#ok let's see if i can remember everyone's names without looking at tray importer

[tricoufamily]

the other characters. got lore in my head you wouldn't believe baby

[redhairedfeistynerd]

Captain McHippityHop

A/N: A long lost piece that I forgot to post last Easter! Another part of my ‘Seasons of Bucky’ series. Loosely edited, all errors are my own.  Enjoy and have a great long weekend everyone.

Don’t not copy or redistribute any of my pieces.

Summary: It’s finally Spring and the Barnes family is ready for some Easter fun. Uncle Steve has something to hop on about.

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word count: 2200+

Warnings: kissing, nudity, sexual situations, implied smut, teasing, cautious Bucky

No bunnies were harmed in the making of this fic

“We’ll be there at 10, okay? Don’t worry, they’ll be up and ready.” Bucky rolls his eyes while he listens begrudgingly to Steve as he carries on about the importance of being on time.

Y/N sits across from him on the couch, her left elbow resting on the arm and her hand folded up, flapping open and closed as if it were Steve’s big mouth. Bucky is trying to control the look on his face, if it cracks, he is likely to burst out laughing. And IF he laughs, y/n will follow and they both know that Steve will not be impressed.

Bucky ends the call and looks to y/n. “You’re a pain in the ass. I was TRYING to be serious and keep a straight face but you kept smirking and your eyes brightened up like you were going to laugh. I can’t stop myself when you do that, I want to laugh with you!”

He lunges towards her and tackles her into the soft cushions of the couch. He knows that it’s finally ok to kiss her and he attacks her neck as she tries to curl into herself; he attacks the left side, kiss by kiss. Her giggles have turned into shrieks and he knows that she is enjoying it. He can’t get over how playful she is, he could drown in her laughter and happiness. It fills all those empty places inside of him, all the places he closed up when his marriage ended all those years ago. They’ve be silent and dark for almost a decade and then she came along and into their lives.

She crept in slowly, a hot chocolate date here and there with his girls, a walk in the park and then a stop at the playground, a rare night at his house when the girls were able to visit their mom. It had taken years for him to build up the courage to talk to her about how he felt but she was the first one to move her lips to his. Soft, tasting of vanilla and beeswax, everything he thought it would be, was everything that he received. Her arms wrapped around him first and she whispered in his ear that it was ok for him to do the same. His arms went around her softly but he still had a thought in his head the he could crush her, that all of the years without holding a woman meant that he was going to use all of his force at once and hurt her.

“Barnes, you aren’t going to crush me, don’t hold back. You hold your daughters every day, I know you’ll be gentle with me,” she said as she kissed his forehead softly.

“It’s just… I don’t,” he fumbles with his words and y/n brings a finger to his lips.

“Less talk, more kissing, Barnes.” She pulls his face back to hers and kisses him with a bit of force, trying to encourage him to be forceful. He does try to pull back but her hand is in his hair and she uses it to pull him back in. “No way Barnes, I’m not letting you back out after all these years. You’ve told me how you feel, let me show you how I feel.”

He really likes her and he has told her how he feels but hell, he loves how she is showing him. Her mouth is warm and incredibly soft, the sweet taste of her lip balm is swirling around inside his mouth. How can someone be so sweet, both in life and in her delicious mouth. Pulling back slowly, he looks into her eyes, admiring their colour before he whispers “Will you stay?”

“Why are you whispering, no one is going to hear us and it’s not as if I haven’t spent the night here before. The girls are with their mom tonight for Easter dinner. We are alone, my sweet,” she whispers into his hair and kissing his ear.

Bucky’s cheeks are slowly turning from pink to red, he can’t look her directly in the eyes. “I mean…” he chokes a bit on the words, clears his throat and begins again. “I mean, I want you to stay with me, in my room. Not the spare room like when we have sleepovers with the girls. You with me. In my arms. I would really, more than anything, like to have you in my arms tonight.” He can’t meet her eyes and curls into himself a little with the embarrassment he is feeling.

“Don’t you dare shy away from me, Bucky Barnes,” she gently scolds him as she crawls into his lap. She brings a hand to his chin, and pushes up so his eyes meet hers. “You don’t need to hide from me, ever.”

He can’t help but be nervous about this. A woman in his bed after all these years. Forget the quick one night stands he rarely had at someone else’s apartment after a night at the bar. This meant something. He had never been more aware of the carpet beneath his feet as y/n pulled him down the hallway to his bedroom. Each step sinking into the carpet, pulling him into the plush fibers, and releasing him.

“Help me,” he thinks he, hears her say as she pulls him closer. He hasn’t moved and her eyes are wide and staring into him. “Bucky,” his name softly escapes her mouth and she brings his right hand the front of her dress, guiding him to the buttons. “Help me,” is whispered into his ear and he freezes. Her hands have moved over his, picking one up and gently placing it on her breast. “Start here, this button first,” she coaxes him, “you can do it Bucky. You aren’t going to hurt me. I trust you.”

It’s as if it finally makes sense in the darkest pits of his mind. One by one, he pushes the button out of the holes and pulls the dress away and down her body. He can’t help but stare and before he makes her feel comfortable with his eyes looking her up and down in awe, he brings her closer, wrapping one around her and pulling her into a deep kiss. Bucky pulls away first and brushes her hair back, “I think you said something about showing me how you felt?”

The girls are dropped off early the next morning as y/n is starting to make breakfast. Bucky is quietly sipping his coffee and staring out the window. He’d woken y/n up early, soft kisses up the back of her neck, trying to enjoy her warm body that had curled into him during the night. He fell asleep soon after and awoke to an empty bed. He found her the kitchen table, pink sparkly rabbit ears on and placing chocolate eggs into baskets.

“Did you, did you make the girls Easter baskets?”

“I sure did, I thought we could say our good ole bunny friend popped by your house too.”

Bucky leaned over to give her a quick kiss, “it makes me incredibly happy that you think about them. It makes me feel so fulfilled that I’ve met someone that considers my daughters.”

“They’re part of you Bucky, why wouldn’t I think of them? Besides, I remember loving baskets like this when I was a kid and I want Riley and Piper to enjoy them too.”

The girls had squealed when they saw the large baskets on the kitchen table and ran to y/n, smothering her in kisses. Bucky’s ex-wife watched from the doorway and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to y/n. Once the girls had hugged their mom goodbye and wolfed down a breakfast of French toast and fruit, Bucky packed the girls in the car and they headed off to meet Steve.

It’s 10 a.m. and it looks like the Easter bunny and friends exploded pastel colours everywhere. The girls run into the kitchen, where Pepper is placing cupcakes adorned with mini eggs and Peeps on a tray.

“Hey you two, are you ready for some Easter treats and crafts? I hear the Easter Bunny will be here as well! Why don’t you take a look out back and see if there’s someone hopping around?” Pepper hands the trays of cupcakes to Bucky and pushing them towards the patio door.

The two of them head out towards the picnic tables, Bucky placing the cupcakes down before he turns to see a 6-foot-tall bunny out of the corner of his eye.

Bucky bursts out laughing before he can get a hello out. “Oh… my…” he keels over, his laughter so powerful that he has to hold onto the picnic table to stabilize himself. He can hear y/n ask what’s so funny and Bucky points over to wear Steve was last standing. He hears a little snort and it’s not long before she has fallen to the grass in a fit of laughter. Bucky can’t help but laugh louder at y/n’s display.

“What the hell are you wearing, Stevie?”

“It’s for the kids, you jerk. I have ears on, a cute little nose, and a bunny tail,” he says and wiggles his behind. “Obviously, I’m the Easter bunny.”

Tony saunters by, a mimosa in hand “why don’t you ask Rogers how “America’s Ass” ended up with a bunny tail.”

“Stevie, what did you do?” y/n laughs

Steve is between blushing and looking furious at Tony. “You just had to open your big mouth.”

“Rogers here thought it was a smart idea to make a bet with Pepper. This ancient idiot thought he could have a bake off with Pepper and win,” Tony snorts and take a sip of his drink.

“Oh Steve, you should have known Pepper would kick your ass,” y/n says, wrapping an arm around his waist, trying to comfort him. “I know for a fact, that the second the girls see you, they’ll jump all over you and tell you how much they love it. So, enjoy that it will be a hit with them.”

Bucky could hear their giggles coming from inside, Pepper, holding their hands, led them out to the picnic tables where the egg decorating had started. Y/n leaned into him a pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, letting him know that she was going to paint some eggs with his daughters.

“Come on Stevie, bounce away and introduce Cap McHippity Hop to the girls,” Tony teased.

“If those kids weren’t here Tony, I’d be kicking your f-”

“Now, now Cap, language,” mocked Tony, a sly smile forming across his face.

Steve muttered something unintelligible and made his was over to where Bucky’s girls were sitting with Y/N. His girls were so preoccupied with dipping their eggs in the coloured pots, that they didn’t notice Steve peeking over their shoulders. It wasn’t until Y/N started up with her giggling again, that Riley and Piper looked up to see what was so funny.

“Uncle Stevie!!! You have fuzzy ears AND a bunny nose!! Are you the Easter Bunny?” Riley asked loudly, jumping up to stand on the bench of the picnic table, now eye to eye with Steve.

“I’m your very own bunny, princess. Looks like you are doing a fabulous job with those Easter eggs. How about you and Piper come with me once you’re done and you can look around the yard for all the candy I hid?”

“Uncle Stevie, you’re the best!” Riley squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But don’t tell daddy that, ok?” she whispered into his ear.

With a smile, Steve squeezed her once more before heading over to where y/n was sitting. He sat beside her and smiled.

“Those girls sure love you, Steve. Thanks for doing this for them, even if you did lose a bet and had to wear a cute little bunny tail,” she said as she peeked over to see the fluffy white ball attached to his pants. “I think the tail suits America’s Ass,” y/n laughed, pushing against him lightly.

“Ya, ya, keep laughing. I’ll have you know, that I had already planned all of this before I lost the bet, the outfit only adds to the festivities. I wanted to make this day special for Bucky’s girls, they’re my family too.” He looked at Y/N and pulled her into a hug. “I hope you know that you are part of my extended family as well, I love all of you.”

The girls finished quickly and made their way around with baskets, collecting jellybeans and bunnies, the smiles are their faces making Y/N smile. Bucky made his way over to her, once they had finished with lunch and the girls were slowly slipping into a sugar coma from all the treats their Uncle Steve had bought for them.

“Hey Barnes, before we get out of here, I think you need to take that tail and ears from Steve; I’ve always wanted to be a playful bunny,” she winks at him and walks towards the girls. She watches as Bucky picks up his pace, going after Steve as he headed inside with empty platters from their lunch.

“Come on girls, let’s get everything together and head on home.”

“Hey Y/N? Thank you for coming with us and helping us keep daddy happy,” Piper says, her big eyes staring up at Y/N.

“You’re welcome sweetie, l love seeing your daddy happy too,” Y/N replied smiling. She was more than happy herself and glad that she had this little family to love.

[xiaomoxu]

MLQC CN Victor - Chapter 37

SPOILER ALERT!!

A main story from CN server which hasn’t been released in EN server. REALLY contains detailed spoilers. A mixed feelings such angst, sweet and love-his-dummy by CEO Victor!

PART 1

Downstairs LFG, the film crew is still busy in an orderly manner.

A month ago, LFG launched an unprecedented charity project, mobilizing all the resources of the group, and watching the last moment before the arrival of the comet group with all mankind.

In addition to regular material donations, psychological counseling, and medical assistance, there is also a special item one wish list.

In the last issue of "Miracle Finders", we selected this subject for reporting.

Photographer: Everyone pay attention, go one first, and prepare the light for one-

Teenager: Ok, can I just say the words directly?

Willow: To put it straight, there is nothing to worry about, we can do it again, let's do it again!

The teenager was encouraged, and smiled and showed two small teeth.

Teenager: I am seventeen years old. I am an ordinary high school student. Although you can't see it now, I have lived in darkness for these seventeen years.

Teenager: Due to chromosomal abnormalities, I have suffered from congenital blindness since birth...

Teenager: The doctors all said that despite the advanced level of medical technology, they are still helpless against such diseases and hope that I will accept the reality.

Teenager: But I still don't give up. I don't want to usher in death without actually seeing the world, so I contacted LFG Group with the last hope!

Just as the teenager expected, LFG quickly found a Healer Evolver on the Island, and treated him so that he finally saw the light.

Teenager: Although I can only look at the world for a short time, how many times in a person's life can I witness miracles happen? I am very satisfied!

After he finished speaking, he gave everyone a young and a little embarrassed smile. The beautiful dark eyes are full of light, especially bright in the night.

MC: ... That's nice.

Until the last moment, miracles continued to happen.

I raised my head and looked at the towering LFG Building in front of me, thinking back to Victor when he started the project and jokingly said-

"I hope everyone can be like an idiot, as long as they fulfill their wishes, they will be happy." The tone couldn't help but felt a moment of surprise.

I hope that the last issue of "Miracle Finders" will produce satisfactory answers to him.

With emotion, I strode into the LFG Building.

--

At this time, most of LFG's staff has left, and most of the work spaces in the building have been vacated.

Even if some are still willing to suspend their posts and help Victor handle some charity projects, they are no longer sitting here and only exchange information via phone and email.

Goldman: I have been waiting for you for a long time!

I was still in a daze, and Goldman came over with aggrieved expression. Probably because I told him that I was almost there an hour ago, but I didn’t come up because shooting for most of the day in the downstairs town.

As soon as he saw me appear, he cast a "God finally" look.

Goldman: The CEO handed it to you, I'm going to prepare for the next meeting.

He hurriedly put the previously prepared contract into my hand, lightly approached the door of the CEO's office, and knocked the door.

Victor: Come in.

Hearing Victor's voice coming from behind the door, I quickly hid the hand holding the contract behind my back.

Goldman opened the door halfway and walked in.

Goldman: CEO, can we conduct an induction interview now?

Victor: Interview? When is it scheduled?

Goldman: Yesterday, I remember it was in your schedule.

After a short silence, Victor gave instructions indifferently.

Victor: Bring it in.

I strode forward, held back a sneer, and stood still in front of Victor. Before speaking, Goldman hurriedly took the door out, leaving a room of silence.

MC: Hello, CEO! I am the candidate for interview today!

I said hello to Victor very politely, and even bowed symbolically, with a sincere expression when I raised my head.

Victor: ....

Victor let out a sigh of relief, as if he had lifted his spirits from a long and exhausting work, and couldn't help but laugh when he met my sincere gaze.

MC: Reporting to the CEO, although I have limited work experience, I am active in doing things.

MC: The CEO of the most ruthless venture capital company in the industry has won a 500 million investment!

MC: Moreover, the level of stress resistance is first-rate, no matter how big the challenge is, how many plans are rejected, you can face the difficulties!

MC: In addition, I am quite familiar with LFG's business and can start working in a short time.

Victor sighed lightly, probably because I was too noisy.

Victor: Only you can make such boastful remarks without blushing at all. You come to LFG, don't care about your company?

MC: The final issue of "Discovering the Miracle" will soon be filmed, and sister Anna will be responsible for the remaining post-production work. I don't need to worry about it anymore.

MC: I always find a place to shine and heat, right?

MC: Or I have to be a rice bug for a month...

MC: In short, I am especially willing to share the worries and problems for the CEO

Victor touched his lips slightly, revealing a smile.

Victor: Didn't you often say that being a rice bug is your ultimate dream? Now that you have a chance to realize your dream, but you are not willing?

He was so eloquent, so that scenes of past scenes of bluffing and saying that I didn't want to go to work really appeared before me.

MC: But I have already changed my dreams.

I stepped forward two more steps, narrowed the distance with Victor, and stared quietly into his eyes

MC: My dream now is to be with you.

The outline of Victor's smile on the corners of his lips curled up, and his expression sank duplicity, and put out the CEO's frame in a serious manner.

Victor: LFG’s attendance system is strict, and the consequences of absence are serious. Be mentally prepared.

I walked up to him, took out the contract that had been hidden behind my back, and unfolded it on the table.

MC: I won't be absent, I will do what you say.

Speaking softly, pressing his usual fountain pen directly on the contract, it seemed to be "forcing the signing".

MC: If I can't do it... I will be punished.

Victor hastily flipped through the contract, which was only a few pages long, and paused as his gaze passed by the post.

Victor: Confirmed?

MC: Yes!

I deserved to be confident and without any explanation. Victor raised his head and looked at me with a clear smile in his eyes. He turned the contract another page.

Victor: The contract is valid for three years.

MC: Huh? It should be the contract template copied by Goldman, right? Renew after the three-year period expires!

Victor neatly signed his name on the last page, stood up and took my hand.

Victor: Let's go, the meeting is about to begin.

MC: What meeting? Wait, am I going to work as soon as I start?

Victor: According to the contract, every minute of yours belongs to me, and it takes effect immediately.

Is there such an unequal clause? Goldman's drafting of a contract is quite tricky

MC: You capitalists are squeezing employees too much!

Victor was slightly late to me, with a smile on his lips.

Victor: Well, capitalists are like this.

The conference room was already full of people, only the first two seats were still empty.

One of them is where Victor often sits.

I remember when I came to LFG for a meeting for the first time, I could only sit on the small bench in the corner and couldn't see his face even when I stretched out my head.

 Victor: let's start.

I sat down next to Victor, glanced across the crowd, and leaned silently on the back of the chair.

Goldman opened the prepared PPT and stood in front of us.

Goldman: Now carry out the relevant reports on the work of last week,

PART 2

A sign hung at the door of Souvenir, which said that today is the last day of the restaurant’s business.

MC: Thank you for your preference for this restaurant, Souvenir will permanently close the store

LFG provoked too heavy responsibility, and Victor had no time to take care of Souvenir. I raised my head and looked at the blue light on the TV tower.

During the eternal night, the TV tower is bright yellow during the day and blue at night, marking the day and night. These days, people have been accustomed to measuring time in this way.

It seems that no matter what kind of predicament they are in, as long as there is a moment of peace, people are willing to steal a moment of peace and delay satisfaction.

I am no exception.

With Victor in front of the wind and rain, I even occasionally forget the reality that I am about to face, can let go of all my worries, and be silly in front of him carefree.

If time can be reversed, I can go back to the first time I stood in front of Souvenir...

I lowered my gaze and pushed the door into the restaurant.

MC: Mr. Mills, I

Before I could say hello, I was stunned by the scene before me.

Souvenir, who had always been cold and cold, is now full of voices, all seats are full of seats, even those who have never been before, and he has added new chairs.

Mr. Mills was busy between the tables with a smile on his face.

I hurried over to ask if I need help.

MC: Mr. Mills, shall I do this?

I was about to take the tray from Mr. Mills, but he shook his head hurriedly.

Mr. Mills: No, no, it's going to close in a while, the manager is waiting for you inside.

MC: Alright!

I walked towards the kitchen, and along the way, I was surprised by the food on the guests' table.

Like what the customer wanted to eat, Victor made something for them.

At the last moment, Souvenir's rules are no longer important.

Girl: Mom, this one is delicious, so delicious!

Six or seven-year-old children ate the little cakes with all their faces, holding their little hands and sending the spoons to their mothers, wanting their mothers to taste them too.

The young mother cooperatively ate the cream in the sentence and smiled hesitantly. She gently touched her daughter's head, but her eyes were full of sighs.

The family at the table next door talked about the topic of the younger son's college entrance examination this year, and they were rushing to plan for his future. They seemed to believe that someone would come out to save the world.

I stepped into the restaurant and walked into the back kitchen.

MC: Victor....

He stood at the window with his back straight. There was a deep night outside. I dazzled my eyes to see his black suit melt into the darkness, lonely and silent.

I walked over and pulled his sleeve slightly.

MC: Have you been busy all night?

MC: You can call me over in advance, and I can give you a hand.

Victor: With your culinary skills, you can't match up with Souvenir's back kitchen.

Victor glanced at me from the corner of the light, smiled faintly, and closed the slightly open window.

The moment he raised his hand, I saw that the pointer on his wrist watch was already three o'clock in the morning, but everyone didn't realize that the night was deep.

The world freezes in the dark, making time lose all meaning.

MC: The guests outside all had a good time.

MC: By the way, there was a little cake that a kid ate, with a few blueberries on top, and a layer of soft stuff inside. I don't know if it's ice cream... it looks super delicious!

Faced with my vivid expressions, Victor looked helpless as expected.

Victor: Three year old are not as good as you in eat. A pair of eyes fixed on the food all day long.

MC: Isn't it great? I will eat everything you make clean and happy, and I will change my way to praise your superb cooking skills!

I used an exaggerated tone to learn the child's way of speaking, trying to make Victor smile, but he still looked calm.

Victor: Ah, very good.

Those eyes that met me were as light as water, and they saw an unspeakable feeling in my heart. After he came back, something changed in his eyes.

I can't be sure, but I just faintly feel that the person standing in front of me at this moment is stronger than before but also lonelier than before.

In the past, silence was due to work habits and character.

The silence now means that no matter what you face, you can be calm and calm. The calm is strange.

MC: Victor, seven of the travel coins you gave me have not been exchanged. You said before that you would do everything you promised me.

I changed the subject suddenly, and Victor was still indifferent.

Victor: Seven? Didn't you secretly put a lot in the box again?

MC: … you’re not paying attention.

Victor: Really, when I don't pay attention?

The silence of the night was always reflected in his eyes, brewing the silence deeper.

MC: So you won't break your promise, will you?

MC: Everything you promised me will be honored in the future, right?

Perhaps it was because my words were too impatient to be too direct, Victor finally touched my hair as if calming down, and stepped forward to get closer to me.

The familiar temperature fell on the front of my forehead, which made my panic feelings find support.

Victor: Don't worry, I won't break my promise. Not now, and not in the future.

At this moment, I saw a slight surge of joy in his eyes.

Mr. Mills: Mr. Victor.

Mr. Mills walked in slowly, smiling.

Mr. Mills: Mr. Victor, after proofing today, I would like to continue to look after the restaurant. Please allow me.

Victor: Mr. Mills

Victor took two steps forward and solemnly nodded to Mr. Mills.

Victor : Of course. Over the years, thank you very much for taking care of Souvenir.

Mr. Mills turned to look outside the kitchen.

Mr. Mills: The guests all had a nice evening, and they hoped that I would convey my thanks to the chef.

Victor: It is..

Victor paused slightly and thought of something.

Victor: Excuse me, please take out all the wine in the cellar and give it to the guests tonight.

Mr. Mills: .... I understand. Do you need any congratulations?

Victor turned his head and looked at me, raising the corners of his lips indifferently

Victor: Just thank time for giving us abundant food and accumulated wine... With the feelings that have passed through the years.

Outside the window, the silent snow fell slowly in the dark night. In the cool night breeze in midsummer, a layer of untimely coolness blows off.

PART 3

Victor: Is this your specialty?

MC: Do you look down on tomato scrambled eggs?

Victor did not speak, but frowned slightly to express affirmation.

MC: The scrambled eggs with tomatoes are delicious. You can't judge the taste of a dish by its difficulty. I feel wronged for him.

When the Haikou that I once boasted was fulfilled, I vowed to make a rich meal for Victor.

Victor probably feels a headache for me to prepare a home-cooked meal and have to put out ten kinds of kitchen utensils...

He has been standing in the kitchen supervising the work since the beginning, and I don't know if he's afraid of what would happen to the kitchen or what'd happen to me .

MC: Can you stop staring at me like this, I'm nervous.

Victor: What is the guilty conscience?

MC: It feels like waiting for you to approve the plan.

MC: I dropped the eggshells into the bowl when I was beating the eggs just now, I was thinking that you must spit me out.

Victor took out a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet and unsealed it skillfully.

Victor: I'm used to it as you are.

I dealt with the ingredients in my hand and smiled without saying a word.

In the fireplace in the living room, the wood made a snapping sound under the lick of the tongue of fire, and it sang softly to the piano music from the record.

The fine snow outside the window disappeared into the night as soon as it fell to the ground, and time seemed extremely long at this moment.

I carefully handled the ingredients in my hand, and did not notice Victor's gaze.

He put down the wine glass, the glass collided with the marble countertop, and there was a pleasant sound.

At this moment, the night snow stopped in the air, and the fire and the record were speechless. The whole world stopped, and everything was quiet.

Victor: If I let time eternally stop at this moment, would you think I am selfish?

He murmured, as if asking himself or answering himself.

Staring silently at her profile for a while, he stretched out his hand and silently hugged her in his arms.

This is an overly tender hug, without a trace of strong attitude, even the palms that are close to the back appear cautious

MC: Victor...

I stretched out my hand and hugged him tightly without leaving any gap.

Victor took a breath, as if he didn't expect that I would break away from his Evol, but didn't say anything.

MC: If I were not the dignified Queen, I would be completely controlled by you. Your Evol is stronger than I imagined.

He laughed and teased me helplessly.

Victor: It's amazing.

Although he was smiling, I heard a dumb sigh in his voice, so I opened my arms as much as possible to hold him tighter.

MC: Not even...

I stayed securely in his arms, with no intention of leaving this embrace.

MC: It’s just that I always remember the reason why I want to fully awaken, because I don’t want to let you bear everything. Always remember.

This dinner took longer than expected. When we sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace with red wine, the night was already almost reaching the sky.

For all this time, I have a lot to say to him.

Whether it is the heated discussions in the recent issues of "Discover Myself" or the process of LFG helping people realize their wishes one after another, I am deeply moved.

A couple wanted to go to a very famous sea island to watch the sunset before the end. Unexpectedly, before the trip, the island disappeared overnight.

MC: In fact, I also feel that it was a pity that I couldn't help them realize their wishes. I had seen that island before on the Internet.

MC: At that time, it was also selected as one of the "Top Ten Scenic Spots to Go to Before the End", I did not expect to be submerged by the sea so soon...

Victor: This is what you often say, do what you think of, and don't leave any regrets for yourself. Sometimes impatient fools can do things that many people can't.

I listened to every detail and smile in his voice, and my fingertips drew across the texture of the leather on the sofa.

The more I get to this kind of time, the more I feel that even his laughter seems precious.

MC: But I was a little surprised. The wishes that everyone wants to achieve before the end are so simple.

MC: Look at the light, look at the world, eat a delicious meal with the most important person.

Victor: What people really want has always been very simple. Before that, it was only controlled by desire.

Victor: No matter how long this moment of tranquility can last, for many people, it is enough to enjoy the life they still have.

MC: It is not easy to find the true desire in the heart.

Victor put the empty glass on the coffee table.

Victor: What about you? What is your wish?

After drinking a few glasses of wine, my thoughts were empty. I only heard his low and hoarse voice falling in my ears, and many pictures flashed before my eyes.

MC: I want to see your heart.

I turned to Victor and wanted to find the answer to this question very seriously.

MC: I want to see the real Victor. Without the burden of the CEO, there is no need to worry about the world...

MC: I can put down all the responsibilities on my shoulders, just be yourself... In this way Victor, What will it be like?

He paused for a few seconds, but quickly laughed faintly.

Victor: People cannot put aside all the past and responsibilities independently. In front of you, Victor will always be the most true.

I turned to him, stared at his deep eyes carefully, then stretched out my hand and slowly touched the position of his heart.

When the five fingers fell slowly, I already felt the warmth under his shirt.

A little closer, and the fingertips rubbed the texture of the shirt, and soon, my palm felt the rhythm of his heartbeat warm and powerful.

Victor: ...

With a sigh, Victor reached out and held my fingertips lightly.

Suddenly, the scene before me changed.

PART 4

This is a space I have never seen before.

The solitary galaxy and the dazzling sunlight are constantly flashing in front of my eyes, just like every ray of time that has been inscribed in memory, the brilliance of the moment only flashes, making it impossible to capture.

MC: Victor

He was sitting in the seat directly in front of me, proud and lonely.

All the changes in the stars passed through his silent and deep eyes, and he just stared lightly.

Time passed, he had been sitting like this, his back was straight, his eyes were firm, and he was silent without a word, yet he caught every light and shadow in his eyes.

He seemed to had been sitting here for thousands of years.

For a while, my heart felt like being held down by a deep sea-like loneliness, which made me breathless. After a slight pause, I walked along the long carpet to him.

I squatted down in front of him and looked up at him.

He lowered his head and met my gaze, as if waking up from a long wait, with loose eyebrows at the corners of his eyes.

I stretched out my hand, my fingertips slowly climbed over the edge of his slender finger, and squeezed him from the gap between the slightly bent fingers.

At this moment, I recovered, seeing Victor's eyes reflected in the fire of the fireplace.

We don't know since when we clasp our fingers together and hold our hands together.

In a silent night, only the firewood was still snapping.

MC: Victor, are you tired?

Victor: What do you mean?

MC: Everything.

*All the fatigue of endlessly walking through the timeline, all the tragedy you had to witness, all the pain that you had to bear, all the hopes that you've repeatedly dashed countless times .

MC: You said that it is enough to enjoy your current life before the end. You already know the ending, understand the truth, or do you want to move on?

Victor: Not enough.

Victor spoke softly, but every word made a sound.

Victor: I am not someone who can transcend desires, I also have my own desires.

He doesn't need to say anything, I already know everything.

I curled up on the sofa, silently nestled in his arms, clasped his waist tightly with my hands, and fell on his sturdy chest.

Victor pulled the blanket and put a light hand on my shoulder.

With fire light and falling snow, the sound of two hearts beating is clear.

I know that I am embracing the most real Victor, the extremely real Victor.

PART 5

Time passed quietly, and it came to the last moment.

The whole city is shining bright neon under our feet. Busy and calm-as usual, as if we can wait for every night in the morning light.

MC: Victor, when you brought me here for the first time, did you expect the world to become like this?

Victor shook his head.

MC: So what was the anxiety in your heart when you stood here?

Victor turned his head and looked at me, then smiled.

Victor: It is impossible to completely hold a fool in his hand, hold it tightly, and keep her from leaving.

MC: Did I make you worry a lot? I know you have been looking for me for a long time.

Victor: Not long.

Victor: After experiencing real time, I only feel that the years when I found you were as short as you went to buy me a cup of coffee

Heard what he said, I couldn't help being reminded of memories long ago.

MC: I just thought you were really harsh and annoying. There were so many conditions for asking me to buy a coffee.

MC: .. Now, I really want to buy it for you again

MC: No matter how many weird conditions you have, I will never get it wrong again.

Victor looked towards the boundless sky with emotion. In the night, countless meteors slowly fell, dazzling light across the blue to dark night sky.

It's not long since 19:17.

MC: Victor, I want to do something very important.

Victor: I know.

MC: But I just want to be your dummy and live the most ordinary and ordinary life.

MC: Let you have endless heart and endless planning plans every day, and bring you all kinds of trivial troubles.

MC: Then in the blink of an eye, you can...

With tears in my eyes, crying was already entrained in my voice, so I refused to continue.

Victor: She also said that she didn't like crying anymore.

I took a few breaths and stubbornly held my voice.

MC: I didn't cry!

Victor stepped forward and held me tightly in his arms. Surrounded by the familiar smell, I closed my eyes and gripped the corner of his suit with my hands.

My only wish is to be with him.

It’s okay to laugh and being embraced in his arms like this, I don’t want others.

But more important than this wish...

It's him. He can't just usher in the ending like this.

MC: When I come back, I will bring you a cup of coffee.

I grab his arms and made a promise, and he softly responded by caressing my hair.

Victor: Alright.

MC: That’s all? Don’t you have anything else to say?

MC: In the past, you always remind me about the deadline of my proposal, you would remind me not to oversleep like an elementary school kids for the meeting the next day.

MC: At this important moment, don’t you have something else to say?

MC: I’m going to do something big this time.

Victor loosened his arms around me slightly and looked at me.

Victor: I know.

Victor: But you’re no longer a dummy you used to be, there’s nothing you can’t do.

I have already understood his calmness from his eyes. As expected, I can’t still beat him. 

I want to say something, but I felt something. There were snow-white feathers on my fingertips.

There is no time.

I subconsciously grabbed Victor’s hand--  

MC: Victor..

My heart was overwhelmed by the huge perseverance, I almost called his name from the deepest part of my throat.

As he was holding me, there’s deep complex look between his brows.

Victor: Are you afraid?

I kept shaking my head, shaking my head anxiously!

It is not fear, nor regret, no matter what is waiting for me in front of me, at this moment I will walk firmly.

But even so, I still want to stop for another moment, a moment is enough for me to call his name again, to look at him again. .

Even... hoping that time can stop at this time.

I don't want to let go of his hand.

Victor hugged me with one hand, lifted my chin, and dropped a deep lingering kiss. 

During the exchange of our breathing, I looked into his squinted eyes & saw a love that I had never seen before.

The tears that kept spinning in my eyelids were still drawn from the corners of my eyes when I was on my post. I gripped his shirt tightly, very tightly.

Aware of my silent choking, Victor clapped his hands and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes with his index fingers.

Victor: Don't be afraid. No matter how difficult things are in front of you in the past, can't you always do well?

Victor: This time, there will be no exception.

The scene in front of me and his voice were slowly dissipating, and I looked at him deeply, unable to say a word.

I clearly felt that Victor held my hand tighter, tighter than ever, as if he wanted to keep me too.

Like he didn't want to leave me alone.

He opened his mouth, what he was saying, but I couldn't hear anything and my senses were blurred.

Victor: ...Remember, to get me back.

MC: What?

I vaguely heard something, but couldn't be sure.

The white wings spread out in the dark night, and the sky is connected one after another, and the scattered white wings sit on the tall buildings together with the meteor, and fall into the street...

Victor let go of my hand and stepped back half a step, his eyes showed unprecedented joy.

MC: Victor!

Victor: I....

He was telling me something. His deep voice was mixed with a firmness that I've never heard before, but I could only vaguely recognize the words that I wanted to hear the most from his mouth. After that she calls his name

MC: Victor...

The sight was finally dark, and Victor's deep gaze disappeared in front of me.

The city fell into the night amidst the noisy shouts-

Victor slowly opened his hand and caught a piece of pure white feather in the air. The corners of his lips were gentle, his eyes drooping slightly.

That feather just lay quietly on his palm, soaked in moonlight, as slender as she looked at him at the last moment.

---- END ----

I’m sorry if there’s some mistranslation. Kindly tell me if you found some :) thank you for read it~ ^^

[thatringboy]

Sea of Thieves - TWST AU

Based off of @ihavebecomeapenguin‘s Role Swap AU where the First year gang and their respective dorm heads all swap years! This is my second attempt at writing this fic, so I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 2,130 (another record???)

Warnings: Cursing, fight scenes, Azul Angst because this is chapter three

Getting the leader of Savanaclaw to agree with their plan was easy enough for Yuu Prefect. Jack seemed to have the idea in his head that he was obligated to help the Ramshackle student because of how the recent overblot incident went down. Yuu didn’t dislike the help they were receiving, but Jack’s insistence that they slept in his dorm while Yuu fought to get Ramshackle back from the Octavinelle leaders was a little much.

However, convincing their new friend Leona would be a much more difficult ordeal.

“That has got to be the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.”

“Well I don’t see you coming up with any ideas! I’ve only got a few hours left!” Yuu leaned against the door as Leona flipped the page on his magazine.

“It’s not really my problem, Herbivore.” He sighed and adjusted how he laid on his bed. “What could I do?”

Yuu stood up straight. “What’s wrong with you? You were all up for raiding the vault before, what’s changed now?”

Leona shut the magazine and tossed it aside, crossing his arms and sitting deeper into his pillows. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired of getting my ass handed to me by walking sushi!”

Grim snorted on Yuu’s shoulder, but the Prefect was not amused. “It’s a shame, really,” they began, “Think about how people will react when they hear that the second prince of the Afterglow Savanna turned his back on his friend. What would your nephew think of that?”

Yuu knew they struck a chord deep within Leona. He was on his feet in an instant and if looks could kill, Yuu would be dead where they stood. The beastman scowled at the human before him. “Fine, but we do this my way. Your plans suck.”

Yuu’s face formed a mischievous smile. Azul Ashengrotto had crossed a line and by the Seven there would be hell to pay. Oh yes, everything was coming together nicely.

~~~

Riddle paced back and forth and twiddled his thumbs while Trey cleaned his glasses again.

“I have a bad feeling about this--”

“You always have a bad feeling.” Trey put his glasses back on.

“No, seriously! What if Trappola-Senpai finds out that we’re gone? What if we’re too late? What if Leona doesn’t agree to help the Prefect? What if we’re caught out of bed? What if--”

Trey held up a hand. “Riddle, please. Everything is gonna be ok. Just breathe and let the chips fall where they may. Speaking of which...”

The mirror to Savanaclaw lit up and four people stepped out. Leona and Yuu approached the Heartslabyul first years while Ruggie and Jack hung back, already filled in.

As Yuu explained the plan, Riddle’s nervousness slipped away. That is, until his part in the operation was explained.

“You want us to do what?” Riddle’s eyebrows shot up.

Leona smirked. “What, you scared or something?”

“N-No!” He turned bright red. “I just don’t know if I have the skills to pull this off.”

Trey put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

“Thank you, Trey.”

Grim gagged, the anemone on his head wobbling. “Ew! Get a room, you two!”

Leona reached over and flicked the blue appendage. “Shut up, be glad they’re here.”

Yuu rolled their eyes. “So, then everyone knows their parts? Good, then we can get going. The sooner we finish this, the better.”

The first years nodded and passed around the potion that would allow them to breathe underwater. Jack and Ruggie disappeared back into their dorm’s mirror while Yuu and company approached the dark mirror.

In a second, they found themselves in the Coral Sea near the Alantica Memorial Museum. As per usual, a merman guard was posted outside the door. The group looked around for the infamous Leech twins and swam towards the building when they saw that the coast was clear.

Yuu might have had their iconic resting bitch face plastered for their friends to see, but the fact that no one had tried to stop them yet worried the Prefect. Trey swam ahead of the group and approached the guard while the others took cover behind a rock. Yuu could hear Trey spit out a convincing lie about wanting to explore the Museum, only to be denied by the guard. Of course, this was expected and Trey struck up a conversation between the guard, giving a small signal that it was okay for his friends to make a break for the door.

They swam behind the guard while he was distracted and pulled at the entrance, only to discover that it was locked. Leona rolled his eyes and pushed up his sleeve, activating his Unique Magic.

“I am hunger, I am thirst, I am that which steals your tomorrow. Now kneel before me, Kings Roar.”

The door handle turned to sand and he pulled the door open, earning a glare from Riddle. They swam inside the door while Trey continued to keep the attention of the guard. Yuu had to admit Trey’s ability to lie on cue was unsettling, but not unwelcomed.

Finding the picture Yuu risked their dorm for wasn’t a hard task. However, they’d forgotten that the only other reasonable person was still outside sweet talking the guard, so you can imagine how Yuu felt when Riddle took his magic pen and smashed the glass casing around the photo without a second thought.

An alarm went off somewhere in the building and it occurred to Yuu that the last time they were here, there were two guards. A Merman in armor swam around the corner and almost called for backup, but Leona gave him a swift kick to the head and knocked him out.

Maybe hanging around with himbos isn’t such a bad thing. Yuu thought to themself. They almost laughed at the mental image of calling Leona a himbo, but remained focused on the situation at hand. The four swam back out of the Museum and signaled for Trey to wrap up the conversation that he was way too invested in.

They made their escape and began to swim back to the mirror spot, but two dark shadows in the water blocked their path. The Leech brothers eyed the photo in Riddle’s hand with amusement and smiled, calculated toothy grins. Floyd’s voice ripped through the cold water and sent chills down the spines of the first years.

“That doesn’t belong to you, Shrimpy-Chan~”

~~~

Azul watched the first years sneak through the mirror and instructed the twins to give them an hour to retrieve the photo. What he hadn’t seen was the Savanaclaw leadership watching him from their respective mirror.

The Octomer returned to the Mostro Lounge and felt that the establishment lack a certain atmosphere, but then remembered that the Leech twins were off preparing to collect on his most recent contract. He kept himself busy and waved the twins off when they departed, but found his tasks boring when they left.

The Lounge didn’t open for a few minutes, but Azul could see a line forming outside. He grabbed a first year from Scarabia that he had enslaved was helping out that day and positioned him to be the host. The doors opened and Azul noticed that a large amount of customers were from Savanaclaw, but thought nothing of it.

He returned to the VIP room and checked his phone for messages before sitting down behind his large desk. Azul looked over the papers on his desk and noticed that jade had dropped off collateral on a recent contract. Azul spun around in his chair like a supervillain - which he privately enjoyed doing - and stood to open his vault. He had barley cracked the door open when a first year from his own dorm stepped into the VIP room looking distressed.

“What could possibly be so important that you come in here unannounced?”

“It’s a mad house out there, Senpai!” The first year was out of breath,

“Excuse m--”

“There’s too many of them, we can’t keep serving them!”

“Show me.”

Azul followed the first year out to the Lounge’s restaurant area and stopped. Those students from Savanaclaw who were crowding the door? They had taken up every seat! They were yelling and cursing out his waiters and throwing glasses and sending back food they deemed inedible! And of course, the smug faces of Ruggie Bucchi and Jack Howl leaned against the door frame without a care in the world.

“Mister Howl, what is the meaning of this?” Azul tried his hardest not to scream in frustration.

“That’s Howl-Senpai to you, tentacles!” Ruggie snickered.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean.” Jack had a smug expression.

Someone called Azul’s name from the kitchen and yelled that they needed assistance. Jack’s smile turned sinister. “That sounds urgent, you wouldn’t want to upset your customers, would you?”

Azul’s face burned red as he struggled not to explode on them. After all, he had a reputation; one bad day couldn’t ruin that. But he did find it suspicious that this happened as soon as the twins had left. Azul returned to the kitchen and kept his eye on the Savanaclaw leaders until he stepped behind the swinging door, narrowly running into a Heartslabyul student carrying a tray of tea.

Once he was gone, Jack nodded to Ruggie and the second year made a break for the VIP room. Phase one was complete.

~~~

If this was any other circumstance, Yuu would say that the eels swimming around them was majestic. However, in this moment, Yuu struggled not to show fear.

“What should we do with the little Shrimpy and Koebe-Chan and Lionfish and their little friends, Jade?” Floyd’s nicknames for them made Riddle flush.

“I don’t know, what if you gave them a squeeze?” Jade swam a little too close to Leona and almost got slashed across the face by long nails. Yuu looked to the Heartslabyul duo and nodded. The two had their pens out in a flash and went back to back. This part of the plan required concentration and almost perfect timing. If one of them messed up, they may just become fish food.

Floyd caught on to what they were doing. “Hah! What, is little Koebe-Chan going hit me with his little necklaces?”

Riddle turned even more red, but surprisingly didn’t lash out. Yuu looked over for a second and noticed that Trey was holding his hand to keep him calm. Yuu turned their attention back to Jade as Leona swiped at him again. Leona attempted to fire a bolt of magic at him, but Jade was too quick, easily avoiding and laughing at the attempt.

Yuu grabbed Leona’s sleeve. “Floyd’s magic! We can’t touch them!”

Leona swung his head around, smacking Grim in the face with his ponytail, and snarled at Trey and Riddle. “Hurry up, goddamnit!”

Riddle broke his concentration and glared at Leona. “I’m doing my best you useless pussy!”

Trey and Yuu made eye contact and knew that the plan was falling apart. Trey rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at Floyd. “Oh for the Seven!”

He activated his Unique Magic and suddenly Floyd’s smile fell. His multi colored eyes widened with rage and Trey gulped. “Riddle, now!”

Riddle spun around and pointed his pen at Floyd as well. “Don’t tell me what to do! Off with your head!”

The all too familiar clicking sound could be heard and Floyd grabbed at his neck. Riddle’s iconic neck lock was holding onto the merman and based on the violent thrashing from Floyd, it wasn’t budging. Floyd glared daggers into Riddle and lunged at him with a loud shriek, but Leona had crossed the distance between them and booted him in the side of the head.

“Floyd!” Jade rushed to his brother’s side and was relieved that Floyd was only knocked unconscious. He looked at the first years and down at the neck brace on his twin. “Just... go.”

They didn’t hesitate to swim back to the mirror spot and teleport back to Night Raven College. When they had finally caught their breath from swimming so fast, Riddle look down at his hands.

“I.... I just used my magic to harm an upperclassman. Leona, you kicked an upperclassman in the head!”

“Yeah and I’ll do it again.” Leona picked between his teeth with his pinky finger. Yuu looked at Trey. “So, how did you do that? The plan was for you two to cast that combo spell that Crowley showed you.”

Trey rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I panicked and realized that my Doodle Suite might have been able to make Floyd-Senpai’s shield just not work.”

“Genius, even for a human like you!” Grim jumped onto the green haired boy’s shoulder with a smile.

“Thank you?”

“Don’t take that as a compliment!” Riddle squinted his eyes at Grim. Leona pulled out his phone and was amazed that it wasn’t dead. “So, Jack and Ruggie-Senpai should be done by now, should we head over to the Lounge?”

Yuu sighed and realized how tired they were. “Let’s.”

~~~

When he managed to get the last beastman out of his restaurant, Azul almost collapsed against the door. He got to his feet and almost stumbled back to the VIP room, but stopped dead in his tracks. His blood turned to ice and his glasses fell off his face. Azul made an undignified sound and spun around, discarding his glasses in his haste. He tore down the hall back to the Lounge, leaving the VIP room and the open, empty vault within.

Azul threw open the doors to the Lounge and saw Ruggie leaning against a wall, cleaning out his teeth with a toothpick.

“What have you done?!” Azul’s voice was nothing more than a hushed whisper.

Ruggie ignored him. “You know, I tried takoyaki for the first time today, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

Azul turned a furious red. “You mangy beast! Where are they?!”

“Is that any way to talk to a classmate, Azul-kun?” Jack stepped out from behind a corner, a large stack of yellow papers in his hands. “I thought that you would have more tact.”

The Octavinelle student glared daggers into Jack’s soul. It was a little unsettling. The beastmen could just feel the anger seething out of him. Footsteps could be heard approaching the three.

“I can’t wait to see the look on that Octo-punk’s face when we give him the stupid photo!”

“I’ve never said anything bad against an upperclassman before, but I hope he looses it!”

“Like how you lost it with Floyd?”

“Shut up, or I’ll forcefully remove that anemone myself, you little beast!”

The first years turned the corner Jack was standing behind and stopped. Yuu held up a preemptive hand to stop any wise comments about Azul’s clearly enraged behaviour. With their other hand, they held out the photograph. “Here, so you can’t say we didn’t pull through our end of the deal.”

Azul just stared at the photo and began to laugh softly. “You... You think you’ve won? You steal my contracts, you destroy my Lounge and you bring me my photo to rub it in, huh? I see the twins have failed yet again.”

“Yet again?” Called a voice from down the hall. The students present turned their heads to see the human forms of the Leech brothers coming their way. Floyd still had Riddle’s neck lock on and held an ice pack to his temple.

Jade’s eyes looked Azul up and down. “It seems you’re the one who failed here.”

Azul scoffed. “Oh please, I gave you one task: keep them from returning the photo to me! You couldn’t even do that!”

Floyd stood up taller and took the ice pack away from his head. “You know, I don’t like that tone you’ve got. Makes me want to squeeze it out of you.”

Azul seemed to mentally backpedal. “Well, what I meant to say was--”

Jack waved the contracts in the air to get the mermen’s attention. “Do you want these or not?”

Azul’s anger turned to desperation. “Yes! Hand them over this instant!”

“No I don’t think I will.” Jack sneered. Yuu realized that he was just toying with Azul. They almost felt bad for the second year dorm head, but at the same time, he had enslaved over two hundred students simply because they wanted a cheat sheet for finals. Jack looked over the documents in his hand and passed them to Leona. “Do what you want, I just wanted to see him squirm.”

Leona gladly took the contracts and Yuu realized what he was about to do. They made no move to stop him, but Jade’s eyes opened uncharacteristically large.

“I am hunger, I am thirst, I am that which steals your tomorrow. Now kneel before me, Kings Roar!” 

The golden contracts crumbled into sand between his fingers. Azul shrieked again and fell to his knees, watching as Leona kicked the pile of sand at his feet to solidify that the papers were gone. Yuu looked to Grim and saw that the anemone on his head was gone, however the next sound Azul made got them to return their focus on the situation.

“You... you monsters!” Azul slowly got to his feet.

“Yeah what?” Grim grinned. “You gotta be a bit more specific.”

Leona rolled his eyes and turned to go. “C’mon, I’ve got practice to get to. I don’t wanna throw a pity party for that mess.”

Riddle raised his pen and the neck brace around Floyd vanished. He rubbed his neck and smiled at Riddle. “Thank you, Koebe-chan! No hard feelings for trying to eat you?”

Riddle made a disgusted face that Trey snorted at. Azul watched them start to leave with horror in his eyes. “No, wait! Fix this mess! Grim, I helped you pass your exam!”

“You also used me as a sponge!”

Floyd pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “You’re acting pretty lame right now, you know that right?”

Jade nodded and shrugged his shoulders. “Desperation isn’t a good look for you.”

Azul looked around for something, anything to make the situation better. Yuu sighed. “Azul, you did this to yourself. Now, if you excuse us--”

Azul got to his feet with a strange expression on his face. “Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait! I can turn this around! Just watch, I’m not boring at all!”

The door to the Mostro Lounge creaked open and a timid looking Scarabia student stepped out, patting his head where Yuu assumed an anemone had been resting. Azul reached out his hand and a small ball of light flew out of the chest of the poor student and into Azul’s. He stood up with a crazed smile and looked around the group as the Scarabia boy collapsed.

“See?! I may not be what I once was, but I am still leagues above you all!”

Leona groaned and spun around on his heels. “Okay, now you’re taking this too far--”

He was interrupted by Azul’s laugh and a snap of the second year’s fingers. Ruggie pushed Leona down and the ball of light Yuu assumed was Ruggie’s magic flew to Azul. Jack pulled out his staff and growled as he watched Ruggie faint.

“You’ll pay for that, Ashengrotto.” He snarled.

Azul’s laugh grew dark and menacing. “Oh really, Jack-Senpai?”  the title oozing off of his tongue like poison. “Why don’t you just lighten up and Dance with me!”

Jack dropped the staff and became rigid, but soon regained control of his body. Azul turned to Floyd, who’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. All of the commotion had drawn the attention of the other Octavinelle dorm residents, all of which fell prey to Azul’s greedy glare.

Yuu watched in horror as Azul absorbed the magic of every student who had unknowingly stepped into their worst nightmare, but it wasn’t over. Yuu looked Azul up and down and saw his purple gem becoming more clouded by the second.

Riddle noticed this too and raised his pen to stop the nonsense, but Trey tackled him out of Azul’s line of sight. It occurred to Yuu that if Azul got is hands on the magic of their friends, the fight would turn from bad to ugly.

Of course, as per usual, the coming tide was already among them. Jade dashed to put himself between the first years and the crazed Azul, but got smacked to the side by a large black tentacle that had formed from Azul’s cane.

The overblotting version of Azul stood over the first years, but while their friends saw the anger in those cold blue eyes, Yuu recognized loneliness and fear. This was by far the worst case of overblotting Yuu had seen when comparing the Heartslabyul and Savanaclaw incident together, and they had no idea what to do now.

[takerfoxx]

Here, have some more of the WN girls watch The Rebellion Story, this time stretching from Moemura turning back into classic Homura while monologuing to herself to when she shoots herself in the head!

Yes, this is the one with the gunfight.

Reminder:

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

Op: Dramatic transformation!

H: All I did was take off my glasses and ribbons.

Op: And you did so dramatically! Complete with a slo-mo hair flick while framed by the full moon!

Ch: Which is apparently about to crash into the city, given how close it is.

Ok: “This is a witch’s labyrinth.” Gee, yah think?!

…

Ok: Okay, where exactly are you headed?

H: Deep into the bowels of the earth, apparently.

Op: Quick! To the Homu-Cave!

G: So, uh, can you see all those windows with the witches, or…?

H: Probably not. It probably still looks normal to me.

Op: Now that just sucks! If you’re going to monologue dramatically you at least ought to be able to appreciate the accompanying visuals!

Ch: “Previously, on Homura Magica…”

G: We probably should have watched the show first. Maybe then all of this would make sense.

Ch: I sincerely doubt it.

…

Ch: Why do all of my scenes have me looking like some brand of idiot?

Ok: Have you seen yourself whenever you get within sniffing distance of a piece of mozzarella? If anything, the doll you is way more composed!

Ch: Oh, so I stick teacups on top of my head, is that what you’re saying?

Op: No, usually you smash them and anything else that’s between you and that sweet, sweet cheesy goodness.

…

Ok: Oh, exposition!

Ch: About my idiot counterpart. I really hope I am the villain and this is all some kind of clever ruse, because otherwise, my God.

G: This is really cute, though. And at least you two are close in this universe too!

Ch: I’m basically a pet.

Ca: Well, if I must have a pet, I’m glad that it’s you.

Ch: Woof-woof.

=from outside, Cheese starts screeching=

Che: Bitch-ass cayennnnnne!

Ca: Whoops. He heard.

…

Ch: …Candy? Are you okay?

Ca: I’m…fine. Just memories.

G: You mean it was really like that?

Ca: Well, Charlotte obviously wasn’t a doll, we weren’t trapped in a bizarre facsimile of the city, and there were no Nightmares, but yes. It was a lonely time.

Op: Because of me, wasn’t it?

Ca: Ophelia, you had literally just lost your family, and I…wasn’t as sympathetic as I ought to have been. So no. It wasn’t because of you. Besides, we did make up later. Had a long conversation and everything. There were even tears.

Op: Well, that’s good to hear.

Ca: Actually, it was pretty close to how it is in the movie, once everyone had shown up. The five of us spending all our time together. Fighting together, training together, celebrating together, and just being girls together. For me, it was probably the happiest I had ever been.

Ok: Right up until my love life went sour.

Ca: Oh, there was so much more to it than just that. Besides, it was all just a temporary thing, a staving off the inevitable. What we have now might be much less exciting but is so much better.

Op: I dunno. Fighting demonic teddy-bears every night sounds like my idea of a good time.

Ca: We didn’t have teddy-bears, remember?

Op: Well, we should have.

…

Ok: Um…Homulilly?

H: Well, this has gotten interesting.

Op: You know, there are a lot of jokes I could be making about you freezing time right next to your crush, but I won’t.

H: Thank you.

G: I don’t get it...Actually, I do. Never mind.

Ok: Shoot the rat! He’s right there!

Ch: Oh, no. She’s going after me. Huh.

H: Huh indeed.

=Charlotte and Homulilly shoot each other an odd look=

Op: So…are we gonna get Homulilly vs. Charlotte?

H: More of Homura vs. Bebe, it seems.

Ch: So…I am the villain.

Op: If you’re lucky, you’ll get an overly dramatic and campy solo number, complete with a pipe organ!

…

G: This is getting a little hard to watch.

Ch: It’s not me.

G: It kind ofis.

H: Charlotte, I would like to take this moment to say that you are a dear friend of mine, and the actions of my counterpart do not reflect my feelings.

Ch: Thanks. Same.

=pause=

Ch: Though could your other self please stop choking me? It is getting kind of weird.

…

Op: Okay, that cinches it! Homura can definitely see the weird!

Ok: How do you figure?

Op: The fact that she’s leaping from dessert tray on a stick to dessert tray on a stick! Why would she be doing that unless she could see them?

Ok: I don’t know. Maybe they just look like telephone poles to her.

H: No, the illusion has clearly dropped, at least for me.

Ch: I’m about to get executed and that’s what you choose to focus on?

Op: For all you know you’re about to snap and bite Homura’s head off.

Ch: I…seriously doubt that. I mean, she is kind of the main character.

Ok: Though hey, wouldn’t that be such a wicked twist? To build up someone as a super-important character only to kill them off like a quarter of the way through?

=Candeloro frowns, a puzzled look on her face=

…

Op: Erm…

H: Well, this is certainly condescending.

Ca: It’s not inaccurate, though. I did struggle with many doubts and insecurities, and often found it difficult to put on a brave face.

Ch: That’s just called being human, babe.

Op: Most humans never went through what we went through.

Ca: That’s also true. Like I said, Homura isn’t wrong. I often felt like I was on the edge of cracking. There was more than one time when one of you would get hurt during a fight, and I would make a big show of being calm and unbothered. I’d encourage you and maybe lightly scold you for letting your guard down, and when you were all healed up I’d reassure everyone that I knew everything would be fine and try my best to carry on as normal. And then, when everyone was gone, I’d spend the rest of the night crying. You were right to assume I would react badly if you accused my close companion of being some kind of nefarious villain.

=long, uncomfortable pause=

H: Maybe so, but I think that my other self here wasn’t in the habit of giving people the benefit of the doubt. I think that her frequent failures might cause her to assume the worst of everyone, and act accordingly. I don’t think that she is giving you a fair shake.

Ca: That’s sweet of you to say so, Homulilly. But realistically speaking, she had reason not to trust me with this information.

…

Ch: Yeesh.

H: It’s okay. You can say it.

Ch: Say what?

H: That this alternate version of myself is kind of…shall we say…

Ok: Incredibly terrifying?

H: Just a little psychotic, yes.

G: Well, I mean, considering what she went through. You were lucky to stop after four loops. How many times did she have to relive my death over and over?

Ch: Still doesn’t make watching me get shoved up against a wall and the life choked out of me any more fun to watch.

…

Ch: Hold up!

Op: Well, hey! Wife to the rescue!

Ca: But…how…?

G: Oh. That is…a long ribbon.

Op: Did you have that attached to her foot the whole time?

Ca: I mean, I guess…

Ok: How did she even know you were up to something?

Ca: Intuition, I suppose. Maybe the lack of glasses and the new hairstyle tipped me off?

Ok: Why would that-

Ca: I don’t know, I’m just throwing guesses out.

H: Well, consider me impressed. Clearly, this other me underestimated you.

Ca: Thank you.

Ch: OKAY! If having my stupid doll face on every billboard in town doesn’t tip you off, then nothing will!

G: Homura’s probably the only one that can see it like that. Mami probably just sees a shoe advertisement or something.

Ch: You know what? That’s actually kind of a relief.

…

Ok: Oh, shit!

Ch: Could you stop trying to kill me? Please?

H: Believe me, if I could stop me, I would.

Op, suddenly sitting up straighter: Hold on, is this going where I think it’s going?

Ok: I think it is! I think it is!

Ca: Oh, here we go.

G: What?

Ok: Homura and Mami are going to fight!

G: Oh. Oh!

H: Candeloro, just like I said with Charlotte, the actions and beliefs of this alternate self of mine-

Ca: Homulilly, relax. It’s fine. These other versions of ourselves took different paths than we did. I don’t hold any of this against you.

H: Likewise.

Ca: Good.

=pause=

Op: Fifty talents on Mami.

Ch: Oh, good Lord.

Ok: You’re on! Time stop, Fee! That’s so overpowered!

Op: Which our girl neutralized without Little Miss Sleuth even knowing.

H: Is this really-

Op: Plus Mami’s the veteran fighter, remember? The tanky heavy?

Ok: Uh, Homura’s got multiple timeloops of experience, okay. That trumps Mami’s couple of years.

Ca: It was more like three…

G: I’m in! I’m betting on Lilly!

H: On Homura. I’m not fighting anyone.

Ok: Same diff! You better win, though. We’ve got money riding on this.

Ch: Well, I’m joining Fee and betting on Mami. I think you’ll find her more of a handful than you’re bargaining for.

Ca: Out of all the childish-

Ch: Buck up! You’ve got fifty talents to win me!

=Homulilly extends her hand across the couch=

H: Hey. May the best fighter win.

=pause, then Candeloro sighs and shakes her hand=

Ca: Oh, why not. You’re on!

…

Ch: Well, that ribbon ain’t going nowhere. Time stop, still neutralized.

Op: Ha! What I say?

Ca: My Bebe’s life is in danger. My will is resolute.

Ch: You are not turning Bebe into a pet name.

Ok: Come on, come on. Get with the fighting already!

=long pause as Mami and Homura have their staredown, and then they leap…=

Op: Oh, yeah! Here we go!

…

Op: Holy shit!

Ok: Go! Go!

G: Wow. That is a lot of guns.

…

Ch: Come on, babe. You can do this.

Ok: THIS! IS! SO! FREAKING! COOL!

G: Look at their faces! They still don’t want to hurt each other.

Ch: Oh, come on, doll-me! Get out of there already!

…

Op and Ch: Let’s go, Mami!

Ok and G: Ho-Mu-Ra!

Op: Let’s go, Mami!

Ok and G: Ho-Mu-Ra!

H: This is easily the weirdest thing we’ve ever done.

Ok: Oh, what? The thing with the sea-monster wasn’t weirder?

H: That was just…messy! We’re watching me and Candeloro’s alternate future selves in a fight to the death and you four are treating it like a pro-wrestling event!

Ca: Yeah. And I’m going to win.

=pause=

H: Did I say you could stop chanting?

Ok and G: Ho-Mu-Ra!

…

Op: Downtown is getting fuuuucked uuuup!

Ch: Just wait until she unfreezes time.

G: Jeez, I can’t tell if you’re both terrible shots or just extremely good at dodging!

H: Definitely the second.

Ok: And now we come to the stand-off.

Op: Nowhere to go, barely any room to breathe. Hey, Lilly, is the kinetic force of those bullets maintained?

H: What?

Op: I know they’re stuck in time, but can you just pluck them out of the air, or would you still be damaged by the heat and contained momentum?

H: I…have no idea.

Op: Best not to touch them then.

H: Probably smart.

…

Op: And time starts up…now.

G: Oh, that looks so unsafe.

Ok: Yeah! I mean, sure, if they hold still they won’t get hit with the bullets right next to them. But the freaking air was full of them! What’s keeping a spray of bullets from raining down from above and turning their heads into swiss cheese? Oh, sorry Char.

Ch: Y’know, unlike my moronic counterpart, I can hear the word “cheese” without freaking out.

Op: And that’s not getting into ricochets. They ought to be perforated right now.

Ca: My bullets were magic. They only ricocheted when I wanted them to. Most times they’d either pierce right through or exploded on impact.

Op: Homura’s aren’t.

Ca: True.

…

Ok: So much for your surroundings. Where the hell are you guys anyway?

H: Looks like some kind of cathedral. Only a very…eccentric one.

Ok: City’s getting weirder by the minute.

G: It could be symbolic for something. Like, I don’t know, violence in a place of sanctuary or…something?

Ch: Or gothic architecture just makes for an awesome place to stage an action scene and the animators and directors know it.

Ok: Stop killing the magic!

Op: Though, hell, speaking of which, would they actually die if they got shot? I mean, I know it would hurt, but…

Ca: Hypothetically? No. So long as the soul gem itself was unharmed, any damage would eventually heal.

G: Like we do?

Ca: Er, sort of, but not in the same way. Their bodies are still flesh and blood. Injuries back then tended to be…messy. And healing used up magic, and if those injuries were too great…

Ok: Witch time?

Ca: Bingo.

…

Ch: “Not getting anywhere.” Now there’s the understatement of the year.

G: So who won? Was it a draw?

Ca: So far, but I don’t think it’s over yet.

H: Indeed. I seem to be…up to something.

Op: Okay, if none of those big honkin’ rifles and machine-guns weren’t working, what good is that little peashooter, gonna…hold on!

=Homura puts the gun to her head. Half-a-second of stunned silence, and then everyone starts yelling at once=

G: Oh, no. Oh, no.

Ch: Oh, my God. They are going there.

Op: Okay. OKAY!

Ok: What the hell is she doing?!

Ca: No, no, no, no, no, no, no…

H: What is wrong with you?! Why are you like this?!

=bang=

=collective scream=

[letstalkaboutshtufff]

Geralt x reader We're Married? Part 1

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the love for my other story! I was so nervous posting it and you guys were just the best💕 this story was harder to write and I'm not sure it's as good as the other one but I'm gonna post it anyway. 

This can be read as a part 3 to the injured reader story:)

Part 2 here

Pairing: Geralt x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, blood, mentions of death, mentions of past sexual abuse.

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

Out of all the places you'd traveled too with the witcher, this had to be one of the nicest.

As you walked through the kingdom known as Servia you couldn't help but stare at everything around you. Vendors lined the streets selling everything you could possibly imagine, shining jewelry, beautifully woven fabrics, and oooooooh well well well what do we have here!!!

You made a beeline for the tray of freshly baked pastries, a seductive look on your face,

"Well hello boys...which one of you wants to come home with me hehehe, or perhaps I should take you all home? Oooh your so bad hehe, well if you insist hahahahaha".

From afar Geralt sighed and Jaskier just looked on with disturbing confusion, "Geralt? What exactly is she doing?" His face twisted uncomfortablely as you continued talking and giggling like a maniac.

"She has a thing about....desserts" Geralt closed his eyes and shuddered as he remembered the one time he left you alone in an inn and you used up all of his coin to order one of literally everything on the menu. He practically had to roll you away afterwards.

"My God geralt shes scaring the baker now".

Jaskier scrunched his mouth as he watched you continue to whisper to the pastries, completely unaware of the weird looks people were giving you." I swear brothel whores are more subtle.."

Geralt grunted and made his way over to you, "We'll uh...take however much this will get us" he placed a coin in the bakers hand and watched your eyes glint like a maniac when he handed you the box.

"There now that you have your sweets, can we please hurry! We can't be late!" Jaskier pleaded pushing you in the correct path again.

"Alright alright no more stops I promise....wait does anyone else smell chocolate?" You look around frantically.

"NO" the both of them shout in unison and drag you forward.

"Ugh ok, I was just asking geez.."you pout.

"Remind me again who we're meeting?" You questioned, looking up at Jaskier who rolled his eyes back at you.

"Ugh how many times do I have to tell you?!"

"His name is Yavert, hes the advisor of the royal family here and he also happens to be the man who requested our help".

You nodded your head, "oh yes I remember now" ok you actually had no idea what he was talking about but whatever, you'll figure it out.

Some time later you found yourselves gawking at the massive architecture that was the Castle de Servia. Calling it massive would be doing it a disservice. The structure went higher than your eyes could see and wider than any other castle you've been to. "Holy fuck.." Jaskier whispered in awe.

Geralt shook his head as if he was already fed up with it all, "let's go"

The guards led you through the castle and into a small side room. Red carpets lined the floors along with a beautiful mahogany table. The walls had several portraits, obviously of the royal family. You saw an older man, a woman, and a young girl about your age all ornately painted. Hmm why do people always look so upset in portraits. Couldn't the artist just add a smile?

A creak at the door gained everyone's attention. A man, probably in his mid fifties, entered. He was balding and on the fluffier side, dressed in a puffy sleeved shirt, with a velvet red vest over it.

"Welcome, please, have a seat, you all must be tired from your jouney" he said gesturing to the chairs.

"You have no idea what a relief it is to have you here Geralt of Rivia" a look of exhaustion fell over face.

"So what's the job" Geralt asked, straight to the point as usual.

The man looked uncomfortable for a moment before he scooted closer and leaned in as if he was telling a secret,

"Well..our...problem, began a few weeks ago when the alliance between Targeris and our own kingdom was official. Since then there have been several banquets of celebration, as there are still many things being discussed and processed. One of those being the upcoming wedding of our Princess Annora and their Prince Edgrin. Hence the big celebration we are having this evening, an engagement party of sorts."

"And the problem?" Geralt cocked a brow.

The man swallowed before continuing, "Well..since the alliance, there have been disappearances..."

"Dissapearances?" You echoed interested.

"Important Servia officials have suddenly been going missing..the first on the night the kings signed the peace agreement, the second when the marriage was announced.. and then.." he looked around wearily and lowered his voice even more, "things have gotten much worse.."

"How exactly did they get worse" Geralt inquired, suspicious of how Yavert was acting.

"At the last party, about a week ago, one of our ambassadors was found dead.."

Geralt narrowed his eyes, "what aren't you saying.."

The man gulped, " it was the way he died, no man could have..." he paused closing his eyes, obvious memories making him shudder. "No man could have done it, it had to be a monster".

"How can you be so sure?" You asked leaning in now intrigued.

"The body..was so mangled we could barely identify the man. His innards were ripped out and his eyes...they were gone. Clearly it was the work of a beast."

Geralt narrowed his brows, "I have never encountered a monster before that hand picks their pray." You nodded in agreement.

All the monsters you'd faced just destroyed everything in their path. And why would a monster suddenly decide to start targeting officials from Servia? It just doesnt make any sense.

"Please witcher, help us with finding and slaying the creature and we will pay whatever means necessary" he placed a large pouch in front of us.

"Hmm" geralt thought for a few moments, then turned to you wordlessly asking your opinion. A new habit that did make you feel more like partners.

You shrugged your shoulders in a "why not?" Sort of way.

"Alright what the hell.." he grabbed the pouch and stood up.

"Wait, theres a few more things you need to know.." Geralt sat back down with a grunt.

"It is important that you are discreet, no one can know who you or your companions are, not even the king and queen themselves.."

"What?!" Your eyes widened.

"They dont know?" Geralt asked completely bewildered.

"I have advised the king and queen since they first began their reign many years ago. They trust me with their lives I would never lie to them...except..." he sighed and continued, "we have been at odds with targeris for so long, and finally peace is withing our grasp.

But if the king catches wind of what's going on, he will no doubt blame Targeris. Our king is good, but his fault lies with his hate for Targeris. It took much convincing from everyone to finally have the king agree to peace. But he would quickly jump to accuse them. I have no doubt a war would begin if this were to happen...for the sake of peace, they cannot know.." he looked down in shame.

"And the king just doesn't notice all these officials have gone missing?" Geralt shook his head in disbelief.

"Well...we have done our best to cover them up...but the king is getting suspicious, which is why we need to figure out what exactly is going on before anything else happens."

Everything about this job just seemed off. A monster who hand picks their prey, disappearing officials, and the king hasnt even the slightest idea?

"How are we supposed to find this monster without having our identities revealed?" You cocked your head in question.

"Ah yes well, I have prepared an airtight alias for the both of you, after all if you're going to fool people, you will need real identities"

"Fool people? Why cant we just stay in the shadows until something pops up?". Monster hunting in your experience was much easier when there weren't people around. Probably monster hunting rule #1.

"Unfortunately you would not be able to as the king has eyes and ears everywhere, it would not be long before youd be questioned and ultimately found out." Yavert explains.

"Alright.." you say hesitantly, "So how are we supposed to track the monster then?

"So far all the accidents have occurred during nightfall. By blending in as elite members of society, no one will question you as you move about, not even the royal family."

God this just keeps getting more confusing..

"So not only do we have to worry about finding a seemingly brilliant monster, but also worry about being found out?" Jaskier piped in for the first time this entire conversation.

"Yes that's correct.." he nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately I was only able to manage 2 identities, you will be known as Sir and Lady Trestin. A well known name, although the couple is known for not socializing so the risk of someone recognizing that you're not them is extremely low, here are your official invitations you will have to present at the door." He slid some documents our way.

"Wait I'm sorry did you say couple? As in couple of friends? Couple of siblings? Couple of cousins??" Surely he didnt mean-

"The lady and sir Tristan and husband and wife..is that a problem?" He questioned eyebrow raised.

"No of course not.." Um maybe a little! Sure I've fantasized about it before *cough* but now to actually act it out?? This was going to be an adventure for sure..

"What about me?" Jaskier pipes in again.

"You can be our dog" Geralt says not missing a beat.

"Oh that's low geralt" he recoils dramatically.

"How about servant boy?" You offer with a shrug.

"Do I have to?" He gives a puppy dog look to Yavert.

"I'm afraid it's the only way" Yavert smiled slightly.

"Alright, now then, this is the address you will go to for preperation my lady and for the sirs, you'll come with me" you all stood up and parted ways.

Geralt as your husband? This could actually be fun..

‐------------------------------------------------

"OUCH" you yelled for the thousandth time at the stupid woman who's mission was to tighten your corset until your eyes popped out.

"I'm sorry my lady but this must be done.." you sighed holding the wall for support.

"Especially a lady as...." she trailed off.

"Curvy as you.." did this bitch just?!?!

"You're job is to get me ready not tell me I've eaten too many sweets in my day" you rolled your eyes.

"Besides its nearing winter, I need the extra fluff for survival purposes"

"Well I think a little extra meat on a girl is highly attractive" a new voice chimed in.

"Jaskier? When did you get here?" You couldn't help out the small laugh when you truly got a good look at him. He wore the typical servants garb but his hair had been slicked back. He looked like a boiled egg.

"Don't you laugh too! I swear you and Geralt are so mean to me" he dejectedly sprawled himself out on a cushioned chair.

"Speaking of.." you looked at the door, "Where is he?"

"Hes still getting ready, a sir takes much longer than a mere servant." You laughed at his miserable tone.

"Oh lighten up Jaskier, servant boys have plenty of fun at these parties too, I'm sure some lady will see your puppy face and take you in" you smirked.

"Let's hope so.." another girl came in this time holding a few brightly colored dresses in her arms.

"Turn around boy" the older woman scolded.

"And you, arms up!" You complied as she slid the softest fabric you've ever felt over your body.

Your turned to look at the mirror, "Eww gross no way, Jaskier look! I'm a pineapple!" You both laughed annoying the girls. "Alright next!"

*insert shopping montage with corny music here*

"This one?"

Nods head

Next!

Both nod heads

Maybe? Actually nevermind..

No

No

No

Next

Eww what even is this color barf in the spring??

No

WAIT! HELL YES!

Jaskier nods in agreement.

*Montage ends*

An hour later you were ready, the beautuful _____ colored gown was the perfect shape on your body. It wasnt like most of the boring dresses you had tried on. And you decided to ditch the corset..

"It isnt proper!" One scolded.

"But you have to admit, it's a hell of alot sexier.." Jaskier nodded looking over me.

"Plus I can actually breathe!" And besides how were you supposed to fight monsters if you couldn't move? You left that part out obviously.

The girls just shook their heads in exasperation and finished up your hair and make up in another room.

"There now you're ready" the ladies smiled in satisfaction and left. You thanked them and made your way out to where Jaskier was.

His eyes lit up when he saw you, "Y/n! You look amazing! Although you always look beautiful" he smirked taking your arm.

"Thank you Jaskier, after everything those ladies put me through I better look like a fucking goddess" you both laughed remembering how he had to hold you down while they waxed your legs.

Together you left the shop and you swore for a moment you forgot how to breathe. Now Geralt in full body armor is one thing, but princely Geralt? Well your dreams were Surely going to be wild tonight. Never had you seen the witcher so finely pressed before. It was very...refreshing.

His gaze rose as he finally noticed the two of you. You forgot how to breathe when he looked over you. "Well? What do you think?" You asked a little embarrassed.

"Well...no one will be questioning who you are when you're looking like that" the corner of his lips rose slighty and he stepped to the side, gesturing us into the waiting carriage.

That was a compliment right?? He meant like because you look so beautiful so one is going to ask questions right? Not, well you look like a snooty aristocrat so no one will question???? Ok I'm going with the first one. Stop overthinking geez.

The ride to the castle was quick and soon you were arm in arm with your "husband".

"Come along boy, don't dawdle" geralt teased behind him.

"Dont be mean" you lightly shoved him but couldn't help but laugh as well.

"What great friends I have.."he mumbled....

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

Ok so that's part 1, lemme know if it's any good. Also I'm kinda new to this so I don’t know the tagging etiquette lol so I just tagged whoever asked. Also part 2 will be uploaded tonight too as soon as I finish editing xoxo 

@marvels-gurl @shane-isa-shame @waitingtobeimpressed @viking-raider @dream-alittlebiggerdarling

[buildingcages]

Box Boy Enrollment, part 2

whew, this got long! part one is here. 

masterpost

(Warnings: dehumanization, objectification, financial coercion, forced nudity (mostly nonsexual), slavery, humans as pets, victim blaming, psychological manipulation, corporal punishment)

The lady behind the desk was plump, comfortably middle aged with little gold glasses on a chain around her neck. She smiled brilliantly at him as he came in, gesturing to the chair across from hers. 

"Come on in sweetie, you're here to sign up aren't you?"

"Oh uh. Yeah. Is it that obvious?" He dropped into the chair, feeling embarrassed and transparent. God, but he must look pathetic. "I'm here about the uh, the debt forgiveness program?"

She chuckled. The name plate on her desk read 'Miss Delilah'. "In my line of work you learn to read people, is all. It looks like you've got some paperwork for me hon?"

Nodding, he slid the folder across the desk. The very sympathetic bank manager had given it to him when he suggested he come here. She picked it up and thumbed through the contents with pursed lips. He slid his hands under his thighs to keep himself from fidgeting. 'It's not going to work. She's going to tell you it's too much and you're not worth that much and they can't help you, and you will have humiliated yourself for nothing-'

She snapped the folder shut and smiled at him again. "You're doing the right thing sweetie. I'll just get some forms for you and we'll get you all set up." 

He slumped with relief and she chuckled again, reaching across the desk to ruffle his hair. 

"Aw were you worried? You're a good boy aren't you? You're gonna do just fine." She set a small stack of forms in front of him and then tapped something on her computer screen. "You just fill those out and I'll let the intake boys know to get a space ready for you ok?"

He closed his eyes for a minute. This was the last moment where he could turn back. He picked up the pen. Name, date of birth, medical history, fingerprints. The questionnaire about his sexual history, identity, and attraction gave him pause, but he decided not to think about it and filled it out as fast as he could. He hesitated for a long moment before signing, then pushed the paper back across the desk. His mouth was as dry as the desert he'd driven through on a road trip once. It was done.

The recruitment lady- no, Miss Delilah- looked up from her computer and smiled at him again. She pulled something out of her desk drawer and came around behind him before he could catch a good look at whatever it was. When he tried to twist and look at her she put a hand on his shoulder and he stilled. 

"Easy now sweetie, I'm just putting your collar on you. You understand you're going to have to wear this from now on, right?"

Oh. 

"Oh. Of course. Um. Can I ask. What’s next?" The collar was stiff, high enough that it kept pinching him when he slouched.

"Well just this once, since you've been so good for me. Next, someone will come from intake to bring you up to your temporary quarters, then after a little while you'll be taken to the training facility. Once you're there, they'll start teaching you how to be a good little pet. Won't that be nice?" 

He kind of doubted it would be. 'It's worth it, whatever happens, if this saves everyone else then it's worth it. Be good and maybe they'll go easy on you. Then when they sell you as a companion to some little old rich lady you can run away if she's mean.' He took a deep shaky breath. 

"Ok. Thank you for telling me."

"You can call me Miss, dear. It's important for you to learn how to show respect for your betters, isn't it hon?"

Meek, he reminded himself, you are going to be meek. He made his voice as small as he could.

"Yes, Miss."

While he sat there trying to steady himself, Miss Delilah was bustling around pulling a stack of 3 nested plastic bins out of another drawer. She set them on the desk and smiled again.

"Ok sweetheart go ahead and strip. Clothes in this bin, shoes and belt in this one, personal effects in here." 

He looked around the little office, at the glass door with all the people typing away in their cubicles behind it, at the lack of any clothing visible to replace what he was wearing. 

"Don't pets get clothes, um. Miss?" The question came out a little choked, and he knew he must be as red as a boiled lobster.

"You're not a pet yet honey, you're a trainee. You've got to earn the ability to call yourself a pet, and you do that by being good and doing what you're told. Come on hon, you've been so good, don't make me punish you already!"  

He took another deep breath, the way he’d been taught when he was overwhelmed as a kid. 'Just start with your shoes. You can do this. One thing at a time.' 

He slipped off his worn but comfy boots, and put them in the tray. Then belt and socks. His heavy rings, the leather bands he wore around his wrist. His hands shook so badly taking off his shirt that a button came free and pinged off into the corner somewhere. Miss Delilah made a disapproving "tsk" sound but didn't say anything. Finally he stood there in a collar and boxers. Maybe it would be enough. Miss Delilah raised her eyebrows at him and he knew it wouldn't be. He squeezed his eyes shut and slid them down his hips, setting them in the plastic tub. 

When his shoulders tried to rise defensively the collar bit into him. Miserably, he wrapped his arms around his middle. 

"See? that wasn't so bad was it honey? You just keep doing what you're told like a good boy and you'll be just fine. Now come sit by me--NOT on the chair, good heavens, you can kneel right here, and I'll give you a little something to calm your nerves. I've got a couple other things to set you up with and then you'll be all ready for intake and training." 

He knelt. He felt detached and cold, and like some distant part of him might be screaming, but he fought the prickle of tears behind his eyes and accepted the pill and the little paper cup of water. When he looked up again, Miss Delilah was holding something that looked a lot like those piercing guns you saw at the mall. Something on her computer beeped, and she took a little chip out of its slot and plugged it into the thing in her hand. Then she grabbed his ear, hard, and he flinched back on instinct and fell right over on his back.

"Oh, honey, and you were doing so good too."

 Her voice was sad, and she was reaching for something on her desk. The next thing he knew, the world whited out with pain. He heard a scream he belatedly recognized as his own, tapering off into pained gasps. A shock collar, of course, he should have known he was so stupid-

"Now are you gonna be good for me? Or are you gonna make me do that again?" 

"No, please, I'm sorry," he gasped, trying to coax his limbs to cooperate, "I'll be good Miss I promise." 

"Good boy. Up on your knees now, and hold still." 

He pushed himself up with arms that felt like overcooked noodles. It was a piercing gun after all, and when he raised a hand furtively to touch his ear he found a flat plastic tag like they used to mark livestock. It hurt, but not as much as the shock collar. He thought maybe the little pill she gave him was starting to work, because he felt kind of soft and floaty.

"There, see how much nicer it is when you do what you're told?" She patted his cheek kindly, "Now remember, the money to pay your debts is coming directly from your sale. If you're really good and we don't have to keep paying for extra training we can pay that debt off free and clear, ok? Just keep reminding yourself that this was your choice. Everything that happens to you now is something you signed up for of your own free will."

It was true, and he thought maybe it would make it easier to deal with, if he reminded himself that he’d had some kind of control. It wasn’t like he didn’t know this would be humiliating. He squeezed his eyes shut, and felt the tears sticking in his eyelashes. 

Behind him, he heard the door open. Miss Delilah smiled down at him again, and clipped a lead to one of the rings on his collar. 

"Here's intake now, you're going to be a good boy for them and do everything they say, aren't you?"

He nodded miserably. When he looked over his shoulder he saw two men in white with long batons hanging off their belts. He suspected he didn't want to know what those were for, and he also suspected it wasn't going to matter. Delilah handed one of them the end of his leash. 

"Up, trainee." His voice was sharp, and there was no warmth in it. He got up. It was dawning on him that he was about to be paraded naked in front of a whole office full of people, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Sure enough, the man holding his leash turned and walked back out the open door without so much as a backward glance. He stumbled and walked quickly to keep up, sure that any delay would be punished. As they passed the cubicles he could see that most of the office workers were ignoring him completely, but one had been watching through the glass door intently. He was smiling slyly, one hand rubbing his trousers under the desk. 

"Eyes forward trainee," the intake man behind him punctuated this by tapping his baton against his captive's turned cheek. It buzzed against his skin, clearly a warning. He snapped his eyes forward and concentrated on walking, trying to ignore the flush he could feel creeping across his chest. 

~*~

Please let me know if I’ve forgotten any warnings! A big thanks to all the folks involved in building this lovely whumptastic sandbox <3

[duongnguyenposts-blog]

Interview on Animedia part 1

Thank to Mirai send the translation of this interview for me.

=======================

TERAMOTO YUKIYO INTERVIEW

• < Tell us about the experience you most enjoyed in the production of the Kaitou Joker anime series. >

• Teramoto: The production was a fun experience and with a pleasant atmosphere, but the realization of episode 20 of the series, "Traveling Jokers" is impressive special. Because in the original manga, Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei made it to tribute the anime series "Giant Robo". But Akihiko Yamashita, who is in charge of episode 20 (storyboard), was once the character designer and animation director of "Giant Robo". It's like a parody of his own work and it was very funny.

• < Hãy kể cho chúng tôi về trải nghiệm mà bạn thích nhất khi sản xuất bộ anime Kaitou Joker. >

• Teramoto: Việc sản xuất là một trải nghiệm thú vị và với một bầu không khí vui vẻ, nhưng việc thực hiện tập 20 của loạt phim, "Traveling Jokers" là đặc biệt nhất. Bởi vì trong manga gốc, Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei đã dùng nó để vinh danh bộ anime "Giant Robo". Thế nhưng Akihiko Yamashita, người phụ trách tập 20 lại từng là nhà thiết kế nhân vật và đạo diễn hình ảnh của "Giant Robo". Nó giống như parody lại công việc của chính ông và điều đó rất buồn cười.

Corocoro Online Interview Part 1/2 Translation. ( correct me if you see there is any wrong translated )

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

---First of all, please introduce yourself.

Director Teramoto Yukiyo (Teramoto): My name is Teramoto, who was the director of the anime "Kaitou Joker". Nice to meet you today, Is it already two years since the broadcast ended?

Shimogasa Miho (Shimogasa): I am Character Design & Chief Animation Director, Shimogasa. Because I have been working on many jobs related to Joker, so I do not feel like time has passed.

Aihara Miki (Aihara): Fan of Kaitou Joker, Aihara. It embarrassed to say that the first time I saw Joker's anime was in its last broadcast year. I started watching him from the chapter with a boy in a wheelchair (Hayami Kyotaro) called "Countdown of Television" (Episode 33) in Kids Station, and I was shocked saying: "Who is that great anime guy?" A From that moment on, I became addicted and saw the entire season on Amazon. All the guys that appear are great!

Teramoto: Thank you very much. I'm so happy.

-----Shimogasa-san. How was it when you first heard about this series?

Shimogasa: I did not know "Kaitou Joker" at that time, so I immediately read the original manga. Because the original manga was so funny, I guess i can make it with confidence. Since the original design is very unique and very good, I made use the original design of Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei and added a taste for Anime to construction. When you remove the back cover of the Comic cover, it is full of material, and it is fun to find out important information written on the panel of Manga.

Teramoto: Again, since Anime is not a stop picture but it has to be moved, at the beginning there was a voice: "There are too many dialogue" from the scene where the picture is drawn, it seemed to be very difficult. However, as we continue, the scene side is also attracted to the work and the number of fans increases, and conversely comes from over there as "Please let me draw!" Everyone drew with love.

Aihara: I feel that. While watching anime

Teramoto: Even now, I'm really excited to think about that. By the way, there were also Animators who liked to participate in Takahashi-sensei's autograph session.

―― What kind of relationship did Takahashi sensei involved in?

Teramoto: Takahashi sensei was a generous one, he let me do it freely. Of course, the original is very interesting, but if you consult something like "Is it okay for me to do something here?", he say "It's OK". I really appreciate it as a creator, and if he want us do what he think "I want to do this", the tension on that time will rise. That is why there is a part that everybody making so much.

―― Surely, there seems to be a part that OK was done by love was also communicated to Takahashi sensei.

Teramoto: That's right. Because I already put plenty of respect and love in my works!

―― As a viewer of anime, how did you feel when seeing this?

Aihara: Because the quality characters is the root, anime has a very good tempo, I thought that the scenes shifts from one to the next is amazing.

Teramoto: Thank you!

Aihara: It is good enough with a lot of fun in 30 minutes .

Teramoto: Actually it not fit to say this. I'm very sorry because sometimes i cut ED

Aihara：It was . When making anime without ED, it will be tough as it will be about 90 seconds to make more animation. But it does not sacrifice the story and still having prioritized the quality of the work……it amazing. And the last story of Season 4 is memorable. Actually the characters and directing were cool and the contents were filled with fully crammed. Teramoto-san was in charge of parts other than the director, didn't you?

Teramoto: That's true. While doing the storyboard and directing, I remember I made a lot of effort to say "Oh, I will not make it in time, but I do not want to drop the quality"

Aihara: It was a very good time！

――There are so many female fans, what are your thoughts about that?

Teramoto: After reading the original manga, I thought about the fans and asked them around. Then, you know that there are female fans, I see. So while conscious of the part of female fans like: "I love Joker like this", I also made it so that everyone will be pleased by not to kill the quality of shounen manga (manga for boys). In addition, Shimogasa-san's illustration are so cute, i think that female fans received it

―― Tell me your favorite character, Shimogasa-san?

Shimogasa: I love all characters !! I love everyone !!!! I can't choose...

Aihara: Everyone is cool and nice, isn't it?

Shimogasa: What is pleasing to draw is bad expression of each character. Ah There was also a "Professor Clover's blonde wave" idea i wanted to draw.

Aihara: By the way, did President D (the leader of the mysterious organization "Devil Fang") of the anime original character were all launched from the design? Originally I was surprised that a fat boy / Dump appeared as a messy beauty

Teramoto: Although I ordered to make it beautiful, when I actually got the first rough (President D) from Shimogasa-san , I was surprised like: "Wow !?, I do not think that he will be beautiful like this

Shimogasa: Four patterns were drawn while just leaving aftertastes of Dump on the eyes and clothes. It is the shape that I chose one of them. In fact, I wanted to include the characteristic that the teeth of Dump were missing, but indeed it went too far. But I thought I wanted to add freckles that were attached at the time Dump appear, I can't see it in an important scene of President D.

Teramoto: You can see it when he cry.

Shimogasa: Yeah, when he crying

Aihara: Great rare information, i see.

Shimogasa: Ah, I think that the best scene of Dump is a scene that he says "You are the only one i talking to..." If I thought that director would realize that director would dare to say: "I want to let that crying face do with President D, by all means" and did it as it was.

Teramoto: Of course

Aihara: The scene he cry was really cute!！

――Who is Aihara sensei 's favorite character?

Aihara: It is Joker-san. I also like Phoenix (* Kaitou use flames, aiming at God Beast Hosshi and Joker), but after all Joker is coolest. He jumped down from the top at the OP and he is really cool looking at the bags and mantle. About the OP, I tend to skip it just when I see it at once, but I couldn't do this

Shimogasa: I also wanted to be like that.

Aihara: Each time, the notice letter changes, Isn't it? (※ At the opening, the contents of the announcement appearing on the way changed every time).

Teramoto: That was fun with who are working, didn't it?

Aihara: It was truly a wonderful production when the speech are included at that time. It is also cool to go to the climax part of song once more.

Teramoto: There used to be "Blue Comet SPT Layzner" anime, Digest-style dialogue of each story appear in the middle of opening. It is interesting and I like that directing. There is a part that got a hint from "Layzner"

Aihara: Oh! Layzner, I see.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Trước hết, xin giới thiệu về bản thân.

Đạo diễn Teramoto Yukiyo (Teramoto): Tên tôi là Teramoto, người từng là đạo diễn của anime "Kaitou Joker", chương trình phát sóng đã kết thúc từ 2 năm trước. Rất vui được gặp bạn hôm nay.

Shimogasa Miho (Shimogasa): Tôi là Thiết kế nhân vật & Chỉ đạo trưởng hoạt họa, Shimogasa. Bởi vì tôi đã làm việc trên nhiều công việc liên quan đến Joker, vì vậy tôi không cảm thấy như thời gian đã trôi qua.

Aihara Miki (Aihara): Tôi. Aihara, là một fan hâm mộ của Kaitou Joker. Thật xấu hổ khi nói rằng lần đầu tiên tôi xem anime Kaitou Joker là vào năm phát sóng cuối cùng của nó. Tôi bắt đầu xem nó từ tập có một cậu bé ngồi xe lăn (Hayami Kyotaro) tên là "Countdown Television" (Tập 33) trên kênh Kids Station, và tôi đã bị sốc và thốt lên: "Anh chàng anime tuyệt vời đó là ai?". Từ lúc đó, tôi trở nên nghiện và xem toàn bộ các tập trên Amazon. Tất cả những chàng trai đã xuất hiện đều rất tuyệt!

Teramoto: Cảm ơn bạn. Tôi rất vui khi nghe điều đó.

---- Shimogasa-san. Cảm nhận đầu tiên của cô khi nghe về series này

Shimogasa: Lúc đó tôi chưa biết gì về Kaitou Joker, vậy nên tôi lập tức tìm đọc manga gốc. Bởi vì manga gốc rất thú vị nên tôi rất tự tin để làm nó. Từ khi nhân vật trong manga gốc của Takahashi Hideyasu-sensei có design rất tốt và độc đáo, tôi đã dùng design gốc rồi thêm hương vị Anime để chỉnh sửa. Khi bạn gỡ bìa sau của quyển truyện, nó có đầy đủ nguyên liệu ở đó. Thật vui khi tìm thấy những thông tin quan trọng được viết trên các trang truyện.

Teramoto: Một lần nữa, Anime vốn không phải là một hình ảnh đứng yên mà là những hình ảnh động, lúc đầu có tiếng phàn nàn về một phân đoạn khá nhiều thoại được vẽ ra, nó trông có vẻ rất khó thực hiện. Tuy nhiên khi tiếp tục, bên phía thực hiện các phân đoạn đó cũng bị thu hút bởi tác phẩm và lượng người hâm mộ cũng đã tăng lên. Không chỉ không còn những lời phàn nàn mà ngược lại phía chúng tôi vang lên những tiếng nói như: "Xin để tôi thực hiện nó". Mọi người đã làm bằng tình yêu của mình như thế đấy.

Aihara: tôi cũng cảm nhận được điều đó khi xem Anime này.

Teramoto: Ngay cả lúc này, tôi thực sự rất phấn khích khi nghĩ về điều đó. Nhân tiện, cũng có những Animator thích tham gia vào buổi ký tặng của tác giả Takahashi.

----- Mối quan hệ với tác giả Takahashi như thế nào

Teramoto: Takahashi sensei là một người rộng lượng, ông ấy để tôi làm mọi thứ một cách tự do. Tất nhiên, Manga gốc rất thú vị, nhưng nếu bạn tham khảo ý kiến gì đó như "Tôi có thể sữa đổi một chút ở đây không?", Ông sẽ nói "Ok Không sao cả". Tôi thực sự đánh giá cao điều đó như một người sáng tạo, và nếu ông ấy muốn chúng tôi làm những gì ông ấy nghĩ "Tôi muốn làm cái này", sự căng thẳng tại thời điểm đó sẽ tăng lên. Đó là lý do tại sao có một số đoạn mà mọi người đã làm nhiều lần.

----- Chắc chắn, có một đoạn OK đó đã được thực hiện bằng tình yêu đã truyền đạt đến Takahashi sensei.

Teramoto: Đúng thế. Bởi vì tôi đã dành rất nhiều sự tôn trọng và tình yêu trong các tác phẩm của mình!

---- Như một người xem anime, bạn cảm thấy thế nào khi xem nó?

Aihara: Anime có nhịp điệu rất tốt bởi vì nó có cốt lõi là những nhân vật chất lượng, tôi cảm thấy những cảnh chuyển từ người này sang người khác là rất tuyệt vời.

Teramoto: Rất cám ơn bạn.

Aihara: Nó hội tụ đủ những cái hay và thú vị trong 30 phút

Teramoto: Thật sự thì không phù hợp khi nói chuyện này ở đây. Rất xin lỗi vì một vài lần phải cắt bỏ ED.

Aihara: Đúng là thế. Khi làm anime mà không có ED, sẽ rất khó khăn vì phải tốn khoảng 90 giây để làm thêm nhiều đoạn hoạt hình. Nhưng nó không lãng phí nội dung và vẫn đảm bảo cho chất lượng tác phẩm... Điều đó thật tuyệt vời. Và câu chuyện cuối cùng của Phần 4 thật đáng nhớ. Trên thực tế các nhân vật và đạo diễn rất tuyệt dù đã nhồi nhét khá nhiều câu chuyện. Teramoto-san cũng phụ trách các bộ phận khác ngoài đạo diễn phải không?

Teramoto: Đúng vậy. Trong khi thực hiện bảng phân cảnh và đạo diễn, tôi nhớ rằng tôi đã nỗ lực rất nhiều và nói "Ôi, mình sẽ không kịp mất, nhưng mình không muốn làm giảm chất lượng".

Aihara: Đó là khoảng thời gian rất vui nhỉ.

---- Kaitou Joker có rất nhiều fan nữ, bạn nghĩ gì về điều đó?

Teramoto: Sau khi đọc truyện tranh gốc, tôi nghĩ về người hâm mộ và hỏi họ xung quanh. Sau đó, tôi biết rằng có những fan nữ ở đây. Vì vậy, trong khi ý thức về một phần của các fan nữ như: "Tôi thích Joker như thế này", tôi cũng đã làm cho mọi người sẽ hài lòng khi không giết chết bản chất của shounen manga (manga dành nam giới). Ngoài ra, hình minh họa của Shimogasa-san rất dễ thương, tôi nghĩ rằng các fan nữ đã nhận được nó.

---- Nói cho tôi biết nhân vật yêu thích của bạn đi Shimogasa-san?

Shimogasa: Tôi yêu tất cả các nhân vật !! Tôi yêu mọi người !!!! Tôi không thể chọn ...

Aihara: Mọi người đều tuyệt, phải không?

Shimogasa: Điều làm tôi vui khi vẽ là biểu hiện xấu của mỗi nhân vật. À Ngoài ra còn có một ý tưởng mà tôi muốn vẽ nữa, đó là Giáo sư Clover với mái tóc vàng gợn sóng.

Aihara: Nhân tiện, phải chăng Chủ tịch D (thủ lĩnh của tổ chức bí ẩn "Devil Fang") nhân vật gốc của anime đã được đưa ra từ bản thiết kế? Ban đầu tôi rất ngạc nhiên khi một cậu bé mập / Dump xuất hiện như một người đẹp trai nhưng bừa bộn.

Teramoto: Mặc dù tôi đã bảo là làm cho đẹp, nhưng khi tôi thực sự có được bản phác họa đầu tiên (Chủ tịch D) từ Shimogasa-san, tôi đã rất sốc : "Ôi!?, Mình không nghĩ cậu ấy sẽ đẹp như vậy"

Shimogasa: Đó là hình dạng mà tôi đã chọn một trong số 4 mẫu đã được vẽ khi chỉ để lại đặc điểm của Dump trên mắt và quần áo. Trên thực tế, tôi muốn bao gồm đặc điểm là răng của Dump bị mất, nhưng thực sự nó đã đi quá xa. Nhưng tôi nghĩ tôi muốn thêm tàn nhang vào thời điểm Dump xuất hiện, tôi đã không thấy nó trong một cảnh quan trọng của Chủ tịch D.

Teramoto: Bạn có thể nhìn thấy nó khi cậu ấy khóc.

Shimogasa: Vâng, khi cậu ấy khóc

Aihara: Một thông tin tuyệt vời.

Shimogasa: À, tôi nghĩ rằng cảnh hay nhất của Dump là cảnh cậu khóc và nói "Cậu là người duy nhất mà tôi nói chuyện cùng..." tôi nghĩ nếu đạo diễn nhận ra và đạo diễn sẽ nói: "Tôi muốn để khuôn mặt khóc đó làm với Tổng thống D bằng mọi giá ".

Teramoto: Tất nhiên rồi

Aihara: Cảnh cậu ấy khóc thật dễ thương !！

----- Nhân vật yêu thích của Aihara là ai?

Aihara: Đó là Joker-san. Tôi cũng thích Phoenix (* Kaitou dùng lửa, nhắm vào thần thú Hosshi và Joker), nhưng sau tất cả, Joker vẫn là cool nhất. Cậu ấy nhảy xuống từ đỉnh tháp trong OP và cậu ấy thực sự rất cool với cái áo choàng. Về OP, tôi có xu hướng bỏ qua OP ngay sau khi đã xem một lần, nhưng tôi không thể làm thế với OP này.

Shimogasa: Tôi cũng thế.

Aihara: Thư thông báo thay đổi theo từng tập phải không? (※ Thư thông báo xuất hiện lúc mở đầu OP và thường thay đổi theo mỗi tập).

Teramoto: Đó là niềm vui với những người thực hiện phải không?

Aihara: Đoạn đọc thư thông báo được đưa ra tại thời điểm đó rồi đến phần cao trào của bài hát một lần nữa đều thật tuyệt.

Teramoto: Nó đã từng có trong anime "Blue Comet SPT Layzner", đoạn hội thoại theo Digest-style của mỗi tập xuất hiện ở giữa OP. Nó là thú vị và tôi thích cách chỉ đạo thực hiện nó. Có một phần có gợi ý từ "Layzner"

Aihara: Ồ! Layzner, ra là vậy!

Interview Online part 2

Will continue translate vol 15 chapter 1 part 2

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

――So, what is Teramoto 's favorite character?

Teramoto: I like Silver Heart because I like a father. Every time, it seemed hard to think of the explanation corner, but everyone in the scenario writer enjoyed it and joined the plan, the scenario meeting was very exciting

Aihara: If I thought Silver Heart's explanation would come, I was surprised to feel like "Eh? This time Spade came!"

Teramoto: It was fun to get a different person occasionally

Aihara: Really very fine

Teramoto: Also, as a character may not be popular, but I like Mr. Kaneari

Aihara: That sounds good! It is surprising that beautiful secretary Kaneko was turned into as a super strong Commando Satsuko.

Teromoto: Actually, when I started making anime, Commando Satsuko was not in the original manga. In such circumstances, I gave Mr. Kaneari a original anime character called Kaneko. Then, that intense character (Commando Satsuko) comes out suddenly in the Manga, and will marry Kaneari. I am already surprised. What should I do about Kaneko's position? So, Commando Satsuko appeared from Kaneko with a hardship measure.

Aihara: No, but it's wonderful

Teramoto: Rather, Takahashi sensei who forgave that is wonderful.

――After all, did Takahashi sensei put out OK soon?

Teramoto: He told me "it was interesting, is not it?"

Aihara: That's great

Teromoto: His heart is too wide, right?

Shimogasa: On the other hand, Takahashi-sensei sometimes reimports elements of Anime back in Manga.

Teromoto: Oh yeah. Sky Joker's design

Shimogasa: I was surprised at the manga that time.

Aihara: Was the original Sky Joker originally a different design?

Teromoto: That's right. However, Takahashi-sensei liked the design of the Anime very much. During the serialization, the former airship was destroyed grandly and the same design as anime started from the next month. ( *Original Sky Joker was destroyed in Dracula arc vol. 19 )

Aihara: Sensei has good looking

Teramoto: I was surprised when see myself in the original manga. "I am with anime!"

Teramoto: Joker really is cute when he said can not live if there are no Hachi around. With other stories, in Traveling Joker he was really cool.

Aihara: I understand. A story about Joker and Shadow time-travel back to Edo period. It was similar to the movie version

Teramoto: I kept a close eye when making it

Shimogasa: I also like "Traveling · Jokers". Boiled Carey is delicious...

Teramoto: Also, "Idol · Stage" was also interesting. Stupid stories are still fun.

Shimogasa: After all the last episode.

Teramoto: It was pleasant that everyone was happy at the end.

Aihara: It really wonderful

―― So, what scenes are you into?

Aihara: There are lots ... ... The scene that Phoenix is becoming a black pita pita suit after he is caught is cool

Shimogasa: That scene, do you feel excited?

Aihara: Well, I do not know if I can tell you, but ... it's so erotic

Shimogasa: When I saw the scenario or the story, there was a scene where Phoenix (masks and some costumes) is off and I was really happy when I decided to draw the settings there.

Teramoto: Yeah, that scene is really good

Shimogasa: I really like to apply it based on the basic settings. I have clothed a new costume, but I like removing things and peeling already already. I also like such things like putting a jacket on my shoulder, on the way I am wearing it, only a shirt, and removing a tie. I always have a chance to draw it.

Teramoto: The character of Joker has a low degree of exposure, so it is sexy even if you take off a little.

Aihara: That's right! I will be excited

Shimogasa: Incidentally, I wanted to draw the appearance of Spade who took off his coat ... ... There was not much chance.

――The voice acting team was also luxurious

Teramoto: I thought that the voice of a boy was in charge of a female voice actor, but when I was auditioning for Joker role, I heard the voice of Ayumu Murase and felt "This is this person!" . The staffs around me also decided "Murase-san is not good" and decided. By the way, Hiroki Shimono who is the role of Spade is decided by not being covered with voice of Murase and not being covered with voice tone, so that it is better to know that it is Spade just by listening to the voice.

Aihara: Wow, that was right.

Teramoto: If it's another role ..... There is a very good image about Hachi and I decided to say "I would like to ask Yumiko Kobayashi-san".

Aihara: You were nominated.

Teramoto: I appreciate it.

Aihara: It is perfect

Teramoto: Miyuki Sawashiro who is a role of Queen started at the beginning but the schedule did not suit at first, but since it was empty by accident It seems that she did.

Shimogasa: It is really gorgeous.

Teromoto: Misaki Kuno, the role of Roko has come to receive an audition with other characters, but when I heard her voice "This is Roko-chan, isn't it?" So I hurriedly asked her to play Roko in the original line. Then the people around the staff became "Oh, it's Roko," and the role was decided as it was.

Aihara: Great. That's how it is decided.

――Do you have any stories you would like to work on if you can afford to animate it?

Teromoto: Of course there are still a lot of interesting stories I would like to animate it If I have the opportunity. Because I told that Blue-ray version appears in the first place but it did not come out at all, I thought that I had no chance at all and I was giving up already. Then I am really pleased that it will finally be released

Aihara: Moreover, the benefits will increase by the number of reservations!

Teramoto: The cover illustration of the box is also cool. Please let me put such a lot of characters.

―― Finally, in releasing the Blue-ray · DVD that was decided to be released this time, I would like a word from everyone to the fans.

Teramoto: It's a bit of a thing to say by myself, but I think that it's an Anime that makes me happy when I watch it. It was a happy feeling when we were making it, and it was a work that all the creators truly loved. I think that enjoyment will be conveyed to everyone who will surely see. It is a work that makes me absolutely fun and happy, so I'm happy if you can watch and enjoy it again and again.

Shimogasa: I think that it is a work that you can really enjoy as animation. Nowadays there are quarrel that many works do not allow ruin characters, but Kaitou Joker has freely drawn wide and wide. Works that can be done like that are very pleasant, from the animation. I want you to enjoy the movement and directing of characters unique to anime.

Aihara: Oh, Er, I'm a bird? Well, a bit comfortable comment ... .... Anyway the animation did not ruin, it is really cool. As Shimogasa-san say it animation very good, so i want to tell at people who are looking by a glance like "This just like Anime for kids". No, It is different. Kaitou Joker is so amazing. A good adult is really hooked and goes hooked. So your kids, of course, People of parent generation also want it. I will also watch it from now on.

――Thank you very much！

[hyperion-moonbabe]

Caught in Between: 01. New Beginnings

IMPORTANT!!! TO ANYONE FOLLOWING OR READING MY TVD SERIES: This blog is currently my secondary blog. I have wanted to change it to primary for a while and since Tumblr does not allow it. I have created a new blog: @hyperion-moonbabe-1 

I will be porting everything over to this blog including my series and possibly eventually delete it so I can use this name without the “-1” on the end. If you would like to continue to read my series, please know that it will be continued on my new blog. Thank you!

Edit: Update

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 02.26.20 Word count: 4.7K Based off: 02x06 “Plan B” 

00.

I walked into my old childhood home, not expecting it to be fully furnished. I spent time looking around, gathering items from my family that I wanted to keep, and finally getting a moving company to get rid of the old furniture. Once everything was gone, I went into town to apply for a job and find some new furniture. I walked into a restaurant called the Mystic Grill.

"Hi, I was wondering if you guys were hiring," I said to a blonde-haired guy as I walked in.

"I'm not sure but, I can grab an application for you to fill out and pass it on to my manager," The blonde guy says and walks to the back. He returns with an application and a pen. I fill out the application and hand it back to the male.

"I'm Matt Donovan, nice to meet you."

"Athena Dumont, nice to meet you too," I say as I shake his hand.

"Wait as in the founding family Dumont?" He questions.

"Yeh, just moved back in today actually," I responded back.

"Welcome back to Mystic Falls, see you around," He smiles and goes back to work.

I continue to walk around the town looking for furniture to replace the old. After walking out of the last store I hear a familiar voice coming from behind me.

"What-a-surprise, Athena. Never thought I'd see you here in Mystic Falls." The familiar voice says.

"Damon," I turn around and give a fake smile. "And why would that be?" I question back.

"I mean this is Mystic Falls, a small town, nobody comes here." He says scoffing.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice for me to finally settle into my roots as a founding family," I responded.

"You come from a founding family here!?" He questions not believing me.

"Yes, I'm a Dumont. Might not be a name you hear often considering my family and I moved away about 12 years ago with my parents."

"Wow, I was not expecting that. Well, I guess we should play catch up then," Damon says, smirking and walking up next to me putting his arm around my shoulders before I push it off. But he just puts his arm back around my shoulders. We somehow ended up at his house and catching up with each other since it had been about two years since we met each other.

"I finally learned about the supernatural world... So two years ago, the whole thing about you being a vampire was true, but I didn't believe it huh," I say to Damon as we're sitting on the couch in the grand room.

"Well sorta. I drank your blood, fed you mine, then compelled you to forget," Damon explained loosely.

"So basically I was your personal blood bag," I said, fake smiling at Damon as he nodded. "Well, I bite now so I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

"Huh?" Damon looks at me confused before we hear a knock at the door.

Damon gets up from the couch and opens the door. I follow closely behind. When he opens the door I see a tall brown-haired guy standing in the doorway for a brief second before Damon blocks my view.

"I need to talk to you" I hear the guy say.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon responds and I roll my eyes at his dickishness, as he tries to close the door on the other guy.

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough." Damon says not impressed and tries to close the door again.

"I'm not sure what you have gotten yourself into this time but maybe you should listen to him," I say but Damon ignores my comment.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why I'm here." The guy says trying to convince Damon to give him his full attention.

"Wait, a moonstone? I've heard about it somewhere" I say trying to remember where I heard it from.

"I know where it is." the guy responds.

“And you're bringing me this why?" Damon questions.

"This actually sounds important. You should stop being a dick and listen, Damon. Especially if it involves the moonstone, there’s something important about it. I just can’t remember," I say sternly.

“And why do you seem to know so much about this moonstone, Athena?" Damon questions me while keeping eye contact with the guy on the porch.

"Wait are you Athena Dumont?" The other guy asks me.

"Yeh, why?"

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert, you may not remember but you were best friends with my sister before you moved away." He says as I think about it.

I was about to say something before Damon interrupted me "What's your sister say about this little discovery, anyways?" Damon questions Jeremy, but no response is given. "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this," Jeremy says sighing.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic." Damon says. I roll my eyes at his dumb comment.

"You going to let me in or not?" Jeremy asks. I see Damon hesitate and I shove my way in to open the door.

I'm not sure why, but I'm interested in whatever trouble Damon has gotten himself in. But in all honesty, I am glad that I could possibly make some new friends here. Well, new old friends, I guess. Maybe even help them solve this little problem they have, whatever it is.

I see a blonde girl walk from what I assume is the kitchen, with a silver tray in hand, stocked full of food. She spots me sitting in the great room with Jeremy. "Hi, I'm Athena. I just moved into town and an old friend of Damon's" I say to her smiling.

"I'm Caroline, your name sounds familiar. Have we met before or something?" She responds questioningly.

"She's Athena Dumont, an old friend of yours, Bonnie and Elena's when you guys were young. Oh, and she's a founding family member" Jeremy says before I can respond.

"Oh my god, I remember. You just moved away when we were only like five years old. But how do you know that Jeremy?" Caroline responds.

"I just saw some old photos of you guys not too long ago," Jeremy explains.

"Well, there's this masquerade ball happening tomorrow and you should totally come and meet everyone else," Caroline says before she heads off to some other part of the house.

I can't help but shake that everyone else remembers who I am, yet I don't. It's almost like my memories of them were purged from my mind. I keep trying to jog my memory until my thoughts are interrupted by someone walking in the door with a box in hand. He's a little older, maybe around Damon's age when he became a vampire.

"What are you doing here?" He asks Jeremy.

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone." Jeremy responds as the man looks at Damon.

"Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly," Jeremy says, as the man looks at me.

"Hi, I'm Athena. I was just here when this was all unveiled." I say the man looks at me slightly confused at why I'm here. "If you're worried that all of this shouldn't be said in front of me. I'm an old friend of Damon's. And I've heard of the moonstone, so I thought that I may be of some help. If that's ok." I say picking up on his cautiousness.

"I'm Alaric, and if you're up for getting caught in all this. Then, you're more than welcome to stay and help." He says in response and sets down the box he's holding.

"What you got?" Damon says breaking the silence and starts to go through the box and picks up a book.

"This is Isobel research from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me." Alaric says

"Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie." I roll my eyes at Damon's comment and bump my elbow on his side. He looks at me with a confused look and I just give him a look of why.

"Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"

"Sun and the moon, blah blah blah blah blah."

"An Aztec curse? Cool." Jeremy says slightly excitedly.

"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun." Alaric explains as Damon shows off his daylight ring, "Most of them, anyway."

"It sucks," I say in response to the werewolf side of the curse.

"Wait am I missing something, here? How exactly do you know so much about the supernatural world?" Damon says looking at me questioningly.

"Yeh that comment about me biting, I'm a werewolf now. How did you not catch onto that? And the fact that I'm a Dumont." I say defensively and a bit upset that he can’t pick up on a hint.

“I'm sorry I didn't attend Mystic Falls supernatural People 101 " He responds sarcastically and I just roll my eyes again.

"Well, if I could offer a piece of information. I do know that according to the legend, my wolf side, like every other werewolf, is sealed with the moonstone," I say and Alaric nods and pulls out some sort of map.

"What do you mean sealed?" Jeremy questions as he looks at the map.

"It's a witch thing, whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse," Damon says from across the room.

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse," Alaric says in response.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots. Who has the stone now?" Damon says, sounding slightly more intrigued.

"Tyler" Jeremy responds to his question

"Can you get it?" I ask Jeremy even though I really have no clue what's going on.

"Yeah."

"See, now your life has purpose," Damon says dickishly.

"Shut up Damon. I can help if you'd like" I sigh and Jeremy just looks at me nodding.

"This has nothing to do with you," Damon says with a little harshness in his voice, but I ignore his comment.

"So, you do believe the curse?" Jeremy asks.

"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let's go." Damon says, finishing his drink. I follow him and Jeremy out the door.

We make our way over to a mansion where it looks like they're holding the masquerade ball Caroline told me about. Damon, Jeremy and I walk in, I follow behind Damon who walks up to a brunette girl, but I stay at a distance being respectful of their conversation.

"Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?" Damon says slightly louder. I assume this girl is Elena Gilbert. Damon then just walks past me and outside. I just stand in the room until I hear my name.

"Anyways, Elena, this is Athena Dumont, from our childhood. She just moved back in." Jeremy says as I walk up to the siblings.

"Hi, forgive me, but honestly I don't remember anyone from here, even though everyone remembers me. But it's really nice to meet you." I say nervously.

"Well, I'm Elena. It's nice to meet you too." She says smiling as Jeremy walks away leaving us alone.

"So, I noticed that you walked in with Damon. You should really watch out for him" Elena says, I offer to help her and she passes me some masks to sort

"Yeh, I know. We're old friends. He tried to deter me from this whole situation you guys are in. Which in all honesty I still don't have the full picture. But he couldn't stop me since I have some helpful info." I say and chuckle.

"Well, it'll be nice to have another person around. But, I wouldn't recommend sticking around." Elena says coldly.

"Well, I'd be more than glad to help with whatever you guys need. I've heard about this curse and honestly, I have a feeling that I need to figure it out." I respond.

"In that case, you should probably meet everyone else." She says putting the masks down and gesturing to follow her outside.

We walk down into all the chaos of the outside set up. Elena first takes me to the guy named Matt I met earlier and a brown-haired guy. They were in the middle of a slightly heated conversation but Elena didn't hesitate to interrupt.

"Hey guys, this is Athena. Athena this is Matt and Tyler" She says pointing to the blonde and then the brunette.

"Matt and I actually met earlier, I went to apply to the Mystic Grill," I say, turning to Elena.

"It's nice to meet you," Tyler says looking at me up and down. Elena was then called over by someone and Matt just walked off, leaving me alone with Tyler. Or so I thought.

"Hey man," Jeremy says walking over to Tyler and me. They started talking about the moonstone and I could sense that Tyler was uneasy about the fact that I was standing there. I look up to see Damon and another man standing next to him, so I decided to walk up to them.

"And who might this be," I say to Damon, referring to the other man.

"This is my lovely baby bro, Stefan," Damon says, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you not going to introduce me to your friend Damon?" Stefan questions looking at Damon.

Damon starts to open his mouth before I interrupt, "I am an old friend of Damon's who just moved back into town. I'm Athena Dumont." I say holding my hand out to Stefan. I see Stefan's face light up slightly at the mention of my last name as he shakes my hand.

"Well, we are busy. I will come and get you later" Damon says walking away and Stefan following behind.

I see Elena sit down on the stairs with a concerned face. I walk over to her feeling awkward just standing here. "Everything alright?" I say sitting next to her.

"Sorta. Stefan, Damon's brother. Isn't filling me in on what's going on." she says upset.

"I'm sure he will. Just give it a moment. He did just walk off with Damon a few minutes ago." I say looking at her, noticing she's growing impatient. She looks at her phone and starts to call Stefan.

After a while, I go to find Damon. When I find him he's in the front of the house with his brother and another girl. Who I assumed was a witch considering the concentration in her face and the man clutching his head. Damon knees the man in the face and then takes notice of me standing in the doorway. The two brothers take the man and put them in the back of the Jeep.

"Are you just gonna stand there or get in?" Damon says looking at me and gesturing for me to get in the Jeep with him.

"I guess I'm coming," I say and hop in the back seat.

We drive back to the Salvatore house, once we arrive Damon picks up the man and carries him into the house as the girl and I follow behind him.

"I hate that this is the way we meet. But I'm Athena." I say to her.

"My name is Bonnie. I'm sure you've guessed it but I'm the local witch." She says with a little sarcasm in the word "local".

We walk over to Damon, I look at the books on the shelves as Damon and Bonnie talk. I hear chains being pulled out of the bag that Bonnie had brought in, "You wanna make yourself useful and help me, Athena," Damon says looking up at me. I sigh and walk over and grab a chain from him.

"Whoa. Looks like this guy's used to being tied up" Bonnie says. I look up to Damon smirking at me, knowing that he's thinking about our past together. I just roll my eyes at him as I help tie the guy to the chair.

"So is this the Mason Lockwood guy. You and Jeremy were talking about?" I say looking between Bonnie and Damon.

"Yup and we need him to give up the moonstone. What are you doing?" He says looking at Bonnie.

"You're looking for the moonstone like you just said. I'm just trying to help" Bonnie says, taking Mason's head in her hands. Damon responds with multiple requests as Bonnie starts to search his mind.

"Somewhere small. dark. There's water." Bonnie describes.

"Like a sewer?" I ask trying to help her description

"No. Like a well? That can't be right. Yeah. It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?" Damon questions

"I told you, I only get what I get." She says with some haste, looking at Damon. Then Mason wakes up and grabs Bonnie's arm. My immediate response was to grab Mason's hand to make him let go. She rushes out of the room.

"Hey, judgey! Thank you," Damon says to Bonnie. I look at him in surprise when he said that. I stay in the room with them, curious about this moonstone business. I sit down on one of the couches as Damon starts to interrogate Mason or at least attempt to.

I sit on the couch watching Damon's interrogation technique. Mason struggles in the chair we chained him to and ends up falling backward as Damon heats up the metal poker in the fire. He sticks the poker into Mason's upper right chest.

"You can hurt -- good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast with no affinity for pain." He says nonchalantly.

I start to open my mouth but Damon stops me, "If you don't approve, you can leave." He says looking at me. I just sit back and stay quiet.

Damon starts to question Mason about this Katherine girl but gets no answer. This goes on for some time but Damon still wasn't successful. I then see Jeremy walk into the room with a box in hand. I walk over to the box he had just set down and start to take some of the stuff out as Damon makes some whiny comments about Jeremy being here. I stop when I notice a familiar dried herb.

"What is it?" Damon asks, noticing my hesitation.

"I did a search on my phone. It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and" Jeremy starts to explain handing the herb to Damon.

"Wolfsbane," I say interrupting Jeremy, as he looks at me confused.

"What else did you read?" Damon asks looking at Jeremy.

"Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it's toxic." Jeremy explains as Mason groans and I tense up.

"I'm guessing toxic," Damon says, noticing me tensing up and hearing Mason groan.

"You guessed right," I say, touching my finger to the herb, displaying its ability to harm werewolves. I inhale sharply and hold my finger from the pain. I see Jeremy's face light up as he comes to the realization that I'm a werewolf.

Damon goes back to interrogate Mason, using his new toy. I wince and turn away when the wolfsbane is shoved into his mouth. It's like I could almost feel the burning sensation in my own throat that Mason was experiencing. Even with the wolfsbane, Damon was unsuccessful. After multiple failed attempts at getting answers, Jeremy interrupts and tells Damon that maybe he should stop. He ignores the comment and threatens to take Mason's eyes. This causes Mason to finally give him answers to the many questions. Once Mason stops giving answers, I could see in  Damon’s eyes that he wanted to kill him, I guess to cover his tracks.

Damon tries to get rid of Jeremy, knowing that he disapproves of the actions that are about to take place. But Jeremy just stands his ground and Mason pleads to him in order to keep Tyler safe. I walk around the chair pushing Damon out of the way.

"I may not know you or  Tyler that well. But I assure you I won't let that happen. I know what the curse does to a person, I'm a werewolf. And I would never wish the curse on anyone" I say looking at Mason. I could feel the annoyance radiating off Damon.

"You should go, Jeremy," Damon says, not even really responding to what I said.

"I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough." Jeremy says and I stand up between Damon and Mason. 

The next thing I know Damon super speeds towards Jeremy, slamming him into the couch, "You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave." He says with a menacing look in his face and holding Jermy by the throat.

"Damon! Stop." I say trying to stop him from killing Jeremy. The only response I get back is wolfsbane being slammed onto my arm. He only lets go of both Jeremy and me, after I let out a gut-wrenching scream from the pain. Jeremy gets up from the couch after catching his breath and leaves, I follow behind just glaring at Damon.

Once we make it to the hall Jeremy stops and turns around, " Are you ok?" He asks, bringing my arm up to look at the burn mark left by the wolfsbane.

"Yeh, it'll heal" I respond sighing and looking at the burn starting to disappear.

I sit in the great room, not wanting to see Damon, but also not wanting to go back to my unfurnished home just yet. After a few minutes, Stefan walks into the house, with what I assumed was the moonstone, in hand.

"You ok? What did my brother do this time." He asks me with slight concern in his voice.

"Yeh, he used his leverage for Mason on me. Wolfsbane. I'm fine now. He was just riled up, I'm sure he's just about done now." I say looking over towards the library.

"Well let’s  go see what he's up to now?" Stefan says walking up to the couch, offering his hand to help me up.

We walk to the library and are greeted with Damon rolling up Mason's dead body in the blanket he placed down earlier. I stop at the top small set of stairs while Stefan goes to show Damon the moonstone. I listen to their little brotherly banter and watch as Damon dials a number on Mason's phone. It ends up being Katherine. From what I gathered, I could tell that they used to be romantically involved with one another and possibly Stefan too from his physical responses. A few hours later, I leave Stephan in the library to think and Damon follows behind me into the great room.

"Well, I'm going home," I say turning to Damon

"Or you could stay here," Damon says stepping closer to me with a smirk on his face. "Now I'm sure that your house is empty since you just moved in. Getting rid of all that old furniture and all. And I'm sure you'd rather sleep in a bed than on a couch."

I sigh and look to the side, "Fine, I haven't even paid the power and heating bill yet anyways. Luckily when I came over my bag was filled with new clothes I had bought. I'll go find a room" I say looking back up at his sculpted face.

"Orrrrrrr you could stay in mine," Damon says stepping even closer, making our bodies almost touch.

"After what you did to me today, I don't think so. Not to mention, it kind of hurt me when you left me two years ago." I say referring to when he left me two years ago.

"I'm sorry, it was because I was caught up in the moment," he says with an apologetic voice.

"That's what you always say" I respond as Damon steps away. I notice that he does so because we're interrupted by a crying Elena rushing out.

Damon turns to her, "Elena. I riled Katherine up. I - I wasn't thinking. I didn't think." He says to her just before she opens the door.

"It doesn't matter, Damon. She won. Katherine won." Elena says with teary eyes, before walking out.

Damon looks back at me with an upset face, I had never seen him like this before. He must really care for these people, more care than he's ever shown me at least. I take a deep breath, grab my bag and head upstairs, leaving him alone in the great room. Once I got upstairs, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try to reconnect with Damon, so I looked for his room.

"You need help choosing a room?" I hear Stefan say walking up behind me.

"Ummm....I'm not sure if Damon told you this but we used to be involved with one another. I know it's probably a mistake and I’m gonna regret it, but I thought that maybe we could possibly reconnect. So I'm looking for his room. That and I don't think he's gonna give me any other choice." I say, half regretting what I just told him.

"It's the one on the end," He says pointing to the end of the corridor.

"Thanks," I say and give him a hug, noticing that he's upset. He hugs me back.

When I walk into Damon's room I notice how big it is, including the ensuite bathroom. I set my stuff down by the dresser. I look up and notice a small familiar box sitting on the dresser. I open it up to find the moon-shaped necklace I lost when I was with him. It was a necklace that was given to me by my parents, at least I think so, I've had it for as long as I can remember.

I set it back down, start to undress and hop into the shower. It felt nice to clean myself off after today and gave myself time to think about what I've gotten myself into. When I finished showering and getting dressed to sleep, I was greeted by a shirtless Damon standing by the dresser.

"I see that you took my offer," He says, continuing to rifle through his clothes in the dresser.

"I don't think you'd take no for an answer," I say walking over to him, he chuckles at my comment. I pick up the box that contained my necklace, "I thought I lost this forever" I say opening it up.

"I found it on some other girl. Of course, knowing it was yours and that it means a lot to you. I ripped it off her neck. You were already out of town before I could give it back to you. May I?" He says picking it up. I turn around allowing him to put the necklace around my neck.

"Thank you," I said quietly, turning to face him, he gives me a little smile as he stares intently into my eyes.

Soon enough, I'm wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his soft ones. He hesitates at first but gives in. He picks me up allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He super speeds us over to his bed and starts to undress me, feeling every inch of my body.

A/N: Here is the first chapter! I know it may be a bit messy, but I wanted to introduce to Athena to all/most of the characters pretty fast, considering that this episode also allowed it. I’m also still trying to figure out how I want to write since there is a lot of characters and dialogue in TVD. I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think. Any advice would great as well! :)

[all-the-love-harold]

Chapter 17 - Oliver Edward Styles

Master post 

Come and Talk about Harry and Poppy 

*Smut*

September 30th, 2017-  25 Weeks

Autumn had well and truly hit London. The warm summer days had been replaced by brisk mornings and cold afternoons, and Poppy was enjoying the cold nights snuggled up in bed, even if Harry wasn’t there to snuggle with her. He’d been gone for two weeks now and she was really starting to miss having him around, but she made a point of Facetiming him every night before she went to bed, which for him, was usually just after soundcheck before he had to start getting ready for the show.

Poppy had been really enjoying having her mum stay with her while Harry was away, but there was a reason she had moved to the other side of the world the first chance that she got, and she was starting to remember what that was. Her mother, while she was the most wonderful woman in the world, had a tendency to coddle her, and she was starting to feel a little suffocated by her constant checking in. .

“I’m going upstairs to call Harry” Poppy said to her, standing up from the couch where they’d been sitting watching a movie, hands remaining on her belly

“Why don’t you stay down here and call him dear”

Poppy rolled her eyes, feeling like a teenager again “I’m tired mum, I’m going to make a cup of tea, call Harry, and go to bed, why do I need to stay here?”

“Alright fine” she sighed “sing out if you need anything”

“Thanks mum” she walked into the kitchen, and put the kettle on and while she waited for it to boil she sent Harry a text “Facetime ready?”

“Always, my dear” he replied straight away, and she made her way upstairs, hot cup of tea in her hand and once she’d made herself comfortable in bed, she got her laptop out and made the call.

“Hiya!” he answered, a huge smile on his face “How’s my wife tonight”

“Tired” she sighed “but good, how’s my husband?”

“Also tired, I could use a nap before this show tonight, how’s the little prince?”

“Kicking like mad right now” Poppy laughed “must be able to hear you”

He smiled, resting his head on the cushion behind him “I can’t wait to meet him”

“Speaking of” she stroked her belly “He needs a name H”

“Harry” he laughed and she gave him a blank look, before rolling her eyes “Alright, not Harry then”

“I’m serious Harry! Babies like him can be born anywhere from 23 weeks onwards, he could come any time now and he needs a name”

“Alight love, don’t stress, we’ll think of a name” he said in a soothing tone “but we know he’s not coming that early”

“Anything could happen, I just want to be prepared” she sighed

“Alright, how about…” he scrunched his nose while he thought “Ryan?”

“I went to school with a Ryan, he was a dick”

He nodded “your turn then”

“I’ve always liked Charlie”

“Charlie’s good” he nodded “But it’s a little boring, what about Elliot?”

“I like Eli for short, but I think it’s quite popular at the moment and I don’t want him to have the same name as everyone in his class” Poppy said, a little disappointed because she did really like the name.

“Me either, alright, what about Daniel?”

“Harold.” she said bluntly

“What?!”

“What’s his father’s name?”

“Oh right” he said, smile falling from his face “Let’s not call him Daniel then”

“Good idea” she smiled sarcastically

They both sat in silence for a moment, thinking of names for their baby boy.

“What about Oliver?” Harry said

“Oliver Styles” Poppy nodded “I like that”

“I like it too” he smiled “Little Oli, yeah, I can see that”

“Did we just name our son?” she asked, a smile spreading across her face

“I think we did” he smiled, and she heard some bustling in the background as Jeff walked into shot

“Oh hi Jeffery” Poppy said

“Hi Pop, how’s that bun baking?”

She giggled “He’s about half baked right now”

Harry laughed, and Jeff smiled at her before turning to Harry “The crew and the venue security want to go through the curtain drop one last time before doors open so they need you on stage in five”

“No worries” he said to Jeff and turned back to Poppy “Sorry love, looks like I’ll have to go in a minute”

“That’s alright” she yawned “me and little Oli are tired anyway”

A smile spread across his face and he flashed his dimple at her “Well, you and Oli better get some sleep, I’ll call you again tomorrow”

“Love you H” she said, blowing him a kiss

He laughed and pretended to catch the kiss and put it in his pocket “I love you too”

“Don’t forget to send me a photo of tonight’s suit before you go on stage”

“I wouldn’t dream of it love” he giggled “Tell Oli I love him”

“Byeeeee Harry” she smiled hanging up the call, knowing that if she didn’t do it now she’d still be on the call when he needed to be doing things.  She plugged her laptop in to charge and took her cup downstairs and loaded it into the dishwasher, buzzing about having just named her son.

“What are you smiling about?” your mum asked, walking into the kitchen, loading her own tea cup into the dishwasher

“Nothin’” she lied, wanting to keep the name between herself and Harry until he was born “Harry just makes me smile”

***

October 20th, 2017 – 28 Weeks

Poppy was sat in the waiting room of her midwife’s office, Harry asleep on her shoulder, jetlagged after returning from America only a few days ago. He was set to leave for Europe in a few days, so she had to squeeze in her next appointment while he was home. herr last scan had gone well, Oliver was still small, but he was growing at a good rate, which meant that there was nothing to worry about. Today’s appointment was about the birth, and to say she were nervous was an understatement.

“Poppy” she was called by a nurse she was unfamiliar with, and turned to Harry to wake him up

“H” she whispered as he stirred “H, it’s our turn- we can nap when we get home”

“I’m up” he sighed as he opened his eyes and stood up. They were both lead into a room they’d not been in before, filled with birthing balls and yoga matts with a large sofa in the middle.

“You guys take a seat on the couch, I’ll be back in just a minute” the nurse said as she showed them into the room.

“I might just nap here” Harry yawned as he sat down

“Don’t you dare”

“I’m kidding love” he giggled, placing a kiss on her forehead “I know you’re nervous about this”

She rested her head on his shoulder “I know we’re only talking about it today, but it all feels so real now- like this kid has to come out soon”

“At least you don’t have to push him out” he said as the nurse walked back in holding a tray of tea and biscuits.

“Alright” she said placing the tray down on the coffee table “Mr and Mrs Styles, I’m Annette, I’m a labour and delivery nurse” she held her hand out and they both shook it “Can I get you a cuppa, while we talk?”

“Please” Poppy said, smiling at her

“Great” she poured the tea into two cups “Milk?”

“Not for me” Harry said, moving his hand onto Poppy’s leg for comfort

Annette handed them both their teas and sat down on the sofa opposite them “So today we’re going to make a birth plan for you” she smiled “we don’t usually do this until 30 weeks, but because your little one is likely to arrive early, it’s best to be prepared.”

Poppy smiled taking a sip of her tea “I agree, so how do we make a birth plan” she nervously laughed

“Well, in your case, there are two ways this could go, so we’re going to plan for both of them – dad, I’m assuming you’re going to be at the birth?”

Harry winced, hoping that this wouldn’t come up “Potentially” he said, trying to make himself sound better

She looked at him quizzically “What does that mean”

“He’s away for work until December 9th, so if the baby comes early he won’t be here” Poppy chimed in, saving Harry from embarrassment

“Ok” she sighed “let’s go through what’s going to happen if he comes on time then. You’ll be having a C-section regardless, with your condition I wouldn’t be game to risk a natural birth, it wouldn’t be safe for you or the baby”

“That’s fine by me” Poppy laughed

“So if you go into labour naturally, which unfortunately isn’t likely, you’ll need to go straight into the hospital and you’ll be taken into theatre from there, Dr Miller will be delivering your son and I’ll be your nurse, so you’ll have some familiar faces if Dad isn’t there” she glared at Harry “Once you’re in theatre, the anaesthesiologist will come in and give you an epidural, so that you can’t feel anything in the lower half of your body, but you’ll be awake to see the birth of your son- everything ok so far?”

“Yeah” Poppy nodded, feeling Harry’s grip on her leg tighten

“Great, well now we get onto the planning, assuming everything goes to plan, you’ll be giving birth on December 15th, with Dad present” she nodded at Harry, still grimacing at him “When you’re in theatre you have a few choices of how the birth can happen, first is if you’d like a clear plastic screen so that you can see the birth, or a solid fabric one that can be lowered if you change your mind?”

Poppy looked to Harry, unsure of what she wanted because until now, it wasn’t something that had even crossed her mind, he nodded at her encouragingly, not wanting to influence her decision too much, “I think I’d like the clear plastic”

“Ok” Annette nodded “I’ll make note of that here, and if you change your mind in the meantime, just let someone know at your next appointment and we can change it”

“Great” she smiled

“Secondly, would you like skin to skin contact immediately after the birth?”

“Yes” she said without hesitation this time

“Good” she smiled “given that he’s healthy and doesn’t require any medical attention, I’ll make sure that happens- finally, and this may not be something that you’ve thought about yet, so we can talk about it at our next appointment if you haven’t, but it’s important that we know before the birth- are you planning on breastfeeding?”

“Of course” Poppy said

“Great, I’ll make sure there’s a lactation consultant on standby to help you out with that after the birth- any questions?”

“No I think we’re all good” Poppy turned to harry and he nodded

“Alright, well that’s about all the planning we can do for now, we’ll have one more consultation at 32 weeks and after that I’ll see you in the delivery room”

“Sounds good” Harry stood and offered Poppy his hand to help her up and they both walked out of the room and thanked Annette for all her help before making her way out of the offices and back to Harry’s car.

“I don’t think she liked me” Harry said as he put the keys in the ignition

“She certainly wasn’t impressed with you being away for work” Poppy giggled, stroking the side of his face, along his jawline “I don’t mind though because Oli and I had a little chat the other night”

“Did ya?” he raised his eyebrows

“He promised that he’d stay in there, so he can meet his daddy when he’s born and so that mummy doesn’t freak out in there by herself”

“That was good of him” he kissed her hand, keeping his eyes on the road “I’ll be there Poppy, even if I have to fly half way across the world”

***

October 30th 2017 – 29 Weeks

“LONDON!” Harry shouted into his mic “How are you?!” the crowd cheered loudly and Poppy felt the flutters in her belly go wild. She was stood next to Gemma and Michal at the edge of the pit, where he could see her, for Harry’s second London show.

“I’ve lived here for about seven years now, and I’d just like to say thank you for having me, I’m uh, very aware that I only have 10 songs so you being here tonight means a lot, thank you so much. It’s nice to look out into the crowd and see so many familiar faces” he pulled the mic off its stand and walked to the side of the stage so that he was standing directly in front of you “Like my wife, she’s here tonight, uh, heavily pregnant and she’s in the mosh pit dancing like a crazy person”

Poppy’s cheeks were turning bright red and while she wanted to be mad at him she couldn’t help but smile right back at him.

“I’ll tell you what, there’s a reason I married her” he giggled and winked at her as he made his way back to the mic stand “everyone give it up for Poppy”

The crowd went wild and a few fans that were close to her squished towards her trying to get closer to say hello. Michal saw that she was getting crowded and grabbed her hand, helping her move over to the other side of him, which only made the fans behind her move forward.

Harry reached his mic stand and saw that she was  struggling “Everyone good over there?” he pointed towards her “Poppy you good? Need anything?”

“Space” she yelled back loud enough so that he could hear

“Alright, could everyone over there just take a step back and chill out for a second.” That only made it worse and she was starting to feel claustrophobic and short of breath

“Actually you know what?” Harry said, hooking his mic in place and walking away from the stand towards where she was. He leant down and spoke to the security guard who asked the crowd to make a passageway before Harry hopped down off the stage. The guard stayed close to him, not letting the fans even put a finger on him as he made his way towards her.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he got close enough to hear her “are you mad?”

“probably” he laughed holding out his hand “You’re coming up there with me”

“Absolutely not” she laughed as the crowd around her lost their minds at how close Harry was to them

“It’s safer up there” he said sternly “and your favourite song is next”

She rolled her eyes and took his hand, knowing that he wasn’t going to give up until she was up on that stage with him. On his way back through the parted crowd, Harry high fived a few fans and said hello to everyone in his path, signing a phone case or two for those prepared enough to have a pen with them. He lead Poppy to the side of the stage where she could both climb the stairs and make her way onto the stage, helping her up onto the raised platform in front of Sarah and the drums Harry handed her his bottle of water “You good?” he asked

“Thanks for saving me Styles” she smiled and gently kissed his forehead as the crowd went wild in front of them

“Got you the best seat in the house too” he smiled and turned back towards his mic “alright, now that’s sorted” the crowd cheered loudly again “should we sing some songs?”

“KIWI KIWI KIWI KIWI KIWI”

He turned and winked Poppy “If you keep chanting, for a few more minutes, I might just do it”

“KIWI KIWI KIWI KIWI KIWI” he stepped back from the mic, using his hands to encourage the crowd to keep cheering while he checked that the band were ready to go.

“She worked her way through a cheap pack of cigarettes…..” he sang and Poppy sat behind him dancing away, not worried that everyone could see her because she knew that he was about to start dancing like an idiot too.

“"I'm having your baby..” he turned around and held the mic up to Poppy, encouraging her to sing the next line

Hating him, she obliged yelling “IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS” into the mic and laughing as he helped her down from her seat to sing the rest of the song with him. He sang the remaining verse but left the chorus up to Poppy and she was surprised by how therapeutic singing “I’m Having your baby, it’s none of your business” to a room full of people and having them sing it back to her was.

***

The second the show ended, and Poppy found herself backstage with Harry, the band and all the crew, she took him by the hand and lead him to his dressing room, locking the door behind them.

“What’s going on love?” he asked her, sounding a little concerned

She smirked at him as she began unbuttoning her blouse “I need you Harry” she said, sounding almost desperate.

“Is that right?” he giggled, taking his suit jacket off and throwing it over the arm of the couch “Come ‘ere then” he sat down on the couch and grabbed her hand pulling her down with him. Her shirt was completely unbuttoned now, and as she straddled his lap he began kissing up and down her torso, focusing on the swells of her breasts that bulged out of her bra. Eventually he unhooked it and gently caressed over her nipples with the tips of his fingers, knowing that they were extra sensitive right now. She threw her shirt off and helped Harry get his off too and he gently laid her down next to him, removing her shoes and then her jeans, revealing a pair of pink lacy panties.

“are these new?” he asked smirking and playing with the fabric over her centre

“Maybe” she moaned at gentleness of his touch

“It’s a shame you’ve made them so wet” he said pulling them down and tossing them to the side. He rubbed his fingers over her folds and brought them up to his lips “I’ve missed your taste” he said, voice low and full of lust.

“Harry” she whined, desperate to have him inside her

He smirked at her again and unbuttoned his trousers, revealing his already throbbing cock, “If I wasn’t so desperate to have you, I would’ve had a lot more fun teasing you” he said, lining his cock up with her entrance.

“That’s not going to work H” she smiled

“What the teasing?”

“No, that” she pointed to his cock as he hovered over her struggled to line it up with her centre because of the bump.

“Right” he giggled “Roll over then.”

She obliged and rolled over, placing a cushion under her belly, exposing her bare ass to Harry who was smirking behind her. This had never been a favourite position of hers but right now, it was all that worked.

He lined himself up and pushed her hair to one side, “You ready” he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She nodded as she felt him push into her, causing her to let out a loud moan.

“Shh” he whispered “Doors aren’t sound proof love”

This was the first time since Harry had come home that Poppy had felt the need to have him like this and within minutes she was ready to come undone around him.

“Harry I…” that was all she could manage before the waves of pleasure hit her, causing her yell out his name as his covered her mouth with his hand trying to dull the sound so that everyone around them couldn’t hear.

“Shhh, that’s it love, quiet now, fuck you feel so good” the feel of her orgasm pulsating around him brought about his own and soon she felt his seed spilling inside her as he groaned above her.

When he was finished, he pulled out, and sat next to her, helping her sit up. Poppy leant her head on his shoulder as his wrapped his arm around her. They sat there for a while basking in the afterglow of their pleasure, catching their breath, enjoying the intimacy of each other’s naked bodies.

“Watching you on stage has always turned me on”

“I know” he chuckled “You’ve never hidden it well”

[harryandmolly]

A Sunday in February

summary: a little pre-Grammys snacc for you, my friends. Shawn and Emma return. and because it’s me, it doesn’t come easy.

warnings: language, Georgie Being Georgie (TM)

WC: 1845

On a Sunday in February, Emma wakes up with a start. She awakes out of a dream, the kind you don’t remember as soon as your eyes open but you want to chase after it, pick it apart, separate it into little piles to analyze. It was an important dream.

She sits up slowly, careful of her aching muscles. She went a little too hard at Pilaticardio yesterday the same way she’s been doing everything at 150% lately, like putting even more effort into her daily life will somehow secure her the Grammys she’s nominated for.

Best Country Song. Best Country Album. Album of the Year.

She hasn’t even let herself think those phrases since she first heard them associated with her name. She’s not even superstitious. Or… she wasn’t.

There’s a creaking sound. Emma squints at the door. She beams.

+

“... and sometimes the rain has gotta fall.”

Emma felt that one. She doesn’t even look up at her producer Erin, just grips the music stand and leans back, taking a deep breath away from the mic.

“Perfect, Em. That was perfect,” says the voice in her headphones. She nods shakily. She knows.

Running her tongue along her lower lip, she slides her enormous phone out of her too-small pocket. No texts. With a cool bobbing of her head, she slides her phone back in her pocket.

“Should I go again?” she asks.

+

Georgie steps inside with a breakfast tray. She wastes no time clambering up onto Emma’s bed. The plate she bears is dotted with silver dollar pancakes surrounding a misshapen blob in the center. Emma lifts her eyebrows and before she can begin to speak, Georgie rolls her eyes and huffs.

“Ok, listen, so I bought this pancake form online, right? I ordered it from Etsy from this chick who can make, like, whatever your heart desires. So, obviously, I ordered the Grammys trophy, ya know, the little gold record player thingy? But when you try to make a pancake of that it comes out all… fucking weird.”

By the end of her sentence, Emma is cackling. She’s forgotten all about her dream. She slings an arm around her sister’s shoulders and picks the pancake up with her fingers, biting into what should be the base of the record player, wiggling her eyebrows.

“You’re the most beautiful moron I’ve ever seen,” Emma assures her through a bite of an otherwise very well made pancake. Georgie burrows into Emma’s side with a blushing chuckle.

“At least I have that going for me.”

+

Shawn’s hand slips off the cool metallic window frame. The heel of his hand butts into the window and he steps forward to right himself with a gasp. His already heaving chest feels like it’s cracking in half, so, Shawn supposes, this might as well happen.

He doubles over, planting his hands on his knees as he pants. He hangs his head, slams his eyes shut and tries to imagine her and what she’s doing right now.

It’s 4am in Los Angeles. Emma is sleeping for at least another two hours. She’s in that big bed all alone, probably curled up on her side like she does in the summer when she keeps her bedroom too cold. In the winter, she cranks up the heat, splays out like a starfish, sweating into the sheets. And she never learns.

Thinking of her calms him through this, this… whatever it is. Calling her, hearing her voice would end it completely.

But he can’t.

+

Emma sits up so the woman putting makeup on her neck can sweep down into her decolletage. The stereo is blasting “Kerosene” by Miranda Lambert so loud the makeup artists have given up on trying to yell over it -- they’ve developed their own sign language. Emma’s distracted, chewing on the inside of her lip while her butter blonde hair is blown out into big, fat curls -- less Dolly Parton, more Victoria’s Secret Angel. Her instructions this time, not Sandra’s.

Georgie and Angelique stand behind her, both on their phones, both bobbing their heads to the music at exactly the same time. Neither of them has noticed yet. Emma watches in her vanity mirror with a shimmering grin.

+

Emma heaves a sigh before the voicemail beeps. “Hi. I guess you’re asleep. That’s ok. I mean, it’s fine. I should really be asleep too. Just… wanted to hear your voice. You know how I get. I’m fine, though. Don’t freak out and feel like you have to call the second you wake up. Because I know how you can get too.

“It’s just… a lot. The Grammy thing. You’ve lived through this. And it’s fine, clearly you recovered. I’m sure I’m overthinking it. That’s what we do, though, right? We’re musicians. We… feel things. God, I’m not even making sense. Ok. Listen. I love you. You’re the best. Hopefully I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

“Bye, Taylor.”

+

As they wait for the limo to arrive, Emma’s focusing on remembering not to chew on her bottom lip because it’s painted with red lacquer more carefully than Michelangelo painted the Sistine fuckin’ Chapel. Her phone buzzes.

Hey little girl! Got your voicemail. So sorry I can’t call. I know where you are. I’ve been where you are. You think you’re on top of a mountain. After all, how could you not be at the top? Three Grammy noms on your first studio album as a solo country artist. How much higher can you climb? I got news for you, kid. You’re not on top of the mountain. You just found the first place with a kickass view. So what do you do? Stop and look around for a minute. The rest of the mountain isn’t going anywhere, it never has. It’s waiting for you. So take a look. It’s beautiful up there.

P.S. check the surrounding rocks for the initials T.A.S. carved in. We all gotta leave our mark somehow.

Love you back.

+

Shawn’s head buzzes against the window with the vibration of the moving car. Anna elbows him, reminds him he’s wearing foundation on his forehead because he’s been breaking out. Nerves, and all.

He nods and pulls his head back but continues staring out the window. His knee has been bouncing for at least a half hour as they wait in the line of cars crawling toward the red carpet.

He’s been on who knows how many red carpets by now. He’s never been more anxious than he is right now.

And he knows exactly why.

+

Georgie hums in Emma’s ear about holding her phone in her bag. Emma hands it off, nodding. All she’d be doing is scrolling through early red carpet arrivals, anyway. She’s not expecting to hear from anyone else.

She’s in a custom blood red Christian Siriano. It looks like someone poured liquid satin down her body and let it drop into a train of shimmering fabric with a slit up to her thigh. Sandra would’ve said it’s too old for her. Margaret would’ve said red’s not her color.

Emma pats a curl back into place and smirks down at her strappy red sandals and red clutch.

Emma chooses what is and isn’t her color now. Tonight, red’s her color.

Maybe gold too.

+

Shawn lifts a hand out of his pocket and draws his fingers up into a peace sign. His smirk lifts into a full smile, but it’s a little dull, half-hearted. He feels like he can’t walk two steps down the red carpet without glancing back down toward the arrivals area.

His heart beats a pounding rhythm in his ears, so loud it mercifully drowns out the crew of paps screaming “SHAWN! SHAWN!” for just a bite of his attention. He keeps one fidgeting hand in the pocket of his midnight black slacks and turns on the heel of his patent leather shoes.

If Emma saw them, she’d say they “shiiiiiiine like the top of the Chrysler building.” She quoted “Annie” whenever she could.

There’s a flurry of energy at arrivals. Shawn glances back.

+

Yasmin takes one more puff of powder to Emma’s face and another swipe of gloss across her lips. Georgie is talking Emma’s ear off, but she can barely hear it over the roar of camera snaps, fan cheers and event organizers barking at each other.

Angelique is talking, too. Emma just stares at her with her “I’m listening” face.

But she’s not. She’s not listening to Georgie, not listening to the pinging of her phone in her clutch, not listening to Yasmin as she reminds her what angles to hit and what jewelry she’s wearing.

The door to the limo opens. The sound gets louder. It doesn’t matter.

Everyone is looking inside. That, Emma’s used to. She’s even used to the noise. But she’s not used to this feeling, the one that’s got her hair standing on end and her shoulders tensed like she’s the slut in a horror movie and she’s first on the kill list.

She scoots to the end of the seat closest to the door and ignores that maybe it’s her Sandra-enforced training that’s getting her out of the limo and not instead ralphing into a plastic bag a block away outside an In-n-Out.

She puts a leg out first, then extends her hand to the greeter as she ducks her head to save her flossy curls.

Somehow, like rom-com queen Nora Ephron herself designed it this way, she knows it’s him as soon as she feels his hand take hers. She freezes and turns her head, eyes wide, lips parted.

Shawn, looking wild eyed and sweaty with a grin plastered on his beautiful, miraculous face, helps her out of the car amidst crazed, unrelenting fan shrieks, shutter snapping and paparazzi calls.

“SHAWN! SHAWN! EMMA! LOOK THIS WAY!”

Emma can’t feel her legs, but she’s standing on them with her hand in his, dumbfounded for all the world to see.

“How…?” she gasps, ribs shuddering with her aching lungs.

Shawn smirks in that warm, mischievous way he does. “C’mon, Em, you didn’t really think I’d miss this.”

Emma swallows a sob. She lifts her shaking free hand to her face as her lips quiver. Georgie smiles from inside the limo, swiping through the silenced notifications on her sister’s phone --

Shawn Mendes makes surprise appearance at 2020 Grammys! -- The Hollywood Reporter

*Le GASP!* Shawn Mendes Shocks the Grammy Red Carpet! -- Perez Hilton

Sometimes the rain’s gotta fall down, but not today! Shawn Mendes makes a surprise appearance on the red carpet to support his ladylove, 3x Grammy nominated country singer Emma Kingston! -- E! News

With a devious shake of her head (and a wink out the door at Shawn, her co-conspirator), Georgie slips out the other door and offers Angelique a sly high five.

Shawn cups his big hands around Emma’s face and doesn’t even bother to look her up and down before he says, “You look incredible.”

Emma sinks her fingers into Shawn’s forearms and whimpers into his lips before she can even finish getting out the words, “I love you.”

The cameras flash. The girls shriek. The heads turn.

The whole world watches, but they can’t see inside. That’s just for them.

Support me unending habit of writing one shots for series I’ve already finished and buy me a Ko-fi (link on my home page)!

Taglist: @smallerinfinities @the-claire-bitch-project @achinglyshawn @infiniteshawn @stillinskislydia @singanddreamanyway @alone-in-madness @abigfatmess @shawnitsmutual @awkwardfangirl2014 @september-lace @accioarmenian @sinplisticshawn @rollingxstone @yslsaint

[flannelpunkcalum]

The Devil Wears Kevlar - Part 6

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7

I’ve been excited to post this chapter for WEEKS you guys are hopefully gonna love it. also not to spoil it or anything but CONTENT WARNING: this chapter contains violence ok that is all. pls enjoy and let me know what you thought! 4k words

“Dick Grayson, you’re a brilliant actor.”

It had been all too easy to get into the kitchens. Aspen had pretended Dick was nervous something bad was waiting for him around the corner after his scare, and chefs are usually pretty kind-hearted, they melted. For their troubles, Aspen and Dick got a plate full of the edge pieces of brownies and cheesecake bites - not fit to serve to guests, but more than good enough for them.

They eat them in a stairwell in a hall just off the ballroom, where they’re close enough to the action and can keep from being late.

“That was the performance of a lifetime.” She continues, reaching for another brownie. Dick smiles quietly at her around a mouthful of dessert. He’s a bit of an oddball, if she’s honest, but then again so was she at that age. He’s good company, she’ll say that much. “You get dragged to a lot of these fundraisers?”

Dick nods. “D’you ever mind?” Aspen asks again. She knows she would have. She’d been a sullen fucking kid.

“No, it’s what’s right, for me to do this. It’s important work. There’s no point in catching - like, having the police catch criminals without making sure there are ways for people to survive without having to become criminals in the first place.”

Aspen’s surprise must show, because Dick glances away, like he’s embarrassed. “At least, that’s what Calum says.”

“Nah, man, that’s such an intelligent way to look at it. You’re very- see, I was going to say mature, but that makes it sound like all adults think like that, and we both know that’s not true. Dick Grayson, I’m honoured to be your partner in crime.”

Aspen had been joking, but he almost falls down the stairs laughing at that. She didn’t know it was that funny, but she’ll take it.

It’s not nearly long enough before she gets a text from Calum Hood telling her to bring Dick and come to the ballroom, the guests are showing up. He does not remember putting in his number under anything other than “Work”, so she’s confused immediately. “I didn’t know your dad had this number,” she frowns, and when Dick avoids her eyes she assumes it’s because of how she addressed Calum. “I mean your guardian, I guess. Your parental unit. Hey, look at me, need you to check me for crumbs.”

They make sure they have no chocolate in the corners of their mouths before they head back into the fray. The room looks a little less intimidating with a lower concentration of cops in, and what she can only imagine is Gotham’s hottest string quartet is playing something that sounds like Rachmaninoff. It’s not so bad.

As soon as she sees Dick head across the ballroom to Calum, she slides back to her table with the stoic police officer she met before. Officer Montoya, she remembers. “I miss anything good?” She asks cheerfully, and as Montoya shakes her head Aspen slides a bit of brownie wrapped in a napkin over to her.

They get along a lot better after that.

Donations start to trickle in. Well, not exactly trickle, since the men and women visiting her little table are giving money to the orders of thousands. Aspen had been prepared for that, she thought, but watching people put down a year’s rent in one go in making her lightheaded. Still, she nods and smiles, and no one looks too long at her, which is exactly what she wanted.

Still, it’s almost five thirty, and she’s getting antsy like this. The champagne being passed around looks more and more inviting each time a waiter passes by their table. Calum looks distracted, so she snags a flute off a tray while he’s talking to some other couple dripping with money, and after she takes a sip she places it on the floor by the leg of her chair. Just so none of the guests think they’re giving their money to some lush. Watever. Mr. Hood is drinking, so she’s probably allowed to have just a little, right?

Plus, Aspen never feels more extravagant than when she’s day drinking. She deserves to have a little fun at this thing, just a bit.

Things have been relatively quiet so far, but as Calum steps up to a podium to give his talk she sits up a little straighter. People are undoubtedly going to be inspired by whatever he has to say, so she’s got to be prepared. She takes a more substantial sip of bubbly as he starts to speak, since she’s sure she’ll have her hands full in just a second.

(Sidenote: Aspen loves champagne.)

It turns out that Calum is an eloquent guy, when he wants to be. Aspen’s about two minutes away from digging a five out of her own purse as he waxes poetic about the kids who have to go to school hungry, work to keep a roof over their family’s heads, or beg in alleys. She’s encouraged to see how many diamond earrings are bobbing along to this, how many people look pleased with how generous he’s says they could be. Everyone wants to be good, she thinks, somewhere deep down, even if it’s just to them and theirs. And these people, they’re powerful, they think Gotham is theirs.

Sometimes, when he snaps at her, Aspen forgets how smart Calum Hood is. Right now, as he’s gently wrapping Gotham’s one percent around his finger, she can’t forget it.

She really wants more champagne, as if that would help anything, but she resists as he starts to close his speech. “Gotham’s present may seem… brutal,” He says, with just the right amount of sorrow in his voice, “but together you and I can assure its bright future. When you have a moment, my assistant is waiting to take your donations right after she takes mine. Any amount is welcome, and please, for the kids’ sake, be generous. Enjoy the music!” He adds, and as he soon as he steps aside he makes a beeline for the table.

Aspen golf-claps politely for him as he comes over, and she sees him smile, like he’s bashful, as if he didn’t know he had the whole room in a bind. His guests are still applauding for him as he steps over to her, for fuck’s sake. “I’m truly moved, sir.” She says, starting to type his information into the tablet.

“You’re sweet,” He says, and Aspen misspells his last name just from that.

She corrects herself quickly enough. “I’m honest.” She shrugs, and fixes her eyes back on him. “And how much would you like to donate today, sir?”

“Match it.”

“What?”

“Whatever amount is there. Match it.”

Aspen can be a little dramatic, she says she’s going to go into convulsions or have a heart attack all the time, but this time she actually almost falls out of her chair. “That’s-”

“Match it.”

His look at her leaves no room for argument, so Aspen bites back her response. She knows he’ll see her look and that always seems to speak volumes, between them. “Cash or cheque?” She jokes- thankfully, since he pulls out a chequebook and not a bag of notes like some cartoon bank robber.

Aspen doesn’t watch as he writes out all the zeros on the cheque, she knows she’ll get nauseous. Montoya’s got a damn good poker face, she’ll say that much. When Calum’s done he draws back, but he doesn’t move to leave just yet. “You’re drinking?”

“What?” Aspen blinks. Calum taps his foot against the leg of the table, right next to her flute of champagne. Oh. Suppose she’s caught, then. “You’re drinking.” She says, instead, and fixes her gaze on him. She has to curl her hand into a fist under the desk to maintain it, but he doesn’t know it.

For once, for fucking once, he breaks first. “Fair enough.”

It’s better than champagne, this feeling, but Aspen tries not to show it. “I’m done for now, anyways, I just wanted to taste.” She shrugs. “Gotta stay sharp.”

Calum smiles. “I’ll check in before the dinner.” He says, but doesn’t sound like a warning. It doesn’t sound like just business, either. Aspen doesn’t think about what that leaves.

She focuses on her job, after that. I mean, she was focusing before, but now she’s- fuck. Whatever. She takes the money, she says thank you in her sweetest voice, she makes the donors feel good for what they’ve done. Maybe they deserve it. Aspen doesn’t know if she trusts the rich, not right now, but she can be kind for an afternoon.

She’s aching for another drink by the time guests start to filter out from the ballroom, but she keeps her hands on the table and her smile on her face while she puts down another Drake’s name. Some family, goddamn. When she finally finds time to look around, the room is almost empty. Thank god.

She stands up and stretches, arms about her head. Her back cracks, and Montoya jumps, swears beside her. “Sorry,” Aspen says, as she sits back down and they start to count up the cheques. Aspen has to make a note of someone who said they'd offer $5000 but only wrote a cheque for $500, but it still says “five thousand” on that one line, but that's all that's wrong and Aspen is elated. She expected a robbery or something, anything to justify the security, but this is good too. Now she's confident that the guests have all climbed into their limos and gone to the second leg of the gala, and she's almost - almost! - free to go.

“I'm gonna find Mr. Hood and tell him how much we made so we can go home.” She announces, standing up and trekking across the ballroom. He doesn’t seem to be anywhere, at first glance, and Aspen has to ask two waiters and some unrelated bodyguard until she gets directed towards an office. The door is open a crack and Calum’s there, he’s talking to T. Giordano (Aspen read the nameplate). When she explains that she’s only there to bring Mr. Hood up to speed, T. Giordano lets them use her office while she oversees the end of the event. Aspen’s so pleased about this; she hasn’t slouched in hours, her back feels all sort of wrong.

Calum’s had some rough days, but he looks genuinely happy as Aspen steps into the office. He’s not smiling, but there’s a lightness in his shoulders she hasn’t seen for days. “I think it’s good news, sir.” She says carefully, holding out the tablet in front of her. “I mean, it’s more than you raised last year, so that’s something.”

He takes the tablet from her and looks it over, smiling just a little. “What’s this category, the one just-”

She steps over to his side to look. “Oh, I did a column of all the amounts we actually got from the people, just to make sure there were no problems with the cheques - actually, if you see-”

“I’ll deal with it.” He says. “Thank you for your help today, Aspen, I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”

He is sweet, but flattery isn’t something Aspen is likely to fall for. “I just watched people write cheques, sir. This was always your event,” and maybe it’s the champagne that’s made her brave but she bumps him with her hip - maybe it’s just because this is the first time she’d been close enough to do it.

Whatever the reason, that’s what sets it off.

Calum’s head snaps over to look at her. They’re leaning against the edge of T. Giordano’s desk, but when Aspen sees the look in his eyes she straightens up a little. Maybe she shouldn’t have done that. He’s putting down the tablet as she starts to apologize. “Sorry if that was inappropriate, it’s been a long day.” She shrugs.

He’s standing right in front of her. “Don’t worry about it.” He says, and when the absence of any scolding in his voice makes her look up he’s giving her this look she’s never seen, like he’s trying to set her soul on fire. His brows are creased, like it hurts, and he huffs out a little breath she doesn’t dare try to interpret. “Can I just-” He says, and reaches out and puts one hand on her waist.

Her eyes are locked on his, but she can feel her chest heave with shallow breaths, feels his hand shift a little with each one. “Yes,” is all she can say, even though there was no question.

Slowly, Calum uses his hold on her hip to drag himself in, and he lowers his head. Before Aspen can remember why she shouldn’t - he’s your boss he’s insane he’s a player and you’re just - he fits his mouth to hers and they are kissing.

There’s nothing rough about this. No teeth. Nothing tears. Just the soft press of his lips against hers and the deep sign he lets out against her cheek. He’s testing again, to see how where she’ll let this go. Yes, she thinks, yes, and she lets him pull himself so close she can feel the heat off his body, and cup her chin gently. He turns her head, just a little, as their lips move against each other like whispers.

Aspen isn’t usually pliant, but she moves with him. His lips are soft against hers, and the way he feels against her- she’d follow that fucking anywhere. This feels like everything she wanted, and she reaches out and finds the back of his neck, pulls him closer, to kiss him deeper, and-

It sounds like a gasp as he pulls away and grabs her wrist, tearing her hand off his skin before she’s even opened her eyes. They’re both panting, blinking in the light, and Aspen won’t be mad about this as long as he lets her kiss him again, she swears, just- “What?”

He’s not looking at her when he says “We can’t do this. You’re drunk.”

A different kind of burning settles into her chest. “I’ve had half a glass of champagne, I’m not-”

“Then I’m drunk.” He interrupts her, though his hand is still on her waist. Aspen tries to tug her wrist out of his grip, but he’s holding tight to that, too.

Aspen wasn’t looking for this and she knows how it goes, when some secretary falls for their boss. She’s the one in danger, not him, and if he says he doesn’t want- if that’s what he wants, then… “If you say so.”

The room seems dead silent, now, so that every word she says almost echoes around the room. Calum feels it too. He shudders a little and lets go of her, all of her, and draws back.

They collect themselves. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but they find things to adjust and fix so they don’t have to look at each other. Aspen straightens out her cardigan, moves away from the desk like it’s a trap. She watches Mr. Hood smooth imaginary wrinkles out of his jacket, and when he turns to face her again it’s like a door has closed somewhere inside of him. Whatever light had been in his face is gone.

She doesn’t want to let it scare her, but - her job, his kiss, there’s so much she needs from him.

She waits for him to speak.

“We should put this behind us.” He says, finally. Aspen didn’t expect anything less, but hearing it out loud - it stings. “This was a mistake.”

That’s worse. There’s a lot Aspen can take, but right now, while she’s still got the taste of him in her mouth… She feels white-hot angry, just for a second, and then she collects herself. “Don’t worry about it.” She says, in a voice that’s way too sweet. She turns to the tablet, so she doesn’t have to see how he reacts. “‘S only a mistake if you let it happen again, right?”

“What?”

She hates the idea of looking at him right now, so she stays facing the desk. “Like - it’s only a mistake if you don’t learn from it, if you let it happen again, so don’t worry about it, I’ll see you Monday, I’m gonna-”

He spins her around in one movement and this time when he kisses her it is rough, but she’s angry too and she tangles her fingers in his hair as soon as she knows what’s happening. He’s pressed his tongue into her mouth and his hands are tight around her hips, strong enough to hold her there. He’s pressed right up against her, crowding her against the desk, and she kisses him back like she wants the air out of his lungs. His teeth catch at her lower lip and she opens her mouth a little wider for him, just so he please won’t stop.

It’s so good, but it’s too intense, and after a long moment they break apart and rest their foreheads together, still panting into each other’s mouths. They’ve still got their nails dug into each other, but Aspen can feel something more than lust and chemicals between them, and as he meets her eyes-

He steps back, like he’s been shoved. “There.” He says, but his usual sureness has melted and she can see his eyes flicker, like he’s nervous. “Now it’s a mistake.”

He’s gone before she can reply.

Aspen doesn’t remember too much, after that. She knows what she did, mostly, to get herself out of the botanical gardens and into a cab, but it’s a blur of smiling and excuses when she tries to think back to who she talked to or what she said. It doesn’t matter, really. She doesn’t scream and she doesn’t cry and she gets in a taxi and really that’s all she needs.

When she has to tell the driver to take her to Hood Enterprises, she almost stutters over Calum’s last name. It hurts, a little, because she wanted this, even though she knew this would happen. Did she think she could handle it? She didn’t love this job, but she was good at it and it payed damn well, and- she might have to quit. Fuck, she hadn’t started this with the intention of leaving before a month was up, but-

Before she can finish that thought they’re at Hood Enterprises headquarters. All she wants is to go in, listen to a few phone calls, and go home, but as soon as she enters the lobby-

“Aspen!”

Shit.

“What do you want.” She says to Liam, too tired to hide her anger. She doesn’t need this right now.

“Is Mr. Hood coming back tonight?”

Aspen doesn’t flinch when she hears his name, but it’s a near thing. “No, he’s not. Now, please, get out of my way, Liam, I just want to go home.” When she tries to push past him, Liam moves to block her, and when she looks at him properly she sees that he’s got what are very near tears in his eyes. “Wait, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Liam runs a hand through his hair and doesn’t meet her gaze. “Aspen… I really, really fucked up. I dunno if I can fix it. In sales, I- can you come? Please? I need-” He breaks off, his voice about to crack.

“How’m I supposed to help you out with sales, Liam, I’m not-” She shakes her head. Liam just gave her his biggest saddest eyes he’s got.

Well, shit. Aspen is mad at Liam for everything he did, but that doesn’t mean she can just turn her back on him. She doesn’t want to be the reason he’s fired, after all. They used to be friends, and she guesses some part of her misses that. After a long moment she sighs and checks the time on her phone. “I can’t stay long.” She says quietly.

Liam almosts lifts off the ground, he’s so relieved. “Thank you so much.” He says, stepping aside so he can lead her towards the elevator.

“I don’t know what you expect me to be able to do, Liam, you know I’m useless when it comes to econ.” She’s been through enough today, she’s not gonna let herself get carried away.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Really. Aspen, you’re - thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Aspen mumbles as he presses the button and the doors close. They start moving down - wait, down? “Why are we headed to the parking garage?” She glances at him, reaching for the panel of buttons. “What floor do you work on aga-”

The attack is sudden, and it feels so brutal that years later it’s still one of her nightmares.

Liam grabs her arm before she can finish her sentence, sliding around her so it twists behind her back all in one move, pushing her front up against the wall of the elevator in one smooth move. She gasps, but before she can panic properly she remembers to fight back. Even as Liam’s weight crushes her lungs, she jerks back with her free elbow, hitting some soft part of Liam’s torso behind her. She feels his breath on her neck as she strikes out again, again.

There’s one thought running through her head; she’s not gonna die like this. She’s not.

Liam presses her arm further up her back, sending enough pain through her shoulder to make her whole body buckle. But he’s backed off a little, out of elbow range, so as soon as Aspen hears the door open she pushes off the wall with her whole body to get out of his grip.

She must surprise him, because it works. She pushes him off enough to shake out of his grip, runs for the grey concrete of the parking lot. Liam’s footsteps echo behind her, but she’s fast, she can-

Liam tackles her with his full weight. As Aspen hits the ground she skids, palms stinging. Shit. She tries to get her knees under herself, but Liam’s got her pinned and he flips her over to her back easy - he’s twice her fucking size! She tries to punch him, but he catches her wrist slams it to the grounds about her head. The other one follows.

Aspen’s gasping for air and trying to take stock. Liam is straddling her, he’s got her wrists pinned above her head and even now he moves so that he’s got both of them in one hand. He’s reaching into a pocket for something and she doesn’t want to know what. “Liam,” she says, “don’t, Liam, I- help!”

Liam swears, and she feels him ruck up one side of her cardigan, bunching it up past her elbow. Her blood goes cold. She screams again, but this time she can’t find any words for this.. She looks around as best she can, but the lot is empty of cars.

It’s just her. She’s alone.

A scraping sound catches her attention, and when she looks back at Liam he’s pulling the plastic cover off a syringe with his teeth. She struggles against his grip. What else can she do? “Fuck, Liam, don’t- what are you doing-”

“Please stay still, please, okay, I don’t want to hurt you.” He says.

Then he plunges the needle into her arm.

Aspen fucking wails, and yes, she knows its undignified, but she can feel whatever was in that syringe flow through her bicep and it’s a living horror. Liam throws the weapon away and rolls off her, but by the time she drags herself up on her elbows she can guess what he shot into her veins. Everything feels heavy - her head is too much for her neck, and she almost collapses before Liam gathers her into his arms.

She hates him.

He’s murmuring something - it takes effort to tune in, like the world is a radio. Something… he’s sorry? “Fuck you,” Aspen murmurs. She’s too tired for this. She just needs to- for a second- just-

She closes her eyes.

[redhairedfeistynerd]

Captain McHippityHop

A/N: A long lost piece that I forgot to post last Easter! Another part of my ‘Seasons of Bucky’ series. Loosely edited, all errors are my own.  Enjoy and have a great long weekend everyone.

Thanks to @firefly-graphics​​ for the dividers

Don’t not copy or redistribute any of my pieces.

Summary: It’s finally Spring and the Barnes family is ready for some Easter fun. Uncle Steve has something to hop on about.

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word count: 2200+

Warnings: kissing, nudity, sexual situations, implied smut, teasing, cautious Bucky

No bunnies were harmed in the making of this fic     

“We’ll be there at 10, okay? Don’t worry, they’ll be up and ready.” Bucky rolls his eyes while he listens begrudgingly to Steve as he carries on about the importance of being on time.  

Y/N sits across from him on the couch, her left elbow resting on the arm and her hand folded up, flapping open and closed as if it were Steve’s big mouth. Bucky is trying to control the look on his face, if it cracks, he is likely to burst out laughing. And IF he laughs, y/n will follow and they both know that Steve will not be impressed.  

Bucky ends the calls and looks to y/n. “You’re a pain in the ass. I was TRYING to be serious and keep a straight face but you kept smirking and your eyes brightened up like you were going to laugh. I can’t stop myself when you do that, I want to laugh with you!” 

He lunges towards her and tackles her into the soft cushions of the couch. He knows that it’s finally ok to kiss her and he attacks her neck as she tries to curl into herself; he attacks the left side, kiss by kiss. Her giggles have turned into shrieks and he knows that she is enjoying it. He can’t get over how playful she is, he could drown in her laughter and happiness. It fills all those empty places inside of him, all the places he closed up when his marriage ended all those years ago. They’ve be silent and dark for almost a decade and then she came along and into their lives.  

She crept in slowly, a hot chocolate date here and there with his girls, a walk in the park and then a stop at the playground, a rare night at his house when the girls were able to visit their mom. It had taken years for him to build up the courage to talk to her about how he felt but she was the first one to move her lips to his. Soft, tasting of vanilla and beeswax, everything he thought it would be, was everything that he received. Her arms wrapped around him first and she whispered in his ear that it was ok for him to do the same. His arms went around her softly but he still had a thought in his head the he could crush her, that all of the years without holding a woman meant that he was going to use all of his force at once and hurt her.

“Barnes, you aren’t going to crush me, don’t hold back. You hold your daughters every day, I know you’ll be gentle with me,” she said as she kissed his forehead softly.  

“It’s just… I don’t,” he fumbles with his words and y/n brings a finger to his lips.

“Less talk, more kissing, Barnes.” She pulls his face back to hers and kisses him with a bit of force, trying to encourage him to be forceful. He does try to pull back but her hand is in his hair and she uses it to pull him back in. “No way Barnes, I’m not letting you back out after all these years. You’ve told me how you feel, let me show you how I feel.”

He really likes her and he has told her how he feels but hell, he loves how she is showing him. Her mouth is warm and incredibly soft, the sweet taste of her lip balm is swirling around inside his mouth. How can someone be so sweet, both in life and in her delicious mouth. Pulling back slowly, he looks into her eyes, admiring their colour before he whispers “Will you stay?”

“Why are you whispering, no one is going to hear us and it’s not as if I haven’t spent the night here before. The girls are with their mom tonight for Easter dinner. We are alone, my sweet,” she whispers into his hair and kissing his ear.

Bucky’s cheeks are slowly turning from pink to red, he can’t look her directly in the eyes. “I mean…” he chokes a bit on the words, clears his throat and begins again. “I mean, I want you to stay with me, in my room. Not the spare room like when we have sleepovers with the girls. You with me. In my arms. I would really, more than anything, like to have you in my arms tonight.” He can’t meet her eyes and curls into himself a little with the embarrassment he is feeling.

“Don’t you dare shy away from me, Bucky Barnes,” she gently scolds him as she crawls into his lap. She brings a hand to his chin, and pushes up so his eyes meet hers. “You don’t need to hide from me, ever.”

He can’t help but be nervous about this. A woman in his bed after all these years. Forget the quick one night stands he rarely had at someone else’s apartment after a night at the bar. This meant something. He had never been more aware of the carpet beneath his feet as y/n pulled him down the hallway to his bedroom. Each step sinking into the carpet, pulling him into the plush fibers, and releasing him.

“Help me,” he thinks he, hears her say as she pulls him closer. He hasn’t moved and her eyes are wide and staring into him. “Bucky,” his name softly escapes her mouth and she brings his right hand the front of her dress, guiding him to the buttons. “Help me,” is whispered into his ear and he freezes. Her hands have moved over his, picking one up and gently placing it on her breast. “Start here, this button first,” she coaxes him, “you can do it Bucky. You aren’t going to hurt me. I trust you.”

It’s as if it finally makes sense in the darkest pits of his mind. One by one, he pushes the button out of the holes and pulls the dress away and down her body. He can’t help but stare and before he makes her feel comfortable with his eyes looking her up and down in awe, he brings her closer, wrapping one around her and pulling her into a deep kiss. Bucky pulls away first and brushes her hair back, “I think you said something about showing me how you felt?” 

The girls are dropped off early the next morning as y/n is starting to make breakfast. Bucky is quietly sipping his coffee and staring out the window. He’d woken y/n up early, soft kisses up the back of her neck, trying to enjoy her warm body that had curled into him during the night. He fell asleep soon after and awoke to an empty bed. He found her the kitchen table, pink sparkly rabbit ears on and placing chocolate eggs into baskets.  

“Did you, did you make the girls Easter baskets?”  

“I sure did, I thought we could say our good ole bunny friend popped by your house too.”

Bucky leaned over to give her a quick kiss, “it makes me incredibly happy that you think about them. It makes me feel so fulfilled that I’ve met someone that considers my daughters.”

“They’re part of you Bucky, why wouldn’t I think of them? Besides, I remember loving baskets like this when I was a kid and I want Riley and Piper to enjoy them too.”

The girls had squealed when they saw the large baskets on the kitchen table and ran to y/n, smothering her in kisses. Bucky’s ex-wife watched from the doorway and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to y/n. Once the girls had hugged their mom goodbye and wolfed down a breakfast of French toast and fruit, Bucky packed the girls in the car and they headed off to meet Steve.  

It’s 10 a.m. and it looks like the Easter bunny and friends exploded pastel colours everywhere. The girls run into the kitchen, where Pepper is placing cupcakes adorned with mini eggs and Peeps on a tray.  

“Hey you two, are you ready for some Easter treats and crafts? I hear the Easter Bunny will be here as well! Why don’t you take a look out back and see if there’s someone hopping around?” Pepper hands the trays of cupcakes to Bucky and pushing them towards the patio door.

The two of them head out towards the picnic tables, Bucky placing the cupcakes down before he turns to see a 6-foot-tall bunny out of the corner of his eye.

Bucky bursts out laughing before he can get a hello out. “Oh… my…” he keels over, his laughter so powerful that he has to hold onto the picnic table to stabilize himself. He can hear y/n ask what’s so funny and Bucky points over to wear Steve was last standing. He hears a little snort and it’s not long before she has fallen to the grass in a fit of laughter. Bucky can’t help but laugh louder at y/n’s display.

“What the hell are you wearing, Stevie?”

“It’s for the kids, you jerk. I have ears on, a cute little nose, and a bunny tail,” he says and wiggles his behind. “Obviously, I’m the Easter bunny.”

Tony saunters by, a mimosa in hand “why don’t you ask Rogers how “America’s Ass” ended up with a bunny tail.”

“Stevie, what did you do?” y/n laughs

Steve is between blushing and looking furious at Tony. “You just had to open your big mouth.”

“Rogers here thought it was a smart idea to make a bet with Pepper. This ancient idiot thought he could have a bake off with Pepper and win,” Tony snorts and take a sip of his drink.

“Oh Steve, you should have known Pepper would kick your ass,” y/n says, wrapping an arm around his waist, trying to comfort him. “I know for a fact, that the second the girls see you, they’ll jump all over you and tell you how much they love it. So, enjoy that it will be a hit with them.”

Bucky could hear their giggles coming from inside, Pepper, holding their hands, led them out to the picnic tables where the egg decorating had started. Y/n leaned into him a pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, letting him know that she was going to paint some eggs with his daughters.  

“Come on Stevie, bounce away and introduce Cap McHippity Hop to the girls,” Tony teased.

“If those kids weren’t here Tony, I’d be kicking your f-”

“Now, now Cap, language,” mocked Tony, a sly smile forming across his face.

Steve muttered something unintelligible and made his was over to where Bucky’s girls were sitting with Y/N. His girls were so preoccupied with dipping their eggs in the coloured pots, that they didn’t notice Steve peeking over their shoulders. It wasn’t until Y/N started up with her giggling again, that Riley and Piper looked up to see what was so funny.

“Uncle Stevie!!! You have fuzzy ears AND a bunny nose!! Are you the Easter Bunny?” Riley asked loudly, jumping up to stand on the bench of the picnic table, now eye to eye with Steve.

“I’m your very own bunny, princess. Looks like you are doing a fabulous job with those Easter eggs. How about you and Piper come with me once you’re done and you can look around the yard for all the candy I hid?”  

“Uncle Stevie, you’re the best!” Riley squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But don’t tell daddy that, ok?” she whispered into his ear.

With a smile, Steve squeezed her once more before heading over to where y/n was sitting. He sat beside her and smiled.  

“Those girls sure love you, Steve. Thanks for doing this for them, even if you did lose a bet and had to wear a cute little bunny tail,” she said as she peeked over to see the fluffy white ball attached to his pants. “I think the tail suits America’s Ass,” y/n laughed, pushing against him lightly.

“Ya, ya, keep laughing. I’ll have you know, that I had already planned all of this before I lost the bet, the outfit only adds to the festivities. I wanted to make this day special for Bucky’s girls, they’re my family too.” He looked at Y/N and pulled her into a hug. “I hope you know that you are part of my extended family as well, I love all of you.”

The girls finished quickly and made their way around with baskets, collecting jellybeans and bunnies, the smiles are their faces making Y/N smile. Bucky made his way over to her, once they had finished with lunch and the girls were slowly slipping into a sugar coma from all the treats their Uncle Steve had bought for them.  

“Hey Barnes, before we get out of here, I think you need to take that tail and ears from Steve; I’ve always wanted to be a playful bunny,” she winks at him and walks towards the girls. She watches as Bucky picks up his pace, going after Steve as he headed inside with empty platters from their lunch.

“Come on girls, let’s get everything together and head on home.”

“Hey Y/N? Thank you for coming with us and helping us keep daddy happy,” Piper says, her big eyes staring up at Y/N.

“You’re welcome sweetie, l love seeing your daddy happy too,” Y/N replied smiling. She was more than happy herself and glad that she had this little family to love.  

[thadelightfulone]

Luck Be A Lady

Here is my submission for the WOC Sapphic Fic Challenge hosted by @great-neckpectations. My story is inspired by the song, Girl by The Internet 

Pairing: Domino x Black!OC

Summary: A chance encounter shows two people their worth. Planned as a two-part story. Angsty for now… 

Warnings: Physical and verbal abuse – in public settings 

Lana sips her drink and looks over at Domino. Domino is her childhood best friend and going through yet another break up with a girl who never was on her level. Lana mentally counts how many times she has had this conversation with her bestie. Rolling her eyes, she focuses back into the conversation, so Domino doesn’t think she isn’t listening to her yet again. What was the chick’s name –   

“Come on Rhonda, did not know what she had with you. I told you not to rush into that situation and now, look at you. Drowning your sorrows in Shirley Temples.”

“I thought Rhonda was different.” Domino twirls the cherry from her third Shirley Temple before popping it in her mouth. 

“Yeah, and if I had a dollar for every girl that you have said that about, I could pay off my student loans.” Domino throws the cherry stem at her. “HEY! You know I am right.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“HOLD UP! You assault my ears all lunch about how horrible Rhonda turned out to be, and now you want to shut up?” Throwing ice at Domino, “Nope, it’s your turn to hear me out.” 

Domino rolls her eyes. She already knows how this conversation goes. Lana talks about how great a person she is and how she just hasn’t found the right woman for her. How she just needs to sit back and wait for her to make herself known instead of going on searches for low-hanging fruit. YADA YADA YADA. Domino takes a sip of her drink before choking on it at her best friend’s last statement.

“WHAT? Please repeat that I don’t believe I heard you correctly.”

“I was thinking that you should meet my coworker.” 

“Yeah, I guess I did hear you.” Setting her drink down, “And no, thank you.” 

“Why not? I mean you are just gonna go right back out and look for another female to give your heart to without taking the time to wait, so why not let it be her.”

Domino rolls her eyes at her friend’s read of her. She’s right, but she didn’t need to say it out loud. “No, and for good reason.” Lana tilts her head waiting for her to go on. “You work with her, what if it doesn’t work out? I refuse to hear your mouth about that.” 

“Yeah, I don’t see that happening this time.” Lana smiles, innocently at Domino. 

“So, you don’t remember the last time you played matchmaker?” Lana blinks in surprise. “Oh, so you forgot about Cheryl and her pass around puss?” Lana spits out her drink.

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth.” Domino shakes her head, remembering that bad experience. The first time Lana introduced her to anyone, and it was a complete shit show.

Cheryl presented herself as the perfect girlfriend at home and in public, meanwhile when she was out with her girls, it was a whole different story. Domino and Cheryl attended a house warming party for another couple who just got married. The wife came over and slapped the shit out of Cheryl on sight. She turned to Domino and asked her how she can be with someone who wrecks homes for fun. 

Turns out, Cheryl and her girls were known in the community as the Good Time Girls…sleeping with any and everyone who made themselves available. You would never know it because each and every one of them was in a “committed” relationship. It was the best and worst kept secret, as the women who slept with the girls would pass them around among their friends and avoid anything with their actual girlfriends or wives in some cases. 

Domino left the party that night finding out that her girlfriend was literally the side chick of about 4 different women in that room, not counting the wife of the woman who laid hands on her. Lana was never allowed to set Domino up with anyone after that. 

Domino glares at Lana, “FUCK NO! I don’t trust you after that mess. I had to get regular monthly check-ups for a year, hoping that she didn’t pass anything to me.” 

“Ok, so Cheryl turned out to be the worst. But come on, my coworker is such a sweetheart. I think you should at least meet her, and if something happens, kool. If not, everyone is good.”

Domino looks at Lana who is giving her big sad puppy eyes. “No, Lana. Just let it go.” Domino calls for the check. 

“Not my fault, you are lucky in everything else in your life and suck at relationships,” Lana mumbles. 

“I heard that.” 

“Of course, you did.” Lana mouths out while Domino pays and they get up to leave. “Oooh, are you still coming to Casino Night next week?” She hangs on Domino’s arm. 

“Yeah, I’ll be there. The craps table is calling me.” Domino links her arm with Lana’s as they walk down the street.

--- Casino Night ---

Lana sparkles in her long red halter top gown, with her long brown tresses, pulled back and around to her right shoulder, exposing her long dangling white gold chandelier earrings and matching accessories. Domino is next to her wearing a white sleeved- button-down with pinstriped halter corset and matching pinstriped pants. Her hair is in two long braids under a black hat. In true comfortable fashion, they are both wearing red and black Converse to match their outfits. 

Domino leans over whispering over all the excited voices, “The place looks great.” 

Lana looks around at all the hard work, she and her team did to decorate The OC Center, from a warehouse of rooms into a full Vegas-style casino. Complete with table games, waiters, and lounge areas surrounding a central stage off to the back left of the floor. All the important announcements will be made from there as the night progresses. 

“Thanks, I am so happy it turned out like we envisioned.” Lana smiles and waves to someone in the distance. “Now, I hate to leave you, but I do have to mingle with some of the corporate reps and our favorite benefactors. You good? Can I trust you to be on your best behavior tonight?”

“Lana, it’s a fundraiser for your job. I would never do anything to embarrass you. Besides how much trouble can I get into at a craps table?” Domino winks at Lana, as she walks away from her. 

Walking over to the table, Domino notices that the game is in full swing. Loud and boisterous as everyone shouts over their wins or losses. Planting herself next to an older woman, Domino waits for her opportunity to buy into the game. She just placed her first bet on the table and was waiting for the shooter to make their next throw when a high pitch squeal snaps her attention to a couple across the table. 

One of the waitresses brought over two drinks, and as she walked away, she was goosed by the more masculine-identified partner. She turns back around ready to swing when the gorgeous woman standing next to her, apologizes on the other’s behalf. She had already tipped her when she brought the drinks and pulled her to the side whispering to her. The waitress storms off in a huff. 

The inconsiderate chick takes a big swig of her drink and pushes it into the hands of the woman next to her. She grabs up the dice, shaking them before throwing them against the wall to her right. The dice roll a field number, and both dealers work together to payout all the wins across the table. 

Domino was paid first as they make their way around the table. So, she takes this time to really look at the beautiful woman across from her. Chocolate brown skin that is shimmering under the light. She is wearing a fitted purple gown that accents all her curves with silver accessories. And simple makeup with purple and silver flourishes making her big brown eyes seem like infinity pools.

The woman in question is taking the moment to speak to her partner about her behavior. Deep frown lines mark her face as she is speaking. Her partner clearly does not care for how she is speaking to her because she starts yelling at her. Domino cannot make out what is being said, but the purple beauty decides to stop talking and just stands there looking anywhere except at her partner. 

When her pretty brown eyes make their way to Domino, she can see the tears that she is holding back. She tips her hat at her along with a wink. The result is a returned shy smile before she dabs at her eyes to keep the tears from ruining her makeup. They keep eye contact until Domino looks away as another waiter approaches her. She takes her drink order and leaves, and when she looks back over the mystery woman is focused back on her partner who is about to shoot the dice again. 

Mean and aggressive rolls twice more before losing all her chips. Irritated and slowly progressing pass tipsy, she grabs up Miss Purple and drags her away from the table. Domino catches the grip on her wrist and the ashamed look on her face. When they are out of her sight, she focuses back on the table. That’s not her problem, but she does feel for her. No one should be treated like that. 

Domino has been playing at the table for a good hour now. She lost sight of the purple beauty shortly after they left the table. Two more shooters have played, and the latest one craps out as she finishes her ginger ale. The dealers payout and the stickman nods to Domino and pushes the dice towards her as the new shooter. Before she can pick up the dice, her attention is pulled away as she hears yelling and the voices get louder when she realizes it is the purple beauty and partner bumping through the crowd and making their way back to the craps table. 

She picks up the dice and makes her first throw to the backboard across from her. The same time the dice leave Domino’s hand, the belligerent drunk runs into a waiter with a tray of drinks. Causing her to release her hold on Miss Purple’s arm, who loses balance falling right into Domino’s arms. Domino holds onto her, giving her a wink, as the stickman announces that she landed on seven. Applause and cheers of thanks reach her ears, as Domino stands Purple upright next to her. 

Domino grabs up the dice again and asks Purple to blow on them for her. She smiles at her and blows on the dice. Domino hits on eleven, making her and everyone at the table winners twice over. She leans over and whispers into Purple’s ear, “I think you might just be my good luck charm.” Purple flushes and looks away from Domino before her partner roughly yanks her away from the table. Domino is about to reach for her when she sees Purple shake her head. She pulls back and watches as the arguing couple leave the building.

Domino looks at the table, and they all have solemn looks on their faces after witnessing what just happened. “It gets better, right?” She asks to no one in particular and picks up the dice to start shooting again. 

Lana had finished making her rounds when she sees Domino at the craps table. “How goes it?” 

“Not too bad. I’ve been the shooter for the last 45 minutes, but I am kind of over it now.” Right as she says that, she craps out. She waves goodbye to everyone at the table and walks over to Lana. 

“Okay. Why do you look so bummed?” Lana locks arms with her as they walk through the casino tables to one of the bars. “Nevermind, get a drink and help me keep an eye out for someone.”

“Well, damn. Thank you for asking and not letting me answer.” Lana pushes her shoulder. “Fine, who are we looking for?”

“My coworker. She said she had to step out and she would be right back.” 

Domino puts down her new glass of ginger ale, “Lana, I told you. I do not want to be -” Domino stops short as a new person approaches them.

“Lana, I am so sorry. I had to get D out of here. She was drunk and showing her ass again.” Purple looks over at Domino, “Oh my god. I am so sorry about earlier.” 

Domino shakes her head, “Don’t worry about me. Are you ok?”

Purple looks down, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Dee was here? Why was she here, Parker?” Lana doesn’t acknowledge their side chat. 

“She is still my girlfriend, Lana.”

Lana exaggeratedly huffs and rolls her eyes, and then she looks over at Domino and back to Parker, “Wait? What are you apologizing for?”

Parker looks down, and Domino decides to save her the embarrassment, “She ran into me while moving out of a waiter’s path. No big deal.” 

“Oh ok.” Turning towards Domino, “Domino, I would like you to meet my coworker, Parker. Parker, this is Domino, my best friend.” She winks over at Parker. Domino takes Parker’s hand in a friendly shake.  

“It’s nice to meet you, Domino.” 

“The pleasure is all mine.” She nods her head to Parker. Parker smiles at her before taking her hand back.

“So, Dee? I thought you ended that months ago. You know after she cheated on you for the umpteenth time.” 

“Lana, I don’t want to discuss this right now.” Parker’s eyes water. 

“Fine. Fine. You are right. But we will talk about this.” Grabbing Parker by her right arm, and grabbing Domino’s left, she asks, “Why don’t you join Domino and I for the evening then?” 

“I’d love to, but I probably should head out. I’m sure Sandra is looking for me after the scene D caused and I don’t have it in me to deal with her right now. I just came back in to catch you like I promised.”

Lana reaches out to hug Parker, “Well, if you must go then fine. Lunch tomorrow, so we can chat.” Parker nods back before meeting Lana’s hug. 

“It was nice to meet you, Domino. Maybe, we will run into one another again.” 

Domino smiles at her, “I would like that.”

Lana nudges Domino, whispering, “Get her number, dummy.”

Before Domino can say anything more, “Why don’t I get your number then?” Parker has her phone out, and Domino takes it, putting her number in the phone. 

Domino hands it back to her, “Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t.” Parker turns to leave. Domino watches her closely and smiles to herself before she hears some coughing. 

“What is that?”

Sighing deeply, “What is what, Lana?”

Pointing at Domino’s face, “That. Your face. That look. What is it for?”

Rolling her eyes, and shaking her head, “Nothing.” 

“That’s not nothing.”

“It really is.” 

“You think she’s pretty.”

“She’s gorgeous…”

“And?”

“Taken, or did you not hear her?”

“Yeah, about that. I didn’t know.” Domino waves her off. “Nah, I wouldn’t try to set you up with someone in a relationship.”

“It’s fine…just my luck, right?”

--- 2 Weeks Later ---

Domino is downtown in the middle of the workweek, headed to her favorite bookstore. She finally received a call that her special request arrived. It has been a month of patient waiting, and she cannot wait to dig into a good read. Anything to get her mind off Lana and Parker. Her best friend will not stop asking about her, and the latter never used her number, so there is nothing to tell. 

The bell chimes overhead as she makes her way to the back of the old shop. She waves to the familiar faces of the workers she passes in the narrow aisles. She presses the small buzzer to notify someone behind the curtain of her presence.

“Domino! Long time, no see. Where ya been?” The cheery attendant greets her. 

“Hey Shelli! Working, so I just haven’t had the time to come by and hang out or attend any events.”

“Well, we have another Sip & Chat in a few weeks. I hope you can make it this time.” 

“I’ll do what I can.”  

“Great! Let me get your book for you.” She nods at Domino and goes to a shelf on her left. 

Domino’s phone rings, and without looking she picks it up, “Hello.”

“Domino?” A shaky voice whispers in her ear.

Looking down, she sees a number, not saved in her phone, “Speaking.” She hears loud banging and yelling in the background. She gets a bad feeling and realizes the person might be in trouble. “What’s going on? Do you need help?”

“I need to get out of here.” 

“Where are you?” She enters the address into the GPS of her phone, “I’m about 10 mins away. I’ll be right there, ok.”

“Okay.” 

“Shelli, leave the book. I gotta run, but I will be back.”

Domino makes it to the address that the caller sent. It’s a small one-story house, and a broad-shouldered individual is throwing clothes and furniture out the front door. Yelling and screaming obscenities at someone still inside. As Domino approaches the front of the house, the person turns towards her. 

“Oh, so you came to get your lil slut?” Domino recognizes her from The OC Center’s Casino Night. It’s the drunk chick who was with Parker. 

“Where is she?”

“Inside.” She points through the open door, “Take her; I’m done with the bitch anyway.”

Domino walks past her and into the house. “Parker! I’m here. Where are you?” She is almost knocked to the ground as Parker launches herself into her arms as she enters the hallway. Domino looks down at the bruising around her eyes and her tear-stained face. “Let’s get you out of here.”

She sees the bags next to Parker as she sets her down. Grabbing the bags and her hand, they make their way out to the house. They walk over to Domino’s car, and she opens the passenger side door for her. When Parker is sitting comfy inside the car, Domino closes the door and watches Dee stumble her way over to the car. 

“Enjoy my sloppy seconds.” She reeks of alcohol, swaying in front of Domino. Leaning over Domino, she looks into the car, “I never wanted you anyway.”

Standing up as straight as she can, she comes face-to-face with Domino’s fist. Dee drops to the ground, knocked out cold. Domino wipes her hands off and makes her way to the driver’s side door. Getting in, she looks over at Parker. 

“You good?” Parker nods, “I’m gonna take you to Lana’s, ok?”

“Thank you.” Domino nods at her. 

They ride over in silence. Parker thinking about what she has just been through while Domino’s thoughts are scattered. She calls Lana to let her know she is coming through to drop off Parker. She hangs up before she can ask for details. 

Lana opens her front door when they arrive. She takes a good look at Parker, “Dee?” Parker walks by her into the apartment. Domino drops her bags by the door. “Stay.”

“Nah, I should go and let you guys talk.” Lana looks at her friend, she already knows. 

“Then, at least come in and say goodbye.” 

Domino follows Lana into the apartment and walks over to Parker who is on the couch. “Parker?” She looks up, “I’m leaving, but I just wanted to say that I am glad you are ok.” 

Parker stands up and gives her a big hug, “Thank you for saving me.”

Returning the hug, Domino whispers in Parker’s ear, “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

Parker looks up and quietly laughs, “Yeah.” Domino lets her go and hugs Lana before walking to the door. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Domino turns around and says, “I won’t, definitely not now.” 

[trynnabemultifandom]

Happy Birthday| Chris Evans x Reader

~~This is just a lil something because it's Chris' big day today. some of these ideas came from my ordeal of planning a party a few weeks ago~~

it was the day before Chris' birthday and I was stressing out. I was planning a surprise party for him for his birthday. it's not like I had to do this but I'm making up for not being there with him last year. I had found a catering company, a dj, and I had also called Chris's family and friends to tell them about the party. Just when I thought I had everything finished, I remembered I had left out the one most important thing out, alcohol. There was only one person to call. I picked up the phone and called Scarlett. if I'm being honest, I was nervous when it took her a while to pick up "Hey Scar, I need you to do me a huge favour" "what d'ya need (Y/N)?" "I need you to go to the store and pick up some vodka, wine and beer for tonight. of course I'll pay you when you drop them down" "yeah sure that's no bother. I'll also help you out with decorating when I get to your house" "thanks Scar"

Time skip to when Scar is at your house

I was in the middle of organising how I was going to decorate the house, there was a knock on the door "Scar is that you?" can never be too careful "yeah it's me" I ran to the door to answer it "you're a life saver" I sighed "anything for my friend. so how's the planning going?" "yeah it's going good. please stop me from color coordinating everything" Scar laughed "you take a break. go have some food, I'll finish this" "thank you. you want some food?" she thought for a moment "no thanks, I'm good. have you got a plan for getting Chris to the house tomorrow?" I nodded "yeah I do with the help of Lisa. No doubt he'll want to go straight to Lisa's when he arrives, but she rang to tell him to come here because she had to go somewhere" she smirks "you thought of everything didn't you?"

I chuckle "couldn't of done it without the help of my friends. plus I'm making up for not being here last year" her smirk grew bigger and I knew what she was going to say next "I'm sure you'll make up for it all right" she winked. I rolled my eyes "Scar we're just friends" truth is, I liked Chris but knew he saw me as a friend so I kept how I felt to myself, not wanting to ruin our Friendship "(Y/N), I see the way you looked at him on set when he was filming his scenes" I just rolled my eyes again "not my fault he's good at what he does and I want to take pointers" she nodded and left it at that

Next Day

I woke up early in order to get my house ready for the party later. I was so excited to see Chris again, I haven't see him since the premiere of Infinity War which was almost a year ago. I was pulled from my thoughts by a knock on the door. I opened the door to see the excited face of Lisa "come on in Lisa" she carried in tryas of food "I ran into the caterers and took these off them" "thank you so much Lisa" she putthe trays down and hugged me "I should be thanking you. Chris is very lucky to have you as a friend and for you to go all out and plan this for him" I hugged her back "I wanted to do something special for him not only because he's my friend but because I wasn't here last year for him" she giggles and I pull away giving her a confused look "he was devistated when you weren't here last year. if I'm being honest, I think he has feelings for you (Y/N)"

I hope that's true "no I doubt it. we're just friends and we've been like since we were 6. he probably sees me as a sister or something" I brushed off what Lisa said and went back to getting stuff set up "hey Lisa, would you mind giving me a hand setting the food out?" "no not at all (Y/N). Scarlett's coming today isn't she?" I nod "yeah they're all coming over in about 20 minutes actually" while Lisa was sorting out the food and hanging the last of the decorations and banners up, I went to get into my dress

I wanted something nice but I didn't want it too dressy or to make it look like I was trying too hard either, my hair was curled at the ends and I had a little bit of makeup on. when I came down the stairs, everybody was here, well except for Chris because he wasn't meant to get here until 6 and it was quarter to at the moment. as soon as I walked into the kitchen, I was bombarded with hugs from them all and tons of compliments. Scarlett and Lisa came over to me and both said how gorgeous I looked. "you look so gorgeous (Y/N)" I smiled "thanks Lisa" I was going to leave to get a drink when I was stopped by Scarlett who whispered "I'm sure Chris would like it too" I rolled my eyes "I'm going to get a drink"

just as I was going to leave, somebody grabbed my arm. I was going to scream in protest but when I turned around, I was relieved to see that it was only Elizabeth Olsen "Elizabeth, ohmygod I was about to scream at you" she hugged me "you look gorgeous (Y/N) and no drinking until the birthday boy gets here" she winked and I laughed "I need something if Scarlett keeps making them comments" Elizabeth rolled her eyes "what has she been saying to you know?" "you know, the usual about Chris, and also that I wore this dress to impress him" "I see where she's coming from but I'll try get her to stop, especially for today" I smiled and hugged her "Thank you Elizabeth" she hugged back "no problem"

"(Y/N), he's coming" shouted Sebastian who was looking out the window "places everyone" I yell. taking a deep breath as I hear a knock on the door, I walk over and open in to see a happy looking Chris "hi Chris" I say as I hug him "hey (Y/N), it's so good to see you" Chris says and returns the hug "so what's the plan today?" he says pulling away from the hug and looked at my dress. I couldn't stop the hint of a blush forming on my cheeks "I'm glad you asked because," I turned to where everyone hid

"SURPRISE" they all jumped out and yelled. I quickly turned to see Chris' reaction, it was honestly the most cutest thing I have ever seen "Happy Birthday Chris" he turned to me and engulfed me in a hug "did you do all this?" he asked. I nod "yes but I couldn't have done it without the help of everybody here" I pulled away and kissed his cheek "thank you so much (Y/N)" I smiled "this is to make up for not being here last year with you" our conversation got interrupted by Lisa "sorry to break up what looks like a good conversation, but I just wanna talk to my boy on his birthday" I nod to say it's ok and go over to the bar where Sebastian is

"(Y/N), hey" Seb gets up with a wide smile and hugs me "enjoying the party?" I hug him back. he pulls away "yeah it's amazing. free food, free booze" I laugh and lightly hit his arm "and seeing your friend on his birthday, don't forget that" he chuckled "yeah that too" we shared more laughs and had more drinks together. during our time together, I could feel eyes on me. I look around the room to see none other than Chris glaring at Sebastian. I smirked and pretended not to notice him, wait why is he glaring at Seb for? does he like me? nah probably not

Sebastian leaned into me "I really like your dress by the way" I blush "thank you. just something I threw on" he wrapped his arm around me "well either way, it looks gorgeous on you" I giggle and hold onto his arm. I think that was the breaking point for Chris because he came marching over to the two of us "hi Seb, I gotta borrow (Y/N) for a chat" Sebastian smirked "yeah no bother" and with that, Chris had grabbed my arm and dragged me to the closest empty room

"what was that about?" I ask him and he scoffs "don't act so innocent doll" I blush at the pet name "I don't know what you mean" "should I talk about how you flirted with Sebastian and didn't try to hide it?" I bit my lip and let a little 'oh' escape "yeah oh. you don't get to flirt with other guys and not get away with it" I gave him a confused look "but we're not even toget-" before I could finish my sentence I was cut off by Chris' lips on mine. i gasp a little in surprise but didn't pull away, instead I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck to pull him in more

when he pulled away, I could feel myself start to blush "how about we change the face the we aren't together?" my eyes widen "Y-you mean-" he nodded "yes I do. (Y/N), do you want to be my girlfriend?" I nod and hug him "yes I do. I never though you would ask. I liked you for so long and your mom and even Scar said I should ask you out but I never though you liked me in that way i always tjought-" again, he cut me off with a kiss. when I pulled away, we both chuckled "shall we go back out to your party Mr. Evans?" he smirked and nodded "we shall Ms. (L/N)" I honestly couldn't have asked for a better night than this. spending it with all my friends and my now boyfriend. that was by far one of the best days ever

[miraculousagentsofkrypton]

Real or Not Real?

This is on AO3 as well. Chapter 2 was just posted there.

Davis stepped up to the vendor, ordering a hot dog while glancing around furtively. What Mrs. Luthor could possibly want with some bubbly blonde reporter he didn’t know, but he wasn’t planning on asking. He had a lot on the line, and her offer made this one small mission worth it. He didn’t have to do much, just get close enough. Luthor had promised that it wouldn’t do any permanent damage, so he’d accepted.

There she was, on her way towards to Catco building. She held a coffee tray in one hand, and a notepad in the other. Grabbing the proffered hot dog, he casually moved in behind her as she passed by. He fingered the device with his free hand nervously.  He sped up, and purposefully brushed it against her hand lightly. She paused mid-step for half a second, barely a hesitance, but his breath caught. She continued on as before, and his breath released. Done. That was all there was too it. Keeping up his brisk pace, he left her behind, and never looked back.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Kara headed for James’ office with the coffee tray in hand. She stopped at Eve’s desk, offering her the extra cup she was carrying. “Good morning Eve. How are you doing?” Kara greeted with a smile, adding jokingly, “James isn’t pushing you too hard is he?”

The bubbly assistant grinned back, taking the proffered beverage. “No Ms. Zor-El, and I’m doing just great!” She winked. “You’re a bit late. Better get in there before he starts shouting for Kira.”

Icy fear shot through her, and she stared, dumbfounded, as Eve giggled. “What did you just say?” she forced out.

The smile slipped from Eve’s face. She cocked her head, and said, “You’re a bit late? I’m sorry, was that too familiar of me?”

Kara shook her head, urgently clarifying, “No. Um, I meant, what did you call me?”

“Ms. Danvers?”

Kara’s spiking heartrate slowed. Oh . Why on earth had she thought Eve, of all people, would call her Ms. Zor-El? Her mind must have been playing a trick on her. Shaking her head, she tried to reassure Eve. “Oh. Sorry, I thought you said something else. Plus, haven’t I asked you to call me Kara?”

Eve nodded, the smile reforming, albeit confusedly. Fiddling with her hands, Kara continued into the office. The spooky incident had spiked her adrenaline. Taking in a deep breath, she released it slowly and let a smile expand on her face. James looked over as soon as she came in and smiled in greeting as Snapper Carr continued addressing everyone.

As soon as Snapper Carr took notice of her though, he addressed her mockingly, “Oh, Danvers, so glad you could join us. As a reward for your stellar punctuality, you get the closing animal shelter downtown. “

Kara brightened. Oh she knew I was supposed to be a punishment, but that animal shelter really mattered to her. She volunteered there on some weekends. Maybe if she got the word out it could help save it, or find the animals homes at the very least. “Yes sir.”

He rolled his eyes. “Kevin, you get the Lord Tech interview…”

Kara searched her bag for her notebook, so she could write anything important down, but when she looked back up, Snapper looked kind of… fuzzy? Yep, his shape was looking less and less out of focus. She rubbed her eyes. What the heck? Everything else looked just as crystal clear as it usually was, but even his voice was becoming muffled. A glance at everyone else’s faces confirmed she was the only one experiencing the strange phenomenon. Making sure to keep herself from straight up gaping at him, she thought hard about possible causes. Nothing about this made sense.

“Kiera? Keira!”

“Oh, yes?”

She turned away from the blurry man to look straight into the eyes of Cat Grant. She stepped back in surprise, but one blink later James Olsen stood back in her place. Something was seriously wrong.

“Kara, are you ok? You’re looking really pale.”

James’ worry was apparent, and not without just cause. Supergirl did not just turn really pale out of nowhere. But just as quickly as it had come, everything had gone back to normal. Snapper looked fine, and she’d stopped hallucinating.  She seemed fine now. Maybe her exhaustion had gotten to her for a moment. She could handle whatever it was for now, and she’d head to the DEO for a checkup later if it continued. So she assured him nothing was wrong, and the meeting continued with no further incidents.

The next incident didn’t happen until later, when she sat down to work on the article. It seemed she had barely started when she looked at the clock to see 4 hours had passed, and the screen in front of her showed a full, complete article that she had no memory of writing. Kara blinked. Reading through the magical article brought no familiarity, aside from the fact that it sounded exactly like her. Ok, she definitely needed to go to the DEO now. She stood abruptly, and headed to the elevator, darkness swirling on the edges of her vision. She staggered into a see through James on her way.

“Woah, Kara. What’s going on with you today?” he groaned, still aching from their collision.

She clung to him, the dark swirls growing and in a world that felt like it was collapsing around her. “Somethings very wrong with me. I need Alex.”

He said something in reply, but she ability to understand him faded. She found herself being pulled the rest of the way to the elevator, but it was difficult to tell with all her senses shutting down around her. Then she was gone.

Silence greeted her as she came into awareness. She hadn’t experienced anything close to quiet since she’d arrived on earth. Everything, from her own breath to the dog in the other side of town, flooded her ears constantly. One might think the silence would have been relieving, but to Kara it was panic inducing. She strained her ears, hoping to hear anything, but searching for something very specific. Where was Alex’s heartbeat? Winn’s? Anyone’s?

Nothing.

Her eyes snapped open, but it did the opposite of help. Black nothingness surrounded her. She blinked frantically, hoping something would change, but it didn’t. Pushing her arms outward, they didn’t even fully extend before hitting the insides of the pod. She ran her hands over the whole surrounding surface desperately, but all she felt were overwhelmingly close walls on all sides. She couldn’t even try to pretend to be calm. The darkness, the tiny pod… the silence; this was the phantom zone from her memories, cut off from everyone and everything she'd ever known.

No. Nonononono.

Her thoughts scrambled, registering nothing beyond pure terror. Was the descent back into the terrified child who spent decades here really so quick? Or had she never even left in the first place. The doubt had occurred to her before. She couldn’t deny it.  The question, was Earth really real? Could she have really been so lucky as to be taken in by the Danvers? To be a superhero, saving the world time and time again after her own world was destroyed? Or was it all the dream of a desperate, traumatized girl who couldn’t handle reality, stuck in an endless void with little else to do but dream?

The day had been so crazy, as if the dream was ending, finally collapsing after so many years.Stop. She couldn’t go down that road. Alex was real. Her sister was not a figment of her imagination. Her breath came in quick spurts as she tried to reign the panic in and focus on the problem at hand. She needed to figure out how she’d gotten here, and what had truly happened. Last thing she remembered before the day had started falling apart was coming into work in the morning with a muffin for Eve. Wait… a coffee.

She’d forgotten. Already, the finer details were slipping away like the morning after a good dream. Except, no peace came with this wakeup call. She had to think harder, how could she have possibly traveled thousands of miles to the phantom zone in an instant? Black Mercy This reminded her of waking up in her old room back on Krypton and having her memories slowly slip away. Whatever had caused this had to be some kind of reverse Black Mercy, instead of her greatest desire, it created her greatest fear. Ok, she’d just have to hold onto her memories tighter this time.

The best way to stick things in your brain, besides writing, is to say them out loud, so she started talking, “I am Kara Danvers. I have a sister named Alex Danvers who loves me. I have friends named Winn Schott, Lena Luthor, and James Olsen. I am Supergirl and I save people on Earth. – “

What if the black mercy was just another dream that mixed with this one? What if it’s really not real?

Kara screamed behind gritted teeth, clutching her head, as if that could force the thought out, and continued her chant stubbornly. “I have cousin named… Kal-El. He had another name. What was it? What was it?!  Urgh. I am Kara Zor-El. I have a loving sister named Alex Danvers. My best friends are Winn, Lena, and James. I am … a superhero named… Kara Zor-El. I have a loving sister named Alex Danvers. I have three amazing friends.”

The dark nothingness and silence of the zone tugged at her memories, pushing feelings of despair and hopeless grief in their place. But Kara held on to her memories of Alex tightly, keeping the image of her dark red/brown hair and loving brown eyes firmly in the forefront of her mind.

Soon she was left chanting the same phrase over and over, “I am Kara Zor-El and my sister Alex loves me.”

Kara chanted that phrase for a very long time before it dissolved into pure sobs. She couldn’t move in the restricting pod, forever trapped. Butthe silence… the silence. She’d spent years hearing anything and everything. She’d developed coping mechanisms by focusing on her family’s heartbeats. Proving to herself that she wasn’t alone, drowning out the rest of the world and just breathing in their very existence. That relief had been snatched away, leaving her floundering in an endless, unchanging void.

You can only scream and cry for so long before all that’s left is oppressive despondency. She watched as the darkness swirled, and as what originally seemed like nothing revealed itself to be almost alive. Light did not exist in the phantom zone, yet somehow she could see it, could feel it all around.

The silence left her alone with her thoughts, with thoughts of Krypton, of Alex, and of the many other dreams she had had in the phantom zone. Sometimes she wondered if even Krypton had been real, or if she had simply always been a part of the phantom zone. Sometimes she could almost hear, on the edges of her consciousness, the whispers of those long gone. Of those who’d never even existed. She heard the voice of Alex pleading for her to come back.

Wait… her voice was getting louder. A bright light burst though, and the phantom zone melted around her, transforming into a sterile lab. Kara shot up, hands outstretched as far as they would go. The light burned her eyes, but she didn’t dare close them, afraid of returning to the eternal darkness that imprisoned her.

The blurry form of Alex swam into view. “Oh, thank Rao! I was so scared!”

Alex pulled Kara into a tight hug that she could barely feel. That seemed strange. In most dreams, she could feel things. She remembered the hug her mother had held her in before her planet exploded, and she remembered the love she had felt, but also the fear. She wondered if that had been a dream as well.

Chapter 2