#so either let me pay with the stupid link YOU GAVE ME and my silly little passcode or let me make a new application!!

[gnomewithalaptop]

I am actually going to track down the man who designed this goddamn application website, just so I can drag him into the arctic tundra, strip him naked, and leave him for the bears

[thisisarcanereverie]

the Sacrifice Play (DARK! Moon Knight x Reader) the Knight and Pawn Series

MINORS DNI

TRIGGER WARNINGS: DARK THEMES, YANDERE/DARK MOON KNIGHT, DEATH!

“Marc,” you laugh shouted, your curly haired friend just poked your sides and started to run away, beckoning you to follow suit. You both had graduated highschool two months prior and you both had saved up for this trip, away from the city and into a cabin. You realized how horror movie stupid that was but it didn’t matter, your guardians couldn’t care less about where you were and as for Marc, that smiling and goofy friend of yours, his couldn’t care either. 

You ran through the woods, hoping over logs and moving rebel branches out of your way, green blurred past you as you tried to catch up with him. Finally you managed to reach him, out of breath and your lungs greedily inhaling the air it was deprived of. It was a creek with various kinds of stone surrounding it. Looking down you quickly searched for a flat rock, you actually managed to find something suitable soon. Its smooth flatness made it perfect for skipping. For a while that’s all you and Marc did, even made it into a competition to see who could get the most skips before just sitting there at the creek, watching it ripple and flow. It was calming, serene. You could feel his warmth seep through his hand in which he held yours. Neither of you said a word, you were just present. Secretly this was one of the things you came to love about Marc, you never needed to fill the air with conversation. He was content to just be once in a while. 

It wasn’t until the sun began to set and stars became visible that Marc and you started heading back, your hands never leaving each other. 

You finally made it back to the small cabin, it was all you and Marc could afford to rent for the week until you had to go back. The sun had set a while ago and you could see the night sky more clearly than in Chicago. 

“Would you look at that Marc,” You said, pointing to all the stars and the moon in the sky, you smiled as you picked out a few constellations, not paying attention to the midnight eyes beside you, looking at you like you were the world, “You don’t see that in Chicago,” You mused, “it’s so beautiful.” 

“Yeah,” Marc said, his eyes unwavering at you, “it is.” 

You looked beside you and saw his eyes, something in them made you sad. 

“What’s going on,” You asked as you gave his hand a squeeze, “Whatever it is you can tell me.”

Marc looked at his shoes before motioning you to sit next to him, you let go of his hand and sat yourself next to him in the old chair that came with the place. 

“I’m leaving next month,” He said, “we won’t be seeing each other for a while and I’m scared.” This took you aback, you knew of Marc’s departure but he so rarely revealed what he was feeling, let alone fear. 

“Can’t blame you.” You said, Marc shook his head. 

“I’m not afraid of the violence,” He said, “I’ve seen a lot of that, I’m afraid that when we see each other again we won’t be this close anymore.” 

You understood where he was coming from,

You had the same fears. 

“Only you Marc Spector would be more afraid of silly ol’ me than the violence of combat.” You said lightly before putting your head on his shoulder, “I’m going to miss you everyday.” You said, “You’re my best friend, and I love you. And when you come back home to me, I’ll still be your best friend, and I’ll still love you. Much like how you’ll still be my best friend when you come back, just with a few adjustments. All I care about is that you come back, so promise me you’ll come back.” 

“I can’t make promises I can’t keep”

“Make an exception,” you said, “just this once, just promise me you’ll come back.”

“Only if you promise that you’ll be waiting for me when I do.”

“I promise, pretty face.” You said, closing your eyes. 

“I promise too, starlight.” Marc said, the steady rise and fall of your shoulders let him know you fell asleep, he took advantage of this to sneak a gentle kiss to your forehead, “I’d promise you anything.” 

—

You don’t remember coming home, all you remember is hitting your soft sheets, Alec already sleeping and falling into one of the deepest sleeps of your life. Memories of yesterday flash through your mind and suddenly you are up. You didn’t bother dressing up, wearing the clothes you wore the day previous you raced to grab your shoes at the door. 

You were damned if you let Marc bully you like this, keeping the people you loved as a sword hanging above your head. You spot your fiance at the stove, you admire him for a moment. Trying to burn the image of your silly, and beautiful alec dancing to abba’s dancing queen while cooking breakfast, illuminated by the morning light, into your mind forever. You wanted this to be the memory that stuck with you. 

The moment so beautiful was short lived as Alec noticed the look on your face, one he often described as sorrowful. He placed the pan of eggs and raced toward you, cupping both of your cheeks with his hands. 

“What’s wrong, lovely,” He asked, concerned, it took all of you not to bury yourself into his arms and weep. You had to be strong, for him you would be strong. 

“I have to go back to the office,” You said, a half baked excuse, “I won’t be long, they just misplaced some files and I have the last duplicate on my desktop.” You kiss his hands before placing one on his lips, the sweet scent and taste of him almost relaxes you. 

“But it’s your day off-”

“I promise I’ll be quick,” you said, “just stay here until I come back, promise me.”

“I’d promise you anything” You kissed his lips before replying. 

“I love you.” 

— 

“So you have a request Agent?” Monica asked. 

“Yes I do,” You confirmed, “you have close connections with the FBI and CIA correct?”

“Yes, where is this leading to?” “I need to place Alec Maximillion Hamilton in immediate, emergency witness protection program.” You said the urgency in your voice apparently. You could see Monica’s dark eyes widen in surprise. 

“Why do I need to place your fiance in witness protection?”

“I just need you to trust me on this.” You urged, Monica studied you. Your fists were clenched, your forehead was sweating and your eyes were electrified. She knew exactly what was wrong with you. 

You were afraid. 

“Obviously there is something going on,” Monica said, “maybe if you told me I can help.” 

“No,” You shook your head, “the less people know the better. I promise one day I’ll tell you if I have the chance. But as of right now, I just need those papers and protection.” 

Over the course of the time Monica has met you, she knew when you were being serious, and afraid. Seeing both of those on your face at the same time however, was terrifying. 

“I’ll call Jimmy Woo and pull some strings,” Monica said, “Go home to Alec, get him ready Jimmy will probably be around there by three.” 

You reached over and thanked her profusely before setting an immediate beeline back home. 

—

“SWORD just faxed me your new papers,” You said as you handed Alec his new passport, social security, as well as work documents, “What time is it now?”

“It’s almost seven.” Alec announced, meanwhile Jimmy was late. He called earlier and said something about car troubles. 

“Ok Jimmy should be here at any moment,” You said, straightening the collar of his shirt, a simple act you cherished but won’t be able to do again. His hands envelop yours and forces you to look him in the eye. 

“Come with me,” He said. 

“I can’t,” You said, tears in your eyes, “I can’t, he’ll find me. The best I can do now is make sure he can’t find you.” He placed your forehead on yours and brought your hand to his chest, the thrumming of his heart calmed you, you tried to memorize the beat of it, searing it into your memory. The moment ended with a quick vibrate sound in your jeans. You took your phone out and a cold feeling enveloped you. 

“RUN - JIM WOO” 

“We have to go now!” You said not wasting a second before grabbing Alec’s hand and practically dragging him through the front door, car keys in hand. Taking your car was a risk but it was faster and Alec needed to get to a place of safety. Marc was already taking your life away, You weren’t about to let him take Alec as well. 

You looked in the back mirror and saw a familiar armor of white, terror filled you. 

“GET DOWN!” You shouted at Alec who complied immediately, You put the car in reverse and floored the gas pedal. You jolted from the force and a resounding thunk hit the car. You didn’t waste any time to change it to drive and got the hell out of dodge, once again the force jolted both you and Alec. 

“Did you just hit Moon Knight with your car?” 

“Yeah” You said, “we’ve got to get you to SWORD Headquarters or to the nearest bus leaving the city. Somewhere where you’ll be out of his reach.” You said as you broke almost all driving laws. 

You were nearly at the SWORD Headquarters when you noticed people gather and take photo’s, gawking at something above. You took a quick glimpse and saw a blur of white, heading in the same direction as you. 

“Shit,” You muttered before taking the sharp right onto a one way street, “change of plans, our only shot is a bus out of the city, Marc was following us to SWORD.” You swerved to avoid the oncoming vehicle, not caring about the blaring horn and the obvious middle finger aimed at you. 

“Call the transportation department and ask when the next bus is leaving.” 

—

Luckily the next bus was in fifteen minutes and was an almost empty bus, it was leaving for a round trip across state borders. 

You got there, and before you could say anything Alec spoke. 

“Two tickets on the bus going to New York.” Alec said, your eyes widened as he paid the lady at the desk before he dragged you to the loading site. 

You were about to tell him how bad an idea it was when you saw the lights flicker. You could see Alec’s face harden as he looked behind you, without breathing you followed his gaze. A familiar white hooded figure with glowing eyes stalked you, Marc’s anger came off in waves as well as his bloodlust, You were about to yell at the driver to floor it when strong hands practically pushed you on the bus, You didn’t have time to react before Alec closed the doors on the bus. 

“Alec what are you doing!” you exclaimed, “Alec! Open the door!” You pound your hands against the glass of the door, trying to get to Alec. You saw him shake his hand with a small smile, He placed his hands against yours, the barrier of the glass separating the two of you. Even though you couldn’t hear him, you saw him mouth something. 

“I love you.” 

You pounded harder on the door hoping to break the glass, but it wasn’t any use. The door opener was jammed, Alec turned away from you. His amber eyes hidden away from you as he walked to the white bandaged figure. 

“ALEC!” you yelled, when Alec reached Marc it became silent. For one moment, the entire world ceased moving, ceased breathing. And then, within a single moment, Marc’s hands were around Alec’s head and just like that, with a sickening crack and twist Alec’s body crumpled to the ground. His neck bending at an odd angle and you saw those amber eyes you loved so much, how they caught the morning sun in them and shone brightly when looking at you, became lifeless. His eyes unblinking, dim as can be. 

He was dead. 

The heartbreaking screech that came out of you was unnatural. You sobbed and screamed at the top of your lungs. Finally the door opened, you immediately went to his side. You skid your knees as you held him, begging him. 

You don’t exactly know when you blacked out, but when you woke up, Alec was gone and the familiar patter of London rain could be heard outside. 

Marc had won.

[hylias-library]

Legend x Reader

Modern AU

I thought this fit him. He's a big softie.

[Navigation]

"Are you ready to order yet?"

This was the fourth time the waitress had stopped by your table, and like the other times prior, you grimaced with an apologetic smile. "I need a little more time. I'm... waiting for someone."

The waitress nodded before throwing you one of these looks of pity. Like the people around you did, who noticed you kept pushing back ordering time and time again. Like they knew what was going on, and that made you feel even worse.

Your gaze wandered towards the entrance, and your expression fell, the last little gleam of hope disappearing into thin air.

You had been stood up.

Your lower lip wobbled a little when you tried to suppress the tears welling up in your eyes. You had gotten your hopes up for absolutely nothing.

But the moment you decided to just get up and leave, a young man you've never seen before sits down in front of you. Making you stare at him wide-eyed, mouth slightly open.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, Darling. Traffic was crazy, and I had to wait for the next shift to arrive at the store before I could leave." He explained loudly, and just for you to hear, he added. "I'm Link, or Legend. Just go with it, okay? Whoever didn't bother to show up is an idiot."

Your breath hitched a little when he finished speaking. A hopeful smile on your lips. And so you went with it. He was sweet enough to try and save you from this embarrassment, so that was the least you could do.

Nodding, you whispered a quiet "Thank you. I'm (Y/n)."

He smiled. "Nice to meet you. Even though it's a rather unique way of making acquaintances."

You snorted. Handsome and funny, a great combination if you were honest with yourself.

"You know." Leaning back in your chair, you intertwined your fingers with each other, eyes set on the table. "I just was about to leave until you showed up. You really saved my evening."

Link nodded along. "I figured. That's why I came over. My idiot friends can be one evening without me. I couldn't just let you go with that sad look. A smile suits you better."

You almost choked on your own spit. "You're not alone here?!" It made you feel guilty. "Oh, I really don't want to ruin your day out with friends."

Legend shook his head and waved you off, pointing over to a group of 8 men and boys collectively staring holes into you. When you saw them, they grinned at you and waved.

Surprised, you looked from Legend to them, waving back shyly.

"Just ignore them." Link said as they started to make weird gestures. Probably to tease their friend.

By now, the waitress had returned. Asking her question for the fifth time this evening. But this time, she wore a genuine and happy smile directed at you. "Are you ready to order now?"

You looked at Legend, who gave you a nod, and smiled. "Yeah."

You couldn’t remember when the last time you had this much fun was. Legend was hilarious, telling you stories about stupid things his friends had done and even asking questions about you.

You returned the gesture. In this small amount of time you had to get to know him, you really had grown fond of him.

All too soon, both of you were finished eating. You even had dessert and still felt like it wasn't enough time.

Legend had insisted on paying instead of splitting the bill and was now accompanying you outside. His friends had already gone home at this point.

"Thank you again. This was the best Not Date - Date I've ever had."

He snorted at your description, doing a silly little bow. "Glad to be of service."

You bit your lip. There was an awkward silence between you. Neither wanting to leave just yet.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh." It made you sad speaking it out loud.

That seemed to irk Legend in a way. "I mean." He started to fidget with his phone a little. "It doesn't have to be?" His voice filled with hope.

You looked at him in shock before you smiled brightly. He didn't want to just leave it at that either!

He cleared his throat before scratching the back of his head. "Would you maybe like to go on a date with me? A real date?"

"I would love to."

A giggle escaped your mouth. "As in. A Date - Date?"

His response was an amused huff.

"Yes. A Date - Date."

[tentimesthecourage]

It’s Time

Summary: FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY

There was so much sound around them, so many people milling about. And of course! It was finally the day. The day these two (aha) were finally joining as one under Hylia. Were they nervous? Of course. Did they regret this? Absolutely not.

Rinku took a deep breath, forcing himself not to run his hand through his hair which had been brushed back and tied in a long braid, ending with a few feathered charms from his fiancée. He readjusted the white suit he was wearing and took another deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

“Everything alright?” He glanced over to see a softly smiling Sky. Rinku nodded slowly, biting his lip as he responded to the older, “Nerves, but I’m excited too. I’m looking forward to this. Thank you, again, for letting us use this place.”

“I should be thanking you!” The Skyloftian chuckled softly in amusement. “Sun and I are honored you wished to hold the wedding here.” The younger male gave a slightly embarrassed smile. It had been difficult, going through the varying ideas of where the wedding could be held. It had to be big enough to hold everyone, but they also wanted it to be a meaningful spot. Finally they ended up agreeing with Skyloft, both surprising and delighting the Chosen hero and his wife.

A knock at the door had both of them perking, Wild opened it and poked his head in. -Almost time to start, brace yourselves.- He shot a grin at his twin. -Time’s coming.- Rinku nodded, flushing lightly. It still baffled him that he managed to get the courage scrounged up to ask the older male to walk him down the aisle. He could have sworn there was a tear in his eyes as he nodded, saying he would be honored to do so.

He had yet to see Four since the night before, which bothered him. But those around them had insisted on the tradition of the “bride” and groom not being allowed to see each other before the ceremony. What a pain, that was even a tradition for either of their Hyrules.

Not too long after Wild had ducked out, the door opened again and Time smiled gently, “Sky, you’re needed at the altar. I’ll stay here with Rinku.”

Sky smiled faintly in return before turning to give Rinku a quick hug, giving a quiet ‘stay calm and good luck’, and heading out. The ex captain hugged back before letting his shoulders slump with a small sigh.

“Everything alright?” Time asked him gently, taking a seat beside him. Rinku nodded slowly, smiling weakly. “Just nerves. And I miss him… is that silly?”

“Not at all, I felt the same during my wedding.” The older male chuckled softly, smiling in reminiscence. “My Hyrule has similar traditions so Malon and I weren’t allowed to see each other either before the ceremony.” Rinku nodded slowly in understanding and easy conversation soon flowed between them. Before they knew it, both perked at the sound of chiming. It was time.

“That’s our cue.” Time stood up and held out his arm to him. “Are you ready?” Rinku smiled softly, even as a small flush crossed his face as he took hold with a deep breath to calm his shaking nerves.

“Yes.”

They headed out of the room, arms linked together.

The area was beautiful, decorated with gorgeous lights, ribbons, and flowers, but Rinku could hardly pay attention to it. The music wrapped around them like a soothing blanket, soft and warm, but again, he barely noticed it at all. He could feel so many eyes on him and a chill ran down his spine. He wasn’t used to the attention and it almost made him want to turn around and run.

Almost.

And then his gaze landed on Four and everything disappeared.

He was beautiful… And that smile, soft, encouraging, loving. The chill vanished and a loving warmth curled up in its place in his chest. He could barely keep a steady pace next to Time as they went down the aisle. Every part of him was dying to pick up the pace and run to the end and he was pretty sure Time knew it as he kept a tight hold on his arm to keep him at an even pace. Eventually he was let go and found himself standing in front of his fiancée, smiling brightly as a deep blush crossed his cheeks.

Warriors cleared his throat as the music soon faded out, before beginning to speak.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today out of morbid curiosity!”

Rinku staggered while Four bit his lip to keep from laughing. The rest of the Chain failed to hold their own laughter as did many other guests. Rinku huffed, mouth twitching as he shot the older blond a look. Warriors grinned, clearly not sorry at all as he resumed speaking.

“No, but seriously. We are gathered here today to join these two as one under Hylia from now until the end of time.”

Rinku tuned the words out as Four reached over to gently take his hand. He could feel him trembling, just like him and surprisingly, it eased his heart. Four was just as nervous about this as he was. It made him feel a little better. He squeezed his hand gently and smiled as he saw him relax minutely. Tuning back in, he heard Warriors mentioned that the two of them had decided to create their own vows before falling silent with a light gesture. That was his cue.

Clearing his throat, Rinku took both of Four’s hands and smiled.

“When I first met you, I wasn’t sure what to think. I know I was smitten the moment my eyes laid on you, but I had no idea it would lead to this moment. Just being around you brightens my day and I can’t imagine life without you. I hope I never will have to. Even when time passes and Hylia calls us both to the heavens, I will still love you and I will always be by your side, no matter what it takes.”

He could feel his trembling resume again as well as see a sparkle of tears building in his eyes that now were shining with several different colors. Four took a deep shuddering breath before speaking.

“You always seem to know what to say to leave me speechless. I’ll be honest with you, I never thought our journey would lead us to this moment, but there’s not a part of me that regrets it. I’ll love you until Hyrule falls into ashes and even then, I don’t think I could ever stop.” A shaky laugh escaped him as he squeezed his hands gently. “I… am so glad I got to meet you, that I get to be by your side. I love you.”

The rings were brought over by a grinning, suspiciously red-eyed Wind who held out the silvery blue pillow. They were works of art, thin bands of gold with Hylian writing along both in each other’s specific dialect, but meaning the same; ‘Forever bound in love’. Both smiled at him before taking the respective rings and sliding them onto each other’s fingers.

“With this ring, I thee wed.”

“If anyone has any objections, speak now.” Warriors’ voice was almost dangerous, as if daring anyone to object to their union. If the two looked around, they would have noticed that all their brothers had that look in their eyes. A look promising retribution to anyone who protested. It was silent for a couple minutes before Warriors broke it with a chuckle.

“Right then! By the power vested in me, I pronounce you husbands! You may seal the promise with a kiss.”

He certainly didn’t have to tell them twice as Rinku swung Four into his arms causing him to gasp before the sound was muffled by a tender kiss. He melted into it, wrapping his arms around him tightly as the audience burst into cheers and whistles. Almost reluctantly, Rinku pulled away to rest his forehead against his husband’s, smiling widely.

“I love you…”

“I love you too… now put me down, silly~”

Rinku chuckled softly before doing as he asked. He perked as Four reached toward his bejeweled belt to grab the Four Sword. He still hadn’t been sure why the other insisted on wearing it during the ceremony, but then the answer was obvious as he raised it high, allowing the magic to activate and soon one was four.

And he found himself pounced on by Red.

Anything he was about to ask was muffled by a tender kiss, which was unfortunately brief, but made up for by Blue claiming his next in a slightly rougher manner. Vio followed soon after and then Green, leaving Rinku totally dazed and kissed senseless. Almost absently he could hear his brother laughing with the rest of the Chain while it seemed most of the other guests were just as caught off guard as he was.

Still thought, he couldn’t help grinning as his arms managed to ensnare the four in a tight hug. “You guys are rascals, I swear to Hylia!”

“You love us anyway!” Red chirped innocently, flushing faintly as he got a kiss on the head. 

“Oh no doubt about it~” He promised with a wide smile.

Warriors cleared his throat again to gain their attention. Blue’s eyes narrowed as he shot a warning stare at him, daring him to say something stupid again, but the captain merely grinned and waved towards the audience.

“For the first time, I present to you the Smiths!”

It had already been agreed that Rinku was taking their last name, but it was still strange to hear it. Rinku couldn’t help laughing softly, tightening his hold on the four of them. He was so deliriously happy, nothing was going to bring him down today.

A mischievous sparkle shone in his eyes before he managed to pick the Colors up causing a few squeaks and yelps before he booked it away from the altar. “Meet you at the reception!” He called over the laughter.

---

The reception soon was in full swing and the four colors had merged back into Four who looked a little windswept, but delighted as his eyes shone mischievously. He made no protest as Rinku pulled him onto the open floor as the band struck up, led by Legend, pressing close to his new husband.

“By the goddesses, I love you so much…” Rinku murmured, holding him tight.

“I love you too.” He hummed softly, sighing in content as he rested his head against his chest. Honestly, he never thought this day was going to come, but he was so happy it did.

A small blink escaped him as he felt Rinku trembling. Four looked up to see tears spilling down his flushed cheeks and reached up to cup his cheek, “Rinku…”

“S-Sorry…” He mumbled bashfully. “I’m just so happy… I can’t… I just… I never thought I’d be lucky enough to find someone who would love me so thoroughly. I thought… I thought that I was just destined to be alone, as silly as that sounds. Because… so many looked at me and saw just a quiet scarred man. But then… then the adventure happened and I got to meet you and… I think deep down I knew… I knew you were the one. I know that sounds strange, but I swear something was pulling me towards you…”

“It’s not strange at all.” Four assured him gently. “You remember that night, when you sang for us for the first time?” At his husband’s nod, he continued. “I realized something. For as long as I could remember, I had this empty strange feeling in my chest. It never really bothered me, it was just there. But then I met you and I got to know you and before I knew it… it was gone. You filled that emptiness and I couldn’t be happier.” He smiled softly, wiping his tears away, “I’m so glad everything turned out the way it did… There were trials and trouble, blood and tears shed, but we’re here. We’re married and we’re never going to part. I promise you that.”

Rinku took a deep shuddering breath before he took his hand and kissed the top of it. They were barely dancing anymore, merely holding each other and swaying. “I’m going to spend the rest of my days proving to you how much I love you. Showing you that this was the best decision you ever made… I promise you that, Link.” Four shivered faintly before his smile widened.

“You’ve already done that, Rinku…”

The music faded out and Dot called out to the couple.

“Hey you two! It’s time to throw the bouquet!” Both perked and Rinku raised an eyebrow when he saw the mischievous look in Four’s eyes as they suddenly took on a brighter blue shine.

“Blue…” He warned playfully. The other smirked and waved a hand, “Don’t worry, I’m not planning anything bad, I promise.”

“I’m sure.” He kissed his knuckles, taking pleasure in the blush that crossed his cheeks. “Just don’t hurt anyone too much.”

“Right…” A dazed mumble escaped him before he reluctantly pulled away. “And after, you owe all of us a dance. Not fair if just Four gets one.”

“Of course.” He chuckled, watching him head over to Dot to take the bouquet. The crowd watched eagerly as he lifted it…

And then threw it as hard as he could at Warriors. It smacked him dead in the face causing the captain to yelp and topple over among the laughter. Four rested a hand on his hips, eyes back to faded blue.

“That’s what you get for that morbid curiosity quote!”

“Rest in petals, Wars!” Wind cackled beside his giggling sister. Wild’s shoulders shook as he covered his mouth to muffle his laughter.

Rinku snorted softly, making his way over to his husband and wrapping his arm around him.

“Really, Four? Guys?”

“He deserved it.” Four hummed, leaning into his side. “You can’t deny that.”

“Guess not.” He chuckled, squeezing him close. “Are you ready for the next dance?” 

He shrugged lightly before gripping the Four Sword and tugging. Immediately he split apart and Blue took his hand, pulling him back to the dance floor. The other three hung back for a moment before Wild went over and grabbed Green’s hand. 

-Mind dancing with me?-

He blinked before laughing softly, “Not at all.”

Vio and Red shared a look before joining the two pairs on the dance floor. The band resumed, this time with Wind conducting them, though Legend still played the lead. They even got Marin to join them with her beautiful voice, the veteran looking far more relaxed (and love struck) as she sang.

In the dips of the song, the partners switched as they twirled around the dance floor. If the others didn’t know any better, they’d swear this had been planned and practiced. (It hadn’t been, Wild was just spontaneous and his twin along with the rest of the Chain learned to just go with whatever he had planned.)

The final switch ended with the four colors pressing the tips of their blades together, coming back together as Four who swayed a bit only to be gently caught by his husband.

“You alright?” He asked gently.

“Yes… just need a moment.” He assured him with a small sigh, leaning against him with a gentle smile. Rinku kissed his head before guiding him to a seat.

“Let’s rest a bit, that was quite a bit of dancing, was that planned?”

“Absolutely not.” He shook his head. “They were willing to wait their turn, but you know how spontaneous Wild is.” Rinku chuckled and nodded in agreement. That was very true. His twin was just as wild as his nickname. 

Four settled against Rinku with a quiet sigh of content as other couples moved to the dance floor. “Think you’ll do any more dancing? Maybe with…” He trailed off, his gaze moving over to Time and Malon as they swayed together, the honeymoon phase never seemed to have left them.

Rinku chuckled softly as he followed his gaze before nodding and humming. “Yeah… I was thinking of asking one of them.”

“Which one?” Four tilted his head in curiosity causing Rinku to blanch bashfully. “Ah, well…” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as his cheeks lit up. The smith laughed softly, knowingly even, and leaned against him again.

“It’s okay to dance with both of them you know, I’m sure they’d love it.” Rinku blushed deeper at being read so easily. “Yeah… I know. I’ll wait though, let them enjoy their dancing right now.” His hold tightened around his husband. “Besides, I don’t want to leave your side right now.”

Four smiled faintly, resting his head against his chest, “Fine by me, I don’t want you to leave either…”

The two watched as friends and family spun around the dance floor, settled at tables to eat and talk. Speeches would be later and Rinku would be lying if he said he wasn’t partially dreading what his twin would have to say about this whole thing. At the same time, he trusted Wild. When it came to serious things, he definitely did not fall short.

Eventually Four got pulled away by Dot to dance, the two of them laughing as they twirled around with the others. Rinku shook his head fondly before blinking as a shadow soon draped over him. He looked up at Time who gave him a small smile.

“Seems your husband’s been stolen for the moment.”

“Mm-hm. Curse that Maid of Honor.” He chuckled before standing. “Actually, this is perfect timing.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I um…” He rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks burned. “I know it’s not really tradition… more so for the bride than the groom but uh…” He fiddled with his hands. “Would you consider a father and son dance?” His blush deepened at the amused chuckle before blinking at the hand held out to him.

“I’d be honored. Shall we?” Embarrassment fading, Rinku matched the older’s smile before taking hold of his hand. “Yeah.”

Time was an unexpectedly good dancer, it shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it did, but here they were. Rinku took a deep breath before allowing his shoulders to relax.

“I wanted to thank you again. It… it means a lot to me for you to have done this for me.” He could have never pictured his father being at his wedding, hell, even meeting his partner. He knew if it had been all those years ago and the man had the gall to say anything negative about Four, Rinku would not have hesitated to kill the bastard.

He snapped out of his negative thoughts as he felt a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. His attention lifted back to the older male who smiled softly at him.

“There’s never a thanks needed between family, Rinku.” Time assured him quietly. “You’ve certainly been family for longer than this and I’d happily do anything for my family. Remember that, alright?” Ignoring the burning sensation in his eyes, Rinku swallowed heavily and smiled, brightly and full of relief, thankfulness and familial love.

“Yes.” The dance devolved to him clinging to the only good father he had in his life that he could remember.

“Are you making our son cry, Link?” Malon’s teasing voice caused the two to pause. Rinku’s cheeks flared to life again, his heart fluttering. To him, this is what a complete family felt like. Mother and father being warm and kind with so many siblings you’d do anything for.

“Never.” Time chuckled lightly. “But, I’d expect he has something to ask you.” He nudged Rinku lightly causing him to jump out of his thoughts.

“O-oh yeah…!” He smiled bashfully, before holding out a hand to her. “Might I have this dance?”

“Well aren’t you a gentleman.” Malon giggled softly before taking his hand and giving a gentle squeeze. “I’d be honored.” Time stepped back to let the pair spin out onto the dance floor.

“Are you happy, my dear?” The redhead woman asked softly, seeing the sparkle in Rinku’s eyes and the tear stains on his cheeks. He nodded, “So happy…” he whispered. “It feels like my heart’s going to burst… I still can’t believe I’m not dreaming. This is real, I’m married to someone I love with all my heart and who loves me back. My family has grown more than I could ever dream and I just… I can’t describe how happy I am.”

She hummed softly, the gentle smile on her face as they swayed together. “I’m glad for you, dear. You deserve this happiness, don’t ever forget that, alright?” He nodded, reaching to hastily scrub at his eyes. “I promise.”

“Mind if I cut in?” A gentle request came. The two turned to see Vio. Rinku blinked, opening his mouth to question before the other raised a hand. “Four thought that spontaneous dance wasn’t enough, so he decided to let us out again.”

Malon chuckled softly before giving him a gentle push. “Go on darlin, go dance with that husband of yours.” Rinku smiled bashfully before turning and taking hold of Vio’s hand as they went back to the center. The music slowed into a gentle ballad and the younger wrapped his arms around Vio, pulling him as close as he could. A small sigh of content escaped the smaller male as he leaned against him.

“Ever thought we’d be here?” Rinku murmured as they swayed in a slow and steady rhythm. “I had my hopes…” Vio admitted, sounding surprisingly bashful as his grip tightened slightly on him. “But I never dreamed it’d be as wonderful as this.” Rinku chuckled lightly, pressing a kiss to his head. “I know exactly how you feel.”

The music faded eventually and reluctantly the two parted. Vio gave him a faint smile, fighting back a blush as Rinku playfully kissed his knuckles. “Stop that, you sap… you still have three others waiting for a dance.”

“I’m ready and willing, always~” He chuckled before letting go of his hand and watching as he headed off to sit down. It didn’t take long for Green to join him, smiling softly as a light flush crossed his cheeks.

“Hey you… enjoying yourself?” He asked softly, holding out a hand to him. “More than you’ll ever know.” The older male responded, taking hold of his hand as they fell into step with each other. “Is it strange that this still feels like a dream to me?” “If it is, chalk it up to me being strange too.” He chuckled softly, tilting his head with a grin. “Part of me is still a little afraid that I’m going to wake up back in Hateno with all of this being just something my mind came up with to cope with the chaos that was my previous journey.”

“Guess we’ll just have to keep reminding each other that this is real.” Green smiled faintly in return before reaching to gently grip his tie and tug him down. “Guess so…” Rinku agreed softly before humming as the smaller male pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“Goddesses… we are so lucky to have you…”

“Hah… don’t say that, it’ll go straight to my ego.” His cheeks were burning as Green scoffed playfully. “What ego?”

As the melody came to an end, Rinku brought his hand up to kiss the back of it, smiling as he stuttered softly and blushed. “Goddesses, you’re gonna make me melt with all that.” He playfully pushed him. “Blue’s waiting… don’t keep him for too much longer.”

“I hear you.” He hummed softly, letting go of him to let him leave before heading to find Blue himself. Said male was leaning against the wall, watching people with a neutral expression. His gaze lifted when he saw the shadow appear over him, a faint smirk on his face. “Yes?”

“Seems like you’re a little lonely over here. Mind honoring me with your company?” Rinku held out a hand to him causing Blue to snort softly, but took his hand nonetheless.

“Sure.” He followed him back to the dance floor, but he was definitely insistent on taking the lead. Rinku didn’t mind, following him carefully in movements. “Are you happy, Blue?”

“How can you ask me that?” He raised an eyebrow. “Of course I am.” His voice softened as Rinku met his gaze. “I’m so happy it feels like my heart’s gonna combust. I… I really thought we would never… find someone who’d accept all of us, you know? We’re not exactly… normal.” That was putting it lightly. “But you… you didn’t even bat an eye. You accepted us, treated us like any other person. Heh… guess I could say that’s when I, when all of us, when we knew you’d be the one for us… I’m just glad you agreed on that.” He was smirking, but Rinku could see the genuine love in his eyes and his heart melted. Blue jolted as he was pulled into a tight hug.

“I love you, Blue. So… so very much. All of you are my heart and soul and I will be by your side forever. Not even death is going to part us.” Blue forced back a shudder before he buried his face against his chest.

“Goddesses, you’re such a damn sap…” If his voice sounded damp with tears, neither of them said anything. Rinku smiled softly and tightened his hold, pressing a loving kiss to his head. “Perhaps… but you wouldn’t change me for anything.” “Damn right I wouldn’t.”

Almost reluctantly, Blue pulled away from him and cleared his throat. “Red’s been patiently waiting…” Rinku smiled softly before he kissed the back of his hand. “We can dance again later, I promise.” Blue flushed darkly before averting his eyes and nodding, “Yeah… I’d like that.” He pulled his hand away before hurrying to join his chatting brothers.

Rinku watched them with a smile before perking as he felt someone take his hand. He gently squeezed before turning his attention to Red fully. “Ready?” Red returned the smile with a beam and nodded. “Of course.”

The music had picked up a little in pace, but neither paid it any mind as they swayed slowly and peacefully in the middle of the dance floor. Red rested his head on the younger’s chest, humming softly as he felt a hand stroking his back. 

“You’ve made all of us so happy, Rinku… You have no idea.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ve got somewhat of one…”

Red giggled softly, “Not as much as you might think… Four… all of us… for the longest time we just went along in life, day after day after day… Everything was monotonous. It was dull, like the color was fading out of everything. But then we met you… and it felt like a new spark. Like color was just bursting back in, excitement filled our lives again and it just… it’s amazing.” A bashful yet genuine smile crossed his face as he sighed. “You’ve changed our lives for the better… and I can’t thank you enough.”

“I should be thanking you…” Rinku murmured, tightening his hold on him. “I’ve never felt so loved and cherished in my life..” He smiled gently as he heard a small sniffle from Red before pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you…”

“I love you too…”

When the song came to an end the duo headed over to join the rest of their little group and settled down. Now came the ‘fun’ part, the speeches.

Wild looked a little nervous as he cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention.

-Many of you already know me well by now but for those who don’t, my name’s Link though now I go by Wild. I’m Rinku’s younger brother and I have only been to one other wedding before this so forgive me if I’m a little off.- He smiled sheepishly. -I’ve been told that I should start with embarrassing childhood stories and I’d love to! ...If I actually remembered any.- His smile widened at the light hearted chuckles from his joke before it turned into a grin. -That doesn’t mean I don’t have stories at all however.- His shoulders shook silently as Rinku gave him a look of ‘Don’t you fucking dare’ while the Colors silently laughed beside him in varying levels of success. -I might not remember our childhood, but I'm sure you were as much of a mess as you are right now.- Rinku scowled at him playfully while Blue lost the battle with his silent laughter becoming audible soon followed by the rest of the Colors and everyone else’s. -How did you even manage to get a wedding?- 

“I had the courage to propose unlike a certain someone.” Rinku replied in a snarky manner causing Wild to stick his tongue out at him. Shaking his head fondly, the younger male’s expression softened into something more genuine.

-I’ve known Rinku obviously for all our lives, but unfortunately most of it I can’t remember. What I do know is he’s a wonderful big brother and a good man. He’s someone anyone can rely on and I’m so proud to be his twin and to be here today.- He reached down to grab his glass and continued. -I’d like to offer a toast to the newly weds- His gaze fell on the quintet and he smiled so softly, so tenderly, it made their hearts swell. -May you have an everlasting love and marriage. May your days be filled with joy and whatever problems might arise, may you face them together and come out stronger-

There was a murmured agreement as everyone raised their glasses in honor to the now blushing couple. It was Dot’s turn and all four Colors both looked forward and dreaded what she would say, since unlike Wild, she remembered everything about their childhood together.

The princess stood with a smile and began to speak. “Good afternoon everyone, my name is Zelda but you may know me better as Dot. I wanted to thank you all for joining us on this wonderful day and for all the work everyone has put in to make everything so wonderful.” She glanced at the group with a warm smile. “I knew Four since childhood and unfortunately for him, I remember all of it.” She looked to Wild in a teasing apologetic manner causing the other to snicker and wave a hand. “I guess my favorite tale for him would be the one I’ve heard from the Minish, the first time he became one-”

“DOT DON’T YOU DARE!” Green was out of his seat in an instant to shut their best friend up, while Red tugged his veil down and hid his face, the tips of his ears shining his namesake. Vio coughed softly into his fist, averting his gaze as his cheeks burned while Blue buried his face in his arms with a groan. Rinku raised an eyebrow at the immediate response, catching Vio’s gaze causing the older male to wave a hand and mouth ‘Later’ even as the embarrassment was clear on his face.

Dot managed to get away from Green and shoo him back towards his husband before smiling at the amusement the crowd clearly had for their shenanigans. “Well anyway! As I was saying, Four, Link, has been my best friend since we were kids and I’m so happy that he, that all of them, could find such happiness. I hope that happiness will be forever lasting and may the goddess smile upon you all forever more.” She took her glass and raised it in cheers. “To the happy couple.”

“To the happy couple.” Everyone intoned before taking a sip. Dot took her seat, smiling in a dainty manner despite the looks she got from her four best friends. “Oh don’t give me those looks boys, I could have easily gone on even with Green trying to stop me.”

Said male pushed her gently, a grumpy expression on his face despite the bright red blush on his cheeks. “It’s inappropriate! And we were a kid!” 

“Doesn’t really excuse it, but whatever you say.” She chuckled softly. Green huffed and leaned against Rinku with a muttered halfhearted grumble. The younger male chuckled and wrapped his arm around him, giving a gentle squeeze.

Dinner and desert flew by and before anyone realized it, it was time to part. The portals leading everyone home had been reformed by the goddess statue, patiently waiting. Four sighed softly before stretching lightly and leaning against Rinku.

“Thank you, everyone…” He smiled faintly as their attention turned to him. “We’re so glad you could join us on this wonderful day.”

“We’re grateful for everything.” Rinku added, wrapping an arm around his husband’s waist. “For your help and your company.” 

As much as they wanted to stay together, it was time to go home. The portals would stay for only so long. With one more tight hug of thanks to Sky and Sun, the two headed through the portal leading home.

It let them out near the forge and Four had to smother a squeak as Rinku lifted him bridal style, hurriedly wrapping his arms around his shoulders as he gave him a baffled look.

“What are you-?”

“What, is it not the groom’s job to carry their bride over the threshold of their home?” He teased lightly. Four rolled his eyes with a quiet scoff before he leaned his head against his chest. 

“You are such a dork…”

“Well, you’re stuck with this dork now.” Four smiled warmly and settled in his arms with a content sigh.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The door shut behind them, ending that chapter of their lives and beginning a new one.

[catboymingi]

if you’re reading this...

navi/masterlist

pairing: mingi x reader

genre: fluff, some crack maybe?; best friends to lovers

word count: 2.6k

warnings: literally not a single one. implied frozen hate (i‘m joking)

for evigt / måske for evigt / skal vi sammen samme vej / og når i morgen får øjne og natten hviler sig / skal vi for evigt måske den samme vej - forever / maybe forever / we’ll take the same road together / and when tomorrow comes and the night goes to rest / we’ll maybe take the same road forever

it had become a routine that after your classes you’d walk to the café mingi was working at, getting a hot chocolate (to which he added an extra large amount of whipped cream while giving you a wink) and settling on whatever chair was free in order to study some until he got off work. sometimes you’d spice it up and get a different drink, and sometimes he’d spice it up and bring you a mystery drink to wherever you were studying. today, however, you just got the regular while you waited for your best friend to have time to entertain you. you’d had an exam today and really just wanted to yell about the phonetic inconsistencies you’d had to deal with, but you knew no one but mingi was willing to listen. so you had to wait for him, sighing in annoyance every couple minutes as you looked through your study materials.

when his shift was finally over you grabbed your stuff, throwing away the receipt and napkins that he insisted on giving you even though you told him time and time again you didn’t need them. then you rushed over to him, an exaggerated sigh of annoyance leaving your lips in order to make him ask you what was up. the boy wrapped his arms around you and laughed when you dropped your bag from the sudden embrace.

“you had an exam today. how’d it go?” this was what you loved about him - he always remembered these details about you and your life, he knew your schedule well enough to get worried when you were late, and he genuinely wanted to hear about things that were on your mind.

“don’t ask. how can a single language have this many rules that literally no one cares about? studying for this was just like this is the rule. yes we use it. no we don’t. you’re welcome.” you said the last sentences with a fake cheery voice, making your contempt for the exceptions that seemed to be more than the words that adhered to the rules obvious. then you kept on ranting while mingi grabbed his stuff, and while you left the café, and you first got done when you were already halfway to your place, glad that you got to let out some frustration.

“that sounds… hard”, he said, unsure of what else to say since he had no idea what exactly you were talking about. languages were your thing while maths was his, but you both still supported the incomprehensible monologues of the other whenever one of you got either really excited or really frustrated about their subject.

“if it were me, i would simply make the language follow the rules.” you laughed at that - he said exactly what you’d thought countless times before.

“mingi for language council president”, you joked and he looked at you with big, excited eyes.

“that’s a thing? would you vote me in?” now you had to laugh even more. he really didn’t know anything at all about your subject, but the excitement was adorable.

“sorry to disappoint, i don’t think that’d work. you can be the ceo of choosing the movie though, if that mends your broken heart even a little bit.” you were at your place now, and you could feel mingi vibrate with excitement next to you at the prospect of getting to choose the movie. he acted like a giant baby sometimes, but that only made you like him more. this was much better than someone who never got excited about anything.

you let both of you in, getting out your laptop and placing it on your desk chair next to the bed (you were a student, so you had neither a sofa nor a decent table, your desk being cluttered to a point where it was an act of mental gymnastics to even figure out it was a desk at all), joining the boy who’d already settled on your bed.

“what’s the choice?”, you asked, cursor hovering over the search bar.

“frozen.”

“of course.” you laughed but complied with his request, sitting back and leaning into his chest as the movie started playing. you loved movie nights with him - when you were spending time with him like this you were able to relax, and knowing he enjoyed it just as much only made it better. by now you’d seen several movies upwards of five times because they were your go-to choices, but it didn’t matter. it was less about the plot than it was about being close to him and enjoying each other’s presence even when you didn’t say much.

the night continued like this, your best friend choosing silly movies only and the both of you trying to one-up each other with bad jokes until you got tired and went to bed. this was how it usually went, and you wouldn’t want to miss this for anything in the world. going to bed together, waking up together, making early mornings a little easier to stand.

days went on like this, meeting mingi at work, spending evenings and nights together, and to you everything was as usual. you continued to not pay attention to your receipt when you ordered from your best friend, which resulted in him sending his coworker to you one day when you were again studying while waiting for him to get off. you looked up surprised when it wasn’t your personal delivery guy bringing you your drink, and were even more confused when you were handed a plastic cup instead of the regular porcelain one. then you noticed that there was something written on it with a sharpie.

if you’re reading this i’m in love with you.

you looked up at yeosang in shock - you barely even knew him! but he grinned at you and pointed at where mingi was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the counter, making you realise just who had written the little note. you didn’t really know how to react - his shift wasn’t over yet and surrounded by customers wasn’t exactly the best situation for a serious conversation. but, once more to your surprise, the boy who’d delivered the cup to you went up to your best friend and told him to end early.

“it’s only like half an hour left anyway, i’ll deal.” you smiled at him with gratitude in your eyes as the tall boy slowly made his way towards you.

“do you want a reply right away or do you want to go home first?” from what you knew about him you knew his anxiety was probably eating him alive right now, but you also didn’t really want to talk about this in the middle of the street.

“let’s just go”, he replied, though he was still avoiding your gaze. you wanted to grab his hand, but you had to carry your stuff in one and the other was holding on to the cup with his confession; no way in hell were you going to throw that away. but then you realised he had his bag hanging over his shoulder, which left both his hands empty, made obvious by his nervous fiddling.

“can you carry my bag for me?”, you asked, and he immediately did. this gave you the chance to grab his hand and you smiled up at him as you gave it a reassuring squeeze. for the first time since you left he looked at you, and you could see the fear in his eyes. so you decided to hurry, not wanting him to have to deal with the anxiety by himself much longer.

you finally reached your place, and you didn’t even bother to take off your shoes when you got in before you asked him: “you confessed on a cup?” you tried to give him an appreciative smile, but to him it seemed more like a teasing one.

“well, i tried on your receipts, but you always threw them away without looking, so i just… didn’t know how else to.” he sounded so nervous, his deep voice trembling slightly, and you felt so bad.

“i didn’t know you’d written something there! i’m sorry”, you apologised, remorse apparent in your words, and this time it was his turn to smile at you reassuringly, though it wasn’t very convincing, his own anxiety making it hard for him to have any expression other than one of heart-crushing fear of your reaction.

“it’s fine. i could’ve just said something, too.”

you looked at the cup again, and you could see he’d tried his best to write prettily, which was why you hadn’t even recognised the handwriting as his at first. he’d really put in effort. and you were about to cry at how cute he was and how long he’d probably been trying to get your attention with his little notes and at all the cute confessions that were now in the trash and never to be seen again. but you stopped yourself before you got too sad at that thought, eyes focusing back on the message he’d left you.

“you mean this?”

“mm. i thought i should tell you.” his gaze was glued to the floor. “sorry i did it stupid like this though.”

you stared at him in shock. “take that back right now.”

“huh?” this wasn’t what he’d expected. he’d thought you’d turn him down or laugh at him or something, but not that you’d tell him to take it back.

“this is the sweetest thing ever and if you say it’s stupid one more time i’ll have to reconsider my feelings.”

this day was just full of surprises for him.

“your feelings?”

you smiled, holding the cup in front of his face with the message clearly readable to him. if you’re reading this i’m in love with you. and even though this technically confirmed that you reciprocated his feelings, he wanted to be sure.

“you mean it?” you nodded, looking him right in the eyes as you did so, hoping he could see that you were serious.

“pinky promise?” now you couldn’t help but laugh - this was such a mingi thing to do, making you pinky promise everything that held some importance to him. but it was another thing about him that made you fall in love with this idiot.

“pinky promise. silly.” the insult was more of a pet name, your voice almost as soft as your expression as you linked your pinky with his. after this he wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up with a lot more energy than you’d expected him to have after having just worked a full shift. but here he was, all but jumping up and down with you in his arms, and as much as you liked it you had to stop him.

“mingi! the cup!” too late. the rest of your hot chocolate had been emptied over him, serving as a rather unconventional hair treatment. you were both laughing as he let you down and you dragged him to your bathroom, insisting on washing his hair right there.

“it’s gonna get sticky if i don’t” was the reason you gave him, but really you just felt soft and affectionate and happy and wanted to be emotional without him being able to look at you while you said sappy things. so you had him take off his shirt (which had received some of the chocolate treatment as well) and kneel down in front of the shower while you rinsed his hair with warm water.

“is this temperature fine?” you’d checked it on your hand, but you knew that the scalp was always a different story.

“it’s nice. this is nice.” even though you couldn’t see it you knew he was smiling, and you smiled as well.

“you were actually scared i didn’t like you?”

“mm.” you laughed in disbelief.

“you’re incredible. i all but moved in at the café just to see you!”

“mm.”

“i let you choose the movies even though i know you’re gonna choose frozen for the fourth time this week!”

“it’s a good movie!”, he defended himself. but you weren’t done.

“i’ve had you over so much i might as well have you join me in the rent contract, you’ve become more essential for a good night’s sleep than my blanket, i regularly steal your clothes, i-”

he interrupted you, laughing. he knew that if you weren’t washing his hair right now, you’d be using your fingers to count just how many things you thought had been dead giveaways.

“okay, i get it. but you didn’t realise either, so we’re even.”

“mm.” you turned off the water and yelled at him not to move when he tried to get out the shower before you’d put a towel on his head.

“now you can move.”

“how generous”, he teased you before sitting up, making sure his shoulders were dry enough to not drip on the floor either.

“if you can’t appreciate this i don’t think you deserve the honour of dating me.” this time it was your turn to tease him, but you hadn’t anticipated the reaction you got. he turned around so quick that he almost fell on his butt, staring at you wide-eyed.

“dating you?” he sounded so shocked that you weren’t sure if he liked the idea or hated it. so you decided to keep joking just so you wouldn’t embarrass yourself if he didn’t want to.

“i was thinking about it, but now i don’t think i want to”, you said, pretending to be sulky. but it seemed like he was still so in shock that he didn’t catch on to the fact that you were joking.

“o-of course i appreciate this, and you! and you. i’m-” you hadn’t expected him to actually take you seriously, so it took a moment to realise that he did, but as soon as you did you interrupted him.

“i’m joking! i’m joking”, and as if to convince him you smiled at him, the smile you usually gave him when he’d forgotten to bring something you’d asked him to and felt guilty. the ‘it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong, don’t worry’ smile.

“oh. so you’ll date me?”

“mm. but can you ask again? this isn’t very, like… romantic.” this time your smile was apologetic, but his was so bright you were sure that if you turned off the light right now you’d still be able to see perfectly.

he was still on the floor and made use of that as he shifted to be on one knee, looking up at you who was looking at him with a mix of shock, adoration and a held back laugh at his silliness on your face.

“y/n, will you be my girlfriend, wash my hair whenever someone spills their beverage on it, be there to remind me to not make a mess, and make me smile for as long as you can stand me?” mingi was being goofy to make it less awkward for the two of you, but you knew he meant it anyway, and even though you almost burst out laughing at his proposal your heart was beating faster than it should, your stomach feeling tingly and weird but in a good way.

“yes. now get up, you’ll get cold.” and with that you grabbed his hand, dragging him to your bed as you set up your laptop. it was time to watch frozen for the fifth time this week, but as you settled against your now-boyfriends warm chest and felt him kiss the top of your head with water dripping from his still wet hair onto your nose, you realised that you’d watch frozen every day for the rest of your life if that meant you’d get these situations for the rest of your life.

[yamithediaperdork]

Blackmail is such a UGLY word (Inuyasha)

Blackmail is such a ugly word

Living in the era he did, and being what he was one would think that fox demon named Shippo had seen it all, double so considering all of the adventures he had been on with the half demon Inuyasha and the rest of their friends. And yet one would be wrong because at this moment Shippo was having to pinch himself from breaking into a fit of giggles and giving up his hiding place in a bush as he watched the big strong and bad ass Inuyasha crawl around on all fours dressed like a infant. Gone were the fire rat robes and in their place was baby blue mittens with white trim at the wrists on his hands, and baby blue booties on his feet that again had the white trim at the ankles,And a baby blue bonnet on his head with the the frills on the head that helped protect the baby once again white. those were cute enough, but it the was the blue plastic pants around his hips bugling from who knew how many layers of cloth diapers that had the kit biting down on his touage as Inuyasha babbled loudly and swung his massive diapered rear back and forth before plopping on his padded read and sucking on his thumb. 'I am SO glad I decided to follow him now!' the fox demon snickered in his head.

The last four times they returned to the village because Kagome had to go back to the modern world Inuyasha had declined to go with her and would instead insist he had some sort of secret training to go do off by himself. He also made it clear that a swift and brutal death awaited anyone who tried to follow him and after they had found Koga with the snot beat out on his and in just his undies tied to a tree, he was believed.   Of course there were rumors, it was just a small village after all and the most believed one (Because no one could see the half demon actually training himself that hard for the 2-3 days if not longer Kagome would take to come back.) Was that he had a lady friend out in the bushes that he met with. It would also explain the strange scents that came off of him when he came back. Well, If Inuyasha was being a two timing dog (Pun not intended) then Shippo was gonna catch him in the act using a funny little device Kagome had given him from the future that let him capture images and save them. With his camera in paw, he set out ignoring the warning from Sango and Miroku that if Koga had been caught.. "Please! I'm WAY smarter and more tricky then him! It'll be a breeze!" He had boasted. Well, it hadn't exactly been a breeze and more then once on the 3 hour hike he wondered what he'd gotten himself in and had almost been busted by Inuyasha.

The cabin they came up to was by the forest while not being in it, and next to a lake thankfully as Shippo might of forgotten his canteen in his rush to keep up with the dog demon. the grass was soft and green, or at least looked like it as Shippo had hidden himself in a wild berry brush to A) get cover and B) feed his rumbling gut before it gave him away and Inuyasha took one last look around, blushing now and then had gone into the one room cabin.(Again, this was a assumption on Shippo's part just based on it's size.) He'd been too busy pigging out to first notice when Inuyasha had came back out and it was only when a weird coo'ing and gurgling noise like a baby would make he zoned back in. 'Wait does he have a baby out here?' Was Shippo's first thought and then well...he kinda did!

Inuyasha coo'ed and giggled, he just loved his big baby time and how big and silly he felt during it. Getting everything he needed for it though had been a mortifying and humiliating endeavor and taken the better part of a year to set up. Thankfully the cabin had already been here and from the dust and smell of it had been long since ditched (or it's previous owner eaten) so He had THAT going for and he'd been able to set up a makeshift nursery in there having nailed part of a fence to either side of the cot and replacing the mattress. he didn't have a changing table per say but some soft blankets laid out on what had once been a dining table. Sure compared to the nursery's he'd seen in Kagome's time it was crap, but considering he was working with what he could trade for he felt pretty damn proud of himself. he flopped back on his back and sucked on his thumb, wishing he could get one of those little sucky thingies he'd seen babies use but he'd pushed his luck getting Kagome to get him a booklet on how to fold cloth diapers, stammering he wanted to be ready if he ever had a kid. She'd just rolled her eyes and Bam, Booklet and the end of leaky diapers and pin pricked thumbs. He was thinking about what Kagome would say if she ever found out about this and shut his eyes, picturing her taking picture after picture of him and for a second the image was so vivid he sworn he COULD hear the click of her camera..then tugged his thumb out his mouth and blushed crimson. "Wait a second.." he COULD hear it and narrowed his sense in on the source and growled, getting up and starting to charge over as best he could with his bulky diapies on and in his mittens and booties. "WHOEVER YOU ARE MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR GOD, YOUR DEAD!" He yelled.

Shippo was yelping and fumbling with the stupid camera, he had seen Kagome do it somehow where it didn't make noise and now wished he'd paid attention. Inuyasha was charging in like a bull and he tried to think of something, anything useful he could say because he was pretty sure just because they were semi friends didn't mean he wasn't about to have a messy end. 'Wait..wait..she said something..about clouds?' Shippo thought and then rolled out of the bush just as Inuyasha got then and stood up holding out the camera and wagging a finger. "Ah ah ah puppy! this camera is linked to Kagome's cloud!" he said, not even sure what it meant but it sure paused the rampaging baby. "The second it starts to get damaged all those BABY pictures I took of you get sent to her. AND only I can get rid of them. Kagome set it up for me so you wouldn't steal it." he added smugly, lying his tiny furry ass off but it DID sound like something she'd do. "Then I'll just leave the camera alone and smash YOU." Inuyasha growled, trying to look menacing but Shippo just started to laugh."WHAT'S SO FUNNY!?" "You DO recall how your dressed right now puppy wuppy. And give it up, you can either do as I say from now on, or EVERYONE finds out biggggg baddddd Inuyasha is just a cute baby butt." Shippo said and folded his arms. Inuyasha growled and snarled.. then hung his head and slumped. "This is blackmail you know.." "Blackmail is such a ugly word..I prefer to think of it as pup sitting a diaper wear dummy...Now sit boy." Shippo said, taking a perverse delight in his power of the big baby as Inuyasha plopped onto his diapered behind. "Goood boy~"

Crawling on all fours on the command of the brat was bad enough but Shippo had taken it a step further and so he was riding on Inuyasha's back and smirking. "You know, you don't make a half bad steed Inuyasha..if you ever wanna give up on the hero thing.." Shippo chuckled. "Watch it shrimp or I'll-" Inuyasha started to growl. "Do nothing but get yourself outed like a diaper wearing LOSER." Shippo said smugly. "By the way, from now on when it's just the two of us, you're gonna call me Master." "...isn't that a little much even for you?" Inuyasha asked, trying to temper his anger and word it in a way to make the fox demon think twice. "Well I was going to have you call me daddy..we can switch to that if you pre-" Shippo started with a giggle. "Master is fine! I like it master!" Inuyasha said quickly and almost face planted when he felt the fox pat his pampered bottom. "Good boy!" Shi- er Master said and Inuyasha whimpered, thinking about how much this was all going to suck.

Getting into the babies nursery Shippo put two hands over his nose even as he slid down. "What is that STINK!? Don't tell me you actually crap yourself!!" "I uh..well see..I.." Inuyasha mewed, on his knees and looking down, poking his index fingers together. "When did you even get time to do that?!? I followed you out here!" "I um.. didn't.. clean my diapies before I left last time Master." Inuyasha admitted sheepishly. Shippo made a disgusted face and then shook his head. "Hope you have a shovel here because your about to go outside and bury the treasure deep." Shippo said and then sighed at the blank look on the pup's face. "Go dig a hole dumb ass, and dump your diaper pail in it, then bury it. and dig deep." "But..but..I don't have a lot of spare diapers, so after I change out of these I;ll have to clean the dirty ones before I can get changed!" Inuyasha whined. "And that's MY problem how? get to it diaper butt before I decide this isn't worth my time and just ruin you!" Shippo demanded, deciding that he loved this feeling of power. what made it all the sweeter was when Inuyasha just nodded and mumble a soft yes sir and got to his feet and walked out with the offending pail. Shippo would of said something about how he should crawl but realized there was no way for him to get it outside then unless it was on his back and Shippo did NOT wanna risk those smelly things falling to the floor.

Mostly certain he was out of earshot of Master, Inuyasha whined and growled as he clawed at the earth (After of course removing his baby mitts.) This just wasn't fair! Why out of all the people who could of caught him and maybe let him play out his humiliation fetish for a bit before he throttled them did it have to be HIM!? And with that stupid camera thinge too! Inuyasha couldn't be sure the fox had said was true or not, he'd never really paid attention to all of that future crap Kagome had and he was paying the price for it now. 'Maybe I can ask her about it when she comes back.I can handle three days of this, and there's no way Master will risk bringing me back to town like this. if everyone see's me like this then he loses his control and I'll fucking end him!" Inuyasha thought and then smiled. he didn't realize it but as his plan formed in his head and he realized this was a temporary problem at best, his massive diaper rear had started to wag back and forthwith him semi half in the hole now. 'Heck, if this is only for a few days, I might as well sit back and try and enjoy myself even!' The Half dog demon thought, a silly grin on his face.

Watching from the window and seeing Inuyasha perk up, Shippo just shook his head even as he used something called 'video' to record the pampered pup's antics. 'Oh Inuyasha, give me some credit' He thought and chuckled out loud. 'I already have a perfect way to explain your diapers and it'll be your baby stuff that I'll keep to myself. One way or anther, you're never getting back out of diapers.' the 'treasure' so to speak was buried and Inuyasha waddled back as fast as he could and set the pail down, not noticing that the camera was still record on the table as he sat up on his haunches like a begging dog. "Did I do good master?" he asked, and oh god, his touage was hanging out of his mouth now. "-Snek-.. VERY good, Turn around from bum pats Loser." "Yes sir Master!" Inuyasha coo'ed and Shippo just looked into the camera shaking his head and jerking a thumb at Inuyasha then came over and rewarded the pup, patting and rubbing the slick plastic and Inuyasha went face down and ass up in delight. Oh yeah, this was gonna be fun.

The end.. for now

[pilot-boi]

Five Injuries Hidden: Chapter Three

Nora

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, not the best thing ever. He didn’t really need his ribs, right?

AO3 LINK

"Why did I ever agree to this?"

"Oh, shush Jaune."

This was the last time that Jaune ever did anything 'recreational'. This did not count for recreation by any definition that he knew of.

You see, it all started this morning, when Oscar, dear, sweet little brother who was going to get an ice-cube down his shirt, had the so-called brilliant idea of doing 'recreational' activities today, and being the awesome big brother that he was, Jaune had backed him up.

That was his first mistake.

They then decided, after ruling out sky-diving -no, Nora, sky-diving was not considered a recreational activity. Stop pouting- and skiing, that hiking was the best, most relaxing choice. On a rocky mountain-side. Thanks Ren.

So there they were, walking down the trail together, racing really, unknowing that even a simple hiking trail could be a true danger zone. Jaune had even started to enjoy himself, teasing and laughing... He let his guard down.

That was his second mistake.

Honestly, he should know better than to do that, he was a Huntsman. It was this mistake that landed them in their current situation.

If only he'd been a little bit faster... "Jaune. I can hear you beating yourself up from here. Quit it. It wasn't your fault."

"I'll stop when you do."

"...Touchè"

Without warning, there had been a sudden, distant roar of a landslide, and it had only gotten louder. Surprised, they had all stood on the quaking path, frozen for a few precious moments, before Yang whipped around with a roar: "MOVE!"

Screaming, they all ran for life and limb. But the rock slide was quickly catching up... And they never took into account that the path they were on could have become unstable too.

His third mistake... And the one he ended up paying for the most.

Honestly, this had been a disaster in the making since the beginning. It was a miracle that he was even still alive.

Jaune had been the closest to the edge, and with one wrong step, the weakened path gave way right out from under him. With a shriek, which he would forever deny, he failed to keep his balance and desperately tried to grab the crumbling ledge as it dumped him off the path.

Nora, in a rare show of stupidity in Jaune's opinion, because he is not worth risking her life for why did she not see that, stopped running for her life and went back to pull Jaune back up.

The path couldn't hold them. It couldn’t even hold him, let alone a whole other person.

They dropped over the edge like the stones that came tumbling, rushing, roaring after them. And, just barely heard through the deafening turmoil made of natural forces, Jaune heard his teammate give a whoop of exhilaration, or maybe fear, and the world came to a sickening halt.

It was... dark. Quiet now. There was no sound, except his own wheezing breath and the sharp agony that was his side. No. Wait, there was someone else breathing down here too.

And that was how half of team JNPR found themselves trapped in a rather small pocket on the side of the crumbling mountain side, buried under the rock slide. Stuck until the others found them.

With broken ribs, in his case. Not that Nora knew that, of course. If she did, she would just worry about him, and he couldn’t have her focusing on him right now. All her attention had to be turned towards getting out of here, and not on him.

Jaune locked his jaw to keep from screaming profanities as he felt his broken ribs agonizingly rub up against each other, and shifted as gently and slowly as he could. The knight blindly felt along the thick stone walls, trying to find his oddly quiet teammate.

Nora wasn’t exactly the least chatty on their team, that award went to Ren, so her silence was more than a little off-putting.

Finally connecting to something decidedly not stone, a vague sense a triumph bubbled in Jaune's chest as Nora sputtered. "Jaune, that's my face!"

He yanked his hand back with a startled yelp, that was a little more high-pitched than normal as he had jostled his broken ribs. "Sorry! I was just trying to see where you were."

Nora huffed. "If you wanted to see where I was, why didn't you use your Semblance? Glowy hands and all that jazz."

“Oh.” He felt stupid now for not thinking of it. Maybe he’d hit his head during his impromptu tumble.

The grim, oppressing silence came back in full force, slowly eating away at them. Jaune groaned, lightly banging the back of his head on the wall of stone behind him, before struggling to his feet and gingerly making his way to the pile of rubble that was blocking their way out.

"What are you doing?" Jaune got the vague impression of an eyebrow being lifted as he started shifting the rubble.

"I..." Grunt. "Am going to see if I can get us out of here." Jaune huffed as he attempted to move a particularly unwieldy stone. His ribs kindly reminded him that, no, he was not, in fact, going to be moving that rock. Grumbling, he relented and moved onto the next one.

His ribs told him that, no, he wasn't moving that one either.

An exasperatedly fond sigh sounded from behind him and the sound of feet shuffling closer alerted Jaune to the fact that Nora was now beside him. "Move over silly, let me have a try."

“It’s all yours,” he said, a little reluctantly, careful not to let out the groan of pain that was fighting to escape. Jaune shuffled back to his spot against the wall, knowing that he would hinder more than help. Didn't make him feel any better though.

There became a rhythm as the minutes passed. Or hours. Or days. It was pitch freaking black, there was no way of telling.

Wheezey inhale. Sharp pain. Nora grumbled at the rocks.

Exhale. Rocks move.

Inhale. Pain. Pebbles scatter.

Exhale. Nora groaned in exertion.

Inhale. Pain. A boulder thumped.

Exhale. The rocks shift.

Inhale. Fresh air? Pain. A penetratingly loud sound of triumph.

Exhale. Light! "Well, why don't you look at that! Light does still exist! Looks like we'll be out of here in no time!" Nora cheered, her silhouette punching the air in triumph.

Jaune winced, his eyes closed against the stabbing light, tired but not willing to show it. "You think we'll be out before the sun sets?"

"We will be if I have anything to say about it."

The air was lighter as Nora resumed digging through the blockade, the pattern resuming with renewed vigour.

Soon enough, there was a big enough gap dug out for her to crawl through, and then shortly afterwards, a larger gap for him to crawl through. That was not fun. But at least they were freed from their little stone tomb as the sun was slowly setting in a distance, and a Lancer flew overhead.

Wait a second. Since when did Lancers come in bright translucent white-blue?

Sharing a glance with his dusty, pink-clad teammate, they both took off chasing Weiss’s summon, waving their arms wildly in the hopes of getting the heiress's attention.

Which they did eventually.

After Nora lit a tree on fire.

It was an accident, she swore.

[argylemnwrites]

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment - Chapter 21

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (Canon Divergent from Book 2, Chapter 15)

Word Count: ~4600

Rating: R (language)

Summary: Riley and Drake settle in for the next chapter of their lives.

Author’s Note: Wow. Just the epilogue is left. I can’t believe this story is basically complete.

This series diverges from TRR canon, where instead of waiting to discuss his relationship with Riley until their last night in NYC, leaving her a note while Liam is proposing to her, Drake tackles this topic as soon as possible after Tariq makes his statement and Riley’s name is cleared. To catch up on this series, you can find the previous chapters in my masterlist (link is located in my bio).

Drake heard the locks on the apartment door clicking open and the squeak of the hinges, pulling him awake. He had no idea what time it was. With the time zone changes and his numerous flights over the past couple of days, any traces of an internal clock were blown to hell completely.

He heard Riley, clearly trying to move through the small space quietly. He figured it couldn’t be too late, otherwise she probably wouldn’t be making that much of an effort to stay relatively silent. Of course, given the number of times he’d woken up last night, his body clearly having no idea what time of day it was, maybe she was just being nice and letting him sleep in. He was contemplating keeping his eyes closed and seeing if he could fall back asleep, but when she turned on the faucet, any possibility of him drifting off again went out the window.

“What time is it?” he asked, clearing his throat and cracking his eyes open. Riley was in the little kitchen area of her apartment, in front of the coffee maker which Drake heard gurgling to life. She was still in her glasses and her hair was thrown into a messy sort of braid over her shoulder. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with a red “ny” printed across the front, but oddly enough, was wiggling out of the jeans she was wearing. She glanced up at his question, giving him a warm smile.

“A little before 10,” she said as she continued to peel off her pants.

Alright, well he’d slept in a lot, but at least it was still morning. Maybe he’d be able to correct his sleep schedule in the next night or two. He stretched slightly and sat up in bed. “Not that I mind,” he said as he let out a yawn, “but why are you getting undressed?”

She laughed, stepping out of her jeans and turning to the radiator that was on the side wall, crouching down and turning it on. “It’s brick out today, so I’m gonna have to turn on the heat, but this radiator has two settings, off and insanely boiling. ”

“So your radiator works… too well?”

“Yeah, living here in the winter means a very minimalistic dress code. And don’t ever put anything on it to dry or you’ll definitely burn down the building.”

“Noted. Where’d you go this morning?”

She grabbed a little white bag off the counter and flopped back down on the bed, handing it to him as she propped her pillows up against the wall and settled in. “Grabbing breakfast,” she finally replied, nodding at the bag she’d handed to him.

“I would have made us breakfast. You could have woken me up if you were hungry.”

Riley smiled, but she shook her head slightly before she dropped it to his shoulder, “I want you to be happy here.”

Her statement caught Drake off guard. “I don’t mind cooking, Liu.”

“And while I intend to keep reaping the benefits of that fact, I want you to actually experience some of the fun things about New York.”

“And that means… bagels?” Drake asked as he peeked inside the bag.

“New York City bagels are special. Nowhere else in the world gets them right.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious, Drake! Bagels in Cordonia are just not the same.”

“I’ll keep an open mind,” he said with an eye roll. “What kind did you get?”

“Sesame and everything,” she replied. Drake held the bag open for her to pick first, but she shook her head. “I like them both; you should pick.”

“What about ladies first?”

“Well, good thing I not a fucking lady,” she said raising an eyebrow. Drake just laughed and pulled out the sesame bagel before he passed the bag to Riley. She watched him expectantly as he took a bite. It was a damn good bagel, but he didn’t know if it was as life-changing as she made it out to be.

“So?” she asked once he swallowed down his first bite.

“It’s good, Liu.”

“Just good?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. It’s a good bagel.”

“Whatever, you just don’t get it,” she said, shaking her head and pulling the other bagel out of the bag. Drake smiled before he took another bite.

“Eating these in bed was a terrible idea,” he said as he watched crumbs and sesame seeds tumble onto the sheets.

Riley shrugged, “We’ll just do laundry later. I have to go through and clean some stuff out of the closet and dresser anyway.”

“Why?”

“So you can finally get some space for your stuff and stop living out of a suitcase.”

Drake turned his head to look at her fully. She was happily enjoying her bagel, checking something on her phone with her other hand. After a few seconds, she glanced up to look at him. “What?” she asked between bites of her bagel.

“Thank you, Riley.”

“You’re welcome, Drake.”

He leaned forward, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before he climbed out of bed, sliding on his boxers and heading over to the coffee maker, figuring the pot must be ready at this point. He poured two mugs of coffee and added cream to Riley’s before he came back to bed, handing her mug to her before he slid back under the sheets. Riley shifted slightly as he settled in, draping her legs over his knees.

“So, I wanted to get your opinion on something,” he said after he took a sip of his coffee.

“What is it?”

“When I was in Texas, my mom invited me to come down for Christmas. Or rather, she invited us, I guess.”

“Okay…”

“Well, what do you think about that?”

Riley took a second before she answered, “I think what I think doesn’t matter as much as what you think.”

She was right, of course. It wasn’t fair to put this decision on her. Drake was just really torn. He got the sense that his mom was trying to reach out with the invite. But at the same time, it felt like doing this all at the holidays was just a way to pretend things were totally normal. Like they were some happy, perfect family who got together at Christmas and drank eggnog and sang carols. And Drake just wasn’t at that point yet, he didn’t think.

“I think… I think I’m not ready to do a big family holiday with her again. Not this year. Not so soon.”

Riley nodded slowly, “Okay,” she said, “We can do Christmas here. Just you and me. New York is a pretty fun city around the holidays, even if the tourists are a bit much on New Year’s Eve.”

“Sounds good, Liu. I do want to take a trip back to Texas at some point, though. With you, I mean.”

She gave him a little smile, “I think that can probably be arranged.”

Drake ran his free hand over her legs as he brought his coffee back towards his lips, but before he could take another sip, Riley spoke.

“I have to tell you something, too.”

“Okay,” Drake replied, pausing and glancing at her. The statement sounded like it was something bad, but she only looked slightly nervous, and she was still drinking her coffee. He knew how she got when she had something to talk about that made her truly uncomfortable or upset, and it certainly wasn’t like this. So whatever she wanted to talk about, it must not be a massive deal.

“You know how we flew out to Cordonia and got that hotel for Constantine’s funeral?”

Drake held his coffee out in front of him as he carefully shifted slightly to face her a little better, “Yeah, Liu. I was there.”

She kicked her heel back lightly against his knee and rolled her eyes, “Anyway, I didn’t exactly pay for either or those things.”

Drake was sure he looked almost comically confused. He felt his brow furrowing as he shook his head slightly. “Then how-”

“Olivia paid for them.”

“Huh.”

“And I know you don’t like accepting favors from her, but I couldn’t see maxing out my credit cards when she was offering, you know?”

Drake nodded slowly, “So, you’re telling me that the hotel that we had for four nights, but only used for one, and the plane tickets that I only used one way - Olivia was the one who ate that cost?”

Riley smirked a little and dipped her head, “I didn’t know it was going to pan out that way.”

Drake just threw his head back and laughed, “This is great! Here I was feeling guilty that I wasted a bunch of your money, but instead I wasted hers.”

“Drake!”

“Oh, come on. You’ve been in her wine cellar, Liu. She’s not even gonna notice the difference.”

Riley shook her head, but she was smiling, so Drake figured she wasn’t too upset with his glee that Olivia had been the one to finance the travel plans that had ended up going completely sideways. “So, I take it you aren’t mad?”

“Not even slightly,” said Drake, sliding his hand down to her calf and squeezing it gently in reassurance. As they both continued to enjoy their coffee, they just talked, not about the serious, or the stressful, or the emotional. After last night, they’d both had enough of that for the moment. Instead, they talked about the mundane, the stupid, the silly, the bland, getting each other caught up on their days apart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been just about a month since Drake last set foot in George’s diner. He cringed, thinking back on how he’d left things back then. How he’d been a sullen ass, consumed with guilt, angry at himself and the world. He hoped George didn’t fully remember the person he’d been, the way he’d behaved. 

He pushed open the door and entered, walking up to the counter. George was over serving an older man at the far end of the counter, but nodded at Drake in greeting, his eyebrows climbing his forehead just slightly. As soon as he’d taken care of the other customer, he strolled over to the register, reaching out to shake Drake’s hand.

“It’s been awhile, son. How are you?”

Drake paused for a moment before answering, “Better.”

George nodded at him slowly, wiping his hands on his apron. “Glad to hear it. You still looking for work?”

Drake shook his head, “No… well, not exactly. I signed with a temp agency last week. I started a few days ago with an insurance company, doing some data entry for the next couple of weeks.”

“Nothing wrong with that, son.”

Drake nodded. “I know” he said, “a paycheck’s a paycheck.”

He knew that most people wouldn’t view working as a temp at his age as a great thing, but Drake had been relieved after his first meeting at the agency. When Riley and him had talked about what he might want to do for a job, she’d suggested checking out temp work when he expressed frustration that he didn’t really know what he wanted as a career. It felt like something he should have a better idea of at this point in his life, but Riley had seemed utterly unphased by it. She’d mentioned temp agencies as a way to gain some actual work experience and make some money while he figured things out. Interviewing with the agency had been much lower stress than any of the other interviews he’d gone on last time, probably because, as Riley had told him, the agency wanted as many potential employees as possible since they got paid when their clients found work.

“I assume you’re here for some food and not just to chat.”

Drake chuckled, “I am. I actually called in a carry out order for Walker.”

So Drake paid up, chatting with George about Sam and the baby and how things were in his life as he got the order all bagged up. He waved goodbye and headed back to the subway, making his way back to the apartment.

He was getting better at navigating the city, or at least navigating Manhattan. Riley was right, the whole thing was a giant grid, so that much made sense. And he could appreciate that people here were blunt and direct. It was a nice contrast to the social games and doublespeak of court.

He didn’t know that New York felt like home at this point, but being here this time didn’t feel anywhere near as overwhelming as it did the first time. Part of it, he figured, was because he knew what he was getting into now. He also appreciated how much of an effort Riley was making to help him find aspects of New York he’d like. Every Monday night, when Riley was off, they’d gone out to some restaurant and bar. Riley assured him she was picking out places that she thought he’d like when he’d balked at some of types of cuisine she’d suggested, and she’d been right every time thus far. Besides, she’d told him there was little point living somewhere with every type of cuisine on the planet if he didn’t at least try some of them.

Their weekends had been a bit more variable, based on whether or not Riley was working. But this weekend she was off, and tonight was going to be a lazy night in. He knew Riley wasn’t really the type who liked to spend a Friday night lounging around in pajamas, but he appreciated that she understood him well enough to not push him to go out every night they could. Besides, tomorrow they were going to check out one of the city’s Christmas markets, something they were both actually looking forward to, it turns out.

The amount he and Riley were actually planning things was a little bit weird, considering she always talked about how impulsive she was and he knew he didn’t put much thought into the future or whatnot. But Drake realized that their combined efforts to not just roll along, with Riley getting up to eat breakfast with him a couple of mornings a week, with him going out for happy hour with a couple of his coworkers at the insurance company where he was posted, with both of them stepping out of their comfort zones just a little bit when it came to date nights, actually was making things a lot better. For him, at least. He hoped Riley felt the same way. He was pretty sure she did.

Drake exited the subway at the stop by the apartment and walked the couple of blocks quickly. It was December now, and the temperatures had really plummeted. Riley consistently referred to cold days as “brick,” which he’d found odd, but Luke at the office did the same thing, so he figured maybe it was a New York thing. He checked the mail and then climbed the stairs up to the fourth floor. He went to unlock the door, but paused for a moment. It almost sounded like the power drill he could hear running was coming from her unit.

He unlocked and opened the door, taking in what was going on. The first thing he noticed was, as always, the sweltering heat. Riley hadn’t been kidding when she told him the radiator ran very hot. He’d taken a peek at it to see if there was some obvious fix, but he was nervous to mess with too much, because Riley warned him the landlord would definitely assess them damages if it stopped working all together. Besides, he didn’t really mind the fact that both of them ended up wearing very little around the apartment these days.

The next thing that caught his attention, though, was Riley. She was indeed using a drill. It was a strange sight, watching her stand over by the window, dressed only in some gym shorts and a little tank top, attaching the legs to a chair. Drake wasn’t sure if he was more turned on or confused.

As soon as the whir of the drill stopped, Drake called out to her, “Liu, what the hell-” but she shrieked in surprise, letting the drill drop to the ground.

“Drake, you scared the shit out of me,” she chastised as she reached down to pick up the drill. Anderson abandoned his post on the armchair, trotting over to greet Drake.

“Sorry,” Drake said, crouching down to give the dog a couple of scritches, “Does he need to go out?”

“Nah, I took him out maybe an hour ago,” she replied, before she turned back to her project and turned on the drill again. Now that he knew he didn’t immediately need to go back outside, Drake started stripping off his clothing, getting down to his t-shirt and boxers and placing their dinner on the counter before he went and sat on Riley’s side of the bed, watching her work.

“As I was saying,” he continued the next time the drill stopped, “what the hell are you doing?”

Riley looked at him like he was stupid. “I’m putting together a table and chairs.”

“I see that.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Where’s your desk?”

“I sold it online,” she replied before moving to turn the drill back on, but Drake reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

“You gotta give me more than that, Liu.”

“The desk worked fine when it was just me, but you sitting on the side of the bed and me sitting at the desk to eat was not sustainable. So, I decided enough was enough. Uskea was running a promotion, so I bought us a table.”

“Riley…”

“Now,  I picked a really small one, but does stick out a bit more than the desk did, so it’ll be a bit of a tight fit when you pull the chair back, but-”

Drake stood, grabbing her shoulders and kissing her roughly. After a few seconds, he pulled back, glancing down at the table and chair set she’d selected. A table and chairs that were meant for the two of them. It was such a tangible representation of a future with them together.

“I take it you like it?” she asked. He looked up and saw her smirking at him.

“Yeah, Liu. I do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley felt some faint butterflies in her stomach as she entered the restaurant, scanning the waiting area to see if he had arrived already, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She checked the time on her phone. For once in her life, she was early. She could probably chalk that up to nerves.

Liam was in New York. He had let Drake know that he would be in town for three nights surrounding the UN Holiday Gala about a week ago, and had asked if the two of them would like to join him for dinner one night. The thought of hanging out with her live-in boyfriend and his best friend who happened to be her sort-of ex was a bit on the weird side already, but Drake had texted her this afternoon that his boss was making everyone stay late for some “bullshit,” so he would be coming straight from work and would probably be a bit late for the reservation. It meant that it would be just her and Liam, at least to start the night.

Deciding that a drink might help take the edge off a little bit, Riley made her way over to the bar and ordered herself a whiskey sour. She was taking her first sip when she saw a couple of men in crisp black suits enter and station themselves near the door. Sure enough, Liam was a few seconds behind them. Riley raised her hand, signaling her location. After a couple of seconds, Liam made eye contact and gave her a warm smile before he made his way over to join her at the bar.

She stood up from her stool, giving him a loose hug in greeting when he reached her. “Hey, Liam.”

“Hello, Riley. It’s good to see you.”

“You too. I was just grabbing a drink since we’ve got a little time before our reservation. Would you like one?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” he said, before sitting down on the stool next to the one she’d been using. He flagged down the bartender and ordered himself an Old Fashioned.

“I’ve never seen you drink one of those before,” said Riley as she climbed back onto her stool, mainly trying to find some innocent topic of conversation to carry them through until Drake arrived. Not that Drake’s arrival was going to lessen the dredges of awkwardness, but at least there would be three people to fumble through conversation instead of just two, so there would probably be fewer moments of uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, well… I’ve been having them on occasion since my father passed. They were his drink of choice, you see.”

“Oh,” Riley replied, taking a sip of her own drink. So much for an innocent topic of conversation. “Do you find them… therapeutic?”

Liam tilted his head to the side slightly, “I guess they’re a safe way to remember him.”

“That makes sense.”

The bartender returned with his drink at that point. Liam accepted it with a smile and nod, taking a sip of it before he continued.

“I know my father wasn’t a saint, and in some ways I’ve come to terms with the man he was. The choices he made, both as a father and a king, that I cannot stand behind were a part of him, but they weren’t all of him. But sometimes I just want to think about him as the man I loved, the man I looked up to, without worrying about the harsher realities. Drinking something that always made him smile is an easy way to do that.”

“Well, I get that,” said Riley, taking a sip of her own drink.

“Is there something you do like that to reminisce about your mother?”

“Oh sure, I just shoot up a little heroin,” she quipped, taking another sip of her drink.

Liam didn’t say anything, so Riley turned her head and looked at him fully. He was staring at her, his drink clutched tightly in his hand. “I’m fairly certain you’re joking, but I don’t want to say anything insensitive.”

Riley laughed at that, “Of course I’m joking, Liam.”

He let out a sigh before he smiled and gave a little chuckle, “I just wanted to make sure. You see, it’s come to my attention that I may not have gotten to fully understand your sense of humor.”

She frowned at that, “What are you talking about?”

Liam gave her a little shrug, “Drake and I often seemed to have somewhat different perceptions of you, your attitudes, your opinions, that sort of thing. Given everything that transpired, I think it’s safe to say that Drake’s understanding of you is significantly more accurate than mine.”

Riley winced at that. He said it all so matter-of-factly, but it was so fricking uncomfortable to remember that time and how she treated him. “Liam, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not looking for an apology. I’m just looking to actually get to know you. The real you, not the version of yourself you felt the need to present to me before.”

Riley didn’t exactly know how to respond to that. Everything he’d said was painfully true. She’d been intimidated by him initially. She’d been so careful to not swear, to not be too sarcastic or judgemental in front of him. He was royalty, and she was a brash, potty-mouthed waitress. It’s part of the reason she’d started spending more and more time with Drake, even when he was still a rude asshole to her. She’d never had to pretend around him.

Even as time went on, she never felt comfortable enough around Liam to fully drop the act. I mean, he got flustered if she flirted overtly, he never teased her, always just finding little ways to agree with her when she teased him, and he pursued her like he was some cheesy romance novel character. It had always just felt like she had to keep playing a part with him. She just didn’t know how to tell him that without hurting him more than she undoubtedly already had. It wasn’t that his way of doing things was bad; it just was never right for her.

Liam shook his head at her prolonged silence. “Riley, I can understand why you felt the need to censor yourself around me. I had hoped I had made you comfortable enough to be your genuine self with me, but that obviously wasn’t the case. But at this point, I really just want to get to know the woman who’s dating my best friend, okay? If you’re going to be in his life, I want us to have an authentic friendship of our own.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“How about cursing?”

“What?”

“Drake tells me you have a rather colorful vocabulary. Well, I’d like to hear it.”

“I don’t know, Liam….”

“Trust me, Riley. I’m friends with Drake. I don’t think there is anything you could say that would scandalize me.”

She let out a rough breath and closed her eyes, not sure if his idea was mad brilliant or mad stupid, “Liam, do you really fucking think that hearing me call some of the fucking bitches at court annoying, petty motherfucking assholes with no goddamn common sense is going to help you get to know me? Because it feels like it might be a bunch of bullshit.”

She opened her eyes slowly, but Liam was just giving her a gentle smile. “Good. I think that’s a start at least.”

Riley smiled back at him, “Okay then. You asked for it. You get all the fucking profanities from here on out. Just remember, it was all your idea.”

He laughed at that, “No need to worry. I’ll remember.”

Riley was about to suggest going up to see if their table was ready, but she saw Drake dart through the door, scanning the waiting area, clearly looking for one or both of them, and then approaching the hostess stand when he couldn’t find them.

“Ah, shall we go join him?” asked Liam as he followed her gaze.

“Yeah, sounds good,” said Riley, hopping off her stool and falling into step beside Liam as they walked over. As they approached the entrance, she caught the tail end of what the hostess was telling Drake.

“- first from your party to arrive, but your table is ready if you want to follow me.”

Drake shook his head, “That can’t be right. I-” but he stopped talking when he caught sight of the two of them. “Oh, there you guys are.”

“Hello, Drake,” said Liam, walking over with his arms extended, exchanging a brief hug with him before stepping back.

“Hey, man. How are you?”

“I’m doing well. Did I hear our table’s ready?”

“Yes, sir. If you three could follow me,” the hostess chimed in.

As Liam fell in behind the hostess, Riley stepped up, squeezing Drake’s arm in greeting and sliding her hand down to his as she moved to follow Liam and the hostess to their table. But Drake tugged her back, so she spun to face him.

“What’s up?”

“I’m sorry I’m late for this. Was it… are you guys okay?”

She just gave him a smile and nodded, “Yeah. I think everything’s going to be fine.” She squeezed his hand to reassure him, then tugged him forward. “Come on, let’s go enjoy a fancy ass dinner with our friend.”

Permatag: @speedyoperarascalparty​​​ @mfackenthal​​​  @lilyofchoices​​​  @thequeenofcronuts​​​  @jamesashtonisbae​​​

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @kingliam2019​​​   @sirbeepsalot​​​  @texaskitten30​​​   @princessleac1​​​  @ladyangel70​​​  @dcbbw​​​  @yaushie​​​ @octobereighth​​​

Drake x MC only:  @jovialyouthmusic  @iplaydrake  @gibbles82  @drakewalkerisreal  @riley--walker​ @notoriouscs​  @butindeed​  @addictedtodrakefanfic​  

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment: @wickedgypsymoon  @thesumofmychoices​​​  @cosigottahavefaith​​​   @thequeenchoices​​​  @katedrakeohd​​​  @feartheendlesssummer​​​  @ao719​​​  @ooo-barff-ooo​​​   @sunnyxdazed​​​

[breyito]

Brittle

TITLE: Brittle  AUTHOR/ARTIST: @breyito (read also on AO3) PROMPT DAY : Day 4: Hurt/Comfort for @geraskierweek SUMMARY: Post- Ep. 6Jaskier is on his way to being mostly allright, when an unexpected meeting with Geralt tears all his efforts apart. WORD COUNT: 2.1 k BOOKS/NETFLIX/2002 SHOW/VIDEO GAME: Netflix show TRIGGERS/WARNINGS: Angst. Hurt no Comfort. Emotional pain.   RATING: Teen and up ADDITIONAL NOTES: Yeah...I chose hurt. Ooops? ñ.ñ  I couldn't help it!!! I just love Jaskier and his angsty-potential!!! Tbh, I've read some amazing post-ep.6 fix-it fics, but I'm of the opinion that some things you just don't forgive; at least not without effort from the other part. Hence, this was born. I knoooow that Geraskier Week is ending, but RL is a bitch and writing (even if I've written more this week than the past semester, jeez) is hard. I plan to finish all the prompts, even if it takes me another week lol. Tho I'm having a hard time to come up with ideas for the last two days, so...help?? Enjoy the pain!!

When they find the bard, he is singing in a small tavern. This far North the Nilfgaard army has not being able to reach, yet; but refugees have been traveling and passing through, and it is noticeable. The place is fairly full, the ambient warm from the fire on the hearth and the ammount of bodies. The mood of the people, though, is solemn and gloom. The usual joyful tunes and bawdy lyrics that make most of Jaskier's songs would not be welcome; but his most recent works, full of longing and despair are listened to with the aumost attention; people eager to feel conected in their grief.

~I need time to replace, what I gave away~

He is singing with his eyes closed, the melody pouring out of him without effort; and he does not see them enter: the sorceress, the princess and the two Witchers.

~Though I try to resist I still want it all ~

The four of them sit in a corner, willing to wait until the performance is over; but the white haired witcher does not take his eyes away from the bard for a second.

~I see a little house on the beach and children's names I see quiet nights poured over ice and the sweetest ale~

Geralt tries really hard not to think that the song is about him, because surely it can't be. Neither of them are built for a quiet life and a settled home; and yet he can't stop hearing the hopeful proposal of 'lets go to the coast for a while' that he never responded to, which was on itself an answer of its own.

~But everything is shattering and it's my mistake~

Vesemir notices the moment the lark sees Geralt, because his body fills with tension, his shoulders go back and his eyes fill with something else: anger, pain, hurt. He feels the sharp inhale Geralt takes of the man’s souring scent, and hears the aborted whine that climbs up his troath.

~Only fools fall for you, only fools Only fools do what I do, only fools fall~

The sorceress thinks to herself that there is no way the dumb Witcher can miss the song being about him. The bard is practically singing it to him, not looking away once. The rest of the place might not notice, but the four of them on the table know. Even without the enhanced senses she thinks she can smell the betrayal and the hurt the bard pours out in every exhale. She did not know things were so dire between the two men, or she would have insisted on Geralt aproaching first, with an apology at the ready; instead of ambushing him to ask such a big favour.

~Only fools fall…~

As soon as the song finishes the bard jumps into action; throwing the few coins in the floor into his lute case and sprinting for the back door. Obviously, they follow. Or, Yennefer and Geralt do, leaving Ciri with Vesimir inside, to protect her.

~*~

Jaskier has never believed the saying that Witchers have no emotions; that they can't feel and only care for killing and coin. Because if that were true, then why would they help?why would they risk their own lives for the ungrateful little beings that humans are? They are hated, spat on, cursed, stoned...and yet they continue to travel seeking for monsters to kill and people to save. Surely it would be easier to just take whatever they want, instead of getting barely what they need? They could stop traveling, live in the woods or the mountains, hunt and plant and live quietly; until people grew desperate enough to seek them out and pay whatever amount they demand for killing whatever creature is tormenting the pesky little humans. Or become bandits, roaming the roads and stealing and killing as much as they want. It's not a big secret (just something people like to forget) that they can control the minds of people with their magic (similar to the way mages can, but they don't, not usually). They could take over a city, a kindom. They could do so many things; things that would turn them into the monsters people already treat them as. But they don't. They just keep picking themselves up after a badly payed hunt, a stoning, a beating for just exhisting; and they go back to the Path. So no, Jaskier has never believed the rumours about Witchers not having feelings. Traveling with Geralt only proved him right.

But right now he wishes it were true.

Because if the lack of emotional conexions was something biological, something they did to Witchers on those cursed Trials; if love and care and affection was something they forced them to erase, this would be easier. It would mean Geralt doesnt care for him because he literally can't. But knowing he has such a bottomless heart; that he cares, so deeply; having seen first hand how far his affection goes...and yet know none of it is directed to him? Know that he's just an annoyance, a passing amusement, some silly human the man took pity in? That's torture. Jaskier doesnt know what to do now. What do you do when you realize (when someone literally has to spit it to your face because you just won't get it) that the person you built your life around despises you? How do you keep moving on, when you have linked yourself (your sense of being, your sense of worth) so fully to another being and that other is no longer there? When you have spent more of your life by their side than alone? How do you manage without them?

Somehow, he endures.

It takes time, and acting skills, and ale and some new-found interest in weapons and fighting to release all that anger coursing through him; but he copes. He stills feels brittle, like all his pieces were put in the right order but not glued back together, and a minimal shift can break him apart again. There’s nothing to do about the pain, not really; just wait for it to dull until it’s an ache and not searing pain (like the throb you feel in a broken ankle when it’s going to rain years after it happened; not the excruciating pain of the exposed bone through ruptured flesh). He’s not there yet; but he feels like he could be, in a few more months (or years, being realistic, but realism has never been his strong suit, has it?).

There’s a war going on, after all, and he can’t give himself the luxury of pining when people are being killied left and right. He stops singing about White Wolves and monsters; because Princess Cirilla is still unacounted for, and people are starting to remember (after years of a heavy silence imposed by Calanthe) that Geralt of Rivia was to claim her by the Law of Surprise. He has made a name for himself and the last thing he wants it’s to be taken hostage on the missguided notion that Geralt would give a rat’s ass about him and come to his rescue. He is not that stupid. 

So he crafts another identity, another name and life and repertoire (he’s lucky that enough songs from Jaskier are being sung by other minstrels, so he doesn’t runs out of ballads and dittys while he composes new material), changes his image to fit in rather than stand out (more earthy colors with minimal embellishments, embroidered by his own hand), grows a beard (still carefully maintained) and lets his hair reach his shoulders. He sings more about longing and loses, homesickness and heartbreak; but still tries to end the performances on a high note, a cheerful tune (people respond better, when they can sing their woes but still feel hope at the end of another dark day).  

Or at least that is what he usually does. It only takes Geralt to show up once for all his careful work to come tumbling down. He can feel his grief start to choke him and barely manages to finish the song (and of course it’s about Geralt, because all his songs about heartbreak are about him) before he’s gathering his things in a hurry and running for the door. He just wants to get to his room at the inn before he starts to unravell. Of course he doesn’t get to, because the damn Witcher and the fucking witch follow him and cut him off.

“Jaskier.”

“That’s not my name.” he answers in a lower registry. It’s useless, he knows, but he still tries to side step and continue on his way. A hand grabs his forearm and the strenght behind it stops him short. He can feel the heat of his palm scorching his flesh even under all those layers and he starts to shake.

“Jaskier.”

“What? I’m on my way to the inn, I’ll be gone by morning. You-”

“Jaskier”

“-don’t have to see me or talk to me-”

“Jaskie-”

“-or even acknowledge me so-”

“Jaskier!”

“-what do you want!?” he screams, and his voice carries into the darkness around them. “What could you possibly want from a shit-shoveling useless minstrel, uh!?” 

He can tell that both the Witcher and the sorceress are shocked by his outburst; and he takes advantage of this by shaking the hand off and walking a few more feet away from them.

“Jaskier. We need you.” Is what he hears next, and the words make him stop. He lets loose a bitter short laugh.

“Oh, haven’t you heard, woman, that he doesn’t need anyone?” he hears steps behind him and continues walking, “And I wouldn’t go depending on him very much either. He tends to bite and run the other way when that happens, you know?” The Witcher gets ahead of him and grabs his shoulders, thightly and pushes him against a wall.

“Don’t do that.” he growls, shaking him, impatient. “She’s done nothing to-”

"How is it, Geralt” Jaskier interrumpts, finally looking into Geralt’s eyes “that you go out of your way to respect, protect, love” he spats the word out “people that  curse your name, spit on you, wish you dead and use you so badly that you have nothing left when they are done with you;” he doesn’t even try to pretend the words aren’t about certain witch that has apparently deemed the Witcher’s company good enough again, he sees her flinch at the quick look he shots her but pays it no mind “but show nothing but disgust towards the one person who has always stood by you?" he sees the way Geralt recoils at that, but honestly, if he can lash out when he feels hurt then he deserves to hear the pain he caused others.

"Jas-"

"What did I had to do; what did I had to change; what else did I had to sacrifice for you to give me a sliver of your affection?” He can’t hold his gaze anymore and just looks over his shoulder, tears escaping uninvited. “Just a morsel, a fucking crumb of yourself?" His voice breaks and fuck, he wanted to finish this conversation with the last dregs of his dignity intact, but he doesn’t even get that, does he?

"Jaskier, I'm so-" despite the fact that Jaskier has spent the last fucking year wanting to hear an apology from the man that destroyed his heart; right now he can’t. He suddenly feels so tired. Brittle, like that single word could make him crumble and disperse his very core to the winds. He swallows a moan and starts begging.

"Please, leave." he pauses, to see if the other man will, for once, heed his request. He doesn’t, of course. " Geralt, please, leave." he pleads. The Witcher lets go of his shoulders, but opens his mouth. But Jaskier won’t let him speak, not if he doesn’t want to end the night reduced to more pieces. "You are no good to me witcher. You wound me; it hurts. Everytime I think of you a fucking hole opens in my chest and threatens to consume whole.” he starts wheezing, but keeps talking, trying to explain his pain, to make him understand how badly those scarred hands have wounded him. “Seeing you here... Listening to your voice? It’s ripping me to pieces."

"Ja-" the bard feels like puppet whose string was cut. He falls to the floor in a crouch, hugging himself, trying to contain the void growing in his chest.

"Geralt, have mercy." he sobs, desperate. He hides his face between his knees, tears and snot being absorved by the dark fabric.

Finally, Geralt leaves. The keens and sobs of pain follow him all the way back to the tavern.

"Good gods, what have you done to him, Witcher?" Vesemir asks when they return to the table. The piercing cries continue on in the night.

~*~

Mmm, are those reworked lyrics from Troye Sivan?? Yes, yes they are. I just love this song and I had to tweak the lyrics a bit so they fit better, but I love the result, tbh. Thanks for reading!!! Ideas for day 6 (destiny) and day 7 (free day) are accepted ;P

Kisses

[twdeadfanfic]

The first to blow your mind Pt.2

Daryl Dixon x Reader

*Summary:  It’s Daryl Dixon’s 18th birthday and he can’t stop his brother from dragging him to the strip club, one of Merle’s favourite places, to celebrate. There’s a new singer there, a girl with a beautiful voice and a beautiful smile, even Daryl can see it. Little does he know, he’s going to meet her again at the woods soon. This was a request but it got out of hand.

Daryl’s POV. Teen Daryl.Pre-apocalypse. Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst

3847 words

Chapters: 2/8

Link to masterlist with more  chapters and works is in the info of this blog.

Thank you all so much for the support in last chapter, I was so nervous, and this got more support than I could have hoped for! Thank you for every like, reblog, and lovely comment, it made my day! I hope you’ll like this chapter too.

***I’ve been reblogging a lot of young Norman pics to get in the mood for teen Daryl, if you want to check it! Some of them are really how I imagine him in this story: twdeadfanfic.tumblr.com/tagged/tftbym ***

Last chapter...Daryl and reader met, first at the strip club then at the woods, and it seemed to Daryl that, somehow, the girl wanted to be his friend. He’s not very sure, but he thinks he might want it too, and so he’s on his way to meet her again...

....................................................................................................

For the longest time, Daryl didn’t know what to do, go to that part of the woods where he knew the girl might be or not. He still didn’t know what to think of her, confused by her. He knew he wanted to see her again, no matter he tried to stop himself from feeling like that, even though he didn’t understand why. He had barely been able to sleep that night, his thoughts shifting to the girl, her smile as she talked with him, as she sang, how different the girl from the woods and the girl at the club seemed, even though they were the same. 

Nerves clutched his stomach as he walked to the woods, making him feel like an idiot. He didn’t know what to do once he saw her again, what to say to her. That, if she was there. Maybe the girl wasn’t going to show up, maybe she was messing with him, maybe she didn’t really want to try to be his friend, if that’s even what she was trying to do. Maybe she was laughing at him after all. Maybe it was some kind of trick. Maybe... 

Daryl heard a voice singing softly and he knew it was her, she had come. Somehow, it made him more nervous. He walked silently towards the voice and he saw her, walking and dancing around. He watched her in silence until she noticed he was there. She jumped a bit when she saw him, but then she was smiling. 

“Hey, you came!” Daryl just nodded in silence and as the girl approached with that bright grin on her face, he’d to fight the urge to run away. “I hope you haven’t been watching for long... it’s embarrassing.” The girl chuckled, biting her lip. Daryl didn’t know why she thought it was embarrassing, or if maybe she thought he was stalking her or something. He didn’t really know what to say. “I was just practicing, you know, trying not to suck at it.” She chuckled again. 

“You don’t suck,” Daryl said quietly, looking down, unable to meet her eyes. “Told you, you sing well.” He didn’t understand why she might think otherwise, maybe she was just pretending or something. 

“Thank you!” Even without looking at her, Daryl could hear the smile in her voice. “I can’t really practice at home, it seems I bother my neighbors or something, thin walls or whatever.” She let out an annoyed sigh. “But I meant the dancing...I think it’s still not my thing, I don’t really know what to do half of the time. Your brother gave me great advice my first day, though, yelling at me to ‘move that ass’” The girl joked, giggling, and Daryl blushed, hearing his brother in his head. 

“Must be the first time he gave good advice.” Daryl didn’t know if he was joking or not, he owed Merle a lot and he was his big brother and smarter, but lately he was starting to see how Merle wasn’t the best at taking the right decisions most of the time. He had to stop himself from looking around as he said that, paranoid of his brother hearing it, even though he knew it was impossible and stupid...a reflex, he guessed. The girl just laughed at that. 

“Honestly, it helped, I’d finished singing and I was feeling so awkward, didn’t know what to do...I guess that move my ass is as good as anything, at least I’m not there standing like a tree or just walking around while the other girls dance so good. I still don’t know what to do with my arms half of the time, though, they are just here...hanging like hosepipes or something.” 

Daryl’s eyes had been fixed on the ground, but he looked up at her weird at that, and as the girl wiggled her arms sillily as she giggled, the ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. 

“Or else they go like this, like t-rex arms, which I guess it’s not that sexy either, but well, everyone has their kinks.” She kept just wiggling her arms around in silly ways as she spoke and Daryl couldn’t keep it together any longer, snorting. 

The girl giggled and as both them laughed together, Daryl found himself relaxing ever so slightly. She looked at him as if curious, a look on her face Daryl wasn’t sure he could read, and he looked down again, self-conscious, though by now he was feeling surer that the girl didn’t want to mess with him or laugh at him. He was so lost as for why the girl had decided she wanted to speak with him and maybe be his friend. 

“I don’t think you’re bad at it,” Daryl mumbled, shrugging, eyes on the ground. 

“Thanks, you didn’t get to see me dancing much that night, though...maybe that’s why you think that.”  

The girl laughed again and Daryl tried hard not to think about that night, not wanting all the shame and embarrassment to come back to him. He tried not to think on her rocking and her hands moving over her body as she sang, or on the moment when she ditched the dress, sure that if he did he couldn’t look at her and keep talking to her. He felt his cheeks heating up anyway, but if the girl noticed, she didn’t say anything. 

“I think it’s starting to grow on me, though, I think I’d like to actually learn how to dance. Like, not only wiggle my ass so I get tips, you know, I want to really learn. Some of the girls that work there are so good, yet none of the people who go there appreciate it, they just have one thing in their mind. Kind of like when I sing. But well, it’s a living.” 

Daryl looked at the girl as she vented, sounding disappointed. She looked at him and bit her lip, giving him a shy smile. “I’m sorry, I’m here talking your ear off again, you can tell me to shut up.” 

“No... I just don’t know why you want to tell me all these.” He admitted. 

“Guess I don’t really have someone to speak to.” The girl shrugged. “And it feels like you listen to me when I speak...but I guess it’s just that you don’t really feel like talking and here I am bothering you with my shit.” She let out an embarrassed chuckle. 

“You ain’t bothering me.” It wasn’t like he didn’t feel like talking to her, it was just he didn’t know what to say, but he did like to listen to her. He felt less nervous the more she spoke, less on edge. Maybe it was silly, but Daryl felt like he wanted her to keep speaking so he could know more about her. “So you don’t have friends to speak to?” 

“Not really, not anymore at least. My best friend Nora moved to the city a year ago. Once I’ve got enough money I’m going to move there too and we’re going to live together, and it’s going to be awesome.” She smiled sadly. “Also, some of the girls I work with are really nice too. When I started, I owed my landlord last month rent and also I couldn’t afford that month either, I was about to be kicked out but some of the girls gave me half of their tips so I could pay. I owe them a lot.”  By hearing her talk, Daryl guessed she hadn’t had it easy after her mother died. “So, I hope your brother keeps coming and tipping good and allowing me to pay rent.” The girl joked awkwardly. 

“Don’t think he plans on stopping.” Unless Merle decided to leave the town once again, that club would probably still be one of his favorite places to visit night in night out. 

“So... what about you, you got a lot of friends?” The girl asked him and Daryl almost snorted. 

“Just my brother.” If he’d had friends, it had been a long while ago, when he was little and his brother wasn’t there.

“And those guys you were with that night?” 

“They are my brother’s friends, not mine.” Daryl knew how they were, what they were. 

“I don’t really like how most of them look.” The girl admitted, looking at him as if expecting he might snap at her for saying that, but Daryl couldn’t care less, he didn’t like them either. “Don’t want to know what they do to get all that money either.” Daryl knew, most of them got their money same way that his brother did, others in even darker ways, but he didn’t say anything, embarrassed about it. “Wouldn’t like them asking me for a private show, so to speak.” 

“Merle wouldn’t let any of them hurt you.” Daryl genuinely thought like that, Merle could be many things but he wasn’t a rapist or anything like that, and Daryl couldn’t believe he’d hurt or let his friends hurt any of the girls. 

“That’s good to know.” The girl gave him a small smile. “Anyway...you wanted to hunt and here I am bothering you with half my life and not letting you hunt, sorry.” 

“Told you, you ain’t bothering me,” Daryl muttered. “And I think you scared the game away when you sang and then talking.” 

“Oh...sorry...” The girl bit her lip as she gave him a small, shy smile. 

“It’s okay, I’ll find something.” There must be some squirrels not far, maybe a rabbit. He’d found deer some times, but those were easier to scare and used to be further away from the town. 

“Can I go with you? I promise I’ll shut up.” The ask took Daryl aback, but he found himself nodding, for some reason he didn’t want them to part ways yet. The girl smiled brightly and his stomach did funny twirls. “Lead the way.” 

As she followed him in silence, Daryl forced himself to stop thinking about her and focus on tracking. It took him shorter than he thought to spot a rabbit. He pointed it at the girl, who didn’t seem to have seen it yet. He aimed his crossbow and shot, and the girl gasped next to him, looking away as the rabbit fell dead to the ground. 

“Sorry, I bet you think I’m stupid or weak, or something...” The girl apologized, seeming embarrassed, when he looked at her. “I’d never seen...just...sorry.” 

“It’s okay, girl.” Daryl didn’t know what to say and he tried not to sound harsh. The first time his uncle had taken him to the woods as a little kid to teach him how to track and hunt, he’d seen him kill a rabbit too, and he remembered being upset too. He also remembered how his father had laughed at him, calling him names. Things were different now. 

“Thanks.” The girl smiled softly, but she still seemed a bit embarrassed. “I’m Y/N, by the way.” Daryl nodded, he knew her name, she had told him yesterday, but it felt a bit personal to call her by her name, but it seemed she wanted him to. 

“Wait here...Y/N.” He made his way to the dead rabbit, guessing the girl would be upset to get closer, and he wrapped it with a rag before getting it into his hunting bag and making his way back to Y/N. 

“You want to keep hunting?” 

“Nah, that's enough.” He didn't want to upset Y/N more and the rabbit would feed him for the night, probably next day too, if he stewed it.  

“Okay… I have to go back.” 

“Do you want me to walk you back to the town? He asked shyly, gaze on the ground.  

“That would be nice, thank you!” 

* 

Next day, Daryl didn’t think it twice about going back to the woods, same place, same hour. Even though their walk back to the town had been mostly silent, Y/N had told him she’d be there the next day too, as if she wanted to see him again. Daryl had barely slept again, thinking about her, he’d barely been able to listen to Merle when he’d been running his mouth as always, until his brother noticed and snapped at him. Daryl couldn’t care. 

He wanted to see her again, even though he still didn’t understand why she might want to see him again. By now, he was almost sure the girl wasn’t playing him or anything like that, and he'd found himself enjoying it as he listened to her talking. Somehow, he felt like he wanted her to tell him more about her. 

She had told him she hadn’t many friends, and probably that was the reason why she had decided she wanted to befriend him. He hadn’t any friends...so maybe they could, indeed, be friends. The idea made him nervous and a bit scared, but it made him smile too.  

As he walked closer to the place where he’d found her the previous days and he didn’t hear her singing, he began to worry, wondering if maybe Y/N hadn’t come, if maybe she had decided she didn’t want to keep hanging out with him, but then she spotted her, walking and dancing a bit. This time, when she saw him, she didn’t jump. She approached him, a bright smile on her face, and Daryl’s heart began beating faster, nervous.  

“I haven’t sung so I wouldn't scare your game if you wanted to hunt.” She whispered to him, and a small smile tugged at the corner of Daryl’s lip as he found himself thinking she was cute. He chastised himself, blushing.  

“You made noise as you moved anyway.” It was difficult to learn to move silently, and dancing around probably she had been heard by every animal that was close enough.  

“Oh… didn’t think about that, sorry.”  

Daryl hadn't wanted to make her feel bad and he hoped he hadn't upset her. He wished he knew how to talk better with people.  

“No, I didn't mean it like that, just… You don't have to stop singing or nothing.” She had told him she couldn't do it at home and he didn't want her to feel she couldn't sing there either just in case he might go hunting.  The girl said nothing, just gave him a smile. “I can hunt later.” 

They stood there in silence for what felt eternal to Daryl. He'd wanted to see Y/N again but now he felt he didn't know what to tell her, waiting for her to speak as nerves knotted his stomach. 

“So… Do you want to take a walk with me, maybe?” She asked, sounding unsure too, and Daryl nodded, it'd be better than just stand there. The girl smiled to him and as Daryl turned around, she began following through the woods. 

They walked in silence and Daryl began to worry. During the couple of days he’d seen her, Y/N had seemed like a talkative person, speaking with him even though he hadn’t said much, but she was silent now. Daryl wondered if he might have done something wrong, if maybe she now thought he didn’t want her to talk with him, but then why would she want to see him and walk by him. 

“You okay?” He asked when he couldn’t take it any longer. 

“Yeah, why?” 

“You’re quiet.” Daryl shrugged shyly. 

“I’m trying to...I just kind of felt like I’ve been talking too much, and you seem to really like your quiet so, dunno...” The girl let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I guess I didn’t want to be annoying.” 

“You ain’t annoying. I liked to listen to what you were saying.” Daryl forced himself to overcome his shyness and say it aloud. 

“Yeah? That’s good to know.”  

Daryl looked at her through the corner of his eye, a smile tugging at his lips when he saw her grinning. She didn’t say anything else and Daryl wondered if maybe he should be the one to speak, but he didn’t really know what to say. Before he could worry too much, Y/N spoke again. 

“You move like you’d been in the woods forever.” 

“I come here since I was little.” He liked it more than the town too, away from people’s gossip, from his father, from everything. 

“That’s cool,” the girl said, and Daryl just shrugged. 

“So...besides coming to the woods, what other things do you like?” 

“Dunno...” 

Daryl’d never felt comfortable with personal questions, half the time he was asked he was sure there was some hidden intention behind it, but he didn’t feel it from Y/N. Still, he didn’t know how to answer. 

“There must be something you like.” 

“Why you care?” His insecurity made him snap and he regretted it, but he didn’t know how to apologize. 

“Told you, I thought you were interesting.” The girl shrugged and Daryl looked at her weird, he still didn’t understand why she might think that. “Guess, I wanted to know something more about you...” She looked down and Daryl thought she was blushing. “I’m sorry if it was too personal or anything, we can talk about something else.” 

“No, it ain’t that...”  

Personal questions made him uncomfortable and defensive, but not from her. Still, the idea of telling her things about him and Y/N deciding she wasn’t interested in being his friend anymore made him nervous. Y/N was silent again and Daryl thought for something to tell her, something he liked. 

“Bikes.” 

“Uh?” 

“I like bikes.” 

“Your brother has one, right? I’ve seen him around town a couple of times with some other guys.” 

“Yeah, he’s let me ride it sometimes.” He’d always complained about it, threatening him if he damaged it, but he’d let him ride it sometimes since he was big enough to hold the bike right. “I like to ride.” 

“Cool, you got a bike?” 

“Not now but I’m putting together one and it’ll be ready soon.”  

During the last couple or so of years he’d gotten a couple of old bikes here and there, wanting to have his own, but both of them had soon died. He had managed to save some pieces, though, and with some other parts he’d managed to get cheap, he’d been trying to build his own. Merle'd been always saying how he wasn’t going to be able to do it and whatever bike he made was going to fall into pieces as soon as he turned on the engine, but by now Daryl had managed to keep the bike going and he was sure it was pretty much done. Putting a bike together, that was something he’d liked doing too. 

“What you mean putting together?” Y/N looked at him as if confused. 

“Building it from pieces and parts of other bikes.” 

“Seriously?! You’re building a bike?!” Y/N stopped walking to look at him with wide eyes, making Daryl feel a bit insecure under her gaze. 

“Yeah.” 

“Woah...how cool is that?!” Y/N was grinning and Daryl didn’t think someone had ever looked at him like she was doing, she seemed impressed and Daryl couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. He couldn’t hold her gaze, though, and he began walking again. 

“Are you studying mechanics or something?” 

Daryl scoffed, he’d dropped out of school as soon as he was able. “Nah.” 

“And yet you built a bike by yourself...that’s like so impressive.” Her words gave Daryl again that mix of feelings, of pride and embarrassment. He’d never thought it was that impressive, he was just following what he read on old manuals and bikes magazines. “Would you like to study mechanics?” 

Daryl had never thought about it, studying had never been his thing. He hadn’t even considered he could study something related to bikes, building and repairing stuff. He didn’t know what to think about it. 

“Dunno.” 

“Well, by what you’re telling me, it doesn’t seem like you need it.” The girl grinned to him and Daryl found himself smiling too. He usually felt uncomfortable when he had to share something about himself, not that he had to do it often, but he didn’t feel like that with Y/N, not with how she was looking at him. 

“And you?” He’d found himself wanting to know more about her almost since she began speaking to him. 

“No, I’m useless at building anything with my hands, I can’t even doodle.” Y/N giggled and Daryl realized he’d been so caught up in his own mind he hadn’t actually formulated the question he wanted. 

“No, I meant, what do you like besides singing.” 

“I think I’ve found I like dancing too... even though I’m not that good at it. I used to like reading a lot too, but I barely do it these days.” 

“What kind of books?” Daryl glanced at the girl through the corner of his eye, wondering if she might be finding him nosy, but it didn’t seem so. 

“My favorites were detective books and that kind...I think maybe because they were my mother’s favorites. Shows and movies too, when I was little some afternoons my mum and I would just like marathon half a detective’s show or a bunch of movies. And when I was a little older I began borrowing her books.” 

She looked sad as she talked about her mother and Daryl’s heart clenched a bit, trying not to think on his own. He wished he knew what to say or what to do to make Y/N feel better, but he didn’t. Soon, though, she was smiling again. 

“Do you like detective books?” 

“Dunno.” 

“I could lend you one of mine, maybe, if you feel like reading one...” 

“Okay.” He wasn’t sure if he was going to like it, but if she wanted to lend him one of her books, he wasn’t going to say no. 

She smiled and looked at her watch. “Shit, I gotta go, I’ve to get ready to work tonight.” 

“I’ll walk you to the town.”  They had walked further from the clearing where they’d met and Daryl didn’t want her getting lost in the woods, especially when the sun was going down in an hour. 

“No, you wanted to hunt, I can go by myself.” 

“I’ll walk you back to the clearing and then I’ll go hunting.” Even though she said she could go back by herself, Daryl felt uneasy about leaving her alone there. 

“Okay, thanks.” She smiled and began following him back.

Once they reached the clearing, Y/N stopped to look at him with that bright smile and Daryl’s stomach did those damn twirls again. “Thank you for walking me here, Daryl.” I’m going to come tomorrow again...so if you want to, we could meet again, if you’re free.” 

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Daryl couldn’t help his smile at her wanting to meet again, and then at the way in which she grinned. It was hard to believe, but it seemed she really liked to talk to him and spend time with him, she really wanted to be his friend. 

"See you tomorrow then!” 

......................................................................................................

Daryl made a friend! What did you thought? Do you like this friendship? If you have a moment, please let me know yiur impresions. As always, thank you for your reads, likes, comments and reblogs, it means the world to me!

As always, English is not my first language so sorry if there are mistakes.

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[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, ch. 37

I was running late to work this morning, so I didn't have time to queue this chapter. Instead of uploading it super late in the day (7pm EDT), I made a judgement call to pull the copy that I emailed my lovely sister @parisconstantine to proof - which she approved - but that means there is no break.

08/10/2020 Edit: Added a break! and links.

Once Conor had sufficiently transformed me into a fuzzy purple burrito, I glanced around my quarters with a weak smile.  Sure enough, Antoine and my sister put a fierce limit on my welcome-back ‘party’. I saw only them, Conor, Sam, and Derek. Knowing that Simon and Noah were likely watching and listening remotely, it was the perfect amount of people for me to handle at the moment.

Antoine returned my smile gently as he handed me a server of tea. “No caffeine and no alcohol until you finish your medications,” he explained somewhat apologetically. His shrug suddenly turned into a wince as he backed away, one hand flying to his temple with a hiss.  After taking a step forward, he shook his head energetically and blinked a few times. “I need to calibrate this more,” he muttered.

Tyche tsked at him. “That’s what you get for deciding to be your own guinea pig,” she replied airily before tilting her head toward me. “He’s working on a project to help the autistic population on the ship.  It’s… in the experimental stages. He should explain, though.”

“It’s going to be marv,” Conor gushed quietly.

I glanced at Antoine. “So, what’s the project?  I’m all ears.”

He chuckled somewhat ruefully. “It actually will fall partially under your purview if I am able to work out the – bugs?” When I nodded, he continued. “During the sabotage attempt on the ship, Conor and I were needed to retrieve Derek and escort him to Level One.  There was simply no other way for him to arrive without being overwhelmed by so many people in close proximity. Since then, it occurred to me: What if there was a way for Derek to travel around the ship, even during such times that the corridors are crowded, without need for an escort?  It would give him much more autonomy than he has had in the past.”

“The idea came from your Council pendant, partially – when we headed to Level One, your pendant gave off a low tone, in theory a proximity alert to let everyone know to let you through.  However, it did not work, and we now know that was due to not everyone being able to hear it in all the panic, yes? We do have a way to hear things over exterior noises, though.” He tapped his temple. “The translators.  Even in the loudest room on the ship, for example, you would still be able to perfectly hear the translation of Derek’s sign language provided you were looking at him.”  I nodded, but was honestly still confused.

“The ultimate goal of the project is to combine the technology we already have, and give Derek – and all autistics on the ship – the ability to interact on their own terms,” Antoine explained, crouching down. “Using the datasets and our translators, the first aim is audio and visual dampening.  No more too-loud noises, no more unpleasant lights or colors. They will be able to adjust both the audio input from the translators and hopefully visual input, right from their dataset. Secondly, proximity alerts – but mostly not for them. Instead, anyone who approaches too closely will receive an alert to their dataset first, and then a loud alarm transmitted directly to their translator.” He tapped his temple again.  “I thought it was only fair that I be the test subject for the alarm, and I’m working on calibrating it. When I backed away from you after delivering your tea, I backed too closely to Sam, who agreed to be my co-tester.”

“That’s brilliant,” I breathed, wide-eyed. “But you said the proximity alerts are ‘mostly’ not for Sam.  So he still receives some of it?”

Antoine looked over his shoulder at Sam, who was in the process of a beautiful and intricate piece of knotwork. “Sam?  When do you receive an alert?”

“If I’m not paying attention and I’m about to walk into someone.  It’s just a chime, though,” he answered nonchalantly, not looking up from what he was doing.

“So really, it’s only to keep you from accidentally touching someone if you don’t want to?” I asked.

“Yep. Works good.  I didn’t walk into anyone today.”

“And the software can tell the difference?”

The question was directed at Antoine, but Derek was the one who answered. <Locational sensors in the corridors tell us who is the one moving and causing the proximity.>

“So, the people who need the software the most are not being punished?”

<Of course not, Wisdom.  I don’t want a screech in my head because someone almost bumped into me.>

“I just wanted to make sure,” I chuckled, letting the silly nickname go unremarked. “Antoine, really.  This is brilliant. And it’s going to help a lot of people, not just those on the spectrum.  There are a lot of people on the ship who have PTSD-related touch issues. Or just flat out inherent aversions.”

He nodded. “Correct.  Grey was able to corroborate in their data that the autistic-spectrum population on the ship has the most stringent requirements and need, however, so that is where the focus is. If I can calibrate it to work for them, everything else is just a matter of adjustment.”

“Okay, okay,” Tyche shifted next to me and gathered our attention. “As proud as I am of this project, especially how far it has come in such a short time, there are a few other things we need to talk about if you’re good with it, Soph?”

“Depends on what it is,” I hesitated.

“Timeline for getting you back to work,” she clarified. “It’s going to be a slow hand-off, and don’t even think of trying to take on more than you’re ready for or I will sedate you myself.”  She arched an eyebrow at me and I just held my hands up in defeat. “Your primary focus is going to selecting a new assistant. I’ve been helping Simon, but there is only so much I can do to help and still be able to manage staffing.  Right now, each of the department heads is handling as much of that as they can, but they still need me for day-to-day questions like who is currently available.”

I groaned. “Can’t you just find one for me?”

“No, I can’t. I don’t have time, like I said. Simon refuses to, because he is the one who originally hired Arantxa.”

“If I have to select them myself, I want a list vetted by Xiomara and Derek.” I glanced over. “Derek, is that okay with you? Dig up all the dirt you can on every single person Xiomara okays?”

<All the dirt?>

“I want to know if they don’t bathe regularly, do they kick pets, did they not thank a vendor, everything.”

<I can do that> he confirmed with a pretty vicious amount of glee.

“Good,” I nodded, turning back to my sister. “I’m not leaving anything to chance. I know none of us want to admit it, but Arantxa had one thing dead to rights – I am entirely too trusting.  Derek and Xiomara? Not so much. I’ll make the final call, but I’m going into this with eyes wide open. No more surprises. Hell, I don’t care if I even like the person.  If they can do the job and I can trust them, I can make it work.”

“Sophie, come on – “

“No, Conor.  I almost died, and the entire Ark almost paid the price for mine and Simon’s poor judgement. This may be an extreme reaction, looking at it from the outside, but the people on this ship need to know that I’m not making the same mistakes again.”

“But they just watched you stand in the Council Chamber and talk about the best of humanity.  Now, you’re going to move forward with suspicion?” This time, it was my sister.

“I also, quite clearly, said that one of our best traits is that we learn from our mistakes. I can believe in the best of people without being stupid about it, and they need to see that.  It doesn’t just mean trusting blindly – it can also mean seeing something in a person no one likes, or who everyone underestimates, or who no one thought could do the job. We also persevere, which is exactly what I’m going to do,” I finished quietly.

As Conor squeezed my shoulder, Tyche nodded in reluctant acceptance. “Okay, in that case, we need to make a list of what you are looking for in a new assistant. And you can’t put 'not a Baconist' on that list, because it pretty much guarantees everyone who applies will secretly be one, no matter what Miys says.” She shot me a look. “So, seriously.  You need to have criteria to weed out who we even pass on to Xio and Derek.”

I hummed in thought, leaning my head back against Conor’s arm.  “Well, there’s the obvious stuff – organized, at least somewhat familiar with who handles what on the Ark, moderate computer skills.  They can’t be shy, either. In fact, I would prefer someone stubborn: I have a hard-enough time saying ‘no’ to people, so I need someone who can put their foot down both on my behalf and to me. Willingness to learn is also non-negotiable.”

My sister nodded, transcribing all this to her datapad and flicking a copy over to Antoine and Derek. “Okay, and what are the absolute deal-breakers?”

“Mindless conformity, in any direction,” I responded immediately.  “I’ve known too many people who were so counter-culture that they though they were open-minded, but they were just narrow-minded in the opposite direction. At the same time, discrimination is absolutely not to be tolerated – there are only so many of us left, and we need to get the fuck along.  Don’t get me wrong, if they disagree with me, that’s fine, but they have to be able to listen and consider other viewpoints.  What I’m talking about is people who make judgement calls based on things that people can’t help or change, and refuse to listen to any opinion counter to their own.”

“Like Xiomara,” Tyche ventured hesitantly.

I shook my head vigorously. “Xio has her faults, but even when she realizes she doesn’t understand, she relents and goes with the flow.  She at least leaves herself open to the possibility of understanding later. Something like that wouldn’t be a complete no-go. But the situation with Maverick and eating? If the person is the type who would flat out ignore my request, they can’t be my administrator.  I have to fight enough uphill battles with the Council, I cannot waste time fighting with my administrator.”  I took a deep breath. “Beyond that, hero-worshipers, victim-blamers, and victim-worshipers are right out.”

“Victim-worshipers?” Conor asked in confusion. “What are those?”

Before Tyche or I could answer, Antoine let out a loud groan. “Sometimes they are the worst types of people, my friend. You know what victim-blaming is, correct?” Conor nodded, leaning forward out of curiosity. Antoine continued, “Victim-worshipers are the complete opposite. They create this idealized, innocent, unrealistic ideal of a person who has been a victim of actions taken against them.  Using Sophia as an example, these people would construct their entire idea of Sophia around her being a victim first, even before being human, or female, much less her being competent at her job.  Instead, she is A Victim, and everything else about her supports her ‘victimness’. She isn’t a person to them anymore.”

Tyche nodded in agreement and continued where her partner had left off. “Depending on the person they are attaching themselves to, yeah – victim worshipers can sometimes be worse than victim blamers. At least the people who blame a victim grant the person a sense of agency, acknowledging that they are a person who can make decisions.  They’re still scum, don’t get me wrong, but they wouldn’t take away the fact that Sophia is a person, who is capable of decisions. Victim blamers try to eliminate their own ability to decide and put that burden on the person who was attacked – victim worshippers don’t even let us decide what we wear each day.”

Conor started snapping his fingers, looking around as he grasped at something. “The whore-thing… about women… what is it? I’ve heard about this. Dammit, what is it….”

Derek clapped to get our attention before explaining. <Madonna-Whore complex> he supplied helpfully.

“YES!” Conor shouted, pointing at him. “Thank you, Derek. That!  So ‘blamers’ are on the ‘whore’ end, and ‘worshipers’ are on the ‘Madonna’ end, and the focus of their judgement can’t win, right?”

Tyche, Antoine, and I gaped at Conor in astonishment. Slowly, Antoine began to nod. “Yes.  That’s what we were trying to explain…”

“Dumb lug my ass,” Tyche muttered, glancing at me.

Conor just squeezed my shoulder again, showing he wasn’t offended. “In that case, I completely agree. Sophie isn’t a hero, or a victim, she’s just… Sophie.  She shouldn’t have to work with someone who can’t understand or appreciate that there are much more important things about her than what happened on Level One.”

“Like what?” I asked, teasing.

“Like the fact that, if you recover properly, you can cook like a fiend again, which I am looking forward to.” His stomach grumbled to punctuate the comment, instantly breaking any tension in the room.

This is exactly the housewarming I needed, I mused as I giggled at Conor’s never-ending hunger.

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[k-llama-llama]

The Visit

Monsta X AU: 8th member

Zoey x Monsta X

25 Days of Zoey: Day 9

Zoey’s family pays a visit for her first Christmas with Monsta X, and things start to make sense. (takes place right after ‘First Christmas’

A/N: no links in my posts until tumblr sorts itself out.DM me or head over to my ask box!

Please submit your requests to my Ask Box!!

Wonho took Zoey’s coat as they stepped through the door of the apartment.

“I’m sorry my family is so weird.” He said with a laugh.

“Are you kidding?” She beamed, spinning around. “That was honestly the best. I’ve never had that much fun at a meal, ever!”

“What about every time you eat with us?” Minhyuk demanded, stepping out of the kitchen.

Zoey laughed loudly, in way too good of a mode to even pick up on sarcasm. “I love every meal with you guys. Trust me, this has been the best day ever.”

She pulled off her boots, taking off at a run and sock sliding into the living room. She landed right behind Shownu’s spot on the couch, wrapping her arms around him to catch herself.

He barely flinched, just reached up to grab her hands. “And how are you?”

“I’m perfect!” She exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.

“Apparently.” Hyungwon laughed. “Where’s my love?”

“Right here!” Zoey wrapped her arms around his head and kissed the top of his hair. “Did you guys have a good time with your families?”

“We had a great time, Zo.” He reassured her. “And clearly you did too.”

“I did!” Her smile was so wide it stretched from ear to ear. “I’m going to go put on sweatpants.” She declared.

“I still don’t know why you wore such nice clothes.” Wonho asked, stepping into the living room.

“Because I wanted your family to like me.” She said genuinely, skipping off towards the bedrooms.

Jooheon snorted the second she was gone. “Clearly she had a good time.”

“You should have seen her.” Wonho smiled. “My mom was ready to write her into the will.”

“Thats Zo for you.” Kihyun mused.

Changkyun emerged from the bedroom. “Anyone want to tell me why Zoey just slid on her sock-feet down the hall and into the bedroom door?”

“She’s happy?” Shownu offered. “Just leave her be.”

“She was laughing, so I assumed it was either too late to help or she was fine.” Changkyun picked up one of the cookies left on his plate from that morning. “These are still delicious.”

“Mine are all gone.” Jooheon complained. “I had to share them with my family.”

“I’ll make you more, Heonnie!” Zoey promised, returning from the bedroom in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. She had a pack of makeup wipes in her hand, and she sat herself between Hyungwon’s feet and started removing her makeup. The older boy took his cue and leaned forward, starting to unbraid her hair.

A knock sounded at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Wonho offered.

“Who are we missing?” Kihyun looked around. “Are we expecting anyone else?”

“I didn’t think so.” Shownu looked curiously towards the door. “I’m not sure who it is.”

They heard the door open, and Wonho cheerfully greet whoever was on the other side.

“Is So-Young here?”

Zoey felt her blood run cold.

“So-Young?” Minhyuk said with a laugh. “Who calls you So-Young?”

“My parents.” She breathed, scrambling to her feet.

She turned as Wonho led her parents into the living room. All of the boys leapt to their feet and bowed politely, Zoey doing so out of reflex.

Both of her parents were small and slight in stature, though that was where the resemblance ended. Her father was a very round man, with a large face, whereas her mother was thin like a reed, with sharp features. Zoey was slim, certainly, but all of the boys could see instantly that her features had more of a softness to them.

“Eomma, Appa.” Zoey forced a smile. “What are you doing here?”

Her mother gave a small smile. “We needed to speak with you, and we were in town for business.”

“Since when?”

“Since last Tuesday, I believe.” Her mother answered.

Zoey swallowed and kept the smile plastered on her face. “You’ve been in town for over a week, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“We were very busy, So-Young. We barely made this time in our schedule as it is.” Her father said sternly.

Zoey nodded. “Sure. Okay, what did you want to talk about?”

Her mother cast a look at the other people in the room. “Is there somewhere more private where we could speak?”

Zoey sighed, it not escaping her notice that her mom hadn’t even asked to meet the boys. “Sure, we’ll go to the bedroom.”

She pushed her way past Hyungwon, leading her parents down the hall and out of view. 

The second the door closed behind them, the boys all turned to each other. “What just happened?”

Zoey turned with her back to the door, facing her parents. They were both casting doubtful glances around the crowded bedroom.

“This is where you sleep?” Her mother said in a shocked tone.

“Yes, Eomma. My bunk is right there.” She pointed to her space, resisting the urge to hide the yellow bear, and the silly Photo Booth pictures she had taped to the wall. Her instincts screamed at her to protect them.

Be civil. She reminded herself.

“Merry Christmas! It’s too bad that we weren’t able to go out for dinner or something.”

“Yes, Merry Christmas.” Her mother said absentmindedly.

“We really don’t have time for this.” Her father checked his watch.

“Don’t have time? What-”

“So-Young,” Her father interrupted. “We just needed the code for the safe in your closet.”

Zoey shook her head. “The code? For the safe? Why?”

“There isn’t anything in it, is there?” Her mother asked.

“In the safe in my bedroom? No, it’s empty. But why do you need the code?”

“Because,” Her mother explained. “We’re going to be renting out the room, and offering use of the safe does up the value.”

Zoey leaned against the door for support. “You’re renting out my bedroom?”

“Yes.” Her father said simply. “Since you’re living here now, the room shouldn’t just stay empty.”

“But what about when I come to visit? What about my stuff?” Zoey asked incredulously.

“We’ve moved all of your stuff to the basement, don’t worry.” Her mother said as if that was any sort of reassurance. “And well...” She looked to her husband.

“We don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come visit.”

“You’re kicking me out?” Zoey demanded. “Why?”

“We aren’t kicking you out, So-Young. Don’t be so dramatic.” Her mother snapped. “But it won’t look good if our daughter is always coming and going.”

“It won’t look good if your daughter never visits! And why can’t you just tell people why? Tell them I’m living in Seoul because I’m in a group?” Zoey asked desperately.

“So-Young,” Her mother said in what she seemed to think would be a kindly tone. “It doesn’t look good that you didn’t go to university. Once this group achieves something, then we may start to tell people. But it just doesn’t look good for your father at work if his only child didn’t attend school.”

Zoey bit her lip and nodded. “Six, Five, Nine, Three.”

“What?” 

“That’s the code for the safe. Six, five, nine, three. Is there anything else we need to talk about?”

Her mother seemed taken aback. “No, that was everything.”

“Good.” Zoey said stubbornly. “And don’t worry about the stuff in the basement. I have everything I need here.”

“We really do not have time for this.” Her father said. “The train leaves in an hour.”

“I’ll see you out.” Zoey said cordially.

They walked down the hall, past the curious eyes of the boys, and Zoey held open the front door for them.

“It was nice to see you, So-Young.” Her mother offered.

“Merry Christmas.” Zoey closed the door behind them.

“Did they not want to stay and talk?” Kihyun asked curiously. “I would have liked to meet them.”

“Oh no.” Zoey said sarcastically. “They couldn’t find time in their busy schedule.”

“Zo?” Changkyun asked nervously.

“Yes?” She said sharply.

“What did they want then?” Jooheon asked.

Zoey forced a smile onto her face. “They just wanted to let me know that they were renting out my room, so I should just stay in Seoul until I’m not an embarrassment to the family.”

You could hear a pin drop.

And then Zoey broke down in tears.

“No, no, no!” Wonho rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her before she could collapse to the floor. “I’m sure that’s not what they meant.”

“That is what they meant, Hoseok.” She wept.

“No, Z, it isn’t.” Kihyun knelt next to them, rubbing her back gently. “They’re your parents, of course they love you. They just...have a strange way of showing it?” Even he was struggling to spin what had just happened in a positive light.

Zoey didn’t register any of his words.

“Why don’t they want me?” Her voice cracked.

“C’mere.” Wonho gathered her up and led her over to the couch, the boys following closely behind. He sat next to her on the couch, gently smoothing out her hair. “Zoey, it’s going to be okay.”

“How?” She demanded. “I’m basically an orphan. My parents are so embarrassed about my existence that they’d rather it seem like I never existed then tell people I’m a rapper.”

“Then they’re idiots.” Changkyun spat out. “That’s their own problem.”

“Your the coolest, Z.” Jooheon promised. “If they can’t see that than it’s their loss.”

She sat up, giving them a sad smile. “Guys, I love you for trying to make this better. But you can’t. My own family doesn’t give a shit about me. And it sucks that I keep getting surprised by that.”

Shownu knelt in front of her, brushing some of her tears off of her cheeks. “What family?” He demanded. “Because your family is right here. And trust me, we definitely give a shit.”

“We give two shits!” Minhyuk offered. “So we’re twice as good.”

Hyungwon kissed the top of her head. “We don’t need them, Zo. We’re your family, now and forever.”

She nodded sadly. “Okay.”

“Besides,” Wonho rubbed her arm. “I thought we established this months ago. I adopted you! Which means really you were cheating on my family with those imposters.”

She snorted.

Kihyun felt like they were making progress. “Stupid way to end an awesome Christmas. But next year we’ll make it better.”

“We could egg their house.” Changykun offered.

“Might as well.” Zoey shook her head. “They rented out my room, so I don’t even live there any more.”

Shownu resisted the urge to swear. “Idiots.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“I’ll get it.” Shownu stood, brushing back some of her hair as she leaned into Wonho’s side.

He opened the door, finding Zoey’s parents once again standing in front of him.

“Can I help you?” He demanded.

“Is So-Young still here?” Her mother asked.

“Why?” Shownu asked.

“We need her to tell us the safe combination again.” Her father explained. “And we have a taxi waiting, so can we hurry this up.”

Shownu gave him the closest thing to a death glare that he could. “She’ll text it to you.”

He closed the door in their faces.

“Do you want to go to bed, Z?” Wonho was asking when he returned to the room.

She nodded. “I’m done with today.”

“Me too!” Minhyuk exclaimed. “I need to diet tomorrow. I ate so much food.”

“I thought you were getting a little chubby.” Zoey said weakly.

“Yah! Go to sleep if you’re going to be so mean!”

“I will.”

She stood, making her way to the bedroom. She didn’t feel good, but she felt better. And that was going to have to be enough.

She scrawled straight into Wonho’s bunk.

He entered the room a minute later. “You know that’s my bed, right?”

“Just give me hug.” She rolled closer to the wall so he could fit.

The lights flicked off and he climbed into bed. His arms immediately went around her, pulling her close to that their foreheads were touching.

“You know we were serious, right?” He whispered. “We’re family. We don’t need anyone else.”

And though Zoey knew he was only saying it for her sake, she still smiled and kissed his nose. “Love you, Oppa.”

“Love you too.” He held her close. “You know, as far as little sisters go, you’re definitely not the worst I could’ve gotten.” 

She smiled at his attempt at a joke. “And you guys are easily the best brothers I could’ve ever had.”

“Good. And don’t you forget it.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Merry Christmas, Zo.”

“Merry Christmas.”

[petri808]

Zero Degrees of Separation

AU Story, FT Next Gen.  Jerza kids.  4300 words.  I wrote this story for a school assignment. Pics of the kids are on my side blog @petrischronicles

It is summer break before Identical twins Andesine & Azurite Fernandez will be leaving for college on opposite sides of the country. Their family takes their annual summer vacation to the mountains but both brothers are troubled about breaking their connection.  ​

The breeze coming off the crystalline lake was something Azurite Fernandez always appreciated when they visited the summer cabin.  It had that typical rustic quality of earthy scented pine, mixed with warbling birds and chattering squirrels, a beautiful serenity and today was no exception as the warm kiss of mountain sunlight blanketed the family from powder blue skies. He stood there with his eyes closed letting the calming peace and quiet sweep him away for it might be years before he’d be back again.  This was perfect, he mused to himself.  Someday building a house and raising a family in a place like this appealed to his inner nature.

“Azurite, could you help your sister with her bags?”

He opened his eyes and released the fresh moist air from his lungs, “sure mom,” before turning towards his family’s SUV.  Azi clicked his tongue, chuckling as his sister struggled with her oversized suitcase. Grabbing it from her and setting it on the ground he teases, “did you pack your entire room?”

Amethyst huffs, picking up her smaller carry-on and purse from the ground, “not all of us loves this place as much as you do, I needed things to keep me busy.”  

“I’m with Amy on this,” their brother Andesine, Azi’s twin, throws his arm over his brother’s shoulder. “I’d much rather be hanging out with Sage and the others, considering most of us are going to different parts of the country in a couple months.”

“Tch,” Azurite crosses his arms, “then I would just as much prefer to spend time with my girlfriend then you.”

“Alright, alright boys,” their father Jellal chides them as he walks past into the house, “it’s family time, not friend time so just deal with it and make your mother happy for a couple of weeks.”  With a sigh, Azurite simply grabs his sister’s suitcase and along with his sullen siblings makes their way into the house behind him.

That evening as Andi and Amy hole up in their rooms with their phones or laptops, and their parents enjoy the rest of the night in the den, Azurite ventures out onto the spacious wrap around deck, propping himself atop a railing.  With his long legs easily balancing on the beam and his back against one of the pillars, he had chosen the spot because it was a clear vantage point of the nighttime lake.  Dark and ominous waters like at any moment some creature could walk out of its depths ready to strike at the unaware and yet, with the shimmering moonlit surface, instead of a creature, maybe a beautiful water goddess come to grant you any wish you desire.  A slight uptick around the corners of his mouth are the only indication when a few fond memories begin to flow through.  

Such supernatural creatures were common topics when they were little.  Nights like this one spent on the shore sleeping under the stars, trading story ideas, or dreams of heroes and villains come to life.  Just a lot of imagination packed between the Fernandez twins and the seeming link they shared was evident.  One would start a sentence and the other would finish it, an idea for a character would come to mind and the other would simply nod and agree as if they could see it too.  Like words never spoken aloud but through the spirit became secrets only they could share driving their sister crazy because it left her out of the loop.

They used to love fishing with their father, sometimes competing with each other on who could catch the biggest fish, campfire smores with their mom who made sure they didn’t burn their hands, and tag teaming scares upon their little sister.  On sunny afternoons the boys would swim out to the middle of the lake where a platform had been anchored, jumping off or sun bathing.  Hikes with the family in the surrounding forests were a treat to find bugs and other critters or make forts amongst the trees to search for dragons.  

It was quite an enjoyable childhood, but like many kids, as they got older, and their individual personalities developed, different interests and friendships pulled them in separate directions.  They were still brothers that got along for the most part, but no longer peas in the same pod.  Azurite closes his eyes, ‘and the distance is only gonna grow wider when we leave for college.’  It wasn’t that he wanted to be separated from his brother or family, but when one receives a full-ride scholarship to M.I.T, they’d be a fool to decline. Unfortunately, that meant he’d be attending school in Massachusetts clear across the country from Santa Barbara where Andesine had opted to go.

“Will you cheer up Az?” the warm hand of his brothers upon his shoulder, rouses Azurite from his reflections only to look over and see the smug smirk of his twin staring back. Andesine taps his temple, “is the distance really bothering you that much, cause ya know eventually we had to cut the cord.”

“I wasn’t thinking…” Again, Andi taps the side of his head and cocks an eyebrow.  “Okay, sure, maybe I was but that wasn’t the only thing.”

“A…” searching his pockets, he pulls out the only thing he had and holds it up with a goofy grin, “piece of gum for your thoughts?”

Even Azurite had to laugh at the silly antics of his twin, “It’s nothing,” waving his hand, “maybe I’m just nervous about being so far away from everyone.  I mean, aren’t you?”

“Mmm,” Andi tips his head, “not really, kinda excited to see all them California girls!” singing out part of the Katie Perry song.

Azurite rolls his eyes, “You are so bad!”

“And you are too good!” Andi retorts and laughs out loud, “I feel like I need to balance out this dynamic duo!”  Azurite tries to hide the amusement but fails miserably since his brother can read him. “Come on… grumpy gus,” he playfully punches Azi’s arm, “just get some sleep and maybe you’ll feel better.”

After his bother moves out of the way, Azi slides off the railing and stretches out his stiffened back. “Mom guys crash yet?”

Andesine nods, “fell asleep on the couch.  I think Amy too, cause her light was off.”  He pulls out his phone, “I don’t think you realize but you’ve been out here for several hours, see,” showing his brother the time, “it’s almost 2 am.”

Azi frowns, “I didn’t. But why are you still awake?”

“I wasn’t, just woke up when I felt something bothering you.”

“Sorry.”

“‘so’kay man, I’ll see ya upstairs.”

“Be there in a minute.” Azurite watches his brother walk back into the house and takes one more look at the lake...

To the outside world, Andesine Fernandez was the quintessential jokester who never took life seriously.  He did decently in school, had his own aspirations, tons of friends, and fashioned himself a lady’s man, though this last notion might be more in his head than reality.  But just because he lived in the realm of humor, wasn’t to say he didn’t care or pay attention, he simply preferred to live by the YOLO ‘You Only Live Once’ motto.  This stark contrast in personality from his more reticent and bookish twin, was along with their different colored hair, the most noticeable distinctions.  

A few nights later, the family sits around a small campfire in front of the house, relaxing after a long day of hiking around the forest and lake.  Amy and their mother Erza chatter about a Korean drama they both watch, and Andi is only half listening to Azurite and their dad discuss the latest MMA fight in the UFC.  Maybe Azi had a point about the distance, it wasn’t something he’d really thought about until now, probably because, well, ‘I didn’t want to, I mean, it’s only a physical thing!’  But as the dancing flames of the fire crackle and send wisps of burning embers floating into the air, Andesine’s thoughts go with them. His eyes dilate, focusing on the red-orange glow, mesmerized and sending his mind into a distant timeframe.

‘Don’t even think about it, Andi,’ his brother blocks him, ‘mom already gave you a Hershey.’

‘Ugh!  It’s so irritating that you know what I’m thinking!  When we get older, I hope this stupid twin thing stops too!’

‘I don’t really like it either, cause dealing with you is frustrating.’

But their mother had stepped into the argument, chiding her sons, ‘there will come a day when you’ll regret saying that stuff.’  Pulling them into a hug on each side of her body, ‘that special bond means you’ll always have each other to fall back on, even when you’re far apart.’

‘Why would be far apart?’ Azurite asked their mom.

‘Well…’ squeezing them tighter, ‘one day you’ll grow up, go to college, meet a girl, maybe settle down and have a family.  As much as I’ll miss my boys, I want you to be happy and independent in the future.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Andi shrugged, ‘I can’t wait to grow up!’

She chuckled, ‘don’t worry, before you know it, you will be…’

Andesine’s brows furrow at the memory, sometimes he hated to admit when their mother was right, but damn was she ever.  A night exactly like this one, settled around a campfire, eating smores, except now they were all ten years older.  Amy only two years away from graduating high school and the boysabout to start their adult lives.  Was he really ready for it like he had bragged about?  Did he want to admit that he’ll miss his twin? He snaps out of the reflection, looking around to see if anyone had noticed it, but everyone was still engrossed in their conversations.

He stands up, dusts off his pants and kisses his mother goodnight.  “Are you okay?” she asks.

“Just tired, think I’ll shower and head to bed.”

“Alright, good night sweetie.”

“Night mom.”

He knew from experience that the best thing to do was let his brother process whatever was bothering him in his own way, so Azurite pretended not to pay attention while Andi zoned out or even when he said he was tired.  But as he watched his twin trudge into the house, he had to wonder what it was about.  A smug tugging on his lips, could Andi be just as nervous as he was about the whole separation?  Now that would be an interesting flip.

Andesine tossed and turned.

“Noooo!!!” he screamed as he raced towards his brother on legs that suddenly seemed uncooperative, reaching out and stumbling along the asphalt. The scene blurred through a tunneled vision while the sounds of screeching tires echoed in his ears.  But no matter how fast he ran, the distance remained the same.  

His brother’s head turns seconds before the impact, a tear trailing down one cheek, “I’m… sorry Andi…”

“Azzziiiiiii!!!!!”

Andesine pops up in his bed screaming out of the dream and frantically looking at the other side of the bedroom for Azurites bed.  “What the fuck?”  Because there was no bed, only an empty space where it should be.  He throws off the blankets and hops off his, wildly circling the barren floorboards.  “What the hell is going on!  Where is Azurite?!”

The door swings open and his parents rush in, “Andi, what’s wrong,” Erza asks, “what are you yelling about?”  As Jellal grabs his son’s shoulders to stop his hysterical flailing, “did you have a bad dream?”

“Where’s my brother Azurite?  Why is his bed gone?”  The poor young man is on the verge of tears.

“Azurite?” Erza questions, looking to her husband with concern, “but honey, you don’t have a brother.”

“What!!  Of course, I do, he’s my identical twin!”

“Son, you need to calm down,” prompting the young man towards his bed and sitting him down, “there’s only you and your sister, remember?”

“No, this doesn’t make any sense,” Andi shakes his head, “it felt so real, He felt so real!  W-we were so close, we could feel each other, read each other’s thoughts, I—I…” cradling his head in his hands, “but our…”

“Sweetheart it was just a dream,” Erza kneels in front of him, “we promise you, you’ve never had a brother…”

“No!” he pushes them away and scrambles to get out of the room. This was all wrong!  Why were they lying to him?  There was no way he’d just make up a brother!  Andi bolts down the hallway, stumbling a few times in an effort to reach the front door while the walls seemed to sway and fold inwards on him. He had to get out there now!

As he turns the knob and flings the front door open, a blinding light stops him in his tracks.

His eyes snap open and he sits up in bed.  ‘What the…’ turning, Andesine looks to his left and notices his brother still asleep in their darkened room.  He checks the alarm clock, 3:30am, it was all just a nightmare?  With a groan, he drops on to his back, ‘it was all just a friggen nightmare!’

The following morning, Andesine is still a bit unnerved from the dream.  It was the first time he’s ever had one so disturbing involving his brother and he couldn’t fathom what it was supposed to mean.  Was it a premonition that his brother would die from a car accident?  He’d never had one of those before, or more than likely a subconscious reaction to the whole idea of separation and distance.  No matter what it all meant, if he didn’t get a handle on these emotions, the rest of this trip would be a miserable one.

Andi finds his parents in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, “Is it okay if I take a hike to the bluffs?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jellal puts another dish in the rack before turning to address his son, “is Azurite going with you?”

“Nah, I kinda wanted to go alone.”

Erza frowns, “That’s not really safe honey…” but when he gives her a sad, puppy expression she sighs, “just make sure you take your phone with you.”

“Thanks mom!” he hugs her then his dad and takes off out the door with a small back pack of water and of course his cell phone.  

He waves at his sister and brother who were lounging on patio chairs and heads north of their rental towards the trail leading up to a mountain peak he enjoyed.  Andi takes a deep breath, ‘Im’ma sort out whatever the hell it is that’s bugging me!’ pumping a fist into the air with a grin, ‘It’s time to go zen!’

The trail itself was moderately rated, mostly because of the final leg up a steep incline to the bluff, but it was completely worth the effort.  Twenty-five minutes later, as he broke through the tree line and made his way up the final ascent, Andi knew he had made the right decision to come here. There were a few fluffy white clouds passing by and the heat was mildly tolerable due to the higher elevation. The ground was thankfully dry since it hadn’t rained for at least a couple of weeks and the bugs seemed to be taking a day off, so he finds a flat-topped rock and sits down ready to get this load off his mind.

Why was all of this bothering him so much now when it hadn’t even crossed his mind before this trip? Sure, he had realized that picking a college thousands of miles across the country would probably make his parents sad, but it never donned on him that it would upset his brother, or himself. They would be in different states not different countries and thanks to today’s technology, distance wasn’t such a burden anymore.  Andi had friends all over the world on social media, and he was excited to finally meet a few of them when he got to California.  Besides, it’s not like he was the only one, Azurite chose a college away from their home state, granted it was because of the scholarship, but still, it was a choice that he made.

Andi closes his eyes and tilts his head back knowing he was skirting around the real issue that none of this had to do with a normal leaving the nest syndrome.  He exhales, both brothers were quite ready and capable to venture out on their own because their parents had done a phenomenal job of making sure they would be.  No, this all came down to their twin connection.  Will it feel weird when they are so far apart from each other?  Will there be some strange feeling like a part of him was missing?  It was this uneasiness that was at the heart of it all.  

‘I’m sure we’ll be fine,’ he finally concludes, ‘nothing to worry about.  I bet we’ll be too busy with college and everything to even worry.’ He was sure that he’d simply let his subconscious and imagination run a little too amok this time and it was time to reign it back in.  

“Yosh!” he stands up, stretching out in a full, arms above his head motion, twisting his midsection and legs.  “Bout time for lunch anyways!”

In a better mood now, Andi slings his backpack over one shoulder, shoves in his earbuds and cranks up his music, starting the trek down the steep zig-zag trail of loose stones and dry pine needle covered dirt.  Dense foliage made a few portions along the path harder to make out and unfortunately one of those spots was a narrow, stepped ledge, carved by the elements into a natural staircase.  Andi slowed down because he knew going down was the most dangerous part.  

Suddenly, the flapping of wings and a stirring of feathers from a startled pheasant takes Andi by surprise just as he is about to set foot on the next step.  The bird scuttles off into the forest, its squawking mixing with his scream as he slips, hands flying up, bag along with his legs going airborne like in a slow-motion scene.  His brother’s name is the last thought in his mind as his back hits the ground and head bounces-off the stony surface knocking him out cold…

Down at the lake, the family is relaxing near the water’s edge with Amy and Erza sunbathing on the shore. Azurite and Jellal dangle their legs off the short pier fishing for dinner while discussing last minute things the young man needs to secure before he leaves for college.  All in all, a relaxing sight despite the glaring midday sun. But just as Azi casts his line again, a cold breeze sweeps through, normally welcomed on such a heated day, but for him, the chill it shoots up his spine catches him off-guard and if he didn’t know better, his name had been funneled along with the wind.  

The fishing pole he holds clatters to the ground as Azurite shoots to his feet, “Something’s wrong with Andi!”

Jellal looks up bewildered, but knows not to question it, “we’d better go then!”

The two men race up the forest trail while Amy and Erza wait at the house ready to call emergency if necessary.  They had no idea what they would encounter but if Azurite was right, and Andi was too injured to have used his cell phone to call for help, they needed to be on standby. Azurite tore up the path like a man both panicked yet guided straight to where he just knew his brother would be and his father simply following, trusting his son’s instincts.  It took them 15 agonizing minutes to reach the spot.

“Andi!”  Azurite clambers up the steep grade, crawling the last couple of feet to where his brother lay prone.  Panic sweeps over his whole being, “Aw, Fuck dad there’s blood coming from his head!  Andi!” he’s about to reach out and pull his brother up but Jellal grabs his shoulder.

“Don’t move him yet, we don’t know how badly injured he is.  Check his pulse and breathing while I call your mom… and see if you can wake him up but gently.”

With his father on the phone telling their mother to call 911 and giving them directions to where they were, Azurite is using every ounce of willpower he has not to cradle his brother’s limp body in his arms.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, Andi was usually so careful whenever he went hiking but as he scans the area and notices a few stray feathers and his brothers bag lying above and off to the side, he could surmise what had happened in those last seconds.  But all that didn’t matter, whether or not Andi had been spooked or simply slipped, what was important was getting him medical attention as quickly as possible.

Azurite pats his brother’s cheek, “Andi wake up!  Please,” tapping it a few more times, “wake up Andi!”  Moisture pools and clouds his vision, tears leaking down his face in salty rivers.  “Damn it, Andi wake up!”

After ending his call, Jellal slowly lifts his sons head to check the injury and see’s that despite the blood, the wound doesn’t look very deep.  He pulls off his shirt, folds it, and tucks it under to cushion Andi’s head. “Emergency services are on their way so, all we can do is wait.  I’m going to head back down to meet them at the beginning of the trail, will you be alright here?”  The young man manages a short nod.  Jellal puts his hand on Azi’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay son,” and with a second half nod, the man starts his descent.

Left alone, Azurite retrieves his brother’s bag, so it didn’t get left behind, sitting back down and checking his brother’s vitals every couple of minutes.  It was so frustrating not being able to do anything more, but his dad and their Eagle Scout training were clear on this, Andi was best left for the professionals to handle.  He hangs his head and while his tears had slowed, they were still like droplets of rain along a window pane, dribbling down in irregular waves.

“I swear you really are an idiot Andi, you know how dangerous it is to hike alone!  I don’t know what it was that was bothering you, but it better be a damn good reason for scaring me half to death!  Do you know how it feels, every time you do these foolish things and I have to worry about you…”  Azi lets out a long exhale, “But maybe you’ll get it now?  I hope you’ll see why I was so worried about the distance, I mean if something happened to you and we’re miles apart, I can’t come running like I did today.”  He lays down on his side next to his brother, just like they would as little kids when they were scared during a storm and takes hold of his brother’s hand, so limp and lifeless, bringing it to his chest.  “It feels like… like a sinking weight on my heart…”

“Could you be…” Andi’s voice is groggy and muffled, “anymore… melodramatic…”  He squeezes Azi’s hand back, “I ain’t dead yet.”

“I ought’a knock you back out for that!” Azi half snorts half laughs, for as frustrated with his brother as he was, it felt amazing to hear Andi’s voice again.

“I love you too bro,” he finally opens his eyes, half lidded because of the pain.  “And to answer your question, I do know how it feels.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had the most screwed up dream last night, that’s why I came out here to think…  I dreamt that I suddenly woke up and you weren’t there, mom and dad told me I had dreamt you up.  It hurt so bad like something had been ripped out of me…”  Azi looks up when he hears the sounds of footsteps approaching but is drawn back as he brother keeps talking.  “I do worry too but today I realized that it’s going to be okay.”  He squeezes his brother’s hand again and closes his eyes, grimacing through the pain, “we’ll always be brothers, and even if we’re far apart nothing will ever change the bonds we share.”  

“Just promise me you won’t do anything crazy out in California, because if I have to fly there, I really will kick your ass.”

Andi tries to chuckle but gives up when another wave of throbbing pain rushes over him, “you could try...”  

On the final night of the family vacation, Amy and their parents lounged on the porch playing a board game while the two brothers settled on a log beside the lake shore. Andesine’s head was still wrapped with gauze to protect the stitches he received, and Azurite was teasing him. “Remember,” Azi turns his gaze over to the lake, “When a full moon casts its luminous glow beckoning to any fools that dared to breach its darkened waters…”

“… a creature may arise to strike you down, or maybe a beautiful goddess will appear to grant you your desires.  Forgive me but I don’t think I qualify as a goddess.”

“You’re right, you’re more like a creature from the abyss.”

A companionable silence falls between them, each lost momentarily as the placid nighttime waters soothes their psyches.  Azurite exhales and holds up his arm in a 90-degree position, Andesine sighs, grabs his brother’s hand, squeezing and nodding his head for their zero degrees of separation.  This trip had been long and fruitful and now they were finally ready to move into the next phase of their lives, together.

[raywritesthings]

A Different Return 2/?

My Writing Fandom: Doctor Who Characters: Donna Noble, Tenth Doctor, Shaun Temple Pairing: Doctor/Donna Summary: When an accident brings Donna Noble back just before the Doctor’s prophesied death, how might events change? AO3 link

This was shaping up to be the maddest Christmas Donna had ever had. And considering Christmases past, that was saying something.

Well, firstly, she could actually remember what had occurred on that previous Christmas. And for another, she found herself once again running hand in hand through London with her mad Spaceman.

“So where are we going?”

“Away from the ambulance for now! It’s a lucky thing we got everything sorted before they showed up. I do not want to end up in the morgue again!”

Donna rolled her eyes, not even bothering to ask. “Ought to have thought of that before you stepped into oncoming traffic.”

“Well, you said you were distracted by Shaun, didn’t you? Sounds like two parties were at fault to me.”

She shot him a look. “I thought you were dying, you prawn! I felt bad!”

“Then why did Shaun say you were yelling at him?” The Doctor looked at her, his brows furrowed in genuine concern. “What were you fighting about?”

Donna’s gaze dropped to their feet hitting the pavement. “It was stupid. He wants to go all out for the holiday this year, but we haven’t got the money, have we? I mean the recession’s not over just cos America’s got a new president.”

He didn’t reply. Of course he didn’t; those kinds of problems weren’t a part of the Doctor’s world. She felt silly even bringing it up.

It was getting hard to carry the conversation being short of breath and all, so Donna huffed, “Look, can whatever the thing you were doing wait for a few minutes? I think we’ve got to get caught up.”

He sighed. “Yeah, alright. Come on, I know a place.”

They slowed their pace to a walk, though their hands remained linked. Donna was afraid to let go, sure that this had to be a dream of some kind and waking would cause her to forget it all again.

He caught her looking and smiled. Donna was glad to see it. Each time he did so, it seemed to take some of the lines off his face. Lines that hadn’t been there the last time she’d seen him. God, how long had it been?

He directed them inside a cafe, and Donna glanced across the street. “Oh, that is so weird. I was just over there a little bit ago!”

Doing the shopping, totally unaware of anything greater going on in the world. She felt like an entirely different person now living an entirely different life. The life she hadn’t even realized she’d been missing.

The Doctor went to lead them to a table, but Donna tugged him to a stop.

“Hold on, we have to get something. Are you carrying any money?”

“Um, not sure,” he muttered. Before he could start digging around in his ridiculous pockets, she laid a hand on his arm.

“That’s alright, I’ll get this one.”

“Donna, you just said you didn’t want to spend unnecessarily.”

“A bit of tea won’t hurt.”

They reached the front of the line and ordered.

“And you two are together today?” Their cashier asked in a way that was an assumption.

“No,” Donna answered automatically. “I mean, yeah, we’re paying together, we’re just not together, you know?”

A glint of metal on her left hand caught her eye as she waved it between them, and Donna was brought up short noticing it for the second time. She was engaged again.

She remembered the nearly desperate elation — She wasn’t too old or fat or stupid. She wouldn’t die alone. She could finally see a way for herself out of her mother’s house. — and it felt like some other woman’s worries.

She was Donna, but she wasn’t the Donna who had finished nearly the whole bottle of wine on their first date because her friends had always said she was a funny drunk. She wasn’t the Donna who had pushed herself into going back to temping even though it made her not want to get out of bed in the morning simply because he’d rather be part time than get a proper office job. She wasn’t the Donna who had cried and called his proposal the happiest day of her life.

She wasn’t the Donna that Shaun loved.

“I’ve got it,” the Doctor interjected, breaking her out of her reverie.

Donna took the opportunity to leave the counter and find a table. She sunk into a chair and placed her head in her hands.

Shaun. What was she going to do about Shaun?

“What’s wrong?”

She looked up at the sound of the Doctor’s voice. “Nothing. Just thinking. It’s a lot to process, in case you didn’t realize.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, placing her cup in front of her and taking his own seat.

“Don’t start. I’d rather be processing than wandering about without a clue.”

He gave a hum of acknowledgement but otherwise was silent. It was awkward, she supposed, finding their usual rhythm again. He hadn’t picked up anyone since to her knowledge, but he must have been trying to move on. Probably had been hoping she’d just go on back home with Shaun instead of tagging along with him.

Donna sipped at her tea and drummed her fingers on the table, and his eyes dropped to the ring there. She couldn’t read his expression, which was more than a little frustrating. What did he think about it? More importantly, what did she want him to think about it?

That was her other problem, one that she didn’t want to think about too closely. She’d agreed to marry Shaun, completely unaware that she had once upon a time already promised the rest of her life to a different man entirely.

And the Doctor had said he’d known. Did that mean he’d known or guessed at her change of heart over their “just mates” arrangement as well? Was it even right for her to be thinking about that while she was still engaged to someone else?

The one thing he didn’t seem to be displaying was surprise, and Donna had a thought.

“Wait a minute. You know who Shaun is.”

He gave a slight start in his chair. “Oh. Wilfred told me.”

Donna narrowed her eyes. “When did you see my Gramps?”

“About...half an hour ago?”

“What, do you two just meet up and have chats now?”

“No. No, he found me. Still not sure how. I wasn’t here for that, I wasn’t trying to — anyway,” he said, his way of trying to dismiss what he didn’t want to talk about.

“So why did you come back to Earth, then?”

“The Ood warned me. They were having bad dreams, and so have everyone on Earth. You wouldn’t happen to remember, would you?”

Donna shook her head. The only odd dreams she’d been having were what she could now recognize as small snippets of their old adventures together, and since she’d felt guilty for dreaming about being with someone who wasn’t Shaun she’d been trying not to think about them much.

“Well, suppose it wasn’t a guarantee. Wilfred can remember his for some reason, so I thought maybe — but never mind. The dreams were a premonition, a warning for me to know something was about to happen here and I needed to come back. Only I was too late, and now the Master’s back again,” he finished, running his hands through his hair in clear distress.

“Okay, I was following that up until you said ‘Master’,” Donna said.

The Doctor blinked. “Oh, right. The Master’s another Time Lord. Not a good one,” he added before she could do much more than let her mouth fall open in shock. “Martha, Jack, and I found him at the end of the universe, and eventually he was killed. Or I thought, but he had a backup plan. He always does.”

“So from what I’m getting, he’s sort of like your Time Lord nemesis?”

He pulled a face. “It’s complicated. We were friends, a long time ago. Best friends. But things changed, we grew apart, had different ideas.”

“You found a better best friend,” she remarked.

That actually got a smirk out of him. “True. Anyway, him being back isn’t any good for the Earth. He sees humanity, or anyone, really, as beneath him.”

“So typical destroy-the-planet Christmas fare, then.”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure what his plan is. His resurrection, something about it didn’t go to plan. I think Lucy must have been behind it.”

“And Lucy is…?”

“His wife. Well, widow until he was resurrected.”

“Is she a Time Lady?”

“No.”

“Wait, so if humans are ‘beneath’ him, what’d he go and marry one for?”

“It was part of the last plan.”

“Why am I picturing a bloody Bond villain?” Asked Donna. “I mean, seriously, who goes around calling themselves the Master? Actually, why do you call him that?”

“Well, it’s his name. He picked it same as I did. And really, Donna, it’s the height of offense in Time Lord society not to use a chosen name — nicknames aside,” he added. “Though nobody on Gallifrey really used nicknames.”

“Well, glad I haven’t inadvertently offended, then.”

“Now that you mention it, the Martian thing was a bit rude.”

“And should we really be worried about being rude to the alien super villain intent on destroying the planet?”

“Well—”

“I’m gonna say no,” Donna concluded.

He shook his head, but a smile was spreading across his face. “I don’t think saying I missed you covers it, but I did.”

She couldn’t quite meet his warm gaze and lowered her eyes to her coffee. “Yeah, what’s it been, three centuries?”

“Three years.”

That had her looking back up. “What, really? But you look so much older! I mean, really, you look like death warmed over!”

“Thank you,” he said, lips quirked in a wry smile. “And to think if I’d known nearly dying was all it would take to fix things, maybe I wouldn’t look like death.”

“Oi, don’t even joke about that.” Donna pointed a finger at him in stern warning, but on the inside she felt a swell of fear. For the Doctor to have been so lost in his head not to even notice her car, he must have been in a truly bad state. She could only think of the Torchwood laboratory under the Thames, his unchanging expression as the water had poured in all around them until Donna had shouted loud enough to break through to him.

The Doctor wasn’t laughing either. “Donna, I think you should go home.”

“What?”

“Go and spend Christmas with your family and your fiancé.”

“Right, because that’ll be easy while I’m worrying whether the world is gonna end, won’t it?” She glared at him. “Will you stop trying to send me off for my own good? Cos we all know how that usually ends.”

“This isn’t a usual day, Donna. The Master is dangerous, more so than most anything we’ve ever been up against,” the Doctor said with just as stern a look. “It’s better for him to think I’m on my own.”

Donna was about to argue further, but a thought occurred to her. “Was he the one who tortured Martha’s family?”

He didn’t ask how she knew about that. “Yes.”

Donna didn’t say anything for a long moment. If she did go along, would she be making her family a target? But if she didn’t, what might happen to him?

“Did he torture you?”

“Donna—”

“Yes or no question, Doctor.”

He wasn’t looking at her when he answered. “Yes.”

Donna nodded to herself. “Then I think I’ll be staying.”

“Donna, please.” The Doctor reaches across the table for her hands. “I’ve only just got you back. If something happened to you because of me again, I don’t know what I’d end up doing.” He looked terrified just at the possibility.

“And you think I want something happening to you when I just got you back?”

“That’s not something you can change,” he told her.

“What do you mean?”

The ring of her mobile cut through their conversation, and the Doctor let her hands go and pulled back. Donna sighed when she saw it was her mum, but knew ignoring this call would likely only send her family into a panic.

In fact, she didn’t even get a word in, greeting-wise.

“Donna? Where are you? What’s happened?”

“Nothing, mum. Well, nothing bad. Actually, it’s all fine now.” She shuffled in her seat, half-turning to the side as she added, “Didn’t Shaun tell you I was fine?”

“He doesn’t know what’s happening! Said you ran off with him.”

“You can say the Doctor,” said Donna with a roll of her eyes that hopefully could be heard down the line.”

“But how can you know who he is? He said it’d kill you!”

“Yeah, well he was a little wrong on that. We sorted it out.”

“Donna, tell me you’re not going off to space and all that again,” her mother begged. “Come home. We’re worried about you.”

“Mum, I’m fine, I swear.”

“It’s Christmas. You’ve got the wedding coming up!”

“Look, I’ll stop home soon as I can. This is important. I’m sorry. Love you.” She hung up before her mother could reply. “Suppose it would’ve been too much to expect she’d be happy I’m not an amnesiac — oi!”

She’d turned back to face him only to find she was talking to thin air. The Doctor had gone.

He hadn’t even touched his tea.

“Oh, you idiot.” She wasn’t entirely sure if she meant him or herself. Probably both.

Donna stood and left the cafe.

He wasn’t anywhere to be seen when she looked either way down the street. Oh, he was in for it when she caught up with him.

Trouble was, she had no clue where this other Time Lord was or what he was up to, and thus no real way of knowing where the Doctor might have gone.

It wasn’t the end of the world. She’d found him before and she could again.

And she wasn’t the only one. Her grandad had apparently managed it just earlier today. If anyone might know something that could help her find the Doctor, he would.

It looked as if she was going home after all.

[charlion-em]

On Sight

Chapter 1 (of 3?)

Summary: Luke and Danny have finally admitted their long held feelings for each other and Peter figures it's about time he makes a confession of his own. But, he may be too late.

Relationships: Sam Alexander/Peter Parker, Luke Cage/Danny Rand

AO3 Link

A/N: I've had the urge to write some spideynova for a few weeks and Naki's(dumpknt) new slew of fanart inspired me to actually carve out some time to write (aka, stop being lazy).

Story is based off a suggestion from robin-mask

No beta per usual, and I only gave this a once over :/ pardon any stupid mistakes

It was a damp morning. The noises of the city were drowned out by the patter of rain and the sidewalks were less crowded than normal. This kind of weather made Peter want to slow down, take his time and watch the people instead of zipping past them. But that was the thing about being a superhero: no matter how much you planned, something always made you late.

Or, maybe it was just Peter's sort of luck. Ava rarely was late for a rendezvous. And Danny was always late for completely different reasons, usually something to do with meditation or something. And Sam-

Peter was so deep in his meandering thoughts, he walked three blocks past the restaurant and had to circle back. The invitation had came out of the blue, and he'd almost tossed a quick excuse to Danny- they were meeting that night anyway. But, then those magic words flashed on his phone 'I'm paying' and any thoughts about sleeping in flew away.

Peter almost passed the restaurant again, but caught sight of the small chalk board pulled in from the rain. The entrance was small, the dark brown door tucked into the corner of an old brick building. Inside was just as quaint, simple colors and limited seating. He spotted Danny, Luke, and MJ immediately at a table towards the back, and waved off the greeter with a smile.

As he walked closer to their table, his eyes trailed down to where Danny and Luke's hands intertwined. Their backs were to him, oblivious of his approach, an d Peter slowed his pace to smile fondly at them.

MJ's head popped up from in front of Luke, her smile wide as she waved at him. "Peter, late as usual!"

"Hey, all." Peter circled around to sit next to MJ. "Soooo," he grinned at two men across from him and raised an eyebrow. "Congrats, then?"

Luke ducked his head, "shudup."

This only encouraged Peter. "About time."

Danny chuckled softly. "Ava said the same thing last night."

There was an unofficial bet going for over a year now on when they would admit their feelings- and who would be the first to break. Peter opened his mouth to ask about the second part, but a kick from MJ had him snapping it shut.

"While we were waiting for you," MJ didn't hide her mirth, "Danny was telling me how Sam and Ava walked in on them last night."

Peter's eyebrows shot up.

Danny and Luke both blushed, and Danny held up his hands. "No, no- we were just sitting together watching a movie."

"Well, you were in my lap." Luke shrugged, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Not helping," Danny said under his breath. He turned back to Peter, "So, we didn't want you two to find out through the grapevine."

Peter nodded and dropped his eyes to glance over the brunch menu. It was good to see his friends being open with their feelings and embrace what was certain to be a great relationship.

MJ took a sip of her water before she pounced "So, how long have you two been hiding this from Sam? Couldn't have been easy since he's Luke's roommate."

Peter nudged her under the table. But, he knew she had more tact and would pull stories from their friends easier than he could.

Danny shared a few details between ordering and their food arriving, Luke added a few words but seemed more than happy to let Danny do the talking. MJ cooed when Danny shared their first kiss, a cloudless night on the roof of Luke's apartment building. Peter thought it was cliche, but found himself sighing at the sweetness.

True to his word, Danny picked up the tab. "We're still on for 9pm at The Salty Bird?"

Peter nodded, "I'll try to be on time." He knocked his body into Danny's before they parted ways outside, "Thanks again for brunch. And I'm really happy for you both."

MJ said her farewells as well, and watched at the happy couple crossed the street before turning her full attention to Peter. "It's good to see them finally being open about their feeling, hm?"

Peter nodded, "Yea, it's good to see them no longer holding back."

There was an uptick to MJ's lips, and Peter knew he couldn't escape the trap he'd walked right into. "You know, you could benefit from some honesty too."

So much for MJ dropping it- how silly of him to think he was in the clear after a month without MJ's unsubtle nudging. "Sam and I are waaaay different from Luke and Danny. You can't just expect me to drop a hot Sunday on Sam's lap and end up kissing him on the roof."

"No, I know that wouldn't work. You'll have to be direct." She tapped a finder on her chin, "Why not casually flirt with him at the bar tonight?"

Peter closed his eyes so MJ couldn't see his eyes roll. There was no way he would make a move with everyone there. Plus, they would be there to celebrate Ava getting accepting into medical school- not so Peter could steal the spotlight by Sam laughing at him.

MJ was waiting for a response.

"I'll think about talking to him."

It satisfied her and she wished him well before heading off.

As soon as he agreed to think about talking to Sam, he'd made a decision. It had surprised him, but maybe he had already decided and just needed that final push from his best friend. Either way, he arrived at the bar 30 minutes early with the intent to do more that just think about talking to Sam before the rest of their friends arrived and he lost his nerve.

MJ was right, he needed to be both honest and direct. And, the sooner he did so, the sooner he could move on- in whichever direction he needed to. At the very least, MJ would be off his back.

Nerves steeled, Peter looked around for Sam, it was crowded and hard to navigate around some of the groups standing and talking at the front. Sam texted the group ten minutes prior that he was grabbing a table for them, so Peter knew he was there. Somewhere. He moved further into the bar, and spotted an empty table with Sam's jacket hanging off one of the chairs. Another glance around and he spotted Sam at the bar.

As the bartender pushed a pitcher of beer and a stack of glasses Sam's way, everything slowed down. Peter watched, heart sinking as the crowd shifted and he could see Ava next to Sam. In a fluid motion, Sam wrapped an arm around Ava's waist and pulled her flush against his side. His mouth moved, but his words were drowned out by the other patrons.

Sam reached towards the pitcher and Peter snapped back to the present. Well, that certainly obliterated his idea of talking to Sam about his feelings. Well, he had a 50/50 chance of walking out with Sam returning his feelings, so he shouldn't be surprised. He quietly made his way to the table and took a seat as far from Sam's chair as he could.

"Hey, what a surprise, webs isn't just on time- he's early!" Sam sat the pitcher in the middle of the table.

Ava laughed as she sat the glasses down, "A first time for everything." She fell into the chair next to Sam and winked at Peter. "It's okay, I won't tell MJ how early you were. Wouldn't want her to know you're capable of it."

Peter laughed despite the hollow feeling growing in his stomach. "She's aware. I've been known to be on time on occasion."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Only if there is food involved."

"That's just not true." Danny's voice was soft behind Peter. He took a seat next to him, "He was late for FREE brunch this morning."

Sam shrugged, "Okay- he's on time for food if it's after noon."

"Hey now!" Peter stuck out his bottom lip in a mock pout.

Luke slid in next to Danny. "Truth is truth, no matter how much you pretend."

"Oh come on!" Sam waved an arm across the table to Luke, "You can't start talking like Danny too!"

They settled easily into familiar jokes and Peter almost forgot about the intimate moment he'd witnessed just a few minutes before. If it wasn't for that moment at the bar, Peter wouldn't even know about their relationship. He wondered how many times he'd barely missed Luke and Danny before today. For whatever reason, Sam and Ava didn't seem inclined to share their relationship with the group yet, and Peter sighed to himself as he thought about the embarrassment he'd unwittingly saved himself from.

It was MJ's face inches from his which pulled him back to the bar. "Oh, ignore him MJ, he's been staring off for a few minutes now."

Peter shook his head, it hadn't been that long, surely? When did MJ get there? He stuck his tongue in Sam's direction and shrugged. The conversation picked back up, Ava telling them about the program she would be starting.

MJ stared at Peter until he looked across the table at her. She raised one eyebrow and motioned down the table at Sam. Her expression quickly fell as she studied Peter's face. He shook his head, "I'll tell you later."

It was hours until they settled down from catching up and sharing stories. For that, Peter was thankful. Being with friends was preferable to wallowing alone at home, which he was sure he was going to be doing later anyway. He watched as Ava and Sam left together, followed shortly by Luke and Danny. MJ tossed a few more bills on the table, giving their mess a grimace. "So?" She asked they made their way outside.

"It's simple." Peter sighed into the cool night air. It was well past midnight and there were few people on the street. "He's with someone else." He held up his hand when MJ opened her mouth, "Don't press the subject. I waited too long, and I don't want any 'I told you so's;' so how about we call it a night and I'm going to try to let these feelings go. Okay?"

"Okay," MJ said to his back as he disappeared around the corner.

A/N:  Thank you for reading!

Hopefully this inspiration lasts and I get the other two chapters written sometime this year xD I felt my writing getting lazier the further I got into this chapter, so we'll see :|

[breeeliss]

[Miraculous Ladybug]: Good Old Fashioned Meddling

a little late with Week 2 of @thinkoutsidethelovesquare but i really really wanted to do a re-write of the Zoo Scene from Animan with a few rare pairs, so i hope this is a fun little piece for you all 

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Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

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Title: Good Old Fashioned Meddling Pairings: Alyadrien (Alya x Adrien), Chlolya (Chloe x Alya), Chlonette (Chloe x Marinette) Summary: A rewrite of the Zoo Scene from "Animan," except Adrien is coaching Chloe through a date with Alya and Marinette's curiosity can't keep her from eavesdropping.

Good Old Fashioned Meddling

“Just so you know, Alya’s never going to fall in love with you if you keep glaring at her like that.”

Chloe’s eyes widened as she quickly grabbed Adrien’s shoulders and pulled him behind the pile of gym equipment she was currently hiding behind. “Are you some kind of an idiot? Can you not make me look so obvious? For Christ’s sake….”

Adrien smirked. “You’re worried about me making you seem obvious? You’re spying on her from across the courtyard with this look on your face like you don’t know whether you should punch her or go up and talk to her.”

She rolled her eyes at Adrien and carefully peeked out from her hiding spot, watching Marinette and Alya sitting on the steps in the courtyard and laughing over the horoscopes in the latest issue of Le Mode. “I’m….observing her. For….blackmail material.”

“You know, I’m kind of offended that you think I’m that stupid,” Adrien told her. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about it. Alya’s a pretty girl and she certainly has the attitude to keep up with you. I totally understand the appeal.”

“There’s no appeal ,” Chloe hissed out. “She’s objectively awful. It doesn’t matter that she’s gorgeous or that she’s been featuring in an ongoing series of some very confusing but strangely satisfying daydreams. The mere suggestion that I’d be staring at her from across the room like a lovesick idiot is frankly the worst thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Adrien raised a brow and let her stew in her denial for a few long seconds. “...so are you going to admit that you like her so that I can help you, or are you gonna keep pining from fifty meters away?”

Chloe scrunched up her nose in annoyance and sat down on the floor with her arms crossed over her chest. “This is how you treat your oldest most precious friend, huh?”

“By smacking some sense into her when she needs it? Yes. That is certainly how I treat you.”

“Look. Even if I did like Alya. And I’m not saying that I do!” Chloe insisted when she saw Adrien’s face-splitting grin. “Nothing is going to come of it because I can’t freakin’ talk to her.”

“You talked your way out of a maths test by convincing our teacher you had encephalitis,” Adrien deadpanned. “All of a sudden you don’t know how to talk to one of your classmates?”

“You’re not understanding the problem, darling,” Chloe explained. “Can I physically talk to her? Of course, I’m the most charismatic person I know. But everytime I start talking to her, I can’t help but poke fun at her or give her shit at least once. It’s like a sickness! Or a compulsion. Or something. Whatever. I just can’t talk to her without making her angry at me.”

“Have you tried?”

Chloe winced. “Well….I tried to compliment her on her outfit the other day.”

Adrien nodded. “Okay, that’s a start. And what did you say?”

“I said that her sweater was decent considering that colorblind, soft butch lesbian aesthetic she usually flaunts in school.”

Adrien covered his face with both hands. “That’s not a compliment Chloe, that’s being condescending.”

“This is my point!” Chloe complained petulantly. “I can’t do this flirting thing!”

“Alright,” Adrien shrugged. “So try something else.”

“Like….pay someone to do her homework for the next month?”

“Oh my God, you’re hopeless,” Adrien muttered under his breath. “Let’s just….start with something simple. What would you do if it was Ladybug?”

Chloe’s eyes brightened and she clasped her hands underneath her chin. “Oh, it wouldn’t matter, we could be trapped in a closet together and I could literally die right there.”

Adrien snorted. “Alright, but if you had to pick.”

“Oh I dunno,” Chloe muttered. “Um….the Louvre has a really nice exhibit that I’ve been wanting to see. I’d probably want her to see it with me.”

“Perfect,” Adrien smiled. “Ask Alya to go to the Louvre with you.”

“Adrien, that’s so stupid, there’s no way she’s going to agree to that.”

“Look,” Adrien began. “As….prickly as you are, you’re a beautiful girl and I know you’re secretly a sweetheart underneath this holier-than-thou act like you love to put on in front of everyone. I wouldn’t be friends with you if I didn’t think there was something about you to admire. If you take a chance and just tone down the animosity a little bit, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

“Oh, easy for you to say, M. Front Cover Teen Model,” Chloe snapped. “You’re a heartthrob, girls drool all over you on a daily basis. It’s hard out here for us lady-loving ladies. What if she’s straight?”

Adrien snorted and tried to cover up his laughter with this hand. “I really don’t think you have to worry about that?”

“Wait, what!?”

“Look, just ask her to the Louvre,” Adrien repeated.

“Yeah, slight problem, genius,” Chloe glared. “She hates me. She’s not going to go anywhere with me.”

“Would you chill out for two seconds please?” Adrien asked, flicking her on the nose. “I’ve got you. Just follow my lead.”

“You know, I’ve gotta tell you. Adrien’s really stepping it up with these photoshoots. I mean, look at this one. Black is so his color.”

Marinette smirked. “This coming from the girl that said ‘Oh I’m not going to buy a magazine just to ogle a boy. That’s something you would do.’”

“Excuse you, but I did not purchase it. You did. For your fashion references. I’m just taking advantage of the stray reading material and attempting to become a more well-read member of society. A good writer studies and learns from other writers, so two birds with one stone.”

“Yeah, because all aspiring investigative journalists read fashion articles about why pops of color are in this season.”

“Will you shut up and let me stare at this boy’s eyes in peace?”

Marinette lifted her hands and laughed. “Hey, I wasn’t judging. Stare away. You know I support you and your big, fat, embarrassing crush on him because it’s the single most hilarious thing that I know about you.”

Alya frowned and smacked the top of Marinette’s head with the magazine. “Yell it louder, yeah? The whole world hasn’t heard you yet.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Marinette snickered. “You know I’m just teasing. Although I’m surprised it’s still a secret. I would’ve expected you of all people to have made a move already.”

Alya shrugged. “We’re friends and it’s a delicate thing asking out your friend. I’m just looking for an opportune moment.”

Marinette bumped her hip against Alya’s. “Oh, opportune moment, my butt. You’re scared to ask him, aren’t you?”

“Oh please, we both know that if you were me, you’d be stuttering all over the place and wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes.”

“Bite me.”

“Look, the plan is to tell him eventually,” Alya promised. “I hate hanging onto secrets like this. But I want to do it right and not freak him out, you know? I value our friendship and Adrien seems like a kid that’s in desperate need of friends.”

“I get that,” Marinette shrugged. “Although, I think you really underestimate him. If you asked him out, he’d totally say yes. In a heartbeat. Trust me.”

“I dunno. Sometimes that kid is just as clueless as you are.”

“Okay, when did this turn into a read session? Go stare at your magazine.”

Alya stuck out her tongue playfully and was about to comment back with something snarky, but she was interrupted when she accidentally collided with someone and dropped her magazine.

“Oh, crap, I’m so sor — oh. It’s you.”

Chloe was standing in front of them, dramatically brushing off her sweater and readjusting the bag on her shoulder. “What do you mean ‘oh, it’s you’? How dare you, you insufferable little — ”

Her head was suddenly yanked back as Adrien tugged on her ponytail and immediately cut off her sentence. She pouted at him hatefully and rubbed the back of her head while Adrien smiled charmingly. “Ah, silly us, we weren’t looking where we were going. Sorry about that.” He gave a gentler tug on her ponytail. “Right, Chloe?”

Chloe puffed out her cheeks, stared at her feet, and grumbled under her breath. “Yeah, sorry.”

Adrien stared down at the floor and eyed the magazine Alya had dropped. “Oh, is that yours?”

Alya waved her hand away and bent down to pick it up, surreptitiously closing the page on the full spread that had Adrien featured. “I’ve got it, don’t worry.”

“Oh, the new La Mode’s out already?” Adrien asked. “I haven’t seen my spread yet.”

Alya smirked and tucked the magazine under her arm. “It’s pretty good,” she promised him. “Those new Gabriel blazers they put you in looked really handsome on you.”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Aw, thanks.”

Alya laughed a little harder and smiled a little wider than she usually did when she told him it was no problem, and Marinette had to cover her mouth to keep her own amused giggles from drawing too much attention to herself. Alya wasn’t the type to stutter and stumble around boys she liked, but she certainly wasn’t subtle about her crushes either as much as she insisted that she was. As Alya’s best friend, Marinette was of the humble opinion that Alya couldn’t possibly be any more obvious.

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that again,” Adrien said. “Why don’t we make it up to you?” He nudged an elbow into Chloe’s side. “Any ideas Chloe?”

Chloe grabbed the collar of Adrien’s shirt and tugged him closer to her. “Why do I have to say something?” she hissed quietly.

Adrien smiled and spoke through his teeth. “This is your date, you ask her out.”

“I’m not saying anything!”

Alya frowned. “Uh, is everything alright?”

“Perfect!” Adrien said a little loudly. “Ah, why don’t we check out the Louvre together? I was going to invite Nino but he’s home sick today and Chloe’s been dying for the two of us to go see the, uh….” He tapped Chloe’s elbow and pushed her to finish his sentence.

“They, uh….have this really cool photography exhibit,” she said, trying to appear aloof about it. “It’s okay, I guess. Sabrina hates museums and didn’t want to tag along so it’s just Adrien and I.” Adrien stomped on her foot. “And you too! I guess….”

Marinette could see Alya’s interest in the invitation slowly starting to wane, most likely because Chloe was apparently going to be tagging along. But Chloe aside, Adrien was going to be there, and Marinette knew a golden opportunity when she saw one. She covered Alya’s mouth with her hand right before Alya cut in with a sharp retort. “Actually, that sounds like an amazing idea,” she grinned happily. “You love photography, don’t you Alya?”

Alya huffed and moved Marinette’s hand away. “I mean, yeah, I do, but —”

“Great!” Adrien grinned. “Then it’s settled. After school, four o’clock?”

Alya laughed nervously. “Uh, I’m not sure that’s —”

“Yup,” Marinette piped up. “Four o’clock sounds perfect. She’ll be there.”

“Cool. Well, Chloe and I are going to head off for some lunch, but we’ll meet you at the museum after school, okay?” Adrien grabbed Chloe’s arm and started to drag her off across the street. “See you girls later!”

“Bye Adrien!” Marinette called, waving to him and trying not to burst into laughter at the sight of the horrified expression Alya was sending her way.

“Are you crazy?” Alya complained. “You just said yes to me hanging out with Chloe . Are you demented?”

“No, I just said yes to hanging out with Adrien ,” Marinette smirked. “Doesn’t that sound so cute? The two of you looking at the exhibits together, getting a chance to talk, pulling out your Alya Charm, and asking him out on a second date so you two can finally stop dancing around each other. It’s the best plan I’ve come up with in a while.”

“Except you’re forgetting the part about Chloe being there.”

“Minor details,” Marinette insisted. “You know she only ever gushes over Ladybug these days anyway. It’s not like she’s going to treat him as arm candy and get in the way of you two talking. Besides, you’re creative. I’m sure you can figure out a way to ditch her and get to spend some time with him so you can run off into the sunset holding hands and talk about the rest of your lives together while Chloe goes and pouts in the corner like the little gremlin she is.”

“You are so over dramatic,” Alya chuckled.

“Please??” Marinette begged with a pout. “It’s worth a shot! Imagine if this is the story I put in my maid of honor speech!”

Alya smirked. “Who said you’re going to be my maid of honor?”

“That’s the worst joke you’ve ever told because it’s so clearly a lie. Now come on! Say yes say yes say yes!”

“Alright, alright,” Alya finally relented. “I’ll give it a shot. Hopefully this little brat will be on her best behavior and I can actually get a word in edgewise with Adrien. I swear, if she sabotages anything, I’ll kill her.”

“You can handle yourself,” Marinette promised. “Aw man, I’m so mad I’m going to miss this! I want to see you on your first date with Adrien.”

“It’s not a date,” Alya corrected. “And stop being so nosy. I mean, what are you going to do, hide behind the arches of the palace and hook a bluetooth up to your ear so you can hear everything we’re saying?”

Marinette’s eyes immediately widened in excitement and she started bouncing on her toes and waving her hands the moment the words finished coming out of Alya’s mouth. Alya scowled and pointed a finger at Marinette’s nose. “Don’t you dare ….”

“Let me—”

“No.”

“—listen in—”

“ No Marinette!”

“—on your date, pretty pretty pretty please oh my God please please I’ll die if you won’t let me!”

“I will update you on everything that happens,” Alya said. “You don’t have to James Bond this crap, you know.”

“But I want to be there for it!’ Marinette said excitedly. “Maid of honor speech! The story I’ll tell your children when you let me babysit your kids! I want to be there for the most important moments in your life oh my God you have to let me listen in and see what happens, pleeeeaaassseee!”

“Alright!” Alya decided finally. “Alright. Fine. But just this once. And you are not to interject or make any unnecessary commentary during this whole thing. I’m more than capable of lasting an afternoon with Adrien and I don’t need you telling me what to say or gushing about planning our wedding in the future. Be chill, okay?”

Marinette bit down on her bottom lip. “I….will commit to restraining myself as much as humanly possible but ask you to not demand perfection from me.”

Alya smiled fondly. “Close enough, I guess.”

“Yay!!” Marinette screamed. “Alya’s got a date!! This is so cool!!”

“It’s not a date! And would you stop screaming , people are staring!”

“You’re abandoning me!?!?!”

Adrien narrowed his eyes at her. “Um, yeah? I set you guys up on a date. Why would I tag along for that?”

“You fucking traitor you’re going to leave me alone with her?” Chloe shrieked. “Did you not hear me when I said I am physiologically incapable of speaking to this girl without feeling the compulsion to smack her in the face? I can’t do this alone. You have to help me.”

“I already did half the work for you,” Adrien said. “All you have to do is show up, be yourself — minus the sarcasm and the insults and anything else that’s going to piss Alya off — and enjoy a date with her. You’re over-thinking this way too much. Weren’t you the one bragging to me the other day about you being the perfect date?”

“Ugh, stop pulling receipts out on me, this is totally different,” Chloe complained. “I have no idea how to get her to not hate me, meanwhile the two of you get along so well. You know what to say to her to get her to like me, so you have to come on this date.”

“Chloe, come on—”

“Adrien darling, for the love of all that is holy in the world, if you do this one thing for me I’ll never ask for anything else ever in my whole life until I die.”

“You know that’s a lie.”

Chloe threw her head back and groaned at the sky. “Fine, I’ll try to snag you Jagged Stone tickets or something just do this for me please?”

Adrien raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m going to regret this so hard, but fine. What are friends for?”

Chloe jumped up and wrapped her arms around Adrien’s neck. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou, you’re the most marvellous sunshine prince I’ve ever met and I love you with all my heart!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adrien said, patting the back of Chloe’s head. “Now why don’t we practice trying to get you to say all of that to Alya instead, huh?”

“One, two, one, two, testing? Can you hear me, Al?”

Alya was sitting on the edge of the fountains in the Louvre courtyard and laughed while she touched her earpiece. “I can hear you fine, girlie, but I still don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this. I’m not going to do anything crazy.”

“No. Stop right there. Unacceptable,” Marinette demanded sternly, hiding behind one of the columns in the arches of the Louvre palace only a few meters away. “You always do this. You always wanna keep things casual and be cool about everything and pretend you’re so suave and in control of your crush. That boy is gonna know how you feel by the end of the day, gosh darn it! You are not to play it cool, Alya! I expect some grade-A flirting and a promise for a second date otherwise I’m disowning you as a friend.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Come on, Mari, I don’t know if he likes me like that yet. I don’t wanna screw up a friendship with him by being too forward about it. We’ve only known each other for a few months.”

“Well, I’m not suggesting you grab him by the collar drag him to a corner and yell in his face about how much you like him. I know that’s your default but for Adrien I was imagining something a touch more muted.”

Alya scoffed. “I’m not that intense!!”

“Um. I’m sensing some next level denial here. Just tell him how you feel without being too aggressive and you’re not going to scare him away or ruin a friendship. He’s into you! I wish you’d believe me.”

Alya groaned. “Ugh, alright, alright, I’ll try to find a moment to slip it in there. Happy?”

“Indubitably,” Marinette giggled. “Oh. And just so you know I’m recording this confession to play over and over again later so make sure you speak into the bluetooth clearly.”

“Marinette, I swear on your precious little sewing machine—”

“Crap! Target at ten o’clock! Get ready!”

Alya straightened up suddenly and started to peer through the crowds of people loitering around the fountains and waiting to get into the museum behind her. She straightened the jacket she was wearing and fluffed up her hair, but the only person she recognized coming towards her and navigating through the crowds of people was Chloe, clutching onto her purse like a lifeline, pressing a hand to her ear, and staring down at her feet while gnawing on her bottom lip.

Alya furrowed her brows and spoke into her earpiece. “Where’s Adrien?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette said worriedly.

Chloe let out a huge sigh as she marched up to Alya and balanced on her toes. “Uh. H-Hey.”

“Hi?” Alya said carefully. “Um. Is Adrien coming?”

Chloe tugged on the braid over her shoulder and winced, waiting for Adrien’s instructions to come in through the earpiece she was wearing. “Yeah. So, funny story….”

Adrien cleared his throat and peeked out from behind the pillar he was hiding behind, speaking carefully into his own bluetooth device. “Okay. Don’t freak out for the love of God please. Just repeat after me exactly. Say you’ll be better off without me.”

Chloe nodded and turned back to Alya. “I figured we’d be better off without me.”

Alya frowned. “What?”

“No, not without you!” Adrien sighed, smacking his forehead. “Without me . Adrien me!”

Chloe shook her head. “Him!” she said too loudly. “Him! Better off without him! Haha. Ha. You know, because why would you be better off without me, I mean, I’m literally amazing company, am I right?”

Alya nodded slowly. “...right.”

Adrien groaned. “Chloe, you’re killing me.”

“Shut up darling, I’m fixing it,” Chloe hissed into her own earpiece. She cleared her throat and gave a fake smile. “I mean, Adrien was never really a fan of museums all that much,” she explained. “Silly little thing never did appreciate that sort of thing when we were growing up. But...I still wanted to see it. And I guess, if you wanted to see it we can just. Go. Now I mean. We don’t really need to wait around for him to go inside and check out the exhibit really quick.”

“Yes we do you ignoramus!” Marinette shouted into the earpiece. “Why is she here? Where is the love of your life?”

Alya turned her head and hissed into her bluetooth. “Marinette, would you chill the hell out?”

Chloe scowled and placed a hand on her chest. “Excuse me?”

“I, uh….I said maybe we could just chill out,” Alya amended. “He said he’d come with us to go check it out, so we can just wait around for him until he comes.”

“Tell her that you just want to spend some time alone with her,” Adrien instructed.

Chloe widened her eyes. “I’m not telling her that,” she hissed.

“What? Yes you are, just say it.”

“No. That’s corny. And humiliating. I’m not saying it.”

“Chloe you’re trying to hit on her, will you just tell her?”

“I’m not going to freakin’ say it!”

“Do you need a minute?” Alya asked in confusion. “You look like you’re having an episode.”

“No!” Chloe said loudly, pointing at Alya’s face as she said. “I mean. No, uh. We can. Just wait here for him. I guess. That’s fine.”

“What are you talking about?” Adrien exclaimed. “Don’t wait around for me. I’m not coming!”

Alya shrugged. “Okay. I guess you can sit while we wait.”

“Er, thanks,” Chloe muttered, sitting down at the fountain a whole meter away from Alya and quickly pulling out her phone to fill up the time.

Adrien banged his forehead against the pillar. “Chloe, what are you doing?”

Marinette slid down to the floor and leaned her chin in her hand. “This isn’t going to end well.”

After half an hour had gone by, the unspoken had become incredibly obvious.

“Adrien’s sure taking his time, huh?” Alya asked, back to Chloe and not bothering to look up from her phone.

“How should I know?” Chloe snapped back. “I’m not his keeper. I have no idea where he is. It’s not like this is my fault.”

Alya snorted. “Let me guess. You convinced him not to show up, so he’s not coming, and this is just some stupid elaborate prank set up so that you can embarrass me and film it for the whole world to see. Clever. Cute, even. But you’re a brat if that’s what you’re up to, so if I’m right you’ll at least have the decency to let me walk away and not waste the rest of my day.”

Chloe bit her lip and dared a peek over her shoulder, Alya’s disappointed tone making her chest ache with a small twinge of guilt.

“Chloe?” Adrien prompted. “Listen. Repeat after me exactly. There’s no joke. I’m not trying to embarrass you. I just wanted the chance to tell you something important.”

Chloe gulped in a lungful of air and turned around to face Alya. “There’s no joke,” she said quietly. “I….I’m not trying to embarrass you. I just wanted the chance to tell you something important.”

Alya raised a brow as she turned around. “Tell me something important? That’s new for you.”

“Oh shut up,” Chloe snapped. “I know we don’t get along, but I’m trying here okay? Just give me a second.”

Alya’s expression softened as she pocketed her phone and folded her hands in her lap. “Alright. You’ve got my attention. What is it you want to tell me?”

“I wanted to tell you that I really like you, Alya,” Adrien breathed out with a smile.

Chloe bit down on her lip. “I wanted to tell you that….” She swallowed and hesitated against the words that were caught just at the back of her throat. “I….really really like this girl and I don’t know how to tell her.”

“Chloe!” Adrien exclaimed. “What are you doing!?”

Alya blinked in surprise. “A girl? Like one that’s not Ladybug?”

Chloe dropped her head in her lap and laced her fingers on the back of her neck. “This is so humiliating.”

“Hey, hey, I’m not going to make fun of you for this or anything,” Alya soothed, scooting closer to her. “But why are you asking me?”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. “You know who she is. I figured you were the best person to go to. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“No offense, no one really likes you all that much.”

“Oh screw you, you brat!”

Alya lifted her hands. “Sorry, sorry. Okay. That was uncalled for. Ugh, okay, usually I’m against helping someone like you on principle. But….I can’t say no to a girl trying to confess to another girl so I guess I can help you out.”

Chloe peeked out from between her fingers. “Really?”

Alya snorted. “Look, I’m as surprised as you are. But, I’m willing to call a temporary truce if it means getting two girls together. I like girls too, so it’s a weakness of mine.”

Chloe sighed in relief. “Alright. I can handle a temporary truce I guess. So long as we go right back to hating each other when this is over.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice.”

Marinette snickered into her earpiece. “You calling a truce with Chloe to help her confess to another girl because you have a weakness for it? Oh my God, this is definitely a satisfying plot twist. I can’t wait to hear how this is going to play out.”

Alya frowned. “I can’t wait to hear you shush for two seconds!”

“Sorry?”

“Er,” Alya mumbled. “I said that I can’t wait to hear about this girl. You said I know her. Is she in our class?”

Adrien tapped on his mic to get Chloe’s attention. “Tell her it’s you!”

Chloe played with the hair at the end of your braid. “It’s, um….it’s….”

Alya smirked. “Yeah?”

Chloe bit down on her lip, felt her cheeks start to grow warm, and said the first thing that came into her head. “It’s your best friend Marinette!”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Holy shit, what?” Alya laughed.

“What the fuck?!” Marinette screeched.

“You’ve been crushing on Marinette this entire time?” Alya asked with a laugh. “Oh my God, this is the best moment of my entire life.”

“What the ever loving hell are you doing!? ” Marinette practically screamed. “This is horrible! Stop encouraging this!”

Chloe laughed nervously. “Ahaha….ah, yeah. Marinette. Yup. Totally.”

“I’ll admit, this is a challenge,” Alya said, drumming her fingers against her chin. “You’re not very nice to her and I don’t think she’s too keen on warming up to you because of that. But if you’re serious about this, this is definitely doable. A little finagling, some clever nudging, a few cleverly placed situations, and this is a for sure slam dunk. I can try and set up a date for you guys if you want.”

“NO!” Marinette shouted, loud enough that Alya almost heard it from across the courtyard. “Are you crazy!? You didn’t even ask me first! She’s a horrifying little brat who’d rather see me crushed under her heel than on a date with her. No. End of discussion. This is not happening. Cancelled.”

“Aw come on babe,” Alya whispered. “She’s a nightmare, but she’s pretty. If anyone can whip her into shape for you it’s me.”

“Why do you keep muttering to yourself like that? What are you saying?”

“I was just saying that Marinette’s pretty!” Alya corrected. “And it would be pretty easy to whip up an excuse for the two of you to hang out.”

“I’m literally going to kill you!” Marinette said through gritted teeth. “This date with Chloe is not happening don’t you even dare try it!”

“Chloe, what on Earth did you just get yourself into?” Adrien bemoaned. “I don’t know how to get you out of this! What kind of hole did you just dig for yourself, you literally just had to say exactly what I told you!”

Chloe rolled her eyes, and subtly pulled her earpiece out of her ear. “You seem like a meddler so I’m not surprised.”

“It’s one of my many talents,” Alya grinned, also taking her earpiece out and stuffing it into her pocket. “Still wanna see the exhibit? Should give us plenty of time to plan out our next movie with Marinette. Wow, I still can’t believe this is actually happening.”

Chloe shrugged, figuring that this was about the closest she was going to get to spending an afternoon with Alya, even if she accidentally signed herself up with a date with Marinette instead in exchange. “You’re way too excited about this. It’s kind of creepy.”

“You better shut up if you want my help, you little monster.”

 “Wait, wait, wait, explain to me again how you managed this?” Nino asked.

“I don’t know man it was actually really bizarre,” Alya admitted, the two of them sitting on the steps of the courtyard two days later. “After we left the museum, I called my mom and she was totally down to open the hotel restaurant early the next evening so long as the Mayor was okay with it, and of course Chloe can get her father to do anything if she begs for it hard enough. So, bam! Private dinner at Le Grand Paris.”

“Did the two of them actually show up last night?”

“I mean, I walked Marinette there and everything. She looked super cute, but I think she hates me now,” Alya chuckled. “God, she kept saying she was going to maim me the whole way there. But she did get all dolled up for it so at least she put up an effort.”

“And Chloe?”

“Yup. Waiting for her by the door and everything.”

Nino sighed out in disbelief. “Dude. Don’t get me wrong. That’s artistry. Like actually. But that’s kind of intense to just spring a date like that on her without asking her first. You should at least apologize.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad, could it?” Alya wondered.

“I mean, who knows. I personally think they killed each other last night. But no matter what I think you should at least say sorry for going over her head about it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Alya decided. “Not often I get to work my matchmaking powers I guess, so I got a little carried away. I hope she’s not super upset.”

Nino nudged Alya in the side and pointed towards the entrance to the school. “Well, here’s your moment of truth. There goes Marinette right now.”

Alya turned to see Marinette skipping up the steps of the school and laughing over a beauty magazine that Alya knew she always picked up from the newsstand on Wednesdays. But what she wasn’t expecting was for Chloe to be linking arms with Marinette and cackling at the same page Marinette was staring at, leaning on her for support as they gossiped over the article. Marinette flipped two pages back and leaned up on her toes to whisper something into Chloe’s ear that had her gasping and playfully smacking Marinette on the shoulder while Marinette stuck her tongue out at her.

Nino couldn’t keep his eyes off of the scene as he slowly leaned over to mutter, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“The two of them actually getting along?” Alya answered. “Yeah. I’m seeing it.”

“Dude, what kind of black magic did you pull?”

“I don’t know!”

“You’re absolutely awful,” Chloe chuckled as the two of them walked closer to Alya and Nino. “But seriously, if you have that palette let me know how you like it. I don’t know if I want to buy it just yet.”

“I’ll test it out for a week to let you know. But I’m wearing the blushed nudes right now and I really like them.” Marinette shut her eyes and lifted her chin. “See?”

Chloe hummed. “Huh. That eyeshadow looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” Marinette smiled. “You should try the naked colors. The browns and tans would look really good with your skin tone.”

“Worth a try,” Chloe shrugged. “I’m getting tired of these blues and greens. I’m in the mood for a change.”

“Uh,” Alya spoke up. “Hey you two.”

“Oh, hey Alya!” Marinette grinned happily. “Chloe and I were just chatting makeup. By the way, she swears by that eye primer I was telling you about.”

“Magic in a bottle,” Chloe promised. “I don’t leave the house without it on.”

“What’s the miracle the two of you are getting along all of a sudden?” Nino questioned. “You two are usually at each other’s throats before noon.”

“Well, this one sent us on a date last night for close to two hours,” Marinette said, jutting her thumb in Alya’s direction. “Turns out when you get past the brattiness and the ego, the two of us actually have a lot in common.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but kept a small smile on her face. “Gee thanks, brat,” she muttered. She turned to Alya. “But yeah. Remember that girl I told you I had a crush on. I lied. It was actually you.”

Alya blinked and leaned back in shock. “Wait, for real?”

“Yeah, I’m as embarrassed about it as you are,” Chloe shrugged. “But I guess I only thought I had a crush on you. Turns out after an evening alone with this one — ”

“Hey now,” Marinette interrupted, poking Chloe in the cheek. “You don’t have to gossip about everything.”

Chloe snorted. “Hey, they’re your friends. If you want to keep the suspense up a little bit, be my guest.”

“Here’s the funniest part,” Marinette smirked. “Turns out Adrien was like a stone’s throw away coaching Chloe through that entire afternoon at the Louvre.”

“Wait a minute. Adrien was there?” Alya exclaimed.

“Yeah. Crazy, right?”

Chloe leaned her elbow on Marinette’s shoulder and sent a wink in Alya’s direction. “So Marinette here tells me that you have a crush on some guy.”

Alya’s face fell. “You didn’t….”

“I didn’t say anything!” Marinette insisted, grabbing both of ALya’s hands and pressing a kiss to the backs of them. “Promise! You know, because, I don’t go and make decisions on behalf of other people. Cough, cough, hint, hint.”

“I’m sorry,” Alya deflated slightly. “I’ll cool it next time.”

“You know,” Chloe pondered. “If you really wanted help, I could totally make it happen. You’re not the only one with impressive matchmaking powers.”

Marinette stomped on Chloe’s foot and Chloe immediately backtracked. “Of course that would mean I knew who the guy was! Which I don’t! Because, that would be ridiculous. Because I don’t know who they are.”

“Would you shut up?” Marinette hissed.

“Ugh, fine fine! Forget I said anything.” Chloe crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling. “But, if you wanted to hypothetically make it happen, just give me a call.”

“Chloe! Shut up!”

“ Alright!” Chloe exclaimed. “Anyway, I guess we’ll see the two of you in class. We both forgot to do our maths homework so we’re going to cram before class.”

“Bye Alya,” Marinette waved. “We’ll chat later.”

The two girls scurried off behind them, muttering animatedly in between themselves too quietly for Alya or Nino to hear. Nino scratched the back of his head. “You don’t think that the two of them are….?”

“No,” Alya insisted. “....I mean. I don’t think so. Do you?”

“I dunno, they’re looking a little chummy. Kind of a quick turn around for those two, huh?”

Alya chewed on the inside of her cheek and whispered in Nino’s ear. “Down to spy on them studying in the library?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”