#or um they bring up current events a little too horribly | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

teawaffles · 4 years ago

Text

It Happened One Night: Chapter 3

Two days later. This was the evening the wedding celebration would be held.

After seeing John off, Sherlock stayed in his room on the first floor, reading a newspaper he’d ordered.

Before he had left, John tried to invite Sherlock along, saying they may as well go together; but Sherlock excused himself by pointing out how it’d be troubling to leave Miss Hudson all alone in the house at night, and so he should stay behind. John couldn’t very well object after Sherlock brought her into this, so after a bit of grumbling, he reluctantly headed down to the village.

It was currently approaching midnight. The party would probably be ending right about now, and John should be on his way back.

Outside, the rain was falling in torrents. It had been sunny all day, but further into the night, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. There didn’t seem to be any strong winds, but occasionally, the raindrops lashed against the window. John would probably be covered in mud when he returned — a pitiful sight, Sherlock reflected to himself.

Resolving to treat him to something when they returned to London, Sherlock turned his attention back to the paper. As he remembered the motley and ever-changing nature of London, he bemoaned the ennui of these countryside days once again.

“More art thefts occur in London. From multiple eyewitness accounts, the Yard has surmised that the culprit fled to the west.”

An article suddenly caught his eye.

“Fled to the west”. The Cotswolds were also to the west of London.

“……No way.”

He shook his head, banishing the thought that had formed in his mind.

——However, it was times like these when the strangest premonitions came true.

As dawn approached, and the rain had begun to ease up, John returned in a panic.

“There’s trouble, Sherlock!”

As soon as he arrived at the mansion, John ran to Sherlock’s room and shook awake the man who’d fallen asleep in his chair. Sherlock rubbed his bleary eyes.

“What happened? Did you forget some of your tales?”

“That’s not it! A theft has occurred at the party! Look, there was a small shed near the inn, right? A painting was in there, and it got stolen!”

Right as John said that, Sherlock bolted upright and prepared to leave.

Those quick movements elicited a gasp of admiration from John.

“Did you have a feeling something would happen? I’d expected no less.”

“That’s not too far from the truth. Well then, let’s go. Tell me the details along the way.”

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

The rain had stopped when they left the house, and the dark clouds that blanketed the heavens had already drifted far away.

The sky was tinged with the glow of dawn, and the hills were but black shadows in the distance. Amidst the contrast of the two, the two men hurried towards the village.

Meanwhile, John summarised the events that had transpired.

The innkeeper — it seemed his name was Roy — had organised the wedding party for his daughter Patti and her fiancé Daldry. [1] Around twenty of his acquaintances had been invited, and perhaps he’d been forcibly invited like John, but for some reason, the artist Rheos was also there.

During the party, John recounted to the crowd some of the more difficult cases Sherlock had solved. It wasn’t a fantastic attempt, but it hadn’t been dreadful either; once he’d finished, his role for the night was complete. Everyone had been in a welcoming mood, and he enjoyed the food and conversation after that. Rheos had also been unexpectedly open with the guests.

“Isn’t that great? I was sure you’d tell some needless jokes that would fall flat.”

“I’m the storyteller you personally endorsed, after all. I managed to reach the end without spoiling the mood.”

Sherlock spoke as if it had been someone else’s problem, and John responded with a touch of sarcasm.

The incident occurred around one hour after that.

As night fell, the rain had turned into a downpour. Some guests had to leave regardless, but more than half of them chose to wait until the storm ended. In the heat of the excitement, some of them had gotten carried away and frolicked in the rain, and somehow Rheos had joined in as well. He’d seemed like a shy person: John distinctly remembered his surprise when he saw that happy-go-lucky side of Rheos.

Amidst all that, Patti’s fiancé Daldry had heard that the nearby shed housed some famous artists’ paintings. It seemed that this piqued his interest, and he headed to the shed alone. There, he discovered that one of the paintings had gone missing.

“……Well, it’s a bit rough, but that’s the gist of what happened.”

Sherlock hummed as he nodded.

“By the way, what were you doing before the incident occurred?”

“While everyone else was partying away, I was just sitting in the corner.”

“I see. And what did everyone do after that?”

Sherlock stared ahead as he spoke, and John also fixed his gaze on the road as he replied.

“For the time being, I’ve asked the guests to remain at the inn. The innkeeper’s contacting the police, and those who left early.”

“Good work. You acted fast; it’s a big help.”

“You’re welcome.”

Finally, the two men arrived at the village inn. Inside, the guests had been on edge as they awaited the detective and his assistant’s arrival.

“Mr Holmes!”

Suddenly, a scrawny young man — Rheos — dashed over to Sherlock.

“Please, you must find my painting quickly! You’re a famous detective, aren’t you?”

Perhaps it was because he was the victim of this case, but Rheos looked even paler than before: his pasty complexion was almost like that of a corpse. He was as timid as he’d looked, and it showed from his panic. In addition, for some reason, his clothes had been horribly stained with mud.

“Hey, please calm down. Worrying isn’t going to bring back your painting any faster.”

Rheos had worked himself into a panic, but in response, Sherlock took on an exceedingly calm attitude. His gaze then landed on the innkeeper at the back of the pub.

“Excuse me. How long until the police arrive?”

“They’re coming from the next village over, so it’ll take a while.”

“Got it. Well then, let’s do some simple interviews. Who was the the first to discover the crime?”

Sherlock promptly began his detective work. Perhaps he wanted to complete the investigation before the police trampled all over the crime scene.

A tall man raised his hand.

“It was me. I’m Daldry, Patti’s fiancé.”

“So you’re Daldry. How did you discover that the painting was missing?”

Sherlock posed his question upfront, and Daldry responded with clarity.

“Last night…… Or today, to be precise, I heard that there was an expensive painting in that shed, and it drew my interest. Art appreciation is a hobby of mine, and I think I was also a little too drunk at the time: I normally wouldn’t do such a thing, but I left the inn, and walked through the storm to the shed.”

Daldry looked around the room, as if to judge the reactions of the people around him, and then continued.

“The shed door wasn’t locked, which I thought it was a little unsafe. Then when I looked inside, I saw two easels. One held a painting that seemed to be unfinished, and I understood it to be Rheos’ work. But the easel in front of that one had nothing on it, which I thought was strange: if he was referencing another piece, then there should be a painting there. So I went back to the inn to look for Rheos, since he’s the one who borrowed the shed.”

Rheos cut in. “When I saw Mr Daldry enter the shed, I wondered what was going on, so I went after him.”

But Daldry seemed not to mind as he continued.

“I think I must’ve crossed paths with him on my way back to the inn. About a minute after I returned here, I heard a scream. We all went to the shed to find out what happened, and I saw Rheos fallen on the floor in front of the easel. That’s pretty much how I discovered the incident.”

Sherlock placed a hand under his chin as he summarised the events.

“So you’re saying that the painting was already stolen when you first entered the shed.”

“Yes; and by the way, since the party began, no one else but me went into the shed.”

Then Sherlock threw a question to Rheos.

“When did you last see the painting?”

Rheos calmed down a little.

“Um…… Right before the party began.”

“So, it was probably stolen in the middle of the party.”

Sherlock turned back to Daldry.

“John told me that there were others who went out into the rain, yes?”

“Yeah, since it was a celebration: everyone was excited beyond their years, myself included, and there were quite a few people going in and out of the building.”

Perhaps it’d been like how children get excited when a storm comes. At Daldry’s words, among the crowd, they could see people hiding their faces in embarrassment — Rheos included.

It seemed the young man was feeling awkward after remembering how he’d let himself go when he’d been tipsy. At that, John broke into a little smile, but Sherlock gazed at them with indifference.

“In that case, back then, who didn’t go outside?”

Around ten people raised their hands this time, including the innkeeper Roy.

“I was chatting with Patti and some friends,” Roy said, and a woman beside him spoke up as well.

“That’s right. I was talking with my friend Amy throughout. My father was also speaking with his friends in the vicinity. Then, we heard a loud commotion outside. Even though the atmosphere was so lively, and we were having a great time…… this just had to happen.”

“I see. So you’re Patti. I’ve got it, thank you.”

Sherlock seemed to have picked up something from her account. He looked out the window of the pub, towards the shed. Even from this distance, he could see that the bare earth had turned to mud from the rain, and the footprints of many people coming and going were clearly visible.

He turned back to Daldry.

“When you went to the shed, did you see anyone’s footprints on the ground?”

Daldry clasped his hands together, and made a troubled expression.

“About that…… I’m not really sure. It was pretty dim, and the ground was dark, so I didn’t get a good look.”

“Fair enough.”

Sherlock didn’t seem particularly disappointed, and fell silent.

An uncomfortable hush descended upon the room.

The theft could’ve been the work of an outsider. But equally, the criminal could also be hiding among the party guests. In fact, since the criminal had known there was a valuable painting in the shed, the latter was more likely. From Sherlock’s questions, at least, one could tell he was pursuing that line of thought.

It seemed the guests had caught on to that as well: they looked at one another, and no one said a word. Perhaps some of them were close friends who wanted to stick up for each other, yet no one stood up to proclaim their innocence — in all likelihood, nobody could dismiss the suspicion that the culprit was among them.

This party had been meant as a celebration of joy, yet everyone could sense the urgency permeating the room. Sherlock beckoned to his partner.

“John, let’s take a look at the crime scene. Everyone else, please wait here for now.”

He directed the guests in his usual tone of voice. Then, he and John headed to the shed.

The little hut stood alone, surrounded on all sides by bare earth. As they walked across the muddy ground, John spoke up.

“Sherlock, have you deduced anything so far?”

“Sorry to say but, I don’t have any leads yet.”

Sherlock groaned as he studied the feel of the mud beneath his feet.

“If just about everyone had stayed inside the building, then it would’ve been obvious when anyone ventured outside. But a good number of them were carousing in the rain, so it’s become harder to narrow down just who went to the shed.”

“True, and there were others who already went home — the list of potential suspects is pretty long. However, can’t we cross off those who stayed inside throughout, like Mr Roy and Miss Patti?”

“Certainly, if we can confirm that they didn’t just agree on the same story beforehand, then we can clear them of suspicion at this point. Still, they must have left the scene at least once or twice.”

“But if they went out into the rain, wouldn’t their clothes and shoes be dirty?”

“They could say that they went outside after the incident occurred to see what was going on, and got them dirty that way — it doesn’t prove anything.”

“I-I see…… In other words, just as you said, there’s a fair chance that any of them could’ve stolen the painting.”

“Exactly. But it’s pretty difficult to see the entrance to the shed from the pub, so I was hoping that someone had noticed a suspicious person somewhere……”

“Only Rheos said that he had seen Mr Daldry heading to the shed.”

“Did anything catch your eye back then?”

At Sherlock’s question, John scratched his head in anguish.

“Sorry. I was tired from all that storytelling, so I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else. To be honest, I can’t be sure that Mr Roy and the others had definitely stayed inside throughout.”

“Then, did you see Rheos join the crowd outside?”

“That, too — I did glance at the entrance of the inn at some point, and I saw him partying outside for a split second, but that’s it.”

“Alright, I got it. But you don’t have to worry about remembering all the details, y’know. It’s not like anyone could’ve predicted that something like this was going to happen.”

“Thanks.”

John gave him a small smile in return.

However, in the end, they had no proper eyewitness accounts. All they knew for certain was that they had made no progress in their inquiry thus far, and it was like this that the two men arrived in front of the shed.

Footnotes:

[1] Daldry is a rare surname (in the book it’s written as ダルドリー), but it is a real one!

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #yuumori #english translation #forbidden games

73 notes · View notes

molanran · 5 years ago

Text

blueming - choi beomgyu

summary: pre relationship au! m/n is a tired college student that falls in love so easily. beomgyu is the cute barista that he falls for.

word count: 3k

now playing: blueming – iu & i’m so pretty - nature

notes: first in a series

m/n stumbles into his least favorite coffee shop exhausted, with a migraine, clutching an ice pack, and a gloomy disposition, wondering why everyone is so happy. it's not his fault, honestly it's not.

it's minju's.

she dragged him out last night to go shopping, which ended in disaster. he tripped over jewelry laying on the floor, got pushed into a wall and got slapped in the face, hard. not only that, but he got awoken by freaking justin bieber of all things and the starbucks across the street from his study hall is closed, and now he has to run all the way across to the other side of campus just to get a cup of freaking coffee.

wait, he also got knocked out after being hit by a trombone at orchestra practice.

he's internally yelling at minju in his mind before deciding to actually let her know how he feels via a strongly worded text message (she'll probably be fuming that he woke her from her sleep but he's too angry to care) just as he reached the front counter. still pounding away at his phone, he grunts out his order, dropping the exact amount of money for his venti-frappucino-with-three-espresso-shots. yeah, he's definitely not having the best morning.

"sorry, could you repeat that?"

m/n looks up, ready to glare viciously and direct his bad mood at the barista who obviously pays no attention... but instead gapes at him because the barista is actually really cute and damn maybe he's already got a crush. and, oh shit, he's the guy who minju tutors sometimes on weekends.

the barista (beomgyu, m/n remembers) stands there with an uncomfortable smile, awkwardly standing there behind the counter. (m/n would be lying if he said that wasn't one of the cutest things he's ever seen.) "your order?"

m/n gapes a little more before regaining his composure, a polite smile gracing his features. "yeah - right, sorry. um, a venti frappuccino with three espresso shots." he pushes the coins forward, waiting awkwardly.

beomgyu smiles again, this time an actual smile gracing his features (m/n will never admit that he swooned a little), appearing amused if anything. "right," he quickly scooped the change up before yelling behind him. "yein! large frap, three shots!" he registers m/n's change and hands m/n his drink. "thanks for coming to golden swirls! have a great day, m/n-ssi."

m/n blushes because beomgyu actually knows his name and he may or may not be screaming inside because of it. someone behind him coughs, interrupting his inner emotions and m/n is so glad that he's not in high school because he so has a schoolgirl crush.

"thanks- i'll be going-" m/n runs out of the door before he could embarrass himself further, almost dropping his coffee as he goes and accidentally knocking his laptop bag that's swung over his shoulder into the wall outside. he looks at beomgyu through the large window, watching how he serves the next customer before quickly heading off towards his next class.

not even ten seconds later, he's managed to almost break his laptop, spill his coffee over a random stranger and he just wants the ground to swallow him up. his patience has run thin and he finds himself swearing because of how awful this one morning has gone. fuck today, fuck his life, just fuck

most of the time, m/n's lucky to have minju in his life. they share an apartment together with minju running a home business as a pastry chef, she helps him with all of his assignments and they've known each other forever. but today, he really hopes that he has awoken her from her sleep (he doesn't want anything horrible to happen to her, he loves her too much) because it's her fault that he's injured. (maybe not completely her fault, not that he'll ever admit it.)

after getting back to the apartment and telling her of his god-forsaken awful day, she has the audacity to laugh.

she laughs so hard that she ends up falling off the couch, her makeup smudging which he's sure she'll be upset about. he doesn't really appreciate that she's laughing and he thinks that maybe he should take photos or a video because she laughs like a horse on crack. he chooses the third option which is attempting to make her spontaneously combust with the power of his glare.

"what the actual fuck." if anything, she laughs even harder and starts rolling around on the floor. he grabs a nearby throw pillow and launches it at her.

(she retaliates, flipping the couch over and them sitting on his back, she tries suffocating him with a surprisingly lethal fluffy cushion.)

after she stops attempting to strangle him and they put their living room back to the original state, they return to their previous conversation. but he immediately wishes that she's still attempting to murder him, because she is smirking. (he's so going to be antagonized for another week)

"so what basically happened, is that you publicly humiliated yourself in front of a cute guy and now you've turned into a weeping willow." she almost bursts out laughing again after her summary, instead pinching his cheek.

m/n immediately recoils, covering his face with another throw cushion. "yes, thank you for reminding me of the possibly most embarassing period of my life."

"you could've been worse. you could've spilled coffee on him, you could've fallen flat on your face as soon as you walked through the door." she laughed while he blushes even harder than he thought possible. (leave it to minju to bring up previous events.)

"i hate you," he manages to squeak out from underneath the pillow, curling in on himself.

"i love you too," she pats his head affectionately. "now i'll order some chinese food and we'll spend the whole night watching cheesy rom-coms while i try to cheer you up with some horrible puns and jokes."

(m/n cracks a smile because he honestly couldn't ask for a better best friend.)

after finally managing to finish his music assignment and edit another three essays as well as helping minju with baking cupcakes, m/n skypes kangmin. kangmin (the same person who chose to go in china instead of staying in seoul, the traitor) has been the third member of their group ever since the beginning of elementary as well as the exact reason for m/n's sexuality crisis. (which may or may not have included a temporary relationship and a lot of making out.)

it's not like m/n can hold it against him, but of course he still wonders why all of his friends have to be so damn good looking and adorable.

kangmin, unsurprisingly, doesn't answer the phone the first time but the second time yejin had picked up the call. yejin was the last member of their group and was the most creative and independent of the bunch. she was the first person that m/n had met that he loved within the first five minutes of meeting. of course, sometimes she was over-dramatic and hyperactive but it didn't really matter, she was still one of his best friends.

"hey m/n!" yejin smiled, flashing her pearly whites. "kangmin is currently busy working on that huge programming or digital project that he got a week ago."

yejin faces the camera towards kangmin, showing him with his head in buried in his hands. there were papers strewn all over the desk while his computer was closed. she subtly takes a picture of his distress before tapping him on the shoulder. kangmin's head snaps, a grimace present until his eyes lands on m/n's face appearing.

"m/n!" kangmin yelled, snatching his phone off yejin. ignoring her rude remark, he positions the phone in a way that both yejin and himself appear on the screen while still being close enough to hear. "sorry, i love you but this stupid piece of code is giving the biggest trouble ever and i just can't take it anymore."

he groans dramatically in his hands while yejin rolls her eyes at him, patting his head fondly.

"you'll be fine." she coos at him, rubbing his hair affectionately. "what's up m/n?"

"i may or may not have met someone..." m/n trails off, laughing at their reactions. yejin starts clapping excitedly and squealing while kangmin's head snaps up with a bright smile on his face.

"who is it? it's not that creepy guy in orchestra is it? if it is, you could do so much better.." yejin rants, not stopping even when kangmin covers her mouth with his hand.

"and i may or may not have also embarassed myself in front of him." yejin shuts up straight away, both her and kangmin starting to giggle.

"how bad was it?" kangmin inquires, a cheeky glint in his eye. "falling-flat-on-your-face-bad or peeing-your-pants-because-you're-so-nervous-bad?"

"neither,"

stares.

"maybe worse,"

more stares.

"it was clown-at-kangmin’s-eighth-birthday-bad."

long story short, kangmin’s parents had hired the wrong person and accidentally hired a drug dealer who tried to convince the kids that the cocaine he brought was sherbet.

kangmin’s parents were mortified at the time but kangmin continues to tell the story whenever he gets the chance.

m/n eventually ends the call because yejin and kangmin are laughing so hard at him and, god, why does everything with him have to be so complicated and embarassing? (he may also have rejected the next two calls, accidentally)

minju, being the absolutely amazing best friend that she is, is so much more helpful than his other two friends. meaning that since she's already laughed at him, she's moved on to the point where she decides that she's going to be a helpful friend.

(m/n shudders at the thought. last time minju decided she was going to be a 'helpful friend', he ended up in the hospital for two weeks and failed two assignments.)

unfortunately, minju turns out to be his only option to call when he sees beomgyu again at the shop.

"please, please, please, come here right now. starbucks is closed, beomgyu's on shift and i need someone here to make sure i don't embarass myself."

turns out, this is the one time that minju isn't available.

"you should've asked me before. i'm too busy. i've got to juggle six different pastry orders and they all have to be done in a couple of hours because i'm catering for a wedding."

well, fuck. m/n looks inside the coffee shop again, noticing that this time beomgyu is looking back at him. beomgyu smiles and waves, while he leans against a broom. m/n can't help but smile back, pocketing his phone and walking through the door.

as soon as he's in the door, he sees the broom that beomgyu is leaning on slips and makes him fall over. he rushes over to beomgyu quickly, helping him back up. beomgyu blushes a bright red while m/n helps him back over to the counter despite being told numerous times that he's fine.

"seriously m/n-ssi, i'm fine." beomgyu giggles. he fucking giggles and suddenly there's a hand on his arm and somehow all the oxygen has left his lungs and why is it so suddenly hot?

"are you sure?" m/n asks again, checking for any injuries. beomgyu nods again, walking awkwardly back behind the counter.

"venti frap, three shots right?" beomgyu's eyes shine, a small blush coating his cheeks. m/n nods, handing over his coins.

beomgyu scoops them up but accidentally drops a few on the ground. after all the coins are picked up, yein suddenly appears by his side with a coffee in her hand.

"smooth move, casanova," she nudges him playfully, before handing the coffee to m/n. beomgyu blushes brightly, moving over to start cleaning the counter.

"thanks, i guess." m/n says awkwardly. "i'll see you later, yeah?"

he runs out the door, waving to them as he goes. he's a few metres away from the coffee shop before he does a happy dance because he didn't embarass himself in front of beomgyu.

(this doesn't erase his bad luck however. he manages to keep his coffee intact, but someone else spilled their coffee on him, he got attacked by a rabid cat and chased by a group of dogs on the way home.)

the next time m/n sees beomgyu, it's in the comfort of his own home.

but that doesn't mean, he's ready to face his crush.

m/n's woken up by minju's banshee scream, her high pitched tone filling his entire room. he wishes his first instinct was to cover his own ears but no, his first instinct is to get up and make sure the bathroom door is closed. (every time minju screams, the large mirror in their bathroom 'mysteriously' breaks. and the money that pays for it 'mysteriously' comes out of his own wallet.)

he walks into the living room and he knows he looks like a mess.

his hair is strewn everywhere, making him look like he just got zapped with lightning. he's wearing a plain white shirt but he's only one inside while the other half is wrapped around his shoulder, exposing his lower body. he's also wearing his rainbow briefs while he's got kittens on his socks.

m/n's barely got his other arm in the shirt before he hears a cough behind, where he's met with beomgyu's blushing face.

beomgyu looks like he's trying so hard to look away, he's got his face hidden behind one of his books but his eyes are visible at the top, (it certainly has nothing to do with the way his nose starts to bleed a little) while minju doesn't look much better herself.

she hadn't bothered to brush away her bangs and instead was trying to pour herself a cup of coffee, a large yawn escaping her lips.

"we, meaning me, wants you to make us breakfast," minju speaks like she doesn't know that she just embarrassed m/n in front of his crush. (to her credit, she probably doesn't. she occasionally leaves their apartment half naked because of her tired stupor.)

"uh, r-right." m/n stutters, running back to his room, locking gazes with beomgyu before his door swings shut.

minju eyes him weirdly as he goes. (usually he'd yell at her to stop being lazy and do it herself but he seemed to be too stunned to do anything. she'd have to bring beomgyu around more often.)

"is he okay, minju?" beomgyu puts the book down.

"he'll be fine," minju yawns again, wrinkling her nose. "i've already accomplished my duty as a best friend by bringing you here." she ignored beomgyu's questioning gaze, bringing her mug to her lips.

m/n walks out of his room, looking more presentable but also looking like he was going to cut a bitch. (in every case, minju.)

"give me that," m/n swiped minju's mug from her hands, taking a deep gulp of her bitter coffee. he ignored minju's scathing remark and turned to beomgyu, unstartled. "will pancakes be okay, beomgyu-ssi?" his voice took a much softer tone than when he spoke to minju.

"yes please, and i'd rather you'd just call me beomgyu, m/n-ssi." beomgyu smiled.

"then i would insist that you'd do the same, beomgyu-ah." m/n smiled, shooing minju out of his kitchen and getting the ingredients out.

minju huffs and takes a seat next to beomgyu, crossing her arms.

"are you ready to carry on, beomgyu-ah?" minju asks, wiping her face with a wet wipe.

"gimme a sec," beomgyu rests his head on his arms as he watches m/n move around in the kitchen.

m/n's got his headphones in his ears as he hums delightfully, flipping pancakes with ease. he dances his way around the kitchen, pulling out syrup and strawberries and eating utensils, preparing breakfast with a soft smile on his face.

beomgyu can't help but watch the other male with a dumb smile on his face, not looking away even when there's a steaming hot plate of pancakes in front of him.

"i hope you like them," m/n smiles, taking out his left headphone. he fucking smiles at beomgyu, who feels his entire being heat up. (beomgyu tries to ignore the way his heart pitter-patters in his chest. that traitor.)

when beomgyu takes a bite, he moans in delight. m/n pretends to not notice, shoveling his food in his mouth. (his blush totally does not give him away.)

"so m/n-ah," minju starts, taking back her mug and refilling it. "when's your next class?"

"i'm free today. my chemistry professor called in sick so he just emailed everybody their latest assignments. i'm going to die." m/n cringed, taking a sip of his water.

"i bet physics is looking pretty good right now, huh?" minju had a triumphant look on her face.

"people who take physics usually don't have a life, or friends." m/n flicked her forehead, distracting her long enough to steal her coffee again. "no offense, beomgyu-ah."

"none taken, m/n-ah." beomgyu shrugged his shoulders. "what do you study?"

"i'm making my life hard by majoring in dance with a minor in chemistry." m/n put his two thumbs, his entire being oozing with sarcasm. "commuting to two different campuses four times a week, what fun."

"that's like me!" beomgyu's eyes were a little wider. "i'm a vocal major with a minor in physics. moving between the two campuses is such a pain."

"does that mean you know soobin-hyung? i think he's a vocal major as well?" m/n asks.

"bunny-hyung?" beomgyu's eyes glaze over in realization. "he takes care of me, you know, being one year older. does that mean you're friends with yeonjun-hyung? he still owes me twenty dollars."

"soobin-hyung owes me fifty!" m/n almost yells. "but it's okay because he buys me lunch every other day."

"oh my god, they're perfect for each other." beomgyu rolls his eyes, stabbing his pancake with his fork.

"they're disgusting. i hate seeing them meet up, like they haven't seen each in a million years when in reality it's been like four hours." m/n agrees, wrinkling his nose.

minju looks between the two males, wondering how they could be so oblivious towards one another.

"they're idiots. idiots who hopelessly crush on each other." minju complained under her breath. she held up her phone, pretending to use it as a mirror, only to snap a pic of m/n and beomgyu interacting with each other, bright smiles on both of their faces.

m/n briefly looked at her, a weird look on his face.

"you'll thank me later." she smiled innocently, tapping her phone with a wink.

#beomgyu #choi beomgyu #txt male reader #kpop male reader #txt x male reader #kpop x male reader #fluff #beomgyu x male reader #choi beomgyu x male reader #male reader scenario #txt #male reader insert

154 notes · View notes

tinybibmpreg · 3 years ago

Text

almost forgot to post the next prompt fill today lmao.. anyway fill 4/80, #61 - That is not a good hiding spot. ft my hero turned villain OC LeClerc Clifton (hero name Sharp Shot, villain name Dead Mark), and his hero friend from his former hero team, Sprint.

Bullseye: Bad Habits

“That is not a good hiding spot,” LeClerc’s former teammate told him, raising an eyebrow as they walked up to the motel he was currently staying at.

Sighing as he could feel a headache starting to build, LeClerc replied, “It’s not a hiding spot. It’s just where I’m staying.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. I told you, Sprint, I’m just living here temporarily until I can go home.”

Sprint gave him an incredulous look. LeClerc rolled his eyes and pulled his room key out of his pocket, unlocking his front door. As they walked in, Sprint insisted, “That makes it sound like a hiding spot!” Then, he asked, “Why can’t you go home? Is someone after you?”

“No one is after me, but it’s none of your business,” he snapped. His back twinged and he winced, putting a hand on the small of it. Not a great start to the evening, LeClerc thought. He’d been planning to just relax, have dinner, maybe take a warm bath for his back, and watch some television until he fell asleep. He certainly hadn’t planned on Sprint running into him at the convenience store and demanding that they catch up.

Sprint took his elbow, and LeClerc yanked away, hissing. “Oops, sorry,” Sprint apologized, “-forgot you hate being touched without warning.”

“I don’t like being touched at all.”

Ignoring that, Sprint’s expression grew serious. “If you need any help at all,” he offered, “-I can help you. Any of the team would drop what they’re doing if you’re in danger.”

“I can protect myself,” LeClerc shot back.

Still, he turned his head and flushed. It was sweet that Sprint and the others still cared about him enough to rush to his aid without any information even after he’d abandoned all of them. It made him feel a bit guilty.

But before he could think too much about the events that had led to him leaving his superhero team, Sprint grabbed his shoulders and went, “Sharp Shot, look at yourself! I know you probably could protect yourself, but you’re pregnant! You should have other people looking after your safety. It’s hard enough to protect yourself individually, but your baby too?”

“No touching,” LeClerc hissed before he could process what Sprint had said.

The hero stammered another apology, pulling his hands away as if scalded. He clapped them together to try to keep from being grabby again. LeClerc doubted he’d be able to manage it for very long- Sprint was high energy and high affection. He was always getting up in his friends’ space and touching them, even with reminders not to.

Back on the team, he had gotten used to it. Sprint had eventually learned that if he pulled away not to step with him, and it was easy enough to stand near someone else on the team who didn’t mind the touching.

But now they were alone in a small motel room, and it’d been years since he’d last had to cope with Sprint’s affectionate nature. Never mind that he wasn’t feeling well and was on edge from being pregnant.

Sprint was staring at him, a determined look on his face. But his mouth was twisted down into the slightest frown, and he shifted his weight from foot to foot, his hands separating and grabbing at bits of his clothes. He was worried.

LeClerc took a deep breath and reassured his former teammate, “Sprint, I’m fine and I’m safe, I promise. I didn’t want to tell you because I’m a very private person and it’s also kind of embarrassing, but-” His voice caught a bit, and suddenly he felt exhausted and overwhelmed. Sprint’s expression morphed into pure concern.

“Sharp?”

“My wife kicked me out of the house. We had a huge argument and she told me to fuck off for a while. I haven’t seen or heard from her or our daughter in weeks.”

“You have a daughter? Oh, man, I don’t what I’d do if I wasn’t allowed to see my boys.”

“You have kids?”

“Yeah, um, two years ago, I adopted- shit, Sharp, are you okay?”

“Damnit.” He wasn’t, he really wasn’t. He’d gotten through the past few months thinking that every week was going to bring a phone call where his wife would invite him back home and tell him she did in fact trust him around their daughter, that he was still the man she’d fallen in love with.

But it’d been over a month since she’d last left him a message updating him about their daughter and how she still wanted some space and time to think. He hadn’t gotten to talk to his daughter over the phone at all after a disastrous call two weeks after he’d left. Just the thought of it made him tear up just thinking about it now. He’d made a colossal mess of things with his family, and now he was all alone, five months pregnant and miserable, moving every so often from one cheap motel to another somewhere, wasting away.

“Oh man, you’re crying- shit, can I hug you? Maybe you’ll hate this but I’m going to hug you.” Sprint stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him, giving him a gentle squeeze. “If I’m hurting you or you hate it just say so, okay?”

Just a minute ago he would have reeled back and snapped at Sprint, but now he buried his face against Sprint’s chest, trying not to sob.

Sprint rubbed his back, leaning forward so his chin was on top of LeClerc’s head. It actually felt quite nice.

Until Sprint, whose mouth moved as much as his hands, started talking. “Uh, I don't know the whole story or anything but your wife kicking you out while you're pregnant and not letting you hear from your daughter is a pretty awful move.”

LeClerc pulled away to look up at him. “What? No, no, that's not-” He wiped his eyes and took a shaky inhale. “I worded that badly. She didn't… kick me out. She just asked for some space. She offered to move back in with her mother, but I didn't want our daughter to have to move, so I left the house.”

“Still, you're pregnant.”

“I didn't know at the time until a couple weeks later… and I don't know if she knows… I've left her voicemails about the baby since we always start arguing when she calls, but she might not have listened to them if she was upset.” He put a hand on his belly, feeling the baby shifting underneath it.

Sprint crossed his arms and tapped his foot, thinking. Then he snapped his fingers and said, “Wait, you’re totally emotionally weird.”

“You’re so comforting,” LeClerc growled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Have you tried calling her? I remember when you got into that big row with Reg it didn’t even occur to you that you could be the first one to try to make peace.”

“I… I don’t think my wife would like that.”

“You need to, I think. Come on, Sharp,” Sprint coaxed him. “You’re five months pregnant and don’t look so good. You need to go home and work things out with your wife. If she’s nice like you said, then I’m sure whatever happened will blow over once she knows you’ve got another little one on the way.”

Cordelia would push aside their argument and welcome him back home as soon as she knew he was pregnant. She cared about and loved their daughter fiercely. So much that she’d asked him to leave to protect her. She’d surely feel just as strongly about their new child. Their argument would be put on hold for quite a while now that he was pregnant.

But still, the question he’d been steadfastly avoiding came to the forefront of his mind, making him feel sick. What if Cordelia did know he was pregnant and hadn’t asked him to come home, didn’t want him to come home? It seemed impossible, but what if she was that upset with him, that afraid for their daughter’s safety that she was willing to leave him waiting forever? Maybe she was frightened that the baby would be like him, dangerous. Or maybe she was just waiting for the baby to be born, so she could take it away from him.

Maybe he was too dangerous to be trusted around his own children.

He grit his teeth. LeClerc hadn’t dared to let himself think that, that his wife was right in her belief that he couldn’t be trusted to keep their young daughter safe, that he willingly put her in harm’s way. The past few months he’d firmly believed that Cordelia just didn’t understand. But maybe she was right, that he was the one who didn’t understand. He just wanted to make sure his daughter could protect herself, just as he’d been able to protect himself at her age. But she got hurt more often than not when he took her out and tried to teach her, scared her with warnings and stories from his past.

I should probably tell her, LeClerc thought, stomach lurching. I should tell Cory she was right, I’m dangerous, and she should take the kids and forget about me. But he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to see his daughter again, wanted to go home and be with his family.

“You’re doing that thing you did,” Sprint said quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“What thing?”

“When you quit the team and vanished, you were always thinking a lot. You’re doing it right now. Don’t do something crazy, please. Think about your family.”

LeClerc didn’t want to think about any of this anymore. He tried to calm himself down by reasoning that he always thought the worst and was too negative. Cordelia was probably just busy or upset with him or kept forgetting to call him. If he just stayed in his motel room and made sure his phone was on and charged, then eventually she would call and he wouldn’t have to feel so horrible. Everything would work out. It had to.

His hands shaking, he went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. As he fished out what he was looking for, he announced to Sprint, “I need a smoke.”

“What?”

He opened his pack of cigarettes and pulled one out, then pulled out his lighter. He headed for the door, recalling that the motel had a ‘no smoking in the rooms’ rule. When Sprint didn’t follow him, he turned back and asked, “You coming?”

“You smoke?”

“I’ve always smoked.” LeClerc raised an eyebrow. Surely Sprint hadn’t forgotten that he smoked. He’d asked him to use his superspeed to run to a gas station and get him a new packet a few times on missions.

Sprint gave him an odd look and glanced down at his belly. LeClerc frowned, his face hot as he realized why Sprint had sounded so surprised.

“It’s… it’s fine, Sprint. It’s just one. I probably won’t even finish it.”

“Sharp, that stuff’s really bad for you, especially with your baby.”

“The baby will be fine. I hardly smoke at all compared to how I used to back in the day.”

“You shouldn’t be smoking at all! God, do you still drink?”

He felt ashamed, but tried to reason, “It’s just to help me relax. I had a few cigs and drinks here and there when I was expecting my daughter, and nothing happened.”

Sprint looked torn. “It’s still not good for you.”

“I hardly do it. I’m stressed out, that’s all,” LeClerc promised him. He didn’t dare mention that he’d been very stressed the past few months, especially so during the past few weeks. He stepped outside and brought the cigarette to his lips. It took him a few tries to light it, his hand shaking around his lighter, and then he took a long drag and sighed, leaning against the wall of the motel. Sprint came out and closed the door behind him.

His expression was disapproving and a little bit sad, so LeClerc stared across the parking lot instead. As he smoked, Sprint was uncharacteristically quiet.

Midway through the cigarette, LeClerc’s former teammate found his voice again. “That’s a nasty habit.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Make sure you call your wife, yeah? I should head out. Gotta pick up my kids.” Sprint took a step forward, getting ready to run. He blurred and just like that, he was gone.

LeClerc sighed and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket.

#mpreg #male pregnancy #warning for leclerc smoking/drinking during pregnancy i guess #oblio's fics #original story #LeClerc Clifton (Bullseye)#Bullseye - story tag

5 notes · View notes

whatcouldgowrong-ohthat · 5 years ago

Text

Us and Andie Ch. 13

Summary: Bucky works as an Avenger because it’s what’s right. He feels he has sins he’ll never be able to make up for, but he’ll spend the rest of his life trying. However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he comes across Andie, the daughter of recently divorced Y/N. The life he had once “maintained” in hopes of surviving changes as his heart warms for a tough-as-nails nurse and her wonderful daughter.

Pairing: Bucky x Singleparent!Reader

Word Count: 3276 words

Series Masterlist - Masterlist

A/N: Victims come from all experiences. Sometimes we can’t tell who they are at first glance and it takes time to understand where they’re coming from. If you ever need someone to talk to, know my inbox is always open.

“None of this makes sense.” Y/N flopped onto Angie’s bed, covering her face with her arms.

Ciara snorted, taking a sip of her tea as she took a seat straddling Angie’s desk chair. She propped her arms against the back, reminding Y/N, “Girl, we live in a time where we see iron-men flying through the sky. Some of our best protectors are Gods, centurions, and a Hulk, remember?”

“Mutants like your little girl are getting more common every day and you got it in your head that a little male attention is weird.” Angie shook her head, handing Y/N the cup of hot chocolate she had requested.

“Okay, but!” Y/N sat up, warming her hands with the mug. “The male attention is coming from one of the previously mentioned centurions. That is weird.”

Angie immediately leaned forward, unable to hide her highly entertained smile. “That’s still a thing?” She saw the way Y/N avoided her gaze, suddenly fascinated with her hot chocolate. “Y/N? What are you hiding?”

“Can we stop acting like teenagers?” Y/N stood, immediately leaving the room with her two friends hot on her heels. “I swear, I thought we left high school behind a while ago.”

Ciara and Angie shared a look before turning back to Y/N. “We’re nurses. Gossiping is in our blood.”

“Well, leave me out of it.”

“Y/N, I say this as your friend,” Ciara told her. “You are allowed to feel something. You are allowed to like a guy and pursue something. Especially when it’s someone who adores Andie and you as much as Bucky does.”

Y/N sighed. “I know. I know I do and I know you’re right. Both of you are and that’s why…Bucky and I…” She felt heat rise in her cheeks, knowing very well that she was probably as red as the mug in her hands. “We’re trying.”

If there was a way to describe the look Ciara and Angie had given her, Y/N wished she knew what it was. The two girls looked like they had dislocated their jaws. Their eyes seemed about ready to pop out of their skulls. And it made Y/N laugh harder than she had in a long time.

Angie was the first to recover, smiling when she saw Y/N look so happy. “There’s our girl’s smile. I thought you lost it for a while there.”

Y/N faltered, still smiling but no longer laughing. She set the mug down and Ciara saw the tears in her eyes. “Oh, honey…What is it?”

Y/N wanted to tell them everything instead of the bullshit lies that Everett and Tony told her to use instead. They were trying to keep things on the down low. And while Y/N understood that, she hated lying. She hated that she had to use a week’s worth of PTO so that her body healed enough where the biggest question was: What happened to your head? Shaking her head, she provided a weak, half-hearted lie, “I just haven’t been sleeping well.”

Ciara and Angie shared a look. They knew they could call her out, question her until she decided to tell them the truth. But they weren’t those kinds of friends. They understood that there were somethings Y/N just wasn’t ready to talk about. So, instead of prying, they squeezed Y/N into an obnoxious hug, earning a groan.

“Owwww.”

“Shut up, you love it.”

“Just like we love you.”

However, the sweet moment was caught short when Ciara caught sight of the time on the stove. “Oh shit, who’s getting Andie?”

Y/N’s ears turned a bright pink. “Uh...about that...”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The hustle and bustle of New York’s complex streets filled Bucky’s ears, but it was nothing compared to the excited squeals coming from Andie’s school. The kids had been let out, running to family members and ready to take on the rest of their day. He didn’t remember a time when he was that young. Perhaps it was because so much time had gone by, but he was okay with it.

Especially when he saw the look on Andie’s face when she spotted him.

She ran ahead, waving goodbye to her friends and joining his side. “Bucky! I didn’t know you were picking me up!”

Bucky laughed as she adjusted the cap on her head, her free hand taking his. “Would you rather Birdbrain?”

Andie’s nose scrunched up. “Nah, but where’s mom?”

“She is taking a day for herself. Something I think we can both agree she needs, right?”

Andie couldn’t nod fast enough, earning a smile. Bucky chuckled, flicking the cap and earning a pout from her. His gaze shifted, looking at the other kids for the briefest moment.

And that’s when he saw some familiar faces.

“Andie, aren’t those your brothers?”

Andie looked over her shoulder and nodded. There they were with their mom – Lori. She hadn’t seen her since the aquarium. “Yeah. Lori looks a lot happier than the last time we saw her.”

That piqued Bucky’s interest. He studied her, recalling that day at the aquarium. Even though it was colder now, she wasn’t covering everything like she had that day. Her hair was natural now instead of the almost too-straight style she had worn before. If Andie hadn’t pointed out who it was, he doubted he would have recognized her.

She looked happy for someone whose husband was arrested. Knowing that…it gave him an idea.

“Andie…” He crouched in front of her. “I need to talk to Lori for a second.”

Andie raised an eyebrow until she saw that look in his eyes. She didn’t need to be told that this was about her dad. She just knew. Nodding, she took a seat on the nearby bench as Bucky approached the three.

“Um…Lori? Right? Lori Creed?”

She looked up, surprise clear in her features when she recognized who was talking to him. “Uh…”

“Mom, that’s the Winter Soldier!”

Lori’s smile didn’t reach her eyes as she looked down at the older of her sons. “I know, Elijah. Why don’t you two go over there and play for a bit, okay?”

Elijah glanced at Bucky, a part of him clearly wanting to introduce himself. However, he simply took his brother’s hand and tugged him towards their group of friends. Lori watched them, unable to bring herself to look at Bucky as she asked, “This is about Ethan, isn’t it?”

“Please, tell Y/N how sorry I am.”

“I will,” Bucky promised. The two had been talking for a bit, sitting on a bench and watching Elijah and Theo. Andie was working on her homework and listening to music, a level of patience that Bucky really appreciated in this moment. “Can I just ask why you helped him?”

Lori looked down at her folded arms. “Honestly? When you know you have no control over your life, you cling to the idea that maybe you have a say. It’s just survival.” Bucky was silent. Though he’d never been married, never been abused like Y/N or Lori, he could find a way to understand that. “I hadn’t even realized how much he influenced everything until he was gone. The clothes I wore, my hair, what I ate and how much…” She shook her head. “He used to tell me how angry Y/N would make him, and I was just relieved that I was never her. He made her sound so horrible. I didn’t realize it was really him until it was too late. By then, we had the boys and the type of abuse wasn’t the same. It was…I felt like I didn’t have a right to think I was being controlled or abused. I didn’t want to believe I was a victim.”

“Until he was gone?”

She nodded, a single tear slipping down her cheek and quickly getting wiped away. “So please, let her know I am so sorry.”

Nothing was said for a moment.

“I hate to ask this, but…could you do Y/N and Andie a favor?”

Lori looked at him. “I guess it would depend on what it was.”

Bucky glanced at Andie. A friend had joined her and the two were talking. She looked so happy to the rest of the world, but he saw the signs. She’d lost weight during the last week and her eyes had lost that shine. She smiled, but very rarely did it ever reach her eyes anymore. He had to try so hard to make her laugh more than a little giggle. And her sleep…Y/N had told him about how Andie spent almost every night in her bed now. He wanted to do anything he could to ease that burden and help her in some way. “Ethan is currently locked up, but you know the connections he has.”

Lori was silent. She knew all too well.

“A member of the CIA wants them to testify against Ethan and the others who…” He swallowed, clenching his jaw. He didn’t want to remember that night’s events. “Y/N refuses to have Andie testify.”

“Of course. She’s already been through so much.”

“Exactly. But they feel Y/N won’t be enough because of her personal history with Ethan.”

Lori looked at him, understanding what he was getting at. “You want me to tell them what I knew?”

“Then we can get all three of them sent to a facility where they’ll be locked away forever. You’ll never have to worry about Ethan coming back. It’ll be you and your kids. You’ll be safe.”

Lori turned back to her sons. They were laughing. There was so much hope there. Ethan had yet to do much damage to either of them. And she wanted to keep it that way. “But won’t they arrest me? For helping?”

“I’ll make sure they won’t. They’ll understand you were a victim just like Y/N.”

Lori drew her lip between her teeth, as if nervous to give an answer. He could understand being nervous. She was finally feeling freedom and he was asking her to face Ethan again.

“I wouldn’t be asking this if it wasn’t one of our best options.”

Lori nodded, squeezing her hands tightly. “Let me think about it?”

Bucky’s heart sunk. But he refused to give up, clinging to a bit of hope. “Okay. Let me give you my number in case you want to help.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

“So what were you two talking about?” Andie asked, trying to talk around the massive bite of pizza she had taken.

“I wanted to check in and see how she was doing after everything.” Bucky knew better than to voice everything to her. No matter how much older she acted, Andie was still a child. Changing the subject, he asked, “How was school?”

Andie shrugged. “Boring, but Mom thinks it’s good for me to get back to a routine.”

“Is that what she told you?”

“She didn’t have to.”

Bucky chuckled. “Sometimes I forget how smart you are, Rainbow.”

She didn’t bother to hide her smirk. It was cocky and, in that moment, she looked almost as arrogant as Tony. “I know.”

“Okay, no more hanging out with Tony unsupervised.”

Andie rolled her eyes, but chose not to argue. Instead, they went back to Y/N’s new apartment. It was in the same building as Bucky, but a couple floors below. Tony had pulled a few strings and was paying the difference, refusing to let Y/N argue because he felt it was the least that they could do. Truthfully, Bucky liked having them closer. He knew they were safe here. It was a better neighborhood, the layout was safer, and the overall space was bigger, allowing them to have some privacy.

The lock slipped open and Andie ran inside, making a beeline for the kitchen. The almost open concept of this apartment wasn’t like the other. The kitchen was massive, separated by the living room only by a bar. Y/N’s old couch was replaced by a larger one deemed big enough to fit the Avengers that seemed to constantly be checking up on them. “Didn’t I buy you pizza a few minutes ago?”

“Maybe,” she told him, reaching for the cabinet to pull out some M&Ms. He shook his head as she filled a small bowl, knowing this was a normal routine for her. She went to the living room and pulled out the rest of her homework, getting to work. “Are you staying for dinner tonight?”

He paused, his mind immediately jumping back to that morning when Andie had snuck into Y/N’s room and caught the two innocently cuddling. While they were able to downplay it and assure Andie that nothing had happened, it seemed she was just waiting for them to tell her when they were “officially” dating. “That is a question for your mom, Rainbow.”

Andie nodded before looking over her shoulder. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

Bucky smirked, pulling out stuff to make food as a surprise for Y/N when she got back. “Are you really asking me that?”

“Really really.”

Bucky snorted, remembering when they had watched Shrek the other day. “I’ll let you figure that out.” He turned to preheat the oven, surprised when he was met with silence. Normally Andie always had some little quip to say in retaliation. Turning around, panic stirred in his chest when he didn’t see her in the living room. “Andie? Where are you?” He left the kitchen, food forgotten, as he looked around the living room. She was no where visible around the couch, loveseat, or coffee table. His stomach twisted. “Fuck, Andie, come on! Where are you?”

His mind started racing, imagining the worst. “Andie!” He checked the halls, their rooms, and still found nothing. The only place left was the balcony. “Andie?” He stepped out, looking around at the hanging chair, plants, and hoping that maybe she would just magically appear.

Click.

Bucky froze, closing his eyes. Did he just… Turning on his heel, he saw nothing at first. But then that familiar rainbow hue glowed from her skin and she reappeared. Andie was smirking, arms crossed and head tilted up as he walked right up to the door. There was absolutely no fear in her eyes. Only a glimmer of far too much amusement at her trick being successful.

He tried the door, finding it locked. Of course it was. “Andie, open the door.”

She cupped her ear, silently asking: What was that?

Bucky bit the corner of his mouth, trying to hide his smile. It had been a while since he’d seen her so at ease. Pointing at the handle, he waited.

But she made no move.

“I’m not breaking the door.”

“Then tell me why you call me ‘Rainbow’.”

Bucky pursued his lips, crossing his arms. He was at a standoff with a kid.

Because this was normal now.

“Andie, come on.”

She shook her head, mouthing an obnoxious, “Noooooope.”

Bucky sighed, running a hand over his face. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the front door that he breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately recognized Y/N’s form, but was surprised when he saw two others. It took him a moment to remember Ciara, but the other was still a stranger. “Um…help?” he called, earning the attention of all three women.

There was silence as they seemed to piece together what had happened. “Did she really?” Ciara looked at Y/N who was already shaking her head, hiding her smile with her hand.

“I absolutely did!”

Angie laughed, unable to wrap her head around the fact that a kid was able to trick the Winter Soldier. “Oh, that is amazing.”

Y/N hurried to the door, unlocking it and letting him in. Bucky smiled at her, barely suppressing the urge to kiss her. “Give me one second,” he told her before settling his gaze on Andie.

The shrillest squeal slipped from Andie’s lips as she took off running. Y/N yelped, ducking out of the way as her daughter leapt over the back of the couch with Bucky right on her heels. “Please, don’t break anything,” Y/N shouted as they ran into the hall. She heard the obnoxiously loud sound of Bucky’s shoulder colliding with a wall. It earned a wince from all three women, but that reaction was short lived.

Angie gave Y/N a look, grinning like the cat that ate the canary as she crossed her arms. “So this is the new normal, huh?”

“Shut up.” She pointed to Ciara before she even got a chance to say anything. “You too. Not a word.”

BAM!

Y/N flinched, immediately pressing a hand to her stomach. She held up the other, silencing the two women before they even had a chance to speak. Instead, they parroted, “Not a word.”

Bucky closed the door to Andie’s bedroom, coming to join Y/N back on the couch after having carried the girl to bed. He smiled as she immediately curled into his side, her head finding comfort right over his heart. Bucky couldn’t bring himself to say anything, shocked that she found herself so at ease with his arm. “I was thinking,” she whispered, fingers lightly tracing along his chest. “We should set Sam and Ciara up on a date.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow, always entertained by this side of Y/N. She was much more vocal in opinions she normally kept to herself. Like setting up another nurse with an Avenger. “What happened to the different lifestyles thing?”

“It’s different,” she mumbled, giggling softly. “She works in the ER. Her skills work for you guys.”

Chuckling more to himself, Bucky said, “Alright. I’m sure I can get Sam onboard.”

Silence fell and Bucky started mindlessly watching the tv, as he listened to her breathing. It was nice to know that he brought her enough comfort to relax. Maybe even keep the nightmares at bay. His metal arm lightly traced along her back and arm as his cheek found comfort on top of her head. It wasn’t until he heard her breathing start to even out, that he thought she needed to go to bed. He smiled, kissing the top of her head. “You’re going to fall asleep here, Doll.”

She mumbled something incoherent, cuddling more into his side as she wrapped her arm around his waist. “Y/N,” he whispered, nose brushing against her hairline. “Sweetheart.”

“You’re too cozy. I blame you for this,” she murmured, earning a deep laugh.

“I think you’re the first person to tell me that.”

Half asleep and without a filter to stop herself, she said, “Hopefully the last.”

Bucky froze when he heard that, hiding his smile in her hair. He wouldn’t comment or question that, finding it too sweet to take away from the moment. No, for now he would keep that to himself. “Y/N, what about Andie?”

“Andie’s too smart,” she murmured, most of her voice muffled by his shirt.

“Doll…” If it were any other situation, he would simply fall asleep and not think about what happens in the morning. But he knew holding Y/N to her sleepy comments was not a good idea. So instead, he picked her up and carried her to her room.

The balancing act that required opening the door and tucking her in had become far too normal for him during his time with her. In fact, it had become part of their normal routine. As he pulled the covers up to her chin, he watched her immediately cuddle into the thick covers like a small child. He smiled, crouched in front of her and wordlessly brushing her hair out of her face. “You are going to be the death of me, Doll. There’s no stopping it.”

-.-.-.-.-.- A/N Pt. 2: More fluff this chapter than there has been in a while. Sorry that this chapter is on the shorter side, but we got a lot of fluff and story progress coming up.

@buckyssoul

@littleredstarfish

@lets--be-honest

@booktease21

@maggyme13

@amnahs9695

@niahmariec

@purplekitten30

@mishaandthebrits

@mr-robot-x

#us and andie #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you

91 notes · View notes

ancano · 4 years ago

Text

YoI Fanfic Recs

Okay so I just wanna share some love and show y’all some amazing fanfics that I have personally read and absolutely adored!! You’ll likely see repeated authors, either cuz I follow them on tumblr or cuz I’ll raid their uploads once I find one I really like. Also apparently I read a lot of A/B/O so if that isn’t your thing sorry hhhhhh

No particular order for these, just going down my bookmarks and history lists on ao3

Glitter & Gold by plisetskytrash and victurius (I just caught up with this one and oh my god I love it.) Summary - In a world where drugs, sex, and violence rule, Viktor Nikiforov is the king. As the Pakhan of the Russian Mafia (the Bratva) he is responsible for murder and mayhem across multiple continents and that’s just the way he likes it. The only problem is that a new leader has risen to power in America – known only as ‘JJ’ – and he starts to intrude on Viktor’s territory.Not only is that rude, it’s damn right unacceptable.So, Viktor sets out to find out as much about JJ as he can, including infiltrating the businesses he owns, such as The Kiss and Cry, a sleazy club that works as a front for an exclusive exotic omega strip club that only the richest and most powerful men can access. Naturally, Viktor has no trouble getting inside. Once he’s there, however, his plans are thrown out of the window when he spots a beautiful, young Japanese omega with chocolate-brown eyes and an ass to die for. There’s only one problem: Viktor swore he’d never mate an omega.Will Viktor manage to stay focused on his mission? Or will this omega break Viktor’s most important rule?

Eros and Agape by ImaTastyPorkCutletBowl and Spunky0ne (you’ll see a couple works from these guys in this list because they are *chef’s kiss* amazing) Summary - For as long as Victor can remember, Yakov and Lilia have protected him from being discovered to be an Omega by helping him to project as an Alpha. But at the Grand Prix Final banquet, he comes face to face with the man destined to be his husband.

NEXT LEVEL: Nights After Dreams by RipVanGabriel (this is a LONG one, I haven’t even gotten very far in it, but trust me it’s worth it) Summary - The silver medal was hard fought and won, but now the stakes are higher than ever. Five gold medals loom on the horizon, but more importantly, the "life and love" within the gold rings. Yuri and Viktor's relationship grows as they get back on the competition road, and new complications rise with them. (Proper follow-up to the TV series; not AU, no crack ships, no weird shit.)

Wait! But, I’m not Yakuza! by ImaTastyPorkCutletBowl, SesshomaruFreak, and Spunky0ne (like I said, these guys, *chef’s kiss* I refuse to admit how many times I’ve reread the 2 chapters that are currently posted. I’m also the only person commenting on it last i checked which is a fucking shame, so y’all go comment on this amazing fic pls) Summary - The Katsuki family, except for the Hasetsu Katsukis, are the largest and most powerful Yakuza family in Japan, so it’s not surprising that poor Yuuri keeps getting mistaken for one of his distant relatives. On a trip to Russia with his father, Yuuri stumbles into a bar to avoid a group of rough looking punks, and he comes face to face with a beautiful, silver-haired exotic dancer. Things get crazy when Yuuri sees the lovely dancer being abused and steps in, only to get himself beaten into unconsciousness. He wakes in his hotel room and finds a note next to his bed…”Thank you for your kindness. I’m sorry those ruffians hurt you. It’s better you stay away. I don’t want anything else bad to happen to you. Vitya” He should go home. He should just forget the man, but Yuuri can’t help himself…Victuuri, intersex Victor, intersex pregnancy, lots of flustered Yuuri!

Love’s Requiem by Kashoku (gonna be honest, I don’t even ship Yuuri/Yuri, but I enjoy this fic) Summary - If you had asked Yuuri in Barcelona if there was anything that could ever bring him down from the high of being with Viktor Nikiforov, he would have laughed. But when the living legend suffers a career ending injury, it brings new struggles to their relationship. Viktor begins to drown his sorrows, and Yuuri finds himself being pulled beneath the surface in a way he’s not sure he can survive.

you’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be by roserelease (this shit right here is my fucking bread and butter y’all. I can’t even express how much happiness and love this fic gives me) Summary - More than anything, Yuuri wants to impress his cosplay role model Viktor Nikiforov. But after a horrible start to a convention weekend, he panics and backs out at the last second to meet his idol. Normally this would be fine, except Yuuri discovers too late that there's a little Viktor related secret inside the con vlog his best friend filmed over the course of the weekend for him...It's fine, he thinks. Embarrassing, but not the end of the world. And it's not like Viktor himself will ever see the con vlog, so why worry?(Except then Viktor does.)

Paying For Poison by SaerenDPity (another one of my absolute faves that sadly only updates once every other blue moon but when it does update I feel overwhelmingly Blessed) Summary - "Skater Katsuki?" Yuuri's eyes widened as he nodded, and suddenly Viktor Nikiforov was clutching at his coat. He barely registered that his childhood hero knew his name, he couldn't think on that when Viktor's voice was on the edge of breaking. Desperation lined his every movement."Yes th-that's me. Um… Mr. Nikiforov… Do… do you need help?"Viktor shook his head violently and shoved his hand into Yuuri's pocket. Yuuri only had time to squeak before Viktor was backing away, breathing heavily. "Please… please buy me."…Years after Viktor Nikiforov suddenly disappeared from the public eye, he resurfaces at the Rostelecom Cup, desperate for help. And Yuuri simply cannot abandon the man who inspired almost every aspect of his life, and so, he makes the decision to do just as Viktor asks - buy his services as an omega for one night.

Drowning In Your Love by MysticLipstick (another rarely updated fic that I’m head over heels for. please feed me, I need MORE) Summary - Victor Nikiforov has always gotten away with being a whore in college. Being the top athlete swimmer has gained him tons of attention, championships and girls. However, a cosmic encounter with Yuuri Katsuki has him questioning everything—including his sexuality. Yuuri’s shy nature and blatant disregard for Victor’s fame has Victor chasing him—something he’s never done, but Yuuri shuts him down. Completely.

November’s Secret by LanaBerry (I’ve reread this one about 5 times already tbh) Summary - Overwhelmed with anxiety and his fear of failing, Yuuri faces the issue of if he should continue skating. His best friend, Yuko, proposes a solution - if no one knows it's you, then it's less embarrassing, right? Yuuri begins to create a completely new disguise and persona.But it works a little too well.Before he knows it, Yuuri has become the biggest mystery of the skating world and everyone wants to know who he is. Especially Viktor Nikiforov, the idol he's been loosely basing his new persona on for years.

The ‘Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches’ series by Reiya (recently finished rereading this one, always so fucking good) Summary - ‘…Of all the rivalries in the world of sports over the years, perhaps none has become so legendary as that of Russian figure skater Viktor Nikiforov and his rival, Japanese Yuuri Katsuki…’ A single event changes the course of Yuuri’s life, throwing him into a bitter rivalry with Viktor Nikiforov that spans across his entire skating career. But as the years go on, rivalry and hatred begin to develop into something very different and Yuuri doesn’t seem to be able to stay away, no matter how hard he tries.Hatred and love are two sides of the same coin and even though everything changes, some things are still meant to be.

With What We Once Had by MagicalMirai (this one is just too cute tbh) Summary - They called it quits, over a year and a half ago. But even though he should have been expecting it, Yuuri can’t help but feel suffocated when he bumps into Victor at the Grand Prix final, whilst holding his son. The son... he never told Victor about.

Nerve Endings by Phyona (this one is next on the “to reread” list) Summary - When Yuuri moves in with Victor in St. Petersburg, they have to work through Yuuri's anxiety and Victor's secrets to find their balance.

Puppy Love by Phyona (another phyona fic and it’s just way too fucking cute tbh) Summary - When Yuuri gets turned into a dog, the last place he expects to end up is Victor Nikiforov's apartment. He learns quickly that the only thing worse than being his idol's pet, is watching him pine for someone else.Warning: Makkachin has recently passed away at the start of this story.

The Stars on his Cheeks by QueenWinterofLuna (this one was actually written for a prompt I personally requested and I absolutely adore it, even still) Summary - A short drabble based on this Tumblr request from @napsushi: Can you write a fic where Yuuri discovers Victor has freckles and is just over the moon about it? This fandom needs more freckled Vitya.

This is all I can find and think of for now but if I remember more I’ll be sure to update it!!

#yoi #yuri on ice #fanfic #fanfic recs

23 notes · View notes

ask-toa-hahli · 4 years ago

Text

Noctilio

Part 3: The Torment

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Hahli’s head jerked up when she heard the sudden request. She was sitting on her knees in her side-garden as her head turned to see Gavla leaning heavy against the bamboo gate. The small Boggarak took advantage of this distraction to tug the rest of her rope toy out of the Toa’s grip, retreating with it to a more darkly clustered group of plants.

It had been just over a week since Gavla had started coming over to Ga-Koro nearly everyday. By now, the Toa felt mostly comfortable enough to leave her to her own devices here and occasionally checked in on her. This however, was the first time the Av-Matoran approached the water Toa on her own accord, which Hahli was quick to mentally note. Already she was feeling excited over Gavla’s progress so far, but she attempted to keep her voice from sounding too eager.

“Of course. You can ask me anything,” Hahli replied.

Idly, Gavla glanced at a plant growing by the base of the gate.

“Well, everyone here mentioned that you’re close friends with some fire Toa.” She threw out in a rather straightforward manner.

Caught off guard with that remark, Hahli hoped her mask was blocking any hints of color on her face. While she was realistic enough to know that as a Toa her village would be talking about such private things, she still very much wished that they wouldn’t.

“Um… yes…” Hahli coughed and tried not to look away. “They’re probably referring to my friend Jaller, my team leader. He and I have been good friends since we were Matoran.” She explained, trying to be appropriately open and honest.

Gavla listened, she then reached down and started to slowly tear off small pieces of leaf from the nearby plant. “So then… how do you know if it’s real?”

The Toa paused.

“...What?” Hahli asked, unsure of where this was going.

The Av-Matoran began tearing off bigger pieces. “I mean, how do you know that he’s really your friend? How do you know he’s not pretending and faking it?”

This puzzled the water user; but she did her best to give a genuine answer. “I guess the best I can describe it… you see it’s sorta something you both know and feel in a way… Like I’ve said, I’ve known Jaller for a long while and we’ve been through a lot together, just like I have with my other friends-”

“But how do you know for sure? That they aren’t just doing it to get back at you later?” Gavla insisted as she shredded the last parts of the plant’s stem.

Hahli looked on at the Matoran perplexed. “...Gavla,” she said finally as she shifted and stood up. “Is there a reason you’re asking me all this?”

Absently, Gavla continued to snap apart the now pulled up roots. For a few moments she was quiet before she uttered a strong “No.” Pushing herself from off the gate, she then quickly trotted down the walkway back towards the center of Ga-Koro.

The Toa watched carefully till the Matoran was out of sight. She then began to ponder if Gavla had been asking anyone else those same questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“You guys can quit it!”

Hahli turned around as she heard Gavla’s accosting voice. It had been hours since she last saw the Av-Matoran and she was just in the middle of returning home with a bag full of fish.

“Gavla, what are you talking about?” The Toa asked.

“This stupid game of your’s and everyone elses here! It may be funny to you, but I already had it drilled into me before, I don’t need it again.” The Matoran growled.

Hahli just felt more confused. “Really Gavla, I don’t know what you mean-”

“Don’t play dumb!” Gavla nearly shouted. “I know you and everyone here is just pretending to be nice for now… I already know that I can’t have friends, I don’t need you to set me and rub it in again!”

“That’s not true,” Hahli immediately responded back, feeling troubled by the accusations. “Believe me, no one is trying to trick you.”

“No, stop it!” The Av-Matoran’s bat-wings started to twitch and fidget heavily.

Increasingly concerned, Hahli quickly dropped her bag and slowly began to approach the girl. “Gavla,” she said, her voice level. “Calm down, there’s nothing going on…”

“I said stop it! Stop pretending!” Gavla yelled as she backed away from the Toa.

“Gavla…”

“I’m not going to let you hurt me!”

“Gavla-”

“I’m not letting you do that again!”

“Gavla, stop.” Hahli interrupted with a loud stern voice as she grabbed the Matoran’s shoulders, keeping her still. Once Gavla’s sudden silence assured her attention, the water Toa bent down so she could be at eye level.

“No one here is going to hurt you,” Hahli relayed in a softer tone. “I promise you that you’re safe.”

Stunned, Gavla stared back at the Toa, her breathing starting to come down. “But everyone being nice…”

“Is because they want to be nice and because they probably want to genuinely get to know you.” Hahli finished with reassurance as she relaxed her hold.

Gavla hesitated as her wings finally stopped their sporadic movements. “...Are you sure…”

“You have my word as a Toa,” the water user responded affirmingly.

The sounds of the village now seemed to amplify around them as the Av-Matoran became quiet, her eyes were still locked on the Toa.

“Look, I know it’s hard, but I’ve known these Ga-Matoran my whole life.” Hahli continued on with sympathy. “If there’s one thing you can ever trust me on it’s this, no one in this community would ever do something so horrible and cruel like that… They- we just want to help you.”

Gavla remained quiet, her breathing returning to inaudible levels again. “...Okay,” she let out in barely a whisper.

Taking her hands off the Matoran’s shoulders, Hahli gave the girl a warm smile. “Okay then.” As Gavla continued to stand still, the Toa added “I’m glad you’re here by the way, I just want you to know that.”

The Av- Matoran gave half a nod as she turned to look back at the center of the village, Hahli didn’t move from her side, but left her to think over whatever she needed to for several minutes.

Then gently as she could, Hahli brought it up. “Gavla, if there’s anything you need to talk about… if there’s anything that you’ve gone through or want to go over-”

Instantly Gavla tensed and she shot a glare back at the Toa.

“-I don’t mean now, whenever you’re ready to,” Hahli interjected quickly. “I’m just letting you know that I’m here if you ever want to talk.”

Galva settled back down a little, her gaze turned toward the ground. She mumbled, “... I probably should be heading back home now.”

“If that’s what you want,” Hahli replied. “But you’re also more than welcome to stay a little longer if you’d like.”

Slowly, Gavla looked back up towards the center of the village, where giggling and laughing Ga-Matoran were getting on with their chores and talking about the day's events. She then eyed the entrance that led up down the beach. After some indecisiveness, her wings flapped and she headed in the direction of the gathered Ga-Matoran.

Hahli watched as Kai waved over to Gavla eagerly, bringing her into the group.

Satisfied, the Toa got back up and returned to the front of her hut to address the current issue of Iara pulling the still live fish all out of her bag on the ground.

She hummed a light tune as she started the task at hand, even as a spark of fire burned within her.

Mata Nui, whoever hurt that girl better pray that I never come across them!

#connected one-shots #noctilio #gavla #ga-koro #kai #av-matoran #final of three #bionicle #bonkles #jaller #toa mahri

9 notes · View notes

iceshard1011 · 4 years ago

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sanders Sides (Web Series) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders Characters: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, switched!au, Dark Sides As Family (Sanders Sides), Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), Morality | Patton Sanders is a Sweetheart, Virgil is doing his best, roman and logan aren't sure what to think about the new guy, janus is totally a dad but he only shows up for a couple of paragraphs, Fluff and Angst, It's not too angsty, for once, yes the title is from Descendants, remus isn't unsympathetic he just has zero social awareness, Happy Ending, Ambiguous/Open Ending, it's just a bit of a cliffhanger, it makes a second part possible but it's not exactly necessary Summary:

Anxiety, overly curious and maybe a little too confident, explores the subconscious. There, he comes face-to-face with Thomas’ Dark Sides. But after the horrid stories the Light Sides have told Anxiety, he’s baffled by what he’s found.

4k story posted below as well :)

It was a ridiculous oxymoron of sorts, but Anxiety loved exploring.

Virgil had a feeling that somewhere, in some alternate universe, he would hate the mere idea of leaving his small bubble of familiarity and safety. He didn’t think about that a lot, though. It didn’t matter; Thomas had grown up embracing Virgil’s input and warnings. Just beneath the surface of Thomas’ mind, he had dealt with his best friends’ antics and adventures (and was usually tasked with trying to get them out of the problems they got themselves into). He’d wake up and make his way down to the mindscape commons, the imaginary replica of Thomas’ apartment living room. The smell of breakfast would be wafting through the air, along with a steady stream of chatter. Maybe a clang or two.

Virgil was happy.

And he was bored as all hell.

Now, Virgil loved Thomas with everything he was; he was never going to stop helping Thomas. And there were times when Virgil was run into the ground with exhaustion, when he’d spent days and sometimes weeks stressing about upcoming events.

But there were other times when Virgil felt he hardly existed. When Thomas would summon the others and Virgil wouldn’t be invited to the conversation. When Thomas was relaxing without a care in the world and Virgil felt numb with how little his influence was needed.

He loved Thomas and he loved the other sides, but all too often he didn’t feel like he was a part of their comfortable conversations and peaceful musings.

So, naturally, Virgil explored the subconscious.

The idea simmered into existence in his mind when he was scrolling through his phone one morning, curled up on the couch. The television was playing some horror movie. He wasn’t watching, unlike the enraptured Creativity at his feet.

“That’s my cue,” Janus said from across the couch. He stood, placing his book down. Virgil and Remus looked over at him, and Virgil felt Remus tense next to him.

“Thomas!” the creative side chirped, with a wide, toothy grin. “Beat you there, Janny!” He sunk out. Janus sighed. He looked over at Virgil.

“Will you be there, today?” he asked. Virgil shrugged.

“If he wants me,” he replied.

Janus frowned. “And if he does?”

“Then I’m sure he’ll summon me.”

Janus didn’t look happy with that response, but he didn’t argue. He sank after Remus. Virgil remained on the couch.

It was then Virgil wondered what would happen if he knew other sides. Then when Janus and Remus were both needed by Thomas, Virgil could still have company in the empty mindscape.

Then he thought about Thomas’ subconscious.

The pieces just kind of... merged.

Now, Virgil had no idea how to get to the subconscious. He knew it was dangerous, from what Janus had told him. The embodiment of self preservation had never ventured anywhere near the idea of tampering with the subconscious. He hated the idea of the sides hiding in the darkness of Thomas’ mind that would corrupt him if they were ever brought to light.

Remus never said much about it, even when Virgil asked. The first few times Virgil had mentioned the existence of any other sides he’d looked at Virgil like he’d just suggested Thomas should step in front of a moving train. Virgil hadn’t brought that conversation topic up very much around Remus after that, but on the few occasions he’d slipped up, Remus had acted arguably more vehemently. One time he’d taken Virgil by the shoulders and pressed him against the wall he’d been standing in front of. His eyes had been wide with some wild emotion Virgil couldn’t work out. He’d gotten Virgil to swear never to bring it up again. Virgil had listened.

Until now, he guessed.

Now, he really wanted to know what was going on in the subconscious.

He found the basement and sunk down through it. It was strange, like rising up into Thomas’ real living room, except much slower and a little muddled, like sinking through mud.

He rose up into darkness.

Well, it wasn’t totally dark. He could make out the ground beneath his feet. It seemed smooth and clean enough; no sludge or blood or anything as disturbing as Virgil had wondered about. It was weird. But interesting. Maybe Remus wasn’t totally correct when he’d said that the subconscious was a horrible place full of horrible monsters and nightmares.

Careful, he thought to himself. You arrived five seconds ago.

There didn’t seem to be any light sources around, nor anything at all.

So Virgil walked.

A few times he may have seen shadows shifting and moving in the corner of his eyes, but not once was he attacked. No once did he fear for his life. A few times he got a little on edge when he thought he saw the glint of glowing eyes or heard footsteps behind him. But he wasn’t petrified. He wasn’t shaking. He wasn’t any of the things Janus had told him he would be if he found himself in the subconscious.

What if you can’t get out? a voice inside Virgil’s head whispered, and that made him pause. That was concerning. But illogical. Why wouldn’t he be able to sink out or something he sunk into? And he couldn’t test it out, now — he’d just gotten here! No backing out.

He didn’t know when or how it happened, but it must have been a few minutes until Virgil realised there were walls on either side of him. A hallway. Virgil steps muffled into carpet.

He walked to the open room ahead, passing frames hung on the walls, but the environment was still too dark to see anything in great detail.

The living room he emerged into was... not what he expected. It wasn’t a dungeon. It wasn’t rotting and falling apart. It wasn’t smeared in blood and guts.

It was Thomas’ living room, if he never paid his electric bills. It was missing the paintings and a few of the memorabilia on the bookshelf, but it was almost nice, in a way. It felt a little off, if Virgil had to describe it, but it didn’t trigger the huge bouts of anxiety that Remus had told him it would.

Virgil peered curiously at the bookshelf, smiling to himself. Was that one of Thomas’ old school trophies? Who knew that would be here?

“Oh!”

The sound of shattering crockery made Virgil whirl.

The first thing he saw was the broken plate parts scattered across the carpet. He winced. That was going to be a pain to clean up. His gaze moved up to the side who’d been carrying them.

“Sorry,” he said, straightening up. “I shouldn’t be here. I was just exploring, and—”

“Oh, no, no!” the side said, beaming. Virgil tilted his head. Maybe he had naturally bright eyes, but it did look suspiciously like he was close to crying. Virgil hoped not; he was not the side to get caught with in the middle of a breakdown. “You can stay! You can mostly certainly stay, kiddo! Uh, here, don’t worry about the plates, um—”

He gingerly stepped over the mess Virgil had caused him to make, and rushed over to clasp Virgil’s hands between his. Beaming, he tugged Virgil forward. Virgil followed without complaint, but his hands burned where the side touched him. He wondered if that was normal. His friends weren’t nearly as physically affectionate as this side was currently being.

He let himself be led into the kitchen, where the side parted from him in favour of bounding over to the fridge. He had a lot of energy, Virgil noted. It reminded him almost of Remus, with less noise. He wasn’t as loud as Remus. That was.... good, actually. Sometimes the creative side’s antics did get a little much.

He rubbed his hands together, thinking about the strange sensation the hand-holding had left behind. He distantly heard Janus’ voice, telling him to stop fidgeting, and instead opting to shove them into his pockets to cease the nervous habit.

“What would you like, kiddo?” the side asked. Virgil blinked.

“Uh— what?” he asked.

The side leant back from the fridge. “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked.

Virgil opened and closed his mouth. “I— you’re feeding me?”

The side’s eyes widened. “You are eating over there, right?”

Virgil’s mind was racing. ‘Over there’? Did he mean... the mindscape? And why was he offering food? Virgil had practically broken into their home. Why was he being treated as a guest?

“Yeah,” he said after realising the side was watching him with round, concerned eyes. “Yeah, of course I am.”

The side relaxed with an easy smile. “Good!” he chirped. “So, what do you want?”

“To eat?” Virgil asked, and the side nodded brightly. “Um, I’m good, thanks. I don’t want anything.”

“You don’t?” the side asked. Virgil shook his head. “Oh.” His shoulders sagged and Virgil was worried he’d upset him, but not a second later he was beaming once more. “That’s okay! What can I do for you?”

Virgil didn’t know how to reply. What was this guy’s deal? Why was he acting as if he owed Virgil a favour? Why wasn’t he even a little baffled about Virgil’s appearance?

“Patton, who are you talking to?” called out a voice from the stairs. Mild panic spiked Virgil’s chest. Of course there was more than one Dark Side. He’d forgotten about that. This strange side had completely distracted him. “You didn’t bring in another stray animal, did you? I have told you before, those creatures are not—”

The new side stopped short of walking into the kitchen. He was tall — taller than Janus, but not quite reaching Remus’ height. He was wearing glasses, similar ones to the ones on... Patton’s face? Was his name Patton? Did the Dark Sides have names? Like Virgil and his friends?

“Ah.” The new side cleared his throat and adjusted the tie hanging loosely from his neck. “I see you’re not a stray animal.”

“Nope,” Virgil agreed.

“Is there any reason that you seemed to have found your way into our side of Thomas’ mind?” the sharp-eyed side asked, a little stiffly in Virgil’s opinion.

“Logan,” the first side hissed, upset. He smiled, though, when Virgil turned to fully face him. “Be nice.”

“I don’t see why I must,” Logan replied. Patton sighed quietly, looking downtrodden.

“It’s polite,” he said, but it was a weak attempt at defense.

Logan rolled his eyes but Virgil jumped in before they could continue; he didn’t want them to fight, especially because of him.

“It’s alright,” he said, shrugging. “I can go. I was just exploring around. I won’t stay.”

“You won’t?” Patton asked.

“Of course he wouldn’t,” answered Logan, speaking as if Virgil wasn’t there. “Why would one willingly want to stay in the depths of Thomas’ mind?”

“Oh, stop it,” Patton said. His voice was light enough but Virgil senses an air of seriousness in his tone. Logan heaved a long-suffering sigh. “You can stay as long as you’d like, kiddo.”

“Virgil,” the anxious side told him. “That’s my name. Just call me Virgil.”

The two sides glanced at each other. Virgil wasn’t sure what that look meant.

“Well, Virgil,” Logan said, as if he was feeling the name on his tongue, “what are you here for?” Virgil frowned. Logan looked exasperated as he elaborated. “What are you going to do while you are here?”

Virgil didn’t feel very comfortable staying for any amount of time, now with this side interrogating him.

“Logan.” Patton was frowning at him. It was honestly kind of a scary look. He didn’t look like the type to get angry very often. He reached for Virgil, curling his fingers — which were startlingly cold — around his wrist and leading him out of the kitchen. Virgil followed him into the living room, where he sat down on the couch beside Patton.

“I’m sorry about him,” Patton said. He fidgeted with his hands. Virgil thought about how to reply, at a bit of a loss.

The sound of a door opening and closing came from back near the kitchen, followed by new footsteps. There was a door back there? Why hadn’t Virgil seen that? He’d just suddenly merged into the house.

“Bad day, Specs?” a voice asked in the kitchen.

“We have a visitor,” Logan’s voice responded. Virgil had a chance to brace himself before he was fixed with yet another pair of questioning eyes. He shifted uncomfortably as the baffled gaze quickly turned guarded. It wasn’t near as bad as Logan, who looked cold and calculating, but the slight sneer on this side’s face didn’t do him any favours.

“Well, that’s new,” he muttered.

“Roman, this is Virgil,” Patton said with a beaming and very pointed smile. The new side rolled his eyes with a scoff. He left the room up the stairs, and Logan swiftly followed.

Virgil watched them go, relaxing now that their hostilities had been taken away, but when he glanced at Patton, he looked... regretful.

“I’m sorry about them,” he said again, looking down at the carpet.

“Do they not like me because... I’m a light side?” Virgil asked. He didn’t like using that term, but it had been coined early on by Remus, and the name had stuck.

Patton gave him a sad look. “If we arrived suddenly in the mindscape, do you think that your friends would be very happy?”

That took Virgil slightly off-guard. What would they do? Remus never liked the idea of the subconscious. Maybe he’d get angry. He’d probably pull out his mace.

Janus was more difficult to read. He had never been thrilled with the idea of these other sides, either. Maybe he’d be disappointed. He’d look at Virgil like he’d done something wrong.

Virgil looked down. “No,” he answered glumly, and stood. “I should go.” He moved for the front door — because there was a front door there, now (where had it been when he’d arrived?) — and heard Patton standing behind him.

“Uh—!” Virgil glanced back. Patton shuffled, looking nervous. “I know today wasn’t a great introduction, or series of first impressions, or anything, but— if— uh—”

“What is it, Patton?” Virgil asked, trying to use the tone that Janus often used on him or Remus when they were stammering too much to make sense.

It must have worked, because Patton brightened, and when he spoke next it was clear, like he had gained the courage to speak. “If you ever want to come back, you’re welcome to!”

Virgil considered that. As unwelcoming as the other two sides had been, he found that he felt safe with Patton. He had this feel about him that calmed Virgil’s often high strung nature, and he looked like he was happy to see Virgil. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t unwanted.

“I will,” he assured Patton, who shone like the sun in response.

Leaving the subconscious wasn’t nearly as hard as Virgil had begun to fear it would be. The moment he closed the door behind him, he thought about sinking out—

And arrived back in the living room, just like that. No resistance, no complications. Clear and smooth, as it always was. He was in the mindscape commons, just as he’d left them. It seemed the others weren’t back from filming yet.

Virgil slowly collapsed back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He wasn’t unable to quieten the chattering thoughts circling his head for a long time.

Visiting the subconscious a second time, he arrived just as he had the first time; no door, just the slowly materialising of a darkened hallway.

“Patton?” he called, peering into the kitchen. It had been about a week since he’d first adventured into the subconscious, so it wasn’t much of a surprise to see that the shattered plates, or mugs, or whatever Patton had dropped had been cleaned up. “Pat? You here?”

He crept into the living room and stopped short.

The third side Virgil had met while in the subconscious — shit, Virgil had already forgotten his name — was sitting on the couch, a half-spilled medicine kit splayed out beside him. He was in the middle of clumsily wrapping his arm in white bandages with his free hand. Virgil quickly averted his eyes from the nasty looking wound running along the side’s arm.

He must have made a sound, because the side looked up at him, noticing him for the first time. He caught Virgil very pointedly looking away from his arm.

“This world isn’t exactly just abyss and darkness,” he explained, rather snottily. “Unlike your perfect little world of light, we have to deal with prowling creatures that do this on a daily basis.” He lifted his arm for emphasis.

“Things that... do that... are outside?” Virgil asked, feeling his anxiety spike.

“Well, not today,” the side said flippantly. “I’ve already dealt with today’s demons.” He finished wrapping his arm and stood, stalking up to Virgil, who realised with a silent hiss of annoyance that he was a whole head taller than Virgil. “Apart from you, it seems.”

Virgil scowled at him. “I’m not a demon,” he protested. “And I wouldn’t do something like that.” He pointed to the side’s arm, who huffed. Virgil couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed or skeptical.

“I suppose not,” he muttered.

Roman, it turned out — and that name definitely sounded familiar now that Virgil had heard it again — left every day to scout for subconscious monsters. Apparently they were a mix of Thomas’ fears and doubts. He had a way of talking that made Virgil feel like he was doing something wrong by existing. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to listen to.

Roman had finished packing up the medical kit and turned to shove past Virgil when he’d frozen suddenly, staring intently down at him Virgil had stared back, completely baffled, and thought about asking if he had something on his face.

He must’ve, he quickly decided, when Roman dumped the kit on the dinner table (causing the lid to crack open and everything to spill out again) and seized Virgil’s chin in a startlingly strong hand.

Virgil’s first knee-jerk reaction was to instinctively punch, kick or headbutt the side in self defense and escape, but he was still so caught off-guard that he remained frozen. This left him to stand there uselessly and endure whatever attack Roman was going to inflict on him.

Nothing more happened, though; no piercing pain of a blade nor blow of a punch. All Roman did was slightly tilt Virgil’s head and study him with uncomfortably focused eyes. He didn’t even look like he wanted to start a fight. All of the anxious side’s personal bubble alarm bells were ringing off the hook, though.

“Are you wearing concealer?” Roman asked finally. As he spoke, he lifted Virgil’s chin (almost gently, which was weird) up, still searching his face.

Recovering from his initial shock, Virgil pulled out of his grip and looked away grumpily. He didn’t reply.

“You cannot blend,” Roman told him.

Virgil shot him a withering glare. “Thanks.”

Roman scoffed with a roll of his eyes, but this time he was smirking. Why was he smirking? What had Virgil done? Should he leave? Go find Patton? Was this going to come back to bite him? Was he doomed to be subjected to teasing from all angles now about how he was—

“Let me do it for you!”

Virgil blinked, wondering if this was still the same side standing before him. “What?” he asked slowly.

Roman nodded seriously. “Yeah. You really need a good lesson on makeup.”

Aaand Virgil’s walls were shooting back up. He rolled his eyes. “Peh,” he spat, turning away. “Whatever.”

“Why do you wear it?” Roman asked curiously, and Virgil paused. What was this dude’s deal? Did he hate Virgil or was he curious about him? “You don’t exactly need it. All it really does is cover up your freckles.”

Virgil stared at him, unable to reply. There was too much to unpack there — so much — and Virgil did not have the energy to start.

Roman took his silence a different way. “You don’t like them?” he guessed.

Virgil looked away, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. “My friends... tease me for it.”

Of course, that was the sugarcoated version. Remus had erupted in laughter the first time he’d seen the little spots kissing Virgil’s nose and cheeks. He’d rummaged around in Virgil’s draws before finding his makeup kit and laughed even harder. Janus had been attracted by the noise, and while he hadn’t outwardly reacted beyond the twitching of his lips, his cheeks had gone pink with amusement. Remus had ended up breaking the pallet he had been holding in his grip, by accident. Virgil hadn’t had the courage to replace it, since.

Roman was staring at him, with widened eyes as if Virgil had relayed the whole story out loud.

Virgil shrugged. “I—”

“You don’t need to do that here.” Virgil stared at Roman, wondering if he was taking him so off-guard on purpose. The other side shrugged, as if he could read the incredulity on Virgil’s expression. “No secrets, down here. You don’t need to cover anything up.”

Roman grinned at him. Virgil studied his face, expecting to see malice or mockery. He didn’t, so he offered a shy smile in response.

Roman turned back to clean up the dinner table of spilled bandages with a nonchalant shrug. “But, since I assume you’ll be going back soon, I’ll let you and your disgraceful guise be.”

Virgil scowled, ready to snap a retort, but he realised Roman was grinning. He deflated, unsure of how to react. Roman shot him a smirk. “At some point though, I’m gonna have to give you a full makeover.”

Virgil’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “Ha.”

The third time Virgil returned, he found Logan sitting on the armchair beside the couch.

“You’ve come back, then,” Logan said without looking up. He seemed to have better spatial awareness than both Roman and Patton.

“Where’s Patton?” Virgil asked nervously, uncertain about spending time alone with this cold side.

“He’s not here at the moment,” was all that Logan offered, which didn’t solve much. Virgil scowled.

“Figured that much,” he muttered. Logan didn’t provide him any sign that he had heard, or was listening.

Virgil scuttled forward, looking curiously around the room. He had left pretty much as soon as his conversation about makeup with Roman had been over. True to his word, however, he hadn’t put on any foundation when he left his room. The others hadn’t been in the living room; he figured there was a video going on. He’d been secretly glad, but then simultaneously (only mildly, mind you) disappointed when he found Roman wasn’t in the subconscious living room (what had been the point in being without makeup if the guy wouldn’t even see it?)

The sound of rustling paper tuned Virgil back into the present, and he watched as Logan flipped a page of the rather large book he was holding.

“What are you reading?” Virgil asked.

Logan looked up, looking distantly surprised. “It’s a fascinating piece of text about the intellect of other animals. There’s a theory that the sonar dolphins use could be transferred to sand dollops as some kind of writing. Of all the alien species on earth, dolphins pose incredible investigative capabilities as establishing some method of trans-species communication could be applied to actual alien species, should humankind ever encounter any.”

Virgil was a little lost, but what Logan continued to talk about did indeed sound interesting. So Virgil sat, captivated, and listened as Logan rambled on about marine intelligence and strange research into certain fish species.

In the middle of Logan’s excited ranting, he seemed to catch himself. He stilled abruptly, going rigid, and blinked spastically. He slowly closed his book and tore his gaze from Virgil’s.

“You do not need to listen to any of this,” he said.

Virgil tilted his head. “It’s interesting,” he said honestly. “I like the way you describe things.”

Logan looked startled. “You do?” Virgil nodded. Logan frowned thoughtfully.

“It’s calming,” Virgil said.

Logan smiled — the first time Virgil had seen him — and continued. “Well, there are multiple hallucinogenic fish species that produce effects that’re highly unpredictable but...”

Virgil sat comfortably and was more than happy to listen to the logical side talk on.

They must have sat like that for hours, Logan lost in his explanations and Virgil lost in the overloading of facts and information and Logan’s calming voice.

Movement caught Virgil’s attention and he looked up to see Patton walk into the room. He brightened when his gaze spotted Virgil on the couch. “Happy to see you back, kiddo!”

Virgil ducked his head, secretly mutually pleased. He watched in the corner of his eye as Patton rummaged around in the kitchen. “Do you uh... need help?”

Patton paused, looking over at him, and he saw Logan glanced up, too.

Patton beamed. “I think it’s been a while since everybody helped out with dinner. Logan?”

Logan smiled and put his book down. “Frankly, I agree.” He glanced over at Virgil, a silent invitation to follow him as he headed into the kitchen. Virgil happily complied.

The next few hours were filled with cooking and washing and dodging around each other in the kitchen. At some point, Roman returned and disappeared up the stairs. He came back down, stripped of the gaudy armour he had had on, wearing a clean shirt and bright smile, and joined them.

Virgil was baffled. This was... so domestic. It wasn’t anything like he had expected the first time he’d adventured down here. No sharp teeth being bared at him, no curses or horrible monsters being set on him.

Virgil stepped back to let the others take control of dinner, and simply watched them. They moved so in-sync, so naturally with each other. It reminded him so much of home, how compatible they were.

That made him frown, though. Why did the others hate these dark sides? They weren’t... scary, or mean. Just cautious. Careful. Virgil couldn’t blame them; he wouldn’t have been too thrilled to have a new side barging into his living room.

But now... they looked at him as if he was any other dark side. It was almost unnerving, how they acted like him being there was nothing different from routine. Maybe they were weird, and that was why the light sides didn’t like them.

“There.” Patton leaned back from the oven, satisfied.

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe I should head back, now." It had at least been a few hours. Chances were that the others had finished now. Maybe they were wondering where he was.

“Awe,” said Patton, his face falling. Virgil’s heart clenched in his chest and he wondered why he cared so much about keeping that smile on the other side’s face.

“Quite alright,” Logan said, stepping forward. “It is ideal that you retain a steady, daily routine in order to stay healthy. If... you’re sure you don’t want to stay for the dinner you helped make?”

Virgil shot him a smile. “I’m sure. Thanks.”

“Make sure you come back sometime soon,” Roman said, moving forward to put his hand on Patton’s shoulder. “I still have to give you that makeover.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and flipped him off as he walked out the door, hearing laughter behind him.

He arrived in his room, the place he’d sunk out of, earlier in the day, and stretched. He was ready for a nap.

His stomach grumbled, and he sighed. The smell of the dark sides’ dinner must have gotten to him.

Alright, he decided as he headed for the door. One snack.

Logan wouldn’t be happy with him, he thought with a smile as he made his way downstairs into the empty living room. He had mentioned in one of his rants about the importance of a healthy diet. Sorry, L.

He almost considered leaving the lights off — he could see well enough in the dark (he must have adjusted well to the subconscious) — but then decided he didn’t want to accidentally break something and wake the others up.

So he flicked the light on.

And was greeted with the scowling faces of two very awake light sides.

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #fanfic #long post #alternate universe #kind of #LAMP

6 notes · View notes

rejectedanimexp · 5 years ago

Text

Villain Eraserhead AU part 3

I had to rewrite this because I accidentally deleted the first half and I'm crying because it's not as good as last time. Anyway, there's some torture in this. Beware. Also, I can't believe I made 10 year old Shinso/Puppeteer so freaking mature.

Hizashi slowly opened his eyes as he woke up. He took a moment to remember where he was before yesterday's events came back to him. He pushed himself out of bed and sighed. He put his hearing aids and sunglasses on. He had no idea what time it was nor when the villain would come to check on him. He was awake now, and bored. He went to open the top drawer the dresser out of curiosity. He was startled to find a few shirts in it. His shirts. Checking the other drawers led him to find a few pairs of pants and boxers that belonged to him as well. Even his pajamas were in there. What was up with Eraserhead stealing his shit? Seriously. If it wasn't for the villain's streak of murder and ruthlessness, he would of thought he was an obsessive stalker villain. Speaking of which, how long did he plan to keep him here? Eraserhead said a day or two, but this amount of clothing was enough for at least a week. What was Eraserhead going to do to him anyway? He knew they were going to question him, but what else? Hizashi was startled by the villain's voice.

"Are you going to stare at the clothing all day or what?" Eraserhead questioned. He was leaning against the doorway, watching the hero with amusement. "How the hell you became a hero with such horrible awareness is beyond me. Now get dressed, Yamada. We've got things to do today."

Hizashi looked at the villain warily before grabbing a grey shirt and black pants. He went to the bathroom before locking the door behind him. Eraserhead was not one to be patient with his enemies, and the last thing Hizashi needed was him barging in on him naked. Hizashi quickly stripped off his pajamas before putting his clothes on. Glancing into the mirror, he studied his appearance. He looked like shit. His hair was oily and in clumps from the hair gel he used to do her hero hair style. He looked like he could fall down at any moment. Hell, he felt like he would fall at any moment. The wax burns Eraserhead so cheerfully gave him yesterday definitely did not help at all. With a sigh he turned around to open the bathroom door. Eraserhead was outside it, standing as if he was ready to barge in.

"You're dressed, good. Now give my your wrists." Eraserhead held out some high tech cuffs that were black with lines of glowing yellow lights. Hizashi looked at them questionably. "They're made to limit your quirk to were you can tell but can still talk. Granted, it might be a little hard to speak, but you can deal with it."

Hizashi held out his wrists and Eraserhead put the cuffs on him. Hizashi let the villain tug him out of the room and into the living room. Eraserhead pushed the hero onto one of the couches.

"Now, Yamada. You got any food allergies?" Eraserhead asked.

"Huh?" Hizashi was confused.

"I need to know if your allergic to anything. I can't have you dying from food allergies. So food allergies, what are they?" Eraserhead restated.

"Um... I don't think I have any?" Hizashi responded in a quiet voice. He was having trouble being loud enough to be heard.

Eraserhead sighed. "Thats good. Makes feeding you a lot easier. I'm not going to have trouble with you eating your food, am I?"

"No, I promise." Hizashi replied.

Puppeteer came in from the door that didn't lead to the cellar. He was pulling a cart that had a bowl of miso and rice soup, a bottle of water, a bucket of iced water, a rag, a cup with pills in it, and burn cream. He brought the cart over to them.

"I'm going to go set up for the interrogation in the cellar."

"Okay, we'll see you later." Eraserhead responded.

Puppeteer left the room and Eraserhead grabbed the pills and water and held them out to the hero. "Pain killers, take them. They'll help with the pain from the burns you got yesterday."

Hizashi grabbed the pills and water and took the pills. He didn't realize how thirsty he was till he took that sip of water. He ended up gulping down the rest of the water.

Eraserhead handed him the bowl of miso and rice soup. "You better eat it all. This is all you're getting til later."

Hizashi nodded before taking a bite of food. He was suddenly aware of how hungry he was and scarfed down the food. His need to eat overriding his need for manners. Eraserhead was amused by his eating habits. That jerk. Hizashi hesitantly held out the empty bowl to the villain. Eraserhead took the bowl before grabbing the rag.

"Yamada, pull up your shirt and lay down. I need to properly clean your burns." Eraserhead ordered.

Hizashi repositioned himself so he could lay down. He then pulled his shirt up to his chin and held his arms up to keep them away from his chest. Eraserhead gently wiped the burns clean.

"Thankfully, for you, the burns aren't that bad. Only one or two of them might blister. Overall, you were lucky. Next time, I'll make sure to leave you something to remember me." Eraserhead informed him.

Eraserhead then put the rag up and grabbed the burn cream. He carefully applied the cream to the burn. He then helped the hero sit up so he could wrap his burns in gauze. Hizashi had to hold his shirt to keep it up. His whole chest ended up being covered in gauze. Hizashi let go of his shirt.

"Well, Yamada, we've got an interrogation to get to." Eraserhead beamed as he roughly yanked the hero to his feet and dragged him to the cellar.

Hizashi was forced into a chair and his cuffs were attached to the table. Where'd they even get the police table? The two villains sat across from him.

"Now, Yamada. Tell me what you know about the Red Demon drug ring." Eraserhead commanded.

Hizashi looked away defiantly. He couldn't tell them. That's against hero protocol. And what if he knew too much? Southgate put him in danger?

"Yamada... tell me what you know." Eraserhead restated.

Hizashi glanced down at his hands and shook his head.

Puppeteer sighed loudly. "Stop being so stubborn, Present Mic. It doesn't matter how much you know, seeing your hero friends are going to have to drop the Red Demon case anyways if they want you back. So be reasonable and tell us what you know. It's make things a lot easier if you'd just tell us."

Hizashi was shocked. He didn't realize one of the demands that were made in order for him to be returned was the closing of the Red Demon case. He let out a shocked "what?!" His eyes glazed over.

Puppeteer grinned. 'Hook, line, and sinker.' He fell straight into his quirk. "Got him. Now tell us what you know about the Red Demon drug ring."

Hizashi answered, "They sell Trigger and narcotics that make people compliant. They are also using a bakery as a front. They have been trying to overthrow the Yakuza. They killed two pro heroes last week. They also are rumored to be run by a bigger power in the shadows. I now believe that power is you two."

Puppeteer released him from his quirk. "Thank you for your oh so willing cooperation."

"What... how?" Hizashi was confused.

"It's my quirk. It makes info gathering a lot easier." Puppeteer looked at Eraserhead. "We're done here. Anything else you want to ask him?"

Eraserhead studied the hero in front of him who was looking at his hands awkwardly. "I want to know who is currently investigating me."

Hizashi eye's widened and he shook his head. He couldn't answer that! He'd be putting his coworkers in danger! That's a major no no in the hero business.

"Yamada, I asked you who is investigating me." Eraserhead growled.

"I... I can't answer that." Hizashi sighed.

"I just want to know who I need to scare away. So tell me what I need to know." Eraserhead asked.

"I don't really know anyway. I don't pay much attention to that stuff." Hizashi responded nervously.

"Don't lie to me, Yamada. I know you know. Don't make this harder than it already is." Eraserhead seethed.

Hizashi glared at him stubbornly.

"I don't think he's going to cooperate " Puppeteer sighed.

"You're right. Puppeteer, go get my toys." Eraserhead commanded.

While Puppeteer was collecting whatever Eraserhead wanted him to get, Eraserhead unhooked Hizashi's cuffs from the table and dragged him over to a hook that was hanging from the ceiling. He forced Hizashi's cuffs onto the hook and pulled out a remote. Pushing a button, the hook slowly rose closer to the ceiling till Hizashi was standing on his toes.

"Last chance to tell me what I want to know before we get started." Eraserhead warned him. Hizashi defiantly glared back. Eraserhead punched him in the gut. "Fine. Be that way."

Puppeteer pulled the torture weapon cart over to them. "I wonder if you can make him yell even with those quirk dampening cuffs on."

"Guess we'll have to find out, won't we?" Eraserhead grinned.

Eraserhead grabbed the baton and swung at Hizashi's stomach. Hizashi bit back a painful shout. He then swung twice more, hitting the hero's back this time.

"Tell me what I want to know." Eraserhead commanded.

Hizashi glared defiantly once more at the villain. Eraserhead beat the hero with the baton for the next couple of minutes, getting rougher every time Hizashi refused to answer. He aimed for the torso and legs mainly. Hizashi was simply hanging by his cuffs now. Eraserhead put the baton down and picked up the electric escrima stick. He jabbed it into Hizashi's side and shock him. Hizashi coughed painfully.

"Just tell me who's investigating me." Eraserhead sighed

Puppeteer urged, "stop trying to be such a hero. We will find out what we want. Whether you're beaten black and blue or worse, in a coma. It's up to you really. Just give up already. Do I have to bring your little brother into this?"

Hizashi, who lost all sense of rationality when his little brother was threatened, snarled, "Why you-"

Puppeteer grinned. "Got him again with my quirk. Now tell us who is investigating Eraserhead."

"Endeavor, Loud Cloud, Gran Torino, Sir Nighteye, Nezu, and Midnight are investigating Eraserhead." Hizashi responded in a small, hoarse voice. His voice was almost too quiet.

Puppeteer released him from his quirk. "Now, was that so hard?" He looked towards Eraserhead. "Should I call the doctor?"

Eraserhead studied the hero in front of him. Hizashi's body was limp. He was too tired to stand on his toes. His breathing sounded raspy and he was wheezing. He was bleeding a little, not that you could tell with the dark clothing. Eraserhead knew he had to have at least a cracked rib from being hit by the baton repeatedly. The hero would most likely be bedridden if he didn't get medical attention. That would get in the way of his plans if he needed the hero.

Eraserhead relented. "Fine. Call the doctor. But make sure he keeps his trap shut."

"Okay, Nii-San. Need anything else?" Puppeteer asked.

"Bring a bucket of water, a rag, and a bottle of water." Eraserhead answered.

Puppeteer left and Eraserhead went to the back of the room to find a cot. He brought the cot over to the hero. He then pulled out the remote so he could lower the hook and unhook Hizashi's cuffs from it. He then picked up the hero and laid him on the cot. Hizashi quietly watched the villain, too tired to even do anything else. Eraserhead went to the back to grab a blindfold so Hizashi wouldn't see the doctor's face.

Eraserhead held out the blindfold to where Hizashi can see it, and said, "I need to blindfold you so you don't see the doctor's face."

Hizashi let out a quiet okay. Eraserhead helped him sit up so he could tie the blindfold on. He then helped the hero lay back down. Eventually Puppeteer came back with a bucket and placed it down next to the cot.

"I'm going to go back for the water. The doctor should be here soon. He was down the street when I called." Puppeteer informed Eraserhead. Puppeteer left the room to get the water bottle and came back a minute later. "Here you go. I'm going to go wait for the doctor at the entrance now."

Eraserhead sighed. The doctor was not going to let him live through this. Usually he killed heroes, yet here he was trying to get one healed. Dr. Reversal was going to scold him for sure. The doctor showed up ten minutes later, and was indeed annoyed with Eraserhead.

"Eraserhead, what the hell? Since when did you let your hostages live?" Dr. Reversal exasperated.

"He's not that much of a threat to me, and I needed leverage against law enforcement. By using Present Mic, I can easily make them destroy everything they have on me. Besides, even though he's the must annoying hero in the world, he's fun to mess with. There's no other hero out there that will be as defiant as he can get at times. We had to use Puppeteer's quirk to even get him to talk. The torturing did nothing!" Eraserhead explained.

Dr. Reversal huffed, "God, you could of just said he was your arch nemesis."

"Just heal him so I don't have to deal with a bed ridden hostage." Eraserhead pleaded.

"Alright, alright. Jeez." Dr. Reversal studied the barely conscious hero. "Damn, that's a lot of damage. Granted, it's not as bad as you usually go, but still."

Dr. Reversal had the ability to see any damage a person's body has by looking at them. He can also rewind the damage if it happened within 24 hours.

Dr. Reversal rewinded the hero's body to where it was before the two torture sessions he went through since he's been here.

"Well, he's as good as he was before you tortured him yesterday, so there's that. Please don't make this a habit. I'm a villain doctor, Eraserhead. I'm not supposed to be healing heroes." Dr. Reversal chided.

Eraserhead said, "I hear you. Although I can't promise it won't happen again."

The Doctor sighed before leaving with Puppeteer to the entrance. Eraserhead turned his attention to the now sleeping hero. Great. He should of asked Puppeteer for a change of clothes. The hero's current clothing was stained from Hizashi bleeding earlier. Eraserhead carefully took the blindfold off and then went to go get the hero some clothes. The hero was past out so Eraserhead wasn't that worried about leaving him unattended. Eraserhead went to the hero's temporary bedroom and grabbed a pair of green plaid pajamas. He then went back to the cellar. He put the pajamas down on the ground and took the off the quirk dampening cuffs before carefully strip the hero of his shirt and pants.

Eraserhead peeled off the gauze and dropped it on the ground next to the bucket. Grabbing the rag from the bucket of water, Eraserhead started to clean away the small patches of blood on Hizashi's torso and left leg. Thankfully the hero didn't bleed too much. Not that it would have mattered seeing Dr. Reversal would have undone the damage. But still. It made clean up a lot easier. As Eraserhead was finishing cleaning Hizashi's leg, the hero stirred a little. Apparently, having someone wip your body clean while your sleeping will wake you up. Or at least that applied to Hizashi.

"I'm surprised you even woke up." Eraserhead stated as he dropped the rag into the bucket. He then picked up the bottle of water. "You want some water?"

Hizashi coughed roughly before pushing himself up into a sitting position. Hizashi looked questionably at his now non-cuffed wrists and his lack of clothing. Why was he in his underwear? And why didn't he feel any pain from what happened earlier?

Eraserhead huffed, "you were healed by a doctor, so any damage from today and yesterday is gone. I had to clean the blood off of you, so the clothes had to go. The cuffs were in the way of the clothes. Now, do you want water or not?"

"Yes, water sound nice." Hizashi sighed.

"Good. Now drink this then get dressed." Eraserhead said as he gave the water to the hero. He then pointed at the clothes. "You're pajamas are right there. You're going to spend the rest of the day in your room to sleep off the aftermath of the doctor's quirk."

The next part will continue Hizashi's unwilling stay at the villain's base

#mha #present mic #villain aizawa #villain eraserhead #villain shouta aizawa #villain shouta #villain!aizawa #frienemies in future #arch enemies

29 notes · View notes

lunewell · 4 years ago

Text

OC-Tober

Day 4: Ambush

Wow, my previous work got noticed (:!

Before I get any further, I should say that all my OC’s are characters from my WIP book currently just called “Lunewell”

This was a really fun one, plus fits very well with the gerneral tone I’m trying to go for with the novel (:

This OC-Tober prompt list was made by @oc-growth-and-development

—————————————-

Valor’s breaths were airy and shallow, her heart pounding like drums in her ears as the weak flashlight accentuated the shadows in the brick tunnels.

She glanced over her shoulders, hands trembling with every echoed step. There was no one behind here, but yet the feeling of someone watching still hadn’t disappeared.

Her eyes stayed on the endless black behind her. Perhaps they lingered a little bit too long, because as she took a few steps forward, she found herself bumping into something.

The screech she let out was wild and eat piercing, as though all the sound she had worked so hard to restrain escaped all at once. Her flashflight fell to the floor, and she sent a glare to the man who had scared her so.

“Christ on a bike, Leigh, you can’t just-”

”My apologies,” Leigh said in a hushed tone, bending over to pick up her flashlight, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just came to inform you that I found a way out of here.

Valor ripped the flashlight, away from the bony hands of the man. It was flickering slightly, but it seemed to work. “Great. You lead the way.”

Leigh suddenly got very quiet, and his grey eyes darted desperately away hers. “Well you see- ah, um, I might have…” he ringed his hands nervously, “forgotten the way to it.”

There was a long pause, before Valor let out an exasperated groan. “Brilliant. Just... brilliant.”

He winced at her tone, and retracted closer to the cold brick wall. “Sorry, I’m not mad at you,” she reassured in a softer tone, “I just don’t know what I’ll tell Lottie and Bruin.”

“Yes, I suppose not,” Leigh said with a smile, “can’t exactly explain that you followed a stranger who tried to kill you into a tunnel, can you?”

“Yeah. They would freak out,” Valor said with a chuckle, happy to see him a bit more relaxed. “Bruin most of all. Still easily panicked that one, definitely not someone I normally would normally consider for for this type of-”

“Valor”

She glanced up at Leigh, who had spoken her name in a tone barely above a whisper. His body was stiff as a plank, and his normally lifeless eyes betrayed glints of a very familiar emotion: panic.

“Valor, walk towards me, and whatever you do, do not look back,” he whispered, eyes trained on hers.

Valor walked towards him quickly, not even glancing backwards, the two got out of the tunnel with absolutely no problems, and Valor never saw the strange man again. She learned her lesson to never trust men who had tried to kill her beforehand, and lived happily ever after.

Or, that would have been how the events would go down, if Valor was anything but a curious idiot.

Instead, as though on autopilot, she shone her flashlight behind her. She saw nothing but the same unsaturated red bricks, in the same exact pattern they had been before. “What do you mean-”

It was then that the sounds started.

The sound of slimy, wet, meat being squeezed and moved, though faint, was definitely surrounding her. It came from the walls, from the ceilings, from the floor, but it was absolutely strongest right in front of her.

All in a split second, with almost no warning, the walls beside her burst open, the floor began moving and cracking, and the ceiling spewed a cold liquid mixed with slabs of something, that smelled so strongly of blood, that she could taste it.

Then, it suddenly stood in front of her.

It was big, but by the way it squeezed and stretched, a horrible slurpy noise that assaulted her ear with every movement, it was hard to tell.

The blob had peachy skin, similar to her own tone, though it was mostly obscured by meters worth of blood veins that wrapped around it, thousands upon thousands of multi-coloured eyes of different sizes that were staring right into hers, the teethless gaping mouth, and the unmistakably human hands that pressed desperately from inside, trying to break a hole in their captor.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see hundreds of flesh slugs crawling out from the walls and ceilings, bringing along a mildly sweet but metallic scent with them.

They were all around, and it was too much. The scent of blood was overwhelming, the noises were like explosions in her ears, the walls were too close, and the clothes, which normally felt fine, were suddenly too right and itchy, and it was all too much.

So really, she wasn’t all too surprised when Leigh put a skeletal hand on her wrist, and she got swallowed into a world of darkness.

#oc tober #writeblr #writing #mine #Valor Thorn #Leighton Reap #really happy with how it turned out (:#think Leigh is my favourite character to write

8 notes · View notes

gwenbrightly · 5 years ago

Text

Of Milk and Cookies chapter 17:

*chanting* Brad chapter Brad chapter Brad chapter

Hi, hello, yes, this is Gwen with a brand new chapter of Of Milk and Cookies! I hope you enjoy!

Lloyd awoke to the all too familiar sensation of having absolutely no idea where he was. Over the past few months, he’d stayed more places than he could count on both hands, and the chaotic travel regime often messed with his head. Of course, it wasn’t very long before the memories of his frantic flight to the Ninjago City Hospital came flooding back to him and the slight panic dissipated. It must have been close to 2 in the morning by the time Kai and the others had managed to get the guest room in the teacher’s wing ready for him the previous night, and then Jay had tried to convince him to stay awake so they could catch up, but his exhaustion ultimately won out. Still, he had to admit that being here with his siblings nearby already felt so much better than being off preparing to meet with another stuffy town leader or dignitary. Why had he ever agreed to that stupid victory tour? The sound of his stomach growling prevented Lloyd from continuing this train of thought. Better find something to eat. He stepped out into the hallway, bracing himself for the chaotic whirlwind of energy that usually accompanied his fellow ninja. However, he was met with silence. Glancing about, he quickly located a note that had been taped to his door.

Lloyd, we decided to let you sleep in. We’ll be down in the cafeteria waiting for you whenever you decide to wake up.

- Kai

“Guess I’ll have to navigate on my own…” Lloyd muttered. The time alone would give him some time to process the fact that this was his first time visiting his old school in its current rendition. Had Nya already been home from the hospital, it would’ve been easier to pretend as though the school hadn’t been the very one his mother had left him at when he was barely more than a toddler. The one that had been the source of so much pain for him before he’d ultimately been kicked out. Hopefully the name change and inclusion of the ninja as teachers had been cause for some improvements, but Lloyd still had plenty of reservations.

He wandered down the hallway, trying to remember exactly where the exit to the teacher’s wing was. After a few wrong turns, he finally ended up at a door that appeared to lead to the courtyard. Lloyd stepped outside. It looked similar to the last time he’d visited, during that disastrous run in with the evil clones, except it was brighter, happier. The students who populated the courtyard were playing nice, relatively non violent games, or visiting quietly with each other. It was surprisingly peaceful. In the distance, he could see the freshly painted sign that marked the entrance. Much more welcoming than before. He turned to the left, heading for the cafeteria, trying not to let too many memories take hold of him as he wandered about. He cringed a little as he passed the tree he’d fallen out of and broken his wrist while trying to hide from Gene and the others. Even his favorite hiding place hadn’t been enough to save him that day. Lloyd shook his head. No use dwelling on the past.

“Um, excuse me,” a small voice piped up from behind him, “but you’re about to step on my hydrangeas.”

The Green Ninja froze and looked down. Sure enough, there was a pot of hydrangeas just waiting to be planted along the edge of the walkway.

“Oh. Sorry! I was just…” he turned to apologize, but his breath caught in his throat when he recognized the small form behind him.

“Brad?!” Lloyd choked out at the same time as Brad exclaimed, “Lloyd?!”

They stared at each other for a moment. Lloyd hadn’t even considered that being here meant he could easily run into one of his old classmates. He had no idea how to respond to this sudden reunion. Sure, they had parted ways amicably last time, but a lot had changed since then. Lloyd had changed, even if it was mostly his appearance.

“I…” he began awkwardly. Brad seemed no better prepared to process this turn of events.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with the delicacy of a cat coughing up a hairball.

“Nya.” Answered Lloyd, whose brain was suddenly only capable of one word responses.

“Oh. Right. Mr. Cole said she was fine and that Mr. Jay was just being a drama queen when he said she might die, but he didn’t mention anything about you…” Brad offered flushing slightly.

“I, uh, got here really late last night.” Lloyd explained. The smaller boy nodded.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They both just kind of stood there, not saying anything, for what felt like an eternity. Had they really already run out of things to say?

“Do… do you have anywhere you need to be?” Brad asked, finally. Lloyd shrugged.

“Breakfast. Eventually. Why?”

Brad returned his shrug.

“Dunno. Guess I was thinking maybe we could climb the tree. For old times sake?” he suggested, looking surprisingly vulnerable. Lloyd wasn’t entirely sure what the boy was really going for with this idea, but something inside of him desperately wanted to temporarily ignore the call of food. To pretend he was just a normal kid with a normal life, instead of an ageless war hero. And so, he decided that a few minutes hanging from the branches of a tree wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Okay.” Said Lloyd, surprising Brad.

The branches were much easier to reach now that Lloyd was taller. One of the few good things to come from that change, he supposed. He followed Brad up into the canopy of the tree, where the leaves created a delicate wall separating them from the outside world. They each claimed a branch, and sat, staring at each other.

“So. It’s been awhile.” Brad spoke first. Lloyd appreciated his efforts.

“It has,” he agreed.

“You’re way taller now.” Observed Brad. Lloyd had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He’d resigned himself to the comments about his height a long time ago, but the reminder still stung more than it should have.

“I am.”

“Do you have any idea how weird it is to be the shortest in class now?” Brad asked abruptly.

“You… you’re- you’re the shortest?” Lloyd snorted. It was strange how easily their interaction had spiraled into something more familiar, less awkward.

“Yep,” the dark hair boy bemoaned, “Even Sally’s taller than me now. Mr. Zane says that’ll change when I hit pooburty, but I’m not so sure I believe him.”

“I mean, Zane’s pretty much right about everything, so don’t give up hope yet, I guess?” Lloyd offered, smiling lopsidedly at his mispronunciation of puberty (a word that had been explained to him following the tea incident).

“I won’t.” Brad decided. He plucked a leaf and watched it flutter to the ground below. They fell into another, more comfortable, silence.

“So.” Lloyd said after awhile, trying to strike up another conversation.

“So. I… I should probably thank you. And apologize.” Brad stated, sounding more serious than before. Lloyd frowned and asked, “For what?”.

“Thank you for what you did when you visited last time – showing all of us that we didn’t have to be bad like everyone expected us to,” Brad told him, “and I wanna apologize because you should never have had to put up with everything I’ve done to you. I know it wasn’t- I wasn’t nice to you at all. And that sucks because you were my friend, and friends shouldn’t be so horrible to each other.” He finished, looking sad. Lloyd had never expected to get closure from anyone who had been a part of his experience at Darkley’s, not really. All the hurt and fear had started to dull after so many months away, and he had been fine with that. It was easier to just try to move on and forget. So the apology struck him harder than he would have expected. He brushed a quick hand over his eyes (which were suddenly damper than they should have been) and scrambled to find the right words.

“Oh. I didn’t even know if that would work, but I’m glad it did. Everyone deserves to be shown their inner light. And yeah, it does suck that things were like that, I’m not gonna lie. But it’s not like we were taught any better. It’s a learning curve – that whole being nice to other people thing.”

“I… it’s changed a lot for me. I never… I never thought I’d want to do better. But I do. I wanna be the kind of person you are – to help people and make them happy. And my dad, um, finally got arrested. So I’ll be living with my grandparents after the term is over. They’re really excited to have me. It feels so good to be wanted.” Brad told him, brightening. The boy had rarely mentioned his parents, but Lloyd had always known they weren’t really… present in his life. Or good people. It warmed his heart to see Brad flourishing like this.

“Well, congratulations on your new life, then!” Lloyd said, genuinely happy for his… friend. Yes, they were still friends, deep down. Beneath the regret of past mistakes. Beneath the awkwardness of one of them having grown up a bit more quickly than planned.

“Lloyd? I’m really glad we bumped into each other. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea but… it was.” Brad said with a grin, clearly appreciating Lloyd’s encouragement. They had both needed this conversation.

“Me too, Brad. It’s been… nice.” Lloyd agreed. The others were probably looking for him by now, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. They would, as always, find him eventually with those ninja senses of theirs. And they would, of course, be eager to catch up with him themselves, and he them. For now, however, Lloyd was content to stay here in this tree, an old friend by his side.

#ninjago #lloyd #ninjago fanfiction #myfics #of milk and cookies #Brad #Sometimes you write an entire chapter just to give two characters some closure

13 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 4 years ago

Text

Star-Crossed

Previous Story || Current Masterlist

Chapter 7: Memory Lane

Pairing: 10th Doctor x OFC

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles [If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s works/edits, let me know!]

Minerva’s face claim: Victoria Camacho // (Kaeya’s face claim: Michelle Trachtenberg)

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter summary: The Doctor finally gets to confess what he's been thinking about in the past few months. Maybe then he'll feel less guilty.

"You know I can't paint, Doctor. Why not give it a rest?" Minerva sighed as she tried placing down her paint brush for what seemed the billionth time. Every time she did so, the Doctor would pick it right back up and place it in her hand. This time wouldn't be different.

The Doctor took her hand and kept the brush in it, "Nonsense, you're doing wonderful!" He gestured to the canvas in front of them.

Minerva was painting, rather badly she believed, the scenery they had in front of them; a Japanese cherry blossom park. It was Sakura, the cherry blossom festival, and the park was more than beautifully decorated with lanterns that would be lit in the night, families in their respective gatherings, market stands of food and trinkets set up around, and the beautiful cherry blossom trees.

The Doctor had surprised Minerva with this trip in the morning, telling her it was just a random surprise. Secretly, he wanted to bring her somewhere entirely peaceful so she could rest from the crystal's effects and also distract herself from her family problems. The Doctor truly hated how badly Minerva was feeling for things that weren't her fault. All that guilt was mixing with Kaeya's crystal's effects and he was afraid it would damage her health to the point of...well...death. He didn't know just how strong that crystal was but he knew it could go up to terrible stakes. After the planet of the Ood, a planet basically of snow, he wanted to bring Minerva somewhere nice and calm where the crystal was less likely to act.

Though the specific location of the cherry blossom festival wasn't that warm as he wanted it to be. Still, it was a decent cold that humans were used to. But it didn't stop him from actively trying to hand over his coat so Minerva could wear it and stay warm. He doubted her kimono could really be that warm.

But oh that kimono...

As peaceful as he wanted it to be, he could not stop himself from actively trying to steal kisses from her. He wanted Minerva's day to be serene and here he was trying to snog her every opportunity he had. Not very calm, was it?

Minerva was styling a traditional Japanese kimono for the event. She, along with Donna, outright refused to attend the festival without the proper attire. So, Minerva came out wearing a blue and pink flowered patterned kimono that wrapped around her body quite beautifully. The sleeves were bell styled, although not too loose, and her v-neck was a bit lower than usual. Minerva's hair was picked up in a braided bun with a few strands of sticking at the sides of her face. The only thing she'd done differently was that instead of wearing the usual traditional geta sandals, she wore blue flats; the necklace the Doctor had given her for her birthday also dropped proudly around her neck.

The Doctor truly felt like he was being tested. How far could he resist his Clever Girl's charms? She was just too beautiful.

...which made it all the much harder to control himself.

"Doctor, can't we do something else?" Minerva turned to him, oblivious to his thoughts, "It's useless, I can't paint."

"What are you talking about? That-" he pointed to the canvas, "-is wonderful progress!'

The pair stood beside a lake, a small bridge to their right that connected them to the other side of the large park. The Doctor had suggested Minerva try and paint the scenery. The lake was quite beautiful, bright blue with fresh cherry blossoms floating downstream and even a couple of fishes swimming by. The trees were letting dozens of loose cherry blossoms down. It was a scene that deserved to be painted, and who else to paint it than the most beautiful woman in the world?

"It's horrible," Minerva pouted. She had attempted to paint the left side of the lake and she thought all the cherry blossoms were too pink and uneven.

"No it's not," the Doctor wound an arm around her waist as he stared at the canvas. He saw the delicate cherry blossoms painted beautifully and realistically. The half side of the lake was painted with the exact brilliant blue it had. He didn't understand why Minerva was so keen on putting down her work. It was she that had wanted to paint back in China, and she did make progress with blue butterflies!

"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend," she crossed her arms, "But the truth is I stink at it and it's nothing." She shook his arm off her and turned away.

"Hey, where'd that come from?" he reached for her arm and turned her to him, "Putting down your own work like that isn't something you do. What's wrong, Clever Girl?"

"Everything, my family and me...it's all wrong," she looked at the canvas behind them, "I'm nothing," she mumbled sadly.

"Where did that come from?" the Doctor frowned, appalled at such a thought.

"There's something I haven't told you," she fiddled with her fingers.

"Which is?"

She sighed, "Marisol has called a few more times...and I keep answering."

"Why, Minerva?" the Doctor sighed, already seeing where this was headed.

"It's been three days," she looked down, "And I stupidly think each time she's just calling to accept my apologies..."

"Minerva, what on earth could you be apologizing to her for?"

"I don't know!" she started sniffling, "I just wanted to fix something with my family. I thought if I apologized she'd accept it and forgive me for what ever I did...but she hates me, she despises me apparently," she burst into sobs, "She outright despises me and I don't know what I did."

Minerva didn't understand why she garnered so much hatred from her cousin. As a kid, Marisol was always rude to her, making her feel like she was truly nothing. Olivia would try to defend her little sister but she wasn't always there for Minerva, which left it wide open for Marisol to attack. Minerva couldn't remember doing something to provoke Marisol. Marisol just liked making her feel bad for no reason. As children, Marisol would steal Minerva's toys, push her around to the point of actually physically hurting her. And when Minerva would tell her parents, Marisol always convinced them she was innocent and Minerva was lying. And as they grew, things got worse. In middle school, some of Minerva's classes would be in an upper division...into Marisol's classes to her dismay. Marisol would always make jokes to her friends about Minerva, only making Minerva feel worse. Things were now at their worst now that they were both young adults. Over the phone wasn't much of a difference; Marisol would get straight to the point and insult, gloat, and belittle Minerva.

Minerva just didn't understand what she'd done to her cousin.

The Doctor had taken her into a hug with a big sigh, "Minerva, we've talked about this. Stop trying to get forgiveness for something you didn't do. You've done absolutely nothing wrong!"

"No, it seems like I always do everything wrong!"

"No, no you don't. And it honestly surprises me that you would let such an awful woman taint your self esteem like this. You know you're amazing, you know you're clever, skillful, etc., why do you let one of the worst people take that away from you?"

"I...I don't know," she confessed. She honestly didn't. She always had a good image of herself but when it came to her family, it just went down to the sewers. Her family, while running away from them, did mean a lot to her. She didn't care that her parents didn't love them, she did. She loved them and all she wanted was for them to forgive her.

And perhaps that was the problem.

By desperately wanting to be forgiven, she'd accept any insults in hopes that they would see she was truly sorry and forgive her. Since Marisol was closer to her mother nowadays, perhaps the woman could get her mother to forgive Minerva. That's why, when Marisol called those last three days, Minerva did her best to express how sorry she was and how much she accomplished just for her family. But Marisol had other ideas, she kept shooting Minerva down, insulting her in every way possible and gloating just how much she was enjoying the attention Sophia was giving her instead of Minerva. That while Minerva was off doing silly little paintings and traveling, Sophia was giving her love and affection to Marisol instead of her daughter.

And it broke Minerva's heart.

She viewed her painting as something insignificant that could never compare to her mother's love. It was awful, nothing...

"Tell you what, as soon as we get back to the TARDIS, we'll chuck the cellphone into a black hole, yeah?" the Doctor offered, really going to do that despite what her answer was.

"But what will we do when Martha tries to call?" Minerva tried stopping her sobs.

"We'll get a new phone, upgrade it and it'll only have her number."

"And grandma's?"

"Of course," he rubbed her back, relaxing only slightly that she had managed to stop crying.

"And Uncle Aaron's? Astrid's? Jack's?"

" Yes, yes, and...um..."

Minerva giggled at his resistance to add Jack's number. Even though the immortal man had made it perfectly clear he had no interest in Minerva whatsoever, the Doctor was still prone to be jealous. And seeing the kick out of it, Jack would often have some fun.

"Oh I love your giggles," the Doctor sighed, now much better.

"Or...we could just block the number," she offered, "It's a lot easier."

"Blocking it is!" the Doctor nodded as he rubbed her tears off her face, resting his hands over her cheeks afterwards, "Now then, I'd like to see your gorgeous smile."

Involuntarily, Minerva smiled, her face warming up, "So...do you really think my painting is coming out okay?"

"I think it's coming out beautifully. You're making such good progress, really."

"Think I could give Leonardo da Vinci a run for his money?" she glanced at her canvas, perhaps it wasn't that bad...

"Oh definitely, but you'll never compete with him because you're never seeing him again," the Doctor declared.

"Overly jealous, Martian," she informed as she got on her toes.

"Have you seen yourself? I have a right to be jealous," he leaned down to ease her struggle of her toes.

"I'm plain and simple," she declared and kissed him.

That was far from it, the Doctor thought. To him, she was a goddess that seemed to captivate him more with each day.

~ 0 ~

"These are some funny fishes," Minerva remarked, she and Donna knelt down on the edge of the running lake.

"You're telling me, I think that one has only one eye," Donna tried leaning forwards to get a closer look at a fish that had caught her attention.

"What? Where?" Minerva leaned forwards as well, though with her curiosity she nearly slipped into the lake if it hadn't been for Donna yanking her back.

"Minerva they're just fish!" Donna laughed, "You don't need to drown for them!"

"Sorry, sorry," Minerva blushed in embarrassment, pushing strands of her hair behind her ears as she took another look at the lake, "These fish are just marvelous to me," she sighed in content, "Martian, please tell me you didn't see any of that?" she looked behind her to where the Doctor stood. She tilted her head when she noticed he seemed a bit...distant, "Martian?" she called again, her blush slowly fading, "You okay?"

The Doctor blinked, his ears working just fine as he heard her and yet...his mind was somewhere else.

"Where are we going, Kaeya?" the Doctor struggled to walk up the snowy hill. It was a very small hill but with its heavy snow covering every last inch it proved to be quite the challenge for him.

Kaeya simply bit her lip with a knowing smile, "Somewhere. It's really nice and I want to show you."

"Can't you just tell me what it is?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she crossed her arms, "It's a really lovely place, I promise."

"Is there any place on this planet without snow?" he earnestly asked, struggling even more while she stood just a couple feet away in calmness.

"This is the Silver Monsoon, there is no such thing as 'snowless'...except for houses."

"Or castles," he murmured, recalling the size of the castle Kaeya lived in. It was simply beautiful and made of ice.

Kaeya laughed, "C'mon," she gently thrust her hand forwards and blew away a clear path for the Doctor, "Before we get caught," she giggled and reached for his hands, pulling him up to where she was. The Doctor blinked at their proximity, their faces just inches away from each other. Kaeya smiled softly, her hands still in his, "Is something wrong?" she quietly asked.

"N-nope," he shook his head and stepped back, blushing, "So where's that place?"

"C'mon!" she let go of one of his hands and used her other to pull him towards a small lake, one that was not iced as was their usual preferred lake to meet up in.

"Another lake?" the Doctor tried not to sound as disappointed as he really was.

"This one's different," she promised as they reached the edge. She let go of his other hand and knelt down, passing a hand through the lake, "Isn't it beautiful?" she looked at the creatures swimming peacefully in the lake, "When you brought me the book of aquatic life on Earth, I kept thinking of this lake. I think it has the most beautiful aquatic creatures the Monsoon has to offer. They're marvelous," she sighed happily, "Don't you think?" she looked up.

The Doctor nodded, kneeling down beside her and dipping his hand into the lake, "Quite," he looked at the princess with a soft smile, she returning the gesture.

"Oi, spaceman?" Donna called, finally managing to get through the silent man.

"Huh? Yes?" the Doctor blinked rapidly as he looked at the two women.

"Are you okay?" Minerva stood up, dusting herself off as she walked up to him.

"Y-yes," he nodded.

"You seemed kind of lost."

"And more than usual," Donna added from behind.

"Thank you Donna," the Doctor cast a small glare her way before taking Minerva's hands in his. "I was just thinking, nothing important."

"Are you sure?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, "It's been happening a lot lately. Anything on your mind?"

"Just you, dear," he gave her a peck.

Minerva chuckled lightly, "Smooth, Martian."

"Always," he grinned and placed another kiss on her lips.

"Em, so how about before you start snogging we head over for some lunch?" Donna cleared her throat before the pair got lost and forgot she was there.

"Lunch sounds delightful," the Doctor said as he held one of Minerva's hand in his up, "Would you care for some good ole lunch, dear?"

"Is that another date?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Mm, yes, but this one has no adrenaline in it, I'm afraid."

"Well, you'll have to make it up to me somehow," she warned with a smirk.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll definitely find a way," he kissed her hand and led them off.

Donna gave a mock roll of the eyes before following them. Suddenly, she felt like she had seen a faint blue glow behind her. She turned around and scanned the area but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She shook her head and continued walking after the pair, figuring she'd imagined it.

~ 0 ~

"Fish cakes?" Donna Noble asked, watching in disgust as the Doctor picked one up, "As in...fish...cakes?"

"Please don't eat it, Martian," Minerva pleaded, doing her best to keep her self calm. She sat on the man's lap, Donna sat across them on a lunch table, "I won't kiss you anymore if you do."

The Doctor grinned, waving said cake in his hand, "What? This wasn't for me, silly," he tapped her nose.

"Then who-"

The Doctor stuffed her mouth with the fish cake, raising his eyebrows as he awaited for her to chew and swallow it...

...much she liked forced him to drink her coffee and strawberry crepe in 1969.

Minerva made faces as she forced herself to chew, the thing was horrible! Donna was smiling in amusement, knowing it was just the Doctor trying to mess with the Clever Girl and get her to smile. Neither knew it was also for a bit of sweet revenge Minerva owed him.

"So, how was it?" the Doctor asked, smirking, when Minerva had swallowed.

"H-horrible," she shivered and reached for a napkin off the table, "That was horrible! Why'd you do that!?"

"You did that to me in 1969, your birthday!"

"But I made you drink maple syrup coffee! That was sweet, not disgusting! And I gave you strawberry crepes! Those two were delicious and it didn't make your breath smell bad! You smelled like strawberries and I like strawberries," she started pouting, the Doctor internally sighing as he knew she would get him to do anything she wanted when she did that, "I smell like fish and no one likes fish! And now you're not gonna wanna kiss me anymore cos I said if you ate it I wouldn't kiss you anymore and-"

The Doctor had went ahead and kissed her.

Donna rolled her eyes and reached for a strawberry, how Minerva didn't see that coming she did not know.

"Delicious," the Doctor parted, smiling softly at his Clever Girl that still seemed in doubt.

"Really?"

"I could gladly go ahead and prove it again," he shrugged innocently.

"Don't you dare, spaceman," Donna called, not about to see a snog while she ate, "I wanna keep my food in my stomach."

Minerva blushed and reached for a grape, while the Doctor may not be affected by the fish cake she sure was. She picked several up and dropped them into her mouth, "Sorry Donna," she chewed.

"Tell me, how did Martha stand you two?" the ginger joked, shaking her head.

"She left when we got together," the Doctor said absently, stroking Minerva's side of her face. He just loved how smooth and warm her skin was, knowing, and practically beaming, it was red and warm because he was touching her.

"Smart Martha," Donna mumbled.

"We should go visit her soon," Minerva suggested, really excited to introduce her best friend to her ginger sister, "I'm sure you two would get along really well!"

"Anytime you want to go, just say the word," the Doctor said to Minerva. He would secretly want to see their old companion as well, but Minerva's need was much stronger than his. They were best friends and of course phone calls wouldn't be the same. And besides that, Martha was really the last companion they could actually visit. Rose wasn't here anymore, nor Mickey, so those two were out of the question.

"We should," Minerva nodded, "Martha said she was going to be transferred to the states for her UNIT work. Apparently they found an odd case in a hospital or something like that. Dr. Jones, on the case!"

"She's a doctor, now?" the Doctor asked, surprised he had missed that important detail.

"UNIT rushed it for her since she was a bit...experienced," Minerva smirked, "Because you know, who's better at saving the earth from aliens than the woman who saved the planet on her own?"

"Well...I helped too you know," the Doctor mumbled, mock offended.

"I know you did, that's why you got me!" she pointed at herself with a beam and laughed.

"What a reward," he Eskimo kissed her, both chuckling, "I'd stay another year locked up just to get you."

"Really? In all those awful conditions the Master had you in?" Minerva asked and the Doctor simply nodded. Minerva blinked, surprised he'd willingly be in a cage just for her.

But the Doctor was quite sure of himself. All that horrible year the only thing he had to do to pass the time was think...and in thinking, his mind always wandered to the Clever Girl, Minerva. He would think about their time together, ever since Rose's departure, and he cursed himself for wasting so much time. Those times in 1913, as short as it was. were precious to him. As a human, he truly had fallen in love with Minerva. That woman had worked her way into his hearts with such ease and in such a short time it actually shocked him. He especially thought about their kisses, oh their kisses...even as an elderly man his hearts beat at the speed of a teenager when they came into mind. The one that really stuck in his mind was the one in 1969, the "secret" kiss as he thought before. It had been a kiss that he had went for, as wrong as it was to practically steal it from Minerva, but it was the kiss that made him accept his feelings for her and that's why he though about it the most.

So then he cursed himself for wasting all the time before that. Sure, it was about half a year in Earth terms where he started falling for Minerva, but it was precious time for Minerva and her human lifespan. He could've done so much in six months, taken her to the most amazing places he could think of. He could've had her in his arms, comforting her when she needed to be, kissing her when he'd like...he'd wasted all that time and it only made it harder to look at the poor girl being tortured by a man he was responsible for. The Master, the man who killed his past love, had been to the brink of killing Minerva.

He liked to think that the year-that-never-was was more of a punishment for him hurting Minerva. The only thing he loathed was that Minerva had also been punished. And, even after so much of her pain, she still accepted him. In a miracle, he'd finally gotten his Clever Girl.

"I would without a doubt, of course you'd have to be safe and sound and far away from the Master," he tapped Minerva's nose.

She blushed, "You're so sweet.."

"And since silence has fallen..." Donna swayed her head, there was another kiss to be shared.

"Believe me, dear, no one compares to your sweetness," the Doctor looked his Clever Girl over, neither him or her hearing Donna's remark.

He looked at the woman on his lap and simply could not believe he could have gotten her, even more that she actually wanted to be with him. He...was no good man, he knew. Minerva was the complete opposite; despite having a horrible childhood, she was absolutely sweet and kind, a little too much for her own good he often admitted. And having those qualities, he didn't know why she wanted him when she deserved someone much better, a kind, a good man...someone who hadn't killed an entire species. But for her Minerva to openly decide she wanted him, even after knowing what he'd done, a Martian who was a gazillion years older than her, was simply 'wow'. There were no other words that came into mind. It was a miracle.

Minerva blushed deeper as his eyes lingered on her, "Believe me, you're worth all the tortures," she leaned in and the two kissed.

"I really dread to think what you did before I came along," Donna took a sip of her drink as the pair parted.

"We behaved," Minerva replied, looking at the Doctor with a sly smile as she bit her lip, "Just like Martha said to, right Martian?"

"Y-yes," the Doctor cleared his throat.

Donna didn't need to know they snogged almost all the time during their first months of being in a relationship, it wasn't as if they did something they shouldn't have. They simply kissed and spent all their time together, going on dates, giving each other educational lessons like Minerva teaching the Doctor how to use a blender and he teaching her a new language. They only kissed at times...well, whenever they got something right on their lessons...or when they were happy...or sad...or crossed...or...just in the mood.

Donna just smirked, as if they could pull one over her, "Yeah right, let me guess: you snogged in the console room, kitchen, pool, library, Minerva's painting room, and I'm willing to bet every last part of the universe."

"Shut up," was all the pair had to sat on that topic.

"Just know that when I meet Martha I'm telling on you," Donna smirked even wider when the pair blushed deeply, "That's right, you're both in big trouble."

"I'm not afraid of Martha," Minerva shrugged, looking at the Doctor to see he was actually a bit more concern, "Martian?"

"It's a bit easier for you not to be afraid, dear," he leaned to her ear and whispered, "I'm the one that's snogging her best friend."

"Yeah, which I give consent to!"

"Still..." he mumbled and looked away.

"Aww, don't worry, I'll protect you from big bad Martha," she pecked his lips.

"You two are ridiculous," Donna remarked, "You find an excuse to turn everything into a kiss."

"If you want Donna, I can set you up with someone," Minerva offered, "Like I said, there's some planets with some real good looking aliens."

Donna pretended to think about it,"Well...I don't know, I might get stuck with a long streak of nothing like you did," she gestured to the Doctor.

Minerva laughed which then made Donna laugh...all while the Doctor frowned and looked between both women.

"This is my cue to leave," he declared and moved to get up.

"N-no!" Minerva pushed him down. Before she was forced off his lap, "I'm sorry, Martian. You know I don't think that," she rested her head on his shoulder and absently stroked his chest, "You're wonderful."

"Kiss up!" Donna called.

"Shut up, Donna," Minerva lifted her head and kissed the Doctor's cheek, "So, am I forgiven?"

"I can't really say no to that face," the Doctor sighed, "So yes."

Minerva beamed and gave him another kiss, "Yes!"

"Oi, here eat this before you snog," Donna chucked Minerva a grapefruit which she barely caught.

"Hm, I've never had grapefruit," Minerva shrugged before eating a bit...only for her spit it out to the side, "And I never will again!" she pursed her lips together and shivered, "Now that was really awful. It's sour!"

The Doctor blinked at her, finding her adorable and yet in the back of his mind...there was something else that popped up.

"So what exactly is this?" Kaeya blinked as the Doctor placed a brown basket in front of her. Without waiting for an answer, she dropped to her knees and started picking up the various types of food inside.

"It's fruit from Earth," the Doctor replied as he squatted down beside her, "They brought some to Gallifrey just for some tastes and so..."

Kaeya glanced at him with a smirk, "You 'borrowed' them?" she raised an eyebrow.

The Doctor stared at the basket with a small smile, "Perhaps..."

"You realize you can't borrow food, right? I'm sure that's a similarity your planet and mine share."

"They won't miss it," the Doctor waved it off and picked up a fruit, a grapefruit, "Try some."

Kaeya took the fruit and and tore it apart in a wonky half, "Try it with me," she held one half for him. The Doctor took the half and awaited her to prepare, "Ready?" she asked and he nodded, "Bite!"

Both took a bite of their fruit at the same time and garnered different tastes. The Doctor thought of it sweet but Kaeya thought it was plain sour!

The Doctor let out a big laugh when Kaeya started making faces, the princess spitting out what was left in her mouth, "No, no, no, that is VERY bad!" she decreed.

"What? It was good!"

"No, it was bad," she threw her half and then snatched the Doctor's to throw it as well, "Grapefruits are not allowed on the Monsoon. Never, never, never."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment and smiled, "You're adorable."

Kaeya blushed, "You're not so bad yourself," she chuckled and started searching through the basket again.

The Doctor shook his head upon returning back to the present moment, something that didn't go missed by Donna. Minerva was too busy looking for something decent to eat to notice anything.

"Minerva, do you mind?" the Doctor quietly gestured if she would allow him to stand.

She looked at him and nodded, "Sure thing," she stood and was immediately sat down when he had stood, "Is something wrong?" she asked when she noticed how pale he'd gotten so suddenly.

"Yeah," he swallowed, "Just, um, gonna go see about some horses."

"Oh no, no horses please," she pouted, "You know how I feel about them."

"Don't worry," he smiled, "Your Martian will be right there protecting you from the big bad horses," he teased and set a kiss on her lips.

"He better be or I'll kill him," she warned weakly after their kiss.

The Doctor smiled and set another kiss but on her head, "I'll be back," he whispered and walked off.

What was going on with him? Why did his mind choose to play this games with him!? He was happy where he was, he wanted Minerva, he lo...he wanted her and only her. Why must he keep thinking of Kaeya?

"Oi, spaceman!" he heard Donna holler behind. He looked over his shoulder to see the ginger grabbing the side of her kimono in order to catch up to him, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Donna, don't leave Minerva alone," he shook his head.

"Oh, she didn't mind. I told her I was getting changed for that horse thing. Mention horses and she wants nothing to do with it apparently," Donna shrugged, "But in reality I came for you. What's going on?"

"Nothing, why would you think something's going on?"

"I'm no idiot," she whacked his arm, "I've noticed how distant you've grown at times, like you're just not there with us. Now I told you this before, spaceman, I'm here to help both you and Minerva. What's the matter, eh?"

"I don't want to leave Minerva-"

"And yet you don't want to be with her right now and that means something truly bad is going on," Donna crossed her arms, "C'mon, I told you once to tell me the story. I'll listen, promise," she put a hand on his arm.

The Doctor looked past her towards the table where Minerva had been left in and sighed, "Find someone to keep her company, please? It won't be right to leave her."

Donna nodded, "Yeah, I'll get one of the new friends we made."

"Just no men around her age," he warned, "...or any man actually."

Donna laughed, "Yeah, got it," she gave a thumbs-up and hurried to do her task.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Donna walked through the small woods that served as a place for the horse riding to take place in, Donna now changed into more comfortable clothes including a a purple jacket with a black blouse, jeans and small black boots. Donna had convinced Minerva to spend some time with one of the families they had met earlier in the day while they were off 'horse riding'. With her terrible fear of horses, Minerva hadn't even questioned it and simply went with the family.

"So, wherever and whenever you want to start," Donna sighed lightly, doing her best to be patient with the Doctor.

He'd been silent (for the first time) for a quite a while now and Donna feared he'd never talk. But the Doctor took a breath and decided to go with the most urgent thing at the moment, "I keep thinking of Kaeya," he declared. He looked down when Donna's eyes widened, feeling ashamed of himself.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's been happening lately, and it's bad I know, but...I can't stop it."

"Well, do you have feelings for her?"

"No, no, I just...look, Kaeya was and will always be something truly important in my life. She was my first love, a love that was never lived," the Doctor swallowed, "But I've got Minerva now." Just at the mention of her name he felt himself slowly relax and even smile a little, "She's my everything and I don't want to lose her by telling her about this."

"What do you think of Kaeya right now?" Donna decided to ask, perhaps there was a different reason for seeing the other woman that the Doctor hadn't picked up on.

"It's weird, I..." the Doctor paused to gather coherent words in his mind, "...sometimes, there's these little things that Minerva does or says that...remind me of what Kaeya used to do. I never really noticed how similar they are at times. It's peculiar to me."

"But they're not completely the same are they?"

"No, they're both kind women but there's sharp differences between the two," the Doctor nodded with assurance, "Kaeya never spoke out, she never had the courage to do what she wanted, no matter how much it harmed her. Minerva does, she did. She left her parents and went out to travel because she wanted to. Minerva's bold, she's got attitude, she's got sass, and..." he smiled softly, "...she's one woman you do not mess with."

"Except for when it comes to her family," Donna added with a sigh, making him sigh in agreement.

"That's all their fault, not Minerva's," he said, "She's all those things I just said because it's her personality. Kaeya always dreamed of being like that..." he sighed, "...but it never happened."

"Well listen, it's my understanding that you and that princess shared centuries together so naturally it's going to be popping into your head at times, but I wouldn't worry about it. What I think is going on is that you've never really spoken about her to anyone but Kaeya herself. I think you have all these memories of her that are trying their best not to be forgotten."

"So what do I do about it?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Talk to me about her," Donna nudged him, "C'mon, tell me about this snow princess."

"What do you want to know?" he raised his shoulders awkwardly. He would think a sister, whether by blood or not, would never want to hear about her sister's boyfriend's past love.

"Why didn't you ever take her away from that planet?" Donna began at the very beginning of her curiosity.

"The Moontsays are bound by the cold, they'd need to adapt slowly to warmer climate and Kaeya never had that opportunity. If I were to take her somewhere, she'd die."

"Ouch," Donna made a face, "So that's why you visited her instead?"

The Doctor nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Yeah. At first, when I had no TARDIS of my own nor a family, I would steal the TARDIS I have now from its place and take it for a joyride to the Monsoon."

"Didn't you get caught?"

"I knew when to take it; I had every visit to the Monsoon perfectly calculated...when to go and when to come back."

"You were on a tight schedule, then? Blimey, what a 'date'," Donna chuckled.

"It had to be that way," the Doctor shrugged, "Kaeya had to sneak away from her home, from her guards, everyone. We'd usually meet on this lovely iced lake."

"And what did you do all that time you were there? I doubt you paraded down her city's streets or anything like that," Donna smirked, "What did you do, spaceman?"

"Donna," the Doctor looked away with a deep blush on his neck that slowly crept onto his face.

"This was before you met Minerva, everyone's got a past, no need to be ashamed," Donna shrugged.

"We didn't do anything bad," the Doctor assured but kept receiving elbows on his side like Minerva would, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Tell me the truth!"

"Ow!"

"Spaceman!"

"Alright fine," the Doctor stepped away from Donna, his hands in front of him to protect himself from the ginger, "So...you have to understand, Donna. I first saw Kaeya as a child, both of us, and I continued to see her each year for a couple minutes before the spaceship I was in would fly away from the Monsoon. One year, as a teen, I tried sneaking out of the ship to see her, and I was caught, so I went a long time before I saw her again."

"Aw, that's sad," Donna made a face.

"It was, that's when I stole a TARDIS for the first time, the TARDIS I would one day really steal and never give back," the Doctor smiled, "But by the time I did that I was over the age, a 'young adult' as Earth terms would proclaim. Kaeya was no longer that child I saw from a ship. She was...a beautiful young woman," he breathed, "She kissed me that first time we met face-to-face."

Donna rolled her eyes, "Is there any woman you haven't snogged?" the Doctor gave her a look up and down to answer her question and so Donna immediately pointed at him, "And it's staying like that," she warned.

"Kaeya and I...we knew nothing could happen, at least for the moment," he continued his story, actually finding it easy to talk to Donna for some reason, "But we still 'courted' as she used to say. We kissed, we had small dates on parts of the Monsoon, but it never went beyond that," he turned serious at the last words, "Never. I had plans for us, I wanted to marry her and take her away and show her the universe...but it never happened," Donna set a hand on his arm for encouragement, "One day my parents decided to arrange a marriage for me, claiming it was for the best. Of course they didn't know I'd been secretly visiting the princess of the planet most Time Lords despised. They'd chosen a woman for me, a 'proper' Time Lady."

"Did you tell them?" Donna asked quietly.

"I didn't have plans to tell my father, he was one to truly advocate against Moontsays. But my mother, she...was neutral. She never said anything kind but never anything bad about Moontsays. I wanted to tell her, but..." the Doctor shrugged and looked down, "...I was a coward. I felt everything was out of my control. There was a bride chosen, my bride apparently, and I was to marry her."

"What did you do, then?"

"I ran straight for Kaeya," he swallowed, "She was waiting for me like always, this big smile on her face as soon as I stepped out...but then she saw me...and she knew something was wrong."

"You told her," Donna gave a small, sad smile, "You did the right thing, you know? Most men would have simply stopped coming altogether, or worse...lie to her about it."

"She was the only one I couldn't lie to. I told her everything, and...you know how I told you she'd let Minerva and I be if we really wished?" he asked and Donna nodded, "I know she would do that because that's exactly what she did the first time. She actually encouraged me to marry another woman," he bitterly laughed, "That was Kaeya, too sweet for her own good."

"Like Minerva," Donna remembered his words from the beginning.

The Doctor nodded, "Kaeya didn't get angry, she didn't yell, she just...told me to go marry."

"Oh, that's...that's awful," Donna couldn't really find any more to say about that. There was nothing to be said. The woman gave up her love without a fight, just like the Doctor assured she would this time around when she'd find Minerva.

"After that, all our courting ended," the Doctor continued, this time uncaring if Donna was listening. He simply wanted to get it off his chest, let the emotions take over once and for all to finally stop thinking of the princess. Donna had been right, he needed to stop bottling it and just let it go.

"Anything that went beyond friendship vanished between us," the Doctor said, "I didn't want to stop seeing her, even if friends was the only thing we would ever be. But before getting married, I met my bride-to-be and I told her everything."

"You did that!?" Donna blinked, "Isn't that a big no-no!?"

"I thought maybe if I told her, she'd break things off and I'd be free again..." the Doctor shook his head, "...but she told me it was fine. She had no intention to break what ever was going on with Kaeya and I. She didn't want to be married, she apparently had had her own love who passed away. She wanted no love from me, she said she was only doing this for her family. But there was never to be any love between us. Actually," he took a breath, "She encouraged me to go see Kaeya whenever I could. She understood perfectly what it was to have a real love."

"That's big of her," Donna remarked.

"She was a good woman, I never had one complaint about her. Admittedly, if I had to have been in an arranged marriage, it would've been with her. She understood what my situation was like, the only difference being her love had died a couple months before her family told her about the arranged marriage. There was only thing she wanted in the world," the Doctor took in a breath, "A child. She wanted a child to dedicate her life to."

"Oh, see she didn't go light on the question," Donna gave a small chuckle.

"As a wife she had a right," the Doctor sighed, "But every time I saw my children, I couldn't help wonder what they would be like if they were..."

"Kaeya's?" Donna raised an eyebrow, smiling when the Doctor nodded, "It was impossible not to think of that."

"Throughout all that time, all those centuries, Kaeya was there for me. She loved seeing the pictures of my children, even grandchildren. She said she loved them because they were mine, and I knew she was telling the truth. She met one of them, you know."

"She did?" Donna blinked, "What happened!?"

"She met my granddaughter, Susan," the Doctor let a small laugh as he remembered at day, "Along with her two teachers, our current companions at the moment. They got along so well it stunned me."

"You expected some cat-fight or something?"

"No, Susan wasn't the violent type, but...this was a woman that was not her grandmother. Obviously, I was a bit afraid of what could happen," the Doctor smiled as he sighed in content, "But Kaeya was so kind, so welcoming. They grew to be very close, Kaeya even admitted once to me that she liked to pretend that Susan was our granddaughter."

"Did she ever...marry herself?" Donna curiously asked, "Have any grandchildren of her own?"

"No," he shook his head, "She remained unwed her entire life. She claimed she didn't want anyone else that wasn't me. I told her, I begged her, to make her own life. I even offered to stop visiting her if that would help her move on..."

"And what she say?" Donna could guess the answer by his shameful face.

"Never," he whispered, "She stayed single and waited for me to visit. After things ended with my marriage, I tried to tell her she needed to make her own life. Heck, I even decided to age just so that she could distance herself from me."

"You 'decided' to age?" Donna raised an eyebrow, "I thought you didn't."

"Well, the first incarnation you can decide whether or not you want to age, of course if you do decide to age ultimately you'll have to regenerate due to old-age."

"And you thought Kaeya would be that shallow she'd stop loving you because of some wrinkles and gray hair," Donna said in amusement.

"I made the mistake," the Doctor nodded, "She never stopped, despite the little phases I went through. Each incarnation she greeted me with open arms and a kiss on the cheek, nothing beyond that though. We kept true to our word, friendship only. She died when I was so far away, at least I thought she did, and I've lived with that guilt for so long now."

"But she's coming back," Donna reminded, "And you think of her because of your guilt. Of course there's going to be similarities between her and Minerva but that doesn't mean anything bad. I bet there's similarities between Minerva and I."

"Oh, there are," he cut her off, "Both bold, sassy-"

"I'd be very careful with your words, spaceman," Donna wagged a finger, "But my point is, let the past go. Kaeya is coming back and eventually she will make her own life. The past is the past, it's okay to spare her a thought now and then," she set a hand on his arm.

"But why now? Why when I'm happy am I thinking of her?" he insisted.

"There's no real answer for that," Donna sighed, "But perhaps it's because, like you said, that love with her was never lived, and now that you've found someone you can have...old memories come back. But don't fret about it."

"Should I tell Minerva of this?" he turned to her, nervously awaiting an answer.

"I think only you can decide that," she pointed, "I won't say anything, I'm gonna say that right now. It's not my story to tell."

"I'm afraid, Donna," he admitted, "I'm afraid of how she'll react to it."

"Just think on what's right for her and you, you'll figure it out," Donna assured and gave him a hug, practically knowing what he was going to do already.

~ 0 ~

Eventually, the Doctor and Donna had found Minerva back at the par. They found she had changed from her kimono, claiming it had gotten cold. She had grabbed a green, loose blouse with a black three-quarter sleeved blazer, and her silver necklace. She wore dark blue jeans and black, knee length boots with a small heel. Her hair remained in its bun although with the rubbing she had just done, it grew messier at the top.

The trio were looking at a nearby pond back in the woods, one that seemed to be full of fishes, even several frogs on their lily pads. Donna was really engulfed in them, hearing the Doctor explain what each fish was and what they did. Minerva was also interested...but she couldn't help feel like something was watching them. Every now and then she would look around in case there actually was someone stalking them. But there was absolutely nothing...and then...

She heard whispers...in her head.

It was like a couple voices were overlapping with each other, all trying to say something but nothing was coherent. She rubbed her temple, happening to look back and see a...a...blue light? Yes, it was a blue light. And it seemed to almost...glow. It was like a blob of blue light just floating in midair. She knew that light, at least she think she did. It was the same one that had appeared in the Valiant, not to mention the one that had teleported her out of the Titanic spaceship. But what was it doing here? And why did she feel like it calling her? Without thinking, she found herself walking away from the Doctor and Donna, the two distracted to notice her leave.

Minerva was determined to see what exactly that light was, why it had chosen to save her. She walked further into the woods, trying to pay attention to the whispers she kept hearing. However, everything was so jumbled up she couldn't make out anything coherent. She came to a stop in a small clearing where the blue light stayed by some trees ahead of her.

"Who are you?" she decided to speak out in a calm way. If she angered what ever it was, she may regret it and that was something she didn't want, "Listen, I guess you're alive, looks like it," she studied the light, "What do you want?"

The blue light glowed at her words, consuming the trees ahead of her. Ice started emerging from the roots, quickly rapping itself around the trunks...branches...leaves...

And then it rushed front the roots to the ground, almost chasing towards Minerva.

Minerva screamed and jumped back, "What are you!?" she cried, feeling her chest tighten for some reason. She felt...cold. She placed her hand over her heart, feeling it compress her chest, making it harder to breath.

"Minerva!?" she could hear the Doctor call, Donna calling after her a second later.

"H-here!" Minerva tried to yell but the air was leaving her body rapidly. She fell to her knees, her hand clutching her chest. The light reached up to her knees, just barely touching her. She screamed again. She could have sworn the ice hissed, like it was also in pain. She stared at the light suddenly rush away from her, almost running away her. She blinked, hugging herself while she shivered, her eyes watching the light seemingly fading...in a near sad manner. With it, the ice started disappearing into nothing.

"There you are!" the Doctor ran out from behind, dropping beside her to check what was wrong. He'd only heard her first scream and immediately realized she wasn't with then anymore, so he bolted to find her.

Minerva trembled as she pointed ahead, the Doctor turning just as Donna arrived to see the last of the ice from the tree's leaves disappearing.

"What the hell is that!?" Donna gaped.

"It was the light, the blue light from the Titanic" Minerva looked at the Doctor, "I think...I think it was hurt. It touched me and it got hurt, just like me. Doctor my chest hurts, a lot," she screwed her eyes shut from the pain, "It's like I can't breath!"

The Doctor knew it was the crystal complicating it for her and quickly took her into his arms. In extreme cases like these he could treat it like asthma and give her an inhaler. But he needed the TARDIS and so he quickly headed to the box, "It's okay, it's okay, shhh," he rubbed her back.

Donna had stayed behind and frowned as she stared ahead, tilting her head in confusion. She looked around and saw a small spot where ice had remained near a trunk of a tree.

"Donna!" he heard the Doctor shout for her.

Donna quickly turned and ran to catch up with the pair, "Is she going to be alright?" she looked at the barely conscious Minerva.

"Yeah, I just have to get her somewhere warm and give her an inhaler," the Doctor replied with haste.

"But I don't want to leave the festival," Minerva complained quietly.

"You're not staying, Clever Girl," he shook his head.

"Please, I want to stay in the festival."

"Minerva, I'm putting you to bed and that's that," the Doctor declared. But with that look she was giving him, a sad hopeful look, with her face stained of tears...he knew it wouldn't be easy to keep his word.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was reading over Minerva's test results in the TARDIS med-bay, heavily sighing as he reached the end.

"Well?" Donna asked, standing beside him.

She had returned from checking on Minerva in her room, the girl asleep with dozens of blankets around her and on, her room's heater on full blast. To her, it literally felt like the freaking sun, but for Minerva...it seemed just right.

"Same as always, simply the crystal," the Doctor laid down the papers on the table in front of them, "And that I'm useless. Nothing new there!" He crumpled up the papers and threw it to a wall.

Donna laid a hand on his arm, "Hey, it's not your fault. You're doing everything you can."

But the Doctor shook his head, he was utterly frustrated because he couldn't do anything for Minerva. The only thing he can do is bundle her up in blankets and blast a heater, fat lot of good that was! He was useless because the one person he truly lo...cared for, was in danger and he couldn't do a damn thing. He couldn't even figure out what that little blue light was!

"It's alright," Donna cut into his thoughts.

"I should be able to cure her," he muttered, "She shouldn't have to live like this...I..."

"But she's happy, and that's what matters."

"Is she? Is she truly happy, Donna? Because I know anyone who lived like this wouldn't be too happy."

"Minerva is happy. And you wanna know why?"

"Enlighten me."

"Because she's with you," Donna smiled when the man's head snapped to hers, actually looking surprised which only made her laugh, "Doctor, she's told me all about you two and how you ended up together. The girl practically beams when you enter the room. And right now, when she feels 'sick', the only thing she wants to feel better is you. You think you're not doing anything for her but you are, you're really helping her just by being with her. Sooo, with that being said," she moved behind him and started pushing him for the doorway, "Go and see if she's woken up yet and make her feel better."

"Donna Noble you are something," he had to smile at the ginger as he was pushed.

"Yeah, yeah, temporal temp, non-important, blah, blah, now go!" she pushed him out to the hallway.

"Yes, but before," he spun around to face her, plopping a kiss on her forehead, "You are very important and I shall not have you running around my TARDIS without knowing so!"

She smiled softly, touched at his determination, "Thank you, spaceman."

"You're welcome," he nodded and went off to find his Clever Girl.

He went straight to her room, opening it just slightly to poke his head inside...only to see her bed was completely empty.

"Minerva?" he called, now coming inside. He looked around and saw no one so he went for the bathroom door, knocking on it several times, "Minerva? Are you in there?" he knocked again and awaited for an answer that never came. Cautiously, he opened the door just a crack, in case she hadn't heard him, "Minerva?" he poked his head inside, seeing no one around and so coming inside. He walked around, seeing nothing.

Where had that Clever Girl gotten to?

~ 0 ~

Minerva rested her back against a tree, her legs propped up to her chest, and her head tilted up as she stared at the dark sky above. She did her best to ignore her shivers or trembles, even if they were small she did still feel cold. She told the Doctor she didn't want to leave the festival yet, and even as the Martian refused to let her stay...he had kept the TARDIS in the festival where they had originally arrived. So, when she woken up and realized neither him or Donna were around...she made her escape.

But as she kept looking up to the sky, her mind seemed to drift back to the blue light she encountered earlier. That light...it felt...odd. It felt familiar in a way, but then again it had protected her back in the Titanic ship so she figured that was the reason behind it. However, she kept thinking on the noise of pain it had given when it touched her. It sounded like it had been in as much pain as she'd been. But that begged the question of why it had tried to touch her. Had it known that it would hurt both parties? Why had it even tried to touch her in the first place? For what purpose? The light was active, that much she knew, classified as alive who knew...but it had made a conscious move towards her. It even talked. She was sure those whispers she heard in her head were coming from the light, but what did it mean?

"I thought I'd find you here," the Doctor came around the tree, startling her out of her thoughts.

She looked up with an apologetic smile for her escape, "You stayed in the festival..."

"Of course I did, my Clever Girl asked me not to go," he held a red blanket in his arms, "I also assumed you had made your escape so quickly that you didn't bother getting something warm," he knelt down beside her and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

"Maybe," she confessed, biting her lip, "Are you mad?"

"No, of course not," he took a seat beside her, "Though I still say you should've stayed in your room where it was warm."

"That's boring," she scowled, "Boo. I wanted to come out and watch the rest of the festival..."

"While you shivered?" he pointed to her trembling body.

"Petty side effect," she waved him off, "Plus, I've got a Martian who always keeps me warm," she smiled slyly.

He caught her smile and shook his head, "You just love testing me, don't you?"

"Because you always fail me when talking about recreational mathematics, yes, I do."

"It's really not that hard, Minerva. I explained to you what the prime numbers was and-"

"La, la, la, la, la," Minerva covered her ears, "La, la, la, no math at a festival, la, la, la-"

The Doctor simply turned her head and kissed her. Minerva laughed against their kiss, she always won that argument. Every time one of the Doctor's lessons were about mathematics, she would push it aside or act so annoying that the man really only had the option of kissing her to make her shut up. Oh well...

"You are sneaky," he rolled on top of her, either legs of his on her sides so he wouldn't hurt her. He didn't weigh too much, at least he liked to think he didn't.

"You're the one that swiftly moved over me," Minerva bit her lip as the Martian neared her lips again.

"Are you still cold?"

She nodded, "My forehead is cold," so the Doctor moved up to kiss her forehead, "And my temples," two kisses were given to her temples, "My cheeks are cold too," she giggled as he kissed her cheeks, "And then these are extremely cold," she tapped her lips.

"You are very demanding aren't you?"

"Mhm."

"Well, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't keep my Clever Girl warm?"

"A very bad one..." Minerva smiled sweetly.

He just laughed and kissed her again. This time, though, he didn't plan on giving her a short little kiss, no...

Minerva's giggle broke through the kiss at the sensation of the Doctor's fingers brushing repeatedly on her sides, "Doctor," she gasped as his fingers moved to her back. Her skin was turning into goosebumps, but the good kind...a good set of chills she never experienced before, chills he provoked with his soft fingers.

Suddenly, though, the Doctor pulled away, feeling guilty about everything he told Donna earlier in the day...something that Minerva had a right to know about as well. He knew what was right. He was already hiding something monumentally big from her, the least he could was tell her of the lesser secret.

"What's going on with you, Martian?" Minerva sighed, her fingers tracing the sides of his face, "You've been acting weird lately, an extra weird for you."

"Minerva, there's something I need to tell you," he moved beside her, wondering if he would be able to hold her hand after he told her about Kaeya.

"What is it?"

"First, I just want you to know that I'm happy with you, okay?" he decided to go for her hand and hold it. At least if she got angry he would have the satisfaction he'd held her hand.

"I'm happy with you too," she smiled and gripped his hand.

"Minerva, I've..." he took a deep breath and let everything go as Donna had said, "...I've been thinking of Kaeya a lot more lately," he shut his eyes and awaited for the worst, even unconsciously gripping her hand in case she wanted to snatch it away from him.

"And?" Minerva blinked.

The Doctor's eyes snapped open and turned completely to face her, "And? What do you mean 'and'?"

"Just what it means," she shrugged.

"Minerva, I just told you I'm thinking about Kaeya, and..."

"You expected me to yell at you or something?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, sighing when the Doctor nodded, "I'll admit, it isn't to my greatest like that you think about her but it's natural. We're searching for her and clearly that's going to bring up some old thoughts about her. But thank you for telling me this," she rested a hand on his cheek, "I feel so special because you were honest with me. Frankly, I'd be a upset if you denied that you've been thinking about her."

"You would be?" he made a face of confusion.

Minerva nodded, "Because then you'd be lying to me," immediately, the Doctor's eyes darted to the side in guilt of his secret. She had no idea of the crystal that laid in her heart and he didn't want to think of what she'd do when she found out, "So it's okay, Martian, I'm not angry," Minerva assured him, "And thank you for taking me into consideration in all this."

"You're not...upset or anything?" he knew a smart person would stop insisting but he needed to make sure she was alright.

"No, truthfully, I've been thinking of her too," she admitted, "There's a lot of things that don't make sense about her encounter with the Master."

"But my thoughts aren't from that moment..." he said shamefully.

"They're from your time together," she finished what he couldn't, "It's okay, Martian. I wouldn't want you to act like nothing happened between you and her. That would be good for no one. I like being realistic, you know that. You think of your ex-girlfriend, to put it in simple terms. Big deal."

The Doctor took her hand off his face and gave it a kiss, "You are absolutely wonderful."

"And you are absolutely brilliant," she countered.

The Doctor leaned forwards and rested his forehead on hers, one of his hands still clutching Minerva's, his other making a trail up and down the side of her face. Her piercing jade-green eyes looked up at him with such softness and kindness in them it made him nearly melt. He felt like he could stay in this spot for an eternity as long as Minerva was right in front of him, the way she was. There were so many feelings rushing through him he didn't know what to say next, or what he could do.

"Minerva, I think I l..."

However, Donna approached the two with a big, red, rectangular gift box in her arms, "Oi!" she hollered, "There you are!"

The Doctor looked back at the ginger and saw the box, his eyes widening when he saw the box, "N-n-n-no! What are you doing with that? That wasn't for tonight!"

"What was?" Minerva asked, looking at him with confusion.

Donna took a seat in front of the two, leaving just enough space between them to place the box in, "Well the TARDIS was humming or whatever it does and then she showed me the gift," Donna explained, "Now what is it?" she leaned forwards with a smile that just screamed curiosity.

"It's not for you," the Doctor snapped then sighed, looking at Minerva, "It was for you."

"Me? But...it's not my birthday, it's not Christmas, no anniversaries or anything..." Minerva blinked, considering any other possible special occasion that could require a present.

The Doctor chuckled as he watched her grow more concerned she'd missed something, "No silly, I just wanted to surprise you. You've been a bit depressed lately so I figured I could help boost your mood up with that," he nodded to the gift.

"In that case, open it!" Donna exclaimed and patted the box.

Minerva sheepishly reached for the present and placed it on her lap, slowly ripping off the wrapping paper from the corners. She could make out a rather large square as she pulled down the paper, but when she opened it...her mouth hung open.

"A new Wahoo," she whispered, passing a hand down the box.

Donna scowled and tilted her head, "What is it?"

"It's um, an old game I used to play with my grandfather when I was a kid. A guy gave me one of these last year for my birthday but...it got left behind in 1969," Minerva looked at the Doctor, smiling softly, "Did you buy me a new one?"

"I figured what could make my Clever Girl happier than her favorite childhood game board?"

She leaned over and gently kissed him, "That could have," she whispered.

"I don't get it," Donna shook her head. How could a silly little game board make everything better? "Minerva, if you already had one why would you want another one?"

"It was left behind in 1969," Minerva reminded, "We were stuck there for a couple of months and a friend I made gave me one of these for my birthday. Though if I do recall..." she looked at the Doctor, "...it had made some one a tad upset..."

"Upset? Why would you be upset?" Donna asked him.

"Because it made her happy and it wasn't me that made her happy," he grumbled.

Just remembering that moment where Minerva had become so excited for the present that Jerome gave her made his blood boil. He wasn't upset she was happy, no. He loved seeing her happy, even back then. But it irritated him knowing that it hadn't been him that made her so excited and happy. It had been another man, another man that clearly had feelings for her and managed to snag a date with her meanwhile himself couldn't even confess his own feelings for her.

He loathed those days in 1969 where Minerva was closer to another man that wasn't him. Only he was allowed to make her smile, comfort, touch her, hug her, only him. And to see Minerva going on a date with Jerome and not him was, was...infuriating. Yes, infuriating because that meant Minerva could've fallen for Jerome and then that would lead to boyfriend and girlfriend and that was something the Doctor wouldn't stand for. That date of hers had been the breaking point of his indecision; the Doctor wanted Minerva to fall for him and only him. He wanted to be the one to ask her on a date, to give her that first-date kiss and hopefully become a boyfriend to her...and not Jerome. He was a helpless jealous idiot, but for Minerva he would be anything.

"Jerome was a nice," Minerva shrugged, biting back her laugh when the Doctor snapped his head to her, already annoyed he was talking about the man, "But I had my feelings somewhere else...on a certain Martian," she looked at him with a sheepish smile, "Now he made me truly happy when he decided to play with me."

"Well, can you teach me how to play?" Donna asked, taking the box from Minerva to look at it, "It looks weird..."

"It's fun, I promise," Minerva assured, gesturing her to start opening it. She then turned to the Doctor, "And you, thank you so much," she lunged on him when she kissed him, successfully pushing him to the ground, "Thank you!" she peppered kissed his entire face.

The Doctor laughed as he reached for her face, stopping her and unfortunately her kisses, "Glad you liked it."

"I promise I won't lose it," she swore before giving him one last deep kiss that left him with a burning desire for more. She sat up and started helping Donna set up the game, "Donna, you're gonna love this!"

The Doctor sat up and reached for the blanket Minerva had dropped behind. He wrapped it around her and scooted closer to her, watching her ecstatically rambling to Donna the instructions for the game. She truly did sound like him when she spoke that fast and excitedly, but she sounded so much better simply because it was her.

#ocappreciation #doctor who #10th doctor #fd: doctor who #dw imagine #dw fics #10th doctor fics #doctor who imagines #doctor who fics #donna noble #oc: Minerva Souza #oc: Kaeya Louvier #fic: star crossed

3 notes · View notes

ineffablefool · 5 years ago

Text

Who would like to share their thoughts on which AU I might start posting after 404 finishes up?

I currently have three AUs which I’ve been hacking away at for some number of months (started one last August, one in January and one in February). None are finished, but all are still more or less alive.

I’m not 100% sure which one I want to start posting first.

This isn’t a poll, and I’m not asking anyone to pick which one comes next, because maybe everyone says one of ‘em but then I decide nope, I’m not feeling it, I’m feeling a different one. But if anyone has Thoughts, I would like to hear them. (I’m also hoping ginning up a bit of interest will help inspire me to A) keep writing all three of them, and B) finish 404.)

So in order of me rolling a d3 via random.org, here’s a little info on the fake dating AU, the umbrella AU, and the Little Mermaid/Shadow Over Innsmouth AU. Behind a readmore. Because long.

Fake dating AU (~13k words so far, mixed POV, very roughly half done) Human!Crowley and human!Aziraphale are “we talk every time we run into each other” friendquaintances; neither knows that the other is smitten with him. For Reasons, they are actively practicing Being Boyfriends in preparation for a specific event, after which they will obviously go back to just being pals. Each half of the duo is simultaneously broadcasting I Love You With Every Fiber Of My Being with his every look and touch, while also thinking Oh But He Could Never Love Me. Like, I am actually going to put a disclaimer on this when I post it. I am writing it to indulge my enjoyment of Ridiculous No-One-Would-Ever-Actually-Act-Like-This Pining. Oblivious dove, do not eat.

“Um. We should probably work out, er.” Crowley couldn’t quite make himself meet Aziraphale’s eyes. “Uh. Touching?”

Aziraphale stared at him without answering.

“If you don’t want to at all that’s fine,” Crowley added, all the words coming out in a rush. “Fine. No — no problem at all, why would there be. We don’t have to —”

“Oh, but we should,” Aziraphale interrupted. “That is — it would be more believable, would it not? We wouldn’t want your mother thinking we were — well — on the outs, as it were.”

Crowley looked down at Aziraphale’s hand on the table again. “Yeah. No, we wouldn’t want that.”

“No.”

Umbrella AU (~12k words, Aziraphale POV, also very roughly half done) Human!Aziraphale (the lovely large arms version) and human!Crowley meet on a rainy day, at a bus stop, when Aziraphale shares his umbrella. They continue meeting at the bus stop every morning, sharing the umbrella (wind and rain and shine), and Aziraphale is very dismayed to find himself falling for Crowley. He’s never been on a date or anything -- nobody has ever found him attractive -- so obviously that isn’t going to be changing *now*. Crowley is awfully nice, though. And he touches Aziraphale, sometimes, little touches on the arm and things, and those are nice too, and. And there’s that nickname he seems to have given him. Oh dear.

“Oh, do stop. I don’t know why I put up with you sometimes.”

“Because I’m so charming, probably.” The words were light and teasing, spoken through that same broad grin. “Said so yourself, you have, and I’m going to hold you to it.”

Aziraphale tried to scowl, but it insisted on becoming a smile. “I was horribly mistaken, I’m sure.”

“Nope, nope, too late to take it back now. I’m charming.”

“Oh, good Lord —”

“Maybe enough t-to even charm an. An angel.”

The laughter dried up in Aziraphale’s throat. It was already gone from Crowley’s voice.

The Little Mermaid/Shadow Over Innsmouth AU No One Asked For (except nicnacsnonsense) (~25k words, Aziraphale POV, very roughly two-thirds done) Aziraphale and Crowley are immortal magical beings, but they’re not an angel and a demon, they’re an amphibious fishman thingy and a no-longer-amphibious former fishman thingy. Six thousand years of pining (including alternate versions of most bits from the Hard Times cold open), now with more gills. Crowley’s side has been trying for a while to bring about a final catastrophic war with Aziraphale’s side, via a variety of plots that Crowley doesn’t begin to know all of. He knows about the one that’s involved a series of not-quite-human children over the centuries, though, because he and Aziraphale have been godfathers to every single one. The latest one lives in Tadfield. (Also, Crowley flirts A Lot and Aziraphale blushes at it every time even though I’ve literally only just realized after eight months of writing this that that probably isn’t how his circulatory system works.) (I really wish there was a place to write Hastur and Ligur in as Flotsam and Jetsam but... there really isn’t. There isn’t even a place for a Fritz The Dolphin. (Flounder who?))

Crowley’s hand on the back of the sofa twitches, and the arm pulls back until his bony jaw is resting on his palm. “We should visit the kid.”

Something in his voice makes Aziraphale close the chocolate box. “Goodness. He must be almost eleven now.”

“Almost. Couple more weeks.” Crowley nabs the chocolates from Aziraphale, opens them up again, and tosses one onto his own tongue. “I don’t think he’s going to turn,” he says around the mouthful. “Not going to come into his power. Same as all the other ones. Too normal.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? No Final War? No having to…”

To stop this… whatever it is that they’ve been doing. To become enemies again.

“No. Yeah.” Crowley shifts a little, moving farther away on the sofa. “No, it’s good. We still… yeah.”

So that’s 50,000 words of Hmm What To Start Posting Next. Thoughts? Questions? Random observations?

#ineffablefool original post #ineffablefool original fiction #ifof: the little mermaid/shadow over innsmouth AU no one asked for #ifof: the umbrella AU #ifof: the fake dating au because why not i guess

29 notes · View notes

my-miraculous-headcanons · 6 years ago

Text

Domesticity : Part 2 of 2

[AO3] [Part 1]

Being sent to the future along with a majority of his classmates wasn’t something Adrien had expected when he went to school that morning, although that on its own wasn’t too much of a big deal if he really thought about it. In situations like these, he would normally tell himself to take a deep breath and keep everyone from getting too nosy. After all, they don’t want to mess up the future by letting their curiosity get the best of them. (And oh, did Adrien know quite a bit about curiosity. Out of them all, it would pain him the most to keep his nature under control.)

Of course, that is what he would normally do.

In this case, however, he found it extremely difficult to keep even a semblance of calm. Because, instead of simply popping up in their classroom six years into the future, they instead were plopped down in a completely different location, which just so happened to be a big, light pink bedroom, currently occupied by two sleeping figures.

Both of which were quickly and easily recognised.

“Holy fuck,” Alya whispered breathily, eyes wide with shocked bewilderment. “Is that— No way, Marinette and... and Chat Noir?”

“Holy fuck,” Nino echoes, confirming that Alya most certainly was not hallucinating, and that the older version of their dear friend was, in fact, resting in bed with Paris’ beloved feline superhero.

Internally, Adrien is repeating the sentiment, while also thanking whatever higher power out there that’s responsible for making sure Marinette was not early that morning.

Out of the class, the only ones to have arrived early was himself, Alya, Nino, Ivan, Mylène, and Alix. As a result, they were the only ones present when the akuma had appeared out of nowhere and began zapping whole classrooms. There wasn’t enough time to even stand up, much less figure out who the akuma is or why they were akumatised. All they had heard was some nonsense about current events, what the future may hold, and then zap! The schoolroom had disappeared, leaving the pink bedroom in its place.

“Maybe we should wake them up,” Mylène suggests, nervously holding onto Ivan’s arm. “I mean, it’s Chat Noir, right? Maybe he’d be able to help us?”

“Not to mention we’re kinda trespassing,” Alix adds. “I wouldn’t exactly be happy if a bunch of uninvited guests just stood around and watched me sleep.”

“Yeah, alright,” Alya agrees. “But hold on a second, let me just...”

And with that, she whips out her phone, leans a little closer, and takes a picture, capturing Marinette’s peaceful, adorable face snuggled up against Chat Noir’s side, and the hero’s... wide, alert eyes, staring directly at the camera, with an expression that screams danger.

Quick as a flash, a clawed hand retracts itself from Marinette’s waist and latches onto Alya’s wrist, squeezing hard enough to weaken her fingers, making the phone slip smoothly from her grip and clatter onto the floor.

Everyone stops breathing.

“And just what,” Chat Noir growls, baring his teeth and showcasing prominent fangs that he most certainly didn’t have in their own time, “do you think you are doing, Mlle. Césaire?”

From this point, Adrien had expected things to snowball from there. Knowing himself, and how horrible he tends to be when he wakes up in the morning, he had believed that things were going to get overly dramatic and a little bit messy. However, he finds himself surprised, because despite his older self clearly being quite a bit ticked off, the man remains patient, waiting for Alya to stutter through an explanation.

“I just wanted— I was going to— I thought Marinette would, uh, would react funny if I. Um. If I showed her a picture like that. I wasn’t going to, like, post it on the Ladyblog or anything, because she’s my best friend I wouldn’t— would never make her a target, so—”

He lets go of her wrist, closes his eyes, then sighs, looking drained despite having just woken up, and thankfully no longer appearing angry. He reaches a hand up to rub at his eyelids, and Marinette, still curled up against his side and resting on his chest, scrunches her eyebrows, bothered by his continued movements. Unconsciously, the hand she has resting on his shoulder whacks him lightly, and she grumbles a bit under her breath.

Chat smiles and dutifully freezes in place, arm still raised and fingers resting on his forehead.

“I’m guessing this was an akuma attack,” the man says. Most of the class nod their heads in response, but Adrien remains completely still and silent, not quite sure how he’s supposed to process the facts placed in front of them.

“Well,” Chat Noir says. “Give me a second to pry Marinette off. I’ll lead you to the kitchen, and we’ll talk there.”

Adrien would like to say that things happened in a blur after that statement, but the truth of the matter was that everything from that point was branded into his mind with crystal clarity. Chat had managed to gently wrestle himself away from Marinette’s grip, but in the process, everyone had gotten a look at what was hidden under the thin covers— and oh, not a single one of them were spared the shame that burned their cheeks.

Adrien, despite being fifteen like the rest of his classmates, was used to seeing women in rather provocative clothing, but the sight of an older Marinette in lacy underwear, however brief, had definitely sent his heart racing. He didn’t know what to think of that. That the many gorgeous underwear models he’s surrounded by left him completely unaffected, but Marinette in anything even remotely suggestive made his blood pump and his breath hitch.

Once Chat Noir finally escaped the bed’s clutches, he locked eyes with Adrien for a split second. In that time, he had smiled knowingly, and winked, before moving on.

“Follow me, everyone. Quietly.”

With that, everyone files out of the room. Chat Noir closes the door behind them, taking one last look at Marinette’s sleeping form, then leads them through the hallway and towards the kitchen. He gestures for everyone to seat themselves at the counter, and starts rummaging through the fridge.

“I’m guessing you guys think I’ll be able to help with your predicament,” Chat Noir says, pulling out a carton of milk and eggs. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to disappoint you, though. The time passing here should be in line with the time passing from where you came from, so until Ladybug defeats the akuma, you’ll be stuck here.”

Alya’s quickly tapping this information away onto her phone, which thankfully did not crack from its previous fall. It’s useful knowledge to have in case of any similar akuma attacks in the future.

“Um, I have a question,” Nino says, raising his hand. Chat doesn’t notice it, his back turned towards them as he fetches some measuring cups, but hums for him to continue. “Okay, so, uh, mind explaining what the hell you were doing in bed with our girl?”

Chat snorts. At this point, he’s taken out a bowl, and is sifting some flour into it.

“We watched some anime and fell asleep,” he says. “Get your minds out of the gutter, you dirty teenagers.”

Nino and Alya squawked indignantly, while Alix burst into laughter and nearly tilted right off the kitchen stool.

“But, um,” Mylène stutters. “What exactly is your... relationship with Marinette?”

“Platonic,” Chat Noir answers without a moment of hesitation. He looks over his shoulder and laughs at their surprised expressions.

“What? I told you to get your minds out of the gutter.”

“Platonic my ass,” Alya cries out. “You think I’m going to believe my girl would willingly sleep, decked out in sexy lingerie, next to a guy friend?! Get real!”

Chat Noir doesn’t offer a real response to that, instead continuing to laugh, and starts whisking the bowl in front of him, now filled with egg, some melted butter, flour, milk, and sugar.

“You,” Adrien starts, then stops with a nervous swallow. He hasn’t spoken at all up until this point, but he can’t bring himself to not ask this. “Are you trying to tell us that you don’t find Marinette attractive at all? Like, whatsoever?”

The smirk Chat Noir sends his younger self is sharp and devious.

“Do you?”

Adrien splutters, face immediately turning red because yes, both in his own time and in the current future, Marinette is very attractive. Clearly, this was his older self’s way of answering the question. Adrien isn’t entirely sure he appreciates the method.

If he feels Nino and Alya’s gazes burning into the side of his face, he chooses to ignore it.

“...Minou?”

Everyone turns to face the direction of the hallway, where Marinette’s groggy voice rings out through.

“Why’d you get up so early?”

“Early? It’s past nine, Marinette,” Chat Noir calls. “Before you come to get your pancakes, put on something opaque, please. We’ve got guests.”

There’s a long pause.

“We have WHAT?!”

Marinette’s voice rings loud and clear, all traces of sleep washed away. Seconds later, a door slams, presumably her bedroom’s, as she rushes to get changed into something more... appropriate.

Not five minutes later, the sound of a door roughly swinging open echoes down the hallway, and loud stomps warn them of Marinette’s incoming arrival. Despite the warning, when she pops into view it still feels abrupt, her eyes wide and worried. Her tense shoulders relax, however, when she finally determines the identities of her guests.

“Oh,” she murmurs. “Akuma?”

“Yeah, they’re from the past,” Chat answers. He turns to face her, bowl in one arm and whisk in the other. “That was a while ago, they’ll probably be back in maybe... the next thirty minutes? Maybe a bit longer? I forgot how long it took us to take akuma down back then, and I don’t know how long it’ll take Ladybug on her own.”

Marinette hums thoughtfully, then smiles.

“Well, I don’t mind. I forgot how cute my class was back then, it’s funny seeing Nino with short hair again! And wow, Alix! You’re tattooless!”

She pulls out a chair from next to Adrien and drags it around to the other side of the counter, seating herself to face all of her former classmates. She opens her mouth, but whatever comes out from that point on, Adrien can’t say. His thoughts wander, from how pretty Marinette looks in the ankle-length blue sundress she put on, to how at ease his older self looks in front of the stove, flipping pancakes.

There’s something about the scene that makes him feel warm. He wants to say it looks homey, which by all rights it is, but that’s not the word he’s searching for.

He’s snapped out of it when a plate of blueberry pancakes is placed in front of him. His older self winks, then places a plate of strawberry pancakes in front of Marinette.

“Alright, that’s everyone. I’ll bring out the syrup and honey.”

Adrien wrinkles his nose.

“Honey? You don’t put honey on pancakes.”

“I know,” Chat says, wholeheartedly agreeing. “Marinette’s a complete heathen!”

Marinette grabs a dry washcloth from beneath the counter, twists it, then snaps it at Chat’s butt. He jumps and shuffles away, laughing at her playfully offended expression.

Adrien smiles.

Chat comes back with the syrup and honey in one hand, and a plate of his own pancakes in the other. Unlike Adrien’s, they’re raspberry. Marinette grabs at the honey before it even touches the countertop, slathering it all over her pancakes, and wrinkles her nose as Chat Noir slathers his own in syrup.

She doesn’t make it a secret that she hates maple syrup. She must have only bought it because her friends liked it. Or, maybe more specifically, Chat Noir liked it.

With no more unoccupied chairs, Adrien’s older self stands casually beside Marinette, leaning his elbows down against the counter and brushing his shoulder against hers. Ivan starts talking, something he says getting Marinette to smile in delight, and Chat’s eyes seem reluctant to look at anything other than the joy on her face.

Oh, Adrien realises as he pours some syrup onto his pancakes. Domestic, that was the word.

They acted like they lived together. Like they belonged nowhere else but at each others’ sides. Like, even if their relationship were to never venture into romantic territory, they’d happily spend the rest of their lives together, grow old together.

It seemed nice.

“Almost ten,” Marinette observes, glancing towards the clock above the refrigerator. “Chat, didn’t you have a job to get to at ten-fifteen?”

His older self chokes on a piece of pancake, and Marinette slaps a palm against his back while he coughs and splutters.

“Shit! I need to shower and leave!”

In almost a practiced motion, Chat spears his remaining pancake, luckily untainted by maple syrup, and slips it onto Marinette’s stack, then leaves his empty plate in the sink. After that, he books it down the hall.

Marinette smiles and shakes her head at his antics.

“I’ll get his clothes and towel, be right back.”

She gets up and walks away, leaving the children to their privacy.

“Oh my god,” Alya says. “Oh my god, this is real. They’re like, married, or something. Platonic? Platonic?”

Ivan nods in understanding and pats Alya on the back, trying and failing to hide his amusement.

“Marinette seems happy with how things are.”

Mylène nods in agreement.

“They don’t need to hold hands and kiss each other to be happy with how they are.”

“Okay, okay, but counterpoint,” Alya says. “Chat Noir didn’t say he didn’t find her attractive, when Adrien asked.”

“Alya,” Adrien chides, leaning back to look at her past Nino’s shoulders. “He didn’t say he did find her attractive, either.”

Well, technically he did say that, but only Adrien knew that particular detail.

“Besides, finding someone attractive doesn’t mean you should date them. It’s not like it’s uncommon to think your friends are pretty.”

“He’s got you there, Als,” Nino chuckles. “Lets just leave them be, okay? No meddling, let the flow take the reigns this time.”

“Wow,” Alix deadpans. “That’s deep, Nino.”

“Shut up.”

Marinette comes back shortly after, announcing that Chat had already left, and no Alya, just because she knew Chat had to leave didn’t mean she knew his identity, stuff your mouth and quit asking questions.

When the pancakes were gone, and the plates were cleaned, Marinette had once again checked the clock.

“You know,” she says thoughtfully, more to herself than anyone else. “I think Chat actually started visiting me around the time that akuma happened, six years ago... Maybe he met himself when he left? But... no, can’t be. Nobody really remembered the future in detail.”

“Wait,” Alix questioned. “We’re going to forget this?”

“Hm? Oh, no! Or, well, kind of? You had vague ideas of what happened and who you met, but nobody seemed to remember things in detail. I guess it’s... possible that Chat Noir met with his future self. That would explain why he started randomly visiting me based on a ‘feeling,’ or whatever he called it.”

Marinette sighed, then looked up in surprise, having heard her phone receive a message. She quickly checks it, mouthing to them that it was Alya— older Alya. Whatever she reads surprises her, and makes her smile. She pockets her phone not long after.

“Well, don’t worry too much about it. You’ll remember all the details eventually. Alya’s already texting me about it. And by that, I mean she’s interrogating me.”

Beside him, he sees Alya— the younger one— open her mouth to say something, but before anyone can get a word out, a blinding light surrounds them, and things... go fuzzy.

When they open their eyes, they’re back in class, confused and disoriented, surrounded by the remaining students who hadn’t been caught up in the akuma attack.

Adrien remembers a pretty blue dress and matching blue eyes, pancakes, and warmth.

When Marinette finally bursts into the classroom, stuttering apologies, he finds his focus completely on her, no matter how hard he tries otherwise. An itch digs under his skin, impossible to ignore, that intensifies every moment his thoughts and gaze land on her, and he has no idea what to do.

Three days later, on a solo patrol, he lands on Marinette balcony without even thinking. Like a rush of water pouring over him, the itch washes away, finally giving him the answer to solving his problem.

He knocks on her skylight, and waits.

(Somehow, he knew she would invite him in.)

(Somehow, he knew she would keep inviting him in.)

(It’s just a feeling.)

#Maximilian's Writing #Miraculous Ladybug #ML #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Marinette Dupain Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Marichat #Adrinette #Adrienette #Love Square #Platonic Marichat #Or is it?? Nobody knows.#Alya Césaire #Alya Cesaire #Nino Lahiffe #Ivan Bruel #Mylene Haprele #Mylène Haprèle #Alix Kubdel

510 notes · View notes