#sorry. it's the former glee fan in me

[wellcollapse]

had a vision of songbird by fleetwood mac playing in the background over an eddie feelings realization as he watches chris and buck do something completely mundane n ordinary and it finally hits him...i think there's no better song than this one for a moment where eddie finally understands what that achy, tender, all-consuming feeling in his heart that he's been carrying around for years actually is <3

[daydreamgoddess14]

Salvation pt.4 - The Finale

Sorry it's taken a little while! Here's the finale 😊

This also answers the prompt from @tegan8314 who wanted Roy & "I never meant to fall in love with you, I just did." 😘 Thank you!

Full Masterlist

Roy Kent Masterlist

Salvation: CH1 | CH2 | CH3

You deal with the aftermath of telling Roy... - smutty smut in this chapter 🔥

~~~~~

The weight that was lifted from you felt even greater than the weight of the payments you spent eighteen months making. The lightness when you’d made the final payment was nothing compared to the lightness you felt that afternoon. When you’d met up with Sammy and Rebecca, they were making plans with Keeley on who to interview and when. You greeted Sam with a smile and a warmth he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen from you. 

“Could we interview Roy towards the end please? He’s just mentioned some… work stuff he could do with sorting out first.” He heard the fib as he stepped out into the corridor next to you. Rebecca looked up at him,

“I thought I said I needed you free for the day?”

“It’s my fault, I wanted the backstory on just about everything in here.” You smiled, gesturing around the hall of fame, “took up a bit too much of his time.”

“Nonsense.” Rebecca said kindly, just as Roy mumbled,

“Never,” quietly enough for you to hear.

“Better get on with it then, Coach. We’ll see you in the media room?”

“Yeah sure, won’t be long.” He’s still watching you as he leaves, watching Sammy silently questioning if you’re ok, and the relief in your responding nod. You know you’ve given him a total information overload, it was no surprise that he just needed a little time to decompress. The interviews went well, snapshots of how Ted Lasso had made an impact on their lives and how they’d carried that forward. How Rebecca was trying to bring community back to football rather than corporate, and how Roy as a former player, was the lynchpin to it all - having seen both sides and having experienced toxic locker rooms they talked a lot about the new family-style approach they’d adopted at Richmond. You hadn’t been expecting the level of pride you felt when you watched his interview late in the afternoon. It seemed you weren’t the only one who’d gone through some significant changes over the last few years. He held the same intensity and drive, but with less anger bubbling under the surface. Once the day had wrapped up and Sammy had thanked Rebecca and Keeley profusely for the unlimited access to the team, you both sat in your car in silence. You felt Sammy’s shoulders shaking and when you looked over the gearstick, he was silently laughing.

“What’s funny?”

“That was such an amazing day!” He laughed with glee, the lifetime Richmond fan inside him taking over completely after a day of holding his composure. You joined him in laughter, the two of you giggling like kids with tears streaming down your faces.

“Thank you for bringing me. I really appreciate it.” You reached over to give him a one-armed hug,

“Come on, let’s go home for dinner.” You guided your car through the streets of Richmond and parked up a few doors down from Sammy and Nia’s house. The house smelled incredible, like your favourite Nia dish, “not my wife making your favourite meal after a busy day at work!” Sammy teased,

“She loves me, what can I say?! You’ll be grateful when you have an on demand babysitter, don’t try and deny it.”

“Get in here you two, dinner’s ready and I want to hear how it went! Did he cry?”

“Not til the way home, he was totally cool, calm and collected all day. I’m very proud.” You giggle, taking plates from Nia and planting a kiss on her cheek. Sammy spent dinner regaling his wife with the whole story of the day of his dreams, while you spent the entire time thinking about Roy. Being able to explain to him, and return his watch, had finally closed the lid on the last three years of heartache and stress. It felt like the unfinished chapter of your life had been completed, ready for you to move onto actually living. 

“You ok sweetheart?” Nia asked, gently once Sammy had stopped talking long enough to eat.

“Yeah, I’m good. I spoke to Roy, explained everything. He took it well, all things considered.”

“You are fully repented.” She smiled, “free.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, feels pretty good though. Feels like I’ve done enough to forgive myself and maybe that’s enough?” You finish up dinner and load the dishwasher despite Nia’s protests before heading home. You're preoccupied with making sure you’ve gathered all the junk from your car - coffee cups, laptop bag, handbag, water bottle, that you nearly trip over the body on your doorstep. “Oh fuck! Roy?”

“Yeah, shit, I didn’t expect a kickin’?” He rubbed at his shin with a wince.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to find you on my doorstep. How did you find my doorstep?”

“You had to fill in a health and safety form at work,”

“Pretty sure those are confidential?”

“Ok, I asked Sammy and he told me.”

“Ok, yeah I can accept that one,” you told him with a shrug. “How long have you been out here?”

“Hour or -” he checked his watch, the one you returned to him, “two. Closer to two.”

“I went to Sammy’s for dinner.”

“Figured as much. I didn’t have your number.”

“Should have taken it off the form,” you smirked,

“I prefer the element of surprise.”

“Coming in?”

“If that’s ok?”

“No, it’s not.” His face fell for a second, “I’m just messing. Course you can.” He followed you, as you turned on lights with your elbow and found a home for all the stuff in your arms. “Beers in the fridge,” you suggested, and he set to work uncapping them. When you get back to the living room, he handed yours over and you clink the necks of the bottle together,

“To forgiveness.” He muttered quietly.

“Is that what this is?”

“Course it is, what else could it be?” 

“I wouldn’t expect you to forgive so easily. You don’t have to.”

“I want to. It’s not about my forgiveness, I reckon you’ve been fuckin’ torturing yourself for long enough.” You paused with the bottle halfway to your mouth. He’d get on well with Nia. 

“Thank you.” You both drink in silence, leaning against the kitchen counter. “You were amazing today, you know?” He doesn’t look up from his bottle. “So different, but so familiar. Like… the best version of yourself, if that makes sense.”

“That’ll be the fuckin’ therapy.” He chuckled,

“Yeah? I should get on that.” The label of your bottle is peeling under the weight of the condensation, “I never meant to fall in love with you, you know?” He does look up at that, his gaze holding yours, “I thought we hadn’t been together that long, I could get away with just walking away and…” you wave your hand as you trail off.

“I never meant to fall in love with you,” He repeats your words, “but I did.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. One of those kinds of love where you spend the rest of your life wondering what could have happened.” He moves to stand in front of you, 

“I only wanted to protect you. Protect your career.”

“I wish you’d given me the same fucking chance.” He cupped your cheek and you lean into it, “how many nights you spent working all those stupid hours and I could have just paid that money like it was fucking nothing. I made more than that in a week when I was at Chelsea.” 

“I wouldn’t have taken your money, Roy.” Neither of you point out that you stole his watch instead.

“You wouldn’t have taken it, I’d have given it to you. I could have saved you from so much shit and pain.” His voice cracks a little at the tears openly streaming down your cheeks. He’s so close you can see the freckles on his cheeks, the fine cut line of his neatly trimmed beard. The soft lines in the corners of his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful.” You tell him.

“That’s my fucking line,” he leans down to you, brushing his thumbs lightly over your cheeks to wipe the tears away, “thief. That’s my watch, my line, my fucking heart… anything else while I’m here?”

“Your heart?”

“You never gave it back to me, you’ve had it the whole time.”

"Fuck me, Roy, that's a line," you sigh. 

"I thought it was pretty good actually," he reasoned. 

"It was very good. Do you plan on making the most of making me swoon?" That's all the permission he needs. He kisses you and you realise that he was also the last person you kissed three long years ago. He was the last person to really touch you, to hear your cries of pleasure, the last person in your bed. It's like he’s oxygen and you can't get enough. Your hands grasp at his top, pulling it off. You reach then for your own, fumbling with the buttons of your blouse. He nips at your jaw and down your neck, "god Roy, I've missed you. F-fuck, I've missed this." He hooks a hand under your thigh, bringing it up over his hip and leans you back into the counter. The heat of your core presses against him and you know you’re already soaked with anticipation.

"Can't believe I let you walk away from me." He grunted, his mouth on your neck, your chest, your lips - anywhere he can. "Fuck, need a condom," he mutters. You shake your head, 

"There hasn't been anyone since you." You confirm, embarrassed that it had been 3 years, he stops in his tracks,

"No one?"

"It wasn't exactly a priority initially, and then I just…" you shrug, "No one would have come close to you, Roy." His eyes are dark, his jaw clenched tight.

"Fuckin' hell," he growls, " Fuckin' hell. " His grip on your hip and thigh tighten, sure to leave bruises. You can feel his hard cock against your inner thigh and roll your hips into him,

"please Roy, fuck me and fill me up," you plead, turning his face with your hand so you can kiss along the neat line of his beard. He needs no further encouragement to unzip his pants and roughly push your underwear to one side. He pushes into you straight to the hilt without warning and despite the fact that your pussy is flooded for him, there's still a brief sharp pain as he stretches you to fit him. Once he's fully seated, he pauses to kiss you, 

"You ok? You sure?" He asks. 

"I'm sure, please don't stop," you beg, "please, Roy I need you to fuck me," the feeling of him inside you, surrounding you, has you babbling as he thrusts into you rhythmically. 

"You've been waiting for this?"

"Been waiting for you," you can already feel your body tightening, the walls of your pussy clenching his cock desperately. After 3 years, you're half surprised you didn't come the second he pushed into you. "Jesus fuck, Roy -" you break off with a sob as you come. He's only a couple of stuttered thrusts behind when he spills into you with a low groan. When he pulls out, your thighs are sticky with your combined release. 

"I love you," he whispers, "and I missed you and I'm not letting you get away this time."

"I love you too." Your eyes well with tears again, "I'm not going anywhere." Your heart could burst, you're so happy and you know you’re never gonna to walk away again. 

 

FIN

[soulmate-game]

Maribat March 2021 @maribatmarch-2k21

Day 1: Found Family

“Ah! Bonjour!” A cheery voice called, as a short Eurasian girl bound over to the unfairly intimidating mob of tall people with sharp eyes. Chloe had called in a favor. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloe told me that your tour guide cancelled at the last minute, so she blackmail—sorry, begged me to fill in for them. You are the Wayne’s, non?”

The one at the front of the group, clearly Bruce Wayne since Marinette didn’t live under a rock and had seen the man on several American news broadcasts before, nodded and cleared his throat. Man, was he intimidating. Even when he shot her a dazzling smile that was sure to blind Paparazzi with fake cheer. It was a nice smile, Marinette wasn’t about to deny. But it was empty. Distant. And Marinette wasn’t going to buy it for a second.

“Yes, that’s us. Mademoiselle Bourgeois mentioned she had asked a close friend of hers to take care of our tour.”

Marinette nodded again, clasping her hands behind her back. “I guarantee, you won’t miss anything the tour guide would have shown you. In fact, Chloe mentioned that you all were very curious about the now retired Parisian heroes, right? My former best friend ran the Ladyblog back when they were active. I am more than confident that I can answer any questions you have while we go through the city.”

A boy with a white streak in his hair rose his hand, as if he was in a class and needed to wait to be called on. Which, considering the sheer size of their family, Marinette was actually grateful for. But damn, this was another imposing figure. Slightly taller than even the six-foot-three-inches that Bruce Wayne owned, he was solidly built and rocked a brown leather jacket and ripped black jeans. Marinette smiled and nodded for him to speak.

“How old are you? Because I don’t know if twelve year olds are allowed to do guided tours,” there was an obvious tease in his voice, but there was also legitimate concern in his blue-green eyes. Marinette almost missed that concern amid her quickly building annoyance. She even felt her eyes twitch.

“I’m turning eighteen in a few months if you need to know, Monsieur,” she evened out the bite in her voice with an overly sweet smile. “And if you want to get lost and possibly pickpocketed in the busy streets of Paris, then please continue to make comments on my height. If not, we can begin our tour and you might even enjoy it.”

Several Wayne’s snickered at her comeback, one man in particular elbowing the white haired gentleman with a little too much glee. Even the stoic Bruce laughed softly, and a boy with enough bags under his eyes to make the airport jealous nearly fell over himself with his suppressed laughter.

The man himself just snorted, sending her a lopsided smirk that oddly radiated approval. It was almost as if she had passed some sort of test.

“My name’s Jason, Pixie. You already know B. The guy trying to break my ribs,” he pointedly shoved off the one who had elbowed him, “is Dick. He’s Bruce’s first adoptive casualty. The one that looks like a zombie is Tim, we might need to take a break to get him more coffee before he passes out halfway through. The one who hasn’t stopped glaring at you is Damian, the badass redhead is Barbara but we all call her Babs. The annoying blonde is Stephany, the other cool badass over there is Cass. She doesn’t talk much. And the one trying to pretend he doesn’t know us is Duke.”

Each member he introduced gave her a little wave or nod. Even Damian managed a short nod of acknowledgement before resuming his glare. He looked to be a couple years younger than her, so she just brushed it off as teenage drama.

“Alright then! It is very nice to meet you all. Now, Chloe did inform me that you guys are very multilingual, which is another reason she asked me instead of one of our other friends. If you ever need it, I obviously am fluent in both French and English. But added to that, I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian, and I know basic survival Japanese. I also know French Sign Language, though I’m not sure if that’s very useful for you unfortunately. If you ever need to communicate non-verbally, I will do my best to accommodate that. Now, I believe you guys were scheduled to start the tour with a visit to the Louvre, non? Right this way.”

As Marinette led the large group out of the Grand Paris, they didn’t bother taking time to admire the sights before asking questions.

“Have you ever met one of the heroes?” Dick, who might have been shorter than Jason and Bruce but was muscular enough to still inspire caution (and admiration), asked. His blue eyes seemingly stared right through Marinette as he continued; “If you’re almost eighteen, then they must have been active through a lot of your school career.”

Marinette smiled. “They did only retire last year,” she agreed with a nod. “Yes, I have met all of the Parisian heroes at least once,” she snorted at a stray thought. “In fact, I met Chat Noir quite a lot. You see, my old College was basically ground zero for a lot of akuma attacks. And by a lot, I mean a majority of them,” she shook her head before pausing to get everyone to cross a street. “After a while, Chat Noir started calling me ‘princess’ to make fun of how often he had to save me. He’s an annoying ass.”

Despite her words, everyone behind her could easily hear the fondness there. They all traded glances. What if this was a Lois and SuperMan situation? Regardless, they all had a suspicion that Marinette knew more about the heroes than she let on. Or, at least more about Chat Noir.

“When you say that your school was a hotspot for Akuma attacks,” Bruce spoke up cautiously, his Dad Senses going haywire. He didn’t like how nonchalantly she had said it— she was far too casual. Sure enough, he watched as the muscles between her shoulders stiffened slightly at the conversation change. “What do you mean? Surely it couldn’t have been that bad if the school is still around.”

Marinette sucked her teeth, grimacing. “The school is still there, yeah, but only because of Ladybug’s ability. You’ve heard about the Cure, right?” It was Tim who answered her;

“Yeah. It fixed the damage done during a fight, right?” He asked, tilting his head a little. Marinette ignored her brief thought that the gesture made him look like a curious puppy. She sighed.

“Yeah. But when they say damage, they mean everything. Injuries, collateral. Death,” she said the last example darkly, far too much weight behind the word for it to be meaningless. She heard Jason hiss in sympathy. “But there are good things. The Cure also erased anyone’s memories of dying besides the vague knowledge that it did happen, so there isn’t much trauma there to unpack. Not as much as there could have been anyway,” she assured them. “And I’m one of the lucky ones. I never died, and I was never Akumatized.”

“Hmph,” Damian’s voice cut through the brief silence that followed her admission. She looked back at him to see his sharp green eyes staring right into her. “You don’t honestly believe that’s lucky.” It wasn’t a question. Marinette clenched her jaw, turning around and ignoring him.

Because, no. It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t lucky that she was the only one that remembered everything— all of the deaths, all of the Akumatizations, everything that others mercifully forgot. Since she lived through all of it, she remembered all of it. And survivor’s guilt is nothing to scoff at.

But she wasn’t about to reveal her trauma, or at the very least the full scope of it, to people she had just met and was leading on a tour.

“If you look to the left, you’ll see a statue that was made depicting Ladybug and Chat Noir back during the first years of their activity,” she suddenly told them, gesturing to the still-standing statue. Nobody missed the obvious topic change, but nobody commented on it either. Turns out the statue was something they had been looking forward to seeing in person, Tim even went up to take a few photos with his camera. Barbara took a few circles around the statue, easily pivoting her wheelchair around it as if she was trying to see every angle and imperfection possible. Marinette couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at the sight.

“Your family are pretty big fans, huh?” She asked Cass and Duke, the only ones that had stayed back with her. Duke snorted, and Cass gave her a small grin.

“They like to keep up to date with all the heroes,” Duke answered with a shrug. “Since we’re so high profile, it isn’t weird for us to be saved by one here or there even when we’re away from Gotham.”

Marinette just gave him an odd look, furrowing her brows. “But the Miraculous team has been disbanded since HawkMoth was defeated,” she reminded them. “There’s no need for them to save anybody anymore.”

“Old habits,” Cass spoke up softly, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes locked with Marinette’s. “Not easy to break.”

The smaller woman had a feeling that Cass wasn’t talking about her family’s habit of keeping up to date on heroes.

“Alright! We need to head to the next stop or we might not have time to see everything!”

The tour went pretty similarly. The walks between stops were pleasant, and filled with questions about the period of time where HawkMoth was active. Marinette wasn’t even the least bit surprised nor put off; everyone was curious about those years now that the tourism restriction was lifted and people could ask freely about it. Besides the many questions about the Heroes, Marinette found the group to be very pleasant company. They were polite, but also rowdy in a very endearing way. She caught a lot of inside jokes they had with each other, and a lot of good natured teasing and fighting. They even managed to rope her into it somehow, and she found herself snidely teasing Damian or casually threatening Tim with not allowing them a coffee break. She even got to ride on Jason’s shoulders for a bit after he made another comment on her height that she Did Not Appreciate. But the ride she got made it worth it.

But soon the sun was high in the sky, and it was about time for them to take a lunch break. They had all been walking for hours with only a few chances to rest, and honestly Marinette was impressed that none of them seemed too tired out by it.

“Alright,” she put her hands on her hips proudly. “Since some of you won’t stop whining about needing coffee or being hungry— Dick, don’t you dare buy anything from that vendor! I’m gonna lead you all to my parent’s bakery so we can have lunch and caffeinate all of you. And conveniently enough,” she smiled widely. “The bakery is right across the street from my old College! So you’ll be able to get a look at where the majority of Akuma attacks happened, and maybe I can tell you a few specific stories if you want,” she offered. There were a couple cheers (Tim and Dick) from the crowd and everyone seemed pretty pleased with the next step in their tour. Smiling, Marinette turned and began to lead them in the direction of her home.

Sirens blared, a fire truck zooming down the street next to them.

Headed in the same direction.

Marinette frowned, watching it go. “That’s weird. I hope everyone’s okay, whatever happened,” she mused idly. But as they kept going forward, the sirens didn’t get any softer. If anything, they started getting louder again after a while. Marinette was visibly concerned by then, her pace picking up. “This is my neighborhood,” she told the solemn group behind her. “I know everyone on this street—“ they rounded the corner, and Marinette stopped in her tracks. Her world ground to a halt.

There was the fire truck, stopped right in front of her bakery.

Which was completely ablaze.

A string of curses flew out of her mouth, the little Eurasian wasting no more time before sprinting towards the building. She could hear people yelling at her to wait, slow down, stop! But she ignored them. The only thing on her mind was that her home was on fire.

“Marinette! Wait!” Dick reached out to grab her arm, but like a snake Marinette easily slipped out of his grip and continued forward. Steph was next, deciding to just tackle Marinette— to no avail. The Parisian just shouldered the bigger woman off of her with pure adrenaline fueling her muscles, and everyone else knew by then that they could not stop her. The Wayne’s decided all they could do was jog behind Marinette, keeping her in sight as they tried to gauge the damage.

“The top floors don’t look like they have even been touched by the fire yet,” Tim whispered, though his eyes flew between the building and their tour guide. Marinette was speaking rapidly with a firefighter that wasn’t immediately busy, trying to get information. But before anyone could decipher what was said, Marinette tore a large strip off the bottom of her shirt and tied it in a hasty mask around her mouth.

“Wait!” Bruce was the first to realize what was happening, with his years of experience with self sacrificing children and their stupid stunts. But Marinette managed to kick him away before he could grab her, dashing into the inferno without paying any heed to the many protests that followed her.

The group of Gothamites could do nothing but watch the flaming building, then. If they went inside, it would only overcrowd a hazardous area. Minutes passed, and there was movement in the fire. Out of the doorway came Marinette and a firefighter, both having to work together to carry the body of a large man outside. The sight of the man made the Gotham family blink— he was as big as Bane! And that was nothing to scoff at. But despite his unusual size and muscle mass, the man had all the signs of being a normal civilian.

Marinette didn’t stop there. She ran back in. Coming out a lot more quickly this time with a barely conscious Asian woman— everyone saw the resemblance between her and this new woman immediately.

It had to be her mother.

“Shit,” Duke hissed. Nobody else could say a word. It wasn’t looking good, and this wasn’t a situation where random vigilantes showing up out of nowhere could actually help. Not this late into the fire. Bruce’s hands curled into fists.

The woman that everyone guessed was Marinette’s mother was suddenly struck by lucidity; she gasped and grabbed at Marinette’s hand without seeming to see who she was even talking to. A single word that none of the Waynes could hear left her throat, and judging by Marinette’s returning panic it hadn’t been good.

She rushed right back into the building, and came back out with the last firefighter who had been searching inside.

Marinette carried a child. She screamed out in panicked French;

“She’s not breathing! I need first aid now!”

That was their cue. The firefighters started their hoses, focusing on getting rid of the flames now that nobody was left inside the building. Bruce and Damian got to Marinette first, and this time she listened as they instructed her to set the child down. Damian, being smaller and having more hands-on medical knowledge, took charge of the resuscitation. Marinette sat there silently, eyes riveted to the small child— a girl.

But Marinette wasn’t reacting like a normal civilian to tragedy. She was eerily calm, eyes focused and barely concealing a terrible rage. She took over chest compressions when Damian started to lose momentum, not giving up.

But then the EMTs arrived, and it was only five minutes with the child hooked onto oxygen that the news arrived—

Marinette heard the monitors on the ambulance flatline before she even registered what people were trying to tell her. Manon. Manon was—

Marinette didn’t register Nadya Chammack at first. She was just another body in the quickly growing sea of them. That is, until she heard Nadya’s pained shriek. A mother who had just lost her baby girl.

“Perhaps we should head back,” Bruce offered softly, giving Marinette space but keeping a keen eye on her. He saw her begin to tremble, then shake. He was pretty sure he could hear the grinding of her teeth for a second before she went still. Just… all movement stopped, the tears that had been building just falling silently for a second before they ended.

And he recognized that carefully practiced emptiness in her bluebell eyes. The same emptiness he had seen in Damian’s eyes when he had first arrived at the Manor. The same emptiness he saw in Dick’s eyes in the days following his parent’s deaths.

The same emptiness he saw in the mirror, every time he had another nightmare about the day Jason had been taken from him, years ago.

Suddenly he could imagine all too well exactly what kind of strength she had to have, to avoid her negative emotions ever being used against her during Hawkmoth’s reign. Especially if she had constantly been dealing with her friends and family being Akumatized and/or dying on multiple occasions.

She didn’t even seem to have heard him. Bruce sighed.

“I called Chloe,” Barbara informed everyone solemnly, holding up her phone for emphasis. “She’ll be here in five.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Chloe hadn’t come alone. With her had been Adrien Agreste, former model when his father hadn’t been… well, in prison. Nowadays he was just a normal student who occasionally gave lectures on neglect and child abuse, and how to help children in those situations.

And, apparently, he was also Marinette’s closest friend. Even more so than Chloe. As soon as they arrived back at the Grand Paris, Chloe herded everyone up into her suite and she and Adrien surrounded Marinette with pillows and blankets. Adrien curled around Marinette like an affectionate cat, and Damien even swore he heard the guy purr at some point

“We should probably leave,” Bruce whispered to their hostess, who looked inbetween him and her friends for a moment before jerking her head towards the door.

“I wanna talk to you first,” Chloe whispered back. Once they all filed out into the hallway and the door was safely closed, Chloe took a breath. “First, I want to tell you that I got a call from the hospital. Marinette’s father is stable, but in a coma right now.”

“Is that the man who looked like he could bench press a car for fun?” Dick asked, earning a weak grin from the Bourgeois heiress.

“Yeah, that’s him. But…” Chloe’s face fell, and she looked around as if to double check nobody was eavesdropping. She still lowered her voice anyway. “Her mother, Sabine. She…” Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat, images of the extremely kind Chinese woman flashing through her mind without permission. “She didn’t make it.”

Several people took a sharp breath, acknowledging everything that had gone so wrong for Marinette on a day that had started so perfectly.

“The smoke?” Cass asked gently, but Chloe winced and shifted on her feet.

“No. They… there were rope marks on Sabine’s neck,” Chloe clenched her eyes shut at the admission. “Marinette’s dad might be big, but he’s not a fighter. Sabine, though… Sabine was. She was raised in a martial arts family back in China. I’ve seen Sabine take down five men at once, all twice her size,” Chloe kicked her lips, shaking her head in disbelief. “Somebody knew… somebody knew that the little Chinese woman was a threat but the big baker with tons of muscle was harmless.”

Nobody took that well. Not only had Marinette just lost her home and half of her family, but her father was in a coma and it had all been foul play.

“Okay,” Bruce nodded once the news had time to sink in. They could help with this; this was their specialty. They might have only known Marinette for six hours, but she had made a big impression. It wasn’t just anybody that could mesh with his family so seamlessly in that short span of time. “Is there anything else?”

“I want you to get temporary custody of her,” Chloe said it the way only Chloe Bourgeois could. With her back straight, chin high, and the tone of a woman who expected to be listened to or else she’d make life Hell for the person that didn’t take her seriously. Bruce could only blink.

“Can I ask for your reasoning?”

“Marinette has been closing herself off more and more over the years,” Chloe admitted. “Hawkmoth’s reign was hard on her. Only Adrien really knows everything she went through during those years. But even after the disbanding of the team, she hasn’t… she hasn’t allowed herself to get close to anybody new. That’s why I tricked her into doing your tour. She needed to socialize with new people, and if she wouldn’t do it herself then I had to pull some strings.”

A few eyebrows raised at the admission that Chloe had fully planned for Marinette to be their tour guide the whole time. It honestly seemed like the kind of well meaning manipulation that one of them would try to pull off.

“She likes you,” Chloe’s voice went soft again, showing how uncharacteristically serious she was about that fact. “She was comfortable enough to let you guys carry her back here. To let you try to help Manon. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it says a lot to me and Adrien. And… getting her away from Paris for a while is probably a good idea. She was planning to go to Gotham for university anyway.”

The Waynes traded glances before Bruce crosses his arms and asked some more questions first. Doesn’t Marinette have other family? Answer; only her grandmother, who travels all the time and nobody ever knows where she is until she shows up. Bruce agreed that Gina Dupain didn’t exactly seem like a good candidate for Marinette’s new guardian with that description. But finally, to none of his children's surprise, he did end up agreeing.

“But,” he held up a single finger. “We’ll Wait here in Paris for a week, so that she can try to salvage everything she can from her house and so we can get an idea on how her father is doing. There’s still a chance he’ll come out of his coma fairly quickly. And of course, we will only go through with this if Marinette agrees when we ask her tomorrow.”

Chloe agreed to those terms, looking like a weight had been lifted off of her.

Chloe never cut corners when taking care of her hive. And if that meant making sure that her brave soldier bee could move on to start a new hive, one that was better equipped to take care of her, then Chloe would do everything she could to help that move. And really; Chloe was far more resourceful and observant than people gave her credit for. The butts definitely matched, and Bruce Wayne was her last hope to get Marinette the support she needed. Outside of Adrien, anyway.

Chloe took a breath, watching the Waynes trickle off into their own rooms. Marinette was like the little sister she never wanted, but grew to love more than anything. Though, Chloe knew she really chose Marinette as her sister the same way they both chose Adrien as their brother. She just didn’t want to admit she was sentimental like that. But Chloe knew that someone like Marinette needed a bigger family. More support.

She could only hope that Marinette and the Waynes grew to become family for her like she and Adrien had. Kwami knew that Marinette needed all the help she could get for the foreseeable future.

“You did good, my Queen.”

“I know, Pollen. Now we just have to find out who dared hurt my hive.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Dude this took so long to write, but I’m actually really proud of it. Probably gonna take this Maribat March a little differently than last year, and make a few longer stories by connecting some of the prompts together. Maybe each week will be a full story? Idk I’ll figure it out. I know I’m behind but I’m working on it.

I tried to keep the angst out, but it found it’s way in here anyway. Oh well!

[cloverfics]

sweethearts ; bakugou katsuki

warnings shy!reader, shy!katsuki, mutual pining, and not edited

genre fluff, f2ls

word count 2.5k

inspiration n/a

synopsis in which you and the rest of the bakusquad are apart of the candygram committee and you take the opportunity to make a move on one stubborn katsuki

"This is so stupid." Katsuki sighed, feet hiked up onto his desk. It was around the umpteenth time that he had mentioned how useless or well— stupid this whole thing is.

You frowned, tying another ribbon around a baggie. "Aw, c'mon, Kat. It's the day of love, be more cheerful." You said, tossing him a chocolate.

He scoffed. "No. And stop calling me Kat." The following demand was mumbled as Katsuki turned his attention to opening the candy.

"Sure thing, Kat." You whipped around, imagining the irritated expression he was channeling because of your antics.

"C'mon Mina! How many do I have!" Denki whined, trying his best to juke the clipboard of names from Mina's hands. Something he's been doing all morning.

From the left of you, Kirishima let out a breath of laughter. "Dude, just wait and see." He assured Denki.

"Exactly. The surprise is the most fun part about this thing." Mina added on while she gently shoved Denki away from her.

"Not if dunceface doesn't get any." Katsuki sneered, sending Denki into a further sulk.

You sucked you teeth, preparing to reprimand Katsuki but Sero interjected first. "I wonder if you're getting anything today, Bakugou."

Almost on cue, the smug smirk on Katsuki's face simmers down into a scowl. He scoffed, "I could care less if I got one of those pathetic bags today! I can buy my own damn candy!" As he was getting chewed out, Sero could only chuckle.

Sending a sneaky glance towards you. You sighed, tuning out Katsuki's continous speech about how candygrams were pointless and how he didn't even want any.

In the corner of your eye you could see a sympathic smile on Kirishima's lips. He nudged your arm, "Nonetheless, you should still give it to him," He whispered into your ear.

Tossing another baggie into the box next to Jirou, you nodded.

"It'll make his day, I promise."

ฺ｡*:･

"Woah... seventeen for Yaomomo," Jirou blinked a couple times as your class erupted in a wave of teasing while Momo shuffled her way up to the front.

"Just take the whole damn box." Denki bitterly jutted it out her. He doubled over suddenly when Mina took said box and hit him in the stomach.

"Sorry, he's being very negative today." She handed Yaomomo her designated number of bags, making Denki help her to her desk.

You giggled softly. Your class was the last one for today, thankfully. Somehow, you had already grown sick to the smell of chalky sweets, even if your name hasn't been called yet.

"Twelve for Todoroki," Shoto came up to the front as dazed as ever while Denki muttered a very distasteful shocker under his breath.

Katsuki scoffed from his spot next you, leaning his back against the classroom chalk board. "Can't I go back to my desk?" He groaned.

Sero sucked his teeth, forming a conversation while Jirou's monotonous call continued. "Seeing as you didn't lift a finger all day I think you should be able to."

He prepared a smug smirk for Katsuki's explosive comeback but before he could speak through his gritted teeth, Aizawa had already shushed them.

"Two for Denki," A giggle that she covered up immediately with her hand fell from Jirou's lips and the classroom followed suit with a fit of snickers.

You could've sworn you say Denki's eye twitch before being handed two baggies by a grinning Mina. "Hey! That's two more than last year, right buddy?" Kirishima smacked Denki on the back in attempt to comfort.

"I don't think he wants words from someone who got seven more than him, Kiri." You whispered, noticing the way Denki borderline shook under Kirishima's hand.

"Four for ___." Your laughing fit with Kirishima was interrupted by your own name being called and Mina handing you your treats.

"Tch. What four imbeciles went out of their way to buy one of those for you?" Katsuki mused before you could speak yourself.

"You smell that," you sniffed around, Katsuki's eyes narrowed at you. "I smell pure jealousy." Your bags were waved in Katsuki's face for a moment before he was swatting your hands away.

"And last but certainly not least, one for Katsuki." Your heart skipped a beat. Not just at the mention of his name like it usually did but because you knew that one bag was purchased by you for him.

You were eager to look over and see the confused look on Katsuki's face you knew he was wearing but your heart was already beating in your ears so loud that you were in a stand still.

The thoughts you've had that always followed since you even got the idea to give him one started to roam freely.

Would he be grossed out? Would he be curious? What if he already suspects you because you're being obvious? And what if, miraculously, Kirishima's right and it makes his day?

But instead of laying any of those raging questions to rest, Katsuki accepts his bag from Mina silently. No snarky comment, no anger, just a soft tint of pink layering his cheeks as he looked at the packaging he had seen a hundred times already.

"Alright, thanks for finally wrapping that up, Jirou. Don't get those candy wrappers on my floor, I'm taking a nap." Mister Aizawa waved you all off like he always did and found home in that yellow sleeping bag.

While your committee cleaned up the boxes, the classroom fluttered with chatter. The spectrum of conversation being who they think would get them one and who they think bought something for the other person.

The cleanup was quick, so you all headed to the front where all the seats were open and gathered.

"Two. I only got two." Denki finally awoke from his daze to the realization.

You laughed, taking one from your bunch and leaning over to Denki. "I can share one of mine. Not really a fan of sweethearts."

But Denki still proved to be bitter, slapping your bag away. "I don't need your pity candy, ___."

You snorted. "Okay, suit yourself."

"So, it turns out Kat actually got one. You owe me twenty bucks Jirou." Sero made grabby hands at the girl who scoffed and immediately went into her bag.

You expected the usual antics to come from Katsuki who sat in his usual desk, one ahead of you. But again, there was no yelling, or anger, just a scoff and a glare.

"You idiots bet on me?" He asked.

"Hey, I thought it was easy money since I know exactly who would've got you one. Thankfully, they pulled through." Sero collected his cash with glee while you broke out into a cold sweat. Your eyes darted to Sero, a threatening message within them that you're sure he understood.

"Who?" Katsuki tried to make it seem like he didn't really care with the tone he used. But he was genuinely curious, you could tell. Which made you sweat more.

Katsuki sucked his teeth. "It was probably you, so you could get the money." The breath of relief you took was like no other, you visibly relaxed.

Sero chuckled. "No sir, I spent no money on candygrams. So, keep on guessing."

Fortunately, the bell rang, signaling that class and school as a whole was over. Your class flooded out, all walking to your dorm together in the usual group. Kirishima found his way to you in the crowd, bumping your hip.

"See, I told you." He pointed to a couple feet away where Katsuki walked ahead, bag still in hand as he stared down at it.

You felt your face start to heat up, nudging him with your elbow. "Maybe he's weirded out."

Kirishima scoffed. "If you told him it was from you, I assure you then you'll know it made his day."

A sigh had your body slumping. "I don't know, Kiri. I've managed to keep a good friendship with Kat. It's risky enough that I bought him one but confessing is another thing."

Even though you've managed to get through Katsuki's tough exterior ( kind of ), you still couldn't read him that well. How were you supposed to know when the right time to tell him was? Or if a right time even existed.

"Do it, trust me." Kirishima placed a hand on your shoulder, you gulped and darted your attention again to Katsuki's back.

ฺ｡*:･

You spent the rest of the day wallowing in your room with your inner conflict. Even ignoring the invites from your friends to spend the day watching d—list romance movies to sulk. It wasn't until later on in the evening that you came out of your room.

The dorms were less lively, almost everyone going away to their rooms to do whatever. You were convinced you were the only one in the main area until you saw Katsuki in the kitchen, unfortunately.

Your feet were ready to take you back upstairs to hide from him. But he must've heard the creaking that happened under your feet and caught you. His maroon eyes piercing right through you.

Damn it.

"Hey, Kat." You greeted awkwardly, hesitantly shuffling into the kitchen.

He nodded at you in acknowledgement, continuing to watch whatever he had in the microwave go round. The kitchen fell silent while the cogs in your head worked together to find yourself an excuse as to why you were even in here.

You shuffled through cabinets, pretending you were looking for something in particular.

"Hey," Katsuki beckoned your attention. His eyes were still trained on the microwave but obviously he was listening and waiting for your response. You hummed in answer, halting your pretend scavenging and leaning on the counter next to the fridge.

"You have any clue who bought me that baggie thing?" As he continued, his head turned to you. Your eyes enlarged at the sudden question that was accompanied by Katsuki staring you down. You felt like you were under an intense spotlight and there was no way out other than to a) lie or b) spill the beans.

Your brain was telling you to just get it over with and do the former, admit it to him confidently like Kiri had been urging you to do. Face the consequences as they came and stop hiding. So, you inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"I— uh— well, I— uh..." If you had the willpower to face palm you would, but apparently none of the signals your brain was sending were making it through to your body. Because your mouth kept opening and closing, no confession or accountability flowing out like you had hoped.

The only you could do was heat up and start sweating. The spotlight was getting hotter and more blinding.

The urge to face plant into the island ahead of you increased when Katsuki narrowed his eyes at you. The intimidating look sending chills up your spine.

You coughed. Putting an end to your stuttering and stammering. Your eyes fell to the tiles of the kitchen, hoping they'd loosen up one by one and swallow you whole.

"If there's something you want to tell me, idiot, spit it out," The microwave went off but now Katsuki could care less. He was edging towards you, arms crossed and curious to why it seemed like you were being interrogated for murder when he asked what he thought was a simple question.

Just do it.

The phrase chanted repeatedly in your head. And with the last of your dignity, you finally fulfilled your brain's request.

"I did it. I'm the one who bought the candygram..., Kat." You started off strong, but moving onto the second sentence your voice began to mellow.

You wanted to look anywhere except Katsuki but the shocked look on his face, accompanied by the tint of red covering his cheeks kept you drawn in. This time around he was staring down at the tiles, probably wishing the same thing that you were just seconds ago.

"If you did it as a joke, id—" Katsuki was about to threaten you, ready to build his walls back up but your adrenaline from fessing up was obviously still surging through you.

"No! It wasn't to prank you or anything, I did it because I like you, Kat. A lot." You paused, inhaling.

"A—and I've been meaning to tell you but I didn't know how you'd react because you're not really open. But then Kirishima told me it was a good idea, so I—" Your real self snapped back to reality in the middle of your confession, and it was apparent as you began to ramble and scratch the nape of your neck.

"Alright, enough. You sound like damn Deku." Katsuki, thankfully, put an end to your tangent that you silently agreed did sound like Izuku.

You laughed awkwardly, hoping it'd ease the tension not only in the air but in you. It felt nice to get that weight off your shoulders but oh boy did you have a lot to face. Like for example, how did Katsuki feel? Did he even reciprocate feelings? What would your friendship look like after this?

You had to know. You were dying to know. "So?" You mumbled, now fiddling with your fingers.

Katsuki's hand was at his nape like yours was moments ago. He huffed, obviously looking for the words. "You know, if you're going to confess to someone you should be more up front about it." Katsuki took short steps towards you.

You just hoped he couldn't hear your heart banging against your ribcage, because that's basically all you could focus on.

"I know." You answered.

"Tch. And I guess in saying that I should be taking my own advice." He grumbled, moving his gaze to the tile again. Your body basically perked up at the sound of that.

"Katsuki, did you send me a candygram?" Your assumption aloud make Katsuki scoff, his face heating up more and his gaze wandering even further. Now that the tables seemed to be turned, you suppressed your laughter. You had been psyching yourself out this whole time but Katsuki was basically in the same boat as you.

"So, what do we do now, Kat?" You asked, you crossed your arms. A hopeful thought that since he reciprocated your feelings a relationship would come of it.

Katsuki scoffed, dropping his arm into having them crossed again. "What did I tell you about that stupid nickname, dumbass?"

You laughed at his scowl. Thankful that even after the sudden confession between you to didn't actually tint your dynamic like you theorized it would.

Katsuki huffed, not seeking to bicker with you anymore. "Are you free this Saturday?"

"Uh, yea—"

"Alright, then. Be ready by three." That's what you were left with as Katsuki turned on his heel and left the kitchen with whatever he had in the microwave.

Your mind was still registering what had just happened, but all you could do was thank your luck and Kirishima.

[kurtanaaa]

Hi I love your chatfics please could you give me a list of the new directions’ private stories and who can see them?

YES I CAN AND I CAN ALSO GIVE YOU A KISS ANON I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME THIS

okay this is going under a cut bc i am going to talk A LOT!!!! oh i am so excited jfjdjfjksls

so i’ve made a list of what i thought their private story names were before but that was before i really started writing chatfics regularly so this is a great chance to do it again!!!! lets get into it!! this isn’t gonna include the newbies bc i’m setting this before s4 :/// sorry yall

Brittany: my private story -miss girl doesn’t really like private stories with weird names. they confuse her :/ how is she supposed to know what it is if it’s named something weird like 99.9 virgin radio? that’s just a radio station babe! -everyone in new directions is on her story, along with lord tubbington (she made him a snapchat account), a bunch of vocal adrenaline kids she made friends with by accident, some of the haverbrook kids, a couple warblers (trent. she likes him a lot), and most of the cheerios! lauren zizes and matt are also on it!!! -she has banned all football players except the glee guys from her private story. they don’t get her fun times.

Santana: real lesbian girl shit -she’s a megan thee stallion fan and also gay. not much else to it!!! -again, all the new directions are on it, except occasionally she removes finn just to test his patience. she also has lord tubbington bc she loves her girlfriend. all of the cheerios are on her story and she uses it to make announcements to them sometimes (every time a cheerio leaves the squad she boots them from her story). she does NOT have lauren zizes (still salty over the hallway fight) but she does have matt!!! that’s pretty much it tho she doesn’t like to be too public with her crap

Mercedes: TOTS -bitch loves her tots and she made the story when she and kurt were bitching at each other about them. she won’t change it ever. -EVERYBODY is on cedes' private story bc everyone loves cedes. she’s got lauren, matt, most of the warblers that she met through kurt and blaine, a bunch of haverbrook kids, a good chunk of mckinley that she’s met through classes and such, sunshine corazon, even a couple girls from that all girls acapella group at season two nationals. unique is on her story too!!! she keeps up with everyone!!! -she has ALSO banned most of the football players. it is a point of soreness for the majority of them that they don’t get the privilege of being on her story.

Kurt: i diagnose you with gay -he saw a meme that said this once and laughed his ass off so he had to use it -kurt has a surprising amount of people on his story. he’s got all the warblers who were at dalton when he was, he’s got all the new directions plus lauren and matt, all of the cheerios who were on the squad when he was, a bunch of haverbrook kids, sunshine, a few mckinley students he made friends with, unique for SURE, and even some of the nicer football players. he also has karofsky on his story (bc hes too nice for his own good), sebastian smythe (so he can post pictures of him and blaine and make him jealous) and jesse st. james (so he can bully him directly). for some reason coach sylvester is also on his private story. no one except kurt and sue know why and they’re not revealing their plans to anyone. it is terrifying.

Sam: The Blackbird -he named it after the plane the x-men fly bc he is a Geek Bitch. -anyway sam is ALWAYS posting to his private story. every day there's five new videos of various hudmel shenanigans. he likes to record things just in case he has to leave again and he needs memories of his friends. -since he’s a sweetheart and doesn’t like people to feel left out, he’s got a fair amount of people on his private story. obviously the new directions and lauren (and matt! he met matt through mike and they hit it off), and some students from his old schools. he’s got some warblers, a chunk of the football team, some mckinley students, and lord tubbington. it’s a good time!

Puck: VIP ZONE -this idiot just likes everybody on his private story to know that they are SPECIAL and APPRECIATED if they’re there -he posts the most wack shit on his story bc he’s always getting up to something stupid so he keeps the amount of people on his private story low so he doesn’t get ratted out -so pretty much only the new directions are on it, plus matt and lauren and a couple of the more tolerable football guys. he has jake on his story too!!! (in my glee cinematic universe they met earlier and they’re bros) he also has jeff the warbler on his story for reasons known to no one, not even jeff and puck.

Rachel: 🌟Rachel Berry Exclusive🌟 -do i even need to explain this one. -rachel does NOT understand the concept of a private story. pretty much everybody who has her on snap is on her private story at this point. she does not give a shit she wants everyone to know what she’s up to all the time. this means that practically everyone she’s ever met is on there

Finn: cooler than puck's -this man is always competing against puck a lil i know it. puck thinks its hilarious. -not a lot of people on finn’s story! he’s got the usual suspects plus some football guys, and david warbler and wes warbler. they hang out sometimes!!! he thinks they’re fun dudes. he also has jake on his story bc he’s met him a couple times through puck and he seemed chill. also jesse st. james so finn can make him jealous bc he’s a little shit

Blaine: Sometimes Turnt -his story posts are usually very basic but when this man gets drunk he goes off the RAILS on his story it’s crazy -blaine’s another one whos got pretty much everyone he knows on his private story. all the usual suspects and all the warblers are on there. he doesn’t have jesse, lauren, or matt, but that’s bc he just. doesn’t know them. he’s got a couple people that he made friends with at mckinley on there too!! -cooper is NOT allowed on his private story. he is explicitly banned.

Tina: former goth bitches anonymous -’nuff said. -tina has the BEST stories. everyone wants to be on her private story - except for when she’s having a breakdown and keeps posting screenshots of sad songs on spotify. but the thing is she keeps her private story on LOCKDOWN. she’s got her new directions and lauren and matt, she’s got a couple haverbrook kids, some warblers, a goth guy she met at a hot topic, and sunshine!!! but NO ONE ELSE. everyone else is PROHIBITED. NO FUCKING ENTRY!

Mike: The Fuck -mike didn’t know what to name it :/ so he decided to name it after what he’s thinking every time he posts a video of his friends doing something stupid -everyone loves mike. everyone is on his story. thee whole mf gang. the new directions, lauren, matt, jesse, sunshine, the whole football team, all the cheerios, haverbrook kids, warblers, vocal adrenaline dancers, the works. he doesn’t know how they all wound up there considering he hardly ever posts, but he just keeps making friends with people and they’re like "hey you’re very sexy and hot. want to be on my private story" and of course he has to return the favour!!!

Artie: Artie's Priv -short and simple! -everything he posts is edited RIDICULOUSLY. like with stickers and filters and video edits, the works. everything. -he doesn’t have a lot of people on his private story mostly because he usually uses his public one, so he just doesn’t think to add people to his private story. but he’s got the new directions, he’s got lauren and matt, he’s got a few other mckinley students, and... that’s pretty much it. he just doesn’t think about it!

Quinn: Don't let my Catholic guilt see this -this one. i haven’t gotten to use it in a fic yet. but i will. its also fairly self explanatory -quinn is another gal who keeps this shit shut DOWN. almost nobody gets in bc a lot of her stories are just her RANTING about feminism or her life or SOMETHING that's pissing her off that she needs to vent about -she’s got the new directions, she’s got lauren and matt, she’s got some cheerios, and that is IT. nobody else gets to see this shit.

THIS WAS SO FUCKING FUN TO WRITE OUT OH MY GOD I AM SO PLEASED!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME THIS I HAVE NOT FELT THIS MUCH EUPHORIA IN A LONG TIME!!!!!

[nafeary]

“Love And Reason Keep Little Company Together”

⚬ Pairing: Napoleon Bonaparte/Reader

⚬ Character/s: Napoleon Bonaparte

⚬ Warning/s: Cursing

⚬ Word Count: 1.7k

⚬ Occasion: @delicateikemenmemes BDay 💜💜💜

✧✎ Synopsis: You’d think that—after fulfilling the chore of waking le monsieur de wahaha almost every day—rising in the former emperor’s arms would loose its charm over time, but every morning you two got to share together was special. Special, indeed.

✧✎ A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL! I’ve been meaning to start this like... one and a half months ago, but I only really did so around last week in my true procrastinating fashion. Btw, I derived the plot of this scenario from an idea Sara provided me with upon asking what her ideal cuddle scenario with Sir Baenaparte is. I didn’t end up using it, so it was the perfect opportunity to be a bit sneaky hehe.

And massive thanks to @fairy-marshmallow for beta-reading this! I wouldn’t have posted this if it weren’t for you 💜

I hope you (and everyone else) will have a great day, and remember to drink your water.💧

He had tried staying awake; certainly, he had.

But as soon as you had stood up to crank a window open, he was knocked out cold—the gentle puffs escaping his lips the only sign keeping you from seeking out the resident doctor. It was in an effort to chase away the uncomfortable humidity inside his room that you permitted the cold drafts to stream like rivers of rimy icicles, creating the perfect climate to fall into a deep slumber.

You didn’t mind him breaking his promise to fall asleep together. On the contrary, you were elated that you ended up winning the bet.

“Nunuche… I want to fall asleep with you today,” he had muttered, forcing his droopy eyes to stay open (which resulted in an awkward succession of repetitive blinking).

You could only chuckle at his adorable enthusiasm. “You don’t have to, Leon… I doubt you could even manage.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Perhaps.”

While you hadn’t decided on your prize beforehand, being able to slip beneath the duvets to cuddle into the former emperor’s side seemed like a fitting reward.

Despite the heavy set of blankets, shivers crawled up your spine at the rain wafting icy fronts throughout the room. You had just woken up, absentmindedly inhaling a tantalizing scent, something reminiscent of violets. Your mind felt numb for a moment and you nuzzled your head further into the mattress; it was comfortable and warm, but oddly hard.

Slowly blinking your eyes open, you came to realize that you were tightly cocooned by Napoleon’s arms. His breathing was steady, the rise of his chest every few moments a rhythm more serene than Mozart’s nocturnes. You could feel more than hear his heartbeat as your head rested just above it. With your arm draped over him, you acutely realised that your leg was wedged in between his.

Grasping for every bit of heat you possibly could, you snuggled deeper into his warm arm-cocoon—the window could wait, and you’d gladly risk frostbite if it could prolong this moment of pure tranquillity.

You dared to peek at your lover’s face, and your heart slammed into your throat, a plethora of memories and emotions reigning your thoughts. While you might not have been in a relationship for long, the experiences you two have gathered upon the way spoke tales of spent decades. You remembered how he’d called you a chore, and other infuriating terms (but you could pardon his 19th century mindset), you remembered how he’d do his best to hide his dark side from yourself, yet how he opened up—exposing the deepest shadows within his mind.

But most of all, you remembered all the trivial moments, the at-times domestic life you were blessed with. You remembered how he told you of his heart racing a little too rapidly at the sight of you, and how you noticed that his lashes couldn’t stop flicking up and down and how his hazy eyes gleamed after your every move.

Just as he had done, you allowed your gaze to inhabit his features, the innocent expression on his face contradicting his bloody past, the gentle pout on his bruised lips making him appear so much younger than he actually was.

Napoleon was entirely too gorgeous, and you sometimes wondered whether he wasn’t actually an angel or a demon—if not both. The things he made you feel with a single look or word compelled you to each and every sinful bidding of his, a commander in every sense. And you’d submit to him readily. Your trust ran deeper than blood ever could, and you knew he’d do the same for you. Despite your shared history, some doubts still infested your mind, a maudlin area of your thoughts you assayed to part from. But it was almost impossible not to spend time contemplating whether you were truly compatible for instance.

A morning yawn halted your reminiscing, the following shrill mewl escaping Napoleon’s mouth prompting you to giggle slightly. Sunlight unfurled in golden ribbons, prompting his lashes to flutter in protest as they hesitated to fully open.

“Parbleu...” he mumbled drowsily, tense muscles screeching for release as he stretched his limbs down to the tips of his toes, like a cat who had just awoken from a well-rested nap. After a few moments of motionless silence, his brain finally warmed up to the idea of waking up.

When he turned to face you, all your worry faded at the sight of his genuinely handsome, if not slightly crooked, grin. A glimpse was more than enough for you.

Burying a hand in your hair, he leaned forward and your lips extinguished any remainder of the autumn air that plagued the room, coming together in a zephyr-like kiss. You could feel his lips stretch into an ever-so-gentle simper, making your toes dance with happy feelings. Once he had miraculously gotten rid of his waking-up habits (“how could I ever kiss someone else when I have my nunuche to help me out?”), his morning kisses—the conscious ones—never failed to make you feel cherished. They were the sweetest kind that numbed your mind and enriched every sense.

You parted rather reluctantly, but he continued his assault down your neck as he encompassed you within his strong arms once again, the heat of his body flush to your back all the more prominent. Eventually, his face came to rest near you nape after a few delicate kisses to your lobe, his muffled words barely legible to you. “I didn’t understand a word you said, ‘Leon.”

“Bonjour, mon amour,” he said with a blinding smile, lifting himself slightly off your neck... only to be interrupted by a completely unabashed fit of laughter.

“...you’re laughing at my hair again, aren’t you?”

He ceased his hysterics, just enough for him to talk, that is. “Your “bedhead”, I believe you called it, is extraordinaire, I’m sorry.”

You were about to reply, but his fingers combing through your hair distracted you from all ire. He took his time with each stroke, carefully fighting his way through any knots while also making sure that he doesn’t end up hurting you.

The sun had risen considerably the next time you paid attention to it, noticing that you’d completely driven off to dreamland. It was your boyfriend’s voice that interrupted your nap. “Nunuche?”

“Hm?” You mumbled drowsily, grabbing onto his forearms to ward off the creeping cold.

Noticing the goosebumps scattered across your skin, he pulled his blankets further up your body. “I don’t need this much. That’s your blanket anyway— hey!” Ignoring your furrowed brows, he tucked the fabric all the way to your chin, refusing your protests with a smirk.

You couldn’t help but grumble a little. “Happy?”

“I am.” His actions did produce a feeling of petulance creeping up your throat, like so many other residents managed to, but the affection and glee burning in his eyes quickly dissolved it—a gentle burn across your cheeks the only remainder of your exasperation.

Sighing slightly, you asked, “Weren’t you saying something?”

“Ah, of course,” he said, propping himself above you with his arms before commencing, “have I ever told you how much I adore waking up to your voice? How grateful I am to see you next to me first thing in the morning?”

His words chased away your exasperation, butterflies erupting within your stomach begging to burst free, carrying their messages of euphoria for the entire world to experience. If it wasn’t for the blanket fort restricting your every movement, you’d be throwing your arms around him—consequently squeezing every tiny bit of negative thoughts out of him.

Napoleon seemed to notice your wish, gradually lowering himself right above your face, so close, you could feel his hands indenting the mattress beside your face, feel his lashes brush your cheeks, feel his breath fan across your face. And as trivial as it might have sounded, you didn’t catch yourself minding the odour of his unwashed mouth, nor the sleep crust inhabiting the corner of his eyes. This moment felt so domestic and mundane��yet so important.

You were completely and utterly whipped for this man.

“You deserve the world,” you managed to breathe out, captivated by your love for this man, and intoxicated by the feeling of being desired and cherished.

His quiet laugh shook his chest. “Considering that you are my world, that’s all I could ever hope for.”

Just as his lips were about to meet your own, your eyebrows lifted your lids, only to come back down in absolute annoyance. You couldn’t believe the timing of the worst morning aspect nature has graced humans with—worse than morning breath could ever be.

Your bladder was calling for relief.

In a desperate attempt to make a run to the en-suite bathroom, you wriggled beneath the vampire’s arms (taking a short moment to admire the veins running along them before proceeding your mission). However, he snug his arms around your waist, still clad in the heavy duvets. “Is everything alright?”

Glancing at his slivering pout, you internally cursed Sebastian for asking you for a late night tea session. “Don’t worry, I just need to use the toilet real quick.”

Instead of releasing you, he only pulled you closer, the blankets forcing you back onto the mattress into an ungrateful burrito-like form.

“It’s too cold and early to stand up.”

No matter how much you wriggled within his tight lock, he didn’t relinquish his siege on your body and only continued to press you to his chest.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Reason and rationality were apparently not included in the monsieur’s dictionary. “Napoleon Bonaparte,” you craned your neck as far back as possible, “if you don’t let me go right now, I WILL consider peeing all over you.”

That seemed to stupefy him, granting you enough time to roll out of his reach as he processed your outburst. He could only blink as you sprinted past him, throwing the door into its hinges behind you.

Napoleon stared, stunned, after his girlfriend, perplexed—if not amused—by your unusual ways. Nevertheless, he had enjoyed the show, laughing as he buried himself into your pillow, feeling luckier than ever to be loved by someone so endearingly unique and adorable.

Tag list: @juminly @kisara-16 @sweetlittlemouse @thesirenwashere @nad-zeta @delicateikemenmemes

[stillchaoticlogic]

Descent: Chapter 3

Pairing: Leon x Reader

Leon only thought he was the most powerful trainer in Galar...

He never battled you though.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

So I was trying to find a badass gif... there are none our boy is a floof. I gave up and used the most ridiculous one I could find. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Off with Her Head

The smirk on your lips is almost sinister as you regard the groaning Leon across from you. You delicately sip your coffee while Leon lays face down on the kitchen table. Who would have thought that the Unbeatable Champion Leon is a lightweight? It had only taken a shot and a couple of beers for Leon to be tipsy and yet the moment that Miles bought the whole bar another round ‘in honor of his new friend Leon’ you knew this would be it. That final shot had knocked the former champion out. You had struggled to get him back to your car since he was practically dead weight at that point. Also, very affectionate… Apparently, Leon is a very affectionate drunk and had it been anyone other than Leon latching onto you for hugs and cuddles you would have thought there was a hidden agenda. But honestly, you just believed that Leon enjoyed affection and you weren’t that mad at how his solid body had felt pressed against you last night. You won’t tell him that though. 

His hair is mussed up from the number of times he’s run his fingers through it. Another groan escapes his lips as you push the pain killers and water closer to him, the sound of the glass on the table apparently too much for him to bear. 

“You have a surprisingly low tolerance for someone of your height and build.”

You hear him grumble something incoherent under his breath in annoyance, but you pay him no mind. 

“You need to deal with yourself Ace, we have training to do!” You sing the last part loudly, mostly just to snicker at the groan of pain and the light thud of his head hitting the table again. You laugh outright when the thud is followed by curses. 

“Language, Mr. Former Champ! You wouldn’t want your fan club to hear such profanities come from such a pretty mouth.”

You glance over your shoulder to see the scowl on his lips and his glare. You send him a sly smile in answer before you head out of the room, “Be in the car in twenty minutes!” you call over your shoulder as you do. 

You hear a sigh from the kitchen and repress your giggle as you head to your room to get ready. Having not known where Leon lives, you had just simply brought him home with you and laid him out in your guest bedroom. You would be annoyed at the late start if not for the glee you got from Leon’s hangover. 

At half-past noon with a greasy breakfast sandwich in Leon’s hand and a warning that he will promptly be kicked out of your car if he throws up, you head down the road. Leon is wearing a pair of dark shades to protect his eyes from the bright light and despite your amusement at the situation and desire to torment him more with loud music, you need him to be able to focus, so the car ride to the training ground is mostly silent. Once there Leon seems to be feeling better now that he has eaten and taken some medication. You hand him a bag filled with supplies and a large water bottle. 

“Where are we going?” he asks, clearly not trusting you after the events of the night before. 

“There’s a mountain over there that we will be climbing.” Glancing over at the peak in the distance he groans as he regards it. 

“I’m not sure I’m up for this today…”

“Well I’m very sorry his highness got shit faced last night, but you should have stopped if you didn’t know your limit.”

Leon looks affronted before conceding that you are right. He hangs his head down in defeat before he takes the bag you gave him and puts it on his back. His team is strapped to his belt and once he seems ready you head off down the path towards the mountain.

“Do you have any other Pokemon other than the team you showed in the championships?” The question is innocent in and of itself but he seems suspicious. 

“A few others why?”

“You need some variety in your team. One of the reasons you are at a disadvantage is that everyone already knows your team. You should have a few that you rotate out so there is a surprise every once in a while.”

“What about your team?” he asks suddenly. 

“What about my team?” you ask glancing over your shoulder at him. 

“What Pokemon do you have?” he asks curiously. 

As if waiting for his moment to shine, your Gengar, Akuma, breaks free from his Pokeball and grins deviously at Leon. 

Leon grins as he regards your oldest friend, “Your partner is a Gengar?” he asks happily. 

You smirk as you gaze down at him fondly, “It is, Akuma has been with me for a long time. Isn’t that right Aku?” you ask him in a sweet voice. Akuma giggles but leans happily against you, demanding affection. Resting your hand on the top of his head he happily reaches up and takes your hand. 

The two of you happily make your way down the trail and once you get to an open field you release the rest of your team. Leon’s eyes widen at them and their obvious adoration for you. A Salazzle with a healthy glow to her scales slides up to him first in curiosity, cocking her head from one side to the other. Next, a Toxtricity comes lumbering up behind the Salazzle with a confident smirk on his face followed closely by a curious Nidoqueen. The rest of your team is sticking close to your side and consists of a Toxapex and Dragalge. The Toxapex clearly wants nothing to do with him and the Dragalge looks like it wants to attack him, but doesn’t by wrapping itself around its trainer as a sign of protection. 

Leon looks only mildly uncomfortable as he regards the Pokemon around him, “Don’t worry… they all really are quite dangerous, but very well trained.”

He sends you an unamused look as he watches the group of poison type Pokemon inspect him. When they are happy that he is of no threat to their beloved trainer they leave him alone and meander back to your side. 

“Why don’t you release your team as well? They need the exercise, this is for them after all,” you encourage as you tilt your head with a smirk. 

He nods, suddenly looking very serious before unleashing his team, first Charizard followed by Aegislash, Dragapult, Haxorus, Seismitoad, and Rhyperior. And despite how serious he is about training you can see how he loves and cares for his team. His team regards you and yours curiously if not a little warily. You notice how his Charizard seems to almost hover over him in concern. 

“Let’s go,” you say calmly as you turn to head through the field as you make your way to the mountain in the distance. Glancing over your shoulder you check to make sure they are following you. His Dragapult glides up next to you to tentatively inspect you only to be met with a hiss from Lady, your Salazzle. The Dragapult merely narrows his eyes and hisses right back. There is a roar from Charizard and Dragapult answers by floating back over to his team. 

“So you have a poison type team? Why poison?” he asks as his long strides brought him in line with you. 

“They are underappreciated but dangerous. Honestly, most people shun them because they are scared or intimidated.”

“Isn’t that why you choose them? They are intimidating?” 

“Nope… Aku was my first friend and everyone was always so scared of him when we were younger even though he was the best friend I could have asked for. The other kids wouldn’t let us play with them and when he evolved into a Haunter, it only got worse.”

Leon nods, “I see…so what did you do?”

You shrugged, “I decided that I was going to train and one day I found Sahara and Tsar. They were so cute and tiny at the time.”

“Sahara and Tsar?” he asks in confusion. 

Your Nidoqueen lets out a roar before quieting and you chuckle at her antics, “Tsar is her mate, my Nidoking.”

His eyes widen, “You have one of each?”

You nod as Sahara nuzzles your shoulder. With a giggle, you swat her away and all of a sudden you aren’t the feared High Queen of an underground organization, you’re just a trainer with her team. Leon shakes his head trying to get that image out of his mind. He can’t forget who you really are, but despite his musings, he can’t help but see you in a slightly different light. 

You both battle your way up the mountain and allow Leon to take the lead. He grows stronger with each battle but you can tell he’s holding back. 

“What’s the problem?” you ask as you regard him skeptically. 

“Is this really going to help?” he asks as he turns towards you his own brand of skepticism in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” you square your stance and cross your arms. 

“What makes this training any different than what I do already?”

“It’s probably not,” you answer calmly. 

“Then what’s the point?”

“Precisely. What is the point?” you ask.

He furrows his brows as he regards you, “To get stronger.”

“Nope. You’re already strong, you lack some stamina, but not much really. You’ve lost something though. What is it?”

He scoffs and his fists go to his hips, “You mean my title?”

“Something more important than your title.”

He frowns, “I don’t understand.”

“We are out here to find what you’ve lost,” you tilt your head as you regard him.

He grits his teeth, “The only thing that I’ve lost is my title and I’m not going to get it back out here.”

“Are you angry you’ve lost it?” you ask cooly.

He narrows his eyes, “What I’m feeling is none of your business.”

“So you are…” you murmur softly.

He looks away from you, avoiding your eyes.

“Did you know that Akuma chose me as his trainer? I was pretty isolated when I was kid, I didn’t have friends and my family didn’t really have time for me. It was all about the business,” you begin to pace back and forth in front of him as the memories flood your mind. “I would wander off and be gone for hours and no one would even know I was gone. There was an old cottage on the property and I would play inside and around it. One day there was a Gastly hiding in the shadows. He was scared and alone. No one wanted a creepy ghost type just like no one wanted to have anything to do with the little girl who lived in the house at the end of the road.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asks in confusion. 

“Because that day a little unwanted Gastly followed a little unwanted girl home and they were never alone again. Akuma has been my partner since I was a child just like I’m sure that Charizard has been there for you. Right now you need to find what you’ve lost and only you know what that is.”

“I told you! I lost my title.”

“Your title isn’t who you are. Try again.”

“Fine! If you’re so smart let’s battle!”

“You won’t win,” you say calmly.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” you say simply before you turn and walk away. “You aren’t ready to battle me.”

The ride back to your home is silent as Leon fumes beside you. You roll your eyes before you go into your house and come out with an egg. 

“What’s this?” Leon asks as you hand it to him. 

“It’s an egg and your new means of training,” you say calmly, leaning against the car that Leon has yet to get out of. 

“You want me to raise an egg as training?” he asks incredulously. 

“Yes, you will know soon enough,” you murmur cryptically as you get back into the driver’s seat to take him home.  

“I don’t get it…” he murmurs gazing down at the egg in his lap. 

“You have lost something, Leon, and that egg will help you find it.”

“How?” he snaps, annoyed with you.

“If I simply tell you the lesson you will learn nothing.”

He glares over at you but keeps silent the rest of the way.

“Oh, by the way…” you say as he’s about to get out of the car, “You should pack tonight.”

“Why?”

“We’re going on a bit of an adventure.”

Leon blinks at you in confusion, “Absolutely not.”

He gets out of the car and gathers his things before shutting the door. .

You roll down the window to continue your conversation, slight annoyance in your voice at his behavior, “Be packed tomorrow morning, or be unprepared because we’re going.”

“Where are we going?!” he yells through the window as you roll it up.

“You’ll see,” you say with a Cheshire grin.

The next morning dawns and with a frustrated growl you bang on Leon’s door. You know he keeps denying your calls and quite frankly you are not having it. Walking up to the door you simply pick the lock on the door and walk right in. 

“You would think the Ex-Champion would have a better security system…” you murmur to yourself right as Charizard rounds the corner looking as fierce as ever. The moment he sees it’s just you, his fire dies and looks more tired than anything. Vaguely you wonder how worried he is for his trainer. 

“He’s not ready is he?” you ask the large fire lizard.

He just shakes his head before leading you into the next room. You see a lump under the covers of a king sized bed with long purple hair flowing out of the top. You can’t help but think it looks a bit lonely. Such a large bed, but so empty. 

“Come on, Leon,” you say in annoyance, “we have a plane to catch,”

He rolls over and blinks in annoyance at you, “I’m not getting on a plane with you.”

You roll your eyes, “And why not?”

“Because I don’t trust you. You run an underground ring of illegal Pokemon dealing.”

“Do you know who I sell those illegal Pokemon to? Your friends. I’ve made more deliveries to the people in this very apartment complex than you care to know about. The elite of Galar want what they want.”

“I don’t believe you…” he practically pouts, but you can tell that he knows. 

“Listen Big Boy… You can either accept that you have made this choice, or deny it. I don’t care either way. What I do care about is my team and my reputation. You have put yourself as well as my team in danger and I expect you to do the big boy thing and deal with it. Now get up, we’re going to Kalos.”

You turn and head out the door before you hear his questions. You glance over your shoulder as a singular ‘why’ floats from the room. 

“Because you need to see more of the world.”

“I’ve seen the world!” he pouts as he stumbles out of his bedroom and into the living area. You head towards his kitchen and start rummaging through his cabinets.

“What are you doing?” he asks mildly offended that you are just looking through his things, even if it is just his kitchen. 

“Coffee, I would assume you would like some before we head out, perhaps breakfast as well.”

He looks less offended at your answer, probably because you were going to feed him, and directs you to his coffee and the green protein infused smoothie he usually drinks for breakfast. 

“So much kale…” you murmur as you stuff hand-fulls into the blender and roll your eyes at the noise the high powered contraception makes.

Leon emerges with his bag packed looking far more put together than he did an hour ago. 

“You never answered my question about why we are going to Kalos.”

“I have business and you have training,” you say putting your sunglasses on and heading towards your car. He follows along reluctantly before he throws his duffle bag into your back seat, his team strapped securely to his belt. 

***

The tower in Lumiose city reaches up to the sky and for the first time you watch Leon forget about being a Champion or not being a Champion. He’s just being Leon. 

“You’re welcome to wander the city and explore while I get some work done. Do you want to grab dinner when I’m finished?”

“You don’t want me to go with you?”

“No, you don’t want to go with me,” you say with a smirk, “Just enjoy the day, we’ve got some training to do tomorrow.”

“What training is that?” he asks absentmindedly as he regards the shops and restaurants around him. 

“I’m taking you to a battle mansion, you’ll love it.”

“Really?” he asks, whipping his head around to face you, excitement in his eyes. You just nod with a smirk on your face as you leave him to his devices. 

Walking down the streets of Lumiose city, you come to a cafe where you are to meet your contact. Negotiations are underway to set up a group in Kalos. Certain pokemon were in high demand that are native to this region. You order a coffee and sit down at one of the tables. A few moments later a man sits down across from you, his own beverage in his hand. 

“(Y/N), I presume?” he speaks lowly a confident smirk on his lips. You narrow your eyes.

“Indeed.”

“Follow me, the boss is waiting for you.”

You nod before you get up and follow him into the back room where a man with blonde hair and striking green eyes awaits you. He’s wearing a silvery gray suit with a deep green dress shirt, the buttons around the collar unbuttoned and displaying a toned chest. Just enough to tease you. 

“Jean, I presume?” you ask your hand gripping Aku’s Pokeball in case you need him.

“No need to be so tense! Have a seat, I love lunches with beautiful women,” he says with a smirk and flirtatious wink. 

You don’t relax as you take a seat across from him and cock your head to one side, “you say that like you don’t have them often.”

“Often enough, but none quite as exquisite as you,” he purrs, offering you a bit of the food that was prepared beforehand. You know better than to eat what is before you though. 

You smile sweetly before you fix him with a look, “Down to business.”

“I was hoping for a chance to get to know you.”

“There will be plenty of time for that after I’ve heard your proposal,” your tone is light and airy, amicable, but you know how the game works. 

The male before you narrows his eyes minutely before he smirks, “Of course, business before pleasure, a lady after my own heart. I propose we open trade routes specifically for Litleos and Flabebe. My team will gather them in exchange for Dreepy and Applin.”

You cock your head to the side, “I don’t believe that’s a fair trade, Dreepy and Applin are significantly harder to find, especially Dreepy whereas both Litleo and Flabebe are almost common.”

“The heart wants what the heart wants and the hearts of Kalos want Applin and Dreepy,” he says with a shrug, as if it is entirely out of his hands.

“It sounds to me as if I would be getting the short end of the stick, Applin and Rookidee are moreso on par with your request.”

“And of Dreepy?”

“If you want Dreepys you will need to give me something better than Flabebe. I am already able to source them Alola.”

He scowls before his tone lightens, “What about Mega Evolutions?”

“What about them?” you ask flatly, acting far more bored than you actually are. 

“You can Mega Evolve your Pokemon anytime and anywhere, there are no restrictions unlike your region’s Dynamax….”

“Go on…”

“With my help you could be uncontested.”

“Are you saying you will outfit me and my team with Mega evolution equipement?”

“Your partner is a Gengar correct? Think of the power he could have…” You do consider it. You’ve heard of the power that Pokemon that have the ability to mega evolve have. Such power...

“How many Dreepy do you want for this power?”

“One hundred,” he says without flinching. 

“I will consider your proposition and get back to you within the week. I need to take it to my associates.”

“Of course!”

“I will be off then,” you say as you move to get up.

“What of your lunch?” he asks good naturedly. 

“I have someone waiting for me so I really must be off.”

“Well he is very lucky then…”

You regard the man in front of you for a moment, vaguely wondering his intentions. With a single line he has made you suspicious. 

“Indeed,” you say with a saccharine smile.

Leaving the cafe you can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong and when you are cornered in an alleyway by the lackeys of the very man you had just spoken with you aren’t surprised. There are five of them each with their pokemon at the ready to take you on. You regard the lackeys with boredom rather than fear. As if you haven’t been ambushed before, such amateurs. 

“It’s nothing personal,” comes a voice from the rooftop, “your associates are merely more cooperative.” 

Glancing up you see Jean standing there gazing down at you with a wicked smirk.

“Oh? You’ve spoken to my associates?”

“Our agreement was as many Dreepy as I would like if I could get rid of their boss. I fully expected you to be dead by now my dear.”

You roll your eyes and with a flash, Akuma is standing by your side looking all the more menacing as he regards his opponents. 

“You know what to do,” you say without even blinking. 

Akuma giggles before he seemingly vanishes into thin air, the sound of yelps and cries of pain assault your ears as Akuma in a single blow takes out his opponents.

“I didn’t become who I am by being easy to kill, you’ll have to do better.”

“How is this for better?” he unleashes a Houndoom and with a glow of the jewel around his neck he mega evolves. 

You curse under your breath as you regard the fiery dog before you. 

“Akuma! Destiny Bond!” Akuma nods before he glows a deep purple. 

“Crunch!” 

Houndoom rushes forward landing a solid hit on Akuma who just grins and bears the pain. You grit your teeth as the Houndoom effortlessly throws Akuma away. He hits the wall before he falls to the ground. He weakly stands up before hypnotizing the Pokemon before him. Houndoom shakes his head trying to rid himself of the drowsiness, but fails and falls into a deep sleep. 

“Nightmare then Hex,” you say glaring up at Jean. 

He smirks at you as Akuma unleashes the attacks unto the dark type pokemon. It doesn’t do much damage but the moment that Houndoom wakes up you know it’s over. He unleashes one more attack that sends Akuma to the ground and due to the bond forged between the two of them, Houndoom falls as well. 

“Very good…” purrs Jean, “You do live up to your reputation. Let’s see how well you do with my Garchomp.”

Garchomp roars as he lands before you, you pull your Dragalge, Silette, and ready her for battle. 

“Do you think your little barnacle can defeat me?”

“You made a mistake siding against me,” you say calmly, ”I’m going to show you how.”

The battle is over before it’s even really begun and you know for a fact that Jean relies entirely on Mega Evolution. Once his mega evolved Pokemon has been defeated the rest of his team crumble like cake. You climb the stairs on the fire escape to reach the top of the building where Jean is standing, still shocked at what just happened. You hold out your hand and he glares at you in defiance. 

“I want the band.”

“How dare you-”

A deep growl from Moxy, your Salazzle, has him handing over the band and you look at it curiously before you tuck it away. 

“Who are you working with? Who wanted me dead?” you more so in annoyance than fear. 

He smirks before he shrugs carelessly, “They called themselves Diamond and Clubs, they intended to pay me handsomely to take you out when they found out that you were coming for a meeting in Kalos with me.”

“I’m keeping the band as your payment for losing to me. I will give you fifty Dreepy each for Gengarite, Beedrillite and Venusaurite.”

“Your allies have turned against you, how do I know you can hold up your end of the bargain?”

“I have two hundred Dreepy waiting to be moved as we speak. I am the only one with access to the system housing them and my personal team is loyal. Whatever they hoped to pay you, I can pay more.”

“They said you were lethal, I didn’t think you would be this ruthless as well…”

“If I wasn’t dangerous, they wouldn't be trying to kill me…”

“Touché,” he says with a smirk, “I need an hour then we meet at the tower for the exchange.”

“Perfect.”

Once you are alone in a small department store you quickly head to the changing room and change your clothes and shoes. You heal your pokemon in preparation for what is to come and quickly make your way to where you are to meet Leon. 

You see his long purple hair and head towards him, grabbing his arm you pull him along beside you, “Change of plan.”

“What?!”

“Clubs and Diamond are trying to kill me so we have a short amount of time to gather supplies and get to a safe house.”

“Kill you!?” he exclaims. 

“Keep your voice down! I have an exchange to make, then we get out of here.”

“How are you so calm?!” 

“Panicking will do nothing. We have to get to safety, they know about you so we need to stick together and get somewhere safe. I just need you to trust me on this.”

He looks serious as he nods at you.

At the base of the tower, Jean is leaning casually against it as you walk up to him. Leon is about a hundred feet away watching the whole exchange in fear. You hold out your hand and he places the bag in it with the Mega stones you asked for. You nod in acceptance as you hand him the code to the storage unit. He checks it before he nods at you. 

“I hope we can do business in the future,” he says, pulling you hand up to his lips for a kiss. 

“You tried to kill me…”

“Business,” he says with a shrug, “And a grave mistake obviously…” 

“Obviously,” your voice gives nothing away as you gaze at him coldly. 

He merely smiles pleasantly at you before you turn on your heel and walk away. A shout from Leon has you casually snapping your fingers. Hemlock, your Vileplume which was happily hiding amongst the flowers unleashes a stun spore into the air as you casually put on a gas mask. Several people, including Jean fall to the ground paralyzed. 

“Thanks for the Mega Stones, your treachery will not be forgotten.”

You hear a wait leave his lips as you just roll your eyes, “In fact,” you say as you casually walk up to him ignoring the screams of the people around you, “I’ll take these.” You flip him over and pull another mega band from his wrist and upon further inspection pull a bag of mega stones out, “for payment.”

His eyes widen as you show him what you have taken before you quickly pull out a Pokeball and release a Weezing. 

“Smokescreen,” you say as you step into the fog. 

The entirety of the park has been thrown into chaos and if it wasn’t for the Pokemon dealers being arrested for theft then you would have had more problems to deal with. 

“What happened?!” Leon asks as he dutifully looks away as you change from the clothes you had been wearing before you hand them Moxy so she can burn them. They are ashes in the wind in a moment. You put on a charming sundress and glasses as well as a bright blonde wig. Leon stops when he turns to look at you in the cheery yellow dress as you smirk at him. 

“Close your mouth, Leon, you’ll attract Cutiefly,” you tilt your head to the side, “Unless that’s your intention?”

He glares half heartedly at you before he crosses his arms with a huff.

“Oh stop will you? Everything is fine!”

“He had a gun, he tried to kill you.”

You fix him with a steady look, “I knew what his intentions were the entire time, but we needed these,” you say holding up the bag of mega stones. 

“What are they?” he asks, taking the bag from you. 

“Mega stones, there is one for Charizard and Garchomp.”

“Huh? I don’t want these! They are stolen!”

You tilt your head, “You’re going to need them for protection and we need to get out of Kalos as fast as possible.”

He clenches his teeth as he thinks over the situation, the stress clear on his handsome face, “fine…” he concedes finally. 

You hand him the band and dig out the stones before you hand them to him. 

“You better buckle up Ace, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Notes: I hope you enjoyed this! It turned out much longer than expected but I doubt anyone's complaining! Please drop some love and tell me your thoughts! A thank you to my Betas Pluto and Serene!

[ariddletobesolved]

Days We Spend Under the Sun (Chapter Two)

Written for @helsa-summer-event

Fandom: Frozen

Genre: Romance, Family, Fluff, Whump

Rating: T

Summary: Summer is not her favourite season, but a certain Admiral from the neighbouring kingdom is going to change that.

Perhaps we should call this a collection of Helsa fluff drabbles. External links (including some links to the prologue and chapter one) are in the notes. Enjoy!

Prompt 2: Blue Skies and Dandelion Fuzz

—

Chapter Two

One of the best things about the forest is the serenity it offers, this pretty much she knew.

Standing near the river bank, Elsa had been staring at her own reflection for a while. It was still early in the morning when she sneaked out of Hans's warm embrace and out of her own hut in the village. Not that she didn't want to stay and cuddle—despite the fact that the weather was rather hot, but she would like some space for her to think, and the river bank being one of her favourite places in the Enchanted Forest could offer that.

Her mind began to wander to the event that happened the day before. Hans was indeed full of surprises when it came to wooing her, she was aware of that fact. But the trick he pulled, when he broke into a gallop instead of stopping to let her summon the Nokk, was one she didn't see coming. Nonetheless, she still found the journey quite enjoyable. Even during a few stops did she not try to summon the Nokk. The way he held her close to his chest was something she found comfort in. Eventually, they arrived in the forest when the sun went down, and Yelena was the first one to greet them, accompanied by Honeymaren. After having dinner, they stopped by the stable-like area in the village to give Sitron an extra bag of carrots. Tired from the long journey, they finally turned in and Elsa, of course, had to share her hut with Hans. 

Sighing in contentment, Elsa began to stretch her muscles. It had been quite some time since the last time she was back in the forest, she almost forgot how different the place was from Arendelle. It was really quiet in the morning. There was no sound of people trading or arguing, no sound of hooves clicking against the pavement, nothing but the serenity of nature. She smiled, still looking at her own reflection, before a familiar set of eyes stared back at her. The Nokk.

The water spirit rose from the river, standing tall before her in the form of a majestic horse. Elsa looked up with one hand reaching out to gently caress the spirit. Affectionately nuzzling its face close to hers, it was as if the Nokk tried to tell her that it missed her. Elsa let out a chuckle, for she was amused by the spirit.

"I've missed you too, Nokk." She said. "Sorry about yesterday, but Hans had another plan. At least we're here now."

The horse walked around above the river, and Elsa tilted her head in confusion.

"Are you complaining, now?" She raised her eyebrow. But before she could react, she saw a flash of fire. It danced from stone to stone, before stopping beside her feet. Bending down, Elsa smiled. "Hello, little guy!"

The fire died down, and a blue salamander crawled upon her open palm. Elsa conjured a small rain of snowflakes to the creature's amusement, as it poked its tongue out to catch some fallen snowflakes.

"You like it, huh?"

Blinking and tilting its head, Bruni, the fire spirit, stared at her with something like glee. It was obvious that the fire spirit was glad to have her back. The blonde grinned, finding the gesture adorable. Looking up, she saw the Nokk staring at her intensely.

"What?"

The water horse motioned at the path towards the village.

"You want to see Hans?" She inquired. At the mention of the former prince, Bruni smiled wider. "Why, so you can try to drown him again?"

If Nokk could laugh, it would certainly roll onto its belly, Elsa was sure of that. The unspoken tension between the two brought back a memory of their first meeting. It happened shortly after Hans was released from a three hour long questioning, in which the decision sparked a brief tension between her and her sister. Anna, being the wise queen she was, decided that she found nothing harmful with his presence back in Arendelle. Hans was there to deliver an invitation under the Crown Prince of the Southern Isles' order. Elsa, refusing to accept it, mounted on the Nokk and rode across the ocean towards where his ship was in the harbour. They had a quarrel which resulted in him slipped on Elsa's ice and fell into the water. The Nokk, that was offended by Hans' accidental name calling 'water horse' did try to drown him, leaving Elsa standing on her ice.

"He is not the same man, you know." She sighed, making her way towards the majestic horse. Bruni crawled up and rested on her shoulder. "He has grown to be a better person, don't you worry about it."

Elsa smiled at that thought. It wasn't easy to get where she was, but time had given them a chance. Then, faintly, she heard some footsteps walking closer. She turned, only to see Ryder walking with a smaller reindeer.

"Morning, Elsa."

She smiled. "Ryder! I didn't see you last night. How are you holding up?"

The young man returned the smile, half shrugging sheepishly. "Well, I'm fine, I guess? I've been taking care of the reindeers." He nudged the reindeer standing beside him, who nudged back. "This one is John."

"Oh," Elsa tried to bite back a laugh, "that's quite a name for a reindeer."

"I know." Ryder brushed it off as if it was nothing, certainly not aware of Elsa's amused face. "Oh, and one more thing, Hans is looking for you."

"Sure." Elsa turned to the Nokk, who was tilting its head. "I'll be there shortly."

"Great! I'll head off to the meado now." He said. "Also, the breakfast is ready, so you better go back soon."

Nodding, she looked back. "Sure. I'll see you later, Ryder."

"See you later, Elsa." With that, he took off with the reindeer.

Once again, she was left alone with the spirits. "You're coming, Nokk?" Instead of answering, the Nokk turned around and dived into the water. "So, it's just us." Elsa turned to the excited salamander, that was now crawling onto the top of her head. "Fine, it seems like you really are excited to see Hans."

She made her way towards a familiar path that led her back to the village. Taking a deep breath, she let the clean morning breeze fill her system. She looked up to the blue sky and sighed. Nothing topped a nice breezy summer morning. It was rather warm in the forest, since summer had arrived up north, but she liked it. Unlike Anna, Elsa wasn't a huge fan of summer. She couldn't really stand the heat, and would take every opportunity to take shelter under the shade. The reason why she agreed to Hans' suggestion to ditch the carriage—other than to spend more private time together on the journey—was because of her ability to conjure some clouds above them should the weather be too sunny.

The sound of children playing around and people starting the day got louder as Elsa walked closer to the village. From afar, she spotted a familiar auburn haired Admiral sitting on the ground with two bowls of steaming food beside him. He looked far too engrossed in a conversation with a brunette sitting before him, he didn't see her coming.

Elsa saw this as an opportunity to surprise him, but before she could do such a thing, Bruni already beat her to it. The salamander hopped from her head and landed safely on the ground, before it crawled towards the Admiral. Upon the tiny element of surprise, Hans almost jumped on his seat. Bruni settled on his shoulder, causing him to turn and saw Elsa standing nearby.

"Elsa." He looked a little taken aback, before flashing her a smile. "Have you been there for a while?"

"No." Taking a seat next to him, Elsa pecked his lips shortly. "I have just arrived." She then turned to the brunette. "Morning, Maren."

"Good morning, Elsa." Honeymaren smiled. "Did you see Ryder?"

"Yes, I did." Elsa nodded, taking a bowl Hans offered her. "Thank you, Hans." Turning back to her distant cousin, she continued, "So, what were you two talking about? You both seemed engrossed."

Honeymared glanced at Hans, before replying, "Nothing that would interest you, really. Hans was asking about the crops, yeah."

Hans smiled. He didn't say anything, instead, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. But something told Elsa that it wasn't exactly their main topic of discussion.

"Okay."

"Where were you?" Hans asked. "I woke up this morning and you were nowhere to be seen."

"I was at the river bank, talking to Nokk, before Bruni came." She smiled at the beaming salamander. "They missed you."

Hans playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as if the water horse misses me. I wouldn't be surprised if the little guy here did, or maybe Gale, since it greeted me earlier before deciding to play with those kids." He gestured at the wind spirit swirling around two giggling children.

Elsa grinned in response. "What did I tell you? Nokk doesn't like it."

"What will the Nokk do anyway, try to drown me?" He raised a brow, before shrugging. "Anyway, you should finish your breakfast. Are you going to visit Ahtohallan later today?"

She shook her head no. "I'll go to Ahtohallan tomorrow."

"Great! Because I have a plan for the two of us later." Hans beamed, briefly glancing at Honeymaren, who shrugged slightly.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"That, Kaere, is for me to know," Hans poked the tip of her nose, "and for you to find out."

"Fine."

Elsa beamed. Excitement surged through her, as her mind began to think of a few possibilities. She might look as if she wasn't expecting much, but deep inside, anticipation was building up. She looked forward to whatever adventure he had in store for her.

[shadow13dickpistons]

Uhhh do SHADOW for the ask meme

Oooh, what a fun idea!

Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

I had two asks with Ss in them, but no prompts! So, okay, there’s the obvious ones, (Aldarion spending so much time in Middle-Earth because he’s giving the D to Gil-galad, Sting as originally being a dagger for Idril), now I’m really scratching my head....OH! Here’s a controversial take and something I was thinking about today: Fingon and Maedhros not being married, because of the cousin taboo. 

Alright, alright, alright, so: Fingon’s rescued Maedhros, the rift is healed, yay everything. Fingolfin pulls Fingon aside and is like, “Son, you know I need you to marry. Preferably a woman.” Argon is dead; Turgon will have no other children beyond Idril; Fingolfin has the preternatural knowing that he will not survive against Morgoth - their people are going to look to Fingon. And what will he then do, marry his own cousin?? How can he do this, the Noldor need him. 

Yeahhhh, it’s angsty. All about how Fingon does what dad wants, marries a Sindar of Cirdan’s people, has Gil; but still goes to Maedhros at the drop of a hat (oh, they fuckin’). But yeah, the metas on why Russingon doesn’t violate the cousin taboo are valid, but imo, it’s impossible for Fingon and Maedhros to have any kind of happy ending, and I am firmly in the Gil-galad-as-Fingon’s-son camp. (This got longer than anyone expected.)

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)

I’m not sure I entirely understand this question, what kind of fandoms do I gravitate to? Cause “source text” to me is, like......what sources do you site in your fan participation. If the former, idk, anything that strikes my fancy. The latter, specifically for Tolkien (because that’s all I care about anymore), I’m one of those tiresome people who prefers the books to the films, so first and foremost the actual text. For easy retrieval, I tend to use Tolkien Gateway, but about the only thing I strongly disagree on with that is their take on Gil-galad, so there you have it. The One Wiki to Rule Them All is good, not quite AS good for book stuff, but great for film and game stuff. (But then again they have the “correct” take on Gil-galad, so.)

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

-rubs hands in glee-

Okay, okay, okay. So.......this is just Tolkien. Cause that’s all I care about now. But, in no particular order (caps are “I will lose my mind over this ship,” non-caps are just “I like/write for it.”):

Aredhel/Eol

Beren/Luthien

TUOR/IDRIL

I....oof, look, it’s not that I LIKE Turin/Nienor it’s that.....I’m so compelled....like a fuckin’ train wreck, yo.....too fascinating....

ELROND/CELEBRIAN

ARAGORN/ARWEN

Gimli/Legolas

BILBO/THORIN

Frodo/Sam/Rose (also acceptable: Frodo/Sam, Sam/Rose. My only OT3 ever, really.)

Faramir/Eowyn

Eomer/Lothiriel

Boromir/Theodred (also acceptable: aro/ace Boromir)

Dwalin/Ori

Celebrimbor/Fem!Narvi (this could quickly veer into I will lose my mind territory)

Is it weird I’m kinda into Elrond and Gilraen comforting each other and being a lowkey couple?

I can’t believe I almost forgot Sauron/Melkor, the OG power couple

I think that’s.....more than plenty.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)

God I want to like Caranthir/Haleth. Well, I DO like Caranthir/Haleth. I just......I just really believe Haleth likes the ladies.....Fully here for Caranthir realizing he’s pining from afar, though. Like God, this should really be my type, but I just.....

I’m not as into Russingon as so much of the fandom is, but I don’t dislike it. But I’m really not part of the Feanorian hype train, don’t fully get it. 

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

God, I don’t have all my music on my laptop and I don’t really use Spotify, I’m not sure I CAN do something random.....Let me see.....RANDOM PANDORA??? 

Niiiiice, “Rebel, Rebel.” Damn, you know, I feel like I just had a thought about this the other day.....Let me think here.....Yeah, sorry, I got nothing. If you want me to redo this one, by all means.

W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships

Oh man, oh man, oh man. Uhhhhhhhh. God, it would really help if I were kinkier.

Bilbo/Thorin and I don’t know how to explain this one, but like.......power bottom Bilbo??? Like, sure, it looks like Thorin’s in charge, but whose hand is he eating out of, does that make sense?

NO, SAME ONE AGAIN, SEX ON THE THRONE DURING THORIN’S GOLD SICKNESS, THAT HAS TO COUNT AS A PUBLIC SEX KINK. Not, like, IN public, like at night, but they could get caught.

.........................same one again, banging on the gold, Bilbo only wearing the mithril. I’m not sorry.

If I say Gimli/Legolas can I just say “all” for kinks? I mean.....................leather, for a start. 

You know what, I’m going to throw a curve and say “Ar-Pharazon and Sauron, bondage. But the whole time, Sauron is plotting in the downfall of Numenor and dreaming of sex with Melkor.”

“What about Aragorn/Arwen?” He’s a virgin until the wedding night, give him a SECOND.

Omg, that was so fun, I hope it wasn’t boring. Keep ‘em coming, guys!

[sylphid187]

Coming Home, Taking Flight ‐ Chapter 2: Road to Osaka

This Chapter 2 of my fic focusing on Hinata's journey home. A look into Hinata's return to Japan, his interactions with his friends, and how he makes it into the MSBY Black Jackals.

Hinata Shoyou wakes up religiously the next morning. He gets up, goes for a morning jog, gets some yoga in his routine, then makes time for morning meditation. He makes sure to do all this, before heading to the kitchen to make some breakfast for his family. 

He spent most of yesterday and last night catching up with his family and friends, who had to leave late in the night, after they realized that the sun was down and Tsukishima still had to drive Yachi and Yamaguchi home. During dinner, Shouyou had spent blissful time with his family, his mother seemingly very happy about having the returning presence of her eldest, back in their household. He is reminded again how being back in the company of his family in their own home, was so comforting. 

He walks around their kitchen and, as he waits for the rice to finish cooking, he goes into the fridge to find some salmon slices and some tofu. Shouyou smiles and figures that he probably has enough ingredients to make a healthy japanese breakfast with the salmon, and he's sure his mom has enough ingredients to make some miso soup to go with the meal. He smiles as he is reminded of how he fiddled around in hisbshared space with Pedro, and how Shouyou would usually make breakfast for his roommate, before going to wake him so they could enjoy a meal together. 

As much as Shouyou wanted to treat his family to some brazillian recipes he'd learned from Nice, he didn't have enough ingredients for it right now. So he promises himself he'd do that another day. He'd be more than happy to share the other culture that he's grown to love, with the one that he grew up with. 

Later, when Shouyou is just about finished with setting up the table and their morning meal, he hears padded footsteps make their way through their dining area, and is sure that it's Natsu that's making her way to the kitchen. He hears a gasp and looks up to find that he's guessed right, and Natsu is there staring at their table. 

"Wow Nii-chan, this looks great!" she claps her hands together in glee and continues to scan over what Shouyou has made. 

"Thanks Natsu! Hope you like it! I packed one for mom so she can take it with her to work." Shouyou smiled. His mother still worked on the weekends, and she was used to laboring hard as a single mother. She had worked hard her whole life to sustain Shouyou and Natsu. Shouyou hopes that his dreams of going pro wouldn't just be a benefit to him, but would help lighten the load on his family too. 

"It really does look good! I can't wait to dig in!" Natsu clasps her hands together again, before heading to the sink to wash them, and sitting down at her usual spot on the table. 

Shouyou then sits across from her, and they both give thanks before beginning to dig in. Natsu immediately gives out a happy squeal after a few bites, and Shouyou can't help but chuckle at his sister's antics. He's extremely pleased though that she seems to genuinely like his food. "Nii-chan! This is so good! It looked great, but it tastes even better." 

Shouyou grins. "Flattery will get you nowhere Natsu, but thank you. I'm really happy you like it." 

"It's a real shame you won't be staying longer Nii-chan. I wouldn't mind eating more of your cooking. You're leaving this afternoon right?" she asks him with a smile. 

"That's right. I'll leave by noon, sorry I won't be able to spend more time with you and mom. And I just got home too." Shouyou states, a little gloomy at the thought. 

It saddens him a bit that he can't spend more time with his family, just after he's gotten back. But Shouyou cut it really close when he chose to fly back yesterday. He couldn't book earlier flights because he also wanted to maximize spending time with Pedro, Heitor, Nice and Coach. That, and he did promise to wait after Heitor and Nice's wedding.  But, he needed to be home in time to make it to tryouts. Granted, his chosen flight really didn't give him much time for any detours. Tryouts were on Monday, and today was Saturday. The plan was to head out Saturday afternoon to Osaka via train. 

The train ride from Miyagi to Higashiosaka in Osaka was about nine hours. He had planned to leave around noon to get to Osaka by 10pm. He still had to find a place to stay, but he figured he would work it out when he got there. He could, of course, leave on a Sunday. But Shouyou wanted to have enough time to familiarize himself with the area before tryouts, and have at least a little bit of time to get in shape while waiting for the day to arrive. He didn't want to show up to Osaka not knowing where he was headed and end up missing tryouts because he got lost. With this, he'd at least have a full day to go around the area. 

"Don't apologize to us for following your dreams, Shouyou." The two look to the sound of the voice, to find their mother there with a smile on her face. "We support you, always remember that. And whenever you're having a hard day and need to come home, we'll be here to welcome you back." 

"Mama..." Shouyou smiles. He really was very lucky, and he will never tell himself otherwise. 

"That's right Nii-chan! And I can't wait to tell my friends and teammates all about you when you make the team!" Natsu says as she shoves another piece of fish in her mouth. 

"Natsu! I told you I have to make the team first. There's definitely tons of competition for a spot on the team." He contemplates on this. He's both nervous and excited for tryouts, but he will definitely be doing his best, no matter who his competition is. 

Their mother goes to the countertop and picks up the lunch Shouyou made and smiles at her son. "Oh believe me, you'll make it." 

"Mama! Not you too! I don't wanna be overconfident about it." 

"Shouyou, I'm not saying it because of any other reason, but because I truly believe that you'll make it." She goes over to him and pats his head. "It doesn't matter to me how old you and Natsu ever grow up to be. I will always be your number one fan. And you always remember one thing, I am so very proud of you." 

" Thank you." Shouyou feels like crying, but he stops himself and opts for a wide smile instead. "I'll definitely ace tryouts, you'll see. I'll make sure they notice me."

"Yes you will!" Natsu chimes in. 

"I know you will." She thanks him for the meal he's made for her before kissing both kids on the cheek and making her way to the door. "By the way Shouyou, are your things packed for later?" 

"Yep! I made sure I had everything before going to sleep last night." He says with a proud smile. "I might end up leaving a little earlier though. I want to make sure I catch the train on time." 

This makes their mother stop in her tracks, and Natsu snicker. "Shouyou, did you think you were taking the train?" 

Shouyou is confused. "Yes? I mean, how else am I supposed to get to Osaka?" he asks as he tilts his head to the side. 

"Natsu." 

Natsu grins "Don't worry about it mama. Nii-chan will find out later anyway. So everyone agreed to keep quiet about it." 

"Keep quiet about what?" Shouyou asks again as he looks between them both. "Am I missing something?"

"It's a surprise." And what a surprise it was. 

 ---

Shouyou was just grabbing his things and about to head out the door, Natsu following behind him. "Nii-chan I really think you should wait a bit." 

"Sorry Natsu, if I wait any longer I might miss my train!" He ruffled her hair affectionately and continued "Take good care of mama while I'm away, okay?" 

"Nii-chan wait!" Natsu tries to grab Shouyou as he opens the door, but misses. He slides their door open and comes face to face with none other than Kozume Kenma and Kuroo Tetsurou. 

Shouyou blinks. And then again. And again. "Kenma-nii! Kuroo-nii! You made it just in time." he hears Natsu speak from behind him. 

"Yo, chibi-chan! What's up?" Kuroo's personality hasn't changed at least, Shouyou thinks. 

"Wha...what are you guys doing here?!" Shouyou gasps, as he looks over at the newcomers. 

"Shouyou." He looks over to Kenma who is smiling at him. "I'd like to think you owe me a better greeting than that." 

"Yeah, that's kinda hurtful chibi-chan. After we came all the way here to take you to Osaka." Kuroo says with a grin as he slings his arm around Kenma's shoulder. 

" You're taking me to Osaka?!" Shouyou exclaims again in shock. 

Kenma sighs, a small smile still on his face. He dislodges himself from Kuro’s hold and goes to envelope Shouyou in a hug. It takes a moment, but Shouyou relaxes and immediately hugs back. "Welcome home Shouyou." 

Shouyou feels someone ruffling his hair and he opens his eyes to see Kuroo there with a smile. "Glad to have you back Chibi-chan" 

He feels Kenma let go, and the gamer finally stands back to take a good look at Shouyou after all this time. "You look good." 

"Thanks Kenma! You too!" He grins. 

"Should I be jealous?" Kuroo asks with a smirk as he watches them, but one look from Kenma shuts him up as he raises his hand in resignation. He chuckles and shakes his head, allowing the two to continue talking.  

"You've changed too." Kenma continues as he grins. "I can't wait to see what else you're gonna do Shouyou." 

"If you get boring, I'll drop you."  

Shouyou ends up giving out a nervous laugh as he remembers Kenma's words from back then, just when Kenma offered to become his sponsor. But deep down, he knows that Kenma has only ever done everything he could to help Shouyou, and that was said in jest...probably. The former Nekoma setter was just really fascinated with him, for some reason. 

"As much as I love the touching reunion, we have to move folks. It's a 10 hour drive to Osaka!" Kuro exclaims as he pats their backs. 

Kuro and Kenma both begin to help Shouyou and Natsu bring the former's things to the car. While they're loading up, Shouyou continues to say thanks to his friends for taking the time to bring him to  their destination. "I really appreciate it you guys, thank you. I was fine with taking the train though!" 

Kenma scrunches his face in disapproval and replies "There's no way we'd let you take the train, not when we had the time to pick you up ourselves." 

"I hope you guys didn't put off anything important." he tells them. He knows how busy Kenma has been, as he's regularly kept in touch in Brazil. 

"I can manage Shouyou, don't worry too much about it." Kenma says with a wave of his hand. 

"What Kenma means to say, is that if he had it his way, he would have been the one to pick you up from the airport too. Unfortunately, he lost at a game of rock-paper-scissors to Tsukki and had to give the airport pickup to them. And he also wants you to know that he finished all his workload early to make sure we were free when you got here. So don't you worry about it." Kuroo says as he shuts the trunk and dusts his hands. He looks over at the two with a large grin before he feels someone lightly punch his side. 

Kenma gives Kuroo a glare and then another playful shove. "Just get in the car before I decide to leave you here Kuro." 

"Awww you'd never do that kitten." Kenma stares at Kuro with a piercing gaze, and Shouyou thinks if looks could kill, that was it. "Annndd I'll be quiet now. Come on chibi-chan! let's get you to Osaka!" 

Natsu waves at them animatedly as they all get in the car. She lets out a loud "Keep safe!" as they drive away from the Hinata household and begin their 10 hour car ride. 

The ride begins similarly to that of yesterday, filled with catching up and updates on how everyone else has been doing. Shouyou has had little contact with the former Nekoma team, with the exception of Kenma and Kuroo. This wasn't for the lack of trying either, but he’s only ever occasionally spoken to Inouka and Lev, and that's during one or two video calls during a day off. It isn't a surprise to him that team Nekoma have all worked their way up the ladder as they grew up, and even through their success, continued to stay connected within their own circle. Kenma and Kuroo themselves regularly spoke to all their former teammates and told Shouyou much of how they were all doing. 

"Waaah! I've heard from Lev about his modeling career! I didn't know he'd become such a big name in Russia." he exclaims excitedly. 

"Lev is still Lev. He might look pristine and proper in the photos, but he's just as loud as ever." Kenma says with a sigh, as if just talking about Lev was tiring him out. 

Kuroo guffaws. "At least he's mellowed down some because of Yaku." 

Shouyou tits his head "Are they?" 

Kuroo looks at him from the rearview mirror and smiles. "We can neither confirm nor deny, I'm afraid. Neither of them have said anything, but Yaku's sent us photos of them together. It's pretty common at this point, ever since Yakkun's been playing for the Russian V-League." 

"We hear he plans to come back though. There's some talk that they've begun to scout for players fit for the Japanese volleyball olympic team, and Yaku wants to be here and play for Japan." Kenma states, as he begins to fiddle with what seems like a new game console. 

"Ah yeah! Bokuto's been excited about that too. But he wants the Jackals to win this season first and finally kill the Alder's winning streak." Kuro tells them with a smirk. "And you know, they might actually be able to if you make it on the team chibi-chan." 

"Ahaha...well I'll definitely make sure to make an impression during tryouts." Shouyou says. "I can't wait to see Bokuto-san on Monday! I wonder if he'll be watching tryouts?" 

"From what Bo tells me, Coach Foster is requiring them to watch this year. He wants the whole team's opinion on getting a new player." Kuro replies. 

"Shouyou, what do you mean by seeing Bokuto on Monday?" Kenma immediately asks, putting his game down and turns to look at Shouyou. 

"Eh? I mean, I won't be seeing him till tryouts." Shouyou reiterates with a tilt of his head, when else would he find the time to see Bokuto-san? 

"Wait chibi-chan, aren't you going to..." Kuro doesn't get to finish. 

"Shouyou, where in Osaka are you staying? Sorry, we forgot to ask earlier." Kenma asks him. 

"Oh! Sorry, my bad. I was wondering if you guys knew of any affordable budget hotels that you can drop me off in that's near the tryouts gym?" Shouyou asks with a smile. He sees Kenma freeze and Kuroo's eyebrows shoot up. 

"..." Kenma stays silent for a little too long, and Shouyou wonders if he's said something he shouldn't have. 

"I can look one up though! So you guys can drop me off somewhere in the area and I should be able to find one that'll let me stay two nights!" 

"Kuro." That's all he hears Kenma say, before the rooster haired man is nodding and passing his phone to Kenma. 

"Got it. Just send the text out and let them know it's you. Shouldn't be a problem." Kuroo replies. Shouyou doesn't understand what's happening.

"Um." 

Kuroo looks over at him again. "Don't worry about it chibi-chan, we know exactly where to take you." 

"Really? Where?" He asks, confused. 

"You'll see." 

He can see Kenma vigorously typing a message using Kuroo's phone, and once he's done, looks over to Shouyou again with a smile. "You're not sleeping in a random hotel, Shouyou. I'm not letting you." 

"Eh?" 

"Don't worry though, we've already found a solution." Kenma continues with a smile. 

"Eeh?" 

"Better to just go with it, there's no stopping Kenma when he's like this." Kuroo grins again. 

"But..." Shouyou begins to protest. He really hopes his friends aren't spending money on him. "K-Kenma..." 

"But you know," Kenma stares at him then, with catlike eyes that seem to be boring into his soul. "If you ever do something like this again and not let me know, I'll be really upset Shouyou." 

"Eeehhhh?" Shouyou binks. He looks between the two and can't help his confusion from growing. 

What in the world is Kenma talking about? And where in the world were they taking him?! 

CHAPTER 1 BELOW

[marlahey]

@rochey1010​ going back and forth in long-winded replies seems like unnecessary effort for both of us so I hope you don’t mind another text post as I fully articulate my thoughts. as I’ve said before, you’re obviously entitled to your own opinions, but you’ve now seemed to make a lot of assumptions about me a fan/viewer/general consumer of media that I feel like I should clear up. you’ve also made some further claims about the show I’d like to pick up for discussion. If you want to speak further please feel free to respond but of course don’t feel obligated. This’ll be the last public post/reply I make and we can go back to ignoring each other in the tags!

Well i love Eliott/Lola's friendship and i have an upcoming post on that as i said in other posts. I love lola too but i'm sorry i didn't just start watching this show because lola was invented and there's a w/w love story. I've been here for seasons and carried over from OG. I have investment in eliott for personal reasons (mental health) and elu because duh. Their stories have been long running too as i said. And you don't have to be a main to set up a plot/arc. The things between them have been set up since S3 with minute par minute talk, S4 and Idriss, S5 and the cheating perspective, and now S6 and Lola friendship. That is intentional. Do you think it's a coincidence that Lucas talked about pansexuality and eliott having more choice in S5 and suddenly Eliott has a friendship with a girl. That lucas abandonment issues haven't been resolved and are now coming to the forefront because of this friendship? That max has stated that Eliott feels he can save someone from a darkness he himself went through, that eliott himself was sorta saved from the shadows by Lucas. That neils/david specifically stated that this character can help someone even though he has bipolar disorder. That with Eliott's arc there is a focus on his SKAM. That we now have new info about it serving the season. If you understand writing. These things aren't put there for fun. They are there to imply/hint/foreshadow events actions to come. That there is a character now on the show with Lola basically female eliott. Do you think these are all coincidences. This plot we are seeing has slowly been set up not just since S3 but actually heavily developed starting in S5. And that if you now go back and watch S5 you see our main players being set up for this plot e.g  dasille relationship, daphne's ED, Eliott and his individuality, Elu trust/insecurity issues, Eliott's art and it tying into seasonal themes, Lola herself and her outlier persona etc. I don't know whether you are but there are many fans have migrated over from espana just for this season. But you have to understand there is a long term fanbase here that love Eliott, are invested in him and have been waiting for more of his insight. We are now getting that and we will talk about him. He's a hugely popular character as is Lucas and their love. I love both and i will talk about both. Sometimes i won't talk much About lola and talk more about eliott, sometimes i'll connect them and discuss their relationship, sometimes i'll make a post about just about lola, daphne, tiff, benny, movie references as i have. But this is my blog and i'll post what i want to post. You don't have to read any of this stuff. The tag is a big place, just scroll by. As for the theories- just theories. And in my theories i believe these characters are going to make mistakes, fail and grow e.g. lola self Destructing again but being her own hero by the end, eliott and lola being dragged down like lucas said but showing the strength of their friendship by the end, lucas being proven right but also proven wrong by the end. Like i said specific dialogue now being used is not just there to fill the script e.g. "and i have lucas. I can't lose this" "i think one of you may bring the other down" and eliott is heading for a rock bottom as is lola. Again just my thoughts. 👍

While I find it odd that you seem to be gatekeeping the skam france fan community, to be clear I have seen the entirety of three iterations: og, france, and austin. I believe I started OG during s2 or 3, and have seen Fr and Aus from the beginning. I’m not as interested in other versions as I’m very familiar with the plots/characters by now. I’m partial to france as a bilingual canadian as it’s nice to exercise that part of my brain; I’ve also studied/lived there briefly and have some very close friends from france so that amplifies my enjoyment. I’m also bisexual, so I also find this ‘only here for lola + w/w’ when you yourself admit to being emotionally invested in the show’s most dominant queer ship dichotomy very awkward.  to be honest, I think many skam’s fandoms tend to fixate on the esak ship and their season. friends have seen other iterations and confirmed this for me. it happened with elu as expected so I was really unsurprised when maya was introduced and fandom immediately put a lot of their investment into shipping two characters of the same gender. nearly every fandom in general does this: teen wolf, glee, supernatural to name a few – even harry potter. I’m not really a fan of the romantic subplot in lola’s season. she is not elliot 2.0 for so many reasons; she’s her own person and she doesn’t need a romantic partner to be a compelling character with a compelling story. that being said, I liked elu’s season. I particularly love maxence’s elliot; he’s my favourite even. I was thrilled to see him onscreen however briefly after S3 every time he appeared. now he’s finally his own person outside of his relationship with lucas and I couldn’t be more pleased to see that.  I’m not sure how idriss and elliot reconnecting after the attempted kiss falling out plays into lucas’ insecurity or their relationship. it’s perhaps a reminder of his bipolar disorder or the fact that he clearly had friends/relationships before lucas, but I’m not sure how it’s relevant to the season at hand. the biphobia discussion with arthur preceeding lola’s introduction as the new main is not proof that lucas’ supposed abandonment issues are founded in any way, or that he even still has them when we meet her. by insisting on it, you’re perpetuating the harmful idea that any bi or pan person will be tempted to cheat or leave (physically or emotionally) when presented with literally any person whose gender opposes their current partner. this is something that skam fr had literally left unaddressed for so long even with representation in alexia and elliot, and I was so thrilled when it finally came up. it’s very uncomfortable that you’re now using that important conversation as apparent proof that lucas will be abandoned or betrayed, inadvertently or not, by his pansexual boyfriend. I know that daphné was meant to be s6′s main and skam fr wasn’t given the rights by og’s creator. so it makes sense that she/her relationship/struggles feature heavily in her sister’s season. I’m personally thrilled cause I love her and lula is a wonderful actress. that being said, not everything is foreshadowing. not every single interaction or conversation will return to further plot or character. sometimes storylines are just resolved or dropped and awareness raised is just awareness raised. sometimes it’s wonderful and sometimes less so. I understand writing. I’m saying this as a literal former english teacher (ignoring capitalization for aesthetic lol) and assistant in film/tv post-production with an MA in media studies. “Lucas, you have nothing to worry about, it’s not like that between us.” “I know, he explained it to me.”  I’m not sure how much clearer the literal show can be about this issue. spoiler or not, it’s been made abundantly clear that lola and elliot are not romantically involved. even more importantly and I’ve said this on my blog before, you’re allowed to have intimacy with someone without forcing it into a defined familial or romantic relationship. it doesn’t mean that someone’s partner should necessarily feel threatened or abandoned and says a lot more about that person’s insecurity than either individual in the friendship. we’ve also already discussed how much I dislike this turn for lucas’ character as elliot’s apparent MH saviour so it’s not worth repeating again. as for elliot saving lola, well he literally did that already. I’m not sure what you mean by lucas ‘being proven right and proven wrong’ by the end, but you’re obviously adamant that something will happen. I have also seen maxence’s interview a few times. I’ll not argue with the ‘lucas saved elliot from that shadow’ because it literally came from the actor’s mouth, but maxence doesn’t say he can save anyone else from their struggles, but help them and I think that’s a really important distinction. this whole saving idea doesn’t seem healthy at all, especially as lola and elliot grapple with their mental health. it seems like people want to see a ‘rock bottom’ (whatever that means) for them both and it makes me a little uncomfortable. addiction and MH struggles should not have to reach a breaking point in order to be considered resolved or cathartic; they don’t even have to be resolved, because they’re not a plot device. they’re a reality for so many people. the show does a good job of not romanticizing them but some of the things I see in the tag are just... yikes.  as for his ‘dark’ side and the less than happy elu moments, I’d argue that maxence may have meant literally punching out what’s his face to save lola and the subsequent argument(s) with lucas, since that interview came out just before ep 4. but there’s still several eps to go so I could be totally wrong. who knows. it’s your right to theorize on your own blog of course and it’s not my intention to be mean. I’m just trying to further the discourse in a respectful way. I do feel that you may put a little too much stock in what’s literally said/seen and assuming a lot in the unseen gaps, rather than considering a broader context. to wrap up though, lucas is free to have this (however hurtful) fear, just as you’re free to believe it’ll for sure come to pass.  I dread seeing either lola or elliot spiral out, but as 2020 has taught me, I very rarely get what I want lol. thank you @cakepleasee for helping me sort out my thoughts!

[screamingatanemptyroom]

I Can’t Eat Love Side Part 5- Queen Amerande (END)

Hey everyone, this is the final side part to the I Can’t Eat Love series. Thank you to everyone who has stuck through this whole process. I have loved writing it, loved answering the asks and hearing your thoughts on the characters and the stories. I cherished each message, comment, fan art... all of it! 

Masterpost is linked here.

For the last time, please Enjoy!

__________________________________

In a previous life…

If I could have one wish in this life… No matter the cost, I would only use it for her happiness 

“This is for you, dear. This necklace protects our family, brings good luck!” My mother smiled as she placed the golden chains around my neck. “My own mother told me that it can even grant wishes! So keep it with you in Reterand.”

I played with the small sapphire amulet, my mood which had been down becoming slightly better. “But mother, I don’t know the crown prince very well, what if he isn’t a good man?”

I hadn’t been happy since my engagement had been announced. Reterand was a good kingdom, the western neighbor to my country Giral. Even though I was a princess, and I had always known that my marriage would be political in nature … I couldn’t pretend I was excited to marry the man I had only met once before. I had even heard he had been previously engaged, and had broken off the relationship for this alliance. What kind of marriage could this be?

My mother shrugged sadly. “It’s hard to say, dear. I hope your marriage will be happy.” She seemed to be looking past me, “Find joy in other things, so that your happiness is not dependent on him. “

“…” I hugged my mother silently, wondering not for the first time if she and my father were happy.

__________________________________

I was married into the Reterand royalty, and less than a year later his father had stepped down. I was the Queen of a foreign nation.

And I was very lonely.

 My husband was a cold, calculating man. He was polite, never raising his voice to me, but there was a distance between us that couldn’t be crossed. It was painful, it was regretful, but I had always known this was a possibility. I tried to find happiness within other things as my mother had suggested and kept up a cordial façade. Despite the coldness in our marriage, we attended to our duties as monarchs. I quickly gave birth to an heir, a boy we named Ronan after the previous king. I had a husband, a child, a family… it should have been one of the happiest times in my life.

But it was at that time that the King broke all that remained of the good sentiment I had held towards him, by forbidding me from raising our son.

“You’re too weak.” His voice was chilling, forcing me to step back despite my panic. “You’ll drag him down. He will learn from me, and the rest can be taught by the tutors.” 

“HE’S MY CHILD!” I was screaming, all thought of etiquette and calm long forgotten. “HOW CAN YOU KEEP ME FROM HIM?!”

His face didn’t change despite the rage I showed. “He’s a future king before that. You may see him once a week for tea, but that is all.”

I wish that I had left him then, sometimes. Broken ties and returned home to Giral. But I stayed, refusing to leave my child behind. Hoping the restrictions would be relaxed with time. 

I could only stand off to the side and watch my son be raised by others. Fortunately he grew up healthy and happy, although he seemed a little reckless and arrogant sometimes, even for such a small child.  I felt guilty. I was too weak to defend my position as a mother. And so life went on. I thought I had buried my heart, given up on those maternal feelings to protect myself.

But then I met that girl.

__________________________________

“This is my daughter, Lenora.” Seline, a beautiful but cold woman, pushed a young girl about four or five years old out in front of her. I was wary at their approach. I had long since learned that she had been my husband’s former fiancé, and had married the Duke of Armeny instead. I was worried she might be seeking revenge, but as I studied her closely I was surprised. There was intense dislike in her gaze, but no hatred. She even seemed willing to curry favor with me, curtsying deeper than required by her rank.

“She is the same age as your son, Ronan.” These sly words broke me from my reverie. I looked up to see her glancing over at her husband with a haughty expression, as if expecting praise and adoration for her words. I realized quickly why Seline hadn’t been focused on me… she was too obsessed with herself. She was obviously hoping to gain favor and pampering by making her daughter the future Queen.

What a selfish woman. I opened my mouth to reject the hidden offer in her words. 

“Hello!” A quiet voice caught me off guard, and I turned to face the small girl standing before me. 

She had pretty features, framed by light curls. Her face was brightened by her intelligent, expressive eyes and her wide grin. She reached into a pocket in her dress pulling out something and holding it up to me with a shy look. 

“Is this for me?” I asked softly, unsure of how to react. She nodded and opened her fingers to reveal a small stone.  

A rock?

Lenora looked up at me, scuffing one foot against the floor nervously. “The prettiest stone I could find in our garden. I was going to keep it by my bed but…” She paused and then smiled brightly. “I want you to have it, since you’re pretty too!”

I took the rock from her, taken aback at how relieved she seemed just by me accepting her gift. How did her parents normally treat her? “Thank you, Lenora, I will treasure it.”

“YAY! I’m so happy you like it!” The small form flung herself into my arms. As the girl hugged me tightly, I felt a huge shift in my heart, the kind that left a person completely changed, never to be the same again.

I loved this girl.

“We should discuss an engagement.” I smiled down at Lenora, not caring about how Seline responded. This girl would be my daughter-in-law in the future, my family. I would stay by her, love her, and help raise her.

__________________________________

“You did well!” I patted Lenora on the back, watching her sympathetically. It had been a particularly brutal etiquette lesson. Her mother had attended, a fortunately rare occurrence but one that never failed to cause problems. Seline had watched the lesson with an impatient expression, speaking critically to Lenora over and over until Mrs. Rendler was forced to end the lesson early. I had been late, only catching the last few minutes but even that was enough to break my heart.

“It’s okay, mother is right…” Lenora stared down at her feet. “I’m useless.”

I pulled her into my arms, hugging her, “YOU ARE NOT USELESS! You are a wonderful girl, and I am so proud to have such a smart and kind daughter.” I had long since dropped the “in-law” and simply called her my own child now. It wasn’t like her real mother was around enough to care. “Keep working hard, but don’t hurt yourself. You’re doing very well.”

“Really?”  The quiet hope in her face was hard to see. She should be confident, she was skilled, intelligent, and beautiful… but she couldn’t see any of it. Her family ignored her or used her, and my son hadn’t paid enough attention to notice how wonderful the girl he was supposed to marry was. Between all of them, they had buried her in self-doubt, keeping my compliments from being truly meaningful to her.

“I love you, dear. One day I will convince you how amazing you are.”

Lenora smiled, although the expression was slightly sad. “I love you too, Your Majesty.”

I felt a slight pain in my chest at the address. I wanted her to call me mother. But Seline had told the girl to never ignore etiquette and she was afraid of her disapproval. One day, however, when she married Ronan, she would be able to call me that without censure.

I looked forward to it.

__________________________________

“I’m so worthless!”

The girl was sobbing uncontrollably on the floor  in her room. It was her 16th birthday, what should be a happy occasion, but she was alone and sad once more. I felt another burst of irritation at that foolish son of mine. He was obviously the one who had tripped during the dance, but had blamed the fall on her! I decided to lecture him again, but I felt a stab of fear in my heart that he was too arrogant to listen.

I was no longer sure if I had chosen the right path forward. I wanted Lenora to be happy and yet… I couldn’t break the engagement now. Her reputation would be ruined. Her parents were doing their best to throw away their own wealth and dignity, and all the girl had to depend on was her status as future Queen. What would happen if that were taken away?

Ronan grow up soon, he’s still young. He can still be a reliable man, a good husband to Lenora.

Sighing, I sat down next to her on the ground and held her, one hand patting her back.

“I love you, and I always will. No matter what.”  I didn’t know what else to say. After a long while she finally calmed down, and I smiled, helping her wipe away her tears. Thinking for a moment I retrieved the present I had planned on giving to her today, handing it over quietly.

The sapphire necklace, my family heirloom.

I took in her shocked face with glee. Lenora had seen this necklace as a young girl and had loved it, often asking to take it out and look at it. I had once thought to give it to her after she married Ronan, after she became my daughter-in-law, but had recently changed my mind. I no longer knew for certain what the future might hold, but I did know this: Lenora would always be my daughter, and therefore should have this necklace whether she married Ronan or not.

I hope it brings you happiness dear. If it does grant wishes, that is my only one. I didn’t say it out loud though, but kept in my heart a bright hope for what the future might bring.

__________________________________

“What did you say?” I grabbed the servant’s arm weakly, looking up at him with a horrified expression.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” He stammered, looking terrified. “But Prince Ronan has already broken the engagement with Lady Lenora at his birthday party, and announced his engagement to another.”

“How could this…?” I groaned, a stabbing pain in my stomach making it difficult to think. I had become sick the night before my son’s birthday party, and had been bedridden for the past four or five days. I had only now been well enough to ask after Lenora, and was now shocked at what I had heard.

I had tried to bring them together. Trading my weekly tea time with Ronan to the King , I only asked in return that the prince would spend that with Lenora instead. I hoped that if he saw her and spoke with her more, he might learn how wonderful she was. It was a simple thought, perhaps a naïve one, but it was all I could do.

And now it was too late 

The engagement had been broken five days ago. What had Lenora suffered in that time? I knew all too well how cruel the nobility could be. Having lost her status, with no one to protect her…

I needed to see her, now.

I was still weak, every muscle in my body screaming in pain as I pushed myself out of bed. The servants tried to stop me, protesting that I was too ill to travel, but I ignored them. Pushing my way out, I struggled to stay awake on the carriage ride over.

“Your Majesty.” A grim faced young woman, who I recognized as Lenora’s personal maid, met me at the gate.

“How is Lenora?” I pushed the words out, feeling nauseous from the carriage ride.

“She is… very upset.”

“I need to see her.” I shook my head to clear it, and started to walk forwards, only to be stopped by the maid. 

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” She looked regretful. “Miss gave very specific orders that she didn’t want to see you.” 

“You must be mistaken.”

The lady’s maid didn’t seem too bothered by my irritated tone. She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially “She’s very angry, I’m afraid. I overheard the Miss say that you reminded her of Prince Ronan, and seeing you would only cause her pain.” 

She doesn’t want to see me? It didn’t seem right. I wished I were more clear-headed, but the illness still had a strong grip on me. Barely able to move, I returned to my carriage and my rooms, feeling heartbroken.

__________________________________

It took weeks for me to fully recover. During that time I sent countless letters to Lenora. But they were never answered. I tried a few more times to visit, but was rejected at the gate by her maid each time. I missed her dearly, worried for her constantly, but still she avoided me.

The Duchy of Armeny was buried in debt. I was forbidden from interfering, but in return I was guaranteed that Lenora and her parents would be allowed a small place to live. At least she wouldn’t be out on the streets. I tried again to contact her before she left, but my letter was ignored as always.

I was alone, so lonely that the feeling seemed to carve itself deeper into my heart, taking over my soul. Trying to comfort myself, I tried to feel reassured that Lenora would be okay, even if she didn’t have me by her side.

Your daughter is smart and resourceful. Even if she hates you, even if she doesn’t want your help, she will find her own way.

Even if it took some time for her to heal, I would be patient. I would see her again. We could be together again. I just needed to wait a little longer.

She just needed a little more time.

__________________________________

“Lenora’s dead.”

Edith, my son’s new fiancé, gave me the news with a casual smile. I stared back at her, the words rang in my head, repeating over and over until they became nonsensical sounds.

Dead? It didn’t make any sense. Lenora couldn’t be dead. She was a perfectly healthy girl, with a long life ahead of her.

“They found her body this morning.” She continued talking, but I couldn’t hear her. My ears were ringing, darkness closing in around me. I felt two servants grab my arms, trying to support me, but I could only hang helplessly against them.

“Lenora’s dead?” The words sounded wrong as soon as I spoke them. She couldn’t be dead. My daughter, my beloved girl… gone forever? I shook my head, but the dizziness grew worse. I heard horrifying screams of agony, barely recognizing that they were coming from my own throat.  

“Lenora.”  I tried to call out her name, but even that sound was taken from me as everything faded into darkness.

__________________________________

My world closed around me that day.

I kept to my rooms, sitting at my window. I barred all from my presence other than the butler Hallers. At first I meant to drive him out as well, but seeing the pain and grief in his eyes, and realizing that he had known Lenora as well, I let him stay and serve me. He forced me to eat and drink, keeping me alive when I might have otherwise faded into shadows.

I couldn’t move on. I was crippled with guilt. If only I hadn’t engaged Lenora to my son, setting her up for this fall. If only I had raised my son into a man who wouldn’t toss her away so cruelly, leaving her vulnerable. If only I hadn’t been sick that day, and could have protected her. If only I had insisted on seeing her, no matter how much she hated me and tried to keep me away. If only I had forced my way in, broken down her front door even, and protected her.

If only, if only, if only… 

Time passed, but I remained unaware. I ignored all requests from my husband to come out of mourning. That girl Edith came by multiple times, trying to curry favor, but I refused to see her. I couldn’t forget how she smiled the day she told me Lenora was dead. Even if I were to leave my rooms, I planned to avoid her.

Then I fell ill. I had been sick multiple times since I had secluded myself away, always small illnesses that could be resolved with a few medicines and rest, but this time… 

I was dying.

I stayed in my bed, a blood stained handkerchief clutched in a weakened hand. At first I had only noticed small drops of blood in what I had coughed up, but it grew worse with each passing hour. There should have been a doctor called, but no one came even as I weakened.

“Hello Mother.” 

Edith walked in with an odd smile. I tried to sit up but fell back, too weak to complete the motion, and so glared at her instead.

“I’m not your mother.”

“Really?” she didn’t seem put off by my cold tone, in fact, she smiled and brought up a chair to sit by my bed. “Didn’t you once want Lenora to call you that? Now that I’m your daughter-in-law, shouldn’t I be the one to call you that instead?”

I felt an odd sense of panic. “Don’t speak her name.”  

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Your Majesty, as she is the reason I came here today.” She tossed an object onto my lap, and with a shock I recognized it. The sapphire necklace. The family heirloom I had given to Lenora. When I had Hallers investigate to confirm her death, he had reported that it was thought to be stolen at that time. So how was it here? 

“Lenora sold it for a loaf of bread just recently.” Edith laughed, the sound odd and distorted. “She had held onto right until the end, you know? I thought she would have broken long before that.”

“Lenora…” I stared at the jewelry in my hand, a brief hope flaring within me. “She’s alive…?”

“Not anymore.” Edith laughed as my expression fell, my heart breaking once again within my chest. “She died this morning, of starvation. I saw her body myself before having them throw it into the forest to be food for the animals.”

“This morning…?” My head was spinning, it was difficult to think straight. “But she died a long time ago…”

“Oh, that was a lie. I tricked you with another girl’s corpse. She’s been lost and alone without friends and family for over a year now.”

Her voice was calm, as if discussing the weather, but the unnatural light of excitement in her gaze gave her true feelings away.

“I convinced her that you abandoned her, despised her. Lenora had always held onto the hope that you still cared about her, but even that was eventually broken into pieces.” She laughed again, and I flinched, filled with horror at her words.

Lenora had been living all this time. Starving. Thinking that I despised her.

It was too painful to bear. I gripped the necklace tightly, my thinned skin tearing against the hard edge of the amulet, bright red blood staining my palm and the jewelry alike.

“Why?” I could barely force out a whisper. I felt even weaker, as if my spirit was breaking along side my body, any will I had to move forward drained from me.

“Because she was a thief who took my place.” Her smile was terrifying, filled with madness. “I was meant to be the Duke’s beloved daughter. I should have been pampered and loved! I was supposed to be engaged to your son and you were supposed to love ME!” 

She was shouting at the end, the chair she had been sitting on kicked to the floor as she leaned over me. “But you refused to even look at me after your precious Lenora was gone! I gave you so many chances, but you threw them all away!”

She drew closer, whispering in my ear. “That’s why it’s too late now. I’ve already poisoned you. So you can go join your useless daughter, just like you wanted. But just remember: if you had been smart enough to recognize that she was a fraud, that she had only stolen what belonged to me… you would have lived a long and happy life.”

Edith stepped back, a look of vicious satisfaction on her face. I stared up at her, finding it hard to breathe through the pain, but still forcing a smile, surprising her.

“My only regret in this life is that I didn’t love my daughter more, that I didn’t protect her better. As for you… you mean nothing to me.”

“...” A long silence fell between us.

“Fine.” She spat out the word like a curse. “Die like a fool.”  With that she was gone.

I turned on my side, the movement agonizing. Tears filled my eyes, tracking down my cheeks, soaking my disheveled hair and the pillow beneath my head. In my hands I clutched the bloody necklace, holding it tightly to my chest.

“Lenora.” The name came out of my lips as a hoarse whisper.

I had hoped this necklace would bring her happiness, but instead she died alone and miserable.

“I’m... sorry. 

I wanted to see her grow up happy and healthy, surrounded by friends and family. 

“I wish….”

If I could have one wish in this lifetime, no matter the cost…

“You had another chance.”

I would only use it for her happiness.

“Lenora... please be happy next time.”

As the world faded into darkness around me, the last thing I saw was the blue jewel in my hand glowing with a brilliant red light.

__________________________________

In another life…

“GRANDMA!” I woke up, startled by the loud shout and a small form jumping on me.

It was a young boy, with bright mischievous eyes and dark curls, looking up at me with a grin.

“What is it, sweetie?” I reached out and hugged my grandson, feeling a sense of warmth in my heart.

He looked around at my question, as if looking to see if anyone else was listening in, turning back to whisper. “There’s going to be a party today!” 

“A party?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is this a surprise party for my birthday?” He nodded enthusiastically and laughing, I hugged him tighter.

“Are you excited, Grandma?”

“Very. But we should probably pretend I don’t know anything about it.” He looked confused, but before I could explain the concept of “surprise party” another voice called out.

“Thomas, I told you not to bother grandmother before…” Aimee, her graceful movements showing the results of her etiquette training, halted in surprise, stopping mid-sentence. She looked between us, obviously not wanting to ruin the surprise party, unaware that her little brother already had.

“It’s alright, Aimee, I already know.” I reached out to hug her as well, enjoying having both children in my arms.

“Can you pretend to be surprised for mother?” She asked carefully, her eyes concerned. “She’s been planning this for weeks and I don’t want her to be sad.” 

What a thoughtful child.

Feeling proud, I patted her head. “Don’t worry. I’ll be surprised.”

“Thank you.”  Standing up and straightening her gown, she held out a hand to help me up. “Then let’s head in, Mother sent me to bring you to the party.”

Holding the two children’s hands, I walked towards the small ballroom where Aimee had said the party was to take place. Aimee opened the door for me, and as I stepped in a group of people stepped forward, shouting:

“SURPRISE!”

I pretended to be shocked, winking at Aimee. “Oh goodness!”

Lenora, looking more of a Queen than I ever had in a dark purple gown with gold trim, reached out to hug me. “Happy birthday, Mother.” 

I felt a sting in my eyes as I blinked back tears. “Thank you, dear.”

The rest of the group crowded around with a cheer. Hallers smiled kindly at me before turning away to organize the servants to serve food and drinks. Rig clapped me on the back, almost knocking me over, and then grabbed Thomas to throw him up in the air to his delighted shrieks. Erica and Marile both came forward to greet me, happily showing off the gown they had designed for me to wear later that night at the formal gathering. Henry and Raewynn dragged in an enormous potted plant, all the while arguing on the best care for the species before promising to send me a set of written instructions.

Finally Nate stepped closer, dressed in his formal court robes, the awe-inspiring effect ruined by the small infant he held against his shoulder which had already spit up on him. Grinning foolishly, he grabbed a cloth to clean up the baby girl, holding her out to me after he was finished.

“Elise wanted to say happy birthday to her grandmother too.” He kissed my cheek as he handed me my grandchild, standing beside Lenora and naturally placing an arm around her.

The wide-eyed baby, now in my arms, laughed happily and blew spit bubbles, making me grin.

“Were you really surprised, Mother? “ Lenora looked suspicious as she glanced at her two older children, who suddenly appeared guilty.

I couldn’t abandon my grandchildren, so I lied immediately. “O-of course!” 

“…” Lenora stared silently for a few moments, before letting out a long sigh. “Sure.” 

Nate drew her closer, and kissed her. “As long she’s happy, then your party was a success.”

Seeing her cheered up by such a simple statement, I once again felt grateful that Lenora was married to a man like Nate, who cared for her so much. They smiled at each other, the love they felt evident in their eyes, briefly seeming to forget about everyone else in the room. Playing with Elise, I waited patiently for them to finish. It took some time, but finally she turned back to me, and the room’s light reflected against the blue gem hanging around her neck.

Noticing the familiar blue necklace, I looked closer, slightly confused. “Lenora, you didn’t change the gem did you?” 

She shook her head. “No, it’s the same as when you gave it to me.”

I reached out with my free hand, still holding my granddaughter in the other, and lifted the jewel to look closer. “It looks slightly different.” 

Perhaps it was the lighting, but the normally pure blue gem seemed to have a faint red glow within it.  As I watched it seemed to flare outwards slightly before fading away, leaving a pure blue color once more. I stared at it for a few more moments, but it didn’t change again. Finally I let it down and stepped away from her, wondering if I had imagined it. “Do you remember what I told you when I gave it to you?”

“That it would bring me happiness?” Lenora grinned.

“Are you happy?”

She glanced around the room at my question, and I did too. Everyone here was a part of the family Lenora had gathered. People she cared about, who loved her dearly in return. She reached out, taking Elise and handing it to her husband, before pulling me into a tight hug.

“I’m very happy, Mother.”

I grinned, tears spilling over and soaking into the shoulder of her gown as I held her close. “Good. I love you, Lenora.”

She smiled at that, a pure expression no longer plagued by doubt or fear of caring for others, and answered without hesitation.

“I love you too, Mother.” 

I thought of the life Lenora had once told me about. The one she had lived before this. Where she had died alone, betrayed, despairing. I couldn’t help but wonder about the me that had lived in that lifetime. Had I loved her then as much as I did now?

 I thought I might have. After all: 

If I could have one wish in this life… No matter the cost, I would only use it for her happiness.

I couldn’t help but wonder if in that life  I had done just that. Stepping back, I looked at the necklace once more, and sighed. Lenora had grown up well, surrounded by friends and family who loved her. She was happy, and was creating her own future hand in hand with those she loved. It was everything I had ever hoped for and more 

My wish, both in this lifetime and the last, had come true.

[bowieandqueen11]

Best Friend / Queen Imagine

Request: The reader is a makeup artist for the boys and she's close with all of them. But then Paul comes in and gives her the idea that they don't really care about her. At first she ignores it but when she goes to talk to the guys and they act completely nervous, so she begins to think she's about to get fired and gets upset. But then the boys take her and it turns out they were trying to throw her a surprise party for the 1 yr. anniversary of her working with them. 

@mirkwoodshewolf sorry this took so long darling!! <3

It had been an absolutely manic, but joyous year. Here you were, on the set for the Bohemian Rhapsody video shoot, surrounded by the boys who had become your best friends, your stronger than blood family, who you had shared constant late night laughs and silly day trips out over the last few months, knowing deep within your heart that they meant the world to you, but not realising you meant even more than that to them.

A slight bump on the heavy beige door made you jump uncomfortably against Freddie’s legs slightly, your hand wavering and drawing a slight dipped line down the crease of his eye with black eyeliner as Roger’s elbows shuffle against the door. You can’t fully understand what they’re saying, but as you see Freddie’s eyes nervously shift over to Brian and Roger’s conversing form, you start to fear its nothing good. You hear Brian’s slight chuckles and snort from beside Roger, his clogs tapping slightly impatiently on the tiled floor with a rhythmic beat matching the slight hammering of your heart.

‘Hey John’, you shout, receiving a small grunt in reply from the man who’s lounging on the leather sofa, one foot scraping gently against the floor as the other hangs over the edge of the armrest. The slight sun rays that fall through the window above his head illuminate his glowing cheekbones in an ethereal light, despite the slumped frame that lies nearly asleep.

‘What are those two planning?’

‘Uh-um-I, uh, not a clue, y/n’, John stutters out, swinging his feet onto the floor before shoving Roger out of the way and walking out the door. ‘But the shoot’s about to start!’

Freddie turns back to you, a surprisingly shy smile on his face as he nods at Roger and Brian, letting them know it was nearly time to go. They both run over, pressing little fervent kisses against your forehead, attacking like swarming bees as you swat them away with your brush, laughter bubbling up your throat.

‘Thank you for the makeup, y/n’, Roger shouts as he walks out the door.

‘Yeah, we look very glam, as always’, Brian adds, following him.

As you sit there, a smile tugging at the corner of your lips as your gaze seems to be drawn to Freddie’s eyes by some uncontrollable urge, you swear he beams, his black curls bouncing happily around his face like the slight flitting wings of a cherub, so human and yet something so majestic and untouchable about him, which made the pit of your stomach flip in uneasy somersaults. Your hand accidentally swipes against a few precarious bottles littering Freddie’s dressing tables, the vibrant powders dancing like pockets of starlight against the fragile glass bottle as they shook in their place, your legs starting to tingle gently where they lay slouched upon Freddie’s bare thighs, his silver shorts tickling the tips of your toes where they brushed. You keep your eyes focused on dabbing the glitter eye-shadow you held in your hand, not noticing the concerned look he gives you as he bites the bottom of his lip.

‘I’ll see you soon, okay? Promise me, when the shoot’s over, we’ll all go out.’

‘Okay, Freddie’, you sigh lightly, ‘I promise.’

~

‘Hey there, y/n, how’s it going?’

‘Oh, alright, Paul’, you answer with a sigh, continuing to straighten out the little bottles you had sent spilling around the vanity table as Paul sticks his head through the doorway.

‘You don’t sound so alright to me’, he replies with a little nod of the head, sliding slowly over like a snake to rest his hip against the edge of the banged up sofa in the corner, brushing the dust off the striped shirt that covers his shoulders.

‘Is it those silly boys again. Tut tut, y/n, I didn’t take you for the lass to take their words to heart.’

Placing down your palette, you turn to him with your eyebrows furrowed, allowing the hair to fall lightly over your eyes and askew your vision.

‘What words are you talking about, Paul?’

‘Oh, haven’t you heard? There’s been some talk around here recently of... well, I suppose it’s not my place to say. Don’t you worry your silly little head about it, y/n, everything will work out the way it’s meant to in the end.’

Before he leaves, a smirk twitching on his lips, he stiffly places his hand on your shoulder.

‘Just watch out around them, alright y/n.’ His breath is warm and sour as it wafts against your face, and you can’t help but flinch away from his grasp as he winks at you, leaning away before sauntering off with a faint kick to the door.

It was too bright in here. Too bright, it made your head ache. You shut your eyes tightly, wincing slightly in pain as the bright vanity bulbs shine out aggressively, their white beams hitting the former shadows of your skin like hot bullets as sweat begins to lightly trickle down your forehead, curving down past your lips and landing like sick teardrops onto your cheek, your breathing becoming shallow and rough as it begins to constrict against your command. The dim rays of the lights above bathe the room in blue coldness as your arms begin to shiver, or rather shake, their grip on the oaken table becoming tighter until flashes of pain rip through your knuckles and you can feel the small droplets of blood ping easily onto the floor as the splinters break your skin.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you manage to tremble out, ‘oh god, am I about to be fired?’

‘Fired, what on earth do you mean darling. Why would we ever let you out of our tight grasp?’

You turn around, shocked to hear Freddie’s booming voice, as the rest of the boys fan out behind him, hands on their hips as anger flashes through their faces.

‘Fired, whoever gave you that idea?’

‘I swear, once I get my hands on whoever said that to you-’

‘Darlings, lets focus instead on what we’ve been planning, hm?’

Running over to grasp your hand, Freddie flashes you a bright smile before tugging you out past the boys, who hurry after.

When you finally manage to tug Freddie’s hands away from his eyes, your head bumps into a multitude of rainbow streamers that hang down from the ceiling like delicate fairy lights. A huge cake covered in thick white icing and decorated with tiny pink roses sits in the middle of the table surrounded by brightly coloured bowls that were filled with food. There was a delicious moment for Freddie where your face washed blank with confusion, like your brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information from your wide eyes. Every muscle of your body just froze as Brian grabbed onto you, before a grin crept onto your face. All words left you as Roger leaned down and whispered, ‘happy one year anniversary love, we couldn’t be more proud of you. Here’s to a hundred years more!’

Wrapping you into a massive hug, pressing a wet kiss against your forehead before nestling your head against his chest, Brian blows his curls out of his face as he mumbles out a very squashed ‘enjoy this day, darling, because you’ve made every day extraordinary for all of us.’ 

You open your eyes again when you feel John’s hands connect with yours, ripping you away from Brian’s grasp, his curls bopping from side to side in shakes as his laughter lines his youthful features, his cotton t shirt ruffling against his chest as his shoulders sway from side to side. As the two of you swing around, you rush past Roger who’s trainers are busy bustling up the cushions that lie on the fabric sofa, his denim jeans whooshing past as he leaps up and down upon the sofa with such childish glee on his face, and you start to become dizzy when you fly past Brian and Freddie who are having a shimmy off by the door. It was the happiest you had felt in a long time, and you couldn’t be happier to be friends with such manic boys.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Your wish is my command-Klance Month Week 3

So I was supposed to upload a fic yesterday for the end of week 2 but because my first fic couldn’t be reblogged (I didn’t realize that Shallura, even when they broke up before the story started, was considered controversial, but those are the rules so that was my fault) I decided to not force myself to write a story that wasn’t working. It just required a lot of back story that maybe if it had been in the first one, wouldn’t of been so hard to write. Anyway, this story is inspired by my klance BB from like 2018, which still isn’t technically finished so there are a few spoilers, but the main things: Lance had cancer and had a year left to live. The reason he could see his Shinigami Hunk and Pidge is reveled in this but how they find out will be told in the final chapter that will hopefully be released before the end of the year. Hunk gave Lance a bit of blood to help turn him into a healthy, slightly older Altean, posing under the name Isamu, Prince of Altea. Keith is also a singer, who went under the name Red (orginal) but later switches labels, also to be revealed in the story. Hunk and Pidge are given a chance to become humans again after Lance is saved by a surgery that removes the chance and doesn’t damage his vocal cords. Again, all to be revealed in the last chapter. It’s called Forgotten Prince’s Song by sasuhina_gal on AO3 if you want to check it out. Anyway, this is from after all that, enjoy! Also, if anyone cares, Keith’s song is TAEMIN’s ECLIPSE from his last Japanese CD release. I’ve got a TAEMIN  problem. Meteor Shower/Promise

Keith watched his reflection as he went through his choreography. He was so focused on watching his moves, he didn’t see the door to the dance studio open, but he did hear the person calling his name.

“Keith! Keith, Keith, Keith!”

he turned in time to catch a hyperactive 21 year old jumping on him. Bright blue eyes and dyed white hair, similar to the kind he’d fallen for, but it wasn’t the looks that made Keith fall for Lance. It was that bright smile and his sunny personality. Even when Lance had to hide behind the mask of popular singer, Lance was still himself and that’s what Keith had fallen for.

Their story was an odd one, odd even for someone who was half Galra and happened to become a member of the universe biggest security group, while also being a J-pop star. Lance had grown up with sarcoma, a tumour that sat right on his vocal cords. Years before they met, a person Lance cared for a lot had died in a plane crash, but instead of moving on, he attached himself to Lance. That caused Lance to see the Shinigami that suddenly appeared in front of him one day. He asked them to help him achieve his one dream before they took his soul, to become a singer. That started his whole adventure of becoming Isamu, Prince of Altea; Altea Records’ most popular singer. Keith first meet Lance as Isamu, back when Lance had the Shinigami making him into an older Altean. he’d met Lance without the mask later and even though Keith spent most of his time around Isamu, other than his name and age, Lance never lied to Keith – other than the whole Shinigami thing, but he found that stuff out later. Of course those same Shinigami had become Lance’s closest friends and wouldn’t allow Lance to pass on, not when they wanted him to live for so much more. A surgery that could remove the cancer and save his vocal cords was found, Keith found out the truth and realised that even as the real Lance, his feelings were the same and in a turn of event, the Shinigami were given another chance at life.

Now 2 years later, healthy and able to sing without having to hide behind a persona, he and Lance were still together. Keith was sure that after all the things they’d been through together, their relationship was strong. He was yet to be proven wrong, and would not like to be.

“Yes Lance? How can I help you?” Keith asked, running a hand through Lance’s hair. It was wind swept, no doubt from his running. He could see the brown roots starting to show. While he first meet Lance while he had white hair, he liked Lance’s natural colour better.

“There’s gonna be a meteor shower this weekend!” Lance shouted.

“Indoor voices Lance.”

Now that he had the ability to be as loud as he wanted without coughing up a storm or feeling pain, Lance was constantly as loud as possible.

“Sorry, but meteor shower! We have to go. I rarely got the chance to go outside because of how sick I was all the time. And we won’t have to bother my grandmother since I moved back into my apartment.”

It killed Keith to destroy the utter excitement Lance had. “Um, Lance. We do have a performance this weekend at Music Core?”

Lance’s face dropped as he remembered. “Oh. I forgot. I don’t know how. I’m doing my new single then.”

“And it goes pretty late depending on the order.”

Lance sunk down more. “Right. Aww, I really wanted to go see this. It would have been perfect. I mean, we haven’t done a space wide tour yet and we talked about performing under the stars. Just sitting there watching all those shooting stars go by, it would have been so perfect.”

Keith pulled Lance closer, knocking his forehead against Lance’s gently, being sneakily happy just how much taller he was than Lance. It still gave him great glee, especially since Lance always got annoyed by it.

“I’m sorry. I know with our schedules, dates haven’t exactly been easy. But at least our schedules line up.”

“I guess.” Lance said still pouting.

“Hey, I bet you can’t do my choreo.”

That got Lance’s attention. “I so can. And I can do it better.”

“Really? Prove it.”

Keith let himself be playfully shoved away, letting Lance have full range of the floor as he restarted the music, grabbing his phone. He joined Lance in doing the choreo, ignoring how Lance overexaggerated some of the moves where Keith would be singing. Instead his focus was on his phone, texting Lance’s manager and practical sister Allura. he’d gladly admit it, he didn’t like seeing Lance sad and he’d do whatever possible to keep a smile on his face.

                                                       ____

“My god I can’t believe we ever worried you wouldn’t like him as Lance. doesn’t matter if he’s Isamu or Lance, you fold like wet paper for him.” Pidge teased as the stylist fixed Keith’s clothes.

Ok so maybe he bugged Allura to see if she could convince the people in charge of the order to put Lance and Keith first, even though they had to technically stay to the end. And maybe he also bugged Thace to borrow the car for them to come in so he could take Lance to see the meteor shower. If they could finish in time. Things might be live but there were only so many things they could actually control.

Keith looked over at the former Shinigami. “Don’t you have a brother to go bother?”

“And not bother you? But it’s so fun?”

“Where’s Hunk when you need him?” Keith asked himself, wondering where the much older singer was. Probably shadowing Allura. He was learning to become a manager, though he’d love to see which person would be able to understand their odd family.

“Keith, 2 minutes.” a stage hand called.

Keith glanced over at the TV that showed the stage. Lance and his female backup dancers were reaching the climax of Lance’s song. Just had to get through a song.

“I take it you’d like me to inform Lance to change back into his regular clothes when he gets back into his dressing room.”

Pidge might love teasing Keith and Lance about their relationship, but she had put in a lot of work into trying to get them together.

“If you could.”

with a nod from the stylist, Keith headed out the door and got his mic put on before he passed Lance and Allura.

“Meet me in my room after.” Keith called as he took the stage.

“And now taking the stage. His popularity has yet to waver even after switching labels. Though with a boyfriend like Lance, who could blame him for switching. Please welcome Keith, with his song ECLIPSE.

                                                      ____

“Keith, where are we going? We go back out on stage after the show is over to say goodbye to everyone.” Lance asked, letting his boyfriend pull him out the backdoor. After he performed on stage, Pidge shoved the clothes he came in at him and told him to change. Then she slapped a hat on him and gave him a face mask and shoved him in Keith’s dressing room.

“Stay here till lover boy comes to get you.” she ordered before going to find Matt.

Lance had learned that Pidge’s plans usually didn’t end up like she’d planned but he decided to humour her. She was telling him to wait for Keith, what was the worse that could happen?

Of course, now they were heading for the car they came in, dressed in non-descriptive clothes in hopes to not be noticed by the paparazzi or fans outside the broadcasting station. What had Pidge gotten him into?

“Whoa, there’s question I’m still asking today.” Lance muttered, climbing into the car.

“You’ll see, don’t worry.”

“Still can’t help but be worried.” Lance said, pulling his hat down as the pulled out of their spot and towards the exit. Doing this 3 years and he still couldn’t get used to the amount of fans and such who stood outside the broadcasting station just to get a glimpse of their favourite star. Even if he had been a healthy kid, Lance still couldn’t imagine doing this for hours.

Luck was on their side and they weren’t too noticed when they left. He wouldn’t be surprised though if they still got found out though.

“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Lance asked, as they started heading on the main roads, away from the city.

“You’ll see. Of course, I just hope we can get their quick. we’re cutting it a bit close.”

Lance for the life of him couldn’t figure out where Keith was taking him. They reached the famed park owned by the Altean Embassy, a place Lance knew well. Covered in juniberry flowers, Lance took pictures here for his Eternal Snow CD cover. But why would Keith bring him here?

Keith opened the sun roof and leaned their chairs back.

“Keith...” Lance started.

“Shh. Look up.”

Lance did and stared at the sky. Nothing was happening and Lance opened his mouth to ask something when he saw it. The streak across the sky and the ones that followed. He felt his eyes widen as he watched the shooting stars dart across the sky.

“Like it?” Keith asked, sounding teasing.

Lance shoved at Keith, who moved away and grabbed Lance’s hand to stop him from hitting him more. Lance laced their fingers together and pulled Keith’s hand closer.

“Yeah you asshole, I like it. Honestly though, I’m glad that we got to do this. The closest thing was sitting in the sun room with Akira to look at the stars.”

“He never took you watch one of these?” Keith asked.

Lance shook his head. “Both him and Rachel were too worried about me getting sick. I always wanted to make a wish on a shooting star.”

“What would you wish for?”

Lance shook his head, squeezing Keith’s hand. “Before it would have been to sing or to find Akira. But I don’t need to make a wish any more. I can sing, I’m healthy, I have all my friends and family. I know Akira cared for me. And I have you, the one thing I needed in the end. What else could I need? Well, other than the ability to write a new song. I swear Kolivan keeps poking me cause I wrote a hit single in 3 days. One time thing, I swear.”

Keith laughed, squeezing Lance’s hand in response. “Only thing I’ll wish for is for us to be happy.”

“Wish come true. With you, I already am.”

[szopenhauer]

Assuming that you’re a girl, when you’re on your period do you use tampons or pads? pads

Do you like taking pictures of yourself? funny ones if any 

How much have you won on a lottery ticket? like 2 PLN lol  *I tried few times out of curiosity to see if my strategy works and besides once I was always winning this amount of cash

What is your favorite thing to do on your phone? play Choices <3

Was your first phone a flip phone? nope Have you ever butt dialed someone? from what I remember it happened in the bus one time when I was coming back home from school What is an old website that closed down that you miss? polyvore  If you’re a girl, have you ever had an embarrassing period story? not really Do you watch America’s Got Talent? I watched polish version at the beginning but got annoyed and bored with it, saw some foreign videos on yt tho Which country has the best accent? England? (british) Did you cry at your high school graduation? I don’t think so Who is a former friend that you wish would come back into your life? sigh... Have you ever been in a serious romantic relationship? this one’s serious to me Who was your favorite Spice Girl? I don’t remember Did you ever want to be in a band or music group? if I had a talent... What instrument did you play in the marching band? I wasn’t in the marching band If you could take any one type of dance class right now, what kind you take? vogue or some classic in pairs maybe to remind myself what I learned in middle school but tbh I’m not much into the idea of attending any dance classes Who got kicked off of your favorite talent show that you were mad about? more than one person actually :( Do you own the entire series on DVD of any TV show? If so, what? I wish!  Can you tell the difference between Mary-Kate and Ashley? I can’t  Who is your favorite set of twins? hmm... What is the grossest thing you have ever vomited up? don’t wanna think about it Did you ever take your dog to school? never Name one person you know who had a baby in high school. I don’t know personally anyone like this Do you keep a list of your favorite quotes? I try Describe your dream wedding in three words. small boho rustic Have you ever seen someone throw up on a plane? wasn’t on a plane but if that happened then I’d parachute myself outta there, yeet

Has God ever healed you of anything? If so, what? hope he will now but doubt it Do you believe in God? yes? Do you pray, and if so, to whom? to God, Jesus, Virgin Mary, saints, my brother...

Do you find church fun or boring? irritating and sort of tiring but if I had to choose between fun and boring then I’d go with the second, sorry What is your favorite thing to do in a swimming pool? pee *I’m joking Which part of your body is the most muscular? eyes from rolling them hahaha Have you ever painted a sugar skull on your face? no way Are you an artist? some sort of Did you ever take Latin in school? floristry Do you prefer to run in the street or on the sidewalk? *shrug* Which holiday is closest to your birthday? Valentine’s day if it counts

What’s the weather like for today? similar to yesterday’s Have you eaten breakfast yet? I have What have you accomplished today? nothing What curse word do you use the most? kurwa? Would you ever make out with someone of the same sex? as a lesbian XD What is your mother’s and father’s names? personal Last person you text messaged? dad

Would you ever volunteer to pick up trash around your town? count me in

Do you think desktops are more comfortable than laptops? they’re not Do you freak out when 666 appears somewhere? would say so Do you think it’s gross when you see gay/lesbian couples out in public? excuse me?! Was last night enjoyable for you? not really Can you go in public looking like you do? I suppose

So how are you today? not well

Do you enjoy going to the library? my library is really small and we don’t have lots of interesting books but I don’t mind visiting

Do you know anyone who has a pet bunny? my gf’s bestie and my ex friend had one 

What store or website would you most like a gift card for? uh oh can’t choose :3

Do you use Pinterest? no longer but I thought about making a new account, what do you think?

Do you know any sign language? wanted to learn but then I found out every country has it’s own and gave up

Do you have a favorite poem? Posłanie do nadwrażliwych is one of them, I like just a bunch, prefer to write poems than read ‘em

Describe your favorite scarf, if you have one. I own so many... 

Do you have a dog? yep

Have you ever read the Little House on the Prairie series? I watched a show but I read Mały domek w wielkich lasach

Have you ever performed in front of more than 100 people? in school

What do you do when a man you’re not interested in asks for your number? luckily I’ve never been in such situation and hope I won’t be

Is there anywhere you like to go because you find one of the employees attractive? what? Is there a big age gap between your parents? not big If you watch Glee, what has been your favourite song so far? If you don’t, why do you choose not to watch it? I’m not into musicals Did your parents ever forbid you from hanging out with anyone? oh well... If you drink, why? If you don’t, why not? I don’t like the smell, probably wouldn’t like taste either, my stomach is untolerant to lots of stuff, I don’t want to lose the rest of my health and being drunk might have bad consequences, also it’s expensive and addictive to that

What’s a word that begins with the first letter of your bf/gf/crushes name? monkey :P Have you ever heard a song mash-up? Did you like it? some were nice If you had to choose between being a garden gnome or a gargoyle, which would you be? gnome, yay!

What kind of dog would you get if you could choose any breed? chihuahua, pomeranian, pug, miniature poodle... Do you like to decorate? mhm Have you ever done anything sexual in exchange for something? nah Do you have nice legs?: pfft Do your parents ever try to tell you what or what not to wear?: my mom - she’s always saying my clothes are old or that they don’t match the weather  Has a gf’s sibling ever hit on you?: nooo Do you have a nice butt?: do I? How many cell phones have you gone through in your life? about 5 Do you go to concerts?  wouldn’t say so Do you shop online?  very rarely Are you a fan of dogs?  could say so

Is there a map hanging in your room? there isn’t Would you rather hold hands or link arms with your significant other? depends Did you ever throw up while kissing someone? it’s a fear of mine, it didn’t came true so far  Do you like Batman? yep Who is in the room with you? nobody

What was the last food you put syrup on? I don’t use syrup

Can you see more than one computer from where you are right now? there isn’t any other in my house Ever had paranormal experiences with a OUJIA board? don’t mess with ouija boards Did anyone close to you pass away this year? no one close Have you ever been locked in the trunk of a car? luckily not Does your refrigerator have one or two doors? two: one for the fridge and one for the freezer Are you allergic to any animals? no idea Do you have any friends you like to visit whenever they’re at work? just my father Do you have a bathrobe? but I don’t use it Do you get bored easy or can you find ways to amuse yourself? I find ways, only boring ppl get really bored, I might lack energy or motivation but that’s all Have you ever been submitted to the hospital due to a car-related accident? not accident

[hazelandglasz]

Kitty and Elliott bonding over how insane their friends are, because the two of them would make a dream NY power duo.

Oh definitely

On AO3

None of it was planned, really.

Kitty didn’t plan on liking New York so much.

She didn’t plan on wanting to be around her former classmates / mentors so much either.

It’s not that she doesn’t have other friends, far from it, thank you very much, it’s just …

Their insanity is irresistible and knows no bounds.

And she, for one, is here for it.

Cue the popcorn she always keeps in her bag when she goes to hang out with them, because drama or something always happens with this lot.

She has missed one elusive Elliott Starchild Gilbert, but if he hangs out with this lot, well, Kitty is willing to bet her favorite Marilyn Manson t-shirt that he’s just as cuckoo as the other Cocoa puffs.

Until she meets him.

The circumstances of their meeting is, in itself, a good omen of what was to become the Greatest Friendship in all of Glee Club/Not Glee Club but still, history.

They meet at a System of a Down concert, when Elliott offers his shoulders for Kitty to sit on.

Unprompted, may she add.

Just like that, out of the goodness of his heart toward a fellow, vertically challenged fan.

After climbing down, Kitty offers to buy Elliott a drink or something, wink wink, which he very gentlemanly declines (the wink wink part, not the drink Elliott is no fool).

They sit in a dinner nearby and order fries with milkshakes before introducing each other.

And loudly exclaiming, nearly in sync, “it’s you!”.

See, their friends talk about them quite often/ Not as often as they talk about their friends, though.

And now that they have officially met, Kitty and Elliott have a “date night”, sans wink wink and sans “Glang” (as in, Glee gang).

No, it’s just the two of them, eating pizzas and telling each other about the insanity the other either doesn’t know of or the other wasn’t here to witness.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for Gaga--”

“Preach.”

“--but that performance was insane.”

“Kurt showed me videos of the Glee club tribute to Lady Gaga two years before that, it did sound a bit over the top.”

“They already did Gaga and Shuester made us do it again?!”

Elliott slurps the string of cheese dangling from his slice before frowning. “Come to think of it, a lot of our friends’ insanity seems to grow from the trash fire that was this Mr Shuester.”

Kitty snorts and giggles, forced to put down her own slice. “You’re far too kind to them, Gilbert. Shuester fed their crazy ways, sure, but they had a solid base to work on to begin with.”

They look at each other before exploding in peals of laughter.

“You know,” Elliott says once they have both calmed down (and once they go through a good portion of his homemade beer), “as much as I love One Three Hill, maybe it’s time for me to pull a John Lennon.”

Kitty may be sitting upside down, but she still frowns convincingly. “Are you … going to wear glasses and turn into a misogynistic pig?”

“Not what I had in mind, no.”

“Are you going to get murdered by a fan?! Cause that would definitely be something.”

“No! Kitty!”

“Too dark?”

“Too gruesome.”

“Fine, Killjoy Brigade, what do you mean, then?”

“Find my Yoko Ono.”

“Find yourself an Asian woman who’s going to give you everything you need in terms of inspiration?”

“Nooo, oh my god, Kitty, I’m asking you to be my partner!”

Kitty falls off the couch before reappearing like a meerkat. “Your--your partner.”

“My duet partner, yes.”

“Ah, that kind of partner. You almost had me there, Gilbert.”

“What did you--ooooh,” Elliott whistles. “Nope, still not batting for that team, Wilde.”

“Ha!”

“Besides, don’t you already have a partner, partner, wink wink, nudge nudge?”

Kitty snorts into her empty bottle of beer before shaking her head. “Who on Earth are you talking about?”

“The latest kid shipped from your special brand of Ohio, Roddy?”

“Roderick.” That is definitely a blush on Kitty’s face, but she will blame it on the alcohol if it is the last thing she does. “What about him?”

“Aren’t you sweet on him?”

“I’m not sweet on anybody.” Kitty picks up Elliott’s dark sofa blanket. “I am the Night.”

It’s Elliott’s turn to laugh into his beer. “And you dare make fun of Blaine for Nightbird?”

“I do not walk the streets at night, looking for people who need help!”

“No, you don’t. But neither does he … Right?”

“Nightbird does every night Kurt is otherwise buh-sy.”

“Oh my God, tell me more …”

---

Two weeks later

“I cannot believe Elliott ditched us for Kitty.”

“Um, I can. Besides, he didn’t “ditch” us, he simply has more projects than a gig with us every other two months.”

“...It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Hm-hm.”

Blaine rushes on the chair next to Kurt, planting a breathless kiss to his temple. “Sorry I’m late, I couldn’t get out of rehearsals. Did I miss them?”

“Nope, you’re good.”

“Roderick is getting us a bottle.”

“And now, ladies, gentlemen and other people …”

“Shhh, I think it’s their turn.”

“... please welcome to the stage Faaaalse Alaaarm!”

The spotlights immediately catch Elliott’s red jacket and Kitty’s matching sparkly, red jumpsuit.

The group immediately spots their immaculate white platform boots.

“Good evening, we’re False Alarm! Get your rock on!”

What follows is a succession of songs from all genres covered in a hard-rock, metal way.

It’s surprising, it’s entertaining, but most importantly for their friends assembled and, well, rocking it out in the audience, Kitty and Elliott look like they are having the time of their lives.

“We’re False Alarm! Good night!”

(When Kitty goes to jump in the crowd  after one particularly impressive high note over Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme, Roderick rushes to catch her in his arms.)