#shout out to Clara and Clara’s mom who made me have the time of my life

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

It’s the way I cried sm at the eras tour film and I really didn’t think I would

[peknie]

CAT Car (1)

Summary;

Tommy is an invisible attendant on the Cross-Atlantic Train Carriage- also know as the CAT Car. It was a train that ran across the Atlantic Ocean, making headlines before it was even built. He's only there for the money, but it seems he's not the only one. Suspicious guests aboard its first trip accidentally reveal secrets to their invisible attendant that he can't get out of his head. A detective, a thief, an actor, a billionaire, two attendants and their boss walk into a train carriage... And not all of them will walk out when the journey ends.

Playlist:

CAT Car - Spotify

Notes:

I know my drawings aren't flawless, but they sure are colorful. They just help me with how I visualize the story, ignoring them does not change the story at all!

     Thomas Innes was always one to stand out amongst a crowd. He was loud, annoying, and clingy. Not  unlike  most children, but definitely more so than his peers. Tommy had learned to cling to his mother at any moment, to laugh and yell despite how much their neighbors complained about the noise. 

     Clara Innes was a wonderful mother. She struggled to make ends meet with another mouth to feed, but that didn't matter. They had been happy.

     But good things don't last. One moment, Tommy was getting up in the morning. Next, he was in a hospital bed with a wound in his back. Doctor Nihachu told him that, while following his mom's car to a restaurant for his eighteenth birthday, somebody veered off and knocked their vehicles into one another. His mom died instantly, but he survived with a scar and newfound issues.

      Tommy doesn't like to think about it, nor about how  dull  the world had become. 

      Most of his days are filled with grueling shifts at the corner store and forming partial bonds with coworkers that don't last more than a month. 

       While walking down to the bus station, Tommy hugs his arms around himself, shivering. It was cold, the sun having set, and the buildings around him made of concrete. His only jacket had been destroyed by moths, though. Weaving through the city's constant crowd, he spared a glance to stand he normally would ignore. A paperboy waved a roll of white newspaper around, shouting something Tommy couldn't make out.

     Figuring that he didn't have much better to do (Tommy couldn't go out, and he didn't have a television- all for lack of money), he sidestepped out of the way, slyly picking up one of the papers. He cringed as he walked off without being noticed. He didn't  like  taking things, but Tommy caught the expensive watch and shoes the paperboy wore and decided he wouldn't miss it much. He must not feel bad either way, though. Tommy often 'borrowed' small items. It was a habit now, and he hated himself more each time.

     Once he turned to the subway stairs, he unfurled the paper and scanned it-  specifically  the for-hire side. Halfway through, Tommy's eyes caught by the edge of a photo on another page. He lazily flipped it, using his other hand to pass the gate.

      A photo of an extravagant, colorful train over the deep, blue ocean took up half the page. Tommy took a while to look at each cart, painted in a different color than the last. He hummed, smiling. It was about  time  trains got some flair.

     Tommy wasn't going to read the article, but he's rather good at seeing what he wants to see. He saw the word  hiring  and immediately opted to read that paragraph.

       CAT Car-  (Tommy looks up to find out it was the Cross-Atlantic-Train-Carriage, CAT Car for short)  -is said to be ready by the end of August. The engineer and architect behind it all is Sam Warden, who said, "[It's] been a difficult year, but all worth it. Unfortunately, the building crew can't act as the staff for the journey, so we're hiring maintenance and hands-on workers for the Cross Atlantic Train Carriage. After that, roughly by [the] end of August, we'll have an exclusive ride to and from Greenland."

     Tommy, struck with an idea, nearly trips as he attempts to step into the subway. It's fate that when he looks up, he sees an electronic ad for the CAT Car's hiring number. Tommy, unsure about his qualifications, jotted down the number in his newspaper. 

     Of course, he was using somebody else's pen.

     By some miracle (lying on his application and initial meeting), Tommy got past the first round of interviews. The second interview was actually  on  the CAT Car. Now, Tommy lived in New York City. He had ever since he was sixteen. The CAT Car was in Connecticut. It took a while, but Tommy made it to the station an hour early.

      He was in a formerly white button-down, now grey, and wrinkled pants. The only other person there dressed far better than he did, making Tommy flush in embarrassment. Still, he tried to ready himself. This job paid far more than his old job, so he'd need it to have any money.

     Slowly, more and more applicants entered the cool room. Tommy sighed, knowing now that this was a group interview. He wasn't going to stand out, and he knew that much. Ever since his mom died, his ability to  exist  happily, to be loud and boisterous, had gone. He had his moments, but overall, his reality had become dull. That was in stark contrast to the colors of the train cart.

     Thirty minutes before the official interview, a familiar face entered from the staff door. Sam Warden smiled at the applicants.

     A few of them freaked out, aw-ing and asking if he was the  real  Sam Warden. Tommy's eyebrow drew down. Was he supposed to be  that  excited? He noticed as Sam's eyes narrowed in the direction of the louder few. His expression shifted back to normal, but Tommy had already seen it.

      "I do commend your earliness, all of you. It's a quality I admire. That said, you have all passed your first test." A few applicants gasped, chattering as Sam ushered them into the next room. It was large and empty, except for a table with a suitcase on it. The room was dull, posters washed of most color.

      "I'm a tad unconventional in my hiring strategies," Mr. Warden started, nabbing some papers from a shelf and shuffling through them. Tommy caught sight of the edge of one- an application. He was picking out which hadn't arrived early. "You'll laugh to know that I hired engineers based on how well they built a bridge out of popsicles."

      "We did that in my elementary class," Someone said from the side. Sam looked them up and down as though noting them in his mind. "Yes, it is one of those things. Also- it came with the added benefit of picking engineers who could humor ridiculous ideas." Sam 

     Tommy bit his tongue, waiting for instruction. He probably should've spoken up more, but he was afraid he would speak out instead. Sam put the papers aside and moved onto the briefcase. "We're going to start with balance. I want each of you to balance on one foot, holding one of those bats along the back. Hold them by the bottom, straight toward the ceiling, and please do so with one hand."

      Confusedly, Tommy obeyed. A few others asked questions about the how or whys, but Tommy gathered that Sam didn't like that by the way his eyes narrowed again.

      There were confusing tasks after this, as well. The balancing act wasn't too bad- only a fifth of them were sent home. The next part was lying to Sam Warden's face. The more believable the lie would be to a clueless moron, the better Mr. Warden's reaction. Tommy lied, with a completely straight face, and told him that the sky was red. It happened once a year. That way, it could rain and replenish blood all over the Earth. He had  no  clue how he didn't crack, but Tommy was glad he didn't.

      A larger portion got sent back after that one.

      There were a few easier tasks, like serving him without saying anything and cleaning a stain.

      In the end, Sam Warden faced the remaining group. He pointed to several people, waving them to step forward. "You, all of you- you're dismissed."

      "What?" One of them was red in the face. "Why?"

      "Don't worry about the why. You haven't got the job." As they left, Tommy observed each of them. They were the ones that had spoken up or asked questions. He let out a relieved breath, glad to have noticed Mr. Warden's behavior before he also spoke up.

     "Next- I need you all to sign an NDA." Mr. Warden gave each of the remaining applicants a few papers to sign. Tommy tried to read over it but gave up when he realized he didn't know what half of the descriptors meant. Tommy sighed and signed away, potentially giving his soul to a demon. He wasn't sure what he was signing an NDA for, but it wasn't like he'd tell anybody. Who was he going to tell? His  mom ?

      That's a little dead mom joke for all of you out there. Shout out to the dead moms.

      Mr. Warden took up the NDAs with a smile on his face. Finally, he revealed what was inside the briefcase. Twelve vials of cool, blue liquid were laid out for each applicant.

      "I haven't told any of you  exactly  was your new job entails. To put it simply, you are invisible attendants." Mr. Warden smirked to himself. "The distinguished guests aboard the first Cross-Atlantic-Train ride will be under the implied impression that things float due to magnetism and advanced intelligence. This is to enhance the feeling of advanced tech." He turned a vial over in his hand. "That's why I'm left with the quietist of you all. The balancing test was really to see how quiet you can be."

      Holding out his arms for them to grab a vial each, Mr. Warden smiled. "It's not designed to make you pass through other people, though, so you'll need to watch out. You'll be able to see-  very faintly-  your coworkers. This invisibility serum is still in the testing stage, so be careful and understand that you may feel strange after taking it."

       Tommy was the one in front. He stepped up and turned a vial over in his fingers. His only thought was,  'What's the  worst  that could happen? I die?'  Tommy gave a considering grunt, uncorked it, and threw it back like a shot.

      Before he swallowed, he saw Sam Warden's face- contorted in surprise. His eyes hadn't narrowed, unlike those he had sent home, so Tommy supposed it was a good thing.

     Other applicants also took vials and drank them. Tommy waited, feeling something shift slowly. His vision blurred for a moment, returning to him with brighter colors. He felt slightly nauseous, his eyes dancing around the posters on the walls. Colors that had been dull before popped.

      Tommy's awareness skyrocketed.

     Holding his hands out, his hand faded into a glimmer. He gaped, gasping and looking down at his legs. 

     "What the  fuck ?" 

     The thought was whispered. Still shocked, he looked up and around to the others. They all faded, and aside from a glossy color overlaying them like glass, he could see  through  them, clothes included.

      The most interesting part to him was the differing colors of each of them. He suppressed a laugh. Mr. Warden nodded approvingly as the invisibility disappeared. One after another (Tommy being first), the applicants became visible. He hummed. "Wonderful, wonderful... Well, I suppose- since none of you had a bad reaction- you're hired. You can come back and fill out the paperwork tomorrow morning. On Wednesday, you'll start living in the cabins." Mr. Warden paused, glancing over them again. "Actually, since you'll be paired with a cabin-mate, I'll pair you up now.  Before  I forget which of you will probably be best together."

      There was a minute of silence, the applicants remaining impossibly still under Mr. Warden's observation. "Attending to the first train cart, I'll put...  You ," His voice dropped as he pointed to Tommy, who stepped closer. "And  you . You two will attend to cart one, and you will stay in cabin three."

      Tommy looked to his right to see his new cabin mate. Immediately, he felt his face scrunch up in distaste. He hadn't noticed the applicant before, but he was unnecessarily tall.  Unreasonably  so. He's just...

       Too  tall.

      Mr. Warden ruffled through his papers. As he did so, the other applicant looked  down  at Tommy. They awkwardly waved, but Tommy gave no reaction, so they put their hand down.

       "Ranboo Beloved and Thomas Innes," Mr. Warden introduced them to one another. "Please do your best to  get along, " His voice cut in Tommy's direction, making the teen turn his head away from Ranboo. "This is a professional environment, after all."

      Tommy nodded stiffly. Mr. Warden dismissed them and moved on to assigning cart two. As they left, Ranboo cleared his throat, "Ehm- that was... That was  something , right?"

      Tommy raised a brow. "Yeah." He stopped in his tracks. "Do you live in Connecticut?"

      "Uh... Yeah, why?"

      "Do you know any cheap motels?"

      Ranboo blanked, awkwardly fixing the black mask on their face. "Not really? I've never had to think about it. Do you have a phone?" The question was meant to have an obvious answer, but Tommy shook his head no. "You  don't ?" Ranboo's jaw dropped. "Oh, uhm, let me use mine..."

      Ranboo found a nearby motel that went for fifty a night, a little reluctant to leave after. Tommy forcefully said goodbye, hating the pity Ranboo shot at him, and walked in the direction of the motel. The only person he needed comfort from was his mom, and it was a bit late for that. Tommy sighed to himself, already ready for Wednesday. 

[eggcount]

Chicks are Two Weeks Old!

June 24, 2024

Just like children, where does the time go?  Two weeks old already.  So grown up - sigh.  Soon they will be flying the coop.  sigh. 

And so much has happened.  Let's start with names.  Celia and I have been discussing names for some time now,  It wasn't as fun as when Celia was 3 and we made a huge list of all kinds of possible names including "Picture Frame" and "Lamp".  Now that Celia's seven (well, really 8 as of last Friday), she's a little more conservative on the names and suggested a bouquet of flowers - Lily, Tulip, Violet, Lilac and Rosy as well as Isabelle. But, being the no-leave out Bubbie/mom,  I ended up opening it to the entire family.  Which gave us:

From Joey - Chairman Mao, Hugo Chavez, Ho Chi Minh and Attila.

From Abby:  A bevy of old fashion names - Edna, Maude, Ingrid, Penelope, Iris, Esther and Violet (Celia had Violet on her list too.)

From David and Greta: Famous women (I suppose to counter Joey's famous men)  Susie B, Clara, Florence, and Frances Hammerstom

And from Maurie: Caroline in honor of the pirate radio station Radio Caroline.

No-leave out did not extend to voting. That would have been a nightmare.  Although I guess Maurie could have done one of those single-elimination brackets that they are so good at.   hmmmmm - maybe next time.  Anyway, after much consultation with Celia and an enthusiastic shout out from Alice for the name Rosy, the chicks are  Izzy (for Isabelle), Frances, Frida, Lily, and Rosy.  Truth be told, it broke my heart to reject such spectacular names as Ho Chi Minh, but there are only five chickens to name.  I guess we could have strung names together, like Lily Ho Chi Minh, or Chairman Izzy Maude Penelope but frankly, I have a hard enough time remembering just one name.  So, nope. 

Names settled,  I've been waiting for Greta to visit for portrait shots because they're the chicken whisperer and loves to pick up a chick.  And on Saturday, Greta finally came!  How did it go?  As you might remember, my attempt to hold one ended with me getting a really hard bite from Daisy.  Greta got bit too, but they persevered and they and Daisy seemed to make a pact.  As long as Greta got her permission and the chicks didn't protest, Greta was allowed to pick them up. This is not to say that Daisy was blase about the whole thing.  Greta was closely supervised and stern words were had if the chick was not happy.  Greta had to make cooing noises the whole time to reassure Daisy and they only got to hold three of them.  Maybe four.

So here they are:

This is Izzy - or Isabelle.  Celia and I named her.  She might be a Starlight Green Egger.  We got two of them. 

This is Lily.  Celia named her.  She has white wings and the cutest tail feathers and maybe is an Americana. 

This is Frida or she might be Frances Hamerstrom.  There are two yellow chicks that are brahmas and I can't tell them apart yet.  But I know they are brahmas because they have feathers on their feet. I named one, and Greta named the other for Frances Hamerstrom, an ornithologist who dedicated the majority of her life to studying the Greater Prairie-chicken.  Frances saved the  species from extinction in Wisconsin and she was one of the first to give wild birds leg ID bands.  We hope little Frances will grow up to be just like her namesake.  We are hoping that Frida will have a unibrow like her namesake so we can tell them apart.

btw, right now they are not particularly huge as one might expect a brahma chick to be, but maybe they are younger than the other chicks.  The Tractor Store does not issue birth certificates with hatch dates. 

And here's a close up of the feet.  How cool is that!  Feathered feet just like their momma!  

This is a Greater Prairie-chicken. I wish we had one of these! No wonder Frances spent her whole career studying them.

The fifth chick is Rosie - Alice named her.  I can't tell if we got one of her with Greta.  I'm pretty sure that Daisy was done with chick picking up by then. 

She's the little reddish brown one in this picture:

Enough for today. Sorry no cute stories of how they all escaped not once, but twice today.  I have to save that for another day - it's late.

But I will tell you this - it's fun having chicks again.  It makes up for the 101 degree weather we had yesterday and the mosquitos which are sort of controlled by the mosquito buckets of death, but not really all the way. 

xoxoxo

Sarah

(Bubbie, Aunt, Friend, Sister, and more!)

[lovelivingmydreams]

My nieces are fanders

Summary: When you meet a super cute guy and land a date with him, you definitively want to gush about him with someone. In Nico’s case that someone is his oldest sister. The visit holds a surprise for him though.

This is part of a bigger story which starts here

Nico was humming to himself as he walked up the driveway to his older sister’s house.

“I can’t wait to tell Marcia all about Thomas!” Félix gushed. It’d been a week since they met him and while they had yet to look him up, deciding it was cheating a little to watch his content and maybe accidentally see more than Thomas wanted to share before they even went on their first date. Ràmon, his morally flexible, deceptive facet, still thought they should at least just check his accounts to make sure he didn’t oversell himself. “I’m sort of known on youtube” might just have been an exaggeration to impress him. Léon, his fury, was already working himself up over being misled when the others came to Thomas’ defense. He seemed rather humble about all his accomplishments. He deserved the benefit of the doubt. “She’ll be so excited for us!” Fabio, his heart, gushed. “Hope mom and dad won’t be too upset that they aren’t the first we told…” Alejo worried as he bit his lip. “We will tell them about Thomas if we come to a stage where we are ‘officially’ dating him,” Diego, his logic, reminds him. It was how they did things. His parents were a bit too supportive sometimes. If he mentioned Thomas, mom would start insisting he come over for dinner no matter how Nico insisted they weren’t that serious yet. His father would ask questions he didn’t have answers for and he would feel entirely too pressured… Best to tell them after he and Thomas got a bit farther. And he really hoped he would get to tell them about him soon. He rang the bell and soon the door opened to reveal a beaming Marcia. “You smelled my cooking didn’t you?” she asked. Nico chuckled. “You caught me,” he confessed as he threw his hands up in surrender while letting her embrace him. “It’s good to see you again hermanito,” she sighed before letting him go and leading him inside. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Yi will be home soon and he’ll entertain the kids afterwards so you can tell me what’s got you sparkling like the fourth of July.” Marcia looked back at him and quirked a brow curiously. Nico blushed a little. He was that obvious huh? His sisters eyes lit up and she was grinning like th cat that got the cream. Well he just confirmed her suspicion. “Okay, sounds good,” he muttered casually. Luckily Marcia let it go for now. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked. “Just a glass of water is fine,” Nico assured her while he leaned against the kitchen counter to watch her work. “Tio Nico!” Nico looked up and saw Marcia’s oldest, his 15 year old niece Carla run up towards him to give him a hug. He embraced his niece with a smile and ruffled her hair. “How are you kids doing?” he asked as the teen girl let go. “Fine. Felicia hasn’t finished her homework yet, but she will be down in a minute.” Nico nodded taking note of cousin’s pronouns for today. It had been an adjustment for everyone when Fabien came out of his room wearing a skirt for the first time and asked to be called Felicia on days she felt more feminine, but they hardly slipped up anymore. “We have something awesome to show you!” Carla continued her eyes sparking with excitement. “Oh?” he asked curiously. “What is it?” “Don’t start without me!” Felicia exclaimed as she rushed through the door and hugged Nico as well. “Now I’m getting nervous,” Nico chuckled as he let his nieces push him into a chair and sit down next to him. Carla was looking something up on her phone while Felicia seemed to be using hers to film him. “Tio Nico. Have you ever been serenaded by a stranger?” Felicia asked. The general confusion in Nico’s head left him with no other response other than cocking his head. “Um… no…?” he replied. His nieces giggled. And then Carla pushed her phone in front of him and they shoved earbuds into his ears. She pressed play and before he knew it he was faced with…. “Thomas!!!!” Félix  screeched in his head. It was unfair of him to look so handsome. And then he started singing! “Nico, radiant and pure. Always so, accepting and secure. Never knew anyone so kind. So funny and sharp of mind. All this to say… Have a nice day.” And then he winked! Nico’s nieces were giggling at his flustered face. Alejo inspected the screen and found a description in the corner. “This week’s #shout out Sunday goes to all the nice Nico’s of the world” he read out as he slowly relaxed. Nothing that insinuated Thomas was thinking of a particular Nico. His nieces had probably just thought it was fun to show him the video. Perhaps they thought he’d be enchanted by the handsome stranger with the voice of an angel seemingly singing for him. They weren’t entirely wrong. “That’s Thomas Sanders. He’s our favorite youtuber,” Felicia explained. Nico nodded a little dumbfounded. “He’s a singer?” he guessed, though he knew he was more than that. But he was not ready to tell his nieces he’d met this man and was going on a date with him next week. “And an actor, and the nicest person alive!” Clara explained. “He lives in Florida and he is gay…” Félicia added not too subtle, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Stop teasing your uncle girls. Set the table. We’ll be eating soon.” Nico was relieved. The rest of the evening he struggled to pay attention to the conversations at the dinner table. His mind was absolute chaos “He serenaded us! Actually serenaded us!” Felix gushed dancing around unable to contain his elation. “And it does sound like he is somewhat successful in entertaining his audience. He was telling the truth it seems,” Ràmon allowed. Leon nodded, calming down significantly. Leon had been part of the deeper recesses of Nico’s mind for a long time. Until one day he was called by a panicked Carla who was hiding from bigots with her sister. Nico had hurried over and gotten them out. But he’d been so close to hitting one of those kids. It had been Alejo who, in his worry for the girls’ well-being, had managed to hold Leon back enough to allow Fabio to reason with him. His writings had taken a much angrier tone for a few days after. Ever since that day,  Nico was aware that he could get violent when angry and he’d been working on managing Leon without pushing him away. Like Alejo he was mostly overprotective of the others and Nico’s loved ones. He just jumped more on Alejo’s fight aspect than the flight part. “He was so nice!” Fabio gushed. “Does he really think all that about us?” Alejo wondered flustered. “It seems quite likely that he does,” Diego concluded. “Just as we have made some observations about him that may or may not be accurate,” he added, soothing Alejo’s worry a bit. Shifting him more to the excited side of his spectrum. “Well? Spill!” Marcia insisted when they found themselves alone on the patio after dinner. Nico sipped from his glass and didn’t look at his sister while he just spilled the truth. “I met a really cute guy at the mall this week, and we’re going out for lunch in two days.” Marcia barely contained her squealing. “Finally! Tell me everything!” she demanded. And just like that, his excitement at being able to gush about the whole meeting returned. Marcia was a good listener. She knew the story ended well but she acted like she actually thought he might miss his shot with his determination to get some work done and not to bother the mysterious stranger. When he got to Thomas’ confession she was vibrating with excitement. “He sounds so adorable!” Nico flushed. “Yeah… He’s an actor and singer…” “Ooooh, someone to sing your songs!” she exclaimed. “And his name is Thomas Sanders…” Maricia’s eyes widened as understanding dawned on her. “Now that explains the look on your face when you saw that video…Wait that was for you? If mama ever sees it then she’ll insist you marry him you know that right?” she laughed. So not only did she know of Thomas, she had seen the video in question. “Yeah… She probably will. Have you seen anything else of his?” “I try to be aware of what my kids are watching online. He has two channels and about 3,4 million ‘Fanders’ last I checked.” “Oh my god!!!!” Felix gushed. Overwhelmed by both the cute fandom name and the dazzling number of fans. “Definitely not a liar,” Ràmon breathed in relief. He had been reluctant to get his hopes up until now. He was cautious, wary of things that were too good to be true. Just like Alejo. But their anxious look out was, in his eyes at least, compromised on the subject due to his close tie to the butterflies clouding all their feelings and thoughts. Now however, it seemed that his biggest doubts were adressed, he felt free to look forwrad to the date like everyone else. “He is a good guy, going by his content. And he is really cute.” Nico chuckled. “Yeah he is,” he agreed.

When he got home he was actually planning to freak out a bit more and debate over whether or not to watch some video’s. If for no other reason than to just see him do something he loved. Was that stalkerish? Luckily his phone alerted him to a text. Thomas. It was a cute dog picture. Nico smiled. He did that sometimes. Sent him things just to make him smile. N: You are such a dork. TS: I refuse to apologize for that! TS: I can’t wait until our lunch date! Nico hesitated for a moment. But then he went all in. N: Missing my radiant presence that much? God that was cheesy. Was it too cheesy? He is not like this! Not usually. Or maybe he was and Thomas just brought it out of him. TS: OMG you saw!!!!? N: My nieces thought it would be funny to see how I’d react when a ‘stranger’ serenades me. TS: Fanders!? Oh my goodness that is amazing! TS: You weren’t bothered? I get that it might seem a bit weird. “He is so precious!!!!” Fabio squealed. “I know right? This is not healthy for us! It can’t be,” Félix exclaimed clutching his heart and leaning on Alejo for support. Who promptly stepped away and let him fall to the floor with a grin. “Not a couch,” he reminded his friend who was pouting for a bout two seconds before his excitement overpowered his annoyance. N: It was awesome, don’t worry. I was very flattered. Your singing voice is amazing. TS: Thanks. Should he ask? If Thomas says it’s okay then it’s fine right? N: Okay if I watch some more of your singing? There he asked. No backing out. TS: Of course! Fair warning, if you find vines, some are cringy and sometimes I play a straight man. Vines huh? Wow, that felt like ages ago. Thomas had mentioned his misleading complements when they talked. N: Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight. TS: Goodnight. “Are we really doing this?” Alejo wondered as Nico typed in ‘Thomas Sanders Vines’ in the search bar of Youtube. One look at the results had Nico in stitches. “He’s such a goofball!” Fabio squealed clapping his hands as he saw Thomas’ smiling face on every thumbnail in various goofy situations. How was he supposed to choose? “Oooh! That one is him reacting!” Félix exclaimed pointing at a three year old video.  Nico nodded in agreement and clicked on the video. First this and then see if he could find some more videos of Thomas singing. He didn’t know it. But he was in for a wild ride.

I might write one more chapter, but then it’s over until Thomas posts his next video in three years. I want to stick to the canon as much as possible. You’ll hear from me if that changes though! Enjoy!

@rich-flower-17 @maryann-draws @selenechris @meowthefluffy @chibibunnis @whatishappeningrightnow @floofyconfusednerd @destinyiscallingus  @98prilla @catsarebestest @falpiancaraxus @queer-mattress-king @verysharkbakerydeputy​ @sarenicide @kitcatgirl600 @stariimayplayz @queer-devil @celestialviper @hennehennehennehoo​ @1americaninapool @firstorderfilms @xxmoonmorquanxx @naturallyunstablegamer @ciannathegiver58 @reeaninenine @pdvzh2 @rubixcubes-and-crowbars @not-a-possum-i-swear @nadja-chamack16 @ayidakira @theclassyghost @such-as-we-are-made-such-we-be @theblackveilinreverse @lucasdrawblog @erinriver5 @theshortgothicpunk @titheinironside @shipsarebeautiful @hoppe-ideas @i-died-50-years-ago @just-a-thing-to-do @the-magicalpotato @ rosethevoid @justfinsworld @supanxietysworld @kay-is-kid @devoteddeceit @friskthefallenmonster @liveonmercury @impalasquiptyseven @frida0043 @meow-face @baguettewoman2020 @sing-it-for-the-gays @perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare @snowcatwhiteangel @to-many-hotpockets @greenlasagagramfel @elliwashere @errors-in-my-heart @xxstill-i-risexx @ontheground15 @stubbornness-and-spite @potatiowatchingyoutube @nina-maee @sablesides @alias290 @s0n-of-a-peach @starlightnyx @idrawdumbstffsometime @shadowqueen88 @stars656 @lets-go-emma-of-the-100-fandoms @avocados26 @hanna10hanna10 @astrozei @thunderboldt1312 @galaxy-girl1999 @toknowaliar @musicobsessed1505 @tired-yeetling @athenashipsthings @firegirl156 @pomegranate-ghost @jerasings @strangest-loser @kittylikesflowers @pollyparrot8 @atdffpetra @altheaudaku @amberpeltsstuff @smallwaffle224 @cdragontogacotar @angelic-cali @fandoms1reality0 @contemplativespectrum @hedgiehoggles @alicethetrueunicorn @disasterlesbon @marguii-14 @emo-nightmare-without-the-emo @onecannotbebrave @confused-bi-and-ready-to-die @aelingalathynius6 @hetacon @booksfoodmusic-minion @maya-custodios-dionach @iwispkid @virgofoxy @simplification @emoghost-boy @hickledickle @crackedcurse @softballobsessed @hi-fellow-demons @mygenderisbees @lavenderchaitea @greekgeekgoddess @kuroyurishion @pauleyester

[jasmine-the-fox]

Loose the model but win a hero

Sorry for such a long wait but i’m back! And here is chapter 4 for you guys!

Chapter 4: Getting answers

Previous First

Jonathan Samuel Kent while Superman’s son... He was also Lois Lane’s son... So getting a scoop was in him whether he liked it or not, and right now he loved it as he needed to find out more about Mari’s life at school in Paris right now, the fact she was being bullied and her bullies were getting away with it made him mad and demand answers and fast... But how?

The girl didn’t look like she wanted to talk much about her school life, so he had to get answers another way... But how? Maybe if he could get in contact with her friends and family... He might be able to figure this all out! But his mom would need to make the calls... People would be confused about him asking the questions as he’s not a reporter and his mom could make something up fast. Jon went towards Mari’s hotel room to try and find her phone or something that would tell him who she was in contact with “Mari? It’s Jon” he said as he knocked on the door making her open it to let him in “Hey! I was just about to head to take a shower. Mind waiting?” she asked as he walked in and shake his head as she went in.

He quickly looked around to find her phone out next to her laptop and a book, he walked over and opened the book to find name lists and numbers, he found the friend list and found his number there, he quickly took a picture of the list minus his number and then did the same with her parent’s numbers then took a picture of her allies list which had Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale there making him understand that she knew people who were famous, he then sent the pictures to his mom who quickly replied that she would get to work so he then closed the phone book and set it where it was as Mari then came out with a dress on.

“You look amazing in that dress” he said making her blush and giggle “I made it myself actually” she said making him look at her surprised at her words, the fact she made this dress amazed him as he looked it over, the dress was knee length and light pink with what looked to be some cherry blossoms flying towards the top of dress from the branches at the bottom “Those are some amazing cherry blossom flowers” he said making her giggle again “It’s actually apple blossoms, it’s my signature design to put on my clothes” she explained making him nod in understanding.

He was impressed by her work right now “I saw the posts you made online, people seem to like them” he said making her smile but look away “Yeah, my friends and people who commission me for outfits like them... But my classmates haven’t seen them. So i’m guessing there going to think I never left Paris” she explained making him sigh and feel bad for her, he knew it must be hard but he was going to help her no matter what, he decided to offer to show her around some more and she accepted, they got going to first a clothing shop so she could at some of the design people in Metropolis like to wear making her sketch down some designs to make something new “How about a fabric store so you can get some stuff to make more clothes?” he suggested making her smile and nod to the idea as they then got going and began to have fun.

With Clark and Lois...

Lois Kent was making calls to the list of contacts Jon got her, she was doing her best to get some info and so far not many were able to speak with her, she did speak to Tom and Sabine who are Mari’s parents and was able to discover that they had tried to transfer her to another class but both her teacher Caline Bustier and her classmates refused her to transfer as they believed she needed to fix the situation she caused, then there was her friends, Kagami Tsurugi couldn’t answer as she was at a tournament but promised to call once it was over, Luka Couffaine had his phone turned off so she left him a message, so she spoke to her friends Adrien Agreste, Chloe Bourgeois and Sabrina Raincomprix who told her who bullied Mari and why while also explained to her for how long it had been going on.

Needless to say, she had a good scoop to release soon enough, Clark on the other hand was talking to his friend Bruce Wayne who was Batman trying to explain to him the situation in Paris, and from what she could hear the bat didn’t like it one bit and wanted something to be done about it right now, he wanted something to be done about it but the fact it wasn’t a villain trying to take control of Paris there wasn’t much to be done “It’s best we have some of the Titans going undercover there to take care of it” Bruce said with a sigh... Telling Clark that he didn’t like having his hands tied like this right now.

But they didn’t have much of a choice “I’ll have Kori and Richard go with them as legal guardians” Bruce added before hanging up, Clark sighed... But he knew Jon would love the idea of going to Paris to watch over Mari so it would be just fine in the end “It’s better then nothing, but I am getting a bunch of info about the bullying and with the names and the fact that miss Raincomprix will be sending me pictures of each of those who bullied Marinette with there names and what they did... It’s easy to say that they won’t have a single chance at getting jobs anywhere” Louis explained making Clark chuckle “Only because your the best at getting justice for those who deserve it” he said while kissing her head and then going to door “Going to spy on them?” Louis asked making him freeze before turning to her with a grin “You know me so well. Wish me luck!” he said as he then walked out making her smile.

With Caline...

The teacher walked towards the bakery with determination on her face, she had to speak with Marinette and her parents about what was happening in the class, she also had to apologize and explain she was on there side now, but from the look of it Marinette wasn’t there when she walked into the bakery to come face to face with Sabine “Miss Bustier, may I help you with something?” she asked as Tom walked in “I’m looking for Marinette” she explained making Tom look at her disappointed “If you would have taken the time to look her up on Instagram, you would know she’s in Metropolis for the whole summer as a gift from Sabine and myself” he explained. Caline’s eyes widen as she checked her phone to find it was true “I’m so sorry mister and miss Dupain-Cheng! I truly didn’t know, Lila claimed that Marinette was spamming her with insults there and had gotten her account shut down” she explained making them glare at her.

“You should look into her then as she lied to you” Sabine hissed making Caline nod “I know that now and I came here to talk about that” she said making Sabine look at her with hope “So your going to approve the transfer?” Tom asked making Caline look at them confused with a smile “Of course not! She still needs to fix things with her friends” she explained making the couple glare at her “Get out! Because of you our baby girl is being bullied by these so call ‘friends’ you claimed because Lila Rossi lies to them about our child!” Sabine shouted as she kicked the teacher out and slammed the bakery door shut.

Caline was shocked at this... Marinette was being bullied? But that couldn't be true! She was such a sweet and helpful girl! But then again, Lila has been claiming things were done to her by Marinette... So it would make sense why the class would attack her... She had to do something about this! With her mind set she walked back home to get to work on something important... Without knowing that Alya with the class minus Lila had watched the whole thing happen... Without knowing Mari was in Metropolis since it was said inside the bakery.

Next

[trashyswitch]

Living as an Afton

Michael recalls memories of being the idiot adolescent in the family. He spends his adolescence slightly humiliating the Afton Family and being the butt of jokes, yet grows to enjoy some aspects of being in his family.

I'm gonna start straying away from Fnaf a little bit after this fanfic, and try to get some prompts and headcanons done for a few people. But, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic.

Michael had always felt like the bullied one in his family. He wasn’t presented as the favorite, and it wasn’t hard to see which child was the favored child. And yet...sometimes Michael wonders if maybe he’s teased the most by the family because of the family dynamic he was born into. Or maybe he's treated this way because of how he acts in public around them.

He remembers when they were shopping together at the mall, and William had met up with a staff member from the pizzeria. He remembered that he wanted to make himself presentable with a silly little joke that would contradict his father’s job completely: if he likes pizza or not. He was gonna walk up to the staff member and declare that he hates pizza. The truth was, Michael actually loved Pizza and thinking he knew his father, he thought he might go along with it. But Michael never got that joke out.

Why? Well…

“The child running around with Elizabeth, is Chris: my youngest.” William introduced. “And this is Michael-”

Michael walked in front of his father. “I CAN’T STAND- OH FU-” Michael shouted as he lost his balance. Before the boy could physically stop himself, Michael had fallen into a stringed pit of kids bouncy balls that was right beside them. Michael’s body flopped right through the strings, right into the balls and knocked almost every single ball right out of the pit!

Elizabeth and Chris had stopped running and both bursted out laughing at Michael and the multi-colored balls that now bounced all around the area! William’s wife was giggling as well, and walked over to help the adolescent back onto his feet. Meanwhile, William was rubbing his forehead in utter embarrassment while the staff member had wide eyes and suppressed his own laughter. Michael had basically made a fool of both himself and his father, right in front of a Fazbear’s staff member. Not only that, but Michael had also made himself known in the store as ‘the kid who fell in the bouncy pit’. When word spread that he was the eldest from the Afton family, Michael would later be referred to as ‘Clumsy Afton’.

There were moments though, when Michael would be teased in a more positive way by his father. His younger siblings had become REALLY good at making fun of him...And because he was the older one who got in trouble for making fun of them, Michael would just take the teasing.

William and the family were taking care of some garbage bags. They had been doing some gardening and leaf-discarding as well, meaning there were a few more garbage bags than usual. William, Clara, Michael and Elizabeth (With some of Michael's help) carried a bag each up to the front lawn. By the time William had gotten his bag up, there were 2 bags sitting there already, with William and Clara watching the kids.

Elizabeth placed her bag down beside Michael’s. “Hey look!” Elizabeth declared, before pushing Michael into the garbage bags. “It’s garbage!” Elizabeth told them.

“HEY!” Michael yelled, struggling to get back up thanks to the stretchy, slippery bags.

“Elizabeth! That’s rude.” Clara yelled at her, pulling her away from the bags. William couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at Elizabeth’s joke.

Michael glared at his father. “Wow. Real nice of you.” Michael spat at him.

William lifted an eyebrow. “Aww, did I hurt Michael Trashton’s feelings?” William teased.

Michael’s jaw dropped, but only for a moment. Feeling agitated, Michael huffed and crossed his arms. “Yes. and that just made it worse.” William added.

William chuckled and shook his head, while Michael lifted up his hand to his father. “Hey Dad. I won’t tell Mom that you called me Trashton, if you help me up.” Michael offered.

William raised his eyes a little and decided to agree. Michael has been known to be a bit of a snitcher when it came down to it. So, taking any bribery to keep his mouth shut, was an opportunity you should always take.

William brought his hand over and grabbed onto Michael’s hand. He was about to lift him up, but Michael suddenly pulled him first! William yelped and fell right into the black garbage bags. “Michael!!” William yelled, grabbing him and putting him into a headlock. Michael chuckled a little, reached back and just tickled his father’s sides in retaliation. “HEHEhehey! No, stop that!” William bursted out, letting him go immediately and covering his sides. William turned himself right around to face his father and continued to tickle him anywhere he was vulnerable. “If I’m Michael Trashton, then you must be an old Snickers bar!” Michael declared.

“WAIT- GAAHEHEHEHEHEHE! DOHOHON’T TIHIHICKLE MEHEHE!” William bursted out laughing.

“Well that’s not fair! Wrestling and fake fist fights are not allowed either! I gotta fight my father somehow!” Michael argued.

“TICKLE FIGHT ON DADDY!” Elizabeth declared, jumping into the trash bags to tickle her Dad.

“EEEEHEHEK! WAHAHAIT! NOHOHOT YOHOHOU TOOHOHOHOHO!” William shouted as his armpits were attacked by Elizabeth’s tiny fingers.

Clara just giggled at the silly scene in front of her, and it didn’t take long for Clara to get Chris in on it too. “Hey Chris...Go tickle his tummy.” Clara encouraged, lifting him up and flying him over to the garbage pile. “Look out! Another tickle monster on the loose!” Clara told them, before placing Chris onto William’s belly.

“WAHAHAIT! CLAHAHARA! WHYHYHYHY?!” William asked.

“Cause it’s funny!” Clara replied. “Plus, I didn’t want poor Chris getting kicked in the face if he went for your feet.” Clara added.

“Mom! Go for his feet!” Elizabeth told her, pausing her tickling for a moment.

William pushed Michael aside and pulled the adolescent into his lap. “Mwahahaha...I’ve got you now!” William teased, before tickling Michael back. “If I’m an old snickers bar, then you must be a Laffy Taffy package.” William added.

Michael squeaked and started pushing his father’s hands away as he tickled him. “WAHAIT- DAHAHAHAHAHAD!” Michael laughed.

“Yes?” William replied.

“NOHOHOT MYHY AHAHAHARMPIHIHIHITS!” Michael screamed at him.

William just smirked at that. “Okay. I’ll go somewhere else then.” William replied before stopping. Michael happily took the break, and recuperated his breath as much as he could, before he would be tickled again. Unfortunately, Michael only got a few slow seconds before his ankle was grabbed and his shoe was thrown off.

“William...Do you really have to get Michael back? It’s cold out here.” Clara asked.

“Yes. I do.” William replied.

“Can’t you tickle him inside?” Clara compromised.

William smirked and started tickling Michael’s socked foot. “Nope.” He replied proudly.

“EEEEEP!” Michael shrieked, tugging his foot. He threw his head back and BURSTEDwith laughter! “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO! NOHOHOHOT MYHYHY FEHEHEHEHEET!” Michael begged.

“What’s this? Your feet are more ticklish than your armpits? What a strange conundrum.” William teased.

“YOHOHOHOHOU SUHUHUHUHUCK!” Michael shot at him.

“Like a leaf blower? Like a vaccuum? Oooor like a straw?” William teased.

“SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUP!” Michael yelled back.

“Naaaah...I’ll never shut up- EEEEP!” William’s smooth teasing quickly lost its spark as William felt skittering fingers on his feet. “HAHA- Clara, d-dearest, NO!” William warned suddenly.

William was staring down his mischievous wife, who was holding his ankles and prepared to tickle them. Clara’s smile just widened more as he metaphorically cornered William into a wall. “You must choose, Mr. Afton. Get your feet tickled or perish in our lovely home.” Clara warned, bringing her voice low like a villain.

“No! NO! CLARA! DON’T DO IT!” William begged with a wobbly smile on his face.

Clara’s smirk only grew bigger before she skittered her fingers all over William’s foot. William shrieked and shook his head as laughter spilled out of his mouth like a tap on full force. His kids were just watching with smiles on their faces, while Chris was laying on William’s shirt and bouncing from William’s laughter.

“WeEeEeEeEeEeEe!” Chris exclaimed. Michael and Elizabeth both bursted out laughing at the funny scene.

Even though Michael may have been bullied and teased a little more than the rest, the Afton family still had it’s fun moments. Even though Michael has proved himself to be a clumsy idiot with a record of creating havoc, Michael was still glad to know his father was capable of being embarrassed in front of his family members.

Even if it is something as innocent as tickling…

Later on, Michael got a chance to somewhat bond with his father. He was playing a song on the record player, while he was brushing his hair in front of the mirror, the middle of the living room. Michael still didn’t know why his father would do this, but...he did happen to know the song that he was singing while he brushed his hair.

“🎶Where it began...I can’t begin to knowin’...But then I know it’s growin’ stroooong…Was in the spring...And spring became the summer...Who’d have believed you’d cooome aloooong...🎶” William sang. “🎶Haaaaaaands...Touchin’ haaaaands...Reachin’ oooutt, touching me, touching yooooouuuu-🎶”

Michael decided to join him. “🎶Sweeeet Caroliiine-🎶” Michael sang.

“BWAH BWAH BWAAAH!” William shouted.

“🎶Good times Neveeer seemed sooo goooood…🎶” Michael sang.

“SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!” William shouted.

“🎶IIIII’ve been incliiiined…🎶 BWAH BWAH BWAH! 🎶To believe they never woooould, but...now...I...🎶” Michael and William both sang.

William pointed to Michael. “Alright, alright. 🎶Look at the niiight...And it don’t seem so lonely...We fill it uuup with ooonly twoooo…🎶” Michael sang, before pointing at William.

“Really?” William reacted.

“Yeah! Go!” Michael told him.

“Okay. 🎶And when III hurt...Hurting runs off my shoulders...How can I hurt when hooolding yoooouuu?🎶” William sang, walking up to his wife and holding her hand. “🎶Oooooonne...Touching ooooonnne...Reeaachin’ ooouut, touching meeee, touchin’ yoooooouuuu!🎶” William sang to his wife.

“Awww, Will…” Clara cooed.

“🎶Sweeet Clara-liiiine…🎶” William sang, adding her name within the name Caroline. Clara giggled at this.

“BWAH BWAH BWAAAH!” Michael shouted, completely ruining the gushy moment.

“Michael!” William shouted back.

Clara just bursted out laughing at Michael. “🎶Good times neveeer seemed sooo gooood…🎶” Clara sang.

“SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!” William and Michael both shouted at once.

Clara laughed yet again. “🎶III’ve been incliiiined…🎶 -BWAH BWAH BWAAAH!” Clara sang, before shouting the trumpet part as well.

“YEEEAAAAH!” William and Michael both cheered as Michael ran to them both. “🎶To believe they never would...oh...nooo, nooo…🎶” William and Michael both sang to Clara.

“Awww! My sweet boys!” Clara cooed, cupping one cheek on each of the boys.

“Mooom!” Michael whined, not liking the childish coos. Clara giggled and removed her hand.

“Staaawwwp...You’re making me blush.” William complained, pouting like a child.

Clara giggled and tickled his side in response. "Aww, poor baby." Clara cooed.

William yelped in surprise and threw his hands in front of him. “Noooooo, don’t you dare.” William warned.

Michael chuckled and tickled him too. “I dare.” Michael announced to him.

“NOhoho! Evil!” William reacted. William started pointing to the both of them. “Evil, evil, evil.” He whined.

“Oh? How evil?” Clara asked before squeezing his side.

“Very eVIHIHIL! STAPIT!” William laughed, waving his hands around.

But Michael just squeezed his other side. “Not as evil as me, I’m sure.” Michael teased.

Clara lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “Is that a compliment? Or a challenge?” Clara asked her son as she squeezed her husband’s side a few more times. William started wiggling away, and whimpering with titters in between.

“Both.” Michael replied proudly, squeezing his other side a few more times.

William finally wheezed and breathed in to let out his laughter. “STAHAHAhahap!” William giggled.

“Truce?” Michael offered her mother.

Clara looked at William’s flustered and giggled state. “Perhaps a partnership?”

“Oooooh!” Michael reacted, growing interested. “Okay.” Michael replied before he shook on it.

‘Wait, WHAT?!” William shouted.

“Get him!” Clara shouted to Michael.

Clara and Michael took some spare time to freaking destroy William with tickles. It was long after the song had ended, that William had finally gotten his break. Michael and Clara laid beside him, and it didn’t take long for William to wrap his arms around both of them and tickle them back. Michael and Clara’s laughter filled the room for a good while, before the house soon fell into white noise and panting.

So, Michael began to see his family a little differently. They were loving in their own way, and showed their vulnerable love once in a while. And so, Michael counted the happy memories he had made.

Perhaps one day, he’ll be able to say his family’s pretty alright.

[calypsoff]

Forty Six. Part 2

Pulling my snapback lower and resting my head back “nigga” Drake hit my arm “get yo ass up, eat the breakfast. I am not having Rihanna come at me saying I made you drunk, come on” lifting my head up “I feel a little sick, not going to lie” my eyes are heavy, just staring at him. He busted out laughing “you’re looking bad! Oh my god, just wake up here” Drake grabbed the glass of water “drink up homie, Chubs move this away. We will feed him bread” I sniggered “man, Robyn will kill me thinking I am drunk. Oh yeah, what time is it?” I pointed “time for you to sober up, my barber is coming. He is going to make us all look good, hey!” Drake slapped the side of my face, I laughed to myself “oh shit, yeah. I am awake” I really shouldn’t have drank, I hate that I did but I am here with Drake and he was buying me drinks, I couldn’t say no “no more water?” Drake took the glass from me “he’s awake!” TJ shouted, I cringed. I can’t believe he is shouting so loudly like that “stop I mumbled” TJ patted my shoulder “I need to check on Robyn, I need to ring her” digging into my pocket “who?” Barry asked “Mel, just to see. She is pregnant, I need to know she is ok” Barry’ eyes widened “she pregnant?” Drake repeated, looking over at him “didn’t you know?” scrunching my face up “no, sir. Congratulation’s brother!” I am sure he wasn’t supposed to know “please keep it to us, she will kill me. I mean she will kill me looking like this” Barry grabbed my hand “here, Mel is on the phone. Use mine” nodding my head, I feel like shit. I feel terrible, I can’t even believe how terrible I feel “hello?” Mel said again “oh yeah, it’s me. Chris, uhm. How is Robyn? I just need to know she is ok” Mel chuckled “you were drinking weren’t you? You sound bad” Mel is laughing at me “please stop” I mumbled “stop my ass, well you’re feeling bad and also Robyn is being sick constantly, she’s not well at all” I closed my eyes sighing out, I hate to know that “damn, is she struggling a lot?” rubbing my forehead “yeah, tears too. She will pull through though” that sucks, I hate to know she is struggling “well don’t tell her I have been drinking, just tell her I love her. See y’all soon” I mumbled, holding the phone out to Barry.

Hearing Robyn struggling really got my ass in gear, I need to get better for her. I want to take care of her “thank you homie” I said as Drake walked by “for what?” turning to him “the barber, he’s done a good job, also for being a good friend. Thank you” Drake shook his head “you’re a good man, and I appreciate that. But you’re going to be a dad, that is amazing Chris. When did you find out? For this moment, I am going to make OVO kids wear, for this. Just for you” I chuckled “just found out a week ago, it was a shock to me. As you know she lost the baby before, I am so happy. I am a little over protective over her, I like to know she is ok. Like even now, she is struggling, and I hate that she is but, I can’t believe I am going to be a dad” Drake nodded his head understanding how I feel even though he ain’t even a father yet, I like that about him “it’s a blessing, and it’s Rihanna. How amazing is that you both about to have one beautiful child. But I will not speak a word about this, I promise you” dapping him “thank you homie, thank you for coming out. Shit is a small event, but I had to make sure you were here” I still feel like shit, I feel like I am talking shit “you’re an emotional drunk you know that” I chuckled.

Taking in a deep breath looking at myself in the mirror, a Dolce and Gabbana three piece suit. Wasn’t cheap but I wanted to get something nice for me, and it’s what I wanted “what you think?” turning around to Barry and TJ, my smile grew “wow, I didn’t think I would see three country niggas looking fresh as hell, I can’t believe. I feel a little emotional, not going to lie” sighing out “also, just to finish off your suit” TJ made his way over to me “me and Barry put money in together, to get you this” staring at TJ confused, he opened the box “to finish off your suit, we got these cufflinks” looking down shocked, I did not expect this from them “what?” taking the box from them “we put the date on the cufflinks” my smile grew “I didn’t expect this at all, wow. Thank you so much” hugging TJ “thank you so much, I did not expect this oh wow” this means a lot to me “we had to get you something good bro” moving back from the hug, hugging Barry “it’s all good, we wanted to get you something so you will always remember the date. A moment for you” this is emotional, I did not expect this at all.

Sitting in the bus going to the home, I am nervous, and I am feeling ever so hot right now. I had to loosen up my buttons on my shirt. I am just nervous about wanting this to go ok, I want Robyn to be ok and I hate she is feeling like that “are you less drunk now?” Barry asked, unlocking my phone laughing “I am, I am just nervous now. I am feeling it” tapping on Instagram, I want to post the picture of us and Drake, this was before I got drunk “don’t be, I think it’s the best decision for you both, you know since she is pregnant, I think it’s best to just get married now, why wait? Y’all love each other and just get on with it I guess, what is up with Robyn” tapping on the picture of us, we look dope as hell here “morning sickness, Mel said she is really bad with it. I think it is that and nerves with her” adding a caption ‘The boys in Barbados’ pressing send on the post on the post, this will send them into frenzy anyways, I know there is a lot of rumours around about are we getting married, that is thanks to my family “this what happens when your ass got her pregnant before a whole wedding, I am joking I hope she feels better. So where are you both going for the honeymoon?” I laughed, I don’t know why I laughed but it’s because of how much Robyn has been threatening me about it “oh she is going to murder you if it’s bad” shaking my head still laughing “I promise you it isn’t, we going Jamaica” I ain’t crazy I know Robyn “that is going to be nice, that is like three hours away from here flight time, she’s going to love that” I hope she does, rubbing my hands together feeling the nerves.

Buttoning up my suit jacket as I arrived back at the house, it’s a little busy with people running around, random people so these are probably cooks and stuff “erm, what the fuck are you doing here?” Mel spat rushing out “you look nice, for once” staring at her up and down, she looks so nice “nigga be quiet, why are you here? Seriously, Robyn is coming down in her dress, you’re not supposed to be here, the ceremony is on the beach, you need to get back in the bus and go, chile. Barry the fuck you doing? I told you this, y’all are a mess” looking behind me at Barry, so he knew “but when was that happening, I swear I told Robyn no because it’s public” I am confused “and she changed her mind, the beach is a 3 minute drive around the home, just go!” letting out on oh, I swear I wasn’t told any of this, I am so confused. I swear we said no to the beach wedding because it’s public, I have no idea now. I was drunk since then “see what I mean when I say I just turn up” Drake is cackling, he is laughing at me so hard “nigga you about to get divorced, I can’t even” I am confused, climbing into the bus as Drake continued to laugh at me “already in trouble by my in laws” sitting down on the seat “didn’t you and Rihanna talk about this?” Drake questioned “we did but also we didn’t, I mean it turned into a rush and I don’t know. My bad” I shrugged, I guess I am in trouble again.

So this is where the wedding is “we in the right place” I said aloud, TJ placed his hands on my shoulders “nigga you funny as hell” shaking my head, I can’t believe I didn’t know this “whatever nigga, let’s just go” stuffing my hands in my pockets making my way to the family and friend just walking around, they are waiting clearly. My mom clocked me straight away as she is walking “my baby” I grinned “you look so grown Chris, oh my god” it made me laugh that she said that because I just went to the wrong place, so to me that is funny “I will never grow up mom, oh wow. Look how beautiful you look” hugging my mom close “no, trust me. I see a difference; you look so grown up. I love you so much” she kissed my cheek, moving back from the hug “look at you boys, you all look so handsome. Thank you for being here for my baby, I can’t believe he is getting married” my mom held my hand “don’t cry” I know she is getting emotional, just from the speech alone “I just, you’re going to be someone’s husband and father now, my baby” I cooed out “I will always be your baby, stop it. Come let’s walk together” she is a mess.

Walking down the aisle and I just felt a little nervous, there is so many more of Robyn’ family and then my little family, I am just here but there is a few gasps and pointing, I think because of Drake “sit down ma” letting my mom’ arm go “thank you baby” my dad smiled at me “you look grown” why is everyone saying this “that is coming from you” I chuckled moving back, let me say hi to Robyn’ family “Lionel” he is right there as soon as I turned around “how are you Chris?” crouching down to him “nervous, you not walking with Robyn. I would have hoped you were” Lionel smiled putting his head down “her father is, it’s her choice and I accept it. I came here early because I can’t be bothered to wait with the women, all I hear is Robyn being sick again. I got fed up” I chuckled “yeah, it’s good seeing you” holding my hand out, he shook my hand. Leaning over to him “Robyn is pregnant” I said in his ear, he doesn’t know so I wanted him too “really?” he said shocked “yes, but it’s a secret, but I feel you should know” Lionel put his head down “Clara would have been so happy for her, she would adore you. You made our grandbaby so happy, oh god. Thank you Jesus!” he shouted and squeezed my hand “yeah” I laughed “but keep it between us ok?” he nodded his head, getting up from my position “Nikia, looking beautiful as always” I winked “hey” dapping Teejay, I feel all hot now because her family are just here wanting to speak to me.

I felt the nerves hitting me so bad, I am just stood here waiting on Robyn to come. Looking up to the sky, I am just hoping she is ok. That is all I want is for her to be ok, the place is not far so she should be here quick, but she isn’t and that is what is worrying me, and I am sweating, it ain’t cold here “find out where she is from Mel” I said to Barry, she should be here by now, this is ridiculous. Looking behind me, there is no sign of her at all “those nerves” TJ mumbled, stuffing my hands in my pockets sighing out “what is happening?” Barry said down the phone “unless she has ran away” only TJ would make me laugh with me feeling like this “I would slap you, but I can’t” shaking my head laughing “slap me for what? I ain’t do anything” rolling my eyes “sure you ain’t” walking closer to Barry “she said they are coming, just a little mishap. But they are coming any second” nodding my head, pacing away from him. Why is this baby playing up now when it had all that time to do it, it just wants to make Robyn suffer clearly or maybe it is just Robyn feeling the nerves but whatever it is I am tired of standing.

Looking down at myself, I ended up sitting down because I am tired of standing “aye, she is coming” Barry hit my arm, now I m nervous all again. Getting up from the chair, pulling my jacket down. Dennis came in front of me and then I knew she is here, her photographer is here so that means she is here, my mind just instant switched to when I first met her then and now, I am now marrying Robyn, this is so wild to me and I didn’t expect it. There was a moment of silence behind me, I just felt it “she looks amazing” the only sound you can really hear is the photographer cameras, clenching my jaw together, god I feel so nervous. The violin started to play, and I didn’t even know we was having a violinist here, this is what I mean by me just turning up. Squinting my eyes, I know that song, that is Diamonds. Looking at both Barry and TJ they are smiling mad hard, and I am not sure who is getting married between us, I slowly looked over my shoulder and I caught a glimpse of Ronald more than I did Robyn, but I looked ahead again, I know I just saw Robyn yesterday but today is just different, it’s a big day for us both. The violinist is dope actually, it’s a nice touch. I can hear gasps, lots of talk and whispers so I ended up turning around, Robyn was right there with her dad “man” I breathed out, nothing else really mattered not even the fact her useless dad was walking her, nothing really did matter because she is stood right there in front of me “you’re breath-taking” shaking my head feeling myself choke up, Robyn in a beautiful lace A-line gown with this train Mel is fixing, this is a lot. I didn’t think I would get choked up; I am really marrying my best friend “fuck” turning away from her.

Feeling a hand on mine, turning around and Ronald has grabbed my hand. Here I am trying to not let the tears fall “you’re a good man” he placed my hand with Robyn’ “you look so good, I can’t even speak” shaking my head “thank you” Robyn beamed, she is glowing. I am so speechless “don’t cry” Robyn said, putting my head down laughing “you look so good Robyn, unreal” taking in a deep breath “please everyone take your seats” the pastor said, I think Robyn said this was going to be traditional wedding, her family is traditional so I think it will be “are you ok?” I asked, because she did take so long to come “I made it” she said laughing “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Christopher and Robyn in matrimony commended to be honourable among all; and therefore is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, passionately, lovingly and solemnly. Into this - these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together - let them speak now or forever hold their peace” this just seems so unreal for me, looking towards the crowd and I side eyed TJ because I know his stupid wants to say something.

I didn’t even write no vows, but I don’t need it, but the pastor as gestured for me to do it first “I remember the first time I met you and I remember every moment from then on, you have impacted my life more then I thought. I was young but I was in love with you from the moment I laid my eyes on you, you have taught me to love, respect, trust and have open communication with each other and that is important for a relationship. You are really my strength, and I could never do without you Robyn, I couldn’t ever do without you. You comfort me at my lowest, I choose to spend the rest of my life with you Robyn” I didn’t need to write nothing down, it’s all from the heart with what I say “you’re going to make me cry, god” she said laughing “ok” she composed herself “Chris” she said smiling, I expected it written but no, she is just like me “I get emotional just thinking about it, I am so in love with you. From the moment I saw you to when I saw you again, those feeling has come rushing back to me. You love me and complete me in so many ways Chris, I feel so alive with you. I learn from you; I listen to you and support you Chris. I have seen you at your worst and at your best and I promise to always be there for you throughout it all, you are really my soulmate Chris and I can never do without you” her voice broke “same” I squeezed her hand, she can’t be crying now she will make a mess of her makeup.

Barry got up from the seat “repeat after me Christopher, I Christopher give you Robyn this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you” turning to Barry, grabbing the box from him and opening the box and getting the ring out that has near enough made me broke as hell “oh wow” Robyn said, there is a few chuckles around “I Christopher give you Robyn this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you” placing the ring on her finger, I think Robyn likes the ring she is happy with it “wow” she breathed out “and Robyn, if you want to repeat after me. I Robyn give you Christopher this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you” Robyn got me a ring, I don’t know why I am surprised. My eyes widened seeing this diamond band, oh that is nice “I Robyn give you Christopher this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you” I am amazed at this ring and it looks good as fuck on me “dang, the most expensive thing I own, I mean besides you” Robyn side eyed me “I now pronounce you husband and wife” that sounded so weird to me but wow, I have a wife. The crowd cheered “I guess I got to kiss you” Robyn pulled a face at me “be quiet, you missed me” leaning down and pressing a kiss to Robyn’ lips, she is right I did miss her.

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Eighty Eight

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

January 1st, 2001

“Emile, are you okay?” his dad asked as Emile walked over, shaking.

“I will be. Not right away, but I will be,” Emile promised.

“I’ll talk to your grandfather. See if he’ll see reason,” Dad whispered.

“And I’ll be talking to my siblings about how they treat guests,” Mom said, throwing murderous glances at the few who had been scowling at Remy before he left. “Because that’s no way to treat a guest in this house, gay or not.”

Emile nodded, and both his parents hugged him. He felt like he was gonna throw up, or cry, or both. He hated this. “I’m going to bed,” he announced to no one in particular. “Good night, Grandpa. I still love you.”

His grandfather just stared at the TV, pretending he didn’t even hear Emile.

  June 26th, 2003

When Emile’s parents picked up on the first ring of the phone, Emile was a little surprised. He hoped that he wasn’t taking up another person’s time to call his parents. “Hello?” he asked.

“Oh, Emile! You okay? You sound a little shaky,” his dad said.

“Uh, well, I guess I sound how I feel then,” Emile said. Remy was looking at him with a huge grin. “Can you grab Mom and put me on speaker? Remy’s here and we both wanted to talk with both of you.”

“Is everything all right?” his dad asked.

“Yeah, Dad, everything’s...really great. I’m just in a bit of shock, I guess,” Emile said, a hysterical laugh leaving his throat for a split second.

“I’ll grab your mother,” his dad assured him.

Emile gave Remy a thumbs-up, and Remy looked like he was about to squeal. He put them on speaker, and there was shuffling around and murmuring on the other end, before Emile’s mother said, “Okay, honey, your dad and I are both here. What do you want to tell us?”

Looking at Remy, he asked, “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”

“I think it should come from you,” Remy said.

Emile laughed. “Traitor,” he teased.

“What’s going on, boys?” his dad asked.

“Mom, Dad...I don’t exactly know how to say this, but...you’re getting a son-in-law.”

The resulting shriek on the other end of the line made Emile jump and Remy burst out in giggles, fanning his face as tears sprang to his eyes. His mother was peppering him with questions as his Dad was shouting incoherently, and Emile just laughed at their reaction. When he finally got his breath back, he looked at Remy, beaming. “I told you they’d like you,” he teased.

“Shut up!” Remy laughed, still swiping at tears.

“When did this happen?” his mother asked.

“This morning, about twenty minutes ago?” Emile said. “We had to call Remy’s brother first.”

“Oh, good. I was worried we were the last to know,” his mother laughed.

“No, not by a long shot,” Emile laughed.

“Are you telling your grandfather?” his mother asked.

The mood in the room dimmed some, and Emile’s smile turned into a thoughtful, hurt expression. “Would he even want to know?” he asked back.

“I think he would appreciate hearing it from you,” his mother said. “You don’t have to, of course, but...”

“No, no, I see your point,” Emile agreed. “I’ll...I’ll have to think about it.”

“No rush, Emile. And no pressure from me or your father,” his mother said.

They chatted for a little while longer, but Emile’s heart wasn’t in it. Thinking of his grandfather, and the way he was rejected...it stung. It stung so badly, and Emile, despite the happiness of the day, couldn’t get through the sting.

When he hung up with his parents, he could feel tears starting to well up in his eyes and he said, “I want to invite my grandfather to the wedding.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea, mio amore,” Remy said. “He hurt you badly enough that the mere mention of him brings tears to your eyes.”

Remy was right. And Emile knew he was right. But...“He can change. He can be good. I want him to be able to prove that. I want him to be there, to be proud of me, to tell me that I made the right choice.”

“I want my parents to tell me that, and I know they never will!” Remy hissed. “If you invite your grandfather, that means that I get to invite my parents!”

Emile didn’t even take a second to think through what that might mean. “Deal,” he said. “We invite the three of them. And if they come, we make them sit as far from each other as possible so your mom and my grandfather don’t get into an argument over Catholicism.”

Remy blinked, not saying anything for a full minute. Emile let his tears fall. “I want him to be proud of me, Rem. I just...I want...”

Slowly, Remy nodded. “I know. I just...didn’t realize how desperate you were for that until you actually agreed to me inviting my parents. I mean...we both know that they’re never gonna come...”

“It’s a formality thing,” Emile said with a shrug. “But I want to invite my grandfather.”

“What if he says no, Emile? What then?” Remy asked.

Emile shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You’d better find out, hon. And I don’t say that just to hurt you. You need to brace yourself for him saying no. Okay?” Remy asked.

“I...okay,” Emile said. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Remy smiled softly. “Now, you have summer classes to get to, and I have a shop to run. You’d better hurry if you don’t want to be late.”

“Okay, okay!” Emile laughed. “I’ll come pick you up when the shop closes.”

“I love you,” Remy said, coming over to kiss Emile. “Never forget that.”

Emile gave Remy a peck on the lips, and left with a soft, “I won’t.”

The ring felt odd on his finger, but Emile wasn’t about to take it off. He wanted it on his finger for the rest of his life if at all possible, but for now, he’d settle for the rest of the day.

He walked into his class, saying hi to his not-too-close-but-close-enough friends who had signed up for his tutoring class with a wave, and sat down, pulling out his notebooks and getting ready to teach. He could just barely hear his friends muttering to each other. “There’s something different about him,” one girl said.

“He seems more muted than usual, is that it?” a boy responded.

“No, he just...looks different,” the girl said, frowning. “There’s something about him that wasn’t there before.”

Emile bit his lip to keep himself from grinning too wide. “You know, I can hear you,” he told them without looking up from his notes. “And no, I’m not telling you what’s different.”

Clara walked into the classroom and he waved at her. “Hey, Clara!”

She froze before zeroing in on his hand. “Is that...a ring?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Emile said with a little grin. “Remy got it for me.”

“Emile...that’s on your ring finger,” the girl from before said slowly.

“Yeah,” Emile agreed. “It is.”

The whole classroom was silent for a moment, before Clara squealed. “No way!” she exclaimed. “When did Remy pop the question?!”

“What?!” the rest of his friends exclaimed. “Remy popped the question?! Holy hell, man, congrats!” the boy from before continued.

“Tell. Us. Everything!” the girl exclaimed.

“After class, I will,” Emile promised.

“No, we need to know now! If you’re comfortable sharing I want to know everything!” a freshman Emile called on frequently said.

“Tell you what,” Emile said. “If you guys get a question right, feel free to ask me one question about the proposal. And I’ll answer it completely truthfully. Sound good?”

The students agreed and Emile grinned, waiting for the supervisor to come to the back of the class before starting the lesson. Usually Emile struggled to get the class to participate, and he worried that his extra credit would be at stake and his supervisor would take over. But this class, everyone was engaged and he actually managed to get through two sections of material when usually he barely scraped through one. By the end of the lesson, everyone knew that he had popped the question to Remy and Remy had popped it back, and all of them were chattering excitedly afterwards about what he was planning in regards to the wedding. “We just proposed today, guys. The wedding doesn’t have anything set yet,” Emile laughed.

“Still, you’d better start thinking,” one of the older guys said. “Wedding planning is stressful.”

“Definitely,” another girl agreed. “You’d better be prepared, Emile. It’s going to take a lot.”

Emile glanced at Clara and she spoke up for him. “Remy and Emile have already been through a lot. This isn’t going to be all that new for them.”

Everyone accepted that answer and when Emile got them to promise to be back in class next week, he and Clara were left alone in the room, the supervisor having left long ago. “How are you, really, Emile?” Clara asked.

“I mean, this is great, Clara. Don’t get me wrong. But part of me is just...disappointed. Remy and I called my parents, and they brought up my grandfather. And...he doesn’t have a whole lot of time left, anyone who knows him knows he’s tough but he can’t live forever. And I want him to say he’s proud of me, but what if he doesn’t change his mind before the wedding? What if the last time I ever spoke to him was when we fought at Christmas Mass over my dating Remy? I just. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if that’s what happened.”

“It’s his loss,” Clara said with a sympathetic sigh. “But I understand that’s not what you want to hear. I just can’t promise you that your grandfather would change his mind, Emile. He’s older, set in his ways. It’s hard to take people like that out of their comfort zone. You can, but it won’t be easy. Don’t hold your hopes up too high, okay? Sometimes things happen the way we wish they wouldn’t. He still loves you, even if he can’t accept this part of you. And yes, that means he doesn’t love all of you. And yes, that hurts. But you’re still the kid who he loved when you were younger. You just know more about yourself now, and you’re happier. That’s a good thing.”

“Is it? If he doesn’t accept me, is it really worth it?” Emile asked.

Clara smiled sadly. “I think that is a question you have to ask yourself. Would you trade being bisexual and marrying Remy for your grandfather’s love?”

Emile knew the answer, but his heart hurt as he admitted it. “No.”

“Then it’s worth it, Emile. I promise you that.” Clara walked Emile out of the classroom. “Come on. Go to the shop. Hug your fiancé. Talk to him about wedding plans, if you think you’re up to going over the lighter things. Just remember that it’s worth it. It’s definitely worth it, and we both know it.”

Emile took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s worth it,” he agreed. “It just hurts, too.”

“Let yourself hurt, Emile. Sometimes, that’s all you can do,” Clara said. “Would you rather hang out around the town instead of going straight back to Remy?”

Emile considered. “Maybe a little,” he said. “Much as I love Remy, this is a sore spot for both of us, and I don’t need him being mad at my grandfather right now. I just want a distraction, and to be happy about the engagement, and maybe keep up with the news to see how the court case is going.”

“I have my fingers crossed for you,” Clara said with a grin. “Now let’s head out. I know that Theo was swinging by on his way back from a job interview and he wants to tell everyone all about it.”

“Remy won’t be there,” Emile said with a frown.

“Oh, I think he’s planning on telling the story at Sleep Easy. We’re just then taking the rest of the day to wander the shops. And you and I both know Remy hates retail, and the way the managers act around here.”

“True,” Emile snorted. “He won’t miss out on much there.”

“Then it’s settled,” Clara said. “We’ll get coffee and we’ll windowshop, and you’ll show off your ring to everyone, and it’ll be a good day.”

“It’s already a good day,” Emile corrected her. “It just has a few bumps that need to be acknowledged, and then moved past.”

“That’s the spirit!” Clara exclaimed. “You ready for an afternoon of absolute mayhem?”

“Absolutely,” Emile laughed.

[ecofinisher]

A new partnership - Chap 41

Chapter 41

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26109937/chapters/70444884

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13681547/1/A-new-partnership

https://www.wattpad.com/1010156650-a-new-partnership-what%27s-next

Marinette had asked Luka Couffaine to pass by her house near the evening and sat with him on the chaise lounge watching him take down notes onto his smartphone.

“Exactly, so far I have said you everything that you needed to know. Onyx just needs to know about the current translations I’ve got from the grimoire, because of the power-ups,” Marinette noticed. “Before or after the meeting I will show him,”

“That’s good,” Luka commented looking at Marinette closing the miraculous box, then she stored it back under the chair and leaned herself with her back on Luka’s arm with a relieved sigh. “Feeling relieved?”

“I’m still scared of what might come in the future to us,” Marinette mentioned. “What if we fail? What if we do worse than we did before and we lose to Hawk Moth for good?”

“This won’t happen Marinette. We’re all in this together, ” Luka informed leaning his chin over her head, then Marinette leaned closer onto the boy. “We’ve passed through his akumas more than a thousand times. We have always had the lead through all this and we will until the end. We just need to hold on longer and not give up on this. Maybe you all don’t know it or we just don’t appreciate it as much as we should, but you are Paris’s most important part. If it wasn’t for you, our former teammates and our current teammates Paris wouldn’t be the same it is now. Paris has never been as vivid as it is now,”

“Thanks…..I haven’t quite been paying attention to anyone from the city. I know they’re thankful for our job. You have seen the wax figures and the statue of me and Cat Noir, which were made in dedication to everything we have done,”

“You deserve much more than that, Marinette. You and the others are risking your private life for all these people around the metropolis. This isn’t even binding for you,”

„The last few months have been hard for me. I‘ve done things I shouldn‘t have done at all, which led to new chaos, which could have been avoided,“

„Many people have done it without even meaning it. As long as we avoid doing it again, it‘s greater than nothing,“ Juleka‘s brother explained making Marinette nod.

„Yes…..I have already told you I took Nathaniel‘s miraculous home for a while until he‘s able to fight again, right?“

„Uh not yet,“ Luka responded. „Oh and I don‘t know if you heard it, but Nathaniel lied unconscious in a restroom and they found hints of hand sanitizer around his mouth. Someone tried to poison him, but failed,“

„What? Where did you know that?“ Marinette questioned shocked. „He was fine this morning as I visited him,“

„Rose and Juleka went together to visit him, but his mother was there and told that,“ Luka stated. „Now there are police agents interrogating the staff of that level, including Nathaniel later on,“

„Oh no, I could have stayed back with him. That must have been a scheme from Hawk Moth!“

„I really won‘t exclude him out of this possibility, but how is he aware, that Nathaniel is the snake miraculous holder?” Luka questioned. “Did he somehow discover it through me or Aspik?”

“It’s a possibility,” Guessed Marinette, then her smartphone received a message and she looked at it to see Hydra had sent the group a message.

“I arrived,”

“Hydra is already here,” Marinette mentioned, then she glanced through the glass of the window to see Yi walking towards the entrance of the school.

“Will you leave now?” Questioned Luka earning a nod from the blue-haired girl, then both went downstairs to the living room of the Dupain-Cheng’s where they saw the adults watching the news.

“Mom, Dad, I’m going to visit Nathaniel along with Luka. Nathaniel just had some back luck in the hospital and we want to be there for him and his mom, if you’re okay with it,”

“Okay, are we counting on you for dinner?” Questioned Sabine. “We didn’t plan to make anything for tonight,”

“We get something on our way back home or pass by my mom eventually,” Luka responded. “Don’t worry, I make sure Marinette comes home in one piece,”

“That’s good to hear, boy,” Tom said with a chuckle making Marinette chuckle a little embarrassed. “If you need someone to bring you home, call me,”

Yes dad,” Marinette answered opening the door. “See you later,”

“By Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng,” Luka said closing the door behind them and went stairs down, then before leaving Marinette transformed into Marinette and walked out along with Luka and looked at the top of the school building to see Onyx appear from above their house to land on the school roof.

“Are you going to school?” Ladybug questioned making Luka shrug his shoulders.

“Is something specific going on?” Questioned Luka making Ladybug shrug.

“I know some after school activities or fencing,” Ladybug answered, then Luka nodded and ran across the street and Ladybug used her yo-yo to get up on the top of the schoolhouse to catch the two childhood friends chatting. “Hey, anything special going on?” Questioned Ladybug watching Hydra and Onyx turn their heads to the red-dressed superheroine.

“Hydra told me about trying to get into fencing lessons to practice her skills,” Onyx mentioned.

“The fencing class is fencing right now and gave me the idea,” Added Hydra watching Ladybug look down along with Onyx to see the fencing students fight.

“Who’s the one in red? The captain?” Onyx questioned making Ladybug shake her head.

“No, that’s Kagami,” Ladybug corrected. “That girl that used to have a crush on….you know who,”

“Okay, but why is she wearing red?”

“I think it’s because the suit belongs to her family,” Ladybug mentioned. “Oh and I just found this out recently, Super Snake’s alter ego got attempted to get poisoned at the hospital. I believe Hawk Moth could have his hand in the game here,”

“Crap, Hawk Moth is really getting closer to us. I don’t even know how this is possible, did he just luckily guess Super’s identity or has he been spying on us?”

“I’m afraid so, but what’s more frustrating is, that the most superheroes I had in my team are from the same class and I believe Hawk Moth got into the attempt to search for there for potential superheroes and he seemed to have got it right with Nathaniel if this was the plan,” Ladybug mentioned. “We’re just lucky for now on as we’re all from different ages,”

“I don’t know what you have planned, but wouldn’t it be a good point for us to arrange a new superhero or two? At least until Super Snake is back in the game?”

“Yes, that’s what I have been thinking about. The thing is it's hard to find out members for our team mostly ones I don’t know well,”

“I and Hydra could try on our own to find someone,” Onyx suggested. “Or only me, if you want to,”

“Yes, I know,”

“What about that guy that helped us in the hospital?” Suggested Hydra.

“It’s impossible as he’s going back to London soon, this won’t be possible,” Ladybug mentioned walking past the two superheroes, then looked up at the Eiffel tower and looked back at Onyx. “Wait a second, you actually gave me an idea,”

“Cool, what is the idea?” Questioned Hydra.

“I’m thinking about going to meet him and ask him for assistance,” Ladybug mentioned earning a nod from Onyx. “Does this sound good?”

“Okay,” Onyx responded, then Ladybug continued explaining her idea to him and Hydra, therefore Onyx moved his head aside hearing someone calling Ladybug’s name, then Onyx moved to the edge of the roof to see Luka Couffaine under on the ground looking up at the building. Onyx jumped down at the ground to encounter the tall boy landing on his four like a cat and got up on his legs.

“Is someone in danger?” Questioned Onyx making Luka nod.

“I need to talk to Ladybug, Nino is in danger,” Luka warned earning a nod from Onyx, which packed Luka by his back and jumped up at the roof with the staff to land behind the two superheroines.

“Luka?” Ladybug asked surprised, then Luka showed Ladybug his smartphone with an interrupted reportage of the French news channel, where Nadja Charmack sat along with Clara Contard looking behind themselves at a screen with Nino Lahiffe attached on a pole.

“Nino!” Ladybug cried as she saw her friend tied up.

“Don’t get here Ladybug, this is a trap,” Nino shouted, then someone covered his mouth with his hands and the camera got switched to the other direction to show Hawk Moth’s facade making Ladybug and Onyx angry.

“Hawk Moth….” Ladybug spoke.

“Hello Ladybug remember me? I’ve got one of your friends here with me,” Told the supervillain while Nino cried behind the man, which showed how Mayura was covering Nino’s mouth with a towel. “You probably didn’t expect it that I would make it to get here, hein?”

Ladybug growled angrily at the villain having managed to catch Nino, while Onyx was shocked he didn’t witness anything happen to the friend and looked at Hydra, which was just as surprised as him about the kidnapping.

“We’ve been doing the same charade for almost over a year. Why don’t you bring me your miraculous? In exchange, I leave you friend to life and I spare anyone else’s life from your beloved city,”

“He’s bluffing, I can feel in my tail,” Onyx warned Ladybug, then Luka stepped aside from Onyx to apologize.

“Sorry I was standing on your tail,” Luka commented making Onyx furrow his eyebrow.

“He’s a real supervillain, not a movie villain. He doesn’t tick like the ones we know, nor like the akuma ones,” Ladybug warned earning a nod from Onyx.

“You have the last word, LB,” The black-dressed superhero added looking at the smartphone to listen to the supervillain.

“You have two choices, you either save the life of your only friend here and for that, everyone else is doomed or two you give me your miraculous and you won’t see me ever again. I hope you’re able to make a quick choice or else in the next 24 hours your friend here will be sleeping with the fishes,” Hawk Moth finished with a malicious grin before turning the video call off, which didn’t disappear, but he switched it to mute. Hawk Moth frowned as he pressed the wrong button afterward he clicked on the smartphone managing to finish the call leaving the women in the studio to exchange looks with the others.

“Well, this was a…….I really don’t know what to say about this Clara,” Najda said earning a nod from the brunette woman.

“Okay I know believe every one of you here is wondering, what will happen the next 24 hours, what can we do the next hours. We will switch to commercial and come back later. Please make sure to have TV or a radio channel on for further information,”

“We gotta do something,” Luka warned the superheroes watching Ladybug look at the cathedral of Notre dame, then Onyx approached the heroine and looked at her.

“I know this is now shocking, but we’re a team. We can do it together,” Onyx cheered the heroine up, then Luka stood on the other side placing his arm on Ladybug’s shoulder.

“We’ve got 24 hours in front of us, we have enough time to find a solution for this,” Luka assured. “We can recruit more superheroes, ask Max to track down Hawk Moth somehow, or make up a diversion to lure Hawk Moth into a trap,”

“I know…..I need to think about it,”

“Has anyone an idea about what we should do about the citizens now knowing about this scene with Hawk Moth?” Questioned Hydra making Onyx shrug his shoulders.

“I think asking the police or Mayor Bourgeois to comfort the citizens would be a big help or the citizens may get negative emotions and we’re screwed or worse. He uses multiple akumas on us,” Hydra explained earning a nod from Ladybug.

“Go meet Mayor Bourgeois as soon as possible and speak to the citizens, ask everyone to remain calm, cause Hawk Moth just wants to make people feel down to akumatize them,”

“I’m not sure if that will work out,”

“You just have to make the people know they’re safe. You don’t have to make a whole speech about it,” Onyx explained placing his arms on Hydra’s shoulders. “Just a few comforting sentences will be enough,”

“Alright, I’ll do it,” Hydra said placing her hand on Onyx’s cheek to give him a kiss on his cheek, then ran on the roof and jumped against the power line activating her lighting power to disappear into the cable to travel quickly across the city.

“Hey I could call Alya and she later on Nino’s parents to mention them, we’re aware of Nino’s kidnapping,” Luka advised searching for the girl’s phone number, then set it on as a video call.

“Thanks Luka,” Ladybug answered, then Onyx grabbed Ladybug on her arm to get her attention.

“Don’t you want to take a break and eat something?” Onyx offered the superheroine, which shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe I should do it,” Ladybug responded. “I haven’t eaten a thing today,”

“Woah you should really see, that you eat something or you’ll lose your energy,”

“Yeah I know, I didn’t have the chance today due to the number of issues of today,” Ladybug mentioned.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get us all something to eat,” The raven-haired superhero promised, then jumped over the bakery disappearing behind it leaving Ladybug back with Luka, which waited for Alya Césaire to attend the phone call.

Adrien sat in front of his computer watching the video where his best friend was tied up on a pole. Adrien repeated the whole video again to listen to Hawk Moth’s threat towards Ladybug’s team. „You have two choices, you either save the life of your only friend here and for that, everyone else is doomed or two you give me your miraculous and you won’t see me ever again. I hope you’re able to make a quick choice or else in the next 24 hours your friend here will be sleeping with the fishes,”

“I’ve heard this voice somewhere, but where?” Adrien asked himself, then heard his computer receive a message, then Adrien opened the message to see it was from his former classmate Max Kanté.

“Hey, Adrien how are you? Is it possible for you to send me Nino’s number? I know how to locate him,”

Adrien grabbed his smartphone, then looked up for Nino’s number and opened it to type down the number to the friend. After Adrien sent Max the phone number Adrien had an idea and opened the Facestargram app to look for Nino’s account.

“Hey I can track Nino on Facestargram too,” Adrien spoke, then opened his icon and pressed on the sixth option which showed the word maps and his smartphone displayed on the screen of the smartphone a map of Paris and Nino’s icon was displayed a few millimeters beside Adrien’s icon making him raise his eyebrows surprised. Adrien actualized the card, which after it loaded again showed him the same picture. Adrien dropped his mouth and pulled the video on his computer back to have Hawk Moth’s part get played.

“See me ever again. I hope you’re able to make a quick choice or else in the next 24 hours your friend here will be sleeping with the fishes,”

“AhhhhrgHhè” Adrien enraged shot pushing his chair away from him, which rolled into the middle of his bedroom, then Adrien took his smartphone and ran out of his bedroom going across the corridor. At the stairs he encounters his bodyguard walking stairs up, then Adrien jumped onto the man, causing him to fall down and he packed the man on the jacket.

“Where’s my father?!?” Adrien asked loud. “He’s hiding Nino somewhere in the house”

“Huh?” The bodyguard asked, then Adrien showed the man his smartphone so he could take a look at it.

“Why is Nino at the moment with Hawk Moth and per coincidence when I track him he’s here under our house?” Asked the blonde watching the bodyguard shrug his shoulders, making Adrien take his hand off his bodyguard and sit down on the stair. “You don’t know anything about this, right?” Adrien asked making the bodyguard shake his head. “Okay, we need to get help from the superheroes, but I don’t know how to contact them,” Explained the French boy then the bodyguard placed his arm behind Adrien’s back to cheer him up. Adrien’s smartphone rang, then he took it to see his girlfriend Aja was calling, then he attended it.

“Hey Aja, you’re sort of calling at a good.....bad moment,”

“Hey, I’ve heard from Felix, that your best friend got kidnapped and I called you in case you needed someone to talk about it,”

“That’s really sweet from your Aja, but…...I’m…..there are many things going through my head right now. I have no idea what to say or how I should explain to you that,”

“Has it to do with your past superhero life?”

“A little…..I believe I may have found out who is behind all these akumatizations, but…..it’s hard to believe it,”

“Is it someone you know?”

“Uh hum,” Adrien answered rolling his eyes at the bodyguard, which caressed the boy on his back, then looked at the door and walked at the office of Gabriel Agreste to take a look into the office. “I believe it’s my father and if I think about it, it all makes sense. He was never there for me since the day my mother disappeared. He barely lets me go out, threatened me and Ladybug on the day of my revelation also had the audacity to order her to give him our miraculouses back as if he was parents of both of us,”

“Oooo this sounds like a lot to take at once,”

“I need to find out how to contact the superheroes and ask for help. Otherwise in the next hours, my friend Nino will lose his life,”

“How did you under each other talk as there was an issue?”

“We only knew each other as superheroes and talked through our weapons with each other. We never had each other’s phone numbers or anything,”

“Well, that’s really hard. I have no idea, what I could tell you right now to help you,”

“It’s fine Aja, at least I could be able to talk with someone,” Adrien admitted watching his bodyguard open the door of the entrance to encounter the gray Sedan parked on the front of the stairs and the bodyguard walked downstairs. Adrien got up to follow the bodyguard, which took a look at the vehicle, then entered the car. “Hey is it okay if I call you later?”

“Sure, what are you going to do if I may ask?”

“Ask my bodyguard to look for help,” Adrien said.

“Okay, please don’t put yourself in danger,”

“No I just do it, when it’s necessary,” Adrien mentioned making Aja giggle.

“Please be careful,” Aja asked making Adrien nod.

“I will be,” Adrien answered. “Bye,”

Adrien went down to the vehicle to see the bodyguard open the glove compartment to see an envelope fall out, then Adrien took it out and sat inside the car to open the envelope and see a letter from a car rental service.

“This is from the train station,” Adrien mentioned earning a nod from the bodyguard watching Adrien read the letter, then looked at his smartphone to see the date. “They rented another car for today, but why?” The blonde questioned the grey-haired man, which shrugged his shoulder. Adrien lied his head back on the seat, then looked at the adjusted side mirror the reflection of the superhero Onyx pass above making Adrien wide his eyes and he got out of the car to see him above the next building heading to the Notre dame.

“Onyx wait!” Adrien shouted aloud, but Onyx didn’t seem to have heard Adrien, which frowned and ran back into the car closing the door. “Follow the superhero,” The blonde ordered making the bodyguard nod, which turned on the engine and left the building to drive on the road, where they saw in the end Onyx jump at the cathedral, afterward he landed on top of the school making Adrien smirk and point at the school earning a nod from the man, which drove the blonde there.

Adrien opened the window to put his head out, thereafter through his hair a wind stream passed by blowing his streaks up making him smile pleased by the feeling and beside him, the bodyguard smiled noticing the blonde having a liking on it.

“We’re there,” Adrien announced getting out of the car running at the stairs, then looked up at the building to hear someone being thankful. “Onyx! Ladybug! I need your help!...... Hey!” Adrien cried looking up waiting for an answer. “Ladybug! Onyx! It’s Adrien!” Adrien shouted afterward the bodyguard honked a few times and at the edge of the roof Onyx appeared and jumped down landing on the wall.

“Hey, you’re here to help?” Questioned Onyx making Adrien shrug his shoulders.

“Yes I really need to talk to you and Ladybug, it’s because of Nino and Hawk Moth. I believe I have found out who is hidden behind his mask,” Adrien stated making Onyx curious at the blonde’s knowledge.

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

Pas De Deux - Chapter 2

Title: Pas De Deux

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Destiel 

Rating: not really needed for this fluff lol

Tags: fluff, pretty much just a whole lot of fluff XD

Summary: Dean is a closeted ballet dancer, and Cas is playing the Nutcracker Prince in the Kansas State Ballet. When the ballet loses their Clara and Cas confronts Dean about taking the part along side him, will he be able to put aside his fears and let everyone know who he really is? All to help the man of his dreams?

MASTERLIST

AO3

*** My works are not to be posted on any sites without my permission! But comments and reblogs are love! <3 Please and thanks!!

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Chapter Two

     Since the first night Dean had danced with Cas, it was all he could think about. The intensity of their chemistry, even after only a few hours, was a feeling he would never forget, and one he had never known. It became something he craved all day long when he wasn't at the studio, and weekends were pure torture for him. And every night after the first night, when Dean would sneak his way into the dance studio, rather than going upstairs to his usual room, he had started going straight to Cas's practice room on the first floor. 

    The two of them practiced together every night for almost a month, and with every night not only did Dean's dancing improve, but so did their unspoken bond. They could both feel it. And by the end of the month, they had just about made it to the last dance between Clara and the Nutcracker. A dance Dean was very much looking forward to, especially since it called for a great deal of intimacy between the two leads. He was anxious to dance it with Cas, and they were almost there. 

     It was nearing almost three in the morning by this point, the two of them were sweaty and sore and all danced out for the night, so they decided to pack it in. Dean had to get home anyways, Sam would be waking up very soon and the last thing he needed was his little brother asking questions. 

     Cas walked over to his bag as Dean sat back against the mirror at the front to take off his shoes. He grabbed two bottles of water out of his bag and tossed one to Dean. 

     "Heads up!" Dean caught it, giving him a nod in thanks, before opening it and practically downing it in one go. Cas walked over to sit beside him, and decided now was as good a time as any to ask. "So Dean, we have stage rehearsals at the theater tomorrow night, so I won't be here to practice with you." He could see the disappointment Dean tried to hide, and hoped that it was a good indication that he would get the answer he was hoping for. "I was wondering if you'd like to come to the theater tomorrow night, sit in and watch the rehearsal. The doors are guarded while we are in there rehearsing, but I can leave your name with security if you would like to come."

     "I would actually love to come and watch!" He nodded enthusiastically, "It's been so long since I've been to the theater to see a performance, and I would love to see you in action with actual professionals."

     Cas nearly sighed in relief, he was so hoping Dean would say yes. "Great! Rehearsals don't start until seven tomorrow night, so come any time after that."

     Dean just smiled, took off his shoes, and hurried out of the studio. He just wanted to get through tomorrow so he could go to the theater and watch Cas.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Dean was sitting in the parking lot of the theater, had been for the last fifteen minutes. He was excited to watch Cas dance with the ballet, but he was also super nervous to be there. What if someone saw him, told his mom or brother that he was hanging around the theater. But after a few more minutes of deep breathing, he finally gathered up enough courage to practically run across the parking lot, praying that he wouldn't be caught. But his urge to see Cas seemed to be out weighing that little bit of fear, that and the thought of seeing Cas on stage. 

     When he made it to the front doors to the theater, he was very quickly stopped by the guard placed there. A very large, burly man who almost growled at him, "Sorry, Sir, you can't be here. Rehearsals are going on at the moment."

     "Actually I was invited here tonight," he shifted nervously from foot to foot as the guard stared him down," Castiel Novak said he would leave my name with you, it's Dean Winchester."

     The guard held up a finger to him, then turned a few steps away from him to speak quietly into a mouth piece on his jacket. After a few agonizing moments and the sudden worry that maybe he should just turn and run, he finally turned back to him. "Dean Winchester, you said?"

     Dean nodded. 

     "Got some ID?"

     He nodded again and hurriedly rifled through his wallet for his driver's license, holding it out for the guard to look at. Once he was satisfied, he pushed the door open and held it for Dean, "Go on in, just try to be quiet and sit wherever you'd like. Enjoy."

     He nodded at the man as he walked by, practically ran past him and into the theater, quickly finding his way to the stage and quietly going inside. He was hit instantly by the all too familiar music he and Cas had been practicing to all month, and crept slowly to the front row to sit and watch as they finished the scene. 

     His eyes were fixed on Cas the entire time the dancers moved around the stage. He looked amazing up there, powerful, completely in his element and owning every inch of the stage with every move he made. It was hard not to watch him. 

     They finished the dance a few minutes later and the directors rushed the stage to chat with the dancers. Cas took that moment to finally glance towards the seats and saw Dean. He gave him a smile and a small wave, which Dean returned both.

     A few minutes later the directors called for everyone to get back to their places and rerun the scene. 

     Everything was going great. The dancers were hitting every step perfectly on cue, everyone was expertly coordinated, and Cas looked great as hell. Until suddenly things took a hard right mid dance. 

     The girl playing Clara stumbled halfway through the dance and nearly fell flat on her ass center stage. Cas tried to reach out and steady her but she just angrily pushed him away and shouted to stop the music. 

     "Stop! Stop everything!" The music paused and the entire hall went silent as she then rounded on Cas, throwing her hands in the air and yelling, "Seriously, Castiel, you messed up the steps again?! Am I expected to work with amateurs my entire life?!"

     Cas merely rolled his eyes and in his regularly calm voice answered, "I wasn't the one who confused the steps, Ruby. You should be at least a foot ahead of me, you're too close, which is why you keep stumbling."

     She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Just like you to blame it on me. You think you're the best dancer here just because you practice night and day, you think you're better than us."

     "Castiel is right, Ruby," the director stepped in, "you're too close to him. This whole thing could be fixed if you just take one step forward."

     "Why is this utter fiasco being blamed on me?!" She turned on the director. "Why don't you tell your precious golden boy here to properly learn the steps!"

     "No one is blaming you for anything. It's an easy fix, just one step forward."

     "You know what?" She shook her head and placed her fingers on her temples. "I am done with this poor excuse for a ballet! Good luck putting on this shit show without me!"

     Everyone remained still and silent as Dean watched in complete horror while Ruby grabbed her bag from backstage, and promptly stormed down the stage steps and out the door. His eyes followed her all the way until the door slammed shut behind her, then he looked back up at Cas. He just shook his head, completely exhausted. Obviously this wasn't the first time they had to deal with an outburst from her. 

     "Great! Just great!" One of the directors, the taller one, threw his notes in the air and ran tight fingers through his hair, "We have less than three months till the show debuts, and now we have to find and train another Clara for the show! It's impossible, we can't do it, show’s over!"

     "We’ll find a way," the shorter director said, trying to calm the other, "we have to. Tickets are going on sale very soon and we are already expected to sell out. We can't cancel now, Chuck."

     "Then what, Metatron, what do we do? Start auditioning again? Call back the people we rejected the first time? I’m sure they’ll love that!"

     Metatron just shook his head and walked away, leaving Chuck to panic as well as the dancers on stage, who were all now gathering in groups and chatting frantically. Dean didn't know what to do other than just sit there in shock, he couldn't believe he had just watched one of the ballets lead roles walk out like that.

     “Wait!'' Dean looked up to Cas with a start, and everyone else in the theater followed suit. “I may have someone who could help.”

     Both directors gave Cas a skeptical look and waited for him to continue. Before he answered, Cas looked down at Dean with a frightening glint in his eyes that gave Dean the most frantic butterflies he had ever felt. 

     “You know someone?” Metatron asked, almost slightly impatient.

     “Yes, they already know all the parts of the ballet, all the acts and all the steps, start to finish.” Dean perked up a bit in his seat, not liking the look in Cas’s eyes at all. That sudden feeling to get up and run had returned to him again, but he was also frozen in place. Seemed his brain and legs couldn’t come to the same conclusion. “They are talented beyond all belief and absolutely perfect for the role of Clara.”

     Dean finally found a little control over his limbs and managed to stand, letting out a low warning as he did. “Cas.”

     Though Cas ignored it and continued on, “I have seen them perform the ballet numerous times. Their execution is perfect, flawless, seamless, the perfect lead for this ballet.”

     “Cas…” Dean took a few steps toward the front of the stage, speaking his warning a little louder this time but still getting no reaction out of Cas.

     “And our chemistry in the roles is already… intense, electric,” he then looked over at Dean who was staring back at him with a lust he could feel across the room, “even outside of dance we have a profound bond.”

     “Cas…” He breathed, almost completely breathless. 

     The two just stared at each other, the bond Cas had spoke of lighting the room with a fire that everyone there could feel.

     “Well,” Chuck interrupted, pulling Cas's eyes away from Dean, “don't leave us in suspense! Who is it?!” 

     “Though, bringing this person in to play the lead role would change the dynamics slightly, but it might end up being a good thing.”

     “Who is it, Castiel?!” Chuck was nearly pulling his hair out. 

     Cas turned back to look at Dean and everyone's eyes followed him. Dean just stood there, even more stunned then he was before, and now suddenly feeling trapped.

     “Him?!” Metatron turned back to Cas who nodded. “Who even is he?”

     “His name is Dean Winchester.”

     “Let me get this straight,” Chuck took a few steps forwards, taking a second to rub a hand down his face before asking, quite annoyed, “you want us to let some random man off the street, someone I've never even heard of before, not only join our highly respected and prestigious ballet, but also play the lead?!”

     “He is an amazing dancer,” Cas argued, “and he already knows the role, he would need very little training. Much less training then having to hire someone who might be a known dancer, but has never before danced The Nutcracker. And as you said, we don’t have much time.”

     Chuck shook his head at Cas then rounded on Dean, “Where did you train?” Dean just opened his mouth and closed it again. “Who trained you?” Again, Dean wasn't able to say anything, just stand there awkwardly. So Chuck turned back to Castiel and threw his hands in the air, slapping them on his legs as he let them fall.

     “I trained him,” Cas answered for Dean.

     “You?!”

     “Yes,” Cas nodded.

     “So you mean to tell me that he has had no formal training?!”

     “He's an amazing dancer,” Cas repeated, enunciating every word.

     “No,” Chuck closed his eyes and shook his head, “no, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not! No!”

     “At least let him show you what he can do. Let us dance the finale together. Once you see his skills and our chemistry, I promise you will change your minds.”

     Chuck looked over to Metatron who gave him a shrug, “What harm could it do at this point.”

     Chuck looked between Castiel and Dean, then just waved his hands and said, “Fine, do whatever you want then,” and threw himself in a chair in the front row and waited.

     Cas walked down the steps and over to where Dean was still frozen in place and stood in front of him. 

     “I… I can’t dance in front of people, Cas! Are you insane?!” He shook his head, breathless with nerves. “I’m a closeted dancer, not even my own mother or brother know that I dance! And now you not only want me to dance in front of the people in my own town, but then also travel around with you and dance in front of people nationwide?!”

     “Dean, calm down,” he ran his hands down Dean's arms and it seemed to help a bit, “I know you have never told anyone about your passion for dancing before, but perhaps this is a sign. Maybe now is the time to just finally be you, to do what you love, to dance freely. At least give it a try, come on stage and dance with me and I promise you will love it.”

     Dean just stared at him, mouth open and head slightly shaking. 

     “Dean,” Cas breathed, stepping closer and placing a hand on his cheek which Dean turned into, closing his eyes, “just let go, fall with me.”

     After a moment of just soaking Cas in, and feeling the comforting warmth on his skin he nodded, taking one last shaky breath before he opened his eyes to gaze at Cas once again.

     “Good,” Cas breathed, and he could feel the warmth ghosting over his lips, “do you have your duffel with you?”

     “Yeah, it's in the trunk of my car.”

     “Go get it, change backstage, and meet me center stage when you're ready.”

     He nodded again then shook his head and whispered, more to himself then to Cas, “I can’t believe I'm doing this,” then turned and left the theater.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     A few minutes later Dean was standing just off to the side of the stage, in the shadows behind the curtains, taking deep breaths as he watched Cas standing in the center. After one last breath he stepped out, slowly, cautiously, eyes wide as he saw everyone sitting in the seats below the stage, the directors dead center and eyes on him. He stopped walking and froze before he made it to Cas. 

     “Dean,” he heard Cas’s voice, but couldn't even move to look up at him, “Dean.”

     He heard his voice that time and looked up. Cas was holding out a hand to him, waiting patiently for him to walk over, which he eventually did, very slowly. 

     He reached out and took Cas’s outstretched hand, allowing Cas to pull him in close to his chest, pressing their foreheads together. “It's just like at the studio, Dean. Dance like it's just you and me up here, together and alone. Just focus on me, nothing else.”

     “But Cas, we haven't done the final dance together yet,” he risked a glance over to where the directors were sitting, looking a bit impatient now, “it's the only part of the ballet we haven't gotten to yet.”

     “But you know the steps, Dean.”

     “Yeah, but.”

     “But nothing,” he reached up and ran the back of his hand down Dean's cheek, “you can do this. Show them just how amazing you are, how amazing I know you are.”

     Dean nodded, then he and Cas separated to stand in their positions. Cas looked down to the composer with a nod to signal him to start the music, then looked over to Dean. He could tell Dean was nervous, shaking slightly and fiddling with his hands, so he called over to him and got his attention. “Just you and me, Dean.”

     He swallowed hard but told himself that Cas was right. He just needed to pretend that no one else was there, the theater was empty, it was just him and Cas same as it was every other time they've danced together. So he closed his eyes, erased everything and everyone from his mind except Cas, and as the music started he smoothly transitioned into the steps he knew so well. 

     It was an almost instant change from Dean to Clara as he practically jumped into the roll, and he and Cas were moving as one. Despite the two of them having never actually practiced this dance together, they were in perfect sync, it was as if they had danced it a million times together. Every move they made, every step, every breath was taken as one, right up until the final note and they were standing frozen in their final position. They were chest to chest and nose to nose, a breath away, breathing hard after having given the most amazing performance together. And they had been here before, Dean thought, pulled together feeling this fire between them, and every time he waited for Cas to take that final step. To close the gap…

     “That! Was! Magnificent!” Clapping from the seats below them had them turning their heads away from each other snapping back to reality, still breathless from the dance and pure intensity between them, their chests heaving together. “I… I am absolutely blown away! You were splendid, Dean, splendid!”

     “Especially for someone who has never had any formal training before,” Metatron joined Chuck in his standing ovation, “where did you learn to move like that?”

     Cas nudged a blushing Dean forward to the edge of the stage and urged him to answer, though he could tell that he was still nervous and obviously not used to the attention and praise over his dancing. “I… I taught myself, actually. I used online video tutorials, and also just watched and studied other dancers. And Cas, he's helped me to perfect my moves, I wouldn't be anywhere near this good if it wasn't for him.”

     Dean turned to gaze at Cas with a smile. He still had an arm wrapped around Dean and was looking down at him with as much adoration as Dean was at him. 

     “And you were right, Castiel,” Chuck nudged Metatron beside him, and the two of them smirked as they looked up at the two dancers wrapped in each other on stage, “the chemistry between the two of you is perfect!”

     “Chuck’s right,” Metatron spoke as he started walking up the steps to join them, and Chuck followed, “who needs that stuck up, snobby diva Ruby when we have you, Dean!”

     “I-”

     “And you are right, Castiel, bringing Dean on will change the dynamic of the original story, but this could be a monumental step for us!” Chuck then turned to Metatron as the two of them both started getting very excited about the thought of two male leads. “The first Nutcracker with two male leads! This could be big! We could be big!”

     “So what do you say, Dean? Take the position!” Both of them locked their eyes on Dean, almost boring into him with an intensity that he felt in his soul. 

     “I…” He looked up at Cas, then just shook his head, “I don't know.”

     “W-what do you mean you don't know?” Chuck was baffled, “People would kill to be in your position right now. An unknown dancer, picked off the streets and given the opportunity to play one of the lead roles in what is surely going to be a ballet to remember?! You could become a legend in dance.”

     “I’m a bit of a closeted dancer. No one knows that I dance besides Castiel, and now you guys. It's…” He took a hard breath and let it out slow, “It's hard to openly be this person after I've been someone else my entire life. People expect me to be a certain way, and this sudden change could cause me to lose so much.”

     “But also gain even more!” Metatron reached out and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder.

     “I…”

     Cas pulled Dean closer to his side, shielding him from his directors who he knew could sometimes go a little overboard. Not to mention the fact that he knew pressuring Dean like this was only going to make it worse, make his nerves worse. “We don't have another rehearsal for a few days. Let's give Dean some time to think about the offer before anyone makes any decisions.”

     “You’re right, you're right.” They both raised their hands and took a step back. “Think about it Dean, take some time to make your decision, but while you think about it, know that we would absolutely love to have you with us!”

     “If it's alright, I'll let you know by the next rehearsal.”

     Chuck and Metatron both told Dean to take his time with the decision, but they both were praying that he would agree. Seeing the two of them dance together was an opportunity they really didn't want to have to pass up on. After which, Dean changed backstage, said his thanks to the directors, and then Cas walked him back out to his car.

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

     Dean plopped himself hard on the floor and sat back against the mirror of the dance studio he shared with Cas. He was sweating and panting, he had been working harder this week then he ever had during practices, and he was more than sure that it was because he was trying to keep a certain decision from creeping into his mind every time he let it wander.

     Cas came over to sit next to him, passing Dean a bottle of water as he did, and sat in silence for a few minutes. And though he knew that Cas was trying to give him as much time as he needed to make the decision about the position at the ballet, Dean could feel the tension and curiosity radiating off of him the entire night. 

     He took a drink then huffed to try and catch his breath before eyeing Cas from the side, “Alright, ask me.”

     “Ask you what, Dean?” He tried to feign innocence but it was not fooling Dean.

     “Don't try to play me, Cas,” he shook his head and shifted to turn towards Cas, “I know you want to ask me about taking the position, if I've made my decision yet. And I guess I should give you an answer, considering the next rehearsal is tomorrow night.”

     Cas nodded, then he also turned so they were now facing each other, and tangled their legs together, “Well then, have you come to a decision?” Dean just sighed and lowered his head. “If it helps any, I would be there with you every step of the way, quite literally. Not to mention that I would love to be performing the ballet with you.”

     “It helps a little,” he couldn't help but smile a bit, “but I… I don't know, Cas. If I do go through with this then eventually, at some point, my family is going to find out one way or another. Either I'll have to tell them, or someone in town will tell them, and I… I just don't want them to be disappointed in me.”

     Cas shuffled closer to Dean, the two of them wrapping their legs around each other as Cas placed his forehead to rest against Dean’s. “Perhaps they will not be disappointed, but proud.”

     “But what if they aren’t proud? What if they think my dad was right? That I should be playing sports not dancing around a stage in tights?!”

     “Dean, calm down,” he smoothed his hands down Dean's neck, “you will never know until you try, and if they end up being angry or disappointed then that's their loss. No matter what happens I will still be right beside you. But it's time to stop hiding it, Dean, it's time to be you.”

     “Yeah,” he swallowed hard, but nodded, “you're right. It's… it's time I think about what I want and not what my father would have wanted for me. And… and if someone's upset about that then that's not my problem.”

     “Exactly. You are an amazing person, Dean, anyone would be a fool not to see it.” Dean smiled and ran his hands up and into Cas’s hair, the two just sitting there for a minute before Cas asked, “So, does that mean you'll take the part?”

     “Yeah, I'll take the part.”

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

     After Dean went back to the theater with Cas and accepted the part, the directors were thrilled. Dean was extremely nervous, but as Cas had promised he was right there beside Dean through every step. 

     They had been rehearsing for a few weeks now, and Dean had taken to his new role splendidly. Everyone in the theater was more than pleased with his performance during rehearsals, many of them gushing over the fact that it was going to be the best rendition of The Nutcracker to be performed in years, even decades maybe.

     As Castiel had said before, they did end up making a few alterations to the ballet, one of them being that they changed Dean's role from Clara to Charles, as well as a few alterations to the ending. But despite the last minute changes that were made after Ruby's abrupt exit, the entire cast was very excited to be finally sharing their hard work with many people all across the country. 

     They had just finished up with one of their last rehearsals before the tickets for the show were to go live, and Dean and Cas were getting ready to leave for the night when their directors came over to them, each handing them a bundle of tickets.

     Dean took them and rolled them over in his hand before asking with a raised brow, “What are these for?”

     “Castiel told us you live with your mom and brother, right?” Chuck asked.

     “Yeah…” He drawled, now a little worried.

     “These tickets are for them,” Chuck confirmed Dean's fears, “front row seats for the debut show. Word has been getting around about our ballet having two male leads and the theater is already getting calls about buying tickets. We are expecting to be sold out of all shows within a day, so we reserved a few tickets for the families of each of our cast and crew members.”

     “Oh...wow, I…” He stuttered, not really knowing what to say. Not to mention that his heart was now down in his feet at the mere thought of even humouring telling his mom and brother about the show. Was it naïve to think that he could just keep it a secret forever?

     “No need to thank us,” Metatron smiled at him, not knowing how much dread was running through his veins right now, “We hope to meet them on opening night. Have a good night you two.”

     Dean just kind of nodded as they walked away. He was unusually quiet as Cas walked him out to his car like he did every night after rehearsals. Then sat in his car for a few minutes before finally driving home, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to do this without either crying, throwing up, passing out, or quite possibly all three. It was bound to be a super fun weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     When Dean got home from rehearsals that night it was still pretty early. His mom and brother were still asleep, which he decided was for the better, seeing as his stomach was still turning pretty bad. The tickets were weighing heavily in his duffle that was slung over his shoulder, he could practically feel them burning a hole through the bag. But he pushed the thought aside for now since they were still passed out in bed, and decided to occupy his mind with doing some laundry instead. His tights were a complete mess from rehearsals this week and he would rather just get it done now before his mom and Sam woke up. 

     He went straight to the laundry room as soon as he got inside and tossed his duffel bag on top of the washing machine. Before he threw it in the machine he quickly bound up the stairs to his room to grab the special fabric softener he had bought for himself, partly because he liked the smell, but mostly because he knew Cas liked it.

     He grabbed the fabric softener then took a moment to sit on his bed, rehearsals lately had been taking a lot out of him. As it got closer and closer to opening night, rehearsals got more and more intense. He placed the bottle on his nightstand and before he knew it, he was laying back on the bed. Just a minute, he thought, then he would get up and do his laundry. Then his eyes were closing and he decided he would let them, just rest them for a few seconds then he would get up. But before he could even stop himself he was passed out with his legs hanging over the edge of his bed, laundry completely forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

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A/N: One more chapter to go after this! 

Tags: @thebridgekid 

[naturaldisasterfanfiction]

8.

Pulling a face at the fact I was sick this morning, but I am not shocked either, I am nervous about today. Today is the day, today is the day me and baby Fenty will be coming out of hiding, and I am not sure how to feel, do I want to show the world, do I want to even be exposed but I have had weeks to prepare and I am still not ready, but here I am being sick in the morning because of it. Lifting up my tee, I am not the one to boast but I have the prettiest pregnancy stomach, like it’s just perfect “I can’t wait to meet you, I mean minus the pain but I can’t wait to hold you in my arms” lightly rubbing my stomach, I am enjoying it. I think I like being pregnant, I am of course eating healthy still because I don’t want to go all out and binge eat but I am excited to hold my baby, I am feeling myself actually. Placing my tee back over my stomach, today is the day of The Diamond Ball and I am excited about it all, it will be different for us and not only that I have some of my family coming, I think they have arrived. My Grandfather is here too, I didn’t tell him, so I am a little nervous to go downstairs. Also, my dad is here, it’s time to tell more loved ones on the day, I was going to invite Chris but then it still needs to be private when it happens and then I saw a new picture of him laying his head on a girl’ booty, so nope I don’t think so. I am just beyond not feeling it, every time I get the urge to do it something comes up, like god is blocking this. He has a whole ass daughter that is near ten and he is posting pictures like that, I swear as a mother to be I am annoyed, like why the fuck would you do that. I am just going to put Chris aside and enjoy today with my loved ones, and then telling my fans the actual news. Placing my feet in my slides, let me go downstairs and let them see what I have been hiding also.

I can hear my family speaking “oh my god” looking behind me “Noella” I said looking behind me “Robyn? Oh my god” she is staring at my bump “why do I feel so emotional” Noella’ hand over her mouth staring at my stomach, small sobs leaving her lips “don’t cry” walking over to her “I am just in awe, oh my god” hugging Noella “I am shocked, Robyn. You look so well, this is what you have always wanted and to see you like this, a dream for you” I cooed out “I know, it’s something I craved and look at god” Noella is just flat out crying on my shoulder “I am so happy for you cousin” rubbing her back, I am consoling Noella forget me right now “oh god, I just. I have always imagined the day but look at it” Noella stepped back “aww my, this is baby Fenty” Noella touched my bump “hello my little Barbados king or queen, we love you so much” smiling at her “you know that will be the first place I am going too with my baby, they are going to know that is home. Promise you, how is everyone? Do they know anything?” Noella shook her head “we do but Grandfather say nothing he don’t know and Ronald doesn’t, Rajad let something slip about being fat but they ignore him” nodding my head “ok” I breathed out “this is nerve wracking, I just wanted my dad and grandfather here because it’s a lot to tell, I love you so much” wrapping my arm around Noella and kissing the side of her head, she is always here supporting me.

I am scared to walk in now “bitch you using me as cover, go away” Noella ran off “Robyn” seeing my dad’ face changed from a smile to look of horror, like someone just got killed something “hi dad” watching him slowly get up from the couch “my grandbaby gained weight?” hearing my grandfather say “Robyn” my dad said again “it is what you think it is” I said openly, my dad is in shock and I get it “come and give me a hug” my grandfather said, walking over to my grandfather “I love you” kissing his cheek hugging him, he seems not phased “why are you not freaking out?” I said as I sat next to him “because you told me, you said baby next. Baby is here” he smiled at me, I don’t want to look at my dad but I have too, he is really being dramatic but I can’t blame him “I didn’t want to tell you dad because you would talk” looking at him, oh wow my dad is crying “why is everyone crying?” I just never get it “because my daughter is having a baby, oh god” my dad is sobbing, let me get up because I thought he was going to react differently “I am, sometimes I am shocked that I am too. But it’s happening, I spoke about it a lot” hugging my dad.

My dad is very emotional about it all still, he’s really taking it not bad but emotionally bad “so I guess you are wondering, why and what happened. It wasn’t planned, it happened from one night. I don’t know, I don’t remember so that is on me, but I do know the father. You both do, it’s Chris” my dad’ eyes widened “ooohhh” my grandfather laughed as he said “Clara always said that those two would have a baby, you still love him. Clara would be laughing with me” my grandfather is doing nothing but laugh and smile “you love that boy still don’t you” I wish he wouldn’t “it’s mutual, but he is the father and he doesn’t know yet. It’s a mess, but I need my family to keep this here, this information of it being Chris’ baby has to remain in this room” I can’t stress that enough “I like Chris, he makes you happy. I know he does” my dad said “I suppose but he doesn’t know yet dad, but I just need to make sure you all keep this here. I don’t think the world is ready for this. You as my family know Chris, you judge Chris differently then to the world, you all saw how we loved. Rorrey has other opinions but this baby, it’s going to be loved. I am happy that you all are happy for me but I need the love and support from you all ok?” looking around the room “Clara would be happy for you baby, she would see the happiness in your eyes” my grandfather is going to make me cry “I wish she was here, she always told me to find a guy that loves you more then you love them. And I never got that” see now I am crying “but I got this baby now, and from your reaction, I know gran gran would be happy and laughing” I didn’t want to cry but now I am.

I decided with Ja of course that we would make the dress minimal and my makeup more stand out, because the baby bump is going to do the talking “you know what, I struggled to get things because people know who I am and who I am shopping for so I was like I am buying a dress for my mother, nosey ass bitches but then they was like maternity wear? Then I was like oh my god, so it was a terrible time, but we got it, we good. So, we are doing minimal the better, the baby bump will do the talking, cause chile. The world about to have a meltdown, exciting” smiling at Ja “where is my girl?” hearing Leandra say “go and give auntie a kiss Legend” I am just sat here waiting for Leandra to come around the corner and have a slight meltdown, I am sat in the chair facing the door anyways “in now!” Leandra shouted, she out here threatening my nephew “leave him alone” I said, Leandra looked at me and her eyes widened “Jesus!!” she spat “Jesus Christ! My holy god, what? Is this fake? Are you all lying to me?” Leandra pointed storming in, I just sat here smiling at her “surprise?” I said awkwardly “fucking surprise!? This? Oh my god, bitch. You are pregnant!” I nodded my head smiling “I am pregnant, I love you but not many know of this. I had to keep it a secret” I hope she don’t hate me “I understand why, what the fuck happened!?”  holding Leandra’ hands “drunk plus sex plus a condom where I think it broke not sure” Leandra is flabbergasted “I don’t know what to say” she said but I know she is shook “I am happy for you though” it is nice to see that many people are happy for me “who is the daddy? Unknown?” I have to laugh because she near fell out about this “it’s uhm, it’s Chris” trying to supress my laugh “no fucking way! No way! Chris Brown, his dumbass is the father!” She spat “lord Jesus, we didn’t need this in the world. Oh my Jesus, you saying we have to put up with that nigga now, whew. Robyn. My heart can’t take it, you going to tell me he is here and he about to tell me how dark I am” I laughed out “no, no. He’s not here but it’s happening. I am pregnant” Leandra smiled at me shaking her head “you are fucking crazy, I need to sit down” Leandra placed her hand over her chest walking off to sit down, I think a lot of people are going to feel this way.

I breathed in looking at myself in the mirror “you look like a goddess Rihanna” Pricilla said behind me “wow!” smiling to myself “thank you everyone” I think the minimal let the bump speak for itself look is going to be perfect “the gold dust colour just hits perfect with your skin, because you are glowing right. I did fall for the gown when I saw it because it stretches, you need it to be breathable and the way it drapes over your body, it’s just so elegant” Ja looks so proud of himself “I am happy, thank you all. I am nervous so catch me if I faint, but shall we all go? We all ready?” Ja bowed his head “my queen, after you. Wait till the family see you, I feel like you are happy. At peace somewhat” Ja held my hand as I walked to go downstairs “I am, I feel like my grandfather has made me feel this way. I feel like my gran gran is with me and he is right. She would be happy for me; she only wanted my happiness, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling the nerves. I mean come on, I am just going to release that and then walk out on the carpet? It’s a lot” walking down the steps slowly, Dennis is out here just taking plenty of pictures “don’t hurt yourself now” I chuckled “get my best side” Ja shouted “my daughter, you look so beautiful. Wow!” my dad said, I feel all shy now “thank you, I feel like I am having my wedding day but here we are. Doesn’t my bump look the cutest” my mom looked at me so proud, she is proud of me. I was honestly so scared to even tell her this but there was no reason to be, she has been my rock that I needed. Because if I didn’t have my mom or Mel then there would be no baby Fenty, I was quick to jump into abortion mode because I was scared, scared of what was going to be said about me.

My mom held my hand, we are outside the venue in this SUV and my bladder is no good with this baby. I need to pee, nervous pee but we are here now “I pray to god for you, I want god to guide you and protect you from any evil eye that will happen. There is a lot of evil eye out there, I love you so much Robyn. No matter what they say out there, you have the best prize, you have a baby that will be so loved so nobody tells you different. I am happy you kept it” smiling lightly at my mom “shall I post it?” Dennis said at the side of me “I don’t know if I am ready to show the world my baby though, I am just feeling a lot but it has to be done” I paused just thinking, I am thinking because I have one part of the news, the next will be Chris but that will be later not now “do it” I mumbled, watching Dennis press send and I just felt my heart skip a beat “oh my god” my mom pressed a kiss to my hand “I am proud of you, don’t think otherwise” nodding my head closing my eyes, I get judged so much and this will be another thing to be judged about.

Parking outside Nia’ home “see, I came and dropped you off. You called and I came?” Royalty unbuckled her belt “but you said I could come to your house and then cancelled but then you were out? I find the picture you posted rude too” I really don’t need no girlfriend in my life when I have Royalty, she is not dropping this at all “I had business to deal with and what I say about my page, it’s just silly. It was a photoshoot, that was it” Royalty pulled the door open and pushed up, she is mean mugging as she did “why you bugging? We good right?” I was going to hold her hand, but she slipped out before I could “goodnight dad, I don’t want to come to grandma’s next weekend unless it is at your house, I want to spend time with you. Even Aeko is not here anymore, he annoyed me, but I miss him, and you didn’t even tell me that happened, he is my brother too. Bye dad” she closed my car door, why are girls so sensitive. Just because I couldn’t see her she is being this way, my mother literally takes care of her anyways, I am busy and I can’t have her at the home, I have people there. She is so damn determine to be at the home, I know I promised a room for her, but it is pointless when in all honesty she won’t be there, the room can be used for the friends I have there. She will get over it, they all do.

Locking Zeus in the cage “you out here roaming the damn place, scaring the girls boy” luckily I just came back but Zeus was ready to escape, I did tell them useless niggas to lock this damn bitch up in the first place but they too busy having the party they having here, they asked and I said yes because I haven’t got anything else on “my nigga breezy” seeing Gunna just come out of my house “my nigga, you good? I am late, I had to see my daughter. You going now? You laid that verse yeah” he nodded his head “I did, I got to go though. Catch up again nigga, and you got some fine ass girls here” he added before walking off, let me go and check what is happening inside my home. Oh, this party, it is a party. Like stripper party, that is interesting to see “you took your time?” Hoody said, nodding my head “yeah, roro wasn’t playing ball and she is angry with me. I just drove around to clear my mind, but I should have came back earlier, the girl’s man. Look at them” they nice as hell “only the best for us, they all sign NDAs and no mobiles here so we good. Just pure ass shaking and money, what is going on with you and Krista now? You back with her” I shrugged “she got a man, so she says but she was fucking me last night, so I don’t know, women don’t care for their man really. I keep em like shoes” I laughed “you need some brand new shoes bruh, like you keep going to the same pussy man” Hoody got a point “she got that good, good though” walking off, let me get my weed and my papers and get this blunt made.

Krista’ quick movement of moving her leg from my lap kind of woke me out of my daze, looking over at her. I was going to say something but the confusion on her face stopped me, she must have read some shit. Oh, these girls really throwing ass around still, bopping my head placing my blunt between my lips. Krista moved closer to me “wow, ok. Just read that Rihanna is pregnant” blowing the smoke out from my lips “they say that on a daily basis, she’s just a little thick. I mean I don’t know that, I haven’t seen that in years” I lied “well I don’t think it is, that’s all on my Insta timeline. Doesn’t she have that ball or whatever” furrowing my eyebrows “uh, yeah” shuffling forward on the couch, putting my blunt out “oh well” Krista said but she is bluffing, just rumours as always. Getting my phone out from my pocket, and there was no reason to even look at Instagram. I get news headlines on my phone, to keep up with the world and there, on my screen ‘Rihanna shocks the world with a pregnancy announcement’ I felt the blood drain from my face, like everything was blocked out and the whole room is silent, I don’t think it’s true. Unlocking my phone, tapping on Instagram. Tapping in badgalriri with such urgency, to see a post that it is a lie, it has to be. Seeing the first video and tapping on it but then backed out of it, no this is stupid. She would do a pregnancy shoot, like that is a lie. Backing out of her profile, looking at my tagged post. Tapping on the first post ‘Chris Brown must be crying in the corner now’ the caption and the picture “oh my god” I breathed out, she is really pregnant. Backing out of that post and tile after tile is Robyn pregnant body, throwing my phone to the ground “Chris” Krista grabbed my arm but I got up from the couch and kicked my phone away, nobody flinched or cared that I did that, like it was normal.

Looking up at the sky from my basketball court, closing my eyes sighing out. Every image of us is flooding my mind, I never wanted this and it shouldn’t affect me like this but when you love someone you love them, I have always continued to love her from afar, she is my soulmate but she is lost, I am lost and she treated me like shit. This just makes me think why Mel wanted me there, was it to belittle me and a ploy to make me look a fool, Drake’ smug ass really got there. Always a battle between me and him and he got there, I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t think I would feel this way, but I always wanted to have a baby with Robyn, to be happy. I am angry and sad, that is it now, but it has always been it for us. We never were going to be together whether I wanted it or not, she is too into that industry bullshit and would want that then me, I am just in a bubble. I can’t even bring myself to say congratulations, everyone is laughing at me because they all know how I felt about her, I mean what did I expect. Did I expect her to never have a baby or be happy, but we always had each other. This is really it “fuck” I breathed out with my head low.

[whatarubberchicken]

Lukadrinette - Part 10

Because I lost all of my bookmarks when I moved to a new computer, and because Tumblr is such a pure, good, well-functioning website, I cannot find most of my posts for this story, so I have finally decided to post it to Ao3. I will leave the original posts as they are here on Tumblr, and if you can find them, great. If not, it’s now listed under:

My Sweet Blueberry Sandwich

(ff.net link to come)

(If anyone has any suggestions for tags, I am more than willing to hear them! I still suck at tagging.)

I will post a chapter a day until we catch back up, but no promises for after that. Hopefully, NoNaWriMo will be good to me this year.

That being said, enjoy! (Nothing too explicit this time but I’m still gonna put it under the cut, and yes, I did write this chapter before “Desperada” came out, so I was laughing REALLY hard during that episode.)

........

Adrien was not pouting, thank you very much.

After all, how could he be? Here he was, with the girl of his dreams and the boy who’d made him question his sexuality, eating thick, hot soup after a day filled with fantastic sex. He was certainly not panicking internally on all the many ways he could’ve screwed this up already, or mentally listing all the things he could buy them to make them let him stay for just one more day, or—

“How long are we gonna play the silent game?” Marinette asked. Adrien’s eyes flew to her face to see her smirking at him as she tore her bread in two.

“I—uh… was too busy eating!” he said quickly, digging into his soup for another bite. “It’s really good!”

The look she and Luka gave him told him he still wasn’t fooling anyone.

“I… um… what do you wanna talk about?” he asked timidly.

“Hmm….” Marinette tapped her lips with her spoon as she pondered. Her eyes lit up. “Celebrity fantasy hook-ups! Who would you want if you could have anyone?”

Are you kidding? I’m kinda living it right now, Adrien thought silently. Out loud he answered, “You guys know I’m a celebrity, right? And that I’ve actually had celebrity hook-ups?”

“Yeah, but not fantasy celebrity hook-ups,” Marinette teased.

“This isn’t fair,” Luka complained. “You already know mine!”

“Huh?” Adrien raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. Luka grinned and pointed at him, then Marinette, and then raised his fingers to his eyes in a blatant imitation of a mask.

“Oh,” Adrien said, ducking his head so they couldn’t see him blush. He had a feeling he’d be donning some sort of Chat Noir costume in the very near future, and honestly, he wasn’t against it. It would certainly be nice to Mari in her spots again….

“Oh, come on,” Marinette pouted. “You’re telling me neither of you have even entertained thoughts of a Jagged Stone/Clara Nightingale threesome?!”

Both boys thought about it and shook their heads.

“Clara’s too perky,” Adrien said, “don’t get me wrong, her flexibility is… amazing. But no, she’d probably try to sing to me while—yeah.” He shook his head again.

Luka snickered. “Note to self, don’t try to sing to Adrien while fucking him,” he said, pretending to write on his hand. Adrien made a face and chucked a piece of bread at him, pleased when his lover caught it in his mouth.

“As for me,” Luka said, swallowing, “Jagged Stone is no-go territory, babe.”

“You were happy enough to meet him,” Marinette said, scowling.

“True. True,” Luka nodded. “He’s been my idol for as long as I can remember. But…,” he winced a bit. “When I was little, my mom… hinted heavily that he was my dad.”

“WHAT?!” Marinette and Adrien both stood up, shocked. Luka held up his hands.

“She wouldn’t confirm anything. And she left that part of my damn birth certificate blank, so there’s no way to know unless I ask him for a paternity test—which I am NOT gonna do,” he added quickly, shaking a finger in Marinette’s direction. She puffed her cheeks at him angrily.

“But—”

“Babe, I am all grown up,” he said, grabbing her hand and rubbing it soothingly. “If I ask him now, the press will catch it, and they’ll make it look like the band is trying to land some sort of favoritism angle. I’m not doing that to them. Especially not now.”

“But, Luka—” Marinette tried again.

“Besides, the test could always come up negative,” he pointed out. “Just let me dream.”

She still looked upset.

“Ugh, now I’m not gonna be able to fantasize about him either,” she pouted, sinking back into her chair.

“Are we doing something wrong, to make you want to fantasize about other guys?!” Adrien exclaimed, also sitting.

“He’s too old for you anyway,” Luka added, winking. “Unless you’ve got a daddy kink you haven’t told me about.”

“Ewww, gross!”

“NOPE!” Adrien said, loudly enough to make them both pause. He held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, guys, but that’s a hard no from me. If you guys are gonna be doing any ‘daddy’ roleplays, I can’t be a part of it. Just—no.” He shuddered.

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, I can see why,” she said. Adrien’s hopes rose a little. If anyone could understand just how deep this ‘squick’ went, it would be her.

“Don’t worry, Adrien,” Luka said, nodding at him. “It’s a hard no from me too.”

“No daddy kinks all around,” Marinette agreed, raising her glass high. They sealed the agreement with a toast, clinking their glasses together.

“So, Adrien,” Luka said, looking thoughtful. Adrien’s pulse spiked. “If you wanna—”

“What’s that sound?” Marinette interrupted, looking around.

Adrien and Luka also fell silent, listening. Adrien felt himself flush when he realized his phone was buzzing. He dug it out of the pants Marinette had forced him and Luka to put on after they’d tried to jump her while she was cutting vegetables. (He was personally glad Ladybug’s Lucky Charms had all been innocuous objects. Mari with a weapon was scary!)

The caller ID had him groaning, though.

Erica.

How dare she call him after ghosting him last night and leaving with another man?

“Your girlfriend?” Luka guessed.

“Ex,” Adrien corrected, growling. “I don’t deal with cheaters and she knew it. We were over the moment she left the club without me.” He moved to put the phone back in his pocket.

“Answer it,” Marinette said, exchanging a wicked smirk with Luka. “Put it on speaker.” Adrien blinked at her, then obeyed, feeling a little thrill go through him when they both abandoned their seats to come stand behind him.

“Adrien?!” Erica’s shrill voice filled the air. “Oh my God, why haven’t you been answering your phone?!”

“Because I didn’t notice you called,” he said. It was a lie, he’d seen it when he’d checked his messages earlier, he just hadn’t cared enough to call her back. He gasped. Marinette had just run her fingers through his hair, with extra emphasis on the nails against his scalp.

Oh sweet Jesu! If it had been a hard no from him with those other kinks, THIS was an exultant YES!

“Sorry, sweetie!” Marinette called, to his delight. “We’ve kinda been keeping him busy!” She scratched him again, and Adrien couldn’t hold back his moan.

“Who the hell—”

“Very busy,” Luka added on his other side, deepening his voice a bit and giving Adrien’s earlobe a quick nip. Both those actions sent a jolt right down the pit of his stomach. “We’d like to thank you for letting go of someone with such stamina! We’ve had quite the day!”

On the other end, Erica had gone conspicuously silent. Adrien pulled the phone closer to himself.

“So, uh, yeah,” he said softly, “as I’m sure you already know, we’re through.”

“How dare you!” she shrieked. “After everything I’ve done for you!” Marinette snorted in derision and started massaging his shoulders.

“What?” Adrien laughed, leaning back in his chair to relax against her minstrations. Oh, this was priceless. “What exactly have you ‘done for me?’”

“I—I—”

“Besides leaving me on my own so you can fuck another dude?”

“That’s—We’re just cousins!”

“Oh, kissing cousins?” Adrien laughed again. It would’ve actually been funny if he hadn’t heard that same excuse a thousand times over from his other casual encounters. “You had your tongue pretty far down his throat before you left, babe. Try another one.” Luka chuckled in approval and swirled his tongue around Adrien’s ear.

“Like this?” He whispered. Adrien wanted to whimper.

“Fine,” Erica seethed on the other end. “Fine! Be that way! Do your new partners realize how codependent you are?! How much you cling to whoever you’re fucking?!”

Luka and Marinette’s attentions stopped and Adrien felt his breath leave him. Oh God. Oh no. Please don’t let them…. He looked up at Marinette and Luka. They both still looked amused.

“That’s okay,” Marinette called towards the phone. “I like to cuddle!” To emphasize this, she wrapped her arms around Adrien’s shoulders. Relief and warmth flooded him. If he hadn’t already been sitting, he would’ve fallen over.

“And there’s two of us, so we should be able to handle it,” Luka added, kissing the top of Adrien’s head. He wanted to cry. It felt so good. He was safe, and happy, and loved—

“Oh, you are just sick!” his ex spat. “Boys and girls? It’s—it’s unnatural!”

Adrien stared at his phone in disbelief. She’d known he was bisexual from the start! She’d never seemed to have a problem with it before!!

“Somebody sounds jealous,” Marinette drawled.

“You’re a freak!”

“And you’re,” Luka leaned over to tap on Adrien’s phone, “cancelled.” He hung up on her and grinned at Adrien. “And that, my friend, is how you take out the trash.”

“Thanks, you guys,” Adrien said, letting out a shaky breath. “Usually my break-ups require a few more shouting matches and bottles of wine.”

And more of me sobbing into my pillow, he added silently.

“Aww,” Marinette cooed, holding him tighter, “poor Adrikins.”

Adrien gave a weak laugh. “Please don’t ever call me that again.”

“Only for Chloé, huh?” she pouted, pulling away.

He shot her a wry grin. “It just sounds weird when you say it.” To his surprise, her face softened.

“All right then, kitty,” she said softly. Adrien felt his heart leap, especially when she let him go and stroked his hair again. Yes! Yes, that one will do quite nicely, thank you! “Let’s get supper cleaned up and then we can go cuddle, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered, leaning into her touch desperately.

“Why don’t you two go ahead,” Luka suggested. “I’ll clean up.” He started clearing the table.

“You sure?” Marinette asked, giving him a quick peck as he passed by.

“Yeah. You can,” he gave Adrien a suggestive smirk, “get him ready.” Adrien gulped, wondering just what they might have planned for him—

“No sex tonight,” Marinette suddenly declared.

“What?! Aww…” He and Luka made disappointed sounds.

“Nope,” she said firmly. “If we’re going to try for a real relationship here, we have to have more than just the physical. And since you two have already jumped the gun today—”

“I already apologized for that!” Luka protested.

“—then we need to have a session where everyone feels loved and accepted,” she finished, glaring at her blue-haired boyfriend. “So,” she turned on Adrien, “tonight we are going to cuddle your ‘codependent’ ass until you get some much-needed sleep.”

Adrien opened his mouth to retort, but then he closed it again. Who could argue with something like that?

[hookedontaronfics]

Honky Dancer series - Chapter 2

Chapter title: Contracts and options Read the previous installment here: Chapter 1 Rating: M Pairing: Taron x OC Warnings: Slight cursing A/N: I hope you love the drama in this chapter as much as I loved writing it! More mature themes will develop, so be warned! Enjoy! X

My alarm went off far too early because I had spent most of the night tossing and turning with both nerves and excitement over my audition. I felt I had done well and made an impression; I knew I had worked my butt off, not only during the audition itself but also just to get there in the first place. I was tired enough to stop at Notes Coffee Roasters and pick up an iced latte, figuring I could spare the calories, on my way to my 6 a.m. aerobics class. I truly loved teaching but if there was one class I would gladly give up it would be aerobics; who in their right mind wanted to get up before the sun did just to sweat for 45 minutes? I was never awake enough for the cheeriness of my suburban football-mom students.

I’m pretty sure I sipped half of my latte down in one pull and groaned against the subsequent brain freeze as I opened up the studio. It took everything in me to summon up the energy to get through aerobics without shouting my instructions in a bitchy manner, and I was positively exhausted by the time I made it through conditioning, beginning basics, intermediate amateur, and one of my personal favorites, toddler tap. I mean, there was very little actual tapping going on, but the students always made up for it in the cuteness factor.

I eagerly checked my phone when I went on break but I hadn’t received the call I’d been hoping for. Mads and I quickly walked to our favorite lunch hideout, a place called Hemsley + Hemsley inside the Selfridges. I ordered my go-to cold-pressed green juice and we decided to share the orange-blossom-infused yogurt and honey-filled chestnut crepe.

“Any news?” Madison asked me as we tucked into our food and juices.

“Not yet. It’s killing me,” I admitted.

“So tell me, how did it go? You’ve got to fill me in!” she grinned. I told her all about the process and how I’d made some friends and hoped we all got in together before she asked me point blank if I’d run into anyone famous while at Paramount. My face flushed but before I could tell her about Taron my phone rang.

“It’s them!” I hissed at Mads in excitement, before picking up the call. “Hello?” I said, probably sounding way too eager.

“Hello love,” an incredibly familiar voice said on the other end, and I fairly choked on my pressed juice.

“Hi, hey,” I said, trying to recover. “Um … What do I owe this pleasure?” I asked awkwardly, and Taron just chuckled on the other end.

“I wanted to personally deliver the news myself that you’ve been selected as one of our dancers. So congratulations, love. I hope you’re very pleased, as I am,” he said with a grin in his voice.

Holy shit, I mouthed to Mads as she squealed in her seat, unaware of who exactly I was talking to.

“I ...yes, of course I’m incredibly excited,” I laughed after I managed to recover my composure. “I just wouldn’t have expected Paramount to make you their errand boy,” I teased. Mads gave me a funny look, desperate to know what was happening.

This earned a hearty laugh from Taron on the other end. “I asked to deliver the news personally,” he grinned. “You are, after all, my favorite dancer.”

“That’s entirely too kind of you to say,” I said, taken aback.

“Well I did sit through 40 solos just for the privilege to watch you dance so I feel I have a right to make that assessment,” he said lightly.

“Oh my God, I don’t deserve for you to think that,” I replied.

“Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?” he said gently before clearing his throat. “So you can stop by the studios at your convenience today to fill out the contract and hopefully that will be amenable.”

“Good, of course,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll be there as soon as I’m done with work.”

“Perfect. See you then,” he said nonchalantly. I wasn’t sure whether he actually meant that or it was just a standard thing to have said, but we took our good-byes and I sat there in dumbfounded silence until Mads couldn’t take it anymore.

“What is all of this?” she asked, making a circular motion in the air around my face, which was probably as red as a robin’s breast.

“I was getting to that part,” I laughed, hiding my face behind my hands for a second. “I ran into the film’s lead, Taron, when I was at auditions yesterday. Well, he actually opened a door into me, and I fell and it was spectacularly embarrassing,” I admitted with a laugh. “But somehow that possessed him to watch us all dance… Out of pity? I don’t know,” I shrugged as the incredulous look just grew on Madison’s face the more I rambled. “So anyway, he just called me to tell me I was cast as a dancer so... I’m in!” I squealed at that.

“Taron didn’t watch your ass dance out of sympathy, are you crazy?” Madison giggled. “He’s probably fancying you,” she said with a smirk, and I shook my head.

“No no no, we’re not even going there. Me, dancer. Him, actor. That’s like different species and different species don’t mix,” I laughed, as Madison threw an orange slice at me.

“You are so daft!” she laughed. “How can you not see when a boy likes you? You with your gorgeous strawberry-blonde locks and blue eyes and freckles. It’s disgusting, really. I just look like the boring brown blah ugly duckling next to you,” she said a bit wistfully, chin in her hand.

“Oh come on, Mads, you’re gorgeous. And it’s not like I exactly know how to pick ’em, considering Zayn and all,” I sighed, referring to my ex.

“Yes well, the world isn’t full of Zayns. He’s extra special,” she said, stabbing a bit of crepe with extra gusto and poking it in her mouth.

“If by extra special you mean extra wanker, then yeah,” I said, shaking my head as we both just giggled.

“Well I’m sure Taron’s not like that at all,” she said. “It’s not like I haven’t watched every YouTube interview out there,” she said with a touch of sarcasm. “He seems incredibly sweet to people,” she pointed out. Leave it to my best friend to be obsessed with him; I had tried my hardest to convince her to audition with me but she said her skills outside of ballet were rusty at best and she would be just be embarrassing herself. I appreciated her teasing me about it though; I couldn’t deny Taron was handsome, though I didn’t exactly download every picture to my phone.

“He’s very nice, I can already tell that. And maybe he even thinks I’m pretty, sure. But we’re only co-cast members, you know, and I’ll just be in the background. He’s really the star. Besides, he doesn’t even know me. Not like we had a chat or anything. He had to call me by my bib number first, after all,” I laughed.

“Just never say never, Juliette. Life can surprise you,” Madison grinned at me. But I had already had plenty of surprises in my life, and I was ready to be done with that. We finished our lunch and made it back for afternoon classes; thankfully I only had two more to get through before I could head over to Paramount. I was absolutely knackered by the time I packed up my dance bag and pulled sweats on over my leotard and tights. I waved to Madison as I passed her classroom and she gave me a thumbs up before I headed to the tube station, responding to a few texts from my ex and feeling once again annoyed at his lack of responsibility. You see, I had to stay in contact with him because we both had one shared thing in common: A certain precocious 7-year-old daughter named Clara.

<You promised me you’d be able to watch her while I’m in rehearsals. I really need you to step up. This isn’t negotiable and mummy can’t watch her all the time either.> I texted back, sighing slightly to myself.

I knew relying on Zayn had been a bad idea to begin with, as he’d never proven himself mature enough to handle being a father in any regular capacity. He’d do well for a couple months and then fall off the map again, drinking and losing his job and couch-surfing with friends. But for Clara to not know her father had made me feel like a terrible person, so every time he came around promising that he’d cleaned up I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I hardly knew what it was to not be disappointed in a man any more.

<I know, and I will. It’s just for tonight, Letty, we have these tickets…>

<Yeah and those excuses don’t cut it, Zayn. It’s always excuses. Your daughter is more important than some show. She needs a father so I can stop explaining at school why this completely bright student has behavioral issues. But you would know that if you were involved.> I rubbed my temple, annoyed and too exhausted to have this fight all over again.

<You’re absolutely right, actually. I’ll cancel the plans and try to sell the tickets. Sorry to bother you.> He texted back, and I groaned slightly. Of course now I felt like the asshole, and it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy time with my daughter.

<I appreciate the offer, I do. But you should go. Just drop Clara off with my mum and I’ll get her on my way home. But I need you to pick her up first thing in the morning for school and don’t be late this time.>

<You’re an absolute saint, Letty> He sent back, making me cringe at the pet name he had given me that now left a bad taste in my mouth. I sighed and texted my mum a head’s up about the change in plans, grateful for everything she had done for me and Clara over the years. I don’t know what I would have done without her help, to be sure. Being a single mum had proven incredibly challenging and I wasn’t sure how I would have been able to afford child care and rent on my meager paychecks. I probably would have had to give up dance but my mum knew how important that dream had always been for me. I had more stability now then when I was performing, but that didn’t mean the challenge to give Clara a stable life didn’t remain.

I was lost in thought by the time I arrived at Paramount, but I tried to put all of that aside so I could focus on the task at hand. I’d also received a steady stream of excited texts from Leah, Pietre, Dennis and Markus; all five of us had made it onto the cast and it felt like a bit of a celebration. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going but helpful signs had been posted about on the walls, so I followed the giant black arrows through the maze of halls until I arrived at a lobby, where a couple other dancers were sat waiting.

“Juliette!” someone called my name. I spied Markus against the wall, waving at me and I happily jogged over to sit next to him as he moved his bag out of the way. “I saved you a seat,” he said, flashing me a grin of exceptionally perfect, white teeth. While we chatted about our mutual love of ballet and our tragic falls from grace [Markus, too, had experienced a career-ending injury] as principals, I noticed up-close that his eyes were a lovely shade of pale grey. I’d never quite seen eyes like that before, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit mesmerized by both his gaze and his instant charm. It was nice to feel like someone was on my level and could understand what I’d fought through to get here. Other dancers came and went, and when Markus was finally called back to the office I texted Madison furiously about him, unashamedly giggly about it.

<Does someone have a bit of a crush or what?> Madison teased me lightly.

<You don’t get it, he’s rather dishy and so charming and suave. And he gets me.> I wrote back.

<Yeah and what about Taron?> Mads asked.

<What about him? He’s nice to me, nothing more.>

<Yeah sure. But don’t give me any more of that “He’s an actor and would NEVER notice a dancer like me” bullshit because I’m not buying it.>

<Besides, if Taron’s here I haven’t seen him. And what am I supposed to do anyway, hang them up next to each other side-by-side and compare their traits?>

<Just don’t be blind to what could be good for you, that’s all.>

<AND Clara. Don’t forget, this is a packaged deal.> I wrote back, smiling as my mum sent me a sweet Snapchat of my daughter playing piano. She finished the song and, beaming into the camera, smiled, waved and announced that she was going to be as good as Elton some day, which made me laugh softly. I’m glad my mum and I had passed down our impeccable taste in music already to my daughter; it was so much better than the trash punk her father listened to.

I happened to look up just then and saw Taron leaning into the lobby from the doorway, clearly searching for someone, and his face brightened as soon as he spotted me. He strode in and despite the obvious gasps of recognition from the other dancers there, he beelined straight for me. I was both flattered and embarrassed about that fact, all too aware of the jealous expressions tossed my way.

“You made it!” Taron grinned at me, as if he’d been worried I would have decided against this whole thing.

“Of course,” I laughed, adjusting in my seat at the same time he surprised me with a hug so I nearly knocked my head into his teeth. “Shit, sorry,” I apologized but he must have found my awkwardness amusing because he laughed and shrugged it off.

“Continuing that klutzy streak I see?” he teased, raising a characteristic eyebrow at me.

“Always,” I said with a laugh. “Truly don’t know how I stay employed at the dance studio, to be honest,” I continued the rolling joke.

“Oh, do you teach?” he asked, earnestly curious in me.

“Yeah, mostly young kids,” I smiled at that. “I really do love it, getting to inspire the next generation of dancers.”

“I can see that,” he studied me for a moment, and I had to look away from the intensity of his green eyes. “You always seem so passionate about it, I can’t imagine that not translating to every area of your life.”

I was about to respond but just then Markus returned and somehow seemed to have a double-take when he noticed Taron sitting in his vacated seat next to me. He came over to me and, right in front of Taron, told me he looked forward to dancing alongside me and then point-blank asked me if I wanted to get drinks with him some time. I felt absolutely flustered at his offer and managed to stammer out a ‘yes, sure, love to’ before Markus leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

“Cheerio,” he smiled to me, flicking the tip of my nose lightly before sweeping out of the room.

“Well that was a production, wasn’t it,” Taron remarked, the buzz of something low in his voice.

“Mmm, dancers are dramatic,” I tried to laugh, but Taron was no longer smiling.

“Tell me about it, love, I’m an actor. I get being dramatic but that was something else,” he replied, giving me a slight chill down my back, but I had absolutely no time to react because my name was called then.

“I should … get in there,” I said softly, as Taron rearranged his expression and put a smile on his face. If I hadn’t been so focused on him I might have lost the nuance of that.

“Of course you should,” he replied with a nod. I got up and walked into the office, Taron’s steely gaze following after me. I did my best to focus on the contract terms and everything that would be required of me as I signed form after nondisclosure form, but something had just happened back there that I was having trouble deciphering. I figured I should probably run it by Mads because she seemed to have a knack for understanding people. I was still distracted by the time I finished the paperwork and was handed a stack of information and rehearsal schedules, and so when I exited the lobby and turned the corner I ran straight into Taron, managing to drop my stack of papers all over the hallway floor.

“Jesus Churchill Jones, what are you doing here?” I asked in surprise, as Taron crouched down and picked up my papers for me.

“I thought I’d walk you out, if that was alright?” he asked. “I know you were weirded out earlier and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine, if a little miffed,” I shrugged as we started walking back through the labyrinth of halls toward the exit, Taron still carrying my papers. I realized that I was just inherently trusting Taron to lead the way, figuring he already knew the place like the back of his hand.

“It just seemed a bit possessive to me, the way that dancer acted toward you,” Taron tried to explain.

“Possessive? How?” I laughed lightly at that. “Markus and I got on quite well before you showed up.”

“But that’s exactly it. He shouldn’t have felt threatened by me at all. I’ve just seen it before,” he said, his eyes trained on the floor. But then he reached out for my hand and stopped me, turning me to face him. “I’m saying this completely as a friend, just be careful with him.” There was something so deeply vulnerable in the way that Taron was looking at me that I felt I had to take what he said seriously. I couldn’t detect any ulterior motives there, so I filed the warning away in my mind and half-wondered if Taron could sense my weakness for men who seemed so polished on the outside but could secretly be snakes.

“I’ll be careful,” I said, as much to make Taron feel better as to remind myself. We continued walking, as I asked how things were going with him. He filled me in on everything he had to accomplish as filming neared, learning the piano, working new arrangements of the music, and all of the pre-production work that had to happen. It really kind of amazed me how dedicated he was to the project, and even more so how highly he spoke of Elton himself.

“Well, I should stop boring you,” Taron chuckled as we arrived at the exit doors, but I shook my head.

“You’re absolutely not a bore. I’m sure I could listen to you talk about it for hours on end,” I smiled genuinely at that.

“If we both weren’t so busy, maybe I’d ask a certain dancer to have dinner with me some time so then I could truly bore her for hours,” he said with a wink, his demeanor completely changed from earlier. He was at once adorably flirtatious with me, and I couldn’t help but swoon slightly.

“Maybe she might just say she’d love to,” I grinned back. He fished a pen out of his pocket and scrawled his phone number across the top of the stack of papers before handing them to me.

“We’ll plan it… eventually,” he grinned before giving me the “call me” gesture and making me laugh.

I took my leave, Taron holding the door for me as the perfect gentleman he was and waving to me long after I’d hurried down the street. I felt my heart warring inside of me a bit, and I had no idea what I was supposed to think. With these thoughts burning into my soul, I took the train across London to pick up my sweet daughter. At least I still had that to look forward to, I thought as I made sure to transfer Taron’s number into my phone before I forgot or misplaced it.

<Hey, it’s me, your favorite dancer!> I sent a quick text, just so he had my number as well and definitely not expecting the immediate reply I got back.

<And saved. If you send me a pic I’ll add it to your profile.> My stomach suddenly lit on fire with nerves at that, for no bloody reason at all. I had all of my contacts with photos, so it only made sense that Taron might as well. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the request but the idea of sending him my face made me feel some kind of way. I swiped through my pictures, most of them stupid selfies, but I finally decided on the professional headshot I’d had taken for the audition. I felt it showed the best of me, and I looked half-decent enough, dare I say pretty. The photographer had at least had the sense to focus on one of my best features; my blue eyes stood out like sapphires.

Taron immediately sent me back one of his own, a decidedly more personal shot but he looked gorgeous none-the-less. I attached the photo to his profile and then stashed my phone for a moment, needing to focus on my daughter as I hopped off the train at my stop and dashed for my mum’s house. I let myself in and found them in the kitchen, my daughter drawing a picture that she immediately abandoned as soon as she saw me.

“Mummy’s here!” she squealed, running into my waiting arms and hugging me tightly. “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, my darling,” I said, running my fingers through her tangled bright red curls; where she got that color was beyond me, but I loved it. “How was school?” I asked.

“A bit of a bore, really. Teacher says I’m too smart for my class,” she added importantly.

“Hmm, well, hopefully you didn’t sass her too much,” I sighed, giving my mum a knowing glance.

“I didn’t!” she said, putting her little hands on her hips.

“I’ll have to have a talk with your school when I can fit it in about moving you a grade, but otherwise I guess you’ll just have to pretend to not be bored, Clara-bean,” I said with a laugh. “Don’t want all the other students to think you’re a know-it-all.”

“They already think that, mum,” she said dramatically, to which my mum shook her head.

“Perhaps you ought to put her in the performing arts academy instead,” she pointed out as I bit my thumb in thought.

“You’ve got a fair point, mum,” I smiled. “Thanks for watching her, again. I’d say I owe you but at this point the debt is quite unpayable.”

“Oh hush now, Juliette. I will never turn down time with my grand,” she said, giving Clara a hug and helping her clean up her mess on the kitchen table while I took a chance to use the toilet.

<Mads… I’ve got to phone you as soon as I get Clara down to sleep tonight!> I fired off a quick text.

<Oohh did something happen?> she asked immediately.

<You could say that. Things have got a fair bit confusing.> She sent back a couple emojis and question marks and I sighed. <It’s too long to type out. Just have your phone on you.>

<Forget phoning me, I’ll bring the wine. 8:30 okay?>

<God I love you. See you then.> I finished my business in the toilet and made sure my daughter had all of her things before we took the tube back to our home. I made dinner, we took Troy out for his evening walk, and soon I was getting my daughter bathed and brushed and ready for bed. I read her a small story and tucked her in, kissing her forehead sweetly as she hugged her plushie unicorn to her. I couldn’t help wishing that I wasn’t the only one bidding her sweet dreams and turning off the light; what I wouldn’t give to have a man in the picture who wanted to be there for us both. But that felt as much a fantasy as the unicorns I’d just finished reading about.

I checked my phone and had a couple missed texts from Markus, just sweet messages making sure I’d made it in for the night. I texted back in affirmation and wondered if Taron had totally missed the mark; I hadn’t gotten any weird vibe from Markus until I ended up between them both.

I had just gotten the dishes cleaned up and put away when Mads rang. I popped open the door and let her in; she was carrying three bottles of wine, which made me laugh. There was no way we were going to drink that much; we both had early classes to teach in the morning. Still, I retrieved a bottle opener and glasses and we popped each of them open, having a sip and agreeing that the moscato was the best option.

“So tell me!” she said, sitting cross-legged on the couch and sipping her wine as I did my best to retell the whole scenario, her eyes growing wide and then wider after I told her I now had Taron’s number too.

“They had a mental cockfight over you,” Madison giggled over her glass of wine.

“What? You’re insane, no. No… right?” I said. “No…that’s crazy,” I added for good measure. 

“To be fair, it sounds like this Markus started it,” she smirked. “But Taron totally dished.”

“Ugh, English please,” I sighed.

“They both like you and tried to outdo each other,” she rolled her eyes. “I can practically see the puffed-up chests now.”

“Stop,” I laughed, throwing a cork at her and making her squeal. “That is not how it went down. Taron was trying to warn me, as a friend.”

“As a future person who wants to get in your pants,” she smirked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

“Mads, you’re making me mental!” I said, tossing the rest of my wine back and nearly choking as the liquor hit my throat. “It wasn’t like that with him. You didn’t see the way he was trying to look out for me.”

“In all seriousness, babes, I think you should really consider your options here.”

“My options. You say that like I have them, like I could just choose,” I said with a huff.

“Well they both asked you out, didn’t they?” she grinned, not remotely fazed by my tone. “See who impresses you more. That’s what I would do.”

“Date two guys at once?” I laughed, shaking my head. “Isn’t that a bit scandalous? I don’t wish to shame my mum.”

“It’s only dating if you call it that,” she smirked lightly.

“Oh Mads, you’re devious, aren’t you,” I said, shaking my head.

“Just live a little, Juliette. You’ve been banging on about how awful Zayn is for 6 years now. You might as well try and move on.” I couldn’t deny that she had a point there. Maybe the distraction would be a good thing.

“And what about Clara?” I asked softly. “I have to consider her.”

“She will be fine. Kids are resilient and adaptable, far more than we are. And as far as Markus or Taron are concerned, cross that bridge when it comes, you know? Just start from the beginning. Go to drinks, go to dinner. Have some fun. The good Queen herself knows you need it.”

We talked and drank some more, far more than we should have, and Madison ended up crashing on my couch because she was too wine-sick to get herself home. But I truly didn’t mind; it wasn’t our first and wouldn’t be our last late-night chat, and Clara considered her an auntie. I gently pulled a blanket around her snoozing form and made sure she was comfortable before shutting the lights off, a small headache beginning to throb. I got myself ready and changed into jammies before crawling in under the covers, bumping my phone slightly and causing the screen to illuminate. I had a text from Taron waiting, his face smiling out at me. I quickly opened it, my heart beating a tiny bit faster as I tried to focus my drunken, exhausted eyes enough to read the text.

<Get ready to dance, love. It’s going to be a wild ride. Sweet dreams.>

“Holy. Shit,” I breathed out loud, closing my eyes and totally unable to process what he meant. But oh, was I thrilled. A part of me felt more alive and excited than I had in probably ten years, when boys still meant adventure and romance and sex and love and sunsets on the beach and drinking too much and making out in the backseat and all of those magical things I felt I had given up on. To feel that breathless anticipation again made my world shift on its axis. The problem, of course, was that I wasn’t exactly sure who had caused that shift.

Find out who Juliette might choose in Chapter 3 Here!

[bluepenguinstories]

Remoras Full Chapter V: Walking on Sunshine

Any minute now, those two would walk back in and bring for me what I asked for. As I waited, I kicked my shoes up above the desk and whistled a nice little tune. My eyes closed, I braced myself for a nap. Yes, it shouldn’t be long...any minute now…aaaand there it was!

Knocked awake by the sound of a door being busted open. Eyelids also opened up in a burst, as I found myself startled out of my sleep. Two women entered, both carrying bags in each hand. Good. Soon delicious food could be made.

“Welcome!” I greeted the two, the sunniest smile shone on my face. As they drew closer, I lowered my legs back onto the floor and leaned myself forward. My hand rested against my chin as I scanned them, inquisitive.

“My shoulders are about to fall right off,” Demetria groaned. “Where can I set this shit down?”

“The kitchen’s fine,” I replied, casual. “I’ll take care of it in a bit.”

“This feels so wrong. Doing your dirty work,” she retorted. Ah, that was true, wasn’t it? In any case, while she did complain, she still hurried along. Now there was just the matter of the fish that walked in behind her, the one that latched on to a shark.

She dropped her portion of the groceries on my desk. How thoughtful of her.

“Good job, Remora,” I inspected the bag, then began to write off a check for her. “This should cover the expenses of each item,” I passed the check to her.

She took it, stared me down the whole while, her gaze would have pierced through anyone, and because of that, I was grateful I wore glasses. Without averting her gaze, she tore the check in half, bared some fangs, and I thought I could hear a faint growl, but maybe it was just the senility of being a middle-aged man. In any case, my sensors detected something interesting was about to take place.

“Ah, I see. Because you have no need of the money, you figured you would tear up the check. My bad,” I chuckled.

Demetria ran in; from my peripheral I could see her distraught.

“I COULD’VE USED THAT MONEY!” She shouted. She didn’t even know how much money was written on the check, she just wanted something.

I thought that if I had her go to another room with the groceries, I could distract her long enough. Ah, that was my bad as well. I should’ve taken a more direct approach with my wording.

“Consider this a symbolic gesture,” she spoke at last, her words as icy as ever. “I’m through dealing with you.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Stop playing coy. This was never about grocery shopping.”

“What?!” Demetria balked. “So I carried all that stuff for nothing?! If I find out I have a broken back, It’ll be your fault!” I did enjoy her presence, but I wished I could ignore her for the time being.

“Then what was it about?” I kept my focus on Remora. She answered with a question of her own.

“Guess who I met while I was down there?”

“Who?”

“Someone from a past life, apparently.”

Ah. So she figured it out. Just as I hoped she would. My smile widened. Although I did not know of any ‘someones from a past life’, hearing that sure did pique my curiosity.

“What ever could you mean?”

“They thought I was that person. The same one you told me about when we first met. Clara Waters. I should have done my research before agreeing to go down there. Turns out the city you sent me to was the same one she died in.”

“Oh?” Looks like the cat was out of the bag. “Did you find anything else out?”

“Stop with the games, you sick old man. Because of you, they think I’m this dead person come back to life or something. I can’t be that person for them.”

Hmm...which of us are playing games, now?

“Well, now that the cat’s out of the bag, tell me, which do you prefer: working for the side of evil, or the side of good?”

“What I prefer,” she slammed her fist on the table, but didn’t raise her voice. “Is not being used by others. If you want something from me, tell me and don’t send me on a scavenger hunt.”

“I tried that and you shot my hand, remember?”

She huffed. It sounded more like those breaths you make on chilly days. Either way, she knew I had gotten her on that one.

“Who are we talking about?” Demetria interjected. Ah, well, let her.

“Yes, Remora, who?” I let my sly smile show.

“Look, I escaped that life! All I wanted was to keep to myself, you should have respected that. Instead you decided to dredge up something that doesn’t even have to do with me and now I’m being mistaken for…” She stopped herself.

For...for...almost there…

“For?”

“Just a fucking corpse,” she muttered as she walked away into one of the spare bedrooms. By the looks of things, she wanted to save face. Whatever face she had to lose, anyway.

“Uh, what was that about?” Demetria went up to me and asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I shook my head.

Remora was angry with me, that much was clear. Even though she had not yelled, her anger could be felt through her tone and her face alone. I really miscalculated what would happen if I played my little experiment, didn’t I?

Demetria, meanwhile, being the devoted follower, ran into the room Remora was in. Luckily for me, Remora had left that room wide open. I pushed back the chair I was in and got up, then walked over to listen to their conversation.

“Hey, is this about that Rhea person my cousin and her wife mentioned?”

“Yes,” from the brisk tone, it was clear that the reply came from Remora.

“So you did know her?”

“Of course. We worked for the same company, though I never saw her. I was just aware of her existence, as well as her reputation. Trust me, she wasn’t someone worth mentioning, nor the type of person you would want to be friends with.”

“Hey, I don’t like my cousin and her wife, either, but they seemed to like her just fine.”

“I never said I didn’t like those two. You don’t know what those two have been through, and it’s not my place to judge.”

“Oh. Er...I guess that’s fair.”

“Though, if they truly did consider themselves friends with her, chalk it up to Stockholm Syndrome.”

“That’s not what that means, y’know?”

“Yes, but for lack of a better term, that’s what I’m calling it. Did you know that she tried to kill them?”

“Oh shit. Really? That’s wack.”

“She wasn’t a good person. She was a cold and merciless killer. All she cared about was eliminating her target.”

“What about you, though?”

“Yes, so was I, but I was the only one who could match her. Anyone else, she could easily have taken out. Even still, had she been given the task to kill me, I’m sure she’d have no problem doing so.”

“If she tries to kill you, I’ll protect you!”

Ah, that sweet summer child (actually, I didn’t know when Demetria’s birthday was. Could have been in the spring or fall. Either way, she didn’t strike me as a winter person).

“I don’t need protecting. She’s dead. If she wasn’t, I wouldn’t even be able to be here.”

Dead giveaway, Remora.

“Oh. Right. Thank goodness, right?”

I peeked in. Remora glared. But not at me, she hadn’t noticed me. Rather, at Demetria.

“Her skills were so unparalleled that the only way she could have died was if she were to have willed it. The fact that she’s gone means that she wanted it so. For that reason alone, I do not mourn her.”

“How unsympathetic of you, Remora,” I butted in.

“You,” she looked up.

I chuckled. “Just as Demetria said, there must be some reason why people would have liked her.”

Remora growled.

“If you know anything about her, you’d know she’s not the type of person you’d want to meet. Especially if you were her target.”

“Yeah, she sounds scary,” Demetria agreed. “Scary hot, too,” she then whispered.

Remora began packing up. “I’ve got my own home to return to. I can’t stand being here any longer.”

“You shouldn’t worry about her so much!” Demetria seemed to try to comfort. “I think you’re pretty great, and I’ll do anything to cheer you up! Let me know what you need me to do! You can even step on me, if you’d like! I’ll even thank you for it!”

“You’re being overbearing,” Remora replied.

“Me?! Overbearing?!” Demetria balked. “I resent that remark! My mom is overbearing! I think I’m being the right amount of bearing!”

Remora took her bag and shoved past both Demetria and I. Just as Remora was about to go through that door, Tigershark entered, who had been in the bathroom up until then. She ran up and hugged Remora.

“I’m leaving now,” Remora announced.

“Can I come too?” Tigershark asked.

“Sure.”

The two walked off.

“What about me? Take me with you!” Demetria called after them. Tigershark turned around and stuck her tongue out. Then, as the two disappeared, Demetria turned back to me.

“Have I mentioned that I don’t like kids?” She pointed behind her with her thumb.

“Demetria, go work on the dining area,” I suggested.

“Why? There’s never any customers. I know! I’ll make her a cake! That’ll cheer her up!” Then she paused. “I don’t know how to make a cake. Teach me!”

“I think you should give her some space.”

“I don’t have to do that!” She declared while pointing at me. “I’m not on her naughty list! You are!” Then she looked away and muttered. “Though I wish I was on her naughty list…”

What I wouldn’t give to be young again and have the same amount of energy as her. It brought a smile to my face, to think of the prime years. However, I realized that I had caused quite the kerfuffle and it weighed on me. I looked down and smiled.

“It would please me if you mopped up the dining area. You never know when a customer will arrive.”

She groaned, along with a heavy, exaggerated sigh for good measure. “Fine. But no one’s shown up since I’ve been here.”

It pained me to admit, but she was right. However, I didn’t know the exact cause of the lack of patrons as of late and I wanted to believe that it was just an anomaly and that the pace would pick back up in due time. The most unfortunate bit about the whole mystery was so far, no rumors have surfaced of any possible explanations. Then again, could a lack of customers even be called a mystery? Such a thing should be expected for any business.

While the lovestruck scholar did her servant work, I stepped into the kitchen. There were dishes aplenty to do from all the meals I’ve made for Tigershark. Dishes I should have done, as I would in the past do right away, with the greatest of ease, but, being in my shape and age, I was slowing down just a little. Had to relearn a few skills here and there.

Through the window to the dining room, I spied Demetria swinging around a mop as if it were a sword. She then slipped on some water and fell onto the floor. After looking around, she got up and continued to mop. All of that begged the question, did she know that I could see what she was doing?

Before I could dwell on such a question, the front door opened and the bell above rang. I focused my attention to the left to see who it was, and found myself glad to see such a familiar face. However, the test was to see how well my little worker bee could perform as waitstaff for a customer.

Right on cue, she welcomed him in. He sat at a booth and she pulled out a notepad and pen.

Was she prepared for something like this? Has she been studying? Well, I’ll be.

“Welcome in, what will you have today?”

So far so good…

“Coffee,” he replied, his voice gruff.

“Right,” she scribbled it down. “Coffee...sugar? Cream? Cream and sugar?”

“Black.”

“Eep! Right!”

She ran over to me. Ah, so she knew where I was after all.

“Um, Mr. Sunshine, there’s a customer and he wants coffee. I don’t know what to do.”

I smiled. “Demetria, take a breath. You’re doing just fine.”

She made a few hand motions and took a few breaths. Not slow, though. Rather fast, like she just wanted to get it over with. With my good hand, I wagged my finger, as if to say “just a sec,” then walked over to the coffee machine.

After pouring a cup of coffee, I handed it to her.

“Bring it to the kind man, then ask him what he would like to eat.”

“What about a menu?”

I waved my hand. “There is no menu. Now do your best.”

She balked, but didn’t utter a word.

“Here’s your coffee, have you decided what you’d to order?”

He took a sip, then set it down. “Mm. I can taste the grounds. Just how I like it.”

Yes, he always did have impeccable taste.

“Um...compliments to the chef?” She tried to muster some nervous laughter.

“Who are you, anyway?” His eyes darted from side to side. His type could never be too careful, and could I blame him?

“My apologies! I’m Demetria, I’m new here!”

“Where’s Ray?”

“He’s in the kitchen.”

Iff that man were an enemy of mine, I wouldn’t have liked that answer. At least I had built good enough relations with most of the regulars.

“So, what’ll you be having?” She persevered. Bless her heart.

“I’ll keep it simple for you’s. All I want is a stack of sloppy Joe pancakes. Capisce?”

“Sloppy…” She began scrawling it down. “Oh, by the way, nice getup. Going for a mafia cosplay or something?”

What was she doing? Trying to ease the tension? Oh my…

“What’s it to ya?”

“Just curious. What are ya, some kinda time traveler? Like, hello, the 1930s called and they want their mobsters back.”

Yes, Tony over there was wearing his usual pinstripe suit and bowler cap. In his mouth was a cigar, the ashes falling into his cup of coffee.

“What do you know about time travel, kid?”

“Eep!” She jolted. His voice sounded grim, as if he were about to pull a gun on her.

To think she was doing so well...oh well, for her first time, I would give it an A for effort. However, we would have to work on her conflict resolution skills.

“Oh Demetria,” I called to her. “A word?”

She scurried over.

“Tony here is a regular in this establishment and someone I’d like you to treat with upmost respect,” I informed her.

“Yeah, and how am I not doing that? By the way, the guy wants sloppy Joe pancakes. I held my tongue on that one, but really?”

Not what I was referring to, but a good point as well.

“Good for you. However, if you say certain...things...it may give people ideas. Things like time travel and the like.”

“What? You can’t be serious, right? That’s not even a real thing! I was just joking around.”

“Even still, to certain people, it’s very real. Such things as time travel and alternate dimensions may not mean much to people like you and I, but to someone like him, it could be a serious matter.”

“I don’t get it, but okay. Just Sci-Fi nonsense to me.”

“Hey, Ray! What you doin’ bein’ all shy?” Tony called out to me. Drat. I’ve been caught.

I stepped out of the kitchen and greeted him.

“Tony, how’s it been?” I drifted over to his booth. “How’s your husband?”

“Who, Al? He’s fine. Always complainin’ about my taste, tho. I keep tellin’ him, all’s I need’s is your Sloppy Joe pancakes. Simple, but effective. Just like the family business.”

I laughed. “You flatter me, Tony.”

He pointed his beefy thumb at Demetria. “Who’s the gal?”

“I figured it was time to hire some staff, y’know? Can’t just be doing all the work. I found this poor orphan girl off the streets. No education, nothing. So I decided to take her under my wing.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know –”

“How kind of you, Ray. Always lookin’ out for them little folks. Say, what’s Sunny up to?”

“Off tomb raiding. She said she caught wind of a dragon statue. She wants to recover it before any sort of museum gets to it first. Philanthropy, and all.”

I took out my phone and showed her a picture she had sent me just a couple days ago.

“Look at her, Tony! Isn’t she beautiful?”

“She really is a dame.”

I beamed. “Look, I can show you more, too! She really is the light of my life!”

“That’s what matters, innit? Say, ever look into that rumor? Was it Rhea?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, Tony. Turned out it was just a regular indigenous hunter. We chatted a bit, then we parted ways.”

“Damn. Got my hopes up thinkin’ she was alive. I’ll never forgive her for what she did to my men. If she weren’t dead, I’d kill her, myself.”

Yikes. Just how many messes have you made for yourself over the years?

“My regards. Unfortunately, I can’t bring her back any more than you can.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“Well, I’ll go get started on your pancakes. Nice catchin’ up with you, Tony.”

“Call me Antonio. Al calls me Tony.”

I gave a hearty laugh.

“Very well, Antonio.”

Before I could make my way back to the kitchen, he called to me once more.

“Can I expect to see you at my daughter’s wedding?”

“You come to me with this on a day that I’m cooking? Tell you what, I’ll think about it.”

“Forget about it. Just make sure you make a mean Sloppy Joe.”

I gave one of those “chef’s kiss” gestures, and danced right along into the kitchen. Unbeknownst to me, Demetria had followed me in.

“What was that about just now? All of a sudden it’s like everyone knows who this ‘Rhea’ person is but me!”

I smiled, preparing the pancake batter. One handed, of course.

“Oh, nothing.” I looked around the room. From what I could tell, nothing had been planted that could listen in on us from here.

“Bullshit! How do you know her?”

“Hehe, you could say she was just ‘the one who got away’.”

“So what, a crush or something?”

Ha. Now there was a concept.

“Tell me, dear, would you find yourself having a crush on someone like that, were you to meet her?”

“No way! I’ve only got eyes for Remora!”

“Mm...while I do love Tony like a brother, he’s got a personal grudge he wishes he could settle, and while his anger is justified, I’d rather not have our dear friend Remora be attacked under false pretenses. Understand?”

“Yeah, sure,” she looked worried. I could also tell by the look on her face that she was thinking something like “just what the hell did I get myself into?” Ah, but that’s the service industry for you.

Once I finished making the Sloppy Joe pancakes, I brought the plate over to Tony and set it down. “Here you go. Would you like more coffee, by the way?”

“I shouldn’t. Doctor says my blood pressure’s already at risk.”

“Good call. I’d hate for the next time to see you to be at your funeral.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he nudged me, which reminded me of the issue in the back of my mind.

“Say, Ton...er...Antonio, any idea where everyone’s been? I’ve had nary a customer as of late.”

He shrugged, tapped his cigar into the coffee mug, then answered:

“No idea. I’ve just been hanging out at home with Al. We’ve got our own business to maintain. Family’s a busy profession.”

Don’t I know that.

“No clue at all? No rumors or gossip or anything?”

Again with the nudge.

“I know that’s your thing, brother, but when I say I have no idea, I mean I have no idea. Believe me, I miss when this place was full of life just as much as you do.”

Full of life. Back when killers, thieves, and arctic researchers could share the same space as your everyman. Ah, those were the days. It didn’t seem all that long ago, but that was just the thing: year and a half could go by fast.

So many things coincided; The death of ‘Clara Waters’, the lack of customers, the blizzards which have taken lives, the appearance of strange and previous unheard of creatures. But whether they all had to do with each other or they were all a coincidence were yet to be determined. Until more pieces fell into place, they were merely coinciding events, and nothing more, as coinciding events didn’t mean that they were all connected.

Tony finished his plate, then got up and went about his way.

“Bring Al with you next time!” I called to him. “I’m tired of hanging around an empty restaurant!”

He waved goodbye without so much as a word. I didn’t take it personally, it was just a trait of his inherited by the family business he maintained. I picked up the plate and took it to the kitchen for a good wash. Afterward, I sat in the diner at one of the booths next to the window and stared out. Darkened purple skies, a white and barren landscape losing its tint little by little as dusk approached.

As I sipped a fresh cup of flowery pekoe tea, I wondered when I would encounter another customer; none showed up for the rest of the night. Once I realized that, I locked the doors and shuttered the blinds, then made my way to the back, where the desk filled with stacks of papers next to my desktop computer, all of which served to compile the requests and rumors Sunny and I have received. Flurries were sent in daily, and it was my job at the end of the day to sort through and figure out which ones I wished to tackle.

Just like any old mail, most were junk. But it was still important to sift through it all, as a gem could be found in the filth. Some folks offered a great deal of money for what might have seemed like the simplest of things. There were folks who sent the things they found most prescient in a letter, as they believed the information too sensitive to be sent over E-mail. Couldn’t say that I blamed them for that, either.

Lost in the shuffle of the requests, I failed to notice the swivel chair in front of my desk moving on its own. No, that wasn’t right. I leaned up to find Demetria crouched over, knees up, and spinning herself around with the edge of my desk as support.

“Are you having fun?” I asked.

“No,” she replied, her voice low and dull. Reminded me of Remora already.

So this is what she’s like when not in her presence. Fascinating.

“You might make yourself sick if you keep doing that,” I cautioned.

“I don’t care. I have nothing to fixate on.”

“Well, what kind of things are you interested in?”

“Fish and Remora.”

How convenient.

“Oh. That makes sense, seeing as a remora is a fish. How did you meet our cold friend, anyway?”

“At an aquarium. She was looking at remoras.”

“How fitting.”

That was so simple. It made too much sense.

I had to hold back laughter. Those two were so ridiculous (no matter how much either of them might try to deny) that it bordered on adorable.

“How come that guy earlier never paid for his meal?” She asked.

Ah, a splendid question. One that I didn’t have to answer, but would anyway.

“There are ways to provide payment outside of monetary compensation.”

“I see...prostitution?”

I spat out. “What? Why did you jump to something like that?”

She shrugged.

“I run a respectable establishment.”

“Sure you do. That’s why you serve mafia cosplayers.”

“There’s an old adage,” ah, there we go. An opportunity to teach the younger generation. “Something like ‘the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach’, or at least, that’s how I think it went. I don’t know, my grandma used to tell it to me. Anyway, the best way to get on someone’s good side is to serve them a nice meal. If you can get on someone’s good side, you might find them useful to you in the future.”

“That’s what I’m saying! Teach me to make a cake so I can get in Remora’s good graces!”

I gave a wild hoot to that one.

“Didn’t I tell you that you should give her some space?”

“What do you think I’m doing? I don’t even know where she lives.”

Such logic. I had to remember that one.

“What about you?” She asked. “You’re the one she’s mad at, or have you forgotten?”

“How could I forget? It was only earlier today. But yes, you’re right. I’m the reason she walked out and she had every right to do so. If the connection I was hoping to build has been severed, that is on me.”

“Great. So if she never shows up again, I’ll blame you? The whole reason I came here in the first place was because of her.”

“Just give it some time.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. I don’t really want to go back to my old life, anyway. My mom and my former roommate have been texting me and I keep leaving them on read because I don’t know what to say.”

“Are they worried about you?”

“Yeah, it’s real annoying. I just want them off my back, but I don’t wanna be rude about it.”

“Have you ever considered lying?”

She gasped. “That’s brilliant! Why haven’t I thought of that? Hmm...but I still wouldn’t know what to say.”

“What’s your roommate been saying?”

“Stuff like ‘what the fuck? Why haven’t you been at uni? Are you okay? Your mom keeps asking me if I’ve seen you, which I haven’t. She thinks you might’ve gotten kidnapped or something.’ I want to reassure them both I’m okay, but I don’t want them to know that I’ve dropped out and come all the way up here because of some crush.”

At least she was aware of her predicament. Admittedly, it didn’t quite look good to be dishonest and while I loved to revel in trickery, I could tell what kind of person she was.

“What did you study?”

“Marine biology.”

“I see...how about something almost honest?”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s quite easy. Something like ‘hello, sorry to worry you, I’ve taken a job studying marine life in the arctic. It’s been going great, but I’ve been too busy to get back to you!’ How does that sound?”

“Oh my god! Thank you!”

I smiled. “Not a problem. I was young once, too. What better age to make mistakes than your twenties?”

“...I take back what I said. I’m just pursuing my dream, how’s that a mistake?”

Dream or fantasy?

“Right. It must be me that made a mistake. It could be my old age setting in. After all, it can’t be called a mistake if you have yet to regret it.”

She yawned, stretched, then got up.

“Well, I’m gonna brush my teeth and get some shut eye.”

“Novel idea,” I agreed. If I had any sanity left in me, I would do the same.

Just a few days later, early in the morning, after we had shared a nice breakfast of eggs au gratin, Demetria and I once again found ourselves in the same place; in the back of the restaurant, bored out of our minds.

“This is all your fault,” she complained.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Before our conversation had a chance to spiral into a boredom induced argument, someone burst through the door: Tigershark. Alone, no less.

“What? Tigershark? What are you doing here?” I jumped out from my seat.

“I’m hungry!” She shouted.

Oh, right. I forgot how much that kid liked my cooking.

“Did you come out here all by yourself?” While I didn’t have a problem with Remora not wishing to speak with me, I’d hope that the kid didn’t come on her own.

“Yeah, why?”

Ugh. That was what I was afraid of.

“You really shouldn’t do that. It’s dangerous out there. No place for a kid to be wandering out alone.”

“I can handle it! I’m strong!” She roared.

“That may be so, but I’d still prefer it if nothing bad happened to you.”

I really thought you were more responsible than that, Remora.

“What gives? Do you and her have joint custody of Tigershark?” Demetria asked.

I shook my head and smiled.

“Not really. I’m not fit for raising a child. Actually, I have a daughter of my own and I love her to death. Would you like to see a picture?”

Demetria shook her head. “No thanks.”

“So, Tigershark, is Remora coming back?” I turned my attention to the child present.

“She’ll come back sooner or later! She likes your food too much to stay away! She’s just grumpy!”

Did she really, or was it just Tigershark who liked my food? That I wondered.

“I see. Good to hear she’s well.”

“I’ve been learning things from her, too! She taught me about culture! She pulled out a whiteboard and said you’re bad culture and she’s good culture!”

That was one way to teach someone about culture, I suppose.

“What was her reasoning?”

“Because you trick people and bring up irrelevant things! And she’s honest and...um...not complicated!”

Demetria knelt down and put her hands on Tigershark’s shoulders.

“Did she say anything about me?” She asked her.

“Yeah, she said she didn’t know what to make of you, so she put you in the middle.”

She held her head low and smiled. “There’s still hope for me.”

Don’t tell me she’s about to get all teary-eyed about that.

“I just want some food!” Tigershark demanded. “Make me crepes! Or waffles! I don’t care!”

Did...did she run all the way over here just for me to make her food? If so, I too was at a risk of getting teary-eyed.

“I think I’m gonna take a nap,” Demetria pointed to the room down the hall she stayed in. “Only so much social interaction I can do, and kids annoy me, anyway.”

“Fine by me,” I turned to her with a smile. “Enjoy your rest.” Then, I turned back to Tigershark.

“How about both crepes and waffles? With strawberries and ice cream?”

“Hell yeah!”

Thus, Tigershark and I spent a nice day together, starting with a sugary breakfast. Now, being the age I was, it was important to watch my figure. So I opted to partake in but a few strawberries. It was more important that she get something to eat, anyway.

Afterward, she jumped up, as if the fill of food had no affect on her.

“I wanna see the penguins!”

I tilted my head before remembering what she had called me during our first encounter. ‘Penguin Man’. However, there had to be some kind of mistake, right?

“Dear, there are no penguins around here. They live in Antarctica, in the south pole. We live closer to the north pole, where Santa lives.”

“Then let’s see both!”

Oh my.

“Okay, well, you see, south is the opposite of north…” Wait. Why was I explaining something like that? She already knew north from south, I was sure of it.

“I know there’s penguins! My parents were researching them!”

“Up here?”

Could it be? Add that to the list of strange happenings. That blizzard that took her parents, the grisly deaths of everyone in that research base. Then, if they were researching penguins in the north...well, what a finding indeed.

“Very well,” I relented. “Let’s go out and see what we can find. Even if we don’t see any penguins, I’m sure there are other nice things to see.”

Now, now, Ray. Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you. There is a child with you, my inner Sunny told me. Yes, I had to remind myself such things as after all, there was a reason why Elodie didn’t live up here with Sunny and I. Why I refused to see my own daughter.

“Stay close to me,” I called to her. My words failed to reach her; she ran around, and yelled how strong she was in defiance.

“I’ve learned many things!” She pulled out from under her sweater two stakes, tied by a tight series of strings joined together.

I know that patchwork anywhere. Guess she’s applied things both Remora and I taught her.

“I carved the stakes myself, and I tied them together myself, too!”

“Impressive,” I clapped. “What do you plan to do with them.”

“I don’t know yet!” She declared, then ran off.

Dammit. I told you to stay close.

The chase between her and I went on for what seemed like several kilometers in the snow until we both came to a halt. Out on the horizon, we saw a group of penguins. Yes, there could be no denying it; I tried rubbing my eyes, wiping the lens of my glasses, all to no avail. There was no mistaking what I saw. The only question was: how?

Tigershark flapped her arms. “Waddle waddle!” She started to do a funny walk, as if to mimic them.

I was at a loss on how to react. It all looked innocent enough, but sirens went off in my mind. As if two ecosystems merging as one. How that might affect things, I didn’t know. For the moment, I just let her have her fun.

Ever get the feeling that something was just a little bit...off? That everything looked and felt normal, except for something being just a little out of place. But everything else around it acted as it would have any other day, as if to suggest the thing that was off was also normal.

That was the feeling I was experiencing. There wasn’t a clear and present danger, and yet I felt sinister vibes in the air, all the same. Said vibes defied all logic, but then, so did the very things in front of me.

“Tigershark, dear, I think we should head back home now.”

“We just got here!”

“Yes, and this is enough excitement for one day.”

Just as I uttered such words, a chill ran through me, a blistering breeze.

No, apparently this isn’t enough excitement.

She ran over to me. Thank goodness.

“What’s going on?”

I had no answer. Something told me a blizzard was about to roll in. Perhaps the same blizzard and fog that has been plaguing the region for a while now.

As I felt the winds against me grow harsher, I watched the group of penguins walk away, as if they too could sense something.

“Let’s follow them,” I patted her head.

“Yay!”

Yes, that sounded rational. To walk against the wind’s pressure. Then again, I was about ready to throw any sense of rationality out the window if it meant ensuring her safety.

We followed the ‘penguins’ to a cave opening and took shelter in there. I peered over my shoulder to see the creatures we had followed either dissolve or become one with the cavernous walls. Whether that meant that they were never penguins to begin with, or an illusion, I couldn’t say.

“Where did the penguins go?” She looked around.

“Where indeed…” I stroked my chin. From outside the cave, the blizzard began to rage.

The two of us sat together.

“What were you going to do with that thing?” I pointed to her invention.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Wrap it around a penguin and take one home with me?”

I laughed. “And here I thought you were going to use it as a weapon.”

Her eyes lit up.

“I can still do that! I’ll wrangle a shark!”

I don’t doubt that you could.

As the storm died down, so did the daylight, and the skies began to darken. Tigershark was beside me, having fallen asleep. I nudged her.

“Hey kiddo, you’ll catch a cold if you stay out here.”

“But I wanna catch a cod…” she mumbled in her sleep.

I nudged her once more and that time, she jolted up.

“Let’s go back to the diner. I’ll cook you a nice dinner.”

She grinned. I knew I had won her over.

“Okay, now this time, for real, stay close beside me,” I told her.

“How are you able to see so well in the dark?” She asked, ignoring my instruction. At least she didn’t outright reject it like last time.

“Because I have ‘Dad Vision’.”

“What’s that? Can I get it too?”

“You have to be a dad first.”

“Oh! So when I’m old like you!”

I didn’t feel like telling her such things like how I wore a special pair of glasses which allowed me to adjust the lighting of my surrounding environment. Some things were more fun when left to the imagination.

We were about halfway back home when a howl erupted. Not a howl of wind, rather a wolf’s howl. But also had a tinge of a roar to it, like a warning signal. As if to state “I’m on my way.”

Could it be a wolf? Pack of wolves? Possibly a polar bear?

My mind raced. If it were just me, that would be one thing, but I was with Tigershark, and for all her talks of being strong, I feared what would happen were she to get attacked by a polar bear.

I grabbed the back of her jacket with my good hand.

“Hey! Let go of me!” She squirmed, but as the creature, which I had yet to catch a glimpse of, drew closer, I held tight, until I could hear it leap forward. Then, I took a step back, in the nick of time.

We were still too close for me to be able to let go of her, even though holding a person, however little, was difficult when you only had one hand to work with.

Tigershark bit my arm and I flinched. Whatever fear she should have had, being a child, she didn’t, and instead, was a little too eager. She dropped to the soft, white ground.

“Yaa!” She yelled as she swung her double-staked contraption and whacked the creature right at the side of its jaw and to my surprise, even managed to puncture through its cheek. With a yelp, droplets of blood spilled from the frothing mouth of the creature, but aside from the few second lapse, it showed no sign of relenting its attack, and latched its teeth onto the stake, then bit down and yanked it, pulling Tigershark forward.

In that moment, I was frozen in awe of the strangeness of the creature, being some odd combination of a polar bear with its white fur, a sabertooth tiger with the two long, upward fangs, and its legs a more grotesque and thin than the short and stubby of a bear. Its stance brought to mind a grasshopper, more than anything else.

But more than that, I felt frozen and helpless as images flashed in my mind of back when Elodie lived with Sunny and I. To think a similar scene might play out before me with another child...that was all I could think about as the creature lifted up a paw with needle-like claws and ready to swipe at Tigershark.

“AAAA –” I cried out.

“Ray?” She asked, right behind me. There was a certain tear in her voice, to which, there might have been some tears of my own. From the pain? Heh, I would have rather chalked it up to frostbite.

I had managed to step in front of the attack right on time, but in doing so, my cheek had been torn up.

Before we could celebrate, the creature reached its jaw forward, mouth open wide, ready to bite my head clean off. Rather than allow that, I took the other end of Tigershark’s stake contraption and shoved it upward with enough force to tear through its jaw.

Looks like all my cooking experience paid off. Just think of what feats I could have accomplished had I use of both of my hands.

That time, it was the creature’s turn to howl out in pain, and I took the opportunity to take Tigershark and run off with her.

“My weapon!” She cried.

“We can make you a new one later,” I assured her.

Our escape was short lived, not that I expected any different. Both of us halted, and I watched as the creature circled around us.

“What do we do now?” She turned to me.

I smiled, excitement starting to get the better of me.

“This thing is much faster than us. It’s trying to catch us off guard, or catch us in a misstep. I think it knows, though, that whatever we do, it will catch us.”

My good hand shook. I knew it would be sore in the morning. Ah, well, I’d rather not think of my actions as a mistake, especially not in the moment. All the same, I reached into my pocket.

What’s more important: speed or reflexes?

“I’m curious what you are,” I addressed the creature. “But then, I know if I am the embodiment of curiosity, then you must be the cat.”

Even if the analogy fit, my own face felt a little too Cheshire than what the situation called for.

Sure enough, the creature ran toward us. It tried to flank us to the side, where we might have been most vulnerable.

But just as it acted, so did I: several needles were thrown from out of my hand, each needle tied to a steel thread. The needles attached themselves to the creature’s paws, as well as its upper ends of its legs. To the creature, such needles might have felt like nothing. Perhaps just a light sting. But soon, the sensation would be so much greater, as I let go of all the strings, then in my pocket, flipped the switch.

Electricity began to crackle through the steel threads and run their way up to each point of the needle. Soon, both Tigershark and I watched as electricity surged throughout the creature and it convulsed in place, all while howling. Wait. Shit.

“You should look away,” I urged her.

Looks like such a plea wasn’t necessary. She had already fallen asleep on the ground.

I wonder when that was. Did she even watch the creature get electrocuted or did I just think she did? Get it together, Ray. You’re going senile.

As for my latest discovery, it had not been killed. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. With the creature alive, but paralyzed, I was able to pull out my phone and take a picture.

Snap.

There, picture taken. Proof of an unknown creature.

I went up to Tigershark and reached both arms out to lift her up. Easier said than done, but while I didn’t have both hands to work with, I still had two arms. It was just a little awkward, is all. More elbow and shoulder movements.

After a while, I found myself carrying her on my back, unsure how I even managed such a feat. I felt less like a Ray and more like a turtle. Oh well. At least the little shark was safe.

Once we made it back to the diner, I took her to one of the rooms in the back, and set her on the bed. Then, I went over to my desk and sat slouched over.

“I need to reevaluate my lifestyle,” I sighed.

The next day, I tasked Demetria with watching over Tigershark and making sure she didn’t leave the building. I had a feeling Tigershark could overpower her, but I told Demetria I’d teach her to make a cake if she watched over Tigershark, so I didn’t think I had too much to worry about.

As for me, I went on a little walk down to where Remora resided.

I gave the front door two light taps.

She opened and looked not too pleased to see me.

“Rather than ask how you know where I live, instead I’ll ask what you’re doing here.”

“I’m not fit to be a parent,” I opened up with. There was no smile on my face as I said that. If there were any expression at all, it would be one of defeated acceptance.

“I’m not surprised, but what does that have to do with me?”

“Tigershark was with me yesterday. She nearly got hurt. Badly.”

“Yet another reason why you are bad culture.”

“Yeah. Okay. I deserve that.”

“Is that all you’re here for? To tell me that? In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Right. I understand that. But I figured since it pertained to Tigershark, you’d want to know.”

“Is she okay?”

I nodded.

“Good. Then you can leave me alone.”

She was about to close the door on me, but I blocked the door with my foot.

“There’s something else. Then, I can leave you alone.”

“I could shoot you right now, you know.”

“But then who would cook you such delicious food?”

“Fine. Say what you want, then leave.”

Looks like Tigershark was right.

“There’s something I failed to mention when I first met you.”

“What?”

“Those rumors about you, they were spread by people who would want you dead.”

“What do I care how someone wants me? They can’t have me. I’m not on the market.”

“Damn it, Rh...Remora, what I’m saying is that there are people who may still go after you if they saw you because of who you resemble.”

“Sounds like their problem, not mine.”

“Yes, well...such people, some of them are customers of mine. I’ve no doubt that you can hold your own, but I’d rather neither party get killed, you know?”

“Shit happens.”

I huffed. “What I’m trying to get at is that I’ve got a proposal for you: come back and stay at the back of the diner. I’ll put you in charge of the requests side of things. You can choose what requests get accepted, who takes what, and which get ignored. If any customers show up, I’ll tell them you’re a good friend of mine, and that you work with me.”

“I think I’d rather someone want me dead than think the two of us are friends.”

Ouch.

“Look, I’ve learned my lesson: my place is in the kitchen. No more tricks, just treats.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“Doubt all you want. But what do you say: will you accept?”

“I don’t think I should be taking any proposals from bad culture. I’ve got a chart, if you’re having trouble understanding.”

“Yes. I deserve that. I should have been more honest. I’m really sorry about that.”

“I’ll think about it.” Were her last words, before closing the door, and this time for good.

For my effort, hearing ‘I’ll think about it’ was better than had she said ‘no.’ At least I could work with that.

Later in the evening, after a long day of no customers and two rowdy little helpers chasing each other around, I sat back in my usual seat. Stacks of papers, my monitor. All that jazz. Nothing changed.

At least those two fell asleep. Leaves me some room to breathe.

The door which faced me opened. The same one which led to the restaurant side of the building. To my surprise, I looked up and saw Remora.

She sat down at one of the chairs next to the wall and stared at me. There was a pause of the two of us just facing each other before she spoke up:

“I saw her.”

“Who?” The first person that came to mind was Tigershark. Next was Sunny.

“When you had me go to that city. I paid a visit to the morgue.”

“Whoa. Preserved that long?”

She shook her head, as if such a detail was irrelevant.

“It was strange. This person who I once shared an identity with, but who lived a life unknown to me.”

“That’s how it goes, isn’t it?”

“How did you know?” She asked.

“Just rumors. After that, I did some research of my own. There’s not really much to it.”

“Yet it’s like you knew such intimate details. Almost like an assassin’s relationship with their target.”

I let out a laugh. I couldn’t help it.

“I just like to gather as much information as possible.”

“It’s just strange. That you know so much about me while I know so little of you.”

“I’m sure you could find out plenty about me. Besides, if it’s any consolation, all I know about you is what is known of her. By your own admission, you and her led two different lives. I knew neither her life, nor yours. I just found the two of you interesting.”

“Heh,” she smirked. “If you were more interesting, I’d dig up plenty of dirt. Still, I’ll make it a habit to keep my wits about you.”

“Good practice in general,” I agreed.

“It was strange. Seeing her,” she continued. “We really were identical. If I hadn’t dyed my hair, it would have been a perfect replica. It was like looking in a mirror.”

“You could say it was like a re –”

“Careful. Unless you want to lose function in your other hand as well.”

That time it was my turn to smirk.

“So you knew?”

“I could tell.”

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag on that one, too.”

I lifted my arm with the bad hand; I couldn’t move the hand at all.

“I didn’t realize it would be that bad when you shot it, and it didn’t start out that bad, but it started getting numb over time, and I had Dr. Cole-Slaw take a look at it. She said all my nerves in my hand were gone. Simply put, it’s paralyzed.”

“Have you been managing okay?”

“Ah! Good question! Pretty well, actually! It’s forced me to be a little more creative with my usual tasks. I’m a little slower, in some regards, but it’s not been all that bad.”

“Have you told your wife?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I only need one hand to please her.”

She made gagging sounds. “Sorry I asked.”

“Don’t mention it,” I waved it off.

“Still, impressive. That wasn’t an ordinary bullet. You should have faced worse than that. Like your whole arm getting blown off. You must have pretty tough skin.”

“Let’s just say it’s not my first time getting shot at. Dr. Cole-Slaw considered me lucky as well, but also suspects all those lucky breaks I’ve gotten in the past must have caught up with me. If only slightly.”

“That’s good. How’s Tigershark?”

“She’s well. Asleep in one of the rooms down the hall. You know, I’d really prefer if she didn’t run off by herself.”

She shrugged. “When I was her age, I was already a trained assassin.”

“Have you ever thought that just because that was the case for you, that doesn’t mean it should have been?”

“Yeah. Of course. I wouldn’t want her to be a trained assassin. I’m just saying, she’s strong.”

“That is true, but she’s still a kid.”

“Well, if I’m going to send you out to fulfill requests, it should be fine. I can watch her just fine.”

“So you mean…?”

“It might be fun to give orders rather than take them.”

“I’m sure someone else around here would be happy to hear that,” I teased.

“What?” She leaned forward. “What do you mean by that?”

I whistled. “Oh, nothing.” I got up. “Well, have fun at the desk. The room to your right is still open, whenever you think you can get some sleep. I’m headed to bed, myself.”

To my right, there was a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway. Upstairs was where Sunny and I slept, although most nights, it was just me. But I was fine with that. Because I knew she would return soon, and every moment with her was a treasure. Oh, but before I head up and turn in for the night…

“Glad to see you again, Remora,” I turned to her.

She nodded. I guess that would have to do.

[lins-fandom-hub]

Fictober no. 7: hot chocolate

I’m very behind on Fictober now so I’m just going to try and combine prompts now and hope things work out. Last night I’ve been through some tough stuff that I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about, so let’s just take things easy and hope that real life would get better.

This is taken from @hphm-fictober‘s list.

Prompts: Nightmare, Home

---

Cold, slippered feet gently padded through the empty corridors, the white bath-robed figure of a student shuffling by as she headed to the kitchens for some hot chocolate. It wasn’t normally like her to wander the corridors in the wee early hours of the morning, but she never expected to wake up at all in the night--and especially not as a result of a scary, frightful vision in her sleep.

The torches that illuminated the halls weren’t enough to quench the darkness she saw in her nightmares.

Her friends and family, the ones she loved most, laid dead in front of her, eyes glassy and lifeless as they stared into the unknown. It all happened in a blast of light, a sudden shout followed by a bang as loud as a gunshot. Not a scratch was marked on their bodies; there was no sign of a murder.

“How could you?!”

“You left me no choice, dear.” She pointed her wand straight at the little girl, her eyes malicious as they stared down into her own. “Your stupid decisions lead to this. We asked for one, but you gave us all. It was too easy.”

“You--you heartless little--”

“Ah ah ahhhh. Watch your words, Miss Lin. Your tongue could cost you your life.”

“Not if I can help it.” She raised her wand. “Expelliar--”

“Obliviate!”

A flash of white light seared through her vision; it was all she could remember before she woke.

“Clara Lin has no reason to be here this late.”

A sudden gruff voice spoke up as she entered the warm kitchens, where the house-elves were all busy preparing the students’ breakfasts. Wafts of scrumptious pastries baking and soups boiling hit her nose, and she smiled slightly at the little fat elf serving as her boss in detention last year.

“I’m surprised you remember me, Pitts,” Clara murmured. “I’ll only be here for hot chocolate, I swear.”

“Hmph. Pitts has had a lot of people take hot chocolate here,” Pitts said. “They say it reminds them of home. Pitts thinks hot chocolate takes up space here.”

Oh. Clara recalled all too well how Pitts went through so much hardship--more than she could imagine. Pitts was enslaved for a while, after all, and his host family treated him like...something much less than human.

“It brings comfort to those who have it,” Clara told him, gently pulling out a pouch of cocoa powder and mixing it in hot water. “My mom used to give it to me or my siblings every time we had nightmares. I’d make my own in my dormitory, but I’ve run out.”

“Best not let Filch see. He’ll think you’re up to no good.”

“Mm.” Clara nodded, picking up the steaming mug and gently blowing over the rich brown liquid. The scent of chocolate mixed with a dash of milk and cinnamon made her smile, and she offered the mug to Pitts. “Here. Maybe you should have it.”

“Me? Why?”

Clara tilted her head and put the mug beside Pitts. “I know you’ve been through a lot. The least I can do is make something that would give you a sense of what home feels like...and should taste like, too.”

This instantly moved Pitts to tears. He picked up the mug and took a careful sip of it while Clara stood there, unsure of what he’d make of it.

“Mm. Clara Lin makes good hot chocolate,” Pitts told her with a small smile. “It tastes like...home. A real home.”

“See? There will always be someone who cares for you, Pitts--even if you don’t see it,” Clara told him gently as she followed up with another mug for her to drink herself.

“Clara Lin must come back and make more hot chocolate,” Pitts finally said. “And bring more of home here.”

She couldn’t make many promises with the lives of those she cared for most on the line, but she agreed. Admittedly, time spent with Pitts made her feel a ton better, and she eventually returned to her dormitory--surprisingly without being caught by Filch, and with her heart feeling lighter than before.

[thehelleniclunarwitch]

Don’t Fear The Reaper (02)

Author’s Note: PLEASE READ ME FIRST. This chapter takes a bit of a dark turn. There is mention of past abuse and dark themes. Please don’t read further than this if the dark themed conversation will upset you. Also, please, note that some of the conversations are based on something that happened to me years ago. If you are finding yourself in a horrible situation of Domestic Violence please reach out to 1-800-799-7233 for help. 

xoxo 

Inky

Pairing: Diego Hargreeves x Reader

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Warning: Dark Theme, Violence, Manipulation, Abuse

Clara sat in the chair across from Y/n’s desk. Jack was currently pacing back and forth. Y/n was positive that her brother was going to wear a path in her office floor with the way he was pacing so quickly. Y/n leaned back in her chair and watched her brother with careful eyes.

“Jack, you need to calm down,” Y/n finally said.

Jack stopped to glare at his sister.

“I’ve talked to Patch. You’ve talked to Patch. She’s vouched for Diego,” Y/n pointed out.

Jack sighed.

“Jack, you’re gonna have to let your sister live,” Clara said.

“The last time I stepped back and let a man into my baby sister’s life she was destroyed inside and out,” Jack snarled.

“Not everyone is like Jason,” Y/n said in a whisper.

“No, they’re not, but there are too many people who are like him. I don’t want you to end up in that situation again,” Jack said.

Y/n leaned forward in her chair. She ran a hand over her tired face. The time was ticking away. Diego would be here soon to take her on the date. Clara was here as a supportive best friend, Jack was here to be a thorn in her side.

“You might as well walk me out, Jack. I know you’re still here just so you can meet him,” Y/n said.

Jack looked at his sister. “I just need to get a reading on him,”

“I know. Come on,” Y/n sighed pushing away from her desk.

“Good luck. Call me later,” Clara said.

“Thanks and you know I will,” Y/n said.

Jack put a hand on his sister’s back and guided her out of the office. Clara returned to her desk. Her heart even skipped a beat at the sight of Diego walking into the office. You’d have to be blind not notice how good looking he was. Clara knew she really needed to finish some of her paperwork, but she really wanted to watch the showdown between Jack and Diego.

Diego smiled when he saw Y/n walking towards him. Y/n gave him a soft smile.

“Diego, my brother, Jack. Jack, this is my date, Diego,” Y/n introduced.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Diego said holding his hand out toward him.

Jack took his hand and gave it a hard, firm shake.

“So, Diego, what are your plans tonight with my sister?” Jack asked.

“Jack,” Y/n said in a warning tone.

“It’s okay, Y/n, he has the right to ask,” Diego told you softly.

Y/n sighed.

“I have reservations for us at Mikado’s. Then we would head over to Arboretum Park to hit up the fair and then end the night with ice cream at Stucci’s,” Diego listed.

“And what if my sister wants to do none of that?” Jack questioned.

“Well, then I would ask her what she would like to do and let her create our whole date out of thin air if that’s what she preferred,” Diego answered.

“Enough Jack,” Y/n said before Jack could ask another question.

“We have plans tomorrow so I don’t want her out all night,” Jack said with a small growl.

“She’ll be home by eleven,” Diego said.

“Alright that’s enough of the interrogation,” Y/n said stepping away from her brother to join Diego.

“One step out of line,” Jack started to warn.

“Shut it down, J,” Y/n snapped.

Jack closed his mouth and took a step back. Diego turned toward Y/n and held out his arm toward her. Y/n slipped her arm into Diego’s and the pair were on their way. Jack crossed his arms over his chest as he sighed. He turned on his heel to see Clara sitting at her desk. Clara quickly looked down at her computer. Jack walked back toward Clara.

“Come on blondie,” Jack said.

“What?” Clara squeaked.

“Let’s go. You don’t have to be here anymore. And I wanna take you to dinner,” Jack said.

“Me?” Clara said in confusion.

Jack laughed. “Do you have better plans?”

“Um, no,” Clara said.

“Then let’s get a move on it,” Jack said.

Clara was quick to shut down her computer, grab her bag, and jump to her feet. Jack was grinning as he watched the girl struggle.

“Hope you don’t mind motorcycles,” Jack said.

“I’ve never ridden one,” Clara replied.

“Well then I guess it’s your lucky day,” Jack smirked.

Clara gulped.

“Lighten up, blondie, it will be alright,” Jack said.

Clara walked next to Jack as they headed out into the cool night air. She stopped at the sight of the bike. Jack held out a helmet toward her. Sucking in a deep breath, Clara shoved down her nerves and took the helmet. She had been eyeing Jack for awhile now and she wasn’t going to let her nerves ruin the perfect moment.

At dinner, Diego held up the conversation. Y/n couldn’t believe how open and honest he was being on a first date. She had never had somebody ever talk so much to her about anything. He kept her laughing which she also appreciated. They skipped out on dessert and headed toward the fair where Diego boldly claimed that he would win every price she wanted. She took that on as a challenge.

Of course, Diego kept his word. Every game they stopped at she would pick out a prized possession she wanted and he delivered every single time. Diego even helped carry most of the stuffed animals as they made their way through the fair.

A few times through the evening, Diego noted how sudden loud noises or sudden movements had her cringing away from him. Diego lowered his voice. Moved in closer so he didn’t have to shout at her to have a conversation. He became more careful with how quickly he moved.

She was hiding something. Something had happened to her and that made his blood boil. All of it was starting to make sense. Why Jack was determined to question his every motive with his sister.

“So, can I ask why your brother was so determined to try and scare me off?” Diego asked.

Y/n looked up at him. “It’s a long story, are you sure you want to me ruin our date?”

Diego’s face darkened. “What happened?”

Y/n looked around at the large crowds that moved past them. He watched a shiver run down her spine and how she was quick to shake it off. Her eyes darted back and forth at all of the strange faces around them. Diego knew that he had to get them out of there if she was going to feel comfortable enough to talk to him.

“Let’s save that conversation for ice cream?” Diego suggested.

“That’s a good idea,’ Y/n quickly agreed.

The pair finished their way through the fair. Diego had stuck all of her prizes in his backseat and then opened the door for her. Inside the car, Diego took Y/n’s hand in his and brushed his thumb on the back of her hand as he pulled out of the parking lot. They drove in silence. Y/n was starting to panic. She couldn’t tell him. If she told him then he wouldn’t want to see her again and she really really liked him.

“Stop,” Diego said suddenly.

“Stop, what?” Y/n asked in confusion.

“Overthinking. Whatever you need to tell me you can. I’m not going to run away scared,” Diego said.

At the ice cream parlour, Y/n sat at a table outside while Diego headed inside to grab their sweet treats. Y/n wrung her hands together as she nervously thought about telling Diego. She just met the man could she really be so personal with him? He did tell her a lot at dinner so maybe he’ll understand and not judge her for it. Diego returned, dropping down across from her and handing over her ice cream.

“Diego,” Y/n began.

“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want,” Diego said.

Y/n bit at her bottom lip. She had to. He needed to understand.

“I told you it’s a long story,” Y/n whispered.

“Take your time,” Diego said as he licked at his melting ice cream.

“I don’t have this sunshine and rainbow past, Diego. My parents never should have been parents. My mom ended up being committed to a mental hospital when I was thirteen. My dad drank himself to death in between the beatings that Jack and I both had to suffer,” Y/n started.

Diego froze. He hoped that she didn’t notice.

“It’s always been me and Jack. He stopped at nothing to take most of the beatings from our dad. When dad finally died, Jack took me in. He didn’t have to. I could have gone into the foster system, but Jack didn’t want us to be separated,”

“So here’s this nineteen year old taking care of his fifteen year old sister. Jack went to school full time and worked several part time jobs just to keep himself in school, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. He got himself a fancy lawyer job and continued to sacrifice everything for me so I could get an education too,”

“It was my junior year at college when things started to change. I met a guy. He was amazing. Or so I thought. He treated me like Jack. God, he reminded me so much of Jack I thought I had found the perfect guy. Everything seemed so perfect when we first started dating,”

“When Jack started to get busier and busier, I spent more time with Jason. And that’s when things started to turn. It was mental stuff first. Like making me believe that Jack was glad to finally be free of me. He only had to pay for one more year of college and then I wouldn’t be his problem anymore,”

“Then it came to the verbal stuff. Calling me stupid, dumb, or an idiot. Then it got worse and I believed it. All of it. Everything that came out of his stupid mouth I believed it. He built a wall between me and Jack. I started to pull away. Cancel plans. I’m surprised that I didn’t fail out of college because I was so stuck on spending every waking minute with Jason,”

“The summer before my senior year was the first time he hit me. God, I should have known better. My dad did that shit to me. And I knew how wrong it was. But with Jason, I was just apologetic. Promised to do better. To be better. But nothing I did was good enough for him,”

“This continued on for months. Jason was heading home for winter break. He didn’t want to bring me home to meet his parents. That was a blessing in disguise. A day after he left, I got the courage to call Jack. He came right away. He saw the damage done to my body. New scars. Old scars. A black eye and a split eye. It took everything out of me to keep Jack from flying across the states to beat the living shit out of Jason,”

“Jack helped me file a restraining order. We took pictures for evidence. But after that, my trust was gone. Part of me blamed Jack for not trying harder. I blamed myself for being so naive. I moved in with Jack for my last year and I only recently got myself a place of my own,”

Y/n finally looked up at Diego.

“God. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for just spewing that all over you,” Y/n blurted out an apology.

Diego clenched his teeth as he reached forward to take Y/n’s hands in his.

“Y/n,” Diego said dangerously low.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Don’t apologize to me. Ever. You have every right to talk about your traumas. It’s okay,” Diego said softly.

“I’m broken, Diego. I don’t trust easily. I scare way too easily and I run when I get too scared,” Y/n admitted.

Diego shifted so he was sitting knee to knee with her.

“It’s okay. I’m not running away. I’m going to stay right here,” Diego told her.

Y/n let out a shaky breath.

“Now, what happened to that piece of shit ex of yours?” Diego asked.

Y/n shrugged. “After the news came out of what he did to me he vanished. Jack tried hunting him down but came up empty handed,” Y/n explained.

Diego just gave a quick curt nod. He softly brushed away the tears. Y/n closed her eyes and let out a small sigh.

“Why don’t I take you home?” Diego suggested.

Y/n nodded.

The car ride was silence once again, but neither of them minded. Y/n finally spoke up to give Diego the directions to her house. Diego held onto her hand tightly. Y/n sat up a little straighter when she saw Jacks’ bike outside of her place.

“Your brother?” Diego asked.

Y/n nodded. Diego parked and dashed out of the car. He came around the side and opened the door for her. The pair grabbed all of her prizes from the back and headed up the porch steps.

“Diego,” Y/n began.

“Please, don’t apologize. You trusted me enough to tell me and I really appreciate that,” Diego said.

Y/n only nodded.

“I’d like to take you out again,” Diego said.

Y/n’s head snapped up. “Really?”

Diego chuckled. “Yeah, how about lunch next week Tuesday?”

“That would be great,” Y/n replied softly.

Diego leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

“Good night, Y/n,” Diego said.

“Goodnight, Diego,” Y/n whispered.

Diego opened the door for Y/n. She stepped in and moved to the side so Diego could set down the rest of her stuff. He waited until she closed the door. As he jogged down the stairs he could hear Y/n calling out for her brother.

Back inside his car, Diego’s shaky hands grabbed the steering wheel. He gripped the wheel tightly, his hands turning white. He let out a frustrating scream. Diego needed to take care of his anger and he knew the perfect way to release the fire within his soul. He pulled away and headed back to the fairground with a glint in his eyes.

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