#since day 2 we are missing an entire scene

[musings-of-a-rose]

A New Life - Part 1

Pairing: General Marcus Acacius x ofc Cornelia

Word Count: 4700+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Summary: After her husband's quick death, Cornelia finds herself back in her childhood home. But when her father passes, her cruel brother Cato becomes Lord of the city. She feels trapped, hopeless, destined for nothing as her brother tortures her day in and out. Until one day, a certain renowned General comes to claim her city in the name of Rome. When her brother hastily offers her up in surrender to the stoic General, Cornelia happily complies. Anything to get away from her brother. But will the General accept her? What fate lies in store for her in the hands of General who has never lost a battle? And will she be able to survive Rome itself?

Notes: sigh. look, I had one scene idea and it became this. If you've ever read anything by me, you know this happens. And just look at Acacius. How could I not? Shoutout to @mermaidxatxheart for tolerating my existence in general for this fic.

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**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

General Marcus Acacius Masterlist

“We can’t thank you enough, miss.”

I wave my hand. “No need to thank me. I’m just doing what I can.”

I pull the palla (scarf) over my head as I wind my way back up the city streets, heading towards the home I grew up in. The largest home in the entire province that used to belong to my father, the noble in charge of this entire area. But ever since he died, my brother has taken his place and well, let’s just say he is far from my favorite person. Which is why I’m hiding as I sneak back inside, my brother having forbidden my leaving the grounds ever since I was forced to return after my husband’s death. 

I wake the next morning to the sound of many footsteps running outside and down the halls. I quickly pull on my tunic and head out of the door, turning to head towards the main chambers where my brother would undoubtedly be. Sure enough, as I approached, I heard him raise his voice. It sounded like he was trying to muster troops? He barks out a few more commands and the door flies open, catching me off guard.

“Sister! Come here!” My brother, Cato, demands. I enter the room, casting my eyes downward and away from him for a moment before looking at him. 

“Brother, what is happening?”

His eyes scan me from head to foot, his lip pulling up in a snear. “The Army has arrived.”

I cock my head. “Who’s army?”

He sighs, exasperated,. “The Roman army, Cornelia. The one led by Marcus Acacius?”

My eyes widen. “The general who has never been beat?”

“That’s the one.”

The people running around make sense now. We’re preparing for a fight. “What will we do?”

“We will fight!”

I scoff. “You cannot hope to win.”

His mean eyes snap to mine. “You don’t think I can?”

“I…I just mean, General Acacius has a reputation. Our numbers are small, we can’t-”

He waves his hand at me, cutting me off. “Yes, yes. I know. We’re going to give it our best. But I also have a backup.” 

“Oh?”

The snear comes on full display. “Yes. Actually a way to solve 2 problems with one.”

“Two problems?”

“I will surrender and give the General you as a victory gift.”

My jaw drops, the air whooshing from my lungs. “M..me?”

“Yes, you. I know you’re already 30, but you look much younger. He won’t know. Besides, he doesn’t need to marry you.”

“You mean to give me to a man with no intention-”

He reaches out and grips my face with one hand. “Dear sister. I would whore you out to every noble, the emperors themselves, if it meant I got to keep my lifestyle.” He shoves me away. “Now go make yourself presentable. As much faith as I’d like to have in our troops, I rather think it will come down to you.”

And that was that. He turns, effectively cutting me off from any retort. I head back to my room, calling for one of my servants to help me prepare. As she washes me, I think on all that has transpired. Am I finally to be free of the hell that has been my life for the last several years? I know I should be afraid, terrified of the renowned General Acacius, but I’m not. Anything is better than here.

My brother has me sit in a chair off to the side of his own, the sound of swords clinking growing closer and closer. The heavy doors creak open and soldiers pour inside, nearly covering the space in a handful of steps. My brother holds up his white flag, a symbol of surrender and luckily, they stop, one of them yelling to get the General. Only a handful of moments pass before a man strides into the hall, broad shoulders barely contained in beautiful leather armor, the head of Medusa proudly displayed on its front. He is covered in blood and dirt and sweat, a sword still in his hand as he confidently strides up to my brother, who instantly bows. 

“General Acacius. I humbly surrender to your forces.”

“So many people died for you to be sitting here on your chair. You could have stopped the bloodshed before it started and you did not.”

“I had to give it my best shot. Honor was at stake. You can understand that, yes?”

General Acacius considers this for a moment. “And let me guess- honor is what you think will keep me from slicing you in half with my blade?”

The smile on Cato’s face falters slightly. “Well, yes.” The blade shifts in the General’s hand and my brother puts his hands up. “That and-” he reaches over and grabs my arm, his fingers digging into my skin as he throws me at the General. I fall to the floor on my knees with the unexpected movement, my palms stinging with the impact. “-my sister! Take her, marry her, use her, whatever. She is yours.”

The General leans forward, extending his hand towards me. I look at it, the blood and dirt mixed together in some kind of horrible art on his palm, and I take it, allowing him to help me up. Once I’m standing, my eyes find his and I’m shocked to see concern. 

“Are you alright, miss?” He asks, his eyes scanning my face.

I don’t break the gaze as I whisper. “Please take me with you. I will be faithful to you however you need me. Free me from this prison.”

He cocks his head ever so slightly, searching for something in me. Apparently he finds whatever he’s looking for as he looks over my shoulder back at Cato. “I will take her. But I should kill you here for the way you treat your people but especially for the way you treat your sister. Your own blood.”

“My people will recover and I’m sure you or your men will be thankful to have such a beauty after-” the General takes a step forward, his blade coming up. All I hear is slicing, a horrible gurgling, sputtering sound as a body thuds to the floor. I don’t move, not right away, using my breath to steady myself. I start to turn when the General grips my arms, preventing me from moving. 

“You do not need to see this.”

“I think I do.”

“Miss-”

I drop my voice so only he can hear me. “My brother has put me through hell for years. I have no love for him. Let me have this closure. Please.”

He hesitates for a moment before nodding, dropping his hands from my arms. I take a breath and turn, my eyes immediately finding the crimson pool on the floor, the thin gash across Cato’s throat bright and angry against his skin. His are vacant, every trace of the evil life he lived, gone. I nod once and turn back to the General, who is still watching me. His soldiers file from the room, a loud silence falling over us.

“So…do I..do I follow you or?”

He holds his hand up. “I do not plan on holding you to that deal or whatever your brother tried to do.” He starts to turn but I gently grip his arm. He looks down at my hand briefly before looking at me. 

“You saved me from this torture. I will be faithful and loyal to you.”

He puts his large hand over mine, taking it from his arm and holding it. “I have no doubt of that, miss. But you owe me nothing. Go live your life.”

“General Acacius, may I speak plainly?”

He nods. “Please.”

“I understand what you are trying to do. But please think: my brother has controlled this province ever since my father passed several years ago. He has placed more taxes and fees on these people than anyone before. And he just led half of them to slaughter with your arrival when he planned on surrendering. They are not happy with my house. They may like me but I don’t think that fondness will suffice when they are burying their husbands and sons for no reason.”

He thinks for several moments. “Perhaps you are right. I cannot in good conscience leave you here to die. I can escort you to our next province but know that it isn’t a place for a woman. War and battle are hard and bloody. I can protect you from my men but I cannot promise to protect you from those we fight against.”

“I understand. Wherever you need me, there I’ll be.”

“You are free to leave whenever you wish.” He turns, heading towards the doors.

“But what if I wish to stay? With you?” I follow behind him and slam into his chest when he abruptly stops and turns around. He looks down at me and my heartbeat races. Now I’m closer, I can see past the grime, see his greying hairs, the scar that runs down the side of his face, his eyes, dark and battle-hardened but also caring, a tinge of regret. They also darken with a look I’ve seen in many men’s faces as they chase the skirts of women. But then he blinks and it’s gone.

“We shall see.”

General Acacius accompanies me to my chambers and allows me to pack a few things. It’s lighter than I would normally travel with, considerably, but it’s not needed. And I can always get new things along the way. A few pallas (head scarfs) and tunics, some health and hygiene products and I’m ready, the General giving me a nod of approval at my small bag that I’d packed. His soldiers ransack the estate, including my room, taking anything of value to either sell or melt and turn into weapons. General Acacius ensured I had everything I wanted before he allowed it, a gesture I wasn’t expecting. As we head towards the front gates of my previous estate, he turns to me, speaking low so only I would hear.

“Stay close to me. Speak to no one. Pull that palla over your hair and stay quiet. Understood?”

I nod quickly as I do what he says, making sure it covers my hair. “Yes, sir.”

“Do you have a favorite horse?”

I blink. “Yes. In the stables.”

He allows me to lead us to the stables and I quickly locate my black barb horse, Caius. He is nervous, snuffing and chittering in his stable, but the moment he sees me, he calms. 

“Hi, Caius. Are you ready to go on an adventure?” He presses his forehead to mine, a gesture we’ve done since he was a foal. I can feel the General’s eyes on me, watching as I lead Caius from the stables and ready him for travel. It only takes a few minutes and I’m grateful for learning how to do it rather than relying solely on stable hands. He has me lead Caius out with his reins rather than riding, no doubt to make me less of an easier target. 

We head out of the main gate and I stifle a small gasp. I hear the sounds of wailing, mothers having lost sons, wives their husbands, children their fathers. The Roman soldiers are trying to calm the area, and they’re succeeding by sheer numbers, but the sounds of grief have no master. It’s then that I realize what the crimson tinge to the soil under my sandals is. I swallow hard, willing the tears not to fall. I don’t want to look weak. But these were my people, even if we were separated by title and money and my heart aches for them. 

General Acacius sets a brisk pace, winding around the main square, no doubt trying to avoid any sort of riot or call for my head. I couldn’t blame them. Like I’d said to the General, they may like me, but my family is the reason they’re burying their boys and men needlessly. I can feel how nervous Caius is, but he trusts me fully and obediently follows me without issue. What seems like hours later, we make it out of the city. The General steers us towards a group of men guarding horses. They salute him as he walks up.

“General, sir!”

He nods and they drop their salute. “My horse.”

“Yes, sir.” One of the soldiers runs off and comes back moments later with a beautiful chestnut colored horse. He hands the reins to the General and salutes before going back to his post. The General turns to me.

“We will ride to camp. Stay close to me. Keep that palla over your hair, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

He watches me for a moment, his hand coming up to rub his horse’s nose. “Ready?”

I swing myself up onto Caius in one fluid motion, one that I had been doing for the majority of my life and at least 10 years with Caius. His eyes linger on me as I settle in, adjusting my palla to cover my hair. Our eyes meet and he holds my gaze for just a brief moment before blinking and looking back towards his own horse, swinging himself onto the saddle. Despite my situation, I can't help but to think...

Damn he looks good on a horse. 

We don’t ride far, maybe a quarter or so mile from my city. We break through a line in the trees and I gasp - an entire camp has been built, complete with walls, tents, cooks, all of it. The soldiers by the wall call out and the gates creak open, General Acacius riding through the opening, glancing back once to make sure I’m following. We wind through the camp to where the horses are kept. He hops down from his chestnut mount and offers me his hand to help me down from Caius. I hesitate a moment before linking my hand with his and slide off of my horse. General Acacius nods to a young man and hands him the reigns to his horse, motioning to me to do the same. 

“I promise they will take good care of him.” 

I give Caius a pat on his head and hand the reigns to the boy, who leads both horses off towards the makeshift stable area. 

“Follow me,” The General commands and I comply, my sandals squishing in the mud as I go. We arrive at a grand tent, some soldiers stationed outside, one of which holds open a flap to allow General Acacius inside. He motions for me to follow and I do, feeling the tent flap close behind me. The tent is just as large as it appears. One side has a table with maps on it with little pins placed all over it. There are some traveling chests, which I assume house either weapons or other clothing or armor. On the other side of the tent is a room divider, behind which is a mattress and a small area for changing. A loud clank snaps me back to my reality and I see The General lay a sword on another table, this one set closer to his sleeping area. He removes his bracers as well, rubbing his wrists after he does so, glancing up at me.

“I will instruct my men to not touch you, but I would advise you stick to my tent.”

“I- yes. I understand, General.”

He barks out a name and I jump, the volume catching me off guard. A man enters the tent and salutes.

“Sir?”

“Fetch me some bath water for my…guest.”

“Yes, sir.” The tent flap closes behind the man as he goes off to bring the bath water.

There are a few moments of silence where he watches me, his eyes quickly glancing down my body and back up. “You can leave your belongings here.” He walks over to the divider and motions for me to follow. He points to a small crate in the corner. “You can set your bag here. I have some space in a chest for your things when we pack tomorrow.”

“Oh. Thank you, sir.”

He’s so close now, I could reach out and touch him. I want to, his greying curls and dark eyes heating me in ways I didn’t know possible. He blinks, shaking his head slightly.

“I will have them make you a sleeping mat, but you may not get it for a bit. You can take mine and I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Absolutely not.”

He cocks his head slightly to the side, curious at this woman who would say no to him. “Excuse me?”

I clear my throat. “I won’t have the general of Rome sleeping on the floor. I can do that.”

“But, you are my guest, and a woman. I can’t allow you to do that.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll just have to share.” The words come out of my mouth before I can think. He fights back a small smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“You would share a bed with a man who is not your husband?”

“My husband has been dead for many years. And not just any man. The man who saved my life.”

He watches me still, his eyes softening but somehow dark. He reaches out, hesitating a moment before gripping my upper arm. “I am sorry for your loss….well, if you insist, I promise to be respectful until we can get you your own mat.”

I speak quietly. “When I get my own mat, then you’ll be disrespectful?” I don’t intend for him to hear, but sometimes my inner thoughts become outer ones. His eyes meet mine and he opens his mouth to speak, but then several men enter with a tub full of water and the moment passes, General Acacius holding my gaze for a moment longer before dismissing the men. He pulls over another room divider and places it in front of the bathtub, gesturing towards it. “This is for you. I’ll personally stand outside to make sure no one enters.”

I nod. “Thank you.”

I take my time bathing, knowing that it may be a moment before I’m able to again. The water is cool when I emerge, wrapping a blanket around me and wringing out my hair. I pull on a clean tunic and sit on the sleeping mat, grateful that I’d packed a brush. The General returns a few minutes later, poking his head around the corner. 

“Oh. I assumed you would be asleep.”

“Almost. I won’t take up too much space.”

He waves his hand. “I am not worried.” He shuffles around, grabs some tunics from a chest, and disappears, reappearing later with wet hair that has started to curl, in a fresh tunic, sans armor. He gets on the mat beside me, trying his best with his broad frame to give me space.  

“General Acacius, it’s ok. Take as much space as you need. Tell me if you need more. Whatever you want, I will give it.”

He shifts a bit longer. “You are fine. Breakfast will be brought to us in the morning. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, General.” I settle into my spot, trying to take up as little space as possible. It’s quiet, quieter than I thought a camp would be. 

“Thank you,” I whisper to him in the dark. I know he doesn’t hear me, but I wanted to say it anyway.

“You’re welcome,” a whisper back. I smile, knowing that I at least made some sort of headway into us getting to know each other. I meant what I’d said before -I will be loyal and go wherever he wants me. Do whatever he needs me to do. I owe him my life. 

It’s early when I wake, I can tell by the quietness of the camp. Slowly, I become aware of my immediate surroundings, remembering the events of the previous day. It’s then I feel something heavy draped across my waist. I crack an eye open and look down, seeing The General’s arm casually slung across me. His breaths puff out on my neck and I can tell he’s in a deep sleep. But then he shifts and..oh. 

He’s hard and pressed against my ass, pushing against me slightly in his sleep to relieve some of the pressure. It’s been so long since I’ve had any interaction this way, let alone with someone I’m attracted to. I’m torn as to what to do. If I wake him, I don’t want him to be embarrassed. If he needs me in that way, I will happily consent. Beg for it, even. But I don’t want to be presumptuous either and take advantage of him, even if it’s just to feel his warm, protective presence. My body seems to make the decision for me, my hips grinding back on their own accord. A few seconds goes by before his hand moves and he grips my hip, his fingers digging into my skin.

“You need to stop moving.”

My cheeks heat instantly and I’m relieved he can’t see my face. “O-oh. I’m sorry if I was bothering you.”

“Not bothering me. I am trying to be respectful and you’re making it…difficult.”

“Who says you need to be respectful?”

His fingers dig in tighter and I inhale sharply, the sensation going straight between my legs. He presses himself closer to me, which heats me up more. He stays like that for several moments, his breaths fanning out over the side of my neck. But then he pulls away and sits up, my back feeling cold with his absence. 

“No. I cannot ask that of you.”

I sit up too, turning to face him. “You would not be taking advantage. I meant what I said - I am yours in whatever way you need me. I will follow you wherever you want me.”

His eyes find mine, deep and dark, as he contemplates my words. He opens his mouth to speak but then the tent flap opens and a man calls out that breakfast is ready. The General’s mouth slams shut and his expression changes. “Place it on the table.” The man complies and the tent flap closes again.

He gently places his hand over mine. “Come. Let’s eat.”

The Roman troops are impressive. 

That day, they pack up the entire camp and start the long trek towards our next destination, which is at least several days worth of traveling by land. And every night they build an entirely new camp that looks identical to the one they had outside of my city. It’s mind boggling.

Ever since our first night, The General tries harder to keep a respectful distance from me, not wanting me to feel pressured or obligated to do anything. He keeps me close though, always keeping an eye on me to make sure I’m safe. A week goes by and we’re in his tent, him pouring over maps and moving the little pieces and pins, me reading a book that he pulled from one of his chests. A soldier enters the tent with a tray of food and the General motions to his side table. The soldier leaves and I close my book, watching General Acacius for a few minutes, his brow furrowed in concentration as he stares at his board, a single curl falling forward onto his forehead. I quietly get up and cross the space to him, gently squeezing his arm. 

“Hey. Come eat.”

He blinks and looks down at me, heaving a big sigh. “You’re right. I need a break.” He follows me back to the table and sits, starting to eat some of the cooked meat the men had brought in. 

“Have you thought about what you want to do once we capture the next city?” He takes a bite out of the meat and watches me as he chews.

“Are you asking me to leave?”

He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. Damn I want to lick it. “War is no place for a lady.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

He studies me for a moment. “You may do what you want. I told you you are free.”

“And I told you that I will follow you.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“You saved my life.”

“You do not wish to get married?”

I shrug. “I was married before. But I am not objecting to marrying again. To the right person.”

He takes another bite of meat and thoroughly chews it before speaking. “What happened to him? Your husband. You mentioned his passing before.”

I’m honestly surprised he hadn’t asked before. We had started having little talks at meals, but it wasn’t about anything heavy. 

“Remus was a kind man. He was the eldest son of the wealthiest merchant in our city. My father arranged our marriage to unite our houses. He was wealthy and had his own estate. We married and I moved in with him. I…suppose I loved him, in a content way. Like I said, Remus was kind, despite his hard exterior with his business dealings. He made sure I had everything I wanted. He had bought me Caius when he was just a foal. However, a few months after we were wed, he was called to the army. He left, proud to serve his people, despite his family begging him not to go. He never returned.” I take a sip from my mug, giving myself a moment to gather myself. “It was..hard, after he had passed. We had not really had a chance to have children. His family returned me to my family after a grieving period. I was allowed to keep Caius only because he had formed such a fierce attachment to me, along with some trinkets and clothes. Honestly, Remus would’ve been appalled at the way his family moved me from the estate. Anyway, I moved back in with my father and brother. A few years later, my father became ill and passed away, leaving me to my brother, Cato. He was abusive, verbally and physically. But I had nowhere to go. I dreamt every day that someone would come to take me away from him. But he always reminded me that no one would want someone who was used and old.” I shrug, taking another sip before meeting his eyes. “When I say you saved my life, I mean it. I am not simply in your debt. I want to be here.” He watches me for several moments, his jaw ticking as he fiddles with his mug. He sits up and leans forward, placing his large hand over mine.  

“I am sorry you had to endure all of that tragedy.”

“Thank you, General.”

“Marcus. Call me Marcus.”

My stomach flutters. “Marcus. Thank you.”

We’re back in the saddle the next day, me on Caius and him on his beautiful chestnut horse, Augustus. He has been softer with me since I told him my story, chatting and making jokes. He’s still respectful, never wanting to push a boundary. One that he set himself, I might add. Another camp goes up, this one built a little differently. There are more wood cabins instead of tents and Marcus explains that we may be here more than a night or two. We eventually settle into our bed, another mattress somehow never appearing for me. Not that I’m reminding anyone.

“We ride out in the morning. I want you to stay in this cabin, do you understand?”

“Y-yeah. Yes. Of course.”

He turns to me on his side, his eyes on me in the dimly lit space as I roll to look at him. He speaks quietly, but firm and I think I can make out worry in his eyes.

“I will have Caius ready and waiting for you outside. If you hear any soldiers, you take him and you ride. You run, do you understand me?”

“Yes, but what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. You get to safety. That is your priority. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but-”

In an unexpected move, he reaches out and cups my cheek, his eyes on mine. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”

I place my hand over his. “I promise.”

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[v5hadow]

WIP Wednesday

Royal Strikers: Day 2 Part 3

This bit has been done for a bit... 😅 Like, outside some introductions for screen sections (which are new as of this week), these are the first things that were complete to a state I'm happy with months ago.

I just missed the last week post because I got stuck reading two fics for the past bit, as in the last 2-3 weeks. I'm like midway through Forearmed of the Forewarned is Forearmed series and just finished what's up of My Attic Roommate Goro Akechi (Romance Route). Of course, I don't begrudge other ship opportunities, in fact it makes things always more interesting. There's a few that have high chances to squick me out, and without a good reason/counter-interest, I'm not going to be convinced to even look at it. Forewarned is Forearmed is actually a good example of that honestly, as I'm apparently a sucker for Inaba!Akiras.

And like progress is being made but not in the spaces I'm expecting. Like new paragraphs or additions on parts already seen, major rewrites to things you haven't yet. Not as much progress for the main part of today's bits though. aka work skins still suck. And only some minor actual forward progress

Akira several hours later, as he settled into bed, heard one of his more distinct text tones. He very quickly got into texting back.

-

‘So while I’m thinking of it, Iwai-san told me that he’ll be closed for what will be two more weeks. A trip with Iwai-kun I believe’

‘Shit.

mean nice for them, bad for me/us

Why were you talking?’

‘No, that’s fair

Figuring out where and how to set up some new throwing targets

And getting one sharpened

I’ll see if I can find anything

but honestly with a little maintenance most of the team’s equipment should absolutely pummel anything you come across’

‘Worried if something breaks or jams’

‘If you can get Futaba to help me subtly beef up the site 

As it’s not going to be as quiet as I hoped and planned for if MV involved

I’ll contact Iwai-san about who he’d trust to look over his work’

‘Futaba likes you! Can do that without me asking’

‘I could but it’s nice when you ask.

Oh and Takemi-sensei just left for a conference that lasts most of this week and next as well.’

"Next you’ll tell me Shinya is in Hokkaido visiting a cousin or Hifumi’s got a series of matches across Japan.’

‘😈

At least one of those is true though’

‘How do you know everyone I know again?’

‘I’ve met most of them on my own

OR I met them when with you 

OR while doing PT-site work

Most of them even like me’

‘Most of them not at first but yeah they do’

‘But Shinya definitely wants to see you before you leave again’

‘I’ll definitely try’

‘💖🌅’

‘💕🌙’

-

And across the city, and even into the rest of the country, several eyes came across a post in their personal boards.

-

‘If anyone would like to help me figure out some info on Alice Hiiragi, that’d be greatly appreciated. I’ve got some rumors that a lot of fans act out if you insult her around them, even if it’s out of character for them. I don’t like the sound of that if they come here. -Admin’

‘Chalice will likely love that since she can at least write an article on it too.’

‘Yeah, totally my territory

But any help would be appreciated

The world needs the news’

-

Akira groaned as he sat up, yawning in the process.

“It’s been a while hasn’t it?” chimed a voice with some sorrow in tone.

Blue. Akira opened his eyes to see everything was bathed in shadows of blue. The slither and clank of chains sound as they change direction.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” proclaimed the attendant. 

Akira looked over his shoulder to the girl and breathed out, “Lavenza.”

The girl smiled, but still betrayed some hesitation. “Whether we bemoan or rejoice in this reunion, Trickster, I have duties I must perform. A greeting for guests’ first time arrival was not given by me truly and I sense something may go amiss if I do not.”

Akira lifted his hands in surrender.

“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound to a contract may enter.”

Akira sat in front of the door to the cell, listening as the platinum blonde waxed lyrically on about fate and danger already apparent to the boy.

“As such, you have become a “prisoner of fate” yet again,”.

“We’ll just have to stage another breakout from fate then.”

A peal of laughter came from the attendant, before she smiled and told her guest, “I do not as greatly fear the destruction of the current path while you are in such good humor about your fate.”

Lavenza stopped right in front of the cell door, her smile dropping some. “However for my master’s sake I must ask you a question in a specific manner.” The boy in front of her nodded. “Have you the resolve to defy such a fate and face distortion that once again threatens your world?”

Akira held Lavenza’s hand through the bars, smile growing as he told her, “You know it.”

She squeezed his hand before letting go. “Now then, I shall act in my master’s stead and watch over you through your journey.”

“Your master was only really there a month, so nothing too new there.” Akira stood, looking past her at the new torture devices present.

“Go to sleep Trickster, you shall come back as you need. You and your moon need you in as good spirits as possible tomorrow.”

“‘Til tomorrow then, Lav.”

[yumeka-sxf]

In addition to Yor's epiphany scene, this scene was the other one I was most looking forward to in season 2 - a scene that, in my opinion, is one of the most Twiyor-ish scenes in the series so far 💖

Why is it so significant? Because there was no reason for Twilight to put on any Loid Forger acting in that moment. He wasn't conversing with nor being scrutinized by anyone. So why would he give that soft smile followed by such affectionate, comforting words as "お疲れ様/otsukaresama"? (this can be translated in many ways, but generally it's something you say to thank someone for their hard work).

The answer is because it's something he truly felt...he understood the sacrifice Yor made for Anya's happiness and genuinely appreciated it (if only he knew the sacrifice she made on the larger scale, lol). While he's a bit perturbed at first since some onlookers were snickering at him, it didn't take long for him to soften and then graciously carry his queen and princess the girls back to the ship 😭

But Twilight overall was really soft in this episode and I loved it~ From his blush upon seeing Yor to the several times he gave that same soft smile when talking with/looking at her...I think Anya was right when she called him out on the ship about missing his wife 😅

I liked how the anime conveyed his shock when noticing her bruised face...what must have been his thought at that moment? 👀

The scenes of the family activities translated better in animated form in my opinion. While they were each only a single panel in the manga, they lasted a few seconds each in the anime, plus the addition of the insert song helped the with the comfy, wholesome vibe~ Also the part where Yor inadvertently chucks Anya across the ocean is still hilarious.

Loid's dorky skip at the beginning of the episode translated very well in animated form too 😅

The ending of this chapter in the manga always felt a bit rushed to me...it quickly jumps from the aforementioned scene of them returning to the ship, to suddenly being home, reuniting with Bond and Franky, having a meal together, then Twilight meeting Sylvia, all within a few panels. Even though I wish the anime added more than just some additional scenes of the ship leaving the island, I felt it flowed much better in the anime since, just like the family activities, each scene in the ending lasted a second or two instead of being a single illustration.

But I love how this chapter/episode ends, with Yor, Anya, and Bond napping while Anya draws about her family vacation. This seems to take place the next day or maybe later the same day they got home, so makes sense they'd still be tired from the trip!

By the way, the manga has this additional scene showing that Olka and company are safe. Weird that the anime didn't stick it in at some point.

Also, the anime team didn't have to go so hard with this episode's key visual but they did...and I love it 😍 Might actually be my favorite of the key visuals so far!

I was very happy to see the "surrounded by liars" panel finally animated! This is such a funny scene and a great way to fully wrap up the cruise arc.

I also burst out laughing at Yuri's locker 🤣

Damian is surprisingly laid back in this episode. I think the reason is because Anya's antics aren't directly involving him. He tends to go total tsundere only when she's actually talking to him, lol.

The new scene of Yor getting the keychains for her coworkers was a nice addition! Guess it's canon that Yor and Anya didn't sleep for the entire trip back, lol. Glad they got to spend family time on the ship too! (though I wish we could have seen Yor's reaction waking up in Loid's bottom bunk bed, haha. He must have brought her to his room since he wouldn't know where her room is. Unless she woke up before he even put her in a bed, in which case she would have been super embarrassed knowing he was carrying her around in public 😆)

Looks like next week the anime will be changing the order of things a bit and giving us the Becky home-wrecking and Fiona chapters (the latter of which seems to have some anime original content?) The Becky chapter is one of my favorite stand-alone chapters...I'm already dying of laugher thinking about it 😂

[hiraethwrote]

just come home pt. 2 - satoru gojo

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[satoru gojo - f!reader] ✧ summary: dealing with the breakup has been hard for the both of you, and it doesn't help when your randomly bump into each other ✧ cw: angst, some fluff, denial, slight intoxication, somewhat proofread ✧ word count: 3.6k

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

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35 days has passed since he had last seen you, let alone heard your voice and he never knew he could miss something so much. The first week after everything had went down, he had blown up your phone in hopes you two could talk it through. But he hadn’t been so lucky, as he was sent straight to voicemail every time.

He was dying to know how you were doing, wondering if you were as miserable without him as he found himself to be without you. Every time he stepped into the abandoned apartment, the scene of you leaving him played over and over in his head. It wasn’t until your friend had picked up all your stuff he realised how imprinted you were in the apartment. It didn’t feel like home to him anymore.

The apartment was, in theory, Satoru’s. In the beginning, you spent the night every now and then. But the relationship was just so intense, quickly escalating to spending the night, every night. Eventually you both figured it was just better you moved in, so you wouldn’t have to travel in between places for small necessities. As time went on, your stuff and decor brought new life to the place, something he had wanted for a long time but never taken the time to do. But now every trace of your time in his apartment was erased and he couldn’t stand being there.

“She’s not telling me anything, Satoru,” Suguru sighed as he was continuously begging him to spill whatever he had heard from you. Throughout your relationship, it was only natural for you to get to know his friends. Therefore, Suguru had reached out to you once he learned what had happened. But much to Satoru’s dismay, you gave short replies, only answering out of pure politeness.

“She’s a chatty person, I find it hard to believe she’s sending you one-word texts.”

With a sigh, Suguru threw his phone at him, taking Satoru by surprise. “Have a look for yourself.” Suguru didn’t have to ask him twice as he instantly entered the texts exchanged between the two of you. Not only did you answer shortly, but you took your sweet time sending any form of reply. But once he saw the last message he had received from you was yesterday, his heart did a small jump. It was the first sign he’d seen himself that you were even alive.

y/n: doing fine. hope you have a nice weekend too :)

His eyes kept staring at the small screen, fighting the urge to start typing anything just to be in contact with you. After a while, he reluctantly handed the phone back to Suguru.

“Happy now?” Suguru asked, earning him a cold glare from Satoru. “If I’m gonna be honest, I thought the two of you had been having issues for a while.” His glare instantly softened and his entire demeanour had changed into one of pure sadness.

“Come again?”

“You can’t be serious, Satoru?” Suguru asked tauntingly, his voice dripping with disappointment. “You hate work. I thought the first time you volunteered to stay after a meeting, you guys had been fighting and you were just being petty.”

“I’m not petty,” Satoru raced to defend himself.

“That’s beside the point!” Suguru said, rolling his eyes. “You know how you can get. I thought you just wanted to piss her off, but it kept happening. I tried asking you about it, but you just brushed it off every time.”

“I’m telling you, we were fine. There were no issues!”

“You keep saying that, but something changed. Satoru, do you remember the last time Shoko or I begged you to shut up about her?” Now that Suguru mentioned it, Satoru began to think about what Suguru had said and realised he was making a point.

He felt as if his heart was breaking all over again, to hear how even his friends had managed to pick up on his blatant disregard for his girlfriend, but it had managed to slip right by him. And because of that, the image of you, choked with tears because of him was forever burned into his mind.

“I just really want her back!” He stuttered, clearly in despair which caught Suguru off guard. For all the times Satoru had explained the situation to his friends, he had never really let his emotions show to anyone. He kept all that locked up until he was sound in his bed, when he couldn’t keep it together anymore. Nearly every night since you’d left, he fell asleep crying.

“It’s not like you deserve it.”

Satoru scoffed. “I never meant for this to happen, Suguru." He really didn’t appreciate his closest friend going against him on the matter, even though he was fully aware it was what he deserved.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” his friend shrugged. “But it did. This is the bed you made, it’s time you lay in it.” Every word that left Suguru’s mouth was entirely true, and Satoru hated himself for it. Ever since he last saw you, he had tried to convince himself this wasn’t his fault, that there was no way for him to have seen this coming. But every time he went down that road, he came to the same conclusion that he could have avoided it a hundred times over.

Satoru was definitely blaming himself enough, to the point where he was in no mood to sit there and listen to his friend spew statements of how badly he screwed up, so he got up from his seat and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

He didn’t even bother answering Suguru, as he slammed the door behind him as he left.

⋆⭒˚｡⋆

It had been the longest and most dreadful 35 days of your life. Luckily, your friend had been kind enough to open her home to you and put absolutely no pressure for you to leave anytime soon.

She’d been asleep when you came banging on her door in the middle of the night, extremely confused at first when you had just collapsed into a bundle of sobs on her living room floor. Once she’d wiped the sleep out of her eyes, she had managed to decipher your broken words into a coherent narrative about how you and Satoru had broken up.

The first week was definitely the worst, huddled up on her couch in a blanket, only getting up to go to the bathroom. She had provided you with whatever you needed; ice cream, movies and takeout. You name it, and she brought it.

You were thankful she’d just let you have some time to be a complete mess before being forced to deal with life again. So after the first week, she started to pull you out of you comfort zone in order for you to start a healing process. At first, she just had you help her cook dinner, then she brought you along to shop for groceries. Before you knew it, you found yourself doing your makeup again which seemed like a huge step. Finally you were putting in some effort in making yourself feel a little better. It felt like a breath of fresh air when you returned to a form of normalcy.

That didn’t mean it hurt any less. In the moments you found yourself thinking about your relationship — past relationship — the sadness struck you all over again, and it didn’t seem like it would fade away just yet. But it had at least become manageable, and it was nice falling asleep without sobbing to the point where you couldn’t breathe.

Finally, your progress had resulted in the first social outing since the breakup. Your friend had been invited to a barbecue, and she had begged for you to join her. After some convincing, you decided it would actually be nice to go out and meet some people and regain some of the social life you had lost.

That’s how you found yourself in the grocery store, trying to find anything to bring to the barbecue, not wanting to come empty handed. You stopped your search when you felt a pair of eyes staring at you. Turning to face the person, you immediately froze, your breath hitching in your throat.

A few feet from you, Satoru was standing, his mouth slightly hanging open. You felt your heart begin to race, banging against your chest like a hummingbird.

Time stood still as you both stared at each other, wondering who would be the one to break the ice first. Wrapping your arms around yourself in comfort, you tightened your grip to contain the overwhelming feelings filling your body.

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“You didn’t see his face, y/n. I mean, he has never been embarrassed like that before,” Satoru laughed. He had his arm tossed over your shoulders, while your arm was wrapped around his waist, stumbling down the deserted street. It was definitely not unlike the two of you to leave a party early, as you both much more preferred only each others company.

“Why didn’t you come and get me?” You whined. “I would have loved to see a girl get Suguru all flustered.”

“I mean, she was hot too. Way out of his league.” With the hand resting in his waist, you pinched hard.

“Watch it mister!” You growled, but in reality you were chocking back the drunk giggle that was bubbling up inside you. “If she was so hot, why don’t you go see if she wants to join you for the night.” You shrugged his arm off your shoulders, and released your grip on him. However, he was quick to grab ahold of your hand again and pulled you towards him so you collided with his chest.

“Oh, don’t be like that, pretty girl.” His voice was teasing you, clearly not taking your fake anger seriously. He wrapped one arm around your waist, making it impossible for you to pull away. The other hand grabbed your face before he began to place a bunch of kisses all over your face.

“Satoru!” You squealed in between giggles. Pressing your hands against his chest, you tried to push him away and get out of his grip, but to no prevail.

“What? You don’t want my kisses?” He pouted, loosening his grip, but you remained close to him. “Maybe that girl is interested in them instead?.” His eyes were so soft as he looked down on you, a small genuine smile dancing on his lips. Even with his playful attitude, you had zero concern he would even consider going back to her.

“You’re a funny guy, aren’t you?” You hooked your arms around his neck, standing on your tiptoes leaning in closer.

“I think I'm hilarious.” Your nose brushed against his, your lips only an inch apart. His hot breath touched your skin, and his eyes travel your face.

“What makes you think she’d even go for you, darling?” His head fell back in laughter, as you flashed him a huge grin, still hanging on around his neck.

“Suguru’s a handsome guy. If I were her-“

“Shut up,” Satoru cut you off before he finally connected his lips with yours in a sweet and passionate kiss. The butterflies went wild as you felt him smile into the kiss. “Doesn’t matter anyway. You’re the only girl I have eyes for.” He said after he reluctantly pulled away.

“Keep it that way,” you giggled before pulling him in for another kiss.

⋆⭒˚｡⋆

It was strange to see him again, and a new sensation of melancholy entertained you. From the second you’d left his apartment, you began to picture what it would be like to see him again. You imagined you’d be struck with the same sorrow of that night, only thinking of how he had been unable to provide for your needs. But you found yourself only thinking of the good memories you had shared with him. Every sweet affirmation, every gentle touch, just in general the time spent together.

“Hi,” you croaked, observing how his body was brought back to reality at the sound of your voice. He took a few steps closer and removed his signature sunglasses. Seeing his captivating eyes in person for the first time in so long made you tighten the grip around yourself even more, if that was even possible.

“Hey.” His voice didn’t have the same unease as yours, but it was visible on his stance he wasn’t as confident as he usually was. “What brings you here?”

“To the grocery store?”

“Yeah, what brings you to the grocery store?” Satoru repeated awkwardly, trying to play off his weak attempt to make small talk, his cheeks turning to a faded shade of pink.

“Well, I’m going to a barbecue party so just wanted to bring something.”

“Barbecue party. Fun!”

Seeing you again was overwhelming for him as well, and created a twinge of hurt within him. You looked so different from the last time he saw you. There was a hint of a glow in you he hadn’t seen in a long time, and it hit him again that he was the one who had smothered that glow in you in the first place.

Satoru knew he couldn’t continue to lie to himself much longer, and seeing you again was what made him realise that. Right now, looking at you wearing a cute summer dress, looking absolutely stunning, he saw the extreme contrast in your person compared to a month ago. He finally had a clear visual of how his ignorance had truly damaged you, when time away from him had brought a new form of life into you.

What was even worse, was how he could still see the love you had for him in your eyes. From the moment you had gotten together, one could never have doubted the fact that you loved Satoru Gojo. And you’re unwavering love for him had made him feel so safe and seen, like he’d never experienced before. Which was probably the reason he’d let everything get to this point. He knew your feelings for him wouldn’t change if he stayed late a few times, because you never hesitated to show your affection. He just took it for granted he did the same. To him, it wasn’t a question if he was entirely devoted to you, since he was so adamant that he was willing to do absolutely anything for you. He just sort of figured he had given you the same reassurance he’d received. But looking back, he could clearly see that wasn’t the case.

“I hope it’ll be,” you said with a weak smile and his heart fluttered instantly.

“I thought you weren’t big on barbecues though,” he dared chuckle a little.

“I'm not, but figured it was a good opportunity to meet some people.”

He so wanted to reach out his hand and cup your soft cheek, slowly stroking his thumb while his other hand intertwined with yours.

“How are you?” He blurted out, asking the question he had dreaded the answer to.

“Well, I’ve been better,” you stuttered. “But getting there I suppose. Taking it one day at a time. You?”

Whatever dumb thing he thought of answering, trying to conceal how broken he had been the past month, would do no good as you would see right through him. He simply shrugged, which was received by a compassionate, yet sad smile from you.

“You look great, by the way,” he gestured towards you, causing you to blush.

“Thank you,” you whispered, not able to peer your eyes off of him. He was still as gorgeous as ever, but he didn’t look the same. He clearly wasn’t sleeping well, dark circles under his eyes. Knowing him, he probably wasn’t eating well either. But his snow white hair fell the same way, and his eyes looked at you the way they always did. “I have to get going.”

“Wait-“ Satoru quickly interjected, stepping closer again so he was only standing two feet away from you. “Would you like to grab coffee or something sometime?” He sounded so unbelievably innocent, almost like a child as he made his suggestion. He anxiously waited for your answer, his shoulders tense with anticipation.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Gojo.” He flinched ever so slightly at the use of his last name, something you’d never done in the span of your relationship. It created a new distance between the two of you that felt untouchable.

“Don’t you think we could both benefit from talking about everything? I mean, things ended very abruptly-“ he quickly shut up when your friend joined your side, pure fury written all over her.

His posture changed, immediately portraying more confident. He seemed now like the Satoru everyone knew, but you saw through his façade.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than torture this poor girl?”

“We were simply chatting.” Satoru tried to play it cool by flashing your friend a smug grin, but it only seemed to fuel the fire.

“Suddenly have time for her now?” He squinted at her comment, knowing it was more than called for. It didn’t stop the urge he had to fire back at her. “Hope your job promotes you, so it’s all worth it at least.”

“I don’t see how this concerns you,” he replied, trying to keep a considerate tone, but you knew better than to think it was genuine.

“It concerns me when she’s absolutely inconsolable, bawling her eyes out in my apartment.” Your friend didn’t need to go into further detail for him to get a pretty clear picture of the scene. He had, after all, been unfortunate enough to witness it himself.

“I just want a few words with y/n alone,” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. Your friend was about to continue to argue, but you placed a hand on her shoulder, signaling for her to put down her pitchfork.

“It’s okay,” you took a deep breath. “Just wait by the register and I’ll be with you shortly.” She gave one last stern look in Satoru’s direction before doing as you requested.

Looking at Satoru, his cocky expression had disappeared the second your friend had turned a corner. It felt so bittersweet, seeing the kind person you knew inside out, standing before you so fragile. Old habits die hard, and you felt yourself fighting the urge to stroke his cheek and comfort him.

“Y/n, I just feel like there is a lot of stuff that we’ve left unsaid.” His calm, cool and collected manner had been thrown out the window and he resembled himself the evening of the breakup. “I never got to say my piece or apologise properly.”

“I know,” was all you said, using every fiber of your body to seem levelheaded. You observed how he constantly tried to reach out for you, but stopped himself every time out of respect.

“Believe me when I say, I truly am sorry. I’ve never regretted anything more.”

“I know,” you repeated, same calm tone.

“Maybe it would give us a chance to heal properly if everything is out in the open. So we both know exactly what the other is thinking.”

“Gojo-“

“No, please, listen. I know I messed up and I really want to fix this!” He rambled on, his desperation resembling the one from that night

“Gojo-“

“Maybe even there’s a chance for us-“

“Satoru,” you said sternly, finally silencing his tangent. Your eyes flickered between his as you saw him trying to find the focus to calm his breathing. “Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

You saw the heartbreak wash over him, his shoulders falling in disappointment as he whispered your name. You’d missed hearing him speak it with such tender care.

“I am finally starting to get back on track. I’ve even started looking for an apartment,” you said with a sad chuckle. You wanted to show him, and yourself, that you had gotten to the point that you could at least manage to not completely breakdown when you were out in public. “I stand by what I said that night.”

“And you should! You deserve to be loved, and I can be that person. I am that person! There has never been a moment where I haven’t loved you.”

“Satoru, stop it.” You raised your voice slightly. “This is not the time or place for this.” It seemed as it wasn’t until now he was reminded of where you were standing. You gathered up the courage and walked up to him, carefully placing your hand on his cheek. The second you felt his cheek against your hand, you felt as if your skin was on fire.

Satoru didn't hesitate eitherm to place his big hand over yours as hea leaned into your touch. His eyes became glossy, realising how much he had craved feeling your skin against him again. “I just think I need to be the most important person in my life for a while.” He slowly began to nod in agreement, and you heard his breath began to quicken like it had done previously.

He licked his lips, trying to find his words. “See you around then?” His voice was unsteady and his chin quivered.

“Yeah, probably,” you spoke sadly. You let your hand fall from his face, but he held onto your hand until you were too far away. In a way, it felt as if both of you were aware that your story wasn’t over just yet. Satoru was right, there was a lot of stuff still left out in the open which made you believe there were still chapters to be written, whether they were good or bad. But it brought you some form of comfort.

Drying the single tear that had fallen from your eye, you turned away and began to walk away. “You look beautiful, darling,” he said, making your head turn one last time. You gave him a sad smile before he disappeared out of view.

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tags: @alisstaa

a/n: oh my, thank you guys so much for all the positive feedback on part one. it is greatly appreciated and really motivates me to write. that being said, i am not as happy with part two as part one but i rewrote it like two times and i guess it's alright. its more important you like it rather than i. hope you guys like it, and again thank you guys so so much for the feedback. reblogs, comments are greatly valued

Plagiarism not authorized

[leclerc-hs]

lucky pt. 2 - cl16

Pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader Summary: in which you and your childhood best friend, are most definitely in love, but it's too complicated (or is it?) Warnings: most french edited by @softtdaisy (shoutout to her!!), SMUT, angst, 18+, not proofread Word Count: 2,695 Author's Note: I absolutely loved writing this!! I know I said I would wait for the poll to end but I think we can just do bonus scenes in the future if wanted!! xoxo PART 1 BONUS

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

“Imbécile,” Idiot. Arthur throws a piece of his balled-up napkin, hitting you right in the face. “Maman wants you there, pas d’excuses.” No excuses.

It had been almost two weeks since you and Charles last spoke. The both of you far too stubborn to bring up the argument you last had. Instead, you ignored the problem at hand. By not seeing each other. Sunday dinner at Pascale’s was a weekly occurrence. One that you failed to attend last week, and it was shame on you if you missed another because of Charles.

You release a heavy sigh, acknowledging that you’re about to yield and head over to Pascale’s. After all, it’s not entirely her fault that her son seems to be obvlious to certain things. 

“Il est fou amoureux de toi!” He is in love with you! Arthur exclaims softly as he notices your eyes won’t stray from the icy window of the café you are both seated in. You felt your throat tighten at the phrase.

“Ce n’est pas grave, Arthur,” It doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter. Him being in love with you wasn’t always enough, or so you thought. He could barely commit to his ex-girlfriend. Could he commit to you? You couldn’t handle losing him if it didn’t work out. It was a recipe for disaster to begin with.

The two of you didn’t realize how dark it was already getting. Meaning you were for sure late to Pascale’s.

“Tu viendras avec moi?” Will you come with me?

“Bien sur.” Of course. You couldn’t not go. One, because you knew nothing but seeing Pascale will put a smile on your face. Two, Arthur wouldn’t let you leave this café without dragging you to his Maman’s first. 

It was a short drive from the café to Pascale’s place. The limited size of the principality made the journey quick, allowing you to take in the charming scenery along the way. As you approached Pascale’s home, a smile graced your lips at the sight of the festive decorations adorning the steps.

Pascale’s touch was evident in the small Christmas trees, their lights casting a warm glow that sparkled beside the front door. The holiday spirit infused the air, creating a sense of coziness and anticipation. 

The warmth of Pascale’s home enveloped you as Arthur swung the door open. His hand gently found its place on the small of your back, guiding you inside with a gesture that spoke of familiarity and care.

He assisted you in shedding the layers of clothes you wore. Your scarf and jacket were in his hands, swiftly finding their place on the nearby coat rack. Amidst the exchange, laughter bubbled up, a spontaneous reaction to the slightly comical struggle Arthur faced in unraveling the scarf from your neck.

The sound of shared laughter echoed through the entrance and into the home, allowing the others to become alert of your presence.

“Que se passe t’il?” What’s going on? You felt your laugh stop almost instantly.

Charles’ question hung in the air, and for a moment you were caught off guard. The warmth of Pascale’s cozy home surrounded you, but the sudden seriousness in his tone made you pause. You looked into his eyes, searching for any hints of the playful banter that usually characterized your interactions.

He stood not too far away, a soft white hoodie and a casual pair of jeans on. You felt your heart clench with want. You missed him. You wanted to hug him and never let go.

“Rien, juste une journée un peu folle,” Nothing, just a bit of a crazy day. You replied with a sheepish smile. Your attempt to brush off the question with a casual response didn’t escape Charles notice. He studied your face for a moment, trying to decipher your emotions. 

Arthur, sensing some tension, guided you towards the living room and past Charles. As you both settled into the inviting cushions, the crackling sounds from the fireplace filled the room with a soothing rhythm.

Pascale entered the room carrying two glasses of wine. “Ma fille,” My girl she says, a term of endearment feeling much like a warm embrace to you. Pascale handed you one of the glasses with a tender smile, sealing the gesture with a gentle kiss on your cheek. 

Charles’s unease didn’t go unnoticed as he took a seat on the sofa across from you and Arthur. The atmosphere seemed charged with tension, and Pascale’s seemingly casual question carried a weight that went beyond mere curiosity.

“Est-ce que tu vois quelqu’un?” Are you seeing anybody? Pascale asked, her tone gentle but perceptive. The question, on the surface, appeared to be a routine inquiry about your romantic life. However, the underlying context hinted at a concern born out of a missed dinner and deviation from the usual routine. 

The atmosphere in the room shifted as you became acutely aware of Charles’s intense gaze beside Pascale. Seated on the couch, his eyes bore into you with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the very core of your being. His eyes, like embers, conveyed a myriad of emotions – curiosity, intensity, and perhaps a touch of scrutiny. 

“Maman, laisse-la tranquille,” Leave her alone. Arthur speaks before you can. A sense of relief filling you up as you take a large gulp of the red wine in your glass.

Pascale scrunches her eyes at Arthur, poised to deliver a retort that only she knows. However, before any words escape her lips, the timer in the kitchen interrupts the moment. “Arthur, viens m’aider.” Come help me. Arthur gives you a sympathetic look before leaving the room following Pascale. 

Lost in thought, your gaze fixates on the flickering flames within the fireplace. The dancing firelight casts shadows that capture your attention, creating a mesmerizing display that seems more captivating than acknowledging a brooding Charles, seated across from you.

“Tu ne peux pas m’ignorer éternellement,” You can’t ignore me forever. His voice interrupts your train of thought, gently pulling you back into the present moment.

The solitary sentence prompts an immediate eye roll from you. How dare he? How dare he pretend that you’re the only one at fault?

“Ne lève pas les yeux au ciel en me regardant,” Don’t roll your eyes at me. The atmosphere shifted as he rose from his seat on the couch, undoubtedly making his way to occupy the now vacant spot beside you. However, the nature of his touch became more intimate than you anticipated. His hands ventured onto your thigh, traveling higher than the boundaries of a typical friendship would permit. 

In a disconcerting turn of events, his other hand gripped your jaw, redirecting your gaze to meet his. The sudden change in physical proximity and the assertiveness of his actions left palpable tension in the air.

“Vas y,” Make me. You provoked him deliberately, seeking to burrow beneath his skin, much like he had already done under yours.

“Viens chez moi.” Come home with me. It wasn’t posed as a question; rather, it was a firm demand – one you were aware you would yield to. You didn’t need to articulate your response; he could discern it just by the slow flicker of your eyes to his. Without another word, you withdrew your chin from his hands and stood up, making your way into the kitchen, and leaving him behind. 

“Nous avons des choses à discuter.” We have more to discuss. You hear him say loud enough for you to hear but low enough for no one else to hear before you cross into the threshold of the kitchen. 

🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️

Discuss.

You laughed mentally at the word. You and Charles were indisputably not engaging in anything resembling a discussion, that much was certain. Unless you consider the dirty phrases, he’s whispering in your ear a discussion.

“Tu es tellement sexy,” You’re so hot. Charles moans into your mouth as he pushes you onto his unmade bed, falling with you in the process. Both of your clothes were long gone— strewn along the pathway you took from his front door to his bed. “Faite pour moi, putain.” Fucking made for me.

He didn’t know where to look, darting from your thighs to your lips to your unforgettable eyes. His jaw flexed as he let out a soft growl deep in his chest as his finger hooked into the band of your delicate silk panties and ripped them from your body. “Je t’en achèterai advantage.” I’ll buy you more. 

He was so impatient. Couldn’t even wait until he tossed your panties to the side before his mouth was on your center. You gasped as his lips enveloped your sensitive clit and getting a full taste of you. He moaned, dipping his tongue inside of you.

You really believed you could die right here and now. He pulled away momentarily just to look at you, glistening and moaning beneath him. It was a sight he wanted to burn in his memory forever. 

“Tu me rends fou." You drive me insane.

You couldn’t stop moaning. You wanted to tell him that he was the one who drove you insane. That the feeling was more than mutual. But you were incoherent with pleasure. Incapable of words.

He curved two fingers inside of you, almost instantly rubbing your g-spot. “Yeah?” He edged you on. His words alone pushing you to the threshold of your orgasm. “Tu aimes ça?” You like that?

His words were nearly as perilous as his touch. He was smirking above you like the cocky motherfucker he was. You felt delusional as his fingers stroked your g-spot continuously that when he flipped you over and pulled you up to your knees, you let out a shriek of surprise. 

You felt your orgasm closing in as he refused to let up on the assault of your clit. Your orgasm came so fast, you couldn’t even warn Charles before you were trembling all over his fingers.

“Oui, soak me.” Your orgasm was explosive, you could feel your legs shaking. Before you could even recover from the last orgasm, Charles was bringing his fingers that were coated in you to his mouth.

“J'ai vraiment besoin de toi,” I really need you. You muttered softly. The confession so raw. It made Charles heart clench with need to ravish you completely. To ruin you for anybody else.

His grip on your hips tightened as he slipped himself inside of you, eliciting a loud groan. “Mon dieu,”My God.  He moaned. “Tu me fais me sentir si bien,” You make me feel so good.

Your pussy clenched tightly around him at his words. His breaths were jagged and heavy in your ear as he took you harder and harder. 

“Ma salope,” My slut. He groaned, bottoming himself out. “My lucky.”

He could tell that you were there already again, the way you were squeezing him so tight and the clench of your hands trying to support you on the mattress. 

“C’est si bien que ça?,” Is it that nice? “Gonna come for me?”

You did. Your eyes wet with tears from the intensity as his hands squeezed your hips, leaving bruises. He didn’t stop the assault on your pussy, kept pounding into you. He was ruthless.

He threw his head back with a string of curses before pressing soft kisses to your back. He didn’t bother to pull out. He wanted you full of him. In all ways, shapes, and forms. He was selfish. You were thankfully on the pill. He held himself there for a few moments before pulling out and rolling you over to your back so you could face him. He buried his face into your neck, leaving small gentle kisses as you both caught your breath. 

Eventually Charles was able to find the strength to stand and clean you up, pressing a warm cloth to your center as he peppered small kisses to the inside of your thighs. You felt your heart flutter as he tossed the cloth into the hamper and joined you back in the bed, pulling you into his chest under the covers.

You could feel his mind was running a million miles a minute as he traced small circles on your skin. He wanted to ask if you went on any other dates. But he couldn’t handle if you said yes. 

“Qu’est-ce que tu as en tête?” What’s on your mind? You asked.

You were preparing for yet another fight. There was no escaping it any longer. The only sound that filled the air was both of your breathing.

“Je veux que tu sois mienne.” I want you to be mine. As you lay on his chest, you sensed his heartbeat quickening. In response, a soft laugh escaped you, uncertain of how to reply. The weight of your reaction hung heavy in the air, adding more pressure. 

You had to put a stop to this. You felt the panic constricting your throat. You couldn’t continue down this path with him. As you tried to sit up and distance yourself from Charles, his hand swiftly seized your arm, compelling you back towards him. He was determined to make you stay, refusing to let you escape from this conversation any longer.

“Non, arête de fuir le sujet,” No, stop running away from it. He insisted, urging you to stop evading it.  “Il sait déjà que tu m’aimes,” I already know that you love me. He declared, his words rushing out of him uncontrollably. It was as if he couldn’t halt the flow, a sense of panic palpable in his voice. 

You loved him; it wasn’t a secret. Fear held you back. The thought of losing him permanently if things didn’t work out was too daunting. So, you’ve tried to maintain a distance, but it was futile. It was as if he had become your vital source of oxygen – indispensable. You found yourself inextricably linked; your souls entwined. 

“Je ne veux pas te perdre!” I don’t want to lose you. You felt the words rush out of your mouth in a frenzy. His touch, his stare, this conversation was all too much to handle. 

“Je t’aime!” I love you! He repeated it over and over. He wouldn’t stop. You could see the anger forming in his face with each proclamation he made. He was angry. Why wouldn’t you listen? Why wouldn’t you believe him?

“Je suis bien avec toi!” I feel good when I’m with you!

“Tu me plait!” You make me happy!

“J’ai envie de t’embrasser!” I want to kiss you!

“Sans toi, je ne suis rien!” Without you, I am nothing!

“Tu es l’amour de ma vie!” You’re the love of my life!

“Je veux passer ma vie avec toi!” I want to spend my life with you!

“Mon dieu, I even breathe better when I’m with you.”

Tears spilled from your eyes, but he persisted, like a broken record playing an urgent message. His need for you to understand was palpable. He laid bare his soul, expressing that if it wasn’t for you, it would be no one. The pain in his chest mirrored the intensity of his emotions.

His hands held you tightly, rendering you incapable of moving. He needed you close. In response, you brought your hands to his face, swiftly pressing your lips against his.

You felt him grab your face during the kiss, his thumbs brushing the tears from your eyes in the process. 

“You’re mine. My lucky,” he broke the kiss. “You’ve always been mine.”

Your gazes locked, and you held each other’s eyes for an extended moment, as if attempting to decipher the entirety of each other’s thoughts through this intense connection.

“Oui?” He asked softly, seeking confirmation. He needed to hear you say you were his, a moment he had been waiting for his entire life.  He knew he had you now. But he wanted your words.

You recognized there was no longer an option to escape. You belonged to him, and it wasn’t up for discussion. He possessed your heart and soul entirely. You knew that you needed to take a risk. A risk for him. 

You nodded your head slowly, “Oui.”

TAG LIST: @harrysdimple05 @rachyroo-99 @rana030

[fluentmoviequoter]

Quit for a Reason

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!wife!reader (ex-agent turned neurosurgeon)

Summary: When a suspect begins looking for you while you perform a surgery, Tim finds out why you quit your job in law enforcement.

Warnings: descriptive fight scene and injuries (stabbing), neurology terminology, depiction of brain surgery (not overly graphic), angst to fluff

Word Count: 2.1k+ words

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

Picture from Pinterest

“I have to work a double shift today,” Tim complains, wrapping his arms around your shoulders as he pulls you closer.

“How will I survive?” you ask playfully, turning to kiss his cheek.

“That’s what you miss most, right? The unpredictable hours, the sleepless nights. Paradise for a cop.”

“Yeah. That’s what I miss about being an agent,” you agree with a smile. “Definitely not all of the times I got to see you throughout the day.”

“Uncalled for. I’ll try to call if I get a chance.”

“I’ve got a couple surgeries today, so I may not answer. Nothing personal.”

“Feels personal.”

Your smile falls, and Tim immediately catches your shifting mood.

“How are you?” he asks. “I know it’s been a while since you switched careers, but making a change that big can’t be easy.”

“I- I’m still helping people, I know that. Just, some days it feels like I made a mistake.”

“You had your reasons.”

“Are you-“

“Mad that you haven’t talked about what happened? Not at all. It’s your life, your decision, and if or when you want to tell me, you already know you have my support. You were the best agent and now you’re the best neurosurgeon. I’m with you,” Tim answers, tapping your wedding ring as he says he’s with you.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you.”

✯✯✯✯✯

As you prepare for your first surgery of the day, you force any thoughts of Tim out of your mind, focusing entirely on the job at hand.

“Dr. Bradford,” a nurse calls, running down the hallway. “We’ve got a cop in the ER with a brain herniation. He needs emergency surgery.”

“Get Dr. Davidson to operate on the patient in OR 2,” you command. “I’ll perform the emergency. Have someone get the rest of my scheduled patients seen to!”

You run down the hall, praying and begging for it not to be Tim. You’ve operated on many cops, and you hate when any of them come into the hospital. When you don’t know who it is, though, you immediately worry about Tim.

“Dr. Bradford,” one of the ER nurses calls. “We’ve got the OR prepped.”

“Who’s the officer?” you ask, pushing a door open to sanitize and prepare for the surgery.

“Detective Caradine,” he answers. “The first opinion is a brain herniation.”

“What type?”

“Unknown.”

“Let Detectives Harper and Lopez know that he’s in surgery,” you say before securing your mask and entering the operating room.

As you begin operating, looking for the source of the problem, memories of your time as a law enforcement officer in one of these rooms threaten to break your focus.

“What caused the unconsciousness and loss of brainstem reflexes?” you ask one of the nurses.

“Head injury during an altercation with a suspect according to the officers who brought him in,” she answers.

“The officers brought him in? Not an ambulance?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“The brain stem is compressed,” you deduce. “Upward transtentorial herniation. We need to get the pressure of his brain tissue to relax the posterior ventricles before it’s irreversible.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“Detective Harper? Detective Lopez?” Celina calls. “A doctor at Shaw Memorial just called. Caradine is in emergency surgery.”

“What happened?” Nyla demands.

“He hit his head during a fight, I believe. Lost consciousness.”

“Who’s the surgeon?” Angela asks.

“Uh, Dr. Bradford,” Celina reads. “Wait-“

“Yeah, it’s Tim’s wife,” Nyla answers.

✯✯✯✯✯

You move the scalpel away from a new incision just before a gunshot echoes. Closing your eyes briefly, you continue working, demanding one of the nurses to block the door.

“Someone is looking for him, I’d guess,” you say. “But I need all of you to stay calm and focused on this patient or get out of the way. I won’t hold it against you if you walk away and stay at the side.”

One of the nurses takes your offer, moving to the corner and sitting on the floor.

“The rest of you are with me?”

“Yes, doctor,” they answer.

You nod, looking for the brain tissue causing the brain stem compression.

“Nurse,” you call to the woman in the corner. “If you have your phone, call 911 and let them know.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“Sergeant Bradford,” Wade says. “We’ve got a situation that you may want to know about.”

“What is it?” Tim replies.

“Caradine’s in surgery at Shaw, and your wife is operating. But we’ve got armed suspects in the hospital. We assume they’re looking for him, but with her past I thought you’d want to know.”

“Her past?” Tim repeats. “What are you talking about?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Sergeant Grey, someone called the tip line,” Nolan interrupts. “With a threat against Caradine and Dr. Bradford.”

“What past?” Tim demands.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Uh, someone- one of the nurses in pediatrics just texted me,” the nurse alerts.

“And?” you press. “Never mind, save it. He’s going into cardiac arrest.”

“CSF drain is inserted, doctor. Beginning chest compressions.”

“I’m removing a skull fragment, unless anyone has an objection,” you alert.

“Do it,” one of the new residents agrees. “CSF is draining, but not fast enough. If there’s going to be a chance of his recovery, we need to keep that swelling away from his medulla, or he’ll lose breathing and blood flow, correct?”

“Correct, and well done. I’m starting the removal now.”

“Doctor Bradford,” the nurse in the corner repeats. 

“What?” you ask, your voice short as your attention is focused elsewhere.

 “There’s a man with a gun looking for you and the patient. Someone called the police but-“

“Nothing we can do now. Stay over there and stay quiet.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“I’m not sure it’s my place to show you this,” Wade argues.

“Just press the button. My wife’s life is at stake and if there’s any chance this will help me save her, I’m watching it.”

Wade sighs as he presses play. A grainy security cam feed comes on, showing a warehouse. The date catches Tim’s attention: almost ten years ago.

You walk into the warehouse, responding to a noise complaint. Unable to hear a thing besides your footsteps, you call out, asking if anyone is inside. Pulling your radio from your hip, you tell dispatch it was a false alarm.

As you lower the radio, someone moves in the shadows, knocking the radio out of your hand and tackling you to the floor. A blade glints in the minimal light of the building, raised over your throat before you push it away, grunting in pain as you flip, your knees hitting the concrete beneath you.

Tim’s breath catches, unable to look away as he watches you fight for your life. He forgets that this video is a decade old, when you were still dating, and his worry for you builds as if you’re currently engaged in this fight.

You slip, falling forward as the man takes advantage, pushing you onto your back and kneeling against your legs. As you lean toward him, he plunges the knife into your torso. Your pained scream fills Wade’s office, and as the knife is removed and inserted again, your scream changes into an adrenaline-filled yell as you shove the man off of you, standing with the knife hanging from your stomach as you push him against the wall. After handcuffing him to a nearby post, you crawl across the floor and radio for an R/A before collapsing.

“How did I not know about this? We were dating!” Tim exclaims. “I should have done something, anything!”

“Clearly, she didn’t want you to know, didn’t want to talk about it at least. But now you have a chance to do something, Tim,” Wade replies. “Go help her out of this mess.”

✯✯✯✯✯

With the lights and sirens on, Tim races to the hospital as fast as he can. His mind plays through memories of you. The canceled dates around the time of the attack, followed by clinginess and a deep need to constantly be around Tim, begin to make sense. More than that, Tim can’t remember the last time he saw your stomach; what he mistook for insecurity or modesty was likely hiding scars. Alone in his shop, he knows he must remind you that he loves you, no matter your scars, career choice, or what you do and don’t share with him. He knows you had a reason to keep it to yourself, but he knows better than most how dangerous it can be to keep your pain, your scars, and your fear to yourself.

Silencing the sirens as he approaches the hospital entrance, Tim rushes past the barricade, his mind on protecting you and Caradine.

✯✯✯✯✯

“That’s all we can do for him,” you say. “How are his vitals?”

“They’re steady,” the anesthesiologist answers. “His BP’s a little low, but it’s steady.”

“Caradine! Bradford!” someone yells down the hall. “Your time of reckoning is here!”

“Move him,” you demand. “Wheel everything toward the wall, away from the window.”

While you wait beside Caradine’s head, out of sight as you check his vitals and the new stitches lining his scalp, you hope that the LAPD are working on catching the man yelling for you.

“We need to wake him up,” the resident says. “If we don’t do it now…”

“He may not wake up,” you finish. “Go ahead.”

While the anesthesiologist and the resident begin working on restoring his consciousness, you move toward the door. Something knocks against it as you approach.

“I’m coming in to finish it this time! Wasn’t expecting a two for one!” the man yells.

“Give me your phone,” you ask the nurse, quickly dialing a number you'll never forget. 

“Bradford,” Tim answers.

“Tim,” you say quietly. “Caradine knew his name. It’ll be in a file.”

“Yours?” he asks.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I’ll have Harper find it. I’m in the hospital; where are you?”

“Emergency OR 1. Tim, be careful.”

“I will. But you need to be careful, too. I love you.”

“I love you.”

The call ends, and you press yourself against the wall as you listen to the man who tried to kill you once get in to try again.

“LAPD, show me your hands!” an officer yells outside.

“Step away from the door!” Tim adds.

You sigh at the sound of his voice, but when someone yells “No!” you have an idea of what will happen.

“Everybody down!” you call, shielding Caradine as a few bullets rip through the door.

The noise in the hall dies nearly immediately. You take a shaky breath as you check yourself and Caradine for new injuries.

“Let me in,” Tim says at the door.

You nod at the nurse closest to the door. Tim rushes in, pressing a hand to your back.

“Get him to a room for observation,” you tell your operating team. “And then go home.”

Looking toward Tim as the room clears, you wrap your arms around his shoulders, pressing your chest to his.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” you whisper. “But, a few years ago...”

“Hey,” Tim interrupts, his arms hooked around your waist. “Wade showed me the video. But you still don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” you promise. “But can we go home first?”

“I was hoping you’d ask that.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Propped against an obnoxiously large pile of pillows, you tell Tim about what happened in the warehouse. He listens to every word, stiffening when he hears something that wasn’t in the video or your comments that thinking about getting back to him gave you something to fight for. As you finish the story, Tim pinches the hem of your shirt between his fingers, looking up at you for permission.

“You can,” you whisper.

He gently pushes your shirt to your waist, keeping his eyes on the scars littering your torso. Running a gentle finger across the largest of them, Tim frowns as you suppress a shiver.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur sadly.

“Not you,” Tim insists. “I’m sorry that I didn’t know, that I wasn’t here for you.”

“You were.”

Tim furrows his brows, and you pull his left hand from your stomach, showing him his wedding ring. “You gave me something to fight for, something to live for. And even without knowing why I quit, you knew that I had to have a good reason, and you supported me every step of the way. You love me, Tim, and you made sure I knew.”

“You don’t have to do it alone. I do love you, and I know you love me, but that’s not a reason to protect me from whatever you’re dealing with.”

Tim ducks his head to kiss your stomach, and you laugh, which causes him to smile and push himself up, rolling to your side to kiss you, showing you that he means every word he says.

[ofswordsandpens]

what do you think could’ve been done better regarding camp half-blood besides spending more time there/pacing? i’d love to hear your thoughts!

!! okay I know you're specifically asking for things that could have been done better beyond spending more time at CHB, but straight up that one issue is really the crux of everything. -- The time we spend at CHB before the quest in the show is half the time we do in the book. (And for a different frame of reference, the book is aprox. 40% over by the time the trio is leaving camp borders.)

And since the show runners halved the pre-quest chb runtime, as a result we lose quite a bit of content that helped to establish context, tone, foreshadowing, character dynamics etc.

Because we have to prioritize Percy and Luke's relationship in the show, it forces the rest of the relationships that were established in CHB in the book into the background, (or simply makes them none existent):

We have pretty much only ever been told verbally about Luke and Annabeth's bond by this point (episode 5). They have a two second interaction at camp that's not particularly noteworthy and that's that. Imo that's not particularly compelling story telling lol. We'll likely (hopefully) get something from episodes 6-8, but I maintain we still should've gotten something more substantial between Luke and Annabeth at camp. I've said before, at bare minimum the show should have had Luke see them off at Thalia's tree like he did in the book.

I've mentioned this before but Annabeth and Percy's dynamic had a much greater establishment in chb in the book because she's the one that's his guide at camp and she actively seeks him out more. In the show, we have to give this role to Luke and while I can give this change between book to screen more leeway because, yes, we have the entire quest to build Percy and Annabeth's dynamic, I still didn't like that it pretty much forced Annabeth into the periphery in the show. As a result, it made her seem a lot more distant and aloof than she ever was in the book. (Shoutout to Leah's armor strap improv, she's doing more for Annabeth than the show runners are).

2. We don't really get see the effects of Percy being claimed as Big Three Kid at camp:

Yeah, Percy moves into the new cabin in the show but then almost immediately after he's off on his quest. Meanwhile in the book, Percy's claimed as a big three kid... and then we see how it ostracizes him.

He misses being in the Hermes' cabin. Campers avoid him. He sleeps and eats alone now. He has to have solo lessons with Luke because the others are scared. He's miserable! And none of those experiences were translated to screen.

Again, they told us that big three kids are taboo, but have not shown that impact.

Like the difference in reaction during the claiming scene between the book and the show pretty much sums up this discrepancy.

3. General loss of foreshadowing and tone:

Because we don't get as much Annabeth, we lose how in the book, she had been aware that something was wrong with the gods and surmised that something was stolen long before the quest. She shared this with Percy. It was a great showcase of her intelligence. It helped set the tone that something was wrong before the quest even stared. And all of it just, didn't really make the cut.

The hellhound attack also didn't make it and its just another loss of foreshadowing. Luke was straight up trying to kill this kid from day one. Percy was not safe even at camp. Things weren't okay ever.

The weather! Yes the boundary keeps the weather mild at camp but in the book Percy remarks on the huge storms that surround them at one point. Before he leaves there's a storm so bad approaching that the campers are nervous. Even before he got to CHB there were "inexplicable" storms all the time. I wish this had been maintained in the show even beyond the camp. The gods, Zeus, they aren't happy.

Also, I tried rewatching the episodes to find this convo but I couldn't so please let me know if it's there somewhere but I don't think Luke conveyed anywhere in the show that his quest "messed things up" for anyone? Like, sure, they could include this at the end, but I think it's more impactful when we see more hints of his bitterness early on.

4. Minor Nitpicks + More things I miss:

Annabeth should have gotten soaked by Percy's Supreme Lord Bathroom moment like she did in the book. Percy had flooded the entire bathroom and she wasn't speared. In fact, Percy was the only person who wasn't wet.

The self-filling goblets in the book + the blue Coke moment.

I wish the show had Percy like, white knuckling his minotaur horn refusing to let it go. In the book he saw it as the last souvenir of his mother, refused to let anyone else hold, and was afraid it would be taken.

Rip Argus :(

[undressrehearsal]

right back where we started

summary: ellie is on tour as the opener for a popular band. she begrudgingly passes through the hometown that she had sworn she would never see again and runs into the one good thing she left behind.

tags: some sad stuff, ellie has daddy issues, mentions of alcohol, modern au, not rockstar ellie but that same kinda genre???, no smut in this one sorry this is all setting the scene, this is another shorter one 3.6k words

a/n: listen. I'm gonna level with yall. life's been fucking insane. it's been what 3 months since I posted something?? and it's because 1. my fiancée and I are buying a house 2. and planning a wedding 3. I work 45 hour weeks (at a job I hate so much omg) 4. I'm writing a book and 5. I'm preparing for a p major surgery (I go on tuesday)

so yeah, life's been insane. but I missed writing fics. I'm writing my book so I never stopped writing but writing a lil fun fic just hits different yk?

anyway enjoy and look forward to a few (I'm thinking 3?) parts of this

love yall. reply and lmk if you wanna be added to my tag list. also I'm posting this on my phone so the formatting might be fucked lmk

part 1

Ellie couldn’t remember the last time she had been in this city.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could remember exactly the last time she had been in this city. She had watched it disappear in her mirror when she had driven her bike west three years ago in search of the horizon. She had hoped she would find something more once she got there - more than the dingy dorm room she had loosely called home and the classes that had made her eyes glaze over; something more than playing at the bar’s open mic nights, her guitar hard to hear over the noisy din of drunk students and drunker professors; something more than a future that had been planned for her by the time she was in high school.

Her dad had kicked her out after she dropped out, of course, but that was fine. She had planned to leave that night anyway; she had kept a packed bag hidden underneath her bed for months. She hadn’t seen him in three years, either, and she planned to keep it that way.

But when she woke up and saw the city outside the bus window, silhouetted against the rising sun, something in her chest rose to her throat and refused to be swallowed back down.

She hadn’t missed it - but as she looked down at her shaking hands, Ellie figured her body must not have gotten that memo.

The band she was traveling with were still sleeping; she could hear the singer snoring in her bunk, could see the bassist's leg sticking out into the aisle. She had never been a morning bird - back at her shitbox apartment, you'd rarely catch her up before noon - but something about being stuck on a bus for days made her restless. It was her first time touring - after three years of playing at open mics and taking small jobs singing at the senior center - and she wasn't used to feeling her own bed constantly shifting beneath her.

Which is how she always ended up pacing the length of the bus, tapping her fingers against her thighs as the confined world around her slept, waiting desperately for the driver to pull off to whatever venue they had booked. She wasn't sure what the band did before their shows in the evenings, but she didn't stick around long enough to ask. Maybe it was rude, but she couldn't force herself to hang out with the band who only chose her because their usual opener had “flaked” on them - which was how they described it when the opener couldn't travel with them for several months after their mother had just died.

So, yeah, Ellie couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad about it when she rushed off the bus as soon as it parked, not even sticking around to let the band know where she was going. They wouldn't care either way. Hell, they were probably so hungover they wouldn't wake up until their show started in several hours.

The driver - his name was Zachary (never Zach) and he was the only one who paid her any mind - helped Ellie hoist her bike down from the rack on the back of the bus. The band had teased her about bringing it, bitching about how it showed she didn't want to hang out with them. She had been tempted to tell them they were right, but she couldn't really risk losing the first real gig she’d gotten. She lifted the seat and dug her helmet out, waving to Zachary as he disappeared back into the bus to get his own well-deserved rest.

The purr of the bike was a familiar comfort beneath her. Lowering the visor of her helmet to block out the sun, she squinted at the streets sprawled before her. She realized, with dizzying familiarity, that she was in the next neighborhood over from her old apartment. Hell, she had watched a few shows at the venue she was playing at - something in her stomach clenched.

Fuck, she needed coffee.

With the wind cold against her bare arms, Ellie let the world fly by, the city waking up around her. Her phone remained snuggly in her bag; she didn't need directions here, the familiar streets leading her down well-worn paths, winding all the way back to a life that was no longer hers.

It was muscle memory that led her back to the coffee shop she had frequented as a student. She looked up at it, a glow around its worn brick from the rising sun, and something tightened in her chest. They had replaced the patio chairs - the old ones had been practically falling apart three years ago - but otherwise it hadn't changed.

Ellie cursed under her breath, swallowing around the foreign lump in her throat, and climbed off her bike. When she took the steps two at a time, it felt like somebody else had taken the wheel. It was a familiar stranger that opened the door.

The smell hit her first. They say that scent has the strongest tie to memory, and the smell of burnt coffee beans hit her like a punch. There had always been a sweetness underneath it, something she had never been able to place but thought might be honey? When she stepped up to the counter, she could even smell the milk they were steaming.

The barista - a young girl with faded pink hair tied up into space buns - looked up from her phone and said, in a voice teetering on the edge between cheerful and bored, “How’s it going?”

Ellie took her in briefly, noting the brown corduroy overalls and the star-shaped nose ring, and was comforted knowing that this place was just as queer as she had left it. She would bet money on the fact that if she peeked over the counter, this girl would be wearing beat up Docs. She was young enough to be a student - probably an English major, if she had to guess.

She always ordered the same thing - iced mocha with oat milk. She had never understood why her dad drank his coffee black.

The barista - her tag said Dianna She/Her/Hers - eyed her as she rang Ellie up, brows quirked. When she smiled, dimples caved her cheeks. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you a student?”

Ellie fought the urge to groan - this girl was just trying to be friendly (and was probably trying to decide if Ellie’s flannel meant she was gay or was just a bad fashion choice), but the last thing she wanted to do after failing to sleep on a bus and waking up at the ass-crack of dawn was to make small talk.

Still, she smiled and said, “I used to be.”

She paid and stuffed the remainder of her cash into the tip jar. When Dianna thanked her, her cheeks were as pink as her hair. Ellie could feel her eyes lingering on her as she walked away, nodding awkwardly in thanks.

This place really hadn’t changed in three years. The coffee shop had a reputation of students writing all along the walls - over a decade ago, they had simply stopped trying to paint over it, so the walls were littered in signatures and drawings and claims of call this number for a good time. Scattered poetry was written along the edges of the windows, an incredibly detailed Sharpie drawing of a cat peeking over the top of the doorway. When she searched for it, she found that her own scrawled handwriting was still there, small letters where nobody would think to look, right underneath the thermostat: Find me where the sun sets east. Don’t forget me.

She swallowed the lump that threatened to choke her and stepped away. Her eyes stung from sleep deprivation and nothing more.

Ellie scanned the room and found that, to her annoyance, nearly every table was taken. Students huddled around notebooks and laptops, engrossed in their work or else on Netflix to avoid studying. Professors blinked wearily, clutching their own cups of coffee as though they were lifelines holding them to this realm. Ellie could see the spot she had frequented herself - a booth tucked by the window, where she could write her songs in a dingy notebook without anyone looking over her shoulder.

Now, there was a guy with his cheek pressed to the cold surface, snoring lightly.

Ellie jumped when Dianna called her name, holding out a cup so filled with coffee that it trickled over the side and down the glass. Ellie took it gingerly, holding it in careful fingers to not spill any more on the countertop.

Dianna held onto the cup for several seconds longer than necessary, her fingers - cold from the glass - lingering on Ellie's. When a crooked smile pulled at her lips, her brown eyes sparkled. There was a teasing tilt to her voice when she said, “I hope to see you around, Ellie.”

Ellie gave her what she hoped was a friendly smile - judging by the way Dianna’s cheeks bloomed pink, she must have succeeded - before turning away. She almost felt guilty for the relief she felt when she found there was no phone number left on her glass this time. She was never sure whether it was nicer to ghost somebody or to send a gentle rejection through text, and she did not have the energy for that decision.

She turned, searching for an empty seat to slouch in and try not to fall asleep into her coffee, when her eyes found you.

You hadn’t changed a bit.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true either. You had changed - anybody would in three years. You had changed your hair, and now you dressed differently than she remembered - you used to bitch so much about how you couldn’t dress how you wanted, and now, looking at you three years later, she was happy to see that you were finally dressing like all those pictures you had saved in your little Pinterest folder of “outfit inspo.”

Ellie could see the mark of three whole years, but truthfully, you hadn’t changed. You were slouched over a laptop, leaning way too close to the screen, and you still had that pinch between your brows when you concentrated, the one that she used to run her thumb over; she could still feel how soft your skin was beneath her fingers.

She should have ignored you - she should have gone to slump in a corner of the coffee shop like she had planned, trying not to fall asleep into her cup and pretending to not notice you even as her eyes kept cutting across the cafe to find you again. She should have pushed the memories away just like she had pushed away all of the other memories associated with this city - hell, she should have never come back to this city in the first place. There were too many memories here that she had spent three years, a thousand miles, and an ocean of whiskey running away from.

And yet Ellie found her feet carrying her over to your table of their own volition. She walked the tightrope between who she is and who she once was, chasing a memory of the only good thing she left behind.

You didn’t look up at her as she approached. You kept your head bowed over your laptop, your bottom lip stuck between your teeth. There was no reason for you to look up - Ellie could have been any nameless stranger coming to bother you when you were clearly just trying to work.

But Ellie had never been good at leaving well enough alone. Which is why she hesitated for only a moment before reaching out and tapping lightly on your shoulder. She had to bite back a laugh when you jumped, pulling your headphones from your ears and swiveling around to look up at her.

She’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t do an embarrassing acrobatic jump when you met her eyes. And she had always been a terrible liar.

“Hey,” Ellie said, trying her damnedest to keep her voice steady; she only somewhat succeeded. She cleared her throat, lowering her voice when she said, “Remember me?”

Satisfaction bloomed warm in her stomach when your eyes widened, taking in the sight of her. Truthfully, she must’ve looked like shit; she had had to take a disturbingly brief shower at the last rest stop - the water apparently didn’t get any warmer than antarctic - and she hadn’t looked in a mirror for a few days. She had forgotten to pack her brush, so her hair must have been standing up at odd angles. And God knew what the lack of sleep was doing to the ever-growing shadows under her eyes.

But none of this stopped you from running your eyes down her body, cheeks pink when you finally looked up to meet her eyes again. And Ellie couldn’t stop the slow smile that spread across her face, her own cheeks growing warm. It wasn’t intentional when her voice dropped another octave, nearly a murmur when she said, mostly to herself, “Yeah, you remember me.”

“Holy shit, Ellie?” You jumped to your feet, a smile pulling at your lips as you gripped her arm. The familiar shine in your eyes did something funny to her stomach that she was way too stubborn to name. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I was just, uh- just passing through town,” she found herself saying, rubbing at the back of her neck. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but explaining to you the actual reason she finally came back to this hell-hole town suddenly seemed daunting. “Wanted to check out some old haunts, I guess.”

And then you just… looked at her, for several long moments - long enough to make Ellie squirm. Your eyes bore into hers, searching for something that she had buried three years ago.

You jumped, and whatever spell that was floating between you broke when your phone buzzed from where it still sat on the table. You scooped it up and flashed an apologetic smile to the glaring student a few seats away. Swiping at the screen, you cursed under your breath:

“Fuck, I have to get to class.” You looked back up at her again, a question behind your eyes, and Ellie had never wished so hard that she could read minds. You hesitated for only a moment before saying, words rushed, “Do you want to walk with me?” Before Ellie could respond, you continued, picking up your cup and fiddling with the straw, “It feels like forever since I’ve seen you and I want to catch up. But you’re probably busy, so you don’t have to-”

“I’d love to,” she cut you off, trying to smother the smile that pulled at her pink cheeks. She failed drastically when you smiled back at her.

After asking for a to-go cup from Dianna - thankfully no number written on the plastic cup either, despite the way the barista eyed Ellie as she left - she followed you out the door and back into the blinding morning sun. The mid-October air bit at her cheeks, creeping under her flannel; the cold coffee in her hand made her fingers sting, but you were already walking away, so she grit her teeth and followed.

And it was like you both just fell back into place, aligning with each other as though that empty space had never existed. You were working towards your graduate degree, Ellie discovered, and were working as a TA to get through; the class you were heading to was the dreaded public speaking class that you taught around your own curriculum. You laughed as you talked about some ridiculous speech a student had recently presented, and Ellie had forgotten just how much she liked the sound until it was burying behind her ribs again.

Ellie didn't tell you exactly why she had come back. When she’d left, you had known she was chasing a dream - it was the main reason she had presented when she broke up with you. The idea of long distance was too hard - too complicated - and Ellie didn’t want anything tying her to this town.

Even so, her body still wanted to fall into old habits. She told you about her roommate and how, when Ellie had been up too late writing a new song or her roommate had had a late shift at the hospital, they would play truth or dare until they were too drunk to stay awake, and her fingers brushed against yours, muscle memory making her reach for you. Ellie told you how she had visited her sister, Sarah, while passing through Houston, and she wanted so badly to lace your fingers together. She wanted to wrap her arm around your waist - hell, she even wanted to grab your ass right where everyone could see, just like she used to. She tucked her free hand in her pocket.

“You still haven’t told me why you came back,” you said, coming to a stop in front of the Communications building - it was just as tall and ominous as Ellie remembered. Her stomach lurched at the site, remembering all the speeches she had to make in her own classes. She supposed Public Speaking wasn’t a useless class now, considering she didn't stutter when she had to speak in front of an audience now.

Ellie shrugged, dropping her cup into a trashcan without looking at you. “Like I said, I’m just passing through-”

“Bullshit,” you said, but there was no malice behind it. You tilted your head to meet her eyes and smiled at her, even as your eyes held something unreadable. “The Ellie I knew couldn’t wait to get out of this shithole - her words, not mine. She wouldn’t simply pass through - she would go out of her way to stay in the next town over. So,” you crossed your arms, “what changed?”

Before, if you had ever crossed your arms at her, Ellie would reach out and gently pull your arms away from your chest, pulling you into an embrace. She wanted nothing more than to pull you into her, instinct unaware of the three years and a thousand miles that had separated you. Instead, she leaned against the wall of the building, the brick biting into her back. “Nothing’s changed. Trust me, if it was up to me, I wouldn't be here.”

For only a second, your face twisted into something unreadable that pulled at Ellie's stomach. But you quickly schooled your expression, tilting your head, your smile soft. “Listen, I have to go - if I'm too late, these fuckers are just gonna try to skip. But we should meet up later - I want to catch up.” When Ellie opened her mouth to say you had been catching up, you continued, “Really catch up. I want you to tell me everything - it's been years, so we have a lot to cover.” You looked at your phone and cursed. “Look, my last class ends at 3:25. Meet me on the green after?” For good measure, you stuck out your bottom lip and added, “Please?”

Ellie had never been good at resisting that look - she had given into you so many times from that look alone. She had to bite back the sudden, stupid smile pulling at her cheeks, so she pressed her lips together and looked away. After three years, you still made her cheeks flush without trying.

“Okay,” was all she could say.

Without warning, you rushed forward, wrapping your arms around her neck briefly. Her hands hovered at your sides, unsure of where to go. Feeling your body pressed against her again - feeling the warm brush of your breath against her neck - short-circuited her brain, leaving her gasping on dry land.

Before she could figure out where to put her fucking hands, you murmured in her ear, “I really did miss you, Els,” and pulled away, just as quickly as you had come. Ellie's mouth hadn't even caught up to her brain by the time you were gone, the door closing softly behind you.

Later, after she had had a proper breakfast from McDonald's, she was still thinking about you. Seeing you again had opened up a bottle that she had sealed away, and the cork wouldn't fit back into it. Her fingers itched with the memory of your skin beneath them. When you had hugged her, she had smelled the shampoo that you apparently still used, and she remembered how it had felt to have your head on her chest, breathing you in as she pressed a kiss to the top of your head. And your lips next to her ear - that opened a whole subcategory of memories that she tried desperately to push away.

She was only here for the night. She lost count of how many times she had to remind herself.

Ellie was stopped at a red light, leaning her bike from one foot to the other, when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She glanced at the blinking crosswalk sign - twenty seconds, so she still had plenty of time before the light turned green - before fishing her phone out. She had to squint against the sun, straining to make out the screen. She nearly dropped the phone when she saw the familiar name popping up on her screen, fumbling to open the text.

There was a screenshot of an Instagram post from the venue she was going to play at. The band's name was in bold letters, stars pasted around a grainy picture of the group. And in small letters underneath - like an afterthought - was her name: Ellie Miller.

And underneath, in all caps:

YOU'RE PLAYING AT THE HAWTHORNE?????

Her face flushed all over again. After all these years, you had still kept her number.

tag list: @macaroni676 @ellstronaut @elliewilliamsmiller0 @elliescoolerwife @letsreadsomesins-shallwe @liliflowers-blog @filtered-sunlight

[catws-anniversary]

Today is exactly 10 years since the LA premiere of CA:TWS! As good a day as any to release all of our prompts so you can plan for the anniversary event.

Kicking off on March 26th, we'll be celebrating a decade of CA:TWS with 8 daily prompts to choose from, ranging from thematic prompts and quotes, to more general prompts and character-specific ones. These can be interpreted in any manner you choose and do not need to be linked to the daily theme.

As a reminder: this is an open event (see rules and FAQs - content does need to relate to CA:TWS), and the use of our daily prompts is entirely optional. They’re there to inspire, not to put up restrictions.

You can always contact us if you have any questions. We're so excited to see your creations!

MARCH 26 THEME: ON YOUR LEFT

The Smithsonian

First Meetings

Endurance

Mission

PTSD

"I'll put it on the list"

Favorite quote

MARCH 27 THEME: STEVE ROGERS

Camp Lehigh

Elevator

Motorcycle

Steve's list

Guilt

"It kind of feels personal"

Favorite Steve quote

MARCH 28 THEME: SHIELD

The Triskelion

Compromised

Surprise Visit

Neighbor

Weapons

"It's called compartmentalization"

Favorite scene

MARCH 29 THEME: NATASHA ROMANOFF

Mall

Disguise

Redemption

Matchmaking

Trust Issues

"Did I step on your moment?"

Favorite Natasha quote

MARCH 30 THEME: TWS CAST

Press Conference

Character Bleed

Photoshoot

Social Media

Stunts

"I'll take this one"

Favorite cast member

MARCH 31 THEME: SAM WILSON

Department of Veteran's Affairs

Partners

Soundtrack/Music

Wings

Missing Scenes

"I never said 'pilot'."

Favorite Sam quote

APRIL 1 THEME: HYDRA

Lemurian Star

Project Insight

Politics

STRIKE

Post-Credit Scenes

"Order comes through pain"

Favorite fight

APRIL 2 THEME: BUCKY BARNES

Bank

Metal Arm

Memories

Ghost Story

Revenge

"But I knew him"

Favorite Bucky quote

APRIL 3 THEME: CAP QUARTET

Washington DC

Breakfast

Bedside Vigil

Uniform

Found Family

"When do we start?"

Favorite duo

APRIL 4 THEME: TO THE END OF THE LINE

Helicarrier

1940s

Devotion

Identity Porn

Reunion

"Schoolyard and battlefield"

Favorite Stucky scene

Happy creating!

[snotbuggle]

Omega when she gets to jail and realizes that she now has to big sister four other children. One of which is nowhere near her age.

Going to try and condense some more serious thoughts about these episodes down below so I can avoid spoiling someone as much as possible and not post a dozen times. I don’t want to miss tag any one of those.

Jex/Jek?? I can’t completely remember his name, but the mirialan kid is for sure not going to trust her at all. Can’t say much for the pantoran kid since they haven’t shown much of them so far, but Eva is going to love her.

I think the mirialan kid is definitely going to be skeptical of Omega’s prior knowledge of the facility, Emerie, and why they’re there. Although he might overlook these things hanging on her promise that her brothers will get her, and in turn them, out of there. I can’t help but wonder what Omega and the others will think after about a week and there still not being a rescue. (These two are assuming that she will be placed with the other force sensitive children. Although she may be moved since her blood actually works for project Necromancer)

Crosshair is definitely going to hear it from Hunter. ESPECIALLY after he threw Hunter’s past failure to keep her out of Tantiss in his face. What I think will weigh on his conscience more though is the fact he thinks she’ll be alone this time. In a way she definitely will, but I have no doubt that he realizes he was probably the highlight of her day. He was probably the one thing that kept her hopeful even if he tried to talk down on her and get her to leave. Yes, she had hope that Hunter and Wrecker would find her, but she also needed someone there with her. A familiar face and not someone who just revealed they were your sister out of the blue. Her situation has changed, but Crosshair doesn’t know that. The Crosshair guilt is going to be so real in these last episodes.

Switching gears, CX agents are always a cool and interesting topic for me. While the identity of CX-2 isn’t usually as engaging, I have to say that I’ve drifted from the standpoint of “there’s no way that’s Tech” to “it’s a possibility” over the course of the last two episodes. I’ve seen some fun ideas for who it is otherwise. Personally, I think that they’re probably just another copy paste man with no autonomy anymore.

ANYHOW! I haven’t seen anyone talk about it much, but the scene with Hemlock reviewing the CX agent data and the capsule has me thinking a little harder on their creation/conditioning. The way Hemlock talks about the other operatives as well. “The others aren’t ready to join you” (paraphrasing) seems to show that after the mental conditioning through obviously brutal means, it takes a load of time to physically condition the agents. Seeing as CX-1 was most likely initiated around the same time as Crosshair (I choose to believe that they were near each other’s tables which is why they’re familiar), that took around five months to half a year. In that time span there had to be a lot of soldiers who Hemlock saw fit to be “reprogrammed” but we see very few operatives throughout. This means that if they make it out of mental conditioning, physical conditioning is most likely very dangerous and often times fatal. I’d like to draw attention to the capsules as a part of that physical conditioning. There were several capsules that Hemlock was observing, along with the foggy one that is most likely that new Huyang-lookin-ass operative. If these capsules are the final stage of physical conditioning, it adds meaning to CX-2’s first line, “Why have I been activated?” (Once again paraphrasing). Although the capsules could be for something else entirely.

Also a bit of a gripe, why in the world do you need a new secret-secret operative, Hemlock? You have the commandos, and then the first X troopers, now the CX’s, and what? You wanted a new one? I can’t tell if this man is an overachiever or just way too absorbed into the advanced trooper rabbit hole. Also for you Tech theorists, it’s kinda suspicious that he makes a new version of agents isn’t it? Almost like there’s something…deviant about him?

Completely side tracking here, I really like Phee’s awareness in the station. Yeah she didn’t hear the blaring alarm, but she was in a room where it’d be hard to hear anyways. However, when she got back she felt something was off about the ramp. We’ve seen how slick CX-2 is, so her noticing something is up was a nice touch imo. Also was very appreciative of her caution and readiness with her knife. I love when female characters get to be aware of their surroundings and ready to throw hands if things go south.

In conclusion, thank you for listening to my dump-rambling. I’ve been trying to keep my lips shut so I don’t miss tag anything and spoil it for someone (because I know that I’ll forget to tag everything right). I hope Wrecker is okay. And even if I’m not a Tech CX theorist, I have to admit that I’ve been seeing some fairly strong parallels.

[kimi240302]

Craving

A/N: Before you read this story, be aware I am from Germany and can't write a bit of English. That's why I'm sending this through an app that translates it for me.

A/N2.0: In this story, the characters are all a little older.

Summary: Y/N Swan tries everything to keep her promise to stay away from Demetri Volturi. But can you stay away from the man fate bound you to?

Demetri Volturi x Female!Swan!reader

Words: 3,4k

Main Post / Twilight Masterlist / Request list / Playlist 

Part 2 of Daylight Masterlist 

18+ I am new to the whole smut writing so please be nice  

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Tellin' myself it's the last time Can you spare any mercy that you might find If I'm down on my knees again? Deep down, way down, Lord, I try Try to follow your light, but it's night time Please, don't leave me in the end

- David Kushner 

"Y/N?!”

Startled, the young girl flinched. Her gaze, which she had directed outside the entire time, turned to the whiteboard, and therefore to her scowling teacher. When Y/N noticed that the whole classroom was looking at her in a wait-and-see manner, her cheeks turned red as she shrank slightly into herself.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Porter, I wasn't listening." Shaking her head, the teacher sighed. "That's been happening to you quite a bit lately Miss Swan!" Embarrassed, since all the attention was still on her, Y/N just shook her head apologetically. "Just pay attention from now on. The things we discuss today will come up in next week's exam."  Y/N sat up a little straighter, took out her pen from her bag, and pulled her notebook towards her, which made the teacher smile contentedly and continue with the lesson.

For fifteen minutes, Y/N was able to focus on what was going on in front of her, until her gaze turned back outside and her thoughts drifted back to Demetri. As she did so, her hand settled, as if by itself, on the spot where Demetri's lips had touched her skin. Her eyes closed and the memories came back. It almost seemed to her as if Demetri was here in the same room with her, very close again.

Annoyed, Y/N exhaled, opened her eyes and dropped her hand. Three weeks had passed since the meeting with Demetri in the library. Three weeks of pure torture, as Y/N no longer knew exactly where she stood, what she felt, or what exactly she wanted.

Then to top it all off, the young girl felt guilty towards her sister for indirectly breaking her promise. While it had been Demetri who had sought her out, Y/N hadn't really done anything about his closeness either, or really found it disturbing. Y/N therefore kept inventing excuses not to talk to Bella for more than half an hour to an hour, even skipping a phone call here and there. Bella, surprisingly, ignored this. She probably thought Y/N had a lot to do with school, which was true somewhere.

On the other hand, Y/N was overwhelmed with what she was feeling. She missed the feel of Demetri's body against hers. She missed his hands holding her, his lips on her skin, and his presence. Y/N even had to admit that she searched for him whenever she was out.

Yet it was almost as if Demetri Volturi no longer existed. As if he had disappeared from the scene and the only thing he had left behind was desire and words that Y/N did not understand, or rather did not want to understand.

"How long can you hide your sins from the light of day?"

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"You should come out to party with us." Mara, a friend of Y/N, looked at her piercingly. "You've been going out for two weeks only to go to school, and even there you're absent the entire time and hardly talk."

Annoyed, Y/N released air from her lungs as she flopped down on her bed. "I just don't feel like doing anything else. Everyone has that once, it'll pass."

Mara jumped up from the chair she had been sitting on for the past hour and tried to coax Y/N into doing something other than just lying around in her room. Her fingers encircled Y/N's ankles. With a strong tug, Mara pulled Y/N off her bed.

Startled, she let out a scream as she plopped to the floor. Silence reigned for a moment until the two friends looked at each other and burst out laughing. Mara lay down on the floor next to the laughing Y/N, as she couldn't stop laughing either.

Both friends looked at the ceiling, trying to get their breathing under control as they slowly calmed down.

"What's it like?" Confused, Y/N turned her head in Mara's direction. "What exactly?" Her friend looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I have a big sister Y/N, I know what heartbreak looks like. I'm just wondering what it feels like. I've never been in love, so I can't understand someone wanting to pull away from everything and everyone because of it."  Y/N turned her gaze back to the ceiling. Clearing her throat briefly, she tried to collect herself. "It's more complicated than heartbreak." The young girl took one deep breath. "You have to imagine that I never really knew who I was at home. I felt lost, which I still do from time to time." Y/N fell silent. Saddened and depressed by her own words, even if they spoke the truth.

"Why?" "Bella always cast a shadow over me. She was all my parents saw. I tried to step out of it, but every time I did, I stood in it again. So I gave it up and just lived in it. When I met Demetri, that's his name, I had the feeling of being seen for the first time. Really seen. I wasn't Bella's little sister anymore, I was just Y/N." Smiling, she closed her eyes and remembered back to the day she had first seen the vampire.

A cold hand placed itself under Y/N's chin and lifted it. This forced the young girl to look up. Her fingers tightened in the fabric of her bag as she looked into a pair of red eyes. "What's your name Chéri?" At the blond-haired man's voice, a shiver ran down her spine. "Y/N...." Her voice was soft.

With a soft smile, Demetri released her chin and brushed a tangled strand of hair behind her ear. "You're even more beautiful than I imagined."

"What's it like to be around him?" "It feels like coming home. When he's around me, it's like I can finally take a breath." Y/N gave a soft laugh. Confused, Mara looked at her, "What is it?" "At the risk of sounding ridiculous, when Demetri touches me it's like he reminds me that I'm alive and not just existing. His touches almost burn, and they continue to do so long after he's gone."

Mara was silent again for a moment. "That doesn't sound ridiculous. On the contrary it sounds beautiful, like a connection anyone would want to have. But then why are you sad?" "My family is against it." Mara exhaled in annoyance. "You mean your sister is against it."  "And a few other people I care about, or at least used to." Y/N's expression changed to a sad one. "So what's the plan? To forget him." The young girl just nods.

Mara, sighing, nudged her friend in the ribs with her elbow, making Y/N wince.

"Now let's be honest, let's go to the club today. The others are coming too. The first step towards oblivion." Y/N rubbed the spot where Mara's elbow had hit her.  "If I come with you, will you promise not to be violent towards me anymore?"

Playfully thoughtful, Mara put a hand to her chin and considered for a few seconds.

"If I have to..." Dramatically, the hand moved from her chin to her chest. "I promise to behave towards you!"

Rolling her eyes, Y/N grabbed the pillow, which had fallen on the floor with her earlier, and threw it in Mara's face.

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

"Look who decided to join us for the night!" Mara spread her arms and showed her group of friends Y/N, immediately they all started cheering. "The lost child has returned!" Y/N rolled her eyes and plopped down next to Mick on the bench in the club. "I only skipped one club visit!" She had to raise her voice to fight the music. "One too many!" called Mick back, pressing his fresh beer into her hand. He put his arm on her shoulders and lifted the other beer to toast with the others.

As the evening went on, more and more alcohol flowed. Which helped Y/N lose any thought of Demetri and her confusing feelings for him.

With her eyes closed, Y/N moved to the tune of the music. The darkness that surrounded her, broken only by green and red lights every few seconds, made her feel safe and out of reach. Y/N felt free for the first time. No vampire drama could find her here. It was just her and her friends here.

The bodies around her, the young girl was already not even aware of, as well as the smell of sweat and alcohol. Smiling, she raised her arms in the air. 

Y/N's peace was quickly shattered. Startled, she flinched when two hands came to her hips. Her arms dropped down so she could put her hands over the stranger's and push them away. But as her skin touched the stranger's and she felt the familiar cold, the young girl literally sank into the body behind her. An unfamiliar feeling of relief spread through her.

"Demetri..."

His name was no more than a whisper, but Y/N knew he had heard her. After all, he was a vampire. The grip on her hips strengthened as if to assure her that it was really him, that he was really behind her and was not just an illusion.

"What do you think you're doing here Trésor?" Goosebumps formed on Y/N's skin. Tightening her grip on his hands, she sought the hold to steady herself. "Trying to forget." She murmured, not stopping to move, forcing Demetri to follow her lead.

The vampire snorted in amusement. His left hand settled on Y/N's stomach, where he applied enough pressure to keep Y/N's back against his chest. Demetri also released his right hand from her hip and let his fingertips travel upward just a few millimeters over the filmy fabric of Y/N's black blouse. When his fingers stopped at the exposed cleavage that started just below her breasts, Y/N had to gasp. Demetri's lips hovered just inches from her ear. "What are you trying to forget?"

Carefully almost, as if the vampire was afraid his mate would shatter like glass, he touched the exposed skin, between her breasts. Slowly his fingers slid up. Y/N bit her lip gently. She didn't want Demetri to know how much influence he had on her. However, the young girl quickly lost her focus as Demetri's fingers slid over her collarbone. Out of instinct, she grabbed Demetri's right arm, causing him to pause in his movement.

"I wanted to forget you." Her words sounded breathless and desperate. Demetri laughed, "And you really thought for a second that I would let this happen?" The vampire lowered his head. As he did so, he let his lips run over Y/N's cheek and chin. Arriving at her neck, he lowered his lips to her pulse point without further thought. Without hurting her he sucked his mouth there to make a mark on her. The young girl's eyes widened before she closed them. Her body automatically pressed even closer to his as Y/N's grip tightened on Demetri's arm.

"Good luck forgetting now." Demetri had moved away from her neck and taken his arms from her. Confused and slightly backward staggering, Y/N opened her eyes and at the lack of presence behind her, turned around. Only to find that Demetri had disappeared and left her behind  once again.

"He can't be serious now!"

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

The young Swan girl felt as if a bucket of water had been poured over her head. Any signs of being drunk had disappeared and been replaced by a feeling of emptiness.

Slamming her apartment door behind her, Y/N shook her shoes off her feet. She had told her friends a half-hearted excuse, gotten out of the club into the next best cab, and headed home.

Tired, Y/N leaned against her front door. Her gaze slid around her dark apartment. Sighing, her head lightly banged on the door behind her. Tears came to her eyes as she realized how lonely she actually felt. Y/N didn't miss Forks, her sister, her father, or her friends, though. She was missing Demetri. Which made no sense from her point of view, since they were both never in the same place for more than half an hour.

Shaking her head, Y/N pushed herself away from her door, banished her way through the still dark apartment to the bathroom, and slowly began to undress in the process. She wanted nothing more than to wash the evening off her skin. The alcohol, her sweat, and the feeling of what Demetri had left on her skin. As she walked past her bedroom window, Y/N opened it to let the evening air in and since she lived on the fifth floor she didn't worry about anyone getting into her apartment.

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

With a towel tied around her body, Y/N stood stunned in front of her bathroom mirror.

""This bloody..."" Twisting her neck a bit to the side, she looked at the red mark on her neck. Gasping, she propped her hands on the sink. "A hickey? Seriously!"

Shaking her head in front of her, she tugged on her towel again and left the bathroom to get dressed in her bedroom. Just as she was about to open her closet door to look for her sleeping clothes, a voice familiar to her was heard.

"Mon amour you should not leave your window open like that. Someone might come in here unannounced."

With a cry, the young girl turned to her bed. Stunned, Y/N looked at the vampire. Demetri had made himself comfortable on her bed. His hands were clasped behind the back of his head as he watched her with a satisfied grin.

"I live on the fifth floor! No one can get in there just like that. Except crazy vampires who don't know what privacy is!"

Angrily, she braced her hands on her hips. Demetri raised an eyebrow. "I thought the window was an invitation for me. After all, we both know that the height of your apartment is nothing that can stop me."  Several times Y/N blinked as she processed Demetri's words.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Y/N, enraged, grabbed the nearest object that fell into her fingers and threw it at Demetri. The latter jumped up from the bed to avoid the book Y/N threw at him.

"Mon amour you know that can't hurt me, right?" With an annoyed snort, Y/N grabbed her other textbook and aimed it at Demetri again. "I don't care!" Demetri ducked his head, repositioned himself properly, and looked after the book that had knocked a vase onto the floor.

"Think about your decor Y/N." Demetri's grin seemed to make the young girl even angrier. By the third time she turned to grab something and throw it at the vampire, Demetri had had enough. He closed the distance between them and stood directly in front of her.

Y/N, who was just turning back to face him, startled, dropped the book from her hand, and took an avoiding step backward. The skin on her back touched the cold wood, of her closet. This reminded her that she was still standing in front of Demetri in only a towel. Y/N's hands grasped the top hem of the towel and pulled it closer to her skin.

"Why are you here Demetri?" Y/N uttered her words only softly, with an uncertain tone. Demetri could even hear an anxious undertone. He stepped over the inches of distance that still existed between the two. The vampire raised his hand to Y/N's cheek, which made her close her eyes. The trembling of her body became more obvious and Demetri had to admit to himself that this reaction of his mate hurt him.

"Open your eyes Y/N." Demetri rested his forehead against Y/N's as he whispered his next words. "I beg you, don't be afraid of me." The young girl's eyes flew open. She had to swallow because of the closeness of their faces and the intensity of Demetri's gaze.

"Then give me a reason not to be afraid."

Demetri's free hand rested against Y/N's other cheek as he released his forehead from hers. Without hesitating any further, he lowered his lips to those of his mate. Instantly Y/N tensed and Demetri feared that he had gone too far. But Y/N leaned more toward him. Her chest pressed against his to keep her towel where it was as she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss as passionately as Demetri had.

The vampire's hands dropped down to Y/N's hips.

When they both broke away from each other, Demetri stopped with his lips just inches from hers. Y/N opened her eyes, letting her right arm slide down Demetri's chest. The vampire inhaled, even though he didn't have to, not breaking eye contact with Y/N for a second. "I would never hurt you Y/N. I'm not the monster the Cullens want me to be."

Y/N placed her right hand on Demetri's cheek. Her fingertips gently ran over his skin. With a smile, Y/N watched as Demetri's eyes closed as he leaned into her touch. She realized that he felt the same in her presence as she did in his, comfort.

Y/N leaned closer to Demetri with her face getting closer and closer to him. Just as the young girl was about to close her eyes, a ringing interrupted her. Startled, Y/N flinched and separated herself from Demetri. The latter opened his eyes annoyed when Y/N took her hands from him, put them back to the towel and detached herself from his body. Demetri let go of her, watching as Y/N went to her cell phone, picked it up and read the name. "Bella..."

Shaking his head, he walked back toward her. "Don't answer it." Uncertain, his mate looked at him as her fingers tightened around her phone. Demetri had enough of Bella, enough of the promise of what she had taken from his mate, and enough of waiting. He grabbed Y/N`s face between his hands again, pulling her body towards him and letting his lips meet hers. Startled by her mate's rudeness, she dropped the phone on the floor between them. Her fingers buried themselves in the thick material of Demetri's top, at his waist.

"Tonight you're all mine, tonight it's just the two of us!"

Demetri bent Y/N's head slightly to the side with his right hand. Immediately he lowered his lips to the skin on her neck, causing his mate to groan. Meanwhile, his hands wandered over her shoulders to the top saun of the towel, where he untied the knot Y/N had made in it to make sure the fabric stayed where it was.

Y/N shuddered as she felt the fabric of the towel loosen around her body. With trembling fingers she pushed herself away from Demetri. Confused, he looked at her and wanted to protest, but fell silent when Y/N's fingers went to the first button of his shirt and opened it. They both looked into each other's eyes while she repeated this with the other buttons. Carefully, Y/N ran the exposed skin back up as she undid the last button. As she did so, she could swear Demetri gasped several times. Arriving at his shoulders, she slipped the shirt off his body. She let her fingers wander further up his neck and pulled him down to her. This time it was Y/N who deepened the kiss directly as Demetri's hands worked their way down to her thighs. He lifted her up without breaking the kiss and placed her on the bed behind them.

The vampire and his mate created their own little world that night under the protection of her darkness. A world where Bella and the Cullens were forgotten. Where Y/N's fears for the future had no place. Where the ringing of Y/N's cell phone was ignored and where she belonged completely to Demetri.

A world that shattered with the first rays of daylight. When Y/N opened her eyes, she was aware not only of the burning sensation left by Demetri's touch, but also of the tightness in her lungs. She had betrayed her sister.

Y/N turned in bed to face her window. The side of the bed on which Demetri had been lying was cold, but not empty. A note lay on the pillow. Confused, the young girl straightened up, grabbed it and read it.

"Daylight exposes your sins more and more, so why still try to hide them in the darkness?"

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I will write a Part 3

@twilightlover2007​ @ssnapsaurus @svtbpbts

@xxx-wounded-angel-xxx  @ms-sasa​

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

okay disjointed thoughts about the wicked movie 1 day after watching it lets go

-first of all, my movie theater put speakers outside and was just blasting the entire soundtrack on repeat. we could hear it down the street as we were driving up. that's just simply insane

-the opening establishing shots of the land were great but honestly. the very clearly animated dorothy and gang really annoyed me lmfao like I'm sorry it cannot have possibly been too hard to get a few extras to stand in front of a screen for point 5 seconds lol. it was so fast that I Know I'm being dramatic about it but they looked more cartoon than the flying monkey's did

-baby elphie and baby nessa are the cutest things I've ever seen in my life...

-I kinda...like the more human/animal hybrids that the stage show and the original movie had. sorry. like I Get they were only like that bc you can't make a real life goat sing and dance but they're just more interesting to look at than normal-looking animals who happen to talk!

-jeff goldblum's face being hidden every time he had a dance number...I have a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't really dancing lmfao

-whoever decided to bleach ariana's eyebrows deserves jail time

-when jonathan bailey first showed up on screen my mother leaned over to me and whispered 'he's HANDSOME...'

-when cynthia finished the 'wizard and I' I had to actually stop myself from applauding. it felt so weird and rude for there to be dead silence after that performance my GOD.

-also omg the part where she's singing about the wizard de-green-ifying her and the colors in the suncatchers were canceling out the green so she looked normal....inspired!

-madame morrible had these HUGE crystal ball looking rings and I just want them so much lmao

-glinda's friends were really funny the bit were she was like 'I need to lie down' and they immediately picked her up like a plank of wood and carried her off while the one was screaming 'WE NEED A PASTRY!!! IT'S AN EMERGENCY WE NEED A PASTRY!!!' had me cackling

-I wish there was more time between them moving in and 'what is this feeling' starting? like I wanted more time to see them bickering and then also more time seeing them getting along after the ball??

-'dancing through life' was BEAUTIFUL however two complaints 1) why would they cut the line 'what's the most swankified place around?' I Quote That Often and 2) at the end when glinda and elphie dance together like...it's beautiful and everything but from what I remember after their solo moment fieryo joins them?? and they have a cute three way dance moment??? and I'm very pro "they're all in love with each other" so I missed that lol

-also just in general would of liked to see more of fieryo with the girls! like it felt like ball->lion cub->emerald city, in the course of a couple days, and idk I just feel like they could have slowed it down a bit?? especially since they broke it into two movies?? like I don't think that Actually all happened in the span of a week, but they didn't do a good enough job establishing how much time was passing so it Felt like it. which is dumb bc then it just doesn't seem realistic that elphie and glinda are THAT attached to each other by defying gravity like it feels like not enough time has passed for them to really know each other

-boq felt very mild tbh I know ethan can be more unhinged than that

-would've liked to see glinda in magic class!!

-I was a little underwhelmed by elphaba's costumes? like there were clearly patterns on the material but it was all the same shade of black so you couldn't make anything out. it felt a bit flat. and I love the idea behind the freckles I agree with freckles I am pro freckles HOWEVER her's looked very obviously drawn on. like, I have seen way more realistic fake freckles before. so that was a bit annoying

-other than the lunchmeat dress glinda's costumes were good! especially loved the flower shaped one she wore to the ball

-the whole trying to escape in the hot air ballon scene was cool as hell but as the flaming remains of it fell to the ground I couldn't help but be like wow...she really just killed all those guards huh!

-also lmfao the bit in the woods with the lion club and fieryo has like a scratch on his temple. genuinely thought to myself 'is that his lobotomy scar' lmfao

-still trying to get over the part in dancing through life where people were dancing on the spinning gears in the clock tower...bitch

-the flying monkeys were correctly horrifying

-when I saw the broomstick I was like 'won't that be really uncomfortable between your legs' but then she just held it next to her like they do in the stage show and I was like....okay I guess you win that one? lmfao like I don't mind it for when she's hovering but when they had her like supersonic zooming on the broom it was weird that she wasn't actually riding it

-overall I just don't understand how it's an adaptation of act 1 but it's the length of the entire stage show?? lmao like I wish they took advantage of the split and added so much more but really really it was still just such a solid great movie. 5 stars. I can't keep talking about it right now I'm gonna start screaming.

[zuko-always-lies]

Azula is the family member Zuko cares the least about, by far [and no, it's not because she's mean to him and no, this is not a post about Zuko's morality or anything like that]

So the entire premise of Zuko's arc is he spends years and years trying to regain his father's love and appreciation, that he spent three years trying to capture the Avatar so that his father would like him again. We even see in a flashback that exiled Zuko misses his father badly.

And when Zuko decides to completely break off his relationship with his father, he decides that this merits a dramatic confrontation, since his relationship with Ozai is so important to him. Even after that, the second to last scene of the series is Zuko visiting Ozai.

Zuko often takes Iroh and his support for granted, but even in Books 1 and 2 there are plenty of moments which act to reaffirm how much Zuko values and appreciates his uncle. He goes out of his way to protect his uncle on a couple occasions. And in Book 3, after Zuko has screwed up his relationship with Iroh, one of Zuko's core motivations becomes fixing his relationship with his uncle and regaining Iroh's love, trust, and appreciation.

Ursa is someone who Zuko talks about far less, yet the series makes it very clear how much Zuko misses her, with "Zuko Alone" and "The Earth King" and "The Day of Black Sun: The Eclipse." And the second to last scene in the series is Zuko trying to find her.

That leaves Azula. Zuko never seems to miss Azula the least, even though he hasn't seen her for years when the series begins. In fact, when she unexpectedly shows up and greets him, instead of being happy to see her, he's angry and suspicious (to be fair to Zuko, she did turn out to have ulterior motives due to Ozai's orders, but if he really deeply missed her, he'd probably be at least a little happy to see her regardless. Mai and Ty Lee reacted with joy the first time they saw Azula again). And in Books 2 and 3, there is essentially nothing to suggest that Zuko misses the better relationship he had with Azula when they were younger.

For instance, in "The Beach," Zuko angsts over an old photograph of his family.

His eyes focus on Ozai

and he remembers a happy memory associated with Ozai:

and then Zuko's eyes focus on Ursa

and he remembers a happy memory associated with her

Yet Zuko never looks at younger Azula in that picture, nor does he think of her at all. The "Happy Family" that Zuko misses includes Ozai, Ursa, and even Iroh and Lu Ten (shown in a separate memory sequence at little earlier), but not little Azula.

Ultimately, what we see in the first half of Book 3 is that Zuko is willing to take advantage of Azula's kindness, when she shows it to him, but he never acknowledges it, thanks her for it, or reciprocates in the slightest.

In the end, in the DoBS Zuko leaves Azula behind without a regret or even a thought. Ozai gets a big confrontation; Azula gets nothing. And after that, we see that Zuko misses Mai, and still feels complex feelings for Ozai ("Fatherlord," anyone?), but there's nothing to suggest he misses Azula at all or feels a deep attachment to her. The penultimate scene of the show even features Zuko visiting Ozai, not Azula.

Some people might point out that Azula is a bad sister to Zuko. That's definitely true. She says and does plenty of awful things to him over the series.

Yet that doesn't explain things. Ozai is far, far worse to Zuko than Azula ever is, yet Zuko cares deeply about Ozai to the degree that Zuko's entire arc is about it. Merely talking about "look how mean Azula is" explains almost nothing. Is possible to explain why

This does bring me to my main point. The ATLA fandom tends to believe that Zuko cares about Azula a lot and that he places a lot of value in having a good relationship with her, tends to believe that Zuko is obsessed with Azula.

However, the reality is that Zuko by far cares about Azula the least of any member of his family and that he places almost no value on having a good relationship with her. She is never a priority for him and is at most only an obstacle. All of Zuko's other family members loam far higher in Zuko's priorities and headspace than Azula. And if he is obsessed with her, it's not in a loving way. Maybe "Azula the enemy" and "Azula my advisor and emotional caretaker" are significant to him, but "Azula my sister" never seems to be.

Again, this isn't a moral judgement, merely a fact.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

hey maggots PLEASE CALM DOWN ONE MOMENT PRESS CONFERENCE.

Okay. Have we stopped screaming? Okay, nice. *taps mic* Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your--I mean, hi, Good Omens fandom and maggots. I was going to make a new intro post eventually, but after you all flattened my notes with eldritch screeching I think a press conference is more fitting. Especially considering the phrasing of these beauties:

Maggots I love you but look me in the eyes and tell me you're not journalists reporting straight to the Times, with full honesty. You cannot. The how do you feel about this is only missing several microphones with news outlet names all in my face and that's wonderful. Entirely valid. Press conference time it is.

First, for those of you who do not need a Q and A, a quick note: Um hello maggots, yes I am still grieving, cheers to the people who queued sad Good Omens posts for the exact time I finished watching. That is dedication, truly, to torturing your mascot. A most sincere fuck you to all of those kind folks.

Next, Neil, thank you for showcasing my madness. I barely remember making that updated post. It was 2 am and I tried to convince myself it was a bad idea. So of course I did it anyway and now I am staring in horror at how unhinged I have revealed myself to be. You picked the most perfectly awful time to delve into the fray. I raise my glass to you.

Alright. For everyone else who is utterly confused and/or has just entered this madness, below is the press conference you have instigated, my loves.

You: ASMI WAKE UP NEIL REBLOGGED YOU. Me: I'M AWAKE I PROMISE THANK YOU ALL THE TWENTY ODD PEOPLE WHO SHOUTED FOR ME TO WAKE UP, YES I WAS NAPPING. BUT I AM AWAKE. IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO BE. You: HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING LESS THAN A MONTH IN THE FANDOM AND-- Me: I was kidnapped, so with the blindfold and all the ropes, I'll be honest, I lost track of time. It could have been less than a month. *stares into distance* It could have been eighty years since Jan 4th 2024. You: YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE MAGGOT. Me: Now hang on one second y'all you're stealing my term. I coined maggots to describe all the people, in the Good Omens fandom or otherwise, who kidnapped me or followed me or watched me descend into madness. Why? Because I was made the Mascot of the fandom, and Maggot sounded like Mascot. Kind of. I didn't know at that time that there was a bloody maggot scene in Good Omens. I also didn't know that apparently in the Bible, Bildad the Shuite calls mortals 'maggots'. But either way. I'm the adopted mascot. And the adopted child of divorce. You: If people who follow you or watch your descent are maggots, does that make Neil a maggot? Me: Uh okay I've got this question several times. @neil-gaiman, Neil I'm sorry, I'm going to pass this question to you. You are free to reply or not as you choose. *hands one of the mics over* You: ARE YOU OKAY, ASMI? Me: THANK YOU FOR CHECKING IN. *clutches Crowley even closer* NO I AM BLOODY NOT. I'M ON DAY FOUR OF GRIEVING AFTER THE SECOND SEASON. ANY MENTION OF POTTED PLANTS MAKES ME EMOTIONAL. THE GOOD OMENS BOOK IS ARRIVING TODAY IN THE MAIL, THANKS JEFF BEZOS FOR AMAZON. OH WAIT AMAZON IS THE STREAMER FOR GOOD OMENS. THANKS BEZOS AGAIN. IF I HEAR THE WORDS RITZ, EDINBURGH, PLANT, RED, BLACK, DEMON, HELL, STARS, CONSTELLATIONS, ESPRESSO, I WILL START TO UGLY CRY. *SHOVES MICS ASIDE, RUNS THROUGH THE CROWD TO GO SOB IN A CORNER ABOUT CROWLEY IN EDINBURGH NEXT TO ELSPETH AND WEE MORAG UNTIL THE GOOD OMENS BOOK ARRIVES AND I CRY OVER MY BABY ANTICHRIST AS WELL*

Cheers everyone conference over because your poor Good Omens Mascot is currently incapacitated with grief goodbye I'm sure you understand--

[batrogers]

Okay, fine, revisiting my “Time has PTSD” arguments in light of the most recent updates.

I’ve previously analyzed the question of Time’s reaction to the letter in Dawn pt. 9 here, and established my baseline that – what we do know about Time’s backstory strongly implies that there has been conflict in his Hyrule post-Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask which may have predisposed him to have strong, negative reactions to recent events like Twilight’s injury. I also did a revisit of that in the first part of Moving Forward, where Wild and the others were playing and Time seemed disconnected and out of it.

After the past few updates, I admit it’s striking to me that we’ve now gotten three sets of double-panel reactions where Time is blank for several seconds before actually displaying an emotional response (if he does at all.) It’s a really interesting choice on Jojo’s part.

This is literally every update except for “Enter...” since Dawn pt 9 (an update in which nobody talks at all.) Ever since the letter, Time has had a marked lack of response to the others. He’s reserved; he’s pulled back from treating them as comrades but he’s also retreated from giving orders. I noted in my last analysis that it looked like Time was calling the shots – but he’s not actually continued doing that. Once they set out, it seems like he’s just.... stopped.

Stopped engaging with them, and stopped reacting until something drastic (like the skultula, or bewilderment about the Epona comment) forces him to react, as happened with the likelike ages back.

A brief repeat of my prior analysis: while it’s been three years for us, between the last time Time smiled (when Sky asked him about Malon in ‘Miss Her’) to now, in-comic it has been maybe a few days, depending on how long Twilight took to recover. In that time, they battled Dink (who they don’t yet understand) Twilight ran off alone, showed back up and was taken out in seconds. Time made the split-second decision to save Twilight rather than battle an iron knuckle ala his era, and now we’re here.

Something I noticed on revisiting analysis is that we have seen Time get upset and off-balance before: when Wind began asking him about the Hero’s Legacy as well. Some of what people say when they analyze Time & Twilight stuff is how Time acts towards Twilight, as his son/descendent – but Wind is, in a sense, also Time’s successor and he reacted much the same way to him, too. Notably, Twilight in the midst of his injuries explicitly states some of his stubbornness is about his feelings about said legacy – both when he refuses to rest in the immediate, and while delirious in bed.

Whatever Time’s own burdens, Twilight very well may have actively made Time worse without realizing it. Knowing that someone looks up to you and has pushed himself to nearly dying would upset anyone, nevermind someone who possibly has been a commander (and, therefore, responsible for other people's safety) before too.

The tension of the Chain struggling to to sort themselves out in the dungeon is not helping, although I don't think everyone is oblivious to it. Warriors attempted to reassure him when they discussed the Iron Knuckle's survival, and they do still defer to him (Sky looks for his approval before entering the portal) even if they don't let his bad mood ruin theirs. (eg. Despite his scolding over the skultula, Entrance pt 2 is a playful scene.)

Time was not always like this. He’s playful, teasing the others and showing off his masks; he’s not nosy or controlling– he lets Legend refuse to explain his hair – but not entirely closed off, ala Sky asking him about Malon. I don’t think Jojo intends him to be a grumpy no-fun asshole (she drew this dayglo nonsense in the middle of Twilight taking forever to die), so I wonder.

What is the reason for his stress? And where is Jojo going with it? I’m deeply curious to see how the dungeon is going to play out, when someone who should be among their strongest members is so compromised. I don't think it's gone unnoticed, and my prediction (and, tbh, hope because I like the dynamic) is that Warriors may step in and try to get Time to calm down...

But mostly I wrote this to reiterate my feelings: I don't think this is "a bad mood." Time is legitimately upset, possibly triggered, and I am very sure -- as much as Twilight may have caused it -- it's not just about him.

(And, let me repeat bc I'm sure someone will try to take this and run with it: Twilight is not responsible for this.

He is not guilty in any way with respect to Time's trauma or subsequent behaviour; there's no way he could've known this would happen. I hope if it does keep coming up someone steps between them to cut it off... but acting like Twilight did nothing to set this off downplays how the group dynamic affects everyone and has the potential to cause conflict all on its own.

It's ten times more interesting to see that Time is reacting to something Twilight actually did, than some nebulous attachment to an idea of "family" that overrules sense, reason, or having met each other literally days or weeks ago at best.)

[jaesvelvet]

together with you

SUMMARY ➤ in which you team up with spiderman (unoffcially) to beat your boyfriend who appears to be the green goblin.

PAIRING ➤ green goblin! park jay + fem! reader (ft jake as spiderman and a little bit of winter from aespa)

GENRES ➤ action, super hero ft villain bestie, villain boyfriend,

WARNINGS ➤ a lot of fighting scene, profanity (not too much), angst, choking, talk about death, violance, there's a scenes i copied from the amazing spiderman 2

WORDS COUNT ➤ 11.1k words

NOTES ➤ IM BACK!!!!! it's been a while but here we are (another mcu! fic) hehe this time i made jay as a villain instead of hero! i hope yall enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it!!

As soon as the class was dismissed, you quickly made your way to the Coffee Bean– the usual place you and your friends would meet. You turn on your phone, checking if he has replied to your text but to your dismay, he didn't even open your text at all.

Your worries turn to anger, the least he could do is text you why he hasn't been to class for the past few days and stop making everybody worried sick. Silencing didn't make anything better.

Nevertheless, you put your phone back in your pocket and walk toward the Coffee Bean that is not so far away from your university.

“Jake!” you exclaim happily, it’s been a while since you met him in Coffee Bean. Jake is one of your closest friends at the university, he’s the one who reached out to you after seeing you sitting alone during orientation week.

You are so thankful for the brunette’s extrovert side for making a small group of friends including him, you, Winter, and Jay.

Speaking of Jay, he is the one who is much closer to you than Winter and Jake due to both of you attending class together in the business administration course meanwhile Jake and Winter attend Biochemistry.

At first, everything went on smoothly and the four of you never missed hanging out at Coffee Bean as soon as your class ended or hanging out at night just to kill time. However, the hanging out spot is starting to get unfamiliar with the faces of the four of you since each one of you is occupied by the piles of assignments.

You give Jake a quick hug before ordering your choice of drink from the counter. As the two of you settle down, choose the table next to the picture window of the cafe, wanting to see the view of New York City. Usually, Jake must be in the lab for his experiments or working part-time as a photographer at The Daily Bugle, there’s no in between.

Hence, that’s the reason why you are beamed seeing Jake in the cafe.

“Where’s Jay?” he asked, seeing you come in alone.

You sigh.

That’s the thing that made you restless and angry for the past few weeks. You take a sip of your drink before leaning to the back of the chair.

“That bad, huh ?” he chuckles

“He has been absent for two weeks now Jake! He doesn't tell me anything at all, not even a single call or text. Nothing, Jake. It's like he's dead and I think if there's an award for the most anxious girl for her best friend it would be me as the winner”

“He still assigned all of his work on time, and that's what makes me angry! He could tell us what's been going on instead of abandoning us like this…” you added.

Jay is the cheerful and kindest friend you ever had aside from Winter and Jake. He always cracks the dumbest and lamest joke you ever heard and honestly, it’s one of his charms and that's why you and him click so well.

But for the past few months, after the death of his dad, his entire demeanor changed 100%. He started to skip classes, hanging out and didn't even show up in the group chat. The three of you understand he needs time to heal and Jake is the one who always checks up on him from time to time but due to his busy life, he can't go to Jay’s house for a moment until to this day.

No one ever got to see Jay’s cheerful personality anymore. You miss that, you want to help but he keeps avoiding everyone which makes it difficult for you.

Jake clicks his tongue after hearing your story. Honestly, on Jake’s side, he feels awful because due to his busy life, he can't be there for Jay. He knows how hard it is to lose someone you love. For him, losing his Uncle Ben was mournful for him.

“I'll check up on him on the way home… I think he’s not fully healed yet” Jake assured you

“Can I go with you?” you asked, eyes filled with hope. You never step inside Jay’s house since you have feelings that his father disliked you and Winter so it's always Jake who is always going to Jay’s house.

Jake nods his head

“Let’s just hope he open the door for us” the brunette jokes

–

As you and Jake arrive at Osborn’s penthouse, your mouth turns into an O seeing how big his house is. You are aware Jay is a billionaire son, but still you didn't expect his house would be this big.

Before the two of you can even knock on his penthouse door, Jake freezes on the spot for a few moments, his face frowning for a second, making you worried.

“You okay, Jake?” you asked genuinely. You noticed this behavior of Jake since you knew him but never got a chance to talk to him about it since he is rarely around.

“Uh.. y-yeah… you know what, I forgot something in the lab! You go first, I will come back later” he trailed off.

He didn't give you a chance to talk or even react to his weird behavior and quickly ran off from Osborn’s penthouse.

Once again you sigh, now you’re alone in front of this huge penthouse. You licks your dry lips, suddenly feel nervous, nonetheless you press on the bell. It didn't take more than 5 seconds before the wooden door opened.

“Yes?”

“I’m Y/N! One of Jay’s friend–”

“Jay doesn't want to see anyone” the old grumpy woman spat to you, with annoyance in her tone.

Honestly you didn't predict that the answer would be no and it makes the situation more awkward with you standing like a figure in front the door while the old lady looking at you with obvious frown plastered on her face.

Besides it would be awkward to walk back to campus, you can't let the thought of Jake coming back from whatever business he is doing and find out you didn't even visit Jay although you’re the one who insists on coming.

It would be the top 3 embarrassing moments for you.

“Please! I’m Jay’s friend!” you begs

“He made it clear to everyone, he doesn't want to see anybody, miss”

“Uh, can you just let me in? If he doesn't want to see me, then he can tell it to my face”

Your adamant makes the old lady sigh in annoyance nonetheless, she opens the door widely, giving you space to enter the huge penthouse.

“I trust you to not touch anything in this house” she warned and led you to Jay’s room.

You nodded although the maid didn’t see it, your way to Jay’s room feels forever due to many corners you take, this penthouse feels like a maze for you. Your eyes are locked on the portrait frames that are hanging on the wall. The more steps you take the more evolution you see in those portraits.

From the family portrait to Jay’s solo portrait hanging on the wall alone. His face gloomy, eyes slightly swollen from crying you assume, it must be tough for him. On top of that, you also noticed how Jay already lost his smile in the portrait since his mother is out of the picture, you didn't want to profile anything but yet you can't help but to presume that Jay's relationship with his father did not click well.

Moreover, before his father’s death he rarely went home even it’s holiday season.

“We’re here. Knock before you enter, if you get yelled at, don’t blame me.. I already informed you” she said and quickly left the scene like she doesn't want to be there at all.

You take a deep breath before knocking on his door twice.

No answer.

Once again you knock, a lot louder than the first one.

“Jay, it’s me… Y/N”

One, two, three, four, five

It took him five seconds to get to the door, you don't know why you counted it in your brain but you blame it on the nervousness that filled you.

The door opened, showing Jay with an obvious dark circle underneath his eyes, his face pale and his veins looking green? It’s so obvious since his skin is fair. To say that your reaction is shock would be an understatement, you are horrified by his conditions now, it looks way too different from the old Jay.

“Oh my, Jay– what happened to you? God, your maids didn't do anything?” suddenly feels anger towards the old lady earlier, is she not aware of the physical change in Jay?

Jay shuts his eyes tightly for a second before pulling you into his big room, his room is clean and you could smell the lavender scent coming from automatic air freshener. He gestures to you to sit on his bed before drawing the curtain, letting the sunlight to lighten the dark room.

“Jay..” you called him, you did not like the silence and it's killing you seeing him showing his back towards you and just stare at the window like a mannequin.

“I’m dying, Y/N” he says after a while.

You quickly get off from his bed and pull his grabbed biceps to make him face you.

“What are you talking about, Jay?” your eyes for sure are already forming tears, one blink away from it to fall. Jay shooks his head seeing your watery eyes, he’s mouthing no for several times before pulling you into a hug, a long hug.

It's the first time both of you share this kind of physical connection yet it feels natural, you feel comfortable being wrapped around Jay’s arms and you hope he feels the same too– at least you can comfort him a little.

“Don’t cry please, Y/N” he whispered while kissing the top of your head.

You slowly loosen around his arms and take a look at his pale face. Oh god, how you love to see his face on daily basis– his happy face, free from worry and stress. You can't afford to see his condition right now, it feels like his soul slowly disappears.

“It must be some way…”

“I’m currently searching for the way, but for now I’m dying”

“Is that why you didn’t come to class?” His nods make you mutters oh god under your breath.

“Jay, you know you’re not alone, right? You have me, Jake and Winter! We’re your friends, and we’re–”

“I only need you right now, Y/N” he cuts off your nagging and it makes you freeze.

Need you?

“I like you, like a lot. I like you more than friends…I wanna spend my last moment with you”

You slowly push him away, take a moment to process what he just said. The sudden confession he just made didn't make you flutter at all but more to confusion and mixed feelings. This is not what you imagined how someone would propose to you to be their girlfriend.

“Jay, what the hell? You can't put me in the position like this, if I reject you and then you die I would literally be in guilt forever in my life! This is unfair”

“Are you rejecting me right now?” he asked

“What, no! Of course no, if you asked me properly I wouldn't say no because I also like you a lot!” you answer in a hectic way, too much for your brain to process.

Jay chuckles seeing your panic state and hugs you to calm you down. He swings your body to left and right to soothe you. It’s a bummer that he got balls to confess to you when he has incurable disease and is in the state of waiting for death. Nevertheless he dont regret for a bit because instead of dying alone like his father, he at least has you– you are the only one who can make his short time precious as it ever be.

He still vividly remember the first time Jake introduced you to him and Winter, at that time he felt his heart stop for a second, you are attractive in his eyes, your laugh whenever Jake making science joke is the most wonderful sound he had ever listened to, he thought he was going crazy on how he quickly attracted to you. He never really understands the concept of love. He can’t barely remember how to be loved or to be cared for by someone, hence it’s hard for him to show affection to others. Even his father didn't treat him as his son.

It took him some time to realize it was love at first sight– he keeps falling for you every single day, every single hour you spend with him.

“I don't know how to confess since I have never had an interest in someone. You’re the first one and it’s sucks that I'm dying”

“We’re gonna make sure to find the cure, there’s no way your father company didn't do any research” you said

“I’m gonna go to the company tomorrow, my father said he's working on something before he died so I'm just gonna check on it… hopefully something positive” he said

You close your eyes and rest your head on Jay’s chest finding it comfortable, hoping for a miracle to happen.

–

“He what?!”

You nod your head and let out a small sigh, seeing Jake and Winter’s shock face doesn't surprise you since you are almost facing with a grim reaper after you heard the shocking news coming out from Jay.

“How is that possible?”

“He said, it’s a genetic disease, if they didn't treat it fast, he could ended up like his father”

While you and Winter are talking to each other about Jay’s condition, the both of you didn't realize Jake fell into deep silence. He didn't say a word after you opened up about Jay’s condition. You only took a glance at him and could sense how hard it must be for him to learn about Jay’s condition in this way, after all he and Jay have already been friends since high school.

Jake didn't say anything and just burst out of the cafe. You and Winter can only look at him leaving, after all both of you didn't have any place to stop his action.

“You’re looking at the world’s first human-spider hybrid.”

“The hope is to extract the venom from their glands and turn that into a cure. An agent that heals diseased cells.”

“And if I can be cured, imagine what this could do for other diseases like Alzhemier and even cancer”

Jay immediately pauses the unreleased video of his father and Jake’s predictions based on their experiment towards the human-spider hybrid.

“They never made it to human trials. It's 14 years of research, and nothing to show for it.” Jay muttered.

Jake worriedly took a look at his best friend. What you said about the condition is true, Jake clearly could see the green vein around his neck and his under eyes getting darker than the last time he saw him.

Jake wants to visit him at first but after a quick catch up, Jay asks him to follow him to his father’s secret lab and he made Jake watching the unreleased video with him together, Jake’s father already died when he was a child thus it’s confirmed that this video already been in Oscorp’s company for a long time and Jake also sure that there’s must be a reason this video never released to public view.

Nevertheless, he is overwrought by what would happen after this.

“Except maybe this” Jay gets up to get the newspaper from the cabinet in front of the projector and slams it on the desk.

The Daily Bugle

Jake's face turns serious, he could sense where this conversation is gonna end up.

“Spiderman” Jay utters.

“What about him?” Jake asked, his voice came out a little shaky but went unnoticed by Jay.

“He was bitten by one of those things, and it worked. I don't know how and I don't know why, but he can do everything else a spider can, including self-heal. I need to find him, I need his blood.”

Jay’s statement makes Jake look at him with mixed feelings. Scared, anxious, worried and he can’t even look at his best friend's face right now.

“You need… Spiderman’s blood?”

Jay nods his head, his deadly eyes looking straight to Jake’s making his knees wobble resulting in him sitting on the chair.

“It’ll save my life”

“It may not, Jay. It may not be that simple. You saw what happened to Curt Connors, right?”

Jay let out a big sigh and rubbed his face using both of his palms. Of course he knew Dr. Curt Connors, that man was one of scientists in his father’s company. He didn't exactly know why his father fired him but he knows that Dr. Connors turns into a lizard by using his failed experimental serum.

“Connor was weak, this is me Jake” Jay muttered, feeling annoyed by Jake that seems not on his side.

Jake gulped, he’s the one who fought with Dr Connors, he knows the serum was no good for any human being besides Jake only survived the spider’s bite only because of his father’s DNA or else he’s gonna end up like Dr. Connors too or maybe worse.

Jake feels bad towards Jay, he wants to help him so badly, he could give him his blood as much as he wants to recover but he knows it will go haywire. His blood is poisonous to him, he didn't come from his father’s bloodline and surely his blood is gonna make him die slowly or instantly.

“I don't think you can just set up a van and have him donate. I mean I'm sure he’s sensitive about people shoving needles and–” Jake tries to hide his puzzled emotion by cracking a joke but to his dismay Jay seems like have no time for a joke by looking at his serious face.

“Ah he's sensitive, okay..” Jay chuckle dryly

“Well then maybe you could just sensitively tell me where he is, and I will go ask him myself!” he added

“What?”

“You took his picture”

“So?”

“You know him”

Jake is speechless, he could hear Jay’s quavering voice and see how desperate Jay’s eyes are right now.

“Jay, I took pictures from a long way. I used a long lens. I don’t know him” Jake trailed off, at this point he was also desperate; he was hoping for Jay to throw away all the dumb ideas that were already planted in his mind.

“I put together what you said at Coffee Beans.”

“About how he give people hopes”

“You know, that spider guy is so weird” Jay speaks up, looking at Jake who’s currently reading some science comic book

“What do you mean?” he asked, a little offended not gonna lie

“He wears spandex to save the kitten from the tree” Jay snickered. It’s not like he holds grudges to the spider guy but he dont take him seriously just like others or more precisely, like J.Jonah Jameson.

“Well, I kinda like to think he gives people hope…”

“For what?”

“Maybe eventually everything’s gonna be alright”

Jay chuckles hearing Jake’s answer, he didn't know that his best friend is one of Spiderman’s fans

“Okay dude, let's not get serious now shall we” he teased and continued to read the science comic book that Jake brought to the cafe.

Jake mentally cursed himself, that’s not what he meant at all! Jay is so desperate to the point everything is a clear path with no hazard to him.

“Come on, just say yes…” Jay begged, he doesn't have much time and seeing Jake seems hesitant making him slowly lose his patience.

Jake takes a look at Jay for a mere second before getting up and taking his backpack– leaving the secret lab and his response to Jay’s wish only making the sick guy lose his patience immediately.

“Don't turn your back on me!” Jay yelled, he grabbed Jake’s shoulder harshly to face him. His brows furrowed and jaw tense. He is dying and can’t Jake see how desperate he is right now?

“I don't wanna end up like my father, Jake please…” he pleaded, Jay lowered his face and in his mind, mixing spiderman blood with his father’s antidote is the only way to survive, to spend forever, together with you.

“I'm gonna try and find Spiderman” Jake said after a moment of silence and left Jay alone in the lab.

—

“You know, we can have a date inside your penthouse instead of at this cafe, I don’t mind it” you said, your left hand softly rubbing Jay’s slightly rough hand.

Jay gives you a small smile and uses the other hand of his to softly rub your hand.

“Nah, don’t treat me like a sick person Y/N… Let me bring you to a normal date”

“But Jay, it’s hot outside and you wearing long sleeve and wrapped scarf around your neck tortured me”

Since Jay is a public figure, many journalists follow him everywhere he goes for a picture or some useless news just to filled on the newspaper’s cover to attract the public and that's why you are worried about him, the journalists for sure will make up some fake news after seeing him dressing like it's cold outside even though it’s summer.

“Hey, nothing to worry about, okay? If I’m not feeling good, I'm gonna inform you but right now I'm feeling relaxed for a while because I’m having a slice of cake with my wonderful girlfriend” he bragged while looking at you mischievously.

You let out a small laugh hearing his words and take a spoonful of the cake you bought earlier at the cafe. You trust Jay but you don't hesitate to call his bodyguard if things go south.

“Did you see Jake?” you asked, suddenly remember the other day that Jake burst out from the cafe to meet Jay.

“Did he tell you anything?” Jay asked

You shook your head while taking another spoonful of cake to your mouth

“I don’t see him since the day we met at Coffee Bean”

Seeing Jay didn’t respond to your statement making you frown, usually he would tell you everything about what he discussed with Jake but right now it seems off, he didnt wanna talk about it at all.

“Hey, has anything happened between you and Jake?” you asked, you worried if these two best friends caught in argument since Jay is a bit sensitive lately.

“Nothing you have to worry about, I promise”

His words don't convince you at all, but you respect his decision at the moment. Maybe if he’s ready to tell everything, he will..

–

It’s been a week. A week had passed since Jay asked Jake for Spiderman to see him, but to his dismay, the guy in red and blue spandex didn't come to meet him at all. He was more furious rather than disappointed in Jake. His green veins became obvious, his skin became rough and green patches started growing on his scalp, face, hands, and everywhere on his body and his body getting weaker and weaker everyday. He needs the Spiderman’s blood to survive but since Jake was too selfish to help him, he decided to do everything by himself.

There’s no way he's gonna die, he is not gonna leave you this quickly.

Thus, Jay makes his way to his father’s lab, ignoring all of his maids saying that he should be in bed to rest. He is not gonna rest until he gets what he wants– the cure.

Jay steps into the cold lab and locks in from the inside in case anyone in the house is following him. With energy left in his body, he grabs the lab coat and everything he needs from the shelves to enhance his father’s old formula. If the formula that his father uses fails, then he is going to depend on his science understanding to make improvements to the formula.

“Good evening, New York. This is Betty Brant reporting live from Central Park. In an extraordinary event that unfolded earlier today, our very own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man made headlines once again.”

As it cut to the scene, Jay could see the spider guy swinging from building to building and quickly climb onto the tree to save the poor cat.

“Behind me are the charred remains of what was once a towering tree, a familiar sight to many park-goers. Earlier today, this tree was ablaze, and trapped within its branches was a terrified feline” the reporter on the scene reported.

"I just saw the flames and heard the poor thing meowing. It was awful. But then, out of nowhere, Spider-Man swings in! May God bless him”

“According to eyewitnesses, Spider-Man arrived just in time–”

Jay throws the remote away, he unconsciously turns on the television as he sees a small television across the lab. He doesn't have any idea why his father put a television in the lab but he is pissed off now.

Nowadays it's all about Spiderman. Everywhere he goes spiderman must be their main topic making him sick. Does the world revolve around spiderman? Jay's hatred towards the super hero increases as he thinks; that the spider guy that got his power from his company and didn’t even wanna help him when he's dying but he can make an effort to save a useless cat?

Well, Spiderman needs to be humble once Jay completes his own brand new improved formula.

–

“Here’s your favorite pretzel” Jake handed you the hot pretzel, fresh from the oven perhaps. You called him last night to meet him at the park since it’s so hard to meet him unscheduled. The brunette takes a big bite of his pretzels, humming while he chews on it. You can't help but giggle at his undying habits.

“You looks like you didn't eat for a week”

“Yeah fighting with criminals–”

Jake stops chewing and looks at you with a frightened look. Did he just…

“You need to stop playing video games, Jake. You’re like addicted to it”

Jake exhales his breath, awkwardly laughing at your face and takes a bit of his pretzel. Your dumbness saves him from leaking his own biggest secret ever.

“Y..yeah haha”

You take a bite of your pretzel after a while, your eyes locked on the scenery in front of you. The view of the park at night plus the wind successfully makes you calm from thinking about Jay for a while. These past few weeks, after you and Jay ended up together, both of you have been occupied by doing research about Jay’s cure every night to the point you keep late to class.

“Uh, how’s Jay?” he asked

“He’s changing.. And his temper is getting worse, sometimes he acts not like himself” you trailed off. You get caught in an argument with Jay one night when your theory clashes with his theory, it’s a small matter but Jay’s yelled at you as if you’re making a terrible choice which makes you cry but luckily Jay comes back to his senses and keeps apologizing to you the whole night.

“Did you argue with him, Jake?” you asked

Jake nods his head, looking at his shoes. He feels sorry for Jay for not helping him but he can’t. His blood can't help him heal.

“I assume it’s bad, Jay didn't even want to talk about you at all”

“He asked me for a Spiderman’s blood”

“Oh, he once said that Spiderman’s blood was gonna save him…” you remember that time when Jay said Spiderman’s blood could cure him but you didn't say anything to him. His theory of science, making your mind puzzled.

“And you trust him? In a logic mind person kind point of view, not girlfriend’s point of view” Jake asked

“Honestly, I don’t– like there’s must be other way to cure him instead taking that weird guy’s blood”

“I know– wait a minute, you think Spiderman is weird?” Jake frowns, he tilts his head a little.

“If you think about it, yes! Like why does he associate with spiders in the first place?”

“Hey there’s a thing called an accident. Accident happens!”

“Whatever, he’s such a weirdo but what he is doing is good”

“He is nice,” Jake agreed.

“Hehehe”

Sounds of a creature let out a hideous chuckle from the air frighten both of you and Jake. The two of you look up to the air and there’s a green creature in the air riding a glider.

You let out a gasp.

“Monster!”

“Run, Y/N” Jake yelled and grabbed your wrist to run away from the park. His pace is fast, you almost couldn't catch up with him and for a moment you slightly feel that your feet didn't even touch the ground, it feels like he dragged you along.

“Now, go home!” he panted.

“What the hell? Me, alone?” You couldn’t believe what you have heard, Jake is sending you home alone, with this green monster flying in the air?

“Sorry, I need to check on Aunt May!” he nervously swallowed his saliva.

“Okay, I’m following you”

“What, no!”

“What do you mean, no? Jake, we're in danger!”

Jake runs his finger through his hair, he let out a big sigh and dragged you to the street. He can’t casually say that he is Spiderman and needs to save the city, it would be more complicated than how things are going now.

Jake ignored your squealing and he stuck out his hand to the street after he saw a taxi.

“Jake, what are you doing? Let me go!”

“Please send her to Empire State University, thank you!” and with that Jake closes the taxi door leaving you alone in the taxi while he runs off back to the park.

“Jake, you bitch!” you scream at him but are suppressed by the window.

–

“Oh ho, what did we get here? A green man? We have a hulk and it’s enough, imposter” Jake uttered, he was grateful that he was fast enough to change and the creature didn't harm the citizens yet.

“Spiderman!” the creature bellowed, his voice echoing through the park. Jake raised his brow underneath his mask, the face of the creature seems familiar but his voice is so deep and rough. Jake quickly shot a web to the nearest tree and swung his body towards the creature; he was so close to kick the glider that the creature was riding but failed as the creature swerved on his glider, avoiding Jake’s attack.

“What, green goblin?” Jake muttered, he remembered the glider and all green costume was Green Goblin persona, he fought Norman Osborn five months ago. Does he come back? Is his death news fake?

“I defeated him five months ago after the lizard attacked the city…” he added, if this is Norman Osborn and he can't imagine how Jay’s gonna react to all this

“Well, the generations continue, Spidey Boy…” he growled and took this advantage to glide towards Jake and punch him in the face numerous times.

With their distance so close with each other and with every time his fist landed on Jake’s cheek, he became aware who’s the green goblin in front of him now, it’s not Norman Osborn but his son, Jay.

Jake isn't the type who felt sympathy for all the villains he fought, he despised them. He hates how they all use their power and intelligence for their own benefits. But this time, it was different.

Suddenly he has no strength to fight Jay back since he knows it’s not Jay that is fighting him but it’s the demon inside his body– the parasite that takes control of his body once they knew their host was already weak.

He can’t make Jay’s fate end up like his father.

Jake kicks the Green Goblin on the stomach, making the boy slightly back away from Jake and he webbed his hand to prevent the Green Goblin from punch him, along with this opportunity– Jake kicks the creature off from his glider and was about to make the real Jay conscious of the situation but luck wasn’t on his side when the demon inside Jay have strong power than his web have. He easily ripped off the web and took out his blade from his costume, his eyes full of rage.

“You are not a hero, you can’t even save him” he scowls

But before the Green Goblin can make his move, a loud thwack resonates through the park. The Green Goblin stumbles, caught off guard by the impromptu action.

Jake’s eyes widen seeing Jay fall to the ground while touching his dizzy head and releasing his breath that he didn't know he held. He quickly got up and grabbed your wrist, going a bit further from the creature.

“You!” Jake swore

You give him a side smile, it wasn't your intention to minding in Spiderman’s business but you are worried sick about Jake, he can't even fight ants if his life on stake and seeing his running back to the park make you uneasy and you get off from the taxi on the first traffic light.

Long story short, while looking for Jake you saw Spiderman about to get killed and thanks to the kid who left their baseball bat in the park, you used it as a weapon to hit the green creature.

“Thank you, but NEVER do that again!” Jake warned

“Oh.. okay, but do you see my friend, Jake?” you asked while he dragged you away from the scene

“How on earth do I know Jake?” Jake asked, sometimes he wonders how you would survive in this world if Spiderman didn't exist.

“Uh, if you found a boy wearing a flannel with black backpack, please get him home safely, he can’t fight!” you said

“Okay! Just go home, run, now!” Jake screams and pushes you away as Jay slowly returns to his senses.

The Green Goblin growls, turning his attention to you.

You immediately run after Spiderman yelled at you, you swore you using your 100% your energy to run away from the dangerous spot yet in a seconds you felt your feet not touching the ground and your body float into the air it took you a moment for you to realized that the creature already capture you into his arms.

Your screams were loud and clear but it didn't flinch. He turns you to facing him and his rough hands wrap around your neck and put pressure on it making you gasp for air.

Your eyes are glossy at this point, your mouth wide open for air and your fingers scratch his hands. At this point you can’t focus on your surroundings, your eyes locked on the creature. Something about his eyes seems familliar.

Those eagle-shaped eyes…

“J-Jay?”

Your guess was correct after seeing the creature was taken aback after you called your boyfriend’s name.

“J..Jay it’s m-me” you try your best to speak although it’s hard for you to breathe at this point.

“Shut up!” the Green Goblin scowls. You know Jay didn't even control his own body, so you tried to call his name numerous times until you could see his green pupil slowly turning brown yet the creature didn't give up and took control of Jay’s body back and he is choking you harder than before.

Your mind is hazy and your vision getting blurred, you are one second away from fainting? Dying? You can’t think at this point but you are so sure you’re about to black out.

Jake swung from the lighting pole, his speed and agility allows him to snatch you from the Green Goblin right as you’re about to pass out. He pulls you into his arms and immediately starts to descend back down to the park's grass. As he landed on the ground, he loosened his grip on you, allowing you to catch your breath as he hovered over you protectively.

“Are you alright?” he whispered, his expression one of concern despite his heroic actions.

You slowly nod your head, give yourself a moment to catch your breath.

Yet the Green Goblin didn’t lose, not yet. Not when the demon in him is aware that Spiderman is alive and just pulls a heroic moment and you, the disturber is safe on Spiderman’s hand. Without thinking twice, the furious creature once again wings its way to both Jake and you, he immediately grabs your waist so fast, it feels like a wind passed by.

“No!” Jake yelled as the Green Goblin snatched you away from him and flew off on his glider. As he watched the two of you disappear into the night sky, a wave of worry and fear washed over him. He knew he had to catch up to them quickly but the creature quickly acted and threw a pumpkin bomb towards Jake.

Jake dodged the pumpkin bomb just in time, but the force of the explosion knocked him off balance. He stumbled and fell to the ground, feeling incredibly dizzy and disoriented. He tried to get up, but the world was spinning and he couldn't get his bearings.

Behind him, he heard you yell out his name as Jay took you away, but he couldn't gather enough strength to fight back. All he could do was try to hold onto consciousness as the seconds ticked by. He knew he was running out of time and would have to do something fast before it was too late but he can’t do anything when his vision gets blurred and black in a matter of seconds.

–

The Green Goblin pushed you off from the glider as soon as both of you landed on his lab, his head felt like it would explode any second, and you stood by the desk lab, watching your boyfriend or other thing grunt in pain.

“J-Jay?”

You see the obvious green veins slowly disappear from his skin and his pupils turned to brown and his skin becoming normal, no more green and yellow patches on it.

“Babe?” you called him, your voice low– still shcoked by the creature that took control of him.

“Y/N…” he panted, his rough voice earlier is gone and it’s replaced by his soft voice.

“Jay, Oh my God” you make your way to him, helping him stand up and settle him down on the chair. You take a look for his pale face for a few second, just to make sure it is the real Jay before you pull him into a comfort hug

“What happened?” he asked, he is drained like a person who overworked themselves for 20 hours per day

“You don’t remember?”

Jay shook his head, he doesn't remember a thing. He lets you hug him for a moment while his eyes scan his lab.

“Wait–” Jay slowly pushes you away and walks towards his lab benches. It is so messy, too many books, paper works, lab’s essentials on the benches. He shut his eyes real tight, trying to recall what happened before he knocked out.

“Baby, I think you should rest…” you urged, honestly you have no idea how to tell him the real thing as he can't remember anything now. But for sure, tomorrow you will ask Jake for help.

“I made it!”

“Hm?”

“Baby, I successfully made the serum!” he exclaims, he turns to you and grabs your shoulder, shaking your body a little due to his excitement.

Seeing your puzzled look making Jay chuckle and kiss your forehead, finding your reaction cute.

“Look at me, there’s no patches left and the hideous green veins are gone! I am fine!” his beams

“Are you sure? We still need to see a doctor…”

“We’re gonna see them tomorrow! Damn, I can’t fucking wait to do all the things with you”

You slowly exhale your breath, Jay needs to know he isn't getting better but worse. There’s something inside him that he isn't aware of yet.

“Babe, you really don’t remember what happened tonight?”

“Yeah, I made the ser–”

“Not that! The part where you turns all green and riding a glider–”

“What are you talking about, Y/N?”

“You’re about to kill Spiderman tonight, and if it's wasn’t me–”

“You’re taking Spiderman’s side now?”

“Huh?”

Jay didn’t reply to you, he touched his head again and his face frowning. Your eyes immediately scan the lab, searching for any weapon if the creature decided to take full control of Jay’s body.

“Uh…” he groans, his fingers turns white on how hard he gripped on the lab benches

“Jay?” you called

“You take Spiderman’s side Y/N…. How dare you?” he gruffs, his eyes looking cold and his jaws tense.

“ I do not take anybody's side! But you’re about to kill someone!” you yelled, your voice come out shaky but goes unnoticed by him

“Oh, fuck it! It’s Spiderman, he deserves to die!” he screamed back

You gasped, this isnt Jay you know.

“There’s something inside you, Jay! He controls everything in you and I don't think you’re healed, the thing just uses you as a host!” you explained but Jay only smirks in response.

“Yeah, I remember, we had a deal… I lend my body for him and in return I will not rot like my damn dad did!”

“Jay…”

He takes a step forward until you can feel his hot breath over you, his palm wrapped around your neck but doesn't put any pressure on it, he leans in– his face is an inch closer to you and his lips lingers on your lips but he doesn't move it. You close your eyes, your body suddenly feels hotter than before and since he didn't move an inch you open your eyes back and see he is staring at your eyes deadly.

“I don’t like how you’re siding with Spiderman, you should let him finish his business. Spiderman should die!”

You didn't utter any words to him, you leaned in to kiss him but he backed away, not giving the things you wanted leave you alone in the lab.

–

The next morning, the both of you didnt talk to each other but Jay was still stuck by your side since you left the bed. Bathroom, kitchen, living room, just named it. He still lingers around you even though he did not say anything to you yet. And that’s the reason why he tags along with you on your way to Coffee Beans, to meet with others.

“Oh God, Jake!” you immediately pull Jake into a hug but Jay quickly grabs your shoulder, preventing you from hugging the brunette but you ignore his bitch attitude. Jake, who noticed Jay’s fierce eyes looking straight to him could only mutter sorry to his best friend, he did not want to pour oil on the flames.

“Hey, I’m sorry for letting you home alone last night–”

“Wait, alone?” Jay cuts him off

“Dude, look I’m really sorry but–”

“Cut the bullshit Jake! You fucking left her alone at the park?!” Jay snapped, he swiftly pushed you back and face to face with Jay.

All of the attention is on them, some of the customers already take out their phone to record.

“Winter, things are about to get messy isn’t it?” you asked the blonde girl which she replied with a nod.

“Look, I worried about Aunt May–”

“Oh, please! Just say that you want her to die right?! You failed to kill me and now you’re attacking her too?”

“Jay, you knows it’s not true”

“I know damn well it is the truth, Jake! You’re just selfish human being”

Realizing all the attention is one them, Jake’s ears turned slightly red

“Dude, come on…”

“What? You’re about to kill us and you want to discuss it privately?”

Jay let out a big sigh, he felt disgust by Jake ‘innocent’ face. How dare he play victim here? It is so obvious that got the intention to kill you and him.

“You know what” Jay said before he threw his fist to Jake and with his Spidey sense tingling, Jake noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Jay’s arm had begun to move towards him.Without hesitation, he quickly side-stepped and grabbed Jay’s fist right before it hit him. Jay tried to pull his hand away but Jake, with his superhuman strength, was too strong. He looked at Jay and said calmly,

“You need to calm down, Jay. This is getting of control”

Jay struggled and tried to pull away again, but Jake wouldn't let go. Despite the heated argument, he still cared about Jay and didn't want to see him hurt. Jay let out a grunt of frustration, but he stopped struggling and listened to what Jake had to say. Meanwhile, adrenaline was pumping through Jake’s veins and his spider senses were in overdrive. He could feel the danger, but with

Jay’s hand firmly in his grasp, he felt safe.

Jay harshly pulls away from Jake’s and is about to leave the cafe but his step pauses for a moment as you didn’t follow him, standing beside Winter with frowns on your face. It’s not like you are betraying your own boyfriend right now, but he isn't in the right state of mind. With the creature inside him, you don’t feel safe around him.

Jay scoffs seeing you seems to make your mind up, he didn't say anything and left the cafe with disappointed feelings. He can’t believe people he loves turn their backs on him.

After the chaotic scene in the cafe, you tell Jake every single thing from A to Z and you also hand Jake the serum Jay created from his lab. You didn't know much about science but with the genius person next to you maybe he can figure something out.

“Follow me” Jake said and brings you to the lab that he always uses with Winter to complete their work.

As the two of you step in the lab, Jake provides you a lab coat for you to wear and he makes sure you’re sanitized well before touching any equipment in the lab.

“What are we doing here?”

“I think we can make the antidote for Jay, strong enough to let the creature die once I figure out what’s materials inside this thing” Jake stated which you only nod as a response.

The lab is filled with the hum of high-tech equipment. The room is bathed in the soft glow of computer screens and the harsh light of overhead fluorescents. Jake, with a serious expression on his face, is hunched over a microscope meanwhile you, on the other hand, are standing nearby, looking lost amidst the scientific equipment.

“Y/N, I need you to hand me the blue vial on the second shelf” he uttered, looking up from his microscope, his expression still focused, it’s not like the Jake you usually encounter, the one who is always smiling and jokes around.

You look at the shelf he mentioned, your eyes scanning over a bunch of vials and pick up the blue one that Jake asked you for.

“Here you go, Professor Jake” you joked

“Thanks” he chuckles and takes the vial from your hands, he carefully adds a drop of the liquid to the green solution resulting in a teal vial. Jake sighs in relief

“That should do it, This should neutralize the Green Goblin’s serum” he stated, looking at you who was already grinning from ear to ear and your eyes shining from excitement. You may not understand the science but you know how important this antidote is.

“But only for temporary”

Your smile faded a little

“What do you mean?”

“The antidote… it’s not permanent. It will only suppress the effects of the serum for a short time, we– I mean, I still need to create a permanent solution” Jake explained

You nod, the fact that Jake successfully makes one with a temporary solution already gives you hope.

“For now, you keep these vials to yourself first, if the goblin is about to take control, quickly inject him with this, okay?”

“I'll try…” you answer with a very unsure tone in your voice, it’s not an easy job for you.

–

The sun was high in the sky, casting shadows between the towering skyscrapers of New York City and it’s a good day for the Green Goblin to hunt his nemesis; Spiderman.

The Green Goblin, cackling maniacally, was darting between buildings on his glider, a trail of green smoke following him.

“Spiderman, come out and play!” he screams with rough voice

It took Green Goblin a minute to scream Spiderman’s name before he, with his web-slingers at the ready, was hot on the Goblin’s tail. The two of them ‘danced’ in the sky, a deadly ballet of power and agility.

“Give it up, Goblin!” Jake yelled, launching the sticky web at him but Goblin was fast to avoid the attack as if he already learned all the Spiderman’s move.

Their fight took them higher and higher, until they were level with the eleventh floor of a nearby building. The Green Goblin, grinning wickedly, suddenly veered towards the building, crashing through a window and into an office space. Jake followed, landing gracefully amidst the shattered glass.

Inside the office, employees screamed and ducked for cover as the two adversaries faced off. Jake, ever the protector, quickly webbed up the exits, ensuring no one would get caught in the crossfire.

“End of this, Goblin!” Jake declared, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. The Green Goblin just laughed, his eyes gleaming with madness.

“Oh, Spiderman,” he sneered, “The fun is just beginning.”

And with that, their battle continued, the eleventh floor of the building becoming their battleground.

“Everyone, please evacuate the building!” Jake yelled while he shot his web to the Green Goblin. In the middle of chaos, Jake tries to protect all the employees from the villain’s glider while avoiding the villain's attack.

While the guards and the polices are trying to get all the employees safe and sound, you on the other hand is running as hard as you can when you heard the villain is attacking again, you just finish class and was about to go to Jay’s before someone from your class pointed out that the Green Goblin is attacking again.

You sneakily enter the building as all the frontliners are too focused on the employees and citizens' safety, you take the stairs until the eleventh floor.

“Hey, attacking private property isn’t cool dude… How about we talked about this with coffee? Do you like coffee?” Jake asked, while kicking the Green Goblin’s glider, making him fall to the ground with a loud thud.

“You need to die!” he grunts

“Oh no no, you need to die not me” Jake utter while emphasizing the word ‘You’

The Green Goblin quickly gets up and attacks Jake with his blade, his move was so fast that Jake almost couldn’t catch up with him. And the next thing Jake knows, he is being thrown to the hard wall, the Green Goblin using his glider to limit his move. With his hideous patches green hand holding the sharpened blade, the Green Goblin swung his arms towards Jake’s face wanting to stab him using his blade but you burst through the door with heavy panting.

You swore under your breath, being a Spiderman’s unofficial sidekick is hard. You don’t even have a costume.

You ignore the feeling of your legs that start to shake and run towards the villain, with a syringe filled with the powerful teal liquid and precise aim– you inject the antidote directly into the Green Goblin’s neck.

“W-what are you doing here?” Jake asked as soon as the pressure of the gilder got low as if he didnt know the main purpose you are here.

“No time for explanation! I need to take this guy somewhere safe and you need to help me!”

“Wait, you know this guy?”

“I said I had no time for explanation! And please distract all of them, they can’t see him in human form” you pleaded, while swinging unconscious Jay’s arm to your neck.

“But hey, the antidote is working, you did it?”

“No, my genius friend made it”

Jake smiles underneath the smile, ah how he loves the honest compliment coming from you.

“He is indeed a genius” Jake muttered underneath his breath before helping you with Jay. Jake wrapped both of his arms to your and Jay’s waist and then he shot his web to the ceiling.

“We gotta keep this lowkey, no scream okay or else they’re gonna notice us” Jake warned

You nod your head, you tighten your arms that wrap around his waist and pursue your lips together. Not wasting any time, Jake jumps through the middle space of the stairs. You shut your eyes real tight due to the speedness, luckily the hero beside you landed the three of you very carefully before leading you to the emergency exits before take off to distract the citizens and the frontliners.

–

“Jay, thank God, you’re awake!” you exclaim, it’s been three hours since the chaos and you are afraid that he won’t awake since the antidote that Jake created did not test on any living things yet.

“Out” Jay weakly said, his eyes staring to the ceiling instead of you.

“Jay–”

“He said, you helped him again!” he yelled making you flinch, this time his deadly eyes stares right into you.

“I don’t want to leave, you’re not stable yet” your voice is shaky, suppressing yourself from crying in front of him.

“That day when you decided to side with Jake is over for us, Y/N! I don’t need people who turns their back on me”

“You’re about to murder people, Jay! I can’t let you do that when I know there’s something else that has been controlling you” you fight back, you hate that parasite for manipulating Jay. He knows Jay is desperate and willingly says yes to anything to get his old life back, he uses Jay’s body for a host to kills Spiderman.

“Baby, we can work together…” you holds Jay’s cold hand

“Jake created this antidote for you, it can neutralize the serum that you created, he’s been working on it and if it’s successful, then you will be able to cure and the creature inside you will be gone!” you try to persuade him, you could see his eyes soften for a slight moment before it turns fierce again.

“Just go, Y/N” he urged, he got up from the bed and pushed you out of his room and slammed it on your face.

“If you change your mind, me and Jake will be at his lab. We’re on the final step to finish your antidote, hopefully” you said before leaving the Osborn penthouse.

–

That night, Jake and you were working hard to finish an antidote for the Green Goblin. After weeks of trial and error, he had finally cracked the code and created the perfect serum that could stop the villainous goblin in its tracks. As the duo were wrapping up their work for the day, they heard a loud crash from outside the building. Startled, they looked out the window and spotted the Green Goblin hovering in the air in front of the building. Fearing for their safety, Jake knew they had to act quickly and get the antidote ready before it was too late.

But before Jake can even think of his plan, the Green Goblin crashes into the floor Jake and you are in and as if he got a dog’s nose, he glides straight to the lab and smirks when he captures both of you frozen on the scene.

“He was too weak, a word from his girlfriend and he wants to surrender” the raspy voice spat.

Jake and you immediately know who the creature is referring to.

“Why do people like you need to destroy everything I had planned from the start?” he asked, looking sharply at Jake then at you.

“Now, now… give me the antidote before I need to kill Spiderman” he said, he got off from the glider walking towards the two of you. Your breath hitched, usually Spiderman will come at the right time. Where is he?

“Mr Goblin… we still can talk..” Jake said, his hands grabbed on his backpack.

“No more talking! I am done with talking, now give me the antidote before I waste my time to kill the two of you!” he snarled

“Well, I guess we need to do a plan B” Jake said to you

You turned to him with a puzzled look, both of you didnt come up with any plan at all, what did he talk about?

“What plan B?” you half-whispered to him

“Plan B is, Y/N, run!” Jake yelled and grabbed the nearest chair to throw to the creature making him growl in pain.

He quickly takes his backpack and leaves the lab to change into his costume meanwhile you are running for your life until you find an empty classroom. You hide under the table and cup your mouth using both of your hands, you don’t know what Jake’s plan is since the antidote is on your hand nonetheless, you trust him.

On the other hand, the Green Goblin was furious. He couldn't believe he got tricked so easily by human beings, so he quickly left the lab and started searching for the two of you. His steps are slow but impactable, from inside the classroom you could clearly hear his footstepping the cold marble.

Creakkk…

The sound of the door being open makes your heartbeat faster to the point your breath becomes uneven due to cupping your mouth too tight, but you need to be safe, the Green Goblin can’t know you here until Jake comes to the rescue.

On the other side, Jake crouched down and made his way towards the door, his eyes locked on the Green Goblin. He silently crept up behind him, ready to swoop in as soon as the goblin sensing you hid under the table. Just as he was about to leap out and attack, however, he overheard something that made his blood run cold.

As Jake listened more closely, he heard the Green Goblin's voice, speaking quietly in his trademark raspy tone.

“I can sense you, Spiderman” he hissed,

“I know you're here somewhere. Come out now and face me like the hero you pretend to be.”

Jake’s heart dropped as he realized what had happened - the Green Goblin had seen straight through his plan and was waiting for Spiderman to come to the rescue. Suddenly, the villain began to charge towards the direction of your hiding place. Unable to leave his friend behind, Jake quickly jumped out and intercepted the Green Goblin.

With a burst of speed, Spider Man tackled the Green Goblin to the ground, preventing him from reaching you. The impact caused a loud crash as they tumbled across the floor together, but neither of them let up in their struggle. Jake quickly grabbed the Green Goblin by the neck and pinned him down, but the villain refused to give in. He wriggled and kicked, his sharp claws coming out and slicing at Jake’s costume. Jake gritted his teeth and did his best to hold on and keep the villain pinned down while trying to avoid his vicious attacks.

The battle raged on for what seemed like an eternity, but neither Jake nor the Green Goblin was willing to back down. They both fought for every inch of ground, refusing to let their opponent get the upper hand. Jake’s eyes were focused on keeping his grip on the villain's neck, while the Green Goblin was doing his best to wiggle and wriggle out of his grasp. With the antidote ready in one hand and a syringe in another, you watched from your hiding place, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Nevertheless, the Green Goblin seems stronger than before, he managed to break free from Jake’s grip. With his much energy, he threw Jake off the building and wasted no time to take you with him. He leapt onto his glider and flew off while laughing maniacally.

Jake grunts, he takes a deep breath to hold the pain after being thrown from the 4th floor. He curses under his breath seeing the creature successfully take you away. Ignoring the pain, he quickly swings to chase the two of you.

“Jay, let me go!” you screams

“No Jay anymore, he’s weak!” he spat and flew off towards an unfinished building. He landed on the unfinished floor that was filled with steel rods. The green eyes stare right into your soul making you shaking from tears.

“Give me those” he demand

You shook your head, lips quivering seeing the monster in front of you.

The Green Goblin grunts and wrapped his rough finger to your neck

“I’ll save my blade for Spiderman’s blood until then I have to kill you using my hands” he said and he tightened the pressure on your neck making you gasp for air. With his strength force, lift you up to the air, your legs wiggling for a release and your eyes looking straight to the villain's eyes; searching for Jay’s but to your dismay the monster did not lie when he said Jay is gone.

Your vision getting blurry, suddenly getting a flashback when the Green Goblin almost killed you at the park. You don’t even have strength to lift your hands and be sneaky to inject him with the antidote that Jake’s created.

For the last time, you try searching for Jay– hoping that he fights the demon that terrorized his body.

Your tears fall when he is nowhere to be seen.

Unnoticed by you, your hands that gripped on the antidote slowly loosening resulting in the antidote to fall to the ground.

“Gotcha!”

The Green Goblin growls seeing the person he hates– Spiderman successfully caught the antidote before it landed on the ground.

Jake makes his way to the top of the floor, which is where you and him are right now.

“Let her go” Jake said, his voice is serious

The Green Goblin smirks, using one hand that still grabs your neck he lets you hang by his hand for support, your feet don't touch the ground but the air instead.

“Very poor choice of words” and with that, the Green Goblin releases his hand that has been wrapped around your neck, sending you plummeting down towards the ground below

You can’t even have the energy to scream, at this point you accept the fate that you are losing for helping your own lover.

With lightning speed, Jake webbed up his web shooters, launched himself off the ground, and used his web to catch you and the Green Goblin, pulled you away from the edge of the building and pulled the Green Goblin off the building causing him to drop immediately to the ground. He managed to pull you to safety, just seconds before you would've hit the ground. As the duo caught their breath, Jake glared at the creature.

Jake puts you down and uses his strength and punches the Green Goblin numerous times to buy you some time to fill the syringe with the antidote and to make him slightly less powerful.

You tried your best to fill it and your shaky hands did not help the process, your heart still beat faster and your mind still hazy due to lack of oxygen but nonetheless you need to help Jay.

With a steely gaze, you injected the serum directly into the Green Goblin's neck, who let out a howl of pain as it took effect. The antidote worked almost instantly, and the Green Goblin slowly transformed back into his human form, Jay. A look of confusion and horror crossed his face as he looked at the two of you, having no memory of his villainous alter ego or the crimes he had committed.

“Y/N…” Jay panted, you quickly gave him a hug while crying, relieved that everything was over.

Underneath his mask, Jake is smiling. He was also relieved because he got to save his best friend with the antidote he created.

“Oh my God!” you let go of Jay and turn to the Spiderman who is standing right next to you.

“My friend, Jake!” you gasped, you literally forgot Jake is still in the building, maybe he is still searching for you.

“Spiderman, please look for Jake!”

“That Jake you searched in the park? Damn he need to take care of himself”

“Please! We can take care of ourselves here. Thank you so much!” you said

“Uh.. okay.. But make sure to take a taxi, this is criminal’s favorite spot” he warned

You nods your head and thanking him for the second time before he off to ‘search for Jake’

–

“Are you feeling okay?” you asked as soon as you entered Jay’s room.

He weakly nodded, after the night he told the goblin that he’s gonna surrender himself, the creature getting violence and taking full control of his body for that night, he can't even fight the creature because his power was too strong for him.

Luckily the antidote that Jake created saved him, it neutralized all the chemicals and radioactive in Jay's body. His skin didn't have any patches or green veins left, it feels like he is a normal person again.

“Thank you for not giving up on me” he said, his voice sounding strained.

You pull him into side hug and plant a kiss on his forehead

“I don’t wanna lose you as much as you don’t wanna lose me, Jay” you uttered.

“Uh.. should I leave?” the two of you flinched at the sudden voice and laughed as you saw Jake standing awkwardly at the door.

“Dude, come on in,” Jay exclaims.

The two best friends smile at each other before high five each other.

“Thank you, Jake and I’m sorry for every shits I’d done to you” Jay utters.

“Nah man, all good. That’s what best friend for” Jake beams.

While you and Jake are chatting, Jay smiles at himself, it’s been awhile since he felt a spark of joy inside of him. Since his father’s death he has been nothing but miserable. He is thankful he didn't end up like his father and for the two people in his life; you and Jake for not giving up on him.

It’s hard to believe that his wish to be together with you is not a wish anymore.