#so i'm pretty sure it will be alright for the rest of the episodes

[uthseikoashx-goingmyway]

episode 1 of season 2 of amc interview with the vampire, you are everything to me and more

[junabuggy]

hello!! i saw you wanted requests and I was wondering if you would be willing to write some platonic headcanons for the Hazbin Hotel crew with a reader who has chronic pain. (i totally get if you don't want to) thank you so much and I'm excited to see what you write in the future 😺

Hazbin Hotel Crew x Chronic pain having! GN! Reader

A/n: tysm for the request !! This is my first time writing something like this so I hope it’s okay :3 (if there’s anything I got wrong, please correct me)

Warnings: Mentions of chronic pain and disability (but like.. that’s pretty obvious lol)

Fluff✔️ Comfort✔️ Angst❌ Smut❌

‧₊˚✧ Alastor ✧˚₊‧

📻𖤐 After a while of Alastor observing you, as he does with most, he’d notice your body language and think the way you acted was a bit odd…

📻𖤐 Not in a bad way, he just didn’t understand at first why you sometimes visibly look like you were in pain or even just hobbling around to get somewhere

📻𖤐 it definitely raised his brow…

📻𖤐 Before actually approaching you and asking you about it, I’d like to think he made one of the egg boiz spy on you like he did in that one episode 😭😭

📻𖤐 I don’t know what he was expecting though. The only somewhat valuable piece of information he gathered from what the little talking egg had told him was that it saw you taking pain medication. Which did not narrow it down at all and not much of his curiosity had been quenched quite yet..

📻𖤐 So, one peaceful and early morning in the hotel, he decided it’d be best to just ask you about it.

📻𖤐 “My dear, are you feeling alright? You look to be quite discomforted…?” He’d ask casually as he took a sip from his coffee mug, one brow raised and his eyes fixed on yours, pretending like he hadn’t noticed this before today.

📻𖤐 After a chat, he was informed you had something called “chronic pain”. He asked a few questions, nodding when he got the answers and once he was satisfied, he walked off back to his quarters in the hotel.

📻𖤐 After all, he had so much research to do.

📻𖤐 Adding onto that last once I do feel as though Alastor would do more research on it when you decided to tell him about your condition.

📻𖤐 Mostly for his own benefit of learning something new since he hadn’t heard of this before… but it came in handy if you ever needed a bit of a helping hand.

📻𖤐 Like, if you happened to have a flare up or just a particularly bad day he’d sit with you and made sure you rested up.

📻𖤐 He wouldn’t verbally express it but he did take pity on you. How unfortunate you were in constant agony.

📻𖤐 He is a sadistic little fuck though so he’d probably find it mildly entertaining or at the very least fascinating to see what’d make you tick or was a challenge for you

📻𖤐 Although he’d try to be careful not to push you too much.

‧₊˚✧ Angel Dust ✧˚₊‧

🕸️ᥫ᭡ We all know Angel Dust doesn’t have much of a filter so it wouldn’t take him long to ask you why you could barely stand upright for too long or look like you’re genuinely struggling all the time.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ In fact, he’s more perceptive than people would like to think he is. He noticed it shortly after you two had met.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ He’d probably come off a bit strong, saying something along the lines of “toots? Ya alright over there? Ya don’t look so uhhh.. you don’t look too hot.” As he gave you a one over.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ You could tell he wasn’t trying to be insulting to you though, he was just concerned and wanted to know what was troubling you. It showed ever so slightly on the spiders face.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ Once you explained to Angel your condition he felt bad. Like, huh? Whatdoya mean you sometimes have trouble even getting outta bed in the morning because of how much pain you’re in?? Sometimes you neglect your own basic needs because you’re in constant pain?

🕸️ᥫ᭡ As he tired to wrap his head around the thought, he’d ask if there’s anything he could do to help. Of course though, there wasn’t much he could do.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ From that day on, Angel would try to make things at least a little easier for you. You had earned the title of his friend, after all. Why would he let his friend suffer alone?

🕸️ᥫ᭡ He loves to cook and is pretty good at it so expect a few homemade meals on him at least a few times <3

🕸️ᥫ᭡ If you ever had a flare up you better fucking believe he’d sit there with you and just talk. He rambles like an old man lol

🕸️ᥫ᭡ Also 100% has movie nights with you with both of you guys’ favourite snacks.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ Oh and of course his pig Fat Nuggets would be joining you two

🕸️ᥫ᭡ And thankfully the little guy adores you. Which gains some points with Angel

🕸️ᥫ᭡ The piggy would crawl into your lap if you were up for it. He’s pretty light and his oinks and squeals are bound to make you crack a smile

🕸️ᥫ᭡ Angel is no stranger to feeling pain, so he knows how much it sucks.

🕸️ᥫ᭡ That’s why I believe he’d be one of the best people to tell. You’re his friend and wants to make sure you’re okay as possible.

‧₊˚✧ Husker ✧˚₊‧

🍺🃁 Husker, much like Angel, would notice almost immediately that something was up with you…

🍺🃁 At first Husk couldn’t place it. He just knew that he didn’t often see you standing up straight for long periods of time and that you looked like you were constantly unwell.

🍺🃁 Was it just bad migraines? He’s never really seen you drunk before so it’s not like it could be really bad hangovers.

🍺🃁 Plus, this has been going on since you arrived here so that seemed highly unlikely.

🍺🃁 Husk was the type of guy to keep it to himself though. If it didn’t concern him, why bother saying anything about it?

🍺🃁 One day though, you sat yourself down at the bar and asked for some water. This time however, you looked worse than usual, practically doubled over as you stared down at the bar.

🍺🃁 Even though Husk usually kept his mouth shut.. he couldn’t help but ask if you had a headache or something and if you needed some migraine medication.

🍺🃁 He wasn’t heartless.

🍺🃁 When you shook your head no slowly and told him you were just having a “flare up” he asked what you meant to which you gave a brief explanation of the condition you have.

🍺🃁 Suddenly, it all made sense. That’s why you looked like you were constantly in pain. It’s because you were.

🍺🃁 He slid you the ice cold water gently and observed you for a few moments before going back to wiping the glasses as he spoke to you.

🍺🃁 “If you need something don’t be afraid to ask for it.” He’d say, his deep voice trying to be as comforting as it can while also maintaining somewhat of a nonchalant tone.

🍺🃁 Then, after that, it became routine for you to sit at the bar with him.

🍺🃁 He definitely wasn’t complaining. It was nice getting to know you and since you had a place to just sit and rest, he got to see you more often.

🍺🃁 you swiftly became good friends with him and he was pretty helpful when it came to your condition.

🍺🃁 he’d do his best to check up on you often :)

‧₊˚✧ Vaggie ✧˚₊‧

🗡️☪︎ Vaggie heard about your chronic pain from Charlie so there wouldn’t be a need to tell her about it lol

🗡️☪︎ I have a feeling she’d be a little awkward with attempting to help you out…

🗡️☪︎ Like it’s not like she can really make you feel better so it’s a bit of a struggle for her..

🗡️☪︎ But she does try her best though because she cares about you. You’re her friend.

🗡️☪︎ After a few motivational words from Charlie she’s good to go, attempting to comfort you.

🗡️☪︎ I have a feeling she’d try to help by grabbing you stuff you wanted or needed and chatting with you.

🗡️☪︎ She’s actually quite fun to converse with, she’s pretty sweet when she wants to be and can hold good conversations :))

🗡️☪︎ She’s a good listener so if you wanted to vent or just had something on your mind, she’d listen.

🗡️☪︎ During flareups, Vaggie would just stay by your side and wait it out with you, if you needed anything, she’d be on it and would be back pretty fucking quickly too 💀

🗡️☪︎ Would put a random show on if you wanted a distraction and might let you rest your head on her shoulder if you so desired

🗡️☪︎ I can’t think of much else for her other than the fact she’d try her best. Maybe mess up a few times but ultimately she means well and tries to be as understanding as she possibly can be <33

‧₊˚✧ Charlie ✧˚₊‧

⭐️☀︎ The first thing you did when you arrived at the hotel was inform the very excited daughter of Lucifer that you had chronic pains so you might have to take it a bit slow when showing you around the Hazbin Hotel..

⭐️☀︎ And of course, Charlie being who she was, was very understanding and accepting of that fact.

⭐️☀︎ She’d heard about your condition before so making accommodations for you wouldn’t be an issue

⭐️☀︎ She’s a sweetheart so quite literally your biggest supporter

⭐️☀︎ Like, oh? You need something??Ohmygodwhydidntyoutellmesoonerhereitis :33

⭐️☀︎ Much like Vaggie, she’d sit and talk with you during your flareups

⭐️☀︎ Maybe make you a tea and discuss future plans and such for the hotel to get your mind off of things. Works sometimes surprisingly enough.

⭐️☀︎ She’s nice to talk to, very comforting vibes

⭐️☀︎ But it may get a bit annoying how many times she asks if you’re sure there’s nothing she can do to make your pain go away somehow lol

⭐️☀︎ Or even just how many times she asks if you need something. “Do you need anything? No? Are you sure? Okay…. But are you really sure?”

⭐️☀︎ Might stress herself out on occasion over it tbh😭🙏

⭐️☀︎ But she only means well, you know that.

⭐️☀︎ Her cat Keekee I’m sure would love to cuddle, the cute cyclopean kitty pushing its forehead against your hand for pets (only if you’re up to it, of course.)

⭐️☀︎ Asides from Angel, Charlie would definitely be the best person to tell in the hotel because like… genuinely she just wants to help In any way she can lol

‧₊˚✧ Niffty ✧˚₊‧

🧼𐙚 Niffty is quite blunt as well, very out there and doesn’t really think before she speaks half of the time it just kinda comes out 😭

🧼𐙚 So.. she’d probably take one look at you, and ask why you’re in pain.

🧼𐙚 To which you’d explain to the little one eyed maid your condition, she’d think about it for a moment before asking a shitload of questions about it to which you answer :))

🧼𐙚 Other than that I don’t think Niffty would like… really do much?

🧼𐙚 Maybe clean for you

🧼𐙚 But there’s not much else she would do, realistically, she might forget about it and then ask again. Once you remind her she remembers tho lol

🧼𐙚 During your flareups I do believe like the others she’d sit with you for a while…

🧼𐙚 Before spotting a roach and scurrying off to go take care of the pest. Once done, she’d come back and the cycle repeats.

𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ◟( ˃̶͈◡ ˂̶͈ )◞

���★ 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐲

[writerofsorts]

Moment of Suspicion

(image creds: to the owner)

pairing: jason dilaurentis x female reader.

summary: 2x03 "my name is trouble" episode imagine/rewrite.

warnings: none.

*read previous part here!

—————

A week later, [Y/N] came to an empty home from school. After grabbing a snack, she decided to do some reading before starting her homework.

Just as she finished up a chapter, her phone rang from next to her on her bed. When she saw the caller was Spencer, she frowned in worry. Placing the bookmark on the recent page, she closed the book before answering her phone.

"Hey, Spence," she greeted, placing her book on the nightstand before sitting up on the bed again. "Everything okay?"

"Hey, [y/n/n]. Yeah, everything's fine!" Spencer answered rather enthusiastically, which made [Y/N]'s brows furrow.

"Alright, Spence, spill," she said in a playful stern voice and heard Spencer sigh on the other end.

"I may have called you to ask a favor," the brunette answered slowly.

"Sure, what is it?" asked [Y/N].

"Toby's working for Jason and I'm really worried," Spencer explained. "Can you check on him for me, please?"

"Wait, since when did Toby start working for Jason?" [Y/N] questioned, surprised.

"Since this afternoon," Spencer replied.

"You don't sound too happy about it," [Y/N] said.

"How can I be?" Spencer sighed. "For all we know, Jason could be hiding Ian, protecting him, in that creepy house."

"Spence," [Y/N] sighed this time. "I still don't think Jason would want to help his sister's murderer."

"Then, how do you explain the shadow I saw in his house yesterday?" Spencer challenged. "[y/n/n], I was right outside talking to him when I saw someone move upstairs. And, he told me he lived alone. He was clearly lying."

[Y/N] remained silent, processing Spencer's words. She still didn't believe Jason could be helping Ian hide.

However, she did find Jason's sudden return to Rosewood pretty strange. It was true that he didn't owe anyone explanation; yet, his cold demeanor towards her friends confused her because she had thought he had changed after working on Ali's memorial with them.

"Hello? Earth to [y/n/n]?" Spencer interrupted her from her thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm here," [Y/N] replied, shaking her head, hoping to remove her suspicious thoughts regarding Jason. "But, yeah, I'll go check on him."

"Thanks so much, [y/n/n], I owe you one," Spencer breathed out.

"No problem," smiled [Y/N]. "But, I have to ask you something."

"Sure," Spencer replied.

"You literally live right next door to Jason," [Y/N] spoke. "Why not just peak and make sure Toby's okay?"

"I tried," Spencer sighed out. "But, I couldn't see anything."

"It's okay," [Y/N] chuckled. "Alright, I'll check on your defenseless boyfriend and update you soon."

"You're very funny, you know that?" Spencer deadpanned.

"Sorry, I just had to," [Y/N] giggled. "Don't worry too much, alright? I'm sure Toby's okay."

"I'll try," Spencer replied. "Thanks again, [y/n/n]."

"Of course, talk to you later," [Y/N] answered and the two said their goodbyes before hanging up.

…

Once [Y/N] got near the DiLaurentis house, she noticed a shirtless and sweaty Toby first, who seemed to be hard at work with a shovel in his hands. With another few steps, she noticed Jason who was dressed in a tight blue t-shirt and faded denim jeans as he placed some heavy bags in a wheelbarrow.

She took a deep breath in to calm her racing heart as she walked closer to the two men. Her steps must've been quiet because neither Toby nor Jason took notice of her, lost in their work.

"Hello," she greeted, causing the two men to look up at her in surprise.

"Hello, [Y/N]," Jason greeted her back with a smile, standing straight as Toby did the same.

"Hey, [y/n/n], what are you doing here?" Toby asked, resting his hands on top of the shovel.

"A little birdie told me that you got a job so I figured I'd stop by and say congratulations," she replied, hoping her breathy voice didn't give away how nervous she was -- especially with Jason's gaze on her.

"Is that little birdie's name Spencer?" Toby asked, smiling mischievously.

"Of course, not," [Y/N] said, a little too fast for her liking. "Haven't you heard? My friends and I are spending some time apart. Doctor's orders."

"I just saw you guys together recently," Jason replied before Toby could and [Y/N] looked at him. She knew he was talking about the time he caught the girls sneaking out at night a couple of days ago.

[Y/N] looked back at Toby, who had a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"I wonder if that was before or after the doctor's orders," he commented.

"It- it was before," [Y/N] replied slowly and shifted to look at Jason when she noticed Toby didn't believe her words.

"It's alright, I won't tell anyone," Jason chuckled, holding up his hands. A few moments later, he cleared his throat before asking, "I'm gonna grab a drink. Do you guys want something?"

"I'm okay," Toby replied just as [Y/N] said, "No, thank you."

Jason gave her a smile in return before turning to walk inside the house.

"Alright, [y/n/n], what are you really doing here?" Toby asked quietly once Jason had disappeared inside the house.

[Y/N] sighed and walked closer to Toby, glancing at the closed door of the DiLaurentis house once.

"Spencer sent me," she admitted, making sure to keep her voice as quiet as Toby.

"I had a feeling," Toby sighed.

"She's really worried," [Y/N] said.

"Why is she so scared about me working for Jason?" Toby asked in genuine confusion. "I mean, he's been nothing but nice to me so far."

"She thinks he's hiding Ian," [Y/N] whispered, taking another glance at the shut door.

"That's insane!" Toby said a little loudly when [Y/N] shushed him.

"I don't know what goes through your girlfriend's brain," [Y/N] shrugged playfully.

"What do you think?" Toby asked her suddenly.

"Sorry?" [Y/N] frowned.

"Do you think Jason's suspicious too?" Toby questioned her and [Y/N] dropped her gaze from his for a moment.

"He hasn't really given me a reason to be suspicious about him so far," she finally said, looking up at Toby, who nodded at her in understanding.

Before Toby could reply to her, Jason walked out of the house, carrying out a trash bag with him.

"I would invite you guys in but the place is kind of crazy," he said once he was closer to Toby and [Y/N].

He threw the bag to the side when it opened and several bloodied gauze fell out of it.

[Y/N] stiffened in her spot and her eyes widened at the sight. She looked at Toby, who looked at her, concerned. She had a feeling Toby might've been reconsidering their conversation and to be honest, so was she.

"Uh, I cut myself," Jason explained with an awkward chuckle, rubbing his palms in his jeans.

"Hope you're okay now," [Y/N] said meekly once she was able to get some words out.

"Yeah, it was just a small cut," Jason replied and [Y/N] nodded.

"Well, I should get going now," she said, slowly backing out of the DiLaurentis yard. "It was nice seeing you two. Good night."

"Good night, [Y/N]," Jason answered.

"Thanks for stopping by, [y/n/n]," Toby told her with a smile. "Text me when you get home, okay?"

"Will do," [Y/N] smiled back at him and gave one last wave to Jason before turning around and making her way towards her home.

While walking, she sent a quick text to Spencer, letting the latter know that Toby was okay. She decided to keep the suspicious-bloodied-gauze from Jason's trash to herself as she knew sharing this with Spencer would make her friend go on a dangerous hunt to know what was up with Jason.

—————

[goldfades]

🌱 jack hughes agreeing to watch your favorite movie on movie night instead of his

𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 | jh⁸⁶

♡ ─ word count | 397

♡ ─ warnings | nothing but sweet fluff, jack being a tom cruise dickrider (jk)

♡ ─ ev's notes | IM ON MY LOVE ISLAND KICK LEAVE ME ALONE

"Jack."

You pouted as Jack scrolled through Amazon, trying to find a good movie to watch. He wanted to watch Top Gun Maverick for the 3rd time this month. It wasn't even the original Top Gun but he still insists on watching it every time you wanted to have a movie night.

Jack looked back at you, smirking as he caught your pouty expression. You continued your pout in hopes of swaying him to change his mind. "I thought you liked Top Gun Maverick."

"I did, before we watched it 5 million times." You exaggerated, frowning. "I'm pretty sure I can recite the whole movie by now."

Jack laughed as he shook his head. "Come on, baby, it's so good. And besides, it's not like I'm making you watch it alone," Jack replied with a teasing smile. "Think of it as our go-to movie, our comfort film."

You sighed dramatically, resting your chin on your hand. "Comfort film is one thing, Jack, but this is turning into a Top Gun Maverick marathon. I'm starting to dream about fighter jets and Maverick in my sleep."

Jack let out another laugh, enjoying how much he was annoying you. He raised an eyebrow, considering your request. "Alright, alright. I guess I can give it a break for one night."

Your eyes lit up with a smile. "Oh my god, finally." You let out a sigh of relief. "Let's watch Love Island!"

Jack pretended to be annoyed, giving you a short glare before searching it up. "Seriously?" Jack teased, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Alright, fine, we'll watch Love Island."

"I've had to watch all that fighter jet shit all month long." You glared at him but you knew he secretly really enjoyed it. You know for a fact he loves all the drama that comes with Love Island - oh, and their funny accents too.

After turning on Love Island, Jack was invested by the end of the episode. You stared at him as he watched the TV, a smirk playing on your lips. You wanted to tell him "told ya so" but you loved seeing him so invested.

He finally noticed and looked at you, shaking his head. "Shut up."

You laughed and turned your focus back to the TV, knowing that you had found a new show that you and Jack could binge together.

-> make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated! <-

thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[monawriteslol]

HI HELLO so in an episode of tokio hotel tv tom said that he finds squirting hot 👀👀 could you write something with overstimulated and squirting for him? Maybe after a concert or a night out wherr the reader kept teasing him

a/n: i had like 2 other requests like this but with georg and gustav so i decided to just write short headcannon like drabbles for all 3 😭 i hope thats alright </3

content warning (s): mean!tom, degrading talk, dirty talk, servicedom!gustav, praise, implied overstimulation

𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

champ of making you squirt accidentally

his cock is just too big. too much for your poor little cunt. and he knows it so he always makes sure to make sure you're prepared.

four orgasms later, a mess of your cum on his face and fingers, and he's finally sinking that beautiful, fat cock into you.

his eyes are locked on the way you swallow him, your warm little cunt sticky and twitching around him the deeper he goes. he waits for any sign that it hurts, that you need him to pause so you can take a break.

but it never comes.

instead, he feels you spasm underneath him, your walls licking around him like a vice as you wail. your legs kick and your back arches, your pretty lips letting out mindless cries of pleasure all while he's completely frozen, balls deep in your clenching little pussy.

no matter how many times it happens, he's always astounded. as if he's never able to get used to the way you so easily lose your mind over his cock.

you squirt all over him, coating his abs in an erotic sheen of your cum. he always stays still, lidded eyes watching you ride out the orgasm he didn't even try to give you.

"i hope you're not done," he grunts, "'cause now i'm gonna make you cum."

and he needs to cum real bad after seeing you lose yourself on his cock like some easy little slut.

𝐆𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐯 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫

makes you squirt because he just wants you to feel good

two thick fingers stuffed inside your precious little cunt as you sat on his lap was the perfect way to spend your night. it had just been intended to be a movie and cuddle night but being finger fucked by your beautiful boyfriend was a much better alternative.

despite the palpable shyness that came with being completely nude while he was fully clothed, you still willfully spread your legs for him to play with your pussy.

you whine his name, back arching as your eyes rolled back in your head before realizing how badly you wanted to watch. with your head hanging between your shoulders, your wide eyes took in every perfect movement.

his pretty fingers spread your folds, circling your clit before slowly and carefully sinking into your pussy. your mouth falls open at the feeling and the sight of being stretched open.

with his chin resting on your shoulder, he watches his own fingers come out coated in your thick, creamy juices before fucking them back into your sticky little hole.

it was loud and lewd, the sound of your messy little pussy swallowing his fingers. but he didn’t seem to care, his hard cock pressing against your ass was definitely throbbing in arousal.

“‘m gonna cum,” you breathlessly warn, reaching down to wrap your hand around his wrist.

he hummed in your ear, “go ahead, show me how this pretty pussy cums, baby.”

his filthy words brought you to your end immediately. you wail out in pleasure, thighs twitching, your cunt squeezing his fingers so hard he had to pull them out.

as soon as he did, you gushed everywhere. he moaned at the sight of you squirting all over his lap. he played with your clit, moaning and whimpering in your ear the harder you came until you finally pushed him away.

he laughed softly at the sight of your twitching and trembling through the aftershocks of your orgasm.

“good girl,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your temple, “my good girl, so pretty...”

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐳

overstims you into squirting until you're in tears and begging him to stop

"ah, ah," he scolds, a sadistic little grin plastered across his face at the sight of you trembling beneath him.

there were tears in your eyes, just what he loved to see. when you cried because of him, because of the pleasure only he could bring you to.

"you were just teasin' me in front of everyone," he snarls, "made me come home just to play with this filthy little cunt. now you're tryin' to run away? you know better."

you whimper, letting your legs fall open again just to hear the half-hearted praise he lets out at the sight of your pretty pussy on display for him once again.

when he stuffs his cock back into your pussy, you squeal and kick your legs out. you feel so sensitive from the numerous orgasms he's already fucked out of your poor little cunt.

but he wasn't letting up, not even letting you breathe even as you twitched and wailed at the overstimulation. he angled his hips just right, practiced movements that allowed his pelvic bone to grind against your clit just right.

your eyes rolled back in your head, your walls squeezing down around him as another orgasm washed over you.

"messy little whore," he snaps, teeth gritted as he watches you squirt, coating his abs in your cum like the good little girl you were.

you laid there twitching and trembling, cunt spasming around his still hard cock. large, calluses hands smoothed down your body, licking eyes with your tired, dazed ones that were rimmed with tears.

"you know we're not done though," he breathes, slowing starting to move again, "you know that right, dumb girl?"

[randofics]

🎶 David Kushner- Skin and Bones

🎶 David Kushner- Dead Man

🎶 The Neighborhood- Sweater Weather

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You let out a breath, watching as it fogged in the cold November air and held your arms around you to keep warm as you waited for Sideswipe. Your back muscles were killing you after hunching over to grab boxes off the floor at work. All you wanted to do was lay in bed for the rest of the night.

Bright white headlights made you shield your eyes as he came to a stop in the empty lane of parking spaces. The gullwing passenger door opened for you, and sorely, you sat in the seat.

"Thanks for picking me up, Sides. I owe you one."

"Hey, I didn't have anything better to do. How was work?"

"Ugh, don't get me started."

"That bad, huh?" He watches you through his rearview mirror as you struggle to get comfortable. "Something wrong with my seat?"

"No, my back is practically screaming at me. I just need to lay in bed and relax. A massage would probably help, too, but I can't afford an appointment at the moment."

"My hood is still warm from the sun earlier. Maybe laying across it would help. I've heard that heat can help relax muscles."

"You hear that on TV?"

"I happened to catch it on one of the channels." A small smile twitches at your lips.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

-------

After pulling into the junkyard, you hop out attempting futility to pop your sore back as you massage your muscles. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, Strong-arm is on patrol with Bumblebee, and Denny took Russel, Fixit, and Grimlock out to watch the city parade from the hilltop."

"I forgot that was happening tonight. I'm glad Russel gets to see it. He seemed so excited about it this morning."

"How about we go back to my quarters and watch some TV?"

"Sure. You said I could use your hood, remember?"

"You think I forgot? How dare you!" His faux offense made you laugh as you trailed behind him. He bowed as he held the makeshift door open for you, and you shook your head at his antics. Taking the remote, you turned on the TV quickly, flipping through the channels to one that never failed to interest you. Animal world was on, and a re-run of the leopard episode was playing.

"Alright, transform so I can warm up my back. It's freaking chilly." He chuckles, rolling his optics as he transforms. You lay back on his hood, being careful not to scratch his paint. Almost immediately, the warmth of his metal seeps through the fabric to your skin. Your body relaxing as the warmth soakes down to your bones.

You stay like that for a little while, but the heat slowly fades, and your muscles are left sore. Rolling over onto your stomach, you let out an annoyed groan.

Sides' chuckle catches your attention. "That leopard has the same idea as you." Glancing back at the screen, you see a leopard sunning itself on a dark rock. The big cat looks content, all sprawled out like that. A small smile comes to your face before you stand, letting out a pained hiss as your muscles take on your weight again.

"Still sore?"

You nod, twisting your back in another futile attempt at popping it. He transforms, crouching down behind you. "Can you lift me under my arms so I can pop my back?"

His servos wrap around you under your arms, lifting you a foot off the ground as you let your body go limp. Your spine crackles as the vertebrae decompress, releasing some of your tension. After he sets you down, you test out your spine. The pain of your muscles is still present, but any spinal pain is pretty much gone.

"You want me to give you a massage?"

You're a bit surprised at his question. Did he really just ask you that? Did he even know what that insinuated or even how to properly do it? Your mouth moved faster than your brain.

"That would be great!"

Why'd you have to say that!? Now you had to go through with it! You kicked yourself as you made your way back to your camper. He transformed again, parking just outside the door as you walked in. His holoform followed you to the "bedroom" of the small mobile space. There were only two lights, one for the living/kitchen and another for the tiny bathroom, leaving the bed dimly illuminated.

You removed your hoodie, tossing it to the side as you sat on the edge of the mattress. "So, how are we doing this?"

"Lie down on your stomach, and I'll sit beside you."

Once you're in position, he sits cross-legged next to you. "Do you mind if I lift your shirt?" Shaking your head as best you can against the pillow in your arms, you take a calming breath. The cool air hits your skin as he lifts the hem of your shirt. When his holoform didgets touch your skin, a chill runs up your spine. Goosebumps form all along your body as he maps out your back.

Soon, he starts adding pressure to his touch. It's light at first like he's afraid he'll hurt you, but slowly, he gets heavier with his hands. Your sore muscles slowly feel much better as your pleasure senses take over. Heat spreads through your body.

-------

When a small sound escapes your throat, he pauses. "Not hurting you, am I?" Your voice is small as you answer.

"No, I'm fine."

He continues, pressing into the muscles of your lower back, eliciting another sound. This time, he keeps moving, listening for the little sounds you let out.

When he places his fingers over your love handles and presses in the backsides with his thumbs a much louder sound escapes you.

You attempt in vain to smother the sounds with the pillow. Muscles quiver under his fingers, and curiosity gets the better of him. Gently, he grazes his fingers across the front of your abdomen and love handles, making you squirm a little.

With a bright blush on your face, you turn to look at him. "What are you doing, Sides?"

"Um... sorry, I got distracted. What's up with that reaction?"

"It's... my abdomen is sensitive, ok I can't help it when you touch me like that."

"Right here?" He tilts his head like a confused puppy as he grips your hip again, letting his thumb graze under the hem of your jeans.

"Yes! So don't do that." A mischievous glint in his eye makes your heart skip a beat. "I'm not sure what you're thinking, but you probably shouldn't go through with it."

"What? I'm not thinking anything." You feel his thumb again as you grip his wrist, his other hand cupping your side squeezing gently. Suddenly, he lifts your shirt to your lower ribs and pulls the hem of your jeans down an inch. Your eyes widen as a gasp escapes your throat. His lips make contact with the v of your abdomen.

Blood rushes to your face as you bite down lightly on your knuckle. Your other hand tangles in his dyed red hair. While the feeling itself isn't overly pleasurable, the act is extremely erotic. His eyes connect with your half lidded ones as his teeth nip your skin. He places another kiss there before moving up slowly over your stomach, giving you light pecks and nips all the way to just under your sternum.

When he pauses, you look down at him quizzically. In one swift motion, he pulls you up into his lap, making you yelp. Instantly, his lips are on your neck. You melt into him, wrapping your arms around him and tangling your fingers in his hair.

-------

He can feel your breathing quicken with the rapid beating of your heart. His spark pulses faster with his own excitement. Your scent, taste, and fingers in his hair overwhelm his holoform senses. Your skin, though littered with natural bumps for the most part, is silky soft. And your plush flesh feels amazing in his hands.

Your small gasps float into his audials through the holoform, and they sound heavenly.

-------

You feel his hands on your back, one massaging your muscles while the other glides over your skin, slipping under the back of your bra. Without warning, his lips connect with yours. He's surprisingly good at it, considering it was probably his first time. You didn't even know if cybertronians kissed at all. Your head was swimming with his intensity, not that you minded much.

Lightly, you scratched at his upper back, legs locked tight around his waist. As far as you were concerned, you could do this till your heart gave out, but fate wouldn't even let it come close to that.

There was a knock on your camper door, making Sideswipe turn his head to look. Russell's voice broke through the silence. "Hey, Y/N, Sideswipe! You guys in there? Come watch the parade you're about to miss the best part!"

In a poof of pixelated glowing particles, the warm body you were wrapped around was gone, and you fell back on your mattress. You lay there for a second, arms splayed above your head as you let out an annoyed groan. You loved Russel, but he had the absolute worst timing sometimes.

Sitting up, you could still feel his hands on you, and the feeling of his lips lingered as you walked to your door.

Outside, Bumblebee stood with his usual cross arm stance. Sideswipe was still in his alt mode in the same spot as before. There was a barely noticeable quake in your steps as Bee eyed you. Your hair was ruffled, and red marks were starting to form on your neck and jaw. Your face was still red from the blood rush, and you were acting a tad nervous.

When you lightly kicked Sideswipes tire, annoyance evident on your face he put two and two together.

-------

"Hey, what was that for!?"

"You know darn well what that was for!"

"It's not like I had any other options!"

"Yeah, you did! You could've faced it like a man instead of turnin' tail and running!"

Russel looked confused at the whole exchange but took your hand, dragging you behind him to the hilltop. When you got there, Denny handed you a blanket, which you gladly wrapped around you. Fireworks cracked in the air as the end of the parade was driving down the street below.

The nose of Sideswipes alt pressed into your rear, making another blush come to your face. You glanced around, making sure no one had seen that before turning your head to look at him. With a small hop, you sat on his hood, crossing your dangling feet.

When the parade ended and everyone was going back to the junkyard, you and Sideswipe stayed put. Hopping off his hood, you stood with your arms crossed.

"What?" Moving closer with an expression he wasn't familiar with, slight intimidation makes him roll backward. "Wh-what are you doing!?"

"Continuing what you started." Your hips sway as you follow him, backing him all the way almost into a tree. "Holoform, please."

Under your expectant gaze, he produces his holoform. He looks as nervous as you'd expected.

Pushing him into his driver's side door, you press your body against him. He sucks in a breath, his eyes flickering from your eyes, lips, and chest pressing into his. "Like what you see, darlin?"

You hear him gulp as he forces his eyes closed. He makes the mistake of tilting his head up, giving you the perfect opening to ghost your lips across his synthetic skin and whisper in his ear. "Not so cocky now, are ya?"

When he looks back down at you in surprise, you press your lips against his. His hands shakily grab your hips as he bends down for you. As you continue to kiss, the two of you are none the wiser to a pair of optics watching you.

Bee, with a knowing smile on his faceplate, chuckles, shaking his head. He walks back into the junkyard, leaving the two of you be.

[weebsinstash]

Can you make pretty please write some yandere thragg headcannons

Sure can! (Also some minor spoilers with a like more mild spoiler that's in an image so like, it's censored but poorly so, yeah just a warning!)

- first and foremost to give some very minor future spoilers, there is something you have to understand: even by Viltrumite standards Thragg is considered Way Too Hardcore and there are men like Conquest who are even worse, more shortsighted, and bloodthirstier than him. There ARE Viltrumites who think their society is way too unfeeling and heartless and they DO want to love and be normal and have loving families but this is a... a society with an ancient culture with traditions that are being upheld by force that keep the general Viltrumite populace living in misery and Thragg is a huge enforcer of this unhappy lifestyle. Like shit in one of the newest episodes of Invincible a bunch of Viltrumites rocked up to Mark and beat the absolute shit out of him and Kregg (eyepatch guy) was like "yeah you survived getting the shit beat out of you which proves you're strong and worthy of your viltrumire heritage, so I'm drafting you into the Viltrum army, do what we say or we'll beat the shit out of you" AND THATS ONE OF THE GOOD VILTRUMITES. Like literally Viltrum society is terrifying and once you start learning the lengths with which they enforce their beliefs and rules you'll see why Nolan was like, trying to force Mark to be like him; you resist and they DEMOLISH YOU. Nolan was and still is TERRIFIED of Viltrum and rightfully so

- a yandere thragg is quite literally a character who does not know affection or how to display or receive it in any way whatsoever because his entrenchment in the "traditional viltrumite mindset" and his own greed for power and absolute control makes him incredibly impersonal. Like I'm serious even with the like magical yandere cooties that make him finally understand what love or obsession is, he will literally have to learn the ropes of caring for you as another person and this is a man who has been taught empathy and kindness make you weak so like. Yeah. Like we're talking about a guy who at some point is gonna watch his hybrid children literally splatter as he throws them, literally throws them, at enemies too strong for them and then blames his kids for not being stronger, like. Thragg is a monster and there's no ifs ands or buts about it

-the most romantic this man can come up with is walking straight up to you and telling you "I want to mate" to your face and having gifts made for you from planets he's conquered or things he's killed and that's the best he's got. He doesn't understand the more emotional psychological side of love but he at least understands that sex is something mates do and that it's a bonding experience between you and him and it's a physical pleasure, vulnerability thing. Mated animals have sex and human mates have sex so the two of you are going to have sex alright? He also won't admit it but like. Holding you after sex or letting you rest against him afterwards is the closest you'll get to cuddling because like. He's not gonna ask to cuddle with you just for the sake of cuddling. And even if he ever wanted to (the desire grows with time lol), he would just sit down beside you and pull you into his lap, he wouldn't ask your permission

-like seriously you'll be in bed and it's like 2 am and you'll be woken up by him suddenly rolling you over without any sort of warning, "i want to mate" and that's just. It. You get to lie there as he folds you like a pretzel

-this man fucks just to cum and I think the only way he could be a good lover is if he's big with stamina and you'll reach orgasm through sheer overstimulation and time dedicated because, you want me to believe this man knows foreplay? You think Thragg can eat ass? Please. I feel like in the depths of. Yandereness he would develop a taste for giving oral but like I'm, I'm pretty positive you would be the first ever person he's done that to

- thragg showing affection is like. You're taken along with him to where he works and you walk into the room and he's just absolutely soaked in blood and there's some sort of creature being dismantled in front of him and he turns to you, "this creature has a carapace that can be crafted into fine armor. does its color please you" "y-yes?" "Very well. We shall have a matching set ready by the evening and then we shall mate" "o-ok... thank you Grand Regent" "begone, this area is not safe for you, return to the central hall and await my return" "ok, sure, yeah... I mean, yes Grand Regent"

- yes, even as his mate you'll be calling him his title all the time, although I imagine once he starts really "softening up" he'll demand you call him his name or even "husband" and not doing so and using his title on purpose in defiance will anger him

-absolutely convinced I shit you not that Viltrumites have a duality of "their photos/shrines of you have you either looking as soft and harmless and helpless as possible or they have entire collages of you looking absolutely pissed or doing violent shit" and I'm convinced Thragg would find you being angry hot. Idk. I feel like it's entirely contextual. You give HIM too much lip, he may have to physically punish you, but maybe you get furious at someone else and start tearing into them, even wanting to fight? Obviously depending on context he'll encourage you to tear that person to shreds

- I'm stuck on whether he's a "will watch you get your ass beaten because he wants you to toughen up/fight your own fights" or "if anyone scratches you they're paste" kind of guys. Like can you imagine some, tenured centuries old Viltrumite manages to just absolute piss you off and you're yelling and screaming and swinging on them (maybe you're a human, hybrid, Viltrumite yourself, whatever) and they're just. Forced to stand there and take it. Because the SECOND they so much as GRAB YOU, there's the Grand Regent to absolutely beat their ass. You could almost kill them and Thragg is like goading you on but if they BRUISE YOU like, that's it, it's so one-sided

-I'm just saying, like. Nolan literally used Mark to tear apart an entire subway car of people and was casually offing humans left and right because his status as an almost immortal alien has made him kind of indifferent to other forms of life so like. What the fuck would Thragg do to a Reader who just got their powers and didn't want to work for the Empire or be part of it or even be around him. You cannot convince me this man wouldn't kill so many people directly in front of you. Or even just as a human yourself. Imagine him just tearing through tons of other people because he's trying to scare you onto line. I mean. Nolan was literally ripping people's heads and faces off and tearing out chunks of their body with their bare hands. These people casually break each other's bones and CAN SURVIVE DISEMBOWLING EACH OTHER like. You cannot tell me Thragg wouldn't just literally tear a human in half right in front of you like a kid with a butterfly.

- Thragg is absolutely on that "goes from being extremely distant and nonverbal to all but spending every second of the day with you and gets agitated if you're in a different room for too long" yandere pipeline. This man goes from not knowing how to properly hold a conversation with you to Oh My God If You Don't Sit In My Lap During My War Council Meeting I Will Be SUCH A Bitch About It

Can we like. Can we like talk about THIS

Did he like. Did HE decide this. Is this a Thraxan custom without his input amd this is just a thing the monarch gets. I mean. Comic readers know this man gets MAD pussy for the sake of breeding but like. Is this HIS harem. Did HE build this. Did he tell them to dress like this or is this a Thraxan tradition and he's just like so unbothered by the ass and tiddies. Is this just so people can tell these are His Designated Hoes. Like. Is he secretly being horny on main and pretending he's not a perv or was this done for him and he's just like meh. Yandere Thragg who absolutely HAS to dress you up in custom Viltrum wear or armor or cloaks that match his own, like literally him decking you in armor or like a nicely padded flightsuit is like his version of, giving you lingerie or publicly marking you idk. Like is seeing you covered in sweat and blood just as hot as a normal person would find like, nudes. Lmao

- LASTLY I'm sorry long post. I know I said something conflicting earlier in a different context but. Oh my gosh this man would be THE WORST but also dedicated yandere father. Oh my fucking god. Helicopter parent. Let's just say if you're shooting the shots, you can impregnate as many creatures as you want but if you're the one capable of being pregnant he doesn't want to let you do SHIT because he doesn't want his baby carrying inferior spawn or having a risky pregnancy. Like seriously you could be his son and fucking like as many fucked up weird looking aliens and impregnating all the chicks you want and Thragg doesn't care, and as his daughter it's "father when will I be allowed to date, I came of age over a century ago" "quiet, I have yet to find a suitable mate for you, just continue being obedient and accompany me on this mission" "yes father...."

I can't even imagine like. Being his kid and being powerless, or like temporarily powerless. You have one of those manhwa level neglected childhoods and you grow into a depressed husk and suddenly your powers appear and you're naturally gifted and like above average in everything and Thragg wants to suddenly bond with you and you just look right through him like you wouldn't care if he suddenly dropped dead right in front of you. Someone disrespected you and you just take it because you still remember running up to your father as a child and being shoved away amd he literally doesn't even understand why you have no respect for yourself so he then tries to smother you to make up for lost time

Idk. I'm caught between multiple ideas because I like the idea of Thragg going "oh so you're fragile and powerless? You're literally never leaving my side ever again, if something wants to harm you they'll have to kill me first" and this extends to you just having no life of your own. Maybe he forces you to be a clerk or something for him, papers and desk work and whatnot, something that keeps you safe and close and if you get so much as a sniffle there's an entire array of royal doctors to treat you

That being said, daughter, son, wife, husband, partner, whatever, you're not getting away from this guy. The only things capable of hurting him are essentially alien technology, Viltrumite strength, being a species stronger than a Viltrumite, magic, like... he's invulnerable, he's invincible, he's way too strong, way too fast, and way too mean. He'll keep you on your toes and he'll casually pop heads in front of you like it's talking about the weather if it keeps you in line. If he wants you to be his soldier, you'll be his soldier. If he wants you to be his personal guard, you will be. His mate? No objections need be considered. He's always taken what he wants - that's how he was raised and what his society encourages - and that means acquiring you and absorbing you into his life is no different

[jessicaloons]

Chapter 49:

All's well that ends well to end up with you

Masterlist - Previous - Next

"Can’t they stop staring at us?" I whispered, Charles pulling me closer to his side.

"They’re staring at you, cara mia. And what did you expect? People watched the documentary and bam! You dropped casually that you’ll retire at the end of the season. No explanation. No statement from you. No nothing." he sighed.

"There will be no explanation, only reputation." I joked and Charles chuckled "And what was there left to explain? When they watched the episodes they know why I had to retire. And why would I write a statement if it’s already out there?"

"True." he chuckled "I’m just so happy that everyone knows now what was going on, what you had to go through. What they all did with their constant bashing…"

"It’s out now. No turning back." I said as we stopped in front of the Audi hospitality.

"It definitely is out there… but I thought they wanted to announce Mick as their driver right on Monday?"

"They wanted to, but there was a little problem with the contract from Alpine. It’s sorted now, he signed his contract and they’ll announce it anytime now." I smiled

and took the 3 steps on terrace "See you later?"

"Yup." he pulled me down a little and kissed my cheek "See you later my pretty girl."

I pulled away and waved him off, walking inside.

"Lizzie, hey!" Matt smiled at me and I walked over to him "How are you? Now that it’s all out?"

"Relieved? But also annoyed because people look at me now like I’m a little helpless and injured deer…" I sighed and he chuckled.

"You’re anything but a helpless and injured deer, that’s for sure!" he rolled his eyes a little.

"Tell that the rest of the paddock." I shrugged my shoulders "Have you seen Julie?"

"She was with Felix, last time I checked…" he replied and I nodded.

"Alright, see you later!" I waved him off, looking for Julie, right as she stepped inside the lounge.

"There you are. We’ve got a little bit to do before I drop you off at the press conference!" she said and I nodded.

"When will you announce Mick?" I asked.

"We thought about doing it after the season? We want to keep the focus on you and your last two races with us."

"Oh that’s alright, you can announce him now, I’m fine with that, draws the attention away from me again." I laughed and she nodded.

"I’ll talk with Felix, then."

"Thanks Julie."

"Hey you." Max bumped slightly into me.

"Hey Max." I replied as he hugged me.

"How are you?" he looked at me and I sighed "I had no idea how bad your accident was... fucking hell Lizzie..."

"I didn't want anyone else to know... I didn't want to speak about it all the damn time."

"Yeah, I understand that... but now?" he nodded towards the conference room.

"I'm retiring, so only a couple of interviews left and then there won't be more questions anymore." I shrugged my shoulders and he nodded, right when Lewis patted my back "Hey Lewis."

"You're amazing, I hope you know that." he hugged me and I smiled "What you've been through and still delivered weekend after weekend? That's inspiring, Lizzie, really."

"Thanks Lewis." I said when the doors opened "Now come on guys, let's go."

We walked inside and I sat down between Max and Lewis, talking away until the press conference started. When Sainz and Oscar arrived, Tom Clarkson took his microphone and began.

"Welcome back to the penultimate race of the 2024 Formula 1 season here in Qatar. With me today Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren and last but not least Lizzie Doetterer, Audi. Now, starting with you Lizzie. Last Sunday, for everyone who watched the Netflix Originals: Drive to Survive - The Story or Lizzie Doetterer, was in for a rollercoaster ride, with an unexpected ending. You'll retire at the end of the season. How are you feeling, one week after revealing it to the world?"

I picked up the microphone and tilted my head a little, thinking about the right words.

"The final decision to retire was made after Monza, so I had a few weeks already to wrap my head around it, you know?

But... I honestly don't know how I'm feeling? Sad? Mad? Proud? Relieved? There are a lot of emotions on my mind right now. But above all I think I'm grateful. For the chance that my team gave me, for the love and support of my family and friends, but of course also my fans! The other drivers who made me feel welcome on the grid and made it easy to fit right in. All the memories I could create over the past 3 years."

"The decision was made after Monza, is it then safe for you to keep driving until the end of the season?"

"Not really, no..." I chuckled a little "If it was for my doctors, I would've never gone back to racing in the first place. But here I am... it was a calculated risk, one I was willing to take. I was monitored strictly the last few weeks and as soon as the issues with my back would've get any worse, I would have quit immediately. But fortunately I was lucky to keep going and I'm confident that I can finish the season like I planned to, racing this weekend and the next as well."

"Which brings us back to the race on Sunday. Qatar, always a tough race for the driver, not just the car, what can Audi do this weekend?"

"I think the track suits are car not in every aspect, as it's a highspeed track with lots of downforce, which wasn't our strongest suit this season, but I'm confident."

"Alright. Thanks Lizzie, let’s continue with Max…" Clarkson began and I put my microphone down, listening how Max, then Lewis and lastly Oscar were asked about me, both praising me, I didn’t listen to what Sainz had to say, I honestly didn’t care and when the questions from the journalists in front of us came, I wasn’t surprised that most of them were about me retiring and leaving an open seat at Audi.

"Ferran Alvarez, Marca. Question for Carlos. With Lizzie retiring now, her seat will be free next season. Are there talks again between you and Audi, as it’s one of the best available seats for next season?" a dark haired man asked Sainz and I had to suppress a laughter.

"Of course the seat at Audi is an option, as it is, like you said, probably the best seat of the remaining options. My team is working at the presented options and I’m sure before the last race I’ll have some good news for you." Sainz replied and I had to fight, to not burst out laughing.

"So there are talks then?" the reporter pressed and Sainz grinned.

The grin made my insides boil and I had to do what I did next, wiping away exactly that grin.

"I can already give you some breaking news today, we don’t have to wait until next week…" I said and all eyes were on me in a heartbeat "I’m very, very, very happy to announce that non other than Mick Schumacher will be driving for Audi next season, taking over my seat, completing the all-German line-up for Audi."

Silence. Total and absolute silence. And with one look at Sainz I knew I achieved my goal. Grin gone, scowl present. How I would miss moments like these. His DNF in Sunday’s race was just the icing on the cake.

Charles POV:

"I could watch it over and over, I swear… that was the highlight of my weekend!" I laughed, watching the press conference again, replaying the part where Lizzie shattered all of Carlos’ hopes to get her seat "Poor Mick… he was just walking down the paddock and everyone pounced at him out of the blue."

"Yeah, for that I’m sorry… but the rest? Worth it." Lizzie chuckled.

"How do you feel?" I pulled her closer and she raised her eyebrows "It’s your last race weekend…"

"Yeah, I know… honestly? I’m feeling good? Excited even." she shrugged and I cupped her cheek "I’m thinking more about you! Your first championship! How freaking awesome!"

"I didn’t win it yet! First I have to win the race!" I sighed and she rolled her eyes.

"Can you just, for once, believe in my words? I say you win, then you win. Period." Lizzie pouted a little and I pecked her lips.

"Okay, okay… I believe in your words!" I chuckled and she smiled.

"Good!" she pulled away and got off the bed, walking to her suitcase, while I read the mail I got, smiling to myself.

"Oh shit, not again…" Lizzie mumbled and I looked up from my iPad.

"What happened?"

"I forgot something…" she sighed and popped a little pill in her mouth, washing it down with some water "…again."

"And what did you forget?" I put my iPad down and she threw a little package with pills at me "Is that…"

"Birth control… yep…" she said and I looked at the blister, that was labelled with the weekdays "I took it so irregular the last weeks. I have to set a daily reminder or something."

"Why don’t you just take the ones you forgot now?" I asked and she laughed.

"Because that’s not how it works?"

"So what happens when you forget it?" I handed her the blister.

"Well…" she sighed, pointing at her belly "Poof."

"Oh! Like… so it’s not really a good contraception?"

"It is, if you don’t forget to take it like me." Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and I nodded "Don’t worry, it’s not like you forget it once and you end up pregnant already!"

"There were a lot of full ones in between the few popped ones?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well then, wrap it before you tap it." she laughed and I groaned.

"Don’t say it like that…"

"Why?" she returned from the bathroom and I just shook my head.

"Just-… don’t say it like that… ever again…"

"Okay… are you ready now? Let’s get this day over with." she slipped on her shoes and I got off from the bed.

"Last media day." I said and she nodded.

"Yup… let’s go." she was out the door before I even grabbed my sunglasses.

"Wait for me cara mia!" I rolled my eyes and followed her outside, getting into the elevator downstairs where our car was already waiting for us. I took the keys from the attendant and opened Lizzie’s door for her, quickly getting inside myself.

"I hate that the FIA put me into a group with you… I don’t want them to talk about me today! They should talk about you! And how you’ll be a world champion after the weekend!" she said after a while and I squeezed her thigh.

"I don’t mind talking about you today. I love talking about you, one of my favourite things…" I chuckled and I saw her lips twitch a little, fighting with a smile "It will be fine, I’m sure they’re not just asking about you!"

I was only partly right, there was a lot of talks about Lizzie and her last race, how she felt, how I felt but as soon as we all said our piece the questions changed and Max and I were asked about the upcoming race, how we approached it.

"I mean, I’ll approach it like every other race? I never was this close to winning the title, so I don’t know if I should approach it differently?" I answered looking at Max who just laughed.

"Never approached it differently. At the end of the day it’s just a race like any other, just with a slightly different outcome." he said and I nodded.

"Meg Saunders, BBC Sports. This is going to be a tough and tight battle on Sunday, Charles going in with 444 points and Max going in with 437. Max even if you win, Charles can’t be in P2 with the fastest lap, because then he’s one point ahead. So you have to win with the fastest lap to not care where Charles will end up at the race, how much pressure is that?" the red haired woman in the second row asked Max and he looked at me.

"Charles put me under pressure the whole season already, so nothing new. We both will do our best and then we’ll see what happens."

"Charles, anything to add? You can win the race and don’t have to think about what others do?"

"No, it’s like Max said, we will do our best and then we’ll see what happens." I said and with that Tom Clarkson finished the press conference.

"Lizzie, it was a pleasure working with you, all the best for the future and maybe I’ll see you on Sunday again?" he said and Lizzie smiled.

"Would be amazing."

Starting the race from pole was a good position to get some distance between me and Max, and with Lizzie as a buffer behind me, I knew that I could do it. I could win the championship, do what Lizzie said from the beginning of the season. I was never this nervous during a formation lap, but I focused. I couldn’t mess this up. The start had to be perfect and as soon as the lights were out I was in my well known tunnel, only me and the track.

"Manage your rear tires a bit better." Bryan radioed and I adjusted my driving immediately.

The next 3 laps I was flying, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. But then I saw the yellow flags and slowed down. Shortly after the red flag was waved and I waited for Bryan’s input.

"Red flag. Return to the pits."

"What happened?"

"Perez and Alonso, both out."

"Are they okay?"

"Yes. Both are okay."

"Alright." I sighed and drove into the pits, waiting for further instructions.

"Race will resume in 15 minutes, you can get out of the car."

I unbuckled my seatbelt, took my steering wheel off and climbed out of the car, walking towards the Ferrari garage when I spotted Lizzie, having trouble getting out of her car. I immediately walked over to her but was relieved when I saw that she just had trouble with her belt.

"Hey you." I said, opening the visor and she climbed out of her car "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, my leg got tangled in the seatbelt, happened never before, no idea how that happened." she chuckled and I helped her down "Mr. race leader." she said and I rolled my eyes a little.

"There’s still 20 laps left, don’t get ahead of yourself."

"20 laps left, you have the fastest lap and Max looks like he’s struggling." she replied and I nodded slightly.

"It’s looking good. But first when I take the checkered flag I’m celebrating, okay?" I squeezed her shoulder gently and she nodded.

"Alright. Now you have to excuse me but I need to pee. See you after the race!" she patted my helmet and I smiled, watching her walk away.

I had to win. If not for me, then for Lizzie and her unwavering faith in me. I had to win this title for her.

"My tyres are gone." I radioed.

"3 more laps Lizzie. You can do this."

"These two are crazy! One of them will end up in a wall!"

"Max knows that Charles has the fastest lap at the moment."

"Oh…"

"Charles is faster overall."

"Okay."

No wonder they both pushed their cars to the absolut limit and above. After the messy re-start and Max overtaking Charles because his tires weren’t ready yet they kept on fighting like crazy. The next corner they both left the track, pushing each other harder than ever before. Would Max win, but Charles kept the fastest lap, Charles would be world champion. The next corners it looked like a battle. They were going wheel to wheel, sparks flying everywhere and right when they pushed each other wide again, 2 more laps to go, I saw an opportunity to squeeze past them and I send it.

"Amazing Lizzie! Push, push, push! Give it your all!" Pete radioed, his voice almost hysterical "Last lap Lizzie! Last lap! Bring it home, little one!"

"Trying my best! Charles in P2?"

"Yes. He still has the fastest lap as well."

"Fucking amazing."

He did it. He won. He was a Formula 1 world champion. When I saw the checkered flag being waved, the emotions overcame me. It was my last checkered flag. My last race. My last win. But for Charles it meant so much more. All the years of doubts, blaming himself for every mistake his team did, all the people dragging him down, that all meant nothing anymore. He won. I never doubted it one second, but it still felt amazing.

"You did it Lizzie! That’s P1! What a race little one! We are all so proud of you! Thank you for the last 3 years Lizzie. Working alongside you was the best." Pete radioed and I could’ve sworn that I heard him sniffle.

"Thanks Pete. For everything! You were the best race engineer I could’ve asked for! You all are the best team I could’ve wished for! I love you guys so much and I wish you nothing but the best for the seasons to come! I know that with Mick and Nico you’ll have two amazing drivers to continue what we’ve build! Thank you all so freaking much!" I felt tears welling up and tried to steady my breathing.

"Little one, thank you for everything you’ve done for our team! You and Valtteri were the best drivers to begin this project with. Today you proofed again why this seat was always rightfully yours. I’m so proud of you! And of Charles, he deserves this title more than anyone else! He had an amazing season and you were right from the beginning." Felix radioed next and I chuckled.

"Tell Matt to get prepared for his little night swim in the harbour."

"Don’t worry, we’ll all make sure he keeps his word."

I parked my car in the middle spot and jumped out of it, running to my team and hugged them all, cheered with them, knowing that this was my last time. Felix patted my helmet and nodded to left and I turned, seeing Charles parking his car. I almost immediately bolted and stood next to his car, pulling him out and in my arms.

"You did it." we both screamed at the same time and I had to chuckle.

"You won, cara mia! Your last race!" Charles voice muffled.

"You’re a world champion, Charles! WORLD CHAMPION! I knew it!" I screamed and he held me even closer "Go! Celebrate with your team! Come on now!" I pushed him towards his team and they all began to cheer and shout.

"Hey race winner." I heard Max voice behind me when I pulled off my helmet and turned around "Congrats Lizzie, amazing race. Amazing season… what am I saying! Amazing career."

"Oh Maxie, stop!" I chuckled and hugged him "Sorry that you lost today."

"I lost against the best driver on the grid, after me of course…" he winked and I laughed "He deserves it. He was the only one who could really fight with me these past years and I always said with a better car he would’ve won more titles already…"

"Maybe you can persuade him into coming to Red Bull?" I wiggled my eyebrows but he chuckled.

"Look at him, you think he would leave this team ever especially after tonight?" Max replied, nodding towards the red sea of people all chanting and celebrating Charles.

"No, probably not, you’re right. He loves Ferrari too much…" I said.

"He is Ferrari." Max said and I looked at him.

"You’re right. He is Ferrari."

I kept on staring at Charles and his team, celebrating like there was no tomorrow and a part of me was the happiest I could ever be, knowing that no other driver on the grid deserved this title more than him. But another part of me, a teeny tiny one was hurt, knowing that I would never have the chance to celebrate a championship. The moment Charles turned around though, looking at me, almost sprinting towards me that part was forgotten.

"I love you cara mia, without you I would’ve never won this title…" he whispered and cupped my cheeks, kissing me right as the fireworks above our heads erupted.

I stood there in awe, watched the subsiding fireworks above us, lifted my last trophy ever into the night sky of Abu Dhabi. Then I turned right and looked into Charles eyes, the biggest smile on his face, dimples on full display. I could see him swell with pride, but above all with love. He just won his first world championship but he only had words of praise for me during his interview. He received his trophy but pointed at me as he lifted it into the night sky. 3 seasons of Formula 1. One season in the WSeries. Two seasons in F2. One season in F3 and countless seasons in karting. It all ended tonight. It was the end of my career, but the beginning of a whole new life, I just knew it. For one moment the world was silent, but then the buzzing atmosphere returned and in the corner of my eyes to my left I saw Max grabbing his bottle of Champagne, Charles on my right doing the same right as "Les Toreadors" blasted through the speakers and the next moment I was soaked with champagne, grabbing my own bottle spraying first Charles, then Max and lastly Felix, who stood with us on the podium on this special night. Basking in the glorious feeling, we clinked our bottles and had a sip of champagne, then gathered one last time together on the podium, Felix joined my right side, Charles to my left, next to him Max. One last smile for the cameras and then it was over. Trophies and champagne bottles in our hands we walked down the stairs and I was quiet, not saying a word while Charles, Felix and Max were talking.

"Cara mia?” I heard Charles voice and looked at him "I gotta go to the garage, drop off my stuff, see you in the media pen?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure…" I replied quickly and he pecked my lips, then rushed off.

"See you later." Max smiled and I waved him off as he walked away.

Felix pulled me into his side and took a deep breath.

"We’re going to miss you, Lizzie. You build this team up with us…" he said and I smiled at him "The success that we had the past 3 years, no one thought we’d be this good as a mostly new team! It was all thanks to you and Valtteri."

"Mostly Lizzie though, she’s the only Audi race winner…" Valtteri said as we walked inside our garage and he hugged me "I‘m going to miss you on the grid, kiddo."

"I’m going to miss you too, my Finisher” I replied and we laughed.

The next minutes happend in a blur, hand shaking here, hugs there, shared smiles and laughs, congratulations thrown my way. Then Julie tipped on my shoulder, a huge grin on her face.

"Come on. Media pen. Now.” she smiled and I followed her through the paddock "So, that’s it? Last time I drag your ass into the media pen and take care of your loose tongue?"

"Yup, looks like it, be honest, you’re happy! No more worries what I might screw up this time!" I laughed but Julie shook her head.

"Yeah, you’ve been a real pain in the ass at times, but you were always brutally honest, a quality many people lack these days. I’m really going to miss you!" she said and I stopped and hugged her tight.

"I’ll miss you too! All of you, you were the best team I could’ve ask for!” I whispered and she gently patted my back, as she felt me trembling a little.

"It’s okay, take your time…" she whispered and I sniffled a little and then pulled away, smiling "Enough emotions for now? Yeah, alright. Ready for Sky Germany, UK, Italy?”

"Last media pen of my career!" I laughed and we stepped inside.

It was different than usually, the interviews took way longer, everyone congratulated me on my career and wished me all the best for the future. Some selfies were taken and by the time Julie gently grabbed my wrist, pushing me towards the door, I realised that I was the last one in the media pen and probably too late for my last post race press conference ever.

I stepped inside, Charles and Max already waiting and looking at me as I sat down in the middle, taking a big gulp of sparkling water from the bottle Charles handed me and then picked up the microphone, looking at Tom Clarkson.

"Let’s do this, shall we?" I asked and laughter erupted.

"You do realise we were waiting for you?" Charles chuckled.

"Sorry guys, the media pen took a little longer than usually…"

"It’s okay, ladies and gentlemen welcome to the final post race press conference of the 2024 season here in Abu Dhabi, here with me race winner Lizzie Doetterer from Audi in her last race, in P2 our new world champion Charles Leclerc, and last but not least in third place Max Verstappen, Red Bull. We’ll start with you, now Lizzie take us with you through your last Formula 1 race?" Tom Clarkson smiled at me and I thought for a moment.

"It was a little odd, to be honest, knowing it would be my last race. But as soon as the lights went off I wasn’t thinking about it. Of course there were moments when it flashed through my mind, but I was trying to not let it bother me too much, I had a race to win…" I said and everyone laughed.

"It was in the penultimate lap that you overtook these two, winning your fifth and final race. What went through your mind?"

"Too much. I was just so grateful for everything I achieved with my team over the past 3 seasons. I was beyond happy that I won another race but above all I was just so happy that Charles won the championship…" I turned to look at him and he smiled, squeezing my thigh gently.

"Alright, thank you LizzieZNext up Charles, P2 today but overall you just won your first championship! Congrats! Talk us through your race…" Clarkson looked at Charles and I did the same.

How he happily answered all questions asked, seeing his dimples getting deeper and deeper with each passing question, I wasn’t even listening anymore, only staring at him, my world champion.

"Of course I wouldn’t be able to win this title without Lizzie we worked towards this goal together since we were 8? 9? It was her who pushed me to my limits and never doubted me for a second… when everyone criticised me she stood in front of me and was just there by my side, always knowing what to say and what to do… so yeah, this title is for the team, everyone in the factory, the Tifosi around the world, my family, Jules, Papa, but mostly it is for Lizzie, because she’s the reason I won it…" Charles said and I blinked a tear away, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

After Max’ congratulations for Charles and me, Clarkson opened up the floor for some more questions from the journalist. All of them joining in into the congratulations for Charles and me, some questions about the season overall and how Max will strike back next season when the final question was asked.

"Susan Boulder, New York Times. Charles, Lizzie, what’s next for you now? Will we see you accompany Charles to his races now? Will you start your own little something?" the lady with grey hair in the first row asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"What’s next is a long vacation. We need it after this season. And then… well I guess we’ll see." I replied and Charles next to me nodded.

"I have nothing to add."

"Alright, then that’s it for this season! See you all in Melbourne next year!" Clarkson finished off the press conference and we stood up. After a quick goodbye to Tom we left the stage, Charles reaching for my hand and together with Max we walked outside.

"That‘s it, I’m done, I‘m retired now!" I exhaled loudly and Max laughed.

"You will be every weekend on the track and cheer on the boys!" he said and Charles nodded in agreement.

"I mean, you’re right, I still have to support my team!“ I shrugged and Charles pinched my side.

"Cara mia, you have to cheer for me! I’m your boyfriend! I’m driving for Ferrari, your favourite team! Come on!" he said but I shook my head.

"But Charlie, Audi is still my team! And Ferrari has to do a lot more to be my favourite team again!" I joked.

"Whatever” Charles fake pouted and Max and I laughed as we stopped in front of the Red Bull garage.

"So I’m seeing you guys later at the harbour? Don’t know on wich yacht it is, but I guess we’ll see?" Max asked and I nodded, walking away with Charles.

"Alright, you go now to your team, celebrate a bit and I’ll pick you up in 30 minutes? Then we’ll leave, back to the hotel, shower and change and off we go to the party!" Charles rattled down our schedule and I nodded "I love you, cara mia!" he whispered against my lips and I stared into his eyes.

"I love you too, Charlie be-… oh…" I stopped abruptly and he looked at me "I promised you I would stop calling you that as soon as you won your first title…"

"You can always call me that… but maybe not in public…" he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine "And now go, your team is waiting." he kissed my cheek and pushed me gently towards our garage, walking away. I stepped inside and hugged everyone at least twice before I walked back into my drivers room. I knew that there would be a huge farewell party at home in the factory in a couple of days, when Mick will take over. So I wasn’t feeling bad about leaving the hectic garage to have some quiet minutes alone, to walk one last time through our team hospitality, thinking about everything I’ve experienced in here, all the memories I’ve made. It was bittersweet, but I felt no despair, only gratitude and pride. I took one last look of the empty hospitality, knowing that it will be busy and packed any minute, then I turned around, walking upstairs and opened the door to my room quietly.

The room was dark, only illuminated by the flickering light of a snow globe, my snow globe, that I gave Charles when we were kids and he got disqualified from a race at the end of 2009, the last race of the year. He never told me why he hit David, or Salva, he was just so devastated because his Dad said he was disappointed in his behaviour, that he shouldn’t hit someone for no reason, that he didn’t want to talk to anyone. Anyone but me. I told him I was sure he had a reason for hitting him, even if he didn’t want to share it, then I gave him the snow globe and said that it always made me happy to shake it and watch the glittery snow fall down on Lightning McQueen. Charles smiled and took it with him. We never even talked about it again, I honestly thought the snow globe landed in a box for goodwills the next summer, or latest when Charles moved out of his childhood home. But no, here it was, sitting on top of my table next to our P1 and P2 trophies. I was at a loss for words when Charles approached me, taking my hand in one of his, cupping my cheek with his other. "Charles, what’s…" I began but he shook his head.

"I was with all the other guys at the bleachers when you walked past us and waved, I waved back and they all started making stupid noises, making fun of me, saying I had a crush on you and were laughing at me, then David or Diaz, whatever, he said, that you’re just a stupid girl and that I just let you win, that you’re not even half as good as him… I told him to shut up and then he laughed and said if I love you so much and want to protect you, to play your knight in shining armour, then I should marry you… so I hit him… but although he was an asshole, and a psychopath as we know now… and all the other guys were assholes as well, he was right… I should marry you…" he said and my eyes widened as he took my other hand in the one that cradled milliseconds before my cheek and kneeled down in front of me, taking a deep breath and smiling his sweetest smile, dimples starting dimpling, eyes locked on mine.

I stopped breathing, my heart skipped a beat and Charles smiled nervously as he took the little jewellery box in his left hand. He closed his eyes for a second, taking another deep breath. Then his eyes were on mine and he smiled again.

"My beautiful Lizzie, mon amour, cara mia, it has always been you for me, it’s you I wanna see first things first when I wake up and it’s you I wanna see last when I go to sleep. I want your everything, the good, the bad, the ugly… although their can never be anything bad or ugly with you… saying that I love you doesn’t even express in the slightest how I feel for you, without you by my side, my life is just not liveable, it’s like your intertwined in every fiber of me! I promise to love you, care for you, make you laugh, cook for you, after I took another cooking class obviously, massage all your aches away, hug you when you need it, listen to you, tell you what you need to hear, be honest with you… now I just need an answer, to the most important question of my life. Elisabeth Doetterer, love of my life, will you do me the honor and make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me?" he opened the ring box and I gasped, the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen sparkled at me.

Tears were streaming down my face as I nodded.

"Oui! Ja! JA! Si! YES!" I answered and Charles leaped up from the floor and pulled me into a tight hug, hoisting me up in the air and spinning us around "A thousand times YES!" I screeched and kissed his cheeks.

"Ich liebe dich, Lizzie!" he twirled us around one last time before he sat me down and pulled me into an all consuming kiss.

After a moment where I had to fight off the dizziness from all the spinning, Charles took my left hand in his and slipped the ring on, it fit perfectly and I stared at it in awe.

"It’s perfect…" I murmured and Charles hugged me again, smiling when he saw how I was looking at my beautiful engagement ring, I turned my hand around, the lights reflecting off of it, making everything sparkle.

"Perfect, just like you!” he whispered and I couldn’t help it but beam at him as he started humming and I knew the melody by heart… Lover.

I stepped out of the bedroom, Charles on the phone with what sounded like our driver, when he turned around, his eyes widened and he hastily hung up.

"You look-… cara mia…" he began, looking me up and down from head to toe.

"Is it okay?" I asked nervously and his eyes shot up, meeting mine as he walked over, his hands on my waist pulling me closer.

"You look gorgeous… I’m- god I’m almost speechless… fuck- you look stunning…" Charles whispered "You have no idea what it does to me, seeing you in red."

"I have an idea, that’s why I love to wear red." I kissed his cheek, and he smirked.

"All red tonight?"

"I guess you have to wait and see…" I pulled away, taking my clutch and turning towards the door.

"We don’t have to go there tonight, you know? We can stay here… you, me, the bed, whatever is underneath your dress…" Charles took my hand in his, pulling me close again "How does that sound?"

"We’re not skipping tonight. This is your night. I want to celebrate my world champion fiancé!" I cupped his cheek and he sighed.

"You’re right, I want to show the world my beautiful fiancée!" he smiled when his phone vibrated "And that… that is our car. Let’s go, prettiest girl of them all."

The drive was quiet, Charles holding my hand in his, his thumb swiping every now and then over my engagement ring, a soft smile on his lips, paired with a light chuckle from time to time.

"What’s so funny?" I asked after a while and he grinned, shaking his head "Come on, tell me!"

"It’s nothing, I promise! I’m just so happy right now! One year ago I never expected to be here today! World champion. Engaged to the love of my life. It feels like a dream…" Charles smiled at me and I scooted closer.

"I told you you’ll win this year! You just didn’t want to believe me!" I pouted and he laughed, kissing the tip of my nose, putting his forehead against mine, as I closed my eyes.

"I know, cara mia…" he inhaled deeply "I’ve learned my lesson, and from now on I promise to always-…" he stopped and I opened my eyes again, looking at him.

"You always what?"

"I think I found something for my vow…" he chuckled a little.

"Your- your vow? You already think about your vow?" I was taken aback a little and he laughed, looking at my shocked face.

"I think about our wedding day and night." he confessed and I swallowed hard "I can’t wait for the day you agree to be mine forever."

"Oh my silly boy, I always was yours. Always will be yours. Ring or not…" I began when the car stopped.

"That’s good to know." he leaned over, pecking my lips "And now let’s make everyone jealous with how breathtaking you look!" he got out, walked around the car, opening my door for me, holding his hand out to help me get out of the car.

"Such a gentleman!" I chuckled and smoothed down the fabric of my dress.

"For you? Always!" he smiled and we stepped on the red carpet, a lady with a clipboard and headset nodding at us.

"Mr. Leclerc, Miss Doetterer, please wait for a moment until the carpet is clear and the photographers are ready…" she smiled and we waited, before she gave us the thumbs up "You can go now, enjoy your night."

We thanked her and walked the red carpet, the lights combined with the flashes were almost blinding and I was happy when we finally made it to our seat, after being stopped by a dozen of people all congratulating Charles on his first world championship.

"I need a drink." he said and waved at a waiter, ordering some drinks for us, that arrived right when the award gala began.

Charles looked a little anxious, nervously tapping his foot and I put my hand on his thigh, lightly squeezing.

"Hey? What’s wrong?" I whispered, leaning in.

"I’m just… I’m a little nervous? What do I even say? Should I’ve written a speech?" he said and I chuckled a little.

"Just go up there and enjoy your moment! Don’t overthink it!" I smiled and he nodded, but the nervousness didn’t fully leave him when he was called up on stage, receiving his award.

He stood there quiet for a moment, looking at his award and then at me, when someone handed him a microphone.

"Charles, many congratulations, Formula 1 world champion! How do you feel now, a week later? Did it fully settle in?" the host asked and Charles chuckled a little, before he held up the microphone.

"Not entirely, no. I think it might take a while, to be honest. This was always one of my biggest life goals, my biggest dreams and… well yeah, life goal achieved I guess. Or rather one of them…" Charles smiled.

"What were your first thoughts when you crossed that finish line, ahead of Max, knowing that this sealed the deal, you won the championship?"

"Honestly? I was more happy for Lizzie in that moment. What a way to retire! She had 3 incredibly season and finished them off on a big high…"

"But you surely also thought about the title, no?" the host raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, but it felt surreal, you know? For years and years this was the one thing I wanted the most. And to then achieve it? Yeah I was speechless for a good moment. But when I realised it, I couldn’t stop screaming… I was thinking about every single person who helped me achieve this goal. My entire team, who worked tirelessly to set me up with the best car possible, Fred who listened to and valued my input. All of the Tifosi around the world who never stopped supporting me, no matter what. All of my friends, my family for always being by my side, supporting me, cheering me on and of course my beautiful girl- no, fiancée, who was always with me, always believed in me, always fought for me." Charles looked at me, his eyes shining brightly under the stage light and I felt myself blush when a lot of heads were turning my way.

"Fiancée?" the host asked and I gulped.

I didn’t even hear Charles saying it, but the way people looked at me, Max grinning from ear to ear at the other side of the table and a lot of eyes staring at my hand, or rather the gorgeous engagement ring on my left hand, made me blush even more.

"Yeah… you see, before I collected this trophy, I already won the biggest prize when Lizzie said yes…"

"Well then, congratulations on your engagement as well!"

I didn’t listen to what was said anymore, I just felt all the eyes on me and all of a sudden it was hot, too hot and I jugged down the glass of water in front of me. Tonight was supposed to be Charles night, but now everyone was staring at me and I didn’t like it one bit. He was the one, people should look at, he was the star of the show. I looked down in my lap, nervously fiddling with the ring on my finger, flinching when I heard Charles next to me.

"Cara mia?" he gently cupped my cheek, tilting my head up "You okay?"

"Why did you say it? Tonight was your night! It was about you! You winning the title! You’re the champion! And now look how everyone is staring at me!" I rambled and he chuckled "You know how the internet works! Our engagement will be everywhere, your championship only a footnote…"

"Everything that is about me, is about you and the other way around… that ring means we’re one. And I wanted the world to know that this trophy tonight, although it’s nice and all, it doesn’t compare to the best prize I won all those years ago when I first met you, okay?" he whispered and I chewed on my bottom lip "And stop doing that because otherwise I’m losing my last remaining restraint and we’re out here in a minute, on the way back to our hotel!"

"Stop!" I rolled my eyes but before I could say more, Charles already captured my lips in a searing kiss "I guess now everyone knows that we’re engaged… the secret is out."

"True… that’s good, 'cause I really like calling you my fiancée." he smiled when he pulled away.

"I like it when you call me your fiancée…" I admitted.

"You have no idea how much I will love it calling you my wife, tho…"

Charles POV:

I watched how my mother, Marina, Charlotte, Sissy and Lizzie all sat together at the kitchen island, going through the two wedding binder, our mothers secretly created over the years. Lizzie looked a little overwhelmed, I could tell, but she did her best to hide it and smile, tried her best to be as bubbly as any bride to be would be.

"I think I have to save my fiancée, excuse me gentlemen." I got up and walked over "Ladies, I need Lizzie for a moment, our travel agency texted…" I lied and held my hand out for Lizzie to take and then lead her to our bedroom.

"What do they want?" she asked, mindlessly playing with her engagement ring.

"Nothing…" I said and she raised an eyebrow "You looked a little- overwhelmed? Exhausted?"

"No, no. I’m fine. It’s fine. You know how they are. They just want to help and yeah it’s a lot of input, they really had wedding binders… okay one binder but two copies of it and yeah they have some crazy ideas! And the locations? Since when are our families that religious that they would pick out the biggest, most pompous churches for the ceremony? And-…" she began to ramble, her breathing becoming faster, when her eyes widened and she hugged me out of nowhere "Thank you… I was overwhelmed…" she whispered and I chuckled, kissing the side of her head.

"That’s my duty, making sure you’re okay… but seriously, if this is all too much, then just say it, we’ll figure something out." I cupped her cheeks and she nodded slightly.

"It’s just… I love our mums… but they like it… so traditional… huge dress, a church, a big venue afterwards, hundreds of guests, even the decoration is-… it’s pretty, I’m not saying anything else, but it’s just not what I want… but I’ll need their help! I can’t plan it alone… so I guess I- no we have to make compromises here and there…" she sighed and I saw her eyes growing sad.

"No. No compromises. No tradition. No nothing what you don’t want! This is our day, Lizzie. Ours! And it’s going to be like you want it to be…" I began but she shook her head.

"It should be like we want it to be…" she whispered and I smiled.

"Exactly. It should be like we want it to be… I honestly think planning it with our mothers and still make it our day is impossible…"

"But I can’t do it alone… I have no idea how that should work out?" she plopped down on the armchair by the window and I followed her.

"What if we hire a wedding planner? Someone who will do all the work but also only does what we want?" I suggested and Lizzie looked up.

"But won’t they be mad?"

"Who cares? It’s our wedding, cara mia! Also, you’ll be busy with the F1 Academy, so knowing that someone, whose job it is, is helping with the planning while you’re busy working away with Susie? That just makes sense. So? What do you say?" I kneeled down in front of her "Let’s hire a wedding planner and make this day exactly the way we want it to be?"

Lizzie looked at me for a while, I could practically see the wheels turning in her head, when a big smile spread across her face.

"You’ll tell our mum’s the good news…" she grinned and I laughed.

"Wow, throwing me under the bus already…"

"Yup…"

After 2 hectic weeks with our families, we had a couple of days to ourselves in our tropical paradise. Most of the time we just lounged by the pool or the beach, enjoying our time together.

"Can you believe it? Danny Ric, becoming a dad?" Lizzie said when we were lounging by the beach.

"Can you believe it, Liam becoming a big brother?" I replied and she laughed.

The news of Daniel and Sissy, telling us over our family getaway that they were expecting their first child together caught us all off guard but we were all more than happy on the newest addition to the family.

"He’s going to be the best big brother there is. He’ll protect that little one with everything he’s got." Lizzie smiled and I nodded.

"Definitely." I chuckled.

"Sissy told me that our mums threw away their wedding binders…" she said after a while and I sighed.

"They’re just dramatic, don’t worry about them. I told them that it’s easier with a wedding planner and also that we want them to lean back and just enjoy the day."

"Hmm… I hope you’re right…" she mumbled.

"I talked to Marta, the daughter of one of her mums friends is a wedding planner." I said, sipping on my drink and Lizzie looked at me "Her name is Celiné and she sent me a link to her portfolio, you should check it out, I think she could be the right one for us."

"Okay… I’ll have a look later on, for now I want to cool down a little…" she got up and looked at me, wiggling her eyebrows "… are you joining me?"

"If I ever say no to that, just kill me already, would you?" I laughed and took her hand "Ocean or pool?" she asked and I nodded towards the ocean "Good choice Mr. Leclerc."

"Thank you, soon to be Mrs. Leclerc… no, Doetterer-Leclerc, I’m sorry!" I chuckled and we walked down the stairs, towards the beach.

A family of 3 was playing at the shore. The little one hesitant of the incoming water and Lizzie looked at the toddler with a twinkling in her eyes I’ve never seen before. But it was almost as fast gone as it appeared and she pulled me with her into the water, splashing me and I flinched.

"Hey!" she looked at me and I smiled "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure…" I replied and she pulled me closer "Ready?" I winked and she scrunched her nose up.

"For what?" she asked and I hugged her tight, throwing us into the waves.

When we emerged she was giggling, splashing some more water at me and we had some fun, splashing around. After a while I pulled her closer and hugged her close, hoisting her up and she slung her legs around my waist, shivering slightly.

"Are you cold?" I kissed her cheek, looking at her and she shook her head.

"Not really…" she replied and I smiled "But getting out wouldn’t be too bad too…"

"Got you…" I laughed and I sat her down, walking out of the water where we sat down on two beach loungers "Wait, I get you a towel and something to drink." I kissed her head and she nodded.

When I returned I was looking around, Lizzie gone, but then I spotted her and smiled, sitting down on the beach lounger. She kneeled down to the little toddler, smiling from ear to ear as she handed him his little shovel and the little boy clapped his hands together giggling happily.

"What are you doing? Baking some sand cakes?" she asked him and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Sand cakes for mumma and dada!" he chirped and Lizzie looked over at the proud parents smiling at their little boys charming antics "You bake, too?"

"Of course! Let’s make the most beautiful sand cake for your mumma and dada!" she answered and they started together on their cake.

As I watched them sanding together the mother approached me.

"Hi, uhm sorry to disturb you, but are you Charles Leclerc? And is she Lizzie Doetterer?" she asked and looked at me all shy. I just nodded and her smile got bigger "My husband is a huge Ferrari fan and he was just to shy and nervous to come over and ask for a picture with you… we don’t want to bother you guys on your vacation!"

"No, it’s alright. It looks like my girlf- no, fiancée is busy with your little one anyway!" I laughed and she smiled at me and waved her husband over.

"She’s amazing with him. He’s usually not that open and friendly with strangers!" the father said as he sat down next to his wife "I’m Matthew, this is my wife Tia and the little fella over there is Toni." I shook his hand and smiled as I looked at Lizzie and Toni, building a sandcastle, cake abandoned on their side.

"Yeah, she was always amazing with kids… you should see her with her nephews and nieces!" I answered and Tia smiled at me.

"I have a feeling she’ll be an amazing Mum one day!" she said and my mind went to Lizzie with a baby bump, cradling it as a toddler ran around her, kissing her bump, smiling proudly to be an older sibling in some time in the future.

I blinked and shook my head. Where did that came from? We haven’t even talked about having kids in a serious way. Especially not after the miscarriage last season. But seeing her with kids always made my heart skip a beat or two. And seeing her now, as my fiancée, my ring on her finger, playing with Toni wearing her most gorgeous smile, I couldn’t help but think about us having a baby. A little bundle of joy, looking hopefully just like her. I smiled at Tia and nodded.

"Yeah, I think she’ll be an amazing Mum one day!" I said as Toni jumped into Lizzie’s arms and they laughed about the water destroying their sandcastle.

We sat on our terrace, Lizzie happily munching away when I had to think back at her with little Toni. The little image I had in my mind.

"You’re really quiet? Everything okay?" Lizzie asked and I looked up from my plate "Something is going on in there, I can tell…" she brushed my hair out of my eyes and I smiled, catching her hand, kissing her palm.

"Did you ever think about kids? Like… actively?" I asked and her eyes widened "I mean.. we spoke about kids, once or so, that we want kids one day… but ever anything… serious? You know? And after Singapore…"

"I’ve thought about it… yeah." she almost whispered "But… how could we have a kid, both racing in F1 so yeah, it was always something really far ahead in the future I thought…"

"Yeah, true… but now? I mean… we’re not both in F1 anymore, sadly… but- but now we could think about it- actively. Like really plan it or… not plan, consider it? Having a little mini you or mini me? We should really think about it?" I said and the look on her face changed.

"Wait, wait , wait! You’re serious?" Lizzie asked and I nodded.

"I was never more serious about anything in my life! We’re at the perfect stage of our life’s! You had 3 amazing years in F1! Proved everyone wrong about women in F1! I finally won the WDC! We’re engaged! We achieved more than most people will achieve in their entire life! So why not?" I said and Lizzie’s smile got bigger and bigger.

"I have to say, thinking about you as a dad? Mhhh I guess the word dilf will get a whole new meaning!" she chuckled and I launched at her, tossing her over my shoulder.

"If I’m a dilf, you’re sure as hell be a milf!" I laughed and walked with her into the bedroom, where I dropped her gently and stood tall over her "Let’s make a baby!"

"Now? Like right now? Charles that’s not how it works! I have to stop taking my pill and then it will take a while-…" she began but I silenced her with a kiss.

My hands travelling up and down her sides, kissing along her jaw down her throat.

"You know the saying, practice makes perfect…"

The beginning of the new season approached faster than anticipated and after 10 days of intense training in the mountains with Andrea I was more than happy to return back home to Lizzie, especially after we had set up our first appointment with Celiné, our potential wedding planner.

"Okay, stop!" I grabbed Lizzie's hand and she looked at me

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I don't know, okay? This- this is our wedding and I want it to be perfect! But what if I don't like her ideas? Or even worse, she doesn't like mine?" she gnawed on her bottom lip and I chuckled a little.

"Cara mia, it's our wedding and whatever you want is what we're having... the wedding planner is just there to help you a little, okay?" I held her hand up and kissed her knuckles, watching her visibly relax.

"Okay. But... it's not just what I want, it's also what you want! This is our wedding, our day!" the look on her face made me fall in love with her all over again "I want the day to be perfect."

"And I am here to ensure that!" a blonde woman in a dark green suit stepped up to our table and I got up, shaking her hand "Hi, I'm Celiné, hopefully your new wedding palnner."

"Hi Celiné, I'm Charles and this is my fiancée, Lizzie." I smiled at her and Lizzie got up as well and shook her hand.

"Oh please, as if you need to introduce yourselves! I know you. My family is obsessed with F1 since-….. ever I think?" she laughed and we sat down "I have to admit, when I saw your names in my calendar I had my little fangirl moment." Lizzie next to me tensed a little, looking at the blonde woman.

"Not the first time someone fangirls over Charles." someone who didn't know Lizzie wouldn't hear the iciness in her voice, wouldn't see that her smile wasn't genuine anymore and I had to fight to not laugh.

"Charles? Oh yeah, sure, no offense, you're an incredible driver! Congrats on the title, by the way. But I was more excited to meet you, Lizzie." Celiné smiled at her, and Lizzie was taken aback.

"Me? Why?"

"Are you kidding me? First real female F1 driver? 3 incredible seasons? 5 wins? And that all while being told all the damn time that you couldn't be as good as the male drivers? Yeah right, you kicked some asses out there!"

"Wow... umm- thank you." Lizzie blushed a little and I smiled.

"Oh, don't mention it. Alright, shall we start?" our wedding planner opened her notebook and looked at us "Describe your dream wedding. Just summarise what you want it to be, give me a little insight."

"Umm... I want all of our families and friends together, a fun day with good food, lot's of drinks, music." Lizzie looked at me and I nodded.

"It doesn't have to be super fancy, a nice location, it would be perfect when the ceremony and reception are at the same venue." I said and Celiné nodded.

"In a church? With a venue attached, I have some in mind. Or no church, a civil ceremony?" she asked.

"Civil ceremony." Lizzie and I said in unison and Celiné laughed.

"Okay, talking about numbers. How many guests? Small wedding? Big wedding? 50 guests? 100? 200? The budget? Go we all out?"

"Oh umm- we haven't decided on a number of guests yet. But not too big? All our families, friends, some people from our teams?" Lizzie looked at me.

"Yeah, I think 100 guests would be the absolute maximum..." I nodded and she gulped.

"100? That's not a small, intimate wedding then..." she tilted her head a little.

"What about we keep the 100 in mind and I'll look for locations where 100 guests would fit in, but that doesn't mean we'll plan with 100 guests?" Celiné suggested and Lizzie nodded "Perfect. Now... budget?"

"No budget." I said and Lizzie looked at me, rolling her eyes

"We talked about this cara mia."

"You talked..." she mumbled and I sighed.

"This is our day and we don't plan with a budget. We say what we want, we pay what it costs."

"You said yourself you want nothing to fancy. So we won't go overly crazy with the budget, don't worry Lizzie. And Charles is right, this is your day and it should be perfect." the blonde said and I nodded "Have you thought about where you want to marry? Here in Monaco? Germany?"

"Italy." we both said again in unison and I smiled.

"Lake Garda, Maggiore or Como… somewhere there?" I asked and Lizzie nodded.

"Sounds perfect…" she smiled and Celiné wrote it down.

"With your schedule, it won’t be too easy to find a date, but do you have some dates in mind?"

"We don’t want a wedding in July or August, way too hot!" Lizzie said and Celiné nodded.

"And like you said with the racing calendar… not so easy, but there is one weekend that would be perfect… after Barcelona, the weekend from the 6th to 8th June. On Sunday in the evening I’ll have to leave, maybe some of the other guest as well… but yeah…" I said.

"So the wedding on Saturday, the 7th of June? Alright, I already have some ideas. Any special colours? A theme?" she asked and I looked at Lizzie.

"I like pastel colours? Crème and beige? I like it more natural? And no theme…"

"Yeah… sounds good to me." I nodded.

"Okay… I can work with that… anything else?" Celiné looked at us "Special food?"

Lizzie gnawed at her bottom lip, looking at me.

"Say it…" I laughed.

"I would love a pizza and pasta buffet for dinner? Freshly made pizza and pasta, fresh salad and antipasti? Nothing fancy. Just some good old classics everyone will love." Lizzie said and Celinés eyes got big.

"Yes! I love it! Finally someone with good taste!" she clapped her hands excitedly "So, I have some ideas already, I’ll send it to you and you let me know if you consider me as your wedding planner."

"That’s not necessary I think?" Lizzie looked at me and I nodded "We would love to have you as our wedding planner!"

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, we’re sure." I smiled.

"Okay, perfect. Then I guess I prepare the contract and start with everything!" she got up and shook our hands "I’m really excited, I have a feeling that this wedding will be truly magical… I’ll give you a call in the next days."

"Thank you, Celiné." Lizzie smiled and as soon as she was out of earshot she turned to me, a big smile on her face "She’s perfect! I think this is going to be amazing!"

"You heard her… it’s going to be truly magical."

Chapter 49 - my babies are engaged ♥️ Charles is a world champion 🏆 Danny Ric will be a a dad 👶 from now on expect a lot of fluff and fluff and even more fluff to come… drama? Nope… never again 👀

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

If you want to be added to the taglist, drop a comment!

Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

Taglist:

@silkenthusiasts @eugene-emt-roe @sunny44 @itsjustkhaos @glitterquadricorn @aundercover @kakorrhaphiphobia @alittlebitofbooksandmagic @ru-kru @shimmermotorsport @janeh22 @kahhorri @18754389 @chiliwhore @hellowgoodbye @queensassybitchsworld @harrysdimple05 @fangirlforever2000 @skynel09

All the images I’m using are from Google, Pinterest and Instagram (or self made).

[peachhcs]

how it all began -> podcast episode

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

a small podcast snippet where samy and will talk about how they got together

1.9k words

here are the small draft blurbs i wrote way back when i started this series that i told y’all i would share. i have a lot of them, so i’ll post them periodically :) this is from where i imagined will and samy talking about each other on podcast episodes they've invited to

au masterlist

"alright, so give me all the juicy details. how did this next step in your relationship come to be?" samy laughed mostly to herself as she fidgeted with the ends of her shirt.

"i mean..i feel like will and i are like..the exact of every best friends to lover trope right now..like i feel like we fit all the stereotypes," the brunette began making the interviewer laugh.

"i don't know..i mean something in our brains just flipped. we only ever saw each other as like..siblings. like we had a brother and sister relationship with one another, but the more i think about it, the more i think it might've just been us suppressing those feelings and playing it off as a family dynamic instead," the girl giggled.

"were your close friends and family ever like..why the hell aren't they together?"

"looking back on it, there was one night when i was like..sixteen maybe? will had just moved to michigan for his development program and he hung out at our house with some of his friends and like..we all had a great time. we just talked and caught up and i got to know his teammates, but after, when they left, my mom..she had this look on her face. i didn't know what look it was at the time and so i was like why are you looking at me like that? she didn't say anything, but she just smiled and shook her head and now, i'm pretty sure it was her seeing the connection will and i had that we didn't even know we had yet," samy explained.

"i feel like there's such a beautiful thing about that though. it's like you guys weren't even trying to be in a relationship, but everyone around you two knew how special of a connection you two have and they were just like..oh yeah they're definitely gonna be together one day," the interviewer nodded.

"i know. i know. it is beautiful because we weren't even really looking for a relationship and..one thing led to another. i always see those posts that say relationships come from the most unexpected person in the most unexpected time," samy smiled.

"i mean you can tell us whatever you want, you don't have to say anything, but if you want, can you talk about like how it happened and what changed?"

"it was this past summer..will was finishing up his dev program and he was like in a different place every weekend so we hardly got to see one another, but he still texted me and called me whenever he could to talk about his game like we always did, so that wasn't unusual..but like i don't know..there was this thought in the back of my head like..i don't even know how to explain it, but it was like i got this feeling in my chest every time will texted or called me and i started realizing that he didn't do this with everyone. really only like me and his sisters. anyways, the draft rolled around and obviously i was gonna be there. my family sat with his family and we were all dressed to the nines. will was locked in, nervous about his pick, all of that. it wasn't until after where we just found ourselves just with each other in the arena and like..we looked at each other and i think that's just when we knew something was changing between us."

"you both felt that change right in that moment?"

"i mean yeah. he looked at me like..a little too long and i was like..oh shit, this is..this is a way different feeling than i'm used to. it wasn't until his draft party in boston when everything sort of..like came out. i can't give too many details, but we ended up talking that night and like..the rest just went from there," the girl laughed a little.

"and i mean, you two have the same collegiate number absolutely coincidentally."

"yeah, i think that was our final tipping point when we found out we got the same number. it was like the universe telling us, okay yeah, you guys definitely belong together," the brunette grinned.

"so is it hard being long distance and like finding out all of this stuff right as you leave for college?"

"yeah, a bit. it was kind of like a punch in the face. we get something good, but it doesn't last for long because will's now states away in boston and i'm still in michigan, but we're making it work. we call everyday and we text everyday. it's also easy because we know how one another works, so we like skipped all the awkward parts of getting to know one another and figuring out each other's quirks because we already know it."

"i think that definitely makes things easier like you said. you don't have to spend time in the awkward stage because you guys already had that growing up."

"yeah, exactly, but yeah, it's been fun opening this side of one another and delving into it more. he's always been there for me and i mean it's like we danced around one another until the time was finally right for our lives to mix together in that way."

—

"so i don't know if you've seen the clips of sam talking about your relationship or not?" will smiled a bit, nodding to say he has seen it.

"i have and i mean everything she said was pretty spot on and i probably couldn't have said it better myself," the blonde chuckled.

"i don't wanna exhaust the subject too much, but i'd love to sort of hear your take on about the change and sort of realization about your relationship with her."

"yeah, just this past summer was when things just changed for us. she was at the draft in nashville with all of us and just like..it was really special having all of my close friends and family there watching me take on another big milestone in my life. samy's always been there for me, so having her there was really great. i think she said after i got picked we ended up in the arena with just us and we were talking briefly and like..yeah it just changed for us in that moment. i realized how lucky i was to have her there and that she took time out of her busy schedule to be there and support me and i was just thinking how no one else would do that for me but her," will said, his smile still painting his features.

"did you like ever have any past feelings for her in that way that you pushed away thinking it'd never be like that?"

"i think maybe when we were like..12 or something. it was like..peak puberty years so i had this thought in the back of my mind like..what if samy and i ended up as something more, but she never seemed into that ever. we were like siblings, so i kind of just let the idea go knowing we wouldn't ever be like that until it started just resurfacing this past year with her."

"i think i asked sam this, but were your close friends or family ever like..why the hell aren't they together?"

"well definitely my teammates knew way before i did. the first time they met her and hung around us and we went back to our places they looked at me and they were like: are you sure you've never thought about her in that way before? so they even knew before i had an idea. my mom at times was definitely suspicious and surprised that we never got together because i think she was secretly rooting we would at some point," the hockey player laughed.

"moms and friends always know. always trust what they say," the interviewer also laughed.

"i know, i should've listened to them more. even at sixteen where samy and i still saw each other as siblings they were skeptical. especially ryan. he was giving us eyes and anytime we hung out with her he was giving me these looks like you're for real right now? you have zero feelings for her? and i mean i thought our interactions were normal and i guess i brushed off a lot of them that looked flirty or came off that way and samy did too so that's probably why it took us so long to catch on."

"even though you guys are long distance right now, how are you two working through that while taking on this new territory of your relationship?"

"well, it's definitely easier because we know one another so well. it helps that we didn't have an awkward stage because we kind of already went through that when we were kids. plus, samy just makes it easy. we're very alike so we know why we are the way we are. she's always been there for me and i've always been there for her. we're constantly supporting one another and we call everyday just like talking about our days or games if we have them. if we can't call, we send like 10 voice messages explains our days. it's just easy because we know each other so well, so nothing has to be misread or miscommunicated because we already know. it definitely sucks we're not together like we were for two years, but it just makes seeing one another that more special when it comes around."

"that's really special. your relationship has always been really special to the fans who've been following you two for while now, so i know they love seeing you guys finally together. i'm sure they knew way before you guys did too," will and the interviewer shared a laugh.

"i'm sure they did. samy and i aren't the best at picking up clues like that," will chuckled.

view all comments

user1 OH MY GOD I CANT??? THEYRE BOTH SO ADORABLE AWWW

user2 IGE BEEN WAITING FIR THIS ONE!!!! i knew i knew i knew they'd finally end up together

user3 the best friends to lovers pipeline is so incredibly real

user4 WILL'S FRIENDS KNOWING BEFORE HE DID!!! god they must've been so painfully obvious back then to everyone but themselves

user5 golden retriever and golden retriever fr

user6 stop i love these two sm they truly did grow up together and seeing them try out a relationship is so cute i hope they work out!!!

user7 MY roman empire

user8 oh they're in love love

user9 them calling everyday is so cute oh my god

user10 THEM HAVING THE SAME NUMBERS UNPLANNED IS LITERALLY FATE AND DESTINY

user11 samy hughes and will smith make so much sense in my head

user12 THE WAY HE CALLS HER SAMY IS SO CUTE

user13 we need them in an interview together next!!!

user14 samy saying how will looked at her for a little too long and she just knew is so fucking real on god like i get you girl so bad if will looked at me the way he looks at her i'd fold immediately

user15 i love that they're so willing to share this with us bc we basically grew up with them too

user16 i'm actually obsessed with them

user17 THEYVE BEEN SOFT LAUNCHING EACH OTHER THUS ENTIRE TIME??!

user18 im definitely betting it was some sort of like drunk confession at will's draft party because samy said she couldn't get into the details meaning she couldn't tell the interviewer they were underage drinking GOD i love them sm

[devastatinglygreen]

Okay so now do what you think will happen after Colin finds out about Lady Whistledown. 🙏

so i sat on this for a little bit because i didn't really know how to answer it but i was chatting with @gleefullypolin, while totally not talking about polin nonstop, no. talking very normally i assure you.

i'm going to put the rest under the cut because it might have spoilers or speculation that people don't want to see:

alright so we know when colin finds out about LW, right? and we know they have a fight. a big one. obviously.

i think colin has to have a regression of his character. he's only been vulnerable around one person so far this season. penelope. and he loves and adores her and she's going betray (hello eros and psyche!) his trust.

there is no love without trust.

there's something very interesting we noticed while chatting about colin and his bro friends. they've been there each time he makes a choice about penelope.

the first ball, he chooses her over them after they're like, "the featherington girl? why concern yourself with her?" but then he tries to take it somewhere private and she checks him hard and cracked his armor. she was not impressed with that version of him and he knew it.

and he definitely will when he learns she's LW if he wasn't aware before

when he's not near them, he chooses her without thinking about it, he runs out after her at a ball when gossip about them is pretty much being said to their faces. even at the first brothel scene, he tells them he's late but then we see him at the market waiting for penelope. this man is a fake and a liar and we see him, we know what he's about. nerd.

in episode 3, he's with them at the balloon thing and they're messing with him about helping penelope and he's so dumb because he's like "i'm done with all of that. it's good to back" all cocky and lame like he wasn't just eating the same cupcake thing she did and staring at her. i was a dramatic teenage girl who once had a crush on a guy who i only saw at lunch and never knew his name and even i wasn't down that bad. good lord. embarrassing.

not really i love it, i love him so much

but he picks penelope over them again when he runs off to save her from the big mean hot air balloon.

we see them again in episode 4, at the library while he watches penelope through a mirror. because that's definitely not crying, screaming, throwing up behavior. they invite him out. for revelry. regency bro speak for possible syphilis and liver disease, it's fine.

he can't get down with his ladies of choice because he's knee deep in wishing he was balls deep in penelope instead. he stares at a wall. they manage to make us feel bad for a man sitting in a brothel. amazing.

we see them at mondrich's. they're talking about girls they probably didn't actually sleep with. oh sure, totally buy that you had access to a woman for 6 months straight. you bet, my guy, totally believable. colin is unhappy. he's like don't you ever want to have a feeling? they're like, no, i just feel the syphilis. it burns, bridgerton. we need antibiotics.

antibiotics won't be a thing for like another 100 years give or take good luck i guess

but he stays and drinks. he's picked penelope but he can't have penelope at this moment. he's in bed laying there waiting to sleep. or die. idk. he's a bridgerton, they're dramatic.

he sees them one last time in episode 4. they stop him. they're dicks. rude to will on top of it? pls. they invite him out and he says no. he's picked penelope once more but he doesn't say anything but "excuse me" and pushes through. they don't push back. they're like, fine. more chronic liver failure and fake stories for us, bro.

he finds penelope. causes a huge social upset that no one pays attention to because he's too busy ragging on debling for having the audacity to leave penelope for years. which is fair. colin would never.

chases penelope. catches her. not quite balls deep but knuckles deep at minimum, let's be real.

which, i am very sorry for this being this long at this point, is why i think we could see his "friends" again before the end. he's going to go through something world shaking and they're always there when he's making a choice but i think what's important to note is that he always makes the right one, he always picks penelope. i think he's not fully dropped that armor and it's easy to slip back into someone pretending not to care, especially when you're hurting. he's got to reject the man society wants him to be and, essentially, be the man penelope needs him to be. she's his purpose.

eta: colin loves to be penelope's hero. i think he's going to feel that pull over whatever else is going on.

i'm just saying it's a mirror of how penelope needs to reconcile how she's both penelope and lady whistledown. they both need to come to terms with who they want to be moving forward. symbolism or some shit.

or i'm totally wrong and all those words above mean nothing. either way i got to avoid folding laundry. time well spent if you ask me.

[mossbirdreigns]

i've been patrolling arcane tumblr

as i'm sure many of you have as well and i have some thoughts. some critiques if you will.

beware season 2 spoilers and discussion of plot discourse. very long post. but worth it. i think.

alright, if you're reading this, it's because you wanted to. welcome!

i've been brainrotting about arcane season 2 pretty much all day today and i wanted to ramble about my thoughts especially now that i've seen some of the criticism of it going around. so let's get the main points out of the way.

1. Plot Holes

saying season 2 doesn't have plot holes would be a lie and i highly encourage you to look into more about them, but i'll summarize the main ones real quick for anyone unfamiliar.

Silco and Vander

TL;DR: timelines around the day of ash (bridge massacre) don't line up. we've seen vander before the day of ash (clean-shaven/moustache + younger looking) and we've seen him on the day of ash (full beard + older). we know he went back to kill silco before the day of ash, which its implied silco had something to do with, but when we see the scene of it, he has a full beard again, implying it takes place after the day of ash

source: thenationofzaun

Silco and Vander and Felicia + how they connect to Vi and Jinx

TL;DR: in season 1, vi and powder/jinx show 0 sign of recognizing silco or knowing he exists at all before episode 3 but in season 2, we're led to believe that silco, vander, and felicia were all very close with felicia making them both promise to take care of her kids with vander even naming vi. even if we excuse the vi and powder not knowing him before episode 3, why would silco be so willing and actively trying to kill vi when he promised felicia to take care of her kids?

2. The (Implied) Love Triangle

alright here's the main thing i want to rant about. for anyone who didn't pick up on the vibes, i (and some others i've seen) definitely felt love triangle vibes during the silco/vander/felicia flashback scene and i wanna share my thoughts with you on that.

aside from the plothole issue of silco + vi/powder (the only way i would accept it is if the falling out between them all happened way earlier and they had like a friendship/situationship breakup so vi and powder never heard about him but i don't think that's what they're doing), i enjoy the idea and potential of vander and silco being vi and jinx's biological dads but i don't like the way the show is setting it up, mostly because of the glaring plot holes the rest of the scene creates. that single line from felicia saying they both were responsible for her kids in some way causes such an elaborate web of cracks across the story the show has shown us thus far. why is silco so ok with killing vi for like the entirety of season 1 if he was indebted by the death of a friend to care for her now orphaned kids? does that responsibility only apply to jinx for some reason? did he just not care about his promise to felicia anymore? is it because silco sees more of a physical resemblance to felicia in powder/jinx than in vi? these are all very valid theories but my issue lies with the fact that the show itself tells us none. we see the actions these characters are taking but we see very little of why. we get none of the context. all of these additional doubts and holes come in exclusively because of that scene in the last drop and, specifically, because silco is in that scene.

if that scene was just felicia and vander, there would be 0 plot ramifications. don't get me wrong, i love silco and i want him to pleeeaaaase have more screentime but not like this.

so how would i do it instead?

i'm glad you asked! i've compiled a brief list of ideas i've had.

felicia and vander talk at the last drop, silco and felicia talk separately (maybe a chance for us to see a more emotional side of silco)

silco is there for the conversation but draws back when vander takes more of a presence with baby vi (with the idea that silco would feel less connected to vi, though it still feels like a stretch to me)

have the scene at the last drop as normal but silco leaves after learning felicia is pregnant (perhaps upset because he's in love with her), and vander is the only one she talks to about taking care of her kids

make connol more of a character like at all??

(fanfic writers feel free to use any of these ideas, tag me if you do!)

at the end of the day, i think the issue with this season is honestly a lack of time. they need another season or two at least to fully and properly cover every plotline with the tact and skill they showed in season one. trying to cram everything they want to do into 9 ~40 minute episodes just is not going to work for the amount of shit going on in this show. if you're only doing two seasons and you have this many plotlines, your episodes should be at least an hour.

in a perfect world, i would've really liked to see almost a mirroring of format from the first season where the first three episodes were a flashback before the bulk of the story takes place but with vander, silco, felicia, and connol as the characters we follow instead. let us actually see what happened and how they died, lay it all out on the table and then jump us back to the fallout of the season 1 finale for episode 4.

i'm going to be 100% honest with you here. i do not really care for the hextech or the arcane plotlines. hear me out, i promise i don't just hate them.

i want to like both of these plotlines and there are elements of them i do enjoy. my main issue, again, comes back to the lack of time. there is wild shit happening at every second with what feels like zero downtime, leading to the writers having to leave out details that round out the story in order to get all the main plot in before they run out of runtime. i feel bad for the artists who put so much soul and care into the art they've shown us who have been rushed to cram everything in. they pull it off but i cannot ignore that they are limited by the pacing they've been given. i want to see viktor building this sanctuary, i want to see him gathering this influence, i want to see him learning to control these powers, i want intimate scenes where he talks with Sky about how this power is changing him. i want jayce for once in his life to think about someone other than himself. these characters have so much potential for the depths they can achieve but they're snubbed by the show's cut off and that makes me so sad!!!

let me spend a season with the zaunites, let me spend a season in piltover, develop those storylines, let them stew and manifest and brew, and then let season 3 truly be the beginning of the conflict between zaun and piltover and i guarantee you the emotional rollercoaster will be 12x what it is currently and way more satisfying. short stories are good but not when you're trying to pull off 4 stories in one.

if you read this far, thanks! if you have any thoughts on anything in here, my dms are open and i would love to hear other opinions!

i hope you have a good day, stranger ♡ stay strong while we wait for act 3

[rkvriki]

— being interrupted by the other members ! (maknae line)

hey everyone!! here is the maknae line of this post, i hope you enjoy it !!

make sure to leave feedback . my asks are open and so is my inbox so let's talk!!

WARNINGS ! this is not proofread, might have grammar errors; contains light cursing. a/n: i hate this one !! i was out of inspiration to write this, i'm so sorry :( still i hope you can enjoy it !

word count: 1.5k !

SUNOO !

sunoo didn't mind any comments made by the others about him, but if you were involved it's another story.

sunoo and you would be in his bed at the dorms, spending some time together since he just came from tour.

you were doing the new face masks he bought for your weekly skincare sessions.

“i saw these cute masks with bears on them and they reminded me of you!!” sunoo told you as he carefully put one on your face, spreading it evenly while gently massaging it. 

after he was done you kissed his lips gently, making him smile tightly at you showing his crescent moon shaped eyes.

as you were doing your skincare routine, you two went on about what happened while he was on tour, which was mostly you rambling about something bothering you at college.

“...and I couldn't believe she really said that straight to my face!”

“yes, how cruel is she!!” sunoo said agreeing with you even though he didn’t even know who you were talking about.

as you went on with your rambling, sunoo was just staring at you and i swear if it were a cartoon he would have hearts in his eyes.

“...so as i was about to give in my test he literally- what? is there something on my face?” you said, grabbing your phone to look at your reflection. sunoo let out a giggle and hugged you in his arms leaving you confused.

“no, you’re just so pretty and i’m literally in love with you!” he said, keeping you in his safe embrace. (pls i would kill to have sunoo like this)

you pulled away from his arms looking at him, admiring his features, and pulled him into a sweet kiss.

sunoo giggled as you two were kissing, making you smile into the kiss.

“two new episodes from the series we were watching came out this week, we should watch them.” sunoo said as he started laying down in his bed and grabbing his ipad to open the series.

you agreed and laid next to him, cuddling his side. 

“i bet they are arguing now and then be alright in the next episode, it’s always like that!” you said watching as the two characters were having an intensive argument.

“i don't know, maybe they will only make up in the last episode just to leave us on a cliffhanger.” 

it’s been almost an hour since you were watching the series and you started feeling your eyes getting heavy as the time went by.

you finally gave in to sleep and let your eyes flutter shut and you listened to sunoo’s calm and soothing heartbeat.

“see! i knew they weren’t-” sunoo stopped talking when he realized you were fast asleep in his arms. laughing softly at you, he admired your sleeping state. how your eyelashes rested against your cheeks and how your lips were slightly parted, letting out soft noises, that he found so cute.

turning off his ipad, he set it on the bedside table and let his own eyes shut and drift off to sleep.

“oh my god jake, this is perfect black mail.” niki said as he took pictures of you and sunoo sleeping with your maks hanging half off your face.

jake was trying to hold in his laugh while he watched niki.

“pls send that to the group chat, this is so good!”

sunoo eyes shot open as he started listening to voices in the room. niki quickly put his phone away, trying not to laugh, while jay ran out of the room while laughing.

“what are you brats doing? get out before she wakes up!” sunoo told niki and he went straight out of the room.

sunoo looked back to check on you and you were still in your deep sleep, making him wonder how you could be such a heavy sleeper.

sunoo smiled and went back to sleep with you after taking both of your masks off.

sunoo is so boyfie omg

jungwon minds it, you on the other hand don’t.

he had invited you to spend the evening with him at the dorms so you guys could have a sleepover.

everytime you came over jungwon would have a whole routine planned, so nothing could ruin your time together. nothing excluding his members. they could ruin it.

“wonie!! i missed you so much, baby!!!” you hugged jungwon tightly as you greeted him. jungwon smiled as he gave your lips a peck, making your heart flutter. 

you both got in and sat on the couch as you chatted for a while. 

"let's play mario kart!!” jungwon suggested starting your fun day together at home.

he got the game ready while you went in the kitchen to get snacks and drinks to feed you throughout the game.

you both sat on the couch, grabbing the controllers, as you got ready to play the game.

“let’s use mario and princess peach to match!” you told him happily, already choosing princess peach as your character. jungwon playfully rolled his eyes but still chose mario, just to make you happy.

“jungwon stop leaving banana peels please, how am i supposed to win!!!” you complained as your character slided through another banana peel, making you fall some places behind. 

jungwon just laughed at you, smirking proudly as the screen showed he was in the first place. 

seeing his proud expression, you kicked his leg lightly, making him wince dramatically, to which you rolled your eyes.

as you were playing, you heard the front door opening, the boys arriving from wherever they were.

they reached the living room and their eyes landed on you and jungwon playing.

“y/n!!! HIII!!” sunoo said greeting you.

“hi sunoo!! haven’t seen you in so long!!” you greeted him back loosing focus on the game.

“y/n, pay attention you are gonna lose!!” jungwon told you making you focus back on the game.

“oh y/n! hi, long time no see!!” heeseung said, greeting you as he sat next to you on the couch.

“oh! hey seungie! how’ve you been?” 

you and heeseung started engaging in a conversation making you forget about the game.

jungwon looked at you but you didn’t even notice him as you were so into the conversation. 

he started huffing and rolling his eyes, as he closed the game and by the looks of it you didn’t even notice.

“...and we did many things and-” heeseung suddenly stopped talking about the tour and started looking behind him. you looked in that direction seeing jungwon glaring at the older boy with an annoyed expression.

you giggled at that, seeing he was slightly jealous you weren’t giving him your attention.

jungwon looked at you and rolled his eyes, grabbing his phone and ignoring you making you laugh even more.

on day of peace for leader won please 🙏

with riki it wouldn’t exactly be interrupting.

he invited you to go out and for a sleepover.

he was touch deprived from tour and wanted nothing more than your presence so you served his wishes.

you both were in his room in the dark, ready to sleep, in the comfort of his blankets and warm bed.

you had your eyes closed, ready to drift to dreamland, when you head niki shaking slightly.

“niki are you ok-” you were interrupted as your boyfriend started laughing making you confused.

“what can be so funny at 2 30 in the morning in the full darkness?” you asked him with an annoyed tone, but honestly you weren’t that sleepy.

“nothing, it’s just- i can imagine how your face looks in the dark.” he told you, still laughing at you.

you sighed at his behavior and got up to turn on the lights as he wouldn’t stop laughing.

“niki if you don’t want to sleep you could’ve just said so.” you told him rolling your eyes and sitting back in bed.

“let’s do something else, please. i’m bored and i don’t feel like sleeping.”

“ok, like what?”

—---

that’s how you found yourselves in his room with his computer positioned in a high place as you were in the fifth youtube video of a just dance choreography.

you were both laughing loudly, not noticing the clock already struck 3 am and the others were all sleeping.

“niki you’re going the wrong way dumbass!!” 

“shut up im not!!”

you two kept going at it until the door open revealing and messy haired jungwon with a not-so-happy expression, looking rather annoyed.

you both stopped pretty much in a 🧍 position, as you were getting ready to get scolded.

“do you guys know what time it is?? you kids go to sleep now!” jungwon told you as you and niki got under the covers, waiting for him to close the door.

as you heard the door click, you both started laughing quietly at jungwon’s scolding.

niki is a brat and jungwon doesn’t stand for that!

[twstfanblog]

*~500 Followers Fic: WaterPark Episode PT 2/Vignettes~*

A/N: Ignore me taking so long to get this out, AGAIN. I've been fighting to write for the past few weeks for no reason. That's a lie, it's because I wanna write things that are so far in my canon they'd make no sense if I did post them XD I was also consumed trying to finish my Halloween fic Word Count: 8K Warnings: They/She OC, headcanons on the sexuality of the characters Main Pairings: Malleus/Yuu/Jamil/Azul, Alluded-Riddle/Floyd, Jade/Trey, Leona/Ruggie, Cater/Idia, Vil/Rook, Sebek/Silver, Firstie Poly

Part 1

Now that Yuu was free from their duty of making sure the other students were checked into the park, they were able to meet up with the other first-years. They all sat huddled around, turning their lounge chairs into a circle as they planned out their day.

Yuu hummed, looking at the small map of the park Ace had managed to find, “Damn this park is big. There’s like forty slides in this place…”

Epel smirked, eyes roaming over the map and already planning out his route, “Ah’m gonna ride everythin’.”

Ortho had already scanned the map, making sure he noted every location of bathrooms and the park's first-aid station, “That could be detrimental to your health if you ride all forty in a span of our six-hour stay…”

“No pain, no gain.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, tucking his ears into the water cap he had pulled from his bag, “What are you trying to gain…?”

Leaping into Yuu’s lap, Grim smiled at the map while Yuu tucked his own ears into a water cap, “I'm gonna ride everything! And try all the food at every restaurant and stall! And-”

Yuu gripped Grim around his middle, holding him in the air and maneuvering him so that they could stare at the excited monster, “You will die. I need you to know this. If you do all that shit, you will die.”

Ace snickers, “Let him try. Maybe he’ll actually learn a lesson in gluttony for once.”

Deuce raised an eyebrow, glaring at the other Heartslabyul solider, “He’ll learn his lesson in death…?”

Huffing, Jack crossed his arms, “Alright, but seriously. Do we plan on sticking together for the day or are we splitting off until lunch?”

“Hmmm…” Yuu points to the largest slide closest to their rest area, “How about we all do this big slide together just to get used to the water temperature? And we can go on more rides together until we find other stuff we’d rather do. Because, Epel, I adore you. I’m not riding forty slides for you.”

“Fair.”

Deuce nods, “Sounds like a plan. We can still meet up for lunch and touch base, maybe go on more slides together.” He looked to his side, opening his mouth to ask Sebek if he had a slide he wanted to try only to see the serious expression on the half-fae’s face, “Sebek? You ok?”

“...” Sebek sighed, closing his eyes before looking to the side, “I don’t think I can spend much time with you all today…”

The others all whine a bit, even Yuu and Grim, asking Sebek why he couldn’t spend one day not directly attached to Malleus.

Yuu huffs, rolling her eyes, “I’m pretty sure Malleus asked you to just enjoy the park away from him today-”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about!”

Jack leaned closer to Sebek, his hand pressing to the other’s forehead with a worried expression, “Are you having a heat stroke.”

Ace quickly passed over his water bottle, “Here, have a sip.”

Sebek blushed, smacking both of his boyfriends’ hands away, “Enough! I’m concerned about Silver’s enjoyment in the park…”

…

The group as a whole looked over to another cluster of lounge chairs. Silver and Lilia were under an umbrella, Lilia applying a heavy layer of sunscreen to both himself and an already half-asleep Silver.

Sighing again, Sebek called the other’s attention, “Lilia-sama doesn’t do well in high heat nor direct sunlight. He was happy to come along even though he wouldn’t be able to do much. But, because Lilia isn’t able to enjoy the park, Silver doesn’t want to leave his father alone for the day. Plus…the sleeping…”

Epel groaned, seeming to finally make the connection, “Oh yeah…sleep disorders and water ain't a good mix to try…”

“I know we all planned on spending as much time together today as possible, but…I will most likely spend my time with Silver to make sure he can enjoy the park and not potentially drown.”

Yuu nods, “Fair and valid.” She smiles, slinging an arm around Sebek’s neck and ignoring the half-fae scowling at her, “So, the plan is to do the big slide together to break the ice so to speak. Then you can ask Silver if he wants to go on a few slides with us before we all start to break off until lunch.”

“...” Sebek huffed, “I like this plan.”

Floyd had instantly dragged Riddle toward the wave pool, a number of students already being swirled in the man-made current. The mer had been quick to assume his other form, his swimshorts snapping open from the inner seem to allow his tail minimal constriction, “Come on, Goldfishie! I wanna swim with you~!”

Riddle had agreed at first. He planned on swimming, riding the slides and simply enjoying this new experience. But as he walked deeper into the chilly water, his stomach started to roll. His reflection stared back at him as he had an embarrassing epiphany.

Swimming in a lazy circle, Floyd floated closer to a still Riddle, “Goldfishie~? Come deeper in the water, swimming in shallow water is annoying…”

“I can't swim.”

…

Floyd flipped himself over, his back in the water as he drifted to be in Riddle's line of sight. He almost asked if he was joking, only to see Riddle's cheeks flushed and brows creased in what Floyd coined his ‘thinking face’, “Wait are you serious?”

Riddle huffed, turning his head away, “I…I just realized…”

“How do you not know how to swim?”

“I never needed to learn!”

“You're seventeen?”

Riddle huffed and nearly stomped his foot, thankfully realizing it was a bad idea to do in thigh deep water, “Don't you judge me-”

A buzzer sounds, both Riddle and Floyd's attention being called to the far wall of the pool. Symbols eched into the wall start glowing, causing the waves to swell suddenly and easily sweep numerous others into the current and higher into the air. The wave hit Riddle hard, sending him tumbling back into the water as a prisoner with Floyd diving after him. Luckily, the waves calmed quickly, allowing Floyd to lift Riddle out of the water to take a desperate series of breaths.

Riddle hacked and coughed, hands gripping onto the clawed arms holding him up, “UNHAND ME, I'M GETTING OUT!”

Floyd cooed but still swam Riddle to the edge of the pool, letting him grip at the stone and pull himself out, “Aw~ poor Goldfishie…I really wanted to relax in the water with you though…” He thinks, looking at the map of the water park before smiling to Riddle, “I have an idea~!”

“Just help me out of this hell pool!”

Jade and Floyd quickly rushed off once their trio had found a comfortable spot to set as a rest space. Each twin having plans to find their respective Heartslabyul lover, leaving Azul to sit under the shade alone. And while he could enjoy the warm weather, maybe people watch or use his phone to review the past sales reports of the lounge. Instead, his eyes caught the bold numbers along a sign. For a few seconds he felt his brain stall once he fully understood what the numbers said. Now he sat on the lounge chair, staring unblinking at the price sign of a small ice cream stand.

Soon, Yuu walked up to Azul with a smile and holding something behind their back. They moved to speak only to stop at seeing the blank look on Azul's face, “Um…baby, you doing okay? Can you hear me-”

Azul reached out, grabbing Yuu by the underside of their swim top and yanking them down to his eye level, “ My pearl, what does that sign say?” He pointed across the way, his other hand leaving Yuu's top and gripping them by the face to make sure they were looking in the correct direction.

Yuu blinked, raising an eyebrow at the price “...Oh. Nice seeing park prices are the same even in other worlds.” They laughed lightly, smiling at Azul's expression.

“How are they getting away with charging $15 for a single scoop of ice cream?”

Giggling, Yuu leaned more into Azul's hand, “Maybe it's got gold leaf or diamonds in it.”

Azul growled lightly, turning Yuu's face to look at them directly, “You know very well that gold leaf costs basically nothing! Plus that diamond would have to be practically worthless in quality or size! Why even bother!?”

Yuu doesn't reply past making a kissy face to Azul, smiling when the second-year sighed and leaned forward to press their lips together.

Pulling away, Azul made the mental note to look more into the pricing practices for such parks, “Well, that blatant theft aside, how may I-why do you have a gun?”

Azul had finally taken notice of the brightly colored water rifle in Yuu's possession. While a water gun was clearly better than an actual gun, that didn't make him feel any safer.

Yuu smiles, holding the toy up and shaking it so that Azul could hear it was full, “I borrowed it from Vil.”

“Why does Vil have a gun?”

“Oh calm down, it's filled with sunscreen.” Yuu leaned over and pressed another kiss to Azul's cheek. Pulling away they pumped the water gun once, an ominous click sounding, “Now run.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Trey sighed, closing his eyes and adjusting his glasses, “Jade, I'm not getting in the water.”

Jade pouted heavily, a clear expression of disappointment so exaggerated it was almost believable, “Trey-san…so heartless, so cruel. To deny me the chance to swim with someone I hold so dear…boo…boohoo.”

Pointing to the shallower end of the pool, the few other mers and students keeping a wide distance from Jade, Trey spoke with a smile, “And the fact you've been bullying everyone who goes past the 6ft mark?”

“I'm not making anyone stay in the shallow end.” Jade fluttered his eyelashes, swimming in a small loop and having his tail flip in a teasing motion, “But if you were to…come in the water, I may be a bit friendly.”

“Jade, I'm not going to let you drown me a little just so you can give me CPR.”

Jade keeps his smile, but looks off to the side from Trey's eyes, “Oh, I could…never-”

“Do you want to come with me to the lazy river? Kalim told Cater that this park has a rather extensive one.”

“...” Jade huffed, glaring at the other students cowering on the other side of the pool, “I suppose…this pool isn't as entertaining as I had hoped.”

“Did you try the wave pool?”

“It was already packed when I looked…” sighing, Jade moves to pull himself from the waters, “Just give me a moment to change back into my human form. It takes a bit longer when wet-”

An arm loops around Jade’s waist, suddenly pulling him from the waters and over Trey's bare shoulder. The second year was stunned, eyes wide while Trey maneuvered him into a comfortable position for them both. Trey lets out a huff of air, his free hand picking up Jade’s slack tail before he starts to walk.

“Hm. Only a bit of my Unique Magic and you're pretty comfortable to carry. Are you eating enough?”

“How many children do you want?”

Trey's response was to laugh, leaving a flustered Jade’s question unanswered. An atmosphere that was easily switched once they reached the lazy river. It was as big as Cater said it was, multiple waterways and a number of functional manmade grottos to splash water onto those in the river. A few other students were in the current, but what gave them pause was Riddle and Floyd.

While Riddle was in one of the park's single-person inflatable tubes, Floyd was behind him, swimming at a breakneck pace to zip around the water. Riddle was screaming, struggling to keep a hold of the tube while demanding Floyd ‘STOP’.

Jade laughed, placing a hand over his mouth, “Oh, that looks delightful. Trey-san, we should try it.”

Trey kept his smile, gently tossing Jade into the shallow water and moving to grab his own tube, “Well, I guess this is what my day is gonna be…”

Leona had no plans to get in any type of water today. A fact that made Ruggie deflate, yet respect his wishes to not join him in exploring the park. And, sadly, instead of going with him, Cheka decided he wanted to stay with his dearly beloved uncle.

Sighing, Leona stretched himself on the lounge chair he had claimed as his own, the surrounding area completely empty since everyone knew to stay away from a sleeping lion.

Well…most everyone.

Leona groaned hearing Cheka perk up in excitement, his little tail whacking his uncle in the face from where he was sitting.

Cheka waved, smiling wide as he recognized the tall blonde walking over to their area, “Hi Mr.Vil! Hi! I haven't seen you in forever!”

Vil smiled from behind his shades, placing his bag in a chair beside Leona before he kneels to Cheka’s level. He quickly pulls out a bottle of sunscreen, pouring a bit of the liquid into his palm before he started to rub it onto Cheka’s cheeks, “Hello, Cheka. It's very nice to see you, too. You've grown much taller.”

Giggling, Cheka let Vil smooth the pleasant-smelling liquid onto his face and exposed arms, “Thank you, I ate all my veggies last month, even though they tasted bad. Do you and my uncle still kiss?”

Malleus, who had followed Vil and placed himself on Leona's other side, snorted. Catching the one-eyed glare the beastman threw his way, the fae prince simply laid on his front to sunbathe.

Vil sighed, opening the umbrella closest to their group before sitting in the shaded area, “No, Cheka. We don't do that anymore. We don't like each other like that now.”

Cheka hummed before nodding his head, as though Vil had delivered news from on high, “That's good. You shouldn’t kiss people you don't like…” He looked past Vil, climbing over his lap and sitting on Leona’s back to point directly in Malleus’s face, “Who’s this?”

Leona snickers, speaking before Malleus could, “A lizard.”

Cheka gasps loudly, staring at Malleus with a new sense of wonder, “Really! You’re a really big lizard! I like lizards! There’s a bunch around the castle in the middle of the day because it’s so sunny! They run really fast because I chase and roar and them like this- RAWR!!!”

…

Malleus blinks, the sound of Vil and Leona struggling to hold in their laughter as he stared into the beaming face of an innocent child. A child that just roared in his face, “...That was a very impressive roar for one of your size…”

“Thank you!” Cheka spread himself out on Leona’s back, his chin resting right between the older beastman’s ears, “I practiced.”

Walking the park was somehow the worst thing to ever happen to him. Not his overblot, not being nearly sucked dry of magic, not even being almost smooched to death by a very desperate ghost. But the combo of a blasting hot sun, open toed footwear, and the fact he was forced to use every braincell he had to take the ‘most camable shots’ of Cater taking his selfies, Idia wondered if the universe was getting back at him for attempting global genocide. He wondered if it had to be so cruel…

He knew he couldn't complain. He helped Cater with his blog a lot since they officially started dating; editing, getting him access to music for videos, taking photos with his freakish height stat.

A collection of yells, whooping, and splashes calls his attention. Idia grimaces at the group of students being launched into a pool from a slide. Loud extroverts, jovial casuals. A water park was such an attribute difference than his cozy room with his set up. Even under his coat, past the layers or sunscreen he put on before even leaving his room, Idia could feel his skin cells burning under the unforgiving sun.

Cater’s fiery curls and smile could only enchant him for so long. The fear, the dread building. He's seen the videos, people filming their trips on waterslides. The very fact Cater was using him as another POV camera for B-Roll only pointed to the fact his boyfriend was going to make him get on a slide at some point. He just hasn't said when or which.

Biting his lip, Idia made the choice to just bite the bullet and stop in his tracks, “Can the slide we go on please not be too high? Or have any crazy turns? I know you'll probably want different angles but, I really don't do well all wet and this jacket will only go from the weight of one byte to a kilobyte if I get dunked so-”

“Idia, what are you talking about?”

Cater had stopped, looking at Idia with a sense of mild bewilderment. He blinked, his phone still held up to capture the perfect angle for a selfie.

“Um…” Idia fidgets, looking to the side before pulling his phone out, tapping on it with quick fingers before his text-to-audio voice calls out, “I thought you’d want to go on a slide for ‘camable’ shots. I'm just begging it’s not too wild a slide…”

“...” Cater nearly topples over, bending forward and cackling so loud multiple people had turned and stared at the duo. Calming, Cater stepped closer to cup Idia’s chin and bringing him down to press their lips together. Pulling away he laughed again, “Idia, I’m not getting in the water. I spent two hours just on my hair for today. I’m not getting all messed up and going up a bunch of stairs for a single shot that might not look good. Maybe at the end of the day…but not anytime soon.”

Idia stuttered, being dragged behind Cater while the other junior raised his phone up to line his selfie back up.

“Now, come on. There’s an ivy wall somewhere in this park and I will find it…”

Leona groans, his brow twitching in annoyance as Cheka whined and pulled on his ears.

“Unca! Unca! UUUUUUUNCAAAAAAAAAA!”

Vil spoke up, turning the page of his book from under his parasol, “Leona, I believe your nephew requests your attention.”

“No? Really?” Leona let out a deep sigh, rolling over on the lounge chair and managing to catch the falling child with one arm, “What? It's been an hour.”

“Ouji-Tan! I wanna go play! Come play with me!” Cheka pouted, slapping his open palms against Leona's chest.

“Go play then…” Leona tried to roll back over, gently slipping Cheka to the pavement only to groan when Cheka started to yank at his hair.

“Noooooooooo! I wanna go in the water with Unca! Unca! Uncaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

Cheka had devolved into simply yelling, taking deep breaths before continuing to shout and tug at one of Leona's braids.

Malleus hummed, cracking an eye open to the scene only a foot away from him, “Beastmen child rearing is rather odd…”

Leona growled, pushing up from the lounge chair and scooping the child up in one fluid motion before he started to walk away from the lounge area. Cheka squirmed around, Leona piecing together that his nephew was not only bored but overheating. A quick dip was the easiest solution. Since the wave pool was out of the question and the normal pool was packed, all that was left was the lazy river.

He stood at the edge of the water, watching as a group of students floated closer. Rosehearts and Clover both lounging on innertubes, their respective Leeches circling around them in full forms.

Riddle perked up, seeing his fellow housewarden standing at the side of the river, “Ah! Leona, how can I-”

Leona barely moved, tossing Cheka into the air with his one arm and letting the child arch to splash into the water.

A moment of silence passed, the river group staring wide eyed as they watched a child disappear under the water. When Cheka doesn't resurface instantly, Trey called out to Leona concerned.

“Can he swim!?”

…

Leona glances down at the water, waiting silently while the two Heartslabyul students start panicking. Luckily, the bright orange ball at the bottom of the river started to swim up and break through the surface. Cheka paddled around making over exaggerated shivering sounds.

“It's cold!”

“Yeah, he knows.” Leona turned on his heel, the unspoken task of watching his nephew hung in the air as he walked away.

“Thanks for carrying the tube, Jack!”

“It's not even that heavy…”

Sebek scoffed under his breath, still mad the large tube had unbalanced him and made him fall, “It's ridiculous how big a four person tube is! Could this even fit in the slide!?”

Yuu hummed, looking at the large pipe of the slide beside them as they climbed the stairs to the top, “I would think so. Since that's kinda the whole point you know.”

Sebek had opened his mouth, either to actually respond or rise to Yuu's small jab, Jack didn't let him speak, “Why did you two want to ride this slide with us specifically? Didn't Ace and Deuce get in line before us since we had to wait for a four person tube?”

Epel mumbled, waving his boyfriend's question off as he and Yuu quickly raced up the stairs. At the top, positioning into the small pool before the mouth of the slide, the attendant looked…concerned when Yuu and Epel instructed them to sit on the opposite side of the tube from them.

Holding onto one of the handrails of the tube, the attendant gave both Jack and Sebek worried glances, “You um…you guys sure about this seating arrangement?”

“Just release us already, human!”

“Alright…your funeral…”

Only as he and Sebek descended into the mouth of the slide did Jack realize a few key things. One, physics was a subject he was decent at. Two, this slide had a large bulb filled with water half-way through after a drop. Three, he and Sebek were on one side of this tube and they both weighed much more than Epel and Yuu combined, “...Fuck.”

The resulting screams reached the three lounging juniors. Only Leona perked up at hearing the sudden increased intensity of the four very familiar voices before silence seemed to ring out. 

Vil spoke, not looking up from his book, “Were those ours?”

“...Yep.”

“Were those ‘broken bone’ screams?”

Malleus hummed, tilting his head but not moving elseway, “I don't believe so…”

Vil turned the page of his book, grabbing his bottle of ice water to sip, “They're fine then…”

A few minutes later, Sebek and Jack had walked over still dripping wet. The two taller boys had Epel and Yuu over their respective shoulders. While Jack had sat Epel down beside Vil, the cackling freshman having to lean against his housewarden’s chair. Sebek dropped a laughing, sopping-wet Yuu onto Malleus’s back before walking away without a word.

Leona raised his head, looking at the two still laughing freshman, “What did you two even do?”

Yuu all but cried into Malleus’s hair from how loud they were laughing, “We…we did a flip…”

Lilia sighed, waving a hand in front of his face as he sat in the shallow water opening of the lazy river, “Such a fun place…it's a shame it has to be so hot…”

It was nearly lunchtime, so it was only right to gather his charges and make sure they all managed to have a meal before the food area was overwhelmed. Malleus was easy to find, a large black mass lounging around in the sun. The real challenge was finding Silver and Sebek. While he was happy that his boy wasn't stuck lazing around with him, he could only worry not able to find him In the water park.

Luckily, Lilia had ran into Kalim, the Asim hier carrying the youngest Savanna prince on his shoulders after somehow gaining responsibility for him. Kalim had gleefully told him where he last saw Silver and Sebek, and that they were most likely still there. Parting ways, Kalim had invited Lilia to join them in the children's area after lunch.

He didn't have to wait long, chuckling lightly at the two underclassmen floating in the river.

Silver was asleep, but safely floating on a tube in a comfortable position. Sebek floated behind him completely face down in the water, hands lazily resting on Silver's shoulders. Lilia walked deeper into the river, standing in the path of the two guards. Seeing how neither moved nor noticed him, he could only giggle a bit more.

“Oh, dear…well…I have no choice then…” clearing his throat, Lilia narrowed his eyes and yelled, “SILVER! SEBEK!”

Silver shot up, nearly headbutting Lilia only to fall face first into the water as the general dodged. At the same time, Sebek had jerked and flailed in the water. A cloud of bubbles broke through the water as he jolted upright and saluted.

“SIR!”

Silver stood up in the water after getting his bearings, saluting as well, “Sir!”

Lilia laughed, “I’m happy to see you boys are relaxing on this lovely day. Now come out of the water, it's almost time for lunch!”

Yuu walked around the park, taking in the sights and sounds. They had made a quick stop to where the teachers were all gathered, asking if what Azul had told them earlier that day was true or not. Crewel had been too excited to explain what the numerous advancements in potions and chemistry had done in only a few decades. Allowing rapid growth and processing plants to be used as natural filters in real time. Making such clean and non-chlorine filled waters that were safe for every species.

For nearly five minutes they were trapped in Crewel's too happy gaze before Sam had distracted him with a bottle of suspiciously already opened scotch. Trein had shooed them away while Crewel tried to yank the bottle out of Sam's hands, telling them to drink plenty of water and to get out of the sun when they could. So walking around the park it was, sipping on a blue raspberry slushie and seeing who they could find to bother.

They had to do a double take as they spotted a messy braided bun. Calling out his name they rushed over before they could lose him in the crowd.

Jamil turned, raising an eyebrow as his datemate ran over and stared at him in astonishment. He glanced over to the side, waiting for her to speak, but seeing how they weren't he tilted his head, “Yes?”

“Where the fuck have you been!? I don't think I've seen you since you checked in?”

“I've been enjoying the park, hayati. That was the whole point of the trip wasnt it?”

“Well…yeah. But I haven't seen you, in like…hours… are you good?”

Jamil smiles, raising a fist to his mouth to laugh before leaning over to peck Yuu on the cheek, “I'm fine. I really have been enjoying myself. This day turned out to be more relaxing than I thought it'd be.”

Yuu blushes from his kiss, PDA from Jamil was rare and treasured. They press their slushie to their cheek, “Kalim hasn't been…well, Kalim? His top stay on so far?”

“Don't know, I only saw him briefly in another lunch line. But, he seemed to be doing ok.”

“...” Yuu pressed the slushie to Jamil's neck, ignoring the viper hissing and trying to escape the cold touch, “Are you fucking dying of heat stroke? Who are you!?”

Taking the drink from Yuu's hand, Jamil glared, “That's cold. Yuu, this park was already vetted by the Asims; a second look is only more thorough than the first with Kalim’s family. Since Kalim, the heir, is here, no doubt they sent much more security detail than normal. Just because most of the other students can't see them doesn't mean they aren’t there. And lastly, Cheka is here. Kalim actually engages all his brain cells to keep children both entertained and safe in his care. He's literally more safe and functional than normal so long as Cheka remains attached to him”

He hands the drink back, taking the time to flick Yuu directly in the center of their forehead, ignoring their whining as he speaks, “I'm having fun, don't worry about me. Just be sure to reapply sunscreen.” Jamil hugs them, one-armed and brief before he turns to walk away.

Yuu mumbles under their breath, speaking around the straw of their icy, “I don't need sunscreen-”

Though it was mumbled, Jamil heard them and whipped around to sprint toward them. Yuu screamed, the shriek sliding into a burst of hysterical laughter as they ran from the vice warden.

Deuce hummed, brows creasing as he and Ruggie walked over the multi-colored stone bridge that led to a new area of the park, “Isn't this…trespassing?”

Ruggie snorted, looking over his shoulder at the Heartslabyul first year, “I mean, Kalim’s family bought the park for the day; we can go wherever we want.”

“Really…?”

Sighing, Ruggie pats deuce on the back as they walk through the brightly colored gate of the park's kiddie area, “Don't think too hard about it. Kalim sure didn't when he boltcut the locks off…”

Kalim had almost gleefully explained to anyone who asked how he had magiced up a pair of bolt cutters to break the chains and locks of the park's kiddie area. It was only logical in his mind, since he plucked Cheka from Riddle and Trey's care in the lazy river, he had to take the five-year-old to the age-appropriate area.

The park was big in its own right, and while the children's area was smaller it still had the size to hold a hundred or so people comfortably. The area was whimsical, water spouts shaped as various aquatic and tropical items. Bright colors of every hue at every corner, making it almost an eye strain to both Ruggie and Deuce.

Deuce oo-ed, looking around the space and laughing at a rotating fish that squirted water into the air, “This is a lot, but really cute. I can see how kids love it here…”

Ruggie snickered, looking over at Kalim, Cheka, and Lilia playing on the massive jungle gym and spraying each other with stationary water guns, “Money really buys a plethora of experiences. The kids back home would never believe this place, just from the amount of water alone.”

“Ah…water is scarce in your town?”

“Not so much ‘scarce’. But we have other ways of staying cool than using fresh clean water; that's for cooking and cleaning.”

Nodding, Deuce looked around the space, “I guess when you put it that way…a water park does feel like a waste. But it has been pretty fun, right, Bucchi-senpai? I've never been to one before so I've been trying to go on everything.”

Ruggie hummed, turning a wheel and then sputtering when a ring overhead turned in tandum and dropped water on his head, “Yeah, it's fun. Just really reminds me how many rich people I've been around. I've only gone on a few slides because I've been…a little overwhelmed.”

Deuce nodded, closing his eyes, “I know what you mean. The queendom doesn't get that hot and even when it did mom and I were able to cool down with just ice lollies. But, thinking about how valuable a resource water is for some people…a water park seems kinda wasteful.”

They both sigh, Ruggie muttering good naturally under his breath, “Rich people-”

A loud buzzer made both of them jump. Deuce was well aware of the wave pools buzzer, an auditory warning to the incoming currents.  But looking around, neither could see what was coming. Only the gleeful squealing of Cheka makes them look up. The other three guests on the jungle gym all smiling and pointing upward. Deuce and Ruggie both look at the top of the gym, only now noticing the large bucket witht he park’s logo on it tipping over. The rush of water hit both boys hard and fast. Deuce was able to keep himself standing, sputtering and shaking his head to get the water out of his face. Ruggie wasn’t so lucky. The Savanaclaw boy having been knocked down and nearly waterboarded before the onslaught was over.

Ruggie coughs, sitting up and flicking his ears and brushing his hair out of his face, “This place is for the kids!?”

Cater tapped at his phone, screening through his photos and deleting ones that weren’t up to his standards immediately. Beside him, Idia was crouched before an electric keypad with his own phone connected to it via a cable. A few minutes passed before the previously red light turned green, a pleasant ding sounding as the door's lock disengaged, “Got it…”

Humming, Cater pockets his phone and holds the now unlocked door open for both of them, “Awesome, babes! That felt like it took longer than normal though…”

Idia shook his head, putting his phone back into his pocket as he followed Cater through the restricted area, “I was kinda impressed honestly; security was no real end-game event in difficulty, but it was pretty interesting how they structured it…” he smiled, his face looking smug, “Wanted to play with it a little…”

Cater snickered, bumping shoulders with the other third-year, “Bully.”

The two walk down the stone hallway, finally entering a large area of shallow waterways brimming with faintly glowing plants. The large foliage growing out of the troughs and interlocking under steel grate walkways. It was peaceful, the sound of water gently trickling through the park's systems. Small fireflies flew lazily through the air, repeatedly blinking as they went.

Ooh-ing, his phone already recording the area as he walked deeper into the room, “OM7, this place is amazing! The other influencers are gonna be #somadcraycraywithjel-layforcaycay!”

Idia sighed from his spot, inching away as a number of fireflies mistook his hair as a beacon, “Have I ever given you my opinion on your hashtags…?”

“Sorry~. Can't hear you over the sound of all the cute pictures I'm taking~.” Cater smiled, winking toward Idia as he held his phone high to take another 30 selfies in rapid succession. But, he blinks, his expression turning into one of surprise before he turned his phone camera toward Idia, “Babes, take your jacket off a bit?”

The other third-year instantly tried to hide in his jacket. Even fully covered he briefly brought his arms up to shield his chest from Cater’s focused eyes, “Why?”

“Ah. No, wait. Yeah, keep the jacket on; it's good since the background is so dull compared to you.” Cater moved around his shy boyfriend, the audible click of his camera going off only making Idia squirm more, “Don't move so much.”

“Why are you taking my picture…?” Idia blushed, trying to hide in his hair and hood as Cater teasingly pushed the phone directly into his face, “C-Cater!”

Cater chuckles, finally pulling away to look over the newest batch of photos while he twirls a strand of hair, “Sorry~. I couldn't help it. You look really good in this lighting…”

“...” Idia glared softly from behind his hair, “Don't post those…”

“Don't worry…” Cater leaned into Idia, pulling the other third-year down to whisper against his lips, “You know any pic of you is #MINE…”

Idia hair had flared for a brief moment, the electric blue overtaken by a soft bubblegum pink before it faded to his edges. He laughed nervously, looking away from Cater, “Wh-What kinda game plan are you even playing at…?”

“Well~...Since you were such a good sport today and helped me get all the Magicam shots I wanted. I thought we could chill out here, away from everyone else. Maybe makeout a little-”

“Yes, please.”

Waiting in lines was a factor Epel hadn't accounted for when he said he was going to get on every slide. He sighed, resting his palm against his face as he looked over the park from the tall walk up tower, the people below slowly growing smaller and smaller as he and Rook climbed higher.

“Monsieur Pom, the line is moving. Come along.”

Epel turned to Rook, walking behind the third-year, “Thanks for hold the tube for us, Rook. Those things get annoyingly heavy after a few hours…”

Rook chuckled, the two person tube looped over his shoulder, “It is no issue. I want to thank you for agreeing to ride this slide with me. Trey was my original target, but his beau would not allow him out of the river without him…”

“Yeah, the Leech twins are…really aggressive in the water Ah’m learning…” Epel had simply tried to ask Riddle if he had more sunscreen he had passed out among his dorm and where to find it. Deuce lost his tube, Ace needed an extra coating, and Epel honestly wanted a tube just to avoid Vil sniping him on the back of the neck with his ice cold sunscreen potion. He had barely walked into the lazy river before he was being round house slapped by a beefy eel tail.

“Ah…Oui. At least you landed further into the river and not on the pavement like moi…”

Epel turned to his senior, opening his mouth to make another comment only to stop and then hum, “Ah. Rook-senpai, hold still you have something on your back.”

“Oh?”

“Ah’ll get it.” Epel brushes at the center of Rook’s back, trying to remove the collection of spots that seemed to suddenly appear on his skin. But seeing they weren’t moved, Epel rubbed at the skin harder only to lean in, “What is on yur back…?”

Rook looked over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in an expression of surprise, “My back? I don’t remember laying down anywhere.”

“Yeah, It’s like a bunch of dots…wait.” Epel leaned in closer, squinting his eyes as he noticed even more darken speckles, “Are those…Are those freckles? You have freckles?” Epel leaned back in surprise, staring in almost horror at Rook’s back.

The third-year only laughs, tilting his head back, “Oh! Is that all? Yes, I freckle when in the sun too long these days. Though when I was younger you’d confuse me for one big freckle. The sun is a creature of wonder, life, and mystery. It’s light nourishes the soil and the flora, giving food to the beasts of man and the night. But its same light can set fire to the savana, burn and boil the skin of those who need it to survive.”

Epel could only stand and listen as Rook continued on and on about about the dangers of the sun while also waxing poetic about it. The longer Epel studied his senpai did he start to see more and more freckles along the third-year’s body. He mumbles under his breath, brows creasing as he thought aloud, “Wait, did you even put sunscreen on?”

Screaming in a more frantic frequency suddenly rings out. A two-person tube from above them flying far off course of the waterslide and sailing through the air until it landed with a massive splash into the wave pool. Epel nearly fell off as he slammed into the railing, screaming at the familiar two people who just flew off the slide, “THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YA TWO!? ACE, DEUCE, AH’M TELLIN’ RIDDLE ABOUT THIS YOU FUCKIN’ DUMBASSES. YA COULDA DIED!”

Rook leans over a screaming Epel, smiling and waving to the two still shell shocked freshmen, “BEAUTIFUL FORM! 100 POINTS!”

Azul looked up as a shadow fell over him. Blocking out the sun stood a dripping Jamil, his fellow second-year staring down at him with his normal expression of unenthused, a bright red slushie in one hand. Azul had remained seated, silent as he gripped his cell phone and wrote down a few ideas on a clean napkin.

Looking to the side, Azul cleared his throat, moving his arm away as Jamil’s hair sent down three drops of water in quick succession, “Hello, dear. Did you need me for something?”

Jamil continues to stare, bringing his straw up to his mouth and slurping loudly. Tilting his head to the side and letting his hair drip across Azul’s still-clothed arm. He smirked, watching Azul cringing his arm to his chest. He decided to be kind, flipping his hair over his shoulder, “Have you been sitting here the whole day?”

“Not…the whole day. I moved after lunch. But, Jamil!” Azul had gripped Jamil by the arm, pulling the other sophomore onto the lunch table bench he held up the napkins, “Look at these calculations, this park is performing theft in broad daylight! The markup is absurd. A single slice of pizza and a bag of chips is almost $20!” Azul turned away, one hand tapping at his phone and the other writing more numbers along the napkins, “That's a single slice and a small bag of chips, not a drink. The pizza wasn’t even good. Could you imagine how much more I could make at the lounge with actual decent cuisine?”

Jamil raised an eyebrow, sipping his slushie before speaking, “I could imagine the riot that’ll break out once you even think of raising your prices. It may have been last year, but people still haven’t forgiven you for the whole ‘School-wide Slavery’ plot.”

Azul stopped tapping on his phone, turning to glare at Jamil’s blank-faced inquiry, “As I’ve told you all multiple times, it wasn’t slavery; everyone signed a legally binding contract that was fully explained and outlined to them. They knew what they were-Stop trying to drip water on me!” 

Laughing, Jamil moves his hair back over his shoulder and away from dripping onto Azul’s arm, “You really don’t want to risk anyone seeing your true form that bad?”

“You know I’m…sensitive, about it…”

“Yuu says you look cute.”

“Yuu’s never seen me in my mer form, they’ve only seen what I looked like in overblot. And let’s not sit here and pretend Yuu is the authority on appearances. If I remember correctly, they saw your overblot form as very attractive-JAMIL! PLEASE GO DRY YOUR HAIR!”

Deuce blinked up at Ortho sitting on the pool's edge, “You don’t know how to swim?”

Ace floated behind Deuce, arms lazily waving around the water but he raised an eyebrow at the automation, “Can’t you just download how to do it?”

Deuce splashes him, glaring at the sputtering redhead, “Ace, that's rude!”

Ortho giggled, kicking his legs lightly in the water, “It’s not Deuce Spade. But, thank you. It’s not that I don’t know how to swim, I’m asking you to help me me figure out a way to swim.”

“Is there…a difference?”

Holding up a finger, Ortho stood up from the edge of the pool. Once he was sure the two other freshmen were watching him, he took a step over the edge and allowed himself to fall into the water. Ace and Deuce both stare as the still-shining blue flame sank lower and lower into the water until Ortho landed on the pool bottom. The robot tilting his head up and waving toward them.

“Oh…”

“Do… do we help him back up?”

“Deuce, what the fuck. How are we gonna-”

Trein looked at the teacher beside him. Crewel leaned back in his chair with his mouth hung open. He could only sneer as the bicolored man let out a loud, guttural snore. He plucked the empty bottle of scotch from the man's hands, recapping it and putting it back in his bag before looking over the rest of the faculty that came.

Oster was reclining in a lounge chair, a trifold in her hands to direct as much sunlight to herself as possible. An empty slushie cup half hidden under her chair with the actual drink poured into a deep margarita glass with a colorful paper umbrella in it.

Hui-Yan was covered head to toe, an ornate swim cover hiding all skin from view as she peacefully read under an umbrella. He at least thinks she's reading. She had on stylish shades, borrowed either from Crewel or Oster, that completely hid her eyes. And while she hadn't put her tablet down, he's also certain she hadn't actually moved…

Rohdri was doing…something. The stoic man had brought some compact contraption with him and he had been fiddling with it since they arrived at the park. He stood in his shorts, button-up short sleeve shirt, and a fisherman's hat, looking over the machine as it gave beeps. He would widen his eye a fraction of an inch every now and again, humming loudly and typing at his tablet.

Dubhghall was Seven knows where. What had started as him accompanying a few students that didn't meet the weight requirement for a ride, quickly turned into the massive teacher simply not returning to the teacher's table and running around the park as if he was a student himself.

And Vargas…

Trein's eyes trailed over, watching the shorter man drag Crowley away kicking and screaming. He laughed loudly, Sam locked under his other arm, stating that the ride he was taking them to would put hair on their chest. Crowley howled and wailed, ridiculous gold tipped claw rings digging into the pavement as he cried out he didn't WANT hair on his chest. Sam seemed to be resigned to his fate.

Looking back toward Crewel, he sighed. Even with Crowley's whining the other man hadn't woken up from his drunken stupor. Pulling out his phone, he could only frown at the text message his daughters had sent him. The both of them more than willing to cat sit Lucious for the day. At the image of his darling boy, tongue sticking out as he slept the day away belly up he could only sigh again.

“I miss my cat…”

Leona glared at his nephew, the five-year-old kicking and screaming on the ground after being told it was time to go home. Cheka was having far too much fun at the water park, not to mention the fact his uncle hadn't even gone on a single ride or swam in the water.

Rolling his eyes, Leona kneels down and scoops the wailing child under his arms, “Stop your yelping. We're leaving.”

“NOOOOOOOOO! UNCA! I DON'T WANNA LEAVE YET! YOU SAID WE'D PLAY IN THE WATER TODAY!” Cheka devolved back into simply screaming and flailing his arms around, climbing up Leona to clutch onto his back.

Leona stood still, glaring into the air as Cheka’s legs kicked against his collar and he screamed into his ears. The only time Cheka wasn’t screaming was when the five-year-old would lean over and try to sink his still dullish baby teeth into Leona’s ears.

Vil scoffed, his bag already packed and his sunhat back on, “Really? Are you going to just let him throw a tantrum?” Shaking his head, Vil leaned forward hands up to pluck Cheka from Leona’s shoulders, “Come here Cheka, you can ride back to the school with me-AH! MY HAIR, MY HAIR!”

Cheka didn’t detach from Leona’s ear as he gripped onto Vil’s hair and pulled at the locks, ruining his hairstyle and knocking his hat off of his head. Malleus even tried to help, if only to try to release Vil from the angry toddler’s hold. Instead, one of his horns were also gripped in a tiny hand.

Leona raises an eyebrow at Malleus, the large fae keeping bent over and doing his best to not move far from Cheka’s range, “You know damn well you can move out of his hold…”

Malleus looked away, pouting lightly but letting Cheka shake his head around from his horn, “I don’t wish to hurt him trying to remove him…”

“...” Only when Cheka takes a deep breath, unlatching from biting at Leona’s ear to let out another piercing scream, Leona speaks up, “FINE! FINE! Pick a damn ride and we’ll go on it!”

Cheka stopped screaming almost instantly, but kept his grip on both Vil and Malleus, “Really?”

“Yes. By the Seven, just stop your shrieking…”

Cheka spent only two seconds thinking over his choices before scrambling off of his uncle, tugging on his swim trunks as to say ‘Follow me’. Beaming and jumping up and down.

Leona stood under the bucket, glaring at the crowd of people all watching him with rapt attention. As the buzzer sounds, he closed his eyes feeling the rush of freezing cold water hitting him hard from the top of his head. It felt like a full minute before the water stops and he’s left soaking wet with a giggling Cheka still gripping onto his swim trunks.

Ruggie looked all too pleased with the current events, eyes just too low to be eye level, “Was the water nice?”

“Everyone get back on the fucking bus.”

“UNCA!”

[spinjitsuburst]

alright gang i've watched dragons rising up to episode 18

gonna infodump my thoughts, spoilers from up to ep. 18 under the cut!

sooooooooooooooooooooo holy shit this season's incredible

the idea that master wu took care of the ENTIRE monastery is so laughable. lloyd a huge chunk of wu's screentime is snapping at the ninja to do THEIR chores

mr. frohicky is so funny and him and zane are dating now i dont make the rules

on a serious note! i love frohicky and zane's dynamic

pixal..... i miss her

lloyd understands why wu never told them shit now. "why didn't you tell us you were the grandson of GOD" "eh never really came up"

lloyd and arin are so special to me, lloyd really did adopt this kid huh

nya working sora through her self-esteem issues!! their dynamic is particularly sweet and i really love that they got paired together

wyldfyre is slowly but surely becoming my favorite dragons rising character

like her and kai's dynamic shifting as he helps heatwave was so sweet

plot twist i freaking LOVE arrakore he's just sad in a cave

i didn't expect them to go into nya's trauma in this episode cuz like hgjkdfshjgk not plot relevant but the bitterness in her voice when she talked about the djinn having a thing for showmanship. hmm.

COLE AND HIS FAMILY MEAN SO MUCH TO ME. HIM AND GEO ARE BOYFRIENDS AND THEY HAVE KIDS. I'M NOT EVEN SAD COLE DIDN'T GO WITH THE REST OF THE GROUP I'M SO HAPPY FOR HIM also lostshipping for geo and cole please

FUSION POWERS ARE SO COOL

that creature was just a shiny ditto

cole in general was incredible, andrew francis continues to do an incredible job voicing him

him FEELING the very earth crying out and screaming, it hurt :( i love when they go into the physicality and connection of their elements but mannnn :(((

the administration is the stanley parable

zane jumpscare of him just sitting in the mailroom AHAHHA

JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY JAY

he was giving off bitchy villain energy please ninjago please please give him a villain arc please please

LOOK AT HIM

pretty sure i fucking busted @rottedsoulx 's headphones when i let out the loudest scream when jay showed up like. hooooooo man i'm so sorry dude HAHAHGKJFDH

lord ras and beatrix lore..... innnnnteresting also beatrix' twin having an elemental power is WILD

"you know how i taught you patience and stuff" "yeah?" "fuck that go ham" thank you kai

THE KIDS HELPING THE NINJA I KNEW I WAS RIGHT TO ADOPT THEM ON SIGHT IN PART ONE

in conclusion i'm ecstatic my crops are cleared my depression is gone i'm in love with this season

[diagnosedpsychosis]

Summertime Sadness

This was a request that I had no clue how to reply to with a post cause I'm not a tech genius in the slightest (still haven't even figured out how to screenshot on my laptop) :/

Description: As hard as you try, you can't seem to get yourself out of the ruck you've been in since seeing your best friend, Rafe, with yet another girl that wasn't you. So when you don't turn up to a party, Rafe ditches to be with you.

Word Count: 1.6k

Hope this alright @insomniacspsychosis and thank you so much for the request :)

________________________________________

It was normal for somebody to see another person doing nothing and classify them as lazy. You weren't lazy though, because whilst you laid in bed, heart beating at an all time low you wanted to get up, you wanted to have fun with the rest of your friends, but you just couldn't push yourself to do the things you wanted.

Something as simple as getting up to go to the toilet felt like a high demand task you didn't have the energy to complete, and so you'd spent all day holding in a 5 second bathroom trip purely cause leaving the comfort of your bed made you feel uneasy and unprotected from the world outside your bedroom.

You knew why you had fallen into the ruck you'd been in for the last 4 days now, you just didn't want to admit to yourself that it was because you saw your best friend locking lips with yet another girl.

Rafe Cameron, had been your comfort person for as long as you could remember. When you were sad you ran to him and he eagerly leant you his shoulder. When you were happy he was there to grin and bask in the warmth of your joy. When you were angry he was there to talk you down from an explosive episode. He had always been there, so of course you started developing feelings for him. He was the one person on earth that made you feel unconditionally happy and safe.

He was one of your very few soft spots, and you his only.

You cringed at the memory of him kissing a blonde by the pool of the massive Thornton house. Every time you were reminded he was the kook prince with a thousand begging conquests eager to get in his pants, you felt sick. He had his pick of the litter and every single time he never chose you. Sure, you'd never thrown yourself at him suggestively, and if anything ever did happen between you you didn't want it to happen in the same setting as all his other girls, but were you not pretty?

You didn't want to be just another conquest. Of course, you never thought of yourself to be any kind of prize worth winning, so the reality of not being another face he's made out with was anything but, yet still you were prone to wishful thinking.

You were always Rafe's side kick for a good portion of the nights when parties were thrown. You'd sit together, talk together, the closeness of your bodies and the intensity of your stares on each other acting as a repellent to everybody else, not daring to come between the two of you. But the second he'd get up, claiming he was 'only' going to get a drink, you knew he wasn't coming back anytime soon and if he did he'd have swollen lips.

You weren't going to put yourself through another night of wondering 'why not me?' Coming to the conclusion nothing would ever happen between you two had hurt, but if you wanted to get through it and over him you needed to avoid him and parties altogether for a little while. He was your best friend, but even best friends needed breaks from each other sometimes.

You saw his text 2 hours ago, asking if you were turning up to the party that was being held at his house, and you were still yet to reply. You weren't going to. Every other time you had tried to ignore him whilst 'attempting' to get over him the second a text would come through you'd reply before you even had the chance to think. Not this time. You were too old to be hung up on your best friend.

You stared at your lock screen, Rafe's name still on it as you refused to even simply open your phone. Groaning you tossed your phone to the side, away from you and out of reach even if you leant out of your bed to get it. You kept your dull lamp on before sinking back into your bed and pulling your covers up under your chin. You grabbed one of your discarded pillows already under your blanket, before pulling it into your chest and hugging it right up until the moment you fell asleep.

You hadn't even realised you'd dozed off until you stirred awake to the feel of someone pushing your hair out of your face. You exhaled through your nose, snuggling further into your pillows, freezing at the quiet laugh that ran through your room. Slowly opening a single eye, you were surprised to find Rafe crouched beside your bed in front of you, a small smile on his face.

"Hey" he whispered, pushing your hair back out of your face when you moved and it fell over your forehead. You frowned, opening your other eye before looking around the room, wondering what time it was.

"What are you doing here? How'd you get in?" You've barely left the four walls that connect to make your room in days, let alone gotten up to unlock the windows, so there was no way he'd come through that way.

"Your Mum let me in, thought I might be able to make you feel better" Rafe mumbled back making you sigh. You shook your head as you pushed yourself up and back against your head board, alert and looking down at Rafe.

"I feel fine. I'm just tired" You shut him down, for the first time in ever, wanting him to turn around and leave your room. Rafe hummed, nodding but not believing you as he stood up before sitting down on the edge of your bed, beside your leg that he patted twice.

"Mm, too tired to message me back in 4 days?" You didn't answer, just stared tiredly at Rafe. You weren't sleep deprived, but emotionally drained. Rafe's smile slowly fell from his face realising you weren't just simply feeling weird. Something was going on and he worried it had everything to do with him.

"Why are you here, Rafe?" You whispered.

"I missed you. You've been ignoring me the last couple days, and then you didn't turn up to the party at mine... you're pulling away from me" Rafe's voice despite being soft, sounded vulnerable. The thought of you putting space between the two of you made him incredibly anxious, wanting nothing more than to be around you 24/7, 365 days a year.

"I'm not pulling away from you-"

"You are, y/n/n" Rafe cut you off. You opened your mouth, not knowing what to say. Rafe softly smiled, wanting you only to feel comfortable around him even when these less than comfortable conversations were being had.

"And that's okay if you need a little bit of space. I don't want to be away from you, but if you need some you time I'll give you all the time in the world" You hated the aching feeling in your chest, and how guilty you felt at your actions.

He knew you were ignoring him, he wasn't dumb, but he didn't know why because you didn't have the balls to tell him. So instead of him understanding you were staying away until you had a grip on your feelings, he thought you just didn't want to be friends anymore.

"You didn't have to leave your party to say that to me" You told him, Rafe patting your knee as his eyes darted between yours.

"Not really much of a party if you're not there" Your eyes instinctively fell to his lips and you couldn't help but suck in a breath. They weren't red, or swollen.

"Your Dad's gonna be mad if something gets broken and you weren't there to supervise" You let him know. Rafe shrugged.

"Not the end of the world, certainly feels like it though when you stare at me like that. Flash me those pearly whites, woman" Rafe leant forward, pinching one of your cheeks. No matter how big or small Rafe's gestures were, he always had the ability to make you smile at times when it felt like the last thing you were capable of, even now.

Rafe's mouth spread into a massive grin, his eyes focused solely on your lips as you smiled up at him, purposely being overdramatic and stretching your mouth as wide as possible.

"There's that damn smile I love so much. I'll never understand why you don't smile like that in pictures" You were thankful for your shitty dull lamp hiding your flushed cheeks at Rafe's compliment.

"I hate having photo's taken of me" You groaned, Rafe shaking his head as he rested his hand on your covered leg.

"Which seems ridiculous to me when you're as gorgeous as you are" Your cheeks are burning unbelievably hot as you look down at your lap.

"You're just trying to make me feel better" You mumble, listening to Rafe's 'Ahhh' as he pokes your arm.

"Feel better? So...something was wrong then" Rafe grins, earning a shove to the shoulder from you as you cross your arms over your chest and sink into yourself. Rafe chuckles, pulling your arms back apart, his hand gripping yours falling into your lap but not parting.

"I'm kidding, but really y/n, I wish you'd have a little bit more confidence. Maybe you'd finally notice how people look at you" You rolled your eyes.

"And how do people look at me, Rafe?" You asked jokingly, watching something flash across Rafe's face as his gaze softened unbelievably so on you. So much for putting a little distance between the two of you.

"Like you hung the moon" He answered quietly, watching you scoff in disbelief.

"And how would you know that?" You questioned, smile slowly fading the longer your question went unanswered. Rafe couldn't look away from you, his throat tight and chest heavy as the feelings he's harboured for you crept out.

"Cause it's how I look at you."

[zoe-oneesama]

So what are your thoughts (and salt) on your research re-watch on Queen Wasp?

This episode is annoying because it tries to play both sides - it is very much NOT a redemption arc episode but at the same time tries to make you feel sorry for Chloe after she fucks shit up, which has tricked some into believing this actually WAS part of Chloe's redemption arc.

As @hypexion laid out in a full essay, there never was a Chloe redemption arc because Chloe never thought she did anything wrong and never thought she had to change. In "Queen Wasp", she refuses to return the Miraculous on the grounds "finders keepers, losers weepers", deliberately causes a crisis in order to try and FAIL to save the day just to show off, and when confronted with her deeds only has this to say:

See, I didn't pull Scarlet Lady's complete disregard for human life out of my ass, it was canon all along! 😈

"Who cares"?! "Who CARES"?! Putting aside that "WE" did not save them, Ladybug and Chat Noir saved them from YOU, I'm pretty sure the people's who's LIVES you endangered "cares"!

Thing is, if you just watch this episode and put the entire idea of "redemption" or "hero Chloe" out of your mind, this is 3/4ths of a good episode. Pretty fun, actually, with Chloe just...being Chloe. And getting to hit Chloe in the face with a trash can ❤️.

So what's with all the audience emotional manipulation at the end?

Why is Chat Noir making soft face and using soft voice at Chloe at the end, commiserating that she STOLE a Miraculous (because once she decided not to return it when asked, yes, that's theft at that point), crashed a train, and ran away from the consequences just to ImPrEsS hEr MoThEr? Guess that makes it alright then, right Adrien? 🙃

(If it was just meant to be an Adrien Character Moment, they would've had Ladybug counter him by point out that her motivation doesn't make what she did okay, but instead they have Ladybug ALSO commiserate with Chloe)

As a character beat, I get that Adrien is channeling his daddy issues through Chloe's mommy issues, but I mean for the audience: why are they having Ladybug admit to "making mistakes" and Chat Noir comfort Chloe when SHE MESSED UP THIS BADLY except to manipulate the viewer into feeling sorry for her?! Her mother didn't ASK her to do any of those things, she did them all on her own, so why are the heroes giving her a pass, ie. why are the writers wanting the audience to give Chloe a pass???

No pass! She sucked! And she deserved her classmates ripping on her in "Malediktator", but then the story had the balls to try and make the audience feel bad for Chloe for that too!

Speaking of that, it's really weird that they ended "Queen Wasp" with Ladybug being so soft on Chloe at the end, only for Marinette to turn around at the beginning of "Malediktator" and go back to being really annoyed with her. Especially after she went out of her way to reconcile things between Chloe and Audrey.

Even the way they did it - equating Ladybug accidentally dropping the Miraculous in the middle of the battle and then relying on the Miraculous Cure to return the Miraculous to Fu, (something she'd have no reason to believe shouldn't happen), to Chloe deliberately causing a disaster in order to fail to impress her mom and refusing to return the Miraculous that she Was Not Given? Those are not the same! An honest error that Ladybug fully intended to rectify vs. Chloe disregarding other's safety and the right and wrong of keeping something that never belonged to her are not on equal footing.

Oh and then there's this gem:

Giving back an item that never belonged to you to the rightful owner isn't "exceptional", it's basic human decency. Good Lord Chloe is not "exceptional" for finally adhering to the code of conduct the rest of us learned in Kindergarden.

All this pushing the viewer to feel some type of way and it's all for nothing. Feeling sorry for Chloe just leads Ladybug to giving her another chance in "Malediktator", giving Chloe entitlement to the Bee Miraculous, facing the issues of the enemy knowing her identity in "Miraculer", having to flat out retract Chloe's access to the Bee Miraculous which Chloe responds to with a full on tantrum in "Miracle Queen", leading to Fu giving Guardianship over to Ladybug.

Woooow, real glad we were told over and over again by the narrative to go easy on Chloe, sHe JuSt NeEdS a GoOd InFluEnCe and a SeCoNd ChAnce. That sure ended well for everyone.

Also this is just me being a nitpicky asshole, but if Chloe didn't out herself right in front of everyone (ie. GABRIEL), the Hawkmoth era of the series would've been over. After Style Queen failed, Gabriel had completely given up since his "Masterpiece" failed. If Chloe hadn't revealed herself, Gabriel wouldn't have been inspired to akumatize a Miraculous Holder and might've gone into retirement long enough to return the Miraculous in secret or reveal Emilie to the public in search of other methods before he could've been "inspired" by something else.

The villain defeated by lack of motivation, lmao.

(Also also obviously this could've been doubly avoided by Ladybug not losing the Bee Miraculous or taking the Bee Miraculous out in the first place, but we could've had Anti-Hero Bee Chloe with an actual secret identity paired with a new antagonist to go into a new era of Miraculous, so I would've considered that a win)

MY main gripe with the three Chloe centric episodes "Style Queen", "Queen Wasp", and "Malediktator" is all the pointless, blatant audience manipulation. They went so far out their way to make the audience side with Chloe against Ladybug and feel bad for her only to turn around and call us stupid for doing so. I want my time back and I never even believed in the Redemption Arc. I can't imagine how much worse it was for someone who actually believed what they were selling.

And obviously it was terrible for the thing that brought Chloe and Audrey together is how they're horrible people who torment the working class, but maybe we should've taken that as a sign as to where this was going. Way to immediately resolve Chloe's mommy issues as soon as they were brought up.

Wait...is that why they made the problem in "Malediktator" Chloe's usefulness?