#only to be instantly faced with one that had 6 em dashes

[elftwink]

discovering while editing that maybe there is such a thing as too many em-dashes. and semicolons. and parentheses. what can i say i love a good side conversation & i cannot deny the allure of an interjection or tangent

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Love Song for a Vampire Pt.15

Pairing(s): Edward Cullen x Wolf!Reader, Edward Cullen x Bella Swan, Jacob Black x Bella Swan

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of wounds, nudity

Words: 3328

Summary: Your pack and the rest of the Cullens join the fight against the newborns.

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9  Part 10  Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14  Part 16  Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20  Part 21  Part 22  Part 23  Part 24  Part 25  Part 26  Part 27  Part 28  Part 29  Part 30  Part 31  Part 32  Part 33  Part 34  Part 35  Part 36  Part 37  Part 38  Part 39  Part 40(series finale) 

Everything was dizzying to you. The thunder of various snarls, tufts of fur flying, and the flurry of snow threatening to swallow everyone up. At certain moments, you felt dagger-like fingers grab ahold of your fur being ripped away from you; possibly Edward throwing them off as he kept a check on your back.

His scent anchors you in the chaos of battle. Presence vibrating behind you, you lunge and snap at the newborns around you. Sometimes you would have to stray away from Edward in order to fling one up into the arm before snapping your jaws securely around their neck with a life ending crunch.

The voices of your pack ring loud in your mind as they shout orders and directions. You catch a glimpse of wolves weaving through the throng, tearing into their foes.

More fingers drag their nails along your body, any way to try and take you down.

“Looks like some of those bloodsuckers have joined the party.” You hear Brady alert everyone via telepathy.

You hear Edward snarl out “Em, Jazz and Rose.”

Like lightening, Rosalie appears; a blonde streak of light as she kicks a newborn in the face, breaking their jaw in the process. Her hair is wild, collecting piles of snowflakes in her curls. During your sparring with the vampires, you didn’t get the chance to see her in action. Even with the alarming terror in her gold eyes, Rosalie was still a vision.

“Quit gawking at me, wolf-girl.” She snaps instantly ruining the pretty picture she had painted. Another newborn jumps on her back it Seth swoops in, colliding with them and throwing the newborn off to the side.

Edward looks over his shoulder at you. Giving him a confident nod, he dashes off to help his siblings and the rest of your pack. Did the newborn army not know that Victoria had been apprehended? Their cause was lost.

“They probably don’t care. In their frenzied, newborn, brain all he must be concerned about is blood from a battle. ” Sam says, hearing your thoughts. The area surrounding you is beginning to collect the slumped over, headless bodies of the newborns. A welcoming sight as it meant you would soon be able to rest and end this.

Your body aches and certain muscles feel like they’re about to give out from the strain your putting them through. The open wounds on your back and sides sting from the chilling wind.

Fires were being constructed in order to dispose of the bodies as that was the only way to fully destroy a vampire and ensure they would not be revived. This was almost over.

By now the newborns that were left realize that they would be all defeated. They attempt to flee but there was no way anyone was letting them escape.

“We’ll finish the rest of the dispatching!” Edward yells as the last of the newborns are taken down. His voice carries as he doesn’t bother to whisper this next part to his siblings. “The Volturi are on their way. Alice just saw it.”

“Should we really leave now?” Jared questions as he takes a look around, Rosalie was in the middle of ripping an arm off and tossing it into the roaring fire.

In Edward’s voice you were able to detect a hint of fear. Whatever the Volturi was, he seemed to be afraid of it. He was trying to get the wolves out of there before it came. Nodding to Sam, your alpha seems convinced that it was okay from here, the job of the Quileute wolves was complete.

“Alright everyone, lets move out.” Sam’s immediate order rang with success and a job well done. No serious casualties. Each member of your pack certainly did obtain a fair amount of scratches but thankfully none had been bitten. You didn’t want to leave though. Ears flat against your head, you worry whether or not Edward would be okay with whatever new threat was drawing near. The two of you fought so well as a team, you want to stay.

Drawn to your face as you hesitate on leaving. Edward musters up a tired smile. “We’ll be okay. We’ve got it from here. Thank you, (y/n).”

Following your pack as they were nearly disappearing into the storm, you try not to internally sulk at leaving Edward. Your pack mates would definitely tease you mercilessly about it. You do your best to numb your emotions, focusing on the path your alpha maps out with his massive paws.

**

“Please tell me they’re at least heading in our direction.” Rosalie groans at the new installment of this eventful night.

They had worried about the Volturi being aware of this issue. How could they not? They ruled their empire with many spies at hand. Now their concerns were proving correct, the Volturi were hot on their trail.

In no time Carlisle shows up, a large bundle of white being held in his hands. He glances at his adoptive children and holds it up. “Proof of dispatch. Riley and Victoria’s heads.”

If anything could curdle a vampire stomach it was that sentence. At least they could show the Volturi that they had indeed taken care of it without much fuss.

“Alice and Esme?” Emmett wipes his hands off on his pants while Jasper tends to the fire; throwing in bits and pieces of newborn to feed the flame.

“Taking care of Bella. I don’t doubt the wolves will be on their way to check on her, or at the very least Jacob and (y/n).” Explained Carlisle as he looked around the area, anticipating the black hooded figures to arrive shortly.

They could already hear the rustling of cloaks against the snow, boots crunching snow underfoot as they traveled across the forest undeterred by the whipping wind and specks of snow.

Emmett, normally so carefree, stood rigidly next to Rosalie. When the Volturi paid a visit, it was never for a good thing. Misery was always left behind as they traveled back to the safety of Italy.

Four sets of blood red eyes emerge through the storm. Faces Edward had met before: Alec, Jane, Felix and Demetrius. The presence of any Volturi member was fearsome, but the two figures that Carlisle truly feared were the shorter members; the twins Jane and Alec who possessed terrifying gifts.

Bristling as they stop in front of the Cullen family members, Jane takes a step forward making it clear that she was in charge of this mission. She had been changed at such a young age that Jane still had a round, childish face.

As she expertly pulls her hood back, Jane looks around. “Impressive. I’ve never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact.”

“Must have been a fight for the ages.” Her twin commented.

Carefully choosing his words, Carlisle tells them “We were simply lucky.”

“Lucky. . .” Jane quietly scoffs. “I doubt there.”

“We’re missing two.” Pointed out Demetrius, the renowned tracker of the Volturi.

Head of the Cullen house, it was silently agreed upon that he would be their representative and the only one to speak to the high ranking guards. “Yes, Esme and Alice hung back to protect Bella.”

That made Jane raise a quizzical eyebrow. “That means she’s still human. Caius will be interested to hear she’s still human.”

“That date has been set.” When Carlisle said that, Edward had to keep his face calm and not betray the doubt that was creeping in. Doubt that must be squashed down.

Though they hadn’t had many interactions just the two of them, Edward felt a budding kinship to the wolf girl. Around her he felt a certain type of freedom that he didn’t have with Bella. He wasn’t always on guard.

Carlisle’s reassurance did the job though as Jane seemed slightly taken aback. She replaces the momentary shock with her usual coolness. Good, he had appeased her. He goes in further in detail of Victoria and her quest for revenge. He offers Jane the white bag that had their heads.

How unnerving it was when her lips broke out in a grin when she opened the bag; like a child opening Christmas presents. “Well done. We shall take this back to Caius then as proof the situation has been handled and done.” She hands it to Felix to carry and nods her head. “Very well. Until next time.” Her last words was a warning. The next time they came, if they had to, Bella better have been changed. The Volturi didn’t give second chances.

Watching them leave, Jasper waited until they were far enough to not hear. “You better figure out what to do about Bella, Ed.”

Carlisle frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I can feel it when you see (y/n).” Jasper doesn’t pull his eyes away from his brother.

Rosalie groans. “Oh don’t tell me you’re actually getting feelings for the dog girl now! Seriously Edward?”

“Shut up, Rosalie.” Edward hissed, not appreciating how Jasper had outed his strange feelings toward (y/n) to his entire family. But he was right. There were big decisions to make.

**

Getting back to the Forks-La Push forest border, Sam divides the pack: the younger members like Brady and Collin were to return to Sam’s home for Emily to treat their wounds and get some much needed rest. The older members were to go to the Cullen Estate to check in on Bella.

She must have lost a lot of blood during her captivity, it was clear from the many wounds on her. The vampire that had been guarding the front still had fresh blood on his lips.

No one was more concerned for Bella than Jacob. He ran past Sam, almost appearing to lead the pack but he was just impatient to get to her side. A blessing that the Cullen’s home was deep in the rural Forks roads. They didn’t have neighbors for miles. It would be quite a sight if someone looked into their backyard and saw a pack of wolves on steroids.

Alice was sitting on the porch, waiting for your pack’s arrival. At the first scent of wolf, she stands to greet you. “Bella is going to be okay. We’ve got her warming up and replacing the blood she lost.”

“So those bastards did hurt her!!” Jacob’s snarl bounces in your mind.

Wringing her hands, Alice looks at each member of your pack. There was no way to know what you were thinking. She didn’t have Edward’s power. “If you want, you can come in and wait. . .”

When Jared and Paul make a sound of disgust, Sam snaps at them. “There’s no need to be rude.”

“She doesn’t really want us to go in there. . . Right?” Seth curiously wonders. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with the idea of going in there. Jacob, Quil and Embry had already been in there as had you and Sam.

Jacob, even if he didn’t like the idea, took her up on the offer. He would do anything to be next to Bella. Hesitantly, Jacob approaches the steps to the Cullen porch and Alice turned around so that he could shift back to being human. “There are towels in the hallway cupboard. You can wrap yourselves in them until I can find you proper clothes.” Alice stepped aside, her eyes darted down in modesty. The naked bodies of your pack mates never really phased you. It had become normal for you and anything but sexual.

You follow behind Jacob, shaking off your giant wolf form to your much smaller human one. An arm sticks out from a hallway room, towel in hand.

“Here.” Jacob’s voice offers you.

Wrapping it around yourself, you relish in the soft material against your skin. You wander back to the living room you had peeked into during your last visit. Body aching, you desperately wanting to sit down on the Cullen’s comfy looking couch. You couldn’t though, you were still slightly wounded with deep scratches scattered across your body. You were lucky enough that none of the vampires had gotten a good grip on you. Even if their nails did tear into your skin.

Many were still bleeding and it would be terrible to ruin their furniture with your blood.

Jacob joins you in mere moments and both of you catch a naked Seth strolling down the hall. “The bathroom’s down here, right? Wow this house is really nice!” He’s happily chirping and looking around despite the situation that brought him there. When he turns and finds Sam approaching, Seth is resumes getting a towel for himself and Sam.

“It is a pretty nice house.” Sam nods and wraps his towel around his waist. “The others will be staying outside.”

“Good, everyone’s covered up!” Alice claps her hands. “Now Bella is sleeping so I must ask whoever wants to see her to be quiet. Everyone else should be back soon.”

“They seemed in a rush to get us out of there. Was there a problem?” Sam asks her.

She sighs and crosses her arms. “We’ll see.”

“That’s not very reassuring.” Jacob frowns and makes his way up the spiral staircase, two steps at a time and in his haste Jacob disappears to the top of the stairs in no time.

Seth continues to idly walk around the living room, examining various knickknacks and pictures adorning the Cullens’ intimate living area. You look over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Edward in an old fashioned sepia tone and a cute looking hat stare back at you with Carlisle at his side, his hand clasping onto Edward’s shoulder.

“Edward was the first one Carlisle ever turned.” You hear Alice say behind you. You and Seth jump.

“R-Really? Not his wife?” Seth places the picture back down.

Alice looks at you with warm, amber eyes. “Nope. Esme came along a few years later.

The howl of wolves introduces the arrival of the rest of the Cullen clan. Sam waits in the doorway of the hall. Esme comes down, stopping short when she spots Sam and offers him a soft smile. Carlisle opens the door, stepping aside so his children could file in one by one. Normally perfect facade was shattered, they were haggard and black of eyes.

Nervously Esme asks “How did it go?”

Running a pale hand through his bronze hair, Edward appears to shutter. “They left. Took the heads with them. But now they know Bella still isn’t a vampire.”

“What does that mean?”

“Eventually they’ll come back.” Admits Carlisle. His dark eyes roam over from Sam to you and Seth.

Having enough of not being involved, dfSam speaks up. “ Who are ‘they’? Sounds like we should be concerned.”

Pausing for a moment Edward sighs. “The Volturi. They are the most powerful coven of vampires and enforce the laws of the vampire world.”

“And they know Bella is a human dating a vampire. I’m guessing humans aren’t supposed to know of the existence of vampires.”

Jasper nods. “Pretty much.”

“It won’t be a problem. Bella has already chosen a date. They’ll leave us alone once she is transformed.” Esme holds onto the baluster, her furrowed eyebrows relax in relief..

Yes, she would be turned into a vampire and live a perfect life with Edward. There was nothing to worry about. The battle with Victoria would be your last battle. No more rogue vampires or strong newborns. You could just spend the rest of your days patrolling the beautiful land filled with trees as tall as buildings.

“Right. . .” Sam whispers. “What if she isn’t turned in time?”

Everyone slightly gawks at him, even you stare at your alpha as he continues to face Carlisle and Edward. Why wouldn’t she be turned?

“It’s best not to think of that.” Carlisle, after a while, tells him. “You really don’t want to test the Volturi. They have thousands of members and spies everywhere.”

Edward for the first time notices the blood trickling down from Sam’s eyebrow. Not only was Sam injured, but you and Seth as well to some degree. No one had been fully unscathed. “You guys should clean your wounds.”

“Seriously. I can smell their blood from here.” Rosalie’s pretty nose scrunches up. Such a gorgeous woman she was but you bet she would be a lot prettier if she smiled more often and didn’t have resting bitch face.

You suppose your blood must reek to them, just like your body scent. When you shift your arm to reposition your grip it’s accompanied by a sore sting. There were some wounds you couldn’t even see. Maybe it was a bruise.

Sue Clearwater would freak out if she saw her youngest child banged up like that. Agreeing to clean up, you split: Sam to the hallway bathroom, Seth in the upstairs guest bathroom and you were instructed to use Alice and Jasper’s. They didn’t mind sharing it with you. Thankfully wolf blood wasn’t quite appetizing for vampires.

How did your blood smell to them?

You use a damp, forest green washcloth to wipe off most of the dried blood; trying your best not to go over open wounds too hard. When you got to your face, the warm towel felt nice enough to make you smile. Appreciating the small things in live, your own body begins to relax now that the threat was over. No one was seriously hurt and you were able to dispose of all the newborns thoroughly. Most importantly Bella was back and would be okay.

Even just cleaning the top of your body was an improvement. Now your parents wouldn’t be too concerned and you could take a proper shower when you got home. Your parents would never have to known the extent of danger that being a wolf put you in. While you continue with wiping the grime off of you, you could hear soft voices in the distance. Jacob better know to behave in a host's house. His temper was even shorter when he and Edward were together. Poor boy would never accept the fact that he hadn't imprinted on Bella. The Fates seemed generous to no one in your pack. Elders of La Push passed off being a wolf as an incredible honor and gift. Did they ever have to deal with the heartbreak that comes along with your power? Unable to control who you fell in love with. Fate didn't care if that person was already with someone else.

You bump into Jacob on your way out. Small trickles of blood had dried across his forehead. "How is she?"

"Good. She's already starting to look better." He reaches his hand up to anxiously rub at his neck. "Edward told me what you did for her. . ."

His tone was gentle, almost sounding like the old Jacob Black you remembered fondly. Jacob had changed dramatically since his transformation and you didn't particularly like who he was now. Boys always had the worst side effects after turning. Their hormones, already sky high due to puberty, escalated. "Oh, yeah. Sorry I didn't go and get you."

He shakes his head though. "I wanted to say thank you and that I'm sorry. I've been a jerk to you and insensitive. You're. . . You're going through a hell of a lot of stuff right now."

"We all are, Jake. Vampires, wolves, nothing about that is normal. But thanks." You smile and pat him on the shoulder. "Are you heading home?"

Jacob nods. "You should probably get going too. You've been awake longer than any of us."

You really did want to go to bed. Slowly you glance down the hallway where you smell Bella and Edward. You weren't needed there any longer. Everything was okay. Realizing this, you follow Jacob back down the stairs and numb the aching of your heart as it begged you to go back.

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

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**So there are some tags that for some reason don’t link to the actual account :( I’m not sure how to fix it or if I put the link in manually if it will still alert the user.

[13uswntimagines]

Ghosted (Emily x Reader)

Request 1: sonnett where reader is really good friends with a goalie(your choice) and sonnett gets jealous because reader and goalie play for the same club and Emily is in Europe. Do she goes to Lindsey and reader thinks Emily is going to breakup with her and pushes her closer to the goalie and it’s a whole shit show

Request 2: Can you do a Emily Sonnett imagines where her and the reader are together but the reader use to date someone else on the team ( you can chose) and the comments gets to Emily. And the Reader shows Emily how much she loves her?

Request 3: Something with Jane Campbell please

Author’s Note: I thought these three would work very well together, so I combined them. Also, this one takes an interesting turn in the end and if you look closely enough there are hints to a very interesting dynamic and why reader and jane wouldn’t work out. Let me know what you think. I live for interactions and stuff. They help to keep me motivated. 

It had been one hell of a year. It had started with both you and your girlfriend getting zero notice when the thorns traded her to Orlando and you to Houston. Then you had been trapped on opposite ends of the country due to the pandemic. That distance only got bigger when she decided to go to Sweden when Orlando pulled out of the challenge cup. 

But the two of you had made it work. Well, at least you thought you had made it work. apparently, Emily thought differently, if the silent treatment you had gotten the second you stepped into camp 3 hours ago was anything to go by. 

Hell, she wouldn’t even look in your direction. All you wanted was to hold your girlfriend (cause you hadn’t seen her in person in almost 6 months) and it felt like she didn’t even give a fuck that you were there. And Lindsey intercepted you every time you tried to get close. 

You smiled as you approached your blond girlfriend, leaning on the squat rack next to her. Normally you’d wrap your arms around her and kiss her neck, but you didn’t want to overstep with this weird tension happening between you. 

“Hey Em, wanna partner?” you asked softly, almost shyly.

Emily didn’t even turn to acknowledge you.

“I’m already with Linds,” She said tensely. Since when had she been so on edge around you? 

You frowned, your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to understand what was happening between you and your girlfriend. You glanced down at your shoes, suddenly finding them very interesting. 

“Oh, maybe-“ You started, poking the squat rack with your shoe. You looked up, only to find that Emily had already walked away and joined Lindsey on the other side of the gym. 

You sighed, finishing your thought into the blank air around you. “we could do dinner or something later. Guess not,” 

You blew out a long breath, willing yourself to hold back the tears. She didn’t even wait to see what you were going to say. Your eyes followed her as she hugged the blond midfielder and laughed loudly at whatever she was saying. It was like a knife in your heart. 

“What’s going on with you and Miss Sweden?” Hands on your shoulders and the voice right next to your ear should have made you jump, but you were too used to Jane’s scare tactics. 

You rolled your eyes and shrugged the keeper off of you, your gaze never leaving Emily. “Honestly, I have no clue,” You sighed deeply. She had never been like this with you before, and you definitely hadn’t expected your reunion to go like this. 

“Maybe it’s just jet lag. You know how she gets when she doesn’t get enough sleep,” Jane shrugged, poking at your dimples, trying to get you to laugh. You batted her hand away. 

“The question is how you know that,” You said, sending her a scathing look. 

She smirked impishly, wiggling her eyebrows. “I live with you, remember?”

You dramatically rolled your eyes, shoving your best friend. “I don’t think You’d ever let me forget,” 

The only good thing about your trade to the dash was that you got to hang out with your best friend every day. You and Jane had known each other since college and instantly hit it off as friends. When you had been traded, Jane also just happened to be looking for a roommate and things had worked out pretty well. 

“Well, if you’re still looking for a dinner date, I’m free tonight,”  Jane hummed, wrapping an arm around you again. 

“Been there, done that,” You scoffed playfully, shoving her again, but she didn’t let go of you this time. 

So maybe the two of you had tried in college. It was more of a fling than anything else, and it had mutually ended on great terms. You loved each other, but you weren’t in love and that was alright. You decided you were way better off as friends than lovers and left it at that. Plus, you had kinda fallen insanely hard for a certain blond cavalier.

“Not that kind of date,” She giggled, letting you shove her ways this time (definitely taking note of how your lips ticked up and patting herself on the back for clearing some of the clouds on your sunny personality away). 

“Whatever you say, now shut up and spot me,” 

The two of you were so caught up that you didn’t see the annoyed blue eyes following you from across the room, or the clenched fists and jaw that would have told you exactly what the issue with your girlfriend was. 

*****

You tried to smile as you entered the dining room, hoping that you would finally have the chance to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering your girlfriend. 

You spotted her from across the room, seated at a table with Rose, Sam, and Mal. You released a breath that you didn’t know you were holding at the absence of a certain blond midfielder. Emily had been attached to her side, and watching them was like a knife in your chest, every interaction a slice at what felt like the tiny thread keeping your relationship together. 

“Hey, is this seat taken?” You asked as you approached the table, stopping short of the seat next to your girlfriend. 

She tensed, and you noted how her jaw clenched with furrowed eyebrows. She opened her mouth, but before she could respond another body slid between the two of you. 

“Yeah, it is,” Lindsey said firmly, setting her plate down right in front of the seat in question. You frowned, and your fingers tightened around your plate. You bit your lip in an attempt to not say the thing that was on your mind. Despite how pissed off you were with the woman, she was your friend too. 

You glanced around the table that was now awkwardly staring at you, your eyes landing on an empty seat next to Mal and across from Emily. 

“Alright, what about that one?” 

“Taken too,” Lindsey said shortly with a shrug. Mal glared at her. “No, it’s not, sit Y/n,”

The team was growing tired of the tension between you, and how sad you looked. 

“Thanks,” You mumbled, sliding in beside Mal. 

Silence fell over the table, and you shifted uncomfortably in your seat. You never felt so unwelcome around your friends before. 

“Well I better get going,” Emily said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, shoving the chair back and abruptly standing. Lindsey stood up next to her, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. Your chest ached at the hand placement and how Emily leaned into her. 

You shot up too, clearing your throat and extending your hand. “Wait Em, I thought maybe we could talk after dinner?” You said, desperation clear in your voice. The table had never heard you like this before, had never seen a crack in your typically cool and unfailingly in control exterior. 

“She’s already got plans,” Lindsey said with an eye roll, and Emily seems to tuck herself further into the taller midfielder. You gulped down the defeat and desperation threatening to crawl out of your chest. 

“Oh, um maybe I could join you then?” You asked hopefully. 

“Private plans Y/n.” Lindsey snapped, already beginning to guide Emily out of the room, seemingly careless to what you had to say. The blond defender didn’t even give you the courtesy of eye contact as she left. 

“Sure, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. I love you, Emily,” You called after their backs, watching them go. 

Everything in you seemed to deflate. It felt like she was leaving with a piece of you like she didn’t even care you were crumbling behind her. You didn’t try to stop the tears as they fell this time, slumping miserably back into your seat. 

A warm presence knelt next to you, and soft but calloused hands gently wiped the tears burning down your face. 

You met the keeper’s concerned blue eyes and allowed her to pull you into her strong embrace, hiding your face in her neck. 

“I don’t know what I did wrong,” You sobbed. Jane rubbed large circles on your back with one hand and squeezed you tight with the otherHands-onother hand was trying to hold your broken pieces together. 

“I don’t know either,” She said, kissing the side of your head. 

You missed Emily pausing at the door to send you one last look, but Jane didn’t. Her eyes bored into the blond defender. If she thought she could just jerk you around like this with no consequences then she had another thing coming. 

Jane wasn’t romantically attracted to you, but you were her best friend and she wasn’t about to let you continue to get hurt. Emily might be able to avoid you, but she wouldn’t be able to avoid Jane, the keeper would make sure of it. 

****

“Alright cut the Bullshit Sweden, you’ve been ignoring Y/n for a week. What the fuck is your problem,” Jane growled, stepping into the nearly empty locker room and glaring at your girlfriend. She knew you could more than take care of yourself, but this had gone on long enough. 

Emily tensed at the new presence, back straightening and eye going wide. She hadn’t bet on the head of the Houston department of defense to get involved. 

“Fuck off Campbell,” Lindsey said back, stepping so she was standing protectively in front of her best friend. 

“I will not because your best friend there is hurting my best friend,” Jane took another step towards the duo, puffing out her chest. 

“Yeah right, she’s barely even noticed,” Emily scoffed, crossing her arms like a petulant child. 

“See, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that considering she’s cried herself to sleep every night since she’s been here,” Jane said, taking another terrifying step forward, stabbing her finger wildly into the air. 

She had been the one to hold you while you sobbed yourself to sleep because you were sure Emily had fallen out of love with you. The one who watched you agonize over every interaction you had with your girlfriend leading up to camp, trying to find where you had gone wrong. The one who listened to you degrade yourself for apparently driving Emily away and right into Lindsey’s arms. She was watching as you literally ripped yourself apart over this. 

“And what, You didn’t enjoy comforting your new girlfriend?” Lindsey scoffed loudly, shoving Jane’s hand (which was practically touching her chest) away. 

“What?” Jane asked shocked. 

Emily peeked over Lindsey’s shoulder, scowling at the keeper. Anyone with eyes knew what they meant. “Look, I know she’s cheating so you can both drop the friends act,” 

Jane oils to help the laugh that bubbled out of her lips. God, Emily was clueless if she thought you two were anything more than friends. Sure you had tried in college, but there weren’t romantic feelings there. You both wanted such different things out of a partner and agreed that you were better off as friends. Emily was your person, and Jane would be damned if anyone said anything different. 

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think she wants anyone but you and if you weren’t so far up Horan‘s ass you would know that. If you wanna break up with her to date Miss Portland then grow some balls and do it, but don’t you dare try and ghost the sweetest person in the world,” 

“You would love that wouldn’t you?” Emily spat. 

Jane rolled her eyes. “No, because it would hurt her more than you already have. She loves you, and I thought you loved her. If you do, then you should show it,”

Emily seemed to soften at Jane’s words. She did love you, more than life itself. She really had to talk this whole thing out with you. Jane didn’t give her a chance to respond, deciding that storming off to find you and make sure you were ready for practice was a more productive use of time (she would never admit that it scared her a little to leave you alone these days). 

*****

Emily wasn’t a jealous person. At least she tried not to be. But it was really fucking difficult when it came to you and your friendship with Jane. Well, it was difficult in the beginning, when she had you next to her, but with you so far away it was nearly unbearable. 

She hadn’t minded that the Dash moved you into Jane’s apartment, but then the comments started and they wouldn’t leave her alone. Instead of turning to you, talking it out with you, she had gone running to her own best friend. And in her effort to run from the fear that you wouldn’t choose her, she had hurt you in the process. 

She watched you from across the field, taking in the slight tilt of your head and slump of your shoulders. You smiled tightly at the keeper as she approached you, but Emily could tell that it didn’t reach your eyes, even from across the field. She also knew it wasn’t the blinding smile you saved solely for her. How hadn’t she noticed it before?

 “Jane was a little crude but she’s right you know,” Lindsey said, wrapping an arm around Emily’s shoulder, her eyes easily finding you. 

She felt bad about how Emily was treating you. 

“About which part?” Emily asked, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms. Jane had said a whole lot, and she couldn’t find it within herself to disagree with them. It was childish to ignore you, and for her to be oblivious to your obvious feelings. 

“Don’t play dumb,” Lindsey scoffed, pinching Emily’s side a little harder than necessary. She didn’t like being the middleman between the two of you. You were her friend too after all. 

Emily sighed crossing her arms a little tighter around herself. “I know. I need to talk to talk to her,”

“I’m sure when she finds out what’s bothering you, there’ll be a whole lot more than talking. Isn’t communication one of those rules between the two of you?” Lindsey asked with a smirk, laughing loudly when Emily shoved her. The team knew about your relationship… dynamic and Lindsey was sure Emily was in for it when you realized exactly why the defender had broken your most sacred agreement. 

“Shut up,”

Emily’s cheeks flavored up at the implication. He was sure you’d come up with a very… creative… way to aid her in expressing her feelings next time and show her how much you loved her when you found out what this whole thing was about. 

*****

You watched Emily very carefully from your perch on the end of the bed. She had dragged you here right after practice, and as soon as the door closed the words were pouring out of her lips. 

You sat quietly, letting her finally get out the emotions she had been keeping from you for so long. She explained how the comments on Houston’s latest photo of you and Jane had started this whole shit show, and how terrified she was that you would decide you didn’t want to deal with the distance. 

You let her pace back and forth as she told you about how she didn’t want to confront the issue, so she thought ignoring you would be a better course of action. It didn’t give you a chance to tell her that you didn’t want to be with her anymore. 

She finally paused, turning to look at you with wide tearful eyes, wringing her hands nervously in front of her. 

“I don’t have romantic feelings for Jane,” You said seriously, looking your girlfriend right in the eyes. You wanted her to know how true those words were. She knew that tone and had this been a different conversation it would have sent a chill down her spine. 

“I know I just-“ She started, but you cut her rambling off an eyebrow raise and your firm voice“Got jealous and thought that cutting your losses was better than coming to me,” 

It was a rule in your relationship- communication was king. The only way things got done was if you talked about them. You talked through every aspect of your relationship, every like and dislike, every limit and desire. This situation broke every rule you had established and that didn’t sit well with you. You couldn’t be the only one initiating (or trying to), she had to do it too (especially if she was uncomfortable with something) for this whole thing to work. It scared you a little that she had just shut down and run off to Lindsey. 

Emily nodded slightly, staring a hole in your shirt. 

“I thought you had moved on already,” She mumbled. 

You stood from the bed, gently using a finger to tilt her head so you could look her in the eyes. You raised an eyebrow. “So you got cozy with Lindsey to make me feel as jealous as you were and then wouldn’t respond to me as punishment?”

“I’m sorry, I just thought it would hurt less,” She mumbled, captivated by your y/e/c eyes and the little swirl of deeper emotion hidden inside. 

You nodded. stepping closer so your noises were almost touching and gently grasping her shoulders. “I love you Emily Ann Sonnett, even when you’re being a dumbass and ghosting me,” 

She could feel your breath fanning over her lips, only adding to the weight of your words. 

“I love you too,” Emily said, and you could see the truth to her words in her blue eyes. 

You smirked. “I know,” 

You leaned down and finally connected your lips. She grabbed your collar and pulled you closer, pouting all of her emotions into the kiss, trying to show you how much she loved you and how sorry she was for hurting you. 

Your lips moved together in a very familiar dance, slow and full of all of the emotions between you. At some point, you had flipped the two of you around so Emily was seated on edge of the bed. You pulled back and began to trail kisses down your girlfriend’s neck. 

She tilted her head to give you more room, sighing and moaning as you trailed your way down her chest, stomach, and thighs, placing kisses as you went until you were kneeling between her legs. Your fingers toyed with the waistband of her pants, an annoying cocky smirk plaster on your face when she whined that you were going too slow. 

“No, no baby girl. We’re going to work on your communication skills, so I’m not going to do anything unless you tell me exactly what you want,” 

[xbladekitkat85]

Why Clint is on Tony’s Sh*t List

Word count: A bit over 3k.

Chapter summary: Peter and Harley are brothers and the children of Tony Stark. Which is highly classified knowledge that nobody outside of the Avengers knows. Until Clint Barton accidentally spills the secret with a technology related mishap.

Warnings: A bit of language here and there. Tony threatening Clint’s life because he did an oopsie.

Peter's POV

In the school that is Midtown School of Science and Technology, everyone is basically a genius of some sort. You have biology geeks, math geeks, chemistry geeks, robotics geeks. You name a branch of STEM subjects, there are guaranteed to be at least 5 masters in every subject.

That being said, being a master in a subject doesn't mean that you would be instantly popular. Sure you might get hounded for homework help, but it doesn't mean you actually make friends as easily. It's more like people want to leech off of your knowledge and don't bother to get to know you.

There's a social pyramid in all schools and let's just say I'm towards the bottom of mine. I build Lego sets, I love Star Wars, I'm a whiz at chemistry and math. But people ignore the fact that I'm 'somewhat' intelligent and focus on the Lego and Star Wars part of my image. Which sucks big time. At least I'm graduating this year.

But at least I have my brother Harley to confide in. We argue over stupid stiff but we both enjoy poking fun at each other.

3rd person POV

Peter was sitting at his usual table with his small group of friends. Ned, MJ, and Betty made up this small group of people.

"So, what are you guys doing this weekend?" Ned asked the group.

"Uhhhh, I was planning on going to see that new movie coming out." Betty answered. "You know, the one with Emilia Clarke and what's his name."

"Oh yeah, I know which one you're talking about." Ned replied.

"You losers can go see a movie, I'm going to a protest outside of Oscorp." MJ replied, sipping her thermos of coffee.

"What did Oscorp do?" Peter asked curiously.

"They're trying to cover up an employee getting severely injured, the safety protocols are shitty, and HR is as usual, the worst part of it all in addition to the censorship of the incident online."

Peter nodded his head, eyes widened.

"Gotcha. I definitely understand why you're going."

MJ set her thermos down and opened her latest book, Speak.

Ned turned to look at Peter.

"Stark internship all weekend?" He inquired.

Peter shrugged and took a sip of water.

"I'm gonna hang out with Harley. Probably do some stuff in the lab. Usual stuff."

Betty shook her head in disbelief.

"I still can't believe you're friends with him." She said. "He's pretty high on the social ladder here. I mean I know you guys have the internship together but it's still kind of baffling that I never see you interacting in school."

Ohhhhh, if you only knew Betty. Peter laughed to himself on the inside.

Nobody at school knew that Peter and Harley were half brothers and the children of Tony Stark. Not even Ned or MJ knew although he suspected that MJ somehow knew or was close to figuring it out. She's scarily perceptive and freakishly good at knowing things about other people that she definitely shouldn't.

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

The four friends parted ways and headed to their respective classes.

*After school*

Peter arrived at the tower straight from Delmar's after picking up snacks for the weekend. He had grabbed an assortment, ranging from potato chips to pretzel M&Ms.  He waved at Ms. Maldonado, the lady who commanded the reception area and dashed to the elevator, scanning his pass when prompted.

FRIDAY greeted him when the doors closed.

"How was your day Peter? Harley is already waiting for you. He told me to tell you, and I quote, "Peter, I hope you remembered my PRETZEL M&Ms not PEANUT M&M's like last time. If you forgot, I'm going to steal that new Lego set you were planning on building tomorrow. And I WILL hide it somewhere you'll never, ever, find it. Insert maniacal cackling, blah blah blah."

Peter stifled a laugh at Harley's message.

"Uh, well my day was the usual, you know. And tell Harley I got his stupid M&Ms. And I grabbed him something else too if he promises not to threaten the Legos again."

"Sure thing, Peter."

He exited the elevator to the floor which housed the labs he shared with Harley. There were multiple as the duo tended to accidentally blow things up and would need to have another place to work while repairs were being done. Needless to say, Tony was more than a little annoyed that his kids needed multiple labs because they kept blowing them up. But whatever, he loves them and will pay for it as long as he gets to blackmail them with all the ridiculous stories of what blew up and how it happened.

Harley looked up towards the door Peter walked through and lifted his welding mask off his face.

"Hand over the merchandise, blockhead." He said, his arm stretched towards the bag of goodies Peter was carrying.

"Only if you promise to leave the Legos alone, biotch." He replied.

Harley rolled his eyes and dramatically lifted his hand in the air as if he was testifying in court.

"I promise not to touch the Legos." He said in a half joking tone.

Peter handed him the pack of M&Ms as well as a container of Oreos.

"I still don't understand why you like pretzel M&Ms." Peter remarked. "There's too much pretzel and not enough chocolate."

Harley stared directly at him as he tore open the M&Ms and popped a few in his mouth.

"I don't understand why you don't like pineapple on pizza." Harley shot back as he swiveled around in his chair

Peter groaned.

"We are not having this discussion again."

"Peter you're an idiot if you don't like pineapple on your pizza."

"Harley, you're a disgrace to the entire state of New York if you do. Fruit is not supposed to go on a proper pizza."

Harley chucked a bolt at Peter's head.

"Hey!" He protested as he turned to look at Harley. And then he saw a glint in Harley's eyes.

"Pizza is a dish with everything from the food pyramid. You have grain, dairy, meat, vegetables, fats, and oh, wait, you don't like pineapple so you're missing out. You could be getting every nutrient from the food pyramid but you're an idiot so you miss your daily serving of delicious pineapple on your pizza."

"Oh my god, stop."

The boys busted out laughing for a full 3 minutes, eventually with Harley falling out of his chair. Tony walked in to find his kids cackling at who knows what, and one on the floor, almost incapacitated by his laughter. He sighed before clearing his throat to gain their attention.

The boys sobered up and finally stopped laughing but they had unshed tears left from the fun.

"What on earth were you two dying of laughter over? Should I call a therapist? Do I need to be concerned? Did you eat something that you shouldn't have?"

Harley sniggered as Peter was trying to keep a straight face.

"He was eating pretzel M&Ms!" Peter said, holding back his laughter. "The type that should be illegal!"

"Peter, you don't diss Pretzel M&Ms, they're an underappreciated member of the M&Ms family. If you think pretzel M&Ms should be illegal, you clearly haven't tried the raspberry ones." Harley replied while doing his best to keep his face straight. "If anything, you should call a therapist for Peter and help him overcome his aversion to pineapple on pizza."

Tony looked even more lost than he was before.

"Ok, I don't know what I'm supposed to make of this. FRIDAY, show me footage of what the hell happened while I wasn't here."

"Sure thing boss."

Friday pulled up security footage of Harley and Peter's conversation. Tony watched it as the two teens were snickering behind him. After he understood the situation he turned to his kids and let out a tired sigh.

"Ok, I don't understand your sense of humor, but I came to tell you that we're having Italian for dinner."

Peter pumped his fist and Harley just shrugged.

"Italian is fine by me I guess."

"All right kiddos, be in the dining room by 7ish or else I'll cut the power to these labs. We eat as a family."

*Time skip*

It was 2 am, Monday morning and everything was silent except for the faint noise of shuffling towards the ceiling.

Clint Barton was crawling around in the vents, obviously on his way to do something he probably shouldn't be.

He had lost a bet with Nat earlier and the punishment was that he had to steal something for blackmail off of FRIDAY's databases.

He quietly dropped out of a vent shaft into an important looking office. He didn't bother checking who it belonged to but he was already too far gone to ask.

"Ok Nat, what do you want me to look for?" He whispered into his earpiece.

"Check the computer on the desk. The password is written on a sticky note in your pocket."

He checked his pocket and there was indeed a post it with a password on it.

"Ok, what am I supposed to find?" He asked once he logged in.

"Look for footage from the labs." She said. "Check labs CTS2 and IAI1."

"CTS2 and IAI1, gotcha." He reaffirmed.

He browsed around until he found the cameras he needed.

"Ok, found em. What dates should I look at?"

"Look at this past Friday," She answered, "around 4:45 to 6:15 pm. Tony drank from a can of motor oil instead of his coffee cup. I would like this footage in my posession. For my entertainment, and possibly blackmail to pull on him."

"All righty, ok, uhhhh." He muttered as he searched through that window of time.

He watched snippets of the footage and fast forwarded a few times until he glimpsed footage of Harley swiveling around in his chair as Peter looked exasperated. He paused and rewound to see what the situation was.

As Clint watched the whole argument play out and the aftermath, a shit eating grin began to spread across his face. He emailed himself the whole interaction for his own entertainment (blackmail, cough cough) and went back to searching for what he originally came for. He eventually found it, sent it to Natasha, logged out of the computer, and climbed into the open vent.

"You get it?" Nat asked suspiciously.

"Oh yeah, I got it." He said, trying to hold back the mischievous laughter that was threatening to let loose. He checked his phone to see whether he got the email he sent to himself. But to his surprise and sudden panic, it was not there. His social media, however, was blowing up with comments about the two kids and who they were and theories people were spouting.

"Oh shit."

"What did you do, Clinton?" Nat asked in a threateningly monotone voice.

Clint banged his head on the vent, forgetting that he still had his comms on.

"I may or may not have accidentally exposed Peter and Harley as Tony's kids."

Nat was silent for a moment before she finally responded.

"Tony's probably going to kill you for this, so you should pack your bags right now. Make funeral arrangements as well and update your will."

"Ah shit."

*Monday morning, 6:45 am*

Peter woke up to his phone ringing. He groaned and turned on his side to ignore the call. The phone rang again and he sighed before reluctantly sitting up and grabbing his phone.

What the hell, who's calling this early?

He looked at his notifications and saw multiple missed calls and texts from Ned and MJ. Something must have happened because Ned had typed in all caps, 'PETER EVERYONE KNOWS! CALL ME NOW!' MJ's text just said, 'I knew already. Don't try to hide it from me whenever you come to school.'

Instantly, Peter was wide awake. Did the whole world know he was Spiderman? But how did this happen, who would leak that information and how did they get it?

He called Ned and before he could even say, "What's up?" Ned butted in with a sentence he was not expecting.

"Peter, when were you going to tell me your dad was Tony Stark?! This is even bigger than Spiderman! As your Guy in the Chair, I think this knowledge might have been missing in our conversations."

Peter was at a loss for words as he stood up.

"It's all over social media and people are going apeshit over this!"

"Ned, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet." Peter replied in a nervous tone as he began pacing back and forth in his room. "How do you know the source is credible? Remember what Ms. Hernandez said about credibility when giving information in an essays or whatever?"

"But Peter, Hawkeye was the one who posted it. You know, the Avenger who shoots arrows?"

Peter stopped pacing and froze midstep.

Uncle Clint was behind this? But why?

"You sure he wasn't hacked?" Peter asked as he feebly attempted to get out of this confrontation.

"No, it's security footage from a lab. Tony said in the video that you guys were a family."

Peter then realized that he couldn't worm his way out of this situation. The whole world knew he and Harley were brothers and the sons of Tony Stark. Of course this happened, why wouldn't it?

"I'm going to call you back, I need to talk to Clint." Peter said.

"Ok, just let me know if you and Harley are going to be ok or not." Ned replied.

"Bye Ned."

"Bye."

Peter hung up and took a deep breath before leaving his room to go find Clint.

He entered the kitchen and almost everyone was there except the one person he wanted to talk to.

"Hey, uh, where's uncle Clint?" Peter asked.

Uncle Steve looked up from his breakfast.

"He left last night. Family emergency."

"Uh huh, so correct me if I'm wrong but Clint left because dad was going to kill him, right?"

Suddenly everyone was avoiding eye contact with Peter. Yup, everyone knew what happened.

Just then, Tony walked in with a very irritated expression.

"I don't think you and Harley are going to be able to go to school today. Some kid from your school, Dash or something posted you go to school with him and know you both. So there are multiple news stations outside the tower and surrounding your school. Might be best to just stay home today."

"Is Uncle Clint still alive?" Harley asked as he walked in, yawning.

"He is alive," Tony responded "Not for much longer though."

"Dad, you can't just kill him." Peter protested. "It's not like he actually did anything that warrants his death."

"I don't think he meant to do it." Harley added. "He deleted it maybe 10 minutes after he posted it but other people recorded it on their own devices and re shared it. He probably realized what he had done and tried to delete it but of course, once it's out there, it's out there."

"Don't kill Uncle Clint, he's got a wife and kids. Besides, we need him on the team." Peter said.

"We don't need Clint," Tony said, waving his hand. "I already got a replacement set up."

Peter had not heard of this new team member that was apparently going to replace Clint.

"Who is it?" Harley asked curiously.

"Kate Bishop. She's already on her way here. Clint trained her to take over the mantle of Hawkeye anyway so it shouldn't be that big a deal." Tony shrugged. "She's a bit older than you two, 18 or 19, I can't remember at the moment."

"Ok, then, as long as she's trusted by you." Peter relented.

"Don't know what she might be like, but if Clint trained her, and they share similar personalities, whatever spirits above help us." Harley said solemnly.

Peter smacked Harley's arm.

"Hey!" He complained.

"She's not even here yet and you are badmouthing her already. Have some manners, dude."

"It doesn't matter at the moment right? You said it yourself, she's not here yet and I will 'have some manners' when she does."

All of a sudden, Peter heard a nearly imperceptible shuffling coming from above. He felt a shiver go down his spine and the instinct to get into a defensive position.

"He's right, you should have some manners young man." An unfamiliar voice boomed from above.

Harley looked around wildly in confusion.

"Who's there?! Are you a spirit from above???" He asked.

All of a sudden, a figure dropped out of the vent directly above Harley and tackled him to the ground.

"And that is Kate Bishop." Tony said, answering the question in everyone's mind.

Kate released Harley from her grip and she helped him up.

"Clint was right," She said, smiling. "Crawling through the vents to prank people is fun."

She looked up to the open vent and held out her arms, to everyone's confusion.

"Lucky, come on down!" She called.

To everyone's shock, a dog with one good eye poked his head out from the vent and jumped into Kate's arms.

"Oh crap, nobody has allergies to dog dander, right?" Kate asked, looking at everyone.

"Maybe? I'm not sure." Peter replied.

"Damn, I should have checked before bringing him, huh." Kate muttered.

Tony waved his hand at the dog.

"As long as he's potty trained, we should be fine." He said, trying to reassure her worries. "We're all fine with dogs."

Peter thought back to all the dogs he's pet on patrol. They always seemed happy to play with him and now there was a dog in the tower. Huzzah, he didn't get to only pet dogs on patrol now!

"Well, all's well that ends well, right?" Peter said.

"How about everyone gets acquainted with Kate?" Tony suggested. "It's not like you two are going to school today anyway."

Peter and Harley agreed and that day became a get to know the new team member day.

Peter texted Ned to let him know he was going to school the next day and invited him to the tower after school to meet someone. Oh the look on Ned's face when he found out would be priceless.

Taglist:

@frostedgiant

Send an ask if you would like to be tagged!

[marauder-exe]

Crying and Cuddling- Sirius Black X Reader

Word count: 1,7k

request: Hello, can I request a Sirius Black with the prompts 10, 27 and 44. Ending in fluff, but full of angst. Thank you! 💚

prompts: 10. “I cant do this anymore”

27. “(Y/N), why does your ex have a black eye”

44. “Don't go, stay with me.”

warnings: angsty but a happy ending? Some guy being an asshole

a/n:sorry about the repost!

Sundays where usually spent with you and Sirius cuddled up on the gryffindor couch, sometimes watching James and Remus play wizard chess, or watching peter trying (and failing) to flirt with some 5th years. But today, something had been plaguing your mind. What were you and Sirius? Because you assumed you guys where unofficially official. He never dated anyone else but he had never asked you to be his girlfriend. It had been going on like this for the better part of a year. You'd met in 2nd year and yo instantly became best friends, and since then it just kinda grew. You knew he wasn't one for commitment, given his reputation, but he wasn't like that anymore. He had changed, He had changed for you. But was that enough? It always buried doubt in your head, im not his girlfriend because he doesn't want me enough. Of course that's untrue, but you couldn't help but think. You slowly looked up at him, eyes closed, a peaceful look on his face, you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, he smiles.

“what's up love?” He had that cute sleepy voice.

“what are we Sirius?” you questioned, big doe eyes looking up at him.

He didn't really have a response, he had never really thought of it, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Were friends, were this” He gestured to the two of you cuddled up.

Those words lit a fire inside of you, Just friends. Honestly. You abruptly shifted off of him and sat up,

“i cant do THIS anymore Sirius”

“what do you mean doll?” You absolutely hated the fact that he couldn't catch on.

“I cant do this, be us anymore, I need more than this, I need to be yours” He just stared at you, not really having a response,

“would you want us to be us?” You question. He just blanked, he didn't really know what he wanted. That was a lie. He knew he wanted you, wholly and fully to be yours and you to be his but he had to keep you at arms length. You couldn't get hurt because of him, it would destroy him. But his silence was enough for you. You got up and turned to walk, he mumbled a small ‘wait’, his heart speaking before his mind could.

“No, Sirius, come find me once you've decided if im good enough or not” You spat. You sprung out of the common room, past the portrait hole, and began wondering around the halls, it was an hour before curfew so you wouldn't get into that much trouble. Sirius sat staring after you looking dumbfounded.

“Padfoot, mate, what the fuck was that?” James chimed in.

“i have absolutely no idea prongs” He huffed and lay his head against the arm of the chair, what was he gonna do.

It felt a though you where wondering the corridor for hours, but you needed it. Maybe you overreacted on Sirius, Maybe he did want to be with you but he hadn't figured out how to ask. No, if he really wanted to be with you, He would've come looking. You leaned against the wall in some random corridor you'd wandered off to, slowly sliding down it, putting your head in your hands. You heard quite footsteps, quickly approaching. Hoping that on the off chance Sirius had decided to come find you, you lifted your head up. Of course it wasn't him. It was some 6th year ass hat from slytherin. When he noticed you where crying, you expected him to make fun of you, but no, he just sat next to you and asked if you where okay.

“Ive seen better days I suppose” You laughed sadly.

“Well I have something that could cheer you up” He said, a glint of mischief in his eye, oh no this couldn't be good.

“and that is?” You questioned. Then within an instant he had his lips on yours. What the fuck. “woah woah Justin man what are you doing?” You pushed him off you in seconds.

“Well word got round you and Sirius are done, so ya know I figured, why not take a chance with you?” he sneered.

“what? Where did you hear that?” You where so utterly confused it had only been, what? An hour or two since your fight. Word travels fast I suppose.

“Some perky gryffindor chick said she was gonna try it on with im since you guys broke up, so I figured the same” He said cockily.

“You cant exactly break up if your not together” You mumbled.

“So what do you say doll? “You cringed at the nickname, it only felt right when Sirius said it to you. You saddened at the thought.

“ah, I appreciate the offer but no thanks” You chuckled nervously. He came closer and backed you up against the wall.

“Come on baby girl, what are you afraid of?” Ugh he practically made your skin crawl.

“i-i said no” You tried to stand your ground but it wasn't working very well.

“Aww come on” He said making a grab for your ass.

“(Y/N)?” Lily’s voice rang through the empty corridor, you rushed over to her, pushing Justin out of the way,

“Oh thank god lils” You gasped breathlessly.

“You alright? Im just on the way back to the common room from prefect rounds, You wanna walk back with me?” Oh praise the lord for Lily Evans.

“yea, yeah lets go” She mumbled a quick bye to Justin, and the rest of the walk to the common room was an uncomfortable silence.

As you where approaching the portrait hole, she spoke. “So you and Sirius are over then?” God you did not want to talk to this after what just happened, you just wanted a shower and your bed.

“please not today lils” You pleaded.

“Fine, ill leave it.” A silence. “He loves you though, you know? He just has a hard time expressing it”

“i beg to differ sometimes” You two walked through the portrait hole, still a bit shaken up from that ass hole Justin, You sat on the couch.

“You alright? What was that guy doing” And that's all it took, those few simple words and you broke down crying, practically word vomiting everything that had happened in those few minutes. You where so caught up in crying and telling lily you filed to realise Sirius was halfway down the stairs, listening intently, fisted balled up. After you and Lily finished talking, he dashed back up stairs, fists white and face, angry. He was going to get that little shit tomorrow for touching his girl. His girl.

The next morning was a bit of a haze, tears blurred your puffy eyes, from all the crying last, because of that ass hole Justin and your potential breakup with Sirius, maybe he didn't want you after all. But, of course, what you didn't see was, at that very moment, Sirius was walking over to the slytherin dungeons, about to knock the living daylights out of Justin. And trust me e did. He got a little beat up in the process but he was willing to take anything for his girl, even a cruciatus curse.

You and Lily had been sat in the great hall for breakfast for about half an hour, you where mostly just pushing your food around the plate and brooding but still. Lily piped up next to you when she heard the great hall doors open, but you didn't bother.

“(Y/N)” You turned your head to her. “ why does your ex have a black eye?” You gave her a questioning look and turned to look towards the great hall door, There you saw Sirius, eye red and bruised, walking over to the marauders who where a few seats down, giving him sympathetic smiles and smirks.

“I don't know but im about to find out” You got up and walked down to where the marauders were, grabbing Sirius by the back of his leather jacket and dragging him down the hall, hearing a chorus of whistles and ‘go Sirius's. You kept a hold of him all the way to the gryffindor common room.

“Whats with the black eye, did you get in a fight?” You asked, tenderly stroking his cheekbone.

“Its nothing honestly” He whispered. You did not believe him for a second.

“right, well if your not gonna tell me, ill leave” You turned until you heard a small ‘wait’ echoing his words from the previous days. You turned back to him. “i-i punched Justin O'Donnell for what he did to you” You where utterly astounded. You honestly didn't know what to say.

“well, I hope your proud of yourself” Why in the world did you say that. You turned to walk away.

“Dont go, stay with me” he whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek “im sorry, I forever want to be with you but I didn't know how to ask you” He stared at the ground.

“I think you just did” You smiled. He lifted his head and broke out in a wide grin.

“is that a yes?” His eyes wide and hopeful.

“ of course you idiot” You jumped and hugged him, legs wrapped round his waist. And you kissed. Just like any other day, but this was full of passion and meaning. As you guy2s broke away, you stared into each others eyes.

“fancy a cuddle?” He said with a classic smirk. You rolled your eyes.

“Always” you smiled.

As the remaining marauders (+lily) returned to the common room after the feast, they caught sight of the lovebirds, cuddled up together on the common room couch, led Zeppelin quietly playing in the background.

“Match made in heaven” Remus cited.

“Should we wake them” Lily asked to no one in particular.

James wrapped his arm around her shoulder “Nah, let em’ sleep for today” They all headed up the stairs to retrieve their books for next lesson.

Sirius whispered a quite “Thank you”.

“No problem, mate” James chuckled.

“I love you” He whispered quietly in your ear.

“AWW! Thanks babe!” James shouted.

“Not you” Sirius grumbled, hearing the rest of the marauders laugh before drifting back into peace.

[hookedonapirate]

Hey Hannah hope everything is well during this weird time. Quarantine and all that :/ I would like to submit a oh daddy prompt if you’re still accepting those? I was thinking Emma and Killian need a Plummer or a cable guy to come to their house but it turns out to be one of Emma’s ex and killian feeling a bit territorial takes her to their bedroom to make her scream to prove a point 😉

A/N: You got it, Nonnie! Hope things are going well for you, too :)

Based on this one-shot: Oh Daddy

Other Oh Daddy Prompts: 1. You’re being an awfully bad girl l 2. Daddy, can you pass the potatoes? l 3. Better than coffee l 4. Caught In a solo act l 5. Naughty School Girl l 6. Busted l 7. Bless Me, Father I 8. Tell Me When to Grab the Cupcake

Rated: Explicit

Proving a Point

Oh, fuck. It's him.

  Peering through the peephole, Emma's initial inclination is to dash to the bathroom and climb out the window which leads to the backyard. But then Killian would have to answer the door which would not be good. Her boyfriend and ex-boyfriend alone in the same room to talk about her? Oh no no no, that was not going to happen. And based on his timing, and because they were expecting a plumber, Graham must be him, because why else would he be here? No, he's here to do a job, not get her back. Besides, she’s a grown-ass adult in a committed relationship, and for once in her life, she's unbelievably happy, so she can open the freaking door to let her ex-boyfriend unclog her pipes. Ew, not in that way. Her sink’s broken and needs to be fixed. So she hauls the door open to let him in.

  His face lights up when he sees her, and she doesn't fail to notice how his eyes leave her face for a second to roam down her body. She's wearing nothing but a silk pink robe since his knocking had interrupted a hot, steamy moment in the bedroom. 

  Yesterday, Killian told her what time to expect the plumber so she wouldn’t be surprised to find a strange man in the house when she woke up, nor would she be waltzing around the house naked (because when it’s just the two of them, Killian definitely isn’t opposed to her walking around in the nude, and in fact is always trying to enforce a no pants policy for the evenings. But because Mary Margaret and David have a key to the house and walk in whenever they feel like it, the no pants policy is out of the question). But she couldn’t help herself when Killian is in bed with her, his morning wood pressed to her butt. She thought they’d have enough time for a quickie, but they were sorely mistaken when there was a knock on the door earlier than expected. Instead, he asked her to get the door so he could take a moment to cool down. 

~*~

  “Emma?”

  He doesn't recognize the voice when he leaves the bedroom, but he hears Emma greeting him in a similar manner as if they know each other.

  “Graham…”

  Killian stops in his tracks and lingers in the hallway, his brows creasing as he tries to recall why that name sounds familiar. 

  “It’s been a long time. How are you?” he hears Graham say enthusiastically.

  Ah, yes, Graham is one of her ex-boyfriends. He remembered Emma talking about him a while back. They had a three-month fling a few years before Killian met her. He remembered Emma saying he was too emotionally unavailable after a jealous, manipulative ex-girlfriend sort of broke him when she ripped his heart out without so much as batting an eye, and he couldn’t seem to bounce back from that.

  Knowing his relationship with Emma wasn’t serious, knowing that, despite the sex being the key component in that relationship, Graham wasn’t able to bring her to orgasm, and then hearing how tight Emma’s voice is when she talks to him, Killian exhales a deep breath of relief. He’s not worried. 

  When he steps into the living room, he notes that the guy is... somewhat attractive. Brown, curly hair, slightly defined muscles, a face that could probably qualify as aesthetically pleasing to most people. He appears to be around Emma’s age, maybe even younger, but much taller than her, Killian bitterly notices when Graham is close enough to her.

  Too close. 

  Especially when Graham throws his arms around Emma and draws her into a hug. A hug that’s way too tight and far too long for Killian’s liking. Not to mention, very unprofessional and inappropriate. Isn’t he the fucking plumber?

  Killian’s jaw ticks as he watches this complete stranger, to him at least, rubbing Emma’s back affectionately.

  Who the bloody hell does this wanker think he is?!

  But judging by how Emma doesn’t mold into the hug, whatever feelings Graham still harbors for her are definitely not mutual. 

  Killian’s presence is not even noticed yet, by Graham at least, as he enters the living room and stalks toward them.

  “I never thought I’d see you again,” Graham says huskily in her ear, as though he’s speaking to a lover, rather than an old fuck buddy. He pulls away only slightly, still gripping her shoulders.

  And Killian doesn’t like it one bit.

  Graham takes his time giving her a once-over, and Killian balls his hands into fists, suppressing the urge to lunge at this ponce and punch him in the nose. “You look good, Em. Real good.”

  “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Killian asks condescendingly before jumping into Graham's line of sight, placing a possessive left hand on Emma’s back and pulling her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. Graham finally tears his gaze away from her, taken off guard as Killian turns his head to look at him, extending his right hand and smiling widely—and ironically. “I'm Killian, her boyfriend.”

  He can see out the corner of his eye, the slight smirk on Emma’s lips as Graham shakes his hand in hesitation. “Graham Humbert,” he says, and of course has to add very casually, “Emma and I used to date.”

  “Briefly,” Emma adds quickly and turns toward Killian, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him on the lips as though to ease his worries, letting him know anything she once felt for Graham is nonexistent. 

  Killian knows this, he knows Emma’s love for him runs so much deeper than anything she ever felt for Graham. No, it’s not Emma he doesn’t trust. It’s the wanker staring at his girlfriend with longing looks, googly eyes and also perhaps a hint of jealousy as Killian grabs her hips and pulls her into him. Emma responds by placing her hands on his chest, nuzzling his nose with hers and kissing him softly. Killian smirks against her lips as he feels the other bloke’s jealousy intensify.

  Graham clears his throat, speaking awkwardly. “So, uh… I’m here to look at your pipes.” 

  Emma and Killian force themselves apart and return their attention to Graham after his words remind them of his presence. 

  “Right,” Emma says, forcing a smile at Graham. 

  As she leads the plumber to the kitchen, Killian watches as he openly checks out his girlfriend’s ass. He growls.

  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

  “The pipes are the only thing you should be looking at, mate,” he barks with evident disdain, emphasizing the t. But it’s not until Graham stops and turns around to look at him, when Killian realizes he actually spoke out loud, instead of to himself like he’d intended to.

  “What was that?” Graham asks, cocking a brow.

  Killian heads for the bathroom, passing Graham along the way and planting a firm hand on his shoulder, squeezing it with a warning grip as he murmurs in a polite tone, “You heard what I said.”

  Embarrassed for getting caught staring, Graham hangs his head, whispers an apology and proceeds to the kitchen. 

  Killian goes to the bathroom to calm down, clutching onto the edge of the counter to prevent his jealousy from consuming him. He has to take a long, deep breath and splashes some cool water over his face to cool down, but knowing Emma’s in the kitchen with her ex in nothing but her bathrobe, knowing how unbelievably sexy she is and knowing very well Graham is taking full advantage, makes his blood bubble. He’s not happy Graham turned out to be their plumber. He should’ve just figured out how to fix the plumbing issue himself, but his attempts only resulted in him discovering that the blockage seemed to be further down where the pipes disappeared into the wall and he knew it was time to call a plumber. 

  He dries his face with a hand towel and returns to the kitchen to find Graham not working and instead, leaning against the counter engaging Emma in small chit chat.

  Un-fucking-believable.

  Graham is being all flirty and charming, and although Killian knows Emma’s only trying to be nice and is not at all interested in her ex or his attempts to reconnect, he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like it one bit. 

  So instead of listening to any more of Graham’s bullshit, Killian swoops in, grabs Emma’s hand and tugs her out of the kitchen so fast, she giggles over the threshold. And because he wants so badly to show Graham what he’d missed out on by not caring enough about Emma’s pleasure and instead, leaving her unsatisfied in the sack (and because apparently he’s a child) Killian pulls her into the bedroom, closes the door, crushes her lips with his and throws her on the bed like a rag doll. Her giggles echo against the walls as he drags his lips down her neck, growling against her skin. 

  “Daddy’s not jealous, is he?” she asks in amusement while tipping her head back, moaning as Killian nips the soft skin at the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

  “Of course not,” he claims breathily and undoes his pants. He rips Emma’s robe away from her lovely breasts and draws her soft nipples into his warm mouth, instantly making them hard as his cock stiffens against her nub. Without wasting another second, he takes his cock in hand and places the tip against her entrance, thrusting into her.

  Emma moans and snakes her legs tightly around his waist, eagerly taking his entire length as he fucks her rough and hard, making her scream, “Oh, Daddy! Harder… please!”

  Killian groans and gives his Swan exactly what she wants. What she needs. 

  “Yes, Killian, yes!”

  There’s something about knowing her ex is just outside the door listening to Emma scream her boyfriend's name in ecstasy, letting Graham know exactly who she belongs to as he makes her come undone—something Graham could never do—that makes his blood run hot. Killian brings her to orgasm over and over again, each time making her scream so loudly, he’s sure the entire neighborhood can hear.

  After they’re done, both flushed and clothed and back in the kitchen, he doesn’t have to wonder if Graham heard them or not because judging by how flustered he is, how crimson his cheeks are and how much he stutters when explaining how he fixed the sink, he definitely heard. 

  Killian has to suppress a smirk.

  Graham gathers his tools and says earnestly to Emma, “I’m glad you found someone who’s capable of making you happy after I couldn’t.” In more ways than one, Killian is tempted to add. “It was nice seeing you again.” He glances at Killian. “And it was nice to meet you.”

  Killian grins big and wide as he opens the door for Graham. “Oh, believe me when I say, the pleasure was all ours.”

  Graham stumbles ungracefully over the threshold, almost tripping and falling and dropping his toolbox but catching himself on the doorframe. Killian can sense Emma is suppressing a laugh as Graham flashes them a forced, awkward smile before turning around and taking off. 

  Killian chuckles as he flings the door closed, never seeing a man so flustered or embarrassed in his entire life. As he scoops Emma up into his arms and carries her off to the bed again, her giggles reverberating through the house, he almost feels sorry for the poor bloke.  

  Almost.

[titansandothersrp]

Good Morning

(This is a compiled roleplay between my Beast Boy muse and the Raven muse of @azarathian . This is a very old roleplay we wrote under different usernames, but I labeled our writing with our current usernames.)  

azarathian (Raven): An orange haze seeped through her bedroom window, and brushed against the lids of her eyes. The sleeping girl winced and curled into herself beneath the warmth of her duvet, clinging to her drowsy trance as best she could. However, the morning was persistent; Dawn’s climbing sun kissed the ocean’s breadth, casting its golden rays throughout her once dark haven with a radiant glow.

Reluctantly, her eyes fluttered open, and she was greeted with the rise of a new day. Despite the striking view beside her, Raven awoke with a groan. Her sleep had not been without struggle, and the night seemed now as if it were one rolling blur in her head. Pressing her hands to the mattress, she pushed herself up and proceeded to rub her tired eyes. She had woken before her alarm. It was due to go off in fifteen minutes, but she felt the attempt to drift back to sleep for such a brief time was pointless. In an hour, the girl would begrudgingly find herself in the tower’s training room along with the rest of her team for an early session, courtesy of their leader. Why he felt the need to drag them from bed only to endure rigorous practice was beyond her. Beyond all but himself, she imagined. Still, she had no intentions of defying his orders. And so pushing past the urge to stay soundly in bed, she rose and pressed on with getting ready for the upcoming day.

Clasping her cloak in place, Raven made for the main ops room to put together a decent breakfast for herself. After all, she’d need all her energy to get through the grueling work that was to follow. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Surprisingly, Beast Boy was already awake when Raven entered the main room. He was dancing around in the kitchen, ingredients and utensils sprawled over the counter. He did a little spin, noticing Raven as he did. He gave her a wide smile.

“Deciding to be an early bird today, huh, Raven?” Yes, the pun was intentional. He resumed dance-cooking, hips swaying side to side as he measured ingredients and hummed to music that existed only in his head.

“Y’know. It’s a good thing you’re up. I started your tea, but I’m not sure I did it right. I followed the instructions, but tea isn’t really… my cup of tea.” He snickered. azarathian (Raven): She was immediately greeted with the familiar sprightly voice as she entered through the main doors. It had been entirely unexpected, and for a second the welcome spurred a subtle flinch as she swung to face its source. She couldn’t remember a time he’d been awake earlier than her, and the manner with which he seemed to flit about the kitchen suggested the premature rise was intentional. There was a brief pause following his greeting. Considering the state she’d last seen him in, this chipper persona seemed completely abrupt in its appearance. It was as though the tearful boy from last night had evaporated into nothing, and Raven had to consider for a second whether she had, in fact, dreamt the whole thing. Dazed, she wandered over to where he stood, careful to veil her inner confusion. The joke swept over her head like it was never said. “You’ve… made tea?” she questioned, observing the steaming kettle and mug set upon the counter. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Huh. She didn’t roll her eyes at his puns. Maybe she was cutting him some slack today. He could live with that. “Yeah! You always have tea for breakfast. But I’m hoping you’ll be up for some waffles too. We have maple syrup, but I’m making some berry sauce too, if ya want it.” He popped a few blueberries he was using for the sauce in his mouth.

“Mm~ If you want some blueberries or raspberries, you better get some before I put ‘em in the sauce.” He worked on the batter. “I wonder if anyone’s ever made a falafel waffle. It probably wouldn’t taste very good, but I’d eat it, just because of the name.” azarathian (Raven): Well, someone was… chatty, this morning. Chattier than usual, in fact - and that was saying something for Beast Boy. He must’ve had a much sounder sleep than herself, but Raven couldn’t help but wonder what on earth had happened in the space between their talk on the roof and his awakening this morning to have the jokester so carefree once again? And making breakfast, of all things? The boy she knew would take sleeping in to making breakfast, and for others, at that, any day of the week. Her vision shifted down to the bowl of batter in his hands. On the counter to the right also sat something that looked like the workings of a sauce recipe.

For what felt like the umpteenth time in the space of a day, Beast Boy had his cloaked friend startled. She decided against asking him if he was okay - he clearly seemed it, and she didn’t want to intrude upon his good mood with expressions of the previous night. Taking a seat at the kitchen’s island table, she rose a brow at him. “How long have you been working on this?” It was, after all, just gone 6:00 A.M. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): She didn’t really respond to him that much. That was fine though, as he was used to it by now. She wasn’t swatting him upside the head or telling him he screwed up, so he felt he must be doing something right. Being reminded of the time caused him to yawn. “About fifteen minutes.” He yawned out. He gave her a slightly tired looking smile. “My sleep was a little messed up by that nap, so I woke up a few times. Decided I may as well get up and make breakfast. Thought it could be seen as a little thank you… And maybe a bribe not to tell the others about last night.” He chuckled nervously.

azarathian (Raven): Ah, so he hadn’t had the best night’s sleep either; but that didn’t seem to be stopping him from embracing the morning in high spirits. Perhaps she could take a leaf from his book. He’d had less sleep and was merrily making his way through cooking breakfast before she’d even left bed, after all. Even with the impending trial of combat practice looming before them, his smile was earnest as anything she’d seen. Unable to help the slight curve that crept upon her own lips, she internally assured herself that she hadn’t dreamt up the previous night. The ordeal had been entirely real, yet as she watched that same mirth light up his eyes, it was easy to tell that his recovery was just as much so. “The bribe wasn’t necessary,” she began, a stray hand reaching to the bowl of berries before bringing one to her mouth. “But I’m not gonna say no to a plate of waffles.” She hoped he could tell in the warmth of her tone that, without words, she’d already returned his thanks with a silent ‘you’re welcome’. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Sure, he was tired, but his good mood kept him going. “Sweet!” He fist pumped in victory. “Honestly, I was worried about you having anymore blackmail on me.” He thought back on her reaction to learning his true name. Maybe she was just bluffing? “But that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Thanks, Rae~ Maybe I can trust you with more in the future.” He spoke the last bit without thinking. It could have been the lack of sleep or just Beast Boy being Beast Boy. Either way, the fact he had more to say was out. Even so, he tried to change the subject. “I’m not used to being up this early, are you? Usually, Robin has to pound on my door a million times to wake me up.” He blinked in realization before a wicked smile grew on his face. “How long you think Robin will try to wake a Beast Boy who isn’t there?”

azarathian (Raven): Truth be told, though she’d claimed to make full use of discovering the teen’s unusual birth name, she hadn’t as of yet. Mileage as good as that was something precious; there would be a time and a place to bring it up again, but that time had yet to pass… Nonetheless, it was the possession of the blackmail that was important. Not essentially the employing of it. “Thanks, Rae~ Maybe I can trust you with more in the future.” She wasn’t sure why that broadened her smile, but it did. It was a nice change, talking to him like this, one on one. Though their banter had become something inherent, it wasn’t always necessary. Sometimes it was just nice to… talk. “Maybe,” she said. But upon hearing what next left those grinning lips, she grew instantly curious, and her expression merely conveyed the suspicion within.

“… What did you do?” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Oh, I wish I’d done something,” he whined. “All I did was wake up early. I could have rigged my door or something!” He sighed. “Oh well. It should be funny enough to watch him bang on my door for five minutes straight.” He checked the watch on his right wrist. “He’ll probably try to wake me any minute. I don’t have to worry about anything burning right now. Wanna watch?!”

“It’ll be fuuuun~” azarathian (Raven): She presumed for any early morning start, Robin, being the control freak he was, would ake it upon himself to wake the ever-lazy titan from his drooling doze. But give the boy his due, he was right; for once, Beast Boy was awake before any of them, so that would mean their relentless leader could likely be found standing outside the door to an empty room and talking to someone who wasn’t even there. “Oh, I am not missing this,” she smirked without a second thought.

It took no more convincing for the girl to be on her feet and making for the door. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): He grinned widely and dashed to the corridor. Gripping the corner leading to his room, he peered over.

Their spiky haired leader was, in fact, coming down the hall.

He shushed Raven, despite her not making any noise, before returning his gaze to their leader. “Beast Boy, it’s time to get up.” There was no response, of course. “Beast Boy!” He knocked on the door and was greeted with more silence. “What; no ‘five more minutes, mom’?” He growled and tapped his foot, waiting for a response. “Beast Boy, get up!” He banged on the door this time. azarathian (Raven): She looked down at the gloved finger pressed to her lip, accompanied by a stern ‘shhhh’. Ironic how by shushing her, he was making more noise than she’d actually made to begin with. Still, she obliged, eyeing the masked boy as he stopped outside Beast Boy’s door. Her mouth twitched as the two watched him yell out to no one. To see Robin embarrass himself was a rare sight; one to definitely be cherished when it came around. Robin’s arms crossed in impatience, his mask forming a look of agitation. You could tell he’d had to go through a knocked-out Beast Boy many mornings before. It truly was like the boy wonder was his mom. “Come on!” he hollered again, a forceful fist pummeling the door. Raven stifled a snort, cautious to maintain their stealth. “Okay, here’s your warning: if you don’t answer in three, I’m coming in!… One… Two…” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy):

The changeling was having difficulty stifling his laughter, but he managed. For once, he was happy Robin was insistent and wouldn’t just let him sleep in. “Three!” The boy wonder barged into the changeling’s room, thoroughly confused when he saw no one in there. “Huh?” He lifted up the green teen’s covers in search of him. Nothing. Then the top bunk. Nothing. “Beast Boy, this is no time for one of your pranks!” As hilarious as this was, he couldn’t leave it at that. “Watch this.”

He whispered before he became a mouse and sneaked into his own room. Once he made it to his bed, he returned to human form.

“Dude, it’s always time for my pranks.” Before their baffled leader could turn around, the changeling became a barely visible insect, hidden among the messy bedding. azarathian (Raven): She was peeking round the edge of the door now, unable to deny her curiosity for what he’d do next. She watched the scene transpire; how a confused Robin stood in the room’s center, completely missing the mouse that scurried up behind him. How that mouse morphed back into the green boy so he could say his line only to disappear once their leader flailed and turned around in shock. Robin’s wail at the sudden voice was something you’d wish you had on camera. The wide-eyes of his mask, the stagger, and the open mouth once he swiveled to find no one behind him. “Beast Boy!” he squawked in anger. From her hiding place around the open door’s edge, Raven caught herself in a completely impulsive laugh. At the sight, it had simply flew from her chest into the open, a hand lifted in a failed attempt to cover it.

“Raven?!” Robin wailed again, abruptly aware of the new presence at the door and face full of surprise. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): This would normally be the time where Beast Boy began laughing. However, when he returned to human form, he immediately darted to Raven instead. “I did it! I finally did it! I made you laugh!”

“I made you laugh on purpose! And you weren’t laughing at me! And it wasn’t an emoticlone! It’s you! The real you! You’re laughing at one of my pranks! You do think I’m funny! I can’t believe it! I’ve been trying to make you laugh since we first met and I finally did it! My whole life has led up to this moment! The girl who never laughs laughed! Because of me! I made you laugh! And smile! On purpose!” He looked so happy he could cry. Robin, meanwhile, was thoroughly confused. “Since when do you take part in Beast Boy’s pranks?” azarathian (Raven): Her smile quickly melted to reveal a stunned stare as she leaned back from his approach. That had… not been what she’d expected to follow. Unsure of how to react, of what to even do, her eyes flitted to Robin, then back to Beast Boy, then to Robin as the two gaped at her - each for very different reasons. “… What?” she uttered. “It was funny.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): The changeling couldn’t stop grinning, but he did manage to finally shut up. “I should finish making breakfast.” He practically floated out of the room, elated. “I got a laugh from Raven~ Now it’s time to make what everyone’s cravin~ Waffles~ Waffles~ Life without would be awful….s~” Well, he tried. Robin just rubbed his temple and shook his head. “I’m funny~ Worth your money~ Which I look like ‘cause I’m green~ Shape shifting epic teen~ Heart of the team~” azarathian (Raven): Both Robin and Raven’s gaze clung to the prankster as he paraded off down the corridor, both at a total loss for words.

Finally, as his singing withered away down the halls, Raven broke the silence. “Weirdo…” Almost as if the past few minutes hadn’t happened, she followed on past Robin down the same corridor, intent for the kitchen where breakfast would be. And it was like that giggling girl at the door had taken a trip. “Wait,” Robin halted, before jogging to catch up with her. Walking beside the empath, he looked to her, confused. “What was that?” “What?” “Since when do you get in on Beast Boy’s pranks? Since when do you laugh at them?” Inquisition was written into his face, a hooked brow creasing his forehead. Raven took a second, then shifted her own gaze to meet his. “Since you became such an easy target,” she smirked, proud, before wandering off ahead and leaving the boy to just ogle in her wake. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): After breakfast, it was time for training. An emotional release last night, a good breakfast that morning, and a laugh from Raven left Beast Boy in the best of moods. Even if he hadn’t slept properly the night before, he leaped right into training. He exercised his various animal forms, stopping occasionally to cheer on his team mates. “Woo! Blast ‘em Cy! Go, Raven! Magic those drones!”

He acted as though he’d just realized his powers and his team and couldn’t get enough of them. This wound up distracting him, however, and he broke one of the machines not to be broken. “Uh-oh…”

He soon realized his blunder. Some things on the training grounds are meant to be broken. Others, however, are meant to be kept in tact. Robin was definitely going to chew him out for this. azarathian (Raven): Raven couldn’t have been more grateful for the breakfast he’d made her. With a plate full of syrupy waffles and a hot brew of tea, she managed to summon the will to tackle training head-on. In fact, the often apathetic titan found herself in a particularly good mood this morning; a rewarding contrast to the dreadful one she’d fallen asleep in. She couldn’t say for sure, but still regarded the likeliness that another certain team member’s energy was rubbing off on her a touch.

With hood raised, Raven soared through the drone-mine arena, sensing the swarm of threatening bots upon her. Halting in flight to face the horde, she shielded herself with a black guard before propelling it forward to smash against each and every droid. They shattered to the floor in a roaring crash, and she lowered till her feet touched ground. Unsure as to why, she felt her eyes drift over to the boy who’d been cheering her on, expecting to see him elated. But instead, he looked concerned and flustered at something… so she wandered over to see what was wrong. “You oka–” When her sight caught the busted machine, the brand new one that had been specially designed to work against each titans’ abilities, she halted. “… Smooth.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Smooth like my Rocky Road non dairy ice cream…”

“Robin’s gonna kill me!”

He grabbed her and slid down her frame as though he was dying. “It was nice knowing you while it lasted! Make sure Starfire doesn’t overfeed Silkie! Tell my wife I loved her!” He slid all the way down, lying face first on the ground. It was an oscar worthy performance, he thought to himself. The changeling continued to lie face first on the ground as death their leader approached. “What’s going on over-” He caught the sight of the destroyed machine. “Our new training machine! We just got that!” azarathian (Raven): She lowered her hood and leaned in to get a better look. He’d really done a number on it, but she thought against questioning why. Sometimes, in training, these things just happen… It was just unfortunate for Beast Boy that this had happened to the one new machine Robin had been praising and raving over since its arrival. “Yep. You’re dead.” She didn’t even try to disagree, even as he proclaimed his theatrical speech, sliding down her cloak with all the grace of an elephant.

As Robin advanced upon the two, funeral bells were practically audible. “It was a good life,” she said. “Our new training machine! We just got that!” Initially, she braced for the tirade of abuse that the boy at her feet was about to endure, then suddenly remembered the previous night. Like a hit to the face, the memories of what he’d said about himself - about feeling worthless and like the least valued member of the team, about how she was so much more important than himself, about how the only thing he could do was push his jokes upon his friends - came flooding over her. And almost instinctively, she found herself doing something she’d never done before. “It was me,” she said, meeting her leader’s eyes. “It was an accident, but I’ll right it. Don’t worry.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): She was taking the fall?! He couldn’t believe it. Beast Boy tilted his head just slightly so he could look up and see the scene unfold. “You?!” The leader practically erupted into flames, not caring that she claimed she could make it right. He was practically infatuated with that machine. “How could you?! We just got that machine! You knew how important it was! I’d expect this kind of recklessness out of Beast Boy, but you know better!” Robin looked to the green teen lying on the ground. “This is no time for a nap, Beast Boy! I don’t care if you made breakfast this morning, that won’t excuse you from training!” He wouldn’t usually be this harsh, but he was speaking out of anger. azarathian (Raven): “Are you done?” Subconsciously, she understood Robin’s reproach. Like the rest of them, he’d been up earlier than any merry person should ever be up. He was probably drained, tetchy, and on edge as Robin often was anyway. And perhaps if this were happening a week ago, she’d have kept to herself and not even thought to confront her leader. But at this time, knowing what she now knew, the agitation she felt from his words was slipping from her like a stream.

“I said I’ll right it. There’s no need to bring others into it. It’s just a machine.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): The spiky hair teen stared her down for a moment, before turning with a huff. “Fine. Right it. But be careful next time.” He turned to walk off. As Robin left, Beast Boy stood up and started to dust himself off. This all seemed so strange. Raven taking the fall for him and claiming that his mistake, though believed to be hers, is no big deal, was something he’d never thought she’d do. He was a little at loss for words. azarathian (Raven): She honestly wasn’t sure how she’d right it, but the thought was but a small, fleeting thing in her mind in that moment. Even as he marched away from her, she eyed the back of his head, patience still worn thin. “And by the way,” she found her mouth open and talking words she hadn’t intended to once again. “Beast Boy’s ‘recklessness’ has helped out on more than one occasion.” By the pause in his step, she assumed he’d heard her, but he hadn’t stopped to respond, merely exiting in his signature lone-wolf mood. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Beast Boy stared at the pale teen with wide eyes. Not only would she not allow Beast Boy to insult himself, she wouldn’t allow anyone else to either. At least, for now. She cared more than he ever thought she did. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he thought about all of this. “Raven…” He spoke once their leader was out of earshot. “I was gonna ask why you did that, but I already know the answer. I’m sorry I ever thought you didn’t care about me. I care about you too. I hope I’ve made it obvious by this point.” He smiled at her. “We really are friends, even if I’ve had my doubts. And you know what friends do?” He smirked and took a battle stance, looking playfully determined.

azarathian (Raven): “We really are friends, even if I’ve had my doubts. And you know what friends do?” She took a step back at the changeling’s position, but quickly recovered with an inquisitive brow and her weight leaning to one hip. “Uh… fight?” Friends fight. Something about that sounded a bit wrong. But by his stance, what else could he be suggesting? titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Yeah! Friends that fight together, stay together!” He stood up and grinned at her excitedly. He meant to imply friends fight others together, but he didn’t word it quite right. “We need to come up with a wicked combo move! No more of you just saving my butt, we kick butt together!” He bounced up and down excitedly. “C’mon! Star can fly Robin for aerial attacks, I can fly Cy for aerial attacks, Robin and Cyborg have the sonic boom, we need a combo move!” azarathian (Raven): “Hey,” Raven retorted. “You’ve saved mine too. You know, once or twice.” The tug at her lips reassured she was just teasing. Now that he mentioned it, the only other titan Raven shared a combo move with was Starfire. The only other he shared one with was Cyborg. But that had always suited her fine; she wasn’t one much for fusing her powers with another’s, but she couldn’t think of a good reason why not to try. Maybe something good could come out of it. “If you can think of something, I’m up for trying it… Just try not to take it out on any more machines?” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): He chuckled, knowing she was just teasing. He scratched the back of his head. “I won’t, I won’t. Honestly, I have no idea.” He lightly knocked his fist against his head. “C’mon, wooork!” He tried to think of Raven’s powers and how they could work with his own. He held up a finger with a grin. “Ah-ha!” He had an idea. “You can move others. And fast. I can turn into the fastest animals out there, but I either take time to reach top speed or tire quickly. If you could move me at top speed, I could turn into something huge at the last second and hit them like a giant bullet!” azarathian (Raven): Envisioning his description in a battle scenario, she sketched out the impact it would have on an enemy in her mind. And when she played it all out… it actually seemed to come together. “That could work,” she said, surprised he’d come up with something so quickly. “Like a discus throw. I launch you as something small on an energy plate to give the momentum, and at the last second you become something big…” Her thoughts wandered for a moment, until they hit another notion. “What if whatever you turned into on impact had a horn? Like a rhino or a narwhal? It’d act as a javelin, in a way…” Raven looked to him for his approval. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): He had a good idea? He had a good idea! He celebrated internally at the thought. And maybe a little externally. His eyes and smile widened at Raven’s addition. “Dude! That’s genius! But which one? If I’m a narwhal, I’ll have a longer and straighter horn. If I’m a rhino, I’ll have a thicker horn, but shorter and curved.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe narwhal for precision, rhino for strength?” azarathian (Raven): “I’ll let you be the judge for the situation,” she reasoned, a sense of triumph washing over her. That could actually be a really effective move. Perhaps they should’ve thought of it sooner, she mused. “We should probably… practice outdoors, though.” A giant, horned creature propelling through the tower would surely do nothing for their leader’s already foul mood. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): He chuckled. “Yeah. Maybe we can practice just the small animal part for now.” Once they’d agreed on a battle plan, they resumed training together. Despite the lack of sleep, today was looking to be a great day. And it wouldn’t have been without such a great friend. {Fin}

[edendaphne]

“Discordant Sonata”Ch. 6

I finally finished this chapter!!!

Read it here on Ao3

Read it here on Wattpad

CHAPTER 6: SOLO

(Mood Music: Sergei Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Knights)

“YOU’LL REGRET THIS, CHLOE BOURGEOIS!!” the monster bellowed, angrily stomping down the street adjacent to the park where Adrien, Marinette, Nino, and Alya had been picnicking together. In the mayhem that began with the appearance of the akuma, he'd lost track of Marinette.

His head whipped in all directions looking for her, struggling to stay calm as he and Alya carried an injured Nino, rushing away from the conflict. Nino’s leg had been crushed under the falling rubble of a gazebo that they’d been hiding behind. The akumatized person had destroyed it as he zoomed through the park, trampling everything in his way while Ladybug tried to stop him from reaching the Grand Paris Hotel, where Chloe was no doubt hunkering down.

Adrien tried to bury away the memory of his best friend trapped under the debris, screaming in agony, face twisted in pain, and yet imploring, begging them to run and leave him behind; Alya’s shrieking, frantic and distraught, on the verge of hysteria. Right now he needed to focus and get his friends to safety.

Nino grunted in pain but declared optimistically, “It’s alright, guys. Ladybug’s gonna beat that guy and fix everything.” He lowered his head slightly so it would be level with his girlfriend’s and tried to reassure her, “I’ll be okay, Alya, don’t worry.”

Alya replied, still teary and shaken, “But she’s bleeding and I think I saw her running with a limp! I’ve never seen an akuma like this before… And what if Chat Noir shows up?!”

Adrien felt his stomach drop at the mention of Chat Noir. It always made him uncomfortable when he heard other people talk about his alter ego.

“I don’t know if she’d be able to handle both!” Alya continued, glancing over her shoulder at the battling duo. “If only there was some way for us to help.”

Nino stammered, unsure of how to comfort her. “I-- umm…”

“Let’s just focus on getting Nino out of here,” Adrien interrupted. “Ladybug’s tough, she can handle herself.”

...I hope.

Adrien’s mind went back to Marinette and his eyes darted around to resume his search.

“Guys, I’m really worried about Marinette. Where could she be?” he asked the pair. “I searched the gazebo to make sure she wasn’t trapped underneath, but what if something else happened to her?”

“I heard her yell that she was gonna go get help,” Nino replied quizzically. “But I was too distracted by the akuma, so I’m not sure where she ran off to.”

Alya shrugged with her unoccupied shoulder. “It’s okay, Adrien, this happens all the time during akuma attacks. With her luck she probably got stuck in a bathroom stall or something while trying to hide.” More quietly, she added, “Still... let’s keep our eyes peeled. That girl has a penchant for trouble sometimes. I’m sure we’ll find her where we least expect it.”

Just then, they caught a flash of red as Ladybug crashed into the building next to them, smashing through the large glass window of the café.

“Ladybug!!” Adrien cried in horror.

The heroine laboured to her feet, groaning and clutching her head. Debris and glass shards clinked and rolled off her frame as she rose and dusted herself off.

Adrien cringed. For the most part the suit protected her body, but she had several cuts on her face from the glass as well as a nasty bruise developing above one of her eyebrows. He couldn’t help but merely stand there and watch, frozen and breathless.

“Oh my God, are you alright?!” Alya exclaimed.

Upon seeing the three of them, Ladybug quickly straightened up, saluted them cheerfully and called back, “I’m okay!!” She did a double take upon seeing them holding up Nino. “Nino, are you alright??”

His head bobbed up and down and gave her a thumbs up. “Go get ‘em, LB!”

She gave him a fond smile. “Get yourselves to safety, I’ll draw him away from you!” She began to dash away, running after the akuma once again.

Snapping out of his stupor, Adrien called quickly, “Ladybug!”

She stopped and looked back at him questioningly. He faltered for a moment, trying desperately to untie his tongue.

“Be careful,” he finally said in a low voice.

Ladybug’s expression softened and she smiled at him. “Thanks, Adrien. I will.”

Adrien’s eyes lingered on her as she left. She didn’t seem like she was really okay, but merely putting on a brave and confident face for their sake.

His stomach churned unpleasantly. “Come on, let’s find you some shelter,” he muttered uneasily as he began walking again, dragging Nino along.

About a dozen meters away the akuma, a large, musclebound rugby player who’d taken on the appearance of a two-stories tall anthropomorphized rhinoceros in uniform, took an offensive stance and charged at Ladybug once again. She managed to somersault over him, but despite his size he was fast. He hurled his rugby ball at her as she landed, which she narrowly dodged. How could she forget about that ball?! Surely that was where the akuma was being held.

“I can help you!” Ladybug called out at the young man. “Whatever Chloe did, we can work through it together! You don’t have to do this!”

He roared in return. “I’m gonna destroy her! She humiliated me! You have NO idea what it’s like to be friendzoned!!”

Ladybug’s expression instantly fell into one of exasperated annoyance. “Seriously?!”

She dove to the side, spinning her yoyo to fling it at him. It managed to wrap around his legs. She tugged the string forcefully and the huge monster toppled over like a building. The loud crash boomed across several blocks and shook the ground.

She walked towards the akuma and huffed, “Chloe owes you nothing and you are being an entitled jerk for not respecting her rejection!”

Twisting his face in anger, he bellowed, “That shallow witch deserves no respect from me!”

“Everyone deserves respect!” Ladybug countered, keeping the string taut.

“But WHYYY?! Why would she reject me? I’m a nice guy!” The akuma stomped its feet like a petulant child as and preceded to throw a tantrum that rivaled Chloe on her worst days. “Sluts like her only go for the bad boys!” he whined, kicking the nearest car.

“Wow wow wow, you need to stop talking right now before I barf!!” she sputtered incredulously as she tugged. “You’re acting like a total creep and odds are that you make her extremely uncomfortable!”

“I’ll show YOU ‘uncomfortable’!” he shouted, suddenly yanking on the yo-yo string and sending her flying towards him with a yelp. He pulled back and buried his fist in her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs . She was thrown a short distance away, landing with a rough thud and kicking up bits of crumbling pavement.

The trio of friends watched from afar, agape. This is very bad , Adrien thought, feeling lightheaded and nauseous.

Groaning and coughing, Ladybug struggled to stand up, arms wobbling as she slowly raised herself. Meanwhile, Reaver, as he called himself, had untangled himself from the yo-yo and stomped towards her.

Ladybug sprinted towards him and leaped over his fist as he swung at her again, then dove past him to retrieve her yo-yo. She summoned her Lucky Charm, receiving a bottle of cooking oil, which she eyed skeptically.

Before she could figure out a plan, however, the gigantic beast leaped towards her faster than she’d ever seen him move.

She didn’t have time to dodge.

With a loud cry he struck Ladybug with an overhead punch, striking her down once more. The Lucky Charm was knocked out of her hand, much too far for her to reach. She sprawled on the ground groaning weakly, trying to force herself up.

But Reaver never gave her the chance. He clasped his hands together and smashed his fists downward. With speed uncharacteristic for someone of his size, he hit her again, and again, and again. Pavement cracked and crumbled beneath her from tremendous force of his hits and somewhere amid the blows, Ladybug lost consciousness.

Adrien couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't bear to witness the utterly horrific way this sweet and giving girl was being pummelled.

She didn’t deserve this. It couldn’t end like this. A flood of images flashed through his mind, of her kind gestures and brilliant smile. Her gentle touches and comforting embraces, her thoughtfulness and concern over his wellbeing, not just for his civilian side, but for the side that was supposed to be her enemy. She was truly a beautiful person, both inside and out. The desire he felt - or rather- the need to protect her was almost painful and overwhelming.

If she died, he felt like a large part of him would die with her.

He let go of Nino and sprinted towards them with but a single thought reverberating in his head: I have to save her.

Before the monster’s fists could connect yet again, Adrien dove to where Ladybug lay unmoving and managed to roll them both out of the way. He scrambled to his feet, scooping her up swiftly, praying to any possible existing deity that she’d still be alive.

Then, unexpectedly, Adrien turned to face the akuma and shouted at the top of his lungs, “THAT’S ENOUGH, DAMN IT!!”

For a few moments the akuma faltered and his features scrunched in confusion. Then he frowned, raising his fist to strike again. Before he did, however, the familiar glowing butterfly-shaped mask appeared in front of his eyes. While the akuma argued with Hawkmoth, who was no doubt both bewildered and enraged at what had just occurred, Adrien bolted down the street cradling Ladybug in his arms. His heart wrenched in anguish as he held her close; her limp body felt so incredibly small and frail.

He had never been this terrified.

Adrien finally reached Nino and Alya and lay the battered girl on the grass between them. She was deathly still, blood bright red against pale skin. He quickly removed his sweater and rolled it up to place it under her head. Alya rushed to Ladybug’s side with Nino following suit, albeit crawling. At the sight of the beloved hero of Paris up close and observing the wretched condition she was in, a despondent Alya began to sob into Nino’s arms. Ladybug was Alya’s friend, Adrien remembered. They’d known each other for years and, of course, Alya ran the Ladyblog, which in recent years she’d been using as a sort of general helpline for all things Hawkmoth and akuma-related.

Fighting panic, Adrien tightly grasped Ladybug’s gloved hand and examined her for signs of life. With his other hand he reached for the pulse point on her neck, but then realized that he might not be able to feel it through her suit. Changing his approach, he hunched his body over hers, lowering his head so his face was lightly touching hers and waited, silent.

A few seconds passed. Finally, he felt her breathing on his cheek, shallow but steady.

He let out a large breath he didn’t realize he was holding and whispered, almost giddy, “She’s alive.” Alya and Nino gasped in relief and hugged each other.

Adrien stroked the top of her head slowly and cooed, “Ladybug, wake up, please, wake up.”

“We need to get her to the hospital,” Alya said.

“But would they even be able to help her?” Nino rushed, his voice breaking in panic. “She’s a superhero. Didn’t you see the hospital scene in ‘Superman Returns’ where they couldn’t even get an IV into his arm because of his superpowers? What if the same thing happens?”

“Nino!” Alya chided.

“No, he’s right,” Ladybug interjected, voice hoarse and gravelly.

“Ladybug!” the three of them cried and huddled around her.

Her eyes fluttered open, pupils struggling to focus. “Magic alters your body drastically. Regular medicine won’t help.”

“So what do we do then? We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Alya countered.

Adrien looked back at the monster. The seemingly one-sided argument between the akuma and Hawkmoth got louder, and Reaver was quickly getting more and more irritated. Adrien wasn’t sure whether his father was trying to persuade the monster to leave them alone, or whether he was trying to convince him to go after them. At this point, Adrien realized that he honestly had no clue if his father would care if he got hurt in the process.

“We don’t have much time,” Ladybug replied weakly, getting his attention again. “The only thing that can fix everything is purifying the akuma and using the Ladybug Cure.”

She started to sit up, then let out a loud, pained yelp while clutching her side. Her breathing became more labored, as if her chest was being squeezed.

Adrien could swear he felt his stomach try to jump out of his body. “Ladybug, please, don't move! You're wounded!"

She waved it off as she continued to try to sit up. “I’m fine, it’s just a couple of bumps and scratches.”

When she was almost upright she cried out in agony and fell backwards, involuntary tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

“No, don’t! Your ribs might be broken, you could puncture a lung!” Adrien implored.

“I have to, there’s no other way!” she cried desperately, about to attempt to get up again.

Adrien gently but firmly tried to ease her back down and argued, “If you keep this up, he’ll kill you!”

She pushed back weakly as she struggled to keep her breaths even, “What choice do I have?! I’m the only one who can stop him!” Adrien stilled. She looked up at him, eyes shining, and with a desperate tremble in her voice she whispered, “There's no one else. Just me. I need to do this.”

Adrien stared back, astonished. He knew she was right. There was literally no one else in the world who could do what she did. Without her, not only would the akumatized victims hurt or kill innocent people, but it might not be possible to restore everything to the way it was originally, and all the damage, injuries, and casualties would become permanent. To her, defeat was simply never an option, and it never had been from the moment she took up the mantle of Ladybug.

Suddenly, just as he’d been dreading all along, he felt the ground shake and heard the giant stomping across the street towards them. Adrien bit his lip in trepidation and unconsciously squeezed Ladybug’s hand even tighter.

By now, his father was well aware that Adrien had developed a soft spot for their enemy; of that Adrien was certain. Gabriel was many things, but oblivious wasn’t one of them. Whether Gabriel believed that it was the same concern that Adrien held for innocent civilians, or whether he suspected it was something more, he had no idea.

Adrien knew that only two options were available to him from his current situation.

He could allow the akuma to forcibly remove Ladybug’s earrings; due to her extensive injuries, she wouldn’t be able to put up much resistance and would most likely survive… maybe.

Or... he could remove the earrings himself and hand them over to the akuma, thus sparing her from any further harm.

He didn’t even have to think about what he would do. To Adrien the choice was clear.

He slowly lifted his free hand towards Ladybug’s face and rested it on her jaw, tenderly stroking her cheek. She gasped slightly at the contact and couldn’t help but blush slightly, even at this time, which he found much too adorable. Adrien had to resist the urge to rub his thumb over her mouth to wipe at a small cut on her lower lip. She held his gaze, her vivid cerulean eyes glistening in the sunlight, still so innocent and hopeful despite years of strife and hardship. He smiled despite himself. Even in her current state, disheveled, covered in grime, cuts, and bruises, she was stunningly beautiful.

Tucking some stray locks of hair behind her ear, Adrien gave her hand one last squeeze and said to her softly, “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Abruptly, he stood up and turned away from the group.

“Stay here and keep Ladybug with you,” he addressed Nino and Alya. “Don’t let anything happen to her.”

Then he ran.

[purfectmlpblog]

...alright fuq it lemme explain my thoughts about the finale spoilers lol

Don’t worry, I WILL be posting this under a read-more so PLEASE turn away and ignore this now (especially with some “spoiler” tags on if you use ‘em) if you don’t want to be spoiled for the finale until it officially airs. I just can’t contain my thoughts no more after ponderin’ them and who knows when it’ll officially air in English (’cause slow schedules can be a pain to deal with lol) sooooo... yeah you’ve been warned xp 

...Ooooh boi, well admittedly I kinda skimmed through what the whole plot was about behind the last three episodes (I was moreso focused on all the stuff happening for “The Last Problem” so lol), but I’ll try to keep it brief for the most part:

-So... that whole thing about Grogar being the last “big bad” was just a total lie... since apparently it was just Discord masking himself as the guy just to give Twilight one last battle to face? ...Ehhh, I get that he apparently had “good intentions” but this just seems to be pushing it too far even for Discord’s standards tbh... like these are his friends now (including Fluttershy, his best friend) so why would he allow this much risk to be thrown at them for the sake of just teaching them a valuable lesson about overcoming obstacles? ._. Then again, this IS Discord we’re talking about so him pulling some shady stuff like this is to be expected, I guess? Idk...

-As another twist to the trio of bad guys... NONE of them get redeemed at the end (not even Cozy Glow... who again, is nothing more than a whiny child compared to Chrysalis and Tirek :P), as they all pretty much get blasted with the same stone spell that Discord was under for what I can presume to be forever. I mean... had Sombra been placed in Cozy Glow’s position then I guess I’d be a bit more satisfied with this kind of ending for them instead of feeling questionable about it (’cause again, Cozy’s young age ^^;)... but at the same time, for what it is it’s at least a refreshing change of pace from just having them all instantly forgiven and befriended by all the main heroes. Now that would’ve been cringey... >_<

-We got a reaaally big group of cameos from many past ponies/other creatures from the show to aid in the final battle, including Sunset and a few of the MLP movie characters like Tempest, Capper and Skystar! o.o A shame that Captain Celaeno couldn’t have been added along with them but still, pretty cool to see that particular trio regardless along with my girl Sunset ❤️ about time the main show acknowledged her importance to Twilight -.-

-Moving onto the big finale itself, “The Last Problem”, we cut ahead to I presume to be a couple decades or so since the last episode... where Twilight and her friends are all grown up and leading their own lives as Twilight’s pupil (Luster Dawn, was it?) comes to prepare herself for her own first friendship lesson. Surprisingly, unlike past finales it’s not so much a really heavy or action-packed episode but more of a “relaxing breather” kinda filler... yet still pushes the feels the more we get to see the aged-up cast and realize how this truly is the end for our heroes :(

-We’re also given a nice flashback to Twilight’s coronation as Equestria’s new leader, though it didn’t go according to plan it still provided some heartwarming feels to teach that friendships will always remain solid even if some end up moving far away. Awww ;w;.

-As for the “Grown up” designs themselves... I’m kinda torn, tbh lol

On one hand, I do like Rainbow’s, Fluttershy’s, and AJ’s older looks just fine. AJ’s especially gives me the feels looking at it ‘cause of the shawl... really hits in that poor Granny Smith is no longer around by this time :( at least she’ll always keep her memory strong in her heart ❤️

As for Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie... ehhhh ^^;. Rarity’s sparkly shawl is rather pretty though that big grey steak in her hair kinda clashes too much with the regular purple imo, Pinkie’s beehive look could’ve been fine if they just took out all that random junk in her hair, and while part of me kinda likes the “ethereal princess-y” vibes of Twilight (despite the rather dark implications that she’s gonna outlive her friends now ;-;)... the fact that she still sounds like her old dorky self when speaking kinda kills the effect for me... plus idk if only a couple decades in the future would be enough to make her this tall as an alicorn, I mean even Luna (who’s older than her) is alot shorter so it’s just a little off-putting to me to see her so “Celestia”-sized ^^;. And as for Spike... yeah, I don’t even know what’s going on there, so... let’s just move on, please lol.

So then we get to look over how everyone else in Ponyville’s doing, with so many new species living there now, some old kiddos grew up like the CMC and the Cake twins, Starlight and her friends (plus the Student 6) continuing to run the friendship school together, and apparently some canon couples started to thrive during this time too including Lyra and Bon Bon, Big Mac and Sugar Belle, and... Pinkie and Cheese? o.o 

...Um, wow lol Wasn’t really expecting that considering that most of Cheese and Pinkie’s previous screentime together (which was only in like, two episodes?) wasn’t really that romantic from what I can recall, but guess the writers decided to just throw it in anyway ‘cause it’s a popular ship? lol I mean, not like it’s a bad one or anything but it still feels a bit randomly-placed in a narrative sense imo ^^;

Speaking of their daughter (Lil Cheese, I think?), while I do think she’s cute, part of me is kinda disappointed that they didn’t really get more creative with her design like they’ve done for Flurry Heart and the Cake twins :c. Color-wise she looks okay but... why just make her a recolor of her mom’s filly design? .-. Even putting her hair in some pigtails or something would’ve worked better imo.

-Some more design nitpicks I had were certain weirdly placed hairstyles like Pumpkin Cake’s and Diamond Tiara’s, as well as why Gummy the alligator just looks like he resized into a giant than legitimately grew into an adult lol. Also this might also be nitpicky but why exactly is everyone (minus Twilight) so old-looking with grayed hair and/or eye bags (ex. Rarity and Sugar Belle), when a couple of them have school-aged children at this point? .-. Hell, even most of the Mane 6′s parents didn’t look this old (including Twilight’s, and they’ve got a granddaughter lol), so I’m kinda confused by this type of design choice tbh.

-I don’t really remember if they explicitly stated what happened to the old princesses during this time since they didn’t show up again, nor what the final fates of Shining Armor and Cadence were (save for a brief shot of Flurry Heart having her own stain-glass window in the throne room). Idk, just would’ve been nice to have gotten more explicit about that ‘cause I don’t wanna think of these poor royals being gone now with just Twilight being the leader now ;-; 

-I guess there was also a couple “implied” ships thrown in too like Fluttershy and Discord (though that one might be more “loose” to interpret, depending on how much you like the ship) and apparently AJ and Rainbow Dash seem to be having something “deeper” going on considering they specifically walked in together when all the other Mane 6 walked in individually into the throne room. Hmmm...?

-And lastly after a bit more filler and than a montage song of the Mane 6 harmonizing together one last time, we get to close off the entire episode, season, and series with one final shot of the heroes standing on a sunset-y hillside together, saying goodbye to Twilight’s student who goes off on her own friendship adventures... and then the screen fades to a book closing as a call back to the very first episode of the series over 9 years ago... where the exact same book opened up to start off our beloved show to begin with T-T

....aaaand yeah my feels exploded over again, sorry T-T. Despite the lil nitpicks I had here and there (and how I wish certain plot holes could’ve been handled better in hindsight), this was still a really sweet and thoughtful way to end MLP: FiM with one last batch of fluff like this... the end of a good 9-year run of the show which’ll surely leave a special place in every fan’s hearts, including mine ❤️

Though again, like I mentioned before I still won’t be considering any of this actually “canon” in the main universe I’m setting up, which is all basically an AU at this point since I haven’t really been keeping up with the show as frequently to care much for sticking with the main canon :p. For my fellow content creators, please don’t be afraid to keep working on your own next gens and such btw, even if some of it might be contradicted in this particular finale I’d say anyone is free to make their own interpretations however they want, canon or no canon~ ;p

  Hope y’all understand that well and I hope you guys have a great rest of your day! 😃 

[draculalive]

Mina Harker's Journal.

6 November. -- It was late in the afternoon when the Professor and I took our way towards the east whence I knew Jonathan was coming. We did not go fast, though the way was steeply downhill, for we had to take heavy rugs and wraps with us; we dared not face the possibility of being left without warmth in the cold and the snow. We had to take some of our provisions, too, for we were in a perfect desolation, and, so far as we could see through the snowfall, there was not even the sign of habitation. When we had gone about a mile, I was tired with the heavy walking and sat down to rest. Then we looked back and saw where the clear line of Dracula's castle cut the sky; for we were so deep under the hill whereon it was set that the angle of perspective of the Carpathian mountains was far below it. We saw it in all its grandeur, perched a thousand feet on the summit of a sheer precipice, and with seemingly a great gap between it and the steep of the adjacent mountain on any side. There was something wild and uncanny about the place. We could hear the distant howling of wolves. They were far off, but the sound, even though coming muffled through the deadening snowfall, was full of terror. I knew from the way Dr. Van Helsing was searching about that he was trying to seek some strategic point, where we would be less exposed in case of attack. The rough roadway still led downwards; we could trace it through the drifted snow.

In a little while the Professor signalled to me, so I got up and joined him. He had found a wonderful spot, a sort of natural hollow in a rock, with an entrance like a doorway between two boulders. He took me by the hand and drew me in: "See!" he said, "here you will be in shelter; and if the wolves do come I can meet them one by one." He brought in our furs, and made a snug nest for me, and got out some provisions and forced them upon me. But I could not eat; to even try to do so was repulsive to me, and, much as I would have liked to please him, I could not bring myself to the attempt. He looked very sad, but did not reproach me. Taking his field-glasses from the case, he stood on the top of the rock, and began to search the horizon. Suddenly he called out:---

"Look! Madam Mina, look! look!" I sprang up and stood beside him on the rock; he handed me his glasses and pointed. The snow was now falling more heavily, and swirled about fiercely, for a high wind was beginning to blow. However, there were times when there were pauses between the snow flurries and I could see a long way round. From the height where we were it was possible to see a great distance; and far off, beyond the white waste of snow, I could see the river lying like a black ribbon in kinks and curls as it wound its way. Straight in front of us and not far off -- in fact, so near that I wondered we had not noticed before -- came a group of mounted men hurrying along. In the midst of them was a cart, a long leiter-wagon which swept from side to side, like a dog's tail wagging, with each stern inequality of the road. Outlined against the snow as they were, I could see from the men's clothes that they were peasants or gypsies of some kind.

On the cart was a great square chest. My heart leaped as I saw it, for I felt that the end was coming. The evening was now drawing close, and well I knew that at sunset the Thing, which was till then imprisoned there, would take new freedom and could in any of many forms elude all pursuit. In fear I turned to the Professor; to my consternation, however, he was not there. An instant later, I saw him below me. Round the rock he had drawn a circle, such as we had found shelter in last night. When he had completed it he stood beside me again, saying:---

"At least you shall be safe here from him!" He took the glasses from me, and at the next lull of the snow swept the whole space below us. "See," he said, "they come quickly; they are flogging the horses, and galloping as hard as they can." He paused and went on in a hollow voice:---

"They are racing for the sunset. We may be too late. God's will be done!" Down came another blinding rush of driving snow, and the whole landscape was blotted out. It soon passed, however, and once more his glasses were fixed on the plain. Then came a sudden cry:---

"Look! Look! Look! See, two horsemen follow fast, coming up from the south. It must be Quincey and John. Take the glass. Look before the snow blots it all out!" I took it and looked. The two men might be Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris. I knew at all events that neither of them was Jonathan. At the same time I knew that Jonathan was not far off; looking around I saw on the north side of the coming party two other men, riding at break-neck speed. One of them I knew was Jonathan, and the other I took, of course, to be Lord Godalming. They, too, were pursuing the party with the cart. When I told the Professor he shouted in glee like a schoolboy, and, after looking intently till a snow fall made sight impossible, he laid his Winchester rifle ready for use against the boulder at the opening of our shelter. "They are all converging," he said. "When the time comes we shall have gypsies on all sides." I got out my revolver ready to hand, for whilst we were speaking the howling of wolves came louder and closer. When the snow storm abated a moment we looked again. It was strange to see the snow falling in such heavy flakes close to us, and beyond, the sun shining more and more brightly as it sank down towards the far mountain tops. Sweeping the glass all around us I could see here and there dots moving singly and in twos and threes and larger numbers -- the wolves were gathering for their prey.

Every instant seemed an age whilst we waited. The wind came now in fierce bursts, and the snow was driven with fury as it swept upon us in circling eddies. At times we could not see an arm's length before us; but at others, as the hollow-sounding wind swept by us, it seemed to clear the air-space around us so that we could see afar off. We had of late been so accustomed to watch for sunrise and sunset, that we knew with fair accuracy when it would be; and we knew that before long the sun would set. It was hard to believe that by our watches it was less than an hour that we waited in that rocky shelter before the various bodies began to converge close upon us. The wind came now with fiercer and more bitter sweeps, and more steadily from the north. It seemingly had driven the snow clouds from us, for, with only occasional bursts, the snow fell. We could distinguish clearly the individuals of each party, the pursued and the pursuers. Strangely enough those pursued did not seem to realise, or at least to care, that they were pursued; they seemed, however, to hasten with redoubled speed as the sun dropped lower and lower on the mountain tops.

Closer and closer they drew. The Professor and I crouched down behind our rock, and held our weapons ready; I could see that he was determined that they should not pass. One and all were quite unaware of our presence.

All at once two voices shouted out to: "Halt!" One was my Jonathan's, raised in a high key of passion; the other Mr. Morris' strong resolute tone of quiet command. The gypsies may not have known the language, but there was no mistaking the tone, in whatever tongue the words were spoken. Instinctively they reined in, and at the instant Lord Godalming and Jonathan dashed up at one side and Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris on the other. The leader of the gypsies, a splendid-looking fellow who sat his horse like a centaur, waved them back, and in a fierce voice gave to his companions some word to proceed. They lashed the horses which sprang forward; but the four men raised their Winchester rifles, and in an unmistakable way commanded them to stop. At the same moment Dr. Van Helsing and I rose behind the rock and pointed our weapons at them. Seeing that they were surrounded the men tightened their reins and drew up. The leader turned to them and gave a word at which every man of the gypsy party drew what weapon he carried, knife or pistol, and held himself in readiness to attack. Issue was joined in an instant.

The leader, with a quick movement of his rein, threw his horse out in front, and pointing first to the sun -- now close down on the hill tops -- and then to the castle, said something which I did not understand. For answer, all four men of our party threw themselves from their horses and dashed towards the cart. I should have felt terrible fear at seeing Jonathan in such danger, but that the ardour of battle must have been upon me as well as the rest of them; I felt no fear, but only a wild, surging desire to do something. Seeing the quick movement of our parties, the leader of the gypsies gave a command; his men instantly formed round the cart in a sort of undisciplined endeavour, each one shouldering and pushing the other in his eagerness to carry out the order.

In the midst of this I could see that Jonathan on one side of the ring of men, and Quincey on the other, were forcing a way to the cart; it was evident that they were bent on finishing their task before the sun should set. Nothing seemed to stop or even to hinder them. Neither the levelled weapons nor the flashing knives of the gypsies in front, nor the howling of the wolves behind, appeared to even attract their attention. Jonathan's impetuosity, and the manifest singleness of his purpose, seemed to overawe those in front of him; instinctively they cowered, aside and let him pass. In an instant he had jumped upon the cart, and, with a strength which seemed incredible, raised the great box, and flung it over the wheel to the ground. In the meantime, Mr. Morris had had to use force to pass through his side of the ring of Szgany. All the time I had been breathlessly watching Jonathan I had, with the tail of my eye, seen him pressing desperately forward, and had seen the knives of the gypsies flash as he won a way through them, and they cut at him. He had parried with his great bowie knife, and at first I thought that he too had come through in safety; but as he sprang beside Jonathan, who had by now jumped from the cart, I could see that with his left hand he was clutching at his side, and that the blood was spurting through his fingers. He did not delay notwithstanding this, for as Jonathan, with desperate energy, attacked one end of the chest, attempting to prize off the lid with his great Kukri knife, he attacked the other frantically with his bowie. Under the efforts of both men the lid began to yield; the nails drew with a quick screeching sound, and the top of the box was thrown back.

By this time the gypsies, seeing themselves covered by the Winchesters, and at the mercy of Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward, had given in and made no resistance. The sun was almost down on the mountain tops, and the shadows of the whole group fell long upon the snow. I saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over him. He was deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I knew too well.

As I looked, the eyes saw the sinking sun, and the look of hate in them turned to triumph.

But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat; whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart.

It was like a miracle; but before our very eyes, and almost in the drawing of a breath, the whole body crumble into dust and passed from our sight.

I shall be glad as long as I live that even in that moment of final dissolution, there was in the face a look of peace, such as I never could have imagined might have rested there.

The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone of its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the setting sun.

The gypsies, taking us as in some way the cause of the extraordinary disappearance of the dead man, turned, without a word, and rode away as if for their lives. Those who were unmounted jumped upon the leiter-wagon and shouted to the horsemen not to desert them. The wolves, which had withdrawn to a safe distance, followed in their wake, leaving us alone.

Mr. Morris, who had sunk to the ground, leaned on his elbow, holding his hand pressed to his side; the blood still gushed through his fingers. I flew to him, for the Holy circle did not now keep me back; so did the two doctors. Jonathan knelt behind him and the wounded man laid back his head on his shoulder. With a sigh he took, with a feeble effort, my hand in that of his own which was unstained. He must have seen the anguish of my heart in my face, for he smiled at me and said:---

"I am only too happy to have been of any service! Oh, God!" he cried suddenly, struggling up to a sitting posture and pointing to me, "It was worth for this to die! Look! look!"

The sun was now right down upon the mountain top, and the red gleams fell upon my face, so that it was bathed in rosy light. With one impulse the men sank on their knees and a deep and earnest "Amen" broke from all as their eyes followed the pointing of his finger. The dying man spoke:---

"Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! the snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!"

And, to our bitter grief, with a smile and in silence, he died, a gallant gentleman.

[richrubies]

Good Weather (Nafla x Reader)

➳ genre: fluff

➳ masterlist

‘Mm,’ you hummed into the phone as you attempted to hold it between your ear and shoulder, your hands preoccupied with the make-up brush you were using to apply powder, ‘I miss you too,’ you tell him gently on the phone.

‘I wish you were here,’ Nicholas admitted from the other end, upset. He’d been touring for a few weeks and was about to hold his last show, coincidentally in the same city that you’d met. Whenever he performed in Daegu it was tradition for you to go and watch, each time was like reliving the first moment you two lay eyes on one another. He had been performing then too, though with a much smaller crowd and in an old bar that barely anyone visited. Now he was playing huge venues and hyping up thousands.

‘I wish I was too,’ you tell him, feeling guilty at his tone, ‘But work has been crazy and I couldn’t get time off to come down.’ 

You could practically see the pout he was probably doing as you told him for the millionth time that you couldn’t make it to his show. You felt guilty for the lie, but you’d spent the last few weeks acting as if you weren’t going, that it’d be a waste of all that effort to reveal the surprise now.

You could hear people in the background calling out for Nicholas, asking him to start preparing for the show. He huffed in response before telling you sulkily, ‘I have to go get ready babe.’

‘Mm,’ you hum again, ‘Be careful on stage, 자기야. Have fun.’

‘I love you,’ he tells you, the sound so loud that you knew he was pressing his lips to the speaker.

‘I love you too,’ you smile warmly, readying yourself to hang up.

‘Are you sure you can’t come?’ He asks desperately, trying his luck one more time.

‘Yah,’ you giggle, ‘hurry up and go get ready!’

He swore before agreeing, ‘Okay...Love you!’

‘I love you too,’ you say with an eye roll and a smile.

‘I miss you!’

‘Get off the phone, Fla,’ you tell him with a laugh.

Making kissing noises against the speaker, he sighed, ‘Okay, I’ll go for real now. I’ll call you later.’

Once the call had ended, you quickly tossed your phone to the side and shook your head, ‘Ah! He’s made me so late!’

He’d kept you on the phone for over an hour, and while you loved every inch of him and more, he had picked the worst time to want to conversate. You’d done your best to get ready despite his call, having straightened your hair into a manageable state and pulling it up into a cute do all while calming him and his nerves down.

Pulling out the outfit you thought was perfect for one of his concerts  — an over-sized red hoodie that hung low enough to use as a dress which matched Nicholas’ hair; you threw it on and checked yourself in the mirror. Putting on a pair of comfortable thick-platform sneakers and fixing up the makeup that had smudged from your failed attempt earlier while on the phone, you quickly gave yourself a once over with perfume before grabbing your clutch and dashing out the door of your hotel room.

Everyone but Nicholas knew you were in Daegu, having wanted to surprise him after his month away. You didn’t think he would fall for you not being able to attend his show in Daegu — after nearly three years together, you thought he’d know you’d do anything in your power to see him perform there. Thankfully, your acting skills had improved and his own naivety, had worked out in your favour.

By time you arrived at the Blue Room, you could already hear the thumping of the music and the cheers of his fans. Even those who were still stuck outside trying to get into the venue, were hyped just by being in the vicinity.

Like always, you used your pass to get you through the VIP doors, bringing you directly backstage. After quickly greeting everyone and leaving your wallet and phone in Nicholas’ dressing room, you made your way out into the crowd, ignoring the offer of standing to the side of the stage like you usually did at his gigs.

For once, you wanted to be a part of the crowd who showed love to your man, just like you had when you’d met years ago.

As he performed, you bounced along to the music, having pushed yourself to the very front gate, screaming the lyrics to Weathermen as loud as you could, happy to watch as Nic twisted and turned on stage, performing his heart out  — something he was born to do. Behind him, a drunk Bloo was also on stage, swaying out of time of the music and rapping alongside your boyfriend.

As they approached the chorus, Owen jumped down from the stage and strutted along the front of the gates, yelling into his mic, ‘Four weather-who?’

‘Men!’ The fans screamed as he offered his mic to the crowd.

Nafla watched with a grin as he kept singing and dancing. Owen stepped closer to you, as he asked again, this time standing in front of you, giving you a huge grin — he’d picked you out of the crowd earlier which is what prompted him to jump down and get closer in attempt to draw Nic’s attention to you. Holding the mic up he asked you, ‘Four weather-who?!’

 ‘Four weather-fuckin-men!’ you yelled with the crowd.

Owen laughed and pulled you into a quick hug before continuing to rap, looking up at Nicholas who had heard a snippet of your voice amongst the crowd. He’d lost his timing as he searched for you, positive that he hadn’t imagined it.

Shaking his head a second later and trying to get back into the rhythm, he ultimately lost it again as soon as your eyes met as he took one last sweep of the crowd.

While his crew backed his lines in the song, Nic only had eyes for you as you shot him finger-hearts and a grin. He reciprocated it by showing his gummy smile and jumping off the stage to reach you.

With the help of security, you jumped over the rail and was instantly wrapped in Nicholas’s arms as he held you tight, shouting over the noise, ‘You’re here!’

Not caring for the screaming fans or even the song he was meant to be singing, Nic grabbed your face and lovingly showered you with kisses, ‘You’re really here!’

‘Surprise,’ you tell him with a laugh before pushing at his shoulder, ‘Yah, go finish your set! I’ll wait down here!’

Shaking his head, he grabbed your hand and dragged you back up the stage stairs, yelling over the music, ‘Stay with me!’

As soon as you were back on the stage, Nic began to rap again, this time to a new tune while his arm remained wrapped around your neck keeping you near, constantly checking over you as if unsure if you were real.

You and Nic weren’t a secret, having been open about your relationship after six months of dating, though this was the most PDA he’d ever shown to outsiders. He released you for a moment as 사과상자 began to play, though it was only to take your hand in his so that you could walk comfortably.

You’d pretty much forgotten you were on a stage in front of a whole bunch of strangers, instead focusing on Nic as he rapped; bouncing along to his tunes as you hyped him up, you could feel the burn in your cheeks from the permanent smile on your face. Every so often during his lines, Nic would turn to you and grin, cupping your face gently while he sung lyrics like ‘motha-fucka’.

What could you say? You were a sucker for a man who knew how to use his words.

Your favorite part was when he had rapped his exiting song, Wu; ‘4, 5, 6 bitches, want my dick pictures – but you can’t have ‘em cause I love my crazy lady.’

The crowd’s roar had been deafening as you laughed at his words and shoved at his shoulder, only to be pulled into a hug, your back to the crowd as Nic kept you tight in his embrace, rapping over your shoulder as he looked out at his fans. Knowing he wasn’t going to let you go anytime soon, you hugged him back and waited for the lights to turn out to signal the end of the show.

By time you had gotten back stage, you were nearly as puffed as the guys from all the dancing and rapping you’d been doing as you bounced around on stage, though Nic didn’t give you a second to catch your breath before his lips were on yours.

You kissed him back lovingly, though you ended the moment quickly so that the others in the room weren’t uncomfortable.

‘I can’t believe you actually came,’ he repeats in amazement, settling for holding your hips as he looked you in the eye, still in disbelief.

‘You thought I’d miss a Daegu show?’ you asked him with a smile, looping your arms around his neck, ‘Never.’

‘I’m so happy,’ he tells you honestly, ignoring West who fake-gagged in the background.

‘Me too,’ you tell him.

‘He was sulking all week,’ Owen tells you with an eye-roll while Bloo nods in the corner, his hand in a bag of potato chips and the other clutching a top-shelf bottle.

‘He missed his girlfriend,’ you teased while Nicholas rolled his eyes, not bothering to deny it.

‘But you missed your boyfriend, right?’ he asks, smiling down at you, his eyebrows raised in expectancy.

‘A little bit,’ you tell him, not wanting to confess that you’d spent hours looking for an outfit that matched the same colour as his hair, or that you were wearing his shirt underneath because it smelt like him. For now, you just wanted to lavish in the shower of love he was giving you. And avoid the boys teasing you, despite loving it when they teased ‘Fla.

Smirking, Nicholas pressed his lips to your forehead and murmured, too low for the others to hear, ‘You’re wearing one of my shirts right now, aren’t you?’

The giggle that left your mouth gave you away, causing Nicholas to chuckle and pull you into his arms despite the boy’s protests; ‘Knew it.’

‘Shut up.’

‘I love you.’

‘Me too.’

[every1studio]

REQUESTED: “all about that bass” [day6: brian]

genre: fluff + slight nsfw/profanity (how can I not with this man...)

ficstyle: bulletpoints + long

@shinjiminbaby asked: “ tsundere! youngk x college au please 😎😎😎😎😎 “

note: xoxo love you and this prompt bc brian is my bias~ hope you like it~

Kang Brian; aka Young K

everyone knows who he is 

but no one really knows how he is

he’s just a hot yet mysterious bassist that plays for a band called “DAY6″

although his bandmates are talkative; he tends to keep to himself

he’s the last one to show up and the first one to leave

you’ve only seen him on stage and a couple of times on campus

no one’s ever seen him smile; which is what makes him so mysteriously attractive

it was Friday morning; 6 am 

it was the start of spring term

you were on morning shift at a coffee shop; you only saw professors and super studious students grab their cup of joe before heading to class

you were trying not to fall asleep standing; you didn’t hear the sliding doors open

“excuse me miss~ can I order?”

knock knock

you shook your head and looked up

Brian was right in front of you; with his instrument case slung on his back over his backpack

he laughs; it was so angelic.. you could say that you fell in love at that moment

“it’s too early for any of this..”

“ye-yeah..”

you both hear the sliding doors open to some girls who were being obvious that they were his fans

“a medium iced americano to-go,” he hands over his card

“sure thing..” 

you both could hear the girls behind him trying to get a look at his face

“he’s so good-looking in person~”

“the stage lights don’t do him any justice..”

(girl, same)

once his card gets approved, he takes the card from you and waits on the side for his drink

the girls only ordered bottled water; they actually came into the shop after seeing Brian enter the shop

they left after paying

“bye Brian~” they waved

he looks at them and nods; emotionlessly

they run out squealing like high school girls

you silently chuckled as you got the americano ready for him

“a medium iced americano~”

you held it out for him

“thanks...” he takes it; emotionlessly 

you smiled at him

“have a good day~”

“you too.. uh..” he looks at your nametag, “y/n..”

he smiled when he said your name

with that he left the shop 

and you were dead

you wanted to blame it on spring

were you falling in love?

you looked as his profile through the glass as he walks to class

(I mean... who wouldn’t fall in love with him...wait)

you just thought it over how..HE SMILED AT YOU?!

YOU?

HE IS KNOWN FOR NOT SMILING AT ANYONE OTHER THAN HIS BANDMATES

BUT HIS SMIILE IS RARE

you couldn’t help but think that it was a sign

you shook your head and slapped your cheeks

“get your head outta the gutters, y/n..”

once your shift ended, you got ready for class

you had to take an arts class as a requirement

“beginning to guitar huh...”

walking in, you expected to see an old looking guy as your instructor

but you saw Brian

he looks up

“oh.. you’re from this morning..” you pointed at him, “you’re the instructor for this class?”

Brian goes back to tune his guitar

“no.. I’m the TA..”

“ah.. okay..”

you wanted to talk to him; but he wasn’t the easiest person to communicate with

soon the class was filled up girls?

to be specific, his fan girls

class was kinda awkward

everyone’s attention was on Brian instead of the instructor (who was actually an old guy.. reminds you of your dad)

“Brian~ you are a bassist, why are you TA for guitar?”

“Brian can you help me out?”

“Brian~”

you were getting slightly irritated; you went to where the instructor was and you asked him about what you should expect from class; yada-yada-ya

Brian looks over at you; you were probably the only person in class who wasn’t giving him a headache  

that made him a little happy?

he kept quiet most of the time; when he spoke it was more like, 7 words max

“well, I started playing the guitar first”

“you’re holding your guitar upside-down”

what felt like an eternity later; class was over

Brian was the first one to leave; everyone was calling him but he dashed off

di-ding

you got a text from your co-worker/bff:

-YO~ GUESS WHAT?

-what”

-Sungjin from DAY6? he’s in my statistics class and he asked me to come to his party tonight~ he also said to bring friends~ it’s at 10pm~

-what if I don’t go?

-I’ll stop working at the coffee shop

-okay, you gotta help me though because idk what to wear

-i gotchu loml 

-k bye

-love me back, bitch

you smiled; when you looked up, you were the only one left in class

“damn”

you walked out the class but you bump into someone

TWAK

“DUDE SERIOUSLY?”

you rubbed your forehead, you looked up and saw Brian

he raises a brow at you, “you should look where you’re going”

you scoffed and pointed at him

“what kinda-”

Brian pokes your forehead, “you could get hurt”

you slowly put your finger down; out of embarrassment, you rubbed the back of your neck

“oh ye-yeah.. okay..”

“what are you still doing here?” he asks as he walks past you

“I could ask you the same”

he sits down and takes out his guitar

“if I didn’t leave, those girls would be chattering away until who knows when..I wanted to compose a few tunes before ending the day..”

you chuckled as you looked at your watch; it was 6 pm

knowing your friend; she’s gonna take hours to get ready and if she’s gonna help you, it might take her longer

“see ya tonight,” you motioned two fingers from your temple to him; saluting kinda

“tonight?”

“yeah.. Sungjin’s party?”

“we’ll see...” he mumbles

you walked out backwards, “don’t be a party pooper, seeya Brian~”

as you dashed off, he bit down on the sides of his cheeks, “it’s Young K..”

hours and hours and hours later

you and your friend finally got ready and it was already 10:30

“are you sure I look okay?”

your friend nodded, “better than those leggings and cropped jackets you wear everyday~”

she painted on a semi-smokey eye with fluttering lashes

she also took out your messy bun and sleeked it straight; you forgot how long your hair was; it was an inch or two below from your breasts

she knew that most of the girls were gonna wear bodycon dresses BUT she said that you had the best body for bodycon dresses so she looked around for the tightest one she could find 

you ended wearing a black strappy low-cut midi dress that had a super high slit on your left thigh with matching black strappy heels

“don’t you think it’s too much?” you turned to look at her

“if yours is too much than mine is outrageous..” she was wearing a deep plunged nude bodycon mini dress 

“you right..”

AT THE PARTY

the both of you could hear the music blasting from a block away

you started to get nervous

your friend grabbed your hand, “if you wanna go home, just let me know..”

she opened the door and Sungjin was talking with Jae

“oh shit... you guys look good..” Sungjin covered his mouth with his red solo cup

Jae reaches to shake your hand, “Jae..”

“y/n..” you said softly

“what?” he leans in closer

“y-y/n..”

Jae starts chuckling, “y/n’s a pretty name for a pretty girl..”

your friend introduced you to Sungjin, “Sungjin, y/n..y/n, Sungjin”

you reached out to shake his hand but he pulls you in for a hug

“I don’t do handshakes, sweetie~” 

you blushed as he let go 

he grazed your butt; but you didn’t want to overthink that he did that on purpose

“hey~ let’s take a shot since you guys are here~” Jae yells as he pulls your friend along

you all walked into the kitchen where all the drinks were

you spotted Brian in the sitting at the counter with two girls by his side..

they were talking to him but it seemed like he was just ignoring them as he drank his beer

he nearly spilled some out of his mouth when he saw you walk into the kitchen

you were chatting it up with Sungjin; laughing at what he said

his arm was also around your waist

Brian didn’t like that.. he saw met you first..

“take your pick ladies..”

you and your friend looked at each other

“go hard or go home; we’re taking tequilla!!” your friend was distributing shot cups to everyone who wanted one

to everyone’s surprise Brian took one too

“WHOOOWEE BRIAN’S GETTING LITTY TONIGHT~” Jae yelled as everyone cheered

once everyone was ready with their shots and salt; you all cheered

Sungjin tapped on your shoulder to do a love shot 

you just went for it

“OOOHHH LOOK AT EM~”

“y/n takes it like a champ!!” Jae said after he did one with your friend 

“this is nothing,” you said as you placed your cup down

Brian looked straight at you as he angrily took his shot

you didn’t notice until you looked over at him

(was he angry? why was he angry..)

you excused yourself from your spot and made yourself over to Brian when you saw the two girls that were with him make their way to the bathrooms

“hey...there Brian,” you were trying to make eye contact with him

“hey”

“you okay?”

he sips his beer as he looks at you

“why wouldn’t I be-”

“HEY Y/N THEY’RE PLAYING SPIN THE BOTTLE!! LET’S GO~”

you looked over at Brian before your friend dragged you out

you reached out to point at him

“you going?”

usually Brian would say “no” but he was had something else on his mind tonight

he grabs your hand, “yeah”

they people around the circle cheered as you guys showed up

“y/n’s the mvp for bring Brian out here, I can’t even get him to participate most of the time~” Sungjin says

there was all of DAY6 in the circle; a couple of other girls; you and your friend

the guys weren’t comfortable with kissing each other so twist of this game was that if a guy got another guy, they’d have to take off a piece of clothing

“cool let’s start~” 

Jae got Wonpil

Wonpil definitely looked like the innocent one of the group; his face got pink as he took off his hoodie, revealing a white v-cut tee

Wonpil warmed up his hands and spun the bottle; he got you

he instantly went from pink to red

you could say it was the alcohol talking, but you crawled over and wrapped your hand on the back of his head

“OOOHHHHHHHH~”

it was a quick but heated makeout 

Wonpil covered his face after, “thank you”

everyone laughed at his cuteness

except for Brian

“y/n your turn~~”

when the bottle stopped turning and everyone went silent

it was pointed at Brian

he got up and took your hand

“we’re leaving..”

he drags you out of the circle and walks into his room 

cl-click

he closes the door

“what do you think you’re doing?”

he was kind of slurring at his words; tipsy

but you weren’t even feeling anything yet

you furrowed your brows at him

“what are you-”

“are you trying to seduce me?”

“wha-?”

this boy wasn’t going to let you talk; he grabbed your face and started kissing you

not leaving you any room to breathe

he backs you up onto his bed

when you fall onto his bed, he stops kissing you

“BRIAN-”

“IT’S YOUNG K; BUT NO ONE EVER CALLS ME THAT”

“I’m..I’m sorry, Young K...” 

he shook his head

“you should be sorry for other things...”

Young K nuzzles into the crook of your neck and starts marking you

“you should be sorry for looking too good in that dress.. you should be sorry for luring and attracting other guys...you should take responsibility for what you did..”

you tried to hold your voice in; not that anyone could hear it anyways

“what..did I do?”

he laughs

“you made me fall in love with you....”

his hands ghosts over your body and grabs the side to where the zipper was

“can I show you?”

you whimpered as you nodded 

the rest of the night was history

you were the first one to wake up

the sunlight was peeking through the curtains

you were only wearing his flannel button-downed shirt; you looked over at him, his arm was snaked around your waist

slightly snoring; he had on a black tank top and his grey sweats

you remembered that you had to take care of him after your guys’ heated session because he had more drinks than you did

you had time to rinse down and take off your makeup

you also tucked him in bed; you were going to leave.. but he insisted that you stayed..

the clock turned 8; you were just looking at him

(he’s more daring than he appears to be...but for some reason, he looked so sweet and soft) you caught yourself having those thoughts

you tried your best to sneak out of bed

but you feel him pull you back

“I can’t have you go..you’ve seen too much of me, I feel exposed..”

he places his chin on top of your head as he pulls you in and sighs deeply

“what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to keep being that “mysteriously chic” guy... that guy everyone thinks I am.. I wanna have fun and chat up with people... but I don’t know how..”

you turned around to face him

“just be yourself.. your real self.. if you say something weird..it’s okay~ you learn from that and continue on..”

you’ve only met him officially yesterday and it’s came down to this situation

he stares at you for a little while longer before saying something

“I partially blame the drinks for what happened yesterday and I know we barely know each other...but...y/n?”

“hmm?”

“can we keep in contact?”

you chuckled at him

“of course... Bri-”

“WHO?”

“Young K..”

END

[masterlist + guidelines]

( ་ ⍸ ་ )

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Seven Times Great: Part 6

Pairings: John Winchester x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst

Word Count: 2,235

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So what are we not doing?” John asked as he pulled up to your seventh case. You sighed and looked out the window.

“Not runnin’ toward the bad thin’s.” A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he put the car in park along the curb, down the block of the house your rugaru was in and turned toward you on the seat.

“And?” You fought to control your smile as you turned more toward the window.

“An’ I’m not gon’ float ye ta anoth’a room ta ‘andle it m’self.”

“And?” You could see John’s reflection in the truck window illuminated by the street lights as he crossed his arms over his chest. His eyebrow was arched as he waited for an answer and he was fighting a losing battle with his smile. You sighed but kept your eyes glued to the window.

“An’ I won’ yell a’ the monst’as in Scottish gibberish an’ call ‘em twats an’ cunts.” You turned on your seat and pointed at him with a forced scowl. “An’ let the record show I only did tha’ once!” He nodded slowly as he turned off the car.

“Mmhmm. Sure you did, baby girl.” You stuck your tongue at him as he opened his car door and slid out. He paused with his hand on the door and pointed up at you. “No fire balls. Use a damn lighter like a normal hunter.” You rolled your eyes as you got out of the truck behind him and closed the door on your way to the back of the truck.

“Again, only did tha’…” He glanced over at you with his eyebrow raised and you stood up a little straighter. “A’right, twice.” He handed you one of his home made flame throwers and a zippo.

“Twice to many.” You rolled your eyes as you flicked open the zippo to make sure it worked. “Stay behind me.” You nodded as he closed the bed of his truck and walked past you. You loved the way he got all serious when he was going into a hunt.

You never meant to make hunts harder on him the way you did but unlike John, when you got into that hostile environment, you felt like you were in a bar during a Celtic match in Glasgow all over again. Your natural instinct to taunt and fight back came out and you sometimes got a bit carried away. Apparently, no matter how cute John though you were when you went on a rant, during a hunt was not the time for it.

“Door.” He said softly as he walked up the steps to the front porch silently. You flicked your finger at the white wood and slowly creeped open. As silently as you could, you flipped the top of the zippo open and followed him into an ambush.

A man with blood shot, yellowed eyes, a scared face and blood dripping from his mouth lunged and tackled John to the ground. Fear ripped through you and you instantly dropped the zippo and shoved the man off your boyfriend as hard as you could.

“Ye think so?” You snapped as you snapped your fingers in front of the blow torch and squeezed the trigger. It sputtered for a half a second before the flame died just as the rugaru was finding his feet once more. “Moth’a fuck’a.”

“Just do it!” John coughed. You smirked as you dropped the red can and made a giant fire ball in your palm.

“You can’t save him.” The man taunted as you threw the first flame toward him, missing him by inches as he ducked behind a couch. “Something will…”

“Piss off, ye twat.” You snapped as you created a second fire ball. The monster lunged over the back of the couch and you caught him in mid-air with the flame. “Yea tha’ wha’ I thought ye cunt. Done fucked up good, aye?” You threw the man across the room, slammed him into a wall, and hit him with a second fire ball for good measure as his pained screams filled the room. You bent down, scooped up the gas can and the zippo and crouched down next to John.

“Can’t go one hunt without calling someone a twat, can you?” You shook your head as you grabbed his arm and blinked you both to the street by his truck.

“T’is a Glaswegian thin’, luv… well not jus’ Glasgow but still.” He shook his head and stood up with a sigh of defeat on the issue. You handed him your weapons of choice with a smile and headed to the cab of the truck to leave before the police were called.

“We’re gunna take a break from hunters training for a bit. You’re a little too good at this.” He joked as he pulled himself into the driver seat beside you with a chuckle. You smiled proudly as you toed off your boots and kicked your feet up on the dash.

“An’ ye were worried ‘bout me.” You looked over at him with a smirk as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Blink us home, baby girl. I don’t feel like driving.” With a small giggle, you put your feet on the floorboard and one hand on the dash. It took just a tad bit longer to get your mind wrapped around the whole truck as you laid your other hand on the roof. With a deep breath and a blink, the truck rocked a bit and landed rather hard in your driveway.

“‘ome sweet ‘ome.” With a sigh of relief, you both got out of the truck and grabbed your bags from the truck bed. Neither of you realized how tired you really were until that exact moment but three weeks on the road had taken a lot out of you. You didn’t even bother bringing your duffle all the way into your room and snapped both you and John into PJ’s as he locked up and did his nightly routine of checking salt lines, traps and rooms. By the time he crawled into bed beside you and pulled you into his arms, you were both fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So no fireballs?” You joked as John handed you a machete.

“No fireballs!” He snapped. You pouted as Dean leaned forward and looked at you.

“You can make fireballs?” Your pout turned into a smile as you made a small ball of fire hover in your palm.

“Don’t encourage her!” John snapped as he handed his oldest a machete. You giggled as you extinguished the flame.

“‘e doesn’t like it ’s’much.” You teased as John handed Sam a machete and closed the trunk of the Impala. “‘e doesn’t like tha’ I call ‘em twats, either.” Sam and Dean tried to stifle their laughter as John turned you around and gestured toward path to the barn you were supposed to be clearing.

“March, baby girl.” You glanced over your shoulder at him and smiled broadly.

“Ye know I make yer life more fun, luv.” You said as you headed down the path. He nodded as he fell into step beside you.

“Yea, that’s a damn understatement.” You bumped into him with your shoulder and leaned your head on his arm.

“She is good for him.” Sam muttered under his breath as John put his arm around your shoulder and kissed the top of your head.

“It’s so weird to see him like this.” Dean agreed as John rubbed your arm for a second before letting you go. Sam nodded in agreement as you bent down and picked a flower. You pulled a bobby pin from the back of your bun and pinned the flower in the middle of the twist with a small giggle at whatever John had said. “Makes you wonder what he would have been like if mom had stayed alive.” The two brothers shared a quick glance as John paused and looked back at them.

“You two gunna just watch us hunt or are you gunna show up to work?” Sam rolled his eyes as Dean slipped into ‘serious hunter mode’. As you got closer to the barn, John gestured to his son’s to go one way as he he gently grabbed your arm and pulled you toward him. You fell back a few steps so John could take point as Sam and Dean lined up beside you. With a silent count of three on his fingers, you quietly opened the door with your powers and waited outside for a moment so the three men could enter.

The weather worn barn was completely empty as the four of you stepped inside and there wasn’t a single item that gave you any indication that anyone had ever been there. The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end as a magical laugh filled the space from the shadows in front of you.

“Ye Winchesters neva learn.” As a purple glow filled the barn, you dropped the machete and moved in front of John. Instinct took over as you easily caught the spell your grandmother threw at the boys and you threw it back in her direction.

“Ye fuckin’ cunt!” You screeched as you threw up a protection spell behind you. “Ye think ye can attack m’boys, aye?”

“They’re monst’as like the things they destroy, (Y/N)! ‘ow can ye not see tha’?” You threw a whitish blue spell at her that she managed to barely escape from.

“Ye know nothin’ ‘bout my family.” You growled as a smile spread across your face. “Ye neva did. Ye turned yer fuckin’ back on the only family ye ‘ad, ye skank.” With a growl she tried throwing another spell at you that ricocheted off the protection spell behind you. You could feel your feet lifting slowly off the floor as your anger curled in your stomach. “Ye think that’ll save ye, ye twat? Think ye can trick m’family an’ I wouldn’t find out? Face it, yer alone in this world an’ t’is yer own fuckin’ fault!”

“I know wha’s bes’ for m’ gran’daught’a!” She screeched as she tried to throw another half assed spell at the protection spell to find a weak spot. You slammed a spell back at her that sent her flying back against the back wall of the barn as Dean finally got ahold of Crowley for back-up.

“Ye don’ know shite ‘bout yer gran’daught’a, ye bell-end! Ye know pow’a. Tha’ all ye know! An’ I’ll tell ye this…” You grabbed her by the neck and yanked her forward so she was hovering in front of you. Her body writhed as you curled your hand around her throat and tilted your head to the side as she began to struggle for air. “Ye even look a’ m’family ‘gain an’ I won’ jus’ fuckin’ threaten’ ye. M’ boyfriend, m’uncle, the boys an’ the angel… their off limits to ye. Ye think ye can beat me a’ this fucking game? Fuckin’ try me, cunt.”

“Dove… put her down.” You couldn’t look away from Rowena’s slightly blue face as you shook your head at your uncle.

“She’s ta learn.” You didn’t see Crowley’s shake of his head as your grip on Rowena’s throat was forcibly loosened.

“Dove, you cross that line, you can’t come back. I can’t help you if you go dark…” You glanced down at him and John, who was pressed up against the protection spell. Your grip loosened once again as he put his hand on the invisible wall.

“Baby girl, please. You promised me.” His gaze followed you as you slowly came down and once your feet hit the ground, you let go of Rowena. She gasped for air as Crowley told his demon’s to bring her back to her cell.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered as you reversed the protection spell. He nodded as he quickly took a step over and wrapped you in his arms.

“Please, sweetheart. Please just leave her alone. I can’t lose you.” You nodded as Crowley came over and pulled you away from John.

“You listen to me and you listen well.” He leaned down til he was eye level with you. He pointed at you as his eyes tinted red. “Stay- the fuck- away- from my mother. I don’t care what she does, I don’t care where she goes, leave- the cunt- alone. I will not let her corrupt you because that’s what she’s trying to do. You can’t kill her no matter how strong you are and the first time you do, you go dark and I have to send these flannel clad morons after my only family. You go near her again and I’ll lock you in your own cell until you find some fucking sense again, do you understand me?” You nodded frantically as he poked your shoulder with his finger. “Stay- away!” He looked up at John and shook his head. “Take her home.” John grabbed your arm and guided you out the door as Crowley disappeared with Rowena.

“No more hunts for you.” John said as Dean snickered into his wrist. “I just… I can’t with you.” You looked up at him with a small smile.

“I didn’ make a fire ball.” He scowled at you as Sam and Dean burst out laughing.

“Not the point, baby girl. So not the point.”

[shleepys]

Summer Tones

This story can be found on my Archive of Our Own! I recommend going there and reading the notes I’ve left. Any feedback (constructive criticism or support) on either platform is highly appreciated. :)

Chapter Four

Ch. 1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 5 - Ch. 6

- - - - - -

May 30th, 1985

Green

The Next Day

The stoplight flicked to green as Billy and Steve sat there waiting for it to change. Time seemed to tick slower in the car, especially when silence wrapped them around its metaphorical finger. During the summer, driving around town always set this precedent of relaxation as clovers painted the space between the sidewalks and roads and the ends of tree branches swayed with the warm wind. Relaxation as a smooth love song silently eased through the speakers of the car and played with the ends of their hair.  Relaxed.

Neither of them were relaxed.

Billy sat on the edge of his seat, tapping an anxious tune into his steering wheel while Steve slid all the way back in his in fear he might block the others view. The black interior of his car clashed with the shades of emerald coating everything they passed, the Camaro gradually getting hotter and hotter while they sat in discomfort, unable to tell if it came from the beams of the sun beating down on them or the metaphysical barrier separating them both. Steve wanted to say something, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. A complicated feeling bubbled in his chest as a thousand different outcomes flashed through his mind. Doubt’s grimy fingers were on his shoulder, hell, it was clawing at both of them, but were they going to verbally acknowledge it?

No, they weren’t.

Well, not yet.

Billy eyed down the parking spots that were in front of Dachshunds, continuing to make a rhythm with his thumb as he pulled into one of them and put the car in park. They didn’t look at one another at first. They stared into their reflections plastered on the storefronts windows until Billy shut the car off and the low purr of the engine and white noise of the air conditioner all came to a stop. Steve broke the barrier of silence between them, the first to speak out loud in an attempt to kill the awkwardness that possessed them.

“What are you thinking about getting?”

Billy tore his attention away from the windows to look at Steve, he cleared his throat before letting out a half-hearted laugh. “That depends. I don’t have a record player so if they have cassettes then I’ll consider actually getting something.”

Steve furrowed his brows, “Oh, I thought you had one. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Billy paused, starting to look off again. “So, are we going to get out, or?”

“Oh- yeah, sorry.”

Steve practically launched himself out of the car with how expeditiously he got out, Billy, on the other hand, got out smoothly, brushing a few stray hairs from his face as he shut the door and instantly went into a laughing fit.

“Oh, look it’s Melvin’s!”

“Melvin’s-?” Steve cocked a brow until he realized what the other was referring to. The sign stood proud as it sprawled itself across the entirety of the store’s front listing in giant letters, ‘Melvalds General Store’. He rolled his eyes with a huff, “Oh, haha wow you’re so funny, Hargrove.”

“I told you it wasn’t Melvin’s.”

“You didn’t say it was shit!” Steve rebutted.

“I told you that I didn’t think it was called Melvin’s, but you insisted it was Harrington! ‘Yeah it is, I know it is!’” Billy mocked the other with a chuckle.

Steve rolled his eyes again, getting a small nudge from Billy to reassure he was only teasing, but even after all of that, it felt awkward again. It felt awkward during the party, staying the night at Steve’s house, coming to the Wheeler’s, driving here, it all somehow gradually filled to the brim with an uncomfortable ooze which shrieked at them to stay in their helpless and unpleasant places when they tried to break the seal to their barrier.

Billy held the door open for the other, watching as Steve glided into the store with his hands hitching the front pockets of his jeans. The jingle of bells on the glass door came to a  clank as the door shut behind them, the only noises being the indistinct sound of a song swirling on a record player that wasn’t in sight and the roaring of their breath. Neither of them could decipher the lyrics but the tune they found to be awfully familiar.

Olive green painted the walls they were confined in and chartreuse danced as little accents on the boxes records and cassettes took a stand-in. Steve turned to Billy, watching curiosity take hold of his ocean blue eyes as they dashed from one place to the next, eventually dragging his attention to Steve who hadn’t moved, well, neither of them moved. They locked eyes, waiting for the other to do something until someone else came in behind them as if to tell them to actually do something.

. · . · . ·

Max knocked on the Byer’s front door with her skateboard in hand, tapping an anxious tune with her foot as she waited for someone to answer the door. She couldn’t drive or get a ride so going here was the best option for her to meet up with the others, mainly because she was the closest to Will’s house than the others and all she had was the skateboard. No big deal though, it could’ve been pouring down rain or hot enough to roast her alive, but thankfully it wasn’t. The only problem arose when the road surface rapidly switched from asphalt to gravel and she took a pretty hard fall hand first into rocks and what could’ve been glass… so there were a few cuts on her hand. No big deal though, she knows Will will have something for her wounds. She knew he had some bandages after she was teaching him to skate and he did the exact same thing. She held her palm to her mouth in an effort to keep the blood from ruining her clothes, lapping over the cuts with the taste of iron tainting her mouth. Max flinched as she knocked on the door again with her stained hand and brought it back before muttering a curse.

Will opened the door after a few clicks, an apologetic gleam in his eyes as his mouth opened to speak but stopped when he began to note what happened. “Did you fall?”

Max smiled, pulling her hand away revealing the faint coating of burgundy on her lips, “Yeah. But I’m fine, just gotta wrap it.”

Will smiled back as he turned away and ran off into another room allowing Max to walk inside and leave her skateboard next to the front door. She let out another curse, making her way into the living room, instantaneously being greeted by Lucas.

“Hey- Woah! Max, hey, are you okay?”

Max let out a half-hearted giggle, “I just fell, Lucas. I’m perfectly fine- just bleeding.”

Lucas furrowed his brows, eyes darting between her bloody hand and jade irises with concern.

“I’ve got the stuff!” Will hurried into the room, cotton balls falling out of grip before he could even put everything on a nearby chair, pulling the bandages from the mountain of cotton and turning to Max.

A voice called out from the other side of the room, a cocked brow illustrating his confusion, “What happened?” Mike stood up from where he sat with Eleven following close behind him as they investigated. “Oh, woah. What did you do?”

“I fell,” Max explained, holding her palm out to Will for his help. He didn’t hesitate to start pressing the cotton into her palm, a hiss passing her lips after he put a little too much pressure on it and in return an apologetic hum came from Will.

“Aren’t you supposed to disinfect a cut before you wrap it?” Lucas inquired.

Max forced out an answer, “I will when I get home, it’s fine.”

Will hesitantly continued to wrap her hand, “Are you sure? I didn’t think about cleaning it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It’ll be okay.”

Eventually, Will left the room to put everything up, leaving the rest of them to sit on the carpet around the coffee table that stood proudly as they turned on the radio and played with the dials. Eleven sat in front of it, eyebrows folding as she watched them fiddle with the buttons and argue with one another about which direction they needed to go. Her eyes flicked up to Dustin as he stood up. “Are you sure we should do this?”

All of them turned to her, blinking a few times before anyone spoke up and Will came back into the room. “I think we need to. There is no way anything good can come from Billy, especially when Steve is involved.” Dustin replied.

Lucas looked at Max, “Did Billy say anything about it?”

“About today?”

“Yeah.”

“I asked him about it, I asked what they were talking about and he told me they were going to have some ‘personal time’ together. He didn’t go into what ‘personal time’ was, but that’s just how he is.”

“That’s really vague,” Will added.

“That’s what I told him! But he didn’t say anything after that.”

Everyone exchanged stares between one another, all seemingly silently agreeing on moving forward with the plan. Will held out a tattered green bandana to Eleven as they watched in the roaring quiet they encased themselves in, all waiting for her to proceed and put everything in action. She hesitantly took the rag, playing with the torn hem as her fingers slid down to the corners and blacked out her vision.

. · . · . ·

Billy sighed before searching through another stack of cassettes, skimming over the familiar and unfamiliar names listed on each one as a sense of frustration soared through his body. Most of them he never heard before, others he had but didn’t want to bother trying to listen to, then there was the one percent he listened to, but they hadn’t released any new music. Steve lost interest in the miscellaneous section of vinyl, all of which were just rugged and scratched versions of ones and a quarter of the price they would normally go for. A sigh passed his lips as he moved away from the section and caught Billy in his sight, almost instantly noticing the look of distress covering his being. He hesitated walking over to him, but then he hated the fact he hesitated.

That hesitation, it’s part of their fear. The fear of the unknown, the inability to empathize, and the evitable. The hesitation, a part of an attempt to walk on glass around one another and not act towards fighting the monster that was the barrier. He took a step forward, and then another came to push him forward until he stood next to Billy, watching the way his hands cycled through the pieces of plastic until he suddenly stopped.

Billy turned to him, a lump made its way up into Steve’s throat with a plan full of destruction. “You look frustrated,” Steve spurted out, eyes darting around the others face to look for any changes to show some sort of harsh reality to him about how this all wasn’t going to work out, but nothing popped up.

Billy let out a half-hearted chuckle, putting the cassettes down into the box. “That’s because I am, pretty boy.”

Steve mentally let out a sigh of relief, he chewed at his cheeks as he watched the other face him again. “Why?”

Billy gave a good laugh, his grin large enough to force his eyes to shut ever so slightly. “Why am I frustrated? Is that what you’re asking ‘why’ about?”

Red flushed Steve’s cheeks, “Yeah! What else would I be asking ‘why’ about?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I was asking you!” Billy chuckled again, keeping note of the shade of embarrassment swaying on the other’s face. The grin was slipping from his lips as they remained silent, but Steve wasn’t going to let hesitation try and take them.

“What kind of rock do you like?”

Billy cocked a brow, “Do you want an answer to your first question- eh actually I’ll answer both right now. I’m frustrated because I can’t find anything I like, and I like anything that isn’t soft or old rock. That answer your questions?”

Steve let out a chuckle, “Yeah I mean, it does, you answered them.” Billy rolled his eyes. “These all look like metal cassettes though.” “Just because they’re all metal bands doesn’t mean I like them, dipshit.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Then which metal bands do you like?”

“Metallica, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, a little bit of Def Leppard. I haven’t really been able to explore other shit mainly because some of it is just shit.” A half-hearted laugh. “I also just like stuff I can relate to, ya know?”

Steve slowly nodded, the ghost of a smile crossing him. “I get that, I get that.” Billy began to go back to the cassettes, fiddling with the grooved edges of their cases and leaning on the counter as he waited for Steve to say something or go on his own merry little way back to the vinyl. “What do you like about Metallica?”

Billy looked back up to him with brows knitted as if to insult the question without even saying a word. He stood straight up as he pondered a response, the harsh expression melting off his face as he searched for the right answer, an answer that had some sort of meaning behind it. One that actually had some truth behind it. Billy forced a smile, “It’s an escapism,” he paused, the smile disappeared, “a bittersweet getaway from Hawkins for a few minutes.”

Steve faintly smiled in an attempt to show the other he understood, Billy flashed an appreciative one back but his eyes kept the sorrow. “What do you like to listen to?”

Steve chuckled, “Not the same stuff as you, not because I don’t like it, I just don’t have any rock vinyls.” Billy playfully scoffed, laughing as Steve rolled his eyes and crossed his arms which soon unraveled to grab a cassette from another box and stare at it’s the paper cover.

“10cc is one of my personal favorites.” Steve flipped the piece of plastic to reveal the art on the other side, holding it out to Billy for him to inspect it.

“10cc,” Billy paused in thought, flipped it to the back, “aren’t they a 70’s band?”

“I mean, as far as I know, they’re still making music. I couldn’t tell you what their latest album is though. I don’t really keep up with bands. I just like a lot of 70’s stuff my parents listened to when they were younger.”

“That sucks,” Billy looked up from the cassette, taking in each and every feature of the others’ faces as he asked, “Why do you like them though?”

“What do you mean?” Steve inquired, brows furrowed leaving Billy to laugh at the nonsense of an expression wiped his face.

“You asked me why I liked Metallica, Harrington. So, why do you like 10cc?” Now it was Steve’s turn to ponder. To think. To question. Billy had a dark reason behind why he liked what he liked, to put it as simply as possible, the music took its place as Hargrove’s coping mechanism for what he went through on a daily basis. But, Steve- Steve didn’t have troubles like that, sure they were also parental ones but nothing to the extreme the other had to deal with.

“I guess I kind of grew up listening to them, my parents have one of their albums, but I’ve bought a few of my own. But I think it’s kind of cool, ya know? You have this idea of what songs mean as a kid but when you grow up it kind of turns into something else.”

Billy expected some dumbass answer from the other, but it wasn’t one. His smirk faded to a side smile before questioning him. “‘Something else’?”

“It’s an idea. Your ideas change as you start to experience things. You learn what it’s really like to be out in the world, what you have to go through to accept others, what love becomes after you get hurt from it. It all changes with time.”

“Your experiences change you,” Billy added. “For the better, or for the worse.” Steve faintly smiled. “But sometimes people don’t let you have a choice when it comes to that, so you have to take hold of those experiences and decide what you want to define you.”

. · . · . ·

“What do you see?” Mike asked, staring at Eleven. They all stared at her with a yearning to see what she was seeing, to see if Steve was actually alive and okay or if they were going to have to go on a secret mission to go save him.

The void highlighted what she had been looking for, encasing the world in darkness while Steve stood there illuminated and talking, his voice bouncing around and echoing through her ears. Eleven tread closer to him, his voice gradually becoming more clear as she went from yards to feet away from him, listening in on a conversation marching close to its death.

“I see him… Steve.”

Max pondered the next obvious question but hesitated to ask it. “Is Billy with him? Is he there?”

As she took in Steve, Billy soon faded into existence within the dark. She had never been properly introduced to Max’s brother and when considering the stories of his violence and fury she heard, it came as no surprise. Steve prevented that from happening, she was aware, but when he came over to the Wheeler’s to pick up Max, Steve didn’t seem bothered. Maybe doing this would tell her why. Being here in the void made her notice how their voices contrasted with one another. Billy had a honeyed voice and way of speaking, almost as if his life goal was to flatter every person he met but bite them in the ass later on. Maybe she thought that because all she heard about him was terrible, but Steve, on the other hand, had a more calm, silvery voice that could boom if he wanted it to but as an empty threat. At first, she figured they were someplace alone, but the cassette in Billy’s hand said otherwise.

“Yes.”

“Is he dead?” Dustin spurted out.

Lucas nudged him, “Shut up, Dustin! Of course, he isn’t… is he?” Mike knitted his brows and glared at them, putting his finger to his lips while Max hushed them in demand they shut up.

“No.”

Mike brought his attention back to Eleven. “What are they doing?”

Billy put the cassette somewhere, it disappearing like he did a magic trick the second he let go of it. Anticipation bubbled in her chest as they stood silently for a second, one motioning they leave while the other followed along and so did she. The pieces of the puzzle were a jumbled mess she wanted to figure out, she wanted to put it together, but in order to do it she needed answers. She needed to know more. Soon they began to grab onto things, confusion playing with her as Billy’s car came into view and revealing they got inside.

“They… they got into Billy’s car, they’re….” Eleven halted her words as Steve shot the starting gun for their next conversation. “Talking.”

“About what?” Mike whispered.

“Themselves, they’re talking about…” she responded, hurrying to the car to get the story.

“At the party, after everything we said, why did you push everything off?” Steve asked.

Billy didn’t answer at first, he seemed to be thinking about what was coming. Thinking back to this ‘party’.  “…Are you talking about how I stopped crying and we got in the car?”

Steve bit his lip,  “Yeah.”

Billy hesitated once again, looking to Steve.  “I didn’t want to let you know I still had some tears left in me. I really didn’t want anyone to see us like that, to be honest with ya.”

“Two mortal enemies crying and screaming at one another? That’s a recipe for a disaster.”

“I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done if someone would’ve found us like that.” Billy shook his head as he waited for the other to input.

“I would’ve faked the fight.”

Billy let out a half-hearted laugh,  “You’re implying it would’ve gone that far? I would’ve beaten everyone’s asses who came over there to encourage some dumbass shit like that.” He paused, leaning against his steering wheel before looking over the other, observing the other.  “You would’ve faked it?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to fight you. And, I hope you don’t want to fight me either.” Steve responded as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

“I don’t want to fight you. But, what are we?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we friends?” Billy smacked his palm against the steering wheel before looking away from Steve. “What are we?”

“Friends.”

“Seriously? You’re serious, we’re friends?”

“Yes.”

Eleven ripped off the blindfold, rubbing away at the blood dripping from her nose as she resettled back into reality and everyone crowded around to hear what happened. After a few deep breaths, she looked up to all of them and swiped at her nose again. “They’re friends now. They don’t want to fight one another.”

“What!?” they all said consecutively.

Dustin popped another question, “When did this happen? How is that even possible?”

Eleven blinked, slightly shaking her head as she spoke as she tried to piece the puzzle together. “Steve said something about them crying at a party.”

Max scoffed, “Billy crying?”

“Why would El lie about that though? Surely it must’ve happened if Steve brought it up and Billy didn’t reprimand him for it.” Mike spoke up.

“Steve doesn’t go to parties anymore, we know that.” Lucas shook his head before turning to Dustin, “Did you know about a party?”

“I mean, Steve told me he was going to one for graduation but I didn’t think that happened!”

. · . · . ·

Billy bit his lip. The conversation continued while Eleven vanished only to leave some information out of the troubling puzzle the kids were trying to bunch together. A sigh emitted from Billy as he tapped his thumb against the wheel, his free hand there to gesture and act with his words while he spoke. “I’m… I’m trying to do better. Trying to get myself to warm up to you so all of this tension can fade away. There’s like this wall between us and I don’t know if you can feel it, but I can.” Silence took the reins and wrapped it around their throats in laughter. It mocked them. It belittled them for not being able to overpower the awkwardness, not being able to understand one another. It got a hold of Billy first where regretful thoughts began to bubble in his mind and force him to physically recoil and press his forehead into his steering wheel, tears threatening to rain down. “I’m sorry, I guess I don’t know what I’m-”

“No,” Steve paused, “I know what you’re talking about… I can feel it too.” They both wanted this to work, that was undeniable, but the question remained of how. Steve thought back to where he hesitated, how he hated how he hesitated, how he knew breaking it would lead to them being able to rip apart the barrier and send it crashing. He opened his mouth to speak, but Billy had been running through his thoughts on a raging path as well.

Billy half-heartedly laughed as he picked up his head from the steering wheel and let out a loud sniff. His eyes sparkled like the surface of the ocean blue on a sun-filled day as they watered, he turned to the other, occasionally looking at him and somewhere else as he spoke. “You mentioned earlier, that ideas all change with time. That our experiences alter what we go through to accept others. And maybe you didn’t mean it in this way, but when I listened to you, I thought of it as a hurdle. Our past experiences with one another are undeniably terrible, I treated you like a steaming pile of dog shit and you had every right to tell me to fuck off at the party after I went on that mile long apology… But you didn’t. I haven’t opened up to you anymore because I guess I’m just afraid, but I can’t just fucking do that because I want to help you. I want to help you understand me.”

Steve took in the emotions flowing through Billy’s words, he could tell the other felt frustration with expressing himself and getting the words out to describe how he felt. They confirmed they were both friends earlier, and now it was time to fuck up the barrier.

“I didn’t expect you to open up to me all at once, especially with the shit you’ve been through. No one should expect you to open up instantly. Building relationships with anyone takes time and growth and we know we’re friends now- we’ve got that checked off in our minds, but now we’ve gotta develop it! We can shatter the barrier, but we have to do it together.”

Billy sniffed again, a grin spreading across his face as he stared at the other and took in the emotions Steve shoved in his words. “How do you propose we break the barrier?”

“By,” Steve paused, shifting his entire body to face the other with a grin mirroring Billy’s, “We can do it by showing the kids that you aren’t a threat. When we do, we can hang out more and you don’t have to worry about Max. Open ourselves up over time. Break the barrier.” Billy nodded along to Steve’s plan, he licked his teeth and held his tongue between them, slightly opening his mouth to add his own part to the plan, but Steve interrupted with something the other didn’t expect.

“No matter what people see you as or say you are, Hargrove, you aren’t a monster… you’re just broken. You’re human. ” A shade of red tinted the apples of Billy’s cheeks and spread from there to the rest of his face like a rampant fire taking off over dry decomposing dead leaves and grass. Billy lost his words, he couldn’t even remember what he was going to say beforehand.

“I-” he started before breaking out into a bashful deep chuckle in an attempt to hide the change in color on his face from the other. Steve seemed to pick up on this and the fire slammed itself into his face as well, the same laugh resonating from him. Billy cleared his throat, “Thanks, pretty boy. But for future reference, just call me Billy. There’s no need to call me by my last name, we aren’t coworkers, or enemies  .”

“Yeah, no shit.” Another laugh.

Billy cocked a brow as a smirk sneakily snuck into his smile. “You ready to go home?”

. · . · . ·

Billy drove home after dropping off the other back at his place and speeding to get back home with the ghost of a smile drawn on his lips. He actually missed Steve’s presence, he wanted to hang out for longer but they could do it next time when Neil and Susan didn’t have any plans and he could afford to not be home. His radio screamed out the intro of a soft rock song through the speakers as he pulled up to their mailbox and came to a stop. He took a deep breath before switching off the engine and listening to it all die out. He didn’t have any words to describe today, well, he had one and it was frustration, but that was to describe his inner feelings shrieking in a choreographed dance with his demons. He smacked his palm against his steering wheel as he took another breath and laughed before finally getting out of his car and making his way inside the house. Excitement wiggled on his mind as he thought about the next time he and Steve would be out on the town together causing some havoc, even if in reality it really wasn’t that.

He had a grin painted on him as he strode through the house knowing that he had a few hours to himself. Well, actually he wasn’t by himself. Max should be in her room. His stride soon came to a stop when he began to question her presence. There had been times in the past where she had dipped while he had left and didn’t come back until minutes before Neil and Susan had gotten back, but she didn’t listen to him. He stopped in front of her door, ears on the hunt for a sign of her being in her room. Just one sign. He couldn’t hear anything.

Billy stood in front of her door, his heart pounding against his ribcage, raising his fist to knock before it opened on the other side. Max went still, her eyes wide as they deadlocked with the others in an unsettling dance of death. Just staring. She went to open her mouth to speak but noted how his eyes drifted down to her hand and brows furrowed. Fear took hold of her as his stare shot back up to greet hers again, dread spread through her body as she waited for venom… but nothing came to bite. Nothing came to throw her to the ground and go in for the kill.

He held his hand out for Max, remaining completely silent as she contemplated complying. There might not have been any spiteful words to kickstart an argument, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t going to be any to join them later. She cocked a brow as she hesitantly placed his hand into his, expecting only the worst from the other as he looked down at it.

Billy subconsciously bit his lip as his thumb drew across the bandages in a careful manner. “Max,” he whispered, flipping her hand over to see the other side. “Were you going to show this to me? Were you going to tell me about this?”

Max sharply inhaled, her voice quivering. “No.”

Billy staidly hummed as he continued to inspect the wraps, eventually bringing his stare to hers. “Max, who wrapped this?”

“I did.”

“No,” a frown tweaked at his lips in disappointment, “I know you didn’t because we ran out of wraps yesterday when I worked out. Whose house did you go to?”

Fear held the key to her lips as she glared at him. A scoff attempting to force itself past her lips, but the concern painted on Billy’s face shoved it down her throat.

“Max, answer me.”

“I went to Will’s. I skated. I fell.”

Billy blinked, his attention fading back to her hand. “Did you disinfect it?”

“No.”

“Go to the bathroom.”

Max cautiously made her way to the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub as she waited. She now knew her brother and Steve were friends, but how? Did he knock his lights out and settle their disputes? Confusion and anxiety took the form of tapping her foot against the tile and listening to how it echoed along with the unsettling anticipation laced itself in the air. Her eyes darted to the doorway as Billy appeared with wraps in hand.

Her brows furrowed, “You told me there weren’t any bandages.”

Billy glared right back at her. “I keep these in my room… for when I need them. “

Max’s expression softened as she looked away from him, holding out her hand for him to handle. “Stand up, we need to clean it. Put your hand over the sink.” A huff bounced off the tiles as she stood up, continuing to look away as she held out her arm over the sink and kept her expectations at their worst, but she didn’t expect Billy to remain so unusually calm. She didn’t expect Billy to gently unwrap her bandages, she didn’t expect him to give her a whisper of a warning before he cleaned it, she didn’t expect him to be… humane with her. She only expected pain, but the pain never came to say hello.

“Hey,” Billy whispered.

Max slowly turned to him, a blank expression plastered on her face. Emotions swirled in her chest, a concoction reaching its boiling point as she noted the bizarre changes in Billy. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact feeling to describe what she witnessed. The irrational yelling, harsh grabbing, insulting words they would exchange between one another weren’t there. They disappeared. She was at a loss for words as they stared at one another, a faint smile entangling itself in his lips.

“Just tell mom you fell in the ditch.” He paused, noting how worry painted her face. “I’ll back you up. I’m here for you.”

Max blinked, remaining silent. Steve must have done something to Billy to get them to be friends, and whatever it was, she was on the fence about it. Them ‘hanging out’ today was weird. All of this was weird.  Really weird . “Thank you,” she mumbled, eyes darting to avoid eye contact.

“You’re welcome,” Billy mumbled back, his eyes doing the same song and dance. He faintly smiled at her before trying to leave the bathroom and go into his room, but Max spoke up

“How was you and Steve’s stuff?” She asked. She knew he had no clue about the abilities that Eleven possessed and the fact she knew that he and Steve became friends, or that Billy cried. She couldn’t just expose anything out of the blue without getting a bewildered reaction out of it, so she tried to remain blissfully ignorant with her mouth.

Billy didn’t know what to respond with at first, he debated if he should tell her that he and Steve were friends, again unknowing of the information Max held. He decided against it. “It was good, we didn’t do much. How was your time at Will’s?”

Max didn’t know what to respond with at first either, she had concluded earlier on within the war of thoughts her mind fought that revealing anything to him was simply a certified death wish. “It was good.”

“Good.”

The fun had ended for the day, questions manifested even more as the kids learned new information about their honorary dad and what they thought to be his worst enemy. Sure, they found that they were friends, but what happened to lead up to that moment? What caused them to cry and scream at a party?

They’re ‘friends’ now. But will they open up to be more?

[megamanxfanfics]

S.V - Ep. 6: Recover the Laser! Fire the Enigma Cannon!!

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

INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room - NIGHT

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

Caption: 7:00 PM

Alia walks into the Control Room to report to Signas.

ALIA: (sighing) 7 PM and our heroes are fast asleep…

SIGNAS: There are 12 hours left and just one more device to get until collision. I think we’re alright if they take a short nap.

[Insert Title Card – Recover the Laser! Fire the Enigma Cannon!!]

ALIA: (worried) Hmmm…

SIGNAS: I know, it’s anxiety-inducing, but we have to let them rest.  Have faith.  They’ve saved the world so many times before.

ALIA: I know.. I’m just.. not used to being this close to the action, ya know?

SIGNAS: Hm?

ALIA: In the past, I always focused on my Research to distract me during the tough times. We tried to create cures for the Maverick Virus or at least find ways to combat it… When my old boss, Dr. Doppler failed to do that, I lost a lot of faith in the world.  Then my next boss, Berkana turned on us as well..

SIGNAS: (nodding) From Laguz Island…  I remember reading up on that.

ALIA: Up until now, I feel like I’ve been constantly on the run from the Maverick Virus.  My colleague escaped with me to a new lab, over in Abel City but… that didn’t work out.

SIGNAS: (curious) What happened?

ALIA: We were only trying to help!  The Great Repliforce War was in full effect, and my old colleague Gate…  He just wanted his enhanced Reploids to join the battle. But… our Superior felt that it wasn’t our place. She did everything she could to sabotage his operation.  Including… threaten my termination if I didn’t comply…

SIGNAS: (gasping, surprised) Oh nooo…

ALIA: I took this job, because I needed a serious change.  But now, all I see is the constant struggle that you guys face against the Maverick Virus! …I’m sorry, but… I just don’t know if I can handle it.

She chokes up and looks away, trying to contain herself.

Signas calmly walks over to her and places his hands on her shoulders.

SIGNAS: (comforting) Alia…  I hired you, because you are exactly the type of person that we need. Especially, right now.  Your analytical skills are beyond top-notch, and I’ve been meaning to put good use to that Research background of yours.  So now is as good a time as any.  Come.  I have something to show you.

ALIA: Hm?

He leads her to his main computer screen and pulls up a halogen image of the DNA Data they have retrieved from Grizzly Slash, Duff McWhalen and Squid Adler.

ALIA: (shocked) This is... DNA!!

SIGNAS: (affirming) Yep.  Here is the DNA Data that X & Zero have acquired from the Mavericks, so far…  Why don’t you and Douglas see if you can make something useful out of it, while we wait for them to wake up??

Alia gasps.

ALIA: (wide-eyed) This is… Wonderful!

SIGNAS: (smiling) You had mentioned your strong background in Research at our interview. So I figured, why does that have to change?

She nods with a brightness in her eyes, which livens up her spirits once again.

ALIA: Ohhh, Thank you, boss!  You have no idea what this means to me.

She can’t help herself and gives him a hug.

SIGNAS: (surprised) Oh! Hahah.  My pleasure.  

He reciprocates the hug, patting her on the back, twice.

SIGNAS: Go ahead. Do what you love, Alia.

He lets her go to work as she happily runs out of the room and heads for the R & D lab across the hall.

He returns to his chair with a smug beam on his face. From nearby, David turns over to Signas and leans in.

DAVID: Hey, what was that all about?

SIGNAS: She just had the first day jitters… Go ahead and send out Frenzy Fox to recover that Energy Cart.  Then, alert me when X and Zero wake up.  With any luck, we can fire the Enigma Cannon tonight!

- cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Infirmary – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Caption: Four hours later, 11:00 PM

Zero stirs awake and rips the energen feeding tubes off of his arms.  He looks over at X in shock, who seems to have been in the same state as him.He quickly sits up on his bed, leans over and shakes X by the shoulder.

ZERO: (shocked) X!  Wake up.

X: (groggy) Hmm? /Oh!

X grows wide-eyed at the sight of an alert, Zero who has fully recovered.

ZERO: How long have we been out, man?  We gotta get that Laser Device!

X blinks and feels his heart race at once. He sits up in bed.

X: (rising, tired) Yeeeah! Ogh.  Let’s go!

Zero stands up and helps X get out of bed.

ZERO: Alright. Come on, man!

They run out of the room.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Corridors – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

X and Zero run down the hallway as they receive a com-link from Signas.

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered, surprised) Oh! You’re both up. Excellent!  Pop in to the R & D Lab before you both set off on your next mission.  Alia and Douglas have some surprises for you.

X and Zero both look at each other, quizzically.

X & ZERO: Huh?

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – NIGHT -----------------------------------------------------------------------

X and Zero walk in to see Douglas and Alia high five each other.

ALIA: Yes!

X: Hey, guys. What’s going on??

ALIA: Oh, I’m glad you’re both up so soon. Check out what we’ve been working on!

They both walk over to their work table, with interest.  They see that five new items in the form of data chips are waiting for them.

ZERO: What is this?

DOUGLAS: Remember how we said I could make new parts for you guys??  Well, this is it!

He proudly displays five colorful chips, before them.

ZERO: (scoffing) Hmph… I don’t need any power-ups.

ALIA: (annoyed) Wait!  We’ve been working on these for the last 4 hours. The least you could do is listen to us.

Zero rolls his eyes and folds his arms, reluctantly.

ZERO: Okaay.  What have you got?

ALIA: I’d change my tone if I were you, because most of them are for you…

Zero jerks back for a second, surprised.

ZERO: What!?

X chuckles as she continues with a scowl.

ALIA: Well, first of all, Grizzly Slash was good for more than just his Crescent slashing abilities.  We were also able to create a Shock Buffer defense out of his DNA Data.

X: (intrigued) Shock Buffer?

ALIA: This decreases the amount of damage taken by half!

X: Ooh.

DOUGLAS: It also keeps you from being knocked back after taking a hit.

ZERO: (nodding) Alright.

DOUGLAS: We were then able to make a Super Recover chip from Duff McWhalen’s DNA Data.

ZERO: What’s that?

DOUGLAS: This makes all energen and weapon refill capsules restore twice as much power than usual.

X & ZERO: (surprised) Whoa.

ALIA: The last three are for Zero, exclusively. Sorry, X…

X shakes his head, paying no mind.

ALIA: This next chip, I think you’ll like. We call it the Z-Saber extend.

ZERO: (attracted) What?

ALIA: With this equipped, your Z-Saber will project a small wave of crescent energy with each slash, increasing your range by about 10%.

ZERO: Wow. Okay, I’m interested…

ALIA: (glowing, excited) Then you’ll Love the next two…  These are weapon items, extracted straight from McWhalen and Kraken’s core DNA.

ZERO: (nodding) Alright.

ALIA: First is Duff McWhalen’s Flying Splasher, which will give you more of a defensive Air-Dash that you can control with directional flight.

ZERO: (shocked) I can fly with this!?

ALIA: Only momentarily. Don’t get too excited. But yes. Your air-dash should be more mobile than before.  And you’ll be coated in a protective layer of the same material as X’s Goo-Shaver.

Zero looks at X.

ZERO: What’s that??

X: It’s like a water-based Plasma. I can’t really explain it, but it’s powerful stuff.  It’s what helped me bring down Squid…

He looks at his buster with slight remorse.

ALIA: Well, speaking of Squid Adler, that’s where this last chip comes from.   We’ve correlated his electric weapon data to interact directly with your Z-Saber, which will give you an awesome striking Electric Blade.

ZERO: Ooh.

DOUGLAS: (smiling) Still don’t want these Power-ups???

ZERO: (bothered, smile) Alright, gimme ‘em. X can have the Shock Buffer and Super Recover though. I don’t want to hog them all.

X shakes his head.

X: No, that’s okay.

ALIA: Huh???

X: I have the Force Armor, and another one on the way. I’m okay.  Really, I think Zero should have them.

ZERO: Are you sure??  All of them???

X: (smiling) I’m positive.  Let’s save the World, Zero.

He puts his fist out for a friendly bump with the most confident and sharp look in his eyes.

Zero gives him a nod and then a fist-bump with a smile.

X runs out of the room, while Zero equips his new power-up chips.

DOUGLAS: Wow!  And here you thought you weren’t getting any of these.

ZERO: Alriight, alriiight.

Zero gets equipped with all 5 of the power-up Data Chips within his gauntlet. Then he looks up with an eager grin.

ZERO: Man! I can’t wait to test out these new abilities.

ALIA: (content) We’ll be right here.  I’ll be on coms guiding you both every step of the way.  Now, go!

She leans up and gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder, but he simply turns around and runs away, ignoring her.

ALIA: (reacting) Oh…

DOUGLAS: Something wrong?

She combs her hair with her hand for a second and walks over to the monitor.

ALIA: N-no..  I just hope they’re successful on this mission…

DOUGLAS: (smirking) Uh huh.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NOVIKOVO – Fortress Lab – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Caption: 9:05 AM - Russian Time

In the solitude of Novikovo, Russia lies a rich, fortified lab, hidden from sight by numerous tall mountains.

X and Zero teleport to the area and take in the sight of his massive fortress.  They land on a cobblestone roof, just before a drawbridge, which leads to the entrance of the fortress.

ZERO: Whoa… This place, is huge.

X and Zero instantly explore the area as they kick-jump up a small wall, which leads to the large drawbridge.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) We can learn lots about Dr. Izzy Glow just from looking at this Laboratory… He is the world leading authority on laser technology. Therefore, the laser he created will be great use to the Enigma. I hope he will willingly give one to us, but… …I heard he is a very stubborn person so this might not be easy.

Zero grins.

ZERO: Well, I can be very stubborn, myself. Come on, X!

X nods and readies his buster

Zero pulls out his saber and slashes at the draw bridge a couple of times, admiring his new orange-tinted extended slashes as he cuts at the bridge a little harder.

X shoots level-1 shots at the bridge until it is forced down to lie flat, before the actual entrance of the hallway.

They both run on top of the bridge, which does not quite reach the hallway entrance. They stop short, when they see that below them is a dangerous bed of spikes.

ZERO: Whooa, let’s steer clear of that.

X:

Yeah!

They both carefully dash-jump inside Dr. Izzy Glow’s Fortress.

-      pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Hallway Entrance – DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They proceed down the red-carpet steps, before a long wall where a Met jumps out at them.

X: (gasping) Haven’t seen one of these in a while.

He shoots at it a couple of times, but his pellet shots are blocked by it’s hard-hat.  After a moment, the met peeks his little face out, while Zero dashes and takes a strike at the air.  His extended slash is able to reach the met from a distance, surprising both him and X.

X looks over to him.

X: Whoa, you get a pretty good reach with that thing.

ZERO: It’s like a complete extra slash! I’m gonna have to get used to that.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Hehehe.

They both kick-jump up the wall before them and spot another met on the other side of the carpeted floor.  This time X takes it down with some carefully aimed level 1 shots, while Zero drops down and leads the way.  Zero runs into another wall and kick-jumps up towards a Guardian drone, which he easily cuts down once it’s shield guard is up.  

They drop down through the opening corridor as they come near a lethal chandelier of spikes.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Whoa, careful!  The platforms above you can’t be destroyed, so you will have to time it just right to get through…

X: (acknowledging) Right!

They both wait and see two spike chandeliers rapidly drop down before them.

ZERO: Damn!  This guy really doesn’t want any visitors.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Told yaa.

The chandeliers slowly rise up, out of sync, but with their opening they dash through and pass the platforms.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Oh no!!

ZERO: Hm??

X: What is it?

Zero slashes another guardian and met down, while Alia speaks.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) There’s another researcher and he’s stuck just beyond that board above you.

X: Hmph!

X transforms into his Force Armor with a quick flash of white light and looks up at the board with a determined face.  He fires a charged plasma shot to the wooden plank, but it is simply absorbed into the mysterious virus-infected board.

X: Whaat?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) It’s just like I thought…  You can’t break through the board unless you use a special weapon.

Zero perks up and sparks his Z-saber with lightning.

ZERO: Allow me!!

He uses his new rising Electric Blade attack, but unfortunately it does not work.

ZERO: What!?

He jumps up and tries to use his Crescent Blade slashes in the air, multiple times, but to no avail.

ZERO: Damn it!

X shoots a charged Goo-Shaver at it, which does not work either.

X: Nothing is working!!!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Try… Dragoon’s Rising Fire.  You should have it again..

X: (surprised) Really??

X looks up, concentrates and shifts his armor into red and white as he charges up.

X: (concentrating) Shuuuuryukeeeen!!!!

Zero takes cover as X blasts through the wooden planks only to find more spiked chandeliers in his way.

X: (reacting) Whoa!!

He quickly air-dashes and holds on to the wall, setting off his thrusters.  Once the chandeliers rise, he is able to kick-jump up the wall and assist the researcher in need.

RESEARCHER: (grateful) Ohh. Thank you!  I was installing Dr. Glow’s enhanced security platforms when this board mysteriously appeared and trapped me inside.

X nods.

X: That’s Sigma’s virus. It’s been awful to us all.  Here.

He pulls out a teleporter ring and offers it to the Researcher.

RESEARCHER: Be careful!  I fear this Fortress is ridden with the Virus.  You’ll need this.

He pulls a Power-cell out from his compartment belt and offers it to X in return.

X gasps and takes it.

X: Thank you!  Where’d you get this?

RESEARCHER: (insulted) We make them!

X: What?

The Researcher takes the teleporter ring and sends himself away.

X makes a confused face as he drops down to an impatient Zero.

ZERO: Come on, X!!!

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Chandelier Trap - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Zero dashes across the hall to a set of ladders.  He ignores them and double-jumps in the middle of the room, narrowly bypassing a chandelier that comes down right behind him.

With the chandelier lowered, X uses the first ladder and then catches up to Zero at the second ladder with an air-dash, while the chandelier rises.

At the top level of the room X and Zero spot a guardian waiting for them at the other side of the rising chandelier.

ZERO: Got this one!!

He fearlessly air-dashes toward the guardian mechaniloid and sets off his new F-Splasher forcefield around his body.  His air-dash is just as short, but he is able to direct it more as an attack, lowering himself right into the mechaniloid as it crumbles under his water-based plasma power.

X & ZERO: Whoa!!

X: Damn, Zero. Are you crazy??

Zero looks at him with wild eyes.

ZERO: After staying in the game this long? - You know it!!

X makes an amused, but concerned face as Zero takes the lead once again.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Spiked Room - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They both pass the platform to find a spiked floor below them and a series of spiked chandeliers hanging on chains from the ceiling.  

X: Oh man… How should we tackle this one?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered)

You should proceed by stepping on the platforms.  Please be careful.

ZERO: (revved up) You heard her!

Zero anxiously air-dashes to the first chandelier platform after it drops.  Then the next, as they both rise towards the ceiling.

Zero turns around and gives X a thumbs up.

ZERO: See X?  It’s no biggie…  Just do what I do.

X looks in horror and points behind him.

X: Look out!!!

ZERO: Huh??

He turns around to find a small purple Sigma head with devilish horns right behind him.

ZERO: SIGMA! What the- Uaarrrggghhhh!!!!!

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Heeheeheeheehee.

With no time to react, Zero has no choice, but to dash through Sigma’s head, which dissipates and relinquishes itself into his pores like a ghost virus.

X & ALIA: (horrified, o.s, filtered)

Oh NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Zero glows with a purple aura as he air-dashes to the other side and carefully looks at his body.

X: (wary, worried) ZEEERRROOO!!!!!

The purple aura slowly disappears as Zero stares at his hands and blinks, confused and awestruck.  He keeps his back to X and stands there in silence.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, scared) Oh, God…

X fights through the chandelier platforms with a determined glare in his eyes as he nears, Zero.

ZERO: It’s… okay.

X lands right behind him.

X: (fretful) Huh?

Zero turns around with his armor looking pristine and glossy, as if he was first created.

ZERO: (surprised) I’m.. okay!!!

He shows X his clean hands, opening and closing them as if they are brand new.  

ALIA: Was it the Shock-Buffer that protected you??

ZERO: Maybe… I don’t know…

He twists his wrists and stretches his fingers, until he unfurls the Z-Buster from his right hand only to find that it has completely been repaired.

X: (worried) What the-

Zero shakes his head.

X: Did Sigma just… repair you???

ZERO:

(wide-eyed) I don’t… know!

He makes a firm grimace of his own as he looks away, trying to focus on the mission.

X: Why would he do that…?  And how???

He shakes his head, a little more annoyed.

ZERO: I don’t, know!!  Come on, we don’t have any time.

He runs away, while X is left to simply shake it off and continue to push past more chandelier obstacles in a short maze-like descending hallway.

They both wrestle through short spiked chandeliers and a couple of mets in their way, before they find another Researcher who looks hurt, near a tall chandelier.

ZERO: Here, man.

He gives the researcher a teleporter ring and air-dashes above, into another descending set of spiked platforms.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Break the door that you can see below, and proceed to the next room.

They carefully make their way down until they find the door and break it down a combined charge shots.

ZERO: (smirking) Haven’t done that in years…

He runs in to the next room.

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Spiral Staircase - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

In the next room, they come to a flight of stairs which spiral upward seemingly endlessly.

X: (worried) Zero, are you sure you’re okay?

They come across a bunch of spiky mechaniloids and tiny hotarion firefly mechaniloids.  

ZERO: (upset) I don’t want to talk about it!

He slashes the spikys down with an extended slash.  Then he crescent slashes a set of hotarian’s brutally and swiftly air-dashes ahead.

X: (reaching out) Waait!!

X dashes, only to get cut off by another ghost virus of Sigma’s head, which has appeared before him.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Heheheh….

X: (spooked) Whoooa!

X blasts him with level 1 shots, but they go right through him.  He frantically dashes around the ghost virus and runs away from him.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) What’s the matter??

It disappears and reappears before him, as X gets stung by some hotarian lasers in the process.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Are you scared that I might find you? …The real youuuu???

An image of iX appears in X’s mind.

He charges up.

X: NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

X blasts a large Plasma shot, which takes out a set of hotarians in his way as he finally catches up to Zero, who has been halted by aPrism Guardian.

Four poles have dropped from the ceiling, in which three block-shaped laser turrets have taken their positions against Zero and fired their first set of lasers at him.

Zero manages to jump to the far pole and cling to it with his wire-hook, evading the bottom two laser blasts.  However, he takes the brunt of the top laser blast as he attempts to slash it down with his Z-Saber.

ZERO: Auughh!

X: /AAH!!

X blasts down the laser turret that was hurting Zero with a Plasma Shot, while the other two, retreat back into the ceiling.

Zero drops down with a grateful look.

X: You okay?

Zero makes a weakened smile and gives him a silent thumbs up.

Then, three more laser turrets come down in different positions.  X and Zero fire and crescent slash at two pink turrets near them, but their attacks only ricochet off.

X uses his old Aiming Laser, which attackes all three turrets at the same time with a green, red and yellow laser.  The black turret is the only one, which is affected and destroyed.

X: The black turret is the target!

ZERO: Nice, X!!

The turrets retreat once again, and then reappear in different positions.  A black turret is directly above Zero.

He narrows his eyes with a smirk and uppercuts it with an Electric Blade slash.

ZERO: (proud) Yeah!!!

X smiles at his partner, then charges up as he sees them come down again.  This time, the black turret is in the middle, while a pink turret lands directly in front of him.  He jumps on the pink turret and blasts the black one away with a Plasma Shot before it can fire upon him.

The other lasers fire anyway, despite missing their targets and retreat into the ceiling once again.

When they reappear, Zero double jumps towards the far black turret and uses his crescent spinning slashes to annihilate the Prism Guardian.  With his last attack, the entire Security system explodes and the poles themselves are fried out of their sockets, falling down to the ground, pathetically.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Wow! You did it!!

ZERO: (cocky) As if there was any doubt…

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Okaay, okaay. Easy, boys.  There should be a teleporter at the end of the stair-case.  Proceed with caution.

The two smile as they run towards the teleporter and use it, one after another.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Top Defense Systems - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

X and Zero teleport into a nice open hallway with an excellent view of the mountains by an open balcony with gorgeous architecture.  But these sights are ruined by spiky mechaniloids which bounce after them on the luxurious carpeted floor.

X: Aah!

X fires level-1 pellets at them, annoyed as they are put down quite easily.  They make their way up a carpeted ramp, which leads towards a very threatening laser cannon.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) His defense system is engaged. It attacks you with powerful plasma. You may be able to neutralize it with your other weapons.

X: Hmm…

He tries his X-Buster, but it ricochets off. Zero’s Z-Buster, as well.

Zero then tries using his crescent slashes, which work like a charm as they completely destroy the large laser cannon.

X: Nice, work Zero.

They look up and come to find that the whole hallway above them is riddled with these laser cannons.

X: Oh man. We have our work cut out for us.

ZERO: Then let’s get started!!

Zero double-jumps up, ignoring the ladder right by them and kick-jumps off the wall to reach the next floor, only to get knocked down by a large Plasma Blast.

X carefully climbs up the ladder and creates a forcefield out of his C-Shot, immediately destroying the laser cannon.

X: Hmph, That’s what you get.

X dash-jumps over Zero and dashes ahead.

Zero shakes his head with a smile as he gets up.

ZERO: Whatever..

He dashes after him, up the ramp.

With X’s C-Shot forcefield, he runs through a hotarion and easily kick-jumps through two defense systems on the wall, as he reaches the next floor. Then, his radar suddenly perks up.

[RADAR]: Light Capsule above.

X: (gasping) Really??

His C-Shot forcefield dissipates when he looks up and finds a small nook near the ceiling.

X: Ooh.

Zero catches up with X, to see him distracted by another power-up.

ZERO: While you’re busy with that, I’ll clear the path ahead.

X: (nodding) Alright, bud.

He air-dashes towards the wall above and sees a laser cannon before him.  X simply fires C-shots in a rapid fashion, cutting away at the cannon as it fires it’s plasma at him.  At close-range, X persistently dodges with side-dashes and nearby close calls until the cannon is destroyed.

X: Yes!!!

He walks into the hidden room and stands before another Light Capsule, surprised to see him again so soon.

DR. LIGHT: (smiling) This is the final program for the Falcon Armor. Analyze this arm upgrade and store it into a secure area with Alia’s help.  Once it is successfully uploaded, your Falcon Armor will be complete.

X smiles.

DR. LIGHT: With the arm part equipped, you can maximize the attack power of your original shot and fire a piercing laser as your Fully Charged shot. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to charge the special weapons in this armor, but luckily you still have the Force Armor for that. As this armor specializes in mobility, you might find that this is all you need.  

X makes a thoughtful nod as Dr. Light disappears.

X: (at ease) Hmm… It seems that Dr. Light was concerned about balancing my power-set, after all.

He steps inside the capsule to receive his upgrade.

-pan down and across the hall-

Zero has destroyed a set of defense cannons within the hallway, and is dropping down into an open room, where more plasma cannons await him.

ZERO: Hey Alia.  Any idea how close I am to Dr. Glow??

He swiftly advances towards the wall and double jumps with crescent slash attacks as he ascends through the corridor with kick-jumps.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You’re very close, actually. Dr. Izzy Glow’s room is above you, about 30 clicks away. There are several plasma defense devices installed on the way, so keep using your C-Slash!

ZERO: (smiling) Got it!

He ascends up the stairs and chips away at the cannons ahead of him.  As he kick-jumps up the long vertical hallway, X catches up to him with a C-Forcefield of his own.

X: Hey.

ZERO: Hey!

They both take their sides on opposing walls and proceed to plow through Dr. Glow’s defenses, until they reach the top floor and find the gateway to his chamber at last.

X gasps as they run through the gateway.

ZERO: This is it, man. You ready?

X: (nodding) Let’s save the World, Zero.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Izzy Glow’s Chamber – DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A siren immediately goes off, as the two intrude on Dr. Glow’s private space.  From there, the lights go out dramatically as Izzy Glow makes a colorful appearance with a teleport that has a firefly glow.

The lights go back on, but so does the device to his laser cannon, which he seemed to be working on, before they barged in.  It sparks omionously amidst the dim light as he scowls down at them in mid-air.

IZZY GLOW: (unamused)

What a graceful entrance…

X: This laboratory is so badly infected by the virus. There was no other way for us to enter.

IZZY GLOW: Hmph!

ZERO: Dr. Izzy Glow, will you do us a favor?

IZZY GLOW:

(stubborn) My work is not for Maverick Hunters! I’ve never trusted your approach. Therefore, I will not cooperate with you.  However, I do find you both fascinating… No one has ever managed to analyze the infamous X and Zero…

X: Doctor!  We don’t have time to argue with you.  Please, understand.

IZZY GLOW: (shaking) My body… has already been infected, too. I realize these thoughts may be wrong… But it’s too late to change now…  Soon, I’ll be one of the Mavericks…

X: Noo!!

ZERO: Brace yourself, X!!

IZZY GLOW: It’s time…  I’ll have to learn about you two through battle. Now…  Put me out of my misery!

X: DAMN IT!

ZERO: LET’S GO!!!

Zero runs towards Izzy Glow and instinctively uppercuts him with an E-Blade, which violently shocks the stubborn specialist.

X reluctantly switches to his new Tri-Thunder power with a frown.

X: (v.o, thinking) Alright, Adler…  You’re gonna help me save the World after all.

Izzy Glow teleports away from Zero, only to get blasted down by X’s Tri-Thunder, which covers the room in three currents of power.

IZZY GLOW: Caaauuughhh…

X shakes his head.

X: This is unfair..

ZERO: (firm) We have a job to do, X!

He dashes towards the Firefly and slashes at him in a combo.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

He teleports away, swiftly and angrily.

IZZY GLOW: Take this, you foul Hunters!!

He shoots out a sophisticated Firefly-shaped laser, which directs itself down towards X.  When X dashes away, he directs it to Zero, who powers up and defiantly air-dashes above it with an F-Splasher.

The F-Splasher reaches Dr. Glow’s legs and stings him as he teleports away.

Zero proceeds to use his 2ndjump to stay airborne and Crescent slash him on the back on the way down.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH.

He teleports over to the wall and juts out his bottom-light, which he powers up.

IZZY GLOW: Get AWAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

He fires a powerful green laser at them, which knocks them both down.

Then he swiftly comes near them and teleports away, faking them out constantly as a form of defense.

ZERO: Agh!  What the Hell is with this guy!??

X: He doesn’t know how to fight, Zero. We’re forcing his hand!

ZERO: (aggravated) WE NEED THAT LASER!!!

X: (torn) I KNOW!!!!

Izzy Glow floats above them and blasts his bottom Prism Laser at them vertically.

ZERO: NO!! I refuse to feel guilty.

He dashes away and uppercuts him again with an E-Blade.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAIIIIHHHHH.

ZERO: You’re not cooperating, and told us you’re becoming Maverick.

X shakes his head with tight, closed eyes, holding back some tears as he charges up.

X: I can’t believe I’m doing this… I’m sorry Doctor… but WE HAVE TO PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERYYYYY!!!!!

He unleashes a charged Tri-Thunder, which creates six currents of lightning around the room.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.  

He tries to evade the thunderbolts with swift teleports, but gets shocked three times and falls to the ground, smoking.

IZZY GLOW: (panting, hurt) To die at the hands of the Notorious X & Zero… Is this my cruel fate..?

X: It doesn’t have to be!!

He shakes his head, huddling over, in pain.

IZZY GLOW: (obstinate) No…  I’m too far gone…  But if I get out of this alive..  I’m coming after what’s left of this planet and tormenting everyone you Love!!!!!

ZERO: That’s it!!

Zero runs after him as Izzy Glow unfurls his last desperation attack.

IZZY GLOW: Prism Shot!

He spreads his arms out to create lights across the floor, where a multitude of green light-balls attack them from all directions.

X: Aghhh. No..!

Zero grits his teeth and electrifies his Z-Saber once more.

ZERO: It’s time to /DIE!!!!!

With a final uppercut from his Saber, he slices Izzy Glow in half and absorbs his DNA instantly.

Zero gasps as he feels a new power enter his veins.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You got Izzy Glow’s Chaos Flasher from his DNA Data! His weapon chip is the Will Laser, which X may use.

X sniffles.

X: (regretful) I don’t care.  I just wanted the Laser Device for the Enigma...  Why does it always have to come to this…?

He walks over to Izzy Glow’s remains and picks up his weapon chip.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) It looked like a quiet Laboratory… but the inside was in complete ruins.  The Sigma Virus has caused total disorder everywhere… In order to fix the situation, we need to make good use of Dr. Izzy Glow’s Laser Device.

At this moment, she teleports Douglas and their Recovery Team – Rho, Frenzy Fox, Freeze Alopex and Frostbite into the room.

X looks at them, awestruck.  Their surviving teammates are as focused as ever as they go right to work at dismantling the laser device with Douglas’ help.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) We’ll finish taking the Laser Device back to the base.  Thank you for your help.  We’ll meet you at the Hunter Base.

X nods and powers down into his base armor, feeling a sense of relief for the first time in a while.  Maybe they were going to win this one, after all.

-fade to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Caption: December 6th, 1:00 AM – 2 hours later…

X, Zero, Alia, Douglas, Signas, Hector, Kirk, Dave, Lucas, Rho, Frenzy Fox, Freeze Alopex, Frostbite and Lifesaver all look at the Main Monitor with hope in their eyes.

Displayed is a schematic of the completed Enigma Cannon.

DOUGLAS: At last!  The Enigma has been completed!!  It’s old, but we’ve reinforced it with those devices… It should work fine…  Well, we’re ready!

Everyone nods as a group as they all look ahead at the screen with anticipation.

SIGNAS: The time has come at last! We are going to launch the Enigma.  The fate of the Earth depends on it.

Alia calculates her figures one last time.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NEW MHHQ – The Enigma Cannon - NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

On the right side of the base, we see a bird’s eye view of the upgraded cannon, pointed at the sky.

ALIA: (o.s) The energy, the power, the angle… everything is clear.

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Signas clenches a fist as he makes his fateful command.

SIGNAS: All right…  This is it.  /FIRE!

-pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NEW MHHQ – The Enigma Cannon - NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!

We see the Enigma Cannon /fire a powerful blue blast from a close angle.

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!!

We see a side-angle view of the same fateful blast.

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!!!

We see a final back-angle view of the cannon as it blasts it’s huge wave of energy into the sky.

We follow the giant blue wave of energy into Outer Space, where it collides with the Space Colony, Eurasia.

-pan to-

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

EXT. OUTER SPACE – Eurasia - NIGHT

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

The Space Colony is struck by the blast, which does severe damage to it’s front and side.  The blast erupts into a brilliant flash of light.

-Fade to White-

SIGNAS: (o.s) Did we make it? …Did it get crushed apart?? Alia, give us the report.

ALIA: (o.s) …Negative! We only destroyed 62%!!

Jeers from the Hunters can be heard.

HUNTERS: (o.s, layered) Damn it!!

HUNTERS: (o.s, layered) Shit!!!

-fade in-

We slowly see that the Eurasia Colony is still fully operational, with only a chunk of damage done to it’s frontal and side regions.

ALIA: (o.s, disheartened) We have merely made it change orbit… and delayed the time of impact…

-pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Alia winces at the screen, and looks down feeling hopeless.

X’s mouth is agape, as he stares at the screen in disbelief.

Signas looks at the screen with a dogged, unwavering glare, while Douglas makes a confused, crooked look at the screen with a slight grimace.

ZERO: Curses!

Zero looks down with closed eyes, while the other Hunters console each other.

Frenzy Fox and Freeze Alopex give each other a saddened hug, while Rho bends down to hold Frostbite in consolation.

Lifesaver takes a deep breath, lets out a sigh and leaves the room.

DOUGLAS: The Enigma was not successful?

SIGNAS: (confirming) No…

He makes a firm grimace.

ZERO: Now what…?

-Freeze frame. Grainy Effect.-

The failed Hunters all look down in defeat and despair, while X stares at the screen with a determined face.

-Fade to Black-

[junker-town]

Don't let the NBA rapper stereotype fool you, Damian Lillard's album is very good

Trust me on this one.

If you’ve never heard Damian Lillard rap before because you've been skeptical of NBA players in the booth, then you’ve been missing out. Lillard, who goes by Dame D.O.L.L.A. on tracks, is good. Not just good for a basketball player, but just good in general.

The Trail Blazers point guard has had success with the songs too. He dropped the “Bigger than us” music video in 2016 and even has some songs featured on the NBA 2k18 soundtrack .

On top of that, L̶i̶l̶l̶a̶r̶d̶ Dame D.O.L.L.A just dropped his new project “CONFIRMED. I decided to take a listen and break it down track by track.

HERE WE GO:

*Looks at tracklist*

There is a 2 Chainz feature. It’s lit.

Track 1: NO PUNCHES

Beat:

Favorite line: “So many teachers on my journey feel this was my calling. To be examples for present stars and children following. Keep it low, the world ain't gotta know you really balling.”

The intro to an album sets the tone of the whole project, which is a pretty important aspect... just ask Meek Mill.

This is a really good intro song. D.O.L.L.A’s flow is impressive and syncs with this beat really well. You find yourself bopping along to the melody and words instantly. From this intro, you know that D.O.L.L.A is going to give you a lot of lyrical substance and tell you some meaningful things about his life on this album. It reminds me of Lecrae — D.O.L.L.A’s flow lets you know that he will be giving you a message.

Track 2: BOSS LIFE

Beat:

Favorite line: “The value of a dollar quickly change. Still don't do the strip club, but love the finer things. Even when I cop myself a flooded diamond chain. I hate to say I'm different, bruh, but I ain't the same.”

Lillard seems like a pretty humble NBA Player, he doesn’t flex for attention, but that doesn’t mean that he has to act like he doesn’t have money now. On this track, he’s talking about all the newfound things that have come into his life because of his wealth, but he’s not being braggadocios or in your face about it. He’s just telling it how it is.

Nothing in this song sounds like an exaggeration or made up... and that’s incredible.

Track 3: SWITCH SIDES feat Verse Simmonds, Brookfield Deuce.

Beat:

Favorite line: “Y'all loud mouths move in silence. Fake tough, ain't new to violence. East Oakland, immune to sirens. Jet talk, we do it private. “

This is the first song on the album that contains features. The hook is pretty catchy and this song has mad potential to be the new NBA Offseason anthem. Will it be the go-to subtweet song lyrics when a free agent signs with another team? Because that’s all I think about when I listen to this song.

Track 4: Run it up feat Lil Wayne

Beat:

Favorite line: “I'm from where Golden State at but Portland where I lay at I'm the Daddy Mac, Mac Daddy with hoop and rappin' Y'all be on your Kris Kross, uh, hustlin' backwards All this game I'm givin' is prolly gon' be a caption.”

The beat screams banger, but the lyrics aren’t about the standard club shit.... well Wayne’s lyrics are.

D.O.L.L.A's lyrics, on the other hand, reminds us that he could stunt on all of us is he really wanted to.

I’d play it in the whip, not gonna lie.

Track 5: SHOOTA feat. Expensive Melodies

Beat:

Favorite line: Can you pretty please tell me that fragrance? Never name drop, but, baby, I'm famous You hotter than a sauna, girl let my mama, meet your mama, girl

This is the new shoot your shot anthem. It feels like when Meek Mill has that ballad style song in the middle of his usual style.

It’s an interesting move to get someone else to sing the hook even though the hook says “I’m Dame no Dash”. It’s a fire hook don’t get me wrong, it just caught me off-guard to hear someone sing “I’m Dame no Dash” and the person singing it isn’t Dame.

At first, I was like “Yo, Lillard can sing like this?!” and then you do a double take at the tracklist.

Track 6: ANOMALY feat 2 Chainz

Beat: TRUUUUUUU

Favorite line: Reporting live from the blacktop. I've been hustling since Will Smith had a flattop - 2 Chainz

Dame D.O.L.L.A’s ear for beats is pretty damn good. His flow and voice are also pretty versatile and it shows on this beat. It’s rare for someone to have a song with 2 Chainz and not have the show stolen from them. That’s major props to D.O.L.L.A.

This is the perfect beat for a collaboration with 2 Chainz. His flow is so smooth that he just rode the beat and spit that heat.

Now we just need to see Lillard vs 2 Chainz on the court.

2 Chainz a national treasure http://pic.twitter.com/mYQ6szlliK

— Blog Post Malone (@KofieYeboah) May 2, 2017

Track 7: MARSHAWN LYNCH

Beat: You know why I’m here.

Favorite line: What I'm here for Looking in your cabinet for that Hypno Trying to get it popping like some Crisco Speeding cross that bridge off to Frisco It's official

This might be my favorite beat and hook on the anthem. I was looking for a surprise Marshawn cameo but it is what it is. Can there be a remix? Please?

Track 8: TRAP PARTY (FUNERAL)

Beat: Eerie

Favorite line: I stopped by the crib, condolences and my feelings hurt, My partner really ain't coming back, I just buried him in six feet of dirt, And ready to deal with that pain though.

This might be my favorite overall song on the album. The hook, the vibe and the lyrics all come together perfectly and lyrics are heavy. When you lose a friend or a loved one, you reminisce on the good and funny memories with your Day 1 friends while still trying to react and cope with the hurt. This is just one of the many points on the album when D.O.L.L.A is saying that real shit. Those lyrics that stick and resonate with those that have gone through the same thing.

Track 9: 5TH of HENN

Beat:

Favorite line: The girl in the passenger seat, I'm taking her on a safari, I charter the plane on vacation, I lead to a standing ovation, That Henny in rotation

On this song, for some reason, D.O.L.L.A seems more comfortable with switching up the flows. He’s a pretty composed person and you can feel it throughout this album, but this song seems to contain an extra burst of energy. Especially right out of the gates with the first verse. This song isn’t introspective, but rather a fun song to two-step to after some shots. Something to pregame to before hitting the club, you know?

Track 10: ONE & ONLY

Beat: ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️

Favorite line:

Put your feet on my lap and let me massage that

Girl, I bring you everywhere the squad at (the squad)

It's magic everywhere we makin' contact

Let's focus on us and never get sidetracked

It’s an interesting transition from 5TH of HENN, but it’s not that type of album so it doesn’t matter that much. This song is telling me that Damian Lillard is working on becoming more versatile as a musician. He takes a stab at singing the hook and I had to again do a double take at the tracklist to make sure it wasn’t someone else.

I wasn’t expecting him to sing the hook okay?! With that being said... it’s not bad. I respect the attempt and him expanding his horizons.

Track 11: THE LET DOWN feat Nick Grant & BJ The Chicago Kid

Beat:

Favorite line: Will they love me when I'm slowin' down and missin' game winners?

No longer buyin' flights and all them free steak dinners. Wish me happy birthday if it's over 'cause I'm injured. Is the luxury the only thing I gave 'em to remember?

Throughout this song, D.O.L.L.A is contemplating how his life will look after he’s done playing basketball.

What Lillard is asking us fans is when it’s all said and done, who is going to give a shit? Fame isn’t easy, and going from being in the spotlight to fading away from it is an intense transition that isn’t the same for everyone. You really feel for D.O.L.L.A in the fact that he’s reaching to us as Dame D.O.L.L.A the person and not just a basketball player that entertains the masses like some people sadly only see him as.

I ain’t famous or rich, but I still felt this.

It’s like NAV said. “They gon' leave you when you down, not when you up”

Nick Grant and BJ the Chicago Kid have excellent features on top of a beat that reminds you of your kickball stats on the playground when you were a kid.

Just me? Alrighty then.

Track 12: MEMBERS ONLY

Beat:

Favorite line:

I keep a small circle (I do), family, couple homies

Know these suckers hating so I'm never by my lonely

You know how we rocking, this a testimony

Can never crack the code, better know it's members only

For someone who spends as much time in the spotlight as Lillard does, he stresses the importance of having a few good friends in life. It’s like the anti-Jay Gatsby way, which is a very good thing.

Lillard is very wise, and while he’s telling us about his life, he’s dropping some pretty valuable advice. He’s aware of the toils of fame, and he’s not going to let the side effects of popularity consume and corrupt him.

Track 13: WONDERLAND

Beat:

Favorite line: Cause they jealous bout where they at and what you was blessed with, And the problems steady stacking, life's a game of Tetris So many friends come and go but real ones gon' remain, Cause the kind of love you need only real ones can sustain.

Lyrically this song sounds like a sequel to THE LET DOWN. D.O.L.L.A is questioning who is really here for more than Dame the rich and successful. It’s also a good outro and a good point to end the album on. A good end to a very solid project.

IN CONCLUSION:

Damian Lillard is a part-time rapper. He tours the country as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. Maybe one day he’ll headline a concert tour in the offseason. I’d cop a ticket.

Yes. He’s that good.

WIth this album, Lillard has evolved from a basketball player that raps to being someone that’s good enough to have a standalone career as a rapper.

After hearing this album you can hear how much he’s evolved since the 2015 video at the beginning of this article.

Yes, there are points where he’s trying out different flows and styles like in ONE & ONLY and Run It Up. You can tell which styles he’s comfortable with and which ones he sounds less comfortable with at the moment. These are nitpicky things because I was asked to think of criticisms for this album and I don’t have any major criticisms.

I look forward to seeing where he goes from here. His music potential is pretty damn high and you have to figure out your strengths and weaknesses through trial and error like most rappers do before they get super big in the industry.

Damian Lillard is evolving his style and improving his craft. Overall, the jump that D.O.L.L.A has made from The Letter O is enough to convince you that the sky is the limit for how good D.O.L.L.A can get.

For a lot of athletes that dabble in music, it’s just a hobby for them. For Lillard, it could be another career.

He’s that good.