#platinum blonde going under the radar

[acesw]

OP is correct by the way, I checked all sprites and they're all close to platinum blonde colors. (Normal sprite and her profile background sprite)

[sharpsuite]

Chishiya doesn't react immediately; merely stares at Niragi like he's found a particularly strange critter. " You really are dumb. " Casually delivered words — but nothing new in terms of his message or their banter either. Chishiya's stare often says plenty in the fact that it says nothing at all. Niragi can wave his toy all he wants, and Last Boss can flash his sword, but none ever evoke any reaction besides something like conceited amusement in the eyes of others. " I don't think about anyone in the games. " Not beyond himself or how useful someone might be. He's SELFISH like that. Chishiya doesn't even try to play it off for anything other than what it is.

A cool breeze offers relief to the heat the day had held. There was always the pools where water could offer relief, but anyone has yet to see the platinum blonde there. Or really participate in the Beach culture at all. Instead of partying, drinking, or any other manner of distraction, he's a silent observer that slips under the radars of most members who are focused on hedonistic entertainment. A bird soaring in the skies over a field of rabbits - watching without striking. Yet.

Chishiya lifts his eyebrows in a way that clearly displays some sort of judgement as he hears the remark. " Why are YOU thinking about what I might be into? " An amused glint sneaks back into his gaze. It'll probably just irritate Niragi and lead to more insults. If Niragi has the energy for it.

There's no movement from him as he watches Niragi start to walk away ; the cat deciding to lift its paw and let the entertainment go. EXCEPT... Niragi extends an invitation. Which is peculiar and manages a spark of surprise that has his expression slip, but Niragi's back is turned so it doesn't matter.

He lingers a few seconds more, and then he follows. ( Blissfully quiet for a change. Blissful, or suspicious. It was a fine line. )

 ❛ kinky . you zone out in the games thinking about my bated breaths ? what a pervert . . . ❜  though with no real interest in his tone , he doesn't even sound like he's pleased about the thought even when he openly snorts about it . that was a trap , chishiya squeezes way too many riddles and traps in the simplest questions and words . daily sessions of torture donned in attire of not so friendly riddles , quips , sometimes niragi doesn't even know why he's lingering on the spot to talk to him . others didn't , niragi was pretty thankful that they didn't .

 then again , he often waited in the last car taking survivors to the beach , and hoped to whatever gods upstairs that chishiya didn't survive the game . then again , why did he wait anyway ?

 chishiya’s relentless desire to get on his nerves , still going on pretty strongly . to the point he dares to wonder about what kind of drunk niragi would be if he did get drunk ; he's done drugs before , a few times and ended up in bed with saiko , he's drank a few times with jackson before going to a game and accidentally murdering everyone that was part of the beach — but they weren't habits . a little closer , he almost tenses when chishiya wonders , he wants to jerk away simply because adrenaline is still lingering in his veins . ❛ if you don't stop obsessing over me and don't mind your own fucking business , i will shove this rifle down your throat . ❜  he's hissing through gritted teeth , though pausing to mumble the last part while glancing toward the stairs .

 ❛ though , i think you're into that . ❜

 he decides , it's not going to hurt anyone if he stops tensing for five minutes . and hauls the rifle back on his shoulder again to turn around and head toward the hall , toward the staff kitchen . ❛ come , make me a sandwich if you're gonna talk about your raw fantasies about me . pervert . ❜

[fairytoge]

I JUST HAD A THOUGHT what if toge knows sign language but never uses it because no one around him really knows it, until he meets mute/deaf! reader who also knows sign language. to which panda finds out toge speaks sign language, cause panda probably knows it.

shit talking curses w toge and panda’s just: “guys, no—“

giving one another test answers but panda keeps his mouth shut abt it.

telling each other jokes while maki talks then it looks like you’re laughing at her.

not-so-secret ; inumaki toge

notes!!

this! this! this! this idea omgggg :(((

m.list

it had to be today or all days that you were running late for school, having not packed your bag last night due to the mountain of homework that your teachers had decided to set you over the weekend.

but that wasn't all. not only were you going to miss registration, obtain a late mark and receive an exaggerated and long lecture from your parents, but they, your guardians that were skipping work today, had left you money for lunch without telling you meaning that you would have to stop at the shops beforehand.

you sighed to yourself, grabbing your school bag from beside the main door to your house and exiting through it; forgetting that the collection of now abandoned coins was still laying on the kitchen counter.

ㅤ

though you generally had no issues with finding your own way to school, over the weekend your parents had insisted on increasing the amount of training you received.

your family, a clan of sorcerers who were unknown enough to usually fly under the radar of the elders or other clans, were far less concerned with the idea of eliminating curses and instead focused on leading a normal life though it occurred that that dynamic was gradually changing... much to your displeasure.

you were more than content with going to school like a regular teenager would; ignoring the looming figures of whatever sort of curses they were. you never asked to be born with the ability to see whatever things that resided in the shadows and so you just ignored them.

but, as soon as your parents were alerted of the news that sukuna — a curse that you had never heard of before — had successfully found a vessel, you were apparently doomed. they were more than eager to increase how much training you had to do each day rather than once a week, and you were less than satisfied with your constantly aching body.

despite the rippling pain that seemed to spread throughout your legs each time you took a step, you managed to make it to the small store that homed your favourite pre-made lunch box without collapsing.

the sectioned isles of various types of food surrounded you until you wandered to the fridge section — scanning each package for your food. and that was when your eyes landed upon a boy around your age holding your lunch box, the one that was currently keeping you from fighting anything and anyone you see.

your eyes locked onto the box and, in some sad attempt to get it, you squinted to see if you had the capability to make it levitate into your grasp rather than his.

ㅤ

"are you okay?" the only girl in the group of three interrogated; her face sporting an unchanging sneer as she scrutinised you. she had taken several paces so that you two were a mere half a metre away from each other before continuing to quiz you, glancing up and down at your figure. "do you need something or are you just going to stand there?"

another one of the boy's companions who appeared, like the ginger girl, to be a bit younger than you, took several long treads until he was pulling the girl away from you and to behind the platinum blonde-haired boy.

turning to face you head-on, he smiled apologetically as he guarded you against the other woman's attacks. "i'm sorry, it's just that you were staring quite... intently at our friend."

your face flushed in embarrassment before you waved your hands in denial of the unsubtle connotation and signalled that they were incorrect... or tried to.

ㅤ

your arms waved rapidly in various ways of implying that they were wrong, though their expressions slowly became lax and confused. it was apparent that neither of them could understand what you were trying to convey — that, due to your vocal cords being damaged, there was no way you could communicate with them verbally. after several more moments of your routine continuing, you reached into your pocket to pull out and unlock your phone.

once you had done so, you hastily typed out the written translation of what you were trying to signal: that you weren't able to speak.

the boy, who you hastily learnt was called toge thanks to your now-easy form of communication, was quick to strike a non-verbal conversation with you: signing faster and more enthusiastically than you had ever seen anyone do before.

his two friends, nobara and yuuji, also seemed elated to learn that you shared something similar to their friend that was uncommon for anyone to relate to or know.

ㅤ

it wasn't until you checked your phone once more out of habit that you noted the time and how much earlier it had been since your lessons for the day had begun.

your expression, drooping into a deflated one, was evidently enough to let your three new friends know that something was wrong and it took less than a minute for them to work it out just by checking the time as well. their smiles and subtle grins followed suit and the once-joyful atmosphere that had surrounded you was now more than depressed.

spotting their saddened expressions, you silently gave the two younger teens a slight grin; signing to toge that you were more than content to exchange phone numbers with the three of them in order to set up a date to hang out later.

and with that, the four of you broke off, though it was obvious that you would be meeting again — whether you had arranged to or not.

ㅤ

it was only a week later when you saw the toge again, though this time it was under much different circumstances.

standing in front of a selection of students, and a panda, was not how you envisioned your monday morning going. according to your parents and the other connections that were conjoined to your clan, it was heavily advised that you should begin attending a place that would aid you in controlling and harnessing your cursed technique. and that advice led you to face the most... mixed people in the same setting that you had ever seen.

your nerves were quickly settled when toge broke free of the straight line formation and bounded up to you.

it was clear to everyone in the surrounding area that his face bore a wide smile: the corners of his eyes crinkling in glee as he ran towards you to pull you into a tight embrace.

though you had only met once before and for roughly twenty minutes, the feeling of pure happiness of seeing one another was mutual, hence why you were fast to return the hug.

the pair of you stayed like that for several moments until your new teacher, who had instructed you to call him "gojo-sensei", decided that your reunion should be photographed. with a phone flash repetitively going off, you and toge separated — facing either smirking or disgusted expressions of your new classmates.

before you could dwell on your elongated embrace for too long, the platinum blonde-haired boy started to sign just as he had done when the two of you had first met: eager to communicate fully with another person. you, not having any objections to the offer, began to focus on the signals that his hands were making.

the group of teenagers behind you had little idea what you two were doing: staring blankly at their teacher for help.

rather than clue them in on what was going on, the adult released an over-exaggerated exhale as he placed his phone in his pocket and turned to nobara and yuuji.

the three exchanged varying degrees of looks of excitement and smugness as they huddled together: now separated from the remainder of the group. whispering and giggling amongst each other, they commenced their bets on when you and toge would start dating whilst, somehow, not alerting either of you as you both continued your non-verbal discussion.

ㅤ

it was only another week later, a week of you and toge bonding with each other more than anything whilst simultaneously annoying maki and megumi, that you came across a rather large discovery. and that was that panda — your fellow jujutsu sorcerer — was able to understand you and your new best friend all this time.

the finding was unearthed when you and toge were out on a mission with him, fighting a low-level curse that was beginning to bore the two of you. but, instead of finishing the monster off quicker, you began dodging each strike it aimed to land on you: encouraging toge to do the same in an attempt to make it angrier and therefore more powerful. and when that technique didn't work, toge put it upon himself to aggravate the curse, though this time it was through your way of talking.

"bet that it has never used moisturiser." your platinum blonde-haired companion signed as he continued to deflect the curse's attacks. "i don't even need to bet, it's obvious with all the wrinkles. i feel bad beating it up now that i can see my grandma in it..."

stifling your laugh by pressing your lips together, you were quick to reply to toge, shaking your head disapprovingly. "don't you dare compare your grandma to that. it looks more like a rotten carrot that's a thousand years old... sukuna's fingers?"

"guys, please focus on this curse so we can go back already." the unexpected new arrival in your conversation butted in on you two; making your and toge's heads turn towards him. "it's been half an hour..."

ㅤ

apparently, panda was unaware of you and the other teenager's dumbstruck expressions that were plastered onto your faces and kept you distracted enough for panda to hastily eliminate the now-forgotten curse.

"since when did you know sign language?" toge directly quizzed his close friend, knowing that the week that you had been there would definitely not be long enough for him to be as fluent as he was.

panda paused for a moment, his face going blank just as your's and toge's had done minutes prior, before he turned his attention to where you and toge were standing. several seconds passed until anyone "spoke", that person being panda.

"i thought you knew that i knew how to sign?" the cursed plushie trailed off towards the end of his question, confused at the situation just as much as toge and you were. silence encased your group of three, you only now realising just what this meant.

calling for panda and toge's attention, you commenced signing the only thing on your mind at that moment. "does this mean that you could understand us in that test the other day? and when we have secret conversations about the first years?"

one nod from panda was all it took for you to turn to toge hastily: both of your faces erupting in sheer horror at the thought of someone knowing the sorts of things the pair of you had been gossiping about.

"so when were you two going to let me in on your not-so-secret talks?"

© fairytogeㅤ ꔫㅤ please do not copy, repost, translate, etc without my permission

[brennamonette-blog]

The Wyvern (Raiden and OC-Platonic) (PT.1)

"Raiden? Come on buddy, answer me! Raiden!!" The screen says about the thirtieth time. "Ugh! Goddamn Gekko's! They keep surrounding me and ambushing me!" I have been playing this game for about 2 hours now and every time I die I get more and more furious at the game and its ridiculous levels and camera angles. "Crack!" Outside my window the sky lights up and screams out, warning us about danger. "Allison, turn off the Playstation and get some candles!" Dad yells from downstairs, excited. He has missed thunderstorms in New Brunswick, so Dad and I usually go outside and watch with some popcorn. We were originally from Ontario where thunderstorms were very common and very entertaining. "Will do!" I sweep my short platinum blonde hair out of my round face, revealing my annoyed and tired green eyes. Getting up, bringing the controller towards the console, I look out the window and stare at the sky. "Sigh, I wish that world was real." Suddenly, a power surge circulated around the house, lights flickering and electricity surged through the controller and the Playstation, a bright light omits from them and fills my vision, blacking me out.

Raiden's POV

After finally defeating the Metal Gear Ray and looking over at the carnage of N'mani's bodyguards' bodies scattered on the ground. "Shit." I curse under my breath. "Raiden hurry, he is getting away!" Boris yells into the codex. "On it!" I start sprinting towards the cyborg's radar, some military personnel start crowding the train tracks on which the cyborg is on. "Dammit." the military see me and they let me pass. Using my ninja run, I slide around the corner, jump onto the side of a building and barely make it on the train. "He heading for the front of the train! After him!" Boris says on the codex. I start running, trying to catch up with N'mani. "Raiden, an unidentified Tiltrotor is headed your way. Keep an eye out for it." I finally see the terrorists. ' Another cyborg? Great. Reinforcements maybe.'

"Prime minister!" I yell out to N'mani, who is being chained up by the cyborg from earlier. The cyborg smiles and says "Ha, too late, too late hero. I won't be needing my little shield here any longer." He puts his high-frequency machete at N'mani's throat. "Stop!" I reach out, but he grabs N'mani's throat, "What about all the good things war has done for us? Why don't we ever hear speeches about that? Jobs, technology, a common purpose..." The other cyborg yawns audibly. "Raiden, forget me. Stop him." N'mani chokes out, the cyborg drops him and grabs his head. "You ain't listenin'..." He chops the chains, letting N'mani fall to the ground. I run up by my blade meets the Marusama blade of the other cyborg. "Mind if I cut in?" He says. My attention draws back to the cyborg with the machete, he holds N'mani up and he yells "All we're saying is... give war a chance!" smiling, he brings his blade through N'mani's stomach. Killing him instantly. "No!" I yell and he throws his corpse off the train. I hear loud helicopter sounds and a ladder comes down. "Get out of my way!" I yell at the other cyborg and slash but he parries my blow, sending me back.

"He's all yours, Sam." The original cyborg grabs the ladder and gets pulled up into the helicopter. The cyborg named "Sam" gets his marusama ready for battle. "Let's go." He says, I smile  and get my robotic eye interface out, scanning him. "Now now. Don't be shy." Sam taunts. I slash at him and after a few rounds, I finally get him, he jumps up onto a crate and sighs. "Hmm, Mightier then the pen after all." Then he jumps off and strikes, making me fall. "Fool." Sam blurts out. Our swords clash and he says. "Self-taught and not half bad. Still..." He knocks me down and taunts. "Your technique lacks something..." He jumps onto the side of the tunnel and strikes. "Pathetic." Our swords clash once again. "Now I see... You deny your weapon its purpose." He strikes a nerve from my past. 'No, he can't know about that! Shit!' Sam sees my vulnerability and takes his chance to cut my eye from its socket.

Holding my socket, he continues to taunt, "It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies but you hold it back." I look up at him and say "No." I get up and hold up my sword. "My sword is a tool of justice." Sam's nerve gets visibly struck but he turns his high frequency blade, runs up and cuts my arm off. Stumbling and coughing up blood I yell, "Shit! Not again!" Sam kicks me and Boris calls me on the codex. "Raiden! Are you alright?! You're almost clear of the tunnel! Just hang on!" Sam kicks me one more time and I stumble off the train, holding on for dear life using my right arm. "This is what happens when you bring a tool to a swordfight. This is over." Sam raises his sword to strike but we get out of the tunnel. "Lucky devil..." "Kept you waiting, ah?" bullets fly and Sam jumps onto the ladder, flying away. But in the air, I see a figure, figure falling very fast. As I adjust my eye, the figure is an unconscious female with citizen clothes. By instinct, I jump and catch her midair, when we land, I lay her down. "What the hell? How the hell did you get here?" I say before passing out due to bloodloss.

[damonsvftie]

𝑼𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 💔

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Summary; Forced into an arranged marriage, y/n is marrying Draco Malfoy and this is by far the most emotionally depressing day for both of them since she is aware that he will never love her like Astoria Greengrass.

Warnings: depressing, very emotional, lack of self love and yuh also this is 1.1K words

Note: this will include some pictures with it because lmao idk and also if I’ve mixed up the ceremonies then I am truly sorry <3

"That looks so gorgeous on you, oh my merlin you've grown so much y/n," gasped my mother while she wiped the tears that were travelling down her face.

"Indeed, you look beautiful," chimed my father as he rubbed my mother's back in circles.

Deciding that I needed some time to myself, they exited my room silently as I stood before the large mirror staring back at my horrendous reflection. My face looked as if I had just met death at my doorstep. My skin pale as ever and my dark puffy circles, under my eyes, heavily concealed with a hefty amount of concealer to try and hide the dark marks that were visible from crying myself to sleep. My bony skin looked more transparent as I lost my appetite making me lose a ton of weight.

Staring at my horrific reflection, tears unexpectedly streamed down my face as I broke down hysterically crying. I tried my hardest to muffle my cries making sure no one heard me as I sank to the floor, near my bed, gripping onto my bedsheets whilst I buried my head into my knees.

I never asked for any of this.

Today was the day I was going to be marrying Draco Malfoy against one other's will. But something about getting myself married to him made my heart pang, making me feel an emotional type of pain. Maybe it was because he was still in love with the girl of his dreams, Astoria Greengrass. Maybe it was because i knew he would never love me the way he did with her. Maybe it was just me.

I heard someone softly knock on my bedroom door as I scrambled to my feet, smoothing out the small indented creases on my wedding dress and fixing my makeup as I patted away my wet tears. "Is everything okay y/n?" Called a familiar voice which sounded like Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy.

"Yes, I'm fine.. I'm coming," I replied modestly, trying to swallow the thick lump at the back of my throat.

Once I heard footsteps walking away from the radar of my room, I gave one last glance at the mirror before turning away heading for the door. I quickly fixed my posture and headed out to meet my parents.

—

Locking arms with my Father, I proceeded to head outside to where the ceremony would take place. The setting was beautifully decorated as the seats were filled with a few family members from both our sides ,since our families agreed to not make the wedding such big deal. Miles away, I could see Draco in his dark black suit while his platinum blonde hair was styled to perfection. He looked breathtaking.

Tears pricked into my eyes as I almost started breaking down then and there but I had told myself that in the end of the day, this was what was supposed to happen. This was my fate. This was my destiny.

As I walked down the aisle, everyone's eyes were on me. My hands were beginning to get clammy the nearer I was headed for the podium, and any minute I felt as if the dark, blood coloured bouquet of delicate roses would slip out of my hand ,while I would faint on runway.

Draco's eyes didn't dare meet mine while he hung his head in shame, toying with the silver slytherin ring that was wrapped around his finger. Once I got near the alter, I walked up the tiny steps making sure I didn't lose my balance and fall down somehow.

My breathing became more heavier when I now faced the gorgeous boy who stood before me. The ceremony started to begin and my eyes were beginning to well up. The 'father' went ahead and explained that we now had to exchange our wedding vows to one another.

I felt myself hyperventilating as I struggled to compose myself together as I gripped onto the soft material of my dress. I felt a pair of cold grey eyes glance up at me before reciting the vows making sure no eye contact was involved.

"I, Draco Malfoy, take thee, y/n y/l/n, to be my wedded wife," he exhaled deeply before saying the next line as his eyes blurred with tears. I noticed he was trying to hold back. Crying was a sign of weakness for Draco Malfoy, and Draco Malfoy wasn't perceived to be weak and fragile.

to have and to hold from this day forward...for better...for worse...for richer..for poorer..in sickness and in health,...to love and to cherish," his lips were now quivering and I could tell he didn't mean anything he was saying. It was visible that he was finding it difficult to say the last few words as he swallowed the lump at the back of his throat.

till death do us part," the last of his words crushing him on the inside.

according to Merlin’s holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith..." he finished the last of his vows before pursing his lips into a tight line, drawing his eyebrows into the middle.

I bit my lip making sure I didn't let out my cries.

It was my turn.

I, y/n y/l/n, take thee, Draco Malfoy, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish," I spoke in my lifeless tone while a tear drop slipped out of the brim of my eyes, travelling down my face until it lingered on my lips.

My stomach churned and and I shut my eyes tight before saying the next line.

till death do us part," my voice slightly broke towards the end while I bought my lower lip between my teeth, sobbing silently, letting out a few whimpers or two.

according to Merlin’s holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith." I cried as I looked down at the ground, shifting under my weight letting my emotions take the best of me.

Draco's hands were trembling as he placed the beautiful diamond ring that he originally bought for Astoria, on to my finger.

Exchanging rings, I slipped his ring onto his finger before the 'father' ended with the last few words

"You May now kiss the bride,"

Hearing upon them words, Draco stormed off into the other direction leaving me sulking all alone at the alter, while the bouquet of roses fell out of my hands hitting the stone cold floor hard.

I was married to Draco Malfoy and there was nothing I could do about it.

[diegosclownshoes]

things are finally moving plot wise. I was wondering if it was too soon to have the agent realize what was up and decide to ditch the handler, but the whole schedule of a week’s time is already so tightly packed that I figured why not.

The agent wakes to the sound of  what’s either an alarm buzzing or a machine beeping, she’s not quite sure. She groans, slowly propping herself up on one arm. After taking a bleary look around at her surroundings. She spots Elliot and Five hunched over one of the machines, then frowns, realizing she’s laying on the sofa; she could have sworn she’d fallen asleep slumped over the kitchen table. She rubs a hand down her face before sitting up fully, raking a hand through her now knotted hair before giving up and simply pushing it back out of her face. The curtains are drawn but the lack of light which usually beams in from the large storefront windows tell her it’s still relatively early, and she quietly shuffles over to join the two.

“What are you tracking?” She hears Elliott ask. Coming up to stand behind him, she leans her elbows across the back of his chair. He gives the back of her hand a small tap in greeting.

“Sound waves.” Five stands beside her, gaze fixated on the small monitor in front of them. Suddenly, the machine begins to beep, and he tears his eyes away from the screen, turning to face the agent.. “You’ve still got the second address for Luther, don’t you?” She nods, quickly retrieving it from one of the desks, and Five folds it up before slipping it into his pocket. 

Before the agent can ask if he’s heading over there right now, considering that the matches don’t even start until nighttime, he’s already blinked out.

“Hey,” says Elliott gently. “Why don’t you get some more sleep? You can take my bed.” Then, when she opens her mouth to protest, he gently takes her by the shoulders and steers her towards his room. “Go on, get some sleep. I promise I’ll wake you before noon..”

And with a tiny wave he’s gone, pulling the door shut behind himself. The agent sighs before collapsing backwards onto the bed; might as well.

*

When the agent wakes up again it’s to the sound of a loud crash; she cracks an eye open to peer at the clock on the opposite wall and sees that it’s only been an hour, tops since she went back to sleep.. Quickly getting up and investigating the source of the cound brings her to her room where Dieo lies curled on the floor, groaning in pain. She’s immediately down at his side.

“What happened? Are you hurt? I mean, any more hurt?” She frantically looks him over but sees no damage other than the stab wound, where a small red spot blooms over the bandages.

“Shit, shit. Forgot I got shanked and tried getting up. Bad idea.” He winces and the agent guides one of his arms across her shoulders.

“Come on, I’ll get you up. On the count of three.”

“No way, you’ll go down in a second and then we’ll both be on the floor.”

She has to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“I’m stronger than I look, I promise. Come on, up you go.” She manages to haul Diego up to his feet before he collapses back onto the bed, groaning. 

“Where’s Lila?” He asks, and the agent find herself wondering, not for the first time, just how the two of them had met in the first place.

“Didn’t see her, or Elliott either for that matter. I mean, I saw him this morning, and Five too, before Five whooshed off again.” She frowns as the spot on his bandage slowly spreads out further. 

“Don’t move, I’m gonna go get some more gauze for that.” 

Ten minutes later and she’s finished up redressing Diego’s abdomen. The blood had stopped flowing after a few minutes of pressure, and now she had Diego lying back down under strict orders not to move while she made them both something to eat. When he starts to protest she presses her hand flat over the bandages, not enough to hurt too bad but the warning is clear. He flops back down with a grumble.

They’re both sitting face to face on the bed, a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and a somewhat awkward silence between them. At least they have the sandwiches; between Diego’s rough night and her own appetite, she’d made two each and then an extra, and then because there was only a couple slices of bread left, another extra. They both stare the the stack for a moment before each grabbing one.

Diego eyes her thoughtfully while he munches.

“So. You’re Elliott’s niece, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Gotta say, the two of you look nothing alike.”

“Well he’s not my uncle by blood, he was married to my aunt.” They’ve gotten the same comment enough times now that she almost believes the lie herself.

“Oh. Okay then. Don’t you have school?”

“It’s Sunday.”

“Oh.” He reaches over to grab another sandwich.

“And I’m twenty one so. No more school for me. Though Elly does say I should at least apply to college. 

“Well he’s right about that. You seem like a smart enough kid if you’ve been keeping up with all of his whatever the hell they are, those energy radars or whatever. It can’t hurt to at least look into it.”

It’s not as if the thought had never crossed her mind. After the two year mark she’d looked into different programs and considered joining because hey, if she’s stuck here then might as well. But that was also her reason not to as well, since she’d prefer not to have to ditch something halfway through in case the mission actually began. Still, it’s nice to know that someone else agrees and thinks she’d be good at something.

“Well,” she says as she polishes off her first piece, reaching for another, “I might just if, you know, we actually do manage to stop the apocalypse.” 

Diego has a serious look on his face, looks resolved and unflinching. He doesn’t say anything for a while before he finally does speak in a low tone.

“We will. We have to. The fate of the entire world is in our hands now. If I - we, can’t even do this then…” He trails off, and the faraway look in his eyes speaks for itself. The agent reaches over and puts a hand on his forearm.

“Hey, this thing is not gonna happen. Five’s gonna get that whole squad of a family of yours together, and me and Elly aren’t too bad ourselves either.” She gives him what she hopes is a reassuring grin, and it seems to have worked because he exhales hard before leaning back, the crease in his brow smoothing out.

“You’re right. And now that we know what’s gonna happen to the president, we can stop that too. It’ll be a whole new world once we get back.” Diego gets another distant look in his eye, although this time he looks less like he’s worried about how badly they’re going to screw up, and more hopeful. Then he looks at her.

“Hey, promise me once this is all over that you’ll go to school. So I know that we actually made some difference, no matter how small.” The agent’s stunned. She knows that that’s not possible, that The Handler’s going to drag her back after this, but that’s not what surprises her. It’s the want, to both agree and to actually follow through, that surprises her. She doesn’t say yes, nods clumsily instead, and Diego seems satisfied, popping a piece of crust in his mouth.

They’ve cleared the plate completely now, save for some crumbs, and the agent picks it up as she stands. 

“You should get some more rest. Can’t do anything yet anyway, and the quicker it heals the better.” Diego looks put out but nods anyway, and with that she leaves the room, figuring she might as well get some sleep herself.

*

When she wakes up again, it’s dark out. A look at the clock tells her it’s well into the evening.

“Shit.” Getting up, she stumbles out of the room, only to find the rest of the apartment once again empty, but this time there’s a note on the coffee table. It’s from Elliott, and in his surprisingly neat scrawl says he’s gone to the next town over to grab a part he needs to configure one machine or another. She sets it back down before she peeks into her room, sees Diego knocked out on the bed.  Suddenly, a hand clamps down on her shoulder. Immediately she grabs it and twists, and whoever it is drops to their knees with a groan.

“It’s me, shit!” Recognizing Lila, the agent quickly drops her hold and Lila rubs her wrist as she gets up, frowning. “Well it’s nice to know you haven’t gone rusty.” The agent crosses her arms.

“What are you doing sneaking around?”

“I was on my way to get you. We’re going to see mum.”

“Oh. Alright then, let’s go.” 

She hopes she sounds more collected then she feels. To be honest, she’s not entirely sure how she feels about it, she thinks as she’s following Lila into a petstore, watching as she grabs a key hidden in a fish tank, before they’re back walking down the street in the cool night air. 

On the one hand, she’ll finally be getting some answers. On the other hand, she’s not sure if they’re ones she’ll want to hear. And the thought of seeing The Handler, for the first time in years, makes her stomach knot; she hates how she still feels like a child, scared of getting into trouble when she hasn’t been doing anything wrong. 

By the time they’re making their way into a hotel, up the elevator and through the green hallway, she’s managed to calm her nerves somewhat. However it’s short-lived once Lila unlocks the door, almost immediately falling across the bed while the agent waits with her back pressed to the door.

“Can I order room service? I’m starving.”

And there, coming through the door to the bathroom, is The Handler herself. She’s brushing her hair as she walks in, wearing a yellow dress that looks more like a quilt than clothing. The sight of her after so long is almost disconcerting.

“Of course. You deserve it,” she replies, grinning broadly.

“Thanks mum.”

And then The Handler turns to her, giving her a full up and down evaluation, before she meets her eye. The agent swallows. The Handler looks different from the last she’d seen her. She’s older and her hair is a much more subdued brown than the platinum blond she usually favors. Upon closer inspection, the agent sees a small scar on her forehead. If she had to guess she’d say it was a bullet wound, as unlikely as it seems to her

“I have to say dear,” says The Handler, apparently through with her appraisal, “That shirt’s doing nothing for you up here.” She holds her hands out in front of her chest and mimes squeezing, and any apprehension is immediately replaced with familiar annoyance.

“Nice to see you, too.” She doesn’t know what else to say, doesn’t know where to begin. The Handler sets the hairbrush down and approaches her, catching her by the shoulders and steering her farther into the room.

“Well come in, have a seat. I imagine you’ve got questions, and hell if it isn’t going to be a long night. Lila, what are you ordering?”

*

The Handler doesn’t actually end up giving her any real explanations until the agent’s in a chair next to Lila, The Handler sitting across the small table and devouring a stack of pancakes.

“So,” Lila says. “You want me to protect Five.”

“It's not that complicated honey,” The Handler says around a mouthful of pancake.

“No, it actually kind of is complicated,” the agent interjects. “Because if that’s my entire mission, and Lila’s got that part covered, then why the hell did you need to send me here in the first place? And why was I the only one sent three years early? And what, now I’m just supposed to be her backup?”

The Handler takes her time finishing her bite, taking one more before she answers.

“You remember the last job I needed your, ah, assistance on?” 

The agent nods; she does remember. The Handler had taken her to a location in an unknown time, and had her freeze everything but the two of them and one other person. She didn’t get a look at them, but she didn’t really need to either; if she froze everything else then she could exclude them by default. I just need ten minutes to work out a deal, piece of cake dear, The Handler had said to her. Ten minutes had turned out to be closer to twelve, she remembers because she hadn’t expected the unknown party to begin moving things around in her frozen time.

“Well, that was in 2019, and that little deal was between me and Number Five. Before the little shit had me shot in the head.” The agent does a double take at the almost imperceptible bullet wound on the side of The Handler’s forehead. She wonders how she didn’t recognize it right away. “ Anyway, he and his little family failed to stop the apocalypse in 2019, and instead they all came back here, where they’re going to cause another apocalypse.” She snorts. “Talk about bad luck.”

“Then why not send me back from 2019? I mean, why not send the 2019 version of me? Why go and pick 2007 me? Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to have the more experienced one do the job?”

The Handler sighs, sets down her knife and fork, and pats her mouth with a napkin before she answers.

“Alright, alright. I see there’s no point in trying to delay it any further. The truth is, dear, is that well, there is no mission for you. There never even was a mission for you. How do I explain this? In 2019, you weren’t with us. You weren’t dead or anything, but you hadn’t worked with us in nearly ten years. If I recall correctly, 2008 was the year you quit and went no contact. I had a chance to stop that from happening, so I took it. Gave you one last mission that would hopefully inspire you to want to continue.

The agent clenches her fist, nails digging crescents into the palm of her hand. She forces herself to unclench her jaw and take a breath before speaking.

“So you had me believe in some fake mission, believe that this was the one big one, sent me here alone, with nothing, on a job that wasn’t even mine?”

“Oh honey if you want, you can do the job. Lila won’t mind, will you little one? And see, this is exactly what I knew would happen. You just can’t live without your work. What did you even do all those years after you left, hm? What did you think would happen? This is what you were born to do. You can’t just walk away from all of that, and I think your time alone has taught you that as well.”

“So now,” she closes her eyes, can’t bear to look at the woman, and takes a shaky breath. “So now you expect me to come with you and the three of us are going to prance back to The Commission together?” She turns to Lila. “And you knew about this, and thought I’d be alright with it?” Lila frowns.

“I didn’t know all of that but I knew I didn’t want you to leave us. And I guess mum was right about that. Is it really that bad working together?”  Lila purses her lips as she continues. “You know you love it whenever you finish a job. What else is going to give you that satisfaction? You’d be bored out of your mind in a year, max.”

“But at least I had the choice. Now I’m supposed to either go back with you by default or else what?” She turns to The Handler, sees her glowering, and swallows down the fear rising inside her. “You’re just going to leave me here then if I don’t comply? Or kill me?”

“Don’t be so dramatic dear. I’m just trying to keep your interests at heart. But if you don’t want that, then no harm no foul. You can sit this one out, let Lila handle things, and then the three of us can head on back together. And let’s be honest, If this is the second time you’ve rejected the job, I don’t see how that’s going to change.” 

The Handler laughs, as if this is nothing more than dealing with a child throwing a tantrum over not wanting to join the school softball team. Somehow it only makes the agent that much more enraged.

“Oh I’m sure Lila’s more than thrilled to be following mummy’s orders in my place. You can forget about the three of us heading back together, I’ll find my own way.” She ignores The Handler’s scoff and turns to face Lila. “I won’t say anything to Diego but only because you’re going to be looking out for the both of them. But don’t think this means I won’t if you step a foot out of line.”

She doesn’t wait for a reply as she turns to leave, ignores Lila calling for her as she steps into the hall, doesn’t wait for the elevator and takes the stairs, wanting nothing more than to be out of there as fast as she can. She looks at her watch, and though she has a good few hours before her shift at the comic shop, decides to head there anyway in case Lila tries to catch her back at the apartment. 

Her head’s reeling with all the new information, but the worst of, the worst of it she decides, is that even though she’d known they never were a real family, she hadn’t ever expected the both of them to do something like this. To send her on a fool’s errand and make her believe that she was a part of something important, when in the end it was all just a way to make sure she wouldn’t try to leave them. Not her, she mentally corrects herself, her power. After all, that was all that had mattered to begin with. That was why she was never given any real missions on her own, always taken along with The Handler for her special assistance, or paired up with Lila. And Lila had known, and said nothing, had said that she knew nothing as well. Had flat out agreed to manipulate her. The agent wonders, as she slowly trudges down the street and back into town, where the early morning fog distorts her view, if maybe she had known all along, deep down, that her wait was fruitless. That she had never really had any other purpose to begin with.

[belladonnaandulriched]

the dead of night | chapter five

Scott's point of view

I watched Kristina return to her seat next to me with her long platinum blonde hair drifting behind her head. Her eyes scanned over me as if she was waiting for me to say something to her. She had a glimmer in her eyes like she had just witnessed something or other.

“What?” I asked her.

“Nothing.”

She shook her head, but I knew there was something on her mind, though. She had seen something back there near the bathrooms. Nancy followed suit into the seat across from her. I glanced over at Geddy, who shrugged his shoulders at me. There was a part of me that wanted to touch and run my hands down the smoothest parts of his hair, right on top of his head.

To think that Frankie and I were alone with him for a little bit. It was just a few minutes but it was enough for the both of us to forget about everything for a little bit.

I turned back to Kristina, who showed me a grin, the first time I had seen her grin in forever and a day.

“You saw something back there, didn't you,” Frankie teased her.

“Maybe.”

Nancy slid back into the seat next to Geddy with a warm blush upon her face. From behind those glasses, I noticed a baffled look in his eye.

“What?” she asked him.

“Is everything alright?” he asked her.

“Yeah.”

“You sure? Your face is flushed and you're breathing hard.”

Joey and Hannah breezed back into the room right then: he had a smirk on his face while she smelled of strawberries and her face was bright pink like a single strawberry.

“What the hell is going here,” I demanded.

“It's not what it looks like,” Hannah assured me.

“I'm pretty sure it is,” I teased her.

“It's not,” Joey joined in, still with a smirk on his face.

“It's NOT, you mean,” I teased him with a wag of my finger, and I couldn't resist the smirk on my face, either.

“Yeah, it's NOT. A big ol' thick NOT.”

“It's a big ol' thick 'not' like your dick,” Hannah murmured as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips.

“Not here!” Joey scoffed in a hushed voice.

I cleared my throat and returned to Geddy.

“So what we were talkin' about earlier?” I asked him in a loud voice.

“Oh, you mean going up to retrace dear Francine's steps?” he asked me back, also in a loud voice.

“Yeah...” I turned my head to Joey and Hannah, both of whom had picked up their cups of coffee for drinks on their parts.

“Which means we'll have to head on up to Rochester,” Frankie followed along; his expression turned solemn right then.

“Rochester and then to 'Swaygo and Syracuse,” Joey filled in right then as he held his coffee cup before his chest.

“Seems like a lot,” Kristina remarked.

“We've been around a lot of places upstate and here in the City,” Hannah pointed out. “I'm sure the cops have the City covered, though.”

“And then?” Nancy asked.

“And then?” Hannah echoed.

“We'll have to go up to Toronto then,” Geddy suggested.

“We'll have to,” Hannah pointed out. “There's no other way otherwise.”

Geddy raised his glass such that the overhead lights hit the dark cola in the glass to make it look bright red.

“To Francine,” he declared.

“To Francine,” the each of us followed suit, and we took a drink in unison. It seemed like a lot but we each had come to this point in time for a reason. For me, it was to reconnect with Kristina in the time she had left. I had to make it right before she tied the noose around her neck in the next decade.

“I caught Joey and Hannah making out in the bathroom,” Nancy blurted out, to which Frankie almost gagged on his drink.

“Nancy!” Geddy scoffed.

“What? I did! Kristina did, too.”

“I was just going to use the ladies' room,” Kristina filled in, “I didn't even see them 'til I was washing my hands and Hannah was making little whimpery noises.”

“Gonna need some water over here!” Joey called out to the waitress.

After our bite to eat, we all filed out into the cold afternoon. I huddled closer to Kristina and that big guitar case on her back. It almost seemed unnecessary to be near her, especially since we were all here to seek out Francine. And yet, Frankie and I came back to reconnect. Reconnect before the sands in the hourglass ran out.

“So where do you hope you'll record at?” I asked her over the rush of the cold winds.

“Electric Lady of course,” she answered: even though it was overcast, the daylight shone over that crown of blonde hair to make it appear as though it was made of silver. Bright head of silver with smokey dark eyes. She adjusted the strap on her shoulder to make the case stay on her back.

“I hope I can find an opening soon,” I told her. “And I hope we can find an opening to listen in, too. I'd love to listen to you record a record.”

I returned to Nancy and Geddy, both of whom were huddled close together against the winds.

“I hope the Mounties don't stop us when we're up there,” she confessed to him.

“They won't, my dear,” he vowed to her. “As long as you have proof and you have a way into there, you can traverse about all over the place.”

“We've got an actual Canadian with us, too,” I joined in.

“You've got a Canadian with you, too!” he said with a tone of glee.

“We'll stop by that li'l upholstery place, too,” Joey pointed out. “Say how ya doin' to Marcia and Sonia and see if they can give us some clothes if we wanna.”

“You just want to see Hannah try on some clothes,” Kristina cracked.

“Well, I won't deny it,” he said with a shrug and a tucking of his hands into his coat pockets. He then peered up to the sky overhead. I followed his gaze to a series of drones, pitch dark against the light gray sky. Even from far down below, I could make out the sight of the green and blue neon on their undersides.

I turned my head to Kristina, as she set her guitar case on the sidewalk. She opened the case and took out her guitar, a bright cherry red acoustic with a narrow black neck and a white star painted on the end of the body.

“Beauty!” Geddy declared.

“I named her Cherise,” Kristina said with a twinkle in her eye. She held her hand over the strings and strummed with her thumb and her index finger. It took me a second to realize what she was playing, to which the memory came flooding back to me.

“'Planet Caravan,'” I said, and I couldn't help but smirk.

“We're just missing some snow,” she replied with a raise of her eyebrow. She never actually broke out into singing but she did play that hypnotic riff that haunted me since I was a kid.

The perfect song to go finding a girl missing in Canada to no less.

I peered up at the drones in the sky again, and then I caught sight of a smooth white humanlike head near the top of the apartment building. I was wondering where all the humans here had disappeared to, because aside from the waitress, the few patrons, and the line cook there in the cafe, the city streets seemed far more deserted than ever before. It almost felt like a dream to be on an otherwise crowded city street, only to find everyone had all but vanished.

As Kristina let the music drift over the street and the sidewalk, I glanced down the street to a few more drones appearing out from behind the apartment complexes.

“Makes me wish we had Lars and his little radar detector again,” Joey muttered under his breath.

“I really hope she's alright,” Frankie whispered to me.

“We'll find her, man,” I promised him, even though I had no idea as to where to look from that point onward. “I have hope that we will.”

All I knew was we had to find our way out of that part of the city and get on upstate. But then there was Kristina, who continued to strum and play to that familiar song. I missed Pearl but there was something about her I had missed. She was the first girl I ever fell in love with and then much like Joey and Hannah, we were separated by circumstance.

It was now or never at that point. Balance out finding Francine with reconnecting with Kristina.

“Where do you live now?” I asked her. She kept strumming but she looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Boston,” she replied.

“All the way over in beautiful Bahstahn,” Frankie cracked.

“Bahstahn, exactly!” Kristina laughed. “It's a little out of the way, though, if you guys wanna come swing by at some point.”

“Makes me wish we had Lars and that arrowhead of his,” Joey spoke again.

“Wait a minute, don't you have that?” Hannah asked him.

“The arrowhead?” Joey hesitated for a second and then he patted down the front of his coat. He slipped one hand down into his right pocket and took out a stone arrowhead about the size of a silver dollar.

“Don't think there's a wormhole from Syracuse to Boston, but you can make one with this li'l thing here, Scott,” he explained. “Just—be really careful, though, 'cause ghosts and other scary ass things can go through 'em.”

“Ghosts?” Frankie sputtered.

“Ghosts, yeah.”

“How can I forget 'Vera',” Hannah grumbled.

“Forget Vera for a second, what about Mrs. Snow?” Joey recalled. “She tried to whack my dick off after she caught us in bed together.”

“I liked the old man, though,” she continued. “What was his name?”

“Mr. Lang. He gives me apples all the time.”

“There are also mutant banana slugs down in New Orleans and big ass spiders in both Syracuse and Rochester,” Nancy chimed in. “'Syracuse spiders' as Marcia and Sonia call them.”

“And water snakes and scorpions up on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, too,” Geddy added.

“And all of those and more over in Seattle, too,” Nancy continued, “as poor Dominique will tell you...”

“You sure they're scorpions and not vinegaroons, Ged?” Hannah asked him.

“They're definitely scorpions. Great Lake Emperors, they're called. And yes, they are as every bit of terrifying as you can possibly imagine because unlike actual emperors, they're actually quite aggressive. I think there are vinegaroons up there but I haven't seen any. I don't think Alex and Neil have, either.”

What a world I came into! I turned back to Kristina as Joey dropped the arrowhead into my palm.

“You better not have weird creatures over in Boston,” I told her.

“Giant seabirds, but otherwise, not really.”

“How giant are we talkin'?”

“Giant enough to take a whole loaf of bread from you, but they're not like—giant aggressive scorpions, though. They're quite lovely, actually.” She continued to strum her guitar, to which I took another look up to the drones in the sky. The green and blue neon waxed and waned with the gray clouds overhead, and I wondered if there were any more around there. I didn't want to leave Kristina there in the City by her lonesome, especially since I had no idea where she even parked.

“So, shall we get a move on, eh?” I suggested in a slight fake Canadian accent.

“Get a move on, eh,” Geddy scoffed with a smirk. “Take off, ya hoser.”

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life 2: Chapter 16

Another day passes by, and it’s another day where nobody except for Lily knows about Yoshikage Kira. Well, for now, at least. Jotaro brings up something about a murderer, and Lily is highly suspicious that the murderer is the man who threatened her life.

“No, no, it’s your turn to look after Emily until Josuke’s free.”

“My turn? I did it last time.”

“Really? Because I wrote here, on this paper, ‘I took care of Emily last time.’”

Kakyoin sighed. He knew that Lily stayed home last time Josuke had school, but he couldn’t shake this bad feeling he had. “Please, let me go out today, you can have two extra days tomorrow, I promise.”

“Noriaki, what’s wrong?” Lily asked. “You’ve never begged me to stay home.”

“I… don’t know,” Kakyoin answered. “I just have a really bad feeling that if you go out today, something will happen to you.”

Lily chuckled. “But what if that bad thing happens to you?”

Kakyoin went silent.

“Here. Just in case your bad feeling is true, and something happens to me, I’ll linger a little longer today.” Lily walked up to Kakyoin, pulling his head down to give him a kiss. “And, just for you, I’ll be extra careful today while I’m out. But I promise nothing will happen.”

“You can’t promise that,” Kakyoin pointed out.

“You’re right,” Lily sighed. “But I can promise this won’t be the last time we see each other.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Kakyoin smiled. “Okay. I’ll let you go. Be careful, alright? That one part of my brain is screaming at me for letting you go out, so you better come back in one piece.”

Lily laughed. “Don’t worry about a thing. I love you.”

“Love you, too. See you tonight.”

Once the door closed, it took all of Kakyoin’s power to stop himself from running after Lily. Surely that bad feeling in his gut was just a feeling, right? Lily was careful, she could get herself out of danger. Still, the back of his mind told him otherwise.

It’s just a feeling, he told himself, no need to go after her.

While Kakyoin was doing that, Lily was already walking down the streets, on her way to her next task. Apparently, a girl had not only survived the arrow, but also didn’t die right away from her Stand. Her father had been reporting his daughter screaming in fear, pointing at nothing for a couple of days now.

“So, another one like me, huh?” Jotaro said. At this point, Lily was sure Jotaro was using Star Platinum to startle her.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“I never told you?” Jotaro replied. “My first few days of having my Stand were in a jail cell. I thought an evil spirit possessed me, and so I stayed in there to protect people from him. Sounds like this girl is going through something similar.”

“Hopefully, with a quick talk, I can show her that the spirit following her isn’t evil,” Lily chuckled.

“You’re the best one for the job, since your Stand isn’t aggressive,” Jotaro added. “Well, I should get to my task today. I’ll see you later.”

“You too,” Lily smiled.

“Oh, one more thing. Rohan and Koichi heard something about a murderer who’s been killing people in Morioh for years now. We’re not sure if he’s a Stand user or not, but keep an eye out, alright?”

Lily froze in her tracks. Without thinking, her hand grabbed her neck, where the bomb was placed not too long ago. It couldn’t be. No, surely Kira wasn’t the one they were looking for. But with his ability, it would be really easy for him to live under the radar. Was he really a murderer?

“Are you alright?” Jotaro asked. “I mentioned a murderer and you just grabbed your neck.”

“I-it’s nothing,” Lily lied. “I’m fine.”

Jotaro narrowed his eyes, but left it at that. “Whatever you say. See ya.”

“Bye, Jotaro,” Lily muttered. As she walked, her mind was racing. Does Kira know? Will he assume that she told them? Is he actually the one they’re looking for? How far was she willing to go to protect her life? Although she knew better, she couldn’t help but keep rubbing the crook of her neck.

Right, no time to think about that now. The only thing that should be on Lily’s mind was the task that needed to be completed, helping a young girl understand her new abilities. In fact, she was almost at the house where the girl and her father lived. According to Lily’s notes, the name of the girl was Emiko, and her father’s name was Hiroki. The only other person in the house was Emiko's baby brother, and the mother died a few weeks ago from unknown circumstances, probably the arrow. Ever since her death, Emiko had been screaming in terror, pointing at nothing, begging something to get away from her. Hiroki had been reluctant to send her to an insane asylum because she might be mistreated there, but he saw no other choice. However, after sending her there multiple times, she always seemed to come right back home. When he asked about it, all she said was, “the spirit brought me back, I don’t know how.”

Yup, that sounded like a Stand’s work. Poor girl was probably so confused and terrified, and her father couldn’t even see the problem. Looking down at her notes, Lily double checked the address, then knocked on the door.

“Hello?” When the door opened, a man with honey blonde hair and green eyes appeared on the other side. “Look, if you’re here to confiscate my daughter, I’m afraid there’s not much you can do. She keeps coming back home somehow, I’m not sure that you can keep her there for long.”

“Sir, I’m not here to confiscate your daughter,” Lily replied. “I’m here for quite the opposite. My name is Lily Kakyoin, I work for the Speedwagon Foundation. We think your daughter might have obtained a strange ability, and I’m here to help her understand it.”

“A strange ability?” Hiroki asked. “Like a superpower?”

“Something of the sorts,” Lily answered. “I promise, no harm will come to Emiko. I’ll talk to her for a little, and then be on my way. Is she home?”

“No! Stop! Stay away from me!” A distressed scream came from somewhere in the house.

“I think that answers your question,” Hiroki said. “Please, come in.”

Lily entered the house, and followed Hiroki to his daughter’s room. When he opened the door, the first thing Lily saw was Emiko cowering in a corner, with a strange, blue, somewhat humanoid reaching its hand out to touch her hair.

“Why me?! Why do you want to haunt me?!” Emiko screamed.

“She’s not schizophrenic, that’s for sure,” Lily told Hiroki. “I can see the spirit. I’ll take care of this, sir, don’t worry.”

“Emiko,” Hiroki knocked on the door he just opened, “you have a visitor. She says she can see your spirit.”

“Can she make it go away?” Emiko asked hopefully.

Lily gave the girl a light smile. “There’s no need for that,” she said. “I’m only here to help you understand it. Your spirit isn’t here to hurt you, I promise.”

“How do you know?” Emiko’s tone suddenly dropped.

“Because I have one of my own,” Lily answered, summoning her own Stand. “I call it Ace of Pentacles.”

“You’re haunted, too?” Emiko stepped back a little. She stepped back away from her Stand, which had almost made contact with her.

“It isn’t really ‘haunted’, like you say,” Lily explained. “You were struck with an arrow, right? You survived that arrow attack, and it granted you a special ability called a Stand, which is the spirit following you. It’s basically a physical, well, semi-physical, manifestation of your soul. It won’t hurt you, and you’re not haunted.”

Emiko tilted her head.

“Just… let it mess with your hair. It looks very curious.”

Although the very thought terrified her, Emiko trusted Lily. She tensed up, but let the thing next to her twirl her hair a little bit.

“I can feel hair moving through my fingers,” she said.

“Well, your Stand is a part of you,” Lily replied. “Whatever happens to you happens to it, and vice versa. If you get hurt, it gets hurt, and when it has hair moving through it’s fingers…”

“Are there other people like us?” Emiko asked.

“There are,” Lily nodded. “There’s too many. Lots of them like using their Stands for personal gain, through any means necessary. One of them killed a girl just to keep his identity hidden.” And if Kira is discovered, it’ll happen again.

“That’s awful!” Emiko exclaimed.

“I’m glad you think so,” Lily smiled. “That’s why I’m here, as well as a couple of friends. We’re here to make sure those people never get the chance to hurt anyone, ever again.”

Emiko let a slight grin appear on her face, before it distorted back into a look of disgust. “It feels so weird having my fingers touch stuff when they’re really not.”

Lily laughed. “Just tell it to stop, and it’ll stop.”

“St-stop that!” Emiko ordered, although it sounded more like a plea. Like a dog obeying commands, her Stand stopped running its hands along the table.

“Are you alright to figure the rest out on your own?” Lily asked. “Or would you rather me walk you through it?”

“I think I can figure out the rest from here,” Emiko answered. “Thank you very much for helping me!”

“Of course,” Lily smiled. “I hope I’ll see you around!” As she left the house, she sighed happily. Moments like these were the best part of her job. But as soon as she left, her mind started lingering back to Kira. Now that she was thinking about it, he seemed like he’d be the perfect potential for a murderer. A Stand that lets him turn anything into a bomb? And when Lily met him, she saw him reach down and grab her severed hand, almost like it was a prize for taking her out.

“You’re doing it again,” Jotaro told her.

“Doing what?” Lily asked.

“Rubbing your neck.”

Lily snapped her arm back to her side. How did she keep doing that without even realizing it?

“Anyway, I came by to ask if you wanted to eat lunch with me,” Jotaro continued.

“Oh, that sounds great!” Lily chimed. “Where are we going?”

Before Jotaro had the chance to speak again, Josuke ran up to both of them from behind, startling them.

“Mrs. Lily! Mr. Jotaro!” he exclaimed. “Shigechi’s gone!”

When the two turned around, they saw Okuyasu and Koichi with him, clearly distressed.

“Shigechi?” Jotaro asked. “Who’s that?”

“He was a friend of ours,” Okuyasu explained. “We saw his Stand, Harvest, explode out of nowhere, and when we looked for him, we couldn’t find him anywhere.”

Lily gulped, making sure her hand didn’t instinctively cover up where the bomb was planted.

“The only thing he left was this button,” Josuke said. “I think our murderer is a Stand user, and I think Shigechi encountered him.”

“He was only in middle school,” Okuyasu gritted his teeth.

Lily bit her lip. How was it that a middle schooler was more willing to give his life away for a better cause than she was?

“I didn’t know Shigechi personally, but we have to start looking for the murderer!” Koichi urged. “If we don’t find him, who else will lose their life?”

As the five of them talked, they continued down the streets. When Lily turned her head, she saw Kira, with an unhappy face and his hand in a thumbs-up, hiding in an alley. Gulping, she straggled behind the rest of the group and went to confront him in the alley.

“Look, I swear, I told them nothing,” Lily promised. “It was Shigechi.”

“I know that full well,” Kira replied. “However, I told you specifically, if they found me, I’d blame it on you. And that would mean your demise, as specified in our deal.”

“Well, they haven’t found you yet, so what do you want me to do?” Lily asked sarcastically. “Distract them?”

“Precisely,” Kira chuckled. “I want you to tell them that you’ve met me, and then tell them what I look like. But I want you to lie. I want you to give them a false sense of what I look like. That’s not too hard, is it?”

“Now, hold on,” Lily scowled. “That was never part of the deal.”

“Anything’s a part of the deal when your life’s on the line,” Kira smirked. “And now that they’re already hunting me down because of Shigechi, there’s no reason for me to keep you alive, unless you do as I say. That’s our new deal.”

Lily balled up her fists, but let them go, sighing. There was no reason to fight. Her life was already in his hands. Any protest and she would be killed in an instant. “Alright,” she mumbled.

Kira smiled. “Good. Now, go out there and show me why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

When Lily emerged from the alley, she was met with four faces staring her down.

“Care to explain why you snuck off without telling us?” Jotaro asked.

“Oh, that?” Lily nervously laughed as she approached the little group. “I just thought I saw something suspicious and decided to go check it out. I was just imagining things, though.”

“You should have called us back there,” Josuke replied. “It would have been safer in numbers.”

“I didn’t think about that… oops.” If she played dumb, maybe they would leave it alone.

“Okay, you know what? I’m done,” Jotaro said. “I want the full truth, and I want it now. No messing around, no beating around the bush, tell me exactly what happened, and why you’ve been acting weird, especially after I mentioned a murderer.”

Lily gulped. “Well, um, uh, it’s kind of hard to explain…” She hated lying to everyone like this, but she wanted to keep her life. Thankfully, that was no longer a part of the deal. “I had an encounter with the man who took Shigechi’s life one day while I was taking a walk,” she admitted. Everyone gasped.

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Josuke exclaimed. “Traitor!”

“No, wait, let me finish!” Lily cried. “I’m not a traitor, I swear! You see, the way I met him, he planted a bomb on me, and he activated it, but I got away just in time. But then, he discovered me, and the only way I could save myself was promising I wouldn’t tell anyone about him.”

“But he’s a bad guy, why didn’t you tell us?” Koichi asked.

“Because he planted another bomb on my neck to make sure he wasn’t discovered,” Lily continued. “He told me if he was found, he’d blame it on me, no matter what, and he’d kill me.”

Everyone just stood there, stunned.

“Well, what does he look like?” Okuyasu urged. “Come on, we need to know so we can catch him!”

“I’m getting to that, don’t worry. First of all, his power is deadly, he has the ability to turn anything into a bomb. If he moves his thumb down to his fist, it’ll activate the bomb. Secondly, his looks…” Uh oh. This part was completely unplanned. She looked over at Jotaro. “Black hair…” then at Okuyasu. “With a shaved cut minus the top…” Josuke. “Blue eyes…” Koichi. “And a short stature.”

The others nodded, but Jotaro looked at Lily with disbelief painted across his face. “Weird. You listed one of our traits as you looked over at us. It’s almost like you had to improvise.”

Lily went silent.

“Who exactly was in that alley, Lily?”

She went pale as her throat got caught. She tried saying something, but nothing came out.

Jotaro ran towards the entrance to the alley, practically pushing Lily aside, and everyone else followed suit. Lily, too scared to move, just watched them as they peered to where Kira was just a moment ago.

“Looks like they didn’t believe you,” a menacing chuckle came from the other entrance Lily was right beside, making her gasp in fear. “It’s a shame. Well, you’re no use to me now.”

“There’s nobody here!” Jotaro exclaimed. “Quick, we need to check the surrounding areas!”

Suddenly, a terrified scream that was ominously cut short came from where Lily was standing just moments ago. When the others turned their heads to it, the spot was completely barren, no sign of her in sight.

Everyone was too shocked to say a word. They knew what just happened, but it hadn’t quite processed yet. Josuke was the first to speak.

“She… she’s still alive, right?” he asked hopefully. “She could’ve been kidnapped or something! We need to find her!” But deep down, everyone knew. Josuke knew that Ace of Pentacles would make a copy of Lily if she were being taken away, and Jotaro knew that Lily’s horrible lying skills would not let her think of a Stand ability like the one she described before she suddenly disappeared.

“But… but how would we tell Mr. Kakyoin if… if she’s really…” Josuke tried forcing the words out of his mouth, but he couldn’t say it. Tears were starting to form in his eyes, and he clenched his teeth together.

“Serves her right…” Okuyasu growled. “Traitor…”

Something clicked in Jotaro when Okuyasu said those words. “You would have done the same thing in her situation! Don’t act all high and… mighty…”

One look at Okuyasu and it was easy to tell that his words were nothing more than a vain attempt to stop his crying. “I was so mad at her just seconds ago,” he said, choking on his own tears. “So why? Why do I miss her already?”

“Mrs. Lily… she’s not really…” Koichi sniffled. Suddenly, he burst into tears, as well, clutching his heart.

Jotaro looked at the three grief-stricken people around him, and if he was honest, he tilted his hat down and shed a few tears himself. Tears for their friend, who would never come back to them again.

[nightwingshero]

Unwanted

Okay guys, so I’ve been working on two different stories for FC5: one that follows the game and the other is a burlesque/mafia au that I couldn’t get out of my head. This is the first piece of work I’ve posted for Wren and John, and its for the burlesque au. I’m going to be posting my work on AO3 soon, but I got really excited about this and wanted to share it! Trigger warning for some alcohol use and dark thoughts, so read at your own risk!

Her green, venomous eyes were taunting. She sneered at everything that came across her withering gaze, her hips swaying with a little extra effort to gain the attention from those around her. It was in vain, of course, with Rowan’s performance still in full swing. But that didn’t stop this woman from holding her head high as she looked down her nose to our dancers. We’ve had people in here before from the first class. Most of the time, they were pleasant, friends of Whitney or John. Some just stopping through to check out the club they’ve heard so much about, but that southern charm had never failed. Until now.

She flipped her platinum blonde hair, the curls catching the little light that created the ambiance. Her short emerald dress hugged her curves, showcasing her breasts perfectly. I was almost impressed. I shifted a bit, fidgeting with the material of the outfit I wore for my last performance. I was talking to John before he had ducked outside to take a call from a client. I stood there, waiting for his return, but as her gaze narrowed on me, I knew I was in for it.

“Where’s John?” she asked in a clipped voice. I would have thought her beautiful, if her personality had matched. I frowned at her.

“I’m sorry, he’s not available. May I ask who’s asking?” I asked in curiosity. John had people come in here and there, asking for his time. This wasn’t new. He would brush them off, telling us to make sure to ask who they were and why they wanted to see him. He was so allusive here, insistent that his business hours were always clearly communicated. If those expectations weren’t met, then too bad. He took his schedule seriously.

She sneered at me, her glossy lips shimmering with her teeth. “I’m his fiancée. Now, go tell him that I’m here.” My brows shot up in surprise as my heart stopped. Fiancée? He had never mentioned…

“I didn’t realize he was engaged.” I replied quietly, hoping to keep the disappointment hidden. I felt deflated, as if someone had poked a hole in me. I wanted to stay neutral, not give away how my heart sank to the pit of my stomach at the thought of it. But she smirked, her green eyes twinkling.

“Well, he is.” She let out a little laugh. “Its cute, you know? This little crush you have.”

“I don’t—”

“Oh please.” She snapped. “It’s so obvious. He probably already knows. You wear it on your sleeve. It’s disgusting and pathetic.” She clicked her tongue as she gave her a look of pity. “Let me guess, you’re some country girl from the middle of nowhere who is trying to make it in the big city. Am I right?” I don’t answer. I’m raging, the blatant rudeness wiggling under my skin. But I can’t seem to defend myself. My tongue feels heavy and the tears are coming. It only fuels her, knowing she is so close to making me collapse into myself like a house of cards.

“Oh honey, did you really think he would go for that? Some little girl playing dress up when she belongs back on the farm? You’re way out of your league.” She steps closer, placing a hand on my shoulder as she squeezes with a false sense of reassurance. As if we were in this together, the two of us against the world. “Honestly, I’m doing you a favor. Saving you from the humiliation of rejection. John has standards, a particular taste darling. And this? This isn’t you. It’s not fitting in the slightest. Whore isn’t exactly on John’s radar. He prefers women of class, love. You’re beneath him. It’s time for you to understand that you’ll never be good enough for him.” She smiles again, before rubbing her hand on my cheek. Then with a slight smack against my skin, she’s gone, and my eyes are catching Whitney’s shocked ones.

The room spins as I lean against a chair for support as Whitney tries to call for me. Fight or flight is strong in my veins, roaring in my ears as my stomach twists and twists, creating something I don’t recognize within me. Reforming, as I stumble to the back, desperate for something I can cling to, something real I can put inside myself to make me real. I’m a ghost of something as I gather my things to leave. The breath in me is gone, forcing me to choke on the stale cigarette smoke Adelaide is supplying. I’m almost in a trance, and yet I feel some sort of clarity. The fantasy broken like a magic mirror, and suddenly I am seeing my true self in the broken pieces lying before me. I barely register Faith’s words, but I’m sure she’s asking if I’m alright. I smile, say yes, pretend that I’m still the same person on that stage. She’s not convinced and so I tell her I’m going home. My sleeve must be dirty from everything that shows there.

I leave quickly, feeling like a fool. Perhaps I should laugh, like most clowns do, pulling all those emotions out of my sleeve like a colorful handkerchief chain. That would require a voice, something I was lacking. A mime would be more fitting. My body the tool, invisible and locked inside a box I created for myself as I tried to put on a display. A vision no one had wanted, the piece of art that sat in the back unwanted. I forced a sob down as I entered my car, fumbling for the keys.

I wish I could say that I remembered getting to my apartment. Out of character for small town Wren, sweet little Wren. The box was closing in, my chest threatening to implode. I let go, the tears and sobs forcing my body curl into itself on my bed. The little moments were a mirage, something my naïve brain believed to be something more. How many times had he been there to protect me? His bullet wound had only just healed. How many times had he saved me? The disaster of a date with Detective Pratt merely weeks ago. I could still taste the fear on my tongue as Pratt plied me with glass after glass of wine. The gentleness in which John had handled me, almost caring. Like I was the most fragile thing in his world.

I scream them into my pillow, the broken pieces of my heart. Pieces of my soul shattering like the illusion of him, the illusion of what I thought we could have become. I breathe in deeply and that’s when I feel the shift, the steel resolve of my psyche overcoming me. It’s the numbness I notice first, turning my sobs into nothing. I rise, making my way to the kitchen like a vengeful spirit that is the one being haunted. The vase is crystal, a gift from Adelaide for the new place, but it’s the flowers I want. He had them sent to me, celebrating our big show only a few nights prior. I laughed to myself, remembering the rush I had felt. For the first time, I had felt high. Elated.

I swayed, humming to myself a bit as I made my way to the bathroom. Turning the chrome handle, I began to run the hot water, desperate to feel the burn against my skin to help me rid myself of her touch. To purge the gaze that had taken me in with such disdain, as if I was a stain upon this earth. Her tainting touch scorched my skin, leaving an invisible mark that only I could see. That I could feel. And with that, I ripped the soft petals from the stems, allowing them to sprinkle down into the water. They dance across the surface, a secret waltz that only they knew.

One by one, I light candle after candle, a dark ritual that was only just beginning. My hair is twisting up and up, piling elegantly on top of my head, and then I’m dipping into the water. The warm, baptizing water welcoming me, loving me as it takes me as I am. Scars and all, it holds me securely in it’s embrace. I could almost hear the shushing of its calming voice, almost feel the comforting fingers of my mother as she played with my hair. The ghost of her was almost enough, pushing me back to a time where I didn’t have to feel the weight of loss or rejection.

And suddenly, her ghost is gone. Blue eyes have taken over haunting me, her fingers replaced by his tattooed ones. He plays me like a harp, pulling my tight strings just so he could hear me sing, watch as I move with a simple flick. The hypnosis of his ocean eyes is deep and tempting, calling for my drowning. They wish to claim my last breath, the very last bit of my being. And I’m rising from the water, panic clawing my throat because I can feel the pull, feel his gaze as I felt hers. I fight off the tears that demand to be seen, that want the show they so rightfully deserve. It was only fair, my heart screams, but I laugh at it. Life is never fair.

I stand naked in the mirror, but I see her standing next to me. The blue bloods that own this city, the embodiment of the perfect Georgia peach. A woman I could see John taking by the waist with pride. Her red lips and dark lashes, the long neck and golden blonde hair on display for all to see. My body not nearly as lean or as striking. I imagined her in her castle as a child, the beautiful princess of Atlanta, ruling her kingdom with her head held high. My childhood filled with softball tournaments and the old beaten up acoustic guitar that slept in the corner, while she attended operas and orchestra concerts. A culture I had never dreamed of, a social circle that could never be touched by the likes of me.  

I dry my skin, the feeling of being paper thin is overwhelming. I laugh to myself, because I know what comes next. I know what I’m about to do. It’s silly, childish, and yet I glide to my dresser. Slowly, I pull out my favorite number, something I had always imagined wearing for him. Not on stage, no. This was something for him and him alone. I put on the bra, the black lace striking against my skin and suddenly I’m untouchable. Slipping on the lacey underwear to match, I turn to my closet, desperate for the last pieces. The silk ebony robe sending shivers down my spine as it caresses me, and it’s as if I’m being held in my lover’s arms. The heels are last, simple and elegant. Tall and black, two thin straps leaving my feet bare, the same shoes I had worn to my father’s funeral. I felt like death herself, all powerful and ready to take whatever she wanted. Provocative and demanding, a queen among men.

My hair is released, falling like a waterfall down my back. It felt good to pretend, to believe in this moment that I was like her, that I wasn’t me. That I was a woman that was cherished and wanted, an envy-worthy being. I reason with myself; I know I’ve gone mad. I had fallen off the deep end and taken flight, and it had never felt better. The feeling addicting, the need for more growing and growing. The heels clicked against the wood floor, fueling me. The righteousness they sang, the vengeance they demanded, it became a soothing lullaby.

The kitchen is dark, only the light above the stove and sink burned with life. I reached for the most expensive red wine I had, pouring a glass with a smile of satisfaction. The blood red liquid was all consuming, drawing me closer. The dark, bitter taste becoming my sanctuary, but I wasn’t done. No, far from it. And as I sat down at my small vanity back in the bathroom, I choke yet again on a sob, and force out a laugh instead. I had a plan, a traitorous plan against the tears that begged for the freedom they longed for. I knew how to trick the emotions into becoming wisps of smoke on the inside of my porcelain glass exterior. I had never been an artist, but I paint. The burgundy against my lips, the black liquid liner creating sharp edges that would dare touch without permission. The brush then creates a frame for the windows of my soul, residing in the blue green irises staring back at me. They’re heavy, sad even, but the mascara does its job and I finish with a flourish.

I’m suddenly beautiful, a perfect doll someone would love to have, to play with, and have on their arm. I wonder briefly which arm he would use to put around my own waist, and suddenly my vision swims. I scoff as I hold my head high and take a sip in victory, toasting myself for outsmarting the betrayal of my heart that suddenly matched the blue of his eyes. I was so strong, I told myself. I was better. But as I held the glass gently, it became comforting to me, whispering sweet nothings and promising me a numbness that kept me safe and sound. I knew I was lying to myself. I was far from better.

A sound pulls me from the calling, and I set the glass down as I rose. The noise led me to my bedroom window, finding a cat messing with some metal trashcans as it scavenged for its next meal. Then I hear the soft clicking of my front door, and I scoff while squeezing my eyes shut momentarily. I should have known. Rowan was the only other one with a key, and I could almost bet that Faith had sent her my way. The wine’s singing int the next room, creating an atrocity of noise in my head. Perhaps just one glass, just to get the noise to go away. To make everything quiet.

Rowan would wait patiently in the living room; she respected my privacy. She wouldn’t just wander around. No, she would sit on the couch or at the kitchen table, preparing for whatever conversation she had planned on having. “Rowan, I’ll be out in a moment.” I call out in a sigh, letting her know I was aware of her and wasn’t being ignored. “I hope your show ended well. Sorry I wasn’t there to see the grand finale.” Every word was an effort, taking energy away from me. I wanted nothing more than to be alone.

I give only a few more seconds as I come to my decision and began making my way back to my bathroom. I could down the glass quickly. Rowan gives no response, but I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter. But as I step into the bathroom, I freeze. The blood in my veins suddenly turn to ice and my breath hitches. The glass was missing, as if it were never there in the first place. Sad and confused, I approach the vanity. The red wine, that had matched my lips, was gone. Staring at the reflection in the mirror, I’m reminded that I could never be her, or any of them. The beautiful women that could seduce him with just a soft smirk, a glance in his direction as her finger curled, beckoning him closer. I cringe as I turn away. I didn’t need another reminder that I wasn’t good enough.

“Rowan, give it back. I’m fine. Let me finish my fucking wine.” I stomp down the fall, my heels screaming their wrath. That’s how I enter my kitchen, ready for war, but I stop as something catches my attention. I make my way to the sink in a daze as I reach for my empty glass, the stain from my former lipstick taunting me. The wine bottle is set down and I reach for it, not caring of the guest I had yet to acknowledge. The lightness of the glass bottle tells me exactly what I had been thinking, it had not been spared. Everything was empty, just like me.

I slam the bottle down as I clench my teeth, seething. I wanted to scream, to see the world burn with the rage I was feeling. “Rowan!” I snap and I begin to shake, but whether it was from anger or the lack of control, I wasn’t sure. “Are you fucking kidding me? I barely had any—”

I’m no longer yelling but choking on the gasp that rushes out as fingers caress my neck, a hand gripping my hip tightly. They tease at the base of my neck before tracing my collarbone. The hand on my hip is sliding and sliding until its entangled with the knot of my robe. I know this touch, this gentle melody against my skin. The same gentle caress that ran over my skin as he marked me, embedding his creation into my skin with his dark ink. A permanent work of art that would be displayed on me for the rest of my life, and then suddenly he grasps my neck, squeezing only slightly. I knew what this was. I knew that this was a punishment, his own way of showing his disappointment for my lapse. He wouldn’t hurt me, I trusted him, and I knew that concern was driving his anger. My head rests against his shoulder as his lips find my ear.

“Promise?” he asked, dead serious. His breath makes me shiver and I breath out slowly through my nose. “Promise me that that’s all you had, Wren. Do not lie to me.”

“I promise, John.” I whispered in shame. He knew, god he knew. I was usually good, drinking only in moderation and at social events. I was so careful. But he knew, in this moment, that I had no intention of stopping. I was so swept up in the hurt, in the insecurity and anxiety, that I hadn’t realized how quickly I was falling down the rabbit hole. I make a sound at the back of my throat, and I feel my armor began to fall, disintegrating into nothing as I’m fighting the tears that are coming back.

He doesn’t give me the opportunity to cry. His lips find the junction of my neck and I sigh. Rowan wouldn’t have taken that step, pouring everything I had down the sink. That just wasn’t how she was. She would have lectured, sure. Express disappointment? Absolutely. John wasn’t like that. John was bold, unafraid of anything that ever came his way. I let out a shaky breath as he pulled away, his hand leaving my neck as his finger gently turned my chin. His lips found mine and I couldn’t think.

How long had we skirted around this? How many times had we came this close, but never crossed the line? The stolen glances, the shameless flirting. The way he held me the night I was almost shot in the alley, and yet neither of us were willing to take it further. I could almost laugh, because I had thought for so long it was just me. I was crushing on someone way out of my league. I had believed the words that woman had said. And suddenly, I remembered exactly why I was in this situation. I’m his fiancée.

He pulled away as the tears fell, and I looked away from him. He wasn’t having it. Gripping the front of my robe, he jerks me around. It takes only a few seconds for him to see, and without missing a beat, his hands are on my thighs. He sets me up on the counter as a sob successfully, finally, escapes my lips. His hands cradle my face as his thumbs wipe the tears away. His eyes are soft and they’re pulling me in, a tug on my seams as I become undone. I tore my gaze away, trying to hide everything I was feeling.

“Look at me.” He whispers, his face close enough that I can feel his breath. I looked back, fear and hurt all over my face. “Listen to me and listen very closely. You are enough. Do you hear me? Wren, you are enough.”

“Enough for you?” I croaked as I cried. My hands twisted as the clung to his white button up shirt. I was creating wrinkles, but neither of us cared. His brow furrowed and his jaw ticked.

“Enough for me? God Wren, who gives a shit about me?” He gently pokes my chest, against my beating heart. “It doesn’t fucking matter what I think or what anyone else thinks for that matter. Anyone.” He sneered as a dark look swirled in his cerulean orbs. “All that matters, is that you’re enough for you. You matter, Wren. You come first.”

“But that woman said—”

“That woman is nothing. Her opinion is nothing. She will never touch you, or get close to you, do you understand? She’s a liar and a manipulator. A child throwing a tantrum for not getting what she wants.”

I shook my head, my insecurities still whispering doubts. “She’s so pretty, John. She’s so thin, and I’m nothing like her. I’m not like her.” I sobbed.

He chuckled, a soft smile gracing his lips and showing off his perfect teeth. The light gave him a heavenly glow, yellow highlighting his features that made him look warm. “No, you’re not. You’re nothing like her, Wren. But that’s one of the biggest things I love about you.” He gently pressed his thumb against my lips, helping silence my sobs as I hung onto every word. “Shhh. Don’t cry, darling. Do you not see? Do you not understand just how beautiful you are, inside and out? Do you not know what it is you do to me?”

“John—” I gasped, but he presses his lips softly against mine before pulling back.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted this? I’ve thought of little else since I’ve first laid eyes on you.” He whispers. “I get to watch you, Wren. I get to watch you every night when you perform, and I want nothing more than to devour you, to have you all to myself.” He tugged the robe loose, making it fall open and his eyes travelled down. My skin heated immediately from his attention, his finger returning to my chest as it teasingly traced the top of my breast. “I waited, bidding my time for the perfect moment. It never seemed to come, though, and I had to watch as that idiot detective circled you. But I protected you when you needed, listened to you when you needed the shoulder to cry on. I wanted you, craved you, but needed you to be happy, to be ready and unafraid. I wanted to take my time with you, but I can’t keep my fucking hands off you.”

I laughed and his smile broadened as he leaned back. “So…you’re not engaged?”

He scoffed. “Hell no. We used to be, but that was years ago. She’s nothing to me.” He placed a light kiss on my nose, before going for my lips, but I stopped him. He gave me a look and I smirked.

“Did you break into my apartment?” I asked, my brow raising, and he gave me a smirk in return.

“Oh darling, I plead the fifth.”

“So, that’s a yes.”

“It is not. Need I remind you that I’m innocent until proven guilty?” he asked, a breathless laugh escaping him. He gave me a mischievous smirk, something dancing in his eyes that made my lower abdomen pull as I bit my lip. “I heard about what happened, Whitney told Rowan and I everything. Rowan was enraged, I believe she may or may not have taken a swing at our unwanted guest. I didn’t stay though, I needed to check on my girl.” He tilted my chin up gently, his lips brushing mine lightly. “And you are my girl, aren’t you darling?”

“Yes, John. I’m yours.” I breathed out and his lips crashed against mine once more. Everything forgotten as a sense of relief settled over me. My heart swelled as his hands caressed lovingly against my skin, holding me, and driving the last of my inner demons into the shadows as I fell into his sweet embrace.

[erideights]

You won't leave me behind so easily.

Request by anon: What would happen if, when Crowley went to the burning bookshop looking for Aziraphale, he instead found Y/N?

Pairing: Crowley x Fem!Reader (Good Omens)

Word Count: 2072.

Warnings: Mentions of fire, I guess. And maybe a typo, I'm sorry.

Everything happened so fast.

Before anyone could really react.

The days until the prominent arrival of the end of the world were less and less and progressing faster, suffocating the throats of those few who knew about the great event and who, at all costs, tried to get out of it alive.

There was no way to stop it, Crowley thought.

There must be something we can do, Aziraphale argued in his head.

And Y/N? She was one more human, a victim of crossfire, with more knowledge than she could ever accept about the events to come and how her life would end in not that many hours.

The clock was running and she felt stuck, lost, drowned by the great plan that showed little mercy to her existence.

That the angel and the demon were now mad at each other because of their argument of how to proceed not too long ago did nothing to help in this apocalyptic scenario; it made things worse, divided the team of three, thus diminishing their hopes not only for saving the world, but for saving themselves.

And again, Y/N was only human...what could she do but watch everything happen and feel an oppressive impotence in her chest that made it difficult for her to breathe with each beat of her heart?

The scene in which Crowley and Aziraphale argued was playing over and over again in her head as she walked nervously and anxiously through the living room of her apartment, looking for a way to solve things with the few —small, minimal, null— resources that she had.

What could she do to make that pair of idiots come to good terms again and seek together how to get out of all that without dying trying?

Not finding the way to flee, because Y/N wasn’t 100% agree with Crowley's plan to go to Alpha Centauri, but the way to save the planet where they lived, as many millions more humans and thousands of animals and plant species that they deserved, in fact, to be able to continue their lives.

Because a war between Hell and Heaven to see who’s stronger? What a fucking joke, they looked like 10 year olds arguing in a school.

———

The characteristic siren of a fire engine sounded in the distance, not too far away, barely audible above Queens's You’re My Best Friend, as a 1933 Bentley moved through the streets of London at such speed anyone could think it defied the laws of physics imposed by the universe.

If only they knew.

The first sign of alarm for the demon was seeing the truck parked right in front of the bookshop that he knew so well thanks to the long afternoons and even longer nights spent there in company of the only two living beings for whom in reality, he would give his life.

The second, were the flames devouring the facade of the building, destroying everything in its path, without mercy for everything that housed its interior, not only physical but emotional. What happened to the laughter accumulated there? With the empty wine glasses and the existential crisis talks?

With his memories?

The third, and this was the trigger that forced Crowley out of his flat and start the car, was to stop feeling the presence of the angel on the face of the earth.

He couldn’t explain it even if he wanted to, he supposed that it was some divine thing beyond his comprehension, but Aziraphale had disappeared from his demonic radar and the idea of ​​the march of his best friend in times of crisis shrank his heart in a fist that only tightened more with every second of the clock.

To suspect that the woman he loved —a frail human prey to the terrible and countless facilities that she had to die— was with the celestial being until his disappearance, made everything worse.

His thoughts were running over each other in panic inside his head as he slammed the passenger door and his quick steps headed for the shop.

A snap of his fingers was enough to open the doors as well as to stop hearing the voices of the firemen trying to get his attention and save him from what would be an imminent death for an ordinary mortal. And once the doors were closed, Crowley's screams and cries for his best friend were muffled by the chaos around him; the wooden beams that supported the place wouldn’t last much longer, the shelves had already begun their fall across the entire floor.

There was no book that could survived that disaster.

Or so he thought before glimpsing from the corner of his eye a large copy whose green cover seemed practically intact, ends slightly scorched but no damage serious enough to give the book for lost.

But then he heard it.

A distant cough, a dull groan, a choked voice asking for help.

Y/N was laying on the floor, sweat coating her forehead and cheeks vaguely tinted with black dust thanks to the ash mixed with the air.

To the naked eye, she didn’t seem to had an ugly burn or a mortal wound that Crowley couldn’t heal with a little demonic miracle of his own, but that didn’t stop him from falling to his knees beside her and hugging her against him, promising once and again that everything would be okay.

She was conscious, but she’d breathed too much smoke to be able to move on her own foot, so regardless of whether her heart had flip in her chest when she saw the mischievous demon that she had fallen in love so hopelessly years ago, because that was the effect he always had on her, she felt relief that it was him who came to save her.

The last thing she could remember before falling into a terrible and suffocating unconsciousness were the golden eyes of the redhead, whose anguish —caused by the events— had flooded them at the verge of tears, and she couldn’t help feeling a sharp pain through her chest escorting her to the most absolute darkness.

———————

‘’Aziraphale?’’ For a moment Crowley thought his tired eyes were playing tricks on him and making him see things that weren’t really there, because a distorted reflection of what he considered his deceased best friend’d appeared out of nowhere in front of him and… that couldn’t be, right? ‘’Are you here?’’

But, contrary to the expected reaction —none under the premise of hallucinations— the demon frowned in confusion when the angel's voice reached his ears. ‘’Good question. Not certain. Never done this before. Can you hear me?’’

‘’Of course I can hear you.’’

‘’Afraid I’ve rather made a mess of things.’’ Aziraphale looked confused, disoriented and, more importantly, pained. Crowley supposed that, in his condition, —whatever it was since he couldn’t understand it—, the angel couldn’t see him; their gaze never crossed, the blue one of the platinum blond lost somewhere in the ceiling. ‘’Did you go to Alpha Centauri?’’

‘’Nah, I changed my mind. Stuff happened. I lost my best friend. And I... nearly lost her too.’’ Unconsciously, the demon's hand squeezed softly the one intertwined with his, although she probably wouldn’t feel it. In that moment, the redhead's peculiar eyes traveled to the calm face of the young girl, asleep and at peace in his bed; the damage she received wasn’t serious enough to feel the need to be taken to a hospital, it was rather obvious that he would end up taking care of her.

He wanted to.

‘’Her?’’ The angel looked even more confused for a split second, eyes widened and voice soaked in horror at the sudden realisation of the person they were talking about. ‘’Oh, wait, you mean Y/N? Did something happen to her? Please do tell me she’s okay.’’

‘’Your bookshop. It burned down. She was there.’’

His bookshop? Burned down? Reduced to ashes ...? He would ask, but his concern was not especially focused on one place, but on ‘’Did she? But I thought… I thought she was with you—’’

‘’She wasn’t.’’ Crowley cut off quickly, a bit annoyed with his lack of knowledge about the whereabouts of the girl before finding her where he found her; he supposed that both had been so focused with the whole ''end of the world'' thing that, after the argument between him and the angel, when the three seemed divided by different urges, none cared about the only living being that, by her own, couldn’t escape. ‘’But don’t worry, Y/N’s here and she’s fine. She’s the strongest human I know, she’ll be okay.’’

And so the conversation between the two went on, the revelation of Aziraphale about where the end of time would begin, his relief knowing that his friend also rescued Agnes' book —that would give them a chance to save them all— and the promise of meeting there once the angel found a new body.

And in the same way he had appeared a few mins ago, he disappeared, returning the silence to the dark room of the fallen angel, who was in a heart dilemma; he couldn’t leave Y/N alone, not when he didn’t know for sure if he would see her again. But take her with him, in her state, and to such an extremely dangerous situation?

What he didn’t know either, was that the girl had been awake for a while, listening partially and in pieces his conversation with Aziraphale because, unfortunately, she wasn’t a celestial being, she couldn’t catch the presence of her white winged friend, but she did catch enough to know that she needed to ignore the faint pain that his body had and go with them to save the damn world.

So when Crowley sighed again, still shuffling his options, she sat up in bed without warning, causing her favorite demon to slightly jump in his seat in the chair next to the mattress.

‘’C’mon,’’ she said with much more vitality than one could expect, her voice stressing her impatience, for there was no time to lose. ‘’we need to go.’’

‘’We?’’ He asked, incredulous, snorting a bitter and dry chuckle from the deepest point of his throat. ‘’You’re not going anywhere.’’

‘’And will you be the one to stop me?’’ God, he was helplessly in love with that woman who only knew how to make snarky and sassy remarks when she wanted to piss him off. Was he a masochist or something?

But deep in thought, adoration written all over his face, he didn’t get the chance to really stop her until she was out of bed and heading towards the door of the flat down the corridor full of plants that, at Crowley's sight with that look of pure rage on his face, began to tremble.

Holy shit, she was fast.

‘’Y/N, for fuck’s sake,’’ he grabbed her left wrist and spinned her around, making the girl look at him straight in the face. To prove his point and try to intimidate her with his annoyed expression? Maybe. ‘’You don’t really have any kind of preservation instinct for your own life, do you? Don’t you know how dangerous it is?’’

But instead of being afraid of him, being the good girl he expected her to be and agreeing to stay away from all that, Y/N slipped out of his grasp, searching quickly for the lapels of Crowley's jacket. In a second she pulled these towards her own body to counteract the immense height difference and trapped his parted lips in a passionate kiss.

Oh, she wanted to do that for a long time now.

For a brief instant, Crowley was completely frozen, unaware that his feelings were indeed returned and of course, the moment in which he wanted to kiss her back and searched for the hips of the girl to bring her closer to him, she pulled back and fixed her deep eyes on the golden ones of the demon.

‘’We're leaving, both of us. And don’t you dare try to stop me, Crowley, I won’t leave you.’’

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer III: Allies

I rested my nails under the UV light letting them set. I got the sakura pattern. It looked like there were actually flowers encased in the nail polish. 

“You know, I can’t stop staring at them. I didn’t know Japanese Gel nails were a thing.”

Johann sat next to the floor to ceiling glass windows, sipping his tea and looking outside. I smiled at him. He seemed so relaxed. Probably because both Nono and I were. We were being kept in palatial surroundings and being waited on hand and foot by our three hosts.

I looked over at Nono who was sitting across the table from me.. She’d chosen a string of jewels as her pattern. It reminded me of when we first met at the foster home. Her jeweled nails were one of the first things I noticed.

Master List

Our hosts returned with sushi on a plate. The bright colors and attractive shapes made my mouth water. “Ooo... that looks so good... but we still have five minutes on the timer.”

“You’ll have to feed us like baby birds.” Nono shamelessly opened her mouth. “Aaaah...”

The long haired man who’d clearly taken a liking to her willingly picked up a piece of sushi so she could take a bite out of it. “Mm... Very good. You should try it, Carli.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Nono was accustomed to getting silly amounts of attention. I only felt embarrassed.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to settle in for a few days until we can arrange your new IDs. The police all have you on their radar and are looking for you.”

“I’m not sure how I can hide with my dark skin. I’m sure as a black person they’ll treat me ten times worse...” I whimpered.

“Don’t worry about it! Here!” The blondie held up the sushi for me too.

I glanced over at Johann. On the one hand, he might have preferred he be the one feeding me sushi, but maybe he was too nervous to ask? Either way, he didn’t object. 

I took a bite. “Mm... it really is good!”

“Is there anything else we can get your ladies?”

Nono thought and then said, “I want diamond earrings!”

“Can I get some toe shoes?” I asked.

Johann pondered. “I’d like to try some of the katanas here if you can get a few.”

The two men looked at each other wide eyed a moment.

The platinum blond hurried in. “Guys! We’ve got trouble! Hydra’s found us already!”

Johann stood up, looking out the window. I hurried to stand next to him. Three cars formed a blockade that kept anyone from going in and out of the parking lot. People got out and ran inside.

I felt myself begin to panic. Johann turned to our hosts. He pinned them with a glare. “I thought you said this place was secure?!” He snarled at them. “I’m starting to doubt the competence of our allies!”

He grabbed his sword. 

A shadow passed over us. We turned to look, just in time to see woman on a rope swinging straight for our window! Johann shoved me out of the way. “Carli! Run!”

She smashed through the window, drawing a blade.

“There’s an exit through the back door!” The dark haired man drew his own sword and charged the woman. “All of you! Go! Protect Carli! I’ll hold her off here!”

Johann followed Nono and I out. I didn’t look back. The two blonds led the way. We ran full tilt. Was the dark haired guy going to die? Was he going to die because of me?

The silver blonde opened a door to a stairwell. “This will lead you right out! Ladies first!” He grinned, bowing.

“Thanks... are you going to be okay?” I asked.

“Don’t thank us. After all... we kinda owe you after all...” His smile softened. “Ms. Carli.”

Johann yanked me down the stairwell.

We’d gone down six maybe seven flights when a burst of gunfire was audible from where we came. Johann held tight to me, not letting me stop or slow down. My mind was reeling. Why were they talking like that about me? Why would they risk their lives for me?

We got to the bottom of the stairs and burst into a hallway.

There, standing in our way, sword drawn... That man... that face.

I immediately flashed back to the rainy day in Chizuru. His brutality with a blade and bow and arrow. His cold manner of killing. He was my worst nightmare.

Chisei Gen.

Johann let go of me, unsheathed his sword and charged. Chisei neatly dodged to one side, just as fast as Johann. Nono drew her weapon and took aim. 

“Ow!” I felt a sharp painful sting in my back followed by a spreading numbness and dizziness.

Nono was staggering as well, leaning against the wall, looking behind us, glaring.

“I don’t have time to explain.” I heard him say.

My legs lost all their strength. I fell to my knees. “Johann... don’t... don’t let... him...”

The floor was cold against my cheek. It felt like it was rotating around and around. My eyes burned with tears and my throat closed with terror when I saw the toe of his shoe. “Please...”

But I didn’t feel the cold steel through my neck. Instead, I felt him pick me up. His voice was echoing. “Quickly! They’ll be here any minute!”

Memories were more like snapshots, enough for me to realize that I was in a car. I was being taken somewhere.

But that was all.

[apexarrow]

Official LFRP post.

Shiloh Artorian

The Basics ––– –

Age: 27

Birthday: 16th sun of the third umbral moon

Race: Hyur / Midlander

Gender: female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Marital Status: Not looking.

Server: Mateus

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Naturally Black. Was Bleached to platinum blonde during the events of ARR, then dyed black again during the events of Heavensward. Sometimes faint, faded remnants of blonde peek through.

Eyes: Malachite Green.

Height: 5′8″

Build: Average with a strong torso and arms from years of fighting with a bow and arrow.

Distinguishing Marks: Nothing particularly noteworthy.

Common Accessories: Big hats, typically adorned with a plume. A pair of elegant red and green earrings. Long boots with heels. When on the job, is armed with either a compound bow and arrow, or a large rifle. 

Voice: Bonnie Gordon as Eva Roux

Personal ––– –

Profession: Leader of La Trouvaille, a small mercenary company that specializes in search-and-rescue and bounty-hunting jobs under the radar. They skirt the line of legality in the pursuit of justice, and often operate in secret. Former innkeeper, tavern bard and Gold Saucer Chocobo race jockey. 

Hobbies: Singing, dancing, dolling herself up in expensive clothes and makeup, accompanying Galaihaurat ( @honourateventide​ ) just about anywhere they decide to travel on either business or a spontaneous whim. Reading poetry beside a crackling fire. 

Languages: Common

Residence: Bounces between Ishgard proper and La Trouvaille’s headquarters stationed on the border of Coerthas and the Shroud.

Birthplace: Ul’dah, Thanalan.

Religion: Forever Halone.

Patron Deity: Halone

Fears: Failing to protect the one she loves, or otherwise losing them to circumstance beyond her control. Not being accepted due to her immigrant status in Ishgard. 

Relationships ––– -

Children: none

Parents: A merchant and an innkeeper, both deceased in the calamity.

Siblings: One brother who left years ago to fight the Garleans. He left the family business in her care, and she transformed a simple inn into what La Trouvaille is today. 

Other Relatives: none

Pets: A white chocobo given to her by Galaihaurat and his family, lovingly named Mitaines. 

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: socially, occasionally Drugs: None Alcohol: Only when there is no job to be done immediately after.

RP Hooks ––– –

The Gold Saucer - As a teenager, Shiloh made a living as a chocobo jockey at the gold saucer. She got involved up in an illegal, unsanctioned gambling ring. Naively, she believed if she did the right thing and refused to throw a race, her career would remain in tact. With a damning scandal pinned on her and many gamblers in debt for it, she fled Ul’dah for her own safety. 

Immigration into Ishgard - Shiloh sought to get as far from Ul’dah as possible, eventually winding up in Coerthas central highlands and finding work tending to Chocobos. This brought her into the Holy See itself, where she found work at the Forgotten Knight as a bard. She capitalized on her status as an outsider, singing songs of far away lands and lending an ear - or shoulder - to the bar’s patrons when they needed it.

High Society - It was a shared belief in justice that brought her and Galaihaurat together, and she was granted a job as a servant in his household in return for a place to live. She would often be seen in the pillars - mostly trying to stay out of the nobles’ way as she ran errands and did other jobs for the Oraguille family. She was well taken care of by the family, who gifted her fine clothes and jewelry occassionally.

The End of the War - Following the revelations brought about by the end of the Dragonsong war, tensions among nobility were high. Shiloh continued to work in the Pillars and the Forgotten Knight, but nearly found herself a victim of mob violence when she spoke up in defense of the Heavens’ Ward. Spirited away from the crowd by Galaihaurat, the two left the city to reflect and find new beginnings elsewhere. 

The Twin Seasons and La Trouvaille. - When the Artorians’ Inn was left to Shiloh by her younger brother, Shiloh transformed it into a company of its own. As long as one has the coin or the willingness to work, they are welcome to stay in the cozy hospitality of the Twin Seasons as long as they wish. Its latest location boasts an impressive bar and plenty of space to lounge. It is a welcome, warm haven for those leaving Coerthas - and the last warm stop on the road for those going in.

OOC Info  ––– –

1. I’m a grownup. 21+ with many years of RP experience. I’m in a happy, committed relationship. I’m not looking for any OOC romance.

2. That means no erping. Nothing beyond an R-rated film. That’s what fading to black is for.

3. Open to almost all manner of dark themes. Not sure if something’s going too far? Just ask me, communication is key.

4. I’m often busy. I work full time and am preparing to move across the country. But if I make a commitment to RP or take screens or whatever, I always do my best to keep that commitment. 

5. I love taking screenshots in this game its literally like my favorite thing so if you RP with me you’re gonna get screenshots that’s just how it is.

6. I’m open to rp most anywhere. In game, in discord, google docs or tumblr, or wherever.

[ms-merlinblack]

Hermione lifted her eyes from the cup of black tea in front of her, milky ribbons still rolling through the almost black liquid. It had been ages—at least four, maybe five years—since she'd seen him last, but even now, she recognized that thatch of platinum hair.

"Malfoy."

Pushing up from the table, she brushed her hand across the outside of her thigh, hoping to pull the moisture from her palm before she extended her hand towards him.

Grey eyes flickered between her extended hand and her face, as if stuck in some debate about the propriety of touching her, and for half a moment, she wondered if he was going to decline. She couldn't blame him, the only other time they'd ever actually touched had been third year when she'd slapped him. But still, years had passed, the world was changing, and surely he was beyond that… Wasn't he?

Lifting his hand from his trouser pocket, long fingers curled around her palm and he gave her a firm handshake that felt much too clinical. His head inclined ever so slightly in a silent greeting, and just as quickly as his hand found hers, he pulled back.

"Thank you for meeting me. I've ordered a pot of Earl Gray and some scones if you're peckish." Hermione returned to her seat, hands smoothing across her abdomen, trying to pull the wrinkles from her blouse.

"I don't make a habit of eating with potential clients." Draco unbuttoned the single button on his blazer, pulling the sides of his sport coat open as he claimed the seat across from her. "I would say I was surprised to receive your owl, but word travels fast. Despite my obvious elation at your humility, I am going to warn you that even with all the gold in the Potters' vaults, I'm not sure you'll be able to afford my services."

After the trials that succeeded the war's end, the only living Malfoy had gone into hiding of sorts. His name vanished from the papers, no mention of his comings and goings, no pictures depicting the pointy blond hiding from paparazzi—avoiding reporters by ducking into shops. He had fallen completely off the radar, only to resurface two years ago when he opened his firm.

From what the articles had said, he'd used his solitude to further his education with a focus on Magical Law. He spent time in the Americas—both northern and southern—studying legal proceedings under the best lawyers in all of the Magical world.

His specialty laid in criminal trials, often defending celebrities and Pureblood families from sentences in Azkaban, and thus, he was able to charge obscene rates to make up for the pro bono cases his firm took on. It seemed, from what Hermione could tell, he was using his budding legal team as a means of reparation for the years of damage his family had done.

It seemed admirable, his charity work and activism in the Magical world, but then again, he was still a Malfoy, and surely everything came at some sort of price.

"Oh, I have no intention of paying for your services." Hermione picked up her steaming mug, taking a slow sip of her tea, and watching as Malfoy bristled across from her. His eyes flickered with mild interest and something akin to incredulity. The porcelain tinked softly against the glass top as she set her mug back down on the table. She lifted her hand to silence him before he could begin to protest. "Rather, I was hoping this particular business venture might be mutually beneficial. Maybe even beneficial enough for you to work for free."

Continue Reading On:

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21159701/chapters/54982510

FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13416810/19/Decree

[joonie-beanie]

Oh, Baby (Bonus 1)

[Pt 1] [Pt 2] [Pt 3] [Pt 4] [Pt 5] [Pt 6] [Pt 7] [Pt 8] [Pt 9] [Pt 10] [Pt 11] [Pt 12] [Pt 13] [Pt 14] [Pt 15] [Pt 16] [Pt 17] [Pt 18] [Pt 19] [Pt 20]

A/N: Surprise, surprise!! I bet no one was expecting this. Recently, as I try to get back into writing, I’ve found myself becoming interested in my old fics/AUs. So, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to just have some fun and write whatever lol. So, here we are. (It’s not smut, sorry to disappoint).

Words: 4,085

You’re not sure how—after all this time—you’d managed to get yourself into trouble yet again. Well, actually, dating a man who makes his living in illegal ways likely has something to do with it, but still. For nearly a year now nothing out of the ordinary has happened. No enemies, no kidnappings—sure, there’s a small squabble on the side and maybe a few injuries, but that’s to be expected. Not everything can go smoothly 100% of the time.

But you suppose today is the day that all that good luck and peaceful living comes back to bite you in the ass.

“Does Namjoon not feed you, or what?” Jimin asks as you pull the door to Namjoon’s apartment open, mouth watering at the sight of the greasy McDonald’s bag in his grasp.

“Listen,” you start, and Jimin’s already rolling his eyes, breezing past you into the apartment. You shut the door behind him, continuing, “The man barely cooks. So, I live on microwave meals, room service, or whatever I can make from the groceries we have. And right now we really don’t have any.”

“So? Go grocery shopping,” Jimin responds smartly, and you pout at him.

“You really hate seeing me that much, huh?”

He laughs a little, posing a hand on his hip as he turns to face you.

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

“Why Jimin, it sounds like you’re almost admitting that you’re fond of me,” you tease, walking over to where he’s set the bag of food down on the kitchen counter. You rummage around inside, handing him is own burger and fries, and he watches you in amusement.

It’s amazing how you’ve managed to become close since the incident with Jaehyuk last year. But then again, you seem to have the power to become friends with any soul that crosses your path.

“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” he finally responds, taking his food and meandering over to the couches. You roll your eyes, grabbing your own meal and following after him.

Ever since Namjoon’s partnership with Jeon Enterprises, Jimin has been helping out—gathering information and scouting locations around the country to see which are the safest to do business. Therefore, he’s on the road a lot. He comes and goes—usually only staying in the city for a few days—just enough time to report to Namjoon, sleep in his own bed, and spend a night with Yoongi. Sometimes he gets lucky and gets a whole week off—when business is slow and shipments aren’t really scheduled to come in.

Currently, it’s one of those slow times. So, in an excuse to see him, you’d asked him to bring you food. When Jimin had gotten your text half an hour ago he had figured as much, but with so much free time on his hands, he figured that getting to spend some of it with you would be a nice change.

“So, how’s Kook?” he asks as you turn on the TV in the background.

“Good,” you reply after a moment, swallowing a clump of fries. “He’s set to graduate at the end of this semester, same as me. With Junhyun in charge it looks like he’ll end up actually taking part in the family business.”

“I figured as much,” Jimin says, taking a big bite out of his burger. “Good on him, though. And you?”

“Well…,” you pause considerately, eyes moving to stare at the ceiling. “I mean…I’m actually having a good time relaying information to you guys and helping to keep everything going smooth, so…I’ve kind of considered just doing that.”

“But?” Jimin pipes up, knowing that at the very least Namjoon must have an opinion on your interest in that kind of career.

You sigh. “Namjoon is worried about it, like always. He doesn’t want me to waste my life helping him, and starts to get all self-depreciative, like he’s tainting my life with sin, and ugh.” You throw your hands in the air and Jimin smiles a little, understanding. “I just wish he would stop worrying. I’m not leaving him and if I’m gonna date him it’s not like I can be totally separated from his work anyway, right?”

“Right,” Jimin agrees.

“So…yeah,” you finish, not sure what else to say, and Jimin breathes a laugh.

“Just tell him that you’re going to become a stripper if you can’t keep your job helping him. Then you’re guaranteed the position for life.”

You snort at that, nearly choking on your drink, which only makes Jimin laugh more. In that moment, everything in life seems right. You, and Jimin, sitting in Namjoon’s downtown apartment eating McDonald’s together while both of your boyfriends are out at a meeting.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Knock Knock Knock

You and Jimin glance at each other. He cocks an eyebrow.

“You expecting someone?”

“No, but maybe Namjoon accidentally overlapped two meetings or something,” you say with a sigh, jumping off the couch and starting towards the door. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Jimin watches you go with a shrug, running a hand through his platinum blond hair. He has faith that you’ll work it out with whoever is at the door.

He hears you unlock the door and pull the handle open, however, even after a few seconds you don’t speak. There’s just…silence.

Frowning, Jimin takes a long sip of his drink and then turns to look at the front door, only to be met with the barrel of a gun. Immediately his eyes widen, eyes darting past the gunman to glance at you, who is currently being held with a knife to your neck by a second man.

There’s a look of shock mixed in with the fear on your face, like you can’t believe that after so long something like this is happening yet again.

“Kim Namjoon,” the male with the gun to Jimin’s head speaks up, and Jimin’s eyebrows furrow.

“I’m not—”

“Shut up!” the gunman yells, roughly pressing the weapon against Jimin’s forehead, and he winces. “Our boss wants you and your girl to come with us. Don’t resist.”

Boss? Jimin thinks to himself, trying to remember if there had been any indication of enemies on Namjoon’s radar as of late. He can’t think of any off the top of his head, which bothers him.

“What do you want from us?” he questions instead, meeting stares with the male in front of him. He looks easy enough to take out. If Jimin was alone he would have already disarmed the guy, but…his eyes shift back to you. With you here, he can’t risk it. Especially not when he’s unarmed.

Dammit, he knew he should’ve brought his gun. He’d been getting lax lately, in these peaceful times…

“That’s for us to know, and you to find out. Get up,” he demands, reaching forward and yanking at Jimin’s collar. His movements are sloppy and unpracticed—like he’s never done anything like this before. In fact, if Jimin looks closer, neither of the men look too sharp. They actually look a little scared at their own actions.

Huh, he wonders, allowing the male to push him towards you. Newbie gang members? Maybe fresh blood had managed to sneak under his radar. That would explain why they have no idea he’s not even Namjoon…

“Hey,” he says quietly as the two gunman force you to exit the apartment. You’re at his side, one of the men pausing to press the button for the elevator. You glance over at Jimin, bottom lip caught between your teeth, and he smiles.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

You blink, and for some reason a wave of calm washes over you. You’ve been through worse trials than this before, and with Jimin here, you don’t doubt his words. You know that he’ll be able to protect the both of you, he just can’t at the moment—the two had caught you too off-guard.

Gun and knife still being held against you both, you allow the two men to lead you down to the parking lot. A black car with tinted windows is waiting, and they secure both of your hands with ungodly amounts of duct tape before shoving you into the backseat. You’re quiet during the ride, not sure what to say and not wanting to risk further harm by saying anything you shouldn’t, and eventually the car comes to a stop.

Before you is a dilapidated shipping yard, with not a soul in sight. As the two men haul you and Jimin out of the car, the cold winter air chills your skin, and you shiver. You hadn’t noticed it before, since you’d been in the parking garage, but it is the brunt of winter right now. If you stay in the cold too long, especially without proper clothing (and of course they hadn’t let you grab a jacket), then you’ll likely freeze.

“C’mon,” one of the men barks, but there’s little threat in his tone. You feel bad for Jimin, because if it wasn’t for you, you’re sure he would have fought his way out of this predicament by now.

Obediently, you allow the men to drag you into a nearby warehouse, and the unmoving cold air immediately begins to bleed into your clothing—sapping all of your body heat. Jimin notices you shiver and frowns. He’s uncomfortable as well, but he’s used to being in shitty predicaments like this. It comes with the job.

Silently, he moves a few inches closer to you.

“In here,” the other man speaks, the muscles in his arms bulging as he hefts open a heavy metal door. Inside is a small room, illuminated with just a single, flickering light. There’s a worn down table in the center, and a tattered blanket against the back wall.

“You’ll stay here for the time being,” the same gang member speaks as the other disappears behind him. “Our boss has asked us to keep you here until he can get to you later. He also…had a request.”

“To make you uncomfortable,” the other chimes in, and appears in the doorway once more. In his hand is a hose. Your and Jimin’s eyes widen in surprise, because there’s not fucking way they’re going to—right? But there’s nothing you can do. The hose is turned on, and in a split second you’re dosed in a spray of ice cold water.

A high pitched gasp leaves your lips as shock settles in, and while the water isn’t on for more than a few seconds, it’s enough to turn your skin numb.

“Enjoy your time together, love birds.”

And with that, the door is shut with a heavy clang, and you and Jimin are left alone—shivering.

“What the fuck,” Jimin hisses once they’re gone, hurriedly looking around and then darting to the back wall to grab the blanket. It’s tattered and dirty, but at least it’s thick.

Slowly, he turns to look at you. His eyes rake over your soaked clothes, sticking to you, and notes that your lips are already starting to turn blue.

He breathes a long, long sigh.

“I need you….to take your clothes off.”

You speak through chattering teeth.

“What?”

“This is our best bet at staying warm. We need to strip out of our clothes as soon as we can and huddle for warmth. I don’t think it’ll be long before Namjoon or Yoongi comes to get us, but I don’t want to risk—”

“W-What do y-you mean? T-They k-know we’re gone?”

Jimin holds up his hand. His middle finger is hugged by a black ring. On the top there’s a red light flickering.

“Namjoon gave one of these to all his closest subordinates—me, Yoongi, Tae, etc. It’s an emergency trackers, so that if something happens and we can press it, and it will send everyone in his inner circle a signal and a GPS location. I pressed it as when we were riding the elevator down to the lot, before they taped our wrists together.”

“God, I love you,” you say, albeit your deteriorating condition. “But h-how am I supposed to undress with my wrists b-bound like this?”

“Hold on,” Jimin responds, and heads to the table in the center of the room. He kicks it onto the floor, and then positions his wrists against the corner. Standing on the table to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere, he steels himself and pulls upward with all his strength.

There’s a ripping sound, and the duct tape on his wrists splits up the middle.

“Fuck that hurt,” he says, rubbing his chilled skin as he pulls the remainder of the tape off. He then makes his way over to you, grabbing your wrists and bringing them to his mouth. He creates a tear in the tap with his teeth, and frees you of your bindings carefully, trying not to hurt you.

Soon enough, you’re both free. Jimin still looks a bit perplexed at the situation, however. What is he gonna do if Namjoon walks in and sees the both of you huddled together for warmth? Sure, Jimin has gained Namjoon’s trust, but…

You roll your eyes, shaking in your boots. You don’t have time for this.

“Jimin, get undressed, and wrap yourself in the blanket. Once you’re situated, I’ll do the same.”

“I…okay,” he responds, and immediately starts to shuck his shirt off. A small part of him feels pride at you taking control of the situation. You’ve definitely gotten more commanding since you’ve begun helping Namjoon with his work.

It doesn’t take long for Jimin to shed his clothes, and he’s quick to grab the blanket. He moves the upside-down table to the wall, and then seats himself atop it—figuring sitting on the wood is better than sitting on the frozen concrete.

“Okay,” he says, and when you move to pull your top off Jimin immediately looks away. He averts his eyes to the ceiling, and if his lips weren’t cracking from the cold, he’d probably whistle a tune to make himself feel less awkward.

“Okay,” you say quietly in the background, and Jimin hears quick footsteps coming towards him.  The blanket he had draped over the front of his torso is lifted, and he stills in shock when you straddle his lap—your chests pressing together as you wrap the blanket tightly around you both.

“Oh my god,” he says. You sputter.

“What?? I thought this would give us the most skin contact! I’m trying to get warm!”

“Okay—but like—the position—,” Jimin stutters, seriously about to lose his mind. Sure, he’s done a lot of things with taken women before, but you’re way different. You’re like…his sister, practically.

“If you manage to get a boner is this cold I’ll be amazed,” you simply respond, and hug him tight. At that, Jimin finally seems to relax a little—breathing a laugh.

“I don’t know. Think Yoongi would be into a foursome?”

At that, you full out cackle. Sure, you’re still freezing, and scared, but you appreciate the conversation. With Jimin’s reassurance that the others know you’re in trouble and know where to find you, you feel a bit more at ease.

“Yoongi doesn’t exactly seem like the type. And as much as I’d love to see what you two are like as lovers, I think Namjoon would commit double homicide before that happened.”

“What a shame,” Jimin responds with fake disappointment, grinning a little.

“Right?” you respond, snickering. “Seriously though, you’re supposed to be Namjoon right now, right? Or at least they think you are, for some silly reason.”

“Silly indeed—I’m much more handsome—”

You smack his shoulder, and Jimin laughs.

“Like I was saying—they think you’re Namjoon, and we’re on the topic, so…what are you like as lover, Jimin?”

Jimin pauses, his eyes shifting to the side to look at you curiously.

“Are you asking about my kinks, or what?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” you respond, pouting a little. “Or like…I mean…in bed…do you kinda, like…” All of the sudden you feel embarrassed by your own question, and Jimin giggles.

“Well, I’m definitely not vanilla. I tend to like giving and receiving marks—I like BDSM stuff, just like everybody else. And I tend to be switch, or verse, whatever the kids call it—”

“Wait, even with Yoongi?” you interrupt him, pulling back to look him in the eye. Jimin desperately avoids looking down at the open space between your chests. However, you hardly notice his inner predicament, focused on the idea that—

“Does Yoongi bottom??”

It seems impossible. That Yoongi—who tends to be stoic and serious—who in your mind you see as a man of power, just like Namjoon—would…bottom.

Jimin reaches forward and squishes your cheeks between his palms. “Do not tell him I told you any of this or he will cut my dick off.”

“What? There’s nothing wrong with bottoming!” you respond, and Jimin just sighs.

“I know, but you know Yoongi. Think about how he’d react if you went up and told him that I’d let it slip that sometimes I’m the top, and not him. He’s got such a stick up his ass about dominant and submissive roles sometimes, I swear…”

“Well, I won’t say anything,” you promise, allowing Jimin to guide you back into a hug. Not only was it getting cold with you leaned away from him, but he also really needed you to not give Namjoon anymore reasons to murder him.

“So,” Jimin speaks up again after a minute, and you can hear the excitement in his voice. “What about you and Namjoon? Put a dildo in his butt yet?”

“Jimin!” you hiss, slapping his shoulder once more.

“Okay, okay, but seriously! What’s it like? You can’t just ask me about my sex life and not expect me to return the favor.”

“I mean, I guess…,” you mumble, pouting, and Jimin patiently waits for you to continue. “Well…like you said, it tends not to be vanilla. Obviously we have softer times, but as I’m sure you can guess Namjoon loves being dominant.”

“And I’d assume you’re more than happy to let him explore that role,” Jimin pipes up, sounding a little cheeky, and you huff.

“I mean…yes. But…sometimes I can take over.”

“Really?” Jimin asks, genuine surprise in his voice. “Kim Namjoon lets his girlfriend take over in the bedroom?”

“I mean it’s not like I go full dominant but I can take the reins from time to time,” you say proudly. “It’s a good ego booster, getting the boss of a mafia group to beg.”

“…and suddenly there’s some imagery in my head that I didn’t need to see,” Jimin groans, his forehead knocking against your shoulder. You laugh.

“Hey! You’re the one who asked me about our sex life!”

“And I regret it already,” he responds, breathing a laugh. You hum thoughtfully.

“What? Do you wanna think about what our sex life would be like instead? If I had been turned on by you touching me when we first met, who knows what could have happened.”

“Oh god…fuck I did that, didn’t I?” Jimin says, sounding horrified at his own actions from the past. You shake your head.

“Yeah, but don’t start feeling guilty about it now. We’re fine, Jimin,” you assure him. He hums in response, acknowledging your forgiveness but not knowing what to say. Then, after a minute, he finally speaks up.

“To answer your question though—even though they think I’m Namjoon, I promise you I’m a much better lover—”

“Jimin!!” you smack his shoulder one final time, and the male breaks into a fit of laughter. You find yourself giggling as well, unable to deal with his stupid remarks (even if you do kind of love them).

Thankfully, before either of you can say anything else that might make your boyfriends mad, a metal door loudly creaks in the distance. Shouting quickly ensues, but after a few seconds there’s silence. You and Jimin both keep your attention on the door to the room.

“Think it’s them?” you ask, and Jimin nods.

“Well, I sure hope so. My ass in numb.”

You roll your eyes at him. Jimin just grins.

Finally, after another minute there’s the sound of a lock clicking open, and the door to the small room you and Jimin have been trapped in is hauled open.

Namjoon and Yoongi appear in the doorway. Immediately their eyes flit to the both of you—huddled together, and totally naked. They both tense. You and Jimin glance at each other.

“Uhhh,” Jimin begins, clearly starting to get nervous—seeing that both his boyfriend and boss are…scarily quiet. “We got sprayed with water?”

“This is the only way would could think to stay warm and not get frostbite,” you quickly add in, shooting Namjoon a pleading look. You really don’t want him getting mad at Jimin for this shitty situation.

After a few moments, both Yoongi and Namjoon sigh. Namjoon begins to peel off his long dress coat. Yoongi poses a hand on his hip, looking you both over again. His brows are still furrowed with worry.

“You’re not hurt? Either of you?”

“No,” you reassure him, smiling a little, and his eyes soften.  

“Good. Those two didn’t seem very competent anyway,” he says, throwing a thumb over his shoulder back towards the entrance.

“I thought the same,” Jimin says, averting his eyes to the side as Namjoon steps towards the both of you, coat in his hands—ready and waiting. Quickly, you open the blanket and detach yourself from Jimin—and said male continues talking to distract himself.

“I couldn’t figure out who they’re working for, but I figure it must be someone new to the scene, considering most others tend to keep their distance.”

“We’ll figure it out later, and give them the proper retribution,” Namjoon pipes up, pulling you into a tight hug. His coat nearly reaches your feet, and is already warm thanks to his body heat. You sigh blissfully.

“For now, can we just get somewhere that’s not freezing? My toes are starting to go numb.”

“Of course, babe,” Namjoon responds, kissing the top of your head. “I think we have a blanket or two in the car as well.”

He glances over to Yoongi for confirmation, and the male nods. Jimin is at his side now, still tightly wrapped in the dirty blanket.

“Pretty sure there’s something in the trunk.”

Happy with that answer, Namjoon wraps an arm around your shoulder and leads you back out into the open warehouse—Jimin and Yoongi following right behind. As you get close to the outer door, you spot the two men who had brought you here sprawled out on the ground, and wince. Namjoon gives you a reassuring squeeze.

“They’re just knocked out.”

You nod, grateful. You’ve seen enough dead bodies already—and would prefer to not see any more in your lifetime.

Stepping outside, you immediately spot Yoongi’s car nearby, and almost run to the heat it promises. You jump into the backseat while the other three detour around back and pop the trunk. Seconds later, Namjoon is scooting in the backseat alongside you. He drapes a blanket over you, and smiles when you snuggle close—trying to leech his warmth.

“You had me worried,” he whispers, lips pressing against the crown of your head.

“I had me worried too,” you respond, and he chuckles, giving you another kiss. Up front, Yoongi settles into the driver’s seat, and Jimin scoots in beside him. He’s got another blanket wrapped around him as well.

As Yoongi starts the car and pulls away from the warehouse, Namjoon speaks up again.

“I’m glad I got those trackers for everyone…you’re seriously both okay?”

“I’m fine,” you assure him, and up front Jimin hums.

“I’m fine too. Honestly the biggest blow was to my pride.”

Namjoon cocks an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“They thought I was you the whole time,” Jimin responds, and shoots you a playful wink through the rear view mirror. “I told Y/N that I’m much more handsome, but she didn’t seem to buy it.”

Namjoon looks down at you, eyebrows raised in amusement. You blush.

“What? It’s true…”

Chuckling, Namjoon curls a finger under your chin and guides you into a soft kiss. You melt, body flooding with warmth.

“And that, my dear, is why you’re my favorite.”

[lottabank]

name: evelyn charlotte banks nicknames: charlotte , lottie , lott , char , charlie , charmander , etc. but she no longer goes by evelyn in this lifetime age: twenty three physically , sixty seven biologically sexuality: panromantic / sexual pronouns: she / her , cisfemale  species: vampire sign: gemini spotify: here pinterest: here

hello moon beams and star shines , this is late but i’ve just been busy with work ! i’ve got the time to try and finish stuff now , so i’m gonna work on trying to do my daughter’s intro. if you’d like to plot feel free to hmu via tumblr im or ask for my discord bc i’ll gladly give it. i also play rune ( shadow graced human ) so yeah it’s snottie back at it again , anything you want to know about me or lottie alike hmu or just read below to find out more about my sweet serial killer vamp princess

── the high council is prepared to hear the story of EVELYN CHARLOTTE ‘ LOTTIE ‘ BANKS , a VAMPIRE while noted as a WANDERER. we might of mistaken them as MADELAINE PETSCH. appearances may be deceiving, with immortality being so common among supernaturals. this being has walked the earth for NINETY years, and their face reflects an age of TWENTY THREE they’re a CITIZEN of estonia and will be residing in TALLIN.

during their stay of the harvest they shall work by day as a STRIPPER to blend in with the mortal crowd. however, at night you might find them as AN ESCORT / ASSASSIN. they’re UNHAPPY about the harvest, however, they plan to please the high council.

PERSONALITY.

vampire beauty queen , primadonna , self-proclaimed princess. this darling girl has always loved attention , luxury , all things beautiful and transitioning to the darkness only heightened that love. so much so that she will do just about anything to satisfy her own wants or needs. lottie is ruthless , verging on sociopathic. she is delicate , but she is dangerous. she is by no means unfeeling though , nor incapable of love. she can be sweet , she can be soft , she can be pink cheeks and bright smiles just as she can be bloody lips and deranged laughter. she is genuinely kind , loving and gentle unless your death would make her happier than your being alive.  

ruling planet: mercury — the planet of communication body parts: shoulders , arms , hands element: air good day: fascinating , original , resourceful , charming , wise , adventurous bad day: restless , distracted , two-faced , judgmental , depressed , overwhelmed favorite things: cell phones , fast cars , trendy clothes , obscure music , guitars , books , clubbing least favorite things: small-minded people , dress codes , authority figures , silence , routines secret wish: to have all the answers how to spot her: mischievous twinkle in her eyes,  humming , talking with her hands where you’ll find her: taking pictures , behind the bar , in a chat room , playing devil’s advocate keywords: communication , collaboration , synergy , cleverness , wittiness , inventiveness ,  ingenuity

charlotte’s energy circulates in a quick and frenetic way , witty wordplay and dynamic dialogue are her forte. she is great for brainstorming and socializing , but craves “ twin flame ” and kindred spirit energy and is always up for an intellectual meeting of the minds. 

under the influence she can find herself with the gift of gab , talking and conversing with others for hours hopping from pop culture trends to deep political topics. beware of when she becomes a “ gossip girl , ” as she can crank up the rumor mill. as renowned dr. bernie siegel says , “ we have the ability to cure with either ‘ words ’ or kill with ‘ swords. ' ” 

the essence of charlie’s energy is fascinating , original , resourceful , charming , wise , and adventurous. some negative manifestations can devolve into more restless , distracted , two-faced , judgmental , depressed , and overwhelmed energy. 

lottie has a tendency to ride the roller coaster of life , spiraling skywards one minute and plunging into lows the next. if you can keep up with her vibes though , you’ll have one hell of a thrill !

charlotte exhibits great creative synergy , instantly connecting people to each other. always inclined to spend time with friends and focused on changing the world one idea at a time.

a little bit older and wiser , more flexible and comfortable with change than others. she can “ chameleon ” herself to fit into a variety of situations. 

can come across as clever and quick-witted , eager to dish out the juiciest pieces of news and happenings to their friends via text message and social media. in case that’s not enough , she’ll probably send you a snapchat story for good measure.

lottie loves fast cars , trendy clothes and any wacky gadgets or games they can tinker around with. part of the fun ( and curse ) of this fiery red head is that you’re never quite sure which personality you’re going to experience. will it be the vivacious , pun-dishing jokester or the snarky , mean-spirited critic ? if you’re willing to see fifty shades of crazy , she’ll color your life in thrilling ways !

BACKGROUND.

evelyn charlotte banks was born june fourth , 1930 and was given the dark gift in the early fifties ( so you’ll definitely notice some call backs to that time period ). she has grown and developed and adapted throughout time better than most , but you can take the sock hop away from the girl but not out of her. she remembers her life before , but doesn’t dwell on nor even really miss it.

she grew up in your rather classic straight lace upper middle class suburban family and community with her perfect nuclear family. the town they lived in was small , close knit , and everyone knew everyone but especially who evelyn’s family was. 

she was in a lot of pageants growing up and was even platinum blonde for most of her human life , because she was so afraid her red hair would keep her from being successful.

when she was eighteen years old with big shiny dreams of silver screens , luxury , and eyes all on her was all she could think of. she left her family and their small generational hometown in georgia for bigger , better things in none other than hollywood. 

she was on her way ,  so desperate to be in the movies and be like marilyn monroe but shortly after is when she became ensnared by darkness and evil.  she wasn’t very successful at all in the beginning so , she started wearing tighter , shinier outfits when she was on stage when suddenly she started getting actual recognition. 

she wasn’t acting like she had intended , but it turned out her voice was good enough to land her plenty of lounge singing gigs in multiple joints. it was one particularly dark , seedy , dangerous joint that only opened once the sun set completely and closed upon the sun rise that she finally started to get propositioned to do so-called ‘ film gigs. it was also in this place where she met him for the first time. 

( tw: cult ment. ) her maker is very old and before she ever knew he was anything more than a handsome older gentleman she was fully under his control. he was something of a cult leader who for the most part glamoured his ‘ followers ‘ , but that was never necessary with charlotte. she was thoroughly and completely in love with her maker , she even ‘ married ‘ him and lived on his compound.

( tw: rape ment. , assault ment. ) it wouldn’t be for a few more years that he would finally turn her ,and only after he found her brutally beaten and raped for nothing more than a snuff film. her maker found her on the verge of death and wasted no time in saving her life by bestowing his dark gift upon her. 

( tw: murder ment. ) to say that lottie felt indebted to and fell in love with her maker to the point of obsession was an understatement , she would do anything and everything he asked of her including murder not in the name of feeding.

( tw: death ment. ) the films she was in were kept in the dark underbelly of the industry and no one was none the wiser , not to mention everyone thought she was dead after her last film.

so , she eventually did make her debut in film and was even on the silver screen finally. this only lasted for as long as she could get away with not aging before eventually she disappeared off the radar with her maker. the two traveled far and wide for a long time , but eventually went their separate ways even though lottie wanted nothing of the sort her maker commanded she live her own life without him now.

( tw: murder ment. ) she has since become something of a murderer ?? she prefers to call herself an assassin but it’s rare anyone actually pays her to murder anyone. you could even call her  a serial killer if you take into account that her victims are almost always men of the unsavory variety , but she has two sides to her personality and it’s not like she’s full maniac.

ETC.

if you know what yandere means she fits that description very well , and if you don’t know what it means well:  a common term in otaku fandom , a yandere is a person ( usually female ) romantically obsessed with someone to the point of using violent means to get them in their arms. often can be seen featured with a sharp weapon and a psychotic grin.

pretty much she comes off as this sweet , lovely , beautiful woman with lots of talent but in reality she can switch that off in an instant and literally kill you without any hesitation if it benefits her or someone she loves.

anyway she has been in estonia for only a bit now , but how long is flexible. she probably likes the scenery and the supernatural presence , but she’s honestly not a country mouse at all. 

also not that she needs money , but there is very little she loves more than attention and money. she works at a club as live entertainment on occasion , singing or stripping or bartending or occasionally doing , mostly for the attention but also if she’s in need of money.

[kurtty-drabbles]

Ocean au (the plan)

N/A: Merciful short, I hope.

Contrary to what Peter Ross may believe, Kitty does not live with Gwen, in fact, she has her house/loof where she lives and plans her next move along with her two babies, but, as the woman enters in her loof something is amiss and she looks around making no sound(what good thief would she be if she alert her presence) hovering on the air by a few inches the woman has a knife on her hand ready.

(Who would visit a thief at this time?)

"Darling, this is your house?" a honey voice rings in the loft as a woman with platinum hair is sitting in one of the couches with a sultry smile on her face.

"No, I came here to steal this place as well" Columbina replies and takes a knife out her back "and I may be so bold to ask...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, my, my. You have a knife. No need to go physical, I´m not here to hand you to my husband nor to steal from you" Felicia promised to make a cute signal with her fingers "You can trust a thief´s word, Columbina"

"No, I can´t, much less yours, where are my babies?" Kitty asked dropping the knife.

"Your cat and dog? sleeping on your bed like two angels" Felicia states and points to the corridor where one can see the only door open and Kitty could verify that Cosmo and Jupiter are sleeping soundly over the pile of dresses tore apart.

"Goddamnit," She mutters tiredly and goes back to deal with Felicia who is all smiles now. "Ok, what do you want? And never again break in someone´s house...that may or may not be mine" she orders in a strong voice as she puts the knife on the kitchen site.

Felicia was never nervous to see Columbina with a knife(odd, as she knows Columbina can cause more damage with her hands than with a knife) and speaks freely as if she was restrained by any means. "I heard you are planning a heist and I want in"

"No," Kitty said a bit acerbic. This didn´t stop Felicia in the slightest.

"Darling, you´re one of the best, in fact, I would be happy to pass down the name Black Cat to you" she has a more serious attitude now as Columbina is sitting in front of her. "But this heist is something too big even for you"

"I have a plan" she states confidently.

"Your last plan involved green goo"

"Why everyone mentions that...ok, back to the point, how did you heard about that? " she asked and Felicia is offering that enigmatic smile of hers as if she won´t tell the secret for immortal life. "it was Gwen" and now the smile is dead.

"Yeah, I blackmail her to talk...you love to take the mysticism out of my words" she explains pouting a little "But I want to help, my husband is, well, let me tell you something, Shield deals with cursed diamonds ALL DAY, to the point I´m sick of diamonds and if that could make Bruce that a chill pill for a moment ...I´m in"

"Felicia....is cursed diamonds, you can´t keep with them"

"Wasn´t thinking in that, darling"

"If I say yes, you´ll stop coming to this place?"

"I can try to invade your house but I can promise to make this a secret"

______________________________________________________________________________

Kitty, on the next day, was walking with her cat and dog as any owner should and is not minding the oddities in the New Gotham Park. Cosmo and Jupiter are walking in their usual way, that as always, got the attention of people ("uhm, lady, your cat walks on the back of your dog?" "yep")

"Lady" a new voice gets her attention and Kitty turns to see a teenager chewing bubblegum and offering an amused smile. "I want to get in the heist"

Kitty almost had a heart attack, but, she´s Columbina for a reason. "An excuse me? I´m a semi-normal citizen of New Gotham walking with my cat and dog"

"I´m Jubilee Wayne and Felicia told me to speak to you"

"Urgh, Of fucking course"

__________________________________________________________________________

The place for the meeting was on Gwen´s penthouse, which the blonde was happy to offer as she is more than enthusiastic with this plan now that Columbina did get the heroines to help and ("no green goo so far" "IT. WAS.ONE. TIME") and soon all the heroines are presented.

"So, what do we know about cursed diamonds?" Columbina begins and White Witch explains the matter of such cursed items, but, sensing she notices the stares everyone was giving she realize that didn´t need to go full encyclopedia. "Well, thank you, Wanda, but the point is...where those diamonds come from?"

Meggan and Wanda's side-eye each other for a moment as this was a question they never did until now. Lorna, the green-haired hacker takes the powerpoint presentation.

Lorna takes the lead. "Those diamonds are magical and sentient enough to form a bond with human" she has a winning smile as she wants to give a big spoiler but Columbina is muttering to her (''keep going'') "now, think about, in all those cases of diamonds cursed, what we learned about the victims?" Lorna really wants to give a spoiler and Columbina is not letting.

Sparrow being invited here by Felicia that did invite herself as well, something that Columbina loves to point out, raises her hand. "All of them are very rich to buy a diamond...by the way, what you do with the diamonds you steal?" Sparrow asked intrigued and Columbina puts her finger on her lips and wink at the teen.

"Yes, they´re rich and yes, we have questions about Columbina, for example why your cat and dog are so...odd?" Lorna asked as Cosmo and Jupiter are in Gwen´s penthouse and are raiding the fridge together.

"Focus, Lorna, Focus"

"I think your cat and dog..." Wanda looks at them for a moment as they steal something and are gone from their eyes "are very familiar"

"They´re my babies, now, Lorna..."

"Ok, back to the topic, all of those rich people buy their respective diamonds in one place..." and clicking on the bottom it shows an image of Emma Frost with a moustache and devil´s horn "this woman here is responsible. She´s the owner of the Hellfire jewellery and is getting money, too much money for normal or even successful jewellery" Lorna explains and shows some dates.

"Look, this is the normal ratio that jewellery makes...but Emma´s is making the triple...is not normal" and Lorna then concludes "and is very convenient that she has very strong insurance in case of robbery or if the diamond takes over your body"

Felicia is looking at this for a moment while Jubilee Lee is surprised, how Dark Claw let this one fly under his radar? "But" Felicia states "if the diamonds are cursed and are sentient enough...why to stay with Emma?"

"They make a symbiote relationship with Emma, maybe, because she can turn into a diamond too" Lorna finally gives the spoiler and Meggan is making questions. Lorna has no problem in showing the picture of diamond! Emma to her and Meggan is shocked, how come they never noticed this?

"Yeah, she can be a diamond but I can still phase her" Columbina explains and continues "anyway since she has a symbiotic relationship with the diamonds...it means they trust her to deliver the cursed to every citizen and " pressing the button for a moment "the number of clients that buy diamonds is increasing...she´s disguising the diamonds as bijous making more accessible to everyone. She won´t stop until the last one is infected, everyone"

Wanda and Meggan are visibly shaken. Jubilee is impressed, Felicia is ready to do something and Gwen is drinking wine. Lorna is watching Cosmo and Jupiter raid the fridge again.

"Why we just don´t go there and beat her up?" Meggan surprised even herself with this suggestion but Columbina gestures her to sit down.

"Because while is a symbiotic relationship, I have a feeling they can search for other hosts" she clicks on the button and now there are 3 photos on display "some of the possible candidates Victor Savage, a millionaire that loves everything expensive, Sophie Muller a woman who has a mine of diamonds in a few countries of Africa" they notice Kitty´s mischievous smile "suddenly is noticing the missing of money on the mines as the cities around her are getting more prosper and finally, Alex Simsan, the man is an old enemy of JLX and loves magical items, so far they all are fact but...maybe with the cursed...what can happen if those diamonds were put together with those fakes? How can we be sure they are fakes or just dormant?"

Meggan sits down and is a tick that the situation is that dire. Wanda never foresees this situation. Lorna is sharing lunch with Cosmo and Jupiter and Jubilee raises her hand again. "How can we stop this?"

"Glad you ask, Sparrow/jubilee, the first part of the plan: Emma Frost loves to give the most lavish parties in her mansion...we need someone to be there and talk with White Queen to get a hold on the magical protections that place has" Columbina looks at Gwen who is sibilating ("green goo")

And no one makes any question.

"That´s why we need Wanda there" Kitty speaks and Wanda herself is shocked. "Yes, you, Emma seems to be a big fan of you, and, no offences Meggan, but, Maximoff´s name has more worth for her than Braddock"

"I see, I´ll be undercover then, talk with everyone mentally?"

"Oh no, you´ll give info to Lorna and Felicia who will be the waitress of that party" Kitty states and Lorna is confident enough to say she can hack the database of the company who provides the buffet for those parties and put their names there.

"Meggan will shapeshifter and speak with Sebastian Shaw. He´s one of her partners and is getting a big sum of money to be quiet about the location of the cursed diamonds, but, if the boss asks" Kitty trails off and Meggan nods.

"Now, here comes the big part, we will need to take all those cursed diamonds calmly and quickly without attracting anyone´s attention. Me and Jubilee will do that...yes, kid, you´re very athletic and that could work" Jubilee does not want to show how she´s happy for those words but fails on that.

"And Gwen your mission is to advocate new jewellery that has nothing to do with Emma"

"Yes, being an influence, but, while I have some influence can this really work?"

"Yes," Meggan states looking at Gwen "Because the ladies of JLX will support the new jewellery and we have a certain influence too" and Wanda nods. Jubilee states that since she´s the daughter of the billionaire and Felicia works as a socialite in her spare time they can work on this to help Gwen.

Lorna and Kitty aren´t billionaires or influencers, but, they are changing the world...well, they´re about to change Emma´s world.

"Kitty, what are Cosmo and Jupiter?" Lorna asked as the cat and dog are watching the commotion with somewhat confusion in their eyes.

"Two excellent boys" Kitty respond proudly.