#oooh don't pay attention to her. she's just hurting herself to get attention

[safrona-shadowsun]

Daily Writing Challenge || 2024

Day 1: Mysterious / Appearance (Gravekeeper)

Day 2: Agony/Embrace

Day 3: Shame/Favorite

It was a meeting, in secrecy. The warlock constantly underestimated Elernia, and now she swore Safrona would pay for her lax attention, her utter dismissal and betrayal. Their infernal bond waned as the warlock's bond with the new young succubus AND incubus strengthened, allowing the Elder Sayaad to roam further from the warlock without notice. She lured a victim by teaching her name to the right lovesick acolyte and she was effectively summoned in the dank crypt long enough for her to overpower and slaughter the silly elf. And now, presenting the fresh flesh with the right sigil, she bid the one in mind to attend her.

The Sayaadi presented herself in her full demonic glory for her potential new favorite. No glamour, even giving over the truth of her name. A Sister would have been taken aback at such a risk. Elernia might have even been called foolish, a weak link among the Legion even, once, but there was a trust to be earned here with her audience. She could feel the cold distrust in the icy stare she was given as her victim rose anew, yet Elernia basked in the presence as if it were a stage spotlight, putting on her best infernal charm. She was intent on winning over her new prospect.

“Why did you call me here, demon?” Her company was not so easily charmed, none too thrilled to be called to the husk the demon murdered.

“Mmmn, curiousity,” Elernia offered coquettishly. “You would not have answered unless you were just a bit curious too, no? Have you forgotten me already?”

“Perhaps." How DID the demon know the personal sigil to call that particular soul by? "But I will not play your games long, especially if I don't feel quite entertained.” Her company��s voice darkened with an insidious edge. “Sometimes toys like to break.”

The succubus laughed, titilated. “Oh…promise my Pretty? We can play any time, but I called you here because I’d like to think we have some things in common.” Elernia sighed with a little dramatic flair.” My mistress shames us both.”

“I have very little care in how your mistress shames you. She is a mistake. And she will breed more mistakes until she is buried.”

“Oh, I absolutely agree,” Elernia grinned intensely. “It took me far too long to realize that little truth, sadly. I placed her on a damned pedestal for SO very long. Now the years of devotion to her melt to nothing, and I've been such a fool. I am nearly 327 years now, my Pretty, and I am shamed to only now see the lesson. The Shadow on the Sun is a mistake of life, and has little worth on the Path of Power. She is disgustingly complacent, wasting every breath she's stolen."

Elernia could see her contact had quieted with a gathering interest, giving pause to all that she would say. “After all my years of devotion and service in making her stronger, she dares to replace me. ME.” Hate oozed out in each sharply spoke word now, the demon did not mince a word. “I am trapped, made useless, cast aside. Abandoned by the one I have been a constant too. And I seethe.”

Her company scoffed. “Seems to me you must lay in the bed you made. Maybe you’ll warm the empty sheets with your ‘righteous’ anger.”

“Oh, but I’m a little rebel.” Elernia shimmied, and slid her fingers down her skin sensually. “And I want a new bed.”

A wave of dismay, even disgust radiated from her singular witness. “Don’t even think to ask. I will NOT pact with you. I won't make the same mistake again.”

Elernia pouted briefly, but feigned consignment to the denial. “Be that as it may, scorned soul to soul, I offer my help to you out of the kindness of my little black heart. If she gets to play favorites, so will I.”

The corpse sighed. “So now you’re going to find new ways to annoy me? I don't quite like the idea of you knowing how to call me.”

“Oooh Pretty, that hurts! Think about what I'm offering. A direct connection to the little bitch. Information, freely.” Elernia leaned forward, basking in the luminent visage of her company as she whispered her schemes. “I offer opportunity for you to take. I can see that one gleaming desire when you look at me, even now. You desire to make her suffer as much as I do.”

The banshee gazed now in return, her yellow eyes agleam on the succubus as she processed the potential of the words that next slithered off the demon's tongue. “And when we have ruined her enough and had our fun? I will happily help you to bury her."

Elernia felt a swell of victory as the corpse the banshee wore showed a sign of a smile, just before it rapidly rotted, contorted upon itself with sickening crunches, and lay dead once more. "I must go, the spectral form replied, an old haunt to the demon that held its wealth of nostalgia. "Perhaps...we'll speak again. But first, be a good demon and de-bone your little gift for me. "

The Lady Haunt gazed on the crumpled acolyte thoughtfully as the demon began to separate bone from the withered husk. "In fact, make more gifts of more stupid warlocks for me, and I'll continue to answer in the "flesh". I think it's terribly fitting of you."

@daily-writing-challenge

[hailsatanacab]

fic title: "The dead play with the street children and the children protect the dead."

The dead play with the street children and the children protect the dead

Oooh okay, first of all, I love this sentiment so much and I have far too many ideas for it, but we're sticking with one which got way too far out of hand!!! Sorry!

Danny Phantom, Maddie's pov

It's summer and it's roasting. It's the kind of heat that you can taste, and Maddie Fenton is braving the outside so she can surprise everyone with some much needed ice cream.

The arms of her jumpsuit are tied around her waist and her tanktop is already soaked in sweat, but it'll be worth it when she sees her family happy.

Or rather, when she sees Jack happy. She's sure she'll see Jazz happy, too, but Danny... Lately, it seems to be a coin toss whether she'll see him at all.

At least with the heat, ghost attacks have slowed down to almost nothing and she can try and get some proper mother-son bonding time in.

Part of her wonders if there's a reason for it - if high temperatures affect the structure of ectoplasm in such a way as to render a ghost incapable of functioning at their full capacity (ghosts and colder temperatures have always been linked, surely the inverse would make sense) and whether that can be translated into weaponry. A concentrated heat blast to melt a ghost?

But, she thinks with a sigh, that can wait for another day. It's far too hot to be thinking of concentrated heat blasts. Distantly, she can hear the children laughing and shouting in the park, no doubt splashing in the fountains to cool off.

Once upon a time, Danny and Jazz used to laugh and scream together while playing in there as well, but they're too grown up for it now.

Too grown up to do anything with their parents it seems, but that's fine! All teenagers go through it, as she keeps reminding herself, it's just a phase. They'll grow out of it.

In the meantime, there's always ice cream to help smooth over the cracks.

She turns the corner towards where she knows the ice cream truck awaits and she glances towards the fountain with a soft smile at the children's antics already on her face - and freezes, terrified and angry, at the sight there.

What the hell is it doing here? That... that thing? It's not noticed her yet, too busy accosting the children to pay her any attention, throwing balls of snow into the air with a sharp, twisting cackle.

Maddie's blood runs cold as he dives into the fountain, the water around him growing thick with ice - does he mean to trap the children under the surface? How is no one stopping this?

Why are their parents not fighting to get them out, to save them? She looks around at all the smiling faces and she wants to scream, how can they call themselves parents?

When the ghost boy picks up a child and floats them in the air, their ankles kicking up the slushy water, Maddie sees red. She whips out her ankle blaster (why wasn't she wearing her jumpsuit properly, this is what she gets for letting her guard down!) with a wordless cry that's drowned out by the playful screams of the children.

The ecto-blast gets everyone's attention soon enough.

The effect is instantaneous - parents scramble to get their children out of the fountain safely (better late than never), the ghost boy puts down the child, who stumbles forward when Phantom pushes him to move quicker.

Despicable, really, how he's still trying to hurt the poor boy even when she's pointing a gun right at his core. Maddie's proud that her aim doesn't falter even as rage grips her heart.

How dare he try to hurt children? How dare he?

She opens her mouth to give the ecto-scum a piece of her mind but before she can say anything, before she can even squeeze the trigger, a snowball hits her square in the face and her shot goes wide.

Another ghost?

She squints, her cheek burning with cold, and finds... little Sally from down the street, her dress soaked, and cheeks red with anger as she shouts, "Don't you hurt my friend!"

It's simple to cartwheel back and dodge her next throw, but she's not so lucky when another snowball hits her on the back, followed by the little boy from the fountain shouting "Yeah, leave him alone!"

She curses as another one hits her knee, turning wildly with her gun still raised, trying to get a clean sight on Phantom, but of course the spook has already vanished.

The only thing he left behind is a rapidly depleting stack of snowballs and children screaming for a different, fun new game.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to WISHMAKER

Oh I'm so excited about this one! Marinette's little soft looks she gives Adrien in recent episodes before snapping herself out of it is adorable. Not overwhelming, just nice. Poor Adrien doesn't know what he wants to do. But the thing that hurts me most (probably because I was always in the same position he is in, so understand more than hurt from it) is the fact he thinks that with Ladybug adding more people to the team, he won't be needed and thus won't be Chat Noir anymore. OOOF it hurts! Poor Adrien doesn't realize that if Ladybug didn't give these Miraculous out, Shadow Moth would've gotten their Miraculous from them a long time ago. I rewatched all episodes out now in chronological order, and it's so obvious she cares about him and could not be able to do what she does without him. What needs to happen is for her to not only tell him that, but express it somehow for him to believe it.

"Come on, Plagg. It's time to start thinking about our future." OUR future. He's including Plagg in that future. Good! I definitely understand what this episode is trying to get across about jobs and careers, but a majority of people can't and never end up doing a job or career they love and gives meaning. Some struggle just to find something they can do with their circumstances, much less something that'd make them happy. A very good message though to encourage young kids to look into many interests and try to find what you enjoy to life to end up doing that makes an impact on the world to spread the positivity and happiness. Hey hey hey Alec, how dare you go after Andre the Ice Cream Maker?! But good on him for not letting it affect him at all, he's doing what he loves so the criticism doesn't matter. "Pistachio and pecan for the clear-sighted young man!" "Who? What young man?" "Hello Marinette." I love Luka so much and Andrew's voice is so smooth. x3 I've wanted to learn the violin for years, I have one, but have never been able to do much with it. Luka having and playing his violin makes me incredibly happy (and adore him even more). "Whoa. You definitely have a gift for finding the right words at the right time." "Adrien." "Ah, well, most of the time." LOL But this entire scene. Luka saying you haven't told him about your feelings have you, her noticing he's sad, and Luka being like let's go talk to him and help him then! Just. AWWW! Poor Adrien has so much pressure to find something he wants to do or his dad will make him do what he wants instead. That's going to make it even harder for him to find something... I remember a spoiler from a long time ago, of Adrien baking with Marinette. What if he finds he loves it when that happens, and it's what he wants to do? :o Ahahahaha when Luka goes and sits next to Adrien, Adrien looks up at Marinette expectantly to sit down too. Probably thought by him. but she went the safe route and went next to Luka. xD Adrien, thinking he knew what Luka and Marinette want to do. Luka knows what he wants but it isn't what Adrien or the rest of us thought. Marinette thought she knew but now she's not sure at all. So all three are kind of confused and it's complicated. Life's complicated. Have you noticed, this is the most honest Marinette and Adrien have ever been about something so deep and personal to them? And they're able to do it around each other. Because Luka's there. He's like their emotional guide to help bring them closer and I love it. "Nothing, my mind is empty!" "I'm completely lost!" - Marinette and Adrien say together. Dang. When Luka explains Marinette and Adrien's "inner music" that felt like the most deep and personal scene this show has ever had. "You two will eventually find what's already in front of you," he says before he knew. As they look at each other. Oh lovely foreshadowing moment here. "But you can't hear it clearly, just let the melody flow." In other words, let things happen as they should. Don't force anything. If it feels right to do something, do it. If it doesn't, don't. Wow that violin is so beautiful. Adrien and Marinette's reactions in

sync, the surprise at the tune, the contentedness, and wordlessly looking at each other before getting up and sitting closer. Such a beautiful scene, this has me in awe honestly. "I've wasted my life!" oh I'm sure that hit hard with some of us older viewers. :c I have trouble sometimes not thinking this way, but there's always still time to change how things are. I love that everyone's dreams are either sweet and positive or just plain silly. Like CrocoJagged.

Hey, hi there, son! I absolutely lost it LOL this was brilliant! And the way he runs away on his hind legs it's too much XD "Hey Adrien, go hide behind that tree!" and then he drags Marinette along to hide her. So funny he's the one taking control in this situation. He's really shown his superhero potential in this and Optigami, even when not suited up. oooh Marinette wasn't where he brought her. That was sus. "HEEEELP I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!" "If we get hit, we'll reveal our secret identities!" "What do you mean, m'lady?" "When I was six I wanted to be the Knitting Fairy, and the Knitting Fairy didn't wear a mask!" The fact she's distracted and Chat Noir had to be paying attention to pull her to safety was such a Ladybug move. What do you mean you're not needed, Chat?! Obviously you are! Also she's giving you information about herself! LISTEN. She never used to and doesn't have to tell you these things, she's choosing to! And she even asked about you and your childhood! "You must have just forgotten!" or didn't have one. I honestly didn't have a dream as a kid, either. I don't know, I never wanted to grow up and be anything in particular that I thought I could do. I didn't have wishes of things I wanted to do for fun much either. I don't know why exactly, but I had a dad that's enough like Gabriel so maybe that's why. (My sister proceeded to tease me about being a sentimonster, since there's that "Adrien's a sentimonster" theory going around). "But Dad, crocodiles know how to swim..." "I didn't when I was a kid!" THIS SCENE XDD I love it! "If Chat Noir and I get hit, you must come back to this exact moment." Yeah it was at that point my suspicions of Luka finding out about them both seemed to be very likely to happen. "Nobody can know about our secret identities." At this point I was going omg omg omg omg the entire time lol The fact that Adrien would decide to have his identity revealed so he could learn more about himself to help him in the future. o.o This poor boy! And here's Luka finding out about Marinette being Ladybug! The dramatic zoom in! Viperion goes "Marinette?!" literally with Chat less than a foot away and he doesn't even budge. He's really that sad he's not even paying attention to what's going on Dx Okay, Ladybug calling on her Lucky Charm just to have the plushie squeak in her hand got me lol "My childhood dream is being what my parents wanted me to be!" Adrien seems happy. And he's himself, it looks like, so I don't know if we just got it cut off short or if he is exactly what his parents wanted him to be, so he's happy knowing that information?

This back and forth between a serious moment and a hilarious one! Shadow Moth's horrified Adrien's Chat Noir lolol not even the same kind of reaction that was in Chat Blanc when he found out . Okay but back to Luka. I think he was much too far away to hear what Adrien was actually saying, but he can see that it's Adrien standing where Chat Noir was.

He sees Adrien's where Chat Noir was.

The realization that Chat Noir is Adrien.

Understanding exactly what it means for Marinette to be Ladybug and Adrien to be Chat Noir. It's interesting how the people of Paris were able to still have jobs that was as close to their childhood dreams as possible. The man that wanted to be Santa makes toys. Mr. Banana wanted to be a cucumber and while he's not one, he wears a Banana suit every day. Jagged wanted to be a crocodile so the closest he could get was to have one as a pet. Marinette wanted to be the Knitting Fairy and look at all she can knit and sew! Alec: "When I was a kid, I just wanted people to be happy!" so sad that his bullying made him want to make others miserable instead. But it's nice that he wants to start now trying to make others smile and be happy c: "Sorry Alec, but when you're a superhero, even your dreams have to remain a secret." But she told Chat Noir hers. If that's not her going in the direction of outright telling him who she is....! Please let Luka be the one to help Ladybug with Chat Noir and Adrien with Marinette. Please. They need it. They have to have Ladybug realize her feelings for Chat and be willing to tell him everything. And they need Adrien to open his eyes and realize his feelings for Marinette. Once those things happen, they'll be okay. Except Adrien still doesn't know what his dream is because that was taken away by Second Chance. Personally, I think his dream of wanting what his parents wanted him to be, is what he already is. He just doesn't know it. As for his future, that can be up to him to start finding! "Thanks to you, our secret identities were persevered and nobody discovered who Chat Noir and I really are..... uh, not even you, right?" "Not even me. Luckily Wishmaker never hit you or Chat Noir." LIES Funny that he was "Truth" before, but now he's spitting lies. HOWEVER don't worry, I understand very much why he's lying and with the way Marinette is, this would be something she'd worry about and obsess over and Luka doesn't want that for her. He knows he can handle it, and she'll find out about it later when she's meant to. I just think it's ironic and funny lol And ooooof the way Luka's face fell after she left. Poor bb. "It was nothing, Marinette. You know you can always count on me." Luka's going to be Marinette and Adrien's best friend in a way that Nino and Alya just can't be. I can feel it. "We're all okay. Thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Oh. Oh you dorks! It's like they somehow know deep down they're Ladybug and Chat Noir with that look at that line. They're looking at each other like they know to some extent... I'm sure nothing happened in an episode we have yet to see but, it feels a bit weird, don't you think? "I may not remember my childhood dreams, but that's okay! It's time to focus on the future and find my inner music, like Luka said!" AWWW good for you my precious sunshine boy! Keep being you. Also Adrien's disturbed look at Plagg killed me again.

Marinette: "I'll do it all! .... I'll be Luka's best friend and I'll love Adrien!" Yeah see, that's it! You guys are best as best friends, and Luka will one day find someone else and he'll be happy to have you as his best friend when that time comes too. As far as all the other stuff, that sounds very busy and exhausting, but if it makes her happy! "How can you love other people if you don't love yourself?" Oh dang, that's such a good line to have put in this show honestly! Nicely done. So this is definitely one of if not my favorite episode. Chat Blanc's been my favorite but this is at least up there with it! There's so much to take from this episode, and so much that can come from this episode's events that I'm both extremely excited and scared to find out what happens next.

[fantasykidofkpop]

My Super Girlfriend pt 1

Nct Taeil x reader (ft. Johnny)

Nerd! Artist!Taeil x Super!reader

Superhero au Strong Woman Do Bongsoon au

Description: Every superhero saves the day and rescues a girl. But what if a girl with super inhuman abilities, saves the day and rescues her nerdy lover.

Quote: With great power, comes great responsibility

Taeil asks himself everyday whenever he comes home from his date

"How did I, a low life, an outcast, a nerd, get the most adorable and the most beautiful girl in all of Seoul."

Taeil and Y/N were together ever since senior year of High School

You been together for 3 years and Taeil could have been any happier with his lovely girl

But was he didn't know.... that his girlfriend has a secret

3 years ago, senior year, in high school

Taeil was always getting picked on and was always the bully's target

Especially, for Johnny Seo, the school's heartthrob, captain of the basket ball team

Johnny and some of his team members (Taeyong, Jaehyun and Ten) would always pick on Taeil and sometimes beat the crap out of him if he didn't or refuses to do their assignments

Taeil sometimes come home with bruises, a black eye and a busted lip

Whenever his parents ask about his wounds, he would lie by saying

"Oh, I bumped into a lamp post" "I tripped on the side walk" etc

Taeil knew if he told his parents, they would have move and transfer him to a different school

He wanted to stay, only to study Art

Sometimes, at night, he lays on his bed, stares at the ceiling, and wishes for tomorrow to be better day

"Please, let tomorrow be a brand new day"

The moment he fell into deep slumber

His wish came true

The next day, this morning was the same

Taeil walked to his locker, when he opened it, fake spiders came out of his locker

Even though they're fake, but he has a phobia of spiders

Taeil shrieks

Loud laughter came from behind

Johnny and friends were laughing really hard

Everyone laughed with them

"Same old scared little Taeil" Johnny says

"Oh wait, he's still little!" Ten shouts

Everyone laughs while Taeil looks at his feet in embarrasment

"See you later Short Stack!" Johnny yells and high fives his friends and leaves

I knew it, he thought

"Hey bro, you okay?" His bestfriend Mark asks while helping him

Him and Mark have been best friends since the were in middle school

"Yeah, I'm fine" he says

They both walk to their first period class

"Hey I heard there is a new student coming to our school" Mark points out

"Oh really?" Taeil asks

"Yeah, they say the new student is a girl, but I havent seen her yet"

"Oh okay" he says a little nervously

"I hope she'll treat you right" Mark reasures

They both entered the class and sat down in their assigned seats

While everyone was waiting for the teacher, Taeil kept thinking about what the new student would be like

His thoughts were interrupted by the teacher mr. Choi (SuJu Choi Siwon)

"Good morning class, before we begin our lesson, we have a new student joining us today, she new around her, make her feel welcome." He say while pointing at all of us

Mr.Choi gestures the new student to come in

The moment she walked in, Taeil's world stopped

His eyes widen and mouth parted in awe

Everything was in slow motion

Your hair flow a little behind and the sun reflected your soft hair

There stood before him, was a smiling beauty

You looked ethereal to him, like aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty

Taeil's heart beated fast like it was going to burst out of his chest by now

Mr.Choi gestures you to introduce herself

"Annyonghasaeyo, my name is Dong Y/n, im from Shanghai, China, please take care of me." You smile brightly showing your pearly whites

Your voice, was so beautiful, sounded like an angel's voice and it felt smooth like whipped cream

All of the guys were swoon by your smile

While some of the girls were jealous of your beauty and your figure

Taeil was lost in his thoughts that he didn't noticed that he called by the teacher

He got startled by his yell

"I said, Taeil raise your hand" Mr.Choi says sternly

He shakely raise his hand

When your meet his, you gave him another beautiful smile

His heart was beating at a fast rate when you came towards him

When you sat down next to him, Taeil was freaking out on the inside

"Hello, Taeil" you smiled at him and took your hand for him to shake

He froze again and came back to reality when you greeted him

"H-h-hi" he says while timidly taking his hand out to shake your hand

"H-how do you know my name?" He says shyly and awkwardly

His heart flutterd when he heard your giggle

"The teacher called on you, silly" you said while giggling

His cheeks started to heat up and looked away in embarassment

Through out the class period, Taeil could hardly pay attention to the lesson

He couldn't help but stare at your face

You have flawless skin, cute button nose, soft rosy cheeks, pink plump lips

And MOST of all, your big bright blue eyes

Honestly for Taeil, he's never seen anyone with bright blue eyes before

Blue is actually his favorite color

He uses blue colors for when he's painting the ocean or a lake

Yours eyes were like the color of the ocean

They reminded him of his paintings of the ocean

He was so lost in your beauty, that the bell rang, ending first period

"Dude, class ended, didn't you hear the bell?" Mark calls out

Taeil came back to reality "h-huh what?"

"Are you okay, your face is really red and are you sweating?" Mark asks

He checks himself, and starts feeling embarased

"It's just so hot in this room" he lies

"You sure it was from Y/N?" Mark says with a smirk

"I don't know what you mean, lets go!" He says quickly

And speed walks out of the classroom

2nd period, Taeil's scariest period

PE

Exercising is not the problem

His worst nightmare has the same class with him

JOHNNY SUH

Its scary when Mark doesn't have 2nd period with Taeil

Everyone was already dressed in their gym wear and so is Taeil

While everyone was stretching and waiting for the teacher

The girl's dressing room door opens

Taeil looks up and his eyes widens and his jaw drops in awe

You looked so stunning in your black sports bra and sweats

You such an amazing hourglass body

All of the boys were drooling, especially Johnny and his friends

Taeil couldn't look away, its like he was hypnotized by your body

When your eyes meet his, you smiled sweetly and started walking towards him

The way your ponytail bounced

The way your hips swayed

It was driving him crazy

Taeil suddenly felt himself being pushed to the ground

"Out of my way!" Johnny yells

Yup, he pushed him 😑

"Hey, beautiful, we haven't been properly introduced, the names Johnny" he says with a flirty smile and kisses your hand

Taeil felt anger and jealousy rushing through his body

"Nice to meet you too, Johnny" you said in a gentle voice ignoring his flirting

"What should I call you, Im guessing your name is gorgeous goddess?" He flirts again

"Thanks for the compliment, the names Y/N Dong Y/N"

"Wait, Dong Y/N, like as in, Dong Sicheng?" Johnny asks in a surprised voice

"Yes, he's my little brother" you said with a small smile

Everyone especially Taeil were shocked

Nobody knew that Dong Sicheng

A.K.A. Winwin, Student Council President

Has an older sister

"Anyway, there are a bunch of nut jobs in this school, especially him" he points at Taeil

"But don't worry, I'll always be there to protect you, sweet heart" he winks

He looks down and waits for you to laugh at Johnny's insult

"I don't think so, he seems sweet" you said the honest truth

That made Taeil go red as a tomato

Jaehyun, Taeyong and Ten snickered

Johnny scoffs

"Yeah, right. Well anyway, beautiful, if you want or need after school physical education, come to me. I promise to keep that gorgeous body in shape" he says by using his hands to motion your body

"Ok, I'll think about it" you said with a gentle smile

Before Johnny could speak, PE teacher mr.Lee (Lee Dong-hae SuJu) came in and blew his whistle

"Alright everyone, today is Friday, I have a surprise in store for you guys" he smirks

Taeil was not liking this feeling

"Today, were doing, drum roll please" he points at Ten

Ten pats the bleacher to resemble a drum

"Wrestling!" He shouts

Everybody were shouting in excitement, especially Johnny and his friends

Taeil felt he's going to pee himself any second now

"Alright, who wants to go?" He's says in anticipation

"Me mr.Lee!" Johnny shouts

"Yes, my tall handsome star student, get up here!" He smiles

He runs up to the center onto the gymnastic matt

"Pick your opponent"

He playfully looks around and spots Taeil

Johnny evilly smirks and points at him

"Moon Taeil !"

Taeil was beyond mortified

Everyone ooohed and silently laughs, except you

He shakely stands up and walks to the center

"You can do this Taeil !" You shouted

Taeil felt his fear wash away from your cheers

Until

Whistle blows

Taeil gets punched in the stomach

"One point to Johnny!" Mr.Lee shouts

Everyone except you claps

"Round 2!"

Taeil tries to push Johnny down, but he wasn't strong enough

Johnny and the students started laughing at his lack of strength

You, on the other hand, were cheering for Taeil

"Come on Taeil, you can do it!"

Taeil was suddenly punched in the face and got kneed in the stomach

He fell to the ground, breathing heavily

"Winner! Johnny" mr.Lee shouts and raises Johnny's arm

Everyone claps and chants out Johnny's name

You ran to Taeil and helped him up

"Are you okay?" You asked softly

He looks up and sees your beautiful face

"Am I in Heaven?" He asks almost in a conscious state

"No, your on the floor, lets get you back on the bleachers, silly" you said while giggling

You helped him back on the bleachers

"Who wants to go up against, Johnny?" Mr.Lee asks in anticipation

Nobody answers until...

"I will !" You shouted and raised your hand

Everyone, including the coach, Johnny and Taeil gasped

"W-w-well a-are you sure?" Coach asks

You nodded while gently smiling

You walk up to the center and stood 2 feet in front of Johnny

Taeil was really worried, if you get hurt, it felt like it be his fault for putting yourself on his spot

"Ready!" Blows the whistle

"I'll take it easy on you, beautiful" he says with a flirty smile and winks

Before he finish his sentence

In a blink of an eye

You got him in a choke hold and took him down with a loud thud

Everyone was shooked, including Taeil and coach

"How did she do that!" He thought

"Uh-uh one point to Y/N" coach stutters

Before Taeil could process anything, he saw something really strange

Your eyes

They were blue earlier, but when you took down Johnny, your eye color turned RED

And he had no idea that a sweet and innocent girl like you

Be that strong to take down a 6 foot tall basket ball player

"Final round!" Blows whistle

Johnny strikes a punch

But, you dodged his punch and swiftly flipped over Johnny

Everyone's jaws dropped and eyes widened

Nobody has ever beaten Johnny at wrestling

Not even his team mates

Nobody, except Taeil, notice your eyes change back to their original color

"What is she?!" He screams internally

You looked at everyone with an innocent look

"Um, did I go too far?" You asked in a small gentle voice

Everyone jumps out of there seats and claps while cheering you

Taeil, couldn't process what just happened and just stared at you in amazement

Johnny, on the other hand, couldn't believe what just happened

He sits up looks at you in shock

A girl, a beautiful, innocent girl, just took down a 9 time basket ball champion

His teams mates helped him up

"Bro, that was INSANE!" Ten exclaims

"She must've worked a lot" Jaehyun guesses

"Yeah, but I gotta admit, that's MY kind of woman" Johnny looks at you with a smirk while wipping the sweat off him

You thanked everyone for giving you compliments, then coach blew his and told everyone sit back down

Everyone had 10 minutes left of class, so coach Lee let everyone have free time

Taeil calms himself down and drinks his bottle of water

"Taeil !" You called him

He looks up and sees you jogging up to him with a gentle smile

He was infactuated by you

They way your hair moves when you jog

Sweat dripping

Then his eyes accidentally when down your chest

The way your breast bounce lightly

To be honest, for Taeil, you breast were like the perfect size

Like they were sculpted, like the greek goddesses

He hasn't realize that you're in front of him and he's beet red

"Hey Taeil, are you alright ?" You asked worriedly

"I think I'm in love" he says faintly

"What?" You asked

He broke out of his thoughts, and looks at you and starts stuttering

"Oh uh, I mean that, I think I'm in love with your fighting techniques?" He lies

You giggled

"Thank you," you said with a smile

"How did you do that, no one has ever beaten Johnny at wrestling" he asks in astonishment

"Oh, my father taught me some of his greatest martial art skills" you said

"That's amazing, I'd like to meet him one day" he says in excitement

Then, you looked down in sadness

"Actually, my father passed away when I was 8" you said sadly

Taeil felt guilty for asking that question

"Don't be, its alright" you said gently

"Oh oka-" before he finishes his sentence

How did you know he was feeling guilty

"How did you know that I felt guilty?" He asks supiciously To be continued

[themadauthorshatter]

This is EVERYTHING WRONG WITH/GREAT ABOUT RED SCHOOL BY SOMAN CHAINANI AND VICTORIA AVEYARD PART 2!!!!!!

If you haven't read part 1, the link is here:

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR RED SCHOOL PART 2!!!! We're hopping right into part 2 of the comic, so LET'S GO!!!

Picking up where we left off⚡

Exposition about the storian towards people who don't have magic⚡

Tedros and Cal look like they're standing the same way and it looks confusing. If this was a movie, Tedros is standing with his right side facing the camera. Either his foot his elevated or his foot is turned towards the camera. Either way, this stance is extra and is too dramatic for thiis situation.🖤

Uhm... If Tedros, Agatha, and Sophie mogrify into any animal at all, shouldn't they be able to turn into animals like phoenixes or dragons and CARRY Cal, Mare, and Maven? That way the Red Queen crew can safely get to the tower safely and they have more numbers.🖤

😑. Either the silvers are broadcasting this ball back to Norta for all to see or this blimp showed up out of nowhere. I want to say the former, but I did not see a camera crew and twenty Evergirls and Everboys crowding around the camera and waving because they want to be famous in the ballroom.🖤

The argument between Mare and Agatha is a great way to build tension. No one's really gpimg to be paying attention because they're going to try and form a plan so everyone gets from point A to point B. Plus, you try talking or expressing your ideas when two people are arguing. My mom and my aunt are damn near impossible to talk over or calm in a fight⚡

Is that RED blood coming off Evangeline's lip? Did she bite someone or did someone forget she's a slperson with SILVER BLOOD?⚡/🖤

Self sacrifice. Seriously, this part hurt more than it should have, and I read this AFTER reading War Storm while we could go to school.⚡

I don't know whether or not Cal and Tedros would have survived this fall, but the fog takes them over so they could be fine. I say I don't know because the fall isn't TOO far down, but in another panel, the blimp is TOO high to survive, but that can be perspective. Either way, these two SOMEHOW survive this fall🖤

The scene of Mare revealing her blood to Agatha and Agatha's response is... underwhelming. Really, the main plot of Red Queen is that Mare needs to hide in plain sight or she, her family, and anyone else suspicious will die. The only discrimination or segregation Agatha has to deal with is bring an outcast, or a witch as everyone likes to call her, and being picked on for "being in the wrong school," which is not the case. Don't get me wrong, bullying and being ostracized are not okay, all the same that is not the same as being pushed down by a higher class or forced to work or go fight a war that shouldn't be your problem in the first place.🖤

Even the STYMPHS are taken over? IS THERE NO MERCY FOR ANYONE!?⚡

That'll teach you to be careful with your words⚡

Sophie: Best driver ever. 10/10⚡

Super hero pose⚡ +2 for the SGE trio and Red Queen trio going toe to toe with the SGE trio.⚡⚡

Going back to the points of the who our baddy is, once you really break it down, it's not that hard to figure out. Some characters disappear and then reappear somewhere else, either as fodder, background characters, or zombies. We saw Elara once when she was normal, and then she disappeared. Here she is now in the School Master's tower with the storian.🖤

I will admit that it was a great idea to have Elara be our villain. She was one of the main villains in Mare's story and only wanted the throne, even when she was a king's wife and close enough to the crown in order to manipulate the person WEARING the crown.⚡

The emotion in Maven when he sees his mother IS the reason for the fog is just sad. Anyone who's read the Red Queen series will know how Elara treated Maven and what kind of scars she left on him, taking out what wasn't "perfect" in her eyes and replacing those pieces with whatever helped him to surpass Cal. Their relationship was extremely problematic, to say the least, but there is some serious sorrow on his face at the thought of hurting or potentially killing her. There's pain and maybe some hate in abuse, but there is still love for the abuser FROM THE ABUSEE. My sister's boyfriend came from an abusive relationship with his mother and he still talks to her because he loves her.⚡

Okay. Evil Dovey is kind of scary.⚡

Credit where credit's due. Dovey does not stay down, even after that hit from Agatha⚡

Self sacrifice ⚡

Elara's fast for a possessed woman⚡

Oooh, the whispers controlling Agatha. Tragedy points because Mare can't just HURT Agatha⚡

OKAY. Maybe it's because her whispers aren't as strong because she's not herself. Maybe it's Agatha's will power, but her self esteem and self worth are questionable. All the same, it was TOO damn easy fpr Mare to pull Agatha out of those whispers!!🖤

ALSO, why is there always a stomp on the fingers or hand when a character's hanging or on the ground? This is a legit question, why is that a trope in everything I see!? Is it like salt on the wound? Insult to injury!? Idk, someone PLEASE tell me because I'm confused and it's driving me barking mad!!!!🖤

I will admit I did not see Mare grabbing the storian and saving herself. Clever, Mare. Clever⚡

Hugging⚡

The red spirit/fog that leaves Elara is so telling. Thw School Master WE'VE been seeing is not the same School Master as the SGE series. Way to make this seriously deviate from the original books⚡

Well. Earned. Comeuppance. I will never forget Chapter 21 of Red Queen or the chapters prior.⚡

I am so glad to see everyone go back to normal. Really, just helps me breathe now.⚡

Not joking: this was me during this scene with Elara facing the king and School Master⚡/🖤:

>LAUGHTER<😂 I'm so sorry!!! I keep hearing Edna from The Incredibles saying, "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" and Elara responds in Vincent Price's voice from narrating Tim Burton's Vincent, "I'm being possessed." ⚡

Also, Tibe, KEEP THOSE MANACLES ON HER. DO NOT LET HER TAKE THEM OFF. YOU WILL LIVE LONGER IF YOU DO.⚡/🖤

Okay. So we saw RAFAL in spirit and the School Master we've been following is his brother Rhian. This is technically a timeline where either Evil has a winning streak or bith sides are equal. ... 😑I want a series of THAT now. Same characters, same events, but both schools now more competitive than ever to see who gets to next win in their fairytale.🖤

I'm on the fence now with the resolution of this situation. True Elara is getting off with nothing but a scolding and a slap on the wrist(especially for what she does in the Red Queen series), but at the same time, SHE WAS POSSESSED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT. She probably didn't have a lot of control over her actions. There's a debate that's going to happen now, and I don't know if I can participate because I'm on the fence. ... I hate fence sitting😑 ⚡/🖤

Love. Granted it's probably going to toxic and they're going to fight a lot, but who knows? Maven can teach Sophie how to be Good AND Evil, and Sophie can TRY to help Maven. ⚡

I know it's technically an AU, but I'm still mad good boy Maven is not with Mare.🖤

If Tedros was a little bit older, his and Cal's ship name would be/is either Gold Blood or Fire and Gold. ⚡

Again, IF TEDROS WAS OLDER🖤

This isn't tied up with a neat and tidy bow. There's a chance Rafal can come back. The world and school are still in danger. THE LAST PAGE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A "THE END." JUST "THE EN." 🖤

... Oh, well. I still had fun reading this. Thank you so much to Soman Chainani and Victoria Aveyard for doing this for your fans!!!😃😁😃😁😃😁😃😁😃😁⚡⚡⚡💛💛💛❤💛❤💛❤💛❤💛

MAN, I had fun with this!! A little on the nose, but hey, this is a tumblr post, not a video.

I really hope you guys liked this, I had a great time writing it!! I know some of the sins are harsh, but I still really like this comic and what it had to offer.

It came out while I was in a really bad place, both physically and mentally, and it was one of the things that got me through it. Sorry if that sounds bad, I promise there's more I value and look forward to in life than some books😅

Thank you again for reading, wtay safe durimg this time, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

[rwbyremnants]

CHAPTER WARNINGS: Hard convos and fluff (and awkward almost-incesty feelings)

Getting pretty close to the end! Also I started writing a new project - I know I know, I'm not even done posting this and Princess And The Dragons! Believe me there's just a ton of fics I could keep posting for all eternity, but they're all a complete mess (except the 2 I'm working on posting now). I might hit the fuck it point and post a few of them without doing any editing or rereading to make sure they make any sense. Yay for all that information nobody asked for!

=Chapter 10

A few months passed. Ruby had no further contact with Winter after she drove away from her, apart from one message she asked Penny to send, establishing that she no longer wanted to continue their arrangement. No more sessions, no more visits to the club, nothing. Even the casual texts had stopped, or the occasional silly snaps back and forth of each other's day; it was like they had never met. Strangers.

Then came an occasion she was dreading. There were other family gatherings she had managed to bow out of – anything to avoid awkward contact again out of fear of embarrassing herself; but this wasn't one she could squirm her way out of so easily. Weiss's birthday. She would never want to avoid her idol's celebration, especially not when she was specially invited! Dodging that one would also raise suspicion, and make it far more obvious that she was avoiding something to the other guests.

Plus, she didn't want to hurt her any more than she already had. Her guilt was too heavy. Time to bite the bullet and say hello.

All she could do was mentally prepare while she was out shopping with Yang, looking for an ideal present with her wife. She had promised that she would look after whatever she bought so Weiss didn't find it; at least that was a promise she could keep without anyone getting hurt.

"Hey, how about a cute little pony?"

When Ruby looked over, she saw Yang was holding up some kind of rainbow-painted porcelain horse tchotchke. She practically welcomed the distraction, no matter how mundane. Raising an eyebrow, she laughed, "Oh God, are you gonna turn her into one of those kooky nerds who has a billion of those?"

"Well… no…" Putting it back, Yang sighed and looked around. "But I'm totally drawing a blank this year. You know she's the one who's good at picking out gifts, and I just… suck ass."

Still trying to distract herself, Ruby smirked back toward her, walking a couple of steps backward to keep their pace in the store. "She told me enough times she liked what you got her last year. You know… the 'banana'?" If she wasn't going to be able to distract herself with small goods, she could by embarrassing her favourite sister. "She tells me everything when she gets drunk, unfortunately."

Ducking her blonde head, her big sister groaned and muttered, "God, Weiss… why can't you handle your booze?" She cleared her throat and spoke up to say, "But I don't wanna get her another 'toy' this time. I want it to be something sweet. Y'know, romantic and shit."

"Oooh…" That didn't give Ruby all too much to work with. While Yang and Weiss were definitely happy together, even she knew romance wasn't Yang's strong point. Aside from throwing herself in the path of an explosion that time a few years ago, the closest she had gotten was buying flowers on one occasion; only to get rid of them when they discovered Weiss was allergic. That was a story she wouldn't let her live down.

"Well, what kinds of things has she been into lately? Anything she mentions in passing or something?"

"Um… music? Frilly dresses and expensive perfume? Marrying the worst girlfriend in the world?" Sighing, she leaned back against a shelving unit full of lawn gnomes and hung her head. "I'll just get her another Victoria's Secret gift card."

"Doesn't that kinda count as a present for yourself? Just saying…" But Yang's phrasing didn't sit well in Ruby's own mind. Sure, she didn't know what sorts of presents were romantic and usually ended up with a cop-out gift, but at least she wasn't hurting anyone in the process of that. The worst girlfriend award for sure went to Ruby Rose. "And we both know she has the better of the Xiao Long-Rose sisters, so don't say you're the worst, dork."

"Does not! You're the real prize, and Penny is so lucky! Geeze, if you weren't with her, I'd be beating guys and girls off you with a stick!"

Even if it was meant positively, Ruby wasn't particularly in the mood to play along. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders reluctantly as she wandered out of the store, walking aimlessly in the direction of a jeweller’s. "Nah, I'm lucky to even have Penny. Don't even know how she puts up with me sometimes."

After a moment, Yang followed. She took so long to respond that by then, Ruby assumed she had forgotten the topic. Then…

"Okay, spill. What's been up with you the past couple months?"

"H-huh?" Even if it was a question she should have expected, she was taken aback, instantly finding herself on the defensive. "N-nothing! I was just saying that Penny's good for putting up with me, that's all!"

"Yeah, but you and Penny never fight. She hasn't seemed unhappy being with you or anything like that, at all." Folding her arms over her ample chest, she demanded, "So what's up, Rubes? Spill – unless you want me to tickle it out of you."

No getting out of that not-so-idle threat, no matter how much she tried. And even if Yang didn’t tickle her, she would be like a dog with a bone. Sighing, she looked downward sadly, still idly pacing around in the hope either of them would see something of interest for Weiss.

"It's not Penny and me that have had issues. We're fine. Our relationship's been pretty solid for a while…" When she stopped in front of the bracelets, she debated where to begin, whether or not to tell the story. In the end… "But… I’m, uh…"

Sensing this was big, Yang slid an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "You can tell me anything. If you could handle me coming out and transitioning, I can handle whatever's bugging you."

In the end, that tilted the scales. Yang deserved to know, since she had always been so open with her. At the same time, she didn't need to know who it was. The thought of that conversation coming to light certainly wasn't a good one given Yang's past with Winter.

"You know Penny and I don't… y'know, that often. So, um, Penny let me go out and see someone else, purely for sex. It worked out so great at first, me and this other girl had an amazing connection… but I had to go and ruin it."

For a moment, all Yang could do was blink in surprise. "Whoa, really? Never thought of you as a 'side chick' kinda girl." She hastily added, "But that's cool! I mean, if you have needs and Penny's okay with it, why the hell not?"

"Yeah, heh… I guess." Scratching the back of her head nervously, she couldn't look Yang in the eye anymore. The situation was too sensitive. "But it got deeper than that. Penny and I talked about it as well, and… and we realised that I was falling for this other girl the same way as Penny. Which she felt, too. But then… then I said some really stupid stuff and made a huge mess."

"Falling for both of them?" But of course, Yang had mostly been saying that to confirm it to herself. Blinking a few more times, she then asked, "What kinda stuff? Like, maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought."

"L-like…" There was the awkward part; she didn't know how to word what was happening without possibly outing either Winter or Qrow. Sighing in frustration, she looked back up. "Okay imagine if, I mean just imagine here – you're about to confess your feelings to Weiss for the first time, but then when you're just about to, you find out she's been sleeping with… with Dad or someone as close as that. Y-you'd be shocked, right? Shocked enough to really hurt her feelings on accident?"

For a long moment, Yang just tried to process the very idea being put across to her. Then she burst out, "Dad's been banging your side-chick?!"

"No!!!" Quickly slapping a hand to her forehead, she groaned out in frustration; one that had a couple of people turning to look at them. "I said 'someone as close as', not Dad himself! But that's not the point, anyway!" Looking around some more of the various watches and charm bracelets, Ruby sighed again. "I was yelling at her how if she cared she would have told me, because that was happening before I started hooking up with her, and during. And like, she knew this person was close to me! And I ended up… ended up learning I'd hurt her on other occasions without meaning to. Bad."

This time, Yang took even longer to respond. They both went back to looking over the things in the displays, picking them up and putting them down. Neither really paying much attention to what they were seeing.

"This, um…" Yang held up a tennis bracelet with a musical note dangling from it. "Is this dumb? I… think she could like it, but I, um…"

Again, Ruby welcomed the distraction. As much as she needed advice for what to do next, she much preferred to ignore the subject and keep burying her head in the sand. "That is super cute, actually. Maybe you can get another little snowflake charm for it too?"

"Ooh, that's a good idea… let me know if you find anything like that. Or maybe a star, because…" Her voice got quieter as she added, "She's my star."

Despite Yang having meant it genuinely, Ruby only saw her usual attitude of pun making and groaned again. "That was sooooo bad, international superstar. But stars and snowflakes, got it."

"Y-yeah," Yang replied with a feigned laugh. Clearly she had thought that was really romantic and it fell flat.

They both dug through the display for a little while longer, and Yang did eventually find a snowflake. Ruby was still hunting for a star when she walked back over. Clearly her mind was preoccupied.

"Um… hey Ruby?"

"Hmm?" Noticing that Yang had found what she wanted, she turned back to the display a moment to look longer. "Still can't find a star… Do you mind if it's a typical one? Or do you want a more… what? Something wrong?"

"The typical one is fine, we dug through most of 'em." Then she cleared her throat and tried to sound unconcerned as she asked, "So, were you, uh, maybe, kinda… sleeping with Blake?"

That'd made Ruby drop the small charm she had picked up, which bounced and rolled under one of the displays before she could catch it. At least it was one of the cheapest ones. "Oh, shoot! Noooo!"

“Those things are dime a dozen. C���mon, I asked you a serious question.”

She looked back around to her sister reluctantly. "No, not Blake. I mean, she said she thinks I'm cute before, but also said she would never want to because of your past. Kinda... crossing the streams, or whatever."

"Okay," she sighed in relief. "Whew! Just… you know, I noticed you guys were kinda hanging out sometimes, and… like, I never for sure thought you were, but that’s the only obvious guess I have."

Breathing with relief, Ruby laughed nervously with her. "T-that's fine! Nah, she and Sun seem to be exclusive to each other, from what I know, at least."

Under her breath, Yang muttered, "She's said that one before…" Then she cleared her throat and said, "Okay, Ruby. Whatever went on between you and whoever… it sounds like you were going past just bumping uglies and into really caring about each other. Weren't you?"

"H-hey, it wasn't like-!" But as much as she wanted to deny it, Yang was right; that was the simplest way to put it. Looking downward, she mumbled, "Yeah… we were."

"But… she's also doing stuff with someone really close to you, and it kinda gives you the 'this room is too crowded' vibe?" When Ruby didn't answer, she sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. "Whoo. That's rough."

"She’s also roommates with this person," Ruby added. It seemed like a major detail to leave in given the situation. Pacing to the other displays, she explained in more detail. "I'm not really mad about that anymore, I guess… I'm more mad that I hurt her. Not just by yelling at her about that, but that I left before talking it though. And that I hurt her before all this ugliness and didn't even know I did."

"God… and you were just gonna walk around with all this weighing you down?" Reaching over, she tousled Ruby's hair until it was a messy brown-and-red mop. It was one of the few things she had done when she was Ying that still lingered, even with how much she had changed before Ruby's eyes as they both grew up.

"Sis, I can only work with the facts I got. From where I'm standing… it sounds like this, um, person is worth it to you to go out on a limb for. I’ve been watching you moping around the past few months, and it's like… like something's missing inside you. And maybe your hookup isn't what you need, or maybe she- they are, and… I think you owe it to both of you to try. Just… I don't know, talk to ‘em again. Be chill and see where it goes."

"How?" she asked desperately with a little shrug. "How can I be 'chill' about it when I more or less said 'fuck you and what you've been through' to her face? Like… okay, it wasn't those exact words, sure; but the message was the same."

Though Yang did wince at the implication of saying something like that to someone, she gripped Ruby's shoulder. Unfortunately, due to her ignorance of the topic, her phrasing was less than ideal. "Hey, so you messed up in a… not small way. Sometimes to get what you want, you gotta eat a little crow."

Which was rather noticeable, given that she immediately shut her eyes tightly at the remark. "GOD I'd rather not hear 'Crow' and 'Eat' in the same sentence, you have no idea…"

But whether Ruby liked it or not, her sister was completely right. The problem wasn't going to be solved by hiding from each other; they needed to talk. To apologise, say their piece, and learn. Even if they ended up still avoiding each other after, the least they could do was try.

Apparently, Yang had been trying to talk to her all along, because she finally said, "Yooo, you in there, little Ruby? Big sis calling!" Then a fist was knocking on the top of her head, albeit lightly.

"GAH!" Flinching as soon as her head was touched, she nearly managed to knock the bracelet from Yang's hand! But right away she composed herself again, scratching her head. "S-sorry… I spaced. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that we should probably check out," Yang laughed easily, beaming her usual confident smile down at Ruby. "This bracelet's kinda lame, but it's literally the only idea I've had all day that doesn't make me wanna hurl myself into a volcano."

Ruby could only smile back, handing over the small star charm she had unearthed. "I actually think it's really cute, she'll love it."

But just after they'd finished checking out and re-entered the mall complex, Ruby was attempting to get some information of her own. She had been wanting to for a while, but didn't know how without raising suspicion. As naturally she could, she asked, "So… who's coming to the party? Me, Penny… who else?"

"Oh, well you know. Family people. Plus FNKI is supposed to be there, and Blake and Sun." Pointing, she asked, "Smoothies? My treat, for helping me out with this."

"Yeah, I guess smoothies wouldn’t break the bank," Ruby laughed, following her big sis. "Family people… so Dad, Jacques… Winter…?"

With a slow drawl, Yang answered, "Riiiight. That's who family is. Oh, I don't know if Uncle Qrow RSVP'd yet or not; he was invited. But Dad's gonna be there for sure." Then she looked suspiciously at Ruby. "Unless there's a problem with Dad being there…?"

"Why would I have a problem with Da-" But given the rather serious look, Ruby rolled her eyes. "Look, Dad was an example. This friend isn't actually sleeping with Dad. If she was, he would be living in the house with them, cause they are roommates with the person, remember? And no, it’s not Penny, and it’s really not me."

"Well yeah, I guess. Just double-checking, okay?" When Ruby still seemed irritated, she sighed and said, "Okay, I won't ask who's who again. I get it, this is sensitive. But… I do hope you get whatever's going on squared away. And promise me you won't sit on it until too much time went by, and now you feel like you can't speak up. Please?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Ruby looked up to her sister anxiously. She was genuinely worried about her… and had good reason to be, given what she had to deal with a few years ago; of course now that a somewhat similar situation presented itself, even if only affecting her sister, she would be on edge. But not wanting to let on how truly she was bothered by this, Ruby instead looked at the smoothie menu.

"Get me a banana and blueberry smoothie and it's a deal."

But all Yang groaned in response was, "Do you have to pick 'banana'? I'm already embarrassed enough about that as it is!"

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

"…but she’s been saying she wants to eat more organic, so I figured, buying some vegetable plant seeds could be an idea; something to do with little Fèn once she gets older, also. Not such a boring present, is it?"

Winter’s father had offered to drive her to her sister’s birthday party to both spare her sobriety and cab fare. He insisted strongly, despite her reluctance to be in his company. In recent days, that seemed to be worryingly common; for her to be alone or seem a little more uptight and serious than usual. Even if he had never mentioned it, her father certainly noticed.

And when noticing she still wasn't particularly listening on this occasion, he cleared his throat. "S-so… Amber couldn't come. She had something with her own family she couldn't miss, so you and Weiss will have to meet her properly another time."

"Hmm? Oh, yes… that's wonderful, Father." It was a stock answer. Winter would normally have offered up something a lot more in-depth and pointed, but it seemed she still wasn't up to the task.

In fact, she had spent most of the past months avoiding any time alone with her father. Not that he would know why. Not that they never talked, but their discussions had been fewer and further between ever since he told her about Amber. Poor Jacques. The only cause he could think of was the possibility that Winter didn't like his flowering relationship. And no wonder; no one would like to hear their parent had moved on, much less such details.

While they were at a red light, he looked around to her, asking, "You… aren't mad at me for dating again, are you?"

"What?" she asked, roused from her reverie. "No, not at all… oh, Father, I'm sorry. My mind is just elsewhere." Frowning over at him, she told him as earnestly as she could, "I didn't mean to make you think I disapprove of Amber."

There was a wave of relief, and right away he swept the sweat from his brow. "Phew! You had me worried there! Last thing I wanted to do was make you or Weiss feel uncomfortable." As the light turned green, his attention returned to the road, but he didn't drop the subject. "Then what is wrong, dear? You've seemed off for a long time now."

"Have I?" she asked, trying to sound as convincing as she could. She shifted in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Well, you have been a little," he admitted. "So, if it's not Amber… what is it? Is there something I should be concerned about? Have I done anything to upset you?"

"No, nothing," she answered immediately. There was no way she could ever tell him why she was so uncomfortable in his presence now - especially since it was getting easier to manage a little at a time. So she had to distract him, and she could only find one topic that would adequately excuse her standoffishness without making her poor father feel worse. "Just… I was beginning to think I might have found an 'Amber' of my own. But the relationship fell through before I could figure that part out."

"Oooohh… so, it's relationship trouble." While it was a better assumption than the whole truth, it was still awkward for old Jacques Schnee. He wasn't used to talking to his daughters in such circumstances until a couple of years ago, so the advice was always rusty. Still, he tried. "There's always more fish in the sea, even if you have to swim a little further out, I suppose. I know you get out more than I do, I'm sure you'll find a nice… girl, to settle down with someday."

Laughing weakly, Winter crossed her legs in the opposite direction, hoping against hope that it would abate her discomfort. No such luck. "Doubtful. I just don't feel that kind of connection with people. Not until…" Did she dare confirm? "Until she came along."

"I see… the one that got away, hmm?" Given the silence, that was also confirmed. While it wasn't as easy for him as it would be talking to a son about this sort of thing, he tried his best to treat her in the same way he would a son, and cleared his throat. "Girls are very mysterious. One minute you think you have them figured out, the next, you're back to square one. Or in your case, square zero. Of course, you know that, being a woman yourself." Scratching his head nervously, he tried to continue, "But what I'm saying is, don't bet all your money on one horse. If it's not meant to be, it won't happen. If it is, things will… well, they'll find a way to work."

"But I wasn't putting money on any horse," she sighed. "My feelings came as a complete surprise to me; I wasn't even looking! And then…" There had to be a way to discuss this without going into specifics. "We had an argument. About our relationship, and how we hadn't been entirely honest about our situations. It should have been something we could work through, but…"

"Ah, of course. Nobody likes complications." They weren't too far from the house, but rather than pull right up to the drive, he pulled the car over onto the shoulder a moment. "Listen, I'm not very good at this, you can tell; but it sounds like you both left everything up in the air rather than talking through the issue properly."

Winter could feel her anxiety rising. They were so close! She hadn't been mentally prepared to be alone with him for any longer than the drive there. But she also didn't want to squander this chance to have a non-superficial conversation with her father; they were so rare, and if she avoided this one she might not get another for a while. Or might even lead him to believe she hated him. That wouldn’t do.

"I wanted to try again. But she let me know we were done. That… she didn't want to see me anymore. She was so upset, I… how can I approach her if she hates me?"

Leaning back in his seat, Jacques sighed deeply, drumming his fingers against the top of the steering wheel as some form of distraction. "How indeed. Then again, your mother and I used to have our fair share of arguments before we got serious; sometimes, shit happens." It was unusual for her father to swear, even more so when he was calm. Still, it meant they were possibly getting somewhere. "Perhaps arrange to meet under more neutral circumstances?"

"Perhaps so." Her eyes flicked toward her sister’s house and the promise of safety, and she sighed. "We'll see. It feels so hopeless, but… I should at least apologise for my part of our misunderstanding. Then it would be up to her, right?"

"Exactly." He smiled toward her. "The ball will be in her court, as it were. If she wants to play, she will. If not… well, you can say you did everything you possibly could. It's disappointing if it does come to that, but in the end, it's far more satisfying to say you tried than to give up without trying."

Nodding glumly, she tried to let herself believe him. It was so hard! But she knew it was the truth; yes, Ruby was well within her right to end their arrangement, even without what went on with Qrow. Even so, that didn't mean she and her sister-in-law couldn't patch up their friendship, and discuss what went wrong like mature adults.

"You're right, of course. It's… I'll think about it. Thank you."

Nodding happily, he put his hands back on the wheel again to drive the last few seconds of the journey. Already, there were a few cars and bikes on the drive from the various guests. One of which included the small red car that Winter recognised so much: Ruby's.

Oblivious to that, Jacques was already taking off his seatbelt and opening the door. "In the meantime, just enjoy the party today. I'm sure Weiss will let you hold Fèn for longer than a couple of minutes this time!"

"Don't count on it," she laughed as they exited the car and began walking up towards the lakehouse. Despite their difficulties and Winter's private discomfort, she really did appreciate the talk more than she could say.

Once they got inside, they could see most of the guests had arrived. Yang and a few members of FNKI were loitering in the spacious entryway. One or two other children from Fenléng's daycare were toddling back and forth in the living room, their mothers likely nearby. Winter thought it was nice that she had a few little friends to play with.

"I'll be back in a bit, guys," Yang reassured both Flynt and Inu upon noticing the new guests. Suspecting they hadn't seen Weiss yet, she thought it best to greet the newcomers herself, managing to scoot past them to welcome her inlaws with open arms. "There you two are! Figured you got lost, again."

Jacques chuckled to himself, accepting a quick hug from her with a pat on the back. "That was just one time. Where is my other pride and joy, anyway?"

"Out in the garden with Ruby! I think they wanted to catch up a little bit before we gave Weiss her presents and stuff. You can head through, if you want?"

Raising a small bag and the box from Jacques, Winter said, "Where shall I put these?"

"Oh, I'll take 'em while we go through, it's on the way. Weiss's been waiting for you guys to turn up!"

With a brief wave goodbye to the two guests, Yang journeyed through the living room with both of Weiss’s relations following behind. She detoured to the kitchen with the two gifts, adding them to the pile, then leading Winter and Jacques to the rear conservatory doors. And there in plain sight were Ruby and Weiss, sat together on the bench.

The circumstances couldn't be any worse. Both Jacques and Weiss were completely unaware of the tension between Winter and Ruby. It gave no time for either of them to prepare mentally, especially not when Jacques was already walking outside toward them both, calling out to get their attention. "There she is! Twenty-two years young."

Turning, Weiss smirked at him as she said, "You got it right this year, Father. I'm impressed." Then her smile widened and she said, "Hey, sister of mine!"

"Happy birthday," Winter said, smiling gently. For the moment, she could forget about the girl sitting next to her sister. Ruby was definitely very important to her, but this wasn't her day, and it wasn't Winter's. "How does it feel to be another year wiser?"

"About the same," she laughed back with a little shrug. "Yang and I were just talking about that this morning; every year is just an encore, isn't it?"

"Once you're past twenty-one, it is pretty much the same,” Jacques chuckled. “Still, gives us an excuse to have a drink or two."

While he was making small talk with his daughter, Ruby continued to sit still with a drink in hand, staring toward the ground nervously. She knew Winter was there, but was far too scared to even make eye contact with her. Clearly, she had been just as cut up as Winter was in the first place. At least that was one small good sign; the pseudo-breakup wasn’t already an irrelevant event for the girl.

"So, how many others are on their way?" Winter asked, hands in the small of her back.

"Well, there's Blake and Sun," Weiss began to list off as she embraced sister. "Taiyang is on his way with Qrow. That might be everyone, right, honey?"

"Blake just messaged and said she's on the way," spoke up Yang from behind them, who had just finished putting the gifts away and was now coming to a stop by her wife’s side. "Aaaand Dad's on the way but a little held up because he went to get Penny from the airport. That’ll be a while, so… should we do presents?"

"You guys go ahead," Ruby said from her seat. At least now she raised her head a little, and looked outward to the large lake rather than at the floor like she was before. "I'm just gonna… chill here for a minute. Crazy week."

"Sorry to hear that," Winter said almost automatically. Then she cleared her throat and hastily turned to Weiss. "Are you ready for presents, or would you rather wait for Blake and Sun?"

"We can wait. In fact, now that I've stopped breastfeeding, I'm ready to have a drink. Can I get you something?"

Smiling demurely, she responded, "Oh, come on; this is your day. I can make drinks for both of us. What will everyone have?"

"Maybe Weiss already has the drinks I…" Though before she could finish that quip, Yang realised just who was in their company. They might well be on good terms, but an adult breastfeeding joke might be a bit too much for the subject’s father and sister to take. Winding back, she cleared her throat again. "Yeah, but I'll get them though, seriously. I know Weiss wants a strawberry daiquiri, and I’m still on the dry list. You two…?"

"I'm driving, so just sparkling water for me. What about you, Winter?" Jacques asked, although he was about ready to head inside.

Her eyes flicked to Yang, but then she said, "Martini, dry, single olive. That is, if it's no trouble."

"Nope, not at all!."

Weiss and Jacques headed inside first, with him asking about how she was and how Fènleng had been. It was always the subject whenever he came over now. But before Winter could step inside, Yang's hand landed on her shoulder, pulling her slightly around.

"Hey… you got a minute?"

That was quite startling for the elder of the Schnee sisters. Glancing both between the door inside and Ruby on the bench, she asked, "Of course, what's up?"

Glancing back at her little sister for a quick moment herself, she leant in closer toward Winter, talking in a hushed tone. "Okay, this is gonna be a weird request, but could you talk to her? This past few months she's had a bad case of the blues about, um, this situation she’s in. I know it's weird asking since she barely knows you, but… I'm kinda at a roadblock."

"Me?" Gulping, she glanced back at Ruby, then again at Yang. The woman she had treated so badly once upon a time. "I… don't have the greatest track record with helping people. Mentally. I'm honestly very surprised you'd ask me."

"Well, I'm stuck… Weiss is stuck, Penny's stuck… we're out of options. Not that you're a bad option, that's not what I'm saying at all! I mean, I know it's not gonna be the same as when you talked me into leaving and-" Sensing she was rambling, however, she looked down when the quizzical gaze of Winter met her own. "Bad start… bad start. But, yeah… if it's okay with you, could you? She may open up more if it's with somebody who doesn’t know her as well as us."

"Yang… you have me all wrong. I'm honoured you trust me to help her, and I'll definitely do my very best. Just… surprised." Swallowing hard, she whispered, "I've been hoping to… make things up to you; I know I can't, but anything I can do to try…"

"Oh pssshhh, I wasn't even thinking about that!" Yang quickly assured her, even laughing a little just to prove it. But in a short moment she squeezed her shoulder, just enough to convey she was serious. "I'm asking as a sister-in-law. Not as a 'you owe me'. Please?"

That prompted Winter to sigh in mild relief as she patted the hand on her shoulder. "That means the world to me. And yes, of course; I just apologise in advance if the talk doesn't do as much good as we both hope."

"Least we can say we tried. I'll have your drink ready in a second."

Finally releasing the shoulder, she headed back in the house behind Weiss and Jacques, leaving the two girls outside alone. Ruby, who was still trying to look to one side with her beverage to do anything to avoid looking her way; and Winter, who was awkward enough thinking about what needed to be done. It was pretty obvious Ruby wouldn't be the one starting.

There was so much she wanted to say, but in the end all she did was pace up behind the bench, come to a stop, and ask, "So… how have you been?"

Nervously shrugging her shoulders, Ruby kept watching the lake while she took a sip of her drink. Damn Yang… she didn't know anything about the situation, yet had somehow managed to convince Winter to do the very thing they needed to - despite her wanting to run a mile from it!

"G-good," she murmured after the sip, resting the hand back on her knee again. "J-just, um, doing so-so. And you?"

"I've been better… but I've been worse. So… I guess the same as you." She looked down towards her hands, white-knuckling on the back of the bench, and tried to relax. It wasn't working. "How are… you and Penny?"

Yet again, she shrugged her shoulders. However this time she at least made some form of effort to acknowledge her needs, by scooting to one side of the bench. "Not too bad, I guess. She has a new job, but she's been kinda stressed because I've been super tired a lot of the time."

Realising it would look strange if she kept standing there when there was an empty seat, she rounded it, sitting down as far away as she could from Ruby. Hopefully, she wouldn't feel crowded. "Why so tired? If it's not too much to ask about. Feel free to tell me it's none of my business, I…" But she didn't finish her thought.

"O-oh, it's nothing. J-just… uh…" Seemed it was more than nothing, especially when it came to the person she was admitting this to. But trying her best, she eventually shrugged her shoulders after another drink. "Just… felt a little off, that's all. I-it's like that sometimes."

"You should talk to your sister about that. She would know more about that, since she's… already on medication. No thanks to me," she added in a bitter undertone.

Closing her eyes, Ruby sighed deeply as she placed her glass on the ground and out the way. "That wasn't your fault entirely, you know. There were a lot of issues at the time with her, hiding under the surface. And besides, I'm pretty sure it’s not genetic; my parents weren’t diagnosed with stuff like that. So if it’s anybody, it’s Yang’s mom, I guess."

"Still, you… should work on what's troubling you." This was getting harder to dance around, and when she thought about doing so, she found she was unable to. "Because despite… how things played out, I still want what's best for you, Ruby. There's just no sense in you suffering if you can talk to someone, sort things out. Medication or no medication."

"I'm not depressed," she corrected. Although from the way she kept staring toward the ground, she wasn't exactly doing anything to prove that comment wrong. In the end, she placed her hands on the bottom of her small skirt, grasping the hem anxiously. But in the end, she thought to herself; what good would it do to keep distracting and leaving things unsaid? "I've just… been upset. Not Depression, not anything else; I'm just sad, okay? It… it was my own stupid fault in the first place."

"What was?" When Ruby didn't answer immediately, she followed up with, "I don't want to assume anything. That isn't my right. But maybe whatever has upset you wasn't your fault alone, and… and then you wouldn't have to punish yourself so harshly. Right?"

For a long while, there was silence between them. Ruby continued to look downward, still unable to yet look up at someone she once couldn't get enough of. It was almost tragic how far they had drifted thanks to a single argument. But the silence was lifted by a small, but rather desperate whisper.

"I miss you."

Winter's head raised, eyes wide. Her mouth worked as if she would respond right away, but she forced herself to stop, to consider her words more carefully. Then she stated, "And I have missed you. So much."

Tucking a stray strand of hair out of her own face, she eventually settled to holding her hands together on her lap, idly crossing her legs to appear casual. Just on the off-chance anyone inside was looking. But already, she could feel everything she had bottled up coming loose, feel her heart thudding with fear, eyes welling up.

"I just got so mad," she began to confess. “S-so mad and so jealous… and I had n-no right to be. That wasn't fair. Not when I-I'd done things just as bad to you."

"You didn't realize what you had done was so…" Winter paused, having to breathe deeply. This wasn't something she made a habit of discussing, so even now, months later, it was difficult. "We both crossed a line that we didn't think as important to the other person as it turned out to be. Is… that fair to say?"

It was accurate. All Ruby had wanted to do was show Winter that she was brave enough to do more daring things, while Winter simply wanted to keep the two most important people in her life happy without awkward encounters. It was certainly a fair assessment. Nodding in agreement, she stared out toward the lake again in a somewhat more contented silence.

"…How's Qrow?"

"Oh, he's been alright. They promoted him to assistant manager of the bar; said he was doing a great job with the work but was a little rude to the customers, so he was better placed being rude to the bartenders."

"So he gets to sit at a desk behind the bar and drink? Sounds like an ideal job for him."

Winter smiled down at the hands in her lap. "You… probably don't want to know any more details than that, do you?"

Though that last comment didn't make Ruby laugh. Unfortunately, she was still rather awkward about that situation. "N-no… not really. I wanna hear if he's okay but not like, those details."

"Of course, of course," she replied hastily. "I have no problem with that. As long as you agree not to tease me about… about the other thing. We can bring it up from time to time, but don't tease. It just…" She looked away, biting her lip to keep from showing a reaction too severe.

"I know… I stepped over the line." Nervously she shuffled in her seat again, looking downward toward the floor. A look of pure shame. "The truth is… I just thought that maybe… if I used my intuition and showed that I could be daring enough to try something big like that, you'd be pleased with my progress. But now I know, t-that was completely wrong. That you can't ‘guess’ with this stuff."

The corner of her mouth ticked up as she conceded, "Well, to be fair, you were right with everything except the third person who happened to be in the room. But your performance was… I still have to fan myself thinking about how good you were."

"It… was pretty hot." Unsure if that was crossing the line or not, she shrugged her shoulders nervously. "That doesn't count as teasing, right? To admit that it was really… really thrilling?"

"No, not at all. I… could tell you how I really felt about it, if you promise not to pass judgment. A-and if you promise not to think it means I dislike you; just because I was angry and upset didn't mean I wanted you out of my life! I regret so much that I made it seem that way…"

"I wouldn't blame you if you did… I crossed the line," she admitted again. She knew she deserved more than that. She expected fury, rage even, but Winter had something else to say. "…g-go on?"

"What I said during play… that it really turned me on… I wasn't lying. It did. But admitting that means admitting that…" Winter's cheeks were pink already due to how long they had been talking about their last session, but she bravely forged ahead.

"On the car ride up here, I spent the entire time trying to ignore how wet I was getting. Because I was in the same car as my father. You were so good, and gave me such a powerful climax, that now… now I associate that with speaking to him, being in the same place as him. Which I'm so ashamed of; it's… not as if he had anything to do with it directly, or as if I want to sleep with him! GOD, no! But the two things are connected in my brain pretty strongly now." Now that the older woman had said her peace, she closed her eyes and waited for the reaction. However bad it might turn out to be.

"Ohhh…" Surprisingly, it was far easier for Ruby to take in than expected. While it was good to learn that she had given Winter an extremely powerful orgasm, and Winter was proud of her as a sub… learning that Winter now associated her own father with their escapades wasn't so good. In fact, when she thought about it…

It was the same association she now had with Qrow once learning who he was. Finding out that Qrow was another of Winter’s partners made such thoughts hard to totally block out. A sexual context for her own uncle. They were both dealing with those awful tricks of their minds. Only difference was, Ruby knew she would never accidentally be picturing her uncle during the act the same way Winter might with her father.

"Shit… I really screwed up…"

"Not so badly. I mean, it's almost fun, when I'm not disgusted with myself." A few seconds later, she added in a weak murmur, "That was supposed to be humourous, but after saying it, I realized it didn't come out that way…"

Still blinking, she finally looked more in Winter's direction than the floor at last. Not eye contact yet, but it was better than what it was. "Geeze, I just wanted to do something… adventurous. To be bold or whatever. I didn't want to ruin an entire person for you, let alone your own father!"

With another gentle, nervous smile, she turned back to face forward. "You don't have that much power, Ruby. He's not ruined, exactly… just… this is something I'll have to work through. But it does help to have a specific cause; you fucking me under the desk, instead of just 'Surprise, you're turned on in your father's presence'. Keeps me from thinking I'm even more of a deviant than I already am."

There was a small chuckle coming from her. "That would be the worst version of the Daddy kink."

"Ugh," Winter groaned, ducking her head. "Do you know how long I mentally dissected me moaning 'Daddy' when I’m being fucked?! I haven't called him that in over a decade, and I still had to worry about it!"

"Oh my god, I was kidding - I didn't know you had one!" The laugh was beginning to increase in volume. In fact, it would be the loudest anyone would have heard her laugh in weeks, even if it was a slight form of teasing. Their talk was working.

So Winter kept it going. Yes, she was uncomfortable with the subject matter, but it was also a relief to be able to get it out and discuss it instead of bottling everything up. "Well, I do, but it never had anything to do with my actual daddy until that night. Not as far as I knew, anyway." Shifting in her seat, she muttered, "You know what they say about all little girls wanting to marry their fathers…"

"Not me; never ever been interested in men. Even me being kinda weird about sex aside…" Finally, she felt her muscles relaxing as she grew more at ease; even began to smile. Maybe things were going to work out for them still being friends, after all. In the end, that's what they wanted, to be in one another's lives, regardless of feelings.

But Ruby didn't want to leave it there. Talking about where things went wrong with their arrangement was one thing, but with their feelings was another. They had come too far, said too much to leave it there without talking it through fully. If only she could take that first step.

Though Winter beat her to it. "If you're sure you want to keep these secrets, and aren't already disgusted by me…" Her eyes flicked up to Ruby's face, then away again, waiting. Bursting to speak, but afraid that she had already gone too far.

"I could never be disgusted with you." At long last, she looked up, and right at Winter's face. It was like she was seeing her for the first time all over again. She could already feel the bottled up feelings reemerging, the compulsive need to grab Winter and kiss her as hard as she could. But they had to talk it out first. "Even after all my thinking, all this time with these dumb thoughts… I can't be disgusted with you. I can't even dislike you. And I don't want to. Because all this time has passed and I… I-I… still…"

Almost as if to head her off, Winter went on, "G-good. Because it's been getting worse, even if I've been getting better at processing it; understanding it's a kink, and it doesn't make me bad for having a kink if I don't indulge it. That's not as bad, right?" Her eyes held Ruby's for just a moment, hopeful, drinking in the desire she saw reflected there, before she turned away.

"As you heard, my father has begun dating this Amber woman. I've seen her, and she really is attractive." More fidgeting from the elder Schnee sister. "S-so… I may have had a stray fantasy about walking in on them…"

"Well… I-I guess… um…" Truly speechless after that confession of hers, Ruby looked to one side wide eyed, scratching the back of her head nervously. Managing to force a chuckle of her own, she admitted, "I guess these things don't hurt. Fantasies and all that, different strokes for different folks."

"You know, I could tell he was flustered by that sketch of yours - which I framed, by the way, I hope I can show you how it looks framed. That… is part of what made it harder to forget this whole thing. He didn't know it, but he was finding me attractive." Then she cleared her throat, waving that away as best she could. "Which only makes sense; he's always told me I'm a lot like Mother was. Weiss is the one who looks so distinctly different, even though there's a family resemblance, of course."

"Weirdly? She looks like your dad, if he was a girl… if that makes sense?" She could only hope that would be enough to make her chuckle along with her. The strange thing was, at the start of this arrangement, she was so obsessed with Winter's likeness to Weiss. Now, she could completely separate them. When with Winter, it was like Weiss was never even a factor.

"She does!" Winter admitted with a giggle of her own, raising a hand to her mouth to hide it. Then she sighed and said, "Anyway, enough about my budding Electra complex before I develop a thing for Weiss, too." Turning more fully, she looked straight at Ruby with a sober gaze. "I'm so happy that we can talk again. It might not be easy, but I can't tell you how much I've missed this!"

Laughing right back with her, Ruby picked her drink back up from the ground. The smile on her face evolved into a grin. "Me too! This was one of the things I missed. I mean, Weiss and Blake are great to talk to, but you sorta get fed up with them bringing up their other halves like, all the time."

Nodding, Winter crossed her legs in a lot less discomfited gesture - though she still shivered slightly at the action. "Indeed, they do go on about each other. But it's a positive thing, that they're in such stable relationships." Glancing over at Ruby, she asked in a careful tone, "You and Blake didn't ever…?"

Drinking the final swig of her drink, Ruby shook her head lightly, drawing the glass away. "Nah. We agreed that'd be too weird with how she was with Yang and all. Plus, as much as she knows she's bisexual…" Shuffling up closer to Winter a moment, she quickly checked the area to make sure no one was in sight. Thankfully, they were all too distracted by the presents to even notice those two outside. Finally, she leaned into her ear, whispering, "She is definitely all about dicks."

Giggling, Winter whispered back, "I know. I offered to Dom her a few times, or to let her Dom me, and she said she 'wouldn't mind' but didn't seem all that excited about getting around to it. I saw that as the gentle kiss-off that it was, and never pushed for an answer."

"Yeah… She won't admit it, but she is a cockslut," Ruby whispered back. And yet even when she was done whispering, she didn't move away. Not yet. She had become content with sitting right at Winter's side, even leaning in slightly toward her. So close… even after months, it was becoming like those few romantic sessions all over again. Except there were no characters, no practice. This was Winter Schnee and Ruby Rose.

"Do you still…" But as soon as the words began to form, she held a hand up, shaking her head. "Nah, forget it, I'm being dumb."

"I still miss more than just our sessions," Winter told her firmly, offering it when Ruby hadn't finished her question. "I miss YOU, all of you."

Ruby found no more words to say. Usually a chatterbox who let her mouth run, and she was completely speechless. All she could do was keep their close proximity, feel her cheeks beginning to heat up once more as Winter stared back at her. She always managed to make her blush… and this was no exception. After a brief check to make sure no one was around, she found her eyes wandering elsewhere. To Winter's eyes, her lips…

"Kiss me."

"Are you sure?" she breathed gently, allowing her index finger to brush down along Ruby's arm. "Someone might see. Or do you want them to see?" Quirking her lips, she whispered as she drifted closer, "Not that I would fault you if that was secretly what you wanted."

"I-I want…" She wanted everything to go the way it was meant to go when she first confessed her feelings for Winter. She wanted for them to be more, so much more. "I want you… I want to feel how you feel about me. Even after this long. I-if you still do."

At the more insistent wording, the lessening of ambiguity, Winter's eyes began to shimmer. Her throat tightened, and she leaned in yet closer. With only another second of hesitation, her lips took the younger woman's, hungrily and with great relish.

And she poured every last ounce of desire into her mouth as she kissed her back, as her hand slid up to rest upon her neck. For the first time, one of their kisses wasn't merely full of confidence, sensuality, desire. This time, there was so much affection - on a level closer to Penny's, though different in its own right. Open and earnest.

In the same way, Ruby felt her eyes closing in bliss. Her hand crept up and into Winter's hair, bringing her in closer. Her other hand was holding her glass as best she could, but even that was a struggle. In the movement and effort Winter displayed when she opened her lips slightly further, when she eased her tongue forward to brush against her own, she could feel it. This kiss was so completely different to what she had felt from her before, yet entirely familiar. Winter Schnee loved her, and she could tell from that single, honest kiss between them. And already she could feel tears welling up in her eyes all over again.

Though Winter continued to pour more and more of her affection into the contact, eventually it grew to be too powerful. She had to break away to whisper, "I thought I lost you forever!" before she threw her arms around Ruby, pushing her face into her neck and trembling all over as she tried not to break down entirely.

Although hesitant at first, Ruby eventually found the strength to hug right back, pulling her in tightly as she grasped the cardigan she was wearing. Everything was back, her scent, her touch; her. And she wouldn't have it any other way. What a fool she was to let it all go, to let such a thing slip away because of a pathetic argume-

"Guys, we're starting to open the presents!"

Yang happened to call as she stood by the conservatory door. Why did that have to happen now?! Thankfully, there was no awkwardness about the embrace; it simply looked like what Yang had intended for them, for Winter to have helped Ruby with her sadness. And that brought a smile to her face. "Awww, come on you nerds, get in here!"

Pulling back with a sniffle, she was sure not to do what she would have done - kiss Ruby again - and instead turned immediately to call, "Coming!" When addressing Ruby again, she whispered, "Are you going to be alright? I mean, I think I can dry it up, but we can linger a moment if you need to."

Moving the hand from the back of her head to her shoulder instead, she nodded. She desperately wanted to do the same, quickly lunge forward and kiss Winter. But that would have to wait until another time. "Y-yeah, we'd better. Yang's been worried about me."

"Yeah, she said. Your sister really cares for you; I'm glad you're so close." Biting her lip as she stroked Ruby's arm, down out of sight due to the bench, she whispered, "Maybe… she can be one of the first ones we tell, when we're ready. She and Weiss. I think they're the ones who might feel the most strange about us being anything other than sisters-in-law."

"Yeah… Yeah that's true. It would be a good idea." But it seemed at first, Ruby hadn't quite realised what that implied. Until she started to really think about it. And her eyes widened once she began to think on it more and more, before finally gasping, "You… want that with me? Like, to be completely out in the open? Really?"

"Possibly," she answered with a shy smile as she finally began to stand up, pulling Ruby to her feet alongside. "Depending on other factors. Mainly, you and Penny; if we did that, she would be part of a polyamorous relationship, even if she has no feelings for me. I don't want to put her in that position if she's not comfortable with it. And then we'll have to decide how we feel about each of the other people in our lives knowing about it in turn."

"Yeah, of course. If we don't handle this right, people would accuse me of being a cheater. And I don't want that – she doesn’t deserve to have people thinking that, either. Don't worry, I'll be talking to her about it soon."

Winter nodded, then couldn’t help grinning down at the little puppy. Now all hers – or at least, more hers than she had been expecting. "I can’t wait."

[imaginetrahs]

5. I don’t know who that is. Sorry.

Third

Monday came faster than Solana wanted it to.

After Friday the rest of her weekend went by in a blur. Saturday and Sunday were spent with family since there wasn't much of that since she came home from camp.

Solana had just finished getting dressed, reluctantly, and made her way towards the kitchen. Jamal was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Solana knew that he would text her later about his stomach hurting from the milk, he's lactose intolerant but she didn't say anything.

"Hey, do you want a ride." Solana grabbed her bookbag from its spot by the door and slipped on her sandals.

Jamal shook his head, "I'm gonna walk with the crew. But I'll see you at lunch?" He placed his bowl in the sink and grabbed his bag too. Both of the Turner kids walked out of the house and Solana locked the door behind them. Their dad was respected because of his business but they could never be too sure.

"Yes sir." Solana walked to her car while Jamal started walking down the street toward school. "Please be safe J."

"Girl, you know I'm always safe." He turned around walking backwards and popped his collar. "They need to watch out for me cause I'm dangerous."

Because Jamal was turned around not watching where he was going, he backed into a fire hydrant and fell back. Solana rolled her eyes and got in her car, she pulled out and made her way to pick up Braelyn and Raziya.

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"Who's your first period?" Solana, Braelyn and Raziya were still sitting in the car waiting for the first bell to ring. Each girl had their phone in their hand looking at their class schedule.

"I have Bloomberg." Solana glanced at the other girls as they groaned in protest.

"Fucking lucky." Raziya sighed out. "I have Ms. Roberts."

Solana and Braelyn let out collectives 'ooohs'. They both understood Raziya's frustration seeing as they both had her last year for English class and she was not an easy teacher.

"Well I have Ms. Carter and I'm okay with it because she's pretty chill." Braelyn opened her door and slid out along with Solana and Raziya.

Walking through the parking Solana noticed the familiar cherry red convertible parked across the street with its owner sitting in the driver seat. She tried not to make eye contact but it was hard when she could feel him staring at her.

"He's basically burning a hole in your face." Solana groaned kept walking. She was still upset about Friday but she wasn't pressed about it.

"I know." The three girls sat at one of the tables in front of the school. They continued to talk about their classes and what teachers they didn't like.

"So are you like over Oscar." Braelyn set her phone down on the table and looked at Solana. Braelyn knew that she wasn't, she just wanted to hear her say it.

"I don't know who that is." Solana shrugged her shoulders and continued her people watching. Across the way she noticed her brother and his friends sitting at a table, they must've been waiting for Cesar.

Raziya rolled her eyes, "Lana for real."

"Well technically we were never together for me to 'be over him' but I just think what he did was stupid as fuck and if he didn't want to hang with me he could've just told me that. Instead he blew me off for another girl without a call or text." Solana took her bag off and laid her head on it. "So I don't know, but I do know boys are stupid."

"Except me though, right?" Solana rolled her head to the right and seen Cesar standing there with a smirk on his face.

"No, especially you." Solana joked to him and got up to hug him. "I'm just kidding Ceas. How you been?"

He nodded his head and shrugged simultaneously. "I've been better. But hey my brother wants to talk to you."

Solana shook her head 'no' and sat back in her seat. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Oscar right now because it would ruin her whole day and it barely started.

Cesar's phone dinged and glanced at it. He had a text from his brother. "He said if you don't go over there then he'll come over here, your choice."

Solana sighed as loud as she could and dragged her feet across the street. She could hear her friends plus Cesar laughing behind her.

Solana opened the red door and flung herself into the passenger seat while slamming the door. She slouched into the seat and crossed her arms across her chest, glaring out of the windshield.

"Yo chill out with slammin' my shit!" Oscars eyebrows knitted in frustration. First Solana wasn't answering his texts and now she's here slamming his car door.

Solana turned to him in mock sympathy. She placed her hand over her chest, "I'm sorry, let me just-", she opened the door and slammed it again.

Oscar clenched and unclenched his jaw, not wanting to lose his cool towards her. He watched her type on her phone instead of paying attention to him.

Oscar snatched the phone from Solana's hand and put it in pocket closest to the driver door. "Tell me how you feel Sol." He shifted his body towards her direction and threw his arm across the back of the car seat.

"You're an asshole." She looked at him with a stoic face. "Instead of just telling me you didn't want to hang out, you stood me up and I had to hang with my brother. Not that I mind because I love my brother, and we actually had a lot of fun, it's just you could've sent a text. And then you ditched me for Amaya, of all people."

"Are you jealous?" Oscar smirked her way.

"Of Amaya?" Solana screwed her face up and laughed wholeheartedly. "Yeah right. She's slept with literally every guy in our grade, you're just another one that got added and checked off her list. Don't feel too special."

Solana heard the bell for first period ring and grabbed the door handle to get out. "We're not together so I'm not mad, but don't invite me to hang out if you're just gonna bail." She shut the door with a shrug and made her way to class.

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Lunch time came and to say Solana was happy was an understatement. She had two more classes to go to, being on block schedule was a gift. Solana walked through the countless bodies in the hallway to her locker. She grabbed her sketch pad for her double art class, instead of having to come all the way back to this side of the school.

Solana closed and locker her locker and made her way to the cafeteria. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced at it to see a text from Oscar.

Spooky 👻

I'm picking you up later

11:25 AM

Mamas 🖤

No you're not

11:30 AM

Solana grabbed a lunch tray and went through the lunch line like every other person. She decided between the lesser evils of lunch food and went with a chicken salad. Another text came through and Siri read it in her AirPods.

Spooky 👻

Let me make it up to you

11:35 AM

Mamas 🖤

It's a little too late for that don't you think 🙂

11:36 AM

Spooky 👻

Be ready by 6

11:38 AM

Mamas 🖤

Say I do agree to this...

What am I supposed to wear?

11:40 AM

Solana walked out of the cafeteria to the outside tables and found her brother and his friends plus Braelyn and Raziya.

"Hey you's guys." Solana sat between her brother and Ruby, hugging his head. Like all of Jamals friends, Ruby had a special place in her heart, a close second to Cesar. She loved them all in her own little way.

Spooky 👻

Whatever you want baby

11:47 AM

You look good in everything

11:47 AM

Solana smirked at her phone at what Oscar said. She didn't want to toot her own horn but, he wasn't wrong.

Mamas 🖤

Whatever 🙄

11:50 AM

I'll see you later

11:51 AM

Jamal glanced over his sisters shoulder, along with Ruby, to see her texting Oscar. Neither of them said anything but glanced at each other, knowing that she could be used in their plan to talk to Oscar.

"Who you texting Sol." Raziya leaned on her hand grinning at Solana. Braelyn tilted her head at Solana and glanced to Raziya.

"Yeah, she was pretty smiley over there wasn't she Ziy?" Solana rolled her eyes with the other gazed at her, waiting for an answer.

"Don't start." Solana shot her hand out in a 'stop' motion. "Don't start."

Braelyn and Raziya threw their hands up in surrender. "Ok, fine."

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Liked by Braezy, Shawtylowe, Spooky, JuliusCaesar, Rubennn, SwaggieJ, Monsay and 389 others

Sonshine senior year is mine 🤪

103 comments

Braezy period best 💕 15 likes

         Sonshine this year is ours sis @Shawtylowe

SwaggieJ Period sis 20 likes

    Sonshine jamal get tf 😂

Amilli 👻

     Sonshine blocked

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Liked by Sonshine, Braezy, Amilli, Sadeyez, Eazy and 438 others

Shawtylowe do I need school or does school need me 🤔

98 comments

Sonshine period cause shit is bogus 100 likes

               Shawtylowe ain't it 😩

Eazy I need you

      Shawtylowe dude get tf ☹️

Latrelle answer my dms

      Shawtylowe eww 🤮

Shawtylowe @Amilli bitch stop liking my shit

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Liked by Sonshine, Shawtylowe, SwaggieJ, Mario and 428 others

Braezy glad it's my last year ☺️ enjoy this outfit because after this it's sweats and hoodies 🙂

119 comments

Sonshine ong 😭

Shawtylowe you're so cute 😩💕 78 likes

       Braezy thank you baby 💕

Mario hey

        Braezy bye

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Liked by Latrelle, Mario, Yourboyfriend and 365 others

Amilli I had him now you can have him back 😇

172 comments

Shawtylowe you want to beat yo ass again

           Amilli you didn't beat me the first time so...

                  Shawtylowe you're a bird 🦆 leave my friend and he man alone or imma fuck you up ong 💁🏽‍♀️ 115 likes

                        Sonshine Ziy chill 😂

Latrelle get at me ma

        Amilli 🤪😘

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I can't fucking stand that bitch. Raziya text the groupchat. After lunch everyone went to their respective classes. Since most of the school followed the four girls, the drama was already spreading and it was only the first day.

Amaya was the type of girl that craved drama and attention. Her name was always in something and someone always got dragged down with her. The girls were friends with Amaya, once upon a time, but then things changed. Amaya was caught up in being better than everyone, but it happens.

Solana sat in art class, the only class she really cared for. She loved art in all forms, getting this class double was amazing for her. Not to mention her teacher was one of her favorites.

There were a little less than ten minutes left of class and Solana didn't want to leave. Her leaving meant she would have to hang with Oscar, and she didn't really want to.

When the bell rang to go home, Solana took her time leaving. Lately she hasn't been able to have any 'me time' so she took this time to. Her life was hectic right now between; cheer, seeing a man that is older than her, and school starting up, she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle it.

Solana's phone dinged in her back pocket, she pulled it out and seen a text from Jamal.

J-man 🏈

My stomach hurts

3:15 PM

Can you take me home

3:16 PM

"I fucking knew it."

[hildagirl99]

The lovers of the night

Scarlett and Aaron

(part 3)

2 weeks go by, Aaron and Scarlett always saw each other in the evening, during the day, they gave each other almost ambiguous accomplice looks. They talked about everything and nothing, getting to know each other a little more, even though Scarlett remained mostly silent, preferring to listen to the Sheriff. Tonight, there was a good opportunity to meet again, the rodeo party, it is certainly not a very romantic place to declare his flame but they should not miss this opportunity.

"Tonight ?" she asks, surprised.

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"But will there be people?"

"It's the principle of the holidays, inviting people."

"Oh ... I don't like the crowd ..."

"Don't worry, we will step aside, we will be quiet."

"Well ... I'll think about it."

"I really hope to see you tonight, Scarlett."

When evening came, Aaron was already there, 3 guards stood in front of the entrance, inside, it was crowded, alcohol and cigars smelled like noses.

Scarlett was still at home, not knowing what to wear for her date. Half of her wardrobe was mostly black. Did she have to dress in a simple way? Extravagant? If she put on lace, the Sheriff would take her for an easy girl, well what she doesn't want. She finally opted for a dress with a small black neckline, decorated with small diamonds. Watching her hair in battle, she decides to style and curl it, leaving her long curly lock in front of her eyes.

"It should be enough ... Come on ... I can do it." she thinks.

She puts on her black shawl and heads for the saloon.

"As long as she comes ..." thinks Aaron, in front of his small glass of whiskey, until he hears the guards' voices becoming imposing.

"You can't go back!"

"What? But it's not free to enter?" asks Scarlett, shocked.

"No, but to go back, it's 20 dollars!" asked the guard.

"Stop, I invited her!" said Aaron, arriving in time between the two guards.

"Sorry Sheriff, we didn't know that." said one of the two guards, embarrassed.

"Scarlett, come on, I've been waiting for you." said Aaron, holding out his arm.

She grabs his arm without hesitation and lets herself be dragged to the bar.

"I thought I couldn't go back. I didn't know it paid off." she said softly.

"I should have warned you, forgive me, but as I invite you, we have free rein." he said, looking at her.

"Fortunately you are Sheriff otherwise ... I will not have passed."

"Hehe, come on, come and have a drink."

"Since time. But I have no money ..."

"I'm the one paying, since I invited you." said Aaron with a charming smile.

While they were drinking, Aaron watched Scarlett from top to bottom.

"You're beautiful tonight, Scarlett ..." said Aaron, shyly.

"Oh… thanks… does that mean that on other days, I look like a rag?" she asks, suspicious.

"Huh? No, no, take it as a compliment! I'm sincere, now or on other days, you're ravishing."

"You have to say that to all the women you know."

"I'm not interested in other women, you mean the most to me tonight." he said, placing his hand gently against her shoulder.

Scarlett feels a shiver run down her back. Why was he doing this for her? She flees her gaze, not knowing what to do or how to react. In the distance, three women, provocatively dressed, call the Sheriff in the distance, then they start to walk towards him.

"Looks like you have company." whispers Scarlett to Aaron.

"Ooh dear Sheriff! You here? We weren't expecting it!" said one of them.

"Stay a little with you!" begs the other, resting her chest against him.

Aaron looked very embarrassed and couldn't help but blush.

"I would like to, but I'm already busy, ladies, but can you do us a favor?"

"Oooh? Which one?"

"Try to distract the guards, a little bit of your company would do them good." said Aaron, praying that it would work.

"Your desires are orders, Sheriff! Hihi! Come girls!" said one of them, jumping on the guards.

"Come on, Scarlett! Let's go outside!" said Aaron, taking her hand.

It was a diversion, the two of them rush out and sit at a table outside in the light of the lanterns.

"But why did you do this?" she asks, exhausted from this race.

"I didn't want to be locked up in this place with her crazy people… I saw that you were embarrassed. Outside, it's better, just you and me."

"Hehe, you're right, I was starting to suffocate, I don't like the crowd."

"I know it ... are you hungry?" he asks.

"Not too much ... Maybe a few aperitifs." she replies, touching her hair.

Once the aperitifs are there, Scarlett asks a question that was running through her head.

"Tell me ... Do you like what you do? Well, I mean, as a Sheriff." she asks.

"You know, being Sheriff was not a vocation for me." he replies, taking a square of cheese.

"What do you mean ?" Scarlett was starting to be interested.

"Since childhood, I had a dream, to go around South America. But I was brought back to reality by my father. I was very close to him, but the only one I did not like at his place was his authority and his arrogance. He himself was Sheriff before my turn, I had to be ready to succeed him because he was getting old. He said that traveling was for the gypsies and the Indians. instead, I saw the sea, as I told you before. The sea was my only comfort, I found peace. "

"It must be wonderful ..." sighs Scarlett, listening to him attentively.

"I will take you there, I promise you." he said, looking her in her eyes.

"You don't have to do this for me, there are other women who would dream of seeing the sea with you."

"You are the only woman I would like to take." he said, putting his fingers on Scarlett's hand.

She withdraws her hand a little, blushing.

"Why are you interested in me? I'm boring, and other women are better than me, they deserve you. One day, you will have to find a woman to be your wife."

Hearing this, Aaron wondered if it was the right time to tell him what he really felt for her. Suddenly, soft music cuts him off before a sound even comes out of his mouth. A slow… nothing better to get closer to the one who won his heart.

"Would you like to dance ?" he asks.

"I don't know how to dance ..." she replies, closing in on herself.

"Come, it's easy." he said, taking her hand.

They stand up and put his hands on her back.

"What are you doing ?" Scarlett jumps.

"Put your hands on my shoulders."

But being small, her hands land on Aaron's chest. Which makes him blush more and more.

"Let yourself be lulled and guided by me and the music." he whispers in her ear.

Scarlett was mesmerized by her words and her reassuring voice. She lets herself be entirely done. She sticks against him, Aaron felt like immense happiness in his heart and thousands of butterflies in his belly. Scarlett felt reassured in his arms, their dance turns into a passionate embrace. They cuddled for a long time until the music stopped.

"To answer your question before, I don't need to search among all the women who are here, because the only woman I love is in front of me." he said, taking her hand.

"Huh? What ... what did you say?"

Scarlett understood perfectly, but she refused to believe it. It was too much for her, she wanted to escape from this awkward moment. Aaron was waiting for her reaction.

"Um ... I think you are wrong, Aaron ... I am not the one you think ... or the one you want ..."

"Why do you say that ?" asks Aaron, who did not expect her reaction.

"Excuse me, I have to go back ..." she lets go of his hand and runs away.

Aaron is left alone and taken aback, what did he do wrong? He sets off in pursuit. She was opening her door.

"Scarlett! What did I do? Did I hurt you?" he wrote, joining her.

"Leave me alone, it's better for you and me that we each stay on our side. You have nothing to do with me." she said coldly.

"Scarlett, I don't understand, I just confessed that I love you! I thought that…"

"Well, think no more! You will never love me! I will make you suffer!" she writes.

Aaron didn't understand why she said that. He follows her to the kitchen.

"Get out of my house!" writes Scarlett, her eyes filling with tears.

"Scarlett, calm down… we can explain…" said Aaron, taking her in his arms.

Scarlett brutally pushes him away and grabs a knife, pointing it at him. Aaron steps back in fear.

"Ho! Scarlett! Put down that knife!"

"I will not make you happy! I am a monster! I will no longer trust a man!" she yells, hysterical.

Aaron closes the door to prevent his screams from attracting the attention of a villager.

"Scarlett, we can talk about it calmly, please, drop that knife." he said, advancing cautiously.

"Stop! Otherwise I will kill myself in front of you! I deserve it! I would rather die than surrender!" she said, turning the knife against her.

"SCARLETT !! No !!" he rushes over to her and grabs her wrist, removing the knife and letting it slide further to the ground.

"AAAH !! LEAVE ME! Kill me!" she yells, struggling.

Aaron holds her tightly in his arms until she calms down and she bursts into tears, falling to her knees, still in Aaron's arms.

"Shhhh ... calm down ... what's this story? Why should I stop you? Want to talk about it?" he asks silently.

She nods to say yes. He covers her with his coat and goes to the living room sofa.

"I don't come from here, actually. I'm from town. I was training with my mom so I was ready to inherit the business."

"I see ... but what is wrong with that?"

"In the meantime, I was forced to be with a man just to make me descendants. I was unable to conceive ... He ..." she stops in her sentence, feeling the tears come to her eyes.

"Shhhh, take your time ..." said Aaron, thinking about the worst that could have happened to her.

"He ... he raped me! Saying it's my fault ..." said Scarlett, bursting into tears.

Aaron was shocked by this revelation, he could never have thought of it, he cradled her in his arms.

"You know why I have this scar on my cheek? It was beating me too! One day, it was one time too many, it hit me again and ... I grabbed a knife, and ... I wanted to defend myself but I ... I stabbed him ... "she said, whispering the end of her sentence, still bursting into tears.

Aaron finally understood why she was so scared and that she never went out. He continues to listen to her.

"What happened next ?" he asks.

"I ... I was tried, but I was released because I used self-defense. Half defended me and the other called me a murderer ... I left town to settle here after the death of my mother. I prayed that no one would recognize me when I went outside ... I didn't want it to end like that. " Scarlett replies, drying her tears.

"I'm on your side ... you defended yourself and this junk deserved it, no one has the right to hit a woman!"

Scarlett was amazed that the Sheriff was part of her terrible past.

"You have to stop me ..." she said.

"No ... I won't do it. I understand why you don't trust me ... rather men ..."

"I ... I didn't say I don't trust you. I need time for that ... you're the only one who really seems to want to take care of me ..."

"For the moment, I will make sure that no one does you harm ... for my part, I will never harm you, I will never leave you, we will take our time." said Aaron, hugging her.

"Aaron ..." whispers Scarlett, hugging him too.

"You deserve happiness, everything you told me stays here, your secret will be ours." he said, looking at her.

Gently, he approaches her face, his lips brush against hers, Scarlett turns her head slightly, everything was going so fast for her. But she couldn't help smiling after this delicate gesture.

"I'll wait for you, Scarlett ... take the time it takes." said Aaron, taking her hand.

"You don't have to keep more secrets between us." he finished, kissing her forehead.

"I will come to see you as soon as I can." said Aaron, getting up.

"I prefer the night, I like it when you see me at that time." said Scarlett smiling, then she continues.

"And thank you again for trusting me."

Aaron turns around, he comes back to her, puts his two hands gently on her cheeks and kisses her tenderly. Scarlett remains frozen as if someone had cast a spell on her, she doesn't protest and relishes this kiss.

He breaks the kiss and says to her:

"I love you…"

Scarlett didn't know if she should answer him, she didn't want to rush, yet her feelings were mutual. She answers him with a simple smile and Aaron leaves in silence.

To be continued...

Part 2 :

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

WARNING: Another very NSFW chapter, including anal play. There will be a few of these, of course.

~

Ai Ebihara certainly looked conflicted. Crouching on that bathing stool and gazing down at the gorgeous pop star kneeling between her legs was not an easy position from which to attempt feigning indifference — and that was without the budding erection pointing straight at said pop star. Which was bad enough for her…

But it wasn't much easier on Rise. She felt like the sluttiest slut, immediately offering to go down on Ai just because a little rubbing had set off her anatomy again. Deep down, they both understood this was a product of her trying to mend fences after their very public falling-out, but it didn't make it any easier to navigate these waters. So here she was, trying to win back her affections with sexual favours.

"Please don't," Ai whispered.

"Oh." Instantly crestfallen, she whispered, "I'm really sorry, I… I don't-"

"No, no, don't apologise. I just don't… want…" She squirmed before whispering, "I don't want you working my cock over every time it stands up and says 'hi'. Like, normally you can't tell that kind of thing with girls, and I hate that I literally can't be stealth-horny like you could. So… so can we… practice you asking? Or waiting until I say I'm interested?"

"Yeah, of course! I don't really… I'll try to understand. I promise, I'm gonna try to be way better!"

But as soon as she finished saying that, Ai sighed. "Nevermind."

"What? Come on, talk to me."

"I'm being unreasonable. I know it, and I hate making you feel bad, and like, you did ask. I just… also hate that I don't have the same…"

Instead of waiting for her to finish that thought, she scooted forward on her knees and reached up to caress over Ai's semi-damp hair. "Hey, it's okay. Clearly I don't really understand any of this stuff, but I want to. And the more we talk about it, the better, right?"

"Mmhhh… finish washing my dirty places, you whore." But that smirk told her everything she needed to know. Ai was just enjoying playing with her now.

"Oh yeah? Well… maybe I'll start here!"

Ai giggled a little when she began scrubbing her foot harder than was strictly necessary. "Wow, that's… that's low!" Eventually the giggling subsided when she switched to the other foot and started washing it at a much more normal pace, sticking her tongue out at her. "Mmm… thank you. Like, I'm being a bitch, but this is really sweet of you."

"That's more like it," she teased with a little giggle. "Um… do you want me to get in there?"

"In where?" Then she noticed where Ai was pointing. "I can handle that. Give it here." Rise handed it over, and her girlfriend took care of that crevice on her own. "Really extra generous of you to offer, though. Like, I'd never ask you to do that."

"Hey, we're both getting clean, anyway. It's fine." As Rise started washing herself, she heard a throat clear and asked, "Hm? What's wrong, did I forget something? Oh — your hair!"

But Ebihara was already shaking her head. "No, I thought it was my turn. But you're probably right, we should take care of hair real quick — unless you wanted to just avoid-"

"Yeah, yeah, I do." Rise snapped her shower cap on over her expensive do. Sure, she was maintaining it on her own a lot more these days than when she had a full production team making sure she always looked unreasonably stunning, but she still had it styled occasionally. She couldn't completely stop caring about her image — not after having it beaten into her for multiple years that it was all she had to offer the world.

"Cool. Um…" She shrugged as she put one on her own head, even though she looked a little awkward about it — and missed some of the hair in the back.

"You're so cute," Rise snickered as she helped tuck it in. Ai smiled awkwardly up at her…

They were so close. Both nude now that she had discarded her towel in order to wash up. Sure, they were wearing shower caps that made them look like silly mushrooms, but it didn't mean she was any less attracted to this gorgeous, remarkable creature mere inches away. That was the reason she darted in and pecked her lips; she was impossible to resist.

"Ugh," Ai breathed in mild frustration. "You're so… fuck. I just don't know what to do with myself around you."

Rise bit her lip for a moment shyly, caressing up and down her back. "Relatable." Then she withdrew and sat on the stool Ai had vacated. "My turn! I guess. But you really don't have to do it f-"

"Yes, yes I do," her girlfriend cut her off firmly as she grabbed for a clean washcloth. "It's not fair if I'm the only one who gets pampered; you're not actually my slave. Well, not yet."

Rise let out a little burst of frustration as Ai started in on her back. "Hey! No, I am not going to be your slave — not now, not… mm, ever…"

The ire faded pretty instantaneously as she enjoyed the gentle ministrations of the soapy washcloth being dragged up and down her skin. Even if she hadn't been attracted to her classmate, the pampering would have been well worth the price of admission — though of course, their status as a couple only enhanced the pleasure. She found herself leaning in all directions to give Ebihara access to wash her thoroughly, every single place she owned.

Even there. She whimpered a little but Ai didn't keep scrubbing to torture her; just paused briefly to inspect the reaction showing in her facial features, then continued on to start scrubbing her legs, and down to her toes. Rise giggled a lot more than Ai had, but it was over before she knew it and she was pouting.

"What's wrong with you now?" she demanded with a snort as she picked up the shower nozzle.

"Just miss you touching me."

"Gay."

Then Ai sprayed her down before she could protest. That led to them wrestling around with the showerhead for a minute or so, laughing their heads off and throwing insults back and forth until they were so breathless they legitimately needed to take a break, panting as they stared up from the tile floor at the ceiling.

"We're… ridiculous," Ai finally managed.

"Mm." Without warning, she rolled over to straddle her girlfriend, staring down at her noble-yet-flushed features. Marvelling at how beautiful she was.

"This, uh… seems like you want something in particular."

Rise shrugged a single shoulder as she pet up and down her stomach, over her breasts. The warring emotions playing out over her senpai's features were so entertaining to watch; desire, affection, frustration, discomfort. If Rise thought Ai might suppress her desires for her sake, she might have asked a little more pointedly if she needed her to stop, but Ai was always very vocal about her wants and needs. So she told herself she would just go slower, make sure to pay close attention to those little reactions. Be ready to stop if it came to that. This was new for the both of them, and she didn't want to misstep now that they had finally grown this close.

"We should get into the water," Rise finally whispered. Then, after a brief hesitation, she forced herself to obey her own suggestion. It was not at all easy.

"Uh… yes." Neither of them really needed to acknowledge the state of Ai's anatomy; in fact, they were actively avoiding it. But of course, when Rise moved she jostled her, and she looked back to see its length bobbing from side to side. It would look funny if she weren't so anxious about making the wrong moves.

"I'm s-sorry! Did I- does that hurt?"

"No, no, it's cool," Ai hurried to reassure her with a slight chuckle as she sat up, obscuring it slightly more than before. They both stood to rinse off again, now that they had been rolling around on the tile. "It's just… weird being so close to you, I guess. After trying to keep our hands off each other for so long."

Rise nodded as she slipped into the tub, going slow as she could; the water was still quite warm, despite how long they took to shower off. "Mmmhhh… well, yeah, I… oooh…"

"Cat got your tongue?" Ai snorted.

"Shut up." Once they were both settled, they smiled across at each other. It was barely big enough for the two of them, but at least it was; Ai's money had definitely been well-spent on a nicer suite. Their friends probably only had a shower stall in their room, or a single-person tub at best. Still…

When Rise moved, she felt their knees bumping each other, another foot against her own. Maybe she should get even closer; they were already in too close quarters to spread out and avoid touching each other.

"Something on your mind, bitch?"

Rise rolled her eyes and drifted her leg upward. "Yeah, this."

"HEY! Get your stupid foot off my dick!"

"Aww, but…" When Ai just folded her arms over her chest, she giggled and turned to sit right next to her instead of across from her. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Stop freaking out so much or I'll go find Narukami. He probably wouldn't be so fixated on my junk."

"Careful or I'll pull it off, girl."

"PLEASE. Would save me a lot of money if you did!"

They both laughed, then settled in against each other, just languishing in the pleasantly hot water. But Rise's thoughts began to wander. She let her legs drift as her mind did the same, leaning back in the tub while Ai stretched her arms over the sides.

"With Yu… would you have let him…?"

When she didn't finish, eventually Ai prompted her, "Let him… what?"

"You know."

"If I did, I wouldn't ask. God."

"Um, accept him into your… um…"

"OH. Wow, Risette, that's a hell of a fucking question." But she didn't sound all that upset, even if the words were hostile. After a second or two, she whispered, "Yeah. I definitely would have, for him."

Most definitely blushing by now, she whispered, "Okay. Um… geez."

"You asked, dude!" Shaking her head, she let the sounds of water sloshing fill the silence for a moment before adding, "I know, butt stuff is… weird, a little scary. But people do it, right? I wouldn't say it's 'normal' but whatever. Me being a little shy about it doesn't mean I'd deny Yu his right to fuck his girlfriend."

Rise snorted. "His 'right', huh?" But then she reconsidered. "I guess I'd be the same way. Not that I'm not interested in, um, the normal way, even… but if he asked me to try it, I'd let him."

"You gonna let me in there?"

"SHUT UP!" They both chuckled; clearly Ai wasn't serious, so Rise felt more than comfortable just flicking her nipple. She squeaked and splashed her, and they had a thirty second splash-war that resulted in both of their faces being wet as they laughed and leaned against each other.

This was what she had coveted. A real relationship. Even though she couldn't say whether or not she had truly wanted one her entire life, in the here and now, she definitely was clear on that point: love completed her. Having someone in her life that could be her partner, her rock, a person she could explore her burgeoning sensuality with safely instead of risking some horrible scandal with a member of Exile or something… it was everything in a way she didn't think it could be.

"Hey, I have a question," Rise asked once she was basically curled around Ai, trying not to think about how close that trim thigh was to a certain increasingly-oversensitive cluster of nerves. When she only raised an eyebrow at her, she continued, "Um… do you want me to do that for you?"

"Do what?" After a second, she cleared her throat and straightened slightly. "Oh, that. Jesus! Gave you a taste and you're like a kid in a candy store now."

Pouting, she poked her in the stomach. Instead of starting another fight, Ai just pushed her hand away. "Can you blame me? I haven't even gotten off yet."

"Hmm, that's true…" With a snort, she added, "But you did fantastic work on me. I mean, I can't even joke about it; you got me off hard."

"Did I?" she purred, cheeks bunching with the force of her smile.

"Yes, you adorable bitch, you." They both giggled. "Honestly, I've never come that hard in my life! I didn't even think I could after I started my hormone therapy." When she felt Rise's hand on her inner thigh, she squinted over at her. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. Not unless you want me to… or will let me, I guess." And this time, she meant it; no unsolicited touches. Not anymore. The hand didn't move any higher.

"Well…" Pursing her lips for a moment as she tried to decide, eventually Ai just sighed and nodded. "Careful," she warned when she felt the fingertips ghosting over her flesh.

"Ooh, it's so soft now… and squishy…"

"Still be careful." But she sighed a little while Rise fondled the substantially smaller length of flesh, feeling it shift easily under her touch. Clearly she didn't dislike the attention, even if she wasn't especially fond of her own anatomy. Maybe she could do something that would make this worth her while.

"Um… so Ebi-chan…"

"Yes?" she hummed. It may have been her imagination, but she thought that it was starting to grow firmer again the longer she played with her.

"Do you want to maybe…" She cleared her throat; this offer was going to sound so bizarre… "Wanna look at my pussy?"

Ai drew her head back so she could blink down at her bashful girlfriend. "Uhm… yeah!"

She almost got whiplash from how quickly she received a positive response. "What? Really?!"

"Hell yes! Do you know how badly I've wanted to see one for real?!" When Rise grimaced, she quickly added, "Not in a pervy way, even. Just… I want to know what it really looks like. Not just in a health book, or some porn site. I know I'm saying this in really awkward ways, but… but now, with you… I also kinda wanna get one off. Just this one, though. "

Unlike Rise, Ai just patted her hip to indicate instead of actually trying to grope her. So strange; it was almost like a reversal, since the one with the typically "male" anatomy was less lecherous than the one without.

"Then… yeah. I'd be cool with that."

"After the bath? So I can really get a look at you and you don't have to like, perch weirdly on the tub."

"Yeah, for sure," she chuckled with a small smile as she kept fondling. Then a little lower…

"Oooh… Rise, what's-" Ai drew back with even wider eyes. "Whoa. You sure you wanna play around down there?!"

She gave an awkward shrug as she teased between Ai's firm cheeks. "Not at all, but like, I want to try it out. See how we both feel about it? I can back off! It's fine!"

However, Ai was already shaking her head. "Whatever, your funeral. But um… I don't know, did you want to see what you're doing? Is that weird? You probably have never wanted to look at somebody's butt your entire life."

No, she had not. "Yeah, sure. Might as well if I'm gonna figure anything out. And at least it's clean right now, right? So…"

Rise watched in disbelief as Ai bent over the lip of the tub, spreading her legs as much as she could. That was so obscene — she couldn't look. She wouldn't…

She did.

"Wow, it's kinda cute," Rise remarked with a distant little giggle as she moved in closer, hands resting on her senpai's cheeks to help spread them. They did clench initially but very quickly relaxed as she got used to the idea of being inspected.

"Thanks? So, um… I have tried this, on my own, but with someone else is… it's gonna be new, and I'm nervous. So can you go easy on me?"

"Of course! I'd never try to hurt you, Ebi-chan! Don't worry about that." As she moved in closer, she noticed: "Ooh, you're all hard again."

Ai shivered when she felt fingertips ghosting over her length. "Will you get on with it?" Though she instantly piped down when Rise did as asked, and she let out a strangled noise of uncertainty at the sensation of one of those fingertips pressing up against a place she had once promised to Narukami alone.

Meanwhile, Rise was busy trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. She would have felt dirty doing this if they didn't literally just wash it; even now, it was a little unseemly, but not that bad. Why did men always set penetrating a girl there as some lofty goal for whatever bizarre reason? On the other hand, Rise had to admit she liked that it gave and dimpled slightly when she pressed into it; liked that the skin was very slightly darker there, but also shinier. And she really liked how Ai was making even more awkward noises of reluctant interest than she had when her cock was being played with.

"S-soap…"

"Huh?"

Ai glanced over her shoulder, cheeks flaming red in her arousal and embarrassment. "Your finger… it was getting stuck. If you want to go further in, you'll have to use conditioner or something; we don't have any lube in here."

"What about water?" she asked as she twitched her fingertip back and forth.

"NNH! No, no, water doesn't… you'd think it works that way but it definitely does not. God, Risette… you can't keep… mmhh…"

Those sounds made it hard to want to take a break, but she forced herself to do as her girlfriend asked. A little conditioner on the tip of her finger and sure enough, it practically slid right in like it was home. Her girlfriend lost it — thighs tensing, widening, cheeks clenching and relaxing. Noises filling the bathroom as if she were being tortured. Her hips shifted from side to side, so Rise had to follow the movements. She decided it would be kinder if she didn't try to lean up and glimpse her girlfriend's face while she was enduring this punishment-slash-pleasure; let her keep that embarrassment to herself.

"Does it really feel that good?"

"NO!" Ai burst out. When Rise paused in her movements, she sighed and amended, "It… it's so weird… I love it and I hate it! That's the best I can e-explain!"

As she slid deeper, she smiled at listening to Ai come undone. Now would be a great time to tease her… and normally she probably would have. But somehow, she knew that everything had been too much for the pair of them anyway, so it would just have been needlessly cruel. And besides…

It was much more interesting to watch her own digit sliding in and out of this dirty little area of someone's body. Did people really normally do this?! She herself was still the tiniest bit disgusted, but not much more than when she was fellating the girl an hour or so ago. Speaking of which, that adorable little semi-erection pressed against the wall of the bathtub, pointing down at the water, was very encouraging. Ai had to be enjoying their play if her body was responding so well. Licking her lips, she even leaned down to kiss it.

The angle was too awkward. Rise practically headbutted Ai in the back of the thigh. Predictably, she yelped, "H-hey! What are you trying to do, knock me out of this tub?!"

"No! I'm sorry, I- no, that's not what I…" She sighed and held her finger still as she patted Ai's hip. "I was trying to make this better for you, I guess? I'm not really sure what I'm doing." A little stage fright, even, which she thought she had grown out of. Apparently not.

Though Ai did sigh first, she followed up with, "You're doing fine. Like, seriously, just… be more careful and you'll have this down to a science." Her muscles clenched around the finger. "Though, um, I think I'm done with this? For now?"

"Really? Oh… I kinda wanted to start pounding you back here." A little hum, and Rise knew she had said the right thing; she just had to figure out which it was. "You want me to pound you?"

"Not if you ask it like that… ugh."

"You want me to just pound you without ever asking, huh? Wow, that's almost the opposite of what you've been telling me."

"Phrasing," Ai grumbled with a little whimper, hips twitching — and the most telling thing of all was how they pushed back onto the finger now that it had stopped moving. "N-nnhh… you're turning me into a… I don't know…"

"A little slut?" More clenching, and she saw that shaft throb with interest; again, she hit her mark. Rise knew she was in over her head; they both were. But she was never one to back down from a challenge. "Okay, let me try poundi- um, going faster. Like this?"

The effect was instantaneous. It was as if someone had lit Ai Ebihara on fire when the finger started really flashing in and out of her at speed, and she was whimpering and spreading her legs as if she had been waiting for this all her life. Again, that powerful urge to tease rose up within her, but she focused on making her girlfriend feel the best she possibly could. Enjoying those half-screams.

She also started caressing over her length at the same time, though at best she could ghost her fingertips over its underside given the angle. Still, in no time it was as hard as it had been when she was going down on her.

"Do you want something else, baby?" she asked, attempting a sexy tone of voice. Which she knew exactly how to pull off — thanks to her acting experience.

"MHH! Shut up! Just… just keep fucking me!"

Cheeks burning bright at that phrasing, Rise redoubled her efforts. Maybe she was mistaken, but it seemed like when she curled her finger downward a little more, rubbing against some kind of firm presence inside of her, it brought about a stronger reaction than when she didn't — so she kept doing it. And Ai kept coming more and more undone, legs churning up the water as she thrashed.

And then she was coming. Not very much came out this time; Rise had been expecting a real show and instead most of the interest lie in the way the shaft pulsated with joy at her relentless ministrations, how those toned cheeks clenched over and over around her finger. Still, it wasn't making it easy for Rise to ignore her own desires, watching a cock climax for the first time in her life instead of simply feeling it against her throat.

"O-okay," Ai panted a minute or so later. "You… it's starting to hurt, can you…"

"Oh!" she squeaked, quick to withdraw her finger. The sharp grunt of mingling frustration and pain told her she had handled that badly, so she hissed, "Sorry! Did I mess up?"

Once she had caught her breath, AI muttered, "Dumb bitch…" After a few breaths, she tried again: "Too sudden… but we're new, it's… fine… it's fine. We'll learn."

By way of apology, Rise rinsed off her finger and Ai's poor anatomy, splashed some between her cheeks. Then she slowly pulled her back into the water so she could wrap her in a tight embrace. The prissy girl looked thoroughly ashamed and annoyed about it, but little by little she began to relax. Then she rolled to hug her back, nuzzling into her neck.

"Are we okay?" Rise whispered finally.

"Yeah. Like, thank you for trying something so crazy with me, I… I just didn't know I could feel like… that. I don't even know what that was."

Smiling a tiny bit, she kissed her forehead. "It was fun. Can it just be that? Just fun?" Ai nodded, and she kissed again as she stroked over her neck. "Good. I mean, it was weird for me, too, but I liked hearing you totally get off to it."

Rolling her eyes, Ai kissed her lips lightly. "God, shut up, you whore."

                          To Be Continued…