#you guys want me to work with fish soooo bad i need it to happen

[eddieintheocean]

back from uni and so begins the attempts to find a job at an aquarist

[slasherfckr]

😭😭😭 I have no idea what the hell happened to the ask in my inbox. I might have deleted it or something. I'm so sorry about that 😔 Still trying to figure out how Tumblr works tbh. I hope you like this fic though :)

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Bo Sinclair x Fem!Reader - Better than Words

"Hey Bo?" You smiled. The man fiddling around with spare car in the garage didn't bother turning towards you.

"Hm?"

"Did you think we could get Jonesy a friend?"

The mechanic stopped what he was doing and turned towards you.

"What?"

"Get Jonesy a friend. Do you think he ever gets lonely being the only dog in Ambrose? I know he usually spends his time with Vincent or Lester but I know I would be lonely if I were the only person here."

Bo shook his head.

"I don't fucking know (Y/N). Why don't you make yourself useful and hand me the wrench?" He went back to focusing on the car, holding his hand out for the tool he asked for. Without missing a beat, you went over and retrieved the wrench. It was dead silent minus the sounds of Bo working on the car for a few until you couldn't stand it anymore.

"Did you know a baby puffin is called a puffling? And it's parent can hold, like, 10 fish in its mouth at once so it can feed it's baby. But the largest amount a puffin was recorded to have carried was 62 fish at once."

"The fuck you talking about woman?"

You let out a small giggle.

"Just stating some animal facts. It's just soooo quiet. Can't stand it." You complained.

"Then why don't you go check up on Vincent or something? I think I'm done here with the car and-"

Just then the phone rang. Bo grabbed a rag from the table next to him and wiped his hands before going to answer the phone in the other room. There was really only one person it could be. Wasn't long at all before Bo was back with you and the car.

"Was Lester. Said he got some people coming out this way. Better stay here and help me instead. Vinny can wait."

You and Bo went to the main room of the work shop, waiting for the guests to arrive. As Bo sat behind the counter, reading a magazine, you couldn't help but watch as his blue eyes scanned the pages. Sweat from working on the car still beading down his face, making a few brown curls from his hair stick to his temple. You wanted him so bad. You would imagine the two of you together, bodies intertwined in his bed. Or something more tame, such as you and him going out for drinks. The only thing stopping you from confessing to him was the tiny sliver of self-doubt in the back of your mind on if he would actually feel the same about you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw movement. You turned and there was a man and woman at the door. The man appeared to be in his 50's while the girl appeared to be around your age. Father and daughter perhaps? Either way, you smiled and greeted them as you let them in.

"Hey sorry to bother you guys. Our car broke down and we were looking to buy the parts needed to fix it up so we can get back on the road again?"

"Yeah yeah it's no problem at all. That's what we're here for, ain't it? Here, (Y/N), why don't you go show the man where he can find the parts for his car?"

You smiled at Bo as you grabbed the man's arm and lead him to the back. Except you went further than the back. You took him and led him downstairs of the garage.

"Sorry we had to go down here. Parts are kept downstairs and out of the shop itself so thieves aren't as keen to rob the place, ya know?" You kept the smile on your face as you turned on the light in the room.

"Think I should go back upstairs. Just head on up once you find the parts so we can get you guys back on the road." You waved at the man and left, locking the door behind you so he couldn't escape what was currently on its way to him.

When you got back upstairs, though, your heart sank. You were met with Bo flirting with the daughter. Her back was up against a wall as Bo hovered over her.

"You know, doll? This heat wave we hot here ain't got noth'n on you." The girl laughed and put her hand on Bo's shoulder.

"You think so? Maybe we could go somewhere more.... private so I could show you how hot I can really get? Hm?"

Despite feeling your world crumbling, you managed to hold everything together and hide it all underneath a big smile. You then coughed to get their attention. The girl and Bo split, with the girl looking down at the floor and Bo looking elsewhere but her.

"So did he find everything he needed, (Y/N)?"

"Yep." You said cheerily. "He's just waiting on you now."

Bo nodded and took the girl downstairs with him to finish off the job.

You had left while Bo worked with Vincent to take care of the mess. While they were doing their chores, Lester had come home. He surprised you with fresh ingredients from the next town over. All the stuff to make venison stew. You were delighted as you could now make a stew you had promised the boys you'd make one day. You and Lester quickly got to work on making dinner, joking and messing around while doing so but you couldn't get fully into it. You couldn't help but think back to Bo and that girl. What if he didn't kill her? What if he fucked her and ended up bringing her back here to the house? What would happen to you then? Would Bo even need your help anymore? Your heart sank further than it already was thinking at the possibilities. Lester knew something was up but before he could ask, Bo walked in.

Bo's suit was covered in blood and by the looks of it, it was his own. He immediately took a seat in the living room.

"(Y/N) could you get the goddamn medkit?"

You did as you were told. Bo ended up having a nasty gash on his left arm. Thankfully it wasn't bad enough to need stitches but you were still going to have to apply some disinfectant and bandages, which was going to be fun. Bo never handled getting disinfectant put on well. It was like taking a toddler to the doctor for a shot. You quickly sat next to Bo and pulled some bandages and the disinfectant out of the medkit.

"Gotta hold still now, okay? Don't want a repeat of last time you got hurt. Almost took my hand off" You joked.

"Damn it, (Y/N). How many times do I gotta say I'm sorr-FUCK!" Bo hissed and immediately pulled his arm away from you. "Goddamn that hurt!"

"I haven't even applied the disinfectant yet, Bo." You raised an eyebrow at him.

You pulled his arm back towards you and gently dabbed a cotton ball soaked with the disinfectant on his wound. Bo hissed again but didn't have a huge outburst like the first time.

"See? Wasn't so bad, right?" You smiled up at him from the floor.

"Yeah, whatever..." He grumbled.

"So how did this even happen, Bo?"

"Was noth'n (Y/N)."

"Doesn't seem like nothing considering....this." You gestured to his arm. Bo gave you a look which made you quickly drop the subject. "Here come on and get up. Lester and I just finished dinner. I'll grab you a bowl while Lester brings one down to Vincent."

You fixed up two bowls, one for you and the other for Bo. After a bite, Bo's face lit up.

"Holy sweet Jesus, (Y/N). You weren't kidding when you said you could make some good damm stew."

Hearing him compliment your cooking lifted your spirits up, which brought a huge smile to your face.

"Thank you, Bo."

The rest of the meal was ate in silence. Normally you'd be chatting up a storm with Bo but you haven't had a nice, home cooked meal made with fresh ingredients in so long. You just wanted to savor this moment for as long as possible.

When you both were done, you grabbed his bowl and yours and brought it over to the sink to start dishes.

"It was her."

"What?"

"That woman. In the shop. She did this." Bo gestured to his bandaged arm.

"Oh. Her loss I guess. She had an incredibly handsome guy flirting with her and she decided to attack him. Not what I would have done."

You froze when you felt hot breath come down on the back of your neck.

"Did I hear that right, (Y/N)? 'An incredibly handsome guy?' 'Not what I would have done?' So what would you have done then?" Bo leaned down so his mouth was right at your ear. You were completely frozen in place; couldn't move at all. You felt like a trapped sheep, cornered by the big bad wolf. Your face quickly grew a deep shade of red.

"I-I, uh...I would have..." Your words got caught in your throat. A deep chuckle came from behind you.

"Turn around and face me." You did as you were told. You weren't that much smaller in height than Bo but goddamn did you feel incredibly tiny in that moment. Before you could do or say anything else, you felt Bo's rough lips on yours. You kissed back and soon felt his arms around your waist before he pulled away from the kiss.

"(Y/N) you're not very subtle. I hope you know that. You didn't think I wouldn't notice you staring at me back at the shop? Could see you turning 30 different shades of red then." Bo laughed.

"But that girl..."

"Yeah so? You'd think I'd actually go after someone like that?" He rolled his eyes. "Wasn't even close to my type."

He went down by your ear again and nipped it, earning a small moan from you.

"She was way too quiet. You on the other hand..." Bo took your hand and led you out of the kitchen and up to his room.

"I want you to show me what you'd do, (Y/N). Really show me."

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Ahhhh this was my first fic. I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it! Especially Sketchy-rosewitch!

[mysicklove]

1.It's such a peculiar feeling, I'm an outdoorsy guy. I drink my coffee black. Work on my car, love working with my hands and fishing but when we play it's like all that fades away. I lose any need to prove myself and it's freeing. Lol as dumb as it sounds I just kinda melt.

2.Overstimulation is great! It's the perfect mix of pleasure/pain. Depending how it's done it can be soooo incredible. Being assaulted by multiple sensations, not being able to decipher what feels the best and worst. Your mind literally can't process it all and goes into a haze where everything just blends. Lol I'm a big fan

3.Mmmm I don't really "see" her it's kind of a feeling more than an idea. It's someone I feel safe with, someone I trust and I do mean TRUST. Someone I would go to nearly any length to make happy. It's like I'm not looking for a dom I'm looking for a best friend.

4.It 100% can be, you can rapidly find yourself doing something you don't want or feel not right with. But that's the importance of trust in situations and relationships like these. All I have to say are two words and I know she would drop anything and everything and make sure I'm okay. I've also experienced it to where as things are happening I'm okay with them but once I'm out of that fog it hits you and that is just as scary. This is why aftercare is soooo important.

5.YES! it goes along with the submission like its yet another layer of me giving in and giving her full control. Tie me up put a blindfold on and do whatever you want to me. It drives me wild and I think the power trip does it for her too.

6. I've personally never got the whole leather or latex "thing" maybe because it gives a slightly bad guy/girl in charge feel. If she likes it go ahead but it's not a positive or negative in my mind.

7. If she really wanted to try maybe. I'd be more apt to having a more dominant person with her than another sub at her beck and call with me. Sounds weird but I'd much rather be her only sub.

8. It's 100% different. It's so much more in depth I guess you could say? The build up is completely different and once you finally do get there you are riding wave after wave of pleasure. From what people have said it's pretty similar to how the opposite gender feels orgasms.

9. Definitely NOT a myth. Not to go into to much detail but I had experienced my first about a week or two ago and it was insane! I wrote about it on my page if you are at all interested.

10.Oh boy. This topic always makes me blush. They are the most infuriating thing ever. And yet something about it deep down does something to me not just physically but mentally. Putting it on or better yet having her put it on and seeing that lock click never fails to give me chills. It's a full submittal to their will. Even if at that point I wanted to play with "it" I can't and something in my head LOVES relinquishing that power. It makes me instantaneously feel subby. It takes the whole concept of you can look but not touch idea and ramps it up 1000%. Once it's on its hers. She decides if she wants it played with or not and it's a rush.

11. Turn ons that really get me? First and foremost are marking like hickeys or bite marks, let everyone who happens to catch a glimpse of them know that I'm yours. Edging and denial are way up there too, the buildup compounding on itself over and over are so intense and it drives me wild. Lastly audio, whisper into my ear all the fucked up things you want to do to me, tell me I'm a good boy, tell me what your going to do in detail. I LOVE the sound of my doms voice especially when she gets into it. Her tone changes her voice gets ever so slightly deeper and it never fails to make me feel more subby.

questions from here

we talked a bit on messaging, but thank you for feeling comfortable enough to share! i really enjoyed seeing your perspective on this :)

[greenygreenland]

Riptide: Cole x Reader

-HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY NINJAGO!! -I write for females (just as a side note) because I’m a girl and it’s easy for me soooo yeah :/ -i know jay and cole are besties, but for this, let’s just say jay still likes to tease cole (friends do that anyway tho??)

Summary: Cole finds you at the beach trying to drown yourself. When he rips you out of the ocean, he realises you look familiar.

WARNINGS: Near-death (drowning)

The waves quietly lapped against the edge of the sand, tickling Cole’s toes as he made his way across the wet grains. The moon stood high in the sky, shining brightly overhead like a lighthouse. Cole promised to catch up with the others, but he couldn’t rip himself away from the calm of the waves. 

His heart stilled with the quiet waves, sinking into the wet sand like his feet. A cool breeze passed over his face and it brushed through his windswept hair. If only Ninjago could stay this calm. If only he could be like the ocean, free, never ending. 

Cole found himself walking deeper into the ocean and away from the banks. The waves slowly met his ankles, then his knees. It soaked into his rolled up trousers, travelling up until he was waist deep. He didn’t worry about being so far out since it was low-tide. And even if he did find himself getting swept out to sea, he still had his powers. 

Something softly splashed over to his left. He whipped around, immediately taking a defensive stance. As ineffective as it was, he’d rather be safe than sorry. 

Cole eyed the smooth waters. He wondered if it was a shark, or worse, a mystical beast he never heard about. For a few moments, it was quiet, save for the waves, the calm breezes, and Cole’s steady breath. “Maybe it was a fish.” he whispered to himself with a chuckle. Something brushed his leg and he reared back with a squeal. 

“Not a fish not a f--First Spinjitzu Master!” 

The first thing Cole saw was a shirt, then a bundle of floating hair and a face hidden among it. He wanted to freak out, but a girl was laying in the sand underwater. Underwater. He plunged under the cool waves, wrapping his arms around the girl’s torso and hauling her up. “First Spinjitzu Master... First Spinjitzu Master...” Cole placed a hand on his earpiece.

“Guys! I found a girl in the ocean. She’s unconscious and...I don’t think she’s breathing. Come quick!” 

“We’re on our way.” said Zane. The nindroid’s voice was a relief to hear. “We will arrive in five minutes, and as an extra precaution, I have phoned nine-one-one.” 

“Okay, great, great.” As Cole laid the limp girl on the grainy sand, he frantically looked her up and down. Even through the curtain of hair plastered over her forehead, he could tell her face was unnaturally pale. So much, that it could have been a mirror of the bright moon.

It suddenly occurred to Cole that he had to do something. The girl wasn’t breathing and she’d die if he didn’t do something. “Gyah! I’m not the smart one!” He ran a hand over his face. There was one thing Zane did bother to teach everyone in the group, whether it be for civilian use or themselves. Cole pictured Zane standing by his side.

Place the heel of your palms on the centre of the chest.

Cole placed his hands on the centre of the girl’s chest. 

Interlock your fingers. Remember to press two inches down.

Cole interlocked his fingers. 

I have read somewhere that pressing down to the beat of Stayin’ Alive is said to ‘do the trick’ and make it easier. 

And so Cole did just that. “Ha... Ha... Ha... Ha... Stayin’ alive... Stayin’ alive...” He wasn’t sure if it was working, or even if he was doing it right to begin with. How would pressing two inches down on someone’s chest do good? How would this save her from being killed?

Suddenly, she jolted upward, coughing and sputtering out a load of water right into Cole’s face. He didn’t care though. That meant the water had come out of her lungs, right? The danger had been avoided, at least for now. 

“COLE!” 

He whipped around, letting out a loud sigh of relief. Zane and Pixal took Cole’s place, reviewing her vitals and diagnosing her with whatever. He wasn’t sure what they were doing, so he stood off to the side as Jay babbled away. “What happened? Are you okay? How did you find the girl? You didn’t have to swim out there did you?” 

Kai looked at Jay weirdly. “Do you think Cole would swim out that far to begin with? He probably found her washed ashore.” Cole wanted to say something, but he was in a daze. The more he thought about the girl, the more he wondered where he saw her from. It was like a smell you know you’ve smelled before but can’t put a name or memory to. 

He ignored the background chatter and zeroed his gaze on her limp body as Zane carried her to the ambulance. When Zane turned around and motioned for him to come over, Cole finally came back to his senses. He could think about the girl later, right now, he had to answer some questions. 

Three weeks later

“Urgh,” said Cole. “Why do I have to go with Jay?” Sensei Wu raised a brow at him as if to say, ‘really?’. “What is wrong with Jay?” he inquired. “He is a brother, and brothers should be respected.” Off to the side, Jay loudly applauded. “Period. Brothers should be respected, Cole.” He rolled his eyes with a sigh. 

“Now,” Wu interjected. “I want you both to visit Jamanakai Village. You will find Mystake’s tea shop. Get these and only these.” He handed Cole an old drawstring bag. It had a label on the string, but the handwriting was so wonky that Cole couldn’t read it. “If she tries to kick you out, tell her I sent you. That is all, I expect you both back by Thursday.”

Jay let out a long groan. “Why can’t Kai do it? Or Zane? Or Lloyd?” He smugly glanced at Cole. “Or even my wonderful girlfriend Nya? I thought they were the responsible ones.” Wu raised a brow and Cole snickered. “You will both go to Jamanakai Village. That is final. While you are out, do not forget to eat and whatever you do, no Elemental Dragons and no vehicles. You will walk the entire way to the village, am I clear?”

“Yes, Sensei.” 

To say the walk was gruelling was a nice way to put it. There were tens of thousands of other words Cole could have said to describe the terrible pain of having Jay around. Of course, he didn’t actually mean that, but hypothetically, the walk was terrible. 

“You know,” said Jay, “these birds are said to have been exported from the Dark Island.” He pointed to a nearby tree, where three or four birds sat. Their oily wings were like liquid obsidian. Funnily enough, the colour matched both Cole’s gi and hair. He watched as one of them flew away, fluttering straight over his head and into the sky above. 

Cole wondered if it would be nice to live life as a bird, but then he realised he wouldn’t have a bed or cake or chocolate and candy. 

“I’m guessing they were exported before the Dark Island became...you know.” added Jay. “I mean, how could these cute little guys be from there?” He reached out to pet one of the birds. It squawked and bit his finger. “OW!” Jay rounded on the tiny bird, who actually appeared to be laughing. “Bad bird! That’s a no-no! You don’t bite people like that.” 

Jay ripped off his glove and sucked on his poor finger. Cole stared at him as he whimpered. “Is it bleeding?” 

“Gwee, I fondt knowh.” 

Cole dug a hand in his pouch. He felt around and pulled out a band-aid along with a small alcohol wipe. “Here.” Jay took the band-aid and wipe, gingerly dabbing it on his wound and wrapping the band-aid around his finger. “Thanks.” 

“Yeah.” 

They continued on in a comfortable silence, caring only to watch the leaves sway in the wind. When they arrived in Jamanakai village, their feet were sore, and they were tired. Jay’s stomach grumbled, and so did Cole’s. 

“I knew we should have eaten before we left.” Cole muttered. Jay let out a long yawn. “Sensei Wu said we were supposed to be back by Thursday. That’s three days away without video games. Do you think I can survive like this? Do you Cole?” 

He wasn’t listening. A heavenly smell reeled him in like a fishing line. It was sweet, yet it smelled like green tea. Maybe it was cake; Cole hoped it was cake. “Do you smell that?” he seriously inquired. Jay knitted his brows together. “The bakery? Oh, it’s right there.” He pointed to a small shop to their left, where a girl stocked freshly baked cakes and buns. 

Cole could already imagine how pillowy and soft the buns would be. They would have sweet fillings that melted in his mouth, and the cake would be the perfect texture with the right amount of cream. He made his way to the bakery, keeping a keen eye on the fresh chocolate cake. 

“Cole, we’re not here to buy cake.” said Jay. “If we’re gonna eat, we might as well eat a real meal.” Cole rolled his eyes and pointed to a slice of chocolate cake. “I’ll take one of that, please.” 

The cashier took out a pair of sparkling tongs. “Will that be all?” she inquired with a smile. “My grandma just finished steaming the buns, they’re fresh.” Cole whipped towards the cashier. For some reason, her voice sounded so familiar. It was again, like a smell that reminded him of something he couldn’t quite place. Sweet, nostalgic, kind.

That’s right, he thought. This was the girl he saved on the beach. But before then, he knew her as the studious (Y/n) (L/n) from the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. When Cole had no one to talk to in class, she was there. When he forgot his lunch, she shared it with him. When he decided to run away, she promised not to forget him. 

(Y/n) walked out from behind the counter. She handed Cole a bag of two containers. “It was you, wasn’t it?” Her voice was rather soft, like she were embarrassed anyone else would hear. “You saved me, on the beach.”

“Y-yeah, I did.” Was it just Cole or was it getting hot out here?  He didn’t need anyone to tell him his face had gone beet red. “Thank you Cole. I might have snuck ‘a few’ more cakes in the bag. That guy’s your friend, right? There are some buns in there for him too.” 

Cole met (Y/n)’s bright eyes. They weren’t as lively as he remembered, but they still held that warm glow that always made him feel safe. “I--uh--(Y/n)...” 

“Yeah?”

“Uh...do you still go to the Marty Oppenheimer School?” Do you want to hang out sometime? “I mean...uh...” How have you been? “T-thank you for the food.” He let out a nervous laugh and (Y/n) chuckled a little. “If you’re wondering, I graduated last year.” she said. Cole’s eyes widened. Had that much time already passed? 

“I live in Ninjago City now.” she added. “I didn’t think I would make it this far, but I did. I’m here in Jamanakai for the next three months before I go back to the city. I heard you’ve been up to things too--ninja stuff. Saving lives.” She smiled at Cole, as if the two shared an inside joke. 

“(Y/n)! Help me carry this, it’s too heavy for me!”

(Y/n) glanced over her shoulder. “One second, grandma!” She turned back to Cole and wrapped him in a tight hug. It was brief, it was sweet, and it made Cole remember just how close they used to be. “I have to get back to work. See you soon Cole?”

“Yeah.” he awkwardly replied. “See you soon.” He watched as she disappeared out back. When did he finally become taller than her? When had she actually spoken so nonchalantly? Last time he saw her, they were still kids. They were young, and even with responsibilities, they were still free. 

“Sooooo, you’ve got yourself a girl?” inquired Jay. He took the bag from Cole and made his way over to the fountain. The two sat on the ledge as Jay sifted through the food. There were buns filled with red bean paste, lotus paste, and even barbeque pork. Under that were five different desserts. Two velvety chocolate cakes, one egg tart, and three pieces of perfectly wrapped mochi. 

Jay took one of the meat buns. “Wow, this is really good. Tell your girlfriend to teach you how to cook.” Cole let out a short sigh. “She’s not my girlfriend, Jay. I haven’t even seen her in years.” 

“What? Why?”

Cole closed one of the boxes. He dug around the bag for a fork, but he grasped a small slip of paper instead. Jay peered over Cole’s shoulder with wide eyes. “Ooooo she gave you her phone number? See! Dating. Case closed. I’m gonna tell everyone when we get back.” 

“No you aren’t.” Cole retorted. “Like I said, I haven’t seen her in years. She probably only wanted to get back in touch.” Jay raised his brows and Cole elbowed him in the stomach. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” He pulled out one of the buns and took a big bite out of it. “We went to the same school together as kids. We became friends there, but when I ran away from home, we lost contact.” 

“So go talk to her!” exclaimed Jay. “Before we go, I’m setting you both up on a date, or at least a night out together. We’re not going home on Thursday, got it? We’re staying ‘til Saturday and that’s final.” Cole raised a brow in amusement. “I thought you said you wanted to play video games.”

“If your girlfriend has a phone, then she has video games.” said Jay smartly. Cole let out a bright laugh. All he really knew now was that he’d have to come to Jamanakai Village more often. 

NOTE: I will make a part two soon, so stay tuned! Tip jar

[vegalocity]

Secret kisses and Touching 2, 14, 22, 23, and 44. Secret Silktea relationship, except both spider fam and Monkey fam actually know! Half of them don’t care enough to say anything (Pigsy,Tang,Spider Queen,Wukong,Syntax) while the other half wants them to reveal it when they’re ready (Min Yi,MK,Mei,Goliath,Sis) - Pixel Anon

Affection meme

49. secret kisses

2. running fingers through hair

14.putting an arm around the other’s waist

22.falling asleep on the other’s shoulder

23. carrying the other one in their arms

44.sitting on the other’s lap

this took me forever to put together because for some ungodly reason i couldn't figure out the scenario

so i decided on a little vignette compilation of sorts

--

They knew what they were doing.

Of course they knew what they were doing. It was in either of their best interests to keep this a secret. Just because the clan had stopped their crusade to take over the city and their queen had dialed down the ‘revenge’ ideas, didn’t mean there wasn’t still bad blood between his clan and Sandy’s family.

And it wasn’t too difficult, it just meant that when they were all working together for some greater threat or whatever that they’d have to be sneaky. It was easy stealth was one of Huntsman’s greatest Attributes and suspecting Blue of anything was like suspecting a small dog of knocking over a bulldozer.

It wasn’t too hard to simply keep their hands to themselves. Or at least, it wasn’t hard for Sandy, Huntsman was quickly finding his self control lacking in regard to being in such a situation with his… well, with him. But could anyone blame him? Blue was more or less the hottest guy he’d ever ran into before and he was kinda-sorta DATING him! How could he not want to climb that like a tree at all times?

Especially when he was always being so stupidly fucking charming. Sure the ‘needlessly nice’ stuff wasn’t something he particularly appreciated, but it was starting to grow on him, if only on the amount of restraint he must have to keep it up all the time.

Soooo yeah maybe he was purposefully pushing their luck a little, but in his defense he wanted to see how much desire based frustration it would take before ol’ Blue would just pin him against a wall and make him regret wondering.

--

Syntax had shooed him away from being a nuisance at his worktable, so naturally, Huntsman had to go be a nuisance at someone else’s worktable. Thankfully Sandy was far more agreeable to the company, and thankfully the bid of ‘Bugging Syntax first’ kept his alibi solid. He wasn’t just going over to see Blue he just wanted to be a louse and his normal target had already locked him out of his room. And so nobody really suspected anything when he started to peer over Sandy’s side to watch him tighten this or that thing on this or that device.

And it was pretty damn fun to see just how much of a ‘nuisance’ he could be. This particular bout resulting ih Huntsman being pressed against the car engine Blue had been working on, feeling the orange hair slide between his claws and messing up the stylized mohawk and shuddering when he felt those huge hands almost entirely encompass either of his thighs while keeping him aloft. He hissed through his teeth as he felt Blue give one of his legs a testing squeeze and rolled his hips forward a bit-

“Fish Demon? I need to get another set of eyes on these schematics or I'll actually go insane.” By the time Syntax looked up from his clipboard Sandy was working on the engine again and Huntsman was leaning against his work area and had barely had the opening to whip out one of his knives and his portable sharpener.

Though Sandy’s hair was unable to be fixed and fell to a side as he smiled at Syntax and took the offered blueprints from him.

--

He wasn’t a big fan of those domestic snatches of time, he wasn’t.

It was mostly an instinctual response, Spiders were pack bonders, so of course when his internal senses started categorizing Sandy as ‘pack’ then he’d relax without intending to while being pulled in with a hand on his waist.

Which was definitely the reason why he was curled up to Sandy’s side, the cool slick feeling of his scales strange against his more leather-like skin. That stupid instinct was the only real reason why he felt so comfortable and like he could practically fall asleep like this.

He felt Blue’s hand gently start running up and down his side and dammit that wasn’t playing fair, it wasn’t his fault that he had been having sleeping problems lately and was rapidly getting drowsy.

He could feel Blue’s hum as the world started to drift away-

“Hey Sandy what do you think- Uhhhh”

“Oh, hello Xiaotian.”

“You know you’ve got a spider on you, right?”

“Oh yeah, Looked like he was having some paranoia problems, took a bit of wheedling to get out but Huntsman here was up for like four days straight ‘till now!”

“Did… Did you slip him your sleepy tea?”

“Of course not! That would be super unethical! Also I'm pretty sure he’s still semi conscious and passively listening without any critical thought right now since he only just dozed off and would probably wake up angry if he overheard anything like that!”

“....right… so anyway-”

--

The brat knew.

Dammit he knew the brat knew. She definitely fucking knew.

He should have known better than to try anything with that Professional Snoop underfoot. But He’d had plans with Blue before having to get stuck with the brat tonight because the Queen needed Syntax’s expertise and the Sister was on shift at work and Goliath already had plans doing who knows what, and he was stuck with Minyi since he ‘didn’t have any plans’

He’d dragged his feet on the idea of cancelling with Blue, but he’d fucking done it so nobody could say he didn’t contribute to the upkeep of their clan’s youngest. It was just his luck that Sandy had been fine with coming over instead, and the brat had overheard some of the conversation and got excited about ‘Mr Sandy’ coming over to visit. The brat had insisted on stringing some of her fake flowers into his hair before he arrived, after dubbing him ‘suitably pretty’ (her words) she’d done up her own hair as similarly as she could because he certainly wasn’t helping her with her weird pre-’company is coming’ rituals.

And… Blue was a hit with the brat. He had an infinite amount of patience for the inane childish babbling, stooped low so she could string the remaining fake flowers in her possession (why did she have so many fake flowers?) into his beard, and offered to fix dinner for the lot of them (which was for the best since the brat was such a picky eater she could barely stomach some of his specialties)

And… he was not jealous of a six year old for how she was able to crawl into Blue’s lap while the lot of them watched some inane mystery show for the character drama alone since the brat called and explained the mystery within the first three minutes.

Blue was a bit awkward on the sofa, it made sense, Goliath would normally sit on the floor for how the height and width of the couch was not designed with bigger demons in mind, and Blue was considerably bigger than Goliath. So while the brat was cozy as could be in the place of honor, Huntsman was stuck perched on the arm of the couch as to not be crushed into it trying to squeeze in beside Blue.

Not that that would be a wholly unpleasant experience, but the presence of the brat made it go from tempting to awkward. Nonetheless, part of Sandy trying to get comfortable had included one of his arms resting on the back of the couch, and while it seemed the brat wasn’t paying attention, it slid down to wrap around his shoulders.

When the time came Minyi didn’t need to be told it was bed time for her, she loudly announced it herself, changed into her pajamas, and after saying goodnight to the both of them went on with a

“I am going to sleep now! And I will not be out of my room until morning so if anything were to be happening I certainly won’t know it, because I will be asleep.”

She smiled widely at Huntsman and closed her door.

Nosey little brat.

--

Tang huffed a quiet laugh as Sandy gingerly began to lift Huntsman into the air, his broken leg not quite able to be splinted just yet, let alone looked at properly. It seemed the lot of them had suffered some pretty nasty injuries from this last threat (and no doubt it would have been worse if their team and the Spider Clan hadn’t joined forces) including Tang himself despite being on the sidelines for most of it, he was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated, and the cut on his forehead was still sluggishly bleeding all over the right side of his face, but compared to some of the others he was basically fine.

So once He was able to pop his arm back into place (Ouch) he took to handling cleanup with the only other ‘perfectly normal person’ here, a woman maybe a few years his junior, he’d seen her every so often with the Spider Clan (or rather, with Syntax) but he didn’t know her name.

“Do you think they actually think they’re being subtle?” Her words caught his attention and he turned to glance at the woman. She was in the middle of splinting Xiaojiao’s broken wrist and at Tang’s questioning glance, she nodded at Sandy and Huntsman. Oh!

“I’m sure Sandy thinks he’s the pinnacle of subtlety” Tang responded. He was pretty sure the ‘thing’ that had developed between their friend and the most brutal of the Spider Clan was the worst kept secret on the team since Red Son had started hanging out with Xiaotian and Xiaojiao on the weekends.

“They are so cute when you just walk in on them.” Xiaojiao said around a snicker. “Like how they jump apart like when you flip a magnet over to the matching side.”

“Does your team have a betting pool? My brother organized one for the clan, and if they do anything damning within the next month i win the pot.”

“No! Ohh man we should get one started up! Hey Pigsy! You wanna make a betting Pool for Sandy and Huntsman’s secret romance?”

“Why the hell would i want to do that?”

“Finally have dirt on Sandy after decades of him never being embarrassed about anything ever?” Tang offered with a shrug.

Pigsy thought for a moment and shrugged back before going back to fussing over Xiaotian. “Sure. Who’s bettin’ what?”

--

send me stuff!

[marrys-dream-world]

you drank so much sunlight you’re drowning in it

Read on AO3

Summary: When Marinette agreed to pretend to be Adrien's girlfriend so he could throw his father off the scent of his actual girlfriend, Ladybug, she didn't think anything could go wrong during the span of one dinner. Turns out she was wrong, of course. Fortunately, there's always a friendly cat looking out for her.

Notes: Guess who was inspired? This is a companion piece to “lovers alone wear sunlight”, but can be read as a stand alone. 

One lesson that Marinette had to learn quickly after becoming Ladybug was that there was always a chance of even the best made plans going sideways.

So when she slept through her alarm, had to rush into getting dressed for class, dumped salt instead of sugar in her coffee and tried to eat her croissant so fast before class started that she choked and had to be escorted to the infirmary by a worried Alya, she tried to not see it as an omen of what was to come. She held her head high and soldiered on through the day with her mismatched shoes and mouth tasting like a mix of salt and bitterness, not letting any of it bother her. 

She did have one weakness, however.

“Marinette, can I talk to you?” There it was. Suddenly, her knees felt weak.

Be still, my beating heart. She scolded. 

Adrien had rushed to ask her as soon as Ms. Bustier finished the class for lunch, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. At that, he flushed and figdted on the spot.

“Alone?” He added quietly, doing a decent job at ignoring the way their classmates leaned in.

“I- hum, yeah, I mean, yeah.” She said eloquently, feeling her neck burn. “Won’t you home at lunch? No, lunch at home? E-eat lunch at home? Today?”

“Not today, no.” He said. He casually put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear. She wondered if he could hear her heartbeat. “I need your help.”

Wasn’t that a bucket of cold water?

She straightened up. “Of course! C’mon.”

Marinette grasped his wrist in one hand and her backpack in another, pulling a stunned Adrien from the classroom. She caught a glimpse of her classmate’s knowing smile, Alya’s confused face, Chloe trying to pretend she wasn’t watching and Lila looking contemplative. She took him to a classroom that was usually empty around lunch time, something she knew from always needing a handy place to transform to fight akumas like Lunch Lady. 

“No one comes here at this hour.” She reassured him and he relaxed against a table. “No one will overhear or anything.”

My father said that he heard it from a “reliable source from school”. He had told Ladybug, the day before. I think there’s someone spying on me for him. 

“Marinette, I… Wow, this is awkward.” Adrien said, putting his hands in his pockets and kicking the air in front of him. 

“Take your time.” She said. It sure wasn’t an easy tale to tell. 

“Okay, this will sound really weird, but let me finish: father told me yesterday that he knows I’m dating someone and I told him you’re my secret girlfriend.” He started, tensing up again. When she just raised an eyebrow and nodded, he went on. “I panicked. I do have a girlfriend, but I can’t introduce her to my father due to some personal reason, but he wouldn’t accept that. And I can’t deny it because, apparently, everyone says I’m ‘obviously lovesick’ and my father wouldn’t believe otherwise.”

Well, there’s her confirmation that he read through the “Lovesick Agreste: is Paris’ biggest teenager bachelor off the market?” articles. Not that anyone in class hadn’t noticed his sighs and blushes and random daydreaming. She liked to think she was more subtle than that. 

“So I told him it was you because you’re one of my best friends and he likes you a lot!” Hearing it for a second time doesn’t make the idea that Gabriel Agreste likes her any less surreal. “But now he wants to meet you for dinner today and I know it’s a lot to ask, but will you pretend to be my girlfriend? Just for today?”

Marinette stared at him for a moment. She had known the full story almost as soon as it happened, Adrien spilling it and his plan for dinner to Ladybug the night before. It had given her time to prepare and she was grateful, having no idea how she would react if he had caught her blindsided. But it was still weird watching it play out, like the merging of an outsider perspective and her own.

“Can I ask a question?” She managed to croak out. There was really only one answer she wanted. 

Adrien twitched. “Y-yes, of course.”

“This girl… does she make you happy?”

Adrien looked straight into her eyes and answered solemnly. “Deliriously happy.”

Marinette couldn’t hold back the grin that took over her face.

“Let’s do this, then!” Her heart was swelling so much she thought it would burst out of her chest. “Adrien Agreste, I’ll be your fake girlfriend!”

The beaming smile she received made it worth it already. She just had to be discreet about it.

<>

“Soooo… What did Adrien want to talk about?” Alíx asked, a teasing grin on her face that was matched by Mylene, Rose and Juleka. They had crowdened her desk as soon as class let out. 

“He just wanted help with… homework.” Marinette word-vomited. Alya paused on putting her things away to facepalm.

“Marinette, it’s okay, you don’t need to pretend.” Mylene said calmly, which only confused her.

“Pretend to what?”

Rose laughed. “We know you’re dating Adrien.”

Marinette.exe has stopped working.

“You know what?”

“We understand you’re trying to keep it a secret, but you’re not exactly subtle. You both keep daydreaming in class and smiling and blushing.” Juleka pointed out. Fine, maybe she wasn’t as subtle as she thought. “It’s okay, we won’t tell anyone.”

There’s nothing to tell! She wanted to scream.

We aren’t dating at all. Are you guys crazy? She wanted to deny.

Then, something in her mind clicked.

“You guys figured me out.” Marinette said, injecting a proportionate amount of defeat into her voice. Distantly, she heard Alya choke. “Adrien and I are dating…”

The four girls cheered.

“... but we were keeping it a secret because his father is, you know. “ They all nodded, including Alya. Unfortunately, they did know Gabriel Agreste. “But he figured it out and now I’m going to have dinner at his house today.”

Rose and Alya let out high pitched screams for two very different reasons.

“Oh, Marinette, you’re formally meeting your in-laws, this is serious!” Rose chirped. Marinette decided to focus on that instead of Alya’s murderous eyes. “We have to give you a makeover!”

“Great idea!” Marinette shouted, jumping up from her seat and avoiding Alya’s hand that was trying to claw into her arm. “Everyone is invited to my house today!”

Sorry, Alya. She thought as the other girls started to talk over each other as Alya silently fumed. But I can’t have this conversation right now. 

<>

She did regret that decision, eventually. 

Between Alíx’s surprisingly accurate tips on how rich people ate dinner and which fork to absolutely not use for salad, Juleka’s makeup tips and Rose and Mylene’s debates on which outfit suited her the best, Marinette is left even more nervous. It doesn’t help that Alya spends the whole time sitting in the corner, just staring at Marinette. Even when Marinette brings out her favorite tart as a peace offering, Alya eats it, paper mold and all, while staring deeply into her eyes.

It was incredibly unsettling. 

“Ta-da!” Rose chirps, presenting a dolled up Marinette to her four-people audience. They all clapped. 

Marinette looked into the mirror. She could admit she looked amazing, make up well-done and outfit impeccable. But at what cost?

“Our baby is all grown up.” Alíx said, wiping a fake tear from her cheek. “She even knows how to use forks now.”

She swallowed back a sob. After Marinette misused the fish fork for the eleventh time, Alíx had taken to ripping an Adrien picture everytime she got it wrong. She learned pretty quickly after that. 

“Great work, girls.” Alya said, her first words in three hours. She got up from the chair and clasped her hands. “Now, Mama Alya needs to have a word alone with her daughter.”

“Of course!” Mylene said, finishing putting the rest of Marinette’s clothes away. 

As the girls left, Marinette looked longingly at her window and only stopped thinking of escaping, halfway through a plan, when she saw the look on Alya’s face. 

“So, peach really brings out my complexion, huh? Or maybe Juleka is just that good with makeup.” She tried.

Tikki, coming out of her hiding place, sighed.

“Marinette, that’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.”

“What? I think I had worse makeup looks before.”

“Marinette.”

She winced. “In my defense, I don’t think this makes it into the top 10 dumbest things I’ve ever done.”

“Why did you tell the girls you’re dating Adrien?”

“Because I am dating Adrien.”

“Ladybug is dating Adrien.” And by Alya’s tone, her opinion hasn’t improved on that either. 

“And Marinette is helping Adrien throw off his father from that by pretending to be his girlfriend.” Marinette said, then, at Alya dumbfounded look, made jazz hands and added a weak: “Ta-da.”

“Tikki.” Alya said, voice restraining a mix of frustration and desperation. “Why do you let Marinette do dumb stuff like this?”

Tikki swallowed a whole cookie. “I don’t control the speed in which Marinette does dumb stuff.”

“Hey!”

“Why not?”

“I’m still here, you know?”

Tikki and Alya’s combo stare shut her up. 

“How do you get yourself in these situations?” Alya asked, helplessly.

“Welcome to my life.” Tikki said, offering Alya a cookie. They toasted before biting into their perspective treats. 

“It’s not that bad.” Marinette said. Neither gave her a response. 

<>

The Agrestes sent her a car to take her to dinner.

Alya and her parents sent her off. Her, on her tenth fruit tart and judging-and-supportive-at-the-same-time stare, and them, her mother comforting her crying father that wailed that “his little girl had grown up”. The three of them demanded at least fifty pictures before they let her go. She loved her family, but the quiet ride there was a respite to gather her thoughts and calm down enough to not make a fool of herself.

So, of course, when she got to the house and saw Adrien in a carefully styled outfit and his father waiting for her on the top of the stairs, she tripped on her heels and was only saved by falling into the hard concrete by the Gorilla’s grip on the back of her dress.

“Marinette.” Adrien said adoringly as she reached the top of the stairs, cheeks flushed and eyes shining.

He could be an actor if he wanted. She thought, dazed, as she took the hand he offered her.

“Good evening, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.” Gabriel Agreste said, nodding at her.

“Good evening, Mr. Agreste.” She responded, managing to keep her voice from trembling. 

The dining room was excessive, much bigger than she thought it would be needed for a three-people dinner. Adrien, like a gentleman, held her hand till she was seated and sent her a fond look. She barely managed an awkward smile back. It was weird, trying to pretend to be in love with Adrien when she was in love with. Hell, they were dating, he just didn’t know that. Would he recognize her lovesick look as the same he got from Ladybug? That the way their hands fit together was familiar? These questions wouldn’t leave her mind.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, that’s an interesting dress you’re wearing.” Mr. Agreste said as the first course was served. Marinette’s hands immediately went for the right fork as the sound of paper ripping ringed in her ears. “Care to say where you got it?”

“I, uh, designed it myself.” She said, gesturing vaguely. “It’s a new piece.”

“Marinette is a very talented designer.” Adrien said and she puffed up a little, chest full of pride.

“I was not speaking to you, Adrien.” His father said curtly and the light in her boyfriend’s eyes dimmed.

Ah, another reason she wasn’t looking forward to dinner. All of Adrien's friends know him as a very strict and overprotective man, but Ladybug, as Adrien’s girlfriend and constant secret visitor to the Agreste Mansion, knew better. She saw how he constantly put Adrien down, berating him for the slightest mistake and made him cancel plans last minute because of missed notes on a piano performance. Adrien was genuinely scared of his father and if Marinette wasn’t doing this whole thing to help him, she would dump the bowl of hot soup she was now sipping on his father’s lap. 

“But you’re right. The dress is craftily-made.” Mr. Agreste said. “You’re looking for a future in the fashion scene, right, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yes, that’s actually why Adrien and I are dating in secret.” She said, noticing the glint in his eyes. “We don't want anyone to think I’m using him to climb up the scene or anything like that.”

“An admirable effort.” He said and Adrien beamed at her. He really had the prettiest smile in the world, it never failed to raise butterflies in her stomach. “Tell me more about your dress. How did you choose the material?”

The main course continued like that, Marinette and Mr. Agreste talking about fashion and Adrien’s interjections now being welcomed. She got enough pointers and constructive criticisms that her hands itched for a notebook to write it all down. Adrien looked incredibly happy, throwing her sunshine-filled gazes and grasping at her hands every time he wanted to punctuate a sentence. 

I love him. She thought. 

Of course, that’s why it went south before dessert. 

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I must admit that you’re an admirable young woman.” Mr. Agreste said and she allowed her feeling of pride to swell, before he popped it like a balloon at his next words: “And completely unfit for the Agreste Brand image.”

“What?” Adrien and Marinette shouted at the same time, shocked.

“No matter your intentions, the media will see this as a young designer trying to get an advantage in the industry by dating the heir to a fashion empire.” He said simply.

“But it’s not true!” Marinette blurted out.

“It doesn’t matter.” He dismissed, before continuing, voice cruel: “There’s also the problem of your background.”

It felt like someone scooped out Marinette’s stomach and filled the empty space with ice.

“M-my background?”

“Father…” Adrien started, surprisingly firm.

“You’re a baker’s daughter, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, hardly worthy of the Agreste name.” Mr Agreste said, like it wasn’t breaking her heart. “You two have to break up before this… fling tarnishes the family image.”

“Father!” Adrien said, sounding more serious than she ever heard him. “How can you even say something like that?”

Marinette felt like she was underwater, everything felt muffled and Adrien and his father sounded like they were both far away. This couldn’t be happening to her. 

“I… have to go.” She said, getting up from her chair. “I’m sorry, Adrien.”

She left, ignoring Adrien’s calls of her name and running into the streets. Her feet hurt from her shoes, so she stepped into an alley and opened her bag, deaf to Tikki’s reassurances and transformed quickly. She swung through the city before detransforming near her house and coming in the front door, her parents excited inquiries quickly giving away to fretting that left her wrapped in blankets in her room with a tub of ice cream on her lap and a worried Tikki on her hair. 

Thank god Alya already left. Marinette thought. If one more person looked at her with a pitying gaze, she would scream. 

“I’m fine, Tikki. I’m not sad.” It was true, her whole body just felt numb. There wasn’t room for anything else. “I just want to be alone for a moment.”

With that, she climbed up to her balcony, leaving Tikki alone with a phone that was buzzing with dozens of unseen messages.

The cold air nipped at her skin, but she refused to go down and get more blankets. She stared unseeing at the blinking lights of the city. She wanted to stay there and watch them. She wanted to fly through them. Neither felt like enough, so she closed her eyes.

“What’s upsetting such a pretty lady on a pretty night like this?”

She snapped her head to the side at the sound of that voice. A voice she hadn’t heard directed at her since…

“You could at least pretend that you actually think I’m your partner and trust me , how about that?!”

“Chat Noir…” She gasped, hungrily driking in his messy blond hair and grinning mouth that didn’t hide worried his cat-like eyes were. 

Eyes that wouldn’t look into hers since the fight where he found out she told someone her identity and the issues that spiraled from that.

“Hey, Marinette.” He said, sitting down beside her. “So?”

She tilted her head. “So what?”

“What got you so upset?”

“I-I’m not upset.” She said, a tremble escaping into her voice. 

He raised a hand to her cheek, touching gently. She watched, entranced.

“You’re crying.” Chat Noir said, soflty.

“Oh.” Marinette said and it was like a dam broke.

Chat Noir held her as she sobbed, huge tears rolling down her red face as her body trembled. It should feel weird, they only met as Marinette and Chat Noir a handful of times, but her heart knew her partner and could never feel anything but safe in his arms. 

“It’s okay, princess.” He said, the nickname falling easily from his tongue. “Cry all you need.”

And she did, until it seemed like she had, finally, run out. 

“S-sorry.” She mumbled against his shoulder.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He reassured, stroking her hair. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

She sat up, detangling herself from his arms. His eyes flashed with something that she couldn’t quite place.

“I went out to help a friend and it ended up pretty badly.” Marinette said, wiping her cheeks with her blanket. 

“Did you two have a fight?” He asked, oddly subdued.

“Not exactly, it’s not really his fault but… I don’t want to talk to my friend right now.”

Because how could she even begin to explain that it wasn’t Adrien’s fault, but she couldn’t bear to see his face right now? That it was a fake date, but the fact that his father wouldn’t approve of her even if it was real broke her heart? That it wasn’t because of anything she could change and didn’t want to change, anyway, but her essence itself? To look at the guilty face of her friend, her secret boyfriend, wouldn’t help her at all.

“I understand.”

“Because of you and Ladybug?” The words left her mouth before she could think them through. 

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean me and Ladybug?”

“I-I, erm.” She swallowed heavily. “I mean, Alya said you two are probably fighting, since you are going on all-solo patrols and have been kinda stiff during akuma fights.”

He deflated. “I didn’t see anything on the Ladyblog.”

“She wouldn’t put ammunition for Shadow Moth on the Ladyblog.” She defended. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I… don’t know?” He looked genuinely confused. “I haven’t really talked about this with anyone but my kwami.”

She was surprised he said that, before realizing he thought she knew what a kwami was because of Mullo and her time as Multimouse. 

“You can vent if you want. You already saw me being all, you know.” She gestured vaguely at herself. “Just say as much as you want.”

“Ladybug and I did have a fight. We don’t let it interfere with our job or anything, but our friendship is kinda on the rocks right.” He said quietly, cat ears dropping. “I can’t tell you why, but sometimes it just feels like I’m not important to her.”

“Of course you are!” She exclaimed, protests falling automatically from her mouth like on hero discussion day at school.

(She was officially banned from debates after she made a student that said Chat Noir sucked cry.)

“Am I really?” He chuckled, self-deprecating. “Everyone thinks Ladybug is the best. I don’t blame them, they’re right. But when they call me a sidekick, they might just be right. She doesn’t see me as her partner, she doesn’t trust me.”

His voice cracked at the end and she wrapped him in her arms. 

“You won’t let me help you, Ladybug.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She said, holding back tears as it was his turn to cry.

He laughed wetly. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

But it is. “I’m still sorry.”

“It's just… I love her.” He said and it ached. “I love her so much but I don’t think she cares about me half as much as I care about her.”

“Of course she does.” Marinette said, but her words sounded weak even to her own ears.

“She doesn’t.” He answered, simply.

“I wish… I wish I could make her love you.” She said, surprising him and herself so much it startled a laugh out of him.

“There’s no need for that, I’m not mad she doesn’t love me like this or anything.” Chat Noir said, honestly. “I just want to know she cares.”

“She cares.” Marinette defended fiercely. “I care.”

His eyes softened. “That means a lot to me, princess.”

Then he took her hand, mindful of his claws, and squeezed. Together, they watched the lights until she fell asleep.

Her heart felt full.

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Echo x Reader: Sightseeing

(Author’s note:  I’m soooo sorry, I’ve been neglecting my Hobbit fanfiction duties, but I have Star Wars on the brain!  I don’t know, I’ve been drawn back in.  Here is a little something for you Echo fangirls.  He’s one of my faaaves!  This is pre-citadel, just so you know...)

   “Echo!” 

   The trooper glanced up from his datapad at the sound of his brother calling his name.  Fives was standing there, shaking his head in what looked like disappointment with arms folded across his armored chest.

   “What?” Echo shrugged his shoulders.

   “We’re in the middle of this beautiful city, and you’ve got your nose in a datapad!”  He gestured to their surroundings.  It was a warm night.  The duracrete was damp from a brief rainfall not too long before, and neon light signs reflected in the puddles.  Citizens walked back and forth, some talking on comms and others waiting in lines to try the exotic street foods that filled the air with scents that would make anyone’s mouth water.  It was beautiful now that Echo got a good look, but there were other things on his mind.

   “I’m reading the latest report issued about Geonosis,” he defended.  “Apparently some Geonosian worm infected-”

   “Brother, no.”

   “But-”

   “No, no.”  Fives shook his head again, reaching over to snatch the datapad from his best friend’s hand.  “You need to take some time and enjoy the sights.  There will be plenty of time to catch up on the latest reports on our way back.”

   “I suppose,” he conceded, still not completely convinced.

   “Like here,” Fives put an arm around his shoulder, drawing him closer to a cart where street food was being sold.  “Do you think we could enjoy such things on the cruiser?”

   Echo stared at the breaded aquatic creature on a stick, his empty stomach rumbling.  He remembered that he hadn’t eaten yet that evening. “That is an excellent point.”

   “I’m starving.  Let’s try something, eh?”

   Echo nodded, and he and Fives took their place in line.  Fives was looking at the menu posted on the front of the rickety old cart, and Echo took the time to observe his surroundings again.  There were some things he hadn’t noticed before- like how if he listened closely enough, he could hear a lively tune playing over the chatter of citizens.  It was a diverse crowd with droids and people.  His casual scan was halted when he spotted a beautiful pair of eyes.

   They only caught his gaze for a moment as she walked by, but Echo found himself following the form that they belonged to.  She was absolutely lovely, he admitted to himself in the privacy of his own mind.  Sure, in his travels he had seen a few that he found attractive, but none that had this effect on him.  It felt like his insides were coming apart, and he wondered if he should approach her.  What would he even say?

   A shadow moved along the wall of the buildings behind the woman.  The shadow moved steadily, and Echo quickly realized that it was following the owner of those eyes he so admired, who seemed oblivious to the situation.

   His jaw tightened as he tracked the figure, fists clenched.  He quickly made his way through the crowded sidewalk until he neared the shadow’s target.

- - - - 

   You had noticed the individual dressed in a trench coat with the collar turned up walking at a steady pace behind you.  He was distant, but close enough to raise alarm in your mind.  He had followed you down every turn.  Perhaps you were being paranoid, but perhaps not.  Not wanting to take any chances, you considered a few ideas to lose the guy.  As you passed a group of street vendors, you took note of a few troopers in uniform.  By the looks of it, they were ARC troopers.  One happened to look over at you and made eye contact briefly.  Maybe he saw the situation you were in because he kept staring even after you had broken the mutual gaze.  You decided to go a little farther and then circling around to approach the troopers.  If this individual was really following you, hopefully they’d get the idea and leave if you were in the company of soldiers.

   A line of citizens cut in front of you, and someone had shoved you off to the side.  

   “Ouch,” you complained, though you realized the incident was the least of your problems.  The two troopers in your line of sight were nowhere to be found, and the figure behind was gaining on you.

   Suddenly, a gloved hand just barely rested on your elbow, prompting you to move forward.  “Keep walking.”

   You glanced up to see the ARC trooper you’d made eye contact with before.  He had kept the standard trooper haircut and had no visible tattoos or scars on his face, only a handprint painted on his armor to distinguish him from others.

   “I don’t mean to alarm you,” he spoke in a low voice, “but there’s someone following you.”

   “I know,” you replied.  “I haven’t been able to shake him.  I was actually heading back around to find you and the other ARC trooper, hoping you’d scare him off.”  You pretended to be familiar with the trooper, slipping your arm around his waist and smiling.  

   “Well, you found me.”  He steered you back out of the crowd toward the nearest building.  The individual in the trench coat had slowed down at this point, and you saw a pair of eyes reflecting light in your direction.  The trooper put his arm around you, drawing you closer to his armored chest, and he blatantly stared down the stranger until they flinched and hurried away.

   You exhaled in relief.  “Thank you.”

   “It’s no trouble, really.”  He caught your gaze again, looking at you with those warm brown eyes of his.  He was handsome, no doubt, and the chivalry he displayed just now made him even more handsome in your eyes.  “Are you okay?”

   “A little spooked,” you admitted.  “But I’m fine, thanks to you.  My ship isn’t too far from here.  I think I’ll be alright.”

   He lifted a brow.  “You sure?  I can walk you back.”

   “No, don’t worry about it.  I don’t think he’ll want to follow me to where I’m headed.  Trust me.”

   “Okay.”  He gazed at you a little longer.  “What’s your name?”

   “Oh, I’m ________.”  You held out your hand.

   He shook it.  “I go by Echo.” 

   “Echo?”

   “It’s a long story.”  A look of embarrassment crossed his features.  “I used to reiterate orders in the training simulations, and my teammates would call me ‘Echo’ out of annoyance.”

   “Really?  That’s an interesting way to get a name.  I like it.”

   A mutual silence settled between you two.  Echo stole a glance at a nearby vendor and gestured toward it with a gloved hand.  “Hungry?”

   “Yeah, I could eat,” you decided.  Whatever it was that they were selling at the cart was foreign to you, but looked and smelled good.  Fortunately, the line was short.  You and Echo only had to wait a few minutes before stepping up to place the order.  You fished out your wallet, but Echo gently tapped your hand.

   “Allow me.”

   “But you just rescued me.  I couldn’t ask you to pay.”

   “You’re not asking.  I’m insisting,” he said with a smile.  He handed a few credits to the vendor and accepted the food, motioning for you to follow him away from the cart so the next person could order.  You took a bite of your portion and smiled.

   “This is really good!  Thank you.”

   “Don’t mention it.”  He bit into his serving as well.  “Wow, that is good.”  As the two of you finished your snack, Echo inquired to know more about you.  “So, what do you do for a living?”

   “I’m a mechanic.”

   “Yeah?  What kind?”

   “A good one,” you replied with a cheeky look.

   “I suppose I walked right into that one, but seriously, what sort of things do you work on?”

   “Mostly ships.  I like making a difference, getting to travel, and meeting new people.”  You gave his armored shoulder a playful nudge.

   “Sounds like you’re doing what you love.”

   “You could say that.”

   Another mutual silence ensued, but it made neither of you uncomfortable.  For just a few more minutes, you enjoyed the other’s company and the newfound friendship.  The moment was interrupted when the other ARC trooper you’d seen standing next to Echo before approached.

   “There you are, Echo!” he exclaimed.  “I waited in line, but by the time it was my turn, you were gone.”

   “Sorry,” Echo looked bashful.  “Fives, this is _________.  We ran into each other and got talking.  _________, this is Fives.”

   “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fives.”

   “Right back at you.”

   You glanced at the chrono on your wrist.  “Oh, I need to get back to my ship.”  In a moment of bravery, you leaned in to press a kiss to the side of Echo’s face, though with you having to lean around his ARC trooper armor, it ended up closer to his jaw than cheek.  “Thank you, Echo, for looking out for me.”

   His eyes widened in surprise, and for a few seconds he struggled to come up with a reply.  Finally, he just uttered, “anytime.”

   You smiled.  Echo was strong and brave, and yet so sweet and, well, darling.  With a farewell to him and Fives, you headed back to the ship that you were expected at in only a few minutes for the start of your shift.

   “Wait,” Echo hurried after you.  “Can I comm you?”

   You felt warmth in your face.  “I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you around.”

   And then you turned and left.

   - - - -

   “So what’s all this, huh?”  Fives gave Echo a playful punch to the shoulder plate.  “I turn around for two seconds, and I find you with a girl.  An actual girl.”

   “She needed help- that’s all.  Someone was following her, and I couldn’t let anything bad happen.”

   Fives narrowed his eyes slowly.  “Ohhh, I see how it is... You like her.”

   “What?  How did you gather that from me helping a random citizen?”

   “Can’t say I blame you.  She’s cute, that’s for sure.”

   “Come on,” Echo rolled his eyes.  “Are you even listening to me?”

   “I’m listening, and all I’m hearing is that you totally have a thing for _______.”

   Echo cleared his throat, hoping he’d drop the topic because even though Echo tried to deny it, Fives was spot-on with his analysis.  It comes with the territory of spending your whole life with your teammate.  They know you pretty well.  “Either way, I doubt I’ll ever see her again.  We ship back out tomorrow anyway.”

   Fives patted his back.  “You never know, brother, you never know...”

   The entire evening out, Echo tried very hard to enjoy himself.  He caught himself searching the crowd for that face again everywhere he and Fives went.  Fives even suggested they circle back to where he met her again, just in case she came back looking for him too.  She was nowhere to be found.  When both troopers had enough exploring, the two headed back to the Republic ship.

   After getting through security, they went toward the trooper quarters.  They chatted idly about the interesting things they saw in the city and the foods they tried.  

   Echo was nearly floored when he caught a glimpse of that familiar pair of eyes.

   She was wearing a jumpsuit typical of mechanics in the GAR, and she was talking to a coworker, most likely an electrician, in the hall while he worked on a light fixture.  She looked up and met Echo’s gaze, and she smiled brightly at him.  Without thinking, Echo walked right up to her.

   “Wait, you work here?  On this ship?” he asked.

   She stifled a chuckle.  “Yeah, you didn’t know?”

   “I’ve seen mechanics around all the time in the hangar.”  He raised his brows incredulously.  “I would’ve definitely remembered you.”

   “That was actually pretty smooth,” Fives muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Echo to hear.

   “I’m new,” ________ admitted.  “Well, new to this ship.  I used to work with the 212th, but seeing as General Skywalker is the one with the highest destroyed vehicle count, they transferred some of us over.”

   Fives burst out laughing.  “That sounds like the General.”

   “Well then, I’m glad to be seeing more of you, _________,” Echo said.  “I’ll let you get back to work.”

   “Alright,” she nodded.

   “Alright,” he echoed, gazing back.  This time, the silence that followed was rather awkward as he didn’t budge or break the stare.

   Fives’ eyes shifted between the two before he broke the awkward silence.  “Uh, it was nice to see you again, _________.  We’ll be heading out now.  Have a good night!”  He grabbed Echo by the shoulders and gently pushed him in the other direction.  Echo regained his senses and kept walking, occasionally sneaking a glance over his shoulder.

   “We’ve got to work on your flirting skills,” Fives groaned.  “That last bit was just painful to watch.”

   “I’ll be seeing her,” Echo said with a smile on his face.  “I guess that means I’ll have plenty of practice.”

[excitedlysuffering]

OMGOMGOMG possibly Kakashi head-cannon collection? He is the love of my life (lmao don’t tell my bf that)

Your secrets safe with me he’s my love too😂

Kakashi Headcanons Collection

What He Looks For In A S/O~

• A reader, they don’t have to read Icha Icha (bonus points if you did) but someone who appreciates a good book

• Someone laid back and not very high maintenance

• I see him wanting a shinobi S/O cause he needs them to be to take care of themselves or he’ll worry too much

• he’ll worry anyways

• Someone who understands his pain and won’t shy away from him when he’s going through a rough patch

• Someone who is good with words, like say something sweet and he’s metlinggg

• A person with considerate personality traits

• He would like an S/O who’s willing to try new things and adventures

• Someone who would take things slowly

• Someone who could honestly make him laugh

• He’s DadKashi he’s going to want someone good with kids

• To be frank, he would probably want a relatively stable S/O so that in his mind there’s no chance of them ending up like his father

• He wants companionship so someone who’s not distant and who wouldn’t mind him being around all the time

• I really can’t see him with a tsundere S/O, he needs to see that his partner loves him as much as he loves them

Relationship With Kashi Stuff~

• Please do domestic stuff (Sending him off to work with a kiss, a note in his lunchbox, kissing him when he gets home) he will be near tears every time

• TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK™ (whether it’s kicking butt, making dinner, or teaching (raising) Team 7)

• You probably won’t notice moving in with each other until you look up like ‘holy crap I haven’t been to my apartment in like 2 weeks?’

• Read with him or read to him, and you will have his HEART

• He’s not clingy per se, but he loves to be in your presence whenever he can

• Will take you out on dates once a week EVERY WEEK (Sorry Tsunade-sama, I have a date then, but I’ll leave right after?)

• Dating Kakashi means you’re now honorary rivals with Gai (who knows Kashi better, who can make him laugh most etc.)

• Pick up line wars 24/7, the loser has to do the other’s chores Kakashi wins

• Okay, but Kakashi never had a childhood, so make a list of everything he never got to do and you slowly complete them together

• He’s such a sweetheart like, surprise, he’s so sensitive

• Get’s so flustered seeing you in his clothes, he temporarily shuts down

• He’s given up trying to take back his mask whenever you’re wearing it

• Okay, we all know this silver-haired hottie is suave, but he is SMOOTH, he will 100% find ways to have you blush whenever possible, he is the CEO of leaving you hot and bothered

• Made you your own area in the Hokage office as a hint that he needed your company

• Has never forgotten an important date (he uses his Sharingan on the calendar)

• He’s fought demons and other crazy villains, but will still be terrified of you on your period (he’s brave tho he’ll just bring a lot of peace offerings)

• He heard you refer to him as DadKashi in front of Team 7 and/or your friends and just about loses his mind

• When you first see his face without his mask you’re probably pissed cuz WHY would he hide that beauty from the world?! it’s for the greater good hun

How To Lose/Annoy Him~

• Being insensitive/ignorant about things like loss or mental illness

• Constantly distracting him from his duties or hobbies

• Being rude or uncompassionate

• Being willing to abandon people or being self-centered you SCUM

• He always makes time for you, so he’d be a bit bothered if they didn’t put forth any effort to spend time with him

• Little pranks are harmless, but things that make him scared for your wellbeing or stealing his mask are big fat NO

• Being reckless just because, being a shinobi is already dangerous with would you play with death like that??

• Being lazy, Kakashi at his core is really something of a go-go-go person, he doesn’t want to just do anything all the time

Soft Kakashi Things~

• Kakashi is such a softie omg

• He likes to fall asleep last just so he can tell you how much he loves you and you saved him while you’re asleep

• If you’re having a bad day, he’ll drop everything (if possible) to hold you and be there for you in every way you need

• Definitely has Sai draw a small pic of you so he can carry it around and/or put in the Hokage office

• Mission dates are a thing like imagine flirting with Kakashi while destroying your opponents (so romantic)

• He’s big on practical gifts. If he notices you’re running low on shuriken? Expect a box of them from him

• He’ll read a particular *wild* Icha Icha quote to you just to make you flustered (bonus points for him if you’re in public)

• His students question you all the time like how did you end up with their lonely, pervy sensei?

• Will sweep you off your feet for no reason other than he likes to hold you and carry you

Random Kashi Facts~

• Kakashi’s love language is words of affirmation like he craves hearing that you love him and the like

• He hums and sings around the house or whenever he’s bored or preoccupied

• After having eating fish out of necessity day after day he prefers not eating it if possible

• He will often fall asleep a good while after he actually lays down because he enjoys debriefing himself of everything that happened during the day

• Actually sleeps really deep when he’s next to you, otherwise, the smallest sound can wake him up

• He likes to put notes or letters from you in his Icha Icha books so he can read them whenever and no one will peak cuz ew, Icha Icha

• In all honesty, Gai is a common factor in why he’s so late everywhere, but it’s mostly him walking around and taking in the sights like a nostalgic old man

• In the episode where Sakura and Naruto transformed into kids and called Kashi and old man, giving him an identity crisis is actually common. His hair color and the fact that you can’t see his face make some kids think he’s old

• Sometimes when he can’t sleep he’ll find a random tree and fall asleep in it (he’s a strange one)

• He lost his newest Icha Icha book when he was Hokage and very nearly (thanks to Shikamaru) called a citywide search party

Little Things~

Favorite:

• Place to kiss- Your temple, it feels really intimate to him and he’s so tall it’s an easy place for him

• Way to hug- Kakashi loves those giant bear hugs where he just envelopes you like you’re basically one with him now

•’Thing to do with you- He really loves reading with you, whether it’s the same book, or you’re just both sitting next to each other reading

• Type of date- Although your most common date is a mission date (lol), his favorite is being able to take you to a nice restaurant and then on a walk around the city

This or That:

• He’s a winter person actually, he loves being cuddled up with you and blankets, and the abundance of hot drinks

• He’s a morning person because he’s been waking up early since he was a child, and doesn’t really know how to enjoy sleeping anymore (but if that wasn’t the case he’d be a night owl)

• Loves both cooking for you and being cooked for he puts Bobby Flay to shame honestly

• He spends all his time reading obviously and if his S/O is a writer or he’ll be soooo excited and will read everything they put out

Conflict Happenings~

• He knows disagreements are a normal part of relationships (in moderation of course) so if there was a real problem, he wouldn’t shy away from it

• He won’t raise his voice or take a tone with you, he doesn’t feel the need to, but he will definitely get his point across

• To his fault, he might throw in a slight or cutting remark here and there but he will regret it the second your expression changes

• He’s a real go with the flow kind of guy so if he realizes that something is his fault, he will correct it ASAP

• If he notices you’re getting really worked up, he’ll just hug you until you calm down and can speak coherently but at that point it’s like ‘what was I mad about??’

• If his S/O is headstrong it’ll probably bring that side out in him, even if temporarily

• If it’s a minor disagreement he’ll probably say something funny to diffuse the situation

• He would rather die than argue in public, to him it’s a private thing and he hates causing a scene

Modern Kashi~

• I can see him as more of a club/extracurricular activities leader than a teacher

• He’s really close to those kids in his group and probably sheds a few proud DadKashi tears at their graduation

• That one fine teacher that all the students are thirsting over

• If not a teacher he’d probably be an elite CIA agent or a higher ranking FBI officer

• He has so many dogs like he sees a stray and how could he possibly give them up??

• He’d probably walk around Playboy Magazines just cause he can

• At one point he dyed his hair black cause he thought it’d look more ‘normal’ but he HATED it

• He likes plants but he’s so bad at taking care of them?? He can remember all of his dogs’ names and their food preferences but can’t remember to water a plant

• His house is so clean he’s been doing all his household chores since he was a child

• He definitely met Gai in elementary school and they never parted, even going on to become college roommates never again

• Gai probably barges in Kakashi’s classroom so often he’s most likely considered the co-leader/teacher

• Kakashi has definitely gotten drunk on school nights before but he’s such an in-control drunk no one ever noticed

• Kakashi was my first Naruto love and my first husband. BACK OFF

Masterlist

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

OOH can we see how Kohga would react to Mipha asking for relationship advice? Since she’d see how devoted and passionate Sooga is for his Master, and not really anyone else in their group is in a relationship soooo

I’m just obsessed with him just adoring Mipha and trying his ass off to get her and Link together it’s so cute

One, thank you for recognizing the fact that Kohga playing Mipha’s wingman is possibly the best idea I’ve EVER had. Two, I am SO ready to start this absolute soft shit. Smut is fun and all, but come on, Kohga trying to hook bitches up is amazing. And third, this got waay out of hand, so enjoy some double dates here.

“So, did you get me something?”

Sooga hardly left Master Kohga’s side. Whenever he had to, be it to lend a hand elsewhere; he had TWO rules to follow; come home to him at the end of the day, and bring him something. Kohga had been sitting here, having tea with Mipha, while Sooga offered to help Sidon hunt for sneaky river snails (Sooga had a real knack for knowing where to find them). They came back with quite the haul, so the fact that he managed to get anything else was nothing to scoff at. He put the large bag of fish down on the floor, and from his pockets, produced a small cage. Inside the cage was what appeared to be a winterwing butterfly. Kohga clapped his hands together, clearly loving it.

“Ooh, I’ve been looking for one of these!”

“I know. It was why I had to stop in the middle of fishing to catch it for you. I may have let Sidon fall in the water in my haste. Maybe.”

Mipha cocked her head to the side upon seeing his reaction to the small bug.

“You like bugs?”

“Just the butterflies. I only keep them for a day or two before I let them go, I just think they’re neat.”

Kohga took a hold of Sooga’s chin, grinning from ear to ear.

“And SOMEONE seemed to remember me saying I wanted this specific one. You’re such a sap, Sooga.”

Sooga was trying (and failing) not to smile.

“I listen to EVERY word you say, master Kohga.”

“Ugh, you’re being mushy again. Get outta my face, go help shark boy with the fish.”

Kohga tried to look mean as he gently pushed his face away, but it was plainly obvious; Kohga loved him. Sooga pardoned himself, hoisted the bag over his shoulder, and walked off with Sidon. Mipha took a sip of her tea, watching as Kohga lightly shook his head. She knew it was a bad emotion to feel, but she couldn’t resist feeling a bit jealous. They were so happy with one another, and yet, her own love and affections were clearly not recognized by the one boy she loved, more than anything. Perhaps…

“Kohga? Can I ask something?”

“Whatever you want.”

Kohga stopped ogling his boyfriend for a second and gave her his attention, snacking on the cookies she made, just for him (shaped in just the cutest seashells). She squirmed a bit in her seat, unsure of how to go about it, before she finally came out with it.

“How...did you get someone to love you, the way Sooga does?”

Kohga stopped eating for a second, looking at her sullen face. This little fish was just sweeter than banana bread, and it hurt poor ol’ Kohga to see her love so much, without Goldilocks even talking about it with her. Sure they were young, and they had forever to talk about this stuff, but there was no time like the present.

“Sooga is a fucking idiot, for one, and I attract idiots. Second, you kinda just. Come out with it. We started off as friends before anything, and that’s now all relationships start. Course, your case is a BIT different from mine. You want my honest opinion? Just shoot your shot. I mean, worst he’s gonna say is no. Or nothing with his mute ass…”

Kohga mumbled that last part, helping himself to another sip of tea. Realizing it didn’t seem to be very helpful, he sighed.

“Or, you could cook him something. Call me old fashioned, but my mama always said the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I make mean salmon skin, look at the hunk I bagged.”

They both turned to look at Sooga, who was busy de shelling the fish alongside Sidon. Mipha pursed her little lips, before softly nodding.

“I...suppose that isn’t a bad idea at all. If I can find the courage in my heart to ask him.”

Just then, Kohga noticed Link walking alongside the princess. Small land, honestly. Kohga put his hands to the side of his face, crying out to Link.

“Yo Goldilocks! Mipha’s cookin’ tonight, you want in?!”

Link nodded, giving a thumbs up. Kohga shrugged.

“See? Easy. You just gotta be straightforward with boys.”

Mipha held her face in her hands, obviously embarrassed.

“But what do I do WHEN I make him something?! What do I say? What do I talk about with him?”

Kohga loved Mipha, really he did, but girl needed to stop seeing boys as a lynel, and more along the lines of wild horses. Something to tame, not to fear. He sighed.

“Tell you what. Me and Sooga will join you, sorta like a double date kinda deal. I’ll be there if the date goes bad, and we can dip when the date is going GOOD.”

Mipha looked up from the table with just the softest eyes you’ve ever seen.

“You...would do that, for me?”

“Course, lil red! You’re like, my favorite in the little team of goody two shoes. Plus, free eats, can’t complain-”

She suddenly got out of her seat, and nearly pounced on him for a hug. The things he did for love.

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

“He here yet?”

“Not quite, but I’m just about done!”

Kohga came back a while later, alongside Sooga. Kohga had his own men helping her in the kitchen, setting up the dining room, everything she could need, Kohga helped with. Kohga scoffed as he put his gift on the dining room table (he’d be remiss if he didn’t bring something to drink for the occasion), lightly pulling up one of her fins, and scoffing.

“Okay, let the boys finish up. Sooga, get to work on this girl, she needs to focus on being as pretty as a fresh stack of banana pancakes.”

Sooga nodded, prompting Mipha to follow him to her bedroom. Kohga was about to see just what she was cooking, before the main doors flew open. Link. Aka, Goldilocks, aka, the guy that never fucking knocked. He was wearing the classic gerudo outfit. A real tits out look, and honestly Kohga would jump on that in a heartbeat.

“Goldilocks! Bit early! How you doing? Mipha will be ready in just a second, take a seat, lemme get you a drink!”

Link nodded. Kohga chatted him up for a minute, serving him a nice glass of banana wine (it’s actually VERY good). When he caught the eyes of Sooga, he pardoned himself and dipped into the hallway. He took one gander at Mipha, and gave a whistle.

“Girl look at YOU! Lookin’ prettier than a pack of opals!”

She really did look like a beauty. Freshly touched lipstick, sharpened nails, her silver jewelry replaced with gold, and instead of her usual blue sash, Sooga somehow managed to find time to make a blue, see through looking dress for her. It fit around her body snugly, but it was a loose, comfortable material, perfect for fashion, and function. Sooga was so talented, getting that together so quickly. Kohga nodded towards Link.

“Go keep him busy, gotta give this girl a pep talk.”

Sooga nodded. Once he left, Kohga carefully put his hands on her shoulders.

“Look at me. Lookin? Okay good. You like this guy, so be you. BUT, you need to let him know you’re interested. Be flirty. Touch his hands, compliment him, fucking, feed him from your plate- make it obvious. You’re a princess. He’s a knight, it’s GONNA happen.”

She nodded firmly, shoulder’s straight as a Lynel’s. 

“I can do this!”

She peered over at Link, and immediately hid behind a wall again.

“I can’t do this! He’s wearing the voe armor!”

“For the love of…”

Kohga sighed. Why did he love all these shy bitches?

“Mipha. You’re gonna make HIM drool, not the other way around. Come on, you’ve got this. I’ll be right here, I’ll make you look good as hell. On three. One. Two. Three!”

He carefully pushed her towards the dining room, and Mipha looked ready to have a heart attack. Poor thing.

“Link! It’s so nice to have you over! I hope my invitation wasn’t sudden!”

Link shook his head. Kohga, sensing things were still awkward, jumped in. He was always the fun one at parties.

“Hey, you know what, we should totally start eating! I heard Mipha made quite the spread, Sooga why don’t you help bring the stuff out?”

Sooga nodded, heading into the kitchen. Kohga gestured for all of them to take a seat (with Mipha sitting right next to Link of course), and him just a bit away from them. Close enough to be supportive, but just far enough to beat it if he was cramping their style. Soon enough, trays of food were brought in, and even Kohga had to admit, he was starved.

“Master Kohga?”

“Yes, Sooga?”

“I’m sorry.”

He was about to ask what for, but then he saw it. Fish dish. Fish dish, not a single dish WASN’T fish. And he couldn’t just NOT eat her food, less he make Mipha’s food look awful. Kohga gulped, and Mipha seemed to catch onto his distress.

“Oh Kohga, I’m so sorry, I forgot you didn’t like fish! Please, let me make you-”

“Nope!”

Kohga could feel his ass sweating. He was really gonna sit here and eat fish, because Mipha deserved it. Link looked over at him, clearly just as confused as anyone else. Kohga forced himself to chuckle.

“I mean...I HATE clam chowder. A lot. It’s gross, it’s squishy, it smells AWFUL. Unless it’s Mipha’s. I LOVE Mipha’s clam chowder! She is just. SUCH  a good cook, I could eat a whole bowl!”

Link looked him right in his face, grabbed a bowl, and filled it completely with clam chowder. He slid the bowl over to him, and Kohga wanted to throw up. That yucky, smelly smell of fish. 

“Son of a bitch..I mean, yum! Thank you, Link.”

Mipha just had to like this blonde asshole. Sooga made a motion to grab the bowl, but Kohga halted him. He was going to do this for Mipha. He took a taste of it, and he fought every urge not to puke. Dear god, the smell and the taste was awful. But he forced himself to swallow, smiling.

“See? I l-like it! So it’s GOTTA be good! Mipha is just, so talented!”

Link seemed satisfied, helping himself to a bowl. Mipha looked at Kohga, clearly worried, but he shook his head. 

“Make it up to me by getting some, Mipha.”

He muttered underneath his breath, forcing himself to eat more. Sooga had no problems, this asshole, eating fish like it was nothing. Mipha pretended like she didn’t know anything was wrong, giving her attention towards Link.

“So, Link! You’ve been over at the Gerudo desert, I take it. Urbosa is doing well, I trust?”

Kohga didn’t pay attention to the one sided conversation, too focused on handling the thick creamy broth. His stomach churned, his head hurt, and he was just. Dying. Not even Sooga could help him. He was going to bail, but he saw it in Mipha’s eyes. She was getting more nervous, and this was JUST from watching Link eat. Oh god this was a mess. He forced himself to think past the creamy mush still left in his bowl.

“So, Link, what do you think of Mipha’s new look? Nice right?”

Link looked her up and down, before giving Mipha a thumbs up. Her cheeks exploded in color, and she looked ready to just melt. Kohga tried not to gag at the fish burp he just had.

“And Mipha, thoughts on Link’s outfit?”

Mipha hesitated, letting herself get a look at him, totally not looking at that titty (atta girl), before softly nodding.

“You had it dyed white, it looks very...nice, Link. It really goes with your golden hair.”

Distracted by her thoughts, she played with a strand of his hair, before suddenly realizing what she was doing. They both looked away, buried in blush, just two, dumb, flirty messes. Oh his girl was KILLING IT. Kohga forced himself to gulp down his bowl (somehow not choking on the chunks), nearly gasping as he finished. Oh that was a mistake. That did NOT feel right. Didn’t matter, Mipha was GETTING somewhere with this guy. He whispered to her, nudging at her side.

“Offer him some of your food.”

“But? He has the same thing in-”

“Say yours is different. Just do it, trust me. Sooga! With me, kitchen, now.”

They dipped into the kitchen, and Sooga immediately handed him a bucket. Just in time for Kohga to purge his guts. Sooga patted his back, sighing.

“No one told you to finish the bowl, Kohga.”

“I am SUPPORTIVE, dammit! She deserves-”

Yet another purge of his guts. He groaned, relying heavily on Sooga to keep him upright.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m VERY proud of you. Going through so much for the sake of her happiness. You’re a wonderful person.”

“Sooga, that’s sweet, but dear god I’m throwing up here, shut the fuck up.”

Kohga was three for three, and he was wondering if it was worth it. Then he peered into the dining room. Mipha was spoon feeding him from her bowl, going so far as to scold him for his messy face, and cleaning it with a cloth napkin. It was adorable, it was sweet, and dear god was this worth it. Sooga chuckled, peering down at Kohga.

“You’re incredible, Master Kohga, letting her have this.”

“I AM pretty great, aren’t I?”

They sat there, watching them. For a moment, for a brief, sweet moment, she wasn’t shy. She was honest with herself, she was even just a bit flirty. And Link looked as if he wasn’t clueless. It was so goddamn sweet, it was worth every second of stomach pain. Kinda.

“Oh it’s coming again- he better marry this girl, or I’m starting the war all the fuck over again.”

He was complaining, sure. But he was really, honestly proud of his little Mipha. He’d do this again and again, if it meant getting to see such a sweet, happy smile.

He just prayed he didn’t have to.

[the-everlasting-dream]

Cookies - The Perfect Cliche Part 3

A/N: Wow okay its been a YEAR since I’ve touched this but better late than never right? Idk who’s interested still so I’ll tag a few people. 

Tags: @ooo-barff-ooo​  @saivilo​  @burnsoslow​ @client-327​ @i-miss-trr​ @gkittylove99​  @tinkie1973 

‘Bitch you did what??’ 

‘I know I know,’ Elizabeth mumbled around the spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, dragging a hand down her face. ‘It just happened I just reacted and… I didn’t mean to hit him in the face.’ 

‘Yeah no one means to hit their insanely hot neighbour in the face,’ her best friend replied sarcastically. ‘What did he say? He must have been pissed!’ 

Elizabeth hesitated as she scooped another mouthful of raspberry ripple into her mouth, straight from the tub. ‘He actually let me use his shower after that.’ 

‘WHAT?!?’ Athena’s screech was loud enough to break the sound barrier and her eardrums. ‘You mean to tell me that you were naked in that man’s apartment while he was also in that same apartment? How did you not get laid?’ 

‘Are we forgetting how just moments ago I’d hit him in the face with a wooden spoon? And I feel so bad about that,’ Elizabeth rushed on before her friend could get a word in. ‘I made him cookies.’ 

‘Cookies?’ There was a snort over the line. ‘What are we twelve?’ 

 ‘What was I supposed to do? Offer him sex instead?’ She winced immediately, knowing she shouldn’t have given Athena the opening.   

‘You know I would have. At least if I was still single of course.’ 

‘What would you be doing if you were still single?’ A male voice could be heard in the background of the call followed by a string of giggles which Elizabeth could only assume was from his ticking his girlfriend. ‘Hey Liz.’ 

‘Hey Damien.’ 

‘Ready for the interview today?’ 

‘As I’ll ever be I guess.. I mean its just for the bar down the street.’ 

‘You’re gonna crush it babe,’ Athena chirped enthusiastically. ‘Go in there and give em Cece from New Girl vibes.’ 

‘Yeah we’ll come celebrate with you after,’ Damien promised. 

‘Thanks guys, I gotta go or I’ll be late,’ she replied, shrugging on her jacket as they chorused their goodbyes. Giving herself a once-over in the mirror, Elizabeth put on her most winning smile before grabbing the plate of cookies off the counter. Loudly knocking twice on the identical door from hers across the hall, she set them gently on the floor before rushing off to her interview. 

  - 

We have to talk. Tonight 8pm.

The single text message no doubt forecasting impending doom lit up Drake’s phone screen from where he’d left it that morning on the kitchen bench top. Cursing himself for forgetting it, he’d rushed back home to pick it up on his lunch hour, only to find a plate of cookies at his doorstep. Now it and the handwritten Sorry again! note from his neighbour Elizabeth — he could tell by the spider drawing — lay forgotten to the side as he ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration. 

Kiara was mad. Again. He’d fucked up again. Somehow. No amount of wracking his brain would do him any good now. Just when things were starting to improve, or so he thought. All he seemed to be doing was making her mad lately. 

Absentmindedly, Drake shoved a cookie in his mouth before thinking better and grabbing the rest to eat on the long trek back to the office. - ‘You got the job!’ Athena wrapped her friend in a bear hug. 

 Elizabeth chuckled wryly, ‘Its just a bartending gig, Thee.' 

‘Still! Its your first big girl job you got by yourself. No longer a debutante of the north, we’ve got a working city gal over here!’ 

 ‘Complete with a shitty boss and everything. Did you know he asked me if this is the highest neckline I own?’ 

Athena wrinkled her nose as they continued down the street. ‘Ew are you sure you want to work there babe? You know I could get you  a job at my magazine place right? Just say the word and I’ll make it happen.’ 

Elizabeth was already shaking her head. ‘Thanks again but no thanks. Like you said this is my first real job that I’ve gotten myself. If I’m going to be independent, I’m gonna have to take my chances.’ 

‘Well you’re a trooper,’ her friend announced, linking her arm through hers. ‘Anyway, this calls for a treat. Lets go out tonight! But first can we stop by your place? I gotta pee so bad.' 

-

Getting dolled up together was something Elizabeth didn’t realise she’d missed. Athena had moved to the city years ago and she was starting to think she should have done the same. 

 ‘C’mon Liz! D and Nadia are already waiting,’ her best friend yelled from where she was scrolling through her phone on the couch. 

 ‘I’m coming!’ she yelled back, applying that final coat of lipstick before pressing her lips together to make that perfect pout. Just as she stepped out of the bedroom, there was a knock at her door. Athena gave her a quizzical look before leaping up to answer it as she reached back into the room to grab her other earring. 

 ‘Is Elizabeth here?’ 

She poked her head out to see Drake leaning against the doorframe, tie hanging loosely around his neck, offering her a half smile. 

 ‘Oh.. Hey Drake.’ Her voice was breathy as she crossed the living room, trying to ignore Athena who was furiously mouthing something probably inappropriate from behind the door where her neighbour couldn’t see. 

He handed her the plate. ‘Thanks for the cookies. Came in handy today.’ 

Elizabeth swallowed as their fingers touched for a moment. ‘You’re welcome. I’m glad they did. So… um you done with work?’ 

‘Yeah. Might head out for a bit later. You look like you’re on the way out yourself.’ 

‘Yeah,’ she chuckled. ‘I got a new job so my best friend is taking me out to dinner.’ Why was she telling him this? Why would he care? 

 Drake nodded. ‘Well I’ll leave you to it.’ 

‘Thanks. And again I’m so sorry about the…’ Elizabeth gestured awkwardly at the fading bruise on his face. 

 ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he called over his shoulder, retreating back into his apartment. 

 She’d barely closed the door, before Athena pounced on her. 

'That’s him?? Thats the guy?!?' 

'Thats him.' 

 'You hit him in the face.' 

 'I did.' 

'I can’t believe you hit him in the face.' 

'I know.’ 

Athena suddenly shoved her roughly. ‘You should have invited him out with us! He said he was going out a little later anyway. C’mon girl!’ 

‘I can’t! He has a girlfriend for starters!’ 

 ‘Who from the sounds of it is halfway out the door!’ Athena licked her lips. ‘Did you hear his accent? Soooo sexy. Must be some kind of European..’ 

‘Beats me,’ Elizabeth deflected. 

 ‘Imma beat your ass if you don’t snatch him up soon,’ her best friend threatened playfully as they grabbed their bags. ‘Now come on Nadia’s already sent me seven text messages.' 

-

‘Whatever it is Kiki, I’m sorry,’ Drake began even before he entered Kiara’s lavish penthouse. ‘Its not you, its me. I’ll do better I promise.’ 

The elegant diplomat gave him a pointed look before turning on her custom Jimmy Choo’s as she lead him further into the apartment. ‘That’s just it Drake, I don’t think you can do better.’ 

His brow furrowed, shoulders sagging. ‘What do you mean?’ 

‘You heard me,’ she replied almost nonchalantly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. ‘I just got a call from Sara Burton, Alexander McQueen’s creative director. She’s uninvited me from her fashion show next week. The same fashion show I was supposed to take Princess Marguerite of Monaco to as part of our efforts to broker a trade with her country. Do you want to know what reason Ms Burton gave me?’ 

She barely paused, steading herself against the mantlepiece before continuing on. ‘She told me that you were drunk at her show last week and told one of her aides that her entire collection looked better as fishing tackle than as clothes.’ 

Drake snorted without a hint of remorse. ‘I stand by what I said. No one on God’s good earth needs a fishnet jumpsuit. No one.’ 

 He instantly regretted the words as Kiara’s face flushed with anger. 

‘Mon Dieu! You don’t understand! You never did! This is not about the outfits, its about grace and finesse and being strategic in what you say and do. My parents warned me about you. They said you couldn’t handle the pressures of the nobility and sooner or later you’d only bring me down with you.’ 

He tossed aside the roses and chocolate, a belated peace offering. ‘Bring you down? Is that all I am to you Kiara? An accessory to your status? A means to an end?’ 

Her eyes narrowed in fury. ‘Don’t you do that! Don’t you dare twist my words like that when I’ve done nothing but make you comfortable with who I am for our entire relationship.’ She sucked in a ragged breath. ‘You think yourself above all the flattery and finery, living by your own rules but what your arrogant ass forgets that some of us make our livelihood to protect king and country this way.’ ‘

Don’t hit me what that holier-than-thou bullshit now,’ Drake interjected. ‘You know just as well as I do that shit is just a farce. Just ass-kissing and brown nosing your way to the top to get where you want to be.' 

‘If that’s what you think I do, then you never knew me at all,’ Kiara declared with finality, tears shining in her eyes before she turned away from him. ‘Let’s stop fucking pretending, shall we? We’re way too different for this to work. Everyone else can tell. We’ve only been fooling ourselves for the last three years.' 

‘Kiara…’ He came up behind her, so close but not touching. Was she really doing this? 'How did we get like this Kiki?’ He asked, barely daring to whisper. ‘Surely we can figure this out...' 

‘We can’t.’ When she spoke, her tone confirmed what he knew all along. ‘What we had died out a long time ago.' 

 ‘Kiara please..’ Drake could hear the desperation in his voice now. ‘Please don’t do this.’ 

 ‘It’s done, Drake. We’re done.’ 

 ‘Ki-‘ 

‘Please leave.’ 

She didn’t even turn around. Drake hesitated for a moment before obeying. In the elevator, frustration broke and he punched the walls hard enough to make the lights flicker. As soon as the bell dinged for the ground floor, he headed towards the nearest bar. 

- Elizabeth was still smiling when she unlocked the door to her apartment. She had needed the dinner with her friends more than she’d realised. Now for a goodnights sleep before her first shift at the bar tomorrow... 

A loud banging on her apartment door woke her up hours later, shaking her out of a deep sleep. Her bleary eyes found the clock reading 1.51am. More banging followed by someone yelling. 

 This is how I die. Alone in avocado pjs, strangled to death in my own bed by a lunatic who’s probably the Zodiac killer reincarnated. 

Whoever it was didn’t seem to plan on stopping. She debated with herself for a moment longer before hastily reaching for her robe, turning on each light in the apartment as she passed it, grabbing a wooden spoon for good measure as she passed the kitchen. The sounds were clearer now, it almost sounded like someone was moaning in pain. As she inched closer Elizabeth was able to hear a word, a name. 

 'Kiara..' 

Why did that name sound so familiar? 

 Just then her door handle started jiggling and she brandished her weapon more fiercely ready to strike. Before she had time to react, it burst open to reveal... her neighbour Drake. 

Clearly drunk off his face, he stumbling into her living room, swearing as his shoulder caught against the doorframe. The impact sent him teetering precariously but somehow he still managed to keep his balance, moaning out Kiara’s name as he peeled off the henley he was wearing. Wrestling to take it for a second, is knees buckled and he sprawled face first onto her couch. 

 Elizabeth remained frozen and to anyone passing by must have looked quite comical, standing shock still in her pyjamas, hair in a messy bun and eyes bleary from sleep with wooden spoon raised in the air above her head. It wasn’t until Drake let out a snorting breath that she was shocked out of her stupor. 

Ohmigodohmigodohmigod. What the hell just happened? 

Her very attractive neighbour was on her couch, shirtless and blackout drunk at 2am. 

What the hell New York?? 

Elizabeth did the first thing she could think of. She dialled Athena then immediately hung up. 

 Its freaking 2am woman. Get a grip. 

 Taking a deep breath, she shook her head coming to her senses that there was nothing she could do about it now. Placing a glass of water and an aspirin on the table beside Drake, she turned off all the lights and crept back to her bedroom, shutting the door for good measure. - He must have forgotten to close the damn blinds again because it felt like the sun itself was shining on the other side of his eyelids. His head was already throbbing and when he swallowed, his throat felt like sandpaper. Blinking grains of dust out of his eyes, Drake gradually came to his senses and his vision cleared to reveal the words of a graphic tee with an avocado on it, reading Hardcore. 

  Wait… This wasn’t his apartment! 

He shot up to a sitting position, the action making him nauseous as the pounding in his head only intensified. 

 ‘Rough night?’ 

A woman’s voice took him by surprise and with effort he turned to see the owner of the avocado shirt, his neighbour Elizabeth sitting on the armchair across from him...

[pan0ramy]

re8 thought dump because YE

i feel like this was almost inevitable but idk where else to talk about resident evil village so i’m just going to rant about it here!!! i have,,,, a lot of thoughts on this game after being so excited for it for so long

obviously, massive spoilers if you haven’t finished the game. i feel like i have thoughts on pretty much everything so please please please stay clear of this post if you’re trying to stay blind

otherwise, let me just rant about this game for a bit - mainly the story and characters - because i have Thoughts™

(also i feel like it goes without saying but this will be probably be quite long, so. strap in, ig)

okay SO. the whole intro was pretty interesting - even though we’d seen bits of it in trailers, it was still pretty unnerving and felt like it came out of nowhere. but the first thing that really stood out was the first village section with the hordes of lycans; i didn’t expect this game to start freaking me out so quickly but JESUS my blood pressure went up fast. 

there’s so many of them coming at you at once, and not only have you just lost half your damn hand, you’re not really used to the gunplay at that point AND you don’t have that many weapons at your disposal. so it’s basically just “hey we’re throwing you into this ring of death, good luck surviving!” which... now that i think about it, that really sums up the whole game lol

but for the most part, the early parts of the game are what we saw in the demos, so there’s nothing too new - it was nice getting to see the scene with all four lords and mother miranda, though. i wasn’t sure how the whole chase scene with the lycans would work - i thought heisenberg’s area was going to be some sort of mine, and that the chase would take place there - but it didn’t, and it was interesting regardless of it being so short. 

but the castle. THE CASTLE. 

i would be lying through my teeth if i said i wasn’t excited for dimitrescu like everybody else; i’m firmly in the camp of people who both meme about how attractive she is, and then also the people who legitimately find her attractive, soooo i kinda had high expectations going in? 

and sure, the castle section is only part of the game, but if there’s anything that makes me nervous most, it’s stalker enemies. resi 2 remake was actually pretty tough for me to get through because of how anxiety-inducing mr x was, and even though i don’t feel like she was as present as mr x was, lady d was still great! there were a good few times where you could hear her walking around and you just knew she was searching for you, which was really damn cool.

also, i know capcom had a lot of hype to live up to with lady dimitrescu, but goddamn they did such a great job with her. she’s so imposing but badass and just... really damn cool? like i honestly found myself being excited for her to show up rather than being scared. i just think she’s neat! I MEAN LOOK AT HER.

(also yes i know the whole internet has talked about how attractive she is, but can we just. appreciate that for a second???? she’s gorgeous and yall can’t tell me otherwise. like. bro ik the pronunciation is wrong but the way she says dimitrescu made me GASP i love this powerful vampire woman)

if anything, though, i... actually felt really bad that her story ended up the way it did. i mean, think about it: you break into her house, kill the three people she’s grown to consider her daughters, rob her shit, and then kill her? she technically goes through the same kind of parental grief that ethan does, in a way, which is a really interesting parallel. grief seems to be a theme that capcom really pushed for this game, and it works. 

also, her boss fight design is badass. she’s literally a dragon, how is that not incredible

so the castle was great, where could the game go from here? oh, i don’t know, how about gOOD OLD FASIONED FUCKING TRAUMA.

jesus christ the dollhouse GOT TO ME.

i’m pretty used to horror in general; i love horror games, movies, books, you name it. i’ve gone to horror movies where people have ran out because of fear all while i’ve sat there giggling the whole time. but the dollhouse? that dollhouse is FUCKED. i can’t remember the last time i watched someone play through a horror game and was so... on edge the whole time. the fact that they keep you waiting for so long with nothing happening just... makes the atmosphere incredibly uncomfortable, and then when shit does start going down, it goes down fast. in other words, jesus fucking christ that baby will haunt my nightmares until the end of time

basically capcom managed to make the n*zi baby joke from south park: the stick of truth legitimately terrifying, and i was glad to see donna die. moving on.

moreau’s section is the one i... actually don’t have as many thoughts on. it’s cool, sure, and the whole idea of him turning into a fish when he hits water is neat - it’s definitely a good callback to re4 - but idk, it didn’t really scare me that much. i can see it scaring those with a fear of water or the ocean, for sure, but eh. i thought the designs were cool, but i kinda tuned out a little here.

heisenberg, though, was anything but. the entire time leading up to village’s release, this guy has fascinated me for some reason. i don’t know if it’s because he’s the most normal-looking of the four lords, or the fact that he has telekinesis, or his amazing voice acting (seriously i know some people have shit on his VA but oh my god i adore it) or what, but this guy stood out to me from day one. i even went into the game expecting him not to die tbh. but no, he does, and his fight is pretty damn cool all things considered. only in a resident evil game could you have a mech fight and have it not feel out of place lol

also this line ^^^ legitimately made me laugh so hard i almost choked on my water. THE FACT HE TURNS AROUND AND APOLOGISES SO MEEKLY its fucking hilarious to me

but anyway.

similar to alcina, though, i was left with one big question about heisenberg - what did mother miranda do to him to get him to join her impromptu familly? he said himself to ethan that he didn’t want to join, so what did miranda do that didn’t give him a choice? did he have a family at some point? is he grieving too? what did miranda take from him? i can only hope this gets answered in the dlc, because it’s by far one of my biggest questions surrounding all of this. i may very well have missed it somewhere, and at least we know he has his telekinesis abilities thanks to miranda, but it’s a question that’ll definitely be on my mind going forward.

at this point, though, the story REALLY gets insane. it’s really nice how village decided to just continue on straight from what 7 did, and i’m very glad that everyone’s theories about chris being a werewolf were wrong - it’s a really nice spanner to throw in the works. if anything, the whole revelation of mother miranda disguising herself as mia the whole time since rose’s birth was really cool, and ethan being Mold™ the entire time was pretty neat too - it made a lot of things both in 7 and village make more sense.

what i’m still digesting, though, is the ending.

...man, capcom, you put poor ethan through all of that and then you have the balls to actually kill him? i mean shit, you made us think he was dead for a whole 20 minutes but then nope! he’s alive! but then nope! he’s dead again! i did see someone point out that at least ethan got to go out on his own terms, but dammit i would’ve at least liked for him to get to see mia one last time. i think it would’ve softened the blow a little more. but i guess that ties into the whole grief theming this game has going for it, and like i said, i probably just need some more time to digest it. 

i don’t dislike the ending, it’s just a very big culture shock - it’s definitely a ballsy move, and i really respect capcom for going all out the way they did. they really held back on nothing in terms of this game’s story and i absolutely love it. it was so, so worth the wait in that regard. 

and tbh that’s kinda how i feel about the whole game in general; it was super super good, very much worth the wait, and i absolutely cannot wait to see where resident evil goes from here. i have a gut feeling this’ll end up being one of my absolute favourites in the series, which i know is very high praise, but i really do love it that much. i wasn’t disappointed with much in this game, if anything at all. it’s just a super fucking good video game man idk what else to say at this point

[ayankun]

WandaVision episode 6

FIRST OFF

Whenever I go back to pause things for clues, and find exactly what I’m looking for, I don’t feel justified, I feel that much more insane:

It’s really hard to make out, but I had an alright look at it on my folks’ QLED, and it’s definitely a flying saucer doing an alien abduction on what looks to be a person inside an old CRT TV (with some kind of robot head/boombox on top???)  There are secret aliens in this show, you guys, the facts don’t lie.

HmmmMMMM I wonder if Agnes is as innocent as she looks:

Also, I didn’t see that she was wearing the brooch in this ep, and I was majorly disappointed in that.

Two things here:

No, that’s not a twins joke.

Another Moonmen Confirmed

I know green is his color or whatever, but that hat is literally 10 years ahead of its time

Also, I took the playing-DDR-at-home scenario at face value, and only on the first rewatch did I realize it was a very pointed turn-of-the-century reference.  I am an Old.

There’s a good, subtle Rule of Threes in this ep.  The Setup:

The Sokovian Halloween flashback works on so many levels.  It’s so funny:

The fact that they went trick-or-treating at all

The “speaking Sokovian”

The treat being a fish

They have to share the fish

The concept that this event gave them an infectious disease

“You probably suppressed a lot of the trauma” -- it’s a good sitcom joke but.  the trauma is the joke.  The joke IS THE TRAUMA!!!

Elizabeth Olson is a dream with all her wonderful faces she has this ep.

Vision’s unsettling passive-aggression-sitcom-cooperation whiplash is WOW, consider me unsettled!!!!!!  “Be. Good.”  UGH.

(Just noticed one here, but there are a number of continuity errors in this episode, enough to be distracting later on, and is this a deliberate choice?  Please let it be deliberate.  I didn’t watch a whole lot of Malcolm in the Middle, is it known for its continuity errors?

)

“It’s their first Halloween.” LOLOLOL they are TEN YEARS OLD and this is their FIRST halloween I LOVE IT

DOUBLE RED HERRING CONFIRRRRRRRRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agent Jimmy Woo accidentally identifying himself as the sassy best friend added 20 years to my life.

Found.  FOUND.  Not “created,” “manifested,” “willed into being using my insane witch powers.”  Third Party Confirmed.

I like that it’s the 90s and we can swear on TV now.  “Hell” “kick-ass” “damn it” “fu---dge”

I think the most biting part of Vision finding the whacked out folks is that the soundtrack just kind of ... ignores that anything’s wrong.  Yeah, it’s kinda-spooky Halloween music, but it’s still 100% in-world kinda-spooky-sitcom-Halloween-episode music. 

OKAY LET’S TALK ABOUT THE AD:

As a 90s child, let me tell you, this is a blisteringly accurate representation of children’s marketing from the period.  The shark is wearing sunglasses AND he has a surfboard!!!  And he’s selling you yogurt of all things!!!!!  This is the supreme distillation of what being a child in the 90s was like.

How disappointed I am that they went with crab instead of lobster.

Heard it through the grapevine that this is a representative of Wanda’s imprisonment on the Raft.  That happened in Civil War, right?  So the next ad is The Snap?  We’re running out of iconic decades, too. so, hold on, new thought.

90s: Civil War

00s: Infinity War

10s?????: Endgame???? or?????????

??: Whatever happened between Endgame and WandaVision, given that the ads are stepping forward through Wanda’s IRL life events!!

I don’t want to know how many episodes are planned/announced, but I don’t know what to expect from the format after they run out of decades from which to draw.  Maybe there are only one or possibly two “sitcom” episodes left.  Maybe after that it just breaks down and they can pick and choose from the worlds/styles we’ve already established.  That’d be p neat.  A very unique kind of chaos.

god she’s so cute

Okay, somebody explain to me Pietro.  I honestly walked away from last week thinking he was just some townsperson chump, but then I was reminded that this is the Quicksilver actor from all those X-Mans movies I never watched, soooo people are saying Multiverse Confirmed?  But, if this is X-Mans’ Pietro, then why did he die the same as MCU Pietro?  Or is he literally MCU!Pietro’s corpse, given that he looked all dead same as when she saw Vision’s corpse?  If MCU!Pietro, then why different face???

????????????????

Also I found him highly suspicious, what with all the questions he was asking.  But the only sort of person who would truly want to know the answers to those questions would be someone who already had them ... so I think he was just asking on behalf of the audience, and the delivery was all wonked out.

Rule of Threes - The Reference:

Ok, real talk, whenever computers/networks/data/encryption/servers/mainframes et al come up in mainstream media, I just look away.  I don’t need the kind of psychic damage that comes with such egregious mishandling of the topic.

That being said, does Hayward having eyes through the barrier mean that he could possibly be involved in getting it set up?  Because look.  If Hayward-after-Hayward’s-Villianous-Ends is one antagonizing force, then is there really room for the Third Party (Confirmed) antagonizing force that’s lurking in the negative space silhouette of the Inciting Incident?  With Wanda as the Red Herring antagonizing force, that’s just.  There’s just too many villains, alright?  We gotta start merging these plotlines.

(then again, when I just said “eyes” I realize probably understanding the true nature of his new secret “CATARACT” project will clear a lot of things up.  I’ll wait for enlightenment)

Agnes’ license plate in this episode is 0A1-B2C, which I think is a reference to the way reality is getting pared down to bare bones at the edge of town.  Note that this is not the same license plate number as seen last ep.

ALSO, I drove home behind a NJ plate just an hour ago, and was staring at it for a long time, trying to fit it into the puzzle before A) realizing that this was Real Life and not part of the show and B) WTF is a NJ plate doing in front of me in California.  In any case, I can confirm that NJ plates do not appear to have this number-letter repeating format.

So let’s talk Agnes.

Demonstrated knowledge of the situation in ways others haven’t (”There’s the star of the show” “kids, you can’t control ‘em”)

Shows up when needed most (explained as being Wanda’s doing, but is it)

When Wanda was having her babies, though, who was trustworthy enough to be summoned?  Was it Agnes?

Wanted to babysit REAL BAD

Was in the opening credits framed possessively with the twins

Doesn’t appear to have an IRL identity according to Jimmy’s crime board

Keeps talking about her husband but we’ve never seen him.  Highly unlikely that he’s real

Was the one to find Sparky “dead” - internet thinks she was lying to Wanda about how or possibly if he was dead (I’m trying not to read the theories, so idk exactly what the angle is there)

In an episode where everyone is wearing their original comic outfits, Agnes is dressed as (and laughs like!) a witch

She name-drops Wanda as the one controlling everyone; Norm (or the guy playing Norm) only said “she” and “her” -- meaning Agnes?

Naughty

So we’re 99% sure Agnes is Agatha Harkness, right?  I never read no comics, so I’m taking the internet’s word for it, but from what I can tell, I think we must be right.  If that’s the case, then I’m thinking it’s not impossible for her to be pulling some strings around here (giving Wanda a justification for her “that wasn’t me” doorbell ring, for example, and pulling a double red herring on the fact that she shows up whenever the narrative Wanda her nefarious scheme calls for it).

To devil’s advocate myself, though, we also have Monica’s word that it was Wanda in her mind, lessening the impact of Agnes falsely confirming what Norm only implied.  Also she’d have to be acting for Vision’s sake (and ours) and, if so, then what did Vision’s brain-touch really do, and how did she know he’d find her there, and what did she intend as the result of that interaction etc etc.

If Wanda’s (or Wanda + Third Party Confirmed (Agnes??)’s) powers aren’t enough to sustain the simulation of life on the edges of town, how much worse is it going to be now that there is even more area to try to control???

I don’t know if this is strictly an intended read, but the idea of Halloween as a fun, scares-for-entertainment’s sake type holiday, the rounding off the edges of concepts like “skeletons and ghosts are what people are after they die, let’s decorate the town with them and have a good time” kind of is a haunting parallel to the nature of Wanda (et al) covering up the horrible truth of the situation with this happy-go-lucky sitcom glamour.

How much does one hate seeing Vision giving his life for the greater good (the greater good) for the second time?  In other news, I think I’m seeing some specifically Mind Stone type energy-colors coming off of him, and very little Wanda type energy-colors.  Third Party Confirmed.

Also, I was thinking from last week that perhaps Hayward’s Villainous Ends included capturing the reanimated Vision to be one of those Sentient Weapons his organization is all about, but I Do Not Think his reaction to seeing that sought-after prize disintegrate in front of his eyes really matches up with that theory.  Again, will be patiently waiting for Jimmy to check his email to see what CATARACT is all about!

Rule of Threes - The Payoff:

Also, anyone ID the movie playing in the background?

Ok, final thought.  I watched this about four times today, and on the big-ass TV at my parents’ house finally paused and got up close to see what that white shape is in the reflection.  Thought it might be a skull, but, it’s worse.

These caps do not contain enough data to verify my claim, but I PROMISE YOU it’s a TV

A square old thing with a round screen and antenna on top. 

I SWEAR to you, when I looked into the TV, into Wanda’s eyes, only to see the reflection of a TV, of her looking at me looking at her I had a visceral fear reaction.  Like.  LEGIT nauseous skin crawl.

(All the other episodes have ended with our POV as the fourth wall, from the general (or exact!!!) position their household TV is known to be.)

This is my favorite show Of All Time.

[slime-smile]

i accidentally left my phone at life drawing on saturday afternoon. i set it down on a dresser next to the bathroom as i walked in and thought “ok i need to remember that i set that there, i always forget when i set things there” and then of course i forgot about it by the time i walked out of the bathroom.  probably in part because the timer that signifies the break has ended went off so i hurried back to my seat, for the final drawing of the day.  then after the last drawing was done, a guy i have talked to a little bit the last few times i’ve gone asked me if i wanted to go get tacos. i said “i forgot my wallet today so are you okay with buying me the tacos” and he said “yea.” i wasnt wearing shorts with pockets and i had been leaving my phone in my backpack during the drawing sessions so i had a vague impression it was in there.  we walked back to my car so i could set down my drawing pad and backpack, then we walked a few blocks to get The Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada. then we walked back together after we ate.  he rides a motorcycle and parked directly across the street from the figure drawing place.  we hung out on the steps of the house he’d parked in front of for a bit, then i walked two blocks back to my car.  it was soooo hot when i got in, i turned the A/C all the way up, picked up my backpack to get out my phone, and it wasnt in there.  i waited a minute to see if my car would tell me that it connected to my phone, in case the phone was lost somewhere in the car, and it didn’t, then i remembered what happened.  so i get out of the car and hurry back to where the liffe drawing was.  it’s hosted by these two artists in their personal studio, so i was like “ok they’re probably still there doing their own work now that the session has ended”  but i walk up and the driveway is empty (the guy always parks his car in it) so i’m like oh nooo but i walk all the way to the door anyways and it’s closed and locked and they’re gone.  the guy i got tacos with is still sitting across the street looking at his phone, so i walk back over to him and tell him what happened.  he seems concerned and is like “i can try to message the guy on instagram? or we can see if one of the neighbors will let you in?” and i’m like oh no no it’s fine, i’ll just come back monday night to get it. (they do drawing monday and thursday nights and saturday mornings) plus i’ve been wanting to try going on a weeknight anyways.  and earlier he had told me i should try coming on a weeknight some time and that he usually does, too. my main concern at that point was that i had a date planned for the night and i wasnt sure how not having my phone would affect it.  but then i remembered my date had emailed me so i could email him, and then i remembered (duh) that i had imessage on my laptop so i could still text anyways but just in a more restricted capacity.  the tacos guy really seems concerned for me and my phone though, like wonders how i will go two days without it.  but i resign myself to it and walk back to my car to drive home.  for some reason traffic is really bad, worse than usual -- dodgers game?? i dont know.  while i’m driving home i see a fire from the freeway, and i start to scare myself that it’s my house that’s on fire, even though i’m pretty sure my house isnt visible from that freeway and i’m still too far north for it to feasibly be my house.  i keep thinking “oh god all my art and my [most cherished personal item which holds no monetary value] and now i really wont be able to get in touch with [date] how would i let him know what happened and ugh i can’t even get my phone until Monday night, i wouldn’t be able to get in touch with anyone, what would i do if my house burned down??”  but i go home and my house was not on fire, obviously.  i send a message to my date to let him know what happened, and email the guy who runs life drawing about my lost phone.  my date replies “so you’re gonna be phoneless tonight??” and i’m like “yea but let’s just meet out front at 8, i’ll even be early.”  i go downtown to buy my date a bouquet in the flower district, it’s his birthday, but then i can’t conceive of a manageable way to have a bouquet at a bar, so after i bring the bouquet home i take out a single rose from it to give him.  we both like roses, as a symbol and as an object, i know this isn’t especially unique, but it’s nice.  he has a rose tattooed on his arm.  later, before the date, my friend sends me an email subject line “bruh” body text “you left your phone at whatever repair shop you were at this morning.”  which leads me to believe he called it and the life drawing guy answered it and told him he had it.  which was nice because i hadn’t gotten an email back from the life drawing guy yet and was worried that maybe someone else in the class had snatched it even though that seems unlikely.  and also kind of funny to imagine because obviously the life drawing guy’s perspective was that i was probably calling my phone from my friend’s phone trying to find it, when in reality my friend was just calling me not knowing that i didn’t have my phone and then some man answers it.  anyways then i go to my date and i text him when i’m leaving that i’m heading over and will see him there soon.  i look up the directions beforehand but then forget where exactly the bar is that we were supposed to meet and ask a guy on the street who i could tell was smiling at me even though he had a mask on where i needed to go and he told me the way.  i walk up and my date is already there standing outside, i walk up to him and he says “you’re early!” and i don’t say this but in my mind i’m like “you’re even earlier!”  and i hand him the rose and we go upstairs to the bar.  the bartender is really friendly and asks about the rose and makes the date a free drink for his birthday.  there’s a hottub and i’m like “why didn’t you tell me!” we find an uncomfortable bench and are eyeing a much cozier one where a woman is sitting, hoping it will open up.  we’re quickly absorbed in conversation and at some point i happen to look over and notice the cozy bench is free, and we dart over to it.  we’re able to sit there for an hour or so before a staff member comes up to us and informs us that we’re sitting where they plan to put the DJ booth, so we’ve got to move, but another couple is about to leave and they’re going to clear off their table for us.  so we go lurk by the table, where the man is sitting, and he reveals that he’s been noticing us all night, because he and his wife were the ones who had been sitting on the bench earlier, and they themselves had been told that they were sitting where the DJ was going to be, and so they moved.  i think it’s a funny coincidence that we’ve been following this couple around through the night, but i dont really know what else to say to the guy, so that’s sort of it for our conversation.  the table is less fun because now we’re sitting across from each other in chairs, instead of next to each other on a bench.  they set the DJ up as we’re finishing our drinks, and i propose that if the music is good, we dance.  the DJ starts playing but his song selection is terrible so we bounce.  date proposes we go back to his place, which i’m fine with, and i can sense that he wants to kiss, which we do, briefly, in the elevator.  in addition to the Saturday night drinks date, we’d already planned a Sunday afternoon date earlier in the week, so sleeping over made sense.  in the morning we walk to get coffee and i buy him a muffin for his birthday, and he says when we get back to his apartment he wants to teach me to play a Korean card game, one-card.  i say ok and that if we can find two other people who are into it, later (in the future, not in the day), i can teach him a popular Ohio card game.  i talk a lot of smack about how im going to beat him at one-card after we go over the rules, but then he wins 8 games and i only win 3.  at some point i notice that the rose i brought him has been left lying on a table -- hmm?  we go to brunch at a place i’d never been to before, near the movie theater (our pre-planned second date, seeing a movie), which is, i learn, known for their crispy french toast, but which i do not order, because i know it will make my stomach hurt.  at some point i say that i wonder what’s going on on my phone.  i feel kind of zoned out from the point in time after we stopped playing cards to go to brunch.  it’s probably because i didn’t sleep well the previous night, because i have a hard time sleeping in new places, or when i share a bed, or when there’s no white noise, or when it’s too hot.  he’s tired too, and dozes in the movie theater while we wait for the movie to start.  after the movie is over i drop him off and go home, Sunday is supposed to be my chores day, but by the time i get home it’s already 430.  i want to take a nap but i have to run an errand and water all my plants, which i kind of don’t end up doing.  my errand was to go to the video store to return the movies i’d rented the previous week, of which i only was able to watch 1 out of 2.  my favorite video store employee who i hadn’t seen in a long time (i was out of town, he was out of town) was there and we talked and caught up and i learned that he’s a triplet (but he said that the grammatically correct way to refer to both his other siblings was “twin,” he said “my twin” and i said “you’re a twin??’ and he said “well actually we’re triplets but blah blah blah” -- this seems wrong to me but what do i know) and then we were talking about a missing persons poster that someone had dropped off at the video store which was really sad but also that he, the employee, had googled the missing person, and that this missing guy had released music on bandcamp, and that the photo he used for the album cover was of the place that he, the employee, had lived previously and not only that but he, the employee, was actually in the photo that this missing person had used as an album cover on bandcamp.  and then the employee said “do you wanna see?” and i said “yeah” and he let me come behind the counter to look at the computer and i hung out back there for a second and told him about a movie that the bartender had been recommending to a guy next to me at the bar the previous night, but which i had thought sounded interesting so i butted into their conversation about it, and since i still dont have my phone to write the name of the movie down, i’ve been telling people about it so i don’t forget.  the bartender said it was a french movie called “hedgehog” about a little girl who has an existential crisis and decides she’s going to kill herself in two months.  the guy he was recommending it to said, “that sounds really dark, man,” but i said “that sounds incredible and like directly up my alley” and the bartender insisted that the movie was both good and funny.  and i was relaying this story to my video store friend and he looked it up and then said “we can probably see if we have it in the store” and he checks their system and they do, in the general “french” section, and i find it and pick it up.  he asks me if i’m gonna rent it this week and i say “i can’t cause i’m going out of town this weekend! but next weekend.”  and now it’s 11pm and i’m supposed to be finishing my zine but i spent an hour writing this, instead, but i’ve got to finish the zine and send to my friend for his final edits before i can go to bed

[teenyfish]

Marine Biology Story of the Day:

Hey guys.

Wow, thanks for all of the follows, reblogs, and shares.  I’ve always wanted to do more science outreach like this but I wasn’t really sure how on social media (I’ve always been real bad at social media.  I’m not a good millennial). So this is making my day guys:)

So, we are gonna kind of switch gears here--my husband suggested that I talk about a recent research trip that I went on last September.  I got the chance to go on NOAA’s shark and red snapper long-line research trip.  

Ya’ll, I got to tag tiger sharks. 

We left out of Pascagoula, Mississippi and our trek took us out into the Gulf of Mexico.  This time I didn’t have to do any sailing, instead we left on one of NOAA’s R/Vs (research vessel), the Oregon II.  What happened to the Oregon I? Idk. 

Long-lining is a pretty simple method of fish capture.  It involves one “long line” with two buoys on either end (this line is a mile+ long in length) and on this long line are hundreds of secondary baited hooks.  The great thing about long-lining is that you can catch faster and larger fish than other conventional fishing methods, and often, if you have a short “soaking” time (that’s the time you leave your long-line in the water, i.e., it’s fishing time) you can release most of the animals alive and relatively unharmed.

So the main goal of this research is to survey large swaths of the gulf and get a better idea of how many sharks are out there and how the shark populations are doing from year to year.  We also take small fin clips and get genetic data on the populations--this way we can understand more about the genetic health of the population as a whole.  The more genetically diverse the population is, the healthier it’s going to be in the long run and the better the population can survive disaster level events.  We also tag sharks--this way if another fisherman or scientist catches them, we can get a better idea of their movements through out the gulf. 

SOOOO anyway, I once again got put on night sampling (from Midnight to Noon, I was dying.  My body was like, “why did you do this to me?”). A night of sampling went like this--we’d go to our stations in the gulf, put out our longlines, let them soak for one hour, haul them up, and process the catch (measuring, tagging, fin clipping, releasing). And boy, did we get some cool stuff. 

Atlantic Sharpnose, held by my friend who’s been on this trip 3 years in a row. These were the smallest species we caught on the trip. 

Scalloped Hammerhead being measured by a colleague who works on shark population genetics.

Blacktip Reef Shark that I was struggling with.  When you held them like that, you would get “shark burn” from their skin--it was kind of like getting a mild rash, but with the bigger sharks, that’s the only way you could handle them.  

For the larger sharks, we would pull them onto a large cradle to handle them because it was waaaaay to dangerous to handle them ourselves.  The cradle also weighed the animals for us. 

Juvenile Bull Shark at sunrise, just before it was lowered back into the water.  You can see it’s tag--the yellow line next to the dorsal fin. This guy was 10 feet long ya’ll.  A JUVENILE. 

My goofy ass getting real excited about tagging a great hammerhead.  

A female tiger shark getting lowered back down into the water. This lady was like 12+ foot long.  I got to tag her and it was one of the most amazing moments in my little marine biology life. 

For those of you who have concerns about handling the animals out of the water--we did it as quick as possible, it was like being on a pit crew.  One person would get the hook out, another would take data, and another would fin clip and tag, and if we had an extra person, photographer. We couldn’t necessarily dive on these stations to try to tag sharks like you can in tropical reef locations, this was the open ocean essentially, pretty deep, often with less than ideal diving conditions.  NOAA takes a lot of care in the safety of the crew and the animals, so this is essentially the best way to get the amount of data needed on a large population while releasing animals alive.  Large datasets like this allow for better management of regulations and laws surrounding these amazing animals.  

The NOAA Oregon II has a great facebook page that posts day to day activities about the survey, which runs from June? through September.  You can also check on the other NOAA surveys that the ship does. https://www.facebook.com/NOAAShipOregon2

That wraps it up for now, I’ll probably do another post about this trip at some point, talking more about the different species (and maybe videos), other animals we caught, the awful run of bad luck we had with the ship, and why you shouldn’t go out drinking after 27 hours of no sleep, but for now, thanks for reading.  And as always, if you have questions about this research, PLEASE don’t hesitate to ask. 

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.13

Keith came out the shower doing his best drowned rat expression to date. With the towel around his shoulders, Lance wondered if Keith was protecting his neck, or preventing his shirt from soaking through. Having already showered, Lance had a glass of blood wine in one hand, and his phone in the other, dinner plans having gone out the window while he was busy playing with Keith

“Do you want the good news, or the bad news?”

Keith crossed his arms, Lance having to stomp down his compulsion to go dry the younger males hair off with a towel

“What?”

“Well, remember my friends from the other night, yeah, Hunk’s going to be here in about 20 minutes to pick us up”

“I’m not going”

“You don’t even know where we’re headed to”

“I don’t care. We’re not going”

It didn’t escape Lance that “I” had turned to “we”. He figured the hunter wouldn’t trust him to go out alone, and if he hadn’t been totally awol from his normal life he would have been turning down the invitation for some serious self pampering time

“Sorry, but you see, when my friends want to hang out, I don’t turn them down. You need to go get changed into something more bar appropriate”

“We’re not going. We haven’t finished talking. You turned me, and I need to know more”

With the number of times Keith had accused him, Lance felt like he’d know Keith far longer than a week and a bit... God, he couldn’t even remember if it had been a week, Keith’s idiocy was spreading

“And I hear I was thinking you’d finally gotten a clue. We’re going, because I’m invited. I’ll go on my own if I have to, but I had the feeling you’d freak out and think your prey was running away”

Keith’s emotions flickered across his face, obviously arguing mentally about the fact he couldn’t say no, and nor did he have the power to stop Lance

“Fine, but only so I can make sure you don’t turn anyone else. If you so much look like you’re going to bite someone, I will decapitate you”

“Excellent. I think I should have something in wardrobe that’ll fit. I’m guessing you like black on black”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“You’re wearing a black onesie. Some people might be into that, but at a bar, that suit’s a crime against fashion”

“It’s not made to be fashionable”

“No, it’s made so you can be all “bump in the night”. Blargh. Go change already”

Keith told Lance at least several times that wearing his clothes had been forced upon him. Lance wasn’t sure why, when Keith had chosen his own wardrobe out of what was available. In ripped skinny legged black jeans and a black silk button up, Keith looked passable. Lance chalking up the weird sensation of wanting to pat Keith’s butt to the fact he too was recovering from being poisoned. Keith was soooo not his type, never mind the fact the guy was a freakin’ human, Keith hated him with a passion. Nope. Keith didn’t look good in his clothes, nor would he look better out of them. Lance was just... going through a lot. That was it. He was not getting suckered in by those piercing purple eyes, or the way Keith’s collarbones peaked out of the shirt. The blood in his body had enough to deal with, without it deciding it needed to make a trip down south over absolutely nothing.

Leaving Blue feeding her face on wet food, Lance headed for the door, back tracking to grab Keith by the wrist and drag him along behind him. Keith was starting to object all over again, but Lance wasn’t having it. If he had to socialise around drunks, then the punishment should be shared by Keith for being so goddamn hot and stupid... mostly stupid with a dash of stupidly hot sprinkled on top, kind of like unwanted chilli flakes. Lance was feeling pretty confident in his own outfit, blue jeans, white shirts and cropped tan jacket, but Keith had one upped him without even trying. Maybe Keith would get laid and lose some of his prickliness? The anger loaf needed to let that anger go, and turn into that beautiful emo butterfly hidden inside his cocoon of douchery. Towing Keith out the house, Lance left the alarm off in case Shiro came back. Explaining Keith’s presence seemed a hard enough challenge as it was, explaining why Shiro was breaking into his house... that was a whole other kettle of fish.

*

Lance had been lied too. There was no bar, they were in fact in Platt, running a rehearsal of Hunk’s date with Shay on the weekend. Picking up Pidge, she’d thrown herself into the back of the car, hand narrowly missing Lance’s junk in her rush. Oogling Keith, Pidge had elbowed him as she buckled herself in, all Lance could do was offer a shrug. Hunk’d already been shocked enough for the three of them, Lance lying his arse off saying Keith had offered to stay a few days and help Lance take photos of his house as he was thinking of repainting. The photos were for the online lab thingo where you could upload your rooms and pick colours there. Yep, those were the words he used too, technology was forever changing and he openly admitted he missed the days before social media... other than the cat videos and memes.

With Keith having no cash, Lance paid. Choosing gold class tickets meant the food was included, and the seating private. The hunter looked spooked by human interaction, Lance ordering steak dinners for the pair of them because damn if he wasn’t in the mood for some budget dead cow. Buying the biggest coke they had, Lance enjoyed the fact that the mix ratio was whack with more syrup than soda water, the straw ending up chewed on before they’d even made it into the screening room. Lance wasn’t sure about the movie selection but with Hunk and Shay going to see the one rom-com playing, Lance steered the group away from buying tickets for it so his bestie and Shay could enjoy seeing it for the first together.

Taking their seats, Lance wound up between Pidge and Keith. Pidge immediately started playing with the chair remote, and Keith sighed in annoyance. Leaning in, Lance kind of felt bad that they hadn’t wound up at a bar. Keith would have been able to have a few drinks and kick back, then find someone to take to the bathroom and work that aggression out. Just because he hadn’t done the do, didn’t mean Keith wasn’t a seasoned professional

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know we were going to see a movie”

“Whatever”

“I’m serious. I didn’t know. I would have dressed warmer if I did, and would have insisted you put a jacket on”

“I’m not a kid”

“I know you’re not. I just feel bad. I was hoping you’d be able to relax a little...”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore”

“Okay, but I really am sorry”

When dinner came out, Keith poked at until he finally gave in, pretty much wolfing it down, half an hour later Lance had to excuse himself to the bathroom, finding Keith gone when he returned. Taking his seat beside Pidge, Lance leaned in

“What happened to Keith?”

“He said he needed the bathroom. Didn’t you see him?”

“No. How long ago did he leave?”

“Not long after you... Dude, what’s your deal with him?”

“My what?”

“Your deal. What’s he still doing here?”

“I asked him to take some photos of the house for me”

Pidge crossed her arms

“If you’re going to lie, at least make it convincing”

“Who said I’m lying?”

“You did. I know you, and I know when you’re lying. Something’s off with Keith, and you’re acting really weird”

“I’m not acting weird”

“Are you two dating? Is that why you’re being weird? You feel like you can’t talk to us...”

“No! No, no, no, no, no... ewww. No. I’m not dating him, he’s a stranger”

“A stranger you bring to a movie night with your best friends”

“It was either leave him the house or bring him with me”

“So he’s staying with you, like, staying staying?”

“Only for tonight. Shiro’s going to pick him up. I’m thinking of repainting the living room closer to its original colours, and I figured having a fresh set of photos would work”

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

Pidge’s words went right over his head, before looping back and slapping him in the face. Pidge had had her feathers ruffled by Keith “taking” what would have been her “job”

“Because, my Pidgeon legged friend, you would start hunting for ghosts in my house, then try to steal Blue as you left”

“You’re dodging the question”

“I’m not dodging the question. I only asked him because he’s a professional. You’re still my number one tech guru. I’m sorry I’ve been sick and haven’t been able to hang out, but I’ve missed my gremlin. No one can replace my little anger muffin”

“You’re a wanker”

“So I’ve been told”

“Has your cold when passed? You still look pale”

“Yep. Clean bill of health from the doctor. Just the usual take it easy for the next few days, fluids, sleep, platonic dates with your best friends, the usual post cold instructions”

“I’m still shocked you’ve got Keith staying with you”

“I’m shocked too. But I keep telling myself it’s only for a few days and soon it’ll all be over”

“Dude, he was wearing your clothes”

“And?”

“Lance, you know I’d never judge you for your sexuality...”

Lance laughed, him and Keith simply too ridiculous to even go there

“It’s definitely not like that”

“Are you sure? I mean... I’ve never seen you like this...”

“What? Invaded by a photographer?”

“No, not like that... I mean... like, he’s wearing your clothes, staying at your house... it’s not like you”

“Keith didn’t have any clothes that weren’t a crime against fashion, or acceptable at a bar, which I totally thought we were going to, thanks to a certain someone. Nah, he’s just staying a couple of days then Shiro is going to pick him back up and that’s that”

“Something still feels off”

“Pidge, I promise I’m okay, and I promise Keith and I aren’t in some whirlwind romance, or whatever that brain of yours has thought up. I’m actually pretty sure he hates me, if that makes you feel any better”

“Nope. It just makes it weirder... Should we be worried that he hasn’t come back?”

“Nah, I’ll go see if I can find him. Dude’s got the social aptitude of a rockmelon. He probably peopled himself out and is having a sulk”

“If you say so. Now go away, I’ve already missed part of this riveting plot”

The plot wasn’t riveting. It was badly thought through and designed for the masses. Like most things...

Keith wasn’t in the cinemas entrance hall, nor the bathroom, Lance heading outside to search for him. Not at the front of the cinema, Lance was starting to get pretty annoyed with his missing idiot. The last place left to check was the parking lot, where he found said idiot cornered by three men. Great... just... great. He took his eyes off him for two minutes and he’d already wandered off into trouble. Walking over to stand just short of the three strangers, Lance eyes Keith who had his arms crossed, scowling at the group

“Heya, fellas. Something wrong here?”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“You know, just a concerned citizen. You’ve got my friend cornered, so if you could just see it in your hearts to let him go...”

Lance stepped back, escaping being hit in the face as the stranger bared his teeth. What the fuck?! Was Keith dense as fuck? Or did he think he had the skill to take on three idiots

“Your wallet or you life”

“Seeing you’re getting neither, I suggest you run along home”

“What did you say to me?!”

They hadn’t even had to go to bar to find trash. Lance sighed as he pulled out his phone

“Well, we are living in the age of technology. This miraculous little device lets me call the police when people like you start messing with people”

“You won’t get the chance”

“We’ll see”

Avoiding being attacked was laughable. His attackers had like zero grace, they must instead rely on numbers to look “intimidating”. Each swing that didn’t connect made them madder, their “leader” pulling out a small blade, as Lance danced around them. Putting the phone to his ear, he made as if he was calling the police and not his home phone

“I’m going to kill you...”

Raising his pointer to his lips, Lance hushed the man

“Didn’t anyone teach you its rude to interrupt someone on a phone call?”

If someone was watching, the would have found the way the three morons were falling over each other hilarious

“Yes, hi, I’d like to report an attempted robbery at the front of Platt Pictures. There’s three guys that have bailed up two men...”

Dropping down to dodge the punch thrown at his face, Lance swept the leg of the leader, snatching his blade out his hand as the man’s eyes widened for the millisecond as he fell

“Yep. There still here... I’ll wait. You guys should probably run if you’re going to. Cops are on their way”

The look in the leaders eyes was something feral, spitting like it made him cool, the man wiped his mouth

“I’ll get you for this”

“I’ll be waiting, but I won’t be holding my breath. Also, I’ll be keeping hold of this blade of yours. Evidence and all that. It’s amazing this fingerprint technology...”

“Forget it, lets scram!”

When the leaders two goons split, the man pushed himself up, running off like the coward he was. Lance giving them a little wave as they did. Ending the call to his house, Lance slipped his phone back in his pocket, before holding out the blade to Keith

“Here, a souvenir of our time together”

“I could have handled that”

Lance rolled his eyes

“Never said you couldn’t. Anyway, take it. You seem to like knives and I’ve got no use for it”

Keith frowned at the offered knife

“But the police...”

“Aren’t coming. Let’s just say I have a job where I need to keep my name squeaky clean”

“What the hell?!”

Lance sighed at Keith

“What? Do you want me to call them? I totally can, I remember all their facial features”

“You didn’t do me a favour...”

“Never said I did. Oh, you totally skipped out on movie night. Do I want to ask why you’re not inside pretending to be scared like everyone else”

“The movie was shit”

“Finally, something we can agree on. But, Hunk and Pidge are trying to be friendly with you, so leaving is kind of a dick move”

“They don’t even like me”

“They might if you’re not out here hiding. Also, Pidge thinks we’re dating, so come on darling, we’ve got a movie to finish”

Lance took Keith by the wrist. Socialising wasn’t about to kill him

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Dragging Keith’s along, Lance spoke as they walked

“Well, that’s a long story. You see a long time ago a little boy was turned into a vampire. He grew up to become a lawyer, living as human like as he could, as he tried his hardest to give back to humanity so no other little kids got hurt. He never fed from a single person, took a lover, or like harmed any one more than what you just saw... You could say things were going well for him and he was happy. That was until two hunters crashed into his little corner of the world. He was forced to drink blood from an actual person for the first time in his life. Which upset him, because he felt he’d lost a little of the humanity he wanted. Now he’s trying his hardest for a stranger who wants him dead, and refuses to listen to him, because he’s some disgusting, revolting, beast that deserves that’s not even fit to be on the bottom of your shoe”

“That’s just it, why are you trying?”

“I don’t know, and that’s what’s getting under my skin”

Dragging Keith the whole back to their seats, they got there in time for the heroic ending where the main character saved the day. Hunk was sobbing, Pidge had gotten herself some skittles and was attempting to catch them in her mouth as she made a mess around her. Seeing they’d mostly missed the film, he and Keith remained standing there until the credits started and Pidge called “time to bail”. Ditching holding Keith’s wrist, because he’d honestly forgotten he had, Lance wrapped his arm around Hunk’s waist

“Good movie?”

“She was so brave...”

“I know, man”

Pidge cuddled up to his side until Lance looped his other arm around her

“What did you think?”

“It sucked. There were so many plot holes. I want my money back”

“Aw, never mind Pidgeon. It’s over now”

“That’s 133 minutes of my life I am never going to get back. You and Keith are arseholes. You missed most of the film!”

“Are we arseholes, or are you cranky we escaped?”

“You’re both definitely arseholes”

“Now, to be fair, Keith hit his people limit of the day. You’d never know, for all his conversational skills, but he’s a lot like you, Pidgeroonie. He gets very tired of people fast, and cannot do the brain without the coffee”

“That’s because people fucking suck!”

Pidge’s loudness caused the people walking near them to stare, staring was awkward forever one involved, Lance didn’t want the night to end awkwardly

“Okay, that’s enough exposure to the public for one night. Why don’t we grab something and head home? I’ll even pay”

“Yay! I want a super sized slushie. I should have thought of it sooner. I wonder if that slushie place with the weird flavours is still open”

Hunk groaned

“You’re making me do city driving?”

“Dude, relax. It’s night time, meaning there aren’t as many people on the road. Consider it practice for your date”

Hunk blushed, Lance laughing happily

“Don’t be mean to him, I’ll drive. Pidge, you’re in directions. Hunk, music, naturally, Keith, you get to sit in the back with Pidge and make sure she doesn’t get up too much mischief”

“What? Why?”

“Because I said so”

*

Keith opted to stay in the car and be a buzz killer as the three of them rushed to the slushie store. Minutes from closing, they were those annoying customers that all retail staff dread. Pidge was in heaven as she eyed the walls of flavour, Lance paying and limiting her to two without added energy drink. Hunk went for bubblegum flavour, Lance for strawberry. Keith hadn’t come in, but part of Lance didn’t want him feeling left out. With all the scowling faces Keith had pulled since they’d met, lemon was ruled out as a potential flavour, instead he went for iced coffee labeled as being lactose free. Keith might not be the nicest person in the world, but that didn’t mean Lance was going to be a douche over something Keith couldn’t control. He knew the man liked coffee, so it was the most logical choice. Pidge ended up unable to decide. One abomination made of orange, pineapple and mango, the second strawberry, bubblegum and coke. Making sure he’d left the woman behind the counter a very generous tip, Lance ushered Pidge and Hunk back to Hunk’s car, a little proud of himself when he got Keith’s door open with his foot in the door handle. Glaring up at him, Lance beamed in pride

“I got you one”

“I don’t need one”

“Yes, you did. It’s iced coffee, lactose free. Consider it an apology for venting on you earlier, if you need an excuse to take it”

Handing Keith the drink, Keith eyed it in suspicion

“Dude, it’s fine. Legit went from the machine to the cup then out to you. Pinky swear and all that. If you don’t want to drink it, I won’t get offended. I just thought it’d be nice to include you”

“Whatever. Thanks and stuff”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get you back home away from all these people so you can take a nap”

Keith’s expression soured, Lance was sure he was going to have the iced coffee slushy thrown at him, so shut the door quickly. Keith wouldn’t be a big enough douche to ruin Hunk’s interior. Hunk was a human, someone Keith was supposed to protect, meaning hurting his feelings had to go against whatever code hunters were bound to. Being caught up in everything going on, Matt came to his mind as Lance opened the driver’s door, his heart sinking. He hadn’t thought about Matt all night. Pidge had probably spent the whole night missing her brother and wishing it was him at the movies with them instead of Keith. He didn’t want to seem down, but it was hard to perk himself up now that he’d remembered he didn’t know how to act around Pidge. Climbing into Hunk’s car only made his heart ache more as Pidge and Hunk bickered over her flavour combinations. There was a code of privacy within VOLTRON, so he couldn’t enquire into Matt’s status. He couldn’t do anything to help Pidge with her Matt situation except for maybe confirm he was alive, which Shiro had already confirmed. Goddamn Shiro. He was ruining his night and the man wasn’t even here.

[killerswonderland]

The God Of Thunder

Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader Summary: You always liked the rainy thunderous nights, that is until a fateful one. When villainous occurrences come to life, threatening you and your job, will you come to love the rain again or will the drops of water only bring more death.  Warnings: Language, minor violence, mentions of death. Word Count: 2.2 k A/N:  Soooo, this is my first fanfic ever!! Any constructive criticism is very welcomed. I hope you guys like it!!!!

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It’s always raining in Gotham. The rain filled the sewers, the streets, the abandoned houses. It never mattered who was safe and who wasn’t. Who died and who didn’t. Maybe the only thing that could compare to the number of deaths caused by villainous crimes were those caused by the ineffable rain and floodings of Gotham River.

You always liked it, that is the rain, not the deaths. The refreshing sense of cold droplets falling in your face, the smell of it while in the depths of the woods, the crashing sound of thunder, roaring like it was the king of the skies. But that was a different time, a safer, calmer time, in which you could run to your mothers bedroom in seek of comfort. Now you couldn’t even call her, since she died in a robbery six years prior, after deciding to move to Gotham, much to your joy and seeing that you had convinced her the city was much more fun than the country, and she could easily stay away from the bad memories of your asshole dad.

It was in nights like this that you couldn’t sleep. You always blamed yourself, but in rainy, thunderous nights, it was worse. You could hear her screams echoing in your apartment and you could swear that you saw her standing in your window, shadow produced by the ocasional strike of lightning. Ands that’s when you decided it was best for you to leave your bed and shake it off, going towards the bathroom in your studio apartment. You splashed water in your face, ignoring the tired look you kept giving yourself in the mirror, just opening the cabinet and picking the orange cup which contained the recipe for chemical happiness, popping a pill in your mouth and swallowing it dryly.

You moved back to your bed, glancing at the time in your phone, it was 4 a.m, so you deduced you had time to get ahead in the billion of files of your work. Moving to your little desk by the window, you start shuffling the papers, reading and marking them until you had the notion of what it was being said, summing up the useful business information for todays meeting. Working for Wayne Enterprises sure sound promising, but in the end it was just like any other secretary job, overflowing and underpaid. But in the end, by two hours of reading the transactions, you were done, only needing a soothing shower and a hot cup of coffee, having the sighting of the night being long forgotten.

No later than one hour and a half later you were ready. Your so called “office clothes” were tidy, your hair was fixed and neatly done the way you thought was more professional and your makeup was light, yet enhancing. Still, your eyes kept the same tired look.

When you left the comfort of your home the rain was still raging and your heels clicked quickly through the sidewalk, moving towards the subway, which at that time was surprisingly packed with desperate people, being homeless or simply in the way of their work, looking for shelter. It was in times like this that the primal fear of getting wet and cold gathered people together,  never minding the difference between them, soothing the never-ending chaos of Gotham. Shuffling and excusing yourself,  you arrived at your stop, climbing the stairs and running with your old umbrella until you were safely inside the modern building. Being at least 10 minutes early considering the weather condition was a huge relief.

Greeting the reception guards as you walk in, you notice the elevator doors closing as you run to try to catch it, “Hold it!” you shout, as you see the piercing blue eyes look at yours and a sadistic smile forming in the mans mouth. He didn’t hold it and you face planted the elevator doors. “Asshole,” you murmured, tidying your appearance once more and pressing the elevator button.

Once you got to the top floor you went straight to your little desk, leaving your purse and organizing the documents that were going to be needed for Mr. Wayne’s 10 o’clock meeting.

“Good Morning.” a deep voice said suddenly, catching you off guard. And yet, you answered without even flinching “Good Morning Mr. Wayne”

“I already said you can call me Bruce, you’ve been working for me for about 6 years already and I think you know me as better as my butler” he argued, moving towards his office, looking behind him only to see you’re right in his tracks. “I’m sorry sir, but that would be highly unprofessional of my part” you replied, quickly updating the times of his other duties as another newspaper wished to interview Bruce before his great charity gala.

“Suit yourself then,” he declared “And before I forget, one of my sons will be coming here to collect some files from my office while I’m in the meeting, so let him in when he comes if you may” he says as both of you come closer to the meeting room, seeing that some of the chiefs of the lower departments and Lucius Fox were already inside and waiting. You nodded and gave him the files you prepared.

The next hour was passed answering calls, figuring out time tables and organizing some peculiarities of the great Wayne Charity Gala. You’ve always dreamed about being invited to one,  and sometimes catched yourself daydreaming about it too, wearing a beautiful gown and talking to important people, but that was never the case. In reality you were perpetually the one that planned and organized it, fulfilling all of your bosses weird wishes.

“I said Good Morning!” an annoyed voice spoke and you looked up, not recognizing the owner of the voice, but in an instant recognizing those eyes.

“Oh! If it isn’t one of the most rude people I have ever encountered” you snapped, standing up and noticing how the man, who towered over you, was looking with an amused grin.

“I really think Brucie wouldn’t like his P.A talking with his son like that” And that’s when it clicked, the eyes were the same. The black shiny hair was a little more messier than you expected, with a mysterious stand of white hair sticking out, but there he was, Jason Todd-Wayne, one of Bruce’s oldest. Of course now you had to apologize, not because you wanted but because you needed the damn job or you would die in the wet pavement of Gotham. But then a dry laugh came, guessing it was caused by the realization that hit your face.

“Well, I really think Brucie would’t like to know that his son crashed a party and almost  burned down a building” you replied, seeing his eyes darken and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water. “You see, as your father’s P.A, it’s required of me to help him keep his  company reputation, and that may or may not involve his family sometimes. You should thank me for keeping all of the involved quiet.”, you smiled, triumphantly.

And that’s when you hear the noise. A first loud bang coming from one of the lower floors. You panicked looking around for answers, but all the floor was as quiet as you. Then it all flashed. The glass of one of the windows was blowed up, shards flying around while people screamed and ran to the nearest exit. You felt stuck, breathing uneasy, until you felt a hard tug, pulling you to under your desk.

“Snap out of it!” Jason said as he gripped your shoulders and shaked you lightly “We have to get you out of here”

“Me? You and your dad are the royalty of Gotham, we need to get YOU out” you said as you got a grip in the reality of what was happening. After all, the rain asked for death again, just as that night.

He shushed you before you could continued, putting his hand over your mouth and you forced your eyes shut. The laughter was the worse, a cold, shrieking voice erupted through the corridors, as you heard things being knocked out and people screaming. Jason pried over the table, just as his suspicions were confirmed. There were a total of five thugs, some of them armed, nothing too hard to handle if he had the upper hand. He felt your breathing in his hand, slowing down, and when he looked at you he saw your eyes opening, a calm look in them, so he took his hand off.

You moved ever so slightly reaching for you purse and opening, quickly grabbing the NAA Mini-Revolver you carried around and you handed it to Jason Although you knew it wasn’t the best choice of a gun it gave you a sense of security. You also picked up a letter opener that had fallen and tossed at your direction when everything went south. “Help your dad” and with that you raised yourself and ran and lunged yourself to one of the huge men, holding the sharp object and sticking it in his neck.

After that all hell broke loose, there was a lot of blood and the victim thug was screaming in pain while spinning, trying to detach your form from his back. You heard the other masked goons running, panicking and shooting at you trying to help their friend, but, luckily to you, they ended up shooting their friends leg, unbalancing the great giant, which fell into the ground, you underneath him.

“Get that bitch,” one of the goons said, with a raspy and clearly angry voice, “The boss wants only Wayne alive. He said that we can have a little fun with the others”. You heard footsteps right above you, moving the huge body away from you. There was little time to enjoy your functioning respiratory system after the weight was lifted from your chest, because right after that you were grabbed by one of the remaining four, his grip in your neck was certainly going to leave a bruise, that is, in your corpse. You don’t know what possessed you to have that momentarily amount of courage, but in a sense, you felt calm, knowing that now, if something happened, you could go and apologize to your mom.

You taught it was because of the lack of oxygen that you saw the great bat-form shadow fly through the window, but when the blood splattered on your face and the pressure on your neck stopped, you noticed it wasn’t just a hallucination.

“Red Hood!” you heard a deep growl as you fell onto your knees, coughing and inhaling quickly, noticing only now the sharp ringing on your ears. “I told you to just get her out of here, not to kill someone” the same voice said, that you clearly assumed it was the Batman.

“I was doing doing that, but he was in my way” a mechanical voice said, while coming at your direction. You felt his hands on your shoulder as he knelt close to you, “I’m going to pick you up now, is that ok?” he asked gently and you simply nodded at the shiny helmet, figuring you couldn’t use your voice since your throat was hurting.

“Can you take care of the rest?” he asked into his comms, you guessed, since Batman was long gone, and he nodded, seemingly receiving an answer. He then picked you up, turning the bright helmet eyes back to you “Hold on”, he spoke, seriously. And you did, as he ran in the direction of the busted window. You felt the gravity take you down, but soon after the feeling of falling stoped, being replaced by what you thought was the sensation of swinging in a forest, like Tarzan.

You presumed the travel was fast, since you had closed your eyes as firmly as possible since the beginning, and when you landed with a strong thud, you opened them, noticing how tightly you were holding the vigilante. Quickly you let him go, trying to stay as straight as possible in front of the built man, looking around you as you noticed he landed near your apartment complex.

“Thank you,” you croaked, looking at the helmet eyes “But I wasn’t the one that needed rescue, Mr Wayne..”

“Mr Wayne is safe” he interrupted, “And so is he son, who was apparently saved by you, missy…”, you could feel the amused smile he had under the red helmet as he said those words. You gave him a small smile, turning from him and looking at view, hugging yourself so you didn’t show him how fucking cold you actually were.

“You should go” you said, without turning to him “My house is near, and I really think you wouldn’t let Batman take all the credit”. You heard him chuckle and, as you heard footsteps approaching, you felt a comforting heat. He had put his leather jacket onto your shoulders.

“You’re completely right” he admitted while leaving you, going straight to the ledge of the roof.

“But your jacket! I don’t know how to find you!” you shouted, causing him to turn.

“Don’t worry, I know where to find you” he said as he jumped from the building, quickly swinging through the modern forest.

You stood there, watching until he disappeared, feeling the smell of gunpowder and whisky from his leather jacket as you hugged it tightly. The thunders roaring in the sky and the droplets of water from the rain hit you strongly in the face, cleansing the blood from it.

And that’s when you started liking rain again.