#whoops found another notepad

[cryscal]

More like what isn't in my pockets and bag.

im so curious abt what ppl carry around on the daily.....rb & tag what's in ur pockets/bag?

[taleeater]

Fragile

Heyooo I’m writing this to get over my writing block for my book. All angst and comfort here 🤗

Generation: Bayverse TMNT

Tmnt x Reader Fanfic

Pronouns: Gender Neutral (except ‘dudette’)

Warnings: fighting, blood, injury, panic attack, hyperventilating, not proof read

Summary: You are a runaway experiment from Stockman’s lab. An unexpected group of mutants come to your rescue. How did they know how to find you?

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

You were freezing and exhausted.

The city was quiet as the darkness ebbed closer to early morning hours. You had been running for hours now, somehow they always found your hiding spot. You whipped around a corner into another countless dark alley way.

A flinch and a small yelp of pain left you as your bare feet tread across broken glass. You risk a break and press your back into the cold brick of an apartment building as you take a moment to catch your breath. Daintily you lift your foot and pull out a sharp piece of broken glass, tossing away the piece and check the other foot.

Suddenly the screech of tires catches your attention and the adrenaline hits you again like a crashing wave. You’re running again before you can even think. You exit the alley and dart out into the street. A black van rounds the corner behind you and you sprint for the narrow opening between two apartment buildings. You practically slam into the concrete, bumping your shoulder and scraping your knee as you squeeze your tiny body past a build up of trash. The car pulls up by the opening and the door is thrown open as two men in black suits jump out and reach for you, but you scoot further down and make for the other side. They curse and order the driver to pull around the other side and cut you off as they try to fit through the opening behind you. But you’re faster. You stumble out onto the side walk and fall to your knees, panting hard, and scramble to your feet. The black van again comes into your peripheral vision but you’re already booking it down the street as fast as you can. They can’t catch you again, they just can’t. Not again.

The black van zooms past you and the tires squeal as they pull the car in front of you, blocking your path. You hear the footsteps of the other two men behind you and you quickly find an alley to your right, avoiding hands that reach for you.

In the icy chilled night air, you are sweating through the thin white smock. A dead end.

“No…. No no no no they can’t- ….” You frantically look around at the corners where brick and grey cement buildings meet, discarded trash piled up but nowhere to hide. You find a glass beer bottle and smash the bottom of it. The raggedy sound of your desperate gasps for breath fill the space, your back pressed hard into the slimy brick wall. Heartbeat pounding in your ears.

Polished leather shoes click as the group of men slowly approached you, spread out like they were ready to catch a frightened animal.

“Finally.” A man in a white lab coat stepped into the alley behind the men in suits. “You stay right there. Before we go back, we are going to have a nice long “talk” about your behavior….”

Several of the men reached to their belts for a wand that extended into a short metal rod with electricity sparking at the tips, and another man walked over to a pile of trash and pulled out the broken leg of a wooden table.

The man chuckled, watching your eyes widen with fear as you trembled in your defensive position. He pulled a notepad out of his jacket pocket and clicked a pen.

“I will be observing if this event triggers a desired response. You may begin.” The armed men all suddenly lunged forward.

“Finally.”

A large flash of green and red suddenly descended from above and landed right on top of the man closest to you, making you flinch with fright.

A whoop sounded from above and everyone stopped to look up as another large being flipped in the air and landed in front of you in a showy flourish of waving nunchucks.

“Step away from the babe!” The orange clad being said heroically, looking over his shoulder to throw you a wink.

Your eyes were wide as your whole body tensed, frozen in place. His face almost didn’t look…. human.

Like Bebop and Rocksteady.

Another thud brought your attention to a large blue clad being that landed next to the red one.

“Raph, I said to wait until I gave the order!” He whisper yelled. Making the red one, Raph, grunt and step off the man he was standing on.

“Seemed to me that Stockman already gave the order. You think I was just gonna sit by and watch?”

The men in suits had started surrounding the red and blue mutants, while the orange protectively stood in front of you spinning his nunchucks.

You lowered the broken bottle in your hands marginally, sensing that the new arrivals didn’t have intention to harm you. When suddenly a fourth one in a purple mask landed right next to you, making you jump with surprise, the bottle flying from your hand and shattering nearby.

“My data indicates that this is indeed the supposed experiment that escaped from the Foot Clan’s secret laboratory approximately 4 hours ago.” He spoke calmly while you tried to catch your breath, panic rising again in your throat as your back slid down the wall until you were sat on the ground.

“Yeah, we gathered that, brainiac.” Raph gruffly sassed.

“The chip we’ve been tracking is still active. Leo?” Said the supposed brainiac.

“Shut it down Donnie, we’ll take care of this.” Ordered Leo, as he turned and faced Stockman.

“Right.” Donnie knelt next to you and suddenly looked nervous. He gave you a very awkward smile before continuing.

“Sorry, I just need to see your arm for a minute. Can I touch you?” He asked calmly.

It was clear that you were trying very hard to suppress a panic attack. Adrenaline still pumped through your veins and you were scared half to death. But this mutant was the first being in over a year to ask your permission before doing anything to you. So you swallowed your fear and gave a trembling nod.

The purple mutant, Donnie, looked at you seriously for a moment before returning your nod. “Okay, I’m going to touch you now…” he said as he gently took your arm.

You still flinched on instinct, and took in a sharp inhale of breath, trying to steady your nerves.

Donnie muttered a quick apology. One of the men in suits was suddenly thrown into the wall near you, startling you almost out of your skin. Making you practically leap into Donnie’s arms.

“Hey, watch it Mikey!” He shouted to the orange banded mutant.

“Whoops, sorry dudette!” Mikey paused his fight to wave over at you apologetically.

You found yourself half in the embrace of Donnie, who looked down at you and giggled nervously. You instinctively flinched out of his embrace, but remained near. You didn’t want to get any closer to the unconscious man in the suit.

“Sorry… let’s try that again. Can I… touch your arm? I need to find the chip.” He gently took your arm after you gave a quick nod and he felt around your upper arm for a little bump. You squirmed a little when he found it.

“There! Okay. I’m really sorry but I need to take it out of you. This might sting a little-“ before you could process what he said you felt a sharp pinch in your arm. You panicked. Your head shot up and you started to hyperventilate. You tried to find something to focus on like you did in the lab, and watched as the orange, blue, and red mutants chased Stockman back to his van. The coward leaving behind his unconscious men and shouting at them that he wasn’t going to give up on finding you. The three mutants, you distantly observed from their backs, looked almost like turtles.

The pinching in your arm stopped, but your breathing wasn’t slowing down. You felt a three fingered hand on your shoulder begin to shake you, the other turtle mutants turning around and looking back at you with surprise as Stockman drove off. Your vision got hazy. The world seemed to slow down as you watched the three turtle men run towards you with expressions of worry on their faces. The fourth one was shouting something to them from beside you as he placed his hand over your diaphragm to steady you. His face came into your vision, expression serious as you tried to make out the words he was speaking. ‘Breath… just breath…’ you could make out from the shape of his lips.

That was the last thing you saw before darkness overtook you, and you passed out.

Part 2 :]

[yelenasdiary]

off topic i just had a thought of imagine yelena being a security guard/prison officer and reader is in jail for (something but they're the city's known inmate..) they get anonymous notes into their cell every night saying explicit things ;) and it turns out it's yelena cause she can't help herself..

no but the muscles and biceps yelena would have as a prison guard 😳

Dirty Little Notes

Pairing: Security Guard! Yelena x College Student! Reader 

Summary: After weeks of receiving anonymous notes slipped under your door, the secret admire is finally caught red handed.

Warnings: Smut, 18+ ONLY! Men & Minors DNI! Daddy Kink, Dumbification Kink, Edging (Reader Receiving), BDSM (Gun Play), Use of Strap On, Squirting, Legal Age Gap (R 22, Y 30), Oral (Reader Receiving), Virgin/Innocent Reader, Possessive/Semi-dark & Pervy Yelena, Mentions of Masturbation, Loss of Virginity, Language Warning | 3.1K

Translations: Detka (baby), милый (darling), printsessa (princess), кукла (doll), ты такая красивая (you’re so pretty), 

AC: Firstly, lets ignore my terrible edit & Secondly, Reader is maybe a little too innocent and I may or may not have gotten carried away….whoops!!

Finally, it was Friday and the only plans you had for the night were to be curled up in bed reading over your notes that you collected during the lectures you had during the day. Your best friend, Kate, teased you over your plans. Saying they were boring, and you needed to let the weekend be for relaxing, letting 'loose' and making memories. But you were more so on the organized side of things, you liked making Saturday and Sunday your days of relaxing and doing whatever you liked. 

"I probably won't be back tonight" Kate spoke as she packed a few belongings into her backpack. She was going to get another frat party and would probably crash at one of her archer friends' dorms. You didn't mind at all; you study better by yourself anyways. 

"Just be safe, please! Don't leave your drink unattended" you replied before taking a bite out of your oat bar. Kate groaned, "you sound like a mother, don't study too hard" She threw her bag over her shoulder and was out the door before you bothered to say another word, you just rolled your eyes and shook your head. 

Little did Kate know, you did have something planned other than studying. For weeks, every Friday night a note is slipped under your door addressed to you. You've never caught who has been doing it but the explicit words on the paper had an effect on you. At first you thought they were creepy and disgusting and you would throw them away instantly but soon they became more explicit and you couldn't help yourself knowing they were turning you on. 

It was when one of the notes mentioned your virginity that made you wonder who on earth the admirer was. Nobody knew that you were a virgin, not even Kate. You felt slightly embarrassed that you were still a virgin but you just never found somebody special enough to share that with. 

The notes on the other hand, you began saving, you had them hidden in a show box under your bed. Only a few times have you re-read over them while your free hand was slipped into your underwear rubbing light circles around your clit as you pictured the mysterious person doing exactly what was inked on the paper. It made you feel dirty but even more so turned on and tonight, you wanted to catch the person leaving you such notes for your eyes to feast on. You set a tiny camera just outside your room and watched any action from an app on your phone, as you waited, you would read over your study notes. 

A pair of black boots came to a stop at your door, the camera so and set up in the pot plant by your door, it was only able to get the legs and shoes of those passing by. Quickly and as quietly as you could, you threw your notepad to the side and almost pounced at your door. Opening it, you finally caught them in action on one knee read to slip another note under your door. 

"It's been you?" you spoke in surprise as the blonde looked up at you, "y-you're a s-security guard" you added. The woman rose to her feet and smirked, "I guess you caught me" Her eyes worked their way up your body. Of course, you had a few ideas on who you thought would've been leaving you the notes, but never did it cross your mind that it would be the college's Russian security guard. 

"Were you expecting somebody else, detka?" Yelena added, breaking your thoughts. 

Yelena was a new security guard at the college, having roughly been working here for 4-5 months. She always smiled softly at you whenever you locked eyes with her, sometimes you noticed she followed you and Kate from a far until you both got back to your dorm, you just assumed she was just making sure you both got back safely but now you couldn't help but think that maybe she was only doing it to get close to you. 

"Answer me, милый" Yelena brushed her index finger over your cheek, distracting you as she made herself welcome inside your room. 

"N-no" you replied in a slight stutter as she closed the door behind her. Her eyes full of hunger as they dropped to your lips, "why d-did you write those things?" you asked. Yelena refreshed her lips, running her tongue over them. 

"I couldn't help myself. You walk around this campus like a lost little puppy and all those outfits you wear? Don't even get me started on the how many times I had to stop myself from coming in her and giving you exactly what you want" the guard explained, watching how your eyes avoided hers and how you so badly wanted to trap your bottom lip between your teeth at her words. 

"but" she went on, brushing a lock of hair behind your ear, "then I realised, you're just an innocent little thing that needs me" 

"N-needs you?" you looked at her for a brief second before letting your head slightly drop in embarrassment. Yelena lifted your chin up with her finger, looking deeply into your eyes ready to devour you in a second, "Tell me, did my little notes turn you on dekta?" she asked. Your eyes quickly shifted away from her, too embarrassed to answer. She smirked knowing you were too shy to answer her.

"Did you touch yourself to them detka?" The blonde's eyes dropped to your hands that played with the hem of your shirt with nerves before she gently cupped your chin with one hand, making you look at her once more, "answer me" she added bluntly. Your mind having a mind of its own nodded ever so gently at her question. Your actions only made the blonde want you more.

Slowly, she pressed her lips against yours making you gasp at first before melting into her lips. Her hands came down to your waist, pulling you closer into her, "do you want me to stop?" she asked quietly against your lips. As if your mind had a mind of its own, you shook your head making Yelena smirk once more before continuing to kiss you. 

She wasted no time walking you backwards until the back of your legs came into contact with your bed, one of her hands wrapped around your wrist, pulling your hand to her crutch. "Do you feel that detka?" she asked with another devilish like smirk on her lips. You nodded, surprised that she was packing. "Good, because I need to get you nice a ready for my strap" she added before pushing you onto your bed, crawling on top of you to kiss your soft lips once more. 

A light moan left your lips when the security guard's lips made their way to your neck. Nobody had ever kissed your neck before, let alone touched you as much as Yelena had already. Yelena stopped her actions and lent back, looking at you as she pulled her glock from its holster, "open that pretty mouth up for me, милый" she instructed as she brought the weapon to your lips. It frightened you at first but your mouth opened, obeying her words. The coldness of the glock caused you to close your eyes as the action sent a throb to your core. 

"You really are just a dumb little кукла, aren't you?" Yelena asked with a chuckle as she watched you lay in front of her with her the top of her glock resting on your tongue, "suck it" she added rather bluntly. Your mind reminded you of the times when you were curious and watched a video of a woman giving a blow job to a strap on and naturally, your lips closed around the gun as you began to suck lightly, your salvia pooling from the corner of your lips. 

Yelena watched as she straddled your waist, watching as you began to lose yourself in the moment, your clit throbbing with need to be touched, the wet patch on your panties only growing as you continued to swirl your tongue around the tip of the unloaded weapon. "Take this off, dekta" Yelena spoke, pulling your t-shirt up before you helped and removed the clothing, throwing it to the floor leaving you in your bra and pajama bottoms. Yelena couldn't help but lick her lips once more, "ты такая красивая" she whispered. You didn't understand Russian but you understood that hearing her talk to you in Russian only made you wetter for her.

Her lips trailed down your body while one of her free hand's removed her gun from your lips and placed it on your bedside table. You were slightly glad to have the taste of cold metal leave your lips, you watched as the blonde slowly began to remove your bottoms. Your cheeks turned red when Yelena smirked and looked up at you. 

"You've ruined your panties, кукла" she said in a teasing tone, "don't tell me it's because you liked sucking on my gun" she added just to watch your cheeks darken in color. "Or is this all because of my little notes, huh?" Yelena went on. Embarrassment set in as you reached to hide your face only to be stopped by Yelena's grip on your wrist, "answer me" she added.

"P..p-please" you begged, not entirely sure what you were even begging for. 

"What do you want huh? How can daddy help you if you don't tell me what you want" Yelena replied, letting go of your wrist. 

"T..touch me, p-please" the words flew from your lips, your clit throbbing harder with every passing second. 

"Please what?" Yelena smirked once more. 

"D-daddy, please!"

"As you wish" she replied before pulling your panties off and throwing them to the floor with the rest of your clothing. She pushed your legs apart before looking up at you from between your legs. "If you cum, I stop, and I'll never touch you again. If you be a good little whore for daddy and cum when I say you can, I'll make sure you'll be sore the next two days, do you understand, or do I need to repeat myself?" 

You nodded almost instantly at her words, "I understand" you replied hoping she would just dive into your pussy but of course, she didn't.

"Wrong answer!" Her jaw clenched.

"I u-understand daddy!" you corrected yourself rather quickly and with that, the security guard didn't waste another second before you felt her tongue slide through your folds making you moan at the feeling you'd never felt before. Your moans only grew with every flick of her tongue, the tip ever so slightly dipping into your pussy making you almost forget for a moment that you were a virgin. Her tongue worked wonders on your clit, kitty licks making your hole clench around nothing as you brought a hand to her head, trying to push her deeper into you. 

"F-fuck!" you moaned, "feels s'good!" you added with a handful of the blonde's locks. 

It didn't take Yelena long to work out your body, almost as if she had magic. She knew you were about to cum, that's when she stopped, licked her lips and began to kiss her way up your body to your lips once more. A soft moan left your lips at the sweet taste of yourself on her tongue, "why did you stop? Did I do something wrong, did I c-cum?" you asked with a light frown. Yelena's head tilted slightly to the left, her pupils widened, "have you never cum before?" she asked. You shrugged slightly, "I'm not too sure" you admit. 

"Well then" Yelena bit her bottom lip as her right hand traveled down to your clit, "you're going to love it when you do" she added before rubbing light circles on your clit to tease you. Her touch made your eyes close as you moaned at the blonde teasing you. Your mind remembering some of the notes she left you, mentioning a few of the many things she so badly wanted to do you and without a second thought or control of your own words, you whimpered before whispering, "fuck me, daddy"

Yelena had you right where she wanted you, brainless and begging for her, just like she mentioned in her dirty little notes. She couldn't control the hungry smirk that tugged at her lips at your words, "yeah? You want daddy to fuck you huh?" she asked in an almost teasing tone. You nodded, "I n-need you, p-please daddy" you begged in between moans as she began to rub tighter circles around your clit, your untouched entrance clenching with hunger. 

She worked your clit until your back arched and she knew you were close to cumming, she stopped instantly earning herself a groan of frustration from you as you looked at her, "p-please! I'll be good, I need you daddy!" You begged once more. 

"What are you begging for huh? You're so stupid you don't even know if you've ever cum before, how do you know you need me huh?" Yelena spoke as she leant back taking in the view of your naked body in front of her. She was right, you had no idea what exactly you were begging for, you just knew you needed her. 

"Like you s-said in the notes" you replied shyly, "I want that, please" you added. Yelena leant forward and kissed your lips softly before kissing your jaw line to your left ear, "I'll give you what you want but you're mine, do you understand? Nobody is allowed to touch you like I do" she whispered, sending a rush to your core, you nodded at her words. "Yours, I p-promise" you replied.

Knowing she had you the way she wanted, the way she wished every time she saw you walking from classes, she leant back and undid her pants letting her silicon cock spring for your eyes to widen at the size. 

"T-that's big" you stuttered, slightly scared of how on earth it would ever fit inside of you. 

"Don't worry your dumb little brain about that detka, it's only 9 inches and daddy will make sure it fits" she spoke as she used your arousal as a lube, running the trip of the toy between your folders, brushing over your clit earning herself a small moan from you. "But it'll h-hurt" you added in worry. Yelena nodded, "yes detka, it will but only for a moment then daddy will make sure you feel good again, do you trust me?" she looked up at you giving you a moment to relax before you nodded in reply. 

"Daddy will take it nice slow" Yelena replied as the tip of her strap began to enter your pussy. Your fists were quickly full of your bedsheets, your eyes tightly closed shut as the burning feeling of your virginity being taken rushed through your body. Yelena was slow, only entering you inch by inch, tears pooling at your eyes but you didn't want her to stop. You felt her lips on yours once more, kissing you deeply to distract you from the pain, she whispered "you're almost there detka".

Within minutes, you were full, taking her entire toy. Yelena smiled softly at you, "you let daddy know when it's okay to move, okay?" she spoke, brushing your hair from your face while she stayed completely still inside you until you were comfortable for her to move her lips. The burning feeling faded to nothing, you refreshed your lips with your tongue and nodded while looking into her eyes, "I'm ready"

Yelena started slowly, thrusting in and out with both her hands interlocked with yours while her tongue explored in the inside of your mouth, muffling your moans as she worked you up to taking her thrusts faster. 

"Feels s'good!" you moaned when she began to fuck into you harder, her hands now supporting her from crushing you while you brought your hands to her back, stretching up and down at the feeling she was giving you. "Fuck кукла, you're taking me so fucking well" Yelena praised. Your room was full of the sounds of your moans mixed with Yelena's thighs slapping against your skin as she brought you closer to your orgasm. 

"D-daddy, s-stop!" you moaned, your hands trying to push her away at her thighs, "I need the toilet!" you added quickly as each thrust only made the feeling grow bigger. 

"Shh, you don't need the toilet" Yelena brought her thumb to your clit making your back arch, "let it go detka, cum!" she added while you squirm to avoid breaking her only rule, don't cum unless she says. With her permission, your body let go and a flow gushed out of you when Yelena pulled out her strap, you moaned her name loudly with your back still arched and your head thrown back. She smiled proudly as she took in the view of your soaked pussy while you caught your breath.

"I'm s-sorry!" you spoke once you came down from your high, your eyes filled with worry that the security guard would be mad at you. 

"Don't be sorry detka, daddy just fucked you so dumb you squirted" Yelena informed you as she rubbed her hands up and down your thighs seeing you spaced out from your intense orgasm, "What's wrong detka, did daddy fuck you stupid?" Yelena asked which a cocky smirk on her lips. 

"Y-yes" you replied, closing your eyes as you soaked up the feeling of bliss that ran through your body, ignoring the slight pain you were feeling from her harsh thrusts into you. 

"My dumb, perfectly little кукла" she spoke as stood up from your bed, "let daddy clean you up now" she added as she walked over to the small sink in your bathroom, given you had a suite-style dorm. She grabbed a cloth and soaked it in warm water before returning to you. 

After she cleaned you up, she removed the fluffy throw blanket that was once folded neatly on the end of your bed and threw it with your removed clothes that sat on the floor. "Which drawer are your pyjamas in?" Yelena asked, too exhausted to use your words, you pointed to the third drawer of your dresser. Yelena got out one of your extra oversized t-shirts you used to sleep in and a fresh pair of panties before she helped you redress, "I wish I could stay detka, but my shift is about to start. I finished at 6am, I'll stop buy with breakfast, okay?" You heard her speak as she helped you into bed, pulling the covers over you. All you could bare to do was nod in reply before drifting off to sleep. 

Yelena placed a soft kiss on your temple before leaving your dorm, making sure to lock the door from the inside of course.

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[ccalhoun]

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dwayne hoover x mute!male!reader

req: COULD YOU DO A DWAYNE HOOVER X MUTE MALE READER FLUFF? 😭 IM MUTE AND ITS SO HARD TRYING TO FIND ONES WITH MUTE READER (wattpad)

wc: 1.4k

warnings: male reader (he/him), mute reader, reader can be cis or trans it really doesn't matter, takes place before the movie, maybe second-hand embarrassment, awkward ending whoops sorry </3, kind of short

note: this was so fun to write tbh!!

cut for length!!

You get out of your parent's car, your notepad in hand as you got ready to have to deal with the hell that is school. You couldn't blame the bullies at school much, not many of them meet mute people in their lifetimes. You tried to use ASL but barely anyone knew it so you decided to just use a notepad and pen instead, you figured it was the main reason some kids made rude comments about it.

Your family had just moved to this town mid-school year, you hadn't minded it much since your family moved a lot but you were going to miss one of the friends you made in the town you were just in.

You walked into the office and wrote something down quickly, asking where the counselor's office is and showing it to someone at the front desk.

"What? can't talk?" She laughed after she spoke, her laughter dying down when she realized that you weren't joking. She quickly points you towards the office and goes back to work, filling out papers and such. You knock on the door before the counselor opens it, smiling at you when she sees your face.

"Hey, kiddo! What's up?" She says joyfully only to be met with you scribbling on your notepad, she frowned slightly before you showed her what you wrote. 'I need my schedule' written in big letters on the yellow paper. "Your schedule? Why won't you talk?" confusion rang in the counselor's voice. You pulled your notepad back to you and wrote again, this time saying that you're mute and don't talk, she nodded in understanding and invited you into her office. "What's your name?" She begrudgingly said as you sat down in one of the chairs.

You wrote it down and showed her, she typed the name into her computer and found your schedule, printing it out for you. As the page printed she turned her chair to be facing yours.

"You know, there's another mute student here, Dwayne Hoover. I think you two would get along, I'll call him down to give you a tour of the school," She turned back to her desk, not even noticing you shaking your head 'no' so she wouldn't call him down. She did some typing on her computer before pressing some numbers into the phone and telling whoever it was on the other end to send Dwayne Hoover down.

You waited awkwardly in the office while you waited for the supposed other mute to show up, you nervously twiddled with your thumbs when you heard a curt knock on the counselor's door.

"Oh, Dwayne! How good to see you again, this is a new student to the school that also happens to be mute. I was hoping you could take him on a tour of the school?" She said, standing up and grabbing papers she needed to deliver to another room. Dwayne just nodded and motioned for you to come towards him.

You stood up and followed him as he led you out of the counselor's office and down the hall. He made a writing motion with his hand, as if he was asking if he could talk to you through writing. You pulled out your notepad and wrote a small 'i'm m/n' written near the top. You handed the notepad to Dwayne and he read it, using his own pen to write 'dwayne' and hand the notepad back to you.

You two kept switching your notepad back and forth as you walked, ending up sitting down on a bench in the hall as you two communicated. He wrote down his house number and then wrote that you could call if you ever wanted to hang out, this turned into you two making plans to meet up after school so he could show you the music that he likes.

By the time you two were wrapping up your conversation the bell rang, so Dwayne walked you to your next class and went on his way. It was the third period when you two got done talking so you had to sit through the rest of the day waiting for it to be time to see Dwayne again.

At lunch, you saw him and sat next to him though you didn't talk as much. All you two wrote to each other was Dwayne asking if you wanted some of the apple slices he somehow got, you declined but told him you appreciated the offer. Lunch ended quickly after that, Dwayne walked you to your next class again and then left to his. You could barely focus in the rest of your classes thinking about what it would be like to hang out with Dwayne.

As the classes passed and the day got closer to 3:00 pm (15:00), you got more and more excited. When the bell finally rang, you rushed to the front of the school. Dwayne wrote that at the end of the day he would go to the front and look for you, he walked home from school every day so he didn't have to worry about if one of his parents would want to drive you to their house or not.

Just as Dwayne said he would be, he was in the front looking over the crowd of other kids to see you, he quickly found you and ran up to you, waving and motioning you to follow him just as he did the morning of that day.

You got the hint and started following him as you both walked to his house, you didn't write anything to him as you figured he'd still only want to focus on walking home instead of talking to you. It was a short walk, a little over half a mile. He frowned when he got to his house, embarrassed to introduce his family to you if they happened to notice that you two were there.

He made another notepad motion with his hands and you got the hint, pulling out your notepad and pen and handing it to him. He wrote for a bit and gave the notepad and pen back to you, standing and waiting for you to read it.

The note read, 'my family is embarrassing, you don't have to interact with them if you don't want to'

You understood where he was coming from but still wanted to meet them, you wrote your response before handing it back to Dwayne to read.

'that's ok, i get how embarrassing families go'. Dwayne handed it back to you and just shook his head with a small smile, leading you inside his house. At first, no one did anything, the house felt empty. Until you heard a door open and saw a little girl run out. She looked around 9 or 10, with big glasses. She squealed loudly when she saw you, then ran up to you and hugged your legs.

Her voice was going a hundred miles per hour, talking way too fast for you to even get anything she was saying. Eventually, she slowed down and was able to get out what she had been trying to say the entire time.

"Hi! I'm Olive, I'm Dwayne's little sister, are you Dwayne's friend? Can you stay the night?" Though her voice was calmed down, it certainly wasn't slowed very much. You nervously looked at Dwayne and he just motioned towards what you assumed to be his room, you nodded and smiled at his little sister. You waved a small bit before awkwardly getting her off your legs and getting into Dwayne's room. In his room he had his own note pad so he didn't have to get you to let him use yours, he got to his notepad and wrote something before showing it to you.

'sorry Olive is so hyper, I warned you about my family,' is what the note said, you just smiled a 'that's ok, i don't mind,' you wrote back. Dwayne went over to his collection of CDs and pulled a couple out, his favorites, before putting one of them into the CD player next to his bed. He wrote something on his notepad again before handing it to you, 'you can sit where ever, i don't mind' you nodded and handed it back.

Unsure of where to put your stuff, you took your shoes off and put them next to the door along with your backpack. You sat down on the edge of Dwayne's bed, next to where Dwayne sat down when you were taking off your shoes, and just listened to the music. You pulled out your notepad and wrote 'you have a good taste in music', handing it to him to read. He looked at you and smiled as he handed it back, writing down 'thanks' and a smiley face next to it on his own note pad.

≻ ┄┄ ♡ ┄┄ ≺

[might-be-tiny-gt]

Ok, so I meant to draw another comic for the Ratattorney AU, but then I got busy with school. So I thought I’d write down a quick little drabble and post it. I ended up writing this for 6 hours straight, whoops. Anyways enjoy!

AU by @spirit-small

“Alright Ms. Fey, I think that about all the questions I have for the moment.”

Gumshoe looked up from the notepad he was scribbling in. Truth be told there’s wasn’t much on this page that was of any use to the detective. The suspect before him claims to have walked in and discovered the body, but the evidence says other wise, it has to be her.

The girl in question was dressed in a peculiar fashion. Giant pearls adorned her hair and neck, she wore what Gumshoe could best describe as a robe dress…? And the entire get up was tied up nicely with a bow that wrapped around her waist. Her head hung so low that her dark hair obscured her face. This was his main suspect, Maya Fey, sister of the deceased. Gumshoe recalled how much she sobbed on the drive to the precinct. She seems to be a little better by the time she was brought into question, it was little hard to tell with her hair blocking her face and all, but he took the silence as good sign. Although every so often he could hear the faintest sniffle coming from her direction.

“D-detective..?” She struggled to get the first word out , “What’s- What’s going to happen to me..?“

“Well Pal,” Gumshoe cleared his throat, trying his best to keep a neutral tone with her. “Right now. We’re waiting for an officer to come by, and they’ll take you to a holding cell. You still have your phone call, if you have any family or friends that you need to-“

“I don’t.”

There was beat of bitter silence.

“Ah, well in that case, it might be best to get in contact with a lawyer to take your case,” he briefly checked his watch, “It looks like you have a few hours to get a hold of one.”

“What happens if I can’t get a lawyer to take my case?”

“You’ll be assigned a pubic defender.”

A public defender, she recalled her sister mention them in passing over lunch one time. They weren’t bad per say, but they were leagues behind the highly trained prosecutors that could be assigned to this case. She wouldn’t stand a chance. Maya took a moment to think, she would have called Mia in a heartbeat, but unfortunately that was no longer an option. God, Why? Why did this happen? Who else could help?

“Umm..”

“Yeah Pal?”

“Would you be able to look up a phone number for me? I’d like to call Mr. Grossberg, but I forgot the number.”

“Grossberg… Grossberg.. oh yeah! I’ve seen him around a few times, I’m sure his number is around the office somewhere. Let me just-“

Gumshoe stood up and quickly rushed to the door, he was sure Grossberg must have left a business card with someone in the precinct. Just as he reached for the handle the door burst open.

“DETECTIVE GUMSHOE, SIRRRRRRR!”

Gumshoe couldn’t decided what was worse, Officer Meekins’ loud greeting or the high pitch feedback from his loud speaker that accompanied it. Gumshoe held his head up to his ear tightly, yup, that ringing isn’t going away any time soon.

“Geez Pal, there’s no need to shout.”

“Ah, yes, sorry detective Gumshoe, SIR,” If only this man had a mute button. “But I have a message from the chief, SIR!”

Gumshoe stared down Meekins expectantly, Meekins remained at attention….

“OH RIGHT!”

Meekins sporadically went through each and every pocket on his uniform looking for the darn piece of paper.

“FOUND IT SIR! HERE YOU ARE SIR!”

Gumshoe snatched the paper from Meekins’ shaking hands. The stationary was immediately recognized by the detective as coming front the chief’s desk. He skimmed the note….

“WHAT?!?” Gumshoe eyed his suspect in disbelief, then back to Meekins, “When did you get this?”

“It was faxed to us about thirty minutes ago while you were interrogating the suspect, SIR!”

Gumshoe sighed, turned to the solemn lady still not sure exactly what going on, and presented her with the last thing she expected to hear.

“Well Pal, you’re free to go”

Maya blinked, “What?”

Gumshoe gestured to the crumpled paper in his hands, “Got a fax from the chief, this morning your bail was posted… and paid for.”

“Paid? But who-“

Gumshoe sighed, “According to this, whoever it was did so anonymously.”

“Does that mean…. I can leave?”

“Technically, yes, but there are a few things we need to sort out before you go.”

“O-ok..”

“First of all, you’re still going on trial tomorrow, make sure you make it to the court house on time. If you don’t then we’ll assume you ran and you’ll be charged with attempt of skipping on bail, got that?”

She simply nodded.

“Secondly, we should probably sort out your lawyer situation before you leave. Meekins?”

“YES DETECTIVE GUMSHOE, SIR!?”

Yup, the ringing’s gonna linger for at least a week, “Take the suspect to make her phone call, grab the phone book from my desk, bottom left drawer.”

“YES DETEC-“

“That’s enough, Pal!”

Who’d pay for her bail? Maya thought to her self as Meekins escorted her out of the room. Gumshoe followed them out, but quickly went down the opposite hallway, on his way to continue investigating no doubt. Meekins and Maya quickly reached the detective’s desk and the only thing Maya could do as she waited for the officer to find Gumshoe’s phone book was watch quietly. It was plain to see that Meekins seemed very flighty and unlikely to stand still. But he seemed just a bit more fidgety? He mumbled to himself as he searched each drawer, guess he forgot what bottom left means. That wasn’t the thing that Maya found weird however. He kept aggressive adjusting his hat to the point where it became very distracting. Maya wasn’t the only one to stare as she noticed the detectives who were at their desks watching with mild annoyance.

Maya just about mustered the strength to ask him was wrong when he suddenly shouted in clear frustration. Maya, everyone really, was taken aback, this was definitely out of character. Meekins ripped the hat of his head and began to scratch it relieved. Was all this really over a simple itch? Maya could have sworn she saw something fall out of Meekin’s hat, but it’s was too quick to really tell what. One of the detectives stood up from their desk and stormed up to Meekins, poor guy got an earful. There was a lot of yelling, and sorries, and SIIIIIIIIIRS, to be had. In the end, the detective opened the bottom left drawer of Gumshoes’ desk, begrudgingly handed it to Meekins, and returned to their desk. When he finally turned to face Maya, his face was redder that a tomato. Maya was going to say something but decided against it. She was taken down an empty, a single phone waiting for her. Meekins sheepishly handed her the phone book and stood just out of sight at the end of the hall, the most privacy she could probably get while under suspicion for murder.

She skimmed the phone book and memories came flooding back. She remembers using it when Mia first moved from Kurain Village. There was one in a phone booth near the bus stop, she had to teach herself how to go through it. The first number she ever called using that phone book was Mia’s, just hours after she moved away to study law. She recalled how Mia laughed when she realized who was on the other end.

“I just saw you this morning Maya!”

“But-BUT I MISS YOU SO MUCH SIS!”

“I miss you too,” Her voice was alway so sincere.

“Do- do you like it over there…?”

Mia took a moment to respond, “Of course I am, but there’s just one thing missing…”

“What that?”

“We’ll there’s no little sisters here to run around with, or watch cartoons with, or ya know… break and fix sacred vases with.”

“I- I don’t understand.”

“It just means I need to come back as soon as possible to say hi and give you the biiiiiiiiiigest hug!”

“Promise..?”

“I Promise.”

They probably would’ve talked longer if Morgan hadn’t caught Maya skipping her lessons to call Mia. By the time Maya had found Grossberg’s number the page was dripping. She took a breath, and dialed the the number.

Ring

“Please pick up...”

Ring

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take…”

Ring

“PLEASE.”

CLICK

“Grossberg Law Offices,” It definitely wasn’t Grossberg, probably the receptionist, “How can I help you?”

“Hi yes,” Maya didn’t realize how shaking her voice was until now, “My name is Maya Fey, and I need Mr. Grossberg’s help. I need him to defend me in court tomorrow!”

“Maya Fey?”

“YES MAYA FEY,” Maya hated how worked up she got, “My.. my sister used to work for Mr. Grossberg, she told me if I was ever in trouble to call him.”

“One moment please.”

The phone clicked, Maya could barely make out mumbling in the background. It took quite sometime, but finally there was a response.

“Hello,” It was the same voice from before.

“Yes!?”

“I’m sorry Ms. Fey, but Mr. Grossberg’s unavailable at the moment.”

Maya’s heart sunk if a way she had never felt before, “He’s…….. not……?”

“No, Mr. Grossberg has another very big case to deal with at the moment. He doesn’t have time to take another,” How can they sound so insincere?

“Please, there has to be another lawyer! Someone? ANYONE?!”

“Like I said ma’am, this is a very big case, all the lawyers at the firm are working on it.”

“All of the-“

The receptionist cut her off, “I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help, good luck with your case.”

“No Wait, PLEASE! AT LEAST LET ME TALK TO-”

BEEP

They hung up. Her only hope just hung up on her. Maya’s knees went weak, she didn’t even have the strength to put the phone back on the hook before she collapsed. She couldn’t hold it back any longer, her tears fell like rain fall. The sound of violent sobbing and the droning dial tone echoed down the hall.

“Ack!”

Maya perked her head up at the sound. What was that?

Ahem.

It came from below her. But… she was on her barley on her knees, what could have possibly ahemed below her.

Looking down she saw him, the tiny man in the blue suit she saw at the office. He looked back up at her with an empathetic and sheepish half smile. Maya was still still shocked at what she was looking at to properly process that this poor guy was soaking wet, no thanks to her.

“It’s you,” Before she realized it, Maya leaned closer, the man backed up cautiously as she did so.

“Y-yeah,” His voice was just as shaky as hers, “Are you ok..?”

“NO, OF COURSE NOT,” She wanted to yell, but she could only shake her head in silence.

The man pursed his lips, certainly unsure of what to say. He eyed her hand and walked over and gave it a pat of reassurance. It was awkward to say the least. Maya was sure that if this man was her size, this would be a pat on the back or head. She couldn’t help but stare, his hand was barley the size of her fingernail. It’s not that she didn’t notice that this guy was impossibly tiny, but in this moment is when she finally internalized it.

“What are you..?”

“Oh, ummm,” The man was clearly caught off guard, “I’m Phoenix.”

“That’s not what I asked..”

“Right…. I’m a borrower.”

“What’s a borrow-“

“Look,” She was cut off again, “I know you probably have a million questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them later. But right now you need to get out of here.”

“Why?”

“I was able to get you out on bail, but it won’t be long until they catch on.”

Maya was disbelief, “You paid my bail?”

Phoenix looked away, “Well…….”

“Well?”

“So, the thing is, I may have snuck into one of the detective’s offices and sent a fake message saying that you’re bail was settled.”

“What,” This was the closest to shouting Maya felt comfortable getting. She didn’t want startle Phoenix or alert Meekins.

Phoenix held his hand behind his head, “Y-yeah…. I don’t have any human money, but I remember Mia talking about bail, and I figured-“

“You knew my sister?!”

“Y-yes… I ummmm,” He got teary eyed, “She was my friend, a really good friend.”

It was clear to Maya now that she wasn’t the only one who suffered in the last few hours.

“She never mentioned you.”

“She wanted to introduce you, really, but I, umm, I wasn’t ready to…. I wasn’t comfortable yet with……. I’m supposed to be a secret.”

“But you’re talking to me now?”

“I can’t just hide in the walls and do nothing!”

Maya was touched, just when it felt like the world was against her.

“I heard everything,” he gestured to the phone dangling beside them, dial tone still droning on, “I have an idea, but we need to be quick about it.”

“What is it?”

“I know it’s not much… but I’ve learned a lot about law with Mia, and before that I was already familiar with the basics and, well, it’s better than nothing, but maybe…”

“You want to defend me..?”

“I’d want to, believe me, but I can’t stand in court, not as I am,” he gestured at all of him.

“Oh…”

“But you can!”

“What!?”

“Mia once told me that an accused individual has the right to defend themselves in court!”

“Phoenix,” Saying his name made this whole thing feel more real and absolutely insane, “I’m not a lawyer, I don’t know anything about how this works!”

“That’s why I’ll be with you! If…..you’ll have me…”

This was crazy. Defending herself in court. Crazy! Being assisted by a lawyer that fits in the palm of her hand. Crazy! The fact that tiny lawyers that life in the walls of law offices apparently exist. CRAZY! But despite the absolutely absurdity and hopelessness of the present situation, Maya couldn’t help but smile for the first time in what felt like eons. Without thinking she snatched Phoenix in her hands held him near her chest, the biggest hug she possibly give her tiny attorney.

“Thank you, THANK YOU!”

At first Phoenix panicked, he certainly didn’t enjoy being grabbed so suddenly. Maya didn’t exactly have the same delicate touch Mia did. But as soon as she pulled him away and he saw her tearful smile shine through, he couldn’t help but think of Mia, they had the same smile.

“I’m glad I can help, Maya.”

Officer Meekins, for his part, did what he was told properly. He stood guard diligently and the suspect didn’t get past him, no sirree! He had been been waiting patiently for a good twenty minutes. There were tears, there was yelling, there were dial tones but he stood his ground. After all, his older hardboiled co workers said that it was to be expected, not all lawyers take cases and there’s nothing to be done about it. So imagine his surprise when he approached by a significantly perkier than twenty minutes ago suspect.

“Officer?”

“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y YES MA’AM!?”

“I have a lawyer, who should I talk to before I leave?”

“That would be Detective Gumshoe, MA’AM.”

“Would you mind taking me to him please?”

“Of course, MA’AM. Please come with me MA’AM!”

And so Meekins escorted the young lady down the hall, past the offices, and down the stairs. Sure enough Gumshoe was seated at a bench next to the vending machine they had in the lobby, according to Meekins this was his lunch break. When Gumshoe caught them approaching he quickly scarfed down the last of his candy bar and stood up as if he been caught doing something wrong and needed to cover for it.

“Mm-Meekins,” he wasn’t done chewing, “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“Yes, Detective Gumshoe, SIR! The suspect ask to speak with you, Sir!”

Gumshoe peered behind Meekins to get a good view at Maya. She seemed better emotionally speaking, even if the red on her face made it clear she was crying not to long ago. Oddly enough she had her hair parted in front of shoulders, maybe it was fashion statement.

“So how’d it go with Grossberg? Should I inform the prosecutor’s office that he’s defending ya?”

Maya shook her head, “No detective, Grossberg couldn’t defend me.”

“Oh, then I guess I need to call for a public defender then?”

“Nope,” Maye held her head up high, “I’m defending myself!”

Gumshoe laughed, now he got why she was so happy all of a sudden, bet she was saving this joke for a bit. But then he noticed she wasn’t laughing with him.

“Wait pal, you serious?”

“Yes,” Maya held her fists in front of her with determination, “I’ve decided to defend myself, it is my legal right!”

“Look pal, I’m telling you now, you’re better off with a public defender. You won’t stand a chance against Edg-“

“Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ve made up my mind,” she briefly looked to her shoulder and nodded, “and since I’ll be defending myself, then I’d like to ask you for a copy of the autopsy report.”

Gumshoe couldn’t stop himself from staring in disbelief. He looked to Meekins for some sort of help, should’ve know that wasn’t going to be of any use.

He looked back at Maya, “You sure about this pal?”

“Yes.”

Gumshoe sighed, guess there was nothing he could do about it, “Meekins, get me a copy of the autopsy report!”

“YES, DETECTIVE GUMSHOE SIR!”

[eirikaanemo]

As the Rain Falls

Venti x GN!Reader

1.3k Words

Warnings: Mentions kissing

It all started with Venti, you, and Venessa’s tree. The day was beautiful, though a rainstorm seemed to be on its way. At the rate it was going you would have a good couple hours before the rain actually started though. Which is good because you know if you got caught in the rain you could get sick.

The moment you shared under the branches of the large tree is a peaceful one. He’s putting the finishing touches on a song he has been working on for a while. You’re half listening and half focusing on what you’re scribbling down on your notepad. When the two of you hang out it often turns out like this. There’s just something about being near each other that makes it a bonding experience, even though you’re often doing completely different things.

Venti lets out a sudden whoop in excitement. He has stopped strumming on his lyre and is stretching out his fingers some to relieve them of the stress he’s put on them by playing for so long. “I finally finished it!” He exclaimed victoriously. “My latest masterpiece took a bit, but for this story it’s a perfect fit!”

You smile in amusement. “Rhyming again, Venti?” You inquire. The smile he sends you is more of a smirk than anything. Something about it makes your heart leap to your throat.

“Of course,” he replies. “The habit lingers after writing a song, is anything about that wrong?” He raises an eyebrow at you, as if daring you to have a problem with his habit. If you didn’t know him so well you probably would not have caught on to the fact that he was teasing you.

“Of course not,” you assure him with a small laugh. “If I had an issue with it I would have told you long ago. I find it quite endearing, actually.” His heart skipped a beat as he tried to keep from blushing.

He quickly changed the subject. “How would you like to hear my new creation? It’s short but I think you will like it. And I’d greatly appreciate your observations.” You found his subject change confusing but graciously allowed the subject to be dropped. Maybe something had made him uncomfortable?

“Sure,” you easily agree. “I’d be happy to listen and give you feedback!” He cheered and pumped a fist in the air. Then you settled down and started the song’s introduction.

There once were two friends as close as could be

Who often meet out under a tree

They spend time together, doing different things

And yet to each other more closeness it brings

The two are so happy to simply be friends

Yet at least one of them sought different ends

See, what they had was much closer to love

Often of the other that one would think of

Still they stayed quiet out of disabling fear

Would their confession be one the other would hear

Maybe someday they would let their friend know

But they were most terrified that they would say no

And so pining in silence that person did stay

Though they dreamed constantly of that great day

When they would admit to their dear one their love

In hopes that the other would return their love

There was a long moment of silence as you think about what he has just basically confessed. The last fleeting notes of his song seemed to linger in the air. Your thoughts were flashing through your mind a million miles a minute. And your heart was beating at the same pace.

Maybe he didn’t know, but you’ve liked him for a long time.

It wasn’t any one thing that happened. No love at first sight, heroic events, or sudden realizations, the two of you have just gradually grown closer and closer as time went on. You fell in love with him piece by piece. You cherish every part of him, the good and the bad. His simple presence brings you comfort, he has simply become home. And home is where the heart is.

But the thought of him returning your feelings was one you had almost completely rejected. He is a free soul, seemingly detached from society at large. Sure, you consider him a friend, but a little part of you isn’t so sure.

And yet there are moments that remind you that he does care. Sometimes he holds your hand. Sometimes he flirts with you. Sometimes he takes you on outings that are almost like dates. But that couldn’t be. It must all be platonic, joking, or coincidence. Right? There’s just no way he could return your feelings.

Or is there? He had essentially just admitted to being in love with you. Are you dreaming? It must be a dream. You pinch yourself and yelp as it hurts, attracting Venti’s immediate attention. He hurries over to your side.

“Are you okay?” He asks, eyes scanning you to see what was wrong. When he didn’t see anything he looked at you, confused.

“I’m fine,” you reassure him. “I just- I just had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.” You take a moment to swallow. “So, uh, did you- did you mean it? Was that about us? About me?”

This time it’s his turn to swallow anxiously. “Yes, that was about us,” he reveals. “And yes, I do like you. I didn’t really expect you to catch onto that the first time you heard the song, sorry about that. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, I wouldn’t want my feelings to hold you down like that.”

You reach out and press your pointer finger to his lips in a “shhh” motion to stop his rambling. When he finally looked back up at you, you had a fond smile on your face. “It’s okay, Venti,” you promise him. “I like you too. I have for ages, really. It makes me really happy to know that you return my feelings.”

His responding smile lit up your world. Your breath caught when he leaned in to press his forehead against yours. ��I’m glad,” he utters softly. “I’m so, so glad.” Reaching forward to place his hands on your hips he flicks his eyes from your eyes to your lips a couple times before licking his own lips nervously. “May I kiss you?” He timidly asks.

In response you move your hands to his shoulders and whisper a quiet, “Yes.”

The press of his lips to your own feels magical. The whole situation feels magical, but the moment his lips met your own you knew that it was really real. Venti really loves you. He loves you! And between that thought and his kiss you nearly melt in happiness.

The wind whips around you and picks up speed as he gets more invested in the kiss. By the time he pulls away for you to breathe the rain clouds are right overhead. With a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder, the storm breaks right over your heads. It relentlessly pours to the ground, pounding against the leaves and branches of the tree before soaking both of you to the bone.

He hesitates as you try to pull you in for another kiss. “But you’ll get sick!” He protests. You make a mental note that he didn’t mention himself in the statement, but are too busy wanting to kiss him to care.

“I don’t care if I get sick, catching a cold from kissing you in the rain is worth it.” You grumble and he finally lets you pull him in for that kiss. It was just as wonderful as the first and you regret nothing, even when you do come down with the promised cold. After all, Venti is there to help the whole time. How he avoided getting sick, you don’t know. All you know is that he loves you and wants to be there for you, and that’s all that matters.

[bothcreativitybois]

The Mayor’s Sweet Treat Chapter 3

Wordcount: 2955

Ship: Intruality

TWs: Food, horses, dogs, skipping meals, a little bit of past angst, sexual references, swearing 

Taglist: @star-crossed-shipper @crazydemigod666 @idont-freaking-know @someoneiwasnt @seraphiie @the-sympathetic-villain @cute-and-angsty-princess @lonelymuffin 

Remus flung out of the truck and smashed on the bakery door. 

“Wakey wakey!” Remus shouted at the doors. Above him a window opened. Patton smiled down radiantly. The cold night breeze rustled his hair dreamily while Remus’ long locks thrash slightly.

Remus you dumbass! He isn’t used to this!

“You’re an impatient one, Mr Grinch.” Patton joked.

“Actually it’s Mr Manzana.” Remus shouted back. “Are you coming down or not?” Patton giggled and closed the window. A few seconds later he appeared beside the building.

“So where are we going?” Patton asked as Remus walked up to him. Remus laughed.

“The best place in town, which is conveniently also the only place.” Remus joked. Patton followed him down the street to a little restaurant with a yellow sign. Remus opened the door for Patton as they entered the small restaurant. There were a handful of tables set up with only one in use. Remus walked over to greet the small family at the table. Patton followed awkwardly.

“Remus!” A gruff father looking figure shouted and pat Remus on the back. “Good ta see ya.” Also at the table were two small children and an elderly lady.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” The elderly lady chimed in. Remus smiled widely while Patton just sort of shrank behind him.

“Staying out of trouble as much as possible.” Remus chuckled, both the adults laughed.

“Which for you isn’t possible.” The man laughed heartily. Remus smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Clyde, let me introduce you to Patton.” Remus held a hand out as to present Patton. The man looked at him happily.

“Great to meet ya.” Clyde stood up and enveloped Patton’s hand in a strong handshake.

“You too.” Patton said meekly. The large man laughed.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” Clyde joked. “Remus however…” He elbowed Remus who pulled a fake innocent face.

“These darling angels are Taylor and June.” Remus ruffled the hair of the two children who both tried to push his hand away. “And this is Ms Cath. She taught me when I was the kids' sizes.” The elderly lady stood up and hugged Patton. The hug was soothing, it reminded him of his mother. He thought about how long it’s been since he was hugged… a couple months?

“Welcome to our little town, honey.” Ms Cath soothed. “Well let you two get back to it. But if you ever need anything then just stop by the school and see me.” The old lady winked. Remus put a hand on Patton’s back and after a few more words with the family guided Patton to their own table. Patton looked around the restaurant. Not in a nervous way, just the way you do when you enter a new place. The people he’d just met were chatting happily and enjoying their food.  Remus snapped his fingers to get Patton’s attention.

“Hey so the waiter is a friend of mine and he has some unique features. Don’t to stare, it upsets him.” Remus whispered. Patton nodded politely just as the waiter in question showed up.

“So this is the baker I heard about?” The waiter said. Patton looked up to see a little name tag reading ‘Janus’. The man had a large black birthmark and a lazy eye. He figured that’s what Remus meant. 

“I like your hair.” Patton smiled. Janus touched the small bun his dreads were pulled back in. His face was surprised.

“Thanks.” He turned to Remus. “You getting what you always get?” Remus laughed.

“Don’t fix what ain’t broke.” Remus confirmed with a wide smile. “And an extra for my friend here.” Janus nodded and scribbled something down on his notepad.

“Great. I’ll be off work at midnight so if you plan on taking ‘your friend’ home then please be done by then.” Janus said calmly and walked away. Patton blushed but Remus simply laughed. He looked down at Patton, he realised how uncomfortable he looked.

He reached across the table and grabbed Patton’s hand. He noticed a small tattoo on Patton’s wrist he hadn’t seen before, a little frog.

“Sorry, I kinda threw you in the deep end there.” Remus apologised. “Janus was just joking around, he’s really nice albeit a little dry and blunt.” Remus attempted to reassure Patton, it seemed to work as he released the tension in his shoulders a bit and nodded. Remus pulled his hand away.

“Everyone here seems really nice.” Patton said. Remus smiled and looked around. 

“It’s that small town spirit.” Remus replied. “When everyone knows everyone no one is really mean… well except for some of the older families who have weird rivalries but that’s a story for another day.” Remus was so calm, it was weird. Usually he was bouncing off the walls by now but something about Patton was keeping him on the ground.

“Tell me about growing up here?” Patton asked. Remus took a deep breath. There were thousands of stories racing around his head and he needed to find a way to summarise them all.

“It’s chaotic but somehow also predictable.” He eventually answered. “From the outside it’s like a horse rolling around on it’s back. It looks ridiculous but it knows exactly what it’s doing.” Patton was amused by the analogy. He understood that Remus was a country kid but now he was just being cliché. Not to mention Patton knew next to nothing about horses.

“And what does it mean when a horse rolls around?” Patton asked, genuinely curious about the silly behaviour of horses. Remus’ face lit up.

“Most the time it means they got colic and are trying to dislodge whatever got stuck. But if it’s a younger philly they could just be having fun. Colic isn’t serious though, usually it’s solved just by leading it for a walk or a shot of penicillin.” Remus explained. Patton watched how Remus’ eyes sparkled as he talked, he seemed a lot more in his element. “Colic is what keeps the vets round here in business. Pretty much everyone has a horse and the farms all have at least three. I got one still livin’ at my parents place, I’ve been meaning to move her to mine but she’s scared to death of trailers and I don’t have the ti-” Remus was cut off by a groan from Janus who had appeared with two plates.

“Kraken is fine on the farm, they have good use for her.” Janus began. “If we brought her to our place she’d be stuck in a paddock all day and only get ridden every week or so.” Janus placed down the plates with two tall burgers. “Two lamb burgers, one with extra pickle and barbeque sauce.” Janus pulled a face as he announced the last part.

“Thanks.” Patton smiled happily. Janus nodded and walked away. Patton looked over at Remus who was taking pickles off his burger and putting them on a napkin. “Why did you order extra pickles if you aren’t eating them?” Patton was confused. Remus looked up and smiled devilishly. He liked pickles, but always ordered extra for something special.

“You’ll see.” Remus winked as he wrapped up the pickles and put them in his pocket. 

The two men didn’t talk much as they ate. Remus was used to being the kind to devour food quickly while everyone else told him to slow down, so he was surprised when he saw Patton finished his burger first. Patton was just happy to be eating real food again.

“You finished that fast.” Remus said as he took the last bite of his burger. Patton looked up and blushed. Truthfully it was the first thing he’d eaten today, he had skipped breakfast and was too stressed to eat while working. Patton laughed awkwardly. Remus reeled, he meant it as a compliment but was worried Patton didn’t take it that way. “I mean that in a good way, pancake. It’s hard to find people who can keep up with me.” Remus quickly added. Patton giggled. Remus stood to leave but Patton stopped him.

“Wait! We need to pay.” Patton fretted. Remus looked over Patton and winked at Janus, he sighed and waved them away. Patton watched the weird exchange and didn’t notice Remus grab his hand to pull him out of the restaurant. He was tugged out so fast he nearly fell down but he couldn’t help but laugh. Remus pulled him down the dark street as they both cackled.

“Where are we going?” Patton asked through the laughs. Remus looked back and flashed a brilliantly evil smile.

“You wanted a tour, didn’t you?” Remus said as he halted to a stop. Patton nearly ran right into him if it wasn’t for Remus’ outstretched arm. “Here is where we start!” Remus pointed to the building in front of them. A brick building with a clock above the door.

“Mindville Council Hall?” Patton read from the sign next to him. Remus shook his head and shook his pointed hand. Patton followed the line of sight to, “The… clock?” Remus nodded excitedly so fast he looked like he might burst. He reached into his pocket and took out the napkin from the restaurant.

“The clock hasn’t worked in years.” Remus said as he took a pickle from the napkin, he handed the rest to Patton. “This is a way better use for it anyway.” With that Remus hucked the pickle slice into the air towards the clock, it hit the glass cover with a barely audible splat. Remus would come here as a kid and throw all sorts of things, but he found out quickly that pickles were not only the most accessible but also stuck the best. Remus celebrated with a loud cheer and took the pickles from Patton. “Give it a try.” Patton gently took a pickle and looked up at the clock. It was at least ten meters up.

“I’m not sure I can get it…” Patton conceded. Remus took a pickle slice and laughed.

“Who cares?” Remus shouted as he threw another pickle, this one hitting above the first. Patton took a deep breath and pulled back his hand. He closed his hand and threw the pickle as hard as he could. He looked up in time to see it land just short of the clock. He blushed in embarrassment but to his surprise Remus hollered.

“Whooo!” Remus cheered. His whoops were brash and loud, like when the electric mixer hit the edge of the metal bowl. “That’s a great shot!” Patton smiled at the enthusiasm and grabbed another slice. Remus did too and they both threw them together. Remus hit the 4 while Patton’s was just shy of the clock again. Suddenly the lights of the building turned on around them. “On to the next place!” Remus threw the napkin with the rest of the slices and began bolting down the road, Patton stood shocked for a second then followed.

“Aren’t you the mayor?” Patton huffed as they ran. Remus was surprisingly fast and he had trouble keeping up.

“Yes, and?” Remus said, barely breaking a sweat. When they were far enough away Remus slowed down and started pointing out the shops they walked past. “That is the butcher, if you ask nicely they’ll give you bones that aren’t big enough to sell as dog bones. That’s Salamanders Silk, one of the 7 places I’ve gotten a cut that needs stitching which is ironic given it’s a clothes store.” Something told Patton this tour wouldn’t be overly informative of the actual places. “And this is the bakery that makes amazing muffins.” Remus stopped. Patton realised they were in front of his shop. He looked up at the bare walls of the building, it looked abandoned. Every shop in town had nice signs and lovely paint but his just looked sad. 

“How about I give you a tour?” Patton chimed in happily. Remus looked down and nodded excitedly. Patton walked up and unlocked the door. “Welcome to Froggy and Doggy Bakery.” Patton sang happily.

“Finally, I get a name.” Remus joked. Patton sighed and looked up at the empty space where a sign should hang.

“Yeah I need to get on to the sign company again.” He said sadly. Remus took a mental note of Patton’s qualms.

“How’d you get the name? Is doggy your favourite position or something?” Remus asked as he walked in. Patton locked the door behind them and flipped on the lights.

“Actually it’s based on a story my mother told me as a kid.” Patton started. Remus regretted his previous statement. “There was a princess who had two suitors, a prince and a farmer. She asked each to bring her an animal as a gift. The prince brought her a well bred dog with beautiful hair. The farmer brought her a small green frog. She took each pet and announced she would be marrying the farmer. The prince got mad and demanded her to answer why. She said that anyone can go out and buy a dog, but the farmer had spent time catching the frog and cleaning it to present to her. Even though his gift wasn’t the most pretty or conventional, it had the most effort and thought put in it.” Patton smiled as he told the story, Remus was entrapped by his words. He clearly had fond memories of that story and it was reflected in how happily he told it.

“I think that’s my new favourite fairy tale.” Remus said when Patton finished talking. “Is that why you have that tattoo as well?” Remus gestured to Patton’s wrist. He nodded.

“My ex was a tattoo artist and he did it as a birthday gift.” Patton said as he rubbed a thumb over the small frog drawn on his wrist. It took him a moment to realise he had just come out to a man he’d met only earlier today. He looked up expecting some sort of reaction from Remus, but he didn’t care. Remus was just looking around the bakery, closely inspecting a sign on one of the walls. Patton found it refreshing to have someone not have a big reaction.

“Art gallery? What’s this for?” Remus asked. The wall had no art on it, just a few small shelves. Patton walked over to join him.

“Oh my mother had the idea that artists could put up any art they had to sell here for a small fee. That way we could generate more business while helping people.” Patton informed. “That reminds me, is there a homeless shelter I could donate any unsold items to?” Remus was surprised. Patton had never been here and already wanted to help the people. It was admirable.

“Well there aren’t any homeless shelters here because there isn’t a need for them, but there is one in the city as you probably know. It’s an hour drive but they’d probably be very happy with a donation even once a week.” Remus explained. Patton looked back blankly.

“Why would I know that?” Patton asked.

“You lived there before you moved here, didn’t you?” Remus thought it was obvious. The only people who knew about this town were the people living in it and some of the people in surrounding areas.

“No. I lived on the coast.” Patton said. 

That’s in the very least 3 hours away. Remus thought.

“Why’d you move here then?” Remus asked plainly, not knowing that for Patton it was a loaded question. Patton crossed his arms and looked down. Remus noticed. “Oh- uh- you don’t have to answer.” He stammered quickly trying to comfort Patton. He was curious but didn’t want to make Patton uncomfortable.

“Thanks.” Patton whispered. It hurt to think back to the time before he moved. It hurt to remember how he pretended to be happy so much that he even fooled himself. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and smiled at Remus. “How about some dessert?” Patton chirped. He really bounced back quickly. Remus wasn’t sure if Patton was serious or flirting so he just nodded his head. Patton clapped and made a happy noise. He led Remus up the stairs to his apartment and unlocked the door, the whole time Remus becoming more and more confused what this invitation entailed.Patton opened the door and allowed Remus to enter. He entered the small studio apartment with an impressive kitchen. Remus didn’t know how to play this. Did Patton think this was a date? Even so he was so sweet and kind that Remus didn’t pin him as the kind to give it up on the first date. Remus tentatively walked over and sat on the large bed. Patton looked across the room where Remus had taken a seat on his bed. It suddenly hit him how his offer may have sounded. Thoughts crashed against Patton’s mind. He quickly walked over and opened the fridge. Patton pulled out a few small caramel tartlets and brought them over to Remus. “Ta da!” Patton announced.

Oh of course. Remus thought. Of course Patton meant actual dessert. He’s a fucking baker.

Patton once again was alone but this time he was a lot happier. 

“They look great.” Remus said as he admired the lovely caramel tarts with chocolate shavings.

“Take them. As a thank you for tonight.” Patton pressed the plate into Remus’ arms. Remus took the plate and tried one of the tarts. The rich caramel melted in his mouth and blended perfectly with the buttery shortbread crust. “And tell Janus I said thanks too.”

“He’ll love these.” Remus mumbled, shoving another in his mouth. Patton giggled. Remus said his goodbyes and left. 

[fanartfunart]

Fly Away

Episode 4: Bibliotech

Ao3 - First - 2 - 3

(Féline Sombre & Paon Lilas designs)

Summery: An AU where Adrien never went to in-person school, not getting the cat miraculous, and found the peacock miraculous. -Adrien sets out to find the Grimoire, and Alya volunteers her investigative skills, interviewing her classmates. Until a librarian gets akumatized and traps them all in a maze of books.

(tw for sickness. very vauge. Much like canon)

-

Alya hummed along to her CD of Nino’s music, ignoring the sounds of siblingly chaos outside her room. Her phone buzzed and she looked down at the text.

Double A: “Hi, you’re the local superhero expert, right?”

She chuckled at Adrien’s question and texted back, “The one and only! Why? Whatcha wondering about?”

“I’m looking for a specific book, actually? An older one about superheros, with lots of different kinds. Seen it anywhere?”

She tilted her head “Just the one you said Chloé took from your dad’s???”

Adrien spent a long time typing only for his reply to read “Oh. Of course, thank you.��

Alya frowned and called him. Adrien picked up with a delay, piano music playing in the background. His voice was hushed “Hi, uh, why are you calling me?”

“What’s going on? Did you not know what kind of book Chloé, or I guess your dad, had?”

“Oh...oh um. No, no I did. Of course I knew what kind of book it was, that’s why I was asking about it. Because it’s lost and I wanted to find it, for my dad,” Adrien chuckled awkwardly.

“Why are you whispering? Are you at a concert?”

“Oh... no I’m supposed to be practicing piano right now...”

“Oh so you’re playing a recording? Huh. Smart.” Alya got up and grabbed her shoes. “Want me to ask around for your book then? It’s kinda my thing. Plus, Chloé never let me get close enough to look at it.”

“You’d do that?” Adrien whispered softly.

“Yeah boy! Don’t worry about it. If Chloé lost it during or before the Collector situation then it’s probably not too far from the school’s social circle.”

“Wow great! Oh whoops- I gotta get back to my practice, Natalie’s coming- so uh... goodbye!”

Alya chuckled “Bye Adrien.” They hung up and Alya got ready for her interrogations.

-

The majority of the students Alya could easily get a hold of knew nothing about where it went. So her only leads were Chloé and Sabrina. They had the same story: Marinette and Lila were the last two people they saw besides each other when the book disappeared.

She met with Lila at the library, Marinette scheduled to meet her not too long after.

Lila was looking at the mystery section when Alya waved her over. "Thank you for meeting with me."

She nodded with a smile, putting down her murder mystery novel, "Of course, what did you need?"

Alya got out her notepad, pen at the ready. "Are you aware that the book Chloé brought to class is missing?"

"It is? Oh no, I didn't. Are you looking for it for her?"

"Not exactly," Alya scribbled down a note. "For its original owner, not Chloé. But! Do you mind describing where you saw it last?"

Lila hummed and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I just remember Chloé showing it to me before she fell and ran off. I thought she had it. Sabrina seemed to really want to leave though."

"I already got Sabrina and Chloé's statements… Marinette was with you, right?"

"Oh! Yes, she was. If you want I can talk to her for you?"

"That's okay," Alya said, "I've already arranged for her to give me her story next. I'm just covering my bases."

Lila hummed and nodded, "If you don't mind my curiosity, who's the original owner?"

"Oh, the Aggrestes," Alya said, "Adrien asked me to help."

Lila raised a brow, "Adrien? He's the one whose face is plastered practically all across Paris, yes?"

Alya chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I guess he's a little famous. He's pretty cool. He almost was gonna be in our class, actually. He would've transferred in just before you," she shrugged, "Guess his dad changed his mind."

Lila tapped her fingers across the mystery novel's cover and smiled, "Well, I don't have much else for you. Hope you find it for him. It seemed like a special book." Lila stood up, and they waved goodbye.

-

Adrien quietly walked up to the librarian. He smiled, “Hi.”

The librarian looked up with a barely suppressed annoyance, “Hello. How can I help you?”

"I was looking for books related to superheroes?"

He sighed, "Right there. Very popular lately." He pointed lazily and returned his gaze to his computer.

“Oh, thank you!” Adrien followed his direction towards a section that seemed to be dedicated to Féline Sombre and Ladybug. Decorated with red and black spots and green cat paw paper crafts. It was small, secluded. Creating a comfortable nook.

"Come on out, Duusu," Adrien whispered. The kwami zipped out and fluffed his feathers, tilting his head. "Any books you recognize?" Duusu hummed and flitted between the shelves of books. Adrien skimmed through the titles. (How did people get the rights to publish fiction works about the heroes? …Do Ladybug and Féline Sombre get royalties?) He tilted his head at a title "A History of Heroics: the Lesser Known Origins of Paris’s Superheroes"

Duusu came back and hovered in front of him, "Nope, nothing.”

Adrien huffed a sigh, "Well this is the last library nearby I can think of. It's got to be in somebody's private collection then, Duusu." 

Duusu's head drooped, overcome with a quiet sadness. He glanced up, seeing something behind Adrien. He gasped and hid. Adrien spun on his heel. Natalie stood there, hands behind her back.

"You abandoned your piano practice and missed a photoshoot," she said, "I'm glad you're…" she looked around at the shelves, raising a brow, "taking initiative... in your learning, but you can't just abandon your responsibilities."

He nodded, hanging his head. "I- you're right, sorry..."

She glanced down at him and sighed. Her tone softened, "Go finish up and check out your books, we will wait for you outside in the car."

He looked back up with a smile, "Oh, thanks, I'll uh-" He glanced down at the book he was caught holding. Apparently he was into history today... "I'll go check this out…"

-

Lila waited at the doorway, much to the annoyance of the terse librarian. She ignored him. 

Marinette stumbled through the doors, carrying a box of pastries. Clearly buttering up Alya to make her believe whatever lie she came up with. Lila rolled her eyes at such amateur tactics.

She sashayed towards Marinette, "Hi Marinette, how are you today?"

"Lila! Good, good, how are you?" She smiled brightly and opened the box of macaroons, "Want some? I mentioned I was visiting a friend and we had some leftovers, so my dad kinda pushed them on me."

"No, thank you. I'm just fine. But Alya was asking about that book you borrowed from Chloé. ...I'd be careful if I were you, I wouldn't want it all pinned on you. Who knows what Chloé's reaction would be."

Marinette tilted her head “She was? Why should I-”

”Well you had it last... But I know, you're so sweet, you could never steal, could you?" she smiled, grin sharp and fox-like. "Although… you’ve had ample time to return it... actually, I just remembered something... I should go tell Alya-"

"Wha- no no, I didn't steal it! It's fine, I can explain everything to Alya!" Marinette waved her hands frantically.

"Hm. You still have it right?"

"Er… No...I uh, returned it.... To the… library."

"Well should be easy to find again then," She waved a hand to the library's bookshelves, "I'd love to see it again. I'll make sure Chloé never hears who had it, if you give it to me."

"What? Why do you want it?"

"I want to return it to its original owner, that's all," she said, pressing a hand gingerly against her chest, "and do you really trust Alya to be quiet about it? She's all about truth and justice..."

Marinette frowned, folding her arms, "Alya’s more trustworthy than you, that's for sure… Whatever plan you have, I'm not going to be part of it." 

The librarian abandoned his post, frowning, "Excuse me, what's going on here?"

Lila gave a pitifully sad look to the librarian, "She stole a book from one of my friends and won't return it! She loved that book and-"

Marinette sputtered. "What, I didn't steal-" The librarian raised a hand to stop them both.

"You'd make a very good actor. But, you're a tad over dramatic, young lady. I overheard your conversation. Your earlier tone clearly indicated elements of blackmail."

"Wh- well...well," Lila looked around, at a loss for how to lie her way out of this. Her hands balled into fists, "Well, you're just a dumb book scanner. You don't know what you're talking about," she said, "Stay out of it!"

He balked and his expression hardened, "Out."

She gasped, "What? This is a public library-"

"Yet, this dumb book scanner is telling you to get. Out. You blackmailed another patron and then tried to lie to me," he pointed to the doors, pen in hand. "So, I'd rather not repeat myself a third time."

Lila stomped out. Adrien tilted his head as he walked towards the counter, seeing Marinette watching the sceene. “Marinette?” She turned to look at him, raising a brow.

“Wha- Adrien? What are you doing here?”

A purple butterfly landed on the librarian's pen.

"Bibliotech, I am Hawkmoth. One too many people have dismissed and belittled you. I can give you the power to make sure everyone listens to you. You'll be the smartest person in the room at all times. In return, all I ask is for Ladybug, Féline Sombre, and Paon Lilas' Miraculous."

The librarian narrowed his eyes, adjusted his glasses, and grinned, "They'll all regret underestimating me." His glasses were now a glowing visor, his pen had seemed to have morphed into a staff. He twirled the staff in a motion that made a red “P” in the air.

“Marinette!” Adrien pointed, and ran towards her. Marinette turned and gasped as the window crashed as the pen-staff was thrown towards Lila’s receding figure. Lila disappeared as the pen touched her. Bibliotech summoned the staff back to himself, a meter on the pen filling slightly. He turned towards Marinette and Adrien.

"You seem like smart kids," he said, which didn't sound especially good to be in this context, "I hope you're ready for the test. Unfortunately, I don't have a number 2 pencil for you to borrow!"

He twirled his staff-pen and was about to hit Marinette with it, but Adrien shoved her to the floor. He stared at her for a moment. “You okay?”

She nodded and scrambled up. “Run!” She directed, pointing somewhere for Adrien to go while she ran into another opposite direction.

Adrien took the opportunity to dive behind the library counter. “Duusu, spread my feathers!”

"Akuma! Evacuate the Library!" Marinette yelled. She glanced down each row of books for a hiding spot to transform.... Come on, why does every row of books have at least one person in it?!

Alya stood up as Marinette ran toward her, "Marinette?! Akuma? Where!?" She started getting out her phone.

"Do not go toward the angry supervillain, please!" Marinette exclaimed, pushing Alya in the opposite direction.

Paon Lilas crashed into a bookshelf nearby, chuckling awkwardly. “Hi girls. Don’t mind me.” He stood back up, wobbily, as Bibliotech and a pair of people with a red “F” on their chests walked forward, expressions frighteningly vacant.

“You deserve a bad grade for your attitude!” Bibliotech called.

“My attitude? Who are you, my father?” Paon Lilas snarked back, running back towards him.

“No, I’m Bibliotech,” he said, matter of factually. He side stepped Paon Lilas’s attack and the minions grabbed the superhero.

He hummed, "I don't want to make it easy for you," Bibliotech drew the shorthand for “revise” and tapped a book shelf. The shelves bended and twisted into a maze-like structure. Blocking off Marinette and Alya together, and Paon Lilas with the villains.

"Nonono nooo," Marinette cried.

"If you can escape this I'll let you pass automatically!" Bibliotech's voice echoed. "Trust me, you'll need to pass this test."

"Ugh, we're not gonna be able to see the fight from here…" Alya turned towards Marinette,  "Come on, we gotta stick together if we wanna get out of here. Two minds are better than one, girl. I'm sure the superheroes will have it handled in no time!"

Marinette sighed. "Let's just hope they can find their way through this…"

-

Féline Sombre called Ladybug again, and huffed as it continued to not go through. She really hoped she hadn't been caught by Bibliotech. They landed outside the library and looked around. It was eerily quiet. She cautiously walked in.

"Hello Féline Sombre. I'll give you one chance to do this easily." Bibliotech sat on the top of one of the book shelves, legs crossed, "Hand me that ring, please."

"I appreciate the please, not so much the everything else," Féline Sombre said, and extended her staff to knock him down towards her. 

He blocked it with his own staff, and dropped to the ground, twirling it. "I hope you're ready to pay your late fees then."

Féline Sombre narrowly avoided being tapped with his staff and giggled nervously. "Do cats get late fee exemptions?"

"No," he said bluntly, twirling his staff and using the back half of it to throw her off balance. They grabbed onto their staff and extended it, twirling on the bar and leaping down to kick him back.

She tumbled and turned around, only for the man to have disappeared. They sighed, “Ladybug better get here fast.”

-

Paon Lilas threw off the other mindless drone and kicked the bookshelf. He stumbled backwards, barely avoiding the avalanche of books, vision blooming with spots. The akuma’s minions didn’t move after he was out of their grip. “Wow, is that what a failing grade does to you? He made them real dunces.... Oo, Dunce caps. That’s what I’m calling them now.”

He frowned at the rows of books and braced a hand against the wall to keep his balance. Someone nearby was very frustrated. He turned to follow it. It was probably Bibliotech.

-

Marinette anxiously tried to find somewhere to lose Alya. She took unexpected turns and ran ahead, but no. Alya just turned right with her, despite the fact that she was also recording everything. 

"It seems Bibliotech basically gave the building a revision, like a teacher might to a student's essay." Alya narrated, "He's also making this maze really hard… Marinette no, we went that way before!"

Marinette groaned in exasperation, "Shouldn't we… split up to cover more ground?"

"I'd suggest against it," A calm, overly gentle, masculine voice said, "Besides, I’m here to help now." 

Marinette froze. Please no, please no not him. Couldn’t Féline Sombre have come to save them before him? She turned around and frowned at Paon Lilas. He smiled (annoyingly) at her.

"How did you find us?" Marinette cried, throwing up her hands.

"I followed the feelings of frustration,” he said with an awkward laugh. “Anyway, we should get you out of here-”

“You’re not going to help Ladybug and Féline Sombre with Bibliotech?” Marinette said, folding her arms.

He shrugged, “Can’t be much help if I can’t find any of them, can I?” he offered a hand, "Paon Lilas, if you haven't heard of me yet." 

"Alya, creator of the Ladyblog. I’ve definitely heard of you," Alya accepted the hand and instead of shaking it, he leaned down to kiss her hand. Marinette pointedly did not give him her hand or a name.

"So, you mentioned you followed our feelings- Can you tell who the emotions are connected to?" Alya aimed her phone camera at Paon Lilas, obviously preparing to interview him. Paon Lilas waved for them to follow him and started walking. Alya followed.

"Er, stronger emotions are easier to find, and akuma victims are usually really really strong… So, I can make a good guess? Uh... a few people are… loud? Emotionally. Right now, though." He seemed to wince, minutely. It was covered with a smile. He shrugged, "It's making it a little hard to isolate Bibliotech."

Marinette frowned and turned down a random turn the rest of the group had walked past. Paon Lilas turned around, "Mar- er, Miss, where are you going?"

Marinette groaned in frustration and smiled sharply at him, "Sorry, got excited."

He giggled, a strange (condescending?? No… fond?!?) smile on his lips. "I noticed. Do you need me to hold your hand? ...To keep you from running down every turn out of excitement?"

"Nope! Nope. I'm good." She stuffed her hands in her pockets and glared forward. Alya mercifully was too distracted by Paon Lilas to comment.

Féline Sombre ran past, then skidded to a halt and returned to the group. “Birdy! Seen Ladybug?”

“Nope, no Buggaboo yet. Nice of you to join us though, Kitten.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose at the nickname. Buggaboo? Really?

Féline Sombre frowned, “Okay.... We need a way to work through this maze to get to the Akuma and make sure Ladybug can find us...”

"We could help!” Alya said, “Marinette and I could make a book trail.”

“If you do that, I could probably more easily use my powers to track down Bibliotech’s emotions.”

"What?" Marinette squeaked, "Surely they can do that themselves. How about we… find a good place to hide while they do that!?"

Paon Lilas frowned and glanced at the group. He gently pulled Marinette off to the side.

"You're nervous and frustrated... Do you really want to stay here? Wait until Ladybug captures the akuma?"

Marinette glanced around. Easy out. She nodded. "Sure, you go ahead and I'll stay right here!"

"I could give you a sentimonster to protect you, and your friend Alya, if she wants to stay too. Then Féline and I can just go find Bibliotech."

"Oh you uh, you don't need to do that. I'm fine staying here alone!"

"I want to," he smiled, "I want to help. Trust me."

Marinette frowned and nodded, "Fine…"

He fumbled forward without warning, eyes widening. He quickly straightened himself out and took a deep breath. He smiled again, like the moment never happened. He plucked a feather from his fan and imbued it with power, blowing it towards Marinette in away absurdly close to blowing a kiss. The feather fluttered into Marinette's purse and the twin masks of light appeared on their faces.

"If you need anything just tell me," he said, "I can hear it, no matter how far." He winked and the light faded. 

A fluffy, black and white dog with a pink floral pattern on its forehead and paws, sat next to Marinette. 

Paon Lilas turned towards Alya and Féline Sombre. "Marinette's staying here with senti-pup. Alya, what do you want to do?"

"I'm going with you, I wanna record this!"

Féline humed, "Okay but you need to keep out of the way… I still have no idea what the Akuma is in so-"

"The pen" Paon Lilas said, “The akuma’s in the pen.”

Marinette blinked, “How did you know that?”

He chuckled awkwardly, “I- er, call it intuition.”

“Huh. Great. Cool, go save the day!” Marinette pushed Paon Lilas away, as senti dog barked at the rest of them, herding them like a sheepdog. 

With the group finally gone, she ran down the corner a little farther and sighed as Tiki zipped out.

"I love Alya but seriously, I could've been helping Féline Sombre already."

Tiki giggled, "What are we doing with your new buddy?" 

"Oh. Right. Uh…" She took off her purse so it wouldn't disappear in her transformation. "There, let's go. Tiki! Spots on!" 

She picked up her purse and made a hush motion to the dog, who wagged its tail.

-

They followed Paon Lilas's lead Alya trailing behind putting down books to keep them on track. The strongest emotions led them into what must be the center of the library maze. Surrounded by Dunce Caps. 

Ladybug ran in behind them, Marinette's Sentidog at her heels. 

"Ladybug?" Paon Lilas frowned at her, "Why do you have Marinette's purse?"

"She, uh, gave it to me, I led her out of the building and she didn't want your amok to go to waste."

He sighed, "So brave," under his breath. He shook his head. “Let's get this over with...”

Ladybug caught his arm before he could jump into fray. "We've gotta be smart about this, this whole thing is a test, right?"

He glared at her hand on his arm and pulled away. "Fine, what is your plan, M’lady?"

She huffed and then glanced at Sentidog and Alya’s phone. "Okay, Alya, I need your phone for a second. Mind pulling up a recording?"

Alya nodded and handed her the phone. Ladybug handed it to Sentidog who bounded off, as the audio began playing. The Dunce Caps turned and followed the noise, leaving the entry unprotected.

The group walked up to it. Paon Lilas tried the door and frowned. "Locked."

"It's a puzzle," Féline Sombre said, pointing to the books above the doorway. She extended her staff to allow her to reach, and began rearranging the books. 

"They're all classics, but," they clicked them into place, "They were out of order.”

The door opened. Paon Lilas raised a brow, "How… do you know the library’s organization system?"

Féline Sombre looked confused, "You don't?"

The group walked in, and Sentidog returned, no longer holding the phone, clearly having dropped it somewhere. (Alya meanwhile got out her tablet to record instead.)

Bibliotech sat on a floating platform of books. “Took you less time than I thought it would... Are you cheating?” He shook his head, “Doesn’t matter, once I deal with you, I won’t have anything else in my way.”

Bibliotech flourished his pen in an P motion and moved to tap Ladybug with it. Paon Lilas jumped in front of her, taking the hit. He disappeared. The staff returned to Bibliotech’s hands.

Ladybug gasped. "Why did he do that? Ugh! Stupid bird- Lucky Charm!" A box fell into her hands.

Bibliotech focused on Ladybug. She used her yoyo as a shield on each hit, searching for how to use the cardboard box.

Féline Sombre extended her staff to meet Bibliotech, landing a solid kick. Bibliotech wrote another Revise note and created another platform for him to jump onto, away from Féline. The red meter went down. 

"It's an ink pen." Ladybug whispered, "Féline, destroy the platform!"

"No problem, Bug! Cataclysm!" Féline Sombre touched Bibliotech’s platform, and he grabbed their hand. They yelped and stumbled to remain precariously on the platform. Ladybug whistled and Sentidog ran up and grabbed Féline Sombre’s leg. She shifted to a less unsteady part of the platform, trying to shake off Bibliotech’s grasp on her arm. He readied his pen.

"You forgot the lid!" Ladybug said, and threw the cardboard box up. Féline Sombre grabbed it with their free hand, and caught the tip of the pen from Bibliotech’s attack.

Bibliotech tried to pull back, but the Sentidog grabbed Bibliotech's staff, growling.  Ladybug tied Bibliotech's arms in her yoyo and sentidog pulled the staff away and raced down the platforms. Féline shifted to keep a hold of Bibliotech.

Ladybug caught the dog as it jumped into her arms, giggling, "Good puppy."

It dropped the pen and she snapped it in half.

The butterfly fluttered out and the book platforms began to crumble. Féline grabbed Bibliotech and extended their staff to catch their fall, sliding down.

Ladybug caught the Akuma and threw the cardboard box in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Paon Lilas and the rest of the people reappeared. Paon instantly doubled over and coughed. His miraculous beeping.

Féline Sombre ran over to him, "Are you okay?"

He groaned, but nodded anyway. "Fine…Ya know, I was going for knocking the pen off-course but, taking the hit works too, I guess." He stumbled to a wobbling stand. Ladybug walked up to him, the sentidog on her heels. He ran.

"Wait!" Ladybug called. He turned a corner. She tried to follow him, but the aisle of books was empty. He was gone.

A mask of light appeared on her face. “Hey, Marinette. Hope you’re okay. They purified the akuma. I’m uh, pulling the amok, make sure to get your purse back from Ladybug. Sorry-” The mask disappeared, presumably because he had detransformed.

Sentidog was gone when Ladybug returned. She sighed. She was kinda going to miss that dog. Ladybug went to go help the librarian before her transformation dropped. 

-

Adrien barely caught Duusu as the kwami tumbled out of the brooch, exhausted. He pressed himself flat against the bookshelf, taking deep breaths between bouts of coughing. Pulling out the mango chips for the kwami, he groaned and slid to the floor.

He didn't know how long he sat there. Next thing he knew, Marinette was crouched next to him. Her hand on his shoulder, gentle. "Hey, hey, are you okay?"

He looked up, "Uh… No." He glanced back at the ground, his mind going back to his mother. Her illness. Her unsteadiness and coughs. He felt tears well up in his eyes. "I don't think so."

[snelbz]

Lost Time {19}

Summary: It’s been four years since Azriel ran away from Velaris and left behind everyone he ever loved  — including the girl left standing at the altar. Now, he’s back home, but can he try and pick up the broken pieces of his life, or has there been too much lost time?

@snelbz / @tacmc collab

Lost Time Masterlist

Fanfiction Masterlist

My Ask Box

A/N: Whoops has it been 12 years since I updated this? Yes, it has. Another chapter written with @tacmc. Enjoy!

Elain had made it her mission to give Nesta the best party of her life. She had no idea how many people would actually end up showing up, but Nesta would definitely be feeling the love. 

Her house was decorated to perfection. She had spent the entire morning cooking and baking, and her entire kitchen was loaded up with goodies, which is where she found Azriel, his mouth full of a chocolate cupcake.

When Elain came around the corner, he looked like a child who had been caught doing something his mother had told him specifically not to do.

“Hi,” he said, his mouth full, words muttered. “You look beautiful.”

“And you,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek and wiping chocolate icing off his face, “were told to wait until after the guests got here.”

He grabbed her hand and sucked the excess chocolate off her finger but ignored the fire it ignited in her eyes, knowing they didn’t have time to play before everyone arrived. He knew Elain would have washed the icing from her hand, since even the smell of chocolate made her slightly nauseous these days. He couldn’t let that go to waste. “They needed to be taste tested.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “You’re worse than your son.”

As if on cue, Donovan ran in, dressed in his jeans and plaid shirt, nearly identical to Azriel, and asked, “Mama, can I have some of celery, please?

Azriel raised a dark brow. “Are we sure he’s mine?”

Elain snorted and put a few pieces of celery and a glob of peanut butter on a small plate. “Trust me, your terrible eating habits are nearly the only thing he didn’t inherit from you.”

Novan took the plate and sat down at the table. “Yeah, daddy, terrible eating habits.” 

The way he said habits had Elain laughing. Meanwhile, Azriel looked highly offended. 

The front door was pushed open and Nesta’s voice fluttered through the house. “El, this is beautiful!”

She came around the corner to the living room to find Nesta, teary-eyed, and Cassian standing behind her, shaking his head.

“I told you to get here after all the other guests,” Elain chuckled, looking pointedly at Cassian.

Cassian rolled his eyes. “She couldn’t wait, and she overpowers me.”

Elain sighed and was about to say something when small feet ran from the kitchen. “Uncle Cass!”

“Hey, bud,” he smiled, scooping him up. “You clean up nice.” The compliment was lost on the four-year-old as he replied, “Thank you, I took a bath this morning.”

After a breathy chuckle, Cassian set him down and he hurried over to his aunt. He gently hugged her belly. “Hi, Aunt Nesta. Hi, baby.”

With a fond smile, Nesta ruffled his hair. “Hey, bud. You look nice,” she said, throwing a glance at Cassian, especially when Donvan beamed up at her.

“Thank you! Look!” He ran over to where Azriel had just entered the living room. “Me and daddy are twins!”

The word had Azriel’s eyes finding Elain’s and he smiled softly before picking his son up. When he saw Elain getting misty-eyed, he turned the conversation to the couple before him again. “Did you figure out how to announce the gender yet?

Nesta’s eyes hardened and she turned to glare at Cassian. “I don’t know, Cass, have you decided how to tell your fiancée what we’re having?”

Elain spun and looked at him. “You peeked?”

He was biting his lip. “I peeked.”

“He peeked!” Nesta cried, crossing her arms over her stomach. “And now he won’t tell me. Or anyone, so don’t you dare ask.” She pointed at both Azriel and Elain.

Elain was gaping, and Azriel was just shaking his head. “That’s cruel, taunting a pregnant woman with information she wants to know.” 

“She said she didn’t want to know,” Cassian said, defending himself. “Until I knew, of course.”

His grin only widened as Nesta groaned. “He’s a complete a-.” Her words dropped off as she looked down at Novan. “Meanie,” she finished, after a moment.

Elain shot her a grateful look and said, “Well, you, sit down and relax.” She pointed to the couch and Nesta wisely did as she was told. She turned to Azriel, “Would you mind taking some pictures of…” She trailed off and gestured around the house. “I’m, just, sort of proud of it.”

“You should be,” Azriel said, kissing the top of her head. “Everything looks amazing. Of course I will.” She smiled up at him and he kissed her before turning to Donovan and saying, “I’ll need my assistant though, where’s your camera, bud?”

“In my room!” He was off, running up the stairs on all fours.

Azriel chuckled and followed him.

Finally, Elain pointed at Cassian, “You, follow me, I need to ask you a question.”

His eyebrows rose but he did as she said, following him into the kitchen. Nesta called, “You better not tell her!”

Shaking her head, Elain said, “As much as I’d love to grill you about my niece or nephew, that’s not what I need to ask.”

“Okay,” Cass said, leaning against the counter, eating the last remaining celery stick from Novan’s snack. “What’s up, Lainey?”

“Azriel’s ex came to see me at the shop yesterday,” she admitted.

Cassian’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Ianthe did?” Elain nodded, gnawing on her lip. He chewed slowly. “She’s got some balls.”

“She didn’t tell me who she was, but that almost unsettles me more,” she admitted. “It made it feel more like a threat than a social visit…”

Cassian was quiet for a moment as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I never met her, but from what Az has mentioned, she does seem pretty...unhinged.” 

The look on Elain’s face fell even more. “You don’t think she’s dangerous…do you?” 

Cassian hesitated, and it was all Elain needed to form an answer. “I couldn’t sleep last night, Cass. She left me so unnerved that I… I don’t know. I’m paranoid.” 

“We already told Az that there’s nothing we can do unless she makes a move,” Cassian said, his voice low. “But, if you’re feeling unsafe, I’ll be sure to have someone hang around here throughout their night patrol. Alright?” 

Elain nodded, but grabbed his wrist as he went to turn back toward the living room. “I don’t want Az worrying because I’m paranoid. You know? Because it’s probably nothing. So, just…keep this between us, yeah?”

Cassian frowned, but he nodded, nonetheless.

It wasn’t long after that guest after guest began to arrive and she heard the telltale sounds of merriment in her living room as they all greeted Nesta. The back door opened and Rhys appeared, carrying a massive tray of cupcakes.

“Fridge?” He asked, inclining his head towards.

Elain shook her head and told him to go ahead and take them into the living room, with the rest of the food. She heard steps on the wooden stairs and then Feyre appeared, carrying Lila.

“Hi! I’m sorry we’re late!” She hugged her sister and said, “Everything looks so good!”

Elain scratched behind the pup’s ear, earning her a happy bark and many attempted, sloppy kisses to the back of her hand. She chuckled and went to the sink to wash her hands before going back to chopping up more veggies.

Excited, little footsteps headed towards them. Donovan appeared and his eyes were as big as his grin. “Lila!”

Feyre smiled and put the pup down, who ran straight to her “cousin”, hopping and ready to play.

“Aunt Feyre, I took some really good pictures of Aunt Nesta’s party. I should take some of Lila,” he announced.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Feyre beamed, kissing the top of her nephew’s head. “Show me your favorite one and I’ll get it framed and hang it on my wall at home. Sounds good?” 

Novan’s eyes lit up. “Yes! C’mon Lila!” 

He excitedly disappeared around the corner, Lila just behind him.

“They make a good team,” Elain said, as she watched them go, fondly. “Don’t blink, Novan will try to hide her here so that you won’t take her back home.”

Feyre chuckled. “Oh, good, maybe he can potty train her, too.”

Elain laughed and closed her eyes, resting a hand on her stomach. She sighed dramatically. “Oh god, I’m going to have to go through potty training all over again.”

Feyre chuckled and said, “At least you have Az to clean up the bad ones this time.”

Elain tossed her head back and laughed. “Thank the Cauldron.”

Feyre helped her carry the veggie tray into the living room and Elain began playing host. She kept catching Azriel’s eye from across the room. The smile on his face, the secret the two of them kept, had Elain’s heart so full, she had to look away before her own smile was too telling to those around them. She kept checking on everyone, asking if they needed anything, until she felt slim fingers wrap around her wrist and tug her down on the couch.

Nesta said, “Sit with me. You’ve done more than enough today.”

Elain just rolled her eyes. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“No, you’re pregnant, and I am also pregnant, which means I know you’re exhausted,” Nesta said, laughing quietly. “Please? We’ll do gifts or something.”

Elain looked around hesitantly, but eventually sighed. “Okay, alright. Az?” She caught his eye across the room, where he had Novan on his shoulders and Lila propped up on his legs, wagging her tail. “Mind helping hand gifts?”

His smile was soft. “Of course.”

Elain got the room hushed down as she begrudgingly took a seat next to Nesta on the couch, Feyre on her other side with a notepad, ready to keep track of gifts for thank you notes.

One by one, Azriel gave gifts to Novan, who brought them to Nesta. Elain’s heart was so full. Her entire family there with her, Nesta happy and nearing the end of her pregnancy.

After Nesta had opened an entire nursery worth of gifts and had cried an insane amount, most of the guests had left and everyone was relaxing. The three sisters were sitting on the couch, discussing nursery colors when Cassian brought the three of them each a cupcake. Feyre immediately unwrapped hers and took a bite, as did Elain. Nesta just continued to explain the theme of the nursery they’d begun a few days before.

“Nes,” Cassian laughed, interrupting her as she debated the merits of having the changing table by the door or by the crib and she looked at him.

She asked, “What?”

He shook his head. “Eat your cupcake.”

“Not right now, I’m not hungry,” she said, turning back to her sisters.

“Take a bite of your damn cupcake, woman,” he chuckled.

She glared at him and unwrapped the cupcake without looking at him, and took a bite. Mouth still full, she asked, “Happy?”

He was shaking his head and laughing and Elain realized she heard a camera shutter just as Donovan asked, “Why does Aunt Nesta get a pink cupcake?”

Nesta froze, her eyes slowly trailing down to the cupcake in her hand as she swallowed the food in her mouth. Sure enough, the inside of her cupcake was pink.

“It’s pink,” she breathed, looking up to meet Cassian’s humored gaze.

He nodded, his smile widening. “It’s pink.”

A joyful sob left her mouth as she stood and made her way across the few feet of space that led her to her fiancé. She wrapped her arms around him as Miryam lifted Novan in the air and spun him around, making him giggle. 

Elain found Azriel’s gaze from the other side of the almost-parents and smiled, softly. 

“A girl,” Nesta cried.

“A girl,” Cassian agreed, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

Elain, pregnant and emotional, reached for a tissue on the side table. On the other side of the room, Novan tugged on Azriel’s hand. “Aunt Nes is having a girl baby?”

Azriel picked him up and stepped off to the side. Miryam was hugging Cassian, who had never looked more proud. “She is, buddy.” He frowned and crossed his arms, and Azriel couldn’t help but chuckle. “What is it?”

“I can’t play with a girl baby,” he pouted. “I wanted it to be a boy.”

Azriel smiles and kissed the top of his head. “I’m sure you did, but I promise having a girl cousin will be fun, too.”

He nodded, but the frown and subsequent line between his brows stayed. They watched the scene unfolding before them and Donovan rested his head on Azriel’s shoulder as he yawned.

“Looks like it’s just about nap time for somebody,” he said, singing the words.

Donovan shook his head, but asked, “When is she going to be here?”

He explained, “It’ll be a little bit longer. She’s not ready to come out yet.”

Nodding, he yawned and asked, “Will she be here before or after mama’s baby?”

He gently swayed, saying, “Before. Mama’s baby will be here around Halloween.”

“Spooky baby,” he mumbled and Azriel chuckled.

He repeated, “Spooky baby.”

After one more yawn, he asked, “Can mama have a boy, please?”

Azriel chuckled as he started with Novan up the stairs. “That’s kind of out of our control, buddy.” 

“Why?” He asked, quietly, his eyes starting to close on Azriel’s shoulder.

Azriel sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain the ways of the world to a four year old. Getting him to understand that babies grow in mommies tummies without getting too detailed was difficult enough. “Just because,” he said, at last.

Thankfully, he had taken long enough to reply, because Donovan was too sleepy to reply. His little arms had snaked around Azriel’s neck as they walked to his bedroom, and Azriel didn’t bother with more comfortable clothes as he laid Novan down and tucked him in. He was asleep before Azriel even left the room, softly shutting the door behind him.

—————

It had been a week since the Ianthe incident when Azriel got a call from an old friend in the photography business. The conversation was innocent enough, a discussion on different lenses and the best location for a subject in front of the sun.

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later, thanks, man,” she’d said before hanging up. “Oh, and by the way, congrats. I’ve heard you have a kid on the way. That’s awesome.”

He chuckled and said, “Thanks. Yeah, it was kind of a shock.”

He and Elain had been walking on air the past few days. They were having a family dinner tonight, after Elain went to her check up. She was a couple days shy of sixteen weeks and the family knew there would be new ultrasound pictures to ogle over.

“Yeah, to all of us, too,” Nuala had said. “We didn’t even think you and Ianthe were still together.”

It was a good thing Azriel wasn’t driving or he would have crashed without a doubt. Nuala said something else, but Azriel interrupted her and asked, “Did you say Ianthe?”

“Yeah, it’s all over her Facebook.” He could hear the unease in his friend's voice. “Why?”

“I gotta go, Nu,” he said, breathlessly, not waiting for her reply before hanging up and opening the browser on his laptop. A quick search had him on her page and all he could do was stare.

She had an ultrasound picture as her cover photo. Elain’s ultrasound photo.

He stared in shock, unable to process what he was seeing. He grew nauseous, and purely panicked. Aside from wondering how the hell Ianthe got those pictures, he wondered what other lies she was spewing across social media.

He scrolled down, each post making his heart beat faster and the need to puke stronger.

Every day, she had updated her status, sharing with the world her journey to motherhood.

Azriel was calling Rhysand before he could think twice. 

“Hey, I’m about to head into a meeting-.”

“Ianthe is making the world believe that she's pregnant with my kid.” The words rushed out of Azriel, and he didn’t take a breath as he continued, “She somehow got Elain’s ultrasound pictures and is posting them all over the internet.”

Azriel was greeted with silence, then a low, “Fuck.”

He could hear the typing of Rhysand’s keyboard and then a low whistle. “Elain at work?”

“Yeah, I just talked to her not long ago, everything was fine. She hasn’t mentioned seeing Ianthe again. Neither have I.”

The clicking of his keyboard continued and he said, “I’ve reported the posts, but you know as well as I do that she can just repost them. I can write out a cease-and-desist letter if you want, but-.”

Azriel was shaking his head, regardless of the fact that his brother couldn’t see it. “No, that’s exactly what she wants. She wants to know she’s getting a rise out of me.”

Rhys sighed and said, “I know.”

“Don’t tell Elain about this, please.”

The line was silent for a minute and Rhysand finally started, “Az-.”

“No, promise me you won’t tell her,” he said, interrupting him. “She’s already freaked out as it is, even though she doesn’t want me to know. I can see it. She’s barely been sleeping, and in her condition…” Azriel sighed and let his head hang. “I’ll handle it, I’ll deal with Ianthe. Just don’t mention this to Elain or Feyre.”

Rhysand groaned, and even though he didn’t approve of the request, he said, “Fine. Let me know if Ianthe tries anything else.”

Azriel stared back at the ultrasound picture on the model’s profile as he said, “I will. Thanks.”

Rhysand hung up and Azriel’s nerves went haywire. He was caught between the thought of wanting to track down Ianthe and shake some sense into her and wanting to go to Elain to make sure Ianthe didn’t make anymore appearances. If he tracked down Ianthe, though, she would know her plan was working, which would only inspire her more. And if he went to Elain, she would only grow more nervous and paranoid, which wasn’t good for her or the life inside of her. 

Azriel needed a drink.

Or a smoke. 

Or to pack up his family and take a vacation.

Currently, none of those were an option. He glanced over his shoulder to where Donovan had fallen asleep on the couch watching Power Rangers. It was close enough to his nap time that Azriel hadn’t bothered to wake him, just letting his son get some much needed sleep. He smiled softly, and turned back to his laptop, closing Ianthe’s profile and turning his attention back to the photo editor he’d been using.

True to his word, Donovan had taken tons of pictures of Lila, around three hundred to be exact. Most were of a vague black blur surrounded by rich hardwood or soft grass, but there were a few that actually turned out that he could work with. 

Azriel wanted the best for his son, he wanted him to know that he could do anything he dreamed of, even at four-years-old.

An hour later, he had three images edited to perfection, ready to print.

He woke up a sleepy Novan and packed him up in the truck, heading to a local print shop. It just happened to be across the square from the antique shop. After handing the printer a thumb drive, they told him the prints would be ready in a little under an hour, right about the time they’d be leaving for Miryam’s for a family dinner.

Donovan was a ball of excitement, so ready to see his first job, he continually called it.

Leaving the shop, Azriel eyed the antique shop’s store front. “Want to go see mama while we wait?”

“Yes!” He replied, without any hesitation. 

Azriel took his hand and they crossed the street, Novan a rested ball of energy. The moment the door opened and the bell chimed, Novan was yelling, “Mama!”

Elain came around the corner, a hand on her stomach as Novan ran toward her and threw his little arms around her waist. She raised her brows, laughing as she looked up at Azriel. “My two favorite boys, what a nice surprise!”

“Me and daddy are getting pictures made,” Novan said, smiling brightly. “One for Aunt Feyre, and one for our house!” 

“Is that so?” Elain asked, impressed. “Well, I can’t wait to see them.”

Azriel had just reached her, moving much slower than his toddler. When he kissed his wife, softly, Novan was covering his eyes. “Gross.”

Azriel snorted as he ruffled Novan’s hair. He looked at Elain, letting his fingers dance over her belly. “How did everything go today?”

She chuckled and ran a loving hand over her stomach. “It’s definitely getting cramped in there, that’s for sure. But all good. I go back in two weeks.”

Azriel released a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. “Good. I’ll be there this time, I promise.” He kissed her again. “When can you close up? The prints will be done around five-thirty and I figured we could all ride to mom’s in one car, rather than two.”

She chuckled and looking down at her son, who was resting his chin on her growing stomach, gazing up at her. She picked him up, seeing the look on Azriel’s face, and shot him one that said I dare you to say something. He, wisely, did not.

Elain turned and headed back to the office. “I just finished up with inventory. I need to touch up this piece and then we can head out. But can you do me a favor, please?”

She sat Donovan down and he ran off to play around the store, before she turned to Az.

“Of course,” he said, leaning against the doorway.

She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. “Please go get me a decaf coffee. I know I can’t have caffeine, but I think I can trick my body into thinking it’s getting it.”

Azriel chuckled, softly, and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Of course. Novan, you wanna come with me or stay with mama?”

“Stay with mama!” He was currently sitting upside down in a refurbished chair, so Azriel wasn’t going to argue with that.

“Okay,” he breathed, smiling at Elain. “I’ll be right back.”

She nodded, watching him go as he made his way back through the shop. There was a little coffee house just across the street, and after looking both ways, he hurried across the pavement, onto the sidewalk, and through the double doors. A cool blast of air hit him as he stood in line, waiting to order a simple large, decaf coffee.

The thought of Elain tricking her own self into drinking something with caffeine had him laughing where he stood. Gods, he loved that woman.

He ordered a coffee for himself, a frozen hot chocolate for Novan and Elain’s decaf and stepped to the side. He was scrolling through his emails when he froze.

“Funny. You never drank decaf before.”

Her voice had him on red alert and he’d spun to face her before she’d even finished speaking.

Her turquoise eyes sparkled as she cooed, “Hi, Azzie. Did you miss me?”

He couldn’t speak, didn’t know how to speak as he took in Ianthe standing in front of him. And how she was cradling her stomach.

Snapping out of it, he grabbed her by the wrist, not nearly as gentle as he should have, seeing as they were in public, and dragged her to the corner. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Her face was the picture of innocence. “What do you mean?”

“This!” He said, his voice raising slightly. “All of this. Coming to Velaris, scaring the shit out of my wife, pretending you’re having my baby? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He had the vague notion of someone calling his name, knew that his order was ready and he should leave, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

She was smiling and that was the scariest part of it all.

“Leave my family alone,” he seethed, finally dropping her wrist. He backed up toward the counter. “Don’t talk to me or my wife, and don’t you dare think about doing anything to my kids. Go home, Ianthe.”

She said nothing as he backed away, but that sly smile on her lips remained. 

It sent chills down his spine.

He forced himself to turn away, forced himself to take the drinks off the counter, and forced himself not to look back at her as he exited the shop. Everything felt wrong, every last ounce of comfort he had been clinging to have vanished.

She was crazy.

Actually insane.

And he knew for a fact that his words had meant nothing to her.

Azriel tried to look calm as he re-entered the antique store, finding Novan bouncing up and down as Elain painted an old vanity.

“Decaf for my wife, and chocolatey goodness for little man,” Azriel announced, forcing himself to sound chipper.

Novan was instantly on his feet, reaching for his drink with a thank you, daddy.

Elain took the coffee and put it to her lips, scalding hot or not, and murmured, “This will give me energy. This will give me energy. This will give me energy.”

Az chuckled quietly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading into her office and sitting down at her desk. He dropped his head in his hands and sighed. He knew he needed to tell Elain, but now was not the time. He’d tell her tonight, when they got home, after Donovan was asleep, after spending the evening with their family.

His phone rang, and it snapped him out of the downward spiral his thoughts were taking. After answering and finding out the prints were finished, he took a deep breath and made his way back into the store front.

He pressed a kiss to Elain’s head and said, “I’m going across the street to grab his pictures. Want to finish up and pick me up over there?”

She nodded and asked, “You want to leave your truck here and take my car?”

“It’ll save room at mom’s,” he said and nodded.

“Okay, give me five minutes.” She stood and kissed him and he was on his way.

He took Donovan’s hand and brought him with him across the street to pick up the prints. When Elain pulled up just over five minutes later, Azriel and Novan were sitting together on a bench outside of the storefront, looking at the two massive prints of Lila they had ordered.

Novan’s joyous laughter as he took in his work was a sound that Azriel would remember for the rest of his life.

“I’ll bring them to get them framed and then we’ll hang it up, okay?”

Novan nodded, excitedly. “Can we give Aunt Feyre hers at Meme’s? I really, really want to!”

Azriel laughed as Elain rolled down the window. “Of course.”

“Mama!” Novan yelled, jumping up from the bench and pointed at the print in Azriel’s hands. “Look! My picture!” 

Elain’s reaction was equivalent to someone admiring an ancient, prized masterpiece, which had Novan beaming.

Once they were in the car, Novan was going on and on about his picture, about how Aunt Feyre was going to love it, and how he was a photographer just like his daddy. Azriel thought his heart was going to burst.

“Can I see them?” He asked, and Elain smiled as she handed Azriel the two small, black and white images. He gazed at them, finally able to see a baby in each the pictures, rather than just a blurry blob. He didn’t realize he was crying until Elain took his hand over the middle console. He cleared his throat and whispered, “Wow.”

He couldn’t think of any other words to explain what he was looking at, how happy he was. Elain agreed, though, smiling and glancing at him. “Wow.”

Pulling into the driveway, Novan was bouncing in his seat, begging Azriel to get him out as soon as Elain had parked the car. After safely tucking the ultrasounds away in Elain’s purse, he did just that and Donovan was up the stairs and in the house before Az and Elain had time to laugh. He started for the porch step, but Elain grabbed his hand.

“Are you okay?” She asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “You seem off, baby.”

He’d tried his hardest to act normal, not to let Ianthe’s appearance affect him, but Elain knew him inside and out. She knew him better than he knew himself, so of course, she’d notice.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he said, “I’m fine. Just…got a lot on my mind.”

She nodded, completely understanding. “Well, come on. Let’s take some time to not think about anything but our family.”

His smile was genuine when he took her hand in his and led him up the stairs, and into the backdoor. They were all there, already, everyone circled around Novan, praising his camera skills and the picture of Lila.

“I’m going to hang mine right in the entryway so that everyone who comes to my house will see it the moment they walk through the door,” Feyre promised. 

“It’s just what we needed,” Rhysand agreed, with a wink. 

“Now I’m a photographer, like daddy,” Novan said, turning to smile at his parents. 

“Yes you are,” Miryam promised, as she wrapped Azriel into a hug, then Elain. “Everybody hungry? The tables all set and ready.”

“Yes, please,” Elain said, sighing as she rubbed a hand over her stomach.

“Before we eat, though, I need to see the new pictures!” Feyre called, Nesta agreeing as they went into the dining room.

Elain laughed as she pulled the little envelope out of her purse and set the bag on the counter before wrapping an arm around Azriel’s waist and walking with him through the threshold of the dining room.

She handed one of the pictures to Miryam and the other to Feyre and then stepped back to wait with Azriel. Rhys asked, “No gender yet?”

She shook her head. “We’re waiting until twenty weeks. I’m not dealing with another color swap fiasco.”

Elain’s very first nurse had jumped the gun and told her Donovan was going to be a girl. Naturally, so did Feyre and Nesta, and Elain had a nursery full of frilly, pink sparkles.

And then a month later, she’d found out she was having a boy.

Feyre handed the ultrasound to Nesta, who was already crying, and she looked at it with a hand over her mouth.

Cassian chuckled and pressed a kiss to her head and looked at the ultrasound in her hand and then to the one Miryam had just handed him. His eyes narrowed and he looked back and forth between the two.

“Wait,” he began, scooting closer to Nesta. “Why does mine say baby B, and hers says baby A?”

All conversation stopped as everyone looked to Cassian, where he was still looking back and forth between the two pictures. Nesta’s mouth had fallen open, Miryam’s hands had flown up to cover her mouth, but it was Feyre who was smiling brightly up at Elain, whispering, “Twins?”

Elain fell into Azriel’s side, her laughter contagious as she announced, “We’re having twins.”

“Twins?” Novan repeated, as everyone around him celebrated. “What’s twins?”

Miryam picked him up and sat him in her lap as Cassian handed her the two ultrasound images. Nesta was already crying with Elain in her arms and Feyre was hugging Azriel. Miryam set the two images on the table and said, “These are two different babies, but they’re both in mama’s tummy.”

His eyes went wide, “I get two babies?”

He’d begun to refer to the baby as his baby, and Elain thought her heart would explode every time.

“You get two babies, buddy,” she said, tears shimmering on her face.

Novan’s awed expression turned into utter excitement. “Two babies! Two brothers!”

Azriel hesitated, but Elain just laughed. “We’ll have to see, buddy. We don’t know if it’s brothers or sisters yet in there.”

Novan was quick on his feet, standing in front of Elain and pressing his cheek to her belly. “Please, someone in there be a brother.”

Everyone laughed, but Elain just ruffled his dark, messy hair. “Even if they’re both sisters, you’re going to be a good big brother to these two babies, buddy.”

He looked up at his parents and smiled. “I’ll be the best big brother in the world.”

[loisinherlane]

Consider this my magnum opus of why I love Booster Gold and why you should read these comics, but also: how Michael Carter and his family are connected to time travel. It’s kind of a hot mess because I run through a bunch of comics, but hopefully this makes sense!

Michael Carter, alias Booster Gold, is the first new hero introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Booster is from the 25th century, where he was a college football player who got caught betting on his games and expelled, eventually becoming a janitor in a museum.

(Booster Gold (2007) #1)

At this museum, he befriends a security robot called Skeets. Eventually, Booster decides that he wants the adoration superheroes had in the 20th/21st century, and with future technology, he would be able to join up in the past. So Booster steals a Time Sphere, a suit, and a Legion of Superheroes flight ring. (Wait, the legion is from the 30th century, right? Yes. There are reasons this ring is in the past, and that’s mostly because Booster was always meant to become a superhero.) In the past, Booster establishes himself as a superhero, with a manager and number of sponsors. He’s about making money. This doesn’t necessarily make him a lot of friends. But he joins the Justice League International, makes friends with some heroes (including Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle), and has a standard fare for a non-central character.

So flash forward to Countdown to Infinite Crisis. For those of you who haven’t read this one: This is a lead-in to the OMAC Project, and later, to Infinite Crisis, where Ted Kord notices a number of things that don’t add up. Unfortunately, Ted is not the most respected hero in the community, and no one quite takes him seriously. Wonder Woman says she’s busy but to keep her updated, and Oracle is trying to get him to pay more attention to other matters.

(Countdown to Infinite Crisis)

So Ted seeks out his best friend Booster to help. Booster, after some initial reluctance, joins up. There’s some noticeable moments where Booster hints that he knows some things about the future (particularly, that Ted is going to die, and the Scarab means that the new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, is about to take over): Booster keeps staring at the newly found Scarab. He asks Ted when he found it. Ted, in his narration, hints that Booster knew Doomsday would kill Superman, and he still took the first punch.

(Countdown to Infinite Crisis)

All of this parallels what happens next: Booster shoos Ted away from the computer and takes over. Booster gets hit by an explosion meant for Ted.

(Countdown to Infinite Crisis)

Consider: Later implications of time travel suggest that some small things can be changed, but the big things can’t. If Booster knew what was going to happen, did Booster only postpone Ted’s death?

With that, Ted does die at the end of this story, and a part of The OMAC Project is Wonder Woman and Booster investigating Ted’s death. But as much as I love Ted, we’re mostly talking about Booster and time travel today. So moving on!

In Infinite Crisis, Booster is the one who fetches Jaime Reyes. After returning to the 25th century to access historical records, he tracks down Jaime via the scarab. (Of course, this is another example of a potential change: Booster says he may be saving millions or billions of lives, but this is unsubstantiated.)

(Infinite Crisis #2)

(Infinite Crisis #5)

So this brings us to 52, the fallout of Infinite Crisis. Booster Gold’s plot, while not obviously central in its introduction, plays a major role in bringing back the multiverse to the Post-Crisis continuity. Booster Gold, in the wake of the loss of his best friend Ted Kord, has sold-out again.

(52 #1)

With the help of Skeets, he’s returned to his origins. He wants to be a hero and make bank. Superman’s not around, so who else could Metropolis turn to?

Booster is on the outs though. First, with the heroes: Ralph Dibny blames him for not realizing his wife Sue was going to be murdered. Beatriz de Costa (Fire) shames him for how he’s acting after Ted’s death.

(52 #7)

(52 #4)

Pay attention to that notepad. Booster writes the names of Rip Hunter and his fellow Time Masters, as well S.T.A.R. Labs Time Travel Division. Everyone but Rip Hunter is crossed out. Rip’s name is circled, but he’s noted as “unlisted?????”

Because he’s noticed a number of events that don’t line up with the history Booster and Skeets remember, Booster goes to visit Rip Hunter in his Time Lab in Arizona. Skeets has to hold the door open because of the lock, so Booster goes in by himself...

(52 #6)

...and sees this... (Feel free to read what’s on the chalkboard. A lot of it hints to happenings in both 52 and the One Year Later event, as well as other stories. It can be fun to make connections.)

(52 #6)

...and this. Yikes.

We soon find out that Booster hired an actor to fake an incident on a subway. Why? Well... that answer’s not so clear. But considering the rest of the story, it’s likely Booster wanted to discredit himself.

(52 #7)

Unfortunately for Booster, this ruins his reputation with the public, and he’s soon replaced by a new, more humble hero: Supernova.

(52 #10)

And the public adores Supernova. Meanwhile, Booster’s sponsors pull out as his reputation goes down the drain.

Booster gets one last moment in the limelight, when he pushes too hard trying to upstage Supernova, and he dies... though he’s recognized as a hero for his tragic sacrifice.

((Hold on if you haven’t read 52. You’re going to find this one funny.))

(52 #15)

So... Booster is dead. Ha. What next? Well, Skeets seeks out Booster’s ancestor, Daniel Carter, for help to get back into the Time Lab. After all, Booster didn’t give Skeets the details.

(52 #19)

Daniel lets Skeets see into the Time Lab, where Skeets finally sees the same things Booster saw.

(52 #19)

Whoops! The real problem is Skeets. A little more menacing now, isn’t it? So Skeets abandons Daniel in the Time Lab, where he’s sucked into a vortex that’s part of Rip’s security measures. Meanwhile, Skeets is free to handle his evil plan. Whatever that is.

Back to Metropolis: Supernova is still out there, doing good. He’s also grabbing items that seem a little... eclectic. 

(52 #20)

And everyone is theorizing about who’s really under the mask. Cassie Sandsmark thinks it’s Kon-El. Lex Luthor thinks it’s Superman. Ralph Dibny puts the pieces together...

(52 #31)

But Supernova asks him not to say it out loud.

Later, we see that Supernova is actually working for Rip Hunter. Everything he’s gathered has been for Rip, who, as you can see, is really going through it. (Sad they never followed up on why Rip Hunter was affected like this, but I have my own thoughts that I might say later.)

(52 #36)

Where are they working anyway? In the jarred city of Kandor! Of course, Skeets can’t find them here, can he?

(52 #36)

Whoops. Spoke too soon.

(52 #37)

But who is Supernova? That burning question we’ve had for all these issues?

It’s... Michael Carter! Booster Gold!

(52 #37)

So, as Rip asks, Booster tells him. Booster knew something was off with Skeets. At the Time Lab, he almost asked him. But Rip Hunter arrived and recruited him for the long con. Rip needed Booster to gather materials, but they couldn’t alert Skeets. However, using a suit Rip rigged, Booster could be in two places at once: through time travel. After faking his death (using his real corpse from the future), Booster was sent back in time twelve weeks to complete Supernova’s actions.

Now Rip, Booster, and Skeets are engaged in a battle that, uh... is not continued until Week 50 on panel. If you count this as continued. I just love this panel.

(52 #50)

Actually, Skeets follows Rip and Booster to a lab where T.O. Morrow has searched the Red Torado’s brain to find out the truth of the 52 that he’s been repeating throughout the series.

(52 #51)

Of course, it’s not actually Skeets. The real Skeets was used as a chrysalis for Mister Mind... who has become a horrifying moth hellbent on eating the new multiverse.

(52 #51)

Rip drags Booster out, back to the Time Sphere, where they travel back to the beginning.

(52 #52)

After the events of Infinite Crisis, the multiverse was recreated. 52 identical Earths came into existence, and the same struggle has been taking place on all of them. These Earths are slowly aligning, and for some reason, Rip can see this, but Booster can’t. (Hold tight: Let’s keep in mind, for some reason, Rip was totally non-linear earlier. We’ll come back to this.)

(52 #52)

Rip intends to save all of the Earths, as they slowly settle into the new multiverse, with help from Supernova! ...This time, Daniel Carter, the Carter family ancestor that Skeets/Mister Mind used earlier.

(52 #52)

Bad news is that Mister Mind is still bent on eating a universe. As he eats parts of the various Earths, he changes their history, which leads to each Earth being unique.

(52 #52)

Booster has doubts about their ability to face something this big, but Skeets, now broken from Mister Mind, cheers him on... Booster heads back to the one place he knows to get the right power source, and Rip hints about Booster’s “glory days” soon to come. So now we know there’s a connection between Booster and Rip.

(52 #52)

But where is Booster going to get that power source?

(52 #52)

The immediate aftermath of the first crisis, where he talks a little with very young Ted Kord. (Sad.) Now we have to wonder how Booster knows to go back here? How much about time travel does Booster know yet?

Anyway, together, Rip, Booster, and Daniel succeed in defeating Mister Mind, and the multiverse is restored. Rip is very optimistic!

(52 #52)

So... let’s cut to Booster Gold’s second solo. Notice the title of his first story is “52 Pick-Up.” Booster, after saving the multiverse, wants nothing more than to be a hero again. He wants to join the Justice League again! Unfortunately, he’s recruited by Rip Hunter once again, who makes it clear that Booster’s destiny lies in time travel instead. And the world needs to think Booster is an idiot.

(Booster Gold (2007) #1)

Notice how Rip mentions his father? We’re finally getting somewhere.

Meanwhile, the other weird Time Stuff, that’s going on. Back at Rip Hunter’s Lab, Rip has written a number of interesting things on his chalkboard again.

Notice how Rip notes 1939 (the year Detective Comics was first published), 1985 (Crisis on Infinite Earths), and 2006 (Infinite Crisis). This shows how the crises actually affect time in the DC universe. Rip is, of course, aware of it. Is Booster too? How else would he know about the first crisis?

What is the connection between Rip and Booster anyway? Why does Rip care so much about Booster? Well...

(Booster Gold (2007) #1000000)

That’s right! Booster is actually Rip Hunter’s dad! So a lot of stuff we’ve been over must make more sense now.

But seriously, the Carter family is heavily involved in time travel, and the way it interacts with them is interesting. We’ve already seen how Rip isn’t linear when the timestream is disrupted... but what about the other members? How does this all affect Booster?

Honestly, I’m not sure. And I just ran out of energy for this post. If you want to know more, send an ask! And read the comics. You will not regret it.

[midwestharpy]

Hello happy! This is for the oneshot prompts, if you're still looking for things to write. I'd love to see the Voltron crew try to go the supermarket. Chaos will ensue and I think that might be fun to work with. You don't have to take this prompt if you don't want to though.

Sincerely,

cabin13counselor

Cross posted on AO3

“We’re not buying a cow this time, understand?”

“You can't buy a cow at Walmart, Hunk, for fucks sake!”

Lance stifled a laugh as Hunk and Pidge arguments started before they had even walked through the door. The team (minus Coran who was terrified of Walmart for some reason) had decided to go on a grocery run to show Allura more of Earth's culture. 

The war with the Galra had ended three months ago. The whole team had managed to settle down on Earth after everything was said and done. None of them were giving up on Voltron-the Galra weren’t the only people in the universe causing harm anyways-but they all thought they deserved a break, at least for a little bit.

Keith grabbed a cart from the return and pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket. It was one of those small flip books that grandpas and other old people carried in the front pocket of polo shirts, but he had just shoved one into his jacket pocket like it was normal for seventeen year old's to carry them around.

Lance thought it was kinda hot to be honest. Maybe that was just because it was Keith.

“Ok, we need...a lot of stuff actually,” Keith said, flipping a few of the pages in the notepad, “Who wrote down birdseed?”

“Are you not supposed to feed them?” Allura asked, leaning over Keith's shoulder to look at the list, “It was my understanding it was perfectly safe.”

“Well you can,” Shiro says, grabbing some apples and setting them in the cart, “But we’ve had to clean the lions four times in the last week, so I think you should stop feeding the birds.”

“But they’re so pretty! I don’t believe they’re making that big of a mess, it must be some other creature from your planet.”

“Allura do you remember those fuzzy worms from Kypen?”

“The ones that tried to eat us?”

“Yeah it's like that,” Pidge says, tossing a head of lettuce into the grocery cart, “Most birds won’t actively try to kill you but they are a nuisance.”

“I shall stop feeding them then,” Allura said, making a face, “I did not like those worms.”

“That got through to her?” Keith whispered to Lance, “I’ve been trying to get her to stop for weeks but the furry worms get her to quit feeding the bastards?”

Lance snorted, glancing over Keith's shoulder at the list, “There's a lot of stuff on here, do we want to split up for all of this?”

Shiro glances at the list and winces, “I’ll grab another cart.”

“Probably two,” Hunk says, looking at the list. They’re all crowing Keith at that point, who shoves them away with a growl.

“It's not my fault you all eat like pigs! I wrote down what you told me to!”

Shiro comes back with two more carts, handing one off to Allura, “Me and Allura can take one page, Hunk and Pidge another, and Lance and Keith can take the rest.”

Keith rips off the proper pages and hands them out to the others. Lance glances through what's left for them and nods.

“Most of that is in the freezer aisle or deli right?”

He's still leaning over Keith's shoulder and Lance notices the other boy is blushing a little-weird. 

He pulls back and jumps into the front of the cart, crossing his legs with a grin, “So, what's first on the list?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You paired Keith and Lance together on purpose, correct?”

Shiro blinks, turning to Allura. He was trying to find the brand of sauce Keith had written down (apparently Hunk got picky with his pasta sauces) and she was leaning against the shopping cart with her lips pursed into a frown. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well they obviously like each other,” Allura says, looking confused.

“Well yeah we all like each other,” he says confused, “We’ve been friends for years.”

“I thought Humans used the word “like” in a romantic connotation,” she says, taking the sauce from him and setting in the cart, “This is the correct sauce by the way.”

“Lance and Keith like like each other?!?” Shiro says, eyes widening.

“You did not notice?” Allura says, turning the corner towards the chips, “I assumed it was common knowledge. They are constantly together and Keith blushes every time Lance is within five feet of him. And Lance never stops talking about him!”

Shiro blinks, thinking back on all of their interactions with each other, “Huh. You know, I kinda see it now that you mention it. Do Pidge and Hunk know?”

“Well yes, they’re the first ones who noticed.” 

“Alright then,” he says, double checking that the list said seven bags of Doritos. Why did they need that many? “So what are we doing to get them to notice they like each other?”

Allura smirks, “Hunk said he had it under control. Pidge was laughing maniacally when he told me this so I would assume it involves explosives or someone getting arrested.”

“How did you get to that conclusion?”

“Pidge was wondering about bail costs,” Allura says, ignoring Shiro's shocked expression and grabbing the required seven bags of Doritos without complaint.

This was going to be an interesting shopping trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pidge was going out of her way to make this an interesting shopping trip. 

Her and Hunk speed ran their grocery list, practically sprinting down the aisles. They were after all the shampoo and hygiene related stuff (an absurd amount of toilet paper, honestly) and had checked out after ten minutes of intense shopping.

It took another five minutes to load everything up and run back in the store and that's when the chaos started. 

Pidge had always wanted to know how easy it would be to climb the shelves in supermarkets, and it was easy to do the math or even just think about it, but it was much more satisfying to just do it.

Given that it was Walmart, no one really noticed Pidge hopping from shelf to shelf. They were too focused on the lady screaming at the manager about whether or not her furiously barking chihuahua was allowed in the store (it wasn’t).

She finally found the aisle where Keith and Lance were. They were pulling frozen pizzas out and shoving them into the cart while arguing about which lion was better, Red or Blue. It was an old argument with the two that had happened enough times that Pidge recognized the causal banter and lack of poison behind the words.

It was all intense flirting and Pidge was tired of it.

On top of the freezers the excess boxes. Pidge hid behind them and grabbed some of the smaller ones, uncapping a marker with her mouth at the same time. 

This would totally work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith jolted as something made contact with his head. It was a box with the Skittles logo on the side, and he turned trying to figure out where it came from. Lance was blinking, holding a similar sized box and utterly confused.

It was adorable.

Keith fought back a blush and looked back at the box. They were in the freezer aisle so he wasn’t sure where where a Skittles box could have come from-

Wait.

There was writing on the side of the box that definitely didn’t come from any of the manufacturers. 

HE LIKES YOU BACK DUMBASS SO KISS HIM BEFORE I STAB YOU

Keith blinked, looking from the box to Lance. His heart feels like it's going to break out of his chest. Keith frantically searches around him for someone who could have thrown the box but no ones there.

“Keith?”

He looks back at Lance, who's giving him a weird look, “What?”

“Is this true?”

“Is what true?”

Lance turns the box in his hands to face Keith and the same words on the Skittles box are written on the one Lance is holding. It's a box for Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers, Keith notices, but that's really not the important bit.

 “I-I don’t know what's going on,” he chokes out, practically whispering the words. 

Lance is still staring at him, but his face is breaking out in a smile. Suddenly he's taking confident steps towards Keith and cupping his face with his hands and-

And they’re kissing in the freezer aisle of Walmart.

Keith kisses him back, obviously, and he hears someone whoop in celebration. He ignores in and pulls Lance in closer, relishing in the contact.

“Hey! Get down from there kid!”

Keith blinks as a figure crashes down in front of him, scrambling into the cart. He barely registers that it's Pidge falling from the sky before she's gesturing for them to go. 

“Hurry before they arrest me!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They make it out of Walmart without anyone being arrested, but it's a close call.

Lance is holding Keith's hand as they walk out, carrying the frozen pizzas and random frozen goods in their other hands. Pidge is skipping along ahead of them, smiling like a dumbass. 

“How did you know?” Keith mutters, leaning close to Lance's neck. It sends chills up his spine and he can’t help but green. 

“The handwriting on the box was Pidges.”

“Wait really?”

“Yeah, you didn't notice?”

“I...I was more concerned with being hit with a flying box.” Keith mutters, loading the bags into the back of the van. Hunk is waiting in the front seat and smiles when he sees Keith and Lances intertwined hands. 

“So Pidges plan worked then?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pidge says, kicking her feet up on the dash. 

“Oh shut up Pidge, we all saw you jumping off the shelves,” Keith says, cuddling into Lance. He grins, swinging an arm around Keith's shoulders. 

“Hey is that Allura?” Hunk says looking out the window with a frown.

Lance turns and sees Shiro pushing the shopping cart towards them, running at a dead sprint. Allura is sitting in the cart, holding on for dear life. A lady with a chihuahua was running after them screaming bloody murder and being chased by two cops trying to placate her. 

“Start the car!” Shiro shouts, throwing grocery bags into the open trunk and leaping over the seat, “Start the car!”

Hunk does and they speed off, barely evading the shouting workers and cops. 

“What did you do?” shouted Pidge, holding onto the safety bars for dear life.

“A woman was yelling at us!” Allura says, frantically buckling her seatbelt, “Said something about unnatural hair colors and wouldn’t stop screaming and was very annoyed with us taking the last bag of rice!”

“Karen,” says the rest of the group, with Pidge beginning to cackle in the front seat. 

“Was that her name?” Shiro asks, double checking his seatbelt. This prompts Pidge and Hunk to explain the concept of a Karen to both him and Allura, but Lance tunes it out. He's too busy staring at Keith, whos smiling for the first time in a while. 

Yeah, it was a good day.

[craftypeaceturtle]

My True Identity

Summary: Thomas has started university. His lessons haven’t started yet but he agreed to help out and do a YouTube channel about the student experience. And like the true student, he’s already having an identity crisis. 

Note: Not written to be overly shippy but read either way! This series is a little weird, no idea if it’ll translate well. The idea is just Sanders Sides retold. Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!

Next Episode!

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The kitchen was silent. Thomas was completely engulfed in darkness with only the faint glow from the streetlights outside. The floors were already speckled with dirt and the hob was decorated in fine splatters, he noted already knowing he couldn’t be bothered to clean it. They had only all moved in a week ago! But then again four teenagers trying to live independently would always be messy. He groaned loudly before burying his head in his arms. “Oh woah! Oh, Thomas! What are you doing!” Logan’s voice interrupted the stressed silence. 

“Hey...” Thomas muttered back and, without looking, wiggled his laptop mousepad. The screen blasted a harsh blue light against his defeated lump sitting on top of the kitchen stall. Logan paused at the door before actually walking up to him.

“That does not answer my question,” Logan sighed as he leaned against the work surface. Their quest for a glass of water for bed promptly forgotten. 

“I have no idea who I even am...” 

“Yes. Not many people do. The concept of identity is an ongoing struggle. To expect you to have all the answers at the age of 18 for the rest of your life is ridiculous.” They answered with a quiet smile, their shoulders drooped with tiredness but they already knew they were going to do whatever it takes to Thomas through this, “Why, can I ask, is this bothering you?” 

“This stupid YouTube thing I said I’d do,” Thomas actually sat up and explained once he saw Logan’s confusion, “The uni encourages students to creatively express their experience here and essentially promote the university by doing YouTube videos. I thought ‘hey that sounds fun’ and here I am! God, I don’t even know! I thought it’d be a fun idea to do a video about who I am and why I wanted to go to uni. And now I realise I’m not even sure I have a personality.”

“Ah. Well I’d love to help you. That’s a complicated topic when you truly delve into it and well... Believe it or not, I was quite the nerd in school and it’d be fun to help!” Logan smiled and sat themself next to Thomas’ dramatic form. 

“I’m sure that’s a surprise to no one,” Thomas muttered, sounding more harsh than he wanted to. But they were both too tired to really mention it. As he untangled himself and actually sat properly, another of his roommates burst through the kitchen door. 

“Greetings wonderful citizens and you nerds!” Roman winked as he fingergunned Logan, to their immense confusion.

Despite how open and chatty Roman was, they were all still fairly new to each other and some awkward tension flooded the kitchen as well. Already Thomas felt a little squirmy at Logan helping him but this was so much more embarrassing with the actual stereotypical jock flouncing around the kitchen. Not that Roman was bad or anything! Just... Thomas was a true introvert at heart. 

“Hi!” Logan squeaked while Thomas gave a weak salute.

“Now what are we muttering about at 1 in the morning! You’re disturbing my beauty sleep!”

“Oh sorry! We were um... it’s just the YouTube thing again... It’s not important, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey it’s okay! We’re students, what makes you think I was getting any sleep anyway!” 

“Well that just seems unhealthy, why would you del-”

“What’s going on kiddos!” Patton smiled with a giggle as he rose up from the other side of the table. Now, Logan and Roman positively shrieked while Thomas totally remained totally calm thank you very much. Patton was the only one that he had properly warmed up to. The kiddo thing got annoying but he knew that Patton didn’t mean it insultingly. He was the first to move in and so the first one to meet him. He immediately helped him unpack and sat with him when his parents finally left. While he wasn’t sure they had any real shared interest, Thomas was already clinging on to Patton. 

“I’m just trying to get a video done! It’s just a general about me thing and why I chose uni. I just need to have a sit down with myself, figure myself out and maybe come to a better understanding that we could all learn from,” Thomas said strongly, puffing out his chest with a plastic smile. 

“Well maybe they would know you if you’d post YouTube videos more often,” Roman snickered while Patton whooped, Thomas deflated with an embarrassed smile. 

“Hey I have posted! I’ve got two videos so far! That’s not bad for something I only started like two weeks ago.”

“Yeah but you’ve been stressing about it for every second of those two weeks. Plus, people don’t watch uni channels for the person. They just want to avoid going to the open days and find out about the campus,” Roman said while Logan frowned. 

“Wait, if all you’re looking to answer is general information about yourself then that’s easy! You just start with the basics. Introduce yourself,” Logan prompted.

“Well... I am Thomas Sanders. I go by he/him pronouns and am proudly gay. I’m taking English literature...” He trailed off. Feeling that same sense of dread and nothing slowly grip him again. Great, met these roommates only a week ago and he’s having a breakdown in front of them. 

“That’s a promising start! Topics like gender and romance can be a challenge in of themselves to figure out. You could try and answer some light hearted meaningless questions as well. Like... um, something like what’s your greatest fears?” Logan smiled as he twiddled his hands. 

“Oh! Rejection!” Roman gasped and clutched his chest while slowly sinking to his knees. 

“Spiders!” Patton shuddered.

“I always get nervous about the idea of what exactly is at the bottom of the ocean...” 

“Nope! Not doing that! I’m perfectly aware of my greatest fears. I know that’s fun and all, but I want to keep it fairly serious. Like, what are my flaws?” Thomas shrugged them all off, his shoulders tensing again. 

Logan now lit up completely. Pulling a notepad from nowhere (his pyjamas?), he flipped to a previous scribbled page and pointed out a checklist with a pen. “Oh we’re talking flaws. Well, I’ve noticed you procrastinate a lot! I mean, it’s only your first week... Lectures haven’t even started and you’re already behind. I mean why else would you be planning a video at one in the morning!” Logan panted as they spoke all in one breath but the determined shine in their eye refused to let them go without saying this. 

“Do you just... list all our flaws like that... or...” Roman mumbled.

“You can be pretty selfish with your food...” Patton looked away but his mischievous smile remained firm. 

“Really Patton? I’m like 90% sure that milk was expired!” Thomas huffed and threw his head back, his already scruffy hair whipping wildly. 

“Didn’t stop you from drinking from it...” Patton muttered again with his hands held out. As if Thomas couldn’t be sucking any more at university, it was only his first week and lessons hadn’t started yet! But here he was with flatmate drama, a breakdown at 1 in the morning and a growingly filthy flat. 

“You aren’t very adventurous either...” Roman interrupted before any room mate war was launched. He was hoping to at least get past the month mark before any wars. Not that that was saying much for him. 

“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea!” Thomas sighed and slumped back into his ball on top of the kitchen stall. Legs drawn up to his chest and head buried firmly. 

At that, all of the roommates froze. The kitchen seemed so much harsher without any of its lights on. If someone had closed the curtains then the only light would be the oven timer that was flashing the wrong time. They could all hear the faint slamming of doors and whoops from students outside. All of which were actually enjoying their fresher’s week and having fun outside. Patton felt a little mean for joking so much with him. Thomas was still a very new friend and he just criticised him when he clearly wasn’t doing good. Roman looked awkwardly around before busying himself by going to make toast while Logan kept fiddling away. Patton wished, not for the first time, that his parents were here. 

“Well, everyone has flaws. That’s what makes us human,” Patton smiled, hoping his tone made up for the weak childish message. 

“Of course. As long as you’re aware of them and working through them, then I’d even say that flaws are what keeps us improving and doing our best,” Logan happily took over. 

“Yeah! Plus, you have a lot of good in you.” 

“You value your friends above all else,” Roman butted in. It was awkward, but the eye contact and his gentle tone did a lot. Thomas found himself smiling on instinct. 

“You see the good in everyone!” Patton chirped, seemingly bursting from happiness before sending an expecting glance at Logan. Not that they needed it.

“You’re extremely passionate and stick through every project. I mean, look at this YouTube channel. You’ve committed to a project that you understood is difficult. You’re still powering through despite the adversity.”

“Well, that’s very nice, you guys,” Thomas replied, eyeing the clock as it ticked to half past. 

Thomas heaved a deep breath. The blank word document no longer seemed as intimidating but he could feel his standards tutting at the weak script he was thinking through. Yeah, this was all good stuff to talk about but how on earth was this going to connect with people. How was this going to even connect to university? 

“Oh but you should also talk more about why you are filming for the channel!” Patton squeaked, Thomas uncurled and looked on with a sceptical look, “I’m guessing you want this to be a bit more than an intro video. If you talk about why you’re running the channel then people will understand you and your content a lot better. Like, what positive impact did you hope to inevitably bring with this channel?” 

“Woah... Patton that was genuinely deep and exactly what I was lo-”

“Hey! We have the same glasses!” Patton suddenly lurched forward, pointing an accusing finger. Logan blinked sleepily.

“Yep...” 

“Okay well,” Thomas cleared his throat, “Being able to put out silly light hearted content into the world is kind of a good start, it makes me really happy to do that!” 

“Wait! This is supposed to be happy!” Roman gasped with the bread popping from the toaster soon after. Thomas wilted again under his withering gaze. 

“Just because the topic is serious, doesn’t mean the video has to be serious. I think I would’ve liked to watch a light hearted joking channel when I was looking at unis. Identity is a serious topic but I want to joke about it,” Thomas explained to the table, slowly drawing out of the crumbs a smiley face. Roman melted and turned back to his toast. 

“That’s easy! You don’t even need answers to make that video then. No one watching your videos knows who they are and if you’re making fun of yourself for not knowing, it shows that it’s kinda okay. Y’know to be unsure and stuff.”

“Self deprecating humour is very popular at the moment,” Logan reported. 

“Just as long as you don’t go too far with it! Make sure to keep it light hearted!” 

“Yeah...” Thomas had immediately perked up and starting clicking away at the keys. 

They all sat there for a couple of minutes. All of them taking pride in how quickly Thomas pulled himself together again. The words quickly filled the screen and Roman finally clicked on the light, despite all of them hissing tiredly. 

“See, you’ve got this,” Patton smiled once Thomas took another careful to pause to proof read. “You may not entirely know yourself yet but that’s okay. You know who you are at this moment, even if you just know you’re confused.”

“Yeah, I guess I do know myself better than I think,” Thomas laughed off. 

“Right, Tony?” Patton gasped with Roman and Logan whipping round. 

“Not my name.” Thomas didn’t flinch.

“Then what is it!” Patton collapsed on top of the table with a gritted guilt expression. 

“Thomas! I said it earlier in this conversation!” 

“It’s really late!” Patton winced, feeling extra guilty. 

“He does have a decent point, at the very least, I am going to sleep. Please try not to make much noise,” Logan waved before disappearing from the kitchen. 

Patton joined them shortly after while Roman and Thomas talked quietly. The project also sinking into his mind before he even realised. And now he has to make sure that Thomas even knows about proper lighting and ideal times of the day to record himself! Roman was already stealing his laptop to make amendments to the script while Thomas awkwardly laughed it off. 

[paipayaseeds]

even the knuckles of her hand were dusted pink from her embarrassment. she noticed how easily shuichi was able to open the door, and she envied him (only a little). “s-shuichi...!” she said, tripping over her feet from the brisk pace he was walking in. he must’ve been too caught up in his own thoughts since she got no response. she clasped her other hand around his as they practically ran to the dining hall. once they got there, all eyes were on them. holding hands. she immediately took her hands away from his, both of her arms parallel with her torso. she bowed awkwardly and shuffled over towards a seat. the one next to her was empty, and she looked up and shuichi to see if he was going to sit there.

ryoma shot them both- well, mostly shuichi- a glare. a look akin to a father telling his daughter’s boyfriend, “if you hurt her, so help me god...” when the door slammed open to reveal miu (and a cowering kiibo behind her) fumiko got so scared that she pushed her chair backwards, rolling onto the floor. she laid there for a second, wallowing in her own stupidity before getting up. kirumi rushed over, “are you hurt? is everything alright?” fumiko nodded, just wanting this all to be done and over with.

“attention, everyone. i believe there is something wrong with miu. i found her on the floor of the dormitories, wheezing. she hasn’t stopped since we left!”

“e-everything’s alright robo-dick, i-i just- HAHAHAHA” her laughing started up again when she got a glance of the couple “friends” sitting next to each other. “you guys will NOT believe what i saw this morning!”

“that’s enough.” said ryoma, his voice intimidating the taller girl. despite his size, that man was terrifying. “y-yes sirrrr....” she muttered, confidence seeming to fade away in an instant as she found a seat at the dining table. kiibo just stood there, completely confused as to what just happened. to be fair, everyone had a similar look of confusion, but kiibo’s was the worst. rantaro quirked an eyebrow, wondering if this was about what he thought it was...

“alright, everyone’s here, yes? please, tell me what you’d like for breakfast.”

multiple shouts of “eggs” or “toast” overlapped, yet kirumi was able to keep track of all of them.

“ICE-CREAM!!!” yelled kokichi, who had a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, neither of which are utensils to eat ice-cream with. fumiko, who had spent most of her life feeding herself, perked up at the mention of ice-cream. it wasn’t rare for her to have such foods for breakfast, normally, so she spoke.

“a-ah, can i have some too! c-chocolate if that’s okay...!”

“CHOCOLATE FOR ME TOO! WITH CHOCOLATE SYRUP AND SPRINKLES!”

kirumi nodded, jotting it down on a little notepad as if she were a waitress at a restaurant. “and what would you like, shuichi?” she asked, writing down his answer as well before giving everyone a smile and heading to the kitchen. once again, fumiko fell out of her chair when she felt a pair of arms hook under her armpits and lift her. well, trying to lift her, at least.

“there’s only room for one chocolate-eater in this town, partner...” they both ended up on the floor, as kokichi had pretty much been wrestling her. “h-hey!” she said when he pulled her hair. she started fighting back, rolling around on the floor (which was thankfully clean, thanks to kirumi). the other captives had gained interest, some yelling at kokichi to stop. she eventually managed to push him down, straddling him, giggling as she looked down. “what’re you gonna do now, cowboy? that chocolate ice-cream is mine!” she said in a bad country accent. when he opened his mouth to speak, she took his scarf and flipped it over onto his face, muffling his over-dramatic cries for help.

kokichi was glad that she wasn’t mad at him. and, in all honesty, he didn’t think she was so bad. even in a situation like this, he was allowed to make friends, right? (*laughs in playing v3 and watching kokichi push away everyone who wanted to get close to him*) she let go of his scarf when he pretended to die, all of his flailing limbs falling to the ground as he tilted his head to the side. her hands were at either side of his head, looking down as she laughed, unaware of how things might’ve looked.

-teapot anon (your status had me whEEZING)(ALSO DONT MAKE FUN OF FUMIKOS TWIG ARMS >:( /j)(so basically i didn’t know where this was going you gave me too much freedom with the last one so i just wrote words)(hope they’re good words <3)

Ice cream? It hardly seemed like something healthy to eat for breakfast, he thought as soon as Kokichi had shrieked out the food item. He found himself opening his mouth to voice his thoughts, but as soon as Fumiko raised her voice too, he shut himself up.

Wait.

Was he the weird one for not wanting to eat ice cream for breakfast?

Shuichi's momentary train of thought had been interrupted by Kirumi's question. “Huh? O- oh, um,” Shuichi had to think long and hard for this one; after yesterday, he wouldn’t want to smell any worse than he already had, so definitely nothing too strong smelling. “E- eggs?” Yup, you can’t go wrong with eggs. "Wait no, b- bread." Yeah, bread is good too, it's pretty plain so it has no smell— Oh shit, what about crumbs? "N- not bread! U- Uh," so here he was, having a mini breakdown about what to eat for breakfast. "G- granola?" What if it sticks to your teeth, dumbass!?

Shuichi jolted up and whipped his head away from Kirumi to down at the two that had been rolling around together on the ground. “O- Ouma, st- stop! What... What are you doing...!?” 

Maybe the detective would've been jealous that Kokichi had been having fun with her; but at the same time, he couldn't find any part of himself wanting to roll on the ground, no matter how appealing it may seem.

"W-what the hell!? If I wanted to watch porn, I would've watched it on the huge TV in my lab!" Miu spoke, eyes dilated in shock as the two squealed on the ground.

Shuichi had to push down the urge to glare at the inventor, as he was too busy trying to get them off each other. "Y- You guys can both have the ice cream...??" Shuichi's speech had come out more of a question than a statement— and for good reason! How would you react if the girl you had been in love with for less than a week, started pinning another guy to the ground?

He just wanted them to be... a bit... farther apart. Their proximity unsettled him, for a reason he refused to confront. "U-um..." Absentmindedly, he tugged at the fabric of Fumiko's dress, eyes averted as he tried to think of a good excuse to say to get her to crawl off of him.

Kokichi seemed to notice this, and his evil tendencies rose to the surface once again as he flipped their position(oh no), careful not to hurt the girl but still quick enough to catch her off guard. Shuichi's breath hitched as his grip had loosened as to not rip her dress from the sudden movement Kokichi had performed with her.

Kokichi, unlike the girl he had pinned underneath her, had been well aware of their compromising position— actually, almost too aware of it. "Nishishi! I win!"

Shuichi's eyebrows furrowed, patience thinning and jealousy bubbling up to his chest, "Kokichi, stop!" oh whoops, that may have sounded a bit more aggressive than he wanted it to-

His vocal cue came out more like a growl than a scolding; he had definitely shocked everyone from the loud tone, though most of all, he had positively shocked himself.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer III: Tokyo Love Story

“Fantasy Hotel Room 308A.” That was the text he got from Lu MIngfei, known as Akira to Hydras, when he inquired of Erii’s location. He sighed loudly with annoyance. That was a Lover’s Hotel! And a well-known one at that.

He stilled his temper. It accelerated his breath and pulled against his stitches. That guy was getting bolder and bolder.

He kept to muted colors under his trenchcoat. A ball cap and sunglasses hid his identity on the street. When he arrived at the hotel is was during the day and no one was checking in so the front desk clerk was watching TV and didn’t even notice when he walked in. He took the elevator to the third floor and knocked on the door to the suite.

As Akira opened, he removed his sunglasses to aim the full force of his cold-eyed stare down at his Shatei.

Akira flinched. “It’s not what it looks like! This was the only-”

Chisei shoved his way inside. “Erii?”

She was sitting on the tatami in front of a TV that displayed a paused game of Street Thug, dressed in only a T-shirt and shorts. There were shopping bags everywhere and a variety of outfits strewn about the room. The trash bin was lined with bags from food delivery and filled with empty boxes of fried rice.

She grinned at him. “Big Brother!” She signed at him.

“How are you feeling?” He walked past Akira, giving him a slightly less intimidating glare. 

She gave him a thumbs up and popped up from the floor with the wireless controller which she shoved into his hands.

“I heard about what happened to our headquarters. What are we going to do now?” asked Akira

“Let me worry about that.” He turned back to Erii who had picked up her controller. He looked around at the clothing. There was also some jewelry and toys.

She was scrawling on the notepad and then showed him. “Akira bought me tickets to the six flags! They’re discounted because we go close to closing time! Brother come too? Please.”

He looked into her crimson eyes. He held out his hand and accepted the notepad and pen from her and wrote. “Okay. I’ll come.”

Akira, suddenly mindful of  the mess the room, gathered the clothes in a pile and started putting them away only to have Erii seize his arm and shove the notepad in his face.

“Erii wha... oh... oh! I uh... I guess I need to buy another ticket!” He looked up at Chisei and his face turned a little red. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Chisei’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Finish cleaning up.”

He returned to the video game. He wasn’t nearly as good as Akira but Akira played for hours at a time. He understood why.

When he first found Lu Mingfei without his memories and assigned him his staff to care for him and explain his presence, he didn’t notice the purchases that staff was making. Only a few days later, Erii had become more obsessed with online Street Thug. Particularly certain times of the day when she HAD to play online.

Usually, she was after him to play all the time, but he was suddenly free of her presence. She confessed to him that there was someone she enjoyed playing with because she actually had to try to win and sometimes she even lost.

Once it was clear that Mingfei was not going to get better any time soon, he brought him into the fold of the Hydras and they met for the first time. It wasn’t long before they realized. The moment she invited him to play as his knew underling, they recognized each other’s user names. They pointed at each other in recognition.

He had no idea all this was going on. They were joined at the hip after that. He took over her Pokemon Go! account, they started playing a larger variety of games, first as competitors, then as coop teammates, dominating Starcraft and League of Legends, and Call of Duty.

As High Patriarch he didn’t have time to monitor this and, at first, he approved of it. After all, he didn’t have time to play with her.

Now, here in the hotel, she beat him handily again and again. He couldn’t help but smile. When was the last time they played like this? He put one arm around her and hugged her close. “When are you going to let me win one, huh?” 

She held her hand in a sign of ‘never’. He glanced behind him and Akira ducked away around the corner where he was sitting next to a window. He took her notebook and wrote down. “Did he do anything inappropriate?”

She tilted her head. 

Chisei pursed his lips. How to explain?

She took the notepad and started writing and writing... and writing.... He blinked and then he waited.

She handed him the notebook.

“Akira took me out of home because he was worried that I might get lost because we were moving. I saw a store and I wanted to shop. He watched me shop. He said I looked pretty. He helped me get jewelry and then he helped me pay for it. I forgot how to cross the street and he told me how to cross the street. And then I got some shoes. I went to the toy store and I played the claw game. He spent all his change and didn’t get anything. It was funny but he got mad so we got more coins until we can win. I got a toy dog.”

“Then I saw the ferris wheel and I thought it was pretty so he got me the tickets.  And then we went to the hotel. He was upset about the fire. He took me to the hotel because he thought the street might be danger. Then we played video games. Then after that we woke up and played more games and I got fried rice.”

“I’m sorry if  any of that was inappropriate. He didn’t mean it. Can we still go to the six flags?”

Chisei gazed at the notebook for several seconds. He handed it back to her and nodded.

Erii wanted to soak before the trip to the amusement park. Chisei spent the time staring out the window of the hotel. The past twenty four hours was nothing but brutality, destruction, death and disillusionment. He saw more darkness on the horizon. And yet...

He glanced at Akira, who was fidgeting in the corner. “Thank you. I’m in your debt.”

“I... didn’t really do anything. She just dragged me around the city...” He laughed nervously.

“Just take it, Akira.”

He stopped chuckling, though he kept that strained smile on his face. “Oh... Alright.” The smile faded. “Did... something happen?”

“Let’s... not talk about it yet.”

The bathroom door opened. 

Erii walked up in a trendy, avant-garde dress with no sleeves or shoulders or back, black and white and red, with an elaborately patterned skirt.

He huffed a laugh at Akira’s stunned expression. She was very, very beautiful. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They got a taxi to the amusement park. Many families were leaving. There was almost no wait on the rides and it was full of young people who had lots of time and energy with little supervision.

He hung back at a slight distance and watched her drag him around. She had the map and didn’t always tell him where she wanted to go. He just followed her. First, was the rollercoaster because of course it was. He shook his head when she invited him. He was nervous about his fresh wounds and made a lame excuse about needing to use the bathroom while they got on board.

Erii was dying. How was he going to tell him? How was he going to tell her? Their relationship was doomed from the very beginning.

Akira was sick after the ride and they had to take a break while he lay on a bench.

The stars were coming out and the lights were coming on. The place would close in about an hour and a half but there was plenty to do... if only Akira could get up...

“Hey! You!” He turned as someone shouted at him. 

A man in clown make up was sitting in a glass box over a pool of water. 

“Oh... its this thing.” Chisei turned back around, ignoring him.

“Yeah you! You think you’re some sort of secret agent? What’s with those sunglasses? Trying to hide your crossed-eyes?” The man cackled like that was the biggest burn ever.

“Who wears sunglasses in the dark! What are you blind? If you’re not, you sure are now! MORON!”

He chuckled until Erii walked forward, arms stiff at her sides. 

“Woah! Heyheyhey!’ He grabbed her arm. “No... Erii...”

“Want a piece of this, little girl!” The clown taunted. “I bet you couldn’t dunk me! What you gonna do? Huh?”

“Erii!” Chisei barked. He pulled her away. “This is ... he’s paid to do this!”

The Clown continued. “Hey! You gonna let that girl stick up for you? Who’s the real pussy here? Eh?!” The clown, smelling blood and money, in the water turned up the heat. 

Chisei tensed. Okay, the guy was pushing his buttons now.

Akira sat bolt upright. He looked at Erii’s furious expression and Chisei’s desperate attempts to keep her from ending this carnival employee’s life.

He got up, still slightly dizzy. “HEY! You can’t talk to her that way!”

The clown got more excited. “What are you gonna do huh! Come here! Bring it! Your skinny arms probably can’t even hit the target! Hahahah!” He cackled as Akira came closer. “Come here and show her who’s the biggest loser tonight!”

Chisei clapped his hand over Erii’s mouth. Her eyes had gone completely yellow and she was furiously fighting him. Chisei was panicking as he saw all these people becoming curious about the spectacle and walking over. They were all in danger!

“Akira... you’d better...” He growled through clenched teeth. He watched as he paid the operator and received a single ball and was led to the to a line where he was to throw it.

The clown leaned forward. “Hey everyone come and watch this chick! Yeah, the only balls you got is the one in your hand!”

Akira tossed the ball up in the air and caught it and then turned and walked away.

“What are you doing? Chickening out already? Come back here!” 

Akira took about seven paces away, turned, lifted one knee and hurled it. The ball zoomed straight like a rocket, hit the target, pushed back the lever and shattered it.

The clown’s screech perfectly cut when he hit the water. 

The crowd that had gathered around whooped and hollered with glee. As Akira turned around, there was a flash of gold in his eyes.

Hot-shot. Just a little bit. He was skinny, a bit of a nervous wreck in normal circumstances. Anime fan, gamer and all around geek.

But now, he was acting like dunking a carnival clown was as much a serious thing as executing a criminal. It was the most ridiculous situation Chisei had been in in a while, but if you looked at Akira now, it was like he had slain a dragon. 

Chisei let out short laugh and looked down at his sister to see if she had the same opinion and his smile vanished.

The gold in her eyes was replaced by her usual color, but her eyes were wide and fixed on him, oblivious of anyone else, including him. Color rose in her cheeks. 

The carnival operator approached Akira with a large bear which he was surprised to accept.

Chisei watched as Akira came to her with the bear. She lifted her arms and accepted it. Not taking her eyes off his face.

Chisei was the last of his clan. His sole responsibility was running the Hydras. He thought he would be able to run away to France and sell sunscreen. Tachibana had promised him that if he defeated the Devil Clan and protected the family secrets, he would take over as High Patriarch and Chisei would be free. 

But now he just found himself on that same treadmill of responsibility. Defeating the Devil Clan, caring for his dying sister, and making sure that Cassell girl didn’t make it off the island.

Akira was from Cassell. Eventually, he would have to return there, by will or by force. This Akira persona was just that... a persona. It wasn’t real any more than her video games were real. He’d be naive to set that aside. That’s why he tried to keep him away from her for so long. But there was no way for him to completely do that so long as he let them play together and he didn’t stop letting them play together. How could he?

Erii would never understand even if he explained but she would obey him. He knew her. She trusted him. If he told her now to walk away from Akira, never talk to him again, she’d comply. She’d say okay and it would be a lie. Just like Akira’s okay at the tattoo parlor had been a lie. It would damage their relationship. Her life would be lonelier and emptier and it would be the last days of her life!

He walked up to Akira. “Good job. Now... I think we need to go to that Ferris Wheel before it closes.”

[camillemontespan]

oblivion [M! raleigh carrera] [part seven: lose yourself]

@emichelle​​ @ritachacha​​ @ibldw-main​​ @omgjasminesimone​​ @msjpuddleduck​​ @katedrakeohd​​ @lilmissperfectlyimperfect​​ @dailydoseofchoices​​ @pug-bitch​​ @moonlightgem7​

Warnings: NSFW. Mention of drug use. Master List

Marina slept for twelve hours after playing another video game with Raleigh. She had been exhausted; her eyes were shadowed and her body felt heavy and bone tired. Raleigh let her sleep, knowing she needed her rest.  While she was safe under her blankets, Raleigh looked up therapists in Michigan. 

He accepted now that Marina needed more help. It wasn’t enough for Raleigh to take her out of Los Angeles, out of her drug induced, champagne bubbled, drug addled bubble. He had taken her away from the place where she would be tempted but she was still the same girl with the same problems. Asking her to go cold turkey was too much; Raleigh could see that now. Marina needed professional help. 

Raleigh stayed up until 2am with his laptop open as he browsed for the therapist he could find. Rehab hadn’t worked for Marina; she had been a patient twice. But maybe a safe space where she could talk to a therapist about her issues and then retreat to Raleigh’s mom’s place would help? 

Overset with tiredness, Raleigh shut his laptop and rested his head in his hands. He needed to make this right. He had failed her before and he wouldn’t do it again. Right now, his only priority was getting Marina back to the person she was; or even if that wasn’t possible, he would try to bring hope and light back into her life when all she had known for so long was endless darkness.

*********************************

Raleigh arranged for Marina to attend a private therapy session. One to one with the therapist, Dr. Henderson, signing an NDA. 

On Monday morning, Raleigh supported Marina as she got herself dressed for the therapy session. ‘Is this okay?’ she asked, giving him a weak twirl.  She was wearing a blue and white fluffy sweater paired with blue ripped jeans and Converse. 

Raleigh thought she looked ridiculously cute and he really wanted to give her a hug. 

‘You look awesome,’ he told her simply. ‘You ready for this?’

Marina nodded mutely. ‘Nervous,’ she said. ‘But that’s understandable. I guess I just hope this therapist won’t tell the press about all my secrets ha!’ She forced the laugh out but Raleigh knew she wasn’t joking. 

‘She’s signed an NDA,’ Raleigh assured her. ‘She’s a professional anyway, Mari. She wants to help. It’s her job.’

Marina nodded, processing his words. Raleigh smiled softly and moved towards her to take her hands. 

‘I’ll be out in the waiting room,’ he whispered. ‘If it gets too much, I’ll be right outside.’

‘Guys, you ready to go?’ Raleigh’s mom called up the stairs. ‘Car’s ready!’

Raleigh took Marina’s hand and led her down the stairs to the car, making sure to bundle on scarves so no prying neighbours would see them. Marina’s privacy had been non-existent in LA; Raleigh wasn’t having a repeat of it again.

****************************************

The therapist’s office was empty, thank God. Marina could breathe easy that nobody would see her and recognise who she was. She was taken into the room immediately, leaving Raleigh in the waiting room. 

His eyes found the stack of magazines before he could tear his gaze away. Tabloids emblazoned with Marina’s image. Pictures of her looking worse for wear, like she was barely surviving in this dog eat dog world. 

Raleigh quickly picked up the magazines and shoved them in the trash can. 

**************************************

Marina played with the hem of her sweater as she sat in awkward silence. Dr Henderson was sat opposite her with her legs crossed and a notepad on her lap, pen poised. She was wearing cat eye shaped spectacles and her dark hair was pulled up into a neat ponytail. She looked friendly.

‘This is just a get to know you session’, Dr Henderson said gently. ‘Nothing too scary. Would you like some water?’

Marina took the glass of water and sipped the drink, her hands shaking as she did so.  

‘I’m here to help you,’ the therapist told her in a low voice. ‘There is no judgment here. This is a safe space-’

‘Because you signed the NDA,’ Marina interrupted, her voice startling even her.

The therapist smiled. ‘Yes, I did. But it would still be a safe space even if I hadn’t signed. Do you think I will tell everyone the confidential information you’ll give me?’

Marina shrugged. ‘No. You’re a professional,’ she said quietly, repeating what Raleigh had told her. ‘It’s your job.’

Her tone was reluctant, which the therapist noted.

‘Do you find it hard to trust people?’

Marina bit her lip. ‘No..’

‘Yet you think I will tell everyone everything that you say in this room?’

‘I’ve trusted people in the past and they have always thrown it back in my face,’ Marina told her. ‘I trusted people too easily and they took advantage.’

‘In what way?’

The words flooded out of Marina before she could stop them. 

‘Like we would go out to a bar and I would be the one left to pay the $500 bill. Or I would tell them I was seeing a guy and the next day, the papers would be talking about it. Or I had friends ask me for loans of money to keep themselves afloat, I couldn’t say no, but in the end, they would use that cash on drugs or alcohol.’

Marina looked down at her hands. ‘I’ve been chewed up and spat back out.’

The therapist made a note on her pad. ‘Your friend outside,’ she said. ‘Raleigh. Do you want to talk about him?’

Marina blushed. The therapist smiled. ‘Boyfriend?’

‘Something like that,’ Marina replied softly. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘How?’

‘We were bad for each other,’ Marina said. ‘But in the end, he is the one who is by my side when nobody else is. Everyone shows their true colours in the end; Raleigh has shown his.’

***************************************

An hour later, Marina came out of the therapists room. Raleigh stood up and gave her a smile; Marina smiled back, to his relief. 

‘I’m seeing her again next week,’ Marina told him. ‘That was just a get to know you session.’

Raleigh wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss on top of her head. ‘I’m proud of you,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘So fucking proud of you.’

They left the office together and back into Raleigh’s mom’s car. She had bought McDonalds as a treat and laughed as Raleigh and Marina tore into the brown paper bags.

‘It’s like you’re kids again!’ she laughed, shaking her head. ‘God, I should have got you Happy Meals!’

‘Happy Meals are fucking legit!’ Raleigh hollered with his mouth open. 

Marina giggled and sank her teeth into the burger. She hadn’t had McDonalds in years. Ever since she became famous, fast food was off the menu and replaced by protein shakes, Diet Coke and salad. As she swallowed the burger and made quick work of the fries, she realised that for the first time in what felt like forever, she was enjoying a meal. 

‘Jesus, ma, can we get some more?’ Raleigh asked after he finished his burger and screwed the paper bag into a ball. ‘I got money, I can buy us a truckload of McDonalds.’

‘Ooh and maybe a milkshake?’ Marina joked.

Raleigh looked at her, his mouth quirking up in the corner. ‘Yeah and a milkshake,’ he said. 

His mom shrugged. ‘If you want to get fat on McDonalds with your hard earned money, babe, by all means, be my guest.’

Raleigh let out a whoop. ‘Let’s go back!’

So that afternoon, Raleigh ordered two Happy Meals - who cared that they were adults?- and a milkshake. He gave Marina the milkshake, winking at her as he did so,and she sipped the thick strawberry milk, feeling lighter than air.

*****************************************

That night, Marina lay on the bed wearing one of Raleigh’s white vests and black lace underwear. Her dark hair was spilled out across the pillow and she was looking up at the ceiling as she listened to Raleigh singing under his breath.

He was lying on his front beside her with a journal in front of him. He was working on new lyrics, his writing an illegible mess of spidering words and crossing out. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he wrote and scored out, occasionally stopping to sing softly so he could test out his progress. 

‘What’s the song about?’ Marina asked, reaching out to stroke a lock of his hair through her finger. 

Raleigh bit his lip. ‘I can’t get it right..’

‘What’s it about?’ she repeated.

His eyes found hers. ‘You,’ he said softly.

Marina sat up in surprise. Raleigh looked sheepish. 

‘You’re writing about me?’ she asked, her eyes wide. ‘Me?’

‘Yeah…’ Raleigh admitted. ‘It’s not the first time.’

Marina blushed. There had always been rumours that his songs had been about her; Raleigh had never confirmed nor denied it. But now, she could see that it was true. 

‘What do you want to say about me?’ she asked.

‘Just how strong you are, how I lose myself when I’m with you,’ Raleigh said, looking down to pick at his fingernails. ‘I forget everything when I’m with you. Always have. Nothing matters in the world when we’re together.’

Marina could feel her heart beginning to beat a little bit faster. This was the Raleigh she knew that nobody else did. The Raleigh who was open and vulnerable; the Raleigh she had fallen in love with. 

‘I’m a mess,’ Marina said. ‘I bring you down-’

‘No you don’t,’ Raleigh cut in fiercely. ‘You are incredible. You are beautiful and strong with the most gorgeous soul-’

‘I am a trainwreck,’ Marina told him. ‘Disaster.’

‘So am I,’ Raleigh replied softly. ‘I’m not perfect either. Nobody is.’

Marina watched him as he abandoned his journal and crawled over the bed to her. She closed her eyes as his lips brushed against her cheek, trailing down to her jawline, to the collar bone, before kissing her chest. 

‘Raleigh..’ she whispered.

‘But you’re mine,’ he murmured, his warm breath tickling her skin. His fingers reached to pull up the vest she was wearing so he could gently kiss her stomach. His lips blazed a trail down her skin, brushing against the waistband of her lace boy shorts, making her jolt. 

Raleigh looked up at her with dark, hungry eyes. Marina smiled and reached for him; Raleigh’s hands caressed the back of her head as their lips met in an urgent, desperate kiss. 

Marina pulled off her vest and reached down to pull down her underwear. Raleigh discarded his clothes too before he stopped to study her. Slowly, his hands ran down her body, gently stroking her skin as he did so. 

‘What are you doing?’ she asked impatiently. She really wanted him, right now.

‘I’m losing myself in you,’ he murmured. 

He gently pulled her towards him so she settled on his lap; Marina wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him tightly. Raleigh bent down to kiss her cleavage, making her gasp his name. His fingers stroked her inner thigh before finding her centre.

Marina’s head fell into the crook of his neck. ‘Oh god..’

‘You are beautiful,’ Raleigh whispered, his fingers stroking her. ‘You are strong and powerful. You are the most amazing woman and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.’

‘Raleigh-’

She let out a cry as she felt him enter her.  He filled her entirely, making her body jerk from the impact. Marina moved her hips against his, pulling a low groan from Raleigh’s throat. His hands gripped her hips as they gathered pace. 

‘You make me happy,’ Raleigh breathed in her ear. ‘You make me laugh.’

‘You- you make me happy too,’ Marina whispered, her breath catching. She kissed him hard, sinking into his taste of tobacco and burnt sugar. 

‘You’re my Marina,’ Raleigh groaned, increasing the pace. ‘Mine.’

‘But if you leave-’

‘I’m not fucking leaving you ever again,’ Raleigh interrupted, kissing her fiercely. His eyes were black now; black and wild. ‘You’ll always have me. I promise.’

No more words were needed after that. Raleigh and Marina lost themselves in each other. 

[bottlecaprabbitgames]

Blake's Birthday Special

Hi, peeps! So, birthday specials are currently being set up as a time-exclusive item on my Patreon, meaning Patrons see them first and the public sees them later! So, here's the Blake Birthday special!

++++++++++

You curse softly under your breath as the timer on the oven goes off, nearly causing you to drop the glass display dish in your hands. You hurriedly set it down on your counter by the microwave and shuffle to the oven to check on the two cake layers. You quickly open the oven and slip on some cooking mits before grabbing the dull metal pans off the rack and setting them down on the stove top. "Oh, thank God." You let out a relieved huff as you find the spice cakes well-settled in their pans and not burnt. You close the oven and change the temperature, then pull your mits off and toss them onto the counter. You take your apron edge and wipe your brow. "Well… that's done." 

Grabbing an ink pen, you pull your mini notepad out of your back pocket and look at the list written on it. 

"To-Dos: 

-Bake cakes (spice) 

-Let cakes sit (DON'T TAKE OUT OF PAN UNTIL COOL) 

-Ice cakes

-Make potato salad (call Blake's mom for recipe if you forget) 

-Ask Freja for help on fried catfish 

-Make baked macaroni 

-Get those cheap sugar cookies 

-Put up birthday banners with Iris (DONT LET HER BURN THE HOUSE DOWN) 

-Pick up balloons and booze (Adontis took care of that)"

You check off parts on the list, and just to be entirely sure, you glance to the streamers and banners decorating your kitchen and living room, then to the tinsel wrapped around your stairs' railing, then to the bundles of balloons in every corner. Well, no one can say it's not festively decorated. Maybe too much so. 

You tuck the notepad and pen back into your pocket as you walk over to where you have a pan laid out in front of the microwave. You heave the large black pot off the stove top and begin pouring mac and cheese into the pan to prep the baked macaroni, still going over in your head everything you still have to do before the party. 

-----

"So, how long till he gets here?" You watch Iris check the old black metal pocket watch currently attached somewhere deep into her coat. 

"T-minus five minutes," she drawls, tucking the watch back down. "He got a little backed up in traffic." Her eyes dart to you, her lashes fluttering in a way that has you and Freja both stiffening. "So, what sort of extra special gifts you got planned for your lover boy tonight, hmm?" 

"None of your business-" 

"Iris-" 

"What what? It's an honest question!" She feigns offense, but it's ruined by the little shitty smirk on her full lips. You roll your eyes- 

Knock knock knock. 

-and nearly have a heart attack as Blake's familiar heavy knocks sound at the door. With your heart fluttering almost sickeningly in your chest, you shoot everyone an excited glance before darting forward to the door. "Baby, it's me, open up-" 

As you open the door, everyone and yourself included yell, "Surprise!" You dance out of his way as he comes in with a confused smile, but after a moment of him taking in your heavily decorated house and the practically overflowing kitchen filled with food, you see a deep redness beginning to flush up his neck. "Oh man, guys ya didn't have to-" 

"Hush," Freja interrupts with an arch stare and a cocking of her hip. "Of course we did this for you." A little smile plays on her pale lips, and her effort to hide it is less than usual. "Besides, you are the baby of the team. When you get over, say, one hundred years, we'll stop making you celebrate so lavishly." 

As you move to where you are pressed against his side under his jacket with your hands on his back and chest, you look up to see the slightly annoyed look on his face and try to hold in your laughter. "Awh, thanks, shall I also bend over for you to give my birthday whuppin?" You let out a very unflattering noise as your laughter, and everyone else's, blurts out at both his words and the new look on Freja's face. 

After a moment of glaring at him, she bustles off to the kitchen to grab the candles while you steer Blake into the living room where a pile of presents sits below a particularly loud birthday banner and behind a table with his cake on it. "Are you ready for us to sing to you and make your big birthday wish?"

He looks down and returns your smile as his hand splays warmly over your lower back. "I might be. Are you gonna tell me what all you got me?" You feel a wicked grin curl your lips. 

"Well, some of it's here… and some of it's waiting for you later." 

"Oh?" 

"Mhmm." You see heat flare in his eyes and you have to look away to keep from being set on fire by it. Well, on the outside, anyway. Adontis scoots down the couch to make room for you both beside him. Blake pulls his jacket off before joining you and throws it to Iris, who grabs one arm of it and spins it around her head while whooping and shaking her hips. The room fills with laughter again, even Freja's light laughter as she appears with the candles in hand, slightly shaking her head. Loche moves to help her place them, one of those long-stem lighters tucked into one of his hands. "Well, old man, you best start figuring out that big birthday wish." 

"'Old man'? I'm not that old-" 

"You are older than me, so yes, I do think that makes you rather old," Markus teases from one of the kitchen chairs that were brought into the living room. Blake gives him a droll look that earns him an answering coy smirk. "The youngest of the team outside of your partner, and still older than your ancient wrangler. Alas, the woes of old men." 

"I'm not old." You yelp when he gives you a sharp tap on your bottom, and you give him an answering one on his inner thigh. "Ouch!" 

"Can't even take as good as you give," Adontis tsks. "The signs of old age." 

"You can't even talk about old, there's bedrock younger than you." Another chorus of laughter erupts as you duck down while Blake and Adontis have a play-fight by slapping at each other. 

"Settle down, settle down! If you upturn this table, not even the Ancients will be able to save you lot from what I'll do to you," Freja hisses threateningly as she places the last two candles. It's rather comedic to see two men nearly twice her size move so quickly away from each other that the couch nearly tips backwards to avoid her wrath. 

"Is it ready?" Fawn's voice drifts from behind you. Freja nods, to which Loche quickly begins to light the candles. You lightly rub Blake's knee as he does, up till he finishes, then you stand. 

"Alright guys, all together now…" 

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Blake, happy birthday to you!" After that last part, the song breaks into different lines from everyone, including "And to many more!", "You look like a monkey, and smell even worse!", And "Yippie!" 

While you and Freja portion out slices of the buttercream-covered spice cake, you can feel Blake's on you the entire time. 

-----

Later, after everyone has wandered either out onto your porches or to the living room, you find yourself alone in the kitchen with Blake as you start to wrap up the leftovers and he helps himself to more food. After a small comfortable silence, he chuckles. "I still can't get it out of my head how Loche reacted to the surprise rolls." You join him in laughing, recalling the leopard man's immediate facial contortion after biting into one of your special 'surprise rolls'. A sourdough roll filled with pickled meat, some fresh vegetables, and french dressing, he wasn't quite ready for the sour and tangy flavor he found. 

"I was worried he'd spit it out, but after that first bite he ended up eating five of them." As you tuck another Tupperware bowl into your fridge, you feel Blake's large, warm hands lightly wrap around your hips. You shut the fridge door and lean back into his chest, letting your hands reach up to run down his cheek and through his hair. 

"Thank you. For the party, for the cake, for… everything." Something in his voice tugs at your chest when he says 'everything'. You lean your head back and smile at him even though he's got an almost somber expression at the moment. 

"Of course, you're absolutely welcome. You deserve it. All of it." You turn in his arms and wrap yours around his waist, and he moves his arms to wrap around you, pulling you tightly to him. 

"I love you. You know that, right?" 

"Of course I do. And I love you too." 

"Yeah. Don't know how I managed that one, but it seems I'm starting to do something right." He buries his face in your hair, and you feel utterly… at home. At peace.