#was it a mistake to call their mighty attention towards this?

[4ce-of-2pades-inkwell]

Instead of getting back to answering asks like I should be doing, I put together a fandub of some of Brightgoat's original Casino Cups comics using audio that I recorded back in, like, December.

This isn't super well-made. The audio quality is awful, and I didn't bother with any sound effects or anything. Hopefully the voice acting is good enough to make up for the deficits.

I present to you: At the Reaper's Expense & Mortal Blues

All art belongs to the legendary @brightgoat.

[bloo-the-dragon]

Run Boy Run

A bit of an experimental one shot focusing on Bloodmoon (sams) and FC set when Bloodmoon was under Foxy and Monty's command many months ago, which is actually when i first drafted this lol. Woke up in a cold sweat and wrote most of it before forgetting about it until today.

So basically it's a what if situation where Stitchwraith shows up and Bloodmoon fulfils his command to protect FC. It's really not a redemption thing, more a what if they obeyed their command kinda deal. About 2.7k words!

(Also on AO3!)

~~~

Bloodmoon was guarding FC at the daycare. They did not want to be here. They would rather be anywhere else than stuck in this accursed place. Perhaps it would not be so bad if there was human children running around, but it was well after hours and it was just them and the little fox brat here. And he was under very strict orders not to harm the child lest they find theirselves swifted wiped from existence.

So here they sat, grumbling and clawing at the playmats as they were co-erced begrudginly into playing a game of castles by FC who wanted them to be the monster in the loch that surrounded his mighty castle made from those stupid barrels.

Admittedly the sight of the spherical objects made the twins a little uneasy, memories in the back of their shared mind of being faced with one held by a certain yellow animatronic, a flash of light and then nothing. But the barrels were supposedly safe now and no longer a danger. They remained skeptical of this, and so chose not to touch them leaving the fox child to stack them as he wished while they lay sprawled out on the ground, tearing fresh holes into the gross blue mats.

They wondered how much longer of this hell they would have to endure. One half was consistently egging the other to make a break for the doors, they could so easily clamber up the woodwork and squeeze between the gap toward their freedom. Multiple times the more logical half had to remind their erratic twin of the bomb planted so neatly into their head. And more so again as FC bonked them with a barrel to get their attention. They did snap their jaws in warning though, which ceased FC's actions and they snickered as the little fox suddenly startled and fell backwards.

However they quickly realised it was not them who caused FC to startle so. Hearing the sounds of uneven footsteps, they snapped their head around to see the Stitchwraith making it's way toward them.

Immedietely Bloodmoon was on their feet, teeth bared and claws out ready to attack. But experience had taught them to not immedietely jump and to be wary of the abomination as they knew it had many foul tricks up the cloak it wore. They made the mistake of jumping into action against it once, they would not do so again.

'FC' The Stitchwraith called out, drawing out the C' in a sickeningly soft voice. 'Come here, come to me.'

FC did not respond. He appeared to be too frightened, crouching behind the barrel that he had been hitting Bloodmoon with not a minute ago. Stitchwraith took another step forward and Bloodmoon growled, snapping their jaws in warning. The command to protect FC was starting to kick in in full and despite how much it sickened them, in the end they hated Stitchwraith more than they did the fox and his brat.

Stitchwraith seemed to notice their presence, and it called out to them next. 'Bloodmoon. Bring him to me. Now.'

Bloodmoon twitched at the command. They almost complied, the accursed instincts to follow orders activating. Plus it being Stitchwraith, someone they had unknowingly followed like an obediant dog for months.

But Stitchwraith was no longer their ward, their master. They had none.

Was Foxy their master? Coding said yes but Bloodmoon aggressively disagreed. 

The old fox had treated them well though, better than the others. While they were forbiddan to maim people they were still provided sustenance as meager as it was. Animal blood couldn't compare to human blood afterall. It was less sustaining. But it was something.

FC whimpered, as Stitchwraith called for him again. This time Bloodmoon recognised the voice, the so called 'nice' one. They knew it to be a lie. They knew that one was more a snake than the other.

The twins considered briefly their next course of action. One side, the more angry one wanted to follow as they had been told and to lunge, kill the Stitchwraith as was their command.

Attack ATTACK it is weak, we shall maim and tear and feast!

No.. Something is wrong brother. Surely you feel it too. Weakened as it is, i sense something is amiss.

Their spiral eyes narrowed, and they growled menacingly as they lowered themself to the ground ready to pounce or bolt. Yet there was something... off about the Stitchwraith. When they first spied it they immedietely noticed it appeared to be more damaged than it had been the last time they'd seen it. The steps it took were uneven and it walked with a heavy limp. They could hear a sickening grinding noise with every movement almost as if it were forcing itself to move. It did not sound comfortable. It sounded like it was in a great deal of pain.

And that meant it was weak. Less of a threat, easier to take down.

But still they'd held their ground. Past experience aside, the closer it got the more the twins sensed that it seemed to be almost more.. powerful than before. Despite how badly damaged it was, the red core that sat in the center of the mangled robots chest thrummed with such potent energy that even they could sense it.

The abomination's patience appeared to wane, as with a sudden burst of energy it took a couple of quick steps forward, claws outstretched toward FC.

'Come here. Now.'

Bloodmoon saw red. Quite literally.

The red core in Stitchwraith's chest began to glow and Bloodmoon reacted on pure instinct. Twisting their head, they clamped their teeth onto the scruff behind the tiny fox's neck elicting a startled yelp from the child before turning and bolting out of the daycare on all fours.

There was an angry shout, something that sounded like a 'No!' But Bloodmoon didn't dare look back, didn't slow down. They scrambled up the wooden doors and squeezed through the gap at the top just as one half had been pre-planning prior to this. As they lept down, the wooden doors cracked and splintered before bursting open with a looud bang behind them.

But the twins and the little fox within their jaws were already up the stairs. They ran faster, running in an erratic zigzag as bolts of red electrical like energy struck the ground on either side of them.

They dashed out of the daycare, their claws scrabbling to find grip on the marble floor that led toward the main entrance. They began making big leaps and bounds, almost like a bunny and at one point they even ran briefly across the wall before finally making it to the double doors leading to the pizzaria lobby.

They burst through the doors, nearly snapping one off its hinges in the process. They stop briefly to finally check behind them, to see how close the Stitchwraith was. They couldn't see it, they had managed to outrun it. But they knew better than to hang around in such an open space.

They looked around, the little fox swinging in their jaws as the red and blue animatronic searched frantically for a place to hide. One side pointed their shared view to a specific hole in the ceiling, meant for the elevator that sit broken by the escalators. It could work to hide them if they could get up there.

Wasting no time, they darted toward the giant glowing pillars that connected the elevator to the ceiling. They lunged and grabbed onto one, grunting and hissing as the bright light hurt their sensitive eyes. But they scrambled their way up it regardless and into the gaping space above.

They were able to only get up so far though as there was a metal barrier of some kind blocking the rest of the way. A safety measure should anything fall in from above they would assume. But they were up far enough that they should not be so easily spotted.

Bloodmoon adjusted theirself, finding purchase with their claws and supports for their feet to keep theirselves in place. FC remained scruffed in their teeth, and the little fox whimpered as he hung almost precariously, his eyes closed tight as to not look at the high distance between them and the ground below.

The red and blue jester hissed a low and dangerous 'quiet' just as the Stitchwraith appeared, slamming the daycare entryway doors aside and completely snapping the already broken one off the hinges.

Both Bloodmoon and FC went very still. They couldn't directly see Stitchwraith at this angle but they could hear as well as sense it. The eerie energy that radiated from it was all too hard to miss, as were the uneven footsteps and sounds of broken machinery as the mangled animatronic prowled below them.

'FC? Where are you buddy? If you hear me just call out! Did Bloodmoon hurt you? I'll come rescue you, don't worry'

FC didn't make a sound but Bloodmoon could feel him tremble, how the tiny fox curled in on himself even more tucking his legs and tail close. The smell of fear was strong and it took all of their effort to not give into the sudden urge to bite down fully.

More accursed mechanical noises, more soft calls carrying false words of encouragement and poisonous promise. At one point Bloodmoon spied the Stitchwraith as it moved below them. Their spiral eyes fixed on it immedietely following its every move with intense focus, their body completely still and tense and ready to lunge the moment the mangled robot turned its hooded head up toward the two.

But it did not. Instead the calls fell quiet and Bloodmoon could barely hear the angry hushed whispers to itself. With a sudden angry snarl accompanied by crackles of more red energy that had FC flinching harshly, Stitchwraith turned and stormed off in another direction once again leaving their line of sight.

However Bloodmoon dared not move, remaining completely still. Both sides were silent even in their mind, both being completely hyper focused with one side listening and looking out for the looming danger below them and the other holding back the bloodlust being triggered by FC's terror.

Even as the sounds grew softer and eventually disappeared entirely they did not dare to move. For all they knew, the Stitchwraith could still be nearby, waiting for them to come out of hiding so it could ambush them. They wern't taking the chance.

They knew not how long they stayed there. Could have been an hour, could have been ten minutes. Either way, FC started to whine softly the events taking its toll on the little fox. Bloodmoon growled a warning and that shut him up quick. But not a minute after, there were sounds of footsteps approaching which had both tensing up once again before a familiar voice followed.

'FC? FC Where are you? Bloodmoon? Either of you are you here?'

It was Foxy. FC perked up instantly, and with only slight hesitation called out to his dad.

'I'm here father!'

With that, Bloodmoon finally moved from his position, grabbing onto the accursed glowing pillar and sliding down it to where Foxy was waiting for them.

Bloodmoon released FC from their jaws, and the little fox instantly bolted away and over to Foxy. Bloodmoon twitched in a barely restrained effort to not automatically chase after him, but otherwise remained where they were, flexing their claws as they fought to calm their bloodlust as well as their own nerves.

Meanwhile Foxy checked over his son frantically. 'Are you alright? Did he hurt you?' Foxy immedietely shot Bloodmoon a glare as he noticed the faint bite mark on the back of his sons neck. While the faux fuzz skin was not torn, there were clear puncture marks.

Bloodmoon notices his glare and they let out a scoff, turning their head away. But FC is shaking his head drawing the older fox animatronic's attention back.

'No no! I am not hurt they... Bloodmoon saved me from the Stitchwraith!'. 

'I.. see' Foxy couldn't help the slight skeptisim from entering his voice but. 'Well.. Good. Glad to see you're capable of following orders then' Foxy directed his voice over to Bloodmoon. The red and blue jester shot him a snarl but they did not answer, instead plopping theirselves onto the floor and clawing halfheartedly at the carpet.

Foxy sighed, and turned back to his son. Aside from the bite mark he looked to be ok just a little shaken. 'I saw the Stitchwraith on the cams. Came here fast as i could. I'm sorry you had to deal with that but you're safe now.'

FC fiddled with his hands. 'Can we go home now?'

'Yeah kid, we can go home. Won't be back here for a while. I already gave Monty a call on my way down here so. He should be here soon, so just hang tight for a bit alright?'

'What if the Stitchwraith comes back?'

'Then we'll deal with it should happen. But i think it's gone for now and we won't be here for much longer.'

'Ok father..'

Foxy ruffled his sons head. 'Atta' boy.' He then stood and turned his attention to Bloodmoon, considering his options. They had done exactly as they were commanded which was... surprising honestly. Foxy had assumed they would have been torn apart by the Stitchwraith. Afterall their main purpose was to hold them off long enough for him or Monty to get down there. They had surprised him today.

Foxy hummed. He wondered.

While Foxy and FC were talking, Bloodmoon had tuned them out. They were starting to feel weary. The effort it took of holding back their bloodlust combined with the sudden burst of energy that had them bolting across the plex was starting to take its toll. The twins were tired and hungry and their arms and legs beginning to feel a little sore. Conflicting emotions swam within them from both sides. The satisfaction in their code of fulfilling their order to protect FC conflicting with the command denied to bring FC to the Stitchwraith as they were told to.

They hated this. Hated being stuck like this. Hated that they were bound to the commands of two masters. They knashed their teeth, wanting nothing more than to feast on soft flesh and warm blood before curling up and going to sleep.

They flinched as their name was called, flinching back as they realised the old fox was suddenly standing next to them. One half of them automatically hissed and swiped but the other half held them back as they processed a question that had been asked to them.

'What?'

Foxy had his hands held up in a non threatening manner. A difficult feat to accomplish when one had was literally a hook. 'Negative O. That's your favourite right?'

Bloodmoon tilted their head in a confused manner, but they warily nod. 'Alright, ok good got it' Foxy replies, 'listen you did good today so tell you what. I'll get you one blood bag as a treat. Maybe two if you behave between now and when we get home. Sound good?'

The twins do not answer, squinting at the old fox in suspicion. Was this a trick? Some kind of ploy? For what reason would he do this? They did not believe for a moment this 'good behaviour' shit he was spewing. They had simply done what they were commanded to do, nothing more.

However, the prospect of having actual human blood, and their favourite type no less was too good to pass up. They inwardly agreed with one another they could play the little nice nice game for a little longer too if it meant getting an extra bag so they nodded their head again.

'Alright good' Foxy nods mostly to himself before turning to FC. He had noted Bloodmoon looked tired and FC was looking increasingly like he could use a nap, the stress finally starting to take it's toll on the little fox. Bloodmoon too, as they stopped clawing up the carpet and resorted to curling up on the floor. Nasty place to lie down Foxy mused but he wasn't gonna tell them otherwise.

Eventually Monty did arrive and set up the portal back home. Foxy sent Bloodmoon and FC through first, and quickly passed on his request to Monty to grab the two negative o blood bags for Bloodmoon to which the gator agreed. As he passed through the portal himself Foxy wondered if perhaps he could use this as a consistant reward for good behaviours in future to keep Bloodmoon in line.

[ssvnormandysr-1]

Something I've seen talked about a lot is some people calling Gale abusive, manipulative, or toxic for being occasionally passive aggressive or saying things that seem like guilt tripping. And you know what? Yes, he does get passive aggressive. Yes, he does have some unhealthy communication style. AND these do not necessarily mean he is abusive.

There's a difference between abusive (continued and consistent harmful behaviors to exert control over the other person) and unhealthy (sometimes being passive aggressive, communication not being completely open and free). In fact, if I had to guess, he may not even realize that his behaviors are not healthy. His passive aggressiveness or "guilt tripping", I feel, are reactions to his precious relationship with Mystra. When your attachment figure is high and mighty and do not acknowledge or respond to your needs or is very withdrawn or withhold love/praise unless you do something, people are gonna start to develop strategies to get their needs met - pouting, begging, acquiescing, etc etc - this can manifest as such unhealthy behaviors. Similar to how when children have withdrawn parents, they do all sorts of things ranging from making themselves very endearing or acting out to make them pay attention.

Do I think that this is 100% mystra's fault? Not necessarily. After all, she is a god and probably had lots of other things to care for and one mortal man among many other chosens (and who knows, potentially other lovers) likely wasn't on the highest of her priority list. But that doesn't mean the damage wasn't done. And I still believe that as a god Mystra should've known better than to be involved with a mortal romantically with such huge power differential.

Going back to the original point - such unhealthy strategies can absolutely get better and be changed when you do have a partner who responds to your needs, who is engaged, who doesn't withhold love, because that means you no longer have to survive the way you did before. You no longer have to elicit or win love from your partner because that love is already there. Such corrective emotional experiences can lower the defenses and build up healthy communication and relationship. With Tav, and hopefully other supports in his life, I think Gale can do so, too.

idk lots of people really seem to take just one part of certain characters and make them super evil or absolutely innocent - and they're not. None of the characters are. And that's the whole point especially in Gale's romance - he is a flawed human being, he made and still makes mistakes. And those are what it means to be a mortal, actually, and all parts of him still deserve love and compassion. He can be accepted as he is and still move towards positive changes.

[tempest-toss]

The Call - AMBUSH!

Thorn scampered upstairs to join Maurice. The younger man seemed especially nervous, with him constantly adjusting his glasses and peering out the window more than he did his own weapon. Thorn could guess that maybe he was a newer member of the AWL. Thorn wished to provide at least some sort of advice, but was cut off by the sound of the front door opening and closing again.

"That was Quinley, he has a warding trap outside but it'll take half an hour to work. If he's inside then that means the werewolves are about to attack us." Maurice explained as the howl of werewolves could be heard outside.

"Here they come!" Kirk shouted from below as the sound of glass breaking could be heard. Gunshots rang out from the bottom floor. A ladder broke the top floor window, and a curious Maurice went to check it.

"Wait, a werewolf doesn't need a ladder!" Thorn tried to warn, but it was too late, as a werewolf appeared and clamped down on Maurice's shoulder. Thorn aimed and fired into the werewolf's snout, hitting it and forcing it to let Maurice go. Thorn ran up and grabbed Maurice and hurried him downstairs to join the other three.

For the next 25 minutes it was nonstop running and firing, with Thorn making trips upstairs to knock down any ladders that were put up. Eventually at 28 minutes in Rebecca was pulled out and seemingly devoured by the werewolves. At 30 minutes on the dot the werewolves began to hiss and flee, the warding trap activating.

"Thank the Lord we can-" Thorn began before a loud bang filled their ears and searing pain shot through their legs; they'd been shot!

"The werewolves will come back for you eventually," Kirk sneered as he pocketed his gun. "I'll have Quinley watch you so you can live just long enough to be eaten." Kirk announced as he unlocked the door and left. Quinley pulled out his gun, reloaded it and aimed it at the injured Maurice. Thorn recognized signs that Maurice would transform soon, they just needed time.

"You're scum, you know that?" Thorn asked, prompting Quinley to turn towards them. "You're out here exterminating werewolves for existing, you know that makes you a bigot right?"

"I'm no better than you, Insurgent" Quinley sneered back.

"At least I have some morals. I have limits to what I won't do. You probably would murder the children if you came across them!"

"I would absolutely do that." Quinley spoke calmly as he turned to give Thorn his undivided attention. "In case you missed it, A few of them came to the windows. I still shot them, no hesitation. None died, unfortunately, but next time I won't make the mistake of allowing them to live."

Thorn backed up, to give the illusion of being afraid, although a small part wanted to back up because they were disgusted. "You and your group are monsters. Why would you even do that when they're innocent!"

"Isn't it obvious shit for brains? We can-" Quinley was interrupted as a large clawed hand ripped through his chest and pulled out his heart, still beating. In a mighty grip it burst, and Quinley fell down, dead. Thorn looked up at the transformed Maurice, who was panted in a mix of anger and exhaustion.

"I hear him. Our god whispers to me. He says to spare you, for you will bring safety to the forest. Take Quinley's sniper rifle, and hunt Kirk down.

The werewolf pointed to a stashed sniper, which Thorn took and headed out. The time was about 2 am, and Thorn knew they had to hurry. A moving speck in the distance caught their attention, and they pulled out the sniper to check through the scope.

It was Cindy! The goldpanner and last remaining camper unaccounted for! She was injured and hobbling towards a truck, the same truck that had Kirk. She reached out, thinking he was a ranger to help her. He smiled before pulling out a gun and shooting her in the head, crumpling the single-mother. Thorn was at the brim with fury now, and aimed at the Jeep's tires as it began to move and fired, popping it and causing the jeep to swerve into a tree and crash, the unbuckled Kirk flying out and landing in the dirt.

Thorn limped their way closer as the disoriented and likely concussed Kirk got up and began to stumble into the forest. Thorn made their way to the Jeep as fast as they could. They saw a radio speaker, likely used by rangers to announce for people to clear away. They grabbed it and put on a deep voice.

"Kirk Fellthorpe! This is the Foundation! We are putting you under arrest for crimes against the veil!"

Thorn watched as Kirk, afraid, ran deeper into forest, with them hot on his heels. Thorn could feel the Deep Woods twisting, changing, allowing for the two to be close and heading the same direction.

Soon the woods opened up to a sort of hidden village. Kirk was catching his breath, leaning against an altar of some kind. Thorn had a clear shot. Werewolves could be heard all around. Thorn could kill Kirk right here... or they could wound him, and let the werewolves have their fun.

[fantomevoleur]

"Whatever it is you're about to do, don't." The doctor hadn't even turned around... "Or need I teach you a lesson?" That marble codex in his hand looks mighty hefty...

See, that was the man's first mistake. Whenever someone holding power of authority, or any adult for that matter, explicitly told him to not do something, it made the burning desire to do that specific something even more. It's counter intuitive on a defiant teenager such as Akira, even though the lavender-haired man appeared rather serious upon stating his request. Not to mention, the item in his hand could turn into a throwing weapon at any moment.

His second mistake was remaining about face, back turned towards Akira and open to any of the teen's little surprises. The temptation to stir a bout of mischief only grew more intensely upon being called out. Mix that together with the man's lack of attention, and the setup was complete. His guard stood strong, as it had when he first stepped into the stranger's realm. One false move meant a nasty demise via a stone textbook.

Here he thought dodging the Mr. Ushimaru's chalk projectile was difficult...

"C'mon, teach, you believe I would try some funny business while you're vulnerable?" That may be a lie considering the peculiar aura radiating off the man. Would that sway him from playing out his prank? Absolutely not! His new, experimental tinkering required a test run, and unfortunately for this man he became Akira's target.

"Go on with your lesson. Don't mind me at all~." Or the raised arm aimed directly for the teacher's back.

[antclan-blogs]

MOON 25

Slightstar has finally recovered fully. Mossgleam was seen taking food from a twoleg. Badgerdust was grabbed and dropped by an eagle, but miraculously survived.

This moon’s story under the cut!

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Mossgleam. I thought you were a dedicated warrior!” Slightstar was lecturing the feline as the morning patrol trotted along the borders.

“I AM a dedicated warrior! Why can’t a cat make a little mistake every now and again?” Mossgleam protested, looking at their paws sullenly. Ever cat knew that when Slightstar was angry at you, you felt like foxdung.

“This isn’t just a little mistake. This is a serious matter! Taking food from a twoleg is strictly forbidden, and you know this. It goes against everything we stand for as warriors.” Slightstar mewed angrily. “What if the twoleg had trapped you, or followed you back to camp?”

Mossgleam sighed. “It’s harmless! I was hungry, is all. And the twoleg was very friendly. It felt rude declining their offer.”

“If you were hungry, you should have returned to camp and eaten some fresh-kill. You’ve been acting out ever since the ceremonies last moon. The attention can’t always be on you.” Slightstar scolded the warrior.

Mossgleam didn’t reply, instead picking up pace and cantering down the path towards one of the Antclan scent markers. Slightstar gave a deep, tired sigh and fell into step beside Badgerdust.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, Badgerdust.” The leader admitted. “How do you punish a cat for doing what you used to do every day?”

“There’s a difference between the two of you, Slightstar. You were a kittypet, you knew no other way. Mossgleam has always fended for themself. They should know better.”

“I know. I’m only trying to protect them. Twolegs can be dangerous.” Slightstar looked at her paws. “I’m going to talk to them. We need to sort this out.” She decided, and bounded ahead to speak to the warrior.

Badgerdust padded on alone, watching the sun as it slowly made its arc through the sky. The patrol was heading to the farthest reaches of their territory today, through the reddish slopes of rocky mountain where the temperature warmed.

Just as he closed his eyes and took in the nice weather, a threatening bird call came from above and a large shadow swooped over Badgerdust. Yowling in alarm, the warrior looked up to see a mighty eagle with its claws poised to attack.

“Badgerdust!” Slightstar yowled, but there wasn’t much she could do. The large white warrior took two large swipes at the eagle, standing on his hind legs, but the bird was vicious: Grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, the powerful beast dragged Badgerdust into the air and dropped him on his back.

Hearing a sickening crack and Badgerdust’s wail of pain as the eagle flew away, Slightstar and Mossgleam darted over to him.

“Badgerdust? Can you hear me?” Mossgleam was saying, but Badgerdust was in too much pain to answer.

Everything went black.

Hours later, Badgerdust awoke in the medicine den surrounded by worried-looking cats. His sons, Glademoss and Stoatstripe, peered at him anxiously, as Slightstar paced at the back of the den.

“I’m alright.” He groaned as Hushstep noticed that he had returned to consciousness.

“No you’re not.” Berryspot told the warrior, passing a few sticks to Hushstep as the two medicine cats worked. “You could’ve broken your back. Luckily it was just a fracture.”

Badgerdust let out a low wail. How would he serve his clan if he was stuck in a medicine den for moons?

Stoatstripe gave his father a friendly head-lick. “It’s ok, Badgerdust. You’ll be back to normal in no time, I bet.”

Glademoss nodded. “Yeah, definitely. You’re the strongest cat I know.”

Badgerdust could only hope that his kits were right.

poor badger, i’m caught up rn so idk if he dies or not :sweats:

[lu-dao-writes]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝓞𝓵𝓭 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼 (𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚖 & 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚖)

❀ 𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎 ࿐ ˊˎ- Old wounds from the past get reopened.

❀ 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔(𝓈) ࿐ ˊˎ- Toxic behavior, anxiety, violence, very, very brief mention intimate moment between Adam and Kaoru.

❀ 𝒜/𝒩 ࿐ ˊˎ- I’m unfortunately late I think 🥹, but this is for the Drive-In Collab hosted by @mekiza! I was meant to pick a movie and I picked the golden compass/his dark materials and Kaoru from sk8! This is really just a dæmon au and one of my most favorite aus, and for those who don’t know, dæmons are basically your soul walking beside you in animal form! This is mostly unedited and a little bit rushed, but I hope y’all like it🥺🫰🏼. Please tell me if there’s any mistakes!

ღ Names and their meanings: Masami (Clouded Leopard): Elegant beauty, Tomoko (Japanese Macaque): Clever, friendly, knowing, or wise child, Kiaria (Jaguar): Great fortune. ღ

Kaoru stood frozen as he, Kojiro, and their dæmons stared down from where they were. Adam is waving to the cheering crowd with glee, his dæmon standing beside him proudly, both drinking in the praise like a dog craving attention.

Their ex best friend, and Kaoru’s ex boyfriend is back in Japan…

The pinkette feels his dæmon press into him for comfort for them both and he lets his fingers rest against her furry skull.

“Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Kojiro says with a cold smile on his handsome face, the macaque- Tomoko- that’s perched on his shoulder giving a sharp nod at his words.

Kaoru clicks his tongue. “Finally, I can get over my 7 year grudge by settling the score.”

The clouded leopard gives him a look before she speaks the rational side that was deep down within him. “Kaoru, as much as I want to hurt him back, this is useless. He’s as bullheaded as before…”

Kaoru only clenches his jaw and rubs at her fluffy ears.

She didn’t bring up the other nugget of information they harbored deep down, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t at some point. Masami is determined to make sure they don’t get hurt by them again.

After exchanging very “heartfelt” goodbyes with Kojiro, Kaoru and Masami prowled towards where Adam was, trying to keep calm.

The azure haired man was chatting on the phone, back facing them, but his dæmon, Kiaria- who settled as a jaguar- caught sight of them and alerted Adam of their oncoming presence as he ends his call swiftly after barking an order.

“I knew you’d come to find me, Cherry~.”

His body tenses up and his jaw is clenched tightly at the sound of Adam’s voice. That voice that said such kind and charming words to him and Kojiro once. That voice that whispered sweet nothing in the throes of heated passion…

That whispered promises that will never be fulfilled.

“Adam,” he greets tersely.

“It seems you’ve grown up! And look at you, Masami! Such a small little thing~!” he mocks, causing the small feline to curl her lip with disdain.

Kiaria makes her towards Masami, her eyes shining with mischief. The clouded leopard is as tense as Kaoru, her claws digging into the dirt. She nearly flinches when the jaguar touches her in a familiar way, her larger body soon hovering and suffocating her. It angered her and it also made her miss what is now long since dead.

“Get her away,” Kaoru spits at the other man, his soul feeling distraught.

Adam merely laughs. “Masami can easily move away or push her if she truly wanted to~.”

The man slowly prowls closer, and Kaoru finds himself rooted in place. He feels lightheaded when Adam’s breath hits his ear and neck, sweat starting to break out in his skin, tongue going almost numb.

“If you truly wanted to, Kaoru~.”

Kaoru’s anger overtakes his anxiety and the moment he shoves the pompous blue bastard away from him, Masami takes a mighty swing at Kiaria, getting a noise of pain from them both, but neither let them recover from the initial attack.

Masami goes for more scratches before clamping her teeth down onto one of Kiaria’s arms.

The sounds Adam made were so satisfying Kaoru hardly registered the bites and scratches Kiaria was giving his dæmon. He wanted to give Adam more, but what stopped the fight was the headlights of an approaching car.

The pink haired skater flees the scene with Masami hot on his tail, leaving a furious Adam and distraught Kiaria.

It started raining while Kaoru fled on his bike, Masami not even strapped. They ended up at Kojiro and Tomoko’s place of living, a place Kaoru frequented when things were too tough to deal with by himself and when he and Kojiro decided to hang out.

Kaoru nearly ended up leaving, not wanting to bother his childhood friend, but Masami bounded out of her seat and called to Tomoko until a light flickered on.

He could have scolded her, but there’s no point. He has no energy to deal with it and… He’s glad she did it, otherwise they’d be alone dealing with tonight’s altercation.

A shaky breath leaves him as he recounts the event. He attacked Adam… Although he deserved it because how dare he get so close like that? But what if something bad happens from this..?? Adam has higher influence than Kaoru. Why did he do that? Why-?

“…ru!… Kaoru!”

‘Oh… Kojiro is here…’

When he sees Kojiro reaching out for him he flinches as did Masami when Tomoko reached out to touch her muzzle.

“Sorry, sorry,” the green haired man says gently. “We need to get you two out of the rain or you’ll catch a cold. You got a business trip coming up too, Princess.”

Kaoru was tempted to stay there, having no motivation to move despite Kojiro being right. His golden eyes move past the green haired man to look at their dæmons.

Masami has slumped to the ground and Tomoko is standing close but not where they’re touching. He’s sure the silver macaque is talking to her just like Kojiro is talking to him.

He looks back at Kojiro and musters up the energy to speak. “Can you carry me, please..?”

“Anything,” he says immediately.

Kaoru lets himself get carried to the bathroom and he allows his friend to help him wash since he can’t do it himself. It’s embarrassing, but he’s happy he has someone to actually help him. Someone he trusts so dearly.

Kojiro helped him get dressed into a yukata he had bought specifically for Kaoru and pinned up his hair after drying and combing it.

The four lay in Kojiro’s bed, Masami curled up tightly against Kaoru while the pinkette’s favorite lullaby played in the background.

Kojiro didn’t push him to tell him what happened no matter how much he wanted to, and Kaoru was thankful for that.

He eventually reached out to hold his hand and the green haired man didn’t tease him about it, only rubbed circles into skin until he fell asleep.

[ns1zr0]

ҜI几ᘜㄚㄖ 丂ㄩҜㄩI〃Eustass Kid

a traditional Japanese game in which the player scoops goldfish with a paper spoon

#GENRE : modern au, fluff, romance

#WARNING : some harsh words and curses

#NOTE : English is not my primary language. Sorry if there is a writing mistake. thanks ♡!

"Remember Kid. All you need is to calm down." You said beside him.

He sighed, then slowly began to scoop the koi fish. Kid thought he would succeed in scooping the koi fish, but the paper attached to the spoon was torn. Instantly the aura that had been calm turned gloomy.

"K-Kid, calm down, we can try again" You tried to calm Kid not to get angry but, it was too late.

Kid throws the spoon away and looks at you unfriendly.

"What did you say!!? Calm down, y/n I'VE TRY TO SLOOVE THE FUCKING FISH MANY TIMES!! BUT THE LOSER PAPER SLOPES ALWAYS rips!!!!" Kid shouted right in your face.

"Wow wow, calm down bro. Let me scoop the fish"

"WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT BEFORE, WOMAN!!!" You just chuckled at Kid's words.

You start pointing the paper spoon at the red koi fish then scoop it effortlessly into the plastic container the koi craftsman gave you.

You walk around the festival. On the way Kid is silent, usually he will tease you about random things.

"Aww… is the mighty Kid sad???"

"Shut up woman!!" Kid turned his red face away.

You chuckled at your friend's behavior. Suddenly your eyes fall on a shaved ice seller not far from where you are. You stepped your foot towards the shaved ice seller.

Kid only pays attention to you. You came back with strawberry shaved ice.

"What brings that, woman?"

"Come on Kid! Don't call me woman, call me y/n" Your cheeks puffed up because of Kid

"Yeah yeah, Cutie Pie" Kid pinched your puffy cheeks. of course the arm is still intact because it's modern au.

"Kwid Twake it owff, it hwurts!" Kid releases his pinch and eats the shaved ice that is in the spoon you want to eat.

You got angry and hit Kid on the shoulder. He just laughed triumphantly and his eyes fell on the fish you caught in the kingyo sukui game.

"Why do you want koi fish so much?"

"Because I want to give it to someone" You guys walk home.

You arrived at the gate of your house and then you said goodbye to Kid. When Kid is about to walk, you grab his arm.

"Bring it!" You said while handing me the koi fish I caught at the festival.

"I gave it to you, Kid"

"Why did you give it to me?"

"As a thank you gift, because you have been my best friend for a long time" Your cheeks started to blush

"Thank you, I'll fry it when I get home"

"Kid!! You can't fry-" Your words were cut off because Kid put his lips on yours.

"Your blushing face is so cute Cutie Pie" Kid teased then left you trying to process what Kid just did.

"Make sure your face returns to normal at school tomorrow, or your face will look like Mr. Buggy's nose"

"Shut up!!" Kid stuck out his tongue and waved his hand at you.

© elveins // don't plagiarize my work !!!

[dearestgojo]

Summary: Even the people that are most in love can fall out of it. But what do you do when one of is still holding on to what once was and isn’t willing to let go while the other lies to themselves about their own feelings. And what lies have led to the downfall of what you once thought was perfect.

Iwaizumi x Fem Reader

Warnings: 18+. Oral Male receiving. Vaginal Penetration.

Part 10. Part 11. Part 12. Series Masterlist.

Word Count: 3,003

Hajime grip on the steering wheel has his knuckles turning white. Hina’s in the passenger seat, her ankle wrapped in bandages. He doesn’t want to be here, all he thinks about as he drives Hina to her apartment is how he’s plans for the day were ruined. He spots a familiar head of brown curls as he pulls into Hina’s apartment complex. Leaning against her car is Grace, a deep frown on her face, that matches Hajime’s.

He parks the car and starts to get out of the car while Grace walks towards the passenger side of the car and helps Hina out, ”Did you do it on purpose?” Grace asks while handing Hina the crutch from the back seat.

Hina takes it, returning Grace’s frown, “Do what on purpose?”

“The injury?” The passenger door slams shut as the three walk towards the building. Grace and Hajime walk a few steps behind Hina, who limps forward.

“Why would I do that?” And because her back is facing them they can’t see her face.

“Because you're desperate. Because you can’t accept the fact that this idiot didn’t choose you.” Grace nods towards Hajime, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

Hina continues to the elevator, “Do you really think I would go as far as hurting myself for the attention of a cheater.”

Hajime frowns, but doesn’t say anything. Grace shrugs, “Yeah, I do. You stuck around too long to simply just let go.”

“Well I didn’t.” Hina snaps just as the elevator door opens.

The three of them climb into the elevator, an uncomfortable silence surrounding them. It follows them to the front of Hina’s door. Grace unlocks the door, opening it for Hina to walk through and taking the small white paper bag from Hajime’s hands, and putting it next to the table that Hina keeps near the door. “Also stop acting all high and mighty. Like you didn’t start this whole affair.” It’s the last thing Grace says to Hina before closing the door and leaving her by herself. She turns to Hajime and gives him a tight smile, “You and I need to talk.”

Hajime nods and they both start back the way they came. “Then talk,” He says, pressing the down button of the elevator.

“You said you ended things with her.” Grace says, leaning her head towards him.

“I did.” Hajime responds.

Grace sighs rubbing her wrists, “Then why did you pick her up?”

“Because they called saying no one else had picked up.”

“You could’ve called me to go get her.” She eyes him once more, and can see the remorse written all over his face.

“I guess you're right.” They climb into the elevator. Neither of them speak on the trip down, both knowing that this mistake could have cost Hajime falling back into a mistake. “How are things with y/n?” Grace asks as they make they’re way to her car.

Hajime sighs looking over the parking lot, “I want to say okay, but I don’t know what’s going through her head. She’s been a bit distant lately.”

Grace leans against her hood, putting her hands into the pockets of her jacket, “Can you blame her?”

Hajime lets out a breath leaning against the opposite car, “Not really.”

“What are you going to do if she brings up a break up?”

“I-I don’t know.” Hajime swallows the lump that’s in his throat.

Grace feels a tug in her chest as she watches one of her best friends so close to tears, but she doesn’t move to console him. Instead she sighs and continues to speak, “You know that you have no right to stop her right? You messed up in one of the worst ways possible. If I were her and if I found out about all this I’m pretty sure I’d leave your ass the second I found out.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“What? I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear, you know me better than that. Y/n deserves someone who loves her wholeheartedly a-”

“You think I don’t love her with all my being?” Hajime huffs.

“If you did, I don't think you would have cheated. Why did you cheat Hajime?”

Hajime leans back, closing his eyes. Grace watches as he swallows and his eyelids move behind his eyes. “I-I…” He opens his eyes and looks at her, “Hina was just there I guess, and I know that that’s probably the stupidest reason.”

Grace laughs, “Yeah it is.”

“But she sort of reminded me of home, and she unexpectedly made her way into my heart. It sort of happened out of nowhere and I didn’t want to lose either of them, mostly I didn’t want to let go of y/n.”

“Well that was selfish of you. Stringing y/n along and promising Hina things you never meant to fulfill.”

“I know that now.”

“It’s too little, too late if you ask me.” Grace pushes herself off the hood of her car, “I have to go, I’ll see you around.”

Hajime watches as she drives out of the parking lot, taking a few deep breaths before heading back to his own car. He drives back home, and finds you on the couch watching the television. He doesn’t hesitate to crawl into the space behind you, holding you close to his chest. A sinking feeling settles in his belly the rest of the night. One that he can’t shake off.

~

You don’t know what drove you to send the message, but a day after finding out Hajime had cheated on you with one of his closests friends you find yourself in a cafe. Waiting for the woman that had held some of your boyfriend's affection. Staring at the person two tables down taking a long drag of the cigarette between their lips. Your nails tapping on the wooden surface of the table in irritation.

You hadn’t gotten any sleep the night prior, your skin crawling while Hajime slept soundly next to you. Staring up at the ceiling till early in the morning . Your body was starting to feel the effect from the lack of sleep. Your shoulders slouched forward and eyes burning from the lack of sleep.

But the sleepiness of your body seems to evaporate and turn into anger once you spot Hina walking in through the tables of the restaurant. Her hair is straight falling down her back and a crutch under her arm. She’s holding her head up high when she reaches your table and takes the seat in front of you. You can feel the anger bubbling in your stomach, crawling up your stomach and into your throat. The two of you look at each other for a few minutes before you break the silence.

“I’m going to assume you sent the text with the address.” Your voice and face remain stoic, refusing to let her know how much you were hurting from the act of betrayal.

Hina leans in, her elbows on the table and her face in her palms, her cleavage spilling from the shirt, “And if I did?”

You look over her, jealousy and insecurity pouring in to mix with your anger, she’s everything most women would want to be. Long brown hair that looks like it’s never been out of place once in her life and bright hazel eyes with full lips. She had a nice figure from years of working out that you could see why some of the men had turned and looked at her when she walked past them.

“If you did, I want to know why.” You say, trying you best to keep calm.

Hina taps her fingers along her jaw, humming slowly as if thinking her answer over, “I wanted to stop being second place to someone like you. Do you know what it's like to be someone’s second choice? To be forced to hide your feelings for someone, and not be able to express that love publicly.” She says, her face contouring into a scowl.

You scoff a little at that,”Well if you didn’t want to be in that position maybe you shouldn’t have gotten involved with Hajime.” Hina frowns, but you continue, “I don’t know what you wanted to accomplish, but you can keep Hajime and his lies. I didn’t meet you here for any other reason than to tell you that.” You start to gather your things from the table.

Hina leans back on her elbows, watching you as you put your things in your bag,”Doesn’t it bother you that he cheated on you.”

You stop for a second, taking in a few deep breaths before looking at Hina, “Even if it does, I won’t give you, or him, the satisfaction of seeing me broken.” With that you get up from your place and walk out.

Once in the comfort of your care you let out a breath you hadn’t known you’d been holding in. With your hand over your chest you let your head fall back against the headrest. You stay like that for a few moments before pulling out of the restaurant parking lot. Thinking of how to tell Kagami and Ayumi of what had happened.

~

Hina lets out a sigh as she walks past the threshold of her door. She can feel the tiredness of the day creeping up her body. She takes a seat on her couch before dropping her crutch at the at the end of the couch. She leans back on the couch, closing eyes hoping that she can rest.

She can feel her blood boiling as she sees your face behind her closed eyelids. Hina hates that she didn’t get to see the pain of realization that Hajime had cheated on you once more. Opening her eyes once more she looks at her wrapped ankle, frowning as she realized it hadn’t been worth it.

Tears start to spill from her eyes as she repeats Hajime’s words from the cafe. Even if she held some type of affection for her, his heart had always belonged to you. She wants to climb into the deepest part of the earth and stay there.

She watches from her couch as the sun disappears from the sky. Hina wonders if you feel the same pain in your chest for the same person who doesn’t deserve either of your affections. She wonders if you're also laying on your bed staring at random spaces around your home. Wonders if you're wrapped up in the warmth of Hajime’s arms.

That’s one thing she feels thankful for right now at least. At least she isn’t you, who has to stare at the face of the man who cheated on her. If she could she would laugh right now. Hina wonders what you’ll do next.

Would you leave Hajime as soon as you got home? Maybe that’s what she should have done the moment Hajime had told her he had a girlfriend. Instead she had decided to pursue something that never had a chance, and now it was time to reap the consequences of that.

Thinking back to it now, she hadn’t felt anything for Hajime at the time. Hina had only gone after him because he had rejected her advances. And when she had discovered that he had a girlfriend it had made the chase even more exciting at the time. But somewhere along the way she started to catch feelings for Hajime. And when he had messed up, when he came back from Japan, while you were still confused as to why you had let him back in, she had taken the opportunity to finish crawling her way into his mind and heart.

~

It’s been three weeks since Hajime came back to school. Three weeks since he had seen you. Three weeks of awkward phone conversations filled with silence. So it was welcoming when Grace and Hina dragged him out of his dorm and to a party. Hajime watches from his seat as people grind against each other and do shots.

He has his own beer in his hand that he’s been taking small sips from the last hour. Adamant on not losing his consciousness this time and making a dumb mistake. He’s taking a sip when he hears his name being called, “Hey, I’ve been looking for you.” He looks up to see Hina approaching him, her heels in her hand. “Come on, let's go. Grace already left.”

Getting up from his spot on the couch he sets his half empty cup on the table beside him and follows Hina out to the front door. The air outside is cool, a big difference from the stuffy hot air from inside the houseparty. Hina hooks her arm around his while they walk towards the dorms. He feels a warm feeling creep into the pit of his stomach, a familiar feeling that he’d only ever felt around you. Throughout the last couple of months he had this feeling growing whenever he was around Hina. He wasn’t sure what to call it.

“So why did Grace leave without us?” He asks the closer they get to Hina’s dorm room.

Hina leans closer to him, “Dunno, something about class tomorrow.”

They walk down the sidewalk comfortably in silence. Both of them listen to the air whistling when cars drive by and the sound of the cricket chirping in the grass. The street lights do very little to light up the street and it adds to the calmness of the night. “Yeah, I think she mentioned a test earlier today. What about you? Do you have class tomorrow?”

“Mmh, no. It got canceled this morning, that’s why I stayed a little longer than Grace. What about you?” She swings her leg in front of her.

“No.” He answers, letting out a tired sigh.

“Then why don’t you stay the night? Your dorm is across campus and it’s late.” Hina bats her eyelashes at him innocently. Hajime can feel that same warm feeling creeping further up his body. Next thing he knows his lips are pressed against her and a guilt creeps into his mind mixing in with fuzzy feelings, but he doesn’t stop.

He’s brain is telling him to stop and back away. It’s screaming at him to think of you, but the warmness of Hina's hands wrapped around his face push him to deepen the kiss. Hajime barely registers the rest of the way up to Hina’s dorm, not until his back is pressed against the door knob while Hina grinds down on his thigh.

Hina’s hands roam underneath his shirt, fingers tracing over his abs, teeth tugging at his bottom lip before sucking lightly on it. She tugs at the waistband of his jeans leading him towards her room, they’re lips remaining attached to each other. “This isn’t right,” He manages to get out between breaths while the door to Hina’s door is being opened.

“Then stop and leave.” Hina whispers back, attaching her lips to Hajime’s head, his head going dizzy at the feeling. How long had it been since he had actually been touched like this? Hina could feel how sensitive he was from her simple touches, so her guess would be since the last time he had visited Japan before the kiss with that girl.

Heat starts pooling between her legs and she grinds herself harder against his thigh. His hands start to ride up her thighs, pulling her dress up to her hips. They continue back until the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed. Hina light pushes him back until he falls back, with her on top of him. His fingers gliding up her thighs, he watches the soft coil fall out of her hair.

He closes his eyes and lets his head fall back onto the mattress, letting Hina grind against the bulge forming in his pants. Their pants start to fill the space of the small room, hands wandering along their bodies and pulling clothes off. Both of them bare before each other, and all reason long gone from Hajime’s mind pleasure clouding his mind when her warm mouth engulfs his length.

He’s hips start bucking up into her, hand buried in the back of her head keeping her down. It doesn’t take long for him to spill into her mouth. She crawls up his body, pressing kisses as she makes her way up until their lips meet again. Her hand creeps behind them and positions her clothes at her entrance before sinking down. Their groans bounce off the walls as Hina continues to push herself down on Hajime’s cock.

Hajime snaps his hips upwards as Hina starts to bounce slowly on top of him. Hina can feel the knot at the pit of her belly tighten up as she continues to bounce on top of Hajime, her whines becoming louder. The head of his cock hitting even deeper than before. Loud whines and moans leave their mouths and their fingers intertwined with each other, lips meeting once more in a heated kiss. “S-so deep. So g-good,” Hina gasps, clenching around him.

The low grunts emanating from him turn into choke sounds as he gets closer to his release. Hajime reaches down between their bodies for Hina’s clit, pinching it a bit. Her orgasm washes over her grinding down harder against him while her legs shake around his hips. Her nails are digging into his wrists. He starts to get sloppy, movements stopping completely when he cums inside her.

They stay like that for a couple of minutes. Pressed together, Hina on top of Hajime. Breathing uneven and bodies covered in sweat. Even as they both lay in bed together, Hajime knows that this isn’t the last time this will happen. And he swallows down the guilty lump that forms in his throat as Hina wraps her arms around him. He adds another tally to his list of stupid mistakes that would break you.

General Taglist: @fushigum @sadtrains @rinsangel @hollowpurpl@semieitasleftthigh @mvttsvn @chaotic-fangirl-blog @tirzamisu @fiona782 @fairybnha3 @sashatanaka @sunascumdoll @jojowantstocry @iwaizumis-bitch @rory-cakes @anothanobody

Haikyuu!! Taglist: @milkteeboba @caramelcandescence @qualitygiantshoepsychic @premiyagi @silsparkle

BLCTKU Taglist: @regina-com @ks-kitten @bluecatton

[junowritings]

Hello there mighty one!

May I request the bois reacting to fem!reader carrying tyem 'princess' style?

Reader looks week, skinny she looks like they don't have that much muscles. (Ironically they radiate big_D energy). She carries them like they don't weight that much. (+ Bonus points if reader acts like it's a normal thing!)

Be it a bet or one of the boys got injured or something else but reader ends up carrying them. That's literally it lol

Thank you ahead! ❤️💓

OH MAN THIS TOOK SO LONG IM SORRY! I had so much fun with this and I really hope that it was well worth the wait thank you so much for requesting!

--------

Riddle

♡ Honestly, you get a serious kick out of surprising people with your strength. Everyone always underestimates you, thinking that you’re too scrawny to pick up a chair much less even try picking up a person. You always protest about it, but unless someone actually wants you to show off just how strong you are you rarely get the chance to show off just how strong you are. Your fellow students would lose it if they found out just how easy it was to get swept off of their feet - you yanked Ace up into your arms once when he made the mistake of teasing you about it, giving him a little hoist into the air for good measure and cracking up at the shocked wheeze he let out at how easily you lifted him. Needless to say you’re pretty strong even if you don’t look it.

♡ You’d been lying if you said you hadn’t at least been a tiny bit tempted to carry Riddle around if only to see how he reacts - just thinking about the priceless look on his face was an amusing thought, but it remained as thoughts because as funny as it would be you value the life of yourself and your fellow classmates over the idea. It just so happens that thanks to a certain series of events, you actually get the chance to see the scenario play out in real life, surprisingly through no fault of your own.

♡ There’s certain times of the day where the crowds of students around Night Raven College swell and dissipate depending on where you are. In the middle of the day the rush is arguably the worst to anyone hoping not to get lost within a swarm of students bustling from their classrooms. It’s the period right before lunch actually starts, and whilst you should technically be in class right now, you’d all gotten enough done that you were allowed out a few minutes earlier than usual. Frankly you were more than happy for the extra minutes - it meant a few precious moments where you could tear through the hallways and get to the cafeteria to nab a snack before the main crowds started clogging up the exits as they did everytime the lunch period rolls in.

♡ You’re humming around a mouthful of the sweet treat you’d snagged from the days menu when you cross paths with Riddle, and though he doesn’t look too chuffed about you eating food outside of the appropriate dining hall he doesn’t call you out on it. You two fall into stride retreating down the hallway from where you’d first entered; it seems that you’re both heading towards the same area and you don’t mind the company so it suits you just fine to spend a little time with the dorm leader before going your respective ways for the next class. The peace doesn’t last for very long - soon enough the rest of the classes are being let out, and you’re suddenly reminded of why you were rushing to get away from the dining hall in the first place.

♡ All you see is the dinner rush crowd making a mad dash to the cafeteria and you act without thinking. You just know that Riddle would step in to enforce at least some kind of order to the pandemonium, but even if he could scare the crowd into stopping they’re still going to barge right over the two of you at this rate, and you’d rather avoid having the ghosts scraping either one of you off of the hallway floor. You’d much rather suffer through getting reamed out by Riddle for the stunt you’re about to pull than getting trampled by a stampede of students with no sense of personal space. When you mutter a quick “sorry!” Riddle gives you a confused look, which turns baffled when you toss your snack for him to catch in order to free up your hands (he catches it, thankfully - you don’t wanna make the journey back to buy a new one.)

♡ It’s a swift motion - all Riddle feels is your hands grabbing hold of him and suddenly the world is spinning and he finds himself pulled right up into your arms as you race back the way you’d come. His shout falls deaf on your ears in favor of the curses you’re chanting under your breath as you run, shifting the dorm leader around in your arms till you find a good enough position that he’s not going to fall out of your hold as you pick up your pace.

♡ You’re fast, and strong enough that carrying Riddle is no chore at all - you could probably do this under normal circumstances with no problem, not that you’d probably get the chance to after this. That little fact can be stewed over later, you decide, instead focusing on finding a place to get out of the way of the crowds. It isn’t long before you find an open classroom, and no sooner have you skidded through the doorway do you watch the student horde race past, completely oblivious to the pair of you. You let out a breathy laugh, more than a little relieved as you lean up against the doorframe and finally cast your gaze down to the boy in your arms.

♡ Yep, you were right about the priceless expression.

♡ Okay, so maybe the sudden grab and dash had left the dorm leader looking a little more...disheveled than usual, if the popped collar and skewed strands of hair from where his head had been pressed against your chest are any indication. You’re guessing that he’s still reeling from the fact that you’ve hoisted him up and carried him away like a princess as though he weighs nothing, because he doesn’t immediately start chewing you out about your little escape. His face is beginning to flush though, reaching the midpoint between pink and that signature red that’s close enough to match his hair; you certainly don’t make things any better when you move him around in your arms again, lifting him up a little more as your head ducks down.

♡ Riddle bristles, stuttering whatever planned retort he’d had only to freeze when he realizes you’re leaning towards the snack he’s managed to hold onto as you’d run. Your teeth snag its corner and you let out a triumphant “ha!” that’s muffled as you ease back up to finish off your self-proclaimed reward. It’s at that moment a soft cough turns both of your attention to the rest of the classroom, where several loitering students give the pair of you curious looks at the display. That finally kicks things back into gear, and you narrowly avoid dropping Riddle with how hard he wriggles out of your grip, working quickly to act as though the whole thing never happened which earns him an amused snort as you resolve to finish off your snack whilst he fixes his collar.

Leona

♡ Food has become a very effective bargaining chip when it comes to bets with your fellow students. You’re pretty sure placing monetary bets would get you in trouble if you were caught by one of the staff (especially Crewel, you don’t think anyone can handle his punishments more than once), and with all the maintenance going into your dorm betting money just isn’t an option you’re interested in. Food on the other hand is always in the ballpark, and with the limited edition dishes that pop onto the cafeteria menu throughout the year, alongside some of the phenomenal cooks amongst the student body, there’s no shortage of food bribes to use as a motive to get things done.

♡ Your strength has come into play on more than one occasion, because it either leads to people trying to call a bluff and wanting you to prove yourself, or they wanna see just how strong you are. You certainly don’t mind thanks to the little rewards your feats manage to net you, plus it makes for an interesting point of conversation when you’re bored. It’s boredom that leads to the following conversation with Cater during break - being outside the only real entertainment is walking around, talking to other students that cross your path, or just lounging around till the break’s over.

♡ You’d been walking around with Cater for a while before the appeal of watching the scenery faded and you elected to find some place to sit. You’re leaning against his shoulder watching him text and swipe through his pictures to pass the time; soon enough an image of you shows up and you snort at the picture of you holding up Deuce by his legs. It was taken a while ago, and the telltale shit eating grin on your face is a testament of how amusing the whole situation had been; seeing it now sparks up the same conversation you’d had at the time - can you really pick up anyone with no problem?

♡ Eager to jump at the opportunity for entertainment, the two of you turn your eyes across the field, where Cater takes to pointing people out. Epel? Easy, but wouldn’t be too happy about it. Kalim? You’ve done it before and it went pretty well minus the fact that his enthusiasm made him damn near slip out of your arms. You answer yes to most of the people he points out to you, until his gaze lands on someone lounging under the treeline and he points them out to you. Following his line of sight, you catch sight of Leona and the two of you share a look as you huff and say that yeah, of course you could pick that big lug up!

♡ Cater asking you to actually prove it wasn’t what you expected, and you give him a doubtful glance trying to gauge if he’s joking or not. Turns out he’s not, and at your hesitation he offers a bribe to convince you, and at the mention of one of Trey’s signature tarts you visibly perk up. He doesn’t even have to pull out the treat from his bag before you’re up onto your feet and jogging right over to the treeline, shooting him a confident grin over your shoulder as you approach the sleeping lion.

♡ To be honest, you probably would have tried this at some point anyway, but Trey’s tarts are a hell of an incentive to do it right now, and it’s the driving force that steels your resolve as you approach him. You know that he notices you - you’re not exactly quiet, and while he doesn’t open his eyes or turn to look at you his ears twitch in your direction at the sound of your footfalls coming towards him. It’s only when you squat down beside him that he cracks an eye open and lets out an inquisitive grumble asking you what you’re doing.

♡ You only tell him not to worry, but that just makes him more wary given that every time you’ve said that before it’s definitely cause for concern. You end up proving him right to be wary when you shuffle close enough to actually touch him and slot your hands under his back, promptly hefting him up from his once comfortable spot beneath the shade and into your arms.

♡ Leona jolts in response and you narrowly avoid an elbow to the ribs at how he squirms about at the sudden position change; his ears are pressed flat against his head and he squares you with a scathing look as he orders you to put him back down, calling you a brat for good measure. You only huff at the dorm leader and strengthen your hold on him, making sure to keep one hand safely cradling his back as you spin around to show Cater your latest catch. There’s no missing the amusement in Cater’s face as he makes a poor attempt to hide his snicker with one hand as he holds up his phone to snap a picture commemorating the moment.

♡ Seeing the camera you flash a smile and a thumbs up with some careful maneuvering of the man in your arms, quickly returning your hands back to him when he hisses and shifts again. It’s probably not the wisest idea to hold onto him for very long, and you can tell Leona’s none too pleased by suddenly being picked up from the spot he was comfortable in, so you don’t keep him up for very long before you amble back over to the trees, setting him down as gently as you can without accidentally pulling in his tail as you pull away. This time his elbow makes a solid hit against your hip on the way down and you end up dropping him the rest of the way, keeling over with a pained wheeze as the pair of you topple none too gracefully to the ground, devolving into complaints and groans at the turn of events.

Azul

♡ It’s not entirely unheard of for Azul to stay behind in some of the classrooms once classes have concluded. Whilst the Monstro lounge is the ideal location to get things done, sometimes the patrons get too rambunctious for his liking and he prefers a little bit of peace and quiet while he works on the day’s schoolwork. The classrooms are perfect for this as most students are all too eager to filter out and go about their own business, leaving the rooms empty for people to mill in and out of as they please.

♡ He works uninterrupted for the most part, only pulling his attention away from the papers spread out across his desk to look towards the door, hearing the chatter of passing students outside though they only last a brief moment before their voices filter off and disappear as they move away from the classroom. These momentary distractions come and go so the school work is almost completely finished by the time any notable interruptions actually come this way. Unfortunately when they do it almost immediately stops him in his tracks; there’s a slam on the wall leading out to the hallway, and Azul jolts in his seat as he hears something slide up the wall getting higher and higher before it’s finally revealed.

♡ Azul watches Floyd’s head poke up from one of the overhead windows, and that’s enough to get him to pause mid writing as the pair lock eyes. Now, the Leech twins are tall, taller than most of the students in Octavinelle, but there’s no way that he should be visible so it's reasonable to assume that he couldn’t manage the height without the help of a step-ladder. That step-ladder theory goes out of the window when Floyd’s head drifts over to the far side of the window, and the Leech twin flashes his dorm leader a toothy grin and a wave for good measure as he drifts backwards and forwards in a way that looks...off.

♡ It’s bizarre, but not the weirdest thing that Azul’s seen Floyd do so whilst he does marvel at the sight for a moment or two he tries to return back to his work - tries being the key word here. Floyd makes an effort to peer through the glass, calling down to someone as he leans closer towards the window. That leads to the twin nearly slamming his head into the glass and a hand flies up to stop the would-be injury as he looks down out of the window's line of sight.

♡Floyd’s stance totters and momentarily his head ducks out of view as though he’s dropped. That’s enough to get the dorm leader to his feet to finally investigate, and he rises from his desk and works his way over to the door, letting out a sigh as he slides open the door and prepares himself for whatever trouble is going to be on the other side. Sure enough Floyd’s leaning up against the wall, greeting Azul when he steps out into the doorway. Floyd’s not the only one there though - there’s a few miscellaneous students milling around the Octavinelle students, but the main point of interest is the person standing right below Floyd, arms wrapped around his knees and keeping him up in the air as they twirl around to face Azul without even a tremble in their grip.

♡ The grin you offer him is similar to Floyds, brimming with amusement as you move your grip to offer a wave, shifting your weight around so as to not drop the boy in your arms as you do so. The raised brow and inquisitive look only makes you grin wider before a tap on your shoulder brings your attention back to the person you’re holding. Azul watches Floyd motion for you to lower him which you do without issue, and once you do the younger Leech twin leans down to whisper something in your ear. He doesn’t catch what he’s saying, but when two pairs of eyes suddenly square him with a scheming look he knows all too well he takes a cautionary step backwards, folding his arms across his chest.

♡ You drop Floyd the rest of the way and turn your sights on Azul, beginning to approach him with open arms and a deceptively warm smile as you call out his name. Now he knows that you’re up to something, and moves to take another step away when you suddenly dart to close the distance and pull him towards you. There’s no hesitation in the way that you quite literally sweep the dorm leader off of his feet, tucking him close to your chest as your arms move to rest along his back and the crook of his knees - you’re carrying him like a princess, and from the wide grin on your face this was clearly the impromptu plan you’d been given by that mischievous twin.

♡ Azul splutters, completely speechless at how effortlessly you’re able to sweep him off of the floor and into your arms, and he becomes acutely aware of just how many eyes are on him as you cradle him to your body making sure that he doesn’t fall. Your strength is no joke, and you make a small show of it by twirling around, catching his hat in the process when the action causes it to topple off of his head and placing it neatly back on his head by the time you come to a stop. For a second you could almost say he looks pleasantly amused beyond the initial surprise, which only makes it all the more entertaining for you.

♡ But then Floyd steps forward and goes to take him from your arms and Azul’s desperately patting you until you finally relent your grip and allow him to stand back onto his feet. You and Floyd share a conspiratory giggle as you watch Azul straighten his outfit back out and step out of the reach of the both of you, giving the pair of you a wide berth in case you decide to try sweeping him off of his feet again.

Kalim

♡ Your strength makes you perfect for doing heavy lifting tasks when the time calls for it. Moving things from one place to another has been the jobs left for the more physically strong students, so despite your otherwise unassuming appearance you’re usually the first person people come to when there’s any kind of heavy lifting to be done. You’ve been a huge help at events as a result, and more often than not the other students leave the cleanup to you, confident in your abilities to get things back to where they need to go.

♡ This particular cleanup task had taken quite a while, but with some diligent work and a couple snack breaks you and your friends had narrowed down the leftover mess, packing what could fit into the boxes provided so that they’d be easier to transport. When the inevitable question of which people were going to take what came up you were quick to step in, offering that it’d be no problem at all for you to handle this yourself - it was late anyways, so you’re sure everyone was eager to get back to their rooms for the night. It took a little convincing, but soon enough you’re left alone with the necessary keys and wishes for good luck with the work.

♡ You’d planned to take care of this task by yourself, reasoning that two or three trips should get the job done. You’d actually finished the first trip and was making your way out with the last couple of boxes when you cross paths with Kalim, who upon recognizing your face peeking out from behind the impromptu cardboard tower all but jumps in to help. Any protests fall on deaf ears, as once Kalim’s decided on something like helping you out he’s not gonna stop until it’s done.

♡ Before long he’s taken about a third of the boxes off of your hands (he tried to bargain for more but you were set on carrying the heavier stuff) and the pair of you are off to get them off to the right destination. Kalim fills the silence with conversation as he leads the way, which given the fact you’re the one who actually knows where storage is, ends up with you having to tug him in the right direction more than once before he charges down a wrong corridor. Despite that though the two of you make good progress, and you end up getting there faster than the initial first trip, and within a few minutes you’re nearing the storage room, albeit from a different direction than last time.

♡ You’re shifting about the boxes in your arms to fish through your pocket for the storage room keys with your free hand when you realize you’re getting close. Kalim skips ahead of you as you rummage for the keys, giving you an easygoing smile over his shoulder urging you to catch up. You feign a sigh of exasperation but move to pick up your pace which only prompts Kalim to charge on ahead aiming to get to the door first, still with that easy-going smile.

♡ That smile disappears in an instant however, as when you next blink, Kalim disappears from your field of vision and your heart drops at the sound of something scattering across the floor. Ditching your effort to find the keys, you race to catch up, stopping just short at the top of the stairs and looking down to where Kalim’s sat at the bottom, shaking off the dizziness from the fall. It’s fortunately only a few steps but you still rush to close the distance, hastily placing your bags onto the floor as you kneel down beside the dorm leader to check if he’s alright.

♡ Upon seeing your concern Kalim grins and makes a point to tell you that he’s fine, hoping to ease your worries. This time the sigh you let out is one of relief and you rise back to your feet, offering out your hand to pull him up with a playful jab to watch where he’s going next time. Kalim laughs and takes your hand, but the moment he gets to his feet he yelps and leans to one side, easing up off of one foot. He must have hurt it in the fall and your expression drops watching his smile falter, brows creasing in clear discomfort.

♡ Kalim’s still reassuring you he’s fine despite the fact that he’s visibly doing his best to put as little weight on his one foot as possible. You aren’t convinced in the slightest, and after a few seconds of him talking you’ve had enough; he doesn’t notice you nodding to yourself as you roll up your sleeves, but he does catch your mutter of “Don’t worry - I’ve got this.” as you step forward and place a hand on his back.

♡ You move carefully so as to not agitate the leg more than you have to, tucking your free hand under his knees and easing him off of his feet until you’re carrying his full weight, keeping him upright like it’s nothing at all. Kalim, for what it’s worth, is captivated by the strength, but he’s more focused on asking if you’re really okay with carrying him - he’s fine, he swears! (he’s not). Paying no heed to that, you nudge the boxes over to the side of the hallway with your legs, leaving them in a messy but contained pile to avoid anyone tripping on them while you’re gone. They can be sorted later, is your excuse as you start walking - he’s going straight to the infirmary, and then back to his dorm, the boxes can wait a little longer.

♡ He squirms a bit, but that’s only so that he can wrap his arms around your neck, bringing his head close to your shoulder. Kalim knows that he’s not gonna convince you otherwise, so why not enjoy the ride while it lasts? Besides, it’s nice to feel weightless sometimes! And he’s so sincere when he gushes about how strong you are that you can’t help but preen under the compliments, boasting a little about how you’ll have to properly show off just how strong you are. Some other time though, because as nice as pleasant as it is carrying the dorm leader around, you can do that just as easily once he’s been seen by the school nurse.

Vil

♡ You may not look like you’re that strong but looks can be deceiving. You’re more built than a lot of people realize - sure, it may not look like that to others, but these uniforms do a damn better job of hiding your strength than one might think. Friends and those who have seen it for themselves know that you’re strong, and Vil is one of them; you make no show of hiding that fact, because why would you? It’s something you’re proud of, and you use it to your advantage whenever the chance calls for it, and Vil’s not one to stop you from doing so.

♡ You also don’t shy away from challenges either, if anything they’re one of your weaknesses. Confident in your strength, any time someone questions it you’re eager to jump right in and prove them otherwise. Usually they’re arguments you’ve heard a hundred times before, the same old story as far as you’re concerned, that doesn’t mean the comments don’t tick you off though. Scrawny scrapper this, all bark and no bite that, it gets on your nerves that just because you don’t look that strong they immediately assume that you’re just weak.

♡ It’s a sore topic, and as such Vil can usually pinpoint the trouble that brews as a result of such challenges because of the way you react to such jeers. He’s attempted to ease your anger about it in the past, or at least told you to go easy on said challengers lest you get sent to Crewel’s office again, and for what it’s worth you’ve made fair progress in brushing off most comments.

♡ This time it appears that brushing them off isn’t quite so easy. Your voice can be heard even before you storm into the main hall accompanied by another student, and your planned curse filters off into a hiss to just leave it when you catch sight of Vil out of the corner of your eye. The student however doesn’t let up, and the dorm head soon catches wind of what this is about when he hears “Strong? Seriously? Pff, do you even have any muscles?” Vil can see the way your lip curls back into a snarl, and he turns his full attention to the scene just waiting for the inevitable show of strength you’re about to pull off. You do this every time without fail, and it’s only proven when you snap.

♡ “Oh yeah? Well, do you think someone without muscles can do this?” Vil’s halfway through taking stock of all of the items not bolted to the floor when you spin around and stride over to him, the confident shout of “Vil!” being one of the few warnings that he gets before you’re standing before him and wrapping your arms around him. It’s quick and smoother than he thought it’d be, and were this not the first time you’ve attempted this trick on him Vil could swear you’ve practised this before. Granted, you stumble a little near the end, but that’s more so because you overestimated the swoop of pulling him up into your arms and knocked your hip into a table in the process. Besides that it’s an otherwise practised landing, and suddenly Vil finds himself swept up into a bridal carry by a pair of surprisingly firm arms.

♡ You spin back around, triumphant grin on your face as you heft Vil up even higher, like a child proudly showing off their prize to anyone watching. True, you’re strong, and there’s not a moment that Vil feels like he’s going to fall out of your arms when you’re holding him, but the lack of warning and the abruptness of being hoisted up as though he weighs nothing more than a bag of feathers makes for a jarring situation. Your shout of “Ha! Believe me now?” doesn’t make the situation much better, and Vil has to rub his temples to stop the incoming stress lines at the amount of eyes you’ve drawn to your little display in the process of your shouting.

♡ Whatever challenge had been posed seems to have been sated by your show of strength, as the student throws up their hands in a mock-surrender as they concede, shrugging off the surprise that Vil can see clear as day on their faces. Clearly, they weren’t expecting you to be so brazen about showing off, but you’ve never been one to clam up when there’s a point to be made.

♡ Satisfied, you let out a huff and drop down onto one of the nearby chairs, shaking your head as you grumble “Can you believe that guy? Teach him not to doubt me next time.” It seems you’ve neglected to remember exactly who you picked up, and Vil’s swift to remind you with a soft cough to direct your attention back towards him. You look down at the dorm leader still firmly settled in your arms, lips pursing as you exhale a breath to mask your obvious realization upon meeting eyes with him.

♡ Muttering an apology, you gradually release your grip, giving him ample time to rise back to his feet and you let out a nervous chuckle when he folds his arms across his chest and gives you a stern gaze. Thankfully you’re let off with a chide of giving someone a warning the next time you decide to pick them up, but he doesn’t miss your grin as you parrot back “Next time?”

Idia

♡ Idia had gotten hurt. Those are the only words you needed to hear before you dropped everything and raced over to his bedroom, already thinking of the worst case scenarios. I mean, for a guy who spends the majority of time in his room there’s only so many ways he can get hurt, and none of them are a pleasing thought so you do your best to quash the thoughts till you actually get there to see him for yourself.

♡ When you first step inside his room nothing’s out of the ordinary, as far as you’re aware nothing’s been destroyed and besides the usual controlled chaos everything seems to have been moved out of place. Idia’s even sat at his computer chair which isn’t an unusual sight, though as you get closer you realize he’s got one of his legs pulled up against his chest, hands cradling his foot with a sour expression that morphs into discomfort each time he makes a move to roll the appendage to one side. That sour look doesn’t dissipate when he notices you, but he does jump a bit when you announce your presence by rounding the chair and leaning onto the one arm, leaning down as you ask what happened.

♡ You’ve gathered that he’s hurt his foot, you just don’t know how and as he hunches over even more in his chair you perk up, noting his reluctance. He doesn’t tell you, not at first, but with a bit of prodding he eventually caves that maybe he kind of accidentally got his feet tangled up in the wires under his gaming desk and got yanked right out of his chair when he’d finally pushed himself away from his computer. He hadn’t thought anything of it (besides the obvious embarrassment of getting tripped up in the first place) but the moment he’d tried to stand up it was clear that something had rolled the wrong way, which is precisely what led to him huddled up in his chair glaring daggers at the injured foot as though that’s going to magically fix the injury sustained.

♡ Admittedly, the image of the whole scenario would have made you laugh, but for the sake of your friend (and the fact that he glowers at you when your lip trembles trying to fight back a chuckle) you don’t, instead giving the simmering dorm leader a comforting pat on the shoulder reassuring him that he’ll be fine. Chances are it’s just sore from landing the wrong way - you’ll know for sure once he gets seen by the nurse.

♡ However, when you tell him that he hunkers down, insisting that he’s not budging; it’ll be fine if he just sleeps it off, is his argument, adding that it’s not like he can go anywhere since he’d rather stay put - what’s he gonna do, hop the whole way to the infirmary? Obviously not.

♡ You frown at his stubbornness, but give a determined huff as you hop off of the arm of the chair with a “fine.”. Idia’s surprised that you’re not fighting his decision more, but that surprise lasts but a moment until you lean down and promptly pluck the dorm leader right out of his seat. He just about chokes on his words and twists about in your arms, but you don’t even bat an eye at it as you shift him around until you’re cradling him close to your chest, eventually just settling on a princess carry for the sake of simplicity.

♡ When Idia cries out, asking what you’re doing, you merely shrug and offer “Since you can’t walk, I’ll carry you.” as your explanation. He balks at the notion, but doesn’t really have a leg to stand on when you pull him even closer to you, holding firm to make sure he doesn’t fall.

♡ His hair tickles your nose each time he shifts about in your arms, which you promptly pat back down as gently as you can as you move towards the door, nudging it open with your hip until you can slide the pair of you through the gap. You make a point of ignoring his protest of staying put until he finally relents and settles into you, arms folded across his chest as he leans back. His hair frames his face like he’s trying to hide in the thick blue flames, but even you don’t miss the fact that his expression, once twisted in discomfort, eases up into something more comfortable now that the pressure’s off of his injured foot.

Malleus

♡ You’d like to think that you’re pretty strong, stronger than people give you credit for at least. And you also like to think that your strength is appreciated by the people who know about your carefully honed skill. Lilia is one such person, as he seems to be particularly amused by just how easily you’re able to heft and move things about, be it both objects and people. He’s especially entertained when it’s people, and it’s because of your penchant for carrying people around to show off that you end up with the third-year student bundled up in your arms as you travel through the Diasomnia dorm.

♡ The only indication the others have of the event is when you promptly come striding into the room, arms wrapped around Lilia's waist and hoisting him effortlessly up into the air as you enter. Malleus looks up from what he’s doing to watch the curious display, and upon spotting the fae you shift Lilia's weight to release one hand and wave, grinning as you swivel around and begin moving towards his direction. You’re keeping the Diasomnia student upright with ease, showing no signs of fatigue or strain as you carry him around, coming to stand behind the sofa that Malleus is sitting on and leaning over with a nonchalant question about what he’s doing.

♡ Malleus raises a brow, unsure whether to answer you or ask what exactly you’re doing with Lilia first. Before he can decide however Lilia gives you a gentle nudge to be let down and you take the hint, proceeding to lean over the sofa and drop him none-too-gently onto the seat beside Malleus. The cushions bounce when he lands on them, and though disheveled from all the carrying and the drop, Lilia looks thoroughly entertained by the whole ordeal,

♡ You catch Malleus glancing between you and Lilia, and though you couldn’t hazard a guess as to what he’s thinking you lean forward and chuckle, jokingly asking “Want me to try you next?” as you rest your arms on the back of the sofa. The smile on your face falters a little when you don’t immediately get a response, locking eyes with him for a few seconds too long. When he nods you have to fight every muscle in your face not to look surprised, and you don’t trust your voice to get the words out in response, instead returning the gesture with a blank nod of your own.

♡ The last thing you expected was for him to agree, but you’re never one to back down from a challenge and soon enough you’re standing face to face with the dragon prince once he stands up and rounds the sofa so that you’re standing in front of each other. You’re doing the mental maths in your head as you size up the dorm head. It’s not picking him up that’s gonna be a problem - you’re pretty sure the Leech twins weigh more than him and you’ve been able to carry both at the same time once before (when Floyd wasn’t intentionally wriggling around in your arms that is.) It’s figuring out the best way to carry him that’s the problem; you’re not sure a fireman carry would be the most dignified look for the dorm head, and just giving him a piggyback probably wouldn’t be too effective if you want to avoid knocking his head against something while you’re running around.

♡ It takes a moment but you don’t leave Malleus standing there for very long before you take a step forward, moving to place a hand on his back while reiterating if it’s okay for you to still do this. The noise of confirmation steels your resolve and in the next moment you quite literally sweep Malleus off of his feet and into the air, landing safely in your arms; he lets out a sharp inhale at the sudden action, but is more surprised at the fact that you’re able to carry him with such ease, even flashing him a confident grin as you begin to sidle around the room, making sure that he remains firmly tucked in your arms as you do so.

♡ The experience is interesting, to say the least - Malleus isn’t uncomfortable, if anything it’s actually rather nice to feel so weightless in someone’s arms. Not to mention it’s not something Malleus has been able to recently experience, so . You on the other hand are having a great time with it; you get used to carrying him quickly, and despite the initial worry of getting stabbed in the face with his horns you realize there’s nothing to worry about - it’s going pretty well.

♡ That is until Sebek enters the room and spots you cradling the young lord in your arms, and he shouts loud enough that you all whip around to face him. You’re undeterred by the shout, if anything you just assume that the first year wants a turn so you gently place Malleus back onto his feet, giving his uniform a cursory once over to make sure he’s okay before you back away. Malleus gives you an inquisitive look, watching you as you skip away, racing over to where Sebek’s standing with arms outstretched ready to scoop him into your arms, laughing when the student all but dives out of your reach the moment you approach him.

[noisydiary]

caught.

Mary woke from her rest, not entirely intending to have slept in the first place. She glanced up towards the ceiling for a spell, letting her eyes adjust, before she rolled over and sat up. She stretched, cricked her neck, and looked out to her quarters- where, in her desk's chair, sat Ash. On seeing her, Mary straightened and stiffened up, her hands balling to fists as she readied for just about anything… Though she noted the calm posture of Ash, who noticed nothing about her or her waking. Her head was bowed slightly, eyes unlit. She sat straight otherwise, legs uncrossed and hands in her lap.

"…Reid?"

No response from Ash. Mary hesitantly stood and moved closer, speaking firmly, "Reid."

Only getting silence, Mary reached out and nudged Ash's shoulder, pulling her hand back quickly as she spoke louder, "Reid-"

The motion brought Ash's head upright, her eyes lighting and correcting their position before settling on Mary, "Ah. Good. You're up."

Mary scowled, "What exactly are ya doin' here, Reid."

"I had a question for you."

"Ya couldn't wait until I was awake?"

"I was," Ash snarked back, with all the intent of glaring if she were able to, "I sat and waited, as nothing else needed my attention."

"Oh, really? My, how wonderful ta know I'm that important to ya," Bitterness lacing her tone.

Her words sat on dead air for a fair beat, before she sighed and crossed her arms, "Well, ya mind askin' so you can bugger off?"

….Shit.

Ash rose to her feet and picked up a gravity lift off of Mary's desk, "…May I borrow this?"

On seeing her take the lift, Mary's eyes widened, quickly reaching out and snatching the lift away from Ash. However, as a reaction, she heard Ash glitch, and her wrist was grabbed in her attempt to pull away.

"E-eh… Do you mind??" Mary hissed, pulling back on her arm, "What would you have need for this anyway?"

"I don't," …Ash responded, her tone colder than before. Which means…

Mary's expression twisted as her brows furrowed, watching Ash as she let go and started to walk away. Mary pulled back, looking at the lift, before calling out, "…er- Wait--! …Reid."

Ash stopped in her tracks, turning towards Mary once more, "Yes, Dr. Somers?"

Mary takes a moment, briefly worried about her 'hypothesis', "…Would you mind lettin' me speak to Leigh?"

Ash lets out a sigh, "This was a miscalculated mistake-" before she glitched again.

"…what do you want…?" Leigh spoke, her voice softer than Ash's, matching her cadence from earlier.

Mary held back her smugness- she was right~

"Did you actually need this?" Mary lifted her hand and waved it a bit, showing off the gravity lift.

Leigh stared at it for a moment, before looking away, "No."

"Did you have a question for me?"

Starting to get a bit irritated, Leigh responded, "No."

Mary couldn't stop herself anymore, a smirk forming on her lips as she spoke, "Want to tell me why you were here, then?"

"No," the word off her lips far more aggressive than she'd hoped.

Mary let out a small laugh, putting down the gravity lift on her desk and sitting back down on the bed, "Ouh… right then. 'suppose then I'll have ta ignore the other times you've sat in with me."

Leigh's head jolted upright, eyes staring to Mary as she sat all high and mighty with her deductions, "You knew?"

"I didn't, but thank you for confirmin' it~"

A mixture of Leigh's irritation and Ash's impatience came through the simulacrum, causing a garbled mess Mary couldn't quite figure out. Though after Leigh's outburst calmed, Mary's joy faded as well, realising moreover what Leigh meant.

"…So… You've been watchin' me as I sleep, any particular reason?"

A glitch escaped her as Ash took over, regaining composure, "I watch all the Legends, should I be at fault for watching an enemy during their weakest moments?"

"I find it odder that ya know when I decide to have a lie down, since I don't exactly care to sleep nowadays."

"You have fault as a human, your body will require you to recharge at some point. Sleep is inevitable," Ash responded flatly, "If that is all, I have other matters to attend to. It seems I need to--"

Another glitch broke Ash from her control, as Leigh took over, "I did as you asked! Let me…"

However, her control waned- Ash returning to her typical attempts at silencing Leigh, "Have this? You've been reckless in your desperation, and got caught. Know your enemy, and know when you are beaten."

Leigh seemingly had no response after that. Ash turned on her pivot, giving her final peace, "This will not happen again, I assure you."

Then she hurried off, her quiet, mechanical footsteps sounding through the dropship until gradually ebbing away; leaving Mary with the pieces of their conversation.

☾ | this is a continuation of this ramble! it makes a bit more sense if you read it first. yes, i know, this note is at the end- sorry xD

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 8

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 8 - This Venerable One Gets Punished

Mo Ran lay in bed like a dead fish for three days. Just as his wounds started to heal, he was summoned to Red Lotus Pavilion to do manual labour.

This was also part of his punishment. During the punishment period, Mo Ran couldn't go down the mountain, but he also couldn't just laze around. So he had to help out the sect and do some drudgery.

Generally speaking, these errands were things like: helping the cafeteria lady at Mengpo Hall wash the dishes, scrubbing the three hundred and sixty-five stone lions on the pillars of the Naihe Bridge, transcribing extremely boring archive files, and so on.

But what kind of place was Red Lotus Pavilion? It was the residence of that bastard Chu Wanning, known as the cursed place called Red Lotus Hell.

Few people in Life-Death Peak had been there, and everyone who had been there left with either their legs or their arms broken.

Therefore, in addition to Red Lotus Hell, Chu Wanning's bedroom had a more grounded nickname: Broken Leg Pavilion.

There was an inside joke circulating around the sect: "The Pavilion hides a beauty, and the beauty holds Tianwen. Enter the gate of broken legs, know the suffering of getting your legs broken. If you want your meridians broken, go to the Elder Yuheng."

There was once a female disciple who wasn't afraid of death. She was bold enough to lust after Elder Yuheng's beauty. Taking advantage of the dark night and high winds, she sneaked to the Southern Peak and climbed onto the eaves, intending to watch the Elder bathe and strip his clothes.

As you can imagine, the female warrior was beaten within an inch of death by Tianwen, crying for her father and calling her mother, and lay in bed for no less than a hundred days.

And Chu Wanning also declared that, if anyone else dared to commit another crime, he would carve out the eyes of the perpetrator himself.

Do you see? What complete nonsense! What puzzling behaviour! What a heinous man!

Within the sect, there used to be innocent silly girls who thought that, because they were women, Elder Yuheng would pity them and show compassion. They were always laughing and joking in front of him, trying to attract his attention. But ever since the elder whipped that one female hooligan, no one dared to hit on him anymore.

To Elder Yuheng, whether it was men or women, he didn't have the disposition of a gentleman. Other than a good-looking face, there was nothing redeeming about him - this was how Chu Wanning was viewed by the disciples of this sect.

The junior brother who had delivered the summons looked at Mo Ran with sympathy. He tried to stay quiet, but in the end, couldn't hold it back: "Brother Mo. . ."

"Hmm?"

". . . Elder Yuheng has such a bad temper. No one who went to the Red Lotus Water Pavilion came out able to stand. Maybe you could see if you could say your wounds haven't healed and beg Yuheng Elder to let you wash dishes instead?"

Mo Ran was very grateful for this junior brother's bodhisattva heart, but he didn't agree.

Beg Chu Wanning?

Forget it. He doesn't need to get beaten by Tianwen a second time.

So he strenuously put on his clothes, dragged his feet, and walked reluctantly to Life-Death Peak's southern peak.

Red Lotus Pavilion, Red Lotus Hell. There wasn't a single person in sight for a hundred li around Chu Wanning's residence.

No one wanted to go close to his residence. Chu Wanning's bad taste and uncertain personality made everyone in the sect stay far away from him.

Mo Ran was a bit nervous. He didn't know what Chu Wanning would make him do as punishment. His thoughts ran wild the whole trip to the southern peak. After passing through the dense bamboo groves, large swathes of beautiful red lotus came into view.

It was early morning, the sun rising from the east, reflecting a splendid shine on the horizon. The red lotus stalks in the pond stretched towards the flaming clouds in the sky, complementing each other; magnificent. At the edge of the pond, a curved zig-zag bridge led to the pavilion standing in serene silence. Behind it was a curtain of waterfalls streaming down the mountain, the fine crystal water droplets raining against the rocks at the bottom. The watery mist created by it evaporated into the air, light gleaming through the fog, creating a sense of enchanting tranquillity.

This is what Mo Ran thought about this:

Gross.

Wherever Chu Wanning lived, no matter how beautiful it was, would always be gross to him!

Just look at it, so arrogantly extravagant, a true waste of extravagance, in fact. The disciples’ dorms are all closely connected to each other and they don't take up much surface area. And then there's the mighty Elder Yuheng, who occupies a whole mountain by himself. He even dug three large ponds and filled them with lotus flowers. Although, these lotus flowers are special varieties and can be refined into immortal medicine, but—

This is getting off track, the place was not pleasing to the eye. He wished he could burn down Broken Leg Pavilion with his torch!

All he could ever do was silently criticize this place. Given that he was only sixteen* this year, he was no match for Chu Wanning. Mo Ran showed up outside Chu Wanning's residence regardless. He stood at the door, squinted his eyes, and put on a sickeningly sweet demure, pretending to be the ideal disciple.

*(T/N The original text flips between all these ages. Mo Ran is just guessing how old he is so that's why it keeps going to 14/15/16)

"Disciple Mo Ran here to greet his master."

"Yes, come in."

The room was chaotic and disorganized. The cold-blooded demon Chu Wanning was dressed in a white robe. The lapels were folded high and tightly, giving off an air of purity and abstinence. Today, he had his hair in a high ponytail, covered with a black metal hair ring. He sat on the ground fiddling with a bunch of mechanical parts, biting a pen he had in his mouth.

Casually glancing at Mo Ran, with the pen still in his mouth, he said vaguely: "Come here."

Mo Ran approached him.

It was no easy feat. Considering there were no benches or tables in this room, artwork and metal broken wood were scattered everywhere.

Mo Ran's brows twitched. He had never entered Chu Wanning's room in his previous life, and he had no idea that this well-dressed beautiful man lived in such a mess. . . He was at a loss for words.

"Master, what is this?"

"Night Wanderer."

"What?"

Chu Wanning was a little impatient, probably because it was inconvenient to speak with a pen in his mouth: "Night Wanderer."

Mo Ran silently glanced at the mess of parts on the ground.

His master was hailed as Shizun Chu, and it wasn't just out of vanity. Speaking honestly, Chu Wanning was a very powerful man. Whether it is his three god-grade weapons, his cultivation techniques, or his machine-building skills, he was clearly worthy of being defined by four words: "the peak of excellence". This was also the reason why he had such a bad temper and was so difficult to serve, but the major cultivation sects still tried to fight over him for those skill.

Regarding the "Night Wanderer", the reborn Mo Ran was well aware of it.

It was a kind of machine made by Chu Wanning, cheap to make but had strong combat power. It can guard the ordinary people in the lower cultivation world from ghosts and demons at night.

In his previous life, the well-made Night Wanderer had almost become a must-have machine for every household. The price of one was equivalent to a broom, and the effect was much easier to handle than the Grinning Door God.

After Chu Wanning died, those Night Wanderers still guarded the poor families who couldn't afford a high-level cultivator. This compassionate heart, coupled with Chu Wanning's affection for his disciples. . . hehe, it really makes Mo Ran despise him.

Mo Ran sat down and looked at the "Night Wanderer" which was just a bunch of parts at this time, and the past flashed through his mind. He couldn't help picking up one of the Night Wanderer's limbs and grasped it in his hand for a closer look.

Chu Wanning clipped a few components, finally freeing his hands. He took the pen out of his mouth and glared at Mo Ran: "That one was just finished with tung oil, don't touch it."

"Oh. . ." Mo Ran put down the machine. He put his fake smile back on still looking cute and completely harmless. He asked with a smile, "Shizun summoned me here, are you planning to let me help?"

Chu Wanning hummed: "Mm."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Clean up the house."

Mo Ran's smile froze. He looked around at the room that looked like it had been hit by an earthquake: ". . ."

Chu Wanning was a genius in immortal cultivation and an idiot in life.

After picking up the fifth broken teacup that had never been swept up, Mo Ran finally couldn't stand it: "Shizun, when was the last time you cleaned your house? My god, it's so messy!"

Chu Wanning was looking at his drawings, and didn't look up when Mo Ran spoke to him: "Almost a year."

Mo Ran: ". . ."

"Where do you usually sleep?"

"What?" There must be something wrong with the drawing. Chu Wanning was upset and looked even more impatient than usual. He rubbed his head and replied in a huff, "Of course it's the bed."

Mo Ran glanced at the bed. It was piled with all kinds of machines that had been mostly completed, as well as a bunch of tools such as saws, axes, files, and so on.

Seriously, how did this man sleep without cutting his own head off?

After working for most of the day, the sawdust on the floor had filled three dustpans, and the white towel that had wiped down the bookcase was ten times more black. By noon, he had only cleaned about half.

Fuck Chu Wanning, this person is really more poisonous than a leeching woman.

Cleaning a room didn't seem like much of a punishment, it didn't really seem like hard work, but who knew that it was such a ghastly place that hadn't been touched in a year? Not to mention that he was covered with wound. Even if he was healthy now, he could shorten his lifespan by half going through all of this!

"Shizun. . ."

"Hm?"

"Your pile of clothes. . ." They'd been stacked there for about three months.

Chu Wanning finally got one of Night Wanderer's arms attached. He rubbed his sore shoulder, looked up at the robes on the suitcase, and said coldly: "I wash them myself."

Mo Ran was relieved. Thank goodness. But he was still a little curious: "Really? Shizun can wash clothes?"

Chu Wanning glanced at him, and after a while, coldly said: "What's so hard about it? Throw them in water, soak them, take them out, and dry them."

". . ." After hearing this, he really didn't know any girl who would keep lusting after Chu Wanning. Mo Ran truly thought that it would break the hearts of dozen of women to find out how disgusting this man really was.

"It's getting late. You can accompany me to the dining hall and finish the rest when you get back."

There were people coming and going from Meng Po Hall, and the Life-Death Peak disciples were eating together. Chu Wanning grabbed a lacquered wooden tray, took a few dishes and sat in the corner silently.

From where he was, no one sat within twenty feet of him.

No one dared to sit too close to Elder Yuheng, for fear that he would get upset, and they would get a lashing from Tianwen. Chu Wanning himself actually knew about this, but he didn't mind. A cold beauty sat there, gently eating the food in the bowl.

But today wasn't like usual.

Mo Ran was brought by him, so naturally he had to follow him.

Others are afraid of him. So was Mo Ran, but he had already died once, so Chu Wanning was nothing in comparison.

Especially after the fear of first seeing him had subsided, the hatred of Chu Wanning from his previous life slowly emerged. So what if Chu Wanning was powerful? In his last life, he still died by his hands.

Mo Ran sat down in front of him, calmly chewing the sweet and sour pork ribs in the bowl. He crunched on the bones then spit them out into a pile.

Chu Wanning suddenly slammed down his chopsticks.

Mo Ran stopped for a moment.

". . . Can you stop eating with your mouth open?"

"I chew the bones, how am I supposed to do that with my mouth closed?"

"Then don't eat the bones."

"But I like to eat the bones."

"Eat around them."

The two quarreling voices grew louder and louder, and some disciples were already peeping at them.

Mo Ran fought the urge to throw the rice bowl over Chu Wanning's head. He pursed his lips, and after a while, he narrowed his eyes, and a sweet smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Shizun, don't shout so loudly. Others might hear, won't they laugh at us?"

Chu Wanning has always been thin-skinned, and his voice really softened. He whispered: "Get out."

Mo Ran burst out laughing.

Chu Wanning: ". . ."

"Hey, Shizun, don't stare at me. Come on, let's eat. I'll try to be quiet."

Mo Ran had laughed enough and started playing nice again, the sound of his chewing much softer.

Chu Wanning gradually went back to gently eating. Seeing that Mo Ran was bring obedient, his face slightly relaxed, no longer looking so bitter and upset. He lowered his head, eating his green beans and tofu with grace.

After a long pause, Mo Ran started to do it again.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. In summary, seeing Chu Wanning in this life, he wanted to make a fool of himself and do whatever he could to make him angry.

So Chu Waning found that although Mo Ran did not chew loudly this time, he began to grab the ribs with his hands and eat them, sloppily eating with greasy hands and sauce-covered fingers.

Chu Wanning's blue forehead vein popped. Endure it.

He lowered his eyelashes. He didn't look at Mo Ran, and focused on his own meal.

Mo Ran didn't know if he had gotten too carefree or forgetful while eating, but he accidentally threw one of the gnawed bones into Chu Wanning's rice bowl.

Chu Wanning stared at the messy and hideous rib bone, and the surrounding air so condensed and frozen it was visible to the naked eye.

"Mo Ran. . . !!!"

"Shizun. . ." Mo Ran was quite frightened. He wasn't sure whether what he said sounded true or fake. "That. . . Uh, I didn't mean it."

Probably fake.

". . ."

"Don't be angry, I'll take it out for you."

He really stretched out his chopsticks, stuck them into Chu Wanning's bowl, and quickly picked out the bone.

Chu Wanning's face was pale, like he was about to vomit.

Mo Ran batted his eyelashes, and there was a pitiful grievance on his delicate face: "Shizun, do you dislike me?"

". . ."

"Shizun, I'm sorry."

It was just that.

Chu Wanning thought to himself: Why do you need to be restrained with the junior disciples?

He gave up the urge to summon Tianwen to hit Mo Ran. His appetite was gone, and he got up and said: "I'm full."

"What? Is that all you're going to eat? Shizun, you've barely touched your food."

Chu Wanning brushed him off: "I'm not hungry."

Mo Ran's heart felt like it was as joyful as a flower, and he still sweetly said: "Then I won't eat it anymore. We can go back to Red Lotus Hell - ehem, go back to Red Lotus Pavilion."

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes: "We?" There was a mockery in his eyes, and then said, "Who is the other person you're talking about? Disciples and their Shizun have respectable relationships and you will address me in the proper manner."

Mo Ran carefully kept his expression, his eyes curled up with a smile, well-behaved, sensible and cute.

However, in his heart he was thinking: Respectful relationship? Proper manner?

Hehe, if Chu Wanning could know what happened in his previous life, he would know - in the end, Mo Weiyu was the only one deserving of respect in the world.

No matter how noble and arrogant Chu Waning was, he was still a piece of mud under his boot. Didn't he depend on Mo Ran's good will to survive?

Stepping quickly to keep up with his shizun's pace, Mo Ran still had a bright smile on his face.

If Shi Mei was the white moonlight in his heart, Chu Wanning was the broken fishbone stuck in his throat. He needed crush this thorn or swallow it, and it will corrode away in his stomach.

In short, during this new life, he could spare whoever he wanted.

But he would never spare Chu Wanning.

However, Chu Wanning didn't seem to want to spare him so easily.

Mo Ran stood in front of the library in Red Lotus Hell, looking at fifty rows of ten-story bookshelves, thinking that he must have heard wrong.

"Shizun, what did you say. . .?"

Chu Wanning replied lightly: "Dust all the books in here."

". . ."

"After dusting, catalogue them."

"..."

"I will check back tomorrow morning."

"!!!"

What!!! Was he supposed to stay overnight in Red Lotus Hell??

But he had planned to meet with Shi Mei, and even asked Shimei to change his medicine at night!!!

He opened his mouth to plead his case, but Chu Wanning didn't bother paying attention to him. With a wave of his wide sleeves, and turned to exit the library, and, incidentally, closed the door of the library in a haughty manner.

Mo Ran, who's date had been ruined, sat in his boiling hatred of Chu Wanning - he wanted to burn all Chu Wanning's books!!

No!

After thinking it over, he thought of something even worse. . .

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[jaceyneedsabetterusername]

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Pairings: Arvin Russel x Fem!Christian!Reader

Summary: Arvin knew he shouldn’t have left you alone with that new preacher... 

Warnings: Sexual assault, physical assault, cursing, Teagarden being a perv, really nothing out of the ordinary for this movie. 

Word Count: 5250

_________________________

“Arvin! Stop!” You giggled, pushing your boyfriend off of you as he nibbled up and down your neck. There wasn’t anything sexual about it, he just loved to hear you laugh and he knew how much the action tickled your skin. “You’re so annoyin’!” You laughed, cheeks flushed red as you gently pressed on his head to try and move it. 

He pressed himself up, looking down at you like you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever lay his eyes on. Arvin was straddling you, his knees trapping your hips beneath him. A hand was placed on either side of your head and he looked down at you, “But you’re so pretty when you laugh.” 

“Oh? And I’m ugly all the rest of the time?” You asked jokingly, hands reaching up stroke up and down his arms. 

Arvin leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips before pulling away ever so slightly, hovering just above your lips. Both of your guys’ eyes were still closed as if it were a romantic moment until he whispered, “Ugly as a mule.” 

You both busted up laughing and you shoved him, his body rolling onto the blanket beside you, “I’m breaking up with you.” You teasingly told him. 

“Ah, c’mon. You know you love me.” He looked over at you, loving how the autumn sun lit up your features. 

“I tolerate you. Don’t get it mixed up.” You rolled your head over to see him already admiring you. Your smile got bigger when you locked eyes with him. 

“Well I love you.” Arvin admitted sweetly, bringing a gentle hand to your cheek and kissing you one more time. 

Arvin made you feel beautiful and special and safe, all those things that no boy had ever made you feel. He always had. Even when you were children back in middle school and neither of you really talked to each other, when you saw him around the halls, a peace just settled over you that made you feel like you were on top of the world. When the two of you began dating ten months ago, that never changed. 

“I love you too.” 

The two of you laid back against the yellow blanket with little orange flowers on it, the one that you’d taken from the linen closet back home. This was yours and Arvin’s favorite place, a little clearing in the woods. The grass was tall enough to be soft but not so tall that it hid critters. Flowers lined the edge of the woods in the spring. It wasn’t springtime now but that only meant that instead of a display of white and yellow flower buds, the pair of you had a beautiful show of brilliant reds and oranges from the falling leaves. 

Everyone in town knew you were together. Word spread fast around Coal Creek and it was nearly impossible to hide anything. Your families were both supportive of the relationship. Emma loved that you were involved with the church and put effort into the community when you could, often participating in bake sales around town. She liked to tease that you won Arvin over with your “man catching apple cobbler” as she now called it, since he officially asked you to be his girlfriend over a slice of the delicious dessert after a Sunday service. 

Your parents liked Arvin as well. Even after Fred Dinwoodie had told your dad about what Arvin had done to Gene, it surprisingly made him like Arvin more. “You got yourself a good man who knows right from wrong and ain’t afraid to stand up for the people he loves.” Was what he’d said, which had surprised you. You knew that Arvin had beaten all the boys right after he’d done it, since he came to you to help him calm down and ice his knuckles. You were terrified for your parents to find out, though, sure that they’d tell you to break up with him for fear of violent tendencies. Thankfully, that day never came. 

It was nice out there, bundled up in a warm brown coat, laying on Arvin’s chest, and watching the leaves fly across the crisp sky in the breeze. 

“We should probably get headin’ back.” You said reluctantly, pushing yourself up to sitting. 

“Why’s that?” Arvin perched on his elbow to watch you tighten the jacket around your frame, a cool breeze hitting just right. 

“The new preacher asked me to come by this afternoon. Said he needed help planning a fundraiser to raise money for the less fortunate families in town.” You traced a finger over his knuckles gingerly, small pink marks littering his knuckles from his attack on Dinwoodie and his boys still healing over. 

“Ain’t you one o’ them less fortunate families in town?” He asked, trying to find a way to talk you out of this. Ever since Preston Teagarden had humiliated Emma on his first day, Arvin had it out for the man. 

You scoffed with a chuckle, “Yeah, but you are too and your grandma is still always bringin’ stuff to church. Just cause I’m broke as shit doesn’t mean I can’t try to help other people who are broke as shit.”

Arvin stood up with you and helped you fold up the blanket, “I just don’t like that new preacher. Somethin’s off about ‘im.” 

“I agree that he was totally out of line callin’ your grandma out like that two weeks ago but I’d like to think that maybe I can talk to him about it.” The two of you began to walk back to Arvin’s car, grass swishing under your steps. 

Arvin’s face twisted, “I just don’t trust the man. He’s always up there on that damn stage actin’ all high ‘n mighty every Sunday like he ain’t done nothin’ wrong.” He reached forward and opened your door for you, closing it after you slid onto the seat. He walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. 

“He’s a sinner like the rest of us. It’s just about doing what you can to make yourself better.” You responded, looking over at Arvin sweetly. He gave you a skeptic look and sighed deeply as he turned his attention back to look towards the road. With one hand on the steering wheel, he slid his free hand over to hold yours gently. The rest of the drive was in comfortable silence, with the exception of the radio quietly playing in the background. 

Arvin loved you. He really really loved you. You generally had your wits about you, a heck of a lot more than most of the girls in Coal Creek, not allowing your religion to totally cloud your vision. You were a good girl, good enough to make his grandma happy and not cause too much trouble around town, always helping those in need, but not so pious that you made everyone else around you feel like a sinner. You were still fun, you still made mistakes. Arvin felt like you were something between ethereal and real, somehow elevating him as a person but also showing him just how good life could be. 

Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel like you were making a mistake with this preacher. Of course, with your caring nature, you would help him, especially knowing it was for the poor folks in town. But something about Teagarden just made Arvin’s skin crawl. He just couldn’t put his finger on it… 

The tires rolled to a crunching halt on the gravel outside of the church. The graveyard to the side looked dark and gloomy as always, the cloud of loss looming over almost everyone in this town in one way or another. The church, though, stood small and humble in the field, white paint chipping after years of weathering. 

“Thank you for the ride.” You leaned over and pecked Arvin on the cheek. 

He let out a heavy sigh, “You really sure you don’t just want me to take you home?” 

You rolled your eyes at him with a sweet smile on your face, “Yes, I’m sure. It’ll be fine, Arv, but thank you for the concern.” Opening the door, you climbed out, “I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“What? No. I’m givin’ you a ride home.” Arvin looked offended that you even suggested such blasphemy. 

“I don’t want you to have to drive all the way back here for me and I don’t know how long this’ll take. Besides, I don’t live too far from here.” You shook your head, leaning against the open door.

Arvin raised his eyebrows, “What kind of man would I be if I let you walk home alone at night? I’m givin’ you a ride home ‘n that’s final. I have to run to the market anyways to get some stuff for my grandma so I’ll just do that ‘n come back here for ya.” 

With loving warmth welling up in your chest, you leaned into the car, holding onto the roof for balance, while you kissed him on the lips, “I’ll see you in a few then.” 

Pulling yourself back out of the car, you closed the door and waved before spinning to walk towards the church. Looking behind you, you gave Arvin one final wave before disappearing through the door. 

The church was empty, though you expected nothing less on a Saturday afternoon. The pews were empty so you wandered into the building curiously. You closed the door behind you as you walked further in. “Hello? Reverend?” 

Preston Teagarden approached from the door off to the side of the main stage, where his office had been located, “Y/N! Forgive me, I expected you to be a little bit later.” 

You stopped in your tracks, “Oh, I’m sorry! You didn’t say an exact time. Just afternoon…” You chuckled awkwardly, suddenly feeling bad for arriving early. 

“No, no, it’s no problem at all,” He waved his hand dismissively. Teagarden made his way down the aisle a few rows before stopping, “So from what I’ve heard, you are the one to talk to about fundraising” 

Flattered, your cheeks turned a light shade of pink, “Oh, well I don’t know about that… I’ve done a few fundraisers but I wouldn’t say I’m the one to go to.” 

“Nonsense, girl! I’m sure you’ll help plan something amazing. Now, why don’t you come over here and we can start talking about it.” He gestured towards the pew he was leaning on and waited for you to sit down before sliding in next to you. 

Your legs crossed when you sat down, “So, I was thinking about this for a few days and the high school has a harvest festival every November. If we set up a bake sale, we could easily raise a few hundred dollars, at least. Everybody loves Mrs. Lyle’s lemon bars and I’m sure those alone could rake in a small fortune.” You giggled a little at your small joke and the preacher did as well. 

As he did so, his arm slid behind your shoulder so smoothly, you almost didn’t notice at first. Almost. Though the action took you off guard, you chose to write it off. People had done this before to you platonically so this probably didn’t mean anything. Just a show of interest in what you had to say. 

“Mmm, you’re makin’ me crave some sweets,” Teagarden chuckled, looking over his shoulder and then back around the room. 

“Well I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed. Coal Creek ain’t got much but if we got one thing, it’s some mighty good bakers.” You dug around in your bag that you’d brought, searching for the journal that you’d been planning this event out on, “I actually did some math and I was thinking… we could charge a dime per cookie or a dollar a dozen, yeah? And then maybe a quarter for a slice of pie and then a dollar twenty five for-” 

The preacher stopped you, placing his hand on the notebook, “You really thought this out, huh? You sure are one smart girl there, Y/N. You go to the high school?”

The older man had scooched closer to you sometime during your ramblings and suddenly, you began to feel suffocated by his presence. His body was nearly flush against yours and his arm around your shoulders were trapping. 

He’s a preacher, he wouldn’t do nothin’, you tried to convince yourself but Arvin’s voice came ringing in your ears: I just don’t like that new preacher. Somethin’s off about ‘im. Trying not to be obvious, just in case you were misreading things, you slid away from him just slightly to put some distance between your bodies. As you did so, however, Teagarden’s hand closed around your left shoulder, rubbing it firmly but gently. 

Your eyes widened when you looked over at his grip and your heart began to pick up pace. “Yeah.” Your voice was shakier than you thought it would be. 

“What are ya? Junior, senior? You look young… but definitely not a little girl.” His eyes raked tactically over your body. Your legs were shaped out well in your cuffed denim jeans and your white and pink striped boat neck long sleeve shirt was far from revealing but Preston was well aware of the way the stripes curved out of place over your breasts. 

“Senior. I’ll be graduating this June.” Now your voice was solid and low, just teetering on threatening. 

The preacher smiled, “Ah, ain’t that exciting. Such a smart pretty little thing going out into the real world. It’s good to see a nice Christian girl going out there but y’know, the real world is real bad. Believe you me. You gotta be real careful out there. Temptation and sin ‘round every corner. The devil hides himself, y’know? Wraps up all his evil and disguises it as everythin’ you ever wanted.” 

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing.” You stated quietly but firmly, looking up to lock eyes with him. Arvin was right. Something was certainly off about this man and you were becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. 

Preston smiled proudly, “That’s right. Now, you gotta make sure you ain’t fallin’ into any o’ his traps.” 

Your jaw clenched and your eyes darted around the room before landing in your lap, “I’d like to think I got a good ‘nough head on my shoulders to see Satan working in disguise.” 

He tsked, “That’s a good start but you can’t go relyin’ on your own knowledge of the world. You need to let God tell you what’s right ‘n wrong. Trust in Him.” His hand on your shoulder shook you slightly for emphasis while his other pointed upwards towards Heaven. 

There was a brief moment of silence in which you could have heard a pin drop before he spoke again, “How is your walk with God?” 

You looked over at him with narrowed eyes, “It’s alright. Could be better but everyone’s could, I s’pose.” 

“I agree,” Preston’s leg started bouncing and he looked towards the front of the church, where he typically stood preaching, “E’ryone could walk a little closer. Myself included.” He gestured to the front of the church, “Why don’t we pray? C’mon over here.” 

He stood up and walked up to the head of the room, just below the cross. Cautiously, you followed him. “I like to think as a man of God, I can do some of His work. Or rather put the good word out there and try to save as many souls as possible. Why don’t you get on your knees? Lemme pray for ya.” 

A shiver ran through your spine as you knelt down on shaky knees, eyes going up to the large black cross that hung on the wall. Please, Lord, get me out of this. You prayed silently. 

Preston stood behind you, his hands coming to your shoulders as he began, “Lord, today we pray for Y/N and her excursions into the world as a young woman. Help her see through the devil’s delusions and guide her through this world. Lord, I pray that you see Y/N in everything that she is as she dedicates her whole self to you. Give her strength, amen.” 

“Amen.” When your eyes slid open, your whole body was shaking. 

“So you say you got some good judgement?” Preston asked as you stood up, “Say you walk in the light?” 

“I try to but we all have our slip ups.” You answered humbly and honestly, avoiding his eye contact. 

Preston hummed, “I seen you with that Russell boy. Y’all going steady?” Silently, you nodded in response. “There’s a lot of temptation in relationships like that.” 

It was clear what he was insinuating and it actually made you mad. What right did he have to be poking around in your romantic and sexual life? “Has he ever touched you?” 

The bluntness of his question hit you like a rock, “With all do respect, Reverend, that ain’t really none of your business.” 

He put his hands up in surrender, “I don’t mean to pry. I’m just concerned ‘bout that boy dragging you down into temptation. Sullying your position with the good Lord, ‘n all.” 

“Arvin is a perfectly respectful man. He ain’t draggin’ nothin’ or nobody down.” Your voice was getting more aggressive. 

“So he hasn’t touched you? He hasn’t seen you…” 

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Like I said, that ain’t none of your business. Thank you for your concern for my soul but what Arvin and I do is between us and the Lord. I don’t need no middle man reverend to redeem me.” 

He shrugged, “But you know, one of the best ways to get right with the Lord is to surrender yourself. Fully.” He took a few steps towards you and your breathing hitched. There was a sexual tension in the air that made your skin crawl. 

“I’ve already given my life to the Lord.” 

You weren’t giving in quite as easily as Preston had expected. Those other girls, Lenora and Jeanette Reaster, had been easily manipulated into giving Preston what he wanted. Just tell them they were unclean and needed to get right with the Lord and right into his trap they fell but you… you were different. Smart in the worldy kind of way. You were the first girl to give him a hard time but Preston would be lying if he said he didn’t like the chase. 

You were staring daggers at him, your jaw clenched, and your body standing tall and strong. It was almost as if you were trying to prove a point. You could have run, could have darted out screaming about what had happened, but you didn’t. There was no proof and Preston knew it. This was how he got away with it all. No proof, all words and small touches that were just innocent enough to be misread. It wasn’t until he got them in the backseat of his car or in the office in the back of the church that he actually touched them but by then, it was consensual. Sure, for Lenora and Jeanette there was the issue that they were minors but that was the fun of these little towns like Coal Creek, The girl always took the fall. It was always her fault. Preston could get off scotch free and he knew it. He loved it. 

Almost like something out of a movie, he reached down and gently settled one hand on your hip and the other on your cheek, pressing his lips against yours without giving you a chance to object. You yelled indignantly against lips but when he pulled away, the hand on your cheek moved to cover your mouth. Preston leaned in close to your ear and whispered, “I am an extension of the Lord’s work. Surrender yourself to me fully to surrender yourself to Him.” 

** 

Arvin watched as you walked into the church with a distrusting pang in his gut. There was just something about that reverend that didn’t sit right. It killed him to watch you leave, knowing that you were alone in there with him.

But he also knew you were a big girl. The logical part of his brain kept screaming at him that he was being irrational. The reverend was probably an okay enough guy. He’d never be number one or even number twenty on Arvin’s list of favorite people but that didn’t necessarily mean that the preacher would kill your something. Besides, Arvin really did need to run to the market. Lenora had requested some pecans for a pie she wanted to bake and his grandma  needed more milk. It would be a quick trip as town was just a short drive down the street. 

Reluctantly, Arvin backed out the driveway and sped off down the street. 

The entire time that Arvin was at the market, there was an unsettling tingle all around his body. It got harder to ignore as more time passed. The longer he left you with Teagarden, the worse he felt. 

“Just these.” Arvin threw a bag of pecans and a gallon of milk on the counter and paid for it quickly, rushing back to his car. He wouldn’t be having these feelings for no reason. Best case scenario, you were absolutely fine and Arvin was just being paranoid. Worst case scenario… Arvin couldn’t think about it because every time he thought of one, another worse one popped into his brain. 

It had only been about twenty minutes since Arvin left you alone with the preacher. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how long planning a fundraiser would take. Church activities had never been his thing but he supported you as long as it made you happy. 

He sat in the car in the church parking lot, lighting up a cigarette to calm his nerves. Arvin’s leg bounced anxiously as he watched yet another late autumn storm roll in. The clouds cast a dark gloominess, turning the minimal light left from the mostly set sun a shade of grey.. There Arvin sat for another five minutes, awaiting your exit from the building but it never came. 

Fuck it. Arvin twisted his hat on straight and threw the door open, nearly stomping out. He couldn’t put his finger on it but something was wrong. He could feel it. 

Sure enough, when he threw the door open, he was horrified. Preston Teagarden had you locked in a tight embrace, his hands running over your breasts. The two of you were standing in the middle of the aisle, right in the center of church. You had a furious look on your face, “I swear to God you touch me like that again and I’ll cut your damn dick off!” You gripped desperately at his hand that was groping you, trying to pry it away but to no avail. 

The sound of the door swinging open was enough to draw both yours and Teagarden’s attention. “Get your fuckin’ hands off her!” Arvin wasted no time running into the conflict. Teagarden dropped you and your knees buckled from the unexpected action, landing you on the ground. 

He put his hands up in surrender, “Hey, now, let’s talk about this like real men.” 

Arvin threw one solid swing to his chin, sending his head flying sideways, “You ain’t no real man. Real men don’t gotta go around gropin’ girls to get off, you sick fuck!” Another punch landed on his opposite cheek and it sent Teagarden to the ground. 

You scurried away from him and stood up just ahead of Arvin. Preston cowered, hiding his face, “Please, please, have mercy.” His pleading eyes went from Arvin to you and he lingered on your gaze, knowing that he had a better chance with the mercy approach with you. 

He found none. Even with his blood smeared face, his teeth stained crimson, and the way his body shook, you just scowled down at him, “I’m gonna tell e’ryone in this town what a disgustin’ man you are. You think you can get away with this, you’re dead wrong.” You sent a swift kick straight to his stomach, making him curl into the fetal position with a loud groan of pain. 

But then he laughed. He actually laughed. 

“What’s so damn funny?” You and Arvin both spat in unison, blood boiling. 

Preston laid his head back and closed his eyes, an almost serene look of confidence contrasting the blood that covered him and the swelling of his lip, “Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to me. You came to visit the church after hours under the guise of helping me with a fundraiser. But then you used your womanly charms to try and seduce me, a married man of God.” 

“That ain’t what happened!” Arvin yelled angrily, fists clenched by his side. 

When the words left the preacher’s mouth though, your heart dropped. You knew the truth, Arvin knew the truth, the reverend knew the truth. But none of that mattered if the Reverend told everyone his concocted story because he was a man of God. Why would he lie? 

A sadistic smile spread across his face, “It is if I say it is. Ain’t nobody gonna believe two teenagers over a preacher.” 

“He’s right.” Your voice faltered as you spoke, nearly coming out as a shattered whisper. When Arvin looked over at you, your face had paled and you looked utterly broken. 

It wasn’t so much that the assault itself was enough to break you, though, of course, it had definitely left you with the lingering ghosts of his filthy hands on your body. It was the fact that you knew he’d get away with it, that no matter what you or Arvin said, the town would believe Teagarden. 

Arvin swallowed hard, trying to see through the blinding rage. As a boy, he never truly understood the bias that women faced when they were victims of sexual assault- how it was perceived as their faults in towns like this. It had never happened to anyone he knew so he never had much reason to think about it. Now, you were forced to live with knowing that you assailant was going to keep his position as a fucking preacher in town and that you couldn’t do anything about it. 

Arvin wouldn’t let it stand. 

He stomped forward yet again and knelt over Teagarden, sending blow after blow into his face. Bone crunched bone with a disgusting crack with every hit and you flinched every time. 

Your eyes were wide with terror. Arvin’s violent past with Gene Dinwoodie and his boys was not unknown to you. You were the first person he’d gone to after the attack, in fact, and you’d actually supported him for the most part, only wishing that maybe he didn’t send them all to the hospital and only roughed them up a bit. Actually watching him beat someone to the brink of death though was something else entirely. 

“Stop!” The word left your mouth before you even knew you’d thought it. 

Arvin stopped and looked over his shoulder at you in surprise. He was doing this for you after all. 

“Don’t kill ‘im. Please.” You begged, your voice heavy.

“What?” Arvin wasn’t actually sure what he’d intended on doing to the preacher. Sure, he wanted to kill him. That horrified, angry look in your eye as he touched you made a fire burn in him so bright, he didn’t know if it could be put out. But Arvin had never wanted to be a killer. He only wanted to prove a point and make sure that the message stuck. Now that he thought about it, though, he would have to finish the job or the preacher would tell him he’d attacked him. 

Your eyes were almost brimming with tears, though none fell. This whole evening had been too much. First the assault and now watching the love of your life throw his good conscience away for you. You wanted the preacher to pay as much as he did but this just didn’t feel right. 

“P-please… I don’t want you takin’ the fall for none o’ this. He don’t deserve to die but I think a good beatin’ will give him some time to reevaluate ‘imself.” You’d walked towards Arvin and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. 

Arvin couldn’t fathom why you’d be protecting this monster. The question was clear all over his face. Why? 

“I’m not asking you to stop for him. I’m asking you to stop for you. I don’t want you to have blood on your hands for me. Not for this.” His heart broke seeing you look the way you did, your eyes shining with tears, and your hand a little shaky. The last thing he wanted was to hurt you more. 

Arvin grabbed the preacher off the ground by the collar and pulled him up almost a foot, leaning down to get in his disfigured face, “If I ever hear that you went near Y/N or any other girl again, I will find you and kill you. If you so much as look at her again, I will kill you. And if you tell anyone what happened here tonight, I will fucking kill you. You understand? Consider it that mercy you kept beggin’ for.” 

He dropped the preacher gracelessly with a thud and wrapped an arm comfortingly around you. For a moment, he was scared that you’d flinch away. You’d never seen him when he let his anger get the best of him and he preferred to keep it that way. He didn’t want you to think that he was a violent man because he really wasn’t. Arvin just cared for a special few so much that he’d do anything for them. He’d never hurt someone he loved though and needed you to know that. 

Thankfully, you leaned into his touch, resting your head on his shoulder as he walked you back to his car, leaving the preacher an unconscious mess in the middle of the church. When you exited the building, night had fallen upon Coal Creek, casting a fitting darkness over the town. 

“Thank you.” You said simply and quietly, looking over at Arvin sincerely on the drive home. 

“For what?” 

“For everything. Just bein’ who you are.” You paused with a heavy sigh, “But promise me something?” 

Arvin looked over at you, taking his eyes off the road for just a second to show you he was listening. 

“Promise me you won’t go gettin’ yourself in trouble for me.” 

He shook his head, “He deserved-” 

“I know what he deserved,” You interrupted, “And I am so grateful that you stepped in to help. But I don’t want you gettin’ yourself thrown in jail or killed for me.” 

There was short silence before Arvin looked over with the most sincere look you think he’d ever given you, “I can’t promise that. ‘M sorry, Y/N, but if I ever see you in danger, I’m gonna do what I need to do.” 

It wasn’t the response you’d been hoping for but this boy had the ability to make you feel more loved than anyone else you knew. You only wished he understood that you only wanted what was best for him, just like he did for you. “I love you, Arvin.” You admitted, sliding across the seat to lay your head against his shoulder while he drove. 

“I love you too.” 

[ribs-leftonrepeat]

Ok, so for the last few days I had read wonderful Au’s about Eddie and Chrissy being in a Dungeon and Dragons world. So I wonder, why don’t give it a try? And sooooo, here are my headcanons, please, be aware that english is NOT my first language so there’s gonna be a lot of grammatical mistakes and I’m going to repeat the same word like 20 times :

TW: ed mencions, bullying, Chrissy's mother being a b***

The Kingdom of Hawkins is ruled by the Cunninghams, integrated by King Phillip, Queen Laura and the “princess of the people” Christina, heir to the throne.

Christina, or Chrissy which she prefers (but only her closed ones called her that nickname) is loved by everyone in town. Whereas her parents are more concerned about the kingdom riches, Chrissy spent more of her time walking across the streets of her realm, seeking that her people are getting enough food, that they feel secure and also that they get the feeling that they are getting seen.

That is why all the people in Hawkins couldn't wait until she was declared Queen.

Since she was a little girl, she always enjoyed watching the shows that took place in the streets.

But she always wore a cloak because she didn’t want to draw people's attention. And she also was accompanied by his loyal guardian and keeper, the mighty knight Sir James Hopper.

One day, when she was 8 years old, while Hopper was very entertained talking to Miss Joyce Byers, the principal teacher of the town, princess Chrissy heard a beautiful sound. She followed the melody and, surrounded by a considerable amount of people, she saw a young boy, buzz cut, doe brown eyes, enchanting smile, playing a guitar (let’s imagine that is a guitar from the middle ages) and singing.

In one moment, his eyes fell on her face and for the rest of the song he couldn’t move his stare to anyone else.

When he finishes, all the people put coins in a hat that was on the floor. As the people began to spread away, princess Chrissy walked towards the boy, but suddenly, a bunch of kids appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the hat full of money.

“Well, well, well. You made quite the money Munson. Who would know that some shitty song would get you this?”

All of a sudden, one of the boys grabbed Munson’s guitar and crashed on the floor. The delicate piece of wood broke in a thousand pieces. Another boy pushed the poor singing boy into the ground and all of the gang of misfits started kicking him.

Chrissy had enough, so she raised her voice. The gang of boys turned their faces towards her, they approached her but they stood immediately when they saw the imposing figure of Sir Hopper, guarding the tiny but mighty figure of princess Chrissy.

The boys ran quickly. Chrissy then approached the singing boy and began to help him.

He introduces himself. His name is Eddie Munson, the nephew of one of the building workers. Eddie saw that the boys stole all his money so that makes him angry and sad. His uncle didn’t gain much because he has a back problem so he can’t make a lot of repairs on the houses of the realm.

Chrissy, seeing that all of his earned money was stolen, takes out her hairlock, a beautiful blue stone. She gives it to Eddie and tells him that with the money, he buys another guitar and gets medicine or treatment for his uncle.

Hopper is watching this exchange (with a tiny smile) and tells Eddie that he would make sure that those boys would never bother him again

Eddie (which we already know is enamored by this beautiful girl) asks her what her name is.

But before she can answer, another guard of the palace appears.

“Sir Hopper, I’m sorry, but we need to take princess Christina to the castle. The king says there are important visitors that came to pay their respects to the kingdom”

Eddie’s eyes get really wide. He was talking to their princess.

Chrissy, with an ashamed look, turned to Eddie. Then, with a tiny smile, she whisper closed to his ear

“You can call me Chrissy”.

The years would pass but Eddie never forgot those stoning blue eyes that captivated him the first time he saw them.

He sold the heirlock, but he gained enough money with his performances so he rebought it. Every Night, before bed, he takes his time to look at it and remember the first and only time that he talked to the princess’s people. He slept with a smile on his face after that.

Maaaany (ok, no so many, but, you know, dramatic) years later.

Princess Christina growed to be a lovely, beautiful young woman. She remain kind, nice, empathic and caring for her kingdom.

Her education was hosted by Master Murray. He was an expert of old and new languages and the history of the world.

Her mother was opposed to that, but her father decided to keep it.

“She always would have interesting conversations with her husband, he would never get bored and leave her.”

And yes, her mother would always criticize Chrissy. Her posture, her decisions, how connected she is with the people in town.

But mostly, her body. Her mother would make nasty comments about her daughter's weight and tell her that nobody would ever love her if she didn’t lose a few pounds.

Because of this, Chrissy’s demeanor starts to fall. The smiles that she always gave to the people became less huge and the light in her eyes started to fade.

And then, there’s Jason. Heir of the House Manson, one of the most powerful houses in the whole kingdom. That’s why he would marry princess Christina because the kingdom would get more profits.

Jason only sees princess Chrissy as a trophy, something shiny that would get him more attention and respect.

So yes, Chrissy’s life doesn't seem so bright at all.

And then, Vecna happens.

Henry Creel was a wizard. When the king Phillip (Chrissy’s father) was a prince. Henry was part of the light side. With his powers he helped the less fortunate and cured the sick.

But suddenly, his thirst for power began. He wanted to get more powerful, to become mighty and unstoppable. He wanted control.

The new king Phillip, scared by this behavior, tried to speak with Creel (they were great friends before) but Henry wouldn’t listen, he already was experimenting with the dark magic.

So, with all the pain in his heart, king Phillip decided to arrest him.

Henry was powerful, he took a lot of brave warriors lifes and for every dark magic that he used, his body would start rotting. It was at that moment that he decided to go by the name of Vecna.

And then, a mysterious magician appeared and sent Vecna to another dimension, banishing him from this world.

But he wouldn’t leave without a warning.

“I would make you suffer, Phillip. I’ll be back, stronger and ruthless. I will sink this kingdom in darkness and I will take everything you love from you.”

The mysterious magician that defeated Vecna disappeared without a trace, people said that they shared their knowledge with an apprentice but that was never confirmed.

Present time

Close to the princess's 18th birthday. Vecna comes back.

He started to give a few people of the realm nightmares, and a few days later he killed them.

His modus operandi is like the show.

People in the realm began to feel scared and demand help from the king.

Master Murray deciphers how Vecna kills his victims but he doesn’t know how to stop him.

And then, princess Chrissy starts to have nightmares and hears a grandfather clock.

Not wanting to worry her parents or the townspeople, Chrissy tells Murray her symptoms. He decides to seek for help in his books,and then, because the princess is getting out of time, he comes up with a plan.

He will give Chrissy a potion that will make her sleep indefinitely. Of course, this potion comes with a cure, but she will be awakened when Vecna was defeated.

Murray goes to our dearest Eddie Munson, who apart from being an entertainment he is also a botanist and great with potions.

When Eddie knows that Chrissy is cursed he promises that he would do anything in his power to save her…and we see that because he realized that he doesn’t have the ingredients to make the cure for the potion.

And here began the quest (Alexa, played the soundtrack from Lord of The Rings please)

Ok, so Master Murray tells Sir Hopper the situation and with other people (yep, The Party) decides to divide the group in two:

One part of the group will go the south to collect the ingredients for the cure to wake Chrissy, and the other part would go to the North to search for the apprentice of the magician that defeat Vecna (and yes people, that’s our precious El/Jane)

The people that would go South is Eddie, because he knows the ingredients, Jonathan, friend of Eddie who is also good with potions and idioms. Nancy Wheeler, Chrissy’s company lady who somehow realized that her best friend is cursed and decides to do anything to help her (and she isn’t some damsel in distress people, that girl CAN use a sword).

We also have the squire Lucas Sinclair and one of the best archers in the kingdom: Max Mayfield. They are in charge of the security of this group.

And now, the group that would go North are the knights Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley (ok, in this world, women can be part of the king's army, we don’t have misogyny here), courageous warriors but also, dingus. The squires Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson, the latter being a smarty-ass but with a golden heart and finally Will Byers which is also good with potions and idioms (because the path to find and defeat Vecna is full of riddles and codes). And later on, we discover that Will has magic, something that he also doesn’t know yet.

And Sir Hopper decides to stay in Hawkins (reluctantly) to defend it if Vecna decides to attack with his army. Murray stays also, he would take care and guard the security of the princess.

Oh! and before Chrissy drinks the poison, we have a cute and magical meeting with Eddie and Chrissy. He makes her remember their meeting and gives her the heirlock. She grabs it, but then decides to give it back to him.

“You can return it to me when you wake me up. I hope that this would keep you safe” “I promise princess that I would do anything to see your magic gaze again”

And then, the adventure begins.

Ok, so after writing this… I don't know what this is. I just needed to share it with the world because I’m in love with fantasy stories and ugh, imagine Eddie conquering his fears for his love for Chrissy and the badass battles that both groups would face (because Vecna knows of the plan to seek the cure’s ingredients and he sends his minions to stop that group). AND the final battle, the army of Hawkins ready to fight for their kingdom.

I hope that with this you can imagine better ways to carry one this story and SORRY for the lack of love between Eddie and Chrissy… oh god, I’m such terrible to describe love:(((

[golden-barnes]

Meddlesome

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Warning: Like one curse word.

Category: Fluff

Description: Luke and Penelope are nosy as fuck and they find something about Spencer.

Word count: 1k 

A/N: I kinda want to make a second part.

“Newbie! Something is happening to our dear professor.” Penelope stated while pulling Luke into her cave. Luke automatically knew what she was talking about. 

At first, they just thought Spencer was trying out new things. Like actually going out to eat lunch instead of eating a bunch of sugar and drowning in coffee during their lunch break. Almost every day, by the way. At lunch time, Spencer would be nowhere to be found and he would always come back before his lunch time was over. Which made Garcia happy because she knows that the mighty professor doesn’t eat healthy, at all. But it made her worry because where the fuck was he going? Last time he didn’t tell them where he was going, he ended up in jail, so Garcia’s worry is completely valid.

Meanwhile, Luke Alvez was worried but he wasn’t Penelope. He knew Spencer wouldn’t do anything that would hurt him. Reid was a smart man, and had learned from his mistakes. That being said, he was curious. In their last case, they shared a room and he heard Spencer talking to someone on the phone. In a very hushed tone but it didn’t seem like he was mad. More like he was trying his best for Luke not to hear him. And during the entire trip, he kept looking at his phone and texting. Doctor Spencer Walter Reid and texting do not mix. But Luke decided to ignore it.

“What happened?” Luke said while Penelope sat down.

“A phone. He bought a phone!” Penelope said, flailing her arms around.

“Okay.. And?” Luke was confused. Why was this information so shocking to her?

“He bought an Iphone. Professor I-hate-technology-and-I-rather-live-in-the-1940s, got the newest Iphone. I can’t stress this enough. Something is going on and I need your help.” Garcia said in one breath. Luke looked at her with widened eyes.

“Okay. Okay. What are we going to do?” Penelope looked at him sheepishly

“I may or may have not tracked his phone. And before you protest! I decided not to look at his messages but there was this one phone number that kept showing up. Like several text messages, video chats and phone calls. But, I decided not to look into them or track that phone number.”

“He is gonna be annoyed that you looked into his phone.” Luke pointed out but Garcia waved him off.

“He won’t. He knows this comes from a good place.”

“Sure, Garcia. Sure”

“Oh hush newbie!”

Luke knew he shouldn’t have listened to Garcia. The minute he parked his car, Luke felt like he was invading Spencer’s privacy.  Garcia had tracked Spencer’s phone to a small café that they have never seen before. It was close to Quantico but not on their route to the office. Nor Spencer’s route. How did he find this? How did he get here? Spencer doesn’t drive and this isn’t exactly walking distance.

“Oh! Oh! Look!” Penelope slapped Luke’s arm and he winced. And Luke turned his attention towards where Garcia was pointing. It was Spencer. He was sitting at one of the tables with a book in hand. He looked normal, nothing that would alert Luke.

A woman walks in to the café and walks towards where Spencer was sitting. He looked up from his book and smiled at her. She leans in before sitting down and …

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Did they just kiss? Did you just see that? Because I saw that.” 

“Yes, I saw it too Garcia.” Luke rolled his eyes at her excitement while masking his own. He felt happy for the kid. He has had a couple of rough years and he looks genuinely happy. Spencer hasn’t stopped looking at her since she walked in. His smile hasn’t left his face. Even his body language was relaxed. He just looked comfortable. 

“What’s the plan?” Penelope asked.

“What’s the plan? You are the one who dragged me here. And you didn’t have a plan?” 

Luke joked.

“I thought we had to save him from, I don’t know, the mafia or something. I didn’t know that our boy wonder had his own girl wonder.”

“Well, it was sorta obvious.”

“Excuse me newbie. I am not a profiler, I am just a techie.”

“But you work with profilers, and you sorta do some profiling so how didn't notice this is beyond me.”

“You know what Alvez? I am never telling you anything. I knew I should have brought Emily.”

“She would have said the same thing I said.”

“Absolutely not. She is an angel. You are just a pain in the ass. Why did I think it was a good idea to bring you into this?”

“Because nobody else would indulge you and your adventures.” Luke rebutted before being startled by a voice.

“Garcia? Luke?” Asked Spencer while holding hands with the mysterious woman. Luke and Penelope hadn’t realized that the happy couple had left the café and Spencer noticed his friends in the car. Now they were caught red handed. 

Luke rolled his window down while Penelope gave the couple a smile. She might be regretting tracking Spencer’s phone.

The mystery woman smiled at the nosy friends. She looked amused at the situation while Spencer looked like he wanted the ground to open up under his feet.

“Hey mighty professor……” Garcia started to say.

“What are you both doing here? Did you track my phone?!”

“In my defense, you bought an Iphone….” Garcia said. The mysterious woman chuckled at her statement. 

“Well, better late than never. I guess.” The woman stated. Spencer sighed and rubbed his eyes. The woman gave him a soft smile and rubbed his arm to calm him down.

“Garcia. Luke. Meet Y/N, my girlfriend.” Garcia squealed so hard that Luke had to cover his ears.

“Hello beautiful. It is soooo nice to meet you.” Y/N laughed at her excitement. She was just like Spencer described her. 

“Nice meeting you too.” Y/N said to her. Suddenly, Y/N’s phone started to ring. She took it out of her purse.

“It's the department's secretary. I have to take this.” She said letting go of Spencer’s hand and walking to a less crowded place to answer the phone.

“She seems nice.” Luke pointed out to Spencer who was looking into the direction of where his girlfriend had gone.

“She is.” Spencer stated.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 32

Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope that you enjoy this treat. Sorry this took so long to write out. This one took a few rewrites to get it where I wanted it to be.

Plus, Real life stuff got in the way So hopefully this will be a nice little treat for you all.

(Master Post)

__________________________________________________________________

Marinette watched in horror as she watched her best friend struggle on the floor.

She dashed to her side, and tried to help Alya get that weird mask off her face.

“By all means go right ahead. Its already too late.” Masquerade laughed as she watched Marinette struggle. “Soon enough she will be helping me take you down.”

The designer pushed the words of the psychotic akuma out of her mind. She refused to let her friend get turned into a mindless drone like before.

“It wont come off!” Marinette grunted as she tried so hard to remove it.

Masquerade watched her bracelet, waiting for a change to occur.

Alya’s muffled screams and frantic movements stopped.

“Alya?”

Marinette jumped up as she watched her friend transform, her casual clothes transformed into a familiar black and white costume. The Wi-Fi symbol on her chest. Lady Wifi has returned.

Masquerade’s bracelet gained a new charm, one looking reminiscent of a cell phone.

“And now she is my friend.” The villain stated as she watched Marinette start stepping away from the enslaved akuma.

“Alya… you need to fight it. You can’t let her control you.”

“Sorry Marinette, but Alya is unable to answer.” Masquerade mocked. “But I can take a message for you.”

Lady wifi stood silent, like an inactive robot, awaiting orders from its master. The inner machinations of the mind are not shown with the emotionless white mask covering her face.

Marinette turned her eyes toward the mask themed akuma, anger burning in her pupils.

“Let her go Lila. Let them all go before things get serious. Your plan will fail, Ladybug and Chat noir will arrive and beat the akuma out of you. Then you will have to answer for this too.”

Masquerade’s smile faded when she saw the fierce look. Marinette was not a sniveling mess, she actually looked even more defiant then before!

“Acting all high and mighty. I think I will enjoy turning you into my helpless puppet next.”

Masquerade lifted her hand towards Marinette, waiting to unmask her deepest secrets, and break her down.

“When I get a peek at what is hiding behind all of that fake courage, it will all come crashing down. Now let’s see your greatest secrets.”

Marinette looked around, trying to think of something. If Lila figured out her big secret, it was over. Ladybug would be exposed. She needed a way out, until she noticed something. Masquerade wasn’t doing anything.

“Huh?”

Marinette was perplexed by the akuma simply standing there.

“Ummm... are you going to do it now or...”

“Why can’t I see your secrets? My powers should allow me to see what you’re hiding and allow me to exploit it. It worked on everyone else I used it on, why not you?”

“Maybe I just don’t have any secrets to hide.” Marinette commented, watching with a bit of satisfaction as the akuma’s smug look shift.

Masquerade felt her frustration and anger boil at the comment. Something wasn’t adding up.

“Hawkmoth!” She cried out in rage.

A purple butterfly outline popped out.

“What is it?” The dark voice connected in her head.

“Why can’t I read Marinette’s secrets?” Masquerade angrily questioned.

“What?”

“Her secrets! I was able to zero in on everyone else I’ve used the ability on. Why does it not work on her!? Of all people I want this power to work on!”

Marinette felt both concerned and a bit flattered that she was the one Lila wanted to defeat the most. It was sort of mutual.

“Your power works on anyone I’ve akumatized, regardless of who it is.” The butterfly villain communicated. 

“So… your saying you didn’t akumatize her before? How is that possible?”

“I haven’t gotten to every single person in Paris.”

“You’ve akumatized that stupid pigeon man 26 times! How have you not gotten everyone!?”

“Paris is a big city, even if I akumatized someone every day, I doubt I would have hit 1/10th of the population. Besides, it takes strong negative emotions for me to send out an akuma. And that man seems to just be the easiest target for it. “ Hawkmoth defended himself. “Its not like I WANT to akumatize him every other day.”

“Unbelievable!”

“Just get the miraculous. That is your focus, the girl can wait for later.”

Masquerade’s butterfly outline dispelled as hawkmoth was finished with that conversation.

“Well that sucks. I guess I can just go back to plan A. Having you watch as I turn everyone against you... aren't here. What!”

Masquerade frantically looked around for the teen she had been antagonizing and found that she was no longer in the same spot. In fact, she was no longer in the office!

Marinette had decided to slip away from the akuma while she was having her little tantrum to the evil butterfly man.

“Why didn't you do something!” She shouted at Lady Wifi.

“You did not give me an order.” Lady Wifi answered robotically. 

Masquerade glared at the akuma servant. She would almost think it was rebelling against her.

“Even as a mindless servant you still find a way to ruin things.”

She looked around and noticed the other akuma in the room that was still on the floor.

“Dark Owl get up!”

The owl themed akuma got up from the floor. Removing parts of the broken pot from his costume.

Masquerade snapped her fingers. Catching the attention of Dark Owl and Lady Wifi. 

“Both of you, I want Marinette brought back to me right now! I want to make sure she stays quiet and sees everything we have set up. I don’t need her causing trouble.”

______________________________________________________________________

“…and that is everything.” A young woman said with a mixture of relief and excitement. She had finally finished setting everything up in the school infirmary. She had organized the files, restocked the bandages, changed the sheets on the resting cots, and put her personal decals on the desk. She was starting her first day as the school nurse, and things have been going up.

She put herself back out there and started dating Curtis, the sweet guy she met last week despite what would’ve normally been a deal breaking misunderstanding, she got into the med school program she wanted to get into and will be attending part time, and she managed to get a job at the school she went to when she went to Lycee.

She heard a ding from the front of the nurse’s office just as she was about to sit down.

“First student of the day. I better see what they need.”

She exited the small office area in the infirmary to see a blonde student who was clearly impatient

“What is taking so long!?” The teen shouted.

“Hello there. How can I help you?”

The blonde looked up a bit to see the nurses smile, she rolled her eyes.

“Who the hell are you? Isnt there supposed to be a different woman here?”

“If you are referring to the previous school nurse, she retired officially last week. I am the new school nurse. You can call me Nurse Angela.”

Angela never really liked using her last name, it made her sound old. So, she would be fine with the kids calling by her first name. It also helps with psychology, allowing more for a social dynamic based on mutual respect rather than authority.

“Whatever.”

Angela felt a twinge of frustration at the girl’s dismissal. But she kept her smile.

“And you are?”

The teen smirked.

“Chloé Bourgeous. And before you ask, yes, the daughter of the mayor.”

Angela felt a shiver go down her spine. She remembered from what the previous nurse told her. That Chloé was the mayor’s bratty daughter who would use her father’s influence to get anyone fired if she got angry enough.

‘That at least explains her rude attitude. She is a spoiled Brat.’

Angela was not going to let this bother her. She was going to take it in stride. She would be kind and courteous as she planned to be with any student at the Dupont.

“So, Chloé. What brings you here?”

Chloé walks in.

“My chair broke because someone sabotaged my chair. I ended up bruising my… anyway I need some ice, and anything to numb the pain.”

“My goodness! That sounds terrible. Who would do such a thing?”

“It was probably Marinette, that nasty little rat. Adding insult to injury now that she is dating Adrien.”

Nurse Angela moved to get some ice from the freezer for the bruised bottom of the Mayor’s daughter, listening to the girl vent. She was sure that whoever this Marinette girl was, probably didn’t do it. And if somehow, she did, it was likely because the annoying blonde deserved it. But that was not something Angela felt was worth mentioning. She kept that bit to herself.

“She is probably blackmailing my adrikins with something. There is no way he would be dating her without some sort of reason.”

“Is it possible that maybe he just likes her?” Angela inquired as she presented the bag of ice to Chloé.

Chloé looked at the nurse as if she had just told her that she had 3 eyes and a scorpion tail.

“Adrien liking Marinette?! That is ridiculous, Utterly ridiculous! There is no way that Adrien would…”

Chloé felt her mind flash through moments. Adrien and Marinette about to kiss for that movie, Adrien and Marinette dancing at her party? The photos she found of them running from fans, that kiss at the picnic during heroes’ day. Adrien taking Marinette to that interview instead of her… The stubborn blonde felt as if everything clicked into place.

“Chloé? Is everything okay?” The nurse called out, trying to get the spaced-out teen’s attention.

“He might actually LIKE her!”

Chloé felt her own skin crawl as she made her realization.

Angela didn’t know how to respond to this situation.

“I am going to straighten Adrien out right now! I am not going to let him make such a foolish mistake!”

The nurse could tell this could be bad if the mayor’s daughter was so heated, what if she got this innocent girl expelled? If she stood by and did nothing then her time at the school would be internally marked with the regret of not stopping such a potential disaster.

“Wait, Miss Bourgeois.”

Chloé stopped.

“What is it?”

“I… I just noticed that you’re limping. The injury might be more serious than you think. Let me have a look at it closer before you leave.”

The mayor’s daughter would simply have left without a second thought. But having a limp would make her walk much less dignified and lacking the power she needs to intimidate, but mainly that she would look lame with a limp.

“Alright, just make it quick.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“I don’t get why you felt the need to leave.” The cat kwami rolled his eyes. “If you want to be rebellious Adrien, we could leave the school and head to the movies. Though if we do, you should invite your girlfriend.”

“Plagg, this isn’t about rebellion or future date ideas. Something isn’t right with this whole situation. I just want to sneak a peek in the office, make sure Marinette and Alya get their story out, and then I am headed right back to class. No problem.” Adrien summarized as they kept walking.

Plagg noticed someone headed their way and went to hide in Adrien’s pocket.

Adrien took notice that it was his homeroom teacher. Perhaps he could ask her.

“Hey Ms.Bustier. Can I ask you a quick question?”

The red headed teacher walked past the teen without acknowledging his question. Her eyes focused on what was ahead.

“That’s weird… She would always stop to help a student.”

Adrien could feel that his favorite teacher may have been affected by something sinister.

“Ms.Bustier, can you hear me out for a second?” He asked as he touched her shoulder to try and get her attention.

The mirage of her appearance shifted from the homeroom teacher to the stylized patchwork costume of a familiar akuma enemy.

Adrien was surprised to see the true form of the imposter. The kiss zombie maker, Zombizou.

The akuma turned to show the face mask that hid her face. Her attention was now firmly on the boy, whether he wanted it or not.

Adrien backed away, nervously keeping his eyes on the teacher as he carefully backed up.

“You know, I think I will just ask someone else.”

Adrien took down the next hall running.

______________________________________________________________________

Masquerade reclined in her chair, her frustration was growing as she wondered what was taking those two minions she sent out to capture Marinette so long.

“They shouldn’t be having that much difficulty. She is just one person!”

She heard a ring, and knew her sentimonster was trying to contact her.

“What is it Simulare?”

“The illusion I had on Zombizou was broken. Someone is on to us, and the minion is in pursuit.”

Masquerade felt a headache forming. She didn’t have time for a wild goose chase. She needed to move on to phase two of her plan, making her army of akuma.

“Track down Marinette and this other  person that found out about Zombizou, keep them busy as long as possible. I am going to move on to phase two. Make sure no one is on to us.”

“Understood. I’ll get them back in the office and make sure neither of them escape.”

“Good”

Masquerade ended the call and felt her head ease a bit. The sentimonster she was given was obedient and competent. It was based on her mindset, so it would make sense that it would be capable of handling this problem.

“Now, let’s get that army.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Give me a break.” Marinette muttered to herself.

She thought she would have time to transform once she escaped the office, but the two akuma were right out of the office before she had time to make sure everything was clear.

In her rush she cut a corner down a hallway and ended up colliding with another person.

“Ouch.” They cry out in unison, both looking to realize who they bumped into. Their faces turned to relief.

“Marinette!” “Adrien!”

The two called out in unison.

“Why are you running?” “Why are you running?”

“An akuma!” “An akuma!”

“An akuma?” “An akuma?”

They both look behind the other to notice the incoming akumas approaching them.

“As cute as this is, we need to go.”

Adrien Grabs Marinette’s Hand and they both head to the open area and try to get to the main entrance.

‘I need to get Adrien somewhere safe, then I can go transform into Ladybug.’ Marinette thought to herself, unaware that Adrien was thinking the same thing.

They make quick movements down hallway, moving up and down staircases to confuse their pursuers. They managed to give them the slip as the controlled akuma seemed to not be able of basic reasoning and quick fake outs and movements.

The two make their way down to what appeared to be the front of the school.

“The entrance!” Marinette called out. “Okay, we split up at the entrance and try to get help. They can’t catch us both.”

The run to the entrance only for them to stop short, colliding with some invisible wall.

It was only after making contact did the front entrance of the school shift back into a wall. The layout of the entire school seemed to shift instantly. The school had been put under an illusion to trick them into thinking they were escaping.

“It’s an illusion. Which means Lila must be involved with that group of akumas.” Adrien exclaimed.

“More like she is the cause. She is the one controlling the akumatized mask wearers. She got the Principal and Alya.”

“Wait, does this mean that Lila’s power is to make akuma!?”

“From what I saw, she can only akumatize people that have been akumatized before using her face masks. You haven’t been akumatized right?” Marinette questioned.

“No, and since she didn't get you, you haven't either right?”

“Yea, though I have had a few close calls.”

“So, if Lila’s power is akumatizing people, what akuma made this illusion on the school?”

“That would be me.” A third voice calls out.

The two turned to look and see a familiar fox themed villain smiling confidently.

“Volpina!”

“Not exactly.”

The Volpina impersonator looked around to see if the other akumatized servents were going to arrive.

“Seems you both are quite clever when it comes to annoying Mistress Masquerade.”

“Masquerade?”

“That’s what Lila’s calling herself.”

“Oh... cause of the masks.”

The villain rolls her eyes, encapsulating the personality of the arrogant volpina that it was pretending to be.

“Masquerade realizes that you two are both quite difficult to snag with mindless servants, so she requested I handle this.”

“No, you won’t.” Marinette grabs Adrien’s Hand and tries to run away only for the Faux Fox to flip in front of them

“Yea, I am not letting you out of my sight. Now be good and come along peacefully.”

Adrien moves in front of Marinette.

“Go, I’ll hold her off.”

“But…”

“Go. I trust you.” Adrien smiles as he looks to her for a moment.

Marinette wanted to stay and fight with him, but she knew that she needed to go and transform. Ladybug will be needed before this blows up.

“I’ll get help.”

Marinette runs away from the two as fast as she can. Adrien making sure to block the way should their foe get any ideas.

“She won’t get far, she will get captured before she even gets a chance.”

Adrien shook his head.

“You would be surprised with how just how amazing Marinette is.”

Marinette rushed out of sight and into the closest bathroom, quickly making sure it was a safe place to transform.

“Coast is clear. Time for Ladybug to step in.”

“Let’s hope we can get to Adrien in time before things get worse.” Tikki commented.

“Don't worry, I trust he’ll be okay. Tikki! Spots on!”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Can you believe it Juleka?” The peppy perfume enthusiast squealed. “Marinette and Adrien are finally an item.”

“Yes, I was there rose.” Juleka commented with an eye roll and a smile.

“I know! I am just so happy for them both.” Rose calms herself a bit. “Though… how will your brother take it?”

The purple haired teen reflected on the comment.

“It will be an adjustment, but I am sure Lulu will be fine once he gets a couple songs out of it.”

“I’ll be sure to be supportive.”

Juleka patted Rose’s head, smiling sweetly at the blonde’s caring attitude. She decided now would be a good time to spring that surprise on her. She was planning on showing her during lunch, but since Ms.Bustier wasn’t in class. Now would be the perfect time to show Rose the earrings she got her.

She casually reached into her bag, sliding her hand into her lunch bag, trying to find the earring box, only to notice it not there. Her hand moved frantically searching.

“Is something wrong?” Rose inquired, a bit of concern on her face.

“No, nothing. Nothing is wrong, just…” Juleka dismissed as she kept searching only to know for certain that her gift was not in there.

“Are you sure?”

“I just need do something really quick.”

She quickly grabbed her phone and calmly while hoping that her brother would see her text.

In her quick movement, she failed to notice the door of the classroom opening.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Psst, Luka. Luka!” A dark-haired teen whispered, trying to get the attention of the teal-tipped hair guitarist that was hiding his sleeping face with an open science book.”

“Hmm?” The tired teen responded with his eyes still closed. He was barely awake. He had been up all night working on that new song that was stuck in his head. He could still hear it playing in his thoughts as he tried to shake himself awake.

“Your phone vibrated, seemed important.”

“Oh, thanks Theo.” He moved his hand to take a look at his phone.

The science teacher was rambling on about molecules or something, clearly unaware of how disinterested everyone in the class was with his boring lecture.

Luka looked through to see a few text messages from his sister.

‘Hey, can you check your lunch to see if there is a jewelry box in there? Rose’s gift is in there.’

‘If you find it, can you swing by around your free period to bring it to me?’

Luka quickly snuck his hand into his backpack and sure enough he felt the small box. He was about to text a response. But stopped when he read the last two texts.

‘Sh*t there is an akuma in the class!’

Luka’s eyes shot open, his sister was in danger. Which also meant his band was also in danger. He needed to get there.

He shot up from his chair. And started making his way to the door.

“Mr.Couffaine, where do you think you’re going?”

“Family emergency.”

The science teacher was about to tell the young boy to wait until his parent calls, but he remembered who is mother was and what she did the last time he held up her kid when Anarke wanted to pick him up early. The teacher proceeded to held back his response.

“Proceed. Just be sure to get the notes from today’s lesson.”

Luka was out the door before the teacher could finish.

______________________________________________________________________

A car speeds down the road, the driver cursing to herself as she tries to move faster.

‘Get in, get Adrien, and get out before everything hits the fan.’

Nathalie mentally repeated to herself. She knows that pushing herself too hard was also dangerous. She couldn't risk feeling weak right now.

The driver slammed the break as she arrived at the school. She needed to hurry. She parked the car and opened the door.

“Lets hope that this akuma hasn't gotten to Adrien yet.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Ms. Bustier’s class had diverted all their attention to the costumed individual in the front of the classroom. The eerie masks that adorned her costume seemed to unsettle everyone.

Juleka put her phone away and joined in on what everyone was staring at

Alix was the one to say what was on everyone’s mind.

“Who the f*** are you?”

The akuma smirked.

“Excellent, a volunteer.”

Raising her hand and pointing towards Alix, her charm bracelet began to glow.

“Interesting, seems that you have quite a soft spot for cute things.”

The class turned to look at Alix with confusion.

Alix kept her cool.

“And? Is there a point?” Alix rolled her eyes, ignoring the akuma’s attempt to get under her skin. It would take more than that to actually do anything to her.

“You pretend you have this ‘Devil may care’ attitude, that you are too cool to care about what people think, but really you are more obsessed with how people perceive you than anyone else in here.”

Alix felt her smirk falter for a second.

“You are really sensitive about your height and anytime someone brings it up you are in a bad mood for the rest of the day. But what really gets to you is your ‘Family’. You hate how your brother is a laughing stock because of his crackpot theories and your greatest fear is that no matter how much you try to be this punk rebel, you will always be cast as ‘The Conspiracy nut’s sister’.”

“Shut up! You don’t know my life!” Alix yelled.

“Not so fun getting exposed, is it?”

The class realized immediately who this mysterious akuma was.

Masquerade smiled as she flung a mask right at the pink haired teen. Causing her to fall down. And struggle to get the mask off, but before anyone could help her. It was too late.

The class could only watch in horror as their classmate transformed into their Akuma persona. Before standing up.

The class tried to make a break for it. They knew full well the dangers of this new akuma.

“Timebreaker, guard the door.”

The akuma skated to the door and everyone jumped back. They knew that touching Timebreaker was not a good idea.

“Lila, this isn’t cool. Let Alix go.” Nino called out.

The Mask akuma shook her head.

“Lila is not a thing anymore. She was unmasked and dismissed. But now I have a new mask, I’m Masquerade. Soon enough, you will all be unmasked and given a new mask that better suits you. Alya knows that very well.”

Nino’s his eyes flared at the statement.

“What did you do to my girl?”

Masquerade pointed her hand at him just as her charm bracelet glowed, now with a rollerblade charm added to it.

“The same thing I am about to do to all of you.”

______________________________________________________________________

Will the rest of the class fall victim to Masquerade’s evil plan? Will Ladybug be able to save Adrien from the Sentimonster? Will Nathalie get to Adrien before its too late? Will I ever update consistently?

Fine out all these questions and more in the next part.

Thank you all for reading the most recent addition to Soulmate Survey.

Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and if you really liked it. Reblog it. (Sharing is the only way my story actually gets out.) Plus, tagging has been kind of glitchy for me, so until that gets straightened out, I can't tag people for the story at the moment.