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jisungful · 3 years ago

Text

abandoned.

summary :: breaking into an old abandoned elementary school isn’t always the best idea.

pairing :: chenle x gn!reader x jisung (platonic)

genre :: horror/thriller

warnings :: all characters are kind of dumb (first person to die in a horror movie type beat), breaking and entering, implied serial killer!au, murder, blood, descriptions of gore, psychotic actions, character death, all that stuff :D

word count :: 2.4k

a/n :: as I was writing this, I practically scared myself D: also the ending is kinda rushed but oh well

The end of the school year was supposed to be fun, full of surprises, and that one surprise was Chenle clinging onto you like a koala with a tree. Up to this point, you hadn’t thought of how much of an interesting boy he could be--but him giving you physical affection? You could never believe it.

Chenle let go of you before saying, “Come to the library with me and Jisung,” His hair was messy, as well as his uniform shirt. You assumed he just went around hugging other people besides you. He grinned at you, “We’re planning to do something fun as a celebration for the last day of school! Let’s go!” He grabbed your wrist tightly, but not enough to cause circulation loss, at least. You began contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to follow suit of the boy, knowing him. Nonetheless, you were curious.

You both arrived at the library, seeing Jisung already sitting at one of the tables reading a comic. Sitting down in front of the boy, he closed the book once he felt your presences. He greeted with a small smile, you and Chenle doing the same. “Alright listen,” Chenle started, clearing his throat before broadcasting the plan aloud, “We’re going to go to my elementary school—but with a twist.” He grinned before continuing, “It’s been so long since I’ve been there, so it’s abandoned now and I’m pretty sure no one monitors it anymore. Although... it is still intact so we need to break in.”

“Woah, wait, we are not going to break into an elementary school.” you cautioned.

Chenle rolled his eyes and rested his palm on his jawline. “It’s not like it’s haunted or anything. As I said, no one monitors it anymore--you guys just aren’t fun.”

Jisung clasped his hands together before letting out a sigh, “I thought you were joking at first and just wanted to go and play on the playground or something. But seriously?” He shuddered slightly, subconsciously flipping the pages of the comic he was reading earlier. You nodded at him before returning your gaze back on Chenle. All that was written on his face was smugness.

“We have to try it once. Think about it! It’ll be fun, you know? It’s like in movies, we just have to be cautious of our surroundings.” Chenle assured.

You can’t believe you’re doing this. You really can’t. It was 3 fucking am and you decided it was a great idea to go along with Chenle (out of everyone else in the world) and his plan to break into his old elementary school just for fun.

You packed your backpack with a few essential items: a flashlight, a few bottles of water, a baseball bat, and a crowbar. You kept it unzipped at the top so they could all fit, keeping your phone in your spacious hoodie pocket. You put on a mask and a beanie to keep yourself covered in case of security cameras. You put on your backpack, adjusting to the heaviness. If you were being honest, you had this rush of nervousness flowing through your body, the fear of not knowing what will happen to the three of you once you break in and enter the abandoned building. Nonetheless, you head to your front door to walk to Chenle’s house as the three of you decided to go to beforehand. Step by step, your body grew warmer as anxiety rose. It hadn’t hit you that you’d never done this before--you were always the type to stay in and not go out doing reckless activities; but here you are, doing that exact thing.

Immediately as you stepped on Chenle’s rug that was placed in front of the door, it opened, him now in front of you. He moved aside for you to enter the place. “You got everything?” He questioned and you nodded. “Jisung’s not here yet, so I guess we have to just wait.”

You both sat on his leather couch, staring down at the empty mug with thoughts roaming your brain. It wasn’t breaking in that was scaring you--but the thought of getting caught and living with the guilt that you had done something illegal was. Attempting to engage in conversation, you spoke, “How did you even come up with this idea?”

Chenle chuckled lightly, fiddling with the watch on his wrist. “It just came to my head out of nowhere, I guess.”

Hearing the sound of knocking on the door, you stood up abruptly, Chenle following after. You both headed to the front and opened it for Jisung. “You have everything, right? We should go now.” Jisung nodded and let out a breath he was previously unknowingly holding.

You three went inside of Chenle’s car, with Chenle driving and Jisung and you seated at the back. You took off your backpack and placed it on the floor of the car, the weight removed gave you sudden relief on your shoulders. Jisung plugged his phone into the aux cord and played soft, lo-fi music to soothe the nerves that were getting to you unknowingly.

You sighed, laying your head on the headrest of the car seat, looking out the window. It was a rather peaceful night despite what you were going to do in a couple of minutes—stars beginning to deem visible across the vast, dark sky, with only a few cars passing by in which you could count with your fingers. That was when you felt eyes boring into the back of your head, and you turned to see Jisung staring at you. You furrowed your brows and muttered a ‘what’. “I’m nervous, Y/N,” he breathed out, fear clearly laced in his voice.

You bit your lip. “It was Chenle’s idea, we can blame him for all of this.” you joked.

The elementary school definitely does not look as you expected--before coming, you imagined it to be completely abandoned, having growing moss on the walls, windows that were broken or punched, or even having “caution” tape around it. You guess it only happens in movies. But this school looked almost normal, for some reason, with only overgrown trees around it as the leaves fell on it. You let out a soft sigh, relieved that it looks fairly approachable and safe to go into.

“This is crazy, it’s been so long since I’ve been here. Let’s go!” Chenle beamed. You looked at Jisung for a moment, giving him a reassuring smile and a nod before putting on your heavy backpack and exiting the car as he did as well.

The three of you stood outside of the back door of the building, looking around for any suspicious cameras though found none. You pulled your mask up further before checking on Chenle and how he’s putting up with his attempts at opening the door. “I can’t find any key,” he grunted. You offered him the crowbar that was hanging off your backpack, and to your luck, it worked on opening the door. Jisung let out a surprised sound as he stood behind you.

The back door led to the gym in which you stood. It was empty, except for the lone basketball that sat in the middle of the vast room. The lights didn’t work, so you came to the conclusion that it would be best to use your flashlights, instead. You followed Chenle as he was the only person that knew the way around this place. He went toward the door which led to the hallway of the school, which connected to the many classrooms. The atmosphere felt terribly dismal, and it didn’t leave you with a good feeling. You couldn’t help but focus on the smell that hadn’t been freshened up for years.

“This is my 4th-grade classroom,” He slid open the door and across the room were sprawled out desks and chairs--it was like a forest, avoiding all of these objects just to get to the other side was like a journey in itself. In the back of the room were stapled class pictures of old students and teachers on a corkboard. Chenle desperately searched for the photo with him in it, searching across what seemed like around 10+ photographs. “Ah, here’s me!” He said, gesturing for you and Jisung to come to him. He pointed to his 10-year-old self, shining a flashlight on it to show it clearer. “It’s crazy how it’s still here.”

“You were cute,” Jisung commented.

“Are you saying I’m not cute now?” Chenle scoffed jokingly. He removed the photo from the corkboard and shoved it neatly into the small pocket of his backpack, thinking of showing it to his parents later today once he figures out a good enough excuse to where he found it.

You yawn, eyes getting tired minute by minute, second by second as you continue your journey throughout the huge school. You entered room 3B, which seemed like a music room—chairs stacked in 5’s, music sheets laying on the scattered desks, posters of musicians and guitar and piano chords on the walls begging to fall down to the ground as the tape holding it up collects dust. A piano lies near the corner of the room and Chenle sits on the bench that stood in front of it. He plays a mellow tune as you and Jisung look at all of the instruments that were isolated in a metal storage cabinet. You take out a recorder and try to remember the notes of the infamous ‘Hot Cross Buns’—however your memorization skill isn't the best and you end up with random noises. Jisung laughs at your attempt and you laugh back, putting the instrument back to where it was placed. You head towards Chenle, who was heavily concentrated on playing the song that was on the sheet on the music desk. You listen to the pretty sounds until he stops for a moment.

“It sounds beautiful,” you say.

Chenle chuckles before standing up and ruffling his hair, “I know, I’ve been playing practically since birth, you know?”

You both stood there, the moonlight reflecting on your skin through the thin glass. You turn your head, “Where’s Jisung?” You had thought the boy would follow you when you were walking toward Chenle—but he didn’t. There was no third shadow moving alongside yours and the boy beside you; the atmosphere grew cold. You beckoned Chenle to come with you before walking towards the classroom door to once again enter the hallway.

“Jisung! Are you an idiot? Where are you?” Chenle shouted out loud but there was no voice that followed. A curse word was muttered, you begin scrambling out of the music room to find the 5’11 boy that suddenly vanished into thin air. You knew how afraid he was during the car ride here and you never thought you would leave him alone like this. You stuck by Chenle’s side as you searched through most of the classrooms in the building.

No sign.

You were startled as you unlocked the door to the janitor’s closet, shining your flashlight down the stairwell that was somehow built in the tiny room. “Chenle, come here,” you beckoned. He rushed to you quickly; his eyes widened once he saw what was hidden inside the room.

“I’ve never seen this before,” he chuckled, “Maybe Jisung went in here, but for what?” You shrugged at the boy’s assumption, furrowing your brows before stepping in. Jisung was always curious about the world—you might think it’s his first life and he’s fascinated by every small detail that the universe could give him. Though, you would never expect that he would be curious about this particular stairwell.

A horrid smell hit you both once you reached halfway down the staircase. You muttered a curse word, “Fuck. It smells rotten in here,” Chenle agreed, nodding at you. You continued your way down to see Jisung’s body lay flat on the floor like a ragdoll. You took in a sharp breath as you quickened your steps down to see six other bodies lay in front of him. You rapidly shout out the boy’s name as you frantically attempt to shake him awake, wishing in the back of your mind that he hadn’t ended up like the bodies that were obviously sitting beside you.

Jisung groaned, sitting right side up as he held his head. “What happened to you?!” You question, helping him stand up. He looked around the room once more before taking two steps back when he watched the dead bodies lay on the floor.

He shook his head rapidly as his hands held onto your wrist. “I-I just saw that and I don’t know what happened but…” he shut his eyes. “I should’ve stayed with you guys. I’m so so so sorry.” You hear footsteps nearing you, both of your heads turn to the sound.

“Jisung!” You yell out. You froze once you see crimson flow out of his neck. Your eyes follow the holder of the knife’s arm to his face slowly. You stared with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. “Chenle, what the fuck are you doing?!” you breathed out.

Chenle tilted his head back with a slight close-lipped smile, enigmatic. Your eyes filled with tears as you watched Jisung’s blood drip, his arms holding onto what he thought was his best friend. “It’s so fun doing this!” he giggled, eyes crinkling through his smile. He pulled out the knife before quickly stabbing it back inside Jisung’s neck. “Is little Jisung whimpering? I’m just playing with you!” His psychotic laughter soon filled your ears and your breath quickened once you watched as Chenle stabbed him in the stomach laying on top of Jisung, a dark red pours onto the floor steadily. You wanted to look away but your body could do nothing but be full of shock.

Chenle’s head jerked toward your direction. You gulped as he stood up to walk toward you with an innocent smile. Once he cornered your back to the wall, he dragged the knife covered in blood along your jawline. You winced as the sharp blade cut through your delicate skin, you clutched onto nothing making your knuckles turn white. “P-please…” you whisper.

His smile dropped once the knife entered the side of your torso. “Now, you two can be with me forever.”

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carnationcreation · 4 years ago

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Can i request a meet cute for Reggie of JATP, female reader could be someone who can naturally see/interact/touch ghosts(like a medium?), and she just so happens to notice Reggie at a cafe and he notices she can see him? Rambly idea, I know but, pls and thank you 😅🙏🏼

The Median (JATP Reggie x reader)

Masterlist

Request an imagine here!

Request: Yes!

Prompt/summary: Reader is a medium and she just so happens to notice Reggie at a cafe and he realizes she can see him

Word Count: 1,217

Warnings: none

Authors note: I literally had an idea like this when I was watching the show today! Since I’m a practicing Pagan I’ve had a few experiences with spirits so that is what I’m going to be basing this off of. Hope you enjoy!

The laptop sitting on the table grew hot as (Y/n) frantically tried to finish the school assignment that was due at noon. The coffee shop was fairly empty for early afternoon, only a few customers at a booth in the back and the baristas up front working on orders as the top 40 countdown played over the speakers. (Y/n) cursed as she saw the battery drop down to 15%, she looked around and under her table to try and find an outlet to plug her macbook into but sighed as she stood up to continue the search.

She felt the crystal on her neck shift and the energy in the room chill slightly. This didn’t happen often for her. Normally this would signal a spirit trying to communicate with her but those mostly happen in her house, not a coffee shop. Surely there wouldn’t be a dead soul here, right?

She saw a boy sitting at a table near the window. His head was in his hands and the sleeves of his black leather jacket blocked her view of his face. She glanced at the bottom of the table and saw the white outline of an outlet peeking out from behind the metal pole of the table.

“Excuse me, do you mine if I sit here to plug in my laptop? I’m almost dead,” she asked sweetly but nervously.

The boy looked up at her confused, he glanced over his shoulder to try and figure out who she was talking to. It wasn’t until he turned back and saw her (Y/c/e)s gazing back into his brown ones that he realized it was him, “You can see me?”

‘Uh, yeah? Or is this one of those things people say to get someone to freak out and leave them alone?” she giggled.

“Umm, I uh- Yeah feel free to sit,” Reggie stumbled.

The girl turned to get her bags when she saw the other customers in the booth look at her with concern in their eyes. The girl closest to her spoke up, “Who are you talking to?”

“Huh?” (y/n) said and turned back to the table, “He’s right-”

A brief flicker of light cut her off, it’s something so subtle most people would miss. She knew exactly what it was.

“Oh, guess he’s gone now,” she tried to play it off cool but the embarrassment of the moment made her want to beat her head with her laptop. They must think she’s crazy. She quickly grabbed her bag and dragged her laptop and charger back over to the table.

“You’re dead aren’t you?” she said quietly as she opened her laptop, trying her best not to be heard from the booth.

“How did you know? And how can you see me?” he said.

“I’m a medium, I talk to spirits all the time.”

“A median?” he asked.

“No,” she huffed, “a medium!”

“I’ll stick with median,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.

The girl rolled her eyes, “I should’ve known when I first looked at you. Your aura is all out of whack. I normally can read people's aura like the back of my hand, and for some reason yours just isn’t showing.”

“What’s an aura?” his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Think of it like someone’s spiritual fingerprint. I see colors around people and it tells me something about them,” (Y/n) tried to explain.

“Oh sweet,” he said. He stared at the girl in front of him. Her (Y/h/c) framed her face perfectly, her hands moved swiftly across the keyboard. She hadn’t looked up at him since she sat down, mostly to keep anyone else from staring at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was, but he was just so glad someone other than Julie could see him.

“I’m Reggie,” he said, sticking his hand out.

“I’m (Y/n), and my hand wouldn’t grab anything so you can drop yours,” she giggled.

“Oh, right,” Reggie laughed nervously, “so what are you working on?”

“Just an essay for my music appreciation class,” she shrugged.

“You like music?” he asked.

“I like it, not a complete music nerd but I can strum a guitar and I know basic piano.”

“Cool,” Reggie smiled.

“What about you?”

Reggie sighed, “Well when I was alive I was in a band with my friends. We all died the same night.”

“Oh that sucks. When did you die?” she said. Her typing slowed down as she got more interested in the conversation.

“1995, then me and my friends were stuck in some weird black room for 25 years.”

(Y/n) looked up and furrowed her brow before beginning to type again, “Oh you were in purgatory.”

“Per-what now?”

(Y/n) giggled, “Purgatory, it’s mostly a catholic thing but most spirits I talk to confirm it. It’s just a place spirits go when they either don’t cross over immediately or haven’t found their unfinished business.”

“Oh Alex told me about that!” he smiled.

“What’s yours, do you know?”

“I don’t, probably has something to do with music though. Watch this!” he said. He thought about his bass and it immediately popped into his hands. The girl jumped and looked at him questioningly.

“Pick up my pen,” she said slowly.

Reggie put away his bass and leaned forward, he reached towards the pen but when he got close to touching it his hand passed through the pen, table, and he fell forward slightly. The motion caused (Y/n)’s drink to spill some over her notepad and she jumped to grab napkins out of the dispenser.

“Sorry sorry sorry!” Reggie said as he sat up and raised his hands up.

(Y/n) only laughed lightly. Her eyes flickered over the rest of the cafe. The big booth table had left and it was only them and the baristas left in the store. The cashier giggled slightly at the mess, thinking the girl bumped her own cup.

“So you can pick up your instruments but not objects?” She said. She leaned her face on her hand and used the other to scroll through Tumblr on her laptop.

“Sometimes if we focus really really hard, but it feels tiring.”

“That gets better the longer you're in between, I’ve met spirits that have been here for centuries and they can open doors and turn on radios and stuff,” the girl shrugged.

“But it’s weird, if we play instruments people can hear and even see us! And the girl that got us out of, what’s it called? Pur-ga-tory? She can always see us,” he said confused.

“Even when you aren’t in the house?” (Y/n)’s eyes flickered up to his.

“Yes!”

(Y/n)’s eyebrows furrowed again, “Wow that’s really strange.”

Before Reggie could respond he heard the door jingle open and Julie stepped in. She found him sitting at the table and slowly walked up.

Reggie looked at the girl in front of him, “(Y/n) this is Julie, she’s the one that got us out of purgatory.”

(Y/n) turned around and stuck her hand out to Julie, the girl looked extremely confused.

“Wait, you can see him?” she said.

“Yes yes we’ve just been through that. I’m a median. He can summon a bass out of nowhere too,” (Y/n) rolled her eyes.

Reggie interrupted, “Hey (Y/n) the median, you wanna come to band practice?

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms imagine #jatp reggie #jatp reggie imagine #jatp reggie x reader #reggie x reader #reggie jatp #reggie julie and the phantoms #reggie jatp imagine #reggie jatp x reader #reggie one shot #reggie jatp one shot #julie and the phantoms one shot

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rhenuvee · 4 years ago

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Skater Boy (Fred Weasley x reader) [AU]

Yeahhhhh this was in my drafts for a while so here you go.

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

It was a chilly Saturday morning when you and a couple of your friends decided to head out to get some fresh air. You were bundled up in layers as you walked through the crowd to get to your destination.

“Oh jeez, I’m never gonna make it.” you said rushing yourself. It seems that you were a tad late, and now you were panicking because you knew they’d scold you for it.

“I need to catch my breath-” Just as you slowed your steps to walk to a nearby wall, you felt your foot kick something. Your eyes widened as you saw the large object start to tip over. In a split second before it hit the ground, you extended your arm forward and caught it before it your fall. And then you looked up and saw him-

Fred Weasley. You definitely knew him, he was in a few of your classes. Not to mention the guy you’ve had a crush on for a little while. However, you had to admit you were a bit intimidated by him which is why you barely had the courage to speak with him.

You watched with your mouth slightly parted and your hand still holding onto the object as he turned his head towards you. He was wearing a denim jacket with a red checkered flannel and white t-shirt underneath. He wore dark washed pants, and a pair of casual shoes with laces.

Suddenly you remembered why you were here, and not to stare, but because of what you almost knocked over. He glanced down at what you now know is a guitar in its case, and then back at you. You were sure you flushed red as a stop sign when a grin broke out on his face.

“Thanks for saving my guitar.” he said.

“Oh god, I-I’m so sorry.” you stuttered as you gestured to give it back to him. You were so embarrassed that he caught you- thank the lord he played it off as ‘saving.’

“No problem,” he said putting his hand on top of the instrument. “Be careful next time, alright?”

“Y-yeah...” you said softly, not sure if he heard you. On the inside you were screaming at the fact he told you to be careful- let along speak to you. You were about to bid him goodbye when he spoke again.

“Where are you off to anyway?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m supposed to meet my friends at that cafe down the street... I’m kinda late though.” you admitted.

“I’m actually going there too, we could go together.” You froze. Fred Weasley was asking you to walk with him?! This had to be a daydream, you thought.

“Um, sure! I mean- if you want...” you said trailing off the last bit. He smiled that gorgeous smile of his and swung the guitar around his shoulder.

“’Course, I was the one who offered.” he said chuckling. You mentally facepalmed at your dumb response.

“Oh, right...” What a golden time to be a dumbass.

“Well then let’s go.” he said bringing a hand behind your back to lightly push you in the direction of the cafe. You hoped your cheeks wouldn’t be red for the whole journey.

---

As you walked through the courtyard, you noticed that Fred was not only carrying a guitar, but also was holding a skateboard with his right hand. You knew he had a skateboarded so that wasn’t a new sight, however you couldn’t help but wonder what he sounded like playing the guitar.

“You interested in my skateboard, love?” he asked looking back at you in a teasing way. You quickly whipped your head in the other direction, not conscious that you were in fact staring again. Plus, he made you feel more flustered with that term of endearment.

“Uh yeah, it’s cool.” you said shyly, not really sure what to say.

“Would you like to see me ride it?” he asked.

“Sure.” you replied as you tried your best to not sound shaky. With that, he dropped the item in his hand which made you jump slightly because of the sound from it hitting the stone ground. He hopped on and pushed the surface with his right foot.

You watched in admiration as he swerved left and right with ease. He couldn’t do much since there were other people crowding the courtyard, but you found it impressive otherwise. When he slowed down, he hopped off and stopped the board with the front of his foot.

He turned back to look at you, as if to see if you were watching him. You had to jog to where he was since the skateboard obviously was faster than by foot.

“Might as well leave me behind.” you joked referring to the difference of speed. He grabbed the board back in his hand as you caught up to him.

“Well, you can take it there if you’d like.” he responded catching onto your sarcasm.

“And get me a step closer to death? No thanks.” He grinned at your reply.

“You scared?” he asked, not in a mocking way, but more of a genuine curiosity way.

“I guess you could say that, I don’t really think that my small feet could balance well enough.” you said while looking down at your feet.

“I could teach you.” he said quickly. Your eyes widened.

“Oh- that’s really nice of you, but...” You couldn’t say yes, not only would you make a fool of yourself, but you thought you’d combust after spending so much time with him. But then you watched his chocolate brown eyes, looking at you pleading for an answer- how could you say no?

“Um maybe later?” you said. Just like that his smile returned and he nodded, hoping to take you up on that offer sometime.

—-

The rest of your walk to the cafe was silent. You were scared to look him in the eye, or be caught staring again.

Once you arrived, you rushed to open the door for him since he was carrying so much. He was a little surprised but was grateful nonetheless.

“Thanks.” He said to you as he walked through the door way. You smiled in response, and was about to make a dash for the table you spotted your friends at because if they saw you with Fred they would ask a million questions.

“Hey wait!” He called before you could take more than two steps away. You stopped and turned back to him.

“You’re (y/n), right? You’re in my class.”

“Yeah...”

“(Y/n).” he repeated which you swore was melody to your ears. “And I’m-“

“Fred Weasley.” You covered your mouth instantly after blurting his name out. He was taken aback as he saw that you knew his name.

“Yeah,” he said chuckling at your flustered form. “See you later (y/n).” You couldn’t even get anything out of your mouth, so you simply waved and quickly headed to the table where your friends were, and he did the same.

And just to your luck, you sat down realizing that your friends had been watching and giggling the whole time.

“What?” You asked with a slight growl in your voice.

“You and Fred Weasley?”

“Ooh since when was (y/n) (l/n) becoming a troublemaker?”

You groaned and waved your hands to them as if that would get them to stop teasing you.

Meanwhile at the other end of the pub, a certain redhead you were just with had a similar conversation.

As Fred sat down, he didn’t say anything. All he did was take a sip of his drink that George already ordered for him and look out the window. His twin and Lee Jordan looked at each other with knowing looks, both sharing the same thought about what they just saw.

“Hey Fred?” started Lee. Fred looked back from the window to his friend. “Who’s that girl you walked in with?”

“Hm?” He hummed, not really paying attention.

“That girl.” Said George nudging his twins arm and pointing to the direction of you.

“Just a girl I bumped into.” He said tilting his head downwards, though he was fooling no one, and especially not the two people he hung out with everyday. Though Fred’s smile could barely be seen, both of them could see his dimples forming, and looked at each other giggling.

“Not a girl you fancy?” teased George while putting his tongue between his teeth to stop grinning so much. Lee ducked his head down to hide his laughter as well. Fred shook his head, but George and Lee were not having it.

Back to your situation-

“I swear this isn’t a big deal!” you protested. Arguing with your friends about this topic was hopeless.

“And having him walk you here isn’t a big deal?”

“And him offering you to try skateboarding isn’t a big deal?” It was pointless to even speak- your two friends versus just yourself, they’d never let this go.

“(Y/n) look at us, we’re two miserable single souls and we’re jealous over your relationship!” she said dramatically. You blushed at the thought, but you rolled your eyes so it could somehow cover it.

The rest of your time eating a drinking was fine once your friends stopped the teasing, even if you knew that wasn’t going to be the end of it.

However, that night as you fell asleep, you couldn’t help but remember what had just happened that afternoon with Fred.

---

The next morning, it was a lot warmer than yesterday. You had no plans on this nice Sunday, so you weren’t sure what to do to make use of your time. But when you walked past the courtyard, a familiar voice called out to you.

“Hey, (y/n)!” Your head perked up to see Fred waving to you. You put on your best face and waved back. Then you realized he was also beckoning for you to come where he was. You were confused at first but you cautiously walked over to where he was.

“Hi Fred.” you greeted. Then you noticed what he had brought knee and elbow pads, as well as a helmet.

“I- Fred I was joking about me skateboarding.” you said frantically barely able to get your sentence out. You were surprised he even remembered and kept his word.

“You said I could teach you later- it’s later.” he said smirking. Oh god, you were going to die today. “Well c’mon, put the stuff on, darling.” Your eyes narrowed into slits as you heard a second term of endearment.

“Do you call all the girls that?” you asked genuinely wondering as you shifted the pads on your limbs.

“Just you.” he mumbled as he handed you the helmet. You were very nervous- what else could distract you from the fear of falling on your butt?

Once you adjusted the helmet strap tighter, he gestured you to step on the board. In an instant you thought it was going to slip from underneath you like in those silly videos. But a pair of hands flew to your sides to stabilize you. Guess there was something to distract you.

“You can hold on to me, you know that right?” he asked. That was enough to snap you back to your senses. Except now you placed your arms on his forearms, which didn’t help in preventing the pink tint spreading on your face.

In being so close to him you could recognize some of his features in greater detail. You noticed that he had loads of freckles littering his face, mostly on the tops of his cheeks. You caught a whiff of his cologne which wasn’t too strong, but under that he smelled like cinnamon and firewood.

“Alright, put your left foot a bit more to the front, that’s it... and bend your knees a little, otherwise those tiny feet of yours won’t balance well.” You bent your knees like he said but shook your head in displeasure as he giggled at your reaction.

“I’m gonna run you over with this skateboard.” you threatened jokingly in response to his comment.

“Ouch,” he said pouting. “But we’ll see if you get this down. I’m gonna start walking now, just stay steady like you are.” He slowly removed his hands from your sides, which made you release your grip from his arms. He put his hands under yours, and held them close to him. It made you felt more wobbly.

“Fred, I’m gonna fall.” you whisper-yelled.

“(Y/n), I’m holding you, you’re doing great.” he said laughing in between. You were squeaking as he walked across the courtyard and back. You felt a bit self-conscious when you saw a few others watching in the courtyard.

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” he said once he stopped walking.

“Oh yeah, it was fantastic.” you said sarcastically.

“Now let’s see you try this yourself.”

“Fred wha-” And just like that, he let go, and stepped back and you were left to wobble with your arms outstretched everywhere. You yelped as the board seemed to be tilting.

“Fred! Don’t just leave me here!” you shouted, not feeling that you could stand much longer.

“Don’t you wanna run me over with a skateboard?” he teased. “Alright, c’mere-” Just as he was about to come over, you happened to come over first- that is, you fell with your hands right on his chest. He was shocked, and genuinely scared that he almost let you fall which led him to wrapping his arms around you. You looked up at him in embarrassment, and the proximity of your faces.

“I-I’m so- sorry!” you stuttered out. You were scared of what he was about to say, however you didn’t get to hear once Fred heard a wolf whistle from not very far and and turned his attention there.

“Hey Fred.” said George to his twin. Fred didn’t reply. George then turned to you and waved while smirking. You awkwardly waved back. You heard Fred mutter ‘That git.’ under his breath. Golden timing from George.

“Sorry to interrupt,” said George comically while putting extra emphasis on ‘interrupt’. “Fred, we’ve gotta go.” You looked up at Fred who looked back down at you, who looked like he suddenly remembered, then he thought of something.

“Meet me back here after lunch,” he whispered which made you let out a slight hum in confusion. “We’ll continue this later.” He unwrapped his arm around you, and gave you a small peck to your forehead. He helped you off the board and you quickly took off the pads and helmet to give back to him.

Once he jogged off with George and out of range from you, you were left with a series of unanswered questions in your head. You brought your fingers up near your forehead, feeling where he had just kissed you in the middle of the courtyard.

“Did you mean continue the skateboarding?” you whispered rhetorically to yourself, still dumbfounded about what just happened.

Only after lunch you would find out.

————————————————

#fred weasley #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley fanfiction #weasley twins #george weasley #harry potter #fred weasley fluff #fred and george #fred weasley oneshot #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley one shot #fred weasley fic

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years ago

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Another One?!, Part 3

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Marinette took one long, deep breath.

“What the fuck, Adrien?”

Adrien gave an awkward smile that made her want to forgive him… but, no, she must stay strong.

“It’s a cool car!”

She clicked her tongue. “Yes. Yes it is. But none of us can drive.”

“We have to learn at some point, though. Dick is going to uni soon, and it’s not like we can homeschool him for that. And there is no way I’m going to let him take the bus.”

Marinette winced. Okay, fair point.

Adrien must have realized that he was convincing her, because he chose that moment to bring out the pout.

Kwami…

She clicked her tongue once to show she was still irritated but nodded that he could have it.

He grinned and turned to look over his shoulder. “Told you I could convince her.”

Dick popped out of the bushes with a whoop.

Betrayal.

“WHY THE HECK DID I GET THE FAST CAR --?!”

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING ME --?!”

“STOP YELLING AT EACH OTHER AND WATCH THE ROAD --!”

“PULL OVER IT’S MY TURN TO LEARN TO DRIVE --!”

“WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE --!”

Marinette glared at the three new driver’s licenses they had all somehow scammed their way into getting, then turned her gaze on Dick.

“I love you but if you flunk out first semester I will stab you.”

He smiled and wrapped his mom in a hug. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“Bitch, try me.”

Dick wasn’t fazed, squeezing her tighter.

She huffed and reluctantly hugged back. “Okay, fine, maybe not, but I will not be happy.”

“I love youuuuuu.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

Adrien sighed as he looked at his kid’s grades so far. He’d been scared of this. College was a lot of adjustments already, and to add to that he was going straight from homeschool to normal classes and the school wasn’t giving him nearly as much help as it should.

Dick was stealing anxious looks at him out of the corner of his eyes, his legs drawn to his chest on the couch.

Adrien reached out and ruffled his hair gently. “It’s fine. We’ll get you a tutor, okay?”

He didn’t suggest changing majors. Dick wouldn’t do it if he did, though he wished he would. It’s law school. Everyone knows that you can’t have a life and still go to law school, jobs and stuff are supposed to be put on hold when you go and there was no way Dick was going to stop vigilantism anytime soon. But…

“Also, try playing a game on your computer or doodling while you’re listening to the lecture. That might help you stay focused.”

Dick nodded with a tired smile.

“And you’re going to have to cut down on vigilantism so you can do homework and go to classes. You don’t get to choose your own schedule anymore.”

“Nooooooo…”

Marinette yawned, rubbing her eyes. It had been a long day for her. She’d done patrols for a good fourteen hours, and then Nygma had decided to use that exact moment to pull a death trap out of nowhere.

So, when she’d finally finished everything for the day she was tired and soaking wet (because, for some reason, he thought it would be cool to see if she preferred death by electrocution or drowning). She’d called for her husband to come get her because it was winter and she wasn’t all that interested in walking through the snow in damp clothes.

Now she curled up in the car, getting the front seat and both her and Adrien’s jackets wet. She didn’t care as she pressed as close to the heater as she possibly could.

Adrien brought the car to a stop and looked over, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Do you want to wait in the car while I get him?”

She nodded, closing her eyes.

She felt a set of keys drop in her lap and pressed the lock button, sinking into the chair.

And then, a few minutes later, she heard something outside.

She peeked an eye open blearily and looked around, expecting to see Adrien and Dick drumming their fingers on the windows to be let in. A frown made its way across her face when she realized that they weren’t there.

She sat back up slowly and her eyes landed on a flash of red on the side opposite her.

She unlocked her door and poked her head out, carefully making her way around the car to investigate…

A person was trying to steal their hubcap.

She groaned softly and rubbed her eyes, then got into a fighting position.

The person looked up at the sound and she winced mentally when she saw they had a crowbar.

They shot to their feet and raised the weapon.

“Marinette?” Called Adrien.

She looked up on instinct, a bad idea when you’re fighting someone.

She took a crowbar to the stomach and groaned, doubling over. They leaned down to grab the hubcap and then attempted to make a break for it.

It didn’t work, obviously. Dick caught the person by their hoodie when they tried to rush past him.

They twisted in his grip and hit Dick in the side with their hubcap and, when he stumbled a bit in surprise, swept his legs out from under him.

Adrien scowled as he tackled the person to the ground. Then he stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide. “This is --!”

He never got to say what the person was, though, because they had socked him. The person had been wearing a lot of rings, so that hurt even more than it usually would. It was a wonder that Adrien didn’t black out or, at the very least, fall back to cradle his jaw.

The person must have been counting on this because they cursed and reached out to shove Adrien off of themself, but he caught their arms.

With a bit of awkward shuffling he had managed to pin them to the ground, arms tucked beneath him and legs swinging wildly in an attempt to keep Dick and Marinette back.

He needn’t have worried, both of them were pretty incapacitated. Getting hit with a metal instrument tends to do that to people.

Dick recovered first because his blow had been softer and to a less vulnerable part, and he crawled over to Marinette… who was currently listing off every swear that she could think of from her spot on the ground.

They leaned against each other for support and then lifted their shirts a little bit to check for blood. Thankfully, the things the person had used were blunt, so they would only have to worry about bruising...

Still hurt, though.

“— fucking asshole of a person I will fucking stab their cul stupide —!”

“Mari, stop cursing, it’s a kid,” hissed Adrien, who was now covering the kid in question’s ears.

“Oh really? Let’s see you get hit by a goddamn whatever-the-fuck-that’s-called --!”

The kid, who could apparently still hear despite her husband’s best efforts, supplied the name of the object he’d used: “Crowbar.”

“Oh, you absolute --!”

Dick covered her mouth so she could curse without the kid hearing it too clearly.

Eventually, she ran out of curses. Her shoulders slumped.

Adrien and Dick nodded to each other and removed their hands.

Adrien carefully clambered off the kid, though he made sure to hold onto their hands to make sure they wouldn’t a) attack again or b) just run off.

They looked him over and Marinette cringed. Definitely a street kid, if the ragged clothes and bruised skin was any indication.

“It wasn’t personal,” the kid said, looking between the three of them anxiously. He must have realized he wasn’t getting away, because he had stopped subtly struggling against Adrien’s grip. “I just needed money.”

Marinette nodded. “Sure. What foster or adoption system are you in? We can up donations.”

(She was still annoyed about the whole ‘hitting her with a crowbar’ thing, obviously, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to help out a bunch of kids in need.)

The kid’s eyes widened and then he gave a bitter laugh. “I’m not really in one, it’s safer on the streets.”

Adrien frowned. “Sorry? Why? Don’t you want a roof and food?”

They rolled their eyes. “Sure, I’d love that, but it doesn’t exactly happen.”

The three frowned at each other.

Adrien thought for a minute, then shrugged. “How about you stay with us?”

“Huh?” Said both Marinette and the kid.

“We have room and money, and Dick is probably going to leave soon anyways because of college. Why not stay with us?”

Dick hesitated. “I’m probably not leaving, actually, but you can stay if you want.”

Marinette and the kid looked met each other’s eyes and deemed themselves the only sane ones present, because honestly what the fuck?

But then the kid’s eyes strayed to the pearl necklace Adrien had gotten her the year before, to the car, to the designer bag Dick was carrying…

“I wouldn’t mind. What about you, mom?” He said, giving Marinette a cheeky grin.

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t get puppy-dog-eyed from all sides.

Could Adrien, just once, ask her before randomly adopting kids?

Well, she guessed she should just be glad he didn’t try and adopt the entire foster system. She should probably say yes before he actually tried...

“Fine. Fine. We’ll adopt another one.” She pursed her lips together and then gave her husband a pointed look. “No more after this, though, got it? We’re too old for this stuff.”

“We’re not that old!” Complained Adrien.

She clicked her tongue.

“Fine. I’m not that old.”

Marinette scoffed and threw the keys at him. He caught them without even blinking.

Dick smiled and opened the car door for the kid, who seemed more than a little hesitant to get in the car with strangers. Apparently curiosity won over self-preservation, though, because the kid did end up getting in the car.

“Right, what’s your name?”

“Jason…”

“Cool! I’m Dick, and these are my adoptive parents, Marinette and Adrien.”

“... is no one going to talk about why your mom is soaking wet?”

“Why our mom is soaking wet, you mean.”

Jason frowned. “Sure… why?”

“She fell in a well.”

Adrien nodded as he started to drive. Marinette groaned and sunk into the front seat again.

Jason, poor kid, just looked confused.

“How the fuck…?”

Adrien was well aware that Jason didn’t trust them.

Fair enough. How many other people see a random kid stealing their hubcaps and then say ‘yeah, screw it, I’ll adopt them’? He figured they must be the only ones.

The kid seemed genuinely surprised when they pulled up to their house. Adrien wasn’t sure he wanted to know where Jason thought they were taking him.

Marinette had taken a quick shower, changed into some warm clothes, grabbed a cup of coffee, and then took Jason out shopping. Dick rearranged his room to accommodate another person.

And Adrien…

Adrien glared down the kwamis.

“Alrighty. We made the mistake last time of not telling you not to show yourselves to Dick, because we thought that was implied. We’re not doing that again. You are not allowed to in any way help Jason find out that you exist or that we are Chat Noir, Ladybug, and Robin. Got it?”

He made sure to see every kwami nod that they understood and then gave them some leftover macaroons to eat.

Good. So that disaster would be averted.

He heard a loud “Oh! My word!” from the next room and sighed.

New disaster.

He ushered the kwamis back under the floorboards and then rushed over to Dick’s room.

He walked in to find him frantically scraping a part of the wall that had been previously hidden by his bed.

Adrien crossed his arms. “Hey, buddy, whatcha got there?”

Dick turned around slowly, eyes wide and full of panic. “Uh…” He leaned back as casually as he could (it did not look like a comfortable position at all but that’s not the point here) and flashed a brilliant smile. “Adrien… Dad… Dadrien... have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Not nearly enough. What did you do?”

“I…” He looked away. “... should probably get ahead of this. Don’t get mad, please?”

“We’ll see.”

Dick slowly scooted away from the spot and Adrien sighed deeply.

Because on the wall, in crayon, was a bunch of doodles.

But, upon closer inspection, he realized they were doodles of Chat Noir and Ladybug and a tiny little person with black hair.

Do not think it’s cute do not think it’s cute do not think it’s cute --.

He took a few deep breaths before turning to Dick. “Go get some cleaning stuff. We have a few hours before Mari gets back.”

He mumbled a thanks and then rushed out to go find cleaning supplies.

Adrien snapped a photo while he was gone.

Marinette and Jason were struggling.

It was hard to get this kid to buy anything at all, she had tried to get him just another hoodie and he had taken one look at the price tag before flinging it as far away from him as he possibly could.

Man, how was she supposed to get him a mattress if this was how he was going to react to a bunch of ten dollar hoodies?

She would have thrown her hands up in frustration if that wouldn’t have disturbed her coffee. “Fine. We won’t buy anything. Do you have anything we can bring?”

Jason hesitated, then shook his head.

Okay, an obvious lie but she wasn’t going to call him out on it. He was probably still wary of them and their kindness and wanted to keep that backup open. She understood.

Well, she didn’t understand because she’d never been in that kind of situation, but she would respect it.

“Fine. You’ll have to live with hand-me-downs. Are you alright with that?”

Jason relaxed a little, nodding.

She gave a tired smile.

She’d have to do something about Dick’s sleeping arrangements, she’d probably create a hammock or just let him sleep in their bed (it hardly ever got any use, anyways) for the time being. Eventually, Jason might warm up to them enough to let her buy him stuff, and she’d wait for that…

Or he’d run away. But, hopefully not that.

Jason ducked his head and pulled his hoodie up to hide his face and Marinette glanced around. People were staring at them. Fair enough, she doubted that the scruffy hoodie and weathered jeans were making people trust the kid. Still, she stepped towards him and gently grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie to say he was hers.

He cringed almost imperceptibly at her touch. She frowned a little bit, she knew all too well what that meant, but didn’t say anything.

She opted to just glare at the people giving them odd looks, daring any of them to say anything.

They didn’t. Good.

She looked down at the kid and tipped her head to the side.

“I’m going to just shop for the family and you can eat that stuff, okay?”

Jason still looked like he wasn’t happy with it but he nodded.

And, so, she took him to the grocery part of the store. She did what she said she would, shopping for things they would need over the week, but she also watched Jason carefully to see if he liked anything.

The kid clearly knew what she was doing, because he spent most of his time watching her with a neutral expression, but occasionally she’d catch his gaze lingering on a specific product for just a second too long and she’d drop it into the cart.

He couldn’t say anything. He had no proof that they never ate… whatever the hell a Chef Boyardee was.

She found he was mostly looking at cheap, instant meals but that was okay. He’d learn.

She was a baker’s daughter, after all. Everyone in her house would learn what good food was eventually or die by her hand.

Adrien fell back on the couch and groaned. “I have to homeschool another kid!”

“Sucks,” said Dick, who was applying a princess bandaid to a shallow cut on his cheek that he’d gotten that night (the goon who had missed had been pissed that their aim was off... but then pissed themself when the two older vigilantes advancing on him made him realize he had bigger problems).

“It does! I get one kid into college and then I suddenly get another kid to teach!”

Marinette sat on his stomach and he wheezed a little. She didn’t pay this any mind, though. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you adopted another one.”

“He said he felt safer on the streets than in a home! I couldn’t just not adopt him!”

She gave a noncommittal hum.

“Dick! Agree with me!”

The person in question just turned on the TV and started flipping through channels.

Adrien sighed. He was now talking to what may as well have been an empty room. He looked around for the kwamis but they were very determinedly avoiding eye contact while chowing down on their foods of choice. Still, he at least had one person-god-whatever that had to listen to him:

“Plagg.”

The cat kwami gave a long sigh before looking at him. “Adrien, please don’t make me give you my opinion on this. You’re not going to like it.”

He pouted. “Honestly, though, it’s messed up. Is the system really that bad?”

“Yep,” said Marinette.

“Mhmm,” said Dick.

“And aren’t either of you, I don’t know, concerned about it?”

“You guys already donate a bunch of money, what else can you do?”

Adrien frowned, reaching out and pulling his wife down to lay next to him so they both could be comfortable.

Marinette lifted her arms slightly so he could wrap his arms around her and nuzzled into him a little bit (Dick made a gagging noise in the background). “This isn’t really our type of thing, Chaton.”

He nodded reluctantly…

And then gasped.

“But what if it is!”

“What?” She said warily.

“I mean, we’re in Gotham. Everything is connected to crime here! What if the foster and adoption systems are messed up because the mob or something has something to do with it!”

“Did you stretch before that reach?” Asked Dick as he changed the channel.

Adrien huffed. “M’lady, c’mon, I make sense, right?”

She thought for a minute, and then closed her eyes. “Alright, Chaton, if you really want you can go investigate it. If it’s our kind of thing, then we fix it. Okay?”

He beamed.

Marinette was… tired.

So, when she walked into the kitchen and found Jason flinging cabinets open at random and Dick swinging from a ceiling light, she just continued on to the coffee machine.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS THE TRASHCAN?!”

“Language,” Dick murmured absently. He hooked his legs over the light fixture and lowered himself down to open the cabinet beside Marinette, revealing... the trash can.

Jason stared at the cabinet in shock. “But… I opened that one… I know I did…”

“You have to be upside down to access it,” said Dick seriously.

She started up the machine. “Sweetie, don’t tell him that. He’ll break his neck.”

Jason slowly discarded his plate in the trash can, eyes locked on it as if it would disappear if he didn’t keep it in his sight at all times. “Why don’t you just have the trash can out…?”

Dick grinned. “Rich people thing. Can’t let people know you live here.”

“What?”

All he got was two shrugs. They didn’t really understand it either, they just didn’t care enough to do anything about it.

“I hate rich people,” Jason decided eventually.

“Same.”

“Including you.”

“Same.”

Adrien had chosen that exact minute to walk in and was now looking on in horror as Marinette brought an entire coffee pot to her lips and Jason dragged the trash can out into a reasonable place and Dick attempted a trapeze act on the ceiling light.

“I…”

“Morning,” said Marinette, sending a wave.

Adrien looked at the three of them for a few moments before sighing and sitting on the counter.

“Morning.”

Listen, if nothing else, Adrien had faith (... in humanity, religious faith is kinda weird when you have a god living in your jewelry).

This faith had never done him any good but it was there.

So, he had to hope that the problems with the system were things that he could fix as Chat Noir. Otherwise, he’d have to just accept the fact that the system didn’t care about its kids. He couldn’t do that.

The world was evil... but surely it couldn’t be that evil.

Unfortunately for his dreams of fixing everything, he found out that he needed to go to university for at least four years in order to get in. He couldn’t wait that long! People were suffering now!

Good thing he was rich.

Listen, Gotham is messed up. He’s been doing his best to fix it but, dang it, if everyone else can exploit it then he can, too!

(But only to help people. His moral compass was a roulette wheel and using his money to benefit solely himself was one of the lines he wouldn’t cross.)

Dick gave him a jealous look as he held up his new, definitely legitimately earned degree.

And then Jason had stepped into the room and frowned confusedly.

“You’re a social worker?”

“Am now!” He chirped.

“New?”

“Yep! I’m hoping to make it better, if I can.”

Jason gave a tiny laugh. “Oh, so you’re NEW new.”

Well, that wasn’t encouraging.

That night, he managed to catch Marinette before she could head off for patrols. “Do you think what I’m doing is useless?”

“A little bit but…” She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you. I love you, Chaton.”

He frowned a little bit but returned the kiss and whispered his “I love you, too, M’lady.”

“Would you like me to drive you to work?”

He smiled and let her lead him along. That would be good. If he was driven to work then he could get someone to pick him up ‘late’ and give him time to snoop around.

Well, not today. The staff would know if it was his first day. He’d have to give it a month or so before he snooped. But it was good to start that kind of routine early.

When they pulled up to the orphanage, Marinette locked the doors before he could get out.

Crap.

He gave his wife a careful smile. “M’lady?”

“Listen to me: you are not allowed to adopt any of the kids.”

“But --.”

“Nope. No kids. We already have two when we said we were going to have zero. It has to stop.”

He sighed, leaning back in his seat. “What if… what if they’re about to age out?”

Marinette paused. He could see the gears turning in her head as she bit her lip, considering it.

Then she shook her head. “If they’re about to age out you can give them money and support to start out. That’s. All.”

He pouted a little but accepted this answer. It would have to do.

He heard the doors unlock and stepped out. He looked up at the building and suppressed a cringe. It looked like the kind of orphanage that you see in movies that always have an evil director. This was a good thing for him as Chat Noir but a bad thing when you consider that there are actual kids living there.

Adrien stepped inside, all too aware of his nerves.

After all, he was technically unprepared. Did he know basic medicine? Was he good with kids? Did he know how to teach even kids with challenges? Yes to all of that. Still, he couldn’t help but worry that maybe the four years of college that were asked of him could have taught him something that he would need.

Relax, he told himself.

This did nothing, and really only served to make him more anxious, but hush.

He was given the day to tour the place, and he was originally disappointed. Surely, this couldn’t be it. All the beds were crammed in one room! Some of the beds didn’t even have fitted sheets!

But then his mind wandered to Jason. They never found him asleep in any of the beds, instead finding him passed out with a thin blanket in the corner or, at best, in an armchair. He hardly ever slept alone, either, usually opting to choose whatever room had two or more people in it to sleep.

He had to remind himself that these kids were likely on the streets for at least a few months of their lives, and likely would have adapted to that.

It didn’t make him feel any better, though.

Adrien didn't let any of this show on his face, instead smiling as he introduced himself to the kids he passed. A few gave wary looks, others gave awkward smiles, and some didn’t even seem to notice him.

He didn’t know what he was expecting. He was their new teacher, people usually aren’t all that eager to meet those.

He hoped he could help, though.

Marinette clicked her tongue when she found Jason reading in his current favorite hiding space: under Dick’s bed.

“Sweetie, you’re going to get squished under there.”

He didn’t answer, probably because there was a flashlight in his mouth.

She leaned down to see if she could figure out a way that he could stay down there without getting hurt and scrunched up her nose at a smell.

“Is there… are you keeping food down there?”

Jason finally looked at her, his eyes wide. He quickly moved in front of the stash so she couldn’t get to it and pulled the flashlight from his mouth to speak: “It’s mine.”

“It’s spoiled,” she said, shaking her head. “You can hoard food if that makes you happy but at least make sure it’s something that won’t go bad, please. How about cereal -- no, actually, the kid would kill me if I gave you that… what about nutrition bars?”

“Those aren’t actually that healthy, you know.”

She gave a tiny shrug. “You’re right, they’re not, but they don’t spoil quickly and they have at least some kind of nutritional value.”

He hesitated, then reluctantly pushed the stash of food in her direction. She sifted through it to pull out any food that was still good, and then handed that over.

He looked at the tinier pile and then gave her a tiny smile.

“Thank you.”

She nodded. “I’ll go out and get some nutrition bars.”

His eyes widened. “You don’t have --.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was already going to start buying them to try and wean your brother off of cereal. This is just an added bonus,” she lied so he wouldn’t feel guilty about using her money.

He looked reluctant but still nodded.

She beamed and stood again, the spoiled food in her arms.

She yelled to Dick that Jason was under his bed again so he needed to be careful, then put a sticky note on his bed and door so he’d remember, then tossed the food.

And then she started towards the store.

Teaching all day and then coming home to teach another kid was… something.

Good thing Adrien had the patience of a saint from years of schooling Dick.

Jason groaned and fell back on the couch, covering his face with the textbook. “This is soooooo boring. I already know this stuff!”

“The test you took says differently,” said Adrien as he closed his copy.

All he got was another groan.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Whatever. He was exhausted. He’d take the night off. “Alright, fine, you’re bored. What do you want to do?”

Jason lifted the book from his face so he could send his dad a confused look.

“You have to enjoy something. Y’know, a hobby or something?”

Jason’s face reddened a little and he nodded, toying with some of the rings on his fingers. “I have one... but you can’t laugh if I tell you.”

“I wouldn’t.”

He mumbled something that she couldn’t make out, and Adrien frowned. “Sorry?”

He took a deep breath and then whispered his answer: “Iliketoread.”

It took a moment for his brain to catch up, and then he felt a wide smile stretch across his face. A kid? That reads?

He pushed himself up to his feet.

“I have a library card that’s been gathering dust for the past few years. C’mon.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “It’s been gathering dust? Why?”

“Uh… let’s just say I’ve been kind of busy with other things.”

“That sucks.”

He considered this, his head tipping to the side, then he nodded. “It does. I should read more.”

“You should.”

Adrien laughed a little. “Have any suggestions?”

Jason’s eyes lit up.

Marinette hummed absently as she stepped into the kitchen and then frowned as her eyes flicked between Dick and Jason, who were looking very intensely at a plate.

She stepped closer and rolled her eyes. It seemed they were dividing up the last cookie from her baking session last night.

Was she concerned that they had managed to eat all the cookies in the few hours since she had finished them? A little. But not that concerned. At least she knew they were getting calories.

But now she was just amused. Because they were using a ruler and a pencil and paper to figure out what exactly half was.

Dick seemed to finish his math first, because he picked up a knife and positioned it over the cookie.

“Careful!” Said Jason.

Marinette snickered. “Boys, I may have a solution for you.”

They looked up with confused expressions.

“I can… you know I can just make more, right?”

Jason looked like he was going to protest... but then Dick swiped the cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. He watched on in horror for a few moments before his face hardened.

“You live up to your name, Dickwad.”

Dick gasped. “Rude!”

“Oh, so I’m rude? You want to know what’s actually rude? It’s --.”

Marinette grinned as she sipped at her coffee. She’d intervene if things went too far but, for the time being, she was perfectly fine just watching.

Jason’s eyes found her and he brought a cheeky grin to his face. “Hey, mom, if you’re going to make cookies then Dickwad can’t have any, right?”

“What? No! Mari -- Mom -- Mominette!”

“Mom!”

She tried not to laugh at the chorus of ‘Mom’s as she started pulling down ingredients.

After a month and a half of gaining the trust of the orphanage staff and kids, he managed to sneak into the director’s room and look through the financial records.

He snapped pictures of every page and then slipped out through the window.

When he got home he pulled the pictures up on a bigger monitor and started looking over them with Dick and Marinette at his side.

The longer he looked the more he frowned.

“It’s not an evil plot. I don’t know what to do when it’s not an evil plot,” he said eventually.

Marinette rested her head on his shoulder. “Of course it’s not. Even if criminals benefit from the system being broken, they don’t need to do anything to keep it that way. Even good cities have terrible adoption and foster systems.”

“There has to be something we can do!”

She and Dick exchanged exhausted looks.

“There has to be something we can do.” He repeated, frowning. “We’re rich!”

“We don’t have enough to beat out a mob boss in political donations, Chaton, much less a bunch of them.”

He sighed.

Marinette slipped her hand into his and was silent for a while, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. She squeezed a little tighter and he looked over with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, speaking of mob bosses, the kid and I have been closing in on one’s location. You want in? You always like beating them up...”

“I guess it has been a while since we’ve done that…”

They had been about two seconds away from just pushing the emotions down like they usually did, but then Dick had gasped and pushed himself to his feet.

“We can’t fix homes, but we can always make things easier when they leave.”

“We already agreed to give them money when they age out, sweetie.”

“Nonononono not like that!” Dick was pacing, now. “You guys know a lot of people, right?”

“I do…” said Adrien carefully.

“Then use that! Help them get into the fields they want to get into.”

“That’s…” Adrien pulled out his phone to translate the word to English. “... nepotism.”

Marinette shrugged absently. “We kill people, Chaton, this is hardly the place to draw the line. I can probably get them into the designing world if I wanted.”

“I could do circuses or law.”

Adrien sighed and closed his eyes. He figured he should just be glad that they were trying to help.

“... I can get modelling and any other field that I know someone in… I’d need to make some calls...”

The happiness that came along with finding a solution, weak as it was, lasted about a month.

Marinette smiled and wiped some blood from her husband’s cheek so she could give him a kiss.

“Feel better?”

“A little,” he admitted.

She smiled and tipped her head back to look at Dick, who was tying up the last of the henchmen. “You’ve had faster times, sweetie.”

“I would’ve gone faster if you were helping instead of ‘french kissing’ over here.”

“We weren’t --!” She clicked her tongue when both of the guys started laughing. “You’re hilarious. C’mon, we need to get out before the cops get here.”

They slipped out into the streets as sirens blared in the distance and detransformed.

Marinette hummed lightly as they made their way through back alleys. After all, their detransformations only got rid of the suits, not the blood… it would look a little weird if three people covered in blood were just walking through the streets.

Adrien opened the door for them, and she stepped inside…

Only to go pale.

Because Jason was up, watching a show. He had probably woken up and decided to wait until people were back to sleep. The three vigilantes went completely still, save for the quiet squeak of surprise that left Dick’s lips.

Jason looked over and his eyes widened.

“Uh… we can explain?” Said Marinette.

He screamed and scrambled off the couch as quickly as possible and made a mad dash for the kitchen.

The three vigilantes looked at each other, then followed after him.

Her eyes searched the kitchen and found him hidden under a table...

Oh. He had a knife. Fun.

Adrien pushed Dick behind them.

She held up her hands placatingly. “Sweetie…”

“NO! WHAT THE FUCK?! NO! I KNEW YOU GUYS WERE TOO NICE TO BE TRUE BUT WHAT?! THE FUCK?! MURDERERS?! COME ON!”

Adrien sighed. “I… we aren’t… well… we kind of are… but...”

“Not helping,” Dick muttered.

Marinette bit her lip as she considered what to do to make Jason relax, then groaned. “Tikki. Spots on.”

Somehow, Jason’s eyes went wider when she transformed.

“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU GUYS ARE VIGILANTES?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

Adrien sighed.

The other two transformed as well.

Jason had gone into shock…

Progress?

They detransformed now that they had shown him the truth.

“Now that you know that we won’t hurt you, can you… put the knife down? Please? That’s the good knife and --?” She felt the glares of the other two vigilantes on the back of her head and winced. “Okay, maybe not the most important reason why... knives are sharp. We don’t like sharp things. They hurt.”

The kid did, in fact, put down the knife. This was probably just because he was stunned and on autopilot but at least he was no longer armed.

Marinette carefully walked over and picked it up off the ground. A pout made its way onto her face as she looked at the blade. It had scratches on it…

She saw Adrien’s disapproving look and huffed, tossing it into the sink a few feet away and then turning to the kid next to her.

“This wasn’t how we wanted you to find out…”

The boys made their way over as well and they all sat in a wide circle around the kid. They didn’t want him to feel alone but they also didn’t want to crowd him.

“We didn’t really want you to know at all, we just wanted to be a stable family for you,” explained Adrien.

Jason was emerging from his shock slowly, his breathing was picking up.

Marinette peeled her jacket off and draped it over his shoulders gently.

“We promise we won't force you to be a vigilante. In fact, we’d probably feel better if you weren’t one. You’re a kid,” said Adrien.

“But,” added Dick. His parents glared at him but he continued anyways: “If you want, then we won’t stop you. You’re old enough by our family standards, so we can’t really stop you if you want to. Just tell us and we’ll get you a miraculous that suits you and some training.”

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

Dick gave her a bit of side-eye. “What? It’s not like we would be able to stop him if he wanted to be a vigilante. I’d prefer that he at least be safe… -ish.”

Jason curled up in the jacket and closed his eyes. “Can I have some time to think about it? About… everything?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Marinette scooted away a little so he could get past her and he rushed out.

The three watched him go in silence. They heard the front door slam behind him.

She closed her eyes. “Sweetie, go after him? Make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

Dick gave a quiet “Okay” and transformed. With a shrill note, he was gone.

Adrien and Marinette were left alone.

She felt him crawl over to her and pull her into him.

“He’ll be okay,” said Adrien softly.

She bit her lip and then buried her face in his shoulder.

Over the next few weeks they heard people in the house.

He made sure to never acknowledge it. It could be Dick coming back for food or to grab some homework to do while watching over his brother, or it could be Jason.

He always hoped it would be Jason… but now that it actually was he felt a surge of anxiety.

Firstly, Marinette wasn’t home. Nygma had just announced his most recent death trap to the city and she’d had to rush out to deal with it.

Secondly, Dick had a class at the moment.

Thirdly, Adrien was just really tired. He’d spent the entire day teaching, of course he was tired. He wouldn’t be at the top of his game.

This was probably an intentional move on Jason’s part. It was a good idea to take precautions, Adrien would have been proud if he wasn’t so nervous.

He looked up from his spot on the couch and gave a careful smile. “Hey, Jay.”

Jason hesitated and then disappeared to the kitchen. He came back with a knife.

Ah. Great.

Adrien knew he could beat a child with a knife, that didn’t mean he wanted to.

Jason sat on the couch opposite Adrien and pointed his knife at him. “I want to ask some questions.”

“Of course. Anything.”

He nodded and lowered his knife ever so slightly. “Okay… why did you adopt me?”

Adrien frowned a little bit. “You were a kid that was so desperate for money that you were stealing a bunch of rich people’s hubcaps. I couldn’t not adopt you.”

“There’s a lot of people like that. Why me? I attacked you. There had to be better, safer options.”

“I…” His frown deepened. This was true. Why had he felt so drawn to Jason in particular? “I guess it could have been Marinette’s luck? One of her side-effects is that she has really good luck. I wouldn’t be surprised if we adopted the exact kid that was perfect for our family.”

Jason nodded a little bit, though he looked skeptical.

Fair enough. Adrien was also a little skeptical of his answer. He had a theory about what was going on but it wasn’t like he’d ever be able to prove it.

“Next question: what did Dick mean when he said that I was old enough to be a vigilante ‘by your standards’?”

Adrien winced a little bit. “You said you’re about thirteen, right? Well, Dick and I started at twelve and Mari started at thirteen.”

Jason gave him an incredulous look, then apparently got over it. “Oh. Okay. And… why did you start doing this?”

“Uh… odd question…” He pursed his lips. “It’s hard to explain. I… had an image to keep up and Chat Noir was -- still is, actually -- my outlet for me to be myself in public. Mari, I think, was more or less thrown into the life and then, when she finally had an out, couldn’t imagine herself without it. Dick wanted to get revenge on the person who got his parents killed and then decided to keep going.”

He frowned. “You make it sound addictive.”

“Oh, yeah, it definitely is.” Adrien sighed. “There’s a lot of reasons why we didn’t tell you but that was one of them. When you start you don’t stop. We made that mistake with Dick, we’re hoping that you’ll not do it.”

Jason set the knife down, finally. “But you wouldn’t stop me if I still wanted to?”

He winced. “No. If you wanted to then we’d give you a miraculous -- powers -- and you’d get to go out and fight crime.”

“You trust me?” He said with a laugh.

“Should I not?”

He rolled his eyes. “I grew up on the streets. Most people don’t.”

“Jay, no offense but I’m not scared of you. You could have stolen from us or attempted to hurt us at any point over the last few months and you didn’t.”

“You’re vigilantes! It’s not like I could have done any of that!”

He shrugged and stretched out lazily. “You’re right, you wouldn't have succeeded. But you didn’t know that. You thought we were just some really trusting rich people.”

Jason considered this with a frown, and then he looked at Adrien. “I want to be a vigilante.”

He groaned a little bit but nodded. “Fine. Take off your -- Mari’s -- whatever -- THE jacket and the hoodie for a minute so I can see who should train you?”

The kid looked a little uncomfortable but he did comply.

Adrien frowned at all the tiny scars but didn’t say anything as he carefully examined his build. Definitely closer to him than Marinette or Dick.

He would take up the physical aspect of training, then.

“Right, how much do you know about self-defense?”

The four of them sat on the floor, sifting through the different miraculi for ones that could protect Jason in battle.

Marinette hummed to herself as she sifted through her pile.

After a minute, Dick held up the turtle miraculous. “This one can keep him safe -- wait a minute, why didn’t I get this one?”

“Didn’t match your fighting style or personality,” said Adrien absently, his head tipping from side to side as he considered the miraculous.

“If we want to give him that one then he’s going to need a different weapon. What would you like, sweetie?”

Jason thought for a minute, staring at Wayzz.

Then his eyes lit up. “Can I have a gun?”

“I…” Began Marinette, then she shrugged. “Actually, we could probably use another long-distance fighter on the team.”

“And it keeps him a pretty safe distance away from the fighting…” Agreed Adrien.

Dick hesitated. “But guns are pretty lethal. He isn’t an adult.”

“Damn, that really is going to come back to bite me, huh?”

Jason frowned. “What? What’s going on?”

“Basically, we have a rule that says kids aren’t allowed to kill,” said Adrien, sending his wife a tired glare.

She gave him a tense smile in return. “Killing people messes you up, so we’re trying to keep you guys away from it.”

Jason hesitated a little bit. “I’ve kinda… already…”

The three others’ eyes widened and they gave each other nervous glances. Jason couldn’t seem to finish, and they didn’t ask him to. They could guess what he was trying to get at.

And they didn’t know how to respond. Their problem had been with introducing kids to murder, because they knew that it was something you never really came back from… but he’d already done it...

They figured that, from the way he said it, he had probably had no choice in the matter and was regretting doing it…

“I guess… we let him kill if he wants?” Said Adrien slowly.

Dick scratched his head. “I guess?”

The three of them shrugged at each other. It was probably -- no, definitely -- not the right decision but they really didn’t know what to do.

“I think he’d look cute with pistols,” said Marinette after a few minutes of silence.

Adrien, who was the only other person who had seen the turtle miraculous’s suit, nodded his agreement.

Jason transformed for the first time.

Dick nodded as well. “Pistols would be cute.”

Adrien smiled as he watched Jason mess around with his new powers.

There wasn’t much to them. They created a force field around an item or person of your choosing that held for as long as you stayed awake…

Still, he was proud of him. Baby’s first powers and all.

The three older vigilantes were casually throwing things and hitting the forcefield in an attempt to break it, and Jason was holding up surprisingly well.

“So, what’re you going to call yourself?” Adrien asked as he drummed his staff on it.

Jason thought for a minute and then smiled. “How about… Green Helmet?”

Marinette hit the force field too hard and the cane came back to hit her in the head, which could not be helping her growing headache.

She pursed her lips tightly as she lowered herself down into a chair. “You… you have a hood.”

“I disagree.”

“You can’t -- I’m literally a designer! My word is law! That’s a hood!”

“Nope.”

“Chaton! Tell him that’s a hood!”

Adrien sighed. “It’s a hood,” he agreed.

Everyone looked at Dick, who was beginning to look like he’d rather be anywhere else. He eyed the door out of the corner of his eyes as if wondering whether he could get away before they caught him.

He must have come to the conclusion that he couldn’t get there in time, because he gave his answer:

“It… could be a helmet if he wants it to be…”

Adrien rolled his eyes as the family erupted into an argument over what constitutes a hood versus what constitutes a helmet.

Marinette hummed lightly as she made brownies (she had faith, okay? No one was helping this time so it should work). Jason was sitting in a chair nearby, head resting on the back of it as he watched her.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She asked. It was normal for Jason to watch her cook, he liked to keep his eye on food when he could, but he seemed almost… anxious. She could hear the gentle clinking of his rings as he messed with them.

“I… I want to buy something,” he said.

She dropped her bag of sugar into the bowl and hissed a string of curses as she looked at the now definitely ruined batter. Sure, she could technically go through and try to fix the ratios by adding more of everything else, but that would make enough brownies to feed a whole army --.

Wait a minute, what had he said?

Her eyes flicked to Jason. “Sorry? You want to buy something?”

He nodded with a tiny smile. “It’s a little expensive, I’m sorry, but… could we?”

Marinette was willing to buy a car if this kid asked, because he was ASKING HER TO BUY SOMETHING OH MY GOD, but she played it cool with a tiny nod.

“Sure, sweetie, let me just see how much it costs.”

He pulled up a picture on his phone and showed it to her.

It was a hardcover copy of an illustrated version of a book he liked. For forty dollars.

Okay, so he wasn’t asking for much, but it was still something! An improvement!

She smiled. “Sure, sweetie, I’ll get it next time I head out, okay?”

Jason beamed.

Adrien rolled his eyes when Dick flung himself across the couch dramatically.

“This isn’t faaaaiiiiir,” he whined.

He looked at his wife pleadingly and she clicked her tongue before lifting Dick’s head so she could sit down. She ran her fingers through her kid’s hair in an attempt to soothe him.

“He already knew a bit of self-defense when we met him so that was fine and we even gave extra time on training in his powers and with guns. We literally have no excuses for bringing him on at this point.”

“But I had to train for three years! He only had to do one!”

Jason grinned. “Maybe I’m just better.”

“Jay,” said Adrien exhaustedly.

“Or the favorite,” he added, his grin somehow growing.

“Jay!”

It was a good thing that Marinette had had a hold on Dick, because if she hadn’t he probably would have launched himself at his brother.

“You weren’t of age, he is,” she reminded him. “If you’d been old enough a year in then we would have let you do crime fighting, too.”

This was a lie, Dick had not been at all prepared after a year of training, but it made the kid smile so at least that was good.

Adrien stretched out from his spot in the window. “Right, we let Dick choose his first mission, what do you want to do first?”

Jason broke into a wide grin.

“There were some people who gave all the homeless kids trouble…”

They’d tracked the gang’s activities to a warehouse and had filed inside.

Adrien had helped Marinette carry their kids to the trusses above them (neither of their weapons had an easy way up, though they made mental notes to get them some kind of… grappling hook, maybe? It was a work in progress idea).

Dick shrouded them in shadows and muted the squeaking of their boots on the metal as they slowly made their way to the gang.

Adrien stretched his shoulders a little bit and then dangled his legs over to prepare himself for the jump down. Marinette and Dick copied his stance.

They looked at Jason, who gulped a little before copying the stance.

They hopped down as a family…

Because nothing says family bonding like murdering a bunch of gang members.

“Hey?”

Adrien looked up and frowned, alarm bells ringing in his ears. Jason was shuffling from foot to foot anxiously from his spot in the doorway. An anxious kid? This couldn’t be good...

“Yes, Jay?”

Jason messed with his rings.

“Since I’m going to be… here for a while, can we take the car to pick up my stuff?”

Adrien would have pinched himself to check if this was a dream if any of his dreams were ever this nice.

He dropped the book he was reading onto the bed and pushed himself up. “I -- wow! Okay! Of course!”

Jason gave an awkward smile.

Adrien tried not to smile too much as he followed the kid’s directions.

Mainly because this might dredge up bad memories for Jason, and he didn’t want to be too caught up in his euphoria of the kid genuinely accepting being part of the family to notice that he was shutting down.

But, to his surprise, Jason actually seemed just as excited.

They pulled up to a mostly abandoned looking greenhouse and Adrien raised his eyebrows slightly.

“What? I could grow myself food! It was good,” Jason defended himself.

He gave a smile, rolling his eyes. “Sorry, I was just trying to imagine you eating vegetables.”

Jason huffed a little bit and then held up a hand for Adrien to wait. He crouched down and then, after a bit of pushing, popped a pane of glass out of place. He set it down and then crawled through.

There was a bit of rustling inside and then the door swung open.

“Behold! My humble abode!”

Adrien raised his eyebrows as he stepped inside. ‘Humble’ was definitely the word for it…

His eyes scanned around and he had to hold back a frown at how little Jason had. There were a few plants. A bunch of vines and leaves had been piled together to make a makeshift ‘bed’ with a few blankets thrown overtop. A few random clothes were strewn about, all in varying states of shabbiness.

(There was also a bucket in the corner. Adrien was deciding to believe that it was for washing clothes.)

The only thing that Jason had really ‘had’ was the entire nook dedicated to books.

Adrien and Jason grabbed everything of importance to him and put it in the back of the car.

And then they started on their way home.

~~~

Taglist

@i-am-ironic @nathleigh @mialuvscats @golden-promises @sassakitty @deathwishy @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladythugs @moonlightstar64

#maribat #adrienette #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #cassandra cain #orphan #damian wayne #robin

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melancholymetropolis · 4 years ago

Text

Enemy

Prompt: Reader is secretly in love with Randall and gets heartbroken when she catches him kissing another girl. She sings a sad song about it.

A/N: This fic is combining both my love of Glee and The Order.

Warnings: A LOT OF ANGST, implied smut and curse words, sudden POV change (Unedited)

Words: 3300+

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

The ear-bleeding music seemed to slowly die down as the pounding of my heart replaced its significant impact. My brain was trying to differentiate what my eyes were capturing and what I was feeling. Although, I seemed to be doing a terrible job.

Randall Carpio was lip-locked with some girl I had never seen before that day. He was. . . I didn't know what he was at that moment. I didn't consider him a boyfriend since we never had the appropriate conversation about it. Yet, he was more than a friend, since we had kissed a couple of times. Granted, the goal was to divert needy girls from sitting in his face. But, my heart was the warmest when we shared such intimate moments. How our tongues tangled long after the intended audience had left and we were always one minute away from racing to a secluded area. Desperately wanting to release the sexual tension that had been within us since we had met last semester.

I guess I was the only one to feel those things.

I released the breath that I had been holding and turned my back to the scene. I placed the red solo cups on the porch of the rundown home and walked away from the bustling party. I tried my best to conceal the tears welling up in my eyes and the tightness in my throat. I held myself together all the way until I reached my apartment.

The shock on my roommate's face was unexplainable as I crumbled into her arms and soiled her satin shirt with my teary mascara.

I saw his face the very next day, at the student center. He was signing some form, probably for a missing key. Since Randall was a RA, he had to fill out at least 6 of those forms every Saturday morning. Looking out for freshmen was a tough job, but he did it with no complaints. I walked past him and cranked up the volume of my phone. I could feel his eyes on me, but I chose to ignore it. If he hadn’t been signing those forms, I knew he would’ve followed me. Or chased me down.

I walked to the makeshift computer station and tapped my ID on the printer's mount. The device made a loud 'beep' before spitting out several sheets of paper. I gathered the warm items into a pile and stapled them together. Instead of walking out the way I came in, I decided to go deeper into the building and take the back exit. It happened to be further away from the library, where my study group was waiting. But an extra minute of walking wouldn't hurt as much as facing him again.

I proceed to avoid Randall for the upcoming weeks. I dove myself into my studies, spending all my extra time getting ahead on classwork. And, when I got bored with that, I upped my crocheting skills. The temperature was rumored to drop to a cool fifty degrees next week and I didn't have a scarf. Less than seventy-two hours later, I had finished my scarf and began working on my hat.

Janet, my roommate, had gotten worried that I turned into a grandma. So, she bribed me into leaving the apartment.

"Come with me to this club meeting and I'll buy you dinner," she said as she plopped onto my bed.

I stopped in mid-row and looked over at her. "You're only doing this because you don't want to go alone."

"Maybe," she huffed. "But, we'd both be happy when the night is over. You'll get your precious tacos and I'll join a new club."

I rolled my eyes. I finished my row and set my unfinished project on my desk. "Let's go before I change my mind."

The air in the auditorium was alive and thriving. It wrapped around my body like a chilled hug and I never felt so calm. I took my time walking down the aisle to the main stage, absorbing the positive energy all around me. The spotlight was aimed towards the middle of the stage, where the group was huddled. Instruments lie, abandoned, near the back of the stage. Along with mic stands and sheets of music on the floor. One group member picks up a sheet of paper from the edge of the stage and locks eyes with me. He stands up straight and looks up at me.

“I know you!” He shouts toward me.

I looked behind me and saw that there was no one there. “Me? Where do you know me from?”

“We partied together a couple of times,” he said I walked up the side steps of the stage. He paused a second to process the memories and wait for me to close the distance between us. A blush flashed against his face and scratched the side of his neck. “I tried to hit on you a few times, but you were always with that Randall guy.”

Hearing his name still made my heart stop. I tried to push my emotions back into their cave as I mustered the courage to speak again. “I—” My voice cracked with just one letter so I just bit my lip and shrugged.

The familiar stranger seemed to have understood my silence and just carried on the conversation. “Well, I’m glad you could make it! We are kind of desperate for new members.”

I cleared my throat and looked down at the ground. “What’s this club about?”

“We’re like a glee club of sorts. We sing songs that describe the overall feel of the weeks prior,” he replied in an assertive tone. “Interestingly, we have been singing a lot of breakup songs lately. We actually reconsidered to rename the club ‘The Lonely Hearts Club’.”

I looked over at Janet and she gave me a sheepish grin.

Before I could even call out to her, a new voice emerged from within the other bustling ones.

“Okay, everyone! I am excited to announce that we have new members!” The voice cheered with pure joy, which radiated throughout the room. The owner of the voice, a young woman, walked over to me and smiled. “It’s a tradition for the new recruits to ‘audition’ to become official club members. You can either sing a duet—” she looked over at Janet. “Or a solo”, then back at me. “Whichever you feel is comfortable.”

“I think a duet—” I tried to say before being cut off.

“We’re gonna do solos,” Janet interjected. I threw her a harsh look, which she had completely ignored and continued on with her statement. “I have been wanting to play my version of ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears for the longest time.”

“Great! We’ll get the stage set up, and you’ll be ready to go, yes?” The leader said with a hasty head nod. She looked back at me. “While she’s performing, try to figure out if you’ll be singing acapella or acoustic. We have tons of songs from our prior setlists if you want the band to back you.”

The familiar stranger placed a binder into my hands and I almost doubled over by the sheer heft of the object. I departed from the stage and sat in the front row. I flipped through the pages, I saw various pop anthems and R&B baby-makers in the front collection. The further I went into the binder, the more breakup songs I encountered. The majority of them are Beyonce and Taylor Swift. A few from H.E.R and Bryson Tiller. I knew a few songs in their possession but none of them really hit home. Until I reached the last page.

Jhene Aiko’s Triggered.

I had that song on repeat the very first week I started to avoid. . . him. Maybe it was an exaggeration of my feelings but it sure felt right. It captured the anger, the pain, and the longing so perfectly. Plus it wasn’t too much singing. I knew I wasn’t a Whitney Houston, but I could hold a note and remain in key.

I looked closer at the lyrics and sheet music behind me. A voice inside of me wanted to do this without a band. I needed to do this alone. I had to rid myself of the feelings that kept gnawing on my insides, begging to escape.

Janet killed it, per usual. She captivated her audience with her somber tone and gentle approach. A roar of applause flooded the auditorium. Almost making it hard to top that. I handed the binder back to the familiar stranger, Justin, and climbed on the stage. I looked down at all of the glee folk and gave a sheepish smile.

“I will be singing Triggered by Jhene Aiko,” I said, mustering up all the confidence in my being.

“Will you be using the band?” the club leader, Marie, asked.

“No, I would like to sing it acapella,” I replied with a shake of my head. “It’s something I need to get off of my chest.”

“Ooh! I am excited! Go for it!” She cheered before taking a seat in the audience.

I turned my back to the group and took a deep breath. I decided to leave the microphone on the stand just to allow the hollowed-out space project my voice for me. I took a step and just opened my mouth.

“Go figure, you were the trigger,” I sang with the side of my being facing the crowd. “You brought me an obstructed view when you knew the picture was bigger”.

The chitter-chatter among the group dropped and all eyes were on me.

I took another breath and carried on. “Who am I kidding, I knew from the beginning,” I paused. An image of Randall flashed in my mind and I could feel the emotions bubble up. I clenched my fists and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I just—.”

“Unleash it,” Marie yelled from the crowd. “The pain you’ve been holding. You don’t need to pretend anymore. This is a safe space.”

The crowd yelled reassuring testaments from below and it made me chuckle.

“So, cry if you need to! We saw it all,” Justin added in. “And we all have felt exactly what you are feeling at this moment.”

The exchange made me feel comfortable and highlighted that we were all humans at the end of the day. No matter how hard we judge, we all will be or have been in a position that makes us feel so small. So insignificant. It was only human for us to feel.

I nodded. “I’m going to start again.”

I closed my eyes and allowed the words to spill from my lips.

Go figure, you were the trigger.

You brought me to

An obstructed view

When you knew the picture was bigger

I opened my eyes and gave a humorless laugh.

Who am I kidding?

Knew from the beginning.

I saw him kissing her; as if I were experiencing it all over again and all I could feel was anger.

You’d ruin everything

You do it every time.

You are my enemy,

You are no friend of mine.

Muhfucker...

I paused and ran my hands through my hair. I clasped my hand together to make a loud clap before pointing to an empty space on the stage. As if he was there with me.

You muhfucking right

You muhfucking right I’m triggered

You muhfucking right I’m bitter

You muhfucking right I...

I stopped in midpoint and gave a weak smile.

Wanna fuck you right now

The crowd “oohed” in the audience from the statement and gave me a few claps.

He heard her voice before he even entered the building. While jogging across the quad that night. It had been weeks since they had last spoken and he wished he knew the reason behind it. Every time he called, it went straight to voicemail. His texts never went through, and when they did, they were left with some written automated message. Randall had debated whether to stop by her dorm and question her about the sudden disappearance, but he respected her space. But, hearing her voice for the first time in a long time had done things to him. It made him reminisce about the old times they had back at the packhouse with the other wolves. The times where they’d sleep in his bed after a night of partying; limbs drunkenly tangled together and his head on her chest. Randall loved laying his head on her breasts. They were always so soft and inviting and smelled of flowers.

Like a sailor lost at sea, he followed the sweet melodies of Y/N’s eerily beautiful voice. The young man made his way to the auditorium before he had a chance to turn back. And he was thankful he hadn’t. She was like a siren in a pool of auburn water. The spotlight made it seem as though she was glowing. Highlighting the parts of her he found most gorgeous. Randall had taken so much time just staring at her that he shocked at the amount of sadness the lyrics offered.

Tryna let the time go by

Tryna let the time heal all

Tryna let the time kill all

Of our memories

All you meant to me

All that history

All that's history

I'll calm down eventually

Why was she singing such a sad song? Who was this song dedicated to? He pondered the possibilities of anyone that could perhaps make her feel this heartbroken. Was Y/N going through a break-up? Who’s ass did he need to beat?

I'm triggered when I see your face

Triggered, when I hear your name

Triggered, I am not okay (yeah)

You need to stay out of my way

Suddenly the singing stopped and a sole tear rolled down her face. Y/N wiped it away and mumbled the last lyric about three more times before the audience rose from their seats and clapped. Multiple peopled raced to the stage and gave her a warm embrace and Randall watched as the tears continue to flood her face.

“I should kick Randall’s ass for making you feel that way,” a familiar voice— Janet— said in the depth of the group. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

“I have no idea who he is, but fuck him!” A different voice chimed in. “Men are trash—”

The men in the group made an unsatisfactory sound.

“Current company excluded.”

Y/N smiled and whipped her tears. “Randall’s not trash, he just...” She paused for a moment to think. “Isn’t what I thought he was.”

“And what would that be?” Randall shouted from the doorway of the auditorium.

All the heads in the room snapped in his direction and he could hear Y/N’s heart stop for just a millisecond. As he walked down the aisle, Randall’s ears grew accustomed to her increasing heartbeat. He memorized the sound after all the nights he spent with his head against her breasts, but he hadn’t heard it beat that fast. Ever. It scared him.

Upon walking to the stage, Randall watched as the group parted— like the red sea— Y/N. His favorite girl. No longer the fierce siren he saw while she was performing. Her mascara smudged underneath her eyes and her lip gloss dripped to her chin. But, it hadn’t mattered to Randall. She could walk through a hurricane and he’d still see the beauty within her.

“Why are you here?” She asked as she walked down the stairs.

“You’re such a good performer! I was completely captivated by your stage presence—” Randall found himself spilling before realizing it.

“Can you just not. . . be yourself for one minute and be serious?” Y/N said in a frustrated tone.

It was true. She was mad at him.

“I must’ve really fucked up if you can’t take my silliness,” he mumbled to himself. Suddenly a little self-conscious, Randall looked at the group of people that had obviously been eavesdropping on the situation. He looked back at his girl and gripped her hand. “Can we talk in somewhere private, please?”

Y/N sighed and gave him a nod.

Randall pulled her out of the auditorium and into the vacant corridor.

“Look, I—” He cut her off with an embrace. Hands around her waist and nose in her hair. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar. But, it wasn’t the artificial kind that came in a spray bottle, no. It was the smell of freshly baked buns and the wafty aroma that scattered across the roll while they cooled. “Randall, what are you—”

“Just tell me what I did, so I could never do it again,” he squeezed her body closer to his and pressed a cheek to her head. “Being away from you for that long is something I refuse to do again. I tried my best to give you your space but it pained me. . . Tell me what to do.”

Y/N’s heartbeat slowed to its normal pace as she released a shaky breath. “I saw you kiss some girl at the party.”

His body tensed. She saw him kissing Ashley? The girl was just some drunken sorority chick that stumbled across the party. Randall had won a game of beer pong and she followed him outside to give him a ‘reward’. He hated the kiss if he could even call it that. It felt like Randall was desperately trying not to choke on her tongue. He shivered at the war flashback.

“This may sound lame, but she really did kiss me,” Randall replied. “I didn’t want to come across as rude, so I just let it happen. I wish I hadn’t though. She was such a bad kisser. Like oh my god, so bad. I drool all over my shirt and everything”

She giggled. “That’s disgusting.”

“It was worse than you think,” Randall grimaced before pulling away to face Y/N. “I am sorry that I hurt you so bad that I forced you into isolation. I would never hurt you on purpose, you know that, right?”

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “I know that now.”

Randall placed a hand on her cheek and gave her a longing look. “Do you, also, know how much I love you, Y/N?”

“. . . What?”

Randall pressed his lips against hers for a steamy kiss. Y/N’s arms wrapped around his neck quickly as she stood on her tiptoes to deepen the kiss. He dropped his hand from her face and gathered her legs in his hands. He lifted her up with ease and pressed her against the wall. She groaned against his lips and arched her back, further pressing their bodies together. Y/N braided her fingers in his hair and tighten her legs around his waist. The pent up frustration from the overall situation had quickly become sexual and they were seconds from ripping each other’s clothes off.

The sound of a door closing brought her back to reality and Y/N pulled away from his lips. Just for him to attack her neck.

“Randall, we have to stop now,” she struggled to stop the moans from slipping from her lips. Y/N craned her neck to the side and tugged on the rooks of his hair. She jerked his head away from her neck and narrowed her eyes. “I mean it, Randall.”

“You’re no fun,” he pouted.

“I am not trying to have our first time in a hallway, Randall,” she hissed.

“But, it would be so risque,” he pouted even more. “The thrill is getting caught is so intoxicating.”

“But getting expelled isn’t,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Can you put me down now?”

“So you are just gonna leave me all hot and bothered?” Randall said in blatant shock.

“I was going to suggest your dorm room, but since you suggested leaving—! Ah!”

Randall slung Y/N over his shoulder and jogged through the hall. “I take it back! Come on, we don’t have any time to waste!”

#randall carpio #randall carpio x reader #randall carpio imagine #the order #the order imagines #randall carpio angst #implied smut #singing #glee club #jheneakio #triggered #the order netflix #the knights of saint christopher #the knights of saint christopher imagines

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passionate-reply · 4 years ago

Video

youtube

This week on Great Albums: we are FINALLY talking about the Pet Shop Boys! They’ve only been my favourite band since I was, like, eight. Whether you want to understand the hype or you’re already Team PSB, come check out this video and hear all about 1990′s Behaviour. (Or read the transcript, below the break.)

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! It’s time for me to finally do a video on one of my favourite bands of all time, and the very first band I obsessed over when I was a kid: the Pet Shop Boys! Their fourth LP, 1990’s Behaviour, is considered by many to be their best work, and it’s also one of my personal favourites of theirs, so it seems like a great place to start.

The preceding Pet Shop Boys LP, 1988’s Introspective, was their deepest dive into densely-arranged, nightclub-ready post-disco compositions. Nowadays, people tend to praise it for its more experimental and baroque qualities, but it’s also very much a party album, blending synth-pop with house and rave influences.

Music: “Domino Dancing”

At the cusp of the 1990s, there was certainly no shortage of interest in upbeat, rave-y party music, and the so-called “Madchester” scene was in full swing. But the Pet Shop Boys’ follow-up to Introspective would take their sound in a different direction. They went to Germany to work with Harold Faltermeyer, best known for his instrumental synth smash “Axel F.” There, surrounded by Faltermeyer’s collection of analogue synthesisers, they would create an album that was...well, kind of a downer.

Music: “Being Boring”

Behaviour’s opener, “Being Boring,” is a track whose reputation probably precedes it--it’s one of the best known Pet Shop Boys songs, and over the last thirty years, it’s become emblematic of its era. “Being Boring” is a stark and pensive reflection on the tragedy of the young lives lost to the AIDS epidemic, and the uncanny strangeness of getting older while knowing a lot of others didn’t have that luxury. But at the same time, there’s something surprisingly jubilant and triumphant about the way that chorus rises up, almost like exultation at having survived, even though the verses feel more downbeat. Lyrically, the focus on “having never been boring” puts focus on having lived a vibrant life moreso than it does the silence of the crypt. Behaviour might be a somber album, but it’s not without a sense of hope or optimism; just listen to the track “The End of the World.”

Music: “The End of the World”

While “Being Boring” deals with the very adult gravity of death, grief, and survivorship, “The End of the World” asks us to imagine the petty romantic squabblings of teenagers, and their magnified sense of importance. While its title is a bit ambiguous, the song itself is quite clear: what is going on here is, by no means, the end of the world! Like I said, Behaviour is far from all doom and gloom, though it has sort of gotten that reputation. While acclaim for Behaviour is certainly as common among hardcore Pet Shop Boys fans as it is anyone else, I’m tempted to think that some of the praise it receives from relative outsiders is connected to this perception of it as the “serious” Pet Shop Boys album, that deals with real issues instead of being packed with fun pop songs. While I like gloomy, serious music as much as anybody, and personally prefer it to the more light-hearted releases, there’s no reason to predicate appreciation for the Pet Shop Boys on their being cerebral or high-minded. But that seems to be a common plague of a lot of music criticism, particularly of that rockist sort. The track “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?” serves as its own sort of commentary on rock culture.

Music: “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?”

In “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?”, the titular question is posed to rock stars whose inflated egos make them think they have something meaningful to say about big issues like politics. The song’s rougher soundscape stands out against dreamier tracks like “Being Boring,” and perhaps kicks it slightly closer to sounding like a rock song. While I can certainly get behind a song that mocks rock and roll self-righteousness, it does seem a bit ironic in the context of Behaviour, an album that would see the Pet Shop Boys making a clear effort to tackle meaty, real-world issues. I suppose that any album released by artists who were already established in their career might be expected to include some consideration for the dilemmas that come with that territory. Another track that explores this theme is “My October Symphony.”

Music: “My October Symphony”

While never released as a single, “My October Symphony” is a popular track nonetheless. It was inspired by the life of the great Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, and portrays the grave uncertainties presented to the artist by the collapse of Communism, and with it, the prevailing sense of mythology and moral values. Given the themes involved, many have interpreted it as a track that obliquely questions where famous queer artists like the Pet Shop Boys were going, in a world that had been devastated by AIDS. While it’s about a very different kind of musician, I certainly like to think it’s a track that “rhymes” with “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?”, in that it also questions the relationship between artists and the values of the society around them.

Behaviour’s cover art recalls that of the Pet Shop Boys’ 1986 debut, Please, with a strong emphasis on empty, white space, and a small design in the center. While the relationship of its four panels is ambiguous, it could be interpreted as a representation of death--as a face turns away, the human figures disappear, leaving the still, unchanged inanimate objects behind. As children, we quickly learn that not being able to see something doesn’t mean the thing is truly gone, but nevertheless, we sometimes have a tendency to ignore things we wish would go away. Perhaps the cover of Behaviour is an allusion to the way world governments buried their heads in the sand, so to speak, regarding the AIDS crisis, hoping it would conveniently die down and vanish when it wasn’t being observed.

The title of “Behaviour” is perhaps even more mysterious and up to interpretation than the cover. There’s something very detached and clinical about that word--an impersonal ambiance. I’m reminded of the seemingly unsympathetic narrators of several tracks, such as “The End of the World” and “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?”, that seem to cast judgment on the actions of others without taking an interest in their emotional internality. They discuss “behaviours” as cut and dry phenomena, and focus on the actions that people take. While neutrality can be cold and condemnatory, it can also be a welcome change when introduced to a subject traditionally treated with hostility. In that light, I’m tempted to think of the title as referring to homosexual “behaviour,” contextualizing sexuality as less of a fixed identity, and something that one intrinsically “is,” and more about an action, a decision, something that one “does”--a mentality that a lot of people find rather liberating.

In introducing Behaviour, I described it as an album that’s often considered the Pet Shop Boys’ best work. But their 1993 followup to it, Very, is also a strong contender for that title, in the hearts of many of their biggest fans. *Very* has a lot more in common with *Introspective* than it does Behaviour, going back to rich, dense productions and upbeat, poppy love songs. The fact that the Pet Shop Boys managed to pull off two very different, but both very acclaimed, releases back to back speaks volumes about why people love them as much as they do. Whether you like them or not, they’re undoubtedly one of those artists who some people can turn to in just about any mood, or any season of life, and that’s a powerful thing.

Music: “I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing”

My favourite track on Behaviour is its lead single, “So Hard.” It’s one of my all-time favourite Pet Shop Boys tracks, and almost certainly my favourite of their singles. With its wryly bitter narrative of two-timing lovers, and harsh, clattering analogue synthesiser soundscape, “So Hard” has a pretty different feel to the rest of the album--dark and ominous, without that wistful, sentimental aura. But that’s exactly why I like it. The Pet Shop Boys were among the first artists to deliberately adopt analogue synths for the subjective qualities of their sound, and this track employs them in a way that’s reminiscent of what artists tend to do with them nowadays. It’s punchy, with that clunky, mechanistic analogue quality to it. Not a typical Pet Shop Boys song, but a damn good one nonetheless! That’s all I’ve got for today, thanks for listening.

Outro: “So Hard”

#music #pet shop boys #album review #album reviews #great albums

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dopescotlandwarrior · 4 years ago

Text

Sinners & Saints-Chapter 13

A special thank you to @statell for your help and wisdom

Previous chapters on AO3

Chapter Thirteen (nsfw)

In Washington DC, Hesser’s second in command watched the crime scene, grinding his teeth. The forensic team worked quickly to finish before dawn to keep a lid on this. They had not prepared for a tourist with insomnia who wandered the streets of the Capitol taking pictures with his phone. A week later the man and his family were back home in Flint Michigan where it would take another several days for him to review the shots of their vacation.

The pictures were sent to the Washington Post where they were forwarded to the CIA without printing them. They were also sent to a popular political vlogger who devoted a ten-minute stream showing the pictures and sharing his guesses like they were facts.

An unmarked van pulled up to the tourist’s home in Michigan and held the family at gunpoint while six other men removed every cell phone and computer in the house. They threatened the man within an inch of his life and piled all of their electronic devices into the van and drove away. The vlogger was spared the rough treatment but every platform he used on social media was closed and his content was deleted. Gab, YouTube, twitter, Instagram, and numerous boards, went black. One hour after he posted the pictures he was out of social media, lost his lively hood, and had absolutely no recourse.

Little Maia was a gossip junkie and that included the conspiracy channels that whipped her mind into a tornado of awful scenarios coming to the world. Darius teased her so badly about it she started watching her saved videos when she was alone. The Washington crime scene was in her downloaded videos which she watched some days later. When she mentioned a murder in Washington, supposedly at the CIA building, Jamie launched from his chair and pulled Maia out of her seat, almost dragging her upstairs. They all gathered in front of her laptop and watched the vlogger show pictures of a late-night crime scene.

“Jamie, do you think that’s Hesser?”

“I know it’s Hesser. Thank Christ."

“Does this mean we’re free?”

“Of Hesser, yes. He said no one in the government will know us, so we can hope.”

The days ahead were kind to the four of them. Jamaica’s perfect weather, great fishing with rods and spears, gorgeous water to swim, snorkel, and treasure hunt made the days speed by with nary a care. Jamie spent time in his studio each day and occasionally all night. There was still an aggressive edge to the way he made love and Claire tried to be patient until he wanted to talk about it.

After spearfishing with Darius one afternoon, Jamie asked if he would come with him to the island the next day.

“I can’t live with this thing in my arm anymore, it’s driving me crazy not knowing if they will be coming for us. Nor can I forget your warning the ping might be keeping us alive. I have to do something.” Jamie looked around at the beautiful surroundings and then focused on Darius. “I’m going back to the doctor to have it removed tomorrow. I want you there, just in case.”

“In case you die, is that what you mean? Before you take the ultimate risk, maybe look for an expert in this technology or super-spy stuff that you can talk to.”

“I’ve already done that and learned even more that terrifies me. Apparently, it takes a fair amount of energy to be an RFID and even more for the sonar pulses. The battery will go dead at some point and the pinging will stop. We have no way to know how long the battery will last.”

“Same doctor?”

“Yes, I spoke to him yesterday, he said he would do it.”

“Claire knows?”

“No.”

“What kind of a partner does that?”

“One who loves the other more than anything in this universe Darius.”

Claire lowered the aft deck and sat with her legs in the water, deep in thought. Adso sat next to her waiting for something interesting to happen and then left to find a soft seat in the saloon. Claire hardly noticed. Jamie seemed distant the past week, spending nights in his studio, and days with Darius or hiding with his laptop. When she walked into the bedroom the previous day she saw him click off the website he was on and slam the lid down. He was hiding a secret, and with every woman and girl fawning over him on the island she wondered if she should be worried. She missed him and hoped she was wrong.

Later, in the evening, a time the four of them usually sat on the foredeck and played cards or watched a movie, Jamie was painting, Darius carried Maia upstairs, and Claire sat by herself and cried, contriving multiple scenarios of Jamie cheating. She wandered into her bed and fell asleep with her clothes on.

Jamie wanted to write a note to Claire, just in case he didn’t return from the island the next day. He knew they were well into a movie above deck so he took his time. He tried over and over again and the trash can filled with balled-up paper. When the words wouldn’t come he gave up trying and climbed the stairs to a dark and lonely saloon with no one in sight. He laid down behind his Sassenach, filled with sadness this might be the last time to hold her while she slept.

The next morning, Claire poured coffee into a mug and asked Maia where Jamie was. When she heard he and Darius had tendered to shore the tears came tumbling down her cheeks, leaving Maia speechless. Claire shared her suspicions that Jamie had hooked up with someone on the island and Maia’s eyes became slits of anger.

“So Darius is helping him? Or maybe she has a sister? Oh, hell no. We are going after them so get your suit on and bring something to wear into town.”

“Maia, we don’t even know where they are, we can’t start knocking down doors.”

“I know exactly where Darius is every minute of the day.” She held her phone up and punched one of her apps that opened to the streets of the island with a glowing red circle in the middle. “He is here. Let’s go.”

Maia tied her flipflops and waterproof canister to her waist and Claire did the same. From their mooring, the island looked very close but as they swam toward it Claire was getting tired. Maia looked around and waved at a tender with a big smile and let’s-party eyes. Soon after, they were helped onboard by two very hopeful young men. She dismissed them on shore with a kiss on the cheek and pointed to someone else’s yacht while blowing kisses. Claire looked at Maia’s phone over her shoulder. They headed in the direction of the red circle.

“This can’t be right Maia, it’s the doctor’s office we visited before.”

“There is no mistake, Claire, at least Darius’s phone is in there.”

The doctor had closed his office while he performed the extraction, just in case. He heard pounding on the front door and motioned for his nurse to check on the commotion. She glanced at the monitor behind the front desk and recognized the woman who sneered at her the previous week. Quickly she unbuttoned the top of her nurse's uniform and pulled it open so her push-up bra could display her ample bosom, then she tossed her hair pulling stray pieces of her updo into her face. She grabbed a nail file from the pencil holder and rubbed it savagely against her lips making them puffy and red.

Maia pounded on the door again and both women gasped when the nurse pulled the door open five inches, enough to see her bouncing breasts and disheveled look. She was panting and whispering she was at lunch and they had to go away.

Claire looked at the hair in the nurse's face, her breasts pouring out of her loosened uniform, and her lips that looked ravaged. It was the same nurse that waited by the door to watch Jamie leave. Her heart dropped into her stomach and she turned around and walked away while Maia was arguing with the nurse. She was almost to the water’s edge when Maia grabbed her arm.

“Have you condemned Jamie already?”

“What else would he be doing there during their lunch. Do you know how to drive that thing?”

“Yes, I’ll get you home.”

The nurse put herself back together before taking her seat next to the doctor. She looked at Jamie’s beautiful face, relaxed from a shot of Valium, and watched him strip her in her mind.

“Nurse!”

She jerked out of her daydream and held the instrument tray for the doctor. He teased the tissue back exposing the RFID chip and locked the forceps on it.

“Mister Smith, do you want me to pull it out?”

Jamie turned his head from the window and said yes, then he smiled like he had not a thing to worry about.

“Wait just a minute.” Darius sounded angry and closed his hand on the doctor’s arm. “He is high as a kite and you’re asking him if he’s ready to die?”

Jamie looked at Darius and his eyes cleared suddenly. He recited the navigational terms he learned and named the doors on the yacht that closed with a watertight seal in case they were sinking. He looked at Darius, “I love my wife more than my next breath and this will save her.”

Darius released the doctor’s arm and watched him pull the chip out of Jamie’s arm. They waited, silently, while the tension crushed them. One minute, nothing happened, two minutes, then three. Sweat rolled down the doctor’s temple as he pumped up the blood pressure cuff on Jamie’s arm and then pressed a stethoscope to his chest. He repeated the procedure at five minutes, ten, and then fifteen minutes while Jamie dozed from the Valium. He pulled his equipment away and slumped in his stool.

“I do not know if there is some kind of poison in the second object, but if it was strong enough to kill him, he would have a reaction already. I am too old for this. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve and started suturing the incision.

Darius smiled and handed the doctor five one-hundred-dollar bills before helping Jamie stand up and walk toward the door. They both watched the sky as they walked to the beach and half expected black SUV’s to come screeching around a corner, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

When Jamie saw the ocean in front of them his smile was huge. It felt foreign to him and he realized there hadn’t been much smiling for the past week. It was time to make up for all of that. If he didn’t drop dead in the next twelve hours they were completely free…and rich…and in love.

There was a strange vibe in the saloon that was uncharacteristically quiet. They both felt it and went in separate directions to find the girls.

Claire was breathing hard from the heavy suitcases she carried from the closet. She looked up at Jamie and jumped back, pushing the hair out of her face. He could see she was completely undone and wondered what had happened.

“What’s this then?”

“I think I got all of it. There was more than I thought so I gave you my new suitcases.”

Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear her, so he got closer and she backed away.

“Thank you, love, that was a lot of work, and very generous to give me your cases. What am I to do with them now?”

Jamie took another step toward her, and another until she was pressed against the wall, still looking at her feet. Something huge had happened to Claire and it was not based in truth so he acted authentically until she found the strength to tell him.

“Do you love her?” It was no more than a whisper.

He was standing toe to toe with her, looking down on the top of her head, there was no room for Jesus between them.

“Oh yes, more than the air that fills my lungs,” he whispered. “I am fascinated by her mind, and soft coiled curls, not to mention her body that steals my soul. He ran his fingertips up her thigh as she shook with the confusing arousal caused by his touch. He pulled her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “Mostly, I love her whisky eyes because I see all of my tomorrows in them.”

Claire was under his spell so he brought his mouth down on hers and tasted her fear, her love, and her growing passion. He studied her eyes and her confusion. Clearly she doubted his love for her and that hurt her deeply.

“I would give my life for her,” he whispered, “and I did, today.”

Jamie’s large warm hand covered her globes before inching up her back. She was fighting her need to touch and claim him so he continued his soft touch that came closer to her heat making her exhale into his chest. There were noises upstairs, shattering glass, and tumbling furniture that threatened to break the spell so he kissed the sounds from her mind and let his tongue dance with hers. He moved with her toward the bed, like a dance that she followed. He grimaced when he laid down and quickly moved to her other side so his good arm could support his head.

Claire was in a love stupor and she asked why his arm hurt. Her eyes were foggy with lust and pain from her broken heart. Jamie pushed the hair behind her ear and studied the tragedy on her face wanting to carry her away to a world without threat or danger to erode her faith in him. He dragged his fingertips up her thigh and under her sundress. His warm hand covered her abdomen from side to side and moved slowly toward her breasts.

“Unbutton my shirt love, help me out of it.”

When Claire pushed the shirt off his shoulders she looked at the bandage that circled his arm and he could see her confusion.

“Like I said, she is my everything, her love is so honest and sweet, how could I not give my life for hers.” He kissed her deeply and she could feel his need. In her tortured mind she decided something was interpreted wrong and she opened herself up to his body as he covered her. She felt drunk from relief and gave herself over to his unrelenting soft hand and his power between her legs. The remaining clothes fell away and he pushed into her while he kissed her face, neck, breasts, and mouth. It was a soft, slow build of passion while their eyes affirmed what was in their hearts.

When they came back to earth, Claire held him tightly and buried her face in his neck. He could feel her slight puffs of air as she fell asleep. He held her and let himself truly rest for the first time in days.

Claire’s eyes opened and her stomach growled from the smell of food. Jamie watched her mind clear and then she looked around and gripped his arm. She expected to wake up alone, that was obvious, and he felt shame for leaving their bed so many nights. She smiled at him and he pulled her close. `

“I plan to have a bit of fun loving you back to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“We are truly free Sassenach. It’s over, forever. I know you’re confused and I am so sorry about that. I smell lobster, your favorite. How about a nice dinner while Darius and I clear things up.”

Jamie and Darius went into battle with an invisible foe and won the day. Claire and Maia were brought to their knees but rescued by love in the end. Their story came out over a delicious meal that provided enough distraction to soften the shock of what had transpired.

“We realized a new threat with removing the chip. Maybe it would cause the second object to release something deadly.”

“I found experts online who were more concerned with the battery dying because sonar takes so much power.

“I thought he was nuts to take the risk but he was determined, with or without me.”

“It looked so obvious she had been kissed senseless and her boobs were overflowing her uniform.”

“I grabbed the doctor’s arm before he could pull the chip out. I didn’t think Jamie was capable of giving him the go-ahead. Then he listed the navigation definitions and watertight doors on the yacht and I knew he was clear-headed.”

“I took Claire back in the tender, then returned it and swam back to the boat. If I hadn’t been so pissed at you Darius I never would have made it.”

“I thought you went to her and she did nothing to change my mind, that fluzzy. Coming to the door with her hair in her face and puffy lips.”

"So all those nights and closed doors with your laptop was researching the chip?

"I was looking for proof they could not kill a person with it and found just the opposite. The CIA has studied mind control and building the perfect soldier for forty years. A chip that costs ten cents to make solved both problems."

"So you had it removed, why?"

"So you could turn yourself in and force them to remove it. You would be out in your early fifties and still have decades to live."

Jamie put his arm around Claire protectively. It was over, all of it. They had been on the run for so long and now they were free. Two people, complete strangers at first, had given so much to see them safe were now trusted friends. It was overwhelming.

“I suppose I’m next to get this thing cut out of my arm.”

Jamie kissed her neck, “right, tomorrow it’s your turn.”

”Well, I say we have drinks on the deck and enjoy the beautiful evening. By the way, Maia, will I need to order a new bedroom set?”

“Not all of it.”

The breeze touched her skin like a whisper, so soft and lovely. She dropped her head back on Jamie’s arm and sighed. Looking in his beautiful eyes she asked for a kiss and when his lips were millimeters from her she jumped at the sound of a boat horn.

They looked at the superyacht getting ready to drop anchor beside them with the crew running around on every deck. They almost missed the small woman waving to them.

“Hello, neighbors! I don’t want to intrude but might you come and bring me over so we could have a chat?”

Darius raised his eyebrows at Jamie who asked the woman if she was ready to come now, and they went to fetch her.

“I like people who are straight forward, I suck at subtleties. Sut-el-tees,” she said slowly, “is that the right word?”

“Yes, although depending on the person hearing it, you might want to skip the suck part.”

Claire never realized how little Maia actually spoke because she had grand gestures that made it clear what she was thinking. A bit of encouragement and she was trying out her growing English vocabulary regularly. They went to meet their guest while Maia practiced the word under her breath.

Claire held her breath while Jamie and Darius helped the elderly woman on board and then led her into the saloon and offered her a seat.

“This lovely saloon is entirely comfortable for a chat but weren’t you all sitting outside before I butted in?”

“Of course, let’s sit on the deck and get to know each other.”

The woman seemed so happy to meet new people and sat with a warm smile on her face. “I believe you were drinking, is that right?”

“What can I get for you?”

She looked Jamie up and down, “You in fifty years perhaps, for now, I’ll have beer if you have it.”

Jamie smiled at her, “we never run out of beer.”

The woman looked around at the young faces and healthy smiles, “my name is Sepora. My mother insisted and my father could not pronounce it so he called me Danny and that is the name that stuck to me. It’s just me and my crew, sailing around the world, looking for something to do.”

“I’m Claire, this is Maia, Darius, and Jamie.”

The old woman watched Claire’s face when she said each name and knew Jamie to be loved like no other. He was a special man, she could see that and wanted to know more. But first, she turned toward Darius, “You are the captain, and you love your first mate.”

She touched Maia’s skin and smiled at her. “I see you at the United Nations, telling men what they have come to hear. You are desperately unhappy surrounded by concrete, bricks, and glass. The sea calls to you but you have left it behind. Don’t do it Maia dear, money won’t make you happy.”

Looking back at Darius she smiled disarmingly and told him to take the honest path and leave his family behind.

“When you doubt your path is the right one you have only to look at the picture. It is the real you, and honestly shows your strength.”

The four friends were stealing looks at each other, wondering who this crazy old woman was, but fascinated, hanging on her every word. They didn’t speak fearing they would miss something.

Darius did not believe in seeing the future but couldn’t help his curiosity about some picture. “Ma’am? What picture shows the real me?”

“It’s downstairs dear. Let it guide you toward your path.”

“Jesus,” Jamie whispered and moved from foot to foot.

Danny looked at Jamie, “the dusty old masters could not bend paint into emotion like you can Jamie dear. Paint your world authentically, from your heart, like, the conversation. The world will beat a path to your door.”

Jamie was entranced by her, “how could you…”

“The next one will see you remembered as one of the masters, you will belong to the ages, but the conversation will see you better.”

Jamie’s eyes bored into the woman’s, “How…how could you know my paintings?”

“It is time for me to go home. Could I trouble you boys for a ride back?”

Suddenly she looked pale and tired so Jamie and Darius helped her to the tender and took her back. Five of her crew were waiting on the aft deck to help her aboard. She nodded and smiled at them and then batted at their over-eager hands to assist her. She turned and looked into Jamie’s eyes as they waved, “she is still a mystery that thrills me.” He heard every word and felt the hair on his neck stand up.

Jamie and Darius were arguing when they joined the girls on deck. Darius was begging to see the painting of him and Jamie was saying his paintings were not shared with anyone. “How in God’s name did she know about those paintings Jamie, and what painting is called the conversation?”

Jamie turned a strange look on Claire as the old woman’s words came back. There was no denying she knew what she couldn’t possibly know and if her suggestions were a gift to each of them he had better get out of the way of the message.

“I’ll be back.”

Jamie invited them into the saloon where his paintings were propped up on chairs and couches. They walked through the huge room admiring his talent and use of color but mostly looking from one to another.

“Darius! Oh my God, it’s you. Oh my God,” she whispered and blinked her eyes to clear her vision.

He stared at the image of the man he aspired to be and felt a shiver go up his spine, “someday…I hope.”

From behind him, Jamie said, “I have a photographic memory, and that is the man on the bridge the morning of our wedding. You are him, my friend.”

“What a beautiful place, it’s how I see Scotland in my mind.”

It is Scotland indeed, my boyhood friends, Ian, Rupert, and Angus,” pointing to each of them when he said their names. “The painting is for Rupert, in a few years.”

In her mind, Claire heard boys laughing, twigs snapping, and screams of glee as they dropped from the rope into the ravine. It was rare when a painting pulled her to another place where she felt the emotion of the scene. She looked up at Jamie with wonder and he pressed his forehead to hers for a moment.

There were a dozen more canvases in some stage of completion and all were commented on. Darius was trying to remember all that Danny said.

“Where is The Conversation?”

Jamie blushed and looked at the floor shaking his head side to side. “It is private and it is in our bedroom Claire if you want to see it.”

Claire looked up at him and took his hand, leading him into their room where she gasped and stood rooted to the ground. She was stunned by the life-like tones of her skin, the clear eyes of Adso watching her like he was listening to something profound. Claire was painted naked, laying on her side in their bed. Her one finger was under Adso’s chin so he would listen. Her naked breasts looked lifelike as did her ample butt and flat stomach. Her black coils spilled across her shoulders and down her back and her mouth was open in conversation with the kitten. Adso’s body was stretched out but his eyes were fixed on hers. There were so many emotions conveyed in the picture. Sweet, parental, sleepy beauty, enticingly sexual. Claire’s chiseled features were perfectly painted, full lips, loving eyes, playfully serious. The colors were muted giving the viewer an almost voyeuristic experience.

“My God, Jamie, have I ever looked like that?”

“Every morning love,” he breathed in her ear.

“I keep feeling different things, happiness, love, teaching Adso how to be a good cat, our bed in the morning awe, sexual energy, Adso’s worship. It’s absolutely marvelous Jamie but if we don’t let them see it, I fear they will search for it every time we leave.”

“It is your beautiful body mo chridhe, do you mind them seeing it?”

“I don’t mind, besides, the cute energy between me and Adso is predominant, they won’t even notice.”

Jamie got control of his spontaneous laugh and looked at his wife, as you wish Sassenach.

Claire walked Darius and Maia into their room and apologized for being in her birthday suit. Not a word was spoken from the mouths that hung open. Jamie watched their eyes move around on the canvas, delighted in the exchange between adorable cat and owner being the central focus.

Jamie dropped a sheet over the canvas and blushed at the comments. When they walked out on the deck Maia had grown quiet and pensive. When Darius asked about the new painting she tried to act interested and push down her hurt feelings because she was the only one he didn’t paint.

“What is the subject of your new painting Jamie? She said it would make you famous as a master painter, so what is it?”

Maia stared at her toes, trying not to cry when she heard, “it’s Maia.” She jerked her head up and her heart jumped to her throat.

When Jamie heard Danny comment about how famous it would become, he closed his mind to her abilities to see the future. It was just sweet Maia being iconic and would never be a promoter of his talent. He kept that to himself because the others were having so much fun with the predictions.

“Bring it up! Let us see,” Darius was about to bust with his desire to see the painting. Jamie was worried Maia would be offended after the seriousness of the other paintings.

“Maia, last month I walked into the galley when you were baking, remember?”

Maia was smiling and shaking her head no.

“Come with me and I’ll let you decide.” She followed Jamie into his studio and watched the covered canvas with anticipation as Jamie exposed the picture. She didn’t smile, or bounce around, nor did she make a sound as her eyes flicked all over the canvas.

The painting was life-sized showing Maia from the waist up leaning forward to exert force on the rolling pin over dough. Her face looked like beautiful determination punctuated by the tip of her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. Her bikini could be seen under her white shirt and her long ponytail had slipped to the front of her shoulder and was covered with white floor. Adso was in the foreground shaking flour off of his fur. “Morning” was painted in a lower corner.

“Oh Maia, you sweet baby girl.”

Darius pushed into the studio and wrapped his arms around Maia while he studied the picture.

“I walked into the galley, early in the morning, and this is what I saw. It was cuteness overload when Adso shook flour all over her. It’s a very intimate picture Maia, I hope you like it when it’s done.” She turned her happy face to him and Jamie was relieved.

Darius looked at every line and shadow in the painting feeling weird about her floppy white shirt exposing part of her bikini-clad chest. One nipple pushed against the fabric and Darius smiled to himself. Maia’s nipples didn’t look like that, they were much bigger, so it was creative-license and not Jamie memorizing his girlfriend’s breast. He turned a knowing smile on his friend.

Jamie felt self-conscious with all the attention and covered the canvas before ushering everyone out. The evening had been extraordinary and the day, a roller coaster of highs and lows that suddenly felt exhausting.

Jamie slid into bed and turned the last light off before pulling Claire to him. He thought about all the crazy things that happened since morning and felt overwhelmed. He cuddled with Claire.

“Life is a journey Sassenach and there are no absolutes except one…me.”

He pulled her close and felt her let go of her conscious world. He would ride the night next to her, a happy occupant of that sacred position.

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thebibliomancer · 4 years ago

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Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 26

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because Naia and Kylan are trapped on a mushroom with a snarling Skeksis Satirist. That’s a heck of a place to wait a whole weekend before continuing.

Last times on book: Kylan, Naia, and Tavra have been on a quest to find a bell-bird bone firca that they can use to warn all Gelfling about the Skeksis. There’s been complications and setbacks. Tavra is a spider now, due to circumstances. They have a fourth party member, a Grottan alchemist named Amri. And the Skeksis Satirist skekLi and an army of millions of spiders have taken over the Caves of Grot and the Grottan Sanctuary where the extinct bell-birds used to live. But the upside is that Kylan has trapped skekLi with him and Naia on top of a mushroom. Wait, that’s the upside?

Chapter 26

An epic mushroom top showdown, with musical finish

Kylan and Naia parted, flanking skekLi instinctively. Armed with the staff, the Skeksis’s reach was incredible. With the long weapon, he might even be able to sweep them both off the platform in a single move, should they be in the same place.

Naia says the game plan should be to get the staff away from skekLi but given that their equipment is Gurjin’s Sweet Metal Dagger and the clothes on their backs… outlook bad. Kylan instead wonders whether they should try escaping.

skekLi guesses Kylan’s thought and laughs that a Drenchen’s wings aren’t for flying (they’re more fins for swimming better) so Naia’d be lucky to save herself, let alone Kylan.

skekLi’s beak broke into a grin.

“Though we could then say you had fallen for each other! Ha!”

Oh snap! That’s the wit that earned him the sobriquet Satirist!

Just puns and dunking on people.

I assume he dunked on the wrong person and that’s why he’s in a cave.

The sweet pun dunk has skekLi turn his attention to Kylan briefly and Naia uses the opportunity to close in and… honest to god, she does a SHORYUKEN

Naia surfaced right inside the space made by his outstretched arms, then jumped, holding her fist up and clocking skekLi solidly in the bottom of his bill. His beak made a loud CLACK and he stumbled backward.

Amazing. Incredible. Another thing I’d like to see in puppet.

Apparently, I was right when I said that skekLi is the scrawny nerd Skeksis because both Naia and Kylan realize that he’s not a fighter. He’s bigger and stronger and has more reach but he’s uncoordinated in a fight.

Kylan manages to get inside his guard too and bites his wrist. Alas, he doesn’t get skekLi to drop his staff and the Skeksis also flings him almost off the mushroom. But nice try, Kylan.

While dangling, Kylan spares a glance down.

“I don’t mean to add to our troubles,” he said, “but the spiders are coming.”

You have a gift for understatement, Kylan.

Yeah. The MILLIONS OF SPIDERS are crossing the lake at the base of the petrified giant mushroom so they’ll be climbing up soon. And that will spell very bad times. Even worse times than being trapped on a mushroom with this nerd forever.

Kylan tries to get Naia to run because friends but she insists on not leaving him. Because friends. And because he’s their bard and the quest reward is an instrument and they’ll need him to play it.

skekLi finds this hilarious. Because what a cute quest. Adorable.

“Oh yes. The bone! The bell-bird bone from the Book of Raunip. Krychk told me of it, that you had a bone to pick. Ha! I’m sad to say, you won’t find it here. Poor, stupid Gelfling. All the bodies have been borne away, chewed up by ruffnaw and crawlies and time.”

I mean, he has a POINT. Its been about a thousand trine. On the other hand, the nests and feathers are still here, in flagrant disregard of good sense. So I don’t know what to believe.

But I like that skekLi saw the punpportunity and went for it. I’m still not sure how good he is at satire but he has a wit.

skekLi shifts into Chamberlain-energy PEACE PLEASE mode. He really is like a scrawnier quippier Chamberlain that even skekSil would bully.

He tells Naia if she surrenders and comes to the castle, he might see his way to sparing the other Gelfling.

“We only need a little essence. A little, only a little. From you and your other half. In exchange, we would feed you. Care for you, as we have always cared for Gelfling. We need only a little to save our Emperor.”

Naia presumes that what the Emperor wants is to steal life from his Mystic counterpart and she won’t truck with that, if she knew what a truck was. But skekLi insists no, if the Emperor is dying then his counterpart is dying. And only special Gelfling essence can save them.

Kylan has serious DOUBT about this, especially how this all sounds too good to be true, and warns Naia that this Satirist is clearly lying. But on he rolls.

“That is what you want to do, isn’t it? Drenchen? Save the others? Save the Crystal? Save Gelfing - save Thra? To do so, help us save Skeksis. Look! We are not mad with Gelfling. Even when it bites us. We only want Drenchen twins, for reunion. Only a little. You would spare only a little, if it might save everyone… wouldn’t you?”

Kylan again objects that this is all pretty fishy, that if the Skeksis just needed a little, they only needed to ask. skekLi responds indignantly yeah like that would go over well. Just dress up nice, stroll into the village, ask to borrow a cup of life goo. Suuure.

Although, the more pressing thing is 1) they were draining Gelfling before they knew about Gurjin and Naia. That’s what set off this whole thing. Rian discovered that his girlfriend had been drained. 2) They don’t know that special twin essence would work. Aughra said it won’t. 3) This good of the many thing is pretty dubious when at this point I’m sure the Skeksis have killed more Gelfling than there are Skeksis and Mystics combined.

That obliquely reminds me that I’m glad that the big prophecy didn’t get play in the Age of Resistance series. During Chamberlain’s PEACE PLEASE moment, he claims that the Skeksis just wiped out the Gelfling because they were scared of the prophecy that Gelfling would overthrow them. Classic fiction trope genocide backfire. You try to thwart a prophecy by doing a lot of murder and it blows up in your face.

But the series has it so that the Skeksis were exploiting the Gelfling long before they started drinking them, were drinking them before they started trying to wipe them out, and had messed up the environment with their exploitation of the Crystal. So, yeah. I don’t buy what you’re selling, skekLi! Not even at a limited time offer reduced price!

“But listen, Gelfling. Listen. Gelfling people entrusted the castle and the Crystal to the Skeksis. We keep it. We protect it. Dust the mantel, clean halls, and so on. All for free, with never thanks. So, least Gelfling could do is help the Skeksis when they can. What are two lives to all lives on Thra?”

Wow, he is really good at playing up sob story here. ‘Oh woe is us we have to live in a giant castle.’ When we’ve seen and we know that the Castle is/was stocked full of staff and guards and that the Skeksis go around to do a census and tithes.

But it doesn’t matter, skekLi was just saying sweet sounding words to fill space because SPIDERS ARE HERE

Dammit, you let him monologue and talking wasn’t a free action and now we’re lousy with spiders!

The Skeksis chuckled to himself, gnashing his teeth.

“Gelfling waited too long. Time to make a deal is over. Now the deal is only that both Gelfling come quietly, or Spriton dies.”

But but but but, killing time is also what Amri needed to do!

He calls over from one of the bell-bird nests, waving a tiny bone. Even just waving it blows some air through it, releasing an eerie tone that makes the spiders and the skekLi sit up and take notice.

“Play it!” Kylan shouted.

“Play it? I’m no musician!”

“Just blow in it!”

“Oh!”

Hah!

Kylan: ‘It's a wind instrument, not rocket science, Amri!’

Amri: ‘What’s a rocket?’

Except it's not not as complicated as Kylan hopes.

A long soft note rang through the corrie. It was faint, and only one note, but it brought a chill to Kylan’s spine. The spiders that were closing in on the nest where Amri perched backed away, too close to the sound of breath in the bell-bird’s bone. Even the spiders on the cap trembled, whispering among themselves in hesitation and fear.

But the note did not grow louder, instead fading out as Amri lost breath. Kylan fidgeted in frustration, licking his lips. He knew if he had the bone, he could raise its song to fill the entire corrie. Amri was blowing too hard, or too soft - either way, it wasn’t enough.

“It’s too difficult! I don’t know how!” Amri called. “I’m sorry!”

And that’s why you have a dedicated bard.

I like Kylan getting frustrated, seemingly not because they’re all about to be spidered, but because Someone Is Musicing Wrong.

He asks Naia to go get the bone and bring it to him but she hesitates to leave him alone. skekLi mocks them, because its what he do, and pokes Kylan with the staff in a patronizing way.

Which just unleashes the primal Angry Kylan within. He grabs the end of the staff and holds it so skekLi can’t pull it back (because he is the scrawny nerd of his group.

“I’m not a hostage,” [Kylan] growled. “And I”m not helpless. And I’m not weak! Naia, go get the bone from Amri and bring it to me. Then I will take care of the spiders and this Skeksis liar!”

Kylan has hit his ‘aren’t you tired of being nice? Don’t you want to go ape shit?’ point!

This is amazing, by the way! Kylan isn’t heavy enough to prevent skekLi from actually picking up the staff so he’s just clinging to it while skekLi waves it around trying to dislodge him.

Another thing I would very much like to see in puppets!

Naia is still torn because she wants to protect her best friend Kylan and so splits the difference while still trusting him not to die if she’s not there for five seconds. She doesn’t fly over to Amri. She hasn’t flown at all and now is no time to stress test the wings. But she tells Amri to throw the bone to her.

Kylan feels like his heart is exploding with pride because Naia trusts him but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Uhhhhhhhh

You want to THROW the plot critical item across a vast gulf? And its a tiny, hollow bone so it probably doesn’t throw all that well. Not aerodynamic, not very able to fight wind resistance. Is this a good idea? Amri isn’t sure its a good idea but he does it anyway!

skekLi slams his staff into the mushroom ground, breaking it in an attempt to dislodge Kylan. Which he does because Kylan is smart enough not to hang on for that.

When the staff crystal breaks, the ringing distracts the spiders and the skekLi and the Skeksis can’t do much more than curse as Naia jumps off the mushroom to catch the bone.

Which is falling slowly because it has a web parachute on it?? Good job, Tavra! I don’t know when you learned to do that! Is it instinctual? Are you just that skilled??

Kylan now gets to taunt that Naia totally caught the bone and will be up to give it to him any time now. And skekLi basically goes NUH UH.

C’mon, man! Where’s the wit I briefly knew you for?

Kylan snatched one of the staff’s splinters, stepped, and threw it like a miniature spear. It made its mark, striking skekLi in the shoulder, sticking out like a pin. The Skeksis squawked and yanked it out, but Kylan threw another, and another, sticking him full of darts from his own staff.

Oh my god this is amazing. This is ridiculous and amazing!

“GRAGGGHHH!” roared skekLi. “Stop it! Stop it, Gelfling!”

“Or what?”

“Or - or - wait! Stop it, and! AND! Stop it and we’ll let you go! Eh?”

“I don’t think you’re in a place to negotiate!”

Oh my god it just got better! This is a truly ridiculous scene!

Naia DID catch the bone and she IS coming to Kylan but she’s being obviously chased by ohgodsomany spiders.

skekLi claims he’ll do something kind and orders the spiders away. Before leaning over the edge and just yanking Naia back up to this mushroom cap.

He’s not good at fighting but he’s great at plucking Gelfling from places, I guess.

skekLi holds Naia up by the back of the neck and tries shaking the bone off of her but she refuses to let go. She throws it to Kylan and the Skeksis threatens to kill her if Kylan plays the bone.

Naia tells him to do it anyway because she’s figured she’s pretty safe from casual Skeksis violence since they need her for twin goo although skekLi is angry enough to go ‘yeah but what if no?’

We might be in movie territory where we have a standoff between a Gelfling, a plot item, and a Skeksis with a hostage except there’s a third party.

Tavra-spider was hiding in Naia’s tunic and runs out along skekLi’s arm and… GOD. She bites him ON the eye. Geez, Tavra! You don’t mess around!

So now we have Tavra-spider running around on skekLi’s head and him freaking out slapping his own head with his non-Naia-grabbing hand and this is all very silly. Also, very serious but very very silly.

And in this silly spectacle, Naia reminds Kylan to play the bone.

The note was a thousand times stronger than when Amri had tried. It filled the corrie like wind, or water, or fire. Its reverberations circling against the walls from the pool at the bottom and all the way up to the sky. As it echoes, it reinforced itself, growing louder and louder until the mountains themselves began to sing with its song.

And the bone flute works! The MILLIONS OF ANGRY SPIDERS just start falling off the walls in droves, Tavra-spider, confined to a spider body, falls off skekLi and does a dead spider impression with her spider legs folded under her. Buuuut it doesn’t affect skekLi as much and covering his earhole with one hand, he makes ready to smash Naia against the mushroom with the other.

I guess that makes sense! It sucks for the Kylan Crew but it makes sense! The Skeksis are aliens to Thra and logically (?? with magic bird bone flute crystal music) aren’t as affected by the song of Thra.

But maybe it just needs the right accompaniment.

The song of the bone-flute faded, but skekLi’s death thrust halted midair. A second note, then a third, vibrated through the corrie. The tones were deep. Primal. Voices, Kylan realized. As the tone-tone chant sank into the walls of the cliffs, Kylan picked up the bone-flute from where he’d dropped it. He played the instrument and found the single note joined the other two with no discordance. It was the song of Thra, after all - the song that would move mountains.

skekLi dropped Naia. She fell with a gentle thump, then climbed to her feet and stumbled away. The Skeksis was frozen where he stood, eyes wide and pupils tiny, panting so heavily that drool dripped from his open mouth.

Naia doesn’t dwell on being a second away from death just recently and notices the New Challengers.

Over on the edge of the corrie wall, urVa and urLii have reentered the plot and and filled the corrie with their song.

I love the Mystic song. I love it more when it saves Naia.

One held a tall bow, arrow nocked, though the point was lowered. There was no need to use the weapon while skekLi was held immobile by the bone-shaking song. He twitched and jerked against the power of his other half. He could do no more harm to the Gelfing, at least for now.

Maybe a Mystic could keep a Skeksis in one place…

Aughra’s words echoed in Kylan’s memory.

This is really cool but its raising my expectations for the Mystics! I know they have other stuff they could be doing but maybe they should go around singing the Skeksis away from causing trouble!

Plus? Now I’m imagining an urRu barbershop quartet!

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Song of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Kylan #Naia #Amri #Tavra #skekLi #the Satirist #many spiders; mostly peeved #some special guests

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frospino · 5 years ago

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Demons in the Night

Jaskier x fem!reader

Summary: Hurt/comfort. Reader suffers from a panic attack; Jaskier is there to comfort her.

Word Count: 972

Warnings: Descriptions of a panic attack, both sensations and thoughts. Mentions of scratching. Thoughts that reflect low self-esteem.

A/N: This was one of the requests I received. Anon, I hope this is somewhat along the lines of what you had in mind!! I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks myself so a lot of my own experience wormed itself into this one. I find it very hard to describe them accurately—vividly enough that it makes for good reading, but also not too specific because everyone’s experiences with panic and anxiety are so different. I hope I found a good balance in this drabble.

You wake with a scream. You can still feel the monsters hunting you, clawing at your skin, leaving deep red marks as they crawl all over you. Or are those the marks of your own fingernails as you desperately try to remind yourself that you are real, this is real, the nightmare is over? It doesn’t matter. If only you can touch Jaskier, feel his soft hair beneath your fingertips, hear his lovely voice, you will find your way into the waking world—

But the bed next to you is empty and cold. If it wasn’t for the very head-shaped dent in the cheap pillow and the bedding that is half on the floor, tossed aside, you would have doubted your own memory. Cold. Jaskier must have left. Has he decided that I am too much, after all?

You feel the familiar weight on your chest, and each breath feels as if someone is shoving daggers down your throat. Your heart is stumbling, and your body is too cold and too hot at once, as if someone had dropped you in lava, and as if you were forced to stand in the cold night air without clothes at the same time. The sensations are too much, and in that moment, you are sure you will die alone in this bed, and with Jaskier already miles away, your body will be tossed into the nearest river, forgotten by the townspeople. Better not to talk about it. She was no one, anyway.

Sobs resound in the room, and you wonder who is feeling such anguish at the same time as you before you realise that what you hear is the echo of your own wailing and screaming. You swear you can see yourself as a spectre would, from the outside, a shivering body rolled into a tight ball, the blanket wrapped around you as a shield against the horrors you are feeling. You know you should focus on lengthening your breath, or count all the blue things you see in the room, or at least tell yourself that this will be over soon. But your mind keeps repeating the sentence Jaskier is gone, over and over again.

The door flies open and the cracking sound as it connects with the walls is enough to snap you out of your panic for a second. Standing before you, with lines of worry all over his face, is Jaskier. “No no no,” he says, and hurries towards the bed. “I shouldn’t have left, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up—”

He is beside you in the blink of an eye, and holds both of your hands in his as he speaks again. “Look at me—that’s right, keep looking at my eyes. Breathe, okay? Just breathe. In, two, three, four, out—” He counts for you, and your mind latches onto the familiar strategy. You focus on Jaskier’s face instead of the terrible things your thoughts say to you; you notice how Jaskier’s brows are drawn deep into his face, and the faintest bit of stubble on his chin, and the way even a simple breathing exercise sounds like singing when it’s Jaskier counting for you. He strokes your hands with feather-like touches. He knows by now that strong sensations can send you spiralling right back into your panic. Jaskier is gentle, and caring, and being with him feels so safe.

The weight of the world is lifted off your shoulders as your breath evens out and both your mind and heart slow down again. Afterwards, it’s so hard to understand why you believed Jaskier would ever leave.

When he realises the worst is over, Jaskier holds you close to his chest, and presses the softest of kisses to the crown of your head. You hear quiet apologies, “I’m sorry”s and “I shouldn’t have left”s, but for the moment you can’t react, too lost in the feeling of Jaskier’s warm body against yours.

Jaskier lets go just a little so that he can take a closer look at your face. You press your cheek into his palm, again revelling in how wonderful it feels to have Jaskier so close to you. “It’s not your fault, Jaskier,” you whisper.

“But it is. I know not to leave you alone in the night, and I did it anyway. No song idea is worth leaving you like this.”

“I don’t want to cage you—”

“You’re not caging me,” he interrupts. “Being with you is freedom. It’s everything I ever wanted.”

You look at him for a long moment, unsure of what to say next. Your mind tells you to object, to insist that you are too much; but you’ve had this argument with Jaskier time and time again, and in your heart, you know he means every word he says. He loves you. He loves you when you are smiling and dancing in the sunlight, and he loves you when your demons have a hold of you again in the deepest night.

Sometimes, you forget. Sometimes, you can’t believe. But Jaskier always makes sure to remind you of this simple truth: He loves you, and you can trust him.

Instead of saying anything, you pat the bed next to you and motion to his lute with your head. (That the instrument lies on the floor, hastily discarded when he saw the state you were in! Few things could say I love you quite so loudly.) “Let’s hear that new song of yours, then.”

Jaskier picks up his lute, turning it into different directions to inspect for scratches. He seems to be satisfied, and plops himself down next to you. As you listen to the bard’s voice, and his newest tale of adventures with Geralt that definitely never happened, exhaustion takes you, and you fall asleep.

#jaskier x reader #jaskier/reader #the witcher imagine #jaskier imagine #my writing

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masterweaverx · 4 years ago

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Nora Valkyrie is one of the most engaging characters in RWBY, because she’s always engaging with other characters. And as much fun as she has doing so, especially with her hammer, you’d be forgiven for thinking she’s just another boisterous bruiser genki girl hybrid. But when it comes to Dungeoneering, Nora ain’t nobody’s fool.

When coming up with this build, I found out that I had a lot of goals I wanted to kit. Obviously Nora wouldn’t be complete without her Legendary Boomhammer, so I needed a way to let her blow things up and smash things to bits. I also needed to figure out how to represent her skills at scavenging, I don’t think she lost that from her early days. And of course, she needs to be fun but able to lecture people about their emotional constipation at a moment’s notice.

This all led me to an interesting realization: Nora’s highest stat would have to be Wisdom. It’s the ‘notice things’ stat for a reason, so 15 points go into it. And next, after some very careful consideration, I figured 14 points of Dexterity would be good to handle some multiclassing requirements. 13 points in Constitution fits her prodigious appetite quite well, and 12 points in Strength gives her hammer a little extra oomph. Admittedly, 10 points in Charisma doesn’t quite fit with how bold a personality she has, but for all her boldness she’s only pressed her opinion when it absolutely needed to be pressed. And that leaves 8 points for Intelligence, which is booksmarts, which... Nora’s not dumb, but she didn’t really have a formal edumacation.

Variant humans are a bundle of nice little goodies, like two Ability points to even out Wisdom and Constitution, a free skill training so Nora can learn Survival, and a feat of choice--the Fell Handed feat is perfect for a hammer-wielder, giving a +1 to all attack rolls with the hammer, a chance to knock an enemy prone if the attack has advantage, an equal chance to deal Strength damage on a miss if the attack has disadvantage, and the ability to knock away an enemy’s shield if Nora is helping somebody else attack them. I mean not many people use shields on Remnant, but the option is there.

As for background... sigh. The background’s name is Urchin. Sorry, that’s just how it is sometimes. Nora gets proficiency in Stealth, Slight of Hand, Thieves’ Tools, and Disguise Kit. She also gets the City Secrets feature, which means she just knows how cities work and can find shortcuts anywhere. Is it the most useful skillset? No. Is it in character? Mmmyah.

Now, I looked at Barbarian for Nora. I really, really looked at it. At the Rage feature. At all the subclasses. And in the end... I decided we could get what we wanted without having to give up casting, just through careful application of other classes. So no, Nora isn’t a Barbarian. She’s four levels Hunter Ranger, eight levels Zeal Cleric... and first and foremost, 8 levels of Kensei Monk.

Yes. Monk. You heard me. Nora is a Monk. This will make sense shortly.

Monks get proficiency in simple weapons, and also shortswords (but we’ll be multiclassing into Ranger so we get proficiency in all martial weapons anyway). They can also choose one set of Artisan’s Tools or one Instrument to be proficient in; Chibi Nora was apparently good with drums, buuuut realistically I kinda think maybe Nora would be better served with Leatherworker’s Tools. They get Strength and Dexterity saving throws and, oh yeah, two skills--Athletics and Insight would fit pretty well.

At eight levels of Monk, Nora gets a lot of special traits--Unarmored Defense means that if she’s not wearing armor her AC is 10+her Wisdom Mod+her Dexterity Mod, Unarmored Movement means she gets +15 feet of movement on top of that, Slow Fall lets her reduce falling damage by 40 points as a reaction (great landing strategy!), and Evasion means if she has to roll a saving throw to take half damage, she takes half if she fails and none if she succeeds. Also she gets Stillness of Mind, letting her shake off one condition making her Charmed or Frightened; admittedly that’s not a good name for a Nora skill, so maybe she comes at it the other way, having a mind so chaotic that she can just bulldoze through mental effects.

Of course Monk also gives Nora Martial Arts, letting her use Dexterity in place of Strength on attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes or her monk weapon (Remember that! Remember that!). Unarmed attacks deal 1d6+Dexterity Mod damage, count as magical for purposes of determining resistance, and she can use a bonus action to make an unarmed attack after she takes the Attack action. Nora also gets Ki points to spend, eight in total which recharge on a rest, and she can use them for a Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, Deflecting Missles, or a Stunning Strike, all great in combat. Also she gets an Extra Attack, letting her make two attacks per Attack action.

This all comes together with the Kensei Way, which lets us choose two weapons--one ranged, one melee--that aren’t heavy or special, and make them into Monk weapons. And Warhammers are versatile, not heavy, so they’re a valid option. As are Light Crossbows, which are about the closest thing in the book to a grenade launcher? At eight levels Kensei weapons are considered magical and can be used to make an Agile Parry, giving +2 AC after every turn Nora makes an unarmed attack as part of an attack action, give the ability to give her ranged attack +1d4 damage, and the ability to spend a ki point to do an extra 1d6 damage to attacks with those weapons. Also, Nora gets proficiency with Painter’s Supplies. I’m sure that will be very important.

Multiclassing into Ranger gives us proficiency in Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields, but really why would we use any of that with Unarmored Defense? Also we get proficiency with Martial Weapons, but Nora’s already got a really, really good hammer. But we do get an extra skill proficiency, and picking up Perception couldn’t hurt. We’re mostly here for the four levels of ‘I know how to survive in the wild’ this gives us.

Favored Enemy lets a Ranger pick a certain kind of enemy, making them easier to track, and boy howdy are there a lot of Grimm on Remnant! We’re actually going to swap out Natural Explorer for Deft Explorer, a variant feature which lets us pick up the Tireless trait; Nora can regenerate 1d10+her Wisdom mod HP, a number of times equal to her wisdom mod per long rest, and also reduces her exhaustion level by one every short rest. Of the Fighting Styles, I chose Druidic Warrior, giving Nora two Druid cantrips on top of the spells she’s going to get from Cleric and Ranger--there’s a reason for that, but I’ll wait till we get to the spellcasting to explain. The Hunter archetype gives us one of three traits, and Horde Breaker lets us make an extra attack on a creature next to another creature after we hit the first creature with a weapon. And of course Primeval Awareness gives Nora the ability to melt a spell slot so she can sense Grimm in the area. Or jerks. Actually, make her favored enemy “Jerks” if the GM will let you get away with it, she’s partners with Ren and he can spot all the Grimm for her.

Eight Levels in a Cleric of Zeal is mostly good for spells, but there are some side perks. Proficiency in Heavy Armor is one of them, and Priest of Zeal is another, letting Nora make a bonus attack when she hits something with a weapon attack a number of times equal to her wisdom modifier per long rest. Resounding Strike lets her shove something back ten feet every time she does Thunder damage, and Divine Strike gives her an extra 1d8 damage to one weapon attack per turn. And then there’s Channel Divinity, which she can use twice per rest; either to Turn Undead, making them scared of her and any less than CR 1 just flat out die, or engaging in Consuming Fervor, letting her max out any Fire or Thnder damage she does on an attack.

Now that all has stunning implications for Nora’s spells, but before we can figure out what spells she has I think we should talk about the 5 Ability Improvements this build gives us. That’s ten points to spend on abilities, which is just enough to max out Wisdom and Dexterity at 20 each. If you’ve been paying attention, that really adds extra oomph across the board for the girl.

And now, the spells. The Zeal Domain means Nora automatically knows a few spells, and Fireball works great for her grenades, but for the rest I aimed mostly on either mimicking her semblance or giving her new and creative ways to smash with her hammer. There’s a lot of thunder spells. A lot. So in total Nora has four cleric cantrips and two druid cantrips, and she knows three ranger spells up to level one and all the level 1-4 Domain of Zeal spells, and... huh, I miscalculated, I thought it was half her cleric level plus her wisdom mod, but it’s her total cleric level plus her wisdom mod cleric spells she can prepare. Oh well, it’s almost midnight, just add four more cleric spells up to level 4 that you like. And here’s the list:

Cantrips:

Gust (Druidic Warrior)

Mending (Cleric)

Sacred Flame (Cleric)

Thaumaturgy (Cleric)

Thunderclap (Druidic Warrior)

Toll the Dead (Cleric)

L1 (four slots):

Absorb Elements (Ranger)

Guiding Bolt (Cleric) (Concentration)

Hunter's Mark (Ranger) (Concentration)

Inflict Wounds (Cleric)

Sanctuary (Cleric)

Searing Smite (Zeal Domain) (Concentration)

Thunderous Smite (Zeal Domain) (Concentration)

Wild Cunning (Ranger)

L2 (three slots):

Deafness (Cleric)

Locate Object (Cleric)

Magic Weapon (Zeal Domain) (Concentration)

Shatter (Zeal Domain)

Silence (Cleric)

L3 (three slots):

Haste (Zeal Domain) (Concentration)

Fireball (Zeal Domain)

Remove Curse (Cleric)

L4 (three slots):

Banishment (Cleric) (Concentration)

Fire Shield (Zeal Domain) (Warm Only)

Freedom of Movement (Zeal Domain)

Stone Shape (Cleric)

L5 (two slots):

Two slots, no spells

Lots of fun and interesting variations on ‘hit it with your hammer’ here. Mostly based on causing a lot of noise, moving things around, or pulling out a grenade and using a touch of flamey booms when she needs it. Plus a few utility spells to make life on the road easier.

So yeah, that’s Nora.

#RWBY #Dungeons & Dragons #D&D 5E #Nora Valkyrie #Character Build

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itsybitsyspiderling · 5 years ago

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the last living part of you

Summary: A few years after Tony's death, Peter realizes that no one is ever truly gone. And Tony personally made sure of that himself.

Word Count: 4.8k

also on ao3!

On the eve of Peter’s eighteenth birthday, he wandered up to a roof and sat there for hours. He counted every plane, every car, and every dog that passed by. A cool breeze carried wisps of hair away from his forehead while he rubbed his eyes dry. He didn’t want tomorrow to come. He didn’t want to blink his childhood away, not when he had already spent the past four years of his life wishing to be someone else. Peter wanted to feel like a kid for one more day.

He tugged on his mask and sighed into the material. Hot breath brushed his cheeks as his heads-up display came to life around him.

“Good evening, Peter,” Karen spoke sweetly. “What’s on the agenda for tonight?”

“Nothing,” he said. His tone fell low, almost atmospheric while the city lights stole his attention. “No danger for tonight. I don’t really wanna die right before my birthday. That’d suck.”

“Of course,” she replied. “We wouldn’t want that. Happy early birthday, Peter. Would you like me to sing you a song?”

Peter let out a breathy laugh. “No, please, no. Just––thank you, Karen. I appreciate it. Thank you for always being here for me.” He kept his hands clasped together in his lap. They were comfortable that way, and he was afraid that if he let go, he would want to climb up walls and swing down empty avenues. He wanted to sit as still as possible. And for as long as possible.

“I will always be here for you, Peter,” Karen said. “Is everything all right? Your heart rate is low.”

He took a breath. He could talk to her; he knew that he could, but there was something holding him back. Once he said his thoughts aloud, then that meant they were true. “I’m not ready for tomorrow,” he answered. “It’s––it’s not like any other birthday, you know? I’ll be eighteen. It’s just––” Peter shut his eyes. “I don’t wanna move on yet. I don’t wanna start another life. I-I just wish he was here.”

When Peter opened his eyes again, his vision had glazed over. He couldn’t wipe his tears, so tilted his chin toward the sky.

“Two years,” he whispered, inhaling sharply until his lungs ached. Exhale slowly. Count to ten. And again. “It’s been two years. And it still doesn’t feel real. I really thought I’d get to this point with him, you know? I think that’s why I’m not ready for tomorrow. We kept talkin’ about where I’d go to school. We talked about things like that. He joked about me never being allowed to drink on his watch, even when I turn twenty-one. But then he’d talk about being there with me to celebrate it. He acted like he had our entire life planned out as if––as if we were father and son. I’m just not ready to face tomorrow, Karen. I don’t know what to do.”

“Tomorrow is a big day.”

Peter looked down at his hands. “Yeah,” he said. “It is.”

“Your friends and family are excited to spend it with you,” Karen continued. “Pepper Potts has asked me to extend an invitation to you and your aunt for lunch tomorrow. She says she figured you might have dinner plans but that she’d love to see you.”

“Really?” Peter sat up a little straighter. “She did?”

“She also wanted me to tell you that Morgan misses you.”

He smiled to himself. “I miss her, too. Could you tell Miss Potts that I’ll be there?”

“Of course, Peter.”

He slid the mask off after that. The sounds of the city seemed to grow louder at night, but he enjoyed the ambiance. He didn’t want to go off to school, not yet. Through the years, Peter had lost sight of home. He struggled to understand what it meant, whether it was concrete or abstract, especially when it came to his life. And he was afraid to leave the one place––the one piece of home––he had left.

He didn’t have much family beyond May. But he had Tony’s family. Peter still had tomorrow.

And when tomorrow rolled around, Peter had forgotten about his night spent on the rooftop. He was engrossed in the deep green foliage on the drive upstate. He was captivated by May’s off-key singing and the comfort of the new sweater she bought for him. Lastly, he felt loved. He felt like he belonged somewhere. It was natural.

Pepper prepared a lemongrass chicken for lunch, and Morgan gifted him one of the finest bracelets out of her handmade collection. He swore he was never going to lose it or take it off. After that, they played with superhero action figures until Pepper called them for lunch––Peter got to be Iron Man because Morgan insisted on being Spider-Man, and he would never say no to her. He was going to spoil her at any moment he could.

He still couldn’t believe he had his own action figure. It was too good to be true.

Everything felt good too—he had forgotten it was even his birthday. Everything was perfect and peaceful, and then Pepper suggested that Peter spend some time in Tony’s old workshop.

Peter had only been there twice before, but never for long. He found it too difficult to use the same tools his old mentor once had—instruments were left untouched as they collected dust, only for Peter to disrupt them with his sticky fingers.

So, when he stepped into the workshop for a third time, he promised himself that he wouldn’t leave. He breathed in the stale air, watched the lights flicker over every shiny object that screamed Tony’s name, and strolled around slowly. Life had once been in that room. A life that lived for five years after Peter was believed to be gone. It was a man who carried on, who, for once, set his suffering aside to abide by his own terms. Tony restarted his life in this room.

Peter felt wrong there. Like every step he took was trespassing on sacred territory. Tony’s workshop was a sanctuary. And Peter didn’t belong there, not anymore.

He memorized every inch of the place. He imagined Tony leaned over a workbench, soldering iron in hand while his wrists cramped from constant use. He imagined the stack of empty coffee cups by the sink and the unread emails piling up while he promised himself that he would read them (he never would). Peter imagined the two of them together, silent communication with spared glances as they worked on their suits for hours on end. It was sad to imagine that it would never happen again.

Finally, Peter allowed himself to find a sense of comfort. He spent an hour or two repairing old armor that had been left in rags, and he even considered trying it on for a change. But he couldn’t bring himself to get that far.

When his hands grew tired, Peter sat at Tony’s desk. Once again, it was a place he didn’t belong, but Peter didn’t want to move. Tony always knew how to pick out the best––and the comfiest—chairs.

“FRIDAY,” Peter spoke suddenly. “You there?”

“Hello, Mister Parker,” she greeted. “It’s been quite a long time. What can I do for you?”

Peter huffed. “Man, that’s a loaded question.” He thought for a moment and tapped his fingers along the desk. The glass monitors in front of him had collected a thick coat of dust, so he wiped them off with his sleeve. “Is there––ew gross––is there any way I’m able to get into these babies?”

“You have access to everything in Tony Stark’s public and private databases.”

Peter’s jaw went slack. “You’re serious?”

“Very serious.”

“Holy shit,” he muttered, watching the screens light up in a familiar blue glow. It really did feel like his birthday after all. “I don’t even know where to begin. Could I see all of the Iron Man files?”

“Would you like me to open all 3,406 Iron Man files?”

“Oh, crap, no,” said Peter. He hardly knew where to keep his eyes; the utter awe and excitement he felt had grown more than he wanted to admit. “That’s a lot of files. Just show me my options and then we’ll go from there.”

“Sure thing.”

As it turned out, three thousand files hardly compared to the extensive list of unfinished projects Tony kept stored. Peter had stumbled upon at least a hundred prototype designs of his first Spider-Man suit––along with a hefty load of new additions he’d never see with his own eyes. Among Tony’s files were outdated weapons tech that had never met the light of day once Iron Man was born. Peter felt undeserving of all of this information.

The folders with funky titles caught his eye the most. They always ended up being something with little substance, like an embedded link or a two-second video of a gauntlet combusting. Both folders were titled “Fuck this shit”.

And then Peter came across a folder called “My brain (Literally). Do not open”. So, obviously, he opened it.

FRIDAY's voice spoke loud and clear: “Now transferring file #616-3 to Peter Parker.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. None of the other files had done that. “What’s that mean, FRIDAY?”

But she didn’t answer. Instead, the only sound echoing through the room was a tiny beep coming from a distant workbench. He followed the sound, eventually finding that the source was some new design for a web-shooter. Peter held it close, examined the blinking red dot underneath, and pressed it.

A low buzzing filled the room as a holographic stream fluttered in front of him. Slowly, the lasers began to define the shape of a figure, and Peter assumed that he had blacked out after that.

He blinked once, then twice, and many more times after. He simply couldn’t believe his eyes. Staring right back at him was Tony Stark––but he was a goddamn force ghost.

“Whoa, whoa, okay––” Peter set the web-shooter onto the workbench behind him, yet the hologram didn’t budge. “FRIDAY, what is this?”

“The file says ‘do not open’, kid,” spoke the holographic Tony, and Peter thought he was about to throw up. It even sounded like Tony. It moved like him, too.

And then the realization hit. This was an AI.

Tony shrugged. “But, I guess, what did I expect?” he continued. His voice sounded metallic, almost static-like, but it was still him. “Maybe I wanted you to open it. Well, I guess I should explain. Once upon a time, I was bored and found a way to reconstruct my entire physical form as a holographic entity. Like a piece of cake. And not only that, I was able to transcribe every little darn thing about me into computer code to preserve my memories, knowledge, and, dare I say it, my boisterous personality which everyone loves so dearly. So, all-in-all, hi, I’m Tony Stark. Well, his essence.”

“I’m gonna shit my pants,” Peter whispered.

“Please don’t do that. That’s disgusting.”

He wanted to fall to his knees. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real––but it was. It wasn’t a person, it wasn’t alive. It was a bright blue hologram that spoke and behaved exactly like Tony Stark, and Peter felt sick to his stomach.

The panic began in his jaw. Trembling and aching while his eyes refused to believe what they saw. His throat tightened after that, and once the pressure crawled down into his lungs, Peter couldn’t hold back the threatening sobs. He did end up falling to his knees, but only because he couldn’t breathe.

He pressed his shaking hands down onto the cold floor while his vision darkened. Everything had become numb, and he wasn’t sure he could hear his own wheezing anymore.

“S-shit, I-I can’t––” Peter tried to sit himself up, knees pulled to his chest while he struggled to even his breathing. A snake had wrapped itself around his lungs. “I can’t breathe––I can’t breathe.”

The blueish glow of the AI reflected off of the floor tiles as it neared Peter. When he looked back up, Tony had knelt down in front of him. Even his suit seemed to wrinkle. But it wasn’t real.

“Whoa, there, Pete,” Tony said, “it’s okay.”

Peter could hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears. He glanced down at his lap.

“Hey, look at me.”

Peter looked back up at the AI.

Tony smiled. “You’re okay. Deep breaths now. Ready?”

Peter nodded, swallowing thickly.

“Inhale.”

As best as he could, he took a long, deep, shaking breath in.

“Exhale slowly. Count to ten.”

He let out the breath. One… two… three…

“And again.”

They sat there for a few minutes while Peter calmed down. The numbness faded, and while his lungs ached, they no longer felt restricted. He could feel his muscles slowly begin to relax. And he soon realized that Tony had placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

But he still couldn’t feel a thing. The touch wasn’t there.

Peter stretched his legs out in front of him as Tony finally sat down. “He––he––Tony made you for me?”

“Yeah, well.” The AI shrugged. “I wasn’t really made for intended use. Technically, you’re supposed to be dead.”

Peter sighed and dug his fingernails into the denim of his jeans. “I was,” he said. “But that was years ago.” Further thoughts nagged at his brain, but he couldn’t find the right words. He let them sit at the tip of his tongue.

But, despite not being a physical existence, Tony seemed to know exactly what Peter wanted to say.

“Kid,” Tony said softly, eyes sad and warm.

“You’re dead, Mister Stark,” Peter stated abruptly. “You’re––you’re the one who’s dead.”

“I know.”

“You know?” Peter asked. He didn’t like that he could see right through Tony.

Tony nodded. “That’s what I’m here for,” he said. “I was made for this. I wouldn’t be here if I was alive.”

Peter didn’t like the sound of that. He had accepted Tony’s death long ago; he hadn’t expected to see him, let alone talk to him again. Peter was sad, but he was angry. Angry that Tony had decided that his presence was too precious to let die. Angry that he couldn’t let Peter move on.

He swallowed down the rising anger and asked, “when did he make you?”

“Uh, 2018,” Tony answered. “Oh, hey, it’s your birthday, innit? Happy birthday, kid. Consider me a birthday gift from me.”

Peter rolled his eyes and cracked a smile. He didn’t have the energy to be mad. Tony wasn’t alive anymore; he didn’t deserve it.

“Whatever you need, Pete,” the AI spoke, “you always got me. I was made for you.”

Peter’s smile grew a little bigger. “Thank you, Mister Stark.”

The sounds of shoes coming down the stairs stole their focus away from the moment. Peter glanced over at Tony with wide eyes.

“Peter?” It was May.

Peter scrambled to his feet and ran toward the workbench behind him. His fingers shook as he searched for the button to turn off Tony's ghostcomp. Just as the hologram flickered away, May entered the workshop.

“Are you okay if we––whoa, this place is––” May gazed around at the handsome technology surrounding her. “––intense. Like Disneyland for you. Is that one of your web-shooters?”

Peter set the device back onto the table and nodded. “Y-yeah. It’s not finished, though. Prototype.”

“Well, take it with you, and then you can work on it at home,” said May.

But, Peter shook his head. “No,” he said, walking towards her. He looked back over at the spot where Tony once stood. “I think I’m gonna leave it here.”

___

“Finally. It’s about time. Ten thousand years can give you such a crick in the neck.”

“You know Aladdin?”

“Do you know exactly how many movie premieres I’ve been to, Pete?”

Peter chuckled. He had come home from college for winter break. What had been Tony’s old home sat like a relic, one Peter could hardly stand to touch, yet it was well-lived and full of his life, his legacy. Pepper and Morgan treated him as though he had always been a part of their family. It was time for him to make use of the family he had.

And, he couldn’t deny that all he wanted to do was lock himself away in Tony’s workshop and just talk.

To a being that didn’t even exist.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Mister Stark,” Peter began that afternoon, “but you should have made yourself into another Vision. And then you could at least help me out.”

“Yeah, but I really like doing nothing and just watching you,” said the AI, hands stuffing deep into his hypothetical pockets. “You’re doing that wrong.”

Peter looked down at the Spider-Man suit that he’d peeled open to access the inner subsystems. Truth be told, he had no idea what he was doing. Ever. He spent the past two years in constant trial and error over his suits, all because Tony wasn't there to help him. And now Tony was there, and he wasn’t helping him.

“You’re a terrible AI,” Peter mumbled.

“Now that just hurts my feelings.”

“You could at least tell me what to do.”

“I could.”

Peter rolled his eyes, but he kept it as hidden as possible. “Why am I not shocked that Tony created you just to be as much of an asshole as he was?”

The Tony AI pretended to gasp. “Cuts deep. But don’t forget the Class-A narcissism.”

“How could I ever forget that?”

“You’re surely on a sarcasm frenzy today,” he said. “Anything on your mind?” Tony folded his arms and leaned against a table. It looked almost realistic–– minus the blue, ghostly tint.

Peter shook his head. It was still odd to see Tony that way, and it was also comforting all the while. It was like he had him back but not quite. While it was Tony, it also wasn’t. He didn’t exist anymore.

“I’m not convinced,” the AI muttered. He had every vocal inflection and physical mannerism that Tony did, which bothered Peter the most.

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

“I didn’t ask if anything was wrong,” said Tony. “I asked if anything was on your mind.”

Peter shrugged. He didn’t look up as he carried on maneuvering the wires in his suit. “Nothing is on my mind. And nothing is wrong. I’m fine. Maybe I just wanna be sarcastic today.” He glanced back over at the AI and sighed. “Could you just help me. Please?”

A disheartened expression washed over Tony, one Peter hadn’t seen before. He nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Sure thing, kiddo.”

“And, I’m not a kid anymore,” Peter mumbled. “I’m an adult.”

“Nope, sorry,” Tony said, “you’ll always be my kid.” He cracked a grin and reached out his hand. Peter believed it was to ruffle his hair like his mentor used to do, but the realization quickly hit, and Tony pulled away. And he looked sad about it.

While the afternoon dragged on like normal, there was an unspoken feeling hanging in the air. Tony knew that Peter wished he was real, and Tony wished he was real, too.

___

Peter had planned on stopping by the workshop on his nineteenth birthday, but he never got the chance. The night before, he spent eleven hours stuck in his suit because he didn’t want to go home––the summer dragged, and not even Spider-Man could save it. On his birthday, he let May take him into the city for a peaceful day out, but his senses never allowed him to relax. Peter didn’t think about the AI he kept hidden away upstate.

He never took Tony with him, but he’d thought about it over a dozen times. Somehow, it felt wrong. It felt wrong to remove him from a place that Tony belonged. Even though he had been created for Peter––even though the system had been crafted into his own web-shooter––it still didn’t feel like it. Maybe it never would.

“Believe it or not,” said Tony, “I do miss you when you’re not around.”

Peter wanted to laugh and roll his eyes at the hint of sarcasm, but he couldn’t. He lacked energy. He wished he was home.

“What do you do when I’m not here?” Peter asked, gaze lingering on the blueprints of his brand new suit. Well, it wasn’t necessarily brand new, but after falling from a building only for a tree to catch his fall, there were too many snags and tears to sew up. So, he figured he would take the time to add a few improvements.

“I’m just ones and zeros, Pete. I don’t do anything.”

Peter frowned. “Yeah, sorry.” He minimized the blueprints and sat down at the desk with a long sigh. “Why’d Mister Stark even bother making you, then?” Peter mumbled aloud, rubbing two fingers along the bridge of his nose. “You just stand there and talk. What’s the point in having you if you can’t even help?”

“Pete––”

“No!” Peter suddenly exclaimed. A fit of newfound anger had boiled over. “I’m––I’m so annoyed that he thought he was being so clever with you when all he did was make a shitty version of himself. I’m tired of you just standing there. I’m tired of you just telling me what to do. You can’t help. You’re not him, so there’s no purpose. Like you said, you’re just ones and zeros. You’re just a stupid code.”

The AI barely moved; for a moment, Peter assumed that he had shut him down with his words.

“You’re right,” he uttered with a shrug. “I’m useless. Just a code.” Tony walked over and sat on the desk, his movements disrupting the hologram while his legs disappeared briefly. He used to be alive. He used to have a real body. “But honestly, Tony didn’t make me to be another Tony.”

Peter titled his chin up, but his frown didn’t budge. “What do you mean?” he asked lowly.

“I’m a ghostcomp,” Tony said. “A ghost-on-a-chip. I was made in case Tony died, but I’m not a replacement. He figured that his death would be too sudden. He figured he’d had to leave just as fast as you left him. He wanted to make sure you had something at least a little concrete.”

“He made you because he knew that I’d miss him?” Peter sat up, eyebrows furrowing. “That’s bullshit.”

“I don’t think he was ready to say goodbye either, kiddo.”

Peter shook his head. “Stop. Please.”

“The real reason––” Tony began as stood. He walked over to where his hologram was being projected from. The web-shooter. “––is that I was designed to be a helping hand when you’re in the suit. Technically, you’re not using me the way Tony wanted you to.”

“I don’t care,” Peter said. “I don’t want you in the suit.”

Tony looked at him. His expression was unreadable. It was like the words had hurt his feelings, but he didn’t have the right programming to emote them. He nodded. “That’s fair. It’s your choice.”

And Peter nodded, too. Slowly, he rose to his feet and walked over to where the holographic Tony stood. Peter tugged his hands into his sleeves. “I’m gonna go see if Morgan wants to hang out,” he mumbled. “See you later, Mister Stark.”

Tony’s lips tightened into a weak smile. “See you later, Mister Parker.”

___

Peter was ready to go back to school. A few days after his twentieth birthday, he kept his mind busy and his muscles burning as he swung up to White Plains. He hitched rides from there on out, and Pepper always greeted him on the porch with a pitcher of ice water.

“Morgan’s at a friend’s,” she sometimes said.

And Peter would breathily reply, “May is at work. Is it okay if I––?”

Pepper always interrupted with, “of course” and a smile.

There were many things in the workshop that had been rearranged over the years, but Peter kept most of it the way he found it. He didn’t want it to become his workshop, which, in his mind, it almost had. He wished he could pack it up and take it to school with him, but it was a nice home away from home to visit on special occasions.

On this particular day, the bad thoughts in Peter’s brain had won the fight. He climbed out of the suit, made his way down to the workshop, and curled himself onto Tony’s chair.

It was Tony’s chair. The chair that had belonged to Peter’s mentor, the person he had looked up to ever since he was nearly eight years old––and now he was sitting in his chair, crying over the fact that he spent more time grieving Tony than personally knowing him. But then again, Peter realized, Tony had done the same thing, too.

It hurt more today, Peter couldn’t deny that. It hurt to be in the same room Tony had once been in––he had once lived in. The past four years were hard, but some days were harder.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to speak to the Tony AI today. But, nevertheless, Peter picked himself up. He held the web-shooter in his palm, internally fighting with his thoughts before brushing his thumb over the button. He pushed it without hesitation, and Tony came to life.

“Hey? You look so glum, kiddo. What’s up?” Tony stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Peter set the web-shooter back down and shrugged. “Bad day,” he said, strolling over to the desk so he could flop himself back into the chair. “That’s all.”

Tony hummed. “Damn,” he said. “Sorry to hear that. Well, we’ve got quite a few things in here that could get your mind off of it. What do you say to a little holographic basketball with some trashed files, yeah? And before you ask, yes, we can do best two-out-of-three.”

“No.” Peter shook his head as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. “No, I don’t really wanna do that.”

Tony’s eyebrows knotted together. “What do you wanna do, then?”

Peter shrugged again. “I-I wish––I wish I could hug you,” he whispered.

The AI’s expression relaxed.

“I wish you were here.”

“I am here,” said Tony.

Peter let out a huff. “But you’re not. You’re not here. You’re not you. I want Tony back. I want my Tony back. Not a hologram I can put my hand through. I-I can’t hug you. I can’t help you build your suits, and you can’t help me build mine. You can’t go out into the world and live. You can’t––you can’t take me out to lunch. You can’t be with your wife and your daughter. You can’t drive me upstate or make me coffee I’ll never drink. We can’t do superhero shit together because you’re dead. You’re not alive. And you haven’t been for four years, and for some reason, it still feels like yesterday. I’ve done so much. I’ve changed so much. B-but I come back to you, and I’m just reminded of how much I loved being around you. How much I loved you. You just––you can’t be there like Tony was there. You’re not him.”

Tony stayed quiet. It seemed as though he hadn’t been programmed for such an emotional range. But then he said, “I’m sorry” so softly, and Peter felt the impact of his words. He had truly meant them, and he knew there was nothing else he could do.

___

“Whatcha packin’ up there, Pete?”

“Just a few things Pepper said I could take with me.”

“Where are you going?”

Peter’s college career had come and gone. His life had never been so different, and it was time to let change run its course. New York was still home, but sometimes home wasn’t necessarily a place. And Peter understood that. He needed to do a bit more living, and that required moving on.

“I got a job,” he said, stacking a few of Tony’s old belongings into a large box, “in New England.”

Tony grinned. The light from his hologram had dulled through the years, and Peter never found the time to fix it.

“Look at you, Mister Parker,” said Tony. “All grown up. I swear you were just fourteen and getting your ass beat by Cap.”

Peter chuckled. “I would go back in a heartbeat. Not to high school, though. High school sucked.”

“I literally don’t even remember high school.”

“It’s a blur,” he said. He lifted the box onto Tony’s desk and leaned against it. The moment felt sad and surreal. Peter couldn’t find the right words, so he fiddled with the edge of the cardboard instead.

“You okay?”

Peter glanced over at Tony. He hadn’t aged a day. “Sorta,” Peter said. “I’m––I’m not taking you with me, you know. And I’m gonna be gone for a while. Are you gonna be okay without me?”

“Pfft.” Tony rolled his eyes. “I lasted five years without you. I’ll never be okay.”

Peter smiled sadly. He still wished he could hug him. “I’ll miss you, Tony.”

“I’ll miss you too, kiddo.”

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chalcid · 4 years ago

Text

9: Follow the Swords (Disappear

I was solid, again, I think. The world still resembled an abstract painting I made in third grade, but I staggered to my feet. Wild Magic was like the worst amusement park ride ever, but it has sure helped me appreciate the feeling of my boots on the ground.

As the world began to stop swirling and churning before my eyes, I could make out Edonia and Kev.

"You weren't there before," I think Edonia said. It was hard to tell in this dreamy state.

"Hey guys," I said weakly "So, I just had a really bizarre encounter with the guitarist from Thordis's band and I think we're supposed to follow the swords."

"Swords?" Kev asked "A guitarist? What?"

"Hang on," Edonia said "How do we know you're the real Merika?"

"Test me."

"How do you classify any objects you find when you're not sure where it's from or what it is."

"Usually by whatever's going on in my life at the time, along with relevant information, like the School Dance Vase or the Unit 3 half a pot," I replied.

"It's her," Edonia said to Kev.

Kev hugged me tightly. "I'm glad you are okay."

"Me too," I replied.

"Look," Kev said "Swords. We should follow those right?"

"Yeah," I confirmed.

Swords, heavily rusted from who knows how many years of rain were stuck blade first into the ground like they were garden lights. It was almost annoying how painfully obvious it was.

We had wandered the woods for several hours. I was absolutely soaked to the bone, although the rain had stopped. Curse my arrogance. Umbrellas, as it turned out, were not for the weak but for the clever, and oh, what a fool I was.

"Kev," I said, "If anyone ever offers to teleport you with Wild Magic, ask them for a map instead."

"I will."

We plodded on a bit longer.

"End of the line," Edonia said, holding her arm out to bring us to a halt. "There are no more swords."

I glanced at the swords, and then glanced up. There was a curtain of ivy concealing the ruins at the end of the path.

"Open the ivy-curtain," I mumbled, sitting down on a tree stump. "I need to sit for a moment."

"Okay," Edonia said. She glanced at me, and then at the ivy-curtain. "You don't think that the... the spirit who told you all this was lying? This could very well be a trap."

"I know them," I said "I mean, I met them once, and they didn't say anything to me, but they seem cool."

"Did they ask for something in return?" Edonia fretted "What did you promise them?"

"Just that I would buy them some coffee. They get to choose when and where, though."

Edonia relaxed "Then we probably won't die walking into here. You two wait here, I'll scout ahead."

She parted the ivy-curtain and disappeared inside.

"It's past my bedtime," Kev said, moving to stand beside me. "Our family must be super worried."

I chuckled bitterly "You're a good kid, Kev. I'm so sorry I dragged you all the way out here."

"I didn't want you to be lost and far away from home all alone," Kev said, touching my arm.

"I should have been firmer. I should have lied," I buried my head in my hands "I do reckless, stupid stuff all the time and everyone's used to me just... running off. Disappearing. I shouldn't have let you come with me."

"You'd be out here with just Edonia," Kev argued.

"So what? Eddy is an absolute wizard and she knows all kinds of cool things and she's got her life put together."

"You're my sister," Kev said "Sisters are there for each other, right?"

I sighed deeply "This isn't you keeping me out of trouble. This is me dragging you right into it."

Kev didn't answer that.

Edonia poked her head out of the ivy "Okay, it's safe."

"Wait," I said "What did I get you for your last birthday?"

"A pocket watch from an Asterellan shipwreck with amethysts," Edonia replied.

"Okay, it's her," I said mostly to myself. "Let's go check out these ruins already.

I pulled open the ivy curtain "After you,"

Something echoed back "No, after you."

The ruins were absolutely creepy. I mean, the whole woods were creepy, sure, but the village was a completely different kind of creepy. I expected it to be like the rest of the woods with the black and red trees and bones and swords and things whispering about you in the shadows.

Here, there was grass, good old green grass poking up from the dirt. The trees were cleared in an almost perfect circle. The actual village had been sunk into the mud, leaving only the crooked tops of the buildings. The only structure left untouched was a tower on the opposite side of the woods.

"I don't think we should try and go into any of the houses," I informed Edonia. She nodded in agreement.

"Anything interesting has got to be covered in mud," Edonia sighed "If it wasn't so dangerous, maybe we could excavate the place, but..."

"Let the past be buried this time. Cheer up, there might be something cool in the tower," I said. I paused "Actually, everyone, take a turn-back-check. It's here, we saw it," I fumbled with my phone and snapped a few pictures "And now we have photos. So, at this point, it technically wouldn't be a loss if we went home."

"Let's check out the tower and then head home," Edonia said "This is the only chance to explore here we've got."

I glanced up at the stars in the sky "We could come back when it's daytime."

"No, we should see this through," Kev said.

"Curses. I hate it when I'm the sensible one. Alright, let's go check out this tower, but there has to be something cool I can bring home or I'm going to scream."

"Sounds fair," Edonia said "Just don't scream while we're here, or the Calandra Deer might mistake you for a mate."

The thought generated a large amount of yikes.

Runes were gouged in the tower's wood. I squinted at them. Yep, that wasn't written in a language I could understand. They did look vaguely similar to the runes on Deyanira's skin, though. The same language maybe? I took a picture.

Edonia pushed the door open, and we stepped into the tower. She turned on her flashlight and begun swinging the light back and forth.

"Wait," I said.

She froze.

"Up and to the right a little."

The light hit a mural. I took a picture.

"The Calandra Deer," Kev said, touching the paint carefully "And the village."

It was a gruesome painting. People screaming. Blood everywhere. Calandra Deer with arms and legs in their mouths. But...

"Did someone just... stop and paint everything in detail while everyone else was packing up," I questioned. "Edonia, to the right, please."

Another mural. Fire raining from the sky while ships sailed away. The castle looked like the old Mariveyan one in pictures, but the Bazflamep flag was raised. Ships were sailing away.

"This would be the war," I said.

"But that would have been hundreds of years after anyone lived here," Edonia said. The light fell on the third mural.

"And I have no idea what this is," I declared.

There were a group of singers in a circle, heads bowed. In the background, there were more people playing instruments, a couple with swords, and plenty of people using various water magics. A stormy sea with waves ten times as tall as them, at least. And a water demon with a crown and some sort of weird blue lightning.

Wait. That wasn't lightning, it was the barrier.

The barrier cracking.

"This is weird," I announced "How could anyone have known anyone about this."

"Let's search the place," Edonia suggested. "Maybe the resident kept a diary?"

She shone the flashlight around the room, while Kev and I checked under things and on top of things.

"Nothing in here," Kev declared.

"Let's check upstairs then," Edonia decided.

"Watch your step," I warned Kev "Old staircase are rarely stable."

Luckily, we made it up the steps without incident. And... jackpot! A desk.

"Logical place to keep a diary, right," I said, gesturing to the desk.

"Maybe a bit obvious," Kev said skeptically.

"Maybe. But let's check anyway," I said.

Edonia passed Kev the flashlight and opened the drawers. "Nothing... wait, no, I spoke too soon," she pulled out a book and held it aloft like a divine scroll of knowledge. "This is it. I hope."

Something thumped, and we all jumped.

"Hey, let's get out of here," Kev suggested.

"Fully agreed," I said. I glanced at a table "Ooh, shiny. Could I take this with me?" I asked, pocketing a ring of some sort.

"Sure. Let's just get home. My family must be terribly worried," Edonia fretted.

"Ours too," Kev said.

We all glanced at each other. There was another thump.

We sprinted for the door, slammed it shut, and raced back into the woods proper. The heavy rain had returned, so did my terror.

"Keep the flashlight on," I suggested "Maybe it could scare off predators? We could link hands, too, so as not to get separated again."

"Smart," Kev said.

I grabbed Edonia's hand and Kev grabbed mine and we all stumbled through the woods until we found a road.

"Oh thank the stars," Edonia said, collapsing into the roadside grass. "I'm never doing that again. But we've got the diary, and we can read it together tomorrow after school."

"Sounds great," I said, patting the pocket with the diary and the ring to make sure they were still there. "I'm going to call a ride home."

I dialed Uncle Decimus. He picked up almost immediately.

"Merika? Are you hurt? It's two in the morning, what happened?"

"Uncle Decimus, I'm somewhere outside Bramble Woods. I'm not sure where. I need a ride, but I'm not alone."

"What?" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, that came out confusing. I set out on what I thought would be a fun adventure in the rain this afternoon and then it went downhill. My friends and I, we found the road though. We're scared, please come and get us."

"I'm on my way," he declared.

"Okay, Uncle Decimus is coming to pick us up," I announced "Let's just sit tight for now."

It started raining even harder. Kev whistled quietly to herself. I vaguely recognized the tune as a theme song to something Lawrence watched.

I spotted a car zooming down the road at ten above the speed limit and pointed "I think that's him!"

The driver rolled down the window, and it was, in fact, Uncle Decimus.

"Merika," he shouted.

I waved, and he parked the car next to us. "Oh, you girls look so pale... No wait, you might just be naturally pasty, but Merika, you shouldn't be that color. You're halfway dead."

He paused his speech to embrace me only to pull away and mutter something like "So cold."

"Thank you, Mr. Saltwaters," Edonia said politely.

"Yeah, thanks," Kev piped up.

Uncle Decimus rubbed his eyes and stared at her "You're a child. Why is this child accompanying you on a dangerous quest."

"She invoked my emotional weakness and I couldn't say no," I mumbled "Never again."

"Never again is right. Get in the car, kids, I'll take you wherever you need to go."

"Thank you," Edonia said again. She glanced at me "Should we test to make sure it's really him?"

"Nah," I decided "He didn't come from the woods."

"What?" Uncle Decimus asked.

"Wild magic," I spread my arms "It's real. I'll tell you more about it on the ride home."

Uncle Decimus opened the the door, and Edonia and Kev moved the window shield to squeeze into the backseat.

I plopped down next to them, and to home we rode.

#writing #wip disappear

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xiolaperry · 4 years ago

Text

Four Ways Gaston Could Have Died (and the One Way He Actually Did)- Chapter 4

Summary: We all agreed at the end of ‘The Piano’ that Gaston deserved to die. More than once. But how? I opened it up to prompts, and here they are…

Notes: @peacehopeandrats prompted “struck by lightning”, and @emospritelet seconded it. Thank you for the idea!

---

Gaston whistled as he led his horse. It was going to be a great day. He was almost finished with the fence that marked off the fifty acres of land that Gold had traded him for the piano.

Looking back on the transaction, he realized he ought to have been more suspicious. No one in their right mind would trade good land for a musical instrument. He'd gotten the better part of that deal. Gold was an idiot. The piano was rotting at the bottom of the ocean. And speaking of rotting, he wondered what Gold had done with Belle's finger...

The only thing amiss in his life was that he'd had quite enough of being treated like a pariah. So he'd lost his temper and punished an adulteress, big deal. People needed to move on and get over it.

He patted his horse, who carried his supplies for the day. “I've got you, right, Magnifique? You and Aunt Cora. The rest of them can go to hell.” If it hadn't been for his Aunt Cora, he'd probably have been run out of town by now. But no one would dare. And he wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of leaving.

Gaston heard voices up ahead. He stopped the horse and grabbed his shotgun and loaded it. Carrying it slung over his shoulder, he continued on. He crested the hill and saw Granny and Kamira.

“What are you doing on my land again? I told you to keep off!”

“This was Gold's land. He returned it all to the Maori people when he left. Therefore, it is now Maori land,” Granny replied, a sparkle in her eye.

Gaston gritted his teeth. Everyone knew he'd made a gentleman's agreement for these fifty acres. If Gold wanted to be stupid and give the Maori his land instead of selling it, fine. This part was his. But Granny kept pestering him about it. Her constant trespassing with her favorite hunting companion, Kamira, was infuriating. It hadn't dawned on him that his response was precisely why Granny kept doing it.

“This is MY land and you know it. I traded that damned piano for it.”

“Gold gave the piano back--”

“I know that. It doesn't matter! He said it was still mine!”

“--therefore we are entitled to hunt here,” continued Granny, speaking over his objections.

Gaston's face purpled with rage at her continued refusal to accept that the land was his.

“When I finish this fence and put up the 'no trespassing' signs, I'll shoot anyone who sets foot on this property!”

“Pōkokohua!” shouted Kamira, and spat at Gaston's feet. He stalked off, leaving Gaston shaking with anger.

“You're just lucky Gold instructed them not to take revenge on his behalf. You'd be missing a finger of your own by now.” Granny followed Kamira, and the two disappeared into the underbrush.

“I could take on the entire tribe! Let them try to come after me!” Silence greeted his outburst. “ARGH!' screamed Gaston in frustration. He was sick of everyone throwing the incident back in his face.

He took several deep breaths, trying to get his rage under control. His hands shook, and he wanted nothing more than to follow them into the jungle and demonstrate what happened to people who disrespected him. What happened to Belle would look like a kindness when he was through with them.

Aunt Cora's warning to behave won out over his pride. He didn't want to cross her, and she had told him in no uncertain terms that no outbursts were permitted for the time being. He just had to bide his time.

His frustration receded as he worked, but the anger remained. The fence was his focus. When he finished it, he would put up the signs and his problems would go away. And if they didn't... it gave him grim satisfaction to picture Granny's and Kamira's heads mounted and hung up like trophies on his wall.

Intent on his labor, Gaston did not notice the storm brewing. The sky, a clear blue that morning, darkened as inky clouds piled on the horizon. The wind picked up, fluttering the leaves on the trees, and the light took on an ominous greenish cast.

Gaston's axe continued to ring out as he felled small trees, and his hammer pounded posts into the ground. Driven to get as much done as possible, his ears didn't register the thunder in the distance.

A light drizzle started. A man like Gaston did not let something as insignificant as a little rain stop him.

He pictured various faces as he hit the posts: Granny, Gold, Belle. He faltered when he remembered Tilly. He hadn't expected to enjoy having a child around, but she'd grown on him. Emma Nolan, on the other hand, was a little brat that stuck her tongue out whenever she saw him. Her face worked.

The storm rolled closer. It was raining in earnest now, soaking his clothes, the water running into his eyes. Hail pelted him. He shook his fist at the heavens. Was everything, even the weather, turning against him? He wasn't stopping, not until he decided to stop. Lightning danced across the sky.

A tremendous, teeth-rattling boom. Jolting, searing pain. The world exploded in white light. Gaston's entire body seized and stiffened as pure energy raced through him to the earth. Paralyzed by the strike, the ground rushed up to meet him and he could not break his fall.

His clothes smoked and caught fire, flickering, and then extinguishing in the rain. Steam rose from his body as tremendous heat radiated from the inside out. He could not breathe, he could not hear. His heart stuttered, then stopped.

When Granny found him the next morning, his axe was still clutched in his hand. His last thought had been that he hadn't gotten to finish his fence.

End Notes: Next chapter will be the “way he actually did” die. We’ll finally see Gold, Belle, and Tilly. Somehow it turned into a Colonel Ives backstory. Thank you to everyone who’s reading my strange little series.

#the piano #four ways #gaston death #but he deserves it #my fic

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oohfluffy · 5 years ago

Text

DDND Ch.25 | KJI

Group: EXO

Member: Kim Jongin

Theme: Fluff | Dancer!AU | Dormmmate!AU

Word Count: 2,904

❀ Chapter 25: By Your Side ❀

"Kai!" You silently called out as he dragged you inside the hotel. Concierges slightly bow as you two walk past by them. You awkwardly smile at them.

"Yah! How'd you know about my fiancé?!" You quietly squealed as Kai ignored you, still leading you to somewhere like he knows this place for a long time now.

"You're really not gonna answer me?!"

You were panicking right now. What if your fiancé's already there? What will he say about this? Yes, you did plan to confront him about the arranged marriage, that you don't want it to happen because you already have someone, but this is happening too fast and you can't even think!

"Kim Jongin! I swear if you—"

Kai opened a huge double doors on the end of the hall you've entered earlier. You looked around and saw that you're in a private area, which you know that's only reserved for VIPs. Your eyes widened, tugging Kai's hand.

"What are we doing here?" You asked, your eyes couldn't rest in one place, observing the place in panic. Kai gently pulled you inside the room and sighed. If your jaw hasn't dropped earlier from the shining and luxurious objects you've seen everywhere, it did now when you saw the room Kai led you into.

"W-What..."

Tall windows made the sunshine peek through the hanging elegant light brown curtains with golden laces on its edges, the floor was carpeted in a brownish color, a rounded glass table on the center with a long golden cloth over it and a candlelight on its middle, two comfy-looking chairs in front of each other and resting under the table, and lights are slightly dimmed in yellow, making the candle stand out. A few concierges were on the side as they slightly bowed down at your entrance.

"Let's sit, shall we?" Kai smiled at you, pulling a chair for you. You hesitantly sat down, blinking at the candlelight in front of you. Kai immediately sat on the other side and raised his hand towards the concierges. With that simple gesture, they all moved so quick.

One went over to your table with a tray and carefully placed the plates and utensils in front of you. The next one placed the mouth-watering and extravagant meals you've never had in your whole life. Another one put wine into your glasses that looks like half of an hourglass. Everything seems so perfect already when an instrumental music suddenly played, making it so much more romantic.

"What the hell is this, Jongin?" You asked, smiling at the concierges that served you. Kai was just observing your reactions with everything, smiling like an idiot.

"Don't you like it? I think everything's perfect—"

"That's not it. Answer my questions already, will you?" You crossed your arms, slightly gulping your saliva as you looked down on the food tempting you.

"Let's eat first, babe. I'm hungry. I didn't even have breakfast earlier because I was so eager to meet you."

"M-Meet me?!"

Your brain suddenly started working in the right way and realization hit you hard like a building fell on you, causing your eyes to widen like an owl.

"Your expression's funny. You look like Kyungsoo sunbae." Kai giggled as he watched you slowly realizing everything.

"Y-You... You've gotta be kidding—"

"I've been serious from the start, baby. I'm not playing with you." Kai stared into your eyes with his serious expression, the same expression when you saw him before on the other side of Winter Heat Café.

"W-What? H-How did this happen, Kai?" You asked, your hands clenching onto your dress.

"I'll tell you everything now..." Kai trailed off, making you take a deep breath in preparation. "...in one condition."

"What?! You owe me big time, Kai! You've been hiding me everything. Why would you even—"

"When I ask you this question, say yes, okay?" Kai calmly said as he stood up and went to you. Your heart beats faster than ever, invisible sweat rolling down on your forehead. "Answer me, baby."

"Okay. I will."

Kai grinned in victory as he slowly went down on one of his knees and kept one up as if he's proposing—

"Oh shit." You cursed to yourself, eyes watering in realization. Kai took out a black velvet box from his coat, softly smiling as he gazed at you. He opened it and presented to you the most beautiful ring you've ever seen. The golden ring has little diamonds gathered together in the middle, forming a large diamond. There's something carved under it but you couldn't see, you'll save that for later then.

"Will you marry me, Zhang Lin?"

Kai smiled up at you as he gently took your hand and placed the ring perfectly on your ring finger.

"I haven't even answered you—"

"You'll say yes anyway." Kai leveled his face on yours and grinned at your blushing face. Your hand was occupied by his large ones, letting you have his warmth. "I love you, my fiancé."

"You owe me a lot of explanations, Kim Jongin. Don't you forget that—"

"Where's my I love you too?" Kai whined as he pouted. You giggled as you freed your hands from his, gently placing them around his neck, pulling him closer.

"I" You kissed his forehead, a smile tugging up on his lips as you did. "love" A kiss on his nose, causing him to giggle like a girl. You slightly pulled away to look at his eyes which are crinkling in delight. Your eyes slowly went to his plump pinkish lips.

"You're taking too long, babe." Kai whispered, taking the initiative to lean forward. You smiled.

"You."

Pressing your lips gently on his, Kai wrapped his arms on your waist. You smiled as he pulled on your lower lip playfully. It may seem awkward to see your position but you feel comfortable with everything right now.

You can't believe you two skipped the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship and jumped to being fiancés.

Not that you mind though.

♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

You rolled your eyes at the talking bear behind you as you arranged the papers on your desk. Your laptop was still open, projecting an airline website.

"I've told you about this, Kai. You were so busy that you've forgotten about it." You mumbled, sitting down on your desk chair.

It's been a week since that surprising event in your whole life. You were totally in shock for a few days when you knew that your father was involved with everything. You didn't know that your father already knew about you and Kai from the start, letting him arrange your marriage with Kai secretly. And this devil dancer agreed without hesitations, even planning that event enthusiastically.

It seems like your father and Kai are in good terms from the start.

You got scared and nervous for nothing.

"Appa gave me the permission already—"

"What about your fiancé's permission? You don't need it? You don't need me?" Kai's eyebrows knitted as he whined like a puppy. Your wall was wavering, making you huff in defeat. You turned your desk chair to him.

"Baby, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this for the third time. I really told you about this when you were at the dorm and you just nodded so I thought you're okay with it. I even told you my plan when you visited here last Monday and you just kept on nodding as you read papers in your hands. How am I supposed to know you didn't understand anything?" You grabbed his hands and slowly swayed it as if you're dancing.

Kai frowned as you spoke before letting out a sigh.

"I'm the one who should apologize, baby. I didn't pay attention to you and just continued working like a mad man. I was actually planning to spend the weekend with you, that's why I wanted to finish everything I needed to do at the company."

You knew that Kai focused on their company now, taking a break from the dance practices in DanWiMu. You've been spending your time in your preparation for your studies, searching for the university you'll attend and where you'll stay there. You've been chatting with Joohyuk about the place he's staying, he even said that he'll pick you up and let you stay at his rented apartment near the university he's attending at. You were grateful for that.

"It's okay. I know you're exhausted too. You should rest, Kai. I heard from your secretary, you've been overworking." You gently squeezed his hands as you smiled up at him. Kai smiled, tugging you up with him. "Hey, I'm in the middle of someth—"

"Let's rest together then. You've been in front of that laptop since I got here. Show your baby some love, jagiya." Kai said as he pulled you with him on the bed, instantly wrapping his long legs on yours and his arms around you. You coughed playfully as if you're out of breath.

"What are you, a snake?" You giggled as you turned your body towards him. He has a contented smile on his lips with his eyes closed, making you nuzzle on his chest with a smile too.

"Ah. This is the best thing I'm looking forward to when I get home everyday." Kai mumbled as he kissed the top of your head, humming as your hands gently massaged his back.

"Are you permitting me to go, Kai?"

Kai glanced down at you, your eyes were up on him, cutely blinking. He bit his lip as he stared at you.

"Nope." He breathed out with a smirk. You lightly hit his chest with a pout. "What about our wedding then? We just got engaged and you're leaving me? You're cruel, baby." Kai shook his head with a frown.

"You can wait for me. I'll just be there for half a year and then come back to—"

"No, no. I can't do that." Kai held you tighter. "I can't wait to become your husband." He sighed.

"You're killing me with your sweetness, you devil."

"You should gladly die then."

"Yah! You're—"

"I love you, babe." Kai whispered, nuzzling on your head. You blushed, your mind instantly went blank, forgetting why you're annoyed by him.

"I-I love you too." You whispered back, hiding your face in his chest, making him chuckle.

"Just so you know, I'm not letting you go."

♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫

After one month...

"Lin!!!"

You heard a familiar shout as you struggled pushing the luggage cart, mumbling to yourself about something. You almost squealed in happiness when you saw your tall best friend from the crowd, quickly pushing the luggage cart with all your might.

"JOOHYUK!" You called out as you opened your arms. Joohyuk grinned and instantly hugged you as he stopped in front of you.

"I'm glad you made it here!" He said with excitement in his voice, ruffling your hair. You grunted as he messed it up.

"I'm glad too!" You replied, smiling up at him.

"I'm not glad that you're too close to my fiancé though."

You quickly turned to the voice, you feel like getting irritated again.

"You devil, where have you gone? It was hard pushing that luggage cart you know! You left—"

"I went to the restroom, I told you." Kai shrugged, taking the handle of the luggage cart, breaking your contact with your best friend as he walked past by you. "Let's go."

"Joohyuk will be our tour guide!" You said as you cling your arms on your best friend's.

"Who told you?" Kai snapped, you can even see him roll his eyes. You scoffed.

"Me."

"No. We'll hire someone then. Or we can just explore together—"

"You'll just make it hard for us, Kai. Joohyuk volunteered!"

Kai huffed like a kid, stopping when you got outside of the airport. You grinned, knowing you won already.

"Fine..." You were about to say Yes triumphantly when he spoke again. "...but we'll take the van I rented online. It should be here in a minute— Here it is." Kai waved his hand at the white extravagant and costly-looking van which immediately stopped in front of you. Kai turned to you, reaching for your hand and successfully tugging you away from Joohyuk. "Let's go."

Kai sat you on the seat next to the window, quickly taking a seat beside you. He was about to close the door when Joohyuk looked at him with a surprised face.

"Oh. You sit in front, buddy." Kai said, grinning as he slide the door close. Joohyuk sighed as he opened the door at the passenger's seat.

"What a jealous fiancé." Joohyuk whispered as he sat down beside the driver.

"You saying something, bro?" Kai asked as he wrapped his arm on your shoulder like he's telling Joohyuk not to cross over his property.

"Nothing, Kai."

This is gonna be the longest trip ever.

♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫ ❧ ♫

"Argh. What the hell is this..." You mumbled as you reviewed the medical book you've just bought earlier. You're currently laying on your bed with a huge book in front of you as you read the words.

Classes are starting next week, completely making you nuts and make you helplessly try to review the confusing terminologies once again.

"Okay, calm down. Let's start again." You focused yourself and began talking in your mind. Your eyebrows knitted together as you read the medical terms and memorizing them.

As you were in the 10th page of reviewing, you felt someone sit behind you. Long limbs on either sides of you, arms on your waist, light fluffy hair tickling your ear as Kai's head popped on your shoulder, curiously peeking at your book.

"You look troubled, babe." Kai mumbled, pressing his lips on your shoulder. You sighed and leaned your back on him.

"That's probably because I am."

Kai hummed, rubbing your flat stomach as he continued kissing your neck.

"Well, do you want to take a break and play with me?" He whispered on your ear, tickling you and making you giggle. You shook your head as you pushed him away.

"I want to focus studying, you devil. You should be motivating me to study hard! You're such a bad boy." You laughed at him as he frowned when you looked down on your book again, ignoring his presence. Kai wrapped his arms tighter on your waist as if getting your attention again.

"I'm getting lonely." Kai whined, pressing his forehead on your back. You just hummed in reply. "Your baby needs attention, jagi~"

"I thought I was the baby?" You unconsciously asked, writing on your notepad seriously. Kai smirked, leaning on your neck again. "Yah!" You squealed when Kai bit your shoulder like a baby.

"You want daddy then?"

You squealed as his hot breath passed by your ear, you quickly got out of his grasp and ran away from him. Kai laughed as he ran after you. You went out of the room, squealing as you turn to look at the devil behind you. Kai was closely behind you with a grin on his face.

"Hyuk! Hyuk!" You called your best friend as you ran down the stairs. Joohyuk looked up from his book with a surprised look. "Help! There's a monster— AH!"

Kai caught you in his arms and picked you up like a sack of rice, waving his hand at Joohyuk as you struggled from his hold. You laughed as you hit Kai's back.

"Hyuk! I thought we're buddies!" Your voice drifted away as you and Kai went back upstairs. Joohyuk shook his head with a smile, looking back at his book.

"That couple really..." Joohyuk chuckled.

"You're really a devil." You mumbled as you lay your head on Kai's chest. His chest rumbled as he chuckled, combing your hair with his fingers.

"Is it my fault you're too ticklish? I just took advantage of that and you gave up studying this time." Kai said, making you glare up at him.

"It's your fault for distracting me!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you review later. We'll be up all night, baby."

"Why am I getting shivers from that?"

"It's because your brain's too green."

"Ah, so we'll play like that? You sleep on the floor tonight."

Kai whined, pulling you closer.

"Don't be like that. I was just joking."

"Hmph."

He made you smile, made you cry, made you laugh and made you feel every feeling you haven't felt before. You didn't like his attitude before when you first met, just starstruck by his stunning looks. You didn't know you'll fall for him eventually as you both lived together in the same dorm.

He is the devil dancer you'll willingly let gracefully dance in your heart.

"Do you know where's the best place I'll ever be?" Kai mumbled as you get drawn to dreamland. You hummed in reply, burying your head on his chest.

"The best place is always being by your side, baby. I'm the happiest when I'm with you."

"Too cheesy." You mumbled.

"I thought you're asleep?!"

"Hmm. You're noisy."

"Go back to sleep now or I won't let you sleep later."

You smiled as Kai kissed your forehead.

"I love you."

—

❀ Ep.

21 notes · View notes

randomfandomimagine · 5 years ago

Text

Magical (Jonathan x Reader)

Character: Jonathan Byers

Fandom: Stranger Things

Categories: Gender Neutral Reader, Friends to Lovers, Stargazing

Warnings: Hardcore fluff

Word Count: 3.212 words

Summary: Y/N is best friends with Jonathan, and one day he picks her up to hang out. Even though they both have fun that day, Y/N makes a discovery about her own feelings that changes everything.

I bopped my head to the rhythm of the song during the instrumental. Letting myself go and enjoying every second of the music, I danced around my room and started singing the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

“Can anybody find me…” I moved around as I waited for more words to sing to. “Somebody to love”

I opened my mouth, taking a deep breath to continue singing, when a sound interrupted me. I quickly turned around to the source of the noise, just to find Jonathan standing at the door.

“Jon…” I mouthed, feeling myself blushing when I noticed the small smirk on his lips. How long had he been standing there for? How much of my solo performance did he catch?

I quickly took my headphones off, resting them around my neck. I watched him standing there leaning against the doorframe, his fist still resting over the wood from when he knocked on it.

“H-Hi!” I greeted him, chuckling to play it cool. “That was stupid, huh?”

“Hi…” That cute grin wouldn’t leave his lips. “I think it was great”

“Shut up…”

“Can I come in?”

“Sure” To give myself something to do, I walked to the music player and unplugged the headphones so Freddie Mercury’s voice flooded my room. “What brings you here?”

As I looked over my shoulder to Jonathan, I noticed he had sat at the edge of my bed. He shrugged a little in response to my question.

“I thought we could hang out” He replied, timidly locking eyes with me. “Want to go out for a bit?”

I smiled a little when he averted his eyes again. No matter how close were, he had taken the habit of looking away if he looked into my eyes for more than three seconds. Even if we had been best friends for years now.

“Sure!” I jumped on the bed, making him bounce a little, to move to the other side of the room faster. “Let me see what I can wear”

“You’re in a good mood today” Jonathan observed, turning his body to me, smiling a little himself.

“Yeah, I don’t really know why” I cheerfully replied, even though I knew his visit had only made my day even better. “I just having a feeling it’s gonna be a great day”

I rummaged through my closet, trying to find some nice clothes to wear and get changed out of my pijamas. I finally grabbed a pair of shorts and a bright T-shirt and threw them on the bed next to Jonathan.

“What do you want to do?” He asked me, briefly looking at my choice of clothes.

“We could go shopping” I turned back round to face him, observing his expression.

“S-Shopping?” Even though his brow furrowed, he didn’t object.

“Yeah” I grinned, knowing he was too nice to say no to something I wanted to do. “Maybe spend the day looking at summer dresses”

“Uh…” He blinked, moving his gaze from the clothes I chose to me. When he saw the amusement in my expression, he rolled his eyes a little. “Really funny”

“You’re so sweet” I softly pressed my lips to his cheek. “You were willing to bore yourself to death just to go shopping with me”

He suddenly stood up, probably to distract me from his subtle blushing. Then he awkwardly rubbed his nape and nodded towards the door.

“I should leave you to get changed” Jonathan muttered, but I held him by the wrist.

“Nah, my parents are still in the living room” I preferred to spar him the awkwardness. “Just don’t look, I won’t take long”

“Okay” Obliging when I gently tugged at his wrist, he sat on the bed again.

He faced his back to me as I quickly changed from my pijamas into the summer street clothes. The silence had settled in my room –with the exception of Queen’s music in the background still –until I plopped down in the bed next to him and put some shoes on.

“Hair up or down?” I casually asked, leaning on his shoulder to stand up and catch my balance with the platform shoes. Even if they weren’t too high, but I didn’t wear them often.

“What?” He watched as I positioned myself in front of the small mirror in my wall and combed my fingers through my hair. I turned to him and demonstrated, holding up my hair in a ponytail with just my hands. “Mm… Up”

“Up it is” I smiled at him, earning a smile back, and secure my ponytail with a scrunchy.

“My car is parked right outside” Jonathan told me, quickly taking a look at me now that I was changed and my hair was done. “Ready?”

“Yup!” I took his hand to pull him up and walked outside with him.

Jonathan drove us downtown, listening to music the whole ride there, to figure out what we wanted to do. As we walked around Hawkins, he suggested what we could do.

“Want to watch a movie?”

“Nah, I don’t feel like sitting around for so long”

“Yeah” He softly nudged me with his elbow, his hands still shoved in the pockets of his jacket. “You’re too restless for that”

I stuck my tongue out at him in response to his playful comment. Then, as my stomach complained, I rested a hand over his arm.

“Oooh!” I piped up, shaking him a little. “I’m peckish, let’s get something to eat!”

“Where?” He muttered, staring at me in expectation.

“Anywere, c’mon!” I grabbed him by the hand and pulled at it, dragging him with me.

Jonathan gladly followed, chuckling a little.

We found a place and ordered our food. While we waited, we chatted like we always did. Conversation flew so easily with Jonathan, and it felt even more interesting than usual. It was exhilarating, I had never felt so… happy.

“That’s crazy, Bowie is so much better” Jonathan was saying as he absently played with the napkin dispenser.

“Yeah, right” I scoffed, earning a quick glance from him. “Queen can take Bowie any day”

“Bowie’s cooler”

“Uh, I think not! Mercury all the way”

“You know this is pointless, right? Our last argument lasted a week”

“Yeah, still haven’t forgiven you for saying Jaws is the best movie ever”

“It is!” Jonathan exclaimed, even if he was grinning.

“Let’s just say Bowie and Queen” I held my hand out for him as a peace offering.

“Under Pressure” He agreed with a head nod, shaking my head. “Was pretty cool, but-”

Just then, the waitress came by with our order. As soon as the food was set in the table before me, I attacked the hamburger with appetite. Jonathan chuckled at the sight, calmly picking up a couple of fries from his plate.

“Just peckish, huh?” He joked as he watched me wolf down my food.

I held one finger up, waiting until I was done chewing, and then replied to him.

“Just stop looking at me and eat, Jon” I snapped, eyeing him as he obliged with a smile.

I had to conceal a chuckle when I noticed he stained his chin with ketchup with the first bite out of his hamburger. And then, as I fondly watched him, I was hit with realization. Why I was so happy, why the fact that he picked me up only made me happier, why I wanted to dress a bit differently to be pretty. Jonathan was my best friend but… I had a crush on him!

I gasped, accidentally inhaling the food in my mouth and chocking on it. I began coughing when it went down the wrong pipe, and I noticed how Jonathan frowned in concern. Seeing as I kept chocking, he immediately stood from his seat and moved to stand by my side, gently patting my back to help me out. When my coughing subsided, his hand still lingered there, now rubbing my back to comfort me.

“You okay?” He whispered, sitting next to me. I urgently nodded, gulping to try and get rid of the sensation in my throat. “Here, drink from my Coke”

I accepted the drink, which helped me swallow the rest of the food. Well, that was stupid.

“I’m okay” I awkwardly chuckled, suddenly flustered by his attentive staring. “I was eating too fast”

“You scared me…” He breathed out, leaning back on the seat. “You’re so hyper today”

“Sorry” I muttered, trying to ignore all the thoughts swarming inside my brain all at once. All concerning the boy sitting next to me. “I just like hanging out with you”

Jonathan furrowed his brow in surprise, but a warm smile crept up on his lips. Then he chuckled, a bit more relaxed now. His brow eyes met with mine, but just briefly as he averted them as he usually did.

I looked outside the window to my left to hide my embarrassment, also wondering if the reason why he was always too flustered to maintain eye contact with me was his usual awkwardness or the fact that maybe, just maybe, he liked me back.

As he occupied his seat in front of me again, I eyed my half eaten hamburger. The butterflies in my stomach suddenly made it harder to keep eating, and they only intensified when I looked at him.

My energies started to die down as we took a walk around Hawkins, continuing the conversation we left unfinished at the diner. However, and while Jonathan didn’t seem tired in the slightest, I was exhausted. My feet were throbbing, so I nudged him and pointed at the closest seat.

I tiredly plopped down on the bench, ignoring Jonathan when he watched me in amusement as he sat down next to me. I leaned the heel of my feet against the edge of the bench, trying to give them a break.

“Do your feet hurt?” He teased me, with that little knowing smile.

“Yeah, so?” I jokingly glared at him, wiggling them a little to restore the circulation.

“I haven’t even seen you wear them before” Jonathan looked down to my platform sandals. “Why the change?”

“Felt like it today” I shrugged a little, suddenly feeling shy again. “Wanted to be pretty…”

“You’re always pretty” Was his reply, maybe a bit too quickly.

I quickly turned my head to look at him, astonished by his words. Jonathan averted his gaze, opening and closing his mouth as though he was struggling to muster an excuse.

“Thanks” I uttered, truly moved by the sincerity with which he had spoken.

He stuttered a little before he finally smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

“I-It’s getting late” His brown eyes moved up to the sky, as the little sun left had gone and the night slowly settled in. “Want me to drive you home?”

The thought of leaving his company already saddened me, so I wanted to stretch it out somehow.

“Or… You know what we could do?” I grinned in excitement when the idea popped into my head. “Drive to the middle of nowhere and watch the stars”

I immediately felt silly for suggesting it since it was an unusual thing to do. Especially since it could be somewhat romantic. I would just love to do that, especially with him. I didn’t want to go home, I was having too much fun with him to leave him yet.

Besides, Jonathan was the perfect person to do that with. He knew how to be in silence, how to quietly sit next to someone and enjoy the calm moment instead of filling it with some stupid unnecessary blabber.

“That sounds nice…” He muttered absently-minded. “We can, if you want”

“Ugh” I groaned, dramatically letting my head fall on his shoulder. “But we have to get to the car!”

Jonathan chuckled a little at my exaggerated response. Then he shrugged, to which I backed away from him, and continued speaking.

“It’s not that far from here” He turned to me, his eyebrows arching when our eyes locked. “Think you can walk there?”

“Noooo” I whined, mentally scolding myself for choosing to wear those uncomfortable shoes even if they made me look taller and feel prettier.

With a smile plastered on his face, Jonathan stood up. Then he positioned himself directly in front of me, with his back facing me.

“Hop on then” To demonstrate, he acquired a ready stance.

“Piggyback ride to a car ride, huh?” I joked, standing on the bench to be taller.

“Only for you” He muttered, just as I hopped on his back.

“Thanks” I dangled my arms over his shoulders, intertwining my hands so they rested on his chest. “You’re so sweet, Jon”

“No problem” He hoisted me up and secured his grasp on my legs around his torso.

I bit my bottom lip when the butterflies that I thought were under control wildly flew inside my stomach again. I couldn’t contain a smile as he carried me to the car, leaning my chin on his shoulder.

“Jonathan?”

“Yeah”

“This day is being magical”

“What?”

“I-I’m just having fun, okay?”

“Okay” Jonathan giggled, so I hid my face on his shoulder in embarrassment. “That’s good”

“Shut up” I muttered against his jacket, slapping him in the chest.

“No, really” He lightly tilted his head towards me. “I’m having fun too”

The environment couldn’t be more different from the one of the city. There were almost no sounds that close to the forest, except for the sporadic sound of crickets in the distance. Lying in the hood of the car, the sound of the wind howling filled the silence as we looked up at the night sky. Slightly cold at the breeze, I leaned as close to Jonathan as I could in seek of body warmth. In spite of that, I treasured the perfect moment.

“It's so beautiful" I muttered in awe, very happy about my idea and Jon’s willingness to put it on practice.

“Like you" I could have sworn I heard him say.

“What?” I tilted my head to the side to look at him.

“For sure” He repeated, confirming I probably heard wrong.

I sighed in content, even if I felt myself starting to get really cold. The metal hood of the car under us was freezing, and lying there without moving wasn’t helping. It also seemed like the temperature dropped by the second.

“You okay?” Jonathan suddenly asked me when I leaned even closer to him.

“Huh?”

“You’re shivering…”

“Yeah, it’s… it’s cold”

Without a word, Jonathan sat up and took his jacket off. I noticed a tender look on his eyes as he laid the garment over me before lying back down next to me again.

“But…” I complained, noticing he was now left in a gray T-shirt. “You’ll get cold”

“It’s okay” He simply said, staring up at the sky.

“No, it’s my fault that I didn’t bring a jacket…”

“It’s okay, Y/N, really…”

Even though my heart started racing, I lied across his chest, trying to provide him with some warmth. He looked down at me, but this time I couldn’t meet his gaze.

“What are you doing?”

“Sharing”

“Y/N…”

“Next time I’ll bring a jacket, I promise”

“Deal”

We both laughed a little, trying to ignore the embarrassment of being this close.

I paused for a moment, sitting up and sliding my hands through the sleeves. It was a relief when I stopped feeling the breeze and the cold metal of the car. Jonathan’s jacket was warm and comfortable, even if a little big on me.

When I lied over him again, Jonathan was staring at me, so I gathered the courage to reciprocate with an inquisitive glance. I noticed a wide grin plastered on his lips, so I frowned in confusion.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You look so small in my jacket”

“Maybe because you’re too tall!” I huffed in outrage, even if his smile was infectious.

“Or you’re too small” He laughed, this time genuinely. “Is that why you wore those shoes?”

“Shut up!” I exclaimed, laughing in disbelief. “Is this payback from before?”

“Maybe” He shrugged a little, keeping his eyes locked on the stars. “Shopping...”

“I can’t believe you, Byers!” I softly slapped him in the chest, making him laugh.

“Hey, you started it”

“I never insulted you”

“You called me gullible”

“I did not”

“You implied it”

“Well, you called me short”

“Because you are”

I let out a genuine guffaw, causing him to look down at me while he laughed a little too. I shuddered when our gazes met, but this time it wasn’t because of the cold. This time, he didn’t look away after a few seconds. And neither did I.

I only realized we were leaning closer to each other when my eyes closed and our lips touched. It was a gentle kiss, gingerly pressing our mouths together. It was short and chaste, but it was… wonderful.

When we broke away, I looked into his eyes again. His eyebrows twitched, and it felt like he wanted to look away but couldn’t. I had that feeling too, like the butterflies in my stomach were reminding me why they were there.

Heat flushed up to my cheeks, and I was grateful for the lack of light. Still too embarrassed to hold his stare any longer, I hide my face on his chest instead.

“Uh…” Jonathan muttered, violently clearing his throat. “Okay…”

“I’m so embarrassed” I admitted in an attempt to feel better, even if it didn’t make any sense.

“That’s a first” He joked, kindly rubbing my arm. “Wish I had my camera here to capture the moment Y/N admitted to embarrassment”

“Stop picking on me!” I whined against the fabric of his shirt.

I heard him chuckling before the sounds of the night took over the moment again. Cautiously, I looked up at him and saw a serene but thoughtful expression on his face.

“Should we... talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“I don’t know... What it meant to you”

“It meant...” Jonathan paused to clear his throat. “That I wanted to kiss you”

“Great, because maybe I wanted to kiss you too” I casually said, ignoring my racing heart.

“Good”

I giggled to lessen the tension, dragging my hand closer to where his rested over his stomach. Jonathan’s fingers brushed against mine, and soon they were intertwined.

“I…” I felt him moving around, but I didn’t look up. “I-It’s getting really late, we should head back”

“No” I nuzzled his shoulder, too comfortable there with him to abandon that. “Just a bit longer”

“Y/N, it’s almost 2 am” I was definitely surprised that time had passed so fast, but I didn’t voice it.

“I don’t care!”

“Your parents are gonna worry”

“Five more minutes”

“Y/N” He shook me a little. “Come on, you’re gonna get sick”

“I’m not cold anymore! And I’m so comfy! This place is so peaceful and cozy...”

“Five more minutes?”

“Five more minutes”

“Okay”

I closed my eyes with a content smile, snuggling clsoer to him. Jonathan brushed his thumb against the back of my hand, and it felt like everything was even more magical than before.

Tag list: @xionroxas / @raararasputin / @welcome-here-in-my-world / @suenami3 / @bitchingpretty // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, let me know!!

#imagine #text imagine #oneshot #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things oneshot #st #st imagine #st oneshot #stranger things fluff #jonathan byers #jonathan byers imagine #jonathan byers oneshot #jonathan byers x reader #jonathan byers fluff #reader insert #not requested #faves

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