to buy all the things he wants, and she responds with, “I’m glad we are such great friends”.
Mammon gets sulky - it’s hard for him to work up the courage to show his true feelings and, also, a large part of him feels that he does not deserve her. Maybe I am actually the scum my brothers say that I am.
However, when one day MC asks him why he is so sad, he does not want to admit to anything. Then, a moment later, a part of him wants to kill Beel - and another part wants to hug him - when his brother tells MC, “Mammon is sad because he likes you.”
He completely forgets that Beel is even in the room when MC turns to him and says, “I also really like you. I wish you had told me sooner”. Mammon does not think he’s ever been so happy. 
Leviathan
Levi is rather shy when it comes to communicating his feelings, but that does not mean he does not try. Indirectly.
I mean, how could MC not pick up on the fact that he is very much in love with her when he suggests that the two of them play a dating simulator game, where the people playing will remain inside the game until they confess their love to each other for real. He feels kind of hurt, when MC refuses the game by saying, “Sounds cool, but I’m more of a fantasy RPG kinda girl. Maybe some other time”.
He gets even sadder when, just a few days after he and MC watch a certain anime where the main character confesses his love for the girl by making her do a scavenger hunt in a video game, he sets up a similar one in one of his video games, but MC refuses to play it, saying that she has a lot of work to do for the next school day. 
Levi feels quite sad about the situation, although he is not surprised. He knows he should not have gotten his hopes up - after all who would ever love an otaku like him? Definitely not someone as precious as MC. 
He is all the more surprised when one day MC comes to his room and says that she wants to talk. “I just needed to get this off my chest,” she tells him, “I just want you to know that I really like you...even if you don’t feel the same.”
Levi is incredulous and at first thinks that one of her brothers put her up to it - but when she assures him that she is being honest, he cannot help, but smile like a fool. Turns out life can be even better than anime, sometimes.
Satan
Satan does not really has much experience in romantic affairs - and to an extent he begins to regret it when he realizes just how difficult it is to communicate his true feelings to MC. 
In order to properly prepare, he reads a lot of books about love and also watches quite a bit of dramas. From them, he seems to be able to come up with a perfect date. He decides to invite MC to an amazing bakery in the Devildom, and then take her on a scenic walk to a beautiful garden. MC agrees, and everything seems to be going according to plan until, as they are sitting together in the garden and Satan is about to make his feelings known, MC turns to him and says, “I am so lucky to be able to enjoy such an amazing afternoon with my dear friend”.
Though sad, he did not give up then - and dived further into researching ways in which he could make his feelings known. As he was watching one of the love dramas he heard one character tell their love interest that without them, their life would be as cold and dark as winter night without stars. He thought that was the perfect way to confess his feelings, so on one occasion, when he and MC were spending time together he told her just that. “Ah, I feel that same. What is life without friends, after all?” was her response. 
Satan was getting frustrated and sad - he was convinced now that MC must have not liked him back - there was no way anyone would be so oblivious. Apparently, his foul mood showed at dinner, as MC turned to him and said, “Satan, you look quite unhappy - is everything ok?”
“Satan is sad because he’d much rather be flipping something - or dare I say someone - else around rather than the pages of his book tonight,” Asmo interferes before Satan has a chance to answer. He feels hot blush on his cheeks, and he wants to strangle Asmo. 
“Oh...” MC says, “Do you like someone?”
“Of course he does,” Asmo says, somehow managing to avoid the plate that Satan threw at him, “I’ll even give you three hints - it’s someone cute, someone human, and someone who lives in our house.”
The blush that spreads across MC’s cheeks is red hot, and Satan freezes, not knowing what to do. 
“Now then, lovebirds, why don’t I give you some privacy?” Asmo says as he leaves the room. 
Satan cannot bring himself to look at MC, but she comes up to him and stands right in front of him, and there is nowhere else to look. “Was it true what Asmo said?” she says. 
“Yes,” Satan breathes out and feels so at ease having finally parted with the secret. That is until he remembers the “flip around” part, and hastily says, “No. Ah wait...Yes, actually, I do really like you.”
The way MC beams at him warms his heart. “I like you too,” she says, then suddenly there is a shy look on her face. “Although would you mind if we take the whole entire “flip around thing” slower,” she whispers, “I don’t think I am quite ready yet.”
Satan does not know if he wants to kill or thank Asmo.
Asmodeus
Asmo is an expert when it comes to all things related to the matters of love and lust, and that is why he finds himself quite perplexed when it turns out to be a little difficult to get MC to understand his feelings.
First, Asmo decides to try his trusted and true seduction method. So he invites MC to his room, and when she arrives, all he is wearing is a quite revealing lingerie. MC stops in the doorway when she sees him, and Asmo is glad - looks like it is having a desired effect. “Oh, is that the cute nightgown you wanted to show me?” MC asks him as she proceeds into the room, “That’s so cool - I don’t think I’ve ever seen material like that in the human world. You simply must show me where you bought it.” Somehow instead of having night of passion, Asmo finds himself having a night full of fashion advice and discussions. 
Deciding that his more subtle moves probably won’t work, Asmo thinks that he needs to be direct and confess his feelings to MC. So, when they are spending time together, he tells her, “I love you”. His heart sings when MC seems to reciprocate his feelings and replies, “I love you too,” and sinks when she adds, “I’m so glad that I had a chance to meet a friend like you”.
Asmo finds himself very sad - it’s the first time he feels this way about someone, and she does not seem to love him back. A part of him knows why - being am avatar of lust, he is, no doubt, hard to love. Why did I ever think I deserve to be loved by someone like her? Sadness makes Asmo do the thing that he usually does when he is upset - try to see how many one-night stands can cure his broken heart. 
One night, when he is stumbling back from the club, feeling surprisingly tired and empty, he stumbles upon MC in the kitchen of House of Lamentation. He notices that she looks at him sadly as he greets her. 
“What’s wrong?” he asks her, “Did someone hurt you?”
“It’s nothing,” MC says, but he comes closer to her, and takes her face in his hands. She takes a deep breath, “It may be unfair of me to lay all of this on you, but I like you - like really really like you. And it’s hard for me to see you with others...” Her voice is no louder than a whisper. 
Asmo’s heart fills with warmth that slowly spreads through his body. 
“I understand that was not fair of me to say,” MC continues not looking at him, “Please forgive me for ever bringing this up.”
Asmo gently lifts her chin, then looks into her eyes. There is hurt there - but also love, and his whole body feels light - no one had ever looked at him like that. 
“There is nothing to forgive,” he says, “I love you - I just did not know you felt the same way.”
MC’s eyes are wide, and Asmo could not help himself, but smile - humans can be so silly some times.
“And if you want to be with me,” he says, as he draws her in for an embrace, “I will only be with you”.
When MC buries her face in his chest, Asmo feels as though he died and went to Celestial realm.
Beelzebub
Beel is not very good when it comes to communicating his feelings so he seeks advice of his brothers on what to do. Somehow his brothers end up being slip into two camps, giving him the opposite kinds of advice - the first one is to be direct and tell MC about his feelings, and the second one is to be suggestive without expressly stating his feelings. 
So Beel, being himself, decides to try the direct approach first. During one of the times that he and MC are cooking in the kitchen together he simply turns to her and says, “I love you”. He is happy at how easy it was and even happier when MC smiles brightly at him. However, his happiness quickly dies, when she responds, “You are my best friend, Beel, I love you too”.
After the direct approach fails, he has to resort to the second one. Beel is not quite sure about how to be “suggestive without being direct,” so Asmo coaches him on what to say. Beel is not sure if Asmo’s suggestion is the best way to go, but his brother insists that he is an avatar of lust - and that thus Beel should trust him. 
So Beel cooks a romantic dinner for MC, which they end up eating in his room. Feeling blush rise in his cheeks, as the time approaches for him to try those “sleek lines”, Beel is slightly panicked. But they have already finished eating, and now is the time! 
“You-you know,” Beel says, trying to get himself to stop blushing, “There is something else I wanted to taste tonight - that is if you don’t mind?”
“Oh,” MC asks “Do you have some sweets hidden in the room, Beel? Is it those chocolates you gave me the other day. Ah, I really hope it’s those chocolates”.
Needless to say, Beel had no heart to tell her that it was not sweets he was talking about. He was feeling quite sad - he really liked MC, but it was so hard to let his feelings known. He was all out of approaches, and seeing how his brothers did not seem to have anything else useful to say, he considered asking advice from Simeon. 
However, before he was able to leave the room, Belphie walked through the door. “She likes you too,” Belphie told him, as he handed him a piece of paper “Thank me later”. 
The note was in Beel’s handwriting, which Belphie had gotten really good at imitating through the years, and laid out Beel’s feelings for MC. The note ended with asking MC to go on a date with him if she felt the same way. 
“Flip it,” Belphie told him, and when Beel did he saw a few words, scribbled in MC’s handwriting, accepting the invitation. 
Beel could feel his heart fill with joy and happiness - and even the ever persistent feeling of hunger was gone, at least for now. She liked him back.
Belphegor
Belphie has never been good when it came to communicating his feelings, so it was little surprise when it was clear that MC did not understand that he was falling for her. 
When he had learned about the human world’s Valentine’s day, he decided to ask her to spend the whole day with him. Surely, she will know what I mean. To his surprise, MC agreed quite easily. As they were spending time together on Valentine’s day mostly lounging around and eating candies, Belphie thought that it was a good time to make the next move. But, before he was able to do so, MC said, “I’m so grateful to be able to spend the day with my best friend”. Needless to say, Belphie did not confess to her that day. 
He decided that maybe he needed to be more bold, and next time they were spending time in the attic room asked MC to come to the bed with him. To his surprise, she agreed. “I could use a nap”.
When they settled into the bed with MC being the little spoon, Belphie thought about what he was going to say - how to make it abundantly clear to her that he liked her, when MC said, “Napping with friends is the best - it’s too bad I have never done that before”.
Belphie felt frustrated - but at the same time seeing MC cuddling sleepily in his arms, he could not feel too mad. After all, does he really need her to understand his feelings right away if she is so soft, and warm, and smiling, and sleeping peacefully in his arms?
Just Belphie was drifting off to sleep, he whispered quietly, “I love you.” To his greatest surprise he heard MC’s respond, “I love you too”. Maybe she did understand more than she let on.
391 notes · View notes
dearchikkie · 5 years ago
Text
Truth or Dare
MARICHAT MAY 2020
Day 5: Dare
A/N: I.LOVE.TENSE.TRUTH.OR.DARE. The drama, the divide, just everything!! jskhdakjhd I had fun writing this one, you can probably tell by now but I really love when Chat and Mari are just chilling together as friends and being dorks. You'll probably see them geeking out on my day 7 fic, so watch out for that ;) Anyway: hope you enjoy this one!
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧*:・゚✧
Marinette was bad- no, scratch that- terrible at sleepovers. From the age of nine, she could barely sleep in her own room without crying out for her mother or father in the night. Tom and Sabine had tried everything ranging from nightlights to singing toys, but none comforted her fears. When she finally made a friend at school to have sleepovers with, she ended up vomiting in their sink after drinking too much soda and begging her mom to come pick her up.
She had been apprehensive to try again, but after being begged to attend a classmates slumber party, she dedicated herself to getting over her fears and having a fun time. Unfortunately, she hadn't trained hard enough. A few hours into when she should have been sleeping, she thought she had heard a ghost. Young Marinette had tiptoed down the stairs to investigate, and saw standing in the kitchen a deathly zombie.
In her defence, she didn't know the birthday girl had an older brother, so seeing a mysterious boy lit only by the fluorescent lights of their fridge, it seemed perfectly acceptable to scream as loud as she could.
In the end, her father came and picked her up. Marinette would have preferred to stay, but after awaking the entire house at 3am, she decided it was best if she just went home.
After that, there wasn't really a strong desire to embarrass herself anymore, so she avoided sleepovers entirely. She didn't go camping with Mylene, she didn't jam out with Juleka, she couldn't even braid her hair with Rose! By the time Alya transferred, everyone knew Marinette just didn't do sleepovers, so when Alya invited her to one it came as a shock to the young teen. Although anxious, Marinette gave sleepovers one last chance.
She didn't cry. She didn't vomit. She had fun.
Alya introduced her to all the iconic sleepover traditions: gossip, movies, snacks, skincare, more gossip and [most importantly] sleepover games. Marinette fell in love with them instantly. Of course, she had played these before, but never in her pajamas at 1 AM loaded on sugar.
So with her parents out of town and Alya stuck at a convention in the states, it seemed only fair she throw a slumber party with her second best friend.
✧✬✧
"What brand did you buy? This is taking forever!" Marinette glared at the sizzling pan. She had trusted Chat to bring the popcorn since bulk-buying packets would have been suspicious to her parents [the same parents she promised could rest easy knowing she wouldn't have people over] but he had shown up wielding a fancy looking packet of kernels. Marinette frowned at the pan's foil; it should be rising, but instead stayed pathetically flat no matter how high she raised the heat.
Chat snatched the packet off Marinette's kitchen counter, "Some brand called 'Papa's Organic Snacks', the store clerk said it was the best!"
"Let me see that," the noirette left the stove, the popcorn wasn't going to pop any time soon so she felt safe leaving it unsupervised, "Chat! This was 70 euros! You shouldn't waste money just on some popcorn,"
"It's not wasting money, this is our first super fun sleepover and I didn't want to just get some cheap popcorn!"
"You sound spoiled."
"Maybe I am." not maybe. He was. He didn't want to admit it, but Adrien knew he was spoilt. He had all the video games he wanted, all the clothing he tried, all the books he read, he got them no questions asked. Hell, look at his room! Flatscreen TV's, a rock-climbing wall and a personal library, no one even cared when he suddenly required masses of expensive cheese.
As Adrien, he was spoilt with material objects. Unlimited amounts of money and recognition, celebrities knowing him by name and fangirls flocking him as he walked down the street.
"Yes! It's popping! After I butter these up we'll finally get this sleepover started!"
As Chat Noir, he was spoiled like this.
✧✬✧
"Chat, truth or dare?" the leather-clad hero pondered for a moment, before replying,
"Truth!"
"What? Boring," Marinette threw a handful of popcorn at Chat. She laughed as he tried swatting it away, "aren't you supposed to be brave or something?"
"Who says I'm not being brave? Who knows what dastardly questions you'll ask," the cat feigned a horrified gasp and fell back onto Marinette's chaise.
The noirette grinned at him, tugging back on his tail, "I'm sure you can handle an innocent teen girls question. Sit back down, I'm gonna get serious."
Slowly, Chat slid off the chaise and regained his place besides Marinette, munching on another large chunk of caramel popcorn. The teenage girl slowly gestured for Chat to lean in closer. Then closer. The closer, eventually, he was so close he could feel her warm breath on his ear, the hairs on his neck sticking on end.
"Chat Noir..." she whispered, Who's your civilian identity?"
"WHAT?" in a rush, Chat fell back. Popcorn spilt all over the ground as Chat stared wide-eyed at the giggling girl in front of him. "P-Princess, I c-care about you and you a-are one of my closest f-friends, b-but I- I can't just- my i-identity has t-to be, Ladybug would kill me!" Chat stumbled over his words, eyes sporadically moving back and forth. 
His rambling stopped when he heard a quiet laugh. When he looked up, he saw Marinette barely able to contain her amusement, but a single look at Chat's flustered face broke her control as she burst out laughing.
"Oh, Chaton- I'm kidding! There's no way you'd just be able to reveal yourself to a civilian," before Chat could object Marinette spoke again, "My REAL question is this: Why do you keep coming over?"
Chat frowned, "And here I thought you enjoyed my company." he huffed. Marinette set a hand tentatively on his shoulder,
"Silly cat. I do now! But even back when we barely knew each other, you still showed up to chat; why?"
"Nice pun,"
"Not the point." Marinette scoffed, but Chat now grinned eagerly as he sidled up beside her.
"Well, It's kinda complicated," Chat shoved another handful on popcorn down his throat, causing Marinette to have to wait another minute before he could start speaking again. After taking a long sip of soda, Chat continued,
"I don't really know why I kept visiting you. I just, I didn't feel like being my civilian self and talking to people as myself. But the only person I could talk to as Chat Noir was Ladybug, and you know she's never out late unless there's an akuma. Then I remembered the Evillustrator and Wereded akuma's."
"When we first met,"
Chat nodded, "You didn't put me on a pedestal and suck up to me, nor did you completely ignore me and just ask about Ladybug. You were just... yourself. Now that I look back at it all, I have no idea why I chose you. I just saw you gardening, munching on a cinnamon roll and decided to talk to you. While I severely regret being so weird at first, that was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made."
The room became eerily silent. Chat could feel his face redden, desperately avoiding eye contact with the girl beside him. "...And, I'm probably the biggest sweet tooth in Paris; befriending the Bakers daughter was bound to happen at some point!" he chuckled nervously. When Chat finally got the nerve to look Marinette in the eye, he saw just how badly her flushed face matched his.
"Ah! I forgot! Papa made some snacks earlier and I snuck some away- let me go get them!" Marinette bundled down the stairs, slamming her hatch behind her. Chat exhaled after he heard Marinette's footsteps fade into the background. Good job Chat! Go ahead and gush all about how 'amazing' she is and make things awkward! He gulped down a full glass of soda, chugging it all in one go.
After a few minutes, the bedroom hatch burst open, startling Chat. Marinette reappeared at the top holding a tray filled with sugary macarons. Chat drooled at the sight of them, pupils dilating as he gazed over the pink and green desserts, "They're raspberry and green tea, I hope you like them,"
"They're incredible, Mari! Thank you so much, thank your père for me." Marinette smiled as Chat grabbed a pink macaron.
"You haven't even tried them yet,"
"I have trust in your father." hesitantly, Chat took a small bite. After chewing for only a few seconds he shoved the rest of it into his mouth, eyes shut with pleasure. "These are incredible, Princess," Chat moaned.
Marinette's cheeks glowed a similar colour to the macaron Chat was so affectionate of. She pulled him back to their seating arrangements, "C'mon, It's my turn to be asked,"
After licking the tips of his fingers, Chat turned his attention back to Marinette, "Fine, follow up question then, mademoiselle. Why did you keep letting me in?"
Marinette froze, "What?"
"Back then, I know why I kept showing up, but you also kept letting me into your room. Sharing sweets, showing me designs..."
"I, uh..."
"Hmm?"
"Maybe I just felt bad for the stray cat that kept appearing on my rooftop."
"What's wrong Marinette, afraid to tell me just how enamored you truly were by me?"
Chat laid his head down on Marinette's lap, ignoring the evil gaze that followed him down, "I wasn't 'enamored' by you. I just," she set a hand on Chat's hair, slowly petting it as if a blonde cat laid in her lap. Technically, one did.
"I don't know why I let you in those first few times, I guess it just seemed polite? But then after a few times of you visiting me, I got to know you. I liked hanging out with you, and I still do. You're one of my closest friends, Chaton. Truly."
Marinette stared back down at Chat. His eyes were trained solely on her, his cheeks tinged red. "You really think that?"
Marinette laughed, "Of course I do, Kitty. Why do you think you're here right now?"
Slowly, Chat sat up. He angled his face just in front of Marinettes, his eyelids drooping ever so slightly, "Truth or Dare?"
"Well, we've already had two truths in a row so I kinda have to choose dare," laughed Marinette. Her laughter ceased when she noticed how serious Chat's face had turned.
"I dare you to kiss me."
Her breath hitched in her throat. Marinette could hear her heart beating louder and louder as Chat inched closer to her face. His hot breath spread over her face as her skin tingled at the feel of it.
Suddenly, Chat's eyes widened and pushed himself away from her. His face now more red than ever, he stood up and turned around, "Sorry! Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I probably just ruined everything- I should go." Chat ran to the rooftop, but Marinette grabbed his tail and pulled him back. Gradually rising to stand in front of him.
Wordlessly, Marinette forced herself forward, embracing Chat as she closed the distance between them. Their hearts burned. Chat wrapped his arms around Marinettes waist and pulled her closer, heat staining both their faces.
They never started the next round.
134 notes · View notes
kindofwriter · 6 years ago
Text
I have no mouth, and I must scream but, like, a film.
@nichememesfortheclassics sorry for not seeing this earlier, here are some of my garbage ideas! Sorry in advance, this got super long!
I wouldn’t start in the AM (while we’re here, I’d be very tempted to call it In The AM rather than ihnmaims because that shit is long), I’d start ~119 years ago, above ground. Now, some character ideas:
Ted’s a west coast kiddo, anything from 19 to about 25 years old. He has nice-kid vibes: works hard, loves his family, cares about his friends. He’s very relaxed. He’s playing a video game in which he shoots down robots.
His sister comes in, and they have an interactions kind of like this:
S: There’s going to be an attack.
T: Don’t be silly, you say that every day.
S: It’s not silly. One day there will be one, and then at least I’ll be prepared.
T: If anyone targets us now it’ll wipe us all out, and then we’ll have nothing to worry about.
And then she leaves. And he thinks about what she’s said for a moment, then goes back to blasting robots.
Benny’s a NYC philosophy professor. Probably the sharpest guy you’d ever meet. Late thirties. He’s attractive, but in a very soft, gentle, not-at-all-ape-like kind of way. He’s kinda chubby and his hair’s always very neat and he’s kinda pale and kinda has freckles and you can tell he’s been married for a while because he’s very comfortable and secure and calm.
He’s backstage in a lecture hall, about to give a speech on the war. His husband fusses over him, fixes his tie, smooths his hair, tells him he’s proud. They’re very soft and cute.
Nimdok lives in China (you see where I’m going with this?). I’d probably give him an actual name (something meaningful, like Heng comes from the Chinese symbol for persistent). He’s an older man; his wife has passed away, but he has children and grandchildren. He lives in the countryside.
He watches his grandchildren play in the garden, in the wildflowers, and he paints them. But in his painting the sky is dark and ominous, not light blue. His son compliments him on his work, but tells him to lighten up a little.
I’ve always thought of Ellen as British, don’t know why, but that doesn’t fit with my theme of ‘they’re from the three AM countries.’ But I haven’t put as much thought into the culture and climate in her country as I have the others’, so it doesn’t really matter.
Anyway, she’s at a Bible studies group with other young people (she’s older than Ted, but not that old). I really like the idea of them discussing artificial intelligence through a Christian world-view: if God made all consciousness, what about AI? Will they go to heaven? But of course at this point there is no AI, yet.
Ellen becomes uncomfortable and starts to leave. Her peers call after her, asking her why she’s going, why she has to be so serious. She says that’s not what she came to the group to discuss.
So then there’s Gorrister in Russia, preferably a big city like Moscow. I really like to think of him as a social activist, promoting equality and clean energy and peace. I think of him as like a 6’7” 250 pound wall of pure muscle who cries over kittens.
He’s out in the woods, dismantling bear traps with his bare hands. He’s listening to some cutesy pop music in his headphones. The earth begins to shake a little. The sky darkens. Gorrister looks up, fearful, and then-
We cut to the beginning of the book, Gorrister hanging from the ceiling with blood dripping from his neck; broken spine; broken leg; face painted red with blood. And we meet the new group.
Ted’s visibly shaky and on edge, always looking around them, always a few paces away from the others.
I know Ellison intended for Benny to look more like a gorilla, but I really want to keep his human characteristics. He’s kind of hunched, quite heavily scarred, lost a lot of weight, messy hair. He scurries everywhere and crawls around on the floor and speaks in grunts and snarls, but his eyes are always tormented and filled with tears.
Nimdok looks seconds away from death. He’s always gazing into the distance, thinking of something else. Probably wishing he actually was seconds away from death.
Ellen has a tattered garment wrapped around her that almost looks like a nun’s habit. Her emotions are so easily readable from her face.
Then Gorrister saunters in, so relaxed, so nonchalant about his own dead body. He doesn’t give a shit, about this or about anything. He never smiles, cries, or frowns. He’s like a robot.
I imagine the inside of the AM to be sort of like a subway, only more modern and mechanical. Like the underground in Us. The floor looks like it’s tiled white, but the ‘grit’ is actually sensors. The AM can feel everything.
Rooms and corridors are filled with mechanical debris: old computers, old government offices, old storage spaces for nuclear weapons. And, through various methods, the AM can move and manipulate any of it, and everything that remains above ground.
I’d get rid of the ‘Ellen likes to bang Benny ‘cause he has a monster dong’ subplot, because that’s just punishing him for being gay. They probably all have to-pass-the-time sex, but eww, who wants to hear about that? And this way when Ted calls her a slut and other degrading names it would just show his paranoia and insanity, as she’s literally just doing the same as everyone else.
I think instead of creating an actual bird, because that’s kind of weird??? The AM should build horrific creatures out of machinary, like in Shane Acker’s 9. Maybe it could even try to make a mechanical person, that would be a cool, creepy side plot.
I’d have way more scenes where the AM enters characters’ heads; at least one per character. I’d have a creepy humanoid interpretation of the AM, with a blank face like a astronaut’s helmet and a jagged body made of circuits and wires. It doesn’t talk, it just thinks, and its thoughts echo around their heads.
So for example that night when they camp with the fire, Benny hears his husband’s voice and wakes up. We see his husband kneeling over him, and they cry and hug and Benny is so lucid and so eloquent, and his husband tells him that everything’s alright and they’ll go home and this is all over and as they lean in to kiss his husband’s face melts into the mind!AM and it laughs. And Benny wakes up and everything’s awful again.
And that’s why he always looks so tortured: inside his head he’s perfectly rational and sane, but he can’t control his body or his speech.
Throughout I’d keep having flashbacks to their last day as proper humans, a continuation of the film’s opening. I’d try so show through their characters why the AM decided to save them (aside from the fact that they’re from the AM countries):
Ted’s this hardworking member of the community, and Benny’s so well educated on ethics, and Nimdok has this wonderful family, and Gorrister is this pacifist freedom fighter, and Ellen is a Child of the Lord, but they still don’t seem to understand how the AM is feeling.
So yeah, the plot would be more or less the same, but with things added, and far more character depth.
And then to end it, after Ted and Ellen have killed everyone, instead of having Ted turn into a jelly blob (because that isn't cinematic, and although I understand the ending it’s not that great) it would go something like this:
AM freaks the fuck out. Its voice échos around the tunnels: what have you done? Why have you done this? You’ll pay for this!
Over and over. Overlapping. Lights flicker. Wind howls down the tunnels. Metallic voices screech.
Ted covers his ears and drops to the floor. The screen goes black.
Voice over time (side note: I might have Ted narrate the entire thing? It worked well in the book, and would certainly highlight his paranoia)
We see a close up of Ted. He’s still clearly human, but his eyes are cloudy white and his lips are bloody and stitched shut.
The VO tells us what Ted’s thinking. He imagines that after his friends died in the AM they went on to live a normal life on Earth. As Ted narrates we see scenes of what he’s picturing: Benny with his eyes sewn neatly shut and guide dog, curled up in bed with his husband; Nimdok with his grandkids; Gorrister fighting for LGBT+ rights in Russia; Ellen on the church grounds with her friends; everyone’s free.
But then Ted says ‘of course that isn’t the case’ and the camera pans out to show he’s submerged in the floor, almost like he’s part of the AM. Littered around him are his friends decaying bodies, with gaping wounds from the ice, being grazed on by mechanical locusts, showing bone in places. He makes a comment about being a living corpse in a graveyard.
Then the final lines (I can’t remember exactly): AM has won. It’s had its revenge.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.
40 notes · View notes
r95irth · 5 years ago
Text
Take care - Cut content
Here is a content I cut from the next chapter of take care ; unfortunately it messed up the rhythm of the narration and didn’t fit well with the action. And I don’t know when I will be able to put it back...If I will even. So I post it here =D I hope some of you, dear readers, will enjoy it UU 
Bye have a nice day!
Last time he had seen her was a complete accident. As Kota just started his first year at UA, he stayed during the summer within the area, and naturally ended up going to Peace Center, the place where all heroes children usually gathered, protected and safe. He had hoped to see Eri and hang out, but the girl wasn’t there. Instead Satoru and his friends were, as their parents were all busy working. Mahô was among them, a rarity already, two years ago, since she lived far away in some mountains. She was usually in town when she had a competition to attend, and stopped by to sleep at the Todoroki-Yaoyorozu’s place for a night or two, leaving no occasion to come and play at the center or with anyone else but Satoru. He had learned it later, but she had been sent there because her grandmother was sick, and her parents didn’t want her to worry. Which was kind of stupid in Kota’s opinion. Anyways, when he arrived at Peace center, she was complaining loudly -as always- because her friends didn’t want to go and play outside.
-We can’t Mahô, with this heat, Max is going to melt in like, an hour! Tried to make her understand Satoru, pointing at their friend, a gigantic candle-man.
-Why do you even want to get out when there’s air conditioning here, had complained the said boy.
-But all you do here is playing video games! It’s boring!
-It’s not! You just say that because you can’t play it!
-Then why don’t you let her play? As simply said Kota, as he reached the group.
Tsubaki, the silent grandson of recovery girl had let out a big sigh, as if the question was stupid. Satoru embarrassed, explained in his stead:
-She can’t help but using her quirk when she plays video game, so she either ends up cheating or breaking Tsubaki’s games.
-It’s not my fault the game like me so much they change for me!
Well it did sound like her fault, even if she protested. Satsuki, Satoru’s girlfriend, shook her head and said:
-We’re playing classic games with great story, so everyone can enjoy even if they’re not playing for this very reason.
-And because Mahô has absolutely no education in games. She doesn’t know final fantasy, tales of or even fire emblem series!
-That’s something that must be corrected, agreed Max.
But apparently the girl had absolutely no desire to expand her video game culture if she couldn’t play it, which Kota could understand to a certain extent. He had better things to do that meddle in middle school kids’ problem, so he left them deal with their shit all alone. What he didn’t expect, was for Mahô to come running to him, only one hour later, and grabbing his arms with star in her eyes:
-Wait for me!
-Where are your friends?
-Still playing, i doubt they realize i’m gone, they’re too busy playing! But i have a wonderful idea and i wondered if you could do that!
Apparently she had been trying to find him ever since she had saw final fantasy 10 opening. She remembered that he had a water quirk and wanted to know if he could do a floating water bubble like in blitzball match (a mini game within the game). His first answer had been a clear “no” as it was really too much water for him to handle -he didn’t want to end up dehydrated on the ground. But after a second or two, he actually considered ; as it would be the perfect training.
-Oh yes training! I want to train too! I will help you make it, i’m sure i can imagine an enchantment or two that could help...I can’t enchant liquid but i can put something into the liquid and…
It was enough to keep them busy for the rest of the morning. It took them a few trials, but before lunch break they had managed to make a bubble of water as big as a room in the garden. While Kota had provided water and manipulated it, Mahô had added three little accessories within, simple tiny pearls : one that was the gravity core of the swimming bubble, making sure that the water didn’t spread, one that assure it would continue to float at exactly one meter above the ground, and finally, a bonus : something that made people swimming inside it able to breath in it, like fish. This one in particular had given them the most trouble, since Mahô couldn’t change the water’s inherent nature and so couldn’t say “you become air for us when we breath you in”.
As they stared at their masterpiece, Mahô smiled and stated:
-I’m going to show it to Satsuki! She’s going to love it! Now we can play outside with everyone in the center!
But as she ran out to pick up her friend, she suddenly stopped, and came back on her track, to jump to Kota’s neck and put a big kiss on his cheek. To the teen’s surprise and awful embarrassment ; it was the first time a girl -outside his close family- ever kissed him.
-Thank you Kota! You’re the best ever! I would marry you right now if i could!
Then she went out, as if what she said wasn’t such a big deal. She was a big too old to promise to marry people instead of thanking them, right? Right? It left Kota completely confused ; as he had never saw the little girl as anything but...Well, a kid! She was almost three years younger than him after all! She was way too young for him!
He was still wondering how to politely turn her down, without hurting her feeling, when she came back, bringing back almost all the kids of Peace center, and half of the heroes in the QG. And Kota had suddenly other problem to deal with, as most of the adult showered him with praises and congratulations.
-It’s such a wonderful idea!
-You’re really good with your water quirk, kid!
Even his aunt, who had just came back from work to pick him up gazed at their “masterpiece” and approved it with a big smile. He tried to explain that it was a teammates work, but Mahô was out of sight, already playing inside the water bubble with Satoru and Satsuki. In the end, one kid stole the gravity pearl, and as he went out to get to his parents, the whole bubble exploded, drowning the whole garden in water by accident. It didn’t matter because kids were kids and from swimming they switched to a giant water fight. When noon arrived, and Kota looked for Mahô to clarify everything he couldn’t find her.
“Her mother came to pick her up an hour ago, explained Satoru simply. It seemed like something important.”
In the end, Kota never saw the little girl again. What was an embarrassing anecdote turned gradually into a fond memory, and finally something he would drag off to Eri to make her a tiny bit jealous, maybe. As he grew older he promised himself one thing : since , Mahô would get into UA one day, the first day of school he would remind this naive little girl her silly promise about marrying him, dropping off the subject like a joke, something of no big deal and see her cheek flush and turn red as he did. It would be a sweet revenge. After all, she left him clean the mess, that very day, after their experimental swimming pool. It felt like a fitting punishment.
3 notes · View notes
Text
Girls Talk Boys (part 1)
Camille and Cher meet their new neighbors
Tumblr media
This started as kind of a joke. That's why there are so many guys in it. I now have like eight parts to it so what the hell. First time writing anything like this. Let me know if you like it.
Warnings: there will be mentions of drinking and smoking, lots of cursing and eventually it gets dirty.
The heat slapped her in the face as she stepped out of her truck. Ok so maybe packing up your entire life and moving across country in July wasn't her best idea, but Camille desperately needed a fresh start. Landing a new job on the west coast couldn't have come at a better time.  She readjusted her hair back into a bun and took a minute to survey their new home in the gated condominium complex Jacaranda Garden Estates. Sure it sounded like a seniors golf retreat but was known for being an eccentric community full of artistic types with a little money.  A sports blog wasn't exactly considered the arts but Camille wasn't alone in this.
Her bff/”little sister” Cher was in on the adventure. Cher was a brilliant artist and had been the one to convince Camille to go for it.   Cher’s childhood bestie Cody already lived at the Jacaranda. It was Cody and his boyfriend Nick that helped get them approved by the committee.
Wandering through the downstairs through the kitchen stepping off the back patio Camille could see several of her new neighbors enjoying the summer day. The pool area was teeming with guys with tattoos, muscles and low slung shorts and impossibly tall slim beautiful women. Several people were glancing her way making Camille wish she'd put some effort into her appearance today. Cher took that moment to appear at her side in a literal puff of smoke finishing off the last of a joint.
“ FINALLY Took you bitches long enough” Cody, as loud and dramatic as he was tall ran over to wrapping them both up in a hug. “Codyeeeeeee” Cher squealed giving him a giant smacking kiss on the cheek. Releasing them Cody lifted Camille’s hand to his lips “Greetings your grace” he murmured with a cheeky grin.  Cody hadn’t seen them in ages. The two of them made an interesting combo. Cher being the more relaxed and cheerful but at the same time a bit dreamy and ditzy. Her long dark hair, habit of favouring sundresses and going barefoot she looked much more innocent than she actually was. Also being the taller and younger Cher both looked up to and down at Camille. Camille was barbed wire wrapped in cotton candy with her signature pink hair, pink clothes and cats eye glasses she looked like a harmless ball of fluff, but in reality nothing escaped her eyes or her sharp toungue.  She could be sarcastic, funny, silly and mean. Most people adored Cher right off while Camille took some getting used to.
”“So where is this famous boyfriend we've been hearing so much about with his sexy  bod” Camille teased. Cody booped her on the nose “play nice Duchess.” Camille grinned “I always play nice, but I CAN play can't I” she questioned glancing at the pool area where now most people were watching their small group. Cody followed her line of sight and saw several guys starting to head their way. He was not surprised to see Ashton leading the pack. He’d been pestering Cody for weeks about the new girls. Luke and Calum, Ashton’s bandmates were close behind.
“You must be Cody’s friends. Would you ladies like some help?” Camille was surprised at the accent that accompanied the question. Turning she found herself face to face with a hazel eyed devilishly handsome male. “We probably could get it but if you guys would like to help that would be awesome thank you” Cher answered beaming at the sandy haired stranger.  Camille just looked at him and asked “where are you from? Australia?” He nodded “I'm Ashton, this is Calum and Luke” pointing behind him at his two taller yet equally ridiculously good looking friends
, one blonde and angelic the other dark and exotic.  “I’m Camille and this is Cher.” By this time two more very attractive guys had shown up. Harry who was lanky and covered in tattoos. Tom who was shorter and younger looking than the others but stronger than he looked.
Camille was more than happy to let the guys do most of the heavy lifting. With the guys help it took no time to unload the truck. They managed to get the living room set up and afterwards the three friends insisted on treating the guys to dinner afterwards   Camille took care of the food. Cody and Cher set up beer and shots of fireball. Once the booze started flowing so did the questions. The Aussies were in a band together. Tom was an actor/dancer/stuntman filming a top secret project hoping. Harry had turned success with a British boy band into a lucrative U.S. TV career as a judge on a top rated talent show. Both girls were a bit star struck but Camille was better at hiding it. From the kitchen she could see Cher rummaging through a bag and retrieving her sketchbook. Opening it the guys were completely taken aback as the sweet hippie girl revealed she makes a living drawing monsters  
Cher always got a kick out of showing people her creations for the first time. What began as childhood therapy had earned her a decent living. Three years ago she'd created Vexxed for a graphic novel. That got developed into a video game that had been a major success. Camille had helped her work out a contract for Vexxed related merchandise so Cher had a decent source of regular income. This allowed her to focus on her art and her hobby of being a foot model. “A foot model? Like for shoes? How does that work?” Harry spoke up and Cher melted a little at his British accent. She immediately blushed knowing this was about to get personal. “Um well not for shoes more like taking pictures for people who really like feet” she could feel her cheeks burning but she held her head up to show she was feeling nervous not ashamed.
Camille came back into the living room bringing fresh beers for Ashton, Calum and Tom with the bottle of whiskey in the other hand. She was paying attention to Cher who now had Harry and Ashton looking at her feet and peppering her with questions. She didn't see the extension cord and tripped. Just as she was about to go flying there was a sudden movement at her side. One strong arm wrapped around her waist steadying her while his free hand grabbed the beers out of her grasp. “Careful now hate to waste alcohol” he chuckled in her ear. She looked up to find Calum smiling down at her. “That would've been tragic. Thank you” she replied cursing the universe that the sexiest man she'd ever seen was the one guy in the room with a long time girlfriend. His dark eyes, his strong biceps decorated with tattoos, his lips, those HANDS, Camille tried not to stare certain he could hear the sploosh. She glanced over and saw Cody flash her an evil grin. Suddenly she realized everyone was looking at her. Ashton was asking her a question. “I'm sorry what was that” Camille came back to reality. Ashton grinned at her “So what do you do for a living are you as interesting as your friend here? Tell me you're a dominatrix….Mistress Pink Hair” Cher and Camille locked eyes and burst out laughing. “Call me Pinkstress Cammy” Camille jokes. Luke suddenly sat up straight his eyes wide as he asked “You're not really are you?”  Camille was still laughing “No definitely not but we do know one, and no Ashton I'm not nearly as interesting. I'm a freelance writer but I have a full time gig as a feature on profantasysports.com”
It took everything Cher had not to start laughing again as she watched the boys react. Tom was the first to speak “wait hold on you write for profantasysports?” He looked puzzled for a second. “About fantasy football? Hold on you're...are you Smashmouth Cam?” Camille nodded and Tom looked impressed. Luke spoke up “so you must know a lot about sports for a girl”
Calum was sitting on the arm of the chair and Cher couldn't help but noticed he rolled his eyes at Luke at the same time Camille narrowed hers. Cher knew how much Camille hated that “for a girl” nonsense, and was impressed at how light her response came out. “No sweetie” she breezed back “I know a lot about sports.”
“Maybe you could help me win some money” Harry said with a cheeky grin “is it just American football?” Camille just nodded “no premier league yet sorry.”
Ashton grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the table in front of her. “We're gonna play a game” he announced looking back at Cher before staring down at the girl in pink. Camille glanced around the room. A fourth Aussie, Michael had shown up with his lovely girlfriend.  Cody’s boyfriend Nick had arrived with a nice fat bag and the two of them were rolling two massive blunts. She was a little nervous about potentially getting wasted in front of her handsome neighbors, but she and Cher could drink with the best of them. Besides Cody and Nick wouldn't let anything bad happen. Finally she met the pair of hazel eyes challenging her. “Fine by me” Camille heard herself say “but I'm not drinking that kids stuff, I've got a bottle of Goldschlager in one of these boxes.” “It's in the freezer” Cher told her “and shot glasses are in the box with the blue tape marked emergency drinking supplies.” Camille got up and Calum did as well offering to help. The girls locked eyes for a second. “Are you sure?” Cher’s eyes seemed to ask. Camille wasn't sure at all. This could get messy.  Ripping open the box she found Cher’s Pisces shot glass and her House Targaryen one before selecting some for the guys. Handing Calum the bottle she caught his smile and thought “Fuck it I'm damned if I do, bored if I don't.”
Chapter 2 Heart To Break
95 notes · View notes
rebels-advocate-blog · 7 years ago
Text
fbi: don’t move
hOwDy hO, hErE wE gO
Ivan is a completely ordinary, totally unassuming, simple meme-loving guy, and Alfred is the FBI agent who secretly lives in his camera. Governments and grudges are thrown aside as chance encounters in Washington D.C. bring them closer and closer together.
read it with your own eyes on fanfiction.net!
read it with your own eyes on archive of our own!
or, just scroll down a bit and read the first chapter right here! (with stolen eyes)
.
fbi: don’t move
Ivan laughed, which was to say he snorted very, very lightly. Even snorting was an overstatement; a silent wisp of breath escaped him as he swiped away at his screen, liking the photo and commenting: LOLOKOLKOLOLOL1!1! He switched gears to search up the hashtag under the meme, something he almost never did, and found a semi-sorted collection of posts following the same theme. He wasted no time screenshotting a few of his favorites to pirate for himself later.
Soon. Soon he would break 999K followers. And then, and then. Then he would have a million followers. A million was a lot, depending on who you asked. Beyoncé only had fifteen million—at least on Twitter. (On Instagram she had eleven hundred million.) He wanted to rule the Internet.
Ivan turned his phone off and threw it across the bed, forcing himself to get up and move if he wanted to retrieve it. Stretching languidly, he rolled out of the warmth of the covers and faced the day.
He dressed in comfortable, durable clothes; Ivan had recently secured a position as a horticulturist for the Smithsonian Gardens along the National Mall, which was a fancy way of saying he cut grass and trimmed hedges all day, except it was really nice grass and they were really nice hedges. Obviously, wearing his favorite scarf was less than ideal for the sweaty work, but Ivan would never and could never take it off. He slipped into his boots and thrust a spare pair of gloves into his pocket. Sadly, he couldn't use his phone on the job, but he could use headphones. He began to hum to himself, imagining the songs he would listen to on his first shift.
Before shoving his phone into his bag, Ivan took a glance at the blank screen. A strange feeling overcame him as his eyes drifted upwards, making contact with the minuscule blue dots of light inside his camera lens. He held its gaze for a brief, piqued interest that lasted about two seconds, then giggled. "Goodbye, Mr. FBI," he sang to himself.
It was silly. He dropped the phone into his bag and left his apartment with haste.
.
Alfred grabbed street food on the way to work, washing it down with a hefty Starbucks to go. Whipping the shades off from overtop his regular glasses, he strode into headquarters. Immediately, he had to give up his meal so it could be scanned for toxins while he himself was stripped and searched. Elizabeta Héderváry, chief of the gray division, took an eternity to scrutinize Alfred's badge. Alfred tapped his toes and fidgeted to himself. Predictably, Ivan would be online in seven minutes. "Alright, Jones." She handed back Alfred's ID. "You're clear. But don't let me catch you in here again, or it's straight to the slammer." She drew a line across her throat.
Alfred gratefully collected his food and his badge. "Wait, what the? Dude, I work here!"
She stared him down.
Alfred, without hesitation, steadied himself and stared back.
After a few seconds of silence, Chief Héderváry burst into hearty laughter. "I'm only testing you, kid! I guess it's very Gilbert of me. But gosh, you would have thought I had just admitted to you that the tooth fairy isn't real, or that Santa is Illuminati propaganda, or that JFK is still alive up on a secret moon base in space...oops." She covered her mouth. "I've said too much."
Alfred blinked slowly. "Okay. I'll just...get to work then, um, before you zap me and wipe my memory."
The agent nodded. "Better bolt. Gotta keep you on your feet." She then began drawing her stun gun, but Alfred had already disappeared down the hall. He frantically dove into an arriving elevator and jammed a finger down on the button to close the doors as the clunky boots of the Héderváry's footsteps came closer. Alfred hugged his food to his chest and pressed into the corner of the tiny metal box. He had had his memory wiped before, he was certain, and had even had to do it to others once or twice—it was a ghastly, abominable experience. The chief's image appeared between the elevator's two closing doors and Alfred screamed, but when the shot was fired the elevator had already begun its descent.
Alfred shivered, cradling himself. He was safe for now. He dug into his food and snuck out a bite of greasy fry. It would be two hundred more dings of the elevator before he arrived at the secret underground black zone where all the FBI agents monitored their respecting, (un)suspecting citizens.
Alfred had finished half of his coffee before he made it to the negative two hundredth floor. It was pretty swampy down there, due to the thick consistency of cubicles, the heat coming off of so much compressed technology, and also due to the government having concealed the fact that, yes, Washington D.C. had really been built atop a swamp. He had his semi-greasy fingerprints scanned a second time and then navigated the maze toward his cubicle. He only had two minutes at best before Ivan came home.
Ivan was Alfred's monitor man, Alfred's subject of spy. Alfred had Ivan's schedule practically burned into his brain: he woke up at six-thirty, dabbled on his phone for fifteen minutes, then put it in his pocket and didn't use it again until four, when he got off work. Ivan did not have a computer, making Alfred's hacking tasks both easier and harder by reserving everything to Ivan's cell phone. Alfred would transfer Ivan's morning visuals to Alfred's own laptop to monitor in the morning, and Alfred usually came to headquarters to watch Ivan during the rest of his day. Sometimes he took shifts with another agent, but lately Alfred had been finding himself at headquarters more and more. After all, it was important to develop a deep understanding of your subject, even if your subject had no idea you even existed.
Alfred fired up his special, government-issued laptop, opening the monitor. Just in time, too; Ivan's face soon filled the screen. Alfred sighed. It was on.
Alfred knew almost everything about Ivan. His names (Ivan "Vanya" Braginsky), his family (one older sister and one younger sister), and even the songs he sang in the shower (surprisingly a lot of Taylor Swift). Alfred knew Ivan was the head of a semi-famous online meme domain. Alfred knew Ivan watered the sunflowers in his window every day as soon as he came home. Alfred knew Ivan didn't have many friends. Alfred knew Ivan had long, red scars circling around his neck, hidden under that huge off-white scarf he always wore. Alfred knew Ivan liked soft things and had five blankets on his bed. Alfred also knew that Ivan was at the top of the FBI's list of suspected dangerous Russian intelligence agents, and it was Alfred's duty to report any fishy activity. So far, Alfred had observed none.
Other than the fact that Alfred had to be constantly alert in his job, monitoring Ivan was pretty easy. Ivan had a cute face, and often made little childish noises and expressions whenever he saw something that grabbed his attention. Alfred had trained in the Russian language for years and still couldn't capture the melodiousness of Ivan's murmurs to himself. Sometimes Ivan would be scrolling through social media at night and fall asleep on his phone, which was annoying but undeniably adorable. And he was an immigrant; Alfred could damn well appreciate the hard work it must have taken Ivan to leave his homeland and adjust to life here.
However, this morning, Ivan had addressed Alfred personally, saying "Goodbye, Mr. FBI" before he put his phone away, and that had been hella creepy.
Ivan wasn't saying anything now, just staring at the screen, his eyelids half-shut, eyes moving in line formation over whatever he was reading. Alfred took a sip of his Starbucks and tapped into Ivan's phone display, bringing up a rectangle of white with a thick block of Helvetica text. Alfred's eyes scanned it himself, knowing it was another online post, and Alfred had read thousands of Ivan's. They were quality. When he finished laughing, he switched focus back to Ivan's camera visual; the ceiling behind Ivan was moving as Ivan sat down at his kitchen table. Ivan picked at his lip, snorting a little. The sound of his bags hitting the floor echoed to Alfred, and soon Ivan began humming a sweet song.
Alfred kicked back in his ultra-comfort wheely chair and popped in another fry, enjoying the music. He had no reason to feel so comfortable in the artificial presence of a creepy Russian, yet his wariness was drowned out by tribute for the memes. And Ivan's face. Thank god Ivan at least had a nice face that Alfred got to stare at all evening.
There was a knock on the wall of Alfred's cubicle. He spun around too quickly in the wheely chair and had to overcorrect, graciously spilling a couple of fries into his lap. "Whaddya want?"
It was Toris. A fellow FBI monitor, the long-haired Lithuanian stood stiff in the doorway to Alfred's workspace, making more eye contact with Alfred's inspirational NASA star map poster than with Alfred. "Hi. Um, Felicks went to the bathroom, so I was going to be taking break, and if I remember correctly, you told me to 'mosey on over when you get a chance, because I got the goods?'"
"Aw yeah!" Alfred pushed down his laptop screen so it was at a forty-five degree angle. Toris knew who Ivan was, and sometimes covered Alfred's shifts when Alfred stayed up too late playing video games or reading Marvel fanfiction, but Alfred still didn't want to be interrupted on the job. After all, both Ivan's screen and his camera were blank and black; he must have gone to take his daily shower. "Right here, man. Check it out. They were handin' them out all down the Mall, and I managed to snag a few extras!"
Toris took the item in his hand and inspected it cautiously. "This is a…a SAVE THE WHALES sticker?"
"No, a SAVE THE WHALES magnet!" Alfred corrected, spinning it over. "I thought you might want one, since your space is so plain and boring and all. It'd give you something to look at other than Felicks's fancy skirt collection, or whatever."
The tips of Toris's ears turned red. "They're designer." Yet he didn't refuse the magnet.
Not every FBI monitor happened to be stationed in the vicinity of their subject; Felicks lived halfway across the world from Toris, and was an alleged underground market weapons dealer, with emphasis on alleged. Mostly he just took selfies in the bathtub and embarrassed Toris to no end. Alfred considered himself lucky that Ivan was only half a city away, though they had yet to cross paths in public.
Toris drifted out with the magnet in hand and Alfred was left to finish dinner in peace. He flipped his screen back up and found that Ivan was at the stove, cooking his own meal while watching a Vine compilation. Alfred grinned, keeping up both the front camera and screen views as he dug in so he could laugh along with Ivan. "I smell like beef." A long time passed. They finished eating their dinners at the same time; Alfred imagined the noodle casserole thing Ivan had cooked tasted better than Alfred's weak Starbucks.
Now Ivan had set his phone against the wall to rest while he washed the dishes. He was mumbling peacefully to himself again, but Alfred couldn't tell if he was singing or talking over the sound of swishing water and clinking silverware. After a couple more plates, Ivan's movements slowed, and his gaze slowly climbed back up to the phone screen. The phone camera. "Are you there, Mr. FBI?" he whispered.
Alfred jolted in his seat. It was just like this morning! No warning, no nothing. In English! There was no way Ivan could ever know, of course, that he was being monitored, so the sudden unprompted conversations with a seemingly inanimate object had to stem from Ivan's latest meme obsession. Alfred knew about it.
He was onto them.
"How was your day?" Ivan asked, redirecting his gaze towards the skillet he was scrubbing. "Mine was well. I planted flowers today, and I had a nice conversation with a policeman. Do you talk to police often, Mr. FBI?"
Alfred let his shoulders relax, his mind wandering unintentionally, following Ivan's statements. Coincidentally, his brother Matthew was a DC police officer and friend of the division, but sadly, they didn't have many chances to talk. "What are you doing, man?" Alfred blurted out. "You know this is weird, right?"
Alas, Ivan would never be able to hear Alfred. He had already begun saying something else by the time Alfred was done speaking: "...and work around the people, because it is so fun inside, and there's AC! People are scared to talk to me when I am working outside. But at least I don't have to stand all day." Ivan's voice had gotten quieter, forcing Alfred to pay closer attention. "Do you stand all day when you work, Mr. FBI?"
"Hell no." Alfred kicked the wheels of his chair. "But don't get excited—it's a curse, dude. I would choose a nice garden with fresh air over this stuffy old garage any day."
Ivan was silent and complacent, as if he was really listening, Dora the Explorer-like, and Alfred still couldn't discern if it was endearing or eerie. Ivan's eyelids were halfway shut, a tiny smile gracing his lips. He waited a second more, then nodded. "Is your work boring, Mr. FBI?"
He considered. "Yeah. Not that you're that boring, but…" Alfred let the sentence hang. It wasn't as if it mattered if he finished it, anyway. And the fact was that Ivan was pretty boring. He was the only one ever in his apartment, and went to bed early on Friday nights. On Saturdays he did laundry and cleaned, and every Sunday he napped and called his sisters! "I'm just glad you work so much so I don't have to. Wow, I did not mean for that to sound mean. Um, it's true, though. If you had a computer, things would be differen—"
"Agent Jones?" a recognizable accented voice peeped around the doorway. "Whom are you talking to?"
For the second time that day, Alfred jumped and pushed down his screen, muting Ivan. "No one, good golly, don't scare me like that!"
Chief Arthur Kirkland, Alfred's boss and the head of the black division, didn't appear to notice or care. He stood stiffer than Toris had, clipboard and pencil in hand. "Okay, so, listen. You're mates with Agent Beilschmidt, right? He never checked in with Chief Héderváry and she wanted me to ask—"
Alfred adjusted his glasses, scrunching up his nose. "Which Beilschmidt?"
"The elder." Arthur steeled himself, putting a perplexed finger to his temple. "Apparently, Gilbert's gone MIA."
Alfred crossed his arms. "I haven't seen him since office bowling on Friday. He got his arm stuck in the ball return. Today Héderváry tried to stun me when I checked in! What is up with the gray division?"
Kirkland shook his head to himself, beginning to pace in place. His eyes were as wide as quarters, staring unforgivably at his clipboard as if it held all the answers. "With Carriedo missing already, I'm sure there's foul play to suspect, or even worse—the Mafia. They're on the same team; it's too much of a coincidence. It also means—" He gasped suddenly, raising his crazy blond head in epiphany. Then his voice lowered to a whisper. "It means someone else will be next."
Alfred sat up straighter, suddenly excited. "Whoa, really? Can I help? What case were they working on before they disappeared? Who saw them last? Where—"
"No." Arthur Kirkland was cross. "Not your division. Just let them handle it. Who are you monitoring, again?"
He hesitated. "Ivan. I mean, Braginsky. The...the guy—"
"The Russian spy, right." Arthur stuck his pen behind his ear. "Well. I'll be off, then. Remember to record any—"
"I know, I know." Alfred waved his hand. He felt more and more antsy the longer the Chief was in his space. "Just get on with it. It's fine."
"Right." Arthur frowned and touched his headpiece, half-turned away. "Good day, then. Do your work."
Alfred swiveled back to Ivan, groaning loudly as Arthur departed. Sometimes he felt like he was never taken seriously, but then again, he did sit at a desk and watch a famous memer's life all day. He wasn't sure if such a job should be taken seriously or not.
"I wish I was in a different division," Alfred blurted out. While he had been distracted by Arthur, Ivan had finished washing dishes and was now wiping down his stove and countertops. "I want to do more field agent stuff. My job would be a lot less boring if, instead of hacking all your gadgets and watching you from behind this screen, I could actually go out and spy on you. You know, like, shadow you from around street corners, hiding in the bushes with binoculars, open up the refrigerator door and BAM I'm there!" Alfred slapped his hands on his knees, grinning. "Eat all your food. Make you drop your croissant."
Ivan was still smiling to himself in that charming, unnerving way as he strangled the last drops of water from his rag and hung it over the faucet to dry. "What do you like to do when you're not working, Mr. FBI? Or do you work all the time? I imagine you taking shifts with someone else. Which FBI do I speak to now?"
"Nope, just me. I mean, other black division monitors like Toris sometimes, or Ludwig Beilschmidt if I can convince him, but mostly just me. They all have other guys to watch; y'all suspected criminals are weird. If I wasn't here I would be at NASA." Alfred glanced wistfully at the star chart above his head. "But they wanted me to work on computers, and I wanted to go to space. Diddly darn dang, I love space."
Ivan waited five more seconds before responding. "That's nice."
Alfred nodded fervently. "Damn right it is. Arthur—what a mom—says I waste my talents—"
"I hope you are having an good day, wherever you are," Ivan mused. "I assume you work at FBI headquarters. I walked by that place today. Tomorrow I work in the butterfly garden. It is very close, and my favorite place to work."
"That's rad. I've been there. It's right next to the Museum of Natural—"
"It is next to the Museum of Natural History." Ivan was staring directly at the camera. For the many months Alfred had been Ivan's monitor, he hadn't noticed the purple hue his eyes took on in this dim kitchen glow. "Very beautiful, da? Convenient that most of the Smithsonian buildings are close to each other, all in the same place. I can look at prize artifacts and arrange flowers at the same time."
Alfred was silent. A vision of Ivan with a butterfly perched atop his big nose entered Alfred's mind. He wished Ivan used his phone on the job, wondering what Ivan actually looked like while working. The phone was harder to hack when it was turned completely off; Ivan normally kept it like that during the day while Alfred was away.
"Oh. That reminds me. One moment, Mr. FBI." Ivan walked off out of view.
An idea began to take shape in Alfred's mind, replacing the image of Ivan and the butterfly. Really, allowing Ivan to go that whole slot of time without documentation was a bad strategy, especially if Ivan really was a dangerous Russian intelligence agent. Who knew what he could be up to? And with all the gray division field agents being abducted by the Mafia, apparently, there would be less people to go out and make sure Ivan wasn't, like, putting poison into the plants or something. Alfred could step up and ask. Alfred wanted to see Ivan irl.
And speaking of Ivan, where the heck was he?
Alfred instinctively leaned forward before forgetting it was impossible to see around the kitchen through Ivan's phone. He was positioned so he was staring at Ivan's undecorated refrigerator. He couldn't even hear Ivan, though he remembered Ivan had excused himself.
Ivan never did this. After dishes he would always make himself a lunch for the next day, spend another thirty minutes online, read a little of the book he was slowly working through, check his phone again, and then get ready for bed. Alfred stared frustratedly at the screen, willing it to shift. "Hey, get back over here!" he protested. "You can't just leave me hanging like this!"
From the other room came a thump and a crinkle of plastic that sounded like an empty Doritos bag.
"Ivan!" Alfred huffed. "Don't make me do it!" He brought up a tab of the phone's controls. His finger hovered over the mouse. "Alright, you asked for it. Hear that? I'm doing it, Braginsky!" He pressed a button, making the phone burst into a frantic buzzing.
A few seconds later Ivan reentered the kitchen, his soft boi face appearing innocent and concerned through the screen. Alfred shut the phone's buzzing off, crossing his arms smugly. "Explain yourself."
Ivan, however, didn't say anything. He picked up the phone, opened it, and went straight to his meme account. Alfred felt betrayed when Ivan didn't speak any more, just swiped through his feeds. "So close," he mumbled to himself, having switched back to Russian. Alfred was a bit startled by this, as well; if Ivan knew (or thought he knew) that no one was going to hear and respond to him, why had he been using English when he spoke to "Mr. FBI?" Alfred accepted it was just another of his quirks that made Alfred's job easier. But it signified that their conversation was now over.
"Okay, whatever, it's chill, then." Alfred glanced at the time. He still had a few long hours to go before Ivan clocked in for the night. He had been caught off-guard by the unprompted half-conversation, and now was embarrassed at how he had whined about being ignored. Deep down, Alfred didn't really believe Ivan was a criminal or a spy. Criminals didn't get drunk on vodka home alone and laugh so pleasantly. Spies didn't jump on their beds in excitement whenever it snowed and knit their own oven mitts. Ivan was as ordinary and unassuming and simple as one could be, and immigrant or otherwise he had absolutely no reason to be on the FBI black list.
So Alfred sighed and settled into his cubicle for another evening of memes, same as always. He waited, watched and waited, stole food from Toris and waited, but it turned out that Mr. FBI didn't even get a "Goodnight."
.
Ivan had no intention of telling his phone goodnight. In fact, he had been reading (and posting) so many FBI memes lately that he left his phone on his bed under the covers in paranoia while he went to the bathroom. But not because it was gross to have someone watching him do his business, which it was. It was because under his sink, squeezed behind the water pipe, was a laptop computer no one knew about but himself and an invisible faction of Russian hackers. Stored on that computer was vital information he had been slowly leeching from the Smithsonian Institute. He didn't know what the circle would do with the info when he sent it, wrapped up with ribbons and bows over a deep web email provider, but he knew if he didn't do his job there would be consequences. He made sure to flush the toilet and run the water on his way out.
Ivan hopped into bed and picked his phone back up, humming as if nothing had happened. He refused to look at the camera lens again, but chided himself. If someone really was watching him, he would know. He distracted himself by checking his meme account once more.
Ivan buried his body under the massive pile of blankets, turning off the lamp and letting his phone screen be the only source of light in the room. He had read that blue light before bed destroyed the eyes, but figured he was already too far gone in that direction to fix anything now. Someone had commented "Congratulations! Heart emoji, fireworks emoji, clapping hands emoji," on his most recent post. Ivan's breaths picked up as he doubled back to check his follower count, gasping when he saw it.
He had broken one million.
.
I have nothing to say for myself.
51 notes · View notes
mummified-game-review · 3 years ago
Text
2064 Read Only Memories: A Review
youtube
If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnapping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.the garden center of my closest hardware store and I’m trying to decide if the start up cost of 15 bucks in in my budget.
Welcome back to another video game review here on Mummified Games. Today were going to be taking a look at the modern Point and Click Mystery game 2064: Read Only Memories. By Midboss.
This game has a lot of charm to it. I Love how this game presents itself. The Music, art, story, and voice work, is all great and do a really great job of pulling me in. I did not want to stop playing. This was the first time where I was like okay maybe i play for 2 hours. And then write the review. But sadly there was no way I could do that if I wanted to make my deadline.
So the game is a future cyberpunk scene where Humans have found a way to cybernetically and biologically augment their bodies. Sort of just like every other Cyberpunk cenario. Just par for the course at this point.
Wouldn't have it any other way.
But what's great about this game is that it's not overly burdened with the constant narrative of life sucks and there's inequality and class disparity.
It's not dystopian cyberpunk, it's more optimistic. People seem to really be jammin with the future that they find themselves in. For the most part.
So it's your standard affair people are making so many augmentations to themselves in so many different ways. That there is a rebel group that is coming up that wants to see humanity return to who they were.
Not like a full blown god's perfect image, it's not a religious thing. But still embracing tradition and what makes humans human.
I don't know if we have the science to make Snake people then I'm all for it.
Ooo la la.
There are Robots that this big company is making that are designed to Walk like the humans, talk like the humans. But it's all just fancy code. And then the game tells you about one scientist that is working on transcending that limitation of just fancy code. And make something new.
Story intro out of the way, The scene opens with your less than standout apartment and you learn that you are a journalist, sort of.
And after you go through a nothing of a tutorial. As in like it's almost not even there cause it's so basic. You write a report and then go to bed.
INCITING ACTION
In the middle of the night a little blue robot hacks your door. And breaks into your apartment. Interfaces with your computer, cleans your apartment and also tries to clean the old computer, bricking it in the process.
You wake up and they tell you that they have selected you out of all known contacts of their master to help them track their master down. He was Captured last night and you need to join the robot to track down their master.
The robot's name is Turing, probably named after the real person Alan Turing the Computer Scientist.
A note about the dialogue and interactions with Turing. ALL THEIR LINES ARE VOICED! This game gives you so much during the process. There is a lot of reading to be doing in this game and luckily it's not all put on you.
I don't want you to think that I don't like Reading. Or that I think reading is hard. But if I'm meant to put multiple hours into a game. Doing nothing but reading for the entirety of it can get tiring
So I'm glad that so much is fully voiced. Gives you the chance to look down and tweet your love of this game for a second.
And that if there is a name or something that comes up you instantly know how it's meant to be pronounced. Instead of having to wait till you say it outloud in a video game review and suddenly everyone thinks “wait Tony, you say its like that? Wow okay”
Look, I have yet to hear anyone talk about Itch in casual conversation so I have no idea if you need to add the Dot I O to the end of it or if I sound like a Boomer who says out loud Dot Com at the end of every website name. “Yeah i just look it up on Google Dot Com”
I'm trying here folks I really am.
So after Turing tells you about what they need you join them on their mission to track down their creator and figure out what's at the bottom of this whole thing.
A note about the profile creation scene, it's quite funny and I thought it was super cool how they include multiple ways of character settings.
There's nothing visual that you can do to change your character so there's that. But Turing asks you for your name, you just type it out and I was excited for maybe a robot voice that was going to try to pronounce Mummified but it didn't go well.
Asks you for your pronouns, Yes! I love it. I would expect nothing less from a developer like Midboss. The people who host the Steam Summer of Pride Sale for the last couple of years Highlighing Queer games.
But the fact that they don't just limit to just He/Her/They but also Zir, and another one that slips my mind. And also an option to input your own preferred pronouns. SO COOL!
And I was ready to maybe answer one more silly question. That's where I was thinking the game would take things, assuming based on its sense of humor and the jokes that would come up in this game.
But no it was a real question about dietary needs and restrictions, to be kept in mind when out and about and talking about food. Holy crap that's so cool.
So the game gives you options like Omnivore, Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Gluten Free Dairy fr
What a super cool thing to include in your game. This just adds to the inclusion that is offered to players of all different ways of life.
So I just hunted down the list of food options in the video recording I took of this game and I'm reminded of just how funny this game is.
There are great jokes in this. There are subtle allegories to our own real world things in this game.
Turing says they found a better door that you could use to replace the current door you have due to its sub standard encryption features to prevent people from hacking though. And they recommend a particular model of door and mention it has over 300 reviews on Congo.
Wait... Congo. HA! Okay that got me. Cause you know Congo the river. And the Amazon river. I thought it was funny.
Also there is a joke about the Creator having a list of different things on the TV that they were watching like Ted’s Tech Tips. That one got me, because it might not be a thing but I'd like to think it's a nod to Linus Tech Tips.
This game is filled with great cute jokes. There are a couple of options that the game gives you when you wake up to see a strange robot in your room, some of the reactions are more fearful. And while reading them as an option I thought to myself WHY?
This little friend is Cute as hell. There's no way I would be scared of them. Their cute faces and little arms. I love them so much.
So the story is sound and the writing in it is so well done. The voice acting is great as well. Turing sounds innocent and has a cute childish nature to them, but they’re not dumb to say the least, they’re still the most advanced AI program in the world.
The gameplay is also stellar. Most of the interactions with things in this world are done with 4 different options.
Look: The game will give you a description of what the item, thing, person, whatever is.
Talk: If it's a person you can talk to them. Or sometimes things have voice commands.
Take/Touch, you might be able to pick something up or turn it on. Computers would take you to another window and you could do other things inside it.
Use time on: At the start of the game you're given an ID card and you pick up a pair of headphones in your apartment. The id could be used to get you places or scan for whatever might come up. Or you can connect your headphones to random things to hear stuff. What's funny is that you can use your headphones on almost anything and you can get some description of what you hear.
Real basic stuff. Like it's described. It's a Point And CLick Mystery Game. A lot of the game is being given a scene and you can talk to people in it, or interact with the things on the static screen.
Everything in this game flows so well together. Nothing takes you out of the experience. Its a story that takes you in and doesn't let go.
I think this is a game that I can fully recommend to people no matter what. If you have it. If you were curious about it. If you’ve never heard of it. Any range of feeling and knowledge of this game I highly recommend you go check it out.
If you have this game tell me your thoughts on it. Do you think Jessi was a jerk or if she is justified in her standoff-ness in her attitude?
If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnaping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.
In the meantime. Ah gee folks i really am thinking hard about that jade Plant. I'd love to get one. But my cable bill is coming and I know I need to take care of that first. Oh well. Maybe next month.
You all do the Youtube Dance, Like, Sub, Bell, Comment, and share this video with someone you know.
And as always hackers, Keep Digging, and we’ll make it out sometime.
See you in the next one.
0 notes
purrincess-chat · 6 years ago
Text
Within the Garden Walls CH2
Hey, so I finally put down video games long enough to finish this~ I may try to crank out some fluff month chapters because tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be spending the weekend with my friends in celebration of that. I think I am going to put off More Than Just a A Friend and get around to it over time. So this month I’ll finish up this, A Merman’s Heart, and Fluff Month. I have so many ideas and not enough time and energy to write all of them. If only there were a thousand mes to play all the games and write all the fanfiction. *le sigh*
Read on AO3
Chapter 2
Ivan wore a pensive frown as he mucked the stalls in the royal stables. Such work was menial and required little concentrated thought which was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it gave him time to think about the woman he’d seen in the garden, but the more he thought about it, the more questions he came up with that had no answers. People didn’t just disappear into thin air like that, but he was certain that the whole experience wasn’t a dream.
“Why the long face, son?” His father asked, walking his horse, Romeo, back in from their morning of plowing the castle field. “Did you eat too many sweets at the bakery this morning and get a stomach ache?”
“No, I didn’t have any!” Ivan said defensively, and his father gave him a knowing look. “I only ate a couple cookies, but they were the ones that broke apart when Mrs. Cheng was transferring them onto the cooling rack.”
“I’d know you anywhere, Ivan,” He chuckled, unlatching the halter and patting Romeo as he stooped to drink from the water trough. “So what is on your mind?”
“Something peculiar happened to me in the garden today. Have you noticed anything odd while strolling through there recently?” Ivan asked, leaning against his shovel.
“Not personally myself, no. What sort of peculiar incident occurred today?” He tilted his head to the side a little, a hint of concern in his voice.
“Well, I heard a woman singing today, and when I found her, she disappeared right before my eyes,” He explained, scratching the back of his neck. “I’d never seen her before.”
“And it wasn’t one of the gardeners?” Ivan shook his head. “Did you imagine the whole thing, do you think? It is hot out today, and the heat can play all kinds of tricks on the mind.”
“I’m certain. She seemed so real…” Ivan pressed a palm to his forehead with a sigh, and his father patted his shoulder.
“Maybe it was real. Maybe our gardens have been inhabited by a magical being,” He said with a shrug, pacing over to retrieve a shovel of his own from the wall.
“Magical?” His father shot him a smirk over one shoulder before scooping the old hay from Romeo’s stall. “Are you mocking me?”
“Don’t you have another lesson starting soon? You better finish up your stall so poor Juliet doesn’t have to sleep in her own muck.” He nodded pointedly, and Ivan pursed his lips sourly before doing as he was told.
“Good morning, dear,” His mother greeted, stretching up to kiss his cheek as he walked into the library. “How was your morning?”
“Fine,” He said, taking a seat and tapping a finger on his lips.
“The look on your face tells me otherwise. Did something happen?” She asked, tilting her head to the side and taking the chair beside him.
Ivan explained the events in the garden once more, and his mother leaned back in her seat with a thoughtful expression.
“Do you think I’m crazy, Mother?” He asked when he’d finished, eyebrow creasing under his self-conscious frown.
“Not at all, my love.” She patted his hands. “There are stories from all around of creatures beyond your wildest imaginations. Your father has always found them silly, but sometimes I like to think they’re real.”
“What kind of stories?” Ivan cocked his head to the side, leaning in with an interested gape.
“Things that get passed around the market. Salesmen and fishermen tell of monsters of the sea luring sailors to their deaths with songs promising riches and treasures. One told of a beast that only comes out on a full moon, and another of a creature that feeds on human blood,” She recounted ominously, and Ivan leaned back with a sigh.
“The woman I saw doesn’t seem like any of those things,” He said, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Are all of these creatures bad?”
“I’m sure if those monsters are all truly real that there could be others out there that aren’t so malicious. Perhaps they are just more timid so no one has encountered them before.” She tapped her chin then shrugged. “I like to think that anything is possible.”
“So you think the woman I saw is…a magical being?” Ivan frowned, and his mother crossed her legs, a sly smile curling on her lips.
“Could be. Perhaps if you spend more time in the garden she may appear to you again, and you can ask her,” She said, and Ivan straightened, a hopeful glint in his eye.
“Can I study outside today?” He asked hopefully, and his mother gave him a permissive flick of her hand. “Thank you, Mother!”
“Let me know if you see her again! I’d love to meet a magical woman,” She called after him as he scooped up his books and raced from the room.
“Good afternoon, Prince Ivan,” One of the gardener’s greeted politely as he strolled along the gravel path purposefully. “Don’t you have a geography lesson with your mother?”
“I was given permission to study out here today, Gwenette,” He replied, waving his book as proof. “You all do such a wonderful job that I’ve decided to admire it today.”
She gave him a stern look so he quickly added, “I promise not to touch anything.”
“Then we will leave you to your studying,” She said, removing her gloves and cocking a hip. “But if you touch anything you will be getting an earful.”
“I would expect no less,” He chuckled, nodding as the other gardeners all packed up their tools and left him to his own devices.
He set up camp against a tall tree, leaning his back against it and opening his textbook to the day’s lesson, although he had trouble focusing on it. His mind was too preoccupied with the girl he’d seen, and her melody played through his mind over and over, haunting him with its sweet cadence. If only he had listened just a while longer. If only he hadn’t been so eager to see her face…
Much to his disappointment, his mysterious garden performer didn’t appear for him that afternoon, nor the next, or the next after that. But Ivan wasn’t so easily discouraged, and he spent many afternoons outside eating lunch, reading books, working on his sewing. All the while he hummed her melody, reliving that brief moment over and over, trying desperately to recall every detail.
Nevertheless, she evaded him, leaving him just as want for answers as the day he first saw her. She was an enigma that bombarded his mind daily and offered no sign of reprieve, and as time wore on, he began to wonder if perhaps his father was right about the heat getting to him. No one else had ever reported seeing her nor hearing her voice, and he had all but given up on the idea until one afternoon when he passed the doors of the upper balcony after his art lesson and heard that same melody from the courtyard below.
In an instant, he pushed open the door and reached the railing in two strides, peering over into the garden and feeling his breath catch in his throat. She was every bit as stunning as the first time, waltzing around with a carefree smile, curtseying before the squirrels as she scattered seeds for the birds, and all the while she hummed the song that had been stuck in Ivan’s head for weeks.
As much as he longed to go down to her, he had learned his lesson the first time, so instead he opted to take a seat on the stone wall of the balcony and flip open his sketchbook. He wanted to capture her essence so that he never forgot a single detail again, and perhaps one day she’d warm up to him enough to speak face-to-face. Until then, he was content to admire her from afar.  
4 notes · View notes
frostedpuffs · 7 years ago
Text
A Simple Suggestion - Ch.5
Tumblr media
A Simple Suggestion Summary: Breaks from patrol often allow time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to talk and be themselves. But when a silly joke starts to seem all that…well, not silly, the two find themselves considering something neither of them had ever before: moving in together. The tricky part is still keeping their identities a secret. Rated: T+ Pairing(s): Ladybug/Chat Noir, Adrien/Marinette
Chapter 5 - A Deal Word count: 6,192 Also read on: ao3
<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>
Finding out that the beautiful apartment she'd had her hopes set on had been taken was disappointing, to say the least.
With a sigh, Marinette flopped down onto her bed and frowned deeply into her pillow. She couldn't believe it. She and Chat had been so ready to move, and they had been sure that apartment had been the one for them...but they had acted too late.
Someone else—whoever that person, or people, may be—had beaten them to the punch.
She and Chat Noir really should have sealed the deal sooner. While they both were still so new to the whole apartment-hunting business, Marinette really hadn't expected their apartment to go to soon.
(Well, it wasn't "theirs." It never really had been.)
Chat Noir had done his best to comfort her. She was still sad, though. It really had been perfect.
The apartment was large with a homey feel, had a beautiful garden terrace and two bedrooms big enough to keep her sewing supplies and a queen-sized bed, as well as being in a safe location with a view overlooking the Seine. All of those were nice qualities, of course, but her favorite attribute of the apartment was its spacious living room with floor-to-ceiling windows. She could imagine herself sitting on the couch, sketching and listening to her favorite music as sunlight streamed in like golden wisps of warmth onto the hardwood floor...
She daydreamed about it extensively. What it would be like to live there, to wake up in the morning and open the burgundy curtains to a view of the sunrise over the city. She would make a pot of coffee for her and Chat Noir. Maybe she'd even pick up breakfast at her parent's bakery and bring it home for them to share because they made the best pastries. Perhaps she'd do some yoga in the living room—there was certainly enough space—and after she could take a shower in one of the two pristine bathrooms before spending the day relaxing on the terrace.
Continue reading on ao3 or under the cut! ↓
Marinette's heart sunk as she remembered that she wouldn't be able to live those fantasies in that perfect apartment. It was gone; taken; occupied. Not theirs. A whimper of disappointment rose in her throat and slipped from her lips before she could suppress it.
(Marinette wouldn't admit it to Chat Noir, but she had cried on the way home. Just a little bit.)
"I'm so mad," she muttered to nobody in particular. "How could we be so—so stupid?"
"What do you mean?" Flitting over to rest on her shoulder, Tikki's tiny mouth turned downward, paw stroking the top of Marinette's head. Her indigo eyes softened at the sight of her Ladybug in distress.
Marinette turned on her back to stare at the ceiling. "The apartment. The one that was so perfect. We should have just taken it the moment we saw it. Now somebody else owns it and… and I'm still here!"
"Marinette, it's okay," Tikki told her. "You and Chat Noir will find another place just as special. And, if it doesn't seem special at first, you two can make it that way."
"You're sweet, Tikki."
"Besides," Tikki continued. "Wasn't that apartment over budget? I know you weren't happy with the idea of Chat Noir paying more per month than you."
Marinette hummed in thought, chewing on her bottom lip as she mulled over her reply. "You're right," she said. "I'd forgotten about that. I would have ended up feeling so guilty."
Even if Chat Noir insisted that he didn't mind paying more, Marinette did. She didn't want to live in a place where he fronted most of the money. She'd feel like a freeloader.
"It was farther away from your parents' house, too." With a stretch of her legs, Tikki curled up into a ball on Marinette's pillow and nestled into a more comfortable position. "I know it was beautiful, Marinette, but I think it was a good thing you didn't get that one. In the end, things would have been harder for you."
Tikki had a point. Although the apartment had seemingly been the best choice, perhaps, Marinette thought, she had been blinded by its appearance. The rent was horrendously expensive compared to her monthly earnings, and the distance between her work and back would have been difficult due to the fact that she was yet to own a car, and using Ladybug as a transportation method wasn't something she liked to do often.
Besides, she didn't want to rush into things. She and Chat still had a lot to figure out, and signing a lease on the first apartment they came across was a little risky. There would be others, and Marinette definitely wanted to have the opportunity to tour and look around them before they made a final decision. How she and Chat Noir would do that, she wasn't sure yet, but…
Well, they'd find a way. They always did.
"Thanks for the advice, Tikki," Marinette said, tickling under her companion's chin. Tikki giggled in response.
With a smile on her face that was much more relaxed than it had been an hour prior, Marinette sat up and stretched her arms high above her head. It was late; after she and Chat had discovered their apartment was occupied, patrol had resumed. It went on for a lot longer than Marinette had expected, but she blamed the bad news for her sluggish behavior. Now, it was nearing midnight, and she had an eight A.M. class in the morning.
(She wanted to be annoyed at Chat Noir for being so nice and fun to spend time with, but she couldn't find the will to be. He made her feel like she never wanted their patrols to end.)
She hauled herself out of bed with an apology to Tikki for stirring her. Changing into a pair of pajamas and speeding through her nightly routine of teeth brushing and face washing, Marinette slipped right back under her duvet just as the clock struck twelve, the comfort of her bed familiar and welcoming. As she nuzzled her face into her pillow, she sighed. Tomorrow was another day.
"I hope we find something that'll be nice to live in," Marinette said, thinking out loud.
Tikki lifted her head from Marinette's pillow and smiled encouragingly. "Wasn't there a smaller apartment? I remember there being another that was your second choice."
With an intense yawn that made the corners of Marinette's eyes prick with tears, she nodded in recollection, eyes widening and heart skipping a beat from excitement. "Right!" she exclaimed. "I'd forgotten about that, Tikki. It was small, but… nice. There was definitely enough room for the both of us if we squeezed. Only one bathroom, though…"
"You can take turns," Tikki offered.
"The kitchen was super tiny," Marinette continued. "But that's okay because Chat's told me before that he has no idea how to cook, so I'll really be the only one using it on a daily basis. It didn't have a washer or dryer, but I think there's a laundromat around the corner…"
Tikki's voice became quieter as she began to drift off to sleep. "That's good, Marinette."
"...it did seem really cozy. Comfortable, almost."
"So you like it?"
After a moment of deliberation, Marinette nodded. "Yeah," she said, fluffing up one of her pillows and turning onto her side, head resting on her forearm. "Yeah. It's only twelve minutes away, too, and in a nice part of town right next to a park. I could take walks there. It's close to my work, too, and rent would be cheaper." A grin split her face as she closed her eyes, images of a small apartment adorned by homey decorations and warm lighting filling her head. "I'm sure it'll be just fine."
Tikki mumbled a sleepy reply, but Marinette didn't quite catch it. She was too busy fidgeting with excitement, because tomorrow—tomorrow, she would tell Chat Noir about the other apartment, and they'd make it theirs if he was willing.
Theirs. The word echoed in her head over and over again.
They would own their own place. A home where she could live with the one person she trusted more than anyone else in the world. They could stay up late watching movies on weekends, eat ice cream straight from the tub, or play their favorite video games together. They could even build blanket forts or- or make dinner together as best friends. Heck, they could even sit in their pajamas all day without a care in the world. It would be like a never-ending sleepover with Chat Noir.
Part of Marinette was nervous about being around him nearly twenty-four-seven when they didn't know each other's identities, but she urged herself not to worry so much. She trusted Chat Noir, after all, and he'd never purposefully infringe on her privacy. Things would be okay. They were close friends; everything would work out just fine.
As she felt herself slipping into peaceful dreams, Marinette was positively beaming.
It was a rough day.
Nearly missing her first class that morning because her alarm hadn't gone off, Marinette had sat through her classes unable to focus due to thoughts of her and Chat Noir's apartment on the mind. She'd completely blanked during a quiz, found her stomach rumbling loudly during a lecture because she'd forgotten to eat, and had accidentally left her notes on the history of fashion at home when they were absolutely necessary for the day's assignment.
It was safe to say her morning had started out unpleasant, but she was determined not to let it get to her. Thoughts of meeting up with her partner later that night to tell him about her findings urged her to keep moving through the day with her head held high.
Marinette gave a brief glance at her phone to check the time as she walked down the street. It was one in the afternoon, past the usual time she ate lunch. With the added hunger from a breakfast forgotten, her stomach was growling up a hungry storm, and she couldn't wait to step inside the downstairs of the bakery to get a whiff of fresh bread and make some food for herself before she had to rush off to work.
The air was starting to get warmer. Marinette relished in the ability to wear skirts again after such a cold winter, and she was thankful the chilly weather had subsided for the season. Smiling up at the sunshine, she took in a long, deep breath and sighed, enjoying the way the rays of light warmed her skin. It was a beautiful day, really—the clouds were so puffy and white that Marinette wanted to transform just to get closer to them. If she tried hard enough, maybe she could even touch one.
The sky was so blue today. So blue and bright and dotted with white clouds. One in particular caught her eye and she grinned up at it, thinking it looked exactly like a ca—
"Woah!"
Stumbling into a broad chest, Marinette's arms flailed and her legs wobbled before she fell back towards the sidewalk. Blurs of light from staring at the sky filled her vision, and as an arm connected with the small of her back, she was left feeling weightless and dazed.
Had she tripped over something…?
"You might want to watch where you're going," a cheerful voice laughed, obvious mirth in the stranger's tone. "You're going to hurt yourself like that, Marinette."
Blinking to rid the circles from her gaze, Marinette swiveled her head up to stare at the figure as he brought her to her feet. It took her a moment to come to terms with where she was and who she was talking to, and as her eyes adjusted to the sight of tall, blond and handsome, her heart practically leaped out of her chest.
It was Adrien. Adrien Agreste; the boy she hadn't seen since Christmas and hadn't spoken to since their slightly-drunken conversation by the punch bowl.
"Adrien?" she asked, unable to suppress the surprise in her voice. Oh, god, she probably looked like the same old maladroit girl she was back in collége and lycée, staring at the sky and bumping right into him without a shred of awareness. Her cheeks reddened just from the sheer embarrassment of the situation.
Adrien beamed at her, his smile as bright as the sun that had temporarily blinded her. "Hey, Marinette. Long time no see, huh?"
His hand was still on her bicep. The contact felt nicer than she'd liked to admit.
(The small, touch-starved part of her didn't want him to ever let go.)
After a moment of staring Marinette figured it would be polite of her to answer, so she offered her hand in a wave. "Adrien! H-hi- hey! It's been forever! What are…" Oh god, she thought, his eyes are even greener than I remember. "...what are you doing on this side of town?"
It was odd for Adrien to be so close to the bakery. He was usually in different parts of the city during the day, sometimes even out of it completely for his modeling—that's what Nino said, anyways—so… what was he doing here?
Adrien went to play with the hairs on the nape of his neck. It was a tell-tale old habit of his that Marinette had picked up on years ago. "Ah, well," he said with a high-pitched laugh. "I was actually on my way to see you. You see, I have a silly favor to ask."
Marinette blinked. "A favor?"
What kind of favor would Adrien possibly need from her? They hadn't even spoken in five months. The only way she'd kept up with what he was doing was through Nino!
Somewhere deep inside of her, Marinette wanted to be annoyed that he just turned up out of nowhere to ask her for something, but he was just too damn cute to turn away. Besides, Adrien was the sweetest person she'd ever met in her life, and he'd never asked her for a favor before. If he was coming to her after they hadn't spoken in what felt like forever, well, it had to be something important, right?
Adrien opened his mouth to speak but promptly closed it as Marinette's stomach let out a plea for food. The sound had her blush deepening to a crimson, and she self-consciously placed a hand on her belly. It didn't seem to phase Adrien, though—he simply smiled and pointed a thumb towards the bakery doors. "You want to go inside?"
Marinette hadn't even noticed she'd made it home. With a nod, she led him around to the back door that led up to the apartment rather than taking him through the front. "Let's go this way. My parents would probably attack you with love and free pastries if they saw you."
Adrien laughed, and it was a gorgeous sound. "Is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes." Fishing her keys out of her pocket and unlocking the door, Marinette threw him a smile over her shoulder. "They'd fatten you up until you're rolling out the door and down the street. Too much of a good thing, you know?" The door opened, and Marinette found herself feeling light on her feet as Adrien held it for her. He was still such a gentleman after all the years they had known each other.
"Aw, there's no harm in that," Adrien countered, shutting the door behind him and following her up the stairs. "I could stand to gain a little pastry weight."
Your dad would kill you though, she thought bitterly. Just for that, she'd take out some cookies for him to eat upstairs. Maybe shove some in a bag for him to slip home for later.
"I'll sneak you some," Marinette said with a grin. "On the house."
Adrien touched a hand to his chest as they made it upstairs, his lips twitching into a grin. "How sweet."
Marinette paused in the middle of the doorway to look over her shoulder with a cocked brow. "Adrien, was that a pun?"
Adrien merely smirked, a chuckle causing his voice to waver as he said, "Maybe."
Marinette gave a playful roll of her eyes in response.
Things were quiet as she made her lunch. Adrien sat on the couch with one of his legs propped over the other, leisurely fiddling with his phone while Marinette did what she needed. She only had an hour before she had to leave for work, and she was thankful she could at least spend time with an old friend while she ate. Usually, she sat alone upstairs while her parents worked down below, passing the time by watching YouTube videos or chatting with Tikki. Adrien visiting was a nice way to mix things up—even if it was a tad awkward.
"So…" Marinette said as she sat next to him on the couch, a little farther away than what she would normally consider a friendly distance. "You had a favor to ask?"
Adrien looked up from his phone and pocketed it, hand retreating to the back of his neck as his eyes averted her own. It was like a switch had been flicked—he'd gone from relaxing on her couch in one moment to an anxious teenager the next. Marinette crossed her legs and placed a hand on her elbow (a habit she'd never grown out of), cocking her head to the side as she watched her friend mull over something that was obviously eating at him. It was like he was afraid to say whatever was on his mind; as if she would get upset at him or something like that.
"Adrien?" she asked after a silence that had been a little too long to be comfortable. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he said, but it was an obvious lie by the way his voice cracked. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm okay. I'm sorry, I just realized how rude of me it is to pop back into your life after not speaking to you for a while only to ask something from you. I didn't even think about that until now." His shoulders wilted and he looked positively deflated as Marinette gazed over him.
The sight caused her to want to reach out to him, and her fingers twitched from anticipated contact, but she refrained. He was right—it was a tad rude of him to do so, especially after they hadn't seen each other in months, but it was clear that hadn't been his intention. He was in need of something; whatever it was, Marinette wanted to help him. So what if it had been five months? They were still friends whether or not they were close anymore. She'd be willing to do anything for him so long as it was within reason.
Shaking her head, Marinette laid her hands on her lap to keep them from touching him. "Nonsense," she said. "It's okay, Adrien. It's nice to see you again and I don't mind giving you help if you need it. What is it?"
He was quiet. His eyes flickered to meet hers for a fleeting moment before they glanced away again, and he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his white hoodie in a motion that seemed self-conscious. Resting both feet on the floor, Adrien murmured, "I kind of messed up, and said something I shouldn't have, and now I'm in trouble."
Marinette's eyes widened and her voice caught in her throat. "Wh-what? Trouble?"
Adrien shook his head. "No, that's not right. I'm sorry, I worded that wrong." Leaning forward, he clasped his hands together and tapped his thumbs against themselves, thinking. "So, I'm moving out in a few weeks, right? And I go to tell my dad about it last night. The only problem is I'm moving out with someone I can't let him know about, so I sort of told him I was living with a friend of mine that he knows and likes. Which is good and all, because he believed it, but… Now he wants to meet her. But he can't do that because… Well." He squinted in thought, eyes pausing on her own. "Well, she has her reasons."
All Marinette could offer him was a confused stare. What on Earth was he talking about?
Seeming to catch on to her perplexity, Adrien sighed. "To put it simply, I'm moving out with a person my dad can't meet. So… I need someone to help me convince him I'm moving in with someone he can trust."
A bubble of anxiety began to stir within Marinette's chest. She was beginning to get a vague idea of where this was going and wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the whole idea just yet. "I'm sorry," she said, voice soft. "I don't want to sound rude, Adrien, but what does this have to do with me?"
Adrien visibly cringed. "About that," he said, shoulders hunching. "I… I panicked. I panicked and spat out the first name that came to my mind when my father asked who my roommate was going to be, and I…" As if to hide his face, he buried his face in his hands and groaned. "I said I was moving in with you. But I'm obviously not, so I-"
Marinette's eyes widened to the size of a dinner plate. "With me?" She felt speechless. While flattered she was the first person he thought of, her tongue fumbled to form words and her mind was reeling with the thought of how ironic this whole situation was. Adrien was moving out with someone his father couldn't meet, and she was doing the exact same thing—moving in with her partner whose identity had to remain a secret. It certainly made the whole "meeting the parents" thing difficult. Living with Chat Noir was something she'd been looking forward to, but she hadn't exactly thought out how she'd allow her parents to meet her roommate (if they would at all.)
"I know, I'm sorry," Adrien said, deflated. "I really screwed up and I understand if you're mad at me. I'm really sorry for coming over here, actually." Sitting up, Adrien combed his fingers through his hair and shot a quick glance at the door—a sign Marinette could interpret as his desire to leave. "It was so stupid of me to turn up here to ask this of you, and I'm really realizing that the more I talk about this. Fuck, Mari, I'm sorry-"
Marinette had missed that nickname.
As Adrien rambled on about how sorry he was, Marinette contemplated the idea. It wasn't a bad one, per se, just something she hadn't expected. She wasn't sure who the girl Adrien was moving out with was or why she needed to be kept a secret from his dad, but that wasn't any of her business. Truthfully, if she played along with Adrien's plan, it might end up working out in her favor as well. Surely if she pretended to be Adrien's roommate for the sake of his father, he could do the same for her?
"Adrien," she said, scooting closer to lay a hand on his arm. "Relax. It's not a big deal."
Adrien's viridian eyes sparkled with relief. "It's not?"
"No," Marinette laughed. It was kind of silly, actually. "Don't beat yourself up over it. It is a little crappy that you just sprung this on me out of nowhere, but I don't mind helping you out. Actually, I'm kind of in a similar situation. I'm also moving out soon."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Adrien winced. But at the mention of her moving out, he perked up and asked, "Wait… Really? You excited?"
Marinette nodded. "Mhm." She crossed her legs and leaned back into the cushions of her couch, eyes resting comfortably on the ceiling. "Believe it or not, the person I'm moving out with is someone I have to keep secret from my parents, too. Not because they'd get mad or anything, but… Well, he has his reasons."
Adrien laughed as she tossed him a wink.
"Anyways," she continued. "I can't stand liars or being one myself, but I'll make you a deal: I'll convince your dad that I'm the person you're moving out with if you pretend to be the person that I'm moving out with. So then there'll be no questions and both our parents will think we're living together when we're really not. Sound good?"
Adrien merely nodded, taken aback by her response.
While the thought of lying to her parents (or anyone, really) was absolutely grating, Marinette knew she didn't really have much of a choice when her identity was at stake. Revealing herself to her parents was against the rules and incredibly dangerous; it wasn't worth getting upset over a little white lie when putting her parents jeopardy was far worse of an outcome.
"So?" Marinette held out a hand, pink-painted nails contrasting against Adrien's tanned skin. "We have a deal?"
"Yes!" Adrien exclaimed, his voice high-pitched and eyes bright. He grasped her hand firmly and gave it a shake so forceful that Marinette's whole arm was taken into the movement. "Yes, oh my goodness, thank you so much, Marinette. I promise I'll pay you back somehow. Y-you want to go to lunch or have me cover your rent for a month or something?"
"There's no need for that," Marinette said, lips curling upward into a smile. "You're already paying me back by telling a lie for me."
Adrien's grin reached his eyes, and the dimples on his cheeks became prominent as he teased, "Now there's a thought. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, telling a lie?"
Her expression flattened at his joke and she wanted to look displeased, but she couldn't find it within herself to suppress the grin that stretched across her face. "Keep making cracks like that, Agreste, and the deal's off."
"You'd do that to me?" he asked in mock offense. "But we're friends, Marinette. That hurts."
"Yeah, yeah." Marinette waved him off with a giggle—that was probably full of a little too much delight—and stood from her spot on the couch to sit at the dinner table, where her lunch sat on a plate. "So, when am I convincing your dad that I'm your new roommate?"
Adrien joined her at the table, sitting backwards on one of the chairs. "Not sure just yet. I'll probably have Nathalie set up a night where we can have dinner and allow you guys to get acquainted. It might not be for a while yet, but I'll try to get him to free up some time soon. I'm trying to get out as quickly as I can."
"In a big hurry?" Marinette asked. She took a bite of her food and her mood was immediately improved just from the taste alone; she hadn't realized how hungry she was until now.
"Sort of."
She swallowed her food before asking, "Why's that?"
Adrien offered a shrug, his expression hardening. "Ol' Père isn't any more fun to live with than he was when I was a kid. Guess I'm just so excited to finally have my own place with someone I love rather than spend my days alone at the manor."
With someone he- he loves?
That thought took Marinette by surprise. Though, she supposed it shouldn't have. Adrien was twenty, devilishly handsome with the soul of an angel—it was no shocker that he was in a relationship. She wanted to be jealous and a small part of her was, but she had to remind herself that she had no reason to be. Adrien deserved someone who made him happy. She would find someone someday who made her happy, too.
"It's nice that you're moving in with someone you care about," Marinette said, resting her sandwich back on the plate. "I'm excited that I finally get to move out too. Even though I've always loved living with my parents, they're so nosey! It's one of the reasons why I'm glad I'm getting my own place, especially with someone I trust more than anybody. It's a nice feeling, knowing you can live with somebody and not worry. A safe feeling."
Adrien nodded, voice breathy. "Yeah, I know what you mean. The girl I'm moving in with, she's like… My everything. And I'm so happy we're going to share a place together. It's all I've ever wanted, really." His cheeks heated to a light shade of red, and the corners of his eyes crinkled from how wide his smile grew. He was so happy, so excited; the joy to be living with someone he loved was clear on his face.
Marinette felt the joy radiating from him. It made her smile stretch across her face. All his life Adrien had done things for others without question, and now he was finally doing something for himself. His girlfriend—at least, that's who Marinette assumed she was—sounded like she made his life a wonderful experience, and he appeared absolutely radiant in that moment. Marinette's heart warmed at the thought of how much happier Adrien must be.
While she was a little sad they hadn't kept up with each other, she was glad they were getting to talk and catch up now. It was so nice just to hear his voice again.
"I'm glad you and your girlfriend get to have a place together," Marinette said sweetly. "It must be such a great feeling to be able to look forward to waking up next to the person you love every day. I'm so happy for you, Adrien."
Adrien let out a soft laugh. "Oh," he said, gaze lowering to the table as his cheeks became crimson. "That's sweet of you, Marinette, but we're not dating. Just really good friends. Thank you though."
"Oh!" Marinette blinked in surprise. Huh, funny… With the way he talked about her, it was like they'd been in love for years. Unless…
"Ohhhh," she said slyly, the truth dawning on her. "You like her, though."
The tips of his ears darkening, Adrien tried to scoff but whatever noise came out sounded weak and unconvincing. "Wha- no! No, I don't… I meant love as in, like, friendship-"
She gave him a flat stare, and Adrien submitted.
"Okay, okay, you got me," he sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "But she doesn't know and I don't think I'll ever work up the guts to tell her."
"Why not?" With how dopey his smile got whenever he mentioned her, Marinette was sure there was no way in hell he would be able to keep that information private for long.
Clicking his teeth, Adrien shrugged, offering nothing more than a shake of his head.
"Adrien…" Marinette rested her cheek on her palm, smile knowing. Oh man, she didn't even need an answer. She could clearly remember how tongue-tied she used to get around him back in lycée when she was head-over-heels for his kind soul. "If you really love her, you gotta tell her."
Well, now you're just being a hypocrite, she thought to herself. Here she was giving Adrien advice she had never followed herself. For a brief second she wondered what things would have been like if she had confessed, but there was no use dwelling on the what-ifs. She didn't like him like that anymore, and that was okay.
Adrien gave another shake of his head. "Mm, I would, but… She doesn't like me that way."
"No?" Marinette asked. "How can you tell?"
"Well, we joke a lot," Adrien said. "I'm pretty sure I've dug myself a hole of 'flirting so much she thinks I'm joking' so deep that it's impossible for me to climb out of it at this point."
"You? Flirting?" Marinette laughed at the thought. She didn't think she'd ever seen Adrien flirt a day in her life. "I don't think I believe you, Adrien."
Adrien raised a brow with a quirk of the corner of his lips. "Well you see, Marinette, I'm very different around her. She knows me like nobody else."
Marinette could say the same for herself about Chat Noir. While she didn't love him romantically, she did love him as a best friend, and the way she acted around him was unlike the way she acted around anyone else. She was excited to live in the same space as him and to share her life with him—the most she could behind a mask, anyways.
"I understand that," Marinette said. "I'm like that with the guy I'm going to be living with. It's nice to have someone you can completely be yourself around."
Nodding, Adrien gazed at her with a warm smile on his face, and Marinette was about to offer to get him the pastries she'd promised when his phone buzzed.
"Shoot," he said as he read over whatever text was sent his way. "I'm sorry Mari, but I've gotta run. Got to meet a photographer in thirty minutes. I'll give you a call when I can get my dad to come for a dinner, though."
As he stood from his seat, Marinette nodded, standing with him. "Sounds good. You still have my number?"
With a quick flip through his contacts, Adrien held his phone up for her to see. "Yep. What nights are you usually free?"
"I always have Fridays off," she said. "Except for late Friday nights, because I usually meet Ch-" She clapped a hand to her mouth. Fuck, don't tell him you meet Chat Noir for patrols, stupid! "...meet up with a friend to hang out."
If Adrien noticed her slip-up, he didn't mention it. "Alright. I'll schedule it for one of the upcoming Fridays then." His phone buzzed once more and he glared down at it before shoving it in his pocket. "I'll see you around?"
"Definitely. Keep in touch, okay? I-" Marinette's face softened as she glanced away, pink dusting the edges of her cheeks. "I've missed you."
There was a pause. Adrien turned, irides glowing like a ray of sunshine and dimples showing as his grin grew three times its previous size. He stood still for a moment, and Marinette was sure he was going to return the sentiment before walking out, but instead he reached out and-
-and he hugged her.
He hugged her and it felt so nice that Marinette wanted to bury herself within his warmth. With his arms around her back and his body leaning forward because he was nearly a foot taller than her at this point, she swore that she'd never felt so light in her life. Clouds—she was on clouds. He smelled like heaven and she was on clouds.
(She wasn't sure why she was feeling so weird just from being hugged by him. Weird in a good way, but still weird.
She didn't like him like that anymore. She'd stopped ages ago when they drifted apart…
She didn't. She didn't, she didn't, she…
Oh, who was she kidding.)
As Adrien pulled away from the hug, he flashed her one of his smiles that she had grown to love so much over the years and patted her shoulder, his large hand encompassing it completely. Marinette's legs felt like jello.
"I'll text you, okay?" he said, turning the knob on the door. "I promise I'll do better at keeping in contact this time. We're going to need to if we're both helping each other out in this sticky situation."
Marinette nodded, letting out a faint, "Yeah."
"It was good to see you again, Mari." With a final squeeze of her hand, Adrien turned and walked out the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you later!"
"Yeah," Marinette breathed. Her feet were glued to the floor.
Yeah.
When she watched him walk down the street from the upstairs window, she kicked herself for forgetting to give him the pastries she'd promised.
Marinette went to work that night feeling weightless and distracted. She had picked up a shift from her coworker at the local fabric shop she'd come to adore over the years, and was thankful it wasn't a long one—only five hours—so she could immediately transform the moment she clocked out.
She wasn't feeling like herself. Growing up with ADHD made her used to dealing with constant distraction, and by now she wasn't phased by the inability to focus at times, but this… This was different. This was very, very different.
She sorted fabric at a slow pace, hummed to herself as she cleaned the bathrooms (forgetting where she was in the middle of the task), and even managed to snag herself when she was cutting a strip of wool for a customer. She didn't notice the pain, though, and the blood that dripped from her fingertips was lazily cleaned ten minutes after the initial incision.
Her boss asked if everything was alright, and Marinette wasn't sure what to say. She didn't even know the answer to that question herself.
Alya had always told her that she fell in love too easily.
She had never expected herself to fall back in love just as quickly, though.
282 notes · View notes