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zintranslations · 4 years ago

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Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 120

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 120: The Thirteenth Door

Right after the new year, it came about time for Gu Longming to enter his door.

Ruan Nanzhu selected a sixth door hint slip, and on it was a name familiar to all—Minotaur. A monster from ancient Greek mythology with a bull's head and a human's body that guarded a maze.

In the myth, it was a creature of an extremely violent temperament born of a human and a white bull. Shut away in the Labyrinth on the island of Crete, it ate seven pairs of boys and girls each year. Then it was killed by a bastard son of Athens, Theseus. Point was, there wasn't much intel to gain about the door from a hint like this. Only once they went in and encountered the actual situation could they connect it to the hint on the paper slip.

Lin Qiushi also showed this hint to Gu Longming ahead of time. After Gu Longming received it, he expressed his thorough gratitude for Lin Qiushi, and Lin Qiushi too was forthright with a vaccination—he said that in this door, he could not be responsible for Gu Longming's life, and Gu Longming ought to prepare himself accordingly.

Gu Longming agreed to every stipulation, and said he had already prepared himself for never coming out.

Their time of entry was roughly the tenth of the lunar new year, when celebrations were trailing off, leisurely vacations were coming to an end, and everybody grew busy again.

Lin Qiushi readied everything and began to wait for the door.

The tenth quickly came. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and few people were in the mansion. There was only Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room eating Lu Yanxue's freshly cooked pumpkin seeds. Lu Yanxue's culinary skills were, as usual, the best; the pumpkin seeds she fried up were flavored with the five spices and fragrant as all hell. Lin Qiushi could pass an entire afternoon with just a handful of the stuff.

Ruan Nanzhu had already gotten changed and was waiting upstairs. Lin Qiushi saw that it was about time, and so hoisted his hefty backpack and headed upstairs to go look for him.

Due to their last door, Lin Qiushi intentionally stuffed his bag with a great number of food items. Daily necessities from outside could be brought inside, but weapons that were more against the spirit of the doors were not. Guns and other firearms, for example, could not be brought inside.

Once you'd entered the doors, of course, there might exist some special limitations, like in the sanitarium door when the NPC told them the rule where they could not eat food brought in from the outside. The reality was that these kinds of limitations were rare, but all Lin Qiushi wanted to achieve was the principle of Better Safe Than Sorry. At any rate, the condition from the tenth door where they had to open a chest if they wanted to eat had left quite the shadow on his psyche.

Lin Qiushi entered Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and sat with him on the bed for a while. Then he felt the atmosphere around him change. It took only the time of a blink for Ruan Nanzhu, who had been sitting right beside him, to disappear without a trace. Lin Qiushi pushed open the bedroom door in front of him and saw that what had originally been the hallway was now a series of twelve black metal doors. What a familiar sight.

He walked to the sixth door and gave it a tug. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was sucked in by an immense force. The scenery around him was also altering dramatically, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he could feel a faint rocking beneath his feet.

Lin Qiushi took a closer look, and discovered that he'd appeared on a large old ship. It was just about sunset, and there were black clouds frighteningly low in the sky, as if they were going to smother the horizon at any moment. Inky seawater tossed before him, blown into violent waves by the winds.

Lin Qiushi smelled the gamy salt of the ocean, and because of the excessive waves, the ancient deck beneath his feet was ceaseless in its swaying. He saw that on the floorboards, there were seaweed-clung creatures clutching at the wood, making for an immensely uncomfortable sight.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw in the ship cabin a dim-glowing light. He followed the corridor to the interior, and heard miserable wailing coming from inside.

"Uwaaaa, why am I here? What the hell did you all do to me?!" It had been a while since he last heard these cries of a newbie—Lin Qiushi was actually a bit surprised. He spotted the crying person immediately. It was a young woman, wiping at her tears with her hands. "You goddamn perverts, you guys must have kidnapped me. I'm going to call the cops and have you all arrested!!"

Most people were listening to her sob in silence. Newbies, after all, only ever reacted in so many ways: most cried; some tried to run; and some, of the truly psychologically frail sort, came in and pretty much had an immediate meltdown.

Lin Qiushi stood where he was. He noticed that around this girl were a few people who didn't look so good, who also seemed in various degrees of panic. They clearly weren't prepared to enter a door, and were likely newbies like the girl. But at least they weren't wailing endlessly like the young woman, and were still calm in comparison.

Lin Qiushi's gaze searched through the crowd and very quickly found its target—a woman seated in a corner and smiling at him.

The woman wore a long dress—the same outfit Ruan Nanzhu wore before they came in.

Lin Qiushi had the script in his head, and he took his time approaching the woman and holding out his hand: "Yu Linlin."

"Zhu Meng." The woman took his hand and smiled. "The red thread of destiny found us inside this door, let's cherish this meeting."

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed. Let's cherish this meeting."

Really, this little drama queen of his—putting on a show even when there was no stage to be had.

Just as the two were talking, a young man came tumbling in through the door. Though his face was unfamiliar, his clothes told Lin Qiushi his identity—it was Gu Longming, who'd agreed to meet with Lin Qiushi over the internet.

Gu Longming was entirely soaked. Once he came in he began to curse under his breath: "fuckers, throwing me on a lifeboat—why don't you just throw me into the ocean huh? Goddamn jealous of my beauty or what—"

Though he kept his voice down, Lin Qiushi's hearing was superb, and so could easily hear all the crap he was spewing. For a moment, Lin Qiushi himself didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course, he didn't laugh. He only cleared his throat once and covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing down the urge to smile. Gu Longming's eyes lapped the gathered people and very quickly fell upon Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. He came over with a bright grin, greeting the two as if they'd just met completely by coincidence.

As a matter of act, this little trick where they faked a chance encounter was only useful for the earlier doors. Once in the later doors, that old fox-spirit manifested in everyone, and not having a partner actually made you the odd one out.

As for whether or not somebody would identify them as part of the same crew, Lin Qiushi used to worry about that. Now though, not so much.

The cabin of the old ship wasn't big, nor was it bright. The only lighting equipment was a handful of tiny kerosene lamps overhead, flickering periodically with the sway of the ship.

The sky grew darker outside, and the number of people kept increasing. Finally, it stopped at the count of fourteen.

Everybody assessed their surroundings as they met up with their own teammates. The crowd seemed to be very quickly divided up into teams, with the handful of newbies left out. Without much choice, they had to make up their own team.

Just as the crowd grew noisy with discussion, a middle-aged man came in from the outside. His get-up looked a bit like a medieval pirate, and he carried a swaying kerosene lamp in his hand.

"Welcome to the Black Skerry," the man spoke. His voice sounded quite raspy, like the effects of long-term drinking or smoking had brought about irreversible damage to his throat. "I hope you all have a good time here."

After he finished saying this, he laughed like a maniac, and his high-pitched laughter, like fingernails scoring a chalkboard, sent goosebumps rising along the skin.

"In ten days, the Black Skerry will reach harbor," the man said. "Our voyage will end then, so please enjoy our wonderful time together."

Just as he finished speaking, somebody rushed out of the cabin. Lin Qiushi first thought that this person had gotten scared, but not long after, there came from outside the sound of violent vomiting—it seemed that some unlucky bastard was seasick.

"Where in the world are we?" The sobbing young girl had also been scared by the man before her, and she spoke: "are we filming a show? I'm really, really scared, can I please quit? I don't want to play anymore, I'm begging you…"

The man completely ignored her. He merely went on watching the crowd with a cool gaze.

The girl seemed to want to go up and take hold of him, but when she got to his side she suddenly stopped, face draining of all color. She then backed up a few steps, as if she'd seen something truly terrifying.

Lin Qiushi's eyesight wasn't as good as Ruan Nanzhu's, and due to the dim lights he didn't see a thing. It was Ruan Nanzhu who quietly explained the situation to him:

"That person's covered in some sort of black insect."

Gu Longming shivered.

"Is he dead or alive then?"

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Doesn't look too good either way."

Under typical circumstances, only the NPC who provided them with the key information was somewhat normal. If even that NPC wasn't normal, then there really weren't any normal people to speak of.

Lin Qiushi hadn't imagined that their door this time would be an ancient ship. And by the looks of things, the time limit was ten days.

"Come along, I'll take to to where you'll sleep," the man said. "It'll be dark soon…and it'll rain."

After this, he began that manic laugh again, and the group was even more disturbed.

The man brought them to the guest cabins and began divvying up the rooms.

Most of the rooms here were doubles, with a rare triple here and there. At first, Lin Qiushi was assigned a double, but Gu Longming brazenly went and found a man to switch room numbers with, strong-arming them into a triple.

"You'll bargain for even this sort of thing?" Lin Qiushi shot Gu Longming a look of admiration.

"Well I'm scared of dying, aren't I…" Gu Longming said. He didn't want to sleep alone, and though it wasn't quite right to be a third wheel, being a third wheel was much better than being dead.

Ruan Nanzhu’s smile was inscrutable.

"That's fair."

They'd planned to inspect the entire ship, but because the night was already so dark, moving about outside would be too dangerous. They would rest first, and wait until tomorrow to make plans.

And so the three got their key and went to their room, getting into bed after quickly washing up.

When Ruan Nanzhu went to change, Gu Longming took the opportunity to poke at Lin Qiushi, whispering, "yo, not cool man, how come you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend?"

Lin Qiushi answered a vague: "…mh."

"Oh she's stunning," Gu Longming said with a sigh. "If I had a girlfriend like that I'd want to stick around her every day too."

As he spoke, he looked to Lin Qiushi with an expression that was both envy and admiration.

Lin Qiushi watched him back and wondered how he would react if he knew Ruan Nanzhu was drag queen. Of course, it wasn't something he could tell Gu Longming now. Gu Longming was not yet part of Obsidian, and the fact that Ruan Nanzhu wore drag was Obsidian's biggest most vital secret…

After Ruan Nanzhu got changed, he came back inside.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin Qiushi answered in brief. "He said you were pretty."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with a meaningful oh.

Gu Longming: "…" Why did a chill suddenly go down his back?

The beds on the ship all emanated a damp smell—very uncomfortable for the people lying on top. At this point, the waves and wind were getting bigger, and even the sleeping quarters were beginning to rock. Lin Qiushi remembered that ridiculously seasick, endlessly vomiting pal of theirs from earlier and thought that that guy was pretty much done for.

The sky outside gradually darkened in entirety, leaving only the bellowing winds and the sound of waves beating against each other. With his eyes shut, Lin Qiushi grew drowsy—but before he could fall asleep, he was woken by a sudden crack of thunder. It was like lightning had struck right above their heads. With the loud boom, all three of them awoke in an instant.

After that, it was the pattering pour of rain. The rushing rain and the howling wind—they seemed on the verge of destroying everything.

Their quarters rocked even harder. Lin Qiushi sat up in his bed.

Through the window, he looked to the black evening outside. He saw, however, two illuminated lights. It seemed like the only light sources on deck were kerosene lamps, but how did these lamps stay so bright in the middle of a thunderstorm…? Just as Lin Qiushi wondered this, he suddenly felt that there was something off about those two lights, and Ruan Nanzhu, sitting behind him, spoke up quietly:

"Don't look anymore."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

"Those aren't lights," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Those are eyes."

A pair of yellow, inhuman eyes. The owner of the eyes spied through the darkness with malicious intent, as if a beast looking for its prey.

Lin Qiushi instantly looked away, and asked, "what is that thing?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The shape is humanoid, but it doesn't seem to be human."

Lin Qiushi's brows lightly furrowed, but by the time he looked out the window once more, the eyes were gone.

Thunder rumbled on and on, and that stench of ocean salt grew thicker and more cloying.

Ruan Nanzhu climbed into Lin Qiushi's bed, and holding each other, the two very quickly returned to sleep. However, the only bachelor present Gu Longming didn't have such luck. Lying beside Lin Qiushi, he stared with plaintive eyes, thinking that in the following days, he'd be fed enough dog food to bloat.

The rainstorm lasted until dawn, and though the rain let up, the weather did not turn any sunnier. Black storm clouds still hovered over the ship, and when the alarm rang, Lin Qiushi actually thought it was not yet morning. He checked the time, however, and saw that it was 8AM. It was just still dark outside.

"Good morning," Ruan Nanzhu greeted Lin Qiushi.

"Good morning. It's so dark outside today."

"It's probably going to keep raining," Ruan Nanzhu said. He walked out onto deck with Lin Qiushi and watched the black waters roil underneath the ship.

Looking up, they couldn't see any land, only the endless swath of sea. Only the old ship beneath their feet felt like any sort of reality.

This sort of isolating environment was easily taxing on the psyche. Even for Lin Qiushi, the scene before them was discomforting.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Gu Longming called to the two.

"He's pretty thick-skinned," Ruan Nanzhu commented after hearing Gu Longming's call.

"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "His nerves are petty good."

Inside the doors, you didn't have to be too smart, but you definitely had to be brave enough. Before terrifying situations, fright could make a person abandon a large part of their cognitive abilities. The smartest person could lack a strong heart and still do worse inside the door than the obtuse, oblivious Cheng Qianli.

The three went to the dining area and found there an atmosphere that could very well be called lifeless.

Lin Qiushi didn't know why at first. After he saw the menu, however, he couldn't help but also feel a touch of depression.

All the ship offered was fish. And it wasn't even fresh fish—Gu Longming poked at a dead-eyed staring head with his chopsticks and said, "is this thing even edible?"

It was disgusting just to look at.

"It looks gross," Lin Qiushi said. "Try a bit?"

Gu Longming took a bit of meat from the gills and gave it a taste. His expression twisted.

"Fuck, did they deduct the food budget for this door or what? It's disgusting. It's like they’ve had it outside for three days. You try it?"

Lin Qiushi, "oh no, no thank you."

Gu Longming: "…"

The breakfast served in the dining room was, for the most part, stale fish. Aside from that there was only flavorless noddles and peas. The environment had already been vicious enough, but the food in front of them now was salt on top of the wound.

But Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn't care at all. After seeing the inedible breakfast they snuck back to their room and fetched from their bags the food they'd prepared.

Gu Longming watched as they pulled out a bottle of chili sauce, eyes bulging out.

"You guys even brought Lao Gan Ma? Did you come here to picnic?"

"Want some?" Lin Qiushi drizzled the Lao Gan Ma over some noodles they'd brought out of the dining hall.

"Yeah yeah yeah. More please." Gu Longming's expression was shameless.

With breakfast finally done, they got ready to search the ship.

There were a total of three decks in the ship, constructed a bit like the sailing vessels of the great nautical era of the Middle Ages. It was extremely old, was all, covered in the marks and traces of times past.

Beside that NPC, they didn't see any other crew members on deck; there was likely only the one NPC on the entire ship. Wait for the ship's return was the mission the NPC left for them this time, but Lin Qiushi had thorough reason to believe that if they couldn't find the door in ten day's time, this voyage of theirs would cycle back and repeat—and they'd experience the ten days all over again.

When Lin Qiushi climbed onto the second deck, he heard a sort of thumping sound, and was uncertain if Ruan Nanzhu and Gu Longming had heard it as well. So he asked, "did you guys hear that?"

"What?" Gu Longming didn't seem to have heard.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I think I did, but not very clearly."

"I think it came from the corner…" Lin Qiushi followed the sound forward. "Let's go see."

But before they could get close, Lin Qiushi was hit with a thick, fishy stench. It was disgusting and nauseating to smell; fortunately Cheng Yixie wasn't here, or he might have passed out immediately upon smelling it.

The source of the sound and smell was the same room, and they were close enough now that both Gu Longming and Ruan Nanzhu could hear the thumping noise as well.

The three of them slowed their steps, and through the window, looked into the room.

It was a kitchen with knives and other tools hanging inside. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the dense masses of dead fish hung up on hooks all over the sides.

A person in an apron stood in the center of the room with their back towards them and head down. They were chopping something. After some observation, Gu Longming almost gagged, and said, "don't tell me he's making our breakfast—"

Ruan Nanzhu was very calm.

"It's possible."

Gu Longming did gag. He'd even had a bite of that fish that morning.

Lin Qiushi gave Gu Longming a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

This person in the kitchen, however, was the second living NPC they'd found on the ship.

The three of them stood watching in the kitchen doorway for a while, and saw that besides chopping fish, this person didn't do much of anything else. And so they decided to go see elsewhere first.

Very soon, they discovered a more peculiar room. This room was locked, and curtains were drawn over the window. It was quiet inside, but they could still smell that thick waft of stale fish. Lin Qiushi initially thought the smell had clung to them from the kitchen, but after a careful sniff, found that it was coming from inside the room.

"Do we go in?" Gu Longming was pressed against the window trying to look in, but he could see nothing.

Ruan Nanzhu gave this some thought, before saying, "let's try," and getting out a hairpin to pick the lock.

Watching his adept motions, Gu Longming's eyes widened. Then Gu Longming glanced at Lin Qiushi.

"Is this…is this a basic skillset that y'all come with?"

Lin Qiushi grinned as he joked, "yeah. You have to learn to pick locks if you want to join us."

As he said this, there was a click. Ruan Nanzhu really got the lock open. But oddly enough, after he unlocked the door and gave it a push, he found that though the door lock was undone, there was another lock hanging on the inside. The chain on that lock held the door closed, and they could at most manage a crack—it couldn't be opened at all.

"Wait," Lin Qiushi suddenly said, stopping Ruan Nanzhu from going up and pushing the door. "Stop for a second. There's movement inside."

Ruan Nanzhu halted, and just as he stopped mid-step, a hand, sharp-nailed and covered in scales, reached out of the door. And through that crack in the door, a pair of yellow eyes looked out, peering at the world outside with malicious intent.

Translator’s Note:

The name of the ship could more simply be translated as “Black Reef,” but “Black Skerry” sounds more like a ship name? Let me know if you think otherwise (or know if it’s a specific reference to something).

Lao Gan Ma is a brand of **hot sauce (edited: 7/26), as you can probably tell from context. The original next never uses “hot sauce” though, and just call it Lao Gan Ma in both the prose and the dialogue.

[Ch. 119] | [Ch. 121]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #NEW ARC #i like ships where the people take on characteristics they like about each other #and this is the peak 'rnz is a horrible influence on lqs' arc #but also rnz is a great influence on lqs #honeymoon door baby

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years ago

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Satisfied, Part 49

First

~~~

Marinette chewed on the inside of her cheek anxiously as her watch beeped to indicate that the Gala was starting. She gave Chloe about thirty minutes to enjoy herself and then sent the text behind her back. It didn’t matter if anything she said was legible, Chloe would understand.

The alleyway was completely silent as she waited for the familiar sound of a text tone. She looked up at the sky. The stars overhead twinkled. It was a perfect, cloudless Christmas night... and she was going to be spending it in an alley, then in a warehouse, then attempting to prevent a massacre. How fun. She should be enjoying her time with her boyfriend, dancing at a Gala, but apparently it wasn’t meant to be.

She drummed her fingers across the brick behind her, her irritation spiking. All that work on an outfit for herself and Chloe only for them to get about thirty minutes of use total. Man, if only she could have gotten the bunny miraculous from future Alix. That would have been a good thing to know ahead of time.

Ding!

She was pulled from her stupor and sighed, mouthing the words. Kaalki sprang to her glasses and she felt the familiar rush of energy as she transformed.

And, with that, she was off into the night. Her hand dipped down into her pocket to brush the miraculi she’d brought along. She had a plan, she reminded herself, it just all needed to work out. All she needed was a bit of luck --.

Ah. She was screwed.

Her boots clicked on the rooftops as she made her way through town.

The receiver in her ear beeped and she touched her hand to it.

“Ready, Mari?” Said Jason.

“Not really.” A grin broke across her face despite the circumstances. “If we’re all dying tonight I’m gonna be honest.”

“Don’t say that! You need to be more optimistic!” Said Dick.

She snickered. “Mmmm, fine. Either way, I’ve kinda known you guys’ identities for a while. You Waynes really aren’t as slick as you think you are.”

She used the stunned silence as a chance to turn down the volume on her comm. She’d need it.

There was a chorus of people yelling some form of ‘wait what?!’ and ‘how?!’ and, even with her volume on the lowest setting, she still winced and brought a hand up to her ear.

“I’ll explain later.”

If she could.

But, hey, Dick said to be more optimistic and she could at least keep morale up by pretending like she thought everything would work out.

She hummed lightly as the henchmen came into view. She leaned over the side of the rooftop, watching them wander around aimlessly in search of her. She pressed a hand to her comm. “Right, I’m gonna deafen.”

Everyone mumbled their ‘goodbye’s and ‘good luck’s. She smiled and changed her setting.

Her feet hit the ground and waved to the henchmen. “Right, right, I’m here.”

She doubted they would tranquilize her this time, considering they’d want her in her best shape to keep her portals. So, she beamed as they walked towards her.

She let them force the bag over her head and raised her eyebrow as they led her through the streets on foot. Maybe they were just tired, but that didn’t mean that the tiny difference in routine didn’t give her an extra little dose of anxiety about the whole situation.

But then they pulled the bag off her head and she was in a warehouse. And Harley tackled her in a hug as usual. Everything was fine. She barely even wheezed when she hit the floor, used to this by now. She grinned and hugged back.

“So, is there anything we need to do before we head out?” She asked, resting her head back against the cold stone. Harley had moved off of her by that point but, hey, she was tired and she didn’t want to get up.

“Nothing in particular,” said Riddler, scrolling through his phone idly like always.

She smiled at him. “Cool, I got you something.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Guess.”

He broke into a grin and turned around in his chair to face her. “Do I get any hints?”

“Only that you wouldn’t need any to solve this kind of puzzle.”

He seemed to think for a while, then rested his head on the top of his chair. “It has to fit in your pockets even with your hands in there, so… a rubix cube?”

She tossed him a Megaminx magic cube. “Close enough.”

He caught it and started fidgeting with it, a smile on his face.

Harley pouted. “I can’t believe he got a gift. I’m your favorite!”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Well, he always looks bored. If you were bored all the time I’d give you something, too.”

“Ha! You didn’t say I wasn’t your favorite!” Said Harley, grinning as she pumped her fist in the air.

She rolled her eyes and rested her head on an arm. Her eyes flickered around calmly and she came to realize that everyone was still in the middle of the room. “Where’s Joker?”

“He’ll be here soon,” said Penguin, a hint of distaste in his tone. “He’s busy with his hair.”

Her shoulders relaxed and she allowed herself to close her eyes. “I’ve always wondered if he just woke up like that or not. Y’know, with the chemicals and all.”

She felt someone come over and lay their head on her stomach and she peeked an eye open to see who it was and then closed her eyes again. Catwoman. Cool.

She rested an arm over her lazily. “You really are like a cat, huh?” She teased.

“Hey, sweetheart, promise me something?” She heard the woman mumble.

“Sure,” she said, sobering a little at the serious tone.

“We all agreed that, if things don’t go well, you aren’t allowed to come save us.”

She frowned. “Um… what?”

“You’re a kid. You need to promise that, if we start getting captured, you have to run. Or portal, whatever. Don’t try and save us. Get out. Okay?”

Tears threatened to come to Marinette’s eyes. Man, couldn’t they all just be terrible people to their cores? She wanted to just put them in jail like she did any other random criminal she stumbled across with Damian, but they just had to be nice to her.

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice tight. “I promise.”

She felt her nod. Or, maybe, she was just burying her face further in her stomach. Either way, Catwoman must have heard because she didn’t press the issue further.

She didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep until she was nudged awake. And by ‘nudged awake’ I mean she was kicked in the shoulder so hard it probably would have broken if she wasn’t in costume. Nonetheless, she still cursed and brought a hand over to cradle it. “Ow? What the hell was...?”

She opened her eyes to see Joker standing over her and her voice faltered. She fought the urge to scramble away in fear, her eyes flickering over his mask. “Uh… Joker, sir, your… face is upside down…”

“It’ll be a great punchline, trust me.”

She nodded slowly and pushed herself up. “Portal time, I’m guessing?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” said Penguin.

Everyone lined up so she wouldn’t have to make a super wide portal so early on. She was second to last, between Harley and Joker, and she could feel him staring at the back of her head. Her skin crawled.

She took a deep breath. Right. This was going to work out. She just had to… be optimistic.

Damn. If only it was as easy as Dick made it seem. She steeled her nerves.

“Right, good luck, everyone!” She chirped.

She opened a portal at the front and everyone filed through.

She closed the portal behind herself and they made their way through the house. The heels of their shoes clicked against the stone floors as they slipped through the halls. But this was quickly drowned out by the sound of people chattering.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek anxiously as they stepped out into the courtyard. It was always weird when a silence came over a room, because it was never all at once. Silence rippled through the courtyard until the only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat.

And then the screaming started.

Marinette closed her eyes and opened the portals on either side of the manor, blocking the gates. People stopped running to watch the blue portals stretch over the wrought iron. A few brave souls tested the portals to see what would happen and then came back out the other side.

The Rogues went to work, darting through the crowd in search of children. She saw Catwoman climb up a wall with inhuman speed and begin to use a lasso to pull kids out of danger.

Hey! Wait a minute! Marinette’s hands found their way to her waist and she cursed. Fine. She didn’t need a weapon, not as NightMare.

Unable to do much else, she settled for running around and grabbing kids like everyone else. She would grab as many as she could carry, vault over the wall, set them down and apologize profusely, then jump back over for more. She didn’t want to go quickly, she needed the bats to have a bit of time to give plausible deniability, but she was kinda on a time crunch...

Her eyes wandered over people, searching wildly for a familiar red suit. Honestly, why were there so many people in bright red? It’s really not a flattering color and -- there!

She found Chloe hiding out in a corner, probably waiting for the bats, and rushed over. Her gaze flicked over her hairline. She’d smashed her bug. Good.

Marinette grinned and dug into her pockets and held up the bee miraculous. “Tradesies?”

Chloe’s eyes widened and Marinette fastened the pin to the girl’s hair, then pulled the earrings off of her.

“This matches your outfit way better, anyways,” she chirped, giving a tiny wink before putting on her earrings. It felt great to have them again. She grinned. “Tikki, Kaalki, unify!”

“Good luck, right?”

She grinned. “Of course, Queenie.”

They pressed a kiss to each other’s cheeks and darted off in different directions.

Marinette couldn’t show up as a mix of Ladybug and NightMare, and she needed to keep the portals up, but that didn’t mean that she could just sit around doing nothing at all. She settled for jumping onto the roof and yoyo-ing a few people to safety when no one was paying attention.

She felt someone behind her and whipped around, her hand coming up to punch them, only for them to dodge.

She relaxed when she saw it was only Tim. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s my fault for just standing there! That was creepy.”

She giggled. “It’s fine, sweetie.”

She felt his fingers interlock with hers and a tiny smile made its way across her face, only to fall as they looked out over the sea of people.

The Rogues were nearly out of kids to take to safety, it seemed. Chloe was on the outer edges, shuffling along and attempting to get as many people out as possible without being spotted.

Their grips tightened on each other’s hands. It was starting to hurt but neither of them were eager to let go just yet.

She swallowed thickly. “How much longer?”

“We’re waiting until they get the kids out, since they’re already doing it for us.”

She nodded slightly.

And then they heard gunfire. Their eyes flicked back down to see Penguin shooting people with an umbrella. It might have been a comical sight if he wasn’t mowing down people at an alarming rate.

She felt Tim’s grip slacken on her hand and held tighter. He paused and she reached out, taking his face in her hands and pressing a short kiss to his lips.

“Good luck,” she murmured.

“One of us has to have it,” he whispered jokingly.

She gave a quiet laugh and let go. He gave her a tiny wink before hopping down.

She surveyed the battlefield, trying to ignore the pools of red and concentrate solely on the vigilantes and Rogues. It was about one-on-one, but the bats did slightly outnumber the Rogues.

Didn’t mean much when they were refusing to kill anyone, though.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek.

Just a few more minutes, she only had to wait a few more minutes…

~~~

Me: oh the Gala stuff will probably be like 3-4k words max so i’ll just have it all in one chapter

Also me: takes 2k words to get through the first part alone

Taglist

@comet-kun @thatonecroc @trippingovermyfeet @swiftie-miraculer13 @nickristus-dreamer @moongoddesskiana @i-am-ironic @indecisive-mess-named-me @thebooki3h @insane-fangirl-of-everything @deepestobservationwombat @theymakeupfairies @fatimaabbasrizvi @clumsy-owl-4178 @fanofalittletoomuch @iamablinkmarvelarmy @nathleigh @lilkymilky @silvergold-swirl @dino-lovingreen-angel @thestressmademedoit @kissa-chan @ladybug-182 @alysrose-starchild @t1dwarrior-of-earth @spyofthenightcourt @rowanrouge @nik-nak-3 @momothefemur @aestheticnpoetic @labschaos @our-preciousss @mochinek0 @eliza-bich @mythogaychic @severelyenchantedwonderland @sashakoi @smolplantmum @bluesimani @tropestropestropes @kitsunebell @keepingupwiththemalfoys @sassakitty @2confused-2doanything @too0bsessedformyowngood @all-mights-asscheeks @demonicbusiness @meg-an-ace @fantasiame @qualitypeacepainter @multplelifes @kokotaru @spicybelladonna @ultimatetornshipper

#timinette #timari #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #red robin #tim drake #maribat #satisfied

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anotherescsite · 3 years ago

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The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have

The journey from Tel Aviv to Rotterdam was an unexpectedly long one. Who knew that when Duncan Lawrence raised the trophy in May 2019 that another Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final would not take place for another 736 days? Having to wait such a long time between two Eurovision (excluding 2 x Junior contests) was excruciating, soul destroying and plainly depressing. And just like that, Eurovision 2021 has come and has now gone.

As the title says, it is The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have. It is a bold statement and I considered it for a day before putting it there. In reflection the song contest in Rotterdam was a wonderful event for many reasons which I’d like to discuss a bit. So this may take a while, but bear with me and hopefully, I’ll make it worth your while.

THE HOSTS

Four hosts was two too many, but let’s talk about them. Chantal is beautiful and the most professional of the foursome. Jan was the token male and while his performance was contained to a very small potion, it was nevertheless, fine. Edsilia was much more chilled than I expected and provided a warm presence amongst these people. Nikkie was probably the most down to earth of them all, possibly the most personable, but also somehow cold.

In actually effect, while there were four of them, they worked. No one took a lite load but they each had an equal presence in the show. As many other people have mentioned, everyone would have preferred more Edsilia and Nikkie to Jan and Chantal, but I’m not terribly fussed. They were all well practiced and very on point for the event and as a viewer I was pleased by this.

THE STAGE

Like most Eurovision stages, they do not look like anything unless you turn on the lights. That was definitely the case for this one. The lights were on, the stage sparkled, and the stage was alive in every way that it was asked. The screens provided everything that were needed for each of the songs and other performances. The transparent screen in the middle of the venue added so much to some of the performances and was the masterstroke that made some of them visually exciting.

There was one thing about the stage that felt like they were reminiscing stages of the Dutch past. I felt a hint of the Amsterdam 1970 stage on the sides. I don’t think it was a co-incidence, but I liked the fact that the paid homage like that. Everything else was state of the art.

POSTCARDS

The postcard films were well put together to present a place in the Netherlands, a tiny house structure with items that belong or relate to the act coming up and then a green screen appearance of the act in the tiny house.

While the postcard as a whole were well put together and cleverly created, I felt I missed out on seeing more of the Netherlands because they were focused more on what was coming and less with the airport, the canal, the lighthouse, the field, the tulips and whatever else was presented. So it’s only a small thing in a small film, but I wanted more of a Netherlands tourism experience in the films.

THE INTERVAL ACTS

It’s a funny thing about this year’s interval acts, and to be completely honest, I happy about it. If you asked a fan about Eurovision 2014, people will say that they remember ‘Love love peace peace’ and Justin Timberlake. In 1994, people remember ‘Riverdance’. In Tel Aviv, there was Madonna. I like that the intervals this year did not overshadow the entrants to the song contest. They were a time filler, a light refreshment and then it was over. For the most part well performed, entertaining and gone before you know it

I recall there was something about water in the first semi final, there was a dancer and a bike in the second, the former winners sang on Rotterdam buildings and some unifying song and dance. Nikkie did some little films about losing, and behaviour in the green room during voting. All were quality performances that were well constructed, organised and presented. They held the viewers attention while we waited for the votes to commence/announcement of the qualifiers and because they were each engaging, they seemed to go quickly.

THE OUTCOME

In most cases, things went as expected in the semi finals. Fans were disappointed with Croatia not qualifying, but I don’t think the betting had them qualifying. Romania was expected to qualify, but Roxen could not sing the song and move at the same time. Ireland suffered the same fate with an impressive staging. Semi final 2 went as expected as well; maybe Austria was expected to get through in place of Albania; i disagree.

The results/placings in the final were a bit of a surprise to me, but there was one certainty for me and that was that Italy deserved their win. There is a very simple reason for it’s success too. It’s not that it was a loud song or that the song was outlandish, or the way they were dressed. The reason that Italy won was that the performance of the song was a natural performance. I’m sure there was choreography of movement, but they were not outside of what they usually do. There was no gimmick, no dance routine, no green screen to worry about, no spinning diamond or large gimmick hanging from the roof of the stadium. It is also why the French entry was such a success and for a lesser part Iceland and Ukraine. Finland and Portugal also presented an entry that was in essence what was expected for that type of song.

Switzerland was a vast success in my eyes. They rolled the dice and they came up on top with the juries. Switzerland have rolled out a prop in the past to highlight a song, but this year they added lighting and camera work to add to the tension of the entry and it worked. Gjon looked a bit clumsy at times, but it was excellent captivating three minutes.

There were some countries that were dependent on a large prop. Some were there to attract votes as they went with the song while others to distract from it. Russia and Cyprus had several well placed props that worked well and were relevant to the song. Greece had a large invisible prop that made what was a good song appear like a joke entry. Malta had a prop that didn’t make sense to the entry being performed. Bulgaria’s rock was both inspirational and strange to me. Moldova’s revolving diamond worked for her also, but it was just a surface to perform choreography on.

I want to spend a moment of praise on Serbia and Belgium that had very different performances, but appropriately performed. Serbia took their sexy manic, hair choreographed selves all over the stage gyrating and moving like they had drunk 15 cups of coffee. Belgium, on the other hand, was very intense and sedate in their presentation mainly because most of them were playing instruments that were unmovable.

Of the countries that retained their choreography from a national final, other than Iceland, was Lithuania. They had varied it only very little from the national final and in their case, the performance was crazy perfection to match the theme of the song. I was disappointed with Norway, Azerbaijan and Sweden for retaining almost identical choreography to their songs from the film clip/national final, but I wasn’t a big fan of either song in the final. They seemed tired in appearance and in formatting. Azerbaijan needs a further slap for submitting their 2020 song with a new name.

I feel some disappointment for a few of the entrants. I’m going to start with the United Kingdom. Poor James Newman. He had a thumping good song that fans liked. There was enthusiasm from the fans that the UK would do better this year and they did worse. What I find astounding is he does not appear to be a shy person, yet he allowed someone in the United Kingdom delegation to produce that choreography, that outfit and those props for that song. To my ear, James sounded sad and dejected in the final and I was unbelievably disappointed that they didn’t score something from somewhere.

I’m disappointed for San Marino too. Senhit has showed she is a class act and has spent the last year enthusiastically covering Eurovision songs. But at the song contest, she appeared to be a forgotten entrant. Even with the addition of Flo Rida did not give the song some cred. I have a recurring image of Senhit’s shoulders slump and physically shrink on hearing that her efforts accounted for 50 points.

I’m also disappointed for the Netherlands. They most likely did not want to host again and it is a sad curse that countries that host usually end near the bottom of the scoreboard (excluding Super Sweden). But to score so terribly for what was a gloriously performed entry was unconscionable. I praise the Netherlands for choosing such a wonderful cultural performance for the stage.

At the bottom end, Spain and Germany had very different entries, performed with contrasting enthusiasm and it got them both a very low level of support. Spain had the most tired song that was boring as all hell and the presentation of the entry gave the audience nothing in return but a large grey beach ball in the sky. Back to the drawing board? Germany was destined to fail in March. The charisma and fun of their film was completely missing from the staging and it was never going to go well.

Albania had the misfortune of being ignored, given a terribly bad draw for the second year straight and not given anywhere near the appropriate amount of votes required. Anxhela gave a good stylish and appropriate performance. She was on-point vocally and in her performance on stage.

Israel, on the other hand, was a spectacle. The song was kind of meh, performed with a lot of choreography to distract from it. She did a whistle note; so? I’m sure she had to get noticed somehow with her t-shirt dress, her nude illusion reveal and the headdress she stole from reigning RuPaul Drag race winner, Symone. (Did she not no know where she was coming and who would be watching? Picked that up immediately)

IN CONCLUSION

There is one other things that I have not mentioned so far and it only occurred to me after re-reading some of the above comments. The Dutch were very time conscious. They said they were keeping the final under four hours and they pulled it in and got it done. In my opinion, it was a Eurovision that was very breezy, and very light experience because while the experience of Eurovision was 8 hours of your week watching the shows, this year did not seem like an ordeal. I felt that the shows progressed quickly without fuss or propaganda. As a package it came together well across the board.

It was a good Eurovision year and had something to cater for the taste of everyone. Some songs were not suited to everyone, but that happens. Below is how I saw this years song’s after the three shows and believe me I have changed it a few times before settling on this list. Looking at it, I want to move them around again.

So that’s it. Next year it will be somewhere in Italy; maybe Turin, maybe Rome, Milan or Bologna. It won’t matter. Feel free to comment, complain, debate. I’m happy to back myself and for you to convince me otherwise. I haven’t got anything else to do. : )

#esc #eurovision #2021 #Rotterdam #The Netherlands #The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have

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rosethornewrites · 5 years ago

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Fic: Love Language, ch. 1

Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Wayhem

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Kagami Tsurugi, Tikki, Tom Dupain, Tomoe Tsurugi, Sabine Cheng, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Kitty Section, Jagged Stone, Penny Rolling, Clara Nightingale, Alec Cataldi, Nadja Chamack, Fang, XY, Lila Rossi, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayhem, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard

Additional Tags: Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Language of Flowers, Gifts, Traditions, Holidays, Cultural Differences, Kimono, Qipao, Family, Love, Romance, Celebrations, Symbolism, Aged-Up Character(s), Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Christmas Fluff, Identity Reveal, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Established Relationship, Marriage Proposal, Family Dinners, Airports, feeding each other, sharing ceremony, Anxiety, Engagement, Kissing, It was supposed to be a one-shot, Admiration, Pet Names, Cuddling & Snuggling, yin and yang, Communication, Smut, Food Sex, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, Multiple Orgasms, Bathing/Washing, Podfic Welcome, Kagami is a boob woman, Nudity, Instagram, Social Media, Sleeping Together, Wedding Planning, Wedding Rings, Lila salt, Alec Cataldi salt, Food Porn, Paparazzi, Panic Attacks, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Lila Rossi Lies, Date Night, Adrien Sugar, Relationship Goals, Uncle Jagged Stone, Protective Kagami Tsurugi

Summary: Marinette gets a package from Japan shortly before Christmas, with a special hinted message. Kagaminette.

Note: Several people on the Discord server I used to take part in gave me the idea of Kagami sending treats to Marinette from Japan. I did a lot of research, and if I got anything wrong that's on me. More on the kimono here: https://rosethornewrites.tumblr.com/post/611555117585629184/love-language-kimono

@obliviousblondesunite suggested I post this chapter tonight! Stan the Hamster!

AO3 link (smut in chapter 3) FFN link (implied sex in chapter 3)

This is also part of my Catch a Falling Star series.

-----

The lines were coming together on the shirt taking form on the page of her sketchbook, meant to match the skirt beside it, an embroidery pattern partly drawn out on the page next to it. Vaguely, she heard someone calling, but it wasn’t enough to break through to her as she paused in the shirt design to add more aspects to the embroidery idea.

This was a planned outfit for Kagami, something she could wear at formal occasions that wasn’t a kimono, but she only had vague ideas still.

Even though Marinette’s lycée still had several weeks until it was let out for the holidays, Kagami’s private schooling had allowed her to accompany her mother to Japan, where they would stay through Christmas. That gave Marinette a bit more time to make her gift, thankfully.

“Marinette?”

Marinette was startled out of her creative fugue when Sabine’s head popped into her room.

“Maman?”

“You must have been in the zone. You have a package from Japan.” Sabine had a twinkle in her eye. “I can’t imagine who that’s from!”

Marinette could feel her cheeks turn red, flustered and excited. She stood and rushed down past her mother to find a positively immense box in Tom’s arms.

Her jaw dropped. That had to have cost Kagami a lot, and here Marinette had to wait for her to return to give her her Christmas gift.

Tom laughed at the look on her face. “Your girlfriend must love you a lot to send such a big package international.”

He didn’t wait for her reply, instead lugging the package into her room and setting it next to the chaise.

“We’ll give you some privacy to open it, hon,” Tom told her. They left her to it.

Marinette pulled her non-sewing scissors from a drawer and took a seat, reaching forward to trace Kagami’s name. She loved how Japanese names worked, something Kagami had explained when showing her the characters that made up Kagami. Hers was 香海, which she had explained broke down into “incense” and “ocean.” A fragrant ocean.

It had inspired Marinette to call her ma sirène. In retaliation, of sorts, Kagami had started calling her Mari-tō, which she said was essentially “sugar Mari,” joking it was a bastardized term of endearment. They had giggled over that, and Mme. Tsurugi just shook her head the first time she heard Kagami say it.

“Oh, I wonder what she sent for you!” Tikki exclaimed, alighting on the box.

She gently slid the blade of the scissors under the flap to slit the tape, and opened it once Tikki took to the air again. The first thing, atop what seemed like a mountain of smaller boxes, was an envelope labelled “マリー糖, please open after the gifts.” It made her smile.

Underneath, there were two packages labelled for her parents, and so she pulled them out and took them downstairs, letting Tikki know she’d be right back.

The bakery was closed for the day, and her parents were preparing supper.

“Maman, Papa, Kagami sent gifts for you!”

She presented the packages, brightly wrapped in beautiful paper, to her parents, then sat at the kitchen table to watch them open them. She’d get to her own later.

Tom opened his first, revealing a deep green silk men’s kimono, with a pattern that looked like a bamboo forest. When he opened it, they were able to see the green faded lighter toward the bottom, which had an intricate pattern of different trees. An envelope fell with it, and the paper inside explained it was a shōchikubai “three friends of winter” pattern of pine, bamboo, and plum, which symbolized strength and happiness. The letter explained how to wear the kimono, and underneath the kimono itself were all the pieces of clothing to wear with the kimono, including the obi and zori.

At the very bottom of Tom’s box was also a book on traditional Japanese sweets, which he immediately started flipping through.

Sabine’s kimono was far more intricate, red with white blossoms on branches woven throughout. On the back was a golden dragon. An envelope underneath had a note explaining the meaning of the flowers—plum, or ume, blossoms, which Kagami chose due to their dual meanings in Japanese tradition and Chinese philosophy. Good fortune, elegance, and faithfulness in Japanese tradition, and the five blessings of longevity, prosperity, health, virtue, and good living in Chinese philosophy. The golden dragon represented wisdom, kindness, and helpfulness, and was holding a pearl to indicate good fortune.

In addition to the same instructions as Tom’s letter, Sabine’s included an invitation from Mme. Tsurugi for the family to attend a traditional Japanese New Year celebration at the Tsurugi manor and visit Sanctuaire Yabuhara with the Tsurugi family. The kimono were, in part, for them to wear to the event.

Sabine looked up at Marinette, her eyes shining. “She says you have one, too.”

Marinette tore back up the stairs and pulled a similar looking package from the box, bringing it downstairs to open.

The kimono was deep purple fading to white and back, with a beautiful wave of flowers splayed across it—pink and white roses, lily of the valley, purple and white lilacs, bluebells, among others. She knew before she read the note the symbols—innocence and love, purity, reverence, trust, happiness.

She didn’t realize she was crying until Sabine dabbed at her cheek with a tissue.

“She really loves you,” Sabine murmurs. “She’s so good for you.”

The letter told her there were violets to represent the sincere bliss of their relationship. White and pink sakurasou for long-lasting love. Falling ume blossoms for the same reason as Sabine’s, but also to represent Marinette’s pure heart. Camellias for perfect love.

“This must be why she asked for all our measurements before she left,” Marinette said finally, snuggling against Sabine. “I had no idea she planned to do this. Proper kimono are incredibly expensive, and these must be custom!”

Sabine simply smiled. “You’re dating a very traditional girl, and for her family money is no object. And I believe the symbols she chose clearly indicate her intentions.”

Marinette felt her face turning red, and she realized that her parents looked absolutely blissful.

She couldn’t say it was completely unexpected—she and Kagami started dating shortly following her fifteenth birthday, after Kagami had given up on her relationship with Adrien—it had been going nowhere, and it seemed he had someone else on his mind.

It hadn’t been Marinette; she was his ‘good friend,’ and in having André serve ice cream for Kagami and Adrien, she had given up on anything more. He didn’t see her like that. And, as it turned out, it seemed neither she nor Kagami were in his heart.

She had briefly tried to return Luka’s feelings, but he had recognized her heart wasn’t in it, and had asked instead for her friendship.

When Kagami had informed her, at her birthday party, that she wished to date her, Marinette had been thrown for a complete loop. The following days had been filled with self-reflection and careful consideration; she’d been thirteen when she’d fallen for Adrien, and her obsession had left her little room to consider her own identity. She’d never thought beyond.

Eventually, she had confessed uncertainty to Kagami, who had asked that they attempt to date and if it didn’t work out, remain friends.

Over two years later, Marinette could say with certainty that she loved Kagami Tsurugi.

When Sabine shooed her from the kitchen to open the rest of her gifts, she felt like she was walking on clouds. She brought her kimono and letter with her, and got to listen to Tikki talk about all the different complex meanings of the flowers and exclaim over the quality of the fabric and embroidery.

The process of opening the rest of the packages, filled with gorgeous fabrics, seeds for Japanese flowers, crafting supplies, stationery, several hair sticks, and Japanese treats slowly brought her down.

When Marinette opened the last package, however, it felt like the world stopped. Spread at the top of the box was a tiny kimono, black with branches of red and white tree peonies, and very tiny ladybugs. She nearly dropped the box.

Underneath was an envelope with a ladybug drawn on it.

“Tikki… I, uh…”

Tikki landed on her shoulder. “Oh…”

She opened the envelope with shaking hands, reading quickly. The letter revealed that Kagami had figured it out a few months ago, having caught a glimpse of Tikki and connecting it to her experience with Longg. The peonies represented good fortune and honor. And of course ladybugs symbolized luck—but also had an association with lovers in Japan.

Under the letter were a variety of Japanese sweets, including some specialty yatsuhashi from Kyoto and different flavors of konpeitō.

The letter ended, “Please tell your kwami that these gifts are a measure of appreciation—for the guidance and protection she has given you.”

“That’s very sweet of her, Marinette,” Tikki offered. “She, um… I think she caught me the last time she spent the night.”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself; she was the Guardian now, so she made the rules. Marinette could allow her girlfriend to be aware of her identity as Ladybug. It felt a little like cheating, though.

Tikki seemed to recognize the decision and quickly pulled on the kimono—it looked adorable on her.

Marinette tore open the letter addressed to her.

マリー糖 ,

I would have told you all of this in person, but you tend to catastrophize, and I thought you might prefer to do that privately in the counsel of your kwami. I am given to understand that she has helped you gain a measure of self-confidence in the years since her arrival. I have been honored to know the you shaped by the responsibilities you took up, as you are passionate, kind, and honorable.

I know this places you in an awkward position, but I of course will protect this knowledge with my life, for it is yours.

Mother wishes I inform you that she tried sakura macrons at a famous pâtisserie in Tokyo, and they were pitiful in comparison to those your father made for her last spring. The book she sent for him includes multiple types of pastries and jellies he may enjoy experimenting with, some of them sakura-focused. She hopes to order some traditional winter treats for her party, and I will send you a list upon your confirmation of receipt of this package.

I look forward to celebrating the New Year and sharing our traditions in the coming weeks, and to greeting the first sun of the new year with you and your family. Perhaps we can observe the Chinese New Year together in accordance with the traditions of your ancestors.

Yours always,

香海

Marinette held the letter to her chest, touched by Kagami’s desire to share their traditions together. The idea spread warmth through her, and eventually she set the letter aside with a soft sigh.

“I suppose it’s okay she knows… since I didn’t tell her.” She gave Tikki a rueful smile.

Tikki looked sheepish, even as she preened over how she looked in the kwami-sized kimono. “You’re the Guardian now, Marinette. You get to make the rules.”

She sighed. “Yeah. I just wish it was safer—we need to work harder to uncover Hawkmoth’s identity so that threat is ended. I need to be able to plan for after lycée.”

She sent a text message to Kagami to let her know she received the package and to video chat with her at her earliest convenience, then decided to try on her own kimono.

The instructions were easy to follow, despite the layers. It was a very traditional kimono, involving a hadajuban, nagajuban, and soft sash to go under the kimono. It was almost a soothing process, putting on each layer, folding each side of the kimono properly, tying on the datejime, and finally tying the lovely obi—pink with cranes—into one of the knot options. It was not easy afterward getting the tabi socks on, which told her next time to do it before the kimono. The zori slipped right on, though it was odd to get used to them.

Just as she finished, her phone rang, and she slid her finger against the bar to accept the call.

“You look stunning in that, as I expected,” Kagami said. “I wish I could see more.”

Tikki grabbed the phone from Marinette’s hands and moved it away so she could twirl.

“Much obliged to your kwami. You truly do look lovely. Though, in the future, fold left over right. Right over left is for the dressing of a body at a funeral. I should have written that in the instructions—I apologize. As such, it is a bit discomfiting seeing you dressed in that fashion.”

Marinette let Tikki keep holding the phone while she quickly untied the obi and datejime to correct the mistake, then retied both.

Kagami beamed at her. “Absolutely beautiful. I look forward to seeing your parents in them on the New Year. I will send you a list of the traditional activities to expect for my mother’s soiree. You will be meeting a larger portion of my family, to be introduced to them.”

Marinette took the phone back from Tikki, who landed on her shoulder.

“Ah,” Kagami said, surprised. “I can see the kimono, but nothing else. That is fascinating.”

“Her name is Tikki,” Marinette confessed.

“I apologize for discovering your secret. It was unintentional on both our parts.”

That got a nod from Tikki.

“It’s okay,” she replied softly. “I… It’s a relief that someone else knows, honestly. Especially when that someone is you.”

“I am honored to know, and it explains quite a bit. Your disappearances at times, for instance.”

Marinette could feel her face turning red.

“I had not realized they all coincided with Akuma attacks, to be honest. I had worried you were hiding a chronic ailment.”

She couldn’t quite stop herself from giggling at that. “Oh, you must have been worried.”

“I still am, Mari-糖,” Kagami said seriously. “But I hope with my knowledge, I can perhaps be of service in the coming year, perhaps to end Hawkmoth’s reign of terror for good. But we can discuss that later—it is quite late here in Kyoto, and I have commitments early tomorrow. I simply wished to make sure you weren’t upset.”

“I’m not,” Marinette said with a smile. “I could never be, not with you. Sleep well, ma sirène.”

After hanging up, Marinette sat back on her chaise with a sigh. “Tikki, I think she’s hoping to introduce me as her intended for New Year.”

Tikki patted her cheek. “And how do you feel about that, Marinette?”

She was quiet for a moment, letting the sounds of her parents making dinner float through her open door, the scent of lasagna wafting in as well.

“I—”

The phone dinged, and the text message was from Kagami, with a list of different sweets Mme. Tsurugi wanted to order for the party. It also featured a stunning picture of Kagami in an intricate kimono with gold, black, and red, covered in white geometric patterns with a bouquet of flowers in the front and sprigs of blossoms throughout.

She looked amazing.

And suddenly Marinette knew exactly what she wanted to make Kagami for Christmas—a qipao to wear when they celebrated the Chinese New Year, with the gold five-clawed Long embroidered on it. And she would make her own with a phoenix, in colors that complimented Kagami’s.

Marinette stood, changing quickly and hanging her kimono and all its undergarments in the closet, before settling back in front of her sketchbook and turning to a new page.

By the time her mother called her for dinner, she had much of the concept sketched out, complete with plum blossoms, lilies, and a lotus cupped in the claw of the dragon. She intended for her phoenix to cup one as well in its talon.

Kagami wasn’t the only one who knew how to use symbolism. Marinette intended to have this ready to present to her girlfriend before the New Year, to give the answer to the question she was hinting she’d ask.

#love language #marigami #marinette dupain cheng #kagami tsurugi #kagaminette #kagami x marinette #sabine cheng #tom dupain #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous christmas

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phantoms-lair · 5 years ago

Note

Scooby and the Gang having quirks? That would be cool. Like, four superpowered kids and their probably also superpowered dog are amateur detectives instead of heroes. But they frequently run into other pro heroes, (like Scooby Doo team up) and have to help in anyway they can without breaking any quirk related laws. (Which they probably already do on a daily basis but they dont want to do that around pros, could get arrested.)

The signs had been there for quite a while, but none of them had picked up on them. At the time it seemed like another internet hoax. A baby that glowed in Japan. A woman who could create ice in Italy. But in the age of video editing, no one took them too seriously.

It didn’t become real for the gang until about a year and a half after the glowing baby started the craze of people declaring they had super powers. They had been on a road trip and Fred had been repairing a tire when his lug wrench snapped.

“Oh no,” he moaned. A spare tire he had, a spare wrench no so much. “I think we need to call the auto service."

“Like, let me.” Shaggy made a gesture like he was pulling something from thin air and grasped an identical wrench from the air.

“How did you do that?” Fred asked, impressed. “You’re wearing short sleeves, so you couldn’t have been hiding it up them.”Shaggy shrugged. “Like dunno, man. I want something, I reach for it, and it’s there.”

“Very funny, Shaggy.” Velma plucked the wrench from his hand. “Carbon steel, just like Fred’s old one.”

“You can tell, just by looking?” Fred asked, even more impressed.

“Certainly. It’s not that hard, you just focus on something and you can tell, you know?”

“No.” came the response from all of them.

“Really?” Velma asked, surprised. “It’s really not that hard.”

“It’s not that it’s ‘not that hard’, Velma. It’s flat out impossible.” Daphne explained, leaning out the Mystery Machine’s window.

“No, it’s not. I do it all the time.” Velma argued back.

“Hey, do you think this could be related to that superhero thing?” Fred asked, a note of excitement in his voice. “With people randomly developing super powers?”

“Fred, that’s not a real thing.” Velma rolled her eyes.

“Well, why don’t you test out whether Shaggy’s ‘power’ works while Fred fixes the wheel.” Daphne offered.

“I’m telling you super powers don’t exist.”

“I can’t believe this exists.” Velma said with tonelessly as she looked at the building in front of her

“Like me either.” Shaggy shuddered. “Like in comic books the government creating a registration list for supers always precedes real bad stuff.”

“At least you guys have it easy.” Fred pointed out “Tell them your power, demonstrate, then you get your registration card. Daph and I have to go through a whole battery to figure out if we even have a power.”

“I guess we meet up back here when we’re done.” Daphne gave them all a hug. “Good luck everyone.”

“I have a power!” Daphne ran out, waving a tiny plastic card. “You know how I haven’t been falling into trap doors as much anymore? I have some kind of radar and I’ve been subconsciously sensing the right way to go.”

“That’s great,” Velma said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster for the laws of physics breaking further.

Daphne knew how she felt, though, and didn’t take offense. “Shaggy’s not out yet? I figured he’d be fast, like you.”

“He was. But someone heard Scooby talking and turns out that’s not normal. So now they’re investigating animals developing powers.”

“What even is normal?” Daphne wondered out loud.

“Not the same as it was five years ago,” Velma agreed sadly.

It was about half an hour later before Fred came out. “Hey, where’re the guys?”“Sweet Freedom!” Shaggy and Scooby all but bounded out of the building.

“That took a while. They really weren’t ready for a dog with powers, were they?” Daphne smiled.

“Nah, they took that pretty well. Even had a metal working guy who could make a dog tag for him.”

Scooby moved his tag aside to reveal a new one under it, identifying him as a Class C Shapeshifter.

“Class C?” Velma inquired.

“Minor body changes, can’t change color.” Shaggy shrugged. “What kept us so long was the lectures.” he groaned.

“Lectures? What lectures?” Daphne looked to Velma and Fred to see if they had any idea what Shaggy was talking about.“‘Creating cash is still counterfeiting’, ‘Don’t make enough gold to crash the economy’. And like, it was heavily hinted I should go easy on making jewels and stuff.”

“I guess your power is kind of easy to abuse.” Fred admitted.

Daphne put a hand on Shaggy’s shoulder. “Diamond’s values are artificially inflated so make as many as you want.”

“Like, I’d rather just go get a hamburger or twelve.”

“At least something still makes sense.” Velma muttered.

“This is really bugging you, isn’t it?” Fred asked.

“Of course it is! Superpowers make no sense. Everyone in the world getting random ones? Even less sense. This is not something science can explain.”

“Yet” Fred added. “This isn’t something Science can explain yet. They’ll figure it out. Who knows, maybe you’ll be at the forefront of the discovery.”

Velma gave a weak smile. “You always know what to say, Jones. Come one, let’s get Shaggy his burgers before he wastes away to nothing.”

Shaggy and Scooby were in the back of the Mystery Machine before anyone could say anything else.

The others laughed and headed to the van. Fred was secretly relieved that everything had distracted his friends from the small plastic card in his wallet. For the most part it was the same as theirs, Photo, State ID Number, Date of birth. The only difference was next to Power: was the word ‘None’.

“I suppose it would become inevitable that the bad guys started using their powers,” Daphne sighed as the illusionist was packed into the back of the police car.

“But we solved it anyway.” Velma was grinning. “We just needed to expand on what we previously considered was possible.”

“And, like, we even did it before the heroes showed up.” Shaggy grinned. Probably the most predictable thing in all this were the real life superheroes starting to show up. New laws were being shaped, but right now it was a little bit of chaos. Still, they lived in a world with superheroes and Shaggy couldn’t help but think that was cool.

Two officers approached them. “Looks like everything all wrapped up. We just need to straighten up something on you statements.” The younger one said kindly.

“On your statements you were asked to write down your powers, but one of you didn’t see the need to comply.” The older glared at Fred who shrunk away.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just-”

“Tell me what your power is, now.”

Fred felt his mind haze over. “I don’t have one. I’m just normal.”

The cop raised his eyebrow in disbelief. “Really? That must feel pretty terrible.”

“It does. I feel like dead weight weighing everyone down.”

“For the love of God, Frank, knock it off.” The younger cop shook his partner and the cloud lifted from Fred’s mind.

He snapped back into reality and realized the gang had closed ranks around him. Velma and Daphne were on either side, Shaggy behind him with a hand on his shoulder, and Scooby in front of him, hackles raised. Then he remembered what the cop had made him say and felt shame start to well up inside him. Sure he had been jealous, but it was okay as long as he never voiced those feelings. Only now someone had taken control of his tongue and forced the words out.

“We should be fine, why don’t you kids head on home.” The younger cop waved them off and pulled his partner away.

“You know none of us think you’re dead weight, don’t you Fred?” Daphne asked softly.

“I know. It’s just in my head.” Fred had never felt so small in his life. “Can we go home? Please?”

The Gang never brought the incident up again. They’d never been specially showy with their powers (or quirks as they were coming to be known), mostly out of deference to Velma’s discomfort. Now it was complete radio silence. Fred was grateful on one level that his friends were that considerate over something so amazing, but still wished Officer Frank had never made him say anything. He couldn’t help resenting the man, and had taken to letting Velma do most of the talking to law enforcement. He felt a little cowardly over it, but figured with Scooby and Shaggy scared of everything under the sun he was allowed this.

They had just figured out the mystery of the ‘Banshee’ haunting the old shack and were at Fred’s favorite part - setting the trap.

“Okay, I think all we need is about a foot more twine and I think this trap is set.” Fred looked at his handiwork proudly.

“Like, bad news, Fred. We’re out of twine.” Shaggy said sadly.

“What do you mean out of twine?” Fred asked. It didn’t make sense. Sure Shaggy couldn’t conjure something like an engine, but twine was barely any effort.

“I brought up everything in the Mystery Machine. There’s none left, man.” Shaggy shrugged.

“But can’t you just make more?”

“Oh. I, like, don’t do that anymore.” Shaggy hunched his shoulders a bit.

“What do you mean you don’t do that anymore? That’s your quirk. It’s- wait.” He thought none of them were talking about their powers. What if-? “Did you guys stop using your powers, because of me?”

The silence that met him told him all he needed to know. “Okay, no. We are not doing this.”

“Fred, if our having quirks make you feel bad, then we don’t need them. You’re way more important to us than that.” Daphne insisted.

“Look. Yes, I’m upset that I don’t have a power. I’ll even go so far as to say I’m jealous that you guys do. But at no point did I want you guys to feel like you had to give up your powers. I mean, there’s plenty else to be jealous of. Velma, you’re so brilliant, sometimes I feel like I can barely add two and two together. It’s hard not to feel plain when Daphne lights up a room with her amazing personality and ability to coordinate an outfit to look as amazing on the outside as she is on the inside. And it would definitely be nice to be able to eat twice my body weight and never worry about gaining a pound like Shag and Scooby do.”

“But I would never want Velma to dumb herself down, Daphne to make herself dull, or Shaggy and Scooby to not eat as much. Because those are quirks of being you, and your powers are a part of that now. You’re all so amazing, and now you’re even more amazing, and I don’t want to take any of that away from you. I know my insecurities are all in my head, but if you guys have to give up parts of yourself for me? Then I really am weighing you down and I refuse to let that happen. Ever.”

Before he knew what was happening, Fred found himself in the middle of a group hug.

“Oh hey, What do you know? Looks like we had more twine after all.” Shaggy slipped the couple of feet of twine he had conjured into Fred’s hand.

“Great.” Fred grinned. “Let’s go catch us a banshee.”

“They’re approaching fast. Shaggy and Scooby are about ten yards away. The Banshee is a yard behind them.” Daphne had her eyes shut as she concentrated on the image her radar was sending her.

“Let us know when they’re clear.” Fred held one rope and Velma the other. With Daphne’s quirk, it was easy to avoid accidentally capturing the boys in their traps.

“Now!”

As Shaggy and Scooby sailed past, Fred and Velma pulled and the Banshee was launched off the floor and into a net, which twisted around before being deposited in a hay baler, leaving the banshee trapped and unable to move.

“Call it in, guys. We got her.”

Soon enough the police arrived, along with a token force from the Hero’s Union.

“As you can see, we’ve caught the so-called Banshee terrorizing the area. Or should I say, Lanie Mayfair.” Velma pulled the mask off the so-called banshee. “She claimed she’d never gone near Baker’s Shack for fear of the banshee, but the soil on her shoes was the exact composition of the mud outside the shack. The feeling of dread and fear people reported were actually a low level psychic quirk that inspired those feelings.” That’s why they had to call in the Hero’s Union. Any crime with quirks used had to go through them. “The Banshee’s wail was prerecorded, and played over a series of speakers, including one hidden in the Banshee’s choker.”

“But we checked the records when the reports first came in. No one currently in the area has a quirk like that.” One of the Hero’s Union reps pointed out.

“Because she kept it a secret. I bet if you looked up Lanie’s records her power would be listed as ‘None’. Lanie’s an experienced conwoman. She knew how useful her quirk would be and pretended not to have one during registration. A quirk like that would be easy to overlook since it wouldn’t produce a visible or physical effect.”

“Very good Velma. But you’re wrong on one count.” Lanie grinned nastily. “It’s not a minor psychic quirk.” That was all the warning they got before a wave of pure despair shot out of her.

Fred felt his knees buckling under him. All those insecurities Frank had brought up, his lower self worth, jealousy, and guilt over being jealous, flooded to the surface once more. But he shoved it down. He had laid those demons to rest. He looked up and noticed everyone else wasn’t faring so well, not even the police or heroes. Most looked full of despair, with some weeping openly. Fred thought Shaggy was doing a little better, only to realize that while he didn’t look miserable, he didn’t look anything, as if there was no life in him.

“See how pathetic you are?” Lanie asked haughtily. “How completely wretched and worthless your life is?”

“Don’t you dare say that about any of them!” Fred snarled, rising to his feet. “My friends are the most amazing people on the planet! They’ve - we’ve put away dozens of low end criminals like you away. I mean, look at you. We’ve got you trapped and your quirk certainly isn’t going to help you escape. Seems we’re doing better than you.”Lanie’s jaw had dropped and the others were starting to rouse from whatever stupor they had been put into.

“We need to get to Fred.” Velma, who had been nearest to Lanie, forced herself up and pushed herself off the baler and towards him. On the way she grabbed Daphne and pulled her along. Shaggy had snapped out of his unresponsive state and he and Scooby were closing ranks too. Fred didn’t think he need the protection, she was still stuck in the bale, after all, but he appreciated having his friends by his side.

“You’re finished Lanie, and your two-bit quirk isn’t going to save you,” Daphne snapped, anger clear in her voice.

“Lanie...Mayfair.” One of the fallen heroes was back on his feet, though shaky. He headed towards the gang. “This is your only warning. Release your quirk.”

“No! How are you doing this?! All of you should be lost to despair! How can you even move!?”

The hero lifted his hand and there was a small zap before Lanie started twitching and the feeling of despair vanished completely. “Alchemist, we’re going to need to keep this one sedated.”

“Right.” The other hero touched Lanie gently. “That should keep her out for the next few hours.” She turned to Fred. “Thank you for your assistance. Without your help, this would have been a mess.”

“I just snapped out of it first.” Fred shrugged. “I was just lucky.”

“Fred, you didn’t just snap out of it first, you drove it back.” Velma corrected. “That’s why I wanted to get everyone near you, you were canceling out the effect.”

“How? I mean I don’t have powers, they ran a bunch of tests to make sure I didn’t have powers. How could I cancel out the effect?”

“We do need a better way to test for Psychic quirks,” Alchemist commented while the police officer worked on getting Lanie out of the bale. “If that’s two missed right here.”

“Two? But I-”

“Fred, you do have a power, it’s just the opposite of that witch’s.” Daphne explained. “I could feel it battling hers, driving away the darkness it was putting in my mind. The closer I got to you, the stronger I felt.”

“Like, no wonder we missed it.” Shaggy laughed. “Feeling better when you’re around just sounds like a side effect of being around you.”

“I...have a power?” Fred couldn’t keep the raw hope out of his voice.

“You do indeed.” Taser clapped his hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s obvious that, unlike Mayfair, you took the tests in good faith. But I think you need to get your registration straightened out as soon as possible.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, Sir!”

“I can’t believe this is real.” Fred stared down at the card in his hands. It was identical to the one he’d been carrying around for months, only instead of the word ‘None’ next to Power: it said ‘Morale Boost’.

It wasn’t a flashy or powerful quirk. Certainly not something a hero in a comic book would have. But it was his quirk. Something he had that could help his friends. And he wouldn’t trade it for any other power in the world.

#Ghost Writing #Scooby Doo #BNHA #Decided to set this during Gen 0 #So we have registration cards and the Heroes Union instead of Pro heroes #and why they wouldn't know the the trick to telling an individual with a undetected quirk from someone with none #I decided to go with the quirks I had given the gang in a recent ask and realized iding Fred's would be pretty hard #and th plot went from there #Anonymous

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blueyesandleatherjacket · 5 years ago

Text

The Fallen, 9/17

Volume: 1.

Number of parts: 9/17.

Pairings: Nine x Rose.

A/N: Tagging @thebookster on her demand.

“We've all fallen, but at the same time we're not broken. There is the hint that we are going to get up again.” - Amy Lee.

CHAPTER 9:

The Doctor woke up a few hours later. He was feeling groggy and nauseous. He tried to get up but his limbs weren’t responsive. He slumped back on the floor. Waited a couple minutes. Or hours. Tried to sit up. His mind was clouded, he couldn’t think straight. Whatever they had drugged him with this time, it was a strong one and it wasn’t wearing off easily. He groaned and rolled on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his vomit if he was sick. His head bumped against the foot of the busted bed. Pain exploded; black dots filled his sight. He stayed still. That was for the best. Stay still and wait until he felt better. He had expected Jeremy to attack again on the next day. He didn’t see him, nor any of his pets. Nash didn’t even come. Jeremy was certainly keeping her away. Isolating the patient when he was gonna need help was a strategy to have him getting desperate. Deprived from food, water and from a person checking on him while he was recovering from torture and a strong dose of drugs was dangerous but it could be worse. The Wolf didn’t show up. The drugs had weakened the Time Entity. Worse than when they had weakened his human host. But the worst was yet to come. Indeed, his biggest problem wasn’t to see no one. It was quite a relief actually. He could be in peace in that tiny cell that stunk like Hell. No, his biggest problem was the drugs. Lately, they had taken him out of his cell regularly. Scared of what he could do, they were drugging him to make him as innocent and soft as a kitty. His body had developed an addiction to those substances and now he was gonna get detoxified the hard way. For days, he was as sick as a dog. He was vomiting and trembling and sweating. Whenever he was getting a bit of sleep, he was dreaming of Jeremy getting what he wanted; of him torturing Rose to get him; dreaming of all the bad adventures when he was traveling through time and space. He was dehydrated and in a rough shape. However, he never begged for water and food. Not even meds. He handled it all by himself. When someone finally opened the door days later, he was lying on his side on the cold dirty ground. He was barely awake. He didn’t move at all – couldn’t really – when he was kicked in the ribs. Not even a sound. There was a laugh that would have given the chills to anyone able to react and he was chained up again. No drugs. What did they have in store for him this time? Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t gonna please him. Someone pulled him up. He was so weak that he couldn’t stand on his own. He collapsed on the person beside him, closed his eyes. The walls of the room he was in were pale lilac. He smiled. It reminded him of the flashy pink of Rose’s walls in Jackie’s tiny flat. The woman would never know how many nights he really spent in that room with Rose, how many nights he had spent, sat in the dark, watching Rose sleeping. Humans needed a ridiculous amount of sleep. It was annoying. He was always so bored when she was sleeping. He could have gone on an adventure alone but it was better with two. He couldn’t stand solitude anymore. Having Rose by his side was all he desired. “You look rough, Doctor.” This time, he was the one lying in a miserable condition with a glassy look and block up ears and she was the one sitting on the edge of his bed with a mocking smile. She was getting her revenge for all the times he had mocked her for her weak condition. “Time Lords don’t get sick.” “You’re gonna tel me you’re burning up because of your superior biology?” “My body adjusts its temperature.” “You just forgot that you’re human now.” The Doctor blinked. It was true. Even with a part of the Time Vortex in his mind, he remained an ordinary human who was vulnerable to every germ. Rose had a strong immune system. She wasn’t falling sick that much. But she was always in a rough shape whenever her period hit. Something he would never understand. “You have to wake up, Doctor.” Her voice was an echo. Yet, she was just beside him. Her hands were touching his naked body respectfully. Caring gestures: a hand on his forehead to check for fever, a hand holding his. She cleaned his face with a cold wet rag. Everything he would have done for her. “You wouldn’t miss the birth of this new star! Come on, Doctor. It won’t happen for another trillion years.” “What do you know about stars, little human?” he croaked. “More than you if you sleep for another full day.” “I do not sleep. I meditate.” “It’s time to wake up now.” He opened his eyes reluctantly. The walls were grey and the bed was more comfortable than usual. He scanned the surroundings. There was no one around. The place was unfamiliar. It wasn’t Rose’s room, not even his. There wasn’t the usual hum of the TARDIS. He wasn’t in his ship. He slowly sat up. His body was still but it didn’t hurt. Not anymore. Strangely, he felt quite good. Exhausted as if he had gone through Hell and back, but good. He laced around the room. The only way out was locked. The other door was the door of a bathroom. A very tiny bathroom. He was wearing a white cotton outfit. “You have gone through a terrible week. I understand that you might be confused.” He turned around. There was a woman in the room. He hadn’t even heard the door. He was disappointed to find out it wasn’t Rose. The woman was older. She was relieved to see him awake. He was supposed to recognise her. His mind was making attempts to send him signals. He rubbed his face, tapped his forehead with his thumb but nothing came. Nothing until she put a hand on his shoulder. Her aura hit him. She was not a human being. She was a shapeshifter, and one of the most dangerous. “I don’t know what you’ve done to Jeremy but he has left after your last meeting and hasn’t come back yet.” Jeremy. The flash of a man looking just like him. But in his eyes… nothing but the darkness. A dark void. The devil in person. Or almost. He was there to hunt the Time Lords and steal their secrets, their technology, their longevity. Other species had just been a funny exercise but now was the time to beat the final boss. If you could find the secrets of the universe’s keepers, you would be unstoppable. But the Wolf had preferred ruining his brain than giving in. “Where’s Rose? What has he done to her?” He moved away from her touch. He was uneasy around her. His mind was trying to retrieve his missing memories. Rose was there. She had been taking care of him. She had been talking to him. Or had they made him believe she was there? Had they brought her here and taken her away from him? “She’s not here,” answered the woman. “She has never been here. Your friend… you’re keeping her safe. You refuse to tell Jeremy where she is.” The Doctor remained silent. His brain was overwhelmed with thoughts. It was too much. The woman gently led him to the bed and forced him to sit down before he felt bad. The last few weeks had been hard on him. He should go slow. She didn’t want him to dive back. He was still recovering. “They initiated your detoxification. They were planning on giving you drugs again when you’d be the most vulnerable. But you ruined their plans and I stepped in. Brought you up here, helped you through. You’ve been hallucinating.” “I do not hallucinate.” “With the fever you had, you definitely were.” “Why am I here?” “You won’t be here for much longer.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow. Her tone was determined. She was gonna get him out of here. Today. He just needed to trust and follow her. Jeremy was away and she had distributed laced coffees to his pets. The path was free from obstacles but they had little time. She took him all the way down to the basement, to the deepest core of this asylum. His mind was flashing memories he had tried to forget. The yellow room, the purple room, the red room. All rooms of torture. That was why he hesitated to enter the green room. It was pretty naked compared to the others. Just a table with a computer and headsets to monitor a brain’s activity. He had come here before. Once or twice. This was all a blur. “We will make them believe that we did a monitoring session.” She was already working on launching the computer and headsets. She wanted a telepathic conversation with him but couldn’t do it freely. This room was the only way to do it without suspicion. The wolf inside him trusted this woman, this Nash, so the Doctor stepped in, placed the headset on his head and let Nash connect him to the system. There was a whole recording room behind the green room. Nash was fake-recording. She had gone through this process before. Not here, but it had happened. The Doctor let her in his mind and she was surprised by the nakedness and austerity of the place. She had expected it to be livelier, more colourful, but it was just a dark room with locked doors. There were two men. They were identical. A perfect copy of each other. One of the them was the Doctor, the other was Maxence. One was asleep in a corner, the other was standing straight, his arms folded on his chest, next to a silver Wolf. From the look in his eyes, he was the human host and not the Time Lord. Another surprise. ‘The Doctor has been off for a long time,’ he explained. ‘It has been me all along.’ ‘You were convincing. No one noticed anything.’ ‘We share the same memories. I know everything about him and he knows everything about me.’ ‘You all played your cards wonderfully but we don’t have much time. We need to talk.’ Her gaze was on the Wolf. It was the one in charge there. None of them blinked when Maxence collapsed to the ground. The Wolf had temporarily neutralised him to have a proper conversation with Nash. She was right. Maxence had done a fantastic job at taking the Doctor’s place. The two of them were the two sides of the same coin. That was why Maxence had been chosen to be the incarnation of this Doctor who survived the Time War. He was a strong man who had survived the worst in human terms, who had handled the burden of the Doctor like no other would have been able to. It was time to reward him for all the sacrifices he had made for the sake of the universe…

To be continued...

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English version:

AO3 || TS.

#doctor who #ninth doctor #rose tyler #doctor x rose #dwfic #the fallen

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kallura-icedcoffee · 6 years ago

Note

Kallura superhero au where Allura is the hero and Keith is the reporter type character trying to solve this conspiracy or whatever

A/N: @dragonwatergirl also asked for a superhero au so figured I’d kill two birds with one stone. Also Happy Kallura Positivity Day!

The perfect story has fallen into Keith’s lap, likeliterally fell into his arms and is now on his couch. This could catapult hiscareer and confirm everything he’s been speculating, researching, formulatingfor a while now.

All he has to do is take off the mask.

He bends down and his hand hesitates, hovers over her concealedface, fingers gently grazing the bridge of her nose before jerking away. Hebacks up and paces, biting at his thumb nail glancing back as her chest risesand falls.

Keith’s been covering Oriande for a while, the local legendof Garrison City. The citizens call her a hero, the police dub her a vigilanteand to the criminals of course she’s a menace. He’s followed her more closelythan any journalist at the Marmora Star, purely voluntary, and if it wasn’t forthe fact that his stories are so damn good and captivating his boss would havereassigned him ages ago.

This is partly because Keith is a good writer, no doubt, butalso because Oriande has allowed him to get close. After what felt like the 800thtime of Keith getting a little too near the action and his behind needingsaving, she decided to have a little mercy by giving him crumbs, tidbits sothat he’d stay at a respectable distance and actually let her do her job.

Tonight is one such night where Keith did what he does best,get in the way, and Oriande took a blow, shielding him during a laboratoryexplosion. For the first time it was his turn to save her and knowing he couldn’tvery well take her to the hospital she now lays on his sofa, battered, bandagedand unconscious. He studies her fitted white bodysuit with gold plating on thechest, wrists and white knee high boots. Her staff and utility belt rest on hiscoffee table.

He realizes he’s staring, lingering for too long so he dartsinto the kitchen to fix himself a drink, take a breather. When he returns, sippingwhiskey from a rocks glass, he nearly chokes to find the couch empty. He nearlydrops the cup, quickly setting it on the table with a shaking hand beforedarting to each room of his tiny bachelor pad. Light pouring out from hisbathroom into the hallway should have been the obvious first stop but Keith’snot thinking straight at the moment.

“That’s gonna leave a mark” Oriande hisses, staring at herreflection in the mirror.

The side of her outfit is all torn up and tinged with dirtand blood from the blast. Keith patched her up the best he could but some ofher skin is still exposed including the hint of a small lion tattoo that hetries desperately to memorize before he’s caught ogling.

“How are you feeling?” he asks assoon as her eyes meet his in the mirror.

“Not great, but not dead so…silverlining.” She smirks. “Thank you for, all this.”

“No problem. Sorry it’s such a crappyjob.”

“No no, I like the Sesame Streetband-aids, it’s a nice touch.” She chuckles and the sound of her laugh setsKeith ablaze with an odd warm fluttering feeling that he suddenly realizes isthe same sensation he gets whenever she’s even remotely close to him.

“I just grabbed what was on sale”Keith fumbles with his excuses.

“Mhm. Well thank you. I should getgoing though.” She slides by him to head back toward the living room.

“Wait!” His hand shoots out andcatches her by the wrist. “You should stay and rest a bit more.”

Oriande looks at him and herexpression softens before slipping her hand from his grasp, slowly in a waythat allows their fingers to tangle and brush.

“I’ll be ok, promise.”

She saunters to the coffee tableand picks up her belt, securing it around her waist then grabbing her staff.She presses a button and it contracts into something smaller that she tucksinto one of the slots on the belt.

“Do me a favor?” Oriande asksstanding at his back door. “When you write about tonight, because I know you will,maybe leave the part out where I passed out and bled on your couch. Just doesn’tsound as cool y’know?”

A grin creeps on Keith’s face andhe nods.

“Deal.”

She flashes him a wink and disappearsinto the night leaving him breathless and buzzing with the adrenaline of havingher in his house. Keith lets out a heavy sigh and drags his hands through hishair as he goes back to pacing the room attempting to calm down. Back and forthhe strides before something catches his attention on his very own wall.

Keith’s not much for interiordesign but he’s very proud of his photo gallery wall, especially given theamount of time he spent pressing a level against every frame to make sure not asingle one was crooked.

He zeros in a particular photo deadcenter. He’s killing it in a black on black suit at a charity ball withGarrison City’s finest and most prominent in attendance. Keith is on the left,in the center his best friend who justso happens to also be the young handsome CEO of Shirogane Tech and on the rightthe daughter of the mayor Allura Altea.

He’s reminded of how stunning shewas that night, especially in that body hugging red dress with the teasingcutouts on the sides. He recalls the way he slyly stole glances at said peeksof skin and was pleasantly surprised to find at the time that the prim andproper daughter of a politician had a tattoo visible from one of said cutouts.

Keith’s eyes widen and he quicklyyanks the photo off the wall and runs back into the bathroom to get a clearerlook in the light. It’s small and he really has to focus but it looks like alion. He’d swear on it.

“Holy shhh…”

He doesn’t finish his sentence ashe’s too busy pulling his phone from his pocket and frantically dialing,thanking the gods that a previous interview during the mayor’s campaign seasonhas allowed him to even have the cell phone number he’s now calling. His heartraces as he listens to the ringing before a familiar voice cuts through.

“M-Mr. Kogane? To what do I owesuch a late night phone call?”

“Miss Altea? Hi, uh, this is KeithKogane, well I guess you knew that. Heh, um, I was just…” he didn’t think thisthrough, “I was wondering if I could meet with you to uh…to interview you about…the…newchildren’s center?”

“Hmm? Your colleague Miss Holtalready interviewed me concerning the center’s opening last week.”

Her pretty British accent fills hisears and he admires how well she hides it as Oriande.

“Yes! Right! But she asked me toget some follow up questions while she’s…out sick!”

“Oh, well all right. Perhaps overdinner then?” She sounds tired but there’s still a playful lilt in her voice.

“Yes, dinner, tomorrow night?”

“Eager. Can we make it Friday? I’mfeeling a bit under the weather myself.”

He smirks knowingly.

“Yeah Friday is great. Vrepit Sal’sat 7?”

“Sounds lovely. I’ll see you then.Goodnight Mr. Kogane.”

“Night.”

Keith hangs up and holds the phoneto his chest which is now doing a drum solo. He knows who she is. He knowsOriande’s identity, or he’s at least 99% sure of it. He hasn’t decided exactly how or even if he’s going to confront her withwhat he’s discovered, he just knows he absolutely cannot wait to see her.

Friday can’t come soon enough.

#kallura #juniblade #forever rosegold #ficsbyKIC #drabbles

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vincent-frankenstein · 5 years ago

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To My Heart and Soul

[ 1 | 2 | 3 | you are here | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | read on AO3 ]

Warnings: major character death, villain/abusive deceit, blood, fighting, panic attacks, creepy imagery

Pairings: logince, hints of moxiety, a tiny smidge of remile and past abusive anxceit

“What are you reading?”

They stood before a nondescript little cafe, wedged into a street corner. The garden out from buzzed with bees and butterflies and friendly patrons, and the air buzzed with the scent of coffee and freshly-baked pastries. Logan’s breath hitched in his throat and he tugged at his tie, trying to choke the broken glass back to his chest where it belonged.

He sighed, barely offering the stranger a glance. “I am doing my homework. Can I help you?”

The stranger dropped into the chair beside him, looking over Logan’s shoulder at his biology textbook. He couldn’t have been older than Logan himself — his deep brown face round and youthful and sprinkled with a constellation of freckles, his curly hair soft and resplendent beneath the afternoon sun. “You look interesting.”

“This is it,” Patton said, setting his hands on his hips. His strange, fantastical outfit stuck out like a sore thumb, but no one paid him any mind, their gazes simply sliding over him like he didn’t exist. “The entrance to the magical world.”

Logan barely heard him.

“I’m Roman!” the stranger said, in a voice like the sunrise, as he fixed Logan with his blinding green gaze. “Roman Cygnus.”

“Logan,” he said indifferently, ignoring the way the boy’s smile made his heart kick into overdrive. “Now, would you mind leaving me alone? I’m in the middle of something.”

He didn’t leave Logan alone, not then, not ever. Logan didn’t mind nearly as much as he’d pretended to. Roman was the first to see him for him and not look away. Even now, in death, he refused to leave Logan be — through memories, through dreams, he was always there, a reminder of what Logan once had.

A reminder of what he’d lost.

His vision tunneled. His hands tightened around his tie. He couldn’t push the memories away, try as he might, and just the hint of Roman’s voice threading through his thoughts sent ice through his veins.

“Logan?” He shook himself from his stupor to find Patton staring at him, eyes full of concern. Clarity broke through the fog in his mind and he shook his head, clasping his hands firmly behind his back to hide the way they shook.

“Apologies,” he said, evenly. “I am fine.”

Patton raised an eyebrow. “You don’t look fine, kiddo,” he said softly. “What’s going on?”

Ah. It seemed Patton had the same ability Roman had, to see right through his unaffected exterior into the less desirable mess within. How fun. “I —” Logan cleared his throat. “This is where we first met. Roman and I, I mean. I was simply… lost in memories. I apologize.”

“Oh.” Patton’s face softened further, if that was even possible. The man seemed to be made of softness. “He used to hang out here all the time,” he said, holding the clasp at his throat again. “He’d come home and tell the whole family about his adventures in your world. He loved it here.”

“Did he ever —” Logan’s voice caught and he stopped himself, staring resolutely at the ground.

“He did. All the time.” Patton smiled, and this time it reached his eyes, warm nostalgia swirling through the sadness in his gaze. “You were his greatest adventure of all.”

And oh, if that didn’t take the broken glass and shatter it further, crush it into dust to crawl up his throat and choke him. He shook his head as Patton moved into the alley beside the cafe, forcing memories — a smile, a ring, a lilting voice; “will you be my greatest adventure, stardust?” — away as he followed. It hit him, then, that Patton really knew Roman, more than Logan had.

And that hurt, of course, but… it felt nice, to talk to someone who knew what sort of light the world had lost. The cold in his lungs began to ebb away, and a hint of warmth took its place, almost burning it its newness.

“Stand back,” Patton said, his hands glowing again, casting warping shadows across the wall and bathing them both in stark blue light. He placed his palms against the dirty wall, and liquid gold spread from his touch, dripping down the wall, sliding in curves and swirls and beautiful arcs to form a twisting circle of symbols and runes. He drew his hands back and pushed into the center of the circle, and the wall fell inwards on itself in a swirl of drywall and wind, leaving a glowing entranceway burned into the bricks.

Logan gaped. For once, words failed him. In his shock, he hadn’t really considered how exciting this all was; a new world, with so many new things to be learned, so many new discoveries to be made. That familiar buzz of curiosity jumped to life within and he found himself smiling, eyes shining with possibilities.

Patton giggled. With a snap of his fingers, the residual magic dusted across his hands puffed out around them, and he gathered it into a soft, glowing ball by weaving his hands through the air. “Guess you found that pretty en-light-ening,” he joked, flicking the ball at Logan. It popped across his nose, showering him in sparkles.

He sneezed. “I am choosing to ignore that,” he said sharply, brushing a finger along his cheek. It came away covered in glitter, which glimmered for a moment before vanishing into thin air, leaving only warmth in its wake. Patton only laughed harder.

“Aw, c’mon, teach! I think I deserve a Patton the back for that one!”

“Was — was that a self-referential pun?”

“Maybe.” Patton winked slyly and Logan’s eye twitched. “Okay! Let’s get goin’. I’ve gotta gather the Council before everyone leaves for the day.”

“The Council?” Logan asked, running his fingertip along the molten gold still dripping down the wall.

“Yeah! The Arcane Council,” Patton explained. “A group of representatives from each major magical community across America. They run our world, and handle relations with yours. I’m the leader of the New York branch!”

“Really?” They stepped through the gateway, and into a tiny little shop, sheltered under a bright fabric awning. It was mostly empty, save for a friendly-looking shopkeep who waved at Patton as they made their way through.

“Yep! I wasn’t supposed to be, though.” He shrugged, eyebrows furrowing just the slightest bit. “Roman was. But he gave up his title to be with you, so I had to take his place. It’s okay, though! I get to keep everyone in magical New York safe! I”m like — like New York’s dad.”

Logan frowned. “Why… why did Roman give up his title?”

“Well, there’s not that much magic in your world,” Patton explained. “Not enough for us to stay for long, at least. We need it to survive. By giving up his magic, Roman could stay in your world, with you, but he can’t exactly protect New York from there! So he gave up his title to me.”

“He… did that for me?” For all the time Logan had known him, Roman clung to the idea of magic, from fantasy novels to Disney movies and everything in between. He loved it. Why would he give that up for a boring world, for a boring man?

“Well, yeah,” Patton said. “He loved you.”

Logan didn’t — couldn’t — respond. His throat closed up, his voice dying before he could even formulate the words. He knew that. He knew that. Why did it hurt so badly to hear?

Together, they stepped out of the shop, and out onto the street beyond — and the air was knocked from Logan’s lungs. His eyes widened, his mouth hanging open in awe. A city of stained glass glimmered back at him beneath a bright afternoon sun, iridescent, resplendent. Vaguely, he recognized the layout, knew it to be identical to the New York from his own world, but the beauty before him was impossible to reconcile with the busy, dirty city he knew. A small crowd milled about in the cobblestone streets, bathed in a kaleidoscope of colors reflecting off the buildings.

And above the buildings, blazing bright enough to be seen even in the afternoon sunlight, was a familiar constellation that sent a pang through his heart. Cygnus. Around it glimmered others, fainter but still beautiful, stars and constellations that he didn’t recognize. The mere idea of a whole new cosmos to learn about filled his heart with wonder.

“This is… fascinating,” he breathed, eyes wide and filled with awe. “How is this even possible?”

“It’s another layer of reality,” Patton said. “Layered on top of yours, sorta? I’m not the best at explaining. When we’ve got everything sorted out, I can take you to Professor Ceres at the university! He studies the magical dimensions.”

“There’s a university?” Logan’s brain had shifted into overdrive, a million questions bursting like fireworks in his mind. “This — I — I want to learn everything.”

“Well, someone’s enthusiastic!” Patton chuckled, patting Logan on the back. “Let’s just take things one step at a time, okay, kiddo? First things first, we’ve gotta find the council and figure this whole mess out.”

“Right. Yes. Of course.” Logan’s cheeks darkened and he cleared his throat. “Apologies.”

“It’s okay! I can’t imagine being in your shoes right now,” Patton said with an easygoing laugh. “This place really is something, huh?”

“Yes,” Logan said. He shook his head to clear away his questions, noting them away for later. Only one remained, a burning question that he couldn’t wait to ask. “May I ask you one thing, before we see the council?”

“‘Course, kiddo!”

“Who is Dorian?”

Patton’s whole demeanor shifted. All at once, he seemed smaller, hunching in on himself. His eyebrows furrowed. “Someone who I thought was dead,” he said quietly.

“Yes, so you’ve said. You… you seem so… frightened, of him,” Logan continued. A part of him felt bad for pressing Patton, but he needed answers. “Was he a bad person?”

“Well… yes,” he said, forcing the word out as if it hurt to say. “He wasn’t always, but… after Roman died, he hurt a lot of people. He tried to take my title, thought it was his ‘right.’”

“Why would he think that?”

Patton sighed. “Because it was,” he said, hugging himself. “Dorian was my brother.”

#to my heart and soul #celeste's portfolio #logan sanders #patton sanders #ts deceit #deceit sanders #villain deceit #abusive deceit #sanders sides #logince

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standfortheangels · 5 years ago

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Instructions: Always repost with the rules, answer the 11 random questions left for you, and leave 11 more for the people you tag!

Tagged by: @illicreatxm

This got long so I’m going to stick it under a read more ^^

1. If you could write any canon character, which would it be and why?

Hm. I’m not sure. I have roleplayed a couple of canons before, but I find it harder to keep the muse for them. I could probably do Elsa okay, I could jump between her locked in the castle personality and her open, welcoming character post-film, which might help, but the inconsistencies in her Over-powered Powers annoy me, so I think I’d add a few limitations in there.

2. Favourite Disney movie?

Maybe Aladdin because Robin Williams is of course amazing and so perfect in that role~ Ohh but there’s also Atlantis.. And Dumbo! Aw no... Let’s just call this my top three before I get carried away >w>

3. Least favourite MCU character?

I haven't seen the more recent ones, so, I can't take into account characters like Thanos or Dr. Strange or, whoever else they've been bringing in. So out of what I've seen, I'd have to go with Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

It seemed in the earlier films that they didn't give much attention to Banner. They were all over using the Hulk to make bits interesting, but Bruce was boiled down to "quiet smart guy who CaN TuRN inTo THE HULK" so, yeah.

And the hulk himself later did like a 180° change for me. In his stand-alone film I think Hulk says like 3 words, maximum. Then rarely talks in his appearances in the other avengers brand films. Cool. We had "Puny God" and that was a-okay. One short, memorable, funny quote seems perfect.

But then what was all that when Whedon got his hands on it? (I mean don't get me started on that, I am really reigning myself back here but) They start off needing ways to calm Hulk down enough to get him back inside and give control back to Bruce, fair enough. But then like... He winds up not letting go of Bruce's body even though he isn't enraged anyway? And suddenly he's emotional enough and smart enough to take- what was it a plane? And seperate himself off from everyone and look all solemnly at Natasha before he does it or something?

Obviously my memory of it isn't great, honestly I stopped paying attention after Natasha's "I'm a monster- not because I was raised in a heartless environment full of violence and raised to literally kill people, that bit's whatever- but because they took away my fertility and now I can't have babies." speech. And that's the last MCU film I watched. I didn't want anything to do with them after seeing what Joss Whedon did with the characters and the overarching plotline and... Everything. x') So I might have gotten some of the hulk stuff wrong.

(I did watch Deadpool though, that I enjoyed~)

4. If you had to create any new character, what occupation would they have?

Ooo good question.

I think something proactive, where they could seek other characters out, but.. I'd kinda like a bad guy~ Someone who lies so much for their job, they have a dual personality to work with. They can be your smiling friendly neighbour, wishing you well on your holiday, then turn around and grit his teeth because this poses a major problem for his mission, and he can't lose his target, so now he has to follow, but he can't do that as your happy neighbour, no, you know he isn't going on holiday, certainly not today, not on your flight, not to the same ski lodge you're going to. No, he has to make a new cover- maybe say his neice phoned him with a family emergency and he'll be leaving to go be with her a while. Then shed this identity, find out where his target is going, quickly pose as some other tourist who blends into the background and get to the lodge first, all the while planning out some plausible skiing accident he can set up.

Wow that got more detailed than I expected x'D I think I just reinvented hitman, whoops.

5. Favourite sport?

[Image ID: Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service, laughing hysterically.]

My biggest concern when I'm on my feet is not falling over so, obviously sports aren't really my deal. x')

I used to swim a lot when I was a kid, I loved that, but, don't do it now.

And I'm not really into watching sports either tbh. Most of it seems over-hyped. Most football teams (real football, it is not soccer. The hint is in actual football, the ball, is hit, with your feet. Picking it up and running with it and then sometimes kicking it does not qualify as football, come on USA. Your thing is closer to Rugby than Football.)

Anyway most teams aren't much better or worse than any other if you actually watch objectively, which makes it look like they both suck because they're too well matched to score goals more than once in a blue moon.

Rugby I don't really understand the appeal of either. Scrums are weird and it wouldn't be entirely bizarre to see a guy walking away from the game with blood down his face and an ear in his hand. You'd almost expect him to stick the ear on ice and be back in a few minutes with his bandages on.

Really the only sports than interest me are the gymnastic types. Ice skating is good for a while but it can start getting dull if you don't have people willing to break the mould a bit. (Which is why I absolutely love the free skate bit. Where they aren't being scored and they just do whatever the hell they want, omg I live for that)

Floor routines are awesome, the pommel horse and rings are usually a little samey for me but the one with those two bars at different heights, that's fun to watch~ there's a little more variety there.

(And I don't wanna hear anyone in the replies saying these aren't sports, every example there including figure skating is a separate event in the Olympics, so. There.)

6. What’s your dream car?

I don’t really have one. At this point in my life I don’t actually have the option to learn to drive so I haven’t really thought about it. My only criteria is, it has to have a nice face. x)

Since I was tiny I have always seen cars as faces. The headlights would be eyes, and usually the number plate would be the mouth, but some cars have other stuff like a grill that might be the mouth instead. So like...

This would be a grumpy car with a pig-like nose and frown.. Actually those look like jowels either side of the mouth part. It looks kind of like a bulldog. X’)

And this would be a happy car. That black part around the number plate it wide and smile-shaped, and the headlights- rounded on top and straighter on the bottom, like the little creases we get when we scrunch up our eyes laughing~

This car looks like someone just said something really stupid to it, and it is not impressed, and lets the silence hang not knowing what to say.

Happy car

Terminator car

Happy car but in a mean way.. Like it’s on its way to cause mayhem or poking fun at someone. You get the general idea -w-

7. A movie that you think should have a sequel?

Hmm... this is a toughie.

8. A movie sequel that you think should be deleted from existence?

I don’t remember which number it was or even the title, but the Shrek sequel where Shrek like, hates having kids so much he makes a deal to change time? And Fiona winds up as like a vicious warrior leader because no-one ever saved her from the tower, and rumplestiltskin is in it? What even was that...

9. Design your dream outfit using this game ?

I wouldn’t say this really is my dream outfit, but from the options on offer~

(also discounting the enormous hair bun >w>;)

10. Favourite fairytale?

I’m not sure if this actually counts as a fairytale, but I love the story of the jolly roger. That classic skull and crossbones flag has a story behind it that a lot of people don’t know.

In a nutshell, a man (i guess a pirate) develops an intense crush on a young woman, who is about to get married. But just before her wedding, she dies. She is buried, but the man doesn’t take death for an answer. He digs her up and has sex with her body. When he’s done, a disembodied voice speaks to him, telling him that he has basically impregnated this corpse, and to come back in nine months.

For some reason, he does. He digs up the woman again. And sat below her pelvis is a small skull and two bones. The disembodied voice tells him to take these bones with him on his ventures, and they will bring him luck.

It’s bizarre, and kinda gross, and.. I dunno if being rewarded for sexually desicrating a corpse is the best moral? x’) But I was amazed when I heard this story, because I’d had no idea there was this whole tale behind the flag~ and I still love that it exists~

11. Create an avatar of your favourite muse using this creator? ?

First, it’s so cruel to ask me to pick my favourite child how dare you >w> haha

I went with Chester though because he’s the one I’m usually most connected to.

I can’t think of anyone I want to tag right now (at least not anyone who hasn’t probably done this already), but I’ll put the new 11 questions for anyone who does feel like doing this~ :) __

1. What’s one thread/plot you really want to do that you haven’t had chance to yet?

2. What is the reason for, or meaning behind, your blog icon?

3. Do you have any pets? Tell us a bit about them!

4. What is one thing you would never want to change about your appearance?

5. There is an ultra secret spy group, and you’ve just uncovered their existence. Now they say that you must either work for them, or they’ll find a permanent way to keep you quiet. What kind of work would you offer to do for them?

6. If you met your muse in real life, how do you think the two of you would get along? (multi-muse blogs, pick one of your muses at random.)

7. You have been given a huge budget to remake one film in your own vision. You can change anything, add anything, choose the cast, you have no limits. What would you do?

8. What is one skill you wish you could automatically master?

9. A genie offers you a deal. An unlimited lifelong supply of one food of your choice... But, you have to sacrifice your ability to chew. Does any food still tempt you?

10. What do you think is the funniest animal?

11. Share one memory you have that makes you happy to think about~

#literally anyone can do this #and you can tag me in it too if you want #even if we've never interacted #I love reading posts like these #x)#ooc #long post #I loved the game questions on this btw!#I've never seen anyone include something like that before #it was fun!#illicreatxm

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fancifulrealist · 6 years ago

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The Memory of Yesterday’s Romance

Pairing: Wonwoo x Reader

Genre: Past Life AU, Fantasy, Romance, Reincarnation

Please Read: I don’t have numerous experiences in writing such things like these. Actually, I was just starting to learn English by now so I’m utterly sorry for the flaws in the story. Some scenes might be cliche but I strive really hard to improve my plot-thinking skills. This is all that I can do for now :((

Word Count: 3, 039

Reminders: Y/N - Your Name.

Y/P/N - Your Name in the Past (or you could just use your name it’s just a little thingy to add a little flavor to the story)

Present Events will be in the first person perspective (The “I” perspective)

Past Events will be in the third person perspective and italics.

Enjoy!

A bolt of luminous lightning emerged throughout the sky along with the deafening sound of thunder clapping. The trees bend to let the whirling wind pass as leaves fly freely away from its branches. The look of the sky became more sorrowful, causing my heart to wrench.

Just as I was about to look up, the rain touched my skin. The cold, tiny droplets are causing me to shiver and startle me at the same time. I untied my jacket that was just wrapped around my waist and wore it, casually running to a waiting shed.

I fumbled with the things in my handbag as I fish for my phone. I dramatically raised it up, relieved that it was not wet from the rain.

“Hello?” I sighed when my sister answered after a few rings.

“Could you pick me up from the stop? I didn’t have money left because I bought the expensive croissant I’ve been babbling about for days. I regret it, really.” I told her in almost a form of whimper.

“Y/N! I told you not to break our cost cutting pledge to each other. We need to observe a healthier lifestyle. Fruits only cost like one half of that croissant you bought which will just vanish forever when you consume it.” She half shouted from the other line.

“I know, I know. I’ll hit the gym up when the weather’s great enough. Don’t ask me to walk home please.” I pleaded once again.

“Okay. Wait for me.” She ended the call.

As I put my phone back in its original place, I noticed a strange man walking on the subway with an umbrella. I studied him and I furrowed my eyebrows when I realized that he was… familiar.

He was wearing a royal blue hoodie with some Harry-Potter-looking specs. Although he wasn’t turning his head to my direction, I still held on to the littlest of hope that he did so that I can have a clearer view of his face.

I don’t know why I’m going all crazy over this stranger.. or is he? I have no assurance at all. Everything in the atmosphere right now gives me the feeling that I’ve already met him before. In this same place but I have no idea when.

“New sets of tea will be delivered later in the afternoon. Can’t wait to down them in my little porcelain cups.” Her sister’s words seemed inaudible to her as she was staring into a distance, to a boy carrying loads of blocks on his shoulder.

“Hello? Earth to Y/P/N?” Y/P/N was caught off guard by a hand waving vigorously in front of her face. Her sister then followed her gaze to see a—not too muscular but not skinny as well boy, panting behind the beautiful smile he flashed.

“A little bit of eye candy there, huh?” Her sister smirked, forgetting that they are actually the princesses of a kingdom.

“What eye candy? I was just looking at what they’re building.” Y/P/N scoffed, making her sister laugh in amusement.

“You know, father is not a picky type of guy when it comes to our relationship. As long as he can fight for you and is a really good man, that’s enough. Well, that’s based on my observation.”

The younger rolled her eyes. Her older sister always loved teasing her every chance she gets. Conversely, she loathed it to bits.

“Y/N! Did your soul fly somewhere else?” I thought that there was a thunderbolt that occurred when it fact it was just my sister’s deafening voice.

“Oh you’re here.” I deadpanned.

“Yes! I’ve been watching you staring blankly to a distance and it’s already creeping me out. Don’t tell me you are some kind of a possession medium of ghosts here or you sell your soul to hell because I’d despise you no matter how we are related girl.” She reacted, hinting a terrified look on her face.

I laughed at my sibling’s overreaction, “Relax. I just felt something odd, like a déjà vu. And who the heck would sell their soul to Satan?”

“You obviously.” She rolled her eyes on me.

Before this girl inflicts further argument in this shed under the bad weather, I voluntarily pulled her into her car, wanting to go home as soon as possible. I still have to take some rest. My schedule at the café is too packed, I almost gave in to the urge of cutting myself into pieces to do different tasks in one body. What can I do? I need money to live.

As we went back home, I plopped myself on my fluffy bed. Funny how a simple furniture could monopolize my whole being and wipe off all the tension in my body. This really is indeed, my querencia.

The next morning I woke up to the ray of sunshine hitting me directly in the face. This sounds cliché but I never thought it would happen to me. If it wasn’t for the biggest star and my pounding alarm I wouldn’t have been woken up from my deep slumber.

I got in my work uniform. It’s a simple barista uniform to be honest, like what most people would imagine it to look like. A beige blouse within a brown jumper and a name tag pinned on it. I almost looked identical to a cappuccino with my outfit. I guess that’s the point of this job anyways. Ironic but is a great marketing strategy.

I walked my way to work. It’s not that far away from home but I’d rather not consider walking alone at night with the distance. My sister is also working at a magazine company. I don’t have that much information about her job.

As I enter the shop, the staff greeted me with their welcoming smiles. That’s why I don’t feel pressured when working here, although the tasks to do are a lot, they respect each other and really try not to fuel up their stresses more.

“You’ll be in charge of the counter for today. I know it has been hard for you to adjust so I decided to give each of you a 1 week break after this week. More people, especially teens applied and they’re taking over first.” Manager said, making me smile in return.

“Thank you, boss. You’re the best.” I hugged him. Despite the short time I’ve been working in, I was able to build a close relationship with boss. He pushed me out of my inner shell and let me discover the real, massive world that I live in. I am a quiet person, but he is always the one I go to whenever I need to voice out.

I went straight onto the counter casually doing my job. I pretty much mastered all the things that are done here though it could still be a little hassle to bake pastries for me, I usually help my co-workers out with the proper measure of ingredients. A little math could go a long way.

“Do you have like, a gluten free frappe?” I stared up to a redhead in front of me. It looks like she’s on a strict diet as she was holding a burger with lettuces as the buns itself.

“I-I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t sell anything dietary here.” I said honestly. She grimaced as if she wasn’t hearing anything right about my statement.

“You don’t have? Sugar free coffee? Detox shake?” I shook my head and pursed my lips. “We only sell coffee here, ma’am. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience” I answered.

“This place is a nightmare!” She exclaimed and stormed out. Well, that was unexpected. Happenings like these don’t usually happen in this place and this is surprisingly the first one, with a girl on a very strict diet.

“That must be really hard to deal with.” A deep voice was heard.

I nodded, eyes still fixed on the monitor in front of me, “Yes. I’m surprised I handled it properly. What can I say? Introverts do have a lot of patience.” I answered.

“I’m an introvert too. I’m glad that I’m able to encounter someone like me around the city.” He answered.

I looked up to the guy I was conversing with and I almost lashed out around the place. He was the same guy I saw walking on the rain with the hoodie and Harry Potter eyeglasses. He was the oddly familiar stranger.

I felt a pang of piercing pain shoot through my heart. I felt like I wanted to tear up but I just can’t. I just don’t know why it hurts. It feels like my soul is in the wrong body and I’m starting to feel things I shouldn’t be feeling.

I saw his smile fade too as I sense the same feeling in his small eyes. As we stare at each other, there was an unusual connection between us. I know he can feel it too. I just wanted to come up to him and hug him very tight like we’ve never seen each other in so long.

He tore his gaze away from me and said his order. My fingers were shaking as I click the item on the monitor.

Once he got his order, he went out. But as he faced his back on my direction, a blue light shaped like a lightning glowed on his back, almost blinding me up as welled up tears already escape from my eyes. I felt vertiginous and completely blacked out.

“But I love him! I’d do anything just please.. please set me free. Let me stay with him.” She cried out holding on her father’s knees, begging for dear life and love.

“I don’t care about the feelings you share! I want you to grow up as a prosperous woman. Who’s going to feed your kids when we are gone? You are the oldest among your sisters! Think things through Y/P/N. You’ll be the next queen and you’ll go around marrying a man from the poor?” The king shouted back, scaring her off.

“Father, you don’t understand—“

“I do understand! And what I’m doing right now is correcting your selfish decisions. We’re going out of here to a very faraway place. You’re marrying a wealthy man and you’ll have a perfect life together.” He took her arms and gently pulled her away from him.

“How can I marry someone who doesn’t hold a space in my heart? I don’t want a forced life, father! I don’t want to be manipulated especially to a person whom I can share the rest of my life with. Please consider that all. I’m your daughter!”

She felt drained every second that passes by, losing hope and being driven by despair. She was becoming numb as she feels the chances of her staying fading away from her.. from them.

“I care for you. Stop talking to me already. Once I said it, I mean it and it’s definitely happening. Pack your things up because we’re going away later. You better do it.” The king stated for the last time, leaving Y/P/N crying on the floor.

Before they leave the place, Y/P/N requested to go to a wishing fountain. Surrounded by the armed guards, she sat on the side, tears flowing in unison with the flowing water on the center.

She grabbed a coin from her purse and closed her eyes, speaking her final wish to this place.

“I hope somewhere in time, fate will let us cross our paths again. The time where we are already happy and nothing will stop us. The life where we will share a firm relationship that even a numerous storms couldn’t stop us. I hope in another life, nothing will be built except love, sincerity, and unbreakable promises.” She tossed the coin as she watch the water plop.

They lived in a new home, new people, and a new atmosphere. Everything in the place was new, except Y/P/N endless melancholy which was built more up when she found out that Wonwoo was hit by a lightning while waiting for her on the fountain where she left her wishes from.

She was pensive, dull, and soulless after the news. She barely ate which resulted to more lectures from her father. She didn’t have the strength to do almost anything. Losing a loved one is like losing half of her being. She blamed herself for all these miserable happenings that occurred. Her beloved was killed by a love that she didn’t deserve.

She continued living by the days of her life, constantly wishing that in another life, events like these won’t ever happen. She often talked to the stars in the night, wishing her beloved to be at peace wherever he is and repeatedly assured him that he’s the only one who holds her heart.

“She’s awake.” I heard a series of muffled noises surrounding me. I looked around as my vision gets clearer by seconds. My co-workers were surrounding me but were sure to leave me a space to breathe.

I touched my forehead and it was sweaty, “What happened?” I perplexedly asked everyone.

“You suddenly passed out, Y/N. Are you sick? You shouldn’t have attended today if you were ill. We were so worried about you. I—“

“No, no. I was completely fine and stable earlier when I entered. I-I don’t know why this happened.” I replied cutting them off.

It felt like I was brought back to the past.. my past life. Everything was so real. The pain is still in my heart and my tears are still running over my cheeks. I was blinded from the reality.

After the incident, they let me out for me to take a rest. Honestly though, I don’t think I need it. I wasn’t sick when I greeted our boss. I wasn’t feeling drowsy when I dealt with the angry, dieting costumer. It all just happened when I saw that boy.

The boy whom I loved.

Instead of going home, I stopped by the fountain that was I think the same place where I made my wishes in. As I get closer to the structure, I felt a rush of nostalgia flow through me. Everything felt like I was witnessing them. Everything seemed… true.

When I sat on the ceramic side of the fountain, it magically rained. This time, I wasn’t frantic about the weather. In fact, I really want to melt right here, right now and let the droplets bring me back to where I used to be.

As I venture in this heavy weather, a boy passed by my sight. Despite the water falling from the sky, everything around became clear. It was Wonwoo in the same place as me. It was always him.

“W-Wonwoo!” I gathered all my strength to call him out with tears brimming in my eyes.

With no hesitations, we ran towards each other crashing into a very long hug. His arms were home to me. Regardless of the rain, I felt his warmth through me that I wasn’t even given a chance to experience and indulge.

“Here we are again.” He said and let out a chuckle despite the visible tears in his eyes.

“I know and I’m not surprised. Damn you. I saw you yesterday on the street and you left me thinking about how you were familiar to me all day. Turns out you were an old love,” I paused for a bit “That’s a bit cheesy but that’s true. ” I said.

He fished for something in his pockets until he grabbed a blue, velvet box. He led me to a shed where there is enough protection for the both of us from the rain.

“I guess this moment works best in this weather because two people of opposite sex in love in the rain is considered romantic. Thanks to The Notebook.” He opened the box and it revealed a ring with a heart engraved in the center of it.

“I kept this in hopes of seeing her again and I’m downright glad I did.” He looked at me with a genuine smile creeping up his face.

“Are you proposing to me?” I jokingly asked as he shook his head slowly.

“No, no. It’s too soon for that but I do know and I’m sure it will happen in time. I just wanted to give you this for.. a promise to keep. I promise to never let you go again. Never in a million years. This ring will signify a love bounded to be made forever. In another life, in another century this will be given to a woman who deserves nothing but freedom, happiness and true love. For now, we’ll be playing this part. We’ll never be gone, Y/N. Our story will just repeat unceasingly in the future.”

I lend him my hand and he pushed the ring on my finger. I looked at it, taking a few seconds to admire the mesmerizing gleam of the diamond.

“I promise to never leave you alone again and speak out for what is right. I’m sorry for everything. Just please.. don’t wait for me because now, I’ll never go and will never even think of doing so. Don’t risk your own life waiting for me, please. I apologize from the bottom of my heart that I—“

“It all happened already and it’s in the past. It’s already done, okay? And as soon as now, we’ll change fate. We’ll change everything. And remember,” He held my hand, “You’re worth risking for.”

With tears still flowing, I embraced him again. I’m happy that fate has let us cross our paths again this time. This is a living proof that the skies listened to my desires and my hopeful words to the wind were fulfilled even in a very long time.

This, The Memory of Yesterday’s Love will never cease and will continue to unfold with different stories and events. This love was destiny’s masterpiece and it still is as it keeps on going. Now and forever there will be.

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nevergiveupneverrun · 5 years ago

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Bodyguard - Chapter Thirty-three “From coldness...”

Hello, I hope you’re all doing great. Here is chapter thirty-three of my story Bodyguard. I’m sorry by advance for the mistakes… English isn’t my first language and I do my best. Here is the link of the previous chapter: Click Here. I’m sorry for the slow update recently, tell me which days you want me to post a chapter.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter :) 💛

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« Emerald domain »

These words stand out from a small sign at the edge of a path as I gradually decelerate the pace, our final destination very close. I feel Amelia’s little fingers against my belly slightly loosen. At the end of the journey, I had not felt the constant contact of her body behind me, as if she voluntarily maintained a certain distance. And she allowed herself, as we approached, to undo a little more the only contact that still bound us by the pressure of her hands. We drove well for more than five hours with a single break in the middle of the route at my initiative: she had not directly claimed that we should stop, always immersed in her bubble, not very receptive to my presence or my requests. During this break, she was silent, her shifty eyes: she had merely nodded to the few questions I had asked her, her face as stubborn as a doll of wax. I dreaded, even more, the days to come after this interlude: I did not know how I could handle the situation if she stayed in this attitude… Her behavior during the ceremony had made me hope she was ready to open up, to rest on me in this ordeal. But it was only a short-lived hope. I would have to redouble efforts and attention to try to make her react and get back on top. And in this area, I was going to have to improvise: I had learned how to handle hostage-taking, flying a helicopter or stitching up a wound in the middle of the desert… but my special forces training did not teach me how to make life worth living again to a woman who feels she has lost everything…

Daylight begins to dim on the landscape that unfolds before our eyes when I make a final turn… a landscape that is familiar to me but that I had not seen for five long years. I advance slowly on the last meters by resuming the measure of the image that is offered in front of me: a wooden chalet with shutters decorated with stars on the first floor, rising in front of an almost turquoise stretch of water… a small lake whose color had to inspire its name in the domain. Arrived a few meters from the chalet, I park the motorbike and actuates the crutch to stall the vehicle. Amelia comes off gently from me and I let her down first. I imitate her a few seconds later, watching her leave her crash helmet and immediately release her hair. I also remove the protective accessory around my head and put my crash helmet and hers on the motorbike. I look at Amelia briefly as she looks at the landscapes around us: but to my dismay, she sweeps the landscape with her eyes without the least sign of curiosity or pleasure… or would I miss this stealthy moment while I was getting off the bike?

Footsteps behind us come out of my questioning and I see a silhouette come forward leaving the house. A silhouette that is taking shape precisely through her steps to let me perceive a face that I know… who had aged but still had the same kindness and joie de vivre. - Owen… what a pleasure to see you… - Good evening Rosie, I answer, taking her in my arms. This tiny woman of about sixty years firmly squeezes me for a few seconds then observes me for a long time, passing my face in inspection then my outfit. - Always so beautiful… you remain the most beautiful babies even at your age. I smile at her remark that brings me back some memories of my past. - And you, you are always so lively and in great shape, it’s really nice to see… - But I should tick you off for waiting so long to come back here… I look down quickly before noticing the look of Rosie pointed to Amelia, who is positioned on the side, a spectator of our exchange. - Is this the lady you told me on the phone? - Yes, it’s her… Rosie, I introduce you to Amelia… I pause to prepare the presentation and install a new context, a new connection for the coming days. - And Amelia, I introduce you to Rosie, a longtime friend… of my parents… of my mom more precisely… and who helped me a lot at certain moments of my life… I meet Amelia’s eyes in which I detect for the first time in two days a brand of surprise… this calling « tu » surely took her by surprise, but in my new mission, I had to break down the barriers, the marks of distance… and whit respect to Rosie, Amelia was a friend, I should not at any time make her know the true identity of Amelia, her job, the reason for her presence because it would put Rosie in danger. I take my eyes off the singer and I notice that Rosie stares intently at her, in an attitude that challenges me and intrigues me. Feeling my gaze on her, she redirects her attention to me and I read in her eyes a hint of surprise and as a question that I can not translate directly. - Nice to meet you, Amelia… she declares after a few seconds. Amelia smiles weakly and Rosie kisses her with two big kisses on the cheek, and I look amused the scene including Amelia a little taken aback by the momentum of the spontaneity of Rosie. - Did you have a nice trip? Rosie asks me promptly. - Yes, no particular problems. - You always know the road, then, obviously… - Rosie… Apparently, my absence marked her strongly… even maybe hurt her. It’s true that the last time I came here to spend time here, Rosie had been of great help to me after a difficult ordeal. I had to be vigilant and not to offend her, I was a little ashamed of myself at this moment: my attitude of recent years seemed to me so ungrateful… not worthy of the support she gave me.

I can see Rosie scrutinize the motorbike and then Amelia and myself before taking the floor again. - You only have this backpack with you? She asks, pointing to the Eastpak bag still in place on Amelia’s shoulders. - Yes, I told you that we would come in « light » mode… - I didn’t think it was this level… fortunately, there are still some of your kinds of stuff that you had left during your last visits… and also stuffs of… Her voice stops in the middle of a sentence, but she gets up quickly. - But sweetie, it will take a walk to the market… in any case, I ventilated the house and put a little thing in order… and I did some basic shopping for tomorrow morning. - Thank you, Rosie, I’m sure it will be perfect. - We’ll see each other tomorrow in the morning… She walks away after a wave as she approaches her little red Hyundai parked nearby. I meet Amelia’s eyes before joining Rosie for a few moments. - Rosie… - Yes, Owen. - Thank you, really… and excuse me for this radio silence and lack of news… I was selfish and ungrateful. - Don’t worry, I know you’ve gone through difficult times, but promise me that you will not do that anymore for years to come… - Promised, Rosie… She smiles widely and then lets her gaze divert on Amelia behind us. - You didn’t tell me a lot about your friend? I remain silent for a few seconds, then decide to answer. - I bring her here because she has just experienced something very difficult… she lost her home… and a man who was very important to her… she needs calm, tranquility and I know this place can do wonders on tormented souls… - You didn’t tell me what she looked like… - I don’t have the habit of making an Identikit by phone, you know. - Yes, but in this case, you could have warned me. - Warn you? Would she have recognized Amelia? It seemed so unlikely to me… I knew that Rosie was a bit out of the world of showbiz, just like the majority of people in the region, more interested in the generous nature that surrounds them than in the glitz of the entertainment world. - Owen, don’t tell me you were not troubled the first time you met her? The first time you met her eyes? Rosie’s questions are noticeably disconcerting me, I could not see where she was going… and in parallel, the first moments shared with Amelia come back to mind, and it is true that from the beginning something had fascinated me… captivated in her… - The likeness struck me at first slight… I stare at Rosie as to discern on her face what she insinuates for several seconds. - I have the impression to see your mother… at 30… Her words echo in my head as my eyes find the image of Amelia a few steps from us. - The same blue eyes that seem to me to able to reveal a myriad of rich expressions. The same thin, mischievous face with fake little girl appearance that I could see behind the mask she’s wearing. And this silky and shiny hair, with similar light-brown highlights… I can see you playing with your mother’s hair when you were a baby, to wrap her locks around your little fingers… I listen to Rosie’s comments while observing Amelia and I understood for the first time where I got this fascinating fascination I felt for her… a slap that I take myself in the face… I was completely unaware of this similarity until today… but it’s as if I had always known deep within me, which had made me so quickly sensitive to this little woman, who touched me like no other in such a short time… no other except my mother. - And you didn’t hear her… - She sings? - Yes, she sings… with a voice as pure and sweet as Mom… I look away quickly, surprised by this admission that escapes me despite myself… this information that I spontaneously reveal to her as if it were stronger than me. I stare at Rosie again and distinguish her in front of me with a knowing and complicit smile on the lips. - I’ll leave you, I’ll come back tomorrow… - Thank you, Rosie, for everything… I give her a kiss and let her get into her car, making the last wave as she walks away and leaves the small domain. I turn around and walk towards Amelia a few steps away, the bag lying on the ground, her hair slightly swept by the evening breeze.

I get the crash helmets on the motorbike, by the way, stalling them under one of my arms and I take the backpack at Amelia’s foot from my other free hand. - We go in? She just nods and I lead her to the entrance of the house. I open the door and let her enter in first: I notice her hesitant walk almost reluctant to enter. She takes a turn on herself and then turns to me. - Can I know where we are? Her question troubles me, especially the slightly brutal tone she uses. - We are at Campbell River, in a locality a little back in the mountains… and… I don’t have time to finish my sentence and explain the context, the whole story of this place that she cuts me short directly. - And you decide to use « tu » with me now? - It’s… vis-a-vis to Rosie… but if it’s a problem… - For me, yes… - Ok, fine, excuse me… I am taken aback by her reaction, this refusal that she sends me to give up this use of vous, this constant mark of our professional relationship… a step that I wanted to symbolically make towards her, to show her that I was present if she needed me… beyond a contract of employment, beyond a role to be held in front of Rosie. I reply quickly, to change the subject and leave aside this unpleasant impression that wins me. - Do you want to eat something? To visit the house? - No, I’m tired, just show me where I can sleep. She specifies her need in a dry way, without looking at me and for the first words she gives me for long hours, I a mat least puzzled by her coldness. - Upstairs… I waved her down the stairs and she moves. I am a few steps behind her and arrived at the top of the steps, I waved her in the right. I then open a large room that Rosie has obviously taken care of. A very special room in this house that gives me a thrill by entering it again. Rosie refreshed it: a bouquet of flowers is placed on the coffee table, the bed is neatly made with cotton sheets with lace patterns and not the slightest trace of dust… A place that wakes up the past, which materializes an absence that surrounds me for so many years, but I close the door to memories as they try to interfere in my mind. - It will be your room… the bathroom is in front of the stairs, the first room in front of which we went. Rosie had to put all the necessary toiletries… I watch her as she sits on the bed and takes off her shoes. I remain motionless and silent in front of her a few moments, not knowing what to say or what to do. - You have… all you need? - One bed, that’s all I need… I understand the message that she sends me: my presence is not really tolerated anymore. I force myself to give her a slight smile not to show my confusion but I quickly leave the room closing the door behind me. I go down to the ground floor and put me on the sofa, facing the fireplace in the living room. I sigh for a long time, tired by these first minutes and slightly worried for the days to come. She seemed to have recovered the coldness and indifference she had shown right after the accident: her behavior in the church was definitely only temporary… and what troubles me, even more, is that coldness now mingles with her words, and it is almost more disturbing and violent for me than silence. I quickly feel the weight of the day and the journey to fall on my shoulders and weigh on my eyelids. Not perceiving any suspicious noise around me, I allow myself to close my eyes only a few minutes… to forget this indifference which hurts me.

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Thank you for reading 💛

#greysanatomy #Owen Hunt #amelia shepherd #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #omelia #omelia fanfiction #omeliafics #rosie #bodyguard #fanfic

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asterythm · 6 years ago

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No Winning on Halloween

Title: No Winning on Halloween

Pairing: Nothing in particular. Mostly just platonic fun times with the buddies; maybe a tiny bit of Prinxiety if you squint hard enough?

Prompt: Costume Party

Word Count: approx. 3.4k

General Summary: The Sides’ annual costume party is going perfectly… right up until an unexpected guest shows up.

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit. Also, there’s a hint of Roman angst? I meant for this to be a fluffy story, I swear!!

Read this fic on AO3

Virgil’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the abomination lying before him. It had been so beautiful, but now its very soul had been sucked out; the poor, helpless thing had been mistreated horribly and discarded without a second thought. It was awful — terrible — absolutely revolting. Swearing vengeance, Virgil opened his mouth to release a mighty war cry.

“Alright, which one of you absolute cretins had the brilliant idea to take a single bite into this Halloween Kit Kat, without breaking it in half first, and then just leave it on the table?” Virgil demanded.

Patton, who was the only one who heard him over the deafening sound of Spooky Scary Skeletons being blasted at full volume, gasped so hard his Fix-It Felix hat almost fell off and rushed over to where Virgil stood. “What? What kind of monster would do that?”

It wasn’t long before Logan took notice of the two Sides standing around the snack table, and made his way over, inquiring, “Are you two quite alright?” He adjusted his Sherlock Holmes scarf as he spoke.

“No!” Patton wailed, furiously waving his hand at the candy bar at the root of all this trouble. “Someone ate their Kit Kat the wrong way!”

Logan frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought it was merely a wafer chocolate; what about this particular confectionary makes it so special as to have a right and wrong way to consume it?”

“You can’t just bite into both halves of a Kit Kat without breaking it first! That’s… that’s like a crime!”

“But why does it matter? Either way, the Kit Kat gets eaten. I don’t understand what I did wrong—”

“It was you? Oh, Logan, how could you betray me like this?”

Virgil didn’t really care too much about the half-eaten candy, and, listening to their banter, he had to smile. Figures that Logan would know the entirety of Hound of the Baskervilles word for word, but wouldn’t know the proper way to eat a Kit Kat, he thought to himself, shaking his head as he quietly excused himself from the conversation. The anxious side made his way over to Roman, who didn’t seem to realize that he was now alone on the dance floor. Actually, he probably just doesn’t care. Virgil cleared his throat. “Hey, Princey.”

The prince in question turned around. “Virgil.”

“Gotta admit, this party’s actually pretty good. Still mad that you stole my idea to dress up as a Nightmare Before Christmas character, though,” Virgil teased. He didn’t really care how Roman dressed up — he just wanted to get a conversation going.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Well, how was I supposed to know you were going to dress up as Jack Skellington? And besides, I make a fantastic Sally, thank you very much.”

”Yeah, yeah, whatever. You just wanted an excuse to break out your red wig again. You were a pretty good Merida last year, could’ve just stuck with that,” shot back Virgil.

“Excuse me?” Roman put a hand to his chest in mock indignation. “You expect me, the most creative Side of all, to wear the same Halloween costume twice? Never! Never, I say!”

“Okay. That’s what I was hoping you’d say, ‘cause I cut up your Merida dress to make the coattails for my costume. Glad you don’t mind.”

“You what?” Snickering, Virgil winked before running away as fast as his legs could take him. He didn’t need to look back to know that Roman was chasing after him. “Virgil, get back here!”

Dashing through the mind palace, Virgil found himself laughing, really laughing, for the first time in as long as he could remember. He loved fall, of course — how could he not? It was Halloween season! — but Thomas’ “autumn anxiety” had been acting up that year and he’d found himself working harder than usual. He had to admit that it felt great to be able to just relax at the annual costume party that Roman always held, even more so than usual this time.

Or maybe it just felt great to mess with Roman. That, too.

Either way, Virgil was… happy to have a worry-free day where he could just eat candy and drink bad punch and hang out with the other Sides. He had complained when Roman told him that the number one rule for the costume party would be “no overthinking anything” — But that’s what I do best! he’d whined — but he had to admit that he was glad Roman had made him promise. It was nice to know that Roman really did care.

Dashing through the halls of the mind palace, Roman hot on his heels, both of them shouting friendly taunts to each other, Virgil felt almost… carefree. Like nothing could stop him.

Moments later, something stopped him.

Virgil stopped in his tracks and stared. Roman came flying around the corner and crashed into him only moments later. “Hey, what’s the big… idea…”

Roman trailed off as he caught sight of the reason Virgil had stopped so suddenly. His eyes narrowed.

“Deceit,” Virgil hissed.

Indeed, before them stood Deceit. Virgil’s lip curled up in an automatic snarl, but a second glance told him that Deceit was not quite his regular self today. Instead, he seemed to shrink in on himself. Virgil recognized a lot of Deceit’s body language as mirroring what usually was his own — hunched shoulders, hands gripping the container tighter than necessary, head slightly bowed, eyes darting. He seemed… nervous.

Not to mention his unusual outfit. He was dressed in an odd-looking robe; a colourful mishmash of many different fabrics that was at once regal and eccentric. In his hands, he held — was that a Tupperware container?

“What are you doing here?” Roman stepped forward and pointed an accusing finger. “What’s in the box?”

Roman was expecting a witty remark, a smug smile. He got neither. Rather, Deceit opened the container with a hopeful look on his face. “Er… I brought cookies.”

Virgil and Roman stared.

“Is it the costume? It’s too obscure, isn’t it? I’m dressed up as Prospero. You know, the guy from The Tempest?”

Virgil and Roman stared.

An awkward moment of silence.

Virgil and Roman stared.

Deceit held up the cookies to their faces, seeming to think that the two other Sides had somehow missed them.

Virgil and Roman stared.

“Did I mix up the dates? I thought today was the costume party.”

xxx

“Absolutely not.”

“Sure thing!”

Logan and Patton spoke at the same time. The other Sides turned to Patton, incredulous.

“How can you possibly think this is a good idea?” Logan asked him.

“Well, you said he didn’t seem like he wanted to cause trouble, right?” Patton addressed Virgil, who nodded. “And it is true that Roman sent out an invitation to all the Sides. That includes Deceit.”

“Well, yeah, but I meant all the light Sides! Not that two-faced treacherous toad!” Roman

protested.

Logan sighed. “His motif is that of a snake, Roman, not a toad.”

“I’m sorry, I had to make it alliterative.”

Virgil was losing patience. “Guys, can we please focus?” He turned to Patton. “I get that you wanna make Deceit feel included or some dumb nice thing like that, but we can’t trust him,” Virgil insisted. “What if it’s another trick? I don’t understand how you’re so okay with him joining us.”

“Agreed,” Logan chimed in. “Deceit has lied to us before; in fact, it’s at the very core of his being. It’s what he does best.”

“I guess, but… but that doesn’t mean that he always lies! Roman, you mentioned that he was wearing a costume,” Patton argued, “and he brought cookies! Cookies! You can’t possibly say no to cookies, can you?” Roman started to speak, but Patton talked over him. “I get it. You don’t exactly trust him. Honestly, I don’t either. I mean, he stole my identity — not cool. But Deceit just wants to have fun. Can you blame him? Everyone deserves to be able to take a break from time to time. We all know the Dark Sides aren’t the liveliest bunch. Can’t we just let him have this one day?”

Patton’s last words echoed in the room. The other Sides were silent.

Finally, Logan spoke up. “I… suppose… it couldn’t hurt to let Deceit join in on the festivities for a day.”

“What? Logan, you can’t be serious!” Roman objected.

Logan held up a hand, silencing Roman effectively. He continued, “You must admit that Patton has a point. All of us work hard to keep Thomas safe and healthy, and although Deceit’s way of doing so may be… counterproductive… he still ought to be allowed a day of amusement. I’m not saying we need to treat him like a friend, but perhaps we can consider setting aside our differences today and forming a truce.”

The most anxious of the Sides was still apprehensive, of course, but Virgil started to see what Logan and Patton were saying. Slowly, he nodded. “I guess it would be okay, just for today.”

Roman, on the other hand, could hardly believe his ears.

He’d worked so hard for this costume party! He’d put so much effort into making sure it was absolutely perfect. Everything had been carefully thought out, from the party playlist song order to the location and arrangement of all the fake cobwebs to the exact shade of orange icing on the chocolate cupcakes. He knew how excited Patton had been for October to arrive. He’d noticed how Logan had been staying up late to work on Thomas’s videos. He’d seen how Virgil had been even more stressed than normal, trying to keep up with all the unwanted negativity that had arrived with the cold weather.

He’d planned and planned so that they could have the best costume party yet, and then Deceit showed up and just had to ruin it for all of them. They’d been having fun! They’d been relaxing! They’d been happy! And now they just wanted to throw away all of his hard work… for what? To appease a filthy liar?

When Roman spoke, his words were sharp and dripping with venom. “Well. I suppose I understand what you’re saying.”

“Oh! Um, that’s great, but are you sure?” Patton asked, cocking his head to the side. He hadn’t expected Roman to give in so easily.

In fact, Roman wasn’t quite finished. “Oh, I’m sure, all right. I may have spent countless all-nighters pouring my heart and soul into organizing this party for you all, but if making a Dark Side feel good is your priority, well, don’t let me stop you! I completely understand. Who cares about all the hard work I did, right?” Roman laughed bitterly. “Well, go ahead! Go bring the good news to your new best friend! I won’t stop you.” And with that, Roman sunk out.

xxx

“Well, um, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Patton said to Deceit, who had been waiting in the halls where Virgil and Roman had left him. “The good news is, most of us are okay with you spending time with us today.”

“Most of you?” said Deceit quizzically.

“Yeah, uh, Roman… won’t be there, though,” Patton fumbled in response. “But you can still come and have fun with the rest of us!”

Deceit sighed. There was a nasty feeling gnawing away at his gut — guilt. He’d driven Roman away from his own party.

“You know what, Patton? I really appreciate it, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think I’ll be attending the party after all.” He gave the Tupperware container to Patton. “You can keep the cookies, though.”

Deceit pretended not to hear Patton’s confused protests as he disappeared from sight.

xxx

A series of gentle knocks on Roman’s bedroom door alerted him to another Side’s presence. Probably Patton.

“Leave me alone,” grumbled Roman. No, please come in. His ego would never let him admit it, but he’d been hoping that someone would come to check in on him. Patton had come faster than he’d expected, though. Usually, the other Sides gave him some time to mope before coming to cheer him up with compliments.

The door opened with a soft click, and Roman was surprised to see that the one standing on the other side wasn’t Fix-It Felix, here to give Roman a tap with his golden hammer and make everything better. It was Jack Skellington, coat-tails and all.

“Virgil?”

The anxious Side invited himself inside and sat next to Roman on his fancy four-poster bed, fidgeting a little bit. “Hey there, Sally.”

The two of them sat in silence for a couple minutes, until Roman heard a very quiet snort of laughter. He whipped his head around immediately. “What are you laughing at, Hot Topic?”

“I just… I can’t take you seriously with that bright red wig of yours.”

Roman flushed with embarrassment. He’d forgotten he was wearing that. He removed the incriminating hairpiece. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Okay, so did you come up here for a reason, or did you just want to laugh at my hair?”

Suddenly serious, Virgil’s smirk disappeared. “Yeah, actually. I just felt like I owe you an apology.”

xxx

Deceit sat, alone, in the darkscape. Stupid! the darkscape wailed in his own voice. So stupid! What on Earth were you expecting? For them to welcome you with open arms, just because you were all dressed up and baked some cookies? Ridiculous. You’re a Dark Side. They don’t like you.

He closed his eyes tight and tried to drown out the never-ending cacophony. He was used to the whispers that were always echoing through the hallways, but today they were so much louder than usual.

It was no use. Showing weakness had been a bad idea — the voices grabbed hold of him and pulled him down, down, down…

xxx

“...we didn’t really consider your feelings when we made our decision, and that wasn’t fair. All of us really do appreciate how much work went into your party. So… uh, we’re sorry,” Virgil finished. He finally made eye contact with Roman (he’d been staring at his hands for the entirety of his apology) and was surprised to see the Side who had previously seemed so downtrodden was grinning like a fool.

“How many times did you rehearse that apology?” Roman asked.

“Wh— huh?” That was not the answer Virgil had been expecting. He hadn’t even been expecting to be able to get through his entire apology (which, by the way, he had only rehearsed six times, thank you very much!); he’d been sure that Roman would cut him off somewhere in the middle with some kind of snarky comment. When Roman was silent, Virgil had gotten more than a little nervous. Roman was never silent unless he was either angry or touched. And yet, the huge smile on Roman’s face showed that he was anything but angry. So that meant…

Mistaking Virgil’s confusion for concern, Roman hastened to comfort him. “I’m joking. That was very sweet of you, Virgil, and I really do appreciate it. I have to admit that I overreacted a tad bit. It’s just been an exhausting couple of days, you know?”

Virgil listened and nodded. “It’s great that you wanted to take stress off our shoulders with this party, Roman — really, it is — but it seems like you ended up just taking that stress onto yourself. You mentioned that you pulled a lot of all-nighters, huh? I get that you were excited, but come on, Princey. You can’t do that to yourself.”

Roman hated to admit fault, but… “I suppose you’re right, Jack Smellington.”

“Hey! Come on! Again with the name-calling? I thought we were having a heart-to-heart here!”

Roman nudged Virgil playfully. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I suppose that I have some apologizing to do, as well. Come on.” He got up and crossed over to the door, Virgil following close behind.

The two of them walked side-by-side, Side by Side, down the mindscape halls. When they reached the living room, Virgil hurried in first and sat down on the couch between Logan and Patton, who had long since stopped the music and were now sitting in silence, expecting Roman to step in.

Virgil spent a full minute wondering what was taking Roman so long before he got up and went back to check. “Ro?”

The hallways were empty. Roman was nowhere in sight.

xxx

Time was a fluttery, doubtful sort of thing in the darkscape. It was a single silver ribbon that twisted and folded and, every once in a while, even stopped entirely. Sometimes, Deceit might just blink and weeks would flash by. Other times, he would lie down and sleep for what felt like an eternity, and wake to find that it had only been a few minutes he’d been unconscious.

Deceit didn’t know how long he’d been listening to the savage screams tearing away at his very core like vultures descending on a slab of dead meat. He didn’t want to know. At first, he’d wanted to escape to the safety of his room where the darkscape’s words were almost imperceptible, but to do that would be to admit defeat, and Deceit had had enough of that for today. So he sat and let the darkscape do its work, filling him up with bitterness and self-doubt.

Until, suddenly, there was someone’s hand on his shoulder — a grip that was firm and assertive, but not too tight. The whispers that filled Deceit’s mind disappeared with a puff of smoke as he turned to look at the unexpected visitor.

“...Roman? What are you doing here?”

The flamboyant Side spoke as if reciting words he’d already heard once before. “I just felt like I owe you an apology.”

xxx

“What’s wrong, Virge?” Patton asked, voice full of concern.

The panicked Side exclaimed, “Roman was right behind me, and now the idiot’s just run off to who-knows-where!”

Logan got to his feet, alarmed. “He didn’t give you any hints about where he was going?”

“No,” Virgil said. “I just went up to his room to apologize and then he said that he needed to say sorry to you guys too, so we came downstairs and now he’s just gone.”

“You’re quite sure that he desired to talk to us, specifically? Not anyone else who he perhaps may have hurt?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, who else would he need to…” Virgil trailed off as he realized what Logan was implying. “Oh.”

“Yes, oh does seem appropriate for this situation,” Logan agreed.

Patton blinked, not quite catching on. “What? What are you guys talking about?”

“Roman didn’t mean us. He meant Deceit. He’s gone to the darkscape,” explained Virgil. “Oh, man. Why’s he gotta be such a clueless moron all the time? What made him think it would be a good idea to go down there?”

“He’s gone down to the darkscape?” cried an incredulous Patton. “But that’s dangerous! We gotta go bring him back before he gets himself hurt, Virgil!”

“I know, I know, I just… really don’t want to go down there again.” Virgil shuddered, and Patton’s voice grew quiet.

“Oh, I’m— I’m sorry. Er, if you don’t want to, it can just be me and Logan...”

After a moment of quiet focus, Virgil said, “No, I’m coming too. I wanna give him a piece of my mind, anyway. And no one knows how to deal with Deceit better than I do.” Patton couldn’t deny the truth in that statement.

“Alright,” Logan said impatiently. “Well, then, let’s go. We’ve already wasted enough time.”

Taking a deep breath, Patton and Logan stood, Virgil getting up a second later. The three of them had determined expressions on their faces, and stepped out into the halls, ready to run into Roman and bring him back to safety.

They weren’t expecting for that to happen in quite so literal a fashion. As Logan turned the corner, he collided face-first with Roman, who stumbled backwards — right into Deceit.

Patton gasped. “Roman! Behind you!”

Rubbing his forehead, Roman cracked the slightest of smiles.

“Yes, I’m aware. I was just bringing him to the living room so that we could join you guys, but it looks like you decided to meet us halfway, anyhow.”

He lowered his voice. “We’re still not friends. But just for today, we don’t really have to be enemies either, you know?”

xxx

(The cookies were delicious, by the way.)

xxx

A/N: This ended up being a lot longer and a lot more confusing than I intended. I wanted to write a cute little 500-word fluffy fic and post it the same day I wrote it, but then my hand slipped and before I knew it I was writing a 3k in ten-minute writing sprints in between all my homework. Since I wrote this for the SS Spooky Month, I threw this on here without doing.. uh.. any editing. So yeah -- definitely not by best work, but hey, this is my blog and I’ll post what I want, haha!

PS - Anyone who guesses the reference in the title gets a cookie :P

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #thatsthat24 #spectral scribbles #sympathetic deceit #tw sympathetic deceit #tw deceit #spec made something

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paigenotblank · 6 years ago

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Accidentally Ours (3/7)

Pairing: Tenth Doctor x Rose Tyler

Rating: Teen

Written for a prompt for Ten x Rose kid fic/family fic where they adopt kids left orphans that they meet on their travels / and also a prompt for Ten x Rose with a mix of adopted and biological kids (@tinyconfusion). Tagging @doctorroseprompts and @timepetalscollective which I think both had those prompts.

Trope: Accidental Baby Acquisition

Warnings: Kid Fic/ Baby Fic/ Pregnancy Fic

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

AO3 / TS

Jackie had just finished setting the table when she heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing in Rose’s old bedroom. The Doctor stepped into the lounge carrying Melody against his chest and Rose was laughing at something that he’d said.

Jackie’s breath caught. She had never seen her daughter so happy and it was all thanks to that daft alien and the little girl he’d brought into their lives. Jackie could only pray that when they had to give the little girl back, the Doctor would help Rose get through it. And maybe one day, they’d have one of their own.

Rose waved and headed for the kitchen. “Hey, Mum. I’ll be right back.” She threw a grin over her shoulder and winked at the Doctor. His eyes softened and Jackie could see his love for Rose plain as day. She suspected she was worrying for nothing. If there is one thing she trusted, it was that the Doctor would always take care of Rose. She wiped at her eyes and plastered on her own smile. She cooed at Melody. “Oh, look how big she’s got. How old is she now?”

The Doctor lifted little Melody out of the carrier and handed her to Jackie. “17 weeks, 4 days, and completely brilliant. I'm sure she’ll be an early talker. She’s quite the babbler, she is.”

Jackie snorted. “Gets that from you.”

“Jackie…” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Just meant that babies mimic an’ if she’s babbling up a storm, it's because she’s imitatin’ you, ya plum. You could talk for England you could.”

“Oh, right.” The smile that broke out over the Doctor’s face tugged at Jackie’s heart. “Suppose she is.”

“Still callin’ you ‘Not-Mum?’”

He released a weary sigh. “Yeah. I think she’s doing it on purpose at this point.”

Jackie kissed Melody’s cheek. “Speakin’ of, where’d your mummy get to? Rose!”

Rose came out of the kitchen with three mugs of tea. “Sorry, Mum.” She pecked her mother on the cheek. “I made us cuppas.” Rose put the tea down on the coffee table and went to take the baby from Jackie. “Time for her feeding.”

Jackie held Melody tighter. “Oh, let me, Rose.”

Rose pulled a baby bottle out of the Doctor’s coat pocket. He warmed it up with the sonic and handed it to Jackie. “All yours.”

Rose picked up two of the mugs and handed one to the Doctor. He opened his arm to her and she snuggled into his side resting her head on his shoulder.

Jackie glanced at the two of them. “So you two got yourselves sorted then?”

“Mum!” “Yup!”

Rose looked at the Doctor in surprise, but it turned quickly to joy, and she nodded at her mum. “Yeah. We’re takin’ it slow, but...we’re officially together now.” Jackie noticed Rose’s light blush immediately.

“Well, if you two ever want a date night, I’m more than happy to watched her for you.”

Rose sat up. “What?”

“You heard me. I bet you two haven’t spent any time together, just the two of you.”

The Doctor tugged his ear. “Well, not…I mean when Melody’s napping or sleeping, but-”

“It’s the key to a healthy relationship.”

“When did you turn into ‘Ask Irma?’”

“Oh, hush. Bev’s got a subscription to Glamour. But it’s true. I remember what it was like, bein’ in a new relationship.”

The Doctor snorted. “What all of last year?”

Jackie narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

Rose swatted his chest. “Doctor! Rude.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Jackie. How is Howard?”

“Still asking about his dressing gown.”

“Oh, erm, I’ll buy him a new one.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Nah. Was just kidding. I’m not seeing Howard anymore.”

Rose sat up in surprise. “Mum, you never said anything. What happened?”

“Nothing, sweetheart. Just one of those things.”

“Are-”

“Would you look at that? There’s still an hour ‘til dinner’s ready.” Jackie stood with the baby and began rubbing her back. “Why don’t the two of you go off on that date now?”

Rose looked at her mother in concern. “Now?”

“This little one’ll be ready for a nap soon and I don’t need that…” She nodded in the Doctor’s direction. “...one underfoot while I try an’ get everything on the table. You just make sure you get back in time. One hour, not next year.”

The Doctor whined, “It was one time.”

“All I’m saying is there better not be a second time.”

“There won’t be, Jackie.”

“Good.” Jackie nodded and Rose stared at her mother with her mouth hanging open. Jackie’s eyes narrowed at her daughter. “What?”

Rose shrugged. “Nothin’ just didn’t think you’d be that quick to believe ‘im is all.”

“Well, the last couple of months he’s been spot on in getting you here exactly when you said. An’ besides you’re the one that said it was the ship more ‘an anything. Would that crazy box do that to you two or Mel?”

“No. She wouldn’t.” She looked at the Doctor in anticipation and bit her lip. “You really want us to go now? It wasn’t just to stop me from prying about-”

Jackie sighed. “Just get back by dinner before I change my mind.”

“Thanks Mum!“ Rose hugged her mother and then rushed toward the TARDIS dragging the Doctor behind her.

The Doctor tapped his sock covered foot on the thin bench and let out a weary sigh. He shifted but his shackled wrist didn’t allow for too much movement. He pulled his knee closer and once again thought about all the ways he’d mucked up his and Rose’s first date. Okay, well, maybe it wasn’t their first date, since he’d been pretty much wooing her since they’d met. First official date as a proper couple. Well. It wasn’t even that as they’d been tons of places with Melody these past few months. First official date as a proper couple without a 17-week old chaperone. There. That’s what he’d ruined. He’d wanted to impress her and instead-

The slide of his cell door had the Doctor looking over his shoulder. “Rose!”

Rose leaned against the opening with her arms crossed and her lips twitching. She took in his slightly rumpled form. He was shoeless, tieless, coat and jacketless. His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows and a thick, black-metal band around one of his wrists was tethered to the wall by an equally thick, black-metal chain. “You jus’ had to lick it.”

The Doctor stood up and faced her. He took a step forward. “How’d-” The chain attached to his arm pulled taut and he looked down as if he’d forgotten it was there.

Rose sighed and moved into the cell. She pulled the Doctor’s sonic out of her back pocket and opened the shackles to free him. He picked her up and lifted her off her feet with a big hug. Her laughter had him grinning. “Put me down, ya plum, we’ve gotta go.”

“But how?” The Doctor glanced nervously toward the corridor where he could just now see a guard standing sentinel.

“I negotiated your release.” Rose pointed down and wiggled her toes - her toes which he could see moving, because she also had shoeless feet.

“What? Where’re your shoes?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Luckily on this planet rubber soles are a hot commodity. Between mine and yours, I-”

He squeaked, “My chucks?”

“Like you don’t have 37 pairs of ‘em in all different colors sittin’ in the wardrobe room, 12 of which are identical to the ones I used to get you released. From prison.”

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck “Right, yes, of course, molto bene.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. Really.”

Her heart skipped a beat at his crooked little grin. She laced their fingers together and led him from the cell. “At least I was able to get your coat and jacket back.”

The Doctor noticed them folded up in the guard’s arms and he grabbed his coat excitedly. “Top banana!” He shook it out and slipped his arms into it. “I love this coat. Did I ever tell you Janis Joplin gave me this coat?” The Doctor swung his arm over Rose’s shoulder and pulled her close. She shook her head and took his jacket from the guard as the Doctor started leading her down the hallway and out of the building. “It was 1969 in a tiny little town in upstate New York. White Lake, I think. Janis was organizing a game of poker in the lobby of a little ramshackle hotel and they needed another player.”

“An’ what were you doin’ in at a hotel in White Lake, New York?”

“Woodstock! I, er, just landed a few miles off course is all.”

Rose snorted. “That sounds about right.”

“Oi!”

“So poker…” Rose smiled with a hint of tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth. His eyes zeroed in on it.

The Doctor blinked a few times. “Huh?”

Rose cuddled into the Doctor’s side. “You were tellin’ me about how you got your coat.”

“Oh! Right. So, the TARDIS got the coordinates a little wrong for-”

“The TARDIS, huh?”

“The TARDIS got the coordinates wrong for Woodstock and I walked into this hotel where I could hear music playing. On a long couch in reception were three blokes playing guitars.” The Doctor rubbed his chin. “Not sure were Neil Young was.”

“Neil Young?”

“Hmm? Oh, he’d joined the band by then, but I only saw David, Stephen, and Graham.” At Rose’s blank look he added, “Crosby, Stills, and Nash.”

“Crosby, Stills, and Nash were playing a live concert at the hotel where you played poker with Janis Joplin?”

“Well, they weren’t performing so much as...practicing, or, er, jamming. Grooving?”

She laughed. “Only you, Doctor.”

“Anyway, in I walk and immediately Janis asks if I know how to play poker. I mean can you imagine, me not knowing how to-”

“Doctor.”

“So I join the game, but she looks at me and tells me she wasn’t drunk enough to deal with my outfit.”

“Your outfit?”

“It was my sixth incarnation and my style was a little...erm, brighter, shall we say?”

Rose slowed, the Doctor could almost see the wheels of her mind turning as she made connections, and then she bent over laughing. “The...the patchwork jacket...in the wardrobe room! You were wearing that weren’t you?”

The Doctor crossed his arms and pouted. “It’s not that funny.”

Rose wiped tears from her eyes. “She made you cover up didn’t she?”

The Doctor nodded once. And Rose broke out into giggles again.

“Rose!”

“Sorry. Sorry, but-”

“Her guitarist, nice bloke, Sam something or other, gave Janis his coat and she made me put it on. Told me to keep it.”

Rose rubbed the Doctor’s arm and they continued on to the TARDIS. “Well, I’m glad she did. It’s a great coat.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Mmhmm.”

The walked in silence until they finally made it back to the timeship. “Let’s go back to Mum’s. I’m starving.”

“I feel terrible for ruining our date. Chips and try again?”

“Sure. Sounds great.”

The Doctor kissed Rose soundly and then dashed to the console and danced around it, taking them into the vortex.

Rose and the Doctor meandered through sandstone arches and towering columns while munching on the hot, salty chips they’d picked up from their favorite chippy in the universe - the one right down the road from Jackie’s flat. He’d had to take them to 1974 so as not to run into her accidentally before enacting the rest of their date do-over.

They were happy to walk in silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence, and looking up at the soaring rock formations all around them.

The Doctor happily popped a greasy, fried potato into his mouth. “How’s this for a redo?”

Rose’s gaze narrowed in on the large, stingray-like creatures flying through the air above them. “You sure we’re not gonna have to make a run for it?”

“Nah, they’re not interested in us. They only eat bugs. Well, I say ‘bugs,’ but I really mean…,” the Doctor trailed off as he looked at Rose, distracted by the play of yellow, orange, and pink light over her face. It took his breath away, how stunning she was, eclipsing even the sunset that had just begun painting the sky. Really that was the reason he’d brought her here - known to have the most beautiful sunsets in the galaxy - and yet it paled in comparison to her.

Rose stopped and, seeing him slack-jawed, waited. “Bugs,” she prompted.

The Doctor snagged the last chip and took the empty paper cone from Rose’s hand, crumpling it and shoving it into his pocket.

“Oi!”

He rested his hands on her shoulders and peered intently into her eyes. “You know I love you, right?”

Her eyes grew round and she opened her mouth to answer, but the words were stuck in her throat.

“Rose?”

“Y-yeah, I know. I mean, you show me in so many ways. Everyday. It’s just sometimes I’d convinced myself- But I did...do know. Have to say...it’s incredibly nice to hear, though.”

“I love you,” and with that pronouncement, he gently cupped the back of her head and slowly lowered his lips to hers. She sighed into his mouth. After a few moments he pulled away and confessed, “Have done for a long time.”

She blinked at him a few times. “I love you, too.” A soft smile spread over her lips. “I have since about, oh, ‘forget me, Rose Tyler,’” she imitated his old accent.

“What?”

Her smile widened. “You know how to make an impression on a girl.”

“But you turned me down, the first time I asked you to come with me.”

“Not because I didn’t want to. I was just afraid by how much I did want to. I regretted saying, ‘no,’ immediately. Why do you think I ran to the TARDIS when you got back? I was so worried you’d disappear again.”

“I...I didn’t know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. No regrets. You did come with me, and that’s the important thing.” He took her hand and started walking back toward the TARDIS. “I never dreamed...after the war, I just never dreamed…”

She squeezed his hand. Just minutes ago, she’d felt so tiny walking in the shadows of the lofty cliffs that made up the majority of the planet’s surface, but with the Doctor’s love in her heart, she felt like she could soar among the gliding giants in the sky.

They stopped near the TARDIS and watched the last rays of the sun before it dropped below the horizon. He pushed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. He exuded an air of nonchalance, but Rose knew him better than that. She watched as as he opened his mouth to ask her a question, but paused to take a deep breath. She affected the same casualness, and waited. She didn’t need to wait long.

“How long are you going to stay with me?”

Rose glanced at him and when he swung his head to look at her, she smiled and replied, “Forever.”

His answering grin had her blushing. She pulled his hand from his pocket and entwined their fingers, running her thumb along his.

“Then I’ll love you forever and a day.” He pulled her to his side and kissed her crown.

The Doctor abruptly released her and pulled her into the TARDIS.

Rose leaned back against the doors and watched as he frenziedly spun around the console to put them into the vortex.

Rose pushed off the door and sauntered up to the Doctor. He quirked his eyebrow at her.

She just smiled and ran her hand down his tie.

“I just vowed to stay with you forever.”

The Doctor swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yeah.”

Rose lifted her hand to the back of his neck and played with the short hairs at his nape. “And you vowed to love me for just as long.”

His lips twitched. “I did. I will.”

“Yeah?”

He pulled her body closer to his. “Are...are those the vows you wanted to hear?” He could see the hope in her eyes and feel her single human heart pounding against his chest. “Because I do, Rose. I. Do.”

Rose took a shaky breath. “Y-you know what we do on Earth after vows like that?”

“What?”

“Seal it with a kiss.” She was pulling him down before she even finished her sentence.

As soon as their lips met, there was a burst of passion and a flurry of hands pulling at clothes. They stumbled out of the control room and the Doctor thanked the TARDIS for moving his room to right off the corridor. He pushed Rose against the door as he fumbled with the handle. Her hands were everywhere, distracting him. Weren’t humans supposed to only have two? She managed to pull off his tie, unbutton his oxford, unzip his trousers and have him in hand in the blink of an eye.

He panted into her shoulder. What good was a respiratory bypass if it doesn’t kick in when he needs it? He moved one hand to her breast - the other was still trying to get the door open - and nibbled her neck. Finally, the door swung open and he grabbed Rose before she could tumble backwards. He swept her into his arms and kicked the door closed behind them.

It was quite some time before they made it back to Jackie’s.

Jackie looked Rose and the Doctor up and down when they got back to the flat and shook her head.

The Doctor glanced at Rose and then back to Jackie. “What? We made it back on time. Didn't we?”

Jackie snorted. “Jus’ thought the two of you’d go out on a proper date somewhere like a movie or a museum. I shoulda figured.”

Rose glanced from her mum to the Doctor and back again. “We did go on a date.”

Jackie snorted. The Doctor glared at her. “Who’s to say we didn’t?”

Jackie raised her eyebrow at her daughter.

“We did!”

“That why himself is wearin’ a different shirt and tie?”

“What? I...it's...we could've come across a jxploric spitting Helipontu and that’s why I needed to change.” The Doctor crossed his arms.

Jackie handed Melody off to the Doctor. “Mmhmm. An’ is that how Rose got a hickey too?”

Rose gasped and grabbed her neck while the Doctor sputtered, both of them blushing furiously.

“Hope you built up an appetite, dinner’s ready.”

After dinner, Jackie walked with the Doctor, Rose, and Melody back to Rose’s old room where the TARDIS was parked. “Oh! I forgot. Look at what we practiced.” She got Melody’s attention from her place in the Doctor’s arms. She pointed at Rose. “Who’s that?”

The baby gurgled happily, and the Doctor smiled. “Mummy. Very good Melly Belly.” He looked at Jackie. “She’s been calling Rose, ‘Mum,’ since the beginning.”

“Jus’ wait.” She pointed to herself. “And what’s my name?”

Melody babbled. The Doctor translated, “Nan. Well done, sweetheart.”

Jackie tapped the Doctor’s sleeve. “And who’s this?”

Melody giggled and the Doctor’s smile tightened. “Not-Mum.” She giggled again and the Doctor looked at Jackie in shock. “Dada. She said, ‘Dada!’”

The Doctor whooped and lifted Melody in the air. She squealed in delight and when he brought her back down, he gave her big, exaggerated kisses all over her face causing her to belly laugh.

The Doctor asked Jackie, “How?”

“I had a nice little chat with our girl.”

“But how’d you know she would? You don’t speak baby.”

Jackie’s only response was a smug grin.

He impulsively wrapped Jackie in a one armed hug, Melody babbling between them, and whispered, “Thank you.”

When he pulled away, he had glassy eyes, but the brightest smile she’d ever seen on him.

Rose was fighting her own tears. And so was Jackie, truth be told.

“I expect to see you three back here next Sunday.”

Rose kissed her mum on the cheek. “Of course.”

The Doctor walked his little family into the TARDIS and Jackie stood watching until it faded away.

#ten x rose #jackie tyler #original child character #doctorroseprompts #doctor who #accidental baby aquisition #emotional hurt/comfort #developing relationship

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asleepinawell · 7 years ago

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Defragmentation

Sometimes Root would come home from a mission scattered. She’d sit on the couch and stare into space for hours, laptop forgotten and half-sliding off her legs until Shaw came and rescued it. She didn’t seem distressed or like she was in shock. Just gone.

When she eventually snapped back to the present, it would be with a slight shake of her head. She’d look around the room, curiously, as if she couldn’t quite recall how she’d gotten there, and then act normally. Or what passed for normal where Root was concerned.

“You done staring at the wall?” Shaw asked after one such occurrence.

Root paused in the middle of smoothing out the ruffled cocktail dress she hadn’t changed out of yet. She looked like she was about to answer, but then only smiled and countered with: “Maybe I’ll stare at you now instead.”

Shaw could appreciate not wanting to talk about certain things, but she couldn’t stop trying to piece together the mystery. Root was usually hurtling forward at a million miles a minute. To see her still and empty was unsettling.

It took her a little while to see the pattern.

“Who were you this time?” she asked when Root snapped back to the present.

“Secretary at a law firm.” Root peeled off a black blazer Shaw had never seen before. “Had to get my hands on some documents in the company safe. One of the lawyers tried to get his hands on me, though, so I left him in the safe instead.”

Some thieves left a calling card at the scene of their crime, like a glove or rose or something dumb. Root seemed to leave behind unconscious and severely traumatized misogynists as her calling card. Shaw couldn’t risk telling her how much of a kick she got out of that without risking a round of smugness.

Another episode followed a few weeks later.

“Let me guess…professional dog walker?”

Her outfit wasn’t anything special this time, but it was coated in animal hair.

“Groomer, not walker,” Root corrected as she got up from the couch, leaving a layer of hair behind.

“Well, don’t get any ideas about putting bows on Bear.”

“But he’d look so good with them.” Root pulled a handful of orange ribbon from her pocket and dangled it in front of Shaw like she was a kitten she was trying to entice into playing with it.

Unnecessary pet accessories aside, it was always a relief to see her full of life again.

The next time it happened, Shaw decided it was time to have a talk.

“Do I have something on my face?” Root asked when she blinked out of her trance to find Shaw sitting in a chair across from her, arms crossed.

“You never used to space out after taking other identities. What changed?”

There was a slight flicker of uneasiness on Root’s face, quickly chased away by a lazy smile that was anything but authentic. “Hmmm, maybe sometimes I get too into my role. Side effects of being too good at lying, I suppose.”

It felt like a half-truth to Shaw. “Used to be you’d be a pilot in the morning, a barista in the afternoon, and a debutante in the evening. Now you’re one thing for a day or two and you go all space cadet and stare holes in my wall. What gives?”

Root chuckled and leaned back on the couch, stretching her arms along the back of it. “This is possibly the least subtle attempt anyone has ever made to psychoanalyze me.”

“Subtle isn’t my thing. I asked. Up to you if you answer.”

Root wasn’t making eye contact anymore, a slightly guilty expression on her face. But she looked to be gathering her thoughts rather than trying to escape the conversation, so Shaw waited quietly.

“It’s different now,” Root said at last. “It's….”

She spent a few minutes frowning at the bottle of nail polish she’d left on the coffee table before continuing. “When I take on an identity, I go all in. There can’t be any crack or flaw in my disguise, so I have to be that person. Live their life, think their thoughts. I mean not all my missions require that, but…” She trailed off.

“But the ones that do are the ones you end up spacing out on my couch after.” Shaw could sort of see where this was going. “You’ve been doing that most of your life though. You didn��t used to have to…reboot your brain or whatever.”

“It’s different now,” Root said again. She was picking at one fingernail, refusing to look up.

“Hold that thought.” Shaw stood up and headed to the kitchen, leaving Root behind to sort out her thoughts. She figured the amount of time it took to make some tea would let Root regroup.

“Here.”

Root smiled when Shaw handed her the warm mug. Her smile widened when Shaw sat down next to her on the couch rather than returning to her chair.

“Back before all this, it was never a problem,” Root said, sounding more sure of herself now. “It was a lot easier to switch on and off identities. I was still me, I mean, but me was…less complicated. I kept things at a very shallow level, I suppose. Never let myself feel anything too deeply or get too attached. In some ways, my own identity was the easiest to assume because it was the least involved in anything else.”

She held her mug of tea cradled in both hands and stared into it like there was a script at the bottom to read from.

“It’ll get cold if you don’t drink it,” Shaw pointed out. She wanted to say more, but she figured that Root wasn’t done yet and didn’t want to derail her now that she was finally explaining.

Root obediently sipped her tea. “Thanks. For the tea, I mean.”

“Right.”

“There’s a lot more distance to come back now.” Root chewed on her lip for a second. “There’s more of me. More things that matter, more things I’m tied to, more things I miss. When I stop being myself now, it takes longer to put myself back together after. Like all the pieces of me get mixed in with all the pieces of other identities and I have to sort them out.”

“Sounds like a headache. How do you…I mean…do you just sort through every thought in your brain and put them all in the correct boxes or something?” Shaw didn’t have anything even remotely approaching a frame of reference for this.

“Not quite that consciously, perhaps. I’m not even really actively aware of it. It’s all a bit dream-like, and more like…following trail markers to get out of the woods.”

“Trail markers?”

“Things that strongly connect me to, well, me. Some silly little things–” She wiggled her fingers with their painted black nails. “–but also things like computers, the subway. Her, of course. She always helps me come back.” Root fidgeted with her mug. “And you.”

There was the slightest hint of red in her cheeks. A bit ridiculous that she was embarrassed, in Shaw’s opinion, since she flirted as freely as breathing. But then this was something a lot more complex than some bad innuendo. Shaw got that. She just wasn’t sure what to do with it in this particular case.

“So why keep working missions that make you do this?”

“It’s my job. And I don’t dislike it. It’s just gotten a little more complicated.”

She finally looked over at Shaw and whatever she saw in Shaw’s face made her relax (Shaw hadn’t thought she had any particular expression on, but then Root had always had an uncanny knack for reading her). She placed her tea down on the coffee table and tentatively rested one of her hands on Shaw’s leg. When Shaw didn’t stiffen or move away, she settled her hand more firmly, palm still warm from the mug.

“She did offer to decrease the number of those types of missions, but that doesn’t seem fair. I don’t want to let Her down.”

Shaw held back an exasperated sigh. For someone who went on about how much her AI buddy cared about all of them, Root could be pretty willfully oblivious to how that caring extended to herself as well. But that wasn’t something she could fix in one afternoon.

“What can I do?” It still felt a little weird asking that, but she’d found out over time it was better than staying frustrated in silence. For both of them.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. But coming back here…it’s a good place to be. It makes the way back a lot shorter.”

“Then tell your boss that you always come here after a mission.” Though Shaw strongly suspected that the Machine was on the same page as her here.

Root didn’t say anything and the silence stretched out between them. Her fingers traced patterns across Shaw’s leg.

It didn’t happen again for a while (though Shaw was unsure if that was a coincidence or if the Machine was demonstrating the good sense that her analogue interface clearly lacked), but a month and a half later Shaw came home to the now-familiar sight of Root sitting motionless on her couch.

She looked her over with a tiny frown, taking in the details. Whoever Root had been this time had another fancy job that required formal business attire. The look suited Root in so far as all looks suited her, but it didn’t feel quite right.

She ended up sitting on the coffee table in front of Root, carefully lifting one of Root’s hands from her lap and placing it on her own knee. Root didn’t stir.

Shaw uncapped the small bottle of stinky cheap nail varnish that Root still hadn’t moved from the coffee table and went to work applying a coat of black polish to each of Root’s nails. She took her time, being careful not to smudge it, and staying fully focused on her task.

When she finished the last nail on Root’s other hand, Root’s fingers twitched on her leg. Shaw looked up to meet her eyes.

“Thought you hated the beautician business.” Root was all mischievous smiles and bright eyes again.

“Got bored. And you’re sitting on the tv remote.”

“I can think of much better things to be sitting on.”

From totally zoned out to hitting on her in under a minute. Shaw was almost impressed.

“You eaten yet? Dinner, I mean.”

Root shrugged. “Don’t really remember.”

Shaw sighed and headed to the kitchen. “I’ve got some leftovers I can heat up.”

Later that night, she let Root curl up on her and put her head on her chest.

“Getting cold lately,” Shaw said, one hand idly playing with a lock of Root’s hair. “Nice to have a human radiator again.”

“I missed you, too.”

“Hmph.” That level of sentimentality was frankly unnecessary.

“It’s nice to be back.” Root sounded half asleep now.

Shaw didn’t answer, but instead tucked Root’s head more firmly under her chin. She didn’t let herself fall asleep until Root’s eyes drooped shut and her breathing evened out. When she woke up the next morning, she found that Root had rolled off her in the night, but one of her hands still rested on Shaw’s chest, fingers splayed out, and each nail painted with a perfect coat of black polish.

#person of interest #person of interest fanfiction #my tumblr fics #shoot #mp #long post #this isn't really a firm head canon or anything #just an idea i'd been kicking around for a bit #i think about identity a bunch when i think about root #how she has such a firm identity in some ways #and such an ephemeral one in others #there were parts of herself she didn't like and tried to avoid acknowledging i think #some which she abandoned completely #(or tried to despite certain people constantly bringing it up)#and some stuff she came to terms with along the way #which i think is part of why she lets herself act more childlike later on #reclaiming bits of herself #getting to be that wide-eyed teenager in love #doubly in love #dunno #either set in s4 or at some later date i guess #i don't really like setting things post-samaritan because of how much i hate s5 #writing traumatized shaw isn't my thing...i have but i don't like it and may never again #rather just blatantly ignore canon

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