#this was. supposed to be a 10 minute sketch. so i could figure out how to draw caleb + do a funnie little comparison w hunter | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whooambouttamakeanameformyself · 1 year

Text

Beautiful Bloodshed

Otis Driftwood x Transmasc! Reader. (18+)

Chapter Five.

(Chapter Four can be found below)

Same summary and warnings apply.

(A/N: This story is being put up on my Wattpad! The latest chapter/s will be posted after they are posted here. I wanted to put them all together in one book so they could all be read together. Each chapter will be posted on Tumblr first so don't worry if you don't have Wattpad!.)

~~~~~~~~~~

(Two weeks after the events of Chapter Four. Otis and Y/N pretend that the hug never happened, but Y/N is slowly starting to realize their feelings for Otis.)

Y/N was sitting on the floor in Otis's room, sketchbook on their knees, drawing while Otis paints on the other side of the room. He finally got around to finishing the painting he'd been working on, a fairly big canvas painted totally black with a large human heart painted in red in the center. Y/N wasn't able to see what he'd been painting around it, but from where they were sitting they had a perfect view of his profile.

Perfect.

They smiled softly as they began to draw, starting with small lines, then moving on to longer lines. They took about 10 minutes to do the rough sketch, then they began to work on flushing it out, adding more details like hair strands and small markings.

By the time they were done Otis had moved on from his painting, now behind the curtain, no doubt working on another one of his sculptures. They let out a soft sigh, closing their sketchbook and sliding it back into their bag, getting up from their place on the floor. They walked out of the room without saying anything, not wanting to bother Otis while he was working, he tended to get grumpy when anyone bothered them (though he wouldn't mind a bit if it were Y/N).

They made their way down to the kitchen, where mama was sat just like last time, but this time she was by herself. She smiled at Y/N, watching as they grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"You sure do like to drink, huh Y/N?" Mama said with a chuckle. They shrugged with a smile, taking a seat across from her, opening the beer with relative ease.

"Eh, keeps the voices in my head at bay." They joked, making mama chuckle again.

"Those voices tellin' you things? Good things I hope." Mama's motherly tendancies never ceased to make Y/N feel welcome and loved. They shrug again, not really sure how to explain what the voices are telling him.

"I suppose so, maybe lies though." They said, thinking back the the time the voice in his head constantly talked about that nickname Otis gave him. He brushed it off, reasoning that Baby's name wasn't actually baby and it started out as a nickname from Otis too, so it wasn't unusual for Otis to give nicknames.

"How could they be lyin' to ya? They tellin' you stuff that don't seem right?" Mama asked, looking a little concerned.

Y/N gave her a small nod. "Suppose they are..."

"Like what?" She probed further, hoping to maybe help them.

"It's nothin' I can't handle myself." They say shaking their head.

Mama let out a soft sigh. "Well... promise you'll tell me if there's somethin' I can help ya with. I'd hate to see any of my babies sufferin'."

Y/N nods, clearing their throat slightly.

"I actually wanna ask you somethin'..." they mess with the bottle in their hand, worrying that maybe this was a bad idea.

"Go on then, darlin'! I'm all ears." Mama smiles warmly.

"I um... I've been feeling a little... off? Lately all I've wanted to do is hang out with Otis. I know it's makin' baby mad, but I can't help it, and I don't know why. I dunno, I thought maybe you would know..." they felt stupid asking a question like that, but they figured an outside perspective may help them understand.

Mama's smile grows as she let out a laugh.

"Sweetie, I think I know what your feelin'. I think gou might have some feelins for my little boy, and from what I've seen, so does he." She says happily.

Feelings? For Otis? No.... Y/N had never had feelings for anyone, or atleast they'd never noticed them before...

There was no way what Mama said was true, they didn't have feelings for Otis.

......Did they?

As the days go on Y/N started to pay more attention to the feelings they get when they are around Otis.

The little tingles in his brain every time one of his stupid jokes made Otis laugh.

The butterflies in his stomach every time he noticed Otis looking at him.

The jolt of his heart every time Otis said his name....

By the end of the week Y/N couldn't deny it....

Mama was right, he was in love...

He was in love with Otis.

The worst part was they were sure that if Otis found out he'd never want to see them again, or worse.

The very thought of Otis getting mad, demanding that he leave and never come back, hurling those nasty words from his art piece at him... it all made him feel sick to his stomach.

So Y/N decided to keep it quiet, thinking it was better to keep quiet than lose a good friend.

Saturday night, before heading home, Y/N approached Mama Firefly who was sat by herself in the livingroom, smoking a cigarette.

"Mama, you were right...." They said awkwardly, fidgeting with the hem of their shirt.

Mama gave them a confused look, unsure of what they were talking about. "About what, sweetie?"

"About... ya know... me havin' feelings for O-Otis..." they stuttered slightly at the end, their voice quiet, not wanting anyone else in the house to hear.

Mama's eyes lit up, a smile spreading across her face. "I told ya, darlin'! A mother always knows!"

Y/N began to panic and hurriedly shushed her, their eyes darting between the stairs and the doorway to the hall.

"Shhhhhh! Please, I don't want anyone to know..." they begged, the panic evident in their eyes.

Mama immediately saw the panic and gave them a knowing nod. "Ah, you haven't told him yet. You know you'd feel better if ya did, besides, he might surprise ya." She said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, with a knife in my throat." They responded making Mama gasp.

"Honey, he wouldn't do nothin' like that! Not to you!" She said putting a gentle hand on their shoulder.

"Sweetie, trust me, as your mama, tell him."

Y/N shook their head 'no', looking away from her. "I can't, he don't like me like that, and I don't wanna ruin everything like I always do."

Mama shrugged and took a long drag off her cigarette. "Whatever you say, darlin', you have a good night now." She pats their shoulder before sitting back on the couch, allowing them to leave.

Her words echoed in their mind as they drove back to their apartment. Maybe he should just admit his feelings to Otis, the worst thing he could do is yell...

Otis killing him would be a great mercy over living with the embarrassment.

End of Chapter Five.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hi! Author here! I'm sorry if this one was a little sad! I would like to warn that some future chapters will be pretty emotional, I'll put a warning before the emotional parts so you can skip them if you need!

6 notes · View notes

semimedieval · 16 days

Text

the beach part 2: heteroerotic pearl diving

jenny's playing elden ring and keeps getting murdered by a guy with the sun for his head :( and me, i'm going to read the quartz and rim pearl diving scene. which is like elden ring to me.

Rim shot Through the water like a fish. Breathing wasn't a problem, and if it had been, he could hold his breath for three minutes, swimming full power. He suddenly noticed an oyster, several of them in fact. After a few minutes of diligent searching he found a pearl. (Not the pearl of course) The pearl was suddenly thrust out of the water, and fell on Quartz's head. "Ow!" she exclaimed, taking it out of the water where it had fallen. "What is this?"

Your honor, this is cute. I'm sorry, Quark for life, but this is cute. How do you flirt again? You throw precious items at a girl and then invite her to illuminate underwater darknesses with you. 10/10 no notes. He was right.

"It's a pearl. Duh." said Obsidian.

buddy you are not in that scene your ass was supposed to be racing chuji in the water. This ain't about you. Anyway, Rim comes back, and we hear his date proposition.

Rim bobbed to the surface. "Wanna help me find pearls?" He asked. "It's a bit dark down there, even with my water vision" "Uh...okay." she said, rather nervously. Rim grinned. "Thanks! And don't worry about air or swimming even if you'ld like!" She nodded and dove under.

Quartz trusts him very fast and has no follow-up questions about issues of air or swimming, which creates a delightful sort of retroactive implication that she was nervous about the implication that she's being asked on a sort of date, rather than the question of breathing underwater. Which Rim has covered.

A bubble of air appeared around her head, connected to the world above by a thin tube of air. He picked through the oyster, guided by her light, pick up some which would make good eating, and occasionally, picked up a pearl. She looked around herself, impressed. Underwater, it was unusually calm and quiet.

This is pretty much as atmospheric as we get but it's a really touching and lovely kind of atmospheric and exactly the sort of Extranei Juice that I'm hoping to emphasize in 3.0 – the sort of magic that creates new sight, new ways of seeing, new places to see. Rim and Quartz on the edge of a world that they by all rights should not be present in. I think there's enough vivid possibility in that image that it's almost helping me imagine a rich and interesting middle ground for the pendant stuff that happens later – I think the two should find an underwater cave, insist on backup for exploring it, bring Leander and Mina, and then find that for whatever reason one person (Quartz) must wait outside while the others explore. So we still get the sense of her waiting, helpless, and she does not get a pendant, but she is less comically removed from the action and the horror than she is in 2.0. And of course we get to recreate that image – Wryn trapped and in danger, Quartz waiting outside – at the end of the story. Just a rough sketch – obviously this will all make more sense in the outline. But I want to emphasize Sea Horror more and Sea Wonder too.

I do miss good old Moopy when I reread these roleplays. Wherever they are, I hope they're well.

They don't talk much down here in the roleplay, a feature that I changed in 2.0 – here, I use that moment to heighten emotional intimacy in a fairly utilitarian way. I just have Quartz ask Rim about his past and learn some things about it that she needs to know. I think it can be done better, and I think the way I write their friendship in 2.0 is dominated by my dedication to writing what was interesting to me at the time – a lesbian who figures out she's a lesbian and stays that way with no further divergences or doubts – and moments of intimacy between Quartz and Rim are undercut constantly by her narration going "Wow! That heterosexuality sure is compulsory!!"

Which is not the kind of narrative I find particularly compelling anymore, especially as it reflects a problem in which Quartz, as our only POV character, really only builds lasting moments/arcs of emotional intimacy with Obsidian, Rim, and Spark. She has moments of connection with Ky and Lupus (using the old names is killing me) but only by accident really. And Chuji, even as her future sister-in-law and one of her oldest friends, is criminally ignored by the narrative, all because of stupid beef with Augustine.

The point is Quartz should be so full of love it's killing her, and a little in love with everyone, and certainly a little (more than a little) in love with Rim. Or Wryn, as the case may be.

Here and now, these young and silly proto-versions of them who are still allowed to be a little in love but just as embarrassed about it as all of the gay people around them (much to consider) wrap up their pearl diving trip.

Rim passed her the rest of the pearls. He picked up a few more oysters. "Come on, we should head up again." He said. She nodded and swam upward, surfacing.

Rim announces that oysters are ready to eat. By implication, he lets Quartz keep the pearls.

#og rp lb

0 notes

penumbrialhexandroga · 4 months

Text

I started drawing "when i could first hold a crayon", my mother told me.

Growing up, i was always a quick learner. I learned to read before i was in school, i could always pick things up really easily; my mom would show me a shape and label it and i would get it immediately. I cant remember ever not being able to read.

One of my earliest memories is of being in school, maybe kindergarted on first grade? And they were having us all write down the letters they spoke for a quiz. A classmate leaned over to me and asked me if we were supposed to write the letter or spell the letter? I said "i think spell", thats what i had been doing lol. Later on they told us all that we were supposed to write the letter, not spell it out lol.

"Ay", "Bee", etc. I wish i could go back and read how i spelt it all, 8m interested how i wouldve spelt out "C".

But back to drawing. I cant remember ever not doing it. I was always the "best" artist in my class growing up. I think ive spent far more of my life drawing than socializing. But as ive gotten older i stopped being the best artist for my age. Im at a point now where although im confident in being able to replicate things or my technical skills in being able to make a portrait is pretty good. I always feel like i really struggle creatively.

I remember when i was in maybe 4th grade? And one of my friends/classmates had wanted me to teach her how to deaw a wolf. I was trying to show her how you were supposed to start with simple shapes , just squares and circles, to start the construction of the body, and then you draw the actual more complex form over that and then erase the simple sketch. Obviously not in those words but i realized that she wasnt understanding it, i had shown her what to do but i just remember being in this moment and it was one of those things that you know youll always remember. I can remember being in that room, in the school library at the circular table that must have been on the floor. My back was to the windows and it was an overcast but bright day. I think i must have been wearing a red, short sleeved shirt. My classmate had very light blonde shoulder length hair that flipped out on the ends. She was wearing a pink shirt. I remember she was getting stuck on how you make the more complex form over the guidelines and then erase the guidelines, i tried to show her by having her go along with me step by step but it just felt like there was a block. Like when youre taking a test and you know you dont know the answer vs. When you think you might know the answer and you can logic your way through or come back to it later.

Anyways i cant comprehend how people are so friggin amazing at composing things. I never feel like im a skilled artist until i go back and look through my art or my sketchbook. I love doing gesture drawings and very quick things but i really struggle with making complete compositions. Its something i know i just need to practice to improve at but i can never stick to a single thing for so long! When i do even 10 minute figure drawings it feels like im taking so so long!

Though, thinking i can focus for long enough if i do live figure drawing sessions in a class setting. Its always been easier for me to focus or get things done if im in a classroom setting. I miss school and learning like that so much! I really want to start taking art classes when i can. Or go back to community college.

#ramblings

0 notes

pa1nkill3r · 3 years

Text

"Now How Come I've Only Found Out About This Now?" [G.W]

[Pairing:] George Weasley x Fem!Artist!Reader

[Summary:] So far, George Weasley knows three things about his new potions partner; So why not make it four? Or five?

[Warnings:] use of mudblood, a bit of angst, a bit of swearing, a pov change at some point in the end, idk-- fluff?? (is that a warning??)

[Word Count:] ≈2.7k

[A/N:] i used @buckystrenchcoat 's fluff plots for george weasley: 2. George finding out you can draw (kind of got carried away but oh well :D--) (ps just imagine that classes in hogwarts includes all of the houses together, thanks <3) Y/H = your house. (dk the timeline or what year george and the reader are in but i'd say between 3rd-5th year)

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

The Weasley twins were becoming reckless and apparently, Professor Snape has had enough. The constant explosions on the other side of the dungeon and the numerous attempts at drowning his hair with shampoo has eventually led him to the decision of assigning the entire class their partners.

Thus halfway into the semester, the Weasley twins are never to be seen together again... that is until the end of 2nd period where they will go back and cause mischief elsewhere.

Fred was assigned to a Slytherin girl who George couldn't figure out if she's madly in love with his brother or wants to rip out his guts. While he on the other hand was assigned with Y/N. Truthfully, he never gave much thought to her, but after their first double potions lesson as partners, he began to wonder why he never gave much thought to her.

She was smart but never overbearing, made jokes here and there, sniggered when he made even the cheesiest of puns, and is wicked attractive. Their first task was to brew a calming draught and whilst adding in a smidge more of lavender, she proposed that they should make more while the majority of the class was still struggling.

"Why in Merlin's beard are we going to make more? We can just pass this and leave class early?" He asked, bringing a smile to her lips. "Yeah, yeah, that's what you want, don't you Weasley?" She quipped, looking back up to the red-headed boy who's now readying their vials.

"Just thought that we could make some for people, like, your brother. Poor guy, reckon he's going to rip his hair out getting partnered with Tuttle." And with that, George let out a laugh, a laugh that cost Gryffindor 5 points. Though, all was well when they were the first to finish and send their little vial of calming draught into the hands of Severus Snape, garnering 5 points each and an opportunity to leave class 10 minutes early.

And that was it, that was their relationship; potions partners.

George Weasley learned 2 things that day. One, his potions partner was someone he wanted to know more, to be with more, and two, one should never put a liberal amount of peppermint in a calming draught. (Fred learned that the hard way.)

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

She was the epitome of beauty and brains. So far, that's what he knew about his potions partner. But a little incident in the corridor made two into three.

It wasn't unusual for Fred and George Weasley to skip class, especially if the class was History of Magic. And it also wasn't unusual for them to hide behind a tapestry whilst a stinky dungbomb was set in the first-floor corridor.

What was unusual though, was George not wanting to move from their hiding place, forcing Fred to also not move. "George, mate, wha-?" "SHH!"

Whatever Fred's question was supposed to be, it quickly got answered by the presence of a certain someone whose walking to the Muggle Studies classroom, his brother's potions partner perhaps? Fred grinned mischievously, nudging his brother in the abdomen, and earning a wince.

"Oi mudblood! Was that you?" They heard from a distance, heavy footsteps following the girl he's teasing his brother with. From their point of view, they could tell that the girl stopped in her tracks, sighing heavily as though this was a regular thing.

"Was that me, what?" She asked, clearly annoyed. "Was that you who did it? Or d'you just shat yourself? It smells horrid. Would make sense, as you're a filthy little mudblood."

George's blood was beginning to boil, fingers formed into a fist, knuckles white. Especially when they got to see the silhouette of the two arguing. Perfect, Winnifred Tuttle, his brother's potions partner bullying his Y/N Y/L/N. He had an urge to protect her. To avenge her. To show her how much he cared for someone who's supposed to be his potions partner.

"Was that supposed to be an insult, Tutts?" Y/N spat back, pulling George out of his trance and making Fred shut his mouth. Now he's the one staring intently. "It's honestly just sad. A 'pureblood' like you should know the difference between a dungbomb and a piece of shit. Or perhaps you're probably just that daft?"

The boys were fixated on their conversation now. A hand on their mouths, hopefully covering up their shock even if they're hiding behind a tapestry. George's heart was beating faster now.

"Me? Daft? Well, if I'm daft then why are you taking muggle studies?" Tuttle sneered, an ugly grin splattered across her face.

"Bit hypocritical, isn't it, Winnie? Bye-bye!" She turned her back away from the Slytherin now, walking into the Muggle Studies classroom, holding a few books in one hand and her middle finger in the other.

He knows three things about her now; She's bewitching, she's a whizz, and she's a muggle-born who doesn't take shit.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

A few more lessons in and one could say that Y/N and George are starting to become friendlier to each other. Acquaintances, sure, but, friendly nonetheless. But the Gryffindor wanted to live up to its name, to its values. He might've just gotten to know a bit about her but he was completely and utterly entranced.

Nothing's going to stop him now.

His right hand held his wand as he stirred the concoction in the cauldron. She, on the other hand, was cutting up the stewed mandrake. The easy silence between them was broken by none other than the lion himself.

"Hey," he called, lifting his gaze from the potion to the girl right next to him. "Hi." She said back.

"So... Today's a Friday, right?"

She looked at him, confused, recounting a particular time in which she looked at a calendar today. "Yeah, I think so."

"And we can go to Hogsmeade after classes?"

"Pretty sure you can, why?"

"Want to go on a date?"

She looked stunned which kind of hurt George's ego but as soon as the slightly parted mouth of hers became a cheerful grin, he felt a whole lot better.

"As long as you stop staring at me and not over mix our potion, then sure, I'll go out with you." She smiled, making George give a shy little grin back before attempting to put all his concentration on the brew. Mind boggled on the way she said 'our potion.'

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Going to Muggle Studies felt utterly useless now that Y/N's been promised to go on a date right after. But having George by her side, walking her to the class just seemed to be the best part of the day.

He recounted the time when he and Fred hid behind a tapestry and told Y/N all about it, giving a hot feeling to her cheeks. They stopped by the door frame of the classroom, Professor Burbage was waiting inside, pacing around her study as George's hand slyly held Y/N's.

"I'll pick you up later?" He asked with the same shy smirk plastered on his face, cheeks pink and ears flushed. "Yeah. Thanks for walking me here. You shouldn't have." She uttered, heels rising and falling as she bounced on her toes.

"Just making sure that Tuttsy's not going to ruin your day, love." Y/N felt heat rising to her cheeks and ears, as well as an uncontrollable grin. Her heel turned to make her face the concrete walls of the castle, hands covering their face and body slightly swaying from side to side. It was ridiculous, really. Dumb. Very.

"You're adorable when you're flustered."

"Shut up, Weasley." And with that, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, leaving him slightly startled, stunned, and very red in the face. "You're adorable when you're flustered." She quipped, walking into the Muggle Studies classroom and taking her seat.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Muggle Studies felt oddly slow that day. Usually, it lasted an hour but today it felt like a century. Professor Burbage's talk about electricity and muggle technology went in one ear and out the other.

If you'd ask why Y/N chose a subject she already knew plenty about, her answer would be that she wanted to see things from a different perspective. But truthfully, she just knew that she'd be good at it and it'd be an easy O.

So there she was; A scrap piece of parchment laid on the wooden desk and a pen since Professor Burbage discouraged the use of quills.

Her mind wandered off the moment she sat down on her chair. Feet either bouncing up and down or stuck straight onto the floor, she wouldn't know. What she did remember was her non-dominant hand posing itself as the other one scribbled on the piece parchment.

Her fingers played with the hazy light and the ink added depth. Soon she started sketching other things; The student in front of her, a study of Professor Burbage, a head with a moderately strong jaw and beautiful, short, messy hair. A male side profile with a big nose that has a slight bump on its bridge matching a cheeky grin with dimples. Her hand posed itself once more but this time she wasn't making it look like hers, she was making it look like his. Something she's seen many times before, and guiltily stared at once, twice, more than she could recount.

She was adding in the cluster of freckles when the worst happened; "Miss Y/L/N, still with us?" Professor Burbage stood at the front of the class, standing straight, clearly thinking about her posture. "Miss Y/L/N?"

She felt an elbow nudge her arm, and that was the thing that brought her back into reality. Her head whipped itself to face her seatmate then to her Professor, giving her a funny-looking nervous grin.

"Charm would get you nowhere, Miss Y/L/N. When was the first electricity generator introduced in Britain? And where was it installed?" She has to have something in that brain of hers. It must've been taught sometime when she was in muggle school. "Err-- 1900s something, Surrey--?"

Professor Burbage meekly chuckled, "Nice try. 1881. Godalming, Surrey. A point from Y/H then, I'm sorry."

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

George was faithful and stuck to his word. Even being 5 minutes early after asking Professor Grubbly-Plank if he could go to the bathroom and have a wee, saying that the unicorns would definitely mind if he pissed on their trees.

He did not go to the bathroom but instead went straight to the Muggle Studies classroom. Leaning the side of his body onto the wall by the door. Trying his best to peer into the room and find his potions partner and soon to be his date and maybe even his. But he was getting ahead of himself.

The bell rang and he heard a loud shuffling sound of chairs being pulled back. The door was opened as students from all of the houses started pouring out and there she was. Looking beautiful as ever with her bag slung on her shoulder.

"Glad to see you're alright there, dove." He cooed, earning once again another shy smile. "Anything happened there?" He asked, pointing to the now open classroom.

"Felt way longer than usual, and I lost a house point." She said matter of factly. George chuckled, his heart filled with pride as he turned his head towards her.

"And what have you done to lose said house point?"

She smiled before reaching her hand into a pocket of her robes, pulling out a folded piece of aged parchment before handing it to the curious redhead.

"What's this? A love letter?" He bantered. "Just open it." And so he did. His nimble fingers unfolding the parchment, then he was stunned. Seeing his face drawn in ink with lines crossing over more lines was the last thing he expected. It looked like him. And it didn't look like Fred. It is him.

"I was just drawing in class but then I sort of blanked out and got a dumb question wrong." She paused, looking back up to see if the redhead was still listening. "Hello? Earth to George?"

"You drew me?" He was on a fine line of disbelief and awe. It truly looked amazing. She drew her hand at least three times before he recognized his was also there. She even got the little freckle he had on the middle of his wrist. The full body of ol' Professor Burbage brought so much of her energy and even the way her scarf wrapped around her neck was perfect.

Her cheeks were heating up again, realizing what she just did. "It's not that good. Just-- drew what I saw and, err-- whatever came to mind, I guess." Bad execution, sloppy excuse. "Okay, you've been looking at that for way too long now--"

"This looks bloody brilliant! Now how come I've only found out about this now?"

"Flattery would get you nowhere, Weasley." She joked, but he was serious.

"S'not 'flattery' if I'm stating what's true! It's amazing, you're amazing." She felt her heartbeat increase by a mile.

"Well then, I'm flattered." She said, adjusting the strap of her bag to hopefully let out some adrenaline. "And to answer your question, it'd be terrifying if I just started drawing in Snape's class. I swear that man has eyes at the back of his head. That's why this is a new discovery for you."

"Fuck, this is amazing!" He uttered.

"It's really not that good--"

"'S'really not that good' Some shit standards you have there. I'd put this in a museum!" He said loudly, extending both his arms and imagining that the piece of parchment was displayed on the Hogwarts walls. "If you don't like it then I'll keep it." George joked, expecting disapproval, which, to his shock, never came.

"Are you actually giving this to me?"

She shrugged, "I mean if you'd like a photo of you drawn by a teenage girl then be my guest." He smiled, genuinely smiled. He looked so pretty at that moment and there shouldn't be any holding back now.

"...But," She started, his gaze looked intently at her, ready to listen to whatever comes next. "There's a price."

"Between Freddie and I, we have 26 galleons and a few sickles." He said, earning a hearty laugh and a shake of her head. "Don't really think he'd like me to give all of it to you, I'm sorry. If you want I'd pay a bit then I--"

"No, George." She said, tugging lightly on his tie to gain his attention. "How about... a kiss? Perhaps?"

He grinned. His hand hovered itself across her face before landing on her cheek, thumb gracing itself on its apples, slightly squishing the skin whilst his eyes looked for any signs of discomfort; there was none.

They slowly leaned in, eyes locked on lips before their lips locked onto each other. His lips were slightly chapped but it felt like the softest thing on Earth. He smelled of cinnamon, firewood, gunpowder, and other indescribable scents, but it was nice. It was short but meaningful, gentle, even. His other hand was wrapped around her waist and once again, his thumbs were running up and down whatever part of her body it's laid on.

He learned two more things about the girl that day; she's artistic, and she felt like home.

He never thought there'd be a time in his life where he'd be thankful for Severus Snape. But life goes in unexpected ways.

"If you'd like to tip me then I'm just going to say that I love cauldron cakes." She grinned up at him as they pulled away before settling her face in his chest. George chuckled to himself before wrapping his arms completely on her waist, placing a sweet kiss on the top of her head.

"Yeah, yeah, come on." He said, pulling away to let her shake herself up as he held onto the piece of folded parchment which graced his face, giving it a small peck before putting it in his pocket, patting it three times.

"Better sign that drawing for me, Y/N. How much does an autograph cost?"

"Double the original price—?"

"And the tip?"

"And the tip."

#george weasley fanfiction #george weasley fluff #george weasley x reader #george weasley x fem!reader #george weasley x ravenclaw!reader #george weasley x hufflepuff!reader #george weasley x slytherin!reader #george weasley x gryffindor!reader #george weasley fic #george weasley #george weasley x y/n #oml this is long

634 notes · View notes

windowlessatmosphere · 2 years

Text

Have You Ever Been Sketched?

Read on AO3

Summary: Lucius realizes Izzy's answer to "Have you ever been sketched?" is a definite no, and resolves to change that through whatever means necessary. Namely, a bet and the use of his pickpocketing skills, which Izzy may or may not be aware of.

“You never actually answered my question, you know.” The knowing tone came from behind Izzy, making him jump slightly and wonder how Lucius had been able to get so close without him noticing.

“Shouldn’t you be working?” Izzy practically growled, not looking back as he continued down the inventory list.

“Hmm, still avoiding the question,” Lucius noted. Izzy could hear the smirk on his face without having to look at him, and bit the inside of his cheek rather than point it out. He’d recently decided the best way to deal with Lucius was just to stay completely calm and never let on when he was getting to him. This was proving more difficult than originally anticipated.

“What question?” Izzy finally asked, fighting to keep an even tone as Lucius came into view and leaned against the table. Lucius tilted his head slightly, reading the inventory list for a moment, before back looking at Izzy and quirking an eyebrow.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked with a faux casual tone, lowering himself into the chair next to Izzy’s and leaning further into Izzy’s personal space.

“What. Bloody. Question.” Izzy forced out through gritted teeth, regretting the decision he’d made not to engage with Lucius. Lucius bit his lip slightly to fight off a grin, moving his lips towards Izzy’s ear before he spoke.

“Have you ever been sketched?”

Izzy slammed a hand onto the table, jerking his head to glare at Lucius for less than a second before he jerked it back to stare at the inventory list. His internal monologue was practically yelling at this point.

‘Stay calm, stay calm, stay…’

“Izzy?” Lucius’ voice was slightly concerned, which surprised him somewhat, since it was obvious that Lucius had only come over to wind Izzy up, and had clearly succeeded.

“What.” His tone was flat as his gaze remained fixed on the list, which he had long ago given up on getting through while Lucius was around. It provided something helpful to stare at, though, which was much safer than looking at Lucius.

“I didn’t mean to…” Lucius started hesitatingly, “I mean, I was just…messing around. I wasn’t trying to piss you off. This much, anyway,” he tacked onto the end, which Izzy supposed made it quite a bit more truthful.

“What did you want then?” Izzy asked, putting a bit of venom into his tone and feeling a thrill of vindication when he saw a sliver of guilt cross Lucius’ face out of the corner of his eye.

“It’s…nothing,” Lucius shook his head, scrunching his nose up a bit. Izzy turned his head to look at him fully, curiosity winning out over his desire to somehow ‘win’ every interaction with Lucius.

“Go on, then,” he pushed, still trying for casual and falling a few miles short of his goal.

“A bet?” Lucius asked, a small hopeful smile creeping onto his face. “If you’re…amenable,” he added, trailing his eyes over Izzy and causing his heart rate to pick up against his will.

“A bet?” Izzy repeated. “What could you possibly have that I would want?” he scoffed, almost swallowing his tongue when he thought of all the ways Lucius could take that .

“Mmkay, so we really don’t have time to make it all the way through that list,” Lucius mock whispered, leaning closer to Izzy, who flushed at his tone.

“I—no, I mean—yeah, what’s the bloody bet, Spriggs?” Izzy finally got out, cursing internally at how obvious he was being.

“I’ll do all the…y’know, pirate duties or whatever. For a week,” Lucius propped his chin in his right hand, looking intently at Izzy.

“You think you’ll last a week?” Izzy snorted against his will. “You can’t work for more than 10 minutes before weaseling your way out of it.”

“That’s not the bet!” Lucius cried. Izzy couldn’t tell if he was putting on mock outrage or if he was actually offended, but he figured he should try not to care.

“You just said–”

“No, that’s the reward. Like, if you win, I’ll do whatever on the ship for a week,” Lucius rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Did you seriously think that was the bet?”

“What if you win?” Izzy narrowed his eyes at Lucius, ignoring his question. “What’s in this for you?” he asked, dread building a little as he thought of what the answer could be.

“You let me sketch you,” Lucius grinned at him. “Properly!” he added on when Izzy opened his mouth to protest.

“I—you aren’t—that’s completely—I’m not getting my cock out!” he blustered, flushing redder and gritting his teeth.

“Okay, well that’s an optional part of the sketching process, so,” Lucius shot back.

“Pete said you’ve drawn everyone. Meaning everyone’s cocks.”

“Okay, again, that’s a voluntary thing. And I haven’t drawn everyone,” Lucius corrected, tone patronizing. “And certainly not everyone’s cocks. Just a lot of them, is all. You’d be totally clothed, the whole time,” he reassured, gesturing at Izzy as he spoke.

“So I’m the only one you don’t want to draw naked?” Izzy asked.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Lucius groaned, dropping his head to the table before he finished his sentence. “Do you want me to draw you naked?” he pressed, gesturing for emphasis.

“No!” Izzy exclaimed immediately. “No. Of course not. Not—no, I—that’s… No.”

“That’s great, that was a super normal way to answer that question,” Lucius muttered under his breath, shaking his head a bit as he spoke.

“Jesus Christ,” Izzy grouched, cheeks still red. “What even is the fucking bet?”

“Ummm,” Lucius started, cocking his head and looking at him quizzically.

“You win, you draw me. Clothed. I win, you…do your fucking job. Not entirely a fair trade, by the way—”

“Okay, well, considering I was hired as a scribe and an artist—” Lucius interjected, holding out one finger as he spoke.

“Anyway,” Izzy continued on as though he hadn’t spoken. “What is the actual bet? How do we determine who wins?”

“Oh!” Lucius’ eyes lit up in recognition. “Your knife,” he replied, as though that explained anything at all.

“My knife…” Izzy prodded, raising an eyebrow at Lucius.

“Yeah, if I can get your knife by the end of the day, I win. If not, you win,” Lucius explained, tapping Izzy’s chest lightly when he said ‘you’.

“How are we defining the end of the day?”

“Before sundown?” Lucius shrugged.

“Are you going to try and fight me for it?”

“God no,” Lucius scoffed immediately at the suggestion.

“You can’t get someone else to get it for you,” Izzy decided, trying to analyze how Lucius thought he was going to get the knife.

“Course not,” Lucius agreed easily. “But you’ve got to keep it on you the whole time. No hiding it or anything.”

“I—that’ll make it harder for you, you absolute twat!” Izzy replied incredulously. Lucius only shrugged, a light smile on his face.

“Deal?” he asked, holding out a hand. Izzy thought about it for a moment longer, a small voice in the back of his head telling him this was a bad idea.

“Deal.”

“Wonderful,” Lucius replied without skipping a beat, smoothly sliding into Izzy’s lap before he could react, causing the voice in the back of his head to start yelling.

“What are you—” Izzy cut himself off when he felt Lucius’ hand against his cheek, thumb brushing gently over the tattoo in the shape of an X.

“Izzy,” Lucius breathed out, close enough that Izzy could feel the exhale softly hit his face. Izzy’s eyes flitted between Lucius’ lips and eyes without meaning to. He forced himself to stare at Lucius’ nose instead, internally despairing when he started thinking it was fairly cute, for a nose.

“Yeah?” he asked, voice breaking slightly and spiking his self-loathing up a bit higher.

“Can I have your knife?” Lucius was even closer now, nose a hairsbreadth away from touching Izzy’s. Izzy let his eyes fall back down to his lips, thinking about how easy it would be to tilt his own head up just a bit and meet those lips with his own. Not at all difficult physically, and yet, it seemed to him like working up the nerve to throw himself off a cliff. Just one step, but the pit in his stomach made it nearly impossible.

“No,” he finally whispered back, hoping Lucius would close the distance between them, take that one step and throw them both into the waters below.

“Worth a shot,” Lucius sighed melodramatically, pecking Izzy on the cheek before swinging his legs back down to the ground and lifting himself out of Izzy’s lap, striding off before Izzy could come back to himself. Izzy watched him go, brushing his own thumb over the tattoo on his cheek that Lucius had pressed his lips to. He sighed, turning back to the inventory list and determining to put Lucius out of his mind. He absentmindedly moved his left hand to rest on the hilt of his knife, only to hit empty air. He glanced down, confused, only to realize the hilt—and his knife—were no longer there.

“Son of a bitch!”

#our flag means death #ofmd #izzy hands #lucius spriggs #izzy/lucius #lucius/izzy #israel hands #ofmd fanfic

45 notes · View notes

well-its-not-human-anymore · 3 years

Note

Hi! Could I get HC from the guys? 👀 How they would always react to catching the reader seeing them "badly", in addition to the fact that he usually avoids them, but with his brothers it is incredible and they feel bad because they think they do not like him. But she actually likes them and she looks at them like that because she "studies" them to draw them and she is too clumsy and shy to talk to them, that's why she ends up avoiding them. Until finally he catches her drawing them with lots of hearts or maybe they'll find her notebook with lots of portraits of them.

It's kind of funny because when I study people to draw them, they think that I look at them with hatred xd maybe I should increase my glasses prescription

God, glasses are such a pain in the ass but I have to wear them. If I don't anyone within my near vicinity doesn't have a face. But why they gotta get dirty so easily???? Makes me wanna explode or something

TMNT Headcanons

The boys w/ a quiet reader who is fine with his brothers but acts cold around him and stares a lot

Michaelangelo

mikey couldn't describe his disappointment upon realizing that you didn't want to be friends with him

well, you never actually said that to him

but he was pretty sure it was the case

you'd never made an effort to be friends with him

stared at him an awful lot though, but there was always something off about your gaze when you looked at him

like you were sizing him up, scrutinizing him, like he was an opponent

it kinda worried him

to add to that, you didn't even attempt to look embarrassed when he caught you staring

you'd just stare harder

on your end it was quite the opposite

you always found the brothers fascinating and you LOVED studying their anatomy, you'd confessed this to Donnie early on and he happily indulged in your questions

and you loved how easily you got along with the boys

well, except for Mikey

but it wasn't for a lack of trying

whenever the orange sporting turtle came around your normally flamboyant personality crept back into its little corner and hid

any words of excitement that had previously been with you died in your throat

for the longest time you didn't understand it

and you hated not understanding things, so you turned to your only outlet

that's how you ended up with an entire sketchbook full of the youngest brother in vastly different styles and poses

you had a separate book for the others, none of them as detailed as this

and when you stared to analyze you'd fallen into a habit of not looking away when caught

by your logic, if you stared back hard enough he'd look away first or just assume you'd zoned out

he didn't

and on one hectic day you'd left your sketchbook open on the kitchen table in your rush to get to work

you hadn't even noticed the slip up until Leo texted you to let you know during your shift

instant panic

in truth, Mikey was the one who discovered the book upon waking up from his nap and he'd spent the next three hours analyzing every drawing

when you finally dropped in after work to grab your book the turtle was waiting for you with it in hand

he'd asked you if you hated him

you told him no and accepted your sketchbook from him

he was relieved and screaming excitedly, just in his head

"Do you maybe wanna hang out sometime?"

You sighed in relief and nodded

"If you're cool with it- you don't think I'm weird do you?"

"I mean- you are talking to a turtle..."

you lightly shoved his chest and smiled, although it faded within a second

"Oh hush, 10 o'clock tomorrow? I'll bring snacks."

he was so stunned he could only shoot you finger guns in approval

Donatello

Donnie genuinely couldn't understand your unease around him

he'd followed all the proper expectations of holding a conversation

he was polite and engaging

so why wouldn't you talk to him?

this boy has read so many social blogs to try and figure out what he was doing wrong and he just couldn't put his finger on it

you were fine with the rest of his brothers, you'd stay up for hours laughing and gaming with them

you'd even sat still long enough to listen to Leo explain some old Japanese myth that he'd read about in a book

but with him it was always a quick, cordial greetings and farewells with bland small talk in between

Donnie had picked up pretty quickly that you weren't interested in any sort of interaction with him

and he convinced himself that that was okay

but that didn't explain the staring

he'd caught you in the act several times, eyes narrowed and locked on him

especially when you were alone with him in a room or just in the lair

the poor turtle just couldn't put his finger on it

then he caught you drawing, he noticed early on that you always carried a small sketchbook on your person but he didn't think much of it

and it wasn't so much that he caught you drawing, in fact, he wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't snapped at him while he was trying to do a sudoku puzzle

"Damn it Donnie! Stop moving! If I fuck this arm up one more time I'm gonna decompose!"

he'd quickly moved back into the position he was in prior

"sorry?"

but you'd gone silent again, occasionally glancing up from your work and running your eyes along his frame before looking down again

nearly twenty minutes later Donnie had finished the puzzle and it seemed as though you had finished your drawing

"Uh- can I ask what are you-"

"I'm drawing you but you kept moving your arm and making me mess up. You always do that when I draw you so every damn picture I have of you stays a sketch because you always come out looking like a fucking octopus."

He just stared

"Sorry, I uh- I didn't mean to explode on you like that. I'm just- I'm really bad at talking to you okay? It's so easy with everyone else but you've just gotta be so damn smart all the time and I worry that you'll think I'm boring so I just... don't talk to you?"

Donnie is stunned™

You refuse to show him the drawing until you can complete the line art and color it

But at least he knows that you don't hate him

Leonardo

To be completely honest Leo didn't mind that you were distant from him

You created an aura of calm when you were around and you always managed to distract his brothers while you were present

And he enjoyed the alone time

But after a few months that calm acceptance turned into jealousy

Not that he would ever admit it

He would just push it off and ignore it, that usually seemed to work

So why wasn't it?

And your obvious staring problem didn't help at all

Leo didn't spend much time considering his appearance but something about your gaze made him self conscious

And he hated that with a passion

Why was it that you could hold entire debates with his siblings? Even his dad for gods sake. You'd have hour long conversations on almost everything but whenever he tried to say hello you'd make up some lame ass excuse and scamper away

He just wanted an explanation

It appeared that the answer resided in your sketchbook

You'd left it open on the couch when Raph had called you away to spar with him

Leo very delicately flipped through the pages, careful not to disturb some of the polaroid pictures of his brothers

He was admittedly surprised to find pictures of himself among the pages

One of him in a handstand, another of him meditating, there was even one of him mid sneeze that you'd recreated with pencil and paper

The image of his eyes was the most startling, but the book held no polaroid of his eyes

You drew them from memory

And he was shocked when you returned to the room and didn't immediately panic

But that might have been because he didn't try to withhold your book from you

"It took me three months to color them, your eyes. I could never get the shade of blue just right."

"I'm gonna be honest with you y/n, I really thought you didn't like me."

You had the nerve to roll your eyes and follow it with a laugh

"I don't. I mean- I do but no, you just remind me a lot of myself and I haven't exactly figured out why yet. I thought that maybe if I drew you it'd be easier to figure you out..."

"Well did it help?"

You grinned

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

Raphael

If there was one thing Raph hated it was not understanding something that was right in front of him

which is ironic, as a much younger version of himself probably couldn't care less

and a part of him wishes he didn't care about it so much

he wishes that your blatant avoidance of him didn't upset him

but shit, it got under his skin better than any needle ever could

was it too much to ask for you to just tell him what he said or did wrong?

was he asking too much of you?

but on the same scale you'd never shown obvious dislike towards him, you were never rude and you sure as hell didn't talk shit about him to his brothers

you got along great with them

in fact it was getting more difficult to remember a time before you became a part of his family

he'd become so used to your presence that it no longer put him off when he found you hanging around the lair

but in another sense he was certain that you hadn't spoken more than three sentences to him in your time knowing him or his family

so what was the reason

several months in he finally caught onto the staring, your narrow, glassy gaze locked onto his body and refusing to look away

he stared right back at you

this annoyed you for several reasons

because within five seconds your very peaceful drawing session had turned into a staring contest and your eyes were getting VERY dry

then you exhaled in a half-sigh and looked back down at your paper

"Huh, I guess your head is more of an oblong shape..."

he took offense to this

"What tha' hell is that supposed t'mean?"

now your eyes held more of an amused silent judgement, you begrudgingly held up your sketchbook

"I'm drawing you, you fucking walnut."

"Oh..."

now you rolled you eyes and tossed the book to him, he nearly dropped it and fumbled with the pages

your annoyance was quickly growing

"Careful with that."

He flipped through the pages at a snails pace, assumingly because he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing

you had some real talent

when he looked back up at you he was wearing that crooked smile

"and here I was thinkin' that my eyes were just green."

Hope I was able to get this down pretty well! I really enjoyed writing this one! Thanks for the patience!

-Mars 🌠

#tmnt bayverse #tmnt headcanons #tmnt x reader #writing blog #writing requests #askbox #ask response #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo

357 notes · View notes

boldlyanxious · 3 years

Text

Designs on you

Jasonette July prompt 18: design

July

Masterlist

Marinette hadn’t made an appointment but the shop appeared to not be busy. Maybe she could get in pretty quickly. Shocking for how many positive reviews it had. There were a few negative ones but they just seemed like haters. They didn’t even seem like they had been to the shop. Maybe someone just didn’t like a tattoo parlor in the neighborhood.

The door made a quiet tone as she entered. She looked around. It was very clean. Not at all what she had expected from a tattoo parlor. She had only been in one once when she went with Alya. Marinette had chickened out. Alya was getting a tiny fox but Marinette didn’t want to do something little that she didn’t feel connected to. But she hadn’t been ready then to go for a larger piece covering her side like she was now.

She guessed the man who came from the back was the tattoo artist on duty. He was very tall with dark hair. He looked exactly like she would expect. His arms were muscled and covered in tattoos. She briefly wondered if he had any art under the shirt that stretched tightly over his muscled chest. She pulled her thoughts away and looked up at him. He seemed surprised to see her. Probably not surprised at business, but surprised at the tiny woman in dainty business apparel walking into the shop.

“You here to get a tattoo?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she said, a bit hesitantly.

He glanced down at the desk. “Did you make an appointment? I don’t have anything in the schedule. ”

“I didn’t make an appointment. I figured I would see what times you had available instead.”

“You’re in luck. I was supposed to be closed today so I don’t have anything scheduled.”

“That’s great. I won’t be able to back out.”

She laughed nervously at her half joke. He eyed her for a moment.

“Are you sure this is what you want? It won’t come off easily.”

“Yes. I made the design years ago. I just get nervous sometimes.”

He nodded and held out his hand to see her design. He looked it over for a moment. Then pulled out some paperwork.

“Standard paperwork for liability and care after.” he added. “It's a nice design. You must have been barely old enough when you designed it.”

“The first version I made when I was 9. I’ve updated it a lot since then. But I’m happy with how it looks now.”

They discussed the process and the design for a few minutes and he made a copy of the design for his records. He made a quick sketch as well for her to approve how he made her design for the transfer. He took her back to the studio room and prepped a space to get started. He made sure she had eaten and stayed hydrated that day and let her know that it would take several hours or they could split it into 2 sessions. She said she would rather do it all at once so he just let her know to discuss when she needed breaks.

Marinette flinched when he put his hand on her bare skin. Even knowing it was going to happen didn’t stop it from tickling. He paused while she worked on stopping her squirming so he could get the transfer applied to get ribs. She focused on holding still and expecting his touch. He seemed very focused on his work. She tried not to think about how nice his fingers felt brushing against her skin. Before he began he checked to make sure she was ready and had an idea of what to expect with how she would be laying and the best way to hold herself and breathe.

He was quiet at first and Marinette focused on trying to maintain her position through the stinging. She did her best to remain still as he moved from one side to the other. She was starting to feel stiff and she really wanted to shift but didn’t want to mess it up. She really wanted a break but he said it would be best if he could get a certain amount done before they took a break. She was pretty sure he could tell she was getting restless because his hand moved and put slightly more pressure on her than he had before. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back trying to think of how great it would look when he finished. It was only a few more minutes before he pulled away and told her it was a good time for a break.

She stood and stretched and he offered her some water and a granola bar to help her make it through the rest. She moved around and went into the bathroom to splash her face before she felt ready again. He recommended a few stretches she could do from a poster on his wall that would help her manage to make it through to the next break. He seemed distracted on his phone but when she finished he was ready again. She laid back in the chair with her side exposed as he started up again. It seemed to feel a lot worse when he started again. She stopped most of the noise she wanted to make and instead sucked in a fast breath. Then focused on blowing the air out slowly rather than shifting away.

“Good girl,” he said, before continuing on.

Marinette felt herself flush and she didn’t think it had anything to do with the continuing pain. She tried not to think about the pain but somehow she only noticed his hand as it moved to a different spot on her side. The gentle movement felt like a caress in comparison to the burning feeling left in the wake of the needle. Once they got back into the rhythm he started talking to her.

“So what made you decide that the art needed to go on now rather than later?”

“Well, I’ve wanted it for a long time, but I am making a dress that will show most of the side off. I thought it would look nice showing through.”

“That should do. Do you make a lot of dresses?”

“Yes, actually. I’m a fashion designer.”

“A dress showing off the side doesn’t sound like your everyday dress. Is it for something special?”

“I’ve been designing for a client having a formal event. He invited me to that as a way to expand my business because he was impressed with my work.”

“That should be nice. I like to display the work I’ve done, so if you get a good picture of the tattoo in the dress it could be a good thing for both of us.”

“I’ll make sure to do that.”

He suggested a final break not long later. He said like with the first break it would feel a bit worse right after but it would be easiest for both of them if they had a chance to stretch out a bit. She treated it much the same as the first one, just moving slightly more carefully with more of her side feeling raw. He seemed to be on his phone again, but also watching her a bit more than the first time. She still tried to do a bit of stretching and moving around until he headed back to the tattoo space.

She was prepared for it to be more tender when he started this time so she managed to keep her breathing in check. He moved quickly and carefully filling in the lines with color but also moved to conversation to distract her more quickly this time.

“You drew this when you were a kid still?” he asked.

“Well, the first time I did. This is just the version I settled on. I use it in my designs a lot like a signature.”

“That's some dedication. What made you decide on it?”

“A picture of my parents the day my dad proposed to my mom. It was in Paris, where I’m from, and the chestnut trees were in full bloom. I’ve just always loved the way they looked.”

“I don’t think I even realized chestnut trees bloomed. I guess I just never thought of it.”

“They have a lot of them in Paris. There is basically a blossom season in Paris but chestnut was always my favorite. I tried to confess to my crush when they were blooming back in lycee because I thought it would be romantic.”

“That doesn’t sound like it worked the way you wanted.”

“It was a disaster. I stumbled all over my words and he told me all about how he should bring his crush there. I ended up talking about fabric for 10 minutes before he finally redirected the conversation. When we left he told me I was a great friend.”

With the conversation suddenly going to a place Marinette didn’t like to remember she forgot to focus on her breathing and holding still. She made a pained noise and jumped, grabbing his hand without even thinking. He patted her a bit and rubbed her arm to calm her down. She caught her breath and refocused on her breathing. He waited until she was back into position and held the tattoo needle steady above her before he restarted.

“We only have a few more minutes. It will be a bit rough for you and you will want to move, try to refrain.”

She did well for another few minutes but then she started squirming again. He added pressure to help her relax but she struggled each time the needle moved. He pressed his free arm down on her and said.

“If you can't hold still, I will have to pin you down. I can't have you messing up all my hard work.”

Marinette froze and looked at him wide eyed. He winked but still held steady until she nodded at him to continue. She gripped the side of the chair and closed her eyes. She focused everything on breathing steady and within a few minutes he had stopped again. He spent a few minutes wiping away a bit of blood and ink before showing her the final look before he wrapped it carefully and explained the instructions for care. They went to the counter and paid. He suggested that she return when she wanted to add to the design; she had mentioned wanting it to travel down her thigh too.

“It turned out very nice. You might be my best side piece.” he said.

Marinette stumbled over her goodbye at that. She looked at him but his smirk seemed to suggest he knew exactly what he had said. She reentered the front of the shop and walked back to the counter. She held out a card for him. He took it with a grin. Their fingertips brushed with the exchange but he reached up and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing her hand and taking the card. Marinette met his eyes and held them for a moment before she turned and headed for the door, smiling.

Taglist

#jasonette july 2021 #maribat #jasonette #tattoo au #boldlyanxious

101 notes · View notes

britswriting · 2 years

Text

Unbroken (17)

Unbroken Masterlist

Read on Wattpad

*Leighton's POV*

I was currently sitting in the waiting room, mentally cursing out my ex-boyfriend.

I can't believe he wasn't here. My appointment was in 10 minutes, and he isn't here.

He told me he was going to be with me every step of the way, and he isn't here.

He wasn't even replying to my text messages, which was only pissing me off more.

My phone was buzzing in my pocket, and I prayed to God it was my ex, but anger boiled in my stomach when I saw it was Sam.

"Hello" I muttered, wanting to go smack some sense into my ex-boyfriend.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked and I rolled my eyes

"Yeah, I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" He asked again, making me sigh.

"Just annoyed, what did you call for?"

"How long are you staying on the trip with us? I'm going over our plans" He said and I bit my lip, rubbing at my eye out of frustration.

"Till Monday I guess. Got to be back for work Tuesday" I muttered quietly, glancing around at all the anxiously waiting mothers to be.

Their trip went from Thursday to next Sunday, so they were there for over a week, but I worked next Tuesday so I would only be with them for a little over the weekend.

"Okay, are you sure you're okay Leighton?" Sam asked again and I felt my hard shell crack.

"He isn't here" I whispered, cracking as I mentally groaned at the stinging my eyes started doing.

I was tired of crying over him. I was tired of crying because I missed him, crying because I'm having his baby, and he isn't here, crying because I had these expectations in my head and I was tired of being let down when they weren't met.

"Who isn't there? Where are you?" Sam asked, sounding concerned and I felt bad for worrying him.

I shouldn't have said anything.

"I have an ultrasound. He isn't here" I said quietly and It was silent for a moment, making me think the call dropped, until Sam inhaled and spoke again.

"Drop a pin I'm coming" He said and my eyes widened.

"What? No! It's fine really!" I quickly spoke, the person across from me eyeing me before looking back at her magazine.

God I hated nosy people.

"Leighton, drop the pin. I'm already in the car. Let me be your friend. Don't push us away. Please" He spoke softly at the end and I sighed, nodding slowly, pulling my phone away from my ear and sending him my location.

"I did" I replied quietly.

"Be there in 10 minutes Leighton" Sam said before hanging up and the tears rolled down my face.

"Are you okay?" The girl sitting two seats over, quietly asked.

"I'm okay" I gave her a small smile, leaning back in the chair and crossing my legs.

I ended up getting a text from Gabe telling me his boss wouldn't let him leave. I got it from a work perspective, but I was still upset he wasn't here.

We were supposed to be doing this together.

Colby had gotten back to me on which poses he liked best for the artwork, so I started figuring out the sketch for it when I heard my phone ring and I pulled it back out, seeing it was Sam.

"Hello?"

"I'm here! Where do I go?" He asked and I stayed on the phone, leading him through the hospital

I couldn't help but smile at the memory from when Kat came, and I had to do the same thing.

I saw Sam walk in the room and I leapt out of my chair, hugging him. "Thank you!" I whispered and I felt him nod against me.

"Wouldn't want to be anywhere else Leigh" He grinned at me. "Believe it or not, I consider you a friend, and friends are there for friends" Sam gave me a side hug and I saw the magazine lady look at me, making me feel uncomfortable. Thankfully before we could even sit down, my name was called. "Leighton Fox?"

"Is it fine if my friend comes in?" I asked and she nodded.

She took my weight and Sam looked away, making me smile. We went through the routine stuff before walking into the room to do an ultrasound.

"This is your last ultrasound till 16 weeks" She said and I nodded.

I was kind of nervous to go a whole month without one, but I knew I was lucky to have had so many to begin with.

Now that I was going to go into the second trimester, they were going to be less frequent up until closer to my due date, and it honestly made me kind of nervous.

I knew I had more ultrasounds in my first trimester than normal moms did, which I was grateful for, especially since it was my first baby.

Usually your first ultrasound in your first trimester is anywhere between 8-12 weeks. Whereas I've had 2 or 3 in the first trimester. Usually if you have more frequent ultrasounds, there is a reason for it. Especially since there isn't much to see so early on.

"This is your first belly ultrasound" My nurse Emily, cheered and I blushed, glancing towards Sam.

"That's a good thing I guess. I don't really feel like taking off my pants in front of my non romantic friend" I laughed and she nodded, reaching for the gel.

"I completely understand! I will need you to unbutton your pants though" She said and I saw Sam smirk.

"Would you like me to look away Leighton?" He teased, and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up Sam" I grumbled, laying back to unbutton my pants to push them down a little.

"What does she mean that this is your first belly ultrasound?" Sam asked and Emily smirked.

"Up until today, Ms. Fox here has been having a tiny little camera shoved up inside her to see the little baby" Emily told him and I looked over to see Sam's face forming a look of shock, disgust and confusion making me laugh. "So how did you guys meet?" Emily, my favorite OBGYN nurse, asked before warning me that the gel might be cold.

"We're roommates actually. The father got stuck at work, so Sam offered to come" I told her and she nodded, plopping a little bit of the gel on my tummy.

"You have a tiny little bump!" She noted and I nodded, grinning, proud of my little bump.

"A bump? You have a bump?" Sam asked and I nodded, pointing at the little pudge that was a little bit bigger than yesterday.

"It doesn't look like a bump" Sam looked at me weirdly making me laugh.

"Thank you for being respectful but it definitely is a little fat pudge people call a bump. I'm proud of my little fat pudge" I grinned and Sam chuckled, shaking his head at me.

"Alright momma, ready to see your baby?" She asked and I nodded, turning to face the little monitor.

She moved the little wand around the gel, spreading it across my tummy. "Your baby's heart rate is perfect Leighton" Emily noted and I grinned, relief washing over me.

Thank God. One less thing to worry about.

"Here is your little one" She said and my eyes focused on the baby on the screen, tears welling up before falling over.

"Woah! That's an actual baby. Like the head, body, fingers" Sam spoke in astonishment.

"Sure is! This little one just has to grow big and strong. They get their organs and bones pretty early one" Emily smiled over at Sam and I wiped my eyes, feeling proud of baby Fox.

"Can I take a video?" Sam asked and Emily nodded.

Sam pulled out his phone and after that I ignored him, looking at the tiny little fingers and watching the heart rate beat steadily.

It was the most perfect sound.

I couldn't decide if I'd love hearing their heart beat more of their first laugh. I guess both are equally as amazing.

"I can't believe this is happening! They already look so cute" I squealed a little, seeing their tiny little fingers.

I couldn't help but feel guilty.

I knew I didn't want to put them up for adoption, which is probably why I didn't bring it up to Emily, but I knew I couldn't afford this baby...

"They do look like the sweetest little baby" Emily moved the want around.

"Ten fingers, now let's see if we can look at those toes. I'm going to turn the screen towards me because sometimes you can see the gender" She said and my eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yeah the gender should be formed already, but it takes a while to see. It's not impossible, just rare to see it this soon" She said and I nodded, not letting me get my hopes up.

I still didn't know if I wanted to know the gender yet, but I knew Gabe did and it felt wrong to find out before him.

Then again, he was supposed to be here.

"And ten perfect little toes. Your baby looks just fine Leighton" Emily smiled at me, turning the monitor back, and just as my eyes landed on it, we watched their little hand move making me smile and Sam grinned "You have a baby inside you Leighton!"

"That I do Sam. I've known that for a while" I giggled and he rolled his eyes, focusing back on the black and white screen.

"It's just so cool to see. Like... that's a human. I'm looking at a human inside your belly! That's so sick Leigh! You're growing a human in your belly, and this is proof!" Sam pointed at the screen and giggled, nodding at his excitement, seeing Emily smile at him.

We watched a little more whilst Emily took some pictures. "I'll grab you a rag" She said, talking about the gel on my tummy. "I'll also be back with your pictures!"

"That was so cool Leigh!" Sam's eyes were lit up like a boy on Christmas and I found it cute.

It felt nice to know people actually cared.

Gabe was never THIS excited over the ultrasounds.

I could only imagine the way he'd react if it was his own baby. I knew it was unlikely, but I really wished I could be there when he and whom I'd assume would be Kat, had their first baby. I already knew he'd cry.

"It is pretty cool. Thank you for coming Sam"

"I completely understand why Katrina loves coming with" He chuckled and I nodded.

"Gonna have to fight her for it next time" I teased him and Emily had come back in with a washcloth so the gel didn't ruin my shirt.

We rubbed my belly clean before I redid the button of my jeans, and pulled down my flowy tank top.

"Here is the bump now that I'm standing" I moved my top to show the bloating to Sam, standing so my ribs were facing him.

"Look at that! There is a tiny little bump!"

"You can touch it if you want" I repositioned my top and Sam carefully put his hand on my stomach, seeming uneasy.

"You alright?" I asked and he nodded.

"It's just kinda strange to know there is a baby right there. Anyway I'm going to go find a bathroom real quick, where do you want to meet up?" He asked, reaching for the door handle

"I thought I was the pregnant one?" I teased. "I can meet you by the bathroom. I need to get my ultrasound photos"

Emily came back and handed me my pictures. "Dr. Hughes will be seeing you at your 16 week appointment. Do you want to know the gender of the baby? We can usually see between 16 to 21 weeks. Depends how shy the little one is" Emily informed me, grabbing a clipboard.

"I don't know yet" I confessed, and Emily nodded, filling out the paper on the clipboard.

It was quiet for a moment, and I finally decided it was time.

If I was going to go through with it, I needed to bring it up sooner rather than later so I had time to pick someone.

I took a deep breath, causing her to look over at me.

"Is there someone I can talk to about putting my baby up for adoption?" I asked and I gasped when I heard the door open, and there stood Sam.

"Sam! Wait!" I called out, following him to his car.

"Why would you want to do that?" He asked, abruptly stopping behind someone else's car.

"I'm thinking about my baby's future Sam!" I cried, watching the anger and disappointment fill his eyes. His pupils dilated.

"Why did you do this, Leighton?" He asked and I was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you involve us, if you're just going to give it up!"

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" I yelled and I saw his jaw clench.

I've never seen Sam mad before, and it was definitely something I didn't want to see often.

"BUT I DO! AND NOW I CARE! You let me care about this little baby, be excited for this little baby, when you've known all along you were just going to give it up!?" He yelled, and I could hear the hurt in his voice, killing me "You let everyone be involved just to give up?" He asked again and I felt like every emotional barrier I had kept up, caved in.

I was tired of people acting like I was a bad person, when all I wanted was the best life I could give my baby.

"IT'S MY BABY! IT'S MY LIFE! I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO COME!" I cried, feeling his judgment and disappointment drip off his tone.

I was tired of fighting. Tired of trying to plead my case. Make them understand. Why did they care what I did? Why don't they understand?

"Who knows?" he asked and I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself.

"Just Aaliyah." I responded, anxiety burning a hole in my chest as I waited for his reaction. He was quiet for a moment, but I couldn't stop myself before it all spilled out "You weren't supposed to know! Why are you acting like you're the father? You're nothing to this baby! Why do you care!?" I sobbed and I saw his face fall, but I was too far gone to care.

"Is that what you think?" He asked and I nodded, wiping at my face. "I care because I thought we were becoming friends. I found out you were pregnant, I kept your secret, I tried to be there for you, to help you, and now you're just giving up!? I've kept your secret from Colby, MY BEST FRIEND, for WEEKS and you're giving up?!" He shouted and I quickly shook my head.

"I CAN'T AFFORD THIS BABY! YOU DON'T THINK I WANT TO KEEP IT? I WANT SO DESPERATELY TO KEEP THIS BABY SAM! BUT I CAN'T! I CAN'T BE SELFISH! I CAN'T GIVE THIS BABY A LIFE IT DESERVES! SOMEONE ELSE WILL DO BETTER! I TRIED SO FUCKING HARD TO DO THIS, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY I WILL ALWAYS FAIL. I RATHER BE KNOWN AS THE DEADBEAT MOM WHO DIDN'T WANT HER BABY, THAN THE MOTHER WHO CAN'T BUY DIAPERS OR BOTTLES OR PAY FOR A CRIB! I CAN'T DO IT! If I knew before that this was what I wanted to do, I would've told you! But the more I think about the logistics of caring for this baby, the more I realize that I can't do it, and it would just end in heartbreak either way!" I cried and I fell to the ground, covering my face.

"Leigh" Sam spoke softly, crouching down next to me and I shook my head.

"I can't do it" I whispered and he pulled my hands off my face, shaking his head.

"You can do it, Leighton! If you let us in, we'll help you. But you have to tell Colby. We can't keep lying to him. You aren't alone. I know you're afraid of how he'll react, but I truly think you're overthinking this. I think he'll be upset for a bit, but he'll get over it and I'm sure be just as excited as Kat and I. Don't give up your baby. I saw the way you looked at that screen. That wasn't a look of someone who wants to give away their baby. That's the look of a mother who is willing to fight like hell for their baby. You're already fighting Leighton. If you really didn't think you could keep this baby, you would've done something about it. That little one in your tummy has a heartbeat Leigh. It's already counting on you. You are who this baby needs, not some rich white family who will hire a nanny and throw them into private school. This is YOUR baby! YOU get to make the choices, but I can't let you make the wrong ones. I can't let you give up this baby due to money problems. Love has no bound Leighton. Don't let the concern of how you'll do it stop you. I'm upset because I know you can do it, and I feel like you're doubting yourself. I may not have known you for a long time, but I already know you're a hard worker. You CAN do this, you just need to believe in yourself! Stop worrying about HOW you're going to. In the end, we always figure it out. It's okay to be scared, but don't let fear give your baby away" He pulled me into his chest and I couldn't help but giggle, thinking about how odd the security tapes must look of us fighting in the parking lot, and then sitting on the dirty ground, hugging.

"I feel like a failure if I take the handouts" I confessed, wiping at my face.

"Okay. Well, let's go home and figure out a plan" he said and I couldn't help but smile. "That's what Aaliyah said. She said we would figure it out"

"She's a smart girl. We care about you, Leighton. The second I saw that little baby on the ultrasound machine, I already knew I would fight like hell for them, and I'm not even the father. I didn't even know about this baby until a little while ago. WE want you to keep this baby. WE are willing to help you. WE will figure this out. Do you WANT to keep this baby?" He asked and I nodded. "Then let's get your pregnant butt up off the floor so we can go home and think about how we will do this" he said, lifting me up.

"I have to meet with Aaliyah" I sighed, clearing my throat and wiping at my nose.

"Okay, then we will do it after. Do you have any plan on how you'll tell Colby?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I'm too scared. I don't want him mad at me, especially after we finally had our truce"

"Truce?"

"We decided to start over. Forgive and forget. He'll never forgive me for "forgetting" to tell him this"

"Leighton, I think the best way to tell him is to rip it off like a band aid"

I was currently sitting in Starbucks, drinking a small iced fruity drink because I read that caffeine makes your baby active, and I don't feel like needing to pee.

Carrie Underwood's lyrics he's probably buyin' her some fruity little drink 'Cause she can't shoot whiskey were in my head as I sipped my drink making me laugh to myself.

I always heard that you weren't supposed to have coffee because it could stunt your baby's growth or whatever. It's not like I was a coffee person in the first place, but I learned that was actually a myth, and it's more so recommended that you don't have a lot of caffeine, because it makes your baby active and basically makes your life hell since they kick your ribs and make you have to pee a lot, so I wasn't taking any chances today.

I was only sitting here for a few minutes before I spotted Aaliyah. I watched her walk over to me before asking her "Do you want anything from here?" The coffee smell is really starting to effect my nausea now.

"Um, no I'm good" Aaliyah said softly and I nodded.

"Can we go sit outside? The coffee smell makes me nauseous. I didn't think this through" I chuckled softly and she nodded.

We sat down at a table outside, and it was quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry" Aaliyah and I said at the same time, making each other laugh.

"This fight was stupid, and mainly because I was overly dramatic, I'm sorry. The pregnancy is fucking with how I react to things, and it's really pissing me off" I confessed, rolling my lips inwards before pausing them, feeling awkward.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have asked you about money. We should've known better since High School" She chuckled and I copied her, nodding.

"I should've just been honest with you. I haven't been working for a while, and I used the rest of my money on helping with bills. It was one of the stressors that kinda led to the breakup. I'm sorry for lashing out and bringing up your dad. I know you don't live off your dad's money like you used to. I'm sorry" I apologized and she nodded.

"I know we both said we were moving past whatever that was in Target, but I just wanted to make sure we really cleared the air" Aaliyah gave me a small smile and I nodded, leaning back against the chair as I played with my straw.

"It was silly and dumb, and I'm sorry"

Aaliyah and I walked for a while, before we got on the topic of my pregnancy.

I showed her my ultrasound photos, leaving out my insecurities around the baby.

"The baby is getting so big Leigh!" She grinned, looking at it's little hand. "I'm sorry for not being there for you. How is Gabe handling it?" She asked and my lips formed a thin line, debating if I should tell her not.

"I think he's excited? He's only gone to one ultrasound, but he told me he's trying. I see him next week so we'll see I guess"

Aaliyah and I walked into Colby and Sam's house, hearing some sort of music blaring. Colby stepped out from the room next to us, scaring me. "Oh my god!" I yelled, holding my chest as Aaliyah laughed.

"Sorry!" He chuckled.

"I need to record an Instagram Story for a merch promo. Please don't go in the backyard or near the patio door until I'm done" He asked and I nodded.

"We'll go upstairs. Text me when you're done" I walked past him, hearing him open the patio door. Aaliyah and I went into the hall bathroom, grabbing nail polish. Cynthia was busy, and I needed to save money, so I decided to just repaint my own nails.

My acrylics hadn't grown out too bad so I grabbed a nail file, clipper and my bin of polishes.

Aaliyah just painted her own nails, not having any sort of acrylic extensions on them.

I was clipping the length of my acrylics, smoothing them out with the nail filer when Colby walked past the opened door, stopping in his tracks.

"What are you guys doing? Why are you sitting on the floor?" he laughed and I held up my hand.

"Painting our nails, want to join?" I asked and I watched him process for a second before shrugging.

"Sure"

Aaliyah and I scooted over, Colby taking a seat in front of the doorway.

"Here is the nail polish remover for your black chipped paint. Do you want to paint your own, or do you want us to do it?" I asked, handing him the bottle.

"I don't care" He took the cotton ball and started removing his polish.

"Do you want black again?" I asked, digging through my small bin to find the color.

"You can do whatever you want" Colby replied without actually paying attention. I raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

"Anything?" I asked and he nodded. "Like ANYTHING?" I asked again and he chuckled, nodding.

I hummed, ideas popping up in my head as Aaliyah painted a dark red over her nails, a sparkle top coat sitting next to her.

I had seen two ideas on Pinterest that looked cool, so I decided to ask Colby

"Wolf or sunset?" I asked him, not giving the full idea away.

"Well Sam's afraid of sunsets, so wolf" He chuckled and I felt my stomach have tiny little butterflies at his reasoning.

I grabbed my phone, pulling up the picture and searching for the colors I'd need.

"Don't look! We might be here a while" I chuckled, finally having grabbed all the colors.

"Here, take a before picture" Colby handed me his phone, holding out his hands.

I chuckled, shaking my head at the fact that he wanted a photo of his fingers without the chipped polish on them. "Shouldn't we have done that before you used the nail polisher remover?" I asked, taking the picture.

He didn't reply, but he did lean against the wall, messing with his phone, laying out his hand for me.

Alrighty then...

"Do you have anywhere to be later?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"What are you doing to him, Leigh?" Aaliyah asked and her eyes widened at all the colors sitting next to my leg. I showed her the picture, picking up the dark blue polish. "That would be so cool! Do you want help? She asked and I shook my head, wanting to do it by myself, plus I didn't have more than one of the nail polish tubes.

"Are you fine if I put your name on my story?" Colby asked and I nodded.

It's not like I had social media for his fans to stalk me on.

He showed me his phone, and it was a photo of his hands with the words "Before Leigh's masterpiece" with a time stamp.

He posted it to his public story, shutting off his phone. "I honestly might fall asleep" He admitted, resting his head against the wall again. "It's kind of relaxing getting your nails painted" He spoke in a relaxed tone and I chuckled. "Why girls like going to the spa. Maybe I should take you next time"

I started with a really dark blue, coating it a couple times before letting it dry, hoping I don't need to do a second coat over the first one.

It had been a few minutes and Colby was talking about how excited he was for this trip.

Colby was talking about how big the house was, but also said he didn't want to give anything away whilst I started the lighter blue, that would work it's way down a little bit towards the end of the nail.

Aaliyah and Colby were talking about god knows what, because I zoned out because I didn't want to mess up his polish. I moved onto a lighter blue, focusing on trying to match the photo. It was kinda hard because guys' nails were more flat, so it didn't have the 2D look to it, like the photo, unlike when you have fake nails, and it curves a bit to create some depth in the work.

It had been about 30 minutes when I finished the background, reaching for the white. "The white is going to need a few coats, are you doing okay?" I asked and he chuckled, shrugging. "I can't feel my butt, but who needs to anyway"

"I'm sorry! We can take a break if you want, or take get you a pillow?" I suggested and he shook his head, opening up Instagram Stories and playing Sam's story.

I glanced at his phone, hearing Sam and Kat's voice echo throughout the bathroom, seeing they were at some sort of party.

"Why are you here, and he's there?" I asked and Colby smirked. "We're not attached at the hip Leighton"

"You better be nice to me! Your nails are in my hands!"

Colby ended up putting on some sort of YouTube video whilst I finished his nails.

I was currently letting them dry before doing the top coat so they were protected.

I couldn't help but smile at the extremes Colby was going to, to not see his nails. He'd have me prop his phone on a drawer, or he'd just close his eyes and rest for a while.

It had been about an hour and 15 minutes since I had started, and I had just finished laying on the first layer of the top coat, wanting to add a few so the polish would stay for a while.

After the third protecting layer of clear polish, I was finally done.

"Want to see?" I asked and he shook his head, making me confused.

"Film my reaction. I've never had someone do anything extravagant on my nails" He said, keeping his eyes closed as he handed me his phone.

I opened up his Instagram Story. "Okay recording in 3...2...1" I started and Colby still had his eyes closed.

"Hey guys! I'm about to see Leigh's masterpiece for the first time. How long have you been doing this for?" Colby asked me, wiggling his fingers making me smile.

"Um... over an hour"

"Yeah, so it's been a while but I'm excited to see. Do you want to show them before I look?" Colby asked, his eyes still closed, his hands resting on his black jeans.

I got a close up of my work before moving the camera to look back at Colby.

"Okay... 3...2...1" Colby opened his eyes, turning his hands around and his eyes widened.

"These are really cool Leighton! Woah" He inspected his nails "When you said wolf nails, this isn't what I was expecting" He said and I smiled, Instagram ending the recording. I quickly added it to his story before starting another recording. "I've never had anything like this. This is honestly sick. I'm afraid to chip it!" He worried, and I laughed.

"So your ass going numb was worth it?" I teased, not expecting him to nod. "You don't think they're too girly?" I asked and he shook his head. "I don't even care if people do. These are so cool!"

"I guess being good at art comes through in all forms" I giggled

"I'm making you do my nails all the time now. These are cool" he said and I ended the Instagram recording, posting it to his story and handing him his phone back.

Aaliyah had gone home about half an hour ago, so now it was just Colby and I sitting on the bathroom floor.

"Can I do your nails?" he asked and I laughed, nodding.

"Sure. Pick your poison" I handed him the bin of polishes.

"Do you want just one color, or a design?" he asked and I shook my head.

"You're the artist you pick"

I was expecting him to pick a solid color, and just get to work, but instead he pulled out his phone and I caught him googling nail ideas.

"You're so cute" I laughed and I saw his cheeks get a tint of red to them and I didn't register what I had said until a moment later, making my ears get warm.

"What? I want to try! It won't be anything like what you gave me, but I want to try" His tone was bashful which I found cute.

"Here, you pick one and I can help you" I suggested, Colby nodding.

He picked out two pictures, showing me and we ended up going for the more simple one since I wanted him to have a chance at succeeding.

"Okay, you just need black and white, and then the shiny top coat. You're going to need to do a few layers on the white, so the black nail design shows and doesn't smudge away" I told him, pointing at what I was talking about in his reference photo.

"Do you want it to be identical to the picture?" I asked him, glancing back down towards his phone. He shrugged, still looking at the photo, seeming to be studying it, making me internally chuckle at his dedication of getting it right.

"Okay, well figure out your game plan before you start putting black paint all over my fingers. Let me put these little nail things on first though" I said, and he made a weird face.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Have you ever seen someone put masking tape on their artwork before they start to paint or draw on it? It's like that. When you remove this, it keeps the clean lines, so you don't have to use the nail polish remover and clean up the skin. They use it for acrylics sometimes" I told him and I watched him process the information.

I loved that he was out of his element, and was open to his curiosity. I also loved that he wasn't afraid to do "girly" things. That he didn't mind me painting his nails, and that he wanted to paint my nails. I loved that he asked questions, and wanted to learn.

It honestly made him more attractive to me, that he was down to do "girly" things.

I love a guy who wasn't drowning in toxic masculinity.

It was one thing that I actually disliked about my ex. He cared too much about what people thought. He would never have let me paint his nails, even if we were alone in our apartment and removed it right away.

"So start with the white on the ring finger and pinky, so it has time to dry while you do the black. Do you want white on the thumb or black?" I asked, handing him the white nail polish.

"Um" He hummed, and I watched him look back at the photo, making me smile.

"Well, do you want the white to be the featured nails, or the black?

"If the white has the design on it, then we should make the thumb black, right?" He asked and I shrugged, secretly loving him asking questions.

"You're the artist, you tell me"

"Black" He decided and I nodded, handing him my right hand.

"I still love your tattoo" He said, brushing the first stroke across my nail.

Colby and I talked about tattoos, and our experience under the needle for the first time while he carefully painted my nails, even though I had the protectors on to make it easier.

It took about fifteen minutes to do all the coats and drying time, and now it was detail time.

"I have this thin brush, you can either dip it into that same black polish you used already, or use the polish it came with" I handed him the tiny, thin bottle of detail polish.

"So the tip here" I pointed to the end of the brush. "You hold it up and down to make light strokes, and if you hold it at an angle, it uses the side of the brush to create wider strokes. Do you want me to do one and show you, or do you just want to go for it?" I asked, watching Colby inspect my nails, and his reference photo.

"Can you show me how it works, so I don't fuck it up?" He asked and I nodded, turning my hand to face me so I could see what I was doing.

"Okay, so you see how there is a tiny little blob for the body? I would just kinda press the brush down a little bit, to let the paint kinda make a bigger spot? And for this tiny line? You take the brush like this, and with light pressure, make a thin stroke" I showed him, smiling to myself at how intently he was paying attention.

"For the wings, you could outline it by drawing the shape, then filling it in with the side of the brush, or you could make a bigger blob, and outline it" I showed him the two ways, doing the one on my pinky.

I handed him the detail brush, and he delicately held my hand.

I couldn't help but watch his focused face, his lips parted and his eyes captivated on my nails, his hand moving very carefully as he made the first stroke.

I stayed quiet, letting him focus and when he finished the first one, a big smile showed on his face, pride shining in his eyes.

"I did it!" He cheered and I nodded, impressed by his work.

"Do you want to add the second one?" I asked and he nodded, dipping the brush back into the paint.

"Okay, top coat time! This part's easy. Just brush it along the nails, we'll do maybe two or three to prevent chipping" I handed him the clear polish and my hands.

He finished with all the coats, and I've never seen him look more proud.

"I'm shocked I didn't mess it up" Colby said, inspecting my hands before grabbing his phone.

He took a bunch of photos making me smile.

I loved this.

This was a version of Colby I never got to see, and I definitely wanted to see the more focused, down to earth version of him, than the cocky, partying version I'm used to seeing.

"I'm surprised you got them to match" I laughed, inspecting the details on each hand. "I'm excited for people to compliment my nails, and to say you did it" I grinned and Colby smirked.

"I think people will be complimenting my nails more. Especially since it's normally just black" He looked down at his own nails and I could see how happy he was, making me feel content.

It felt nice to spend one on one time with him, that wasn't him accusing me of stuff.

I was honestly surprised that I wanted to spend more time like this with him, but it felt different. Like once we called out truce, we got a breath of fresh air. It felt like I was hanging out with an old childhood friend, and I loved the comfort feeling I got from it.

I loved not being afraid, or scared of him. I loved seeing the pride in his eyes, and the way he focused when he was learning something new. The sense of comfortability when we talked, or the way he showed interest in the activity at hand.

I was starting to get excited for the trip tomorrow now that Colby and I had cleared the air, and these past two hours we've spent together only made me feel more antsy to learn what Sam and him had planned.

* * * *

Written on: January 8th, 9th, 10th 2021

Word Count: 6.4k

Part Eighteen

#colby brock #sam golbach #sam and colby #katrina stuart #writing #fanfiction #colby brock fanfic #stasiavuu #romance

13 notes · View notes

jokertrap-ran · 3 years

Photo

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Main Story Chapter 2-5: 时间针脚 The Patchwork of Time Translation

“What are you standing around in a stupor for? See a ghost?”

*Light and Night Master-list *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *Main story tag will be #For Light and Night

Behind the glass wall were several blurry figures busying around.

MC: This should be Team A's area.

Mya had suddenly called a few minutes ago to give me directions to the place I was supposed to report to.

I ran what I was going to say to everyone, in the form of an introduction, through my head once more before gently clearing my throat and opening the door.

❖☆———————————★❖

MC: Hello everyone, I'm—

Thunk!

The sound of metal heavily hitting the floor cut my words short as the handle of the door completely fell off.

MC: !?

Did I break it? No way! I broke the office's door on my first day here!?

I didn't quite know what to do for a while. One of the figures closest to the door turned slightly around at the noise.

He had a head full of spiky hair, like that of a hedgehog. He didn't spare even a glance at the door handle; instead, his gaze fell directly upon my person. He shot up from the seat of his workstation.

??: Yoooooou!!

MC: Sorry! It wasn't on purpose, I swear!

??: You're the newcomer that's supposed to be coming in today, right? Sister Zheng Lin, we've got an extra hand!

He excitedly yelled at the other end of the office.

This isn't quite turning out like how I imagined it to be...

Summoned by his yell, a plump woman speed-walked towards us. Her smile was friendly, but there was a sort of unconcealable exhaustion marring her features.

Zheng Lin: Hello. Welcome to Team A. I'm the leader, Zheng Lin.

MC: Hello. Um… I accidentally broke your door handle just now… Sorry…

??: Aw, that thing's been dead half a month ago. We just didn't have time to call someone down to fix it. Don't mind it, yeah?

??: C'mere. I'll bring you to your workstation. Your stuff looks pretty heavy. I'll take it for you, yeah?

He enthusiastically takes the office appliances I'd brought in from my hands and continues walking straight ahead.

Zheng Lin: That works too. I'll leave you to bring her around to meet the others then, Brother Mao. I'll come over once I'm finished up here.

I nodded, following after "Brother Mao".

Brother Mao: I'm Mao Ge, but you can call me Brother Mao! The best rock singer among all Designers here!

He grinned, pulling out a chair and gesturing for me to sit. He then magicked out a rag from god-knows-where and quickly gave the table a wipedown.

Brother Mao: You were 2nd place in the contest, right? We all watched the broadcast; it was absolutely brilliant.

Brother Mao: Especially when you chose Director Qi of all people. Boy, that was a killer! How did you dare to pick him?

Brother Mao: Forget his face, even his breath alone is an icy sub-zero.

Brother Mao: Ever seen an iron tree bloom? I'd say even that's slightly more common than seeing Director Qi smile.

Brother Mao: I'm not talking about his cold smiles, of course. We see that way too often.

MC: Eh? … I just thought getting him to review my work was a rare chance that I couldn't pass up on.

Brother Mao: You go, girl! Looks like we've finally got a competent person in Team A! Feel free to ask me anything if you face any problems in the future! I've gotcha covered!

He grinned, patting himself on the chest to further emphasize his point. He'd already assembled and laid out all of my office appliances on the table at some point in our conversation.

Brother Mao: Alright, everyone! Put everything down. Let me introduce to you our new buddy, (Y/n)!

All the people around me nodded in greeting as Brother Mao introduced them to me one-by-one.

Brother Mao: The one dressed in a Cheongsam is Li Man'man. She came here a minute earlier than you and braved through 3 interviews just to enter Warson.

Li Man'man: Hi, nice to meet you.

Brother Mao: And that's Chen Che, our team's tailoring genius. He's been here for nearly 4 years and has just been promoted to a Senior Designer.

The guy named Chen Che raised his head from the multitude of fabric surrounding him. He adjusted his glasses and gave me a wary look.

Chen Che: Hello.

It was at this moment in time that a guy sporting a quiff hairdo walked past us. His head was haughtily raised and his expression was one of utter disdain.

Man With Quiff Hairstyle: Hmph.

MC: And he is…?

Brother Mao: Don't mind him. He's an annoyance. He just failed the promotion test and is being the green-eyed monster to everyone right now.

I only nodded, not knowing what to say.

Brother Mao: That one over there's Hao Shuai, the trendsetter of Team A and also the King of Werewolf games.

Hao Shuai: Wanna play Werewolf? I'll host one next time, but not now...

Hao Shuai buried his face with a sullen expression as Brother Mao quietly pulled me aside to a corner.

Brother Mao: He's not been in too jolly of a mood these few days. He didn't manage to get promoted to Senior Designer, so he's been pretty depressed about it.

MC: Sounds like it's very hard to get promoted up a rank...

Brother Mao: Precisely! Although Warson has a rank promotion system in place, the way things are being assessed in them makes it scarily hard! People normally have to do it five or six times before they manage to get themselves promoted.

Brother Mao: And, you might even get demoted a rank if the work you turn in doesn't make the cut!

MC: That strict!?

Brother Mao: I'm a Junior Designer like you. I've already taken the assessment around…

Zheng Lin: 10 times.

Brother Mao: You remember all so well, Sister Zheng Lin.

He gallantly retrieved another chair for Zheng Lin to sit on, seemingly paying no heed to the embarrassing number of tries he'd gone through.

Brother Mao: Don't they say that failure's the mother of success? I just have to get a couple more of those and it'll net me a great success!

I laughed at his joke along with Zheng Lin.

Zheng Lin: Our assessment system is just stricter than others.

Zheng Lin: Even though everyone is free to design whatever they like with their creativity as the limit, becoming an actual Fashion Designer is some serious business.

Zheng Lin: Those capable of joining us here in Warson are all talented individuals. Hence, what's really being tested in those assessments are your passion and perseverance.

Zheng Lin: I've welcomed hundreds upon hundreds of rookies during my 10 years here in Team A, but most of them drop out after failing the assessment 3-4 times.

MC: Eh?

Zheng Lin: Firstly, everyone who first comes here holds high self-esteem, so they're a bit more sensitive to criticism. And it is only natural for people to find it unbearable, especially after having been criticized a lot.

Zheng Lin: Secondly, there's a limit to the type of jobs that can be given to Assistants and Junior Designers, so things often end up being boring and repetitive

Zheng Lin: It's hard to go on like that if you don't have the right sort of determination.

MC: ……

Zheng Lin was about to say more when the door slammed open with a "bang!". Several people stood at the entrance, worry written all over their anxious faces.

Colleague A: Can someone consolidate all of Sliver's Autumn-Winter fabrics into a document?

Colleague A: I still have to go down to the mall and conduct surveys and research so I won't be able to do that in time!

Colleague B: Some trouble cropped up regarding the visas of the foreign models who're slated for a shoot next week, so we need another 18 new ones!

Colleague B: What should I do, Sister Zheng Lin!?

Zheng Lin gave a helpless sigh.

Zheng Lin: I'd originally wanted you to let you get used to things around here, but we have our hands full… Do you mind helping us?

MC: … Sure thing!

Zheng Lin: Then, could you first help us by going to the warehouse and picking up Silver's Autumn-Winter fabrics and consolidating them into a sample book after?

Zheng Lin: You can get Brother Mao to help you check it through once you're done.

I nodded and joined the fray.

Time went by. And finally, I finished my very first task after an hour. Brother Mao told me to take it up to the Team A representative who was in the meeting after checking through it.

❖☆———————————★❖

It was clearly noon soon, yet the doors of the meeting rooms on both sides of the corridor were still tightly shut, I could occasionally hear the sound of loud discussions coming from within.

❖☆———————————★❖

MC: Excuse me, I'm here to deliver the fabric samples.

Pushing the door open, I saw a Designer who was in the middle of loudly explaining his idea while Sariel held a pen, looking down at the document in his hand.

All the other Designers were either listening intently or hurriedly sketching out their new ideas, having been struck by a sudden wave of inspiration. It was almost as if the very air itself was crackling with ideas, going head to head with each other, gathering and merging into a brand new storm of ideas.

I’m going to be taking part in meetings with everyone in the future too… I couldn’t help but jump for joy at the exciting notion.

Placing the fabric catalogue book down, I couldn’t stop myself from taking one last glance at the meeting room before I left.

❖☆———————————★❖

Brother Mao: Oh, right. Don't forget to retrieve the catalogue book once the meeting upstairs is done.

MC: Okay.

❖☆———————————★❖

Everyone left after the meeting ended. I picked up the scattered pieces of fabric, stacking them neatly into a pile. It was only then that I noticed a pen lying on the ground.

The pitch-black pen was see-through, slender, and sturdy, with three gold-stamped petals at the very end.

MC: This is...

An image of Sariel wielding this pen with his head bowed in thought appeared in my mind.

MC: Is this pen his? It certainly suits that icy countenance of his...

❖☆———————————★❖

I bent down to pick it up, but the moment my fingers brushed against it… I suddenly felt an inexplicable sharp jolt of pain piercing my head.

My heart clenched violently, almost as if a nightmare that had been buried deep within its depths was about to be awakened. The stifling feeling of sadness and despair washed over me together with the odd feeling of my heart having been impaled by something.

What’s going on?

I pressed against my chest, trying to get through this sudden bout of pain that came out of seemingly nowhere.

Sariel: What's going on here?

There seems to be a faint voice ringing through my ears. The pen was taken away from me the next moment. Gone with it were the odd sensations.

I blearily looked at Sariel who had suddenly popped up from nowhere, still slightly woozy in the head.

Sariel: What are you standing around in a stupor for? See a ghost?

MC: I don't know what happened to me earlier…

Sariel: That's what I'd like to ask you.

☆Light Choice: Explain what you felt earlier

I shook my head, trying to recall that odd sensation you felt earlier.

MC: I… My chest and head just suddenly started hurting.

MC: I know I’m in the meeting room right now, but it kind of felt as if I wasn’t here at the same time…

MC: Like a nightmare, you can never wake up from…

Sariel’s expression changed minuscule bit upon hearing the word “nightmare”.

Sariel: How about now?

MC: I'm fine now, and the uncomfortable feeling's also gone.

Sariel: Has this happened before?

MC: Once…?

★Night Choice: Conceal what you felt earlier

MC: I just felt a little light-headed… I'm okay now.

MC: Oh, right. I picked up your pen.

I pointed towards the pen that he'd already reclaimed, which was now in his hand. Sariel only frowned.

Sariel: You felt light-headed after picking up this pen?

It was only when he mentioned it that I realized that that seemed to be the case. But what would a pen have anything to do with a bout of dizziness?

Sariel coldly grabs my hand, making my heart stop cold in my chest. However, all he did was stare at it in silence for a few seconds before releasing me just as quickly.

MC: What are you looking at? Is there something wrong with my hand?

Sariel: Nothing. It's well and fine.

What's up with Sariel? Grabbing my hand out of nowhere like that and not even telling me the reason why...

So, I ended up giving my hand a thorough check as well. There was nothing off about it, but I couldn't help feeling a little worried.

I'd also experienced some "auditory hallucinations" back then at the rooftop…

MC: Maybe I should go get myself a check-up at the hospital just in case…

Sariel: You look pretty peppy on your feet to me. Doesn't seem like there's anything physically wrong about you.

His gaze smoothly slides up from my face to the top of my head as he spoke.

Sariel: Though, I can't say the same about the other parts of you.

MC: ……!

I was fuming, yet I didn't dare to express it with a vehement glare. Seeing how riled up I was at it, yet unable to do anything about it, a flicker of a smirk made its way up to a corner of his mouth.

This was my second time seeing him smile today… The iron tree has bloomed…

Sariel: Are there flowers growing on my face?

I shook my head.

Sariel: A ghost then?

I shook my head again.

Sariel: Then why are you looking at me as if you've just seen a monster?

MC: You just smiled. It's too rare of a sight.

Sariel: … How stupid.

He put on a straight face as he pocketed his pen and turned to head out.

Suddenly remembering something, I hurriedly pushed the door open and ran after him.

MC: Wait a minute, Director Qi! Are you free right now?

❖☆————— ⊹ For Light & Night⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: (Chapter 2-3) | Next Part: (Chapter 2-8)

#光与夜之恋 #Light and Night #Otome #Translations #Tencent #萧逸 #Osborn #齐司礼 #Sariel #陆沉 #Evan #查理苏 #Charlie #夏鸣星 #Jesse #For Light and Night

27 notes · View notes

junquisite · 4 years

Text

Escapades

WORD COUNT : 2.1K

WARNING : Suggestive

GENRE : Con Artist AU

She was staring at the mirror, trying to tie her hair up in a decent style when a pair of hands creeped from behind around her waist and she felt lips brushing on her bare neck.

“This dress is too showy. I don't want him to touch you in this.” Seungwoo mumbled in her neck and she smiled at his reflection.

“Just one more day.” she whispered as his grip tightened on her waist and slid down slowly, lower with each passing second. She felt the brush of lips turning to kisses and she sighed.

“You can't leave a mark Seungwoo. We can't ruin everything today at this point.” Byul whispered and Seungwoo groaned but unwillingly pulled away. He stared at her back as she dressed up, saw her putting on the heavy necklace that old man gifted her and imagined the different ways he can have his way with her with her only wearing that necklace.

“What are you thinking of? Get your mind out of the gutter.” she said with a small smile playing on her lips which Seugnwoo returned slowly.

“How do you know what i was thinking of?” he asked as he went down on his knees to help her wear the new pair of heels she got with the expensive designer dress she was wearing, by none other than that old man who’ll have his hands around her soon. He decided he’ll make her keep the heels on too with the necklace.

“You just get this look on your face, I can tell it from far away.” Byul said as his hands slowly raised away from her ankle to her knees.

“You said no where where he can see right?” Seungwoo mumbled with his lips pressed against her thighs visible from the high slit of the dress till her mid thighs, his hands slowly creeping up and under the dress, dangerously close to where she wanted him badly.

“We need to go down.” she whispered and then gasped, her hand coming up to her lips to not let the sound pass as she felt him bite at her inner thighs. She heard him chuckle and looked down to see him peeking from in between her dress and whined as he went back in and she felt his lips trailed the inside of her thighs.

There was a knock on the door which made her curse as she quickly looked at it and breathed a sigh of relief when saw it locked from the inside.

“Who is it?”

“Miss. Kim, Mr. Kang is expecting you down.” Byul heard from outside and heard Seungwoo curse softly as he separated himself from her.

“I’ll be down in 10 minutes.” she responded and heard the servant scurry off.

She turned to see Seungwoo wearing his tie and went to straighten it as he smiled down at her.

“Ready to go Miss. Kim Jisoo?” Seugnwoo asked Byul and she smiled.

“I am. Are you ready Mr. Im Jongin?” she asked and he nodded as he gave her his hand and she grabbed it, a soft smile gracing her lips as they left the room and separated their hands - him taking his place behind her.

“Aaah there she is, the bride of the hour!” a lady almost shouted as Byul reached the main party area and she smiled as she approached the lady standing with her to-be husband, Seungwoo a close step behind her.

“Jisoo-ah, you need to wear this all the time now.” the man she was supposed to marry said as she smiled and took the ring box and put on the 6 carat diamond ring as the lady beside her gasped.

“That's an impressionable diamond I must say.” she said and Byul smiled, she could practically hear the envy in her voice.

“Mr. Kang was nice enough to buy the ring my heart was set on.” she said as she felt the man slip his arm around her and felt Seungwoo stiffen behind her.

“And who's that if i may ask?” the lady asked Pointing at Seungwoo and Byul heard the old man beside her scoff.

“He’s the kind caretaker of my Jisoo here. He’s Jongin, a caretaker and a brotherly figure for Jisoo sent by her family.” he said and Byul smiled.

“Your family must be rich enough to have a caretaker for you?” the lady asked and Byul waved her hand. “It’s just something they thought i must always have - some sort of protection.” and pulled herself away from the old man and bowed at them.

“I’ll be taking my leave for now.” and went away, Seongwoo following her behind.

“Caretaker. I’ll never get used to it.” he mumbled as she strayed to a corner with a non-alcoholic drink in her hand, him behind her like a shadow as she surveyed the room.

“It's perfect. You can always stay with me.” she whispered as she saw one of the servers coming to her with an empty tray and bow at Seungwoo who carefully passed an envelope full of money to him.

They saw as he disappeared in the kitchen and came back with a tray full of drinks and started serving them, the drinks blood red and tempting.

“Aaah I think he have had one too many drinks.” one of the ladies chimed, equally red faced as the one beside her - barely able to stay straight on their feet but sober enough to comment about others. Typical rich people behaviour Byul thought as she tried to stop her to-be husband’s wandering hands - t Least in front of the wicked ladies.

“I think it’ll be best if i take him to bed.” Byul said but one of the ladies grabbed his hand.

“Let your caretaker take him, have one more drink with us dear Jisoo!” the lady said and Byul threw Seungwoo a helpless look who just smiled at her but she could sense the smirk under it.

“Take care of him Jongin-ssi!” one of the younger ladies said and Byul refrained herself from openly glaring at her - her looks were not decent, she was practically undressing Seungwoo with her eyes.

1 hour and only one drink for herself later, Byul managed to send all the guests away. The servants were given a night off to cool off before the stress of the wedding starts from the next day and they were finally home alone - her, Seugnwoo and the old 40-something man she was supposed to marry.

Detective Park rang the bell of the huge house and wondered if calling it a mansion would be better as the door opened to reveal a clearly tired servant and went inside to see the mood getting gloomier with every step.

A 40-something man - Kang Harin, CEO of a small but flourishing fishery business in the particular area, was throwing a child-like tantrum in his expensive looking but bare living room.

“That bitch took everything! She left nothing! She even took my designer suits!” The last line would have made the detective laugh if he didn't know that one of those suits was probably more then his monthly paycheck.

“Mr. Kang, I'm Detective Park, if you can just list all the items missing? You can add more stuff later but off the top of your head, what all is missing?”

The detective would have been dumb to ask what hapepend. He knew what happened. It was not the first time something like this took place - he has been monitoring other similar incidents that happened in other small parts of south korea in the past 7 years.

A couple - one of them would woo a rich person, the other some sort of person taking an important role - enough to be let around all the time but not important enough to be shifted the focus on to. And then before the marriage they'll disappear - with everything the person owned that was worth anything. The material would be later found out at different pawn shops stating they never took any stuff to be caught but only took the money.

An on duty officer came to him and handed him a list and he went through it - the list of articles stolen as of now. It had everything on it- from the jewellery to cash from the locker, cash from the hidden locker, gold from the office, electronics like mobiles and even the computer from the office, TV set and some of the small kitchen equipments, a couple of suits from the man’s closet, all of the designer bags and heels, all the jewellery he ever brought her and all the jewellery he owned (chains and rings) and even a few of expensive vases and art pieces that hanged on the wall. They left nothing!

“And there are no pictures left?” the detective asked the officer.

“We even questioned the visitors from yesterday's parties. No one had any pictures and one girl claimed to have clicked some but she said her phone stopped working in the morning suddenly. Some virus. Traces of the same virus were found in the security camera monitors of here and near this house and in the computer left with the message.” the officer said and detective Park raised an eyebrow, a message was new.

He went to the said laptop, apparently it won’t work but stuck on the screen it was showing. A picture of a Napkin with a kiss stain at the corner saying, It was fun but this was last. See you never!

He wondered vaguely if it was a message for him rather than the old man since he was the leader of a team made specifically to work on their case. Then he wondered if this was actually true and their last crime.

“So we again have nothing?” he asked the detective who had followed him.

“The man claims that they looked exactly like the sketches we have from the cases before just different hair? And roles too apparently. She was a lady of an old family and he was her caretaker. Names were Kim Jisoo and Im Jongin.” and Park sighed.

“Let's get going then. There's nothing more for us here.”

A week later

“Can I see your passport miss?” the airhostess at the entryway asked and Byul passed hers. Kang Daeum, it read.

“And yours sir?” Seungwoo passed his passport, the name reading Jung Jihoon.

“Have a safe flight ma’am, sir.” the hostess said and bowed down and they bowed back.

The clicks of her high designer heels were loud in the silent hallway to board the plane.

“Can't believe you kept those heels.” Seungwoo muttered from beside her as she smiled at him.

“You first decided at the pawnshop that you wanted to keep the necklace.” she said, her eyes no doubt holding the teasing that Seungwoo knew was bound to come behind her sunglasses. But he would never accept he was jealous.

“I like it though. You can keep on the heels too with the necklace whenever we get to the hotel.” he said, smirking as she lowered her sunglasses to stare at him, “Only those things on you though.” he ended, her hand shooting up to hit him on the chest, ready to yell if not for being at a public place as he chuckled.

After showing their boarding pass and settling down in the first class seats, he turned to her when she sighed, sliding down slightly in the comfortable chairs.

“Maybe you should consider dying your hair, I like this on you.” he said as he tugged at the blond wig she had on and she shrugged.

“Why not. We’re going to Bali, might as well look tropical.” she said and he laughed.

“Why not pink then?” he suggested and she smirked at him. “Only if you do blue.” and he smiled.

“Deal.”

It was late, night Seungwoo assumed since it was dark but who knows where they exactly were. All he knew was there was a vast expanse of water underneath the plane and the flight still had more than 7 hours left.

He saw on the side Byul shutting down her laptop.

“Are you tired?” he asked and she blinked at him taking out her headphones and shrugging.

“I can use some sleep.”

“I have other plans.” Seungwoo said as his hands sneaked underneath the blanket she had on her lap, squeezing her thighs as she looked at him, surprised.

“How do you feel about joining Miles high club?”

The smile that adorned her lips said she was in, and when she got up leaving the blanket behind, asking the air hostess where the restrooms were and winking at him before leaving, Seungwoo knew he had hit the jackpot with her.

Bali would be amazing, he whispered as he got up himself.

#victonwriters #victon smut #seungwoo smut #x1 smut #victon seungwoo #han seungwoo #victon scenarios #victon scenario #seungwoo scenarios #han seungwoo smut

67 notes · View notes

thewayshedreamed · 4 years

Text

Secrets Don’t Make Friends— Feysand AU

Prompt submission by Nonnie— Reverse fake dating au where everyone thinks you’re dating and you’re keeping it a secret, but you’re not.

Thank you to whoever sent this one in! I had an idea for Nessian, so I may post that one as well if y’all are interested!

——————————————————————————

It was another beautiful day in Velaris, and Feyre couldn't seem to focus on her newest project assignment for anything. She found herself gazing out of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the Sidra's soothing flow and mentally mixing her various paints to capture the unique color.

Unfortunately, her firm's newest client didn't care much for river paintings since they were paying for a full digital marketing overhaul. Truth be told, she didn’t hate her job as a creative director for the largest marketing firm in Velaris. It allowed her a steady income, let her flex her creativity to some capacity, and definitely kept her on her toes. She had started as a design team member with the firm several years ago upon graduating from Prythian U, and after several largely successful projects, she started to gain more responsibilities within the team. Once her team’s creative director, Amarantha, had moved on to another firm, Feyre had been promoted to her position.

She turned back to her computer screen, willing the motivation to hit her. Any moment now.

This was a typical pattern for her. Initiating a new project was always the hardest part, but once she got started, she tumbled down the proverbial rabbit hole. She just had to... start.

“Ughh,” Feyre lamented. “I wish I was halfway through this proposal already. I’m way better at that point in the project.”

”You are pretty worthless right now,” Lucien joked. Feyre offered a vulgar gesture in return, earning a hearty laugh from her friend.

Lucien left the marketing side of the firm about a year ago, itching for a different opportunity that would allow him to express himself more freely. He felt stifled by the business side of things; the numbers, the politics, the marketing director he worked under. Tamlin hadn’t been the absolute worst to him, but his leadership style didn’t align well with Lucien for the long-term. He had ended up as a member of Feyre’s team and seemed to fill a void they weren’t aware they had.

“I can’t be that mad at you, to be honest. You’re not wrong,” she replied. “Maybe I need caffeine to get out of the post-lunch slump.”

”Someone say caffeine?”

Rhysand Vila approached, perching on the corner of Feyre’s desk. He was wearing dark khaki slacks with a black button down, rolled up to the elbows. At some point, he had ditched his tie in favor of an open neckline, likely free of meetings for the rest of the day. His casual appearance didn’t readily identify him as one of the firm’s most successful marketing directors, but his authenticity was one of the things that extended his influence the most.

Rhysand’s marketing team often collaborated with Feyre’s creative one, and they managed to create some of the most well-balanced projects within the firm. They worked so flawlessly together that they were starting to become almost exclusively paired, much to the chagrin of some of the other teams. Not only were their proposals solid, their presentations were engaging and convincing. Their perspectives on the projects, combined with their mutual respect of the other’s contributions, presented a solid, united front that built trust with their clients.

Through long work hours and multiple business trips across Prythian, Rhysand had become one of Feyre’s dear friends. When they’d originally started working together, his cockiness had grated her nerves to the nth degree, but she realized over time that it was mostly in jest. In truth, Rhysand was kind-hearted, cared deeply for the people in his life, and an incredibly supportive partner on client projects.

They’d fallen into a comfortable kind of friendship, and they’d only gotten closer with time. He’d confided in her about the toxic relationship he and Amarantha had foolishly found themselves in, and he’d listened to her never-ending rants about her brief coupling with Tamlin, nothing but understanding all over his face.

“I think a coffee run is a necessity,” Feyre said, playfulness dancing across her features.

“I left my wallet in my desk. I’ll go grab it. Meet you at the elevator?” Rhysand asked as he walked backward toward his office.

“Sounds good!” she replied. She turned to Lucien. “You coming?”

He had an odd look on his face, smirk included. She gave him a questioning look, and he let out a low chuckle. “Nah. But if I give you my card, will you grab something for me?”

”Why wouldn’t you just come? I’m not your coffee bitch, Vanserra.” That earned a full laugh.

”And I would never assume you to be. If I’m going to take a break, I don’t feel like being third wheel, is all.” The confused look returned to her face, and he continued. “Feyre, stop. It’s not my company either of you want on this little coffee date. You and Rhysand can go about your charade with anyone else, but you’re not getting that shit by me. It’s fine— you two are great together. I just can’t figure out why you insist on the secret.”

Feyre’s expression morphed into a stunned one, and it took her a few seconds to decide on a response. She and Rhysand had never crossed any lines beyond platonic, so all of this was news to her.

”Luce, I’m not sure who your source was for that little nugget of info, but don’t trust them with anything incredibly important in the future. They’re way off,” she assured him. “Text me your coffee order.”

She made her way to the elevator, finding Rhysand propped against the wall on his shoulder. He was scrolling through his phone, stray black hair falling across his brow, looking as if he couldn’t be bothered by the work day. Once the elevator made it to their floor, they stepped inside and found themselves sharing with Morrigan Reina. She was head of Human Resources, absolutely stunning, and Rhysand’s cousin. She had to admit, their genetic pool was quite impressive, all things considered. She was his opposite in every way with her brown eyes and blonde hair, but they shared immaculate bone structure and a certain elegance. Objectively speaking.

“Well, hi! This elevator ride just got way more fun. How’s is going, Rhysie? Fey?” Her dark eyes sparkled, dancing over Rhysand’s face. She raised her eyebrows at him slightly, silently communicating with him in that way only family can.

”Oh, come off it, Mor. We’re on a coffee run. Care to join?” Something in his tone seemed oddly like a challenge. She realized she hadn’t yet answered Morrigan but felt like a response of “Doing well” would seem out of context, since Rhys had already transitioned away from greetings. She deciding on standing there awkwardly, pretending not to feel incredibly intimidated by this woman in the elevator.

“So sweet of you, but I’ll have to take a rain check. This is my floor actually. Unfortunately, I have a termination meeting to attend. Have some for me!” She brushed her cheek against his in a mock kiss. “Good seeing you, Feyre!” She disappeared so quickly that Feyre started to doubt if she was ever there in the first place.

“Awfully prickly with your dear cousin this afternoon, Rhysie,” she teased.

”Well, dearest Mor can be quite the busy body and likes to think she knows all of my secrets.” He gave a small eye roll, but the smirk on his face gave his affection away.

“You have my attention. I think it’s only fair that I’m let in on this little secret.”

She swore the tops of his bronze ears turned slightly pink. “I assure you I’m not that interesting, Feyre Darling.”

As if on cue, the elevator chimed, and they were walking into their building’s lobby. The coffee shop was right next door, so they made their way there quickly. Within 10 minutes, they had their coffees in hand and were sharing an elevator with a small crowd on their way back to work. Feyre regretted that she wasn’t able to press Rhys for his secrets anymore but supposed it was for the best.

He took the long way to his office in order to drop her off at her desk. She set Lucien’s coffee down on his desk with just enough force to startle him out of his work, earning a laugh from Rhys. Lucien simply glared at her before mumbling his thanks and taking a long pull of coffee.

“Well, Feyre Darling, this is where I leave you.”

Lucien eyed her over his coffee lid, lowering it slowly as he paid full attention to their exchange.

Feyre chuckled, ignoring Lucien altogether. “Thanks for returning me safely. I fully intend on pulling at least one secret from you on the next trip, though. You’ve been warned.”

His violet eyes bore into hers, amusement all over his face. “Do your worst,” he replied, winking at her as he sipped his coffee and walked away.

——————————————————————————

Coffee seemed to be just the inspiration Feyre needed to hit her creative stride for the afternoon. She finally managed to land on a prospective theme for the new account, and she was busy making some rough sketches on her drawing tablet. A booming voice called out to her from down the hall, and she recognized it immediately as Tamlin. Of course he would recruit her attention once she was finally feeling productive.

“Feyre, could you come down as soon as you’re free? I’d like you to do a consult with Ianthe.”

She forced herself to refrain from rolling her eyes, trying her best to be diplomatic.

“Sure, Tamlin. Be there in a bit.”

He hesitated at his office door, poorly masking his impatience when she didn’t immediately jump out of her chair. Typical.

She was already annoyed at his loud declaration across the office that he was asking her to give feedback on another creative director’s work. She didn’t feel particularly protective over Ianthe. It was just poor form, and it set the tone for resentment with no true reason.

Finally, she stood and made her way to his office. He was in his office chair, Ianthe pointing to various items of interest on a flat screen mounted to the wall. She greeted Feyre politely, but it didn’t seem like she was all to keen on getting her feedback.

“What can I help with?” Feyre offered.

“I wanted to see what you thought about the account we’re working on. Considering that you’ve been monopolized by Vila for months, I thought I could at least get a brief consult,” he explained.

Feyre decided to mentally count how many underhanded comments she’d endure over the course of this meeting.

One.

”Sure. What’s up?”

Ianthe launched into the cliff notes of her project, Tamlin contributing nothing the entire time.

“I’m sure you’re probably swamped with whatever you’re working on Feyre, so I appreciate you taking time to look at what I’ve put together.” Ianthe seemed genuine enough. She wasn’t sure if she trusted her, but she felt bad for her all the same.

Before she could respond, Tamlin inserted himself. “Oh, she’s definitely seems busy. Just not sure how much of it is work-related.” Her head snapped toward him, eyes blazing. She steadied herself and turned her attention back to Ianthe to try and keep this meeting on track.

Two.

”Honestly, Ianthe, I think you have a great proposal overall. My only suggestion is that you consider a different color focus. Your primary color for the logo is red, and that happens to be the main color of their largest competitor’s logo as well,” she stated, ignoring Tamlin entirely.

He started to say something about her input, but she quickly interrupted him.

“How unfortunate that the person responsible for doing the relevant market research into any competitors didn’t think that to be relevant intel to bring to the project,” she finished, eyes gravitating back to Tamlin’s face.

”Good catch,” Ianthe said simply.

“It’s happened to me before, too. Don’t create too much additional work for yourself. Maybe see about pulling one of your coordinating colors forward instead, and see how that plays out. No need to reinvent the wheel.”

”I’m not sure how you’ve managed to convince Vila to do all that extra legwork on your behalf, but it sounds like you’re awfully convincing,” Tamlin seethed. He couldn’t help himself, it seemed.

Three.

It was quiet for several uncomfortable seconds. As if on cue, her savior himself appeared in Tamlin’s doorway, a friendly smile on his face just for her. He knocked with his knuckle as he glanced around the room.

“Sorry for interrupting. Feyre, could you stop by my office before you head out today? Nothing big. Our last account sent an email asking for some minor changes, and I wanted to get your input before I tell them anything,” he said.

“Of course, Rhys. I’ll be there in a second,” she replied. He gave her one of his dazzling smiles, that rogue strand of hair kissing his brow yet again. When he walked away, she immediately felt compelled to follow him, as if he took the light straight out of the room when he left.

“You may go, Ianthe,” Tamlin stated dryly. She quickly excused herself, repeating her thanks to Feyre on the way out.

“You realize you two are partners— she doesn’t work for you.”

“Our dynamic is hardly your business, Feyre.” He wasn’t exactly wrong, but she hated the way he spoke to people who worked with him. It had always bothered her.

“Says the guy who all but insinuated that I’m putting out to get Rhys to be a good partner on projects. You’re unbelievable.”

“All of the speculation that circulates around this office regarding you and Rhysand, and you’re caught on what I’ve said? Feyre, sweetie. I thought we were past this.”

”It seems as though the lot of you aren’t busy enough if you have all this time to discuss whether Rhys and I have some secret affair happening under your noses. Maybe if you put half that effort into your job duties, you’d be an almost decent partner to Ianthe,” she snapped.

“You shouldn’t concern yourself with me and Ianthe. We’ll work together in whatever way works for us. Plus, you basically belong to Rhys now, so you won’t have to worry over having to work with the likes of me.” The way he mockingly said Rhys’ name made her want to punch him in the throat.

She turned on her heel to leave, so angry that she didn’t trust herself to respond professionally. Once she got to the doorway, she found the words rolling off her tongue without a conscious thought.

“I ‘belong’ to no one. Your problem is that you see people as assets rather than building relationships. You should consider incorporating a little humanity into your leadership. You may find yourself a little less miserable to work for or be around. From now on, Ianthe can address me directly if she needs me. You, sir, can fuck off.”

——————————————————————————

Feyre made her way directly to Rhysand’s office, still fuming. She probably needed a quick break on the roof to clear her head, but it was already 4:30. She didn’t want to make Rhys stay late so that she could pout properly. Although, he’d probably do that for her if she asked.

She approached his door, knocking lightly when she saw he was on the phone. He waved her in as he finished his call. He let out a polite chuckle at whomever was on the line, and she wondered how even his contrived laughter sounded almost musical.

“Absolutely. I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow. Bye.” He placed the receiver of his office phone into the cradle and faced her fully.

“Hey there, Feyre Darling. Thanks for saving some time for me today. I hope I didn’t overstep, but I wasn’t sure when if I’d be able to catch you later.” He leaned back in his chair, propped his elbow on the arm rest, and cupped his large hand to run it over his face. So he was tired, too.

Feyre let out a low chuckle. “You’re my hero, basically. Your timing was absolutely perfect. Never hesitate to interrupt if Tamlin is the person I’m talking to.”

His bright, violet eyes seemed to linger on her face. “I wouldn’t mind hearing you laugh again,” he mused. “It’s become one of my favorite sounds, I think.”

She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face, and she found one mirrored on his own. She cleared her throat, unsure how to tame the butterflies she was experiencing at his words.

“Shall we?” She motioned to his computer, and he nodded. She pulled her chair to his desk so that she could see, but he forced her to switch with him, insisting she take control of moving through the project.

She wasn’t sure if she was reading way too much into the weird comments she had heard today about her and Rhys, but she was acutely aware of his thigh so close to hers. It was far enough that they weren’t flush, but she could feel the heat radiating off of him in the most distracting way.

He already had the project pulled up on the screen and asked her to move through the document to the place of the proposed changes. He reached across her slightly to point at something, and she was instantly immersed in his scent. She found it oddly comforting, if she was honest with herself.

“So what do you think? Is it a simple fix? Or would this be something beyond the originally contracted rate? If it’s going to take you some time, I think it’s appropriate that we negotiate an additional fee, especially considering we’ve just initiated another large account.”

”Mmm. It’s been a while. Mind if I play with it for a minute?” she asked.

”Yeah, for sure. Take your time,” he said, leaning back in his chair as she worked.

Several minutes passed in excruciating silence, causing Feyre to break out in nervous laughter.

“You can talk to me, you know. It’s eerily quiet in here,” she joked.

He huffed a laugh. ”Hmm, okay. Anything particularly interesting around the office today?”

She thought immediately of her conversations with Lucien and Tamlin, and she couldn’t help but include their interaction with Mor in the elevator on the list. It really was such a weird day.

She worked for a couple of seconds before she replied. “It was quite the day, to say the least. I learned a lot about myself via the grapevine.”

”You mean to tell me there’s gossip in this office?”

”This very one,” she replied through a laugh.

“This is the part where you tell me what’s been said about you, Darling.”

She big her bottom lip, nervous of how he would react. “Well, it’s not exclusive to me. It has to do with you, too.” Her eyes never left the computer screen as she spoke.

“I like how that looks,” he said in regard to her edits, jumping straight back into their original conversation. “Now you have to tell me, especially if I’m involved.”

He offered a small poke to her ribs, laughing at her jerking away from him and the glare it earned. “Spill, Archeron.”

Before she could chicken out, she described her interaction with Lucien prior to their coffee run. He went entirely still as she spoke, eyes trained on the screen. When she finished, he said, “I see. I bet Lucien thinks he’s quite clever, then... Oh wait, I like that better.” He pointed to a small change she made.

He seemed so indifferent, and despite her attempts to the contrary, it bothered her that he was acting so cavalier. She had to check herself, remembering how ridiculous she had found the comments only a handful of hours ago. It was certainly unfair to have expectations of him being that she had barely finished processing this afternoon’s events.

“Yeah, I guess he’s pretty proud of himself. I don’t know how much he believed me when I told him he was off-base, but time will tell, I guess.” She immediately launched into her interaction with Tamlin, outlining the full interaction for him.

His jaw was tense throughout the story, and she could see his shoulders tighten when she would share a particularly tasteless thing Tamlin said. They tended to stay out of each others’ ways, so sometimes it was easy to forget how much animosity existed between the two of them. She finished the entire story, and decided to wrap up everything in a brief summary.

”So yeah, according to Lucien and Tamlin, you and I are hiding a super secret little office affair. But apparently we’re really bad at it, because everyone knows.” She let out a long breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding. His response was swift.

“Well, that’s fucking ridiculous.” He stated, so matter of fact. “Go back to that one really quick— if you don’t mind.” His eyes never left the screen. All business, all of a sudden.

Okay. Now, his indifference stung. She thought she knew Rhysand well enough that he would cushion the blow better than this if he were totally shooting her down. She didn’t like how detached he was, and come to think of it, it’s not like she had offered herself to him anyway. For all he knew, she could find the idea of them dating totally repulsive.

“You could do a lot worse for yourself, you know,” she said, anger bubbling to the service. She saw his head snap toward her, but she refused to look at him.

”What?”

”I know you could walk out of this office and take your pick, but you could do worse for yourself than me. It can’t be that ‘fucking ridiculous’.” She clenched her jaw to force herself to stop talking and breathe.

He sat there looking at her, his attention to the project entirely derailed.

“Feyre...” he started.

”It’s late. I’ll finish looking at this tomorrow. Could you save the changes and upload to the cloud? I think I can make quick work of it.”

”Would you look at me, please?”

She let go of the computer mouse and covered her face with both hands. She rubbed her face roughly as she spoke.

“I’m just tired, Rhysand. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Just forget I said anything. Really, I’m okay.” She didn’t want to see the pity in his face or listen to any explanations. She just needed to get out of there.

She felt one of his hands grip softly around the wrist closest to him as he turned the chair to get her to face him. She kept her face covered, leaning forward, and he had the nerve to laugh softly at her.

“You are such a stubborn, difficult woman sometimes, Feyre Darling.” He gripped her other wrist with his free hand and pulled her hands away from her face. She was too tired to fight him on it, so she let him. She fixed her gaze on his thighs, not entirely prepared for what his expression would show.

“Please look at me,” he whispered. She melted at the tone of his voice, imploring her to make eye contact, and raised her eyes to meet his.

He rubbed slow circles on the sensitive underside of her wrists as he spoke. “In no way, is the idea of me being with you ridiculous. What is so ridiculous to me, Darling, is the idea that I could ever be with you and delude myself into thinking I could keep it a secret,” he murmured, the sincerity in his expression overwhelming her. She saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, readying himself to finish. “Cauldron, Feyre. If you ever let me love you... I wouldn’t have it in me to contain it.”

She was frozen in her chair, in total disbelief. Once she finally regained control of herself, she reached her hand up to smooth his hair back into place. His eyes fluttered shut at the contact.

“That piece of hair has been driving me insane all day long,” she whispered. She was closer now, so much closer to him than she had ever been. She dropped her hand back to her lap to find his again.

His eyes popped open, traveling across her face and landing on her full lips. She watched his tongue dart out of his mouth slightly to wet his own before she regained eye contact. She leaned forward a little more, his hand coming up to brush her hair behind her ear. He cupped her face, running his thumb across her cheek.

“Feyre?” It was barely a whisper, but it was everything.

She subtly nodded her head, and his lips were on hers. He was slow, near reverent as he kissed her, and she leaned in to him, craving more contact. He slid his hand a little farther back so that his fingers could find their home in her hair, just behind her ear. She braced her hand on his forearm, and he pulled her face into his, only slightly, to deepen the kiss.

She let out a quiet whimper as Rhys angled himself to better capture her mouth, and just like that, she was gone. She no longer registered that they were in Rhys’ office or that his door was still open from when she arrived. As far as she was concerned, the world began and ended with them.

They both missed the quick footsteps as Lucien passed by on his way back to his desk from a meeting. They were entirely unaware of his halt as he realized what he’d witnessed and his prompt back peddling. It was when they heard his quiet rasp that they startled, breaking apart only millimeters.

”I fucking knew it!” he whisper-screamed, obviously pleased with himself.

True to Rhysand’s nature, he seemed totally unfazed by Lucien’s discovering them. He brushed his nose over Feyre’s, a grin spreading across his beautiful face.

”Fuck off, Lucien,” he crooned playfully.

His mouth was on hers yet again, neither of them noticing the soft click of the door as Lucien backed out of the office.

——————————————————————————

Just a bit of Feysand fluff for y’all! Feel free to keep the prompts coming, and let me know if you have a particular pairing or mood in mind ☺️

If you’d like to be added to my tag list, you can comment, shoot me an ask, or reblog! I’ll be happy to add you!

Tags (Masterlist):

@polireader // @justgiu12 // @hizqueen4life // @sis-it-dont-add-up // @b00kworm // @bookstantrash // @gisellefigue08 // @maastrash

#feysand #feysand au #feysand fluff #acotar #acowar #acomaf #sjm #feysand fanfic

231 notes · View notes

dweemeister · 3 years

Photo

Best Animated Short Film Nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards (2021, listed in order of appearance in the shorts package)

NOTE: For viewers in the United States (continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i) who would like to watch the Oscar-nominated short film packages, click here. For virtual cinemas, you can purchase the packages individually or all three at once. You can find info about reopened theaters that are playing the packages in that link. Because moviegoing carries risks at this time, please remember to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by your local, regional, and national health officials.

Continuing with one of my favorite Oscar-time traditions, here is an omnibus review of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Short Film. This is an older category than many might believe to be, with some of the first nominees and winner including ‘30s and ‘40s fixtures: Disney’s Silly Symphonies, Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes, MGM’s Tom and Jerry and Happy Harmonies. These days, the category tends to be more democratic (perhaps not so much this year), but certainly more experimental. Here are the nominees, as they appeared in the order of how they appeared in the short film packages released to theaters and virtual cinemas in the United States:

Burrow (2020)

Burrow, directed by Madeline Sharafian (story artist on 2017’s Coco, writer on Cartoon Network’s We Bare Bears), is the eighth in Pixar’s SparkShorts series, in which Pixar’s junior animators craft a short film on a limited budget and timeframe. This is the film that played in front of Soul for those lucky enough to view that film theatrically. This dialogue-free, hand-drawn film stars a young rabbit, looking to dig out and furnish her own home – complete with a bathroom-disco (or something like that). Her best-laid plans, however, seem dashed when she keeps digging and running into other animals’ underground abodes in this area. Not that these animals seem to mind the intrusions too much. The rabbit, so anxiety-driven in her eagerness to project a picture of self-assuredness, soon realizes that these nearby animals she fears to have disturbed are all neighbors, a community ready to lend a paw for the newcomer.

Sharafian credits her sense of impostors’ syndrome when first working at Pixar as the film’s primary thematic inspiration. With only a bare number of lines, the rabbit expresses a vast array of emotions, endearing the audience to her self-dramatization and youthful insecurity. Drawn flatly but nevertheless suggesting some depth, the cutaway animation depicting the burrow neighborhood recalls Richard Scarry’s books and other such colorful ensemble illustrations found in children’s picture books. Burrow is a worthy addition to Disney/Pixar’s animated short film legacy, despite the lack of innovation and obvious low-budget appeal (it uses the third movement of Mozart’s Oboe Concerto as its soundtrack), and seems like something that could have been made during the heyday of Silly Symphonies or Warner Bros.’ Merrie Melodies.

My rating: 7/10

Genius Loci (2020, France)

From the Latin term meaning “the spirit of a place”, Adrien Mérigeau’s Genius Loci is the most difficult, abstract film of this year’s slate of nominees. Genius Loci stars a young black woman named Reine (Nadia Moussa), a solitary soul who embarks upon, while walking the streets of Paris at night, an existential revelation. Reine, who is supposed to be babysitting her nephew that evening, decides to have a small adventure instead. She will find this experience and this Parisian neighborhood disorienting and chaotic, in many of the ways that life in a sprawling metropolis can be. The film’s sound mix clangs, whispers, vibrates, and echoes into Reine’s soul, injecting feelings of harmony, but mostly those of displacement. The distant rumbling of traffic is subliminal here, crescendoing and decrescendoing to control the film’s tension. Throughout, Mérigeau provides a fragmented narrative (do not fixate on the plot) and the protagonist’s intangible, occasionally abstruse, narration. Spiritual and existential loss colors Reine’s ambling, as well as a sense of modern France’s racial otherizing that makes the city feel unwelcoming, if not antagonistic.

Mérigeau (background cleanup on 2009’s The Secret of Kells, art director on 2014’s Song of the Sea) collaborated with Belgian comic illustrator Brecht Evens (production designer on the excellent Marona’s Fantastic Tale from 2019) for the film’s dumbfounding backgrounds, as well as storyboarding the changes in aesthetic as Reine continues her journey through Paris. Marona’s influence is felt keenly throughout Genius Loci – from the lack of recognizably human figures among strangers to Reine and the ever-changing color scheme. Unlike Marona, Genius Loci commits to watercolors (or computerized animation meant to resemble watercolor paints) during the film’s entirety. The watercolor animation serves to loosen the character animation and the backgrounds’ definition, and serves as a paragon of expressionist animation. Genius Loci will bewilder audiences, challenging them to understand Reine’s painful attempt to find belonging and solace in a place that disallows such reflection.

My rating: 8.5/10

Opera (2020, South Korea)

Opera, directed by Erick Oh (an animator at Berkeley-based Tonko House, which crafted the 2014 nominee The Dam Keeper), is an independent South Korean/American production that owes more to Sandro Botticelli and Hieronymus Bosch than anything ever seen in animated cinema. This is a cinematic fresco teeming with activity, intended more as interactive art than for a movie theater. The setting is a pyramid filled with souls living, laboring, luxuriating, dying. As the camera pans downward from the godlike or prophet-like figures occupying the top, it later zooms outward, all timed alongside a day-night cycle. Opera’s story is that of human history, distilled in eight minutes of repetitive activity. The design of Oh’s film is as a museum installation – projected on a wall or the ground (the only instance Opera has been screened as such was at the Ars Electronica Animation Festival in Linz, Austria) – that loops continuously, and, if one looks closely enough at the pyramid’s sections, there are loops within the film’s loops. If viewed in a museum, Opera does not pan selectively as it does if projected in a theater or a home media screen.

Pieced together in between Oh’s other film projects over four years and a pandemic, Oh and his animators (some of whom participated voluntarily, without pay) concentrated on different sections of the pyramid at a time, synchronizing the action in a specific section to match the surrounding areas – and, ultimately, the film as a whole. Opera contains intricacies impossible to realize on first, second, third viewings. Even in its limited, virtual cinema form, it engulfs the viewer in its hierarchical animation, the intentionally simplistic character animation serving to universalize the drama of its beings’ existence. It is rapturous art, the sort that defies description, and undoubtedly will echo across Oh’s subsequent films.

My rating: 8.5/10

If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)

For some American viewers, I imagine that this title alone has already spoiled the film’s content even without seeing any footage. A Netflix production directed by Will McCormack (co-writer on 2019’s Toy Story 4) and Michael Govier (bit roles in American television), If Anything Happens I Love You is the only nominee in this category directed by individuals with no background in directing animation. McCormack and Govier met at acting school; acting remains their primary profession. Without dialogue, the film opens with two parents eating dinner at opposite ends of the table. They seem aloof, their minds elsewhere. The background is spare, with only a jumble of pencil sketches making sense of any barriers enclosing them. Flexible, animated silhouettes appear from their bodies – sometimes arguing vigorously with each other, at times shadowing the person and attempting to call their attention. Grief overhangs their household, expressed through a largely monotone palette, minimalistic designs and backgrounds. The background artists exclude any detail unnecessary to the story.

Written and crafted in collaboration with (so as to not spoil the film, I am about to opaquely write about this film’s intentions) a prominent, deep-pocketed political non-profit so as to shear the film of any thematic excess, If Anything Happens I Love You has, unlike its fellow nominees, broad support among certain prominent actors in Hollywood. Laura Dern is the executive producer and various actors – including Chelsea Handler, Rashida Jones, and Lesley Ann Warren, among others – have openly contributed or advocated for this movie. The visualization of the parents’ pain, even without dialogue, brings the viewer into a space unfathomable to most, unbearable for those who know too well. The use of the King Princess song “1950” meshes awkwardly with what is being portrayed on-screen at the time. But the character animation – McCormack and Govier’s experience as actors endows the couple with indelible humanity – and its visual discipline carry the film to its heartbreaking conclusion.

My rating: 8/10

Yes-People (2020, Iceland)

Icelandic film Já-Fólkið (Yes-People) is the epitome of cheap European computer-generated animation. Directed by Gísli Darri Halldórsson (a former Cartoon Network Studios character animator), Yes-People – the Best Icelandic Short winner at the 2020 Reykjavik International Film Festival and the Children’s Choice Award winner at 2020’s Nordisk Panorama – is a largely aimless movie following the zany lives of the people who live in an apartment complex. That is all I have to say about the film’s narrative. The sketches it draws in each character’s life always feel disjointed and disconnected from all the others – save one scene of the elderly couple fornicating loud enough for their downstairs neighbors to hear. Halldórsson describes his film as a mosaic of personalities, but even a mosaic has a thematic consistency that unifies its disparate parts.

The desaturated colors of Yes-People are meant to resemble old photographs. As much as I respect what Halldórsson is aiming for, the results make the film look muddy, half-rendered – like a knockoff Pixar short from the early 1990s. Inspired when Halldórsson described to some of his Irish friends about the different tonal meanings of the word “Já” (“hello” in Icelandic), Yes-People only has one repeated word of dialogue throughout: “Já”. Is this supposed to be funny? Philosophical? I am not sure; and I am not sure the film knows it either. Reading some of Halldórsson’s interviews following his Academy Award nomination, he mentions that the film’s positive response from Iceland and Scandinavia might be culturally specific, as opposed to other parts of the world. As to what those cultural differences might be that prevented me from liking this film, I hardly have a clue.

My rating: 6/10

^ All ratings based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

Three other films played in this package as honorable mentions: Kapaemahu (2020; 7.5/10), The Snail and the Whale (2019; 6.5/10), and To: Gerard (2020; 6.5/10).

From previous years: 85th Academy Awards (2013), 87th (2015), 88th (2016), 89th (2017), 90th (2018), 91st (2019), 92nd (2020).

#Burrow #Genius Loci #Opera #If Anything Happens I Love You #Yes People #Madeline Sharafian #Adrien Merigeau #Erick Oh #Will McCormack #Michael Govier #Gísli Darri Halldórsson #Arnar Gunnarsson #Kapaemahu #The Snail and the Whale #To: Gerard #Oscars #93rd Academy Awards #31 Days of Oscar #My Movie Odyssey

37 notes · View notes

mimssides · 3 years

Text

Never Met You

Chapter 10: Revelation

Things will reveal themselves in the least expected moments. They will be there when they are most needed.

“We still have no clue for where as to start with our investigation,” Virgil sighed and put the letter opener back on Janus’s desk.

Janus sat on the chair behind it, while Roman paced around the room and Logan sat on the armchair in the corner of the room. Roman was muttering silent curses under his breath and Janus watched him closely. They had been sitting together for a few hours. He and Logan had retold over and over again how they had met Green but nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day, except for Green’s arrival, of course. The day before was also quite unremarkable to the point of both Logan and Janus not having anything important to say about it.

“I am aware Virgil,” Logan said and scratched his eyebrow as he looked over to the window. It had the view to the inner courtyard, where the makeshift medic tents had been put up. “But there is nothing else I can tell you. We didn’t learn anything about his background from himself, so we have to reconstruct who he might be from the things we have seen ourselves.”

“Well, we know that he had a partner. Possibly, a husband.”

Janus, Logan and Roman stared at Virgil, who took the letter opener in his hands once more and fiddled with the blade.

“A husband?” Logan asked with a shivering voice.

Virgil glanced over to him and nodded.

“Yes. He mentioned him. No details but that one existed. I assumed he… He never mentioned this to you?”

Logan shook his head and stared down at his left hand. Did he imagine it or was there a band of lighter skin around his middle finger? He blinked and the image was gone, the skin just as brown as the rest of his hand.

A loud stomp almost shook Logan out of his chair and he looked over to Roman who stood with his back turned to them. His hands were balled into fists. For the first time Logan noticed how broad Roman’s shoulders were now that they were held with tension.

Dramatically, Roman turned around and glared at the others as he announced: “We know him! We know him and he obviously knows us! He knew how to calm me down, he knows exactly how to get on J’s nerves, he knows what all of Vee’s nods mean and he knows everything what you think Lo! And so do you! You just throw each other a look and it’s clear! You just know and it’s like it’s all we should need to know in order to figure out who he is but there is something preventing us to make the last connection and it’s driving me mad!”

“I can see that Roman,” Janus said and vaguely motioned against Roman’s hands, “but what are we supposed to do? We have nothing to go off and-”

“He knew where about the panic room. He brought me there. He knew it was safe. He knows the castle; he knew the courtyard but he was no servant. And we can’t remember it because of a curse.”

With that Janus stood up. His brows were furrowed deeply and his lips were pulled into a harsh snarl. Roman growled at the expression and pressed his hands against the side of his head while shaking it vehemently.

“You can’t deny this anymore! It has to be a cruse!”

“Don’t lightly talk about magic, which has been used to eradicate my ancestors. The only ones who would dare to use such powers would be the unnamed and she hasn’t been here since months before Green’s appearance!” Janus hissed.

Roman wasn’t affected by Janus’s anger. In the contrary, he seemed to get even more worked up and turned away towards the door.

“Come on Janus,” Roman said as he gripped the door handle, “this thing is affecting me. Which means it had to be her. No other magic is strong enough to do so.”

Roman pressed the handle down and left the room. Immediately Janus went after him and both Logan and Virgil followed rather confused about what the two had just talked about. They watched Janus getting next to Roman and how he opened his mouth to chide the prince but stopped. His expression changed and he silently kept walking next to Roman who steered towards the backroom in the servants’ wing.

Nobody said anything when Roman opened the door and entered. Nobody made a noise when Roman paced around the room for a few minutes. They just came inside and Virgil closed the door as he was the last one to enter and waited with the others for Roman to get a grip on himself again. He watched his partner walk in circles and eventually stop in front of the wall opposite of the door. He was staring at it and Virgil exchanged a worried look with Janus.

“Ro?” Virgil began cautiously and walked up to him. “I know you wanna solve this but there is nothing in this room. He has been inside here only once; we won’t find any clue here.”

Roman stepped closer towards the wall and put his hand on one of the stones.

“This wall opens.”

“What?”

Perplexed Virgil stepped back. Frantically Roman moved a chest to the side and again put his hand on the same stone as before and pushed down on it. A low creaking sound. The wall slid aside and opened a passage into a dark tunnel.

For a moment four men just stared inside. Then the prince went inwards unbothered by the dark, his eyes adjusting effortlessly and taking on a red colour. His ears were taking in every sound, he knew immediately that the light steps just behind him belonged to Janus, that the heftier but muted ones were Virgil’s and that the hasted loud ones were Logan’s at the end of the group.

“Roman, where are we going! We can’t see!”

Janus had grabbed his arm and Roman halted. He turned and looked down to his friend. In his head something was revolting. Revolting and trying to get his memories back but it wasn’t working right. Instead, he turned to the side and gripped a torch which had been placed in a torch holder. He didn’t question why he knew exactly where the holder was or why it was hanging rather low but just took it and rubbed the top of it against his palm, flame enlighten immediately. He held the torch up over his head for a moment and looked back to the others before he resumed in walking down the tunnel.

There were crossings and other walls which slid aside when Roman pressed them. Nothing of it seemed unfamiliar to him and he knew that that alone should have freaked him out. Yet it didn’t and he followed the way he somehow knew he had to go. In his focus and the others’ worry none of them noticed that on several stones sat little coal drawings. They didn’t notice that there were little signatures beneath them, one from Roman and another they would not have been able to read, not because the language or scripture was different, but because their brain would refuse to put the letters together to a word.

They walked down into a dead end with a wooden door in the middle. Roman opened it, stepped inside with no hesitation and set the torch into a torch holder to his left as if he had done so a million times before.

As if he had done so before? Roman shook his head. The others entered behind him but he just looked at the room. It was a square room, maybe ten feet long and wide, a worn-down couch was standing against the wall in front of him, a little shelf left to it, with books and pencils and coal sitting inside them. On the wall of the door, close to the torch, was an easel, a blank canvas sitting on it.

“I have been here,” Roman mumbled.

He hadn’t noticed how Janus had stepped to his side and flinched when he said: “I would hope so! Leading us through a tunnel system you didn’t know anything about wouldn’t be something I approve of. Also, when have you even found these tunnels? Why am I not aware of them?”

Roman didn’t respond. His eyes had deviated to the wall to the right and his breath was stuck in his throat. Silently, he walked towards it. Walked to the wall with a portrait hanging on it. With a family portrait. Oil pastels. Vibrant colours and strong gradients, which made the four people in it look like they would come alive any second now.

Janus inhaled sharply as he saw it. Virgil’s eyes went wide. Logan gasped and leaned against the wall.

In the portrait they saw a man with light brown skin, short brown locks, eerily green eyes, and a well-kept beard standing next to a woman with slightly darker skin, dark brown hair in a beautiful bun, brown eyes and in front of them two boys, looking identical with brown skin, dark curls and eerily green eyes. They all were wearing regal clothing, man and woman wearing each a crown which hadn’t been worn in over two decades at this point.

It was a portrait of King Aneas, Queen Rhea, the young Prince Roman and…

“It’s him,” Roman choked out.

Janus shook his head and pressed his hand against his forehead: “No - how – we – how did we never see the resemblance? It- it can’t be! It can’t. It can’t?”

Roman’s head was pulsating and he let himself fall back on the couch. Virgil was beside him immediately, holding his hand and trying to not think too much about what he was seeing right now. Janus kept staring at the picture, at the boy in front of Aneas, with the green tunic and the wide grin with so much more confidence than Roman’s.

And Logan pushed himself off the wall and slowly stepped towards the picture. He looked at the colours at the way they blended into each other and he recognized the technique. He saw the hand putting the colours down on the canvas in front of his inner eye. He saw the same hand holding coal and sketching him. He heard a voice telling him to sit naturally. Heard the voice asking him fondly teasing if he could draw a nude. And he heard himself say in a just as fond teasing way that he could if he could behave himself.

“He drew this. He used to draw me…” Logan whispered and he felt his memory slowly breaking free. “He draws things he sees in his nightmares and burns them. He moves so much in his sleep. He has almost threw me off the bed when we started sharing. He doesn’t like it when he has to sleep alone and he usually comes to check on me when I take a nap. He – he didn’t-”

Logan panted. The day before. The day before Green.

That day-

“He didn’t come check on me when I took a nap.”

***

“And there you are.”

██mus froze. It had been a normal day. He had spent the morning with Logan and had a meeting over the alliance talks with Janus after that. Lunch had been calm and nice, Logan had excused himself soon after dinner to take a nap because he felt a little tired. ██mus had taken the time to get back in his room and relax for a while. He had just wanted to go and check on his husband but got caught up in the view over the gardens, the rose maze, his home.

██mus gulped and turned around. His grin was maniacal as he stared into the glowing green eyes of the Dragon Witch.

“There I am!” ██mus cackled and looked her over with a wicked grin. “What has you come here to my humble chambers, Dragon Bitch?”

The creature scowled at the name. She stood far taller than ██mus, her greyish skin, the black flames miming hair and the deep red coat underlining how foreign and out of place she was amongst humans. She was a creature of nightmares and the underworld, her name a testament to the creatures she has eradicated.

“Don’t test me, child. You will pay for your arrogance!” she growled.

██mus grinned as sweat began to form on the back of his neck. It made no sense that she was here now. She was only allowed in the castle at certain times. Janus knew the schedule by heart and he would have been with ██mus at all time had one of her visits been close to come.

“Oh, will I?” ██mus hummed and wracked his brain for the reason why she would be here.

And the reason took his breath and smile. The creature saw his change and began to grin. She walked towards him, held her hand under his jaw and forced him to look up. He had to control himself to not snap for air.

“Who was stupid enough to make a deal with you?”

Her chuckle was wicked and her eyes glimmered with satisfaction.

“Oh, look at that,” she hummed and let her thumb stroke over his cheek. “Your father’s desperation and your mother’s rage. I didn’t think I would ever see such a delicious last expression ever again.”

██mus’s heart stopped. He grappled her wrist and pressed it down from his face.

“What did you just say?”

“Last expression, my dear,” she answered unimpressed and pulled her hand out of his grip and began to pace through the room. “I was ordered to kill the last demon blood in this kingdom. I am here to get rid of your treacherous family once and for all.”

“You killed our parents. You killed my father for making your powers ineffective everywhere but within our kingdom’s boarders.”

██mus was glaring at the Dragon Witch who simply raised an eyebrow.

“Oh child, you should know we can’t do anything against our own kind without a deal. Someone sent me. And someone sent me again to kill you. The last demon blood-”

Loud and hysteric cackling stopped her words. ██mus was overcome with grief. With disbelieve. His father who had decided to stop all the bloodshed his family had brought over these lands, his father who had never shed a single droplet of blood despite having hungered for it, his father who had been nothing but kind to his people and the other kingdoms had been assassinated for the blood he had been born with.

But there was also relief. Relief in the fact that contracts with demons had to be followed closely and ██mus knew that she had made a grave error.

“Already breaking down? I expected more of you, Thea,” she snapped at him.

He regained his composure and tilted his head to the side. With a smirk he began to match her pacing, both of them walking in circles around each other.

“Oh,” ██mus hummed, “I am not breaking down, dearest demon. I just think you might have made a deal you can’t fulfil here.”

“Why would that be?”

“Tell me what the contract is. Not the contractor, I know the rules.”

She hissed but complied: “’I, the Dragon Witch, shall end the life of the King of Theana, the last demon blood in the lands. I shall do so as brutally and cruelly as I please.’ They were almost kind this time; They didn’t even tell me to go for your lousy husband.”

██mus almost snapped at the comment over Logan but kept his anger to himself and simply huffed with a grin.

“Your deal is faulty. Because I may be King of Theana, but I am not the last demon blood.”

“What?”

██mus eyes glowed at her rage and he said ever so pleased: “It’s my brother.”

"̶̨̮̖̹̤̋̌͆̏̕̕W̶̘͓͋̿̽͜ĥ̸̠̤̬̮͇͖̻͓̓̅͛̇̄͒̂͘͜a̸͕͔̦̦̔̿̔́͑̃͌̚t̴̹̃͂̾̏̐̓̂͌!̴̳͖̬͙̝͕̈́̑͊͛͊̌͆̽̚?̴̨͍͕̥̦̪̣̔̐̈́̓́̐̚̚͜͠!̸̨̼͉̫̣̯̯͐"̴̗̬͈͚̞̼̙͓̑͜

The Dragon Witch screamed. ██mus jolted back, hands shooting up in front of him and eyes opened widely to see what she was going to do next. Angrily she threw her arms in the air, screeching and revolting under the revelation she just had and went straight forward for ██mus’s neck. He couldn’t do anything but choked as her fingers grappled him against the wall and she brought their faces close to each other.

"̷̳̩̼͚̲̥͙̩̪͐̈́̃̒̌̆Y̵͍̟̣͙̹̠̝̱̰̆̌̅̍̽̄͒̔̕ͅo̷̧̠̺̔͐͒̆̈̓͝u̴̢̧͖͒̒̎̇̔̾ ̷̖̟̤̲̯͕́͆̒ͅs̸̡͈̦̲̞͕̖̙̤̎͊ͅp̴̬͛̐̎͒̌̕ǎ̴̪̘̼̘̲̗͍́n̵̡̺̪̲̬͂̈̀͒͌̽̕ ̶̫͙̗͍̯͉̍̄̉̓̊̋o̷̖͗̉̏̇ḟ̷̢͇͚͍̹̗̮͚̳̬͒̍͊̒͆̂ ̶̣̣̂͊̇̑̓͒̂t̵̫̩͓̪̥̞̠̥̩͊̋̀̉̿͌̉h̴̫̲̱͋̊̚a̵̙͍͔̥̼̮̹͖̞͑͝t̸͖̉̊̂̔̉̅̔̎̅̕ ̸̻̗̯̜͚̪̤̟͎̲͗́͂̄̕͝͝͠s̶̞͇̾̎t̶͕̥͌͋u̶̧̡͔̠̝̎͝͝p̸͖͋i̴̢̺̝̪͖̫͕̥͐̅ḑ̷̧̪̯̭̏̋̑̑̊̊̓̉̒ ̶̡̛̱̝͍̪̹͕̾̑̓̚͝w̸̧̜̮̰͔͕͕̄̏̑̄͝ò̷̪̩̳̈́̑̎̎̉͒̿̚m̶̧̳̳̫̺̈̈́̈̒a̸̫͓͈̗̦̱̥̽̽̎͛͝͝n̶͖͍͇̓͌̑̇͗̆̊̈́͂͠!̷̝͍͖͎̂ ̴̤̅Y̵̥̱̚ǫ̵̦̦̺͇̫̗̠͛̄̽́̏̉̄͐̍̌͜u̸͈̭̼̥͑̏̚ ̵̧̻̤̓͝ĉ̷͔̖͍̰̘̈́̎͆͜r̷̂̏̂̂̄ͅe̷̢͍̰͇̱̪̻̎̃ͅa̴̡̨͙̟̤̲͆̎͊͘͜͝ͅṫ̴̢̡̼̠̦̞̝̘ḯ̴̢͙͕͑̐̓o̶͎̗̱̘̞̾̎̂̈́͒͝͠͝͠n̴̡̢̮̟͚̩̩̦̽͌̓͗͊͝ ̵̨̨̭͘o̷̠͙̮̮͍̹̯̪̿̋̇̔͌͛̆͆̚f̵̢̪̱͖̥̬͕͈̎̈́͌̆̍̚͝ ̶͕̼̇̀̾̿̔̓̔f̷̮̝̮̟̮̦̔̀̄̇̎͗͘͝͝ơ̵̤̈́͂͐̈́̇̂̔́̓o̴̧͙̥̩̮̓̎͂͊̋͒͘͜l̷͕̳̞͌̄̍̃ị̶̯̈́̆̽͠s̸͚̥̗̝͎̲̖̖̦̟͆̄̓̓̔͝h̴̫̼͑̀̈́͋ ̷̢̪͆͆̌́͋̕l̸̨̧̙͇̱̖͚̠͒͑͂̒̽̽̐o̷̞͙͕̜̰̽͌͆̊̿̔̽͜͝v̵̞̳̜̝͎̅̇̌̾̓͘͜e̵͓̼̥̭̻̭̫͍͕̟̾̽͛͑̊̽̐͠!̸͔͈̘̪̟͓̮͒͂͛̃͆̽̔̏̈́̚ ̷̨̛̰͙̗̈́̄͝Y̶̫̝̩̰̼̬͚̣͌̏̇͐o̸̥͈̲̱͔͆̓̐̃͌̋̾̈͒̉ŭ̷̧̝̈́͐̊̐͘͠ ̸̩̦͚̰̼̖͝k̵̢͙͕̹̺̺͑̓̓͆ͅe̷̯̼͇̖̪̎̑͊͆͛͌̚͝ẻ̵̡̜̰̞͙͎͉͎͓͛̓̈̈́͆̚͠p̷̨̧͉͍͇̙͉̼̯̘̈́͗͋̔̈̂͒̆͠͝ ̴̼̘̏̏͆́̇͘̕͠m̸̨̲̱̻͖̮͇̝̃̉̈́̓͆̉͗̎̓͘e̴̮̗͚͎̬̻̳̋̓̾̀̒̀̍̿ ̴͍̲̙̬̪̮̺̮̈̍̿͜f̶̨͎̈́r̵̺̪͎̼̀̽̏̔o̶̭̼̟̼̻̥̓͐m̵̧̺̯̼̣̙̙̹̱͕̀̅ ̸̧̧͖͉̤͎͙͈̪̌́͌͂́̽̀̽ͅm̶̹̜̘͌̅y̴̡̰̘̣͇̳̯̦͊̌͐̓̿͂́̕͝͠ ̷̧̨̰̘̘͍̪̣̽̈̑̈́́ř̷̫͗̊̆ȅ̶̢̡͚̗͍͈̩̜͙́̽̒̒̽͌w̶̰͚̫̱̼͖̔͋̽̈́́̌͑ȧ̵̞̙̖̻̫͙̤͙̱̮͌ṙ̷̢͓̘̟͚̠̗̼͈̣̊̔̑͆d̸̥̫͙̂͑̈ ̴̧̛̼͓̹̠͔̳̇͂̉̅͌͘͜͜͜͝͠y̷̡̨̢̬̘̹̮̳̱͇͑̾à̶̡̙̝͂̎͊̔͒̀̃͝n̵̪͍̹̫̦͇̟̦̪̖̓̏̃̆͊̿͝d̷̺̘̯͔̱̬̫́̑͜ ̵̨̧͕̮̩̩̞̜̼͚̀̈́̇̂̿̈́͆͝͝y̴͕̜͈̙̆͜ơ̸̧͕̜̻̗͔̖̮̣̣̎͐̒͝u̸̡̼̖̰̇͌ ̴̢͎̘̳̗̈k̷̻̟̦͇͕͎̆̈́̈́̈́͆̕é̶͈͙̏̐̅e̴̢̪͖͇̻͔̥̻̼̓͘p̷̢̺͙̙̐͝ͅ ̸̡̲͎͕̜̳̘̩̙̄̅m̸̧̞̞͚̲͙̓̌̄͐e̷̲̪̜̤̗͕̍͂̉̈́̍̐͝͝ ̸̢̲͖̖̥͕̻̦͕̫̆f̷̧̙͉̭̲̮̗͙͒̇r̸̼͘ͅo̶͇̭̙̟̦͔͔̩͊̈͂̈́̀̓̓͝m̶͈̦͍̟̽͒̀͒͗͌̃͊̎ ̷̟̊̿̃͆͂͊͊m̷̻͕̠̺͓̟͒̎y̸̪͇͇̺̺̪͗̔ ̶̛͎̈́̓̋͂̊̓̕f̸̬̟̩̫͙̠̩̱͍̙͝r̸̳͇̩̱̘̝͓̲̘͂̓̾͊̌͛͑͜͝e̵̡̺̫̲̜͍̠̱̘̺͛̀͊͝͝e̴̪̦̠͙̱͕̗̋̍̄͑̇͝͠d̷̮͖̝̟̩̞̿͂̈̐̇̚ǒ̶̰̻̻̓̈͑̈́̒m̵̧̨͍̖̫̗͔̏ͅ!̵̨̖̲̎̓͗̅͒̚͠"̶̢͔̰̣͊̌͑̈́̆̐̈́͝ͅ

██mus yapped for air and she lessened her grip. He took a deep breath and grinned dangerously at her.

“Shitty being an incompetent demon bitch, huh? Couldn’t be me-”

She screamed right in his face, the breath smelling rotten and toxic as it hit his nostrils. A clicking sound got lost in the noise.

“Oh, I will make you pay, wrenched thing, you,” she whispered sweetly and ██mus felt his stomach turn. “I will kill the king with demon blood. He’s not next in line now, but he will be if you don’t exist, won’t he?”

“If you kill me-”

“No.”

Her voice was wicked and smooth. Sugar in a deadly dose.

“I won’t kill you. I will erase your existence from their minds. I will make your precious advisor, your best friend, forget you. I will make your people, your most treasured people, forget you. I will make your brother, your last living blood, forget you. I will make your husband, the only one who you ever dared to ask for his love, forget you. And you will suffer seeing them, knowing them and not being able to say a single word about it. You will see your brother die as a king he never wanted to be. And it will be all your fault.”

██mus’s eyes were wide with horror. From the words he just heard, from the realization he just, but mostly from the look Logan shot him over the creature’s shoulder. And his terror grew as Logan shouted in white rage: “Let go of him!”

She was faster as Logan charged forward. She lifted ██mus from the ground holding her fingers up to snap. Logan’s look changed. ██mus tried to reach his arm out for him but he was already too high up the ground.

It dawned them that it was too late.

“Logan!” ██mus cried.

“RE-”

Snap.

***

“REMUS!”

___

Link for AO3, Taglist, Masterlist, and next Chapters are in my first reblog!

#intrulogical #logan sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #almost choking #curse #swearing #threats #distorted text #capslock #fantasy au #Never Met You #eir writes #please reblog

15 notes · View notes