#yep here goes my dignity for sure finally

[psybrepunk]

Is There Any Machine You Can't Charm? - Chapter 1 - psybrepunk - Fallout 4 [Archive of Our Own]

*OSHA VIOLATION*

Went with first person perspective so I wouldn't have to fuck with pronouns for my sole survivor. >.>

Gender-neutral Sole Survivor convinces the synthetic detective that you don't need any specific equipment to have fun. Eventually prompting Nick to confess that there's some special ways in which he's enjoyed being maintenanced by the Sole Survivor prior. Guided experimentation ensues.

Only one chapter is there so far, but I'm attempting to update this very soon with a much longer chapter. Don't @ me for this unoriginal-ass title.

[xxreader-writerxx]

Seven Minutes In Heaven

Word Count: 1.8k

Fred Weasley x Fem Reader

Warnings: Somewhat brief smut in the beginning, cursing, use of condom, underage drinking,

A/N: My mind won’t let go of this idea. And I made some inaccurate things. Come at me. But don’t really I’m an adorable, fragile, cute hufflepuff.

Y/N= Your Name L/N= Your Last Name Y/H= Your House, Y/N/N: Your Nickname

I walk into Fred’s dorm as he guides me not separating our heavy kiss. He tries closing the door and lock it but keeps missing the lock chuckling against my lips. He places his forehead against mine. “Damn door...” He mumbles laughing lightly and I bite my lip to hold in my laughter. “You can lock it Freddie.” I tell him and he gives me a quick peck before turning and locking the door. The party muffled by the wooden barrier between us and the raging celebration for Gryffindor winning the latest game. He turns back smiling and resumes our kiss. We walk to the bed, falling on it when my legs hit the edge. He laughs against my lips and I start to pull off his shirt.

“Are you sure darling?” He asks after pulling it off. I nod shyly and he smiles climbing on top of me leaving love bites all over my neck and I stop him quickly. “Do you have a condom?” I ask and he reaches into his pocket. He pops up searching hgis person. “Shit. I don’t. Don’t worry I will get it j-just stay here.” He tells me kissing me longingly before shoving his shirt over his head. “Ok.” I mumble as he sighs quietly. I pull him in for one more kiss as he finally pulls away to run out the door.

***Fred’s POV***

I race through the party looking for the one person I know always has a condom at a party. The man with an actual girlfriend instead of pining after one gorgeous girl non-stop. Well I guess I’m not anymore based on Y/n asking if there could be strings attached, if this could mean we could be together, and I stupidly answered with ‘Consider me pinocchio.’ which she cutely answered with ‘So you want to end up with no strings?’ Which made me fall harder than I already did.

I run over to where George is snogging with Angelina and grab his wallet. He slams his hand on the wallet turning to me. “The fick you think you’re doing mate?” He asks and I tug at the wallet. “I need a condom.” I say and he scoffs. “The bloody hell you need it for? Who would fuck you?” He chuckles and I smack the back of his head. “A hot girl who is laying in my bed right now.” I say finally stealing the wallet, digging through. He gets up trying to take it. I grab the stack and look at him squirting. “Why the hell do you have so many who’s fucking you this much?” I ask and he tries grabbing it. “Babe I have like ten in my drawer in my dorm. Give him at least one.” Angelina says and I point at her. “It’s the dignity of it.” He says.

After minutes of fighting I finally get annoyed. “Fine. Rock paper scissors for it. I win, I get it. I lose, I don’t.” I tell him and he nods. We play and he wins cheering for himself. “Fine shit head.” I say and grab my pocket knife cutting the packages. “Fuck you.” I say running off. I find Lee and he looks at me confused. “Have you seen Y/n? I can’t find her.” He asks and I shrug. “Dunno but do you have a condom?” I ask and he nods, digging through his wallet. “Here.” He says and hands me the one my size. I look at him with an eyebrow raised. “What? I’m the dad of the group. I gotta know these things.” He says and I just shake my head running off.

***Your POV***

I waited playing with my skirt for Fred to come back fearing he was just doing a cruel prank on me. I hear the door burst open and Fred breathing heavily. “Thank Godric.” He breathes out walking over quickly to kiss me. “Why did I hear George banging on the door?” I ask when we separate. “I cut his greedy condoms in half” He mumbles and I laugh as he kisses me hungrily soon melting into the kiss. He tears off his shirt and before pulling mine off looks up at me and I nod at the silent question for consent. He pulls it off and moves from my neck to my chest leaving small purple spots on my breasts.

“God I’ve been wanting to do this forever...” He mumbles and I nod in agreement, running my fingers through his ginger hair.

I’m soon underneath him moaning his name as he thrusts harder and harder into me, kissing my chest messily. “Faster Freddie….” I moan out and he complies, going harder and faster at a bruising pace. He pulls my leg over his shoulder adding a better angle making us both moan louder than before. “Go on darling tell me how good I’m making you feel.” He says slowing a little to kiss my thigh before going faster.

A few more minutes later and we both moan out in our fast brough orgasms. Fred pulls out and soon plops down next to me smiling with sweat beading over his eyebrows. “Godric we should’ve done that long ago.” He breathes out smiling goofily. I just nod just trying to catch my breath. He rubs my thighs lightly, kissing my hips. “Are you alright?” He asks and my smile widens as I nod happily.

***

I wake exhausted and mixed in Fred’s legs. The night was filled with amazing sex and more amazing aftercare from Fred. Now the amazing ginger locked boy is fast asleep. I smile at his calm face that is hidden behind his hair and highlighted by the sun peaking through his window. I kiss his forehead as he hums lightly in his sleep.

I start moving to get up but he tries grabbing me pulling me in. “Stay...” He mumbles and I laugh. “I’m getting food...” I sing into his ear and he ignores me nuzzling into my chest. “Don’t...” He mutters into my chest and I chuckle. “I’ll kiss you if you let me get food.” I offer and he puckers his lips and I place a peck on his lips. I shuffle out of his grasp as he whines lightly. “Baby....” He cries and I laugh. “I’ll be back. Keep being cute.” I tell him and he gives a lazy salute before hugging his pillow.

Me and Fred have been dating since the fateful party three weeks ago. We decided not to tell the group for the pure chaos of it. Agreeing we will tell them at least at two months if they haven’t cracked the case. I get to the great hall grabbing a plastic to-go tupperware from the edge of the table and walk over to the group. I dig through the food, placing a breakfast for me and Fred in the tupperwares. When I finish I kiss the boys heads goodbye and the girl’s cheeks getting a playful smack on the arse from Katie.

I get back to Fred’s dorm to see him still entangled in his sheets. I strip from my shorts and jumper quickly then sit on the bed, rubbing his legs lightly. “Hi baby...” I hum and he looks at me grumpily. “Why did you take so long...” He whines and I hold up the food. “I got you pancakes” I tell him and he sits up smiling. “I love you...” He mutters and I kiss his forehead nodding.

We eat together joking around until we finish and Fred gets bored tackling me into a cuddle. “Love me!” He exclaims while tackling me evilly. He kisses my neck lightly making me giggle

***

Me and Fred enter the common room joking around about a strange debate when George calls us over. “Before we go over. I wanted to ask. Is Saturday still good for Hog’s Head?” He asks and I nod smiling. We plop down in the circle they made. “What are we playing?” Fred asks and George smiles. “Truth or Dare.” He tells him and we nod compliantly.

We moved into George’s dorm after an hour of playing.“Katie truth or dare?” George asks and she picks dare. “I dare you… To take off an article of clothing every time someone picks a dare.” He says earning a slap on the head from me and Angelina.

A few more minutes later and I get picked. “Ummm Dare.” I say and Katie smiles. “Sit on George’s lap.” She says plainly and we all but Fred laughs. “Katie… I thought we both knew I liked Fred.” I whisper in her ear and she smiles. “Yeah, make him jealous...” She whispers and I chuckle, shaking my head. I try to move but feel Fred’s grip on my wrist behind our backs where he was holding my hand. “Don’t” He whispers in my ear and I find my way out of his firm but not tight grip. I move over and George laughs, shaking his head. “Godric, this is weird. You’re like my sister Y/N/N” George laughs and I nod agreeing.

An hour later we’re all giggly but I feel Fred’s stare on me the whole time. “Ok dare.” I say and Katie groans, tearing off her skirt. “You all suck.” She mumbles and I laugh. “Ok… I dare you to spin this bottle whoever it lands on you have to spend seven minutes in heaven with whoever it lands on.” Angelina tells me and I nod, grabbing the bottle in her hand. I spin it and it slowly lands on Katie but suddenly gets bumped to Fred by a flick of Katie’s hidden wand. I look at her and she giggles lightly.

Before I say anything I get dragged to George’s walk in closet and shoved into the door as he hungrily roams my mouth with his tongue that he shoved past my lips quickly. “D-darling…” I mumble as he goes to my neck and he ignores me while leaving dark purple hickeys along my neck. “You are mine, got that?” He finally says when needing to breathe. I nod quickly as he rams his lips back against mine. I feel his hips grind against mine as he tries to relieve some of the tension.

Finally we hear a knock on the door signaling the seven minute mark. We go out and before I can sit on the floor I feel pulled onto Fred’s lap and his hand firmly on my thigh. “Ooh… Got a girlfriend Freddie?” Katie asks and he squeezes my thigh. “Yep. I think she’s my girlfriend based on her going on multiple dates with me for the past month.” He blurts out and I blush furiously, digging my face in his neck. “OH MY GOD YOU BITCH!” Katie yells laughing. “Freddie...” I mumble into his neck and he pulls my chin looking at me smugly. “Are you denying it princess?” He asks and I shake my head shyly. “Thought so.” He says, victorious. He gives me a small peck on the cheek and stands up balancing me on his hips. “I think we’re done playing. I have something to take care of.” He says as George starts ranting about the party where he cut his condoms angrily.

[high-functioning-lokipath]

Strange Times - Dr. Steven Strange x Reader - Words: 2,225

A/N: Hope you enjoy it! Sorry if Dr. Strange is a bit OOC because I'm not SUPER experienced with his character but I wanted to give him a shot! Hope you like my other fandom references 😜 Let me know if you pick up on them!

"Y/N," Hawkeye said, walking up to you. "You've got a mission." Your eyebrows raised dramatically as you lifted your gaze from the bowl of cereal you were currently consuming. 

"Me?" You asked mid-chew. Clint rolled his eyes at your manners, or lack thereof, but nodded. 

"You're ready," He assured you. Him, along with the other Avengers, had been training you now for the past few months. While your control over your power had greatly improved, you still weren't completely confident in yourself. "All it involves is catching a guy who'd been working in Research and Development on one of Stark's projects. He apparently decided he could get more money if he stole it and sold it to the other side so we need to catch him before the deal goes through. He should be landing in Madrid now. The deal is set for tomorrow morning. You have until then."

"Okay," You said slowly. "I guess I'll get ready then?" 

"Yep!" He chirped, grinning brightly. You grumbled about the lack of prep time and stalked away trying to hide your nerves. You got dressed and left in record time. The small jet you'd been assigned for your mission had the location pre-entered, thanks again to Hawkeye, so you reviewed the file during the flight. 

"Great!" You groaned, going off on a rant to yourself as you kept reading. "He's stolen an unstable prototype of a personal time travel device! How was this guy not checked out before? Matt Smith doesn't sound suspicious at all!" The computer on the jet beeped at you and you saw that you were approaching the landing site. Quickly putting the file away, you prepared for the inevitable confrontation. Once you landed you carefully made your way to the small hotel Smith was supposedly staying in for the night. Your first obstacle, of course, was persuading the clerk to let you look at the guest list. Once you did, however, you quickly snuck up to his room on the 3rd floor and went in.

"Well well well," You heard someone say once the door closed behind you. You whipped around and saw a shadowy figure in the corner. "I mustn't have made a very strong impression if the Avengers sent me fresh meat. Poor girl. You have no idea what you're up against do you?" He flicked a light on and you saw the prototype in his hand. 

"You're right. I don't. But neither do you," You retorted. Concentrating on the barriers of the room, you lifted the gravity in it while keeping yourself grounded. "You have no idea what I'm capable of," You smirked. "So why don't we make this easier on the both of us and you hand it over now?"

"Well, you make a good argument. But how about no?" He smirked back. You felt a click around your wrists and were suddenly pulled back against the wall. "I have heard of you, my dear," He sneered. "So I was well prepared for any of you." As he revealed the small propulsion device he was wearing, he started gliding towards you, no longer affected by the lack of gravity in the room. "I don't really want to hurt you," he said. "I just want you to watch as everything you've ever known is destroyed!" As he continued monologuing, you noticed orange sparks appearing behind him. At first you thought he was activating the device. But moments later, the sparks turned into a circular portal and a tall man with a red cape stepped through. 

"Hand over the proto-whoa!" He yelled as he was inadvertently affected by your gravity manipulation when he entered the room. His cape though seemed to react and started flapping, pushing him back towards the ground. "As I was saying," He said, clearing his throat and trying to regain his dignity. "Hand it over." 

"Why should I, Strange? Of what use is it to you?"

"Doctor Strange!" You thought. "That's who he is!" You'd heard of him before but had never met or seen him. While you did wonder why he was there, you were awfully glad for the help. 

"I was bored and needed some entertainment," He shrugged. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking that now." Strange reached out to grab the device out of the man's hand but you noticed Smith was going to try to fly away. You quickly adjusted the gravity again, keeping everyone on the ground. 

"Hey!" Smith yelled. "That's not nice!" You rolled your eyes and Strange easily snatched the device from him. Smith struggled to reach for it but Strange smirked. 

"Be a dear?" He said to, apparently, his cape. The cape flew off his back and curled it's one corner around the device. It then hovered up near the ceiling, out of reach. 

"So that's why Stark said his costume was creepy," You thought, chuckling lightly. Strange glanced at you oddly but didn't address it. 

"Could you-" He trailed off, motioning slightly around him.

"Oh! Sure!" You replied quickly, letting the gravity return to normal. Smith immediately tried to get away but Strange pulled out an odd glowy rope and whipped it around him effectively restraining him for the moment. 

"Not so fast," He said to the man. Turning to you he motioned for you to come closer. He made short work of the cuffs on your wrists before transferring them to Smith' own hands. "Ok, off you go," He said, opening a portal in front of the man. He unceremoniously shoved him through and closed it behind him. "He'll be taken care of," Strange said to you, motioning for the cape to return to him. He then handed the prototype back to you.

"Thanks," You mumbled, feeling quite silly that you couldn't handle the mission on your own. "Why did you come here anyways? Did Stark or one of the others send you?"

"No, I came on my own. You see, I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from all realms that may be a threat to this world. When Mr. Matt Smith there stole that device, he jumped to the top."

"Oh," You said. "Well, I suppose I'd better get back. I'll probably need to debrief and should probably train a bit more so I can handle myself better next time."

"You did fairly well for someone without much experience although you certainly need more training." You rolled your eyes at his statement. Having heard of his reputation for being snarky, however, you weren't all that fazed. "Perhaps you would like to come to the Sanctum with me? I'm quite sure we have a book that could help you." Now that surprised you. You didn't expect him to be nice at all. Maybe he's not as bad as Loki said he was. 

"So, is the Sanctum a fancy library and you're the fancy librarian?" You joked. He laughed and shook his head.

"The Sanctum is much more than that and Wong is the fancy librarian!" He grinned. He opened a portal in front of you that, apparently, led to the Sanctum. Before stepping through it, though, you remembered your own transportation.

"Oh! Actually I have a jet I came in. Can we take that back? I just know I'll be read the riot act if I leave it behind," You said.

"That would be fine," He replied. "Besides, it will give us more time to get to know each other better." A light blush rose to your cheeks as you followed the Doctor out. 

"Am I crazy or is he flirting with me?" You thought. "Crazy, definitely crazy." As you kept walking, your internal monologue also continued. "He is quite handsome though," you mused. "Kinda looks like that guy from the tv show BFF/N watches."

"Nice cape," You commented, trying to make conversation. The cape seemed to bristle at your comment and he smoothed it softly at his side. 

"It's a cloak, not a cape. And it's the Cloak of Levitation, an ancient relic." 

"Oh," You said quietly. "Sorry."

"Quite alright. It's easily confused to the untrained eye." He paused for a moment before adding, "And thank you." You smiled slightly and continued walking in silence.

"So what's your name?" He asked, once you got in the jet. 

"My name-name? Or my made-up name?"

"Both," He replied, entering the Sanctum's address into the computer. 

"Well, my name is Y/F/N, but I go by Andromeda Nova, or Nova for short."

"Not bad," He said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "So tell me about yourself, Nova." He'd taken off his cape before he sat and now it was hovering near him. 

"Alright," You said nervously. You were slightly intimidated by the more experienced superhero who suddenly seemed to be interrogating you but you went ahead with telling him your story of how you got your powers.

"So you went to the Avengers for help?"

"Yes. I had no idea how to control it and, well, everyone that I had been friends with before were afraid of me except for BFF/N." You giggled slightly and smirked. "I guess you could say you met me at a very strange time in my life." He laughed heartily at your pun and you relaxed a bit. As you continued telling him about your training with the Avengers, you decided to take off your own cape and tossed it over a nearby chair. Eventually, however, you got tired of just hearing your own voice since he kept asking you questions rather than speak himself. "Do you mind if I put on some music while we talk?" 

"Oh not at all!" He replied excitedly. You grabbed the tablet that controlled the sound system and scrolled through the library.

"Any preferences, Strange?"

"Whatever you want." You nodded and scrolled a bit more before finally hitting shuffle on one of your favorite playlists. "And, you can call me Stephen if you want." Seconds after the song started, he smirked.

"Waka Waka, Shakera, 2010." Your jaw dropped, eyebrows raising comically. "Surprised?" You nodded, speechless. "Let's try another, shall we? Computer, next song." The next song started and now it was your turn to grin. Just before he opened his mouth, you beat him to it.

"Ride, Twenty One Pilots, 2015. Computer, next song." He raised one eyebrow, impressed, before closing his eyes to concentrate on the next song. 

"Just The Way You Are, Bruno Mars, 2010," You said at the same time. He smiled widely and let the song continue for the moment. Seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, you got up to look, almost doubling over in a fit of giggles. 

"Should we be concerned?" You asked the doctor, who seemed just as shocked as you when he walked over to see what you were looking at. Apparently Cloak had gotten the dancing bug and decided your cape would make an excellent partner. 

"I have no idea," He replied, biting back a laugh. "It's been a while since he's been with another cape, so," He trailed off, both of you laughing once again. "Wait, is yours a cape or a cloak?"

"Whatever it is, he likes it!" You exclaimed, watching the odd waltz continue. Once your laughter calmed, you noticed he was staring at you. You cleared your throat and looked at him questioningly. "That, um, that's a lovely dress. A, uh, very nice color," He said quickly, stumbling over his words. 

"Uh-huh, sure," You said, sarcastically.

"Really! It is!" He cried, embarrassed that you caught him staring.

"Yeah, well, my BFF keeps saying it's the same color as Sherlock's purple shirt of-woah!" You suddenly were thrown off balance as Cloak flew over and shoved you toward Stephen, who, of course, caught you before you fell. 

"I'm so sorry," He quickly said. "Apparently he needs a reminder that, while he is the Cloak of Levitation, he's not my wingman." He said the last part in almost a hiss, directed at the offending object. Cloak shrugged and, if it had eyes, you were sure it would have rolled them. 

"It's quite alright," You assured him. Realizing you were still in his arms you blushed brightly. "Maybe I should-"

"The music's still playing," He interrupted.

"And?"

"May I have this dance?" He smirked. 

"I suppose," You sighed. "But only because I think you'll be a better partner than capey over there." Cloak, who was still nearby, reached out to whack you for your comment. Strange quickly whipped open a portal instead in front of the fabric and you heard a yell from the other side before Cloak quickly retreated and he closed it. 

"Who was that?" You asked.

"Cloak may or may not have just accidentally slapped Wong's backside." Cloak crossed what you supposed was his arms and had the audacity to look upset. You shook your head and chuckled lightly. 

"I have a strange feeling we'll get along just fine," You smiled, holding your hands out to him for your dance. He smiled back and took your hands, swaying gently to the music. 

"Only time will tell." 

In An Unidentified Location Only One Portal Away

Matt takes a look around to make sure no one is watching him. "Well, it would seem my work here is done," He said, grinning to himself. "Toodle-oo!"

Marvel (all characters) Taglist

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[bubblyani]

Bail Out: 05

(Bruce Wayne x Reader)

A Bruce Wayne Multi Chapter Series

Chapter 05: “No Fun”

Summary: One fateful, drunken night gets you arrested for assault.  However, once you get bailed out by Billionaire Socialite Bruce Wayne,  surprising obstacles get in the way, forcing you to question all your  choices in life, career, and in love.

Word Count: 8500+

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Swearing and Slight Violence 

Author’s Note: So glad I could finish this on time. Now I’m impatiently working on the next part. When you read it, you will know why. Thanks again for the wonderful response. Enjoy!

Chapter LIST

The rapid sound of gunfire, infused with blood curdling screams, certainly forced your heart to beat right out of your chest. The beating, increased without any prior announcement shocked you, as if the live, blood pumping organ might literally fall out of your flesh vessel. The scene you witnessed, was never expected but only imagined in modes of fiction. Be it novels or films. However, when you truly got to taste it in the rusty reality, only then did you realize the gravity of its horror. And only then at that fateful moment, did you genuinely fear for your precious life.

Just when it seemed trouble had finally set you free.

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

(A Few Days Earlier)

Allison Hughs was your quintessential fun-loving, living in the moment party girl with complete control over the pace of her existence. Apart from all that, she was also a loyal friend, blindly following you to the ends of the earth in ranting.

“SHE DID WHAT?”

Her inquiry was loud and dramatic, to which you nodded. “Yep” you replied, “She straight up went there…”

Safe to say, the ‘She’ that was being mentioned here was none other than Clara Bennett, the Consultant who slithered her way into Wayne Enterprises, solely to make exaggerated inspections on HR Operations, and to make your cooperate life a living hell, drenched with self-doubt and insecurity. It certainly traveled up a notch when she proactively invited you to take part in a Basic HR Crash Course, that was mainly designed to New Recruits. Simply because she assumed that you would find the Course ‘helpful’ to your own line of work. The fact she indirectly implied a trace of incompetence in you caused so much embarrassment.

“The hell is that bitch’s problem though?”

Allison kept inquiring, as she wiped off the milk from her lips, “Seriously…” she muttered, standing by the opened refrigerator in her pajamas.

“Yeah” you continued to nod, as you stuffed a spoonful of cereal into your mouth, “..and Lillian…being my senior since day 1, didn’t even treat me this way” you added, with a full mouth.

Already dressed for work, little did you expect to see Allison awake and engaged while you had your breakfast, “I look like a fucking joke…”you muttered, after finally gulping the food down.

“Hey!”

Allison cried, pointing her index finger at you, “Don’t you dare give up” she said with seriousness, standing before you, “You need to stand your ground and carry on with dignity…” she continued, her tone quite similar to a heroic speech, “Make Lillian proud she left you in charge…” she added, putting both hands on the table. Leaning forward, she took a closer look, “This will be good for you…” finally as her voice grew soft, she flashed a soft smile. You could not help but look at her affectionately, as you exhaled deeply.

“Talking to you makes me feel so much better…” you admitted. Pleased, Allison stood up straight.

“That’s why I’m your hype man, Sweetie!” she said, turning towards the window, “Watch out Gotham! The Bruiser is here to SLAY-”

“HEYYY!!-” your shushes exited along with your embarrassment. Your friend covered her mouth quickly.

“Sorry, Sweetie….” Allison whispered, taking the hands away, “But it just sounds so badass…” as her tone grew normal once more. You shot her a deranged look.

“Do I look like someone who deserves the name?” you inquired. “Well…” she said, folding her arms, “…the fact you punched that guy is a good enough reason…”

Shaking one’s head with a chuckle, you watched her head to the bedroom with a maniacal laughter. The sudden vibration of the table forced you to look down at your phone. The chuckling stopped, permitting your pulse to quicken with liberty. Rubbing your neck nervously, you proceeded to read the text from the only sender who was capable to send you through an emotional wild ride: Bruce Wayne.

Sorry, long night. Good Morning!

Pausing for a few seconds, you exhaled loudly as began to type:

No worries. Hope your day goes well, Mr. Wayne.

Being an appropriate response, you sent without hesitation. Long night?, could it possibly truly mean a hectic night of crime fighting and city saving in disguise? A strong urge suddenly arose to pull up the search browser on your phone, and type in the words: Batman. And what appeared first in the results certainly made your eyebrows rise with curiousity.

“Ali….” You yelled loud enough for her to hear, “You’ve heard of a website called… ‘Where’s the Bat’?

“EH?”

Her response was equally loud and echoing, “Oh yeah…” she added, whilst you opened the web page, “…Matty was talking about it sometime back…” she continued, “Some nerdy site about The Batman…”

“Damn!”

The word abruptly left your lips as your eyes widened. For you were treated to such a sight, “Ali…get this…” you said, proceeding to read the description of the page, “Welcome to ‘Where’s the Bat?’ Your Online Resource for all things Batman: Gotham’s Caped Crusader…” you squealed excitedly,  “Ha! It’s a freakin’ fan site! Oh! Oh!” you exclaimed as you continued to read out loud:

“… reliable sources from our very own admins and enthusiasts all over Gotham City…” with a whistle, you nodded, “These folks are not kidding around, huh?” you muttered, letting your finger slowly scroll down, “And they have posts on almost every appearance he made in the city…” you said out loud, yet it seemed that Allison was never interested. 

The Website backdrop was in black, but encompassing a very beautiful design concept. The immaculate detail was beyond believable. Detailed posts on possible weapons owned, vehicles, fighting styles and costume, Photos ranging from Low Quality to High, even blurry videos by camera phones, it was certainly a network of information. Your eyes widened when you saw the recent post title: 

Batman and The Bruiser?

“What the-?” Muttering to yourself, you clicked on the article.

“…also known as The Bruiser (Click Here for the Viral Clip) was spotted nearby when a group of muggers had reportedly attacked her. According to the anonymous source, Batman had arrived right on time. A clip of the incident may not be available, yet we did manage to find a small clip as he escaped the scene. And according to Gotham PD, the Caped Crusader had appeared once again to The Bruiser’s aid the night after. As much as we feel sorry for the bad luck The Bruiser attracts, we could only be nothing but envious of her opportunity to meet the Dark Knight twice. And some of us could not help but wonder: Could romance possibly be in bloom between the two?”

“What?” Nervous chuckles were all you let out as you whispered, “Hah! In your dreams, fanboys…” you uttered, closing the browser, “Batman would never go for a woman like me” you said, almost dropping the phone by its sudden vibration. For a reply was received.

You too. Stay out of trouble :)

“And you stay out of my head” you said to yourself, putting the phone back on the table. Covering your face, you could only groan with frustration. Ever since that evening at the hospital a mere week before, casual texts from Bruce Wayne began to appear on your phone, starting off on the very next day:

Couldn’t thank you for running that errand for Fox.

The errand, meaning the black box that Mr.Fox entrusted you with. A small yet long box which was quite light. The very box that granted you access to his penthouse and to the friendship with Alfred Pennyworth.

Just doing my job, Mr.Wayne.

You remember replying that day at office. It was not exactly necessary for him to thank you this way, yet his action was commendable. He did not hesitate to quickly respond:

Much appreciated.

Just when you thought it was the end, he greeted once again two days later. During an important meeting, for example:

Hi there! Is Ms.Foster enjoying the gift?

Once the meeting wrapped up, you made sure to respond :

Very much, from what I know. You’re making motherhood very easy for her.

You would be lying if you did not look forward to write him back. The manner your fingers tingled was quite evident. 

That’s a relief.

Clearly with his corresponding reply, he displayed quite an interest in conversing with you, by finding meager excuses to obtain your response. Yet, a part of you wondered what his actual intentions were. Be professional, a phrase that lingered in your head always. A warning, more like. As much as the desire to carry on the message thread was strong within, you did not reply back.

Two days passed, and surprisingly you were dying with curiousity. Could it be that his intention to communicate had finally gone? Or could it be that you were finally missing him? Forming a clever excuse to obtain his signature, you liaised with Jessica, only to find out Bruce Wayne was currently on a business trip in Singapore.

Intoxicated with impulsiveness, your thumbs grew stubborn as they formed a message on your phone:

Heard you’re in Singapore. How is it?

“Shit! Roaming Charges!”

You sighed, your palm slapped over your forehead. Putting the phone away to enjoy the view of the bus ride, you sincerely hoped he would never notice. But to your surprise, the phone vibrated instantly:

Loving the Food here.

Despite roaming charges, he was kind enough to reply. And that touched you very deeply. Then again, money was never an issue for a man of his stature. him. However, you were not Bruce Wayne. Still, a few extra dollars seemed nothing compared to the inner secretive joy you indulged in as you replied: 

Not surprised. The Bakkwa over there is to die for.

He did not reply. He did not do so for a day and two. You grew worried, if he was really knee deep in business, or literally knee deep in trouble. But the next morning, you were finally assured of his safe arrival back to Gotham, especially when you found a gift at the door. A Gift which came in the form of a beautiful red box full of Bakkwa, the Chinese sweet dried meat, one of your favorite treats. You did not miss the handwritten note inside:

You’re right. It IS to die for. - B.Wayne

Chuckling with happiness, you were only compelled to quickly text him a grateful reply:

The Bakkawa enthusiast sends her Thanks.

To which you finally received a reply this morning as you indulged on your cereal:

Sorry, long night. Good Morning!

Groaning in frustration seemed rightfully reasonable for you. Stressing out seemed rightfully reasonable as well. Who would not, when there was a storm that brewed inside of you. A storm of emotions that contained the sticky quality. The adhesiveness that was stubborn to the core. For if you look at the situation in it’s entirety, this was not your average instance of a man and woman forming a textual habit in order to know one another. You were an acting Head, informally socializing with the owner of Wayne Enterprises. Being in HR, you could already feel the weight of unprofessionalism heat on you. That guilt which already seemed to haunt you subtly. Thus, not responding further seemed logical, yet it certainly was a hard pill for you to swallow. 

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

“You sure you don’t want anything? Coffee or Tea?”

You asked Officer John Blake, ushering him to his seat as you sat down. He shook his head.

“I’m good, Ma’am” he said with a smile. Smiling back, you were drenched with guilt. A week earlier, the police officer had requested to meet, yet with your unexpected work load, you reluctantly had to send him back the previous time. Forcing him to wait so long for a week was something you knew you would go to hell for. But John Blake did not judge, or as it seemed from his expression.

“Didn’t know you were running a tight ship here .” He said, looking back to witness the bustle in the main hall outside.

“Well, the Head’s on Maternity leave so…I’m stuck here, hehe…” You answered nervously, “Once again I’m so sorry Officer. You said it was something urgent?”

“It’s about the two attacks…” Blake said, capturing your attention. “Now I’m sure you’re probably wondering if those are simply coincidental or something more…”

“I honestly have been afraid to go down that rabbit hole, but yes I did wonder…” you replied. Looking sideways, he finally turned your way as his lowered his voice:

“I have reason to believe Erik Henderson may be connected to this…”

The image of the mocking man, and his bloody nose flashed before your very eyes. Given his anger, it could be a high possibility. Yet, you were in disbelief.

“What gave you the idea?” You inquired with curiousity. Blake kept his police his hat on his lap securely:

“The men who attacked you, the ones we arrested…” He said, to which you nodded in acknowledgment, “They were bailed out the very next day by-”

“-Henderson’s Legal Team?” You asked blankly, for you were still in disbelief. Blake nodded.

“I may be wrong” he said, “Bailing the people who attacked you, it could also just be a power move, maybe to scare you off…” he added, leaning forward, “So far we cannot be sure…” He continued, “But I think it’s best for you to keep an eye out-”

Your eyes suddenly darted towards the phone screen. For an email just appeared in your personal inbox with a title:

“Job Offer for General Manager”

Eyes widening, you were certainly not expecting that. Quiet for a few minutes, you found yourself staring at your own table, for you were confused beyond all measure with everything you just heard and saw.

“I’m sorry...” Blake began, shaking you from your thoughts, “ if I’m causing you any discomfort-”

“No…it’s alright” flipping the phone downward, you shook your head with a soft smile, “I just…all this was just so unexpected. Didn’t think there would be any possibility for anything like this, that’s all” you said, smiling even more, “I appreciate the information, Officer”

Truthfully, you were nothing but grateful to the man. Perhaps it was because he was the arresting officer who was in charge of that fateful night. Nevertheless, he was nothing but kind to you. Blake grinned widely.

“The Precinct still thanks The Bruiser for Common’s Coffee” He said, to which you were genuinely surprised.

“Oh! I’m glad-”

“BOSS!”

Greg’s cries forced both of you to look to the door. Distress never looked good on Greg. Giving a heavy sigh, he began:

“ I’m sorry to keep doing this but…” he said, “Clara’s gone off the rails!”

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

As he made his way down the Lobby through the crowds, John Blake made his careful observations, fascinated by all that he glanced upon in the Wayne Tower. “Officer Blake!” Stopping in his tracks, John turned upon hearing a familiar voice. He smiled.

“Mr.Wayne…” He addressed,  “Didn’t expect to see you here” Smartly dressed in a pinstriped three piece suit, Bruce Wayne stood before the much younger man with a reciprocative smile.

“Well,” he began “You can’t just play hard….so…” Nodding in acknowledgment, Blake held on to his hat. With the silence between them growing longer, John began to speak:

“I’m actually just coming down after meeting one of your Senior Managers” He said, which caught Wayne’s attention.

“Who is…?”

When Blake provided him with the name, Bruce nodded nonchalantly. “Is this anything to do with the Henderson case?” He asked, suddenly growing serious. Surprised by his knowledge, the officer nodded.

“Yes….” Blake added. But then again, there was nothing to be surprised of. Given Wayne was in the hotel when it all happened. 

“How did she take it?” “Surprisingly pretty well” Blake said, as he began to walk alongside Wayne ,“But she seems to have her hands full today, doesn’t look too good” he sighed, involuntarily empathizing with her. And given Wayne’s subtle yet concerned expression, Blake realized he was not alone there. Finally reaching the exit, the officer was compelled to do the unexpected:

“Since you were a witness to the incident,..” he began, making Wayne look at him, “ I think it’s probably best that you also know…”

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

You have always put your trust in Lillian Foster. That trust had lasted throughout your time in Wayne Enterprises without forsaking you for a mere second. Thus, you were certain she did the needful in approving the Revised Policies and Regulations before taking her leave. For you had personally witnessed it.

However, when a company email from Clara Bennett to Lucius Fox claimed HR was seemingly incapable of carrying out their operations under the current leadership, you were not surprised to find your anger making an appearance.

And the embarrassment you had to face when she even went so far as to copy you and your managers in to that said email. Professional was nowhere near this behavior. For this was simply child’s play. The panic all your department staff went through was understandable. Especially when they worked only to their very best.

“You wanted to me see me?”

Clara asked, as she entered your office. Raising your head up, you threw a cold expression her way: “Close the door please” Your tone was stern. Looking around, Clara furrowed her eyebrows. “But aren’t you supposed to-” “I’ll take my chances, Ms. Bennett” You interrupted her, lips forming a tight smile. With an uncertain nod, she closed the door shut, before taking a few steps towards you. Slowly getting up from your desk, you quickly walked over to her. It was now or never. “We saw that little email that you sent to Mr. Fox.” You stated, to which she did not flinch. Scoffing, your hands rested on your hips, “I know how things work: When people mess up, even after many warnings, they get complained about to the superiors…” you said in a matter-of-fact tone, “But…” you paused, as you were on a dire attempt not to explode, “how can you expect us...” Surprisingly you felt emotion trickling in, “...to take this lying down when you DIDN'T PERFORM EITHER OF THOSE ACTIONS?” With your voice surprisingly getting louder than expected, Clara found herself folding her arms in defense: “Look, I get it...” She said, her smile suddenly faded,  “You don’t like me snooping around” You scoffed in disbelief, “Ms.Bennett, this is not you snooping around. This is you desperately finding excuses to make US LOOK BAD” you stated loudly, “I mean…What exactly on the policies and regulations are you complaining about?” You inquired. And to your surprise, Clara grew quiet before she finally answered:

“I just...” she paused, as if she was seeking excuses,  “...don’t understand why the Policies couldn’t be circulated if they were revised” Your jaw dropped in disbelief, “What are you talking about??They were already revised and circulated” you answered with certainty, appalled by the childish games that were being played. “Well…” pausing again, “I don’t see them in the Public Folder”she said stubbornly, to which you sighed, rubbing your temples, “ And according to my sources, It’s Paula Yang’s  responsibility, am I right?” Though authority was rife in her tone, you could sense the menace that lingered invisibly.

“Ms. Bennett...” you gritted through your teeth, taking your hand away, “Paula is on bed rest after breaking HER LEG...from a biking accident last weekend” you burst out, “...if you looked up on our employees with the SAME ENTHUSIASM you did on our work, then you would probably know that” you spat, fuming with anger,  “But If you expect me to deprive her of her paid leave, JUST SO she could just limp over here to UPLOAD SOME POLICIES to a server? then you’re sorely mistaken! ” You cried out, panting.

Subtly shocked at your response, Clara stood silently. Given her reaction, it was quite evident something disastrous would soon follow. Your threw your hands up in defense.

“Fine” you said, “If you prefer to pin this error on me, please do. But… not the department” you said, as your voice grew soft , “...please” you breathed. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Clara opened them once again, shooting you a stern glance.

“Do you know…what I was told about you before I came here?” She posed a rhetorical question, to which you rightfully did not answer to, “An unprofessional thug, with anger issues.” She said.

In all your years of working at Wayne Enterprises, this was the far from what you had ever heard from anyone. The silence ruled over the atmosphere for a few more seconds.

“So I came in with a mission...” Clara went on, “...to tame you. Or to rile you up enough to expose who you really were” she said harshly. Folding your own arms in defense, you took a deep breath:

“Well,” you began, “I believe I was angry For the right reasons. So no regrets here” you answered with confidence. Whatever consequence that may follow, you were not aware of, for your justified rage may possibly have outdone yourself this time. You only wished Lillian would forgive you.

“But…” Clara paused, “...from the way you stood up for your employees and your department…,” she said, as her expression softened, “ I guess… I was badly misinformed.” Confusion took over you for the next few seconds, as she looked straight into your eyes before taking in a deep breath:

“I’m sorry!” Your eyes widened, “P-Pardon?” Sighing, Clara reluctantly rubbed the sides of her thighs: “I’m sorry…If I insulted you in any way” she said shyly in a low tone, “Honestly speaking, no matter how much I tried to deny it, everything seems to be running smoothly” She added. 

Relief quickly washed over you. Leaving you questioning reality all the sudden. “ I would gladly leave you all alone but..,” Clara smiled, “I’ve been contracted here for a while. So, I hope we can all cooperate together till I leave. Maybe a fresh start?”

Extending her hand to you, she presented a genuine smile. A smile possibly carrying hope to gain your trust. Sincerely impressed by her bravery, you smiled back: “Sure, Apology accepted” You said, shaking her hand, “I really appreciate it, Ms.Bennett”

“Clara, Please.” She insisted, “Ms.Bennett just pisses me off even more”

Chuckling together, you nodded, “Okay, Gotcha”

The phone rang loud to your surprise. Giving her a friendly wave, you quickly moved to your desk in a cheerful manner, growing even more cheerful upon seeing the extension on the phone screen.

“Mr. Fox!” You answered, as you sat down, “How can I help you?”

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

Since the fateful day she first laid eyes on him in his glorious return to Wayne Enterprises until now, Jessica would certainly never not blush whenever Bruce Wayne politely greeted her. Upon seeing her red face, he stepped into Lucius Fox’s office, walking over to find the CEO on the phone wearing a smile on his face.

“Don’t worry about it.” Fox said over the phone, “So you’ll come? Perfect…” He smiled, nodding at Wayne as he finally appeared in his eye line, “Hope to see you then” He added, hanging up the phone.

“I have to admit…” Fox began, ushering Bruce to sit, “… seeing you here every day at Wayne Tower is a happy surprise” He said. Bruce smiled.

“Everything alright?” He asked the CEO, “The Audits aren’t happening till another month or so..”

“No…” Fox shook his head, surprisingly impressed, “ I was actually wondering if you would…like to join me in the Company Dinner, this Thursday night. It’s a little gathering I normally do with the Heads of Departments...” he continued, glancing upon Wayne’s confused expression, “...to form a closer bond and… give them morale” He said, tilting his head. As much as the sentiment was kind, Wayne sighed with exhaustion.

“Mr.Fox, you know very well how I rather be stuck in the basement than go to that…” he said, slowly getting up, “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass”. Offering a polite smile, he turned around to make his leave. When opportunities to make a choice were given, he would certainly rather choose to not wear that mask in public. It tired him.

“She’s coming too”

Bruce froze, the moment Fox’s words reached his ears. Turning to him, he raised his eyebrows.

“She?” He began, “You mean…she?” He asked, highly emphasizing on the said pronoun, for both of them knew the person being discussed.

“Yes” Fox said, “Just got off the phone with her as you came in” he added, “I just thought you would like to know” with nonchalance, he casually put on his glasses.

Silently nodding, Bruce turned back to resume walking. Only except he halted once again, just to spin back around smoothly.

“Thursday…what time?” He inquired with genuine curiousity.

Being a man of his age, Lucius Fox could not help but smile at his response.

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

Being the workaholic, Lunch Breaks was nothing short of special for you. The moment the last bite of your delicious meal reached your lips, it was off to work once again, giving you ample time to finish your tasks. But this Wednesday, you cast that usual habit away, taking the luxury you rarely took during this entire decade.

Just to decide on a dress.

With your lunch on the desk and Allison on speakerphone, your eyes moved back and forth from two beautiful dresses on the website. With Mr. Fox casually inviting you to the Company Dinner, all you longed to provide was a good impression. Most women in your position would feel greatly pressured and stick to a salad just to fit into the dress. However, you were far too greedy to ignore the great Spaghetti Bolognese that was on the table before you.

“Sweetie, You know I love you, So why won’t you fucking listen to me?”

Allison’s echoed out loud, as you stared at the screen with concern. “Cause it’s a crazy idea, that’s why ” you said, stuffing pasta into your mouth, “Better go with the black one…” you said with a full mouth, pointing at the long sleeved black dress, “It’s tame, and I can just blend in with crowd” squinting, you attempted at imagining yourself in the outfit.

“Boo! BORING”

Allison’s response was quite obvious.

“Hey!” Clara’s whisper reached your ears, urging you to find her standing by the door with a smile. Ever since the intervention, the atmosphere underwent a surprising change, and all was well with the both of you. It was quite unbelievable how cooperative she had become. “I’m sorry but...could I borrow a twenty?” She asked politely in a whisper, all in order not to intrude your call. “Sure…” You whispered back, reaching into your bag to grab your purse, “Hah! Lucky you, that’s all I have” You grinned, fishing out the only dollar note as she headed over to take it from your hand.

“Hey!  Hey! Sweetie, Did I lose you?”

Allison’s voice brought you back to the phone call. “No! No! You didn’t…Sorry! Argh!” Groaning in frustration, you looked back at the computer screen, “I don’t know what to do, Ali…” You muttered.

“What is it?” With her still standing there, Clara finally asked out loud. She genuinely looked concerned. Embarrassed, you pointed at the screen.

“No it’s just…” you paused, “I have to go to this Cooperate Dinner thingy tomorrow, and I don’t know what to get…” you added, “…the Black or the White”.

Silent for a few seconds, you stared at Clara as she rubbed her chin with seriousness, while making a careful observation at the screen. Finally, her fingers snapped loudly.

“The White One…” Confidence oozed out of her voice as she replied. Looking back at the dress, you took a deep breath. V neck on the front along with a low cut in the back, the pure white silk evening gown certainly possessed the potential to be a show stopper.

“I mean…Why be afraid to stand out?”

Clara’s words, they rang in your ears so loudly. Pointing at the dress, she continued: 

“Wear this, and No one will be able to take their eyes off you” The manner in which she uttered, you were suddenly filled with enough power to head out to the battlefield. Her words, they were simply invisible embellishments to the dress, making it the armor and the secret weapon. It simply became powerful. And finally, you were convinced on which dress to finally purchase. Lips forming into a warm smile, you thanked her inaudibly.

“YAY!” Allison cried out on the line, “Whoever just said that, I agree with you” Chucking, Clara cleared her throat and looked at your mobile phone.

“Hey there…It’s Clara by the way…” she said to Allison. You suppressed a huge grin as you imagined Allison’s surprise upon hearing that.

“Oh…YOU’RE Clara?…” she said, pausing, “Well I like how you think, Clara” she said happily afterwards. Relieved by the sight of both your best friend and your new friend being acquainted, your eyes moved back to the beautiful dress. 

“Wear this, and No one will be able to take their eyes off you”

Clara may be right. But you were a simple woman, and your wishes were just as simple. Little did anyone know how your heart simply longed for just one person to indulge your presence for the entire evening. But the possibility of that, was just your wishful thinking. You could only hope for the evening be as successful as imagined. As long as it had the perfect touch of jazz piano playing in the background.

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

With notes played with the fluidity of a free flowing stream, the jazz piano music was certainly better tonight than it was that Friday evening weeks ago. With tonight, you only hoped to replace the horrid memory of violence that linked the genre of music with an evening more refined. For tonight, you were no violator, nor a drunkard. You were merely a lady in a beautiful, silk dress.

Walking through the Lobby in your silver open toe heels, you came into the realization of how the dress simply became you. Contrary to your fears, it embraced your curves effortlessly, while the material was kind to you, caressing and cooling your skin.The dress itself contained a sense of assurance you would most likely receive from a trusted friend, some good Samaritan, kindly whispering positive affirmations. Fashioning the outfit with your Mikimoto pearls, you felt you were prepared enough.

You were punctual, fortunately. Lillian would have been proud. When you arrived at the reserved table, the other Heads were just about to take their seats. Cold, curt nods were passed on to you the moment they caught sight of you. Lucius Fox, however was humble enough to smile widely upon seeing you.

“I appreciate you coming in tonight…” He stated, as he politely ushered you to your seat, which granted you access between him and Head of Legal, Ted’s Boss, “This is usually Lillian’s gig” he said.

“Yes I heard,” you agreed while sitting down together, “And she does it flawlessly”

“I think you’ll be able to hold off your own” Fox assured, quite impressed by your appearance tonight. You smiled.

“Thank you, Mr. Fox” you nodded, looking at him, until he suddenly rose from his own chair. 

“Ah! The man of the hour”

He said as  he looked ahead, “…so glad you could come, Mr.Wayne” 

The mere mention of that man’s name made you turn forward in a flash. Bruce Wayne was simply Suave incarnate. He certainly brought forth great depth to his presence everywhere he set foot on. You swore the airways inside began to dry out as your breath was taken away in secret. However, that breath was quickly stomped and discarded recklessly when you realized he was no alone. With a beautiful woman on his arm, he arrived at the table.

When that strong, sour feeling came over you, you were mature enough to admit it was simple jealousy. Yet then again, the playboy lifestyle certainly was demanding. The flashing smile Bruce wore slightly disappeared , when his eyes met yours from the corner of the table. With your sour jealousy stewing you, it was a sheer relief that he took his seat on the other far corner.

“Really Mr .Wayne, This is such a pleasant surprise” Mr. Kline, Head of Accounting mentioned with joy.

“Well, Mr. Fox is getting better with power of persuasion, I suppose ” Wayne said, looking at Lucius, “So...” rubbing his hands together, he smiled, “What are we all having? My treat...” 

To everyone’s delight, the night certainly started off on a positive note. According to the trusted word of Lucius Fox, Sushi was the prime choice of food on every single dinner . It was the shared interest with all the Heads by coincidence. Thus, becoming a tradition.

Fortunately for you, you knew your way with Japanese cuisine enough to save your face. Wine and Sake were in abundance in the table, leaving most of the Heads and Wayne’s date quite excited with intoxication. It was certainly a surprise for you, to see the Heads break out into wide smiles and childish attitudes once the alcohol entered their systems. They did not speak much with you, which you were fine with. You were the new one there , after all. But with Fox next to you, you felt a fatherly figure watched over you. You listened to him with earnest, which was not so difficult with his charismatic voice.

You also longed for a distraction. A strong distraction from Bruce Wayne’s eyes secretly claiming ownership over you the entire time. Could he be watching Fox? Or you? You honestly did not know. As much as your inner heart jumped for Joy by the thought of him watching you, confusion ruled supreme.

The turn of the conversation topic from Work to Sailing suddenly tempted the Heads call Mr Fox over to the other side, forcing him and Bruce to change seats instead. His date did not even notice, as she was busy engrossed in her phone. Though you were at your element, calmly eating your maki rolls in silence, your heart beat increased in an instant when his presence nearby was confirmed. His aura gently murmured a greeting of affection, urging you to look up from your plate. Covering your mouth, you politely swallowed the food. With the others engaged in their own little world, it seemed that you and Bruce were suddenly left to yourselves.

“Thank you again for the Bakkwa”

You began, clearing your throat “…it was heavenly” you said, smiling whilst flashing your full red lips. Smiling back warmly, he leaned forward to the table.

“I don’t wanna brag but...” he paused, “I found that store all by myself” He said softly, as it was a dramatic secret. Eyes widened, you played along: “Oh! I find that hard to believe” You said, chuckling.

“Ask me the address, I dare you” He said blankly, making you chuckle harder. Nodding, you generously accepted his kindness. Be it text or face to face, talking to Bruce Wayne symbolized pure joy to you.

“Well, well, well…”

An eerie voice, a voice that haunted your intoxicated memories, and a voice that caused the hairs of the back of your neck to stand. It was a voice you knew well. So bloody well.

“Isn’t this a surprise?”

The entire table looked over to find Erik Henderson. With a gracefully beautiful and age appropriate woman standing beside him, Henderson was as smug as he could be. “Mr. Henderson...” Fox said. Henderson looked right at him. “Lucius...” He uttered, without casting a single glance at Bruce Wayne. The sight of him brought a sense of fear to you. According to Officer Blake, he could very much be responsible for all the attacks you were victim to during the past few weeks. The possibility was high. Thus, the intimidation was justified. Funny how the intoxicated group of Heads managed to maintain their frozen states for a few seconds. As if their buzz was killed right off.

“Well,..” Henderson began, maintain his unimpressed expression,  “I wish you all have a pleasant evening” He stressed , slowly turning to leave. “And You!” A gasp left you the moment he spun back to point his index finger at you with such ferocity and anger. With bated breath, you wondered if time froze. Until he suddenly smiled at you. “You behave now...” He said mockingly, chuckling with power as he finally left the table. With the awkward silence taking control, embarrassment injected itself into you. The way he spoke to you was certainly disrespectful. So much so, your right hand quickly clenched into a tight fist , forcing you to revisit the trauma even now by his cruel words. All your anger, centralized into this fist.

But that anger suddenly vanished into thin air, the moment you felt Bruce’s palm rest over your fist. A literal warmth spread across every cell on your being, as his palm comforted you, and empathized with you more than ever. A few seconds of that sent you to a level of peace you never visited. The fact that a man such as he was with his inner conflicts could still heal you unexpectedly, it was magic to you. Finally looking at him, you nodded with gratefulness, leading him to take his away politely.

With silence still in charge, you were guilty of your past actions ruining tonight’s occasion as well. “Maybe it’s the alcohol but...” Kline slowly began, “...that Henderson’s face always reminds me of an…animal…” he remarked, breaking the ice, “l can’t place which one exactly...” He struggled, snapping his fingers away to remember. “A Bat?” Another Head inquired. “YES!” Kline yelled out loud, causing others to finally laugh and feel the comfort take center stage once more. Letting out a sigh, you were relieved to let them converse and make merry. You were occupied enough, recovering from Bruce’s sudden touch. “...and speaking of Bats...” Kline slurred out, “That Batman fella...” “-He comes up every time…” Fox yelled towards your direction with a sigh, while the others clapped in glee. Being so popular, it was no surprise that many consider Batman to be a celebrity of his own right. “-wonder if he ever has any off days?” Kline sniggered, red in the face with sake. “Ha! Like paid leave, you mean?” “And don’t forget insurance! Boy! that man needs a big one” “Hahaha!” “Mr.Wayne! Mr. Wayne!” Kline yelled at Bruce, “Any idea about him from the grapevine ?” He inquired. “What?” Bruce asked, “…that Looney!?!” He added with an amused smile, “Eh! Not interested” he replied with an unimpressed tone. “Why?” It seemed that everyone was curious. Even you were. “Because...” Bruce paused, “Well…he’s a Looney! That’s all….” he laughed, shaking his hand in the air with dismissal. His carefree laughter infected the others, except you. As you were too occupied observing him, you could not even focus. He may have not worn the cowl, but he was certainly wearing his mask. Noticing your stare, Bruce turned to find your face filled with a soft smile.

“You really don’t mean that about the guy, right?” You murmured softly. And all the sudden, that carefree expression of his slowly melted away to reveal his true form, unmasked. “No” Calm and collected, he shook his head with a gentle smile. A sudden urge to embrace him was birthed in you for some reason, it was certainly out of your control. “Hey! Lillian’s Backup!” You jumped upon hearing Kline call you out loudly. With all eyes on landing towards your direction, you quickly sat up straight, “What’s your take on him? The Batman?” Kline inquired informally. “Oh!” Pleasantly surprised, you were speechless for a few seconds. What were you to say really? “I -I rather not say...” you admitted, as you found yourself chuckling shyly. “Eh!” Kline muttered, seemingly unamused, “She’s no fun”he claimed,  “…not like Lillian now, is she?” The others hummed together in agreement. They may have gotten lost in their own world of conversation once again. Yet, the words Kline blurted affected you deeply. “Well….” You sighed, “Nothing I haven’t heard before”   “What is…?” Bruce’s inquiry made you look at him. Placing both your elbows on the table, you took a deep breath as you kept a brave, fixed gaze at him:

“You’re.. no… fun”

You said, in a low yet strong tone as you emphasized on every word with pain, “…that one”

“I find that hard to believe” Bruce said. He did not flinch. Instead, he accepted your stare and held on to it firmly. Even with the golden lights you were still able to make out the beautiful hazel green eyes of his up close. His gaze, it was as powerful as anything physical. As if his eyes could caress the back of your neck, brushing the loose hair from it, leaving nothing but shivers on you.

Finally breaking free from it, you sat back with a chuckle.

“Well” you began, “…you obviously haven’t met my ex”

You watched his eyebrows furrow the moment those words exited you. Taking a huge sip of wine, you pressed your lips together.

“He said I fall too fast....” you began, “or care too much...or something”

Revisiting that dark period in your life was akin to walking a thousand miles backwards, just to get your heart pricked by sharp, rusted nails. The mere image of it forced you to gulp more wine.  

“Well, Where is he now?”

Bruce asked softly. Taking a third sip, you looked back at him:

“You mean after he cheated on me?” You asked, chuckling sadly, “…He flew off somewhere…with his new girlfriend” you said, sighing “Apparently I was too predictable and doesn’t play hard to get”

“Then…” Bruce began, “…what about you throwing punches at Henderson?”

“That?” You widened your eyes, “Oh that’s just the whiskey”

Laughter ensued, breaking the tension between the two once again. Truthfully, you felt much at ease right then.

“I bet you don’t have that problem, playing the field and all” You said, holding on to your wine glass. Bruce smiled.

“Ah! Getting too attached doesn’t help anyone, I guess” he answered. And for some reason, you could empathize. Now more than ever.

“True...” you agreed, looking at him. However, that warmth you carried for him was also enlarged, and suddenly emotion overpowered logic.

“I know this is the corniest you’ve heard always….” you paused, “…but when the right person comes along...it’s so worth it” you continued, taking a deep, shaky breath, “…even if your heart gets broken into millions...billions of pieces”

Your eyes locked onto his with every word you uttered, and to your surprise, he did not look away. For a moment, his gaze on you translated into deep belief. For a Moment, his gaze dismissed every other occupant in the restaurant,  except you. For a moment his silence proved that anything was possible.

Until you realized, never was life that easy.

“But like I said…” You added, blinking away the heavy stare, “... it’s not your problem” You said, fiddling with your clutch purse mindlessly.   “Actually I-” “Whoops!” You sniggered when the clutch purse dropped out of your hand. Laughing together, you both found yourselves bending down to search for it.

“Let Me get that-” Bruce volunteered, as he spotted the purse, grabbing it for you.

“Thank you” You murmured shyly, reaching out your hand to take it.

The mere act of a clutch purse being transferred from one hand to another never felt this intense. A circus act commenced inside your stomach all the sudden. The manner you found yourself blushing, certainly proved his effect as a whole. The warmth of his palm earlier, it brought protection and comfort in the time of danger. However, the slightest brush of his fingers just now, it birthed confetti of butterflies, causing the internal circus to go berserk.

As he looked you up and down, you prayed he did not notice the red on your cheeks. For this man had such power over you, it was sheer chaos. But a beautifully, addictive one.

“Your Dress...” he breathed, making your own breath shake, “You look very-” “Bruce!” A seductive voice emerged out of the blue, as you realized it was his date walking over to his side. Being one of Gotham’s most well known supermodels, she exuded beauty with her tall and thin frame and brunette locks flowing down her shoulders. Wrapping her goddess-like arms around his neck, she whispered a few words to him before heading over to the restroom area. Compared to her, you felt like a little cinder block. “She’s beautiful...” you muttered hoarsely, looking down at your wine. You heard him sigh uncomfortably. “Listen...” Bruce began, causing your heart to long for hope, “I-” “Would you like anything else, Sirs?” The emotional roller coaster unexpectedly finished its ride when an over enthusiastic waiter’s loud voice caused everyone in the table to look up. “No, Thank you...” Fox said, slowly getting up, “Actually, I think might head home now” “And I will join you” You said, standing up in a flash, “Ladies, Gentleman...” you nodded to the Heads, “...Mr. Wayne” Giving him a slight nod, you turned to follow Lucius Fox. You dared not turn back to see his face. That would just show weakness. Just walk away, it was the right thing to do. The longer you will linger, the stronger your attachment will be. The stronger your need to love him will be. And what would be the use of strengthening that existing love, when the odds were always in the way?

Seduced by the women with the highest standards of beauty and power, you obviously must seem like nothing for a man such as he. You were simply charity, the employee in need. Perhaps your ex was right, You really were no fun.

Besides, being jealous was never your right, not especially when you did not even pour your heart out. And when you would not even consider doing so, being tied to morals, ethics and rules?

And if he even had not shown you his own heart, what gave you the right to be angry with anyone, except yourself?

You asked yourself, why were you wasting your time?

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

Allison’s eyes grew wide with excitement the moment you arrived home.

Clutching onto her bowl of popcorn, she watched you close the door and lean against it to look back at her. Though her hair was in a messy bun, she still managed to pull off ‘homely cool’.

“So...” she began softly, “How did it go?” Silent, You took a deep breath, not knowing where to begin. “Well-” “-Did you make Wayne cream his pants?” Allison cut you off with glee, seemingly over excited. Jaw dropped, your face contorted with disgust. “Ali! …ewww” You exclaimed, seeing her perverted expression and suggestive eyebrows. Truthfully the thought of it brought some laughter soon after. You felt calmer. “Well, did he?” Allison was persistent. Pushing yourself from the door, you began to take off your shoes, “Well…” You paused, “I think he liked what he saw” you said smiling shyly. “Yeah?” Her excitement still intact, as you sat next to her.

“I think so…” you said, reminiscing those precious moments his blessed eyes watched only you, “…but…” you paused, “it doesn’t matter…”, Sighing, you shook your head frantically, “…cause he was with a Supermodel tonight so...” “Supermodel? Sweetie, I’m sorry” laying her head on your shoulder, Allison sighed in response. Patting her on the lap, you got up. Just like that, the little giddy excitement between two women suddenly crashed and burned upon knowing they were hopeless going against a supermodel.

“Hey! by the way…” Allison began, “…did you give money for Mrs. Hernandez’s going away party?”

You froze.

“Shit!” You cried out, “ I forgot!”

Mrs. Hernandez was one of the lovely tenants in the apartment building who will be moving out this week to go live with her son. All tenants were supposed to pool in for the going away party, today being the deadline. Opening your purse with haste, you groaned. “Damn it! I don’t have any change...” Of course you did not. Not when you gave away your last note to Clara yesterday. With the current use of cards and e-payment, you rarely used cash these days.

“Me neither, Sweetie” Allison replied, mindlessly staring at the television. You sighed. Transferring the money will not do as it wont be convenient for the others. And being a bad tenant was the last thing on your mind.

“Screw it!” You said, “I’ll just go get some now”   Running to your room, you proceeded to change.

“Cool…” Allison uttered quietly, until she remembered, “By the way, can you also get milk?”Allison yelled to your room,  “WE’RE OUT ALREADY!!”

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

If wearing an elegant dress brought out the glamorous woman in you, then leggings and an oversized black hoodie brought out the homebody. With the hood over your head, you dug your hands in the deep pockets whilst standing at the line for the ATM. What was taking so long?

Almost 11pm, yet the neighborhood was bustling more than usual. In fact, it fascinated you. Younger folk in higher numbers lingered hanging about by the Bodega. You wondered if a party was taking place somewhere nearby, as most of them wore clothes with a similar vibe. Some danced to the loud music that played, some drank sitting on the pavement, while some lined up in front of you in the ATM line. Was it a party? Or a flashmob? Or were you suddenly intruding the filming of a music video? It simply seemed so unrealistic. Could it be the sake and wine were forcing you to imagine all this?

Then moment your phone started to ring, you knew you were not imagining. Not when the phone vibrated in your hand, not when the name of the caller caused you to breath deeply.

“Mr.Wayne?”

His breath over the phone sent shivers down your spine so subtly. Attraction was indeed a strange phenomenon.

“Hey! Did you go home okay?” 

He asked. Nodding, you looked around.

“Of course.” You replied, “Mr. Fox was kind enough to drop me straight home”

“Good. Good,” As he muttered in a rush, you heard him exhale, “ Listen, can we talk? ”

Nervousness took you over with a sudden burn in your face. What must he wish to say? Was he attempting to confirm what you already dread about? Was he fully acknowledging your desires to be futile and hopeless? You kept quiet as he continued:

“About tonight…I really-” he paused, “Where are you?” The loud cheers of some of the younger folk interrupted the conversation. Amongst the crowd, a lone figure walked over to the middle of the street.

“I’m at the Bodega nearby my place” you replied, trying to be nonchalant with him. However, somehow that lone figure standing managed to capture your attention, "Huh! Strange...”

“What is it?”

Your eyebrows furrowed the moment the figure turned to face your direction. Familiarity was quite strong in him. “There’s this guy here…” you said, “… who looks just like-”

You froze, “Oh no!” You breathed.

The moment the figure effortlessly pulled out a portable machine gun from his oversized long coat, it clearly dawned on you on who he really was:

“Mr. Slender?” You muttered to yourself.

Pointing the weapon upwards, loud and rapid shots were fired, causing panic amongst the public. The shock forced your hands to lose control, almost dropping your phone to the ground.

“Hello? Hello?”

You heard Bruce loud and clear, yet you were not in the right state of mind to respond. The chaos, certainly forced your heart to beat right out of your chest. The beating, increased without any prior announcement shocked you, as if the live, blood pumping organ might literally fall out of your flesh vessel.

“EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND, NOW!”

Mr.Slender bellowed, finally revealing his masculine and controlled voice. The public, including those inside the Bodega made their way to the ground. With Mr. Slender’s reinforcements inside the building, it was made sure no one were to reach out for law enforcement any time soon. Just when it seemed all had complied to his command, one obstinate young man rose up quickly.

“Hey man!” The man cried out, walking over to him, “Be cool…Be-”

“I SAID ON THE GROUND!”

Blood curdling screams erupted from the crowd when Mr.Slender brutally fired at the man, sending him flying back, falling on to the ground like a bloody piece of meat. Given the continuous reactions from the people nearby, he was certainly dead. Emptiness and fear swallowed you whole upon witnessing this.

“DON’T EVEN THINK OF BEING STUBBORN!! ”

Mr.Slender yelled out, brandishing his gun around, “MY DEMANDS ARE SIMPLE...”

He continued, “I’M LOOKING FOR ONE PARTICULAR PERSON…” he said, “AND I WILL NOT LEAVE…UNTIL THAT PERSON STEPS FORWARD!!”

Scenes such as these, they were never expected but only imagined in modes of fiction. Be it novels or films. However, when you truly got to taste it in the rusty reality, only then did you realize the gravity of its horror. And only then at that fateful moment, did you genuinely fear for your precious life.

Especially when the person he was looking for, was you.

——————————————————

Chapter 6 HERE

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[shebeafancyflapjack]

King Takes Knight (Part 6)

Eleanor has a choice.

(Part One)

(Part Two)

(Part Three)

(Part Four)

(Part Five)

“Okay. If you’re gonna do this. You need to have a plan.”

-

Eleanor closes the door to Michael’s office. Funny, she still thinks of it as his, even when she’s spent more time occupying it alone so far this year. She tries to avoid being here alone. It’s far too painful to sit in the big chair and watch the door, wishing with all her heart that the dumb demon will waltz back in, safe and sound, at any moment.

She walks across the room and around the desk. His jacket is still thrown over the back of the chair from when he quickly got changed between Mindy’s and the train station. The stains from Glenn’s goo seem to have evaporated. 

There’s a tug in her chest as she strokes the fabric.

-

“I have a plan! I’m gonna lift the barricade up, disguise myself as a Bad Janet, go in, find Michael and get him out. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Fun fact, a man named John White invented the lemon squeezer because they’re not easy to squeeze at all-.”

“Okay, no, that plan sucks. It’s exactly what they’ll expect because it’s what you already did. You can’t go in there on your own.”

Janet frowns; “Are you going to suggest you guys come too? Because as you said, that’s the last thing Michael would want, for you guys to be put in danger. I’m not mortal, the threat to my wellbeing is less of a risk, and you can always ask the Judge for a reset in the event of a second capture.”

“I wasn’t going to suggest that...But we’re not your only option.” Eleanor says, looking over to Derek in the corner, licking a light bulb like a popsicle.

-

Her hands pick the jacket up. She holds it close to her front, inhaling the scent in the collar. That strange smell she always picked up whenever near to Michael, like something out of an old attic and yet sweeter than chocolate and warm like a nearby bonfire tickles her nose.

Fingers curl tightly into the grey wool. She doesn’t want this to be the most she has left of him anymore. She wants him back.

The doofus had one job to do for her and he couldn’t...

Eleanor sighs and slips her arms into the jacket before taking a seat in the chair. It’s far too big for her, almost like an overcoat or a bathrobe. She wraps it tight around her frame as she slumps back in the seat. Something about wearing it makes her feel as if he’s there, the same reason why she always takes one of Chidi’s sweaters to bed with her, like a needy kid with a security blanket.

All her life she secretly dreamed of having at least one person to truly love her. Then two come along at once and they both end up sacrificing themselves. 

Couldn’t she have fallen in love with someone as selfish as her?

“Hey Eleanor.” Janet bings in front of the desk.

She jumps, starting a little, pulling her face out of the collar she had been close to crying into.

“I wasn’t doing anything.” She hurriedly covers, sitting up straight, attempting some semblance of dignity; “W-what’s up?”

“I’ve finished making enough Janet babies I need to take with me. They’re all boarded on the train, including the clones of you guys. Even I gotta say, they’re pretty creepy. But great idea!” 

Eleanor just nods, fingers tapping the desk. If she couldn’t come with Janet on the rescue mission then the best she could do was lend her strategic skills. 

“And the demon exploders?” Thanks for that, Bad Janet.

“I think I was able to improve on the design after examining the one Michael handed to me before he...” She cuts herself off, “We’ll be fine, Eleanor. I made quite a few in case they rumble us.”

“If you have to, be sure to burst a few for me, won’t you.” She tells her sexy not-robot friend; “And please...be safe, babe.”

And bring him back, she doesn’t say, almost as if it was asking too much.

It doesn’t need saying. 

“We’ll be back before you know it. Literally, because you won’t be alerted of my train coming in with me gone and Derek’s sensor is busted.”

She bings out of the room. Eleanor sits back again, arms wrapped around herself and the jacket. Now she’s back to where she was a few months ago, wishing for her friends safe return, while the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. She has no choice. She has to stay. Put the experiment first. It’s what Michael and Chidi both sacrificed themselves for. It would be insulting them if she were to make it all for nothing.

-

*

-

It must be a trick.

They’ve got bored of the freezing and the hooks and the violent fish. Now they wanna screw up his head. He already hallucinates, isn’t that enough? He would normally think this was just another one of those but...Nicole’s goo drips from his nose. Yep, she definitely blew up.

And there, almost a yard behind her, is....the Impossible.

Eleanor stands with Bad Janet’s demon exploder clutched in her hand, arms straightened in front of her, blue goo from other demons staining her red sweater and the black leather jacket he hasn’t seen her wear in a while. Sneaky little so-and-so. Did she really come all the way down here, shooting her way through immortal guards, to...rescue...him...?

He would laugh, if the wave of exhaustion wasn’t crushing him down, as well as the wires in his mouth. It’s too much. He’s held out for far too long and now his mind has snapped. 

Don’t fall for it, Mike. Don’t give them the satisfaction of hoping.

She wanted him gone. Out of her hair for good. She wanted him to-

His body goes slack in his ice chains as the underworld goes dark.

-

*

-

He loves you.

He lied.

He loves you.

He tortured them for centuries and lied about it, over eight hundred times.

He loves you.

He didn’t trust her enough to say what he really was underneath the suit. He thought she was shallow enough to not want to be friends with him after finding out he’s some giant flaming squid. He was supposed to be her best friend! Did he think so little of her? After all those weeks of supporting her, encouraging her, giving her a shoulder to cry on, followed by a gentle kick up the ash to get her shirt together?

And as if she was going to be all soft and reassure him of how much he meant to her after the crab he put her through that night. He expected her to be the one to apologise!?

He loves you.

You must know that. You’re not an idiot.

Oh...the stupid demon loves her enough to disobey her one order and not come back safe! The stupid demon offers to blow himself up in order to give her peace of mind when she doesn’t trust him and leave her in charge of this shirt show on her own. The dumb, reckless ash-hole stayed behind to be tortured, again, for their sakes...Not for the first time. 

Fork. She is an idiot!

Eleanor shrugs off the jacket and grabs her own leather one off the back of the door. She has a train to catch.

-

*

-

Damn it, why didn’t she take a better coat with her? Or a scarf? Or gloves?

The chamber she discovers Michael in is like a huge igloo. Every surface seems to be made of ice except, thank Kim, the floor, or else she’d be falling flat on her ass as soon as she strode in after taking out the slutty demoness who had been messing with Michael. Eleanor steels herself, braving the cold and letting the adrenaline warm her up after having snuck her way down here, taking out a few necessary obstacles on the way with her new favorite toy.

Her heart beats terribly fast as she spots Michael chained up, pale as a ghost, slumped in the shackles they’ve put him in. His clothes are ragged and torn up, the wounds from where he’s been recently cut and sliced and scalded all too evident to the naked eye.

“Michael...!” She breathes his name as she reaches him, finding no response as his head rolls forward; “Michael, I’m here! Wake up!”

She puts her hands to his chin and tries to lift it up, cringing at the awful sight of what they’ve done to his mouth. Jesus! 

Digging around in what remains of the slutty demon’s goo and dress fragments, she eventually finds the key to the shackles. She fumbles with it in the locks as she works to set him free. 

As she works to open the second one, she drops it. Fuck! Get it together, Shellstrop! They could come in at any moment!

She scoops it up and turns it in the blisteringly cold metal. 

Michael tumbles to the ground in a heap of long limbs.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Eleanor curses as she fails to catch up, the dumb tree too much for her to attempt to lift upright on her own. She kneels over him; “Dude, c’mon! Come on, get up! Michael!”

Her fingers brush against her cheek and-

“FUCK!” She curses, pulling her hand back.

He’s almost too cold to touch. There’s flecks of snow on his eyelashes and in his white hair, lines on his face deeper than she remembers, skin sunken in, littered with black and purple marks. 

Eleanor places one hand on his back, the other on his chest, just barely able to keep hold of him with the remnants of his shirt beneath her palms.

She wishes she could feel his heartbeat, if he had one.

Just some sign, anything, anything at all...that he’s going to open his eyes again. That she wasn’t too late.

“Michael, you need to get up! You can’t bail on me now, please, not after I finally got here! You gotta come home, dude....I can’t do this without you. Just wake the fuck up before-.” Her teeth start to chatter as she hears footsteps racing from outside.

Someone’s coming. More guards? The Janet baby army? A couple were lost on the way, marbleised, before Eleanor was able to zap the guards. Then she had to abandon the rest in order to get to the location Janet sent over the intercom to one of her baby’s, Ralfio’s, mouth. 

Eleanor has no idea what’s about to come through that door. Friend or foe. Janet(s) or demons. 

She’s not giving up now.

Keeping hold of Michael on her lap, she sets her jaw, getting out the demon exploder from her jacket pocket, firing it up.

“I won’t let them touch you, bud. Not again.” She whispers, clutching his lifeless skinsuit close to her front; “That’s a promise.”

Her hand is steady around the weapon, her eyes glaring with hellfire at the entrance. She forgets about the cold.

Just try to take him away from me again, demon scum. Just try it.

(illustration by @star-pepper​ xx)

[courtofjurdan]

One chance part 7

Jurdan College AU - previous chapter

masterlist

*I hope you enjoy!! feel free to tell me anything you would like to see. I did change the title because the other one was to plain and I hated it. btw I know nothing about law so bare with me. I’m trying.*

Warning: Mention of nonconsensual touching

Jude started to feel guilty. Guilty that she didn’t believe Cardan. Guilty that she didn’t know if she could believe him. She didn’t know what to think or believe. So she let herself reminisce on that. Her final decision was to start over with him. She saw him not hanging out with his friends like he used to. He has been reserved, away from people. Maybe he was truly upset about his ruined one chance. 

She let a couple of days go by before she texted him. 

J: Hey Cardan, it’s Jude. Ummm, can we talk one day when you have a chance. 

Not too long after that-

C: Yeah, of course. Today?? 

J: Sure. 

They ended up meeting at this little place on campus. It had a bench and not many people went there. Cardan was there first. He didn’t want to be late and upset her. Jude got there about 10 minutes after he did and she sat on the bench. 

They sat there in silence. They were pretty sure the people some ways behind them could feel the tension between them. Jude was the first to speak. 

“I’m going to give you your chance back.” She said this quietly.

Cardan’s eyes went wide with shock. “Really?”

“I mean if you want it.” 

“Yes of course, Jude, this is all I want.” 

All I want- Jude thought. All he wanted was that chance back. Such a little thing and that’s all he really wanted. 

“Let’s start over to before the-” she stopped and looked down. “The situation. I shouldn’t have blamed you for your friend’s sin. It wasn’t right.”

Cardan put a wry smile on his face, “It’s okay, Jude, you were only trying to protect yourself from more pain. I get it. How are you doing with the situation?” 

Oh no. Should I tell him. Jude had a plan - like always - she is going to report it at the police station. She thought about it for days and she doesn’t want this to happen to anybody else so she hopes she can get him locked up or some kind of deserved punishment for what he did. 

“Well, actually Cardan, I’m going to bring it up to the police. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I have the proof of it on my phone. So I’ll go down and see what they can do.”

He was again shocked, but he knows Valerian deserves this. 

“Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Do you want me to go with you? I can go tomorrow if you want. If you want to do this alone I understand.” 

“Sure you can come.” She lets out a shaky breath. “I need all the support I can get.” 

Jude gets up and turns to him, saying, “Okay well text me when you're ready to go tomorrow.” 

“Yes ma’am, I will.”

She starts to walk away with a small smile on her face at the “yes ma’am” he gave.

“Oh and Jude?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you” he said with the most sincerity in his voice. 

 “No, thank you.” Jude is still weary of Cardan so she is not putting all her trust in him but she wants to get to know him better. He seems like he is really trying to change. 

The next day rolls around and Jude is up and ready for Cardan to text her at any time. About an hour later he texts her.

C: Hey I’m up and ready. You?

J: Yep. Come pick me up. 

C: 👍

He picked her up as close as he could get with his car, blaring his music. It only made her smile and shake her head. But then Cardan laughed at that and her heart almost couldn’t take it. He was trying to make her feel less tense, even at the loss of his own dignity. 

“Hey Jude, are you doing okay?”

“I should be asking you that.”

They just laughed at each other. There was a peaceful silence about them, but Cardan could tell Jude was tense. He laid a hand right above her left knee as he said, “It’s going to be okay.” 

Jude flinched at the touch. He forgot. His eyes went wide, “I’m so sorry, Jude. I- I forgot. How stupid of me. I’m sorry.”

Jude replied back quietly, “It’s not your fault. It's okay.”

He gave a small breath of relief that Jude didn’t totally blow up on him. They sat in silence the rest of the way to the police station. 

When they walked into the police station, there was a front desk and a waiting room. Cardan went and sat in a chair as Jude went up to the front desk to talk to one of the officers there. 

“How can we help you, miss?” A female officer asked. 

“Umm, well, I would like to give a report about someone.”

“Yes, we can do that. Follow me.” She said with a smile on her face. 

Jude followed her into this small private room with no one around. This was perfect. It was just the officer and her and nobody else had to know. This calmed her nerves a bit. The officer got her personal information and wrote it down on the report paper in front of her. 

“I’m officer Fand McConnell, what would you like to report?” 

Jude took a deep breath in and held her chin up high. “I was sexually assaulted about a month ago by a man at my college campus. He locked me in the women’s bathroom, and-” it was still hard to say this part even though she practiced what she would tell them. “Touched and kissed me in ways that I did not give permission to.” 

The officer looked concerned, “This happened a month ago? Why didn’t you report this sooner?”

“I was… ashamed. Ashamed that it happened to me. But I don’t want other girls to go through what I had to do that’s why I decided to report it now.” 

“Okay, well do u have any evidence? It would be our word against his if you don’t.”

Jude grabbed her phone. “I do have evidence. He caused bruises all over my body because he would push me against the wall by my neck and squeeze very hard on my arms and legs. And give me hickeys as you can see.” 

“It’s good that you took pictures of that. I will need a little bit more evidence so I am going to go through the security footage of the campus to see if I can prove that he went into the women’s restroom. If he did and with that evidence, he will be in some serious trouble. He can be charged with sexual and physical assault with the bruises he gave you. Will you give me his name?”

“His name is Valerian Mills.”

“Is he in any of your classes?”

Jude chuckled without humor, “Well, actually, he was my childhood bully. He has made fun of me since first grade and has never stopped. He just took everything to the next level now. But to answer your question, yes, we share two classes together.”

“Okay.” She was writing all her needed information down. After she was done writing, she clicked her pen. 

“Okay. Is that all you need right now?”

“For now, I will call you with anything else.” 

“Thank you very much.” Jude walked out feeling hopeful. Hopeful that he would get the punishment he deserves. 

She walked back to the waiting room and met Cardan. She nodded her head to the door, meaning let’s go to the car. He got and opened the door for her and they walked to his pretty black mustang. 

Once in and settled, Cardan said, “It’s really none of my business but did everything go ok?” 

“Uh yeah, they are going to look into it.”

He took the short sentence of hers as a sign that she didn’t want to reveal anything else. Jude didn’t quite trust him to tell him everything yet. He didn’t need to know details. He was just along for the ride. 

He ended up taking her out to lunch anywhere she wanted to go. She picked this expensive steak house place that she loved. Cardan was happy to take her there. He has noticed her thinning so he didn’t mind taking her anywhere. He really didn’t mind when one of the brightest smiles he has seen in a while lit up her face at the granted request. 

It was nice. You could still feel the tension and the lack of trust but at this point, Cardan would just about take anything from her. If only she would realize just how desperate he is. 

They ate in peace and were stuffed as they walked out. Cardan, of course, paid for the whole thing. The drive back was also quiet. He could tell her brain was just thinking. Going through whatever possibilities. He dropped her off at her dorm soon after. Jude went to bed that night thinking about what her life would be like without Valerian in it. And it looked much more peaceful. It’s kind of rude to think like that but it’s the least he deserves. 

Jude woke up the next morning having to run to the toilet to throw up. She doesn’t think she has ever thrown up so much in her life. By the time she was done, she was weak. Her legs wobbled beneath her. She just thinks she has a virus so she just has to let in run its course. Luckily, it’s a Sunday so there are no classes today. She lays in the bed and takes it easy. 

The next day, which is Monday, she got up in the middle of the night and threw up again. She thought it was done with but nope, what a surprise. Maybe it’s all this Valerian stuff that’s making me uneasy, she thought. 

By the time her first class starts, she feels better. So she gets something to eat because she is starving from the lack of food in her system, and goes to class. She is much more happy today. Happy that she is getting her revenge on Valerian. She goes through the rest of that with no problems. 

She gets a call Tuesday afternoon from the police department. 

“Hello.” Jude said that with a high confidence voice, trying not to show her nervousness through her voice. 

“Hello, is this Jude Duarte?”

“Yes ma’am, it is.”

“Ok Hello Jude, this is officer Fand McConnell. We went through the security cameras in the hallway near the women’s bathroom and it did indeed show him go in there before you. And he came out before you came out which inspects that what you said is true. It also showed you coming out crying which also makes us suspect the same thing. We are going to interrogate him, and see if he will cough anymore information up.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan. When will you interrogate him?”

“Oh we will do it today. The officer on campus will bring him here. I will call you with what was said.”

“Ok. Okay yeah that sounds good.”

The officer hung up and Jude closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It’s actually happening. It’s not a dream. All those years of torture will finally be paid back. Hopefully.

Jude waited and waited and waited till her nerves couldn’t take it anymore. Until at about 9 o’clock. She was almost to give up on her calling. 

“Jude Duarte?” 

“Yes this is her.” 

“We interrogated him and he slipped up and then asked for a lawyer which then indicates that he did do it. He will be locked up until he has a hearing with the Judge. You have to be there for that. The appointment for that is Thursday at 2 o’clock. You will have a lawyer talking for you about the case. I’m no lawyer, but I think you will win it.”

Jude breathes a sigh of relief, “Thank you. I will be there.” 

She gave her all the information about Thursday, and she set up an appointment for Wednesday which was tomorrow to talk personally to her lawyer before the hearing. Jude was nervous and excited at the same time. 

She wanted to tell someone but she didn’t know who. She could call her friends but then she looked at the time and it was 11pm and she knew they would probably be asleep so she decided to call Cardan. She wouldn’t feel bad if she woke him up. 

“Hey Cardan, are you awake?” 

“Um yeah, I am now. Is there anything wrong?” 

“No, no I just got a call from the police department and they have Valerian.”

She went on to tell him the information. She talked to him like they have been friends forever. She almost forgot that she is still a bit mad and aggravated at him because she can’t forget that if Cardan hadn’t entertained the bullying his group of friends did, then this probably wouldn’t have even happened. But he had one chance, and one chance only. 

next chapter

masterlist

Taglist:

@newwifeyy | @mi-mavencalories | @roseygirl25 | @spideygirlstuff | @afexiss | @aelin-queen-of-terrasen | @deargreenbriar

[parkeraul]

→ boyfriend  •  1 | t.h. & s.m.

prologue | part 1

author’s note — hello, girlfriends. first of all, i really wanna apologise for the lack of writings lately & for this shitty moodboard. plus, i wanna give the hugest shoutout to @itrocksmysocks who’s been sending me pictures and stuff to help me get inspiration to write this series [thank u so much, latina neighbour!]. for now, i’m gonna update this series once in a week, then the next i’m gonna reserve the next one to write, then update on the following week and it’ll go on and on. enjoy!

pairing: tom holland x shawn mendes x reader college!tom | college!shawn

masterlist ┊add yourself to my taglists ┊give me feedbacks.

words — 3,4k; warnings — flirting, cursing, mentions of alcoholic drinks.

“People on the very back: Listen!” Mrs. Edwards shouts, banging against the board twice with her pen. “This graphic is very simple, okay? If you keep on talking and talking, it’ll become your worst nightmare and there will be no help during the final test.”

The white board had been completely taken over by lists of informations, numbers, theories  and graphics in at least 3 different colours. It’s been an hour or almost two since she started crossing the entire board with red, green, blue & black and Tom feels amazed by how well she manages to understand the entire system she’s been writing for so many time. As a class he signed for just to have some more complementary hours, he can straight tell you he’s not exactly caring about it that much. It’s way too fast and too mathematic for his mind.

All the people sitting around him in the classroom are already letting the tiredness consume them. Some are sighing and dropping their pencils; some are rubbing their faces repeatedly; some others are actually paying attention and probably trying hard not to freak out. Considering the white walls with white tables and chairs, if no one said that this is a math class, people would probably walk in and think it’s a sanatorium. All faces exhausted and it’s clear to see that at least 90% of the class can’t wait for the summer break to rescue them all — the 10% left is filled with the boys that have been sleeping for the past 30 minutes.

“Next class we’ll get back to the basic analysis to freshen up a bit, I recommend you to bring one or two books to do some research as well—“

“Hey, dude,” Jacob whispers close to Tom, sitting on the chair in front of him as he turns his head — far enough to see Tom leaning in through his peripheral, but not far enough to lose sight of Mrs. Edwards giving further endorsements. “Match tomorrow at 5?” “Sure,” Tom agrees, keeping his ‘attentive’ on the teacher in front of the class. “Have you guys picked the entire team already?” He says nonchalantly. It’s typical: In Fridays, after everyone’s last class, friendly football match with the boys from the athletic team of the Empshire University.

“Ian, Ryan, Heather and Matthew: You guys cannot miss the next class at all. You guys have been bailing for a long time and one more skip it’s deadline for the four of you—“

“Same thing,” Jacob says and Tom starts to close his books, pulling his backpack up to tuck them inside of it haphazardly. “But we’ll add John Mayer to it because Kevin’s not coming.” “You don’t have to say John Mayer, his gang’s not here,” They both look around the classroom, failing at being discreet as they search for any friends of… Well… ’John Mayer’.  Tom zips his bag close and Jacob turns around to do the same while everyone else’s already prompting themselves up to leave. “And you better put him in the defenders, far away from the frontline.” “I knew you’d say this!” They laugh under their breaths, also getting up to finally inspire some fresh air outside.

“See you next Thursday.” Mrs. Edwards says almost quietly, arranging her stuff while the room starts to get empty.

The corridor had never felt this comfy before. It’s crowded and a little bit loud but a lot better than Classroom number 9. As students from all courses starts talking to each other, Tom takes a look across the wall and spots new posters.

This wall is known as The Great Wall of Empshire —or Wall–E for the intimates. The Wall–E is a large blue wall that stands out from the regular white & grey ones of the building. Also, is where students pin folders and posters to warn the whole college about whatever seems to be relevant. It mostly holds notices of people looking for roommates, lost & found stuff, a special space painted in red for teacher’s announcements and messages from the secretariat of the university. As the results of the finals and classes stuff starts to fade away, the posters to summer parties slowly take over the big blue rectangle in the exact middle of the corridor to one of the two buildings that build the Empshire University.

Coming closer, Tom watches Missy climbing tiny–trembling stairs to glue a folder about Musical Theatre auditions. She’s sure struggling and, although he feels bad, he laughs in anyways as low as he can. Obviously, he doesn’t come out as subtle as he planned and gets a very–stressed Missy Langford slicing his entire being in two with the mad look in her blue eyes.

“You’re being very helpful by laughing,” She huffs, tapping the big poster repetitively to make sure it won’t fall for the next week. “Asshole.” “Oh, Miss, come on,” He teases, smirking like the asshole she just called him. “I thought we were over that part. Asshole! – Idiot! – Douche! Get outta here! You know? Last summer’s business, love,” Tom brings up a memory they both shared some time ago, knowing how pissed she’d get with the dialogue all over Tom’s charming accent in a playful tone, which sure has nothing to do with the atmosphere of the moment itself. “I swear to God that if this thing was any stronger, I’d jump onto your face right now.” After rolling her eyes, Missy spits at Tom and sees his smile widening stupidly. “Anyways,” Crossing arms, Tom steps closer to the Wall–E and leans against a blank space. “What’s that?” “We’re doing Hairspray,” She answers flatly. “Not that you’re allowed to subscribe, of course.” “Who said?” Tom frowns and squeaks way louder than usual. What now? Is she going to forbid him to audition to an open–invitation? “Jesus.”   Tom’s jaw falls dramatically, “Oh! Swearing to God… Talking to Jesus, apparently,” He quirks an eyebrow, faking surprise. “Didn’t know you had friends outside college.” “Will you shut the fuck up and help me get down?” Missy gives the poster one last strong tap — probably thinking about slapping Tom’s face instead — and stretches an arm towards him. “Not that you deserve it, but–“

Tom goes silent at the moment he gets his back off the wall to help Missy, noticing Jacob coming closer suddenly with someone else.

“Is it here?” The person with Jacob asks, holding a big orange poster. “Yep,” He confirms. “We call it Wall–E!” The answer to his information is just a laughter that makes Tom immediately forget about giving Missy a hand, bringing him to step closer to the conversation. “Hey man, where were you?” At the moment Tom asks, Jacob instantly gets what he’s trying to do. Not that Tom wasn’t kinda nosy sometimes, but they’ve been hanging out enough for his moves to look predictable. Way too predictable. Jacob says nothing, only squints his eyes and the silence suiting the four of them is slightly uncomfortable. “Uhm… I asked him for help as he was waiting for people to open some space so we… Could… Walk until here.” The voice is hesitant and sweet, although, while Missy eyes the person — The person looks at Tom, then looks down — Tom looks back & Jacob watches Tom prepare a whole scene inside his mind. “There’s some tape upon that tiny cabinet that you can use,” Jacob points to the front, past Tom and Missy Langford, “And if you can put it wherever you want as long as it’s in the blue area.” “Thank you so much! I’ll help myself with anything, don’t wanna take more of your time.” “No worries,” Giving a smile, Jacob walks to the side and then to Tom, offering his hand to a high–five. “I think you’ll be okay.”

As he feels the deep gaze of his friend as he passes by, Tom understands the second intentions of the phrase as if Jacob had just said “very smooth, my friend, shoot your shot” and left. It’s not that Tom Holland is a complete womanizer — the term Prince Charming fits him better, he says —but everyone who knows him decently is aware of the fact that he has no time for bullshit. No ceremony, no playing around. If Tom Holland likes someone, he’ll sure let this person know and try a move. If it goes right then awesome! And if it goes wrong he won’t go bitter about it longer than two or three seconds. He’ll eventually forget even though he doesn’t want to.

The british boy watches another struggle. Tiptoeing, the other person lifts the poster to see if it’ll fit in the only larger space left on The Great Wall as Missy climbs down the stairs by herself, analyzing the entire scene with squinted eyes.

“Here, luv,” Tom gently moves closer and takes the poster in his hands. He tiptoes as well and reaches the blank spot easier. “I think it’ll fit, don’t ya?” “It sure will!” The answer comes out in a chuckle. “I don’t believe we met, actually,” With feet back on the floor, he holds the banner while he looks directly to the owner. There’s this stupid beautiful smile adorning his face kind of shyly, but surely threatening to widen more as his fingers run through his brown hair. “I’m sorry. I’m Y/N,” She says, smiling back at him and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and Tom notices the delicate pair of earrings shining through the locks. “Beautiful! Beautiful name,” His brows frown quickly, listening to her voice like his favourite band’s singing his favourite song of all time. His mouth wants to say ‘beautiful face too’ with ‘beautiful lips’ and a ‘beautiful eyes’, but his brain works harder to keep his dignity safe somehow. “And your name is?” Suddenly, his throat goes dry. He tries to clear it, eyes blinking rapidly and he stretches an arm to find support on the wall. The jeans on his legs goes tighter, the white t-shirt for summer weather feels hotter than a thousand coats and the backpack on his shoulder heavens like he’s carrying a bag filled with rocks. What the heck? “My name?” “No, idiot,” Missy says behind Tom. “My name.” Rolling eyes, Tom slightly turns around and clenches his jaw, looking at Missy Langford’s sarcastic face with everything but appreciation. “Will you shut the fuck up?” He mumbles through gritted teeth. “I’m tryna get lucky in here,” And this time who rolls eyes is Missy, fixing her yellow shirt and putting it back inside her blue jeans. “I’m Thomas, darlin’. You can call me Tom.”

Or future ex–boyfriend, Missy thinks to herself feeling a tiny bit of heartache annoying her chest. It’s been around four months since she argued with Tom, which led to their break–up. Well, Missy calls it a break–up. For Tom, nothing’s been broken up because what they had was just a thing, a sudden meeting of feverish hormones boiling through their bodies. No one ever kneeled down and asked gently, no one ever posted pictures online or introduced the other to their parents. He notices the way she’s still bitter about it, but after a thousand conversations and discussions, Tom had just decided to let her be until the ache goes away eventually, since his words were apparently not helping at all.

“Tom,” Y/N confirms, nodding along and looking at him. He reacts with a smile, coffee eyes drinking her in. “Thank you, Tom! I should probably go find that cabinet where the tape might be at—“ “I’ll show you!” Tom interrupts, prompting up his body and fixing his shirt. “By the way, what are you announcing? Do you need a place to stay or share?” “Oh, no! Not at all,” Y/N warns as soon as she drinks in the way Tom’s tone of voice fell worried. The boy looks down at the poster, trying to find the main information of the paper. “It’s just a party. You’re both invited, actually! It’s gonna be at my place… Tomorrow afternoon.”

Tom says nothing, just removes his eyes from the folder to look at Y/N’s charming smile. He didn’t need any more reasons to say something rather than yes — the other words slipping out of her mouth were soundless to him, his eyes were too hypnotized by the way her lips were moving; hypnotized in a way his ears stopped working for a moment but his head managed to nod along to whatever she proposed. Yes, yes and yes. A thousand times yes to whatever she just proposed.

“Well, I’ll find the tape to hang it on,” She comments, eyeing the couple as her feet start to plan their way to the middle of the corridor. “I hope you can make it.”

Her sweet smile makes it hard for Tom to think twice — not that he even considered doing this, but it’s new to him how the entire surrounding seems to slow down the pace and noise when Y/N simply breathes and smiles sweetly. This is not right, not one bit, he thinks. His heart never raced this fast before; his mouth never craved other lips as it’s doing at the moment but one thing is certain: this party’s going to ease down his thirst one way or another. Tom only realizes that Y/N went away when the frame in front of him becomes Missy. She’s got a smirk on her face and two of her fingers travel across his collarbone, right next to where his white shirt ends. She feels the warmth of his chest increasing underneath the pad of her index and middle fingers, eyes traveling across his softened expression.

“Pick me up at 2 o’clock tomorrow?” She asks rhetorically, melting slightly when he takes her hand to plant a kiss on her knuckles.

By the hand, he drags her body closer so he can murmur next to her ear the same word he’s been saying repeatedly for these past months.

“No.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That you were going to ditch us for that party tomorrow, you bitch!”

Shawn rolls his eyes, smiling widely as he manages to carry his backpack, water bottle and guitar case towards his car. Brian, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like smiling back.

“Answer me!”

“Dude?!” Shawn stops, putting down his case to grab the keys inside his pocket. “It’s just a football match, we do this every fucking week.”

“Exactly! We do this every fucking week—“

“Man, Y/N’s gonna be there,” He smiles again, pressing the button to unlock the doors. “You know how much I’ve been waiting for this day to come over.”

“Wasn’t she in London?” The redhead asks, walking beside his best friend as he bends down to get the guitar case once again.

Things are heavy in Shawn’s hands and back, but the thought of finally seeing Y/N again after a semester of torture shots a wave of numbness through his nerves. The blue shirt feels hotter and the black jeans are surely tighter, but the way his heart floats around his chest makes him feel light like a feather.

He misses her.

Misses her smile, her eyes, the sound of her voice and her laugh when he first talked about his feelings for her. Shawn noticed that she didn’t believe him at all, but that impression didn’t last long in his mind — the way Y/N got close to his lips to mumble sweet nothings had sent him to cloud 9. Then his trip flew down to hell just as quickly when she pulled away to walk past the door, leaving Shawn’s pout kissing the air and the side of his bed empty. Next thing he knew, Y/N was on a plane ready to spend half of the year exploring the british airs of South West London. The song he wrote about her ended up staying inside of his second drawer, but the long-sleeved jersey of his favourite Hockey team went away with her — making Shawn’s hand itch to find home on that body, taking back what’s his and what he wants to be his.

“Exactly,” He imitates Brian’s words. “Was.”

Brian says nothing, feeling defeated. His brows only lift while his eyes close, knowing that he can’t fight Shawn when he’s like this. Obsessed.

“You should come too,” He invites, putting the tip of his bottle inside his mouth to hold it while he pushes the door open. “Heard–Djulia–iths–gonha–be–ther’.”

His guitar case flies to the backseat along with his backpack, Shawn stepping to the side so Brian can tuck his stuff into the car too.

“I have no fucking idea of what you just said,” Brian tosses his bag while pointing one finger to Shawn. “But I’m not leaving my mates behind because of some girl.”

This time, the one to lift eyebrows is Shawn. His gaze narrows Brian as he hangs the driver’s door open.

“First, you know she’s not some girl,” He corrects. “Second, Julia is gonna be there. It’s a pool party, dumbass.”

While Brian walks to the passenger’s door, it’s like magic. Julia is out there, walking–dancing outside the campus with her friends around her, singing whatever song that was. His blue eyes can’t drift away from her until she’s disappearing behind the cars parked.

“Pool party?” He asks distractedly. “See, that’s the part I hadn’t understood before. I mean, I love football but you know I never say no to a party.”

Message from +44 20…: Hi!! You left before I could even ask for your number…

Y/N gets out of the shower to immediately find her phone buzzing and ringing. The screen doesn’t show the entire text, but she doesn’t need to think that much to figure it out. Opening the app, she finds a second message popping up right after.

+44 20…: I got it from the party poster, I hope you don’t mind

Her bottom lip gets trapped between her teeth, a stupid smiling drawing her face as the profile photo loads. There he is. Messy damp curls atop of a babyface, glasses in front of those chocolate eyes and bare chest. Whew. Typing, feeling like a teenager as her stomach gets butterflies, she can notice the way her breathing goes unpatterned.

You: hey, london boy. there’s no problem! i’m glad you did 😇

It’s fun to Y/N how the text got instantly seen, the ‘typing…’ showing up below the new saved contact’s name in seconds.

Tom (Empshire): 👀👀👀 Hahaha That’s good to know. I’m really looking forward to your party tomorrow

You: you’re gonna make it? that’s perfect 💓

Tom (Empshire): Of course I am! Wouldn’t miss it for the world, darling

Unconsciously, Y/N’s legs clench together just to the imagination of his accent speaking these words loud and clear to her. Even with the dripping hair and body wrapped by just a towel, she jumps on her bed before she falls to the floor.

Tom (Empshire): Do I need to bring something?? Like beers and stuff

You: not really. unless u wanna drink something specific but as long as you’re here… just don’t forget your suit, darling 😛

If she only knew that Tom was exactly how she was picturing… Bare chest, wearing glasses, damp hair and thrown onto the sofa with a boyish grin. Tom honestly couldn’t think about smooth ways to flirt with her, he felt too intimidated — almost like Tom wasn’t Tom. Who would’ve guessed that Tom Holland could watch his moves to talk with a girl?

Tom (Empshire): I won’t haha

Then he couldn’t resist.

Tom (Empshire): Anyways, can’t wait to see you again… It was lovely to meet you earlier today. Good night, pretty one!

With burning cheeks and racing heart, Y/N twists in bed as she holds her phone for dear life. Coming back to the Empshire University fell flat at first, but with the taste of London still stuck in her life somehow, this looks as interesting as being in the United Kingdom itself — with a summertime way more catching than the winter. Her limbs couldn’t stop pulsing and the anticipation ran along her most sensitive spots mercilessly, making her thighs tighten even harder with a big smile tilting up the corners of her swollen lips from all the biting.

You: good night, t. can’t way to see you too. it’ll be awesome.

taglist of girlfriends: @lostinspidey – @goldenmndes – @shawnsunflower​ – @jawnjendes​ – @itrocksmysocks​ – @emilyxkate​ – @tell-me-when-ur-ready​ – @particularnervous​ – @grayxzabdixfer – @shawnssongs​ – @arypesanchez​ – @shawnmendes-s – @shawnsheaven​ – @mylifeisafxingmess​ – @perfectywrong​ – @whysparker​ – @blairscott​

tagging mutuals [if you wanna be untagged, please sorry in advance & let me know]: @mcuspidey​ – @devilmendes​ – @snowflakeparker​ – @strangertingle – @honeyrosemuffins​.

[bamon4bamily]

TVD 9x05 Halloween Special (part 2 of part 2). Enjoy! =)

Cut to – Matt’s house. Matt is taking a nap, breathing heavily… we go into his dream… A post-apocalyptic scene; Matt is running desperately through a horror scene of debris; suddenly, he hears Vicky’s voice …

 VICKY: Matty, stop running…

MATT: Vic? (Vicky appears, he runs to hug her, and bursts into tears).

VICKY: It’s okay Matty (consoling him). This isn’t your fault… you didn’t’ have a choice.

MATT: There is always a choice, Vic.

VICKY: No, there isn’t. This is what was meant to happen.

MATT: Everyone is gone, Vic. Yet, somehow, I’m still here… how was this supposed to happen…?

VICKY: It’s for the greater good, Matty, trust me. With death comes rebirth…

MATT: Who wants to be reborn into a world like this?

VICKY: I do, Matty… I do, Matty… I do, Matty… (Matt’s vision of Vicky becomes blurry, as she repeats the same words on a loop… suddenly the set changes, Matt is now in what looks to be a bunker).

MILITARY MAN: General, as per your orders, Sir… (he hands him a black box, Matt opens it; inside is a chess piece and a note that reads: Make a choice... Matt turns the chess piece around; a code and the letter “L” are engraved on the bottom).

MATT: Activate unit 1…

MILITARY MAN: General, are you sure we should proceed against protocol?

MATT: We don’t have a choice…

MILITARY MAN: With all due respect, General, there is always a choice…

MATT: (Sarcastic smirk) Do you really think we are in control? 

(In Matt’s mind, the song: Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, starts playing, almost to a frantic state. He gets more visions of a post-apocalyptic world, and him as a child on his 7th birthday, while uncontrollably and unwillingly laughing, yet crying at the same time...).

Cut back to Matt's room, Khuyana sitting on the bedside, trying to calm him down. Matt wakes up suddenly, looking disoriented and scared.

 KHUYANA: (Caressing his cheek) Hey, hey… it’s okay… you're okay...

MATT: (Still quite disoriented) Sorry...sorry... I... I... I was having a bad dream...

KHUYANA: (Looks into his eyes, they seem to stare at nothingness) Matt, please talk to me, what’s going on?

MATT: (Unable to contain himself any longer) I’m terrified… I feel like all of this is just the tip of the iceberg… and I don’t think I’m equipped to handle any of this...

KHUYANA: We are all scared Matt, that’s expected… but we have each other to lean on… please, don’t shut us out.

MATT: I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick (kisses her), I’m just trying to find the best way to handle this… (Looking somewhat defenseless) Whatever happens, you know I love you, more than anything, right?

KHUYANA: I know (kisses him back), and we will get through this together, I promise.

MATT: I hope we will… (kisses her again).

KHUYANA: Now, how about we start getting ready? Caroline will kill us if we are late.

MATT: Oh, for sure...  Trust me, we don’t want to make her mad.  

 Cut to – The Salvatore house, Damon’s room. Damon and Bonnie are chilling out, lying in bed watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

BONNIE: Why can’t they make movies like this anymore? The music, the visuals… a true masterpiece. Horror movies now are just about young, big-boobed, girls making the dumbest decisions…

DAMON: (Teasing) Hey, I’m all for that! They might not be masterpieces, Bon, but you can’t deny the aesthetics (winks)…

BONNIE: You’re disgusting! (hits him with a pillow).

DAMON: Hey! (Takes a pillow, hits her back).

BONNIE: Oh, no you didn’t! (hits him again: they start a pillow fight; both laughing and tugging; at one point, Damon lands on top of her).

DAMON: (Staring into her eyes) God, I love you… 

(Awkward pause… Caroline walks in the room, they quickly compose themselves).

CAROLINE: What are you guys doing?

BONNIE: Watching a movie…

CAROLINE: Is that so? Then why is the TV off? (during their pillow fight they must have accidentally pushed the remote).

BONNIE: (Quickly clicks it back on) … it’s… it’s not… look (points at the TV).

CAROLINE: (Gives her a smirk) Really, Bonnie?

DAMON: Care bare, has anyone ever told you, you have the worst timing, ever.

CAROLINE: I’m sorry if I interrupted your “movie”, Damon, I just wanted to tell you guys we need to start getting ready to go trick or treating with the girls.

BONNIE: (Jumps off the bed) On it! (rushes out the room to avoid further awkwardness).

CAROLINE: (As she is about to leave) Just make your move already… gees! (Leaves).

 Cut back to – 1921 Halloween Ball, past midnight. Rebekah (looking horrified) is walking through a sea of decapitated bodies in the ballroom, the song: Midnight, the Stars, and You, is playing on a loop.

All the guests are dead, the only survivors are herself, Stefan, Klaus, and the bartender; the mystery lady, Katherine and Stefan’s friend, are MIA. She approaches Stefan and Klaus, who are blissfully having a drink at the bar as if nothing had happened.

 REBEKAH: What happened?

KLAUS: Sister, you finally returned. What took you so long? I thought you were just going to fetch someone to clean up our mess… (looks around) I reckon it’s going to take a bit more to clean this one up.

REBEKAH: What the hell did you do? Are you both insane?! It’s fine to indulge, but this (looking at the massacre aftermath) … how could you?!

STEFAN: Oh, don’t be so overdramatic! This party was dead anyway (sarcastic smirk).

REBEKAH: We need to leave…

KLAUS: Relax, dear sister, have a drink with us. (To the bartender) Some champagne for the lady, please.

REBEKAH: Klaus, I’m being serious, we need to leave, now!

STEFAN: Don’t be a party pooper, Rebekah. (To Klaus) Is she always this uptight?

KLAUS: She can be quite dull at times. (To Rebekah) We are staying, sister. Do what you please, but if this is going to be your attitude, I suggest you call it a night.

REBEKAH: (Pissed off) Fine, I’m leaving… (as she is walking away) You know, just because you can avoid the consequences of your actions, it doesn’t mean they won’t haunt you forever…

STEFAN: (Mocking her) Oh, she is poetic too! (He and Klaus laugh and cheer. Rebekah leaves; they hear a voice).

VOICE: Well done, my dears, you have proven yourselves worthy. Don’t you let her (referring to Rebekah) get into your heads... We all go a little mad sometimes…

BARTENDER: (Hands them a room key with the letter “L” engraved on it and a room tag, 237) Gentlemen welcome to the club. The Madame is expecting you…

 Cut to – The Salvatore house. Everyone getting into costume. Damon walks into his room, procrastinating having to put his costume on. Bonnie, already in costume, is hiding behind the curtain, sneaks up from behind…

 BONNIE: (With a low voice) I’m Batman… (Damon jumps, she cracks up).

DAMON: Jesus, Bon! You scared the crap out of me! (Takes a good look at her, she looks breathtaking; he shutters). Wow, Bon, you look amazing… just… wow, I’m speechless…

BONNIE: Well, Robin, what are you waiting for? Suit up! I need my partner in crime.

DAMON: Bon, listen, about earlier… (Caroline walks in) Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Honestly, Blondie, timing!

CAROLINE: What? (Looks at Bonnie) Oh my god, Bonnie, you look gorgeous!

BONNIE: Thank you, so do you; that costume is awesome! 

CAROLINE: (Caroline is dressed as Lucy, from Bram Stoker’s Dracula adaptation film from 1992, in the iconic vampire wedding dress). Right? But, thanks to Stefan, I’m going to have to change it!

BONNIE: No, why?

CAROLINE: Well…

 Cut to – a few moments earlier, Stefan and Caroline’s room…

 STEFAN: Surprise! (Stefan comes out dressed as Dracula but with a Hotel Transylvania mask).

CAROLINE: Stefan! What the hell!? You are supposed to be Count Dracula! Lose the mask!

STEFAN: Caroline, please, I need some sort of dignity… I’m keeping the mask.

CAROLINE: Urr, fine! But now I’m gonna have to change mine!

 Cut back to – Bonnie, Damon and Caroline.

 CAROLINE: So, now, I need to find something else to wear.

BONNIE: I still don’t get it, why do you have to change it? It’s so cool, Care!

CAROLINE: I know, but we are supposed to have a themed match! And this (pointing at her costume) makes no sense with Stefan’s dumb ass mask! Anyway, I just wanted to make sure Fairy boy here (referring Damon) wasn’t bailing out on his promise too…

BONNIE: Oh, he hasn’t, right, Damon?

DAMON: (With resignation, takes his costume) Fine, I’ll put the stupid costume on. Now, can you both please leave so I can change? Unless you want to stay and watch (winks)…

CAROLINE: Ew, no! Come on Bonnie, help me find something to wear… (they leave).

Cut to- Whitmore college, Elena’s dorm. Sam comes out dressed as Princess Lea.

 SAM: So, what do you think?

ELENA: (Dressed as a Star Wars creature) Mmm… I don’t know how to feel about it… I’m getting some confusing vibes…

SAM: Admit it, you love it (smirks).

ELENA: I… I think I do… am I crazy?

SAM: You are just the right amount of crazy (kisses her, mask on and all). Mmm, actually, that was extremely confusing (they chuckle) Ready to go?

ELENA: Yep, just let me just grab my purse.

 Cut to – The Salvatore house, the twin’s bedroom

 CAROLINE: Come on girls, are you ready?

LIZ & JOSIE: (They come out of the bathroom dressed like the twins from The Shinning) Trick or treat!  

CAROLINE: (Whispers to Alaric) I know we thought this would be a cool idea, but I’m really creeped out…

ALARIC: Me too…

 Cut to – Matt’s house. Matt walks into the kitchen, dressed as Robocop.

 MATT: (To Tyler) I feel ridiculous in this… I can’t even move!

TYLER: (Who is dressed in a werewolf costume, mask and all) Man, where are you? Can’t see shit! 

KHUYANA: (Khuyana walks in, dressed as Lady Robocop) So, you boys ready to go?

MATT: Wow, K, you look amazing…

TYLER: Screw this, I’m taking the mask off!

MATT: Guys, before we go, I need you to promise me that if anything goes wrong, you will do what you need to do, no matter what.

KHUYANA: Matt, don’t; we talked about this… all we need to do is stick together.

TYLER: She’s right, man, we got this. 

MATT: Guess you are both right. Now... will a group hug be too awkward? (They laugh and hug it out).

 Cut to – The Salvatore house, Alaric’s room.  Alaric comes out of the bathroom, wearing a Lego Indiana Jones costume.

ALARIC: Indiana Jones in the house! Let’s go do this!

RADKA: (Dressed as Cat woman) Well, hello Mr. Jones. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance…

ALARIC: Meow! (Kisses her).  

ALARIC: Ready to go?

RADKA: Honestly, no… Can you please tell me this is all just a bad dream, and that we can go about our lives as if none of this is happening?  

ALARIC: Rad, we will pull this off; we got the best of the best … plus a little extra help.

RADKA: Well, I guess you are right. Crazy wizard guy and his sect ain’t got nothing on us! Lego do this! (Alaric laughs and kisses her again).

 Cut to – Katherine in her room dressed as Maleficent.

KATHERINE: (To herself, looking at the mirror) I’m gonna bring these bitches to the ground… (Smirks, walks closer to the mirror, trips over her dress) Oh, oh, shit! (Stefan comes in, can’t help but laugh at the scene).

STEFAN: Need some help?

KATHERINE: (Trying to pick herself back up) No, no… I’m fine, (playing it off) I’m just looking for a… for a… an earring, yes, an earring…

STEFAN: Sure, you are… Well, I just wanted to check up on you; make sure you were ready for this..,

KATHERINE: Of course I am! I’m Katherine Pierce.

STEFAN: (Sweet smirk) You surely are… Anyway, we are about to leave for trick or treating, you coming?

KATHERINE: Didn’t know I was invited…

STEFAN: I’m asking, so you are.

KATHERINE: What about blondie? Is she okay with me coming along?

STEFAN: She is the one that asked me to ask… so, bygones, I guess.

KATHERINE: How big of her…

STEFAN: Well, if you gave her a chance you’d realize just how great really she is.

KATHERINE: (With a resignation look) Fine...

STEFAN: Listen, I’ll leave you to find your “earring” (mocking) but make it quick; we are leaving in 5.

KATHERINE: (As he is walking out) Stefan… (with a bashful look) can you please help me up? I’m all caught up in this freakin dress!

STEFAN: (Stefan cracks up, helps her up). Are you sure, you don’t want to put on something else?

KATHERINE: Oh, hell no, I’m owning this!

STEFAN: If you say so… Come on, they are waiting downstairs. (They walk out, she has a hard time trying not to trip).

 The gang goes trick or treating; they laugh, get some treats and some tricks, and have a spooky fun time.

Cut to - The Mikaelson mansion. Klaus is in his bedroom getting ready for the Halloween party. He hears the piano playing in the living room; which is odd since Danae is out on an errand. He goes downstairs and finds that the piano is closed, there is nobody playing it… on top of the piano is a black box, inside, a pair of antique golden cuff links engraved with the letter “L” and a note that reads: “We all go a little mad sometimes…” 

Suddenly, the television in the family room turns on to a black and white film with a creepy puppet-like orchestra man, waving a baton to the vintage Halloween song: Boogie Woogie Man.

TVD 9x05 Halloween Special (part 3) coming up next! Hope you stop by, read and enjoy! ;)

[let-it-raines]

Betting on the Bullseye (22/30)

Summary: Emma Swan loses a drunken bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush - if you can call him that - to be her date to her office's annual fundraising gala for Boston's Children Shelter. Killian Jones is that celebrity. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost all because of the ridiculousness of the situation. What she doesn't expect is for him to say yes.

What she truly doesn't expect is to actually like the man.

Rating: Mature

A/N: So, like, does anyone else wonder how an absolutely ridiculous concept that would mortify me to my core in real life (it mortifies me a little when I look at the summary) has turned into a thirty chapter story that is decidedly not about the prompt anymore? Anyone? No? Me either. 

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22

Tag list: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @wellhellotragic​ @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @artistic-writer @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @galaxyzxstark @lifeinahole27 @andiirivera @ultimiflos @hollyethecurious @thejollyroger-writer @superchocovian @cs-forlife @qualitycoffeethings @jonirobinson64 @notoriouscs

“What about this one?”

“Too small.”

“This one?”

“Too expensive.”

“Emma.”

“Killian.”

“For fuck’s sake, you have to like something, Swan,” he mutters under his breath before slamming his laptop shut and running his hand through his hair, fingers sticking in the unwashed strands, while he tries to calm his breathing and himself before he truly goes off on Emma after having listened to her rejections on apartments for the better part of the last three hours. He’s rejected a few things too, but damn, they’re never going to find anything if it keeps going like this.

He’s just going to go off on Emma’s TV stand. Not break it or anything. Just complain to it about how they can’t find a home for it.

“Okaaay, so we need a break from apartment hunting,” Emma sighs, slouching down on the couch and propping her feet up on the coffee table, mismatched socks on full display to him. He wonders if she ever matches her socks. Probably not. It’s kind of charming. They’ve been looking online for hours, and she’s likely right. It’s nearly impossible right now. They need a breather. “What do you want to watch?”

“I feel like we need to talk about why we’re having issues finding a place.”

“Probably because we just decided to move in together yesterday, and you and I have totally different budgets.”

“I told you, love,” he sighs, twisting his head to look at her even as she avoids looking at him, “I want to buy a place. It’s better than renting. It’s equity, and we can renovate if we need to.”

“I can’t afford to buy these places, though. I know you can, but I’d like to contribute something.” Emma brings her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes darting over to him before they look back at the television while her fingers tap against her legs, a series of nervous ticks if he’s ever seen them. He knew that was going to be a thing, but they’re not going to avoid issues anymore. They’re going to talk about them and figure them out even if it’s uncomfortable. “I’m not saying…I’m not saying I don’t have faith in us or whatever, but – ”

“Darling, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll get both of our names on the deed, or just yours, or whatever the hell you want so that if we break up, you don’t have to worry about moving. Or hell, you sell it, and then you buy what you want.”

She finally looks at him then, a brow raised on her forehead so that it wrinkles, and he can do nothing but smile as he watches the features on her face change while she thinks. She’s going to agree. She’s going to be a bit of an arse about it, but she’s going to agree. He also knows that she’s likely going to be the one who ends up finding the damn place while walking down the street instead of finding one after hours and days and weeks of searching.

He’s probably getting a little too much enjoyment out of this.

He’s really damn excited to be looking for a place to live with Emma.

With Emma.

That’s just…that’s insane. And it’s wonderful. So wonderful.

He’s a sap.

“So what you’re saying is that if I rip your heart out, I not only get to keep the apartment, but I have the possibility to profit off of it?”

“Aye.”

Slowly but surely her lips begin to curve into a smile, her teeth showing and face scrunching up into a smile. God, he’d do anything to get to see that smile every day of his life. He’s working on it. He really is.  “You are a sucker, KJ. You know that?”

He simply shrugs, moving his laptop over to the side before he slides over onto the cushions and pulls Emma to him so he can leave an obnoxiously loud smacking kiss on her cheek. He’s so goddamn happy to see her, to be with her both figuratively and literally, and he doesn’t care in the slightest over Emma teasing him or thinking he’s crazy. Really, he’s glad for it.

Emma is the woman he wants to be with. There’s not a doubt in his mind about that. He wants her to be the person he’s beside for the rest of his life even when they’re fighting, and while, yes, he knows that things could hit the fan in a spectacular fashion, he has hope. So, yeah, this could either be the best or worst real estate decision he’s ever going to make.

He’s thinking the best.

“I’m a sucker for you.” “That’s only a good line when the Jonas Brothers sing it.”

“I could sing it if you want me to.”

She hums, closing her eyes and pushing at his shoulder until he moves back to where he was sitting. It’s only a few moments before Emma is curling in on her side and wrapping her arms around his waist while her head rests on his chest and his hand rests on the bare skin of her stomach under her t-shirt, warmth permeating from the skin while the smell of the vanilla in her shampoo reaches his nose.

“While that sounds like a fantastic idea and something I’m going to take you up on later,” she murmurs against the material of his t-shirt, “I think we need to keep looking at these apartments before you realize just how bad of a real estate decision you’re making here. But, like, later. I can’t look at another place where everything is monochromatic white.��� “Robin would be appalled by your hatred of the all white.” “Does he know?” “Know what?”

“That you might move? Babe, I know we’ve talked about it until our faces turned blue in the past twenty-four hours, but you’ve got to tell Robin and Will. And you’ve really got to tell your family, probably in person. I can go with you if you want. Maybe we can fly back on Friday. I’m sure our faces will have morphed to purple by then.”

“Yeah?”

“The purple thing? Yeah.”

“No,” he laughs, walking his fingers up her back, “the you coming with me to talk to my family this weekend.”

“I mean, yeah. Let’s keep looking for a place, maybe set up a few viewings for the next time you’re out here, but then we’ve got to tell your family and talk about it with them. I just hope they won’t hate me. I mean, I’ll still move to California, but I – ” “They love you,” he interrupts, ignoring her offer to move to California. She’s offered enough times that he doesn’t know if he can hear it again. Boston is the best decision for them right now, and they’re sticking with it. “Aiden loves you as much as Leo loves me.” “As reassuring as that is,” she sighs while nuzzling into his stomach again, her hand resting on his knee and tracing his skin with her fingernail, “I was kind of concerned with the adults. Should we tell my friends together too?”

“Nah, I thought maybe I’d just move and they’d figure it out when I showed up to every damn dinner.”

“It might take them awhile to notice.”

“Weeks most likely.”

“So maybe we should just tell them. I’ll get them a little card and some chocolate to soften the blow of finding out that I’ve decided to stick with ya, honey bunches.”

“Swan, I swear if you start calling me all of those ridiculous names I’ll – ”

“You’ll what? Break up with me? Can you wait until we own a fancy apartment so I can make some big bucks without lifting a finger?”

He should have never suggested that. She’d never do something like that, but she’s definitely going to tease him about it.

“I hate you.”

“I love you too, sweet cheeks.”

-/-

“Killy,” Leo screeches the moment they walk into the Nolan’s house the next night, David running behind him with wide eyes and a heaving chest. What the hell have the two of them been doing?

“Hi, buddy,” he laughs, reaching down and picking Leo up so he doesn’t run out the front door, all of the features on David’s face relaxing for just a moment. Dave looks far older than he did the last time Killian saw him, so the first few days of having more than one kid must have really taken their toll. “Did you miss me?”

“Yep. I have a brother.”

“I heard, little lad. You’re an older brother now, yeah?”

“Uh huh,” Leo sighs, relaxing in his arms and looking over at Emma who’s picking up the bags of groceries they brought even if Emma already brought over some frozen meals earlier this week. He figures if they’re going to invade parents of a newborn and a toddler, the least they can do is bring some food. “Is Superman here?”

Emma chuckles next to him, a glint of amusement in her eyes, and she moves her brows across her forehead. “No, but super Emma is.”

“I want Superman.”

“Leo,” David sighs, his eyes still a little heavy even as he greets Emma by kissing her cheek, “you have to be nice. Killian and Emma came to play with you.”

“It’s alright, mate. I’d want to see Superman over boring old me any day.”

“His clothes are a lot tighter than yours, so I second that.”

He rolls his eyes at Emma before he passes by she and David and makes his way into the kitchen with Leo, grabbing a bag of groceries from Emma on the way so he can unload them even with Leo babbling in his ear about anything and everything from his brother to his toys to the squirrel that was in the backyard yesterday. He and Leo have become good buddies over the past few months, and if it annoys Emma a little bit over how Leo will pick him over her, that’s only justified for how she’s stolen Aiden from him.

Not literally stolen, but that’s how it feels when Aiden would rather sleep on her chest than on his.

Then again, she’s got a fantastic chest…which is not at all the thing to be thinking when talking about a child’s napping preferences.  

Then again – nope. Not going there.

“Where’s your mummy?” he asks Leo as he places the bunch of bananas on their countertop and stuffs the plastic bags in the container the Nolans keep of them under their sink. How the hell does he know where they keep their plastic bags?

“I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t,” he murmurs under his breath before he moves away from the counters and makes his way to the living room where he can hear Emma and David talking before he even gets to the archway.

“You’re sure about this?” David questions, arms crossed over his chest and back straight in what Killian assumes is his position for when he interrogates suspects. David at work has got to be a sight to see. Maybe he’ll ask to shadow him one day. Lie and say it’s for a role simply so he can mess with the man.

“I mean, yeah. I love him and want a future with him. It’s been so hard even when it’s been good, and it’s only going to get worse when he’s working more or when we’ve been together longer, I think.”

“And he didn’t want you to move to LA?”

“He did. I did. I didn’t want him to feel like he has to give up anything for me, but we both agreed here is better for now. Maybe in the future we’ll move there. I don’t really know. It’s a lot of logistics.”

“If this is what you want, I’m happy for you.”

“Please,” Emma laughs, her eyes glancing to him in a way that he knows is her telling him she’s been aware he’s been creepily lurking in the archway, “don’t you at all pretend that you’re not thrilled that Killian’s going to be around more. I know he’s your favorite of my boyfriends that I keep toting around on each arm.”

The cheeky little minx that is his girlfriend.

“He’s in the room, isn’t he?”

“I knew you loved me, Dave,” Killian chuckles, walking further in with Leo who’s been surprisingly quiet this entire time. Obviously, his bud is meant to be an eavesdropper too. “I was thinking about buying the house right next door to here. We can even connect the houses if you want. That way I can visit you at night so we can have a cup of tea and chat all about our preferences for running shoes.”

“You’re obnoxious.”

“But you love me, right Leo? Does your daddy love me?”

“Yeah, Daddy loves Killy.”

“For f – ”

“Oh boy,” Emma smiles, shaking her head from side to side with the most precious smile tugging at her lips. “Babe, you’re going to make David curse in front of his kid. I suggest you don’t make his anxiety heighten by threatening to move in with him.”

“Not a threat, love,” he explains as he puts Leo down on the ground so he can play with some of his toys. “Just a very good offer to be roommates with the Nolans. Wouldn’t you like to do that?”

“There is literally no good way for me to answer that.”

He winks. “Exactly. So where’s Mary Margaret?”

“She and Brody are sleeping,” David explains as they all finally sit down, the couch moving under he and Emma’s weight. “They had a late night last night, so I hope she’s getting some sleep now. If she knew you guys were here, though, she’d be down here in a second, sleep deprivation not at all a worry, especially because you guys are apparently moving in together. She’d be all over that.”

“She’s far too invested in my life,” Emma jokes as her fingers start messing with the hair at the nape of his neck, shivers running down his spine with every delicate touch. God, she’s good at playing with his hair. She does this thing with her finger and damn, it’s amazing. She also does this thing with her tongue…but now is not the time for him to think about that. He’s obviously got to get his mind out of the gutter. “But she should definitely sleep. Is it about the same as with Leo?”

David shrugs while he wipes the sleep away from his eyes. “It’s different because we’re not as clueless and also have two kids to manage, but mostly it’s different because Brody is not at all as calm. It’s kind of like night and day, but we’ll figure it out. I think she’s honestly more stressed about us not having everything done because we’d put a few things off. He showed up a bit early to the party.”

“We can help, you know? That’s why we’re here. I didn’t buy you food just because I wanted to eat.”

“You ate a cereal bar on the way here,” Emma teases, and he twists his head to look at her and the same playful glint she had in her eyes earlier. He can’t stop thinking about how Emma was talking about how she wants a future with him without any hesitation in her voice. He knows that she wants it, knows that she loves him, but something about hearing her tell David about it has calmed him about this transition they’re about to make.

He was already calm. He’s just…he’s happy. Content.

“That was supposed to be a secret.”

“I’ve never been very good at keeping those.”

“Really now? Because unless you’re being weird and channeling Mary Margaret, I don’t think that’s true. Though, I’m kind of conflicted on whether or not I want you to be a good liar.”

“You probably don’t, KJ. Also, props on joking about Mary Margaret when David is right there.”

Emma raises her hand to give him a high five, and he laughs as he slaps her palm before interlacing their fingers and bringing her wrist to his so he can brush a kiss there.

“You come into my home, you steal my child away from me, you make fun of my wife, and worst of all, you eat my cereal bars.”

“It’s a hard knock life for you, Dave. Sorry about that.”

“You’re most definitely not.”

“You’ll never know because I’m a much better liar than Emma.”

“Hey,’ she groans, slapping his head instead of playing with his hair, “we just talked about how that was not a good thing.”

“For you. I said nothing about me.”

“Asshole.”

“Language.”

“David.”

The three of them spend the rest of the evening talking about everything from baseball to the apartments and houses they’ve looked at, David offering to let them know if he sees anything they might like, before Emma offers to go heat up one of the casserole dishes so that they can eat dinner. Mary Margaret eventually comes down with Brody, the little lad as small as can be wrapped up in his pajamas with a hat on his head. He looks just like Leo from what Killian can tell, and when Mary Margaret offers to let him hold Brody, he takes the opportunity, even if holding someone else’s newborn child will never not be terrifying.

Seriously. They’re so small and fragile, and no human being should ever have a self-destruct button on top of their head.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Mary Margaret sighs as she takes a sip of her water while David and Emma are in the kitchen finishing up dinner. Brody is staring up at him in between his fits of sleeping, and Killian’s pretty sure he’s been running his fingers over the lad’s stomach for the past half hour. It’s weirdly soothing. “I know Emma would die of mortification if I made it out to be a big deal, but this is such a big deal. She trusts you and loves you so much, and it’s a nice thing to see after watching that not happen over and over again.”

He smiles at Mary Margaret, something soft to keep things calm, because when he looks at her, she might as well be radiating out of her skin with excitement and eagerness to talk about it. She and Anna would probably hit it off like mad. Or maybe they’d hate each other. There can likely only be so much positive energy in a single room at one time.

Maybe they’ll have to meet outdoors.

But she’s right. He knows all of the dirty details of Emma’s past like she knows all of his, and them trusting each other and loving each other is a big thing.

“Well, I’m grateful that she’s given me the opportunity to be that kind of partner for her,” he admits, getting up from the couch and carefully placing Brody in his seat on the coffee table. “I was so damn anxious after this weekend because I knew we’d have to make a step like this at some point, and while I’ve never really doubted that Emma wanted to be with me, that’s still terrifying, you know?”

“Absolutely. I haven’t always been an overtired mom with a so-called ‘settled’ life. David and I went through all of that too. We didn’t live across the country from each other, but a relationship is a relationship. Sometimes even the good things are terrifying.”

“You sound like Elsa.”

“Well, I’ve never met her, but I’m pretty much Emma’s Elsa. We’re obligated to give advice even if we have no idea what we’re saying.”

So maybe she’s like Elsa too.

“That’s reassuring.” “That’s life. You guys will be good, and as much as I love my boys, I expect you guys to have a guest room for me so I can take a nap in a kid-free, husband-free space.”

“Of course we can do that, milady,” he laughs before taking a step forward and leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll add it to our list.”

“Good.”

“Though, you might be stuck with Emma’s awful mattress and bedframe, so I’m not sure how much you’ll want to be sleeping over.”

“If I can sleep diagonally, I’ll sleep on a bed of nails.”

-/-

“Okay, you’re weird.”

“Love, this is not weird.”

“It so is,” Emma laughs as they walk past a Starbuck’s at the airport, the line stretching around the ropes and out into the walkway. “Who in the world walks up and down the entire terminal to, and I quote ‘explore the architecture’ instead of sitting down and messing around with their phone?��

He shrugs before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her cheek underneath her baseball cap, rubbing his scruff into her skin simply so her entire face will scrunch up in the way that he likes. “I do. You see the most interesting things in airports. If you just sit at your gate, you miss so much. I mean, however will you know that you can get a customized Boston Red Sox neck pillow if you’re just waiting for your plane to take off?”

“I’m leaning so much about you today.”

“I don’t really appreciate your teasing tone there, Swan.”

“What?” she laughs, guiding them into a small bookstore. “It’s so true, KJ. You get anxious going through security even though you are a pro at traveling and then after that, you like to explore airports. You’re a fascinating man.”

“You’re too easily entertained. Why are we looking at books?”

“I need something to do on the plane. I’m not sure that ours has movies.”

“It does. I checked.”

“Oh,” she sighs, putting the book she was looking at down and clapping her hands together. “Then there’s no way in hell I’m paying fifteen dollars for a bad romance novel then. Let’s go get some coffee and a donut or something.”

“We ate before we got here.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t eat donuts, KJ,” she says as her eyes roll before she’s walking out of the store with her carry-on trailing behind here.

A woman on a mission for donuts.

Flying with Emma for the first time is definitely an adventure, and they haven’t even made it out of the shops yet. He’s honestly so amused by her all of the time, and he already knows that she’s going to buy a dozen donuts to eat on the plane even if she’ll only eat two of them and give the rest of them away.

Because a stranger giving away donuts while thirty thousand feet in the air is definitely something no one will find the slightest bit sketchy.

Emma doesn’t buy an entire dozen donuts or hand them out on the plane, but she does buy each of them one with their cups of coffee that they finish off while still exploring the terminal. He falls asleep about halfway through the flight, and when he wakes, their pilot is announcing their arrival time. It’s late even with the time change, so he and Emma hurry out of the airport and get back to his house before falling asleep without even bothering to change out of their clothes.

“Are you nervous?” she asks him the next morning as she brushes out her hair while he shaves for the first time in a little over a week, the red in his beard showing through more than usual.

He is a little nervous to tell his family that he’s moving, to talk about all that’s coming up, but he also knows that they likely expect it, especially Elsa. It doesn’t make the blow any less hard, but he does think it may ease it the slightest bit. If anything, he thinks that Will and Robin might take it the hardest, Roland even more so, and the guilt does weigh on him a bit. But this is the right decision. He knows that it is. They’ve talked about it, thought about it, and he wouldn’t be doing this if it’s not what he wanted.

It’ll be a new normal and it’ll take awhile to adjust to things, but he’ll figure it out. They’ll both figure it out. He’s not giving up anything. His life is simply going through another adjustment period. But this one is a good one.

“Aye, a little bit,” he admits, running his razor across his jaw, “but they’ll be fine.”

“They’ll miss you,” Emma sighs, putting her brush down and walking over to him so that she wraps her arms around his stomach and kisses between his shoulder blades before he can feel her nuzzle her face in his skin. “You’ll visit a lot though. I will too. And maybe we can get them to come out to visit us. I think they’d like Boston.”

“We do have a hell of a lot of miles that they can travel with.”

“Trust me, I know. I can cash them in for a bunch of Amazon gift cards, and I’ve resisted the urge.”

“The height of selflessness.”

When they get to Liam’s place for lunch, he and Elsa are standing in the garage going through storage containers, piles of them scattering the floor with their cars sitting in the driveway. It’s an absolute mess. He had no idea that they even had this much stuff out here, and he’s sure that they’ve likely already cleaned out half of it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be cooking, Jones?” he calls out as he slams his door closed. “I was under the impression that you guys were going to be feeding me today.”

“I swear to God, Killian, you better be talking to your brother and not me.”

“Of course I am, lass,” he promises, walking over to Elsa and kissing her cheek in greeting. “I like to impose as much difficulty on my brother as I can.”

“That’s why I love you,” Elsa sighs before he sees her turn her head to look at Emma. “Oh my gosh am I happy to see you,” she squeals, quickly running toward Emma and wrapping her in a hug while he does the same to his brother. “I know it’s been less than a week, but I was worried about you.”

He doesn’t hear the rest of what Emma and Elsa are saying as he talks to Liam, the music that’s playing in the background drowning them out as he focuses on Liam.

“So you’re good?” he asks, squeezing Killian’s shoulder while his eyes scan his face, slanting for a moment before widening so he can see the blue that he always associates with his brother. “You two are good? This isn’t a ‘we’ll still love you both even though Mummy and Daddy aren’t together anymore’ kind of talk?”

He scoffs, rolling his eyes the slightest bit as he shakes his head from side to side. He had talked to Liam a bit about what was going on, if only because he knew Elsa would let some of it slip. And also because his brother is his best friend who is privy to most of his thoughts. “No, it’s not that. It’s actually,” he turns his head to glance over his shoulder at Emma who’s still animatedly talking to Elsa, her hands flying all over the place while her face is brightened by her smile, “kind of the opposite of that.”

“Bloody hell. Are you getting married?”

His heart practically flies up to his throat, constricting his breathing for a moment before it settles back down into its regular resting place. That’s not…he wants to but – later. Later is the time to talk about that. “No, no. We’re not getting married, but we are, um…well – ” He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. He most definitely did not plan on telling Liam standing in his garage with Queen blaring over the speakers. “I’m moving to Boston,” he finally blurts out, the words freeing once they slip past his lips and into the air.

Liam blinks a few times, his lips slightly parting before they close and press into a smile, one that opens up so that Liam’s entire face is full of smile lines before suddenly Killian’s being pulled back into a hug, the warmth that radiates from his brother enveloping him as Liam pats him on the back several times as he whispers in his ear.

“I’m so damn happy for you. That’s – bloody hell, Killian. I can’t believe you’re making this kind of commitment. I can, but God – that’s amazing.”

“You’re not upset?”

“Of course not. I’m going to miss you, and I don’t imagine my wife’s reaction will be quite this happy, but this is a good thing. You deserve it.”

“Thank you,” he murmurs into Liam’s shoulder before pulling back, stepping out of his embrace and reaching up behind his ear so that he can scratch the shell, the urge irresistible. This is going so differently than he thought it would, but he’s not dumb enough to complain or question it. “How do you suppose I tell Elsa?”

“Quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. She’ll lose her mind if you do a big build up.”

“Aye, I know. I just don’t want to shock her.”

“Killian Jones,” Elsa screeches, coming over to him and slapping his shoulder before she places her hands on her hips and stares him down in such a way that it seems like she’s the one who’s half a foot taller, “you’re moving across the country, and you’re just now telling me?”

His eyes dart over her head to Emma who’s standing with her arms crossed over her chest and her bottom lip tugged between her teeth. “I’m sorry,” she mouths, shrugging her shoulders.

Looks like they both had the same willpower to keep their mouths shut.

“What do you mean just now? It’s only been a few days, Els.”

“You should have told me right after you decided. I could have helped.”

“With what?”

“Finding you an apartment or a house, you idiot,” she laughs, pulling him in for a hug that’s much rougher than the one Liam just gave her. Though she be but little, she is fierce. “I’ve never been to Boston, but I have my realtor’s license. I can help. It’s literally what I do for a living.”

“Darling, I know,” he chuckles into her hair before pulling back. “You helped me find my house here, but we’ve only just started looking. I don’t think we need to call in reinforcements just yet.”

“Can you believe he’s moving?” Elsa sighs, looking over to Liam before she pinches his cheeks. She’s literally pinching his cheeks. Maybe they all do need a little space. “Our little baby is growing up so fast.”

“You’re both incredibly obnoxious.”

“It’s just because we love you,” Elsa promises, pressing up on her toes and kissing his cheek where she’s just left it red. “And Emma. We love Emma too.”

“Nice to know I’m not chopped liver or something,” Emma sighs, walking over to stand next to them with the softest, most content smile on her face, “which is a super weird phrase if you think about it.”

“Swan, you’ve got to stop thinking about the origin of phrases.”

“Why? They’re all so weird.”

“You know what else is weird?” Liam questions, pulling out his phone and sliding his finger down so that the music quiets. “We were going to have chopped liver for lunch, so this is a great coincidence.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“I’m never letting you cook again.”

“I’m obviously kidding,” Liam sighs, leaning down to pick up a box before he hits the button that closes the garage door. “I’ve got a roast cooking, and I’ll even let you guys open a good bottle of wine since we’re celebrating your move.”

“Oh, you’re so generous,” Emma jests as she walks to the door that lets them into the kitchen, patting Liam on the shoulder on her way. “I can’t believe I get to be the recipient to your kindness.”

“You’re being cheeky for someone who’s probably going to need my help learning what to do and not do when living with Killian.”

Emma pauses in the doorway, sticking her head back out from where she’d walked inside the house. She seems to be thinking of something to say, her brows furrowed together, but then her lips are curling into a wicked smile and he sees her wink. She winks about like him, though. It’s so damn obvious when it’s supposed to be subtle. He loves it.

“You say this, but I also have a very big advantage that you never had when it comes to dealing with the clean freak over there.”

“And what’s that, love?”

“When he’s mad at me, I can just have sex with him.”

He’s never seen Liam look so horrified in his life, his eyes blown wide and brows raised while his lips continue to open and close, whatever words he had dying on his tongue.

“Yeah,” Elsa sighs, patting her husband on the shoulder even as he stays frozen, “I always knew that I liked her. She can make you be quiet, and honestly, what more does a girl need?”

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.10, “The Quacks”

The episode picks up not long after the last episode ended, with Buffy asking her friends just what in the hell that Secret Society scheme was all about.

Her friends, who were super excited to help Walker out last week, waste no time throwing him under the bus now.

Jonah didn’t like the Secret Society stuff.

Cyrus didn’t like the robes.

Andi thinks it was kind of a sick way to ask someone to a dance.

Walker watch out for the bus oh my god he has airpods in he can’t hear us! oh my god!

Buffy reels off a list of the things she didn’t like about what happened: no to surprises, no to being put on the spot, and no to predictability. The candles were cool though.

Andi asks if Buffy still likes Walker and she gives a resounding ehh. Buffy explains that Walker made her shoes like how he made Andi shoes once, a long time ago. Andi thinks that is so wrong. Buffy says it’s his “signature move.” Andi and Buffy imagine Walker’s given shoes to every girl in town.

Am I going crazy here? He’s an artist? He makes artsy gifts for people? This would be like getting mad at Andi for making you a craft gift. It’s what she does! It’s not like Walker’s going around giving everyone cheap store-bought gifts like horrible little gnomes or neon green shoelaces. As long as he didn’t copy the exact mural he made with Andi that one time, what’s the problem? It’s a homemade gift. He had to spend time working on it. It’s still really nice. By this standard, would he have also not been allowed to make a drawing of Buffy as a gift? He’s already done that for Andi so that’s off the table. Find a new way to be creative, Walker. Make a necklace out of discarded soda can tabs or make a headband out of an old belt or something. I know art is your thing, but, sorry, you’ve played that card. It’s over now. Move on.

By the way, Andi and Buffy assume, with zero evidence, that Walker is going around town giving shoes to every girl like an unfixed cobbler in heat. Why?

They also assume all those girls would wear those shoes he gave them as gifts to public places like the school dance, despite not being in a relationship with him. I do feel like most people wouldn’t wear something an ex gave them while currently being in a relationship with another person. That’s so thoughtless. Wear shoes Walker gave you as a romantic gift while hanging out around your current boyfriend? Who in the world would behave like that? That would be crazy. A monument to poor decision making. I simply can’t imagine.

Aaaaaanyway, Cyrus assumes that’s it then. Buffy’s breaking up with Walker. And Buffy’s like, yeah, we’re done. I’m ghosting him. Cyrus tells her that’s not good enough. Talk to him. Break up with him in person.

Feels like Cyrus could save himself a lot of energy by recording a voice memo on his phone that says “YOU HAVE TO COMMUNICATE!” and just playing it for his friends over and over again.

Buffy thinks Walker knows, but Jonah assures her he doesn’t because: “He’s a guy.”

The pinpoint accuracy of those three words rattles Buffy to her core.

At the dance studio, Cyrus... dances?

...has a seizure?

...gets attacked by a swarm of gnats?

...reenacts the Ides of March?

...is possessed by the spirit of an evil marionette?

I’m just not sure.

Amber shows up and asks if he’s rehearsing being electrocuted.

Ah. Damn. That’s a good one.

Cyrus tells her he has to come up with an original dance for his choreography final and perform it. Wild that he’s already got a final exam. His dance class was like a month long. No wonder it seems like all he’s learned to do is flail his arms about. Amber volunteers to tutor him in the art of dance choreography.

Wait, does Amber know how to dance? I mean, I guess she did at the house party that one time. But can she really teach Cyrus to capture the raw, super strange energy of this performance?

I have my doubts.

Over at Bex’s, Bowie presents Andi and Bex with a surprise.

That’s right! A plank!

Andi wants to know who the Quinns are. Bowie thinks they all will be, after the marriage. Bex isn’t so sure. (Maybe hyphenate?) Bowie thinks it’s important, bonding them all together as a tribe, but Bex also thinks it’s important for everyone to choose their own identity. (Hyphenate?) Mack is part of who Bex is. For example, it’s on her bowling shirt. (Hyphenate. Stitch “-Quinn” right on to the end of that bad boy.)

Andi proposes they mash up their names but they realize that would make them the Quacks and abandon that idea so quickly they never even consider they could also become the Mann family, which is pretty sweet.

Back at the dance studio, Amber asks Cyrus to touch his toes. He can’t, but in fairness, he’s only been at this dance thing for like two weeks.

Amber tries to get him to do some moves but Cyrus says it’s too hard, so Amber hair-slaps some sense into him.

At the gym for the first Spikes game, Buffy watches the opposing team warmup and settles into some depressing fatalism.

Her teammate, who the end credits tell me was named Kaitlin, says the team is well-aware of that because Buffy’s been saying it all week. Kaitlin tries to get Buffy to say something that builds confidence in the team but Buffy’s not interested.

The team’s coach shows up.

Her name is Mrs. Deborah Mendenhall. She’s the guidance counselor. She’s also late to the game, knows nothing about basketball, has the gait and posture of an elderly woman, and is dressed like a flight attendant for some reason.

On the bright side, she brought orange slices.

So at least no one will get scurvy.

Kaitlin points out that the good news is they don’t have enough girls to even play. Buffy’s shocked no one else is coming and wants to know why. Kaitlin tells her it’s probably because Buffy’s spent the entire week telling everyone they were going to lose and be humiliated.

Look, say what you will about TJ as a team captain, but he only went after one player on his team. Buffy recruited this girls’ team, then spent several weeks alienating and insulting them and eventually got 2/3s of her team to quit before they even got to play their first game.

I hope she’s cleared her calendar for a ton of redemption arcs.

Buffy says the loss would have been really embarrassing, but now they’re going to have to forfeit, which she feels is way worse.

I disagree. You can forfeit with some dignity. Floundering around the court while the other team beats you down leaves barely any room for that.

It’s like this. Say you’re going to a party, but right before you get there, you get mud all over the back of your pants. Huge stain. Can’t get it out. Just go home, right? Forfeit the evening. You walk into that party and everyone’s going to think you had a horrible accident. You can desperately try to explain it’s mud, or you can try to own it in some weird way I can’t even imagine, but let’s be honest, all you’re going to get is a mean nickname and an unflattering reputation about town.

The lesson, kids, is if you have a chance to forfeit, forfeit.

Buffy decides, instead, she’s going to try calling the team.

Up in the stands, Andi asks Libby if she’s still planning on breaking up with Jonah. Libby is. She then points at Jonah and mimics him texting like a dope. Jonah, who is good at picking up subtle hints, wonders if these two are talking about him.

Buffy has no luck convincing anyone from the team to come get publicly humiliated. I say call TJ. Tell him to grab a wig and race down to the gym. Worth a shot.

Instead Buffy looks into the stands to try and find a replacement. She spots her artsy friend who’s shown almost zero athletic ability over the years...

...and thinks, yep, there’s the ticket.

So, Buffy drags Andi out of the bleachers and to the locker room to change as Jonah and Cyrus head up to sit next to Libby.

Cyrus greets Libby with sign language.

Oh, by the way, Cyrus also knows sign language now. Where did he find the time? I can barely commit to the 10 minute Duolingo Spanish lessons on my phone.

Jonah asks Cyrus to do some translating. He wants to know if Libby is mad at him. Libby wants him to learn sign language. Jonah apologizes through Cyrus, but Libby walks away.

Cyrus tells Jonah texting Libby used to be an okay way to communicate, but now the two have been going out for a while. Perfect opportunity for him to pull out his phone and play the “YOU HAVE TO COMMUNICATE!” message.

Also, a while? It’s not been like, a couple weeks? Cyrus’s dance class is over already, Buffy’s team is just now having their first game of the season, Jonah and Libby have been dating two years and I’ve lost complete understanding of the timeline again.

Jonah says he hasn’t learned because he’s afraid he’ll be bad at it.

Cyrus says it’ll be enough if he’s making the effort, but I just want to put this back on the table: forfeit the relationship. Take your mud-stained pants and go home.

At Bex’s, Bex approaches Bowie to do some compatibility testing of their relationship by asking some big questions and jotting down some answers to compare.

Bowie asks her about calzones. I’ll take this one, Bex. It’s pizza with excess bread. It’s hard to get a good cook on the stuffing. The toppings are rarely dispersed in a satisfying way. Not worth it.

Oh? Guess Bex and I are more compatible than I thought.

Bex wants to play seriously though, so they jump in. Bex asks if Bowie would ever want to have more kids, to which Bowie is like...

I mean, why not? If it all goes wrong, Celia’s still around, right?

Buffy brings her newest basketball recruit out to the gym so the game can finally begin. Things don’t start so hot.

Andi gets a pass and then takes off running with the ball like a halfback on a football team.

She forgot about dribbling. Bad sign. Dribbling is probably the second rule almost all people know about basketball behind knowing that the ball has to go into the basket to score points. God, I hope she remembers that at least.

Things don’t get much better from there. The public humiliation of the basketball team happens just as it was foretold.

Mrs. Mendenhall, meanwhile, spends time handing out snacks to the opposing team.

I’d normally be mad about this but she clearly has too many oranges. There’s only five people on Buffy’s team. Might as well not let them go to waste.

Andi gets the ball again and immediately turns it over.

Buffy was worried about being embarrassed, but honestly, Andi’s taking the brunt of it here. Maybe stop giving her the ball? Save her from herself.

Buffy mercifully calls a timeout to think things over.

She pulls the team into a huddle. They think she’s going to chew them out, but instead, she thanks them for showing up. She apologizes for being a bad captain and says she’s realized losing is not the worst thing ever. It’s great that those who showed up are there and that they’re in the game.

Or, basically, isn’t it nice to just be alive and doing stuff? Which is a decent message for life but a really low bar to hurdle for team sports. Congrats to us all on not dying.

They start playing again with a newfound, joyous outlook. I’m glad they’re happy with this, but their play is hurting me physically.

Kaitlin catches a pass and goes up for a lay-up from about a foot away from the basket and nearly misses not just the hoop, but the entire backboard.

It thuds off the side of the backboard and makes a noise that’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. This should be a wake up call for Kaitlin to get her vision checked. Or some kind of medical checkup. Something’s wrong.

Andi gets a pass, then, for some reason, spins, runs the wrong way, and hucks a wild shot up from half-court at the wrong basket.

It goes in as the game ends. Everyone celebrates for different reasons. I’m light headed.

Are we really sure that wasn’t worse than just leaving early? Are we really going with the lesson here of: “Kids, it doesn’t matter how terrible you do, as long as you do.” I hope no one growing up to be a doctor or pilot feels that way. Please, do those jobs well or don’t do them at all. No one’s gonna cheer you if you put the wrong organ inside your surgery patient or get lost and crash land into the ocean.

At Bex’s, Bex and Bowie review their answers and find themselves to be really compatible.

I think the biggest sign of their compatibility was that neither of them thought to ask the other any of these big, important life questions before agreeing to get married.

Lack of forethought and an improvisational approach to life problems suits them well, I guess.

Jonah meets Libby outside the school. He asks her to teach him sign language in sign language.

If he really wants to learn, he should hunt down the 5th grade teacher who made everyone else so fluent.

Libby agrees to. She tells Jonah she likes him.

Jonah says he likes her, 2. They seem to have reached a good level of understanding in their relationship. Amazing what COMMUNICATION! can do.

At Cyrus’s dance class, Cyrus prepares to deliver his final. Amber psyches him up, he heads out onto the floor, and...

Guys. It’s no good.

I mean, he’s doing this march walk thing.

And this scuba move like he’s dancing at a party from some 1960s beach movie.

And the robot.

His big finale is the sprinkler, of all things...

...followed by the Glee throw-your-fist-up-and-look-to-the-sky move.

I just don’t see how Cyrus passes this.

How do you watch that as a dance teacher and not go, “That was the laziest collection of basic, stock dance moves I’ve ever seen. Did you learn nothing? Did you even practice?”

Is this all another lesson about just showing up and doing a terrible job and being happy with that? Again, it’s good to have a positive attitude, but that’s not going to save your GPA.

At Bex’s, Bowie sits Andi and Bex down for a new surprise.

That’s right. Another plank!

Bowie probably should’ve learned to get everyone on board with his decision first before committing to a plank. That “The Quinns” plank is basically expensive firewood at this point.

But Bowie wins Andi and Bex over with this one.

And the news that he intends to take the Mack last name. It really was a foregone conclusion. Doesn’t he know what show he’s on? It’s called Andi Mack, not Andi Quinn. There’s already all tons of merchandise. What are you going to do, render that stuff worthless? Pfft. Good luck going up against the Disney Corporation’s profits, bud.

Bex wants to know if he’s sure he wants to be a Mack, and deal with all of the things that come with being a Mack. But Bowie’s in.

So, the Quinn names dies with Cookie. Long live the Quinns.

At school, Buffy takes out her phone and makes a call. The person on the other end of the line picks up. Buffy’s like, hey, last time I saw you, I don’t think I handled things very well and can we please meet up to talk?

And who’s on the other end of the call?

This guy!

Oh, who is this guy again? God, it’s on the tip of my tongue. It was a weird name. The kind of name they stopped giving babies in the 1950s.

I wanna say Harry? Ronny? Ralph? Was it Ralph? I feel like there was a Y in there.

Let’s just call him Not Walker for now until I can dig through the Andi Mack wiki for answers.

[fandorkofeverything]

Doubts And Scars Chapter Six

//Katherine’s P.O.V//

It's been two weeks since we arrived in Horseshoe Overlook. Things have been pretty good so far. We've stayed in camp; we've stayed out of trouble. Hopefully nobody finds us or more importantly, knows us.

Over the past few weeks it's been a routine. Wake up, drink coffee, eat breakfast, sneak some to Kieran and Raine. Get water from the river, wash clothes, help Uncle Pearson with lunch. Then eat lunch, and sneak some to Kieran and Raine. Spend some time with Javier, talk to Sadie, check on John, helping Aunt Susan with whatever she needs. Finally, check in with Dad for the day, eat dinner, sneak some to Kieran and Raine, hang around the campfire for awhile and go to bed. It's been that way for two weeks, and I'm sick of it.

But, maybe now's my chance to get out of here for a bit.

"If you're going to take old man into town… Could you take us too?" I heard Aunt Karen ask, I looked up in interest, quickly making eye contact with Raine. We exchanged a smile and nodded in usion. Raine and I have grown close over these past few weeks, despite the insults from Bill and Sadie. She'll find her place eventually. Now, it's the time for her to get out in some civilization.

"Why? What'd you got planned?" Dad asked, lighting a cigarette. I scoffed in response.

"You know her, Dad. She'll find something to do. All of us women usually do." I crossed my arms with a smile.

"Your daughter's right, Arthur." Aunt Karen commented, followed by Tilly and Mary-Beth.

"We're bored out of our minds! Been cooped up here for two weeks now. Karen's about ready to murder Grimshaw." Mary-Beth commented, and I chuckled slightly.

"Come on, Dad! We might find some leads too." I put in, resulting in my father looking at me.

"Have you finished your chores?" I sighed, rolling my eyes at his response.

"'Have you finished your chores?' What's happened to you, Arthur? A few young, healthy women want you to take them robbing, and you're worried about house chores! Let's go!" Karen's words were enough to persuade him because he finally nodded in approval.

"Fair enough, you got me."

"Whoohoo!" I exclaimed, with a slight laugh. "C'mon, Raine!"

"Ah!" Dad grabbed me by the arm, lightly. "The O'Driscoll girl's not coming." I glared at him and rolled my eyes.

"Raine is coming. Plus, she's my responsibility. Wherever she goes, I go." I decided, pulling her close to me.

Dad shook his head and sighed. "Fine. But, like you said. She's your responsibility." I nodded and smiled.

"Great! C'mon, Raine!" I looked back to see the redhead standing further away from the carriage. I quickly walked over to her.

"Raine. You okay?" I asked her and she shrugged.

"I already know they don't like me… They're all like them��. But you're not like them. you're Why take me along?" I smiled at her, putting my hands on her shoulders..

"Because…. Stealing. Fighting. Robbing. Defending. Fighting to try to survive, it's how we live. We're not like the O'Driscolls, we would never let anything happen to you, or Kieran. If we have to fight, we fight. If we have to kill, we kill. But we don't put innocent lives in danger or kill them because we feel like it. We have dignity and humanity." I told her and she looked up at me, her deep blue eyes sparkling with hope.

"You promise?" I asked her and I nodded, standing up.

"I promise." I held out my hand, she smiled and took it. I held out my pinkie pinker and she clasped it with mine. "Have you ever broke a pinkie promise?" I asked her, she shook her head 'no.' "Neither have I." I motioned toward the carriage, she gave a small smile and followed.

Dad urged the horses forward, and awhile after, Uncle asked for a song. To which Mary-Beth, Tilly, Karen and I were happy to do so.

"I got a girl in Berryville,

Can't be screwed 'cause she's too damn ill,

So I don't go down there no more,

There's a blue horse laying outside her door.

I got a girl in Valentine,

Likes to drink that fancy wine,

Plumes in her hat was two-feet tall,

The crack in her pants paid for it all.

I got a girl in Berryville,

Can't get it in her cause she won't stay still,

She kicks and squeals and farts and hollers,

Won't take less than seven dollars.

I got a girl across the lane,

Hair down there like a horse's mane,

I got a gal and she's got a thing,

Fits my peter like a diamond ring

I got a girl in Valentine,

Likes to drink that fancy wine.

Plumes in her hat was two feet tall,

The crack in her pants paid for it all."

While the four of us sang, we kept laughing 'cause Aunt Karen and I kept messing up the lyrics. I looked over to Raine, who had a shocked expression, but had amusement written all over her face.

"What? Never heard any music before?" I asked her, with a chuckle.

"No, just never songs like that." She admitted, gaining the attention of Aunt Karen.

"Why? Thought your brother would let you talk like this all the time." Raine shook her head in response.

"No ma'am, quite the opposite. Ever since our parent's passing, he's been more than a brother. He's kind of stepped in as my father without being my father. He's my caretaker. But also, my best friend. He shows me right from wrong. He doesn't let me curse, or anyone bad get too close to me. I think the only reason he hasn't struck out yet is because he knows he's outnumbered, and he knows Katherine will kill anyone who so much as looks at me funny." She looked up at me as she mentioned myself. She has a point. I could kick everyone's ass in camp. Even Micah and Dad. Everyone knows this, that's why they're wary around me to try not to piss me off.

"Is that so?" Tilly questioned, looking at the blue-eyed redhead.

"In that case, you're very lucky, Sophia." Mary-Beth told the young teen and Raine exhaled sharply.

"Raine. My name is Raine Duffy, ma'am. Not Sophia. Not Miss Duffy. I'm me. I'm just… Raine." She told Mary-Beth, very clearly trying not to lose her temper.

I heard the train whistle blow and I looked on. A town! Valentine. I took in the air and scoffed at the smell. I'm used to horses smell, but sheep?! No thank you. I hate sheep.

"Now, Katherine; you can't go running over these sheep with your horse." Dad commented and my mouth stood agape .

"That was one time! One time!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air in aggravation. Mary-Beth, Tilly, Aunt Karen, Uncle and Dad laughed at my antics as I sat, arms crossed in the carriage.

"Just remember, keep a low profile…. Katherine." Dad commented and I spluttered, offended.

"Will you remember that through, Arthur?" Aunt Karen stood by my side and Dad shrugged.

"Probably not." He admitted and I smirked as he pulled the carriage over in front of the stables.

"What's the plan, Uncle?"

"Well, we're going to do what every self-respecting man do; put the women to work." Uncle commented and I rolled my eyes, but smiled.

"C'mon Raine, let's see what's around here." Raine trailed behind me as we separated from the others. A horse kicking startled the both of us. We looked over in the round pen; a brown horse with a darker brown mane reared, he neighed fiercely as he did so. He looked like an Arabian, maybe a bit of thoroughbred in him. He seemed high strung. Spirited. Strong-willed. Maybe untamable.

"Wow….." Raine whispered, looking to the horse. He stopped for a moment, making eye contact with Raine. It's like they shared a connection.

"Yep, this horse is reckless, un-rideable and untamable. Stable owner says he'll have to put him down." A young stable boy, no older than me, told us and I held my breath. I can't let that happen.

"How much is he?" I asked, not taking my eyes of him.

"Fifty dollars." He told me and I sighed, pulling out some money and handing it to the man.

"You're a good woman, miss." He told me and I shrugged.

"If you say so." I told him, grabbing the stallion's reins, leading him on.

"Why'd you do that?" Raine asked as we walked on.

"Something tells me, you and this horse are going to get along. You're shy, quiet and reserved. he's quirky, spirited and spunky. I think he'll bring out the best in you." I told her and she smiled, petting his neck.

"Are you sure?" She asked and I nodded.

"Positive. How well can you ride?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Not that well. I can ride Branwen, but she hardly spooks at anything." She admitted and I nodded.

"As soon as I convince them to untie Kieran; him and I are going to teach you. Properly." I told her and she smiled eagerly.

"Really?!" She squealed in excitement and I chuckled in response.

"Really! Look, there's the others. C'mon, let's go." I handed her the reins and she led him on.

"Katherine?" I stopped for a moment to look at her. "Thank you." I wrapped an arm around her and smiled.

"Anytime, kiddo. Anytime."

"There you are! Where'd you get the horse?" Aunt Karen, with a bruise on her face, asked me.

"Where'd you get the bruise?"

"I asked you first."

"Stable owner was going to put him down. Said he was un-rideable, reckless and unmanageable. I disagreed. Raine's his owner now." I told her and she nodded slowly.

"You're really pushing me with these random new horses, Katherine." Dad commented and I shrugged, with a smile.

"Hey…. Who's that guy over there looking at us?" Mary-Beth asked us, pointing 'cross the way, at a man on a rusty brown horse.

"Hey! Weren't you in Blackwater a few weeks back?" The man asked, looking to my father.

"Me? No, Sir. I ain't from there." Dad told him, then proceeding to look to us as if he was confused what he was talking about.

"Oh, you were! I definitely saw you with a bunch of fellers."

"Me? no. impossible. Listen, buddy. Come here for a minute." Dad walked towards him slightly, giving him an honest and honorable approach.

"I saw you….."

"Come here."

"Come on! Get!" The man kicked his horse in the sides, making him run off out of Valentine.

Dad looked to us, worry written all over his face. "I don't like this."

"Me neither…." Uncle commented, I then realized that he was standing slightly in front of all of us, with the exception of my father.

"Go get the girls home. I'm going to have a word with our friend." Dad mounted a random horse, seeing as Raine's horse needed some help.

"Be careful, Arthur!" Tilly told him, worried.

"Just a word. Yah!" Dad rode off, I kept my eye on him until we couldn't see him anymore.

"He'll be alright, Katherine. He always is." Uncle told me, a hand around me in comfort and I nodded slowly.

"If you say so." I responded, holding my arms around my body.

"Come on girls, let's get you home." Aunt Karen, Tilly, and Mary-Beth got on the carriage. "Are you two coming or are you walking?"

"What about the horse?" Raine asked, pointing to the horse I bought for her.

"He'll follow us. Tempt him with a carrot." Uncle threw her a carrot he had in his pocket; no doubt left for Nell.

"Come on boy! You want the carrot? Come get it!" Raine got on the carriage, waving the carrot around, causing the horse to perk his ears up. He walked on as Uncle drove forward.

The horse followed us all the way to horseshoe, once we got there, she gave him the carrot. He happily ate it, bobbing his head up and down.

"I think he likes you." I told her, smiling as he rubbed against her back, as if to ask for more.

Raine spotted her brother, and her eyes lit up, leading the horse to where he was.

"Kieran! Kieran! Look what Katherine bought me!"

Kieran looked up from where he was, he looked sad at first. Then, when he saw the brown horse, his eyes lit up.

"No way! Where'd you get him?" He asked, the horse sniffing his pockets for carrots.

"Valentine. The stable owner was gonna put him down, so Katherine bought him for me."

"Did you tell her 'thank you?'" He asked her and she nodded.

"Yes. The stable owner said he was un-ridable. He basically called him crazy. Katherine reckons we can fix that." She told him, and he nodded.

"Yes, if it's done right, we can. But…." He twisted his hands around the ropes, and I smiled.

"I think I can help with that."

"Raine, what'd you gonna name him?" Kieran asked, ad the horse reared, startling her. He came back on all fours and she nodded slowly.

"Spirit. His name is Spirit."

[drivingsideways]

Episode 70

*deep sigh *

It’s clear that FZW by now, has completely lost all trust in NY; or rather she *trusts * him to do all the wrong things. 

OH THE FUCKING IRONY OF THIS, LISTEN TO YOURSELF NING YI, YOU REALLY HAVE BECOME YOUR FATHER. 

Zhiwei’s single minded focus here is to get her people to safety- a stance that Ning Yi finds infuriating. 

I remember the first time I watched this I went DUDE NO DON’T GO THERE DON’T GO THERE DON’T GO THERE

BUT OF COURSE HE WENT THERE

ME: *GASP * DUDE YOU DID NOT YOU DID NOT 

Oh Zhiwei. But here’s the thing- in the end, this simplifies things for her? Like, he’s just another man, who thinks he can take what he wants from her, just another man who’s reducing her to her body, and that? that is nothing that she can’t trade for the sake of her people, whom she OWES. 

Ning Yi YOU FUCKED UP

SO BADLY I CAN’T EVEN. 

me: take it back, take it back, jesus have you lost your fucking mind

Zhiwei starts disrobing: the equivalent of a slap to his face, and you can see he FEELS it. 

“Why?” he asks

He’s so angry, he pushes her to the bed- DUDE DUDE WHAT ARE YOU DOING

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU FUCKING IDIOT

MORAL: WE ALL TURN INTO OUR PARENTS

me: * bangs head on desk *

They cut to that scene where Wei Zhi and Ning Yi had a conversation about how society needs to change (disregard status and connections) 

what a fucking tragic call back, my heart is in pieces. 

Again, I’m fairly sure a scene cut here ruined some of this: it feels Zhiwei would have something to say here?  because the next scene is a jump cut to them sitting together on the bed and she’s all soft and sad and tragic

He also reiterates his wish for peace and prosperity for Tiansheng, and the right to life and dignity for all people-

but it’s tragic that she calls him “Your Majesty”, and not Ning Yi, and his response, heartfelt as it is, is also from that perspective. And so no matter that he is tender and emotional (”I want all your lifetimes”), the man next to her is The Emperor, not just the man she is in love with; and she is the Princess of Dacheng, not just Feng Zhiwei. 

OOOOPS. 

Yep boy, you’re always going to be the Emperor, even in the bedroom, there’s no escaping it. 

Ning Yi tells her that he’ll have proof for her in three days time, and asks whether she will be willing to become his Empress if she is satisfied after that. 

The contrast to the first proposal he had made, way back in Minhai, could not be more stark. This is an Emperor negotiating, never mind that he is still desperately in love with her; but love and possession and power are too mixed up now, and he doesn’t know how to untangle it. Neither of them does. 

Later, she comes to the former residence of the Prince of Chu

ARGGHHHHH THESE TWO ARE SO GREAT IN THIS SCENE,and i love how this is set in this room, with the masks, and how Ning Yi swings between being just himself and being The Emperor (even when he clearly doesn’t want to)

When he takes a step toward her, she steps back! 

Me: OH NO, OH NO. THIS IS TOO PAINFUL TO WATCH. 

AND SO HE STEPS BACK TOO.

I’m just going to be wailing for the rest of the time. 

Yueling is brought out (by Gu Nanyi, which, what?? NO EXPLANATION FORTHCOMING) - but Zhiwei can only remember her brother’s telling her that he loved Yueling and that she must trust her. Turns out that *Yueling * stabbed Helian Zheng to death. 

me: *rolling eyes * This show is so transparent in its attempts to make NY a “hero” despite all the awful things he’s done. Like the whole Helian Zheng thing is twisted in a most unfuckingbelievable way to make it that NY *didn’t * kill HZ. Outrageously bad writing there, I can’t even.

Yueling’s anger spills over

(Note the similarities to what happened with Zhu Yin)

Feng Zhiwei tells her that she is willing to lose her life to make sure Yueling is safe, but she must give up her plan to destroy the Ning family.

Ning Yi interrupts to say, she doesn’t want you dead, she wants you and me to turn against each other, she wants Tiansheng to destroy Dacheng so that you and I can never go back, and he vows that he will not let that happen. 

She brings up Ya Le, Lady Wang and Helian Zheng’s deaths, blaming the both of them for it. You both have so much blood on your hands, she says.

She confesses to killing Ning Shizheng, but Ning Yi doesn’t let Ning Cheng immediately kill her, he orders that she be taken to the Ministry of Justice to await trial.

Alone together, Ning Yi tells her that the truth is hard to bear, and that sometimes it is best not to know. 

Meanwhile, Ning Ji tries to convince Ning Qi to turn himself in. There’s a jump cut, so we’re not clear whether his argument actually works, but the next scene is that Ning Qi goes to the Prince of Chu’s residence to meet Ning Yi. They face off against each other, and then DUN-DUN-DUN-

Ning Shizheng is ALIVE! 

Honestly, on the first watch, this PLOT TWIST shocked me, but I still find it kind of ...unnecessary? 

Ning Qi and Ning Shizheng have a confrontation, with Ning Qi clinging to the edict , like, at the end of the day, it’s the only concrete sign he has that his father may, possibly, once, have loved him. GAH. FUCKING TERRIBLE. :’(

Again, really weird scene cuts- when Ning Qi comes in, there’s only Ning Cheng and Ning Yi in the room. When the Emperor comes in, he’s accompanied by Official Zhao and Yujin. After the flashback to the night of the coup, we come back to the room- and suddenly we have Xin Ziyan and Ning Ji in the room- WHAT???? 

Me: *tearing out my hair *  WHY DID THIS SHOW GO AND RUIN BASIC STUFF LIKE SCENE CONTINUITY IN THE LAST STRETCH

Ning Qi demands that Ning Yi be punished for killing Lady Wang, and finally, finally, Xin Ziyan admits that he was the one. 

Oh Ning Yi. What were you planning to do, if Ziyan hadn’t admitted it? (Luckily we don’t have to find out, because I’m sure it would have been something terrible)

The revelation of the miscarriage shocks Ning Qi- “Child?” he keeps saying, “child?”. 

Because this entire fiasco is really about their totally fucked up father, and his inability to be a good parent. 

Ning Qi stabs himself with the hand with his hair pin

the answer to that is pretty much, NOPE. 

Have you not been paying attention, Ning Qi? 

God, Ning Shizheng needs to DIE. 

In the end Ning Qi is taken away to Zongzheng Temple, completely unhinged. 

It’s a very distressing scene, and everyone there is deeply affected by it, and you can see the mix of pity and revulsion on their faces, except the Emperor, who, having survived a murder attempt is probably still bitter about having to give up the throne...ugh. 

After Ning Shizheng leaves, Ziyan and Ning Yi are left together.

Ziyan finally comes clean, and also, it seems, finally recognizes Ning Yi’s right to the throne

but Ning Yi has already lost too much, too many people

Ning Yi is too wearied by the losses already, and chooses to let Ziyan go free (or at least that’s the implication) p.s I had to look up what the “Ten Abominations” mentioned in the oath Ning Yi takes as the Emperor were i.e. which crimes did not come under the general amnesty he announces on his ascension and ha, consequently the “Eight Deliberations” i.e. which crimes may be forgiven and for what reason- and I suppose Ziyan could be forgiven on several of those counts, legally and ethically as per the conventions of that time, but honestly, in this case, it really is that Ning Yi cannot bear to lose his friend (though, in a certain sense, the distance between Ziyan and The Emperor will now always remain, as we see below)

HANDHOLDING! OH NO, KILL ME NOW. 

Ziyan takes a step back- leaving Ning Yi’s hand empty (me: :’(( 

oh no

:’((

Somebody rescue my sad murder bae from his lonely fate :’((

Meanwhile, Feng Zhiwei finally confronts Ning Shizheng

area man is shocked by local news at 10

Sigh. Her fight to exist as her own person, to get to choose whom she wants to be during this story has been even more intense than Ning Yi’s, actually. Being a woman in a patriarchal, misogynist world has meant that she’s had to fight every step for her freedom. It is only Qiu Mingying (another woman) who finally says “let her be whoever she wants to be”. 

She confronts him about the deaths of her mother and brother

me, whispering softly: oh no oh no oh no

me: * lies down on the ground *

Literally every man in her life has tried to force her to being the shape that they want or need her to be, and expected her to follow, and like in this case, be grateful for it. Whether that was Master Zong (her first teacher), or Ning Yi (her lover) or Zhangsun Hong (her brother). 

THAT’S RIGHT GIRL

But Ning Shizheng is more than a match for her, a man who knows exactly how to wield a knife and how deep it will go. He asks her whether Ning Yi has asked her to be the Empress, whether she thinks that will turn out well. Your identity as Dacheng’s heir will be a thorn in his side, he says. and it will turn to bitterness and resentment. 

look at her face, oh no oh no 

me: *gasp *

OH THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. IS HE, IS HE? 

I’ll be honest: I don’t know, and I think Feng Zhiwei doesn’t know either, and that’s not a good enough answer. 

and then the MOST TERRIBLE SCENE OF ALL

GOD HE CAN’T EVEN LOOK HER IN THE EYE FOR LONG AS HE ASKS WHETHER SHE WILL HONOUR THEIR PROMISE

She asks for three days

me: Zhiwei, Zhiwei, wait, wait , wait , think about it, take a year off, take two years off *whimpering *

me: *wailing * GO AFTER HER YOU STUPID MAN GO AFTER HER YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN SHE’S ACTING HOW MANY TIMES HAS SHE DONE IT IN FRONT OF YOU 

Zhiwei goes off to settle things so that the remnants of Dacheng can be safe in Minhai. Honestly, Yan Huaishi is the only valid person in this entire clusterfuck, fight me. 

After they leave, she says

Zhiwei, retain some of that hope for yourself, gdi.

Nanyi renews his vow to go where she goes. 

This is the part I really don’t get- would she really do that to him? Leave him alone in the world? I can’t believe it :’( 

I would have absolutely accepted an ending where she takes him and they leave? Like, if anyone can swing that, it would be her. 

But I think this is where the weight of everything that has happened to her, the seeming inevitability of it, seems to have finally broken her. 

And so, like Ning Shizheng had predicted, it is a harsh winter. 

So look- I said earlier that on the rewatch, I could see that they were telling  a different story than what I had first imagined: that the central conflict is not between individuals but between individuals and Fate, and the writers come down on the side of “Fate” winning, all the time. 

With that in mind, I suppose, you can see her suicide as a last act of resistance- “you are free” says Ning Yi to her, in his last soliloquy. She escapes her “Fate” through death; but he remains alive and bound to it. Theoretically, I can see how that works? 

But on another level, I still can’t accept it specifically because she’s a woman, and how they wrote that story.  While Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei have parallel arcs about identity and finding their place in the world, and fighting Fate for their freedom, only one of those two arcs ends in death.

 Her anger- which we are only allowed to see in flashes, and always, is almost just as quickly, undermined- especially, especially at the end, when it is turned at the “hero” of the story. Her anger is transmuted in the writing to despair and sorrow. I was reading a Leslie Jamison quote the other day that hit me so hard, because I was watching this at the same time. A woman’s anger is not seen as “manageable”, we would rather see her sad, than angry. A corollary to that is that the anger and sorrow must be- has to be- turned inward, upon herself than outward. Men, on the other hand- well, we know how that goes. And that’s why, at the end of the day, Ning Yi’s sorrow can be (hypothetically) turned into a vision of a utopian empire; his anger and power seeking (morally justified in the writing, over and over, because of the terrible things that happen to him, upto and including the fact that Zhiwei leaves him behind in the end) can be rewarded, in some way; not that he’s not tragic, like sure, there’s the whole metaphorical sacrificing of himself (Liulang) for the man he is destined to be- it’s that he’s left alive. With life, there is always possibility. Besides, being a man, HE HAS THINGS TO DO LIKE RUNNING THE WORLD. NATURALLY. So Ning Yi is left with possibility, and a final breakng-the-fourth-wall-look-into-the-camera-as he promises to Fulfill his Mission- while Feng Zhiwei- no, she’s not allowed that, she can only throw herself off a cliff (and float through the air, as though someone ending their life because they can’t see their way forward is beautiful.) 

Well, anyways, that ends that. 

This has been...fun? ahahahahaha, NO IT HAS NOT. 

THIS SHOW HAS RUINED MY LIFE. 

[suen-chan]

Five times betrayed [virtuesinpatience]

Send me ‘five times + a word’ and I’ll write a drabble about our muses based on it. | always open.

Five times betrayed | @virtuesinpatience

one. the first time he see’s the look of betrayal on souta’s face, he has to stop himself from laughing. souta is making a fuss with his food, a picky eater through and through just like suengri had been and still was but he particularly felt bad with the bags under his parents eyes. they were tired from sleepless nights and long missions & work, so he supposed he’d help them out. eyes skimming across the table, suengri grabs a a crackers and shifts closer to souta’s high seat. he waves the snack in front of the younger and it momentarily stops his fussing, hands stretching out to grab the offered treat. suengri pulls back though and just when souta is about to start whining again, suengri raises a brow at him. souta quickly stops, and although he’s obedient, the deep frown on chubby cheeks is enough to tell him he still wasn’t happy. 

“go, ahhh” giggling softly, souta does as he’s told and imitates his actions. then, much too quick for the youngest to notice, suengri switches out the cracker for the baby food he kept denying earlier and shoves it in his mouth. the change in his face is gradual. from smiling contently, to slight confusion, then sudden realization and finally, he gives him the stink eye and suengri can’t hold it back any longer and he bursts out laughing.  

two. ‘alright. but you gatta promise to not cheat!’ souta’s determined, fingers balled up into fists and feet firmly planted on the ground. suengri is amused, but he hums none the less and ruffles his brothers hair. when they stand behind their makeshift line of twigs and rocks, they count to three before sprinting into the woods. their target isn’t so deep so as to get lost, but it wasn’t close either. by the time suengri reaches the tree, he jumps on one of the branches and sits,,, waiting. it isn’t long until his brother comes along huffing and puffing, eyes glazed over but suddenly becoming sharp upon spotting him. ‘you promised you wouldn’t cheat!’

suengri cracks a smile, leaning a bit forward. “i never promised anything, & i’m not cheating. cheating is if i started earlier than you, or if i tied your shoelaces together. i’m just faster and had training which you’re aware of and it gives me an advantage. not cheating.”

three. it’s one of those rare times when suengri isn’t all soft smiles and easygoing on souta. usually he lets things slide with the younger. usually, he does anything for him, brings the entire world to his feet if need be, and does so without complaint. this time however, a deep frown mars the olders features, and eyes are a tad darker— disappointed. souta is staring at him in a similar manner. but it’s not disappointment. it’s anger & frustration —- betrayal. ‘ i didn’t think you’d be the one behind this. you’re my brother. i thought—’ suengri cuts him off with an incredulous huff of laughter. maybe he’d been too nice to him, too lenient.  leaning forward, he grabs his brothers chin and forces him to look him in the eyes. 

   “listen. i don’t give a shit about what you do. steal, kill, abandon the village. if you talked to me first, i’d help you with a solution. but don’t come here and lie to me. if you want to keep some ounce of dignity, then at least have your honesty with you. i found out the truth and that’s why i told parents. what are you going to do about it?”

four.  before he leaves, he makes sure to stop by his brothers room. he only cracks the door slightly open, never fully entering because he doesn’t feel as if he deserves it. after all, going ahead of their mission and leaving him behind to take on the more difficult tasks… well that wasn’t fair. he knew it wasn’t. it wasn’t fair to souta or for his growth. and yet a part of his still couldn’t help but shield him from all that, shield him from having blood stained hands, and shield him from how the world really worked. because to him, souta was still the baby brother he took care of, the baby brother who still fussed, and worried, and smiled despite the wrong doings of society and its people. to him he was pure and innocent but maybe he wasn’t. not entirely. but the illusion helped… that someone as kind as him still looked at him for the answers. him, who had blood stained hands, innocent or not. him, who criticized the world at large and everyone in it. him, who has fallen, and fallen, and fallen so many times before. for the price of this betrayal, this denial to allow souta to see the other side of the world, suengri think’s it’s enough. that what he was doing is worth it, so with that final thought in mind, he closes the door and goes on ahead, leaving his brother to sleep in his dreams.

five. ‘hey, what do you have there? is it good?’ suengri takes another sip from his straw, head softly tilting towards his younger brother for a moment before staring at him in a quiet & pensive manner. then he hums and nods, passing the drink to the younger. “yep. very, very good. want to try?” it’s adorable how souta heeds his words without question. when he takes the offered drink and slurps a large mouthful of it, suengri tries hard to suppress his amusement. it doesn’t take long before he’s laughing at the familiar stink eye that’s directed towards him. 

‘you said it was good!’

“i did. to me, it’s very, very good.” too bad his brother never liked this particular tea to begin with.

[youngster-monster]

Snow Hazard

Kael’thas can’t remember the last time he went skiing. If you asked him, he wouldn’t be able to recall a time where he went: that’s how long ago it was.

Thinking about it, there is no proof he ever went skiing at all, which is an oversight he should have realized earlier. Before he was stranded on a mountainside with two planks of wood stuck to his feet and no idea what to do, that is.

But let’s not start there. That’s a mortifying situation, and the least you could do is approach it with sufficient context.

It all starts, as most of their shenanigans do, with Halduron barging into the dorm room Kael’thas and Rommath share. It’s not in any way or form an unusual event, but the door slamming against the wall still manages to startle the two mages so hard they almost fall from their seat (or, in the former’s case, his desk, because he cannot and will not sit properly).

“Guys!” He yells, breathless. “I come with great news.”

And then he stops, resting his hands on his thighs and panting. Kael’thas, who had stayed frozen with a hand clasped on his chest in shock, straightens slowly as he glares at him in outrage. Rommath looks from Halduron to his homework with a disinterested look, like he’s trying to settle on which one is the least interesting to him at the moment.

Finally, Halduron continues.

“You know how Lor’themar’s aunt is like, filthy rich, right?”

Kael’thas sneers. He hasn’t met Ophelia Theron many times in his life, but he remembers her being a terribly annoying, shrill woman who insisted on pinching his cheeks at every opportunity. She also tends to flaunt her wealth in the tackiest way, which isn’t in her advantage. “Yeah? So am I. What’s your point?”

“She’s offered to lend us her winter home for a week!” At their lack of response, he adds, “You know. The one next to a ski resort.”

Rommath doesn’t need much more incentive to pay attention to Halduron, because he’s a weirdo who is still into sports despite PE not being mandatory anymore. If anything it’s gotten worse since high school, now that no one can legally stop him from doing extremely dangerous things in the name of exercise like the adrenaline junkie he is. He swivels in his chair and lets out an enthusiastic “Hell yes,” and Halduron grins in return.

The two start talking about plans and road-trip and day pass, the third inhabitant of the room all but forgotten.

Kael’thas, as previously mentioned, hasn’t seen snows higher than his ankle in a decade at last, and has promptly and happily dropped all exercise when he started college, trusting in his awful diet and sleeping pattern to keep him skinny, if not healthy. He’s not a very active person. He enjoys his comfort and doing only as much effort as he absolutely must. And he abhors the cold.

But he hates being alone during winter break just a little bit more, so he only grumbles a bit and goes with it. It’s not like they will force him to ski, anyway. He can chill (eh) in front of the fireplace with mulled wine and a trashy crime novel while they go gallivanting on the slopes.

It’ll be fine.

Turns out his friends know him a lot better than he thought, and use this knowledge for evil and evil only.

They each drive an hour of the six hours trip, save for Rommath who drives the last two and takes advantage of that to act like a tyrant with the radio, citing ‘driver gets to choose the music’ like it’s a valid reason for playing two hours straight of emo rock. After such a trip, Kael’thas only dreams of collapsing on a bear rug and maybe taking a nap or something, and the desire only grows when they drop their bags in the chalet and

At that, Lor’themar says, “We should take advantage of the time we have.”

“Sure, you do that. I, on the other hand, am going to relax, drink some hot chocolate and stay dry.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten-” Rommath leans backward. There’s a devious glint in his eyes Kael’thas knows all too well. “Someone is too scared to go skiing.”

Kael’thas knows exactly what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to appeal to his pride, which is always a safe bet considering he has more pride than common sense on any given day. He sees clear through him.

Won’t stop him from falling for it though.

“I’m not!”

Lor’themar glances at Rommath, then at him, and smiles. “You know, it’s alright if you’re afraid of-”

He throws his hands up and turns around, striding back to the car. “Fuck you!” He cries out, because he got played and he deserves to be mad about his own faillibility.

On the first day, his friends take pity on him and keep him company on the green circle slopes. He’s not really skiing, more like falling down in a controlled manner, and Rommath mocks him endlessly for his baby deer-like lack of grace, as if it’s his fault there’s nothing less natural than sliding down a mountainside with two planks glued to his feet. They end the day on a blue square, on which he loses a ski and also his dignity, and dinner finds him cold, grumpy and full of hate.

The second day of their trip, he wakes up with the sun shining through his window. It’s apparently too late: the three adrenaline junkies woke up at the crack of dawn to tackle some more challenging slopes. Aethas is too awkward to push when he answers his “Do you want to go skiing?” with a sharp, final “No,” and so he gets to spend the day lazing around like he intended to.

They don’t make the same mistake on the third day.

Seven a.m finds them dressed for the cold and waiting for the chairlift. Lor’themar, Halduron and Aethas are talking animately — way too animately for the early morning — while Rommath checks Kael’thas’ gear, ignoring his grumbling.

“You can just give up, we won’t judge you,” he says rather unconvincingly.

Kael’thas gazes at the peak they are about to travel to and sighs. “Yes you will.”

“Yup,” Rommath agrees, taps his chest twice in a semi-reassuring manner, and then waddle to the others.

It’s when they’re already up in the air that Kael’thas, looking at the impressive length of the run, remembers the little symbol he saw on a sign down the slope.

“Hey, Rom,” he asks. “How difficult is a double diamond?”

All conversation freeze. Slowly, carefully, Rommath looks up, at the peak, then down, at the sign they can still barely make out. The silence is broken by a loud swear, followed by Halduron, whose cackling shakes the chairlift and makes Kael’thas grips the side tighter.

“Oh god, he’s going to die,” he manages to choke out between bouts of laughter.

At this point, he thinks that he’d like to.

They stand for a moment at the very top of the slope.

“Yep,” Halduron says, popping the p. “That’s a double black diamond alright.”

“Cool,” Aethas replies, looking a little faint.

“Cool,” Lor’themar repeats, sounding like he actually believes it.

And then, because they’re all assholes, they all look at Kael’thas with varying degrees of pity and throws themselves forward.

He immediately scrambles for Rommath to make sure his friend won’t do the same.

“Relax, we’ll get you down there safely.” A pause. “Somehow.”

“Alive would be a good start! Actually, I’m pretty sure I could get airlifted out of here— Light knows I’m rich enough for this kind of bullshit— Rommath I don’t want to die—“

“Is everything alright here?”

Kael’thas jumps, startled. His skis drift an inch forward with the movement and he freezes, holding his breath and biting his lips, eyes caught on the far, far away sight of the station. He gulps loudly and then, slowly, looks to the side and then up, to the towering figure of the one addressing them.

He is taller than him by a good foot at least, and stands easily balanced on a snowboard. The unflattering clothes hide much of his build but his skimask is pushed up on his forehead, revealing—

Wow, that’s a very nice face.

“My friend is a newbie and we accidentally brought him here,” Rommath explains, shrugging lightly.

The stranger chuckles. “How do you-” He shakes his head. “No matter, I’m not sure I want to know. Do you need help going down?”

Kael’thas frowns, his pride fighting the stomach-twisting fear of his situation, before he manages to grit out, “Yes. Please.”

He looks at Rommath then, who shrugs again. “I’ll be fine.”

“Got it. I’m Illidan, by the way,” he introduces himself, putting his mask back on. “I hope you’re comfortable with manhandling.”

“Wha-”

He doesn’t get to finish his thought, or his sentence. Illidan bends down and, easy as breathing, scoops him in his arms. In a moment he’s holding Kael’thas bridal-style, skis and all.

He’s left briefly shocked until Illidan says, “See you down there!” and, with a twist of his hips, starts going down the double black diamond run.

Kael’thas’ yell gets stuck in his throat and he can only clutch Illidan’s ugly, neon-green jacket as they careen down the slope, wind whistling in his ears. He screws his eyes shut, heart stopping at each bump they ride. Illidan doesn’t seem tense in the slightest, manoeuvring his board easily despite the added weight of a full-grown, ski-ready man in his arms.

And then, as suddenly as it started, they stop. He drags in a shuddering breath and peeks through his eyelashes to see the world standing comfortably still, no landscape passing at breakneck speed and no ground rushing at them as they slide down.

They made it down. Safely, and alive.

Illidan hasn’t let go of him yet, though.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” he says.

“It was worse,” Kael’thas replies. He’s mortified to realize his voice is barely more than a squeak, and he clears his throat before continuing in a lower, if no calmer voice. “It was awful. I almost died, and I fucking hate skiing.”

He feels Illidan’s chest move against his side as the other man chuckles before gently putting him back down. He keeps a steadying hand on his back until he’s sure Kael’thas won’t fall on his ass as soon as he lets go.

“I think you’re being a little dramatic.”

Kael’thas glares up at him, throwing his shoulders back as if it will help with the height difference. Unfortunately, nothing short of high heels will get him at eye-level of this man. “I am not, thank you very much.” He points a finger at Illidan’s chest. “Just for that, you owe me breakfast.”

Illidan takes off his mask, allowing him to see his quirked eyebrow and amused expression. “Aren’t you the one owing me something? I did just save you from going down that slope on your ass, after all.”

He looks away, but only so he can takes off his skis, leaving him only in his heavy boots. “You know what? At this point I don’t care. Take me to breakfast, ski-man. I need pancakes before my heart realizes what happened and decides to stop.”

He hums, quietly amused. “We can’t have that, do we?” He steps off his snowboard and takes it under his arm, looping the other under Kael’thas’. “But I think you deserve it.”

Kael’thas snorts. Damn right he does.

[mistical52]

At Your Service - Chapter 1

Hey everyone, I’m back with an Overwatch fanfiction. Yep, I’ve been hooked and dragged under by this epic fandom. Yay! XD

Please enjoy this work! 

Description: Jesse doesn't get picket up by Blackwatch, he joins the Shimada Clan instead.

Soulmate AU.

Chapter 2 (link)

---

Six hands tried to hold Jesse down. He wasn’t strong enough to warrant that many people, but the way he was bucking and squirming, combined with his biting and scratching made him harder to keep down than a wild stallion.

When they finally managed to get his hands behind his back McCree responded by kicking. His heel connected with something and was satisfied to hear a loud yelp.

Jesse’s satisfaction didn’t last long when he heard yelling in Japanese calling another person over to help restrain him. The group of people managed to hold McCree still long enough to snap the restraining cuffs on him.

A man wrenched Jesse to his feet and McCree didn’t hesitate to headbutt the guy. There was a crunch and Jesse knew that he’s broken the man’s nose.

The cold click of a gun and a warm barrel to McCree’s head caused him to freeze.

             “Behave.” Came the heavily accented word. Judging by the voice it was a woman, and looking through the corner of his eye Jesse could see that he was right.

Jesse would have raised his hands if he could, but the bite of the cuffs on his wrists reminded him that he couldn’t. “Well since you asked so nicely.” McCree responded instead straightening up.

             “Move.” Commanded the woman with the gun.

McCree took half a step forward before he stopped, “If you don’t mind could one of you please grab my hat?” Jesse asked nodding his head to where his fallen hat was.

There was a moment when no one moved. Then the man with the broken nose slowly picked up the battered hat and cautiously moved in front of McCree. Jesse bowed his head, letting the man put on the vital piece of his aesthetic. The man with the broken nose gently put it on wary of another attack, but McCree did nothing.

             “Thank you kindly.” Said McCree and finally started moving in the direction the woman wanted him too. Just because Jesse was captured that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be civil, at least until he found a moment to escape.

 They took McCree outside and shoved him into the rear of a black van. In the back sat a few members of the Japanese organisation along with the head of Deadlock, Arron Knight and his right hand, Izzie Mendoza. Jesse sat with as much dignity as he could muster across from Deadlock’s leader. Before the door was slammed shut McCree saw Peacekeeper tucked into a man’s waistband. Well at least they hadn’t left his gun behind. Hopefully he could get it back when he escaped.

It wasn’t long before the van started moving and McCree couldn’t help but be uncomfortable with his hands behind his back. So Jesse fidgeted, every five or ten minutes he’d adjust to a new position, trying to work around the hands at his back.

             “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your soul mark before.” Commented Knight.

Jesse curled his fists and shifted them behind his back, trying to hide the twisting dragons which danced from knuckle to wrist. Too many people had seen the mark today. Jesse had lost his gloves in the brawl. Someone grabbed his wrists and he slipped his hands out of the gloves to punch them square in the jaw. Jesse wasn’t dumb, he had a feeling something else was going on here.

             “Can I have a look? It’s a bit boring in here.” Knight said casually and nodded his head to indicate to the van.

“No. You don’t get to talk about that. It’s because of your stupidity that we’re in this situation. You’re the idiot who double crossed the Shimada clan.” McCree snapped, “I was against that plan. And now look what’s happened, Boss, they came back and wiped out Deadlock.”

“Now boy, you don’t get to talk to me like that. What I say goes, if you didn’t like it, you could’a left.” The grin which Knight gave said otherwise.

“We all knew this would happen if ya’ crossed them, but you got greedy an’ did it anyway!” Jesse retorted ignoring Knight’s comment, “And now probably everyone’s dead ‘cept us!” Jesse didn’t really consider any of the people in Deadlock friends, but some of them weren’t half bad. McCree had seen the best members kick the bucket during the ambush, and he was sure a coward or two had escaped. Torres, that annoying little weasel, probably made it out during the first two minutes.

“McCree, leave it.” Mendoza ordered giving him a side-eyed scowl. Her dark skin was pulled into a frown which scared most other Deadlock members.

McCree grumbled, but ultimately decided that he didn’t want to continue the conversation anyway. He’d already said everything that he needed to.

  The whole trip was a little under two hours and they had reached a large town on the outskirts of the desert. It was a nice town, Jesse had been here a few times, which is how he recognised his location. After being directed out of the van at gun point Jesse could just see the town from the property they were on. The property had surprisingly green grass and a huge pre-Civil War home. The garden was well maintained and mostly contained plants that could handle the dryer climate. The only thing that disturbed the pretty picture was the hefty number of guards dotted through out the property. Some guards were patrolling while others stood stoic and vigilant.

The three remaining Deadlock members were lead up to the front door and pushed through. Jesse paused at the door and quickly wiped his boots on the mat.

From behind Mendoza snapped at him, “McCree this is not the time to have manners!”

             “I an’t gonna walk into someone’s home and track dirt all over the place. Especially not one as nice as this.” Jesse called back. This trip was coming to it’s end. If McCree was going to act he had to do it fast.

The remnants of the American gang were lead up an almost too clean staircase and too what was probably a meeting room. It didn’t look like a western style meeting room. There were no chairs, however there was a long table and some mats on a raised platform in the back half of the room. Most of the chairs were occupied, a third however were vacant, but a screen at the end of the table was likely to be connecting the absent members to the conversation.

The man at the head of the table, Mr Sojiro Shimada himself, looks unimpressed at the interruption.

The man with the broken nose, which looked like it had been somewhat repaired during the journey, said something in Japanese. Not a moment later every member of the ambush in the large room bowed, except for the members holding guns at the Deadlock members.

Jesse didn’t like this room, he had an uneasy feeling and he wanted out. Jesse shifted uncomfortably and used that movement to hide the lockpick he pulled out from the waist of his pants. Maybe he should have taken his chances in the confined van.

All the yakuza members rose with a word from Mr Shimada, from there the man with the broken nose reported how the ambush went, or McCree assumed he was reporting. Mr Shimada asked the occasional questions while the man with the broken nose did most of the talking.

McCree looked around the room noted the only exit and observed the people sitting at the meeting table while he cautiously picked the lock on his cuffs. Every person at the table except one looked thirty and over. The group was mostly men however all the woman at the table had an air of confidence that not even Jesse would mess with. At the head of the table to Mr Shimada’s left was a vacant chair and to his right, the youngest member who, like Jesse, was obviously under twenty. It was likely that the guy was one of the Shimada heirs, however Jesse didn’t know their names. The young men had long dark hair and angular features with sharp eyes.

The heir looked at McCree and Jesse grinned and tilted his head. The heir scowled at him and Jesse knew that he was enjoying this interaction far too much. McCree realised that he probably shouldn’t be practically flirting with the heir of the Shimada clan, especially not with Mr Shimada sitting right next to the man.

The conversation in Japanese continued as more of a background noise, but soon Jesse started to get nervous about what they were saying, especially when the council, the heir and Mr Shimada kept glancing or looking at him. They looked at the other Deadlock members sure, but as the conversation continued they turned to McCree more and more. This could not be good.

Finally McCree was just about done picking the lock and for once his luck came through. The man with the broken nose gestured for someone to move forward, and they stepped on a squeaky floorboard, giving Jesse just enough time to unlock the cuffs with a small and drowned out click.

The young man stepping forward started to walk past McCree with Peacekeeper held out like an offering.

Well it was now or never.

As the young yakuza stepped past McCree’s left Jesse kicked out at the man’s knee. Not a moment later the man was falling, and McCree had snatched Peacekeeper into his hand. Peacekeeper, the beautiful thing was fully loaded. A man from McCree’s right started to charged at him. Jesse spun and shot the man in the thigh before shooting under his own arm at the woman behind him. He hit exactly where he wanted too, her upper arm, and she dropped her gun. Before the gun clattered to the ground McCree had Peacekeeper aimed at Mr Shimada.

With an easy smile Jesse started to talk, “Now we’re gonna take this nice and easy. If I wanted your people dead they would be, and the same goes for you Mr Shimada.” There was respect in Jesse’s voice, he may not know a lot about this clan but he knew they should be feared.

McCree’s eyes flicked the room taking in everyone’s position and their readiness to reach for a weapon.

The heir was standing and had an arrow loosely slotted onto a bow. The man’s left sleave, which must have been draped over his shoulder, had fallen down to reveal an intricate tattoo with a dragon wrapped around his arm. McCree paused for a moment, then changed his mind.

             “I was just going to be on my way out, but now I have a couple of questions. The first, do two dragons mean anything to you?” Jesse got his answer by the multiple sets of eyes which narrow at him. “Well then, that’s good to know. Don’t try anything, any of you move an’ your boss gets it.”

With steady hands McCree swapped his gun to his left hand, “Next question,” Jesse was directing this one at the heir and Mr Shimada, “This ring any bells?” Inquired Jesse giving everyone at the table a good look at the twining dragons on the back of his right hand.

The heir’s eyes widened a fraction before his features were schooled back into place.

McCree switched his gun back to his dominate hand. “Right then. Final question, do you have one to match?”

The Shimada’s exchanged a quick look.

             “Do I have your word that you will not shoot?” The heir asked, lord McCree couldn’t believe he had to wait almost eighteen years to hear that wonderful voice.

             “So long as no one tries to shoot me I have no reason to shoot.” Replied Jesse easily giving a half shrug.

The heir hesitated a moment before lowering his bow and removing an archer’s glove. Jesse knew, he knew even before the glove came off, this man was his other half.

The young Shimada showed the back of his hand and McCree couldn’t stop the wide grin that reached his face.

             “Aw now ain’t that cute, you got Peacekeeper!” Even half a room away Jesse could make out the inky image.

             “What?” Asked the heir’s confusion obvious.

             “My gun.” Replied McCree simply still grinning.

             “Of course.” Said the young Shimada with spite.

             “I’ve been hoping I’d get to meeting you. Where are my manners, Jesse McCree at your service.” Jesse introduced with a tip of his hat.

             “Hanzo Shimada.” Informed the young Shimada, Jesse’s soulmate.

McCree’s grin got infinitely wider when Hanzo introduced himself. “The pleasure’s all mine. I’m at your mercy.” The last sentence was accompanied by Peacekeeper hanging loosely from a finger and hands out in surrender.

That seemed to surprise Hanzo and the heir still hadn’t schooled his expression by the time several Shimada members tackled and pinned McCree with no resistance.

---

Chapter 2

[chippadore]

Stereo Hearts

Day 6- Stereo Hearts- @ygo5dsmonth2018  

Your local friendly Stage Manager™ is here with all your Yugioh 5ds hits. If you hate musicals, you’ll definitely hate this, because this is all musicals. Welcome to theatre hell! I have a link attached to every song I mention. 

Yusei Fudo- Boy Falls from the Sky (Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark)

I'd be myself/If I knew who I've become/You don't have to fly too high/To get too close to the sun/See the boy fall from the sky

Jack Atlas- Not a Common Man (American Pyscho the Musical)

Look at history, open the books/There are statues with great looks/There are gods, there are kings/I'm pretty sure I'm the same thing

Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski- Monster (Frozen the Musical)

A monster, were they right?/Has the dark in me finally come to light?/Am I a monster full of rage/Nowhere to go but on a rampage?/Or am I just a monster in a cage?

Crow Hogan- Proud of Your Boy (Aladdin)

Tell me that I've been a louse and loafer/You won't get a fight here, no ma'am/Say I'm a goldbrick, a goof-off, no good/But that couldn't be all that I am

Ruka/Luna- In My Own Little Corner (Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella)

In my own little corner/Just as long as I stay/In my own little corner/All alone/In my own little chair/I can be whatever I want to be

Read below for more characters, ships, and OC Fun!

Rua/Leo- My Shot (Hamilton)

Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?/Sometimes I get overexcited, shoot off at the mouth/I never had a group of friends before/I promise that I’ll make y’all proud

I don’t think the song exactly matches Leo word for word, but the tone certainly does.

Bruno- Who Am I If the World Turned Upside Down (Finding Neverland)

I ignored the beat inside my heart for too long/Had accepted what was right/But always felt wrong/It's the second hand of time I'd been a slave to/But inside there was a feeling/Something I always knew/When the world turned upside down

I could’ve put Who Am I from Les Miserables to be a shit, but I decided to be serious. While If the World Turned Upside Down is a short song, the lyrics (in my opinion) describe Bruno/Antimony’s conflicting feelings with what was happening around him. 

Sherry LeBlanc- Here I Go (If/Then)

Now I know all the motions/The steps to every dance/And I count cards at the table/I never bet on chance/I leave nothing to the gods/I know all the odds and even so/Still, here I go

Sherry is a wild card who doesn’t believe in fate, and will do anything to achieve her goals. I feel this song is an accurate representation of that!

Kyosuke Kiryu/Kalin Kessler- Raise a Little Hell (Bonnie and Clyde)

I can't take no more of this/This nightmare has to end/In this godforsaken place/Death would be a welcome friend

This is what I find myself thinking Kiryu would feel during his last moments in the Facility, or even while in his last fleeting moments before being arrested. 

Jack/Yusei- Playing His Game (Death Note the Musical)

He's on the brink/He could win/I can't use the same plan/Time to start thinking like him

Not exactly a ship song, but hey, it’s an amazingly perfect rival song for the pair of them. And I can shamelessly promote Death Note the Musical.

Faithshipping (Yusei/Aki)- A Part of That (The Last Five Years)

And then he'll smile/His eyes light up and deep within the ground/Without a sound/A moment comes to life/And I'm a part of that/I'm a part of that

Yusei is the hero of the story. A lot of the time, he’s in his own world that Aki may not understand, but he tries to include her as much as he can. 

Firebirdshipping (Aki/Crow)- Easy to Love (Anything Goes) and Perfect for You (Next to Normal)

So worth the yearning for/So swell to keep every home fire burning for/Oh, how we'd bloom, how we'd thrive>

I can't fix what's fucked up/But one thing I know I can do/I can be perfect for you

I had to pick two songs. The first one is sweet and slow. It describes how Crow loves Aki, despite the fact she might not believe she can be loved. The second describes how neither are perfect, and that’s okay. 

Scoopshipping (Carly/Jack)- You’re Getting to be a Habit with Me (42nd Street)

No, I can't break away/I must have you every day/As regularly as coffee or tea/You've got me in your clutches/And I can't break free/You're getting to be a habit

I couldn’t not pick this song. Imagine this as a montage during Jack and Carly’s fun day at the park. It’s cute, quirky, and describes both Carly and how Carly ended up in Jack’s life. 

Retributionshipping (Dark Signer Carly/Jack)- Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad (Reprise) (Bonnie and Clyde)

Seems you get to live your life just once/If that's how it's gotta be/Then I'd rather breathe in life than dusty air/Dyin' ain't so bad

This song was picked because both Jack and Carly were ready to die for each other. In the end, Carly may have saved him, but Jack was prepared to go down with her. 

Toolshipping (Bruno/Yusei)-You Walk With Me (The Full Monty) 

Is it the wind there, over my shoulder?/Is it your voice calling quietly?/Over the hilltop, down in the valley/Never alone for you walk with me

I was going to pick something else, but this song came on. I can hear this playing after Bruno’s passing. It’s such a sweet, but sad, song that describes what Yusei could be feeling after the fact. 

Treasonshipping (Kiryu/Yusei)- Ever After (Bare: A Pop Opera)

So much for our ever after/I thought the good guys would triumph/I trusted the hero, I didn't hear his goodbye/I guess it was lost in the talk of a straight-acting coward

Yusei and Kiryu (Or Kalin, whatever you prefer m8) definitely had a rocky relationship up until the last notes of Satisfaction Town. This song specifically works for the Dark Signer Arc.

Roseknightshipping (Aki/Sherry)- Fight for You (Heathers)

Hey could you face the crowd/Could you be seen with me and still act proud/Hey could you hold my hand/and could carry me through no man's land/It's fine if you don't agree/but I would fight for you/if you would fight for me

This song is cute. Sherry was the one who introduced Aki into the world of Turbo Dueling. This song just fits. 

Psychicshipping (Divine/Aki)- Dangerous Game (Jekyll and Hyde)

The frightened princess/Doesn't know what to do!/Will the ghosts go away?/Will she will them to stay?/Either way, there's no way to win!

This song is so so chilling. Meant to Be Yours from Heathers was a close second, but this one won out in the end. It’s just too perfect for me, and describes the abusive relationship Divine and Aki had. 

Bonus:

Lina Kazukata- Journey to the Past (Anastasia) 

Home, Love, Family/I will never be complete until I find you/One step at a time/One hope, then another/Who knows where this road may go/Back to who I was/On to find my future/Things my heart still needs to know/Yes, let this be a sign!

Lina is my OC from a fanfic called The Game Begins! This song, while she doesn’t have amnesia like Anya, accurately covers Lina’s fears of self-identity, finding family/where she belongs, and her hopeful optimism. 

Lina/Yusei- No One Else (Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812)

And your childlike eyes/And your distant smile/I’ll never be this happy again/You and I/And no one else

I feel this song perfectly captures the innocence of Lina, and of her relationship with Yusei. I don’t have a cool ship name for Lina and Yusei. Fite me. Shout out to Crazier than You from the Addams Family for being a close second!

Yuuka- Where is the Justice? (Death Note The Musical)

Show me what's right about/The wrongs that we allow/Real people need to feel/Protected here and now/This whole damn system's broken way beyond repair/It's just law, not law and order/Not much good and seldom fair

This is based on Yuuka Sasaki from @dearlybelovedfeels fanfic calling Waking Up Normal. Why this song? This girl is all about equality and justice, that’s why. 

Stellarshipping (Yuuka/Yusei)- Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You? (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change)

Shouldn't I be less in love with you?/Shouldn't I address what time can do?/Shouldn't I be more inclined to flee?/Shouldn't I explore all I can be?

I tried finding a musical song I knew you wouldn’t know. I can see this song covering their lifetime together. 

Bonus Satellite Angst Songs

Bonus Satellite Angst songs!? On my Tumblr post?! Yep! These are just some songs I feel capture that Satellite aesthetic ™

Facade (Jekyll and Hyde)

There's a face that we wear/In the cold light of day/It's society's mask/It's society's way/And the truth is/That it's all a façade!

Will I (Rent)

Will I lose my dignity?/Will someone care?/Will I wake tomorrow/From this nightmare?

Rent (Rent)

How do you start a fire/When there's nothing to burn/And it feels like something's stuck in your flue/How can you generate heat/When you can't feel your feet/And they're turning blue!

Scrap (The Full Monty)

What I want? That's easy asshole/I want a job/I want to feel like a person instead of a slob/I wanna wake up knowing where I'm gonna go/Not going nowhere

Skid Row (Little Shop of Horrors)

Poor! All my life I've always been poor/I keep asking God what I'm for/And he tells me "Gee, I'm not sure/Sweep that floor, kid."

The Dark I Know Well (Spring Awakening)

There is a part I can't tell/About the dark I know well

Want to debate songs or add more? Send me a message. I can talk musicals all day. Try me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯