#thank you zoe we all said in unison

[viciicella]

Ren is just some guy that matches Akechis freak (A tale of two trickers)

[marchtomydrums]

Lesson Learned

Cordelia Goode x Wilhemina Venable x Ally Mayfair x Reader (mother/ daughter)

“Come on y/n just do it!” Maddison shouts at you getting impatient.

“Chill Mads if she doesn't want to do it she doesn't have to,” Queenie says.

Zoe nods as she looks at you “Don't do it y/n those things are bad for you anyways.”

Maddison rolls her eyes “You guys are such babies. It's fine. All of the older girls smoke. “

“So you do what everyone else does?” Queenie snips back.

“I'm sorry who is the cool one in this group?” Maddison asked.

“Not you!” Queenie says.

The three girls go into a frenzy of arguing back and forth as you held the rolled-up cigarette in between your fingers. It couldn't be that bad you thought to yourself.

You placed the cigarette in between your lips and you lit the end watching the first clouds of smoke roll out.

It really was like a smoke signal making all of the girls go quiet and look toward you.

Maddison smirked “Finally someone with some balls. Now inhale.” she says.

You did as she said breathing in deeply feeling the smoke fill up your lungs and blowing it out quickly.

You choke on the smoke getting caught in your chest causing you to cough loudly.

“Jesus this is awful,” you said coughing in between your words.

“You’ll get used to it,” Madison shrugs as she inhales smoothly and blows out rings of smoke toward Zoe.

“Y/n Y/M/n what on earth are you doing?!” you hear a voice shout behind you.

“Oh shit,” Queenie whispers.

You slowly turned around finding brown eyes glaring at you.

“Ally...I”

“Do you know how dangerous these things are? What they can do to your health?” she asked snatching the cigarette from you and putting it out.

“Give it to me Madison and the rest of whatever you have,” she says holding her hand out.

“You're not my mother. “ the blonde chuckles.

“She's not. But I am your supreme and I'm telling you to hand it over. Now.” Cordelia says walking up behind you.

Madison rolls her eyes as she hands over the pack she got this morning.

“You guys are ridiculous,” she complained.

“Thank you. Now all of you go to your rooms.” Cordelia shouts.

The girls quickly move past the two women heading inside. You tried to hide in the middle of them hoping to escape when you feel a hand on your shoulder pulling you back.

“Not you,” Ally says pulling you towards her.

You sighed as you watched the girls escape to their rooms. It was times like these that you wished you weren't the daughter of the supreme.

“Y/n what were you thinking?” Cordelia asked.

“I'm sorry. Madison said it wasn't a big deal. I was just trying it.”

“You know better than to listen to Madison,” Ally says.

“I know.”

“And you know how I feel about smoking,” Cordelia adds.

“But you let the older girls...”

“The older girls are just that older. They're all old enough to buy them and old enough to make their own choices. It's not a choice that I like but I can't stop them. As long as they follow the rules about keeping it outside and cleaned up that's all I can ask of them.”

“Y/n it's not a habit you want. It's nasty for your health. It makes you smell and it's extremely addicting. “ Ally adds.

“I'm sorry,” you mumbled looking down.

“Honey I know it's hard growing up and you're going to want to try things. But some things aren't worth trying. I promise you aren't missing out when it comes to these.” Cordelia says shaking the box of cigarettes.

“I know. It tastes gross and it made me cough really bad. I won't do it again.”

Your mothers smile “Good!” they both say in unison.

“But... We still have to tell Momma and I don't think she's going to let you off so easily,” Cordelia says.

Your eyes grow wide as you shake your head. “No Mom, please. Please don't tell Momma. She will kill me and Madison.”

“You know we don't keep secrets from one another.”

“I know but...please,” you begged as tears pricked your eyes.

“ I’m sorry sweetheart but you know how this works. The three of us don't hide things from one another and we all make decisions together. We will talk to her and go from there.” Cordelia says as she kisses your forehead.

Cordelia walks back into the house leaving you and Ally outside.

“Well get a good look at me Al. I’ll be dead soon.” you cried.

Ally chuckles as she shakes her head pulling you into her arms for a hug.

“Oh sweets you're not going to die. She loves you too much to kill you. Now Madison on the other hand....”

“Ally!”

She laughs “ I'm kidding. We will talk to her sweets okay? But please promise me you won't smoke again. I love you too much to lose you. “

“I promise Al. “

“Good. I love you, sweets,” she says with a smile.

“I love you too.”

“Y/n Y/M/n!!!” you hear your redhead mother scream from inside.

“Ahh man,” you whined.

Ally chuckles as she lops her arm in yours.

“Come on sweets.”

“I'm never listening to Madison again.” you groaned as Ally all but dragged you into the house.

[tristomisto]

“I love you.” They said in unison. - The final line from chapter 19 of my fanfic Tentacles and Glasses. Self-shipping is what I see as an expression of love for yourself, to see yourself worthy of your favorite characters in media loving you.

I wanted to include all the commissions I’ve paid for of Zoe and I since I began this journey of yumeship!

It’s hard not to feel cringe or sad about it sometimes, but in the end it does make me feel less lonely and more warm. The positive reception the story got on fanfic sites only further aided in making me feel validated. Because yeah its a self-ship story about Zoe and I, but that’s not all it is. The characters of the world of Monster Prom are queer, varied, and I connect with so many of them. I couldn’t help but interweave little stories about all of them. It’s a story about that community more than anything, every character we interact with in the story aids the journey in some way, even if their interactions are away from Zoe and I (Aaravi’s journey) or very brief (the Color Crew becoming my friends.)

I loved writing that fanfic, it got me through when I started working full time, and it was nice to share something I was writing with the world. I’ve finished two creative novel length stories that I worry are awful and shouldn’t see the light of day. But through the encouragement of my friends I began writing fanfic and it has been as fulfilling as it has been fun. I want to write more outside of mine and Zoe’s story within the Monster Prom universe too, and likely will now that it’s complete.

I’ve played so many video games, watched so many shows, listened to many podcasts, and read many stories about love. I’m thankful for each one for letting me experience those feelings. I’m thankful for my friends who have supported me by listening to me rambling about my writings and playing my adventures when I run D&D.

To not overload this post, I’ll make another about media I’ve consumed about love, and how we express love in our TTRPG games. But to end, I’ll share this post from the creators of Monster Prom that helped me along.

[loveaurdeepression]

Jealousy-Pin Hawthorne x reader

This is Part-1

Requested-Nope

Warnings- Jealousy? Insecurity, wanting to stab someone, sad reader, sad Pin, language, death of a horse (not graphic. part of backstory), this is a bit dramatic for a Free Rein fic. not proofread.

A/n- This is a self-indulgent fic and does not follow the timeline of the show, i’m pretty sure I don’t know what I’m doing.

Summary- Y/n is jealous of Zoe

Tag: @thatfangirl42​

Damn her, damn her for being so perfect. Damn her for getting everything you ever wanted.

Damn her for taking away Pin, your best friend.

Damn her for taking away Raven, the only thing that reminded you of Diana.

Damn Zoe Philips.

Flashback

It seemed as if the world stopped moving.

Your mare, Diana broke her leg.

She had to be put down.

“ Y/n, we have to.” Pin said, “ Diana is in too much pain, do this for her.”

You couldn’t, how could you? The black mare was the one thing that made you happy. She was the sweetest, most loving creature, even Raven liked her, and he hated everybody.

Pin knew how much you loved Diana, and how much she loved you. It broke his heart, because not only was he devastated over Diana, he knew how much she meant to you. You never had the best relationship with your parents, so you decided to come here, to live with your relatives. Diana was there for you, she made you laugh, she’d chew your hair, and she trusted you, more than anyone.

“ Pin, I can’t! She can’t die! She won’t! She’ll heal and we’ll all be fine.” you replied.

Sighing, he came over you and took your hand.

“ Y/n, Diana is in pain, if you love her, you have to let her go, I’m so sorry Y/n/n. Please do this for her. Relieve her from her pain.” 

Sobbing, you nodded and he pulled you into a hug.

“ Shhh, cry all you want sweetheart. Let it all out. Everything’s going to be alright.” he kissed your head.

~~

Pin helped you get over Diana’s death, bit by bit. He introduced you to a new horse Shadowfax. That was when you realized you loved him.

You thought he loved you too, after all, he was closest to you. Always defended you from Mia, you both always rode together, and he liked having you around.

How wrong you were.

Everything changed the day Zoe found Raven.

Raven, who liked you the most, went and bonded with Zoe. 

Pin seemed to hate her at first. But you saw the was he looked at her when he thought no one noticed. 

You thought you could physically hear your heart break.

So you distanced yourself. From Pin, from your relatives. From Becky and Jade. 

You only focused on riding. 

~~

“ Y/n’s acting strange lately. Have you noticed Becky?” Jade asked her best friend as they were hosing down Bob.

“ I’ve noticed Jade, we should talk to her.” Becky agreed

“ She’s been getting better and better at riding everyday. She’s going to make the under-18 team. I bet you.” Jade nodded towards you, who was practicing , “ and she’s not talking to Pin either. I found that so strange! They’re so close! and Pin really likes her!”

“ Let’s talk to her after she finished practicing.” Becky suggested.

“  Yes, let’s.”

~~

“ Well, that didn’t go well at all.” Becky grumbled.

“ Agreed.” Jade replied.

You gave short answers and when they prodded you, you snapped at themm clearly angry.

“ Pin’s the only one who’ll be able to talk to her.” Jade said.

“ What’s up guys?” Zoe came up to them.

“ Y/n.” they said in unison.

“ Oh. what happened?”

“ She’s not talking to any of us.” Becky explained.

“ Yeah, I found it weird. Pin keeps talking to me about her, he’s getting worried. She won’t talk to him.”

“ He needs to go talk to her!” Jade exclaimed, “ I can’t see my friend like this! She’s only focusing on riding, tiring herself out everyday and not talking to any f us!”

“ Pin needs to talk to her! I ship them so much! I can’t let that ship sail!” Becky groaned.

“ Becky! Jade! Calm down. I’ll talk to Pin and tell him to talk to Y/n.”

~~

God, you wanted to stab Zoe, like just lodge a knife in her stomach and watch the-

“Woah! Getting a little ahead of myself there!” you said to yourself. But what else was there to do.

You felt bad for snapping at Becky and Jade and wanted to go apologize to them. So you made your way to the stables and there you found Pin..and Zoe.

They seemed to be talking quite seriously and Zoe looked around before whispering something in his ear.

You couldn’t take it.

Head up, chin out and fighting back tears, you walked past them to Shadowfax’s stable to tack him up. 

“ Shit.” Pin whispered.

“ Go! Talk to her!” Zoe pushed him towards you.

Taking a deep breath, Pin made his way to you.

“ Hey Y/n/n.” he said, coming to pet Shadowfax.

“ Hi.” you reply.

“ Are you okay? You’ve been distant lately.” 

“ I’m fine, thank you for asking. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go practice.” you lead your horse out and quickly made your way to the training area. (i don’t what it’s called).

Pin followed you and took your hand, you pulled away and didn’t look at him, missing the hurt on his face.

“ Shouldn’t you be with Zoe?” you ask him, voice bitter.

“ Zoe? Is this what all this is about?”

“ Like I said Hawthorne, I have to go practice. Good day.” you walked away..

“ Dammit!’ Pin shouted after you left.

~~

After your practice and rubbing down Shadowfax, you made your way to the cafe. You were pushing yourself a bit too much, and walked home tired and on the verge of fainting everyday.

You went inside to find Becky at the register. Good, you still wanted to apologize to her.

“ Hey Becky!” you call out, making her eyebrows go up.

“..Hey Y/n.” she replies.

“ I just wanted to say, I’m really sorry for how I snapped earlier. I don’t know what’s gotten into me these days. I hope you can forgive me.” you apologize.

Becky smiles before reaching out and giving you a small hug from across the counter.

“ I forgive you, now lemme get you a cupcake.” 

~~

“  I just want to know, why are you not talking to us anymore? What have we done? What have I don-”

“ Pin! Stop talking to yourself in the mirror and come down! I need your help with dinner!”

“S-sorry coming dad!” Pin yells and runs down to the kitchen.”

-----

“Y/n, please just tell us!” Jade coaxes.

Clenching your jaw, you refuse to look at them. They started prodding you with questions again and you almost snapped at them.

“ Please, we just want to know what’s going on with our best friend.” Becky puts her hands on your shoulders,

“ Me?” you scoffed, “ isn’t Zoe your best friend.”

Becky glanced at Jade.

There, That’s the reason

“ Y/n, we like Zoe a lot, but she could never replace you. You’re our best friend too! and Zoe’s really nice, but she isn’t you, no one is . We love you!” Jade hugged you from behind.

Tears start forming in your eyes and you hastily blink them away.

“ I’m so sorry. I was such a bitch to both of you.” you hold their hands.

“ Hey, it’s ok, we forgive you.” they sandwich you in a hug.

~~

“ So, what’s the deal with Y/n? She isn’t coming over anymore?” Ted asked Pin,

“ I don’t know dad, she isn’t talking to me, she just glares at me and tells me to go play with Zoe instead of wasting my time.” Pin grumbles.

Ted starts chuckling, clearly understanding what’s going on.

“ Dad, why are you laughing?” Pin questions, unamused.

“ Oh son.” Ted gasps, “ you’re so oblivious.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Pin, Y/n likes you, and she’s jealous. The same way you were jealous of how much time she spent with Marcus, she’s jealous of the how much time you spend with Zoe. Go now. Talk to her.”

“ What?” Pin asks, a little stunned.

“ Go Pin!” Ted shoves him out.

~~

“ I was jealous, I thought that you didn’t want to be around me anymore. I thought you preferred Zoe and I wouldn’t be surprised, she is lovely. But the truth is, I love you Pin, god I love you.”

“ You know, if you want to practice confessing your love, it’s best not to do it where someone else can hear it.” Marcus’s voice comes from behind you.

“ Oh shit.”

[eury--dice]

it is lightning that does the work

Happy belated @sincerely-us day, @someone-online! I’m so sorry this is a little late, but I’m overjoyed to get this to you now. Your prompts were so wonderful, and although I focused on the second, I managed to get a little of some of the others in, too. Happy summer and I hope you enjoy :D

(ao3 link in rb)

It only took two disgruntled beeps of flooding alerts, one half-distressed viewing of the weather channel on TV, and three thunderclaps and preceding faint flashes of lightning for Larry to succumb to his baser instincts: he strode to the closest light switch and raised his voice to a non-neutral level, calling “Electronics unplugged and to the basement!”

If he strained his ears, he could hear two distinct groans filtering from upstairs as his teenagers grumbled about being removed from their rooms. Cynthia appeared at his side, holding some self-help book or other.

“The storm’s not gonna be that bad, hon,” she said, plaintively as possible. When he simply raised an eyebrow and looked back through the window at the increasingly violent conditions, she did her best to hide her grimace. “I’ll set up the candles, then.”

Zoe was the first down the stairs, with Connor not long behind at her heels. She still boldly held her laptop in her hands, while Connor had brought nothing, clearly resigned to his father’s superstitions. Larry reached a hand for the laptop. 

“That’s not how electricity works,” she argued before he could so much as open his mouth, already poised to disarm the arguments he hadn’t yet made. “If it’s not plugged in, it doesn’t matter if there’s a surge in the house, because it’s not connected to anything that would–”

“It absolutely is how electricity works, Zoe. That happened to my–”

“Cousin Robert while we were at our grandmother’s in 1967,” Connor deadpanned at the same time as Larry.

“When you were like, three?” Zoe demanded.

“I was five, Zoe, thank you,” Larry said, successfully grabbing the laptop and pulling it away. He placed it down gently on the kitchen counter, then gestured again toward the basement where Cynthia could already be heard lighting candles everywhere. “Go on, then. I don’t want any windows blowing out while we’re up here.”

Another thunder crack rippled overhead. Connor muttered “like that’s ever happened the entire time we’ve lived here,” while Zoe led the way down the stairs with slightly more force than could be considered necessary.

“I have an arrangement due tomorrow, you know,” she calls down to her mother.

“It’s the summer, darling, are you sure it’s on that tight a schedule?”

“Yes! I’m section leader for orchestra and there’s bound to be too much crossover for Jazz Band so it has to be done before we set foot at school again. Mrs. P wants it tomorrow at the latest.”

“She’ll have to understand the extenuating circumstances, then,” Cynthia said, settling on one end of the couch. “I’ll send her an email to explain.”

“Please don’t,” Zoe begged. She sat down on the other end of the couch and pulled her legs up to hug them to her chest.”I’ll figure something out.”

“This is tame,” Larry said as the rest of his family got relatively settled on the couches and chairs available in their finished basement. “My grandmother would–”

“Put us all on the stairs and throw holy water at us while we said the Hail Mary,” Connor and Zoe said in unison. 

“You’re getting predictable,” Connor added.

“How did your cousin Robert get electrocuted, then?” Zoe tagged on, the loss of her laptop clearly not out of her mind.

“He was being stupid,” Larry said, settling himself on an uncomfortable-looking wooden President’s chair. “He had decided to try and phone his da, who was on a business trip-”

Cynthia leaned over to her kids conspiratorily. “We’re not sure he even existed, really. There don’t seem to be many Robert updates recently.”

“Because of the electrocution!”

“He died?” Cynthia said, raising an eyebrow.

Larry faltered, sitting back in his seat and peeking nervously overhead as another peel of thunder rolled over them. “Well, no. But he was never quite himself, after…”

Connor leaned over to Zoe silently while she had her eyes trained on Larry and Cynthia’s minor argument, making her jump when he whispered not-so-quietly, “That attached to your arranging?”

She rolled one shoulder back, then the other. “Yes,” she said finally, her lisp curling around it. Connor smirked.

“Lots of hesitation there. You’re sure this arrangement doesn’t start with an E, and with a ‘Hansen,’ and involve frequent trips to Ellison Park?”

She shoved him back into the cushions of his chair without even looking at him, though that plus her darkening cheeks were as good as a confession. “And what you’re typing away at on your phone, it’s not you and Alana swapping… notes, or whatever, on your art accounts?”

“It’s magic, for her,” Connor corrected, then righted himself to how he’d been sitting before she shoved him. “And I don’t deny it. Unlike you.”

Cynthia claps her hands together, disrupting both streams of conversation. “How about we play a game?”

“Not Monopoly,” Larry says quickly, standing up to scan the rickety shelf of games they keep prepped for moments like this. “Anything else.”

“Uno,” Connor suggests.

“Risk,” Zoe counters.

“Isn’t Risk basically Monopoly? But with war?”

Zoe gasps in faux-affront. “No, Connor. Risk is a sacred game of strategy.”

“Like Monopoly.”

“How about we play it and find out?” Cynthia suggests. “I don’t think I’ve ever played.”

Larry grabs it down from the shelf. “Fine by me. Let’s try it.”

Zoe helps him set up the game on the coffee table, doling out colored pieces as she sees fit for the rest of her family, until she’s blue, Larry is red, Cynthia is green, and Connor is yellow.

“I don’t see why I have to be piss yellow,” he mutters.

“To match your sunshiney personality,” Zoe says, letting a sunshiney smile take over her face. Connor throws a single troop at her.

“I’ll keep that, then. Good luck with world domination when you’re starting at a disadvantage.”

“Okay,” Larry says, cutting them off. “So we start in one country?”

From there they all attempt to play Risk, at undeniably varying levels of understanding about how the game works and what the rules even are. Larry begins significantly involved, likely hoping to use the audiobook on World Wars he’d been listening to to his advantage, but he’s conquered almost immediately by Zoe’s troops. Cynthia seems to understand the least, but neither of her children finishes her off completely; she ends up sequestered in Australia for most of the game, holding on by a small margin. Connor and Zoe fight over the rest of the board, never quite reaching a stalemate, never quite winning either. 

They’re about to break into a fight – for the second time – over Greenland, when Cynthia hurriedly places her cards down on the coffee table, letting everyone see her less-than-ideal hand. Her children start to point out that fact, but she raises a hand. “Has anyone heard thunder for the past fifteen minutes? Or even rain?”

No one says anything. 

“If you let us have our phones, we could check,” Zoe grumbles.

“That’s ridiculous,” Larry says. “One of us can just go upstairs-”

“Not it,” Connor proclaims, putting a finger to his nose. He’s followed quickly by both Zoe and Cynthia. 

“--and check,” Larry finishes. “And I was going to volunteer anyway, thank you, Connor.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Zoe says under her breath, making Cynthia laugh and Connor roll his eyes.

As Larry disappears up the stairs, Cynthia says, in the same low tone, “Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s only…every thunderstorm that it happens?” Connor says, finally dropping his hand and picking at the black nail polish on his fingers. 

“Still. It’s important to him.”

“Do you want me to redo those, Con?” Zoe offers, coming out of whatever reverie she’d been in, staring up at the door to the cellar. “I have some black polish in my room.”

“Oh,” he says, chipping off most of his left thumbnail. “Yeah. That would be great, Zo. I thought you had the arrangement to focus on?”

“It won’t take too long,” she says instead, reaching for his hand to assess the damage. “I could acetone the rest of this off for you.”

“Nah,” Connor says instead, and continues chipping it off.

“But your natural nails–”

Cynthia smiles at them, and begins making quick work of getting the game put away. She’s about done when Larry calls from above, “All clear! Looks like the storm’s passed us.”

“Hallelujah,” Zoe says, grabbing Connor’s hand and pulling him towards the stairs. She pauses at the last moment, pivoting to face her mother. “Need any help with that before we go?”

Cynthia waves a hand dismissively. “I’ve got it. You two go have fun gossiping about your crushes.”

It’s Connor’s turn to blush this time, but Zoe drags him along, finally mounting the stairs. “I do have to finish that arrangement, asshole. I don’t have all night.”

“Language!” Cynthia calls.

Not a minute later, she hears footsteps one more time on their creaky basement staircase, the slightly-uneven pace she’s used to from Larry. 

“That didn’t go too badly,” she says.

“It’s certainly gone worse in the past,” he agrees, sitting down tiredly on the couch. “Not nearly as much playing referee for one of them cheating.”

“We could just let them do what they want during the storm,” she says lightly, sitting down next to him.

Larry turns to her with an incredulous expression. “I’m serious about my cousin, Cynthia. Thunderstorms are no joke.”

“Yeah, alright,” she says, as Zoe’s laugh comes from above. “If you say so.”

[starfleetwitch]

🤲🥰

Hi Nonny thanks for the ask, Like with a previous ask, I'll answer this one first and put the snippit under the cut 🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics? I LOVE reader interaction. I mostly write to quiet the thoughts in my brain but like with my art, I LOVE audience interactions! Peoples comments have literally made my art (whether its a drawing or fanfiction) better in the past (Currently making a last minute addition to my Jemma Redgrave and the Multiverse of Lesbians art thanks to a comment!) Ask me questions! Suggest things! I don't bite! 😁 We can share virtual cookies and trade stories beside the ever burning tumblr dumpster fire. 🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

This is a bit of a long one and I haven't proof read it yet. We die like men with this snippit.

A sense of deja-vu hit the blonde as both men stared at her, their jaws practically hitting the floor. Bernie folded her arms and narrowed her eyes “What is up with you two today?” both men looked at each other before turning back to the blonde, their mouths shutting with an audible click as their teeth hit off each other with the force “Why are you both stood staring at me, I still have a missing patient!” The twisting in her stomach was becoming unbearable and it was only adding to her annoyance at the two men. “Usually when you two are up to something it doesn’t affect my ward but for some reason today it has. Now I don’t know what’s going on but when a patient is at risk you really ought to knock it on the head. Its wholly unprofessional behaviour and it ends now, am I clear?” Both men nodded mechanically “Between Serena upstairs and the agency nurse who didn’t turn up, I’m understaffed and over stretched. What we didn’t need today was a drunk patient roaming the hospital whilst two senior staff banter in the middle of the ward like a couple of school girls. Now… where is my patient?” Feeling suitably chastised, the two momentarily forgot why they were bantering in the first place. Fletch unfolded his arms and had the good grace to look apologetic “He’s in reception. Serena’s bringing him u-” Fletches voice broke into a squeak as the doors to the stair well opened behind Bernie. Bernie’s brow furrowed. She looked between the two men before her, their jaws once again hitting the floor as their eyes widened and their cheeks paled. The pain in Bernie’s stomach suddenly spiked and she let out an audible huff as she unfolded her arms and pressed a hand against her abdomen. All sound seemed to leave the ward and Bernie feared she’d gone deaf. Feared that the sudden sharp pain in her stomach was something bursting and she was about to die. Why was it so quiet? She expected her death to be louder somehow.

Suddenly the loud bang of a door closing behind her dragged Bernie violently from her thoughts. She jumped in shock then winced as the sound echoed within the space. The pain. She knew what this was. This wasn’t death. This was worse. This was something she wanted to avoid. She could sense it. Sense her. She turned on her heel. “Kate?” she whispered as the suited woman stood before her, back straight, shoulders back and a false bravado in play. This was her pretend-to-be-confidant stance. She knew it well. It was trait she’d picked up from their father too.  “Hello Bernie” Said the woman and Bernie couldn’t help but register the second round of squeaks from the men behind her as another door closing echoed around the ward. Bernie turned around once more, her head feeling dizzy as the feeling in her stomach predicted what she’d see. Her eyes settled upon the same pretend-to-be-confidant stance of another blonde who shared her face. “Zoe?” Asked both women in unison, the sound shaking Fletch and Raff to their core. “Surprise” She replied with a false tone of joy. Suddenly the pain in Bernie’s stomach disappeared. This was it. This was the something that was going to happen, the predicted event that had her fight or flight reflexes in spasm all day.

“Mate…” Fletch squeaked as the sound of the busy ward rushed at them once more. He clung to Raff, who in turn clung to him as the tension in the air began to suffocate them “I need to sit down”

Ask me about my fanfiction through emojis

[fand0m-obsess3d-g33k]

White Dahlia (Cordelia x Reader)

Summary: What happens when a prank of Madison’s goes differently than expected and Cordelia is put in a situation that gets hairy?

Words: 4,295 

Warning: Alcohol consumption

Author’s Note: This is some fluffy fluff with a little bit of angst. It was super fun to write :) I wanted to have this be dedicated to @paulsonfaygo​ for being the sweetest of sweethearts and deserves so much love and cuddles especially Cordelia cuddles! Hope this makes you feel all fluffy inside! Mwah!! <3

P.S. Any feedback you have I would greatly appreciate it thank you!

Cordelia had been teaching the girls how to make potions the past week which was one of her favorite things to teach since she got to be in the greenhouse, her favorite part of the academy. It was always her safe haven whenever she needed to clear her head. She finished rearranging everything in the greenhouse so that everything was in its place as it had been before the last lesson today, once done she walked into the kitchen. The girls were all in bed by this time so she knew she could just settle down now and read a book in peace, not that she minded the girls she loved them all to bits, however they were exhausting at times. In the kitchen the blonde went to grab the vanilla creamer only to find it was gone, sighing she decided to settle for adding some milk and a little of vanilla extract that sat on a shelf on the spice rack. A few pages into her novel the blonde felt a warmth spread through her body making her set the book down on the couch before standing up, within seconds the woman landed with a hard thud on the floor yet not feeling any pain. Confused the woman tried to grab onto the couch to get up but noticed that her hand was now a white paw.  

“What the hell?”  

Oh, good she could still speak she thought. Now time to confront one of the girls to see if they know something about this. The once regal, tall headmistress frowned as she looked up at the staircase that once was so easy to climb every day that now seemed like an exhausting task. After a few stairs she overstepped causing her to trip a bit hitting her cheek on the stair. She shook her head quickly to erase the pain.  

“C’mon Cordelia, you were blind for Goddess sake and climbed these damn stairs you can do this as a cat.” With the pep talk she managed to practically run up the stairs to sit in front of Zoe’s door since none of the girls ever had their doors open during the night. “Zoe, Zoe!”  

There was a pitter patter of feet until the young witch opened the door, she looked confused until the headmistress said her name again followed by “down here.”  

“Miss Cordelia? Y-You're a... how did this happen?” She asked getting down to be more level with the cat.  

“May I come in?” Her paw pointing behind Zoe. Which made the girl step aside to let Cordelia through before shutting the door. “I was hoping you could tell me how this happened. I imagine one of you replaced vanilla extract with a transformation potion. Which I’m not sure how that could’ve happened because I never taught that to you girls for this exact reason.”  

“I’ve only made the potions you had taught us Miss Cordelia. I would never veer off your lesson plan, I know you don’t add certain criteria because of the dangers or the fact that there are different levels.”  

The young witch watched as the once blonde now white-haired feline was looking at herself in the full-length mirror that sat on the floor of Zoe’s room leaning against the corner of her dresser and wall. First, she took note of still mismatched eyes, her normal brown eye color with the other eye the icy blue that Myrtle had gotten you, then small white paws came up to her head touching her ears that bent as she pushed the paws forward, lastly, she turned to the side and spun in a circle to analyze her fluffy white tail.  

Zoe felt a ping of hurt as she watched her headmistress sit in front of the mirror with her fluffy head down in sadness. She walked over and sat beside Cordelia on the floor before petting her head to which she flicked her head away. “Sorry...maybe we could ask Queenie, and Madison. Although all of my bets are on Madison.”  

They both walked to Queenie’s room to which she yelled “holy shit,” when Cordelia talked until, they both calmed her down so she could explain if she had seen anyone put the potion there or even making it but to no avail. This redirected you both to Madison’s room. The headmistress instructed Zoe to forego knocking and to just enter the room, normally Cordelia would never do this but right now she was irritated. Zoe closed the door behind them and watched as the feline ran and jumped onto Madison Montgomery’s bed. She gracefully walked up her sleeping form before swatting the girl in the face claws retracted of course so it was more like a slap.  

“The shit...Zoe! Why the hell is there a disgusting cat in my room? Get it out of here!” She practically shrieked before a paw landed on her mouth silencing her while the other slapped her again.  

“Madison what in the hell did you do?” Cordelia accused sharply her ears going back in anger.  

“Oh. My. God. Cordy? You were only supposed to have like a beard or something for like a day not turn into a cat.” The actress’ eyes wide in surprise and shock. “This is too good wait until Y/N finds out that you’re a cat! She’s going to flip! Probably not going to be able to look at you the same after she finds out that you have to use a litter box now. She’s totally getting put on litter duty.”  

The feisty feline hisses at Madison before lunging herself at her face, claws still retracted but her little paws were a fury of white streaks attacking her.

“Reverse this, now Madison!”  

“I don’t know how Cordy, I don’t even know how I did it. I think we need to wait for it to wear off.”  

The actress wouldn’t admit it out loud but she’s glad the headmistress decided to not attack her again. Instead, she hopped down from the bed and walked into the hallway down to her room leaving the other girls standing in the hallway listening to the woman grumble to herself.  

You woke up to the sounds of soft meows in the hallway and you darted to the door to open in leaving you standing in the doorway in your oversized button down and underwear. “Oh my gosh! Where did this sweet little thing come from? Is it a boy or a girl? Where did you find them?” The flurry of questions escaped your mouth so fast you didn’t even take a breath in between while you bent down to call the cat by making a clicking noise with your mouth. In response the cat lets out another meow. “So cute!”  

“Y/N, you can’t hear her?” Zoe asks.

“What are you talking about? Of course, I can, it’s the cutest little meow I’ve ever heard! Yes, it is.” You cooed while reaching out to scratch behind the white cat’s ear, a purr erupted from her chest and her eyes closed in delight from the feeling for just a moment.

The girls at the end of the hallway looked at each other in shock and confusion. Zoe was the one to speak once again.

“We found her outside around the greenhouse. She seemed cold so we brought her in.” She lied.

“Oh, we should ask Miss Cordelia if we can keep her.” You suggested in excitement.

“NO!” The girls both said in unison.  

“Right, we don’t want to wake her. Alright, tomorrow afternoon we will ask then.” You said firmly not wanting the girls to try and sneak this little secret past the headmistress. She hated when the girls kept things like this a secret. “C’mon little kitty, do you want to come lay with me?”  

In response the cat looked at the girls down the halls before turning back to you and meowing following you into the room. You proceeded to close the door but this time before settling back into bed you grabbed a folded blanket that was laying on your ottoman at the end of your bed across the foot of the bed so the cat had a comfier place to sleep.  

“There you go. That should keep you cozy.”  

The cat jumped up on the bed and walked in a circle kneading the blanket to get comfortable before laying down curled in a little white ball at the foot of your bed. “Goodnight kitty. We’ll have to think of a name for you tomorrow, hopefully Miss Cordelia lets us keep you. She loves animals so I’m sure she will be okay with it plus; you have Delia’s eyes.” You smile brightly.  

Cordelia’s heart swelled up at the sound of the nickname leaving your mouth. You had only ever addressed her as Miss Cordelia. Even when she gave you permission to use her name without the formal title you had never done so, until now.  

The next morning Cordelia woke up; still finding herself with paws and a tail when she stretched out. Her missed match eyes fell on your sleeping form, she didn’t want to wake you but knew that you should get up to get breakfast and she was even hungry too if she was honest. Her little paws made her their way over to you where she sat on your chest before nuzzling her face into yours with a strong purr. She hears you grumble which quickly turns into a giggle.  

“Good morning sweet girl.” You said before slowly getting up from the bed to take a shower. The comment caused the headmistress to feel a warmth through her body and more purring started.

15 minutes later  

The feline looked up at the bathroom door that opened revealing you wrapped in a towel with wet hair. For once the blonde witch was glad that she was a cat so you couldn’t see the blush that would’ve been clearly visible on her pale complexion. She quickly leapt from the bed to the door and began scratching at it hoping that you would open the door to let her out. Instead, you bent down to pick her up and poked her head out of the door and called for Zoe. In answer to your call and to Cordelia’s horror Zoe, Queenie and Madison all came up staring between you and Cordelia in your arms.  

“Oh, this day is so damn awesome.” Madison laughed until her laughter stopped due to Queenie nudging the skinny blonde with her elbow.  

“Miss Cordelia is out on an important task and won’t be back for a while Y/N.” Zoe stated.  

At the words Cordelia felt the change in your grasp on her, she felt the sadness radiate off of you before setting her on the floor.  

“Zoe, would you mind running to the store and getting Dahlia some cat stuff. Just the essentials...you know until D-Miss Cordelia comes back?”  

Your voice was so low but the older woman’s new cat hearing was strong enough to pick up on how her ‘new name’ was strongly close to her own name and the fact that you almost slipped up and called her by your nickname instead of her formal title.  

“Sure Y/N. Do you want your usual Captain and coke too?” Zoe asked.  

To which you nodded and went to get dressed in more pjs then proceed to lay back down.  

A whole day passes and Cordelia gets fed real food as instructed by herself with a surprisingly intimidating look from the usually sweet woman, and taken care of by the other girls but hasn’t seen any sign of you which made her begin to worry.  

“I think we should tell Y/N that you are Dah--” Zoe starts.  

“NO! Zoe I can't let her see me like this it’s bad enough you girls do especially Madison.” Her mismatched eyes rolled in annoyance.

“You may change your mind when you see how she is Cordy, she’s like a puppy dog around you it’s pathetic. I mean I know you were blind when you first met Y/N but I swear even with new eyes you’re just as blind. She’s a wreck when you are gone...it’s honestly so sad, and that’s coming from me.” Madison shudders at her admission of empathy before taking a drag off of a cigarette.  

“She’s right, Miss Cordelia...you should go see her.” Queenie suggests.

You heard loud meowing outside of your door to which you opened the door to see the fluffy, regal looking feline looking up at you with a cocked head as if she asked ‘what’s wrong’.  

“C’mon Dahlia you can come in sweet girl.” you closed the door once again behind her.  

The older witch noticed your red tear-stained cheeks, your red puffy eyes and an almost empty bottle of rum on her bedside table. It pained her to see you so sad, she approached you and spoke your name softly yet all you heard was a soft meow in response. You began to pet the sweet cat which made her nuzzle into your hand and begin purring loud. You reached over to take a swig of your captain straight from the bottle hiccupping afterwards then settled in the bed on your back holding a sweater. Cordelia’s sweater, one she had given you one-night months ago when she noticed you were cold, you had never returned and hoped that the headmistress wouldn’t notice. It turns out that the older woman had forgotten all about it until she stared at it with wide eyes now. To make sure she wasn’t losing her mind Cordelia walked up your form and settled herself on your chest, looking down at the material then proceeding to make eye contact.  

“You have the prettiest eyes, the same as Delia’s. She has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen even! I know the blue one doesn’t technically belong to her; I also knows she gets self-conscious of it but she tries not to show it. Even if she still had both of her brown eyes, she’s just so gorgeous how could she not see it? I know her mother drilled a lot of her bullshit lies into her head but can’t she see how wonderful she is?”  

Cordelia wanted to cry at the sweet words, she wanted to hug you, to tell you that she felt the same way.  

“Oh Dahlia,” you sob sitting up and hugging the cat and sweater closer to your chest, “What if she doesn’t come back? What if she gets hurt? I love her so much; she can’t get hurt. I know I shouldn’t love her but I can’t get rid of these feelings, I’ve tried so many times because I know she will never feel the same. Delia, please come home.” The tears just wouldn’t stop, not until you were wrapped up in your blankets in the shape of a ball, the cat in your arms snuggled to you not being able to sleep a wink yet stayed put to bring you comfort.

Another night passed just the same as that one but the next one Cordelia, still in cat form, waited for you to fall asleep before she padded down the stairs, she reluctantly drank out of the bowl that the girls had purchased. The mere thought of having to drink from a bowl absolutely embarrassed her so she tried to do so as little as possible around you. The woman had also pleaded that the girls put wine or some form of alcohol in the bowl to which they refused knowing it would cause more harm than good. Rolling her eyes at the remembrance she gracefully walked back into the living room to lay down on the couch.  

“What if something happened? What if she’s dead?” The panicked questions that came from your cracking voice fell upon Cordelia’s ears, she wanted to nuzzle into you as she had nights before when you were falling apart however, when she attempted to sit up, she had a splitting headache and the room was spinning a bit.  

“She’s fine Y/N! Miss Cordelia is always cautious; she always comes home to us.” Zoe said calmly.

“You don’t know that she’s fine just because she’s cautious doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen! I can’t lose her Zoe and now I can’t find Dahlia either.”  

Your sobs came out in ragged breathes as you unconsciously put your weight on Zoe as she helps you descend the staircase. It was so hard for you to stay up on your feet thinking about the fact that you may never see Cordelia again and that your love for her would always go unsaid to her beautiful face. Zoe had a hold of your waist when you both entered the living room that is until you got to the couch where you saw the person that you had been so distressed over. Limbs weakened against the other witch and you dropped on your knees in front of the Headmistress, who looked positively exhausted and was lying in a naked heap on the couch. Within seconds you found your bearings and abruptly grabbed the blanket at the end of the furniture to give the older woman some warmth and less of any sense of exposure. Your hands made their way to her blonde tresses twirling some pieces around your finger relishing in the feeling of her soft locks you wanted to bury your hands in it and pull her to you feeling her soft lips against yours, the feeling was so overwhelming. That impulse was quickly released as you remembered that you may regret it or she may get mad so you settled for a soft kiss to the woman’s forehead.  

“Delia, I’m so glad you’re back, are you okay?”  

She nods and tries her best to nuzzle into your hand that is now petting her hair at the side of her face.  

“I have a terribly painful headache and the room spins when I sit up.” She looks to Zoe and asks her for some Tylenol making you jump up to get it for her instead wanting to do anything to make your Headmistress feel better when a hand tightly grabs your arm. “Stay, come lay down.” Her velvet voice tells you while wrapping the blanket around her so her naked form didn’t touch you and you had room to fit your body against her on the outside of the couch. This request was certainly a strange one although you found it pointless to argue with the older witch so you did as she asked and settled against her on the couch. Her one arm came around your midsection to hold you closer, this made your heartbeat race. Zoe came back and gave her the Tylenol before walking back upstairs to let the girls know of Miss Cordelia’s “return”. A moment later your breath hitched as you felt Delia’s hot breath against your ear, you involuntarily shivered. “I apologize for causing you such distress sweetheart. I didn’t know I worried you that much.”  

You didn’t say anything to her in return your mouth was so dry and honestly your brain was still trying to catch up with the fact that she was back, Delia was back and safe. It didn’t occur to you until a skinny finger swiped your cheek that you were sobbing once again, this time tears of relief.  

Hours later you awoke in the same place that you were on the couch before beside Cordelia. You shifted slightly trying not to wake the blonde but to your surprise she was already awake, when your eyes met hers of honey you felt that urge to kiss her. As you had this thought you noticed that her face was closer to yours; mouths centimeters away, sharing the same breath. Did you move closer? Did she? You weren’t sure but your nerves overtook you causing you to whisper snapping you both out of the moment. “Are you feeling better?”  

She nods biting her lip and looking down at the blanket that her fingers had begun to fidget with. You kissed her forehead, closing your eyes as you did so; inhaling the scent of lavender and vanilla that was Cordelia. So, lost in the comforting scent of your headmistress you failed to take note of her change in breathing, short heavier breathes causing her chest to rise and fall quicker.  

“I’d like to go up and get dressed. Will you wait outside my bedroom for me please sweetheart? We have some things we need to discuss.”  

You nod and she smiles before getting up with the blanket wrapped around her down to about an inch past her knees. As much as you tried to look away you couldn’t take your eyes off of her beautiful shaped legs as she walked up the staircase.  

Once she opened the door it was like you hadn’t seen her in years her beauty was just radiating and if you moved closer to her you felt as if you’d be burnt. She wore a black dress with emerald green flowers on it, the sleeves were cuffed at her skinny wrists which was the case with most of Cordelia’s fashion. The dress hugged her slender body in all the right places, her hair was brushed creating large soft curls, making you want to run your fingers through it again, her neck line was rather low on the dress just enough to show a large expanse of skin at the older woman’s neck and chest area. That’s when you saw it. Emerald green velvet strap with a matching emerald rhinestone surrounded by diamonds in the middle. The collar. Dahlia’s collar. What the fuck?  

Cordelia was watching you take in her appearance and she decided to let you enjoy the view before smiling and asking you to come in. You both sat next to each other on the bed facing each other.  

“M-Miss Cordelia where did you get that? Did the girl’s already talk to you about Dahlia? I was going to talk to you about her. W-why are you wearing her collar?”  

It’s not strange that you hadn’t heard of such a potion yet with your studies so it was understandable for you to be confused. Cordelia’s hand came up to touch the velvet collar before taking your hand in her other. She began explaining the situation. Leaving you staring at her in disbelief and shock.

“S-so you were Dahlia this whole time? Why didn’t you tell me that was you?” I was so angry how could she not tell me and then have the girls tell me that she was gone and have me worrying.  

“Yes, I was Dahlia. I’m so sorry Y/N, for some reason as a cat I was able to talk to the other girls but all you heard when I talked were meows. I’m not sure why that was but I asked the girls to not inform you of the transformation because it was rather embarrassing for me to have the person, I have feelings for see me like that. Although, I quickly felt regret at not telling you sooner when I saw how much pain my absence caused you.” Her voice soft and even throughout and only wavering at the end when you noticed tears started to form in her mismatched eyes.  

“Miss Cordelia, I confessed my feelings to a cat and that cat was actually you! Then I was a mess in front of you, and god you probably think I’m the most disgusting person, I’m so sorry. Can we just forge--” I paused as I replayed her last few sentences “Wait...did you say feelings? Y-You have feelings for me back?” A pain in your chest was still prominent as you asked this making it seem like you were just dreaming that she had said those words, like you were clinging on to the smallest chance that maybe this was mutual.  

A tear was falling down the older woman’s cheek but a smile graced her face. “Yes, Y/N, I have had feelings for you for a while but I never imagined that they were reciprocated but when you told Dahlia...well me about those feelings all I wanted to do was kiss you and hold you. I wanted to take all of your pain away, I’m so sorry sweetheart. Can I hold you now please?” She asked shyly while you brushed away her tear and nodded.  

You both laid on the bed you on your side, head on Delia’s chest listening to her heartbeat which brought you so much comfort. It still didn’t feel like this was real, you needed confirmation. So, you lifted your head to look at the older woman who smiled at you with the brightest pearly whites that always lit up your day.  

“Delia?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”  

“Can I kiss you?”  

She grabbed your face in both hands and lead you up her body those extra inches you needed to meet your lips with hers. At first it was just a peck, then a deeper longing kiss followed by another, your index finger grazed the collar at her throat and lightly passed over her soft skin of her neck. The action seemed possessive and it caused the older woman to smile into the kiss, making you do the same before it eventually became a heated session of tangled hands and kisses. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach and you realized this was everything you ever needed. Cordelia Goode was yours.  

Taglist: @paulsonfaygo​, @versonstar​, @pearplate

[niyes-lahiffe]

hey hey @emdoddles surprise!! I’m your secret santa! so here’s some good ol’ love square 1 and love square 2 (djwifi) in an older au ;) I hope you enjoy!! @mlsecretsanta

Babies are More Tedious Than What we Bargained For

Ao3

Paris was always so wonderfully pleasant this time of year.

Most people would disagree, since during the wintertime, it was unbearably cold to them. But to Marinette? Cold meant bundling up in soft blankets, drinking delicious hot chocolate, and of course, cuddling with her wonderful husband.

Though, right now, she had other things plaguing her mind.

Marinette was sitting at her desk, deep in thought as she repeatedly tapped the pencil in her hand against the surface. She hadn't even noticed her husband returning home from work, and what snapped her out of her stupor was when he gently kissed the top of her head.

"Oh! I didn't even realize you came in," she said bashfully. Adrien just gave her a warm smile before quirking an eyebrow.

"Alright, what's eating you?" he asked as he scanned her up and down. "You look adorable but your hair's in a messy bun. Not to mention you've got a pencil behind both ears, in your mouth, AND in your hand." He knew her too well, even if she was...obvious.

Marinette's face started growing red. "O-oh I uh, I've just been...thinking..."

His quizzical look never faltered, if not grew even more intense as he pressed her on, "About...?"

"I...I...!" She took a comically deep breath. "I WANT TO HAVE A BABY LIKE ALYA AND NINO DO."

Adrien blinked. Marinette blinked.

"You..you want a baby?"

Marinette's mouth snapped shut and she nodded eccentrically.

As Adrien gawked, Marinette prepared herself for the worst, whether it be him denying because he didn't want one or because he wasn't ready or...

She yelped when Adrien gleefully scooped her up in the air with a bright laugh. "Marinette, that's wonderful!"

His hug was so tight but it was wondrous. Marinette blinked down in surprise at him. "It...really?" She didn't think she'd ever seen his grin as big as it was at this moment.

"Yes!" The kiss he gave her lips was sloppy, short and excited, and it sent every one of his emotions through his wife's veins. He set her down, but not before he twirled her around again, their delighted laughter filling the air. "I know we've talked about it briefly before but neither of us were ready...but I think we are now."

Marinette grinned at him, agreeing, "I think so, too."

They leaned in for another kiss when a loud, boisterous noise from outside interrupted. They were completely jarred, immediately running to the window to see what on earth had happened.

In unison they dashed over to the window.

"Oh dear..."

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

"Hot coco's done!"

Nino walked up to his wife, who help their baby in her arms. Little Zoe giggled at her papa when he leaned down to give her chin a tickle.

"It smells fabulous, babe," Alya complimented before reaching her head forward to give Nino's forehead a kiss as he played with Zoe.

The ground suddenly shook, and Alya and Nino both gasped. She handed the baby to the DJ after he set down the coco and peeked through the blinds to see what was going on. Her face blanched.

"...What is it?" Nino asked as Zoe babbled in his arms, completely carefree as she played with the headphones around his neck.

"I don't know, but it's something bad. Maybe an akuma, maybe some strange magic force, maybe something worse."

They both glanced at their kwamis, who shrugged.

Nino was in shock, yet still groaned. "An akuma? We haven't even heard from Hawkmoth in years! Why now?"

Alya backed away from the window, clearly distressed. "I don't know, but we need to help."

"Alya, we have a baby."

"One of us needs to go and see what's going on, then," Alya replied as she gently gave her fingers to Zoe, who grabbed them excitedly.

Nino first looked at his wife, then down at the baby in his arms. He was silent for a moment before saying, "You go. I'll watch over her."

Alya nodded and pecked her husband on the lips. "I'll let you know if we need any help."

"Please be safe, babe."

"I will." Rena Rouge was now standing where Alya was a moment ago, and she smiled encouragingly as she leaped out the window. Zoe cooed in awe as her mother, now a colorful superhero, zipped away.

"Don't worry, she'll keep her promise," Nino told his daughter, though he was mostly talking to himself. "She has to."

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

Carapace stood on the street in anxious anticipation. Rena had never contacted him, but judging by how long she was gone, he knew they were eventually going to need help.

Zoe was in his arms, sound asleep despite the loud noises of battle that surrounded every corner. This child was truly something else.

He hadn't had any time to get in touch with a babysitter, friend, or anyone of the sort, so he had to stick with putting a fake Rena mask on his child's face so no one would recognize her. It was a super cute mask that he absolutely would be gawking over if he wasn't so nervous about the fight.

Carapace's toe tapped as he heard Ladybug and Chat calling out in the distance, then cursed internally as he watched his wife fly across a few buildings.

Yeah, he really needed to help.

Carapace turned to the woman who was standing next to him, watching the fight in concern, and said, "HI do you like babies?"

He probably should've worded his sentence a bit better. The lady turned to him with wide and incredibly confused eyes. Rightfully so, but it was too late to go back now.

"Uh..yeah. I do," she replied. Judging by her weary eyes, it was obvious she'd already have run off if Carapace wasn't one of Paris' famed heroes.

"GREAT!" He gently shoved Zoe into her arms and took off, yelling all in one breath, "Watch her for me for a quick sec I'll be right back thank you!!"

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

The tedious battle had finally been conquered. It definitely wasn't CHALLENGING, per-say, but it was one of those times where everything just took forever. Rena had already given Carapace a scolding for practically throwing their child into a unknown lady's arms, but his defense was he was too anxious to think straight. However, when they finally landed on the street The green-clad superhero had dropped off Zoe, the lady was there and the baby...wasn't.

Carapace gawked at her. The lady also looked surprised so there was that, but she unfortunately wasn't getting out of the parents' rage.

"Where." He was going to say more but the lady interrupted with a panicked, "I DON'T KNOW SHE WAS HERE A SECOND AGO I SWEAR-"

"She was what?" Rena stepped in.

The woman proceeded to explain that she had been holding onto the baby for one moment (despite the extreme confusion at the suddenness of it all), and then she was simply...gone the next.

"You gave our baby. To a random stranger. And she LOST HER?" Carapace started backing up as Rena gripped her hair. "YOU GAVE OUR BABY TO A RANDOM STRANGER AND THEN SHE LOST HER!!" Her husband couldn't get away in time. Rena grabbed his shoulders and shook him viciously enough to cause him to go dizzy.

"I-wh-ah-eh-I-wh-"

The stranger pointed behind them, eyes wide as a kite (and luckily before Rena could do any more damage) and croaked, "Uhhh...what's that?"

Carapace and Rena Rouge looked behind them to see a floating Rena Rouge mask.

"Mama! Da!" A childish voice called out happily, and Carapace would've had a heart attack as the mask stepped closer if he didn't instantly recognize the voice.

"There's my girl!" Rena rushed forward and scooped the object in the air, which admittedly looked pretty odd. Zoe giggled as she materialized into view. The superhero turned back to her husband, whose eyes were wider than saucers. The random lady was also no where to be seen. "So...our child can turn invisible. Might be a good idea to let LB and CN know."

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

Ladybug sat atop the rooftop and sighed as the sun fell, sending the sky into an array of beautiful deep colors. Sunsets in Paris were something magical, especially in the winter when all the clouds gathered together to create combinations never seen before.

Chat Noir landed beside her with a thump and gave her a delighted wink when she smiled up at him. He sat down next to her, fake stretching so he could casually slide his arm around her.

"I'm your wife, you dolt, you don't have to do that," she snickered at him.

Another pair of thumps sounded from behind them and they turned to see Rena and Carapace, with their still-masked baby in their arms.

"Sorry for the interruption, L," Rena said, smiling at her and Chat's extremely cheesy position.

"We've got some tubular news!" Carapace help Zoe out from underneath her arms, and she blew a raspberry at the pair of superheros. "Look at my child."

"That's great news but I think we knew about that already," Chat joked.

"But watch this!" Rena walked up to Zoe and said, "Can you show us your little trick, baby?"

Zoe laughed happily as she suddenly disappeared from view, leaving only the mask behind.

"WHOA now that's new!"

"What on earth caused this?" Ladybug asked as she stared in awe.

 Carapace said, "We're not entirely sure-"

"-But we think it has something to do with the fact we're both miraculous holders," Rena finished for him. She tickled the area below the mask and Zoe reappeared with more giggles.

Ladybug and Chat stared at each other. "Well. That's certainly...exciting!" Ladybug chided.

Rena inspected the both of them for a good moment. "You two are planning on having a kid, aren't you?"

They would certainly be surprised if they didn't know this was just how Alya was.

Ladybug sighed, defeated. "Yeah..."

"Well, I just wanna let you know that, despite how strange this is, I know Carapace and I will get through it." She grabbed her husband's hand and gave him a warm smile, which he returned.

Chat laughed at their cheesiness. "That's GROSSSS."

"Oh like you and lovebug aren't any better, cat boy!"

"We can tell you two dudes need to talk, though, so we'll give you some space," Carapace said with a wink. Then, he and Rena were off with a heartful goodbye.

Ladybug and Chat were silent for a long moment, finding themselves holding their hands together tightly.

She finally broke the silence with a, "...I still think we should do it."

Chat gave her hand a loving squeeze. "I think so, too."

They shared another sweet kiss as the sun finished setting, unsure of what was to come for their future, but they knew they'd be fine as long as they were together.

[szamsson]

i'm a sucker for the fics where sander and senne are friends and its a shame we never got an interaction between them in canon so could you write something about that? like robbe introducing the two of them? thank uuuu :)

(so wish we got that interaction, how epic)

Sander woke up feeling as if he was in a furnace, or had fallen asleep on the sun. He blinked his eyes open and one by one catalogued his limbs and chest, feeling a heavy, sweaty weight pressed against him. He slightly tipped his head and saw Robbe sprawled out over the top of him, pretty much lying completely on top of his, head just under his chin and mouth sightly open. His face too was flushed and it looked like even in his sleep Robbe was also on fire. 

Sander gently rolled Robbe over to the other side of the bed, grinning when the younger boy let out a whine and tried unconsciously to shift back into Sander arms. Sander got up, kissed him on his sweaty forehead and watched as Robbe snuggled back into the bed. He had forgotten he decided to sleep at the flatshare last night and his eyes darted around for his clothes, which seemed to be no where in sight. It was also hot as hell and he remembered only wearing jeans and a sweatshirt over last night which he was definitely not in the mood to put back on. He picked up a pair of Robbe’s sweatpants and shoved them on. Thankfully, his tiny boyfriend wore all his clothes about 10 sizes too big so they fit Sander okay. He then headed out into the kitchen in pursuit of coffee. 

He was looking down at his phone as he walked through and therefore was shocked as he bumped into a solid body, making him stumble back a few steps. He looked up shocked and saw a grinning Senne, standing with the fridge open in front of him.

“Sorry sorry!” Senne laughed, putting a steadying hand on his arm. It was then Sander realised he was shirtless and barefoot and got a tiny bit self conscious. 

“No it’s fine, I wasn’t looking” Sander replied, voice still low and grumbly from sleep. “Coffee?”

“Help yourself,” Senne said gesturing to the pot that was already brewed. Sander smiled gratefully as Senne sat down at the table, pulling out another chair gesturing for Sander to join him. 

“You boys have a fun night?” Senne asked, smirking suggestively with a tongue in cheek expression. Sander automatically blushed. He wasn’t usually shy about anything but there was something about Senne, his carefree nature and the way he was like an older brother to Robbe. 

“Fuck sorry, were we loud?” Sander said, cheeks heating more. Senne simply laughed harder.

“Nah man, I’m fucking with you,” he took a sip of his coffee, “I didn’t even stumble home until after 2.”

Sander scowled at him, rolling up a napkin and tossing it in his direction. “Why are you up this early then?”

“Who knows,” Senne replied, “Still drunk maybe?” 

Sander smiles back at him. He does really like Senne, they have somewhat of an easy camaraderie. 

“So is Zoe as stressed out about school as Robbe is?” Sander asks, thinking back to last night when he pretty much had to drag Robbe from his desk after talking him down from a panic attack.

Senne let out a huge sigh, looking exhausted. “Yeah she’s really struggling. And it’s sucks because I want to help her, but you know how they are at that age, it’s like high school is the end of the world.”

Sander nodded, “Yeah high school wasn’t really my thing.” 

“Maybe we could do something for them.” Senne said, sitting up excitedly.

Sanders brows furrowed as he looked back at Senne. “Like what...” he said tentatively.

“Double date?” Senne looked like a little boy in a candy shop, and Sander couldn’t help but snort and agree. The boys then started discussing the most extra romantic double date in history.

They stopped talking when a sleepy Robbe trudged into the room. He looked like he was sleep walking as he walked over to them and instead of pulling out a chair, simply collapsed into Sander’s lap, straddling him and tucking his head into his shoulder. Sander gave Senne a look over his shoulder as if to say, ‘this stubborn baby’ to which Senne just grinned fondly back. 

Acknowledging that the kitchen had gone quiet, Robbe raised his head and looked between the two boys suspiciously. 

“Are you two plotting something.” To which the older two boys just mimed zipping their lips in unison and laughed as Robbe groaned into Sanders neck. 

[aion-rsa]

How Dear Evan Hansen Changes the Musical’s Ending

https://ift.tt/2XGJPiD

This article contains Dear Evan Hansen spoilers, both for the movie and the stage show.

No matter how you come to the story of Dear Evan Hansen, and regardless of the medium, things always have to end at the same apple orchard. It’s fitting since Evan’s first major lie about Connor Murphy, the boy who killed himself, was that they spent whole days in the then-abandoned orchard, talking about girls, boats, and whatever other fantasies Evan could concoct. And it’s here that Zoe Murphy, Connor’s younger sister, requests Evan meet her for the story’s final scene.

This is true of the stage show, which took Broadway by storm five years ago—winning six Tonys including for Best Musical and Best Actor for Ben Platt—and it’s the same for the movie, with Platt’s Evan coming to a now renewed orchard and sitting with the cinematic Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever). Among the trees, Evan can see at least one good thing that came out of his lies: The Connor Murphy Project reopened this small slice of paradise.

Yet how Dear Evan Hansen gets to that moment in the movie is drastically different from the stage musical. Then again, so is the world in the five years since the musical’s Broadway debut (and six since it was first performed in Washington D.C.). Hence why director Stephen Chbosky and screenwriter Steven Levenson, who adapted his own book from the stage, have attempted to adjust to our current social climate. The new ending addresses the harshest criticisms about the Evan Hansen character, and the values his tale might promote. This is, after all, a musical about a troubled young man who exploits the suicide of a stranger in his school to increase his popularity and to insinuate himself into the dead boy’s family.

But is the new ending an actual improvement? Well…

How Dear Evan Hansen Ends on Stage

The entire narrative of Dear Evan Hansen pivots on a misunderstanding between Evan and the Murphy family as the latter grieve over the suicide of Connor. When Connor’s parents, Cynthia and Larry, first misconstrue Evan’s letter to himself as their son’s suicide note, Evan attempts to correct them. However, they seem so heartbroken, and Evan is so desperate to please and be accepted—by anyone—he quickly goes along with it and begins spinning tales about his and Connor’s intimate friendship.

The musical is thus a rising crescendo that builds as Evan climbs higher and higher off his mistruths. So the inevitable moment where his house of cards comes crashing down is the narrative’s real climax. And yet, in the original version of Dear Evan Hansen, the story more or less ends right there. After Evan confesses in the song “Words Fail” that he lied about the letter and his entire friendship with Connor, the horrified Murphys walk away from him one by one, with various degrees of disgust. He then comes clean to his mother in the final big song of the show, “So Big / So Small,” where she comforts her son. She’ll never walk away.

The musical then quickly jumps one year into the future, with Evan revealed to be working part-time and attending community college, hoping to save up enough money to someday attend a university. Zoe, who’s now a senior in high school, invites Evan to the orchard where he thanks her family for never revealing his secret to the public—never telling the world he lied about Connor. And, rather incredulously, Zoe absolves Evan and the audience of any guilt. She says, “Everybody needed [the lie] for something.” She even goes so far to say it “saved my parents.” It brought her family closer together.

So while it’s still bittersweet since Evan’s relationship with the Murphys, including Zoe, is forever severed, there are still no real consequences for Evan other than Cynthia and Larry won’t pay for his college education. Even his guilt is assuaged, and he can brag to Zoe that he’s been reading the 10 books Connor said were his favorites in eighth grade. The show more or less ends in a figurative group hug by omitting through a time jump all of the messy fallout from his choices.

How Dear Evan Hansen the Movie Ends

In the film, “Words Fail” is still the climax of the story, with Evan confessing his sins and Zoe walking away. However, in one telling addition, Cynthia (played with delicate fragility by Amy Adams) is barely able to whisper, “I think it’s time for you to leave” while holding back tears. Since she was Evan’s biggest champion, that she is now the one who states explicitly he is disinvited from their home hits hardest.

Then after Evan’s heart-to-heart with his mother (Julianne Moore), we actually see Evan attempt to make amends for his misdeeds. For starters, the whole reason the truth finally came out in both versions of the story is because of the machinations of a schoolmate named Alana (Amandla Stenberg in the film), who accidentally unleashed a whole social media mob on the Murphys, with randos on the internet blaming the parents for Connor’s suicide.

On stage, this plot element is entirely dropped after Evan confesses to the Murphys, who presumably bear the brunt of the social media hate in quiet while protecting Evan’s secret. In the film though, Evan actually attempts to talk to Zoe in school the following week and she asks him to leave her alone. She also reveals the only reason her parents haven’t unmasked what Evan did is because “they’re afraid you’ll do something to yourself.” Like Connor.

Thus Evan gets on Twitter that night and tells the world, “[The Murphys] don’t deserve your hate. I do.” He confesses. Afterward, he again becomes a high school pariah, but we learn in montage he is more content this way as he tries to make further amends to the Murphys by not only reading Connor’s favorite books but tracking down someone’s phone video of Connor during his stint in rehab. Evan even finds footage of Connor playing his guitar, a feat he hid from his parents. The new song “A Little Closer,” which scores the final montage, is revealed to be a melody Connor wrote and sang in rehab, and Evan is able to at least mail that to Connor’s parents. He’s finally given them something true that they didn’t know about their son.

Only then, before the current school year ends, does Zoe invite Evan to an apple orchard and they reminisce about what might’ve been.

Does It Improve Evan Hansen and the Story?

The clear implication for adding these sequences, plus a song that the real Connor Murphy character can sing, is intended to fix the moral and thematic slipperiness at the heart of Dear Evan Hansen. Through a series of hummable ballads by songwriters Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, and some heartbreaking performances, including by Platt in the original cast, the stage production relies on the power of its emotions to overwhelm logic or deeper analysis. Some might even say it manipulates.

Yet over the years, the musical has had its fair share of detractors who pointed out how calculating and toxic the Evan Hansen character can appear. And the fact the musical just ends on the emotional high point without actually bothering to sift through the wreckage of what Evan did has always been a cheat.

Conversely, there are a few fleeting sequences in the stage version where the musical at least briefly seems to consider its darker implications. Evan’s loose group of (bad) friends in Alana and Jared contribute to this element in the song “Good for You,” where they sing in unison, “Well, I guess if I’m not of use, go ahead, you can cut me loose. Go ahead now, I won’t mind.”

The Alana relationship is particularly interesting in the show since it is only after she demands of Evan “how” will he raise $17,000 that he shows her Connor’s “suicide note.” He immediately protests after she decides to post it online, but did he not on some level show it to her in order for her to use it to raise $17,000 and reopen the apple orchard? After this scene, Alana ghosts him, suggesting she was herself only using Evan to brandish her social clout in the school and, eventually, her college applications.

The Dear Evan Hansen movie tries to wipe even this thorniness away. The context of Evan showing the note to Alana is handled slightly differently, but as a consequence there’s no ambiguity on why he showed it to her—he did not intend for her to share it online. She also, like Evan, is softened around the edges when she does answer Evan’s ringing phone on-screen and cries that she tried to take the letter down but it’s still all over social media.

The logic behind the change would seem to make both Evan and Alana more purely sympathetic and blameless for their mistakes. In Alana’s case, she isn’t a master manipulator, and in Evan’s case it is beyond his control when others take things too far. He then puts in the work to help the Murphys, beginning by admitting to the world his dishonesty.

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These were obviously conscious choices made after the five years and full lifetime which passed since 2016—a year where Barack Obama was still president and the #MeToo movement hadn’t yet occurred. Now in an age where social accountability, especially in online life, and alleged authenticity are valued more than ever, having a hero who lies to the world and gets away with it is inherently problematic. So the flaws in Evan’s choices, and even Alana’s, are “fixed” with crocodile tears of regret from Alana, and then Evan making an actual effort to atone for his mistakes.

Yet I would argue it doesn’t actually improve the fundamental issues with the musical. In the case of Alana, having a character show the ugly side of social manipulation, even among ostensibly sympathetic figures, was one of the truer impulses in a story that otherwise glorifies the healing power of finding validation from strangers on the internet. While both the film and show also depict the downside of online life with a discordant singing hydra coming after the Murphys, it’s only because of a couple of misguided mistakes. And in the case of the stage show, the larger message is Evan’s musical platitudes are simply too powerful (or profitable) for the Murphys to shatter.

In 2021, Evan and his creators make the choice that he can admit his mistakes. Yet the story still attempts to justify Evan’s actions, which ironically puts the film at odds with itself. It basks in the splendor of Evan’s self-help ballad, “You Will Be Found,” and then shows him suffering comeuppance for lying—even if Zoe still gives him final absolution.

The one significant change that clicks for me is Evan at least seeking out some hidden truth about Connor, and sharing it with the real people who actually loved him instead of strangers, who in turn would only again offer performative gestures and signaled virtue toward a kid they otherwise ignored. Hearing Colton Ryan’s Connor sing for himself—for the first time in any medium—and not merely be a puppet for Evan’s self-serving fantasies was a significant, moving improvement over how this thread is resolved on the stage.

Still, I think going further in that direction with Evan realizing the crassness of what he created, and the emptiness of his bromides, would’ve made this a more interesting narrative. But what do I know? My instincts wouldn’t have turned this into a Broadway anthem for Generation Z. So how about yourself? Do you like the new ending to Dear Evan Hansen?

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The post How Dear Evan Hansen Changes the Musical’s Ending appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[starrynighttime]

Chat Blanc: Scarlet Lady AU Part 1

AU by @zoe-oneesama

Big thanks to @minimalist-dreamer for helping me write this!

Part 2

Marinette was having a pretty good day, and she was sure it was only going to get better. First, she had finished all her homework early, then she completed some sketches that she was quite proud of, and now she had a meeting with Adrien at the café with patrol right after! She pushed open the door with a pep in her step. Not even Scarlet Lady could ruin today!

Adrien squirmed in his seat. Plagg had told him over and over that there was nothing to worry about, and he was probably right, but Adrien was still nervous. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he spilled coffee all over himself? What if- Adrien stopped himself before he could assume the worst. It was just going to be him and Marinette, two friends at a coffee shop talking about fashion and other things.

Before long, he heard the bells by the door chime and Marinette walked in. She smiled when she saw him.

“Hey, Adrien! Were you waiting for very long?” she asked, sitting across from him. Adrien shook his head.

“Not at all!” he said, pulling himself out of a trance. They ordered their coffees and caught up a little bit until they arrived. Then Marinette pulled out her sketchbook.

“So, what do you think of these for the upcoming fashion contest?” she asked, sliding it towards him. Adrien flipped through the book curiously and quickly got blown away.

“Wow” was all he could bring himself to say. “T-these are amazing, Marinette.” Marinette smiled shyly.

“Thanks, Adrien. I’m just a bit nervous. I mean, it’s not every day your dad announces a design contest like this. I’m jittery just thinking about it.” she murmured, sipping her coffee. Adrien smiled.

“Well, with designs like these-”

“Well, well, well!” a familiar, haughty voice called from behind them. Marinette and Adrien grimaced in unison as Chloe walked over to their table. “Adrikins, what are you doing here with Dupain-Cheng? You do realize that hanging around with low-lives will turn you into one, right?”

“Is that why he stopped hanging out with you?” Marinette grumbled under her breath. Chloe shot her a dirty look.

“Well, Maritrash-”

“Her name is Marinette.” Adrien interrupted. “And we’re here together because she wanted me to give her some advice on her designs, not that she needed it, though. Her designs are impeccable.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed. Then, she grinned evilly.

“Are they really? I’ll just take a look and--Oopsy!” Chloe poured her coffee onto Marinette’s open sketchbook. “Looks like your designs are ruined.” Adrien’s face contorted with rage.

“Chloe! What the f-”

“Adrien, it’s okay.” Marinette murmured, her voice impossibly calm.

“It’s okay?! But-”

“This is my laminated sketchbook.”

“What?”

“WHAT?!”

Marinette smiled and wiped the coffee off of her designs with her napkin. Sure enough, the laminated pages protected the designs effectively. Marinette smiled innocently at Chloe, who had an expression of pure rage on her face. With a mighty hmph, the Mayor’s daughter stormed out of the café.

Marinette took a sip of coffee and checked her watch. 5:15. “I should probably get going. I have to get up early tomorrow.” Adrien nodded, still frazzled from what had just happened.

“I-yeah, me too. It was great hanging out with you, Marinette.” the baker’s daughter blushed slightly and smiled.

“We should do this again sometime, just us two.” Now it was Adrien’s turn to blush.

“I’d like that.”

———————

Marinette ducked into an alleyway and Pollen flew out of her purse, smiling knowingly.

“Has my queen found her prince?” the kwami teased. Marinette blushed.

“H-he’s just a friend.”

“A very handsome friend.”

“I-I just... Buzz on!” Marinette transformed and threw out her spinning top. She had a patrol to get to.

Adrien stared in shock as Marigold flew out of the alleyway that Marinette was just in.

“What?” He murmured.

Marigold hopped across the rooftops, slightly red in the face. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly ran into Bunnix, who was walking out of her burrow.

“Woah, there, Mini-gold! Slow down before you break an ankle!” Marigold blinked.

“Bunnix? What are you-” 

“-Listen carefully.” Bunnix interrupted, placing her hands on Marigold’s shoulders. “Something happened today that caused a major disaster in the future, but I’m not sure what it was or when it happened exactly. Anything unusual to report on your side?”

Surprised, Marigold shook her head. Bunnix chewed on her lip.

“Okay, in my Burrow, now!” Before Marigold could protest, Bunnix grabbed her arm and pulled her through the time portal.

Bunnix put a bowl on Marigold’s head as soon as she was inside.

“Wait, what? Why is-”

“Wanna know what you’re getting for your next birthday?”

“Of course not.”

“Exactly!”

A little while later, Bunnix pushed Marigold through a different portal and removed the bowl from her head. Marigold’s eyes widened.

“What happened here?”

“The less you know about the future, the better. Just capture the Akuma in your weapon and bring it back to me. Then the train will be back on track.”

“You’re not staying?”

“I gotta stand ready to jump back into time and try something else, in case you fail. Mwah!”

Bunnix blew a kiss and walked back into her Burrow. She placed a hand on a nearby portal to watch the events that led up to this moment.

———————

Marigold plopped down next to Cat Noir, who smiled.

“Heya, Goldie. What’s up?”

“Everything, Cat Noir. Today was the perfect day. Not even Scarlet Lady can ruin today!”

“Wow. That good, huh?”

Marigold nodded and looked out at the sunset. Cat Noir snuck a glance at her. How did he not figure it out sooner? Their kindness, their determination, their laugh, even their smiles were the same.

After the patrol, Adrien detransformed in an alleyway.

“I can’t believe it, Plagg,” he said as the kwami appeared in front of him. “The two most amazing girls I know are the same girl!” Plagg gulped.

“Are you entirely sure that Marigold and Marinette are the same people?” Adrien grinned.

“Well, you just confirmed it! I never said either of their names before you did!”

“Son of a fish.”

“But this is so amazing! I mean, I was holding back because I didn’t want to endanger Marinette and I was quickly falling for my superhero partner. Not to mention being Scarlet Lady’s ‘partner’ is exhausting and time-consuming so I wouldn’t be able to devote my time properly to either of them anyway. But now, I know they’re the same girl AND Marinette can protect herself just fine AND she’s freed me from the burden of having to work with Scarlet. That’s... the biggest three-way win I can think of.”

Plagg couldn’t help but let a little smile slip through. His kitten was just so happy. And he had to admit, he really couldn’t do much better than Marinette/Marigold. Even before she got the bee miraculous, she was a hero. Plagg shook off the warm and fuzzy feelings.

“Alright kid. I get it. Love and happiness and whatnot. Can we go home now? I need some cheese.” Adrien smiled.

“Plagg, never change.”

“Never will.”

Adrien walked out of the alleyway, not noticing his yellow-clad superheroine partner, frozen on the roof with shock. She didn’t hear what he was saying to his kwami, but she had just seen him detransform.

“What?” Marigold murmured, her eyes wide.

———————

Later, Marinette flopped onto her bed and screamed into a pillow. Pollen buzzed worriedly above her. “Marinette, are you alright?”

“No! I’m not alright! Everything is just so frickin perfect!” Marinette exclaimed. Pollen frowned, confused.

“Wait, is everything not alright or is everything perfect? Humans can be so confusing.” Pollen muttered. Marinette took a deep breath.

“It’s just... Adrien is Cat Noir. The two kindest and most amazing guys I know are the same guy! I mean, I was holding myself back because I was torn between them and they were both equally stressed and overworked. Now, I know they’re the same guy AND I know WHY he was stressed AND I can lessen his burden. It’s like... the biggest three way win I can think of.”

Pollen smiled at her holder, then frowned at her sad expression.

“But then... why are you so upset?” Marinette sat up and hugged a pillow to her chest.

“Well, because I’ve been denying my feeling for both of these guys for who knows how long. Just because I’ve found out my feelings for him doesn’t mean that he has them for me. And I don’t want to ruin the amazing friendship I already have because of my feelings.” Pollen smiled and buzzed next to her.

“I think you should tell him. If he does reject your feelings, that’s okay. Just keep on being friends with him. It sounds like you two have an amazing relationship, anyway. Just because he doesn’t share the same romantic feelings back doesn’t mean you should stop being friends.” Marinette smiled.

“Thanks, Pollen. That makes me feel better.”

“Anytime, Marinette.”

(A/n: monologues come from this post)

———————

Adrien blushed.

“W-what?”

“I-I’m in love with you, Adrien. And I’ve been denying it for years and I literally just found out last week and now I have no idea what to do and now I’m rambling and-”

“-I’m in love with you too.” Adrien interrupted. Marinette’s eyes widened.

“Really?” Adrien nodded and took her hand.

“Yeah.”

They smiled at each other and leaned in slightly...

“And then what happened?!” Alya exclaimed. Marinette grinned.

“You want to go get some lunch? I’m starving.” she said, walking ahead in the direction of the bakery. Alya gasped.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, don’t you dare walk away from me! I must know what happened!” she shrieked, chasing her grinning friend. Eventually, she grabbed Marinette’s hand.

“C’mon, Marinette! What happened?!” Marinette smiled and looked up at the sky longingly.

“Well, then he kissed me.” she murmured, her cheeks coloring slightly as she remembered. Alya couldn’t help herself. She let out a squeal of excitement and hugged her best friend. “Alya...”

“I’m so happy! My two best friends are together and they’re in love and they’re going to be together forever!”

———————

“Dude! That’s amazing!” Nino exclaimed, clapping his best friend on the back.

“Yeah, I almost can’t believe it actually happened.” Adrien said, grinning shyly. Nino spun around and grabbed onto Adrien’s shoulders.

“Dude. Is it really that unbelievable? You two have had feelings for each other for a very long time and you are going to be together forever.” Adrien blushed.

“Do you really think so?”

“I know so. Trust me.”

———————

Marigold swung across Paris in the direction of the Eiffel Tower to meet Cat Noir. Three million thoughts ran through her head. Should I tell him I know who he is? Should I tell him who I am? Should I tell him we’re together in our civilian forms? What if he thinks I’m only with him because he’s Cat Noir? What if he doesn’t want to be with me when he finds out who I am? What if-

Marigold slammed into the side of the tower, interrupting her train of thought.

“Woah there, Goldie!” a familiar voice called. She turned to see Cat Noir with a concerned expression on his face. “Are you okay? That was a pretty hard hit.” Marigold nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.” She answered, landing on the cool metal beam next to her partner. “Is Scar going to show up?” Cat Noir shrugged.

“Probably not, but I don’t care.” Marigold chuckled.

“So, anyway, what’s been going on with you?” she asked noncholantly. Cat Noir hesitated, then blushed.

“Well, I have a girlfriend now.” he admitted, finally. “Honestly, I feel lucky she even likes me. She’s talented, kind, and determined... I fell in love instantly.” Marigold blinked in surprise.

“Did you really?” Cat Noir nodded. 

“Of course. I would have been insane not to.” Marigold fought to hide her blush. This was Adrien, her boyfriend, talking about her. “Anyway, what about you?” Cat Noir asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Anything going on in your life?” Marigold hesitated. How much should she reveal? 

“Well...” she began “I actually have a boyfriend now. I can’t belive how long it took for me to realize my feelings for him. He is handsome, kind, and helpful. Oh, and he’s also a huge dork. You should see how excited he gets whenever we watch Tangled together. He just...” Marigold sighed. “I love that dork so much, it’s not even funny.” Her partner sniffled beside her. “Cat Noir... are you crying?”

“What? No! I just... have something in my eye.” He coughed into his elbow. Marigold raised an eyebrow, but decided to let it go. 

“Hey.” She raised a fist for him to bump. “No matter what, we’ll always have each other, right?” Cat Noir hesitated, then bumped her fist with a smile. 

“Of course.” He said. “Always and forever.”

———————

“It’s heartbreak for all the girls in Paris as supermodel Adrien Agreste has a girlfriend, classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette learned how to evade paparazzi pretty quickly. After all, her boyfriend was an expert.

———————

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, your relationship with my son is detrimental to the Gabriel Agreste brand. I demand that you stop seeing him at once.” 

“What? But... I didn’t do anything.”

“If you refuse, I will remove Adrien from school and he will never see his friends again.”

Marinette gasped and dropped the tray of macarons she was holding.

“A-Adrien doesn’t deserve this!” she cried.

“Then make the right choice.”

Tears slid down Marinette’s face. Without warning, she turned on her heel and ran upstairs and into her room, locking the trapdoor behind her. She threw herself onto her bed and sobbed. The clouds darkened overhead, reflecting her mood. Pollen tried to comfort her, but there was nothing she could do.

A little while later, Marinette walked downstairs. Her hair was a mess, her face was blotchy, and her eyes were bloodshot. She didn’t say anything. She just grabbed an umbrella and walked out the door, ignoring her parents’ looks of concern.

———————

She promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, but she knew deep down that it was impossible. She hated doing it. She hated that she was making herself do this. She hated seeing his heart break in half as she forced the words out of her mouth. She hated that there was no other way. 

The rain poured around her as she sat on the steps of the Metro and sobbed, hiding under her umbrella. She was sure he hated her now. What kind of girlfriend breaks up with her partner with no explanation? What kind of person just ends it like that?

A familiar voice jarred her from her thoughts.

“Marinette! Move!”

“A-Adrien?” 

She turned to see Adrien running towards her, an unnaturally determined look on his face. 

“Plagg, claws out!” 

Marinette watched in shock as Cat Noir summoned his cataclysm and closed his hand over the purple butterfly that was inches from her face. 

“Adrien!” She gasped. He smiled sadly at her.

“You were about to be akumatized, I didn’t have a choice, My Flower.”

Marinette stood there in shock. Then, with tears in her eyes, she dropped her umbrella and hugged her partner.

“Everything will be okay. I promise.” He whispered, sadness in his voice as he wrapped his arms around her. 

They sat there for a long time. Cat Noir’s transformation faded out, but they kept holding onto each other as the rain poured around them. 

“So... you knew?” she murmured. Adrien nodded.

“So did you.” he replied. Marinette bit her lip and hugged him tighter.

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you...” she sniffled, her tears leaking onto his shirt.

“Shhh... it’s okay. Everything will be fine, Marinette.” 

“No, no... don’t say that, it’s only going to get worse from here...” she whispered.

“How?”

“W-what?”

“How is it going to get worse?” Marinette chewed her lip and and disentangled herself from his embrace. He let her, but still held onto her hand. “Marinette, please...”

“I-I can’t.” she said, finally, her voice shakey. Marinette let her hand slip out from his and she walked down the steps and into the Metro as Adrien watched, tears streaming down his face.

She didn’t even pick up her umbrella.

———————

(A/n okay, wow! I actually wrote this... okay. I have a second part in the works, but I don’t know if it’ll be finished anytime soon. So... thanks for reading and let me know if you have feedback!)

———————

(Edit: Part 2 is done! Read it here)

[chappedandfadedvds]

Jan 21st, Thursday 23:44

He felt his eyes bruning as he watched the game get closed by Lucas beside him. 

It was late and for the last hours they had been constantly talking. 

Right after dinner with Kes and Isa, to talk about the weekend and them arriving tomorrow. Lucas was already looking forward to have his friends over. They would visit Antwerp for the first time, unfortunately inmidst the pandemic, which therefore menat that they’d only get to see the trip from the station to Jens’s place. Maybe another time, it would be a little more exciting. 

Still, the sole fact that Lucas could hug his best friends tomorrow, was enough to forget about the rest.

And then at around nine the two both had bid their goodbye and switched towards the large group chat on discord, for some good ol’ Among Us.

Jens had been a bit wary as Lotte had joined them to talk to Isa, but fallen asleep halfway through the conversation. She had rested her head in his lap, as she had made herself comfortable. His blanket covered her whole and her breathing was even. He had brushed through her her for a while until he was with his friends.

Because it was loud and chaotic and constant talking and yelling over each other, especially as they were busy playing. Jens had been worried that it would wake his little sister. But she seemed to really be out of it. Hadn’t even moved, when Sander had screamed at Milan’s betrayal two games in.

Amber had voiced her adoration at the sight of the´m three huddled together on Jens’s bed. He silently had agreed to the serene bliss that showed on the little video on the screen in call.

With Lotte sleeping on one side, her head buried on his stretched out legs and Lucas to his left, pressed against Jens, it really looked domestic. The younger boy’s head fell onto his shoulder every time that Jens was taking control of the player. They were too many for the lobby anyway, so they had decided to switch back and forth between games at the start.

However, as the energy had subsideded and a pleseant weariness had made them all agree to stop for tonight, the group was still in call for a little while, just talking, checking their phones. Some already ready to go.

„Guys? Do you have like a minute left?“ Jens voiced, with Lucas turning around in curiousity. The same one that was instantly displayed by all of his friends given him their full attention. It was a bit fightening to suddenly be faced by complete silence. „I just wanted to tell you something real quick.“

Like whiplash, Jens was quickly swamped by everyone giving him words of encouragment to continue. It was hard to distinguish between the voices cracking over the speaker.

„Alright.“ 

„Of course.“

„Take your time.“

„What’s up, Bro? Spill.“ That last one, definitely had been Moyo.

„So. I know that I had been really distant, especially over the last couple of weeks. And thank you so much for sticking with me. I know I can be a dick. I didn’t mean to ghost you all. I just needed time to figure myself out.“ 

Sander looked as if he wanted to say something, but Jens just went on. He couldn’t stop here, or he would decide to defer this onto some later date. But he had promised Lucas to change, and this would be one of the steps to take. 

In all honesty his friends at least deserved that.

„This really means a lot to me. Especially since I havent really talked about everything that is going on. I promise you to do that, not today though. I hope you won’t be mad. But uhm, I actually meant it in the cabin, when I said that I will raise Lotte on my own.“ Jens paused for a second, his gaze dropping to the sleeping figure in his lap. He knew he had made the right desicion back in december. „So Today I got my court date to see the judge, who will hopefully grant me the complete guardianship over her. And I‘m really nervous.“ Jens ended and exhaled. He said nervous and it was the truth. On one hadn how his friends would react and if they would accept it. 

It certainly would complicate future plans. He couldn’t just spend a couple of weeks with them on trips, or go to spontaneous parties, or stay out after school, just because he felt like it. He knew it would change their dynamic. And he was afraid that he would loose his friends along the way.

„Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?“ Lucas asked, simultaneously confused and surprised. It took Jens a solid minute to figure out the reason. Right, he hadn’t told the younger boy about it yet. 

„Because we were busy with other stuff.“ 

He realised to late, that this could be falsely construed. The whole voice chat was already in a struggle of wheezes and laughs as Jens quickly tried to take control back. „Calm the fuck down. With dinner. Jesus. Honestly. It was dinner preperation.“

„Yea. Only work and definitely no time for dick with this one.“ Lucas added unhelpful to the situation. It was a clear reference to the song they had listened to. The one that anybody else obviously haden’t and therefore could only worsen the glee in their eyes. There were high screeches and gasping lungs fighting for dominance on speaker.

Lotte briefly shifted, but nothing else.

Jens watched and waited. He could see Amber’s and Moyo’s wide eyes, while Milan, Jana and Robbe were clutching their stomachs. Sander only shook his head in feigned dissapointment as he grinned.

„Alright. Glad you all are having a great time.“ Jens pouted, despite the amused smile that gave him away.

„Sorry.“ Milan said, the laughs finally started to abate, only the occasional giggle slipped up.

„When’s the date?“ Yasmina chimed in. An angel, if anyone would have asked Jens. Everyone’s attention swiftly back on Jens, who pulled his phone out to check the mail once more. He definitely should write it down somewhere. 

„On the nineteenth of February. So a little under a month. Alex, our lawyer, tried to get one as soon as possible, because of the urgency with my mom. But yeah. That’s not that far from now, I guess.“

„Do you know, if it will be a hard to win?“ That was Zoe , Senne next to her, both rather calm inmidst the chaos his other firends displayed. He always felt a little like talking to parents, when they looked at him like this in unison.

„I don’t think so. We had all other potential adults sign a waiver and I’m eighteen. The only uncertainty could be financials, but that is unlikely. I have the house and inheritance and my father’s allowence. Still, it could go wrong.“

That’s what caused his nervosity in the first place, the sheer possibility that something could take Lotte away from him.

„No, it will be fine. I’m pretty sure. You have always been great with Lotte.“ Robbe stated acsolutely assured of his words, while Jana nodded in agreement in the video next to him.

Jens felt his heart ease up from tension. He was so thankful for his friends. Most of all Robbe. How had he deserved to find his best friend and keep him over all these years?

Even if everyone would leave at some point, included Lucas or anyone who would follow, Jens was frighteningly sure, that Robbe and him would stick together til the end. He couldn’t even place the reason for his strong belief. His best firend has just always been there next to him. The one constant in his life, since they met in first grade. 

„Robbe?“

„Yes?“

„I love you.“

Jens watched with great joy the face of his best friend, that brightened up into the brilliant smile that always lifted Jens up as well.

„Bro!“ Aaron declared, immediately accompanied by a stunning choir of awws and oows.

Lucas laughed next to him, his head resting again on Jens’s shoulder. He loved the weight. It meant that he wasn’t alone.

„I love you too.“ Robbe replied, still cheerful and grinning, yet certainly confused at the out-of-the-blue confession. Nonetheless both their declarations absolutely genuine in intent. Jens pondered if he ever had said these words on their own, and infront of others on top of it. But he just had felt right to say them out loud.

„Okay. Good night, everyone. Thanks for staying.“

„JENS! NO! You ca“

The audio of Luca screaming into her mic cut off, as Jens hit the red button to end the call. Quite pleased with himself. He knew that his friends weren’t satisfied with him just leaving. But it just was too funnny not to.

„So what do we do now with her?“ Jens said, pushing the laptop away, before lokking down at Lotte.

They settled on letting her sleep with them instead after Jens had suggested to carry her over. But of course Lotte had woken up from this and not the shouting voices minutes before. She had complained until Jens had told her that she could stay, to which she had asked for a goodnight kiss by both of them, before she sprawled herself across Jens’s side of the bed.

Lotte was back asleep not a minute later.

And though Jens rather would have had liked Lucas and him alone on their first night together after a week, he guessed that that would be some unfortunate part of his life now. He had said that out loud. And Lucas had only laughed on his way out to the bathroom, followed by Jens’s grumbling voice.

„Oh shut up. As if you hadn’t thought the same.“

__ __ __ tagged: @odi-et-amo85, @tayspots

[my-fanfic-library]

Something Different {BBC Dracula x Reader} [16]

Masterlist

~^*^~

~^nine months later^~

After you had buried Zoe, and you and Jack had tasked Renfield with properly disposing of Dracula’s body, moving on became a difficult task in London. It seemed that Lucy lurked around every corner and whenever you went off to work, you’d somehow find yourself looking amongst the towers of concrete and finding the window that once belonged to the undead Count.

The temperature dipped. Christmas came and went and when it felt like the year only dragged on, despite moving into a new decade, you decided in unison to move back up north. Instead of going back to Whitby, where even more memories of the vampire tainted almost every street, you decided to move to that secret haven you had visited so long ago.

Nine months down the line, Robin Hood’s Bay was in the climax of its tourist season. July was blessing the northern coastline with an abundance of hot days and blue skies and both Jack and yourself had secured jobs.

After the trauma of your dealings with the vampire, you both decided to hand your notices in at the Foundation and find more domesticated lives. They suited you well. Talking to normal humans, leading normal lives - it suited you both so well. You had grown much closer in this time. Jack had learnt to forgive you after Lucy’s death; you had grieved for the vampire man that had stolen your heart and had moved on.

Things were finally no longer dark. Life regained its magnificent colours.

Walking along the beach, parallel to the rolling waves, your hand brushed against his - an innocent mistake. The cooling breeze soothed your skin where the sun beat down. You looked left, taking in the sight of the families far out in the rock pools with their neon nets, most likely looking for little sea creatures to fish out to inspect. Every now and again, a small child would squeal in excitement at finding a dead crab and their father would laugh and explain that it had been eaten by the birds who had left behind the shell.

You then looked right, a soft and loving smile came upon your face. Jack wasn’t paying much attention. He was looking ahead (most likely at the two dogs currently racing for the tennis ball their owner had just thrown). To say that you were surprised at your sudden budding feelings for your old friend would be a huge understatement. You had come to appreciate him for all that he was - plus you suspected that living together (platonically, of course) had something to do with it.

Jack had somehow become your home. He was the only person who could truly say ‘I know what you’re going through’ and mean it. Something about having such an intimate secret with him seemed to tie your bond ever closer.

The walk on the beach lasted a little longer, before you silently agreed it was time to head back. There would be an influx of tourists soon and you definitley didn’t want to try and battle for somewhere to sit on the sand. Besides, standing up at the top of the cliffs gave a beautiful view of the sea.

Robin Hood’s Bay was infamous for its steep hill winding up from the beach to the top of the cliffs. It was hard to walk down without feeling like you were about to topple over and roll the rest of the way down, and it was even more painful trying to get back up. There was a searing pain in your thighs as you took broad steps to try and scale the monster quicker.

You could hear Jack’s laughter behind you at the ridiculousness of your walk, but you ignored him. Hopefully living here would soon provide you with thighs of steel.

The feeling of victory that overcame you when you reached the top was worth every second of torture working up that hill in the heat. You turned to see Jack a few metres away. He grinned up at you and when he made it to your side, he was gently panting.

“Well, let’s agree to never climb that damn hill in the middle of one of the hottest days again.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna dive off the cliff and take a quick swim after that.” You joked.

“Let’s get going. I could do with some lunch.”

Slowly walking, you made your way back to your small shared cottage. It was cool inside. You took your seat at the dining table, eyeing your leather sofa with disgust. You knew that you’d stick to it if you went anywhere near it.

As he made himself a little lunch, Jack flicked on the TV in the living room and turned it up so that you could both hear from in the kitchen. The afternoon news was just beginning. It was the usual political issues, a virus outbreak in Southeast Asia, another tragic stabbing in London.

“A body was recovered from the Thames river two hours ago after tourists spotted a floating figure in the middle of the water just south of the Millenium Bridge. Scotland Yard have just released a statement in the last few moments confirming that the cause of death appears to be the same as those deaths reported last autumn in Whitby and in London.”

You looked at Jack. He had frozen halfway through buttering his second round of bread.

“CCTV footage shows a man, as you can see, and the police are urging for anyone with information on the suspect to call the number on the screen.”

You leapt up, rushing into the living room with Jack hot on your tail. The image was blurry but you knew that face anywhere. Dear Lord, couldn’t he have been bothered to dress a little differently than usual?

“The lawyer?” Jack breathed.

“Since when did Dracula drink his blood?”

That was the first time you had uttered his name in nine months and you’d be lying if you said that speaking it didn’t spark a little pain in your chest. You missed him so much. You expected a text message or a phone call every day, until you reminded yourself that you had changed your number. Even if by some miracle he was still out there, you’d probably never see the vampire again.

That was how it needed to be. You needed to be safe.

Your mind began to wonder. Had Dracula been drinking his blood back in London? And if so, had it simply taken this long for him to turn? Dracula’s finest bride, it seemed, would never be seen by its creator. You knew there was more to that lawyer’s loyalty than just contractual.

“Thank god we aren’t in London, huh?” Jack mumbled and made his way back to finish constructing his sandwich.

“Yeah...”

You trudged back to your own seat, beginning to rearrange the flowers that day in the middle of the table.

That night, you seemed to have a fever dream. A hot, burning fire, and between the flames, a tall figure. It seemed unharmed by the licks the fire gave it and as you reached forwards, the orange forms split to make way for your appendage. Before you could make contact, it whispered your name in a distorted voice. It sounded somewhat familiar. ‘[First]...’ it hissed as if imitating the sound of the fire, ‘where are you, [First]?’

You tossed and turned as the dream began to die away and you spent the rest of the night in a dreamless darkness. The next morning, the dream lingered in your mind. When Jack promoted you to confide in him, you opted not to tell him. It wasn’t like any of it mattered.

He didn’t press too much on it, but decided that he wanted to try and cheer you up.

“Why don’t we go into Whitby for the day?” He suggested, “only if you’re ready, of course.” He quickly added before shoving another spoonful of cornflakes into his mouth.

You thought about it. You hadn’t been to Whitby in nine whole months. Truth be told, you missed it. But you couldn’t decide if that was because you also missed Dracula. You scoffed. You had to be the only person to have grieved for a vampire. Except for maybe Mina Murray - but she didn’t count because her fiancé had been human for most of the time she knew him. Dracula had always been a vampire since the moment you had met him.

“Nah, it was a stupid idea, right.” Jack supposed your scoff was of disbelief that he’d suggest something so utterly stupid.

“No, I think we should go. I’d like to watch the boats.”

Jack watched as an absent-minded smile took hold of your lips as you thought about the harbour.

Well, two hours later and you were sitting by the bandstand, facing away from the structure as you looked out to sea. The pirate ship that took tourists out to sea a little and back again was coming back into the harbour. Some children not too far away from you excitedly jumped and waved and the pirate steering the ship waved back.

It was comforting to hear the whirl of music from the arcades, to get a whiff of both Whitby’s famous The Magpie and Quayside fish and chips, to see the lighthouse, and of course, to look over and up at the abbey.

Oh, how you had missed it here.

“Should we go over the bridge? I’ll buy you a sugar dummy.” Jack offered.

“Sure, why not?” You shrugged and swung your legs over the bench to turn and stand.

You froze.

Standing across the road, outside of the RNLI centre was him. Your jaw dropped. You had to be hallucinating. It couldn’t be! The yellow tourbus whizzed past and when it revealed that side of the road again, he was no longer there.

“[First]?” Jack broke your absolute disbelief, “you alright?”

~^taglist^~

@vampiregirl1797 @avalanet @bunnyreese12 @nerdonpluto @teamceleries @grifffins @hitbythunder @winterseoul @mymagicsuitcase @angeli-fucking-cat @benedictethegoddess @bloodhon3yx @nifflersravenclaw @writteninthestars288 @labelladrama @frankcastlesgrunts @angelicdestieldemon @quakerlasss @aliisa-jones @wolverinexmenn @clairedragonessbaker @cryiner @mitsukatsu @piratewhore @your-pixels-are-showing @tardisnesss @ladydovahkiin180 @catwomom @god-of-dramatic-death-scenes @th3rah @viper-queen @mephdcosplay @greghouse7 @faeprinces @kokoro-no-yami @trishaferdream @therealmoni @crazytxgradstudent @sansthelonelypunster @crowley-needs-a-hug @girlonfireice @wasntpriscilla @ivanna6026 @greeniemoon @blueinkblot @tefymorgan @misfitgirlwrites @lokiphan @newheart97 @middlespellman @bratty-sweetheart @dipsylou @lilmou5ie @the-fangirl-life10 @enchantersnight @imthedoctorlove @haleyea @hoefordarkness @divinemoonsters @dragosdaughter @certthekilljoy @asianbuttcheek

[vampiricfairy]

I Never Told You What I Do For A Living

Chapter 5

Word Count: 1486

Pairing: Jonathan Harker x Reader

Warnings: TW ED.

A/N: I feel like I haven't uploaded for this fic in AGES, although it hasn't been that long, oops. Also remember that you're beautiful just the way you are, calories are dumb and I love you, ok. I love everyone 😌 take care!!

__

“Shhh, ” Dracula cooed.

You spit into his eye and he stumbled backwards as you jumped out of bed and dashed out of the room. You saw Jonathan, he looked angry as he walked over to Dracula.

You could swear you watched Jonathan throw the Count off of the balcony because he was so.. Furious?

“Are you alright, darling?” Jonathan asked, worried and rather calm now.

You hugged him, shaking slightly from shock. “I-I.. I’m okay” You whispered and buried your face in his chest.

“It’s alright, you’re safe, dear.” Jonathan held you close. “I’ll bring you to my apartment, if you want me to.” He said and you nodded.

You put on some clothes and also packed some of your stuff.

__

The next morning you woke up in the bed in Jonathan’s apartment and made yourself look a bit presentable before walking into the kitchen where you noticed both Jonathan and Zoe conversing.

“Good morning..” You said as you sat down next to Jonathan.

“Happy birthday Y/N!” Jonathan said, smiling gently at you and wrapping his arm around you.

“Good morning and happy birthday Y/N.. Now tell me. What exactly happened last night? How was Dracula even able to enter the apartment?”

You explained what had happened and both of them looked at you. You yourself didn’t understand how Dracula entered the apartment.

“Besides, what is going on between you two?” Asked Zoe, eyeing the way Jonathan had his arm around you.

You blushed and Jonathan looked quite caught off guard, “nothing!” You both said in unison.

“No, I can see the chemistry!” Zoe said.

“I don’t know what you’re seeing but maybe get glasses so you can see clearer!” You said.

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows, “I’m trying to protect her, that’s all.”

That did hurt. Yep, it definitely did hurt you.

“Understandable under these circumstances and I’m glad you’re trying to protect her.. But Y/N didn’t you want to do something with your friends?”

You shook your head, “nope. But I’ll see you later?”

Zoe sighed as she got up, “be home around 5 pm!” She said.

“Alright!”

After Zoe left, Jonathan got up and you pouted playfully.

“Come backk!! You’re so comfortable!” You said.

“Actually, I got something for you.” He said as he opened the fridge and put some cake onto the table.

Your expression fell for a second and you felt a little panicked.

“Are you alright? Don’t you like it? I got something else for you too but I thought you’d like cake. Heh.”

You felt your heart basically shatter, here you were. You felt insecure and guilty now, you looked at Jonathan and played with your fingers feeling the nervousness increase.

“I- I really appreciate it, Jonathan- it’s just.. I can’t eat that-“ You tried to explain, a little awkwardly.

“Why? Are you allergic?” He asked you, looking sorry.

“No.. I just- I’m trying to lose weight.” You replied, feeling as awkward as ever.

Jonathan frowned slightly, “but why? I mean, ever since we met you have lost a quite large amount of weight. Of course you look beautiful, but darling I’m worried about you.” He said and cupped your face.

“Y-you think I’m beautiful?” You asked and his cold hands sent a shiver down your spine but at this point you were used to it.

“Yes, I do. But I think you should have something to eat so you don’t faint, or worse-“ he said with a slightly worried expression.

“But.. I don’t want to!” You retorted and looked down.

“Come on, darling. For me, alright?” He smiled.

“Well.. Alright, a small slice though.” You said, looking a bit panicked.

Jonathan nodded as he cut you an average sized piece and you pouted, “you don’t have to eat all of it! I just want to make sure that you have eaten something, dear.” He said as he gave you a plate with the cake and a small fork.

“Thank you-“ you said as you took the plate and dug into the cake, taking the fork and placing the bit of cake on your tongue. You looked fairly surprised, “chocolate cake and cranberry filling? I love it! How do you know that I like chocolate and cranberries are my favorite snacks?” You asked.

“Oh well.. I have my secrets.” He said and laughed.

“That’s fair..” You said and finished your piece of cake.

“You want a second one?” Jonathan asked.

You shook your head.

“Alright, at least you ate something. Now close your eyes.” He said and walked into the living room.

You closed your eyes and waited for him to come back, you felt him put something quite heavy but soft in your hands.

“You can open them again!” He said.

You opened your eyes and saw a HUGE teddy bear, you laughed and looked at him. “It’s such a cute idea! Thank you!!” You smiled slightly and got up to hug him.

He hugged you back, “no problem, dear.” He said and you smiled happily.

You smiled sheepishly and looked up at his beautiful eyes, before wrapping your arms around his cold neck. “I have to go meet Zoe soon- but I’ll be back.” You said.

He nodded, then slowly moved his cold hands to your cheeks and cupped them, then closed the space between your mouths.

Both of you closed your eyes and you melted into the cold but nice kiss, figuring that Jonathan kissed you better than anyone else ever had.

Your heart was beating insanely fast.

“Stay safe- I don’t want you to be hurt.” He said and you nodded.

“I will- see you later, Jonathan!” You said as you left the apartment and happily walked to your apartment complex.

You opened the apartment door and walked in, carefully taking your shoes off, you walked to Zoe with a big smile on your face still.

“Did anything happen? Why are you so happy?” Zoe asked.

“Nope, just happy because it’s my birthday. What are we doing today?” You asked, smiling.

“I thought we could maybe go out for dinner?” Zoe suggested.

“I’m not hungry, I already ate.” You said.

“Oh, well. What did you eat?”

“I had some cake for breakfast and then I got myself a sandwich on the way here,” it was a half-lie but you assumed that it was okay.

“Alright, do you want to do anything?” She asked.

You felt a bit guilty because if you were honest you wanted to spend time with Jonathan, maybe tell him about your feelings now that you two kissed.

“I’m not so sure.. Um- well.. Maybe we could go shopping as long as the sun is still up? I mean we wouldn’t shop for longer than 4 hours now. Right?”

“Whatever you want, Y/N.”

__

Zoe and you went shopping and it was fun but you found her acting weird, she probably thought the same about you but well.. What were you supposed to do? If you told her about Jonathan she would kill you.

“Could you maybe drive me to Jonathan’s apartment? I don’t feel safe at home and.. He’s been very good at protecting me.”

“Sure, but tell me, what is between you and Jonathan?”

“Nothing, he’s just nice.” You would’ve successfully lied to her, if you hadn’t started blushing.

“You don’t have feelings for him, do you? Remember that he’s actually a thread, you don’t know his true intentions.” She said.

“I don’t have feelings for him but I doubt he would hurt me in any way..”

You reached the apartment complex where Jonathan lived and you got out of the car, “thanks though.. Zoe. Night!”

“Good night, Y/N. Be careful!” She said and you walked to his apartment door ad rang the doorbell.

Jonathan opened it and smiled fondly. “Come in.” He said.

“Good eveninggg!” You chuckled and smiled softly before setting your bags down and walking to the couch, sitting down on it.

He sat down next to you and you sighed.

“I think I like you!” You said, smiling sheepishly at him.

“The feelings mutual, however I’m worried that Zoe may not approve or that Dracula could ruin this.” Jonathan said, gently taking your hand and the cold touch made you shiver slightly.

“We’ll figure something out.. I mean- Zoe doesn’t really have an influence on me anymore now that I’m an adult…” You said.

“Alright, I want you to be safe though and I hope you understand that.” Jonathan said and cupped your face.

“I get that! It’s just I know you wouldn’t hurt me.. Can we maybe do something else?” You smiled.

“Like what?” He asked.

“Cuddle?” You blushed a little.

“Of course!” He pulled you close to him and you wrapped your arms around him, leaning your head onto his chest, feeling comfortable and safe. However something told you that the feeling wouldn’t last.

[voldemorthatesnose96]

belle âme

It got yeeted so I reposted it again. Sorry everyone

Robbe is a kindergarten teacher where Sander’s brother named Noah is a new student there

If you can find the easter egg, please comment!😂

For most people, children is such a nuisance. Their never-end chattering, yelling, screaming, breaking things, crying unnecessarily, throwing tantrums—well, you all know the rest. Being a parent to children is one thing, but being their teacher is a whole new level of stress. Especially when you’re working at the kindergarten school.

Almost all teachers here are complaining about the same thing every single day, and to be honest, for Robbe IJzermans; the first youngest teacher since this school was opened in 2001, feel like their useless talking is way more annoying than the child’s tantrum.

As usual, he’s the first person coming at school and minding his own business while eating sandwiches when not long after, a couple of another teachers are entering the room and groaning in unison about what kind of disaster they’ll get today. Robbe only give them a reluctant smile when he’s being asked about how annoying some students are.

Why don’t you just quit then?, he swears internally.

Robbe quickly sigh in relief when the clock strike at 7.25 AM, which means that the class is going to start in 5 minutes. After saying goodbye to other teachers, he swiftly making his way to the class.

Robbe is always have doubts in his mind, but one thing for sure and also something that he’ll always be proud of, is the fact that his students love and respect him. Robbe doesn’t know how it happens and never in his life, he ever think that these students will get along him like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Not gonna lie, he always cries when his one of his student gives him a simple note after the class’s end—a very innocent note like “thankssss yuuuuu for todayyyy mr IJzermanzzz! We lovvvessss yuuu SO MUCH!” with a doodle underneath it. So far, the notes he’s getting is more than 20 now and they’re all safe inside his desk at home.

Robbe IJzermans love children and will always be. It might be weird for some people, but it’s true. Every word of it.

“Good morning, everyone!” Robbe greet them with a smile as bright as the sun.

“Good morning, mr IJzermans!” The students greets back in unison, way louder than it should be but Robbe never mind it.

Robbe puts down the textbooks on his desk and says, “we have a great news today! Anyone can guess?”

In an instant, this class is filled with students’ noise. Robbe has to calm them down for a while before they can actually answer.

“New game?” Moyo Makadi raise his hand and jumping excitedly.

“Tour?” Zoe Loockx’s eyes widen at this thought but try hard not to get too ahead of herself.

“Story-telling?” Aaron Jacobs suggest. His curly hair is looking even more curly for these past days; Wonder why.

The other boy who sits beside him rolls his eyes. Senne de Smet is always be the brain in the class and also the most composed, “you is very dumb.”

“Senne, you can’t say that.” Robbe gently remind him. “Say sorry, please?”

“Sorry.” Senne immediately obey.

“And what should we say, then?” Robbe asks the whole class.

“IT IS OKAY, SENNE!”

Robbe grins widely, feeling proud, “good job, everyone!” then he pulls out a piece of paper from his files. “Because none of you guess it right, I will reveal the answer. Drum rolls, please!”

Robbe and his students are tapping the desks together for few seconds before Robbe’s voice stop them.

“We are going to have a new friend!” He announces happily.

When his students are just looking at him in bewilderment, Robbe can’t help but feel confuse and also have this weird urge to laugh because of the faces they’re making right now; it’s like he just said something peculiar and shocking.

“What’s wrong?”

There’s only one student who’s brave enough to raise their hand.

“Yes, Jens?”

“Mr IJzermans, are you going to like this new friend more than us?”

This is WHY Robbe love children so much. Besides their tantrums and everything, but their innocence is the one that not so many people can appreciate.

Robbe examine every single face of his students and they all showing the same concern. So he says, “I will like him as much as I like you all. This is a promise. Please, don’t worry anymore. Okay, class?”

The effect of his words is gradually seen from the children’s expression.

“OKAY, MR IJZERMANS!”

“Please stay calm while I’m gone to meet him. Thank you!”

Robbe thought the new student (Robbe remembers his name is Noah Driesen) will be waiting in front of the office like other kid usually do but no; Noah is already waiting beside his classroom, looking frightened until his grips on his backpack strap is too tight.

Robbe kneeling in front of him until his height is almost the same like Noah’s, looking at his nervous green eyes and says, “you must be Noah Driesen, right?”

The little kid doesn’t answer, still too scared to say anything.

Robbe offers his hand, “hello, Noah. My name is Robbe IJzermans, your new teacher.”

But Noah still not giving any reaction.

This isn’t the first time since Robbe has been working as a teacher, dealing with something like this. So as a gentle yet careful approach, he places his hand on top of Noah’s handgrip.

“Okay, you don’t need to shake my hand but can I ask you few questions? You just need to nod or shake your head, okay?”

Even though Noah is clearly worried but he give Robbe’s request a nod. Robbe see this as a chance.

“Very good,” he smiles kindly. “The first question is, if I ask you to look at me, would you do it?”

Noah take a few second to think about it, then ever so slowly, he lifts his eyes to looks at Robbe’s warm chocolate eyes.

“It’s easy, isn’t it?” Noah smile nervously, while Robbe is trying to loosen the grip without him noticing. “The second question is, would you be my friend, Noah?”

Once again, the little kid nods but more confident this time. This make Robbe feel genuinely happy and content.

“Last question is, are you still afraid? Now that I’m your friend?”

For the first time ever, Noah finally speak, “no, mr IJzermans.”

Robbe ruffle Noah’s brunette hair, get up from the kneeling position (his legs are a bit numb) and offer his hand again.

“Shall we go to class now?”

Noah take his hand and hold it tightly, “yes, please!”

What an adorable kid, Robbe thought with awe.

It’s a huge relief that the whole class seems to be welcoming and warming up to Noah immediately. Jens even offering the seat beside him once Noah’s done introducing himself.

The class is officially starting at 8.30 AM and most of them are pleading to draw instead of doing basic mathematic. Of course, Robbe can’t refuse. Rules be damned.

“Alright, take out your crayons and drawing book, make everything that you want! Have fun!”

“YAAAAAAY!”

Suddenly Noah raise his hand, “mr IJzermans, I don’t bring anything to draw.”

A curly-haired girl wearing glasses named Luca is walking towards him immediately while bringing her crayons and colored pencils with her.

“Here! We can share!”

Robbe also give Noah his new drawing book. He always bring one or two in case one of his student is forget to bring it here.

“For you. Use it well.”

“THANK YOU, LUCA!” Noah beams. “THANK YOU, MR IJZERMANS!”

After few shouting from the students and flying crayons in the air later, they’re all finally finished with their drawings. Noah is the last kid to hand his work. But before he leaves, he asks Robbe to kneel again.

“Yes?”

“Mr IJzermans, can Noah marry you?”

This isn’t the first time Robbe is being asked for something like this from the other girl students before, but considering it comes from a boy he just teached today, Robbe can’t help but feel a bit surprised, but also happy. The determination on Noah’s face is incredible; it makes Robbe want to pinch his cheeks.

“You don’t mind that I’m also a boy?”

Noah shakes his head strongly, “no. Noah do not mind!”

Robbe place his hand on Noah’s head and softly says, “then, I’ll gladly marry you.”

“Really?!”

“Really really!”

Noah hold his yelp then plead, “can I tell my big brother too, mr IJzermans? Will you meet him later?”

How could Robbe said no that face? Or any children’s face, in general? Naaaah...

“I’d love to.”

“YAY!”

And without saying another word, Noah skipping happily to his seat while Robbe watching him in awe. Why does kids are super adorable? It hurts sometimes.

The rest of today’s lesson is going well. Even though, there’s one student named Britt Ingelbrecht, who cry because Jana Ackerman accidentally hit her head with a ruler before the class end. Robbe has to calm them both for nearly twenty minutes and being grateful that they’re finally okay.

After saying goodbye to each of the students by doing a high-five on their way out, Noah is now offering his hand, pouting slightly—perhaps thinking that Robbe is forgetting that he’s supposed to mee his older brother after school.

Robbe is grinning widely as he take Noah’s little hand and walking side by side.

“Mr IJzermans will looooove big brother as much as Noah do!”

“Is that so?” Robbe replies calmly.

Noah is skipping now, “YES!”

But then when they’re about to exit the building, Noah is pointing his finger at a boy around Robbe’s age with hair as white as freshly fallen snow, wearing black everything; making him as a living depiction of Yin and Yang itself because of the contrast between his hair and the clothes he’s wearing. The first thought that comes to Robbe’s mind about this boy is ‘alluring’, and Robbe can’t look away from him.

“That’s Noah’s big brother, mr IJzermans.”

“Oh...okay...”

Robbe stutters as Noah pull his hand to walk towards his brother, who’s now smiling brightly of seeing Noah before his eyes lands on Robbe. The same green eyes like Noah’s, but a bit darker and probably hide many deep emotions there. Robbe gulp at the thought.

“Noah, who is this?” The boy asks.

“Big brother, this is Noah’s new teacher, Mr IJzermans! He helped Noah today with drawing and ma... mathmmmatical...”

“Mathematics.” Robbe corrects little Noah slowly.

“Yes yes, numbers. Noah do not like.”

His older brother doesn’t say anything but he gives Robbe a smirk, and his heart beats fast in the matter of seconds.

“Guess what... guess what, big brother! Come on! Guess!”

“What is it, little brother?”

“Mr IJzermans agreed to marry Noah!!!!”

Noah’s brother instantly pierce his stare at Robbe again. Though, it looks like he’s more curious and somewhat amused rather than feeling weird about it.

“Is that true?”

Feel like Robbe’s tongue is tied in a knot, so he just nods once. Sincerely hoping his cheeks and his neck aren’t turning red right now.

“Noah?”

“Yes, big brother?”

“What if I marry your teacher first?”

How dare this stranger asks such question in front of his own little brother?! And most importantly, his tone is as light as a feather and very devil-may-cry like; as if this question is something he’s been asking a lot of times before?

But why why why does Robbe’s feel butterflies in his stomach?! Is this normal for everybody?!

“Sir, you can’t...”

“Sander,” he cuts Robbe quickly. “Don’t call me sir. I feel old.”

Robbe’s taking a deep breath and mildly scolding Sander, “okay, Sander, you can’t say something like that in front of a child.”

“What was your name again?”

“Robbe IJzermans.”

“Okay, Robbe,” Sander mimic Robbe’s tone earlier, also his smirk is still clearly visible. “My brother is way mature than he looks. Don’t worry too much. Right, little brother?”

Noah nods excitedly, “Noah do not mind if you marry mr IJzermans too.”

This need to stop, Robbe thought.

“Just messing around with you,” Sander assures him. “You seemed tense earlier.”

Before Robbe can make a comment, Sander speak again.

“Well, we gotta go now. The traffic’s crazy,” he takes Noah’s hand in his. “Say goodbye to your teacher, Noah.”

Little Noah let go of his brother’s hand and hug Robbe’s waist before wave his hand and say, “See you tomorrow, mr IJzermans!”

“See you tomorrow.”

Much to Robbe’s surprise, Sander suddenly asks his brother to say goodbye to his other friends, which Noah happily obey. Now, there’s just the two of them talking, face to face.

“thanks for taking care of my brother,” the bleached hair guy say so very gently. “It means a lot to me.”

“Don’t be. I’m his teacher after all,” Robbe smiles reassuringly. “He’s very good at drawing. Just so you know.”

Sander looks like he’s contemplating. But when he opens his mouth to say something, he immediately closes it again, and instead, gives Robbe a thankful smile and says, “thanks nonetheless. I’ll see you around, then? Maybe?”

Robbe nods, “sure, Sander.”

Sander

Instead of turning his body to walk towards the building, Robbe’s feet somehow glued to where he’s standing, watching these brothers genuinely care for each other really warm his heart. Though one thing for sure, the bleached hair boy, Sander Driesen, will fill up Robbe’s mind for the rest of the day.

And he doesn’t mind it. At all.

[lingenthusiast]

@painfully-oblivious, um, so I don’t know what you’ve had in mind, this ended up being all messy and the style is not consistent at all, but well. here we go, I guess. it kind of went out of hand. hope you enjoy anyways!

________________________

Sunday, January 26, 10h21

Robbe yawned widely and turned his head against Sander’s chest. “Hey!” Sander jumped slightly in surprise. “That tickled!” 

They were lying on Robbe’s bed, arms and legs completely entwined with each other, listening to music. Sander loved physical contact but his need was nothing compared to Robbe. Robbe was not a touchy person in general, but when it came to his boyfriend, he couldn’t get enough. Especially when they were alone, in the safe haven of the flat, he always wanted to be closer and closer, even if they were already lying as closely as somehow possible. 

“I’m getting hungry,” Sander said, caressing the back of Robbe’s neck.

“Mh…” Robbe answered, shifting his head. “And how do we solve this problem?”

“How about the host of this room goes and gets breakfast?”

Robbe’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “The host of this room?”

“That would be you,” Sander said needlessly, poking one finger into Robbe’s arm.

Robbe grinned and turnt so that he was lying on top of Sander. “And why would the host of this room do that?”

“Because I specifically asked for breakfast when I booked this room,” Sander said with a smirk.

Robbe nodded. “That’s too bad, then.”

“Oh come on! I’m sure you don’t want to receive zero stars on booking.”

Robbe blew a raspberry on Sander’s neck and laughed when Sander pushed him off for that.

“I’ll complain to the manager then.”

“Who’s the manager?”

“Milan, of course,” Sander said very matter-of-factly, “And you wouldn’t want Milan to know that you don’t take proper care of me, would you?”

Robbe laughed and didn’t move to get up. 

Sander turned to him, so they were lying face to face now, and gave him a pleading look, obviously going for a different approach when the first didn’t work out the way he’d wanted. “Please, Robbe? I’ll make it up to you afterwards?”

Robbe chuckled. “Ooohhh, nice try, there.”

“Did I succeed?” Sander asked hopefully.

Robbe sighed. “What would you like to have for breakfast, Sir?”

“Yeeeessss,” Sander exclaimed in victory, “Pastries!”

“What? No babe, I’m not going out!”

Sander pressed his face against Robbe’s side. “Oh please, Robbe, pleeease!”

“Nope, no way!”

“Croques then? Do you have everything for croques?”

“I should yeah. Alright, croques it is!” Robbe sighed and carefully pushed Sander away from him to get up.

“But make them good? Otherwise that’ll be zero stars on booking as well!”

“Oi,” Robbe said and took a pillow to smack Sander across the chest. 

Sander grabbed him and pulled him back against his own body, dropping kisses all over Robbe’s face, head and neck. Robbe smiled a big smile and brushed a few strands of hair out of Sander’s face. For a little while, they just lay there, looking at each other, smiling at each other. 

“I’m getting really hungry now,” Sander whispered eventually, but Robbe didn’t want to let go of his boyfriend.

“How about we make them together?” He asked innocently, his fingers trailing up and down Sander’s side.

“Ugh,” Sander groaned at the suggestion.

“I don’t really know how to make good croques, you know? Maybe you could show me.”

Sander stuck his tongue out but then got up.

“What are you doing?” Zoe asked when she came into the kitchen a few minutes later, yawning widely. 

“Did we wake you?” Robbe asked back, a tiny bit of uneasiness in his voice.

“No, you didn’t. And even if! It’s almost 11am, Robbe. It’s okay to be noisy in the kitchen by then. So,” She put a capsule in the coffee maker and looked over his shoulder, “What are you doing?”

“Croques.”

“Mmmh. Sander is one lucky guy!” She winked at Sander.

“I know,” Sander answered and dropped a kiss to Robbe’s shoulder.

Robbe didn’t know what to say but he smiled at their words and blushed a little. 

“Do you want one as well?” He asked instead.

“Um…,” Zoe hesitated, looking at the butter he spread all over the toast. “I’m good, I think, but Senne would probably love one, if you don’t mind?”

“What would Senne love?” A rough, drowsy voice came from the doorway. 

Zoe reached out to him, put her arm around his waist and leaned against him, handing him the cup of coffee she had just made. “Robbe and Sander are making croques.”

“Ooh, Senne would definitely love one,” Senne said after one look at the pan.

Robbe smiled. “Coming.” He opened the cupboard again, reaching for the bread, then went to the fridge to get out the cheese, handing both to Sander. “Do you want anything else on it? Sander always only wants cheese but I could do something else as well?”

“What a basic bitch,” Zoe mumbled fondly.

“Ey!” Sander exclaimed laughingly and pretended to hit her with the bag of bread.

Robbe and Senne however looked at her, both quite surprised at her words, and laughed in shock. Her tone had been sweet but bitch was not a word that came out of her mouth that often. 

“Didn’t have your coffee yet, mh?” Senne teased, kissed her temple and sat down at the table. “I’ll be a basic bitch as well then, Robbe, thanks.”

“I can do one with only little butter, if you don’t want too much fat, Zoe,” Robbe said contemplatively. “Or no butter at all.” Sander made a disgusted face at his words, obviously disagreeing with this idea of making good croques, but he didn’t say anything.

“You don’t have to make food for all of us,” Zoe said and shrugged, finally taking her cup of coffee from the coffee maker. She also got a glass of water and then made herself comfortable on Senne’s lap.

“I don’t mind,” Robbe said, getting some vegetables for Zoe’s croque from the fridge. “They just probably won’t be ready at the same time.”

For a while they were just silent, listening to the pan sizzling, listening to Robbe cutting vegetables, all of them still in the process of properly waking up. Then they heard Milan’s door open. 

“I hope you have more bread, Robbe,” Senne said with a chuckle.

Sure enough, Milan walked into the kitchen a few moments later after having been to the bathroom. 

“Oi, someone is hungover!” Zoe commented his appearance.

Milan gave her a pained look and sat down across from her and Senne. “What’s going on here? Early morning party without me?”

“Robbe and Sander are making breakfast,” Zoe explained.

“You want some?” Robbe and Sander asked in unison.

Milan’s crumpled face de-crumpled a bit. “Croques and scrambled egg??” He asked and his eyes brightened as children’s eyes on Christmas. 

“Only croques, no eggs,” Robbe said.

“But why? There’s still a whole box of eggs in my compartment in the fridge. We can use those.” 

Robbe hesitated. This was getting a bit out of hand. The croques were almost ready and making eggs would take another few minutes. He just wanted to eat something and then climb back into bed with Sander. He looked up at his boyfriend but Sander just smiled.

“Sure, why not?” He answered for Robbe and put his hand on the small of Robbe’s back. “I’ll do it, it’s fine.” 

“Coffee, Milan?” Zoe asked, already getting up from Senne’s lap. “Anyone else another coffee?”

“Yes, please,”  Milan answered. “What did you guys do last night?”

“We went out for dinner,” Zoe said, “And then we actually wanted to go out with some friends but we decided to go home and … have a chill night at home.”

“Well, from what we’ve heard there wasn’t so much chill, was there?” Sander teased while cracking an egg into a bowl. Zoe blushed, Senne laughed.

“Ah, that kind of chill night, I understand,” Milan said knowingly. “Good for you.” He raised his cup to Zoe and Senne, saluting them. Senne thanked him. “What did you do?” He then asked into the direction of Sander and Robbe.

“We’ve been out with Jens and the others. Having a few beers, nothing special.”

“Nice,” Milan nodded, “When have you been home?”

“Are you our babysitter?”, Robbe asked at the same time as Sander said “Approximately when these two still had one and a half round to go.”

Robbe shoved him, suppressing a smirk while simultaneously shooting Zoe an apologetic look.

Milan laughed again, absolutely delighted by Zoe’s embarrassment. 

“Next time, put on some music,” Senne advised graciously and laughed when Zoe hid her head between his shoulder and neck.

“Don’t worry, Zoe,” Milan assured her, “It’s fine. We live in a free, enlightened country. We’re young, we have human needs, and sex is healthy. It’s not that these two should complain anyway.”

“Huh?” Robbe, who had just plastered himself against his boyfriend’s back while watching over his shoulder, asked distractedly. 

Milan decided not to elaborate on that and just chuckled into his cup. “Well,” He then said, “Thank for asking, thanks for your concern, my night has been absolutely Ho-Ri-Fic. A disaster. Absolute waste of time” He made a pause, obviously wanting the others to ask some questions but they all just looked at him more or less interested because they were all positive he’d tell them anyway.

So they got to listen to a story that was so typically Milan that nobody was surprised but they all enjoyed it anyway because only listening to him talk was so endearing and funny. Mid-story breakfast was finally done and they all sat at the table. Milan kept talking while putting eggs on everyone’s plate and Sander carefully cut in half the best croques ever , to be able to see what’s inside of which. When everyone had food, coffee and water - Zoe insisted on that - they started eating. 

Milan’s story about a bad one night stand kind of became a background noise for Robbe. Other than Zoe and Senne, he and Sander were not sitting on top of each other but on two different chairs, however, Robbe had his feet propped up against one bar of Sander’s chair and Sander had his legs stretched out across Robbe’s leg. They kept stealing food from each other’s plates, totally engrossed in each other as if the other three flat mates weren’t there anymore. That was until Robbe pushed Sander’s thieving hand away with a grin, looked up and caught Senne’s teasing look. Robbe blushed again and looked down at his plate, but then decided that really, he probably shouldn’t mind. He gave Sander, who had immediately noticed the change in his boyfriend’s posture, a reassuring smile and offered half of his croque to him. Right when Sander, all surprised, wanted to accept his gift, Robbe pulled back his hand and bit into the croque himself. Sander pretended to be offended but failed and chuckled instead. So did Senne, who had still been watching them, but also Zoe and Milan who also had noticed their little game by now.

“Honestly, I’d rather have you hear sex noises from our room than ever see me being so cheesy!” Senne said. 

Zoe playfully poked his nose with her croque. “Here’s some cheesy stuff for you!” And Milan made some gagging noises and exclaimed “Oh come on, Senne as if I hadn’t had to witness you being all gone for this one!”, pointing at Zoe.

Robbe laughed. He looked over to Sander who was laughing as well. They were all laughing or grinning or chuckling and Robbe once again noticed how easy it was. And easy is what he needed in his life. 

Sander leaned in and gave Robbe a kiss. “Thank you for breakfast,” He whispered against Robbe’s lips.

“How many stars on Booking?” Robbe asked equally soft.

“Five stars,” Sander replied with a smile.

“Five stars? That’s a lot.”

“Yeah, five out of five, would totally recommend.”