#very glad i managed to hold on just 5 days more to avoid the same fate 🙏

[leighcunt]

just chatted with a family friend who's pregnant and her c-section is apparently on january 22nd. welcome back lord byron

[forthehpfanboys]

could you do some blaise zabini x male! reader and reader is a sibling of one of he golden trio?

Fuck yes, the tensssiiooonnnn!!! I seperate it into each one because I couldn't decide-

§×§×§ §×§×§ §×§×§

-Being A Weasley-

So, evenyone is shocked that your even near a Slytherin, especially your brothers and sister.

They know you can protect yourself. They know your strong and independent.

But they're all ready to rock Zabini on his ass if he even thinks of hurting you.

Fred and George will ask if your under some sort of spell or love potion.

Ginny is interrogating Blaise and Ron is probably shunning you.

Once Ginny finds out how much Blaise really likes you and that this isn't some booty call that'll break you emotionally, she relays the info to your brothers, who back off.

They learn to actually like the idiot, which is shocking to many members of Gryffindor AND Slytherin.

Anyway, so if you ever sneak him into the Gryffindor Common Room, expect teasing.

Like Ginny is singing a love song, Fred and George are making kissing noises and Ron is just gagging.

And constant teasing-

"Oh, Blaise~ I'll love you until the sun goes down~" "Fred, I will castrate you." "We can skip into the sunset together while holding hands~" ".. For fucks sake, George."

But in the end, Blaise kinda asked for this. He should've know, honestly.

Blaise learns to love the big family dynamic though.

Like if he gets harassed by McLaggen for his quidditch skills, the twins are there for back him off.

He is now an honorary Weasley and it comes with perks.

He bonds with Ginny through quidditch, helps Ron with his potions and actually buys stuff from the Twins shop, but then he's like "I wanna meet the rest of your family"

So of course your nervous, but he gets along with the 5 of you just fine, so what's 5 MORE people?

Like when he comes over to meet Molly and Arthur and he's treated with love and respect, even if he's a Slytherin, and even if everyone's worried he's gonna be a little snobby about the Burrow's shape and condition.

But when he says he loves it and he's touching the brick walls and going up the stairs very carefully to enjoy the creaking, everyone kinda just goes soft, especially you.

He has to hide his tears when Molly hugs him goodbye. And after that he's constantly asking to come back.

Basically, you soften him up, everyone loves him and he stays at the Burrow so often he calls it home.

But he meets Charlie, Bill and Percy and they manage to hit it off and their just proud their younger brother found someone who makes him happy and they love Blaise.

-Being A Potter-

Harry is thanking Merlin it isn't Malfoy.

He couldn't even describe how pissed he would've been if it was Malfoy.

Even the idea of seeing the smug ferret every day made him gag.

However, he still wasn't very happy that you were dating a Slytherin. He probably ignored you for like a day or two until finally confronting Blaise.

Yes, he used Ron and Hermione as backup to try to seem strong and powerful.

He wanted to make sure Blaise actually felt something for you and he wasn't just using you to pass time by.

Once Harry realizes Blaise isn't as bad as the Slytherins he hangs out with and kinda realise they have some things in common.

Like how they both had experienced loss of at least one parent.

I don't wanna say they bond over it-

But it kinda gets them on track to like actually talking.

You know what I mean.

Oh, and of course they talk about Quidditch and that's his bonding point with Ron. So now you just have three quidditch fans basically yelling over eachother for who supports the better team.

Hermione's is potions but this isn't about them.

But it's really weird when you walk into the dining hall on that second day and see your brother and boyfriend joking with each other at the Gryffindor Table.

So you scurry over and check Harry's tempurature like "Holy fuck, my brothers sick" and he bats your hand away like "No, I'm fine dumby."

And you see Ron and Hermione actually talking to him and you it feels like your stuck in an ulternate reality or something.

So you just sit down between Harry and Blaise and he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer and everyone can't help but chuckle at your shocked/confused expression.

You were glad Blaise got along with your friends, and even happier he got along with Harry

But I know your brother sets up fucking rules about what you can and can not do.

"No sneaking out, no sneaking unto Slytherin's common room, no sex, no kissing in public, no laying in the same bed as him, no-" "Jeez, Potter, wanna leave something for us to do?" "... No calling me 'Potter'-"

We all know he isn't meeting the Dursleys, but he will come over to scare them, just for the hell of it.

Like if he goes with the Weasley's to go get Harry and Blaise doesn't hesitate to sass Vernon and drag Dudley through the mud.

Vernon blinking when he sees Blaise wrap an arm around your waist and he goes to say something but then he counds wizards vs muggle and shuts his trap for once.

Harry is so happy

He's now just like "YESYESYES MARRY BLAISE DO IT-"

But if Harry isn't the best man, he will hex Blaise.

-Being A Granger-

Hermione is, of course, protective of you. You're her brother, she loves you and wants you to be safe, happy and healthy and she knows who Blaise hangs out with.

Like Harry, she's just greatful it isn't Malfoy.

Or Crabbe.

Or Goyle.

She is constantly, CONSTANTLY asking if your ok and just overall checking if your actually happy.

She reminds you it's ok to put him in his place, if he needs to be.

In the end, she's just worried it's some ploy to drag you down.

Probably corners him with Harry and Ron and threatens the shit out of him if even thinks about laying a hand on you.

Like everyone around her is nervous and she's starting to raise her voice and go into full detail about how she'd like hex him into next Tuesday.

And he's just like "yes ma'am"

Blaise is a respectable man.

He's just sitting straight up and trying not to sweat as she yells and threatens him and Ron's just like "babe, ya good?"

"And I swear to Godric AND Merlin, if he ever comes to me saying you hurt his feelings, I will not hesitate to use the unforgivable curses, do you hear me?" "Yes, ma'am." "I'm serious, Blaise. I will not let you live this down. I will go into the Ministry just to make you cry!" "Yes, ma'am."

I love protective Hermione

But imagine Hermione using a word wrong and Blaise corrects her and they just argue over it for twenty minutes while you and Ron look at each other like "the fu CK"

So, I've said it before, but yes. Blaise and Hermione bond over potions.

Blaise talks about how he hates that Snape basically hands out good grades to Slytherins instead of making them work for it and that's kinda when Hermione realizes he's different.

They start bonding and become awkward friends. Of course, they argue occasionally. They do have some different views since Blaise is a Pure-blood and Hermione is a muggle born.

It's mostly about S.P.E.W.

She basically chaperones for all of your dates.

You guys could be going to Hogsmead and she'd make it a double date with her and Ron and it'll be dorky and weird, but at some point you two duck and run and avoid her and spend the day sneaking around and you guys have so much fun.

She let's up, of course, after Ron convinces her too.

You and Blaise keep sneaking around tho because it's so funny to see her turn red and start shouting about staying a specific distance apart and only holding hands and it's so funny.

But then Ron calls her a hypocrite and she starts going off on him and he just mouths 'run, quickly, go' and ya'll are sneakin' again.

Gosh, but Hermione honestly loves you two being together and just wants to keep you safe and everything.

And he's really, really awkward when he meets your parents, which is kinda funny because he's usually so calm and collected.

Long story short

Good luck with this one.

[tacticaldiary]

hi!! can i please have some headcanons of bakugou with a fem! foreign reader who’s like a childhood friend? they met at age 9 when the reader went on vacation to japan and stayed with his family since both of their moms are friends? and after realizing she’s got an impressive quirk and doesn’t annoy him, bakugou’s like “you’re alright ig” and they’ve been keeping in touch through phone calls and stuff after she left? and then one day, aizawa announces there’s a new student, which turns out to be the reader, leaving bakugou shocked at first (especially since she never told him she was moving to japan to begin with). but when she greets him like “hey! been a while since we saw each other face to face, huh?” bakugou smiles back and says “yeah”? everyone’s basically shocked to see bakugou and the reader intereacting without him literally yelling at her every few seconds, to which bakugou responds “well, she’s the only one who doesn’t get on my nerves, unlike you damn nerds!!” ☺️

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

Reunion

Kinda platonic but not really? :) - @klvbxlove​

Pairing: Reader x Bakugou Katsuki

Genre: Fluff

Reunions aren’t always big and emotional. Sometimes they’re quiet and personal. Bakugou Katsuki isn’t a quiet person, and the class is left dumbfounded as someone manages to rein him in for the first time.

Masterlist

We all know how Bakugou is very...hard shelled...

There are very few people who he actually tolerates being around, let alone being friends with them.

You were one of those rare people.

Maybe it was because of the fact that you two had met when you were young, about 9, and the fact that he had been much more open to people back then.

Regardless of the reason, the moment he laid eyes on you, however, he was immediately curious.

Your quirk was incredibly strong, not stronger than his of course, but it was up there. You weren’t afraid to talk back to him and you shared the same dream of becoming a hero.

Both your parents were good friends and so you saw each other often, for the duration you had stayed in Japan.

Bakugou had warmed up to you surprisingly quickly, as surprise to his mother. You could often be found playing Heroes and Villains together.

He had thrown multiple fits when he didn’t get to be the hero-

When it was time for you to go back home, after spending a few months on vacation with him, you remember him clinging onto you, though your sure he would deny it if he was ever confronted.

You guys had kept in touch after that through texts and the occasional facetime call. You were one of the few people he enjoyed spending time with, not that he’d ever admit that.

He learns the hard way that timezones are a bitch to deal with. There have been more than a couple of occasions where he’s had to yell at the rest of 1A for pestering him about why the hell they could hear his voice talking to someone at 2am?

It was obviously a hallucination-

He reckons he’ll probably never see you face to face for a while. The thought totally doesn’t hurt him a little

So imagine his surprise when there’s a new student in their class.

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

He rocks back on his chair, looking around the room lazily as he lets Kirishima talk his ear off about something. It sounds interesting, whatever it was, as evident by Mina’s excited squeals and Sero’s bright grin. His eyes scan the room, attempting to block out the noise and his eyes lands on an empty desk.

Mineta hadn’t shown up all week.

Not that Bakugou was complaining, of course. He didn’t like the brat at all. He was obnoxious and caused unnecessary trouble for everyone within a 5 feet proximity from him. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t seen the extra this whole week-

His thoughts are cut off by the arrival of their teacher opening the door. Aizawa steps in and the room slowly filters to accommodate the respectful silence. Nothing out of the ordinary. People slip into their own seats and finish whatever conversations they were having.

Bakugou leans over his desk, propping his head up with his chin, surveying the notebook in front of him. He vaguely hears Aizawa talking, something about making someone feel welcome and a new student…

A new student?

The phrase doesn’t really catch his attention. It would be another extra who he was better with, so what was the point. Still a little curious, he drags his gaze away from the piece of paper, and with a bored look, looks up towards the front of the class.

His pencil drops to the ground with a clatter as his eyes meet another pair of extremely familiar ones. Ones he had seen last night.

Holy fucking-

Y/N seems to be standing there in a slight daze as well, staring at him just as openly as he was at her. She seems to be the first one to snap out of it, turning back to listen to Aizawa’s instructions. She nods at the desk he points at, and Bakugou’s gaze follows her as she walks over to what used to be Mineta’s desk.

This was one hell of a dream. The rest of the lesson flies by in no time, Bakugou not processing a single thing he was being taught. As soon as break comes around, his gaze snaps back to her again. Y/N is surrounded by the others, welcoming her and exchanging greetings. Bakugou stays at his desk and stares at her again, a small furrow in his brow.

This was real? It couldn’t be. It was? What if it was? Why hadn’t she told him she was coming?

They lock eyes again, and Y/N smiles and waves a little nervously. Kirishima, who’s seated on Bakugou’s desk notices and raises an eyebrow, waving her over with a bright grin.

Bakugou watches as she make her way over to them slowly, and by the time she stands in front of him he’s concluded that this was not a dream after all.

“Hey! It’s been a while since we’ve actually seen each other, huh?” She grins, slipping into the seat in front of him. He holds his gaze, feeling much more confident now that she’d actually broken the silence.

“...The hell are you doing here?” The chorus of groans from behind her would have left him amused if he weren’t in this annoying state of disbelief.

She shakes her head at his tone. “We moved to Japan a week ago. I wanted to surprise you, but-”

“Call me fucking suprised then.” he says, starting to relax a little, still a little shocked at actually being able to see her. He could just reach out and physically touch her and she would be there…

“Glad to hear my plan worked.” She smiles. “I’m happy to actually see your grouchy face in person.” He was...far more attractive in person, she had to admit. He was older than she last saw her and he had grown well. A handsome face accompanied by a body she could tell he worked hard for.

He snorts and shakes his head, a small smile on his face.

A smile, not a smirk.

“Yeah...glad to see your ugly face too.”

She scoffs in mock offence. They carry on a conversation, catching up with each other the whole of break, earning looks of disbelief from everyone in the class. Bakugou hadn’t raised his voice or yelled or lost his temper even once.

They hadn’t heard him raise his voice in about an hour…Who was this sorceress?

When the class is walking back to the dorms, Denki questions why he’s acting so...civil. He earns a classic scowl and a response.

“She doesn’t get on my nerves, unlike you damn extras” he rolls his eyes, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Y/N, who was walking next to him, a fond grin on her face.

[arcticfox007]

Suptober Day 1: Harvest

This is my first time doing Suptober and I probably won’t do every day (and am already a day late) but I thought it would be a good creativity boost and looking through all the other work it seemed like a lot of fun! Thanks to @winchester-reload for organizing this :)

Check it out on AO3!

Castiel hadn’t meant to overhear the conversation. He was supposed to be on break, but had volunteered to reset room 5 for the next patient because he knew his friend Alex had been in dire need of a break. Cas was only a volunteer, spending his junior year of college shadowing various medical professionals to get a better idea of what a career in medicine would really be like. When Alex had suggested shadowing one of the doctors she worked with, he’d readily agreed, knowing that his friend spoke highly of both Dr. Barnes and Dr. Fitzgerald.

He’d already spent the past few hours shadowing Dr. Fitzgerald (or Garth as he insisted on being called) and had seen enough to realize that Family Medicine was understaffed and struggling to do the best they could for their patients given the absurd constraints on their time. Garth was currently seeing a patient who didn’t want a stranger in the room, so the doctor had told Cas to grab some lunch. Cas had intended to do just that when he saw Alex making frantic phone calls at the front desk. When she’d hung up, she’d looked at the end of her rope, explaining to Can that one of the other nurses called out and she couldn’t find anyone to cover for them.

Which is how Cas ended up in room 5 wiping down the surfaces and pulling a new paper cover over the bed. Cas knew all about patient privacy, but really, the conversation easily carried into the room when the man who must be one of Dr. Barnes patients had decided to continue talking to her out in the hallway. The man had a compelling voice and by the time Cas realized he was eavesdropping it was too late to avoid it as leaving room 5 now would have only made the unsuspecting patient realize he’d been overheard.

“Um, and, I’m really sorry about this doc, but I probably can’t afford the bill for today’s services right away.”

“Dean, just call Meg like I told you. Our pharmacy here is amazing at finding co-pay cards for these types of medications.”

“I will talk to her, I swear. It’s just when we had to switch insurance plans the new one says the co-pay for that grade of medicine is $100 a dose. I’m honestly not sure I can make that work Dr. Barnes.”

“I understand, but you need this medicine Dean. Your RA will flare right back up without it. If that happens you eventually won’t be able to work at all. Even skipping doses is ill-advised, letting the inflammation persist could eventually cause permanent damage to your joints.”

“I get it doc, I do, but $400 a month? It’s basically choosing between eating and my ability to move without pain.”

“Dean, just talk to Meg. We will figure something out. At least promise me you’ll take the Humira every other week. I know it didn’t manage your symptoms well at the lower dose before, but it was still better than letting the RA go untreated.”

Dean must have responded to Dr. Barnes in some way Castiel couldn’t hear, because after a few moments the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway, fading as they moved towards the front desk. Cas hurried out of room 5, the trash bag hanging unnoticed from his wrist. His heartbeat sped up as he worried that he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of “Dean” before he left the office. Cas didn’t really know what he was planning on doing, just that he couldn’t stand the thought of this man resigning himself to pain all because the healthcare industry was such an awful mess that it would burden someone with choosing food over medicine. Something about the way Dean had sounded reminded him so much of his sister, Anna, right before she had left Castiel forever. That feeling drew Cas forward to meet a man he didn’t know. Cas couldn’t solve Dean’s money problems, Cas couldn’t force the government to change how healthcare was run in the country, Cas couldn’t even make Dean’s medical issues any better – but he could meet this man and maybe make him smile for a moment. Maybe, if he was brave enough, he could offer him some sort of friendship so maybe he would have one more person to help him through his struggles. Cas had been too young to understand how alone Anna must have felt but he knew more about it now. Helping people like Anna was what had drawn Cas to medicine in the first place.

Turning the corner Cas was startled to see what could only be a 6-foot flannel-wearing freckled god. The man was Hollywood beautiful and for a moment Cas forgot what had brought him rushing around the corner in the first place. The sound of Alex pointedly snapping her fingers brought Castiel back to reality as he broke of his inappropriate staring. He felt his skin heat up rapidly as he blushed.

“Did you finish room 5, Castiel?” Alex stared at him expectantly. Silently, Cas handed over the trash bag and muttered something about taking his lunch break outside. Too embarrassed by his very obvious admiration of the man that must have been Dean, Cas didn’t think he could talk to him in front of Alex. He rushed out the front door in the hopes that the autumn air would help him pull himself together. He didn’t know why he’d felt so compelled to talk to a man who’s private and very personal conversation he’d overheard. He was almost glad that his humiliating gawking had saved him from speaking to the guy. After all, what would he have said anyway? The air alone wasn’t helping Castiel’s composure, so he began pacing in front of the building.

“I mean how do you go up to a stranger and tell them they aren’t alone and that good things do happen? It’s not like it wouldn’t embarrass the guy to know I overheard him talking about his money problems…” Cas froze as he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“Uh, hey man. I actually came out to ask you something else, but I think this just got awkward.” Cas took a deep breath already knowing it was Dean standing behind him. Cas’ habit of muttering to himself when anxious had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion, but never quite as badly as this felt. Sadly, his fervent wish to turn invisible on the spot was being ignored by the universe and he found himself staring into striking green eyes while wondering how he could possibly salvage this situation.

“H-hello Dean. I’m Castiel, and I can’t apologize enough for overhearing your conversation with Dr. Barnes. I swear it wasn’t intentional, I was cleaning out the room you were standing near and – “

“Whoa, hold up buddy. I’m not mad or anything. I mean, it wouldn’t be my topic of choice to start chatting up the hot new guy at my doctor’s office, but you clearly work in healthcare, I’m sure you’ve heard the same thing from lots of folks.” Cas’ brain froze a bit when Dean referred to him as hot, but then it caught up with what he was actually saying.

“Er, actually I’m just shadowing Dr. Garth for the day, but yes, I have heard stories like yours. My sister, Anna, went through something similar. That’s why I wanted to say something to you but wasn’t sure what. Then I actually saw you and, well, you saw. I’m not really good with subtlety. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.” Dean threw his head back with a barking laugh and Cas found himself staring at the beautiful man yet again.

“Having someone like you checking me out definitely doesn’t make me uncomfortable. If it makes you feel better, I came out hoping to ask if you’d be interested in going to the Harvest Festival tonight. I have to work for a bit at my store’s booth but if you were free around 7, I’d love to talk with you more. Even if it’s just whatever you wanted to talk to me about before.” Dean smiled flirtatiously at Cas, and there was no way to resist that.

“Yes, I’d love to! Where should I meet you?”

They exchanged information quickly, and parted ways with matching smiles. Cas would get his chance to tell Dean how his sister gave up her fight with cancer because she knew her treatments were bankrupting the family. He’d tell him how he’d was hoping to be a doctor himself one day to maybe help someone else like Anna win their fight despite the shitty healthcare system. He’d also tell Dean that he’d chased him down the hall because he’d desperately wanted to tell him that maybe they were strangers, but that he hoped Dean didn’t give up and that he’d be willing to be there for him if having a friend would help.

Now though, Cas thought maybe he’d already made Dean’s day a bit brighter, and he looked forward to getting to know the handsome man better. Maybe his impulse to offer his friendship to a stranger wasn’t as insane as it first seemed, and if Castiel was reading things right perhaps friendship wasn’t the only thing they had to offer one another.

[manikas-whims]

A Tantalizing Surprise

[Read on AO3]

for Kanej Week (@kanejweek) Day 5: Love (domesticity)

It took around eight years and a lot of mutual support to achieve this level of intimacy. But he was glad they never gave up..

• Friend 1: write Inej in a silk dress and some sexy Kanej moment Friend 2: No! Write injured Kaz being patched up by Inej Me: *an unbiased friend* mixes both requests into this fic ~♥ • I headcanon Liddies being a gang run by women :)

Kaz Brekker utterly despised private parleys. Majority of the time they were a farce. Excuses crafted in order to get him alone and put an end to his reign forever. Everytime a haughty barrel boss offered him a drink or a condescending mercher invited him for dinner, it wasn't for the sake of striking amiable business deals with him. But to drive a knife through his rotten heart or shoot a bullet into that scheming head of his.

And yet he had agreed to meet the leader of the Liddies in a small coffee house on the bustling streets of the East Stave. They were stirring up too much ruckus and if left unchecked any longer, they'd embolden every other gang to go against the Dregs. Dirtyhands couldn't let that happen, now could he?

As suspected, no pleasantries were exchanged. The door was jammed shut immediately upon his arrival.

Their lieutenant, a burly, middle-aged brunette, attacked first. She tried smashing her wooden bat into his face but thankfully Anika blocked in time with a crowbar. Two other females followed, swinging rustic metal pipes at him which he managed to counter with his cane. Roeder was struggling on the other side, engaged in a one-on-one with their spider.

"This ends tonight, Brekker." Their leader howled from her perch atop a stool. "Barrel needs a queen."

"Barrel already has one." He responded calmly.

"The little whore? The one who's barely in this city?" she grinned sharply, getting up.

"Careful." His gaze turned steely and his gloved fingers flexed tensely onto the crow head of his cane. "I can gut you and your ladies for insulting my Wraith."

"I'd like to see you try." She sneered, madly lunging at him with her bare hands.

He sighed. This was going to be a long night.

The fight lasted for an hour. Liddies finally ran off when more Dregs arrived on the scene and broke down the coffee house's door.

Kaz dictated his gang to double the security around the Crow Club and his other establishments just in case. He then dug his fingers into his right leg in hopes of quelling a little of the ache there as he dragged himself back to his place. Not the slat anymore but a luxurious mansion on the Geldstraat. He had purchased it under a pseudonym after Councilman Hoede had passed away three years ago.

Blame Wylan for making him waste his kruge on a deadman's house. Though the dark wood walls and coffered ceilings looked amazing upon his first visit, he did get a few things renovated. Such as converting the dilapidated Grisha workshop into an ordinary shed and the addition of wild geraniums to the vast variety of flowering plants in the gardens.

Despite his habits, he pulled out a key that he kept within the hidden pocket on the left side of his coat and swiftly unlocked the large, black, entrance gates. The next few minutes of the long walk through the front stone pavement didn't feel regal, atleast not to his leg. He retrieved another key upon reaching the main doors. It was an odd experience every time— to enter a house this big without utilizing his skills in lock-picking.

He didn't stop to admire the blown glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling or the stolen DeKappel displayed mockingly on the opposite end of the hall. He simply braced himself for the walk up the long staircase leading towards the more private quarters of the mansion.

His steps came to a halt only when he reached the master bedroom. And that too, not because it had been his destination all along but because he felt her presence.

He shook his head in disbelief. Maybe six months of being apart were taking a toll on him, playing tricks with his senses. Or maybe it was just an effect of blood loss due to the cut he'd taken during the fight with the Liddies.

He turned the knob and entered, the room same as ever. A bookshelf tucked in the left corner from the door, a vanity table with a full-length mirror right next to it; a door leading to the balcony and another door to the bathroom on the other end. And of course, the king-size bed atop which his eyes found her tantalizing form, aglow under the golden flame of the dimly burning lone candle.

Kaz regarded her silently. Her lithe frame was covered in a purple, silk nightgown that left barely anything to his imagination. Or rather, it was exactly the sight he envisioned every night. An ideal reverie where he pulled her onto his lap and kissed down the delicious curve of her neck. A fantasy where he relished in her whispers of his name. A fantasy where they did all the unholy things they're capable of now. A fantasy he had been yearning for yet kept locked in the darkest recesses of his twisted mind.

But this was different. This woman in his bed had longer hair and was far more breathtaking than any imagery he could will his mind to conjure. This was real. She was real.

"Saints!" She slid off the bed. "Kaz, what happened?"

Yes, she was real.

And she had chosen an interesting outfit for their reunion.

But it was unusual of her to dock in Ketterdam and not send a runner to let him know. Not to mention, she had somehow managed to sneak into their mansion without any keys.

"You're hurt!"

He scoffed at her concern and proceeded to discard his coat. After all the times they've fought and bled together, she should be used to witnessing him a little roughed up.

He peeled off his gloves with methodical ease and tossed them onto the table. Then he tentatively reached for one of her hands, his thumb stroking along the pulse in her wrist. There was no harm in confirming she was real and alive.

"Welcome back, Wraith."

She freed her wrist, completely ignoring his greeting, and placed her palms over his stubbled cheeks. Fortunately, no waves lapped up his skin. So he let her turn his face this way and that to check for any signs of injuries. When she found none, she smiled in relief and pulled his face down so their lips could meet. His arms immediately snaked around her waist. And he was glad her only reaction was a soft sound of contentment, not tensing or vanishing in his hold. It took around eight years and a lot of mutual support to achieve this level of intimacy. But he was glad they never gave up and worked together to get accustomed to one another's touch.

The contact overwhelmed him everytime, in a good way of course. It was exhilarating to be able to brush his lips against hers. A common gesture for most couples but a very big accomplishment for them. Just like everything else.

Everytime they shed a piece of their armor, touched longer, touched more, they counted it as a new milestone. He was thankful to their patience and to whichever of Inej's saints had blessed them for their persistent efforts.

The kiss deepened with every passing moment, all those months of separation provoking their dormant desires. But as soon as his tongue slid past her mouth, he felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen and broke away. "Fuck! What the hell, Wraith!?"

In trailing her hands along his torso, she had accidentally discovered the cut wound on the left side of his lower abdomen. She glared down at the small dot of blood staining his clothes. "You have absolutely no sense of self-preservation!"

He laughed at the furrow of her brows as she pushed him back until he was seated in a chair. "Takes one to know one."

He heard her huff before she disappeared inside the bathroom and returned seconds later with a roll of bandage, cotton swabs, and a disinfectant.

The blade of the knife had torn past both his vest and shirt but fortunately, barely grazed his skin. The cut wasn't deep or life-threatening, only seeping slow trickles of blood. However, that didn't stop his fiercely gentle partner from worrying. She began undoing the buttons on his vest and in the heat of the moment, he joked. "Someone is eager."

This time she glared at him directly and resumed her task. She was cautious in shrugging off the vest. Even more whilst removing his sweaty shirt.

As soon as the disinfectant-soaked cotton pad grazed his wound, he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Care to explain why I wasn't informed of your arrival?" He gritted out through the light haze of pain. He wasn't mad. But had he known, he would've cleared his schedule for her. Denied that parlay altogether and avoided being injured.

Her hands hesitated in cleaning the blood. "I wanted to surprise you."

Now his brows quirked.

"And was this part of the surprise?" He stared at the thin slip of nightdress snug on the curves of her beautiful body. His voice lowered an octave. "You put this on for me?"

She chewed on her bottom lip, a small action he had noticed her doing when in contemplation. "My intention was to doll-up for the King of the Barrel."

He shook his head, tugging on the hem of her dress. "Seems to me the Queen of the Seas was intent on arousing me with her alluring silks."

She punched his shoulder lightly. "You're bruised and bleeding and this is what you think?"

"Inej," He spoke earnestly, his ardent gaze focused on her as she continued bandaging him, "I always think about you."

"Aside from when I'm out there making money." He added as an afterthought.

She giggled.

He waited until she was done tying the last knot of the bandage to stand up. His fingers disappeared beneath her dress, glided tenderly over the flesh of her thighs in the moment he lifted her up. Her legs naturally came to wrap around his waist and she looked at him. "Kaz?"

He responded with a soft, lingering kiss before pulling back, his breath fanning her lips. "Still in the mood to surprise me?"

She nodded, her eyes averted shyly for once as he carried her towards the shower.

[lizbotw]

it’s only sharing a disgustingly sweet milkshake at the local college town diner after both of your evening classes that suna graciously provides the answers to the math homework.

the spongy pencil eraser is easy for you to sink your teeth into as you puzzle over his handwriting. “you know,” you mumble around the nib, trying to figure out if that’s a 5 or a 6, “i never know why you do this to me every week.” this time the drink with two plastic straws floating in an unhealthy heaping of whip cream is a syrupy strawberry flavor.

rintarou tips forward to sip at one of them and in your peripheral, chunky pink-coated fruit pieces travel up the clear tube and disappear between his lips. he releases the straw with an annoying ah that makes you frown, even if you weren’t concentrating in the first place. “aw, don’t tell me you don’t like hanging out with me.” he feigns hurt.

a well placed sip of your own allows you to avoid having to answer that—you have a personal rule of never being sappy in the presence of calculus. if you didn’t like him, suna knows you wouldn’t be hanging out with him—there are just some things you can’t do, even if it’s for the sake of your grade. none of this has to be said out loud of course, but he decides to be annoying and ask anyway.

actually—well... maybe hanging out is... not exactly how this appears to bystanders.

sharing a drink like this, you two probably look more like a couple on a (terribly cheap) afternoon date, rather than two broke college students that split meals to save money and believe that sharing answers for homework isn’t cheating, it’s collaboration.

ha, as if it would ever be different—things like the former never come true. maybe in movies, but that’s about where the line is drawn.

as if he knows what you’re thinking, suna raises an eyebrow at you over the glass, a smile playing on his lips—the same stupid look he always gives you. it feels particularly worse this evening.

it’s hard to avoid eye contact with him mere inches away, but you manage when a car painted a very interesting shade of red rumbles past the fingerprint covered window. you’re grateful for the distraction.

the subject changes when you realize suna has terrible taste when it comes to ordering milkshakes. “what flavor is this?” you spit out the word as though the very concept of calling this a real flavor is more disgusting than the drink itself, smacking your lips and screwing up your face at the excessively saccharine, artificial strawberry aftertaste.

this is no ordinary strawberry milkshake. no, this is a so-bad-only-suna-rintarou-would-order-something-this-horrible-(and-not-necessarily-on-purpose-either) strawberry milkshake.

“valentine’s valor,” he states matter-of-factly like those words mean anything to you. you stare at him until he elaborates. “their valentine’s special,” he clarifies and is gifted with a sarcastic thumbs-up from you in thanks—it is pointedly ignored and suna slings an arm over back of his seat. “dunno the exact flavor though. forgot.”

it tastes like the embodiment of pink, you decide. valentine’s valor. what a stupid name. there are a million and one better words that start with v... you can name at least five with a little thinking. you should ask them to hire you as part of their marketing team, you decide.

maybe it’s fitting title though. you certainly need valor to even think about taking another sip of that... concoction—which you do because you are obsessed with getting your money’s worth.

“valentine’s day was half a week ago?” your mental calendar helpfully supplies.

the clatter of pans in the back kitchen somehow mingles charmingly with the way rintarou throws his head back to laugh—a scene straight out of a movie really. you decide you hate him in the moment. “right you are. want a prize?” ugh. you stick your tongue out at his tone.

great. as if to add insult to injury, of course you’re sharing an out-of-date love holiday special with suna of all people. valentine’s was four days ago and this is where you are on a thursday night. the sticky upholstery of the booth seat, ripped and fraying at the corners, squeaks and groans and attaches itself to the fabric of your jeans as you shift around, suddenly hot. what a strange situation to be in, you think. this has to be a metaphor for life—then again, you’d been thinking this whole... thing has been a metaphor anyway.

yup, ever since suna sat next to you in a calculus II lecture all those fated months ago and took pity on how much you fucking sucked at math, up until the present where he takes slightly less pity on you but does enjoy emptying your dorm mini-fridge and making you pay for his milkshakes—all of it. this entire thing with him. one big stupid metaphor.

the specifics of how you came to have a routine like this are certainly murky, but two things are for certain—one, your calculus grade is certainly a lot better than it would have been otherwise, and two, you have one friend more than you did at the start of the school year. (that last one is kind of a big deal, you think. the college social scene is brutal. the word friend has started to become more disappointing than exhilarating lately though.)

rin reaches to your left to pick at the fries you’d ordered as a side—you’ve learned not to try and stop him. “also,” he adds, mouth full, “you’re totally getting me a new pencil after this.” yes, true, the pencil you’re currently leaving frustrated teeth marks all over isn’t yours. very easy to forget in the moment. you’ve probably destroyed 15 of his pencils by now for the 15 weeks of the last semester—only 7 so far for the current one. you do the mental math.

instead of drawing in the sharp lines of the differential equation that should be going in the question box, you lightly trace in the curves of a 2 and then another one next to it in the corner of the worksheet, graphite underlining them both in one swoop. the horribly thin paper of the school library’s printer is scratchy as you write but soon you flip the pencil over and under your fingers to tap the eraser (that has seen better days) just below what you wrote. “this is pencil number 22.”

suna leans over to look at the number as if you hadn’t just told him what it said. what an idiot. “glad you’re keeping count.” he settles back into his seat. “when can i expect my reimbursement?”

“you’re funny,” you say, without a hint of humor in your voice. the pretty 22 you had written now has flower petals growing off of the sides as you get distracted doodling along the edges of your work. it’s quiet for a moment as he watches you, or maybe as he takes the chance while you’re distracted to shove more french fries down his throat—either option is plausible and you don’t lift your eyes to check.

something occurs to you.

“rin.” you take an extended pause in between the words as you continue drawing, just to annoy him. you don’t continue speaking until he grumbles in acknowledgment (you try to hide your smile). “do you ever doodle in your notebooks?” now that you thought about it, suna was surprisingly pretty straight-laced when it came to class—you couldn’t ever recall him ever slacking off to the degree that meant his pages were filled with hearts and stars and flowers and suns and atomically inaccurate animals and tiny people in different colored ink. your work was always certainly the more vibrant out of the two (perhaps that could explain your grades and how you understand like... nothing in your lectures, but you decide correlation does not equal causation).

“waste of time,” he says around another mouthful of fries, another one already halfway there to his mouth.

suna is also surprisingly negative at times—but the blue book flipped open to his homework says maybe he’s just a liar though. you squint at it.

“it’s still pretty early but we probably should get out of here soon,” suna says, pulling his phone out from his pocket to check the time and leaning his elbows on the table. “i’ll walk you back. your roomie doesn’t leave the gym until 9—before you ask, yes i’ve been keeping track. it’s not stalking if it’s for my own sake.”—rin is, of course, referring to the long standing rivalry between him and your (very nice, might you add) roommate you don’t really understand but which has cumulated in him deciding he would avoid them as much as humanly possible purely out of spite. (“the only person i like in dorm 302 is you,” he’d told you one time and the throwaway sentence maybe made your heart flutter more than it probably should’ve.)

the bell above the front door jingles behind you as another patron enters. rin glances up at the sound and then returns to his phone with a bored bat of his eyes, probably scrolling through twitter or replying to texts, and picking at his teeth with a toothpick (where did he even get that?).

you try to get back to work (copying) but something in your gut tells you there’s more to his notebook than the messy handwriting and crossed out words that meet the eye.

with suna distracted, you take the chance to carefully slide the book towards you and then, in a single quick swipe, pull it into your lap under the table, already leafing to the back pages—everyone knows that’s where the real secrets are—not sure what to expect. a flash of color makes you pause and you flip back to a page that has the corner folded into a tiny, crisp triangle.

whatever you were thinking suna had stashed in the back of his calculus notebook certainly does not match up with what’s staring you in the face currently. sparkly, gel-inked hearts in neon colors glitter under the fluorescent overheads. in each of them, written in capital letters neater than you thought possible for suna, is your initials, a small plus sign in the middle, and then S.R. (for none other than suna rinatoru) next to it. it instantly makes sense to you. “rin, what the fuck.” one side of the book dangles from your hand, pages fluttering, and you hold it up for him to see, other hand flying to cover your mouth because you don’t know whether to laugh or pretend to be mortified or what.

it’s very amusing to watch how suna goes from a disinterested stare, to widened eyes, to reaching over the heaps of school supplies to attempt to grab the book from you, frantic. you hold it just out of reach. “what are you—” an old lady at a table shushes him when he half-screams. “—give that back,” suna whisper-yells instead in the greatest verbal equivalent of tiny caps you’ve ever heard.

“not a chance.”

he looks like he wants to lunge across the table and pry his prized possession from your meddling hands, but also has half the mind not to make a scene. getting kicked out and then subsequently banned from his favorite diner all on a noise complaint and disorderly conduct accusation was not ideal.

you hum, flip back to your place, and observe the drawings covering the lined pages. you shoot him a venomous smirk over the edge of the cover, one that’s more theatrics than anything, and say with all the satisfaction of someone who knows they have all the power, “oh, this is gold.” he deflates and you feel grateful he doesn’t see right through your facade because oh man are you sweating inside right now. what the fuck? no way suna rintarou is drawing little hearts with both of your initials in it like a lovesick middle schooler. no fucking way. you almost want to tell him that you did the same thing once when the thoughts about him had gotten especially bad (you felt guilty afterwards though, thinking you never had a chance with him, but... now... if he’s doing the same—well, that kind of changes everything).

suna is utterly defeated you think—doesn’t even try to defend himself, just slumps in his seat with a groan. you at least expected a “i can explain!” from him, a last attempt at dignity, not the resigned “i’m never going to live this down, am i?” he mumbles after a few seconds. well, either works for you.

“nope,” you quip, maybe a little too cheerfully because the response you receive is a distressed wail and him banging his head against the table. the old lady shushes him again. you chuckle at that (it feels a little wobbly though because once again, freaking out here) and flip the page. you stop.

this one has similar perfect little hearts drawn all over it, but there are other things. cute, standard shaky drawings of misshapen dogs and volleyballs and other things you never thought suna would take it upon himself to create but all of which make sense are there. but there’s something else. little scribbles in the corners with your last name swapped with his and even him trying out his name with your last one—all of them are scratched out but not so much you can’t read them. a list on the right in a very tiny font that makes you think he was embarrassed even penning the words is titled “date ideas?” (the question mark is in red and the dot is a heart) and has several popular spots around town written down in the local lingo of unofficial names for them.

“listen... please let’s forget about this.” rin’s voice is muffled and he’s still faceplanted. “it’s fine if you don’t... you know... yeah.” if you don’t feel that way, he means. true, the doodles were a pretty good indication of his feelings.

what to do...

well... you take pity on him, let your lips upturn and your eyes soften to reflect the sentiment, and shut the book with a quiet thud. you slide it back across the table from where it came and back to him silently. you give it a resounding pat when suna peeks up at you, expression saying it all—he was so going to get you back for this. you stick your tongue out—acceptance of the challenge. and just like that, you’re friends again—maybe that’s what’s so great about suna.

as you get ready to leave and slowly begin the trek back to the dorm buildings with him, street lamps glimmering a pasty yellow, there’s no awkward tension, no need to ask questions, no verbal wonderings about what ifs between you two. it’s just joking and shoving each other around and challenges to see who can run to the next tree the fastest in the middle of the chilly february night. you know, maybe for now you’ll keep your own thoughts a secret.

[lottiebagley]

Till forever falls apart- Fred Weasley

Out on our own Dreamin' in a world that we both know It's out of our control But if shit hits the fan, we're not alone

Fred Weasley lived in his own little world. He had his friends who he eagerly invited in but he was never particularly aware of the world around him. He never needed to look any further than his circle of friends.

She fell in love with Fred Weasley instantly. From the moment she saw him she wanted to be around him. Something about him made her heart beat faster and her mind run miles. She wanted Fred Weasley in every room she entered.

He never really noticed her.

She was the year below him at school and he never needed to know who she was.

His little world didn't include her and so he barely realised she existed.

That was until she arrived at his quidditch practice in floods of tears in the middle of his third year at school.

Fred had watched in shock when Oliver Wood immediately called a break mid-practice, something he never does, and rushes down to the crying second year.

Fred notices as he flies back towards the ground that despite being in tears the girl is beautiful. Something about her so raw and vulnerable. He pushes the thought away because what 13 year old is looking at a 12 year old, he doesn't quite understand the difference between them is a mere 6 months.

"What's got Wood all caring? Hope he's not dating a child the pedo," Fred jokes to his friends who all seem to look at him like he's grown a second head, even Harry, who had only been on the team for four months.

"That's his sister you moron," Angelina Johnson states, rolling her eyes.

Thinking really hard Fred can almost remember knowing that Oliver Wood had a sister, he just never took the time to realise who she was. He watched from afar as Oliver comforts the girl before she settles in the stands and practice resumes.

The entire time Fred feels drawn to her. Glancing towards her every so often and watching as she reads her book, occasionally glancing up at the practice.

When Oliver finally calls time Fred watches as the girl walks down to the pitch, eaves dropping as Oliver tells her to wait for 5 minutes while he changes. Fred sees his opportunity to talk to her, wanting too not just because she's beautiful but because something about her seems to pull him in, he runs to the locker room and grabs his bag before heading out to the pitch where she's standing.

"Hey, I'm Fred," He grins brightly to the girl who blushes just from the way he looks directly into her eyes, looks into them like he can see her very soul.

"I'm y/n, Oli's sister," She introduces herself, he nods

"You alright? You- well-"

"Showed up a sobbing mess?"

"Yeah," He nods, chuckling a little at how direct she is

"I'm fine. I've been arguing with this girl in my dorm a bit recently. I'll be honest she's kind of a bitch,"

"Really? Who is she? I'll prank her for you," Fred offers brightly

"Florrie Watson, but you really don't have to. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble,"

"I have no clue who that is but just you wait, once I find this Florrie Watson she won't know what hit her. And don't even worry about me getting into trouble, I've done it for much less beautiful girls," Fred promises, the girl giggles a little and Fred would do anything to be the cause of that giggle again and again for the rest of his life.

"Thanks Fred," She smiles, he grins back brightly, fishing around in his bag

"Here, have a chocolate frog, they always make me feel better," He offers, she smiles gratefully accepting the frog as Oliver exits the changing room. He strides over, nodding his end in a goodbye to Fred before leading the girl off talking about a game or exploding snap and some hot chocolate.

Fred Weasley would never forget the image of her, a few feet away, turning over her shoulder to shoot him a warm smile.

Three days later she arrives at breakfast to see Florrie Watson with bright green hair and exploding boils on her face. When she looks to Fred he sends her a knowing wink before returning to his breakfast.

She was utterly in love with Fred Weasley and maybe one day he would feel the same. 

Cause you've got me and you know That I've got you and I know

Fred does feel the same. He doesn't realise for a while but he falls just as hard.

Once she's become part of his little world she is a staple of it.

They chat in the common room, she helps out with pranks, they tease Oliver together.

They grow close over the next two and a half years and so on the platform ready for his sixth year at Hogwarts, Fred is more than excited to see her.

Although, he had probably been in love with her for a while, the realisation happens all at once.

He turns around to see her charging down the platform, skillfully avoiding bumping into people, as she runs towards him and George. She has a bright grin on her face and her eyes are shining with excitement.

She throws her arms around Fred who wraps her in a tight hug lifting her into the air to spin her around.

It's as her easy laughter floats into his ears he realises he's a goner.

That he is madly in love with her.

Despite feeling anxious at the realisation he wouldn't have it any other way.

He places her down gently and smiles happily as she grins up at him "Missed you Freddie," She grins and with that she's moving to pull George into an equally tight hug.

"I'll never understand why you come from Scotland all the way to London to go back to Scotland," George teases her as he releases her from his tight grip.

"Becuase floo powder takes literally seconds and otherwise everyone gets fun memories and I don't,"

"So you're scared of missing out," George deadpans

"You're happy to see me, right Freddie?" She beams, turning to the boy who is staring at her with a love struck grin on his face

"Couldn't be happier sweetheart," He confirms, she grins even bigger, although he hadn't thought it possible, before turning back to George

"See Georgie, some people actually like my presence," She jokes

"Don't remember saying I didn't," He chuckles, raising his hands in mock surrender, she laughs loudly, swatting his hand down. She moves to say something but is stopped when her name is squealed from across the platform.

"I'll talk to you guys later," She informs, turning to run towards her best friend, the very Florrie Watson that Fred once pranked.

"George?"

"Yes, Fred."

"I think I'm in love with her," Fred speaks with confidence

"About time you figured it out," George smiles, patting his brother's shoulder with a laugh

If the tide takes California I'm so glad I got to hold ya And if the sky falls from Heaven above Oh, I know I had the best time fallin' into love

She was almost 100% sure she had no chance with Fred Weasley, that and that alone is why when Cormac McLaggen asks her out she says yes.

"Hi boys," She smiles, leaning over the sofa to stick her head between Fred and George

"You smell good," Fred comments, not really thinking about what he is saying but immediately recognising the scent as the one coming from the potions classroom that morning.

"Thanks Freddie," She grins happily

"You look good too, what's the occasion?" Lee questions, he's the only one who can fully see her from his arm chair across from the sofa the twins are sat on

"I've got a date," She shrugs. Fred feels his heart sink as he takes a deep breath, mustering his best fake smile, before putting on a 'totally fine' act, not wanting her to think he is mad, although right now he's thinking up a thousand ways to make whatever boy she's about to go on a date with's life a misery.

"Show us the outfit then," He chimes cheerily, she moves away to come around the sofa, George catching Fred's eye and sending him a sympathetic smile.

She looks beautiful as she stands in front of the boys. Fred letting out a dramatic wolf whistle and smiling when she blushes

"Give us a twirl then," George encourages, she laughs but plays along and twirls for the trio.

"Looking gorgeous," Lee compliments

"You really are," George adds. She smiles at them both before turning to Fred, his the only opinion that ever really mattered to her.

"You think I look alright?" She questions, he wonders for a second how she seems so anxious, like he doesn't think she looks like a piece of art people would wait hours to see even when she's just in her pjs in the common room.

"You look better than alright darling, absolutely beautiful. He's a lucky guy," He grins happily. She blushes a bright red, moving to respond before her name is called from across the room.

"See you later," She smiles to the trio before rushing off towards Cormac McLaggen who is eyeing the girl like she's a piece of meat.

Fred watches as he leads her out of the common room with a scowl on his face "Seriously? McLaggen of all people? If Oliver knew he'd murder Cormac and then he would murder us for letting it happen," He grumbles, receiving sympathetic grunts of agreement from his friends.

We've been livin' on a fault line And for a while you were all mine I've spent a lifetime givin' you my heart I swear that I'll be yours forever 'til forever falls apart 'Til forever falls apart

Fred feels his heart sink at the sight in front of him. Cormac McLaggen dancing at the ball with a girl who is most definitely not his current girlfriend.

He's exiting the ballroom quicker than his friends can work out what's going on. "She's in her dorm," it's the voice of Florrie that makes him stop his frantic search, turning to look at her, thinking it best to have a clue what's going on before he charges full steam at a problem.

"What happened?"

"He broke up with her this morning so he could bring Romilda. I tried to force her to come anyway but she didn't want to. Managed to talk her into her dress and we did her hair and makeup but she just wouldn't actually leave the dorm,"

"Prick!" Fred grumbles, shooting the younger girl a thankful smile, before running off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

When he arrives, slightly breathless, outside her dorm his heart sinks even further in his chest. He can hear her sniffles from inside her dorm, raising his hand to knock on the door.

"Florrie, please, I really don't want to go," she calls, her voice cracking a little.

"It's Fred," he calls back

"Oh, do you need anything?"

"Just wanna see you sweetheart," he responds gently

"You should be at the ball,"

"So should you," he calls, "I'm coming in," he adds.

The sight makes his blood boil in anger but also makes his heart beat race.

She looks beautiful, a long silver ball gown flowing around her, her hair curled and falling gently around her head, her makeup is smudged from crying but he can tell before the tears it was done to perfection. She looks like an angel walking the earth and he wants to kiss her right there and then.

At the same time though, he notices her red eyes and the tracks of mascara on her face. He thinks about Cormac and how horrendously he treated her and it takes everything in him not to turn around, march back to the hall and kill the stupid boy.

"You look beautiful,"

"I look a mess," she responds

"A beautiful mess," he sighs, moving to sit next to her on the narrow single bed.

"You look handsome Freddie," she smiles, resting her head on his shoulder, exhausted from crying all day.

"Thank you darling," he grabs her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze "There's no chance I can talk you to coming to the hall is there?" He asks

"No. You should get back though, I don't want to ruin your night,"

"Well my plans were to stare at the most beautiful girl in school from across the hall which I can't do when you're sat up here," he's completely honest but she laughs like it's a joke.

"It's your one ball at school,"

"Look, I know you don't quite realise how important you are to me, but I'm not just leaving you a crying mess on your own. So, you and I will stay up here all night," he decides

And they do.

He steals snacks from under Ron's bed and they sit up in her bed eating them. He makes her laugh and she cheers up a little. He catches Bertie Botts every flavour beans in his mouth and smears Cauldron Cake filling on her nose.

He talks her into dancing around her dorm with him. It's fast at first, music playing from her friends record player. When a slow song comes on he holds her close and strokes his hand up and down her back, she rests her hands on his shoulders and stares up into his eyes with a too quick heart beat and a need to kiss the boy she's head over heels for.

They drop to her bed, laying up as she explains what happened. She tells him that she never really liked Cormac all that much and it was the shame and embarrassment that hurt so much, it was the feeling of worthlessness.

Her friends filtered back from the ball one by one, finding them fast asleep in their ball outfits, her head on his chest and his arms holding her close.

So this is it, that's how it ends I guess there's nothing more romantic than dying with your friends And I'm not sorry for myself I wouldn't want to spend a minute lovin' anybody else

"Where too next pretty girl?" Fred questions with a smile, his arms  wrapped around her shoulder, holding her to him as they walk through the warm streets of Hogsmeade, the first drops of summer warming the couple.

"Three Broomsticks?" She suggests, taking a lick of the caramel ice cream Fred had insisted on buying her in Honeydukes.

"Sure," He nods, beginning to walk in the right direction, swinging his Zonko's bag in his empty hand "How's the ice cream?"

"As good as ever, you wanna try some?" She questions, taking another lick before tilting her head upwards to look at him, he shrugs in agreement before a smirk takes over his face.

Her eyebrows raise in question before his thumb comes down, hand cupping her jaw, the thumb swiping over the corner of her lip and collecting a smear of ice cream, he pops it into his mouth, sucking the caramel flavour off as she stands staring up at him, eyes a little wide and mouth a jar.

"It's good," He nods, casually dropping his arm back around her shoulder and continuing on his was towards the pub. She allows herself to be tugged along, slightly in awe and massively in love as he somehow manages to act nonchalant, in reality his insides feel like they're on fire.

"Hey, Fred?" She questions as they walk, he hums gently in response, eyes flickering down to look at her

"Why no date this weekend?" She questions casually.

"Haven't been on a date in a while if I'm honest," He admits casually. It was true, for a while Fred was serial dater, she was so unattainable and so he occupied himself, tried to find someone who would make his heart beat just as fast as she did. That was until George informed him the more girls he dated who weren't her the less likely she was to admit to liking him if she felt the same, George knew she did, he could tell, not that Fred believed him.

"Very out of character," She teases, a smirk falling to her face "You lost all your game?"

"Why don't you consider how much you blushed when I tried your ice cream and answer that yourself?" He smirks, watching as she blushes once more but rolls her eyes at him.

The afternoon passes pleasantly, harmless flirting that makes them both overthink carrying the conversation.

It was a joke at first.

He had snuck into a small florist whilst she was talking to a girl from her year.

When he had returned to her side, the flowers held behind his back until the girl was gone, he smiles politely along with the conversation.

She had turned to him, ready to ask where he wanted to go next, and blushed madly when he held out a bouquet of sunflowers to her, he knew they were her favourites.  She had taken them with a bashful smile and a teasing 'what have you done wrong to butter me up with flowers'

And it had been a joke when he responded.

"Nice guys buy their dates flowers Wood,"

The reality of what he said hit the pair hard as his eyes widen at the realisation. He can practically see the cogs turning in her head before she whispers

"Is this a date?"

He almost lies. Tells her she's insane and that she's like a sister and he had just been messing with her.

But then he sees it.

The flicker of hopefulness in her eyes.

"I hope it can be," He admits, breathless although he's not quite sure what from.

"Okay, date it is," She confirms, tugging the flowers to her chest in one hand and taking his hand in the other.

'Cause you've got me and you know That I've got you and I know

Fred's foot taps loudly on the floor, a rapid beat ringing through the kitchen.

"You're up early," Molly comments as she enters the kitchen, she's unsurprised by her son's presence in the kitchen even though it is hours before he would normally wake up.

"My girlfriend gets here today. Merlin, mum, you didn't forget did you?" He questions.

It had taken hours and hours for Fred to be able to convince his mother and all the other adults involved to allow his girlfriend to stay for the last two weeks of summer given the location of the Order was supposed to be a secret.

It was eventually Remus' declaration of trust for the girl over dinner after a meeting one night that forced the adult's agreement. "Of course not sweetheart," His mother assures, a loving smile on her face as she watches her son who she's never seen happier. "You know she's not getting here until the afternoon though and that Remus is meeting her in Diagon Alley and he hasn't even woken up yet, let alone left,"

"I know. Just couldn't sleep," Fred admits, rolling his eyes at the beam that overtakes Molly's face

"You really love her?"

"I do. If it means anything I think you will too,"

"I'm sure I will dear," Molly smiles, squeezing her son's shoulder before moving to prepare breakfast.

6 hours later the door is pulled open and Fred feels his heart practically double in size. She hadn't been expecting her boyfriend to be sat on the stairs staring at the front door waiting for her, he had been there since his old professor left. She had been talking happily with the older man, something about her brother's new quidditch job from what Fred heard before she's silenced.

She let's out a mildly shocked laugh when two arms wrap around her, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around in circles. He places her back to the ground, staring down at her with a bright grin that's mirrored on her face as she stares back up.

Half the order and all the kids have now made their way to the front door to watch the couple's reunion. No one can deny that the entire house seems warmer now that their love is filling the walls. No one can question that it's love to the very truest form as they watch the couple stare at each other.

"You're entire family and a load of people I don't know are staring at us," She whispers, only he can hear and he chuckles a little, his arms still wrapped around her waist as her hands rest on his chest.

He can faintly hear the scream of Walburga Black's portrait followed by Tonks shouting 'shit I tripped, did I miss it?', her question answered by Ginny's laughter and a 'They haven't even kissed yet'

"I'm going to kiss you anyway darling, because it's all I've been thinking about for the past four weeks an-"

He's cut off when her hand tugs him down by his shirt, his lips meeting her for the first time in a month. It's not the most magical of kisses, a little toothy from both their wide grins and ruined by the onlookers and Ron's dramatic faux gags.

She pulls away quickly, not wanting to seem disrespectful and giggles when his lips chase after hers "Next time don't talk so much and just kiss me," She teases in a quiet whisper, just for him, he lets out a breathy laugh as she pats his cheek before squeezing past him in the corridor, approaching Mrs Weasley with a tentative smile.

She's pulled into a hug by the woman before being lead into the kitchen. Fred watches from the doorway as she's introduced to everyone and happily greets his siblings, a lovestruck smile on his face.

If the tide takes California I'm so glad I got to hold ya And if the sky falls from Heaven above Oh, I know I had the best time fallin' into love

Fred sits on the cabinet, his legs open as she stands inside them.

"You really need to stay out of trouble," She comments quietly, trying to be gentle as she dabs the open wound on the back of his hand clean.

"Better it's me than the 11 year old she would have given the detention too if I didn't take the blame," Fred responds, trying not to wince at the sting of the alcohol on the cotton pad.

"I hate seeing you like this though," She sighs, he leans down to press a kiss to her forehead "You were very brave though," She compliments, throwing the red stained cotton pad into the bin as she grabs the ointment the twins made a few weeks before from the cupboard. "We're running low," She comments quietly

"I'll make some more in the morning," Fred sighs, letting his head drop back against the wall "Is there enough for George too?" His voice sounds tired but she knows if there wasn't he would stay up to make his twin more, it was the quickest way to heal the scars of Umbridge's quill.

"Yeah," She sighs gently. "Freddie?"

"What's wrong darling?" He asks, one eye fluttering open to look at his girlfriend. Not liking the anxiousness of her voice.

"I was just thinking that tomorrow I could go to Umbridge and tell her the other night was my fault, your hand is practically raw and-"

"No," He doesn't mean to snap at her but he would never, ever, let that toad of a human lay a hand on his girl. He'd take any punishment she has a thousand times before he let her take it even once.

"Fred, you can't just-"

"I mean it. I'm not letting her hurt you, alright? 'M your boyfriend, it's my job to keep you safe so no. You aren't taking the blame for her finding us kissing in a broom cupboard," He demands, she sighs as she grabs a bandage to wrap up Fred's hand

"You're killing yourself slowly Fred and I won't let you. I was just as at fault as you were and you've taken the blame for every slip up I've made all year. Even when you weren't there," She argues, her voice is soft though, not wanting to fight with him.

His hand that's not being bandaged rakes through his hair in frustration. "Please, please just let me keep you safe?" He's speaks so quietly, so full of nerves and love and every emotion in between that her heart melts a little

"You-"

"I swear to you right here that I'll start being more careful and I'll stop taking the blame for other people if it makes you worry, but, please. Angel, please, just let me look after you,"

He's practically begging and she can't help but agree, reaching up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Just start being careful alright?" She whispers the question

"Promise," He confirms quietly

"I love you Fred,"

She had been in love with him since her first year and it was the first time she ever said it to him.

She wasn't nervous though, not even for a second, she knows he loves her back, he may not have ever said it but he tells her in his own way a thousand times a day.

"I love you too sweetheart," He smiles gently, reaching his none bandaged hand to her jaw to pull her to him.

He kisses her soft and slow before she pulls away, moving her head to press a gentle kiss to the palm of his hand that's moved to cup her cheek.

"George! I'm ready to do your hand!" She calls, turning away from her boyfriend to blink away her tears, her anxiousness for his well being feeling overwhelming. George enters the small bathroom, cradling his own bleeding hand.

Neither twin mentions the redness in her eyes.

We've been livin' on a fault line And for a while you were all mine I've spent a lifetime givin' you my heart I swear that I'll be yours forever 'til forever falls apart 'Til forever falls apart

"I need to tell you something," Fred had spilt the words out over dinner, interrupting his friend groups story. She immediately turns to him, eyebrow raised in concern. She had joined his friends for dinner at his request, he'd been clingy fort he past month but she thought nothing of it until that very moment.

His brown eyes that usually held so much love and mischief seemed consumed in guilt.

"Alone," He adds hastily, trying to ignore the questioning look from Angelina Johnson across the table who had been talking about her Potions essay.

He stands, his girlfriend following behind wordlessly. Normally, he would reach out to grab her hand but he could feel the cold stare of Dolores Umbridge.

By the time he pulls her into an empty class room, too anxious to go all the way back to his dorm, he can feel his heart in his mouth.

He knew, realistically, that he should have told her months ago. Told her when the idea was first born. Not now, less than 24 hours before it happens.

"I swear to god, if you've cheated on me Fred I will cut you-"

"No!" He's quick to defend himself "Of course not. I would never, you know that," He sighs, still not sure where to find the words. "I have something to tell you but please don't be mad,"

"You can tell me anything Freddie," She reassures, sitting down on a desk as he stands in front of her

"I'm leaving," He speaks lowly

"What do you mean leaving?" she questions, eyes scrunched up like she's concentrating.

"I mean Harry gave George and I his tri-wizard cup winnings and we are dropping out of school to open a joke shop. I'm leaving tomorrow,"

"I- I don't know what to say," She admits quietly

"Well, what are you thinking?" He promts, trying to gauge her reaction

"I'm- I'm kind of mad that you didn't tell me you were leaving. That you've undoubtedly known for a while and you didn't bother to tell me. I'm worried because I'm so in love with you and I don't know what happens to us when we aren't both here, I mean I knew next year everything would change but I thought we had time to work out what we are doing. I'm sad cause I'm going to miss you like crazy, but, if I'm honest more than anything I'm so unbelievably proud of you and happy for you,"

"I should have told you. I know that. But I promise that nothing has to happen to us, I love you, not being here won't change that,"

"And you'll write?"

"Everyday," He assures, standing between her legs to press his lips to hers.

We never had it from the start 'Til death do us part

"So, what do you think?" Fred's voice questions, his hands that had been clasped over her eyes nervously ringing by his sides.

She was the first person to see the inside of the shop and both the twins, who stand on either side of her, were nervous about it.

She looks around with wide eyes, her feet spinning her in a slow circle as she takes in the bright colours of the store.

"Jeez woman, say something already," George groans, his anxiousness getting the best of him

"It's perfect," She grins, turning back to the two boys

"You really think?" Fred questions

"I do. It's like you two in shop form. I love it," She grins, flinging her arms around her boyfriend's arms as he lifts her up into the air, spinning her around as his loud laughter of excitement mixes with her giggles

"You love it?" He asks, excitement evident in his voice

"I love it," She confirms as he places her back onto the ground. She turns to hug George, smiling a congratulations.

Fred tugs her by her hand around the store, giving her the guided tour and pointing out every single product, explaining ones she hadn't seen before. She listens attentively, her heart swelling in pride and she swears she falls in love all over again as he grins at her, eyes shining.

If the tide takes California

I'm so glad I got to know ya

Fred's arms hold her close to him, her's looping round her neck as he sways them gently to the music playing through the marquee, her head tilted up to look at her boyfriend who smile back down.

"When we get married-" Fred starts, rolling his eyes when she immediately rolls her eyes

"Did you just say we?"

"Obviously we are getting married you idiot," Fred huffs, she smirks, reaching onto her tippy toes to press a kiss to his cheek "As I was saying, when we get married, it's not going to be this fancy,"

"No?"

"No. Not worth the stress, unless you want a big fancy shindig, if you do obviously we can have one, we will just put a full body binding curse on mum," He chuckles at his joke but she can hear the sincerity in his voice

"Fred Weasley I would marry you with a piece of string for a ring and only one witness,"

"So a small wedding?" He smiles, pressing a kiss to the top of her head

"Small wedding sounds good. You'll have to ask Oli for permission before you ask me though, otherwise he'll genuinely murder you,"

"I'll do that," He grins down.

She laughs it off, no idea there was a ring in his bedside draw since his first pay check at the joke shop, that he was just waiting for everything to calm down to ask.

And if the sky falls from Heaven above Oh, I know I had the best time fallin' into love

Fred feels like he can finally breathe again when he hears the door of the flat swing closed.

"Hey, I'm back," Her voice rings through the home above the joke shop.

"In the living room," He calls back, he hears her drop her keys onto the small table by the door before she arrives in the door way. Staring at him from the door way

"Thought I told you not to wait up?" She questions

"Couldn't sleep, hated not knowing if you were okay," He admits, she let's out a sigh, crossing the living room to sit next to him on the sofa.

"I know what you mean. Spent the whole day worrying if anything had happened to you," She admits, he sighs, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"How was work?" He asks softly

"Busy. The world is a mess out there," She admits, her job as a healer seemed to only get crazier with each passing day, the war raging on the streets.

"I know," He hums gently, "Did you see Oliver after you finished?"

"I did, he's good just worried about everyone," She shrugs, it was how everyone seemed to be recently.

"I'm glad your home safe,"

"I'll always get home safe to you Freddie, as long as you promise to do the same?"

"I promise angel,"

We've been livin' on a fault line And for a while you were all mine

She feels like she can't breathe when the door is pulled open, she had the address on a piece of paper in Hermione Granger's neat cursive.

For a second, as selfish as it makes her feel, she allows herself to pretend. Pretend the man standing in the doorway is him. Allows herself to pretend it's the love of her life staring at her, and, for the second she does she can almost kid herself into thinking everything is okay.

"You want to come in?"

She feels the world crash around her as she nods, allowing George Weasley to lead her into his house. He offers her a drink and she politely declines, taking a seat in his living room.

"You're staring," He comments, he doesn't seem angry, nor does he seem hurt to see her. Instead, he watches her with pity.

"Sorry, I just-" She sighs, not bothering to finish

"I do it too. I stare at my reflection and trick myself into thinking it's him,"

"I'm so sorry, that you've had to go on without him. George, I'm so, so, sorry,"

"The same to you," George smiles sympathetically. His eyes scan her, trying to work out how she is without asking. "So, that's why you're here?" He questions, nodding towards the ring that sits on her left hand.

"It is. I need to talk to you about it. I'm sorry, because I know we said that we weren't going to speak but it had to be you,"

They'd both agreed it within a few months of the war ending. Being around each other was too hard. They were the one person who reminded the other of Fred the most.

"Okay," George nods in agreement. He watches as she eyes the framed photo of his wedding day on the mantle piece before letting out a deep breath.

"I moved away, to America, after the war- I just- I needed to get away. It was 5 years before I went on a date, it was 6 before I had sex it was 7 before I had a boyfriend. I didn't want to have a relationship, not when it would never come close to the one I had with him, and it doesn't, you should know that it doesn't, but Daniel, he asked me to marry him and I said yes. But- I can't go through with it, not if you're mad at me for it,"

"I'm not mad," George speaks gently, he has a feeling that in this moment it isn't him she's speaking too at all. If it were anyone else he would be angry, but for her, he is prepared to be the bridge to Fred, because he knows the one person who loved his twin more than George himself, was the girl in front of him.

"I know. I knew you wouldn't be I just-"

"You aren't asking if I'm mad. You're asking if I think he is," George comments, he reaches across the coffee table to squeeze her hand gently

"I know. I'm so sorry George, it's not fair to you and I know that. The thing is- You knew Fred better than anyone and you- Oliver keeps telling me that it is okay. That Fred would want me to be happy and to have a husband and kids and- I want to believe him but- I need to hear it from you. From you who knew him so deeply. Wherever he is does he hate me right now?"

"Fred would want to be the one who made you happy,"

"Look, George, I believe in love. I believe in one grand love, a soulmate, a forever. I believe that Fred was mine. He was the one. He was the sun and the moon and the stars. He is the love of my life. But I want kids, George, I always wanted that, and he is gone. I believe that when you die, the person you loved most in life is waiting for you and no matter what I believe it'll be Fred who greets me. I believe that he's watching over me and every decision I ever make I can practically hear him telling me what to do. I have love for Daniel but I am not in love with him, I will never be in love with anyone like I was with Fred, he was it for me. But I can't have him. I think he knows I would always pick him, I would still pick, I wish it were him. So, George, would he hate me for having a life without him?"

"You had a forever with Fred. It wasn't your forever, but it was his. I never saw him so happy. He wouldn't hate you. Just, for me, don't forget him,"

"I won't George. Nothing else comes close. It never will,"

I've spent a lifetime givin' you my heart I swear that I'll be yours forever 'til forever falls apart

**

Masterlist

[beatricethecat2]

"No joy," Myka says, peeking into the static bag.

"That was the correct part, was it not?" Helena enlarges the photo on Myka's phone of a nineteenth-century elevator car housed at the Warehouse.

"I'm pretty sure. But that picture's not great." Myka slides the handle out and plops it back in to the tune of no sparks.

Helena noses around the storage space as The Dakota building's manager walks in.

"Maybe what you're looking for's in here," he says, plunking down a milk crate full of parts. "When they renovate, they save anything original."

"It's an elevator handle. From the original manual ones. Just not this one." Myka slips the part from the bag and holds it up.

"Might be in Ms. Shiva's apartment then. Parents took two cars and made them into a bar. Or could be from the one that went missing, the mysterious fourth car."

Myka and Helena share a concerned look, knowing the Warehouse took it without permission.

"Can we see the other two?" Myka asks.

"Look just like that one." The man points toward the ornately carved wooden car on the other side of the room. "Handle's that important to you, huh?"

"As architectural historians? Yes," Helena snips in a clipped, scholarly tone.

"Alright. Gimme a minute." He slips his phone out of its belt clip and walks out of the room.

Helena picks through dust-covered items in the crate. "This may be a lost cause."

"It must be upstairs. The walls are so thick, the ping could have come from anywhere."

"You said 'pickup,' not 'ping.'"

"Claudia called it a pickup yesterday! Today she called it a ping."

Helena huffs a disgruntled breath.

The manager waves a hand from the doorway. "She said it's ok to come up."

Myka follows the man, but Helena hangs back.

"Aren't you coming?" 

"I...should look through this crate."

"You know more about this stuff than me. You should come with."

"Myka, I...."

Myka steps closer and lowers her voice. "I know you're not happy about being here, but I really need your help."

Helena holds Myka's gaze but doesn't move.

"Please."

Helena nods an apprehensive yes.

"You'll tell me what's going on with you later, right?"

Helena nods again, with equal apprehension.

Myka grimaces. "Come on."

They follow the manager out of the room and into the elevator to the fourth floor.

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

The Adventures of Wells and Bering ("Warehouse 13" Season 5 replacement) Season 1: Episode 3 Title: New York City: I'm buggin' out!

Summary: After three blissful days holed up in their Philadelphia hotel room, Myka receives a call from the Warehouse asking for help. Helena proclaims New York "a cesspool" when told the pickup is in the city. Myka laughs when told Helena was last there in 1893. Told she can stay behind, Helena follows anyway, the pair taking the train to avoid driving. Helena tells tales of city adventures with her partner Wolcott as she and Myka make their way uptown. Helena tenses upon arrival at their destination, so much so, Myka can tell something is off.  Later that day, Helena reveals a long buried secret.

Previously: Episode 1, Episode 2

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

***BONUS SCENES***

After a less than jovial dinner (pictured above), Myka and Helena settle into their hotel room. Myka lounges in bed, already showered, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, nose buried in a book. Helena searches through her luggage after emerging from a shower swathed only in a robe.

"I know dinner wasn't great," Myka says, setting her book on the nightstand, "but something else's off. You've been weirdly touchy all day."

"I apologize for not being, as Claudia might say, 'all sunshine and rainbows.'" Helena yanks a t-shirt out of her suitcase. "Perhaps we should call the whole thing off." 

"What 'thing'?"

"This trip."

"Why?" Myka sits up.

"Because me being sullen is not an anomaly." 

"I know."

"Then why on earth would you subject yourself to that again?" Helena turns to face Myka and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Because you promised when you got like this you'd talk to me and I believed you."

"Fool," Helena says, the word filled with fondness rather than bite.

"Come here," Myka says, patting a spot next to her.

Helena stares at the bed but doesn't move.

"Come here..."

Helena's eyes lift to meet Myka's; the longer they stay locked, the less defiance they hold. She huffs a disgruntled breath but does as she's told. She sits stiffly, arms folded over her chest, back propped up against the headboard.

"Now, tell me what happened in that building," Myka says, laying back, turning to face Helena, head propped up by a hand. "Remember, I said I wouldn't judge you."

"You say that now..." Helena says, glancing at Myka.

"I won't," Myka says, slipping her hand over Helena's and squeezing, dragging it down to her lap, breaking her protective arm-fold.

"Where to begin," Helena grumbles, pressing her eyes closed, head falling back against the wall.

"How about..." Myka scoots up, aligning herself with Helena, all the while keeping hold of her hand. "The first time you were there, finding that artifact."

Helena rolls her head to the side and meets Myka's gaze.

Myka raises her brow and grins expectantly.

"Oh, alright," Helena grumps, sighing deeply, then lifting her head from the headboard.

"Wolly posed as an investor, and I, his wife. He and I were given guest accommodations, courtesy of Gustav Schirmer, a music publisher. We had a vague idea of what the curiosity was but needed time and access to suss out its location."

"I bet you and Wolly made a better couple than Pete and I ever did," Myka quips.

Helena huffs a short laugh. "People like us 'acted the part' on a daily basis. Anything beyond that was an extension of those fabricated selves. One had to switch 'on' any number of personas just to keep safe. It was difficult at times to remember our true selves."

"I'm sorry. That sucks."

"Easier for me than others. Though in that regard, I'm glad society seems to have changed for the better." Helena meets Myka's gaze, her eyes falling to her lips.

"Me too," Myka says as Helena cups her jaw, guiding their mouths together.

Their kiss lingers but as Helena's hand slides to the nape of Myka's neck, Myka pulls away.

"Story first," Myka says, slipping her hand over Helena's, lifting it away.

Helena pouts.

"After." Myka caresses Helena's cheek, then places a soft, brief kiss there. "I promise."

"I shall hold you to that."

"Oh, I know," Myka says, smiling. She settles back and waits as Helena collects her thoughts.

"The Dakota was unique,' Helena begins, "its design, the first of its kind in the world. A playground for 'new money,' miles away from 'civilization' further downtown. Few dared travel that far north, so their soirees were rather insular."

"That's good, right? Easier to find the artifact?" Myka says.

"Indeed. Gustav adored hosting events, along with the Steinways. Guests chased tunes all over the building as engagements spilled between apartments. Wolly and I snooped around gratuitously."

"Steinways...as in the grand-piano-maker Steinways?"

"The very same," Helena mumbles. Her eyes turn distant, a thumb rubbing idly over a knuckle, her hands linked primly on her lap. 

"Did you find the artifact?" Myka asks.

"Hmm? Oh...yes. But it took quite some time," Helena answers. "And along the way, I found something far more profound." She looks down at her lap, her hands pulling away from each other, tensing. 

"What was it?"

"I found my One."

"Y-You had a One?" Myka says, stiffening.

"All too briefly," Helena says, then glances at Myka. "To have found another is a kindness beyond anything I'd ever imagined. I'm sorry it took so long for me to believe it possible."

"You mean me?"

"I do." Helena brings Myka's hand up to her lips and kisses its palm.

"I, um, guess it's silly to be jealous of someone who lived over a hundred years ago. Especially since I know nothing about them." Myka scoots closer, cozying up to Helena. "Will you tell me?"

"Would you like to know?"

"I want to know everything about you."

"That may take some time."

"We have time, don't we?"

"Time has never been my ally. Especially with the ones I love."

"Let's change that." Myka tugs on Helena's sleeve, and the pair slip down to lie prone on the bed. She turns and snuggles up, head pillowed on Helena's shoulder, arm resting across her middle. Helena relaxes into Myka's hold and wraps an arm over Myka's.

"Tell me about your One," Myka says. "Or, your 'first' One."

"She...was an extraordinary woman," Helena answers. "Unlike any I'd ever known. We bonded instantly, which was unusual."

"How did you meet?"

"I caught her hiding from the merriment during a soiree, nose tucked in a book. One Mrs. Elizabeth Westcott." Helena smiles, obviously warmed by the memory.

"Mrs.?"

"A marriage for appearances; personal gain for two up-and-coming families. Residing at The Dakota allowed her husband to carry on extramarital affairs with less scrutiny. He cared little about her own."

"So you and she..."

"If those walls could talk," Helena says, her smile bordering on devilish. "We had several glorious years together before she..." Her smile fades in an instant.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"She died, as one does when one's husband's mistress plots to kill you."

"S-She was murdered?"

"Freak carriage accident. Never proven, but everyone knew. To ensure Elizabeth never gave him an heir, after Christina. The irony being we'd planned on running away to California soon enough--"

"Wait, Christina was Elizabeth's?" Myka lifts her head to look Helena in the eye.

"I loved her as if she were my own," Helena snaps, "spirited her away to England as soon as I could, with the housekeeper's help."

"You stole her?" Myka pushes away, falling back on her elbows, mouth agape.

"I rescued her," Helena barks, jerking upright. "That monstrous woman still had talons in her father. There was no doubt Christina wasn't safe. It's what Elizabeth would have wanted." 

Helena moves to leave, but Myka grabs her arm.

"Don't go," Myka pleads. "I'm sorry. I said I wouldn't judge you."

Helena freezes in place, her heart pounding wildly. A few moments later, she returns to Myka's side.

"Did anyone come looking for her?" Myka asks, pushing forward so as not to leave Helena stewing.

"I don't know. I doubt they could find me as only Elizabeth knew my true identity. And I never set foot in New York again."

"So literally 1893."

Helena nods, the sour look on her face softening. "I'd thought to visit her grave but haven't found the courage."

"You should go. We could go together. It'll give you closure."

"You sound so certain."

"I know it will help. I've loved and lost, too, you know."

"Indeed, you have, my love," Helena says, then sighs heavy-heartedly. "What a pair we make."

"I think we're a good match," Myka says, tugging Helena back to lie flat again. "We could take our minds off it. Make some new, pleasant memories." She slips a hand under the tie of Helena's robe.

"You did make a promise earlier," Helena replies.

"And I always make good on my promises," Myka says, drawing the tie free, brushing a fingertip over newly exposed skin. Helena quivers and relaxes back, offering no resistance as Myka fulfills her word.

End of Episode 3

-TBC-

NOTES: According to the internet, the term "buggin'" was coined in New York City. The fourth elevator really did go missing during The Dakota renovations in the 1960's (pre-landmarking). Thank you to the library for being open so I could borrow books and down some facts as this got way more involved than I meant it to become (but that's part of the fun).

This story format is...in my head, I'm calling it "TV POV." If we were watching the show, we'd see things but not hear the character's thoughts, so that's what I'm going for, I think? Broad strokes and quicker resolutions due to the 45 minute-ish run time (or would this show be a 25 minute one? Hmm.) Let me know if that's not working at all. I mean these are obviously pastiches of content - the images come first then the stories materialize afterwards. They are supposed to be short and clippy - plenty of room for the reader to fill in the blanks - but this one got away from me! Also Tumblr keeps making the second image blurry and I can't figure out why...

[krappykawa]

ಌ i mildly like you more than like (p.3)

— in which an incessant fan girl, a kiss, and a little bit of denial makes oikawa tooru realize he might mildly like you more than like

description. you’ve been in love with oikawa tooru for longer than you can remember. having known him for the better part of nearly 11 years, you’ve come to accept that you’ll never be more than a best friend to him. but with the help of a few irritatingly persistent fangirls and a kiss that was only meant to drive them away, a tale of unrequited love might just prove to be something more. 

oikawa tooru x f!reader, fluff, angst, childhood best friends to lovers

word count. 4.5k

parts. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

note. this was only supposed to be a three part story but it keeps getting away from me 🧍🏻‍♀️ anyways i hope you guys like this chapter 😼

Oikawa tries to deny the way his heart skips a beat every time you’re around, he really does. He tries to ignore that his eyes constantly move to wherever you are in a room (though he feels as if maybe he’s always done that, but he tries not to dwell on it). He tries to ignore the incessant pull towards you and how he always finds himself reaching for your hand when he shouldn’t. But he’s not daft. He knows that something’s changed, and he knows that it’s something big. 

But he’s not quite ready to admit it - not yet. There’s one more thing he has to make sure of. 

That’s how he gets here - staring at the small letter that he holds between his fingertips and for the first time in months, debates whether or not he should accept this confession. He hasn’t accepted a confession since his ex-girlfriend, Yua had broken up with him and he hadn’t thought he would be accepting another any time in the next year. 

Yet here he is, staring at the girl in front of him and wondering if it’s worth it. He just wants to know for sure. He wants to know that what he feels for you isn’t stimulated by something false that his mind had tricked him into, because if there was anything that scared him more than his own failure, it was the thought of losing you as a best friend.

He knows that he shouldn’t do this to the girl that’s looking up at him hopefully with brown eyes full of adoration. She’s pretty, with bob-length hair and well-cut bangs to go along with a petite build and soft curves. But she’s not you, his mind immediately nags like a second instinct. He chooses to ignore it. 

He knows that it’s cruel of him to accept this confession without actually having feelings for her. He knows that by doing this he might just be living up to the stupid playboy expectation that everyone seems to place on him. 

But he needs to know. Or, if not that, he needs to forget your lips and the way you look up at him with what might be love in your eyes. He needs to, but he’s not even sure that he wants to. 

“Thank you Hishoko-san. I’m honored that you would take an interest in me. I accept your confession,” he says despite it all. The girl lights up with a megawatt smile. 

And even as he says those words, he knows that he’s making a mistake. 

You feel the old feelings of heartbreak resurfacing when Oikawa bounds up to you and Iwaizumi and announces that he’s gotten a girlfriend. The familiar ache in your chest comes back, but this time with greater force. It’s the feeling of disappointment when you’ve just barely gotten a taste of something delicious before it’s rudely knocked from your hands and lost to you. How could you forget the way his lips molded against yours and the way his eyes seemed to light up just a little brighter? You decide that it’s a cruel, cruel thing for the universe to hand you hope just to snatch it right out of your hands. 

You hadn’t wanted to let hope kindle within you for this very reason. But you were always a little more lenient with your rules when it came to the boy who’d stolen your heart and ran away with it. You let yourself hope that maybe he might just give it back.

But here it is, the striking blow of truth that those fantasies exist only in your imagination. 

“Do we know her?” The bitterness that’s so very present in your tone rings over and over in your head, playing as a constant reminder to everything you’re trying to avoid feeling. You hope that Oikawa doesn’t notice the way that your stomach is churning uncomfortably when you turn and attempt to smile softly at him. 

His gaze is on Iwaizumi when he answers, so you’re safe from any interrogation for a little while. “Iwa-chan does. She was the girl that you were partners with for that lab last year.”

“Oh. Her. She’s nice,” Iwaizumi says, his voice losing the soft touch that would usually hide beneath his harsh and unkind tone towards Oikawa. It’s not hard to tell from the quiet rage in his eyes that he’s angry. 

Oikawa cocks his head, his gaze flicking from you and up to Iwaizumi. “What’s wrong Iwa-chan? You don’t seem all that enthusiastic.”

You can practically feel Iwaizumi’s eyes burning holes into the side of your head, but you refuse to meet his gaze. If you happen to look over at him, you know that your facade would break, and you aren’t quite ready to come up with an explanation on why you’re so upset with this news. Oikawa would be able to see through that in an instant. 

Finally, after a long few seconds of pointedly avoiding his eyes, Iwaizumi looks away from you and answers Oikawa shortly. “She’s nice. I don’t know much about her though.”

You know that Oikawa must’ve noticed the brief exchange between you and Iwaizumi, but from some stroke of luck, he doesn’t question it. 

He clears his throat before turning his gaze down towards you. “What about you Y/N-chan?” There’s an odd tone in his voice that makes you look up at him. He’s staring at you with searching eyes that flick between your eyes and your lips, which makes you furrow your eyebrows ever so slightly. You’re not too sure what he’s searching for. His eyes don’t leave your face as he softly asks, “Are you two acquainted?” You think that the look in his eyes is far too serious for a situation that should be light and joyous on his end. 

It takes everything in you to tear your gaze away from his. You’re afraid that if he keeps looking at you like that, you might just start to cry. “No, I don’t think we are,” you try to say without your voice cracking. 

Oikawa doesn’t seem particularly satisfied with your answer, but it seems that he can tell that neither you or Iwaizumi really want to talk about this any further. You three walk in what might be the most awkward silence in your eleven years of friendship, the air thick with tension and unsaid words. Iwaizumi squeezes your shoulder and you feel Oikawa tense from beside you when he notices the small gesture. You can’t find it in you to care about what it might look like to him at the moment. 

“I’m really going to try this time. To make sure that I don’t neglect her,” Oikawa says again after a slightly uncomfortable silence. His gaze is aimed straight-ahead, but he looks as if he’s talking more to himself than he is to you and Iwaizumi. You want nothing more than to go home and pretend that this conversation hadn’t happened. 

Oikawa doesn’t fall in love easily. You’ve seen him go through countless relationships that barely last more than a few days because he simply can’t commit to them when volleyball has been his love for nearly his whole life. You know he doesn’t mean to hurt them and that he can’t help that his interest dwindles away. The one and only time you’d ever seen him actually fall in love was with Yua, and even then even his attempts at making them work had failed. 

So hearing him say that he was going to try again - to try and make sure that he doesn’t make the mistakes he’s made countless times wrenches at the screws in your heart. You had let yourself hope. You’d let yourself go to sleep thinking of the way he looked at you after you showed him that alien plush. You let yourself smile wider at him everytime he smiled at you with this new look in his eyes that you couldn’t help but be hopeful for. You let yourself love him freely for the first time without that nagging feeling in your mind that always told you that you were nothing more than his best friend.  And now you’re finding out that perhaps you’d imagined it all, and that instead, he was falling in love with another girl that you hadn’t known about. 

“That’s amazing, Tooru. I can’t wait to meet her,” you finally say. Iwaizumi hasn’t said a word, and you know that the moment that you get a moment alone with him, he’ll be bombarding you with questions about this recent development in Oikawa’s love life. You never quite told him of your feelings for his best friend, but Iwaizumi is almost, if not more observant than Oikawa. You’re sure that he figured it out one way or another. 

That’s why you’re glad when a girl that you had been assigned an assignment with calls out to you across the hall. You don’t even say a goodbye to either of the boys walking beside you before rushing to her side.

“You must be Y/N-san! Oikawa-kun tells me a lot about you!” Hishoko greets you with a smile. You two stand at nearly the same height, so you decide to pull her into a hug. Despite the way your heart aches at the sight of her standing next to Oikawa, you know that she’s done nothing wrong. She just happens to be in love with the same guy as you. You can’t fault her for that, not when you couldn’t even help yourself from falling for him.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” you say as you pull out of the hug. You look up at Oikawa to find him already watching you with a troubled look in his eyes. You decide not to think anything of it. 

If there’s one thing that has never failed to cheer you up, it’s your visits to Takeru’s volleyball club. Though you have never been particularly gifted at volleyball, you’ve managed to pick up on the basics with help from Oikawa and Iwaizumi over the years. 

“Y/N!” You smile brightly when you see Takeru standing next to Oikawa as you enter the gym. He runs up to you and you crouch down so that he can wrap his smaller arms around your neck. Oikawa trails after his nephew with a relaxed smile on his lips. 

You can’t help but let your gaze linger on him. He’s wearing a mint blue shirt and joggers in the Aoba Johsai volleyball team colors, a combination that was always one of your favorites on him (not that you’d ever let him know that). His hair is tousled and he’s slightly flushed from warming up with the kids that came early, though it only adds his blessed good looks. With an ache in your heart, you think that he might just be the most beautiful person on the Earth. 

After sending a small smile and nod in Oikawa’s direction, you pull slightly out of Takeru’s hold while still keeping your hands on his shoulders. He’s wearing a bright grin when he says the last thing you were expecting him to say. “Just promise not to kiss him in front of me okay? I don’t want to get either of your cooties.”

You blink at Takeru. “What?” You lock eyes with Oikawa, who seems to have an equally shocked look on his face. For a moment you feel as if everything else in the world has drowned out except for the mild hitch in Oikawa’s breathing when he hears what Takeru says.

“Takeru, what are you going on about?” There’s a mild discomfort in his voice.

“You said you got a new girlfriend and that she’s coming to the club today. Y/N always goes to the club so it has to be her! Right?”

For a second you feel as if you might just run out of the gym doors and never come back. You genuinely consider it, already thinking about what ice cream flavor you’ll be gouging on when you get home. But then you remember that doing that would probably lead to a lot of questions on Oikawa’s part, so you decide against it. 

Before you can formulate a response, Oikawa does it for you. “No, no. Not Y/N, Takeru.” He says it with a nervous laugh to his voice, but his eyes keep darting towards you. Your attempt at laughing with him sounds far too high-pitched. You’re very well aware of the fact that Oikawa knows that too. 

At a pace that would have surprised others, Oikawa seems to shed all nervousness and instead lets a joking lilt enter his voice as he puts a hand on Takeru’s shoulder and says, “Besides, neither of us have cooties, where ever did you get that idea?” 

You think back to his lips and how they most definitely did not have cooties. And even if he did, you would happily contract all the cooties in the world if it meant that you could kiss Oikawa’s lips whenever you wanted. You feel your face heat up at the thought of it. 

“One, you do have cooties ‘Kawa. And two, Takeru, you’ll love Hishoko-san. She’s very nice,” you say without looking at Oikawa. You don’t give either of them time to respond to anything you said before you stand up and pat your thighs. “I’m gonna go say hi to the other kids, if that’s okay with you, munchkin?”

As you turn to leave, Oikawa calls out from behind you. “Don’t go around defacing my name when you get there, Y/N-chan!”

“No promises, Cootiekawa!” You smile to yourself for coming up with that nickname on the fly, as childish as it is. 

“Don’t call me that!”

The little kids are bound with excitement when you walk up to them, all smiles and excited hellos. It’s funny really, how much admiration these kids have for both you and Oikawa. It warms your heart. 

By the time Hishoko walks in, you’re getting the cart of volleyballs ready after sending the kids off to get a drink of water. She looks entirely too beautiful in a flowy dress that highlights her features and you’re torn between feeling jealous that she and Oikawa make a gorgeous couple and feeling understanding that she was the one that Oikawa had fallen in love with. You send her the most convincing smile you can muster when she notices you and waves. 

When you have to turn away as Oikawa presses a kiss to Hishoko’s cheek, you’re met with a sight behind you that isn’t any more comforting. 

“Hey Y/N!” 

Kaoru is walking up to you, his hand clasped around a bashful-looking young boy. He still looks at you with the smile he used to wear when you were together, and you wish that he wouldn’t. Not when the reason you broke up with him for is standing just a few meters away from the both of you (not that either of them knew that). 

Despite that, you still manage a smile. “Kaoru, hey! What are you doing here?”

“Well, my cousin here started getting into volleyball, and I thought about this club. You used to go on and on about how much fun you had teaching the kids here and I thought that he might enjoy it.”

You have your hands wrapped around the volleyball that’s pressed against your midsection, feeling your stomach drop at his words. On paper, Kaoru might be considered your perfect match, but by some cruel dealing, your heart seems hell-bent on falling instead for the one guy that might never even look at you with more than platonic love in his eyes. You wish that you could’ve found it in you to fall in love with Kaoru instead.

“That’s thoughtful of you.” He seems to stand a little straighter as you say it. You try not to notice. “I’m more of a helper though. ‘Kawa’s the one that does the teaching most days. He’s over th-” You turn to point towards where Oikawa was standing and feel the words die on your lips. 

Oikawa’s already walking towards you with Takeru and Hishoko trailing behind him. He’s wearing what might be a friendly smile to anyone else, but you’ve seen it enough times to know that it’s a little too forced to be friendly. It’s the same smile he wears when he gets insanely competitive right before a volleyball game and is looking to intimidate his opponents. It’s the smile he uses when greeting Kageyama and Ushijima. It looks even more passive aggressive since he’s holding a volleyball against his hips. 

“Y/N-chan, who’s this?” You’re relieved that he’s using the amiable voice he uses to be friendly with strangers, but he still looks as if he hopes that Kaoru might just disappear if he just stares at him hard enough. 

“This is Kaoru’s cousin.” You look down at the boy. “I’m sorry, I never did catch your name.”

“I’m Kousuke, it’s nice to meet you. Kaoru says you’re really nice.”

“Oh I’m sure he does,” you hear Oikawa mutter under his breath. It’s so quiet that you might have imagined it because in the next second, his usually preppy demeanor is once again put up. “Hello there, I’m Oikawa,” he says kindly to Kaoru’s cousin. When he looks up at Kaoru though, his smile turns to sweetened acid. “Glad you brought him here. Who better to teach this young boy here but me? Isn’t that right Takeru? Your friends seem to be fond of me and my exceptional volleyball skills.”

Takeru looks up at Oikawa with a confused look. “No they don’t.”

“Takeru,” Oikawa says while fixing a stare at his nephew. Takeru seems to lose his attitude. 

“Uh, yeah I guess they do?”

“See! The kids love me! I’m practically their idol! They love my serve actually, always begging me to teach them. It’s a pretty hard serve though, so they really haven’t gotten the hang of it. You’ve seen my serve though, haven’t you Kaoru-kun?”

“It’s okay. I do remember that you hit it into the net the last time I came to watch with Y/N,” Kaoru shrugs. 

Oikawa practically growls. “I’d like to see you receive one of my serves.”

“I’d be more than happy to try.” Kaoru smiles, but you can’t tell if it’s genuine or just as passive aggressive as Oikawa’s. 

Oikawa lets out a low chuckle, and you force yourself to not look physically affected by it. You remind yourself that his girlfriend is standing right behind him. “I’m sure you would. Though most people struggle to do so, I wouldn’t want to injure you,” he says while moving the volleyball back and forth in his hands. 

Kousuke and Takeru look up at them with confused looks on their faces. Hishoko looks mildly bashful at what might be her first look at the Oikawa that’s not all sunshines and daisies. You’re merely wondering what’s caused all this tension. As far as you were aware, Oikawa and Kaoru weren’t on extremely bad terms. 

Kaoru flicks a look between you and Oikawa. “You’re pretty cocky aren’t you?”

“Not cocky. Just confident. I’m one of the best setters in the prefecture. Isn’t that right Y/N?” Oikawa turns to look at you and the passive aggressive look in his eyes turns to something more genuine. 

You shake your head, letting out a small laugh. “Yeah yeah, sure. Whatever. Stop showing off, ‘Kawa.”

“I’m not showing off!” There’s just barely a hint of humility in his voice. 

You raise a brow at him. He seems to wilt under your gaze. 

“I’m not,” he mumbles. 

You tilt your head in the direction of the kids getting ready on the court. “Come on. You have kids to teach. Stop picking fights.” You’re also more than ready to get away from Kaoru’s gaze. 

Oikawa doesn’t seem to be quite ready to teach though. “Why would I be picking fights?” His gaze is leveled on you.

You fake confusion as you stare right back at him. You want to remind him that there are others around you. “I don’t know, Tooru. Why would you?”

The air seems to still with tension. 

Thankfully, Takeru comes to your rescue. “Hey, Y/N? Do you think we should start now?” 

“Yeah, of course, Takeru.” You turn to Oikawa. “Receives. You take the older ones. Kousuke can be in your group.”

To both yours and Oikawa’s displeasure, Kaoru sticks around for the entirety of the club. He sits on the side with Hishoko and makes teasing comments to both you and Kousuke, almost like no time has passed since your break-up. 

It’s not that you harbor any harsh feelings for him. It’s just that you’re a little on edge with Oikawa and Hishoko here already, and now for some reason, it seems as if Oikawa and Kaoru are looking to off each other. 

“Good job today, Y/N-chan,” Oikawa says as he helps you put the volleyballs back in the cart. Despite the rough beginning, the day still went relatively well, especially when Oikawa landed a particularly nasty serve that got all the kids hyped and excited for the next time you’d be meeting. 

“Mhm. You too.”

Oikawa sighs. “You’re mad.” It’s not a question. 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

He places the last volleyball back into the cart and closes it before turning to look at you. “Look, I’m sorry for that.”

“You should be,” you reply. “What got stuck up your ass that made you act like that anyway?”

“Nothing.”

You raise a brow at him.

“I’m just stressed. Team chemistry is on edge with Kyoutani back on the team ... amongst other things.”

It’s a half-truth. You can tell by the way his eyes divert from yours when he airily says “other things”. 

You lean against the cart to turn your body in his direction. “What are other things?”

“Other things,” he replies without looking at you. He’s leaning against the cart with his back to the metal rather than to his side, so all you’re met with is his side-profile. 

“So you’re not gonna tell me?” You’re a little miffed. 

He turns to look at you, his brown eyes boring into you. “I’m not the only one with secrets Y/N-chan.”

You feel your stomach drop, your head immediately thinking of everything he might’ve found out. Maybe he’s aware of the way you’re in love with him. Maybe he’s known this whole time and was just keeping you around in an act of pity. Your breathing seems to still at that possibility. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

This time, Oikawa moves so that he can turn to you fully, though his eyes don’t look any less intense. “The other day, with Iwa-chan. What was going on there?”

Your breathing returns. At least he doesn’t know. 

“Nothing.”

“Though so.” He looks mildly hurt. 

Before the conversation can stray into tense territory, Hishoko walks up to you two. You’re surprised to see that Kaoru and his cousin are following behind her. “Hey Oikawa, I was wondering if we could check out the sweet shop across the street?”

You want to tell her that Oikawa hates that shop. He took one step into it and complained about how their candy assortment was horrendous. You want to tell her that Oikawa would much rather go to the frozen yogurt shop that’s a few blocks away, but you don’t. It was sort of a tradition for you, Oikawa, and Takeru to head over there after the kid’s volleyball club had ended. It might be selfish to do so, but the thought of her completely replacing you in that sense makes your heart ache. 

“Huh?” Oikawa turns to look at her. “Oh. Right, sure.”

You place your hands on the cart, making to move it back into the storage closet. You don’t want to be around for the rest of the conversation. 

Oikawa notices what you’re doing and interrupts. “Y/N-chan? You want to come with?”

Stupid. You wonder if he’s asking because he really has no idea what the norms of a relationship are, or if he truly sees you as nothing more than just a sister if he’s more than willing to ask you to go with him on what could be a pseudo date with his girlfriend. 

“No, it’s fine. You have fun.”

You’re about to wheel away without waiting for a response when Kaoru hesitantly speaks up. “Y/N, are you walking home alone then?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Though I could probably take a bus home if needed.”

Kaoru beams, his teeth flashing in a perfect smile. “Kousuke and I were planning on heading to this yogurt shop we saw before we got here. I can take you home after if you want to come with us.” His hands are stuffed in his pockets as he rocks back and forth on the heels of his shoe. 

You can practically hear the way that Oikawa’s jaw clenches. You make a mental note to bring him a loaf of milk bread the next time you have a shift at the bakery in hopes of easing whatever stress he’s holding on to. 

Kaoru’s still looking at you expectantly. You weigh your options. You can either go with your ex-boyfriend and his cousin to get frozen yogurt and have him take you home after, or you can walk home alone. Despite what the implications of the first choice might have, it’s still an easy choice. 

“Yeah, sure. Let Tooru and I just clean up. I’ll meet you outside.”

Both Kaoru and Kousuke nod before heading out. Hishoko and Takeru follow them shortly after.

“You didn’t tell Hishoko that you despise that shop,” you say. The two of you had just finished hauling the volleyball net back into the equipment closet. 

“I didn’t want to disappoint her.”

“Hm,” you hum. “You … you like her a lot then?”

Oikawa pauses in his place, and you realize that you’re both standing much too close for comfort. His eyes wander your face again, like he’s searching for something. “Maybe. It’s too early to tell.”

You hate the way that your stomach churns because it really is unfair that he can look at you like that and not feel the same way you do. You take a step back and move to pick up your bag on the side of the bleachers. Oikawa follows close behind. 

When you both get to the gym doors, Kaoru and his cousin are standing by a tree to the right, and Hishoko and Takeru are standing by the pillar to the left. 

Oikawa turns to you once more, his voice sounding mildly fatigued. “Have fun with Kaoru.”

You attempt a smile. “Have fun with Hishoko.”

And with that, you both split off, heading in the direction of the two people waiting for you two. Neither of you voice out loud that you would much rather be with the other. 

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[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch.4

In Which: exposition for exposition's sake exists, and Vlad looks way more suspcious than he ought

| AO3 | Prologue | 3 | [4] | 5

VLADIMIR MASTERS. Human male in his mid-forties, and most notably the founder and CEO of VladCo, a billion-dollar industry that mostly specializes in manufacturing weapons and technology. Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin despite having to drop out due to a lab accident in his second year, landing him in the hospital. Despite being based primarily in Wisconsin, he made an unexpected move to Amity Park Illinois shortly after reuniting with his college friends Drs. Madeline and Jack Fenton.

Not even a year later, Masters ran for mayor of Amity Park and won the election by a landslide. Suspicious, considering Masters being an unknown and the former mayor Montez being quite popular. It’s during Masters’ tenure in office that reports of ghost attacks to the Justice League steadily died down.

“Why?” Damian asked.

Barbara shrugged, pulling up a few files on the screen. “I originally had a theory that related to VladCo’s buyout of Axion Labs—a technological research and manufacturing company that’s mostly local to Amity—being a factor. Within the last couple of years, they had been experimenting with highly volatile chemicals with hallucinogenic properties. Amity had always been known for being extremely superstitious with its ghosts, and if Axion Labs had somehow accidentally released that chemical into the city, well…” She leaned back into her chair, hand twisting in the air. “You could bet how that ended up. The hysteria around ghosts only grew worse in the last two years, with suspected sightings from once every few weeks to multiple in a single day. Early attempts to capture sightings were unsuccessful, and soon enough Amity Park was just written off.”

Much like the mass hysteria surrounding the urban legend of the kuchisake-onna in Japan in the late 1970s, Bruce thought. He pulled up some news footage from Amity Park dated a few years back of citizens being interviewed about their ghostly encounters. Beside these videos were a few photos taken by a shaky camera, showing bright blurs of light streaking across the sky or vaguely humanoid shapes rising from the ground.

“So VladCo., bought out Axion Labs, improved its security, and slowly helped detoxify the town?” Damian shifted his weight onto his other leg and crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought, but—”

“But the ghosts ended up being real.” Bruce pulled up a video of a field reporter-slash-weatherman taking cover as a figure dropped from the sky, breaking through the walls of a building. The figure—features distorted by an eerie glow—shot out of the rubble just in time before a green blast hit it.

Oracle enlarged other news footage with a few taps on her keyboard. Beings zooming through the air. Massive plants erupting from the ground. Technology coming to life. Each video more worrying than the last, and most showing some footage of a figure bathed in a white glow. “I’d be hard pressed to call any of these faked.”

It begged the question as to how Amity Park survived this long unscathed. Since, if he remembered correctly, even the Dark Leaguers tended to avoid Amity Park like the plague. “They have their own heroes, then?”

“Think along the lines of vigilantes with unofficial support.” A few more files popped up on screen. One showcased a female in a full-length black and red body suit on top of a hover board. The other was a male; young, perhaps a teenager, with white hair and a black and white suit. Hazmat? “The Red Huntress and the Phantom of Amity Park.”

“Partners?”

“More like enemies working on the same turf. Sources place Phantom as appearing first, though it seems Red Huntress has more government support in the end despite there being no official statement. They seem to be the most effective ghost hunters in town, though far from the only ones. The Fentons of Fenton Works are also acting as ghost hunters, though their track record of success leans more towards their anti-ghost tech than any hunting. The town’s even attracted visitors from the Ghost Investigation Ward; a side branch of Cadmus though a now defunct organization.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Damian said. “If anything, this should be more than enough reason for a League intervention. Why the Justice League didn’t come sooner is the real question here.”

Bruce’s lips thinned. “That’s because we were warned off it.”

“What?”

While there was no rule against heroes entering another hero’s city, there were certain unspoken rules that demanded that JL members avoid claimed cities or stay just outside of city lines until given permission to enter. Some were especially strict about it such as Batman’s ‘no metas or outsiders’ rule. Others were more lenient, simply requesting a warning before entering.

Amity Park, despite having no listed heroes in the database, was marked with heavy ‘Do Not Interact’ warnings for humans and metas alike.

“Justice League Dark said that under no circumstances should the League interfere in Amity. The situation was never explicitly laid out for us except to say that everything was being handled.”

“Oh yeah,” Oracle chimed. “Constantine even had it bolded, underlined, italicized, and in all caps. The occult community was very clear about everyone staying away—and apparently this decision had support from Amity Park too.” She pulled up another document. “That’s probably what led to the decline in their ghost reports, actually. Amity’s claims were considered bogus and brushed aside. No one outside their town—not even their sister town of Elmerton—believed them, so they simply stopped asking for help.”

Strangely, it reminded Bruce of Gotham. Both cities existed in its own isolated sphere, unwilling to let any outsiders interfere in its business.

“It’s safe to assume, then, that whatever Ra’s al Ghul wants with Amity, it has to do with these ghosts. Do we have anyway to contact the town’s vigilantes?”

Oracle shook her head. “Ghost attacks within the past few months have slowly died down along with sightings of Phantom and Red Huntress. Your best bet is asking Masters directly.”

Damian glowered. “Masters blatantly sent out an invitation for Batman to my father. How do we know that Masters hasn’t somehow found our secret identities?”

“Unlikely,” Bruce said. “Vlad Masters, despite his wealth, has done well to keep a low profile. He’s met Bruce Wayne a total of three times within the last decade and Batman not at all.” That, and with the kind of spyware Batman has, he’d be able to tell when, where, and who was trying to dig deep into Batman’s past. Masters hadn’t even registered as a ping.

“Besides, there’s always a few rumors of Wayne Enterprise’s involvement with Batman. All this tech has to come from somewhere, no?”

“How long is Masters staying in Gotham?”

“Umm…” Oracle leaned forward in her chain and flipped through a half-dozen windows. “Going by his reservations at the Gotham Royal Hotel, he’s leaving tomorrow.”

Bruce pivoted on his heel, heading deeper into the Cave. “We better make this count, then.”

------

According to Oracle’s intel, Vlad Masters was staying at one of the executive suites in the Gotham Royal Hotel. A titanic structure with forty-eight floors, two towers, and the gothic aesthetic that never seemed to leave Gotham’s architecture.

Scaling the building as well as entering the suite proved no challenge for Batman and Robin. But upon entrance, it was abundantly clear that the room was vacant.

“Are you sure you guys are in the right room?” Bruce could hear the clicking of Oracle’s keys through their comms. “Masters had reserved the suite on the west tower.”

“Yes we’re in the correct room, Gordon,” Robin hissed.

“Codenames only, Robin.”

Robin clicked his tongue, sweeping the common room for any hidden bugs or cameras as Batman scouted out the rest of the room. The bed was made to hotel standard and the bathroom towels all completely replaced. There were no clothes in the hotel closet or dresser.

The only thing left that indicated occupancy of the room was an unmarked manila envelope unsubtly tucked within a pillowcase.

Robin tensed at the sight of it. “A detonator of some sort?”

Batman rotated the package, holding it up to his scanner. “Doesn’t seem to be. Regardless, it might be better to take it back to the Batcave and locate Masters ag—” The envelope started ringing. A standard ringtone found in most phones. Quickly, but carefully, Batman opened the manila envelope and dumped its contents onto the bed. A ringing burner phone and a flash drive came tumbling out.

Batman threw the flash drive at Robin before answering the phone, holding it up against his ear but saying nothing.

Silence. Then, Masters’ voice filtered in through the phone with a strange echo-like quality. “Good evening, Batman! I’m so glad my invitation managed to get passed along.”

Batman growled into the speaker, “What do you want, Masters?” He signaled Robin to do another sweep of the room for any signs of Masters they might have missed.

“I sincerely apologize for not being there to meet you myself; incredibly rude of me, I know. But it cannot be helped, the shadows are growing ever bolder.”

“So, you are aware then, of the League of Assassins’ presence in Amity Park?”

“A league of assassins? What a terrifying notion that is.” Batman frowned. It was unlikely that they had misread his words at the gala, so why was he acting unaware now? Could he be watched? “Why such a group would appear in my little town, I wouldn’t even dare to guess.”

Robin came back into the room and signaled back ‘negative.’

“Why did you call for us, Mayor Masters?”

“Do you know what is so very tragic, Batman?”

“This is strange,” Oracle said. “I can’t pick up his signal. He’s not appearing on any of my cameras, either.”

“When someone so young dies much to soon.” A pause. “Could you even imagine such a thing? A parent burying their own child.”

Batman could. He had no need to even imagine it because he lived it.

“Some very close friends of mine have been weighed down by the shadows of death and I require help in providing them the closure they need.”

“Are the Fentons the targets, then?”

Masters paused. Then let out a breathy laugh over the phone. “Oh, if only it were that simple.”

“So a different target.”

“Everything you need to know is in the flash drive I’ve enclosed in that envelope Whether you take up the case is entirely up to you—though I do hope you take it. Regardless, if he is not returned soon then I assure you that a disaster unlike any you have seen before will arrive.”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “Is that a threat, Masters?”

“No,” He laughed. “That was no threat. That was promise.”

The phone line disconnected just as Oracle exclaimed that she finally found Masters boarding his flight back to Amity Pak.

[ysljoon]

Books, Boba, Bosom Buddies|Kim Namjoon x Reader

Summary: Kim Namjoon is the new hire at the library you work at. After the first clumsy run in you had with him your feelings for him develop over the months and you two painfully pine for each other.

Clumsiness is a trait that can usually be very hard to be considered an endearing trait, but somehow Kim Namjoon can change that. He doesn’t have a careful bone in his large, muscular body (he has such a nice body, how can we ignore that?). You got a first hand experience of his clumsiness on the first day when he was hired at the library. Somehow he decided to fill the circulation cart with more books than it can handle by placing books on top of the already properly placed books. As you turned the corner, both of you guys were unexpecting to each other’s presence. Namjoon was able to not only lose control of the cart to narrowly avoid hitting you, but also managed to dump the books all at your feet. 

After getting over the initial scare of being almost run over by the cart, annoyance came over you. You started to collect all the books that were scattered on the floor and you tried your best not to let your scowl show. You knew he was new, but how can somebody be this reckless with shelving books. Working at a library should be peaceful and Kim Namjoon is uprooting any semblance of peace that should be there. He stooped down and started to help you organize the books while profusely spewing out apologies. You looked up at him and your frown softened when you saw his dimpled cheeks and honeyed skin. Your annoyance disappeared because how can anybody hold any form of negative emotion to someone that looks this alluring? He was eye candy on thick long legs that caught your eye when he squatted down. Once you were done ogling him you got around to accepting his apology.

“It’s okay, just try to not hit any of our patrons because they will not be nearly as helpful or as nice as I was in this situation.” You gave him a cheeky grin and made your way to the audio section to find a DVD that a customer placed an order for pickup. Little did you know that the effect Namjoon had on you was the same case for Namjoon. The smile you gave him left him flustered in his spot, almost in a daze. He knew he was going to think of your smile for the rest of his shift and he didn’t need any distractions if he wanted to keep his job. 

//////

A couple months later you and Namjoon have become bosom buddies. You could call him for anything and he could do the same. You guys had created a friendship that blossomed into mutual pining that neither of you were aware of. The not so subtle flirting (it was painfully obvious to your coworkers, but of course the both of you were undeniably blind to each other’s advances) had ramped up as the weeks went on, but you still questioned if it could go any further. Jin, your other coworker at the library, was just as tired as you were from the blind romaticisizing. He always pushed you to ask Namjoon out, but you always disagreed by saying things like Namjoon was never interested in you and just thought of you as his best friend and nothing else. Jin always showed you evidence on how that wasn’t the case, but you were too in denial that someone as attractive as Kim Namjoon would want to be more than just friends.

As your shift came to a close and you were done doing your last walk around to make sure everything was in order, Namjoon was there waiting for you at the front with flushed cheeks. He was rocking back and forth on the sides of your feet and you wanted to just pinch his cheeks at how cute he looked at this very moment. You turned off the lights and walked out with Namjoon by your side. The library closes at 7 pm, but Namjoon still insists on walking you to your car even though there is still enough sun out to not pose any threat to your safety. The chilvarous action makes your heart flutter regardless. Tonight he seemed to linger around a little longer before saying goodbye. You gave him a hug and as you stepped off the curb he gently grabbed your shoulder. You turned to face him and he was avoiding eye contact while anxiously scratching the back of his neck.

“Y/N, there's a new boba shop that opened on the corner by my house. Would you like to go?” You now understood why he was acting so nervous and your heart was doing somersaults in your chest while Namjoon’s was probably beating like a hummingbird’s wings. 

“Like a date?” The words tumbled out of your mouth and you felt like an idiot. Of course this wasn’t a date, he just is your best and that’s all you’ll ever be to him.”

“Y-yeah it can be a date. Or not if you don’t want it to be!” Oh. You weren’t expecting that at all. You gave him a coy nod and opened the passenger side door for him to get in. The car ride was filled with tension that you’ve never experienced before. This is what you’ve been longing for and now that the time was here you didn’t know how to react. Namjoon put the directions into the GPS on his phone and you made your way to the boba shop. The drive couldn’t have been longer than 5 minutes, but it felt agonizingly slow from the awkward atmosphere.

Once you got to the store, Namjoon held the door open for you and the cashier gave the both of you a warm greeting. You decided on getting taro milk tea and Namjoon decided to get a hibiscus lemonade with fruity flavored popping boba. As you waited for your drink you made small chat with each other and started to make yourself more comfortable with each other. It’s crazy that you guys go from being best friends that could tell each other anything to acting like awkward high school freshmen that have no idea how to deal with feelings.

You and Namjoon enjoyed your drinks outside to bask in the warm summer air while watching the last of the sunset. Namjoon was going on about his love for nature and it made you feel so endeared that someone could feel so passionate about the beauty of earth. You couldn’t help yourself and cut him off mid sentence with a kiss. The boldness surprised not only him but you too. You pulled away and instantly regretted your decision when you saw his wide eyes.

“Namjoon, I’m so sorry I don’t know what came over me. If it’s weird we can totally forget this even happened and move on-” Namjoon gave you a warm smile and pecked your cheek with a gentle kiss. “I literally spent nights thinking about you kissing me. That was everything I dreamed of and more Y/N. I want us to be more and I’ve always wanted to be more.” Hearing his confession made you grin and you felt all your emotions come to the forefront, including your insecurities.

“I’m glad Namjoon, I want us to be more too, but before we go there. I just want you to know that I haven’t dated anyone since my freshman year of college so I’m probably a little rusty in the romance department.” You tried to brush off your embarrassment with a chuckle, but it didn’t make you feel any better. Namjoon took your hands in his for comfort and scooted closer to you where your knees were touching. “Y/N my first kiss was in my sophomore year and college and that was the last bit of romance I’ve ever experienced. We can teach and learn from each other since that’s what love is all about.” Namjoon wrapped you up in his long arms and everything felt right and you were content that the pining between you two was finally done. The days you spent daydreaming about him has become reality.

Notes: It is 2 am and I wanted to write this grossly self indulgent drabble. This is unedted and I’m so tired so please excuse any typos or grammatical errors I was inspired by me getting boba for three days straight. As always I appreciate any likes and reblogs. If you would like to support me further you donate to my Kofi

[amiramorozova]

Dual Summoner x The darkling pt. 5

I questioned everything at the time as Baghra didn't take me to her training hut but instead sent me off to bed. I could feel it through the shadows within the darling lingering for some kind of sun, I knew there was nothing I could offer him right now. I put my back to the wall and closed my eyes looking at my room. All the design was a tidemaker room but I chose to put my hands together and have the sun in my hands. It calmed me down with this almost happening but I knew the truth. I had his attention now.

Now that he has seen me again, how much longer will I be able to hide the sun from him? I thought

Focusing on the light in my hands as I smiled looking at it feeling it's warmth, it was what kept me calm. I wanted to just come out and tell but that was the thing I had to keep hidden, I was in there for a few hours. I heard a knock on my door as I closed my hand and opened it seeing Nadia and Marie.

"You ok Amira?" Marie asked

"I've been through worse." I said "I was followed today."

"What?" They said together as I let them in and closed the door "General Kirigan followed me to the secret training area."

"Did he see the light?" Nadia asked and I shook my head no "He does know who I am and he has seen my face now."

Marie and Nadia looked at each other knowing they were the only two besides Baghra who knew my secret. A secret I had hidden for a long time from them until I had opened up and it was starting to get harder to hide it. I knew that one day I was going to be found out but how was I going to be found out by everyone else? That question lingered with me every day as I tried to get my thoughts together.

"You said you are possibly eternal, so why don't you date?" Nadia asked

"yeah, my power keeps growing. I heard there is one who is eternal somewhere here." I said without saying who

"Then date them!" Marie said

I laughed a bit at her eagerness but I wanted to tell them what I knew but that would be bad. I was aware of a squaller who was already going to the one who is eternal. It didn't really bother me because he wasn't anything to me but I was not wanting a fight.

"I can't." I said "I think he is seeing someone else besides he doesn't even know I am."

"Who is this eternal one?" Nadia asked

I shook my head knowing Baghra said never to tell anyone about the darklings' true age. I knew better and I knew friends trusted each other but I had to be careful. I just tried to change the subject so they would stop bringing it up to me for now.

"It doesn't matter, as long as we do what we need to." I said

"Hey, you think when you know that your Kefta will still be blue like ours with your unique design they'll have to make it?" Marie asked

This question caught me off guard cause I wasn't expecting it from Marie. I laughed a bit at her question finding it so funny she was worried about the main color of the Kefta with the future design. I wanted to just laugh all this off like it was funny but neither of them were laughing.

"What? You're serious? Why would it not be blue like this one with the new design?" I asked her shocked

"Well, you never know. General Kirigan could decide you deserve to stand out and put you in black like him." Marie said

"Why? He's the only one who wears black. Everyone else wears Blue, Red, Purple, or white." I said

"Well you said you were told he could be a good match, so why not?" Nadia asked

"I don't really think he's going to take that much interest." I said

They didn't seem to think otherwise but I had to admit it was something to consider. my design was I to be found out or decide to let people know would be the sun summoner gold with tidemaker blue. The more I thought about that it would really stand out on a Black kefta..the eternal ones black.

"Let's make a promise." Marie said snapping me out of my thoughts

"What kind of promise?" I asked

"If anything were to happen between you and General Kirigan, you have to let us know." Marie said

"Yeah, we want all the gossip straight from you. First kiss and anything you might want to share." Nadia said

First kiss? I thought

The idea of having a sort of forbidden romance with the general while being part of the 2nd army was in my mind now. I blushed slightly at the thought and covered my eyes. I was thinking about it and knew it wasn't right even with everything I knew. I wanted to do more than this but I had to keep it hidden.

"O-Ok." I said, "I promise."

They soon left as I went to bed not long after knowing that I couldn't avoid it. I didn't mean to act so innocently around them but it couldn't be helped. We teased each other all the time and it was the normal thing to do in these crazy situations.

Next morning I got up and prepared for the day starting with a bath then heading to breakfast after getting dressed with my Kefta on. I didn't mind the breakfast but I was growing tired of the same meals. I thought he could have chosen a bit better for the 2nd army but I never complained once as I ate.

When we got released for training I decided to work with Marie as tidemakers sometimes backed down from fire. If the occasion arose I didn't want to be one of them to back down. Marie put me through a hard time but I was glad that I was able to manage. I noticed Marie looked over at something but I was staying focused as a tidemaker should. When we were done I went and got some water to drink as Marie got up by me.

"General Kirigan is out here again." Marie said

"So?" I asked

Before Marie could answer me I heard Botkin call all tidemakers over and I looked at her wondering what was going on. Knowing she was an inferni she didn't have the answer but I walked over with the other tidemakers. Nadia looked at me and I looked at her. The curiosity was there for both of us on what was going on.

"A fire has broken out in the forest near farms that we get resources from. General Kirigan has asked for a few tidemakers to assist with the problem so when your name is called, get anything you may need and head to the front of the little palace." Botkin said

There are many tidemakers. Probably impossible my name would get called. I thought

Botkin started naming those that were going as I listened, knowing most tidemakers I did know. I was glad that it seemed less and less likely I would be part of it up until the last name called was mine. Nadia seemed happy that I was going to be with her in taking care of the fire and I wondered if there was something more to this as we went to prepare.

"I overheard General Kirigan ask for you specifically." Nadia said

"Me? I'm a struggling tidemaker." I said with a little smile to Badia knowing she knew the truth that I held back.

Once at the front of the little palace were horses and healers that were ready to assist us when we needed. I knew there was risk no matter where we went but I had to go without refusing. I knew this was going to be hard for me but I couldn't hold back now when there was a fire.

other people come first before myself. I thought

Getting on a horse we rode to where the forest was and like all the tidemakers I was ready to fight. The other tidemakers started as Nadia and I looked at each other before we put our hands together to use our own tidemaker abilities and used it to try to extinguish the fire. We kept up with our tidemaker powers as the others started to fold back one by one. I was holding my ground and I was sure that it was going to take a lot more than we had when suddenly I felt this surge of power go through me. As I focused on the tidemaker abilities I saw the fire getting extinguished and when we were done Nadia noticed I was breathing a bit heavy.

"Amira." Nadia said

I looked to see what was going on when I noticed black and started realizing that someone's hand was on my shoulder. I carefully turned around and came face to face with General Kirigan. My surprise had to be present cause he looked down at me and seemed to be looking at my eyes. I felt his fingers graze my cheek where I flinched, realizing I was burned by the fire and yet I couldn't look away from him. He seemed to be looking for something but I was scared he would sense the sun within me. Still he removed his hand from my cheek.

"We must get you to a healer." General Kirigan said

Realizing I was staring I looked over at Nadia who only smiled once the general turned his back to us. I blushed a bit knowing that I could feel his shadows within looking for the light, the sun. The starless saint was what the darkling was called so when we walked over the healers looked over people. Most of them didn't have burns cause they backed down before it was out but a healer approached the two of us.

"You girls will need to wait to be healed back at the little palace, your bravery is acknowledged." The healer said

I merely shrugged a bit knowing there wasn't much I could do with being hurt. Still, we went back to the little palace, got all cleaned up then I went to a healer to see Nadia walking out. I sat there while they took care of the burns. I knew that power was a mix of mine and an amplifier so that was a taste of what an amplifier could do for me. 

maybe I shouldn't get one right away. I thought

"All done Amira, head to the dining hall. All tidemakers are getting special meals." The healer said 

"right, thank you." I said 

Going to the dining hall I walked till I found my seat and sat between Marie and Nadia. I was glad that this wasn't going to change but watched as they were bringing out food for everyone. I saw the tidemakers get chicken meals which were very kind but when it came to mine I saw I got a chicken meal and a salad. I was in surprise but then so was Marie and Nadia as they compared it to Nadia's meal.

"Well, it seems you have the general's attention, Amira." Nadia teased. 

"Not funny." I said 

I ate with everyone but I could feel envious stares at me from the table and I tried to ignore them. I begged that this was some kind of mistake that someone would come out and say they gave me the wrong meal. Scold me for eating this but no one ever did as we all ate in silence and I just didn't know what more to expect at this moment.

[ktheist]

saving grace | 1

muses. duke!yoongi x lady!reader

universe. arranged marriage / minor traces of magic in history

concept. driven into a corner with the new king, seokjin, offering to marry you off to a prince in a foreign land and a persistent mother who would seize the chance of a lucrative marriage for her daughter, you’re forced with the only other option to secure your freedom ‒ enter into a beneficial agreement with the man who reaped the seeds of war, the duke of cralon, yoongi min.

words. 6.1k

warnings. mentions of war, it’s cliche and cheesy all in one package

index. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / finale

x

“that’s not a reward,” you heatedly claim, somewhere in your periphery, the royal assistant flinches from your tone, “that’s banishment! you wish to banish me to another country where i’ll be of no threat to you because of the information i hold!”

“l-lady ___, please lower your voice.” jungkook, seokjin’s new advisor, tries to placate only to stagger back from a glare you shot.

the music and chatters is loud enough to drown a scream - and you haven’t reached that point of wanting to yell your heart out at this man. the area you are in - on the second floor on the veranda overseeing the ocean of people dancing in the hall - is secluded enough to give the king his privacy.

“now, why would i do that to my most trusted confidant?” the smile on seokjin’s face could not have been more dubious. though he may wear the crown and sit upon the throne, his crude nature is what he truly is.

it’s not a secret that seokjin is the son of a maid who rose to the top but it couldn’t have been possible without the help of the count’s daughter. he needed information but his status as a prince born from a mere maid, hadn’t allow him to attend the social functions nor received any acknowledgement from the aristocrats. it was you who offered to be his eyes and ears in exchange for moving into the royal palace once he becomes king after the siege.

“as i recall, you wished to live in a palace like a princess,” his voice is unusually high pitched, laced with mockery of what you can only assume is an attempt to mimic yours, “and it just so happens that the prince of aflar is looking for a bride - who knows, despite being the 12th prince, perhaps he’ll be able to rise as the king. that way, you’ll become queen.”

“i don’t wish to become queen! i wish to live a free life without my parents dictating who i should marry just because a lady cannot inherit the family title.” this time, the heel of your foot hurts from the stomp but the anger rushing through your veins allow forbids you from showing it.

“___,” he’s used to calling you by your name - of course, it’s been five years since you’ve known each other. five years after finding out the second prince’s true nature and regretting choosing his side every waking day of your life, “you wish to live in the palace but refuse to take lessons to prepare you as my queen - what would people think of the respectable lady who doesn’t have any prior relations to the second prince-turned-king suddenly living with him under the same roof?”

“there are thousands of servants living in the palace.” you plainly point out - he must’ve expected this if he doesn’t even bat an eye at your words.

“servants don’t go prancing around the palace looking for the king as they please.”

“th-that’s because you’ve been avoiding me under the guise of the workload left by the previous king,” the stutter is what brings about the sly smirk on his lips.

“my, then your reputation is already ruined,” he feigns a disheartened sigh, almost as though he truly cares, “it’s not like the servants are loyal to me so they’ll talk - they might even be talking now - if news gets out that we’ve been acting like lovers, your chances of marrying well has dwindled to zero. you ought to quickly find a marriage prospect to mend the mess you made.”

something in the way he pans out his words causes your shoulder line to jolt backwards - as though physically slapped by the truth of his narration. though not proven yet, and though the thought of having a man to call your husband would fix everything makes you sick - you can’t deny the simple-minded way of thinking of these aristocrats.

the fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. whether you’re seokjin’s - as he had time and time indicated - lover. what matters is the double-edged sword you’ve forged for yourself.

one wrong move, and they’d believe seokjin if he’d called you his lover and then claimed you a traitor who tried assassinating him in his sleep.

but as of now, despite becoming the king, he’s still struggling with the lack of support from the aristocrats. and having managed to wedge your way into the top circle is possibly the only reason you’re still able to do whatever you want.

all of a sudden, a disarming smile curls on your lips - seokjin must’ve noticed if he’s trying to control the curiosity that flashes in his eyes before he sports a bored expression.

“very well, i thank you for giving your blessing for me to pick out any marriage prospect i want.” the smile stretches gleefully over your features as the man’s eyes widen at your next words.

“what are you-”

“i wish to wed the duke of cralon and head knight of the kingdom, yoongi min.”

x

“the min family is rumored to be the wealthiest family in the kingdom - perhaps far surpassing the previous king. one word from the duke and these filthy aristocrats will grovel at his feet,” the voice you use trickles with sweet honey while seokjin’s hands tightly grip the seat, “but for some reason he’s staying quiet after coming back from the war and finding out the king he serves has had his head cut off.”

“what are you trying to say, lady ___?”

it’s the honorific that tells you he’s speaking as the king and everything that allows him to sit on the throne. his features, when he’s glowering, is heartbreakingly beautiful.

that’s how it feels to be driven into a corner, seokjin.

“i never told you but the duke fancies me. every year, he sends me birthday gifts,” technically he isn’t the only one - it’s just a formality to maintain an amicable relationship between the houses of nobles but having been out of touch with the ways of the nobility, you’re almost sure seokjin isn’t aware of said ways, “but my parents wouldn’t allow us to meet because of his infamous reputation and i never had any interest in marriage,” the pleasant smile on your lips is a contrast to the man’s contorting features - he must understand where you both stand now, “but if i accept his proposal, the duke won’t stand and watch as the new king sends away his fiance, will he?”

when the king glares up at you but doesn’t seem to have anything to say, you thought that’s the end of it. thought you can curtsy and call it a night whilst devising plans on how to get the duke’s attention and make him fall for you within the limited span of time you have to show seokjin how smitten the knight is for you.

...until the man himself steps out of the shadow without even a scrape of his boot against the ground. the duke is a man of many things but graceful had been far beyond your imagination. and yet here he is, in his knightly attire in black and hints of yellow lines on the sleeves and shoulders - a glaring contrast to his porcelain white skin and silvery grey hair yet perhaps what contributes to highlighting his crimson eyes. the color that’s rumored to be the curse of the goddess for the min family’s generational brute and violence that lead them to winning wars and coming back unscathed.

“your ma-” it all happens too fast.

he’s about to greet seokjin - whether it is with weighty contempt or newfound alliance, you’re not sure - with a hand on his chest and an uncaring glance your way. then you’re running towards him and before you know it, your arms are around his neck and your voice is pitched higher than you would like, “your grace, i’m glad you came back safely!”

you never thought someone could actually turn into stone in a split second but you don’t think the man in your arms is breathing at the moment. and you know exactly who’s fault that is - your own.

“please, play along,” in contrast to the high pitched tone from earlier, you curse yourself for sounding meek and timid - if your heart isn’t beating like a galloping horse and your body isn’t heating up like a baker’s oven, perhaps, you would have had better control of the situation, “my life depends on it and if we walk out of here alive, i’ll do anything you wish, duke.”

...was what you said but it all seems too far blown out of proportion, you might as well forego all your worldly desires and surrender yourself to the church and become a woman of god.

“perhaps, marrying the foreign prince would have been a better option after all.” you lament out loud, pressing the sleeve of your nightgown to your eyes but instead of being engulfed in darkness, you see a vivid replay of seokjin’s knitted brows and troubled expression. and if you’d just focus, you would still feel yoongi’s muscles underneath your fingers as you held onto his arm after flinging yourself at him whilst you make your way back to where you were standing - in front of the king.

pleasantries were exchanged while a dark cloud loomed over the three of you before yoongi excused himself and since you were clinging onto his arm, you ended up leaving as well. before you’d managed to conjure up a plausible explanation for your behavior towards a person you’ve never met. but right in that moment, leslie, your maid had called for you to inform you of the carriage waiting outside.

relief threatened to paint your features but you’d hid it with a dip before peeking at the crimson eyes that’d stared right into your soul. ‘letter’ you’d mouthed before leaving joining leslie in search for the carriage.

it’s been three days since then and there is not a single spot on the table perched in front of your window that isn’t covered with the thin bundles of papers leslie has presented you with when you ordered her to find out more about duke min. he isn’t particularly a social butterfly but his reclusive nature had extended to a point where only the butler is the only one who ever spoke to him. besides that, ever since he’d came back from war, he’d been swarmed with reports and the recent issue of missing goods from the iyesgarth port owned by the ducal house. none of which are useful for you to attract the attention of the duke for an exchange of protection.

“what was that, my lady?” at the familiar fluttery voice, your whole body shoots up.

“leslie!” the woman’s name tumbles out of your lips in surprise, “when did you get in?”

you didn’t even hear her enter-

“a few minutes ago while you were still snoring off,” she answers simply as she walks over, inspecting the teal dress she must have gotten from your closet while murmuring to herself about the ‘handiwork is terrible. we shouldn’t order dresses from vivian’s boutique anymore.’

it didn’t seem like she heard anything but if she did, leslie has always had a knack for going about her day as though she knew nothing. you wonder how much information she holds just from that uncaring personality of hers that allows people to feel at ease with knowing she wouldn’t tattle.

but this isn’t something you could let go, “leslie, how much did you-” but it’s her rambling that almost has you biting down on your tongue as you clamp your mouth shut.

“...won’t do. you need to dress pretty for the duke, my lady.”

almost as though the traces of sleep has flown out of the window, you’re crawling over the bed and grasping onto the maid’s shoulders for dear life, “d-did you say duke?”

an unsuspecting smile graces your lips once the realization that your unusual behavior, is caused by the news of the duke, “yes, he’s on his way here as we speak!”

it takes a moment for you to register her words. another for you to blink back at her as though waiting for her ever smiling face to fade into the dark before you finally wake up, wishing fullheartedly that this is all just a bad dream.

“my lady?” leslie cocks her head to the side, as though searching for your conscience that’d retreated so far back into your existence, she realizes she’s staring back at nothing but a shell.

“why...” the lowest murmur leaves your lips like a calm before a storm before a hurricane rages and whirls out of your entire being, “why is the duke coming here?”

x

“___! what did you do to summon the rage of the duke to our home!” your father, dressed unusually impeccably, stopped in the middle of ordering the butler and servants for when the duke arrives.

“m-me?” yes, you knew you had sounded utterly audacious for someone who boasted - and even blackmailed the king - about the duke’s affection for you, “i didn’t do anything!”

it was in that moment that the clamor of a carriage had echoed from outside. the sound of the horses neighing comes a second later. but nobody heard the footsteps of duke min as he tread towards the open doors of the mansion.

he wasn’t named grim reaper for nothing.

“my apologies for coming on such short notice,” at least he's rational enough to admit his fault.

you catch the sight of the tip of his fringes falling over his face as he bows, before you curtsy, head lowered and eyes fixed to the ground.

your mother had scolded you an earful about peeking while curtsying, “___! have some refinement! a lady does not peek like an uncivilized cavewoman!”

if you’d lived in a cave, you wouldn’t have to be constricted to such formalities in the first place.

“please, don’t apologize,” your father presses smoothly, unlike his frazzled self from just a minute ago - it must have taken him years to hone such composure as to not tremble under the duke’s crimson eyes, “we at the ___ manor, are honored to have you as our guest, your grace. though we are quite puzzled by your grace’s reason for coming here.”

“reason.” the duke echoes, it seems the only thing delicate about him is his features but you’d be lying if you said you don’t find the low gruff of his voice thunderous to your heart.

a short silence lapses as though he’s sifting through his memories and finally letting his gaze travel to you - though his tone doesn’t seem to harbor any murderous intention, those crimson eyes that seek yours render your body cold. you clasp your hands together out of needing something to hold onto as you fix him one of your schooled, noble smile.

“i wish to speak to the eldest daughter of this house,” he says simply, “about our engagement.”

that same smile on your face falters into a pressed line.

x

“my, my,” your mother laughs, royal purple fan that’s been fluttering over his face now being lowered to her lap, “what troublesome rumor has spread about our beloved ___.”

the slightest twitch on her pristine smile tells you otherwise. but you can’t challenge her genuinity - not in front of the yoongi, at least.

and to be truthful, the more pressing matter - one that plagues your very talk as of now - is the fact that the conversation pertaining your supposed blessed marriage had only been attended by seokjin, jungkook and you - there were guards but you doubt any of them were interested in gossips about a count’s daughter’s affairs.

...could seokjin be the one to have spread the rumor?

before you can even come to a plausible conclusion as to why the king would do such a thing, you’re brought out of your train of thoughts by the woman covering your hands that are on your lap, grasping onto them tightly - at first glance, it would appear she’s genuinely concerned for you, “how do you plan to take responsibility over daughter’s wounded reputation, your grace?”

it’s commendable how your mother is still able to let her lips stretch over her face as though the man’s red eyes aren’t piercing through her skull like a spear. you’ve always known she was a scary woman - she wished to pass on her legacy onto you and perhaps that was why you would always end up huffing and trudging back to your room every time you tried to tell her you didn’t want to follow such path.

her ways were effective but you weren’t looking to gain something out of another’s suffering.

“mother!” your voice bounces over the walls, “his grace’s reputation is also tarnished by the rumor, how could you ask him to take responsibility as if it was his fault?”

the woman stares down at you with her signature glare but after years of being on the receiving end of it, you’d grown a spine or two, “silly child, who’s going to marry you now that the rumor of your engagement with the grim reaper has spread far and wide?”

“mother!” it almost comes out a chide at the word she uses to describe the man sitting right across from you.

“d-dear wife,” your father is sweating bullets from his seat as he bravely speaks up, “why don’t we let the duke and ___ discuss this matter privately? it is, after all, their reputations that are on the line.”

“theirs?” your mother’s hiss causes your father’s shoulder line to shrink back.

yoongi’s reputation may have been borne by only him but for a lady, everything you do reflects on your family name. that, you understand and for once, your mother’s outburst is well-founded.

the roots of rage almost tangles around your ankles as well - but the uncertainty of the source of rumor lingers on your mind.

it is the moment when the door shuts behind the butler after your parents which required a lot of pleading from your father, do you allow yourself to feel the heat of yoongi’s eyes on you - if looks could kill you’d be dead for simply and foolishly meeting his gaze.

“your grace, i apologize on my mother’s behalf... my mother, she’s only worried about my future like any mother would,” the head that’s held up high, the shoulders that line straight and the schooled smile on your lips - does well to conceal the inner turmoil inside you. but when all you receive is a steel gaze and a pin-drop silence, you’re forced to change the topic, “i was in the middle of writing you a letter.”

in other words, you mean to say you’re too hasty, duke.

unlike you, the man has his legs crossed languidly, his sword - said to be forged by the spine of the devil himself - is leaned next to his foot, almost as though ready for him to pull it out of its sheath if you so much as move, “i thought you would chip a nail writing me one so i decided to spare you the pain and pay you a visit, my lady.”

the underlying mockery in his words does not go past you yet it takes a moment for it to register - he looked like a straightforward man based on the menial conversation he shared with seokjin and you as a witness.

but it’s true what they say about judging books by their cover.

“that’s very considerate of you, your grace,” the smile you force on goes against the normal order of nature but the man doesn’t seem fazed. his crimson eyes fixes themselves on yours as though trying to take a peek into your soul and find out your darkest secret. if there’d been any trace of humor, it’s all vanished into thin air now.

“your grace, i told you my life was on the line that night. and you helped me regardless of who i was - i’m thankful for you. there’s no way i’d start a rumor of us being engaged and trouble you further,” you begin, capturing yoongi’s gaze with yours - where you get such courage for someone who’s about to spew half-truths, you don’t know, “but that night - it was because seok- his majesty was about to marry me off to the 12th prince of aflar because i’d offended him with my words.”

“so he does whatever he wants just like his father,” his eyes glazes over you, as though picturing the new king at the back of his head as you speak. the matter of what he came for no longer as pressing as he made it out to be - dare you say, it was just an excuse to for him to come barging in.

“no!” the hurried denial warrants a narrow of eyes from the duke - as though wondering why the lady whose pleas were ignored, is defending the very person who’d ignored them. you only wanted a way out - not breathe the flames of an uproar from the nobles who chooses to remain neutral, “what i mean is, i’m sure his majesty will understand if you let me stand by you for a short while - i promise i won’t get in your grace’s way.” the last part is added as an afterthought when his eye twitches just the slightest bit as though displeased by the thought of some lady sticking to his side like glue.

the silence that lapses between you is tangible as your body screams to be released from the frozen state you’re in - you couldn’t move a finger even if you’d wanted to, at least not until yoongi seems to finish thinking.

“what exactly did you say to the king to have him want to send you away for good?” comes the million gold question.

this is it. you know he’d catch on but you’re not so prepared to give an answer. you’re not sure if the hesitance shows in your face but you doubt your mastery for hiding your emotions is as spectacular as his.

and so, with a tilted chin, you set a resolute gaze upon the duke, “the missing shipments from the port iyesgarth,” you state, noticing the curious raise of brow, “how are armwells doing these days?”

“impossible,” the frown that etches itself on his face is another kind of heartbreaking beauty. leaning back against the chair again and consequently allowing you to let out the breath you never knew you were holding, he continues, “the armwells own the warehouses. why would they steal shipments from merchants who pay them plenty just to leave goods in their warehouses?”

“the answer you’ve been looking for is right there,” the smile that blooms on your face is a pleasant one and the knit of yoongi’s eyebrows is all heartbreakingly adorable. “their spendthrift son has been gambling away the money and however much they make over the warehouse fee is starting to not be enough.”

there’s a light in his eyes that shines with doubt and with that, births the shadow of, dare you say, plausible confidence in what you’re saying.

“the goods from the shipment are being sold in the black market,” those crimson eyes follows your every movement as rise from your seat, hand clasped together in front of you - a habit you’d developed to appear small and unsuspecting, “ask around for a franny.”

x

franny is baron armwell’s alias. he couldn’t go around selling stolen goods under his name because the authorities - namely, the duke as part of his line of work after coming back from war - would catch on. it had just so happened that isabelle armwell, a lady you occasionally talk to at gatherings was sporting a long face at the debutante ball. she was spilling every single family secret after a trip to the washroom and a consoling hug.

with a heavy heart, you wave at the girl with the brightest blue eyes and blonde locks that flows past her bosom in waves. she’s wearing a light blue dress with minute diamonds pooling around the hem and dispersing up her waist. it’s been exactly five days after the duke min’s visit and over one week of celebrating the knights’ victory.

“___, i didn’t think you’d be here!” her beaming smile reminds you of the smudged makeup and tear stained eyes you bore witness just a month ago.

“why would you think that?” you blink despite having an inkling of where this conversation is going-

“well, since the rumors of you and duke min’s engagement...” she fiddles with her fingers from what you can only assume to be jitters. of course, a lady her age who’s just debuted into society would be curious of how you tamed the beast laying dormant.

to be frank, you did not.

“-remains a baseless rumor.” you speak rather loudly, hands on your hips as you steal a glance at the throne where seokjin sits, his eyes already on you, “i’m not sure who started it but duke min and i are-”

“lady ___,” a familiar guttural voice greets you from behind you. isabelle’s shock-stricken gaze that’s fixed at something - or rather, someone - past your shoulders is enough to confirm who the bearer of your doom is.

and true enough, standing before you, in the min family’s signature black suit and maroon undershirt, is none other than the devil himself. as opposed to last time, there’s a suave smile on his cherry pink lips - perhaps, nothing more than a show - and his silver hair is swept back, revealing his round visage and making his otherwise soft feature appear sharp and clean.

“your grace,” you dip down, dress lifted midair just below your hips before coming up and noticing the man also in the middle of standing back straight after bowing, “for a moment there, i thought it wasn’t you, but a shapeshifter who looked like you and attended this ball.”

if there’s anything you know - and you know plenty - about the duke of cralon, is that he rarely shows his face at balls and parties. even the ones held by the previous king.

the first time you met him was purely coincidental but not unprecedented. granted, the ball was held to celebrate the victory of the winter knights in the war. if there was any celebration duke min would attend, then it was that one. and he did attend.

but for him to appear at a regular ball held by the new king...

“alas, it is i and not some monstrous shapeshifter - i was hoping you’d spare me a dance, lady ___.” a gloved hand extends your way, hovering in the air as you scrutinize the man’s uncharacteristically smiling face - as though he’d found humor in your underlying tone.

his motives are unclear but the fact that you have his attention must mean your lead has lead to a fruitful discovery.

“why, this will pour oil to the flames,” you murmur under your breath - low enough for only him to hear and yet slip your own hand in his.

“so you’re friends with lady armwell,” the mellow tune of the cello pours into the room as a new song begins.

the feeling of the hand on your waist is unsettlingly gentle and careful - almost as though he’s fearful that your bones may break if he held on tighter.

“she only tearfully told me about the her brother’s unmanageable gambling habits, the information i gave you was out of my own findings - i can find out a plenty of many things for your grace if you choose to help me shake his majesty’s eyes off me,” you search for those crimson eyes as he twirls you around once, “i trust it’s been helpful to your grace, but if you are still unconvinced of my expertise-”

the bells of chuckles that drums in your ears are the last thing you expect to hear - quite frankly, the chances of gaining a threat for whatever reason is much higher than bearing witness to the duke’s laughter.

“there’s no need,” this time, his hair doesn’t brush over his eyebrows when he shakes his head, “you’ll make a fine fiance, ___.”

the lack of honorific doesn’t entirely go past you but that isn’t a material matter at the moment.

did he just said... fiance?

“your grace, unless my ears are-”

“yoongi.”

“p-pardon?” the warmth on your hip and hand seeps into you as he directs your body to move with the melody of the instruments, reminding you that there are hundred pairs of eyes on you and if the lady were to stop dancing all of a sudden, then there is no doubt of a new kind of rumor surfacing.

but judging from the way he dips his head and his hot breath fanning the shell of your ear, you can almost hear the squeals and gossip that will fill tomorrow’s tea party, “since we’re engaged, shouldn’t we at least call each other by our names?”

words die in your throat, as does the music. you barely notice the hands that held you falling away as you watch the man take a step backwards and lower his head - so much for formalities after deciding to forego it just five seconds ago.

“i’ll send a letter tomorrow notifying my visit in three day’s time.” with that, you’re left staring like a fool at the black and red insignia engraved on the back of his jacket.

it is a moment later that isabelle and the other ladies begin to crowd you, that you finally come to your senses.

“it it true? you’re engaged to the duke of cralon?” lady irene’s beaming smile is far too close for your liking.

“calm down, lady irene. don’t make a-”

before lady krystal manages to finish her sentence, you already find yourself slipping past bodies and out of the ball room. your destination is unclear but you saw yoongi take a left and that could only mean that he’s heading towards the garden instead of the double doors of the exit.

lights line the tall walls surrounding the palace but you wouldn’t have spot the grey locks that appear almost white if not for the moonlight. the crimson dragons on either side of the shield symbolizes the min family’s pledge to protect the crown. the fact that he’s wearing this and not the official knight outwear means he’s not here as the head knight but as a-

“your grace,” you send a prayer to the goddess for the sternness in your tone but it easily dwindles down and hits the ground as you’re met with the echoing footsteps of the duke who doesn’t seem to acknowledge your presence.

your temple throbs as the image of the duke’s handsome features come unnervingly close to you whilst he whispers-

“yoongi.” you almost scream.

it is settled knowledge that the duke of cralon possesses inhumane abilities that helped him and his predecessors win wars for the kingdom, cearis. if his unfailing reputation isn’t enough, then you’ve already seen how you would be completely helpless in his undetectable presence that night when you failed to notice him until he presents himself to seokjin and consequently you.

but in your haste to right the wrong, you’ve forgotten the possibility of abruptly calling his name ending up with your face buried in his chest when he whirls around to face you.

with cheeks that feels like they’re surrounded by a thousand suns, you quickly clear your throat after taking one step back. his raised eyebrow, however, tells you he thinks nothing of the minor mishap just now.

still, you meet yoongi’s gaze with a pair of knitted brows and a distraught tug in the corners of your lips, “i believe there’s been a misunderstanding, your grace,” the briefest lift of eyebrows as though he is painfully aware of the way you address him, doesn’t go unnoticed by you though you wish it would, “when i asked if i could stand by your side, i did not mean as your fiance - it makes me think you don’t trust me enough to believe that it wasn’t me who spread the rumor.”

“i do believe you,” he says simply, “but wouldn’t you say the rumor plays in your favor, ___?” there he goes again, addressing you informally, “since everyone saw us dancing together, they’ll feed into the rumor. it doesn’t matter if the king doesn’t buy into it. as of now, his position is vulnerable and if he were to break two lovers who are mad for each other apart and marry the other off in the name of political gain, the aristocrats won’t sit still.”

“so just now...” you trail off, the image of isabelle and the other nobles’ fallen jaws flashing at the back of your mind, “it was a return of favor because i helped solve the mystery of the missing shipments?”

“you don’t seem pleased,” his eyebrows begin to knit together.

“how can i be when i was not consulted of such plans prior to this?” the silence that lapses between you is no different than back in the parlor in your mansion, except yoongi seems to consider your request more seriously this time judging from the hard lines set upon his otherwise smooth forehead.

“then, what would you have suggested, ___?” the blinking red doesn’t seem too menacing now that he’s staring at you with genuine concern.

sighing, you curse yourself for admitting the truth in his words, “your grace is correct that the rumor gives us an advantage. however, next time we are to make a public appearance, i’d like to have a say on how it’s to be executed.”

his gaze lingers on you for the longest time - you’re not sure whether he’s debating on foregoing your investigative expertise or whether he should reveal to seokjin that this is all a faux. but what he does next could never have crossed your mind in the list of things he duke yoongi min could be thinking.

“i understand,” the figure in front of you dips to a bow, a gloved black hand levitating midair as a shadow casts itself over his gentle features and contrasting glowing eyes, “my apologies for acting without taking your feelings into consideration just now, lady ___.”

the title returns in his mouth yet your chest caves in displeasure. you’re not too fond of him calling you just by name but you’re not any glad that he’s back to using that honorific.

“v-very well, you’re forgiven,” you force out after realizing you’ve made him wait long enough, cheeks warm as you place your hand in his, eyes fixed on his lips that presses against your knuckles - they really are as soft as they look.

a halo encases his body when he stands straight. and if it weren’t for his abrupt remark, you would have pondered on the faintest hint of smile on his features, “now then, may i ask another favor from you, ___?”

another one? right after you assisted him in finding out the culprit?

“your grace may, though please bear in mind tonight doesn’t count as you returning the favor so you’ll be owing me two public appearances.” you shrug as casually as possible.

“that’s fair,” he nods a little too nonchalantly before getting to the point - and perhaps a tendril of regret wraps around your heart for agreeing without hearing his request first when he utters his next words-

“i wish us to call each other by our names - it’s suffocating to be so polite.” he sighs, hand ruffling his silvery tresses like a child tired of the etiquette lessons forced on him and not at all like the man that had you on the edge of your seat back in your mansion.

“th-that’s-” the words teeter on your tongue but refuse to leave your mouth as you fumble for a reason to object but the longer you stare into those indecipherable eyes, the emptier your mind gets and the harder your heart races.

“r-reasonable,” you stammer out, the flash of anticipation across the duke’s face leaving you no choice but to add, “yoongi.”

x

note. hello!! i’ve been working on this for a month or so (whew) bc i got super into historical au’s and just wanna write something without prince and princesses as the main leads and this happened!! hope you guys enjoyed it and are looking forward for more. drop your @ below if you want to be included the taglist!

[fanartfunart]

Fly Away: Episode 7, Theatrix

Ao3 - First - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

(Féline Sombre & Paon Lilas designs)

Summery: An AU where Adrien never went to in-person school, not getting the cat miraculous, and found the peacock miraculous. - The school holds an audition for a play and Chloé is determined to sabotage Lila's audition. It goes about as expected in terms of akuma-creation.

-

The black box theater was small. Assorted students unfolded the bleachers of the theater seats. Chloé watched Marinette and her gaggle of friends in the theater crew chatter while they set up the theater room. She hummed as she stood on the edge of the stage.

“Quaint,” Chloé rolled her eyes, “This better not be where we’re actually holding the play, or I’ll have to talk to the manager of this whole mess. Sabrina, did you remember my costume?” She asked, looking at her nails.

“Oh… no… It’s only a school audition. Do you need it?” they said. She held the script and a makeup bag against her chest.

“I need it to get into the role! The mind of the character! You know that!” Chloé huffed, turning to look at them with crossed arms.

“Oh-oh sorry! I’ll go get it!” 

“Go! Go! Hurry, we only have half an hour before I’ll be on stage!”

Sabrina squeaked and scrambled out of the room. They narrowly avoided crashing into Lila. “Sorry!”

Lila smiled, “Don’t worry about it,” she waved as Sabrina raced out of the room. She walked up to Chloé. “Fancy meeting you here. Auditioning for the role of an extra?”

Chloé huffed, “Of course not, I will only take a starring role, of course.”

“Oh really? I mean, keep your hopes up high, right? I’m sure the teacher would want the most experienced actor, unfortunately for you.”

“Ha! I’m sure he’ll know talent when he sees it. Besides, I know about professional acting from my best friend, Adrien~ I’ve even helped him in some of his photo shoots.”

“Of course, of course…” Lila rolled her eyes then tilted her head, “Oh, speaking of Adrien, what are you going to do about that book Marinette stole?”

“Yeah yeah, you told me about that weeks ago. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Fun fact, I don’t care about what you say!” Chloé smiled sharply, “You’re just jealous that we’re friends with Adrien and you’re just another one of his little fans. Alya told me Marinette lost it and was intending to give it back. They even went back to look for it. Alya isn’t my favorite journalist but she knows how to get the truth.”

Lila hummed, “Of course. It’s not like Alya couldn’t be lying to protect her best friend,” she sighed, “I’m just looking out for him.”

Chloé frowned and folded her arms, “Right, because you’re sooooo sweet.”

“Aw, I’m glad you think so,” Lila smiled. Chloé glared at her.

“I have your costume!” Sabrina cheered, holding the outfit against her chest. “Er…” They glanced between Chloé and Lila. She grabbed Chloé’s arm, pulling her away, “Let’s go get you ready!”

Chloé maintained a glare as she was dragged away. They walked into a back room, and Chloé huffed. She took the outfit from Sabrina. “I’m going to destroy her chances at getting any role in this play.”

Sabrina grimaced, “Chloé… you can’t solve everything like this-”

“I can too!” Chloé scoffed, “Eliminating her will even give me an upper hand in the audition. If Lila wants to be the center of attention she’ll be the center of attention,” Chloé walked out from behind the dressing screen and spun in the dress, “Come Sabrina, I have a plan.”

They frowned, “I’m not going to help you.”

“Huh? Why not?"

"It's going to hurt her feelings. There's plenty of spots in the play, you can get the lead even with Lila in the running. You need to be the better person."

"...I’ll let you borrow my new scarf?”

Sabrina shook her head, “Sorry Chloé, but I can’t help you.”

Chloé blinked. She huffed, “Fine, I don’t need your help.” She turned on her heel with a flick of her hair.

They watched Chloé storm off and glanced at the floor. Something sharp threatened their heart. She shoved it down, racing to follow her best friend.

Something moved behind the curtains when Lila got onto the stage. ...And no trace of Chloé. Sabrina frowned. She wasn't seriously going to sabotage Lila still... was she? They slipped away from their seat and up to the backstage.

Chloé glared at Sabrina from her hiding spot. As if to spite her, she maintained eye contact as she slid a banana peel under the curtain onto the stage. Sabrina frowned and glanced towards Lila. Gasping, they lunged forward and grabbed the banana peel before Lila could step back into it. 

She giggled awkwardly as Lila turned, looking at her. She glared, clearly assuming she was the one planting the tripping hazard. Sabrina inched backwards, back behind the curtain. Chloé frowned. She glanced at the lights and raced for them as quietly as possible. Sabrina gasped and raced after her. 

Getting into the light booth, Chloé glanced at the buttons to see which one would help her ruin Lila's audition. The booth door slammed open.

"Chloé, don't," Sabrina whispered urgently.

"I'm not listening to you ex-best-friend. Just don't get in my way and I'll think about taking you back as my best friend."

Sabrina gasped, taking a step back. The sharp thing came back, digging into her heart. "Chloé, please."

"Hm? Who said that?" Chloé taunted. She pressed a button to turn off the lights. The crowd in the theater murmured to each other.

Sabrina surged forward and flipped the light back on. Instead of returning to normal, the lights grew intensely bright. The theater teacher was glaring at her, and Chloé was already making her way down the steps casually. As if she had nothing to do with it.

"The lights are prohibited to students right now! Get down here!" The instructor called. Sabrina squeaked, scrambling out of the booth.

Blinded by the sudden light, Lila stumbled, hair flopping into her face as she caught herself. Her shoe slipped off and was flung into the rafters, stuck. A ruckus of giggles echoed from the students watching the performance. 

Lila stood up, flushing in mortification.

The teacher wasn't even watching her. Too busy telling Sabrina why she wasn't allowed in the light booth. She glared at the redhead, then to the giggling students. Well. She wouldn't give them the time of day. Let alone the satisfaction of seeing her embarrassment. She marched out the door. Fists clenched and face burning. 

Lila fumed all the way to the courtyard. A purple butterfly fluttered down from the sky. Lila turned, face to face with the purple butterfly. She stared at it. She'd never been akumatized before, but she'd seen plenty. The chance to gain power was far too enchanting. She raised the crumpled script in her hand, and it disappeared into the paper. 

“Theatrix, I am Hawkmoth.”

Paon Lilas kicked his legs against the edge of a roof, humming to himself. Yet again, his father was gone all day. Marinette, Chloé and Sabrina were at school for their play and Kagami was busy at a dinner party with her mother, so he couldn't hang out with any of them to fill the empty space in his heart. There was no trace of the book to occupy his time chasing. So instead he was on a roof, taking in the feeling of being someone not Adrien. A pair transformed into someone a little more whole than either half alone. 

He glanced in the direction of the school with a wistful sigh. He tilted his head. A red curtain covering the building. Fluttering over the building. Whatever was that? He stood, eyes wide. Leaping to the building, he circled the curtain. He reached out to touch it, and a small red blur flew out of the curtain. He stumbled backwards. 

The kwami looked up at him, gasping. “Paon Lilas.”

“Sugercube, did you find the exi- oof!” A black kwami bumped into the red one, shaking his head and frowning, “Well if it isn’t Big Bird.”

“Wait… You’re not Ladybug and Féline Sombre’s-”

“We are. I’m Tiki and this is Plagg,” the red kwami introduced, gesturing. She zipped up towards Paon Lilas’s face. Her eyes narrowed at him for a moment. Seeming to weigh her options, the kwami very seriously pointed back inside. “Our holders are trapped inside. You must stop the akuma yourself so that Ladybug can cleanse it.”

“Ladybug and Féline? How?” 

“They fell for some cheap theatrics and illusions,” Plagg sighed, waving a paw, “Look kid, we couldn’t get to them without being caught. So I guess it’s up to you, Feather Fluff… Oh well! Got any Camembert by chance?”

“We will attempt to assist however, right Plagg?” Tiki huffed, paws on her hips.

"Yeah yeah, but some cheese before we go would be nice," Plagg said with a sigh.

“I don’t have any cheese…” Paon Lilas shook his head and geared up to run inside, “Alright, let’s go then-”

“You can’t dive in head first!” Tiki exclaimed, pushing back on his chest. 

“Why not?” Paon Lilas and Plagg asked at the same time. Paon tilted his head at the black kwami, confused. One minute he’s trying to get out of coming with, the next he’s anxious to get going?

Tiki sighed, “You need a plan. The entire school is shrouded in an illusionary world. We need to be cautious.”

Paon Lilas huffed, “Okay, uh, I’ll figure it out when I get in there.” Paon ran into the curtain, Plagg close behind. Tiki sighed as she followed them. 

The lights were blinding, as if a spotlight was pointed at him. He looked around past the light, as he was far too used to doing. The room was a grand stage, with a graded wooden floor and endless rows of empty seats beyond the stage.

He could feel himself automatically changing how he walked. Less of a heroic stride and more of a model’s purposefully casual sashe. The one that he’d practiced so often it became second nature. Far too Adrien Agreste while he was Paon Lilas. An intense feeling surrounded the realization, shaking him to his core. Yet, even with his powers to help, he couldn’t quite place what that feeling was. His heart squeezed, like a spasm in his chest. Like he’d been dunked in ice-cold waters. 

He grit his teeth in determination and focused on the emotions around him. He couldn't sense the emotions of the kwami to his surprise. Maybe that was to hide their holders from anyone with this power. He glanced around. Hints of people's emotions were everywhere. But he didn't see anyone. "Weird," he muttered. "Ok I can… tell people are here but, I don't see anyone..." He doubled over with a hacking cough.

“Woah kid, are you okay?” Plagg said, zipping in front of his face.

He nodded, "Fine. Just… I've been ill, don't worry about it."

Tiki hovered over his shoulder, "Try to pinpoint the Akuma if you can."

Eerily cheerful music twinkled around them, coming from nowhere in particular. 

"Well hello," a familiar voice sang, "Well, where were you now?" Sabrina was suddenly across from him, spotlighted. They wore a historical suit, accented in purple and blue flourishes, and a masquerade mask that looked like it had been paper crafted. They walked towards him with a light bounce, as if she was about to break into dance. “We’ve been waiting for you~ Welcome to the show!” She spun, grabbing his arms. They continued with a cheerful sounding song, dragging him along into a dance;

“We’ll have singing and dancing for you, /Oh yes, ever the hero, /Come with us, birdy, fly the coop! /You don’t need to worry, no”

Tiki hovered over his shoulder, “Don’t listen to them! The singing is what created the illusion!”

“Here in this land of dreams come true! /You’ll be happy here, you know. /We hope you can join us too, /Welcome to the show!”

Paon Lilas tugged away from their grip, shifting into a fighting stance, glaring as they continued to twirl around him. “But... Sabrina’s not the akuma, is she?”

“No, of course not!” Plagg called out, looking at the teen with more concern than Paon expected.

Sabrina bowed with a welcoming gesture and was joined by several other students in masquerade style outfits, in a grand finale of their opening song.

“You’ll be happy, yes /Unless you try to escape /Our leader demands success! /We wouldn’t want to cause a mess, /You see, this is no rescue, /It’s just the beginning though, /We’ve been waiting for you, /Welcome to the show! /We’re pleased to introduce our noblesse, /We’re sure she will impress, /The grand stage’s greatest actress, /Please welcome Theatrix!”

A light burst onto the stage in front of him. Paon Lilas shielded himself and the kwamis with his fan from the brightness. He slowly lowered the fan as a hypnotic voice vocalized to the growing music.

“Well, well, well,” Theatrix sung. She had bright red hair, pinned back loosely with a white rose clip. She wore a white suit with long floor-length coat tails, which rolled up like a scroll. Her suit collar had a large black bow. She wore a white masquerade mask accented with lines of writing. She practically shimmered in the light as she smiled at him. “Welcome to my show.”

The lights immediately went out. Paon Lilas strained to make out where everyone was in the sudden dark. He knew how to walk on a dark stage well enough. Familiarizing himself with the incline (there was surprisingly none), he kept a cautious distance from the edge.

The light faded in again and Theatrix was next to him. She propped an arm on his shoulder. Everyone else was busying themselves with various tasks, around what now appeared to be a dinner hall. She was mostly calm, but anger and embarrassment boiled under the surface. She must’ve been the second calmest akuma he’d met…. After his own father.

“So,” she said, uncomfortably close, “Here to nicely hand over your miraculous? Where’s your friends?”

Paon Lilas threw her off, shifting into a fighting stance, “...They’re not… they’re not my friends. I’m by myself.” 

“Oh?” Theatrix tilted her head, “So you’re all alone~” she sung, “All by your lonesome.” Music trickled back in, gentle and quiet… dark.

“Oh don’t start-” Paon huffed. He raced forward with a swing. She jumped out of the way, and beckoned Sabrina and Chloé forward as the pair began to harmonize with her.

“So you’ve come to save the day, /Without a friend to aid you~ /Your heart calls out to me, /Lonely darling, come with me,”

“I’m not lonely,” he interrupted with a glare. 

Plagg zipped around from one hiding place to the next, looking up at Sabrina. Trying to figure out how to release them from the akuma’s hold. 

“You’ve been wishing, /Wishing for a friend, oooh, /Darling let me guide you-”

Paon Lilas shook his head, “Get out of my head!” His voice came out sing-song, matching Theatrix’s haunting voice. She smiled. He looked around frantically. He needed to find a way to ignore her song properly. He spotted a boy with headphones loosely hanging around his neck.

“I can heal the hurt, /Just come and stay with me, /Forever~”

He ran up to the boy and snatched his headphones. Nino turned on him, grabbing his wrist.

“Stay,” he sang in tune with Theatrix.

“Don’t fool yourself, /We can be your friends /Forever~”

Paon Lilas twisted himself with a grunt, escaping Nino’s grip, “Not like this, not ever,” he sang, and pulled the headphones over his ears. It muffled the music, and the scene faded, revealing the school courtyard. Theatrix glared at him and pointed. "Get him."

The idle students turned towards him. Paon's eyes widened as he was tackled. He yelped and struggled to keep them off.

"I've got to find out how to release everyone from her hold! Any ideas would be great," Paon harshly whispered, trying to spot the kwamis in the fray. 

Tiki zipped up to him "Everyone's lure song was different. If you can figure out why, maybe you can release them!"

Paon Lilas huffed, barely blocking a tackle from Marinette, stumbling backwards. "Okay, okay."

"You can dive deeper into people's emotions and get some surface reasoning!" Plagg said, "Just focus."

"I can?" Paon Lilas kicked his attacker's legs from under them, coughing.

"You can. Your powers work similarly to Hawkmoth. You can do this, I believe in you!" Tiki cheered.

He leaped up to the second floor of the building now that he could actually see it. With a frown he paused and focused on the dulled emotions of the first person he saw, Sabrina. 

The emotions felt slippery, as if he was trying to catch water with his bare hands. Fear, abandonment, concern, duty. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the why. 

Behind his eyelids, he saw it. Sabrina reached out to the retreating figure of Chloé, expression outright heartbroken. He opened his eyes. "Her," he pointed the redhead out to the kwamis, "Sabrina. Did either of you guys hear her song?"

Plagg waved a paw lazily, "Some boring ditty about being used and being left behind."

Paon Lilas frowned, "I have an idea… It's dangerous. But if I can confirm it I should be able to make a sentimonster to free everyone."

"Careful," Tiki whispered.

He leaped down and grabbed Sabrina, who shrieked. With gymnastic grace, they twirled in his hold and kneed him in the gut. He sputtered on a cough, but kept her grip on them. He was quickly surrounded, and he struggled to fight them all off while keeping Sabrina in his hold. 

"I'm trying to help you!" Paon shouted, frustration mounting. 

The headphones were ripped off his head. Theatrix dangled them from her finger, humming. 

"What do you want, /What do you really want, dear /What is in your heart, /This is your brand new start!"

Paon let Sabrina slip out of his hands. He covered his ears, brows furrowed.

"Just tell ussss. /What do- /You want~ oh ooh-oh! /Just give me your heart's song /I'll give you your heart's wants, /All I need is a heart song, /Open your soul, dear. /Give it to meeee, /What do- /You want~" 

Tears streaked down his face. The song just bubbled up in his chest before he could stop it. Theatrix echoed him, smiling and drawing closer, like a circling shark.

"I want a lifeee /Impossible to reach. /I want people /Who I'll never see /Nothing will give me, /What I need. /Nothing could be, /What I truly want. /Deep down, I know /My heart still bleeeedss- /For someone, /I'll never see!-" He choked as a hazy silhouette of his mother blurred in his vision. "Again…"

He twisted his eyes shut and shook his head, he spoke, "She's gone, an illusion won't bring her back..."

"What do you want, /It will be easy for me," Theatrix continued, gently touching his cheek, "soft as a dream, /Real as can beeeee~ /But only if you, /Give your miraculous to me."

The two kwamis made sounds of alarm.

Paon Lilas looked down at the brooch and clamped a hand around it, "No."

"...No?"

"You won't take him away from me too. I can’t get her back, but I can still hold onto this!" 

He threw off the few remaining people holding him in place and grabbed Sabrina. She tried to throw him off again, but expecting it, he hoisted them into a fireman carry. He leaped up out of immediate reach, yelping as Theatrix followed close behind. He deposited Sabrina on the roof and held her arms.

"Listen to me. You're worth so much, Sabrina, just break free. You're smart and kind and generous. Please, be generous to yourself and break free. Chloé won't leave you, you're her best friend. Trust me."

"...How do you know? How do you know I won't be alone?"

"You're never alone. You… you have family. You can even make new friends! I'll even be there if you need me, I promise."

"Paon...Lilas?" They said, cautious, tilting their head, "...When did you get here?"

He chuckled uneasily, "Not too long. Are you with me? No more illusionary world?"

"Illusions…" Sabrina gasped, "Oh no an Akuma?!"

"It’ll be okay! I...have it handled. Mostly. But… I need a little help. Can you release the rest of the people Theatrix captured?"

"Of course!" Sabrina exclaimed. She gasped and pushed him out of the way, "Lilas watch out!"

He coughed as he tumbled down the slope of the roof. Theatrix was fuming. He couldn't see where Sabrina went.

He latched onto her clear determination, her drive to help, and quickly plucked a feather from the fan, "Fly Away little Amok, and give them a helping hand!”

"You're done for Birdy! You're ruining everything! It was nearly perfect!" Theatrix shrieked.

"Purrfection is impossible to strive for, didn't you know that?" Paon Lilas called back. Theatrix growled and flung herself at him.

The feather landed in Sabrina's glasses. A floating mirror appeared in front of her and an image of herself smiled back at her, waving. She stared at it, shocked. 

"I need you to show Mirror Me to everyone you see and convince them to leave their illusion like I did with you! It should show you what they're seeing and the song they were lured with." Paon Lilas said over their telepathic connection.

Sabrina snuck back down and harshly whispered "Plagg?!"

The kwami zipped over to her with a teary giggle, "Oh, don't do that again."

They smiled softly, cuddling the kwami against their cheek, "I won't. Come on, Plagg, Claws Out!"

Féline Sombre looked up towards Paon Lilas struggling to keep Theatrix at bay. She frowned, focusing on the students and friends trapped in their illusionary worlds.

“Oh, to no longer live in a world so secret, /Close to friends, close to family, /Nothing to take it all away in a minute. /Oh, to be open and free /Who would care I’m a klutz, /When the world is happy. /Safe and carefree,” Marinette sang as she flitted around the bakery with the hazy “casual” form of Féline Sombre. “Oh! To no longer live in a world so secret, /No more lies, no more cries, /Nothing to take my friends too quick.” She giggled as Tiki and Plagg zipped past, openly, stealing away with a bag of cookies.

“Oh, to be open and free, /Who would care I’m not strong enough, /When the world is happy. /Safe and carefree.”

“Listen to me!” Féline Sombre’s voice called out, “I know it would be nice for us to be safe, but we’re not until we defeat Hawkmoth. This isn’t real.”

Marinette tilted her head, then looked around at the cheerful world, “But it looks so…”

“Paon Lilas needs our help… Er, I need your help.”

Marinette blinked and her hazy “casual” Féline Sombre, solidified into the masked version. She sighed at the loss. “One day...” she whispered. They held out a hand and she took it.

Féline Sombre smiled at her, as Marinette looked around the courtyard. Several other students were moving around, trying to talk to their friends. “Try to release as many of your friends as possible, Paon Lilas made a sentimonster that can help you know what their illusions are.”

Marinette nodded numbly.

Paon Lilas fell through the roof with a panicked yell, and thudded onto the ground. Theatrix landed on him, knee pushing against his chest. He sputtered painful coughs, struggling weakly. Féline Sombre gasped and raced forward. Theatrix rushed to meet her, kicking their legs from under them. Tiki zipped over to Paon Lilas and placed her paws over his chest, on the peacock miraculous, a frown flickering on her small face. She glanced up to spot Marinette and gasped.

Marinette ran in the opposite direction, trying to find a good spot to hide. She ducked into the bathroom, opening her purse “Tiki! Sp-” she sputtered to a stop. Her heart leaped into her throat. The kwami wasn’t there. “Tiki?!” She looked around, “No, no, no, Tiki?” 

Tiki phased through the door, “I saw you get released from the akuma’s control but you ran so fast!” 

Marinette laughed in mild hysteria and relief, “Ohmygoodness, you’re here, oh thank goodness.”

“I’m always here for you. But right now, we need to help them Marinette!” 

Marinette nodded in determination, “Tiki, spots on!”

Paon Lilas hadn’t moved. Féline Sombre was fighting Theatrix and the remaining students under her control. Paon Lilas still hadn’t moved. He laid on the floor, curled in clear pain. 

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called, figuring she didn’t have a second to lose. The charm produced a gauze. “Oh no-” She glanced towards Paon Lilas, who struggled to stand up, his miraculous beeping incessantly. 

She ran towards him. “Let me help-”

His eyes were wide with panic. Bracing an arm against his chest, he ran. She saw the flash of light from the detransformation just as he opened the door to a classroom. Pushing the desire to follow him out, she refocused on Theatrix and Féline Sombre. 

“Ladybug! I’m pretty sure the akuma is in the mask! It’s the one consistent thing in her and her minions,” Féline Sombre called, “But I can’t reach it because she keeps moving!”

Ladybug nodded, and glancing at the gauze and Theatrix, she leapt into action. “Kitty, cataclysm now!” 

“You got it, Bug! Cataclysm!”

She twirled her yoyo to capture Theatrix’s arms, and created a loop with the gauze to stop her from thrashing her head. She strained to keep her secured as the remaining students still under her control tried to grab Ladybug’s arms and pull Theatrix free.

Féline worked faster than the controlled people, luckily. The paper mask turned to ash in the cataclysm, and the purple butterfly fluttered out. The illusion fell. 

Ladybug took a moment to sigh in relief before capturing and purifying the pesky butterfly. She raised a hand for Féline Sombre to high-five.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she called, throwing the gauze into the air.

Lila looked up at the pair with a remorseful look. “Oh- oh what happened? Why am I here?”

Féline Sombre leaned down and offered a hand to help Lila up. “You were akumatized…”

Ladybug looked around, noticing the sentimonster had disappeared. A spike of urgency pricked in Ladybug’s mind. “I need to get Paon Lilas!” Ladybug exclaimed, racing to the classroom the boy had detransformed in.

Adrien kept his back to his door, taking harsh, crackling breaths. “I need to get out of here,” He muttered towards Dusuu. The kwami looked at him, eyes wide and tearful.

Between gasping sobs, he said, “Adrien, the miracle cure didn’t even help, you need to start being more careful...” 

He nodded, “I will-” he coughed, and the door moved against his back.

Ladybug knocked urgently, “Paon! Let me in.” 

He stood up, bracing the door closed. He exchanged a worried look to Dusuu, “Dusuu, spread my feathers!” He raced forward to the window and Ladybug managed to open the door just as he started climbing through the window. They both stopped, staring at each other. 

Ladybug raised her hands like he was a skittish animal, “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” He wheezed out, he swallowed, leaning out the window and looking down.

“Wait- please, just tell me who you are! Just… let me explain.”

He closed his eyes, listening to her footsteps slowly come closer. She was worried. But that didn’t mean she was worried for him. She was frustrated too. She was definitely frustrated about him. 

Her footsteps were getting too close. He snapped his eyes open and jerked back. She took a step backward. He coughed, and shook his head, “Sorry.” He leaped out the window and left her standing alone. He didn’t look back.

Tiki paced through the air as much as a floating creature could pace.

"Usually I'm the one freaking out, what's wrong?" Marinette asked as she finished her Paon Lilas doll.

"The peacock miraculous... it's broken," Tiki said, frowning, "I... don't know how."

"It didn't look broken? ...Does it being broken hurt you guys?"

"Yes, and our holders," Tiki said, eyes wide. Terrified. "We need to find them and we need to fix the miraculous."

"...How do we do that?"

"The spellbook."

[juviaafullbuster]

Angst 5 - gruvia

Give me the angst

Okay, it turned out longer than I thought it would but: HERE IT IS! You really challenged me with this one, I have to admit.. 😅

Angst - Prompt Nr. 5:

"Forget it, you're a fucking asshole."

Juvia stood in front of the building, clutching her bag to her chest. It has been so long since she had last been there.

She wondered whether everything was still the same. Probably not. Taking a deep breath, she made her way inside, ready to face the people she called family.

The first thing she noticed was that the guild was still as loud and lively as it used to be. She found some unfamiliar faces in the crowd, most likely new members who had joined the guild over the time she was gone. It took her a while to find someone she knew. It was Mira who she recognized first. She was standing behind the bar, busy serving customers.

Juvia made her way over, trying to find more familiar faces in the crowd.

"Juvia?" It was Lisanna who approached her first. Juvia turned to her with a small smile. "Oh my God, it really is you! You're finally back!"

Juvia found herself enveloped in a tight hug. Soon after there were more people around her, all familiar and Juvia couldn't help but feel warm and welcome. Some things might not have changed after all. She greeted everyone warmly and tried to answer as many questions as she could but she was being overwhelmed. It wasn't until Master Makarov appeared that they all became quiet.

"Juvia, welcome back dear."

"Thank you, Master."

"From what I heard so far the mission was a success?"

"Yes, Juvia completed it a few days ago and has been on her way back here since."

"Well, congratulations. I'm very proud of you, my child."

Juvia smiled and thanked him. When she had first chosen to go on this mission, Master had refused her request. He had said that she was letting her emotions cloud her judgements and that she would regret taking on this mission. But Juvia was stubborn and kept insisting until he agreed with a heavy heart. Juvia knew that it wasn't a simple decision, she would be away for two years after all. But she had made her choice and she wouldn't go back on it. She needed to leave for a while, needed to get away and this mission made for a water mage was the perfect opportunity. So she had taken it and left with a heavy heart. But she was back now.

"Juvia.. you're back." She turned around and found Natsu, Lucy and Erza looking at her. Juvia gulped. If those three were here, that could only mean he was somewhere close to.

"Welcome back, Juvia. It has been so long." It was Erza who got out of her shocked state first and patted Juvia on the shoulder. "That was quite the mission you took on. We only got updates from master occasionally, but they weren't enough to keep our worries in bay."

"There was no need to be worried about Juvia. The mission was successful, there was nothing Juvia couldn't handle."

"I was sure about that. You're a strong mage after all."

"That didn't stop him from worrying."

There was an awkward silence followed after Natsus comment. Erza glared at him for being so blunt while Juvia visibly paled. He.. he had been worried about her? But why? For all she knew he didn't care about her after all. Suddenly Juvia just wanted to get out, get back to her place and hide under her covers. She was tired and there was so much she still had to do. Natsu however didn't seem to register that. Unbothered by Erzas glare, he continued talking.

"That was a really stupid move. You don't just abandon your family like that."

"Natsu.."

"Do you even realize what your leaving did to him? I never saw Gray like this, not once. You broke him!" He was talking calmly and yet Juvia could hear the anger hidden behind the facade. He kept going on about how she was wrong, selfish and unconsidering, ignoring the warnings from Lucy and Erza.

"You're really good at running from your problems, aren't you?"

Juvia snapped. She didn't mean to lash out at Natsu, he was just being a protective friend after all. But there was no way she would stand her and let him throw accusations at her. Because he was there back then. He had seen and heard what happened. Juvia didn't forget and she sure as hell, wouldn't let him forget either. Yes, she ran away from the problems, but what else was she supposed to do? She was tired of fighting and he was tired of her. It was the best she did for both of them.

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare put it all on Juvia. Don't you dare paint Juvia the villain here. You were there. You heard it all. Would you have stayed?"

Natsu grew quiet. You could have cut the tension with a knife at this point. Everyone around them had become quiet but Juvia didn't notice. She was too engrossed in the moment. It took him a while, but Juvia saw his features soften before he pulled her into a hug.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know why you did what you did. I understand. It's just.. you leaving, it changed a lot. He's my best friend and I hate seeing him the way he was when you left. But you're also my friend and I'm glad to have you back."

Juvia felt the tears running down her cheeks. She tried to stop them, she really did. But she couldn't help it. There were just too many memories coming up, memories she had tried to erase.

TWO YEARS AGO

Fairy Tail was being attacked and they were slowly reaching their limits. Everyone was tired, outpowered and if they didn't find a way to stop them soon, there was little hope they would get out alive. Gray and Juvia had been fighting alongside each other all day and where reaching the guild hall where the leader of the attackers was hiding. They just needed to take him out and it would be over. When they arrived there, Natsu was already engaging in a fight with him.

To their dismay however, it didnt appear that he was getting anywhere near beating him. Gray and Juvia had joined him but it was still so hard. He had managed to knock out Natsu and Juvia was fighting consciousness while trying to lift herself up. There was only Gray left and he was desperate. He had to stop him before it was too late.

Next thing Juvia saw, was Gray in the Iced Sheel stance. He wouldn't.. would he? She called out to him, desperately trying to stop him, but he wasn't listening and she couldn't move, couldn't get up. The ice was starting to envelop him. Juvia kept calling out to him, kept begging for him to stop. But the temperature kept sinking and he kept going.

And then it all stopped.

Natsu had woken up and interfered. Had stopped him from using the spell that would cost him his life. Everything after that was a blur to Juvia because she lost conciousness, outpowered by her emotions.

When she woke up, the enemy was defeated and Gray was sitting next to her. Natsu was sitting not to far away, but had their backs turned to them, an attempt of giving them privacy. Juvia tried to get up but Gray just pushed her back down.

"You need to rest. The others will be here soon. Don't worry, it's over."

She wasn't having any of it. He had tried to sacrifice himself. Again. And she wouldn't just let that go.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you use that spell?"

Silence. Then a sigh.

"I wanted to save you. Natsu. The guild."

"And sacrificing yourself is the answer?"

"We were running out of options."

"This is never an option. How can your life mean so little to you?"

Juvia put her hand on the spot that had a scar on it. The scar she got after she almost killed herself, a desperate attempt to save him. Back then, there wasn't another option. It was either him or her. But this, this was different.

"I sacrificed my life so you can live. And that's how you go ahead?"

"I never asked you to!"

"That's not the point."

"It is the point. I don't need you to save me, protect me or whatever. You're not my girlfriend, nor my family. You shouldn't care about me, don't you get that?"

"But I do care! And I will always care!"

"Stop. Stop it. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want this."

"What is this? What is it you didn't ask for? Didn't want?"

"You, damn it! I didn't ask for you!"

It felt like Gray had stabbed her. His words had cut her deeper than any knife. Because Juvia was used to this. Used to being unwanted. She had been rejected all her life. And yet, it never hurt her as badly as it did when he rejected her. He had told her no before, ignored her advances. But this, this was different. Juvia forget about her wounds, the pain that had been inflicted on her during the battle. She got up, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were filling her eyes. Barely able to walk, she started limping out of the guild hall.

"Juvia.. wait."

"No, let me be."

"Juvia.. you're hurt."

"What do you care?"

"Juvia.."

"No. Don't talk to me that way. Don't pretend to care. It's over. I finally got your message. From now on, Juvia won't bother you anymore. You're free."

"Don't be ridiculous! Sit down and wait for Wendy so she can treat your wounds."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Juvia, stop being so stubborn!"

"You didn't want me, right? Juvia is only fulfilling your wish. So just let me go."

"I can't believe you."

Gray was looking  at her in disbelief. She had finally reached the guild door and flung it open. She turned to him, not sure how to say her final goodbye.

"Gray.."

"What, you're coming to your senses?"

"Nevermind, forget it.. you're a fucking asshole."

After that, Juvia had avoided going out until she found the requests she had later took on. Now that she thought about it, her final words to Gray haven't been her best. Juvia wasn't one to curse, wasn't one to throw around such words. She had called him a fucking asshole! The guy that she loved with all her heart.

Juvia freed herself from Natsus hug and excused herself. She really needed to go to her place and have some time for herself. She greeted a few more people before she made her way to Fairy Hills. Good thing that job earned her enough so she was able to pay the rent she owed for the past two years without an issue. She couldn't wait to be back in her room, in her cozy bed. The bed that was filled with letters as she noticed when she walked in. They were piling up, hundreds of them. Juvia wasn't one to get letters. She really didn't have anyone to write her letters in the first place. She dropped her bag and took one of the envelopes from the bed. Her name was written on every single hand, sometimes neater like the person took the time and sometimes a little sloppy, like they were in a hurry. It was clear however that they were all from the same person.

Juvia opened the envelop in her hand, only to drop it when she saw the name at the end of the letter. Gray. They were all from Gray. Had he been writing her letters all this time? But why.. he knew they wouldn't reach her, so why?

She spent the entire day reading them. Sometimes laughing, sometimes crying. She found herself clutching every one to her heart. After she sorted them all after date, she took the first letter into her hand again, reading the words he had written for her two years ago.

Dear Juvia,

Master informed us about the mission you took today. When he first told me, I didn't believe him. I ran to Fairy Hills. But when I got there, all you're things were gone. I also saw that you got rid of your Gray dolls.. I should be happy about that considering they freak me out. But somehow I'm not. I really messed up this time, didn't I? I wanted to talk to you, apologize. But everytime I thought about what I had said, fear would overcome me, fear that it was really over, that you wouldn't forgive me. So I chickened out and said that I would do it the next day. I was an idiot and now I'm too late..

Master also informed us that there is no way to reach you. So I don't even know why I'm writing a letter in the first place. But I decided that I will write one everyday for you. So I can inform you about everything that's going on here. I know that I'm the reason that you left. And I don't want you to miss everything because of me. So I hope, that when you read those letters, you will feel like you never left. You're going to be very busy reading when you're back. And you will come back. I have to believe that. I can't lose you forever. Because what I said back then, it wasn't true. I was being stupid, believing that I would protect you if I pushed you away. I always mess up, don't I?

I really miss you Juvia.. you have only been gone for a day and I still miss you like it's been forever. I know I deserve it, but this is pure torture. I hate not being able to see you, talk to you, know how you're doing.

Please be safe out there and come back to me soon.

I'll be waiting for you. Because I love you. I truly love you Juvia and I always will. And you need to come back soon so I can tell you that in person. I promise to use this time to become a better man for you, so when you're back I can be good enough for you. Because you deserve the best and I'm not there yet. But I will get there. For you, I will do anything.

I love you, your Graysama.

When she put the letter down and looked up, she found Gray standing in her doorway, a look of disbelief on his face.

"You.. you're really back."

"Gray.."

"Natsu told me. But I.. I didn't believe him. But you're here. You're back."

"Gray.."

"I'm so sorry, Juvia. I'm truly so sorry. I didn't mean any of it, I never did. You're everything to me. I.. I don't.."

Gray kept rambling, nervously shifting and Juvia couldn't help but fall in love with him all over again. She had forgiven him already, the letters said more than she had ever expected. She believed him, believed him that he didnt mean it, that he loved her. Because he wouldn't have sat down every day, pouring his emotions in a letter, if he didn't.

"Graysama.."

He stopped talking. It had been so long since she called him like that. Juvia knew that too. She got up and walked towards him. Before he could react, she had put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and kissing him softly. After a moment she felt him relax and kiss her back.

Yes, these past two years where torture for the both of them. But it was what they needed. And now, now they would be inseparable. Juvia was finally back home.

[feminaexlux]

Dragon, Viper, Tiger

Tossing my hat back in the ring for @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers AU sprint challenge!. I went with the Thief/Heist AU since I’d been kicking this idea around for a while.

I gave myself an arbitrary editing deadline of 6pm so I hope it both makes sense and reads alright, but shrugs

Hope you enjoy! Find on AO3 here :)

⁂

Viper was sometimes glad he had a longer running gait than the woman on his tail only a few meters behind. He put his long legs to use and leapt up onto a couple of filing cabinets, scrambled up to the bare industrial support beams of the so called modern office building he’d broken into, and jumped over the dividing wall via the exposed ceiling.

Post-Modern styled offices just lent themselves so well to the good old B&E.

The wiring crisscrossing through the exposed ceiling allowed him to occasionally cut the telecommunication lines in his hasty exit, which was great in trying to prevent any of the security cameras from tracking him. If he also took out the internet lines that was just an added bonus, since that’d probably slow down anyone trying to access the proprietary blueprint he pilfered. He just needed to buy some time.

He probably could have gotten out a few minutes ago since he already had the memcube in his pocket, but this was really the only opportunity he had to see Officer MDC in action. Oh, nice, there she was, waiting for him in her combat stance at his specified exit point. Even at 5 foot nothing she’d landed him on his ass waaaay too many times, but honestly he loved the challenge of facing her. She always had new tricks up her sleeve.

But so did he, with some of the info that Tiger kept leaving him. Like, for instance, even if MDC had gotten the EMP disruption lace installed in her gloves, it could easily be counteracted and redirected by the additional aluminum alloy mesh Dragon had added as the inner lining to his wetware, so the memcube wouldn’t be completely fried if MDC did manage to land a hit (and she usually did). The only problem was trying to find where to ground the pulse… But the priority order was, as ever, keeping his identity safe, then getting the payload, then trying to escape unscathed. Paris PD’s Special Circumstances wasn’t ever going to figure out his identity (unless he died), nor would they get to know that the same general producer for their own tech was his boss (unless he died).

Viper didn’t relish the idea of dying, so he’d been doing his best at avoiding that particular outcome. He’d done well so far, even if he did come out of MDC encounters with more bruises and scars than when he went in. He had landed in front of Marinette and smiled. She rolled her eyes at him. And before he knew it, she had launched herself at him with her classic opener: a roundhouse kick to his solar plexus.

⁂

Viper slid underneath the food truck and unlatched a hidden panel, hauling himself through the opening feet first as quietly as he could. He toed the hatch closed behind him but caught it with his fingers before it made impact. He couldn’t give up the game now by being loud, that’d be so, so lame. He heard the gravel get scraped below his temporary entombment and he knew it was Marinette. She felt at the truck’s undercarriage and probed for any particular weaknesses or different materials and he heard her muffled voice as she worked with her TIKKI AI to scan any infrared signals and find any potential structural modifications done to the vehicle.

Here’s to hoping that Markov did its job correctly, he thought. Otherwise they’d be out of a job… and a food truck.

A few minutes later he heard her curse and slam an open palm against the undercarriage in frustration. “I know you’re in here, Viper!” she yelled.

“Ma'am?” He heard another voice chime in. “Why are you under our truck?”

⁂

A very cramped 3 hours later after a thorough inspection and nearly complete teardown of the food truck, Viper finally popped the floor panel and took in some fresh air. Well, relatively fresh, it smelled like greasy food all around him. The truck was already on the highway, having been released from the PD’s temporary impounding for being present at the scene and potentially housing a wanted criminal. The scans came up with nothing, the truck’s workers came up clean through the ID system, the truck’s visit and movements were tracked and scheduled and above board.

The actual food truck owners were unaware of his presence, which was just the way he liked it. He stretched his legs out a bit after being folded up into such a tiny space for so long. It was the sole disadvantage of having long legs, but he was the best in class at his job for all the contortion required. Plus he wasn’t claustrophobic like Tiger was. Speaking of… he checked his watch.

ur late, asshole

cg again? u simp

special 4u 0xdeadbeef

Oooof course. He could always count on his sister for ribbing on his infatuation with Cafe Girl, their codename for Marinette. He took one last relatively fresh breath of air and went back into hiding, sealing the latch shut. He listened for the engine knock signature: 4, 5, 1, 4, 2, 5, 5, 6, opened the bottom panel, dropped onto the street with his camouflage on, and kicked the panel closed before the truck took off. A bus drove over him and he hitched a ride, holding on underneath for 4 blocks, then rolled into the gutter drain.

⁂

It was a pretty quiet evening at Cafe Orriko, a cozy little cafe that had some steadfast regulars. One of Luka’s favorite hangouts due to the owners letting him lounge around and play his acoustic without complaint. There’d been another reason Luka loved this particular cafe, though.

Nathaniel heard the door chime and looked up, smiling at the newcomer. “Hey welcome to–oh hey Mar–oh shit MARC WE HAVE A CODE PINK!” There was a hastily tossed pillow from Marc that Nathaniel covered with a tea towel and passed to Marinette. She pulled up the pillow to her face and screamed into it for a good 20 seconds. Nath grimaced. “Bad day?”

She lowered the pillow. “Stupid fucking Viper I swear I will rip him in half and tear him to fucking shreds once I finally get my hands on him!”

Luka chuckled, having stopped playing his guitar when he noticed that Marinette had come in. “Careful, sounds like he might like that,” he winked.

“Uuuuugh,” Marinette groaned. “Thank you, Nath. Just… just gimme my usual, please.” She looked pretty dejected this time, handing back the pillow and tea towel, walking to Luka’s couch, and plopping down next to him. “Please, Luka, could you play me something soothing?”

“Anything for you,” he said, starting up an easy tune. “I know you can’t talk a lot about your work, but… what went wrong today?”

“Nnng, just… just I knew where he was and we still didn’t get him. He’s like a fucking ghost, he just… disappears! Poof!” She usually discussed what was already covered on the nightly news broadcasts, just to be safe.

“Then he’s pretty good,” Luka said neutrally enough, but hid a smirk behind a cough when Marinette gave him the stink eye.

“He only needs to fail once,” Marinette huffed. “He can’t always have luck on his side.” Marc came by with her salted caramel hot chocolate. “Thanks, Marc,” she sighed, relaxing a little bit as she took a sip of the steaming hot drink.

Luka set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You’ll get him one day, I know it.”

“I’d still have my work cut out for me. I have to find the Dragon after him,” Marinette groaned again. “And Adrien’s still obsessed with that stupid Fencer lady so he’s no help.” Marinette shut her eyes tight and shook her head. “But enough about that. How are you, Luka? I’m glad I was able to run into you today.”

Luka wasn’t going to mention that she’d already run into him earlier as the one and only Viper. “It was going alright, but it’s better now that you’re here,” he smiled. Marinette blushed a little and smiled back, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Sorry about your rough day though,” he added quickly.

Marinette shrugged. “It’s work. It’s… it’s so weird what the Syndicate goes for, it’s not even like… anything really valuable? I swear they’re doing it just to mess with us and wreak havoc.”

“You haven’t figured out a pattern?” Luka asked. Marinette made a zipping motion across her mouth. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

She shrugged again. “No more talk about work, please. I’d just… like to hear you play, if that’s alright?”

“Yeah, no problem,” he chuckled.

She closed her eyes as he started playing the guitar again, something soft and pleasant that reminded him of her. She leaned her head against his shoulder while he played and he felt his heart beating faster.

One day, when the jig was up, he’d love to take her out for dinner. Assuming, of course, that he hadn’t been torn to pieces by her hands.