#they just HAPPEN to be in front of the MOST important rooftop pool for the queers in thai bl lololololol)
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thanks to the sponsors for supporting all the gay sex with your funding <3 gotta be my favourite supporting characters (and yes the homewrecking bike makes a return from last year eheheheheehe)
bonus (more like 'in-the-line-of-fire') gay sex sponsor
KP two-year anniversary event; Prompt 2: Favourite Supporting Character + Misfit (more like MOSTfit lol)
#kpanniversary2024#kinnporsche the series#kinnporsche#kinn theerapanyakul#porsche pachara#vegas theerapanyakul#ft. pete tay and time#mile phakphum#apo nattawin#bible wichapas#yes i know the bonus looks like kinn's back is the supporting character...which i mean....valid....it supports porsche's weight while kinn.#y'all get where i'm going with this#BUT! it's supposed to be the bank lol...that's the supporting character....(and afaik they didn't ACTUALLY fund the series#they just HAPPEN to be in front of the MOST important rooftop pool for the queers in thai bl lololololol)#also...i just HAD to include the tiddyrub kinn bb you GO TO TOWN on those buds#bless him#farmhouse bread#mama okay noodles#ducati red bike#deutsche bank my beloved
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say amen (bkdk drabble)
(a little drabble based off of one of my favorite posts that ive ever made)
Katsuki’s not a religious man.
Yeah, okay, he believes in deities and goes to temples, the blond will admit that much. The existence of a higher power isn’t really that far from the realms of possibility when he regularly interacts with people who have the head of a bird or engines for legs. He celebrates the holidays, and on days where he’s feeling especially magnanimous, Katsuki even buys temple charms and sends out a quick prayer to whoever might be listening.
But he isn’t religious.
He doesn’t like feeling like he’s indebted to someone. That somehow, somewhere, there is someone Katsuki should be grateful to for giving him all his successes. He worked hard to get where he is now all by himself, thank you very much. The idea that everything is somehow predetermined or controlled by someone he can’t even see is one that makes the blond break out into hives.
A man with any dignity such as Katsuki’s is too proud to kneel to any god.
But then again… Izuku Midoriya is no such god.
He’s very much human, Katsuki would believe despite the seemingly endless strength his short and stocky figure possesses. He’s freckles and sunburns and scars and toothy smiles and everything that used to make the blond’s blood boil. Deku can’t dress himself nicely to save his life and sings All Might show tunes in the shower when he thinks no one can hear. Katsuki’s seen the boy throw up on his dumb red shoes and laugh so hard he scared himself with his own snorts.
He’s seen Deku at his worst. Crying and crumbling, body all bloodied and torn up after giving it his all. He’s seen him angry--borderline murderous even--with rage consuming him and leaving him gasping for breath as he saddles closer and closer to the line betwean life and death. He’s seen Deku broken and hollow, unable to eat for days and smelling like a decomposing corpse because the demons in his eyes had all but haunted him from even getting up to shower.
The point being, Katsuki knows that Izuku Midoriya is flawed.
He should, at least. Having seen these cracks and imperfections over and over should’ve cemented the idea that Deku was far from perfect. He sees sides of Deku that even their best friends, let alone the public have never seen. Bakugou knows that Izuku Midoriya is not a God--and is in fact very far from one.
But fuck if he doesn’t worship him like he is.
When Izuku confessed to him in their second year, Katsuki thinks that he learned what it feels like to die.
As dramatic as it sounds, it’s true. Watching those green eyes peel away from their locked gaze on his red ones to stare nervously at the ground causes Katsuki’s heart to jump. His palms were sweaty and blood roared in his ears, deafening him from all sounds except Deku’s voice. He’d initially thought that this was it. This was Deku preparing to tell him that he couldn’t stand being his friend anymore, that no matter how much Katsuki tried to atone for himself, Deku finally realized that Katsuki would never be worthy of his love.
It built up and up until Katsuki couldn’t breathe, willpower alone keeping him from gasping for breath as he awaited Deku’s rejection. The sun set in a brilliant cast of oranges and purples, but neither boy on the rooftop could stand to appreciate it when the sights in front of them were far more important.
“Kacchan,” he blurts at last. A sliver of his pink tongue peeks out to lick at his chapped lips. Katsuki’s chest constricts with want. “I like you.”
And it’s at those three words that Katsuki truly believes in an afterlife.
His heart clenches and stops for a different reason--a different feeling entirely. The world tilts on its axis and his breaths come up short, yet Katsuki’s never been happier to have been wrong. Parts of him shrivel up. Shudder in anxiety. Embers of raw anger and determination (leftover from years of scars and charred notebooks) tell him that he’s not worthy of Deku. That Katsuki is yet to even deserve to take the hand that has been waiting for him for his whole life.
Admittedly though, Katsuki Bakugou is a selfish, selfish man.
He stares at that freckled and blushing face like it’s a reflection of the universe itself. Green eyes that mistakenly take Katsuki’s silence as rejection grow watery, and yet as Katsuki stares into the molten pool of emerald and moss, he thinks he may see his entire life in those pretty eyes.
“...Kacchan? It’s okay if you don’t, uh, like me back. I u-understand if you feel uncomfortable or no longer want me be your friend even if it kinda s--”
“W-well really, it’s more of love. I... love you. Like, a lot. Have for a while I mean and I tried really hard to hide it but I’m sure it was obvious from the beginning and well, Uraraka said I was really bad at lying so I wasn’t really sure...” he mumbles. Stutters, because he’s human and very much not a god.
Katsuki Bakugou kisses Izuku Midoriya for the first time.
He kisses Izuku Midoriya because he wants all of him. He wants the sorrow and broken bones. The awkward laughter and nervous tics. Katsuki wants those green eyes to never stop looking at him and that mouth to never stop muttering the most inane nothings. He wants the beautiful and the ugly, the victories and the losses. He wants and he wants and he wants and he wants, and now that all of it is within his reach dear god is he never letting go.
The blond pours his soul into the kiss. Mouth harsh and unyielding, ever determined to prove to anyone watching that he’d throw away his life for this boy in a heartbeat. The desperation in their kiss practically daring anyone to try and pull them apart. Katsuki wants the kiss to say everything that he, in his weak and human state, cannot even begin to phrase. That somehow a single kiss could show the other that Katsuki loves him so much it breaks him inside. It’s so good that it’s painful. It’s painful and excruciating but fucking hell if Katsuki pulls away for one moment he thinks he might actually truly die.
They’re training to be pro-heroes, so of course their pain tolerance is higher than most. They’ve been taught to fight in any environment no matter what—could probably fight five people underwater for an hour without breaking a sweat. All of those hours of training somehow still mean nothing to Katsuki in the brilliance of the storm that is Izuku Midoriya.
Because as they kiss and breathe in each other’s air, Katsuki forces himself to pull away with a gasp.
Izuku thinks he’s hurt the blond accidentally, somehow. That he’d been too rough or pushed Bakugou into it or even just took his breath away from him in the literal sense. What the green-haired hero didn’t expect was the sheer devotion in ruby eyes.
(It would’ve scared him, if it didn’t make his knees shaky and heart rate speed up in exhilaration.)
Meanwhile, Katsuki’s drowning.
He’s drowning so deep in emotions that he’d never let himself feel until now. Drowning in his insecurities and greatest desires. Drowning in emotion and vigour. Drowning in the feeling of kissing Izuku fucking Midoriya. Part of him screams in agony, protesting this weakness as it fucks with his mind and squeezes at his heart.
The rest of him lets it happen.
Bakugou pulls away, gasping for breath. It’s too much and not enough, because he loves this boy so goddamn much that it actually hurts. He’s crying, and it’s kind of pathetic, really. So undone by a single kiss that tears streak down his face while white spots appear in vision of ruby eyes. A man so weak--so overcome with emotion that he can’t help but sob at the torrent of devotion that overtakes him. His heart throbs painfully and he struggles to take gulps of air, because Katsuki doesn’t truly love many people but there’s something about Izuku Midoriya that destroys him so thoroughly.
Ever understanding, ever patient, and ever too good for his damned, hell-bound soul, Izuku holds him close. He lets Katsuki weep into his jacket and runs scarred fingers through pale blond strands as the other boy tries to stifle his sobs. He hushes him with a light kiss to his temple and listens patiently as Katsuki whimpers every variant of ‘I love you’ under the sun.
Izuku Midoriya is no such god, but Katsuki Bakugou worships him like one nonetheless.
#AEFKSDJBDFMADKLDSWFRGJF#I DONT WRITE THAT MUCH IM SORRT IF THIS SUCKS#codi.docx#bnha#boku no hero academia#mha#my hero academia#bakugou katsuki#katsuki bakugou#izuku midoriya#midoriya izuku#bkdk#deku#kacchan#bakudeku#katsudeku#dekubaku#dkbk#decchan#bakudeku fic#bkdk fanfic
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Miscellaneous Batfam headcanons
Dick
He’s really the only person in the family who can get away with getting out of hostage situations because of his job as a police officer
… but he doesn’t
Yes he uses this as an excuse to hug his family
No he doesn’t feel bad about it
He’s a good actor, he has to be with his job, so if there’s other civilians around or the tied up henchmen are still conscious… well, what kind of asshole wouldn’t hug a sobbing civilian?
Clings to whichever unfortunate sibling is closest when he’s let go
Just… no shame whatsoever
Yeah, the family is more than a little hesitant to help him
Unfortunately for them Dick is pretty much the entirety of the family’s emotional support system
So, eventually, someone caves and goes to rescue him
(Also, one time they didn’t, and he was insufferable for months, and they don’t want a repeat of that)
Babs
Babs knows EVERYTHING
This makes getting around her… difficult
One time she decided to make everyone get over their unhealthy habits
She was mostly just concerned about everyone’s habit of substituting sleep with coffee
They'd done everything to keep Babs from finding out
Checked everywhere for bugs, made sure she wasn’t home, bought new phones, EVERYTHING
And yet when they snuck to the kitchen for food…
The phone started ringing
Cue screaming
They only got back their unhealthy habits by begging… and considering they're the bats…
Well, let’s just say it took a while
Jason
He regularly kidnaps his siblings
It’s a love language, okay?
He might not be good at emotions like Dick is
But he WILL break into everyone’s safehouses, grab them by the back of their shirts, and drag them out for joyrides and ice cream
And that’s just as important, really
The bats are terrible with dealing with emotions and he is perfectly happy to help them avoid their problems
His services also extend to stealing them away from Dick when he’s attempting to get them to open up before they're ready
One text and he’s there
There’s two older siblings, one of them has to be bad, it’s called balance
Tim
The only time he sleeps is when Bruce is attempting to lecture him
Of course, he didn’t start out that way
He’s Tim Drake, after all, he has a duty to be perfect at everything he does
But… there’s only so many times you can listen to the ‘Don’t do reckless stuff’ speech before you can recite it from memory
At this time, lecture time has been changed into nap time
Bruce has started to use this to his advantage
When he notices that Tim hasn’t slept in days he starts lecturing him
One time he had a dream where he was getting the lecture and he had to wake up
Bruce had to scramble to start lecturing again
Tim figured out what was going on after that
But the other option is to listen to the lecture all the way through so he accepts that he has to sleep
Steph
I see your “Jason Todd/Damian Wayne are the embodiment of the Cain Instinct(™)�� posts and raise you Stephanie-fucking-Brown
The Wayne Love Language is almost murdering each other and it really shows
Steph walks into a room and it is On Sight
Who punches first? Who knows
(It’s usually Steph)
It’s a smack or be smacked world and Steph is just living in it
No one is safe
At least they get a lot of sparring practice
Cass
You would think that having Cass around as a lie detector would be a good idea
And, on paper, you’d be right
She can tell when everyone is lying before they even open their mouths
But…
She’s a little bit more petty than people give her credit for
She Remembers Everything
She ranks siblings in her head based on who has the most indiscretions
Whoever is at the top of the list when something bad happens is the one she will point out as the culprit
And if nothing bad happens? Don’t worry about that, she’ll make something happen
Damian
He definitely gets teased the most because he just happens to be really young
(Doesn’t help that he’s so tiny)
But the moment someone has the audacity to make a joke about him or agree with one of his siblings?
Let’s just say the bats reconsider their No Killing Rule
Damian mentions someone at school being a little snot? Tim and Jason aren’t above throwing hands with children
A teacher gives an unfair grade to him on an assignment? Hope they weren’t expecting to get saved in the next Rogue attack
And god forbid someone call Damian a slur in front of his siblings
He's the baby of the family. What else is there to say?
Duke
He used to be annoyed that he got the reputation as the person in the family with common sense
He’s done so much stupid and dangerous stuff but nooo he’s the sane one
(Granted, he kind of is. It’s not a high bar to meet. Still, he’d like some recognition that he is also completely batshit insane.)
But now…
He realizes there are benefits
Like how he can prank his siblings and no one will ever think he did it
And when no one fesses up because they didn’t do anything? Prank wars ensue
And Duke? Duke gets by unscathed because everyone agrees he wouldn’t be stupid enough to do any of the pranks
Bruce
He has an adoption problem, we all know this
The man practically has adoption papers in his utility belt at this point
The moment a new kid appears in Gotham the batkids all start a betting pool on how long it’ll take him to adopt this one
Most of the time the kids don’t even realize they’re being adopted until it’s too late
“B caught me crying on a rooftop and he disappeared and I was like ‘wow, rude’ but then he came back with some car keys and it may not have fixed my trauma but damn did it feel better to cry in a sports car than on a random gargoyle”
“B gave me an allowance? I was going to say something but this is rent for three months so I guess I’m a bat now?”
Does he even know which kids are his and which aren’t?
(No. He treats every child that frequents his house the exact same because he can’t remember which ones are his and which ones aren’t.)
#i am officially Older (19!!)#it’s my birthday i get to choose the content#also#dc write the batfam being a family challenge#batman#bruce wayne#dick grayson#nightwing#barbara gordon#oracle#batgirl#jason todd#red hood#tim drake#red robin#stephanie brown#spoiler#cassandra cain#black bat#orphan#damian wayne#robin#duke thomas#signal#batfam#batbros#batboys#batgirls
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Chapter 14
Marinette sighed as she closed the program on her computer and leaned back. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but this, something was bothering her………. She didn’t know what it was but something was missing with what they knew about Lila. Come on, what is it? I mean okay Lila is working with both Gabriel and she seems to be on a conversational basis with Hawkmoth, we already ruled him out before, and according to Adrien the Collector got both Nathalie and his bodyguard, so who could he have given the Miraculous to if he was Hawkmoth? There isn’t anyone that he trusts, and his bodyguard was apart of that party and Nathalie was with him when they both left the city………but what am I missing? She thought as she looked at her blank screen as Adrien looked at her with worry.
“Your Ladybug face is showing my lady,” Adrien said with a smirk and Marinette looked shocked and blushed as the two Kwami in the room chuckled. “The fact that Lila is working with both my father AND Hawkmoth?”
Marinette looked at him, seeing the way his eyes were troubled and she sighed. “Oh, Kitty……”
“I thought the same thing my lady……… and about Lila? When Kagami was Akumatized the second time…….. I think Lila tried to make a deal with Onichan,” Adrien said with a bitter edge to his voice and Marinette looked at Adrien in shock.
“Remind me again, wasn’t Onichan after Lila to kill her?” Plagg asked and Tikki nodded. “Okay, she’s a psychopath or a sociopath.”
“Yeah……. I don’t know what we should do,” Adrien admitted as everyone looked at him. “But with everything we’ve got, maybe the most we should do is wait for now, I mean there’s Sabrina and her new partner, we might find out where Hawkmoth is hiding!”
“But Adrien, if he’s in the area of your home……” Marinette said and Adrien nodded.
“Yeah, but we have to find him, we don’t have a choice……. And since we figured out why he might want our Miraculous…… I thought about my mom,” Adrien admitted and Plagg winced and looked down.
“Kit……” Plagg said and landed on Adrien’s head as Adrien tried not to cry.
“I mean, it makes sense right? But that means that he knows what happened to mom and he never told me……” Adrien said and Marinette felt her heart break a bit.
On the surface, this was another mark against Gabriel but the sheer odes against it…… but the more that she thought about it the more it made sense. If Gabriel was Hawkmoth then how he always tried to keep Adrien locked in, out of the way of Akuma………. He was the head and owner of a company so he could ditch work and become Hawkmoth whenever……. But the Collector, that was the only mark against him. And they didn’t know that powers couldn’t affect the wielder, and Mayrua had created a Senti-Monster on her own!
As they all thought about it Plagg looked around the room and frowned. He hated Gabriel for how emotionally abusive he was, but he didn’t know that he could admit that
“So let’s table that and talk about the feelings between you two instead! I mean when the Bug’s parents called you down for that game it was just getting good!” Plagg said causing Adrien and Marinette to blush as Tikki giggled.
“Let’s leave them alone, me and Plagg will be on the rooftop balcony!” Tikki said as she shot forward and grabbed Plagg and pulled him up and through the door to the roof. Adrien looked up at the roof and took a deep breath.
As soon as breached the door, Tikki spun around and looked at Plagg with a scowl. ”Plagg, did you have to do that!?”
“What’s wrong Sugar-club? Wouldn’t you be happy that they’re finally letting each other know what they feel?” Plagg asked and Tikki only sighed.
“Before yes I would, but something happened…….. Fluff happened,” Tiki said and looked down as Plagg’s eyes widened.
Down below Adrien looked up at Marinette and smiled at her. Marinette looked away and blushed, her mind going miles in seconds as she tried and failed to figure out how to bring up everything she needed to, so after a few seconds Adrien started.
“So we have to talk about this, don’t we?” Adrien asked with a smirk as Marinette
“We do,” Marinette said and sighed as she looked up at Adrien with a hard look. “And I have to tell you about something, something that happened before everything the other day…….. I need to tell you about Chat Blanc.”
Adrien looked at Marinette and saw such despair and pain in her eyes that Adrien was caught up in this desire to grab her and hug her.
“Chat Blanc? Who was that, I never even heard of him……. Was Theo hit by Hawkmoth when I was away or something?” Adrien asked and Marinette shook her head and looked at Adrien with sorrow.
“No, one did but everyone did. It would have happened in the future, and the victim was you,” Marinette said and Adrien went still and looked at her shocked as she started to cry.
“Me?” Adrien said faintly as he felt himself grow cold as he looked at Marinette as she cried. He wanted to hug her and never let go,
“The whole city was underwater, the ‘Tower was on its side and the Moon was broken. I cleansed it and you said that our love was what destroyed everything,” Marinette sobbed out as Adrien looked at her in horror and pain as he shook his head, a hundred different things going through his mind.
“Oh Bug,” Adrien whispered as he put his arms around her as she just cried and he held her, letting her just cry as he whispered to her. “I’m here, I won’t become his victim, I promise.”
“Our love, that’s what you said caused it,” Marinette bit out and for a moment Adrien went still as anger suddenly went through him before horror hit him as he made connections in his head, connections that he hoped wouldn’t prove to be true.
“I signed my name for that barred I gave you and transformed to deliver it, then Bunnix appeared and then, and then….,” Marinette said as she started to cry.
As Marinette cried and leaned into Adrien she tried to think about everything was different now, how the rest of the team was helping each other and everyone was on board, what happened that caused Chat Blanc wouldn’t happen again, she would make sure of it.
“Oh Mari, I’m sorry you had to hold this in on your own, I really am,” Adrien said and part of him was sure that he was right about his fear, but as he held Marinette he let deal with her feelings.
A few moments later Marinette took a deep breath and moved away, a shaky smile on her face. “Thanks Adrien.”
“Anytime,” Adrien said as he looked at Marinette. As he looked down at her he swallowed as he zeroed in on her lips and for a moment he remembered how she had kissed him when Dark Cupid had corrupted him and then when they had been hit by Oblivio. He looked at Marinette as she looked back at her and smiled shakily at her as he noticed that she was blushing. “Say, when everything with our court dates are over and everything works out okay, how about you and me watch a movie when I get my new place set up? Just us and our kwami, a good movie or two, and some food?”
Marinette looked at Adrien and blushed harder, looking away from him as her mind went strange places and she chuckled lightly and looked at him with a coy smile.
“I’d like that Adrien,” Marinette said softly as she put her arms around his neck and smiled at him with a strange expression on her face as her suddenly felt heavy as she opened her mouth.
As Adrien started to feel strange and after a few seconds he acted on them, slowly he moved his head towards her as Marinette did the same as they both closed their eyes slowly before a call came from below.
“KIDS GET OVER HERE!” Tom bellowed and Marinette and Adrien both blink and seeing how close they were they to each other, they jerked apart and laughed shakily as they realized just what they had almost done and they laughed as inside Adrien and Marinette were both fuming.
“Dad only does that if it’s important, we should check it out,” Marinette said as she rushed towards the ladder down as Plagg and Tikki came from above, shooting into their chosen's pockets.
The teens ran into the living room and saw Tom and Sabine on the couch looking at the TV. On it was a scene of one of the local hospitals as three ambiances were out front with doctors bringing people in. “And repeating the top story, over twenty people within ages from 10 to twenty were found earlier today asleep, dead to the world. So far all the doctors have said is they are not in danger of dying and seem to have all their organs and no marks that could explain their state. This reporter will update on this developing situation as it develops,” The reporter said as Tom turned off the TV and shook his head.
“After everything, I wondered what could shock me. If Hawkmoth hadn’t set off an attack earlier today I would have thought it was him again,” Sabine said and Marinette looked at Adrien who shook his head as she felt Tikki press against her and she nodded to him before turning to her mother.
“It’s terrible, but why did you call us down?” Marinette asked and Sabine sighed and looked at them.
“Nadia called, her station is sending out interns to ask around where they were found, and they were found within two streets of us so for the next few days we might have people coming and asking to talk to us, so I want you to only open the door if you know who is on the other side and Adrien, keep away from the windows or stay in Marinette’s room,” Sabine said and Adrien blushed and looked away as Marinette started to stammer and Tom chuckled, Adrien meanwhile looked into his mind, remembering a lot of Tabloid ‘reporters’ and what they would do for a story, if one of them found out he was here………….. he didn’t want to think about what some of his fanatics would do, much less what his father would do.
“So you two up for a little four-part tournament of Mecha-Strike?” Tom asked and he was met with three grins.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kim sighed as he got out of the pool and toweled off as he walked towards his chair. As he looked up at the skylight and saw the night sky and the moon shining down he tried to calm down, even after swimming lanes he couldn’t quiet his mind. He was still very angry about what happened to Marinette, he might not be too bright but he knew all about law, and what happened was against all of the laws of both respect and dignity! Before he could spiral like Marinette a towel hit his head. He looked out from under it and saw his girlfriend Odine walk towards him, her peach skin was wet, her swimming leotard dripped as she walked over, her swimming hat in her hands, her short red hair free and her brilliant turquoise eyes above her freckles shined with worry.
“Hey, you were hitting the lanes hard tonight, what’s up?” Odine asked and Kim sighed and looked away.
“A lot of things, I don’t know where to start,” Kim said as he looked at Odine.
“Well start at the beginning, what happened?” Odine asked and Kim sighed and looked down. Odine was his girlfriend but she was also a friend of Marinette and Nino, they had all gone to elementary together and they had been friends for a long time, only he, Nino and Mari had a longer friendship.
“Marinette was expelled without a hearing!” Kim bit out and Odine just blinked a few times before she looked at Kim and she started to growl. Kim swallowed; Odine’s grandfather had been a judge and she was very
“What?! What happened?” Odine demanded and Kim scowled and looked away.
“It was crazy, first a stolen test answer sheet was found in Marinette’s bag, then Lila supposedly was pushed down the stairs in the courtyard and then Lila led the way to Marinette’s locker and then the Owl expelled her on the stop!” Kim said bitterly and Odine sat down and looked at Kim with a scowl.
“And you didn’t stop it?!” Odine demanded and Kim looked down.
“I was shocked! And then before anything else could happen there was a Mass Akuma attack and I was one of the victims!” Kim defended and Odine gasped and looked at him with a scared look on her face and he smiled at her. “But it stopped in mid-attack, weird really, and after that, I was kinda out of it for about twenty minutes.”
“Oh, Kim that was terrible!”Odine said as her own nightmare flashed behind her eyes, when she flooded Paris and most people had been stuck in buildings, thankfully most buildings had been airtight because of her powers.
“Yeah. I thought that the principal would at least give her a hearing her but when other class representatives tried to get it he threw them out, yelled at them and me and Max were barely able to get away without detention! My little buddy said he was going to talk to Marinette about her rights, but then the Akuma and he’s gone silent!” Kim defended and Odine huffed and looked at him with a scowl on her face.
“Who the heck does that scum think he is!?” Odine asked and Kim grinned darkly.
“Yeah well my buddy sent me a message the other day, she’s suing them for what they did and she will get a hearing,” Kim said and Odine grinned darkly and started to chuckle.
“Good, very good,” Odine said evilly and Kim started to feel scared for a few moments before he realized that she wasn’t thinking about him.
“Yeah…… say do you want to get something to eat tomorrow? Just the two of us?” Kim asked and Odine looked at him shocked before she blushed and nodded, not noticing how close the two were to each other.
“Hey you two! The pool’s closed, go shower and change and I’ll lock up when you leave! And no PDA HERE!” A voice startled the two of them and they both looked down and saw how close they were to each other and laughed as they moved towards the changing rooms, both blushing as they walked away.
About ten minutes later they walked out the doors and the lifeguard locked the doors behind them and Kim smiled at Odine.
“Would the lady like an escort home tonight?” Kim asked as he offered her his arm. Odine giggled and accepted it and off they went. As they walked they made small talk, Odine smiling at Kim as they walked, when she was with him she knew she would be okay no matter what happened, that her dreams weren’t too far out of reach.
“Hey, Odine are you okay?” Kim asked and Odine looked at him and she looked away, only for Kim to put his other arm on her shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do to help, anything at all you just have to say it you know?”
“I…… I just haven’t had a good week at school, Kagami’s been having the same troubles lately,” Odine admitted and Kim raised an eyebrow.
Kagami in Kim’s mind was one of the most straightforward girls his age, coming in behind Odine, Marinette and Chloe. If both she and Odine were having troubles then it was probably like Lila, someone not something.
“What is it, or who?” Kim asked as they turned down a side alley that went to a small courtyard near the Tower. Odine opened and closed her mouth, not knowing how to describe it but if Kim had seen through Lila.
“The school has a new principal and student, there putting more…….” Odine trailed off as she looked ahead of them and gasped.
“What…….. Ah, Shi-bal,” Kim breathed as they saw over twenty bodies on the grounds of the small space before them. Odine ran towards a child’s body as Kim ran towards an older body lying face down and rolled it over and saw a woman whose chest was moving up and down. “She’s still breathing!”
“Here too!” Odine called out, looking around for anything. “I don’t have my phone, it’s getting repaired!”
“Mine too, stay here I’ll get help!” Kim called out as he ran away, leaving Odine alone.
A few moments later a low moan came from an older woman in a beige blouse and dress. Odine ran towards her and crouched down and looked at her, the woman looked elderly and had her white hair in a bun. “Who’s there?”
“I’m Odine, my boyfriend is getting help, hold on!” Odine said and the woman grinned at her, looking at her with glowing eyes that shocked her.
“Oh….. good. I ssee you, you’ll do what needs to be done, protect her, get the others please,” The woman said as she pushed a small white square box with a red circle in the center of it into Odine’s hand. “Don’t let anyone know you have her, promise me!”
“I don’t understand….” Odine began holding the box when the woman lunched and grabbed her.
“PROMISE ME!” The woman said fiercely and Odine nodded and the woman slunk back down and Odine examined her and saw that she was still alive.
Odine looked at the box and frowned before she put it into her purse as she heard a siren, looking up she saw Kim running back towards her with police and paramedics following along behind him. Waving Kim and one paramedic came over to her and she looked relieved that help had come. “This woman just woke for a few moments, she didn’t say anything but she was semi-coherent!”
“Good work, I’ll take it from here!” The paramedic said as he started to look over the woman.
As Odine stepped back a police officer came to her and smiled at her. “Good work, but we’ll need to make a statement about what you two found, I’m sorry but we need everything we can to help these people.”
Odine nodded and Kim took her hand and squeezed it, both of them drawing strength from each other as they followed the policeman. The box in Odine’s purse made it feel even heavier as she walked, not knowing that her destiny had been changed, that her life would change in the short term and become stranger but better.
XXXXXXXX
Max looked at his computer as he quickly hacked into the school database and frowned. It had been too easy to do that, he would have to try and send a message to the school about how easy it was to get into it. As soon as he was in he went through a few files here and there on school evens before sending Lila’s file to a cloud server set up in Russia.
As she floated, Kaalki looked at Max as he worked, Max finding her stare and looking away.
“Not so, honorable is it?” Max asked bitterly and Kaalki looked back at Max and smiled at him, her eyes holding understanding and
“By a certain point of view, it is,” Kaalki said bluntly as she floated there and looked at her chosen with a calm look. “Many of my own have been spymasters or helping with steeling things that they needed too. Honor is in the reasoning, not the doing as one of my first ones said.”
Max smirked as he finished his work as Markov came back online and floated upwards he looked at Max who was turning on another computer next to him. “Finished with your shadow work Max?”
“Yes, for now, let’s just get the file and then start looking into Lila,” Max said as he quickly navigated to the cloud website and download Lila’s file before opening it. As he looked over it he frowned as he saw the numerous health concerns that were listed for Lila with no doctor’s note to back them up.
“I don’t know procedures about this Max, but shouldn’t there be notes from her doctor scanned in?” Markov asked and Max nodded as he finally found the data he needed from the file and turned back to his hacking one, quickly finding the school in question he started to look for an online yearbook.
“Yeah, they should,” Max muttered as he finally found a list of students and then looked at the number of graduates for each year before Lila came to Paris and frowned when he saw a few numbers off, more than he thought. “Markov, I want to know who didn’t graduate from this school and what happened to them, I’ll hack into the records and find out where Lila was before she was here.”
“Of course Max, give me a minute,” Markov said as he slotted into the computer and started to absorb the data as Max worked.
“Done, three students beyond Lila left this school for other reasons. One is a grade lower than Lila would have been, two are the same age and both left not long after Lila did,” Markov reported and Max nodded as he worked.
“Good, find out what happened to them please,” Max said as he found the school and location where Lila had been before. He frowned, the city wasn’t one of the big ones that he expected a diplomat to have been sent to, something was wrong……… he needed to find out just what had happened in this city to have sent any diplomatic staff there long enough for Lila to go to school? Wait, this says she left this one after only four months? I guess an appointment to overlook something for the embassy would explain why she and her mother were only there so long, but why, where did they go after that? Max thought as he looked at his screen and tried to figure out why Lila had moved when she did. As he sat there and let his mind wander over all the possibilities for why that was done, he couldn’t find anything. He knew that Lila said her mother was a diplomat, but with what they all knew he doubted it. He tried to think of what kind of job her mother could have that let them travel so much, but still the longer he tried to the more he came up empty for an answer.
“I found them Max………. it’s not good. One of them is a girl named Arianna Bianchi; she’s currently in a monastery…….. I tracked down a medical report that she tried to take her own life,” Markov said mournfully and Max swallowed. “I found social media posts and she was cyber-bullied a lot, the sheer viciousness of some of these posts……. The other is a girl named Daniela Candreva, she left the school after testing out the grade and is currently studying to become a prosecutor, I think I can find her address to email her. But Max…….. most of the posts are about what ‘she’ or ‘they’ did to Lila,” Markov said and Max almost told him to send a message off but stopped himself and shook his head.
“Why would Lila……oh god!” Max said faintly and started to shake in fear as everything started to make sense to him.
“Max, what is it?” Markov asked and Kaalki looked at him in concern.
“That’s what she would have done with Marinette, because she discovered Lila was lying! She made this class hate her and then she tormented the girl until she did that!” Max snarled and Kaalki looked sick.
“Yes, it fits. The way she was acting, she had to have had practice at this. she goes to a new school…….” Max began and Markov took over.
“And someone either finds out about Lila or she finds a target to get the rest of the class on her side, and then when things go too far she’s either already gone or moved schools. Smart, evil but smart,” Markov said bitterly and
“Scum, I haven’t seen such monsters in centuries! I thought that modern schools looked for that! People like that actually like it! Why else if she’s been doing that for how long?!” Kaalki snarled as Markov unhooked himself and floated upwards. Max looked at his computer as he saw the data on it, he found another discrepancy and looked at Markov with a hard look.
“Markov, I’m going to find her third school, do what you did again with the second, we hunt for any and all evidence about what happened while Lila was there,” Max said as Kaalki nodded as Markov connected to the computer again.
“One thing bothers me, what about the younger child?” Kaalki asked and Max went still. Markov beeped and made a ‘smily face’ with his visor.
“Good news, from what I found the child only moved away with his family because of a death in his family, nothing to do with Lila!” Markov said and Max released a sigh and Kaalki floated with a lightened look in her eyes.
“Well, there’s that at least,” Max muttered as he looked back to his computer and sighed.
Kaalki looked at Max and his creation as they worked and hid a chuckle as she smirked. He might be a worthy Horse after all are very smart. But they all saw the big picture, but we have to remember the little things and how they affect the big. She thought as she floated there and looked at Max as he and Markov hacked. “Still what does she get out of this all? No one is pure evil, three are reasons for everything that is the truth of the universe. But what is Lila after?”
“I don’t know…….. Markov new mission; I want you to look into the relationships of each student in Lila’s class before she joined up……. Wait see if there’s a class chat first,” Max said and Markov ‘nodded’ with his visor and Kaalki floated over to his shoulder.
“There is, and three people are active tonight,” Markov said and Max nodded.
“Then let's talk, time to hack into it,” Max said softly as he looked at his screen.
“Done Max, I found a chat and I’ll need to relay and translate it but we’re in,” Markov said and Max nodded.
As Max looked at the chat room, he kept his mind blank and he hoped that these people would help him.
“We’ll be visible to them all in 3.2.1, message sent,” Markov said and Max nodded and started to type.
Starhacker909 has joined the chat.
Bloodhunter; Who the hell is Starhacker909, Rob did you invite somebody new
StrikeBak; No, who are you and how’d you get in here?!
Starhacker909; Wait, please! I’m sorry about this but I needed to talk to you about a person named Lila Rossi, she got a friend of mine expelled a few days ago!
Stanford; That witch is still doing that again!?
Bloodhunter; Okay Starhacker909, we’ll talk if you tell us what city you’re in!
Max breathed a sigh of relief and Markov blinked his eyes.
“Max, my barriers were hit by ten viruses and whoever is behind it is trying to find out where we are but I fought them off and they stopped, I think we’re safe for now,” Markov said and Max nodded as he looked at the screen.
“Markov, try and find out if Lila really did what we think she did at other schools, if she did we need to talk to a lot of people about her,” Max said grimly and Markov ‘nodded’ and Max started to text as Kaalki watched from behind him, a somber look on her face.
XXXXXXX
Odine looked at the small box as she sat in her room as the box set on her desk next to her bed as she looked at it. After the police had questioned them she had been driving home, her father had been worried when the police had shown up but after being told that she had found the people on the news he had relaxed a little. After she had gotten o her room she had locked the door and put the box on her desk as she looked at it, trying to understand why she hadn’t said anything about it, and why that woman had been so instant that Odine take it. After a few moments she took a deep breath and opened it, a moment later a ball of light shot up into the air, forming into a tiny grey creature with a large head with blue eyes, a fin on its back, a small snot, short arms and it grinned at her.
“Hi! I’m Bottla, nice to meet you!” Bottla said and Odine swallowed a screamed as she looked at Bottla as it looked around with a frown. “Wait……. Where’s Melisa?”
“You mean the old woman, she’s at the hospital,” Odine said and the creature gasped!
“Oh no, she found us!” Bottla said and looked around, a scared look on its…..her? face as Odine looked at the creature and tried to calm Bottla down.
“Hey, calm down. She was okay and breathing last I saw her,” Odine said and the little creature nodded and looked at her with a strange look on its face.
“Sorry, I’m Bottla, the Dolphin Kwami of Discord and …….” Bottla began before Odine gasped.
“A Kwami?! Like Ladybug, Chat Noir and Hawkmoth?!” Odine interrupted Bottla who nodded before going still.
“Ladybug….. Tikki’s chosen?! What happened to bring them out into the light of day?” Bottla asked and Odin looked at the Kwami in surprise.
“You don’t know what’s been happening in Paris!?”
“We keep moving, staying ahead of the Seven Deadly,” Bottla said and Odine looked at the kwami with a bad feeling going through her.
“The who?” Odine asked and Bottla sighed and looked away.
“The holders of seven of the 7 miraculous of Dark Emotions, they’ve been tracking me and mine for years, I’ve lost so many friends to them,” Bottla said and sniffed as Odine looked at the Kwami in concern before she remembered what Melisa had told them.
“Was one of them responsible for what happened there?” Odine asked and Bottla nodded.
“The sin of Gluttony; the Vulture. Those people who were hurt won’t wake up until the egg she forms is used up or destroyed. And the sin of Lust; the Ant gave her eggs to her, we destroyed a Soldier before
“Soldier?” Odine asked and Bottla nodded.
“A non-sentient monster created from the Ant’s Powers. The created warriors obey the one who activates them, wielder or civilian,” Bottla said and Odine swallowed.
“What are they after?” Odine asked and Bottla looked down and away.
“Me, my power of Turmoil causes all abilities to be turned on whoever used them, Melisa got away by hitting the Soldier so it would go after Vulture instead of us,” Bottla said and looked at Odine with a hard look. “If they take my Miraculous, then they can do whatever they want with no way to counter their powers.”
“So these Miraculous have been passed down for how long, and most of the time they’ve been hunting you?” Odine asked and paled when Bottla shook her head.
“No, it’s the same people……… They have a ritual that uses the energy that the Vulture gathers to empower them and extended their lives. Anything they kill, they all gain the years, in the past they left totems near where battles might happen to gather the years of killed soldiers, WW1 and 2 gave them centuries!” Bottla said with a haunted tone
Odine looked at the kwami as she tried to figure out what to do. The easy thing to do was get in touch with Alya, she ran the Ladyblog and if anyone could get a message to Ladybug then she could. But then the woman trusted her with this, and why shouldn’t she do something to help out? By the way the kwami was talking, if she was able to get even one of them away from the Seven then she might be able to stop them. And her home was perfect, it was in a section of the city away from the center and the main roads, if…..when the other seven made it to the city she would be out of the way. And she knew the sewers and catacombs well, she had played there as a child and knew them almost as well as she knew the streets. And Bottla was a dolphin, her favorite animal.
“If I used your Miraculous to transform, can I breathe underwater?” Odine asked and Bottla nodded and Odine took a deep breath. “Then I have one question, what’s the name of the hero who uses it to transform?”
XXXXXXX
Alya blinked her eyes as she woke up and looked around, seeing Chloe’s room in the hotel and for a moment she was confused before she looked down and saw Trixx sleeping on her chest and then remembered everything. She after they had all learned how much of a psycho Lila was she, Chloe and Sabrina had done a quick interview, she had transformed and had Sabrina record ‘Ladybug’ and ‘Apisera’ and talk to Chloe about how she had been retired and Chloe had agreed with them, only saying to listen to their ‘teacher’, a good trick they had to keep Kwami from being on the news and in the public eye.
As she looked around she saw Sabrina and Chloe leaning against each other with their kwami sleeping on their chosen, she smirked as she looked at them. Who knew that the three of them loved to watch feel-good movies or that Chloe was such a romantic? As the sun shined down Chloe and Sabrina both woke up, all the kwami did as well.
As Sabrina got up she looked around and saw Alya as Chloe turned the news on as she grabbed a PDA and looked over it, smiling as she listened to the morning news.
“……… And in local news, if you can head over to the zoo tomorrow, the tickets will be half price and there’s a presentation on fire safety there as well. And next on Moth Watch, the latest Akuma was defeated by three heroes, our protectors Chat Noir and Ladybug with the help of a new hero we haven’t been able to get in touch with, as usual, the victim has been hidden and the reason why they were influenced,” The reporter said as Chloe looked at the screen, scoffed and muted it, causing Alya to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“What, have you got a thing against the press?” Alya asked as Trixx landed on her right shoulder
“Yeah. No offense Alya, but a lot of the reporters on the Hawkmoth case are worse than tabloids writers,” Sabrina said
“Daddy tells me that reporters are always trying to get dirt on people who were Akumatized, a reporter even had a piece about how a girl who was almost raped before she was Akumatized in the first month should have fought harder,” Chloe said bitterly and Alya gasped before she nodded.
“Trash like that, you should give them nothing at all, they’re just a stain on journalistic integrity,” Alya growled and Sabrina looked at her with a strange look as Chloe grinned evilly. Alya looked up and saw the look Sabrina was giving her and Alya looked ashamed. “And before you say anything about my interview with Lila, I never published it because I was still working on fixing it before I met Trixx here for the first time and after that well…..”
“Yeah, nice to know that you’ve got a good head on your shoulder,” Chloe said Alya nodded. “Thankfully daddy went down hard on all the editors, something about banning their people from any events he or mom held in the city,” Chloe said with a dangerous purr and Alya whistled as Sabrina giggled evilly as the Kwami looked at each other shrugged.
“Nice……” Alya said with a smirk and looked at the two girls as they looked at their bodies and Chloe felt her hair and shuddered.
“So, I’ll get the first shower, then I’ll order breakfast while Sabrina showers and Alya can finish last and Sabrina can act like she’s drying off when the food gets here,” Chloe said as Alya looked at Chloe with a frown as she tried to figure out what Chloe meant. “Me and Sabrina will get dressed in my walk-in closet, Alya, you will get dressed in the bathroom. Order the usual for me Sabrina, and ask Alya what she wants, and don’t forget the honey mustard please”
Alya opened her mouth closed it and nodded after she realized Chloe’s plan. She grinned as Chloe walked away but frowned as she looked at Sabrina who grinned back at Alya as Barrk sighed as he ate a small part of a dog cookie.
“One thing I don’t get it, why do you act like a servant to Chloe all the time?” Alya asked and Sabrina looked away and Alya felt a little bit dirty for a second. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to……”
“It’s not a good story, but well……” Sabrina said and sighed and looked away. “My grandfather on my dad’s side and Chloe’s were godbrothers growing up, they promised we would have a place with each other…….. and after I moved here with my dad four years ago…….. I just didn’t want to be around people for a while and I got to like acting.”
“So it was an act? Everything?” Alya asked in complete shock and Sabrina grinned at Alya.
“Yeah, I actually bought most of the ‘gifts’ Chloe gave me, it was all part of our plan really,”
“But your Akuma?” Alya began and then winced. “Sorry……. ‘Don’t talk about what caused it’, forgot for a moment there.”
“No, it’s okay. A…….person I liked didn’t notice me when I left them a gift…….. when he hit me I was cursing how I acted and I think Chloe for her part of our plan…….. at least I think, you know how when you’re ackumatized you forget about a minute before and what he offers you?” Sabrina said as Barrk rubbed his head against Sabrina’s check,
“Yeah. But romance, that’s hard,” Alya said and Sabrina chuckled.
“At least I’m not like Marinette and Adrien!” Sabrina said and Alya laughed a little as Trixx giggled while Bark nodded.
“Bugs and Cats kit, they always orbit around each other. The stories I could tell you about them all,” Trixx snickered as Bark nodded.
“Yep, I remember sometime around 800 years ago, me and my chosen were tracking down this necromancer when we came across the Black Cat, we worked together for about a month tracking the varmint down and saving all we could and all he could talk about was this girl he knew, turned out she was the Ladybug of the time,” Barkk said and Sabine looked at her kwami, for a moment she had forgotten that Barrk and the other kwami were as older as their concepts, the sheer time they had been around staggering for a moment.
Sabrina looked at the TV screen and paled at what she saw. “OH MY GOD!”
“What?! Oh,” Alya said as she and the Kwami turned and saw the screen, the reporter in the foreground as behind him was a shot of last night in front of the hospital.
“CHLOE GET OUT HERE!” Sabrina screamed and Chloe shot out of the bathroom a moment later clad in a yellow robe as Pollen flew behind her.
“What is it……” Chloe trailed off as she saw what was on her TV as Sabrina raised the volume.
“ at this time nothing has changed since last night, the victims are still unconscious but sources have reported no casualties at this time. Police are still looking for what could have caused it with the Park by the ‘Tower still closed as the ECDC look it over. With nothing new to go on, most authorities are waiting for any of them to wake up to hopefully explain what happened to them……. And now on to the weather,” The reporter said moments before Sabrina muted the screen again.
As Chloe dripped onto her floor she looked at the screen in horror, horror that was mirrored on the faces of Alya and Sabrina.
Chloe however was feeling something else, she remembered an old meeting from when she was a lot younger when she was learning to read. She couldn’t remember it but she heard something like this before, she couldn’t remember what it was exactly but it was there.
“This is terrible; I wonder if it’s something to do with Hawkmoth?” Sabrina asked and Chloe hugged her as Alya looked at the screen with a hard look.
“It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Trixx asked and the humans looked at the kwami. Pollen and Barrk were looking at the screen while Trixx floated upside down.
“Trixx, are you okay?” Alya asked and Trixx just floated there for a few moments before snarling. “Trixx?!”
“No, I…….this is something I’ve faced before, but I can’t remember when!” Trixx snarled as old emotions came back, emotions the kwami couldn’t place.
“I’ve never heard of something like this, but it was a long time ago,” Pollen admitted and Trixx just floated there as Alya looked on in concern.
“Why can’t you remember?” Alya asked softly and Trixx just kept floating and Alya shared a look with Chloe and Sabrina.
“We lived a lot longer than you all, and sometimes when the old Guardians would take us out the box, sometimes the others would come back having forgotten things,” Pollen said darkly and Chloe held Pollen to her body as the Kwami relaxed against her.
As the three girls exchanged worried looks, the way Chloe called Master Fu a ‘cult baby’ yesterday came back to them. Chloe was only speaking in jest, but the evidence was something that they couldn’t deny. If the guardians were a cult like Chloe suggested, then they all might be in more danger than they thought they were, with the surprising fact that Hawkmoth might not be the only foe they would have to face.
XXXXX
Lila smiled as she looked at the Hotel before her, all she had to do was find anyone who worked here and say that she was a friend of Chloe’s and that she was blocking her calls. Then all she had to do was say that she was worried because of the class chat, well that was enough for the old-timers to tell her how Chloe was feeling. If she could find out anything about how she was feeling about the New Bee because of how much pride Chloe had, how she was worried she might do something, and if anyone heard her then that’s all the better for when she was Akumatized.
As she walked into the lobby she looked around and smiled, there were enough people there that she could do her plan and not be obvious about it. She saw a woman with tan skin in a white uniform talking to a man behind the desk and she walked towards it as a woman with purple hair and dark skin walked out of the elevator, but Lila ignored her once she saw the dark clothing the woman wore, writing her off as a goth once she saw colors of her hair and clothing.
“Excuse me, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with my friend Chloe for a while, and since the new Bee hero was revealed on the news last night I was worried about her reaction,” Lila said as the two people by the counter looked up at her.
“No Madame Chloe is currently in her room and I believe that she is fine and doesn’t want anyone to come up there now,” The man said as the goth walked closer and looked at Lila with a strange look on her face.
“Is she okay, she’s my friend. With the last text of we exchanged I’m so worried about her, it seemed like she was angry when she wrote them, and well with Hawkmoth….” Lila trailed off and noticed a few people looking at her from the mirror behind the counter and barely kept from smirking.
As the man looked at the Italien, Marina looked at Lila and frowned, she remembered Alya talking about a girl who was a liar and how she messed up, if this was that girl who tricked her daughter then so help her then she would beat the girl herself.
“Miss Chloe was alright the last I saw her,” The woman said and Lila grinned, not seeing Penny looking at and frowning.
“Oh good, I mean the way the texts I saw, it was all I could do to try and talk to Chloe about it, I was so worried about her,” Lila said sweetly and Penny looked at Lila, she knew the girl looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen her.
“I…..well she did look like she was crying last night,” The woman muttered and Lila grinned, something that she could use against Chloe to string along Hawkmoth was just what she needed. She might not have turned Marinette into an Akuma yet, but the return of Queen Wasp might win her some points. As she wondered if Chloe would get expelled before or after Lila got her Akumatized?
Before Lila could say anything else Penny finally reached the desk and spoke up from behind her.
“Hey, you got our mail from yesterday right, J’s been chomping at the bits to finalize the paperwork on a few things,” Penny called out and the woman behind the counter nodded and handed over a bundle of mail.
“Here you go ma’am. Will you and your friend be leaving us soon?” The woman asked and Penny shrugged.
Lila looked at Penny, something about the woman was bothering her, she knew she had seen her before but she couldn’t remember where. She looked at Penny as she shrugged.
“Maybe not too soon. There’s this girl who tried to start a rumor that Jagged made up a song about her when she was a pre-teen of all,” Penny said as Lila’s eyes shrank as she realized she was looking at Penny Rolling, the woman in the chief’s outfit gasped and shook her head.
“That reminds me about this lying girl my daughter told me about, I can’t believe that there are such people out there, liars that just want to make themselves look good!” The chief said and Lila paled a little and took half a step backwards.
Her lies and tales were all to get a good life for herself, but sometimes people just didn’t understand why she did what she did and those people always made trouble. She fought back against them and set things up so her revenge would happen after she left, and was it her trouble that people never understood that she and they were legitimately fighting?
As Lila slipped away as the woman chatted about their own experiences with liars, Penny suddenly went still and then turned and saw Lila’s back as she left the hotel, finally realizing exactly who that had been and cursing the lost chance to give that young lady a piece of her mind.
“Is everything okay ma’am?” The woman behind the counter asked and Penny shook her head.
“Yes, everything is fine for now, I just need to give someone a talking to,” Penny said darkly as she took the mail.
#Miraculous Ladybug AU/ The Law is The Law#mlb fandom#mlb fic#mlb sugar#lila salt#lila rossi bashing
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Waffles or Pancakes? (Tim Drake x Reader)
Miss me? More explanation at the bottom. Enjoy this vent fic!
Warnings: None
Word Count: 2,600
Tags: @idkmanicantenglish @mayahoelland2013
You pick up a stone, fiddling with it in your hand. You don’t have daddy issues. The complicated relationship with your father doesn’t run that deep, and it definitely isn’t some kink… but there are a lot of unresolved problems threatening to boil over the surface.
Complicated relationship...More like lack thereof. You suppose that’s what happens when you have divorced parents, and you only see your dad every other weekend. Then other shit happens, he marries the wrong woman, you get older and more involved in your own life, and there’s not much effort on either side. You suppose that’s the origin of most of these problems, but you’re not the adult in this situation, dammit!
You throw the rock in frustration, watching it disappear off the side of the building, then a puddle of dread pools in your stomach. You’re on top of a building, and pedestrians are walking below, minding their own business. Sure, it may be close to 3 a.m. in Gotham, but still! Your actions have consequences.
You rush to the side of the building to make sure you didn’t bodily injure some random person, only to look down and see empty streets. Your pebble most likely joined another heap of loose asphalt. Plopping down heavily onto the ledge of the apartment building, you stare into the streets below and idly wonder if Batman and Robin are patrolling. When do they ever sleep? Do they sleep?
You should be asleep, and you know it. You said good night to the friend you were messaging over an hour ago, but instead of rolling over and passing out, your mind wandered to your family, specifically your father. Probably because you’re going to be seeing him in a few days for the holidays. It’s not exactly dread. Your father is a very loving man who loves you very much, but it never felt like he put effort into your relationship. Of course, it wasn’t until you were older that you realized how little effort he genuinely put in. As a child, you strived for his love, his approval, his interest. That’s what you really wanted. You knew he loved you and was so proud of you, but you also knew he was never truly interested in you or your life. And that stung.
So now, instead of ever bringing up your dad during therapy, you’re sitting on a roof, throwing rocks into the abyss, and getting teary-eyed over arguments that will never happen.
“Care for some company?” A voice startles you.
You turn to see Red Robin of all people, standing a few feet away and looking as non-threatening as possible. You shrug and gesture to the ledge.
“Plenty of ledge here for the both of us. Besides, I’m sure you could teach me a few things about perching on tall buildings.”
Red Robin chuckles and moves to the edge of the building. He tosses his legs over the side, sitting a foot away from you, and stares out on the city. You wonder what he sees when he looks on the city. He, Batman, Robin, and Red Hood protect Gotham for whatever reason. You’re not sure this cesspool deserves it, but apparently, they see something in it.
“I wasn’t going to jump,” You tell him.
“I didn’t think you were,” He responds simply.
“I’m not suicidal,” You plow ahead. “I don’t want to die, but I kept spiraling the longer I laid in bed.”
Red Robin nods along, like he gets it, like he understands. And maybe he does. You suppose despite all the rumors about the Bats, they probably are normal humans under those cowls and masks. Humans with a deathwish, but at this point, who isn’t?
“Do you want to talk about it?” He offers quietly.
“With you?” You raise an eyebrow.
Red Robin pretends to look around the empty rooftop.
“Well, unless you’re seeing someone that I’m not, then yeah, with me.”
He chuckles at his own joke, and silence falls between you two again.
“I know it’s weird,” Red Robin admits. “To talk about something that’s probably really personal with a total stranger, but I’d figure I’d offer. Talking… It helps. So if you don’t talk to me, you should think about talking to someone.”
You pause, mulling over his words. You don’t know Red Robin. You’re pretty sure Red Robin doesn’t know you. But why would he want to listen to some pity party at 3 am on some random apartment rooftop? Surely, he has better things to do.
But he sat down. He offered. He’s making an effort.
That’s more than some people can say.
You sigh heavily, your shoulders slumping.
“It’s my dad,” You finally admit. “We’ve always had a… complicated relationship. It’s not that he doesn’t love me-- he very clearly does. He’s always been a very affectionate man, but… it feels like he was never really interested in my life. Not in a malicious way, but in an oblivious way. And when it was happening before my eyes, I was a kid, so I didn’t see it, but now being older… It’s more obvious. It’s so clear that he doesn’t know me… And it stings.”
Red Robin listens patiently, nodding along with your words. He says nothing, letting you speak.
“And in my head, I keep bringing up things that happened years ago that still bother me so much, but it was so many years ago. He probably doesn’t remember because he doesn’t think they’re significant moments, you know? It’s things he said in passing that he doesn’t think of as hurtful that left… Much deeper marks than I’m willing to admit.”
You sigh, scrubbing your face in frustration at the burning in your eyes. You don’t want to cry. You don’t like crying. You don’t care if you need to cry-- you cried earlier, and now, you’re not going to cry in front of Red Robin about your damn daddy issues (okay, maybe they are daddy issues, but you’re sure as hell not going to be calling anyone “daddy” in the bedroom).
“I just… I’m tired. I’m tired of trying to put effort into a relationship that he doesn’t seem to want to put effort into. And the thing is, I doubt he even realizes that he’s doing it! If I talked to him, I’m sure we could figure something out, but… I’m not sure I want to… I love my dad very much, and I know he loves me… But I don’t think I like him.”
Right as the words pass your lips, you feel instant regret seize your chest.
“Oh, God, does that make me a bad person?” You bury your face in your hands, fighting back the watering in your eyes. “He’s such a loving man. He’s a damn bleeding heart, and I know if he heard me say that, it would break his heart!”
The thought alone sends tears spilling over onto your cheeks. You love your dad, you don’t want to see him heartbroken, but it’s getting harder to ignore your own bruises.
Red Robin scoots closer to you, rubbing your back soothingly.
“No, it doesn’t make you a bad person,” He tells you softly. “It sounds like you’re really hurt. While we can love our family, it’s hard to like someone who’s brought you so much pain.”
“But he… He’s so sweet,” You sob, taking a stuttering breath. “He’s one of the most loving people I’ve ever met.”
“But that doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you,” Red Robin tells you gently.
The tears well up in your eyes again, and you give up trying to make any sense of your thoughts. Instead, you let the tears fall. Red Robin pulls in arm around your shoulders, rubbing your arm as you lean against him and silently cry.
You two sit there in silence for what must be an hour before you finally sit up and rub your face.
“Well, that’s certainly not how I expected this to go,” You admit sheepishly, wiping your face. “Sorry for making you listen to my dumb sob story.”
“I’ve been there,” Red Robin offers a tissue that he produced from somewhere on his suit. “It’s not dumb. Having someone who will listen makes all the difference.”
“Thanks,” You say softly, offering a watery smile as you blow your nose and finish wiping your face off.
“Are you hungry?” He offers.
“Hungry?”
Red Robin shrugs.
“Crying takes it out of you. And it sounds like you’ve had a long night. How about some 4 am breakfast?”
“But I don’t have my wallet,” You dumbly state as if not having a wallet is the only issue with his proposal.
Red Robin waves you off.
“It’s my treat.”
You look down at your clothes: sneakers, mismatching socks, stained sweatpants, an old sleep shirt, and the first jacket you could find in your room, which was a jean jacket.
“You look fine,” He assures you. “Besides, it’s 4 am. If anything, you fit the vibe more than I do.”
You giggle at that, grimacing at how tight your face feels from the crying and the snot dripping from your nose. Wiping your nose with your sleeve, you glance around the rooftop.
“How are we going to get there? I don’t have a car.”
Red Robin pulls what looks to be a grappling hook from his side.
“I have an idea. But I have one important question before we proceed.”
You look at him warily.
“Do you trust me?” He asks.
And considering you just cried on his shoulder for the past hour and info dumped a small piece of your tragic backstory, you suppose you kind of do.
“Yeah,” You tell him.
“Great,” He smiles. “That wasn’t the important question, but that was needed information. Get on my back.”
You blink at him.
“Um. What?”
“Get on my back,” Red Robin repeats like it’s the most simple thing in the world. “I’m going to swing us to a breakfast place,” He waves his grappling hook.
“Um.”
“You said you trust me,” Red Robin reminds you.
And you suppose you did say that, didn’t you? He does this just about every night, he can keep you safe… Hopefully.
Red Robin bends down so you can hop onto his back. Once he’s sure you’re securely situated with your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist, Red Robin climbs up on the ledge of the apartment. Your grip tightens as he stands dangerously close to the edge.
“Wait,” You say before he jumps.
Red Robin turns his head in acknowledgment.
“What was the important question?”
He grins at you.
“Waffles or pancakes?”
“What?”
“Waffles or pancakes?” Red Robin repeats like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“That was your important question?” You shake your head in disbelief.
“It is an important question,” He insists.
You pause for a moment, pondering your answer.
“Pancakes,” You say decisively.
“Good answer,” Red Robin grins, then steps off the building.
For a moment, your breath is stuck in your throat as everything tenses, bracing for impact. Then, there’s a tugging—something dragging you away from the ground in a long arch. You tear your eyes away from the ground to see Red Robin almost effortlessly swinging with his grappling hook. Every shot is perfectly timed and calculated. It looks like second nature at this point, and it makes you wonder how long Red Robin has been doing this. Who is Red Robin under the cowl?
Eventually, you land in front of a mom and pop dinner which advertises 24/7 breakfast.
“It doesn’t look like much, but this place has the best pancakes,” Red Robin promises as you slide off his back.
You shrug, looking up at the old sign and well-loved booths inside.
“Like you said, it fits the vibe.”
Red Robin grins and opens the door for you. He directs you to a booth in the back. An older waitress comes by your table holding two mugs and a pot of coffee.
“Hey, Red,” She greets, looking tired but friendly. “Who’s your friend?”
Red Robin glances over at you with a small smile.
“A fellow pancake lover.”
The waitress chuckles as she pours him a cup of coffee.
“Coffee?” She offers you.
“Uh, sure,” You’re doubtful that you’ll drink it since pulling an all-nighter sounds less than ideal but holding something warm sounds nice.
“So, a stack of pancakes for both of you then?” The waitress asks, not bothering to write down the simple order.
“That sounds great, Brooke,” Red Robin smiles.
“Sure thing,” Brooke heads back to the kitchen to place the order, leaving you at the table with Red Robin.
You blow on your hot coffee and wrap your fingers around the mug, enjoying the heat.
“Alright, another important question for you,” Red Robin begins as he adds sugar and cream to his coffee.
You smile, ready for this all-important question with rapt attention.
“Acceptable toppings on pancakes?”
Midway through your heated debate about which fruits are acceptable to top pancakes with (“Oh, so pineapple can go on pizza, but it can’t go on pancakes?!”), Brooke drops off two stacks of fluffy, golden brown pancakes. While Red Robin is wrong about pancake toppings, he wasn’t lying about these pancakes being delicious.
“Okay,” You say through a mouthful of heavenly pancake. “These pancakes are delicious, but I cannot fathom the thought of you ruining them with Miracle Whip.”
“It sounds weird, I know,” Red Robin admits, opting to dunk his pancakes in syrup only, thank God. “But trust me.”
“Miracle Whip,” You repeat. “Like the substitute for mayonnaise.”
“It’s sweeter than mayo!” Red Robin argues. “It’s like a sweet cream on pancakes.”
“I think you’ve had one too many concussions.”
“Oh, really?” You’re sure that Red Robin is raising his eyebrows at you under his cowl, judging by the look on his face. “So, what’s your excuse for orange juice and chocolate chip cookies?”
“Okay listen,” You point your fork at him. “I never said it was my idea. A friend made me try it, and it wasn’t the worst thing in the world!”
“How can you question my judgment about Miracle Whip on pancakes when you eat orange juice with your cookies?!”
“It’s not that different from drinking a glass of orange juice while eating a chocolate chip pancake!”
“Yes, it absolutely is!”
By the time you two have your fill of pancakes, coffee, and arguing, it’s close to five am. Red Robin drops you off on your apartment rooftop.
“Thanks for the pancakes,” You smile, sliding off his back. “You’re right. I did need that.”
“Helping is what we do,” He shrugs with a small smile.
“If only someone could help your taste buds.”
Red Robin laughs then shakes his head.
“If you think mine are bad, you should see some of the things my siblings eat.”
“There’s more of you?” You toss your head back dramatically. “What kind of cursed bloodline do you come from?!”
Red Robin grins.
“A diverse one,” He answers vaguely.
“Seriously,” You tell him, sobering up. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. If you ever need someone to talk to, go to the roof. I’ll be there,” Red Robin promises.
“Thanks,” You say softly, then you kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you around, Red.”
He’s frozen for a moment, then a smile stretches across his face.
“See you around,” He solutes, then disappears into the night like the bat he is.
You smile to yourself and walk back to your apartment. Some sleep sounds pretty good now…
So, hey guys! It’s been a minute... 4 months to be exact... Sorry about that. I’m not dead! Just in college. I just finished an 18 credit semester so I’ve been busy and tired. Next semester will not be better. It’s suppose to be my hardest semester of nursing school, so that’s great. I am hoping over break to work through some of my requests. I think to help I’m going to try to make them shorter. I also might delete some, so if yours gets deleted, I’m sorry. Eventually request will open again and you’ll be able to request, but as of now, I’m just trying to get content out and some of the things on the upcoming don’t really do it for me. Anyways, I’ve missed y’all and I’m sorry for the wait. Thank you for being patient, you guys are the best and I hope you enjoyed this vent fic!
#the cursed discourse we didn't know existed#do not put fucking pineapple or miracle whip on your pancakes#you damn heathens#i have done the orange juice and cookies one#its actually not bad#is it good?#no#but is it bad?#not the worst#tim drake#red robin#tim drake x reader#red robin x reader#uh kind of i guess#if you squint#probably wont write a sequel#since this is a vent fic#batman#dc#request#reader insert#dc reader insert
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Sugar Babe Chapter 4
We’re back y’all!
Masterlist:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 Texts
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 Texts
Word Count: 3,018
Synopsis: Things are spicing up with our favorite duo
Warnings: slight smut
Luxury.
Never before have you been introduced to such nice things. Even when you travelled with Erik before for smaller trips, the hotels were nice but they weren’t this nice. Hell most of the time you had to get in a smelly ass taxi to get to the hotel.
But not here, here the two of you were picked up in the nicest car you’ve seen on the road and taken to the nicest hotel you’ve seen in your life. You felt like Queen Latifah in The Last Holiday, and you had to try your hardest not to gawk at the beautiful ceilings. You clenched your jaw to keep from gasping at the stunning interior decor that the hotel had.
The wife of Erik Stevens could not gawk at some really nice ceramic tiles. She had to act like she’d seen it ten times before!
However the wife of Erik Stevens did drop her jaw when she saw the very polite hotel concierge guy hand her fake husband two room keys for one room. A room that you really hoped had two beds in it. Though the smirk on Erik’s face told you otherwise.
“What the fuck Erik?” You mumbled as soon as you stepped on the private elevator for the top floors. Erik smiled and crowded you into a corner of the elevator.
“What?” He says innocently as he gently wraps a piece of your curly hair around his thick index finger.
“I know I booked us two rooms.” You stare accusingly up into his eyes. He smiles wickedly at you and bends down to press a kiss to the back of your ear before speaking.
“We have a job to do here. If they saw that my wife took a separate room, especially a lower grade room than I, they might think there’s trouble in paradise and we can’t have that can we?” You rolled your eyes at how right he was. You hated when Erik was right about things you had already decided on. It proved to you that maybe he didn’t need you and you hated that idea.
You let out a loud moan completely by surprise when Erik bit down on the soft skin underneath your ear.
“I asked you a question. Y/N.” He sucked on the skin underneath your ear, hard. You tried to keep your panting down to a minimum but it was hard, especially when he gripped your hips to pull them closer to him.
You sighed in relief when the elevator finally dinged on the appropriate floor. You gently pushed him out of the way and reached into his front suit pants pocket to pull out one of the room keys. You walked calmly down the hallway to check the room numbers until you found the room. Quickly you put the key in before Erik could stand behind you. Your luggage was already stacked neatly to the side. As you walked into the large main area you quickly realized the hotel suite looked just as amazing as the lobby did. You quickly dropped your purse on the sleek black modern couch and made a beeline for the bedroom. Your fingers crossed that two beds would be waiting for you to claim one.
Your heart sank to your stomach, when you saw only one bed, to their credit, it was massive, but definitely not the two beds that you wanted. There was no way you’d be able to handle sleeping in the same bed with that man, hell you two could barely stay in the same room without him finding a reason to touch you.
“You did this on purpose.” You turn around to glare at him. Erik walked into the room and nodded in approval with a smirk forming on his face.
“Nah. Definitely asked for two beds because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Erik sat in the lavish chair next to the window. His legs spread wide, his stance inviting.
“Yeah right.” You scoff and glance around the immaculate bathroom.
“I did. I told them we needed an extra bed in case we break the first one.”
You cut your eyes towards him, disbelief taking over your features as Erik’s laugh boomed through the entire space. Erik swung his legs back and forth as he chuckled under his breath. He leaned over and picked up the local guide.
“Chill. It’ll be fine. I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s big enough.” Erik smiled and flipped through the guide.
“You can’t sleep on the couch Erik you paid for the room.” You sat down quietly across from him.
“Correction the company paid for the room, so WE worked for this room. I paid for the clothes I bought you. So when they get ripped off you won’t complain.” You gawked at him in response. The man had absolutely no chill! Erik smirked at your reaction. “Baby girl you’re going to quit making them damn faces or I’ll give you a better reason to make them.”
You glared at him, “Erik stop! You play too much!”
He shook his head, a bit of fire in his eyes, “And that’s what you don’t seem to understand Y/N. I’m not playing with you. Not a damn bit. But you are definitely playing with me and I’ll be damned if I keep allowing it. Since you want to keep acting scared things are going to change around here.”
You shook your head, “What the hell are you-”
He clenched his jaw, his frustration clear. “Interrupt me again. See what happens.” He waited a moment to see if you would, and honestly part of you wanted to just to see what he would do about it. But you knew that it would just end with both of you on the bed and you weren’t ready for that, so you backed down. You knew better than to egg this man on. Once he realized that you weren't going to challenge him he smirked. “Hmm, obedient, I can do some things with that.”
You couldn’t fight the heat that rushed to your cheeks. He was nasty! You huffed and stepped away from him.
“I’m gonna unpack and check out the pool.” You turned away from him, reaching up to untie your hair from the long trip. You pulled one of your suitcases into the closet and started unpacking your clothes. Erik walked in and started to unpack his clothes as well.
“I didn’t pack you any swimsuits though. Didn’t take you for a lounge by the pool sort of girl.” Erik shrugged as he hung up his blue dress shirt. “We can go buy you some more. I’d love to see you try them on.” He winked at you and smiled.
“Why are you like this?” You huffed and grabbed your swimsuit from the bag. “I packed my own. I have some money you know. There’s a thing called stashed cash that credit stealers can’t get to.”
Erik clenched his jaw.
“Why would you spend the cash that you have? What if you need it for emergencies? What about the card I gave you?” He approached you menacingly, his height towering over you.
“I used it for my rent like you said to. Why would I use it for anything else?” You responded calmly. Seeing Erik like this over money was normal for you. But what you didn’t realize was the difference this time had, was you.
“Use it for everything. I’m not arguing with you. Save your cash for something important.”
You struggled not to roll your eyes. Erik always got his way, and you weren’t going to be the one to stop him this time.
“Okay DAD. Jeez. I’m gonna go to the pool and use it to buy myself some drinks. You know relax a little before I really have to commit to being married to your demanding ass.”
And of course Erik being Erik, he had to get the last word in. “Yeah, I’m daddy alright. You're gonna find out real soon, Y/N.”
You rolled your eyes as you walked into the bathroom and changed into your bikini and cover up. Though you usually didn’t wear one, you’d rather avoid Erik’s perverted gaze.
“Okay I’ll be back.” You grab your towel, make sure your engagement rings are on, and new designer flip flops and bounce out of the room, excited to explore the hotel.
——
After floating around in the hotel's second rooftop pool, you decide to head to the bar to get the cold alcoholic drink you’d been dying for in this heat. You ask the bartender for the drink that you want, then reach into your pool bag to pull out the card Erik gave you. You stop short when you see cash slid across the table in front of you.
You turn to the guy next to you to thank him, to assure him that you can pay for yourself. You stop yourself in your tracks making eye contact with a very handsome man. A bashful smile comes over your face.
“Thank you. But I can pay for myself.”
“You shouldn’t have to though. A beautiful girl like yourself, shouldn’t even be alone.”
“Awe you’re sweet but I’m not alone.” You flashed your ring and smiled proudly.
“Damn that’s too bad. All the cute ones are always taken.” The man sticks out his hand. “I’m Jordan by the way. I own quite a bit of real estate out here. I’m in accounting too. Call me if you’re ever looking to get something out here. I’ll hook you up.”
A polite smile crosses your face as you take his card. A frown quickly replaces it as another hand snatches the card before it’s completely in your hand.
“Babygirl, did you get your drink?” You look up to see the wickedest smile on Erik’s face, his eyes bright with anger. His almost naked chest covered with nothing more than a muscle tee. You look down to see him in swim trunks, a smile crossing your face at the thought of him playing around in the pool with you.
“Almost babe. They are making it now.” You nodded to the bartender who was putting the finishing touches on your drink. Your mouth watered at the thought of it. You were so focused on the drink you didn’t even notice the hard stare Erik was giving Jordan until he cleared his throat.
“Sorry baby, this is Jordan, a real estate agent. Jordan, this is my bos-“ you felt Erik pinch your thigh, hard. You felt your cheeks heat up as you realized your mistake. “I’m sorry my husband. He can be a bit bossy.” You tried to save it but the curious look on Jordan’s face told you otherwise.
“Nice to meet you. She’s loyal, wouldn’t even let me buy her a drink.” Jordan smirked as he shook Erik’s hand. Erik wrapped his arm around you tightly, his hand resting gently under your breast.
“Yeah well she has the card I just gave her so there’s no reason for that.” Erik pressed a kiss to your neck as you sipped on the delicious drink placed in front of you. You squealed in response to his touch almost dropping your drink. You turn to Erik to scold him when you see his stare is still on Jordan. Quickly you realize you need to diffuse the situation.
“Babe you have to try this. It tastes so good.” You thrust the straw of the drink towards his lips demanding he take a sip. He sips the drink and smiles at you.
“Of course you’d get the fruitiest drink there is.” You smile cheekily at Erik and relish in the tight hold he has you in. Then glance back up at Jordan.
“Erik, Jordan said he sells real estate, maybe he could find you another place if everything goes right?” You glance back at Jordan who watches the two of you with a smile on his face.
“Sure. I have his card.” Erik waves down the waiter to close out your tab.
“Let’s go back to the room. I have another drink I wanna taste. It was nice meeting you Jamie.” You snorted at how petty he was acting.
“Jordan, baby, his name is Jordan.” Erik shrugged “That’s what I said.” Once you realized what all he said earlier you balked at his words, staring up at him wide eyed. You watch Jordan frown slightly and move away with his drink. Then you pout, wrapping your lips around your drink again.
“I wanna swim some more. And you're dressed for it come in the water with me.” You pout more and lightly grip the collar of his shirt.
“Y/N that was too close! We are fucking lucky that man was way too into you to notice that you weren’t that into me. I mean boss really?” You sigh and put your head down embarrassed. You know you fucked up and at this rate you might ruin the whole deal for the company and that thought was too much for you to bear.
“I know Erik I’m sorry. I’ll get better I promise.” You grip his shirt tighter. “Please don’t be upset with me. Let me practice right now.” You turn to wrap your arms around his neck and press a few kisses to his scruff. Your legs spread to accommodate him standing between them.
“I can do it. I won’t let you down. I won’t let the company down.” You pull his head down to level with yours before you press a passionate kiss into his lips. Getting lost in the feel of his skin against yours. Your tongue danced along the bottom of his full lip. You let out a soft moan when his hands enter the equation again. The man was freaking gifted.
A child screaming broke the spell between the two of you and you pulled away, embarrassed to be making out in public like a couple of teenagers.
Erik smirked, “Keep kissing me like that and I’ll do whatever you want.” He grabbed your hand and led you both toward the pool. He quickly jumped in with no fear of the cold water. You were much more cautious and dipped your toes in to get a feel for the water. Even though you’d just been in there the cold shock was intense. You’d definitely have to ease your way in.
“Baby!” Erik called to you. “What are you doing? Hop in!” You looked up at him and it felt like your heart skipped a beat. Erik had taken off his shirt and his skin glistened in the water. There’s no way his body could be real. You honestly couldn’t look away if you wanted to.
Erik swam to the edge of the pool, right in front of you and lightly grabbed your ankle. “C’mon.”
You shook your head, half of your brain committing the look on Erik’s face to memory. “It’s too cold. I need to slowly work my way in.” Erik ran his hands further up your leg, to the backs of your knees. He looked up into your eyes with a soft smile on his face. “You’re always so cautious, Y/N. Just jump in, just this once. I’ll catch you and ease you in the water.”
You scoffed, “There’s no way. I am not some small little thing Erik. You’re going to drop me.” Erik rolled his eyes. “Last I checked I’ve picked you up a few times and have I ever struggled to do it?” Bastard had a point. He’s never even shown any strain.
You sighed, there was really no way out of this. “Ok fine, but if you drop me…” Erik’s smile was so bright that you felt a rush of heat to your cheeks. What was this man doing to you? You took a few steps back then after a few deep breaths and Erik's quiet encouragement you jumped in. As promised he caught you before the water passed your hips. You shivered slightly as he held you above him, his laugh ringing through your ears.
"See baby? Things are a lot more fun when you aren't so cautious." He slowly lowered you in the water, watching your face and slowing down when you reacted to the cold water. Once you were at eye level you felt the energy shift around you. Erik had a strange look on his face, one you'd never seen before. He stared directly at you, his eyes bouncing between your eyes and your lips. He pulled you in closer to him and you closed your eyes anticipating the kiss.
When your lips finally met it felt a bit different, like a warm bath or a home cooked meal. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. You fought back a moan when he started nibbling at your bottom lip. You could feel yourself getting drunk off the feeling of it, completely unaware of your surroundings. Just as you were about to wrap your legs around him he pulled away and lowered you the rest of the way into the water. You looked up into his eyes, trying to figure out what to say that would break the tension in the air, but you were at a loss.
Erik smiled softly and brushed a piece of hair out of your face. “I did say things were going to change around here princess. I’m not playing games anymore.” Erik slightly splashed you and swam away quickly, you started off quickly hot on his trail. But your mind wandered back to what he just said. What the hell did that mean?
Nearby, Jordan smirked as he exited the pool deck. Who would have thought the great Erik Stevens would have to fake a marriage, and with one of his employees at that? This would definitely be useful information later on. Plus the girl on his arm was so damn tempting, he would be seeing a lot more of the both of them, that’s for sure.
Taglist:
@chaneajoyyy @wawakanda-btch @aislinnsilver @marvelmaree @ljstraightnochaser @raysunshine78 @fdwrites @soufcakmistress @girlsneedlovingfanfics @toniilaney @amira88 @bugngiz
#avengers fanfiction#erik kilmonger x reader#imagines#milk fic#milky fics#erikxreader#Erik Killmonger
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Paris Stands Alone; Part 13
Part 12
This chapter’s art is...
As always, HUGE credits to @gajer-1226 , for her amazing art!
Marinette groaned from her spot on the couch. Mullo had come down from relaxing in the sunroom a while ago, and the trio was sprawled out on the couch, cuddling under a blanket and watching a news report on the current Mayoral elections. Monsieur D’Argencourt was running again, despite having lost so many times in a row. His opponents were a strict woman who had been on the city council for years and was very conservative, and a man who was far more liberal but had little experience. She’d need to keep an eye on things politically, things like this always led to stronger Akumas, be they the politicians themselves or angry citizens.
Right as she had begun to debate with herself whether or not she should go back to bed the whole house shook, and she heard screaming in the streets.
“Son of a bitch…let’s go.” She rolled off the couch with a heavy sigh. “What are we betting on this time?” She asked, stretching and rolling her neck gently.
“Oh! Animal!” Mullo squeaked, perking up. She and the Kwamis had invented a game of betting on what the Amoks would be, winner getting to pick what game they would play on the household game night. If there was a tie, they would do a coin toss.
“I imagine after this morning they’ll go for inanimate.” Tikki yawned. “Ready whenever you are, Marinette!”
“Spots on!” She cried, smirking when she saw a portal appear a few feet away from her, put of sight of the windows. Leaping through, she let loose a battle cry as the world sharply shifted.
X0X0X
The Amok was a rampaging, canine beast, with massive fangs and glowing red eyes, and a hissing, spitting cobra for a tail. It looked like a terrifying mix of a pit-bull and a Doberman pinscher. Nightmare had taken to the rooftops, opening a portal that Ladybug leaped through with a mighty cry. She flung her yoyo at a flagpole and yanked it tight, swinging towards the beast feet-first. She slammed it across the snout, making it whine and stumble. A figure dropped from another portal in the sky, this one swirling blue and white, the figure indistinguishable.
“No way!” Teacup squealed, bouncing in place.
“What is that?” Batman asked, drawing a batarang.
“That is someone we don’t see very often.” Cat Sidhe muttered.
“Who?” Wonder Woman asked, fidgeting with her lasso.
“Bunnyx, the wielder of the Rabbit Miraculous. Her Miracle is called Burrow, it allows her to transverse the timestream with ease. She only visits on important occasions, or if she needs to warn us away from something. She’s the one who sent Jade Turtle out on patrol the night he died saving that girl from the disgraced one. Let’s go say ‘hi’, everyone.” Yellow Jacket was smirking as she took off running for the edge of the building. Right as she reached the edge, she grabbed a dagger from her boot and flung it at the beast at the same time as she flung her trompo at the same flagpole Ladybug had swung from. The dagger nailed the beast (presumably an Amok) in the eye, and it howled in agony and rage. It thrashed and stomped it’s feet, which were the size of minivans. It managed to take the corner off a building, making the civilians evacuating along the sidewalks scream.
Snapping Turtle dove into action, drawing their shield in a fluid motion and shouting something lost beneath the sound of the monster’s howls. A green semi-opaque dome made of hexagons appeared, surrounding a small family and the hero in question from the rubble raining from above. The shield didn’t even flicker or waver, merely protecting the small family as Snapping Turtle scooped one of the three small children up and prepping the family to move.
Vixen, standing on the rooftop, drew her reedpipes from her belt, and slowly began to play a haunting tune. Cat Sidhe, picking up on some hidden signal, made a series of gestures with the hand that bore his ring, before uttering a word that made the Americans shudder. It was dark and dank, this feeling, like the paranoia of being out late at night with shadows looming and every sound inducing panic.
From the ring began to emerge a shadowy figure. It morphed itself slowly into a humanoid figure, dressed in all white, with features that seemed to whisper ‘not right, not human, predator!’ in the ears of all who saw it. It was the unnatural smoothness of it’s skin and features, the inverted colors, with white pupils and black irises, hair that started pure white and faded to dull purple. It seemed to be a doll, unmoving, until Cat Sidhe spoke.
“Distract the Amok for me.” He ordered, and the inhuman thing melted into a pool of shadows, before the puddle seemed to dart away towards the Amok.
“What was that?” Nightwing asked uneasily.
“That was his Grace’s secondary ability, Nyx. It creates an inverted clone of pure destruction energy. You don’t want to be around when it self-destructs, that’s for damn sure.” Roi Singe sighed. “I’ll stay back this time; I don’t want to throw you guys off.”
“Alright. I’m off. Vixen, you good?” The fox, who was still playing her pipes, which were emitting a light orange mist, nodded slowly. The mist was descending to the streets below, and Cat Sidhe went running towards the edge of the building, going into a diver’s position as he plummeted towards the street below. Barely twenty feet above the pavement, the cat hero drew his baton and extended it, slamming the end into the ground so hard that it dented the asphalt as he vaulted towards the Amok, which was now biting and snapping as Ladybug and Yellow Jacket darted around it’s head. There was another heroine, this one in blue and white with roller skates on her feet, moving too fast for anyone to properly see her.
The orange mist, which now filled the entire block, suddenly blew towards the Amok, whirling around it as if being held by a tornado. A glance at Vixen proved that her fingers were dancing over her pipes faster than ever, and Batman felt on edge. He’d never been a fan of magic.
The mist rapidly coalesced into a large, feline shape, similar to the Amok in it’s unnatural size. The feline let out a powerful yowl, and swiped with massive claws at the Amok. The Amok (Who Yellow Jacket insisted on calling ‘Fluffy) growled and pounced at the beast, only to be entangled in the wires of Ladybug and Yellow Jacket’s weapons as the illusion dissolved into mist once more. As the wires pulled taught around the Amok, Cat Sidhe’s Nyx reappeared before the beast, darting every which way and holding it’s attention. The beast, desperate in it’s rage to attack the tiny unnatural thing in front of it, thrashed and wriggled, trying to get itself lose, and only succeeded in tightening the wires. Slowly, Cat Sidhe snuck up behind the Amok, right hand raised in front of him as if he was trying to smack a fly. Right as the Amok snapped it’s jaws closed around the clone, Cat Sidhe slammed his hand into a thin red collar around Fido’s neck. The dog let out a startled, pained yelp, and was encased in a squirming mass of dark blue bubbles, which hissed and popped as the Amok shrank. Ladybug stood, waiting, and yanked on her yoyo string, which came zipping back into her palm. It wasn’t until the mass was barely any bigger than an American football that a peacock feather appeared that she acted, gently swinging her yoyo to catch it. When she had the feather secured, she flung her yoyo high into the air, crying out a string of words that felt like pure safety.
It was after the loveliness had faded that the final bubbles faded away, revealing a small, emaciated puppy, who’s bones showed through it’s skin, and it seemed to shiver as it looked up at all the heroes surrounding it. It snarled and snapped, cowering from the heroes around it.
“Wait, that was the eight-story tall monster that just did at least half a million in property damage?” Nightwing asked, walking up behind the Court members.
“This is why Hawkmoth and Mayura are so dangerous, they turn even the most innocuous, innocent little thing into something that can kill hundreds.” Vixen explained, landing behind them lightly, as if she hadn’t just jumped ten stories.
“What will happen to the poor thing?” Wonder Woman asked, watching as the puppy shied away from Ladybug’s hand as if expecting to be hit.
“Well, Fidel already has several dogs. They naturally love her, and Yellow Jacket has been talking about setting up a sanctuary for stray dogs. This one, however, seems to have developed a liking towards her Ladyship.” Roi Singe chuckled, watching as the small dog pressed it’s head into Ladybug’s palm.
“And lord only knows that my Melody could never turn away an animal in need.” Cat Sidhe said, approaching them casually. “Thanks for staying out of the way back there, it could have been bad if someone got hurt.”
“You’re in charge here.” Batman said gruffly.
“Still, we might have an issue. I have some stuff that needs me back home, so I was thinking one of my brothers could come over and help you guys out.”
“We’ll talk about it more tomorrow, for now we all need to split before the press starts getting pushy and Vixen, Bunnyx, and I transform back.” Ladybug said, holding the small dog in her arms. The canine was cuddled up close to her, soaking in her body heat. “Ready, love?” She asked Cat Sidhe, who nodded and sent a glare at a woman with pinkish hair who was coming their way, a camera crew behind her. “Bug out!” Ladybug said, winking to the cameras and flinging her yoyo (which should not be able to go that far) at a flagpole on a nearby building. Cat Sidhe began to extend his baton, before letting it fall, vaulting off down the street.
X0X0X
Nadya watched as Ladybug and Cat Sidhe left the scene, and the various Court members disappeared to the rooftops. This was perfect! And yet, right as she approached, Batman drew a grappling hook from his belt, fired at a gargoyle on a nearby building, and went flying off, and Wonder Woman barely waved to the camera before flying away. At least the remaining hero, a young man dressed in black and blue, took a moment to smile and give a dramatic bow before somehow climbing a brick wall. These heroes were ruining her poor ratings! Well, she still had that Ladyblogger girl’s number…
@krispydefendorpolice @ficsforthestars @multifandomscribette @legendaryneckjudgestudent @ash-amg-blog @bee-wrecker @dawnwave16 @the-supreme-ace-queen @politelyvicious @stonestridernerd @justmdj @stingrowl @damianette-is-life @miraculous786 @mjisntme @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @miraculousdisapointment @lesscooltodoroki @bb-basbusa @isabellemasen @sassydepression @imspectralboiii @spicybelladonna @moonystars14 @frostymoon11 @worlds-tiniest-spookiest-pastry @spartanxhunterx @fandoms-run-my-life @chocolateherringtacofan @imburningneon @fandomsaremylifeline @risingmoonyue @zotinha456
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V e r h ä n g n i s (Doom)
⋆ pairing: demon!ateez x reader (poly!ateez)
⋆ genre: demon au, suggestive, crack
⋆ warnings: strong language, kidnapping, suggestive, alcohol, yanderish behavior
⋆ words: 3,300
„But I don’t want to be friends only.“
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„Let me go!“
„Y/N, look around you! We are eight demons and you are one human. You stand no chance against us so be a good girl and stop struggling.“
Hong Joong had you in his arms and slowly lost his patience when you repeatedly tried to kick him. Your arms were soon held behind your back by Jong Ho who also tied them up.
Upstairs in the big living room the college‘s most prestigious bachelor aka now a demon let you down on the couch and the group of demons positioned themselves on the remaining furniture.
You sat up on your knees eyes spitting fire to the blonde and sensing Woo Young grinning at you from your left site his head positioned on San‘s shoulder - the two were obviously enjoying the show.
The others are eagerly waiting for their leader to say something but when Hong Joong wants to speak up he feels himself heating up at the sight in front of him. The girl they love on her knees, hands tied behind her back and utterly defenseless... Every demon would go nuts and he can feel the others thinking the same, too.
For him and at least for Yeo Sang it‘s the hardest because they’re the ones with the best bond with you until now. Hong Joong‘s eyes begin to change their color and with a shaky sigh he turns around leaving the others and you alone.
„Okay, and all of you think she should sleep with him first tonight? Really?“
„Min Gi shut up your thoughts are looking way worse than what Hong Joong could ever dream of.“
Yeo Sang rolls with his eyes and gives Seong Hwa a pleading look to continue instead of their leader.
„Mh, Y/N? How to begin... I mean by now you should know that we are not entirely human and - “
„You’re demons. Yes, I had a crisis because of this for the last three months! What I really want to know is - WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE?“
„Please calm down... You’re looking at us like we want to eat you alive.“
„You’re not entirely wrong with this Woo Young.“ Yun Ho answers with a slight smirk on his face.
„You’re not helping me here guys. Y/N, you know by know that everyone of us - feels something for you. It doesn’t happen often that a whole demon clan falls in love with the same person. We only knew when Hong Joong told us - “
„You don’t love me and especially don’t have any feelings. Are you kidding? All of you were nothing but a nuisance these last months and Hong Joong, he...“
„How can you say this? I let someone deliver you roses!“ San pouts at you and Woo Young pets his head.
„Yes, Choi San, and after that your whole fanclub hunted me down for a week. I had to eat lunch in the library!“
„And me? We’re friends since the day you arrived here!“
„Yeah, friends. Not anything more!“
Yun Ho looks embarrassed to the ground and Yeo Sang‘s gaze is turned to the wall. The sun is about to set and the livingroom is illuminated by the last sunbeams. You watch how the others continue to argue as the blonde demon remains silent.
„You cannot say that you don’t feel anything for us. We’ve been through a lot together. We didn’t even date any girls anymore and were by your site all the time. Don’t you register anything of that?“
„Apart of that nothing happened. I really like you guys but since the whole supernatural thing happened I don’t think I should hang out with you anymore. I mean look at you - what are you even doing here right now? My friends would’ve never kidnapped me and tied my wrists!“
„That’s not entirely true.“ Everyone goes silent when Hong Joong enters the room again and sits down on the lean next to Yeo Sang.
You blush immediately when both of their gazes meet yours. Of course you remember and still feel the secret touches and kisses you shared with Yeo Sang and Hong Joong but you always thought they didn’t know about the other one.
You felt terrible for your mixed feelings especially because they weren’t only friends but lived in the same mansion, too. You didn’t want to choose so decided to end it with both of them.
„That’s over.“
A whole minute goes by Hong Joong burning holes into Yeo Sang‘s forehead and after that some of them sighing and groaning.
„If you say so. We don’t want to keep you here if you’re not in danger or something else. Jong Ho is going to drive you home.“
You couldn’t lie. Something inside of you hurt at his words. Wouldn’t have thought they would give up so fast. And you couldn’t deny that you always felt good in their presence - more relaxed and happy.
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„I cannot believe we let her go.“ Min Gi rumbled while making his move on the pool table.
„That was necessary. We are not going to lock her up without a good reason than just our selfish needs.“
„Seong Hwa‘s right - also, if Hong Joong‘s plan works she will soon feel our connection and come back on her own. And then we can always use this to our advantage hahaha!“
„God, Woo Young, how long ago is your last decent fuck?“
„Mh, last week. But the hybrid girls don’t satisfy me anymore. I need her.“ His eyes change into a dangerous red as he licks his lips thinking about earlier.
„It’s okay. When demons find the one it’s normal that their body and souls needs the other one. Yeo Sang, am I not right?“
„Sadly, yeah.“
The young demon played with his glass of wine and thought about your sparkling eyes whenever the two of you went home together on your usual route. For him it wasn’t just affection anymore like the state some of the others are now in.
Yeo Sang loved you, very dearly. He wanted you safe and by his side. Your words this evening showed him that you’re not ready to be with all of them and it hurt. He only told the others through his special gift of telepathy because he knew it was the right thing to do.
„At least she’s wearing our mark now.“
„That’s right, Jong Ho. But it’s not saving her from other demons. As soon as someone sees it they will know she’s important and that’s what I fear for.“
„There aren’t any other demons at the college so I think we don’t have to worry.“ Seong Hwa replies.
„I guess we can only wait then.“
Yun Ho told the others and sat down in front of the television trying to find some peace during this problematic time.
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Seeing them at the campus today and not being able to talk or play with them was hard. Usually you would already meet them at the entrance and would hang out in the breaks. Yun Ho and you shared the same subject and that’s how the two of you became best friends.
The relationship with Yeo Sang began when the two of you met at their mansion. Yun Ho and you had to prepare for a project and that’s when you accidentally ran into the boy. You would’ve never guessed that Yeo Sang would make the first move to show you his interest because he was the typical popular but mysterious guy and you - you were just simple.
Hong Joong was a person you weren’t fond of as all of your female friends swooned over him. He was like the college king or some kind of. He can do what he want and no teacher or student would get in his way. Life was easy for him - so you thought.
After you accidentally found his hiding spot at the rooftop of the main building where they built something like a garden the two of you immediately clicked. But that was only when you were alone. You didn’t know what his problem was but it was enough to get out of his way when others were around.
As your visitings to their mansion grew in number your little group became closer. Now you weren’t invisible anymore as you often hang out with the boys and everyone saw your relationship with them. It was ok, first. When San and Woo Young - the notorious playboys - started to flirt with you openly the jelous girls began to harass you. You aren’t a weak person and could cope with the situation first.
But like already said, the demon thing just happened and San sending you flowers, Woo Young following you like a puppy and the friendship with Yun Ho were enough to make your life pretty annoying.
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You‘re thinking back to today when Woo Young approached you although the situation you’re currently undergoing.
„You’re so cute little cupcake!“
He pinched your cheeks while you walked away from him. Of course the whole campus watched the two of you and how Jung Woo Young looked at you with hearty eyes. Even in your next lecture he sat next to you and didn’t let his eyes drift away for only one second.
„Can you please leave me alone? Wasn’t what I said yesterday enough?“
„Y/Nah, you’re my babygirl and I won’t leave leave your site - although the others said I should give you same space but nevermind!“
Your head met the table and you groaned out. „I don’t deserve this.“
Gosh. He’s a lot to handle. How are the others doing it? Hong Joong and Seong Hwa literally need to raise these boys. How can they be demons? Demons should have horns and be scary and so on but if you look at them they’re just some teen boys who don’t know what life’s planning.
The night is pretty windy and cold. You put your cardigan closer around your body and shiver a little bit. Only five more minutes and you’re home. It was a dumb idea to stay in the library so late but you were used to it because usually Yeo Sang would be by your site right now and you wouldn’t have to creep out at every sound you hear behind you.
It’s really ridiculous to imagine someone whistling a melody when the wind is howling so strong. It’s obviously all in your head and you should just walk faster but when your wrist suddenly begins to sting you flinch and stop in your tracks.
„What the hell...“
„Hell, that’s where I come from...“
You double over at the foreign voice and are about to speed away but someone sneaks up behind you and holds you still in a painful grip. That someone’s indeed very tall and strong and you can see long black hair adorning his head although being sure it’s a guy that positions his nose deep in your neck.
„Mh, how delicious. Who do you belong to, love?“ He holds your wrist up to examine the mark the demons left on you. A sign of protection and ownership.
„What? I don’t belong to anyone! Now let me go before I scream so loud everyone hears you because I know there are many people living in these houses!“
„You don’t know? Of course, you can’t see it but it’s rare someone marks a human without telling them. I mean, this sign stands for love and not for slavery. Yes, the ones I like to give.“
„You - you’re a demon!“
„Very fast - “ With a swift move he turns you around and looks you down with bloody red eyes. The figure in front of you was breathtaking but also dangerous and unpredictable.
„My name is Nam Joo Hyuk and I think today is my lucky day. A marked female human without her demon means you’re now mine...“
„You demons all can go to hell. I am so annoyed! Just let me go!“
You tried to struggle out of his grip but Joo Hyuk only holds you still without any effort and watches you amused.
„We need to work on your jokes but that’s okay. You will like my estate!“ With a puff and smoke forming your bag falls to the ground and you and the demon disappear.
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„I know where she is. I can smell him... That stupid water demon!“
„Thankfully we have you in the team, Choi San.“
San grins at his hyung and grabs the bag from the ground. They teleport back to their house informing the others of the situation. Yeo Sang‘s furious knowing his beloved one is kidnapped by a narcissistic bastard.
„I am going to make him a head shorter!“
„Calm down everyone! We know where she is so let’s not make mistakes now. We’re going there but not without a plan.“
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„How can someone call this clothes? I am half naked...“
„I think it suits you!“ Joo Hyuk emerges around the corner and watches how you analyze yourself in the mirror. His estate was really beautiful. It was in a parallel world and everything looked like a greek palace up in the skies. Many other girls were giggling around the water lagoons and you had to stop yourself from throwing up at the sight of the brainless.
„They - they will come and rescue me!“
„They? My love, no demon let‘s the one with his mark run around freely without any protection. They don’t feel enough for you and you should be happy that I am going to mark you with a gift now! Be my slave - “
„No! You’re lying... And I don’t want to be your slave! You have a lot girls here isn’t it enough?“
„For me it’s never enough. You should smell yourself, it’s so fascinating! I just need you here with me... if it wasn’t me someone else would have taken you I am sure of it. And maybe now you would be death, eaten by some hungry demon.“
He shrugs with his shoulders and smiles at you. What a lunatic... But you know he means business when he starts to approach you leaving you running around him and away. Unfortunately there was no way out of a cloud and tears roll down your cheeks when some of the other girls capture you with their lustful gazes and bring you back to the water demon.
The struggling is pointless when they lay you on to a table made out of stone and hold you still with painful grips.
„NO! PLEASE!“
„It won’t hurt I promise, my love.“
Joo Hyuk leans down and starts to kiss both of your wrist and you can feel one of them stinging again. What a lying jerk! You scream out at the now stronger becoming pain. The demon starts to chant in a language you don’t know and everything‘s becoming blurry.
„Nam Joo Hyuk.“ Suddenly he stops and turns around to see not only one demon to rescue you but the whole Ateez clan.
„You have something that doesn’t belong to you.“
„Kim Hong Joong? This - human - she’s yours?“
„Not only mine, ours.“ Joo Hyuk gulps and his gaze meet your half opened eyes. He thinks about putting up a fight but it would be nothing good to ruin his estate and probably lose just for one girl.
„You can have here back.“
Yeo Sang reads Jong Ho‘s thoughts and can only agree with him that this was easier than originally planned. Yun Ho makes his way over to your lying form and he can sense your pain making him growl at the water demon who orders the girls away from your unconscious body.
Just as the demons are about to vanish away with you Joo Hyuk speaks up. „You’re lucky it was just me who found her. I don’t know why you’re not able to protect her with a total number of eight demons but you should start from now on. Next time you can collect the last droplets of her blood from the ground.“
Hong Joong just grumbles out a low I know and with that they leave the place.
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„She’s waking up! Guys!“
„Yun Ho? Yeo Sang? Where am I?“
Yeo Sang smiles down your form while the other gather around the bed and Yun Ho continues to stroke your hair in soothing motions.
„You’re safe in our mansion. We’re so sorry this happened to you...“
„God, I was so afraid!“ Your eyes become watery and you sit up to fall into a deep embrace with Yeo Sang. The boy holds you tight in his arms and tries to calm down your hiccups.
„I am sorry. This is our fault.“
„No, you rescued me... That guy was so crazy! He wanted to mark me or something but I didn’t really understand. Why me? Just why!“
„Ehm, technically he wanted you because of our mark.“ Everyone rolled with their eyes at Min Gi‘s remark. Just as it was about to get into the right direction you became aware of the whole event. You pushed Yeo Sang slowly away and found everyone avoiding your eyes.
„You - you guys! You left a fucking mark on me? I thought we talked this out but you’re still acting like I am something like your possession!“
„Y/N, please no! We gave you the mark because we love you. You being hurt or scared is the last thing we want. We didn’t know someone would find you so fast and we don’t have any experiences with this, too...“
Jong Ho gives you his puppy eyes knowing exactly that it’s your sweet spot. A girl hears what she wants to hear...
„You mean, I am the first one you gave this? Why can’t I see it?“
„Yes, you are - and you’re probably remaining the only one. Demons don’t fall in love easily, once they do, it’s normally for their whole life. But we talked about everything and the last thing we want is to see you unhappy. The whole thing with Joo Hyuk showed us we shouldn’t force you to something you don’t want. We can take the mark away...“
All of them are silent and you see their sad faces because of Jong Ho‘s words. Your gaze drifts to Yeo Sang and Hong Joong who seem to have glassy eyes. You also feel Yeo Sang‘s hands shaking and out of reflex you take them into your own hands to calm the boy down. He faces you with a little shocked expression and you gulp to what you would say next.
„I - I don’t want you to take it back. The only thing I want is my friends back...“
The demons cheer up one by one and smile at eachother at your suggestion. You can’t love someone out of nowhere but you wanting to befriend them again means a lot.
„But I don’t want to be friends only.“
Everyone’s facepalming again.
„Yes, Woo Young. I am sure you’re not able to be only friends with any female creature out there.“
„No, it’s only with you! I promise.“ His face wears a serious expression and you couldn’t say that a lot about the boy.
„You’re giving us a chance?“ Hong Joong eyes you shyly with a small smirk.
„I said friends. What happens then is not written yet. Also I don’t want to be kidnapped by anyone ever again! I am still getting goosebumps.“
Everyone’s laughing including you and your heart literally combust when you feel Yeo Sang‘s lips on your cheek. Your cheek wettens because of his tears but also the area begins to tickle until you feel it in your whole body.
He pushed back and watches you with loving eyes.
„I love you.“
Oh god, since when can you hear his voice in your head?
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#ateez demon au#ateez demon#ateez reader#ateez x reader#polyateez#ateez au#ateez fic#ateez fanfic#ateez fanfiction#ateez poly#ateez poly au#ateez fluff
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Dubious Representation (P.3)
Title: Dubious Representation (Part Three) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Hank Palmer. Reader’s husband is facing jail time and although Hank Palmer entered the counsel for pro bono, he is still going to get a form of payment. Recently single, he’s been lonely and he’s looking for some comfort. Even if it means obtaining it from less than savory means. Words: 2,562 Warnings (for entire fic): Eventual smut, sexual coercion, infidelity, mention of past domestic violence, verbal abuse Author’s Note: Decided on four parts... LOL
Part Two || Part Four || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost
Rich turned on Hank the moment the guilty verdict came through. He had been torn apart in court, Warner using the domestic violence charges to completely wipe Hank’s defense that Rich had been protecting Y/N off the board completely. What jury would think a man who had no issue hitting his wife around would have virtuous means to protect her? No, he was painted as a man protecting what he saw as property. Hank had objected to that comment which the judge sustained but it had already been said and swayed the jury all the way.
“You were supposed to get me out of this!” Rich snapped at him.
“No one was going to get you out of this, don’t kid yourself. And hey, I lost a case for free, so you don’t even have to worry about paying me for wasting my goddamn time,” Hank spat back in hushed tones, picking up his stuff.
Rich looked like he wanted to punch Hank, but the sheriff was already there putting his cuffs on. He instead whipped around to Y/N who was standing there. Her knuckles were white with how hard she was gripping the wooden wall between them, tears in the corners of her eyes.
“You---you can’t leave,” she got out. “Ten years, Rich!”
“Maybe if you hadn’t of gotten yourself into trouble by acting like a slut at that party, this wouldn’t be happening!” Rich snapped at her, his anger boiling over at everyone.
Hank was watching this exchange with a sour look, his jaw clenched. Y/N looked like she had been struck and he could only imagine what kind of verbal abuse she faced on top of the physical with him.
She gaped like a fish at him as he turned away from her with a glare, letting the sheriff lead him away. Hank finished putting away his things in his briefcase and stood up, coming in between her and where her eyes had been following him.
“Let me take you home,” Hank said gently.
Y/N focused on him, and it took a couple moments for her to register what he said. “I-I drove.”
Hank picked up his briefcase and walked out of the defense area, coming past the wall to where she was standing. He gestured for her to follow him. She shot a look at the judge who was already moved on. Swallowing sharply, she picked up her purse, she wiped at her eyes, and let his hand come to the small of her back as he guided her up the aisle towards the exit. Hank wanted to strangle Rich for making her so upset; his stomach was tight from the anger swirling at the whole situation.
He walked her to her car. The anger got the better of him and he poured out, “You know if he would’ve told me from the start that he had smacked you around, I wouldn’t have taken the damn case! Do you realize that’s what made us lose this case? Had nothing to do with me! Not even I can make a wife beating dickhead look good! Especially one with a wife who has a squeaky-clean record like you do! He didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. You’re gonna be alone now because of his stupid, asshole decisions! And then he has the fucking audacity to say that shit to you as he’s leaving? If I knew I wouldn’t have gotten charged with assault myself—"
Hank stopped on a dime seeing her lip was warbling.
“I can’t... I can’t... I need another job,” she sputtered, her shoulders slumping defeated. “What am I going to do without him?”
Taking a deep breath to level himself out a little, Hank put his briefcase down on the cement. His hands came to her shoulders, and he caught her attention, peering into her eyes.
“I know this is all very sudden and frightening but just take a deep breath with me, okay? Okay?” She nodded and took a deep breath, him mimicking her movement. It took a few but she stopped looking like she was going to completely lose it. “Let’s get you home. Unless that’s going to be too much for you? Pictures and whatnot at home? Lots of memories to dwell in. Do you want to go to a hotel?”
“I can’t afford a hotel,” she said.
“I can,” Hank told her, sounding peppy. “Here, let me drive you – in your car – over to The Peninsula – great place, trust me. We’ll get you a room for the night or two, order you some room service. There’s a spa. A pool. They’ve got a killer hot tub.” She looked at loss for words and his thumbs caressed, pressing in with the slightest of pressure. “Come on. It’s the least I can do. It would make me feel a lot better about the whole thing. So, even if it’s just for me?”
Hank knew she was going to listen to him when he put it like that. He would not expect anything less from a woman who had been abused for so long. And he was not one to be above manipulating people for his own gain. He did not want her just waiting around when Rich was released from jail and go right back to using her as a punching bag. Oh, he wanted to shield her and protect her from that. From ever happening again. He was going to make sure he was there.
“What about your car?” she asked, and he knew he had her.
“I’ll take a taxi back over here.”
“You’re going to leave me at the hotel?”
“Only if you want me to.” He could see in her eyes that that was not what she wanted. “I can drive my car back over and park there as well. Do you want to do that?”
She nodded and he held in his elation at succeeding at bringing her in; he was good at masking his emotions. He gave her a quick smile before squeezing her arms and letting go. “Come then, passenger side. I’m driving.”
<><><>
The hotel was nice. Too nice. When you heard the desk clerk say that the room was going to be $540 a night, you grabbed Hank’s arm but he ignored you, handing his credit card over. You almost vomited on the spot. That was almost half a month’s rent.
When you got to the room, he told you to take the card the man had given the pair of you at the front desk for the spa downstairs to it. You asked if it was going to cost more, and he told you to not worry about it. When you looked reluctant, he shoved it into your hand and said he better hear about how great the spa was when he got back.
As much as you wanted to be at home, being away was good. You had a feeling he had been right about wallowing at home being in that familiar space after what had happened. Heeding what he said, you headed downstairs to the spa, making sure to choose the cheapest.
He was waiting on the bed when you got back, watching the news. You had been at the spa for over an hour. You noticed he had changed out of his suit and was in black jeans and a button up.
“I didn’t even think about a change of clothes…” you told him, gesturing that you had gotten back into your same clothes.
Hank shrugged and said, “It’ll be fine.” He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. “There’s dinner upstairs. In about an hour and a half. We can go up for drinks at the lounge beforehand.”
You played with the fabric of your sun dress and said, “I thought you said room service.”
“For breakfast,” he told you, snatching up his wallet and keys, his back to you. He slipped them into his jeans. “Dinner is Cantonese. You like that?” You nodded, shrugging. He smirked at your nervousness, and he assured you, “You’ll find something.”
The bar had a plush wall length couch and Hank led you to a table after the two of you ordered at the bar. You practically sunk into the couch. His arm came around the back of the couch, around you and he leaned in.
“So, you know, you’ve never told me what you do for work.”
You stammered at first, explaining your job. He was keeping eye contact, an intensity behind his gaze, listening with rapt attention. He asked questions about it, advancement and mobility specifically. The two of you fell naturally into conversation and it continued at dinner after you finished your drinks. Dinner was on the rooftop and night had fallen over the city. You had said you wanted the cheapest thing on the menu and Hank saw right through that, point blank asking you if the only reason you had chosen it was because it was cheapest. The embarrassed look on your face said it all and he told you to choose what you really wanted. Most of the entrees would cost what both of your meals would cost at a place when you and Rich went out, but you timidly pointed at something that looked good. He nodded and encouraged you to order it along with another cocktail. He was throwing down money tonight and you felt uncomfortable about it but it was really, really nice.
You paid him back the way you knew how. Fingers gripping the blanket, you moaned loudly as he plummeted into you. His pelvis slapped against your ass, drawing groans from him as his cock dragged in and out. He flipped you over and buried himself in you again, ravaging you with rough kisses.
He fell asleep before you. You were tucked up in his arm against his side, thinking about Rich in jail and what he would do if he saw you right now.
<><><>
Hank kept texting you and setting up dates after that. You had been on three since then. He had told you that he was interested when this whole relationship started, and he had not been lying. He had also told you that if you wanted to continue it, that was up to you. You wondered if that was still on the table – not that you were considering it at this point. But he was a man to be reckoned with, that much was clear. He carried himself with such an air of importance and had no problem telling someone their place – that you had witnessed more than once. And it included with you. He was pushy, he liked getting his way. If he did not like something, he would comment on it, and you would fold up. It was how you knew how to deal with conflict in a relationship. And he seemed perfectly content with it, always smiling when you corrected yourself and agreed with his suggestion.
Despite trying to keep him at arm’s length with a casual relationship, you caved on the third date and had let him into the apartment. Having sex in your marital bed had left you feeling guilty.
You feigned sickness the next time Hank texted asking you to go on a date. And then made up a lie when he suggested another day.
Sitting at work, you looked up and choked on your coffee. Hank was walking through the door, tearing his sunglasses off, a bouquet of flowers in hand. His eyes landed on you, and he smiled briefly, striding up to you. Your coworkers were watching with curiosity, and you wanted to melt into the floor. They knew about your marriage and how Rich was in jail. What they did not know about was Hank. Gods, what was he doing here?
“Hank…” you said underneath your breath, giving him an incredulous look.
“Yes, dear?” he said nonchalantly. Heat came to your cheeks, just knowing your coworkers had heard that. He held the bouquet out to you and said, “These are to cheer you up. You look like you’re doing better. That’s good. I was just stopping by to check in on you.” He shot a look over at your coworkers and smiled warmly. “Ladies.” He pointed at you. “May I borrow Y/N for a second?”
“Sure,” one of them, Maria, said, a devilish smile on her face. She was going to want to know everything when you came back in.
You took the flowers from him and placed them down. You stood up and followed him out of the door.
“What are you doing here?” you asked the moment the two of you were out on the sidewalk.
“Can’t I stop by and say hello?”
“Hank, my coworkers don’t know about us. What if—”
“What if what? They tell Rich? That’s very unlikely,” Hank interrupted. You closed your mouth and he stepped closer. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?” You shrugged, averting your gaze. His hand came up and he turned your face back to him. His tone was firm, “Y/N.”
You shrugged again, “I feel guilty.”
Hank cocked an eyebrow, “Guilty?”
“We… we had sex in our bed.”
Sighing, Hank’s hand fell from your face. “That’s what this is all about? Look, Y/N, as someone who has been cheated on, yes, it is terrible. But I’m telling you, these circumstances are incredibly unique and different. You did nothing wrong and the person who did is the one who is gone. And he deserves to be gone. You deserve happiness.”
“It doesn’t make me feel less guilty.”
“Then maybe you should just come over to my place next time. We just won’t go to your place. How’s that sound? No room to feel guilty. Whole new environment. Here, you mentioned you like to cook. How about you come over and we make a nice dinner together?” You looked down at the ground and he closed the space between the two of you. He tipped your chin up and said, “In fact, I insist. Tonight. I’ll pick you up. What do you want to cook for me?” You did not answer quick enough and he pressed, “Hmm?”
“Lasagna?”
“Lasagna it is.” He pulled his wallet out and handed over a hundred-dollar bill, shoving it into your hand. “Here, pick up the stuff and text me when you’re home. I’ve got a nice bottle of red wine to go with it. Sound good?” He was looking at you expectantly and you gave him the answer he wanted to hear, causing him to smirk. “Perfect. I’m glad, doll.”
He leaned in and gave you a kiss. He tapped your nose and smiled, “Have a good rest of your day. Remember to put the flowers in water. I’ve gotta get back to the office.”
Hank walked you back to the door and the two of you did not miss two of your coworkers bolting away from the window where they had been pressing their noses again, watching. Hank chuckled and gave you a tap on the ass as you opened the door before he pulled took his sunglasses back off his shirt and put them on, walking off.
You walked back in and they were all staring at you.
“So, he’s wearing a Rolex…” Maria started off.
~~~
Marvel tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld @holl2712 @agustdowney @biiskuitx
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Longest Night (50) Celebrating
Here we go! The last chapter! And it’s a doozy!
I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I grew up calling all of my parents friend’s ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’. Some of them I still do. Which was really fun when I dated a family friend and kept calling his mom ‘Aunt Julie’. We are not related. Fun times!
Also, there’s some nicknames in this chapter. “Peepums” is Tom. “Nonnie Cheng” is Sabine. And “Nonna Gina” is Tom’s mom. You know how grandparents all have their weird nicknames.
Ao3 | FF.net
20 years later
—
When Marinette awoke that morning, she was alone in bed. It wasn’t that odd. Adrien had always been an early riser, but this was a different reason than just that.
But she didn’t worry. It was best just to leave things the way they were.
Dressing in a robe, she went downstairs to start making breakfast. The kids were old enough to get ready on their own now, and as long as they were down before 7, she didn’t bug them.
The first into the kitchen was the youngest, Emma. A complete girly-girl and lover of all things pink and fashionable. Even at 12, she had her own sophisticated sense of style (party cultivated by her grandfather). She danced in her pink dress and adorable white flats. “What do you think, mama? Perfect for career day? Do I look like a professional?”
“Of course you do, sweetheart.”
She beamed. “Where’s papa?”
“Oh, uh, I’m not sure. He couldn’t sleep last night, so he went for patrol. He hasn’t been back yet.”
Emma frowned hard. “He’ll be there for career day though, right?”
“He wouldn’t miss it for the world! But Peepums and Grandfather Gabriel are going to be there too.”
“Is Peepums bringing treats?”
“I would assume so. He never passes up a chance to bring snacks. Now, I’m making crepes, you want one or two?”
“Just one, mama.”
“Alright.”
The next down the stairs was the oldest (by two minutes) Hugo. “Morning mama,” he smiled brightly.
“There’s my birthday boy! Feel any older?”
“No, but I feel wiser!” He joked, as he jumped on the stool by the counter.
“Where’s Louis?”
“Stuck in the toilet.”
“And you mean that figuratively, right?”
He shrugged. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Crepes, blueberry, your favorite.”
“Yes! I want five!”
“You can have three, I don’t want you to get a tummy ache before school.”
“Lame! Bring on the crepes!” He pounded his fists on the counter.
“Three, and then if you aren’t stuffed, I’ll consider more.”
Then came the unmistakable sound of a body slowly falling down the stairs, before a dark haired teen crawled across the floor and collapsed next to his mother’s legs.
“Ah, Birthday boy part 2. Welcome to the land of the living!”
“It should be a crime to have to wake up early on your birthday.” Said the boy, face flat against the ground.
“You truly are my child,” said Marinette with a smile.
“Where’s pops?” Asked Hugo, digging into his second crepe.
“Out on patrol.”
This caused Louis to stir and look up. “Did something happen?”
“No, he just couldn’t sleep.”
Hugo frowned. “Nightmares again? He’s been having those a lot lately.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure why he’s having them. But you kids don’t need to worry about it.”
“Are we still okay for our party tomorrow?”
“Of course!” Marinette beamed. “Even if papa wasn’t feeling great, we’d still have it! Aunt Chloe reserved the rooftop pool for you, after all.”
“…I’m so excited,” said the child on the floor, with no enthusiasm. “You just can’t tell right now.”
“Well, you’re not going to get any rest on the floor. Sit in your seat and eat your crepe. I’ll make a little coffee.”
“…yay…”
—
Emma bounced nervously in her seat. She was flanked by Tom and Gabriel, who had both already presented for career day.
The day was almost over, and her father hadn’t shown.
“It’s okay, my little cupcake.” Tom assured, petting her blonde hair. “He’ll be here.”
“And if he doesn’t make it,” added Gabriel, “It wasn’t because he didn’t want to. He’s probably out there stopping a criminal, saving lives. I know you’re the most important thing in the world to him.”
Emma nodded, believing both of her grandfathers, but also not wanting to be one without a dad on career day.
Through the years, Emma had gotten used to her father’s unpredictable behavior. He loved her to the end of the world and back, and would move mountains for her if he could. And most days, it really really showed.
But some days, he just wasn’t…there. Emotionally, spiritually, or like today, physically. Her mother had similar episodes, but mostly in mood swings. She got angry sometimes, seemingly over nothing. Never directed at Emma or her brothers, thankfully, but Emma knew that there was something different about her parents.
She knew the story. She had been told pieces of it growing up, but never allowed to watch the footage. Mama and Papa had been kidnapped and tortured, because they were superheroes, and they were never the same after. The details were vague, and she was told it would be too scary for her to handle every time she asked. But she saw the scars, heard her father’s screams at night.
Most days, she didn’t want to know.
“Alright! I think that’s everyone!” Miss Bustier called. “Thank you all for participating in our career day! It’s awesome that we have such a wide range of jobs just in this very room!”
Emma deflated. Her father really wasn’t coming.
Tom laid a giant hand on her head and rubbed.
But then, there was a knock at the window.
“Chat Noir?” Miss Bustier asked.
The man in black waved as she opened the window.
“So so sorry I’m late!” He apologized, hopping into the room. “I caught a robber, and I walked him down to the police station and we had to do all this paperwork—“
“Papa!” Emma shouted, leaping over her desk. She ran to him, and threw her arms around him in a crushing hug. “You made it!”
“Just in time it seems,” he laughed, hugging her back. “I’m sorry I’m late. Can you forgive me?”
“Of course! Come on, it’s your turn to present!” She took his hand and led him up to the front of the room. “Everyone, this is my dad, Chat Noir! He’s a superhero!”
—
The next day was Saturday, and Marinette was full of stress up to her neck. She paced poolside, as her family helped set up for the party.
“Alright, Nino’s on music, Alya’s on Emma duty, Chloe covered catering, mom and dad have the cake, Gabriel and Emilie have decorations…what am I missing?”
“My Lady, you’ve gone over this list a hundred times. We’re fine.”
“Drinks! I forgot the drinks!”
Adrien pointed over at the bar. “Luka and Kagami are on drinks, remember? Luka’s making his mimosas for the adults.”
“Oh, right.” Then she pointed at him. “No alcohol, alright? Not with your medication.”
“Oh come on, these are Luka’s mimosas! I’m gonna get krunk!”
“Dad’s gonna get krunk?” Asked Hugo, from the pool.
“No one is getting krunk!” Marinette poked Adrien in the chest. “Look what you started!”
“I’m only teasing.” Adrien laughed, taking his wife’s hand. “Relax My Lady, it’s a party, a sweet 16 party! Everyone’s here to have fun. And they will as long as we relax.”
Marinette got close, whispering conspiratorially, “that’s just the thing! Do you remember our sweet sixteen parties?”
“Well...I didn’t have a party,” Adrien shrugged. “You, Alya, and Nino helped me escape the house and we went to the movies.”
“Yeah, and they spent the whole time making out, so you and I just sat there awkwardly.”
“I think I put my arm around you,” he grinned. “My very good friend.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“And your sixteenth...was that the year that Lila told everyone it was on a different day?”
“And you were the only one who called to confirm it was on the original day, and so you were the only one that showed? Yep, that’s the one. I cried on you for 15 minutes when I realized no one else was coming.”
“I mean, yeah, that sucked, but we still had fun with your family.”
“My point is, this is Hugo and Louis’ sixteenth birthday. I want them to have a good one, to have what we couldn’t have.”
“You have their gifts in your purse, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Then I wouldn’t worry about it. Their friends and family are coming, everything looks good, so just relax.”
Marinette took a deep sigh. “You’re right, my love. Whatever happens, happens, and we’ve done all we can.”
“The party will be fine, Mom.” Said Louis from a lounge chair.
“Ah! Louis? Why aren’t you in the pool?”
“I’m perfectly content just relaxing here. I’ll get hot soon enough and go in the pool.”
“Are you sure?”
Adrien wrapped an arm around his wife. “Marinette, let him alone. He’s fine. You know he’s our introvert.”
“Mama! Papa!” Emma called, running towards them from the hotel elevator. “Look at the swimsuit grandfather Gabriel got me!” She twirled, letting the shimmery, glittery greens, teals, and purples swirl in a kaleidoscope of color. “I look like a mermaid!”
“You sure do, Princess!” Adrien beamed.
Emma squealed in delight before running back to Alya.
“See? All of our kids are enjoying themselves. The guests are slowly trickling in...” he gestured to the elevator where more classmates with gifts arrived. “And no catastrophes yet.”
“Fine fine, Kitty, I get it. I’ll have a mimosa and lighten up.”
“Have one for me too!” He called after, as she headed to the bar.
Soon, the guests arrived. Hugo and Louis had invited their entire class of 18 kids. Some parents stayed to help with chaperoning, and some even brought younger siblings that were friends with Emma.
It was turning out to be a real shin-dig.
So far, Marinette felt at ease. The four parents that had stayed were mostly just hanging out at the bar, but the kids were in the pool, and no one was drowning.
Louis still reclined on the lounger, sunning himself.
“You're still doing okay over here, kiddo?”
“Mom, I’m doing so okay. So okay, it’s ridiculous. Nonna Gina brought me over a virgin mimosa, cause everyone’s talking about them. I feel like I’m on vacation.”
“As long as you’re content, I’m happy. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t feeling left out.”
“Nah,” he waved her off. “I will go swimming, but I’m going to wait until after eating.”
“Okay, kiddo.”
Seeing Hugo happily enthralled in a cannonball contest, and Louis sunning himself like a cat, she decided to check in with her youngest. Though she saw Alya at the bar talking to Kagami, and Emma nowhere in sight.
This used to make her panic immediately. None of her kids were especially hyper or rambunctious. They didn’t run off on their own, especially without letting her know.
But there was still a fear, still a niggling doubt in the back of her head that said ‘what if’?
As calm as possible, she approached the adults at the bar, and asked Alya. “Have you seen Emma?”
“She ran down to the lobby to use the bathroom,” Alya answered casually.
“Alone?”
“Yeah, Marinette, she’s 12. She can handle going to the bathroom alone.” It was a reassurance, no judgement. Because sometimes, Adrien and Marinette needed a reminder that their children were well adjusted and had plenty of common sense.
Marinette knew that. And it wasn’t the bathroom part she was concerned about. It was the trip down to the lobby by herself.
She heard a father speak softly, “for superheroes, they are certainly overprotective of their kids. Kind of feel sorry for them.”
Marinette nodded at Alya, and retreated sheepishly. Was her paranoia ruining her children’s lives?
“What’s with that look, My Lady?” Adrien asked, softly, sipping on his drink.
“Sorry, sorry, I just…overheard something I shouldn’t dwell on.” She looked at the drink in his hands, narrowing her eyes.
“It’s virgin!” He handed it to her. “I promised I was going to quit. Getting plastered at our kid’s birthday would be the worst time for them to find out I have a problem.”
“It’s not a problem yet, but that’s why I want you to stop. So it doesn’t become one.”
“Hey! Let go Isaac!” Louis’ voice carried over the water. Instantly, Marinette and Adrien were alert and looked to see a larger boy pulling Louis toward the pool by the arm.
“Hey!” Marinette called out. “Let him go! If he doesn’t want to go swimming, don’t force him!”
“Oh come on, Lady!” The father from the bar shouted over to her. “What’s the point in having a pool party for your boys if they aren’t even going to go swimming!?”
SPLASH
Louis surfaced with a gasp, and then a defeated “aw man!”
“Are you okay kiddo?” Marinette asked. “You didn’t have your phone on you, right?”
“No, I’m fine.” He took off his soaked shirt and dropped it on the edge of the pool with a loud plop. “Just…didn’t want to get wet yet.”
“Dude, come on Isaac, don’t be such a turd!” Hugo chastised.
“He looked lonely!” Isaac argued.
“Whatever,” Louis said, defeated. “Just…don’t dunk me, okay?”
“No promises!”
Adrien frowned at the exchange as Louis swam over closer to his brother. “Isaac, Isaac, why is that name familiar? Is that the kid that’s been picking on Louis? Why is he here?”
“Oh,” Marinette smacked her head. “That’s what they were asking about!”
“What? Who?”
“A few weeks ago, the boys were asking me questions about what to do about a classmate people don’t get along with. They asked if they should include them in the party if they were inviting the rest of the class. I told them that would be the right thing to do, but I didn’t realize they were talking about Louis’ bully!” She groaned. “And it looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She glared at Isaac’s dad at the bar.
Adrien smiled over at the pool. Both Hugo and Louis were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. It seemed Louis was already over his impromptu dunking. “Our kids are resilient. It’ll take more than that to bring them down.”
“They are strong.” Marinette breathed. “Stronger than me.”
It was then that Emma returned. “Hi mama, I’m back. Aunt Alya said I should check in with you because you were worried? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going.”
Marinette smiled at her. “It’s fine Emma. You told Aunt Alya, so someone knew. You just know I’m a basket case.”
Emma frowned at her mom. “You’re not a basket case. You’re just...worried?”
“Does that bother you? Do I make you feel trapped or smothered?”
Adrien stared at his wife in horror. Likewise, so did Emma. “No! Not at all!” She hugged her around the waist and added, “Nonnie Cheng worries about where I am too. She says it’s because you went missing, and it’s scared her ever since. I don’t want to scare you, mom.”
Marinette hugged Emma tightly and said, “I have the best kids in the world.”
“In that case,” Emma grinned. “Can I have some soda?”
“Sure, just tell Aunt Kagami what you want.”
“Thanks mom!” She beamed and scurried off.
“And no running!” Marinette called after. “Girl’s got my clumsy streak. She’ll break her neck.”
“Crisis averted it seems.” Said Adrien.
“For now,” Marinette narrowed her eyes. “But Ladybug never rests!”
Adrien pecked his wife on the lips. “Someone has to be responsible.”
“Hey pops!” Hugo called from the pool.
“What’s up?”
“We’re going to do a diving contest! You should join!”
“Yeah!”
“Come on Mr. Dupain-Cheng!”
“Show us some Chat Noir style!”
Marinette nudged him. “Go ahead. Show those kids how it’s done.”
He smirked. “Okay okay.” He took off his shirt and laid it on the lounger by their bags. Then he entered the pool from the shallow end, coming up behind the kids. “How does this diving contest work?”
“It’s easy!” Said Hugo, “we’re going to take turns coming up with unique ways to jump in the pool. Winner is the best technique, or most creative.”
“I got one!” Said a chubby kid. He climbed out of the pool and up on the diving board.
“Make room!” Someone called. “Cannon ball champion on the loose!”
“This is called ‘The Patrick Star’!” He bounced twice, getting real air before leaping out, parallel with the water, arms and legs spread out like a starfish.
And he collided with the water with a resounding clap, making everyone go, ‘ooo!’
The kid surfaced, his entire frontside pink. “Ow.”
The rest of the class laughed at him.
One by one, classmates would come up with a dive, though most were a lot more elegant than the first.
“I call this, ‘The Ladybug’.” A girl said. She ran and jumped, twisting in the air while throwing her arm, mimicking Ladybug’s yo-yo. She managed to say “bug out!” Before she hit the water. Marinette whistled. “She’s got my vote!”
“Come on, Pops,” said Hugo. “It’s your turn!”
“I don’t have a—“
“Just make something up! Go go!”
Adrien pulled himself out of the pool and headed toward the diving board, aware of the people watching, curious.
This was his twin boys’ special day. He had to be impressive. He had to be the cool dad.
He took a running start, falling into a front flip as he hit the diving board. His adult weight bowed the board with force, sending him up into the air. He curled tightly into a ball, using the momentum to rotate three times, before coming out of the ball and diving seamlessly into the water.
When he surfaced, the crowd of kids were going wild. They screamed and chanted “Dad! Dad! Dad!”
Obviously started by his boys.
Adrien beamed as he treaded water. Being Chat Noir was great, even with all the pain it had brought him. But being his kid’s hero was the absolute best.
But everything came to a screeching halt as Isaac, the butthole kid, let out a loud, “EWWW!!” Grabbing everyone’s attention. “What’s wrong with your dad’s back!? It’s all gross!”
Adrien slammed his eyes shut, all at once feeling self-conscious. But this was just a dumb teenager. Maybe he didn’t know any better. But before he could gather himself to calmly explain his scars, his boys spoke up for him.
“It’s scarring, you jerk,” said Louis.
“He got it from being a superhero, when he was just two years older than we are!” Added Hugo.
Isaac scoffed, “Chat Noir and Ladybug aren’t real superheroes! Not like the ones in America! All they do is rescue cats from trees and show up for charity events. They don’t even do anything anymore!”
Adrien sloppily backtracked, reaching out for the edge of the pool.
“Just yesterday, he caught a robber! That’s not nothing!” Hugo defended.
“Oh yeah?” Said Isaac, “My dad said that they used to fight supervillains, but they couldn’t stop the guy responsible for them! He said they’re losers and failures!”
“Hey Jean,” said one of the parents. “Tell your kid to shut up.”
Isaac’s father took a chug from his beer and shrugged. “Someone had to say it.”
“Monsieur,” said Ladybug with god-like patience. “I suggest you and your son leave. I don’t feel the need to play host to someone who could be so hateful and misinformed.”
“Misinformed?” The man, Jean, scoffed. “I was there. I saw the stream back then. I remember what it was like. The weekly akumas, classes and events always cancelled. The only reason they stopped is because Hawkmoth gave up. I don’t think you guys should be getting recognition anymore. Sorry, not sorry.”
“Mom?” Louis called from the pool.
Jean frowned, continuing. “The rest of us have to make a living working hard, every day. You and your husband just put on some skin tight leather and prance around. Now you’re set for life. It’s disgusting.”
“Hey man, if you don’t like it, you can leave,” said Alya. “No one invited you. I heard your son was only invited out of obligation.”
“Mom!” Louis called again.
“Marinette and Adrien suffered enough for a lifetime. Every day is a struggle! How dare you say otherwise!”
“MOM!” Louis screamed.
Marinette whipped her head over to the pool, seeing Adrien struggling to keep his head above water. Louis and Hugo were holding him up. She hurried over. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“He’s having an attack!”
Tom rushed over, reaching his hands under Adrien’s arms, and pulled him out of the pool. He tried to set him on his feet, but he kept leaning forward, trying to lay down. His eyes were wide, but unfocused, as his breaths came rapidly.
Marinette tugged on his arm. “Come on, Kitty. Not here.” She called over to Chloe. “Is there a room we can borrow for a second?”
“Follow me!”
Louis broke off from the group, but Hugo and Marinette were quick to escort Adrien away from the party.
“Mom?” Emma asked, right as they were about to get on the elevator.
“It’s okay, Honey. Dad just needs a minute. Stay behind with Aunt Alya, okay?”
Emma nodded, though didn’t look convinced.
Chloe showed them to her room, where she quickly got a towel for Adrien to wrap up in.
Hugo and Marinette eased him down to sit on the couch. There, he slumped, his head resting on the back of the couch.
Louis found their room, cup in hand. “I brought a coke. I know that usually helps.”
Marinette sighed in relief. “Thank you baby,” she took the cup from him and put it in Adrien’s hand, then helped him take a sip.
They sat for a while, watching Adrien breathe slowly and take occasional sips from his drink.
“I’m so sorry boys,” Marinette looked to them sadly. “We didn’t mean to ruin your birthday.”
Hugo frowned at her. “What? You guys didn’t ruin anything. Isaac’s the one that pooped on our party.”
“Yeah,” added Louis, “and we were having a great time up until now. Don’t worry about it mom.”
Adrien very shakily brought the cup towards his face, and Marinette was quick to help, so he didn’t spill. “Dad’s going to be fine,” she explained. “Why don’t you boys get back to the party?”
“If it’s okay, I’d like to wait until dad feels a little better. I’d feel guilty if I left,” said Louis.
“Me too,” said Hugo. “And I need a few minutes to calm down to keep from punching Isaac in the face. What he said was dumb. He has no idea what you guys do.”
“…it shouldn’t have bothered me…” Adrien said, softly.
“Dad?”
“I’m okay,” he took a deep exhale. “Just…lost myself for a moment.”
Hugo hugged him tightly around the shoulders. “Love you, dad. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m sorry for scaring you boys…and your friends. But I’ll be alright now.”
“You recovered pretty quickly,” Marinette noted.
“It’s because I have my big strong boys with me.” He wrapped his arms around his sons. “There was nothing to worry about.”
Except, there was.
Alya burst into the room, Chloe behind her, with a look of panic.
“Marinette, come quickly!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Emma! She’s been akumatized!!”
—
As Emma watched her father be rushed out of the party, a stone fell into her gut. No matter how often this happened, no matter how good they got at catching the attacks, it still scared her when it happened.
She was torn between wanting to be with him, and not wanting to see that vacant expression on his face. Her mother said it was a coping mechanism he developed a long time ago, when they had been kidnapped. He just switched his brain off when he got overwhelmed, as to not experience pain. It only happened a few times a year, only in super stressful situations where he thought about his torture.
Emma wiped at her face as she looked over the party. Alya was chastising the adult man that had talked bad about her father, and Hugo and Louis’ friends were ripping into the kid that started the whole mess.
Everyone was angry and yelling.
“Emma?” Gabriel asked, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, dear?”
“Oh, Grandfather…” She sniffed. “I’m just…scared.”
“Your father will be alright. It’s nothing physical, it’s just a mental state.”
“I know…” She screwed up her lips. “But I’m scared people are going to keep saying that stuff to him. Mom acts like I’m too young to understand what’s happening…but people are forgetting that they are real superheroes, and they act like they’re mascots. I’m scared this is going to happen again.” She rubbed at her damp eyes. “He doesn’t deserve it. Neither of them do.”
“You really love your parents, don’t you?”
“Of course! They’re the best!”
“Then, I have a plan. Would you be willing to help?”
“Of course, what is it?”
“Come with me, we’ll speak in private.”
Curious, Emma followed Gabriel into the hotel, down to a conference room. He locked the door behind them.
“You remember our little secret?”
“That I know you were Hawkmoth?”
“Yes. My plan requires me to come out of retirement, just this once…and to akumatize you.”
She looked startled. “You want to turn me into a supervillain?”
“Only if you agree to it, dear.” He pet her hair. “My goal is to make you a supervillain, so you can terrorize Paris and remind them of what Ladybug and Chat Noir used to do. I’ll be able to see through your eyes, so I can stop and undo any damage if something goes wrong.”
Emma crossed her arms. “You’d make mom and dad fight me?”
“Not fight you, rescue you.”
She frowned again, thinking about it. Then she nodded. “Let’s do it!”
Gabriel smiled at her, and opened his sports jacket, where Nooroo was hiding. “Nooroo, Dark Wings rise!”
In a flash of purple light, Hawkmoth had returned. Inside his cane, a little white butterfly fluttered.
Emma danced on her toes. “What kind of powers are you going to give me? I want to be pretty!”
He chuckled at her eagerness. “Of course, my sweet Emma.” He evilized the butterfly, and then coaxed it into the paw print bracelet she was wearing.
A purple mask appeared on her face.
“Mermaidia, I’m giving you the power of the seas. You may travel through any body of water, and turn those that oppose you into sea creatures. In exchange, you must give Chat Noir and Ladybug a taste of nostalgia. Do you accept these terms?”
“Absolutely, Hawkmoth.”
The dark purple fog encompassed Emma, turning the sweet blonde girl into a real mermaid, with purple hair, shimmering scales, and an abundance of glittering gold and jewels. In her hand, she held a trident.
Hawkmoth took a bottle of water from the table, and poured it on the floor.
Mermaidia stepped into the puddle, and disappeared.
—
“Regardless if you feel like you’re right, it’s still your opinion. And an opinion doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole, especially to people who are hosting this party!” Shouted Alya.
The rest of the parents were quietly watching the exchange, not really wanting to get involved. But they were also paying attention to a similar argument in the pool.
“You are a grown adult and a parent. It’s your job to teach your kid respect and kindness, two qualities I haven’t seen from him today.”
“Look lady, I know you’re friends with the Dupain-Cheng’s and all, but come on. It doesn’t bother you that they don’t work at all? What’s the point of them calling themselves superheroes anyway? They should just hang up the suits and get real jobs.”
“They. Can’t.” Alya emphasized. “Did you not just see what happened to Adrien? What if he was working and he had an attack? What then, smart guy?”
“He won’t have attacks if he was doing something with his life!”
“They are full time parents, and full time heroes! They do more than just ‘rescue cats and make celebrity appearances at charity events’! How can you be so ignorant?!”
“What did you call me!?”
Screams came from the pool, and the argument halted.
Mermaidia had made her appearance.
“I am Mermaidia! You all have grown too soft and comfortable! I’m here to remind you what it was like back when there were akuma!” She laughed, pointed her trident, and turned a child into a fish.
The party descended into madness, as Mermaidia shot rapidly. None of the teens in the pool escaped, and all turned into various fish and sea creatures.
Isaac turned into a starfish, and Emma stuck him to her arm. “You’re coming with me. I want you to see how wrong you were.”
Several adults had tried to escape as well, but Mermaidia stopped them in their run.
Only those who knew the identity of Hawkmoth, or were previous Miraculous users didn’t panic. Rather, they stood staring, confused. Alya backed away carefully, and escaped into the hotel. Whether Emma purposely let her go or not, she would never know.
“Emma?” Asked Sabine.
“I’m not Emma anymore, I’m Mermaidia!” She turned Isaac’s father into another starfish, and stuck him on her other arm. “You mocked my parents, but now, they’re the only ones that can save you! Ahahaha!”
“Emma, stop.” Tom demanded. “You’re a good girl. We can’t let what people say get to us. People will always have their opinions that we disagree with, but we can’t take it personally.”
“But I can take this personally!” She shouted back. “My father is the greatest man alive, and no one will doubt that when I’m through! Just you see!”
She turned the rest of the assembled party goers into creatures, before leaping into the pool and disappearing.
—
Ladybug, Chat Noir, Alya, Chloe, Louis, and Hugo all returned to the party, only to find a bunch of fish.
“What the…?”
“She’s called Mermaidia,” Alya clarified. “She’s turned everyone into sea creatures. She appeared from the water, so I think she can transport through liquid.”
“She totally can, dude,” said a sea turtle from the pool.
“Nino?” Asked Chat Noir.
“Cha dude, what do you think? Pretty fitting for me, huh?”
“Are you okay?”
“Totally. All the little dudes are too.” He gestured to the fish in the pool.
“Emma turned the kid and his dad who started the argument into starfish.” Said a sea-snake. “They’re on her arms. So be careful when you attack.”
“Luka?”
“Yep.”
“Where’s my mom and dad?”
“Over here!” Called a walrus. There was a crab next to him, waving a claw. “We’re fine, honey. Just save Emma!”
“Next question,” Said Ladybug, wielding her yo-yo angrily. “Where’s Gabriel?”
Chat Noir rested a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s focus on saving Emma, and then we’ll find him.”
She sighed. “You’re right, as always, kitty. However, I think we might need some help with this akuma.” She opened her yo-yo and reached inside, pulling out two octagonal boxes. Then she turned to Hugo and Louis. “I hoped to give you your presents later, and hoped you wouldn’t ever have to use them. But desperate times come desperate measures.”
Hugo and Louis smiled at each other, with excitement.
“Louis, my wise, observant, and cunning child, this is the Miraculous of the Snake. With it, you can turn back time an infinite amount of times in a five minute duration. You will use it for the greater good.”
“Sweet.”
“And Hugo, my brave, bold, and exuberant child, this is the Miraculous of the Turtle. With it, you can create an impenetrable shield. You will use it for the greater good.”
“Yes!”
“Louis, to transform, simply say ’Sass, Scales Slither.’ And Hugo, your phrase is ‘Wayzz, Shell On’.”
“Sass, Scales Slither!”
“Wayzz, Shell On!”
A flash of green and teal, and the boys were turned into superheroes. They high fived each other.
“The Reptile Boyz are back in town!” Hugo cheered.
“Really? ‘Boyz’ with a ‘Z’?” Chat Noir asked flatly.
“It’s cool, old man!” Said Louis.
“Alright team, let’s focus,” Ladybug said, a bit too fondly for the situation at hand. She took out her yo-yo, and looked for intel. There was a special report live from Nadja Chamack.
“—Mermaidia is the first Akuma in 20 years! It was thought that Hawkmoth had retired, but it seems he has one ace left up his sleeve. The akuma was last spotted at the Luxembourg park! Hopefully, Ladybug and Chat Noir are on their way! Again, this is a real akuma, so it is advised to stay indoors and away from water!”
“She’s at the park! Let’s go!”
—
This wasn’t nearly as scary as Emma thought it would be. In fact, she was having a lot of fun. Hawkmoth did advise her that she would be influenced by her anger, but that really didn’t seem to bother her. It was really fun to turn people into sea creatures.
Though, she did feel really guilty when she hit people that were crying in fear.
But that’s what her parents were here for! To undo all this! It was fine!
“I am Mermaidia! And Ladybug and Chat Noir are your only chance for salvation!”
“Now now Emma,” Chat Noir spoke from behind. “Go easy on us. We’re a little wet behind the ears.”
Emma had to stomp down the urge to run and hug her father, and instead declared. “There you are, Ladybug and Chat Noir! Ready to do battle?”
Ladybug simply crossed her arms. “If you don’t give up your akuma, you’re grounded.”
Mermaidia stomped her foot. “You can’t ground me if you can’t catch me!” And she leapt into the fountain.
“She’s escaping!” Cried Hugo.
“Quick, fan out! Look for sources of water, and call as soon as you get sight of her!”
—
This was not Hugo or Louis’ first time using a Miraculous. Every once in a while, Marinette and Adrien would allow the children to pick one out to try, and then they’d have a family game of tag out on the Paris rooftops. The rules were to stay safe, and to not allow the media to take pictures. And at the first sign of danger, they were supposed to go home and let Mom and Dad handle it.
So the boys were familiar with their powers, but boy, they were not ready for the anxiety of an Akuma attack.
They may have been older, but Emma was still the reigning champion of tag.
“Find anything?” Louis asked, crossing his brother.
“Not a scale,” said Hugo. “Have you activated your Second Chance yet?”
“No, but I will the second we find her. Then if she escapes, we can just reverse time.”
“Smart.” Then, Hugo’s eyes caught on something in the river. “Huh?”
“What?”
“How often do you think whales go down the Seine?”
“Uh…never?”
“There she is! She’s on top of it!” Hugo activated his distress beacon on his shield, making sure to keep up with Emma, but also stay out of sight.
“We have to play this carefully. She can literally jump into the water and disappear at any second.”
“Not if there’s no water to disappear into,” said Chat Noir, appearing from nowhere.
Hugo resisted a scream. “D-Chat! You’re too sneaky!”
“I’ve been doing this a while, kiddo. Ladybug’s not here yet?”
“No, what’s the plan?”
“I have half a plan…”
“Then it’s a good thing I have half of one too!” Said Ladybug, finally joining them. “After you sent your signal, I called the French Waterway Commission and had them close the lock she’s on.”
“What did what the what?” Hugo asked.
“The river is made up of locks,” explained Louis, “chambers that fill and empty with water so boats can travel. The ground isn’t level, and the water level changes.”
“So Ladybug basically had them dam up the section Emma’s on right now,” said Chat.
“But she can still travel through water, so once she reaches the dam, she’ll just abandon ship, er, whale.” Hugo observed. “So then what?”
“Then we put my plan into action,” Chat cracked his knuckles, and stealthily made his way to the river bank.
Louis and Hugo watched in fascination as Chat called his Cataclysm and touched the water. In a boiling wave, it rolled quickly past Emma, evaporating as it went. It didn’t even have time to settle, just went up in a cloud of steam.
The whale that Emma was on run ashore, and she came to a halt. “What?”
“Nowhere to run now, little girl!” Ladybug called.
Mermaidia jumped from the back of the whale and landed in the sand. It wasn’t even damp. Chat had literally evaporated all the water in that section of the river.
“Second Chance!” Louis activated his bracelet. And just in time too, as Mermaidia shot a beam at Ladybug, and turned her into a dolphin. “Second Chance!”
Time restarted, and Louis shouted. “Ladybug, dive!”
Ladybug dove out of the way, missing the three shots Mermaidia took.
“I’m not going to take it easy on you just because you’re my mother!” Emma shouted. “So let’s show Paris what a real superhero looks like, hmm?”
“Oh you are so grounded when this is over, little lady!” She dodged another blast, and called for her Lucky Charm.
Hugo called for Shelter while she glanced around, looking for the purpose of the tennis racket her Miraculous had bestowed upon her.
Then it dawned on her.
A grounding wasn’t enough for her naughty child. Oh no. This called for the big guns.
The second Hugo’s Shelter faded, she shot out her yo-yo, catching Emma around the arms, and yanked her to lay across her leg. Hugo and Louis peeled the captive starfish off, while Chat took the trident. All the while Mermaidia wriggled around, fighting against the yo-yo string.
“No akuma in the trident, my lady.” Chat Noir shrugged.
“Oh, I’ll get it out of her.” Ladybug raised the tennis racket. “Where’s the akuma at, Emma?”
“This is cheating!”
“Okay, you asked for it.” And Ladybug brought the tennis racket down on her bottom, once, twice, three times before Emma cried out. “Okay okay! It’s in my bracelet! Stop! Stop!”
Chat broke the bracelet, freeing the butterfly, as Ladybug set her crying daughter down in the sand.
She caught and purified the butterfly, and removed everyone from the bank of the river before casting her cure.
Emma Dupain-Cheng returned, pouting, and still rubbing her behind. “I was just trying to help…”
“Where’s your Grandfather?”
“He’s in a conference room at the hotel. But don’t be mad at him, please…”
Before Ladybug could yell more, Isaac and his father approached her. “Uh, Ladybug?”
“Yes?”
“Look, I wanted to—we wanted to apologize. Thank you for rescuing us, and I’m sorry. I guess I had forgotten what it was like having akumas around. You still stopped Hawkmoth, right? Well…until today…”
“Hawkmoth is a friend of ours now,” Ladybug clarified. “He’s paid for his crimes, but today has shown that he hasn’t quite learned the right way to deal with problems. I believe he was well intentioned, but we will be having words.”
Isaac’s father nudged his son. “You want to say anything?”
Isaac shyly looked at the family and admitted, “thank you for inviting to the party. No one invites me to things.”
“Yeah, well, work on your boundary issues, and maybe it’ll happen more often,” said Louis.
“If you guys want to head back to the hotel, I think there’s still time for cake!” Said Chat, with optimism.
—
After the Miraculous cure restored the party, everyone gathered again and lunch was served.
But, the Dupain-Chengs were in the conference room. Marinette and Adrien frowned at their youngest and Gabriel.
“Now, son--” Gabriel began.
“What were you thinking?” Adrien interrupted.
“I was thinking that Paris needed a little reminder of all the hard work you guys did.”
“Yeah, cool,” sniped Marinette. “Except now they think you’re out of retirement, and that’s a huge reminder that we didn’t stop you!”
Gabriel took the brooch off. “Then here. Make it official. Tell them that this akuma was my swan-song and I made it to surrender.”
Marinette took the brooch regardless, and put it in her bag. “I don’t know what I’ll say to the media. They’ll want to know who you are, and if you’re going to prison…and akumatizing your own granddaughter?”
“I told him I was okay with it!” Said Emma. “I knew what I was getting into. It’s not that big of a deal!”
“Not that big of a deal!?”
There was a knock on the door, as Hugo and Louis peeked their heads in. “There you are, Grandfather!”
“Hi boys,” he smiled at them, softly.
The twins pushed passed their parents to stand in front of him, arms crossed, just like Marinette and Adrien.
“What you did was terrible,” Said Louis.
“So awful,” echoed Hugo.
“You could have permanently hurt or traumatized people.”
“Done thousands of dollars of property damage.”
Gabriel sighed. “I know…I just—“ But he was cut off as the boys wrapped him up in a tight hug. “What?”
“Thanks for the coolest present ever!”
“Yeah! Mom gave us our Miraculous, but the chance to use them on a real akuma!?”
“Hey!” Shouted Emma. “I was the akuma! No thanks for me!?”
They gave her a noogie. “Thanks twerp.”
“You’re a twerp!”
Marinette and Gabriel met eyes. He gave a sheepish shrug. “I know I’m bad. But I deeply love my family.”
She then gave up trying to be angry. “Alright fine. I admit it. It was fun to fight an akuma again. But it’s over now!”
Adrien shook his head fondly. “Thanks for meddling dad.”
“Your welcome, son.”
“I want cake!” Hugo shouted.
“Cake time!”
“Yay cake!”
“No cake for Emma. Only broccoli.” Marinette clarified. “You were naughty.”
“Aw man!!”
--
AND THAT’S THE END!
Oh my word this story got AWAY from me! It was only supposed to be maybe 20 chapters when I first started on it? But here we are, a year and a half later, and over 200,000 words! I kinda can’t believe I’m done!
Anyways, thank you all for sticking around through all the heartache. I appreciated every single review and like. And one parting question: What was your favorite part?
#miraculous ladybug#ml#ladybug#chat noir#ladynoir#adrienette#gabriel agreste#fanfiction#longest night#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste
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Le Paon Part 14
(Hey guys! So I’m going on a long trip tomorrow that might leak into Sunday so I’m posting this chapter two days early. Enjoy!)
Part 1 / Part 13 / Part 15
Le Paon spread his arms out, inviting the full force of the wind with a smile as he soared over the Paris streets. The evening was perfect- a cloudless sky, a warm breeze, and a bubbly feeling in his chest that threatened to burst at any moment.
He never did end up talking to Marinette about their almost kiss, but the time he spent with her at home coming was just as great. They danced, they talked, and best of all, they were undisturbed. Not a single soul interrupted their time together, not even an akuma.
And now, Felix could only shout with joy as he ran to meet her as Le Paon. How he managed to escape Father’s new security was anyone’s guess, but he was out and that was all that mattered.
Of course, after such a wonderful night, Le Paon needed to run off some of his excitement before visiting Marinette again. She might get suspicious if he suddenly appeared on her doorstep with a shining grin despite how their last rendezvous together ended.
Le Paon stopped on a small rooftop, watching a few people on the streets below. Sirens blared in the distance, but he didn’t pay it any attention until the flash of blue, white, and red caught the corner of his eye. There seemed to be a good few police cars gathering in one of the streets a few blocks away, which was odd. Le Paon didn’t hear any gunshots or alarms beforehand, so why would Police be called to that area?
Curious, he took off across the rooftops again. It only took a minute for him to be right on top of them.
The sirens were still on when he got to the street with the police, so he could barely hear what anyone was saying, but they seemed to be talking about something rather important.
Le Paon balanced himself on a chimney just above the cars and knelt down, hoping to get a better look. One police officer was talking to another officer that was slightly separated from the crowd. (perhaps that was the main officer?)
“What do we do if we find him?” The first officer asked, a tentative expression on his face.
“Take him into custody by any means necessary.” The main officer replied firmly. “That old lady’s sights may be nearly gone, but if she said he was here, we can’t risk ignoring it.”
“He”? Who’s he? Who were they looking for?
A few of the other officers glanced around the street, as if they were worried something might jump out to get them. Le Paon looked around too, but there was nothing. It was only them for the time being. Nevertheless, he’d like to know what had them so worried.
“Le Paon is dangerous. He hides in the shadows and attacks when you least expect it. Stay together and watch each other’s backs.” The main officer continued.
Le Paon’s eyes blew wide at the statement. Him? Attacking random citizens? That was ridiculous! He’d never hurt anyone if he could help it, and anytime he did hurt someone, it was during the akuma attacks and completely accidental. Did Paris really think that he prowled around as a bloodthirsty monster for no reason? (not that he was a bloodthirsty monster either. That’s just what the news media liked to paint him as)
Before Felix could fully register the fact that he was the one they were looking for and not some petty criminal, the main officer pointed upwards. “Watch the rooftops too. He’s been spotted up there the most.”
Le Paon’s blood ran cold as every single one of the officers’ eyes turned upwards, with quite a few landing on him directly.
Guns were out and pointed at him in seconds, and Le Paon sprang to his feet from sheer panic. Unfortunately, that was enough for the police to start shooting.
Bullets started flying past him, and Le Paon stumbled back. his foot slipped off the back of the chimney, causing him to flail his arms a bit for balance. This unfortunately allowed one of the bullets to graze his waist, pushing him back onto the rooftop below anyway. Le Paon hissed in pain, instinctively grabbing his side as his back hit the rooftop. The wound burned his skin with a sharpness that had him gritting his teeth.
Bullets were still flying around him, but now they were hitting the chimney in front of him. The chimney wouldn’t last, though, and the police were bound to climb the building soon. He needed to escape, but how could he when his own blood was pooling around him and his vision was blurring from the pain?
Le Paon, through short breaths and groans, somehow managed to start pushing himself back. His strength was surprisingly intact, but he wasn’t sure if that was the adrenaline or the miraculous or both.
He bit down hard on his lip as he forced himself to his feet, and the metallic taste of blood quickly started filling his mouth as well. Pain and agony overwhelmed his senses, but he drove it to the back of his mind as best he could. If he was taken now, he would never see Marinette again, and a life without Marinette.. well.. that was a life Felix didn’t care to live.
Le Paon threw himself into a sprint, despite his body screaming for him to stop, and jumped to the next rooftop. Then to the next. Marinette’s house was somewhere around here. He just needed to run far enough to get there.
~~~~~~
Marinette twirled around her room as she brushed her hair, remembering the way Felix held her as they danced. She never wanted to forget it.
“Oh, Tikki, I wish you could have seen it.” Marinette sighed wistfully. “He was so handsome in that tux, and the way he smiled at me just- ugh.”
Tikki offered a sweet smile. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
Marinette chuckled. “I had the best time. He even complimented my dress-” She gestured to her dress that was now draped across the chaise “-and asked me to make his next suit! Felix really is wonderful.”
Tikki chuckled, but before she could reply, a thud came from the balcony.
Marinette’s eyes snapped upward, her grin growing. First, she got to have a grand evening with Felix, and now, Le Paon’s finally come back to see her! That landing was a bit rougher than usually, but undoubtedly him. No one else visited her at night via balcony.
She scrambled up to open the trapdoor, briefly thinking over the fact that she was currently dressed in pajamas. He probably wouldn’t mind, though. It was late.
Marinette pushed open the trapdoor with a smile, but whatever banter she was about to use died in her throat when she saw him.
Le Paon was curled on the ground, a hand to his side and a scowl of pain on his features. Something was soaked into his clothes, and she felt a wave of panic at the thought of what it might be.
“L-Le Paon!” She said, shocked and worried and confused. How did this happen? Wasn’t the miraculous supposed to protect them? Did Hawkmoth lash out at him somehow? “What- what happened? Are you okay? Who did this to you?”
Le Paon twitched slightly, his glazed eyes rolling up to get a glimpse of her. He seemed on the verge of being delirious. “Police… guns.. I didn’t..”
Marinette gripped her shirt over her heart. The police? Did he have a run in with the police? Wait- had he been shot?!
“I’m taking you inside.” She said sternly, even though her hands were shaking. If he truly was covered in blood, she needed to clean it up and patch up the wound as soon as possible. Who knew how long he’d had the injury now?
Marinette wrapped her arms around Le Paon’s waist and tried to ignore his pained gasps as she tugged him downwards.
This is for his own good. She told herself. He’s going to be in pain no matter what you do.
As gently as possible, Marinette carried him to her bed- thank goodness for her Ladybug training -and carefully set him down across the sheets. Le Paon squirmed at first, but settled a few moments later.
“Stay right here.” Marinette instructed softly, even though it was clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m gonna get you a towel to help with the bleeding and then get some bandages.”
Le Paon managed a nod, and Marinette spared him a quick glance before rushing downstairs to her bathroom. She briefly wondered how she was going to explain all of the blood to her parents later, but that was a question for later. Right now, the main problem was Le Paon’s gunshot wound.
A gunshot wound! For Pete’s sake, how did he even get it? She thought the miraculous suits were supposed to protect them from the brunt of those things, though she’d never really been shot with a bullet as Ladybug before either. How did he get here with that injury? Did he run all the way there?
“Gosh, Le Paon..” She muttered to herself, yanking a towel from her sink cabinet. Should she call an ambulance? What would they do? He was technically a convicted criminal. Wasn’t that similar to turning him in?
Marinette climbed back up to her bed with towel in hand and quickly pressed it to Le Paon’s wound.
“Keep it here to help stop the bleeding.” She told him, putting his hand over the towel. “I need to get bandages now.”
Le Paon just closed his eyes, which fueled Marinette to quicken her pace. She scurried down the steps again, heading back to the bathroom. She grabbed a small, silver tray along the way and dumped out the sewing contents on it. Her parents had given it to her from the bakery to help keep her pins together, but it should work to hold the medical supplies as well.
Bandages.. Bandages.. She rummaged through the cabinets and drawers, finally finding a roll of bandages in the bottom left drawer. She then found a clean washrag and soaked it in water to clean the wound, along with another clean towel to dry the wound afterwards.
Once she had the necessary items, Marinette rushed back up the ladder to Le Paon. Panic spiked in her chest when she saw how limp he was, but a quick check of the pulse proved to simply be asleep.
“Probably passed out from blood loss.” She pondered aloud as she knelt beside him.
The tray was set aside so she could pry away the bloodied towel. Thankfully, the bleeding had slowed, but she needed to work quickly so it wouldn’t get worse. Marinette lightly cleaned the bullet wound with the washrag, glancing at Le Paon every now and then to make sure he wasn’t in too much pain. Once the blood was cleared away and she could clearly see the wound, Marinette got to work wrapping the bandages around him. It was a bit difficult at first, since he was laying down, but with some coaxing, she got Le Paon to sit up in a near-asleep state so she could wrap the wound swiftly and efficiently.
“Do you think that’s enough?” Marinette whispered to Tikki after a few minutes.
The kwami glanced over from her hiding spot behind a dresser and nodded.
Marinette blew out a small, relieved sigh and cut the bandage strip before sticking it to the rest of the wrapping. “There. That should work for him until he can get back home.”
If he can get back home.
Marinette gathered the medical supplies back onto the small tray she had and stood. He would probably be asleep for a while. She might need to get some extra blankets to sleep on the chaise tonight.
As she turned to go find some blankets and put up the tray, a frantic, high pitched beeping reached her ears. Marinette’s heart sank into her stomach when she realized what it was, all too late.
A flash of light illuminated the room, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Le Paon just detransformed. In her bedroom. Of all the places he could have detransformed, it just had to be her bedroom.
A squeal-ish groan came from what Marinette assumed was the kwami.
“I.. I think I’m just gonna take a small nap.” It said groggily.
Curiosity urged Marinette to open her eyes, but she ignored it. She couldn’t see who Le Paon was, not without his permission. She’d want him to do the same, after all.
Marinette felt around the room so she could find the ladder, wondering how on earth she would get around with her eyes closed the whole night. Should she really try to go down the ladder blinded? That didn’t seem like the best idea.. But could she trust herself not to look at Le Paon while her eyes were open?
A pained gasp sounded from behind her, and Marinette whirled around before she could think about what she was doing, eyes wide open to see what was wrong.
And in all truth, there were way too many things wrong with what she saw.
Felix Agreste, the boy she’d been pining over for a good few weeks now, was lying on her bed.
The tray slipped from her fingers, clattering to the floor.
Felix Agreste, who she’d danced with that very night, who she almost kissed a week ago, was Le Paon, Paris’ most wanted villain, her most unusual house guest.
“I don’t..” Marinette put a hand to her head. “I don’t understand.”
Tikki was suddenly by her side, ancient eyes filled with worry. “Marinette-”
“How can-” Marinette stopped again to swallow down the lump in her throat. “-How can Felix be here? He can’t- He can’t really be Le Paon, right? That’s not- that’s not possible.”
Tikki tried to say something else, but Marinette couldn’t stand long enough for the kwami to do so. Her legs buckled, causing her to stumble onto the ground next to the spilled medical supplies.
It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t.
But there Felix was, still sleeping somewhat peacefully, still holding patches of blood from his gunshot wound.
Oh gosh, Felix got shot.
Marinette put a hand over her mouth, suddenly sick to her stomach. How did this happen? How did he get the peacock miraculous? How long has he had it? Has she been fighting him as Ladybug this whole time?
Tears burned in the corner of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. This was not the time for grieving. Or rage. Or whatever emotional was swirling inside her. Felix or not- he was still injured horribly. She needed to stay focused.
..But how could she? How could she help him with a clear mind when she knew that the man who had been terrorizing Paris and the man she’d so desperately fallen in love with were one and the same? For Pete’s sake, she’s fallen in love with Paris’ most wanted! What was she going to do? What was he going to do once he woke up? Would he try to get rid of her now that she knew his identity? No, no, Felix wouldn’t do that, right? He wasn’t that kind of person.. But does she really know what kind of person he is anymore? He’s been hiding this for months now. What else was he hiding?
Felix shuddered again, bringing her from her thoughts, and curled into himself with a grimace.
The pain must have increased when he detransformed. Marinette thought with a slight frown. Should she help him? What could she do? If she tried to wake him up to take medicine, he would know that his identity’s been revealed, but if she left him alone, he might wake up from the pain anyway..
Tentatively, Marinette moved a bit closer to Felix’s side, watching. His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath, and he shifted to the side, causing his head to fall to the right towards her. It made her wish he were as innocent as he looked in that moment.
Marinette sighed and closed the distance between them to brush the pale, blonde wisps of hair out of his face. Felix might have been keeping his identity a secret, but she’d been keeping her identity a secret too. Besides, it’s not like he could just up and tell her that he was a super villain, now, could he?
Marinette brushed her hand over his, hoping he wouldn’t wake up from it, and gave him a light kiss on the forehead. “I don’t know how you got into this mess, but I’m going to get you out. I promise.”
She was about to pull her hand away- didn’t want him waking up on her -but something else caught her eye first.
Another light, this time pink, flickering around his bandages.
Marinette frowned, because Le Paon’s magic was blue, not pink. Was something wrong? What was the light doing around the bandages?
The light grew brighter, slowly but surely shining through each bandage wrapping around Felix’s injury.
Marinette, now panicking, let go of Felix’s hand to inspect the spontaneous source of light, but as soon as she drew back, the light faded away.
She sat there for a moment, dumbfounded and staring, wondering what she should do next. “What.. what was that?”
Tikki gave her a knowing smile. “That was a part of your miraculous magic.”
Marinette blinked. Her what?
“What are you talking about?”
Tikki settled in the covers next to Felix. “When a new miraculous holder is chosen, they are partly fused with their miraculous and their kwami’s magic. It’s a minor effect that is necessary for you to transform.”
Marinette furrowed her brows. “So.. that bright light just now.. That was me?”
“Yep!” A chipper voice spoke up before Tikki could reply. “And that was some of the best magic I’ve ever seen from a holder! They usually can’t unlock their true potential so quickly.”
Tikki and Marinette turned to see a blue and pink kwami sitting up on Felix’s stomach with a bright smile.
“O-Oh..” Marinette faltered. In the whole “Felix being Le Paon” ordeal, she’d forgotten about the other kwami that had flown from Felix’s miraculous when he detransformed. “Um.. hello. You’re Felix’s kwami, right?”
The being nodded. “That’s me! You can call me Duusu.”
Marinette offered Duusu a smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Marinette.”
“I know who you are.” Duusu smiled. “My chosen never stops talking about you.”
A heavy blush bloomed across Marinette’s cheeks. “F-Felix talks about me?”
Duusu nodded. “Only when he’s alone, though. My chosen doesn’t like being overheard.”
“Oh..” She replied dumbly, still reeling from the fact that Felix talks about her. “That makes sense.”
“I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Sustaining that bullet wound drained more of my energy than I’m used to.” Duusu apologized.
Marinette glanced down at the miniature god. “Oh, don’t worry! Is your energy still low? Do you want me to get you some snacks?”
Duusu’s eyes lit up. “Would you? I’m famished.”
Marinette giggled and stood up. “Of course. Is there anything specific you want?”
“Truffles! You’re guys’ truffles are the best!” Duusu answered eagerly.
The image of Felix nervously waiting in their bakery for the first time flicked through Marinette’s mind, and she nearly face palmed. That’s why he went to the bakery for truffles!
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Marinette smiled, before racing down the ladder again. She didn’t want to leave Felix alone for too long, even if he was in the care of two ancient gods.
By the time she returned with a small plate of truffles and chocolate chip cookies, Tikki was also sitting on Felix’s stomach, next to Duusu.
“So, Tikki,” Marinette began as she handed them the treats, “You said the glowing light was part of the magic I inherited from you, but what did the magic do?”
Tikki hummed. “It’s hard to say. The Ladybug miraculous is the miraculous of life and creation. It can create things, reinvent things.. But judging by the way you seemed to use it, I would say it probably healed some of his bullet wound, or at least got the process started.”
Marinette’s eyes widened. “You think so?”
Tikki nodded.
Marinette turned to the bandages. “.. Should.. Do you think we should check?”
“Unwrapping the bandages now might cause more damage if the wound didn’t actually heal..” Tikki replied thoughtfully. “It’s probably best if we leave it alone.”
“But I’m sure he’ll be grateful to you later if it is healed!” Duusu said helpfully.
Marinette froze. “You’re not gonna tell him, are you?”
“He can’t know about this, Duusu.” Tikki added firmly.
Duusu glanced between them, a slight frown taking on her expression. “If my chosen asks me what happened, I cannot lie to him.”
“..And if he doesn’t ask you?” Marinette asked hopefully.
Duusu smiled again. “Then your secret’s safe with me. The fact that he’s detransformed will be a dead give away, though.”
Marinette bit her lip. Right.. That was another problem.
“I don’t suppose you can transform him without the magical incantation?”
Duusu tilted her head back and forth. “It takes a bit more concentration, but sure!”
Marinette’s shoulders slumped slightly from relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she was until that moment, but it was fine now. Everything would be fine.
As Tikki and Duusu continued catching up, Marinette found herself studying Felix’s bandages again. Stains of dried blood were on the wrappings from earlier, but not a trace of fresh blood seemed to be present. It was as if the bleeding had stopped all together.
She hummed, brushing her fingertips against the stain.
Miraculous of Life, huh?
~~~~~~
Felix shifted onto his back, letting his eyes crack open. It was hard to make out the pinks and whites from the blur of his vision and the dim lighting of the room, but he assumed it to be a wall and a small dresser. His hand dug into the covers that he was laying on. Was this a bed? It wasn’t his bed. How did he get here? Where was here?
Felix let his eyes slip closed again, trying to remember what happened. His side ached a tad.. Because he’d been shot, that’s right.. And then he ran to Marinette’s balcony before-
His eyes snapped open, and he bolts upright to look down at his waist. He then tensed, waiting for the pain from moving so quickly. Nothing happened.
Felix frowned at the bandages now wrapped around his waist- had Marinette done that? -and poked at the blood stain. It still gave him a dull ache, but no sharp pains. Was the gunshot less serious than he realized that it healed already? Or was it some sort of magic his miraculous had given him?
Speaking of magic..
Felix glanced around the rest of his outfit, relieved to see that he was still covered in blue and purples. He could only imagine what Marinette might have thought had he detransformed in her house.
Where is Marinette? He hasn’t heard her yet. Come to think of it, he hasn’t heard anything yet.
Wait, what time is it?
Le Paon turned to find some sort of clock and spotted a small, pink alarm clock on the dresser.
His heart dropped when he made out the hot pink numbers.
“3am?” He almost yelled. No wonder the house was so quiet! Everyone was asleep! Oh, how was he going to apologize to Marinette? Knowing her, she was probably sick with worry. He must have stained half of her bedroom with his own blood. (Because out of everything, he definitely remembered the blood.)
And Father. How was he going to react? Felix not only snuck out, but he also won't be returning until past three in the morning with a gunshot wound. Honestly, Felix might as well kiss his social life goodbye right now. (And who knew he’d started to treasure it so much?)
I need to get home.
Le Paon shuffled on the bed to get up. He wasn’t sure how he would make this up to Marinette, but he definitely would. Maybe he could pay for a new comforter? Or simply pay her in general for the trouble of-
“Le Paon? Is that you?”
Le Paon froze at the sound of Marinette’s voice. Should he answer? Would she let him leave if he did?
Before he could decide, Marinette scaled the ladder, confirming that he was, in fact, the one making all the noise.
“Oh, good. You’re up.” She said with a soft smile, as if this entire situation wasn’t completely jarring. “How’s your waist. Are you feeling okay?”
Le Paon, despite feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, nodded. “Much better thanks to you.”
Marinette breathed a small sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. You really had me worried.”
Le Paon grimaced, guilt panging in his chest. It was three in the morning, and he had dragged blood and filth into her bedroom- she still had some stains on her shirt, to his horror -but she was still wide awake and checking on him with a smile. Had she stayed up this whole time to watch him?
“I’m sorry.” The words fell from his lips before he could finish wallowing in his guilt. “I shouldn’t have come to your house. You shouldn’t have had to take care of me. Now you have stains everywhere.”
Marinette waved off his apologies. Of course she did. It was who she was. “You probably should have been more careful, but don’t ever apologize for having me take care of you. We’re friends, aren’t we? I’m here for you.”
Le Paon stared at her, wondering how someone could possibly be so kind.
“Besides,” She continued with a teasing smile. “Did you think I was just going to let you die?”
Le Paon swallowed, lost in the sparkle of her eyes. “No.. No, I suppose you wouldn’t.”
Marinette knelt down next to the bed, eyeing his bandages. “Do you remember what happens? You said something about the police and gunshots before you passed out.”
Ah, so that’s why he didn’t remember getting to Marinette’s bed. “I was roaming around Paris and found a pack of police officers, but I sort of forgot I was a criminal, so.. I didn’t expect the rounds of gunfire that they started shooting at me.”
Marinette pressed her lips together in a thin line, obviously displeased. “They just started firing? That’s a bit rash.. I feel like there should have been other, less painful methods that came first.”
Le Paon shrugged. “Well, I am a terrorist.”
Bad choice of words. Marinette frowned. “You don’t have to be.”
He stares at her. She stares back. A silent pleading between the two.
“I have to get going.” Le Paon finally murmurs. “I’ve already been out too late.”
Another sigh left Marinette, but she obediently scooted back to give him some to get up. “Are you sure you’re well enough to move like that?”
Le Paon offered her a small smile as he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll be fine.”
Marinette stood as well, following him to the other ladder that led to the balcony. “Okay.. just don’t push yourself.”
“No promises.” Le Paon joked as he grabbed the bar of the ladder. “Thank you, though. For everything.”
He climbed up the ladder, noting the significant lack of pain coming from his injury. He’ll have to thank Duusu for that later.
Le Paon hoisted himself through the trapdoor and swung his feet upwards, onto the balcony, but before he could stand up again-
“W-Wait!” Marinette said, tugging on his wrist. She’d followed him right up the ladder too.
Le Paon looked down at her. “Yes?”
She pulled away, pressing her forefingers together with a nervous look. “I.. Um.. you…”
Marinette leaned forward before he could even blink and pressed a light, hesitant kiss to his cheek. “Be safe.”
Le Paon exhaled at the touch of her lips, so soft and yet so burning on his skin. It infected his very being, poured into every bit of body as his mind slowly came to realize what happened. She’d kissed him. Marinette had kissed him on the cheek. It was a common thing to do in Paris usually, but this felt different. He felt different, and he couldn’t help wanting more.
Le Paon reached forward and cupped her cheek. He’s not sure how a single emotion or urge can consume someone so wholly, but his lips find hers in an instant.
Marinette stiffened, causing him to pull back slightly. He should’ve known she wouldn’t reciprocate it. Not when he’s dressed like a villain.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t-”
Marinette tugged him forward, crashing her lips onto his and effectively cutting off his apology.
Le Paon moaned, letting his arms slip around her to pull her closer. Any thoughts or guilts or worries were drowned out far too easily by the fireworks in his soul. Her hands raked through hair, igniting every part of his skin that she touched. How could a kiss be so sweet and so passionate at the same time?
They broke apart for air, but Felix wasn’t certain he’d never need oxygen again if he only had her.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He panted, because it was the right thing to do. Even if a bigger part of him wanted to stay, Le paon needed to leave. For both their sakes.
Marinette’s eyes met his, and he was tempted to stay all over again. “.. Do you have to go?”
Oh, if that sentence didn’t burn him alive.
He shifted to stand, but his hands remained on her, almost like he needed permission to leave. Or maybe he just didn’t want to let go until he had to. “Goodnight.”
Marinette pursed her lips and slowly untangled her hands from his hair. “Goodnight.”
And just like that, he was gone, bounding across rooftops, longing to taste Marinette one more time, and knowing full well that he wasn’t getting anymore sleep that night.
Tag List: @im-here-for-the-content @novicevoice @mewwitch@minightrose @starlit-winter @multishipper1needshalp@unabashedbookworm @unholykrow @trubel43@kaydenth3gayden @stardustrevoutionx @legendaryneckjudgestudent @aurordraws @crazylittlemunchkin @uwuteamleader @chocolatecustarddanish @iambi-thilla-meena @corabeth11 @asianfrustration13 @chrismarium @agumon1123 @luciferge @yue-caelum @persephonebutkore @constancetruggle @make-the-stars-stay @johnlockfeelz @imfreakingmagical @tinybrie @procrastinatingrightnow @bee-wrecker @dontcallmecedge @shadowhex99 @daminette-is-life @thethirdwheelfriend @myazael @sizzling-fairy-oil @sparkle9510 @chaosace @the-navistar-carol @sannsibarr @grumpy-vixen-kitten @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @utcaro @more-or-less-human-i-guess @mlbutatbspofsalt @dawn-the-rithmatist @artcart0n @mermaidreject @tori-mmm @fifaanayd @novicevoice @dreamykitty25
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Breathe - (Platonic) Alex x stressed out!reader
Summary: (Female Reader, but feel free to request for any and every other gender!) Y/N feels more stressed than usual, trying to balance home life and school life, and her coping skills aren’t going very... well. She gets a little help from a special someone who guides her and helps her live in the present moment.
Warnings: Anxiety, stress, school, cursing, what more can I say? Also the gays because Willie and Alex own my heart lmao
Word count: 1.9k
Requested: Yes! By anon :)
~
Whenever Y/N tried to get an assignment done, it went a little something like this: first she tried to get everything done by creating a small basis of a tool list. She was still feeling bloated, tired, hot, and sticky, but she went with it and continued to waste 10 minutes on making her to-do list aesthetically pleasing. After that, she thought, “Hmm... maybe I do want to take a break,” but she doesn’t anyway, so Y/N gets out her assignments, lays them all out, and just as she’s about to get started: hey, I wonder how many people can relate to me on xyz, and then she’d get distracted on social media.
Y/N would spend an entire 40 minutes on her phone before she remembers, “MY ASSIGNMENT IS DUE,” so she flips it back out, gets started, but can’t seem to get that guilty feeling of not doing her work out of her head, so she slightly uses that as an excuse to take a break. Only, she don’t take a break and end up rolling out of her chair and going on her phone again, and she still feel just as (or even more) exhausted. Then that’s when the guilt really starts seeping in, and Y/N realizes that she has another extra-curricular class so she gets ready for that, but by the time she’s done, there’s only 30 minutes before the due date-- so she start crying and gives up.
And that’s just a short summary of it.
It was dawning the last few weeks of exam months, and Y/N had been cramming all of her assignments over and over again, constantly getting burnt out and not moving up from her seat, even though she wanted to. It was as if she was glued to her chair, unable to move and constantly on the go at the same time. The stress of having to deal with so many things at once was one of the most overwhelming things that she’s ever had to experience, even though she knows those feelings come-and-go at times--- but this, this was so much worse than what she ever thought. And she believed that she was in literal hell.
There was a constant feeling of “I need to do this, I need to do that,” but it wasn’t that she didn’t want to do it-- it was that she physically couldn’t. Y/N knew that she couldn’t blame her brain for not doing the assignments, but sometimes, she felt like she had to. All the time. The constant feeling of overwhelming stress finally got to her when she opened up her classroom page to find yet another technical issue and the entire page crashed, leaving her with a due date within 10 minutes. It was currently a quarter before midnight, and she had been living on caffeine pills and sugar for the past week or so.
“𝟓𝟎𝟐 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲.”
The assignment was due in less than 20 minutes, and now everything was going wrong. Great.
If I had only not gone on my phone... why did I go on my phone for so long? I should have just stayed put, I can’t believe myself, what am I even doing? This isn’t fair, this isn’t far, but is it fair? I did deserve this, but-- I also feel like I don’t, I worked so hard to get here, but what if I lose it? What will everyone think? No, no, this can’t be happening. I fucked up again. Oh no. No. No.
The thoughts came in like a raging, wild waterfall that was out of control and poured out, overflowing in her brain that pooled her thoughts, with tears that eventually spilled over. In the dorms nearby, Y/N could hear Reggie snoring sound-asleep in this room. Everyone in the band was still asleep like nothing was wrong, and overall, it just... wasn’t fair. How come they were sleeping? Why did they get all of that rest, while you were stuck on this stupid assignment that literally meant nothing to you-?
In frustration, Y/N suddenly wasn’t sure how she was supposed to react. She felt like she couldn’t cry-- more like she wasn’t allowed to cry. Her problems weren’t as bad as other peoples’, so why on Earth was she stressing out? It wasn’t her issue, why was everything always going wrong for her? No matter what she ever did, she always seemed to lose. Y/N pulled her hair and threw the nearest thing onto the floor in the darkness of teh night, when she heard a high-pitched echo from the sound, when she realized she had just smashed her laptop onto the tiled floor.
“Shit-” Y/N cursed under her breath and instantly ran over, her entire body and hands trembling over the cracked screen. In hopes of some sort of miracle, she turned the power button on, because maybe, just maybe it could turn on.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Nothing happened, nothing turned on, and in that moment, Y/N wanted to scream. She wanted to scream because she had so much pent-up frustration and anger, she wanted to scream because no one ever seemed to check in on her, she wanted to scream because she had worked so hard to try her best but every single time nothing ever went well for her. Her head was pounding and her eyes felt like they were being weighed down by boulders.
But she took a deep breath and staggered over to her desk to turn on the lights, and-- wait, why was everything spinning? That’s weird, that’s never happened in the room before. Why is that moon upside-down? What’s going on...
~
“Y/N!” a loudly-whispered voice rang.
Y/N groaned, mumbling under her breath and rolled over. Everything sounded like she was underwater, a weird, gurgling sound. Y/N assumed she was dreaming, so she pulled her hoodie over her head and slumped back.
“Y/N,” the voice exclaimed in a hushed tone.
Another mumble. Couldn’t that voice tell that she was trying to sleep?
“Hey, hey, wake up,” the voice continued. Y/N didn’t respond and groaned slightly. “Y/N?” a little... gentler this time? A softer tone? Who...
Suddenly, nothing sounded weird and the low hum of the heaters powered back on as Y/N tried her best to open an eye. She could tell by the faint smell of rain and cinnamon that she was still in her dorm, but who was there? They sounded gentle, sweeter, more... cautious?
“Hey, Y/N, you awake?”
She rubbed her eyes. “Al-” Y/N choked, launching into a coughing fit. “Alex?”
He laughed slightly. “That’s right. Good to know you’re brain is working,”
Working? Brain? Good?
Oh shit.
Y/N immediately stood up, staggering from moving so quickly and mumbled, “I-I need to finish my assignment, it’s almost, it’s almost done-”
“Woah, woah, slow down, y-you need to get some air,” Alex said, hoisting her by the shoulders with his hands.
“I don’ need air, I needa ‘inish the assignment, it’s due in-” she slurred, but turned into a panicked gasp when she whipped around, asking, “Alex, what time is it?”
“Y/N,” he said gently. “that’s not important, you just passed out, you need-”
“No, no, no, no!” she said, mumbling slightly. “Is-- is my laptop still working? Is it still-”
“Hey, I need you to breathe-”
“Alex, can’t you see that I can’t? I have so many things to do, and they’re all due so soon-- if I don’t ace this, if I can’t finish this music piece and somehow get all this shitty math stuff correct, I need to work hard. I need to be productive. I-”
Alex’s face suddenly softened and he nodded, letting her speak more.
“I also really, really need to get this done! If I don’t get it done, I can’t pass this class with you guys, which means that I can’t get a decent degree, and I also can’t do anything without the constant guilt that you guys moved on without me! I want to, I want to relax, I want to breathe, I want to just stay in someone’s arms forever and they’ll tell me that I’ll be fine-”
In those seconds, in-between her times of rambling, Y/N barely noticed that Alex had pulled her outside to the rooftop (which wasn’t very high) and wrapped his arms around, pulling her into the softest hug.
She stopped mid ramble. “Wh-what... what are you doing?” she choked.
“It’s going to be okay,” Alex said slowly, almost as if he were testing the words out.
“S-say... say that-t... again,” Y/N trembled.
“It’s going to be okay. I need you to breathe, is that alright with you?”
It was almost as if Alex had become an entirely different person as he slowly let go of her, then he grabbed onto her shoulders and said, “breathe with me.”
“Inhale,”
1…
2…
3…
“Hold for four seconds,”
1…
2…
3…
4…
“Exhale for five,”
1…
2…
3…
4…
5…
Y/N breathed in and out as they both continued to do that for what seemed like 10 times. Alex also seemed like someone new, not the same out-of-sort and confused guy, but he didn’t seem like a teacher either… like an older brother, someone who guided her no matter what.
“Where… who taught you that method?” Y/N asked, trying to stop her voice from trembling.
Alex immediately broke into a smile so wide that he had smile lines as he stared up into the sky. “Willie taught me,”
Y/N slightly smiled. “He did, huh?”
“Yeah, he’s… he’s pretty beautiful,” he continued to nod with that same old dorky expression.
“Beautiful, huh?” she said, trying to match his tone.
“I mean-- uh, pretty good. At that.” Almost instantly, Alex flushed and changed the topic. “A-are… are you feeling better now?”
“Definitely a lot better than before, but... how did you know you had to do that?”
“W-well, when I saw you rambling, I saw myself, so...” Alex shrugged slightly, his eyes undoubtedly playing along the slightest bit. “And since I never really... well, had parents to comfort me while growing up, and Willie was the first to help me, I assumed that you’d might need some help, too.”
Y/N couldn’t believe her ears. How could there be such a sweet, loving, kind and gentle person right in front of her? His smile was genuine as he nodded slowly again.
Y/N grinned gratefully, shifting her weight from toe-to-toe. “Thank you so, so much, but I- I’m just a bit stressed about my laptop, and…”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Alex stopped her before she could continue. “Don’t get caught up in your thoughts (he learned this quote from Willie), just take another deep breath and your head will be clearer. It’ll-- It’ll sort things out. Listen, we can always go to the counselor, she’s on her night shift right now. We can see if we’re allowed to borrow the school’s laptop for now, how does that sound?”
“I…” you nodded. “Thank you… so much, Alex.”
He turned his head and smiled back. “You never have to thank me for anything,” he turned his heel and waved. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up!”
#alex#willex for the win!!!#THIS IS PLATONIC#alex x reader#alex jatp x reader#julie and the phantoms x reader#jatp x reader#PLATONIC#jatp alex x reader#jatp alex#alex jatp#julie and the phantoms alex#willex#willie x alex#alex x willie#WILLEX WHOOOO#platonic alex x reader
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All That Matters
pairing: Francisco ‘Catfish’ Morales x Sniper!Reader
summary: During a thoroughly planned out mission to rescue a hostage, everything goes awry. Placed in a sticky situation with their pilot wounded, Y/N is stuck on the lines of complying with her leader and running off to her bleeding co-worker.
word count: 2.6k
warning: mentions of violence, mentions of blood, language, mentions of firearm, mention of hostage situations, angst, slight fluff because frankie
note: a big disclaimer: I have no idea how the military operates. I do not have a single insight to how they proceed with their missions, and their approach to said-missions. Most of these are based on my imaginations or websites which are clearly, limited to intel on how the Delta Forces or the military work. I’m also pretty sure they don’t accept females but- here’s a piece of fanfiction for ya. this was so bad omfg kill me :()
Intermittent buzzing rung into their ears in incoherent Morse code, the noise ticking a remix of overlapping songs without any professional intervention of editing out the unwanted bits. Chunks of swishing sounds squeezed in every time the electronic device passed the quivering waves of remarks from one soldier to the rest. No words or statements would be blurred out. No secrets. No blanketed cough or humming to a song as one’s comfort. That also meant no coverage to the cries of those who could see death clambering through the crevice. The only way to interject with the method of communication would be heavily-pressed forces or intense noises, and that was exactly what was screeching through the devices.
“Fuck, I’m blinded. A smoke grenade was thrown outside the third from the right, four up window, east wing of the building.” Ben yelled over the boisterous cries within the walls, followed by a lingering moment of hissing. A cough flew through the device, Ben bopping his head from the intertwining vines of the bush in hopes of catching the person who had thrown the can.
William who was on the other side of the building, fingers cladded around the firearm, let out a huff at him losing sight of a figure who was occupying the open hallway seconds ago, “No shit,” William chided back. Luck seemed to weigh onto his side. “I see a shadow passing to my left, second open corridor.”
With a burst of bullets, a thud muffled into the building’s ground, a shadowy figure that William had spotted tumbled onto the floor, “Got anything, Y/N?” Santiago inquired, the man that had been peeking through the glazed windows. It had been risky of him, might as well be stupid, but the area he had paced around was of low security. No guards, and a plus for him- most of the windows were simple entrances that could be opened with a nudge of his fingers. It seemed the yellow tinted building of one floor with red tiles as its roof had been of no importance as all of the guards surrounded the three-story building. It seemed so.
“I know it’s fucking cold up here,” Y/N shuddered out, the blistering kisses of the frigid breezes piercing into her skin without a hint of mercy. Hints of freezing concrete floor had prodded against the thick camouflaged pants she had worn. Despite the weather’s attempt to pierce into the cloth, the beneath layers of warmth had cladded around her in comfort of heat. As a sniper of the team, she needed to take height as an advantage. That also came with cons as the mission was in the jungle, somewhere over overlapping strands of hills, “There’s three on the rooftop, two nearing Ben, whoever is on the other side has to deal with the other man.”
With an exhalation of her breath, clenching of lungs to squeeze out the slightest drop of luck, the bullet swerved into the air in a graceful swirl. A cracking of whip sliced through the thick air, the clanking of metal danced over the messy ground of smeared chunks of dirt and overweight veins. Even though there had been overflowing layers of nature and the greenery of the jungle, holes exposing the peeling concrete had exposed the bullet’s presence.
Heads yanking to the body that had collapsed before the familiar crackling noise had even trickled into their ears, the other two occupants of the roof panicked. Panicking would not lead them anywhere. After her body had been nudged away from the immense force of the bullet jutting out of the sniper, speckles of dirt-smeared against the air to create a plaster of puffy dust, she positioned herself and her scope towards the first unlucky man. The man who had peeked over the side of where Ben had been.
Although his fingers were set on the trigger, a bullet had run through the thickness of his skull without an issue. Whatever thought he had of murdering, the connection in his body had cut short. Now, there had been only one man standing on the rooftop. With two of his mates flat, silky blood pooling in streams over the grainy flooring, there had only been survival. Flight over fight. Heart thrumming, chest heaving, there was nothing in his mind but run. There wasn’t much thinking, just assumption for him to scurry away from the direction the bullets had made way into his once-alive co-workers. Scrambling he did. But, it did not get him far.
“Got him.” Redfly tutted, corners of his lips smirking at the body slumping against the edge of the building. When he had made eye-contact with the woman on the towering abandoned column, he felt the rush of pride at taking the kill.
“I had everything on him, already,” Y/N whined in annoyance, shoulders drooping at the loss of another strike on her board. “You’re buying the fucking drinks, Redfly.” The man had only scoffed at her words. Tom rolled his eyes in disbelief. Oh, if only he knew she was being serious. There was no way Y/N would let that chance pass her.
Pope who had been busying himself in entering the building as quietly as possible, which was not as easy as it sounded because the windows that had been offered to him had a smeared array of trinkets. A swipe or a kick of his toe, the noise of the cans would be able to muffle the screeching cracklings of bullets. That was something Pope did not want to happen. If anything, he would like to avoid being under the spotlight while he was in their walls, “I’m in.”
“That’s what he said.” Ben mumbled under his breath, eyes never quivering away from his scope. Even though the corners of his lips crinkled up at the suppressed giggles of Y/N and a few sprinkled from his teammates, his body had been under the control of focusing.
“Guys, can we please fucking focus?” Before Tom had the chance to fall into the pit of lecturing his teammates as if children, he was interrupted by a round of bullets piercing onto the packed ground. It was just a couple of feet away from him. If he had inched in front even the slightest of swaying his chest, he would’ve been dead meat for whatever creature dominating the trees. He was not going to die today.
The mission was nothing out of the ordinary for the specialized unit. It was another hostage situation. A person of importance- a person who had his name plastered all over the banners of his campaign. A person of politics, which is an unstable platform, considering the views of people who won’t agree with some opinions. That was exactly the reason that got the running candidate to be captured by a group of bandits. It had been roughly around two weeks before the unit had even received the co-ordination of the location. Two weeks being half a month sounded like a long hell of a time to be kept on a random hill in the middle of nowhere. After investigating the co-ordinates, the group had been dispatched. Yet, something had to go wrong.
Even though muffled and distant snapping of bullets sung through the device of communication, one had exceptionally been closer, and louder than the rest. Clutters of cracking rang through the device in strands of quivers, followed by an agonizing cry, a plea from the scorching pain, “Fuck!” It would’ve been considered as a careless mistake during training. It would’ve been the reason she would have been stepped on by the instructor for being so strung away from reality. Except, this was more than being watched. The only person that was possibly watching over her was God. Pushing that aside, Y/N had to face the real truth. This was the real deal. This was not a set-up field on the campus. She was not being monitored by a superior.
Sucking air into her lungs, Y/N pulled away from the scope of the rifle. Laying her forehead on her splayed out hand against the freezing concrete ground, she let out a heavy sigh, “Who the fuck was that? Ironhead? Pope?” Although she could hear her pulse thrumming in her ears, the replying negatives to her question had caused her pumping organ to dance on volcano rocks. Y/N wanted to sit on her knees; she wanted nothing but to sprint towards the injured.
“Fuck, they got me in the leg.” Frankie mumbled, teeth grinding against each other, eyes squinted shut as his fingers clutched onto the gushing wound. Red smeared every inch of his skin. The smell of iron had somehow managed to overcome the scent of the trees. A wince seeped through the cracks of his teeth when he glanced at the wound. The hole in his camouflage pants would’ve been a cool pattern. Not with the chunk of his skin removed, of course. Frankie pressed his lips at the thought of the bullet.
“Ricochet?” Tom quirked up.
“No, think it’s direct.” Frankie uttered, trying his best to not wince. Despite his efforts to suppress the only way of exerting the pain, it did not work.
“Can someone get to Frankie?” Y/N blurted out, body positioning back onto the scope. Seconds of silence erupted from the men, but the screaming of bullets had adjusted the scene quite decently.
“Everyone’s in or around the building.” While Pope stated the fact as he had run into his teammates in the building where it was suspected for holding the candidate, Y/N could feel shivers crawl up her arm. Shivers from the fact that Frankie had not been in the parameter of the group. The place he had been positioned at was somewhere near the helicopter. They had found him, and if they did- it meant they might be going after the only way the unit would be leaving.
After another bullet clashed onto the ground, Y/N huffed out, “Fuck. Just hang on Cat. Are there any more guys coming?”
“I can hear rustling.”
Eyes squinting, every fibre in her being jutted at the abrupt realization. One of the windows had been plastered with clusters of newspapers, overlapping one another as if it was made by an art’s and craft’s class. “South of the main building, there’s one window covered by newspapers- he’s in there. Just hold on Cat, I’m coming.”
“You can’t fucking leave your post Scotch!” Tom yelled through his teeth after the bodies of the people he had murdered collapse onto the ground. Y/N sighed in her head at her codename, something she had received from the dad of the group after a night of nothing but vague pop-ups. Well, that was what she remembered anyway- everyone could recall more than she could.
“Our teammate is gonna fucking bleed out on the ground. Our only fucking decent pilot! Cat, just, fuck- hold on.”
Even if the sniper had not felt happy with the mission when the unit was being dispatched, she never felt good after knowing the risk and intel, she was put on the edge of the tower she rested upon. The thought of her teammate clutching onto the oozing wound of iron while he could barely stand in the middle of engulfing trees had not only sat in the back of her head but on her head, “We got him!” The relieving words from William’s mouth trickled into her ears in a silk swerve as if she had just been rescued from the suffocating situation. Although, she was not the hostage. “Everything’s cleared.”
With the approved sign, nothing weighed heavier than the thought of losing Frankie, not even the pieces of equipment she had to drag all the way up to the tower. The wind might’ve been angered, furious as it screeches in into every person who dared to walk on the land. Y/N could barely bat her eyes at the sudden drop in her surroundings. All she had in mind was Frankie.
She wasn’t sure what roared in her chest to make her legs work up so rapidly that she might’ve have broken her own personal record of running. Maybe it was all due to the reason. Maybe it was who was in her head. So, there she was. The sniper that had killed at least a dozen was clutched in her grasp. Despite the number of kills, the only time she had felt her arms wavered in desperation to fall onto her knees was when her eyes grazed over the craned figure of Frankie.
Feet shuffled against the packed grass, Y/N threw the firearm onto the seat of the helicopter before attending to the bloody man who rested against a tree, “Frankie? Cat?” An incoherent mumbling brushed his lips. His name sung into his ears in odd tones. “Hey, hey, don’t move too fast.” A whiny groan echoed in the air, the last bit of sound Frankie could even utter. The warmth of her palm against his cheeks had been filled in with the bitterness of the dense air.
As she had been trained, the bandage had been in her hands within seconds. The force of his blood-soaked fingers had died down, just like the fading of his vision, “I’ll tie this up.” While she busied herself with the bandage, Frankie could only see a smeared view of the woman who attended his wound. He didn’t lose the chance to admire her.
“Don’t know why I ran back here, shouldn’t have.” A guilty exhalation puffed from his lips. The thought of the helicopter being burnt into ashes because of his irrational decision had plagued his head. What if they had done such a thing? Their last resort would have to be calling in emergencies. All because of him.
After she had successfully wrap it around his thigh, she rested her hands on his cheeks. The first thing she had noticed was the heaviness set under his eyes, guilt had been piling on his shoulders. Dullness sparkled in his dark gaze, “Don’t worry, your pretty head has had enough.” The man let out a chuckle. Before the moment shattered at the entrance of the rest.
“What are you guys doing on the ground? Come on.” Y/N let out an exasperated huff from Tom’s words. He hadn’t even bothered to stop by to check on Frankie. The leader had dashed straight to the helicopter with the rescued man beside him.
Ben groaned out, he could feel his ageing back creak out a prayer, as he slipped his arm behind Frankie’s back, hoisting the man up. With Y/N on his other side, he finally breathed out, “I don’t think I can fly this thing, guys.”
“You can and you will, you’re the best pilot we’ve got, Fish.”
Y/N rolled her eyes, “What a way for motivation, you should be a motivational speaker.” The soldier hummed, a smile across his lips even though he shook his head.
“Think that suits more for William.”
Nothing else was exchanged as everybody made their seats onto the vehicle. It was usually Tom who occupied the front seat beside the other pilot, but Y/N had shot her eyes for him to sit at the back. He had no choice but to sit at the back. Frankie breathed out, fingers gripped around the handles. A slight heavy sigh- more like it. His eyes peeled away from the pane of the glass to brush over the warm hands that made way on his, “You can do this, Frankie.”
He didn’t need anything else but those words from her mouth.
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After Infection
Chapter 2 of my original character massive multiverse mash-up. ...only like four people are reading this but whatever.
After Infection: Chopping Mall
“My name’s Shannon,” she says as they all sprawl about in the middle of a department store’s ransacked home furnishings section. “I’m a daycare worker and lifeguard. I—I saw one of those things run straight into the pool. He just…tackled the other lifeguard and—and dove right in. God, it was—it was terrible! Everything was—I—I just got in my car and started driving and my boyfriend… My boyfriend worked here so I came looking for him. He—he wasn’t here but the parking lot was a mad house! Someone hit my car and drove off and I was just—” She takes a deep breath and forces a shaky smile back into place. “Eric saw me stranded and let me in.”
“I’m Eric.” One of the security guards takes the mention of his name as a good segue into his own introduction. “Me and Jamie were on duty when everything just…went nuts.” The other guard raises his hand in a wave but says nothing. “There, um, used to be four of us but… Well, some of those things got in before we locked down.” His grimace says it all. “We’ve run into a few since then but only on the first floor so we mainly stay up here unless we need to make supply runs and no one goes down there alone.” He laughs, though it comes out hollow. “I was supposed to be going off shift, y’know? Then people started attacking each other in the parking lot and…” He shrugs.
The other girl who had been waiting inside clears her throat, anxiously tugging at the photo ID around her neck. “I, uh, I’m—” She clears her throat again and sits up straight. “Jo. I’m Jo. I was on a manager shift at—Well, I guess it doesn’t matter where I worked anymore, huh? Um. We were supposed to have a meeting last night – new stock and all that – but everybody’s always tired of eating at the food court so I just let them all go out and get dinner from this place across the street and then they’re supposed to come back and…” Her hand closes into a fist around her lanyard. “N-nobody came back. I had my headphones on when I heard a gun go off somewhere and Scott – he was one of the other guards – he came in and told me to get upstairs. There was—there was blood fucking—it was everywhere! Blood and—”
Shannon places a hand on Jo’s shoulder.
Someone else clears their throat and a low, slightly uncertain voice pipes up. “Uh, hi. My name’s Dennis and I’m a zombie survivor?” There is a small ripple of laughter and that seems to bolster his confidence a bit as he stretches out his absurdly long legs for a moment, then folds them loosely in front of himself as he leans back against his boyfriend’s knees and smiles. “So, yeah, I’m Dennis and this is Nate. We, uh… We were in town to, uh…” That seems to be where his confidence wavers again, though, and he leans his head back to look up at Nate.
Nate sighs and gives a small wave, taking stock of the group of people around him. His smile looks far more preoccupied than the one Dennis had to offer. “We were visiting some friends in the area. Planned on going out to do some hunting.” He points to the shotgun leaned up against the arm of his chair as evidence. “That went about how you might expect.”
The next speaker looks almost as nervous as Dennis at first but a deep breath seems to change his demeanor entirely, leaving him with an easy smile and a new air of confidence. “I’m Alex.” That confidence is put to the test as he glances down at the flakes of dried blood and god alone knows what else left on his palms. It leaves his face a little paler when he looks back up again and he distracts himself by introducing his friends instead of delving into their situation. “This is Val…Macy…Sasha…Nick. The dog’s Parker. We’re—”
“5 Year Mentality!” Her anxiety forgotten, Jo sits forward, eyes wide and excited. “Oh my god! I knew you looked familiar. Alex Niccols. Holy shit. I was supposed to go to your concert tomorrow.”
Val grunts, lip turning upward in a not at all subtle scowl. “Great. End of the world and we’re still stuck with a fucking fangirl.”
Jo’s face goes red and Alex sighs, confidence dissolving nearly as quickly as it had appeared. “Uh, yeah. We’re on tour. Well, we were anyway. Our driver stopped to help somebody on the side of the road and…yeah.”
“So, uh,” Dennis seems to have either regained his own courage or decided that helping Alex regain his is just more important and leans forward with a faint grin. “You usually tour with a vintage T-bird in tow?”
Alex actually laughs and grins right back. “Figured the guy who bought it wasn’t gonna be using it any time soon. If I’m gonna die anyway—” He shrugs. “—might as well drive to hell in style, right?”
Most of their circle laughs as well, taking any chance they can to relax for however short a time, and as soon as they go quiet again there is a little squeak and “I’m Amanda! I’m five!” Which gets all those who laughed before to do so again and finally draws attention to the last unwitting member of their little village.
Nate is the one who finally leans forward, perfectly nonchalant as he drapes his arms down over Dennis’s chest and yet… “Your turn, draugs.”
The man now holding everyone’s attention leans back into his chair, eyebrows raised as he takes a lazy drag off of his cigarette, ignoring everyone else in favor of studying the young man who seems to be so intent upon studying him. “Viktor.”
There is an uneasy shift among the others and Nate narrows his eyes for a moment before nodding. “Pleasure to meet you, Viktor. Just out of curiosity, since I couldn’t help but notice that you’re packing pretty heavy and you’ve got – what? – a sniper set up somewhere out there?” Around them, everyone else shares a few wary glances. Dennis sighs and mutters something in Nate’s ear but his words are ignored. “So, what exactly is it that you do for a living?”
Viktor takes another drag and leans forward, blowing a long stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth as he plasters on a perfectly placid smile. “Former FBI, current investigative specialist. Federal reserve.” He shrugs. “My partner just happens to be manning the military surplus shop across the lot. Hell of a shot, ne?”
It is silent for a full minute, everyone just watching the two men stare at one another before Shannon sits up, her voice cracking just slightly as she suggests that they start making plans for the best way to make sure everyone is comfortable for the night.
---
“Any bright ideas, bossman?”
Viktor scowls and knocks cigarette ash over the sea of undead below as he looks toward the distant rooftop where he knows his partner to have set up camp. “Aside from shooting the perky daycare woman who won’t let me smoke in peace? Ne.”
There is a snort on the other end of the line. “Patience, ’mano. Not your strong suit with people, I know, but a good thing to have. Necessary even.”
“Sklapni. I’m not threatening to shoot the five year old. What more do you want?”
Everything goes quiet for a moment aside from the groaning and howling of the jostling horde and then, “Five year old?”
With a grunt, Viktor takes a seat on the edge of the roof and flicks the smoldering butt of his cigarette into the crowd. “Ano. Yes. My army consists of a daycare worker, a store manager, two security guards, a couple of hunters, a bunch of rockstars, and a five year old.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “And a dog.”
Miguel sounds distracted as he laughs in his ear. “And the only one you get along with es el perro.”
“Pretty much.”
“How did I know?”
“Hn.”
Another cigarette flashes into life on either side of the plaza and there is another quiet moment.
“Just try to play nice over there, sí?”
“Define nice.”
Viktor can almost hear the roll of the other man’s eyes and that, at least, puts a genuine smile on his face.
---
“So, uh, we got a plan yet?”
Nate frowns, glancing up toward Dennis’s place at the door to the main store before returning to rummaging through the rear of the hatchback. When the group as a whole had decided that they might as well just hold tight in the mall for a while, what with how many undead currently had them surrounded, Dennis had suggested that the two of them should probably head back down and see what sort of useful supplies they could believably scrounge up while maintaining the cover of a plain old hunting trip. Eric and that band kid, Alex, had come down with them but they had since headed back upstairs with a bunch of luggage that had been left in the T-bird upon first arrival. It is painfully quiet, aside from the muffled groans emanating from the zombie horde outside and the intermittent noises of the ventilation system kicking in and out and that obviously has Dennis on edge. To be fair, it has Nate pretty twitchy, too. Occasionally the garage door rattles but whatever Alex had done to the gears earlier is thus far doing an extremely impressive job of keeping any creeping fingers from wiggling their way underneath. Unless the zombies managed to full-out bust their way through, that door is going absolutely nowhere.
“The way I see it,” Nate says, “we don’t actually have a lot of options. In fact, all we’ve got right now is the knowledge that we’re relatively well-armed and stocked on food. Twelve people and a dog could probably live in here for a month or two without any trouble.”
There is a pause before Dennis takes a deep breath and blurts out, “What about Viktor’s partner?”
That makes Nate stop and he slowly raises his head to peer over at Dennis again, finding his eyes met and locked. “What about him?”
Dennis furrows his brow. “We’re supposed to help people, right? Protect them from—I mean, this kind of thing would—Zombies are in the bestiary so…”
“Yes.” With a sigh, Nate moves out from behind the car and leans his shoulder into passenger side instead, arms crossed over his chest. “Yes, zombies are in the bestiary and yes, we are supposed to help people and okay, fine, that includes the secretive asshole and his sniper, despite the fact that I am absolutely certain that both of them can pretty obviously take care of themselves and—” He holds up a hand to hush whatever is about to come out of Dennis’s mouth next. “—yes, I am aware that we should be grateful for his sniper’s help. We’d have had a hell of a time getting in here without him. Satisfied?”
There is a pause, Dennis pressing his lips together in thought, then he offers a sheepish smile and shrugs. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“Any other questions? Things you want to tell me off for?”
“Actually, yeah, question. Am I allowed to play with Amanda or would that be considered befriending your enemy by association?”
Nate throws his hands up and just goes right back around to finish resorting their supplies for easy transport. “He’s not my enemy, you dope, he’s just keeping secrets and I don’t like it. Besides, I know what everyone else is thinking and I’m not convinced that Amanda’s actually his but…”
Dennis grins and comes over to join him, bending his knees and stooping to bridge the height gap between them as he kisses Nate on the cheek. “She sure does seem attached to him, though, huh?”
“Stop trying to throw your back out, you fucking giant.” Nate gives him a proper kiss, then shoves a bag of camping gear into his chest to hide his own smile. “Now let’s get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”
---
“So here’s the deal,” Eric had said the moment that they were all gathered again. “This is the best furniture department in the mall so I’m making the executive decision that we stay put. We’ve only got three storefronts between here and the nearest restrooms but I’d still rather we didn’t let anybody go alone or unarmed just in case. We’ll take turns keeping watch overnight because I don’t know about the rest of you but that’ll definitely help me sleep easier. Anybody needs PJs or just some clean clothes—” He makes a point of looking toward Alex with only a quick glance toward Viktor. “—I can open up pretty much any store you want. Not like anybody’s asset management is going to come yelling at me any time soon. Just stick to the second floor. Agreed?”
Half an hour later, they are all down to the varying levels of undress in which they intend to sleep and are discussing the logistics of who is going to sleep where. Well, most of them are, anyway. Some people have simply taken up residence in their own selected spots and silently informed everyone else to fuck off. Luckily, Viktor’s selected spot happens to be on the furthest sofa away from pretty much everyone else. Meanwhile, the band kids have pulled a futon off of its display and tucked it in behind the nearby help desk with an assortment of pillows and blankets piled up around it like an extremely compact sleepover and Shannon and Jo have moved a few curtain display units to create their own little room. Nate and Dennis find things a little more difficult and have to hunt for a display mattress that isn’t going to completely kill Dennis’s back, a task which no one else seems to have realized would be such a feat until the giant finally stood at his full 7-foot height in front of everyone to help retrieve some bedding from a higher shelf. Even Viktor had looked a bit shocked by that.
By the time the main lights cut out, everything seems to be just about settled, and Eric does one last lap of the group before dropping a couple of blankets into the recliners that he and Jamie had selected. “We all good? I can dim the security lights a little if they’re bugging anybody too much. Want make sure everybody gets some sleep.” His words, however, draw very little attention as there is a much more pressing matter in need of attending just beyond the next display.
“Amanda, honey?” Shannon is crouched down by the little girl who is currently curled up on the floor, clinging to Parker and using the dog’s broad back as a pillow. Not far away, Dennis and Nate share a quick glance, one worried and the other significantly more frustrated.
“Amanda,” Shannon says again, still receiving no response. “Do you want to come sleep with me, maybe? Jo and I have our own little space. It can be just us girls. What do you say?”
The five year old just bites her lip and curls up a little bit tighter.
“She can keep Parker out there if she wants,” Alex quietly offers. “He’d get too hot over here anyway.”
After another moment, Macy gets up and pads out with one of their blankets and an extra pillow for the little girl even as Shannon keeps trying. “Amanda. Come on, baby. You can have your own bed and everything. We’ll make it up nice and soft and—”
The exasperated grunt that finally makes her stop causes everyone to jump and though most of them are unable to really see him from where they sit, Viktor’s one arm rises just barely into everyone’s view. “Jdeš sem, holčička.” His hand motions her over somewhat roughly. “Come here.”
Still biting her lip, Amanda slowly sits up but only hesitates until he finally opens one eye and turns his head to face her, brow arched with an irritable, “Well?” Then she hops to her feet and scurries over to curl up on the man’s chest. He simply ignores their audience, tosses part of his blanket over her, and closes his eyes once again.
---
The first morning comes and goes in a general whirl of coffee and the occasional cigarette, breakfast provided courtesy of Shannon and the nearest break room, until they all hear a whole lot of noise coming from somewhere downstairs and everything immediately goes quiet amongst them. It only takes a few minutes of hushed discussion for them to decide that the security guards and hunters will run recon and see if they can find the source. They return almost as quickly with the news that some of animals have escaped from the pet store and are now wandering freely about the first floor. This, of course, begs the question of how that might have happened and leads to the subsequent decision that they are going to have to do another sweep of the lower level in the very near future.
“So…” Alex watches as Macy and Amanda play with a box of kittens that Dennis had collected from the shop’s window, the little furballs happily climbing all over the ever patient Parker. “In all likelihood, there’s at least one more of those things still down there.”
“That’s all we can figure,” Eric agrees with a shrug. “By the time we got to the pet shop, it wasn’t there anymore but I can’t really think of any other explanation.”
Nate nods. “Half of the cages were on the floor. Even if the animals just got spooked by something, there’s the matter of what could have scared them.”
Val is the one who finally gets tired of the ensuing silence and leans forward to place her elbows on the table with a pointed thunk. “So, boys and girls, are we hunting this bitch down or what?”
---
The mall is basically shaped like an X and it only makes sense that they divide up into four hunting parties. Eric and Jamie stick together to cover the wing with the food court so they can be sure to check all of the nooks and crannies but the rest of the teams are divided with weapons proficiency in mind. Nate and Val take one hall, Dennis and Jo take another, and Alex finds himself headed down the last one with Viktor. It takes a great deal of arguing with a very panicked little girl to get that last one to fly, though.
“We don’t know which way it would’ve gone,” Eric had told them, “so watch your back.”
Val had checked her gun and flashed Viktor a glare at that, adding a simple, “And your partner’s.”
Aside from the occasional shop still playing its music mix through the in-store speakers, however, and a video place with ads still looping on their front display, their slow walk down hall four is proving to be surprisingly quiet. Watching some random anime character run across an absurdly oversized tv screen, Alex figures that the silence is really what creeps him out the most. He feels pretty safe assuming that the others are at least talking to their partners enough to strategize but his companion? Yeah, not so much. At least he can be sure that Viktor, of all people, is going to completely ignore the sight of the four-by-six-foot poster of his face plastered to the inside of some alt shop’s front window, signs around it displaying a countdown to a concert that will never happen. Anyone else and there might have been some sort of comment but no. With Viktor, he gets absolutely nothing. Just keep on walking and get the job done. For that much, Alex is pretty damn grateful.
Contrast to the eerie silence, the crash of a sign falling somewhere down an exit corridor is nearly enough to make him piss himself. “Fuck.” His voice cracks in a tremendously unflattering fashion. “Please just be a puppy or something.”
Viktor actually snorts at that as he returns from checking the entrance space to the nearest restrooms. He still says nothing, just brings his gun to the ready and starts toward the source of the sound. Alex takes a deep breath before following close behind, then has to literally bite his tongue to stop himself from swearing when he jumps at the sound of something running into the doors on the other side of a massive fountain and welcome sign. It is definitely not a puppy.
“I take left,” Viktor instructs, voice low and eyes focused on whatever lie ahead.
Well, shit. Alex takes a deep, steadying breath, and carefully creeps off to the right. He barely has to round his side of the fountain to see it.
What looks like it was once a janitor is there at the locked door, smearing blood all over the class as it claws at its own reflection. On the left, Viktor whistles to get the thing’s attention. To the right, Alex’s heart just about stops when it turns toward him instead. Luckily, it hits the ground with a hole in its head before it even gets close enough for him to properly smell.
“Well,” Viktor mutters, “that was a bit too—Duck.”
“Huh?”
The shriek behind him is more than enough to help Alex process the order, though, and he dives out of the way at almost the exact same time as a bullet whizzes past, not nearly far enough from where his head had just been for his liking. It leaves the second janitor sprawled in a double-dead bloody mess on top of him and he finally lets the curses he had been holding back burst right out.
Like some sort of terrible chain reaction, you shoot one and the sound draws the attention of another. A good dozen or so are banging on the outside doors now with another wave coming up behind them and when he looks back—“Behind you!”
A few trips to the shooting range with his grandfather had shown Alex early on that his aim was shit under pressure which is just another reason why he appreciates being paired up with the big, mean, Federal agent. All that Alex has to manage is a single shot that does enough to slow the attack and then it feels kind of like watching a high-end action film in real life. Viktor spins with the warning barely out of Alex’s mouth and has his hand perfectly positioned to catch the creature by the throat as it loses its balance mid-lunge. The weight and momentum are enough to knock Viktor’s feet out from under him, sure, but he keeps his hold, hand locked tight under the joint of the jaw, even as they both crash into the fountain’s pool. Not two seconds later, his pistol is still pointed at where the monster’s right eye had once been and the entrance hall is splattered with… Well, Alex would really rather not think about it.
That silence comes in again, everything gone deathly still aside from the splashing of the water and the rattling of the undead at the doors, and then Alex’s voice cracks again. “What the fuck do you pack, man?”
Viktor tosses the corpse aside and spits a wad of red and grey as he climbs back out onto dry land. “Glock 20C. 10 mm Auto. Good for hunting deer.”
“Fuck.”
“Hm.” There is a pause as the man looks himself over and grimaces before spitting again and mutter more to himself than to current company, “Well, here’s hoping the infection requires them to swallow bits of you.”
Alex simply stares up at him, slack-jawed, from his place on the floor until Viktor arches a brow. “Co?” “You—” Alex blinks, splutters. “Dude. You have a sense of humor.”
Viktor huffs and the sound very nearly sounds like a laugh. “Lose your new sweetheart and let’s finish this job.” Another blink, a look of confusion, and then Alex slowly turns his head to all but shriek as the dead janitor’s face falls a little closer to his own.
---
There is a low whistle over the line as Viktor pulls a chair up to the edge of the roof. “Mierda, ’mano. What happened to you?”
So begins an excellent afternoon, much as zombie hunting had begun such an excellent morning.
“We need a plan before I shoot something living,” Viktor states some time later as he levels his sights on another target. “The zatracený daycare girl is still trying my patience and at least one other person in here would be more than happy to see the store manager gone.” He fires. “If we don’t get out of here soon…”
“Just don’t forget me once you get out, sí?”
Viktor snorts. “What do you think I’m going to do, just leave you on the roof with your rifle and drive off into the sunset with a bunch of people I can’t even stand?”
“Watch the sarcasm, ’mano. I might be tempted.”
Looking up, Viktor smirks directly into the rifle’s sights. “Go ahead. Most people in here would likely be relieved.”
There’s a tsk-ing noise and he can see the weapon being lowered on the other rooftop. “No fun if you make it easy.”
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Can I Steal You for a Second? CH1
Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she'll participate as her civilian self. AKA: AU where Adrien doesn't know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.
Read on AO3
Chapter 1
Ladybug knew something was wrong with Chat the minute she stepped onto the rooftop where they had agreed to meet for patrol. He didn’t look up when she landed, even though she knew that he had heard her. She slowly walked towards him and decided that she wouldn’t push... for now. As she sat next to him, she began to count. By the time she reached 100, her patience had run thin and she was determined to break the silence.
“Hey, Kitty, feline a little quiet tonight?” Although she despised his constant use of cat puns, she figured the use of one would help break him out of his stupor. She glanced at Chat, expecting a smile and a witty comeback to come from him, but instead she was treated to sad kitty eyes and a look that broke something inside of her. Her voice came out barely as a whisper, “Chat, what’s wrong?”
Chat stared intently into Ladybug’s eyes. After a beat, he sighed. “It’s no big deal,” he shrugged it off, or tried to. But Ladybug was insistent. She locked eyes with him and scooted closer, and gave him a look saying that she didn’t believe him. He sighed before whispering, “Well, it actually is a big deal.” He took a breath, closed his eyes, and then continued on, “They—I—my father is forcing me to do something and I just—I just am not looking forward to going through with it.” Chat broke eye contact with Ladybug, but she moved her hand to his shoulder. He leaned into it absentmindedly.
“Chat, you know you can tell me anything,” She said with a soft smile. They were partners after all. She would be there for him through anything.
He slowly looked up at her again, this time the pain and hurt in his eyes evident. “Even... even if it reveals my identity?”
Ladybug paused a little, processing that information. She knew that Chat was homeschooled and that she most likely didn’t know him in real life. But is she really ready to learn who her precious kitty is behind the mask? She’s loved Chat for 7 years (as more than friends for 5) so she knew deep down that his identity didn’t matter to her. The reason they hadn’t revealed themselves yet was because of Hawkmoth. He was just as strong as ever and the two superheroes needed to trust each other with everything, to a certain point. Safety is important when fighting someone like Hawkmoth. If one of them was captured... just the thought made Ladybug shiver and her heart strain. She couldn’t do that to her kitty.
But... if she knew his identity, she could help him through this... thing that he was going through. Truthfully, she was curious, both about his problem and his identity. She was Ladybug, and Ladybugs fixed problems, fought hard battles, and supported their team—their partner— through it all. There were many different times that during high school, Chat was all that kept her going, and she would love to return the favor.
Slowly, the words came out of her mouth before she even realized it.
“Yes, Chaton, even if it reveals your identity.” He looked at her stunned, before a genuine smile split across his face. That look made the potential problems worth it.
“My father is forcing me to ‘branch out’ for the company and complete a publicity stunt. There is this reality show that is really popular in America that they are shooting a season of here in Paris. They want me to be the star, since my fans are numerous and should be a good starting point of a fanbase for the show.” Ladybug started a little upon hearing that Chat has fans outside of the suit. She had expected him to be normal, just like her. Her mind started racing, trying to figure out what he was going to say before he said it.
Chat pauses and took a deep breath, looking extremely nervous about the next part of his explanation. He looked at her in a way that encouraged her line of thinking; she should know what he was talking about. Thinking that her brain must have shut down for some reason, she tilted her head slightly as she could feel her face scrunch in a half confused-half thinking face.
“What show is it?” aiming for innocence even though her voice shook and so she didn’t sell it very well. The only thing she can think of is the new reality show that Gabriel Agreste (only the most talented fashion designer in Paris and a huge idol to Ladybug) is doing to promote his line. But that can’t be it... can it? She couldn’t remember the details of the show, except that it involved one boy and a lot of girls. In fact, if she remembered correctly, the boy was going to be Gabriel’s son, Adrien. He models sometimes and is very good-looking, but that can’t possibly be...
Ladybug gasped a little and looked up at Chat, seeing him in a new light. She had admired his pictures for a long time and this cat-themed superhero sitting in front of her looked a whole lot like Adrien. If the hair was styled and his eyes were not of the cat variety.
“The show is called The Bachelor.” Chat continued on, not noticing the way that Ladybug was staring at him. “They take one guy and thirty girls and he takes them on dates and week by week has to narrow it down to just one girl that he loves and he is supposed to propose to that girl at the end of the show.” Chat explains with a slight rise to his voice. It’s as though he’s freaking out about the whole thing and is having trouble getting the words out. Of course, Ladybug realizes, that is exactly what he’s doing. He stares at her, trying to get a read on how she’s taking it all, and so Ladybug pastes on a smile and says the first thing that comes to mind.
“You’re Adrien Agreste.” It didn’t come out as a scream, so Ladybug gave herself a mental pat-on-the-back for maintaining part of her composure.
Chat nods and then gives a slight murmur of, “Plagg, claws in.” With a flash of green light, Adrien is sitting where Chat once was and a little black creature has flown into Ladybug’s face.
“That didn’t take you long after he spelled it out for you. You’ve been working with this doofus for SEVEN WHOLE YEARS and yet you couldn’t spell it out?” The black kwami, who was super adorable, by the way, was flying around waving his little paws and getting all worked up. The whole thing, from Adrien being Chat and being chewed out by a kwami who was VERY different from Tikki, was just so absurd, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“You must be Plagg!” Ladybug said between giggles as she guided Plagg to sit in her hands. “Tikki told me lots about you, but I didn’t know you’d be so feisty when I got to meet you.”
Plagg crossed his arms and gave her a disdainful look, “Well I haven’t had any cheese in a while and I get cranky when I’m hungry.” Ladybug laughed again as Adrien sputtered from where he sat. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were huge. Clearly, he didn’t think Plagg would be so mean to Ladybug when he first met her.
“Plagg! I fed you right before we left!”
But his comment wasn’t heard over Ladybug’s laughs as she rubbed Plagg’s belly and behind his ears. “Has the mean Adrien not given you any cheese lately?” Ladybug said in a joking voice. Plagg gave her some kitty eyes and shook his head woefully. “Well I’m sorry I don’t have any cheese on me, but I promise, I’ll always come stocked with cheese from now on.”
Plagg flew up and gave Ladybug a look. He must have decided that she was trustworthy, because then he turned to Adrien and declared, “I like her. She cares about me and my cheese needs. You should be more like her.”
Adrien blanched and Ladybug began laughing again. That seemed to shock Adrien back into the present and he quickly spat out, “Well, she’d be less willing to give you cheese if she had to put up with smelling like Camembert all of the time!” At that comment, Plagg stuck out his tongue at Adrien and then dove into his shirt pocket and out of sight.
Ladybug was smiling like an idiot. Why hadn’t they revealed themselves earlier? This was a blast and Adrien was all Ladybug could have hoped for in a partner. Suddenly, the reason that he HAD revealed himself came back to her and her smile quickly faded.
“So, you’re going to have to do this show.” Adrien looked up at her and his expression was wary again. “What are you going to have to do?”
“I have to get to know a pool of 30 women and narrow down my choices until I find one that I can see myself spending the rest of my life with. My dad thinks that it is going to be good for the company if I do this. Plus, I think he wants me married off and this is a sure-fire way of doing it, at least in his mind.”
That all made sense, but there was one big thing that had never seemed clear to her, “What does your dad gain from this show? How would a dating show help a fashion designer?”
Adrien smiled a little at that. “It’s actually kind of brilliant. So, my dad is partially funding the show, so he has a lot of say in what happens. In the American version, they bring their own clothes and such and just go about the show. My father has decided that every girl will wear a Gabriel original, whether that’s formal wear, casual wear, even swimsuits, at all times during the filming. It’s virtually going to be an extended runway show. Everyone will tune in for the idea of watching me fall in love, but will actually fall in love with the fashion.”
Ladybug had to give Gabriel some credit, that was a great marketing idea. Although at the expense of his son...
“Does he really expect you to fall for the person you’re going to marry on this show? That seems a little crazy, and you’re only 22.”
Adrien’s eyes dropped from Ladybug’s and his hand went up to rub the back of his neck. A slow blush began to cross his checks, and Ladybug hated to admit it, but he looked really cute like that. “I was furious when he told me, but he made me a promise. If I would go about the show, play through it like I’m supposed to, and stay engaged after the show for six-months, then I’m allowed to break it off and pursue someone on my own.”
“Wouldn’t that leave a bad reputation for the show? Surely your father doesn’t want that.”
“He doesn’t. But the American version very rarely comes up with successful relationships, so he’s willing to let the show end badly if it promotes Gabriel Fashions well enough.” Adrien shrugged and smiled. “As long as I get to make the decisions about my love life, I’ll be okay.”
Ladybug smiled at that, but it began her mind whirring. What kind of Ladybug would she be if she let him go through with this. They were two halves of a whole, or at least that’s what Tikki kept telling her. She loved him as more than a friend and the thought of sitting back and watching him serial date girls made her stomach twist.
“Are you actually going to try to date these girls? Like actually get to know them and what-not?”
Adrien’s face twisted in thought, “Well, I’ve considered it, but I have a feeling that the girl I love won’t be playing with me. It’s a shame really. Especially since she has to stay here and protect Paris while I’m gone.” There was a twinkle in his eye that made Ladybug’s stomach flutter with butterflies—and the non-akuma kind at that. Chat had always flirted with Ladybug, but she never took him seriously even if she really really wanted it to be real.
Suddenly, a thought, one so wild and out-there Tikki would never go for it, came. It was an idea that could actually work, if she played it right.
A playful smirk grew on her face and her heart began to race. “What if she was?”
His shocked expression was enough to make the shaming she was going to get from Tikki later worth it. “Would you really?” Then, after a beat, his face fell. “You can’t. You have to stay here and protect Paris. What if an akuma comes up? Who’s going to fight it?”
“We are silly! You don’t expect me to be Ladybug and Chat Noir without my kitty, do you? The show is only shooting in Paris, right?” She thought she had heard that mentioned, but she wasn’t as invested when the topic first came up.
The cogs were turning as he responded, “Yeah we are.”
“Then that settles it. I’ll apply to be a contestant, you’ll escape away and help me fight akumas and possibly patrol once a week, and then we won’t have to stop being a team.” And I’ll have a chance to go on a proper date with you and we’ll fall in love and get married and have three kids and....
Her thoughts were interrupted by a bone crushing hug from Adrien. “Thank you so much! It won’t be as bad with you there.” When they pulled away, the smile on Ladybug’s face wasn’t forced.
“C’mon kitty, let’s start patrol.” She shot him a wink and stood. She gave him about 10 seconds to transform before she sprinted off into the night.
~~Let me know what you think! I’m excited to see where this goes
#ml fanfic#ML#MLB#ml fic#ml ladynoir#ml ladrien#ml ladybug#ml chat noir#can i steal you for a second#ml bachlelor au#ml au#the bachelor#bachelor! Adrien#hope y'all like this#let me know what y'all think
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Liquid Luck
Ladybug enlists Chat Noir's help in decoding the remaining ingredients for the power-up transformation potions. Together, they work on creating them, and possibly destroying the barriers between them. Read on AO3 here
~~~
Chapter 1: Green
Ladybug sat cross-legged on the roof of Le Palais Garnier under an overcast sky, stirring the contents of a large black cauldron. She was surrounded by piles and cartons of ingredients, some mundane kitchen items, and others that were more unique.
Chat Noir touched down next to her, and she glanced up at his puzzled expression. "Oh, professor, can I be excused? I left my book in Gryffindor tower."
"Har har," Ladybug intoned, gesturing for him to sit next to her. "And stop pretending you're a Gryffindor." Chat scowled at her but settled in, sinking into a similar cross-legged position and peering curiously into the cauldron. Ladybug reached across him for a sprig of mint, tossing it into the pot before grinding in some black pepper.
"Are you making soup?" Chat asked. He tried to dip a claw in, looking to take a taste, but Ladybug slapped his hand away.
"No, you were right earlier," Ladybug told him. "It's Potions class."
She turned to face him fully, letting the potion in front of her settle. "I used up my last aqua macaron running from Miracle Queen's bees. Do you have any aqua cheese left?"
Chat shrugged, but unzipped his side pocket and removed a carton. Ladybug sighed as he opened it, forever upset about his pocket space. Together they looked inside. Most of the colored wedges were full, but there was only a bite left of the green one that allowed an aquatic power up. "Looks like I have enough for one more transformation," Chat answered. "So you're making more potions?"
"Yep," Ladybug chirped, handing him a piece of paper bearing Master Fu's notes. "The grimoire was written in runes that only guardians could read, so luckily Master Fu translated it all before passing the guardianship. Because I took a look at it and have no idea what it says."
"So these are the ingredients for each potion?" Chat asked, reading the list.
Ladybug nodded. "The base of the potion is the same each time, but there are a few extra ingredients that need to be added at the end to make it specific for each transformation. Even translated to French, the ingredients are still kind of in code. See here," she pointed to the ingredients listed beside the green dot, "'branch from the dragon king's garden' is seaweed, and 'secret kept in a shell' is a pearl."
As she told him, she picked a sheet of seaweed out of one container, offering it to Chat. He scrunched his nose in disgust, and Ladybug laughed, dropping it into the cauldron. The potion inside emitted a faint green glow.
Chat's eyes were wide with wonder as he watched the potion, and Ladybug couldn't help but smile. "Here," she said, "you add the next ingredient." She handed him a small box.
He popped it open to see a small pearl inside. "Where'd this come from?"
Ladybug shrugged. "No one said being a guardian comes cheap."
Chat sighed as he pinched the pearl carefully in his claws. "You need to tell me these things so I can buy them." He dropped the pearl in the potion and it hissed, the green glowing brighter. "What other ridiculous ingredients do you need?"
"Actually," Ladybug began, turning away from the potion to face Chat, "I'm not really sure." She reached for the ingredient list she had given Chat earlier. "Master Fu gave me this translation, but it doesn't say what the ingredients are, exactly."
Chat squinted at the list. "These are pretty strange. He didn't give you any clues?"
Ladybug shook her head. "No. And I can't ask Tikki or Wayzz or anyone else because the recipes are always kept secret from the kwamis, in case they end up in the hands of an enemy."
"Maybe I can help out?" Chat sounded hopeful, and Ladybug felt a weight lift off her shoulders. As much as she tried to hide it from Chat - and everyone else - the stress of becoming the guardian was starting to pile up. As of now she didn't have to worry about making the other power-up potions, but it was best not to leave it until an emergency. And Chat, who was always so eager to help and be included, was the only person she knew she could trust with this.
Ladybug reached over and took Chat's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I'd love it if you would help me with this." In the silence of the rooftop, with the soft green glow reflecting in Chat's eyes, Ladybug felt some of her walls crumbling down. "It's pretty scary having to tackle all of the new guardian responsibilities alone. I know Fu was training me for this, but I never thought it was going to happen this soon. And trying to balance this with my personal life..." she trailed off, not sure what to make of the look in Chat's eyes. "It's just a lot."
The silence hung between them for a moment, but it was comfortable. Chat squeezed her hand, and slid so that their fingers were intertwined. "I want to be there for anything you need, Ladybug." His voice was soft, almost a whisper. "If you need someone to listen, someone to help, or someone to buy expensive potion ingredients, I'm here." He smiled. "I'm your man."
Ladybug smiled, feeling her face flush at his words and trying not to read too much into the warm feeling that pooled in her stomach at the thought that he was hers.
"I know," she answered, not that it had to be said, but just to see how much Chat brightened at hearing it from her.
Chat looked like he wanted to say something else, but after a moment he sent her an easy smile. “So what’s my first job?”
Ladybug disentangled their hands to pick up the ingredient list. “There’s six other potions. Maybe we should split it up?”
Chat scooted closer to read the list from over her shoulder. She could feel the heat of him behind her. “Hmm,” he hummed, and it rumbled in his chest like a purr. “These seem really out there.” He reached around her and pointed to the orange dot. “Like ‘a poison you eat.’ What could that be?”
“I don’t know,” Ladybug answered, turning her head to see just how close he was. He pulled back, but just by a hair. “How about we tackle one potion at a time, and both brainstorm ideas for each clue? Then we can see what works?”
"We can just throw them all in the pot?"
Ladybug laughed, feeling the heaviness between them lessen. "Yeah, it won't hurt to have extra ingredients. We can test every crazy thing you come up with."
Chat grinned, all his teeth showing. "Every single one?"
"Every single one."
Chat rested his chin on her shoulder, and she felt his weight, solid and comfortable. "Which should we work on first?"
"How about blue?" Ladybug suggested. "That's one that we've used before."
"Good call." Chat said. His hair tickled her cheek. "Are we done with the green one?"
Ladybug smiled, moving away from him so that she could look him in the eye. "No, the most important ingredient is missing." She pointed to the paper.
"A tear of joy," Chat read. "What's that code for?"
"Nothing. It's literally a tear of joy. I had to tell Master Fu a bunch of jokes to make him laugh."
"Jokes?" Chat puffed himself up. "Oh, this is exactly what you need me for."
"Chat," Ladybug said, laying a gentle hand on his arm. "When have I ever laughed that much at any of your jokes?"
"But I heard a really good one!" Chat jumped to his feet. "Hawkmoth walks into a bar and orders a soixante quinze -"
"Chat, you told me that one last week," Ladybug interrupted him, "when that bartender was akumatized."
Chat tilted his head to the side. "Did I really? Well, let me think of another one."
"Maybe I should tell you mine," Ladybug suggested, also rising to her feet.
"LB, you have many talents, but telling jokes is not one of them." Ladybug glared at him, and Chat gave her a placating smile. "Remember that one about the one legged jockey? It made no sense."
"You make no sense," Ladybug grumbled under her breath. Suddenly struck with an idea, she grinned. "You know what, we don't need jokes for a tear of joy. I know just how to get one."
Without further explanation she pounced, tackling Chat to the rooftop and straddling his hips. Chat looked shocked, and entirely too hopeful. Ladybug didn't allow herself a moment to think about his reaction before digging her fingers into his ribs and tickling him.
Chat immediately started squirming away from her fingers, but she held on, pinning him to the ground as she tickled him mercilessly. Chat panted, hooted, hollered, and laughed uproariously, and Ladybug continued until she saw the first sign of tears in his eyes. She rolled off of him, grabbing a vial with a stopper from her supplies, and holding it up to his eye. Chat wheezed, one hand clutching his stomach, but let her collect a few of his tears.
Ladybug held up the vial in triumph as Chat pushed himself to stand beside her. "You're cruel," he panted, but smiled at her once he caught his breath. "But you know I love it when you get physical with me, m'lady." He winked.
Ladybug felt herself blush, but refused to acknowledge that. "Just be glad I've got enough here for all seven potions." "Aww," Chat cooed, "Does that mean you won't crawl on top of me next time?"
Ladybug smirked, carefully tipping the vial so that only one drop fell into the potion. "That depends on if you are a good kitten."
A column of glowing green light erupted from the cauldron the moment the tear met the surface of the potion. Ladybug watched Chat's reaction through the light, the glow casting his entire face in green shadows.
As the light died down, Ladybug began packing up. She pulled out two large jugs, separating the potion into each before handing one over to Chat. "This is for you. I'm going to bake some into macarons for Tikki. Do you know how to make it into cheese?"
Chat played with his jug, making the potion swirl around. "No, but it seems like a fun project for Plagg and I to work on." Ladybug smiled at his enthusiasm. She piled her extra ingredients loosely into the cauldron, taking a marker and labeling the vial with a bold 'CHAT'S TEARS' before placing it inside.
"Alright, kitty cat," Ladybug placed the ingredient list on top of her pile, and read from the top. "Since we need a tear of joy for each, I think there's only two ingredients we need to figure out per potion. For the blue, it's 'blossom of snow' and 'domesticated cicer'. Think you can handle that?"
Chat gave a nervous chuckle. "Piece of cake." He took out his baton. "This time next week for potions class?"
Ladybug nodded. "Sounds good." She waved to Chat as he gave a salute, and launched off the rooftop. Ladybug waited on the opera house, watching his back grow smaller in the distance. Sharing this with Chat made her feel lighter, and more confident in her position as the new guardian. Tikki had already alluded to the idea that she was now in charge and could make up her own rules, but it was easier and more comfortable to just follow along with the guidelines that were in place for her entire time as a superhero. Sharing one secret with Chat helped her feel like she was taking the reins, and shaping the guardianship into her guardianship.
With a final sigh, Ladybug picked up the cauldron and started toward home.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug fanfiction#mlb#ladybug#chat noir#ladynoir#love square#My writing
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