#only one chapter left -- unless there's an epilogue :D

[cosmic-adventurers]

Submission for @hurtcember (Alternate Prompt: Don't Leave. A bit backdated, since it was posted on AO3 on 12/8/24, but it honestly could fit that day's prompt, "Cuddle," too. So, I guess, both? :D) Summary:

With an Accounting exam inconveniently scheduled on Samhain, Bonnie sends Damon and Elena to collect leaves from a nearby lake for her evening ritual. Little do they know that on this day, when the veil between worlds is at its most delicate, the lake becomes a portal — one activated by intense emotion.

Takes place during an alternate S7 where Elena has yet to take the Cure, and was able to avoid being placed under Kai's spell. Chapter Summary: The magical lake sends Elena though space and time to encounter a past, humanity-devoid Damon in 1994, while he's trapped in a shed, awaiting the annular eclipse to retrieve his daylight ring. Fandom: The Vampire Diaries Pairing: Damon/Elena Rating: M Chapter Tags: banter, humanity switch, memory magic, blood-sharing, copious use of sarcasm, angst, humor, humanity comes back with a bang, time travel, emotional hurt/comfort Word Count: 6,308

Everything within Damon seethed.

An active volcano that trembled beneath the surface. While the flimsy shade provided by the battered shed afforded him physical protection from the scalding sunlight, everything within him made up for it by burning with disdain – smoldering, simmering, erupting beneath the surface as he replayed Stefan’s words for what felt like at least the twentieth time in the last hour. 

Beneath the scalding fires of contempt providing a convincing cover for the anger, however, Damon’s heart contorted with pain.

Saint Stefan had stolen his daylight ring, and locked him in this ridiculous shed – declaring all the world safe from his debauched, blood-consuming brother like some kind of Undead Mother Teresa.

Fucking idiot. Snapping his neck, pissing him off, and counting on the sunlight to keep him at bay on the day of an eclipse. Maybe getting all those love-kicks to the head while trying to drain Bambi really did knock his sense loose.

Damon had been so close to turning his humanity back on – right on the verge of it. All he wanted was to rebuild the bond with his brother, reclaim a connection he hadn’t felt since he was human, but instead…

"I’m not trying to screw up your dumb, new life.”

“You don’t have to try, Damon. All you have to do is exist.”

The words tore into his brain, scorching themselves into the deepest fibers of his soul, marking it like his father’s cigars did his skin when he was a defenseless youth. He touched the space on his forearm where they had once been, the twin circular scars – each not 20 millimeters in diameter – a small wound for one that burned so deep. One of the first experiments conducted by Dr. Whitmore was to skin the scarred flesh and examine how it would regrow. After several agonizing days, it grew back clear. In time, he’d replace that disturbingly unblemished space with a tattoo, to remind himself to focus on the present – despite what’d he’d realized was a craving to see the scars embedded on his arm, instead of where they’d come to reside, deep inside. The only remnant of that Thanksgiving night now lived in his soul – the caustic threats his father would make against Stefan if Damon refused to confess to a crime he didn’t commit, leading to just one of many punishments he’d take to protect his brother.

Giuseppe Salvatore was the first person to ever make Damon realize just how unwanted, reviled his existence was. Lily was the second, idly standing by while he burned, and bled, and openly yearned for any semblance of affection with the naive earnestness befitting of a child. He’d learned to release such silly notions long before his peers, instead donned the most reliable companion he’d had since – his scintillating wit, his sardonic smirk – his nigh-impenetrable walls that swiftly hid all trace of vulnerability between a well-placed quip or sharp retort.

And now the Patron Saint of Hair Gel and Perpetual Frown Lines was picking up the mantle. Stefan was always such a sucker for family traditions.

It was time to get rid of that painful, physical reminder. Remind himself that where he lived – the here and now – nothing would ever hurt him this way again. 

Damon took a quick glance through a crack in the siding. He had no idea how long he’d actually been out, but the Sun still looked too dangerous for his planned excursion.

Trapped in the shed where he could do nothing but wait until the Moon covered enough of the Sun’s surface for him to strike.

He’d felt the first stirrings of his humanity only weeks prior, the faintest bouts of empathy sneaking through when he fed, when he came close to snuffing out the light from his latest snack. He felt guilty, ashamed – perhaps it could just let this one go, he argued inwardly, when he drank his fill.

It was so sudden and unexpected that he nearly choked. What the hell? Where did that even come from? But the thoughts persisted.

What if someone waited for them, loved them? He fought the feelings off with something akin to revulsion, but they persisted.

Before he could stop himself, he sent a bouquet of apology flowers to Lexi, remorseful about his less-than-considerate trap for her on a hot, sunny New York City roof – and her without a daylight ring. At the time, he thought it was hilarious – and hitting the Reverend of Self-Righteousness right where it hurt, after he sent his glorified lackey of a bestie instead of coming himself, was too satisfying to resist.

It was the perfect revenge – until it wasn't.

The lingering empathy that slowly fought to creep forth from beneath the bowels of its decades-long prison sentence burned into his behavior. He even began to pen a note, expressing concern for his misdeed, before catching himself as though the offending paper scalded him, and quickly tossed it into the flames.

Nevertheless, he found himself on the front steps of the Boarding House with a newspaper in hand, wryly announcing the news of Kurt Cobain’s death to a less-than-pleased Stefan.

Or he could have been ecstatic. Who could tell? Stefan's been working the 'perma-frown chic' vibe ever since he sprouted fangs and started hanging out with Betsy Buzzkill.

What followed his begrudging invitation into the house was a ridiculous series of character tests through which Damon sailed with sardonic finesse, because he’s awesome, until he didn’t. The Purity Police found bite marks on the wrist of one of the boarders – apparently one romantically involved with Zach. Okay, fine, maybe feeding on Steffie’s special human friends wasn’t exactly the best show of burgeoning humanity, but he was at least trying, wasn’t he?

A pparently not, according to the Condescending Crusader, because the next thing Damon knew, he was in a sooty shed, recovering from a broken neck and a scorching case of regret.

He should have known better.

But even as Damon recalled the events that led him here, he felt the pain sliding down, slipping beneath the surface, like molten lava retreating into the depths of an active volcano. Down it went. Underneath – where it could no longer burn – where nothing hurt.

Below the walls he’d spent years cultivating, slithering past a switch that had been such a constant companion over the last few decades that he’d known its face almost better than his own.

It beckoned him smugly –��you naive fool, it said, twisting in the spaces, sweeping and cleansing, removing all traces of what made him care, made him love. You’re only safe when we’re together, when you’re under my protection, it whispered.

And with a satisfying mental ‘click,’ Damon’s humanity was unceremoniously shoved back down, behind its stalwart lock, its short-lived escape attempt little more than fleeting fancy – a silly sojourn into hope that he should have never allowed himself.

He could still feel rage, hate, contempt. But the pain was gone, the sorrow, any trace of empathy, of compassion. The desperate yearning for affection, for love. All sealed away.

Just like before. As it should be.

Damon could breathe again. Could plot.

Good. No one would be able to hurt him this way. Not Stefan, not memories of his father, his mother. Not even Katherine, when it came time to release her from her subterranean confinement. He wasn’t a fool. He knew that Katherine loved his brother more, and there was absolutely no way he would expose himself to the anguish of unrequited love ever again.

Sure, he’d save her. They’d have their fun. But she’d never be able to hurt him again. No one would.

He felt every empathetic instinct within him tremble against a nigh-impenetrable vault, hidden away, banished – his humanity, forgotten. He knew that coming here was a bad idea. He never should have come back.

Damon carefully pressed himself against a wall where he was able to get a safe peek at the Sun without combusting into vampire flambe. It looked partly covered by the Moon’s shadow already.

The annularity was less than an hour away, and then he’d get his ring back. And he’d show Stefan just how well his existence could screw up his dumb, new life.

Damon was so lost in the formation of his plot to bullet out the second the annularity arrived that he scarcely noticed the introduction of a new scent suddenly filling the air. It was curious and familiar. What was it? Lake water? Along with a racing heartbeat and anxious, uneven breaths –

The figure that met his startled eyes nearly knocked his own breath out of his body, barely kept upright in his shock. He recognized those eyes – those wide, expressive, dark doe eyes that haunted his dreams for over a century, except they’d never gazed at him this way before – like a drop of healing water in a withering, scorching drought. 

Not even in his wildest dreams could he imagine Katherine ever looking at him this way.

Or was that how he looked at her? Everything in her tender visage seemed to reflect what he felt – what he would feel had he not locked it away – though the stirrings of it trying to crawl its way back up were undeniable. He fought to shove them back down.

“Damon?” Her voice was a soft whisper carried by the late Spring breeze. But how – how could this be possible?

“Katherine?” The word was out before he could stop himself, astonishment and joy and dizzying awe all fighting within him for control. She was soaked to the bone; her long, dark hair slick against her rounded cheeks, her perfectly kissable, pouty lips. When he finally managed to pull his eyes away, he took in the sight of the rest of her.

She stood in the path of the sunlight, its golden glow brightening her silhouette, illuminating the water droplets that clung to her like crystals. The only cover on her bare, olive skin were still-wet leaves in shades of gold, plastered to her thighs, her hips, the swell of her breasts.

She looked almost ethereal, and far more beautiful than he ever recalled, even in the wilds of his imagination. It was her eyes – the way she gazed upon him – the guileless, unguarded affection, the trust. It pierced him in a way he had no intention to explore.

“What the hell did you just call me!?” The adoring expression was gone in an instant, replaced by boiling outrage as her hands flew to her hips.

O-okay? Well, that was certainly … a reaction. Damon raised his hands in playful mock-supplication, but every instinct within him was suddenly on alert. “Katerina, then – if you prefer?” Was she looking to test just how much he’d learned about her former life – a desire to return to the girl she once was before donning the specter of immortality? Or was this another ruse? Katherine always did have a fondness for capricious behavior. “Kitty-Kat? The Cunning Katastrophe?”

“I am not Katherine.” He could practically feel the growl resonating from deep within her. Wow. Damon had seen enough involuntary displays of emotion in his lifetime to recognize one, and this girl was certainly triggered. Well, obviously, she seemed to know Katherine – and based on the rage that the comparison incited, she probably knew her personally. Was she under a glamour spell that gave her Katherine’s exact appearance? Just how old was she? She had to be older than him, right? If she was acquainted with Katherine.

Unless there were two of them? That’s kind of hot. His imagination began to run wild before he had to forcibly rein himself back in.

Or was there an entirely different kind of spell in place? If Steffi-saur the Sour Knight wasn’t above snapping his neck and stealing his daylight ring, who’s to say he wouldn’t inject a hallucinogen into his veins, or scheme with a witch to mess with his mind?

And not the fun kind, either. Fuck, he sometimes really missed the ‘60s.

“What I’d prefer would be to never be compared to a raging narcissist with chronic backstabbing disorder,” she replied hotly, eliciting a charmed grin from Damon at her admittedly accurate description of his vampiric former paramour. She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting adorably. 

“Okay, then, ‘not-Katherine,’” he replied with what he liked to think were an artful use of air quotes, “who are you, exactly?”

Her response was immediate and involuntary, and something within Damon’s heart clenched at the sudden devastation written into the sudden downturn of the corners of her lips, the light fading from her eyes as she glanced away from him. “You don’t know me,” she breathed. Either this girl had no poker face whatsoever, or she was the best actress he’d ever seen.

“I usually don’t make it a habit befriending escaped water nymphs,” he replied wryly, his lips twitching into a smile that was far too kind for his liking, so he immediately masked it by flashing his eyes at her in a flirtatious manner that most found devastating. “Though I definitely approve of the fashion statement.” He couldn’t tell if he was more bewildered or impressed at how comfortable she was with her nudity around him. Normally, he’d be all about exploring just how far that would go, but since Steffie just hit him with the break-neck special, he was more than a little suspicious.

She laughed, but in a way that unnerved him. There was a warmth to it that set everything inside him ablaze. She was dangerous. He expected immediate desire, perhaps bashfulness. Instead, it was almost as though the light swam back inside her, like she’d come home. “I’m Elena,” she said, taking a seat on the warm grass, tucking her legs underneath her, and gesturing to her ‘ensemble’ wryly, with a cheeky wink. “And this is an experimental look – a girl’s got to explore her options.” Although visibly delighted by his responsive smile, she winced afterward, as though about to ask something that made her uncomfortable. “What is this place?”

He slithered next to her, still wary of her presence, but determined to hide it while surreptitiously investigating her, and shooting her a grin that was positively roguish. “Salvatore family shed – perfect for storing tools, family skeletons, outdated gym equipment, private moping space, three metric tons of hair gel – and, oh yeah, pesky house guests.”

Her smile only widened, gazing at him with a familiar affection, like she was privy to a secret about him that she was unwilling to share. “Mmm,” she hummed, “and would that be you?”

“She’s a fox in both looks and brains.”

She ducked her head, giving it a subtle shake at his antics before the nerves visibly returned. “When is this? What’s today’s date?”

He frowned. “Afraid you spent too long in the underwater kingdom and missed Prom Night?”

“I’m serious, Damon. I – “ She began to chew on her lip, her eyes darting about the space as though struggling to gather her thoughts. “I know you, but you don’t know me. And I have a theory that –”

He narrowed his eyes. This was officially getting strange, and given his track record with weirdness of the witchy-woo variety, he had a sneaking suspicion that Stefan fell down the rabbit hole of self-righteousness all the way to mercenary magic town. Sure, maybe she was telling the truth, and she really was a sweet, earnest, adorable Katherine look-alike who just happened to appear right after Steffie trapped him like a bad doggie, but what are the odds? He got up sharply. “Well, this has been a rousing game of Am I Lying or Just Crazy Pants, but I’m done with whatever it is you’re playing.”

“I’m not playing a game!” It was hard to call the tone of her voice exasperated, when she looked so clearly on the verge of tears. The frustration in her tone quickly evaporated, replaced with worry when her gaze fell onto his hands. “Damon, where’s your daylight ring?”

He studied her for a quarter of a second, but decided to play along. “Count Sulkula decided I needed a time out, so he took my favorite traveling accessory,” he snarked, taking another quick glance through a crack between the boards.

“What do you keep looking at….?” Elena mumbled to herself, following Damon’s line of sight. She stuck her head out into the sunny pasture, hiding the rest of her scantily-clad body – if a bunch of leaves even counted as cover – behind the wall of the shed. “Oh, wow. Is that a transit?”

“Not just any transit,” Damon replied smugly, unable to stop himself from preening just a tad at the thought of executing his plan. “Today’s the annular eclipse.”

Quick as lightning, Elena was back in the shed, looking like she’d just heard the funniest joke of her life but had to use every quark of energy within her from erupting in explosive laughter.

“So…” the corners of her mouth lifted, and she covered a failed attempt at a stifled giggle with her hand. “You’re telling me that Stefan stole your daylight ring on the day of a solar eclipse and then...” She paused, narrowing her eyes in amusement, “left you in an easily-escapable situation, all the while keeping himself and the ring close enough for you to get back if you needed to?”

“Yep,” he said, feeling an entirely different kind of warmth fill his chest, charmed by the adorable stranger. If this was a fever dream, maybe this one wasn’t so bad – she certainly wasn’t the worst company in the world. Maybe – no, no! He needed to stay focused.

“This explains so much,” she mumbled under her breath, chancing another quick peek about this Sun.

“What was that?”

“He’s just not very good with comets, either,” she said, shrugging almost apologetically, though she couldn’t hide the mirth dancing in her eyes as she eyed him speculatively, watching him for a reaction. “What an interesting plan, Stefan has. Did he also plan to shove you into a tank, filled with sharks with ‘frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads?’”

Damon drew his eyebrows together at the range of stilted inflections that was probably meant to be an imitation of someone. “And here I thought my brother’s creepy entanglements began and ended with forest creatures, but I guess he’s expanded to sharks,” he quipped. “Are the laser beams some kind of a new kink of his?”

Elena’s shoulders shook with giggles. “Definitely before nineteen ninety-seven, then.”

While Damon’s immediate response was a suspicious lightness in his chest at his ability to make her laugh, the trajectory of the conversation gave him pause. He looked at her curiously, hoping to cover his growing anxiety that she really was someone sent here to fuck with him, with nonchalance. “Uh huh. And is this the part where you tell me you’ve been sent from the future, here to make me repent and change my ways?” he drawled, sounding almost bored, though the sharpness in his eyes as he slowly circled her said otherwise. “Hate to break it to you, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but you’re a few months early – so you might want to crawl back into that lake where they make Katherine models.” He paused, unable to resist teasing her again. “Though you might actually be an improvement -”

“You are so annoying!” She threw her hands up in exasperation, jumping to her feet. “Fine, yes, Katherine and I are doppelgängers, and I know it’s a lot to wrap your mind around, and I get that I caught you at a weird time, but your paranoia right now would make Klaus blush!” 

He just stared at her. Doppelgängers? And who the fuck was Klaus?

“Why do you keep assuming that this is some kind of trick?” Just as suddenly, however, her dark eyes were alight with determination – a mirth brought on by what appeared to be the formation of an idea. “I got it! I can prove that you can trust me!”

“How’s that?” he asked dubiously, putting some physical distance between them, as he scanned his surroundings for a preying Steffie, waiting in the wings.

She softly gathered the soaked locks to one side, revealing her slender neck. His fangs desperately longed to pierce the inviting flesh. “We blood share.” She must have noticed his immediate reaction, because faster than he could respond, she crossed the distance between them, and his hands were in hers, threading their fingers. “What do you have to lose?”

“My consciousness, for one,” he drawled. “Nice try, honey. What’s the play here? My sulky brother sang you a tale about his hotter, sexier, wittier brother being evil incarnate, then pumped you full of vervain, and hoped I would be dumb enough to take the bait?”

“You can be really frustrating sometimes,” she shot back without any real malice before elongating her own fangs to bite through her wrist. “Here, take a sample – since you’re so paranoid.”

A vampire. Huh. And yet somehow definitely not Katherine. He brought the wrist to his lips, taking an experimental sip. The first taste immediately filled him with warmth, cascading through his body, lighting his soul – it was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, but all too quickly, she pulled her wrist away.

“Aren’t you curious?” she breathed, her own fangs inching slowly toward his neck. “Don’t tell me Damon Salvatore can resist turning this into a little sanguine exchange love shack?”

“It’s a shed.” He corrected, gesturing wildly, hoping to distract himself and her from the obvious temptation he was feeling.

“Not a very pretty one,” she replied, her eyebrows raised in challenge, before bestowing him with a smirk that looked a little too much like one he’d seen in a bucketful of mirrors. “Except for what’s inside.”

He knew it was a bad idea. Every ounce of logic within him rebelled against trusting this curious creature with his blood, his proximity, his vulnerability – but something within her made it so hard to resist. Oh, what the hell? He was already trapped. If Stefan wanted to turn him into a sexy undead candle, he had plenty of opportunities while he was unconscious.

Without preamble, he allowed his crimson to flood his eyes, his fangs elongating just as he pierced the tender flesh of her neck. His arms coiled around her of their own volition, pulling her close. He hardly had a moment to revel in just how right and good she felt in his arms, as he felt her fangs pierce him.

As soon as the sanguine elixir of her veins flooded his mouth, he felt it.

Love. Brilliant, all-encompassing, unconditional love. Love for him. It blazed through him like a wildfire, scorching him. It soothed him like a gentle wave.

It consumed him.

Damon felt his darkest, most clandestine, battered spaces that he’d fought so hard to keep safe and hidden, filled with her light – soothed with her whispers; kissed by soft lips; embraced and pressed into her heart, beating as one.

He felt her soul – everything inside her, radiant, imbued with light, driven by empathy, illuminating his dark crevices, filling them with warmth. But deeper in, further, he saw pain. Old wounds; guilt; trauma. A tenacious tendency to self-blame, a flicker of her own unworthiness to live. The weight of it almost broke him. How could she – how could someone like her believe this about herself? His only relief was that the wounds were old, nearly healed – the broken parts of her that once threatened to rip her apart were filled with him, a different version of him, holding her together, healing her. He was horrified to discover just how desperately he longed to soothe every ache, help her become whole again.

The nigh-impenetrable wall behind which he hid his humanity was rendered but a flimsy, worn paper screen, ripped apart by the wave of emotion battering against it.

His knees began to buckle under the weight of it as he stumbled back, still holding Elena in his arms, grateful that the wall of the shed against which he desperately leaned wasn’t exposed to sunlight as he fell to his knees, along with her.

When he finally pulled away, he was nearly undone by the gently calm expression on her face – the same soft tenderness he’d seen before. How was her world not completely ripped apart by this? This gargantuan tsunami that shook every foundation he held firm and set every fiber of his soul aflame with her. He fought to catch his breath, desperately searching for his switch but it couldn’t be found – not now. Even his smirk and shield of sarcasm abandoned him.

“I don’t understand.” He looked back at her with tears shining in his cerulean eyes, nearly broken and healed anew with what he just learned. ”How is this possible?”

Elena frowned, visibly confused, before her lips quirked upward in a teasing smile. “Well, this is certainly a surprise. I didn’t think I’d be the one to explain blood-sharing to you.”

“I –” he nearly choked on the wave of renewed feeling, threatening to engulf him whole before he found his voice again. “I know what blood-sharing is. But this!? " He gestured between them wildly. “How is it that you love me that much? I’ve only ever heard about this sort of thing –”

“Really?” Now it was her turn to be puzzled, but the confusion soon evaporated, leaving her enflamed with awe.

“This kind of bond takes a while to build; and you need strong feelings – you need…” he looked away, uncharacteristically bashful, the threat of exposing vulnerability after so many years practically unravelling him, but the hand gingerly cupping his cheek lured his gaze to hers without her even trying. “You need love, on both sides, and it needs to be –” 

Real.

She kissed his lips soundly before he could even finish. He immediately sank into the embrace, one hand reverently touching her cheek while the other wrapped itself fiercely around her waist, drawing her impossibly close as if to meld, become one with her. Her tongue traced a gentle line along his lower lip, beckoning access that he immediately allowed, as waves of wildfire cascaded between them, through them, setting them alight, consumed.

“I never knew it was so rare,” she blurted, gasping for air as soon as they pulled apart, then frowned, looking visibly troubled. “Or did I?”

The sight of consternation on her lovely face pierced his heart, and his lips moved to kiss away the frown between her brows before he could stop himself. “You’re really from the future?” His hands moved to caress her cheeks, her hair. He couldn’t stop touching her.

“You believe me,” she breathed, visibly relieved.

“I can’t think of any other explanation,” he confessed, drawing her back into his arms, needing her close. The sensation of her skin against his, healing wounds he’d forgotten existed – the paradoxical feeling of restorative waters soothing aching burns while simultaneously fueling the fires of desire with the proximity of her touch, her scent, the mesmerizing beating of her heart. He pulled away to look at her again, unable to decide between the two – he needed both, to feel her close and to see her, to experience her in every way. “How long did it take for this to happen - for the connection to form?”

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. She looked stricken; her eyes downcast before she bravely forced herself to meet his gaze again. “I – I'm guessing it took a while.”

His eyebrows were drawn into a mystified line. “You don’t know?”

She appeared to shrink into herself. “I don’t remember,” she correctly quietly. “I, um…” She swallowed the thick lump in her throat, the words broken by the emotion in her voice. “I had some memories erased – memories of us.”

“Why would someone do that to you?”

She winced, a guilty expression settling on her face. “It was my decision. I thought you died, and – “ She took a breath, then looked away. “We knew someone who could compel vampires, and he erased all the good memories of us.”

“But why – why would you do that?” The news shattered a piece of his heart, more potent than a stake. She erased him?

“I don’t know,” she said glumly, hugging her knees to her chest. “But I have a feeling I did something bad, or was about to. And no one wants to tell me the truth. My only clue is my own journal, where I called myself a monster.”

“So, you don’t remember anything about us?”

She shook her head. “Nothing good – not from before you came back. I’m sorry,” she murmured. “It’s strange – how quickly I saw that you weren’t the man from my memories. Falling in love with you – back in love with you, I suppose – it was as natural as breathing,” she said, finally meeting his gaze again, her own glistening with tears, awash with shame that was quickly being replaced by wonder. “So, I can’t really tell you anything about our life before, aside from some stories you told me,” she confessed. “But I know that I love you – more than anything in the world – more than I ever thought humanly possible.” She bit her bottom lip to stop it from quivering as her trembling hands moved to cup his cheeks. “The truth is, I can’t imagine a world where I don’t love you. A part of me wonders if I always did, but I was just too afraid. Every road in my heart leads back to you – and I have a feeling it always has.”

His hands settled over hers, his heart clenching in equal parts by her tears and the weight of her confession. He placed a soft kiss into the pulse point of her palm, a smug satisfaction at her visible shiver. “Everything I saw inside you was beautiful, Elena.” His lips pressed into a thin line, as what he knew rushed back into him, the spell of blood-sharing bliss slowly dissipating in the wake of harsh reality. “So beautiful that I know I don’t deserve you – I can’t, I –"

“The past doesn’t matter, because – because it’s not what you do for me. That‘s not who we are – we’re more than just what we do for each other, more than just our history. That’s not why I love you. I love you for who you are,” she whispered, her eyes darting between his as she placed her hand over his heart. “I love you for this.”

Everything within him threatened to come apart at her words, so he stayed almost impossibly still, for fear that if he let himself so much as breathe, he wouldn’t be able to pull himself back together. The force of it was so overwhelming that he nearly missed the flicker of worry on her face when she looked at her arm. “What’s wrong?”

She chewed on her lip. “I’m not sure how much time we have left, and I'm guessing the lake sent me here for a reason,” she said quietly, before her voice affected a determined tone. “So, I need to ask you, while I still can. I remember having done this with you twice before, and I’ve always sensed old wounds, but this time there was something fresh,” she said, the words tumbling out. “Did someone hurt you?”

He rolled his eyes, summoning every bit of theatricality he could, which wasn’t insignificant, a musically wry timbre back in his voice. “Elena, I don’t get hurt. I –“

“You can’t lie to me, Damon – not after what we just did.” Her thumbs traced the sculpted contours of his cheekbones. “I felt you.”

Damon turned away. He felt ice flood his veins, its grip squeezing, a familiar voice whispering reminders of other times he’d allowed himself to be vulnerable and where it led – where it would always, inevitably lead. But then she pressed her lips to his in a kiss so soft, the open adoration in her expressive, dark eyes so open, so sincere that the voice instantly hushed, its shadow extinguished by her light. “Tell me. Please.”

“Oh, you know,” he quipped, desperate to hide the pain in his voice. “Stef’s been watching a lot of teen dramas lately – Melrose Place, Beverly Hills - and got inspired, thought he’d try out a new trick on the squirrels by monologuing the will to live out of them. It's been making him extra melodramatic.”

She tilted her head to the side in a manner eerily familiar to him, reminiscent of his. “What did he say?”

He waved her off. “Something about ‘blah blah, you don’t have to try to screw up my dumb, new, life Damon, while polishing his morality merit badge. All you have to do is exist.’”

Her reaction was immediate, her eyes widening in horror. “He said you screw things up by existing? That your existence ruins things?”

Damon just shrugged, glancing at the sunbeams entering the shed through the open door, immediately uncomfortable with her reaction, the protectiveness feeling foreign, unfamiliar, undeserved. Not for him.

Elena leaned into him, grabbing his shoulders in an almost too-tight grip. “He’s wrong – you know he’s wrong, right?”

“You’re making a bigger deal out of this than it is, Elena.”

She shook her head emphatically. “You don’t understand!” she cried, her voice trembling, her hand pressed into his chest, over his heart. “Damon, I – I can’t imagine anything worse than you not existing. Every time I try to imagine what that was like, I –” Her voice broke, but she took measured, broken breaths, trying to calm the wild panic that settled inside her when faced with the notion of his absence from the world.

His veneer of indifference broke, wrecked by the passion in her voice, the love he now recognized in her eyes, his own misty, vision blurred against the onslaught. The aching vulnerability he knew reflected in his gaze prevented him from speaking. A cynical part of him wanted to scoff, to chide, to rib – Damon Salvatore, who prided himself at never being lost for a quip, completely unraveled by a string of sappy words. But even that part knew this was much more.

Now calmer, she inched even closer to him, her hands threading through his hair, stroking it in a manner he found hypnotically soothing. “And Stefan doesn’t think so, either – not really. You’ll become a lot closer in the future, too. You've no idea how much he missed you when he thought you were gone. He needs you, too.”

In lieu of words, he took one of her hands, pressing a soft kiss on each finger - a certain, unnamed emotion building within him with each subsequent caress. He wasn’t ready to name it yet, terrified to feel so much so quickly, but as she slid either thigh around his hips to straddle him, pulling him into a passionate kiss, he felt a familiar fire within him build. Desire, he could handle. This –

And just as suddenly, he thought he felt his lips go through hers. His terrified eyes opened to find hers apologetic, her entire form becoming increasingly transparent, a glowing visage of an Autumn lake shining in the distance behind her.

“I think it’s pulling me back, Damon,” she told him softly.

His heart fell. That along with any hope in maintaining composure. “No! You can’t leave yet. Please!”

“We’ll see each other again.” She looked so sure, despite the slight tremor in her voice.

“When?”

“About fifteen years, give or take,” she replied with a wince.

“How do I find you? How – ?” His hands reached out for hers, desperate to feel her again. He wasn't ready for this - he never would be. 

“I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you too much about the future.” A wistful smile graced her lips. She pulled a leaf from her chest, and handed it to him. “From my heart,” she said, her voice quivering. “Where you’ll always be. This will help you remember today – remember me - until we meet again.”

“I don’t think I’d ever be able to forget you,” he told her truthfully, even as he felt his heart shatter.

“I love you, Damon,” she whispered, her voice, an echo distorted by the wind, before the visage disappeared entirely, like she was never there, save for the golden leaf adoringly clasped in Damon’s hand.

The tears that gathered in his cerulean eyes finally fell, leaving delicate trails on his cheek, cooled by the Spring breeze. When his heartbeat finally began to regulate, he was aware enough to notice the slight dimming of the light. The annularity was close.

The sudden flow of empathy searing through his veins made his stomach churn at the thought of killing the boarders, but that didn’t mean he was above a well-placed threat and some theatre to get his daylight ring back.

Clutching the leaf almost reverently, he placed it into the inside pocket of his shirt, above his heart, where he could keep it safe.

Elena...

Even the memory was enough to illuminate his darkest, hidden spaces, filling him with her warmth. Tomorrow, he'd begin looking for Katherine's doppelganger. He’d find her again.

[anjuschiffer]

Amira Wayne - Chapter 22

...two years huh?...

My god, this took waaay to long to write. So many scenes were deleted, revised, trashed... I realized I added a story event way too early and then that affected the entire flow of everything, hell, an entire arc was deleted because i didn't realize my mistake until chapters later...(I was planning on Mari/Jason/Wally/Damian taking the fox miraculous but eh, there goes that...)

Anyways, I'm finally back (for now) to write Amira Wayne! (Unless my new job also starts taking a toll on my mental health like my past one...) We have roughly four chapters left? Maybe five? Six? I know for sure that there’s an epilogue tho. So for sure four. 

Really want to thank everyone for their patience, so please enjoy this chapter and see you in the next :D

-

P.Tag: @toodaloo-kangaroo​ @elijahcrevan​ @vixen-uchiha​ @nathleigh​

Tag: @we-want-mini-mini​ @ramos123​ @bluesimani @redscarlet95​ @greatcatblaze @promiswords @fantasiame @corabeth11​ @anonymously-odd​ @alexandriamw @officiallydarkgeek​ @galla02006​ @maleive07 @jayjayspixiepop​

-

Chapter 22: Family, Friends and Identites (1)

MASTERLIST | FIRST | PREV | A03

Amira woke up with a start, wondering how she arrived on her bed. The last thing she remembered was hugging Mama and...crying. 

Is that why her throat was dry?

“Feeling alright?” Wally spoke up, Amira noticing that he was bringing in a tray of food. “It’s one in the afternoon.” He provided when he saw her searching for her phone. He watched as she opened it up, only to scrunch her nose at whatever it was she saw upon opening it before tossing her phone aside.

“Day?”

“Still Christmas if you’re wondering. Everyone is downstairs.” Amira opened her mouth before closing it again… “We were just seconds behind when we found out where you were…” A silence fell over them. 

“Is…is she here?” She dared to ask, seeing Wally shake his head before letting out a small sigh. 

“Before we left her place, she asked us to give you this.” Wally motioned to a wrapped present on the floor after placing the tray down, Amira taking the envelope he handed towards her. “Or rather, she told me to personally hand it to you. Didn’t say what the contents were.” Wally leaned against the ladder he had halfway climbed. 

“I see.” Was all she could say as she held the envelope in her hands. 

Was it okay for her to open it right now?

Did her father know about it?

“So Talia Al Ghul, huh.” Wally said again, Amira looking at him. “Didn’t expect that twist.”

“It wouldn’t have been a twist had Ra’s allowed my parents to be together.” Wally tilted his head. “They eloped a year before I was born.” Wally fell from the ladder, causing Amira to rush down and help him get up. “You alright?”

“They were going to get married?” 

“They planned it. But it never got further than that.” Amira elaborated, staring at the letter in her hand. 

‘Because Ra’s forbade them to see each other again. He locked her mother up within her own home to prevent her from seeing her father,’ she wanted to add, but stopped upon remembering the threats he told Talia. 

How he used her as a hostage despite being miles away. How he threatened to kill her if Talia dared to step out of line. How he arranged a marriage with another man, the same man who-

“-ease! Amira!” Wally frantically yelled, Amira snapping out of her thoughts, looking at Wally whose eyes held panic. “Can you hear me? Answer me, please…”

She reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. 

“I’m still here…” At least for now. “I just...remembered something that my mother told me about her father...that’s all.” She said, relaxing her hand in his.

She didn’t expect him to hug her, Amira hugging him back after her initial shock. 

“I was worried.” She felt him hug her tighter.

“I figured...sorry about that.”

“I thought-“

“But I’m here...and alright.” A chuckle escaped Wally. 

“A bandaged hand and a bandage on your face doesn’t exactly scream safe you know.”

“Better than actually being dead.” She joked, only to feel him tense. He took a step back to look at her, cupping her face in the process. 

“What do you mean by that?” Amira placed her hands over his. 

“I…Didn’t I-“ Wally shook his head, lowering his hands, holding hers as he did. 

“You passed out after Selina went to find you.” 

“What about Tim? Did he say anything? Because I’m assuming he did if Selina found out I was coming back via zeta-“

“He only told us that. That you were coming back.” Wally tightened his grasp on Amira. “Amira, what exactly do you mean ‘not dead’? What happened at the manor?”

Amira pursed her lips before sighing. 

“Where should I start? From the moment I stepped into the Cave or how I got these injuries?”

“Probably from the Cave.” Just as Amira was about to retell the story, the duo heard rapid footsteps rushing upstairs.

“Marinette!” Chloe yelled, Amira flushing red when she realized she was still holding Wally’s hands, taking a step back, only for the two to get tackled by Chloe. “Marinette!” 

Chloe proceeded to cry, clinging onto Marinette, Wally giving her a small smile as he helped the two back up. “I missed you!”

“Guess I’ll leave to-“

“Chloe! You can’t just- Marinette!” Sabrina was about to scold, only to join Chloe in the group hug. “You’re al-you’re not alright! What happened to your hand? Your face?” 

“Got in a fight with someone and sprained my hand a bit, but I’m alright. And before you ask, no. It wasn’t from the person who “kidnapped” me.” Marinette clarified when she saw anger flash in Sabrina’s eyes. “These were from someone...else.”

Wally narrowed his eyes. “Wally, you don’t have to worry about them anymore. They should be in Arkham right about now.” She assured in English, risking the chance that Sabrina might possibly know the language. As for Chloe, Amira could only hope for her to ignore the comment. 

“I still want to know what happened.” 

“I’ll tell you later. For now,” She gestured at her two friends still hugging her. “Let’s go downstairs. I think it’s about time we let the others know I’m okay, don’t you think?”

-

Tim watched as Bruce frantically stuffed a bag together, watching as he finished placing a silver case over his luggage.  

Amira’s sudden appearance in Gotham and then Ra’s appearance with Damian at the manor followed by Slade’s raid…something was up.

Bruce let out a huff, still attempting to process everything that happened last night, which only reminded him that he needed to make sure he had to be prepared for anything coming their way…especially Amira’s.

Of course, his concern caused him to shut Alfred’s attempts at a proper conversation. He knew Alfred was trying to tell him something, but that could wait.

He needed to go to Paris to make sure Amira was alright.

Bruce’s panicked state also caused a certain someone to want to be filled in with the details, disguising his interest with curiosity.

“Father, why can’t I go?” Damian asked for the umpteenth time, Tim wondering when he was going to stop. 

Seriously, it was starting to become annoying. He’s been at it for the past ten minutes.

“I already told you. You are to stay here and wait for my return.”

“I can help.”

“Damian, I already told you no.” Bruce sternly reminded him. 

“Just-“

“I said no and that is final.” Bruce sternly said, Tim watching Damian promptly shut up. After a very long silence between the two, Damian let out a small huff.

“Very well then.” He made his way to the Batcomputer. “Seems like I have no choice but to stay behind.”

Bruce felt something off, but thought nothing much of it. 

“I should be back within a month or two. Or less.” Bruce pulled the last of his luggage closer to him. “Tim.” Tim straightened. “J’onn will be here shortly to help cover for me until Dick returns. Make sure to show him the ropes.”

“Understood.” Tim answered, only then wondering why J’onn was going to come if- no way. “Did you-”

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.” Bruce reminded Tim, ruffling the boy’s hair. “I’ll be there without hesitation. And if I can't, don’t hesitate to contact Barry or Clark…maybe Oliver if the situation becomes dire.”

All Tim could do was nod as Bruce vanished through the Zeta tube, never feeling the glare he was getting from Damian. 

As he watched his father leave, Damian swerved back to look at the screens in front of him, eyeing the one at the corner, watching as his father left the Parisian telephone booth and walked in a straight line towards a hotel named Le Grand Paris.

Who knew it was so easy to track a single person miles away with the help of a few buttons.

What are you hiding, Father?

-

The sounds of the twins screaming and squealing made Alya groan upon waking up. It didn’t help that she couldn’t find her phone that was constantly going off.

She was sure she had left it beside her pillow last time, having dozed off upon rewatching some of her blog videos while the rest of the family socialized with one another in the living room just hours ago. 

Alya let out a sigh when she saw it on the floor, picking it up while more messages kept coming in. She let out a small smile as she looked at her phone, the class group chat filled with everyone saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to each other, pictures of themselves with family, pictures of their gifts or of them enjoying their day. 

Even Lila had posted a small Christmas breakfast picture, Alya glad she was finally warming up to them...

If only the class would accept Chloe, Sabrina, Adrien and Marinette just as easily. 

Alya had tried to change her classmates’ view on the outcasts, but the class wouldn’t budge. 

Chloe had been a brat since their first year in élémentaire, Sabrina being seen just as equally of a brat as she was always tagging along with her. Adrien being Chloe’s childhood friend gave the class a bad impression of him and they didn’t try to get to know him once they knew that. They rather save the trouble of knowing whether or not it was true opposed to knowing if he was anything like Chloe. And then there was Marinette. 

Thanks to the incident on the first day of school, the class was actually intimidated to approach Marinette, fearing that her demeanor would influence those around her in a bad way, just like it had towards Nino. Ever since Nino started to hang out with her, he has been more opinionated, always taking her side instead of theirs, always bringing up opposing arguments instead of trying to accept their side.

So in fear of having themselves manipulated by the Gothamite, the class chose to stay away from her. Completely.

When Alya saw that the class wouldn’t change their impressions, she gave up. 

As long as she knew that Marinette wasn’t that bad of a person the rest had painted her to be, Alya could tolerate the other three. Especially when she found out that Marinette was on to something in regards to Lila.

Will you really blindly accept the words of a person without doing any type of investigation?

Ever since Marinette told her that, the words ate at Alya’s conscience. 

After jotting down everything that Lila had ever told her, Alya quickly went to research about each claim Lila had spoken since she had arrived at the school, with each passing tale showing that Lila’s trips and stories didn’t add up. Not even remotely.

With a bit of research done, Lila was telling the truth about constantly traveling thanks to her mother’s job, having a hard time making friends as she never stayed in the same school for more than half a year. That Lila did actually travel to Achu, but she never met Prince Ali. How she actually met stars on red carpets, but wasn’t actually close with any of them despite the various photos she’s taken with them. (It was nice to know that with a bit of money and a fake smile, you could trick others into believing a fake relationship between two people.) How she never went to Gotham, completely debunking her story of being at the Gala.

After all, the guest list of the event was revealed the day after, the article also listing the top five donors for M.Wayne’s latest foundation created by his son Jason Todd.

The evidence of Lila’s tales went on for another two pages, but that was enough for Alya to show Marinette that she was still determined to be an actual reporter. Of being someone who snuffed out the truth to share with those around her.

Now, all she had to do was show it to her.

Quickly scrolling through her contacts, it was only then that Alya realized she never asked Marinette for her number, panic rising in her as she tried to think of a way to tell her-

Of course! She could always just visit the bakery!

Grabbing her coat, Alya didn’t care if she was still in last night’s Christmas outfit, shouting a ‘goodbye, I’ll be back’ to her parents and older sister as she ran to the Dupain-Cheng bakery only to stop midway.

How did she forget?

Ever since the incident...Alya never talked to Marinette...never checking in on her...not even once…

She had been so busy trying to figure out what Marinette had meant by the speech the moment before she got akumatized that she never checked in on Marinette the minute the incident was over…because according to Marinette, Jason Todd was dead even though the article covering the gala said otherwise…

According to the article, Jason Todd was alive.

So then...what was the actual truth?

Could Marinette be the one who wasn’t telling the truth? Or was she? Was Marinette even trustworth-

Alya slapped her cheeks with her hands, letting out a whine despite it not hurting.

Why was she thinking that way? 

Right now, Alya had to check on her friend...after all, just what kind of friend doesn’t check in on a bestie after a traumatizing event...who does that?!

But this was it! This was her chance! She could fix that right now… right?

Mustering the courage to mend her mistake, Alya braced herself for a possible lecture as she made her way to the bakery, only to stop once again when she saw an ever so familiar figure make their way in the same direction she was going, or so she thought.

She watched as he turned a corner, his luggage leaving small trails in the once fresh snow.

But even if M.Wayne wasn’t heading towards the bakery...

What was he doing in Paris?

—

“Recognized. Batman. 02.” 

Bruce quickly placed a hat on as soon as he stepped out of the phone booth, hoping that no one nearby would recognize him. After all, he was expected to be in Gotham all day in preparation for the End of Year Gala. 

Without a moment's hesitation, Bruce quickly checked into Le Grand Paris, much to the surprise of the receptionist. 

He wheeled his luggage into Selina’s forgotten suite, sorting his items a bit on the bed before unpacking a few things into the case he had compiled at the Cave. 

Scurrying his way back downstairs and out into the snow, he made his way to the only bakery he knew in Paris: Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Pâtisserie.

—

“Nino! Nino, look!” Nino slowly blinked, trying to keep up with Adrien’s enthusiasm. “Nino, isn’t this the best present or what?” Adrien squealed, a hamster shoved into Nino’s face, Nino only then finally processing what was going on. 

He quickly pushed himself up the sofa, almost slipping off it when his back hit the wall. 

“Dude, don’t just shove that in my face!”

“But Bruno has the cutest face I’ve ever seen! Just look at him!” Adrien exclaimed, snuggling the hamster close to his cheek. “Best Christmas present ever!” 

“Will your dad let you keep him?” 

“If he dares to try and take Bruno away from me,” Adrien let a grin rise to his face. “He’d better be prepared to have a brunet for a son.”  

Nino gawked as Adrien then lit up as he thought of something, watching as he ran up to Selina and motioned to Bruno, once again thanking the woman for his gift. 

Nino watched as Selina smiled and nodded as she proceeded to take out her phone and show him something that caused Adrien to squeal in delight.

Nino allowed himself to smile, his attention from Adrien shifting to elsewhere when he heard footsteps descending from Marinette’s room.

“Baguette!” “Dudette!” Nino and Adrien cried as Marinette stepped down the last step, tackling the poor girl as she tried to process what was going on.

“Are you okay?” “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Hey! Give her some space!”

“Chloe, you’re literally clinging onto her.”

“Hey, um, can I-”

“Well, I was here first!”

“I haven’t seen her since yesterday!”

“Dude, none of us have!”

“Guys, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Your face!” 

“Your hand!”

“Should we track the perpetrator down?” “Did you fight your kidnapper on your own?”

“Guys, can I-”

“Everyone!” Wally finally spoke up, making the group stop. “Marinette needs some space.” The quad of friends looked at their friend, noticing her staring off, quickly backing up from her, allowing Wally to guide her to a seat in the living room.

They watched as he coaxed her into looking at him and when she did, Wally spoke to her before she seemed to have snapped from her state, looking at her friends before looking at the floor.

“Sorry…about that.” Marinette spoke up, lifting her head up to look at the worry on her friends’ faces. “That…that’s never happened before…”

“We should be the ones apologizing.” Sabrina said, quickly standing up and sitting next to Marinette, placing her hand over hers. “You just got up and-”

“-we’re just glad to see you again.” Adrien softly cut off, giving her a small smile, everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

“Gave us quite the fright there.” Nino admitted, “not exactly the best way to start Christmas, as far as I know,” he said, letting out a nervous laugh, hoping to lighten the mood.

“That’s right!” Sabrina cheered up, clapping her hands together. “This is your first time celebrating Christmas with friends, isn’t it Marinette?” Marinette stared at her wide eyed, looking at Chloe and Adrien for confirmation and when they nodded, she stood up.

“Presents. Let’s hurry and exchange presents.” Marinette declared, Wally stifling a laugh at her panicked demand. 

“Adrien already opened his!” Nino snitched, getting a ‘hey’ from said boy.

Marinette watched as everyone soon got up to grab the gifts they had brought for each other, feeling Wally reach over for her hand, tugging her to sit back down.

“Are you sure you’re okay? We don’t-”

“I’m fine.” Amira assured him as she sat back down, watching as her friends exchanged gifts with each other. “Plus, I owe them for ruining-”

“You didn’t ruin anything. After all, you didn’t expect that to happen. Hell, none of us did.”

“Still,” Amira watched as Chloe shrieked upon Adrien introducing her to Bruno while Sabrina squealed at the beret Chloe had gotten her. She yelled about having wanted it for a while and how it was made by some high end designer. “I ended up ruining Adrien’s hard work in planning this out for us.”

“If anything, I think it brought all of us closer.” Wally countered, noticing Jason peeked from the doorway of the apartment. “Closer to the point of unbreakable.”

Amira followed Wally’s line of view, getting up when she saw Jason, causing everyone to freeze.

“Well, don’t stop the party because of me,” Jason stepped forward with a wagon filled with presents, Amira noticing Dick quickly making his way out of the apartment with a phone pressed to his ear. “If anything, let’s get this party going!”

Who was Dick talking to?

-

Alya rang the bell for what she believed to be the third time, glancing to her sides as she waited for an answer. When no one came down, she rang again, now starting to get anxious. 

Why was no one answering?

As far as she knew, Marinette was still home, at least according to the conversations she eavesdropped from Adrien and the rest of the group before break had started. According to Adrien, Marinette didn’t have any plans for the holidays. No family visits, no party -zilch. 

So then, why wasn’t she-

“-haven’t come down yet?” A voice spoke up from behind Alya, Alya quickly jumping once she registered the voice. “Sorry about that! Didn’t mean to scare you.” The woman apologized, stretching out her hand towards Alya. “I’m Barbara. What about you?”

“Alya…” Alya answered cautiously, shaking Barbara’s hand. “Wha-What were you trying to ask me earlier?”

“Oh! Simply asked if the person you were trying to ring had come down yet, but judging from the fact that we’re still out here, I’m guessing no.”

“She should be here though.” Alya persisted, staring at the complex’s door. “Marinette-”

“Marinette?” Barbara chirped, Alya wondering how this lady knew her friend. “As in Marinette Dupain?” 

“Y…yes…although her full name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng…”

“Oh that’s right, Tom married Sabine- anyways, what a coincidence. I’m also here to see Marinette so don’t worry!” Barbara gave Alya a grin, motioning to a box with holes she had held close to her chest. Rustling was heard coming from within the box, perking Alya’s curiosity. “Someone should be coming down to-”

“Babs! You got it!” Dick cheered, causing Alya to jump upon hearing English, wondering who this was.

“Dick!” Dick? Wasn’t that like, an offensive term -insult maybe?- towards another person back in America? “What took you so long? I’m freezing over here!”

“Sorry about that,” ‘Dick’ said, sheepishly grinning as he offered Babs to walk into the building, only then noticing Alya. “And who might you be?” ‘Dick’ asked in perfect French.

“I-I’m Alya, sir.” She noticed him flinch, his smile becoming strained. “I’m Marinette’s friend from-”

“Mimi’s friend?!” Dick squealed, Alya registering how quickly his mood changed upon mentioning- Mimi? Who was Mi-

“Come on Dick, A- who’s this?” Another voice joined, Alya quickly noticing the other boy who she guessed followed ‘Dick’ downstairs. His red hair clicked something in her mind. Why did he look kinda familiar?

“My name is Alya! I came to talk to Mari-”

“Come on you bozos! Let the girl in already!” Barbara scolded, “It’s already as cold as it is and you’re making it worse by leaving that door open.” She then motioned to the box in her hands. “Also, I need one of you guys to take a video of Amira’s-”

“Who’s Amira?” Alya asked, causing the other three to momentarily freeze, blocking the entire staircase.  

“Ah, good question.”

“You see-“

“Cesaire.” Chloe cut off, causing everyone to jump. As if her tone of saying the other girl’s name wasn’t hostile enough, Chloe’s glare clearly told them she wasn’t exactly on good terms with Alya. “What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you that.” Alya asked, also glaring back at the other.

Oh…it's mutual.  “Why are you here?” Alya frowned when Chloe scoffed at her.

“Why should I be telling you my business? You should be minding your own bees- oh my- he’s rubbing off me.” Chloe cleared her throat, “I’m here because of a Christmas party that Adri-”

“Christmas party? But I thought Marinette-”

“What is everyone doing here?” Selina barged in, sighing as she caught onto the situation with a single glance. “Dick, Wally. Head back to the party. Babs. I need you to tell these two girls that if they want to fight, to take it outside. I’m not going to let them add more stress to Ami-Marinette’s-” Selina noticing the two girls perk at the name, “-day. She’s still recovering and she needs to relax, not find out that two of her…classmates are fighting right outside her home.” 

With that, she stepped back into the apartment, leaving the three girls to handle the situation.

“I’m guessing you two aren’t exactly friends, but are with Marinette…right?” Barbara asked, just to confirm her theory.

“Of course I am!” The girls said in unison.

“For Marinette’s sake, Selina wants the two of you to settle your argument outside. Marinette is still recovering and she wants to make sure Marinette doesn’t get any more stress than what she already has to deal with already. Although to be honest, I think the same can be applied to me.”

“You?” Alya asked, wondering once more what this woman had to do with Marinette.

Giving the younger girl a small smile, Barbara gave her answer.

“We…We didn’t exactly last see each other on good terms… I… I stole something very precious to her without knowing…or rather…she found out I was the one who stole something precious from her without me knowing..” That’s all Barbara told them as she continued to walk up the stairs. “Come on now, we got a party to get to…or do the two of you actually plan on going outside to duke it out?”

Both girls looked at each other and huffed, following the older one into the apartment.

Guess it's a truce for now.

-

Why did the universe hate her so much?

“Nino, what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t friends with Chloe?”

“Alya? I thought you were at home, celebrating with your family? And for the record, I'm friends with everyone in this room, except Bruno. He still has to prove himself.” Nino gestured to the hamster in Adrien’s hands.

“Leave my child out of this!” Adrien cried.

“Adrikins, he’s a ra-” Chloe started, only for Sabrine to cover her mouth.

“Don’t you dare call Bruno a rat unless you want him to go hysterical.” Sabrina warned her.

“Dick…I thought Jason-” Dick quickly silenced Babs by screaming and pulling her to the kitchen.

“Is that the girl who you said became Batg-” Amira never saw Wally throw a pillow so quickly at another person without hesitation, watching how Jason almost fell back from the impact.

The room had gone almost silent, no one knowing what exactly to do. 

Amira could only stare as she watched her friends and family bicker and whisper to each other, occasionally looking back at her.

Were they talking about her?

Why were they looking at her like that?

Did she do something wrong?

Should she not have done any of-

“-mira. Amira, māomāo, what’s wrong?” Selina quietly asked her, snapping her from her thoughts. Selina didn’t expect her to tackle her, wrapping herself around her waist. “Amira, everyone’s worried about you. Are you alright?”

Amira could only shake her head in response, feeling a lump in her throat. “Do you still want to continue the party?” She nodded, even though it was a hard thing to do. “Do you want to open Alfred’s present first?” Amira quickly whipped her head to look at her, Selina letting out a chuckle upon seeing her sparkling eyes, failing to see Adrien’s eyes widened at the mention of the name.

“Yes please.” 

Amira watched as Selina motioned Barbara to come forward, noticing a large box in her hands. 

“Hi…Marinette.” Barbara managed to say, carefully choosing her next words. “Alfred sent you this. He said to not worry what your father will say about it. After all, B can never say no to him.” Barbara tried to smile, but faltered. “Marinette, I …I have so many things I want to talk about and I-”

“If you’re asking me to forgive you for what you did to me back in Gotham…about the thing you did behind my back,” Amira started, placing her hands over Babs’. “I already forgave you for that,” Amira admitted, taking the box and placing it on the sofa. “Coming to Paris gave me time to think things over and…you’re doing a good job of-” 

Amira was tackled into a hug, not helping letting a smile out. 

“I’m so sorry Mars.” Babs squeezed her tighter. “Thank you for forgiving…I missed you…”

“I missed you too, Babs.”

“Come now māomāo,” Selina coaxed, not noticing the way Adrien’s eyes twinkled, his smile turning into a grin. “Let’s see what Alfred got you.”

Amira nodded, carefully opening the box, letting out a gasp at the sight of her latest friend.

“What in the Gods’ name is that?!” Chloe shrieked upon laying eyes on the creature. 

“A cat!” Amira cheered, bringing the sphynx cat out of its box, Sabrina letting out a coo when Marinette let her near the feline.

“That’s a cat?” Nino whispered to Adrien, who held his hamster close to his chest. 

“Kitten here is a boy, if you’re wondering.” Selina chirped in once she examined the cat and held it towards Amira, Amira giggling when the cat licked her. “What are you going to name him?”

“Liebling.” Amira confidently spoke, cradling the cat into her arms. “His name shall be Liebling.”

“Does this mean we’re going to start opening up the gifts?” Nino softly asked, feeling a hand on his shoulder, only to find Adrien give him a grin. 

“You bet and Nino, you’re gonna want to sit down for yours.” 

While everyone started to gather around the Christmas tree to hand each other their gifts, Alya simply stood near the kitchen, watching as everyone mingled with each other, laughing with one another. 

Was she the only one who thought she was friends with Marinette? 

Just what exactly was she to her?

Weren’t they friends?

-

Quickly making his way to the Dupain-Cheng residency, Bruce couldn’t help but notice the laughs and cheering echoing through the hallway as he entered the building and then into the apartment moments later.

Christmas music was playing in the background, the living room decorated from wall to wall in ribbons, reindeers, snowflakes…the list went on.

As he entered the room, he could feel the warmth radiating from the children chatting with themselves.

He also couldn’t help but notice gifts unwrapped and already in use. 

Chloé proudly wore a black cape wrap, yellow fluffy trimmed the edge of it. She had a few presents at her feet as she spoke with Sabrina who sported a cyan beret, a few embroidered mice motifs around the front of the beret.

Adrien had already opened his, the hamster Selina and Amira haven chosen rested on the boy’s lap, Adrien coaxing the tiny rodent to eat another piece of vegetable. 

Nino still looked starstruck from his gift, hesitating to place his fingers on the brand new DJ controller Adrien had gotten him, bringing his hands closer to it before quickly flinching away from it. Seems like he was also jittery around the camera bag by his feet as he stopped himself from stepping on it, Bruce noticing the separate lens bag nearby. Perhaps Chloe got him that.

“You just missed the first few rounds of present exchanges.” Selina whispered as Bruce placed his silver case down. “And you just missed Babs as well. She says Merry Christmas.”

The kids haven’t noticed him. Good. 

“Where’s Amira?” He dared to ask, feeling an all familiar pair of eyes boring through him, causing him to become unsettled. 

“Well, thank you for asking how I am doing.” Selina stated, digging her nails into his arm when she hooked her arm into his. She then pecked his lips. “As for Amira, she’s in her room with the boys and Babs; she wanted to quietly give Dick his gift without any prying eyes that weren't family.” Selina added, Bruce noticing how she was no longer digging her nails into his arm but was now grasping it tightly. 

“What’s wrong?” He softly asked her, taking her arm off him and now holding her hand, which she quickly jerked away from. “Selina? 

“What exactly happened at the manor last night?” She growled. “Amira came back crying which wasn’t something I was expecting. She even came back with injuries…what happened within the hour she was gone?”

“She didn’t tell you?” 

“I wouldn’t be asking if she had told me, now would I?” Bruce sighed.

“Slade-”

“What the fuck was he doing there?”

“-appeared in the manor last night and wreaked havoc.” Bruce decided to cut her off. “However, he wasn’t after Dick this time. He was after Amira.”

“He’s the one who injured her?” She hissed.

“Actually. He was after Ra’s Al Ghul’s…heir.” Bruce managed to say, observing her facial expressions. He watched as her anger diminished a bit, watching as her brows furrowed, her frown growing deeper as she tried to work out what was on her mind. “Selina, what-”

“Talia,” he stiffened. “Talia found Amira and-” Just as he was ready to bolt to their daughter’s room, Selina stopped him. “Bruce, she's fine. She was fine after meeting Talia, but- actually, she gave us a heart attack since Talia thought it was a good idea to kidnap-” Selina had to use more force when Bruce darted for his daughter’s room once again. “Bruce!” She hissed. “She needs space right now.”

“Selina, I need to make sure-”

“She needs time to process everything she’s been through this past day.” Selina held tighter onto Bruce’s hand. “She just meet her mother, found out that Jason’s alive, found out-”

“What…did you say?” Selina blinked, watching as Bruce began to blankly stare at her, his eyes narrowing, questioning if he heard what he heard was truly what he heard. “Selina. You-”

“Didn’t- didn’t Amira tell you? Because that was the whole reason why she went over there.” She quickly added because she knew Bruce and she knew what he was capable of when his eyes would grow dull like they just did. 

He slowly shook his head. “ What about Alfred?” He was about to shake his head once more until something seemed to have popped into his mind. “Bruce…Jason-”

“What about me?” The boy in question asked, having just turned the corner, his eyes closed as he held a small gift out for Selina. Bruce froze upon hearing a voice he didn’t know he had forgotten how it sounded. 

But…it couldn’t be… “If this is about not getting a gift from any of us, I’ll have to let you know that I do indeed-'' he said, opening his eyes. “-do have a gift for- Pops?” 

Jason stared at Bruce, noticing the tears that swelled into his eyes.

“Jay.” Bruce dared to ask. “Is that-” He didn’t need Jason to confirm anything. The minute Jason tackled him, Bruce knew. This was his son.

Is his son.

This is the son that had managed to slip through his fingers.

But not again. 

Not this time.

He won’t let any of his kids leave his grasp. Ever.

“-bother you mlle, but do you know if- M.Wayne!” Alya squeaked out, managing to shift everyone’s attention to the reuniting duo. Bruce noticed Adrien, Nino and Sabrina’s clear shock, but Chloe’s…

Why was she glaring at him? “What are you-

“Dad?” Dick arched a brow, Bruce feeling like a deer in headlights, turning to see Dick and Barbara stepping out of Amira’s room. “Weren’t you supposed to be in Go-”

“What’s going…” Amira trailed, freezing when she saw her father standing before her. “…on.”

“M. Wayne…“ Wally spoke, his eyes clearly showing his annoyance with the man.

“I thought you said you trusted me in traveling by myself, Pops.” Jason spoke up, Bruce grateful to have at least one person by his side.

“I do.” Bruce tried to pick up, hoping the others didn’t notice the way his voice cracked. “But I couldn’t help but wonder if you were doing okay, so I came to see how you were doing.” Jason gave him a smile, causing him to smile back.

“Hmph. Not even worried about his future wife I see.” Selina pouted. 

“Selina, that’s not-”

“Why don’t you two go and talk things out between each other?” Dick suggested as he guided the two towards the room Selina was staying at within the Dupain-Cheng residence. “Pretty sure there’s some things you two would love to talk about, right Jason?” Jason could only nod as he looked over to his sister and mouthed a ‘I’ll be back’ to her as he followed their parents and older brother.

The remaining teens looked at each other, Alya feeling a bit out of place now that the center of attention was shifted onto her. 

“Alya.” Marinette spoke up, making the girl jump. “What-”

“We need to talk.” Alya blurted out, noticing all eyes on her. “Alone. Please.” Marinette turned to see the others, noticing Wally and Chloe glare at her while the others wondered what Alya wanted to talk to her about.

“Can you wait a bit longer?” Alya pursed her lips. “Give me ten minutes and we can talk. You can wait in my room if you want while you wait.” 

“Alright.” Alya agreed. “Ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes.” Marinette said back, watching as Alya walked up to her room. 

“Are you sure about her?” Wally asked. “She didn’t exactly came here to-”

“We’ll see what she wants in a few. For now I just want to spend a few more minutes with my-”

“Marinette.” Selina spoke up, Amira turning to look at her, eyeing the gift in her hands. “I know we haven’t spent much time together, but Merry Christmas.”

Amira took the gift, carefully sitting down as she stared at the box. “I asked your father what would be a nice gift for you and after he told me about a few things you liked, the two of us came up with this.”

Amira lifted up the tissue, feeling her eyes begin to tear up. She felt tears fall when she lifted the stuffed animal from its box, a drawing from her childhood now psychically resting in her hands. 

Amira pushed back the hood from the doll’s head, causing her to tear up even more. 

Her friends watched in complete shock.

This…this was the first time they…that they have seen Marinette cried…ever…

And over a plushie at that.

How important is it to her?

What did it mean? 

“He still remembered that?” Marinette softly asked no one, bringing the doll close to her chest, as if afraid it would disappear if she didn’t hold on to it for dear life.

She didn’t know her father still remembered that drawing form years ago.

It was months before Dick joined the family, maybe years…how did he remember when she barely did?

She had to be roughly five years olds, maybe younger…she couldn’t exactly really remember how old she was when it happened…

-

“Papa, look what I made!” Amira ran to her father’s desk, quickly climbing onto his lap, careful to not wrinkle the paper in her hand, laying it nicely on top of the various papers adorning her father’s work desk. She missed the huff that escaped her father. Instead, he greeted her with a tired smile, shifting her a bit so that he could get a proper view of the paper she finished putting over the company’s latest project.

“Oh? Is that me?” Bruce asked his daughter, keeping a chuckle in when she pouted. “I like the new cape-”

“No Papa! It’s me!” Amira corrected, pointing at the oddly drawn human. “And my name is Chickadee! Your new sidekick!”

She pointed at the head. “My hood looks just like your costume but when I take it down!” She points at another face she drew, where only the eyes and hair were drawn. The lower part of the face was covered by what he assumed to be a mask. “Bam! I have another mask to cover my face! You always said it’s important to cover our identities! But I don’t want to put something over my head because I have long hair and it might make it hard to place a mask over my hair with a mask like yours.”

“Oh that’s a good thing to think about.” Bruce complimented, his heart swelling when she beamed at his compliment. “What about the cape? Did you make it shorter so that you won’t trip on it?”

“Yup! But I didn’t want to take it out because I need something to cover me when I got outside in the cold. But I don’t want to have a jacket because I think fighting in a jacket isn’t as cool as fighting in a cape. But the rest of my costume is inflated so I don’t freeze to death.” 

“Inflated?”

“Yeah, when it’s nice and toasty inside your clothes even though it's very thin?” When Bruce still seemed confused by her statement, she decided to elaborate. “It has the fuzzies inside?”

“Oh, insulated,” Bruce corrected. “I think you meant insulated. Inflated is what happens when you put air inside something like a balloon.”

“Ohhh… well, that. My costume still keeps me cozy and I like it. Do you like it?” Amira asked him, Bruce noticing her fidget with her hands.

“I like it very much.” He easily answered, kissing the top of her head, earning a giggle. “I can’t wait to have you as my sidekick.” Amira gasped, turning to hug him.

“You really mean it?”

“When you’re old enough you join me.”

“Really, really?”

“Really, really.” Bruce assured, chuckling when Amira cheered, getting off of him and deciding to jump around his study in celebration before she gasped. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to tell Grandpa! After all, he helped me pick my name!”

“He picked your name?” Amira nodded, grinning from ear to ear. 

“He said it would be a nice name because I remind him of the small chickadees outside in the garden. Curious and active.” Amira headed for the door, before turning to the door. “But I like the name because it reminded me of when we went watching birds together and tried to make bird calls together.” She gave him a large smile. “I wanna do that again soon!” With that she left the room, heading to the kitchen where Alfred was surely awaiting her.

Meanwhile, Bruce lifted the drawing up, smiling as he kept staring at it. Opening up a drawer, Bruce placed the drawing alongside the other drawings Amira had made throughout her life. When he tried to close it, he noticed the drawing stick out.

“I think I’m going to have to store them elsewhere…”

-

“Amira, are you sure you’re alright?” Wally whispered to her, Amira finally snapping from her thoughts.

“Yeah…I’m fine.” She looked down at the doll, her mind suddenly remembering her old Batman plush she last saw in the manor. “Just feeling a bit nostalgic.”

“Hey, whose gift is this? It’s the only one left under the tree.” Nino asked, holding up a small gift, everyone wondering who it was for.  “There’s no name on it.”

“Oh, that’s for everyone.” Marinette quickly chirped, placing Chickadee to the side, quickly jogging up to Nino and opened up the box. “I got these bracelets for you guys.” The others quickly gathered around here, Marinette feeling her heart soar when she heard Chloe and Sabrina gasp when she opened the box open. 

“Oh my, Marinette! They’re so pretty!” Sabrina cooed, her eyes following the bracelet Marinette lifted from the box and placed into her hands.

“Is that my name?” Nino asked in amazement when Marinette placed a different bracelet into his hands, feeling the weight the small box in his hand had. He couldn’t take his off the gleaming polished silver laying in his hands.

“Mine has my name too!” Adrien squealed when he got his, quickly taking it out the box and looped it around his wrist. “Chlo, help me put it on!”

“Adrikins, give me a moment! I’m still putting on my own!” Chloe panicked as she almost dropped her bracelet.

“Chloe, look! We all got matching items!” Sabrina squealed, trying her best to not tackle the girl.

Marinette watched as the friends put the bracelets on, showing them off to each other. “Seems like they like it.” She told herself, feeling something slip around her wrist.

“You have to wear yours as well māomāo.“ Selina told her, clasping a matching bracelet. “It suits you nicely.”

“I would’ve gotten a rose gold one, but I like the silver one better.” Amira told her, looking at the tiny chain around her wrist, the three small diamond “beads” twinkling in delight. “Also, the rose gold suits Sabrina while the pure gold one suits Chloe. I’m glad the boys like their bracelets; I didn’t think they’d like the ID bracelets that much to be completely honest.”

The ringing of a phone cut the excitement, everyone taking out their phones to see who was receiving a call.

“Oh, it’s my mom.” “Dad?” “Hmph.” Nino, Adrien and Chloe said at the same time, each going to different corners of the room to answer the phone. 

After a while, each of them said their goodbyes on the phones before turning back to the rest.

“I have to go.” The three of them said in unison.

“My dad just texted me when I’m coming back home.” Sabrina sheepishly added. 

“I guess is had been a few hours since you’ve 

“How am I going to take this home?” Nino wondered as he watched the rest easily pick up their gifts.

“We can send it over kiddo.” Dick popped out of nowhere. “Don’t worry about it!”

“Ahhh thank you again Marinette!” Sabrina thanked, squeezing Marinette. “I’ll cherish this forever!”

“We have to do this again.” Adrien vowed.

“That we do.” Marinette agreed. “We should get Kagami to join us as well.”

“Maybe we should invite the others as well.” Wally suggested, Marinette clearly knowing who he was referring to.

“Only if they promise to be on their best behaviors.”

One by one, the friends bid their goodbyes, Marinette waving them goodbye as Adrien and Chloe got into a car and drove away. As for Sabrina and Nino, Selina offered to drop them at their homes, Dick promising Marinette that he will make sure Selina doesn’t try to speed through the city and scare her friends.

With just her and Wally left at the apartment, there was only one last thing to deal with.

“I’ll be right here if anything happens.” Wally reminded Amira as she walked up the stairs that led to her bedroom.

“I know.”

-

She really didn’t know anything about Marinette, now did she?

Upon entering the room, Alya wondered how much the others knew about Marinette. 

Did they know this much about her while she knew nothing?

While the room looked small, there were so many items that laid around that cleared showed her interests. 

Starting off with the gifts she got today. 

A brand new duffel bag from Kagami (the girl had given Adrien the responsibility of handing it Marinette for her), a set of gouache paints from Adrien, an assortment of hair accessories from Sabrina, some roller skates from Nino, a designer leather jacket from Chloe and lastly, the hairless cat sleeping by the window sill. 

Alya knew Marinette was into fencing since she was there when she first started the sport at their school, but she didn’t know she was into art and fashion.

She didn’t take Marinette to be an art person to be honest. 

Definitely took her for an academic, the small bookcase with workbooks justifying her assumption. 

Diagonally, there was a bean bag sitting next to a makeshift work area, monitors displaying different charts of who knows what on one side while the other had pieces of electronics scattered about. 

A cork board barely peaked from behind the clutter of lamps and circuit boards, diagrams and blueprints pinned carefully onto it. 

Small stacks of notebooks could also be seen laying around the desk, an array of post it notes scattered about to add to the chaos. 

Right above the desk was Marinette’s bed, plain beige sheets and few pillows could barely be seen from where Alya stood. And if she tippy toed just a bit, she could barely make out the corner of what she believed to be another cork board. 

To her right, there was the entrance of what seemed to be another room, but judging from the curtains hanging by the doorway and a small ottoman next to a full length mirror, Alya assumed it to be a walk-in closet. 

Right outside the closet was a whiteboard, half of it having a to-do list and covered with reminders on post-it notes. 

Speaking of boards, Alya couldn’t help but realize the odd number of them in the room. There was a cork board by the bed, one by the desks, the white board in front of her and then another she saw as soon as she entered the room. 

Wasn’t four boards too much? 

Then again, Marinette was a bit over the top with her organization. 

“Ten minutes, just like I promised.” Marinette said, making Alya jump. “So what brings you here, Alya?” 

Alya watched as Marinette nonchalantly sat by her desk, shutting a journal closed. “I’m pretty sure you’re not here to wish me a me-”

“Just what am I to you, Marinette?” Alya quickly blurted out. 

“What?”

“What am I to you?” Alya asked, biting her tongue to keep herself calm. “I came here because I wanted to apologize to you for not visiting you. To apologize for being a terrible friend, only to see you happily spending time with,” Alya motioned to the hatch, trying to point at it only to end up with a balled fist. “I thought I was your friend!”

Alya hated that Marinette didn’t react to anything she’s said so far. She hated that she kept sitting there, just staring at her. “I thought I knew you the most compared to them but, they’re here while I’m not. 

You told me that you weren’t doing anything this Christmas or rather over winter break and yet I come here and see you do just that?” Oh god, Alya could feel her gut twist. “Why didn’t you say you were doing something? Why didn’t you invite me?

I would’ve come!” Alya exclaimed, feeling her throat grow dry. Marinette simply stared back at her, which made Alya start to finally tear up. “Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

“I was waiting for you to finish.” Marinette simply answered back. “So, are you?”

“What kind of person says that?! What kind of fr-“

“Are you?” She asked again. She took Alya’s angry silence as a yes. “I didn’t invite you because it wasn’t my idea to host a party at the-my residence.” She corrected herself. “Adrien had originally hosted it at his place but after last night's incident, they decided-“

“Last night?” Alya asked, only then noticing the bandage on Marinette’s hand and the bandage across her face. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? “What happened last-“

“I got kidnapped.” Marinette bluntly stated, as if it were the most common thing in the world. 

“What?”

“I got kidnapped on my way to Adrien’s. Thankfully, thanks to Selina and the rest of her family, I-“

“Are you okay? What about your parents? Are-”

“My parents weren’t here when it happened. They had gone to China to visit family for the holidays. And before you say anything, I wanted to stay behind to spend time with my friends rather than go overseas to a place I’m not familiar with and most definitely spend time with people I do not know. Because of that, Selina offered to look after me and is blaming herself for letting me get kidnapped.” Marinette clenched her hand. “She shouldn’t feel that way. She didn’t know that would happen…”

A silence filled the room, Alya wondering what to say, what to ask. Because, what the hell? She can’t take back what she said, she wouldn’t have said that if she knew that Marinette had been abduct- “So, what’s the real reason you’re here Alya?”

There was that question again… 

“I came because I wanted to apolo-”

“If you were truly here to apologize, then it would’ve been the first thing you would’ve done upon seeing me. 

But you didn’t. Instead, for some reason, you decided to lash out on me about a party I did not organize and therefore did not invite you to.

If apologizing was what you came for, you wouldn’t have brought up your anger of being left out…it were as if apologizing was a secondary excuse and not the prime reason for you being here. 

So tell me, what was the actual reason you decided to come today to see me?”

Right…that’s another reason why Alya slightly hated Marinette when she first met her. For some reason, she was able to see right through you…and she really hated that…

“You were right about Lila.” Alya confessed. “I dug up everything I could about her and you were right. She was lying about everything. The majority of the so-called things she supposedly did while traveling, she never did any of them! She never met Prince Ali, she doesn’t know any celebrities personally, she was never in Gotham. Mari, she couldn’t even tell me the name of the person who donated the most for the new charity. Lila-”

“You wanted to talk to me about Lila?” Marinette concluded, causing Alya to freeze. “You came here, today to talk about-”

“At first, yes. Yes, that’s why I can but then I realized how horrible of a friend I was.” Alya grabbed Marinette’s hands, “I…I’m sorry for never asking you how you were, for not once checking on when you needed me the most! After all, what kind of best friend-”

“Best friend?” Alya didn’t expect Marinette to let out a small laugh, or rather, a scoff. “Alya, we may be friends, but, truth be told…I don’t think we know each other that well to call us ‘best friends.’

“I know that now; when I stepped into your room, I realized there was still so much I don’t know about you. But even so, I-“

“Alya you said it yourself; you never once checked up on me after the whole Banshee incident…it's been well over two weeks since then - it’s almost the end of the month, Alya. I turned into Banshee almost a month ago…

Where were you during all of this?”

“Marinette…I-” Marinette shook her head, prompting Alya to keep quiet. But she didn’t. “You opened my eyes…about a lot of things. 

But more than anything…you made me realize that everything isn’t what it seems to be…”

“Just like I’ve told you before.”

“And while you made me realize that Lila’s words were lies… what about yours?”

Marinette stared at Alya, her gut starting to churn uncomfortably. 

“What do you-“

“You said Jason died almost a year back and yet…he’s downstairs. A-and I know you’re not someone who would just lie- my god Marinette! You’re the most blunt person I know! You always say what’s on your mind, the truth, the obvious! So I never doubted the words you said while you screamed at Lila that day, because I didn’t have to be somebody close to know to recognize the pain in your words, the agony in them as you defended Jason…but then…

As I search up on the different events Lila claimed to have done or gone to, I find out…that Jason is alive?”

Oh…oh…

“Alya- I- I don’t know how-“

“And then to top it off, while researching about last month’s gala, turns out Jason had prepared a video explaining the creation of the latest found-“

“Video?” Marinette asked Alya, taking her by surprise. “What video?”

“The video? You know, the one where-“

“Show me this video. Please.” 

Alya started to type up something in the search bar, pressing enter that loaded a few videos to choose from. 

Clicking the first one, it showed a teen posting about the gala, Amira watching as the teen vlogging their adventure around the ballroom. She watched as Alya scrubbed through the video, the screen going dim for a while as a screen projector started to play a video. 

A video of Jason greeting the guests and explaining the purpose of the Catherine Todd Foundation. 

She watched as Jason spoke with pride, watching as she bid the audience goodbye with a large smile on his face…

“Marinette…are you okay?” Alya asked, her eyes darting from Marinette to the now black screen. 

A laugh escaped Marinette, which then turned into full on laughter. 

“Marinette?” Marinette noticed the fear in Alya’s eyes, how Alya was ready to sprint if necessary. 

“Is that fear I see?” Marinette started to settle down, stepping away from Alya. “Of course you’re terrified of me…after all, who wouldn’t be terrified of the girl who became one of the biggest threats to Paris since Hawkmoth first appeared?

“Marinette…what are you talking about? I’m not afra-“

“You are. Or rather, everyone is. Banshee…she’s the worst thing Hawkmoth has ever created and that’s not going to leave anyone’s mind any time soon…”

“What? Marinette, Banshee-“

“-wasn’t me? Of course it was. I was her while she was me…

Banshee was an extension of my feelings at that time and…I don’t blame the people for fearing that girl…”

“Marinette, no one knows it was you. You-“

“But the damage has been done.” Alya watched as Marinette pulled up various online articles and forums on her computer, each one having the same subject in their headliners: Banshee. 

Every article had different blurry pictures of her akumatized form from different angles, different locations. Some had clearer images of what seemed to be Marinette surrounded by the Parisian vigilantes while others had videos of the streets of Paris covered in fog with a single white figure walking through the scene. “The whole world knows how dangerous Paris has become…and it’s all my fault.”

“I- Didn’t…how?” Alya stuttered, watching other cities and nations' reactions to the akuma situation, watching how they were quick to demonize Marinette, or rather Banshee, without knowing the full situation. “Isn’t the identity-”

“-Of the Victim supposed to be protected from society? The videos from the akuma attack are supposed to be limited to that of just Paris?” Marinette completed, looking back at the screen in front of her. “I thought so too…but from what my lawyers told me, it seems that when Banshee appeared, there also happened to be some sort of security breach of the city’s internet that allowed all of these photos and videos to be posted without the government’s consent. 

So while my identity hasn’t exactly been exposed to the world, some people in the city of Paris do. 

Who exactly, that I’m not sure about. But for the time being, my lawyers said I should prevent myself from going outside for the next few months while the situation gets sorted out…”

“A security breach…” Alya repeated to herself, watching as Marinette kept staring at the screen. “Is this…is this your first time seeing yourself-” Marinette nodded her head.

“To think I did all of this…” Alya watched as Marinette continued to stare at the screen. “I don’t even remember half of this…”

Remember…remember?

“Marinette…” Should she really ask her? “What do you mean by that? You…remember what happened while you were akumatized?” Alya never saw Marinette whip her head so fast. 

“I-I didn’t,” Marinette eyed the hatch, quickly going to open it when Alya stepped on the door, the hatch shutting with a loud thud. 

“Marinette…you remember your akumatization, don’t you?”

Marinette remained silent. “Marinette, please. Just tell me the truth. Do you  remember everything that happened while you were akumatized?” 

Marinette’s silence told her everything, Alya holding her hands gently. “You do, don’t you?”

Marinette’s squeeze told her everything. “Does Chloe-“

“Chloe doesn’t know.” Marinette answered quicker than what she wanted to. “Nor does Adrien. Nor any of the others… I…I don’t want to burden them…”

“Marinette. While you were with your therapist, didn’t they tell you anything about-“

“My therapist was supposed to know what to do in this situation?”

“Yes! That’s the whole reason why attending each session is important-“ Marinette’s frantic eyes made her stop. “You…you are going to therapy…aren’t you?”

“Alya.” Marinette distantly spoke, letting go of her hands. “I-I…Alya. I don’t…

What- I don’t know what to do.” 

“Marinette.”

“It’s been days since I’ve been seeing a therapist and yet…I can’t bring myself to tell them what I need to say. What I want to say. 

Everything- I wish I could say what I want to but just- argh!” Marinette let out a mixture of a growl, a sigh and a huff though Alya really didn’t know what to make of it. “Why can’t I just forget it all? I don’t want to remember this at all! I wish it never happened!”

“But it happened, and we just…we just got to power through it.”

“Like you did when you became LadyWifi?”

“Exactly. Sometimes, sometimes I wish I at least remembered doing some of the things I did. 

It’s hard to believe otherwise that it was indeed me. 

Having to go to therapy and finding out about the trouble you did…it was as if I was going to court for a crime I didn’t know happened.” Marinette didn’t know what came over her, but she brought Alya into a hug before pushing herself when she realized what she did.

“About earlier,” Marinette fumbled. “I don’t think I would consider you my best friend, but…you're definitely a friend. What type of friend, I don’t know but just know that-“

“I’m okay with that.” Alya cut her off, giving her a smile. “I just have to work my way to being your close friend one day.” She opened up the hatch, ready to leave. 

“Alya!”

“Yes?”

“Would you like some pastries?” Marinette asked, pink dusting her cheeks. “I still have left over from yesterday and I don’t think I can finish-”

“Sure thing!”

-

After giving Alya some leftover pastries from the bakery, Amira had one last friend to send off home.

“Get there safely.” Amira softly said, handing Wally over his bag. 

“You can come as well, you know.” Wally offered. 

“You should spend New Years with your family. After all, you haven’t seen them in a while.” She encouraged. “Besides, we always have the zeta tubes to see one another. They don’t.”

Wally huffed, looking at the phone booth before looking back at Amira. 

“I can always see them after the New Years.” He said as he held onto her hand. “I can still-“

“Wally. I’ll be fine.” She tried to say in a steady tone, only for her voice to tremble towards the end. 

“Amira, you know…just say the word and I’ll-”

“I know.” Amira tried to say with a smile. “But I can’t keep you from your family any longer than I already have.” 

“Amira, I can-”

“It’s going to be alright…I’ve got my team to help.” She reassured. “My dad is also here if anything goes wrong.” Wally frowned at that. “Wally, I’ll be fine, really.” He sighed.

“Promise me you’ll call me if anything-”

“I will.” The two stared at each other before Wally gave her one last hug. 

“Seriously. I’m just a call away, okay?” He felt her nod, finally letting go of her. “I’ll see you when you take down the big man, okay?”

Amira smiled as they waved each other goodbye, watching as Wally entered the phone booth and closed the door behind him. 

A slight glow emitted from the booth, signaling Wally’s departure, Amira letting her smile drop.

“I don’t think I can hold up to that Wally.” Amira let out a dry laugh. “How can I defeat Hawkmoth when I no longer have possession of the earrings?”

-

It was already 9 in the morning, Damian finding himself wondering what to do. He had already spent most of the early morning watching surveillance footage of the last place his father was seen entering, which honestly was a waste of time. Ever since his father entered the bakery, he hasn't walked out. 

He was starting to get annoyed with having nothing to do. Sitting in front of the Batcomputer was starting to become draining.

“Master Damian,” Alfred spoke up, Damian turning a bit to see Alfred standing right beside him. 

“Pennyworth.” 

“I believe it would do you some good to exercise your body for a bit.” Alfred suggested, setting down a single cup of tea.

“I don’t believe I asked for-”

“I took it upon myself to also create a simple layout of the mansion.” Alfred took out a folded sheet of paper. “If you choose to explore it to your heart’s content as a choice of stretching the body. After all, you have the run of the mansion and sitting at the computer is not good for a growing boy such as yourself.”

Damian eyed the paper, deciding to take Alfred’s offer and ignore the insult.

“I guess I will explore the mansion for a bit.” Damian concluded, getting up from the chair and taking the paper from Alfred. He opened the paper up, exposing three floors worth of blueprint layout of the mansion. While glossing over the maps, Damian couldn’t help but get intrigued by the archive room on the first floor. “Perhaps I shall wallow into my father’s family history.”

With that, Damian walked away from the Batcave, hoping to entertain himself by learning his past.

“Happy hunting, Master Damian.”

-

Amira quietly shut the door behind herself, letting out a sigh she didn’t know she was keeping in for a while. 

She could hear the chatter of the boys playing in the living room, laughing when she heard Jason curse at Dick for throwing a turtle shell at him.

If Dick was back, then Selina also had to be back…

“He’s finally back.” She told herself, feeling something rise to her throat. Without another moment, she raced to her room, feeling the tears already falling down her face.

She quickly wiped them away with each one that fell, trying to regulate her breathing as she did so. 

With a final deep breath, she found herself with a clear head, noticing she was sitting at her desk, her mother’s envelope peering from underneath a book. 

Just as she lifted it up, her father decided to check on her.

“Can I-” Amira hesitantly nodded, motioning him to join her. “What do you have there?” Bruce watched as she hesitated to speak.

“Talia gave it to me.” She watched as fear crawled into his eyes, watching as he grabbed her shoulders with an immense grip.

“What did she say to you?”

“N-nothing much.” Amira winced, feeling her father’s grip get stronger. “You’re hurting me.” Bruce quickly let go of his daughter, bringing his hands back to side.

“I’m sorry. I-Just…She should’ve just talked to me first. She knows she could-”

“Whether it was yesterday or some other day, she would’ve found me at some other time.” Amira lifted the wax seal from the envelope, wondering what her mother could’ve left behind. “And, well…she gave it to Wally once they found her location after she basically kidnapped m-”

She didn’t expect her father to basically tackle her, pulling her into his embrace. She tried to wriggle herself away from his hold only for him to hold on tighter. “Let go.” 

He didn’t. “Let go.”

He didn’t budge. “Dad! Let go! Please!” Amira had to push herself off of him, her eyes growing wide when she saw his face. “You’re crying…” 

She never saw tears on her father’s face before. As in, falling down his face- because tearing up, yeah he has done that before, but literally crying? 

Never.

“Ah, sorry. I-” Bruce tried to apologize, but it was as if he spoke some secret code that caused more tears to pour out. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that.” Amira corrected, deciding to sit back down instead of approaching him. 

Silence filled the room, Amira wondering what to do. Should she try and ask him if he was alright? Coax an answer as to why he was-

“I should’ve been there for you. I never should’ve left for the gala. I should’ve stayed. You were in danger and I just-”

“Dad, please. Calm-”

“Did she plan this? Was Ra’s visit to the manor also-”

“Mother didn’t know about-”

“Did she do anything to you? Did she offer you-”

“Dad!” Amira cried, panicking as she saw her father spiral down his thoughts, wondering if she should call Selina or try and do something herself. “Dad, please!”

“Ra’s. He probably-”

“Dad, please! Can you hear me?” 

“He knew. He knew where you were all this time. That piece of-”

“Dad! Look at me! Please!” Amira begged, holding her father’s face between her hands, hoping that he would see her. “Please, just look at me.”

She watched as his eyes started to clear up, watching as more tears pooled. He quickly turned away from her. “Dad?”

“I failed you.”

“What?”

“I failed you…” he said a bit louder than before, now looking at her. “I told myself, promised myself that I would protect you no matter what, that I would do whatever it would take to keep you safe…instead, I’ve done anything but that.

Even with all the tools at my disposal, I couldn’t keep you safe while under my watch…”

The room went silent.

“Ever since I was a child,” Amira started, trying her best to be mindful of her next words, “you’ve always told me to always be on my guard, on the lookout for any suspicious thing. 

You’ve taught me to be wary of strangers since I was four. To read a situation when I was five. We created safe codes for each other when I was six. When you let me join your training sessions with Dick, you’ve taught me basic self defense…

You did your best in training me to defend myself. I-”

“But it wasn’t enough.” Bruce almost yelled. “You got kidnapped…twice already and then got into an altercation with Slade just-”

“But that wasn’t your fault. No one-”

“I could’ve prevented it if I had more eyes-”

“More eyes doesn’t always guarantee-”

“Amira, you could’ve lost you today.” Bruce bluntly stated, Amira not realizing that her father was holding her hands, noticing how they shaked. 

Or maybe…maybe it was her hands that were the ones that were shaking. “And it would’ve been all my fault…my fault that I let someone close to me die again…my fault for allowing my one and only daughter to die within my arm’s reach…and that would’ve been more terrifying than anything else in the world…

Not even my own death would atone for that…

Amira…losing you, leaving you has been my greatest fear since you were brought into my life.” Bruce confessed. “I don’t ever want you to suffer as I did as a child, to be left by yourself at some of the most important times of your life…

That is why I’ve always tried to keep you within my reach…to keep you safe…

I don’t ever want you to become a target by just simply being my daughter…

I just want to let you live your life with no worries…as any child should…as is your right…”

Amira simply stood there, processing all the information her father just told her, connecting the newly given information with everything she knew about her father’s past as well as her mother’s past…everything behind her father’s choice made sense…and yet…

“Don’t you think I should’ve had a say on those things as well?”

“What do you mean by that?” Amira opened her mouth to speak only to close it again. “Amira, just say it. I won’t-”

“Shouldn’t I at least have been given the chance to say how I want to live my childhood? To use my name as that- my name?

Yes, I know that our last name is a giveaway; that it would make me a bigger target. But why couldn’t I still use my name: Amira? Why did you choose to call me Marinette?

Why couldn’t I be ‘Amira?’

I grew up knowing that I was ‘Amira Wayne,’ that I was the sole daughter of the Bruce Wayne. That I was ‘Amira.’ But then ‘Marinette Dupain’ came along and that’s who I had to become for everyone else except for you, Grandpere and Dick. 

Jason…he met me as Marinette and then Amira but even then!

I never felt like Marinette. And even though I didn’t feel like ‘Marinette,’ I don’t feel like ‘Amira’ either. Especially now that I finally met my birth mother…someone who you rarely talked about and I should’ve known about!

I could’ve cared less about Ra’s Al Ghul, but Talia? The woman who risked her life to have me? Who risked her life to bring me to you?

Don’t you think I deserved to know about her? Or at least know her name?”

Amira watched as her father wiped away a tear from her face.

“I know now that I shouldn’t have.” Bruce confessed. “I should’ve never kept her away from you, I should’ve told you about the one of the most amazing women I had the pleasure to meet.

Perhaps if I had told you the stories of our adventures while in the League of Assassins, you would’ve seen the same smart young lady I see in you today.”

“So tell me then, Dad. Tell me about the woman named Talia.”

“I think we should do that some other time, not now.” Bruce looked at the envelope that rested on the desk. “For now, you should probably read the letter Talia left for you, don’t you think?”

-

Damian pocketed the needle back into its place as he pulled the archive room door open, surprised to see that there wasn’t a speck of dust in the room.

“Seems like Pennyworth is really worth his salt.” 

As Damian quickly toured the room, at moments stopping to pick up a book or item that caught his attention. Sadly, it piqued his curiosity for a moment only to realize it wasn’t something worth reading or observing any further.

It wasn’t until he was about to leave when he noticed a tarp from the corner of his eye.

The canvas tarp barely peaked from behind a few stacked boxes located at the corner of the room, Damian carefully moving the boxes to get to the tarp.

Realizing he couldn’t exactly just move the covered item to the center of the room, Damian decided to then and there reveal the item.

The portrait he saw wasn’t something he was familiar and yet…

-

After a bit of coaxing from her father and an agreement for him to tell her his side of how he met her mother, Amira finally decided to listen to her father and open the envelope.

“You don’t have to share with me that’s inside…I just want to be here if you need me for anything.” Bruce assured, remaining where he was seated. 

She opened it up, wondering if what she saw was indeed what she thought it was. 

“She gave me a credit card and a set of coordinates with a date.” Amira told her father, showing him the black card and the piece of paper with the date and location. “My dearest Amira, I know this won’t make up for the time we’ve lost with one another, however, I hope my most prized possessions can help you find some answers you were looking for during the years we were apart.

If my possessions do not hold the answers you’ve been looking for, always know that I am more than happy to answer them directly if you ever wish to know. 

With that, stay safe and know that I will always hold you close to my heart, baobei. 

With love, Talia.” Amira softly ended, finding herself dragging her finger over her mother’s name.

Without another second to lose, Amira got up to look for the box Wally showed her earlier, lifting it and setting it onto her desk.

Carefully unwrapping it, Amira didn’t expect to see a photo album sitting inside the box. Lifting it out the box, Amira opened up the album, not believing her eyes.

“Is this me?” She asked ever so softly, continuing to turn page after page, filled with baby photos of herself from when she was born to the last day she was with her mother.

When she got to the last page, Amira froze.

There, centered in the middle of the back of the album was one of those photos you’d place in a wallet.

A photo that couldn’t be any bigger than five centimeters in height and yet…

“I can’t believe she still has it despite its condition.” Her father commented, making Amira turn to him, taken aback at the softness of his eyes. “We took this picture years ago.”

The tiny photo was crumpled up, its edges worn and even had creases right down the middle along both lengths, the paper starting to break from all the folding. “We took this picture the day you came to the manor.”

-

“Take care of her.” Talia told Bruce as she cupped his face with a hand, bringing herself closer to him and giving him a kiss. “Goodbye, habibi.” 

Bruce watched as she took in a shaky breath before promptly turning away and headed for the door. 

“Talia.” He barely croaked out, but she kept walking away. 

“Talia. Wait.” Bruce warbled a bit louder, grasping her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers, her back still turned towards him. “Stay. Stay for a while.”

“Bruce.” Talia said with a breath, not daring to open her eyes. She needed to go. Now. “I have to-“

“Just for a few hours.” He gave her hand a firm squeeze, which in turn squeezed her heart. 

‘Please don’t do this to me Bruce.’

“Please.” He begged of her. 

‘Don’t make me do something that will cause our daughter harm.’ 

‘Please.’

Amira’s cooing snapped Talia from her turmoil, finally turning and making eye contact with her daughter. 

Amira smiled and gurgled upon seeing her mother, stretching out her hands in hopes of getting held, not comprehending the tears that streamed down her mother’s face. 

Giving into her heart, Talia took Amira into her arms, holding her tightly against her chest, Amira giggling upon successfully getting into her mother’s embrace. 

“Just…just a few more hours. Just a few more.” Talia agreed, walking up to Bruce, resting her head on his chest. “I want to relish these last hours together...this time we are together…as a family...”

“As do I.” Bruce replied, hugging Talia and in turn, hugging Amira. “But, there’s something else I want to do as well.” Talia looked at her Beloved, wondering what his next words would be. 

As if to answer, a knock came at the door, followed by a gentleman walking in with a large case in his hand. 

“Master Bruce. It’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

“Sam. Hello and I apologize for the short notice.” The elderly man chuckled, Talia’s “How did you manage to get him?” getting ignored.

“You know nothing is ever short noticed with you. There’s always a good reason for these types of things.” With that, Bruce smiles. 

“Sam, I’d like for you to meet Talia...and my daughter.” Sam gawked at Bruce, his head turning as he looked at Bruce and then at Talia before his eyes landed in Amira.  

Letting out a hearty laugh, Sam patted Bruce’s shoulder. 

“Consider this session on the house! Let me get the camera set and I’ll call you when we can start!” Sam grinned as he walked out the room, heading to the portrait room. 

“Camera?” Talía asked, Amira reaching out for her mother’s hand. 

“I know it’s sudden. And I know that the future is unsure, but,” he pressed his forehead against Talia’s, looking down at their daughter. “I want this moment to live on forever, even if it’s in the form of a photo.”

It took a while for those words to sink in, but when they did, Talia couldn’t help but let out a laugh, her eyes stinging as she held onto Amira for dear life and held Bruce’s hand tightly, afraid this blissful moment  might disappear if she let go of either of them. 

“Alright Mr.Wayne!” Sam popped in a few moments later, graphite smeared on the side of his hand. “We can start the photo session!”

-

Damian could only stare at the portrait staring straight back at him, looking at the three subjects of the incomplete painting, a single photo taped to the side as a reference of what the complete portrait was supposed to look like. 

At the right center, he could clearly identify his father, looking extremely young, his hair lacking a single gray hair and not a single wrinkle near his eyes. His eyes…they had a shine to them that Damian couldn’t exactly pinpoint an emotion to, eyes that bore something in them as they looked at the other two subjects of the painting. There was his sister, who had to be roughly half a year old, judging from the clothing she was wearing and the roundness of her cheeks. She had a huge smile, a smile Damian wondered if her current self was capable of the same thing. And then there was the person that held his sister with gentle arms, a person that Father held close to him with a smile.

Her skin reminded him of his sister’s and his own, her smile…a smile he saw only once on Ra’s years ago…but…

“Who are you?”

-

Alya grinned, humming as she walked back home. She also couldn’t help but notice the lightness in her steps, the skips adding to the euphoria. 

Maybe it was because she got some homemade cookies from Marinette. Maybe it was because she made up with Marinette. Or perhaps she was finally able to talk to someone else aside from her therapist about her akuma-

Akumatization…

How did she know?

How did she know-

Alya snapped from her trance, realizing she had already closed the apartment door behind her. That she was already home. 

But the question remained. 

How did she know about her akumatization? 

Alya let go of the bag, the cakes and macarons inside meeting the floor with a loud thud. 

Alya dashed for her room, ignoring the yells she got from Nora about no shoes inside the house. 

She stripped her coat off of her, flinging her hat and scarf to the side. 

She quickly got into her chair, turning on her laptop as she kicked her boots off. She muttered under her breath as she clicked on the mouse as if that would make the laptop boot up any faster. 

Once loaded, Alya started to put it to work, quickly opening windows and tabs, the clicking and clacking of her keyboard and mouse filling her room. 

She adjusted her glasses as she scrolled and dragged between articles and her spreadsheet, skimming through the paragraphs of words that didn’t have a smidge of what she was looking for... 

Which exactly answered her question. 

“How did she know I was LadyWifi?” Alya found herself whispering, scanning for any possible answer to her question. 

All that stared back at her was the website of the most reliable blog aside from her own: Beetle and Cat. 

Beetle and Cat was created the same day Ladybird appeared, but unlike Alya’s blog, B&C was more on the informative side. More focused on giving news about the fights and uploading crisp full length videos of every public speech Ladybird had given. 

Articles, on the other hand, Beetle and Cat had all 63 akuma incident reports and 2 programs Ladybird and Chat Noir had done since they’d become the vigilantes of Paris. Sure it was two, but it really impacted the city.

Out of the two programs, the very first is the most important one: the Akumatization Protection Program that-

“They may have the answer.” She muttered to herself, quickly clicking links until she found a hyperlink titled “Know Your Rights to Therapy: Citizens.”

Clicking it, Alya was redirected to a medical website.

“Creations Medical?” Alya asked no one, wondering who would ever call their pharmaceutical branch such an odd name. 

She was met with how to apply for therapy with the assistance of Creations Medical and how to use the Akumatization Protection Program to have your fees waived, even if you weren’t akumatized yourself. 

“Under Section 4 of Article 1 of Protections and Rights of the Manipulated, anyone and everyone involved in any of the incidents created by Hawkmoth are granted therapy. Creations Medical will cover all expenses, including transportation, medication and relocation if needed. 

If you are a civilian that was affected by any previous incident and wish to-”

“What is “Protections and Rights of the Manipulated”?”

Whipping up another tab, Alya typed the document to the search bar, but nothing.

All she got were brief mentions of the article and a summary to its main points and that was it.

That it was the concluded agreements between the vigilantes of Paris and Parliament. But that was all.

No full article, no blurry screenshot or blurry photo, nothing.

So then…does it actually exist?

Alya sat there for a while, wondering what to-

She quickly grabbed her phone and texted Max, mentally scolding herself for asking Max to help her hack into a government document. 

She explained to him her situation, quickly lying that she wanted to use it to update her blog regarding the therapy program but needed full access to the document to give the public an informative page.

She tapped her desk as she waited for an answer, not expecting Max to send a pdf back so quickly along with a ‘you owe me’ as well.

Quickly opening up the pdf, Alya didn’t need to search far for what she needed.

Protections and Right of the Manipulated

Ladybird and Chat Noir vow to protect Paris until the threat is no more, however, the citizens are always a priority before their own.

As so, gathering here today, XX of September of the year XXXX, are Ladybird, Chat Noir and Parliament of Paris to discuss and establish the rights of those who have fallen under the manipulation of the city of Paris’ current threat: Hawkmoth.

Article 1. 

Section 1: 

The vigilantes, Ladybird and Chat Noir, as well as the Parliament of Paris agree to keep the identities of those manipulated by Hawkmoth a secret. 

Through thorough investigation, all citizens who have gone under Hawkmoth’s mind control do not recall any conversations nor actions they have done once Hawkmoth has gone into contact with them and once he leaves the mind of the person controlled. 

Therefore, it was concluded that citizens were being controlled beyond their will and therefore should not be held accountable for the actions. In other words, the citizens are innocent and are victims of Hawkmoth’s criminality. As thus, Victims of Hawkmoth are not the criminals in any of the incidents that have occurred under mind control and their actual identities should not be revealed to the public to protect the citizen.

Not exactly what she needed, but even so, it was something. Scrolling some more, Alya found what she needed.

Article 2.

All citizens who fell under Hawkmoth’s control are protected by the Akumatization Protection Program (APP).  Under this program, the government cannot, under any circumstance, hold a citizen accountable for an incident without the approval of Ladybird and Chat Noir. Nor can the government approach the civilian without either vigilante present. 

Furthermore, the government cannot disclose the name nor picture of the akumatized civilian to any media outlet. Under the case that the government does, the law will be involved. 

This also goes for any identification that has been leaked by any media outlet and any bystander of these incidents.

Any media, bystander or eye witness that has evidence will also be warned of the consequences of revealing any akumatized civilian’s identity and will also be dealt with by the law should a civilian’s identity be revealed.

If there is no bystander or eye witness, the only people who should know the akumatized civilians’ identities and therefore interact with them are Ladybird and Chat Noir, with exceptions to their other team members.

In other words… no regular civilian should know an akumatized civilian’s identity…

Especially for her case…after all…she was by herself when she got akumatized…

So no one should know LadyWifi was her…

No one…besides…

“Besides-” Alya stared at her screen, hating the answer that had unraveled before her. 

She shouldn’t have- she shouldn’t- but she did. 

She knew who did…she knew what this meant…

She knew…she knew something she should’ve never figured out…

“Marinette is Ladybird,” Alya found herself whispering to herself, feeling a lump in her throat. “Marinette is Ladybird…oh god…Marinette is Ladybird…”

Alya held her head in her hands, still trying to process the information. “This isn’t good. Of course it isn’t. When she finds out that I kn- oh god…” Alya felt the blood drain from her face as she recalled the latest akuma…

The akuma where Marinette let out her feelings show… “oh fuck.”

As much as she wanted to tell someone that she knew who was the person behind the mask, Alya didn’t need to be reminded of the dangers of doing that. 

Paris didn’t need another Banshee incident…

Nor another LadyWifi…

Alya stared at her screen, hoping the words on the screen would help her come up with a way to deal with all this. 

“Just what the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

As if on cue, Alya’s phone goes off, making Alya jump in her chair. 

Quickly picking it up, she let out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding in, relieved to see that it was just Chloe sending something to the class-

Of course! 

Just as her finger was about to tap Chole’s name, Alya stopped. 

But would she? Would she even try to hold a conversation? There was only one way to find out. 

Alya quickly tapped on Chloe’s number, tapping the call option and bringing her phone next to her ear. 

She waited as the ringing kept going for a few seconds, biting the tip of her thumb’s nail until a click was heard. 

“Cesaire. What do you want? Was not bothering-“

“It’s-It’s a-about Marinette.” Alya could hear Chloe’s breath hitch. “Can we talk?” Alya held her breath as the silence remained on the other end. “Chloe? Are you th-“

“In my room, at the hotel. We can talk there.”

NEXT

[practicecourts]

20 questions

thanks @charmsandtealeaves & @wearingaberetinparis for the tag. I'm not sure how interesting the answers will be so I'm cutting the post here ;-)

How many works do you have on AO3? 20

2. What's your total A03 words count? 215,620

3. What fandoms do you write for? HP

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

a) Not the Doctor Crazy texting Muggle AU, oneshot, meet-awkward ridiculousness ;-) b) Head Over Handlebars For You Muggle meet ugly, Amsterdam, bicycles, Geese, the WIP that got out of control, only 1 more real chapter and 1 epilogue to go... c) It Was A Clear Black Night, A Clear White Moon - Hogwarts, oneshot roaming outside the castles on a Full Moon. I do love this story a lot myself, so I'm happy to see it here! I like to combine something serious and with something lighter. d) Shall We Shag Now Or Later? Rated M, Not inspired by Austin Powers BUT I did have a great time looking up those ridiculous scenes and dialogues. Classic crazy movie! Order Mission gone wrong, Jily forced to go under cover (wriggles eyebrows) e) When it Tastes so Damn Good another @jilychallenge oneshot, prompt along the lines of melting icecream - let's share... 5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YES!!! I LOVE comments, incredible to have evidence someone read something I thought up and wrote and then left a comment telling me what it made them feel or just to say they liked it. IT IS AMAZING !! all caps worthy amazing. I do turn of notifications now for those because I became too addicted, so now I try to check once every so often. I do intend to answer all of them.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angtiest ending? My saddest ending is probably Silent Night (it's not Jily but a series of moments in the life of Hope Lupin) There's quite some bits that I've written for it, but I'm not sure if they are coherent as chapters, so there's only 2 currently posted. Angst versus sad, I'd have to say my microfic Jockey has the angstiest ending, but mostly because I know what is going on) and I promise the end of the whole fic (if I ever get to writing it, won't be angsty)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I love happy endings... I'm hoping to succeed with bringing HOH to a satisfactory happy end. I think I will. Most of my one-shots also have a happy or hopeful ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind? Ha, I thought I'd never... but for a writing challenge I wanted to join due to severe FOMO (i'm only human) I did, and I rewrote that into Shall we Shag Now or Later (Idk if anyone wants to know but I literally took almost all the time available thinking of REASONS why my jily would end up in smut pall position and in the end joked I'd just start of with *low voice* "Hey, Evans, we should shag," and take it from there... This turned into M-rated smut (I'm a little foggy on the difference between E and M still) also not sure what constitutes *kinds* of smut, but that 2 shot was more Smut with little plot. By now my wip Jily who really suffered from a lot of sexual unreleased tension finally got some release, so there's some Smut with plot as well, these days (HOHFY)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Nope, I don't think I will (unless a certain type of AU would count as a cross over)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, not that I'm aware of, I'd be appalled and also absolutely flabbergasted if someone would go to the trouble, tbh.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope again, I might translate my own fic in Dutch (although that would be so incredibly weird that I don't actually mean this)

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? No, but it sounds fun. I am soon adding my 3 line to the express.... there's that ;-)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Jily, lames, Limes. 15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Life's a beach and then you dive. I want to rewrite it. I've again not outlined this fic very much, but I've so many plans... Maybe, I should ideally have a time turner to add a few hours to my days. bc I now realise how much work it would need to write it up how I want it to be lol. But there's some very personal stuff in there so who knows. I do like to finish stuff that I've started so... I hope i will, i'm not sure of it.

16. What are your writing strengths? Ok, disclaimer as I'm Dutch I'm very bad at this. BUT ... channeling inner Sirius Black: I'm good at making characters feel realistic, I'm good a little plot twist at the end, at humour (which is of course entirely personal) , I'm good at sneaky throwbacks to canon, I'm relatively good at looking at my own work with a critical eye and improving myself, as well as letting go of things that are * good enough* as they are, as this is * a fun hobby* (anyone want to share what they like about my writing - or what they think I could improve on, tell me in the comments )

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Thinking I'll do more in the time I have... and not outlining, I've tried honestly, but I've not found a way that really works yet, but still I have these huge fic ideas creep up on me, so Ideally I'd like to get way better at following some sort of outline instead of discovering my way through it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? As I'm not a native English speaker and my fic HOHFY is set partly in Amsterdam there's some Dutch dialogues * i never even bothered to translate them, I'm so sorry. I'm currently also putting some French in my secret finish before posting fic, that will take a while though and it's only tiny bits as it's more the odd word here and there.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I never posted anything for it, but my first fanfic ideas were set in Tortall (Tamora Pierce) who knows, one day I might venture over there.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? Here Comes The Sun I've recently got a lot of lovely comments on fics that weren't less than a week old (yeah!) and reread this one for Myster May because of it & enjoyed it a lot (idk, I don't do favourites, not really.) But I can see quite a few of my own strengths in this one so I'm putting it up here as a fave.

Tagging if you're not already been asked a million times and feel like doing this, no pressure at all, xx @chierafied @chiechie97 @tiffanytoms @oneofthesirens @suzyq31 @ohmygodshesinsane @jfleamont @uncertainwallflower

[echo-bleu]

As my Encanto hyperfixation goes away (I went from 100 to 0 surprisingly fast given that it hasn’t been replaced), I find myself looking at all the fanfic loose ends I’ve left lying around. I am quite determined to use this in-between-hyperfixations time to work on my original project, Singer Street, and I’m half-hoping that the next hyperfixation might be on that project. I may or may not be procrastinating on that by taking a look back ( @t-lane-writes i might need a kick in the butt) but at the same time I think I need this to be able to move forward.

This is going to get rambly so I won’t make you all scroll past :D

Over the years I’ve left a bunch of unfinished fanfics behind as I moved fandoms, and I regularly get sad that I couldn’t finish them. That’s especially true of the more advanced fics in which I poured a lot of energy and time and emotions. I’m constantly wondering if I could just make a little effort and finish them just so I can lay them to rest.

- Gifted fics: Nope, not gonna happen. The Underground is technically unfinished but it ends in a really good place. I think I might edit the end note and mark it as complete actually, just so I can say it’s done. All We Stand To Lose... it ends terribly but I really had no precise ending in mind and I can’t get back into this one enough. If You're Still Breathing was never meant to be a full fic anyway. I’m way too far from these characters now even though I still love them, and my writing style has evolved too -- not to mention that the fandom is fully dead.

- RNM fics: The fandom is still alive and I still have friends there but... I pretty much hate what the show has become. Season 3, which was awful imo, did give me enough of a boost to continue the one unfinished fic that still had a real place in my heart, our hands clasped so tight. I think I’d like to bring it to an end, because I’m actually pretty close and I still like it. It took the backburner again when I blocked on the flashback chapter and then fell headfirst into a new hyperfixation, but I’ll give it another try at some point. There’s maybe 3-4 chapters left to write (3k-ish words each) so it’s not a lot, and I feel like it’s worth it. The other WIPs I can barely remember and none of them were advanced enough anyway.

- Shadowhunters fics: I was looking at my folder the other day. There are so many fics I started and didn’t finish. There are a few one shots that I’d like to just clean up and bit and post as very short fics/snippets just because they’re pretty good, and it doesn’t matter than they’re not really finished. I might give this a try today. Beside that, the only really advanced WIP I had is the time we've been given. I don’t know about this one. I like it, but it’s maybe not close enough to my heart to actually put in the work to finish it. As it is, it was maybe halfway done with the plot I’d planned. I could maybe cut some stuff and just give it a nice epilogue -- I’ll have to look at what’s possible there.

Oh, and I also have sparks filled with hope, my mutant AU that I never posted. Um. It’s pretty advanced but it’s been so long since I even thought about it. Yeah, that one’s not going to happen.

- Hamilton fics: This is the fandom I’m kind of reverting back to now. It’s a bit frustrating in the sense that the fandom is so small now that it barely feels worth it to post fics at all, but those characters are the ones on my mind, though not in a hyperfixation way anymore. So. I have one fic that’s finished and awaiting betaing, part of the the things we used to know series. I meant that series to be a lot longer but it’s fine as it is. I have one project that I still vaguely wonder about that I don’t think will ever see the light of day unless I get a sudden burst of inspiration, I think I can lay that one to rest too.

And I have Eyes On The Horizon. It’s my most advanced fic, I’ve written almost 80k but it’s nowhere near done. It’s been read by a total of two people so far, it’s the first long fic I’ve written without posting anything. It’s proved to me that I’m capable of writing something without constant feedback (I’ve had amazing feedback from my beta and it’s been enough). It’s taken the backburner during Encanto phase but I still really really love it. So I’m on the fence about it. Basically I see three possibilities. 1) Start posting it, keep working on it on and off and hope for the best, knowing that it’s unlikely that I’ll ever finish it. 2) Chop it into parts. As it is, it’s too long, the pacing doesn’t work really well, and I have too much planned. It’s basically three different genres and three different novels into one. So I could simply finish the act I’m in, which would make it a character-focused kinda slice of life thing, and tell myself that maybe one day I’ll write a second part with the more plot-focused part. 3) This fic is barely fanfiction as it is, it’s so far from canon. If I can find a way to tighten the plot and to change the worldbuilding enough that it’s fully original (here it’s not really the Hamilton part that’s a problem, but the Sense8 inspiration) I could rework it into an original novel, and I think it could be really good. But there would be a lot of work and a lot of questions to ask myself, too.

I... don’t have an answer to that one yet.

- Encanto fics: I essentially have two, and a third that I barely started and that will not see the light of day, that’s okay. Nothing In This World is very advanced but also not even close to the end, but I don’t want to abandon it completely because I think it’s one of my best works yet. I’ve really reached the depth of nuance and emotional complexity that I want to be at with this one. I think I’m going to try to tighten the plot a bit more to make it shorter and keep going, but definitely not as intensely.

The Pirate AU isn’t going to be written. I’m still drawing the characters, and I’m going to try and do the whole family. I’m shelving the fic (I only wrote about a chapter). However, I’ll keep the plot in the back of my mind because I definitely want to write an og story like that someday. Not the exact same, but there are elements I really like.

- Original projects: Singer Street is my current project. It has a full plot, it has all the character it needs, I JUST NEED TO WRITE IT. STOP PROCRASTINATING ECHO.

I had this one post-revolution fantasy project that I’m shelving for now, but the good thing about og projects is that they’re not subject to fandom whims. I might go back to it. I might transform it into something else.

And I have Eyes, if I decide to turn it original. I really could. I’d need some solid reflection about one specific representation-related aspect of it, and to really figure out what’s important and what I want to say.

So, to recap.

- Maybe finish Hands (shouldn’t be that much work) - Have a look at which SH one-shots I can post as is or with minimal work, maybe look at Time, then shelve everything else - Post that Things we use to know fic whenever possible, then have a serious look at Eyes, which might require rereading it and talking it over with my wonderful friends/betas/writing buddies - Try to keep going with Nothing, but don’t force it - WRITE THAT GODDAMN NOVEL, COME ON YOU CAN DO IT

( @t-lane-writes is going to be very cross with me about this, I should only be thinking about Singer Street. But. At least my mind is a little clearer.)

[awhitehead17]

Universal Signs

Epilogue / Previous Chapter

A/N: This is the final chapter and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read this story, who has stuck by it from the start and to everyone who interacted with the story. It's all greatly appreciated, so thank you.

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

After slapping a sticky note on the fridge Tim heads out into the gardens of Wayne Manor. He feels the need to be alone and plus he wants some fresh air, the garden is a great place that provides him with both of those things. The note just happens to be letting everyone know where he’s gone off to. It wouldn’t be the first time its happened so they know to leave him be.

Tim walks through the grass and heads into the cluster of trees at the back of the property. Over the last few months, this area has become his escape for solitude. It’s peaceful, hidden away from the manor and no one else goes there. There’s a small gap in the grove, it’s big enough for him to settle on the ground, the tree roots emerging from the ground provide a good support to lean on and the grass there keeps it somewhat comfortable.

He comes here when he needs a break and today is no different. Being inside the manor is suffocating him and Tim just needed to get out, he needed to get away from the same walls in attempts to try and clear his mind.

Settling down on the ground Tim lets out a sigh and takes a moment to observe the nature around him. The leaves on the trees are slowly beginning to turn into a mixture of reds, oranges and browns, a clear sign that autumn is on the way. There are birds chirping away in the trees. There’s an occasional rustling of leaves where there are squirrels hurrying along the branches above him.

After a while he closes his eyes and leans back against the tree root he’s come to favour over time and lets his mind wonder.

It’s been six months since he’s returned home from being in space. At this point he’s somewhat adjusted to being back however there are plenty of times when he struggles with it. There are as many good days as there are bad days, they seem to balance one another out with how often they each occur.

The first month had been the hardest. His emotions were all over the place, everyone was on high alert, there were so many things Tim needed to catch up on like events in the world and even just his family relationships. Tim’s mental health went downhill, not alarmingly so considering what had happened but it was still a cause of concern for his family. He was constantly hit with anxiety, paranoia, disorientation, nightmares and insomnia.

Tim absolutely refused to go to therapy. No matter how much his family tried to convince he just outright refused, even straight up walking out of the room when the word was mentioned. He knows it would be good for him, however what the fuck was he supposed to say? How would he describe about being kidnapped by aliens? They would think he's insane and would probably try to lock him up in an asylum! The easiest way to avoid that is to simply avoid therapy.

He did find though once he told Dick and Jason what happened things became a little easier. A weight disappeared from his shoulders and he could be open with his brothers. Not about everything that occurred but most things and that alone made a difference.

Things stayed rocky throughout the second month and it wasn’t until the third month that things started to improve. Tim started to handle his mental health better, it took some time but he came across a variety of resources online and used those as guidance. While he didn’t magically heal overnight and still had problems, they slowly became less severe and easier to handle.

When the fourth month came around they let the public see Tim for the first time since he returned. That had been a mistake. The Wayne’s are well known in Gotham City (and somewhat the world) so there had been spotlights on them from the moment it got declared Tim was missing. While the spotlight lessened over the course of the two years Tim had been gone, once Tim’s return made it to the news the family were instantly highlighted once again.

Bruce and his team kept Tim out of the way, they kept statements and quotes pretty vague and anonymous. Of course there were lots of conspiracies on what had happened to Tim, where he had been that entire time and how he had managed to return home. If Tim was being honest some of the theories were pretty hilarious, though not one of them even came close to the truth.

The time they decided to get Tim out in public was during the annual charity event that took place in city hall. Majority of his family were attending meaning Tim wouldn’t be alone, the spotlight would theoretically only be on him for a few moments until the next celebrity showed up. Tim had been reluctant at first but after reassurances from his family he said yes. After all if he made an appearance the media may calm down and leave them alone.

The moment Tim stepped out of the limo they arrived in he had been bombarded and it didn’t let up the entire night. Even with his family there and the bodyguards no one really left him alone. The press were savages hunting for food.

Before getting kidnapped Tim could handle the press well, he knew how to play the game, how to avoid and deflect questions and answers, but this time he couldn’t. It was all too overwhelming, his emotions and mind went into overdrive and panic. He couldn’t help the panic attack no matter what, fortunately his family caught on to what was happening and managed to get him away somewhere private by the time the attack happened. They supported him through it and then called it a night. He hasn’t been in public since.

The fifth month had been a mixture of month two and three. Tim had his ups and downs but he was handling it the best he could. His family were always there to support him no matter what.

During the fifth month Tim decided to tell Bruce what had happened. He sat down with his adoptive father, Alfred too, in his office and Tim told him everything that had happened. Tim had been a nervous wreck and it took encouragement from Dick and Jason for him to finally do it.

Both Bruce and Alfred seemed to take it in stride. At first they seemed like they didn’t believe him but after a couple of days thinking about it they said to him they believed him, why would Tim make up something like that? On the other hand his story seemed to only encourage Bruce to try and get him a therapist even more and once again Tim blatantly refused. He argued he was handling it and so on. With reluctance Bruce dropped the topic but Tim knows it’ll come up again soon enough.

Now though, at six months, Tim thinks he’s doing okay (besides the obvious). He would like to believe he’s doing okay. There’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t think about the aliens that saved him, or some of the events and adventures that had happened when he had been with them.

If there’s anything positive that’s come from his experience it’s that he's decided on a career change. Before getting kidnapped Tim had been working at Wayne Enterprises in the offices doing a mixture of roles. At the time he had been looking into the future of helping Bruce to run the company, he was well on his way to do it too despite his age. However his trip has opened his eyes up and he’s decided a career change seems suitable. He’s now going into astrophysics. A job in the sciences and looking at space, time and the universe.

Tim has only recently started up online courses because he needs to work on getting a degree in the field before moving onto getting an actual job in the area. He’s smart enough for it, and now that he has the interest and even first-hand experience in the area its all the more interesting. He finds it particularly fun when the question “is there life on other planets?” come up.

Apart from the online classes Tim’s time is spent catching up with things and generally chilling around the house unless he's dragged into something by one of his siblings.

Oh, doesn’t that make him think of another major adjustment he’s had to come to terms with. Damian. Bruce’s biological son. Tim knows his story of arriving to the Manor but he doesn’t fully know the details of his past. There was tension between them but they were civil to one another any time they cross paths. It certainly took time, and still is taking time, to get used to that he has a younger sibling. On the bright side at least he’s not the youngest anymore!

It was also thanks to Damian that Tim learnt that his universal translator works on Earth too. Upon his arrival back home, Tim had completely forgotten about the little device installed in his teeth and the remote that came with it. His mind had been on other things after all but it wasn’t until Damian spoke in his native tongue, Arabic, that Tim realised the translator is still implanted in him and it works with Earth languages too.

After that discovery Tim spent a good five hours on YouTube watching a range of videos in a variety of languages. It blew his mind that he could understand every single one of them. However, even though he can understand them, he can’t speak the languages nor can he write or read them. It had been an interesting discovery, now any time Damian speaks Arabic and Tim hears him, he can’t help but snicker at the teen’s language and the kinds of names he calls their siblings.

He sighs again, feeling oddly unsettled. His life seems almost rather dull now in a way. If anyone heard him say that after knowing everything he went through they would call him insane, but it’s like his “space life” had always been one adventure after another, always something to do, or a danger to be aware of. Now that he's back on Earth where there’s not so much of that it feels strange.

With that pleasant thought in his mind Tim opens his eyes up and starts to make a move to leave. He usually comes out to this forestry area to clear his mind but unfortunately today that doesn’t seem to be the case, his mind doesn’t seem to want to shut up. Tim trudges back to the Manor through the gardens as the sun begins to lower signalling the approach of the evening.

The next few days seem to repeat themselves until the weekend rolls around. It’s Saturday when Dick decides he wants to take Tim shopping. It’s a risk going out into public like that, as Tim pointed out to him, but Dick argues it’ll do him good to leave the Manor and how it’ll make a change of scenery for him.

Tim only agreed in the end when they compromised they’ll only be out for no more than three hours. Dick wanted more and Tim would prefer less, three seemed to be a good balance for them. Apparently his brother wanted to get himself some new clothes and there was the fact he needed to get Barbara something for her birthday that’s quickly approaching.

Together they go to the closet mall and Dick drags him into about five different clothing shops. The man gets himself a variety of new autumn clothes and even grabs Tim a fluffy sweater and a new jacket. Tim really did have to stop him when he tried to by an elephant onesie though, Dick may like the damn things but that didn’t mean Tim did.

After clothes shopping Dick decided to duck inside a jeweller’s shop on the way out of the mall. While Dick is inside buying who knows what, Tim choses to wait for him outside the shop. He stands  by the door, leaning against the frame and people-watched as they walked by.

No one paid him much attention as they went about their days. Each person, family, couples all absorbed in whatever activity they were doing or what shop they wanted to get to. It still was bizarre to Tim, even after six months, that everyone here just goes about their days without the slightest bit of clue to what’s out there above and beyond. It makes him wonder what and where he would be if he never got kidnapped.

Tim shifts his position against the frame, propping his back up against it more as he continues to look around. He freezes however when something catches his eyes at the other end of the mall. There’s a small group of people who were stood off to the side by the wall out of the way from everyone that catches his attention. Their heads were ducked together as they spoke to one another and they all had their backs to Tim so he couldn’t see their faces. Tim doesn’t look away though because there’s something about them that seems familiar.

He’s not sure how long he stares at the group of three but they don’t move from their position in that time at all. He doesn’t think they’re up to anything as they don’t seem suspicious but there’s a tugging feeling inside of Tim that’s telling him there’s more to the group.

When one of them turns their head around to observe the surroundings as if trying to find something, Tim gasps. Surely that can’t be…

“Tim!”

Tim blinks and looks away from the group to find Dick standing next to him looking at him curiously.

“What’s gotten into you? You okay, I was calling your name for ages.”

Tim blinks at him again before looking back over the group, he sucks in a breath when he finally sees all three faces of the group. He watches with wide eyes as they start to move from their position and Tim knows he needs to go after them.

Without saying anything he pushes off the door frame and heads in that direction as the group starts walking in the opposite way. If Tim doesn’t catch up to them now then he’ll lose them and that isn’t an option.

However he doesn’t get more than a couple steps away before he's stopped as his arm is caught in a tight grip by his older brother. Tim tugs his arm roughly as he tries to get Dick to let him go. He frantically looks between his brother and the slowly retreating group.

“Dick, please, let me go… I need to go.” Tim begs. He could feel the desperate need to go and approach that group, he could feel his heart pounding and even some excitement stirring inside of him.

Dick’s grip only tightens. “What the hell you on about Tim?” His words are stern but Tim could hear how they’re said with an anxious tone.

Tim tugs his arm again, this time reaching out with his other to shove Dick away. “I’ll explain, I promise, just let me go…”

“No, not until you tell me what you’ve seen.”

When Tim looks over the group was now almost out of sight and Tim could feel his heart dropping. This was his last chance just to make sure he hadn’t been seeing things. Knowing Dick wasn’t going to let him go, Tim shoves him hard and yells at him.

“Let me go!”

In either shock or panic, Dick lets him go and Tim couldn’t be more relieved. As soon as his brother’s hand is off his arm Tim is shoots off in an instant, he ignores all the eyes now staring at him as he runs by them in the direction the group had disappeared from.

Miraculously he manages to catch up to the retreating group. He spots the three familiar figures manoeuvring their way through the crowd heading towards the other end of the mall where an exit is. Tim rushes forward, not caring about how manic he looks as he passes by strangers, and as soon as he’s in hearing range he shouts to try and get their attention.

“Kon! Kon, Cassie! Guys. Bart!”

The shouts get him a few more weird looks but he continues to be oblivious to them as he’s tunnel visioned on the three people in front of him. Thankfully his shouting gets the attention of the right people because the group stop and turn around in their place.

Suddenly Tim couldn’t breathe. There in front of him were the aliens who he thought he would never see again, the aliens who saved his life numerous of times and the ones who returned him home.

Kon, Cassie and Bart stand in front of him staring back seeming just as shocked as he is. For a long time none of them move as they all take in that they’re actually seeing one another again. If Tim weren’t so surprised by their appearance he would be questioning it, but he’s too elevated to give it much thought in that moment.

Without realising it Tim is moving and so were they. They meet in the middle and Tim finds himself wrapped up in a group hug. He breathes deeply, wondering why the action feels so familiar, and even safe, when he hasn’t seen them in six months.

He pulls back and looks wildly between the three of them. He can’t believe they’re here. Could this be a dream?

“Tim! We were just looking for you!” Bart grins brightly.

Tim shoots him a look, then glances at the other two. “Looking for me? Why what’s going on? Wait, wait, wait, how are you guys here? Why are you here?”

Bart’s smile falters a little at Tim’s rapid questions. “Because we wanted to find you.”

Tim shakes his head, feeling a little guilty that his questions came across wrongly. “No, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just completely surprised to see you that’s all. This is totally unexpected.”

“Tim, as wonderful as it is to see you, do you know a place we can talk privately and not in the middle of… this place.” Cassie says glancing around cautiously.

Tim copies her and he finally realises how many people are looking at them funnily as well as giving them a wide berth as they pass by. Tim nods his head in understanding, this isn’t the kind of topic a group of people can discuss in the middle of the mall.

Just as Tim was thinking of a place they could go for privacy a shout gets his attention.

“Tim what the hell!” He turns around and is met with a furious Dick marching up to him. “What the fuck were you thinking running off like that?”

Tim huffs and rolls his eyes, he gets why Dick is worried but at the end of the day he is in fact an adult and not a toddler. “Dick it’s fine, I’m sorry but this is important.”

Dick studies him for a moment before his eyes flicker over to the three aliens standing opposite them looking awkward at the sudden appearance of his brother.

“Right so, Dick, this is Kon, Cassie and Bart,” he points to each alien in turn, “guys, this is my oldest brother Dick.”

There is a pause between them all and while the aliens look confused he could see the wheels turning inside of Dick’s mind. As if it’s clicked, Dick turns to Tim with wide eyes, “Are these the ones that saved your life?”

Tim smiles, feeling pleased that his brother has remembered his story and those involved. “Yeah that’s right.

“What are they doing here?”

Tim shrugs and turns to the others. “What are you guys doing here, beside looking for me?”

“Can we go somewhere else first Tim. Like away from all the eyes.” Cassie says pointedly.

Next to him Dick looks confused. “Tim what did she say? Wait, how do you understand them? That isn’t any language I’ve heard of.”

Tim blinks trying to comprehend everything going on. The aliens that saved his life are on Earth and he doesn’t know why, his brother is clearly confused and the others are looking at him expectantly. Tim is starting to feel pretty overwhelmed by it all.

In attempts to control his thoughts and emotions Tim takes a deep breath. “Right lets go somewhere else. Then everything can be explained.”

The private place they end up going happens to be a nearby park. It’s a large open space, where people are scattered over the place, it’s private in the sense that no one is paying them any attention and unless someone walks directly next to them, no one can hear their conversation.

The five of them settle down on the grass in a circle, the aliens and even Dick all look a little apprehensive for the choice of location but it’s not like there’s many others. It’s not like Tim and Dick can return home with the aliens in tow and expect Bruce to be okay with it.

“Right,” Tim says getting everyone’s attention. He glances at his friends, while still feeling  completely gobsmacked by the fact they’re here, and gets down to business. Tim needs to find out what’s going on.

Now they’re all sat down Tim blurts out his questions without restraint. “How are you guys here? Why are you here? I thought you were all being punished or put on probation? Did you complete it, did it end and now you’re free to do as you please once again?”

None of them respond to his rapid questioning, they each look at him blankly like they couldn’t understand what he’s saying. When the silence drags out for too long Tim is about to repeat them when Kon speaks up for the group.

The Kryptonian sends him an empathetic look and with patience says, “Let us just explain what’s happened that’s brought us here, hopefully the story will answer your questions.”

Tim has to retrain himself from firing out the questions again. He wants answers! He can’t believe they’re here, he thought he would never see them again but here they are!

Next to him Dick lightly smacks his shoulder to get his attention. “Tim what are they saying? What’s going on?”

His brother is looking awfully confused and concerned. Tim can’t exactly blame him. He’s dragged Dick with him to sit down with practically three strangers and is now witnessing a one-sided conversation because he can’t understand the other three.

“They’re about to explain why they’re on Earth. I honestly thought I would never see them again, I’m just as confused as you are.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea Tim. What if it’s some sort of… trap or something?”

A surge of anger rises inside of Tim at the accusation. He understands Dick’s worries but this isn’t a trap and he knows it. They wouldn’t do that to him, not after everything they went through together.

“Dick shut up for a moment.” Tim snaps at him after a pause once he’s got his emotions under control. “Also they can understand you too, so watch what you say. If you don’t like it, go away and I’ll come find you later, or sit here and be quiet, it’s your choice.”

Dick stares at him, clearly taken back by the aggression of his words. But Tim isn’t relenting. He narrows his eyes at his brother, daring him to say something. In the end Dick raises his hands up in surrender and stays where he is. Once he’s delt with Tim turns back to the aliens.

“Sorry about him, there’s just a little misunderstanding. Please tell me what happened and how you’re here.”

Kon launches into the explanation of what happened after they took Tim home. Apparently they returned back to Krypton before finishing off their collection job, what they had originally been doing when they first met Tim. Once they completed that they were put on probation and were kept under watchful eyes for a long time. They weren’t allowed on any missions, they had to go back to the basic training skills and from there build the trust back up with their so called leaders.

Once some trust was established they were allowed on missions but only with other older members of their squadron, they described it like someone was babysitting them. They also had to report back on anything and everything during the mission. Because of good behaviour from the each of them, they were then allowed out on missions independently as a team some time later.

After more trust had been built, after they had once again proven themselves apparently Kal approached them for a very specific mission that would suit their abilities and past experiences.

Kal had given the three of them the mission of doing recon and observing humans on planet Earth. Apparently their files and databases don’t have enough accurate information on humans and after the fiasco with Tim, it’s about time they start taking human beings into consideration and start learning about them properly.

The three of them were to stay on Earth for an extended period of time to gather the data they need and to regularly report back to the leaders with their findings. They didn’t go into detail on what it is they need to do or what they need to observe but Tim can easily overlook it because at the end of the day they are in fact here on Earth and with him.

“So Kal sent you here on Earth to ‘observe’ humans because of you guys knowing me?” Tim asks just so he’s clear on it all.

The three of them grin and nod in response. Amused, Tim snorts softly. He settles back on the grass, using his elbows to keep him propped up. “Surely he knows that as soon as you land you would try and find me. By the way, how did you find me? I thought I was unable to be tracked?”

“We parked the ship where we dropped you off. We’ve hidden the ship from anyone seeing it or anything detecting it. Once we’ve found a more suitable place we’ll move the ship.” Cassie explains waving her hand around subconsciously as she talks. “Knowing that the city next to it is the one you said you lived in, we took a chance and started looking for you. As you pointed out, we can’t track you, so we’ve been relying on nothing but hope and chance in bumping into you.”

Tim shakes his head in disbelief. So it had been by pure chance that they happened to be in the same part of the city, in the same mall, at the exact same time as Tim.

“I’ve always wanted to come to Earth, especially after meeting you Tim. It’s strange, different from other planets we’ve visited before. Also why are the days so short? Everything is bright because the sun is out and you’d practically blink and it would suddenly be dark, but after that you’d blink another time and it’s light once again.” Bart starts rambling from his position in between Tim and Kon. He looks around curiously, taking in everything and Tim could see him shaking in place, it’s like it’s taking all of Bart’s self-restraint to not go speeding off into the city in his excitement.

Tim laughs at his comments, Bart is just the same as he remembers. They all are really and it fills Tim with a warmth he can’t describe.

“How have you been since you’ve been back? Is everything alright, run into any trouble?” Kon asks him sounding concerned. Tim notices the way his eyes drift over to Dick who is currently on his phone not paying them much attention. Tim gets the feeling Kon may be feeling a bit protective of him, especially after seeing how Dick had unintentionally treated him earlier.

Tim shrugs, pulling a face as he looks around the park. “No more than what was expected to be honest.” He looks back at the alien. “So far, and touch wood, I haven’t run into or even seen any League members. There’s been my own personal stuff I’ve had to deal with but nothing like what you’re thinking of really.”

Cassie sits up straighter, she’s also eyeing Dick like he could be a threat of some kind. “And him there?”

Tim rolls his eyes in response. When will everyone stop treating him like a kid that constantly needs to be protected? “He’s fine. He gets a little over-protective and after not seeing me for a couple years, especially after what happened, he wants to make sure I’m fine. He’s not a threat.”

Both Cassie and Kon don’t seem satisfied with his answer but they let it go. Tim lets out a long breath. “So what now? You guys are here, what did you have in mind once you found me? How are you planning on completing your mission?”

“We were hoping you would be able to show us things about the human life.” Bart says looking at him hopefully. “After all, you know what you’d be talking about, there’s also the matter of fact no one can understand us except you because of the translator.”

“Yeah okay, I think I’d be able to help you. After all, it’s the least I can do since you saved my life several times. However I won’t be able to be with you all hours of the day, I have commitments to deal with as well.” Tim points out. He would love to help them out but he can’t just drop his life to do so, not that there’s really much going on but that’s not the point.

The three of them nod in unison, clearly understanding what Tim meant. “Any help would be great Tim, thank you.”

They get talking about a few other bits, like what they have discovered since being on Earth for themselves. During that conversation there were a lot of snarky comments made about how underdeveloped humans were, surprisingly those comments no longer annoy Tim, he simply rolls his eyes and moves onto the next thing.

Tim’s broken out of the conversation after Dick nudges him to get his attention. Tim blinks at him, completely forgetting he was even there to begin with. “Tim it’s getting late, we should probably get heading home.”

Tim glances at the clock on his own phone and is surprised to see the time. They’ve spent hours talking and catching up.

After a brief conversation about where they could meet up the next day, they settle on a time and place before parting ways. Once they were out of hearing range Dick puts his attention on Tim. “So they were the aliens who saved you? I didn’t expect to meet them, they don’t look like what I expected them to.”

Tim rolls his eyes. “I have described to you before what they look like Dick, not all aliens are huge and green with tentacles, antennas and multiple eyes.” He certainly isn’t going to tell Dick that there are in fact aliens that look exactly like that.

Dick laughs at his sarcasm. “You know that’s not what I meant. They each have a different language yet you spoke to the three of them with no problems.”

“Yeah that’s because of the universal translator I have planted in my teeth. Its one of the first things they did when they found me. Once it was implanted I was able to understand everything they said, it’s how they all communicate out there.”

The two of them finally reach the car and climb inside.

“So what are they doing here on Earth?” Dick asks as he starts the car up and begins driving them home.

“They’re here because they’ve been sent to do recon on humans, they need to report back their findings to their leaders. While being here they decided to come and find me, they have also asked if I could help them out. Since they saved my life, agreeing to help them isn’t an issue, it’s the least I could do.”

Dick asks him a few more questions about what they discussed, his brother is still put off by the fact they all have different languages and yet they can all understand one another, but on the most part he seems okay with them.

It makes Tim wonder if he should let his family officially meet the aliens, if he did how would it all play out? Communication will obviously be an issue, Tim will have to be their translator but it may be worth considering in the long run. The aliens showing their powers to the family would certainly be interesting and with how private Wayne Manor is, they could get away with it and not be spotted.

Those thoughts remain in Tim’s mind for the rest of the day, into the night and stay with him until the next day when he meets the aliens again. Tim makes sure to keep them all away from too crowded areas (they ended up in the park again) and makes sure he’s prepared for anything that may go wrong. It’s one of the first times he’s left the grounds on his own since returning home and he’s nervous. His anxiety does calm down a little when he finally meets with his friends but he stays alert just in case.

They have a brilliant day together. Tim answers as many questions as he can when they each ask him stuff, he also shows them what he could, stuff that really helps humans in their day to day lives, for example his mobile phone. Alongside that Tim introduces them to the internet. Witnessing them using google for the first time was as amusing as it was painful to watch.

Don’t even get him started about when Bart tried to talk to Siri.

When their day starts drawing to close, Tim’s earlier thoughts come back to the fore front of his mind. In the end he decides to bite the bullet and turns to the aliens.

“How would you all like to meet my family?”

There's a pregnant pause between them and before anyone could reply Tim starts rambling on. “I know that communication may be an issue but we can get around that. I think it would be good for you to meet the ones I spend most of my time with. Not only that, I can then also show you what human family life is like, how homes operate and what gardens can be like. It may be worth considering?”

When there’s more silence Tim winces, curing himself for his eagerness. It’s stupid, of course they wouldn’t like the idea. Why would they –

“Yeah okay. That sounds interesting, of course only if you’re sure about it.” Kon says eventually looking thoughtful.

Tim whips his head around and stares at him. “Really? You want to?”

Kon shares a look with the other two, who nod in response, and turns back to Tim. “Like I said, if you’re sure about it, yeah.”

“Okay, okay…” Tim mumbles now getting equally excited and nervous about this happening. After they agreed Tim called Alfred up and asked the butler to come and pick them up. While on the phone Tim explained to Alfred the situation and how he’ll have company with him. God bless his soul, Alfred took it all in stride. While he seemed dubious about it, he agreed to let them come back to the manor.

Once Alfred arrived Tim took the others to the car and guided them inside. He greets Alfred before diving into an explanation on how cars work.

The journey back to the Manor is a short one and Tim has the fantastic opportunity to watch the awe expression cross his friends faces as they see the manor for the first time. Despite how many places they have travelled to, it seems like this really captures their attention, something that’s truly impressed them and Tim couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of that.

Once they’ve parked up, Alfred goes ahead first, probably with the main intentions of warning everyone what’s about to happen. Tim hovers behind for a while as he lets his friends stare at his home and the surrounding gardens. When more time than necessary has passed, Tim gently nudges them up towards the stairs, saying he’ll take them on a tour later on.

When they enter the manor they’re greeted with the sight of Alfred, Bruce Jason and Cass standing in the hallway watching them come in. Once they were all in Tim closes the door behind them and moves so he’s standing in front of his friends and faces his family.

Tim shuffles uncomfortably in his place, he’s feeling the apprehension of this meeting now more than ever. Taking a deep breath he addresses those in the room. “Everyone I would like you to meet Kon-el of Krypton, Cassandra of Themyscira and Bartholomew of Keystone. These three are the ones who saved my life while I was gone, without them I would have died long ago and never would have returned home. I owe them everything.”

Tim stares at each family member in turn, observing their reactions. Alfred of course is aware of them already and seems pretty neutral, Jason narrows his eyes at the aliens in distrust but doesn’t comment, Cass looks at his friends with curiosity which seems to be on the more positive side of things and finally Bruce seems stoic as ever, Tim couldn’t really tell what he’s thinking.

Eventually the thick atmosphere in the air is broken when Bruce steps forward, eyeing each alien carefully until a smile takes over his face and he relaxes his posture, letting go of what Tim could describe as the ‘alpha’ persona (the one where Bruce tries to make it clear he’s the one in charge and has all the dominance in the room).

“Thank you for helping my son and bringing him home. If I could ever repay you please let me know.”

Of course the aliens could understand Bruce but if they spoke then he wouldn’t understand them. In return to Bruce’s words, they each smile appreciatively and duck their heads. Bruce doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of verbal response, he resumes on as normal.

“Since we have guests how about something to eat. Tim, I’m sure your friends would be interested in trying some of our food?”

Tim glances at the trio, raising an eyebrow in question. They each look back at him and shrug nonchalantly, clearly not bothered either way, or at least that’s Kon and Cassie, Bart on the other hand looks as eager as ever to try food.

Tim turns back to Bruce. “Yeah they’ll eat. I hope you have a lot because Bart will literally eat everything in  the house. He’s a Speedster and naturally eats more than the average person.” Tim laughs letting his adoptive father, and even Alfred, know in advance.

“There’ll be plenty Timothy, no need to worry about that. Now if you would like to follow me, I’ll show you where we will be eating.”

Without waiting Alfred turns around and heads into the depths of the manor. After sending a glare at each of their guests, Jason is quick to follow Alfred. Cass smiles politely and trails behind Jason with Bruce behind her.

The trio glance at Tim, clearly waiting for his cue before doing anything. Tim rolls his eyes and gestures on ahead, “Go, it’s going to be fine. Plus you’re going to absolutely love Alfred’s food, it’s the best.”

“If you say so…” Cassie mutters walking ahead.

Bart is about to speed off down the corridor but Kon catches his arm just in time to stop him from doing so. “Bart. Be careful, this isn’t somewhere you can easily run around in.”

“After we’ve eaten I can show you the gardens Bart, its plenty big enough outside for you to have free reign.” Tim says, knowing the Speedster’s way of dealing with his energy. Bart rapidly nods in response and starts after Cassie, not in a run but certainly a quick walk.

Then it’s just Kon and Tim left. They share a knowing smile. “It’s good to see you again Tim and it’s great to know that you’re still safe.”

Tim grins, feeling warmth rise up inside of him. Before saying anything he gestures for them to get walking, as they do he speaks up. “I missed you guys too. While I don’t particularly miss space and everything out there, I miss being with you three on the ship. I certainly wasn’t expecting to ever see you again.”

Kon shrugs, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. “Well we, or rather I, planned to visit you from the moment our probation was mentioned. I knew as soon as we had free reign again, we were going to come and visit you.”

Tim’s eyes widen at that. So even before they parted ways, Kon and the others had wanted to continue seeing him. “Well I’m glad you’re here, and that you’ll be here for an extended amount of time too.”

When they reach the dining room, they stop just short of the door. From inside loud sounds where being made and Tim dreads what kind of chaos he's about to walk into. It’s just another usual family dinner at this stage, there’s always some kind of drama going on. He turns to Kon with a thought, before he enters the room he shoots him a sly look, unable to help himself. The Kryptonian has no idea what he’s about to be in for.

“I’ve experienced your life Kon, now you get to experience mine. It’s probably going to be the wildest adventure you’ve had yet and that’s truly saying something, I hope you’re prepared.”

As he walks into the dining room, Tim leaves behind a bewildered looking Kon. For the first time since everything had happened, Tim is actually forward to what the future will bring. He knows that ups and downs will happen but he’s also excited to see what’ll occur with his new friends by his side as they learn about his way of life. It’s certainly going to be an experience.

[rainbowpacifiers]

Twin Kingdoms (A3! Event story) - Epilogue: The Inheritance of G

Sorry for the delay! Reni talks A LOT. Some minor development concerning Hakkaku’s plans for the final play. Kindly excuse any potential mistakes!

Chapter 10 | Index

Reni: Thank you for taking the trouble to come. Board member A: Good work. It was the sprouting of a new GOD Troupe. Board member B: Both Asuka-kun and Takato-kun did great as well. They grew into fine actors. Board member A: Speaking of, Takato-kun no longer belongs to the GOD Troupe? Reni: That is correct. Currently, he's active as a member of the reborn MANKAI Company. Reni: If you would like, I want to introduce you to MANKAI Company's general director, who is in the back right now--. Board member A: I'm sorry, but we actually have a meeting. We will have to leave right away. Reni: Is that so?.... I will send you an invitation to MANKAI Company's next play, then. Board member A: Thank you. Board member B: It would have been nice if Amadate-san had been able to come as well, right? Being a theatre junkie too, he loves collaboration plays like this. Board member A: It appears he's in the middle of a business trip in the countryside, so there was no way around it. Reni: I see.... Board member A: We will be taking our leave, then. Reni: Take care on your way. Reni: (That leaves Syu--) Reni: (He left? I keep telling him to let me say hello, at least. Good grief.)

Izumi: That's a very lavish closing party. Azami: Are the ones here all staff members of the GOD Troupe? Tasuku: Yeah. The closing parties are always like this. Tsuzuru: What an incredible difference to ours. Haruto: Normally, we don't do such flashy things, but it's GOD Troupe's style to go all out when it's to reward the staff and actors. Azami: I want that yakuza to hear this, too. Tasuku: Feels like he'd only consider it after we earn as much as the GOD Troupe does. Azami: Urg. You're right, he totally would. Shift: Azami, the food is really awesome, so you'd better eat a lot. I always take some home in Tupperware. Haruto: You're the top actor; don't do something so miserly! Tsuzuru: Speaking of, there is so much food, I don't even know what to choose from... Izumi: Why don't we try a bit of each for now? Madoka: Hello, Minagi-san. Tsuzuru: Oh, Madoka, hey. Madoka: I wanted to say once more how nice it was to have been able to work alongside you. Thank you. Tsuzuru: The pleasure was mine. I learned a lot, and it was very stimulating. Tsuzuru: Thanks to working with you, I wondered if that was what it is like to have a conversation through a brush. Tsuzuru: For the first time, I experienced the feeling of exchanging ideas and feelings beyond speaking in words. Izumi: (Seems like this was even greater of an experience for Tsuzuru-kun than expected.) Tsuzuru: ....That reminds me. Director, there is something I would like to talk to you about. Tsuzuru: About the play that Hakkaku-san was envisioning - how do you feel about having his grandson help with the script? Tsuzuru: While working on the script with him this time, there were of course his skills, but it was also really easy do to. Tsuzuru: On top of the written interaction between Hakkaku-san and Madoka that would be born, I think it'd make Hakkaku-san happy that Madoka is writing for it. Izumi: Indeed, that might be a pretty good idea. Tsuzuru: Well, it all depends on Madoka, though. Madoka: --Of course, please let me do it. Madoka: If I could experience the ideas of the grandfather that I respected and work on writing a script for my brother, it would make me very happy, too. Tsuzuru: Great. Izumi: (Looks like Tsuzuru-kun was able to become friends with someone great to consult with. He did say that he didn't yet have the confidence to put what Hakkaku-san entrusted us with into shape.) Izumi: (But I'm sure it will work out with such a reassuring colleague like Madoka by his side.)

Host: The next number is--number 25! If you have a bingo, please come up! Shift: So, Haruto-san? Got one? Haruto: Not at all. Shift: Oh, you're one number away! If a 23 or 67 is called-- Haruto: I've never managed to get a win before, so it'll be a bust anyway. Shift: Eh, as I thought, you usually don't win at this stuff, hm? Tasuku: I've received stuff like a TV and a microwave. Shift: Seriously!? Haruto: You-...you usually play dirty. Also, stop showing off yer muscles by only wearin' short sleeves in the practice room! Izumi: Showing off muscles.... Tasuku: Haruto really is a pain when he's drunk... Izumi: And he's the type whose dialect slips out when he gets drunk, isn't he? Tasuku: He also gave me his real name, Yamada Genta, himself while he was intoxicated. Host: The next number is--23! Shift: Oh, Haruto-san, Bingo! Haruto: Huh? Shift: You've got a Bingo! Go up front! Haruto: Really...? Reni: Congratulations. Here is your prize. Haruto: Thank you. Reni: Ah, right. After the Bingo game, wait at the entrance for me. Haruto: --I will! Shift: Haruto-san, lead actor power! Azami: Congrats. Madoka: How great. Shift: What was your prize? Haruto: Erm...an eletronic kettle... Haruto: Sigh...you take it. Shift: Eh!? You sure!? Haruto: I've already got one. I can't possibly replace that, right? Shift: I can use it for cup udon! Haruto: Listen when other people talk!

Host: That concludes the Bingo tournament! Haruto: --

Haruto: ..... Reni: Sorry for calling you out here. Haruto: D-, don't be! Reni: I wanted to continue our conversation from the other day. About my coaching methods having changed... Reni: The main cause was that I realised my real feelings that were dormant within me. Reni: For a long time, I was obsessed, and I didn't have the room to properly consider anything but the members of my own theatre company. I failed as a chairman. Haruto: That's--you are my life, Reni-san! Haruto. --I, I'm sorry. I will mind my words. Reni: That's also a facade you put up, right? From now on, you don't have to hide it needlessly unless you’re on stage. Reni: ....You know that Tachibana, the father of MANKAI Company's general director, and I are old friends, right? Haruto: Yes. Reni: Even after I set up the GOD Troupe, I kept being influenced by Tachibana without realising it. Reni: Because of that, my field of vision became narrower, and my attention shifted to the individuality and variety each actor possessed　and I dared to avoid making use of that. Reni: Rather than the talent that Tachibana was blessed with, he emphasised making use of what each actor was born with and making them bloom "like" on a stage. Reni: I was against Tachibana's way of doing things and quit MANKAI Company. And therefore, I persisted with denying Tachibana's methods. Reni: If the GOD Troupe would succeed that way, I figured I'd be able to rank above Tachibana. Reni: ...But I was wrong. You guys made me realise that with your play. Reni: Tachibana's way was right. That's why I was enchanted by the man of the theatre named Tachibana Yukio. Reni: I had just intended to pursue my own ideals, but in the end, I am a merciless man who depends on one person. Reni: ...Are you disenchanted? Haruto: Na--no! Even then, I like the ideals you pursue. Haruto: As for my life as an actor, it will never change the fact that you are my greatest benefactor. Reni: Right...If I recall correctly, you broke away from your hometown in order to become an actor, right? Reni: Actors express something for the entire audience-- There is truth to it, but it's also part masquerade. Reni: Among the audience, there might also be one person whom you really want to reach. Who is that to you? Why do you continue acting? Haruto: At first, that was definitely my mother. Haruto: (She was very opposed to my moving to the capital, but even then, I'm sure she must have had great expectations for my future...) Haruto: (She must have also wanted to get back at all of those back in our hometown who knew that I wanted to become an actor and made fun of it.) Haruto: (After I'd entered the theatre company, I also discovered a rival that I absolutely did not want to lose against. But...) Reni: And now? Haruto: It's Reni-san. Haruto: Ever since Tasuku was in the GOD Troupe... Haruto: I was always wavering between a feeling of definitely surpassing him one day, and a feeling of possibly being no match for his talent. Haruto: This time, I lost sight of the meaning behind me continuing as an actor when I experienced my own powerlessness while once again being jealous of Tasuku's skills. Haruto: But, even if I can't win against the "real deal", I want to repay you and the GOD Troupe for the rest of my life. Haruto: That I'm going to continue with acting is for the sake of expressing my gratitude for being able to meet you and the GOD Troupe. Haruto: I want to make the superior ensemble that is the GOD Troupe eternal. Haruto: Being far from the world I dreamed of, I came to Tokyo with longing and met the GOD Troupe, which felt like my only destiny among many theatre companies. Haruto: The vague longing to go to a beautiful dream world has turned into a firm vow to carry on in/with the GOD Troupe. Haruto: So no matter what happens, I will never leave the GOD Troupe, I will never leave under Reni-san. Reni: --. Reni: ...During this time's rehearsals, I felt a little envious of Tachibana. Reni: While working on the conception with Tachibana's daughter, I felt a sensitivity within her that was close to Tachibana's. Reni: I'm sure that she must have inherited something akin to the theatre spirit that Tachibana believed in. Reni: I wished I had someone that could take over after me like that.  Haruto: You have me. Reni: ...Yes, indeed. I was reminded of that just now. There is no one but you who could inherit the ideals of the GOD Troupe. Reni: Haruto, carry a strong spirit as an actor. Haruto: I will. Reni: A spirit that I.... The kind of spirit of being an actor that I have acknowledged as the chairman of the first generation of the GOD Troupe. Haruto: --I will engrave that in my memory!

____________________

Chapter 10 | Index

[pressedinthepages]

Chapter 20: Epilogue

Summary: So many unanswered questions, with a few answers.

Series Masterlist

(There is a link on my page where you can be added to my taglist :D)

Warnings: language, smut, fluff

A/N: Oh my god y’all, it’s here! This is the final chapter! I literally started this back in May, and it’s now basically October? Holy shitballs. A huge thank you to those who were with me from day one and to those who joined me throughout the journey. While this is the last part, I do still have little ideas running around my head. I hope that you all have enjoyed this as much as I have, and I am looking forward to exploring new works too!

    A shiver runs down your spine as you watch the fog slowly creep up the mountain path. Your fingers itch to grab for your silver sword, bracing yourself for an attack of foglets. It’s only a split second thought though, a reflex from more than half a century of hunting monsters. Then you remember that foglets don’t come this far north, and you don’t have your swords. They have been left just inside of the doorway twenty paces behind you, and have been collecting dust for the better part of a year. 

    You watch as the sun rises past the craggled summits of the mountains around you, bathing the lower valley in light. The fog rises and dissipates, revealing the lush green pasture dotted with sprigs of lavender and thyme. After almost an entire decade more of following the Path, you had given in to the occasional yearning that grew more and more constant to finally make a life of your own, by your own choosing. Your ears pick up movement to your left and you turn, smiling when you see a veritable herd of animals approaching in your direction, led by the man who claims to be the source of your sanity. 

    Eskel leads the pack with Lil’ Bleater bounding at his side, albeit a bit slower in her advancing age. He fulfilled his promise, finding a friend for her named Bellegarde. She had kids earlier in the spring, the three little bundles of energy just as taken by Eskel as their mother. Scorpion and Lady follow just behind, the latter butting her head into Scorpion’s flank as he walks. The two of them have grown closer as well, having had a foal between them. She has the same stoic air as her father, with the gentle regality of her mother. 

    You had balked when Eskel had walked through the door with a wolf pup in his arms, but he quickly provided a (still somewhat insane) reason for having brought him into the home.

    “I found him laying among a bunch of dead wolves, probably had been his pack. I couldn’t just leave him there, he’d die…” Eskel looked up at you with the biggest, saddest eyes he could muster, knowing that you’ve grown quite soft when it comes to him. 

    You sighed, turning back to the pot over the fire to give it a stir. “He’ll be your responsibility…”

    But that had not stopped the little thing from taking to you immediately. You often couldn’t walk more than two steps without him being under your feet, following your every move. You had named him Argos, after a story you had heard of a great warrior with a faithful dog that followed in his shadow. 

    Now, Argos bounds to your side, letting you run your fingers through his ever-thickening coat. Summer has passed into a chilly autumn, the trees once again turning the colors of fire before shedding their leaves. Eskel comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, nuzzling into your neck and kissing lightly. You close your eyes and lean into his touch. Your mind settles with peace, but it is soon broken by the distant sound of approaching steps from the treeline, and the plucking of a lute. Your eyes shoot open, freezing on the spot as you stare at the place that the sound is coming from. 

    Silver hair shines in the sunlight as Geralt steps out of the cover of the trees. He looks strong, healthy, well-fed. Roach looks the same, though she always looks at least a little more well-cared for than Geralt himself. His face, twisted in his perpetual scowl, softens a bit when he spots the two of you. Eskel’s arm slips from around your waist as he walks to meet Geralt halfway, the two men wordlessly falling in a tight embrace. You move to greet him as well, but your feet still as the source of the music steps from the woods at Geralt’s back.

    He looks just as he did a decade ago, wavy chestnut hair framing a handsome face, blue eyes just on this side of too-bright. He is dressed in bright colors, a stark contrast at Geralt’s side. The lute slides into place across his back as he gestures widely in a greeting to Eskel, full of flowery words and vague insinuations. Jaskier places his hand lightly on Geralt’s shoulder as he speaks, and you can see the way that Geralt softens even further with the touch. As Jaskier turns to face him however, Geralt’s face switches back into his stern expression.

    Time freezes for everyone except you, Lil’ Bleater having been suspended in mid-air as she lept to greet her new guests. You huff, turning to see Jaskier at your side. You glance between the two identical men, wishing for the life of you that you had your swords on your back. 

    “He doesn’t know.” The Jaskier at your side speaks with a timeless tone, one that speaks of wisdom of countless years. He sighs with a smile, “Back then, I thought I was just as human as anyone else.”

    You blink, settling a bit in your boots. “So, I shouldn’t say anything to him?”

    “Unless you want to uproot this whole beautiful life that you have created with Eskel, no.”

    You nod, taking in your surroundings. A home, with a fire and a table and a bed that Eskel warms at your side every night. Countless animals, providing love and companionship. A garden in the back, spilling over with any and every plant that the two of you could think of. Your armor, tucked away under the bed. 

    “Thank you, Jaskier, for what you did all those years ago.” You don’t know what to do with your hands, flexing uncomfortably at your side. 

    Jaskier hums, stepping right up next to the frozen version of himself. You can see, even from where you stand behind Eskel, the way that Jaskier is gazing at Geralt, a twinkle in his eyes that could rival that of a star shooting across the sky.

    “You love him.” Your words are not accusatory, more so just stating a fact. Jaskier flushes a bit, biting his lip as he turns back to you. 

    “Could you…” Jaskier steps to stand at your side once more, “Could you not say anything about that either?”

    You smirk, nodding a bit before responding, “That’s not in your destiny, then?”

    Jaskier puts his hand on your shoulder, squeezing lightly. “No, my dear. Unfortunately, it is not.”

    The breeze picks back up as the Jaskier at your side disappears, leaving you to join the group in front of you. This Jaskier shines like a new coin, young and naive. Introductions are made as you escort everyone into the house, Argos weaving through the vines of new legs, nipping playfully at Jaskier’s fingers.

    ***

    A few days pass before Geralt and Jaskier take their leave, headed even further north towards Kaer Morhen. You had invited them to stay at your home, but Geralt had gently refused. 

    “I uh...I need to see Vesemir. I need his help.”

    Your eyebrows crinkled as Geralt explained the mess that he had created around himself, having claimed a Child of Surprise, a princess no less. As he spoke Eskel had gotten up from the table and walked out of the door, silently reliving his own tragedy around the subject. 

    Later, Geralt and Eskel had spoken. Eskel’s own past with his Child Surprise was still a rather tender subject, but Geralt was experiencing all of that anew. The two of you vowed to be of support to Geralt as he may need, and agreed that if there were any reason to break out the armor and strap the swords back on, it would be for him. Jaskier had agreed, though Geralt seemed unsure of what exactly he could do in this situation.

    “You may be surprised Geralt,” you said, probably one too many ales in, “I bet Jaskier’s got a whole lot of power.”

    You realized what you said as soon as the words fell from your lips. “I uh- I mean, his songs! He could wield a whole lot of power over the people with the stories he tells, right?”

    Jaskier brightened, launching into a whole new tangent about the songs that he will write about his journey this winter, the two witchers sequestered away in their cabin, and the ones who spend the season in a castle high in the wilderness. You tuned him out, quickly finishing your ale before retiring to bed. 

    Now, Eskel rolls over to face you on the bed, having seen the two of them off earlier in the day. “It was nice to see Geralt again...Jaskier’s an odd bird though.” His voice is teasing, light in the sanctuary of your home.

    You chuckle, thinking the same. Though, you choose to keep your mouth shut, hesitant to spill any more information about the mysterious bard. 

    “I am glad they’ve left though…” Eskel’s voice turns husky as he tucks his nose into your neck. “Couldn’t very well fool around with them in the next room.”

    Eskel’s hand finds your core atop your underthings, just barely teasing you through the fabric. You sigh into him, pressing into his touch. You lift your hips as he hooks his fingers into the waist of your shorts, pulling them down and tossing them elsewhere in the room. Eskel has already divested himself of his own smallclothes, so when you reach, you find him hard and wanting in your hand. 

    “How would you like me tonight, love?” you whisper as you turn to better face him. He kisses you sweetly, taking your lip between his teeth as he pulls back. Eskel grabs you around the waist and shifts his hips, pulling you over him so you straddle him. 

    “Like this,” he growls, leaning up to take the peak of one of your breasts between his lips. You thread your fingers through his hair, reveling in just how soft it is now that you have all of the time in the world for trivial things like special soaps to keep hair silky.

    You sink yourself down onto the length of his cock, your eyes fluttering closed with the fullness. This feeling never grows old, something familiar but oh so exhilarating with every moment that passes. As your hips meet a bolt of ecstasy shoots through your skin, your nails digging into the meat of his shoulders. You moan as Eskel holds your waist, his own hips beginning to thrust a languid pace. 

    Eskel’s eyes bore deep into your own as he rubs his fingertips in little circles over the bundle of nerves at the peak of your center, fresh waves of arousal soaring through you with every beat of your heart. Eskel can (and has) keep you for hours like this, perched on the precipice of a glorious climax, never letting you fall. Tonight though, he is impatient, his hips soon snapping in a fast rhythm. 

    Your muscles tense as you keen with your fast approaching pleasure, every nerve feeling like it is on fire. Eskel wraps himself completely around your form as he fucks even harder into you, notching his teeth against the soft skin on your neck. You shatter under his hands, your entire body singing with the all-encompassing euphoria that comes with your climax. You feel Eskel follow soon after, his grip tightening ever so slightly before spilling deep in your core. 

    Eskel kisses you deeply as he turns, pressing you into the cushion of the bed as he pulls out of your heat. You hum contentedly as he grabs a damp cloth, cleaning you off before doing the same to himself. You know that the both of you could go for several more rounds, but the appeal of rest is so much greater at the moment. You feel Eskel settle behind you, wrapping himself around you and pressing his mouth against the back of your neck.

    “I love you so much, my dove.”

    Your eyes well a little bit, smiling into the pillow with just how tender your life has become. This is the easiest thing you have ever done, and you can only hope that it lasts until the end of your days. The easiest words come next, just as they do every moment that they appear in your mind.

    “I love you, Eskel.”

[aiden-png]

Heyy, is there any way for you to possibly share your planning/outlining process? I’m having a lot of trouble myself figuring out how to write my fic, it’s all just out of order and all over the place, and I feel like knowing what you do might help a bit

omg sure!! I know how to outline a few different ways and jump between the methods depending on the story, length, and how much planning is actually needed to achieve my goal. I don’t typically outline unless I’m setting out to write something over 20k words or I have an idea that relies on a series of interconnected scenes (like a 5+1 for instance)! I’ll continue below the cut...

when I’m ‘outlining’ for a multichapter fic below 20k, my notes are pretty simple and typically look like this (example from “5 Times Wild Did Something Wild”): -collecting bomb arrows while it’s raining -electrocuting a group of enemies during a lightning storm -deflecting guardian lasers with his shield/cryo-launching a guardian and sniping it midair -riding a Lynel and killing it from close range* -setting up a trap and killing a Yiga in disguise elaborately* -getting stabbed/shot and pulling the weapon out of himself to finish the fight

these ‘bullet outlines’ are really good for laying out scenes, story beats, or chapter summaries for multichapter fics. when I write a short oneshot however, my notes are 1-5 sentences that summarize the entire plot or the prompt, and I add more notes if necessary when I sit down to start writing. for example, the prompt outline for “Hero Through the Ages” was this: Wild is reverted back to a child and everyone expects him to be rowdy and impossible. Instead he’s entirely mute, very stoic, extremely well versed in swordsmanship, and acts like he’s a knight.

however, when I’m outlining a longggg multichapter fic, I have two methods I really enjoy using and tend to pair them together. first is the summary method, where I write out an overview of what I want the story to be like in paragraph form. it ends up looking like a Wikipedia summary for a book or film when it’s done, but the reason I like this method is because it allows me to brainstorm on the page and develop my ideas where I can reference them again. these methods are supposed to be rough at first and get developed further later, so the next two examples are plans for a fic that ultimately went in slightly different directions by the end! here’s the beginnings of a paragraph outline for my BotW fic “A Major Test of Strength”: Link has been training for a few weeks since defeating Vah Naboris so he has all the supplies and strength he needs to take on Calamity Ganon. He learns of a Spring of Wisdom (or smth actually not in canon) that is said to have healing/restorative properties and it’s suggested that he travel there to try and regain the last of his memories. Sidon decides to tag along to help/see if he can finally work up the courage to confess his feelings to Link. When they get there Link not only gets his memories of this life, but of all other timelines restored at once along with his abilities. Every Champion had a power, and Link always thought the swordsman didn’t. It suddenly makes sense why everyone has believed in him without question since he awoke: Link is the strongest Champion, and he’s just now reached his full potential. Before Link can begin to train his new powers the Yiga stage a plot 100 years in the making, putting Link, Sidon, and the whole of Hyrule in danger. Link has a time limit to face Ganon before the barrier breaks now, and he’ll need all the help he can get to make it there in time.

from the paragraph-style outline I can make a scene-by-scene or chapter-by-chapter (or even act-by-act) outline which is the second method I like, though I have a hard time writing things I know the endings of. I typically outline as I go after the midpoint of a fic so I don’t lose interest, and will place filler estimates for how many chapters will be in the climax and resolution. working from story beats in this case is a lot easier for me, so I’ll make a bullet list where I describe the exposition in quite a bit of detail, summarize to the midpoint, more briefly summarize to the climax, and then stop outlining. it looks sort of like this (same fic as above): 1- Link hears about a Shrine* that is said to help connect those to their past or smth and it’s in the Laynaryu Mountains. He decides to go for it, as he’s still missing a lot of his memory (he’s not super distressed by this, he knows himself and he’s content, he has more important things to handle, but he hopes that the final piece in his puzzle may help him defeat Ganon). He travels to Zora and Sidon insists on traveling with him, it’s not far after all 2- they travel to the location and become close along the way 3- when they arrive the place is surprising and Link emerges from the Shrine with far more than he expected. A Yiga had tailed them, and upon seeing Link’s powers, quickly teleports back to their base 4- Link spends some time training to grasp his new powers and finds himself drawn to Sidon more and more. The Yiga commune with Ganon 5- the Yiga stage an ambush on Link as he travels, kidnapping him and Sidon. The Yiga preform a ritual in front of Hyrule Castle where Link was knighted at the blood moon to rend Link of his powers and Sidon rescues him too late, the Yiga and any information they had disappearing 6- Link and Sidon travel to visit the Great Deku Tree as Link looses his strength, hoping to reverse the spell 7- Link and Sidon make it at the last minute and are shown the secret location of the Temple of Time, where Link completes the ritual, and is sent back in time to before the kidnapping so he can continue his training 8- Link prevents Sidon from being kidnapped with past Link and they journey to Satori Mountain to stakeout the ritual site so they can disrupt the ritual before it’s too late. they talk and share secrets and both realize how they feel 9- Link and Sidon successfully intervene and the two timelines collapse, merging, until Link awakes in the Temple of Time in a fixed timeline with the triforce and knowledge of his powers and his love for Sidon. He confesses instantly 10- epilogue? Link and Sidon share a peaceful day months after calamity ganon’s defeat, Link training future soldiers and running errands for citizens of Hyrule while effectively retired, Sidon and him officially courting, and everything right in the world

there are a lot of different outlining strategies beyond these that you can use too! there’s a flashcard one, where you write out important events and scenes on cards and organize them in whatever timeline you feel works best. there’s the in depth outline, where you summarize the scenes and events in every chapter from beginning to end (this one helps a lot with keeping consistent chapter lengths and maintaining plot threads). when I use an outline, to make sure I don’t forget what I’m supposed to be writing for each chapter, I’ll write myself notes at the end of the doc that I can glance at as I’m typing. I’ve also used the editing method, where I’ll read and edit the previous writing session before starting the current one so I don’t lose track of where I was. when writing a long piece, it can be helpful to stop in the middle of a scene that excites you, so you have the motivation to return later to finish it! it also works well to finish an entire scene or chapter before stopping so you don’t have to read back to start writing again, but since I tend to write every single day until a fic is finished I don’t have a lot of issues picking back up where I left off.

just remember, the outline is only a tool for you to use! it’s not set in stone, it doesn’t have to be neat or completed--the only thing that matters is that it helps you better write your piece. it’s perfectly fine to diverge from the outline when writing, or to edit it as you go! and outlining definitely isn’t for everyone, I rarely use one because I feel it limits my own creativity in some regards. flying by the seat of your pants when you write is a perfectly valid method too, so stick with what makes you comfortable and what works for your style--and remember to have fun! I hope this helped answer your question! :D

[jadeile-writes]

Fanfic Progress Update 130

Heipparallaa, my peoples : D Stay tuned for a spoilery glimpse into the next chapter of Adventure Gone Mini at the end.

Current WIPs:

Adventure gone Mini

Fandom: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild / The Minish Cap

Summary: Sidon is given his very own Sheikah Slate, the first replica Purah has managed to make, and sets out to travel with Link with the intention of registering warp points for convenient travel in the future. However, when a malfunction shrinks them down to the size of bugs, and they meet little people called the Minish, they have to change their plans from “fun adventuring” to “getting out of this mess”. Not that those two have to exclude one another. Link/Sidon.

Progress: Chapter 55 is the current latest chapter and was posted on 18th of August. Chapter 56 is off to a good start. The scheduled posting date is 8th of September, unless this chapter ends up longer than the other ones (due to being the last real chapter, and only having an epilogue coming after), in which case I’ll move the posting date accordingly. We’ll see how many words I’ll need to wrap this up epically.

I post a new chapter every three weeks on Wednesdays, except when I don’t manage to and move it by a week. These updates always include a sneak-peek for the next chapter, slowly getting longer over the three (or four) weeks’ waiting period.

—–

Hah! Our afterlife is the most hilarious bushwa, dearest

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Summary: This is not a stand-alone story! This is a oneshot/drabble collection in the universe as “Shit, the Radio Demon is a part of my afterlife”. Read the main story before bothering with this one.

I decided to give my readers a chance to throw Radiohusk prompts at me, and had the Afterlife-verse as an option to set the stories in. Everyone liked that, so this fic is now a thing. Enjoy the extra mischief from these two dorks!

Progress: Chapter 28 is the current latest chapter and was posted on 27th of November. Chapter 29 is technically written, but I’ll need to look it over to see if I want to tweak it before I can call it done. The scheduled posting date is Some Friday, and there will be a sneak-peek on the Previous Thursday. Chapter 30 is half-done as well.

Note to new people who might be looking at this: I’m not taking prompts anymore. These will be the last chapters, and then the fic will be done.

—–  

Other WIPs I’m not currently working on but intend to get back to someday:

PoE Drabbles (Pillars of Eternity) (btw, I’ve gotten back to playing the game, so this’ll likely be back on the table soon)

DC Drabbles (Justice League)

Diaphanous Relations (Forgotten Realms, R.A. Salvatore’s books)

Revalink chapter fic (Zelda BotW)

A bunch of Hazbin oneshots and chapter fics, some started, some just on the idea phase. There’s… there’s a lot…

—–

That’s it for the WIPs! Here’s the promised sneak-peek into Adventure gone Mini (Note: the text may end up slightly different in the fic itself due to more editing happening before publishing). Enjoy!

Mini

Closer up, Sidon looked a little worse for wear. He had a fresh scratch on his left bicep, and there was a rip on the arm fin of the same arm. Link assumed he had fought back when the Vaatians initially attacked them, after Link ran. Sidon didn't have his spear or his fire rod, but his bag was still on his person. It made sense that his weapon had been taken, but Link was grateful they had let Sidon keep the rest of his belongings, because it truly would have stank to have to replace everything again.

—–  

That’s it this time. See you next Saturday!

Links:

My AO3   My FFnet   My Ko-fi    Radiohusk Discord Server

[wolfqueen-is-here]

What’s Sansa’s endgame?

I think we can all agree that she lives and thrives so let’s move on to a different point. What’s her romantic/political endgame, if not Jon?

Of course, we can get a “single and independent Queen Sansa” ending but wasn’t there enough proof that it’s not acceptable in Westeros? Weren’t Dany’s advisers constantly nudging her, trying to make her name an heir? Welp, that’s only because that’s the core of this universe - marriages, heirs, carrying on family names. Sure, as a feminist I’d love Sansa to be on her own and happy but a. that’s not how society works in Westeros and b. this is not what Sansa wanted all her life (and she DID get upset when she was the only one not getting some love at the feast in 8x04, to the point when she sought some comfort in a convo with THE HOUND, no less.)

No, being single is unfortunately not an option for a leader in Westeros. She is (and they keep reminding us) the future of House Stark - it sure doesn’t mean dying childless and alone. So what option does she really have?

A nameless lord mentioned only in the epilogue. Sure, it’s a possibility. But is it a possibility for Sansa, one of the main characters and future Lady of Winterfell/Queen in the North/Queen of the Seven Kingdoms? I highly doubt it. I think if that was their plan, they’d try to introduce this “nameless lord” beforehand, make us like him, make us trust him, make us believe he’d be good for her. He could have been a war hero, they could flirt at the feast - there were countless possibilities. Were D&D just lazy and didn’t think of doing it, or was this never an option?

Tyrion. Of all the candidates introduced this season, only Tyrion seems like a potential choice for an endgame (which sickens me but I’m only talking about their storytelling angle) - he’s still alive (RIP Theon), doesn’t only talk about her rape experiences (FY Sandor), and isn’t her sister’s boyfriend (I’ll get back to it). But apart from her explicitly telling him “no” in the crypt, I don’t see it happening in the books - and that’s too important an ending to have it differ from GRRM’s outline. Sansa and Tyrion in the books have no real relationship as husband and wife - in the show they at least made them kinda sorta friends - book!Tyrion is a creep and a pedo, not to mention his actions outside of his marriage to Sansa (Shae’s brutal murder, rape, his obsession with sex, and his main concern with women being whether or not they’d sleep with him; I hate his POV chapters, they make me sick). So no, Sanrion is not happening. Sansa is a Stark, she will always be a Stark - Tyrion, on the other hand, is a Lannister through and through. He’d never consider fathering children named Stark to his Stark wife - and that’s what should happen if Sansa stays in Winterfell. 

Gendry. (I threw up a little having to write this.) I was so happy when Daenerys named him the Lord of Storm’s End, you have no idea! Ye, sure, he can be a lord and marry Arya, he’s such a happy puppy before Arya dumps him (sorry, puppy!Gendry) but what’s more important - now we can finally stop wondering whether Sansa should marry her sister’s boyfriend. No, she shouldn’t. First of all, HE’S HER SISTER’S BOYFRIEND AND THEY HAD LITERALLY ZERO INTERACTIONS DESPITE BEING IN THE SAME LOCATION FOR WEEKS. Second of all, he’s a lord in his own right now, she has Winterfell to worry about, he has Storm’s End. Either he moves North to be with her and abandons his castle (which tbh I can see happening if it’s for Arya), or she leaves Winterfell (never happening EVER unless we’re talking about her being the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, which is something that I don’t want for her anyway.)

Podrick. I love Pod but storywise he’s too little for her, they had no real interactions ever despite being in the same location (with a few exceptions) for literal YEARS (since Brienne pledged herself to Sansa in S6.) 

Are there any men left who aren’t already taken (Sam, Jaime), father-figures (Davos, Yohn Royce), or absolutely unsuitable (The Hound, Tormund)? 

Seriously, I’m asking you - what’s Sansa’s possible endgame, if not Jon? (Unless, you know, Arya got pregnant during her one-night stand but due to her wish to travel she drops her child in Winterfell to be raised by Sansa...)

[lizzybeth1986]

Sorry for this XD, but 1, 4, 9, 11, 26 and 27 for the salty ask? If it's not too much, of course

Don't say sorry! 😁 Thanks for the ask Nonny and apologies for the delay.

I must caution you, the post is going to be long and and there's too much salt in my responses for even me to handle.

1. OTP in fandom that you just do not get.

IDK I most don't give much of a thought to OTPs that I don't get. Like that is the nature of any fandom, that you can see potential for ships even without a say-so from canon.

What I really don't get is the absurd double standards that I see sometimes - how some fans will pull down other LIs/characters to make a favourite look good, how some LIs will be nitpicked to high hell while others can say the grossest things and not be judged. How one character can be judged for the same thing we will admire in another (I'll get to this later).

It's weird, considering the app literally allows you to choose who you will fall for (unless you're wlw or like a character that's a person of colour in a majority-white cast, in which case they will dangle scraps in front of you once every ten chapters, I suppose). You don't need to trash one LI to justify your choice of another. They're there. Stop tearing down an LI while deliberately tagging the character's tag and ship tags for your notes. Go generate (and promote) content for your own ships and characters instead.

4. A personal NOTP? Are they considered an OTP in the fandom?

Hana x Madeleine. Fortunately, lots of people had plenty of problems with this pair and the way it was written in Book 3. The narrative was subtly pushing that ship over the course of Book 3, but the backlash was strong enough that they got Madeleine to issue an apology for her bullying in the epilogue instead (I doubt they even remember the chocolate allergy scene, given that the MC acts like this information is brand new).

It still left a bad taste in my mouth, because it showed me how little the writers cared for Hana as a character, but at least the fandom made sure it didn't become a ship.

9. Most Disliked Character(s):

Hoo boy. I have a freaking list. Besides the really really obvious ones:

• Drake Walker: has way more privilege than he knows what to do with. Narrative acts like he is the Voice of the Commoner...well. I feel sorry for the commoners that don't get to practically live in court without having to change their attire or yap all day about steak, burgers and whiskey. And whose sisters don't have friends that will fleece their entire ancestral house's already-plummeting finances to keep her house running while her brother trash-talks the same friend in Book 1.

• Damien Nazario: is a hypocrite. That is all.

• Constantine: Almost every apology of his has to come punctuated with an excuse. Even if it involves orchestrating sexual assault.

• Madeleine (TRR) and Mallory (RoE): The demonic duo of People PB Wants So Desperately For Me To Forgive™. Without them even having to earn that forgiveness, too (Nana deserves to be on this list too, except the question of forgiveness doesn't even arise when it comes to her. She is worshipped in this series!). I see a small step towards change in D&D Book 2 with Lady Grandmother, but only time will tell if they will actually execute the "will never forgive you" route properly.

• Penelope: is so, so fucking entitled I just can't. I understood how her condition, and manipulation from people like Constantine and Bastien, got her to the point where she would be ready to harm someone. But I can't for the life of me understand how she can forget this so easily after the tea party.

I was hoping for a redemption arc where Penelope recognizes what she's done and unconditionally tries to make amends in Book 3, but that never happened. There was not a single reference in Book 3 to the harm she did you in Book 1. We had to do an immense amount of coddling to convince her to come for the wedding, and there were consequences if you didn't call her your "best friend" or support her demands. The narrative has Drake Walker...Drake "Ambassadors Go To Dangerous Areas, Lady Kiara (So Get Over It)" Freaking Walker...reassure Penelope in a way that Kiara never gets from anyone in the group, and she suffered a knife attack. Ezekiel is literally created out of thin air as a reward for her.

Why does she need a reward again? Who knows.

• Ajay: Didn't apologize.

11. Unpopular Character that You Like that Fandom Doesn't.

(This is going to be loooong. I'm not sorry. This rant has been really, really building up. It's like a dam).

Kiara. It's popular to sorta kinda like her now, but back when she started showing feelings for Drake she got a lot of hate...hate that I feel bled into the treatment she got in the third book.

It took me a while to warm up to Kiara, but I think what did it for me was her friendship with Penelope. She was protective and supportive, even though she lacked an understanding of what Penelope was going through. I was even more pleasantly surprised when she spoke about her bond with Savannah. There was a warmth and a sweetness about Kiara in Book 2 that we didn't see much of in Book 1 and she slowly won me over. When they spoke about her injuries in Book 3, I was looking forward to seeing that story explored.

I will always maintain that Kiara in Book 3 is what happens when both the writing team and the louder, more vocal portion of the fandom are heartless towards a particular character. Heartless is a heavy word, and a word I don't want to be using willy-nilly, but I've seen enough to come to that conclusion in this case.

Kiara was often called an opportunist and a host of other names in the fandom for not supporting the MC through the scandal. Except that we all forget she never promised anything beyond supporting your claim to being picked as future Queen. She tells you straight off the bat in Book 1 that she is looking for allies and not friends (guess who is often admired for that mindset? Madeleine...well, until she harms Hana for flimsy reasons). Meanwhile we have Penelope being all adorable and happy and congratulating you knowing that you're going to be slut-shamed, humiliated and dragged out of court for a scandal she helped generate. Kiara on the other hand was honest. She wanted a job in the ministry and a bomb married life while she was at it. I'd rather have an ambitious (but won't abuse her power like Madeleine does) Kiara in my corner than a person who lies to my face about supporting me, does little more to help than just tell me who her boss was, then expects me to call her my best friend later.

Kiara had to only look at and flirt with Drake for people to hate on her. Meanwhile Olivia could spring an unwanted kiss on Liam in public, and the fandom would still be blaming Liam for not loving her back. In regular fandom content Kiara was mocked and sometimes suspected of having an illicit affair with Drake, in fanfic that featured her she was often either villainized, or written as the "other woman". Which is okay - fanfic is your own personal sandbox, after all - but it does highlight a pattern.

In canon...Kiara was made a survivor of a terrorist attack and nobody cared. Not the MC, not the country's king, not her closest friends, not the man who got injured at the same ball. It was bad enough that her parents were considering leaving the goddamn country (they should have). She was ignored in her own estate. The MC speaks to her not with sympathy and reassurances, but instead reminds her of her 'duty' and pressurizes her. (@callmetippytumbles illustrates this amazingly in her ask here, having Liam say "have a apple and buck up for Cordonia". No lie there. No lie there at all). All the 'sympathy' goes to a brother who has absolutely nothing to do with court.

She was suspected and interrogated at Lythikos. The MC has the option to be dismissive and to minimize - by labelling her "not as driven" - as Kiara literally pours her heart out about her trauma. Sample this:

(Ngl folks. Reading this was really, really triggering for me. I know exactly what it feels like to have my trauma dismissed like this. It doesn't feel great. Fuck you MC. Fuck you Drake. Fuck you TRR writers)

There are no consequences for doing this to her, btw. She still returns and she still fights at the boutique and she'll still speak very positively about you to her mother. I imagine if Joelle found out the truth of how the group really treated her daughter, she'd verbally destroy them and never support the kingdom again. And she'd be right not to.

On its own that scenario looks bad enough already, but when you hold it up next to how we treat the other ladies? Pure, stinking trash:

Madeleine: A diamond scene to console and encourage her, and all the right options are meant to support her to her parents. If you don't succeed in making her parents understand what she wants, you lose out on their support. There are consequences.

Penelope: A diamond scene to comfort and reassure her that they will not be like Madeleine. Immense coddling from the group. If you don't call her your best friend or altogether be nice and supportive to her, that negatively impacts the way Landon responds to you. AND I have heard that if her parents don't believe Penelope is safe with you, she doesn't even join the tour. There are consequences.

Kiara: No diamond scenes to even figure out how she is or what she thinks. A one-minute scene to convince (emotionally blackmail, actually) her to "do your duty", which will happen no matter which option, then a diamond option for her brother...who exists only because they want to give Penelope a reward for something I still cannot fathom. Her brother's response depends on his own issues and the presence of Penelope, and Hakim and Joelle's depend on what you do at the Festival. Kiara's situation of being an attack victim should have warranted the kind of coddling Penelope felt entitled to, yet when it comes right down to it her plight matters to literally no one.

In Lythikos no special diamond scenes for her either, just an interrogation. While we can choose to view Kiara as innocent in Chapter 11, her leaving is branded "suspicious" by both Drake and the MC by default the next chapter, and Maxwell literally says (disappointment writ large on his face) "jeez, that's one suspect off our list" after we're done. We go to her pretending to be her well-wishers, but in reality we're interrogating a traumatized woman, and not even ashamed when she trusts our untrustworthy asses with her secret.

You get the option to forget what happened to her (for which she rightfully slams you). You get the option to be a trauma-minimizing pile of steaming fecal matter (for which she doesn't slam you, even though she should). No matter what, Drake is your puppet and will agree with you, and you get away with all this. Drake stands there and minimizes her experiences with you, and shows zero remorse for putting an attack victim in that situation.

Like, it's actually quite shameful the more you think about it. Kiara was interrogated. After two traumatic experiences that at the very least should have her questioning whether we are worth her support at all. In a scenario that any fool would realise was at least scary to her if not altogether traumatizing. Madeleine and Penelope feel entitled to good treatment, Kiara has to make do with the crumbs we throw at her. She is never given a chance to speak of this as problematic, and the group never gets truly called out on their bullshit.

Even if you do pick the absolute nicest options...the fact remains that the MC, Duchess of Valtoria (and possible future Queen) and her group of influential friends, ignored the concerns a person who was badly injured at their event, pressurized her into showing support for them, didn't do jackshit to ensure her safety, suspected and questioned her when she rightfully withdrew public support, and dishonestly interrogated this traumatized woman, while still keeping the expectation that she support them. All without earning a shred of that support. They felt zero remorse, every last one of them, for putting her in that position.

Kiara not getting much attention isn't exactly a surprise. She has always been given the least focus among the ladies of the court and Book 3 wouldn't have been an exception...if they hadn't made her a victim of a terrorist attack!! Once they placed Kiara in that position, she deserved to have her concerns addressed, and addressed properly. What happened to her was a highlight of the failure of the security system at the palace and Royal Court, and to have that ignored while we had all the time in the world to address Madeleine's parents' petty family squabbles was disgusting. That there are absolutely no consequences for doing this to Kiara, while there are for not attending to Penelope or Madeleine's concerns, and it all ends with Kiara praising us to her mother, is disgusting. That the writers were more busy trying to backtrack on Driara and make the ship impossible to happen in canon, than on focusing on Kiara's own story in her own estate, is disgusting. And I cannot ignore that the latter decision sprung in a large part from the hate the fandom was spewing on Kiara for most of Book 2. The writers wouldn't have dared to do such a thing to Penelope, and it was clearly because there would be a backlash. They knew they could get away with insensitive writing for Kiara easier than they would with Penelope - and they did.

The other thing is this. Back in Books 2 and 3, loads of people in the fandom used to aggressively ship Liam and Olivia (to the point where he would be blamed for not returning her affections). Loads of people would also find excuses to hate on Kiara once she began to show she liked Drake. Nowadays, it's popular to state that "Olivia deserves better" (I'd be inclined to agree if it weren't for the way that argument is often framed. She deserves a man who loves her completely) - again, in a way that blames Liam for not returning her affections.

Yet, when people speak of Kiara's feelings being one-sided? Little to no blame for Drake there, even though he was rude or dismissive to her more than once (for me, personally, Lythikos was the last straw). Hardly a handful would say "Kiara deserves better than Drake". I can bet if Liam treated Olivia even half as poorly as Drake behaved with Kiara, we'd be bashing that man to the high heavens. I guess it's because it's Kiara who is the recipient of this kind of treatment that it matters to so few. I shouldn't be surprised.

26. Most shippable character?

Hayden xD Mostly because they're so much fun to customize, yet there's a very strong inner core there that does not change and that grounds the character.

27. Least shippable character?

I don't know. Nana?

[journeysintowebcomics]

Homestuck Liveblog #181

UPDATE 181: Meat

A long time ago, I finished reading Homestuck. It was quite the long tale, and it was rather enjoyable! At the time I thought there ‘d be nothing else, because Act 7 seemed like quite the final chapter – or if there was anything, it’d be bits and pieces that wouldn’t warrant a liveblog. Yet here we are! Turns out, after this long, there’s epilogues. In plural, as you can see. Somehow, there are now epilogues and they’re said to be quite long, too. After taking a cursory read that made me read more than I thought I would, here I am, reopening this liveblog to explore the epilogues.

What I have read so far...is not particularly enticing or even likable, at least in terms of enjoyment, really, but there’s something about the writing that makes me want to continue. Credit where it’s due, yeah. Still, I’m interested in seeing where this is going, and now, I’m posting my thoughts here for everyone to see. Here we go! So, let’s start with the epilogue liveblog!

You know, before that, I should note that now the story has its own URL instead of being into the old mspaintadventures website. Kind of late in the game for this change, Mr. Hussie. I mean, the story is over, and although there’s a whooole lot of new content, it seems a bit senseless to have this in its own domain. Then again, the rest of the mspaintadventures stories were kind of...hidden away in the website? I don’t remember links to them, when I used to read Homestuck. Maybe Homestuck getting its own domain is for the better. I do wonder if this is a hint more stuff will come in the future. The extra-epilogue. The postscript-extra-content. The seriously-guys-this-is-the-end chapter.

There are two epilogues, it seems. One is meat, the other is candy. I immediately notice this is related to the cherubs’ food. I wonder if it means one epilogue will be...bloodier? Crueler? More chaotic and violent? I mean more like something Caliborn will like, while the other will be more to Calliope’s tastes. I’ll start with the meat epilogue, simply because it’s to the left.

From what I can tell at a glance, there are no images, but there are colored words, most likely from conversations between characters. That should be fine, although Homestuck was pretty visual at times, its strength was the writing and characterization.

Well then! The very first paragraph already beats most of Homestuck in terms of extremely descriptive stuff. Heck, this reminds me of Worm, with its extensive paragraphs about bugs and how they crawl on people and cause all sorts of nasty effects. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Meat was definitely the right choice, you think, as grease drips down your chin. The meat is cold and undercooked, so you have to grab it with both hands while you rend it apart with your incisors. It bursts in chunks, filling your mouth with blood and your throat with mangled knots of gristle and long strings of muscle fiber. You take big bites, almost too big to swallow, so big that you choke on the meaty mulch and hock some of it up into your nasal cavity. You sneeze out a gooey rope of phlegm and flesh. You stop for a moment to wipe your face, but your chin is still slippery after you swipe the mess away. Slivers of meat catch between your teeth as you masticate with bestial enthusiasm. You use your thumbnail to fish them out.

...am I eating this meat straight from the cow.

Apparently the person who is eating meat that’s almost raw is John, who I guess gained a taste for raw meat at some point. Maybe he’s trying to emulate Jade’s canine half, for all I know. He’s with Roxy and Calliope, the later providing the meat. I suppose cherubs wouldn’t know about cooking meat. Speaking of cherubs, eating meat reminds John of Lord English, and he gets so sick thinking of Lord English he decides he knows what he must do. Alright! Didn’t waste any time dilly-dallying around!

JOHN: i have to go back and kill lord english.

ROXY: u sure?

JOHN: i think so. it will probably be hard. but i think it’s the right thing to do.

JOHN: everyone is counting on me.

When is this epilogue set? Before Act 7? I thought by now Lord English was dead and gone, not that it still was something that needed to be done. Then again, it’s not like Lord English’s death was shown on screen, if I remember correctly. Maybe this is after Act 7 and he’s going back in time with his retcon powers. I suppose he’d still have them.

Roxy seems disappointed, so I suppose she knew this had to be done at some point. Given John’s retcon powers, it’s not impossible this is the last time she sees John if things go wrong. Calliope is more accepting, saying it’s John’s decision. Time to leave?

Seriously, things have gotten quite more descriptive now. Still unsure if that’s good or not.

The farewell is quite unsatisfying, and the moment passes without John being able to make it better, so he goes to prepare himself and write a note for Roxy as a farewell and/or apology. Not only to her, to all of his friends. It’s like he’s aware the chances he’ll return here aren’t that high. I wonder if John would die here at the end. It’d be quite...something!

In this epilogue, there’s a Troll Kingdom, which I imagine is ruled by the trolls who survived Homestuck, raising the grubs created by ectobiology. Dave and Karkaroni are there, Dave lives with the trolls, I suppose because his relationship with Karkaroni now includes living in his hive.

KARKAT: NOT NOW DAVE. JAKE’S ASS IS ON TV AGAIN.

DAVE: stop ogling jakes ass this is important

KARKAT: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHOSE ASS I SHOULD STOP OGLING.

Apparently the reason why Jake’s ass is on TV again is because he and Dirk have a show involving rap battles and robot wrestling, which I suppose is the natural progression from when Jake used to get said ass kicked by a robot. People like the show, and I’m already convinced it’s partly because of the schadenfreude of seeing Jake losing against robots – because no way Dirk is losing, hah

Karkaroni has a few choice words for the fake gladiatorial show, and points out this show is all about zooming onto Jake’s ass. Maybe ‘pumpkin patch’ is an euphemism. Either way, the relevance of the TV show is eclipsed by the announcement Jane is running for president of the entire Earth. Aha, truly the wretched pastry baroness’ descendant.

DAVE: i dunno crocker is just an ambitious woman i guess

KARKAT: THIS SOUNDS FUCKING AWFUL.

DAVE: oh it is

DAVE: it absolutely is

DAVE: also like

DAVE: dont tell her i said this but

DAVE: i think shes basically a fascist

...well then. Oh all things that could have been used to describe Jane from what I remember of her, ‘fascist’ didn’t come not even close. Then again, it’s not like Karkaroni had any meaningful contact with Jane, and all Dave did was call her hot, which isn’t really the epitome of camaraderie and intimidate knowledge. They both even admit to that.

DAVE: oh also shes a fucking xenophobe

KARKAT: OF COURSE SHE’S A XENOPHOBE!

...ah.

...

Did I miss something? Was there something between Act 7 and these epilogues that revealed Jane harbors xenophobic inclinations? Why am I having to ask aloud ‘hey is Jane a xenophobe’

KARKAT: DAVE, I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE NOTICED, BUT

KARKAT: A LOT OF HUMANS ARE???

DAVE: yeah ive noticed

Well, that part isn’t really surprising. Humanity just has a knack for looking down on other people, I can only imagine how it’d be when it’s about other sapient species. If aliens ever make contact with humanity it’ll be a social mess.

Since letting Jane claim the spot of president of Earth is not good, apparently, Dave wants to stop her, eliciting laughter from Karkaroni who is already imagining Dave running against her. No, Dave couldn’t handle that responsibility, no way.

DAVE: anyway no

DAVE: im not running

DAVE: you are

Hm...unless Karkaroni got over the many issues he had from his leadership attempt during Sgrub this can’t end well. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t like the idea, precisely because he doesn’t feel like he has what’s needed to be a leader. It’s not that he would lose horribly – Karkaroni actually is rather popular. I suppose all of the Homestuck survivors are popular – it’s that he doesn’t feel ready and he seems to hate the attention. Understandable.

KARKAT: MAYBE I DON’T ACTUALLY LIKE BEING FAMOUS?

KARKAT: AND MAYBE THAT’S AS GOOD A FUCKING REASON AS ANY *NOT TO RUN FOR THE FUCKING PRESIDENCY OF EARTH*?????

KARKAT: NOT TO MENTION THE IDEA OF AN ELECTION IS KIND OF A FUCKED UP AND WEIRD THING TO ME CULTURALLY ANYWAY, AND I’M STILL KIND OF GETTING USED TO THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE CAN JUST... “CHOOSE” THEIR FUCKING LEADERS AND NOT HAVE THE SAME OLD MERCILESS BITCH IN POWER FOR SEVERAL MILLION YEARS.

Perfectly valid reason. I mean, it’s not something kind of inconsequential as being the class president of sophomore year in school or whatever it’s like up there in America. It’s president of the entire planet. If Karkaroni wins there will be consequences, even if he steps away immediately. Either he commits to this fully, or he simply shouldn’t run.

DAVE: ok ill just be the one to come out and say it

DAVE: shes going to be a fucking disaster for the economy

So Jane’s a republican. Haha! Ah, I shouldn’t touch this not even with a ten-foot pole. Nevermind that.

DAVE: i guess i have to admit

DAVE: part of this

DAVE: for me personally

DAVE: its

KARKAT: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING DAVE

DAVE: its about obama

Somehow, I didn’t even bat an eye with Dave described part of the reason why this is personal for him is because Obama didn’t get to be president due to, you know, the end of the world. I find it in-character, somehow. This isn’t the first time Dave extols Obama’s virtues, and after quite an extensive diatribe, he says maybe Obama reincarnated in Karkaroni. Thaaaat has to be the most Dave-y encouraging thing he could have ever thought. It’s for things like these that I like Dave, haha

Apparently only humans have tried to get to high offices, because no other species has even tried. They lack ambition, and given what I remember from Sburb, that’s believable. The only species that could come close to taking part in this are the trolls, and they’re not used to elections. No wonder humans have the high spots of politics.

DAVE: karkat dont stereotype

DAVE: remember the mayor

DAVE: remember how at one point a long time ago he raised an army and rebelled against an evil king

KARKAT: OH YEAH

KARKAT: SOMEHOW I ALWAYS FORGET HE DID THAT.

KARKAT: KIND OF MIND BOGGLING, REALLY.

KARKAT: HOLY SHIT, I MISS THE MAYOR.

DAVE: me too

Ah, yeah...I miss him too. I wonder what happened to him.

The government is in charge of troll reproduction through cloning, I suppose because the mother grub isn’t ready yet. In the meantime, the balance of power will get entrenched to the point where even when there’s a functional mother grub, humans will restrict troll population so they don’t take over the planet and make the horrors of Alternia happen. No lie, that’d be pretty bleak for humanity. Last time the horrors of Alternia were forced onto Earth everyone died. No troll right now would try, buuuut yeah, that’s not going to be forgotten...for a while.

Somehow, Dave’s arguments about how Jane has zero business acumen, is sinister, and trolls are getting the raw end of the deal are actually getting Karkaroni to pay attention, until he finally caves, simply because it’d make Dave happy. That’s sweet. But yeah, this is...not what I expected what would happen in the epilogue. Well then!

DAVE: aw yeah

DAVE: you wont regret it this is gonna be dope

DAVE: i think we have a great shot too

DAVE: with my political savvy and economic genius and outrageous flair for subversive anti establishment messaging and propaganda, and your big loud fucking mouth...

KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK

DAVE: um i guess also your charisma and likability and shit

KARKAT: YEAH.

KARKAT: YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT...

KARKAT: I’M PRETTY SURE I CAN FAKE THOSE THINGS WELL ENOUGH.

DAVE: oh also

DAVE: your weirdly sincere humility

KARKAT: I PREFER THE TERM “SELF LOATHING” ACTUALLY.

DAVE: ok lets try to avoid that phrase on the campaign trail too

KARKAT: THIS ALREADY SOUNDS LIKE A PAIN IN THE ASS.

I’m not a political strategist, but if Karkaroni is going to run on a platform about how Jane sucks and there’s inequality towards the trolls, I’m not entirely certain it’s good there’s a shadowy human pulling the strings in the campaign. Kind of seems like bad optics to me. Then again, can’t say I know where this is going so let’s just wait and see.

Yup, Dave definitely will be the brains behind this presidency. They already agreed he’ll write what Karkaroni will say, even though he should improvise and speak from the heart, like he tends to do. Not a bad idea, it’s part of what makes him endearing.

DAVE: time to talk some strategy

DAVE: we need to rally as much high profile support to our cause as we can

DAVE: but there are some uh

DAVE: “lines of loyalty” to figure out

KARKAT: WHAT?

DAVE: i mean which of our friends are going to side with us and which ones will side with jane

It’s a safe bet to think the New Wonderteam will side with Jane and the Original Flavor Wonderteam with Dave and Karkaroni. Calliope likely will stick with Roxy, so she’d be on Jane’s side. All the living trolls would go with Karkaroni, so...overall? It seems to me the advantage is clear. Dave is slightly less optimistic than me, but he does think they can get many on their side.

...okay, what happened to Jade? What kind of twisted scenario involved her to the point where neither Dave nor Karkaroni want to talk about her? I’m almost afraid of finding out.

So there are four kingdoms, if I understand this correctly: one for humans, one for trolls, one for...carapaces, I guess, and one for the consorts, which would be aaaaaall the silly reptiles and amphibians from Sburb.

Jake’s support will be pivotal, and since I’m already betting he’ll be on Jane’s side out of, you know, being friends with her for quite some time, it seems like she’ll have the edge there. Then again, it’s true Jake is fairly timid, so there’s also a chance he’ll refuse to take a side. I’m starting to think any sane person would stay the heck away from any side in this mess, honestly. These two haven’t even announced Karkaroni as a candidate yet I already kind of dread what’s coming. I don’t know, it’s just this...constant atmosphere that something’s pretty wrong. I don’t really like it.

During all this, Dave receives a call from Dirk, so he calls back to ask what’s going on. This page ends with Dirk abut to insinuate he needs Dave to cut his head off again. I see these two’s weird pseudofamilial relationship is as messed up as ever. Charming.

So, back to the more Homestuck-y stuff. John zaps back to the story, apparently he agreed with Rose what needed to be done. First he makes sure Aranea won’t be up to shenanigans, taking off that ring of life from her finger. Good! Then he stashes Gamzee into the fridge again. Good! Everything’s fine over here. John zaps to the next plot point.

Ah, I have to read just two paragraphs to know what moment is this. The conversation below confirms my thoughts. Wait, I have to get the image for this moment:

There we go. Boy was it a pain to find it now that the long outline list is gone.

I think in Homestuck they had noticed John hanging out above them, and this time they see three of them, one of the Johns being an adult version. That’s going to be difficult to explain. Questions are asked, and evil Jade is zapped away to maybe get ready for the fight against Lord English, hopefully she won’t still be evil when the time comes, even if she technically is against Lord English and wants him dead. John is here to talk with Dave, anyway. If I recall correctly, Dave was supposed to give the final blow with that sword with the Welsh name, so my guess is that John is here for that. Get ready, Dave, you’re going to fulfill the fate you didn’t want in the first place! But at least I’m fairly certain John will be more successful at this than evil Jade was.

Turns out I’m not wrong about why John is here. In fact, the narration even says this:

Dave’s eyebrows descend beneath his sunglasses. You feel pretty bad because you’re about to completely circumvent the life-changing epiphany he’s just had that you know for a fact will make him a happier, chiller, and altogether more well-balanced human being.

Pretty unfortunate, really. It sucks to be Dave.

As I said before, Jade is zapped away to parts unknown, and Dave is informed of how everyone was spending their lives as normal adults with no big problems and a fairly peaceful life. Clearly John left the present before Dave and Karkaroni started their political war against Jane. Oh well. Off you go, Dave, get ready for a fight with Lord English. In the meantime, John will gather the rest of the team.

You know, I’m starting to realize I had a lot more to say about Dave and Karkaroni’s new political adventures than about the more familiar Homestuck-y messing around John is doing with the plot. I guess it’s because, as strange as the other plotline is, it just has...a lot other stuff to comment about that hasn’t been present in Homestuck before? Hm.

Yup, Dirk immediately asks for his decapitation as a solution for the tremendous defeat he has suffered at Jake’s hands, defeat that shouldn’t have happened because, as Dave states, Jake is pretty awful at everything. Either the show is rigged or Dirk must have quite a lot in mind for him to not even make an effort.

Yep, it’s rigged. I hope Jake knows. That guy never had a break during the game, hopefully he’ll get a break now. Speaking of Jake, he has to take the brunt of entertaining everyone while Dirk takes the call in the middle of the show. Whatever he has to talk about must be somewhat urgent, if he felt like calling Dave in the middle of it.

This narration sure is calling attention to Jake’s ass a lot, I lost count of how many paragraphs include something about it. Hussie, is there something you’d like to share with the class? Last time I checked the story he didn’t seem particularly interested in Jake’s ass, or in...Jake in general, really.

It seems what Dirk is doing here is intentionally making himself the villain of this show, but it’s not because he’s throwing Jake a bone or anything. No, it turns out there are more sinister goals here, or at least they’re sinister for Dave and Karkaroni’s newfound political ambitions.

DIRK: The point is, this is much less about me, and more about providing a foil for Jake’s heroism and charisma.

DIRK: It’s very important that his popularity continues to be cultivated, to maximize his political capital.

Sounds like they were planning Jane’s campaign for quite a while, if they went so far as to make Jake the hero of their show just for political capital. I bet that was the plan all along, right from the very first time this was broadcasted. How long ago was that, I wonder? But yeah, as Dave predicted, Dirk is fully on the Jane corner of this mess. He’s fully aware of Jane’s flaws and theoretical fascist/xenophobic tendencies, I presume, and he believes Jane’s the best for the current situation of the world. Whether he’s right or not...well...until proven otherwise I believe that too, yeah.

DIRK: We’ve all had our fun here, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that civilization on Earth C is hardly a sustainable proposition.

DIRK: Just beneath the surface, it’s quite a dangerous and unstable place.

Won’t lie, that never crossed my mind at all. From the way Act 7 ended, and how happy the ending was supposed to be, I simply thought things were going to be just peachy. I’m interested in knowing just how exactly it’s a quite a dangerous and unstable place. Care to explain, Dirk?

Guess not. I hope he explains how he knew what Dave and Karkaroni are planning, then. They took this decision like ten minutes ago.

DIRK: I think your heart is in the right place, but the dude is a complete amateur.

DIRK: He’ll get eaten alive. I also have a hard time imagining he even wants the job.

DIRK: Really, it’s an awful idea for him to even run. Think about how much it’s going to inflame the interspecies tensions on this planet. Is that what you want?

DIRK: I’m happy for both of you, really. It’s nice that you encourage and support each other in this way. But you’re sending him on a fool’s errand which can only end badly.

To be perfectly honest, other than the part about inflaming interspecies tensions on the planet, that was more or less what I thought. So far I agree. Even the part about inflaming interspecies tensions sounds plausible.

You know, it’s kind of fun both sides have a savvy Strider political operative. These two are more alike than Dave would like to admit, really.

The reason why Dirk is calling is because he wants to dissuade Karkaroni from running, even if he doesn’t say it. He admits Jake is not under Dirk’s beck and call, though. Does that really change anything? Dirk may not be on Jake’s good graces, but perhaps Jane is? Either way, this is a call to subtly dissuade and it’s not going to work because Karkat is stubborn as hell once he gets his head into something and he did. Tough luck.

The call is over, Dirk is back into the staged fray, so Jake thinks about Dirk’s capricious nature.

DIRK: Sorry for the momentary diversion, Jake. Now where were we?

JAKE: Momentary??? Gadzooks man you were on the phone for half a friggin hour!

JAKE: I know you like to get the crowd all hot and bothered but we are supposed to be professionals here!

...no wonder the crowd was starting to get so upset. Half an hour?! Just how slowly were the Striders talking?

Jake pulls out rhymes that honestly reminds me of Dave’s old rapping convos from like Act 1 or 2, peppered with old-timey sayings. It’s the kind of thing that makes me wonder how Jake is popular all over the planet. It’s said it’s out of pity, but goodness, that must be a metric ton of pity. The rap fight ends with Dirk sedating Jake to take another call. Geez, no wonder you’re not on his good graces anymore, Dirk.

Aaaanyway, back to John. He has gathered everyone back at his childhood home, ready to start the discussion on how to get rid of Lord English once and for all.

Jake is sort of ruining the mood anyway by bouncing away on your old Green Slime pogo. Doesn’t he realize how dangerous that thing is? Of course not. The fool.

To be frank that thing looked fun to me, even though I wouldn’t ride it without a helmet. John needs to appreciate more the painful playground elements in his life.

It’s nostalgic to read a convo with the kids. I hadn’t realized until now I missed Jade’s goofy mannerisms. Jade was always someone I was so fond of. Heck, all of the kids are people I’m fond of, although I’m less fond of Dirk and Jake than the rest. My opinion of Homestuck may not be as high as it once was, but the characters are something I still appreciate.

John answers a question: what happens to the people from the timelines they all left? Who knows. They may have stopped existing, which I’m sure is something they’d have liked to know before, but there’s nothing that can be done about that. Better start planning so they don’t die horribly and make nothing matter, alright.

The planning is mostly disorganized and structureless, although some common themes that often recur involve you and your original three friends leading the charge, since you are the oldest and wisest, and therefore the strongest, with the exception of Jade, whose gaudy array of powers make her the most formidable of the group, bar none. Aside from that, it appears the consensus is that the melee will likely devolve into an absolute free-for-all—at least going by the general patterns of incoherent banter, shit-talking, and points of pedantic tactical disagreement plaguing the jam session.

Sounds about right. I still think Jade would be very useful in the fight as long as she’s actually there and not...getting knocked out by mailwomen-turned-winged-dog. Maybe this time there’ll actually be something about the kids getting into a fight with Lord English. I’m not really going to hope for that too much, given how Hussie is not into catering to orderly narratives, but eh. No harm in dreaming.

The reunion ends when Jake eats dirt when he falls from the pogo, and in all this there wasn’t even a word about the plan. Not a good omen for the ‘show everyone fighting Lord English’ dream, really. The kids all talk together, some of them meeting each other for the first time, while John wistfully stares at Dad Egbert who is visible through the window.

The sun is hitting the glass in such a way that you can’t see his face.

Ah, yes, how could I forget the eternal sun that was in Dad’s vicinity all the time, that’s why his face always appeared mostly blank. That’s why the sun was right beside the Homestuck letter logo, it’s always there. Besides, if it’s a bad idea to go talk with Dad Hebert, may I ask why they’re all gathered in this yard, one week before the meteors strike? I know I’d be alarmed if I looked out of the window and saw seven hooligans and one adult hanging out in my yard.

There are other things to be wondering about, anyway, like the fact John may not be seeing these as real versions of his friends. Then again, in my opinion, he’s thinking a bit too hard about this. Of course he’d feel kind of detached, simply because of the age difference. That’s hard to overcome. Is it time to leave and go possibly die? Grab hands and hope it’ll go okay!

No, seriously, why am I taking like a page for John’s retconning and like three and half for Dave and Karkaroni’s Elect-a-Troll 20XX? Oh well. Dirk is still in the stadium, apparently their shows always ends in a riot, making me wonder how are they popular with people. Public disorder doesn’t really paint a good image of you. The caller is Rose, and she’s not feeling happy.

ROSE: The bottom line is this.

ROSE: I am ascending, and it is terrible.

Is Rose reaching Nirvana? How else am I supposed to interpret ‘ascending’? It’s not like she’s not a higher existence already, what with godhood and all.

What’s going on is that Rose is being plagued from visions and a higher awareness of her alternate selves’ lives and tribulations, giving her something close to omniscience when it’s about the universe, and Dirk is going through that too, which I suppose helps explain how he knew what Dave wanted to do. That’s what Dave will have to go against? Good luck to him.

I have to wonder if Dirk being such a stalwart Jane supporter is fueled by his recent omniscience. Maybe he knows something Dave and Karkaroni don’t, maybe the warning he gave them was something he foresaw. That aside, then he also must have known how useless it was to call Dave and that it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Having omniscience must seriously suck. At least Dirk has a way to work with his omniscience in a way that won’t wreck him apart, and I’m curious what it’s going to be. That said, though, a story about Dirk and Rose having foreseen a nasty future and working to stop it even at the cost of a few valuable friendships would be interesting. I’d read that.

Any conversation that will come from this will be at the studio later. I for one am looking forward to it, I admit. It’s an interesting topic, rich with possibilities and potential for development. It’s a shame these are epilogues, though. In the end, this will go nowhere, I imagine. Isn’t it a pity when you come across an idea or a plot that could span an entire story, but you know it’s not likely to come to fruition? Real shame, that.

I think I’ll stop for now. I have read only seven pages out of forty-three or so, but this should be enough for now. I can’t say I have been...enjoying this. I’m interested, but not really happy so far. Maybe it’s because a couple rather questionable things have come out of the blue and for the life of me I can’t make them fit with the characters or the story. Strange.

Also, something about the writing style is...off. It’s far more descriptive than Homestuck usually was. Most of the time it’s nice, other times I wonder if it was necessary. Still, I wonder where this will go, so at least the epilogues have that on its favor. Just for that, I think liveblogging it will be worth it.

Still, these epilogues are non-canon, aren’t they? If they’re canon can you please tell me that? Thanks, readers! So, for the time being, this update ends here.

Next update: next time

[bladekindeyewear]

Boots Reads Homestuck Epilogue(s) Part 2 - Pre-next-chapter-drop asks

Alright, going over some asks under the readmore before I read whatever’s about to drop Epilogue-ways.

Anonymous said: have a deliciously meta thing that like most people have already realized but that's worth pointing out to everyone anyway--it's AO3-style right now because we're, in Rose's words, outside canon, but once John heads back into canon? we'll probably get panels again

Hm? Maybe, but...  there’s something about this format that seems like it could be a whole lot more descriptive when it comes to our leftover doubts and loopholes.

That, or I already heard that “over 100k words” business from my friend and my expectations are biased.

Anonymous said: I notice you didn't comment on the John/Roxy/Calliope mess.

Yeah, things seem just as open as before.  John isn’t a part of it and doesn’t know where any of it stands, but it’s intentionally left malleable, too.  Seems like Andrew to leave things so that we can imagine a whole bunch of endgame pairings easily possible from here, however it turns out.  And complex social arrangements that make the word “pairings” seem restrictive, too!

Anonymous said: So... John is probably going to punch ARANEA, right? This would be the perfect way for Hussie to please all the people who hated the retcon: give us a candy ending where John stays and a meat ending where he goes back and stops Game Over, then goes to fight the final boss with that group.

That sounds more plausible than other suggestions I’ve heard for a girl to punch!  It’s not going to be Vriska again, from the phrasing, and Aranea’s thus a prime target.

Anonymous said: 'not gonna start theorizing' yeah right man. It's gonna be 2 epilogues, diverging from this point on, and the two choices of meal symbolise the two types of story we'll get: one will fill our hunger for plot and closing threads, but is invariably going to fuck us up emotionally (hard to chew, harder to swallow), and one will be a lighthearted character-focused romp in the style of the snapchat updates. Hussie has referred to this dichotomy in his book commentaries under '[S] Jack: Ascend'

Diverging epilogues that cover both and legitimize both are quite possible, like the “mind split” I mentioned earlier except we’d be tracking both branches.  Some of you probably already know the answer, because the new epilogue part already dropped as I was writing this paragraph, I just haven’t read it yet. :p

Anonymous said: Hello! A lot of people think the reason Rose was so cagey when John talked about coming back and talking to her think that means she is going to die. Honestly, either, or, or both present a clean narrative parallel to the Terezi list. With that situation, John not only left the doomed timeline and never returned, but the messenger died after giving him the note. Adding on with Rose being sick and the implications that her powers are causing problems for her physically...

JESUS CHRIST FUCK YOU FOR THAT BEING PLAUSIBLE, ROSE DYING BEFORE JOHN GETS BACK

BECAUSE IT IS

AAAAA no calm the fuck down boots JOHN is going to die in an alternate timeline or something it’s FINE.  Andrew ain’t angsty enough to just have Rose die offscreen at a young age in the alpha timeline due to weird Seer illness bullshit for no reason.  (There’s not going to be some conflict that kills her so soon or..? D: )  And there’s Heroic/Just to consider too, so.

Anonymous said: Someone pointed out that if John's showdown with Typheus is any indication, both meat and candy are the wrong answers and he should either combine both to make candied bacon, or warp somewhere else and eat some vegetables.

Eh; while a third choice is a known theme here with him, I think the split itself is more of a fit for this (or both branching paths followed) than anything, unless the “third path” he takes is somehow going off to address the giant black hole instead.  (Which reminds me, it’s possible in the Meat of this epilogue that John pulls someone out of said black hole.)

Anonymous said: have you read all the skaianet systems files? thoughts?

The who??

mudklp said: Rose mentioned “holes in canon” that need to be plugged. How many plot threads do you think will be sewn up?

Less than there are but more than we hope?  I dunno.

Okay lemme start reading this.  Posting this and moving on to the next post....

[anon-luv]

I’ll Never Be Her(4) [Jimin X Reader]

Pairing: Jimin X Reader

Genre: Angst/ Romance

Summary: You loved him with all your heart, but he could only give you half of his.

Jimin was the love of your life, your night in shining armor when she wasn’t around.

She was his ex girlfriend,  his first love, actually she was his many firsts and she kept coming back.

He had warned you she was his weakness, but you didn’t listen, because to you having him even if it was only partially was better than not having him at all.

At least for now.

Rated M: Sexual Scenes and Languages that might not be appropriate for all ages.

Word Count: 4.1K+

Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long. I have a new job and I am going through orientation and that takes a lot of my time. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I overthought the world like I always do, but I am hoping it is of your satisfaction.

You know how much I love receiving your comments/messages/asks/reblog tags

I look through every single one of them :D and I will try my hardest to respond to them as well.

Let me know what you all think. There is only one chapter left and an epilogue ;) are you all excited??

I am so nervous to post this haha. LEAVE SOME LOVE!

I want to thank all my readers and mutuals for their support.

Specially @b-angst-tan who has been a lovely editor/ beta love her!!

The dim lighting in the narrow halls along with the stale smell of cleaning supplies had you on the verge of waddling back to the safety of Jin’s car. The squeaking of your shoes echoed loudly on the barely inhabited waiting area. The dull sickly shades of green intimidating the living daylights out of you, as you made your way towards the nurse station and registration area slowly, wary of tripping and eating shit, which to be honest with your luck nowadays it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Hello, Darling! May I help you with something?  You look a little lost there.” An older looking lady with peppered hair said giving you a small smile.

You nodded as you rubbed your belly, a weird feeling erupting from the pit of your stomach, making it feel a bit sensitive and stiff as if you were flexing. You took a deep breath and quietly cursed your body’s onset timing for what you had concluded were Braxton Hicks. You smiled back ignoring the weird sensation, “Yes, I came to visit a patient.”

“That’s great. What is the patient’s name? Are you a family member?” she asked as she started clicking away on her computer.

“No...I am not...actually…” You started only to be interrupted by a familiar, deep honey-like voice.

“Y/N?” a familiar deep voice questioned as he came into full view.

He looked different than last time you saw him. His usually bleach blond locks were now dyed a dark brown that matched perfectly with his brown orbs. He smiled at you, the familiar gummy smile that you had grown to love and now associate to a brotherly figure.

“Yoongi!” You said smiling widely at him, the sorrow and pain associated with Jimin’s abandonment forgotten for a brief moment as you were engulfed in a warm hug, “I’ve missed you so much. It’s been way too long!”

He chuckled as he ruffled your hair, “Yeah I know. Last time I saw you, you didn’t look like you were hiding a basketball underneath your shirt. I am wondering how you haven’t fallen face first with that cute belly of yours. You are definitely glowing and look absolutely stunning, Stef was right.”

Your face paled at the mention of her name as Yoongi’s bright smile turned into a grimace.

“Yeah, Stephany….How is she doing??” You asked trying to sound unaffected as the light tremble of your voice gave you away.

Yoongi reached for your hand, squeezing it reassuringly, “She is doing good..actually, I was going to ask you.. is it okay if we have a coffee and maybe talk??”

You nodded, “Milk and cookies and you have a deal.” Another awkward cramp shot up your back making you squirm in place, “Is there a cafeteria or something. My pregnant butt needs to sit.”

Yoongi nods happily, “Yeah, it is right over there, let me help you with that.” He said taking the damp umbrella and purse from your hands.

You waddled next to him as he glanced at you every once in a while with a small smile on his face.

You plopped down happily at the first table you found, not even giving Yoongi the opportunity to seek out another one.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he walked towards the small serving area. The cafeteria was for the most part empty other than the bored looking teenage cashier who you were more than sure was more focused on the pink cell phone on her hand than her surroundings.

Yoongi placed a warm cup of milk and a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table, displaying it as a beautiful buffet for your weak for munchies ass.

“So what do you want to talk about?” You asked as you eagerly opened the bag in front of you and plopped a whole cookie in your mouth successfully.

“I want to say I am sorry.” He said no longer looking at you, but instead focusing at the gray, dull coffee mug in front of him as if it was an intricate piece of art, “I called Jimin…..I told him to come.”

The hunger that had been pestering you since you had left your apartment, evaporated into nothingness with that lone sentence. Your belly contracted a bit more painful than usual as you wiggled yourself repositioning to hopefully soothe the dull tightness.

“How?” You asked quietly as you stared up into his eyes, your own already tearing up from all the emotions you had bottled up all these years, “How..how..how can you do it? How do you just sit and watch, as you watch her walk away into someone else’s arms, arms that aren’t yours? How do you go to sleep and wake up without knowing if she is going to be there in the morning? How do you numb yourself knowing that you might not be her first priority? How…..do you make it stop hurting? Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me? Cause….fuck ….excuse my french…..The only thing that comes to mind is ‘that fucking bitch’ when I hear her name coming from his lips. And it sucks because I know Stephany. I have grown close to her in ways I probably shouldn’t have. I love and care for her as well, but I am not okay with it..especially when it comes to Jimin’s love. I can’t stand watching her dance around boundaries she shouldn’t be crossing in the first place”

Yoongi ruffled his hair, the sadness in his eyes clearly noticeable, something you had never witnessed personally, “To be honest...I hate it....but at the same time….. I have come to realize that the only reason why I have put up with it in the first place is because I am fucking selfish.”

“Wait… How are you selfish? If anything Stephany is the selfish one. I don’t deserve this... You do not deserve this” you asked puzzled at his response.

“Look..” he said ruffling his hair nervously with one hand, “Stephany is my world. From the very first time I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We have gone through so many things together, and I was there to pick up every piece whenever she would fall apart in my arms. When we found out about Nataly she was ecstatic, everything was getting better and then…. As I held our little girl in my arms I noticed something was off. Stephany seemed fine for the first few weeks, until one day she locked herself for three days in her room with our child refusing to come out unless it was absolutely necessary. She wouldn’t eat, she would barely talk, and she rarely slept. She had become so absorbed in her own little world, that she panicked if I even got near Nataly.” Yoongi sighs, but continues explaining himself.

“Then one day I ran into Jimin, I had not seen him in a while, and after exchanging numbers I was on my merry way. Stephany deteriorated and I took her almost forcefully to the doctor. That is when she got diagnosed with Postpartum Depression. I reached out to various resources trying to figure out how to help the love of my life, and after several therapy sessions and group talks I found out that sometimes an outlet or maybe revisiting things that had made her happy in the past can help to break the wall she was building around herself. I remembered how much she talked about Jimin and the adventures they would have when they were young. And that is when I decided that maybe meeting up with him would be a good idea. I wrote down his information on a sticky note before work hoping she would find it since she refused to acknowledge me on her low days. Before I knew it she was gone... And then... she left Nataly at his door... and I knew I had fucked up. From then on she did it several times... She would run from me and go to him..but she always comes back and I much rather have that and know she is safe even if it is not with me than have her leave and never return...”

You wiped the tears away from your eyes as you saw Yoongi fall apart bit by bit till he was a sobbing mess, you reached out your hand to grasp his tightly, “Yoongi, I know... With me and Jimin... it is not the same but I have had to share too and it is not healthy Yoongi. I have excused this behavior for years now and now that it will not only affect me but my babies as well. I’ve come to realize that sometimes you have to set your foot down.”

“I love her... And she’s not well... I feel like it is my fault... I am so sorry (Y/n) I didn’t think it was going to get this bad. I love you and even though he can be an asshole at times, I love Jimin as well. You have been such a great help with Nataly and Stephany. I am so sorry I didn’t talk to you about this before. I was scared. I thought if I didn’t address the problem it would just disappear... and it just got bigger and bigger. I know about everything (Y/n)... The kiss they almost shared and every time she would invade both of your lives and I am so sorry. I am going to make this okay and be stronger for her. That is why I am taking her away. Once she gets better... Maybe we can try this friendship thing again... Maybe, if you don’t hate us too much. It was not Jimin, (Y/n) I was the one at fault… I should’ve told her not to go. I should’ve taken care of her better so she wouldn’t have to seek anyone else but me. I am so sorry. Jimin really does love you (Y/n), he was just helping Stephany….us out.”

You gave him a side smile as you wiped the tears from your face. “Sure... that sounds good. And don’t be silly... We are always going to be friends.” you said as you grasped his face in your hand and wiped a tear away... Now let’s stop crying and start eating. My kids need to grow.”

Yoongi shook his head disbelievingly as a choked up sob came out mixed with a laugh, “Thank you, you are honestly one of the most amazing and understanding people on the world. Love you.”

“Love you too, Yoongi.” You said as Yoongi grasped both your hands in his, “You can do this Yoongi. You take care of your girls.”

He gave a gummy smile, “Thank you (y/n), I will.” He said as he stole a cookie from your hand.

You scowled at him playfully, “That, though...I might not forgive.”

You walked the hallways alone. The voices and whispers around you made your growing anxiety click like a bomb waiting to explode as you searched the room number Yoongi had written on your hand. Yoongi had left you on your own to head back home and continue packing. You had assured him you would be fine over and over again before he relented and went on his way.

Your phone vibrated in your hand a notification popped up showing Jin’s name.

I hope everything is ok. I am still outside just in case you need me. I will be waiting for you.

Jin 4:05pm

I am okay Jin love. I should be out soon. Just saying bye.

(Y/n) 4:06

You placed the phone back in your pocket, and out of nowhere, a familiar laugh sounded through the halls. Your pace quickened as you finally met up with the number you had been searching for what it felt like forever.

Your feet traveled towards the door that was left slightly ajar.“Nataly, you know that pink isn’t my color!” You heard Jimin say dramatically, as you peeked in through the door quietly.“But the ponytails look great on you and I ran out of blue rubber bands!” Nataly replied as she leaned in placing a smooch on his cheek.

Your breath hitched as you took in the sight of Jimin kneeling on the floor, as Nataly sat on the edge of the bed doing his hair. Stephany sat on a bed with a wide grin on her face as her hand rested on Jimin’s. If a stranger would come in they would assume they were the happiest of families. The giggles inside the room were filled with pure happiness.

Stephany looked small in the medical bed, her usual full blond hair looked frizzy and unkept, her blue-eyed pools that could drown you were more of an icy gray, and her usually rosy cheeks looked gaunt and pale. Even in her current condition, she looked absolutely gorgeous, like a fairytale princess. Your stomach clenched again as you took an instinctive deep breath to soothe the uncomfortable pang.

A flashback of Yoongi’s voice resounded reminding you of how frail and delicate the woman you had believed was strong truly was.

Yoongi’s watery broken eyes staring straight at you flashed in your brain taking over your senses, “She took pills (Y/n), I got there just in time... But I almost lost her...”

Jimin stood up from his previous position and sat next to Stephany on the bed. She ran her small hand through his hair as he leaned into her warmth.

“You’re like a puppy Chimchim!” She said giggling as he stuck out his tongue playfully. Nataly quickly sat on his lap as she licked his cheek, “I wanna be a puppy too!”

You smiled at the scene unfolding as you rubbed your stomach that was once again cramping. You sighed sadly as you took a step back.

You couldn't do this. You didn’t want to interfere. They looked so happy and at peace. Maybe Stephany wasn’t the problem...maybe it had always been you.

Jimin leaned in to place a soft kiss on the crown of her forehead, the same kind you had felt every night you had spent in his arms as you crossed the threshold to dreamland. His soft plump lips blessing you with sweet dreams through the night.

You turned away from them and back to the door you had come from, throwing down the white towel...you had given up.

The rain poured relentlessly as you exited the building, camouflaging the tears that were falling down your face. You grasped your purse tightly against you as if it was a stress ball, turning your knuckles white.

It hurt, it really pained you to leave the man you loved behind. You were weak, you couldn’t do this.

Stephany didn’t have to leave. You did. They needed him. He had known this, but your selfish self had been reading way too much into it.

Nataly’s glimmering eyes as she stared at Jimin as if he was Superman himself.

You could stay…. You could bare it through at his side until Stephany got better… but when would that be?? Would it be a year from now??? Maybe 10???

The ongoing battle in your mind had caused another onset of cramps as you slowed down in place.

“Fuck...” you said out loud, as the cramp got more intense.

“(Y/n), are you okay??” You heard Jin say as he stood in front of you with an umbrella that was now covering you. The water was dripping against his forehead as he shivered.

“Seokjin, what are you doing outside?” You said trying to get closer to him so the umbrella could cover him as well.

“I told you I would be waiting for you silly.” He replied rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I know dork, but what are you doing out in the rain??” You asked as you brushed away a raindrop on his eyelash.

He gave you a nervous smile, “I was debating whether to go in or not… You were taking too long and I was starting to get worried.”

You shook your head with a small smile, “Jin, I really don’t deserve your ass!”

“You don’t, but I am here so.... how about we go back to the car? It’s starting to get chilly.” Jin replied as he wrapped a strong arm around you, “You are okay though, right?”

“Yes I am fine”

You lied.

There was something about Jimin’s eyes that had always captivated you. They were brown, the color of an old oak tree you would climb during the hot summers of your youth. Home, that is what his eyes would take you back to, in them you drowned and reminisced of the times where your biggest worry was learning how to tie your shoelaces.

His warmth was addicting. Being near him had always put you at ease no matter the situation. The way his strong arms would wrap around your waist pulling you into a tight embrace, flesh against flesh. A feeling that would borderline trigger your claustrophobia had become your favorite sensation.

The way his fringe would fall against his brow as he leaned down to capture your lips as he thrusted into you throughout the night, making you come undone over and over again, the both of you becoming one, would be an image embedded in your memory. A treasure you would admire from afar, too precious to touch.

The smile that had made you fall in love with him was not only reflected on his mouth, but also within the crinkles that appeared right beside his eyes. The contagious happiness that spread all over your body with every giggle and smirk that was thrown your way… There was nothing that would ever compare to that.

Just like in tug a war, as soon as the rope commences to burn along your skin and a light prickle of a sting awakens the trigger to drop it and give up, sometimes in life you must learn to let go.

Stubborn Love had held your hand and walked you all along the way, only stopping where you were at now, but your overly conscious insecurities and consistent state of neediness and selfishness could no longer bear the weight that had fallen upon your relationship from the very beginning, as the weak foundation it had been built on was hanging on by a thread, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Jin’s fingers tapped softly yet relentlessly along the steering wheel. You could tell he was anxious to question what had happened, but he knew better. Jin knew you. You sneaked glances his way as he focused on the road. Jin was handsome and strong, he had always been your shoulder to cry on and your personal diary; the only one who truly knew how you felt about Jimin and Stephany’s relationship. There were times where you wondered why hadn’t you fallen in love with him instead. From the beginning, you had never had doubts about your friendship or his loyalty. He knew your likes, dislikes, and where to set his boundaries.

The car stopped suddenly breaking you away from the thoughts that had been clouding your mind. He took a glance your way, catching your eyes with his brown ones. He tilted his head as he leaned in to wipe a tear that had been trailing along your cheek. You laid your hand against his letting it rest on your cheek. Your lips kissed the sensitive skin of his wrist as more tears traveled down your face.

“(Y/N)”, he whispered as his own voice was wavering slightly with emotions. You looked up to meet his eyes and you noticed they now looked pink and swollen, “I’m sorry…. I am really sorry about everything. I am sorry I pushed you his way. I didn’t know. I should’ve…”

You shook your head as you let go of his hand and it fell against your lap, “You have nothing to be sorry about Jin. You have been nothing less than wonder…ful. Sorry, I am having those fake contractions or whatever….they’re just uncomfortable.” You said, rubbing your belly.

“Let’s get you to bed.” He replied as he got out of the car quickly and ran to your side to help you out. You walked next to him as he held your hand all the way to your shared apartment with Jimin. You paused every once in a while to rub the cramp out of your belly.

The place felt cold and empty as you walked inside, the framed pictures taking you back to a happy place for a few seconds before reality came crashing down once again.

“(Y/N), I think you should lay down…. I’m starting to get worried about those cramps you are having.” Jin said as he took off his wet jacket. The rain had done a number on him as he made sure to cover you entirely with the umbrella leaving no room for himself.

You walked up to him and wrapped your arms around him tightly giving no fucks about the cold rainwater that was now soaking through your shirt, “Thank you Jin. Thank you so much. You deserve the world… scratch that, you deserve the whole fucking galaxy at this point.”

Jin chuckled lightly as he returned the hug and ran a hand through your hair. You felt a warm kiss against your head that had you looking up at his tall frame. He was close, so close to your now blushing face. His warm peppermint breath fanning against your skin. At this distance, you could make out every single eyelash, and can now perfectly memorize the pink that laid upon his plush lips.

“(Y/N),” he whispered softly enough to have you wondering if he had truly said something or it had just been a figment of your imagination.

You hummed questioningly not backing away.

“You are my galaxy,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss your forehead quickly about to back away from you as to not invade your personal space. Before he could take a step back your hands reached out to grasp his collar tightly.

His pupils dilated with mixed emotions you had never been able to decipher before, but now were as clear as day.

A second. That is all it took for you to completely erase every thought, memory, and guilt. That one second is all it took for you to fuse your lips against Jin’s blurring out the world. His lips were sweet and warm. They felt safe. They felt like they could be home. He responded almost automatically holding you closer than before, but then as you felt him ask for entrance Jimin’s face popped into your mind. The way Jimin’s hands held your face as he deepened his kisses as his thumb caressed the back of your ear soothingly as opposed to Jin’s, that were holding on to your sides with trembling fingers, wary that you would push him away. Jimin nibbled on your bottom lip softly whenever he would ask for entrance causing your core to explode with heat that could overpower a volcano anyday. Jin was careful and soft, licking your bottom lip before you allowed him to take over. Jimin was rough and passionate. Jin was soft and careful. Jimin was dangerous and unpredictable. Jin was safe and cautious.

Jimin…..

A warm liquid traveled along your leg. At first, you thought it was the rainwater dripping from Jin’s soaked clothes, but the drip turned into a continuous leak and the contrast from the cold water falling from his hair to your face was quite obvious.

Jin backed away before you could react. His face went into panic mode as he looked down, the clear evidence of the unknown liquid all over the floor and his pants.

“Did I make you pee yourself??” He asked in a small, confused voice.

You remained quiet and stunned as you looked at your belly.

Jin caught onto your line of sight staring with wide eyes and open mouth gaping at your belly.

Frightened, you stared up at him, “Jin, I think my water broke...”

Before you could react Jin had already picked you up in his arms cradling you easily against his body. Your instincts kicked in as you kept in mind the birthing classes you had forcefully attended.

“Wait, what the hell are you doing??? You know I can walk right?? Just go get the two diaper bags next to my bed and let’s go to the hospital. Everything is going to be okay. Look at me.” You said grasping his face in your hands as soon as he set you back on your feet. Jin’s face was red and you could tell he was borderline hyperventilating. “I can’t have you pass out on me, so follow along to my breathing pattern…. In …...out…….In ….Out. Better??” you asked as he nodded quickly, “Okay, it’s time to go.”

[mmmmalo]

Backtracking to the conversation on how Openbound characterizes English's destructive relation to reality/experience in terms of failure to communicate with people who talk too much: it turns out Kierkegaard /also/ wrote about the opposition of the “mediation of language” and reality/”immediacy”. Kierkegaard got name dropped in the Epilogue, so this feels especially pertinent.

Not entirely sure how to relate all of it back to Homestuck, but posting the relevant section of the article for reference.

Part Two is quite short, as the work was left unfinished. It is called "Johannes Tries To Think Propriis Auspiciis [On His Own Behalf] De Omnibus Dubitandum Est". The narrative informs us that Johannes pondered these theses for some time within the depths of his soul. Johannes became discouraged listening to different philosophers. He decided to give up philosophy and "to make everything as simple as possible". The only chapter in Part Two is entitled "What Is It To Doubt?" It is a particularly difficult chapter.

“[Johannes] had to take another route if he sought to find an answer to that question. He had to search out doubt's ideal possibility in consciousness. This, of course, had to remain the same, however different the occasioning phenomenon was, since it, without itself being explained by the phenomenon, explained the effect of the phenomenon. Then whatever produced doubt in the individual could be as different as it pleased; if this possibility were not in the individual, nothing would be able to evoke it.... He then sought to orient himself in consciousness as it is in itself, as that which explains every specific consciousness, yet without being itself a specific consciousness. He asked what the nature of consciousness would be when it had doubt outside itself.... Immediacy is precisely indeterminateness. In immediacy there is no relation.... Immediately, therefore, everything is true, but this truth is untruth the very next moment, for in immediacy everything is untrue. If consciousness can remain in immediacy, then the question of truth is cancelled (p. 167f.).”

Unlike Descartes, Kierkegaard was anxious to ground philosophical truth in something more concrete than human consciousness. One can explain the effect of a phenomenon, if one cannot explain the phenomenon itself. Immediacy, which he later defines as "reality", is that which the thing is in and of itself without the mediation of language (or ideality). Utter reality cannot be absolutely determined in itself. Language's description of it is ideal, and not the thing itself. Moreover, to finite consciousness all immediacy (reality) is true or untrue equally until it is mediated. In other words, unmediated reality is opaque to us.

“Immediacy is reality; language is ideality; consciousness is contradiction. The moment I make a statement about reality, contradiction is present, for what I say is ideality (p. 168).”

Contradiction appears in the expression (through language) of reality (immediacy, that is, that which is not mediated by something). The contradictory nature of consciousness is Kierkegaard's answer to the various interpretations of things and to our ability to express them. Kierkegaard posits contradiction as the first principle of "reflection" in the consciousness. However, the mind (consciousness) which can stand outside of the contradiction is a third thing in the relation.

“The categories of consciousness, however, are trichotomous.... Admittedly, language seems to conflict with this, for in most languages...the term "to doubt" is etymologically related to the word "two." ...this merely suggested the presupposition of doubt, all the more so since it was clear...that as soon as I as mind become two, I am eo ipso three. If there were nothing but dichotomies, doubt would not exist, for the possibility of doubt resides precisely in the third, which places the two in relation to each other. We could not therefore say that reflection produces doubt, unless we could express ourselves in reverse; we must say that doubt pre-supposes reflection, without, however, this prius [prior thing] being temporary. Doubt arises by way of relation between the two, but for this to happen the two must be.... Doubt is a higher form than any objective thinking, for it presupposes the latter but has something more, a third, which is interest or consciousness (p. 169).”

Again, Kierkegaard is difficult to understand here. He seems to be saying that doubt is a positive stance for the negative, that is, doubt is not a pause, a hesitation that awaits further data, but a decisive stance against something. It is not a nothing, but a something. This fact is often overlooked. The skeptic positively asserts his epistemological position, whatever it may be. The "trichotimous" aspect of thought would seem to refer to the mediation that we apply to the two perceived sides of a cognitive issue. But the work ends abruptly with Johannes considering the Greek skeptics to be far more consistent than modern philosophers. The reader is left not quite sure how Kierkegaard would have explicated himself, or where he would have taken Johannes.

A journal entry suggests how Kierkegaard might have finished the work.

“Doubt is conquered not by the system but by faith, just as it is faith that has brought doubt into the world (Journals, IV B 13).”

[softmoxymuffin]

“Keeping up Defenses”

chapter 7, again just forgot to upload this here but it’s already uploaded on ao3 i’m thinking of writing 2 more chapters of this then an epilogue and maybe a collection of ficlets from deans perspective i dont know yet let me know if anyone is interested 

Chapter 1: Check Please

Chapter 2: Airplanes and Automobiles

Chapter 3: Tellin’ the Folks

Chapter 4: Hot Cocoa and Surprise Hugs

Chapter 5: Breakfast Sandwiches

Chapter 6: Learning Experience

Chapter 7: Keeping up Defenses

Chapter 8: Confessions in the Bitter Cold

After their successful afternoon at the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy, he and Dean had gone home with big bright smiles on their faces. During the ride back home, Seth was sorely tempted to ask a couple of questions about the things Dean had shared with his students, but seeing the satisfied look on Dean’s face, he was not willing to be the reason to change that.

They had gone home to a semi-busy house. The drive way had been newly shoveled. The garage seemed a lot more roomier than that morning, and the kitchen was far cleaner than how they had left it earlier. The boys had walked into the living room where Hector and Brandon were both helping themselves to a couple of beers. Holly and Dd were on the floor wrapping up some Christmas presents. The TV was on to a brand new game which seemed to have gotten everyone’s attention.

“Hey, how was school?” Brandon had asked with teasing in his voice.

“I had a blast.” Dean answered as he plopped himself down on the couch right behind the female members of the Rollins family. “Best day in school I’ve ever had.” He added with a chuckle.

“Oh yeah?” Seth’s older brother just smiled before he took another sip of his beer.

“Yeah, you would say that after you scared those kids shitless.” Seth added as he got two bottles of beers, one for himself and another for Dean. He gave one to the other as he sat on the couch right next to him.

Holly with a shocked and worried face had playfully smacked Dean on the calf and asked him “What did you do?” her little smirk betraying any actual scolding from the matriarch.

“Nothing,” Dean replied innocently but his blue eyes sparkling with mirth which he tried to hide behind taking his first sip of his beer.

“He rolled out like 10 feet of barbed wire and threatened to wrestle them with it.” Seth countered with a matching smirk on his face.

“Dean!” Holly now a little more outraged and gave the older man another smack on his calf, which only made Dean laugh a little harder. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t.” he denied. “I never threatened them. I just thought I would give them a… unique learning experience.” He explained, even adding the air quotes on the last statement. “I doesn’t hurt to know as much as you can in this business.”

“Dean, it’s barbed wires!” the middle Rollins child pointed out. “It hurts no matter what you do with it.” He added.

But Dean only sank into the couch further as he drank his beer and quietly mumbled to himself. “You get used to it.”

Though Seth knew what Dean meant. Though Seth had seen more than his fair share of matches that showed a bloody Jon Moxley taking barbed wires, fluorescent lights, and countless other weapons to his body, and all with a giant smile to his face. Though Seth knew exactly what Dean was capable of, hearing that verbal confirmation of how numb to pain Dean had gotten to be over the years made the younger man’s chest tighten with an ache. As much has he wanted to just shake his friend from those types of thoughts, he didn’t think calling him out on it would really help. Thankfully, Seth’s stepdad had interjected before the temptation got too much.

“You got 10 feet of barbed wires to scare a bunch of kids?” Hector asked disbelievingly. “That’s a lot of dedication for a prank.” He added before raising his beer in mock toast to his houseguest.

“Finally, some appreciation.” Dean joked as he raised his own glass to the older Rollins. “But seriously, the barbed wires there for when you need it. I saw your fence getting a little rusted on the far end there. Thought you could use the replacement.” He added simply before he took another sip of his beer.

“I had been meaning to buy that-” the genuine surprise clear in Hector’s voice. “Thank you Jon. I owe you.” He raised his beer in a simple toast towards his house guest.

A toast Dean had raised back from his seat as he replied “Don’t mention it.” Before taking a drink himself.

Seth raised his eyebrows at the revelation. He like his stepfather had assumed the barbed wires were purely for the prank on the kids. That just seemed like something Dean would do. He was a prankster and doing something like making the effort to buy unnecessary hardware for a prank just seemed like him. Now knowing that his friend actually went out of his way to, again, buy something his family had unknowingly needed was made his chest warm with affection.

The warm camaraderie of the living room was broken with the sudden and somewhat loud ringtone of Taylor Swift’s ‘Never Getting Back Together’ coming from the phone on the coffee table. The phone Seth recognize to belong to his younger sister Dd. Dd who then made an annoyed sigh as she tried to ignore the ringing phone and continue with her gift wrapping.

“D, come on pick it up or put it on silent mode. We’re trying to watch the game.” Brandon had complained.

Mumbling a curt ‘fine’ under her breath, Dd took her phone only to reject the incoming call and put her phone on silent before putting it down and going back to her work. The Rollins family, with Dean, enjoyed another 5 minutes of watching the game before the phone began to rang again. This time vibrating incessantly on the glass counter top. The whole family seemed to clearly made a collective effort to ignore the ringing until the youngest member could make a decision on what to do with it.

This collective agreement was either lost on Dean or he had actively disregarded for putting his beer down and grabbing the phone in his hand. Dd to her credit tried to grab it before the other man could take it, but was too slow to do anything. Everyone was on the edge of insisting Dean to not do anything and just give it back, but again no one was quite fast enough to stop the man.

“Hello,” Dean had answered casually with a thick and over the top Texan accent. “This here’s Zeke for Sex and Sound, your number one source for all-male erotic voice play. How may I help you darlin?” Dean had drawled out so effortlessly the whole Rollins family could not decide how to react.

Brandon practically shot beer out his nose. Hector, for all his stoicism, just seemed both confused and disturbed by what he was hearing. Holly was scandalized but seemed to be curious about what was going to unfold. Dd went from being upset and embarrassed had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing her head off. Seth froze in his seat. His jaw dropping at Dean’s audacity to not only pick up his sister’s phone, presumably presumedly intercepting a call from her ex, and then to pretend to be a phone sex operator in front of his whole family like he was just ordering pizza.

“Oh hello Ryan, what can I do you for?” Dean drawled sexily with a smirk on his lips and twinkling in his eyes. He had winked for a split second towards Dd before he continued. “Nope. No Dd here Ryan… But you know what I got a big D right over here just for you.” He had teased which forced everyone in the room to suppress giggles. “Oh calm down sugar… no need to get all testy. Unless you’re into that sort of stuff then well…” Dean’s smile just seemed to get bigger as he played the role. “Well you know what, with an attitude like that sounds even a good ole’ fucking ain’t gonna cure that. Scumbags like you give dick a bad name… so unless you want me to bill you for the filth you’re spewing in my direction right now, then I suggest you quit calling this number or you’ll be expecting a whole different kind of fucking going your way, sugar.” He made an exaggerated kissing sound before he hung up the phone and handed it over to a stunned Dd.

Now the whole Rollins family was frozen. None of them knew how to process what they had just heard. Even Seth was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact his best friend had made up some ridiculous sexed up Matthew McConaughey accent to scare off his sister’s asshole ex. It was fucking glorious.

“Goddamn…” Hector was the first to break the silence. His eyes fixated on Dean as if he had just grown a second head or something.

“That was amazing!” Brandon had finally spoke up after recovering from choking on his beer. “Holy crap!”

“Brandon! Language!” Holly had called out before lightly patting Dd on her shoulder and motioned towards Dean. “Dd do you have something to say?”

“Oh my God, thank you so much!” she said excitedly as he quickly got to her feet and surprised Dean by giving him a tight hug.

Seth was still kind of frozen on the spot after what had happened, but the way his sister too easily wrapped her arms around Dean’s neck made the warmth in him started to chill. He could only stare as his best friend awkwardly tried to return the hug without leaving his sitting position on the couch. A shy tight lipped smile on his face as he leaned forward on to Dd’s shoulders just before she let go and went back to the floor.

“He’s been driving me insane since yesterday. Couldn’t get rid of him.” Dd explained. “You really didn’t have to do that Dean.” he added.

“Don’t sweat it kitten. Assholes like that need to be put in their place. Let me know if he tries to call you again, I’m sure I can get Zeke out for another round.” Dean said with a flirty wink towards the girl.

That chill in Seth now ran cold. Oddly enough he doubted it was the fact that it was his sister that was getting his friend’s attention that made him feel that way. It was something else Seth couldn’t put his finger on, but he knew he didn’t like how it felt.

It was fairly quite for the rest of the night. Holly and Hector went to make dinner while the rest of them stayed in the living room to continue watching TV. After the game Seth decided to leave, thinking he might just need to rest before dinner started. He had turned back before going upstairs, his invitation for Dean to hangout dying on his lips as he watched his sister take his place on the couch as the rest went ahead and started to choose a movie for all of them to enjoy. Seth bit his tongue and quietly went to his room. That weight in his chest just seemed to only get heavier.

That night Seth had another dream. Again they were at the steakhouse. Again their had their steak and eggs. Again their waiter had assumed they were a couple, but this time the mention only made Seth smile. They fast forward to being in their room. Their clothes excitedly taken off each other. Their hands never getting enough of each other’s skin. Lips so insistent but soft kissing each other breathless. Seth found himself pushed to the bed as he stared up watching Dean standing over him. His body looking so strong and warm and inviting. Heat practically radiated off of him. Then dream Dean spoke, or was it Zeke?

“Sugar, you’re the prettiest goddamn thing I had ever seen…” he drawled before climbing on the bed and crawling towards him.

All that heat Seth had felt suddenly dissipated. A sense of dread overcoming him. It was Dean’s face inching closer towards him. It was his body. It was him. Seth wanted it to be him, but it wasn’t. Seth tried to crawl away, only meeting the headboard. His face coming closer and closer for a kiss. This dream Dean slowly growing more and more unfamiliar to him. This Dean being all show and nothing more. Exaggerated expressions and over the top voice. Dream Dean was not his Dean. He was not Seth’s Dean. He was not his. Not his. Not his. Not his…

Seth shot out of bed that morning. His body covered in sweat. His lungs aching for breath. His chest even heavier than he had felt the night before. He tried to lay back down and go back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes he only got visions of the Dean in his dream, or nightmare. Those last words ringing through his head again and again. Seth forced himself out of bed and took a much needed shower. All he needed was to start his day. That’s all he needed. It’s what he needed.

After hurriedly got dress and much like how he started the day before he made his way towards Dean’s room. He knocked on the door like yesterday, and like yesterday he heard nothing back. He opened the door then once again welcomed by the sparse look of the room; desk hardly touched, the bed made. Nothing in the room suggested an occupant other than a neatly packed bags in the corner. Seth quickly left and made his way downstairs.  

“Hey mom, where’s Dean?” the question like déjà vu to his ears.

“Good morning sweetie, you missed breakfast.” Holly answered as she was putting away the last dish she had just washed.

“Huh?” It was only then that Seth looked up at their wall clock; 10:34am. He hadn’t realized how much he overslept. “Oh, sorry mom.” He apologized and gave him mom a quick peck on the cheek before getting himself a cup of coffee.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked innocently.

Quick flashes of his dream ran through his head. Dream Dean’s flirty smile mocking him from deep in his subconscious. To be honest he hadn’t slept well, but his mom didn’t have to know about that.

“Good.” He lied.

“Well, I had put some of the leftovers in the oven” she motioned towards the food.

“Oh, thanks mom.” He replied as he made his way towards the oven and took a quick look inside. A nice little spread was left in front of him that made his stomach grumble. Before he took anything he asked his mom again “Hey mom, have you seen Dean?”

“Oh, he already left.” She answered as she folded the dishtowels. “He went out with Dd.” She added.

Seth suddenly lost his appetite.

“They went out?” he asked and was only answered with his mom’s curt nod. “Where’d they go?” he asked.

“Well Dd said she was headed to the mall for some last minute shopping.” She explained. “Dean had forgotten about shopping altogether and asked if she could join her.”

Dean asked if he could join her.  

Seth closed the oven door abruptly at that. The sight of the food making his stomach feel worse. He opted to get himself a cup of coffee and hoped the hot beverage would be enough to ease his gut.

“Not hungry sweetie?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m good.” He lied again, hiding his face behind his coffee mug. “Hey, where’s dad and Brandon.”

“Oh they went out to fix that whole in the fence Dean had spotted.” She answered. “That was really sweet of him to buy that for us. Think your dad wants to offer to pay him back for the wire.”

Yeah, Dean was sweet, Seth thought as a smile slowly creeped to his lips. A smile he quickly erased with another sip of scalding coffee, wanting it to replace the that bloom of warmth in his chest.

“I’m gonna go and lend them a hand.” He quickly said as he went to put on his boots and jacket before leaving.

“Oh ok, are you sure sweetie?” she asked worriedly. “You didn’t eat anything.”

“I’m fine mom.” He lied for the third time before he opened the door and walked out.

Dean asked if he could join her. Those words made the pit in Seth’s stomach feel even worse. It really shouldn’t though. Dean wasn’t his to keep. The other man was not obligated to stay by Seth’s side. He certainly didn’t need to ask permission to leave. He definitely could leave with just about anyone, including Seth’s sister.

Should Seth really be surprised though? Ever since he’s been friends with the other wrestler his younger sister had an embarrassing crush on the other man. Seth had always thought it was just her way of irritating him; mentioning how hot people he had to work with were. Dean wasn’t exactly the first guy his sister set her eyes on. Why should he worry either

Like, yes he has seen Dean flirt. He had seen him charm the pants on many a women. Dean had always had this cool cockiness about him. He’d give them that bright smile, show off his dimples, and use those baby blue eyes of his. Dean was incredibly attractive. Seth was not blind to that fact. He had just never considered it until now.

Even if they went out. It didn’t mean anything. They went to the mall for gods sake. They went out to buy Christmas presents. Of course Dean had not gifts prepared, this whole trip was unplanned. It was obvious he’d need to buy stuff. Who else better than his sister to bring shopping with. Who else should have Dean brought shopping with? Really who?

Dean was not his. Words from his dream seemed to creep up on him and took a hold of his heart. The ache he had felt I the pit of his stomach spreading all over. Seth wished the bitter cold of winter and maybe the strain on his muscles from hard work would be good enough to distract him from the confusion in his head and the ache in his middle.

He finally reached the far end of their back fence. His stepdad and Brandon working on the old barb wire had rusted through. Though Dean had only spotted one area that really needed the repair, Hector had decided to go from one end of the fence to the other and fix what needed to be fixed. They had the extra wire, they might was well used it. The prospect of finally fixing their whole fence made the patriarch smile, while it made Brandon groan. He more than once mentioned how this was not something he was expecting for his Christmas vacation. It was fair to say Brandon did not get any sympathy from either Hector and Seth.

They had ended up working until mid-afternoon. Following the fence and making sure they had fixed everything right up. Seth could feel the cold soaking through his skin. The ache seeping through his bones. But it was better than how he had felt a couple of hours earlier. He actually had the chance to forget about what was bothering him. He thought that was enough to calm his nerves for the rest of the day.

That plan shot out of the window when the first thing he saw walking back into their house was Dean and Dd sitting down at the dining room table having a couple cups of coffee. That ache in his gut came back in full force.

“Hey man,” Dean greeted. “How goes the repair?”

Before Seth could say anything, Hector had jumped in and answered for them. “It was great. All that barbed wire you bought had really helped Dean. Thank you.”

“Well I’m glad it helped.” He smiled to the older man. “Was worried I bought too much, but can you believe they sell that stuff in 10 feet coils now? Couldn’t get anything less than that.” He complained.

“It was more than enough, went out and fixed the fence end to end.” Hector announced happily before getting a cup of coffee himself.

“Yeah Dean, thanks a lot.” Brandon said sarcastically, but clearly just fooling around with them. “Hadn’t realized how damn long our fence was until today.”

“Quit whining! It’s good for you to actually get yourself working.” Seth replied to his older brother.

Seth took his time and waited for his turn at the coffee machine, all the while staring at the Dean and Dd seated somewhat close to each other talking low about something that made Dean smile.

“So!” Seth may have said a little too loudly. “How was the mall?” he asked more towards Dean.

“It was great.” Dd was the one who answered. “Hadn’t realized they added so much to the place. It was really great. Got a ton of stuff for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Seth asked dumbly.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Dd answered, and when her brother didn’t seem to get the hint she elaborated. “The Christmas party. For the guys at the wrestling school. At your café. Mom’s been prepping for it for weeks. Did you forget?”

Seth completely forgot. Since starting Black and Brave they’ve had a yearly Christmas party celebrating the past year. This year he had actually added a new venture of starting a small café near the academy. A nice little coffee shop for their community. It wasn’t an official opening, but it was his mom’s idea to have a soft opening just for them to celebrate the holidays as well as the new business. Seth felt like an asshole for forgetting, and he was sure it had shown on his face.

“Wow, and here I was thinking you just forgot to invite lil ole’ me.” Dean teased as he took another sip of his coffee. When Seth hadn’t smiled at the teasing Dean backtracked and said. “Don’t sweat it man. You’ve been really busy and worked up over stuff. Everything’s going to be fine. Go grab a coffee and a doughnut here.” He said comfortingly as he motioned to the small spread of sweets they must have gotten from the mall.

Seth did his best to calm down. After everything that’s been going on he couldn’t believe he had forgotten about the Christmas party and the coffee shop. He had been so distracted he forgot. He finally got the chance to take a cup of coffee for his own. He took the free seat right next to Dean and was just about to get a doughnut for himself when Dd squealed.

“You will not believe how many people are commenting on my post right now. It’s insane.” She said as she shoved her phone towards Seth.

“Still have no idea why anyone would be interested in that.” Dean said before taking a bite of his doughnut.

“Because my friends are freaking out about who my mystery date was for today.” She said with a big smile.

It wasn’t until Seth had actually taken a good hard look at the Instagram post his sister was referring too. It was generic Instagram picture for sure. It had the soft filter and the non-descript background. It was the subject of the photo that really got Seth’s attention. It was Dd’s hand clasping another. Though there was hardly any hint to the man attached, Seth knew instantly. It was Dean’s hand. In the caption below it said ‘shopping with someone special’ followed by a few emojies of red and pink hearts and yellow smiles.

For the second time that day, Seth suddenly lost his appetite to eat. He resided himself to quietly finishing his coffee and saying goodbye to everyone before heading back upstairs. If he thought his body felt heavy right after fixing the fence, it was nothing compared to how down and out he felt at that moment as he practically dragged his feet back to his bedroom.

He landed on his bed with a disappointed whoosh, letting the weight of his limbs and everything he was feeling just pull him to bed. Seth felt like all that hard work was for nothing. He was glad to be of helped. He was glad to have spent the afternoon with his family. He should be glad for the somewhat productive day he’s had, but he can’t. The ache in his chest just wouldn’t let him.

He just felt defeated by his emotions. Logically he knew it most likely meant nothing. Just another ploy for Dd to get back at her ex. He knew that it was just a shopping trip to the mall. He knew that if anything was going on Dean would be the first one to tell him. He knew that it was nothing. He knew. Did he?

A knock at the door startled him from his overthinking. He didn’t even have the energy to angrily shout at whoever was at the other side. He knew deep down that no matter how shitty he was feeling right now, he shouldn’t be taking it out on anyone.

He slowly got out of bed and made his way to open the door only to be met with the one person that he really could not stand to look at right now.

“You ok?” Dean asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Seth needed to get better at lying. “Just not feeling well. Must be from all the work.”

“-Or it might be from the hunger.” The other wrestler countered as he got out a plate of goodies for him. “Your mom said you hadn’t eaten anything since this morning.”

It was only then that Seth really felt the emptiness in his stomach. He had been much too upset to even realize it until now.

“Thank you,” he said sheepishly as he took the plate offered to him.

“You’re welcome.” Dean replied, and before he turned to leave he asked. “Are we cool?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t we be?” another lie.

“I mean, you haven’t really talked to me all day. Just wanted to make sure.” He answered.

“I mean you’re the one who left with Dd.” Seth said without thinking, the hurt look on Dean’s face making him regret his words instantly.

“Is that what this is about? Seth, seriously?” He answered exasperatedly. Seth looked at him with a somewhat clueless but sad expression. “Seth it was just a shopping trip to the mall. I needed help to buy stuff and Dd was already heading there so I decided to ask for her help.” He explained.

Seth looked at him suspiciously, he already knew all of this even without Dean saying it. He knew, but he still felt the need to hear it from Dean. “And that photo was what?”

“That was just to mess with her ex.” Dean answered. “It didn’t mean anything. Hell even she knows that.”

“You sure?” he just had to ask.

“Yeah Seth, I’m sure.” Dean’s irritated tone ringing through more strongly now, but when Seth didn’t seem to budge from the issue he added “I’m not interested in your sister Seth.”

“Well maybe you’re not.” He countered.

That made Dean fold his arms to his chest  and asked “What are you trying to say?”

“I mean…” What was Seth trying to say, he stuttered with his words. “I- well- I just mean, you might. You know. Give her the wrong idea.”

Dean raised both eyebrows with surprise, his blue eyes clearly showing his hurt and confusion. “You think I could do that to her? -Wow, didn’t realize how much of douche you thought I could be.” The blond fidgeted in his place, not able to look at Seth in the eye.

Seth didn’t understand until now how accusatory he had been sounding towards Dean. Of course he would never have thought Dean would take advantage of his sister, but it was too late it had already been said.

“Dean I-” Seth tried to explain himself.

“Save it Seth,” he turned to walk away but before he did he added. “You know what, she’s a lot smarter than you give her credit for. Might actually learn a thing or two from her.” He said condescendingly.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Seth asked.

“Nothing,” he answered. “Should I leave now?” he asked.

Somehow deep inside him Seth knew Dean was not asking to leave the hallway, nor leave his sight. Seth had a overwhelming feeling that he meant leave for good and no matter how bad he was aching before, the thought of Dean leaving was worse.

“No,” he answered. He had put his plate down on the nearest flat surface in his room and carefully approached the other man. Carefully he wrapped his hand around Dean’s wrist. “Stay.”

“You sure? Coz it sounds like you don’t want me here.” He replied.

“I do.” You have no idea how much. He thought but could not say. “I want you to stay… please.”

Dean seemed to soften right before his eyes. The tension from his body seemed to fade away. The anger on his face making way to calmness. It was only then that Seth realized how close he was to losing him.

“You sure?” he had to make sure again.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He answered with a soft smile. “Plus my mom would kick my ass if I kicked you out. Especially before the Christmas party.” He joked.

“Well, you’re mom can totally whip your ass.” Dean agreed with a chuckle. “You still want me there?”

“Of course I do.” Seth wasn’t sure if he ever wanted him to leave. “I want you there.”

Dean shrugged it off simply as if making the decision final in his head before saying “Ok,” then made the move to walk away but before that had to ask. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Just hungry I guess.”

“Well eat up,” Dean replied. “Just tell me what you want and I’ll go get it for you.” He added as he started to talk back down the stairs towards the kitchen.

Seth stood there dumbly wishing he knew how to tell Dean exactly what he wanted, but just could not risk the possibility of never having it, or worse losing what little he has now.

How do you tell someone they are all they have ever wanted without making them run for the hills?