#yeah - this city good as fck

[manto-m8]

Sucre - Bolivia

Known also as:

The city of white [La ciudad blanca]

Charcas - or Charkas (From Aimaran language, which means something in the likes of "the land enclosed within rocks")

The city of silver [La ciudad de plata]

The city of the four names [La ciudad de los cuatro nombres]

And a little more unformally as:

The city of mads [La ciudad de los locos]

It's known as such because is the first and biggest center for medical health institutes.

The other names derive from the white and almost silver-like looks of the colonial style houses that are in the city. Goverment pays its residents a little fee, for which they can buy white paint and keep the city looking bright and clear, as it always has.

The city is also known for having the most fossil prints on the world, making it quite the attraction for paleontologist and dinosaur enthusiast alike.

================================================

So basically a friend of mine from Bolivia is in Sucre, and she took a bunch of photos of the city, and i just couldn't resist the urge to just upload all of them here.

Me being me, a sucker for colonialist architecture aesthetics and a big lover of big clear blue skys, I just find the city to be fascinating, and honestly, I'm a little bit envious ngl.

But yeah, I just wanted an excuse to upload something sky related to the blog and not much else :p

[pupmilo-nl]

It was already dark when you turned around the corner of Oak Streat. Normally you'd be miles away, relaxing on uour couch with a nice hot cup of tea before going to bed. You'd never be in the city at this time. And you definitely wouldn't be walking around this neighborhood ... But today you are. It's really unfortunate that the car had to break down, especially after such a long and dreadful day. So when you got a message on grindr asking to hook up and maybe even stay the night you happily said yes.

You finally reached his front door and stopped for a while. Are you sure you're gonna do this? Just crash at a random dudes place? You really needed that place to sleep, and how bad could it be right? His profile had just some photos of his sneaker collection, some sock pics and a picture of his feet. The small parts of him you saw looked promising so it wouldn't be that bad right? The whole sneaker thing was a bit strange but hey, whatever floats your boat.

When you finally got all your thoughts together you rang the bell. It didn't take long for the door to open. A hot guy with the cutest smile ever was standing there, smiling at you and welcoming you in. "Hey! Glad you could find it! And euhh, sorry for still wearing my soccer clothes, didn't had time to shower yet". You definitely knew he was right about the whole no-shower-yet thing ... He was still dripping of sweat and you could have sworn you felt your nose hairs burn. Normally you'd have gagged and ran, but something was different this time. Yeah he reeked, but he radiated a calmness. "Ow that's fine, I'll manage" you responded.

He let you in and you followed him upstairs. "Yeah, sorry for the mess here. I share this place with a couple of other guys and they know how to make a mess... My room should be a bit tidier". Hes was definitely right. His room was relatively big and had not much in it. Just a desk, a closet, a plant and his bed. There was one thing which caught your eye though, his big sneaker collection, stacked up high right above his bed.

"You like them? It took a long time to get that many. I'm very picky you know" He was so right, there were so many! You noticed that seeing them was not the only thing you did... You definitely could smell them too. As he closes the door behind you the smell of humid sweaty sneaksers fills the room. It hits you so hard your eye's start to tear up a little bit.

"yeah sorry for that smell.... They do stink a bit dont they hehe. I like it tho, it remembers me of their former self, euhh previous owners". You were just a tiny bit too occupied by the smell and trying to listen to him that you didn't notice that slip up. "You didn't think I bought them all don't you? That would cost a fortune... No, they were somebody else! Euh somebody else's!"

Somebody else!?!?! What the fck was he talking about? Oh help of course you got the weirdo... Oh well, it's just for a night right? And he's hot as hell! So at least I'll have some fun right? "Hmm you heard that didn't you ... Well, no point of holding back I guess. You see, they did were someone else! I just love wearing hot guys! Hot and cute guys like you! Just like this one!!"

He undid his sneaker and hold it up proudly. You felt the warmth coming from his sneaker and you start to smell the humid air as it slowly fills up the room. You wanted to run. This has been enough... You'll sleep at the bus station or whatever. But instead of moving away your body didn't respond. He slowly moves his sneaker closer to you. As more and more damp air enters your lungs you feel your pants tenting a bit. What!?!? You liked this?!?

"you'll be such a great pair! i just know you will boy! And secretly you know that too! Look at your crotch boy, that tent and wet spot don't lie". He pushed his sneaker to your face and you feel your mind going silent. You know you should stop breathing in this deeply but you just can't help it, it smells so strong, it stinks so bad. It's so good..... You sniff deeper and deeper, sealing your fate

TF captions made by a friend ☺️

[ae-neon]

ACOTAR worldbuilding (part 345 of sjm hating the humans and being kinda racist?)

Note: Humans in almost every sjm work are an allegory for mostly poc minorities.

Historically excluded white peoples like the Irish, Eastern Europeans and Mediterraneans sometimes get to be Fae or at least magical in some way but even then only lesser Fae and evil high fae

The Faerie Realms

These are places above the Wall. Unsurprisingly it's easy to find there's little to no worldbuilding and each location is just a really bad allegory for a real world place

The most interesting part is how this line divides the 1st and 3rd world irl.

Like sure most of these places are written off as generally bad but that's probably sjm's American Exceptionalism peeking through. Because otherwise these are the only places where the rich, beautiful, powerful, long lived Fae are.

Prythian is Prydain which is the Welsh word for Britain

Hybern is Hybernia the ancient (Latin?) name for Ireland

Vallahan which is Nordic rep since it's a spin on Valhalla

Xian is Xi'an a city in China

Ravennia is Ravenna a city in Italy

Rask is a Danish surname but most likely a poor allegory for Russia given the description of a huge territory with a large army and vast wealth

Montesere makes me think of Montessori but it's probably just France (?) given the location

Lapplund is Lappland a province in Sweden

The Black Land is Kemet, the original name for Egypt. (Sarah? Kemit? Temek? No? Just "The Black Land"? Cool. Fck you too. Also EGYPT IS IN AFRICA therefore definitely below your little white line so you don't get to claim them asshole) (Also all these places enslaved humans but thisss one was definitely the worst place?? F U C K U)

The Mortal Lands

All lands where humans live are called the Mortal Lands but also specifically The Mortal Lands refers to the land below Prythian because of all the other Mortal Lands this Mortal Land has no other name or defining features. Here's a simple, free solution: the Southlands.

(notable locations on the fandom wiki include: Feyre's Village Post Office and Feyre's Village Barn? Yeah? 🖕🏼)

Silverspring Creek is a stream that runs through Feyre's Village (just name the fucking village after it? How have you named the stream but not the village?? This is a published author btw)

Greenfield Village a generic but pretty solid name. Isaac Hale's wife is from there.

And that's literally it for the oh so important Mortal Lands below Prythian. Notable residents include the dead unnamed parents of our core 3 female leads.

Bharat is Bharata, a historical name for India (Mama Archerons' cousin goes there and gets malaria and dies because...of course)

Neva is a city named after a river in Russia

Scythia is an ancient Greek Kingdom (once again just like with the Illyrians, Vassa's golden skin is not poc rep just sjm othering darker skinned and historically excluded white people)

Anyways this again brings into question how and why the Fae would ever lose to or be forced to treaty with humans when judging from the given locations they vaaaaaassstly outnumber them. Not to mention having magic. Like sure other Fae helped but there's more evil Fae territories than good ones too so ???

[uraosol]

Ok moment of honesty, I finally found a GREAT vietnamese restaurant that made me love pho.

So I have had pho before, once a long time ago in like DB city and another one recently in W city, and both were ok but didn't make me love it and that's why I usually never had it often.

So when I hung out with my peep and her bf last weekend, we went to the pho place in downtown that has always been there for years and I didn't order anything cause i had kbbq b4 hand and was obvsl full. But my peep's bf ordered pho and he was just eating it with such fckn gusto it left me with the craving.

So I finally went back last night with my mom to celebrate her bday early. We ordered the mignon, brisket and cartilage(fckn finally someone else likes this) pho and the grilled pork banh mi, AND HOLY FCK U GUYS!!! FCKN DELICIOUS!!!!!! LITERALLY HANDS DOWN!!! BEST VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT I'VE GONE TO, THEY ARE THE STANDARD!

Like the last one i went to was modern looking and the first one i went to was kind of fancy(not really but it looked nice and middle class) and it was ok.

But this restaurant, it feels homey and it's an older couple who run the place and im psure the lady is the one who cooks, so you can feel the homeyness to the food and it's so fckn lovely u guys...u have no fckn idea.

And it just made me have some thoughts, about how much i love my city and its hidden jewels. It's gotten so much better and has developed a sense of community and it's so fckn nice ya'll. Idk I grew up with people outside of my city call it the "gangster" city, or just the "ghetto" and sometimes it still has some of that reputation, but if only people knew, that it has so much to give and offer and its people are so kind and friendly if you obvsl treat them with respect and compassion.

It also made me think how I constantly go out to other cities and taste their food and visit the restaurants there and obvsl they're good don't get me wrong! But my favorite, favorite places are here in my hometown. They may not be esthetically pleasing or fancy looking but by god are they the ones who have the most delicious food ever!

And yeah, idk I get emotional abt my hometown once in a while after seeing how much its grown :"]

[jhemiesblog]

CONTRACT INFORMATION:

Jhemie Manio Villanueva

Sta lucia Resettlement Magalang Pampanga

Philippines

09982961190

jhemievillanueva5@gmail.com

BONDING

Cast of Characters:

Jhemie(Friend 1) the active one

Jeah (Friend 2) the introvert

Kyle (Friend 3) the joker

TIME:

The present

Synopsis:

A group that wants to bond and enjoy because they want to have fun and go to different places.

Setting:

Place, Baguio city

*In a group, Jhemie said go to Baguio city to bonding and enjoy this time and jeah, kyle agree.

Jhemie:

Yoo!, guys let's go to Baguio because it's too hot here(thermal) and I want see a beautiful nature.

Jeah:

(*Nod) Me too.

Kyle:

Yeah let's go, there are many beautiful places there.

*after that they decide to go the bus terminal and buy 3 tickets trip to baguio , after that they arrived at 12pm in the noon.

Kyle:

Wow!(*surprised😯) this is my first time on baguio and im surprised because Baguio city looks like heaven in beauty(hyperbole)

Jhemie:

yeah you're right, baguio is indeed beautiful, and so is Jeah(simili)

Jeah:

Jhemie just shut the fck up , you're so annoying but thanks( irony)

Jhemie:

hey guys im hungry, so lets go find some food for our hungry stomach

*after that they go to the public market and look for the food they want and Jhemie saw something.

Jhemie:

oooh,guys i saw something that looks like yummy ,(visual)

Jeah/Kyle:

ohh where is it??

Jhemie:

there it looks like yummy and thats smells like sweet and savory (olfactory, gustatory)

Kyle:

oh yeah i think we need to buy this for our hungry stomach.

Jeah:

oooh yeah this pancake is fluffy(tactile) too and i think we need to buy it for ourselves

Jhemie:

okay guys lets eat and enjoy our delicious food.

*after eating they decide to go and explore other things for more fun and memorable bondings

Jhemie:

lets go guys, theres an jeepney calling our attention using her horn *meep meep meep (auditory)

Jeah:

okay let's go

Kyle:

wow the jeepney is too fast it looks like an Cheetah(personification) lets go have a good trip

*they arrived at the designated destination

Kyle:

Wow! this place is incredible and awesome

Jeah:

yeah thats true.

Jhemie:

Kyle you're so Overacting about the place and the things you see you can be an character in a movie example: Olaf(metonymy)

Jeah:

can we go now?? it so annoying,this place is occupied on small crowds per corner,(oxymoron)

Jeah:

then lets go and find another place, this place gave me a trauma and my cat passed away since 2014.(euphemism) and shes get hit by a car

Jhemie:

sorry, okay kyle lets go Jeah isn't comfortable here lets go find another place to explore

Kyle:

okieeeee.

*And then after that they ride a jeepney again and go to the other place and then the rain Came.

Kyle:

men how can me enjoy this bonding its raining and there's a little hit wet water in front of us.(understatement)

Jeah:

Kyle! pls stop joking you're not funny your so annoying

Kyle:

okay sorry

Jhemie:

wow, my mom texted me she said that ,my mom bought me a new wheel(synecdoche). lets go , lets go home now and use my new wheel to try and explore more things and places for our great bonding.

kyle:

wow you're so lucky men

Jeah:

okay congrats, lets go.

*Then they decide to go home quickly and try jhemie's new car and continue their bonding.

THE END.

[curiousaromantic]

I just found a wild crossover idea of TGCF x PJO in my drafts and I wanted to share it with you guys aklsskmdjsd

-

I just had the most random thought ever.

I was looking for PJO fanfics and it just came to my mind that Nico has the tittle of Ghost King in the PJO universe if I'm not wrong (i think it was bc he defeated Minos and bc he can summon the dead and well, son of Hades ok?) (also– after he defeated Minos, didn't that give him a position in the Undersorld where he could judge which soul goes to which place in thd Underwold? . Correct me if I'm wrong, its been ages since I read PJO & HoO)

Anyway, thinking about the words Ghost King, of course I inmediatly thought of TGCF and the calamities of its universe, which are called Ghost Kings, who are Hua Cheng, Crimson Rain Sought Flower; He Xuan, Black Water Sinking Ships; Bai Wuxiang, White No Face; and Qi Rong, Green Lantern something-else-that-i-don't-remember.

Imagine if somehow the characters of PJO were transported someway into the world of TGCF. Although, I think it could be possible for both stories to exist in the same universe and world, because If I am not wrong, in the PJO universe gods of different cultures exist at the same time but most demigods remain ignorant at that until HoO happened and yeah.

If a TGCF and PJO crossover were to happen, i think it would be like same way the crossover between the Kanes & Percabeth went or Magnus & Percabeth again (i haven't read those books so i could be writing pure nonsense just now. Fck, i really need to get back to my intense phase of Percy Jackson fan).

Anyway, let's think that the PJO cast somehow has to go on a mission to China and bc they are in territory out of the reach of the greek gods, they are in big danger.

The crew (which I think would be made of the Seven, Grover, Thalia, Solangelo & idk who else, like i said my mind isn't fresh regarding PJO hehe) ends up being chased by ghosts who they think are monsters trying to kill demigods (not much of a difference considering that the ghosts are planning on selling them as snacks in Ghost City bc for some reason these weird foreign humans smell very funny).

Percy and company also don't know that it is the Ghost Festival (i forgot the name it was given in the novel aaaaa, it was long ok? Im sorry for my bad memory, plus im wriring this at 3am) and that's why there are a lot of ghosts out there. They only realize they aren't monsters and it is the Ghost Festival until Annabeth connects the dots and points it out to the rest (she did her research before coming to complete a quest in China, and also because my girl is exicted for the chinese architecture).

Unfortunately, knowing the ghosts aren't monsters doesn't change the fact that they are being chased by them, and because many of the ghosts are Savage it is quite difficult to deal with them due to the fact thag physical attacks do little harm to their souls and their weapons also cannot harm them bc they aren't gods. They don't know how to deal with ghosts; well Nico can and it is what saves their asses, although because these ghosts are not residents of the greek—

-

And like, that’s all I had in my draft, I don’t remember when I wrote this 😂, I just remember that I wanted PJO characters to meet and wouldn’t it be interesting for them to realize how different are chinese gods (Xie Lian vs Greek Gods FIGHT) and then becoming good friends with Hualian?

Imagine Sally Jackson with Paul and Hualian becoming foster parents to all this teenage demigods that have been through a lot?

[strangermask]

Rottmnt next gen team thingy

Interrogation

Context: Sakura grew up and was raised in the hidden city for about 16 years

~~~~~~~~

Golden Bear: Well, fancy seeing a new face to the idiot squad.

Sakura: Hey, they aren’t idiots.

Alex: What are you doing here, Golden Bear?

Golden Bear: What, a guy can’t walk through the streets under the lovely moonlight?

Ren: With a bag full of extremely dangerous chemicals? You only do this when the others got something big.

Casey Jr: Tell us what’s going on or… or we’ll have to do this the hard way.

Golden Bear: Ha! Like you lot could do anything the hard way. I ain’t saying anything.

Ren: We can stay here all night.

Golden Bear: Don’t you lot have a bedtime?

Sakura: Sir, please just tell us what’s going on-

Golden Bear: Or else what? Gonna invite me to a tea party to talk me to death?

Sakura:

(The guys get ready to fight)

Ren: You did not just-

(Sakura puts a hand out. The guys are a bit confused and caught off guard. They look at her as she walks up to Golden Bear. She puts a hand on his shoulder.)

Sakura: You wanna have a tea party? Alright then. I have two tickets. Each one is an invitation to a different party.

Sakura: The first tea party is, I’ll admit, a quiet one. All that happens is us talking and you telling us what’s going on. No fights at all. You give us everything you know, and you can leave afterward. No fuss.

Sakura: The *second* tea party is more… aggressive. We all punch, kick, and bite. Sounds eventful, huh? But here is where it gets better. I have the VIP ticket just for you. And VIPs get all the beat down until you spit out what’s going on. Sure, you can try to fight back. But I don’t think it will help.

Golden Bear: Come on, you aren’t serious-

(Sakura punches down a nearby wooden object with one hand. It breaks into pieces. Everyone stares in shock.)

Sakura: That is a little sneak peek of the second tea party.

Sakura: Now.

Sakura: Which tea party would you like to go to? Because I can get you an invitation to either one, whichever you prefer.

Golden: Alright, alright! I’ll talk!

Sakura: Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.

Sakura: Ren, set up a recording. I don’t want to leave anything out in case he tries to get out of this.

Ren: Yes ma’am.

(After interrogation)

Sakura: Wow, that was easier then I thought. Right, guys?

Casey Jr:

Ren:

Alex:

Sakura: … Guys?

Alex: Where the fck did that come from?

Sakura: Where did what come from?

Alex: That- That- You just fckin- oh my god.

Sakura: Did I do something wrong?

Ren: No! You didn’t do anything wrong.

Casey Jr: We’re just surprised by… what you did. The interrogation.

Sakura: Oh… Did I do okay?

Alex: You did amazing, scared the sht out of Goldie, but where did that come from???

Sakura: Oh! Well, uh, it’s a thing or two I learned while in the hidden city.

Ren: You learned how to interrogate someone like that in the hidden city?

Sakura: One, I did grow up mostly around mob bosses and criminals. Two, it was a speech kind of thing that I had to learn since I unlocked my mystic powers. Of course, interrogation wasn’t gonna be really useful, but Talon wanted to teach me.

Ren: Talon, the big falcon guy?

Sakura: Yeah. He told me that even if I won’t use it much, it’ll be useful to know knowing where I was living.

Casey Jr: What did he teach you?

Sakura: Well, one tip he gave me was: if the person you’re interrogating insults you, see if you can turn the insult into a threat. Another was if they don’t take you seriously, show them you’re serious.

Alex: Oh my god.

Ren: Please teach us how to do this.

Sakura: Wait, really?

Casey Jr: It would definitely be good to know when we have to do this again.

Sakura: :D

[forgloryforhonor]

Could you give your general thoughts on the ending?

Loaded question huh

War on Terminal vs Utsuro:

Personally I think it was pretty standard as wish-granting stories go in my experience. It’s always a "save the world by granting the protagonist’s wishes” or “meet/defeat your maker” or “final parting with your maker and moving on” kind of thing. Gintama did everything lol.. not bad tbh.

on the Joui.

While I complained before about Katsura/Takasugi making gintoki’s life hell in the rest of the arcs... I do think it was cool that they forgave each other for the things they’ve done to each other in the name of their master. It’s good compromise/acceptance on each of them for the Finale.

Despite what other say about katsura/takasugi not getting what they deserved... I think they actually got what they deserved lol. For me the finale was ultimately a Shoyo/Gintoki thing. Katsura got his master’s recognition when he they talked as equals on how to contain the Altana, Takasugi is finally laid to rest after years of being a living corpse. Gintoki got closure once and for all.

It was a good ending that finally closed that chapter of their pasts.

On the true ending

Main Characters:

Gintoki - as a wish shopkeeper i like that he went back to doing that job. As far as wish granting stories go, it’s pretty satisfying that he stayed true to the whole ethos of the series at the end. And where he’s at is a good place to restart.

Shinpachi and Otae - them paying respects at their father’s grave is a good callback to how gintama started. It’s a good ending scene.

Otae - I wish it was made clear what her final profession was. Was that stint at the cabaret club party a temporary thing? She had declared that she had already left the nightlife during timeskip arc, so what the hell was going on? Is she kabajou once more now that Gintoki has returned and the fabric of Kabukichou life was mended... Or is she some kind of manager now?

Kagura - she and gintoki gotta fix their whole living situation smh. One pf them absolutely has to move out. (Shh dont worry kodoukan dojo has plenty of rooms)

Other Edo groups:

Shogunate - despite saying it’s the end of the shogunate, a tokugawa woman is still in power at its place. Yeah Katsura/Matsudaira may have killed off the immediate destabilization attempts but bruh, Edo is only one city in the whole of Japan lol. So if there is a continuation... will there be a meiji restoration or no? Where’s the imperial faction in gintama anyway??

Shinsengumi - by letting shinsengumi live in this adaptation... sorachi would have to deal with either 1) making them heroes and not brand them as the traitors the imperial govt made them out to be historically 2) meiji restoration not existing. The possibilities are endless but unfortunately we move far away from the original historical context if they continue.

Kondou - fck him he’s still a stalker. Yuck.

Yagyuu - pretty okay ending i think. They’re in a good place.

Yoshiwara - like I said before, it was still glossed over if Kamui/Harusama still have holdings in that scene and what Soyo thinks of the ward in general (other than being a touristy place). Does Hinowa/Tsukuyo have monopoly of that place? Are you telling me that courtesan power struggles from within Yoshiwara have miraculously dissolved because they have gintoki as savior, hinowa is benevolent and tsukuyo has a standing army? that’s too easy smh. come on gimme smth to work on here.

Joui/Katsura - in the end he’s still a terrorist unlike his historical counterpart who travelled to other countries to copy/learn western governments and techniques. So idk. Is kondou gonna take over his job or smth? From what I understood Donald Zuramp prioritized the elimination of destabilizing factors in his term. But then at the end he returned to being one of those destabilizing factors. Therefore Shinsengumi will have to become one of the government’s main military arms and will have to do the study abroad programs and sht.

Oniwabanshu - I dont fckng know. I’m kind of sad that they’d be out of jobs now. Okita kind of has their market covered in Soyo’s government. So what is Oniwabanshu in general?? Or a are they all working together? I havent seen Zenzou directly interact with Shinsengumi though. This whole thing is a mess.

Kiheitai - the absolute scapegoats in this mess of a finale tbh. Takechi Henpeita is wasted. Matako’s now a babysitter of a reincarnated Takasugi. They’re lost in a limbo now since they dont have an imperial faction to support nor a leader to guide them to a direction. Bansai is rolling in his grave as we speak.

I’m not very satisfied with the sidegroups endings tbh. So many things are still left unclear.

On Yorozuya:

I like only the ending for their group (and the rest of kabukichou) tbh. I like that they’ve moved on in their own way after all the hurt from the wars. I think it’s comforting to see them all back together in the lazy comedic homely way that we are used to. GIntoki permanently disbanding the Yorozuya to do something else like join one of the other military groups or transfer his business home base in some place other than Kabukichou is too jarring. Gintoki embodies the Kabukichou spirit and I believe it’s a good call to have return and do what he does best in the place which ultimately gave birth to the present and future him (and kagura/shinpachi/sadaharu/otae). If there is a continuation it’s the most decent place to start over.

I still want to see thay Yorozuya-exclusive nabe dinner in the Kodoukan dojo after all.

On GinTae:

Since the Yorozuya is back together then  they will still be good important intimate close friends and family to each other. A main dynamic such as theirs ending on that note is the most satisfying thing.

[guessimjoiningthespidermanfandom]

The Zone

Peter Parker x bisexual!reader

Peter Parker x fem!reader

Peter Parker x black!reader

Peter Parker x villain!reader 

Warnings: Mentions of violence, bruising, allusions to corrupt government, drug use, underage drinking, knives, mentions of neo-nazis, bad eating and sleeping habits, a mention of sex, mentions of death and the dead. 

Word Count: 3.7k

Songs: Changes- Charles Bradley, 4 Morant- Doja Cat, Prey-  The Neighborhood, Stay Together- Noah Cyrus, Without me- Eminem, Colors- Halsey, Where’s My Juul??-Full Tac, Pork Soda-Glass Animals, Everyday- A$AP Rocky, Facts- Kanye West,  Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?, Immortal- J.Cole, High Enough- K,Flay, Drugs- UPSAHL.

A/N: This is pretty short but it’s also the fasest I’ve released a chapter after the other was released.

Series Masterlist   Previous Part   Next Part

I smashed the keypad multiple times with the handle of a knife before the metal finally fell. I pulled all the wires out before hearing the words ‘System Malfunction’. 

If I hadn’t disarmed the alarm system already. I’d probably be worried right about now. I manually slid open the cell door. 

That’s when she glanced up at me.

“Took you look enough,” She smirked. 

“I could’ve gotten you out sooner if you didn’t get your ass locked up in solitary,” I tossed her the Black Cat suit. 

“You know I still don’t know your name or what you look like,” She stated pulling the suit up “and I don’t think that's fair seeing as you know those things about me,” She cooed. 

I pulled my mask over my face “It’s Y/N. Happy now?” 

“Wow I always knew your voice sounded attractive, matches the face,” 

“Okay, we can kiss my ass later but now we have about 2 minutes to get out before the guards come and get us,” 

Leaving the building the same way I came in through the vent. You’d think they’d have better security. I was thankful they didn’t when we finally reached the car. 

“Who’s car is this?” Felicia asked hopping in the passenger seat. 

“Dunno,” I said, putting the car in the drive. 

“Hold on tight,” I warned before ramming into the fence at full speed successfully knocking it down. 

I was definitely not holding my breath that whole time. And I definitely was not doubting myself. Okay maybe I was, a little.

“I’m surprised that actually worked, none of this was planned at all,” I laughed in relief.

She laughed along with me 

“Plans are for the ‘good guys’, if you’re smart enough you don’t need plans,” 

“If that’s not the truth,” I replied turning onto a deserted road “You owe me again, I’m not counting, but I believe the score’s 3:1,” 

She was right, you never need a plan. Second moral to the story is that even “villains” never work alone. I know I always talk that “every man for themselves” mess but everyone needs a support team. And for people who supposedly have no morals they haven’t betrayed me yet. 

There are the bad guys and then there are the bad guys. The heroes didn’t seem to care which you were, they just wanted you locked up or dead and to get all the glory for it. I think it’s time one of us gets the glory.

“Ow!” I exclaimed, pulling myself out of my thoughts. 

“Sorry,” Olivia muttered, “You need to be still,” She said, dabbing a cloth on my leg. 

“Well it’s hard to be still when your leg is burning,” 

I was expecting some jab or joke like normal but it was silent. She looked up at me and I could see the tears forming in her eyes. 

“Y/N…” Her eyes drifted over my bruised and cut up body, her voice breaking. 

“You don’t have to worry about me, I promise I’m fine,” 

“How am I supposed to believe that when you won’t tell me anything?”

“I don’t tell you anything cause then you’d worry,” 

“Well I’m already worried!” 

The next day of school was very ordinary. Well as ordinary as it got when you were a kid who was wanted in multiple cities. My body wasn’t as sore as it was the day before, the bruises were clearing up, but honestly these new weapons were no joke. I’d seen them burn straight through buildings and a ferry now. Anyways like I was saying before today was ordinary, nothing exciting unfortunately. 

Rich kids in Queens take homecoming a little too seriously. For the most part, I’m not complaining penthouse parties were fun. Rich white kids love their molly. 

Harry Osborn was one of those rich kids. If we’re being honest I feel like he does coke on occasion. I don’t think he actually liked homecoming all that much seeing as he’s pretty new to our school. I just think he likes being able to brag about his parties and get wasted at parties. 

One of those parties would be the one I was getting ready for right now. 

Olivia walked into the bathroom and stood in the doorway. This bathroom was very modern as well as the whole house. Like an art gallery.

“Hey kitten,” I said since she wasn’t going to say anything. 

“Hey,” 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I asked.

“You know how I feel about Harry’s parties,” 

That I did, her dad and Harry’s dad seemed to have some sort of beef. That I didn’t care enough to get into. But Olivia's family took it pretty seriously. I guess I could say Felicia and Olivia’s family. It’s still weird to see them as siblings. It’s not surprising, just weird. Just a weird family of kleptomaniacs. 

This isn’t something I say often but I looked really hot. Like really fucking hot. I had even winged eyeliner. A nice black tube top. A pastel pink tennis skirt. I had black thong type thing on, you could see the thin straps resting on my waist from above the skirt. It wasn’t like I was trying to get fucked or anything because I was not planning on being the slightest bit of sober. 

I also had thigh high socks on but only because they could conceal a knife and I’d been on high alert lately. Just because I wasn’t going to be sober didn’t mean I couldn’t protect myself. It's a sort of muscle memory when it comes to knives, at least with me 

If I wore this anywhere near the kids at my old school they’d probably call me a wannabe white girl, but those kids aren’t there and they have no part of my life anymore. 

I just wanted to get so fucked up that I couldn’t think at all. 

I couldn’t help but think. That’s all I could do lately. My brain wouldn’t slow down to let me breathe for even one second. I just wanted to breathe and go to bed. I still can’t sleep. At least now I have a valid reason. I don’t like talking about it because it’s not a big deal or anything, but today is the anniversary of-. It’s the day Rose died. No use sugarcoating it. It passes every year, no use being in my feels about it. Couldn’t help it though, every year I’d get sad about it for about 5 minutes until I did so many drugs that I couldn’t blink. 

As soon I stepped into the house. I was hit with the buzz I hadn’t felt in a while. I missed it too. It wasn’t like Liz’s “party” her thing could’ve been fun but the whole headache, Vulture thing and lack of drugs made it suck. 

Anyways who cares about that. I’d been at this school long enough to know who had molly. I’d either have to flirt with them or pay which I was down for either. 

See I knew the chewlery gem rod I had attached to a necklace would come in handy one of these days. Now I wouldn’t bite my mouth. 

Only problem is I could still think.  Which wasn’t good. There was some sort of jungle juice on the table but I just went straight for a bottle of beer sitting on the counter, because I was shaking too much to pour anything. 

Beer has to be the nastiest form of alcohol out there. It looks like pee, tastes like pee, it’s like they didn’t bother trying to mask the taste of yeast in it. 

My body was vibrating in a good way as I started talking to people. By the time I’d made small talk with the third person around me. I’d finished the beer and I went back to the kitchen to fill a cup with some form of alcohol and soda I wasn’t picky. Harry must’ve had the same idea. 

“Hey,” He said. 

“Hey, where’s your groupie,” I said referring to the blonde that’d I seen around him earlier. 

“You mean Gwen?” He said, bringing a solo cup to his lips. 

“Probably,” I moved over grabbing the orange soda next to me. 

“Why’re you wondering, jealous?” He asked being his signature flirtatious self. There was this one time that we… you know. But we were both drunk so it doesn’t count. 

“You wish I was jealous,” I rolled my eyes “We both know you're the one obsessed with me,” I laughed. 

“Yep, dream about you every night,” He joked back. 

I took a sip from my drink squinting as it slightly burned my throat. 

“I’m sure you do,” I headed out of the kitchen. 

I could feel my brain slowing down as I started to calm. That was until Facts by Kanye came on. Then suddenly it felt like my blood was boiling in my veins and I couldn’t breathe and not in the good way. I made my way to the nearest bathroom and hoped no one was making out in there. 

I opened the door and the coast was clear. 

I splashed water on my face. When I looked in the mirror my pupils were dilated and my face was flush. Normally my skin tone masked the effects of blushing but not this time.

 I wasn’t drunk. Maybe I was but I wasn’t enough. I was still laying on the bathroom floor because it was cold and felt good in contrast against my hot skin. I was going through my phone and landed on Peter’s number. I texted him because I was bored and I can text whoever I want. 

you: helo 

About thirty seconds later he responded, guess he was already on his phone. 

P 😜🤚: Hey 

you: do yuo like pengwings

pengns 

fck 

penguns 

penguins 

He read the messages and responded rather quickly 

P 😜🤚: ? 

You okay? 

you: yesh im fine d you like penfuins 

P 😜🤚: Are you drunk 

you: no im nt drunk i m jst hPpy 

P 😜🤚: yeah sure, where are you. 

Before I could think, I clicked the option to send location. Even if I did think it wouldn’t have done much help. None of my thoughts were coherent. I was actually happy, like really really happy. 

I was still laying on the ground when I felt the floor vibrate with the knock at the door. 

“Who is it?” I asked. 

“Peter,” The voice called out

“Come in!” I said in a sing-songy voice. 

He opened the door slowly and looked around before looking down at me. 

“Hiii,” 

“Hey, what are you doing on the floor,” 

I shrugged after slowly pushing off the floor so I wouldn’t lose balance.

“How’d you get here?” Since I know he couldn’t drive. 

“I got an Uber,” 

“That’s adorable,” 

“What’s adorable,” 

“You, you spent money on a ride just to come see me,” I pointed out, voice cracking halfway through the sentence as tears started to well in my eyes. 

 “Wait don’t cry, I’m sorry, did I do something? If I did sorry for whatever it was-” 

“No you didn’t do anything, it’s just me,” I moved a hand off the counter I was holding onto for balance before wiping my face. I don’t cry, at least not willingly and definitely not in front of anyone else.

“Well I was going to…” He fiddled with his hands before continuing “I was going to ask if you needed a ride because I didn’t know if you drove here or not and you’re clearly drunk-“

“I’m not drunk!” I said. “I don’t drink how could I be drunk,” 

“Okay, but like I was saying do you need a ride?” 

I was going to say I didn’t want to leave yet but it’s not like I was doing anything but being pathetic and hanging out in the bathroom. 

“Fine, yeah” 

Peter opened his mouth like he was about to say something but a knock on the door interrupted. I immediately opened the door and grabbed Peter’s wrist running, for no reason except I felt like it. I bumped into a couple doorways 

By the time we’d made it out by the pool Peter was hunched over trying to catch his breath. 

I started running toward the water and I could hear a faint 

“Y/N don't!” As I was running but it was too late seeing as I was already in the water. I laughed as I broke the surface as I floated on my back. 

Peter came over to the edge of the water and squatted down. 

“Y/N” 

“And nothing hurts anymore I feel kinda free!” I sang splashing around in the pool. 

“Y/N” 

“We're still the kids we used to be,” 

“Y/N!” Peter yelled, snapping my attention back to him. 

“Hmm?” I asked. 

“You need to get out the pool,” 

“I don’t wanna,” I whined. 

“Yeah I know but don’t you wanna go home?” He asked. 

The last place I’d ever want to go is “home” 

“No, get in the pool,” 

“Y/N,” He said sternly. 

“Pleaseee,” 

“Get out the pool it’s cold you’re gonna get sick,”

“Fine…” I made my way begrudgingly to the steps of the pool. 

Peter gave me the hoodie he was wearing so I was able to take my skirt and socks off. I put the knife I had in the hoodie pocket. 

The last thing I remember is getting in some car. 

Oh shit 

I woke up in a room that I did not recognize. I swear to God if I got kidnapped again. I sat up quickly and hit my head on something. It was dark but there was a nightlight. Thank God if we’re being honest I’m scared of the dark. Long story I don’t wanna get into it.

I was definitely hungover, headache prominent. It only worsened when I stepped out the room and the light from the TV hit my eyes. I glanced over to Peter laying on the couch. 

Oh yeah I forgot about that. 

“Hey…” I whispered. He shifted a bit “You awake?” 

He sat up and looked at me rubbing his eyes before bombarding me with questions. 

“Did you- Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Do you need painkillers? Sorry that I brought you here and didn’t ask. That's really creepy but you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you because you seemed tired. Again sorry it’s just I didn’t really even know where you lived and I was-“

“Oh my God, shut up!” I interrupted. 

He looked stunned, blinking a few times. 

“Sorry,” I held my hand to my forehead in exasperation. “Sorry, it’s just you- you were making my head hurt.” 

“Oh I’m sorry,”

“No, I promise it’s not you, if it’s okay with you can I go back to sleep? I don’t really feel like going home right now,” 

“Yes of course you can!” He sat up and pushed the blanket off of him before standing. “Wait I’ll be right back,” He said. I nodded before hesitantly sitting down on the couch. 

He came back rather quickly with a glass of water and some painkillers. I mumbled a quick thank you before taking them. 

I yawned, surprised that I was able to actually feel tired. Normally it took at least a few hours before I could sleep if I even got the chance. 

“You can take the bed,” Peter informed. 

“I just wanna stay right here,” I said lazily. 

He tried to scoot over but I already had my arms wrapped around him so I squeezed him tighter. I looked up and his face was tinted red, smiling before I drifted off. 

I felt light hit my face and I heard the squeak of a door. I sat up and slowly unwrapped my arms from around Peter. Walking over towards May. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t know if it was okay for me to stay here I should’ve called and asked,”

“No, no it’s perfectly fine,” 

“Okay…”

“He talks about you all the time you know,”

I smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Thanks for not killing me for being in your house,” I joked. “But I should probably get home anyway,” 

I didn’t go home. Mostly because I don’t have an actual home. I didn’t go to any of the almost 13 places I’ve stayed at, at some point either. I went to some shitty hotel. I had enough money to stay for about a week. Which was great I could stay for all of homecoming week then I’d have to find somewhere else to stay before I got more money at least. 

The last step for this day was go to Olivia’s house and get my stuff back. I made my way into the house through the back door, and sure enough she was sitting on the couch like parents in movies when they catch you sneaking out.

She eyed the bag in my hand.

“So you’re leaving?”

“I-“ I didn’t get the chance to speak.

“And you weren’t going to tell me, oh okay,” 

“Olivia…” 

“Where are you gonna stay?”

“I’m going back to my grandma's house,” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, again I’m sorry that I tried to leave without telling you I just-“

“Didn’t want to be interrogated?” 

“Yeah…”

”It’s okay, I get it, come give me a hug,”

I moved giving her a hug and she mumbled 

“You smell like booze,” 

As soon as I got back to the hotel I turned on the movie Frozen. Which I knew was a bad idea because the movie always made me cry. 

I ended up crying myself to sleep and by the time I woke up I was late for school. I slept for 18 hours straight.  

If I was going to be late might as well have had a reason. So, I got smoothies. 

“I love smoothies a lot, but banana is so so strong. Which like makes it pointless to put anything else in it. People should stop saying strawberry and banana smoothie because in reality it’s a BANANA and strawberry smoothie,” I took another sip of my smoothie.

“Damn bitch, you’re saying a lot and fast what’d they put in that smoothie,” Bri said examining the cup before turning to me again “And can I have some?” I laughed before lighty shoving her shoulder. 

“Noo! Continue talking you were my reference for my excitement portrait,” MJ said flipping her sketchbook towards me “I’ve missed my one and only chance to see you happy,” 

“Now I know you’re not talking, I don’t think anyone has seen you smile ever,”

I slid down the bench of the lunch table 

“Whatcha watching Phineas?” I asked Peter. He quickly swiped out the app. “Was it porn?”

“No! Wha- What?” 

I patted his shoulder “Relax dude, I was just messing with you,” 

That was the last I’d spoken to any of my friends. In all actuality that was the last time I’d spoken to anyone besides the hotel staff. I hadn’t been to school since...what’s today? Wednesday. Well then I hadn’t been to school since 3 days ago. Which also means I haven’t eaten since a week ago? 

Okay I know how bad that sounds but it’s not like I’ve been eating nothing. I just haven’t been hungry lately, I have had snacks though like goldfish and chips. I’ve just been too lazy to cook and don’t have the funds to cook. I’ve also been too lazy to fake a smile or whatever so I just haven’t been going to school. 

However what I have been and haven’t been eating is the issue of concern here. It’s that alien shit from the Avengers a few years ago is so much deeper than anyone could have ever thought. I’d been in research mode for a while now. I call it the zone, anything you say to me will go unheard, I mean business when I’m in the zone. If I want something to happen it will. 

“Okay so, I’ll start with the government flash drive. So the aliens that attacked a while back in 2012 were called Chitauri. So Loki had control of them and was using them as an army. Loki being Thor’s brother and the God of mischief,” I clarified. 

''And Loki was attacking because he wanted to be king but his brother was king instead. I mean I think, I don’t really get that part. So there was this thing called the tesseract and it’s supposedly like super powerful. This branch of government called Shield doesn’t want Loki to have this so they keep, then the invasion ensues. This tesseract however is some space stone and Loki used it to bring in the aliens. It’s some sort of infinity stone whatever that means. Howard Stark found the stone in the ocean, because a Stark is always gonna be the one to fuck the world up when they think they’re helping. Then he and someone else founded Project Pegasus-” 

“What’s project Pegasus?”

“I don’t really know but I know it stands for potential energy group alternate sources,”

“Oh, so it’s Shield that’s over this… Tesseract?”

“Exactly!” I clapped and the papers with all the information I printed from the flash drive rustled underneath me. 

“What are you going on about?” Carmen asked. “Like what’s the bigger picture?” 

“That’s the thing! I don’t know, this is like so covered up and coded that I can’t figure it out with information that I have,” I turned towards her “But I will, and that’s where your help comes in,”

“Y/N, when’s the last time you slept?” She tilted her head like those dogs in Minecraft when you have food. 

“Last night,” I waved her off. 

I looked down at the information I was able to find out about Kingpin since he was mentioned in the video my mom made for me. Apparently she worked for him for a while. So did Felicia but all she’d ever tell me was “He was an ass he did give me a gift I’m grateful for though,”. He had affiliations with everyone. 

From what Black Widow released out unto the world he had connections with a Neo Nazi group called HYDRA which brainwashed people from what’ve heard. 

Before I’d just wanted to take down the Vulture out of pettiness if we’re being honest, but now. Oh now? I knew I’d have to. 

Another paper I’d printed from Kingpin’s affiliations caught my eye. 

“Hey Carmen,”

“Hm?”

“Ever been to Vegas?” 

Taglist:

@tomdiddlyumptious

[bandsanitizer]

BTR for the album ranking !! You made me suffer with ranking a btr album so I’m doing the same :)🤍

love this for us 😌💖 thank you for the ask! (ps sorry for all the comments I was listening to album while doing this bc sometimes I forget how the songs sound outside of the chorus)

worldwide (2020 acoustic version needs to be on spotify) (okay seriously this song has EVERYTHING. great vocals for all of them! lyrics are it!!!! the piano in the background????? AND THEN JUST THE WHOLE MUSIC VIDEO AND PURPOSE IN THE NARRATIVE OF THE SHOW???? UHHH YEAAAH!!!) (actually I just realized how little kendall vocal moments are on this track. rip. sorry dude.)

stuck (spotify!!! put it on spotify!!!) (got a whole music video and no spotify???) (also the world really slept on carlos’ voice!!!!) (lol kendall doesn’t have a lot of solos on this album)

til I forget about you (carlos solo! carlos solo! the way his voice sounds in the second verse is just sooooo good)

nothing even matters (kendall! logan! vocals!) (oh wooOAH) (we don’t need to fight everything will alright nothing even matters but you and iiIIIIIIiiiiIIIIIIIIII)(^OH)

count on you (one two three four to the fiiive) (all their vocals in the verses? kendall and carlos??? also JORDIN SPARKS??? *cries*) (also the WHOLE chorus) (the “very very carefully” harmony????? NOPE NOPE TOO MUCH) (also logan’s vocals at the end are very intermission reminiscent)

halfway there (the part after the bridge is so twinkly! i love it!)

I know you know (CYMPHONIQUE!!!!) (how to rock deserved better smh)

boyfriend (okay. again. carlos’ vocals are just like EVERYTHING)

any kind of guy (the whispered vocals in the verse gajdhsksh) (not the best message cos you shouldn’t change urself for people but like a problematic BOP)

this is our someday (okay what even is an opening with drums like that doing here???? also this solidifies that I would pay money for them to cover an atl song that wasn’t no idea)

big time rush (I wish I could listen to this song without the show’s opening credits playing in my head. like that’s kind of the only reason it’s so low here. I cannot listen to the song as a song. it is the opening for the show.) (also logan vocals “overnIGHT” in the second verse is just—) (lol this has a bridge! I forgot!)

city is ours (cars BEEP BEEP) (also WTF was that guitar after the bridge doing on a boyband pop track like it FCKS but what! even!!)

big night (carlos vocals! again! actually all their vocals here are just a little bit different and I love it! also the chorus is just FUN!)

oh yeah (james’ falsetto???? YES but why is it so auto tuned on the albummm)

famous (I’m sorry their vocals in this deserve better but the lyrical content makes me laugh sometimes) (yOUR SONG IS ON THE RADIO HIGH ROTATION VIDEO BRIGHT LIGHTS FAN MAIL PAPARAZZI ON YOUR TAIL TOUR BUS PRIVATE JET THINKING BIG AINT FAILED YOU YET JUST ONE THING YOU CANT FORGET TAKES MORE THAN JUST WANTING IT AIM HIGH NEVER REST PUT YOUR PASSION TO THE TEST GIVE YOUR ALL NEVER LESS FAMOUS MEANS THAT YOURE THE BEST *camera noises*)

Send me an album and I’ll rank the tracks from most to least favorite

[rynhaswritersblock]

internship (hc) | p.p.

summary: tony stark not only helped in bringing together a group of people to protect earth, but also in sparking young love

warnings: i love this one very cute very fun i think i cussed once? idk

+ + +

- we all know peter parker has (had????) an "internship" with tony sTaNk

- but, despite that being fake, tony does actually have an internship program

- and, luckily for you, you're one of tony's most prized interns

- the moment he looked at your resume he knew you'd be a perfect fit

- your extremely rare high level of intellect shocked him

- in fact, you were almost even smarter than the man

- the two of you bonded right away

- at this point you were able to lounge around avenger hq in sweats and no makeup

- one day tony asked you to help him on his new project

- you said yes, ofc

- much to your surprise, this project was spider-man's new suit

- of course you'd seen videos of the web-slinger on youtube (who hadn't?)

- so obviously this project made you very excited

- you got to work right away, coming to the hq everyday after school

- you and tony were extremely proud of the final product

- he asked you to program the AI for the suit (soon-to-be karen!!!!!!!)

- and that was the first time peter saw you

- you were sat on the ground, legs crossed, holograms in the air as you worked

- too focused on your work, you hadn't noticed a certain boy in the doorway

- tony was giving him the rundown on the germany trip while showing him around the place, but peter got sidetracked when he saw you in the office

- the boy stopped dead in his tracks, focus honing in on you

- luckily for you, you had put on some mascara that day

- but you were still donned in some of your best sweatpants and an old shirt from school that was way too big for you

- yet, peter parker being peter parker, couldn't help but be starstruck (STARKstruck???) when he saw you

- well, every girl in the world was gorgeous to him, for goodness sakes

- but something about you caught him off guard

- "mr. stark, who's that?" peter whispered

- an all-too-knowing smirk grew on tony's face

- "y/n!" he called - your head shot up from the holograms and towards the door, where you made immediate eye contact with peter

- it wasn't long before a small blush grew on your face

- as much as you hated to admit it, you couldn't look at a boy (or girl, too, if you're bi or anything!) anymore without mentally rating their appearance - this is what being single your entire life does to a person

- needless to say, peter parker was HIGH on the list of attractiveness 

- you quickly averted your gaze to tony, grin still tugging on his lips

- "yeah?"

- "this is peter." tony responds, gesturing towards the boy

- "h-hi," peter awkwardly blurts, giving a slight wave

- "hey," you reply, maybe a bit too bReAtHlEsSlY

- a few awkward seconds pass before you give the two a slight nod and get back to your work

- tony begins walking away, dragging peter along with him

- peter hurls series of questions about you at the man, which only made tony's smirk grow

- the two of you began to have more and more awkward encounters at the tower

- most of the time, you'd be working and he'd walk by, seeing you either by coincidence or on purpose

- but sometimes you would just be lounging in the living area, stuffing pizza in your mouth as you watched harry potter

- your levels of nonchalance made peter begin to question if you were mr. stark's secret daughter

- but no one needed to know he wondered that

- the more the two of you saw each other, the more you were on each other's minds

- the small "hey"s began to turn into conversations

- the first real conversation was started by peter (which was only possible through a rare burst of confidence)

- it started with the usual "hey"s

- and then peter asked about your internship

- he saw the way your eyes lighted up when he asked the question and it made him feel warm

- the conversation sparked into more:

- "what about you?"

- "what do you mean.. what about me?" peter asked

- "why do i see you here so often?"

- "oh. uh, also... intern... ship."

- the boys heartbeat began to quicken as you raised an eyebrow at him

- "why are you looking at me like that?"

- "nothing," you smile

- the two of you talk about school and life and stuff 

- after peter bids you an awkward goodbye (he has to go train to do spider things!!) he begins to make his way out of the room

- "bye, spider-man," you yell

- peter whirls around, panic present on his face

- "how did you-?"

- "i'm not an idiot, parker."

- it didn't take your genius brain to connect all the dots (especially cause sometimes when you saw him it would be right after he finished training and he'd be all sweaty?????? which made you forget how to breath just a lil??)

- the two of you began holding actual conversations more and more

- you find yourself watching videos of spider-man swinging throughout the city

- the two of you stalk each other on insta, both marveled by the pictures the other posts

- eventually you say yolo and just follow him

- he follows you back literally like two seconds later

- during one of your run-ins at hq he gets all flustered 

- "you okay?"

- "yeah," peter breathes, "uh, could i, uh, if you're okay with it, could i-"

- "dude."

- "sorry. could i please get your number please?"

- a small smile grows on your face before you reach out a hand, the boy hurriedly grabbing his phone and practically shoving it at you

- you type your name in with a little smiley face and then send yourself a quick "hey"

- you found yourself giddily smiling for a solid few minutes after he left

- one day you find yourself scheming on a way to get peter over to the tower (you were bored as heck; you'd already finished your work)

- then you got an idea

- peter was over mere minutes after you texted him

- he rings the buzzer and you tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to let him in

- "hey," he greets, breathless from the speed at which he hurried over to the tower

- "tony said i need to start doing checkups on your suit every once and a while," you say, silently thanking your acting skills

- "oh," peter nods, "okay"

- he follows you down to the lab, mask still in hand and suit flush on his body 

- you reach one of the large tables, stopping and sucking in a breath before giving him a slightly expectant look

- "i.." you hesitate, "i'm gonna need your..."

-"oh!" peter says with realization

- and then realization hit again

- "uh.. i don't have any other clothes..."

- your face burns bright red before you open your mouth again

- "okay um.. either you're gonna have to hide in the bathroom until i'm done or we try to do it with you still inside the suit... it's just that there'd be a lot of touching if you choose that.." you ebb off at the end of your sentence, chewing on the inside of your lip

- peter immediately gets flustered

- "uh, we can just.. try it... with the suit on........?"

- you nod, taking a nervous step towards him and beginning to mentally berate yourself for not entirely thinking this through

- peter takes a shaky inhale and accidentally takes in the scent of your perfume

- which makes him begin to freak out a little

- you lay a wary hand on him and peter swears he's going to faint

- the two of you had never touched and peter already had a bit too huge of a crush on you

- so this was a lot for him 

- and his heightened senses didn't help

- you carefully (and very awkwardly) press the spider in the middle of his chest - peter starts silently praying you can't hear/feel his heartbeat

- the suit loosens and begins to slip off of his shoulders and you gasp slightly, furiously grabbing it and pulling it up

- "sorry," you smile sheepishly

- peter just half-smiles crookedly as he watches you refocus on the suit

- you give him a wary look before reaching in through the neck and wandering your hand towards the center of the suit

- your attempts to not touch him fail

- your hand brushes against his extremely toned stomach

- the breath catches in both of your throats

- yet you somehow continue, the two of you refusing to even dare to look at each other

- to your surprise, you find a wire out of place

- peter watches as your face scrunches up a lil in focus and melts just a little bit

- your fiddling doesn't get the problem fixed and out of frustration, you tug a little bit

- which causes the suit to slip off of his shoulders

- which causes peter's entire top half to become exposed, the only thing holding the suit up being your hands grasping the wires

- a blush spreads on your cheeks like wildfire as you look down to see the waistband of peter's underwear

- a small squeak involuntarily flies out of peter's mouth, making him mentally punch himself

- your flusteredness disappears when you focus your gaze slightly, seeing red and blue figures scattered across the boy's briefs

- a small laugh falls from your lips

- peter wants to run away

- your small laughter turns into a wheeze

- poor petey just stands there awkwardly

- "pete, are those..."

- you can barely breathe as you double over in laughter

- "are those spider-man underwear????"

- the slightest and weariest of smiles begins to creep on the boy's face

- "maybe..?" he says quietly, voice high

- "that's the best thing i've seen all day"

- eventually you focus again and fix his suit, the uncomfortable atmosphere getting replaced by the two of you joking around

- ever since that day the two of you would become a bit more touchy

- also almost forgot to mention that tony was watching the security camera that day and saw  e v e r y t h i n g  and loved it

- like peter would join you in watching movies after the two of you finished your work at hq

- you'd joke around by stacking your legs on top of each other and kicking each other

- your laughter literally made him so happy

- and you felt the same way about his

- one time you were watching a scary movie (peter intentionally made this happen so you would hopefully want to cuddle)

- a jump scare freaked you the FCK out and you immediately grabbed his hand - even though you cursed yourself, it made peter's day

- probably his whole month

- or life

- every time you got scared, you somehow gravitated closer to the boy, hands still laced together

- by the end of the movie you were curled into him, his arm around you and your head on his shoulder, legs hung over his

- and then the next day you two saw each other and literally pRETENDED THAT NOTHING HAD HAPPENED

- this made the avengers (who had caught onto y'alls chemistry very quickly) quite upset

- the group would tease you two so much kjvhgcjvkl it like wasn't even funny

- when peter discovered his AI (karen!! "hello?? hELLO????") (if you know the exact part i'm talking about i LOVE YOU)

- he immediately thought about you

- "wow, y/n really outdid herself”

- "yes, she did. also, she says hi." the AI responded

- "oh! uhh, i say hi back!"

- (pure angel)

- alright folks now i'm gonna get a little less detailed because i'm past 2000 words at this point and i think we can all tell that i got a bit carried away but let's keep going!

- essentially, the two of you just kept getting closer

- despite the two of you going to different schools, you still had fun lil study parties

- eventually you migrated from the tower and went to each others houses

- peter LOVES your room because it's literally you

- and same goes vice versa

- one day you were walking to the subway to get to the tower after school (beautiful fall afternoon, btw) and peter swung by and scooped you up 

- you screamed a little at the beginning but then got used to it and and had fun and just kinda giggled in his ear the rest of the time

- peter began to worry a little as he swung through the city bc he was so enamored by your laughter all he wanted to do was stop on a roof and kiss you

- and then the idea sparked in his head that he could

- he panicked a little because you two were just buildings away from the tower

- and with one huge swing he landed the two of you on some random roof

- you slipped off of him, eyebrows furrowed as you looked around you

- "pete? this isn't the tow-"

- the boy ripped off his mask (which hurt his nose a little if he was being honest) and stepped towards you, quickly pressing his lips against yours and pulling away just as fast

- "holy shit, dude," you whisper after a moment, head spinning 

- "holy shit?" he asks nervously

- "holy shit."

- you let out an ungodly snort and wheeze, smiles breaking on both of your faces and you let your head drop, pressing it into peter's chest

- you felt him laugh against you and you realized how happy you were (and lowkey hated how cliche it felt but it's fine)

- when you finally caught your air and pulled your head away, the two of you looked at each other with the most shit-eating, cliche, best-friends-turned-something-more smiles

- after a second, with the most boyish grin that made your heart melt, peter asked,

- "wanna make out?"

- "peter!" + + +

peter parker has my entire heart

[khalpascal]

Hello Jonsas!

It’s my first time sharing any content to the jonsa fandom although I’ve been a jonsa for quite some time now, it started during the period between s6 and s7, and that was the time I wrote down some stuff because I really felt intense about it, about them (and also because I had time back then haha!) I remember being so inspired by the multitude of fics that came out after that season. Y’all know it, the post-battle angst and all the pining!! UGH I think that was what made me fall deeper into the jonsa rabbit hole (which I don’t regret one bit because those fics made me feel so damn much! all of them good things!) I never intended to post any of my writings online because I know I am not a writer in any way. I just had all these emotions post-s6 and I didn’t know what to do with them. But fck it, I’m feeling brave tonight and before the last 3 episodes ever of GoT air I just wanted to contribute a lil’ something to the fandom!

Whatever happens (*cough* jonsaiscoming *cough*) I just want to let you all know that I really enjoy this fandom! We have so many amazing and wonderful writers, artists, meme-makers, those who write really thoughtful and insightful metas and theories and just, in general, I think the fandom rocks!

(PS. English is not my first language so pardon any punctuation or grammatical errors!)

---

He could fall in love with the fire in her eyes.

He could fall in love still. Fall in love and be happy. That’s what Sansa told him one night many moons ago. The night they regained their home, when they could still feel the ice seeping into their bones, when the cold comes before them bearing an army of monsters that no one has thought to be true, only products of fishwives’ tales, when their nightmares from past lives, in the South and in the farther North, left them empty, cold shells.

“You are the only thing left that is good.”

He found Sansa beneath the weirwood tree their father—no uncle—spent most of his time praying.

She wasn't praying though, he knew. He remembers her telling him. She didn’t have it in herself anymore, not when it seemed like no one was listening. He sat with her, wanting to feel the chill upon his skin but only for it to be silenced by the warmth Sansa seems to emit. Always, she is always so warm. She surprised him by saying she was thinking about him. “You are the only good left, Jon.” She looked at him, gaunt eyes, hollow cheeks, not a picture of someone who just gained their home back. “Earlier, you wanted to save Rickon. I wanted you to, so badly, but I know we wouldn’t be able to…” A whirlwind of emotions flooding her eyes but pain was the most evident, like she was born with it. He remembers with agonizing relief how he surrendered to what his mind and body told him, he wrapped his arms around her slender frame so he wouldn't have to look at those haunting eyes anymore. He couldn't stand to. He thought himself weak then, he could not even do that, look at her and tell her everything will be fine, how he had come to realize that she is the strongest person he has ever known. She distanced herself from him, gripped his hands tightly and looked him in his eyes. There's a kind of fire in them, not strong but enough to stir in him something familiar yet foreign all at the same time. “Listen to me, you can still live after all this. You have to live. Find someone and fall in love. Jon, promise me, you'll live and you’ll be happy.

That was many moons ago, now Sansa was sitting by the hearth in her Lord Father's former solar. She is sewing her old clothes into gloves the workers in Winterfell could use. Winter is still hitting them hard. Resources are scarcer each day and no one can come out long enough to replenish the stock. Across from her, he is sitting by the desk, looking over proposals from lords all over Westeros. Her aunt proclaimed him her kin before she died in battle against the dead. And it fell to him to rule over the realm, a great responsibility he did not, he still does not want. The only thing that has made him happy over the course of a year that he was proclaimed King of Westeros was giving the North its independence and naming Sansa its rightful Queen. This was his first visit to his home ever since.

"Your grace," Sansa says taking him away from his thoughts. He looks over at her still busy with sewing.

"Sansa," a bit of exasperation coating his voice, "it's Jon, always, to you." He wishes she would look at him so she would know how much he wants her to see him as just Jon. Someone who knows her pain and suffering, who she shared her nightmares with all those nights at Castle Black. Someone she is familiar with, someone she grew up with, someone raised as her half-brother, a voice inside his head tells him. The voice that always seem to sneak into his head in the most inconvenient of times, often when he wishes he could be more with Sansa,  do more with her and every time, he forces another thought into his mind. Fire and blood. He is of the dragon and he best remember it. A forbidden love between a Targaryen and a Stark ignited a war, he will not be as careless, he thinks.

"Jon, you're brooding again." A shadow of a grin lights up her face and right then he forgets all his worries, all the months spent in that viper’s nest of a city only to see her smile at him, the one he swears she only does when it’s just the two of them.

"Aye, it seems Lord Varys' little birds are always on time given any circumstance. Letters of proposals have followed me here,” he sighs tiredly, “I have rejected each and every one down at the capital and I will continue to do so here.”

Sansa stops sewing then and looks him in the eye, an emotion akin to weariness and something else, something he refuses to look into, etched across her face. "You mustn’t” she paused clearly reminiscing something, “that night we took our home back… do you remember what I said Jon?”

Of course he remembers. I’m afraid I remember everything about you Sansa, even with all this time and all this distance between us, I always remember you.

“I want you to be happy. You of all people deserve that. Choose among those proposals, marry a Lord's daughter, have a family of your own and just be happy.” She looks at him determinedly, as if by looks alone he could be.

He could be happy, he thinks, if it’s coming from Sansa. Her looks, her smiles, everything about her. He can’t remember a time when everything wasn’t about her.

He wants to tell her he doesn’t want to marry, that he isn't ready. He still has a myriad of things do as the protector and ruler of the realm. Responses Davos or Varys, both his advisors, would have heard from him. But looking into Sansa's eyes, there were now fire in them. And once again like moth to a flame he found himself unable to look away. And he realizes with no short amount of trepidation that it is not because of his role as king that’s stopping him. All this time he refused to acknowledge the depth of his feelings for his sister-turned-cousin because he’s afraid of her reaction, her rejection. But he finds the courage now. He recognizes the look in her eyes, it’s mirroring his own.

Pain, longing, desire.

And he wants to feel the cold against his cheeks every day of his life and burn in Sansa's warmth every night. He looks at her and finds himself inescapably in love, first with the fire in her eyes. And he knows, gods, how he’s certain he’s falling in love deeper with the fire in her soul.

The red woman can see visions in the fire, he can see his future in her eyes.

---

Umm so yeah... I hope you guys like it! 

[team-annex]

I. First Meeting, First Case

A/N: Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything original on here. Apologies. I deleted this off of AO3, but was just recently going through my docs and found it again. I do love this story and want to post it completed. It is finished, but needs editing. 

The ones after this aren’t as long, but I got carried away when I first wrote this so it’s lengthy. 

word count: 14.4k (holy fck, i’m sorry lolol) | Normally I write Casekiel, but it’s an OC this time. :) | it’s fluff. I write fluff. I love fluff. f l u f f |

She’d only met him a few times. She wasn’t sure when he arrived, but he was always wandering around when she got there. Typically, she’d arrive two hours before closing as many of the museumgoers were on their way out and she could plant herself in front of the marble statues. Being an artist was never a dream of hers, but sketching human bodies were therapeutic. Bones were the same, but it’s how they were used that made everyone different. And she loved that idea.

She also found her fellow museum enthusiast interesting. He held himself well, paraded around the museum like he was meant to be there. But he stuck out. He seemed to pass through the sculptures without really looking at them. And always with a pizza in hand.

She still isn’t sure where the pizza came from, because food was never allowed in the museum.

“You’re in here a lot,” an Australian accent had said one day.

She glanced up from the sketch she was working on. Her right hand splayed over the drawing to block it from view. “Yeah… just… need time to wind down.”

The man tilted his head, taking her in the way she was taking in him. It was the first time she’d really noticed his tanned complexion up close. “Student?”

“Yeah.” She matched his head tilt. “You?”

The man laughed, shaking his head. “Uni was… was never really for me.”

“If you noticed that I’m in here a lot, then you’re in here just as often as I am.”

He tipped his head both ways before sitting next to her. “I mean… I did what I needed to do here. I mostly come back because I’ve been hoping you would notice I was here too.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, because was this guy… hitting on her?

He held a hand out. “Zeke.”

Her eyes darted to the right hand he was offering and glanced down at her drawing, which her right hand was covering. “Sneaky.”

Zeke chuckled and dropped his hand. “Caught me. I’m just too curious.” He leaned towards her. “I am also curious about your name.”

“Call me M.”

Zeke whistled. “And I thought I was cryptic. You get a name and I get a letter?” He looked up to the sculpture they were seated before. “Did you hear that no name from 325 AD? She won’t give me her name.”

“Can you blame me?” M chuckled, closing her sketchbook because there was no way she was going to finish her drawing today. “A random Australian guy who I’ve seen strolling around here with pizza suddenly comes up and talks to me? I don’t think so.”

“What? Why not?” Zeke asked, standing as she did.

M stared at him through her large circular frames. She was dressed in her favourite white hoodie and black jeans with rips at the knees. She’d had an exam earlier that day and wanted to be comfortable. And normally, she was pretty unassuming anyhow. “I’m not the kind of girl that attractive foreigners come up to talk to.”

Zeke’s eyes fell to the sketchbook under her arm. “I like art and I’ve learned to like people who appreciate art. Ergo, I like you.”

M narrowed her eyes at him. “I haven’t seen you walk up to every girl in here with her friends who are talking about art.”

“Art isn’t appreciated just because you talk about it,” Zeke told her. He fell into step with her, which surprised her even more. “You appreciate art the way that I appreciate art.” He paused to think about that statement and then corrected himself. “Well no, not exactly. But I like the way you appreciate it. You come back and you look at it more. And I know you don’t do it just to look sophisticated or whatever, because you sit in front of one sculpture and sketch for two hours.”

She shrugged. “I mean, you got me there.”

M thinks about Zeke from time to time. After that initial conversation, he would join her at whatever sculpture she was drawing that day. Sometimes they would talk while she drew, but mostly, he would just sit next to her and scroll through his phone until she was ready to go. Then he would walk with her to the exit, sometimes taking them the long way just to ask about her life. He would never actually leave with her. He would stand by the door of the museum as if he was escorting her out of his house.

And then one day, Zeke just stopped showing up. She was a little disheartened the first month he didn’t show at all (well, more than a little disheartened, it hurt more than she expected), but she learned to move on. However, his description about art appreciation had resonated with her. She finished her science degree, a major in chemistry under her belt. But she didn’t walk out of university and head straight into the pharmaceutical degree that she had originally planned on doing.

Instead, she went to work at the Louvre where she was first hired as an usher. She had to brush up on her French, but she loved it there. The language, the culture of Paris, the eccentric people she met. M understood perfectly now what Zeke had meant.

People appreciated art in different ones. There were the ones who came in, because you had to come to the Louvre when you were in Paris. There were the ones who lived in the city and took in different sections due to the immense size of the museum. Art critics came to see the new exhibits when they were offered. And then she met the regulars; the ones who returned time and time again, not on a regular schedule, but who came so often and would spend hours in one section of the museum. They were the ones who were in no rush or on a time constraint, who came for the sole reason to look at the art.

Four years later, M finds herself down in the basement of the museum, carefully cataloguing the new pieces that were slowly going to be introduced. The Mona Lisa is always the star attraction and she’s okay with that. Mona Lisa is an interesting painting, but in no way was she M’s favourite. There’s an entire wing with murals on the ceiling and gold along the walls. She can sit there for hours just to admire all the details.

Then the sculptures wing. The sculptures wing always got her. When the museum closes and she’s the one locking up, she’ll take the time to sketch a sculpture. Two if she’s speed drawing.

Besides the new introductions, the Louvre is also doing an Egyptian exhibit for the little kids. There are a few relics to entice their parents, but mostly it’s learning tools. She rotates the doll of Cleopatra in her hands, wondering why she’s even thinking of Zeke right now.

As she’s closing up for the night, she heads up the steps from the basement, intending to lock the offices upstairs and double-checking the front door. But then she runs into somebody and she yelps in surprise.

Standing before her are two men clad in black. Her immediate assumption is that they’re thieves. But thieves would wear masks. Or at least they should, because the security in the Louvre is pretty high tech. She doesn’t know all the ins and outs, just enough to know it’s near impossible to break in let alone steal anything.

“You said no one would be here, Jones,” one of the men hisses.

She places the accent as American, but the next voice doesn’t take her long to place. “M?”

“Zeke?”

If the tone of the American is anything to go on, he must be shocked. It’s hard to make him out though, as he’s so backlit. And frankly with Zeke in front of her, she can’t really see anything else. “You know her?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zeke mutters. “But,” he turns to his friend, “can we talk about that later?” He faces her again. “What are you doing here?”

M points to her nametag. “I work here.”

Even in the dim light of the stairwell, she catches his smile. “You work at a museum?”

“Yeah,” she chuckles. “Mostly cataloguing, a bit of filing, set up for exhibits, sometimes security if the need arises.” Her expression deadpans. “Speaking of security, what the hell are you doing here?”

Zeke’s mouth drops a bit and then he says, “Uh, Stone?”

“We… were… uh,” Stone starts to stammer. “Can we talk about this in a… an actual room?”

“What I should really do is call the police,” M states.

“But you won’t,” Zeke says, conviction in his voice.

“And why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you would rather hear why I’m here than have to deal with the paperwork with the police.”

She narrows her eyes at him, but he cracks another grin and she can’t help but comply. “Come on.”

M leads them back up the stairway. Despite the distinct hissing and slapping sounds, she doesn’t look back. It seems too good to be true that Zeke has casually just wandered back into her life. After hours. Dressed all in black. With an American man.

She takes them to the security room, but tells them to wait outside. After quickly scanning the room to make sure no one is in there, which obviously there wasn’t because these two just wandered in, they reconvene at one of the benches near the exit.

The moonlight streams through the pyramid above them and she is able to take a good look at the two men invading her museum. The American man, Stone, is rugged with blue eyes, smile lines framing either side. He’s got a bulkier build than Zeke, but he seems like a stereotypical Southern man to her. She’s only ever seen a Southern man in the moves, never really meeting any foreigners in her hometown in England or many quintessential Southern men in Paris.

Zeke takes a seat next to her as Stone stands with his legs spread and his arms crossed over his chest. Zeke looks the exact same as the last day she saw him. His hair is styled better, out of his face. He’s also filled out a bit. Either that or his clothes have gotten tighter. It may be a mixture of both. The air he gives off now is more relaxed than mischievous, as it used to be.

“Is that how you spell M?” Zeke demands, leaning forward to read her nametag. “E-M? I always thought it was just the letter.”

“They asked me what I wanted on my nametag and I said just ‘M’. This is what I got. It really is just the letter.” M waves her hands between them. “But that’s not what we’re talking about. What we’re talking about is what you guys are doing here”

Stone and Zeke exchange a look, so she starts to pull out her phone. Quickly, Zeke reaches for her hand to stop her. “Wait, we’ll explain.”

M’s hand falls to her lap. “You have two minutes to explain to me why you’re here after hours.”

“I really didn’t think you were going to be here,” Zeke promises first.

Ezekiel stumbles after Jake through the Back Door.

“I can’t believe your answer to what the hell we were doing there was that I got locked in the bathroom and you just managed to get me out. And then we got lost and went to the basement for funsies!” Jake yells at him as soon as the Door swings shut behind them.

Ezekiel ruffles his hair. “I know. Really not my best lie, but she didn’t call the police.” He starts towards the kitchen to make food to settle his stomach, but Jake has other plans. Jake yanks on his arm to whirl him around.

“How does she know you? Ezekiel Jones works in the shadows and she basically called you by your real name.”

“She doesn’t know my name is Ezekiel Jones,” Ezekiel sighs exasperatedly. “We met years ago. That’s not the point. The point is that we’re going to have to find another way to get that amulet.”

Cassandra and Eve walk into the room just as he says this. “What? Was it not there?” Eve asks.

“We aren’t even sure,” Jake grumbles. The team meet at the table. “Jones knew the security woman and—”

“She isn’t a security woman.”

Jake gives him an odd look, as Ezekiel isn’t usually one for technicality. “Oh-kay… The woman closing knew Jones and she wouldn’t let us back down to the basement. She waited for us to leave, sat in front of the basement door with her eyes closed.”

“Why were her eyes closed?” Cassandra asks.

Ezekiel rolls his eyes. “She can’t know about the Magic Door! So I said she could sit in front of the basement door, count to fifteen, and then head home.”

“And she just went with it?” Eve scoffs.

Jake puts both his arms out towards Ezekiel. “Exactly! She’s a smart woman, but she believed the really awful lies he told.”

“Awful as in…?” Cassandra starts to ask.

“As in they were horrible lies. Things you would never believe in a million years if you were a rational being.” Jake shrugs, his head shaking from the intense disbelief in his body. “But for some reason, she believed him.”

Eve and Cassandra turn to their thief with raised eyebrows. “Ezekiel.”

Ezekiel’s arms cross over his chest defensively. “What?”

“Who’s the woman?” Eve asks.

“Can we get back to the whole reason why we went there? Cleopatra’s amulet.” Ezekiel huffs as he wanders out of the room. In the kitchen, where he knows that Cassandra and Eve refuse to venture, he takes a few deep breaths. The memory of initially seeing M at the Louvre when they were casing the place is engrained in his mind, because he’d gasped so loudly that Cassandra had given him a strange look that day.

His left hand clenches unconsciously and he glances down at it, suddenly remembering her hand. It was the first time they’d actually made physical contact and he’d never noticed her hands were so small. To be fair, he hadn’t thought about her since he was whisked into the Library. But now that he is thinking about her, he mutters, “This is going to be annoying.”

“We know that the amulet will be there eventually,” Eve says at their next briefing. “It’s in their pamphlet. But of course, we aren’t the only ones after it.” Her attention settles on Ezekiel. “Do you think if you went during the day, and we ran interference, you would be able to recover it?”

Ezekiel shrugs. “I’ve cased the place, even before I was a Librarian. I know it pretty well. It’s just the magical security.”

Cassandra nods in agreement. “We know that every piece entered into the Louvre is blanketed by the magical security. Once the intention of stealing is determined by the security system or walked out of the Louvre, the security will ping.”

“And I don’t know how to stop that,” Ezekiel finishes.

“If we disabled the magical security,” Eve suggests.

Eve looks to Cassandra, but Jenkins walks in before the redhead can answer. “It will take far too long to crack the security.”

They look back at him to await an explanation. Jenkins has the information readily available as he takes his tea to his desk. He points out the Louvre’s focal point on a ley line and then explains that due to its intense magical resonance that the Louvre is able to change the security around it. “I would be very surprised if the actual security guards, of which there are only ever two, know what puzzles or trickery the system has up its sleeve today.”

Jenkins sets his tray down and looks at them all. “However, if I’ve learned anything over the years, it is that the magical system works on fairness.”

They stare at him, but he shrugs in response. “That’s all I’ve learned. I cannot tell you more than that. I’ve never tried to break into the Louvre.”

Their gaze shifts to Ezekiel and he shrugs. “I haven’t stolen from the Louvre since magic came back into the world. Least we know that M isn’t one of the security guards.” Jake gives him a distinct look. “She doesn’t know,” he insists.

“How would—”

“If she knew, she would have definitely known we were coming yesterday,” Ezekiel finishes.

Eve sighs. “Can we take the amulet even if there are magical securities around it?’’

Jenkins gives his head a slight shake, at a loss.

The Guardian turns back to her team. “Well then, I say we risk it. Magical security we can deal with when we get there. Let’s go.”

Jenkins sets the Door for the Louvre and the four rush through, stumbling out of the men’s bathroom. Cassandra quickly moves through the room, recalling where the basement door is situated to deter anyone else from finding it. Eve and Jake walk with Ezekiel to the door and block him from view as he cracks the keypad lock. He types in the password and swipes his fake ID card. They all hear the faint chime when the door grants him entrance.

“Don’t you dare think of stealing anything else,” Eve hisses as Ezekiel disappears into the stairwell.

“You guys underestimate my moral code.”

“I think we agreed that that was still a huge work in progress,” Jake answers as the door closes.

Ezekiel rolls his eyes and pockets the ID card. The lights are off, and with the door closed, it’s almost impossible to see. Carefully, he picks his way down the steps, going on touch than his other senses until the lights of the basement flood the last few steps. Working off the mental map he’d created from the blueprints of the Louvre, he knows that the basement has one hallway with rooms branching off. His thief intuition tells him that the amulet and the new Egyptian catalogue are in the largest room, which is at the end of this hall.

Hurrying forward, he notices that this door is slightly ajar. His gait slows and he peeks through the gap of the door. Most of the lights are off, but there’s a faint glow likely from smaller lamps further in the room. He checks the hinges on the door, peering through to gauge how old they are. They look well oiled, so he doesn’t expect them to creak. Nonetheless, he slowly pushes the door open to give himself just enough space to squeeze through.

His back presses against the wall and he shuffles to the right to disappear in the shadows. He could make out a figure as soon as he entered, but not enough to gauge what they were doing or who they were. Stealthily, he stays close to the wall and the moves through the shelves to get closer to the desk in the center. His eyes flick over the boxes, which are all labeled. Most of them are files, some dating right back to the opening of the Louvre in 1793. A few of them go back even further, but Ezekiel doesn’t have time to wonder or inspect what’s inside those.

Ezekiel reaches the end of the shelves and starts to make his way over. From his vantage point, he can see the desk is cluttered with items, a few of them relics he recognizes from other museums.

It’s hard to mistake M’s ash brown, nearly gray locks. “M?”

She spins around. Dangling in her right hand is the amulet he came down to… borrow. “God,” she sighs, her hand falling to her chest. “You scared me.” M pauses, quickly realizing that he really shouldn’t be there. Her grip tightens on the amulet and she takes a step back. “What are you doing here?”

“I—”

“You’re a thief,” M states. It seems to hit her all of a sudden. “That’s why you’re here, why you came back. You want to steal something.”

“I—”

“And your friend came to help you.”

Her voice is turning accusatory. Normally, that wouldn’t matter to him, but coming from M, it hits a little closer to his heart. Ezekiel lifts his hands up, showing her that they’re empty and he has no intention of hurting her. “M, please.”

“Stay where you are, Zeke.”

“Can I explain?”

“You did yesterday.” She rolls her eyes. “It was a stupid lie. It kept me up all night how ridiculous it sounded. But I wanted to believe you, Zeke. You knew I’d believe you.”

“I know, I know, I know. M, please,” he quickly says. “Just let me really explain.”

“Why should I let you?” Her voice quiets down. “You made me feel special and then disappeared without a trace. You didn’t even say goodbye to me.”

“I can explain that too. M, please, just…”

Before he can say anything more, a deeper voice calls out. “Min!”

“Yeah? Jungkook!”

Ezekiel shakes his head furiously. “M, please,” he whispers.

M’s eyes narrow at him and shouts louder to smite him. “Kook!”

Suddenly, a tall man enters the room. He has a box under both arms, a black trench coat over his put together outfit of a tight blue turtleneck and black dress pants. They show off his ankles, putting his black shoes on display. Ezekiel swears he’s seen them on some Instagram model he scrolled past once.

The man, Jungkook, slows. When Ezekiel gets a closer look at him, he notes Jungkook’s baby face.

“Min, who’s this?” Jungkook asks as he sets the boxes down.

“Zeke, meet Jungkook. Jungkook, Zeke,” M says. Her voice is dismissive and she turns to face Jungkook, apparently done with him.

“Why is he calling you Min?” Ezekiel demands.

Jungkook’s perfectly thick eyebrows rise at the hostility, but M simply gives Ezekiel a solid look to shut up. “You knew M wasn’t my real name.”

“And Min is?”

Jungkook lifts the lid of one of the boxes. “Does he not know your name? Why is he here?”

“He was actually just leaving.”

“M.”

Jungkook glances over at him, his hands buried in the box. “Min, cut the guy a break. He seems—”

“Desperate,” M finishes.

Jungkook tips his head as he digs through the box for whatever he’s looking for. “Not what I was going to say. I would’ve used… anguished, agitated.”

Ezekiel can’t stand this. He joins them at the table to inspect the work they’re doing. From what he can piece together, they’re putting together information for the relics. A few basic facts about Cleopatra’s time are set aside. Before he can say anything, his phone starts to vibrate in his pocket.

He turns away while Jungkook and M talk behind him, discussing what was vital information that ought to be put in the exhibit.

“Jones, we got company,” Jake says. “How close are you to finding the amulet?”

“I can see it.” Ezekiel turns back around and Jungkook and M are holding it between them, pointing at something on the table. “But I can’t get it.”

Jake takes a second to answer. “That’s new.” He sounds surprised. “Why are you saying that?”

“Tell him he doesn’t have time to dawdle,” Eve hisses. “They’re going to go straight for that basement door when they figure out where it is.”

“I can’t just grab it,” Ezekiel whispers.

“Why are you—she’s there, isn’t she?”

Eve huffs. “Who’s she?”

“His girlfriend.”

“Not my girlfriend. Give me like ten minutes.”

“You don’t have—” Eve starts to say, but he hangs up the phone before she can say anything. Nicking the amulet from M’s hand will be easy as pie. It’s the implications of actually stealing it out of her hand that will make this ten times worse. He doesn’t know why he cares so much that M doesn’t hate him, but he really wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she did.

“Do you need me to walk you out?” M asks, looking at him. “Because unless you’re going to try to steal the files, there isn’t anything of real value in this room.”

Jungkook scribbles down a few notes and looks over at Ezekiel. “You’re stealing? That’s why he’s here?”

Ezekiel decides that the direct approach might be the best way to do this. “I have no time to explain how I know, you’re just going to have to trust me. But there are people on their way down here to steal that amulet in your hands.”

Jungkook asks, “You work for the police?”

“No, I’m a Librarian,” Ezekiel answers.

Something shifts in their faces and he’s surprised that it works this time. That ‘I’m a Librarian’ announcement has been faulty for a while.

“So I’m just supposed to hand this over and it’s safe? Do you know how old this is?” M demands.

“Probably better than you do,” he says. “Look, M, you just have to trust me.”

“You’ve given me no reason to do so, Zeke.”

“How about I start with saying that my name isn’t actually Zeke and that it’s Ezekiel?”

Jungkook’s eyes dart between them, confused by the back and forth. “Min, you’re acting weird. Well, more… hostile.”

“If you had to deal with Ezekiel, you’d be acting weird too.”

Jungkook nods his head slowly and shoots Ezekiel an apologetic look. Ezekiel hates to admit it, but Jungkook seems like a half-decent human. So Ezekiel thinks it’ll be easier to reason with him rather than M right now. “The amulet has the coordinates for Cleopatra’s hidden headdress. There is a secret organization that has been determined to find her treasures, believing that it is infused with incredible power. That amulet will tell them everything, so they can’t have it.”

“How do we know you’re not the bad guy?” Jungkook enquires, his hand releasing the chain.

“M knows who I am and you seem to know her well. Is her judge of character terrible?”

“Ah, ah, ah,” M protests. Her hand covers the amulet on the table. “You are not using him against me.”

Jungkook shrugs. “Maybe he’s right, though, Min. Maybe we should just listen to him.”

M’s eyes are full of disbelief and her lips downturn as she stares back at Jungkook. “Do you know how insane he sounds? Or is that just me? He’s implying that magic exists or something like that.”

“You always say that sometimes the paintings feel like they’re alive. How implausible could it be that other people would believe it? He doesn’t have to be right about magic, but he could be right about people coming to steal the amulet because they believe,” Jungkook reasons.

His reasoning seems to cause M to hesitate.

“I literally have nothing to go on but your word,” she says to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel doesn’t like the tone of her voice and attempts to come up with another solution. “You can come with me. Once you see the amulet is safe with me, you can leave,” Ezekiel promises. In their silent contemplation, Ezekiel can hear faint tapping. It’s growing in volume and his phone is vibrating. He doesn’t have to check the ID to know who it is. “Stone, I know. I can hear them. I said—”

“We tried. There were too many to distract,” Jake interrupts him. “Do you have it?”

“Sorta,” Ezekiel winces. The footsteps are coming closer. He reaches for M’s hand and pulls her towards the shelves. He motions for Jungkook to follow and leads them into the darkness of the archives. “I kinda have it.”

“I don’t know what that means. We can’t come in to help you,” Jake informs him.

Eve’s voice echoes down the line. “You’re gonna be on your own, Jones.”

Ezekiel hangs a right down one of the far shelves. “Where’s Cass?” he whispers.

“I don’t know,” Jake answers offhandedly. “Somewhere in the museum.”

There’s a long pause as Ezekiel lets those words sink in. “Oh my god, where’s Cassandra?”

Ezekiel turns to M, whose hand is still wrapped in his own. “That security room you locked up last night. Is that the only one?”

“Why would you—?”

Ezekiel tips his head, exasperated. “My friend could be in trouble.”

“It’s not the only one,” Jungkook whispers. He keeps peeking through the shelves over the boxes. Ezekiel can’t recall if Jungkook properly closed the door after him. “There is another one that none of the employees are actually allowed inside. We just assumed it was an electricity room powering the security systems.”

“Where is it?”

“Somewhere past Venus’s statue,” Jungkook says. “I think.”

Ezekiel quickly relays this information through the phone. “If Cass isn’t there, she’s probably looking for it. Disabling the magical security will make getting this amulet out of here 100 times easier.”

“We’re on it. Don’t let them get their hands on that thing,” Eve says. “Call us if you need us.”

“Well I need you right now, but you can’t help me.”

Eve sighs loudly. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.” He hangs up the phone and tucks it away, just in time for the door to swing open. Ezekiel can make out four voices, likely speaking Egyptian. He holds a finger to his lips and leads them further into the stacks. “You have the amulet on you, right?” he whispers.

M dangles it in front of his face and nods.

They hurry down the aisle. Ezekiel pauses, because of the break between the shelves. The lights from the desk don’t illuminate this far, but he’s learned that trained eyes can still make out dark figures. While Jungkook is dressed all in black, M has a yellow dress on which will be easier to make out. Subtly, he peeks around the corner. It takes two minutes for the four bodies to move towards the desk.

Ezekiel motions for them to run. He’s surprised that despite Jungkook’s taller stature he’s quite light on his feet. M has a heavier footfall, but not enough to be heard across the room. They make it to the far wall and he can see the door. Sighing, he looks to them.

“Don’t move too much when we’re in the open, okay?” Ezekiel whispers. He tugs M’s hand to tell her to keep following. Her hand shifts in his as if she’s intending t let go, so he loosens his grip. However, all she does is adjust her hold on his, intertwining their fingers so that he’s not clamping hers together.

They stop just before the last shelf. Ezekiel can practically smell the freedom, but he needs to get them all out. Jenkins warned the team that Cleopatra’s Crusade would be ruthless and would have guns.

“I wouldn’t put it past them to have sabres as well.”

M suddenly yanks him back before he can make it to the door. She shoves the amulet in his hand and he gives her an odd look. “What are you doing?” he hisses.

“Just in case.”

Ezekiel tips his head and tucks the amulet into the inside pocket of his jacket. His hand squeezes hers and he makes his move to the door. The men are circling the desk, rummaging through all the stuff. They exchange words and just as Ezekiel makes it to the door, they look up, likely planning to try somewhere else.

When they lock eyes with Ezekiel, it’s almost as if the gaze is a homing beacon and an alert, because immediately Ezekiel’s body is in flight mode. The men begin shouting and weapons are drawn. He practically wrenches M’s arm off pulling her after him. As soon as he steps into the hallway, M in tow, the hallway shifts. Ezekiel nearly loses his footing, but manages to steady himself. When he looks over for Jungkook, he finds that he and M are also holding hands.

“Don’t know if that’s better,” Ezekiel mutters.

“Where the hell are we?” M demands.

“Magic is real and the Louvre has a lot of magical security. By giving me the amulet, the intention to take the amulet out of the museum has probably kick-started the security system.”

“Please tell me you know how to get out of this,” M whispers.

Jungkook’s eyes are staring at the deep red expanse before them. It’s dusty and humid, red sand swirls around them. However, in the distance, there are outlines of buildings.

Ezekiel tugs out his phone and sighs in relief when he finds he has cell reception. Quickly, he dials Jake’s number. Before Jake answers, Ezekiel hears something like a rumble and then the ground shakes. Over his shoulder, he notes the crumbling of the edge of the sky. Behind it looks something similar to a dark abyss. He’s pretty sure that shouldn’t be happening.

“We need to move,” he says. Ezekiel releases M’s hand and she lets go of Jungkook’s as they start to jog forward.

“Stone?”

“Jones?” Jake’s voice crackles. “I can barely hear you.”

Ezekiel slows, but keeps moving. The other two match his speed. “Better?”

“Sorta!” Jake shouts. “Where are you? Did you get the amulet?”

“I have it in my possession,” Ezekiel agrees.

“So where are you?”

“By having it in my possession, it set off the magical security.”

“That explains that flashing red light, Eve,” Cassandra says.

“So am I going in blind? Can you tell me anything?” Ezekiel asks.

“We don’t really know what we’re dealing with,” Eve chimes in, “but we probably don’t want to find out. For you, though, it should be fine.”

Ezekiel stares at M and Jungkook who are walking up ahead. “I’m not alone.”

“Who the hell is with you?” Jake demands.

“M and her friend.”

“Well, I can tell you that it’s going to be harder to get out because there are three of you,” Cassandra says. “From what I can make out, Jenkins’s tidbit about fairness applies here. The systems are designed to accommodate the amount of thieves. One person, the level of difficulty is sufficient so that one person can get out. That’s how it makes it fair.”

“So it will be three times as hard because there are three of us,” Ezekiel sighs. “Great. And the phone reception is shotty.” The rumbling is stronger and Ezekiel shakes his head in annoyance. “Okay, is there any way you can give me a heads up as to what’s coming?”

“Working on disabling it,” Cassandra says.

“Working on figuring out how it all works,” Jake adds.

“You know that the first level of anything is the easiest,” Eve reassures him. “You’ll be fine.” The reassuring tone is less so with that statement.

“So nothing.” Ezekiel hangs up the phone and tucks it away. “Right, let’s go.”

“If we understood you right, we’re going to have to help you,” M says.

Ezekiel jogs just ahead of her. “Yep.”

“Ezekiel, I don’t—”

“Don’t doubt yourself before we’ve even started the game.”

Jungkook hums. “I mean, I like a good game.”

“We could die,” Ezekiel reminds him.

“Not so different from real life,” Jungkook muses.

Ezekiel glances over his shoulder. The distance between where they’d started and the buildings had initially seemed like miles, but they’re coming up already. He slows down to take it in. They must pass over a sensor, because a marble podium suddenly grows before them.

“I’m gonna hate this magic thing, aren’t I?” M asks.

Ezekiel tips his head. “Probably. Probably more so when I say that this part of magic I’m not really good at.” He takes in the podium. It’s cool to the touch and suddenly two lines start inscribing into the stone to from an arrowhead without the bottom line to connect them.

They stare at it, but nothing else is added. “What does that mean?” Jungkook asks.

Ezekiel looks up at the five buildings around them. The dust clears enough to make out different symbols. The first house on his left has a circle blazing in red. The house in the middle has three horizontal squiggly lines that pulse blue like the ocean. The far house on his right has four vertical purple squiggly lines. On his right, the first house has a triangle in yellow and the last house has a vertical rectangle in green.

“That clarified nothing,” Jungkook states.

Ezekiel sighs. “Whatever this is,” he motions towards the drawing on stone, “is a clue as to how we choose a house.”

“And if we chose wrong?” M asks.

He shrugs. “Death, probably.”

M’s face deadpans. “You should be more terrified when you say that.”

Ezekiel shakes his head, the rumbling of the security collapsing reality behind them terrifying him more than choosing wrong.

“You pick the one that terrifies you less and face it, because imminent death is upon us either way,” Ezekiel says as he faces the podium.

“We don’t know what it means and you said you’re bad at this sort of thing,” M argues.

“Yeah, but…” Ezekiel’s eyes widen, which granted is a bad idea because he gets red dust in his eyes. As he tries to rub it out, he says, “The point of the security system is it’s supposed to be fair. So that means that collectively we should be able to solve this.” He motions for them to look down at the symbol. “Does this mean anything to either of you? In your realms of knowledge.”

“Zeke, we’re museum buffs.” M stares hard at it, as if willing for it to say something to her.

Ezekiel frowns. They stand there and Jungkook watches the darkness rush towards them.

“So are we just going to stand here and watch our demise kill us?” Jungkook quips.

Ezekiel ruffles his hair. “There’s a point to this. And Baird is right, the first level of any game is never difficult. Maybe we’re overthinking it.” He circles the podium, looking at the image at all angles, but not getting any ideas. He looks at M. “Didn’t you tell me that you were doing a science degree when we first met?”

“Yeah. I finished my chemistry major, but I don’t—” M’s dark eyes suddenly light up in excitement and Ezekiel meets her gaze, waiting for some sort of explanation. “Chemistry!” Her attention moves to the symbols on the houses. “What are the odds those are supposed to be elements of some kind? Like fire, earth, air…”

“And water,” Ezekiel agrees.

M nods, pulling her shorter hair up into a half bun. “And water is a bent molecule, oxygen would be linear, earth is made up of a lot of compounds that it would be hard to determine which one is specifically ‘earth’.”

Jungkook waves his hand. “Quicker. Get to the point. We don’t need the science lessons.”

“It has enough symmetry operations too,” M finishes with a small grin.

Ezekiel glances over his shoulder. “Right, we gotta pick now. How sure are you?”

“I mean I’m in a magical security system literally starting at the dark abyss that will kill me while running from some Egyptian organization who wants Cleopatra’s amulet for her treasure. I’m not sure of anything right now.” She grabs both their hands and pulls them after her towards the house in the center. “But I know a water molecule and that has to be a water molecule.”

Jungkook is about to reach for the doorknob, but Ezekiel shakes his head. “You don’t know what’s behind there. I should go first.”

“Based on?” Jungkook challenges.

“Based on the fact that this is my job and I know the risks.” The two give him confused looks and he waves his free hand to get them to stop. “Textbook answer, but whatever. Baird will have my head if I let you go first.” He grips the door handle, looks his companions over and takes a steadying breath. Then he pushes the door open.

The atmosphere immediately changes. It’s easier to breathe and the air is cooler. They’re standing in a clearing; the door that let them in has disappeared. Surrounding them are dark trees and the rumbling quickly starts up again.

“Well death is still following us,” M states. She looks at Ezekiel. “What now?”

Jungkook tugs on M’s hand and leads them towards garden boxes at the center of the clearing. There are four boxes that are growing various small red berries. None of the boxes are labelled, the only noticeable difference being the leaves.

Ezekiel snorts and looks to them. “Still not my expertise, so what do either of you know about berries?”

“Are we supposed to eat them?” M asks Jungkook.

Jungkook leans forward to get a closer look at the plants. “I think that’s the idea. My knowledge of berries is really limited, though.”

“Well I have none,” Ezekiel announces. He turns to M.

M shakes her head. “No idea.”

“Then this is one for you.” Ezekiel reaches over to pat Jungkook on the shoulder. Before he and M can take a seat while Jungkook does inspection, Ezekiel hears another sound. He turns towards the forest surrounding them.

M notices his sudden alertness. “What?”

Ezekiel holds a finger to silence her. The rumbling is constant; it’s almost a droning noise now. There’s a new sound and it sounds like footsteps. His hand rests against the ground like Eve taught him how to do. It takes him a minute to really notice the ground shaking in a steady pattern.

Ezekiel quickly stands. “Stay here. Figure out which ones we gotta eat to get out of here.” He sprints towards the forest edge and grabs two hefty sticks off the ground. Then he sees the eyes.

Yelping, he scrambles back and tosses one branch at M. She fumbles with it, but manages to get two hands on it. “What are we doing? What happened?”

“Wolves, I think,” Ezekiel breathes. Just as he says it, from the forest come seven wolves. Their growling fills the silence of the meadow, just as the edges of the sky start going black.

“Oh bloody hell,” Ezekiel groans. “Jungkook, you’re on a clock.” He stands near the edge of the garden and motions for M to stand on Jungkook’s other side.

“We’re gonna fight wolves?” M cries.

“They’re technically not real. Besides, it’s that or they eat us!” Ezekiel protests. One of them takes a running start at him and he swings the branch in its direction. He grunts at the impact, the wolf being heavier than he expected. Regardless, it sends the wolf a distance away, but not far enough as the others have gained ground.

“Jungkook!’” M whines over the sound of a wolf crying out in pain.

Jungkook waves both of his hands at them to shop/ “I told you my knowledge of berries is limited! Give me a second.”

“Check your phone. Maybe we have wifi,” Ezekiel tells him as he braces himself.

“In a magical security system?” M shouts in disbelief.

Ezekiel snorts. “Magic has weird rules.”

Jungkook digs in his pocket for his phone and almost laughs out loud when he notes the battery life. “Yeah, anyone else got a phone?”

“No time to…” M thwacks a wolf hard in the side. The exertion is wearing her arms out already. “Check.”

“Don’t wanna…” Ezekiel has to quickly adjust to get two wolves one after another. “Die,” he finishes.

“Right, then we’re doing this the old fashioned way,” Jungkook sighs. He leans forward and inspects each garden box. He tries to pick out differences like his father used to when they would go for hikes in various countries. The berries all look pretty similar, though their colours vary in vibrancy. One of them is slightly more transparent than the others. But the most notable difference is the leaves growing around them.

Jungkook tries to block out the sound of fighting on both sides and the feeling of imminent death. When he pricks his finger on one of the leaves, he nods. “Could be holly.”

The box next to it has slender leaves, similar to the foliage of a Christmas tree. “Yew?”

“Can we eat this?” Ezekiel calls as he tries a new tactic of slamming the branch on the top of the wolf’s head.

“No, it’ll give you stomach pains and rashes or something.”

“Let’s just assume that the ones that we can’t eat will kill us. Move on,” Ezekiel tells him, giving another two wolves a whack in one go. He has to pause to catch his breath, but one of the wolves notices him.

“Ezekiel!” M shouts. She sprints across to help him, which gives him enough time to get to his feet.

“Min!” Jungkook calls in panic.

She turns, her battle cry making Ezekiel chuckle despite the situation. She rushes the three wolves on her side, turning her branch horizontal to force them back. They circle back around and run at her.

“Guys, I really don’t think!” she huffs as she rams the three out of the way. “I can do this much longer! Kook, you’re gonna have to hurry it up,” she grunts, “a little!”

Jungkook shouts at both of them to shut up. “I don’t want to die today either! It wasn’t on my list of things to do.”

“I’m sure,” M shouts as she gives one last final effort, “that Taehyung,” she knocks one out of the way, “will miss you if you die.” Ezekiel hears her gasping for breath, but not getting enough time to catch it. “But think about that later!”

Ezekiel glances over his shoulder for a second to catch Jungkook’s ears turning red. That split second gives the wolves enough time to knock him off his feet. He hears M scream from the other side.

“Jungkook!” they both call in panic.

“I got it! I think it’s barberry!” Jungkook exclaims. “The leaves are—”

“No time for science lesson, mate!” Ezekiel informs him as he rams the branch into the wolf’s mouth that is desperately trying to eat his eyes. He wiggles as much as he can to avoid being bit, wincing when one of the others manage to catch skin.

Jungkook hurries over, chewing on one of the berries and drops it into Ezekiel’s mouth. He has to assume that Jungkook did the same for M. The taste is sour and causes his whole face to pucker, as if he’s eating a lemon. His mind goes fuzzy and he worries for a second that Jungkook has just killed him. But just as abruptly as before, the fuzziness changes the scenery.

Ezekiel scrambles to sitting, his hands grabbing at the dirt beneath his palms. He looks around and finds he’s in a cell. Out the cell door, he can see a long corridor, the ground dirt and the walls rock. It reminds him of nearly every temple he’s been in. Ezekiel checks the lock on the door and almost laughs aloud when it’s a lock he’s broken before.

But then he realizes he’s alone. “M? Jungkook?” Ezekiel calls out.

Nothing.

However, his shouting must start the security system again, because the floor shakes more violently than it had before. Ezekiel quickly checks his phone to find he has one bar and an almost dead phone.

“Baird?” he says.

“Jones?”

“Anything?”

“We… it… so… hold… okay?”

“I can’t hear you!” Ezekiel raises his voice as if that will make the connection better. “See you later!”  He puts his phone away, muttering under his breath, “Or not.”

It’s a good thing that he keeps his lock picking set on him at all times. He feels the lock one more time to make sure and makes quick work of unlocking it. He smiles at the satisfying sound.

Ezekiel pushes the door open and nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears the floor he’d just been standing on crumbling. He sprints to the end of the hall, the floor collapsing as he goes. He knows he probably shouldn’t shout, because he’s been in enough temples and pyramids to know that there’s likely something lurking around to kill him; but he has no choice here.

“M! Jungkook!”

Ezekiel calls out repeatedly, turning down different hallways. He maps out as much as he can in his head, even though some of the hallways disappear before he has time to connect the halls together.

Then finally, after what feels like ages, he gets a response to his insane yelling.

“Zeke!”

“M,” he breathes. Ezekiel looks both ways and calls her name again. M’s voice echoes from the end of the hallway he’s in and he books his way over to hopefully buy a few more seconds. If he’s learned anything being a Librarian and a thief, a few seconds means life or death. At the end of the hallway is another cell. However, M is seated on a rock in the center and seems to be cradling her hand in pain.

Ezekiel is about to reach for the doorknob, but she tells him to stop.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I can move. The rock zapped me when I put my hand down,” M whimpers.

Ezekiel notes the tears streaming down her face, the fear etching lines into her skin. It’s a distinct reminder of DARPA and Cassandra. He shakes that image away, because it is helpful to absolutely nobody. Ezekiel crouches down in front of the lock. It’s similar to the one that had held Jenkins in. A lock that would keep the smartest person out, but it couldn’t possibly be that easy.

The floor shakes again and it causes M to put her hands down to stabilize herself. She yelps in pain and when Ezekiel looks up, she’s staring down at her hands in horror.

“Hey M, look at me, okay?”

Her dark eyes meet his, bottom lashes lined with tears and her bottom lip quivering.

“Talk to me, M. Just keep talking. Update me on your life when I left.”

M takes a shaky breath, but does as he suggests. M talks about finishing university, about finding new museums to sketch. She tells him about her decision to work in the Louvre rather than take a job the co-op she’d done had offered her.

“They probably paid you more,” Ezekiel mutters as he punches in code after code just for a red box to show up. He can hear the floor sizzling from the electricity he’s pulsing through it.

M sniffles. “Maybe, but it wasn’t about the money. It was about passion. You told me that I appreciated art differently and I never could look back after that.”

Ezekiel chews his bottom lip. “M, do you have a four letter or number password?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Pin number, computer password, anything.”

“My card’s pin has four numbers.”

“Right, what are they?”

“Zeke! I’m not going to—”

“I’m going to guess your birthday.” When he glances up, M’s face is impassive. “Maybe your and Jungkook’s birthdays combined. I’m going to assume days. Now, if we weren’t in a magical security death trap, I would have picked both your wallets to get your licenses so I knew your birthdates. It would have been that easy. Unfortunately, don’t have the luxury or the time. We are literally losing ground here.”

“2-6-0-1.”

Ezekiel carefully touches the screen of the lock and he watches the door swing back. He stops at the threshold and looks around. It was as he expected. “High voltage pressure plates on the floor, so you can’t walk over to me even if I’ve opened the door.” He holds his arms out. “M, you’re gonna have to jump.”

“Zeke, I can’t move.”

“I’m going to trust that you can get to your feet despite a few electric shocks and jump to me. The soles of your shoes should diffuse some of the shock. You just need to stand.”

M frowns at him. “Ezekiel.”

“M, I’m not letting you die in this dumb system just because you won’t woman up and jump over here.”

Ezekiel watches her swallow down her fear. He closes his eyes as she stands just in case her dress flips. When he opens them again, M’s jaw is set as her body takes the electric voltage.

“Running start, okay?” Ezekiel says. “I’ll catch you.”

M jumps off the rock she’d been sitting on. As soon as her weight leaves the pedestal, Ezekiel’s eyes widen as the floor and walls disappear into darkness. Fortunately, M’s eyes closed as she jumped. She clears enough of the room that Ezekiel can pull her towards him, her feet landing on ground instead of falling through. Her grip around his neck and shoulders is constricting, but Ezekiel doesn’t mind.

“Told you I’d catch you,” he murmurs.

“I want to get out of here.”

“I know. So do I.” Ezekiel pulls away and brushes a stray hair out of her face. “We need to find Jungkook first.”

M nods and catches his hand as he turns away. She intertwines their fingers together, her grip nearly cutting off the circulation in his hand. Most of the hallway he’d come down has also disappeared, so he hangs a quick left in the one hallway they can go down. M calls out for Jungkook.

They don’t find him by his voice. They just happen to stumble upon the cage he’s trapped in. Ezekiel quickly realizes why they couldn’t hear him. Jungkook is trapped to the wall, four snakes holding his limbs down, one wrapped nicely across his neck to stop sound.

“Oh my god, Jungkook,” M breathes. “Zeke, what do we do?”

“God, I hate this one,” Ezekiel grumbles.

“Why? What is it? You’ve seen this before?”

Ezekiel sighs. “Well, when I first encountered it—it’s a long story that I don’t have time to tell. Tell a truth.”

“A truth…?”

“Something that holds emotional weight for you.”

M stares up at him with a look of bewilderment on her face. “How will that—?”

“This is my expertise. My expertise as a Librarian,” he sighs, “and a thief.”

One of the snakes slithers off Jungkook’s wrist.

“You’re a thief,” she states. “Like a petty thief. Never mind, you can’t be a petty thief. You walked into the Louvre and got into the basement that requires an ID. You’re a good thief.”

“The best thief,” Ezekiel corrects her. “I’m a Librarian, because I’m the best thief.”

“What kinda library is this?” she mutters.

“A crazy one that puts me in life and death situations all the time. We need truths, let’s go.”

M’s brows furrow. “That’s your only one?”

Ezekiel scratches his forehead. “I am worried about something. So try it first.”

M racks her brain, pulling her hair out of its half bun. “My worst fear is that Jungkook will run off with Taehyung and leave me all alone.” He knows this is one truth she’s never shared with Jungkook, but nothing happens.

Ezekiel shakes his head in annoyance. “It knew it would get me with this one.”

“What?”

“It wants my emotional truths.”

“You must have some.”

“It’s not about that. It’s about not wanting to share them.”

“Oh.” M stares up at him and then her eyes drop to Jungkook. She seems to understand not wanting to share truths. “There are reasons we don’t share our truths, but I…” She meets his eyes again. “We can’t leave him here.”

Ezekiel sighs. “We can’t. I know. And I don’t know any other way to get us in there. We don’t have the means to break the rock around him.”

“I promise I won’t judge you for anything you say,” she says, squeezing her hand. “It’ll stay between us.”

Ezekiel chews his bottom lip. “I tried to distance myself from Cassandra when I learned about her brain grape, because I was too scared to care if I knew I was going to lose her.”

The snake around Jungkook’s leg disappears into the rock.

“I was intimidated by Stone’s intelligence and always felt inferior, so I pushed him away too and tried to be as snarky as possible, because it would piss him off.” Ezekiel clenches his other hand to stop it from shaking, watching as the snake around Jungkook’s throat releases its grip. He hates truths.

Jungkook gasps loudly for air. He blinks rapidly and looks around before seeing them standing there. “What’s going on?”

“Hold on,” M says, watching Ezekiel carefully. “He only has to say two more and you’re home free.”

Jungkook’s brow furrows and Ezekiel notes the dazed look in his eye. “I—” His gaze drops and his hands clench, his back pressing back against the wall. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

M rushes forward, pulling Ezekiel with her, and tries to see into the cell. “What’s—?” Both of them notice the large gaping hole, as Jungkook’s room has no floor whatsoever.

“If you release him, he’ll fall!” M rounds on him. “Zeke, do something!”

He’s had a hunch about why it seems like the system is collapsing in on itself. By picking up his phone, he’s really stretching out on a limb, because if he’s wrong they may get stuck in here. His phone battery only 3% left and he’s only got one bar. It only takes him a second to find Cassandra’s number.

“Cass!”

“Ezekiel? It’s hard to hear you!”

“How close are you to disabling the system?”

“Almost there. There are like—”

“I need you to stop. Reset it all. Undo whatever you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake’s voice seems to drift from the opposite side of the room. “Jones, you’re not making any sense!”

“Cass, listen to me. Whatever you’re doing is collapsing reality. The system is designed to be fair, but with you tampering it—”

“It’s rewriting the reality, speeding up the process. I told you that would happen!” she shouts at Eve and Jake. Her voice softens as she speaks to him. “I don’t know if I can undo what I’ve done.”

“Can you see where we are?”

“Sort of, not really. I’m sorry, Ezekiel I haven’t had time to work out the maps on here.”

Ezekiel clenches his jaw. “Stop playing around with it. I think I can get us out.”

“Okay, I’m done. You’re on your own. Be safe,” Cassandra says. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

Ezekiel hangs up the phone and just from that call with Cassandra, the rumbling stops. M looks at him. “What did you do?”

“Asked them to stop trying to get us out of here,” Ezekiel answers. He looks up at the ceiling. “The system knows it’s being tampered with so it’s trying to cut back our time since we’re cheating. We’re not cheating now!” he shouts up at the ceiling. “Give us back the floor.”

As if by magic, a slender walkway appears right under Jungkook’s feet to the doorway. It’s just enough space to put one foot in front of the other. Ezekiel tips his head. He would’ve liked the entire floor, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“What did that do?” M asks. “Do we have more time? Are we going to get eaten alive?”

“I think instead of—” He ears the voices coming from his left. “Instead of nothingness sucking us up, we have enemies instead.” Ezekiel stares at Jungkook, who looks as if he’s about to have a panic attack.

“Anything, Zeke, anything.”

“Uhm… I never told my mum about my talent at stealing, because I knew she would take advantage of me and not know how to stop.”

M lifts an eyebrow. Ezekiel really doesn’t want to go into his family anymore than that. The snake around Jungkook’s other leg slithers away. He’s hanging just by his wrist and this worries Ezekiel.

“One more, Zeke.”

Ezekiel waits until Jungkook looks right at him through the small window. “When I say it, you’re going to have to land right on that pathway. This place isn’t going to give you second chances.”

Jungkook nods, his one leg already out, ready to land.

Ezekiel lets go of M’s hand to inspect the lock on the door. “When I stopped visiting, I was being chased by another organization called the Serpent Brotherhood and was taken to the Library. I became a Librarian and that life sort of got in the way.” Ezekiel focuses as much as he can on the lock as he spills the truth. “I pushed you to the back of my mind, because I was scared that if I saw you again that we couldn’t be anything because of what I do.”

The sound of rock rubbing against rock as the snake moves away shifts their attention to Jungkook. Ezekiel is already making quick work of the lock to let Jungkook out. It swings inward, nearly cutting Jungkook off. Ezekiel reaches in for his hand before the guy can topple into the abyss.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Ezekiel says as he yanks Jungkook to safety. They start running, because now M and Jungkook seem to be able to hear the voices Ezekiel had heard earlier.

“Where are we going, Zeke?”

Ezekiel is at a loss now. Maps are Cassandra’s thing. He checks his phone and it won’t even light up now. In dismay, he shakes his head and hangs a left. After running aimlessly for what feels like ever, he slows.

“Should we be stopping?” Jungkook asks.

Ezekiel looks both ways. “God, I wish there was a trap door here. Or something that would show the way to the exit.”

“It has to be fair, doesn’t it?” M reminds them.

The two boys look to her.

She shrugs. “You’ve just kept saying that this place is working on fairness. We’ve stopped cheating, so maybe it’s playing fair now. How would it make it fairer for us? We’re being chased and we aren’t sure where the exit is.”

Ezekiel’s eyes widen. “That’s the last trick. Voices.” He hurries back in the direction they’d just come. “We have to move towards the voices.”

“Towards?” the two exclaim.

“We have nothing else to go on. We are just assuming they’re enemies. I mean,” he slows and goes right, “they probably are. But they’ll be blocking the exit.”

“Do you think it’s that easy?” Jungkook asks.

Ezekiel races through the halls, hanging lefts and rights solely going on sound. He doesn’t answer him, because it would be crazy for it to be that easy. Magical safety systems are built to be near impossible to crack. They’ve been lucky with all the easy obstacles they’ve had. And he quickly realizes where the difficulty lies.

Ezekiel holds an arm to stop Jungkook and M from running into the open. “Stop,” he whispers. “There are too many things out there.”

“What things?”

“Don’t know. I only caught a glimpse, but Egyptian gods. Probably has something to do with the amulet.” Ezekiel pats his pocket to make sure it’s still there.

“How are we supposed to fight Egyptian gods?” Jungkook hisses.

Ezekiel shakes his head and peers around the corner again. They’re stomping their spears in rhythm. He knows that they’ll attack to kill, because these aren’t human; though he’s met his fair share of humans who will fight to kill. But just at the end he can see an exit sign similar to the ones in the Louvre. It glows red above a door.

“Can’t fight Egyptian gods, mate. But they’re blocking the exit. We’re going to have to get through them somehow.”

“How?” M asks.

Ezekiel winces. “I have to go out there to know, but once I’m out there, we probably won’t be able to hide anymore.”

M must sense that he’s preparing to step out into the open. She throws her arms around his neck. “No sacrificing yourself, okay?”

“That’s the whole point of this job. The goal is to get all of us out, but last resort is to get you and Jungkook out.” He hugs her tighter to him and then nods. He gives them both a once over before stepping into the room. Stony eyes turn to him; however, they don’t surge towards him like he expected them to. As he nears, they don’t advance, but the rhythmic thumping doesn’t stop nor do their gazes avert.

“They’re stuck to the ground,” Ezekiel calls over his shoulder. “Come on!”

Once M and Jungkook leave the last hallway, it crumbles and they watch the darkness take up the last of the maze behind them. “Can’t go back,” M says as she joins his side.

“We would’ve run out of time. We probably only have a few minutes,” Ezekiel says.

“Sucky pep talk,” M retorts.

Ezekiel hums. “You sound like someone I know.”

“Flirt later. Get us out first,” Jungkook interjects.

Normally a comment like that would require a snarky remark, but Jungkook is right. They have to get out. He takes a step forward and suddenly the statue that looks like Anubis swings at him. It grazes the front of his shirt, slicing it open. He glances down at the hole. “This was my favourite shirt!”

“Worry about that later! He just tried to slice you open!” M exclaims.

Ezekiel touches his chest to find a small line of blood. “Well, least it… it didn’t,” he clears his throat, “pierce that badly.” He clenches his fist to try to get his hand from shaking.

“That’s not something I want to hear,” Jungkook argues. “He barely touched you.”

“It doesn’t hurt.” He hisses as a shock of pain runs through his body. “That much. But that just reminds us that we really can’t mess up here.”

“We weren’t planning on that, but now I’m just too scared to try,” M says.

“I have lived my whole life against that statement. Never be scared to try something once,” he says. “Come on. We’re running.”

“We can’t run,” M protests. “There are two at every step. We’d have to—”

Ezekiel turns to them. “You’re gonna have to trust me one last time. Trust me to know that this is going to be based on luck and a bit of skill in the end. Both of which I have amply supply of.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” M whimpers.

“You’re gonna have to, M,” Ezekiel says, reaching for her hand.

Jungkook has already started running. He ducks underneath a spear and spins out of the way of another.

“Apparently you’re not the only one with luck and a bit of skill,” M chuckles nervously.

“He’s bold,” Ezekiel comments.

“I’ll tell you about him later,” she promises. “Just get me the hell out of here.”

“Trust me?”

“Have to, don’t I?”

Ezekiel smirks before his face becomes serious again. “Just don’t stop moving. Let go of me if you have to. Watch all your sides and know where they are. They can spin a full 360, so don’t back into something if you know that there’s one there. Got it?”

M nods, taking a shaky breath. “Yes.”

Ezekiel takes a step, but stops and turns back to her. “If it all really goes to shit here and my luck runs out, I’m sorry about disappearing all of a sudden.”

M tries to smile, but he can see the terror in her face. He has to turn away, because he hopes his terror doesn’t translate over as well. With a deep breath, he starts running, pulling her after him. The rhythm starts to feel the same and he can dance around the spears in a steady two-count. He doesn’t look back at M, whose hand he can still feel in his own, because as soon as he loses the two-count, they’ll be goners. Doing this brings memories of Jenkins teaching the Librarians and Guardian how to waltz for a case they did a few months back.

It feels like an eternity and he hears M cry out at least twice. He managed to hold his tongue when he got nicked in the wrist, but couldn’t hold it in when one of the darned things caught his thigh. Ezekiel has to catch his breath and he drags M off to the left where he saw (hoped) was a safe spot.

Ezekiel tugs her in front of him as he crouches in the corner, his back to the spears in case he miscalculated. M brings her knees to her chest and attempts to even her breathing.

“God, I hate magic,” she breathes.

Ezekiel shrugs, smiling down at her as he breathes heavily. “I have a friend who does too. But I also have a friend who loves it. There’s beauty in it.”

“Why are you a thief?” M asks suddenly.

Ezekiel blinks. “Hmm?”

“A thief? Why do it? Steal things that aren’t yours.”

Ezekiel tips his head, not expecting that personal question so soon. “Talk about it later,” he whispers. “Let’s get out of here first.” He holds his hand out to her and she takes it. He helps her stand; keeping her close to him so he doesn’t accidentally get himself killed. “Over my shoulder, what do you see?”

M stretches her neck to peer around him and her eyes widen. “Jungkook!”

When Ezekiel starts to turn, M pulls him to her just as a spear rotates around. “Ezekiel, we have to help him.”

“Can’t really help him if I can’t see.”

“If you turn, it’ll get you,” she cries. “Zeke, what do we do?”

“I hope you’re only like this in death defying situations,” he mutters. “Guide me and I’ll get us to the end.”

“But Jungkook—”

“No man gets left behind,” he promises. “But I need you to help me, M.”

“One second.” M breathes steadily and Ezekiel listens to it evening out, can feel her heart pounding against his chest. He never realized how tiny she was until now. He almost swallows her, hugging her like this.

Ezekiel quickly catches on to her breathing pattern. Inhale, the rock turns, exhale, it turns away. He steadies himself and then she pushes him backward. He ducks under the spear and falls as fast as he can back into the two-count. However, now it’s sped up and M cries out twice before he can adjust to the new pattern.

It takes a few more steps around for him to get M to the door. Back in the maze, Ezekiel can see Jungkook sprawled on his back. Surrounding him are four statues, all in reach of each other. Ezekiel shakes his head in dismay.

M’s jaw drops as Ezekiel bounces on the balls of his feet to propel himself into a flip over the first spear. His foot lands on a shoulder of one of the statues before he drops down and slides underneath another spear. But suddenly, half the room disappears and the dark inches closer to Jungkook’s left foot.

She covers her eyes and crouches into a ball. “Everything will be okay, everything will be okay.”

Two hands on her shoulders causes her to scream and she jumps up. Then she finds herself staring into the blue eyes of the American man she’d met last night. “Hey, hey, hey,” a blonde woman runs past her as a red headed woman stands in the doorway, holding it open, “you’re fine. Everything’s fine. Let’s get you out of here, hmm?”

M doesn’t need to be encouraged any more to run through the door. The red headed woman’s hand falls on her back and gently ushers her out into the basement hallway. M looks around, terrified as to where she’s wound up now. She exhales loudly at the familiar surroundings of the Louvre.

The red head hums. “Don’t relax just yet. Come on. We need to get you guys out of here first.”

“What about Zeke and Jungkook?” M asks.

“They’ve got them.” And M doesn’t want to do anything else but believe her. She lets this woman she’s never met before usher her out of the hallway and she swears she can hear banging somewhere down the hall. When they reach the main floor, which is swarming with people, she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Not quite safe here,” the red head says, looking over her shoulder at the basement door. “One last door…” She leads M towards the men’s bathroom and she isn’t even surprised when she doesn’t walk into the bathroom and instead stumbles into a massive library.

“Magic, right?” M whispers.

“Magic,” the red head confirms. “I’m Cassandra.”

“I need to sit down,” M says in response.

Cassandra nods and leads her to a chair, suddenly noticing the wounds cutting her arms and side. “Oh my god, you’re bleeding.”

M starts to gauge her wounds and then the door glows and everyone else stumbles in, Jungkook curled around the blonde woman’s shoulders. She hurries forward and cups his chin in her hands. “Kook. Kook!”

Jungkook opens one bleary eye. “Fine. Need to lie down.”

“Need to be patched up,” Ezekiel calls as the woman helps Jungkook to a cot that M has to assume the elderly man had brought whenever he appeared. Ezekiel pulls the amulet out of his pocket and tosses it to the elderly man. “For you, Jenkins.”

“I’ll get to work on decoding it so we can get to the headdress.” Jenkins bows to Stone. “Mr. Stone, if you wouldn’t mind assisting me.”

“Sure.” He tips his head to M and then Ezekiel is at her side.

“You need to lie down,” he says.

Her eyes fall on the gash in his chest. “Wait, you—”

“All three of you need to rest,” the blonde woman says, authority dripping in her voice. She guides M to a second cot as Cassandra passes her a first aid kid. “I’m Eve, Ezekiel’s Guardian.”

She finds she can’t sleep. Her eyes keep opening, expecting to stare up at the white of her ceilings and to roll over and see the wall around her window covered in her sketches of various sculptures and humans in motion. Instead, her eyes open to see the large expanse of a Library, which feels as if it’s breathing and smells like books and a bit of chocolate chip cookies.

Slowly, M sits up, her fingers touching the nicks over her skin. They’re sore, but Eve cleaned them and wrapped the worse ones. Next to her, Jungkook’s breaths are even and she’s glad that he can sleep. She’s positive that they gave him something to help him sleep through the pain.

“You okay?”

M peers over her shoulder to see Ezekiel’s eyes open in the dim Library light. One arm is tucked underneath his head and he’s curled into a ball.

“Yeah, just… can’t sleep.”

“It’s a lot to get used to,” Ezekiel admits.

She swings her legs over the bed despite her body’s protests. The blanket they’d given her was actually quite warm, so she picks it up to wrap around her shoulders. “So you left me for this place. I wouldn’t have come back either.”

“I thought you said you hate magic,” Ezekiel points out.

“But I love books,” she chuckles. Facing this way, she can see the shelves of books and can see the doors that lead out into a hallway. It’s probably not too far a stretch to assume the place is bigger than she’s seen.

“I promised to explain to you who I was,” Ezekiel starts to say.

M shakes her head. “I think I have a vague idea and I think that’s good enough.”

“I want you to understand. I feel like it’s something you deserve to know.”

M settles in for a story. She watches how Ezekiel talks, slowly watches his arms disentangle themselves so that they can join in the conversation. He talks about casing museums and never staying anywhere for too long. He talks about the one time he made a mistake and that was the day he was recruited to join the Library. Ezekiel delves into his life in the shadows and explains that he’s here because he’s the best.

“And yeah, my moral code is a work in progress, but I’d like to think I have a heart in here.” Ezekiel meets her eye. “Then there was you.”

She chuckles. “I don’t think it would have taken much to realize you’ve already charmed me, Zeke. I’m not hiding it very hard. You don’t have to keep trying.”

He ignores her. “There was you and I suddenly went into protective mode. I’ve only felt that way for the people in here, but look at where we are.”

“You sure it didn’t have something to do with the life or death situation?” she teases. “The guns?”

“They would’ve chased after me… probably.”

M can’t stop the smirk growing on her face. “My turn?”

Ezekiel’s eyes light up and he brings his blanket up to his chin, as if he were a child waiting for a bedtime story.

“My name is actually Minerva.”

“Minerva?” Ezekiel’s brows furrow together. “Where have I heard that name before?”

“Well, most people know it from Harry Potter.”

“McGonagall!” he exclaims.

M stifles her laugh and shushes him. “Yes, McGonagall. My mum actually named me after the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, though.”

“So why do you shorten it?”

“It’s embarrassing,” M snorts. “I sound like an old lady.”

“Well, you don’t look like an old lady,” he states.

She tilts her head, feigning flattery. “Awe, thanks Zeke.”

“Minerva,” he states, a small smile at her teasing. He repeats her name again and again. It doesn’t make the name any less strange in her mind. Apparently, it doesn’t for Ezekiel either, because he says, “I like M.”

“Yeah, a lot of people don’t know that Minerva is my real name anyway.”

Ezekiel lifts an eyebrow. “But Jungkook knows.”

“I live with him. He was bound to find out. Everyone calls me M, except Jungkook and my parents,” she explains.

M goes into detail about how she met Jungkook. It had been on campus, a year after Ezekiel had stopped showing up. She was taking art as an elective, as she had wanted for years. It just so happened that Jungkook had been taking the same class.

“We somehow wound up talking about the Louvre and wanting to visit. Shocked both of us that neither of us had, because it was so close by. One day during winter break, I was actually surprised that he called me and asked if I was down for a day trip to Paris. We spent hours in the Louvre. And our friendship sort of just developed from there.” She peeks at Jungkook to make sure he’s still breathing. “He was the first person I told that I was being offered a job at the Louvre. And he said he’d come along and help me with rent.”

“And you guys aren’t a thing?” Ezekiel asks. “Because how does anyone who looks like either of you live together and not have something happen?”

“Played around with the idea once when we were drunk.” M brings her legs up onto the cot, hugging her arms and the blanket around her knees. She pushes her glasses up a bit higher on her face. “It was a great night, but we decided that friends was where we liked it. He met Taehyung a month or so after that.”

“Who is…?”

“A barista at a café near our place,” M elaborates. “He’s sweet and when I introduced the two of them, they hit it off instantly. Tae spends weekends at our place, crashing in Jungkook’s room. I don’t ask unless Kook wants to tell and it’s normal. They haven’t admitted anything to me, but it’s obvious.”

Ezekiel hums, an easy smile playing on his lips. She knows she’s eased his mind about her relationship with Jungkook. It still leaves whatever they are up in the air. This is his job. He works for a magical building in a magical world that she isn’t sure if she can tolerate. He lives in…

“Where are we anyway?” she asks.

“Right now? Oregon.”

“As in… Oregon, USA?”

“Oregon, USA,” Ezekiel confirms.

She shakes her head in amazement.

“You get used to it eventually.”

She snorts. “You say that as if I’ll have time to get used to it.”

Ezekiel nods. “Plenty of tiem when you’re seeing me all the time. I exude magic.”

“Do you?”

“I’ll show you.” He swings his legs onto the floor. The cots are so close together that she can feel his body heat. Ezekiel tugs a coin out of his back pocket and presents it to her in his left hand. M can’t help but roll her eyes, but she watches regardless. The coin disappears and suddenly reappears behind her ear. “See? Magic.” He flips the coin before handing it over to her.

M rotates the coin between her fingers. “Do you do… real magic?”

Ezekiel shakes his head. “We leave that stuff to Cassandra. I know the basics, tamper with it a bit.” He gets to his feet, his blanket around his shoulders like a cape. “Come on, I’ll actually show you.”

“Show me what?” M follows him, her own blanket cape on. He waits for her by the door before falling in step with her. Their footsteps echo down the corridor and they hang a right before stepping out at the top of a small staircase. She can feel the expanse before her eyes really register it. She stares down a seemingly endless aisle, shelves of books on either side. There are beautiful pieces in open cases on either side at the bottom of the stairs.

“You aren’t tempted to steal any of it?” she suddenly asks.

Ezekiel doesn’t seem surprised or offended at her question. “Not gonna let that thief thing go, huh?”

He trails after her as she inspects the Arc of the Covenant up close. She doesn’t tare touch it, too scared that it will kill her or transport her to a different dimension or something her mind can’t even fathom.

“To be honest, no. Sometimes Baird will lock up the artefacts in new government style cases or magical ones if Jenkins comes up with something new, but it’s mostly just to keep me agile. They haven’t beat me yet.” She glances over her shoulder and can’t help but smile along with him. “They’re better here than out there, causing havoc.”

“Wow.” She smiles at him, admiring the tone in his voice and the way he holds himself. “I have to say, this version of you is… is much more enticing than the version of you I first met.” M turns away to look at the other artefacts. She can feel the energy they give off; so different from anything else she’s ever encountered. The closest she’s ever felt like this was standing in front of the Mona Lisa.

They wander the stacks until she starts to feel drowsy. Ezekiel leads her back to the Annex, as he calls it. He climbs onto his cot and offers a spot for her next to him. “It gets cold in here in the morning.”

M laughs. “Now you’re just trying too hard.”

Ezekiel grins and waves her over. She rolls her eyes with a grin, climbing in next to him. She inhales sharply, surprised at how… Ezekiel he smells.

“Right, this isn’t going to be very comfortable if you’re not going to just settle here,” Ezekiel whispers. His breath smells slightly of tea and she wonders when in the world Ezekiel started drinking tea. But then as her body slides into the dip of the cot, pressed against him, her forehead against his chest, she notes the pizza stain on his shirt and that reminds her that he’s still Zeke.

“Zeke,” she murmurs. He hums drowsily, his arm resting comfortably in the dip of her side. “Don’t promise me things you can’t give me, okay?”

“What?”

“Just… don’t.”

The next morning, she wakes to a bell chime and Ezekiel is already moving. She tips her head up and sees his other arm dangling off the cot, his phone in hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Case in Hakone, Japan.”

M can’t help but scoff at the idea. “Right. Your job as…”

“A Librarian,” he states.

“Librarian,” she snorts.

“Job doesn’t wait.” He slowly pushes himself up. He looks down at her, his hair mussed from sleep.

It seems too intimate that she has to look away. “I’ll take Kook home before your team sees us like this,” she chuckles. Ezekiel helps her sit up, his hand falling to her side so that he can support her. Then she stands, her bones cracking because the cot was uncomfortable as hell. She waddles over to Jungkook and smacks his arm to wake him.

“Kook, get up. We’re going home.”

Jungkook’s eyes are full of sleep when he looks back at her. She rolls her eyes and moves in front of him. “Let’s go home. You can sleep in your own bed. I’ll even call Taehyung over to nurse you back to health.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jungkook breathes.

“Because?”

“Because you know I’ll accidentally say I love him and it’ll be awkward,” he mutters.

“Precisely. Come on.” She urges him up and even though she hardly reaches his shoulder, she can hold his weight around his waist. Ezekiel stands by the door she thinks they stumbled through yesterday, his hand on an ancient looking globe with a magnifying glass attached.

“That’s it?” she asks.

“More magic than science,” Ezekiel answers.

M chuckles and watches him spin the globe. He pulls one door open and she can already see into her apartment. “Hmm, this part of magic I don’t mind.” She smiles at him. “Goodbye, Zeke.” She starts to walk through the door, but he catches her arm.

“You said not to promise you things I can’t give,” Ezekiel states.

M nods, staring at the Annex over his shoulder. “You can’t give this up and I wouldn’t want you to. Besides, we were both happy where we were, Zeke. Let’s just—”

Ezekiel cuts her off, his lips pressing gently against her own. His hand is soft against her cheek, though she can feel callouses in his palm.

“Guys,” Jungkook groans. “Say goodbye later.”

Ezekiel chuckles and brushes his thumb over her cheek. “I’m not promising anything, but I’ll see you when I’m back from Japan.”

M rolls her eyes with a smile. “Save the world first.”

[buhthol]

Songs that go with fanfiction (haikyuu & Voltron)

Haikyuu: Any song by the neighbourhood is great for haikyuu fics. Especially with angst. I think blackbear is good too, depending on what kind of fanfic, a lot of his happier kinda songs are great for fluff :)

Anxiety by Blackbear - this song gives me Hella vibes for a lot of fanfiction I read, Especially with angst or fanfics when one of the characters feels lower than the other.

Do Re Mi by Blackbear - this song gives me Hella vibes of fanfics where one of the boys is dating a girl but leaves her for his true love (the other character in whatever ship is in the fanfic

I miss the old you by Blackbear - this song gives me of Hella angst vibes where one of the characters goes away to college/uni and cheats on the other character

Leaving by Illenium ft. EDEN - ik this isn't the neighborhood or blackbear like I said, but heck this song also gives me Hella college/uni vibes, especially Kuroken/BokuAka where the older male goes away to college/uni and leaves the other behind :")

Talk is overrated by Jeremy Zucker ft. Blackbear - I don't really know if the context of this song is supposed to be love or a breakup, but it's good and I like listening to it while reading haikyu fics :)

Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood - this song gives me 90s Aesthetic vibes. I love this song sm and I feel like It fits haikyuu fanfiction so well for some reason (idk why tbh but it just does?)

Daddy issues by The Neighborhood - this song gives me Hella tsukkiyama vibes for some reason, mainly because most fanfiction I read of this ship, yama has mad family problems. It kinda sounds like Tsukki would be singing the song, directed at yama or something (idrk) but it's good

Voltron (mainly Klance): Jon Bellion's songs gives me Hella klance vibes for some reason :^) I can't even explain why but he just does.

Woke the Fck Up by Jon Bellion - This song is just great and it gives me vibes of KLance like you wouldn't believe. It reminds me of Lance singing the song, thinking of Keith who left Voltron for the Blade of Marmora :^)

Guillotine by Jon Bellion - I'm not sure if this song gives me klance vibes bc I first found it on a klance amv but, it just gives me Hella vibes for the ship now :^) I always listen to it while reading klance so ye

Location by Khalid - heck more Keith leaving Voltron vibes ya know aha, but this song would be great for any ship that involves Keith :)

Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood - I know I put this song in the haikyuu list, but the 90s Aesthetic vibe works well with any fanfic especially when lance/and or Keith moves cities and meets the other for the first time and fall in love :^) just... yeah

Mine by Bazzi - all I'm gonna say is that this song is great and works well with any ship. DON'T FIGHT ME ON THIS OKAY

Gasoline by Hasley - I can't really say why bc idk but this song gives me Voltron vibes so yeah

Wildfire by Jeremy Zucker - this song is pretty new but it's good and reminds me of KLance a lot, especially with a one-sided love at first but then becomes mutual love

Hi, I hope you consider my lists, It took me over an hour so pls be nice. I don't really read much fanfic for anything other than Haikyuu and Voltron, but For the fanfics, I do read, all the songs I listed I always listen to when reading specific genres/AUs.

[storiessaveme]

Ah, life. Sometimes it’s got a funny way of fckin you up. Every morning I wake up, I chug my 32oz of water and I sit on my downtown Portland, Oregon balcony, smoke my first dab of the day and listen to the sounds of my city. I’m looking for inspiration. A new artist I’ve been working with is on my ass for new beats and to be honest with you, I haven’t made anything I’ve liked since that one song with [insert artist name]. So, here I sit, listen to morning passers by - citizens of Portland on their way to work, to get coffee with the girls, the guys who keep the local bar running early in the mornings (do they sell food in there?) anyway - To my dismay, everything sounds so blah and i find inspiration in nothing so I put in my ear buds and take my first hit, the smoke hits my lung and I let my mind drift to a far away land where there’s soft piano music playing and its chilly but I can stand it with a heavy duty hoodie and some fleeced leggings. There’s a frozen lake and some ice skates just hanging on a post and weirdly they’re my size; I put them on, and glide around on the ice. Suddenly I feel nothing, no pain, no pressure, not even the cold wind on my face from zipping around on the ice. It feels so good to be free. I’m snapped back into reality by the chorus of “Black and Yellow” by Whiz Khalifa bursting through my ear buds, Tios calling. I roll my eyes and answer

“Buenos Dias!”

“Donde estas!?”

“I’m good, Tio, how are you? That’s how normal people greet each other on the phone..”

“I don’t have time for the back and forth this morning, Isa, where are you?”

“I’m at home and you’re supposed to be on vacation so why the angry tone? Shouldn’t you be relaxing, knee deep in your wife?”

“[insert artist name] is upset with you; says you haven’t sent him the demo for the new song yet. What’s going on with you mija?”

What’s going on? The truth is, I don’t know how to tell tio the truth, I don’t want to be in the music business anymore. I love music and I love making beats, for fun, now there’s all this pressure to meet deadlines and this and that. I never wanted to be in the meeting room discussing budgets and discretionary funds, what the fck even is that? No, I want to be free, I want to be in the ocean swimming everyday but mostly, I want to be out on the ice. I’ve always loved figure skating. Tonya Harding is my idol and no, she had nothing to do with it. Tio has his own children who want to be in the music business. I make good ass fckin music don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked with incredible people. The thing is; when you’ve worked so long doing what other people want and giving to other people all you want is a little bit of time for yourself. I remember I’m on the phone because Tio yells:

“HELLOOOO!?”

I shake my head and fight back tears.

“I’m in a rut, I can’t seem to find the right tune for the song he’s got, it’s a really dumb song..”

“It doesn’t matter, Isaela Melanie ..” yikes, the middle name, “you don’t get paid to give an opinion on the song!”

“I do if there is a contract that says I get a percentage of royalties and if the lyrics are no good we need to make sure the beat behind it is dope so that people don’t know how stupid the lyrics actually are.” I don’t know business but I know music.

“Yeah, alright” I knew I’d won the battle, “make sure you get something done by Friday.” That’s two days, damn it! I lost the war. Back into the studio dungeon I go.

[wannawrite]

The Royals - PJH pt.2

who?: Wanna One’s Park Jihoon genre: 🌸🌺 type: bullet point TW: absent father, blood, physical violence, knives, guns

part one

part two/ two blog navigator. 

The Royals 

KD | • mafia AU 

• you never knew such dark secrets lurked in your neighbourhood Bsjkcjpdkxlm yES PART TWO IS HERE HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT AND PLEASE READ PART ONE AS WELL! tell me if mood boards or mafia AU should be a thing on this blog

- Admin L 

• an ear-splitting crash resounds throughout the upper levels and you feel your hair stand on the edge, nervous shivers wracking your being • a silence passes before all The Royals members shove their chairs against the door and peel away a faux vent to reveal an escape route • ‘Seongwoo’s here with the car. Daniel left with the Mnet guy a few minutes before his back up arrived,’ Sejeong hisses, willing for her teammates to work faster • ‘thank god we cleared his hideout out a few days ago!’ • one by one, they slip out of the escape. then slowly, your grandparents disappear out the opening without giving it a second thought • Jihoon shakes his head, refusing to escape without you • ‘hurry up, go while you still can.’ • you hear yells and heavy footsteps quickly invading the basement • your hands are shuddering but not from the chill, you know your face is bleached white • Jihoon turns to you and boosts you to the opening, gritting his teeth • ‘go now or we’re both dead!’ • he manages to seal the escape route shut just as the hinges of the original metal door fly off • before you can even crawl out of the passageway, Yoojung and Daehwi yank you out and push you into the backseat of an expensive looking car • just ahead, your grandparents speed off in another one • perfect timing • Sejeong is in the drivers seat and someone, you trust her more than anyone else to drive • tears finally stream down your face as the car races by, you aren’t sure which one is faster • usually, you would take this time to admire the view of the surroundings but your vision is so blurred you can barely make out what’s in front of you • no one says a word • a soft blanket droops over your shoulders, the tears pause • Jihoon tries his best to shoot you an encouraging smile, running his hand on your shoulder for comfort • ‘where are we headed?’ you manage to croak out the question, voice strained • ‘......I hope this isn’t too much but...The Royals Headquarters.’ • ah yes how underwhelming indeed, I totally don’t feel the pressure • surprisingly, HQ is a small, gated apartment block situated at the very border of the main city • it must all be 101 owned • the royals? the riches. • from that part onwards, all else is a mirage, a mere passing blur of time - too many events consolidated into one massive one, too much to comprehend • vaguely, you remember Daniel - the leader - speaking about things before Jihoon and Sejeong escorted you to the apartments, in a more secluded part of the huge complex • you wondered how this place never got raided or discovered • there is a series of intricate codes to key in though • + a face recognition door, iris scanner, handprint ID...just to open the first of many doors • you’re way too blur and muddled to realise Sejeong and Jihoon have tucked you into a large queen bed with dark silken sheets • ‘goodnight.’ • and it’s lights out. • recap: this all happened around 12pm - 3pm in the afternoon so... • when you finally open your eyes again, the sun is setting and the skies outside of the sealed window are a mishmash of pinks and fading yellows • before you can get out of the foreign bed, the mahogany double doors swing open and Jihoon - now dressed in a more casual grey shirt and sweatpants - steps in • his eyes still sparkle and he put his hair up, exposing his forehead • dead • ‘oh good, you’re awake in time for dinner.’ his voice is tender and low • ‘there’s a glass of water beside you,’ Jihoon says, pointing to a tall glass sitting on the bedside table • you take a long sip before asking, ‘what happened while I was asleep? where am I?’ • Jihoon moves to sit in the armchair opposite the four-poster bed, he plays with his hands in his lap • ‘you’re in my wing of Daehwi and I’s shared mansionette’ - a flat spanning two or more floors - ‘hmm, your grandparents are resting in our common room and...now, we’re heading to dinner. Daniel and Somi need to talk to you about things.’ • you gulp • how did I go from working at my grandparent’s store to nearly being stabbed by an Mnet member, escaping a gang and now, I fell asleep in Park Jihoon’s bed? oh yes, not to mention I’ll be having dinner with The Royals bosses, Kang Daniel and Jeon Somi • ‘oh,’ is all you can say • Jihoon clears his throat and stands to leave. ‘Daehwi and Yoojung left some clothes for you, they’re in the en-suite bathroom over there. Let me know when you’re ready to go. I’ll be in my study.’ • you nod, still in shock, throwing off the smooth sheets and stretching • just as Jihoon reaches for the door, he turns around and meets your eye • ‘hey....’ • ‘yeah?’ • he runs a hand through his hair and shyly adds, ‘today was rough and uh...if anything...uhm...j-just know that I-I’m here if you need to talk or something...’ • that made your entire day • 4.0 GPA, crops are growing, birds are singing, skin is clear • you smile back at him • ‘sure.’ • the smile can’t leave even after he shuts the door, or when you start washing up and changing outfits • even as you’re walking to Daniel’s place for dinner • it’s oddly comforting to know there’s someone who you can depend on and confide it, even if it’s someone you’ve only reunited with for 7 hours, even if it’s a mafia member, one of the most powerful ones in that cutthroat society • dinner is wonderful, no doubt there are celebrity chefs working as private chefs for The Royals • Royalty only eats the best • you find out that the leaders of the 101 look like they could kill you - and can - but are actually cinnamon rolls • the kind of cinnamon rolls that make you drop dead after taking a bite • both of them agree that your grandparents would have to move into their terrace • the store would be run by a neighbouring ‘company’, another mafia called EXO, and of course, your family could visit anytime, as long as they brought bodyguards • ‘why are you so nice to us?’ you whispered out of curiosity • Somi and Daniel exchange looks • ‘...because your family has given us our key members, because your family cares for us like one of their own.’ Somi reveals cautiously. ‘we don’t expect you to understand it now since you never knew.’ • grandma and grandpa gang gang asf • after you guys finish up dessert admiring the view from Daniel’s penthouse, Somi escorts you back to your room • ‘I hope Jihoon or Daehwi don’t mind sleeping on the couch for a while,’ she jokes, batting an eye. • Daehwi greets you at the door just as you bid Somi good night • he doesn’t even bother to hide his smug grin, excitedly shaking your hand and hopping up and down • ‘soooo, Jihoon’s out right now but I’m sure he won’t mind you sleeping first. You can borrow some of my clothes first but...I know Jihoon really won’t mind if you take one of his shirts. He has way too many,’ the purple haired boy leads you to Jihoon’s walk-in wardrobe • as expected, it’s filled to the brim • one section is all business attire - some dark sports attire and crisp black suits. the other side comprises of colourful clothing items, some are questionable • Daehwi riffles through a drawer and pulls out a plain black t-shirt, handing it to you with a pair of exercise shorts • ‘it’s already 11pm, you should be getting to sleep!’ he chimes, all angelic but it fools no one, especially you. • ‘seriously?’ you huff but not out of annoyance • Daehwi purses his lips, raising a brow. ‘Anyone who can’t see that Jihoon is interested in you is blind. He’s so whipped.’ • right then, the door bursts open, revealing a red-faced Jihoon • ‘goodnight y/n! I’ll take you to the terrace tomorrow,’ Daehwi winks before speeding out of the wardrobe • ‘I-I...’ you realise you don’t have any valid reason to wear his clothes, or even step into his closet • Jihoon dismisses it. ‘keep the shirt, I have too many of the same ones. You probably look much better in it than me.’ • blush blush blush • when you emerge from the bathroom fully dressed and smelling like sweet flowers thanks to the array of colognes and perfumes in Jihoon’s bathroom • fck gender roles am I right? • Jihoon is already lounging comfortably in his armchair, scrolling through his iPad, but his eyes illuminate when he sees you • ‘I...uh, hope you don’t mind sleeping in my bed. Don’t worry, Daehwi and I cleaned the entire place earlier.’ • ‘oh,’ you say shyly ‘thanks but you don’t have to, I can take the couch.’ • ‘no, no, stay here. it’s safer. the keypad is almost impossible to break through but I’m not taking risks with you,’ he insists. ‘I can’t lose you again.’ • again? • lose me? • Jihoon stop speaking in Shakespeare • your apparent confusion his enough to send him into a flustered panic • remembering his manners, he gestures for you to take a seat on the edge of his bed before explaining • ‘hmm, we were really close when we were young but I guess you don’t recall much or anything at all. Then, you moved to the city and I never saw you again, until now. Pity, you confessed you had a crush on me,’ • your jaw falls open, a gasp leaving your lips. ‘No I didn’t!’ your hand smacks his bicep. ‘I never said that!’ • Jihoon laughs, amused and shaking his head. ‘Whatever you say then. Sleep well.’ he moves to exit the room • ‘y/n?’ • ‘yeah?’ • the dim bedside lamp allows you to barely make out the small smile that graces his features • ‘I missed you, I’m glad we met again.’ • ‘yeah, me too. goodnight~’ • his smile is the last thing you see before your head hits the pillow and your eyes flutter shut, unaware of Jihoon sneaking back in to take the gun under the pillow away from you • you know, just in case • he safely keeps it before returning to his sofa bed in the living room, a stupid, dreamy grin on his face • today was one of the more memorable missions • he couldn’t wait to make more memories in the mafia • perhaps more together with you