#ooh like a sick old fashion one

[bittenbyyou]

Inferior Flames (3)

MCU!AU | MCU!Peter Parker x Stark!Reader | MCU!Spider-Man x Stark!Reader

genre: enemies to lovers, angst, slow burn, some comedy

description: Now it was Peter’s turn to keep an eye on you, much to your dismay. 

word count: 6.8k

warnings: betrayal, cussing, arguing, lil bit of fake dating, OC’s background story, spying, fight scene

a/n: Yes, there will be a part 4, darlings! Please reblog and lemme know what you think. It’s highly motivating to all writers and I do read every comment. :)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

“Hey kiddo, F.R.I.D.A.Y tells me you missed school. Are you okay?”

“Dad, are you in the middle of a battle?”

The hologram projection glitched when sounds of explosions and distant chaos filled the air. Your father’s face remained focused on you rather than whatever was going on, his armor glinting in the background. 

“It’s fine, I called a timeout,” he said, looking around and assessing the situation. “Why aren’t you at school, Firefly?”

I don’t want to see Peter and a three-headed dragon wants to eat me. 

“I’m overwhelmed with this test coming up. Wanted extra time to study.”

“You sure? You sound a bit off.”

You smiled weakly. “I’m sure, Dad. Focus on the battle.” 

He blasted an enemy beyond the confines of the screen, and the screech sound it let out was dreadful. 

“Alright, kiddo. If you need anything, Happy is around if I'm not available. Don't hesitate to reach out."

“I know, I know. Love you.”

“Love you too. Oh! Has the Spider-ling done anything I should know about?”

“Nope, not at all. I got to study. Bye!”

You ended the call on the control panel, blowing a raspberry to release some tension. Keeping secrets from your father was not on your to-do list, but divulging the truth would unleash a Pandora's box of complications you weren’t quite prepared to face. If Tony Stark couldn’t know, then it was a definite no-go for your mother and Happy.

This was a task that weighed solely on your shoulders, one you couldn’t rely on anyone else to complete. Deep down, you recognized the cliche and absurdity of the situation, the immense pressure you were putting on yourself. But this villain was anything but ordinary. Only you could vanquish it, but that meant risking the only tangible connection to your birth mother—the pearl. 

Rather than studying, you used today to research leads on the three-headed dragon man known as Triroth. This power-hungry demon hailed from your village and had an insatiable appetite for devouring others. The enhancers were nothing more than a cunning ploy to attract formidable challengers, a way to entertain and satiate himself, absorbing their strength and amplifying his own power. 

You were almost certain he had died. But here he was, back from the abyss in some inexplicable fashion. Determination fueled your every step as you mapped out a plan to shake up an old contact who might just hold the key to uncovering the truth.

Meanwhile, Peter’s mind was in a frenzy, unable to focus on anything at school. His gaze was fixated on your empty chair every class, his mind racing a mile a minute at the possibilities. What if you decided to take on the dragon by yourself? What if he captured you? What if, heaven forbid, he already ate you? It was driving him nuts. 

“Peter? Peter. Peter!”

The boy looked up from his lunch tray to see a concerned Ned and MJ. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Are you good?” Ned asked. 

“Yeah, you’ve been a little off,” MJ pointed out. 

“Sorry, I was wondering where [Y/N] was.”

“Ah yeah… choir was a disaster without her.” She looked around the cafeteria as if someone could potentially be eavesdropping before adding on, “The girls can’t sing.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe she’s sick?” Ned said. 

“I hope so. Maybe I’ll swing by and see how she’s doing.”

MJ had an amused expression on her face. “You know where she lives?”

“Ooh, we should all go together!” Ned suggested. Peter’s eyes widened as he shook his hands in refusal. It’s not like he could take them to the Avengers Compound and reveal that you’re one (or not one). 

“No! Th-That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not? Since when have you and her gotten that close? I don’t even know where she lives,” MJ said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at Peter. 

“I meant I’ll swing by the internship and see if she’s there.”

“Ah, their little Stark ‘internship~’,” MJ said in a sing-songy voice, air quoting the word “internship” with her fingers. Ned did the same voice and copied her fingers, the two of them laughing at themselves.

“Guys, come on,” Peter said, chuckling at their silly behavior. “It’s a serious internship. Hopefully it’ll soon lead to a real job with them.”

“Oh yeah. Sure,” MJ suddenly drops her smile, staring at him, eyes filled with suspicion. “What are you hiding, Peter?”

He forced a nervous laugh, attempting to mask his anxiety, but it came out slightly strained. “What are you—what are you talking about?”

“She’s been absent for one day,” Ned lifted up 1 finger like he was her partner for a class presentation. “And you’re worried about her. If I didn’t know any better… I’d say you care about her.”

Peter was speechless until Ned interjected with, “No. They’re rivals. Peter just wants to keep tabs on her.”

“Yeah, she told me about that. What, you can’t stand that a girl has a higher position than you in the internship?”

Again, Peter’s lips opened but no sound came out. Suddenly, MJ’s face broke out into a grin. 

“I’m just kidding, I don’t care. I just like seeing you sit there like a gaping fish. Later losers, I gotta go to the restroom.”

As soon as MJ was gone, Ned immediately started rapid-firing questions at Peter. “Dude, did something happen? Did [Y/N] get hurt? Is she captured? She’s captured, isn’t she? I thought you said the mission went well!”

“Stop, stop, she’s fine. But… I upsetted her and I need to apologize for it.”

“What did you do?”

“I’ll tell you later. Lunch is over.”

Once Peter got home, he nonchalantly hung his backpack over the back of a chair. A cloud of smoke greeted him, launching a surprise attack on both his lungs and Aunt May’s, whose culinary experiment failed yet again.

“Hey Peter,” she said from the kitchen. He went over to her to ensure he didn’t need to grab a fire extinguisher. “Meatloaf’s a little…”—she coughed—“burnt. Do you want Thai again?”

Peter chuckled through his cough and nodded. “Yeah, May. Sounds great.”

Aunt May knew her nephew was Spider-Man, their special bond based on a foundation of trust and openness. Peter had confided in her about many aspects of his life as the friendly neighborhood hero—which recently involved you. However, he had kept his most recent mission under wraps, for obvious reasons. 

As soon as she returned with the take-out, her keen intuition immediately picked up that something was wrong.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Aunt May said, setting her chopsticks down. “What’s going on?”

Peter poked at his food mindlessly, racking his brain on the best way to communicate his feelings without giving too much away. “Um… do you remember me telling you about [Y/N]?”

Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh yeah. The girl who can breathe fire and took your spot on the Avengers team!” Peter gave her a look. “Sorry. Sore spot, huh? You know, I haven’t met her yet.”

“Well yeah, she’s upset at me right now.”

She leaned back in her dining chair, crossing her arms over another. “Uh huh. Why?”

He set down his chopsticks. “I… made an assumption about her and I was wrong. Completely wrong. And it upset her and I wanted to apologize, but she told me to leave her alone.”

“Was it your jealousy? Did you say something petty? Because I know I taught you better than th—”

“No, May. It was something else. I’m worried about her. I think she’s going to do something dangerous by herself.”

She leaned forward, her elbows finding a cozy spot on the table. “You know, when you became Spider-Man, I worried about you facing danger everyday. But it made me feel better knowing that Mr. Stark was looking out for you. He’s out of town, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe you can be her person. The one that looks out for her. If it’s as dangerous as you say, then she needs help. And who knows? She might forgive you.”

“Thanks May.” He quickly slurped his food, causing him to momentarily choke. May rushed over and started patting his back, trying to dislodge the stubborn bite. He thanked her between coughs, then planted a swift peck on her cheek. With a playful grin, he darted off towards his room where his suit and mask awaited him. 

“Hey Karen.”

“Hi Peter,” the AI replied.

“I need you to track someone. Her name is [Y/N].”

“I’m sorry, Peter. I am unable to process that request.”

“What, why?”

“It is against my protocol.”

Peter’s hands flew to his head, alarmed and bewildered. “Can you give me any information about her?”

“It depends. You do not have authorization for certain information.”

His hands dropped back down to his sides. “Don’t have authorization? Why can’t you… wait a second. Whose authorization do I need?”

“You would need Tony Stark’s authorization.”

“Karen please, I need to find her. She could be in danger. Can you give me her phone number at least?”

“That is one thing I can do. Shall I call her for you?”

“Yes, please!”

He waited patiently for you to pick up but after the second ring, it went straight to voicemail. “It appears she is unable to take your call. Would you like to leave her a message?”

“Yes!” He heard a beep. “Hey, Ember, it’s your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man here. So, uh, listen, if you’re going after dragon man, you gotta let me help you. Please.” There was a moment of silence before he continued, a touch of vulnerability creeping in his voice. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Stay safe.”

“That was very sweet, Peter.”

“Thanks Karen.”

“Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“Yes. Call Ned.”

“Peter Parker is calling you.”

“Thanks D.A.W.N. Ignore it.”

“Got it.”

“Is there a chance he can locate me?”

“The chances are low. Your father put strict protocols on anything that would invade your privacy. However, having your phone on means he could potentially track it.”

“Turn it off for now.”

“Got it.”

You had tracked down an old contact at an enormous animal shelter on the east side of town, determined to find some answers. As you approached the facility, the darkened surroundings and the faint glow of the moon added an air of mystery to the scene. Searching for a way in, you scoured the perimeter of the building, checking doors and windows. Eventually, you discovered a slightly ajar maintenance entrance, providing an opportunity to slip inside unnoticed. Carefully, you crept through the narrow opening, ensuring not to disturb anything or set off any alarms.

Once inside, the shelter appeared deserted, its corridors dimly lit by sporadic emergency lights. The smell of animals lingered in the air, making your nose scrunch at the unfamiliarity. As you navigated the hallways, the soft sounds of animals rustling in their enclosures reached your ears. The glow of the overhead lights illuminated the rows of cages that lined the walls. Dogs barked softly, and cats meowed curiously, their presence creating an atmosphere of both serenity and longing.

Continuing your search, you followed the distant sound of feline purring and came upon a room filled with cats of various breeds and sizes. The woman you were seeking was standing before one of the cages, affectionately talking to a small tabby cat and stroking its fur.

“I need information on Triroth,” you said, pointing your spear at the back of her head. The woman’s lips curled into a subtle smile, having not heard her native language in years. 

“Please. Not in front of my kittens. They’re innocent.” 

Only after you lowered your spear and secured it on your back did she bother to turn around. 

“Very well.”

You trailed behind her, weaving through the winding corridors of the building. The array of cats and playful puppies greeted you with excitement as you passed, their wagging tails and joyful barks exuding an air of anticipation. 

Yet, as you left the company of the animals, there was a subtle shift in their behavior. The once-friendly chorus of barks and meows gradually morphed into an unsettling cacophony of growls and hisses. As if they sensed something unbeknownst to you—an unseen presence. 

Your guide was unfazed by the animals’ hostile display, guiding you forward with an unwavering calmness. Finally, you arrived at the grand entrance of the main lobby.

“It’s been years, Ember. You certainly have grown up,” she said, her voice carrying a slight accent. With a dramatic turn, she faced you, a forced smile gracing her lips. “Are you here to kill me?”

“No, Kura. I need to know what Triroth is doing here and where to find him.”

“And if I don’t tell you?”

“I have ways of persuading you,” you said, getting into a fighting stance.

“Tsk. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Just taking extra precautions. Tell me where he is.”

She scoffed, her lips curling with a mix of disbelief and amusement, yet her eyes portrayed sadness. “That maniac killed my sister. I have no interest in suffering the same fate.”

You snapped your fingers, your helmet vanishing on command to reveal your shocked expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t. After he tossed me aside, he went after my sister who foolishly fell in love with him. The bastard then sacrificed her life to regain his powers.”

“What the fuck…”

“Believe me when I say I want nothing to do with him. Now please leave.” With those words, she averted her gaze, indicating her desire for you to depart.

“No please,” you begged, rushing over and placing a hand on her shoulder. She went on the defensive, the air crackling with tension as your actions triggered a fierce hand-to-hand combat. With a blend of grace and determination, you dodged her attacks and striked back with precision and agility. 

Yet Kura’s eyes gleamed with a twisted delight, relishing the challenge that was you, her thirst for battle having not been satiated for a long time. Her every movement exuded a dark elegance, as if she danced with the shadows themselves. Her strikes were ruthless, each blow infused with a raw power that threatened to overwhelm your defenses. 

The clash intensified, the echoes of grunts and exertion reverberating through the room. Kura wasn’t backing down, seeming invigorated by the fierce resistance. As the battle reached its climax, you seized an opportunity and skillfully maneuvered her, pinning Kura against the wall. 

You pressed your spear against her throat, the cold metal creating a stark contrast against the skin. 

“Please,” you whispered, a flicker of sorrow in your voice. “All I want is to stop Triroth and I know you were close to him once before. Anything would help.”

She hesitated as you pressed the tip of the spear closer, grazing the delicate skin of her throat. 

“I spared your life once. You owe me,” you reminded her.

“Fine. But you already know what he wants.”

“The pearl.”

“Precisely. All he’s ever wanted is power and who better to drain the life force of than humans? They’re stupid and in abundance. He won’t stop until you hand the pearl over.”

“Where is he staying?”

“I already said I don’t know!” She mustered all her remaining power and unleashed a desperate counterattack, launching a powerful energy blast that sent you flying backwards. You lifted your body off the ground, letting out a faint “ow” before chasing after Kura, who was trying to escape. It was then you saw a web had been casted around her body, immobilizing her in an intricate pattern of sticky strands. She fell down like a log, wiggling around like a fish out of water. “Get me out of this!”

“Hey Ember.”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up and you whipped around quickly, spear ready for battle only to see the sight of the iconic red and blue hero, gracefully suspended upside down.

“What the heck, don’t do that!” you yelled, lowering your weapon. 

Peter detached himself from his web and landed on his feet. “Sorry, but I—”

“You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Well I was in the neighborhood—”

“I don’t want to hear it. “

“And you weren’t at school so—”

“And now I gotta hear it.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Peering over your shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Kura, seeing the fear in her eyes. “And you’re kinda scaring her…”

With a mischievous grin, you confidently brandished your weapon, savoring the momentary flicker of fear that danced across the arachnid superhero's eyes. However, you decided to lower the spear, loving how easy it was to tease him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were so great at interrogation. Please, by all means. Go ahead.” You gestured your arms over to Kura, challenging the hero.

“Okay. Should be easy.” He jogged right over and crouched down to her eye level. “Hi, I’m Spider-Man,” he held his hand out for her to shake, only for her to look up at him with a judgemental gaze. “Oh, my bad. You’re webbed up. Sorry about that, but my friend needs information.” 

“We’re not friends,” you corrected. 

Peter pressed a hand against his mouth, mimicking a makeshift wall to shield his voice from you. 

“I guess I’ll have to return the matching best friend bracelets,” he whispered, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Kura let out a chuckle in response before saying something in her native language, smiling brightly at Peter. 

“Hey, I think I’m getting somewhere!” Peter exclaimed. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes, placing one hand on your hip.

“She says she’s curious to see how delicious spider flesh is,” you translated. 

The white of Peter’s mask where the eyes were widened significantly as he backed away nervously. You laughed, bending down to Kura’s level. Peter watched as you said some things to her in a foreign language, unable to decipher any part of the conversation. Kura seemed unsure at first, but eventually, she uttered something that brought a grin to your face. In that moment, you and her wore matching smirks and glanced at Spider-Man.

“Ember…?” he stammered, taking cautious steps backward with his hands raised in surrender. You swiftly rose to your feet, wielding your spear with determination. In a swift, controlled motion, you tore through the intricate webs that bound Kura, setting her free. 

“Thanks for the intel, Kura. Have fun.”

With another snap of your fingers, your helmet appeared on your head and you flew out of the shelter at the speed of light. Peter stared at Kura, letting out a nervous laugh to quell the tension he sensed in the air. 

“Hate to leave a lady hanging, it was nice to meet you!” Peter shot a web and attempted to swing his way out when a long, bushy fox tail snaked around his foot. “What the…?!”

Another tail wrapped around Peter’s torso, yanking him to the ground with an earth-shaking crash. Struggling to free himself, he glanced back in astonishment, his eyes widening at the sight before him. Kura had not one, not two, but nine tails fanned around her like a peacock spreading its feathers. 

“Well, well, looks like we've got a real 'fox'-y situation here,” Peter quipped. Kura smirked, clearly enjoying her little game. She launched another tail at his free leg, deftly pulling him closer with a sly grin. “Oh my god! Ember! EMBER YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME, SHE HAS SO MANY TAILS, WHAT THE FUCK, AHHH!”

You were outside the shelter on the rooftop, peering in through the glass ceiling. 

“He’ll be fine,” you told yourself, chuckling afterwards before heading home.

The next morning at school…

“Can we talk?”

“I would rather do literally anything else,” you said, closing your locker shut after pulling out the textbooks you needed for class. You began striding down the bustling hallway at a brisk pace with Peter trailing close by your side.

“You left me with a nine-tailed fox demon!” he hissed, the sound of students chattering providing a convenient cover for your conversation.

“You survived. Kura isn’t a threat. She just likes to play with her food,” you taunted.

“She had nine tails. Nine. All on me. I’m pretty sure I still have fur on my…” He shuddered at the memory. 

“Ew, ew, ew, shut up.”

“I ran out of webs just to tie her up! How could you leave me?”

“Well, she thought you were cute.”

“She did?” A faint blush crept onto his cheeks, and you couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, giving him a knowing look. 

“Stop following me.”

“I was worried about you.”

“Yeah, no. That needs to stop. Go back to hating me.” Peter stole your textbooks from you, effectively stopping you from going further. “Hey!”

He slyly concealed the books behind his back, leaning against a locker to sandwich them and making it even more challenging to reclaim your possessions. When one of your hands got too close, he snatched your wrist with his free hand and pulled you close. Your eyes locked in an intense gaze as you found yourself face to face with him.

"I don't hate you," he whispered gently, his words hanging in the air. You stood there, frozen in place, caught off guard by the unexpected sincerity that resonated in his voice.

“... Maybe you should start.”

“Is there a problem here?” As your gazes shifted, you caught sight of Flash glaring at Peter. “Is Parker bothering you? Dude, let go of her hand.”

With his quick thinking, Peter blurted out, “Why should I? She’s my girlfriend.”

“I’m your what now?”

He went from holding your wrist to enveloping your hand with his own. “Girlfriend. She’s my girlfriend. You got a problem with that?”

Flash responded with a dismissive 'pshhhh' sound, clearly not convinced by Peter's bluff. In that moment, you were left speechless, unable to find the right words to respond. Sensing the tension, Peter quickly sprang into action, guiding you away from Flash with a victorious grin stretching across his face.

“With us dating, it won’t be weird if I’m always around you,” Peter said with a certain gleam in his eyes.

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s not creepy. I swear I’m going to kill you,” you muttered, trying to shake off his grip, but he wouldn’t let up.

“Not before we hunt down that dragon, babe.”

He gave your hand a gentle squeeze, sending a wave of butterflies through you. Against all reason, you found yourself allowing him to keep hold of your hand as you walked together, all the way until you reached your classroom. 

“Man, I knew you were hiding something from me. I was going to ask you to be my wingman and it turns out you were your own wingman and now I’m wingless!”

“What?” Peter asked, laughing at his friend’s rambling. Ned slammed his lunch tray down, the milk carton almost toppling over, and took a seat.

“You’re dating [Y/N]!”

“Oh… Oh! Oh, that. Come closer,” Ned leaned in from across the table. “There’s a mission that she’s keeping from me and I need an excuse to be close to her so she’ll let me come,” Peter whispered. 

“Oh~!” Ned said, relieved as he sat back down in his own seat. “I see you, Peter. Nice.”

“I knew you had a thing for him,” a female voice said in the distance. Ned and Peter followed the sound to see you and MJ heading their way. 

“MJ, we’re not dating.”

“That’s not what it looked like. He held your hand to every class, I think that counts as dating~.”

“The boy is obsessed with me, I don’t have the heart to reject him.”

“Oh honey, don’t go down that path. I’ll reject him for you.”

MJ and you sat down, but once she saw you were sitting next to Peter, she raised an eyebrow. “Peter…”

“Yeah?” he said, sipping his chocolate milk. 

“[Y/N]’s not interested in dating you. She’s too nice to say no, so I’m doing it for her.”

“God, MJ,” you covered your face, mortified at her brutally honest nature. Peter draped his arm over your shoulder, pulling you close. He smelled pleasant, like a mixture of calming eucalyptus and gentle florals. 

“Did she tell you that? The truth is she’s too shy to admit she has feelings for me. She was following me at one point.”

“Peter!” you exclaimed, pushing him off you. “Will you shut up?”

He pointed his thumb at you like he was doing the “get a load of this guy” meme.

“Yeah and why wouldn’t she like Peter? He can recite the entire periodic table backwards. What a guy.”

All three of you took a look at Ned, confused as hell. “Thanks Ned.”

He gave him a thumbs up, oblivious to the weird dynamic he created. 

“Okay, you two aren’t telling us something,” MJ deduced. “Come on, Ned. Let’s let the two love birds figure their stuff out.”

The look you gave MJ screamed for her not to leave, but she only smirked in response as Ned got up and followed her, making sure to give Peter another thumbs up. As soon as they were out of earshot, Peter slid his lunch tray out of the way and faced you. 

“What did Kura tell you?” 

“Like I’d tell you,” you said, stabbing your food with your fork aggressively. “I’m imagining this as your face by the way.”

“Yikes. I’m the first victim of the Fork Assassin.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Tell me.”

You set your utensils down and faced him, wearing an expression of exasperation. “You’re really not going to stop, are you?”

“I want to help you.”

“I don’t want your help.”

“Fine. I’ll just call Mr. Stark and tell him what you’ve been up to.” Your instincts betrayed you, your eyes widening more than you wanted him to see. You tried your best to keep your composure, but he saw right through you. 

“Don’t. He can’t know.”

“Then are you going to tell me?”

You reluctantly nodded. “Fine. But not here. Meet me at the school’s rooftop around midnight. Now, will you stop with the whole fake boyfriend thing and tell MJ and Ned to come back?”

“Sure thing, darling.”

“That’s it!”

You grabbed your fork and Peter shielded his body with hands. “Not the face, not the face!”

You arrived at Midtown High earlier than midnight, wondering if this was a good idea. 

“Hey Early Bird. Or should I say Ember Bird?” a friendly voice said from above. You noticed Spider-Man at the top of the school’s tower, jumping down to get to your level. You got comfortable and sat criss-cross, patting the spot next to you.

“Hi Spidey Bird,” you said, mirroring his lame joke. “Join me.”

Spider-Man took the seat beside you before taking off his mask and revealing his warm smile. He noticed the package of colorful treats in your lap, pointing to them. 

“Are those gummy worms?”

“Yeah. Want some?” you asked, offering him the bag after tearing it open. 

“Sure, thanks,” He popped one in his mouth, chewing with a giddy smile. You threw one up in the air and caught it in your mouth, earning an eye roll from him. “Showoff.”

Once he finished swallowing the sweet gummy, he blew a small raspberry with his lips. “So… are you going to tell me what you know?”

“Yeah, I suppose I have to. Kura told me my pearl can track Triroth’s mystical energy.”

“That’s great! Let’s come up with a plan and take him down.”

“It’s not that simple, Peter. If the pearl ends up in his hands, the consequences could be catastrophic. And… it’s the only memory I have left of my birth mother.”

You hugged your knees tightly, feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. Peter noticed your distress, shifting out of his criss-cross position. With one knee bent, he leaned back and used his hands to support his body, creating a relaxed yet attentive posture. 

“Do you want to tell me about her and your family?”

“Well, my background is… complicated.”

“I’m willing to listen.” You gave him a grateful smile. “For the whole package of gummy worms.” 

“Ugh.” You threw it at his face and, to your surprise, it actually hit him. 

“Hey!”

“Sorry!” you said, unable to contain your laughter. “I thought your Spidey Sense worked.”

“It does. But not for gummy worms!” He held the treats hostage. “They’re definitely mine now. Now talk.”

You delved into the story of your origins, telling him about how you had come from a tiny village a long ways away from New York. Your parents were remarkable beings bestowed with extraordinary powers. They spoiled you rotten, believing you could do no wrong and letting you get away with just about anything.

However, your mischievous tendencies took a wild turn once you reached ten years old. You couldn’t resist using your powers to play pranks and torment others for your own amusement. Little did you know, your misbehavior caught the attention of the Goddess of Mercy herself. She revoked your powers until you learned how to behave. 

That’s when you learned the hard way about how actions had consequences. With the tables turned, you found yourself defenseless, becoming the target of others teasing and bullying. You suffered a great deal, learning about doing what was right and how to treat others kindly. 

It was during this difficult time in your life that you first encountered Triroth. He stormed into your village, seizing control with an iron grip. Your righteous nature couldn’t stand idly as innocent townsfolk faced his wrath. In a valiant attempt to protect them, you found yourself kidnapped by the wicked demon. He held you hostage, demanding that your mother surrender her precious pearl—a source of great power that fueled her formidable weapon. 

The Goddess of Mercy, ever watchful, returned your powers when least expected, but it was too late. When your parents came to your rescue, they instructed you to save yourself, but you ignored them. If only you had listened to their words and escaped, perhaps they could have emerged victorious instead of worrying about your safety.

Triroth killed your mother, who shielded your body when you decided to fight back. Your father, filled with unwavering bravery, confronted the demon and dragged him to an endless abyss. Yet, in a cruel twist of fate, Triroth pulled your father down along with him, their fates seemingly sealed. 

Both of them died, or so you thought, until now. Triroth had returned and was still fixated on obtaining your mother’s pearl—a relic that could be catastrophic in the wrong hands.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have assumed you two were related.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“No, it’s not okay. He’s a monster, he took away your parents and killed innocent people. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through.”

“I’ll be okay once he’s been defeated.”

“I agree. And we can do it together.”

“No, Peter. I have to do this myself.”

“What? That’s stupid.”

“So… I’m stupid?”

“What?” You swore you could actually see the gears in his head turning. “No, not you, um. You’re not stupid, fighting alone is stupid because… it’s not smart…”

“Nice save.”

“It sounded better in my head.” You bumped your shoulder into his in a playful manner, letting him know you weren’t upset.

“Peter, do you know why I’m not an Avenger?” He didn’t say anything and waited for you to continue. “Because I’m scared.”

“What? What do you have to be scared of? You’re powerful. You can defeat him, I know it.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m scared… of dying.”

“Well, that’s normal.”

“No. I’m so terrified of dying that I will choose to save myself over anyone else.”

“What? That’s not true.”

“It is. Why do you think I was so upset that night at the club?”

“Because you didn’t want me to get hurt?”

You shook your head. “Because if it comes down to saving either you or me, I will choose me.”

Peter was rendered speechless at your blunt words. “Whoa, hold on. It doesn’t have to come down to that. We’re in this together.”

His insistent need to do this with you was tiresome, so you got up and walked over to the ledge of the rooftop overlooking the city.

“You don’t get it. I’m not the self-sacrificing type, Peter. I fight for myself. Not for you. Not for the people in this city. I don’t care for anyone but myself.”

Peter rose to his feet and stood near you, casually resting his forearms on the ledge as he stared at your side profile. “You say that, but who would risk their own life to battle a demon?”

“I’m avenging my parents.”

“But if you were scared of dying, you wouldn’t battle Triroth in the first place.”

“I can if I knew I was alone. My parents died because I didn’t save myself, so from now on, that’s what I’m going to do.” You slowly turned to face him, a fierce intensity burning in your gaze. “So don’t get in my way. You’ll just be a burden.”

Despite Peter's patience and understanding of your pain stemming from past mistakes, your words pierced deep, leaving him feeling as though all his efforts on your behalf had been invalidated. 

“You think I’m a burden?” He nodded silently, his lips pursed, and took a few steps back, his hands raised as if he were saying, “Okay, I got the message.”

A wave of guilt washed over you, but instead of speaking up, you remained silent. 

“You wanna know why I saved you at the club?” He clenched his jaw, trying his best to remain composed. With his hands firmly planted on his hips, he bowed his head, contemplating the perfect choice of words.

“I never asked you to,” you remarked. He snapped his head up to stare straight into your soul, eyes ablaze with anger. 

“Because that’s what being Spider-Man is all about. I saved you because I won’t stand by and allow someone to suffer by doing nothing. You’re wanting to go into battle against a demon with no backup.” Frustration washed over him, evident as he ran his hand through his hair, massaging the back of his head with a hint of exasperation. “For someone who’s scared of death, that honestly sounds pretty stupid.”

“So you’re definitely calling me stupid now.”

“Yes! Because you won’t let me help!”

“I don’t need your help!” you exclaimed, placing a hand on your chest. “I never did!”

He took a sharp inhale and closed his eyes to find his happy place, briefly resting his forehead on his hand to collect himself before speaking again. “You’re being so annoying right now.”

“Good, I love being annoying.”

Peter let out a “gah!” sound, holding his face in frustration before walking back towards you. “You’re so stubborn.”

“Another thing we can agree on,” Your heart pounded in your chest, and a cold sweat coated your palms when you realized he wasn’t stopping. You stepped backwards to distance yourself until your back met the unyielding surface of a wall, leaving you with no escape route.

“And you want to know the worst part of all this?” he asked, not breaking eye contact. 

“Do enlighten me.”

“You’re selfish.”

“Yup, sure. Love that for me.” You tried to leave when he extended his arm out, effectively blocking your way. “You know, girls don’t find this as attractive as movies make it out to be. It’s kinda cliche.”

“Will you shut up for one second?”

“You gonna make me?”

“And you wanna talk about cliches.” Unexpectedly, he shot a web at your wrist and you freaked out.

“What the hell, Peter?!”

“What, you expecting a kiss?”

“You wish, webhead. You seriously have a thing for tying up women. Is it your kink or something?”

A flush of pink dashed across his cheek. “S-Say what you want, but you’re going to stand here and listen to me.”

You attempted to pull your wrist free when he added on, “And if you don’t, I’m telling your dad.”

That ceased your attempts of escaping. “... My dad…?”

“Mr. Stark adopted you. Didn’t he?”

“How’d you—”

“Karen told me.” Your perplexed face made him quickly realize he needed to elaborate. “The suit lady.”

“Your AI?”

“Well, she didn’t really tell me, I figured it out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“When I asked her to find you, she said I didn’t have the authorization to track you. That I needed authorization from Mr. Stark. The only reason she would say that is if he wanted to keep your privacy, well, private. And with what you told me today, everything lines up.”

“Fuck…” you breathed. “Please don’t tell him. I don’t want my dad to worry.”

"You know," Peter remarked, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, "I have to admit, you're really not in the best position to ask for favors. I mean, let's recap, shall we? You pretended to be an Avenger, completely humiliated me in front of everyone, and oh, did I mention you're Iron Man's daughter? Yeah, it's quite the resume you've got there." He crossed his arms, unable to suppress a chuckle as he savored the moment.

“Peter, I swear… if you tell him, I will never forgive you.”

“Tell me why I shouldn’t.”

“I lost one father. I can’t lose another.”

“There. That’s the real you. So selfish.”

“What?”

“You talk about the possibility of losing others. But have you not once considered how he might feel? You’re actively putting yourself in danger behind his back. He wouldn’t want to lose you.” His gaze softened, his voice sincere. “I… wouldn’t want to lose you.”

Your breath caught in your throat as Peter's words washed over you. The anger that had consumed you moments ago dissolved into a bittersweet realization. His concern, his unwavering support, it was all driven by a genuine fear of losing you.

No. You couldn't allow yourself to be vulnerable, to let him see the turmoil brewing within you. It was easier to bury your feelings, to push him away, even if it tore you apart inside.

“You’re a liability.”

“Don’t do this.”

“Stay away from all this. Stay away from me.”

He leaned in closer, gently pressing his forehead against yours. His voice was so broken, barely audible, as he pleaded, “Please don’t push me away.” 

You closed your eyes, fighting back the tears, the ache in your chest matching the ache in your soul. Your mind raced, torn between your desire to protect Peter and the overwhelming weight of your own fears and doubts. You had convinced yourself that pushing him away was the only way to keep him safe, but now, faced with his vulnerability and plea, your resolve wavered.

A tremor passed through your voice as you tried to steady yourself, to keep your emotions in check.

"I have to, Peter," you whispered, your words laced with a mixture of sorrow and determination. He intertwined his fingers with your own, shaking his head. 

“Please don’t go.”

Taking a deep breath, you released his hand, your resolve hardening within you. The weight of your decision hung heavily in the air as you prepared yourself for what had to be done. It pained you to hurt him, but you knew it was the only way to keep him safe.

With a sudden swiftness, you struck at the precise pressure points on his body, rendering him temporarily paralyzed. His eyes widened in shock, a silent plea for understanding and answers. Before he could utter a word, you swiftly pressed another pressure point on his neck, muffling his voice and preventing him from moving.

Guilt flooded your senses, but you knew this was necessary. You had to go alone, to face the danger that lay ahead without burdening him with your choices and risks. It was a sacrifice you were making to protect him, even if it meant breaking his trust.

As Peter's eyes conveyed a mix of pain and betrayal, you couldn't help but offer a heartfelt apology. "I'm sorry," you whispered, your voice heavy with remorse.

With a practiced touch, you ignited a tiny flame on your index finger, using it to burn through the webs that bound your other hand. The strands disintegrated, freeing you from their constraints. Peter's eyes followed the flickering flame, pain etched across his face.

"I have to do this on my own," you explained, your voice tinged with determination. "You'll regain control of your body in a few hours. It's for your own safety."

Before leaving, you carefully donned Peter's mask, shielding his identity from prying eyes. With a heavy heart, you carried him back to his apartment, gently laying him on his bed.

“I can’t lose you too.”

Tagging: @elicheel | @ifilwtmfc​ | 

Thank you for reading and loving my ideas! I really do appreciate every reblog and every hashtag. Feel free to send me an ask if you’d like!

[leoncillo]

A little risque but SFW, GN reader, Black reader, Zohakuten best fashionista

You notice the boys have been a bit listless so you decide to take them out. But individually. It must be tiring always being part of a group, right?

Itadakimasu! *Hides face in hands and runs away*

Karaku

"Babeee, it's still day time. And we had a long mission last night. Le'me sleep" said Karaku covering his face with the blanket as you tried to rouse him awake.

"I know, I know. But our date is tonight and I need you to take this pill before then."

"What does it do?" he asked, lowering the blanket enough to see his narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"Lady Tamayo said it'll let you have human food for a day without getting sick. But you have to take it hours in advance."

In seconds, Karaku took the pill from your hands, tossed it down his throat, and went back to sleeping. "Okay. Good morning. Bye!" he shouted, smacking your ass to get you to leave the room.

You thought about slamming the door on your way out, but didn't wanna hear Sekido's mouth. "I swear these men get more rude every day" you pouted, "but this is going perfectly", your pout melted into a malicious grin.

Somewhere out there Hantengu's main body shivered in unbridled fear.

"Now what to wear? Maybe Zohakuten has an idea." I can't believe that child has that good of a fashion sense. Granted he's like 1000 years old, but still.

The night came quicker than you expected. For this date, you needed to wear something that wasn't too complicated and constricting. You decided on a dark green pantsuit and black open toed espadrille heels. You kept your hair simple with a loose braid down your back and a matching green headband.

You waited at the door with the other three brothers wondering what was keeping Karaku. Zohakuten must've had his work cut out for him.

You were proven wrong when Karaku appeared at the top of the stairs and struck a Jojo pose.

Or he's just a goddamn diva!

You had to admit he looked good though. He had on a short sleeve green and white pinstriped silk button up (top buttons unbuttoned of course), slouchy black pants, and crisp, white canvas shoes. His unruly hair was contained, but wavy and voluminous and swept away from his face. An ear cuff with a leaf shaped charm and emerald stone in the center was clipped to his right ear and a silver ring on each ring finger.

"Well aren't you fancy tonight?" you grinned as he arrogantly made his way down the stairs.

"I gotta keep up with you, don't I?" he said as he grabbed your hand, kissed it, and winked.

Oh he's good.

"You're so dramatic! Don't fuck up and embarrass them!" said Sekido.

"Make sure you're a gentleman the whole time" said Aizetsu.

"Ooh what's that shiny thing on your ear? Can I have one for my date?!" said Urogi.

"Yeah yeah yeah! I know what I'm doing! Let's go, y/n" he said rushing you outside before his brothers had anything else to say.

He seemed eager as you pulled up to the hotel. The lights were blinding. There was a huge fountain in front with backlights of various colors, a statue of a naked goddess, a digital marcee showcasing some of the specials and deals on rooms, and even a valet service.

"It's a hotel AND restaurant? So after we eat we don't even have to leave to go fu-"

"Aht! The point of today is to show you that there are different ways to feel pleasure than just sex. Like food."

The inside of the building was even more spectacular than the outside. A river of water filled with koi snaked through the floors of the rooms, small bridges were placed for patrons to step over it when necessary. There was a live band and traditional Japanese dancers.

"Wow this place is awesome! I hope the food lives up to everything else. I didn't eat all day just for this!" said Karaku as the two of you were led to your private area.

"I really hope you like at least some of it", you said suddenly feeling nervous, "It's been forever since you've gotten to experience human food...well I guess you never have, huh?"

"Hey, that is right! We only manifested after the main body became a demon. Hm. I never thought about it before" said Karaku looking around excitedly, "How do we order?"

You jumped at the question. "O-Oh I ordered ahead of time so that way it wouldn't be a long wait before we got to eat. I should go check on all of that. You just stay here and get comfortable, baby" you said before you zoomed off through the door.

After 15 minutes, you still hadn't returned. Karaku was about to go check on you before a dinner bell was rung and a long cart covered in a black cloth was rolled to your booth. The tray was oddly human shaped. He wondered why he had to take that pill if they were just gonna serve him human anyway, but he just shrugged it off and went to take a sip of water. Food was food.

"I would like to present you with our signature special", said the waiter before he quickly removed the cloth only to reveal your naked body. Your more private parts covered by small trays of food and dips. The waiter promptly bowed and left the room with a straight face as if he was numb to it all by now.

Karaku choked on the water and had a small coughing fit, nearly falling out of his chair.

"Uh. Hi. Bone apple teeth" you said when he finally got a hold of himself.

He clasped his hands together in front of his face and took a deep inhale and exhale before gesturing at the scene before him. He opened his mouth to speak only to close it again. You could practically hear the dial up internet beeping in his head.

"Oh no. I broke him" you said to yourself.

Unfortunately for you, he recovered quickly and broke into a huge grin.

"Aww babe. You're treating me to dinner?" he said rubbing his hands together, "and even the plate....is edible" he continued as he looked you directly in the eyes and licked his lips.

You gulped. You knew he meant metaphorically, but you also realized HAD he wanted to eat you literally, you practically just seasoned yourself. Congratulations. Millions of years of human evolution for these exact reasons and you serve yourself to an apex predator on a silver platter.

Aw shit.

"Now what should I try first? None of these look familiar" he looked over his options excitedly.

"Maybe start with a piece of sashimi?" you gestured towards the slices of fish near your sternum. "I like them with soy sauce"

You watched his eyes light up as he practically whimpered at the combination. "Ooh that's good. The texture is a bit weird, though. What's this?"

He went to bring the maki roll dipped in soy sauce to his mouth, but a drop of it landed on the middle of your chest. You shuddered as it started to drip towards your collarbone.

"Oh jeez. Maybe I should ask for more napkiiiiiins!" you yelped as he quickly licked a line from the drop all the way up to your ear.

"Nah I think we're good here. Don't you?" he asked, pupils blown wide and the "upper four" getting harder to read.

After quite a bit of food, Karaku finally put his chopsticks down and stretched in his chair. You were thankfully NOT eaten, but you were gonna have to have a talk about the bite marks on your thighs and shoulders that he "accidentally" made.

"Wow, I couldn't eat another bite. This was fun, y/n! Next time can we try pizza? I've always wondered what it tastes like."

A waiter came in to offer you a robe to change into before heading to your room. "So will we be skipping dessert tonight or shall I bring the dessert menu?" asked the waiter.

"I think we're goo-ahhh" you tried to say before Karaku threw you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"I'm just gonna take my dessert to go. Where's our room?"

"What? I thought you said you were full!"

"Babe, there's always room for dessert."

You couldn't walk straight for 3 days after.

[samanddeansannoyingsis]

Heaven and Earth

Just a Gabriel x reader that's been sitting in my wip box for a month.

Characters:

Sam x reader (platonic), Castiel x reader (platonic), dean x reader (mentions of romantic), Gabriel x reader

Summary:

You are an angel who became human with immortality after God takes your wings for helping Gabriel escape. When an old friend comes to town you meet up and plan a prank on the Winchesters and then celebrate.

Warning gets spicy but there's no outright smut, mention of you wearing a dress, but mostly gender neutral. Also tried to keep in the second person. And I definitely got carried away. It's kinda long.

I hope you enjoy reading and always comment, like and repost to remind me to write more.

You go to the bar a few miles out of town, Gabriel was in town. You take a breath and enter the door to see your favorite archangel sitting at the bar. His lips turn to a gentle smile as he looks at you. He waved you over and pats the empty seat next to you.

"Well hello, Dolly!~ What brings you to me this fine evening?" Gabriel says while you sit down and order a drink.

"Just need some company. The boys are driving me crazy. You know how protective Dean and Sam are." You shake your head and sigh.

"Oh? What happened this time?" He says knowingly.

"I was hunting and got sick. God forbid i do anything." You sigh. "I'm not made of glass, but they seem to think so." You take a big swig of your drink.

"I can understand that. But they just wanna look out for you, y'know? You can't be mad at 'em for that." You look at him glaring slightly.

"I can when they abuse their own bodies ten times worse then I do." This makes him smile and in turn you smile.

"Hah! Ain't that the truth! Those two are a mess. It's always a fight to get'em to lay down and rest their weary bones. Always have been."

"Tell me about it." You roll your eyes but smile anyway. It goes silent for a minute but it's comforting. Gabe breaks the silence.

"You know, you and me, we got more in common than you might think."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

"Well, let's see. We're both angels. We both used to be up in heaven. And we both love to just cause havok. Just to make things interesting, yeah?"

"True enough. I mean after I had my wings taken away for helping you escape I'm more human than angel." You smile and shove him playfully.

"And we both know that things haven't exactly gone our way lately. I mean you, you lost your wings. And me, I'm a mortal now. I sure miss the good old days..." He sighs stuck in memories long since passed.

"Yeah but who says it's all over? I mean at the end of the day we still have each other right?" You smile.

"And I'm gonna count that as a win. So you know what I think we need?"

"Not a clue, another drink?" You smile and he shakes his head, "What then?"

"A little razzle dazzle. Some good old fashion mischief making. Just to let these boys know we're still around. Don't you think?"

I smile at the idea. "I'm in. What's the idea Gabe?"

"Ooh... I have the perfect one. These boys are really something when it comes to pranks, right?"

"Supposably, but they both get sour when I do something."

"Well that's exactly what I mean. We gotta get 'em back. You know what these boys hate?"

"Sam hates clowns and Dean hates heights." You shrug not fully getting what he's thinking.

"Ah ha! So... We combine the two and then throw a little cherry on top for shits and giggles." You raise an eyebrow.

"How exactly are we gonna do that?"

"Well you know that fair that's coming to town?"he says causing you smile.

"Yeah. I was going to avoid it like the plague and hoe up in the bunker for a week."

Gabe gives you a look.

"Now why on earth was you gonna do that, dolly?"

I shrug. "I don't like large groups of people."

"That's a shame. Cuz I got this lovely little plan for that place and it's gonna be a hoot. You in?" I sigh and contemplate.

"I guess, but after I vote movie night. Just us. No Winchesters."

"Deal, doll! Deal!" Gabe shakes your hand excitedly, "So how's this for a plan. We're gonna get Sam and Dean on the Ferris wheel all harnessed up. And here's the kicker, there will be clowns running the ride." Gabe laughs diabolically, causing you to chuckle.

"That's good. And for extra kicks I pay off a clown to follow Sam around."

"Oh!" He raised his eyebrows and laughs more. "Now that's a plan worth following, doll."

I laugh. "This is payback that means no mercy."

"That's right. I can only imagine the look on Dean's face when we pull this off." You can see an anxious dean in your mind causing you to laugh more.

"He's gonna hate me for a few weeks."

You look at Gabe's eyes. "Thank you for hanging out with me. I always enjoy your company"

"Anytime, doll. Anytime." You blush slightly but cover it up.

"How am I gonna get the boys out anyways? Ideas?"

"Well let's see.. Dean likes to hang around the carnival food stands and sam well.. He likes to win stuffed animals. You got a plan with any of that?"

"Maybe bribery and just saying that I'm meeting you there. You should have seen them when I said I was going out tonight. Cas looked ready to fight me."

"Oh I can only imagine. The boys are really attached to you, ain't they?" You laugh at Gabe's comment.

You've been a part of the boys life since they saved you from a group of demons trying to torture information from you about Gabriel. You might be almost immortal but that doesn't mean you can't die. Key word almost. Since they saved you they just kept you around. Figuring you'd be a good addition, you did grow a special place in your heart for the boys though.

"They are something. Can't do without me for too long."

"Well who could blame 'em? You're lovely to look at, that's for sure." Gabriel smirks at you. You roll your eyes and blush.

"Oh hush you. You don't know what you're talking about."

"I see the way Dean looks at you. I can't blame him though. The guy's head over heels for ya." You roll your eyes at him.

"Please he sees me as a sibling and nothing more. And even still, he's sweet but I prefer a little more spice." He perks up at that.

"Oh? Does that spice possibly come from Cas?" I shake my head.

"Nope, but it does come from an angel of sorts"

Gabe laughs and smirks, "And just who might that be?"

"I can't tell you that." I smile knowingly, "connect the dots yourself. You're smart."

"Well, that narrows it down. I'm thinking of a certain angel of justice perhaps..." He looks at you. You smile.

"Perhaps."

"Well it's nice to see you've found yourself some spice. You make that little angel very happy, don't ya?" He smirks at you. But you hold strong, trying not to reveal your cards too quick.

"I try to."

"Well I think you're doing a damn good job, doll." He smiles at you warmly.

I smile back as he puts an arm around me.

"That's good."

"Alright, little doll, I think we should get to it. We're burning the night away. And I wanna make this the best damn plan I come up with in centuries. Whatcha say?" You smile as he rubs his hands together.

"I say, let's do it!"

"That's the spirit, dolly!" He laughs. "Let's teach these boys a lesson they'll never forget."

"Oh for sure! It'll be great!"

"Oh don't worry. It'll be amazing. And afterwards, you and I will celebrate." He wiggles his eyebrows but you smile anyways.

"Heh, you're too much, doll. Now, go get yourself pretty, we got work to do!"

"Do you think daisy dukes or a sundress?" You contemplate.

"Hmm... Sundress." He says firmly. You smile trying to mentally pick which one to wear.

"Good choice!" You say. You smile and go to get up and get ready.

"Oh and bring a few extra bucks with ya. Cotten candy is good for my mind." You smile and shoot him a thumbs up. Starting to make your way to the door Gabriel shoots one more comment your way.

"And make sure you look fine. I wanna see just how much Dean's head spins round for you." He winks at you, butterflies fill your stomach.

Whispering to yourself, "With any luck it won't just be Dean." Gabe must have heard you though.

"You sly devil. That's my doll..." This causes you to blush.

"Now go on, get yourself over to the carnival. And give 'em hell, doll. " You shoot him a wink as you leave and drive your motorcycle back to the bunker and get a few hours of sleep.

Later, you are dressed in a green sundress with a slit in the thigh and matching makeup.

You shoot yourself finger guns in the mirror as you give yourself a final once over. You walk out to see Sam nursing his 3rd cup of coffee and dean finishing his breakfast. Cas is sitting near dean, talking about something.

Dean looks over hearing you come to the kitchen. His eyes go wide and are glued to your exposed thigh from the slit. You see him gulp slowly.

Sam looks impressed, "You look nice. Any occasion?"

"Do I need an occasion to dress up?" You shoot back teasingly.

"Looking like sex on heels like that you do." Dean says finally. You shoot him a playful wink causing him to turn red.

"I wanted to go to the carnival in town today! I was hoping you guys would come too. If not I'll have to just meet up with Gabriel. " Hearing Gabe's name, Dean and Cash shoot up.

"Were going." Dean says finally. Wrapping an arm around you protectively. You smirk.

"Then go get dressed!" Everything goes according to the plan. Dean rushed to his room. Sam just finished his coffee. Cas is always ready, eying me suspiciously. You smile innocently at him.

-Later-

Once you get the boys to the carnival the fun starts. You bounce in excitement. You get in and look around at all the rides.

Gabriel smirks and appears next to Sam.

"Well well, what do we have here? A little angel in a sundress? I must be dreaming." He eyes you up and down and licks his lips. Dean pulls you into him. Gabe turns to Sam and smirks, "You think we can get balloon animals later? The clowns are running around making them for kids." Sam gets noticably more uncomfortable.

You smile and blushes lightly as Dean puts his hand around your waist. Trying to keep you away from Gabe, who's eying you like a piece of meat.

"Sammy will you win me something? I see games over there!" Sam gives a curt nod and walks over his eyes silently thanking you for the exit. Not yet noticing the clowns behind him.

Gabe smirks. "Yeah I'm sure he will, doll. And while he's doing that... "

He turns to Dean and smirks.

"Well well who's that? You look like you've seen a ghost, Dean." Dean gulps.

I squeeze Deans hand lightly.

"It's just Gabe? No need to be worried, he's mostly harmless." You wink at Gabe.

"Mostly?" Dean says concerned. You nod.

"Mostly." You smile at him as you look up at him.

"Well aren't you two adorable? Now Dean, I think it's time we have a little fun, don't you?" Gabe pulls Dean off you and puts a hand on Dean's shoulder.

"I guess leave me by my lonesome with my favorite angel, Castiel! We can go get cotton candy!" You smile and clap.

Gabe winks. "Sounds like a plan, doll." Gabe turns to Dean and laughs.

"Now Deano, I think you're in trouble."

You start walking with Castiel to get sweets.

Gabe laughs and then turns to Dean.

"What's wrong there Deano? You seem a bit... nervous."

"Wh-why would I be nervous?" Dean says trying to put a brave face on but failing.

"Are you kidding? You're shaking like a leaf. You really don't know, do you?" Gabe smirks at Dean.

"Why did I let myself get dragged here?" Dean curses to himself.

"Oh Deano... How adorable. You do realise why we were doing this, right?" Dean looks at Gabe distraught. Gabe laughs.

"Alright, I'll fill ya in you dork. You know how much you hates heights and Sam hates clowns?

"Sam yeah? But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, what if I told you that little prank that me and Hailey are doing has something to do with both?"

Dean smirks, "She wouldn't, you would. Don't drag her into it." This causes Gabriel to laugh.

"Dean! This little angel is smart, you know? She helped me fool god." Gabe smirks at Hailey, who's walking back with Sam.

You smile and hold a teddy bear Sam won. "Hey Gabe, howdy Dean! Look what Sammy won me!" You show then the pink bear. Sam looks less nervous.

" Hello, dolly. Welcome back. So did you get your cotton candy?" Gabe says, Dean is pale.

You hold up a bag of pink cotton candy.

"Yep! It's really good!"

"Aww I love pink cotton candy. It sure is delicious. But I think we can make our night even better, don't cha think?" Gabe smirks at you and you motion to the giant ferris wheel.

"You really want to go on it!"

At this point the prank is pretty much over for Sam. But dean's nightmare is just starting.

"Come with me, doll. Because the Ferris Wheel is calling our name." You grin widely and grab Gabriel's hand pulling him towards the giant moving ferris wheel. Sam and Dean stand there dumbfounded. But follow you regardless. They talk about wanting to go home, but refuse to leave you alone with Gabriel.

"Ahh, this is gonna be even sweeter than cotton candy, dolly. I'm tellin you." He whispers in your ear.

You smile and pop a piece of cotton candy in your mouth, moaning as it melts in my mouth. Closing your eyes to savor the sweet flavor, you miss Gabe's eyes get darker.

"Doubtful. Nothing is sweeter than cotton candy!" You smile at him.

Gabe laughs and gives her a small look of approval. Then turns to Dean and smiles menacingly.

"Well well, look at you boys. Just following your dolls lead. This is gonna be great. Aren't you excited to see the world from up there!"

The boys grumble but decide going on after you and gabe is the best way to keep an eye on you.

"Gosh you boys sound like parents!" You shoot back quickly shutting them up. Gabe laughs at this.

"We're gonna go on, are you two chicken?" Dean shoots up. You shrug.

"We're in line aren't we?"

Dean grunts. "No. I'll be right behind you both."

I stick my tongue out at Dean, Gabe and Sam both laugh at this.

"Yay! It's gonna be so fun!" You smile and give off happy wiggles as the line gets shorter.

"And you boys better hold your ground. This little doll doesn't take no for an answer, do you dolly?" You shake your head. Gabe smirks and winks at you, grabbing you by the waist and starts to walk towards the front of the line.

Dean follows with his arms crossed and a sour face. Sam nudges him.

Gabe laughs as I get more excited the closer we get to the front of the line.

"I can tell, doll. Now, I think the two of us should get our own seat, don't you?"

"Oh definitely." You smile and laugh.

"Excellent." You all reach the top of the line and starts waving the people ahead of us through as there was only one more seat left and knowing dean wouldn't ride it if he didn't have to.

"See, dolly? I'm not all bad. I have some good manners too." Gabe smirks.

"I think you just want to get the boys anxiety up." You look back at an antsy Sam and Dean.

"Oh, come on! They need to loosen up a little, don't they?" You roll your eyes at Gabriel.

"Our turn!" You pull him towards the seats. He laughs.

"Right on schedule." Gabe grabs your arm and helps you into one and then takes a seat in the one across from her.

"Ready when you are, dolly." He smirks at you as the ride starts moving you up.

"Let the fun begin!"

"Oh, it will, dolly. This is gonna be one Hell of a ride, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. " He smirks causing you to wiggle in your seat. I toy with the slit in my dress.

"I should have chosen a lower slit. I feel exposed."

"Well, I'm not complaining." Gabe smirks seductively at you.

You blush harder and squeeze your legs together.

"You wouldn't." You laugh at him.

"Oh, you know I would." You both look at the boys and smirks.

'You boys ready for this?' You text Dean. Smiling, you look down and see Dean look up after reading the text and flip you off.

"How rude!" You say sarcastically, this makes Gabe smile and laugh.

"Don't take it too hard, doll. It just means he really cares." Gabe laughs when you roll your eyes and turn back to the boys.

'At least we get a little alone time now," he wiggles his eyebrows at you causing you to giggle.

"That we sure do." The ferris wheel starts to move making everyone's stomach churn. Gabe smirks seductively at you.

You blush.

"Later cutie. Let dean enjoy the view first." You smile.

"I'm just gonna get it while it's good." Gabe leans his body into yours to shield your view of Dean, so you only sees him.

"Oh, don't worry dolly. He's just being his grumpy self. You can tease him about it later, trust me." Gabe says. I smile.

"I plan on it." He smirks.

"Now, where were we, doll?" He puts his hand on your thighs, caressing them and looking at you seductively.

"Gabe. Be careful with what you're getting yourself into." You warn him gently.

"And what would that be, dolly?" He smirks and starts to move his hand up my thigh.

"I think you know exactly what you are doing." You suck in a breath.

"Oh yes, I think I do." Gabe smirks and caresses your leg more.

"I love how your thighs feel. So smooth. So... Perfect... " He leans in closer to your body and whispers in your ear, "so... delicious..."

This sends goosebumps down your spine. You straddle him which is easy because you practically already are on him.

"You flirt, absolutely shameless." You smirk at him, testing him. He kisses your neck.

"You love it." Gabe smirks seductively at you and caresses you more.

He continues, "I can tell in the way you look at me. In the way your cheeks grow a deep red color. In the way your body reacts to every little touch. You want this just as much as I do, don't you?"

He leans his head closer to her legs, caressing it and nibbling on your thighs.

"If I say yes?" You sigh contently.

"How about you show me just how much you love it, doll?" Gabe smirks. I roll my eyes but smile.

"Absolutely shameless. Too bad I'm into it." You break the invisible barrier and kiss him hard. He leans in.

"Mhmm, that's a good girl." He smirks and starts to trail kisses up and down your body, nibbling on your neck.

"I've wanted this for so long, dolly." Gabe caresses her cheek and leans in close again, nibbling on her lips slowly but seductively.

You moan lightly.

"Gabe please, what if someone sees?" You try to beg, your mind starting to give in.

He caresses your body and whispers seductively in her ear "What if that's what I want. For everyone to see you are mine." He growls in your ear.

"You couldn't possibly want anything else on earth more than me, dolly. Especially with the way you can't keep your hands off of me, doll. So why should I keep mine off of you?" He continues while smirking and moves his body around your legs, nibbling at her thighs again. Your hands go to his hair.

"Someone could see. Please." You moan lightly "Gabe please." Your body reacting the opposite from what comes out of your mouth.

He smirks and leans in closer again, "I can't help it, dolly. I'm trying, but I'm not strong enough. And I think you're the same." He whispers seductively as he leans back slightly.

He snaps his fingers to reveal the massive ferris wheel in the background.

"See? There's nobody around for miles. We're alone. And your body is telling you exactly who you want. You want me." He nibbles on your thighs again.

"Gabe please touch me." You moan in his ear now comfortable that no one is around.

He smirks at you.

"Oh, dolly... You're killing me." Gabriel says sarcastically then he laughs and nibbles harder, caressing you more seductively.

"I might have to make you beg me though, doll." He nibbles the inside of your thigh in a sensitive spot, causing you to moan and grip his shoulders for support.

"Gabe please. Don't make me." You moan gently.

"Oh I think I'm going to, doll." Smirks and nibbles harder, caressing you more seductively "You know you want me more than anyone on heaven or earth."

[asmrtist-brainrot]

Hii not sure if ur interested, but could I request Abul x reader x Abul’s family (platonic!) headcanons? Just the reader slowly creeping into their hearts and abul’s family slowly starting to accept them as part of the family? (nothing is more powerful than making ur boyfriend’s family love you more); imagine that, at one point, Alrick (grandpa) and celestia (mom) start protecting YN from others questioning abul’s relationship w/ them (if it's in a negative view)

It's already sort of a well-known "secret" that Abul is very fond of his partner soooo...

Gender Neutral! Reader

~ Dari

Platonic! Royal Dragon Family + Abul X Reader

Alrick is somewhat of an old fashioned, slightly pompous ass to most and held onto a lot of the views that he felt kept him safe...

but he still loved his son and so loved his grandson and he learned to also love the person, the human, that his grandson loves too

you sort of wore him down, holding that same fire and spirit that your own grandmother held

soft and gentle and bright, you reminded him so much of his loving son

Abul lowkey started getting suspicious when Alrick started having you do some "paperwork" with him and worries if he's just drinking insecurities in you or plotting to make you leave him

and essentially bursts in on one of these times to see that you were in fact helping with papers but also having tea and a chat, even seening Alrick full on belly laugh at one of your cheeky quips.

... struck dumb until you chirp for him to join you both, Alrick gives him the evil eye about it thoigh and gruffly tells Abul later not to interrupt his time bonding with his future in-law

Abul needs time to reboot after that but is very relieved to see that he's softened up

Alrick is terribly protective of you now, a looming force that simply bashes away any opinions of nobles because fuck them all, he's the strongest and will make them love you as much as he does

Celestia knew what you were to her son when she first saw how he looked at you and it just made her so happy to see him breaking tradition because he loved someone so much

she also already loved you after she figured out what type of person you were

... You did remind her a lot of her late husband, they weren't really in love but she still loved him as the father of their children and respected him as the good man he was

and OOH, you were just darling! such a cheerful and playful thing - she's gotten so sick of the uptight stiffs that you were someone she feels like she can let loose around

she lowkey pesters Abul about when he'll propose because she's been dying to plan a wedding

Kass, not long after meeting you and finding out you were her brother's partner, was over the moon

she was brimming with delight after finding out you were such a sweetheart, practically dragging you away from your chores or her brother to go and explore with her - much to Abul's chagrin

often cracks jokes about "how did someone like you end up with my oaf of a brother?"

she pouts when you defend him but quickly bounces back to pride that you loved him so much

Kass appoved of you the minute she figured out how deep your feelings were and just feels at ease around you

you don't judge her for anything and yes, that includes being a bit of a gossip - she loves spilling about the messy things surrounding the nobles

ya'll know she has the hottest tea around

she's also real amused you managed to get into Alrick's good graces too

Abul thought it couldn't get any weirder until he found out his stepbrother was making nice with you, it also annoys him a bit because he was such a prick but the minute you're in the room - he's just sooo nice

Bren and you were essentially already best buds after you both started working together, you were happy to show him the ropes and defend him if necessary

it strange for him to have someone to defend him so readily, so... he adores you and the both you play board games and read together

even after his royal attachment to the dragon family was revealed, you still treated him like the pair of you were friends all your lives

but now, you happily call him your brother

he felt welcome long before he was revealed to be related and he had you to thank for that

[dolly-macabre]

𝓓𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮'𝓼 𝓓𝓪𝔂 𝟑

𝑺𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒚

𝑵𝑺𝑭𝑾 𖤐 𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑫𝑵𝑰

"So whaddya think, huh?" Pickles is at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Pretty impressive huh? I think Kerran would lose his fuckin' mind if he saw all dese wheels!" He chuckles, thinking back fondly on their old friend back in Tomahawk who souped up whatever old cars he could get his hands on. 

Dolly's chuckle echoes his, following Pickles through the giant Mordhaus garage. "Yeah!" she agrees. "He sure would!" 

She marvels at the humongous Dethbus, its three tiers towering over them, eighteen wheels, and the large spiked dragon head jutting out front, making for a very intimidating ride. Almost every behemoth of a vehicle is preceded with "Deth", while the bike behind them, referred to as the Murdercycle, is just as impressive, sporting four sidecars. She has to admit, everything is pretty sick. 

"Oh, shit!" Her eyes widen as she grasps one of the handlebars of the Murdercycle. "You gotta teach me how to ride this beast!" 

"You got it, angel!" He smirks that familiar little smirk of his, lighting up a smoke. "We can do whatever you want!"

"Woah! What in the hell is that over there?" She points towards a limo hanging out in the corner, dashing over to it. It's a bit busted up, and the driver's seat is an ornate upholstered chair bolted to the floor. 

"Oh, that's the limo we got Murderface fer his birthday! It's the one Kennedy was assassinated in. And that chair's the one Lincoln got shot in." The cigarette dangles from his lips, bobbing as he speaks. "I don't think he'd like ya drivin' that."

Dolly takes notice of the flags with his face silhouette on them and huffs a disappointed sigh. "Weak, man!" she exclaims, examining the fat tires. Just then she gets an idea. A very disrespectful idea. 

"What's that look fer?" Pickles' smirk widens. He knows all too well when her brain is cooking up mischief. "I told ya, he's not gonna let you drive it! But I mean, if you wanna try crossin' some wires, I won't say anything!"

"I don't want to drive it! I mean, I do!" She grabs ahold of Pickles' hand, pulling him close so he pins her against the driver's side door. "But I'm thinkin' about somethin' a little more… Intimate." 

"Ooh! Yer thinkin' about doin' that? In there?"

"Why not? You said we can do whatever I want! Could be fun!" She rubs her hands together in a dastardly fashion. "We could really fuck with his head about it!" 

"Yer one evil lil shit, you know that?" he says, taking one last hit off his cigarette. He tosses the rest to the side as he closes in on her, his lips finding hers. Even though he tastes like an ashtray, she doesn't mind. Honestly, she loves it. The taste feels like home. Her fingers fiddle with his dreads as her other hand comes to rest on his chest.

Dolly breaks the kiss only to say, "I wouldn't have to be evil if he wasn't such an asshole!"

"Ya know, I never thought I'd get laid 'cause of Murderface!" One hand finds her cheek while the other reaches up under her shirt, tracing his fingers up her side while pinning her closer to him. "But you won't catch me complainin'!" 

"No more about him. It's killing the mood! Ah--" 

Pickles cut her off to suckle at her neck, leaving behind a small hickey. His wandering fingers wriggle under her bra, grasping at a tit.

Her moans reverberate through the garage until his lips meet hers once more, his cool tongue piercing teasing her. He's pressed so close to her now that she can feel his hard-on through his jeans. His hands only stray so he can open the driver's side door. As he takes his seat, she's quick to follow, straddling his lap. He looks up into her eyes as she places each hand on the sides of his face. She gives him a teasing peck on the lips before pulling off the Iron Maiden shirt she'd stolen from him earlier in the evening. It falls to the side of them as Pickles haphazardly pulls at the clasps of her bra.

"Need some help?" She giggles, reaching behind her back to guide his reckless hands. As her bra falls to the floor, he buries his face in her ample bosom.

"Oh, yeah!" he exclaims, his voice muffled. "That's the stuff!" 

"It's all yours, babe. Everything."

"And I couldn't ask fer more." He lifts his face to kiss her again, his fingers now unbuttoning and pulling down her jeans and panties with fervor. She follows suit, as he lifts his bottom to help her remove his jeans and briefs.

"Fuck, look at you." His hands grab at her waist, pulling her close enough that her wet warmth rubs against his cock. "Goddamn, Dahlia…"

She lets out a soft moan, rocking her hips against him.

"Ah! Oh…" His moans are needy, and she revels in them, reaching down to help him enter her. With how wet she is, he's easily able to slip right inside, groaning loudly as he does so.

Her head tilts back in ecstasy as she grabs at her tits, riding him slowly to start.

"Fuck, yer so fuckin' tight, Dolls…"

"Thanks! You're pretty cool yourself, dude!" she jokes, her breath heavy.

Pickles rolls his eyes and chuckles. Her sense of humor could be so lame sometimes. His hands grasp at her ass, guiding her up and down, faster now, as he pumps up into her in return. 

Dolly breathes a hungry gasp, leaning forward to bury her face against his neck. "Don't-- Ah! Don't stop!"

"Mm, you like that, babygirl?" He pounds harder now, his fingernails scratching down her back until he reaches her ass again. Cupping one side lovingly, he smacks the other cheek enough to leave a pink mark where his hand now rested. 

"Oh, fuck yes… Yes! Please, harder!"

The sweat rolls down both their bodies, glistening in the glare of the shop lights and soaking through his shirt. Pickles pushes his hips up as hard as he can, over and over, taking one of her tits in his mouth. He bites gently, leaving more marks across her chest and up her neck. Everyone would know what they'd done by the time they were finished. 

Finally, with a few more bounces on him, a shock runs through her body and she peaks. Warm fluid spills onto his twitching cock as she tightens around him. 

"Oh, gahd…" He speeds up his rhythm, panting hard into her chest as he finally releases himself inside her. 

She hums long and low. "Told you it'd be fun." She lays against him, thoroughly satisfied, as their breathing evens out together. 

"Hoo! Ya sure did, angel." He lights up another smoke, sharing it with her as she trembles against him. "That was fuckin' incredible!" 

"So," Dolly speaks up after a long moment in each other's arms, "are ya gonna take it out or are we hoping for round two?"

"Hey, haven't got caught yet! Why not?" He chuckles, running his hands up and down her back. "Gimme fifteen minutes or so and we can get right back to it."

Dolly gleefully lays against him, cuddled close, waiting for their moans and sighs to fill the garage once more. 

[liopleurodean]

Season 3, Episode 9: Malleus Maleficarum

Aw. Shame that one (or both) is gonna die

Ew

That's a horrible way to go

CDC is a new one

There's a lead there

Witches. Yay

Germophobe Dean my beloved

Good old fashioned crime investigation

Suspicious

She left her oven on while she was out?

Ew

Oh, that's horrifying and disgusting

Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick

Dean, don't you know better than to curb hop?

Whoa, blue fire

She doesn't even know what she's doing?

There's something else at work here

Yeah, it probably doesn't smell great in there

Oh, Dean, were those tears I heard for that rabbit?

Anonymous caller

That was creepy, how they talked like that

They're gonna kill her next if she leaves

Poor girl

That was weird

Definitely suspicious

Too far, Sam

Dean, don't agree

HOW DARE THEY

HOW DARE SHE DO THAT TO BABY

Not now, Dean

Well crap

Ruby, he's got no reason to believe you

The both of them need to stop

This is a tired argument

Kind of

Huh.

Find the hex bag

Check the car?

Or go to the source

That looks disgusting

I like Ruby

What just happened

Ouch

That's such a weird thing to say

Don't call him that

That doesn't bode well

Wow, Dean, that sure helped

Whoa, that's a development

Yeah, I figured

Ouch

Ooh, good idea

Demon on demon violence

That's horrifying

Oh, that sucks

Yes! Go Dean

That's not good

Oh, it's just Ruby

Not all of them, but most of them

It's a warning

Mm, about seven years actually

Everyone always needs help

That's a good question

[creationtainted]

"OW—" a cry more out of reflex than anything, don't be fooled, "don't care, you and I both will forever know that you said it out loud, in all seriousness. Put whatever you want in your phone, that shit's been burned into the atmosphere."

And burned into his brain. Which usually isn't too big of a deal, given that Adam's attention span is dubious at best, but this one… this one is going to stick. The situation that goes along with it probably helps the longevity of that thought, but he's not going to think too deeply about it. Nice moment. That's all he wants to care about.

Though, the ready admission of 'best friend ever' might almost blow 'Dickmaster' out of the water. He's watching her as she speaks, silently absorbing the sentiment, but his mind keeps wandering back to that particular thought. Even after all this time, after everything that's happened... he still gets to hang onto that title?

"... Yeah, I've always kinda gotten the vibe that I'm pretty lucky to be me." It might be a joke, but it's a joke that's said with much less bite than it normally has; it sounds just a bit too serious, thoughtful. Adam's grateful when Vaggie decides to push the conversation along.

"—Ooh! I can totally help with that. Let me do your hair and shit, it'll be just like the old days. Obviously your hair's a fuckton longer, but I can probably fashion a pretty mean braid."

Suffice to say, despite how things had started... and continued... Adam does seem to be in a much more typical mood now. Between the promise of cute baby gifts, the opportunity to braid, and the extra promise of good food, his spirits are effectively lifted. One final good squeeze around Vaggie's shoulders, a soft warning, before he's gingerly pulling away, making like he's about to climb out of the tub.

"Yo, your dude makes some really sick food. I'm already drooling just thinkin' about that shit."

Vaggie makes a show of rolling her eye and elbows Adam in the ribs. Not hard enough to hurt, but it's definitely something he will feel. Just because they have silently agreed to ignore the big ass elephant that has been sharing a room with them since they had met again, it doesn't mean that she will let him boast unpunished.

"You're still 'Flopmaster' on my contacts and I'm not changing it," she declares, choosing to play along with him. "Ever."

Her words, however, hold no bite at all and she lets out an almost content sigh. This is nice, this is okay. They are treading a dangerous subject, but they are still far enough from it for it to be safe to prod at. Besides, the physical closeness helps, as odd as it might sound.

She has trust issues, deeply rooted in her core, which manifest, among the other things, as a wariness towards random physical contact. It has taken a while for her to get used to Charlie's affectionate ways. Yet, in that moment, old habits prevail over everything else and she just goes with it.

It's easier.

Her lips curl in a little smile as his lips touch the top of her head, despite the melancholy that comes with the gesture. Maybe it's the words, maybe it's Adan's seriousness hidden underneath the joking tone, or perhaps it's something else entirely, but a cozy warmth spreads in her chest.

My favorite girl.

"You should listen to that girl, she sounds really smart," she quips back with a little huff, rubbing the side of her head against his shoulder a little, like a content cat would. "Second chances are something you should grab the moment you see them, no matter how unlikely the results might be."

She goes quiet for a moment, after that, before a heavy sigh escapes her lips.

"Maybe you're just lucky you are you. My best friend ever. And...being down here made me realise how much Heaven lacks mercy and forgiveness towards anyone who crosses one of their lines. I want to be better than that."

I won't do what has been done to me. To anyone.

She shakes her head, as to physically shaking off that thought. "Alright, as great as this is, we should get out of this tub, or we'll end up looking like dried prunes. And you absolutely need to see what I got for Hesta!" She picks up one look of white hair. "If drying my hair won't take a century."

That's one of the reasons why she has been considering to cut them again, now that her secret is out.

"Also, we might not have those cookies, but I got snacks," she goes on, shooting Adam a little sly grin. "Al made Chantilly cakes to get me off his ass and I brought them along."

[qu1cks1lversb1tch]

Eddie Munson ✨ Twilight Vampire ✨

Ever look at Eddie and wonder 'What if Carlisle Cullen found him? How would he be doing in the 2000s as a veggie vamp?'

Well, even if you haven't, I have. And now I'm writing these so I can remember to add them to my Wattpad fanfic later on. These are specific to my story and my OC's pronouns/living situation + her relationship with Eddie.

Feel free to use some of these ideas, but please don't post this anywhere else. This is my own hard work

So, first of all, he would totally still smoke weed. Like literally tons of it. Carlisle and the others would hate it because of the smell, but they gave up on getting him to quit after 10 years.

He most definitely kept the hair from the 80s. After he turned, his hair was the one thing he had full control over. Not even Alice could get him to change it.

Would dance in the rain with his mate.

He rips his pants at least once a week just doing dumb shit, like attempting karate kicks and jumping down from trees.

He was destroyed when his van finally took its last ride in the 90's. It hadn't been very old at all, but some things are beyond repair. So he allowed Carlisle to buy him a new one.

That van became his baby.

Despite not needing to have a job, he works at a bar on the edge of Forks. He saves the money so he can eventually paint a sick mural on the side of it.

When hunting, he'll use the five second rule, even though its unnecessary.

"Ooh! Five second rule!" "You realize that mountain lion has been outside its whole life? Its been on the ground before." "Shut up."

He didn't care much for physical touch when he was human, he dislikes it more as a vampire.

On the other hand, he doesn't know what personal space is either.

He always sits as close to his mate as humanly possible. The others find it irritating, but his firey mate thinks its adorable.

She thinks alot of things about him are adorable, and there's a constant argument: "Awww you're so adorable, Ed's." "I'm not adorable... I'm a man."

When his mate tells a funny joke, he almost always falls out of his chair in an exaggerated fashion.

He bought a goldfish in Port Angeles because his mate told him she wanted one when she was younger.

She named it Frito.

He's an absolute menace at red lights. Windows down and music all the way up. Most likely headbanging while his fingers drummed on the steering wheel.

He let's his mate paint his fingernails black.

He also let's her draw on his arms whenever she's anxious.

He took up writing as a stress relief. Sometimes he erases something so hard it tears the paper in half.

He's not big into sports, so while Bella and the others were at baseball, Eddie was in his mates room, watching 'Mean Girls' because that's what she wanted to do.

Both of them were shocked when Bella got home and she was yelling.

Eddie and his mate stayed in Forks.

He hates dressing too flashy, but he'd willingly do it for his girls senior prom. He didn't get to go to his own in his 3rd round of senior year, but he accepted her offer to go.

Even though he hates it when people stare at him.

He teaches her how to play guitar, using a second-hand one from a music store not too far from the bar. It was her nineteenth birthday present and she loved it.

His mate developed a love for playing, very similar to the one he had when he was a teenager.

She surprises him by playing covers of their favorite songs at the bar on Friday nights. She did it just to spend more time with him.

It takes about a year for him to open up to her about the events that led up to the week of his death.

His mate listens quietly, knowing it took a lot to reveal a traumatic event.

Nobody's allowed to touch his hair, except her.

While Ed 1 won't have premarital seggs, Ed 2 and his mate go at it constantly.

Literally, all the damn time.

That kinky bastard.

When she's at work, Eddie stops at the diner to pick up her favorites before walking all the way down the street to the auto repair shop.

He always greets her with a kiss and the bag of food.

They sit and talk on her lunch break.

Bear hugs at random.

He almost died again the first time she wore his hellfire shirt to the bar. He hadn't seen it in a while, but decided it looked good on her.

His wallet carries a picture of them that Alice took when neither of them were paying attention.

He always looks at her as if it was the first time he ever laid eyes on her.

This man-child vampire, loves aquariums.

He always slaps her ass when she walks by.

Pulls her in by the belt loops.

His hand always finds its way to her back pocket whenever they're out together.

Whenever he stays the night during the summer, he insists on tying her shoes before she goes to work.

He takes pinky promises as seriously as one would take an unbreakable vow. He would rather die again than break a pinkie promise.

He doesn't need to sleep, but he pretends to.

Never telling anyone his middle name, so his mate guesses.

"Edward Cornelius Munson?" "Absolutely not, are you even trying?"

She eventually guessed the right middle name after a week. "Edward James Munson?" His silence was enough of an answer.

He hates being called Edward, which only makes her do it more.

Refuses to tell anyone his birthday because it was never celebrated.

Its August 13th.

He's a man... who loves forehead kisses.

MATCHING GUITAR PICK NECKLACES.

When the other Cullen's left, Eddie stayed. He refused to leave his girl the way Ed 1 did.

He doesn't like kids that much, but he's good with them.

A kid waved at him at the aquarium and he casually mentioned how he'd love to maybe adopt a kid or six one day.

"I saw this and thought of you."

Then he hands her a flower 🌼🥺

It was always a different one.

He always tells her how beautiful she looks, even when she's just woken up with unbrushed hair.

He verbally fights with the shifters a lot because the ones that hadn't imprinted were interested in his girl.

They all knew she'd choose Eddie over them. Not because she wanted immortality or because she was scared to die. But because she truly loved him.

He realizes he wants to marry her one night while she's sleeping peacefully.

He wouldn't turn her until she was ready. However long that could be.

He wanted to propose in a meaningful way, but a vampire army put a kink in his plans.

He hates the thought of her being in any danger, so he does the most reasonable thing and doesn't let her leave his side unless its to use the bathroom.

Attempts to teach her DnD after a long day of battle training.

Turns into anything except learning how to play.

After almost losing her, he remembers human lives are short, so he proposes one night before she goes to bed.

She obviously says yes.

They decide to wait a bit before they get married, since Bella's wedding was coming up fast.

The coming months were very busy, so there wasn't much time to plan a wedding.

Finally, in January of 2007 they could begin planning.

Married in October of 2007.

Had their own Renesmee situation with twin boys.

She was turned not long after the birth of their two sons.

Adopted a little girl in February of 2008.

Moved to Alaska.

Lived happily ever after with their three kids.

If this gains any interest, I'll place the fanfic here when its finished!

—A. Barnes / Qu1cks1lversb1tch

[shepherds-of-haven]

I hope you’re having a great day Lena! I was just wondering if we could have any fluff facts about the shepherds as a whole! Like fun tidbits of how they interact with each other, what some of them do if they have the same day off, does anyone host weekly game nights?? I hope that makes sense! Reading the recent short story on Patreon I love seeing how the characters interact with one another and now I need moreeeeeee🙏

Ooh, great question! I’m feeling curiously tapped dry at the moment, so I’ll probably have to reblog this as more ideas come to me; I’m so happy you’re enjoying the short story, btw!! 💖

Some group dynamic headcanons:

Many of them steal clothes from each other. Briony wears a cute sweater of Shery's (she asked), Ayla gets cold so she just takes one of Red's jackets from a chair (she didn't ask), Chase gives Tallys his scarf one day and Riel corders Trouble a pair of gloves from a fashion line he favors because his old ones are holey and they get into an argument about it... This leads to some recruits mistakenly thinking that the captains are all involved in some sort of mass relationship because they keep walking out of each other's rooms wearing each other's clothes. (The recruits believe a lot of really dumb stuff, if you couldn't tell. They LOVE gossip. It's like a competitive sport in the compound)

There is a weekly card game night, initiated and organized first by Chase, but it grows bigger over time, with snacks, cakes, drinks, and new games being procured! I'd actually say it's more like every ten-fourteen days or so than on any set weekday, and is typically proposed by anyone who senses that they or others need to blow off some steam. They all tend to meet in a private common room and either just chill and play some card games and casually drink and listen to music, or they get LOUD and raucous and play more risque non-card games (like Question or Command/Truth or Dare). The loud nights are more like once a month or bi-monthly, though! They take place in the captains' lounge so dumb recruits don't get to join! It's rare that they're in there all doing the same thing, though: maybe half will be at the table playing card games while others will be broken up into smaller groups, say arm-wrestling in the corner or playing chess at the smaller table or reading, but they're all there! Game nights are almost never held unless everyone is there, which is extraordinarily difficult to schedule, but they all make an effort to make it happen--even those who first had to be dragged into it, like Blade or Riel!

Speaking of chess games, Red and Riel have a standing game where they complete at least four more moves every night that they're around and able to meet up after dinner. Planning their next move helps them both break up the monotony of the day, and it's something they enjoy immensely. However, whenever he gets called away on a mission, Red gets sick with worry that Riel's been cooking up all sorts of schemes while he's been gone, so sometimes on the road he has, like, a schematic that he doodles on trying to anticipate Riel's next move, and it's very nerdy and ramps up in joking Anxiety. Riel, graciously, goes easier on him on nights after he comes back from long trips, though he denies it

Similarly, Blade and Trouble have a standing training session once a week where they just beat the crap out of each other. This is generally where they do the majority of their talking

Briony and Ayla first had an agreement that they would get the other one up if they overslept (Briony tends to be the one who oversleeps while Ayla is better about being up at dawn, but Ayla is really grouchy if she went to bed late and Briony is the only one who can handle her), which morphed into doing runs and sparring together at dawn and having breakfast frequently!

The girls have a standing spa night once a month where they all get together in a room (usually Shery’s) and basically do sleepover stuff and relax and chat and catch up for a few hours. This also sometimes involves showing each other new outfits that they bought that month! Sometimes there are even group baths in the big common bath, but these are rarer because Shery is shy and Tallys doesn’t like sitting in hot water getting pruny

Chase and Trouble drag Red and Halek to go drinking with them around once a month; sometimes Blade is persuaded to go if Trouble can get the drop on him and punch him hard enough to wind him. It’s complicated

Riel and Shery, of course, have tea together once a week! You’re not allowed if you can’t bring a chill vibe (Riel’s rules). Tallys, Lavinet, Halek, and Red are occasional visitors; Briony is allowed on a good day. Blade would be allowed but he has 0 interest

Similarly, Lavinet hosts a weekly brunch, either in a courtyard or at some restaurant in town! Typically it’s a girl thing and Ayla, Briony, and Shery are the most consistent attendees, but Chase has snuck his way in there often, and Riel, Halek, or Red pop up occasionally!

Tallys and Halek cook together! It’s not all that often and doesn’t seem to have any set way of materializing--it just happens somehow--but they both very much enjoy it! Sometimes they cook dinner for the whole group and have a little dinner party that they both secretly get excited for! Sometimes Shery bakes the dessert!

Riel noticed that Tallys has a little garden that she spends time weeding, so he sends gardening tools or special seeds when he thinks she needs them and she leaves baskets of vegetables or vases of flowers in his office. All of this is done without exchanging a word

Chase sporadically teaches Briony acrobatics and things like tightrope walking, just randomly whenever they’re both idle. She teaches him how to gut people with bare fists and also sometimes they paint! 

Caine caught Red grazing in the pantry late one night and now it’s like a Thing where they pass each other in the kitchen and Red sort of just looks the other way re: Caine’s bedtime and what on earth he’s doing up so late and Caine doesn’t tell anybody that Red is just absent-mindedly eating a loaf of bread at 2 AM because he was too busy working to remember to eat dinner. It’ll be like, “there’s some turkey leftover from dinner in the cold box” “oh hey, Caine. thanks. ...so, what’s the news from the midnight watch tonight?” “i’m going to go hunt ghosts on the seventh floor with my friends!” “...okay! have fun!”

Lavinet has a monthly shopping trip where she updates her wardrobe, and it is very common for others to accompany her around the city and just shop while they drop! Common partners are Shery, Briony, Riel, Chase, and once memorably Blade, who didn’t know what he was in for!

Trouble and Ayla are wildly competitive and keep arm-wrestling each other for money; this becomes a bi-weekly sporting event that is eagerly attended and bet upon by third parties

There was ONE group karaoke night. ONE. Most of them got so blackout drunk that they swore to never do it again. Even now, several of them go green whenever they hear a popular bar song (“Don’t Piss Where You Plant Your Flowers”) being sung, especially badly

The game of "telephone" gets really bad in their group. It's like, Shery will say to Briony that she's worried because she thought Riel looked a bit peaky and feverish. Briony will say in passing to Trouble that Riel is getting sick and Shery is worried. Trouble will say to Tallys that Shery is worried sick because Riel is bedridden. Tallys will be mixing herbs and Chase will ask what for and Tallys will reply that Riel is sick, but because she's mixing herbs, Chase will surmise that the sickness must be quite advanced, and will later say, "Damn, have you seen Riel? Seems like he's really sick." Red will interpret this as "I have seen Riel for myself and have determined that he's extremely ill." At least four people will bust into Riel's room, expecting him to be on the verge of death, despite the fact that they saw Riel that morning. Riel will be fine and very annoyed at the intrusion.

They rarely go out as a group to bars and establishments outside of the compound (too chaotic as well as risky, for one thing, and also, recruits don't need to see their superiors like hanging out of bushes and dancing on tabletops drunk out of their minds, and also, "Mages can't drink" (lol)), but when they do deem it a worthy occasion (Trouble's birthday, say), the girls are very punctual when getting ready, and the boys are almost always extremely late due to various shenanigans (Chase forgot that he put a booby trap on Red’s door, covering Red with flour, or a cat somehow slips into Trouble’s room and steals, like, a detonator or an important key, and they have to go chasing it across the city). This has led to the girls coming late on purpose in order to even out their arrival, but mysteriously, this has only led to even later start times, meaning they often don’t get started until like 10 or 11 PM when the most well-intentioned souls meant to be in bed by midnight... that never happens, either!

One such night once led to them ending up on a ridge in the Sun’s Embrace, like a mile outside of the city, in order to watch the sun rise together, because hiking in the dark while blasted out of their minds sounded like a really good idea. They all made it, and the dawn was spectacular, but the moment was ruined when Tallys said softly, “It’s the beginning of a beautiful new day--” punctuated by Trouble abruptly throwing up in a bush and Riel just flat-out passing out

[hogarthwrites]

the misadventures of nathan and samuel morgan

pairing: none

genre(?): flashback, siblings, coming of age

warnings: none that i can think of

words: 6,244

summary:

"If this whole treasure-hunting thing doesn't work out, maybe we should join the circus." "Not when they have clowns." "Wow. Still not over that?" "No one is."

note:

this is a short story of the drake brothers' time in the orphanage because i think about it a lot. nate was 10, sam was 15.

“It'll be fun,” Sam had said. “I promise there'll be magicians too.”

Nathan Morgan clutched his magician’s hat that Father Duffy gave him in his little hands. He'd just turned ten and he was obsessed with all things magic. The other kids were outside for recess but he'd asked his older brother, Sam, to spectate the new magic tricks he'd learned from a book – another one of Father Duffy’s birthday-slash-Christmas-slash-New Years gifts to him.

Sam was supposed to be in detention, but had snuck out when the elderly nun watching over him had fallen asleep. For once he thanked God for the chance to escape because his hand was starting to cramp from writing “I will not smoke in the chapel” (which was false, he had tried to reason with Sister Catherine--he was smoking behind the chapel) on the blackboard over and over again. At fifteen, he was tall and lanky, a trait he'd inherited from his father. He hated the orphanage and did everything he could to get kicked out somehow.

A week before Nathan’s birthday, Sam found a flyer for a circus coming into town that month. The last time he went to one was before their mother died, but he remembered how fun it was and he knew he just had to take Nathan.

“I don't know,” the younger Morgan brother stared down at the hole in his sock, where his big toe peeked out. He didn't have a magician's cape so he wore his blanket around his shoulders, making him look smaller than he actually was. “Won't you get in trouble for sneaking out again?”

“Who says I'll get in trouble?” Sam shrugged. “They won't know.”

Nathan was still hesitant until Sam sighed and pulled out the tickets from his pocket. The little boy’s eyes lit up at the bright red and blue tickets, wiping his pudgy hands on his pajamas before taking the tickets from Sam. He read the print on it:

Come one! Come all!

Barns and Barney Circus

Wednesday

January 7, 1986

4:00 p.m.

Boston

“I told them you were nine so the other ticket could be free,” Sam grinned.

That was how young Nathan found himself clinging onto Sam’s denim jacket as they stood in line to get into the large blue and white tent, lights illuminating the field it was on. He had told one of the nuns he was feeling sick and faked a fever and a coughing fit so they'd feel sorry for him. They let him stay in bed all day so as soon as he was alone and all the other kids were downstairs saying grace before supper, he stuffed his pillows under his blanket to give the impression he was still in bed, grabbed his magician’s hat and snuck out the window. Sam on the other hand gave no excuses.

“Wow, that's a cool hat you've got there, sport,” the man collecting tickets winked at Nathan. He wore a velveteen suit and had a swirly mustache that reminded Nathan of the villains in the comics he'd read. He shyly hid behind Sam.

“It's his first circus,” Sam handed the man their tickets and took Nathan’s hand to lead them to their seats. “Relax, Nathan. Circuses are so fun.”

Nathan sat next to Sam, looking around as people began to fill up the tent. The lights suddenly dimmed and a spotlight illuminated the middle of the ring. With a poof and lots of smoke, the man in the velveteen suit from earlier appeared. Nathan leaned forward in his seat in awe.

“Is he a magician?” He whispered to Sam.

“Of sorts,” Sam whispered back. “He's the ringleader.”

“Oh,” Nathan turned his attention back to the man.

“Good evening, ladies and gents!” The man’s voice boomed throughout the tent. “Welcome to the Barns and Barney circus here in wonderful Boston to start the new year with a bang!”

Entry of the Gladiators started playing on the speakers as performers came out onto the ring one by one; acrobats, tightrope walkers, dancers, jugglers on unicycles, magicians, a man with a chimpanzee on his shoulder, and many, many clowns.

Nathan was suddenly nervous as he watched the clowns in their colourful wigs and various mismatched outfits entertained the guests. He couldn't understand why, but they unsettled him. He glanced up at Sam, who looked excited at all the acts, but otherwise unphased by the clowns.

The trapeze acts started the show, with spectators ooh-ing and ah-ing at acrobats flying across the room. Then came the jugglers performing comedic acts that made everyone laugh, especially Sam. The show kept going on, and Nathan began to let himself enjoy it, eyes bright at all the acts.

Then came the clowns.

“What was that?” The ringleader leaned towards one of the clowns dressed in a bright blue costume and a large red wig sporting his head. “You want a volunteer?”

Nathan shrunk in his seat as other people raised their hands, yelling “Me! Choose me!” No way did he want to be near any of the clowns.

“You there!” The ringleader pointed in their direction.

Sam pointed at himself in confusion and the ringleader shook his head.

“The little magician sitting in the third row!”

Nathan’s heart began to pound quickly, his hands shaking.

“Go! Go!” Sam egged him on.

His legs felt like jelly as he stood up and hesitantly walked towards the ring, one of the pretty acrobats leading him there. He began to sweat as he was suddenly surrounded by clowns laughing and fooling around.

“And what is your name, young magician?” One of the clowns asked.

“N-Nate,” he stuttered a little too quietly. “N-Nate the Great.”

“Nate the Great!” The clown bellowed, receiving a few giggles from the audience. Nathan wanted to disappear at the very moment.

Suddenly he was surrounded by clowns laughing and dancing, their bright clothes, wigs, and makeup making him uneasy with every passing moment. He looked around for Sam in the audience and saw him giving a reassuring thumbs up, but it didn't help. The world felt like it was spinning around Nathan and the next thing he knew, he felt his jeans get wet.

There were gasps in the crowd, then laughter. Nathan looked down and to his horror, he had wet himself right there. In front of maybe a hundred people. He closed his eyes tightly.

Wake up, wake up, Nate! He wished and prayed it was just a bad nightmare, even muttering the prayers Sister Catherine made him memorise.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

But when Nathan opened his eyes, he was still surrounded by clowns, but they curiously looked at him, no longer laughing.

He closed his eyes again. Reciting the prayer over and over.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

“Nathan! Nathan!” He felt someone tug at his arm and before he knew it, Sam was dragging him out of the tent.

Nathan felt like he couldn't breathe as he sat on the grass, tears streaming down his face. Sam quietly sat next to him on the grass with a grunt.

“You okay?” Sam nudged him.

“No,” Nathan sniffled. “I don't wanna go to another circus ever again.”

“Okay,” Sam shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Nathan. “Here, wrap this around your waist.”

They quietly sat together as Nathan tried to calm himself down. It felt like no matter how much he tried, he couldn't breathe at all. Sam worriedly watched his little brother, a little guilty for letting him go through whatever happened with the clowns. He made a mental note to watch for cues of whenever Nathan felt uneasy about something.

“Uh, excuse me?” A man approached him. He wore the same blue clown costume from earlier, except he didn't have a wig on and no makeup.

“What?” Sam snapped.

“I just wanted to apologise for what happened… In there.”

Nathan kept his head between his knees, too afraid to look up.

“Here,” the man handed Sam a pair of sweatpants. “It might be a little baggy, but it's better than a wet pair of pants.”

“Thanks.”

Sam hesitantly took the pants from the man before he bid them farewell.

“Is he gone?” Nathan mumbled.

“Yeah, he's gone.”

Nathan looked up and was relieved to see just Sam, holding a pair of sweatpants.

“I can't wear that! That's clown clothes!” He protested.

“You'd rather walk around covered in piss?”

Nathan frowned, looking down at his soiled jeans. It did feel very uncomfortable and it wasn't helping that the wetness made him feel colder.

“Fine,” he grumbled, taking the sweatpants from Sam and stomped behind a tree. “Don't look.”

“Ew, no way in hell,” Sam rolled his eyes, turning away to watch the pretty acrobat who stood outside the tent, smoking a cigarette. He considered going up to her to ask for a cigarette, and if he was lucky, her number.

“It's baggy,” Nathan emerged from behind the tree, holding the sweatpants up.

“Just roll the top until it kinda fits.”

Nathan sighed, quietly mocking Sam. “Roll the top until it fits.”

“I look stupid.”

Sam turned back to look at Nathan awkwardly standing by the tree, the sweatpants were baggy and rolled up at his waist and ankles. He suppressed a laugh, instead he awkwardly stood and bit at his nails.

“No, you look fine,” he nodded. “Come on, let's get some ice cream then head back.”

They walked to an old fashioned drug store and ordered two ice cream sodas. The only other people there were the elderly man at the cashier reading a newspaper and a guy probably in his early 20’s who served the ice cream and sodas.

Nathan was still bummed out as he picked at a maraschino cherry. His magician’s hat was on the counter next to him and he pushed it away.

“My career is ruined.”

Sam chuckled. “Come on, no one in there is going to remember that.”

“I'll remember it,” Nathan sighed. “No more Nate the Great.”

“Don't be so dramatic,” Sam picked up the hat. “No one else in the orphanage can pull Mr. Wiggles out of a hat, right?”

Nathan nodded. Mr. Wiggles was a stuffed bunny that one of the younger boys, Ralph, owned. A lot of the younger ones always enjoyed Nathan’s tricks before bed.

“Can't let Ralph down, can we?” Sam nudged him before stuffing a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. He immediately regretted the instant brain freeze.

“No.”

Nathan took the hat from Sam who was still recovering from the brain freeze and he took a deep breath before hesitantly placing it on his head. The laughter, the wetness, and especially the clowns all came back to him and he tossed the hat on the ground with a yelp.

“Seriously, Nathan?” Sam sighed as he picked up the hat.

“I can't, Sam.”

Sam simply gave him a pat on the back. “No more circuses.”

“No more clowns.”

“No more clowns.”

Nathan crawled into his bed in a fresh pair of pajamas but he couldn't drift off to sleep. He knew he was a lot safer inside the orphanage, surrounded by the other boys who he shared the room with, yet the image of the clowns and the audience laughing was stuck in his mind. He tossed and turned in his bed, wishing Sam wasn't assigned to a different room so he'd have someone to talk to.

Over the next few days, Sam tried to avoid bringing up the circus around Nathan, but he still felt a bit bad about it. Nathan stopped wearing his magician’s hat and cape, opting to sit alone in the library reading comic books instead of performing tricks in front of the other kids. Of course, Father Duffy noticed.

“Samuel, I need to talk to you,” Father Duffy approached Sam as he sat on the bleachers.

Sam instantly put his cigarette out, crushing it under his sneaker and sheepishly turning back to the Father.

“Heyy, Father Duffy, I was just trying out that cigarette that Edward gave me, by the way,” Sam sheepishly said. “It was disgusting. People should never smoke. Did I mention Edward gave it to me?”

“Samuel,” Father Duffy sighed as he sat next to him on the bench. “I wanted to ask about Nate.”

“My brother? What'd he do now?”

“Well, it's what he hasn't been doing that's got me worried. He seems… Quieter than usual?”

Sam stayed silent. He shrugged, feigning innocence.

“Have you noticed it?”

“Well,” Sam stood up and paced. “He hasn't… Been playing with those magic thingies…”

“I'm just worried he might be depressed about something, Sam.” Father Duffy was always worried about either of the brothers getting too depressed after learning about how their mother passed. He reached into his pocket and gave him a ten dollar bill. “Can I trust you to go out and get him a nice magician’s coat?”

“Yeah,” Sam gingerly took the bill and stuffed it in his pocket.

“I'll get Sister Maureen to take you to the market tomorrow morning,” Father Duffy said. “And for the love of God, stop smoking. It's terrible for your lungs.”

“Thank you, Father Duffy,” Sam muttered as he walked away, lighting up another cigarette as soon as the priest was out of sight.

Sister Maureen was a stout Irish woman in her forties who always looked cross, but Sam felt like he got along just fine with her. For one thing, she had Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys loudly playing on the radio as she drove him to downtown Boston. This pleased Sam. He liked the Beastie Boys.

“Now don't you be taking your sweet time in there or I'll throw you in detention,” she said in a monotone voice as she parked the car. “Be back in half an hour. I'll be at the store.”

“You got it, Sister,” Sam winked before he got out of the car.

He still had the Beastie Boys song in his head and despite being in his uniform that consisted of a white button down shirt, a pair of black slacks, and a blue vest that had “St. Francis Academy” on the left chest, he felt cool. He felt the bill in his pocket as he made his way to the closest department store.

“Cool,” Sam smiled into the mirror as he tried on a pair of aviators. He looked at the price. Five dollars. If he was going to get Nathan a nice gift he could use for magic, he wouldn't have enough. He considered his choices; he could do the right thing and just buy what Father Duffy asked, or he could treat himself to a nice pair of sunglasses and still find Nathan a nice gift.

He was about to make up his mind to do the right thing when he looked out the window and saw an open-air market across the street. Maybe he could find something there. There was the usual local produce as Sam strolled around, hoping there would be the odd stall with weird antiquities. Instead, he came across an elderly woman with rabbits in a cage. This gave Sam an idea.

“Hey, lady, how much for a bunny?” He asked her.

“Just four dollars, dear,” she sweetly smiled.

“Sold!” Sam pointed at a fat white bunny munching on a carrot. “I'll take that one.”

“For feck’s sake,” Sister Maureen simply gave Sam a weird look as he climbed back into the car with a little cage in his arms and a shiny new pair of sunglasses. “Did you get what you needed?”

“Oh yeah,” Sam nodded. “Let's roll, Sister Maureen.”

He felt even cooler when No Sleep Till Brooklyn played loudly as the nun drove back.

Nathan was lying on the ground, focusing on his drawing of Indiana Jones. He'd finally got to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark when they showed it at the movie night a couple days ago, and he was intrigued. He began imagining himself as a swashbuckling explorer again.

Sam poked his head into the room, scanning the room for his little brother.

“I have something for you,” he walked over to Nathan. “A late present.”

He pushed his sunglasses up and plopped down on the floor and placed the little cage in front of Nathan.

“No way,” Nathan gasped, pushing his sketches away to hold the bunny in his hands. “Is this allowed?”

“Father Duffy paid for it,” Sam gave a nonchalant shrug.

“I'm gonna name him Doc.”

“What's up, Doc?” Sam laughed as Nathan left the bunny to him so he could grab his magician’s hat and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. A crowd of three to four little boys ranging from ages five to nine who were loitering around the room had gathered around, curiously looking at the brothers and whispering to each other.

“And now,” Nathan addressed the crowd. “The return of Nate the Great!”

He gestured for Sam to stand up.

“I shall now introduce the bunny, Doc, who I shall pull out of my hat!”

Ooh!

Sam stood behind Nathan after secretly giving him the bunny and he put the sunglasses on again.

“Abra cadabra!” Nathan quickly popped open the top of the hat and slid Doc inside.

“You don't have a bunny!” One of the smaller boys called out as he picked his nose.

“Then what do you call…” Nathan stuffed his hand into the bottom of the hat and gently pulled Doc out by the ears. “This!”

Aah!

Laughter filled the room as Nathan went through his routine of magic tricks, now improved with an even better assistant, Doc.

“Now, I like the sound laugh–” Father Duffy stood at the doorway and froze when he saw the bunny in Nathan’s hand. “What is that?”

“A bunny!” Sam grinned. “Isn't it just the best present?”

Father Duffy slumped against the doorway and sighed. Oh, Samuel.

“That's very nice,” he muttered. “Sam–can I speak to you in the hall for a second?”

“Sure thing, Father,” Sam followed the priest out into the hall and closed the door to the room where Nathan was showing the boys some card tricks.

“A live animal, Samuel?” Father Duffy crossed his arms. “I asked you to get him a cape .”

“ Oh ,” Sam hummed. “I swear I don't remember you saying anything specific, so I chose the gift I thought would be best for him.”

“You do know you boys aren't allowed to keep pets.”

“Come on, Father Duffy. Don't sweat it. We'll keep Doc out in that old cage near the garden.”

“Samuel, I don't trust you with an animal like that.”

“That's a low blow,” Sam looked up at Father Duffy through his shades. “But fine, it's Nathan’s pet now. He’ll take care of it.”

“Is anything the matter?” Nathan peeped out the door, the bunny still in his hand. “Is Sam in trouble again?”

“I was just telling your brother how it's a lot of hard work to take care of rabbits,” Father Duffy turned his attention to the younger Morgan brother.

“I'm sure there's books on rabbit care in the library,” Nathan held up the bunny. “I named him Doc.”

“That's nice,” Father Duffy sighed. “Fine. As long as you promise to clean up after him and to feed him yourself. Okay?”

“See, that's why you're my favourite priest,” Sam gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “Was that a sin?”

“Shades, Samuel.”

Nathan loved Doc. He's never had a pet before so he made it his mission to prove to himself and to Father Duffy and Sister Catherine that he was responsible enough to take care of the bunny. Apart from Sam, Nathan didn't really have any other friends, and he wouldn't really call Ralph-- who was just six -- a friend.  Sam was in the highschool section of the orphanage so when Nathan had no one else to talk to, he'd sneak off to Doc’s cage to talk to the rabbit and to draw. He must've drawn Doc a thousand times that first month. His drawing studies of the rabbit eventually evolved into Super Doc, a series of comics about a superhero rabbit fighting off villains that all looked like clowns.

“Whatcha drawing there, dingbat?” Edward, one of the older boys approached Nathan. He was large and had his black hair slicked back, making him look like a cockroach. He was in the highschool section too and was just a year younger than Sam. Two other boys, Jay and Danny, were close behind, giving Nathan menacing grins.

“Shouldn't you be in algebra? Or did you flunk that again?” Nathan quickly shut his notebook, but Edward grabbed it from him.

“Super Doc?” Edward laughed. “More like Super Dork, am I right?”

“You're just like your brother,” Jay, who was smaller and leaner, poked Nathan’s shoulder. “A friendless loser.”

“At least we aren't stupid,” Nathan tried to reach for his notebook. “Give it back, Edward!”

Edward tossed it to Danny, who stood six-foot-two at the age of fourteen. The taller boy laughed and pushed Nathan away. “Loser.”

Blinded by rage, Nathan kicked Danny in the shin, causing him to drop the notebook as he doubled over. Nathan picked it up and stuffed it into his backpack before landing a punch on Edward’s cheek.

“Scrawny little punk,” Edward pushed him on the ground, making Nathan fall with a grunt. “You're gonna regret this.”

Jay and Danny pinned Nathan down as Edward grabbed a fistful of sand. Nathan kicked and yelled, knocking off Jay’s glasses in the process. He closed his eyes as Edward’s fist neared his face. It happened enough for him to anticipate, and he wasn't looking forward to eating a sand and knuckle sandwich.

He heard Edward grunt and the sound of someone falling on the sand.

“You get away from him, you assholes!” Sam yelled. Nathan opened his eyes and saw Sam throwing punches at Edward and Danny.

Nathan turned to Jay and punched him square on the jaw. The older boy held his jaw in pain.

“What the fuck?”

“That's right, Nathan!” Sam yelled as he dodged a blow from Danny. He almost looked like he was having fun. “Jab, jab, hook!”

Jab, jab, hook . Nathan repeated it in his mind over and over again. He mimicked Sam in his movements, anticipating Jay’s every move. Jab, jab, hook.

“Oof!” Nathan flew back as Jay hit him in the eye.

“Stupid kid,” Jay pushed him and he bumped into Sam, who frowned.

“Come on, Nathan. Fight’s not over.”

When Sam was distracted, Edward threw another punch at Sam’s cheek and threw him down on the ground. Sam groaned as he tried to get up again.

“No one wants either of you,” he kicked sand at them and the other boys followed. “One day you’re going to get kicked out, Morgan, and no one's gonna remember you and no one's gonna want you, you insignificant little freak.”

Nathan’s blood boiled. He wanted to stand up and fight Edward again, but his eye was throbbing.

“This isn't over, Gilbertson,” Sam gritted his teeth. “I'm gonna kick your ass.”

“Loser,” Edward kicked sand at them again before walking off.

Sam sighed as he laid back on the dirt floor and put his shades that were hanging on his vest on. He lit up a cigarette and puffed a few angry smokes.

“Thanks,” Nathan mumbled.

“Yeah. Don't mention it.”

“I hate it here, Sam.”

“Me too.”

Nathan buried his face between his knees and Sam worriedly looked up.

“Hey, none of what he said is true, alright?” Sam said. “That bozo doesn't know what he's talking about.”

The younger Morgan brother said nothing.

“That was badass, though. Did you see Jay?” Sam suddenly laughed. “When have you ever seen a ten year old beat up a thirteen year old?”

“Maybe if the magician thing doesn't fly, I'll try out boxing,” Nathan said.

“Yeah!” Sam grinned as he sat up. “I'll be your boxing coach.”

“I'll beat Edward and all those clowns up myself then.”

“Attaboy, Nathan!”

They laughed and watched the clouds roll by until they fell asleep from exhaustion. Nathan dreamt of Doc saving him from a pack of bully clowns.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Doc was nowhere to be found. It was late in the evening and Nathan had been practicing some tricks in the activity room when the rabbit disappeared. He immediately went to Sam (who was, for some reason, asleep on the bleachers outside still in his uniform) for help.

“Well where did you leave him?” Sam stood in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips while Nathan rummaged through the pillows on the sofa.

“Here!” The young boy pointed at the sofa. “At least he was here before I went to pee. I didn't think he'd leave.”

“He's a chunky rabbit. He wouldn't have gone too far,” Sam walked towards a bulletin board filled with artworks from the other fifth graders in Nathan’s class. He chuckled at a blob with green eyes. “What the hell did Bobby draw?”

“You could be helping me, you know,” Nathan threw a throw pillow at him.

“Oh no, he's your pet.”

Nathan rolled his eyes as he crawled around looking under the couches.

It was then that a loud yell came from across the hall.

“Nathan!”

Father Duffy barged into the activity room in his pajamas, holding Doc in his arms.

There were little rabbit droppings on the priest’s bedsheets, to Nathan’s horror and to Sam’s amusement. Sam tried to suppress a laugh, but he ran out guffawing.

“Oh crap,” Nathan gulped. “I'll clean it up. I promise, Father Duffy.”

“This is the last straw,” Father Duffy was exasperated. “Nate, you promised you'd keep the rabbit outside in its cage.”

“I just took him in to practice for the talent show tomorrow.”

“One more talent show, Nate,” Father Duffy sighed. “Then the rabbit has to go.”

“What?” Nathan ran after him as he left the room to get a cup of tea. “But he's my rabbit.”

“I know, but it's getting out of hand. Oh, Sister Catherine!” Father Duffy called to the nun who just came out of one of the offices.

“Yes, Father?” Her eyebrows knitted.

“Please help Nathan get new sheets. His pet left a little surprise on my bed. I need some chamomile tea.”

Sister Catherine worriedly looked at the rabbit in Nathan’s arms. “A… Pet?”

“He's nice,” Nathan said quietly.

“Then make sure Nathan and Sam are in their respective rooms after,” Father Duffy yawned and made his way to the pantry. “You’ll know where I'll be.”

The boys had the tip of their ears pinched as Sister Catherine led them to the laundry room and handed them fresh sheets. She stood by the door as she watched them clean the rabbit droppings off with a tiny hand broom.

“Father Duffy wants to get rid of Doc,” Nathan whispered as he tugged the other side of the bedsheet.

“He's just saying that,” Sam scoffed.

“No, I think he's serious.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Can we hide him or maybe set him free?”

“Nathan,” Sam gave him an exasperated look. “He's a rabbit. He's prey to almost everything. He's as good as dead out there.”

“I can't just let him take Doc away.”

“Okay, fine. Let's clean this mess up then I'll think of something.”

Sister Catherine made sure Nathan had put Doc back in his cage before making them go back to their rooms. Sam had said nothing else regarding the rabbit, and it made Nathan anxious. He almost forgot about the talent show.

The next morning, Nathan threw on his uniform and stuffed his makeshift magician's costume in his backpack and ran to Doc’s cage before his first class. The rabbit was still there, munching on vegetables that Mr. O’Reilly, the gardener, probably fed him earlier.

“Big day, Doc,” Nathan took him out of the cage to clean out the droppings and the leakings. He couldn't help but give him a quick kiss on the head, ignoring the strong smell of rabbit. “This is the performance of our lives and hopefully not the last one too.”

He reached into his pocket to grab a handful of pellets and sprinkled it into Doc’s food bowl. “Eat up, big guy. I'll see you in a few.”

Sam trudged to his pre-calculus class, lazily copying down last night’s homework from one of his roommates. He barely slept and all he wanted was to crawl back into bed and sleep the day away. He kept thinking about what he was going to do with the damn rabbit. Sam wouldn't admit, but he was fond of it. He wasn't always around for his little brother and he still felt bad about the whole clown fiasco, but at least the rabbit gave Nathan some comfort.

He thought about giving the rabbit away to a pet store, but what pet store would want a large rabbit like that? He shuddered to think of Doc ending up as rabbit stew somehow. Then he remembered the old woman he bought Doc from at the Haymarket market. He prayed she'd be there after the talent show that evening. He didn't have a Plan B.

“Abra cadabra!” Nathan repeated over and over, trying to decide which one sounded better. Ralph was on stage doing some kind of yodel and he was just waiting to finally be called up on stage.

“Alright, Nathan, here's the plan,” Sam appeared from around the auditorium. “After your performance, you meet me at the roof with the door that'll lead us out the West Gate. We're gonna catch the T to Haymarket and pray to god the old lady selling the rabbits is still at the market. Understand?”

Nathan sadly nodded. He didn't want to think about how he had to part with Doc soon.

Sam put a hand on his shoulder. “This is the best thing for Doc.”

“I guess so.”

“It'll be fine,” Sam gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “See you later, little brother.”

“Sure,” Nathan sighed as Sam ran off. He kneeled in front of Doc, whose beady red eyes wandered around, his wet nose in the air as he sniffed around. For a second, a wave of sadness hit Nathan and he let himself shed a few tears for his best friend.

“Now for our next performer…” Father Duffy stood on stage, looking at the little faces in the audience. Some were bored, some looked excited to see more performances. “The very magical Nate the Great!”

Nathan took a deep breath before stepping out into the limelight, squinting at the bright, hot light. Ignoring the expecting gazes, he set his table up, making sure Doc was secure near the little trap door he could pull him out of (he spent a few weeks making that table in home improvement class).

For a second, he felt his heart race as he remembered the clowns and the audience at the circus laughing at him. He glanced down at his trousers. Not wet. Good start.

“Go Nathan!” A single voice yelled. It sounded like Sam, but as Nathan peered out into the audience, he couldn't see him.

“Welcome, my fellow schoolmates! My name is Nate the Great and I'm here to amaze you with magic!”

He began his routine: starting off with a floating card trick and bending a spoon. The audience which he now realised was mostly other boys in the grade school, ooh-ed and aah-ed with every trick. Nathan asked Ralph to come up and volunteer to have a coin vanish from his palm and reappear from his ear. The six year old laughed throughout it.

As he went on, Nathan’s confidence went up, and finally it was Doc’s turn to help him amaze the crowd.

“For my last trick I'm going to pull out a very special friend of mine,” Nathan took his hat off and showed the inside of it to the audience. “As you can see, there is nothing in my hat.”

Wow!

Nathan gave a cheeky grin as he strategically placed the hat on the table, opening the secret door quickly. “Abra cadabra!”

He gently pulled the now rather large Doc out of the hat and held him up for the audience to see. The little boys laughed and cheered at the appearance of a live animal. They were reminded of a trip to the petting zoo just a month ago, where they plenty of bunnies like Doc.

“Thank you!” Nathan grinned as he held Doc to his chest, bowing down a few times until Father Duffy ushered him off the stage.

He was still thrilled as he left the auditorium, smiling at himself and the recent memory.

“We did it, Doc,” he whispered at the rabbit, giving it a kiss between its fuzzy ears. He took out a few baby carrots and gave them to him. As much as he tried not to, tears still dripped down his cheeks.

Sam leaned by the door on top of the roof of their rendezvous point. He was getting antsy and Nathan was taking too long to get there. It wasn't Nathan’s intention to get there too slow, though; it was hard to climb the usual route with a fragile creature in his backpack.

“What took you so long?” Sam rolled his eyes as Nathan climbed over the railing.

“Why are you in such a hurry? They're busy with the dumb talent show.”

“Whatever,” Sam opened the door. “Let's go.”

It was quarter past 6 PM when they got to Hanover Street, briskly walking to the open-air market. Most of the vendors have already packed up and some were cleaning up, happy to be done with the day.

Sam was suddenly nervous. The T ran slower than he remembered (the last time he rode the subway was before their father left them in the orphanage), instantly hating all the station transfers and the waiting. At this point, he was praying the old woman would still be there.

Nathan tried to keep up with Sam, but he couldn't keep up. Sam had told him to keep his eyes peeled for an old woman with rabbits, but all he saw were empty stalls and boxes of fresh produce.

“A bunny!” A girl just a few years younger than Nathan ran up to him. She had blonde hair tied up in pigtails and soft brown eyes. “What's his name?”

“Doc,” Nathan smiled.

“He's so cute!” She squealed. “Will he bite?”

“Not at all.” He took out a piece of cabbage from his pocket. “Here, you can feed him.”

The girl giggled in delight as Doc ate from her hand.

“There you are!” An older woman who Nathan assumed was the little girl’s mother ran up to them. “Let's go, I got the strawberries we can snack on tonight.”

“Look, Mom, it's a cute rabbit,” the little girl said.

“That's nice sweetie, but we have to go,” the woman took her hand.

Just then, Sam walked back to Nathan with an annoyed look on her face. “She's gone. Saw her drive away.”

“He needs a home, you know,” Nathan told the woman and the girl. “He's talented and he'll keep you safe and happy.”

The little girl’s eyes went wide. “Mom, please, please, please, please !”

“We already have Peaches, honey.”

“Peaches is a fish . I can't kiss a fish.”

“Lady, this rabbit is one of a kind,” Sam stepped in. “He's magic .”

“Oh, brother,” the woman groaned.

“I swear ever since we got him, good things have just been happening,” Sam shrugged. “If we weren't stuck in an orphanage, we could've kept him.”

“You're orphans?” The lady looked at them, finally noticing their clean cut uniforms.

The brothers gave her their best puppy dog eyes, knowing how well it always worked.

“I promise I'll take care of him!” The little girl tugged at the woman’s coat.

She sighed, a sign the boys knew all too well meant she'd fallen for it.

“Okay, we'll take the rabbit,” she said wearily and the little girl squealed loudly.

Nathan held up Doc and smiled at the rabbit, blinking back tears. He thought of all the times they spent together and cherished this last moment.

“Thank you,” he whispered before gently placing him in the little girl’s arms.

“And here,” the woman handed him coupons. “You can use this at any food store at Quincy Market.”

“Thanks,” Nathan smiled. “Please take care of Doc.”

“We will,” she nodded.

He stood, watching mother and daughter leave with his best friend. He sniffled, finally letting his tears roll down his cheeks. Sam gave him a comforting pat on the back.

“He's found a great home, Nathan.”

“He had a home with me.”

“Well now he has a home where he can just be a happy little rabbit and not worry about getting kicked out at the smallest of sins.”

Nathan nodded. “He'll be okay right, Sam?”

“Sure he will.”

“What's next for us?”

Sam tapped his chin in thought, then the coupons in Nathan’s hand caught his eye.

“We can get coconut macaroons.”

[betelgeusessonajblog]

Roger’s Story: Planet Nemesis

This is a REALLY, REALLY, REAAAALLY Long story with lots of Time jumps

A young female lizard-like being stood staring out of her bedroom window, looking outside, viewing her kingdom. She wore a long purple dress, she had peach scales and, had a large bump on her stomach and had a crown on her head. She lightly rubs her belly “Not much longer now, my dear son.” she said with a smile as she thought about meeting her new born son.

She had been with her husband King Dayne for about 4 years at this point and were finally ready to start a family together. Though she was mainly doing this alone.

She let out a soft sigh as she thought about her husband and how he had been rather busy over the last few weeks but she knew he had to do his duty.

She was on bedrest from now on by recommendation from their Doctor to which they had both agreed, being King and Queen of this planet could be stressful at times and the last thing they needed was putting their unborn son at risk.

Just then there was a knock at the door, she turned her head “Come in.” she called out in a soft voice. The door opened revealing a grey lizard wearing an old fashioned butler outfit. He bows slightly “Good afternoon, your highness.” he said before stepping into the room.

The queen smiled a little as she walked over to the lizard “Hello, Artemis.” she said as she hugged the other

Artemis smiled a little as he returned the hug “How are you feeling, Crystal?” he asked.

"I’m doing well though the little one is very active today. Lot’s of kicking.” Crystal said with a small chuckle “He’s going to be a very energetic child.”

"I’m glad you’re doing well.” Artemis said as he continued to smile

“I’m glad you remembered to call me by my name when it’s just you and, I.” Crystal teased a little “You’ve been my dear friend for four years, Art.”

“I could never get used to it at first.” Artemis chuckled a little before Crystal held her stomach “Are you alright?” he asked, a concerned look on his face

“He’s kicking again.” Crystal smiled "Want to feel?” she asked to which Artemis nodded before gently placing his hand on Crystal’s stomach feeling her unborn son kick “Ooh that was a strong kick.” Artemis smiled “He’s gonna be a troublemaker, like his mother~” he teased.

Crystal chuckled lightly “Hey, I was not used to being a queen yet. I had to get used to going from rebel to Royalty” she smirked

“Has that changed~?” Artemis joked

“Ooh your words wound me.” Crystal said as he acted as if she was wounded before sitting down on a nearby chair “I’m glad you’re my friend, Artemis...you’ve been someone that I can truly rely on.”

“I’m glad that you can consider me a friend, Crystal....” Artemis said with a smile as he sat on the bed. There was a few moments of silence before Crystal asked “Have you seen Dayne today?”

Artemis rubbed the back of his neck “Only briefly, he was heading out to check on how construction for that new school was coming along.” he replied “Still as busy as ever.”

Crystal chuckled “of course. I do miss him when he isn’t around but that’s the lives we lead.” she looked at Artemis “And....how did your date with Nathan go?”

Artemis blushed lightly “W-Well....um...it was great. I’m grateful you gave me the night off to spend time with him.”

"I’m so glad it went great for you two. You’ve had a thing for him for months now, wasn’t sure if you’d ever manage to get the courage to talk to him.” Crystal teased, smiling.

The two spent a few hours just talking, Artemis would make sure Crystal was alright if she suddenly felt sick. Eventually she got changed into her pyjamas then got comfy in her bed as Artemis drew the curtains then left a bottle of water for her before leaving.

At some point a muscular lizard that’s scales were a very dark green with a crown atop his head came into the room, he was wearing a rather old fashioned king’s outfit but it had some symbols on it that were unique to the planet. One of which being the ‘Family crest’ that had a lizard with twin swords on it. (X)

Crystal had fallen asleep by this point so she didn’t hear her husband come over to the bed. He removes his clothes carefully then puts on his on his own pyjamas then climbs into bed next to her and kisses her cheek gently.

Crystal yawns a little before opening her eyes “Hello, handsome.” she said with a soft smile

“Hello, my beloved.....I’m sorry I was gone all day.” Dayne said as he took her hand “I tried finishing everything as fast as possible.....”

“Sssh I know, my love....more things happened as the day progressed....it’s alright.” Crystal smiled as she carefully rolled onto her back, she looked over at where Dayne’s clothes were then smirked “That outfit still looks ridiculous on you.”

Dayne couldn’t help but chuckle “I know, I know. It was what my father wore when he ruled unfortunately. It’s always gonna have an old fashioned look. I know it’d be easier to go for a modern look but...this honestly helps me feel closer to them.”  Dayne smiled a little

Crystal smiled before letting out a small groan “Oof the little one’s at it again.”

Dayne smiled a little as he places his hand on Crystal’s pregnant belly “He’s gonna be a strong energetic child.” he chuckled before looking at Crystal “Y’know we’ve gone through a lot of names for our son....and none have really clicked for us....but I’ve been thinking and...well how about we name him Roger, after your Grandfather?”

Crystal couldn’t help but smile a little “Little Roger....I love it.” she leaned up and kisses Dayne on the lips gently “What made you decide that?”

“Been thinking about those that are no longer around and....whilst your Father and, I never got along greatly, your Grandfather was....incredible. He was always supportive but could be firm to myself and your father. I like to think it’s because of him our relationship did improve a lot more than it had been.” Dayne explained as he lightly rubbed her belly.

The two spoke for a couple of minutes before finally settling down for the night. Dayne looked over at the Clock/Calendar on the wall near their bed. The date read December 13th 2000, in a few days or so their little boy was due and he couldn’t wait to meet him.

A few days pass, King Dayne kept himself busy with work until one late evening, Crystal’s waters broke so he and, Artemis rushed her to the hospital. Everyone was nervous as hell, almost forgetting her overnight bag in the rush to get her to the hospital.

Hours passed, Artemis was sat in the waiting room, tapping his foot trying to calm his nerves. He looked around a little, he was sat with some of Crystal’s family like her younger sister, older brother, her father and, mother. And on the other side was Dayne’s family which consisted of his mother and, his Uncles. Dayne was the only child of the previous King and, Queen.

Artemis looked up at the clock. They had come into the hospital around midnight and it was now almost 5:30 AM. He was hoping everything was going alright for them though he knew it could take a long time.

Eventually the doors to Crystal’s room opens, King Dayne steps out the colour was drained from his face so that did worry the family but he smiled widely “He’s perfect.....Little Roger’s here and he’s perfectly healthy.”

The group let out a sigh of relief and started talking amongst themselves for a few moments before each of them got up and congratulated Dayne on becoming a father

Artemis smiled as he and Dayne shook hands “How’s the Queen doing?”

"She’s sound asleep, she’s tired but doing well. Roger’s sleeping nearby....god I can’t believe it, I’m a father.” Dayne said with a grin. One of Dayne’s Uncles came over and coaxed Dayne into coming outside to get some fresh air and a cup of coffee from the Canteen.

The pair were soon stood outside with a cup of coffee in their hands, drinking it silently before the Uncle spoke in their planet’s native tongue “E ys kmyt dryd ouin cuh fyc punh cyvamo, tayn habraf. Pid E ruba dryd oui yna nayto vun dra tyo dryd ra femm ujandrnuf oui. E ghuf dryd oui ahzuo paehk y gehk pid, mega oui tet fedr ouin vydran, ra femm ujan drnuf oui. Ouin vydran fyc y fayg gehk, tu hud syga dra cysa secdygac yc res. Syga cina dryd lremt ghufc fru ec eh lrynka vnus dra pakehhehk..”  [Translation from Al Bhed to English: “I am glad that your son was born safely, dear nephew. But I hope that you are ready for the day that he will overthrow you. I know that you enjoy being a king but, like you did with your father, he will over throw you. Your father was a weak king, do not make the same mistakes as him. Make sure that child knows who is in charge from the beginning.”

Dayne lightly squeezed his cup, what Crystal hadn’t known about her husband was he did indeed have a dark side. The Previous king, his father, had become...weak in the eyes of his Uncles...and mother...so King Dayne killed his father to take over. His mother stepped down as Queen and Dayne ruled for a few years and was rather vicious until he met Crystal which had softened him as soon as they began to date, he was much kinder now which pissed off his Uncles and Mother, to them they were more powerful and better than EVERYONE, Crystal included but they decided to leave them be for now, that is.

Dayne looks at his Uncle as he gets into his face “My father....was weak, I took care of that....but I won’t harm my child. If you attempt to harm him yourself, I will make sure to end you and leave your head on a spike.” he said with venom in his voice.

His Uncle shook his head as he walked off heading for his home “He’ll be stronger than you, Dayne more powerful....just you watch.” he said before Dayne headed back inside to see his wife and newborn son.

Crystal was still asleep when Dayne returned so he walked over to the small bed where Roger was and smiled softly as he looked down at the tiny lizard sleeping soundly, a small toy in his hands. He saw Crystal’s mother was holding this earlier “Must’ve given this to the nurse...” he thought to himself before he lightly stroked Roger’s cheek “...my sweet boy....I...I promise I won’t let them harm you....” he whispered.

Over the next year things had progressed rather well with Roger and, Crystal. Roger was born December 17th so he got to see his first Christmas tree just a few days later, he even saw snow for the first time. Which was something that everyone was still getting used to.

It was something Queen Crystal had said she had heard of and always wanted to see after hearing so many stories from her family whom had visited their original home, the Monster World, long before Crystal was born so when she got married to Dayne, he took it upon himself to find out more about snow so he could give her the experience she had always wanted.

So, using the planet’s weather machine, King Dayne gave their planet snow for the first time ever. They had never used the weather machine for anything other than hot weather or fall weather, never cold weather. It was a big shock to their kingdom but eventually people came to appreciate the nice change of scenery

Crystal was so happy that she was able to give her son his first ever Christmas. They had a nice family dinner and gave each other gifts. Things couldn’t be more perfect in Crystal’s eyes.

That is until the following year, Roger had woke up crying loudly after having a bad dream. What was scary to many in the castle was the building shook the longer Roger cried.

Crystal picked her son up and began gently rocking him back and forth, trying her best to calm him down. King Dayne rushed into the room, worried for his family’s safety due to the building shaking.

But as soon as Crystal got Roger to calm down, that’s when it hit the king.....his son was the reason behind the shaking, what his Uncle had said was true, his son was somehow more powerful than he was.

At that age, Dayne’s powers hadn’t even begun to develop, he didn’t learn about them until he was older. He shook his head trying to rid himself of those thoughts “Are you alright?” he asked as he walked towards Crystal

“I’m alright, Roger is too.....I think....I think that was him causing the building to shake...” Crystal said as she kept gently rocking Roger

“...Yes...I have to agree with you.” Dayne said as he looked at his son whom was finally calmed down. He couldn’t let his son continue to get stronger...no no that wasn’t it, he was wanting to stop his son’s cries from shaking the castle up for everyone’s safety.

He rubs his face a little trying to think of something before his hand touched his nose ring...that was it’ The nose ring, he could....he could turn it into something that could weaken Roger’s powers. Normally it was just a sign for the males to wear to show they were royalty, he could...just make a new one that would help Roger.

Over the next few days, King Dayne had someone secretly work on this nose ring so Roger could be safe. It wouldn’t null his powers but it would weaken them so he wasn’t worrying about his wife and child’s safety.

Once that ring was finished, they held a ceremony where Roger was given the nose ring and had it placed into his nose. Roger began crying which worried Crystal that he could cause the building to shake but when it didn’t happen, she was confused for a few moments before looking at her husband whom acted like he didn’t know what had happened.

A short time later, the pair were getting ready to settle down for the night when Crystal looked at her husband “....Did....you do something to our son?” she asked, her tone a serious one.

“Something to him? Crystal, I didn’t do anything to him.” Dayne said, he wasn’t technically lying

“...Then why wasn’t the building shaking today like the castle has when Roger cried??” Crystal asked as she stared into his eyes, wanting to know the truth.

Dayne let out a sigh “....Fine....I...I didn’t do anything to him....I...the nose ring I had made specially for him.....it weakens his powers. I didn’t want this crying to get stronger and, for him or for you to wind up hurt.”

Crystal sighed, the last few days when Roger’s crying had happened the building would shake quite a bit. She wasn’t angry for that “I...I understand....you could’ve just told me...” she said before kissing Dayne’s cheek “I understand protecting us just....don’t feel the need to hide it.”

“Alright, I promise my love I won’t.” Dayne said with a smile as he took her hands, they share a gentle kiss before climbing into bed together.

Another year passes, things seemed to have gotten better for the pair of them. Roger had been sleeping longer, He wasn’t showing signs of his powers increasing which was great in Dayne’s eyes. That is until one day the nose ring stopped functioning, he was warned this would happen due to how little time they had to test it out and make sure it wasn’t buggy.

Roger was back to shaking the castle every now and then when he was upset from a nightmare or just upset in general. Though it seems like the nightmare amplified it tenfold.

When Dayne’s Uncle, the same one from the hospital, came to visit he saw how strong Roger’s power was. He drags Dayne away from his duties to somewhere private and secluded “I warned you, Dayne that this would happen. That child is going to get stronger and more powerful than you and overthrow you with ease when he’s older.”

“I’ve done my best to contain his powers so they don’t get stronger, his nose ring malfunctioned. I’m working on a way to...” Dayne said before his Uncle cut him off

"You have gotten SOFT with that family of yours, that child is gonna take away EVERYTHING from you. You used to be much stronger than this, more vicious. What happened to that Dayne? the one with the power, the one that didn’t let ANYTHING step in the way?” his Uncle said with an angry look on his face

“I have not gotten SOFT, Uncle.” Dayne snarled “And don’t you bring my family into this.”

"OH so you’re telling me you haven’t?" the Uncle asked as he stared at Dayne

Dayne went silent....it’s true that meeting Crystal had changed him but this was for the better...right?

"I’ve heard people talking about you....they think you’re weak, they think you’re pathetic. Before Crystal you were a better ruler, a better King. Since her? you’ve made things worse. I mean Winter for us? Are you fucking stupid? If you can’t see you’re better off without her and her family then you’ve got no chance of surviving.” The Uncle smirked as he walked off

Dayne stood there, staring at the ground....his Uncle was right....deep down he fucking knew he was right. He had changed himself for Crystal, he gave her Winter...For fucking lizards? What was he fucking thinking?

The longer he thought about it, the more he realised his Uncle was right....that...that had to change and change FAST.

Later that day he headed to Crystal’s family’s home whilst Crystal was taking a nap with Roger. He knocks on the door then awaits for someone to answer, secretly pulling out twin daggers from behind his back and kept them there.

Crystal’s younger sister opened the door and greeted her brother-in-law before inviting him inside. He smiles as he steps inside then closes the door with his tail. He was in there for a good 10 minutes before he stepped out, his daggers drenched in blood, the clothes he was wearing had blood splatter on them.

He wipes the blood off his face and daggers before removing his clothes and changing into a spare set that he had brought with him before tossing the old clothes into a trash bag then throws it into a nearby river. He had made sure to put something into the bag so the clothes would sink to the bottom before he returned to the castle.

On his way home, Dayne sent a message to his Uncle on a wrist communicator telling him “I took care of Crystal’s family.” as soon as he got into the castle, he made his way to the bathroom and had a long shower, making sure that he washed all the blood off of himself before he got out and dried himself off before putting his clothes back on.

The next day Crystal headed to her family’s home, wanting to spend time with her family. Upon reaching the house, she knocked on the door but was confused when she got no reply. She looked through the windows and saw....nothing....no family, no furniture “...What in the world....” was the only thing Crystal could say.

Where did they go? they wouldn’t just....up and leave without telling her. That wasn’t something they would do. She took Roger back home and when she got there, she told Dayne that she thinks something happened to her parents.

Instead of dismissing her thoughts, Dayne acted like he was concerned and said he would get someone to investigate it immediately but warned her it may take some time which she understood.

He spent the next few months acting as if he cared about what had happened to her family, he’d follow ‘leads’ but it never came up with anything. Crystal had become depressed over this time, worrying about her family constantly but she still did her best to be a good mother for Roger.

One evening, Artemis came to Crystal’s room to check in on his friend, wanting to make sure she was okay. He knocks on the door before opening it a little “Your Majesty? I wanted to see if you were....”

Crystal was sitting on the edge of her bed sobbing softly whilst Roger slept. Without hesitating, Artemis made his way over to Crystal and sat down beside her. She turned around and hugged her friend whom returned the hug, lightly rubbing her back “It’s okay, it’s okay....we’ll find your family, I promise...” he tried his best to reassure her but he knew something may have really happened to them.

Over the next few days, Crystal had began to notice Dayne acting not like himself, not the man she knew and fell in love with. She sits on her bed changing Roger into his pyjamas for an early night, she kisses him on the cheek before tucking him in gently and places the toy her mother got Roger next to him before she lays down on her bed whilst Roger slept and began to think.

Maybe...maybe she was missing something....maybe Dayne’s just stressed. Crystal lets out a soft sigh before closing her eyes. For a few minutes she was asleep when something began replaying in her mind.

The day before Crystal discovered her family had disappeared, she had woke up from her nap and went to use the bathroom when she noticed some...blood in the bathroom...she was instantly concerned thinking she may been bleeding but when she checked herself over, she couldn’t find anything.

She went looking for Dayne and told him about the blood in the bathroom, he told her it was his and that he had been cut during an altercation with a group of thieves but assured her he was alright.

Crystal woke up when she remembered that....he...he wouldn’t do that to her family...would he? She started to think about it more and more. Dayne’s behaviour lately, the blood in the bathroom.

She decides to pay more close attention to Dayne, maybe she was just paranoid from the stress/worry of her family’s disappearance. So that’s what she did, she’d spend time with Dayne whilst secretly observing him whilst acting as though she wasn’t aware of his behaviour.

Over those days, she’d noticed how aggressive he would be when he thought she wasn’t around, the way he’d act towards their people when they came to him seeking help. Crystal watched him leave for a few hours a day and come back.

One night whilst Crystal was laying on her side, struggling to sleep Dayne returned from dealing with something when someone came in as he removed his communicator “Sir, there’s an emergency.” Dayne sighed as he places the communicator down on the table then heads out to deal with whatever it was.

Seizing her opportunity, Crystal picked up the device then begins scrolling through it, looking for anything that would disprove her thoughts when she tapped on a conversation with the Uncle from the hospital.

Each message she seemed normal until she reached the one that mentioned ‘Taking care of Crystal’s family.” her heart sank before she heard footsteps, she leaves the messages and makes sure to put it back on the main screen like before then places it back down where it was before laying down and acting as if she was asleep.

The next day Crystal began searching for Artemis and found him in the library reading, she made her way towards him “Art? I...I need to talk to you....”

Artemis looked up from his book “Crys? Is everything alright?” he asked as she took his his hand “please....” was all she said to him, the look on his face said she was afraid so he agreed and lead her somewhere so they could talk.

“OK....what’s going on??” Artemis asked as Crystal tried not to break down crying

“I...I think Dayne has done something to my family.” Crystal said before she began to explain everything to Artemis. The more he listened to her, the more colour drained from his face. He knew Dayne could be nasty sometimes, hell before Crystal he was an asshole King but she changed him or so he thought.

Artemis felt sick to his stomach thinking about what could’ve happened to Crystal’s family, he knew they couldn’t confront him “We...we’ll just...figure a way of getting you and, Roger to safety.....”

Crystal just nodded “We keep it secret from Dayne...”

They hugged briefly before Crystal returned to her room, she had someone look after Roger whilst she went to find Artemis.

The next month....things escalated quickly. Dayne wasn’t trying to hide his aggressive side any more, he had decided that he was gonna rule the ENTIRE planet. There were other Kingdoms on this planet but Dayne wanted to make sure he was the only one from now on.

One day he started a war with another, arming his soldiers with heavy duty blasters, they were taking it by force. No negotiations, no conversations with the family. Dayne wanted to make SURE everyone knew he meant business. It didn’t take long for them to wipe out the Royal family of one kingdom and anyone that stood in their way ended up dead too.

Artemis saw the soldiers return, Dayne was there to greet them. he asked them how did conquering the kingdom go to which the leader said it had went well which caused Dayne to smirk “Excellent.” the leader bowed “I live to serve.” the lizard said with a small smile.

"Since you’ve been a loyal Soldier to me from the beginning, I want you to become my head guard. And personal bodyguard.” Dayne said with a smile.

The Soldier couldn’t help but grin at what Dayne said “I would be honoured, sir.”

“What’s your name?” Dayne asked to which the soldier said “Basco Arkage.”

“Basco Arkage? A Powerful name for a powerful Warrior.” Dayne had a grin as they walked off, heading back to the Throne room.

Artemis quickly made his way to Crystal to inform her about what had happened. Upon learning about what Dayne had done, Crystal sat on her bed as she began to think everything over before eventually looking at Artemis.

“....There’s...something I’ve been thinking about the last few hours.....A while back....Dayne....Dayne confessed to me that he had Roger’s nose ring made specially for him....” Crystal explained.

“Made special for him?” Artemis asked “We know that the nose rings are custom....” he said before Crystal cut him off.

“He made it to weaken his powers.....he told me that it was so Roger wouldn’t accidentally hurt us...but...I think it’s because....he’s afraid of Roger’s powers...” Crystal said as she looked at her friend.

“H...he wouldn’t hurt his own son....would he?” Artemis asked to which Crystal nodded “I’m afraid he would....”

Artemis’ heart sank knowing it’s more than likely Dayne would target Roger at some point “What do we do...?” Crystal sighed heavily “...I...I want you to make a pod but...not for me....for Roger....” “For the prince? but what about....” Artemis started to say to which Crystal cut him off once again

"I’m not going with him....I want Roger to be somewhere safe....somewhere that Dayne won’t attack....I want you to send him to the Monster World.” Crystal explained.

Artemis hated the fact that Crystal was gonna stay behind but he knew that she loved Roger more than anything in the world “OK....I’ll do it but I’ll get Nathan to help me, he’s pretty smart too...great with machines...” he sighed “I fucking hate this.” Crystal stood up and hugged Artemis tightly “I know....I know, I hate it too....but if I stay then he’ll have no reason to go after Roger.” Artemis nodded as he returned the hug before the pair began to plan everything out whilst making sure King Dayne never caught on.

Over the next couple of months Artemis and, Nathan worked Day and night on the pod, keeping it secret from Dayne wasn’t difficult due to him being too focused on conquering the other kingdoms. Artemis yawned slightly as the other lizard walked over with two cups of coffee, he was slightly mature looking compared to Artemis whom was in his early 20′s whilst the mature lizard looked to be in his 30′s, his scales were a very light blue, he had a pair of glasses on his face.

Nathan sat the second cup of coffee onto the table “Here, hon.” he said with a small smile as he took a seat next to Artemis “Break time.”

Artemis smiled as he took the cup “Thank you, Nate.” he said before taking a sip of his coffee “Mmf that’s heavenly.” Nathan smiled as he took a sip from his drink “I think we’ll have this done by December 18th....might be the safest thing all things considered...”

Artemis nodded a little “Day after Roger’s 2nd birthday....do you think we’ll be able to keep him safe until then? It’s...a few weeks until then....”

Nathan adjusted his glasses slightly before nodding “I think that we can....we’ll...make sure to add something onto the pod to protect him.” "Maybe...a cloaking  device....” Artemis said before taking a drink from his coffee again.

“...That’s actually a brilliant thinking, babe.” Nathan said with a smile “We’ll be putting him into a cryogenic sleep so we don’t want to make him an easy target.” he said before the two began drinking their coffees together to finish them quickly.

Over those remaining few weeks, Dayne had continued to spiral out of control, he threatened everyone except those he deemed worthy of his trust. Hell he even decided to rename their planet to Nemesis, wanting to strike fear into anyone that heard that name. There wasn’t a massive celebration for Roger’s 2nd birthday but Crystal, Artemis and, Nathan made sure to give him a mini birthday party and a couple gifts. One of which was a new blanket, the other was a baby mobile which was one Nathan and, Artemis built together for Roger.

The following day, Crystal set up a holo-recorder then sat down before she began to record a message for her son  “My name is Crystal Deckard, my husband and I are the rulers of the planet…Nemesis…” she sighs a little as she looked towards a window, looking outside at what was one a gorgeous planet now turned into a never ending warzone “It…it never used to be called Nemesis…”  

Crystal lets out a sigh “I’m…recording this message to my son because something has happened to my husband….the king.” she took a deep breath before continuing   “My husband, Dayne has….become corrupted, power hungry….he wants to take over every part of our world and….maybe others.” she sighs heavily.

Crystal rubs her neck “He started off as this…sweet, loving, caring man…” she looks over at something in the corner of the room “….It’s...currently….2002 I think.”

She chuckles “Two years ago you were born… December 17th….so not only was it your first birthday but first Christmas just days later.” she smiled at the memory, back then it seemed perfect. “The moment I saw you, I couldn’t believe you were mine….so cute…full of energy.” she looks at the camera, tears could be seen forming in her eyes “I’m currently planning on sending you to another planet, to keep you safe from Dayne…I don’t know what he’s capable of doing. Once…once I place you in this pod, you’ll be placed into a cryogenic sleep. You’ll be two years old for a while but from what my dear friend Artemis said over a few months you’ll start to turn into your true age. I am going to send you away to a planet called The Monster World….it was my great, great, great, great grandmother’s home planet for many years. The short version is she met someone from another planet and the two quickly fell in love and soon they returned to Nemesis. Over the years she started a family with this man, every one of us were always told about our heritage as Monsters, that was never hidden from us.” she lets out a soft sigh “I’m…the only one of my family left alive…I…I fear Dayne has done something to my family…” she rubs her eyes as she tried not to break down on camera

Crystal stands up from her chair “It….will take many years before you arrive on there, I don’t know how long but if my friend is right then you should arrive there by…2015 if I recall correctly. This pod is the only one of it’s kind so it can’t just show up there so quickly but I trust Artemis, who knows maybe with enough time your father will forget about you. Artemis’ll place a cloaking device on the pod so you can’t be found whilst travelling there.” she removes something from her neck and picks up a cloth and wraps it inside “….This is a pendant with a picture of you and, I inside it Roger….I’ll be placing this inside with you. Please…be safe, my son. Mommy loves you so much.”

Just then there was rapid knocking on the bedroom door, she quickly walks off camera to answer it. It was Artemis  “Your Majesty it’s time to go….” Crystal quickly walks over to the camera and looks at it one last time “…Goodbye…my love.” she said with a smile before turning the recording off.

She walks over to the sleeping baby and picks him up gently, making sure to grab what she’d need for Roger, including the disc, then quickly walked out of the door, she smiled at Artemis before they headed to where the pod was located, making sure to not be spotted by anyone else. Upon getting to the location, Crystal stared at the pod. It looked JUST like the one from Dragon Ball Z, almost identical to it. On the front was a symbol that looked like it belonged to the Royal family.

Crystal looked at Artemis whom just smiled “We may hate Dayne but we’re proud of what you did as the Queen, Crystal.”

Crystal smiled a little then carefully walked over to the pod and opened the front of it, she carefully wraps Roger up then places him inside, kissing his hand gently “I love you so much, Roger....You’re going to grow up to be an incredible young man.” she couldn’t help but tear up Artemis places the disc into a slot “There, he can get it whenever someone that finds him.” to which Crystal nodded before writing a brief note which read ‘My name is Roger, please take care of me.’ Once Crystal and, Artemis stepped back enough, Nathan closed the pod door then pressed some buttons first putting Roger into a cryogenic sleep then made sure to put the cloaking device on. He then made sure to open the roof up and launched the pod into space, he and Artemis had made sure to put the right coordinates in so Roger would make it there safely.

Ten minutes later, Dayne burst into the room angry as hell as he looked around “WHAT THE FUCK WAS JUST LAUNCHED?!” Crystal stepped forward “Roger....I’ve sent him somewhere safe, somewhere you can’t get to him.” she said with anger in her voice but she made sure not to raise her voice. He snarled “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, YOU STUPID BITCH?!” “So you wouldn’t hurt him.....like you did my family...” Crystal replied, still not raising her voice.

Instead of denying it, he smirked “Yeah....yeah you’re fucking right. I got rid of them....started with that dumb bitch sister of yours...then your brother....then that bitch of a mother of yours before I took my sweet fucking time with that bastard of a father....slit his throat slowly....” Dayne said with a sick grin. Crystal’s heart sank finally getting conformation as to what happened to her family.

Dayne looked at Artemis then Nathan “....Which of you two helped her.....” "We both did....sir...” Nathan replied as Dayne walked towards him

“Who is your loyalty to?” Dayne asked the pair to which they replied in unison  “To the Queen and, The Queen alone.”

Before Dayne could do anything, Crystal grabbed something and smashed it on Dayne’s head to stun him. She, Nathan and, Artemis ran as fast as they could, Crystal stopped for a few seconds then tore a slit upside her dress to make it easier to run. As soon as he was struck on the head, Dayne dropped to his knees gripping his head as it began to bleed. Basco and some of the other guards ran towards where the crash came from before they could say anything Dayne turned around, a crimson mask forming on his face “FIND THAT FUCKING BITCH CRYSTAL AND THOSE BASTARDS NATHAN AND, ARTEMIS!”

Basco didn’t question it and just turned to the other guards then said “You heard the man, move out!”

They saluted before running off to search for the Queen, Nathan and, Artemis. The Trio had unfortunately ended up separated due to Crystal having to stop and tear her dress.

Luckily for Artemis, Nathan had made a secret hiding spot in the library. He pulls a book out causing the bookshelf to move, he takes Artemis’ hand then drags him inside.

The room wasn’t massive but enough to fit a couple people, Artemis whispers “How did you make this?”

“Had free time for a few days, I wasn’t needed for work so I came in here and found this part of the library no-one comes to. This room was already behind here, I don’t think anyone knows about it. Must’ve been made by the previous King before Dayne. So I just made this passageway to get in here in secret. Became my mini break room when things got to me.” Nathan whispered back

Artemis nodded a little as he listened to Nathan before glancing back “We....We need to find Crystal....” he whispered 

Nathan nodded a little in agreement “Listen, I’ll go and try to find her. You stay here.”

“But...” Artemis didn’t want to be left alone but knew Nathan wouldn’t listen to reason, he had a bit of a stubborn streak.

"Sit on the chair and give yourself time to recover, I’ll be safe.” Nathan said with a reassuring smile before kissing Artemis deeply. He then opened the bookshelf and stepped out before carefully making his way out of the library.

Crystal had lost sight of Artemis and, Nathan when she stopped to fix her dress so she had ran somewhere else. She opens one of the doors and looks inside to see if anyone was inside.

It was the museum where she and, Dayne had spent time together looking at the Planet’s History when she first became Queen. She began to look for somewhere to hide though there weren’t a lot of places to hide.

She stood in front of a statue of Dayne’s father, the previous King “....He probably did something to you too, didn’t he?” she thought to herself before hearing the door to the museum open.

She quickly dives behind the statue and crouches, trying to make sure she wouldn’t be seen. It was that new head guard, Basco. She knew she couldn’t trust him so she did her best to remain hidden.

Nathan made his way carefully down the hallways, searching for where Crystal could have gone when he spotted the doors to the museum opened, he carefully made his way towards it then pressed himself against the wall before glancing inside.

Basco could be seen walking around the room a little, seemingly searching for Crystal. He stops in his tracks then glances at the previous King’s statue before smirking, this was the only place big enough for her to hide.

He jumps onto the statue’s pedestal then moves slowly across it, Crystal glanced towards one side of the room. She carefully began crawling, trying to be safe when he jumped down behind her and, before she could react, he grabbed her and picked her up by the throat.

Basco smiled as he opened up the communicator “Sir....I found the bitch....what should I do?” he asked Dayne

“....You know exactly what to do.” Dayne replied, no emotion in his voice. The man Crystal once knew was 100% gone.

Basco just grinned as he pulled out a blade then stabbed Crystal repeatedly in the stomach, covering her mouth to make sure she wouldn’t scream. 

Nathan covered his mouth as he watched Crystal being stabbed, he and Crystal had become friends over the last couple of months and to watch her life being slowly stripped away from her.

Basco then stabs Crystal in the throat with his blades before dropping her now lifeless body onto the ground. He stares at the dead body with a sick smile, having enjoyed every second of that.

Nathan composed himself before quickly and quietly running back to the library. Artemis was still sat there, waiting on Nathan to return with Crystal.

He turned his head hearing the bookshelf move so he got up to greet Nathan and, hopefully, Crystal but his face dropped when he saw the tears in Nathan’s eyes “Wh...where’s Crys..?” was all he could say before Nathan wrapped his arms around Artemis and hugged him tightly and began whispering “I’m so sorry....” over and over.

Artemis knew instantly....Crystal was gone...his best friend of the past few years just...gone. He began sobbing softly into his boyfriend’s arms before eventually composing himself enough to ask how.

Nathan explained everything he saw from start to finish and how Basco ended Crystal’s life with ease. Artemis sat himself down, feeling like he was gonna drop to the floor from what he heard, the shock hitting him.

“I’m so sorry, hon I couldn’t....I couldn’t do anything, it all happened so fast.” Nathan said as he kept apologising, feeling responsible for not looking for Crystal sooner.

Artemis reassured Nathan that he wasn’t to blame, they hugged each other for a while grieving over their loss. They decided that this hidden room would be the best place for them to stay in. They’d sneak out when they needed food and bring it back.

Many years later....AJ was sitting in his dorm room, playing his guitar when he saw a bright light appear outside his window. He got up and looked outside and saw a large...pod? nearby.

He tilts his head in confusion before he looked around, thankfully it was late enough for no one to be wandering around. So AJ took it upon himself to head outside and headed towards the pod.

He pulled out his pocket knife, just on the off chance it was something dangerous. He presses his hand onto the pod’s window and glances inside but couldn’t make out anything inside.

He looks for something to open the pod when he finds a panel, he phases his hand through it and finds a wire to pull. AJ smiles before pulling the wire, causing the pod to open.

AJ makes his way towards the opened pod, his jaw drops a little when he sees a small baby lizard inside with peach scales, a blanket wrapped around him and a nose ring.

Without thinking twice, he carefully reaches in and scoops the baby out “Hey there...” he spots a note attacked to the door so he picks it up and reads it “My name is Roger, please take care of me.” he looks down at Roger “....Roger huh? Well....aren’t you just cute.” he smiled a little before making the pod disappear, he hadn’t noticed the piece of cloth that was left inside.

He carries Roger upstairs to his dorm room and makes a crib appear before he places the sleeping baby inside. He sits on his bed and looks the note over carefully, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss anything else. It was obvious that Roger was an alien, that much was clear.

AJ shook his head a little “Something must’ve happened to his family...” was all he could think before he glanced at the baby. He knew he couldn’t put Roger up for adoption that much was clear so after thinking it over for a few moments, he decided that he would take Roger in and raise him.

AJ lightly rocks the crib when he saw Roger starting to stir “....I promise....I’m gonna raise you, Roger...I promise I’m gonna give you a life that I always wanted when I was a kid. I’m gonna spoil you a bit but I’m gonna teach you right from wrong....and I vow to never lose my temper with you or threaten you....” he said aloud before he climbs into his bed and falls asleep. 

No matter what happened next, he was gonna do his fucking best to raise Roger and keep him safe.

[chat-noir-always-here]

“Hey Arnold!” and “Miraculous!” parallels

Ever have an idea for a post that you take forever to get around to because 2020 is 

actively 

trying

to kill you?!

 Welp, that’s me. I mean, uh, this is that post.

Long post is long and I don’t like cuts cuz I’ve lost a few posts in the past using them. Please filter the tag “long post” I use it for walls of text like these.

So there’s this show from my childhood called Hey Arnold! 

Having been on air before I had cable (I and my unsupervised brothers and sisters spent our childhood watching Jerry Springer and Maury because there was literally nothing else on our cheap little TV. How hilarious is that?) I didn’t really have much of an experience with Hey Arnold! aside from brief little glances at it when i visited a friends home or the rare occasion where they showed cartoons at school. By the time I got satellite, the show was no longer on the air save for some late night reruns and the Christmas special which aired in December along with other Nickelodeon Christmas episodes (THE best Christmas episode EVER btw).

Really I couldn’t remember much about it until hearing about the Jungle Movie finally getting a release date (a total flop but at least its no cliff hanger) and decided to re-watch the entire series in preparation for said movie.

By which point I had discovered another show—Miraculous. 

At first glance the two shows have absolutely nothing in common. Miraculous being a French-born mahou shoujo-esque CGI superhero TV series about a couple of middle schoolers who regularly battle a walking peppermint-frappucino-looking psychopath. Hey Arnold! being a more realistic children’s sitcom about a young football-headed boy who deals out humanitarian aid in the form of advice and simple good deeds to his neighbors, classmates and friends. 

In terms of setting, logic, and animation the two series are as different as night and day.

So imagine my pleasant surprise to discover a whole post’s worth of parallels shared between the two shows???

And here they are in no particular order:

1)Arnold’s Parents/Adrien’s mom

Prior to the start of Miraculous, Emilie Agreste disappeared under mysterious circumstances leaving her family behind. Later on it was revealed that she was in fact sleeping (dead?) in a glass coffin beneath the Agreste mansion--unbeknownst to Adrien, or anyone else in Paris save for Gabriel and Nathalie.

In a similar fashion, Arnold’s parents, Miles and Stella, also disappeared prior to the start of Hey Arnold! and like Emilie were always referred to as “missing” rather than “dead.” 

The Jungle Movie later revealed Miles and Stella weren’t dead, but like Emilie appears to be doing in her coffin, they were sleeping. Having caught a bout of sleeping sickness (apparently they do not need to be hooked up to IVs or other medical devices while in a comatose state cuz fuck logic) they simply needed their orphaned son to come and cure them with the help of the magical golden heart Helga provided him with.

Perhaps Mari holds the key to waking Emilie? That would be nice to see. 

Not the miraculous of course--but some other key.

Although personally I’m hoping for a hardcore, devastating ending like Emilie dying, Gabriel going to prison where he belongs, and Adrien leaving the country for a bit until the second Hawk Moth shows up because I just like devastating cliffhangers and angst and being in utter turmoil over fictional people. But that’s just me.

2) Their best friends are dating

Smol parallel here: Arnold’s best friend Gerald and Helga’s Best friend Phoebe wind up together in The Jungle Movie after being imprisoned together by Lasombra. Similar to how Nino and Alya ended up together after being imprisoned by Ladybug (for their protection, of course).

3) The Bag of Money Episode/ The Ladybug episode

OOh boy both of these episodes make me rage. 

Some context about the Bag of Money episode: Arnold and his friends Gerald and Sid find a random bag of money containing almost $4000. Sid is ecstatic and wants to split the money evenly between the three boys, but Arnold worries it could just be lost and convinces them to let him, Arnold, take the money to the police station. On the way he accidentally switches the bag with another one that is identical and contains a bunch of useless junk, and when he tries to explain what happened to his friends they don’t believe him because their bag of money was accidentally taken by an “old lady with pink hair and a peg leg.”

 Arnold’s a good boy and he’s telling the truth--but the truth sounds crazy, even to my ears. Sid accuses Arnold of stealing the money and spreads lies to their classmates, whom Arnold has spent the ENTIRE SERIES helping in some form or fashion. Despite everything he’s done for them though, the vast majority of the class come to believe Arnold is a thief. Even Gerald, Arnold’s closest friend, nearly believes Sid over Arnold but eventually comes to Arnold’s defense. The other kids (save for Helga who doesn’t really make an appearance this episode) gang up on Arnold, but thankfully the old lady with pink hair and a peg leg shows up with an officer and together they explain the bag of money is now at the lost and found where it will remain and if gone unclaimed will be returned to Arnold, Gerald and Sid. 

Pretty much everything is resolved and things return to normal between the kids. 

But I hate this episode. I hate this episode so, so much. Arnold has spent the entire series helping these people out in some form or fashion. Literally thats the entire show. And after everything he’s done for them they’re so. Quick. To. Turn. On. Him. 

Sound familiar???

4) Hidden Personality                   vs.          Surface Personality

 I do not refer to the cruddy “true selves” thing half the Miraculous fandom believes in. Depending on one’s individual circumstances, environment and how comfortable they are, said person’s behavior can fluctuate or even do a complete 180. This can be kinda frustrating when dealing on one’s own--”Who am I anyway? Is that me or is this me???”

It’s all you, fam.

Arnold and Helga are themselves too, no matter what metaphorical/actual mask they put on. There’s the side that everyone sees and then there’s the side almost no one sees. The hidden personality isn’t hidden due to a lack of trust, necessarily, but rather it is the result of retreating to their respective “shells”--ones which both Arnold and Helga were kinda punched, kicked, and shoved into. 

Helga’s surface personality: Class bully, puts up a tough front, constantly torments Arnold because she can’t stand him and his niceness

Helga’s hidden personality: Poetic, abused and isolated, is in love with Arnold to the point of being obsessed with him and bullies him via surface personality in order to hide that fact

Of course Adrien is no bully--his reasons for not being the “cunning, funny, ultra-charming Chat Noir” 24/7 DOES have a lot to do with his toxic household, his dad, and the overwhelming expectations which are constantly smothering him as Adrien. 

Adrien is a bug under a magnifying glass (or so he feels)

Chat Noir is a chance for a freedom.

 Adrien’s surface personality was molded by his dad.

 Helga’s is the result of her entire family. Her father is brash and loud, her mother is a confirmed alcoholic, her sister is a gifted prodigy, well-rounded and spends most of the series at university or elsewhere. Although her sister, Olga, has been shown to genuinely care for Helga, Olga is kinda the reason their parents neglect Helga. With their first daughter being the genius and prodigy she is, Helga’s parents poured all of their pride and affection and parental devotion onto her. Meanwhile Helga had to walk to pre-school alone. At four years old. In the rain. Not for the last time. 

Which leads me to the next parallel.

5) Umbrella in the Rain

squeals in delight over this parallel<3<3<3

If you’ve never seen Hey Arnold! do yourselves a favor and watch this short little clip over how Helga and Arnold first met. If you have seen it, watch it anyway because it is the most adorable clip in the entire show.

Dr. Bliss: “So nobody’s ever noticed you?”

Helga: “...There was someone.”

The soft way Helga confesses that--you can actually hear how grateful she is to have such a tender memory from such a painful time. 

 In a similar manner, Adrien offered his umbrella to Marinette. Of course Adrien did it because Mari had to walk home in the rain and Arnold did it as a simple gesture of kindness (seeing as they were already at the school)--one of the many kind acts he displays throughout the series. 

 But just like Adrien needed unconditional love coming from somewhere, so did Helga. They were both denied this one common necessity which everyone else around them had. It’s not a lot to ask for, and they should’ve already had it coming from their families--but they didn’t.

 And then, one rainy day, there it was--the unconditional love they needed.

6) Clinginess

What happens when you take someone, specifically a love-starved abused child from an unstable home environment--deprived of the one thing most crucial to their mental well-being--and miraculously provide them with that very necessity? 

Clinginess. 

I can’t really think of the correct word to describe this. “Clinginess” is pretty close to what I’m trying to describe, if not on point, so let’s go with that. 

 What I mean is Helga and Adrien both need Arnold and Ladybug respectively. That’s not a bad thing--it’s okay to need somebody else. What’s bad is hinging your entire being on this one connection. For if either kiddo were to be left behind they wouldn’t handle it very well.

 It can’t really be helped with either Helga or Adrien. They didn’t really have the option to learn certain things and went deprived of unconditional love for such a long time. They’re kids--nine and fourteen/fifteen respectively. They’re not perfect and they’re traumatized for life. Being denied love from your family--the very people designed to love you--would do that to a person. Naturally they would cling to the first people to show up and provide them with the love they needed. 

 The Hey Arnold! wiki says this about Helga and Arnold’s relationship

Due to her unstable family upbringing where both her mother and father constantly neglect [Helga] and shower all of their attention onto Olga, leaving her deprived of the love and attention she needed growing up. On her way to preschool, Arnold helped her by keeping the rain off her with an umbrella and even complimented her on her hairbow. He even later gave her crackers during their snack time. Arnold's kindness and being the first person to notice her quickly caused Helga to transfer all of her love and attention to Arnold.

Of course Adrien’s tunnel vision isn’t quite as bad as Helga’s.

 He treats his friends better.

 He does love his father--

Even though his father is THE. 

WORST.

 PARENT.

 EVER!!!

--because he’s Adrien and he’s just too precious a cinnamon roll and that’s still his dad even if the man does belong behind bars.

7) Unhealthy Obsession

I--

I...

Ugh. I am not going to delve too far into this. You’re just going to have to take my word for it. Helga’s creepy stalker behavior is a thousand times worse than Marinette’s. That pic up there of Helga hiding out in Arnold’s room watching him is pretty decent evidence to back up my argument, but it’s hardly the only example or even the worst incident.

 Honestly I’m amazed at what Nicktoons were able to get away with in the late nineties/early 2000s. 

But yes, Helga’s obsession with Arnold is rather unhealthy in the most extreme moments leading her to display behavior which is more often than not disturbing and concerning. 

The Hey Arnold! wiki has this to say about Helga’s obsession with Arnold

Helga is possessive of her love for Arnold and thinks non-stop about him to the point of obsession. This is evidenced throughout the series by the many shrines and poems she makes of Arnold and of her frequent dramatic soliloquies about her love for Arnold.

Again--Mari isn’t as bad as all that. She’s a sweet girl with many healthy relationships in her life. She has ambition, creativity, and drive. But yeah she can be rather possessive of Adrien too, and that needs to stop. Like right now. Adrien doesn’t need another girl being possessive of him and thinking he’s perfect--he needs someone who acknowledges him as a flawed person and loves him despite that. 

As for Helga and Arnold--show creator Craig Bartlett confirmed they are “made for each other” and wind up married with three kids, so I’m guessing Helga grew out of some of these bad habits? Or at least I hope so...

8) Helper/Humanitarian tendencies

As mentioned before, the plot of Hey Arnold! is more or less about Arnold helping people. As stated by Gerald in The Jungle Movie, “He’s a humanitarian! Like his parents!” Of course not every episode is about Arnold helping people. There are episodes devoted to supporting characters and they’re just as enjoyable and satisfying. 

 But as he is the titular character he spends a lot of time in the spotlight. 

Remember that “best christmas special EVER” episode I mentioned before?

 The reason it’s the best special, in my less than humble opinion, is due to a few things.

 The special is not about Santa Claws. In fact, I don’t think he’s even mentioned, let alone shown and treated like an actual living character.

The focus on the entire episode is again on Arnold helping someone, but he doesn’t succeed. Not really.

The one who succeeded in helping someone was Helga, who accomplished the goal Arnold had set out to do. 

The episode deals with some rather dark subject matter and is actually quite heartwarming as the “perfect present” Arnold was trying to provide someone with wasn’t something you can buy in the store

It’s also one of the episodes where Helga’s love for Arnold leaves her to do good and as her love for him is a secret, she expects nothing in return. She’s just happy to help him.

 Kinda similar to Mari who is, as Adrien puts it in Mayura, “Our every day Ladybug.” Her kindness and devotion to helping others is what drives her as Ladybug and Marinette. It’s what brought Ivan and Mylene together. Is the reason Nathaniel and Mark now have a comic book together. And at the end of the day, that’s the reason for her strange behavior around Adrien--she wants to help him. Even if it’s just as a “good friend.” 

9) There are two main characters

Although Hey Arnold! is technically a show about Arnold, one could argue it is just as much Helga’s story. 

Similarly, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is named thusly in order to convey the fact that Adrien is just as much a main character as Marinette is. 

Although I must say Hey Arnold! did a much better job of giving it’s co-character their dues. GIVE. ME. MORE. CHAT NOIR. FOCUSED. EPISODES. DAMMIT.

But, yes, in terms of screen time, Helga gets about as much as Arnold does. Her story and struggles were given just as much importance as Arnold’s and many people have even come to believe that the show is really about Helga. I’d say its about both of them.

10) Constantly bumping into each other

Granted this happens between Arnold and Helga more often than it does to the love square dorks. 

 But yes the two people meant to be together keep knocking into each other in their respective universes. 

 I forget who, but I remember reading that someone a while back theorized that this was the universe’s way of trying to push Arnold and Helga together. Kinda like the “Now kiss!” meme

Perhaps it’s the same for Adrien and Marinette? 

;)

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 81 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Previously: Sutan and Violet skipped out on their party plans, Bianca’s friends deeply disapproved of her new relationship, Adore struggled to get over Pearl, and Alaska harbored a secret unrequited crush on her best friend Jinkx.

This Chapter: New Year’s Eve continues, full of love and betrayal.

***

“Well? What do you think?” Bianca asked, when Courtney stepped away to greet Alaska. Her voice was low, and she was trying extremely hard to appear casual, but Jinkx could see the anxiousness in her eyes.

Jinkx grinned. It wasn’t very often that she had any kind of leg up on Bianca Del Rio, and she was prepared to milk it.

“Hmmm…”

“Come on!”

“I think she’s incredible. Gorgeous, charming, and she clearly has good taste-” Jinkx batted her lashes, framing her face with her hand, in an obvious reference to Courtney gushing all over her about what a big fan she was. Then, she gave Bianca a once-over. “Well, good taste about some things.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Bianca grumbled, bumping Jinkx with her hip, suddenly looking more like herself than she had all night.

Jinkx laughed, feeling quite pleased with herself. The truth was, Courtney was everything she’d been expecting, based on what Alaska had told her: vibrant, fun, bursting with warmth and positive energy. The only surprising thing so far was Bianca. She’d known her for almost twenty years, and hadn’t ever seen her so sparkly-eyed and doting. This relationship was clearly making her happy, giving her a new kind of brightness, and that was lovely to see.

“No, but seriously,” Jinkx continued, linking her arm through Bianca’s. “I think you guys make a great couple. Sugar Mama is a good look for you.”

“I...” Bianca opened her mouth, at first looking like she was about to protest that characterization, but then seemed to think better of it, her lips twisting into a smirk. “Yeah, well…”

Jinkx laughed, watching as Courtney gave Alaska a hug and skipped back to them, arms immediately winding around Bianca’s waist, eyes shining with love as she gazed up at her. Bianca whispered something into her ear, too soft for Jinkx to hear, before kissing her gently.

It was all disgustingly cute, Jinkx noted, nose wrinkling just slightly.

***

Raja held Raven’s hand as they slowly moved through the Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at MoMA, the evening's guests all holding little glasses of champagne, the low tone of constant chatter all around them.

The dinner had been lovely, Raven taking obvious delight in the decadence of it all, but Raja had to admit that she missed her brother, Sutan’s absence on New Years like a little hole in her heart.

She knew he was sick, knew that it made sense that he was spending the evening at home with Violet, but Raja couldn’t help but feel forgotten.

Sutan had confided in her that he told Violet he loved her, and Raja wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t, because Sutan and Violet had only been together for about 6 months, and she had been his best friend since before they were born, their history spanning literal decades compared to Violet’s months.

In all honesty, Raja had been wavering about whether or not she wanted Violet to come along for Aspen, Kahmora a complete disaster when she had joined them. After the ‘love’ reveal though, she was happy for the opportunity to spend a few days with her brother’s girlfriend, and figure out her exact motivation for being with him, to scratch deeper and see what was hiding underneath that polite surface.

“Ooh” Fame turned around, a smile on her lip. She was wearing all white and looked positively radiant, her hand on Patrick’s elbow. “What about this one?” She pointed at one of the pieces, a group of women all standing together. “Don’t you think that would look fetching in the master bathroom?”

“Well,” Patrick looked at the painting, his other hand in his suit pocket. “Where else would you put a late 19th-century avant-garde?”

“Oh please,” Fame slapped Patrick’s arm, and Raja had to quickly take a sip of her drink, hiding her smile. “It’d be a print. You can’t hang actual art anywhere near a shower. Don’t play smart.”

“Of course, love.”

Raja had to admit that she loved how much Patrick adored needling Fame, giving her small pushes towards the edge a game they often played together, since Fame was so easy to toy with. If it had been anyone else, Raja would have stepped in to stop them, but with Patrick, she knew that he’d always be there to help put everything back together.

“I like that one-” Raven pointed to a large painting of a woman in a low cut blue dress, brown curls spilling down, two other women at her side.

“You would,” Raja pressed her lips against Raven’s temple, lowering her voice to a growl, the woman in the painting basically showing off her breasts, “wouldn’t you, you dirty girl.”

“Raj!” Raven gasped, slapping her chest before giggling.

***

Dahlia smoothed down her scarlet-colored velvet gown, surveying the club with a smile. She would never have admitted it, but when Pearl invited her to this party just yesterday, she’d immediately gone out and splurged on a new dress--and she was glad she had, because she looked like a million bucks. The top was draped, held up alluringly by delicate straps that threatened to slip down her shoulders at any moment, the waist fit her like a glove, and the slit showed off her long legs to perfection. She tossed her glossy dark hair over her shoulder, loving the many pairs of eyes that were so obviously drawn towards her.

“Can I get you a drink?” Pearl asked, voice low and sexy in her ear.

They’d started their own party earlier, pre-gaming and fooling around in Pearl’s apartment as they got ready. Dahlia had been in the middle of straightening her hair when Pearl’s fingers slid up her thighs, which nearly caused her to burn her ear. At this point, they were each about five (or so, they hadn’t really counted) drinks in and fully ready to have the night of their lives.

“Sure.”

“What do you want?” Peal asked, lips grazing her neck.

“Surprise me,” Dahlia said, biting back a whimper. She turned to Pearl, cupping her cheek and saying, “I’m gonna go wash my hands.”

She continued to feel her fantasy as she walked across the dance floor to the restrooms, humming slightly to herself as she stepped up to a sink, hips swaying as she washed her hands. She was just about to reach for a paper towel when she glimpsed a figure in the mirror behind her, coming out of a stall.

Adore.

Dahlia felt her heart sink. What on earth was Adore doing here, looking at her with that hurt puppy expression, completely destroying the delightful buzz that she’d had going on?

Apparently wondering the same thing, Adore burst out, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m...it’s a party.”

Adore swallowed, and for a second Dahlia felt the guilt tighten in her chest. They hadn’t seen each other since that awful gig, when Dahlia had ditched the band and left with Pearl. She’d spoken to the others a few times, intentionally failing to mention that Pearl was more than a one-time thing.

She and Adore had been friends since high school, but for the first time in almost ten years, looking into her face was like looking at a stranger. Dahlia didn’t like to think about how much she’d hurt her, their friendship now probably beyond repair. For a few days after their fight, Dahlia had held out some hope, but when more than a week went by, and then two, and then three and no communication from Adore, she realized that it was truly over between them, despite Aja’s insistence that there was still hope, that she’d be fine after she nursed her wounds for awhile.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Dahlia said, feeling defensive as she added, “Believe me.”

“Yeah, but how did you-”

At that moment, the door to the bathroom banged open, and in waltzed Pearl, still turnt up to 100, holding two drinks in her hands.

“Heyyyyy, D, are you ready to fuck this party up?!”

Adore turned toward her slowly, a look of horror on her face as the situation dawned on her.

Pearl looked hot as sin, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders, a black long sleeved crop top clinging to her fit arms and shoving off a tone stomach, a skirt tight around her hips and ending just above her knees, a gold chain digging into the skin on her waist, her heeled boots making her ass look amazing. But Adore didn’t appear to be admiring her beauty or chic fashion sense. Instead, the look on her face was one of pure disgust.

“Are you…” Adore turned back to Dahlia, asking, “Are you here together?”

“Hell yeah!” Pearl exclaimed, before Dahlia could respond. She shot Pearl a look, trying to tell her to shut up with her eyes, but it didn’t do any good. “It’s good to see you, Delano. You look hot as fuck tonight. Want a drink?”

Adore blinked, clearly trying to figure out how Pearl could be such an absolute fucking idiot. (Dahlia was wondering the same thing.)

“...No. No, I don’t want a drink. I want you to leave. Both of you!”

“Why should we leave?” Pearl asked, sipping one of the cocktails. “We don’t have the problem here, and you don’t have to have one either.”

“Because! I’ve known Jinkx since I was a kid and my sister’s here and you’re just here to...why are you here? This isn’t even your scene!”

“I thought it would be a nice change of pace,” Pearl said. “You seriously need to relax, I thought we said we were gonna be friends.”

“Friends? Are you fucking serious, Pearl?”

“Yeah? Why not? It’s not like we ever really worked as a couple.” Pearl held out the other cocktail glass, which Dahlia assumed was meant to be for her, shaking it slightly, the ice clinking against the sides of the glass. “Jack and ginger…Isn’t that your drink? Consider it a peace off-”

“Pearl! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you have brain damage?!” Adore cried, slapping her hand away, liquor sloshing over the side of the glass. “You cannot seriously be fucking one of my oldest friends and think everything is gonna be cool! Or that you can buy me off with one cocktail from a fucking open bar!”

“This is so boring.” Pearl groaned slightly, rolling her eyes. “You’re totally ruining my buzz.”

“Good!” Adore yelled, voice hoarse, the tears filling her eyes telling Dahlia that they had about 30 seconds before a full emotional meltdown. She put her hand on Pearl’s arm, trying to signal for her to shut the fuck up so they could get the fuck out.

“Adore, there’s no need to make a scene. Why don’t you grow up and come do shots with us-”

“Do shots with you?!”

“Yes! We can all have some fun, and - what?” Pearl finally noticed Dahlia’s nails digging into her wrist, turning to her with an annoyed expression, which Dahlia ignored.

“I’m sorry,” Dahlia said instead, directly to Adore, as sincerely as possible.

Adore took a deep breath, eyes dull and glassy as she said, “Whatever. I just...please, just-”

“We’ll leave,” Dahlia assured her. After everything that went down, it seemed like the least she could do.

“But-” Pearl began, still not getting it.

“Pearl! Enough! Come.” She grabbed Pearl’s arm and pulled her towards the door, turning at the last second to give Adore one last, “Sorry.”

Adore nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. Her sorry clearly wasn’t enough. It probably never would be. She held her gaze for one more split second before she couldn’t stand it anymore and pushed the door open, shoving Pearl through.

***

“Hurry up lovely eyes!”

“I am, calm down-”

Sutan grinned as Violet grabbed yet another stack of papers from the living room table, moving them out of the way as quickly as she could, the table not at all ready for dinner, since neither of them had expected to be home. They were waiting for their food, the local Chinese restaurant nearly groaning on the phone when Sutan had placed his order, so he had promised to tip generously, though he always did anyway.

Sutan watched Violet, a small smile on his lips as the ends of his girlfriend's hair was still damp, the blue wrap dress and the thick socks so unlike the gown Sutan knew she would have otherwise worn, not that he himself wasn’t in a pair of loose sweats and a sweater.

Sutan didn’t normally pay much attention to what Violet was doing on the living room table, since they both preferred to either eat in the kitchen or at the TV, but it seemed like he should start checking in more, everything he stumbled upon utterly fascinating.

So far, he had seen completed patterns for skirt embroidery, all marked in Violet’s neat handwriting and completely idiot proof, his girlfriend clearly still not trusting the tailoring department to do their job while they were away in Aspen.

He had spotted what he assumed was the beginning of Raja’s MET clothes, seeing his twin's face stare back at him highly amusing. Violet had already done several small collections, fabrics and sketches all stapled together in little collages that gave a quick overview of her thoughts.

“Where do you want me to-” Sutan took a stack of paper from the table, wanting to help Violet, but all he managed was to make his girlfriend whip around, her eyes wide.

“Careful!”

“I am!” Sutan laughed, hooking his thumbs on top of the layers of fabric so it wouldn’t go anywhere as he walked over to the chest of drawers, putting it down to the side. “I didn’t realize you were so messy, Violet.”

“Please,” Violet snorted, leaning on her crutches with a raised eyebrow. “Like you’re one to talk, Mr. Kitchen Table.”

“Ha!” Sutan grinned, the taunt hitting exactly right, though he hadn’t actually thought about the kitchen table in forever, the surface somehow always clean when he needed it.

***

In the elevator, Dahlia fumed silently as she slipped on her coat. She’d been expecting an epic and glamorous night, not the shitshow that had just occured. Even more annoyingly, Pearl seemed unfazed by the whole thing.

“So, where to?” Pearl asked, her voice obnoxiously chipper.

“I don’t know,” Dahlia replied sullenly.

Completely oblivious to her tone, Pearl soldiered on. “There’s this great dive bar a few blocks from here, it’s-”

“A dive bar?” Dahlia cut in bitterly. “Dressed like this?”

Dahlia had not dropped nearly $300 on a new dress and spent two hours getting ready to end up in a dive bar. She crossed her arms.

“Well...I... Okay, if you want another fancy party, I can find one.” Pearl pulled up Twitter on her phone, scrolling through her feed. “I know my boss is at that MoMA thing, but I bet we can find something better-”

Suddenly though, even the thought of another extravagant party left a terrible taste in Dahlia’s mouth.

“Maybe I should just go home,” Dahlia sighed.

“What? Why?” Pearl’s head was tilted, confused, and looking at her big blue eyes, Dahlia couldn’t hold in her exasperation for a second longer.

“Because! I’m not really in the mood to sip champagne after all that! I know you’re like, hashtag unbothered by the whole thing, but it kind of sucks that I lost one of my oldest friends!” she burst out, just as the elevator reached the lobby.

Pearl touched her gently on the hand, saying sincerely, “It’s her loss, D.”

Dahlia sighed. She appreciated that Pearl was making an effort to be all ride-or-die, but it just felt too much like dismissing her feelings. She had lost something, something important, and she felt like shit.

“I just...wonder if it was worth it…” Dahlia admitted, and Pearl’s brow creased, finally bothered for the first time.

“I didn’t force you to come out with me,” she said quietly.

“I know,” said Dahlia.

“Or to fuck me.”

“I know.”

They stared at each other, a few moments of awkward silence passing before Dahlia finally looked down. It wasn’t fair of her to put all of this on Pearl, she knew that. But she couldn’t help feeling a bit resentful.

“If you really want to go home, I can get you a cab,” Pearl finally said.

Dahlia swallowed, a deep sigh leaving her. “Okay…”

So much for her epic, glamorous New Year’s Eve.

***

Still shaking a little from that awful confrontation in the bathroom, Adore walked towards the bar to order a drink. She’d been doing her best not to think about Dahlia or the whole mess with Pearl over the holidays, but Aja had asked her a few days earlier if they were gonna work things out, for the sake of the band.

Adore was thinking about it--after all, she loved her band. She loved writing music and she loved performing, and Dahlia had been part of it from the beginning. So she was trying to work up the energy to talk to her again. Or, she had been until tonight.

The fact that she was still dating Pearl was the last thing Adore expected. From Dahlia, that is. From Pearl, at this point nothing would surprise her.

Ugh.

She glanced around the room, wondering where the fuck Courtney was. Of course, she finally spotted her with Jinkx and Bianca, perched on a sofa, hanging on her sister’s arm...and likely her every word, if the look on her face was any indication.

Adore rolled her eyes, in no mood for Courtney’s slavish puppy love at the moment.

“What can I get you?” asked the bartender.

“Double Jameson,” Adore replied immediately, then after half a second added, “Actually, make it a triple.”

“You got it.”

Adore put her head on the bar and groaned slightly. Beside her, someone chuckled drily.

“Sounds like your night is going about as well as mine.” The tall blonde grinned at her sheepishly, recognition dawning in her eyes. “Wait, aren’t you Courtney’s friend?”

Adore puffed out her cheeks. She’d been known as ‘Bianca’s sister’ for most of her life, and she was resigned to it at this point. But now, she was gonna be ‘Courtney’s friend’? When would she just be herself? “Yeah. I’m Adore.”

Thankfully, the bartender set Adore’s drink down just then, allowing her to take a giant sip.

“Alaska,” supplied the blonde. “I work with Court at Galactica. I love her so much, she’s just the sweetest thing ever. She talks about you all the time.”

Frustration reaching a boiling point, Adore burst out with, “Yeah, Courtney’s the fucking greatest. My best friend. Although you wouldn’t know it tonight, since all she cares about is my fucking sister and the moon that apparently shines out of her ass.”

Alaska looked taken aback for a moment, and Adore squeezed her eyes shut, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I’m just...yeah, I’m just having a real shitty night, and I...please forget I said all that.” She couldn’t help finishing with, “Even though it’s true.”

Alaska laughed, a long infectious laugh that made Adore smile in spite of her wretched mood. “Consider it forgotten…But are you okay? Feeling a little left out?”

“I mean, I guess. I don’t know. I just saw my ex, who is now dating my former friend.”

“Ouch.”

“Why don’t we talk about you instead? What’s your story?” Adore asked her.

Wincing, Alaska sipped her drink. “Let’s not. I’m…sort of going through it tonight.”

“Oh yeah? Is it worse than your friend of ten years fucking your ex right after you broke up, and then the two of them showing up pretending like everything is normal and your ex asking you to fucking do shots with them?”

“Uh…no…not worse than that. Jesus.” Alaska shook her head and gestured to Adore’s drink. “You sure a triple’s strong enough?”

Adore laughed and shook her head. “It’s not. But I’m working with what I’ve got.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I hear that.” Alaska reached out and put a hand on Adore’s. “They both sound like assholes, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Adore said gratefully, looking into Alaska’s kind brown eyes and feeling seen for the first time all night. She cleared her throat. “...Okay, I just told you my shit. Wanna tell me yours?”

“Well…” Alaska chewed nervously on the straw in her own cocktail. “I have this friend…”

“Yeah…?” Adore prompted.

“I’m in love with her, and she doesn’t feel the same way, so I come to these things to torture myself.”

“Fuck.” Adore nodded, completely understanding this girl’s pain. She tossed back the last of her drink, then slammed the glass back down onto the bar, thinking that they may as well have some fun. “Fuck it. Do you wanna dance?”

“Sure!” Alaska said, a beautiful smile blooming on her face.

*

It wasn’t until they were on the dance floor, Adore’s hands circling Alaska’s waist, that she began to feel how tipsy she was. She hadn’t intended to drink, and certainly not to this point, but here she was. Thankfully, Adore didn’t seem to mind supporting her weight.

She leaned in close, mouth right up against Alaska’s ear, and said, “Your friend is a dumbass.”

Alaska giggled. “Thanks, I think?”

“I’m serious! You’re totally hot.”

“Shut up.”

“Fuck you, I will not!” Adore held her tighter. “Is she here?”

Alaska glanced to the side of the room, where Jinkx was laughing with someone. She nodded.

“Wanna make her jealous?”

“How are we gonna–” Alaska was cut off by Adore’s soft, warm mouth against hers, plush lips pressed to hers, hands pulling her closer. After her initial surprise, she relaxed into the kiss, winding her fingers in Adore’s long, messy red hair and opening her mouth, letting her tongue inside. It had been so long, and she maybe responded a little too ardently. Maybe let it go on a little too long. Maybe pressed against her too hard…but damn, she felt good.

Adore pulled her head back, grinning wickedly, and whispered, “Is she looking?”

“Is…what…oh, shit.” Alaska suddenly remembered what she was doing and glanced to the side without moving her head. “Yeah, she’s looking,” she answered softly.

Adore kissed her again, sliding her hands down to her ass. Alaska’s heart raced and she whimpered slightly. Adore released her again and winked. “Happy New Year,” she said, sauntering away.

Alaska brought a hand to her mouth, watching her walk away with a slightly dazed expression. She caught Jinkx’s eye for a split second and then looked away, blushing.

***

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #729: Dungeons and Dragons (Persona 5)

9:23 p.m. Outside of Leblanc Café........

Ann: (Smiles Brightly While Walking With Shiho, Ren and Makoto to the Café) That was a good movie night.

Shiho: (Smiles Softly) I agree. The new Godzilla movie was a lot more fun to watch than I thought it would be.

Makoto: You know, I've always wanted to learn more about the monster himself. His origins, his strength and weaknesses, how powerful his atomic laser really is.....and....how he even got it in the first place.

Ren: Pretty sure Futuba would've filled you in on all of that already. I'm surprised she didn't want to go to the movies with us.

Makoto: I'm more surprised at the fact that she wanted to spend time with my sister today. I hope they were getting along with one another while we were gone.....

Ren: (Gives Makoto a Reassuring Smile While Placing his Hand on the Café's Door Handle). Don't worry, 'hon.

'Door Opens and Bells Ringing'

Ren: (Turns Back Around Forward) I'm sure those two are doing just fine to- (Eyes Widened at What is in Front is in Front of him, Along with Everyone Else) ge....ther......

Futuba: (Gets Up from her and Speak in a Old Wizard Accent Seat While Wearing a White, Long Beard and a Wizard Hat) Greetings, love strucked travelers!

Sae: (Waves at the Very Surprised Gang While Having a Small Smile on her Face) Welcome back.

Lavenza/Morgana: (Happily Waves Hello to the Gang as Well While Wearing Respective Travelers' Robes)

Ren: (Almost Speechless) Well.......Guess we have nothing to worry about in that department.

Makoto: Sis......A-Are you..... actually playing-

Sae: Dungeons & Dragons with Futuba and the others? Why, yes my dear, yet somewhat naive little sister, I am. I play the role as a trained, Silver Knight. (Pulls out a Wooden Sword Right Beside her) While wielding an all powerful Excalibur in my grasp.

Futuba: I am the Almighty Wizard of the Ever Green Forest! Sharing and exposing my wisdom and power to those how DARES to seek them!

Shiho: (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) Weren't you like a mage at one point?

Futuba: Yeah, but I'd grind and grind a lot in my spare to till I was eventually able leveled up and evolved into full fledged wizard.

Shiho: Ohhhhhhhhh I see. (Smiles Softly) Nice work.

Futuba: (Smiles Brightly) Thanks! I-I mean....('Clears Throat') Thank you, lady friend of Blantent Fashion Diva!

Ann: (Gives Futuba a Deadpinned Look on her Face While her Girlfriend Giggles Softly at Her Dispense) Really?

Futuba: Yes. Really.

Lavenza: And Morgana and I are the wizard's humble apprentices who decided to leave their hometown in order to learn the ways of creating magical sorcery and use them necessary combat.

Morgana: (Pulls out his Wooden Sword) We also have swords. In case for urgent emergencies.....and if this whole magic gig doesn't work out.

Futuba: I heard that, Sir Cute & Fluffy Butt!!

Morgana: (Turns to Futuba with an Annoyed Look on his Face) Do you really have to keep calling me that throughout the entire runtime of this quest?

Futuba: Yes. (Pats on Morgana's Head) It suits you perfectly.

Lavenza: (Happily Hugs Morgana) Not to mention that your overall cuteness knows no bounds to the eyes of our enemies.

Sae: (Smiles a Little) I agree with both of them, Mona-Chan. You're quite adorable in your own unique way.

Morgana: (Starts Blushing a Little) You know, I I don't know why I didn't ask you this sooner but, HOW exactly are you able to understand what I've been saying this entire time?

Sae: I'm not really sure why myself, if I'm being honest...... Nonetheless, I'm.... somewhat glad that I am able to have a conversation with you.

Morgana: (Sighs Before Smiling a Little) Same.

Ann: (Giggles Softly) Wow, Sae. I had no idea you would be this interested that kind of stuff.

Sae: There is a lot of things you don't know about me, Ms. Takakmaki.

Shiho: Ooh! Like how you're the biggest fan of-

Sae: (Starts Rolling her Eyes While Sighing) Of Banjo-Kun and Kazooie-Chan. Yes! That is the honest truth unfortunately. You weren't even suppose to know that information if a certain SOMEONE didn't tell you before hand! (Glares at the Two Culprits, Ren and Makoto)

Ren: (Starts Getting a Little Scared by Sae's Cold Stone Glare) Ah shit.......

Makoto: (Chuckles Very Awkwardly and Nervously) I'm..... guessing....You managed to figured that one out somehow, huh?

Sae: Futuba told me everything. But it's fine..... I'm already over it. And besides, it helps become more laid back than ever before.

Makoto: ('Sigh') I'm happy for that, sis. But if you need any of us.....(Gently Grabs Ren's Hand) we'll be heading upstairs to-

Sae: Form a Cuddle Session among yourselves?

Ren: (Immediately Starts Looking Away While Whistling)

Makoto: (Eyes Widened in Surprised Before Looking Away While Blushing in Embarrassment) .............

Ann: ('Sigh') Geeez....... She's still able to see right through us, even when she's not in the courtroom......

Shiho: Yeah. That's pretty impressive.....and scary.

Sae: Very well. I'll let you four be for the night. Have fun, but not too much fun. Understand?

Makoto: ('Sigh') Yes, big sister. We understand. (Made her Way to the Upstairs with Ren, Ann and Shiho Following Her) Have fun with game night-

Sae: Makoto.

Makoto: (Turns Back to Sae) Yes? What's wrong?

Sae: (Use Both of her Fingers to Create a Heart Shape While Giving her Little Sister a Soft, Loving Smile) I love you.

Makoto: (Eyes Widened at Her Bug Sister For a Brief Second Before Smiling Softly Herself) I love you too, sis.

Ann/Shiho: Awwwwwwww~

Ren: (Smiles Softly at the Scene) Adorable.

Sae: Ren.

Ren: (Quickly Gives Saw Attention) Y-Yes, ma'am?

Sae: ............... You're a good boy.

Ren: ............................ I'm sorry. What?

Sae: You heard me. I said you're a good boy.

Ren: (Couldn't Believe What He is Hearing) Y-Y-You're kidding, right? You're not just saying that to be nice, are you?

Sae: ('Sigh') No, Ren. I meant every word I said. Despite our difference in the past......(Smiles Softly) I truly believe that you're a good person and already worthy of my respect.

Ren: (Almost at a Loss for Words) Wow. I..... (Chuckles Lightly) Honestly don't know what to say here. T-Thank you-

Sae: THAT being said.......

Ren: (Gets Startled by Sae's Serious Side Again) Y-Yes, ma'am?

Sae: (Gives Ren a Serious Look on her Face) You frequently make my little sister worried sick about you everytime you do something reckless and stupid. Which is exactly why I am ordering you to refrain yourself from doing that from this day forward!

Makoto: (Pouts at Ren) That goes double from me too, Mister!

Ann: (Glares at Ren as Well) And us too!

Shiho: (Nods in Agreement While Crossing her Arms)

Lavenza: I agree wholeheartedly in this in this request!

Morgana: Same here.

Futuba: By the power invested in me and it's everlasting glory!....( Points at Ren) I ORDER you to agree to the Silver Knight's command and take it very SERIOUSLY!...............(Sighs Before Talking in her Usual Self Again) Seriously, man. Promise us you won't be reckless idiot anymore, okay?

Ren: (Was About to Say Something Before His Phone Starts Ringing and Begins to Answer it) Hello?

Bayonetta: (On the Other Line) No more being reckless, young man!!

Ren: (Eyes Widened in Surprised) Mom!?

Palutena: (On the Other Line) Listen to your friends and mother, Ren-Ren!

Ren: Other Mom!?

Pit: Please, Ren? We're only trying to look out for you, that's all.

Dark Pit: In other words, quit being a dumbass already.

Kirby: Poyo! Poyo!

Pit: Yeah! What Kirby said!

Ren: Okay! Okay! I try not to be a reckless idiot anymore. I promise.

Sae: ('Sigh') Very well. I suppose that's good enough for us. Just know that we will have eyes on you for the time being.

Makoto: (Hugs Ren Lovingly) That's right. We won't let anything bad happen to you again, Ren-Ren.

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) I know you guys wouldn't, 'hon~ (Gives Makoto a Kiss on the Forehead)

Dark Pit: Oh God. Are they making out already? Just marry each other already!

Makoto starts blushing again while Ren starts putting on a deadpinned look on his face.

Palutena: ('Sigh') Don't make fun of your brother, Pitto.

Dark Pit: Hey, I'm just saying. If they're gonna keep being lovey dovey with one another, they might as well put a ring on it sooner or later........ Bet you $50 Makoto gonna propose first.

Pit: No way! I bet you $20 that Ren is gonna do it first!

Kirby: Poyo! Poyo! Poyo!

Dark Pit: ('Heh') Deal.

Palutena: NO BETTING ON YOUR BROTHER!

Ren: (Sighs While Rolling his Eyes) Love you, guys!

Bayonetta: We love you too, sweetie-

Ren: (Finally Hangs Up the Phone Call Before Turning Back to Sae) Seriously though, thanks for the kind words, Ms. Prosecutor. And for..... (Smiles Softly) Trying to look out for me. Means a lot.

Sae: (Smiles Softly While Slowly Nodding) Think nothing of it. You four can proceed go to upstairs now.

Makoto: 'Kay. (Makes her Way Upstairs with the Rest of the Gang) Have fun on your quest!

Sae: Will do! ('Sigh') Glad I finally got that out of my system. I hope what I said that was enough for them to understand

Futuba: (Smiles Softly) You kidding? It was more than enough, Sae. I'm proud of ya.

Sae: (Smiles Back at Futuba While Simply Nodding) Thank you, Futuba. Now then......(Forms a Smirk on her Face) Shall we continue the quest?

Futuba: Let the Quest of Dragons Begins!!

@keyenuta

@princekirijo

@caleb13frede

@26shann

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@italian-love-cake

[bisexualsforprompto]

If you’re still doing the jealous!Adrien headcanons, could you please do one with Garmari (BB/Marinette)? it’s my latest JAM and hnfhg its so c u t e

Jealous! Adrien Garmari Headcanons fic

Ummmm I got carried away?

Marinette opened her locket that was carefully placed on her mirror. Inside were two kids, almost unrecognizable after everything that happened and everything that came between them.

Marinette ran across the hot, sandy yard, panting when she finally reached her destination.

“I win!” Marinette called to an out of breath redhaired boy.

“Just you wait!” Gar panted, “One day I’m gonna be faster than you!”

“Yeah right!” Marinette laughed.

Marinette stared blankly at the locket. Seeing the redhaired boy with green eyes smiling face, she reached out to close it.

“We should get married!” Gar exclaimed as Marinette picked at the flowers around her. She thought about it for a moment.

“Okay!” She grinned, showing her missing two front teeth.

“Marinette Dupain-Chang will you marry me?” Garfield asked, offering a ring that he had fashioned out of flowers. Marinette giggled and slid the makeshift ring onto her small finger.

“I do!” Marinette exclaimed.

Marinette closed the locket abruptly, trying not to remember the last time she saw Gar. She didn’t even get to see him when he needed it most.

“Why not?!” 10 year old Marinette pleaded to her parents.

“Honey, you know we want to support him. It’s awful that such a tragedy happened to him. His parents were good people, they left too soon.” Sabine said averting her gaze, “But he’s deathly sick, we can’t risk you getting it too.”

“It’s not fair! I wanna see him!” Marinette stomped off upstairs.

She still regretted it. She didn’t hear about Gar again. She didn’t know what happened. For all she knew his sickness could’ve-

Marinette grabbed the locket off of her mirror and clasped it around her neck. She felt the urge to wear it, although, she hadn’t in almost eight years. She walked downstairs, Kaaliki and Tikki already in her bag.

“Are you excited for the trip today sweetie?” Sabine asked, handing her a bag of food. Marinette pulled her suitcase behind her,

“Yeah, it should be a fun four days.” Sabine noticed the locket around her neck.

“It’s been awhile since you’ve worn that.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She said before embracing her mother, “Goodbye Maman.”

“Goodbye Marinette. Don’t forget to call!” Sabine exclaimed, but Marinette was already outside of the house.

Marinette ran down the street, the last thing she wanted was to miss the bus. And she knew they’d go without her.

She stepped onto the bus and saw Alya’s apologetic expression when she was sitting with Nino. The only empty space was next to Adrien.

Alya🦊: Sorry, girl. He insisted. I tried, but I didn’t want to make a scene.

Marinette sighed at the text and sat down next to Adrien.

Mari: It’s okay Al. It’s just until we get to the airport anyway.

It wasn’t though, when they got to the plane Adrien ended up sitting next to her. She was able to tune out his flirtations for the most part, but ever since they revealed identities as their superhero alter egos Marinette’s crush dissipated quickly and Adrien’s grew stronger.

She ended up trying to sleep in order to get him to leave her alone, and she drifted off.

She woke up when they landed and the memories of her dream came flooding at once. She dreamed about Garfield, something that happened occasionally, but this time it was different.

Most of her dreams about him were nightmares where her fear was confirmed and he had died along with his parents.

This one was more hopeful, she supposed, she saw Gar again, but really only his eyes, just the green. But then his green eyes morphed into Adrien’s.

And that was the end.

She was no Freud, she wasn’t even going to try to think about her bizarre dreams. She walked into the aisle and met up with Alya. Alya was able to save her from talking to Adrien, by leaving the blonde with Nino and taking Marinette by the hand and exiting the plane.

“Okay class!” Miss Bustier clapped, “We’re walking over to the studio now!”

A chorus of groans was heard from the class.

“Don’t complain! It’s only about a ten minute walk, let’s go!”

Marinette and Alya begun walking, Alya pointing out all the sights.

“That’s the Hollywood sign!” Alya squealed, “Maybe we can go to it later!” Marinette grinned and nodded. Alya was more interested in the culture of Hollywood and California than Marinette was, but the bluenette was looking forward to looking at the trending fashion!

“Oh you know I know the the lead actor of the movie we’re going behind the scenes to see today!” Lila remarked loudly. A cacophony of ‘wows’ and ‘that’s so cools’ was heard from the sheep in Bustier’s class. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but actually my connections with him were the reason we got to come on set today!”

Marinette and Alya rolled their eyes, they both knew that the reason they were going backstage was solely because of Marinette winning a contest for the class. They ignored Lila and talked with each other the rest of the way.

“Oh girl!” Alya had said when the studio came in view, “I don’t think I’ve seen you wear that locket before. It’s cute!”

“Thanks.” Marinette smiled, “It’s from awhile ago, my friend and I are in it.”

Alya knew not to pry when she saw the wistful expression on Marinette’s face. They rounded the bend and Miss Bustier scanned the security card she had been sent. The door opened for them and the class walked in.

The set was truly breathtaking, it was space themed and a large prop spaceship graced the center of it all. Marinette glanced around it all and saw the costumes. They were amazing and obviously hand stitched, but there were two missing from the rack. Marinette saw the director come to them.

“The actors will be out soon! unfortunately, only two were available today, but your lucky class will be able to see the lead of our movie!”

The class cheered, but Marinette was still focused on the costumes.

“Now which one of you sent in the contest entry?” The director asked. The class gave each other confused looks.

“It was Marinette, ma’am!” Alya said pointing to the bluenette.

“Oh wonderful!” She exclaimed, “Your entry was delightful! You’re truly a talented artist.” Marinette blushed.

“But Lila, I thought you-“

Rose was cut off by the starstruck Oohs and ahhs when the actors stepped out. They were in full costume, including their helmets that covered their entire face. The first actress removed her helmet.

“Hello all!” She said, “I’m Grace Kingsley! I play the female lead in the movie.”

“Hey!” Said the second voice. A voice Marinette recognized. She turned around from the director and saw the boy take off his helmet. She was met with familiar eyes.

“Oh my god.” She whispered underneath her breath. She made eye contact with him briefly. It couldn’t have been Gar, could it? He was green all over, and his red hair was replaced with green. The only thing that looked the same about him were his eyes.

“Marinette?” He gasped. Marinette gripped onto her locket.

“Gar?”

“Garfield Logan!” Chloé swooned.

Marinette stepped forward and Garfield ran over and embraced her.

“You two know each other?” Asked the director. Alya was awestruck.

“Yeah.” Gar said breathlessly.

“I’m so sorry.” Marinette cried as she hugged him tighter, “I wanted to be there, but-“

“It’s okay, I was sick.” Gar said, “I almost died if not for a blood transfusion, that’s why I’m green by the way, I wouldn’t want that to happen to you.”

“I still feel horrible, but ummm, on the subject...”

“You wanna talk about my greenness?” Gar laughed.

“It’s just a little different.” Marinette giggled.

“It’s Martian blood, I can actually shapeshift into any animal because of it. I’m a hero here, Beast Boy.” Marinette didn’t end up being too surprised, after all she’d trust Gar with a miraculous, “I guess I can be faster than you now.” He laughed.

Marinette gaped, “Wait a second! Why did you tell me all of this? Your secret identity-“

“Well when you’re green it’s kinda hard to have one.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Marinette relaxed.

“Wait!” Rose exclaimed, “Don’t you know Lila too?”

“Who?” Gar asked.

“Lila, she said she knew you.” Rose repeated.

“I’ve never met any Lilas sorry. Marinette is the only one I know in your class.” Gar said dryly. “Also, Mari, are you free tomorrow?”

Marinette nodded.

“Do you think we can catch up?” Gar asked nervously, “I can introduce you to the other Titans, maybe we can grab lunch too?”

“Are you asking me on a date Gar?” Marinette laughed.

“I guess I am.” Gar said going pink.

“Sure, we’re already married, right?” Marinette winked. Gar laughed and nodded.

“Seriously?” Adrien muttered. Everyone turned to him. “I mean, I’ve known you for years and when I ask you out you say no, but this random guy you’re saying yes to?”

“I’m not a random guy.” Garfield barked, “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“I’m so done with this.” Adrien gritted his teeth, “Come find me when you’ve come to your senses Bugaboo.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as Adrien stalked off and Miss Bustier ran after him.

“Sorry about him.”

“No need to apologize, I’ve met plenty of famous people like him. Entitled.” Gar scoffed, “So, tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

~•~•~•~•~•~

Bonus:

Marinette walked into Titans Tower with Gar admiring the architecture.

“Welcome!” Garfield exclaimed as the elevator dinged.

“Beast Boy...who’s this?” Robin asked.

“My friend, Marinette. I’ve known her forever, you can trust her I promise.”

“Oh, it is the lovely to meet you!” Starfire grinned shaking Marinette’s hand frantically.

“You too.” Marinette laughed.

“Hey, I’m Cyborg.” Cyborg greeted, “BB has talked a lot about you.”

Marinette blushed, “Really?”

“Really.” Raven said looking up from her book, “Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you too, I’m so happy I got to see Gar. It’s been so long and-“

A blaring alarm cut Marinette off.

“Titans! Trouble!” Robin yelled, the other Titans, save Garfield, fell into formation. “Down at the bank, we need to go now! It’s the HIVE.”

“I’m so sorry.” Gar sighed, “Can I drop her off?”

“Wait!” Marinette exclaimed. The team turned to face her, “Do you need help?”

“We shouldn’t get civilians involved, it’s dangerous.” Robin stated.

“Yeah, Mari, I really don’t want you to get hurt.” Gar said placing his hands on her shoulders, “You don’t have powers or any-“

“Spots on.” Marinette whispered, welcoming her transformation.

“Woah.” Cyborg yelled as Ladybug stood before him.

“Miraculous magic.” Raven assessed, “I thought I sensed magic off of you.”

“So...how do you feel about help now?”

Two weeks later the newest Titan from Paris was announced, and the talk of the community was the French superhero Ladybug who was dating Beast Boy.

And back in Paris a certain cat was furious, and plotting revenge.

Btw, this won’t be continued, sorry!

Taglist:

@northernbluetongue

@queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm

@luciferge

@legendaryneckjudgestudent

@interobanginyourmom

@beaversuenightly

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry

@mochinek0

@shamefullove

@emjrabbitwolf

@actual-disaster-human

@littleredrobinhoodlum

@elijahcoser

@daminett4life

@18-fandoms-unite-08

@kawaiigiantjudgefish

@myazael

@kass-is-weird

@dramatic-squirrel

@novicevoice

@abrx2002

@corabeth11

@mochegato

@the-fusionist

@lesscoolloki

@aegyobutpsycho2

@spiritofchaoticdreams

@shizukiryuu

@luleck

@moonystars14

@minightrose

[fairfaxleasee]

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes, in the Pit of Despair." + Alistair

For @dadrunkwriting

“Now, where were we?  Oh, yes - in the Pit of Despair.”  Alistair peaked around his wife who had finally managed to track him down where he was hiding behind a curtain with a plate of cheese ready to drag him back.

Amelia Theirin scowled at her husband, “That’s not a pit Alistair, it’s a dance floor.  And honestly, they’re telling you the cheese tastes of despair, whatever that means, so why would you eat it?”  She grabbed the cheese plate with one hand and his arm with the other and dragged him back into the ballroom.

“Uhhh...” Alistair plastered on his best ‘you know you love me’ smile as he thought of his response, “Because it’s cheese?”

Amelia sighed and handed the plate to a passing servant, “Look, I don’t like this any more than you do, but this is our last day here.  Just get through this party and you can eat all the not-despair tasting cheese you want.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but if you eat too much and make yourself sick I’ll have absolutely no sympathy for you.”

Alistair wrapped his arms around his still-obviously-annoyed-with-him wife and pulled her in for a hug, “But, Love, I’ve been stuck in Orlais for a week!”

“Yes, and I’ve been stuck right here with you with Orlesian noblewomen.  Honestly, I preferred the Darkspawn to Orlesian noblewomen; at least they didn’t see the need to spend all day comparing me to my sister.  I swear, if I hear the word ‘bookish’ one more time...”  Amelia tapped a foot on the ground in annoyance.

“I’m sorry, Love,” he rested his head on top of hers.  “I forgot how popular Anora was around here.”

“I’m not actually convinced she was all that popular, I think these people just like to find other’s pain points and prod them incessantly.”

“That does sound like a very Orlesian sport to take up.  Ooh, what if we try to get them to play a good old-fashioned Ferelden sport!  We played stickball all the time when I was training to be a Templar.  Course, all the mud made it a bit hard to actually run, but it did soften the landing when someone knocked you over with a stick.”

He felt her giggle against his chest, “Alistair, I tell you what - if you get Empress Celene to agree to play stickball, I will do whatever you ask.”

“Can I never have to speak to your father again?”

She punched him softly in the shoulder, “I wish you could get along with my father...”

It was Alistair’s turn to scowl.  Loghain Mac Tir was responsible for the deaths of Duncan, Cailin, and countless others at Ostagar.  And if he weren’t Amelia’s father... Alistair wasn’t entirely sure what but he was sure he’d wouldn’t still have to be worried about seeing the man.

“But,” Amelia continued, “I suppose if you get Celene to play stickball, herself, not just with some servant as a proxy mind, I can make some excuse for his next three visits.  Well, after the visit where he watches it happen.”

“Ha!  I’d invite him myself for that!  I’d finally manage to do something he’d actually approve of.”

She tugged at his sleeve, “You know I tell him to get along with you too, right?”

“I know, Love.  And I promise the next time I see him I’ll be on my good behavior.”

“As long as I’m in eyeshot you mean.”

“Or earshot!  Can’t have you leaving me to fend for myself again just because you overhear me call him a spiteful-”

She poked him in the chest, “Alright, yes, I know you hate each other!  But honestly, Alistair, you should be looking on the bright side.”

“Oh?  There’s a bright side to me hating your father?”

She poked him slightly harder.  He let out a soft ‘oof,’ which made her smile for the first time in too much of the conversation.  “No, there’s a bright side of being in Orlais.”

“There is not!  Now I know you’re clever, Amelia, but you are not clever enough to find a bright side of being in Orlais!”

“Oh?  Something else you agree on with my father, that you can actually talk about, isn’t a bright side?”

Alistair considered.  He and Loghain agreed that Amelia was amazing and they loved her, and that the other was the single worst possible person to be Amelia’s father or husband, but he couldn’t imagine what else Amelia thought they were going to agree on.

“You both hate Orlais.”

“Well, yes, I suppose we do, but I’ve suffered more than he has.  He’s never had to be at one of their parties, or seen the inhumane things they’ve done to cheese, or-”

“Alistair?”

“Yes, Love?”

“Just be quiet and come dance with me.  You can tell me all about how this was the worst week of your life on the way back.  I promise not to remind you of the time when I couldn’t walk for over a week because you almost broke my ankle too often.”

“I - well - that’s... well, I suppose if we get to dance, this won’t be the worst week of my life.”