#z's little thoughts oc edition

[imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters]

totally not asked for but these characters were theatre/fine arts kids:

Anora: band (but also loves musicals)

Maria: choir

Lydia: choir and theatre

Ashlea: theatre

Tiffany: choir

Evelyn: choir, band, and theatre (she really was an over achiever but that is besides the point)

CJ: band

but with that, most of my characters at the very least are fans of the theatre. i was a theatre adjacent kid (meaning i would've been in theatre if i hadn't of chosen band and then refuse to join after i left band bc i wasn't gonna leave one toxic community for another but i did do musical theatre classes at my dance studio 2013-2017)

if anyone wants, i will be willing to go into characters the characters played as well as instruments and whether they were a soprano, alto, etc

[hoodedjelly]

Sleep walk BTS post!

will go in depth with my process and put better quality drawings in here!

Before any of this i was listening to several fiddauthor/ford playlists to hear a song that really got my brain moving. Funny enough i didn't get Sleep walk from one of the 100+ song playlists i was listening to, it was in my oc playlist (thats a mad scientist who would've thought). Originally i wanted to make a fiddauthor animatic (who knows maybe i will), but THIS SONG just caught my brain in a way i couldn't refuse.

So i technically started working on it the late night of September 27, exactly a week ago! which yes yes i hear you all in unison go "WHAT???" to that, and all I have to say to that is.... I have untreated adhd and lots of caffeine in my system! (honestly felt like ford sometimes while workin on that animatic)

Started it off with some notes, then thumbnails. I had my tbob AND J3 open next to me stood up with clips for reference (prob looked a little insane looking back but its fine)

now for the rough animatic! i did this in Adobe animate 2022 (i'll get back to that later) the only thing that really got changed was i wanted to add the diner scene from j3. i realize now that it messed up the timeline i was going for with the animatic but i like to think things are out of order because of the state ford is in, things start to merge together.

After i sat with this rough animatic for a bit, i wasn't sure if i was going to make it in Adobe animate (what i usually do) or make it all in Clip Studio Paint. I wanted this animatic to be way more visually interesting then i usually do, so CSP it is. But! i only have CSP Pro, so i had to draw and export every single new frame from this animatic.

it was a little tedious at first (again never done an animatic like this before) but i got used to it! I edited it all together in CapCut and thats really it!

The missing J3 pages from TBOB spoke to me in a way that im not fully comfortable talking about to my followers. I put a lot of myself in this animatic then i'd want to realize, it's very important to me. The night when i uploaded it i was literally shaking with anxiety (and caffeine-) but the overwhelming support for it is really amazing, thank you so much! if you have any more questions please ask away i love talking about the art process.

Below im going to talk about the code and put HD backgrounds!

thank you for dyemro on here for cracking the code first! now i can talk about my insane little thought process about it

So i never planned to add a code until halfway through with the animatic. i was watching ThatGFFan videos and him talking about gravity falls codes got my brain cooking. i wanted something sweet and simple (i realize with dyemro's post it wasn't as simple as i thought, give me some slack it's my first time). like what you should with making codes you start at the end. And i wanted something that was a nice send off for drawing ford be fucking miserable for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

so i got this. (honestly every time i look at this drawing after finishing the animatic it makes me real emotional)

There are 4 codes in this whole animatic 0:02, 0:15, 0:30, and 0:58

wanted the first one to be REAL noticeable so people can stop and be like "wait... theres stuff in here". people usually think to use the bill symbols, but no! from the description theres a little hint to use the Author symbols

doing that code it leads to: imgu r.com /a/uZa iVfu (and if you know that double line a under a letter means capitalization + im a dumb dumb that used a code image that didn't have a Z so thats just a normal Z)

it makes a LINK! > imgur.com/a/uZaiVfu <

now enough of that boring stuff, heres some HD screenshots and backgrounds of my fav parts

[gamebunny-advance]

Doodle Dump: Misc. Edition

Time for misc. doodles~

Notes under the cut.

1: "Ikigusare Idols". Like many people, "Injection Girl" randomly appeared in my Youtube feed, and I was admittedly charmed by them. It's like they're from a bygone era, but they just put out another music video last month. Currently, my favorite song is "スーパーZ指定ガール". (Content warning for mass violence in the lyrics.)

2-4: "Clown Doll Redesign". So, since I've started doll customizing as a hobby, I tend to lurk on the Dolls and CustomDolls subreddits on the lookout for inspo and info. Not too long ago, someone posted asking for advice/critique on their doll ideas. So I sketched these (and some notes on the original design, which are not included here) as a response. In the end, I never did reply because I don't actually have a reddit account, and I thought it would be weird to make one solely to criticize someone, so I'm just posting them here.

My main critiques were that there wasn't a lot of contrast in their color choices and that the blue and red hair seemed random when the rest of the design was pink/green. So, my main goal was to increase the contrast between the pink and green, so the different patterns would stick out more and to unify the pallet a bit more. The skintones differ from the reference because the doll they said they were going to use was a G3 Frankie Stein, who has bluish skin and a prosthetic left leg, so I'm not really sure why their sketch uses the original green skin or why the silver leg is on the wrong side, but it is what it is.

The first 2 are straight pallet swaps, but the 3rd is based on a second design that the OP made. They originally asked for users to pick between the two. Most people said they preferred the blue and yellow design because it was more cohesive, but the OP replied that they really wanted to make the pink and green one work somehow, so that's why I focused on using that one as the base, but I still included a version with the alternate pallet and patterns.

Here's a link to the original thread since I'm kinda reposting their art by including it with sketch. Just maybe avoid linking back to me >_<;

5-8: "Music Junkie Soundwave". In a similar vein, there was another user on the subreddit that wanted opinions on a potential Transformers fashion doll line, citing a video that one of their friends made on the idea.

Now despite having a limited knowledge of Transformers, and I'm still pretty green to the fashion doll world, I wrote a whole-ass dissertation on the idea because magical girl/boy robot dolls are totally something I'd be into.

But, for a similar reason to the clown doll, I didn't want to make a reddit account just to critique someone (though I still have the original response in my drafts).

When I finished writing that response, I decided to sketch how I would go about the idea as it'd been proposed, and created this Soundwave doll idea. Admittedly, he's very inspired by Giacomo from Pokemon Scarlet/Violet (never played it, but I do like some of the character designs in it). I dunno if the overalls are a little dorky, but I couldn't think of another way to represent his chest-deck in a meaningful way.

9-10: "Kingsley and Mamuta". I tried to make some human? designs for them, but it's not going great. I really wanted Mamuta to still be monstrous, but designs like that aren't my strong-suit... Kingsley I'm just not satisfied with yet.

11: "OC Line-Up". Just a few OCs of mine. From left to right: Carol, The Prince Formerly Known As Frog, Shapeshifter, and Fizz.

12: "Rival". An idea for a rival to Kun3h0, ala Shadow the Hedgehog and Wario. I made another sketch recently that goes in a very different direction, but I kinda want to finish that so I haven't included it in this dump.

[spaceghostswim]

★✯☆spaceghostswim tag directory + about me☆⁠✯★

welcome to my blog internet traveler... ♡

to help you navigate my posts (and to make it easier on myself), i have created this guide. after the tags, i also thought i'd write a little about myself to further my introduction.

this post is under ever going construction so hopefully it'll be more coherent in time. enjoy your online adventures, surfin' the net and all that... 〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜

The Tags:

General: #musicposting ★ #art ★ #hiphop ★ #fashion ★ #techposting ★ #adult swim ★ #photography ★ #politics ★ #lgbtq ★ #wlw ★ #tumblrposting ★ #pop culture ★ #y2k ★ #heritage ★ #history ★ #women ★ #nostalgia ★ #resource ★ #design ★ #goofs and gaffs ★ #lmao ★ #writing ★

My Stuff/Original Content: #my posts ★ #photo editing ★ #selfpost ★ #spaceghostswim ★ #oc ★ #rambles ★ #my thoughts ★ #fave ★

Specifics/Fandoms: #crossover ★ #the boondocks ★ #huey freeman ★ #riley freeman ★ #jazmine dubios ★ #rick and morty ★ #eric andre ★ #the eric andre show ★ #hannibal burress ★ #tf2 ★ #demoman ★ #MF DOOM ★ #vocaloid ★ #hatsune miku ★ #a$ap rocky ★ #rhianna ★ #megan thee stallion ★ #sade ★

About Me:

names: ghost, The Wizaard, ★彡 [ᴅᴊ] ᴅᴀꜱᴛᴀʀᴅʟʏ ᴅᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴅᴇꜰɪᴀɴᴄᴇ 彡★

age: approx. 105 in cat years, tumblr veteran of 11 years

location: earth, (unfortunately) not the united states, (fortunately)

labels: queer, blak (with a k, mob-style), neurodivine, non-binary, mythical

(current favourites)

cartoons: the boondocks, rick & morty, hazbin hotel, helluva boss, the simpsons, king of the hill, south park, daria, yolo crystal & destiny, bob's burgers (+ a great majority of cartoon network/adult swim shows, you've seen the blog)

anime: dragon ball z + daima, serial experiments: lain, steins;gate, soul eater, death note

tv: the eric andre show, community, broad city, it's always sunny in philadelphia, the mighty boosh, parks & rec

movies: popstar: never stop stopping, sorry to bother you, scooby-doo 1+2, shrek franchise (2 & puss in boots last wish r the best tho), human traffic, the secret life of walter mitty, good time, og muppet movie + treasure island, boy, kung fu hustle

music: honestly if i tried this post would be unreadable so i'll stick to 10 artists. just know i will listen to anything & it is my main passion.

A$AP Rocky, Jaden, Dance Gavin Dance, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Frank Zappa, ABRA, Beabadoobee, Billie Eilish, Bloc Party, 311

[velbsy]

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

❥ Hello there! My name is Reuben or Velbsy!!

❥ I am nineteen years old and I have been drawing since I was around three years old.

❥ I’m Pansexual, Daemogender and Non-binary, and my pronouns are They/It/Sin. For a little idea of how to use the last pronoun: sin/sins/sin’s/sinself

❥ I feel really super connected to demons (and might even be demonkin honestly but haven’t thought about that enough yet), so that’s where the sin pronouns come from, and also me being Daemogender and stuff ^^

❥ This Place is a safe space for everyone ♡ anyone from the lgbtqia+ community is welcome, as well as anyone from any race. I also really wanna preface that Aro/Ace people are welcome. You guys don’t get enough support and representation, and you really deserve it. As someone who is aspec myself, it makes me upset that people just forget about us…we’re queer too, we deserve just as much love as everyone else. ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

❥ on the other hand. PLEASE do not interact if you are pro Israel, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, a pro shipper, zoophile, MAP/pedophile, an anti-Semite or anything of that sort. I will fucking block you, I don’t tolerate that shit here.

❥ also- a little less serious but please respect it. I’m in the DCA fandom and I just- like if I make an oc or something pleaaaaase don’t tag it as TSAMS or anything. Like- if you like tsams that’s ok but it’s kind of a discomfort for me- and also I just generally don’t like it so please don’t do that thanks.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

❥ I loveee to draw and I will be constantly posting my art here. Sometimes I’ll take breaks because I’ll either not be drawing for a while, or I’ll just get burnt out. Or busy.

❥ I’m in a bunch of different fandoms ^^ I really enjoy FNAF, Dragon Ball Z, Jujutsu Kaisen, Our Flag Means Death, Splatoon, Monster Hunter, Destiny, Spooky Month, Pokemon, etc etc.

❥ I’ll take requests! You’re all free to ask me anything about my characters or myself, but if it’s personal I probably won’t answer.

❥ aaaand that’s about it! Feel free to ask me anything or request me to draw stuff, I’ll gladly do it whenever I get the chance!

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

Edit- yeah I’m definitely demonkin

WELL GUYS IM A WOLF THERIAN TOO-

[medtech-mara]

🖊 + Jack Adams, please :)

Ohhhhhh!!! Ya know I had to 🏃🏽‍♀️ !!!! and answer this

Gush? About Jack Adams? I thought you’d never ask!!!!

Well, let’s start with some facts about me making him. but first.. click for song will set the tone.

He’s my first ever real male OC.

He was never meant to be a love interest

Never meant to be Jayce Adams brother (old legacy gta5 rp character of my husbands) I threw it out as a joke weeks before the campaign started to make Mara’s life hell. He decided to do just that. I didn’t know til he was introduced naturally in the story.

I don’t actually remember what his first first name was.. and he was White.

Though Jack is my original character, I surrendered him to the DM.

I collabed with @cyberneutral to make Jack’s preset. (They make legendary male Vs imo) He has been edited along the way, but the Orignal is still very much present and I cannot be THANKFUL enough for them to bringing my dreamy Jack to life, exactly as i had pictured... I know what i had asked for was extremely difficult but they did it. *smooches picture of jack* I'm sure they are sick of me tagging them about it. I hope this will be the last... UNLESS🖤🖤🖤???

Jack Sergio Adams, is a 33 years old, grew up in a normal middle class household for the most part, except for the fact his best friend practically living with his family, who had accepted her as one of their own, a daughter they never had.

The story of Jack Adams in the canon story is a tragic one, I will only touch the canon story a little, but I will GUSH about him in the AU: Water on Mars (keep and eye out on the TAG!).

Jack, had followed Mara everywhere, they joined Med school together, joined trauma team together, killed the same man and subsequently fired together, saved from murder charges from Marco Guerrero and Jayce Adams standing on TTI and NCPD... you guessed it.. together. So, after months of grinding at Meatwagon, Jack gets the idea that they should set up a clinic in the Wellsprings, to give back to the community, to atone for their sins on trauma team. (not killing that guy tho, he deserved what he got.) The two worked their asses to the bone, taking every extra shift they could and coverage to make it happen. After 2 years since the Clinic opened its doors, the rhythm of life has started to slow down, and the time started to look right, He just needed to find the words to say to Mars. He never got the chance, as when Mara started seeing this Rockerboy J I H Z Z Y, who he was convinced wasn't going to last long. WRONG. However Jack would never see how wrong he was, as he tragically was killed by Maxtac's C-SWAT team after hearing from Mara everything that had been going on her life. The Killswitch.... He asked her if things could go back to normal once the killswitch was removed, but when she admitted that she had agreed with his twin brother Jayce, that when the killswitch is removed, she is to report for duty at Maxtac, becoming a C-SWAT member. This caused Jack, who was at this point mostly cyberware from the city center attack, he couldn't handle that much put on him at once, which caused him to slip into cyberpsychosis. Murdered in front of Mara before she could tell him she loved him and was throwing everything away to keep him on this side of sanity, he met his tragic end. His song for this campaign: Here

Okay. I know thats more than I had promised about canon, but I promised there was A LOT MORE you need to know. But I wanna gush about AU Jack!!!

Much like the same in canon, except, Mara starts seeing this Space Corpo named Titus Atredies, 6'5, Body swapped. Jack, knew he stood no chance against that, but when things didn't work out and Mara broke things off, Jack knew he wasn't going to let this chance slip. He started working out again, dusting off his combat experience and joined the merc world, all without saying a word to Mara, he has to protect her. (Canon Jack makes the same decision much later and never tells Mara but by then Mara was so far ahead he couldn't catch up) One night, Mara and Jack had plans to head out to Tios (The unoffical name of the bar next to Mara's place. He is everyones uncle who frequents the bar, which, ya know my girl does... alcohoilc) when on Mara's run home, she called and said she had a gig to save some girls kidnapped. Though, a part of him was disappointed, however, he knew this was Mara's calling. She'd do whatever it took to keep another girl ending up like her childhood friend Jennifer Costa (You can read what happened here). However, Jack found it extremely odd, that later that night he didn't even get a zchat saying she was off the gig. Even stranger, she didn't show up for work, no one saw her for her run. She was.... Just gone? That doesn't make sense though. Mara would never just disappear without a word, something terrible had to have happened. Something terrible indeed... See, Mara had gotten off that gig, and on her way home, taking N-CART. Militech shoved her onto the track electrocuting her, causing her to pass out and her kiroshi's to pop. When she woke though, she was unable to see, and calling out for a nurse proved to be fruitless, because when she did get a response, it was from a Maelstrom booster informing her of her predicament. Luckily for her though, They had found a frequent flyer card for AV travel under the name of Titus Atredies, which meant they knew they had struck gold. They would be holding her for Ransom until Titus or someone named Jack Adams could pay for her release. After hours though, no one showed, which meant they needed to move locations to ensure that NCPD wouldn't be showing up. Loading her up in a van, they started to transport her from Santo to NID, where the boosters began to Jones for their next high. Mara, had been sending out pings to Jago, as he lived in Kabuki and she knew they were taking her to Totentanz and then to All foods factory in their pursuit of Black Lace.

When at All foods plant, the driver had come back and still no Jago.. Mara convinced no one was going to save her, she'd rather have a bullet to the back of her skull than to find out whatever plans these sick fucks had in mind, prepared to run, as they didn't think to strap her down. Suddenly theres two taps on the driverside glass, and before the Maelstromers would even say anything, there was shot after shot into the driver and passenger, which cause Mara to scream from being startled and begging for help. When suddenly, she hears Jack's voice call out to her.... He'd saved her. Though, Jack did have trouble getting started at a Merc, his first group being slaughtered on their first gig together, doesn't look good on a Medtech merc that can't keep his team alive, so he was dropped by his fixer. When Mara decides, why not. Night Raid is about to disband no gigs coming in from them and all the ones she's been doing has one she's fixed for herself. So why not add Jack to the team? She'd watched him stand toe to toe with someone with Mantis blades and still on this side of the earth. He was far more capable than Mara had anticipated, as he had started making his own toxins and drugs to use during combat. Which, He did decide to make a cologne on one, just anyone down wind of him would become frightful and have mild hallucinations.

pictured: Tios bar

Okay... You asked me to GUSH ABOUT HIM. So I have... but thats only the tip of the Iceberg. Jack is finding his own and more confident everyday, I know it seems like He revolves around Mara but CONSIDER THIS! He lived in the shadow of his fraternal twin, Jayce, and constantly having to keep an eye out on the road ahead, because as long as Mara is behind the wheel, they are doomed for some kinda mess.

I honestly never thought that Mara and Jack would EVER get together like never ever. The fear of losing the closest thing shes ever had to a family is a risk she wasn't willing to make until... Well a bit of wine, a homecooked meal made by jack, and the dice saying its happening. It was almost like all they had to do was just get that tension out of the air for them to see that they were meant to be. Now if only Jago would stay out of the picture...

I will understand if you never ask me anything ever again.... but please ask me more xD

[akikocho]

I still feel shy and hesitant on sharing this but a little courage won't stop me from having second thoughts.

I'LL SHARE YOU CHARMAY'S CHILDREN!!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • •

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

• Born in 1996 (he can be my HPMA OC haha)

• His second name "Will" came from Bill's name "William".

• Obsessed with both magical creatures and curse breaking.

• Pet peeve: Cutting his hair

• Has a pet toad he named Joel 2.0 (Maya 🤝 Firnen)

• Favorite Weasley? Himself /hj

• He acts responsible because he's the eldest sibling and wants to be a good role model for his younger siblings but he couldn't stop his chaotic persona.

• Rowan (male) would tolerate Firnen's non stop question about his mother's adventure on finding the curse vaults.

• Jacob's favorite nephew.

• His scar came from him playing as a beater in Quidditch.

• Has freckles from neck to toe.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

• Born in 2001 (GEN Z LEZZGOOO)

• Very shy and timid at first but when you get to know her more, you will think she's cool af.

• Keeps up with trends, especially new ones.

• Fan of reading. Maya panics because she might fear her daughter will have myopia like her as a teen.

• Her second name came from Maya's best friend Rowanne (Female Rowan). And also share the same traits as Rowanne. Also her name Charlotte came from the dragon Hagrid found while 5th year! Charlie and Maya named the dragon like it was their kid.

• Her hair is a bit lighter than Firnen's.

• Likes to eat apples.

• Like Charlie, she's a dragon fanatic.

• Very sensitive when it comes to hurting creatures. If she sees someone hurting one she won't stop crying as she kicks that person in the nuts/face.

• Rowanne's favorite Avery-Weasley child :D

• Very flexible and she's also sporty like her parents and the rest of her siblings.

• Has freckles from head to toe.

𝐑𝐚𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

• Born in 2004.

• The eldest twin of Rhea Weasley.

• Unlike her siblings, she's the only tanned skin sibling and she's proud of it.

• Lowkey curses in Tagalog and Bisaya.

• Very hyper. People might think she's drinking a lot of energy drinks.

• She's a fan of Quidditch and Ginny's number 1 fan (self proclaimed)

• She wants to ride a dragon someday.

• Has freckles all over her cheeks and nose.

𝐑𝐡𝐞𝐚 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

• Born in 2004.

• The younger twin of Rae Weasley

• The fully shy and timid sibling.

• The other siblings are outdoor types but she's the opposite. She prefers reading and doing inventions instead of going out.

• The only sibling who has an interest in steampunk related stuff.

• She's also interested in magical creatures. She got influenced by Arthur.

• She has a pet lizard which she named Gear.

• Has freckles on each of her cheeks.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • •

The pictures were made on picrew but I edited the freckles and Arthur's hair color. If you want the links I'm putting them here.

Female Version

Male Version

[hexalianrebel-blackfeathers]

Masterlist

This is every item Panda has written since joining Tumblr*. Some exceptions have been made. This does not include my list of WIPs, because we’d be here forever, and you would be mad at me.** Edits will be made as necessary…when I remember.

If you’d like to see Panda’s original ideas, including OCs, Tickles, and most of the novels I’ve been poking on and off, follow me!

(*Split into separate posts because Tumblr hates commentary. >-<)

(**…Would you guys be interested in seeing my WIPs? Or having access to them in some capacity?)

(Sorted by Fandom, A-Z)

Among Us

Cargo Transfer (2020-)—Yes, despite appearances, this is a story based on Among Us. It’s a strange mix of universes, but I did have fun with it. I was excited to write a mystery or two.

[Technically Ao3 Exclusive!]

Family, Friends, Romance, and Tickles; Minor Violence and Monsters

            Current Word Count: 3,605

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

The Avengers

Not-So-Close Shave (2019)—Uh, yeah, that’s the only one. Oops. I wrote this for Squealing Santa that year. It’s short and sweet, but I admit I remember struggling with it.

Light Romance and Tickles

Word Count: 828

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

Boku no Hero Academia

Another Year Over (2020)—This was a Squealing Santa story. It’s kind of sad, but I do love the emotions in it. Plus some unique interactions that I don’t write much.

[Ao3]

Processing Grief and Just a Few Tickles

Word Count: 4,812

Birds of a Feather (2023)—This was my most recent commission; it’s been a while since I’ve written for Denki, and I had a lot of fun working him into my AU’s dynamics.

[Ao3]

Instructional Tickle Torture with sneaky OC cameos.

Word Count: 4,186

Cackle Lantern (2022)—A sneaky Halloween idea I suddenly had one day. Secretly a spin-off of one of Ro’s stories. >w<

[Ao3]

Soft Romance and a lot of Tickles.

Word Count: 1,495

Crime Doesn’t Pay, Kids (2019-2023)—My first Hawks story! Also featuring most of my Hero Academia OCs. I love their little Quirks, plus the other scenes I still have planned for them.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Light Tickle Torture and some Combat

Word Count: 7,054

Fight Scene (2020)—Short and Sweet. >w< I wrote this after Chapter 266 of the manga. If you know, you know.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Play-fights and Friendly Teasing

Word Count: 925

Fireball (2019)—A little Quirk concept I used to have. I thought I could make a story out of it, and maybe I still could, but I don’t think it’d be much fun.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

No Tickles… TwT

Word Count: 1,261

For Future Reference (2021)—Might be one of my favorite Ko-fi pieces. Not technically a commission (Or maybe I forgot) but it was a very kind donation from a friend!

[Ao3]

Sappy Romance and some more Intimate sort of Tickles

Word Count: 3,000

From Dust to Dust (2020-)—A character study/AU for Shigaraki’s life if someone had been there when he needed them. I really do love this one and where it’s going.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Angst and Heavy Emotions. No Focus for Tickles.

Current Word Count: 3,430

Get Tased (2017)—One of my first Hero Academia stories! Somehow Denki’s powers still aren’t used in enough tickle scenes.

[Ao3]

Sneak Attacks and Revenge Tickles

Word Count: 2,597

Good Night, Deku (2017)—My very first Hero Academia story; I think I wrote it right after seeing Season 1.

Deescalating from Nightmares and Light Tickles

Word Count: 1,452

How to Stop a Quirk (2019-)—I haven’t forgotten; please don’t be mad. T~T Nearly all of my Hero Academia stories feed back into this AU somehow.

[Ao3]

Scientific Tickles and Varying Levels of Friendly Tickle Torture

Current Word Count: 38,927

Just Joking Around (2019)—I don’t think I’ve seen Ms. Joke in many stories. Not that I remember, anyway. So writing this was really fun. There is a sequel no one asked for in the pile.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Self-Doubt and Combat, with teasy Tickles.

Word Count: 2,733

Katsukisses (2022)—This was about the time I started actively playing with characters��� genders, and I’ve loved it ever since. >w< Bakugou in makeup just feels right.

[Ao3]

Lots of Tickly Kisses, mostly Platonic but there’s a little Queer-Platonic/Romantic in there.

Word Count: 3,772

Kiss and Don’t Tell (2020-)—The only time I’ve really written a hypnosis-type of story; plus he feels bad about it the entire time. Part of me is still thinking about the final chapter.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Hypnosis Tickles and Self-esteem conflict. Minor Sads.

Current Word Count: 2,950

The Missing Pages (2020-)—Some fun little scenes that happen around and between the experiments in How to Stop a Quirk. There’s a little collection by the same name!

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

A Bunch of Dorks Goofing Off. Tickles, Cuddles and everything in between

Current Word Count: 9,563

No Flash Photography (2021)—The first time I’ve gotten to write a spiritual sequel. >w< I’m grateful every day Ro gave me their blessing.

[Ao3]

Sneaky bets, Chess imagery, and Tickle Fights

Word Count: 2,526

Peaches and Scream (2020)—I admit I headcanon a sort of sibling-adjacent relationship between Bakugou and Yaoyorozu, so here’s a little pile of scenes and conversations they have.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Gender Exploration, Characters Goofing around, Not Many Tickles

Word Count: 1,923

Secret Tunnel (2022)—Through the mountain… >w< Just a simple little thing I wrote for a silly idea I had.

[Ao3]

Claustrophobia and Tickles

Word Count: 1,755

Shadow Tag (2022)—A mini commission for a Flame friend. >w< I definitely owe Kuroiro more attention.

[Ao3]

Revelry in the Dark. And Tickles

Word Count: 992

Sunkissed (2023)—Yes, I maintain that I finished this before midnight. This was my most recent Squealing Santa story, and I kinda loved writing someone who loves being tickled without being too teasy about it.

[Ao3]

Childhood Trauma and Being Stuck Watching a Tickle Scene with Loved Ones. So, yeah, Tickles. >w< (Free Cookies if you know what story that comic is referencing)

Word Count: 3,778

Test of Resilience (2017)—Fun fact, at the time of writing this, part of me secretly shipped Shinsou and Tetsutetsu.

[Ao3]

Workout Bros and Endurance Tickles.

Word Count: 1,707

You Put the Spark to the Flame (2021)—Turns out most of my Squealing Santa stories were for Hero Academia. This was a pretty fun dynamic to write. ^w^

[Ao3]

Karaoke and Working through Stage Fright. With Tickles.

Word Count: 1,987

Zombie Killing 101 (2021)—Based on a single throwaway shot during the School Festival. If you know, you know.

[Ao3]

A Sneaky OC and Assaulting Haunted House Staff. With Tickles, of course.

Word Count: 1,473

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

Friday Night Funkin’ (Almost forgot this one. >-<)

Crossfire (2021)—The first FNF story! My AU essentially makes everyone into some level of demon or supernatural being. Thanx to @cutesmokes for yelling about FNF at the time.

[Ao3]

Gun Violence and Demon Magic; Just a Little Tickle Torture.

Word Count: 5,462

Little Brothers’ Rights (2022)—I love Garcello so much. >w< He’s a softie.

[Ao3]

Big Brother Garcy and Tickle Fights, Mentions of PTSD

Word Count: 4,818

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

Hades

Backstab! (2022)—Writing Theseus is hilarious. And difficult. But hilarious. I should have made this a tickle fight… >-<

[Ao3]

God Sanctioned Tickle Attacks

Word Count: 1,296

Butterfly Kisses (2020)—The first Hades story I ever wrote. I hadn’t even beaten Elysium yet. I was so young. >w< I still think it’s pretty cute.

[Ao3]

Minor Violence and Magic Tickles

Word Count: 1,234 <Achievement Get!>

Hot Foot (2021)—This was written for a friend on Discord at the time. His idea was too good to pass up. >w<

[Ao3]

Someone in a Massive Lee Mood. And Denial About It. Sparring and Tickles.

Word Count: 2,681

Musician’s Hand (2023)—Hey, this one’s new! A birthday present for Ro; and a reminder that we need more Ler Orpheus in the world, please.

[Ao3]

Educational Tickles and A Couple That Has a Room, but the Kid Won’t Leave

Word Count: 1,882

Of an Amber Autumnal (2021)—A mini exploration of a headcanon regarding Zagreus’ powers. I think it’s just pretty cute. >w<

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Flashbacks and Family. Tickles Aren’t a Focus

Word Count: 2,201

Picture Book (2023)—A late birthday gift for a Discord friend. I like the idea of this AU a lot, actually. ^w^

A Little Embarrassment and Tickle Torture Between Friends

Word Count: 2,065

Sleep is for the-- (2021)—I’m pretty sure this was also written to fluster the Discord friends back in the day. >w< Some more Ler Hypnos would definitely be interesting.

[Ao3]

Wake-Up Tickles. A Little Brother Being a Brat

Word Count: 1,066

Song of Merriment (2020)—That thing I said about Ler Orpheus kinda just applies to Orpheus in general. I kind of love the poor guy. >w<

[Ao3]

Sort of Cheer-Up Tickles. Characters Just Being Goofs.

Word Count: 1,569

Submerged Foliage (2021)—I like writing love, okay? >w< Soft, cuddly nonsense that I don’t have. TwT

[Ao3]

Surreal and Silly. Romance and Tickles

Word Count: 1,773

Timebroken AU (2021)--A mod idea I had for Hades back in the day. Definitely staying non-canon with the sequel coming out soon. >w<

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

Haikyuu!!

Becoming Rough Crows (2016)—Remember when I wrote for Haikyuu? That was fun. >w< This was the first piece of my Rough Crows AU.

[Ao3]

Bondage and some Mild Tickle Torture.

Word Count: 3,808

The Bigger They Are (2018)—Technically the first Haikyuu story I ever started, based on an RP I did with a birb friend.

[Ao3]

Tickle Attacks and Chase Scenes

Word Count: 1,408

Cold Shoulder (2016)—Another Squealing Santa story! I don’t know why, but writing from Yamaguchi’s perspective is very fun.

[Ao3]

Tickle Fights in the Snow

Word Count: 2,306

Collared (2017)—A short scene for a friend. Definitely something I loved at the time.

It’s a Little Spicy, I Guess; Some Bondage and Tickles, a little Romance

Word Count: 675

The First Fox Hunt (2017)—An AU based on another set of RPs I did with birb friend. >w< Probably the only time I’ve written Bokuto.

An Amateur Thief Getting Teased by a Security Guard

Word Count: 3,912

In a Pinch (2018)—The Rough Crows AU! Set around/before the season 1 finale, I think. Hard to say.

[Ao3]

Minor Sads. Some Gentle Tickle Torture.

Word Count: 2,034

Rough Crows Have Soft Feathers (2020)—Tsukishima’s initiation into the team’s little sleepover games. >w< Technically commissioned by a friend to help round out the collection and tie up the cliffhanger left in a previous story.

[Ao3]

Some Playful Tickle Torture.

Word Count: 5,249

Something about Crows and Feathers (2016)—Yamaguchi’s initiation. >w< Like I said before, his character was so fun to play with; I refuse to believe he doesn’t have secret gremlin energy.

[Ao3]

Bonding with Teammates through Tickle Torture

Word Count: 5,969

~~~~~~~~~~~

Iron Man

The Mechanic Returns (2013)—This one gets to be in the Masterlist because I still like it. Keep the Time Travel Disclaimer in mind if you want to talk about it. Yes, I did start writing this within hours of seeing Iron Man 3. >w<

[Ao3] [Original]

Teasing, Tickle Fights, and Criticizing a Child’s Ballistic Weaponry

Word Count: 2,583

[b1g-ju1cy]

Ooohhh scugs ocs are a band... Ooohhhh

I had some ideas about making them be in a band, genre? Electronic probably. They don't have a name but I've thought of something like explosive sugar (??) idk, names are hard.

(tap read more to see more about them)

This is all an anthro like au, but they have schools. The places where they live are probably metropolis and Moon's metropolis. I also thought that NSH and SRS also had scugs in their metropolis, but the language the scugs talk is not english, but something like spanish (SRS) and Portuguese (NSH)

Basically the iterators metropolis are kinda like countries, and Moons and Pebbles are both kinda connected so they are a bigger "country" than the other iterators

(canon character are around 27-34 human years old in this au)

(He/They) Inkii is the leader and creator of the band, they all met in highschool, and instantly became friends since they all liked music. They eventually formed a band for fun and to get money. Their biology is strange. Their skin is always dripping some kind of black liquid that is very very similar to the ink. The reasons why his skin does this are uknown. They also don't have any pupils, their eyes are just a cyan stare. They have a younger sibling, and he has a crush on Linu. Inkii plays the bass. They are an adult (19)

(They/its) Samdía is one of the main electric guitarists in the band. Their skin looks and feels kinda like a watermelon. ("Sandía" is watermelon in spanish, and the name "Sam" so i kinda fused those two things :-)). They have an older brother, but we wont talk about him. Samdía loves the scene aesthetic, and always wears clothings like scenecore. When they type, they replace the s for z, and example would be "hello guyz!! whatz up!!". They also use keyboard emoticons like ":3, XD, X3", their face are made of emoticons, so they don't have a regular face. They are an adult (20)

(She/them) Flow is a laid back slugcat, with two horns and a curious tail. They are always tired no matter how much they sleep. She usually has her tongue out, and she usually goes everywhere with her headphones. They are a big sanrio fan, specially Gudetama. She also knows a lot about computing, programming and editing. She usually edits the songs and add sounds to the songs, kinda like a DJ. She also knows how to play the drums, she sometimes plays it. They have no siblings, and their parents are never home. They are an adult. (20)

(He/Him) Linu is a very kind and nice scug. They are extremely light, due to their body is kinda like a cloud, so when they jump they usually jump higher than usual. They are the second guitarist of the band, but he is usually the main singer. He is also transgender, but their parents don't fully support him. His sibling is Enot (canon character.) Enot is around 27 while Linu is 18.

(She/He) Reichell likes to hang around places, she likes to do silly jokes and tease Inkii, she knows Inkii likes Linu. She likes to protect his friends, and makes sure everyone is included. She has a habit of caring more for the others than to herself. She plays the electric piano. She's usually aggressive with strangers. Even tho her personality is aggressive and kinda annoying sometimes, she's very good at comforting people and helping other. She's an adult (21)

EXTRAS:

they usually stay at someone's house (usually Inkii's) to practise together

They vc if they are not together

Pancrasio (Inkii's little sibbling) sometimes hang out with them, since most of the times, Inkii has to take care of them

Take in mind that this is still a wip, things may change in the future

[leoisbabygirl]

❥ Hiiii, I thought I'd make an introduction for myself (under the cut) ❦

- Intro ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.

I'm Kit/Feather, call me either of those, I'm 20, she/her/hers/they/them/theirs, bi-curious/demigirl/poly-curious, I'm an aries, an intp-t, & a Ravenclaw, I'm currently in the talking stage <3

- What I post about ⋆｡°✩

I post about my favorite media which consists of: Lab Rats, Mighty Med, Lab Rats: Elite Force, The Villains Of Valley View, Victorious, iCarly, Sam & Cat, Big Time Rush, The Thundermans, Gravity Falls, Trailer Park Boys, Riverdale, Super Mario Bros Movie, Barbie movie, the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, My Little Pony, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Teen Titans Go!, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, & the Descendants and Z-O-M-B-I-E-S franchises.

I also enjoy playing video games too. I play mostly Pokemon Nintendo games but I also play ps games such as Thrillville, Pac-Man, and the Tony Hawk pro skater games. I'm hoping to extend my horizons to play other games such as Five Nights at Freddy's and Detroit: Become Human.

My favorite artists are: Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, Carrie Underwood, Reba McIntire, Luke Bryan, Nikki Minaj, Katy Perry, Hayley Kiyoko, Dove Cameron, Reneé Rapp, Ariana Grande, Mad Tsai, Troye Sivan, and theres more but that'd be a long list.

- info about myself ⋆｡°✩

I have Autism, ADHD, OCD, and a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.

- my DNI list ⋆｡°✩

terfs n transmeds, homophobes n transphobes, racists n sexists, dog abusers, they/them haters, incest lovers, pedophilic people, blank blogs, corn bots, rude anons, and all the other weirdos out there, they know who they r, also pro-Israel's aren't allowed here, if you assume sexualities.

- Ask me about ⋆｡°✩

my ocs

my edits

My edits pt2

Moodboards, stimboards, and Spotify playlists

Discord: kit.2004

C.AI

Wattpad

Give me book recs

my other blogs: side blog @ex-obsessed, cat blog @repurtation, nsfw blog (minors dni) @slut-season, D4 rp blog @rebelmenaceonegirlriot

- disclaimers ⋆｡°✩

(I curse)

(I change my pfp and theme a lot depending on my mood or what phase I'm in)

(Please use tone tags around me)

(I'm not an art blog. Any art u see isn't mine, I can't draw for shit, ask anyone I know)

(My dms are always open so feel free to message me anytime)

(My ask box is always open so feel free to spam me)

(Header & pfp: header by pinterest & pfp by descendantstrr on insta)

(Divider: @saradika-graphics)

[imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters]

thinking about how i really just decided to say fuck this shit and see how things pan out in the rest of the season with aemond and the brothel lady because if they actually do do anything sexual, you can best bet ima be writing that shit into my haelesa story!!!!

[sugarbundust]

Blurb and question; Of Snowscapes & Explosions

SPOILERS FOR NEXT CHAPTER

First of all: I had to type this up like four times, because tumblr likes to just eat my text posts. Omg. WHY. Why does CMD+Z for 'undo' (which you could normally use for undoing a text replacement) erase THE ENTIRE POST YOU JUST WROTE? 😭 Who decided this change was GOOD? 😭 It never used to do that!

Okay.

Anyway.

So.

I'm having a conundrum with the next (few) chapter(s).

I decided I'm absolutely breaking this update up into multiple parts, because while trying to trim it down I somehow managed to bloat the chapter up in size to 22k words lmfao (DO NOT ASK ME HOW. I DO NOT KNOW. 😭) And I am not posting that lol (It's bad enough I go over 10k at times for extra long chapters. That would be insane.) However, now that I've found a good spot to slice off at for the next update, it puts me in a pickle because it's in the middle of some stuff I could completely edit out (thus, rendering the update a lot shorter).

For context, this next scene focuses on Bakugou and OC talking while eating. He's discussing a few topics—things he likes and fan stuff regarding All Might, but then turns the tables on OC and starts asking her about things she enjoys—favorite heroes, hobbies, specifics about her quirk and family. Stuff like that.

A nice bonding moment.

This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that I've been trying to keep OC as vague as possible (since she is supposed to reflect the reader).

My question then becomes: how detailed am I allowed to get with her?

Some readers in the past have asked me to go into more details about these exact things, saying they already see her as her own character and not a stand-in for themselves. They have said it would make her a more interesting character, too, since it would broaden the plot.

And on that point, it's really interesting for me hearing that as the writer of this piece specifically, because I have tons of headcannons for her! 😅 All sorts of info I never bother to add into the story and just kept to myself lol. Stuff she likes. Hobbies. The way she looks. Her family (and extended family). All sorts of thoughts regarding other heroes and pop culture... Her favorite songs, books, etc. I'm constantly thinking of new stuff to add in 😂 I just... never do.

It's not a huge problem for me (or it hasn't been, anyway). And I've indulged a little bit here and there in the past. Ya'll have been kind enough to overlook content regarding her family dynamics, assumed height, food preferences, etc. I just don't know how far I'm allowed to go where people will still be interested.

I've tried to veer on the safe side, not just with canon as a guideline, but also keeping in mind I have a lot of readers from different lifestyles and cultures than myself. I guess I don't want to say she likes XYZ and then readers hate her, or be turned off from her possible perspectives on things. 😅

And I know I'm probably overthinking it; that as the author I can do as I please. But with this story I've tried to be mindful of the reader's point of view since the beginning, and I think that it's also part of the story's charm. I like incorporating your thoughts and feelings. It feels like a bit of a group effort. 🥰 And I don't want to ruin a formula that seems to make most readers comfortable.

I would really love to hear your thoughts regarding this, whichever way you feel. I can continue to write it the way I have, and that wouldn't be a problem (I wouldn't be upset!). But it might be more fun for us if I indulge? I could even ask about some specific opinions from the readers and try to incorporate that, too. It would certainly open up a lot of doors for content I could write.

I have a few things I'm considering revealing in one of these upcoming updates, but I don't want to divulge just yet what that is (Maybe my next blog post). It's not something serious or prominent to the plot, but it's revolving around one of her potential hobbies and possible club activities she partook in at her old school.

I did a lot of research on a few topics for it, but it's just something that I thought was interesting, and not a necessity to the plot. 😂 It's also not something I think a lot of people will care about, so I'm contemplating cutting it specifically because of that. (It's fluff, really. I know I could always just blabber away here to what it is lol but I did think of a way I could incorporate a callback to it in a later chapter if I wanted.)

But yeah, it's late and I'm just rambling at this point lol

With that all out there, I'm going to try and get all my editing and formatting done later today for this chapter (I'm on my way to bed!), that way I can post between late tomorrow night and sometime on Sunday when I get home. Here's to hoping I can finish on time! 💪💪💪 There's still a little bit left to refine! ٩(⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)۶

[anime-lover-forever-1127]

Saiyan Mates {Son Goku}: Chapter 3 - Maternal Instincts

Maternal Instincts

*****

Disclaimer - (Cause fanfiction is tricky ground and I hope not to offend the creator of the original story and get sued)

I do not own "Dragon Ball", it belongs to its original creator Akira Toriyama. This is only a fanfiction that I was inspired to write by the original work. Please support the official release of "Dragon Ball". Most of the media - such as the art and illustrations, gifs, video's, etc. used in this fanfiction - are from the web. Thus, most of them aren't mine (because I really, really can't draw) unless mentioned. To fit the story, images are also edited by various apps and websites. So they aren't mine, just edited.

Also if you own a picture or Video that I found online, and you either want your name added, or me to take it down. Please contact me and we can talk it out. P.s. I also ask that you do not copy my work and publish it onto any other website.

If you're gonna use my idea, please ask me (If you ask nicely, I for sure, will agree). If I don't contact you within a week, then just assume I'm giving you the all clear and go for it. Just remember to credit me.

I will be writing out scenes even if my Oc isn't in them. As long as she's mentioned, or influencing the characters in some way. Or maybe because it influences the story. This may seem a bit annoying. But that's just how I write. I like to embed my characters into the story line. Because of this, most of the dialogue/scenes will come from the original work. So credit for that goes to it's rightful creator(s).

Warnings: Spoilers for Dragon Ball Z episode 22, Mates, Violence, Inner beast, Death and Destruction, A little darker Goku, Not fully proof read (I only give it a once over - So I likely missed some things.)

*****

Today's Special

"A mother's love is like an everlasting bed of roses, that continues to blossom. A mother's love bears strength, comfort, healing and warmth. Her beauty is compared to a sunny day that shines upon each rose petal and inspires hope."

~ Ellen J. Barrier

*****

{Third P.O.V.}

Atena winced as she got out of the pod. Various loud shouts of aliens, and monsters, were not what the woman wanted to hear right after waking up from a six months sleep.

Vegeta and Nappa had chosen to float out of their craters and in front of the humans, but Atena had chosen to rise higher into the air, until the crowd was nothing but a tiny blur of colors crowded together, and their loud shouts became mere mummers.

She began stretching around like a cat, in the air. Letting her muscles get some stimulation after over a dozen weeks of constant sleep. Her shoulders and back cracked pleasantly at the actions, losing up and gearing up for the upcoming fight that she had been looking forward to for a year.

She let her tail unwrap and swing around in the air for a bit. Even going so far as the run the sensitive base.

But as her body became more relaxed, Atena's mind only grew tenser as her inner beast began to prowl her mind in her animal form. Destroying her inner scenery, and peace with every strike. Leaving a trail of destruction in its wake as it traveled around the inner world Atena had created in her mind, just for it.

The woman sighed, as the feeling in her chest grew. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly. But it was almost as if she was looking for something.

No. Not looking.

She was being drawn to something.

Atena was snapped out of her thoughts by various screams that could reach her even at her altitude. She looked down to see her brother and Nappa releasing various energy blasts at the crowd that had gathered.

Nappa, once again had been unable to contain himself, and released a large sized attack that left only a crater in its wake. The only life forms that could be seen for miles, were the three Saiyan's.

Nappa laughed, "Do you think I was trying too hard to impress them Vegeta."

"There isn't anyone left to impress Nappa. I should have known better than to let you have any fun." Vegeta scowled.

"True." Atena answered, floating down towards the two men. "But at least this is one good way to get their attention. Plus, these humans were clearly idiots. I doubt they knew anything about the dragon balls. Or if they even existed. But this attack should draw in stronger fighters."

Nappa smiled, "See. Atena gets me. A little destruction won't affect the sale price of this planet/ What's the big deal?"

But the woman was quick to cut his joy short, "Or it could just mean those fighters should be smart enough to realize what we are capable of. Grow fearful of their lives, and run. In that case, it would be a lot harder to find the dragon balls."

"My sister is right." Vegeta agreed. "Try and use your brain. We came here for the dragon balls, for the wish. Remember?"

"Well… yeah." The older man nodded. "We were gonna wish for immortality. Weren't we?"

"Good." Vegeta nodded. "And we need all seven balls, right. So let me ask you, what if one of the balls happened to be in the city you just destroyed."

The smirk fell right off of Nappa's face. "I'm sorry." He apologized, lowering his gaze to the ground. "I guess I just forgot about that huh."

Atena sighed. The older man was strong, but he was unable to contain himself and rushed into things. He didn't tend to think a lot of things through either. But he was loyal. To the twins at least, that is.

Vegeta sighed, "Well let's both forget about it. What's done can not be undone. Now first we need to find out who has the highest power level. He'll be the one who finished off Raditz."

Atena nodded, watching as her brother turned on his Scouter and began searching the area. Nappa began following his motions and Atena yawned, watching the two of them work. Her's had died out on the last planet.

"More than half a dozen people on this planet have power levels over a 1000." Nappa said, surprised. "How is that possible?"

"How should I know?" Vegeta scoffed.

Atena raised an eyebrow at the news, "I guess they must have gotten stronger."

Vegeta nodded, "They must have been preparing for us. Not to worry. Let's start off by finding the strongest one."

Nappa nodded.

Atena smirked, "We just need to beat their strongest one, and the rest will lose hope and fall like flies."

Nappa looked around, before answering. "Just found two of them." He told the only woman in the group. "They definitely have the highest fighting power on the planet."

"Really?" Vegeta asked, smirking. "Good then. This may be interesting after all."

Nappa nodded, punching his fist into his hand. Vegeta and Nappa flew off towards the source, with Atena following not too far behind. Catching up to her brother, she raised an eyebrow, "Finding the strongest person does make sense. But what if they don't know? Do you have any other plans for finding the dragon balls?"

Her brother's silence was all the answer Atena needed. She sighed, looking over her shoulder, she shouted at Nappa, "Don't you dare do anything reckless or idotic like killing these people. We need them alive."

"But why?" The grown man asked.

Atena rolled her eyes, "Because they're going to be our best chance at getting the dragon balls, you fool."

The three saiyans picked up speed, and began flying even faster. With Nappa laughing. "This planet's weak gravity makes me feel like a kid again. I'm invincible."

Atena scowled, "Did you not hear anything I said? Keep your excitement in check. And you're not invincible, me and Vegeta could kill you any time we wished."

Nappa nodded, growing quiet.

Atena rolled her eyes, she had been on edge since the moment she opened her eyes because of her inner beast, and Nappa, needing to be put in his place, was not helping. It was only roaring her beast up even more. And the promises of a fight coming soon did absolutely nothing to soothe it.

The three Saiyan's slowed down, coming to a complete stop above Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillian, startling the last two.

Nappa laughed, "So one more joined them. What do you suppose these three are going out in the middle of nowhere?"

"I think they were waiting for us." Vegeta replied. "Yes. I'm sure of it."

"Do they actually think they stand a chance against us?" The only woman in the area asks, raising an eyebrow.

Well the Saiyan's were conversing casually, the three beings on the ground were frozen in fright at their first exposure to such high power levels.

"They're even stronger than I imagined. What are we going to do guys?" Krillian shivered.

Atena lowered herself to the ground, Vegeta and Nappa mimicking her actions.

"So, we meet at last." Vegeta smirked.

"The pleasure's mine." Piccolo answered, with a poker face. "I'm only going to say this once. Leave this planet. This is your first and last chance to get out of this alive."

Atena laughed, "How funny. I was going to say the exact same thing. Let me give you a chance. Tell us we're the dragon balls are, and we'll let you leave this alive."

"Not happening." Piccolo growled.

"That voice. I see you're the one who defeated Raditz one year ago." Vegeta smirked.

Piccolo's eyes widened, "My voice?"

"Right. Didn't Razitz tell you?" Vegeta asked mockingly as he tapped his scouter. "Our scouters also work as communicators."

A smirk also appeared on Atena's face, "That's great. That means you must also know where the dragon balls are. That really does save us some trouble."

"The green ones for Namek. Isn't he?" Nappa asked, looking to Atena for confirmation.

"That's right." The woman nodded. "I'm surprised you picked it up. He is a Nammekian."

"No wonder Razitz had such a hard time with him and Kakarot." Vegeta added.

Meanwhile, the man in question was in shock, "I'm in Namek." He repeated. He clenched his fists, and growled at the news.

"You didn't know?" Vegeta asked, a mocking grin on his face. "Well, what a surprise. Surely you must have suspected something before now."

Atena nodded, "I mean, you certainly don't look human. Green skin and all."

"It was you who told Raditz about the dragon balls. Now tell us." Vegeta demanded.

Atena placed her hand on her hip, "Who knows, if we're feeling nice. We may even tell you more about where you're from. But that depends on how much you give us. So like my brother so kindly said, talk."

"But no one knows where they are. Not for a whole year." Krillian automatically answered the woman.

"That's enough. We know the balls are down here."

"Enough." Atena said, cutting Nappa off. Taking some steps towards Krillian threateningly, she asked "What do you mean by not for a whole year?"

But before the human could answer, Piccolo chuckled, "I wanna thank you. Because of you I now know I come from the planet Namek. But this is my planet now, and no one is going to tell me what to do with it. So back off. Where not here to bow down to your demands. We're here to fight!" he said, getting into a fighting position. "So do whatever it is that you came here to do."

Atena smiled at the resolve, but was also irritated at what it meant. "All right then. You do know you can't stop us, right? But fine, we'll entertain you." She stretched her arms forward and got ready to attack, only to be cut off by helicopters and the media appearing. She growled, her inner beast not helping her irritation levels, "Now what!"

Nappa got ready to blast the machines, but before he could, every single one of them was already hit, and crashing. Some not even having anything left to fall.

Everyone turned around to see Atena, slowly lowering her hand. "Bloody flys."

Vegeta looked his sister in the eyes, to see that golden flex's were beginning to appear in her eyes. A sign that her inner beast was fighting for dominance. He sighed, Atena usually had a balanced relationship with her beast. If it was fighting for dominance, then there was no telling what could happen. If her beast came out, his out start raging as well. He then turned to the front, where their opponents had all taken a fighting stance. He sighed, "I guess they aren't going to tell us where the dragon balls are now."

Meanwhile, Gohan's gaze was on the saiyan woman in front of him. She was strong. He couldn't help but wonder how she had gotten that fast. Would she be willing to teach him? The boy's eyes widened at his own thoughts. He quickly shook his head, trying to shake those thoughts out. What was he thinking?! She had just killed those people.

"Fine. Wanna bet. Let's see how strong you really are." Nappa used his scouter to read their power levels. "Kids at a thousand, the Namek is at 1400, and the midget is at 1100. You fools, did you really think you could beat us at such puny power levels."

"Hey Nappa, take your scouter off." Vegeta ordered, taking his own scouter off.

"What?" Nappa asked, confused. "It seems they know how to concentrate their energy and raise their power levels. These figures are most unrideable."

"Hey right." Nappa nodded. "Good call. Now I remember that pathetic loser Raditz let himself be fooled by all of their power readings.

"Nappa, I believe it's time we have a little fun with them." Vegeta laughed.

"Then how about using the Saibamen?" Atena sugged. "There's about six left I believe. They can each have two."

Nappa laughed, "You two really know how to have fun."

Nappa pulled a capsule out of his pockets. "Your right Atena. There are six."

"Maybe the Saibamen can persuade them to tell us where the dragon balls are. Huh, Nappa." Vegeta asked.

The bald man laughed, "Oh, I think they can arrange that." Planting each of the seeds into the ground. He poured a few drops of the corresponding liquid into the ground. Throwing the bottle away, he watched as the ground where the seeds were planted began to break open. And six short green, bald creatures with red eyes began to sprout from the ground like beans.

"Well… at least they're shorter than I am." Krillin laughed.

Atena smirked, "Don't let their heights fool you. Each of them is as strong as Raditz." Atena watched as the green men attacked. Her smiles fell off her face though, when she noticed a brown tail attached to the young boy.

"Stop you fools." She ordered. Within an instant everyone stopped moving at her roar, and she was by Gohan's side. Inspecting his back to indeed see a monkey tail attached, she smiled softly. "You're a Saiyan."

Nobody, not even Vegeta, moved as they watched her pick him up. Gohan flinched, "Half."

"But a Saiyan nonetheless." Atena countered softly.

She knew that there was a half breed here, and Vegeta had intended to kill it. She knew that. But knowing it, and seeing it were two completely different things. As she held the boy, she knew that there was absolutely no way she could let this boy die. Her Saiyan instincts had latched onto him so quickly, it was scary. And for the first time since she had woken up, her inner beast was calm. No wonder it was so wound up. Just the thought of this boy getting hurt was enough to send her into a near rampage.

Vegeta sighed as he watched the sight in front of him. He knew exactly what was happening. Any moment now, his sister would turn to him and say that they were going to keep the halfbreed. Her maternal instincts were latching onto the child. Her mate was dead, and there was no other suitable candidate in the universe for her, of a species who she could have a child with. Meaning she would have no children with. So now, she was latching onto this.

And whether the boy liked it or not, he was clearly beginning to ease into her arms as well. It may take time, and he may try to fight it, but eventually the child would begin to seek a mother, a mentor, and a protector in her as well. But, Vegeta was surprised at how quickly the boy was beginning to ease into her arms. Was it because he knew she was most likely the only Saiyan woman left alive, and with the urge of his slowly growing instincts and his soon to awaken inner beast, he was beginning to feel the connection as well.

She wouldn't have a mate, or children. So he knew, the least he could allow her, was this. Not wanting to ruin his sister's last resemblance at true happiness, Vegeta sighed. "We're keeping him" The Saiyan prince declared to everyone.

Gohan was disgusted at the small bloom of happiness that grew in his chest at acceptance. He tried to resist, "No. I don't want to." He said more to himself than anything, trying his hardest to fight the urge to just let the woman hug him.

But Atena quickly and painlessly knocked him out, silencing him. Piccolo tried to lunge for her, but she ignored him, letting a saibaman stop him. She walked back to her brother, sitting down on a rock a little way back, she slowly cradled Gohan. "It's fine. You'll learn, I'll teach you, guide you. You may be human, but you're also a Saiyan. One of the last. And I'll be damned if I let that part of you burn out."

Vegeta thinks it's the knowledge of both parties knowing that Saiyan's are a nearly extinct race that's pushing the maternal bond so fast. But what if it was something more primal, set by a higher being that's pushing their instincts further along, spurred on perhaps by another bond?

Find out next time on Saiyan Mates!

*****

Heads up, there will definitely be Chi-Chi bashing. For all of you who like her, sorry. But it had to be done for the sake of the story. Remember, this is a fanfiction, so I will be amplifying all her flaws by like 50, which can make anyone seem bad. So don't hate on me, the story, or the real Chi-Chi (and she tries her best in her situation). Because this is just a fanfiction.

Also was the whole maternal thing a bit crazy and far fetched. Yes. But I still liked it, so I went with it. Also I couldn't resist writing the last little part in bold and italics. It was just calling me. And I kept hearing the narrator's voice.

Advance warning:

Goku will be a little darker in this story.

He won't be evil, just a little darker, and more in touch with his saiyan side. I just thought it may be fun to write from that aspect. Because Saiyan's do have an animalistic side.

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance •  Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 24: With Love, Z

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Chapter summary: The Doctor takes Avalon to see an old friend down the 1920s French Riviera. At the end of the night, they finally say a couple things that they've been struggling to keep hidden.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel​ @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

An angry Avalon stormed down the corridors with an equally angry Amy following her. It seemed like no matter how quick she walked, Amy was just as quick. She hated this unintended synchronicity.

"You are just wrong, Amy!"

Amy huffed. "Am not!"

"Are too! They gave me the dress! It's mine and I'm not giving it back!"

"But where the hell are you even going to wear a Louis Vuitton gown!? Leadworth!?"

Avalon audibly growled that even before she made it to the console, both the Doctor and Rory heard it. They also heard Amy's shout afterwards. The two men shared a dreadful look. It wasn't odd that Avalon and Amy disagreed on something to the point of arguing loudly. They were very similar in personality traits which often made them butt heads.

"Any idea what they're arguing about?" The Doctor quietly asked Rory.

"Nope." Rory's gaze lowered to the glass floor. "Is it too late to hide?"

"AMY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Avalon stormed into the room with a look of death on her face.

"That would be a yes," the Doctor mumbled to Rory before dashing to meet Avalon. He put on his best smile for her, extra cheery for good measure. "My Ava! You are looking lovely today!"

"WE'RE NOT FINISHED!" Amy came in shortly after, startling everyone in the room.

Avalon whirled around. "Yes we are! It's my dress and I'm keeping it!" She then turned right back to the Doctor, suddenly wearing a pout. "Fairy Tale Man, she wants me to give back the gown that Louis Vuitton gave me! Tell her I don't have to!"

"Uh, she does, because it's not right," Amy came up beside them, arms folded, "It's a priceless gown that Avalon practically stole. The only reason Louis Vuitton even let you have the it is because you already had it in your arms. He was being polite. Rory, tell her she has to give it back!"

Rory's eyes widened. "Uh, well…"

Avalon turned back to Amy, glowering at her grandmother. "Don't bring Rory into this!"

Amy did the same. "You just brought the Doctor into it!"

Said man was quietly retreating from them, moving back until he was standing next to Rory. Their heads turned from one angry ginger to the other, trying to follow their argument while simultaneously attempting to cut in and stop them. It sounded ridiculous, really, and after a few minutes they stopped trying to interrupt them. Maybe if they got it out of their systems, it would all end nicely...they foolishly hoped.

"I'm right!" Amy snapped, but Avalon scoffed.

"You wish, Pond! I'm right!"

"Rory, tell her I'm right!"

"Doctor, tell her I'm right!"

And suddenly, both gingers were looking at the Doctor and Rory, waiting for them to agree with each of them. It left a very terse air in the room.

Rory, on his part, swallowed hard with fear. "Seriously, is it too late to hide?"

The Doctor's eyes did flicker to the console for a moment as he truly considered the idea. "There's always a black hole we could jump into."

"You want to jump into a black hole?"

The Doctor was halfway nodding his head when Avalon growled at the two. "You two are cowards!"

Giving up their delirious plan of escape, they went to gather up their angry Ponds and separated them.

"Instead of arguing, why don't we go somewhere?" The Doctor asked them, bringing back his cheery smile that Rory quickly adopted as well. "I've been meaning to take Ava somewhere important, just been waiting for her to get a little bit better."

The curiosity got the better of Avalon as the Doctor suspected it would. "Where would that be?" She asked him with glimmering eyes. "Another fashion designer? I could definitely do with meeting, say, Coco Chanel?"

"No more fashion designers," Any sternly said, making Avalon look back at her and stick her tongue out. "Avalon!"

"No, no, well, there might be since we don't know exactly who's-"

"Doctor," Rory purposely cleared his throat, making a motion for him to skip over that part before it caused another argument.

"Right, it's a surprise! So," he turned to face Avalon, "Go find a dress for the 1920s! We're going to the French Riviera!" He laughed at how wide Avalon's eyes got in just a few seconds.

"Seriously!? The 1920s!? French Riviera!?" She repeated everything she heard just to make sure that it was all correct. She squealed when he nodded his head. "Oh my God! The 1920s! I love it! Amy! We need dresses!"

"What-" Amy barely had time to say when Avalon reached for her wrist and yanked her towards the corridor.

All arguments forgotten for sure.

"Nice save," Rory said to the Doctor when they were alone.

"Mhm, I've got a whole list of places I have in case I ever get into trouble with Avalon. You should probably make your own for Amy."

"But is taking Avalon to the 1920s a good idea? She's doing a lot better with her health and the 1920s aren't exactly that clean…"

"She will be just fine," the Doctor assured him. "Just, um...no alcohol. Bit early for that to re-enter her system."

"Have you met Avalon!?"

The Doctor nodded his head but there was no way he was taking the 1920s away from Avalon. Her grandfather was more than welcomed to try. He would not be the fool.

~0~

Somewhere along the dressing up process, Avalon lost Amy. That was just fine with both of them. They were no longer arguing but Amy couldn't see why Avalon put so much effort into the dressing up part. Usually all gowns for them were so uncomfortable, but Avalon was Avalon. She went above and beyond to get herself ready. She was finished before Amy and before returning to the console room, Avalon stopped by her bedroom first. She grabbed her journal - she was more inspired to write ever since she read her work to the children at Leadworth - and grabbed a cute cream-colored purse to stuff it into. She was coming out of her room when the Doctor called for her name.

"There you are!" He should've known that she would come back to her bedroom first. He was aware of her writing habits coming back to her and he couldn't be more happy for her. She wasn't letting anyone see what she was writing but she did promise him that when she thought her work was good enough, he'd be the first to see it.

"Doctor…" Avalon was breathless at the sight of him, much like he was with her. For the first time ever, he had changed for the era they would be visiting. He wore a white button-down shirt tucked under dark brown pants. She could see red suspenders matching his red bowtie. But what really drove things for Avalon was the fact he'd chosen a very familiar coat to go with his outfit. "That's the coat I told you about a while ago...the one you wore in Berlin." He'd chosen to abandon his tweed jacket for the day in favor of the thicker dark brown coat he'd found for Berlin (or rather the coat Lena forced on him because he'd been avoiding a proper change while searching for Avalon and Melody).

The Doctor grinned with the effects his wardrobe change caused. He was hoping for something like that. "Since we're going to the 1920s, I thought I'd go for a little change."

"I love it," Avalon stepped closer to him, her hands going back and forth as if unable to decide what to do with him first.

"And I love your dress! Look at you!" the Doctor looked her over, losing breath like Avalon had earlier. Visiting the 1920s was such a good plan!

Avalon's hair was left down with only a white headband with matching white feathers to keep it out of her face. Her lips were painted a rose-gold shade, matching the dress she'd chosen for the day. It was a pastel pink, beaded flapper dress that was a the bit on the daring side with its fitted form and low cut neckline. There were shiny pearl beads near the hemline above the layer of white tassels. The same pearl beads, with a touch of smaller golden beads, made up the straps and…

"Check it out!" Avalon smirked and turned her back to him, revealing the dress's very low backside was made up of plunging pearl straps instead of fabric. It was a shock as it was...the most the Doctor had ever seen of Avalon's body and it was...doing things to him. Avalon turned back to the Doctor, her smirk widening to the edges of her face. "I picked good, huh?"

"Yes…" The fact he was momentarily speechless spoke volumes of what he thought. She was always stunning but to see her show off like that was just further confirmation. "You look amazing, Ava," he gingerly touched her hips.

Avalon was past the careful touching. She had decided what she wanted to do first. "I'm hot, you're hot, that equals…"

She pushed him against the wall and kissed him. She slipped her hands under his coat to grab onto his suspenders. Though initially surprised, the Doctor caught onto the game fast. He moved his hands to her back, absolutely loving the feel of her warm skin under his fingers. He could really just stay there with Avalon for hours (and hours) touching her and kissing her, especially when she seemed to love letting those hands of hers wander over his body.

Avalon pulled away from his lips but that was the only thing she did. Her body was still pressed against his. "Seems like we're both out of words." She smirked at him then added, "And out of lip gloss, it seems."

"Faint taste of strawberry again," the Doctor proudly said. He long ago perfected that talent of recognizing her series of lip glosses and lipsticks. "That's my favorite."

Avalon laughed. "Right. I'll need to re-apply again." And it just so happened that her Rose-Love lip gloss was one of the things in her purse.

"If you don't get off me I wouldn't even bother doing that." He was sure that she was purposely pressing even more against him.

"Ooh, someone's bold today," Avalon bit her lower lip and finally stepped away from him. "But I really do want to see what's in the French Riviera so I'm going to press pause on this."

"Pause?" The Doctor caught on, another smile coming to his face. He liked that idea very much.

"Let's go," Avalon linked her arms with his. If they stayed where they were, she would lose the little control she was clinging to.

~ 0 ~

It was a pretty warm night in the French Riviera, perfect for the dress Avalon chose. She still couldn't believe the reactions it got from the Doctor then Amy and Rory a short moment afterwards. Sometimes, things were just too easy. Now the group walked along a path leading up a hillside, none of them knowing where they were going except for the Doctor. He kept telling them to trust him, that he had the perfect spot for them and that they really needed to issue some patience. They almost laughed in his face when he started going on about patience.

"You all need to be kinder," the Doctor muttered to them as they came up to a beautiful two story building on the hillside above the sea. Lights were flashing as people kept arriving. One could easily tell there was a party going on.

"I don't know where we are but I know that I'm going to love it," Avalon's smirk promised fun times.

"It's the Villa Saint-Louis," the Doctor told her, and Amy and Rory, but he seemed to hold onto her arm that curled around his in a tighter manner. "And before I start with anything else, Avalon, it's imperious that you listen to this. You're cannot drink tonight."

Her smirk fell to the ground in that one moment. She uncurled her arm despite his grip on it and turned to him. "What the hell do you mean? I've not touched a single drop of alcohol in, what, half a year?"

"Yes but we can't risk you intoxicating yourself right now, especially in a place where emergency medical attention can't be delivered as quickly as we're used to. And I need certain tools!"

Avalon folded her arms, huffing like a child. "You don't just bring me to the 1920s, in the French Riviera, and then tell me not to drink outside the door of a party!" She gestured towards the building.

"Avalon, you're overreacting," Rory said. "The Doctor's right. You've been making very good progress and you're not going to ruin it because you want one glass of vodka."

Avalon groaned. "I thought we were done with this!"

"Done with what?" Amy curiously asked.

"This!" Avalon's wild gestures now went to them. "You've been looking after me nonstop for months now! I thought it was finally going away because we started travelling again but...no, you all still see me as the fragile doll you rescued from Berlin. Well, it's not Berlin and I am okay! So just stop with all these rules! You know I hate them!"

"Ava, the last thing I want is to upset you, I just want to be cautious." As the Doctor said those words, Avalon groaned all over again.

"You are so lucky we are in public or I would kill you on the spot!"

"Avalon, quit being a baby and just stay away from alcohol!" Amy hissed at her granddaughter. "It's either this or we go home. You should be thankful that the Doctor thought of this place for you."

Avalon had her arms folded in her angry stance but her eyes flickered to the Doctor every few seconds. He was encouragingly smiling at her in his usual goofy manner that despite her irritation with him, her heart warmed. "Fine," she huffed. "I really hate you and your stupid rules."

"And I…" the Doctor trailed off, knowing he wouldn't be able to finish that sentence with the words he wanted to, so he settled for the next truth, "I think you are positively beautiful tonight." He got her to smile at him and that was a huge win. "C'mon, there someone inside I think you're going to want to see." He unfolded her arms and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. "Shall we?"

Avalon sighed. "Yes. Sorry," she said very quietly.

"I know," the Doctor chuckled. He led the group up the front steps, warning them all to be cautious because "There's important people here" and the last thing they needed was for history to be changed. It just made the group wonder where exactly he had brought them to.

Inside was a lovely living room, spacious too, full of fancy-dressed guests. They could feel the warm air breeze in through the open terrace at the end of the room. Avalon immediately eyed the lovely piano sitting in the corner of the room, near the terrace. No one could recognize anyone they were supposed to be excited over meeting, at least not until the Doctor started pointing out some specific people.

"You're telling me that's the Pablo Picasso," Rory had to rub his eyes when the Doctor pointed them to a man standing to their left with a beautiful woman at his side, a ballerina named Olga Khokhlova.

"His wife," the Doctor said then added, "Well, his first one anyways. Wonderful ballerina dancer."

"Are they all painters?" Amy asked, now really taking a scan of the room in hopes of recognizing one of the big names from history.

"Nah, we've got Jean Cocteau over there," the Doctor nodded to the man across from them mingling with other guests. "He's an artist but he's also a poet and novelist. Go on then!" He motioned Amy and Rory to go talk to people.

"What are we supposed to say to them?" Rory stayed right where he was.

"I don't know, invent something," the Doctor still tossed him his psychic paper in case they stuttered too much. "You can be anyone you want with or without the psychic paper. Just please don't leave the Villa. I really don't feel like going searching for you."

"What are you going to do?" Amy arched an eyebrow at him. "Not going to sneak off, are you?"

"No, Avalon's got someone to see here," the Doctor squeezed Avalon's hand in his.

Hearing that again made Avalon look at him. "You keep saying that but I don't recognize anyone here."

"You'll see," he smirked far too mischievously for her liking. He sent her grandparents off to explore then took Avalon in the opposite direction.

"Doctor, what are you up to?" She asked him while continuing to study the guests. She had already crossed gazes with a few of them, mostly the men, and she assumed it was more of her dress they were looking at instead of her.

"Something to help cheer you up," he stopped walking suddenly to turn to her. "I know you're still a little sad about the Sapling…" True to his words, Avalon's gaze lowered. "I just want to help you out. I hate when you don't smile."

Avalon smiled without even intending to. "I would've been fine with a movie night in the TARDIS."

"I know, but I think seeing an old friend might help you out a little bit more, especially now that you're starting to write again."

"Alright Fairy Tale Man, tell me what you're doing," Avalon laughed lightly. Instead of answering her straightaway, the Doctor turned her around so she could see more guests. "What am I supposed to be lookin…" She trailed off when she spotted a familiar blonde amongst the guests. It was cut in a short bob but Avalon picked her out straightaway. "No way," she breathed in.

"Go on Ava, say hello," the Doctor nudged her only a bit because from there, Avalon knew exactly what she needed to do.

She maneuvered through the guests until she came up to the blonde-bobbed woman and tapped her shoulder. "Hello?"

The woman turned around to see the giddy Avalon standing in front of her. Her eyes widened. "Oh my...Avalon?"

"Hi!" Avalon waved a hand, unable to help her short bursts of laughter. She was more than delighted to get to see her old friend Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald again after the whole fiasco in Montgomery

"How...when...how are you here?" Zelda had her own moments of laughter to match Avalon's.

"Are you upset that I'm here?"

"God no! Come here!" Zelda took Avalon into a hug that Avalon immediately responded to. The Doctor was right, it was really good to see Zelda again. "Oh, it's been so long!"

"Exactly how long has it been since you last saw me?" Avalon curiously wondered. The Fitzgeralds had lived in the French Riviera for a long time and then kept coming back every so often, making it harder to pinpoint which year it was.

"Why, 4 years," Zelda pulled away and happened to look at Avalon's dress. "That is a gorgeous dress! Very daring. I love it!"

"You're looking fantastic yourself!" Avalon said, pointing then to Zelda's hair. "And you cut your hair!" It was so funny that the first time she met Zelda, she was older but now Zelda was older.

"You haven't aged a bit!" Zelda took Avalon's hands and spread her arms to the sides. "Well…" She stopped for a moment to meet Avalon's gaze, "There's something different in your eyes."

Avalon swallowed hard. Of course Zelda would notice the eyes. She was brilliant like that. "Oh, you know, just things that happen in life."

"Mm," Zelda seemed to take that to heart, like she was living it herself and if Avalon was right about her history, Zelda was. The French Riviera for the Fitzgeralds was such a turbulent era for them as people and a couple.

"Avalon," the Doctor came up behind Avalon with a rather smug smile.

She flipped her head back at him and rolled her eyes. "You utter sneak!" He specifically wanted her to meet Zelda again and she couldn't be happier for it.

"Told you," he said, dropping a kiss to her temple. "Lovely to meet you again Mrs. Fitzgerald," he held a hand out for Zelda.

"Zelda, please," the woman said, almost sounding like a plea instead of a request. She looked at the pair with a knowing smile. "How have you two been? Last time I saw you, things seemed a little rocky."

"Things got rockier...and then they got pretty good," Avalon shrugged, preferring to skip over the details of that 'rockier' period. "Really good."

"I can see," Zelda hummed with a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Why don't you and Zelda catch up while I go see where our friends have gotten into?" The Doctor was already searching for Amy and Rory despite having seen them only five minutes ago. He could never be too careful with them.

"Mhm," Avalon practically waved him off. He rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek before taking off.

"I so knew that would end up in marriage," Zelda set her hands on her hips, shooting Avalon a smug look. "Didn't I tell you? I told you!"

Avalon rolled her eyes. One of the last things Zelda told her the first time they met was that she saw something between her and the Doctor. At that time, Avalon would try her best to dissuade any ideas like those. "Yeah, but we're not really marr-"

"I do like being right," Zelda sighed dramatically. "And he did look like he cared for you, I hope you're very happy."

Avalon pursed her lips together and glanced to find the Doctor pulling Amy away from a woman. Whether she wanted to or not, her lips formed a smile. "Yeah, we are." So she let one person believe the whole marriage thing, that wouldn't be bad. She'd just tell the Doctor that she couldn't convince Zelda otherwise.

Soon, Avalon and Zelda found a spot in the living room for them, ironically struggling in the beginning even though it was Zelda's own home.

"I quite liked Paris a bit more but this is also nice," Zelda said when Avalon remarked about the lovely villa she was now residing in. "Scott says he's going to finish his novel but...we'll see." There was wavering hope in her husband's work, one that Avalon wouldn't even try to change. She read all about these troublesome years and how Scott Fitzgerald made himself and his wife miserable by drinking instead of finishing his novels. "But I'd rather not talk about my husband right now. What has Avalon Reynolds been up to in these past years?"

"Umm…" Avalon would've preferred to skip over that as well but doing that would be saying that everything after visiting Montgomery had been bad and that just wasn't true. "I have been traveling with the Doctor and Amy, you remember her right?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, same ginger hair as yours. Sure you're not related?" She'd also made the mistake of presuming that the last time.

Avalon laughed. "No way. But she did get married to my best friend. I'll introduce you to him. Rory's a sweetheart. Um, I...I sort of…" She debated whether or not to talk about the Sapling, but if she did she would have to figure out how to explain it in a way that wouldn't freak Zelda out.

"You alright, sweetheart?" Zelda asked when she noticed the grimness setting on Avalon's face. She sighed and nodded, but it was a weak smile. "Oh, it seems like I haven't been the only one in her own rocky ship. Is it trouble with your husband?"

"No, no," Avalon said but stopped, making a face, "I mean, the only problem we have right now is he's being so overprotective. Can't drink a drop of alcohol, mind you."

"Oh don't tell me you're pregnant too!"

"What!?" Avalon's face went red fast, her arms wrapping around her stomach. "N-n-n-n-n-no! Not at all! No!"

Zelda laughed, or howled, at the sight of such a stuttering Avalon. "Sugar, you are making it far too easy here!"

"I am not pregnant," Avalon shuddered at the idea. "I just...I sort of had an adopted child for a while and...well, he's left. Making his own way now."

"Oh, that's a wonderful thing you did," Zelda smiled in admiration. "I've heard people do that but none of the people I've met even think about adoption. Sad really."

"He was a very good boy," Avalon sighed. "And I just really miss him. I know I wasn't the best of Mothers - I don't know how to be a Mother - but I did come to love him. Now that he's gone I'm a little bit lost." Among other things. It wasn't just the Sapling's departure that left her feeling lost. Too many things had happened in a short amount of time and it was all sort of spinning in her head.

"Is that the only thing?" Zelda was clever to ask.

Avalon dropped her arms to her side, thinking by now the pregnancy thing was over. She spared a small smile at Zelda. "You really do see everything."

"I don't know about everything but I certainly know when someone's struggling. You, my friend, are struggling. What else is bothering you?"

"I...well, if we're being honest, I got into deep trouble and...and that sort of left me sick, near death…" Avalon purposely paused to see how Zelda would take the news because if it was bad then she would stop right there and change topics. However, Zelda only seemed to wait for her to continue, giving no indication that she was freaking out even on the inside. "I lost something that usually helps me stay very healthy. I was very weak for a long time. The Doctor had to take care of me, a lot...and my best friend Rory, he's a nurse. He's had me on all these restrictive diets. Beyond the biological parts, it just leaves a mark in you, you know? Makes you feel lost."

"I am so sorry that happened to you," Zelda reached over for one of Avalon's hand, giving it a friendly squeeze. "If you need anything from me, please let me know."

"I just really need my friend Zelda," Avalon didn't hesitate to say. The two shared a chuckle together.

"Well your friend Zelda could be a little bit of a better friend. I didn't even know you were coming. Though I'd never see you again."

"Part of the Doctor helping me out is taking me to these nice places, get myself back out there little by little. That included you. He, uh, he sort of found out you live here now."

"Like a detective he is," Zelda said. "I am so happy he found us, though. Truth be told, I'm a little lonely here. We've only just come up to live here so I'm still figuring myself out here."

"You'll find something to do, I'm sure," Avalon happened to see Picasso crossing the living room and remembered the painting interest Zelda would pick up soon. "Have you spoken to Pablo Picasso yet?"

"I have, actually," Zelda said with a nod of her head. "He has a dazzling mind when it comes to art. I've been eyeing the terrace as a new painting room for me."

"You should do it," Avalon said immediately, making the woman smile. "I think you would be wonderful at it."

Zelda appreciated the support. It was one of the things she always remembered from Avalon. Avalon's incredible support for her work that she hadn't even thought of doing properly. It still warmed her heart to know that Avalon trusted her enough to place her faith in stories that she hadn't even seen. A short moment later, Zelda had gotten herself a glass of wine. She had just handed Avalon a glass of ginger-ale when the Doctor, Amy and Rory found them in their little corner.

"Avalon, you can't drink!" Rory exclaimed, frantically taking the glass from Avalon.

"Rory, the fact you don't know that's ginger-ale embarrasses me," Avalon flatly said. "Me, a professional drinker, hasn't taught you what proper wine looks like?" She gestured to the glass in Zelda's hand. The blonde giggled as she raised her glass.

"Oh," Rory slowly handed the glass back to Avalon. "Sorry."

"Well, that's my best friend Rory," Avalon introduced him to Zelda, figuring she'd seen enough to know what he was like in general. "And you remember my friend Amy."

"Nice to see you again," Amy waved a hand. "I love this place by the way. Thinking of moving here." She flashed a smile at Rory, making the man groan.

"No, no we're not."

Amy still smirked like it was actually happening.

"I am truly thankful that you brought Avalon back to see me, Doctor," Zelda saluted her glass to him. "I could use a good friend for a while."

"Don't get used to her though, I have to take her back home soon," he warned as he came to sit on the armrest of Avalon's seat. "She's on a bit of schedule, you know."

"Oh, I know," Zelda laughed as she watched Avalon's face fall flat again. She really did not like that routine. "Keep doing it, though. Somebody's got to take care of her or who knows what trouble she might get into."

Avalon snorted. "You're one to talk!"

"I am, aren't I?" Zelda smirked before laughing with her.

"You're terrible!"

"Zelda, dear," a slightly older blonde man walked up to the group, holding his own glass but Avalon knew that wasn't wine. It was whiskey. "Who are your friends?"

"Old friends, actually," Zelda rose from her seat to introduce them. "Scott, this is Avalon Reynolds. I met her a bit before I met you back in Montgomery. Avalon, this is my husband, Scott Fitzgerald."

Avalon got up with a polite smile. She had mixed feelings about this man and she had to do her best to keep them hidden. "Hello."

"A Brit in Montgomery?" Scott eyed her curiously. "That's definitely unheard of."

"I was being punished," Avalon threw a look at the Doctor, letting him know that she still remembered that very clearly.

"Taj Mahal," he whispered in her ear so that she knew he remembered why he had 'punished' her in the first place.

She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The Taj Mahal was still standing so there was no reason why he should be upset about it. "These are my friends, I sort of brought them along for the ride. Amy and Rory and that's the Doctor."

Scott greeted each of them, subtly commenting on their surprise appearance. Zelda blatantly rolled her eyes beside him. "Avalon wanted to surprise me," she said, quieting his questions about Rory's profession. He had already assumed the Doctor was exactly what he was called. "She stopped by the Villa, isn't that wonderful?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"And she's a talented woman too. Don't think I forgot you write too," she winked at Avalon.

"She also sings," the Doctor added, loving the reddened tinge on Avalon's face. He dropped a kiss to her hair and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Really?" Zelda's eyes widened. "You sing?"

"N-not really…" Avalon tried to say before Amy cut in.

"Yeah she does! And she's pretty damn good at it!"

"Maybe you could sing a little bit here," Zelda suddenly said, glancing at Scott. "Wouldn't that be nice for the guests? You got a singer for entertainment."

"That would be really good," he agreed slowly. As a newcomer to the French Riviera, it was important to place himself as a top tier writer. "Very good, actually. I'll get thing settled for you."

"No, wait!" Avalon's call made no difference as the man was already gone. Suddenly, she whacked the Doctor, Amy and Zelda. Rory, for good measure, stepped away before he became the next victim.

"Ow!" The three culprits rubbed their injured spots.

"How are you so strong?" Zelda shot a look at Avalon.

"I don't know how to sing in front of people!" She hissed at all of them.

"Sure you do," the Doctor said, though as soon as he did she threw a glare at him. "You have a beautiful voice."

"First you don't let me drink and now you want me to sing in front of people I don't know? In front of important people?"

"You don't have to," Rory said as a means of comfort but she snorted.

"Get real, I have to now that these idiots brought it up."

"I resent that," Zelda pointed at Avalon. "And I haven't heard your voice but I do trust what the Doctor says. Just sing a little bit, please? This party is as boring as it can get. You are bound to turn things around."

"I just don't think I'm that good," Avalon sighed.

"Ava," the Doctor tugged her away from the group for a moment. "You sang with Mary Costa and for your favorite movie. What's so different about it now?"

"That it's in front of people who don't sing," Avalon looked around the room nervously. "You said it yourself. There's writers, artists, dancers...musicians. There's other musicians here. What if I don't sound as good as them?"

"You'll sound much better than them," the Doctor said with the utmost certainty. "Because you are Ava Williams! Remember that?"

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course I do." How could she forget the alias she gave herself when she couldn't remember Rory at all.

"So go out there and share that beautiful voice of yours. Just do me a favor and remember me when everyone starts to talk to you, alright?" The Doctor cupped her face as she laughed. "I mean it. You're stunning in that dress. Eyes wander and lips are tempting."

"And yet the only temptation I have right now is to snog you up against that terrace over there," Avalon flashed a smirk at him.

The Doctor spared a glance at the terrace and immediately thought up that scenario. It ended very nicely and a few loose beads on the ground. Soon, there was a bright blush on his face. "You are absolutely paying for that," he warned now that he couldn't get the image out of his head.

Avalon snickered at him. "Okay, now I can sing." She gave him a kiss on the lips, purposely kissing him a second time just on his lower lip for extra flair.

"Oh, I hate you," the Doctor huffed as he watched her leave.

"No you don't!"

No, he really didn't.

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, one of Zelda's talents included playing the piano. It was a wonder for Avalon because it was actually something she didn't know about the woman. At least she would feel a little less lonely now that Zelda would be playing the tune.

"Evening," Avalon cleared her throat once Scott got the guests' attention. He had introduced her as an 'aspiring singer', something that Avalon wouldn't really fight him on. She didn't know what she wanted to do but singing wasn't something she was against. Now here she was, standing in the middle of the living room, all eyes on her...the eyes of very important people to history.

Avalon controlled her breathing and waited for Zelda to begin playing. She did want to make a good impression on everyone, she was just so nervous. She met her friends' gazes, all of them wearing encouraging faces. Rory was even secretly holding his phone out, no doubt to record the event. Lena would have a hoot! The Doctor was smiling at her so softly, it made Avalon's heart skip even quicker than when she was just nervous. She couldn't read his mind like he could read others but she could see, she could literally see that he really did care for her.

And all you do is snap about him trying to protect you. She felt guilty remembering the bits of disagreements they had earlier. She would have to make that up to him. When she heard the soft tune, she gathered up all her courage and opened her mouth. She would make a damn good show, at least for her Fairy Tale Man.

'Why do I do, just as you say,

Why must I just, give you your way,

Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget,

It must have been,

That something lovers call fate,

Kept me saying, "I have to wait",

I saw them all,

Just couldn't fall 'til we met',

She sure captivated everyone's attention...and she liked it. No one was moving, not even a step to the side. They were all watching her...

'It had to be you, it had to be you.

I wandered around and finally found the somebody who

Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,

And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.'

Some others I've seen,

Might never be mean

Might never be cross,

Or try to be boss

But they wouldn't do

For nobody else, gave me a thrill

With all your faults, I

Love you still

It had to be you, wonderful you

It had to be you

Avalon finished with her eyes locked on the Doctor. Somewhere along the way she'd forgotten there were other people. She only thought of him and how she thoroughly needed to apologize...and maybe spend some time with him.

As it turned out, everyone loved the new aspiring singer. They all clapped for her, making her go as pink as her dress. Avalon found herself the center of attention, only being pulled around by Zelda who loved watching the young woman react to it all. Eventually, Avalon warmed up to the night and played along with Zelda. In no time, they were laughing away with the other guests.

"She does look happier," Amy remarked to the Doctor and Rory. They were watching Avalon like hawks in case any alcohol made it into her hands or - because both Amy and the Doctor remembered how Avalon got when she and Zelda were together - things went too far.

"I live for these moments," the Doctor admitted quietly. He was watching Avalon with the fondest of smiles. She should always be smiling and laughing, having fun. He was guilty for taking that away from her. "Kovarian has taken too much from you Ponds. I refuse to let her suck Avalon's life away too."

"You don't have to keep proving that to us," Rory said, getting the feeling it was a huge factor for what the Doctor decided to do for Avalon. "River is...fine, she's good where she is. Because she has us and Avalon."

"Yeah, but things would be so different if Avalon could've had River with her too. So I'm doing my best to give her bits and pieces of what I can to keep her happy."

"And you're doing just fine," Amy said, motioning to Avalon who had entered into a laughing fit with Zelda again. "Those two have so much power together. It scares me." She made the Doctor and Rory laugh but she was actually very serious.

~ 0 ~

As the night turned old, many guests started to disappear. Amongst the disappeared was Scott Fitzgerald himself, making the group wonder at what point did the author slip out of his own party.

"Oh, he does that," Zelda shrugged carelessly. "I go days without seeing him sometimes." She was picking up a few glasses left by the kitchen. The Villa was mostly clean thanks to the combined efforts of the travelers' and Zelda herself. It made Avalon wonder exactly who did the cleaning when it was just Zelda.

"Where does he go?" Amy curiously asked.

Zelda shrugged again, planting her hands on the kitchen table. "I have no clue. But it's got to be somewhere with a decent stock of whiskey and whatever alcohol they can find."

"And you stay here by yourself?" Rory looked out to the open terrace. The sea was calming but he didn't quite like it at night.

Zelda smiled at him. "I do just fine, thank you."

"Still," Avalon said, making her own face.

"I do have my daughter but we're still fixing things so she won't be here until next week. But what about you four, do you have a place to stay?"

"Uh, well...we were just gonna head back…" the Doctor began to say, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "...to, er, our hotel…"

"Nonsense, you should stay here," Zelda moved out of the kitchen, stopping beside Avalon with an absolute grin on her face. "It would be so wonderful! I have spare rooms and, well...maybe I am a little lonely."

"I don't know…" Avalon wouldn't outright say it was a fantastic idea. She didn't know if the Doctor planned on letting them stay overnight. For all she knew, he might want her back in the TARDIS to run new tests on her.

Luckily for her, the Doctor knew her very well. One look at her and he knew exactly what she wanted. "I suppose one night wouldn't hurt."

Avalon's face lit up. "Yeah!" It was fairly similar the way Zelda's face lit up, like they were one of a kind together. "Oh, that'd be so much fun!"

"Well that's just perfect!" Zelda clapped her hands together. "Let me show you your rooms in case you want to turn in early."

"I sure won't," Avalon laughed behind her. "We've got loads to talk about!"

"But no leaving the villa," the Doctor warned her. "I don't want you overexerting yourself."

Avalon came by to his side while Zelda went to show Amy and Rory their room. 'Thanks for this, Fairy Tale Man. I really appreciate it. I know I'm not always very kind...I have a very big mouth."

"I think you have a wonderful mouth," the Doctor said, bringing his fingers to her chin. He tilted her head up. "I certainly lo…" He really needed to control his words before they slipped out. Avalon was waiting for him to finish that sentence so he scrambled to fix it. "I think you have an adorable mouth."

She laughed. "Well thank you. And I want you to know that I'm sorry for snapping so much before. I know you're only watching out for my health."

"And I know that you're not used to it. Plus, it has been a long time since...Berlin. It's hard but I really only want to make sure you're as healthy as you can be now that...that you lost your immunity abilities."

Avalon leaned up to kiss him. "Something I will never regret, alright? In case that's still lurking in your head. Never have I regretted it. If roles were reversed, I know you would've done the same for me, so...let's move on from that."

The Doctor could only nod. He was fairly sure that he would never forgive himself for making her give up such a huge part of her, a part that was responsible for keeping her safe and healthy. It was why he would always be extra protective of her. He stole something, it was only fair that he kept her safe in return.

~ 0 ~

"I love this view," Avalon said as soon as she and Zelda had made themselves comfortable on the terrace. Even though it was far later in the night, the air was still warm enough so that they didn't even have to get blankets or change altogether. The sea was calm with only a few gentle waves crashing every now and then. It truly was the perfect place to live in…

"It's nice for a while," Zelda said, shrugging lightly. She was nursing another glass of wine.

Avalon glanced at her sadly. "You don't like being here, do you?"

"I do," Zelda clarified first. She leaned forwards on her chair, eyes cast out into the dark sky. "But truth be told...I'm a little bored up here. Scott's either out with friends or trying to work on his new novel. My daughter is usually with her Nanny. I, uh...I spend a lot of time on my own or...at the beach."

"Ah, right," Avalon followed her gaze to the ocean. She suspected she knew what things Zelda had gotten up to as of late. She read about that as well.

"Can I tell you something?" There was a hint of fear in Zelda's tone that Avalon picked up on. She was still staring at the ocean, now on purpose to avoid Avalon. "I know we've met just once but I really did consider you a friend. No other friend has ever showed that much support like you did."

"Of course you can tell me something," Avalon offered Zelda a kind smile. "You can tell me anything. You and I...we really are very similar."

"Not that similar, sugar. You love your husband, I'm not sure I still love mine."

There were oh so many wrong things in that sentence that Avalon had trouble deciding which one to go with first. "I don't really...um, you think I lo...love the Doctor?" She swallowed hard as she felt the flames over her cheeks. Zelda Fitzgerald had to be a psychic, that was the only explanation for how she knew these things that Avalon wouldn't say out loud.

Zelda tore her gaze away from the ocean to smile just as kindly as Avalon had. "I can see it in your eyes. They're a bit sad and troubled but I can see it. I saw a glimpse of it the last time I saw you in Montgomery. Does he treat you nice?"

Avalon gave a nod of her head. She would let those comments slip by before anyone heard them. She wasn't brave enough to come clean to the Doctor just yet. "He does. He, um, probably over-does it sometimes."

"Well, as a wife, it's supposed to be that way. You're supposed to let yourself be pampered and petted in return for your loyalty."

Avalon laughed at that. "As in never argue with him even when he's wrong? Please. He's wrong half the time and I, as Avalon Reynolds, have to tell him he's wrong."

Zelda's smile only saddened. "Does he get mad if you do?"

"More like annoyed but it's fun. We go back and forth until one of us wins. But it's never toxic, you know? It's all good-natured because...because we're the same type of people." Avalon looked at Zelda again and saw how her words affected the poor woman. She was having doubts.

"We started out so nicely," Zelda began after a moment. "It was all so nice and easy in Montgomery. Scott was full of dreams and I...I liked the sound of his perfect world. I still do but...I feel like I'm sort of floating now. Scott and I get into so many arguments. He doesn't listen to me. When we argue, it's not good-natured. Makes me wonder what happened. You should've seen us in New York, Avalon. We took that city by the horns. It was ours."

Avalon wanted to point out that that period seemed more like an extended honeymoon but that would be senseless, not to mention there was no point. Zelda was troubled enough. "What's happened?" She settled for that instead. She knew that there were very few people in Zelda's life who would listen to her without judgement. She would be honored if Zelda considered her to share with.

"There's a man I met. Edoard. He's a year younger and...he's...he promises me stability. He doesn't go around wanting to know what other people have in their lives, not like Scott. And he's kind. He...he kisses me. Scott hasn't done that anymore. Barely gives me a hand to hold."

The affair. Avalon remembered that bit in the biographies. "May I ask if you are in love with this man?"

Zelda's shoulders shrugged with an expression that screamed indecisiveness. "I'm lonely. And he offers passion."

"Can I give my two cents?"

"Please."

"Passion isn't love, it's just...passion. I've never had that. I mean, I've dated but it was more casual. Now with the Doctor, it's fun but I know that it's serious. It's not just fun kisses and fooling around. I know, I'm sure, that he cares for me. Is that what Eduard offers you?"

Zelda once again shrugged. "I don't think so. It's just nice being with him, you know?"

And yet the truth Avalon knew, and she suspected that Zelda was beginning to know, was that she would always love Scott. However much they argued, whatever they threw at each other, they loved each other. If only they were a little kinder to each other.

Zelda shook her head and drowned the rest of her wine. "I'm sorry. I'm just pouring out all my feelings here. That's not what you came to the French Riviera for."

"I came to see you," Avalon smiled. "You're my friend."

Zelda met her smile with her own. "You're my friend too. You're an odd friend…"

Avalon laughed. "Oh, thanks!"

Zelda's lips stretched into an even wider smile. "No, no, you know what I mean. You're...there was always something strange about you. I remember you back in Montgomery. You seemed so lost, like you were mourning. That's what I saw in your eyes last time. That and so much conflict. Now I see it's not just that but...a long story. There's a long story in your eyes."

Avalon tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm not your local normal girl."

"You're not," Zelda agreed with a hum. "I think the story of Avalon Reynolds is a long, interesting one that I would love a peek of."

"Oh, it's pretty impossible. Call me the impossible girl," Avalon chuckled.

"I, uh...I have actually…" Zelda suddenly looked nervous all over again but Avalon was pretty sure it no longer dealt with her husband. "Give me a second." She got up from her chair and went back into the house, returning a few minutes later with a leather green book in hand. A journal.

Avalon barely held herself together at the sight of the journal. "Are you...are you writing again? Have you published Our Own Movie Queen?" It was only after she asked the last question that she realized it was a huge No-No.

Fortunately for her, Zelda nodded her head. She just assumed that Avalon had gotten word of her latest short story. "A few weeks back. Have you read it?"

"Aha! I love it!" Avalon grinned. "I loved the ending. Gracie sort of got some revenge and I am always impartial to women who have been wronged by men. Personally one of your best."

Zelda chuckled. "Well I thank you."

"And just so you know...I know that it was your story, not a collaborative effort between you and Scott."

Zelda smiled despite her obvious confusion. "How would you know-"

"Your words are not like Scott's," Avalon gently cut her off. "I would know your words anywhere."

"How?" Zelda asked. It wasn't that she didn't believe it but it still didn't answer how Avalon would know that if she never saw her work. Is the same question she asked herself back when they met in Montgomery. Avalon seemed to know a lot more about her than anyone else at that moment. There were things that she had never told anyone and yet Avalon knew them so perfectly. Truth be told, Avalon made no sense and yet she still inspired trust, which was why Zelda brought her journal out. No one, not even Scott, had seen the insides of it.

Avalon's shoulders shrugged before she could come up with a reasonable answer. "I just...I know. I really do and I know it doesn't make sense but just trust me, okay? I love your work even though you haven't published it. I know you're writing but you hate that whatever you present has to have your husband's name next to yours or that it just has to be his and only his name. I know it, and I'm so sorry."

There was no way she could know all that. Zelda had dozens of more questions but she decided to save that for tomorrow. Right now, she wanted to do something else. "I'm in the middle of writing something new. Care to lend me some of your critiques?"

Avalon's eyes dazzled when Zelda opened up her journal. That journal would be lost to history, thanks to the fire that would one day consume it, and now Zelda was actually showing it to her. "Oh my God…" She whispered when Zelda deposited the journal on her lap to scoot her chair closer to hers.

"Well go on, look through it," Zelda laughed after watching Avalon stare at the green cover of the journal for a few minutes.

"You want me to open it?" Avalon was flabbergasted, only making Zelda laugh even more.

"Yes!" And because Zelda was so impatient, she had to open the journal herself. She took Avalon through the pages she specifically wanted her to see.

Avalon had never felt so frozen in her life. Her eyes, though, were taking everything in. Every last detail Avalon took in with a rush. She recognized some drafts that would later become a published short stories throughout history and there were others that would never make it. Those were the ones that would be lost either because of Zelda's self doubt or because of the fire that would end her life.

"What do you think, then?" Zelda asked with her tongue between her teeth, absolutely nervous to hear Avalon's opinions.

"These are fantastic," Avalon laughed. "I-I would love to see these be published one day."

"Really? All of them?"

"Yes! I like this one," Avalon flipped through the pages to go back to a certain draft that would fortunately make it to the public in a few years. The Original Follies Girl is what Zelda would eventually settle on for the title. "I know the ending isn't all that nice but the first part makes you want to be that girl. Somebody who everyone wants to be friends with, a somebody who's admired by people."

Zelda's lips thinned into a smile. "I think that will be you someday, Avalon. Course I think it'll be because of your work, not because of your looks, though that might also be a factor."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "Right."

"I mean it. I know that your work is going to be amazing whenever you decide to publish it. And just like you once told me, I in you you. I believe that anything you write is going to be a hit."

Avalon looked at the journal in front of her, truly touched that she was able to see such a magnificent journal. "You really think so?"

"I know so, honey!"

There was a brief moment of indecision for Avalon but holding Zelda's journal made it fade into the deepest part of her mind. "Hold on." Like Zelda had done before, Avalon left the terrace to grab her purse from the couch. She returned holding her journal against her chest. "I, um, I've never really shown this to anyone before. There's so much stuff in here." It's an endless journal, after all. The Doctor made it so. "You'll think it's crazy."

Zelda laughed with a shake of her head. "If you think it's crazy, then it means you've created fantasy. Can I have a peek?"

Avalon bit her lip as she sat down again. Before the voices started layering the self-doubt in her head, Avalon held her journal out to Zelda. "You're the first person to see it," she said as she intently watched Zelda flip through the pages. If there was anything outstanding in it, Avalon was sure she could play it off as a fantasy story, just like Zelda said. But there were true drafts she'd began that would mean a lot if Zelda took a read.

Short minutes felt like hours as Avalon waited for Zelda's verdict. Eventually, Zelda looked up with a wide grin. "You have an incredible mind. Such impossible things you write about. Metal men? Wedding crashers? A child made out of a tree!? Avalon...your mind is a cavern of stories!"

"You don't think it's weird?" Avalon studied the woman for any indication that she did think it weird and was just lying.

Zelda shook her head. "Of course not! No one else has thought of these things! And creatures that make you forget them when you look away from them? You wrote some deep things for that. The trauma, near depression...God help that poor character of yours." Zelda realized Avalon was crying before Avalon herself. She curiously watched the girl, trying to work something out before Avalon would notice it.

"All just stories," Avalon said once she checked back into reality. She rubbed her eyes and yawned for good measure, hoping she could pass her little moment off as a sign of sleep.

"Ava," the Doctor cautiously poked his head into the terrace, smiling when he found the two women. "I don't mean to interrupt but I really think you should get some rest."

"And yet you just interrupted," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. She wasn't quite sleepy but it was futile to argue with him. Minimum he wanted her to at least try to sleep.

"Oh let him be," Zelda looked back at the Doctor with a smile. "Taking care of her must be a hassle, huh?"

"You wouldn't believe it," the Doctor relished in Zelda's support. He leaned against the doorframe, dramatically sighing. "All I want is for my Ava to take it easy and it's like she hears 'you're never going out again'."

Avalon glared at him. "Funny, all I'm hearing right now is 'you're going to die'."

"Avalon," Zelda chuckled and handed her journal back. The Doctor was quite surprised to see that in Zelda's hands. "If you were sick and your husband wants to take care of you, let him. Sometimes it's nice to be pampered."

Avalon awkwardly coughed and avoided the Doctor's shocked face at all costs. Yeah, that one came back to bite her for not saying the truth. She got up from her chair, her journal to her chest. "I think maybe it is time to sleep."

"Well, I showed the Doctor your bedroom earlier. I even left some clothes you might want for sleep. That dress, while stunning, is not very comfortable for sleeping." Zelda watched Avalon carefully make her way around the chairs. She was immediately enveloped in the Doctor's arms. He tenderly kissed the side of her head and murmured something in her ear. It had to be something either sweet or annoying because Avalon rolled her eyes at him.

Eventually, Avalon shooed him into the house and awkwardly smiled. "He's...I apologize for his dramatics."

Zelda laughed and rose from her chair. "I think he's funny. Definitely a sweet fella who wants to take care of you."

"I was sick a while back, but I'm really better now," Avalon assured her before she started taking a leaf out of the Doctor's book.

"Still, one more night can't hurt you. If he wants to, oh I don't know, tuck you into bed, let him." She folded her arms and smirked. "Could be ground zero for some yummy times."

Avalon's face went stark red while Zelda snickered. "I think...I am going to sleep," Avalon declared.

"Mhm."

"I really hate you," Avalon shook her head.

"Oh don't be shy, sugar! It's alright!"

Avalon shook her head again and her hand. She did not want to hear anymore of this. "Goodnight Zelda. I'll see you in the morning." She hurried back inside the house and was so relieved to see the Doctor waiting for her by the hallway, nowhere near the terrace. That meant she only had to explain for the husband part and not...not the second part.

"I am so sorry," she started when she pulled him into the hallway.

"For what?" he cluelessly asked her.

"Zelda just assumed that we were married and I was going to correct her, I swear I was, but she just kept talking and talking so...I sort of let it be."

The Doctor stopped walking and forced her to do the same. "Why would I be mad at that? It's not the first time someone presumes I'm married. I don't know what it is, it just always happens."

Avalon keenly studied him. "You're...you're serious? You're not upset?"

"No! So someone thinks you're my...my wife." A smile started spreading across his face. Something about that made him feel all warm inside. "That is not the end of the world."

Avalon blushed under his gaze. "Really?" She whispered. From her end, she couldn't see any problem with someone thinking she was his wife either...she just wasn't brave enough to admit it.

"Have you seen yourself, Ava? Anyone would be lucky enough to be your husband." The Doctor took her by the waist and lowered his head down for a short kiss. "I think a handful of the men at the party wished that after you sang so beautifully."

Avalon waved that off. "How unlucky for them that I was only singing to you." She went on her tippy-toes to kiss him again.

"C'mon, you really should try to rest."

Avalon dramatically groaned as he led her to their designated bedroom. "But I'm really not tired."

"You always say that and yet there's a handful of times where you end up falling asleep," the Doctor stopped by a door and grabbed the knob. "After a day like today, I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of those times."

"But I don't feel tired," Avalon insisted and slipped in-between him and the door. "I would much rather do something else." Her fingers danced along his chest as she suggestively smiled up at him.

"Don't be confused, I do love all the kissy moments but I can't let my Ava go without sleep," the Doctor tapped her nose but before he could draw his hand away, she grabbed it and settled it on her hip again. "Avalon…"

"How about this, I'm going to kiss you and if you don't kiss back then I will try to sleep," she promised with her typical sly smile. She knew exactly what she was doing, always did, and it was a shame that she always won. Her hands crawled up to his neck, loosely joining behind, and in two seconds she had planted her lips against his.

The Doctor could smell her rich lavender scent, just further adding to the unfair fight. He learned long ago that it was useless trying to fight her off because every time she kissed him, he wanted to kiss her back. Today's moment had her wearing a dress that made her simply exquisite. His hands had already found her exposed back - at what point that happened, he had no idea. He only knew that he couldn't move his hands off that part.

Avalon unwinded one arm to find the doorknob behind her because she wanted no interruptions and Amy and Rory were very good at that. She had no trouble finding it, despite being very occupied, and pushed it open. The Doctor had to hold her tighter due to the sudden loss of their support but Avalon managed to walk them inside, leaving him to shut the door behind. They fervently kissed each other while they crossed the room. The Doctor was aware that the longer they spent kissing the harder it was to want to let Avalon go. She fit so nicely between his arms and no matter where his hands roamed (or lips) on her body, it felt right. It felt like he needed to touch her, feel her warm, smooth skin and keep her sweet lips plump with all his kisses.

That's because you love her. Youloveheryouloveheryouloveheryouloveher-

Avalon's legs had hit the edge of the bed, knocking them both into reality. For Avalon, it was a mere nuisance that she would gladly ignore and go back to the happy kissing but for the Doctor it was a reminder. He needed self control, for his part and hers. She was still recuperating after all.

"No, don't," Avalon pouted when he untangled her arms from him. "I thought we were having fun." She looked past him to see her purse on the ground. No idea when I did that, she realized with a smirk.

"I was, am," the Doctor clarified quickly before she got any ideas. "But you need your rest and this...this is not resting."

"So?" Avalon sighed. "Fairy Tale Man, I have to ask if this and sorry for being daring because I know that you blush but...do you want me?"

"What!?"

"You heard me."

"Ava…" the Doctor cleared his throat, his face warm as ever and he was sure that it was red too.

"I have to ask because each time you just kind...recoil from me," Avalon bit her lower lip like it was gum all of a sudden. "It's never really happened to me before." She waited for an answer but all the Doctor did was stare at her with a smile working its way across his face. "Are you going to answer or did I just humiliate myself into the next century?"

"You asked a fair question but I'm just not sure how to answer it without...making you blush." He smirked when he saw just that happening. "What kind of question is that?" He reached to touch her cheek, tracing a pattern over it. "You're intelligent, passionate, stunning...an absolute princess. Who wouldn't want you?"

"I don't care about anyone else, only you," Avalon said quietly.

"Yes, absolutely yes." The Doctor was able to pull her back to him. He kept an arm around her waist while he nuzzled the side of her face. "You have no idea how much self control I've been exercising lately. You drive me crazy."

Avalon's lips twitched into a smile, soon into a smirk. "So what are you waiting for?"

The Doctor chuckled lightly, though his hearts did skip a beat at her light request. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. "Not the moment, certainly not the place." Avalon's eyebrows knitted together, puzzled until it shifted into annoyance. The Doctor sensed where her thoughts were going and turned her around so that her back was to his chest. There he lightly swayed them and pressed a kiss to Avalon's neck. "See, when I finally get to kiss and touch you the way I want to...we're going to need a room with thicker walls…"

Avalon blushed but her smirk widened. "Ah, so you're confident."

"Very."

"If you start saying from your experiences, I'll kill you."

"I won't if you won't. You seem to know your way around things as well."

"Well…"

"What I just say?"

Avalon laughed. "I love…" She caught herself at the nick of time. Oh my God. She turned around wearing a usual smile. "Thanks for explaining that." She fixed his skewed hair and took in a breath. "I look forward to that moment."

"As do I," the Doctor promised. "Get some rest please. Try."

"I can't do that unless my Fairy Tale Man is lying right next to me." She shrugged and backtracked from him. Zelda had left folded clothing on the foot of the bed so she swiped it off and pointed at the Doctor. "I won't try unless you're here."

"Where else would I be?"

Avalon triumphantly grinned. In a few minutes, she had forgone her beaded dress and put on a simple silk chiffon nightgown. She wasn't that surprised it hung a bit below her knees. For a time that thought it daring, Zelda was no stranger to the different fashions. Avalon wasn't interested in the shorter styles. Her mind was stuck on the accidental near slip up from earlier. Even though it was a slip up, after everything she heard, would it really be that bad if she finally told the Doctor? Her heart pounded at the idea of telling him but there was also an excitement she couldn't deny. Maybe it was time.

With those jumbled thoughts she climbed into bed and patted the spot next to her for the Doctor to join her. She giggled when he tickled her side and brought her closer to him. Even if she wasn't tired, she could lay there with him all night (or at least what was left of the night).

"I did have fun today. Thanks for bringing me here," she said after spending some nice quiet time. "It was good to see Zelda again."

"We can come back anytime you want," the Doctor said, knowing Avalon would love the idea.

"I'd like that," she nodded, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. "She showed me her journal...and I showed her mine. I've never done that. Are you mad I never showed it to you?"

"Of course not. One day I'll get to see it," he said, tucking a few strands of her curls between them.

"I just want to make sure it's perfect before you see it," she said, biting her lip. "Zelda kinda gave me pointers on a few drafts. But I also let her see the, um, things I wrote about our travels. She thought it was fake of course. Was that bad?"

"Nah, you'd be surprised how many people in the past know about me and my, uh, unique nature, and they deal with it rather well. We've become good friends."

"I know it's silly but I really do consider Zelda a friend. She's my special friend cos, you know, she's like my writing idol. Thanks for giving me that opportunity. I never thought in my life that I would get to meet her."

"You don't have to thank me, Ava. You know I'd do anything for you." He gave her a sweet kiss on her lips.

She rested her hand over his cheek when he kept his head hovering over hers. He kept saying that, didn't he? He made her feel so special all the time. Even when they bickered she got a thrill that absolutely no one gave her...and she had done a lot of bickering with other people. Everything he did, even if he was making her try to sleep when she didn't want to, had her feeling special.

"I love you," she whispered and suddenly her eyes couldn't meet his anymore.

Initially, the Doctor couldn't really decide if he had heard her right. His hearts had started hammering the moment he thought he heard her say those words. That sure made it easier to decide. Avalon didn't repeat it, she stayed quiet and kept herself busy by playing with the buttons of his shirt.

She was waiting.

And she was incredibly nervous.

"Ava…" the Doctor gently pulled her fingers off him and kept her hand within his.

She looked at him very briefly before finding the ceiling very interesting, but the Doctor was quicker in that moment. He'd seen the nervousness in her eyes, how anxious she was to hear his response. He almost laughed. If only she knew.

"I love you," he finally told her. He laughed at how quickly her eyes snapped back to him.

"Yeah?" She still whispered but even then her voice sounded like it'd lost air. She had lost air. "You do?"

"You have no idea the time I've spent swallowing these words down. I thought I'd freak you out if I told you."

"What? Why on Earth would you think that?"

"Because we've only been dating for a few months? Pretty sure saying 'I love you' months into a relationship is a huge no-no."

"And when exactly have we ever been the normal type of relationship?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue...then shut it. That was right. Very right. Nothing about them was normal. "I do love you."

"I love you," Avalon tested the way she would say those words from now on. She loved the way the words sounded each time she repeated them, and she repeated them several times. The Doctor eventually laughed at her but she whacked him until he apologized and said it back to her as many times as she had to 'make her feel better'.

And as it turned out, it became one of those nights where she was a little bit tired. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was still sleeping a little more than usual due to the medication she was still on and because of her recuperating health overall. She fell asleep somewhere in the middle of their bickering, missing when the Doctor declared a triumphant 'I win' at her sleeping form.

~ 0 ~

"So sorry I can't offer you a decent breakfast," Zelda offered yet another apology to the group after setting out the little bits of biscuits and fruit she had left in the fridge. "Each party wipes us out, believe it or not. They do eat while drinking."

"It's really fine," Amy tried to stop the woman from going crazy in the kitchen but Zelda kept searching through cabinets while they watched from the table. "We're not that big on breakfast anyways."

"Nonsense, I know Avalon's on a specific diet for her health."

"Yeah, but I'm fine," went the woman in question. "Really Zelda, come sit down. We'll be leaving soon and I'd rather talk instead of watching you search for an apple."

Zelda smiled at the group, though rather nervously if Avalon had to describe it. She pressed her dress down as she returned to the table. "Avalon, can I show you something? Before you go?"

"Of course," Avalon was quick to get up from her chair. She wasn't hungry anyways.

Zelda led her back to the living room where she picked up her green journal from the coffee table. "I, um, I sort of started something last night...after we talked. I hope you don't mind but it's about you, sugar."

"Me?" Avalon blinked, pointing at herself as if there was someone else in the room and Zelda had just spoken to the wrong person.

"Yes, I think it's fitting that whatever I publish next should be about you. An impossible girl, right?" Avalon looked at the journal and Zelda until the latter pushed the journal into her hands. "Read it, please?"

Avalon silently looked at the draft. There were still notes on the margins but she saw the title clear as day. 'The Impossible Girl'. A smile came to her face as she read through the lines. Despite understanding very little of the future, Zelda had managed to capture the essence of the adventures Avalon had gone through. She twisted it into her own world, making it so that Avalon still retained her beautiful human nature. Zelda made her the girl everyone wanted to be but absolutely no one could be.

"I...I love this!" Avalon exclaimed with the happiest of smiles on her face.

Zelda beamed. "Really? Oh, that means a lot!"

Avalon laughed. The irony of things. Her favorite author was telling her that her opinion meant a lot. "Zelda, thank you for writing this. I...I can't believe you managed to make this fantasy into, well, a good story."

"Oh," Zelda gently took the journal from Avalon with an odd expression on her face. "I could only do so much to make it good, nothing to what you must have truly experienced in these moments."

The laugh and smile faded from Avalon's face. "What...what do you mean?"

"I don't understand how it's possible but...I'm fairly certain all those things you wrote in your journal are true."

"What…?" Avalon nervously laughed. "Why-why would you think that?"

"Because no one cries as sad and scared as you did last night," Zelda touched Avalon's arm with a soft smile. "And I am so sorry for all the horrors you had to go through."

"Zelda, I don't know what you're thinking but it's not...it's not true. I mean, really, creatures that make you forget?" And yet as Avalon made the best argument she could come up with, tears were pooling in her eyes. It was the same sad, scared tears Zelda saw last night.

Zelda reached over to wipe a few tears off Avalon's face. "Oh sugar, no more tears. I think you've cried enough." Avalon tried her best not to cry but she was already sniffling. Zelda pulled her into a big hug. "You've gone through so much and yet you decided to come back and visit someone as insignificant as me."

"No, never," Avalon sniffed and hugged her tighter. "You're my friend. You're my friend who I wish lived near me."

"Where are you from? Really?"

Avalon hesitated to answer her, but the Doctor's words flew into her mind. 'Nah, you'd be surprised how many people in the past know about me and my, uh, unique nature, and they deal with it rather well. We've become good friends.' Could it be that Zelda would be one of those people for her? Something in her heart told her that she was right.

"2011," Avalon said and immediately felt Zelda stiffened. Before she could pull away, Avalon gripped the author into the hug. "I'm from a small town called Leadworth in England. I grew up learning about people in history and I always loved learning about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. She was my idol and I-I always wished I could meet her to tell her how much her work meant to me because I was always an outcast at home. We're very similar despite the hug gap between our lives. Being your friend has been a dream come true."

Now it was Zelda who had tears in her eyes. Avalon loosened her grip and allowed her to part. "It's impossible but it's the only way things make sense. You...you really learned about me?"

"You are not insignificant," Avalon took her hands and smiled. "You are an icon. I once dressed up as you for Halloween."

"What?" laughed Zelda.

Avalon's smile widened. "I did. You have always been my inspiration to write and the day I do write something it'll be in your name. So please, please, don't let anyone tell you that your work doesn't matter, that you don't matter."

"Avalon Reynolds believes in me," Zelda chuckled, remembering Avalon's very similar words she said in Montgomery. Avalon firmly nodded her head. "Well, you go back home then and think of me each time you want to scrap up whatever you drafted because I want you to pick it up and rewrite it. I believe that one day you will write an amazing book, a book so fantastic that you'll have everyone reading it. Zelda Sayre believes in you, Avalon, and she also believes that you are strong enough to keep going. Don't let those, um, Silence things and that woman win. You show 'em who's boss."

Avalon chuckled with fresh new tears in her eyes. "Oh, come here!" She encased Zelda in another hug.

Later on, when the group left the villa, Avalon excitedly babbled on about what transpired with Zelda. Amy and Rory were shocked and soon worried that Avalon had made a huge mistake revealing she was from the future but the Doctor seemed fine with it...almost like he expected it. When the Doctor had Avalon in the medbay later on, Avalon still went on about Zelda and lingered on the short story Zelda wrote about her.

"She called it 'The Impossible Girl'. It was so good and not because it was about me. The way she wrote it...Doctor, don't tell me I have to make her get rid of it," Avalon gave him her best pout in hopes that this time they could let history be changed just a tiny bit.

She was incredibly lucky.

"Ava, do you remember that I told you that you had no idea how much of an impact you had on people?"

Avalon distinctly remembered that as part of his sweet words he said to her the first time they visited Leadworth after Berlin. "Yeah…"

"And then I suggested we go visit Zelda again?"

"Yes," Avalon's eyes immediately narrowed on him. "What have you been up to, Fairy Tale Man?"

It was the Doctor's proud moment to show her the short story Zelda Fitzgerald published in 1924 - with her husband's name on the same byline - under the title 'The Impossible Girl'.

Avalon read the entire story and cried tears of joy. At the very end of the story was a small little letter.

'Everyone believes the impossible is just that but sometimes, if you are truly lucky, you get to see it in person...or you get to meet the impossible girl.'

With Love, Z.

[myheartrevealedocs]

Untouchable - Ch 7: The Fisher King: Part 2 (S2E1)

Summary:  A Spencer Reid x OC fanfic that retells select episodes, starting in season 1, from the point of view of Lydia Ambers, a forensic scientist.

Warnings: mentions of death, swearing, death threats, graphic injuries

Ch 6 | Ch 8

~ ~ ~

When Lydia got back to the conference room, Spencer was the only one there. He stood directly in front of the whiteboard, murmuring to himself. He’d written ‘Possible Book Titles’ across the top, but so far had nothing listed.

“The rest of the team leave you to figure this out on your own?” she asked.

He startled slightly, not having heard her walk in. “Um, JJ and Morgan are going to interview Rebecca Bryant’s parents… and Hotch and Gideon are interviewing the guy who brought the numbers to Haley.”

“Someone found him?”

“He turned himself in,” Spencer explained. “So, now it’s just me and the evidence boards.”

“Now it’s us and the evidence boards,” she corrected. She sat down and picked up the medication bottle from the table. “Sorry I stormed out.”

“Sorry you were so stressed,” he mumbled. “We didn’t mean to push you.”

“You didn’t. It was important for you to know. I’m just… so done with this, you know?” She stopped herself. “Sorry, of course you do. You were on vacation when you got these weird messages. I was just home doing my schoolwork.”

“Lydia, stop apologizing,” he argued. “This is very stressful, we’ve all been here a long time, and you got a package delivered to your door. I can easily understand why that’d freak you out.”

She shrugged. “I just feel like I should be able to piece together these clues the unsub’s giving us and I can’t.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he agreed, indicating to his empty list.

She looked over the label on the bottle in her hands. There was a patient name, a doctor’s name, drug, and an RX number. Prescription bottles always had more than that. They had instructions, pharmacies, manufacturers, fill dates, expiration dates.

“This number must mean something,” she wondered out loud. “He didn’t put any unnecessary information on it, but there’s a long RX number.”

“Read the number out loud,” Spencer told her.

He wrote it across the board as she went. “3-1-5-1-2-1-2-5-3-2-0-1-5-1-8”

“Okay,” he stepped back. “We can start with the basics. A equals 1, Z equals 26.” He got to work, writing the corresponding letter underneath the number.

C-A-E-A-B-A-B-E-C-B-

He stopped at the zero. “That’s definitely not a word. But some of the letters have double digits, so… let’s see if we combine everything we can combine…’C’ stays the same. The 1 and 5 could be fifteen, which is ‘O’...” He began again.

C-O-L-L-E-C-T-O-R

“Collector?” He stepped away. “That mean anything to you?”

Lydia shook her head.

“Alright. Collector. Collecting things. He’s collecting things.” He snapped his fingers so sharply Lydia almost jumped. “Collector! Baseball cards, music boxes, butterflies, skeleton keys. These are all things people collect!”

“That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

He shrugged. It was basically impossible at this point to rule anything out.

“Medieval,” she rambled. “Collectable things. Numerical codes. What else have we got?”

“We’ve got this note from the music box?” he offered. “I think I’ve heard it somewhere, but I can’t place it… And I think the book was published in 1963.”

“Why’s that?”

“That’s the year on the baseball card, but it’s not the year Gideon went to all those games. If the unsub knows Gideon likes Nellie Fox because he went to almost all the White Sox games in 1959, why give him a ‘63 card?”

“Okay,” Lydia agreed. “So, the type of butterfly JJ got, that probably means something too, because she collected butterflies, not pale clouded yellow butterflies.

He nodded. “Let’s get Garcia to look up some of these things and see if we find anything.”

She followed him out as he dashed towards Garcia’s office. He was very stiff and awkward when he was in a rush, she noticed, but he refused to run through the office. She was glad for it at the moment, seeing as with her foot, she probably couldn’t keep up with him, but it was almost comical, the way his feet skipped underneath him with repressed anticipation.

Garcia looked up when they walked in, then turned back to her computers. “This guy is infuriatingly good. He routed his IP through major corporations, crisscrossed it through countries, bounced it off satellites-”

“I thought you already tracked the hacker,” Spencer said, pausing behind her and glancing over her shoulder.

“No, I only found what he wanted me to find,” she huffed. “Apartment where Giles was dead. Reid, a hacker capable of getting into my systems is going to have amazingly sophisticated equipment. Did Giles’s apartment have that?”

“He didn’t have a couch,” he responded.

“Exactly. Giles was a smokescreen I should have seen through. But now I have this glorious program I wrote, tracking the hacker through his other identity: Sir Kneighf.”

“Sir Kneighf?” he cried.

Lydia’s eyes widened. “The doctor on the prescription bottle!”

“The what?” Garcia flipped her chair around and Reid leaned over to see the name on her screen

“K-N-E-I-G-H-F. That’s an odd spelling.”

She waved him away. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah, is there a database, which lists all the books published in a given year?”

“Individual publishers have lists, but I don’t think there’s anything like a master one. Plus it would depend upon the year, because the further back you go, the less likely there’ll be any database at all.”

“1963.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ok, that would be an example of extremely less likely.”

He hummed in contemplation. “Could you do me a favor? Type something into a search engine for me?” She pulled herself back up to the keyboard. “‘Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man’s sight’.”

“Okay, that’s from a poem, ‘The Parliament of-’”

“Fowls!” He jumped in recognition. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Chaucer! My-” He hesitated. “My mom used to read me that. It’s widely considered as the first Valentine’s poem.”

Garcia chuckled. “Your mom read you Valentine’s poems? Hello, therapy.”

Lydia smacked her over the shoulder.

“Chaucer. Chaucer. ‘Parliament of Fowls’.” He began mumbling to himself again, trying to fit pieces together. “It has to be at least 283 pages long. Something published in 1963… A butterfly indigenous to Great Britain. Why? Something born. Something from Great Britain… Medieval. Chaucer. Chaucer was Middle English. Middle English spelling of the word Fowls… F-O-W-L-E-S…”

Lydia thought he was losing it, but somehow, this rambling was productive, because he blinked and ran back over to Garcia’s side.

“There- There was a contemporary british author-- Fowles. John Fowles. Will you type it into a search engine?”

“Uh… He wrote The Magus, he wrote The French Lieutenant’s Woman-”

“Anything in 1963 published in Great Britain?”

She narrowed her search and her computer started beeping. “Yeah. The Collector.”

Lydia wanted to scream. Finally, they were on the right path. “Are you serious? The code on the bottle was the book title.”

Garcia clicked on the book and the cover photo showed up, which ruled out any chances of the book being a coincidence. Three objects were displayed underneath the title of the book: a butterfly, a skeleton key, and a blonde lock of hair.

“I’m gonna start calling libraries. We need a copy of that book immediately,” Lydia said, leaving abruptly.

~ ~ ~

“Hello, my name is Lydia Ambers, I work for the FBI. We’re in desperate need of a very specific book to help us on a recent case. We’re looking for a copy of The Collector by John Fowles, but it has to be a copy that was published by Jonathon Cape. Would you have any of those?”

Lydia followed Reid and Garcia to one of the interrogation rooms, to talk to Hotch and Gideon about their findings, but she was thoroughly distracted by her call and ended up stepping on their heels a few times accidentally.

“According to our database, we should have two copies, but it’s going to take me a while to search for them. Can I call you back once I’ve found a copy?”

“Yes, thank you.” She hung up and promptly tripped, falling between Reid and Garcia’s shoulders. She would have run directly into Gideon if Reid hadn’t grabbed her by the arm and held her up steady. “Sorry!”

She shuffled back behind her two friends and let them talk to Hotch and Gideon.

“We know what the book is,” Spencer explained. “The Collector by John Fowles.”

“You sure?” Gideon demanded. They were both clearly on edge. Hotch had his arms crossed which didn’t look comfortable in his suit and Gideon was punchy. She didn’t fail to notice the way he and Garcia avoided each other's gazes, Garcia more than him. He was still pissed at her and she was probably thoroughly embarrassed. And hopefully, a little pissed too, because Lydia believed he’d been way too harsh on her.

“Not absolutely. Not until we see if the code works, but Lydia’s called four separate libraries to search for the 1963 edition published in Great Britain.”

“Well done,” Hotch complimented the group, tiredly.

“Agent Gideon,” a woman called, approaching the group of them, “there’s a call for you on line two. Says it’s extremely urgent.” 

“Is there a name?” he asked.

“Sort of. He calls himself the Fisher King.”

Lydia groaned before she could stop herself. Everyone raised an eyebrow at her.

“Sorry. The Fisher King is the one who guards the Grail. You know, the one that ‘Sir Percival’, over there is supposed to find.” She pointed at Reid, who was grabbing the notepad the woman had in her hands.

“This could be the unsub, guys,” he confirmed. “‘Sir Kneighf’ is an anagram for Fisher King.”

“The Fisher King is at the end of all Grail quests,” Gideon agreed.

They rushed to the bullpen, all crowding around a nearby phone.

“Line two trapped and traced,” Hotch demanded of one of the nearby agents and Gideon put it on speaker.

“Gideon.”

“What I had to do was not my fault,” the unsub replied, his harsh voice unmistakable.

“Excuse me?”

“It was distasteful and barbaric.”

“Who is this?”

“No one else had to be hurt.”

“Call yourself ‘The Fisher King’?” He was trying to throw the unsub off his rhythm. Gideon had been training her to speak to hostile people and profile what responses to give them, so she followed along his game.

This guy had clearly planned what he wanted to say and expected them to shut up and listen. If Gideon made him interrupt the strict script in his mind, he might slip up and give information he didn’t want to or forget his point.

“I told you there were rules.”

“I’m actually more interested in exactly how you got all those burns.” Different tactic. Make the unsub think we’re closer to catching him than he thinks.

“Remember this next time you decide to step outside my instructions,” he warned. “Agent Greenaway did not have to die like that.”

The phone buzzed as he hung up the call.

~ ~ ~

After many attempts at calling Elle, Hotch got ahold of Agent Anderson, who was in charge of taking her home. Anderson explained that Elle had been shot and the ambulance was on its way to a nearby hospital. And then, he and Gideon were off, leaving Lydia, Spencer, and Garcia to work on piecing together this mystery.

“Mrs. Valez, are you there?” Reid asked, putting the librarian who’d just called them back on speaker phone.

“Yes, Dr. Reid. I am. I have a first edition of The Collector, published in Great Britain in 1963.”

“Wonderful.” As they spoke Garcia cleared off room on the whiteboard to copy down the code. “Mrs. Valez, I’m going to read you a set of three numbers. The first is going to be a page number, the second a line number on that page, and the third, a word number in that line. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“All right, the first is page 222.”

“Page 222, got it.”

“Line 23.”

“Line 23. Got it.”

“What is the 16th work on that line, Ms. Valez?”

“The.”

“The,” he repeated. “Great.”

Garcia wrote it up on the board and Lydia suddenly very much regretted not going along with Gideon and Hotch. But just in time to save the day, her phone started going off with a call from the unit chief.

She dismissed herself quickly and stepped outside to answer.

“How’s Elle?” she asked, figuring greetings could be dismissed for the time being.

“She’s in surgery. Ambers, I need you to go to her house and look for any evidence you can find. And if you can, I need you to tell me what exactly happened when she got home. Anderson will meet you there.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get back to you when I have something.”

She quietly signalled to Reid that she was leaving before grabbing her FBI windbreaker and latex gloves and running off to the elevator. She hadn’t taken a company SUV since her first case (after which she learned she wasn’t supposed to be driving them on her own because she wasn’t supposed to be unsupervised while working), but she figured that, if caught, she would be forgiven, given the circumstances.

The street was littered with cop cars by the time she got there and it took a minute for them to recognize the car and jacket she was wearing and let her through. Once she had parked, she ran across the front lawn and inside, looking for Anderson. Right now, the only reason she hadn’t been thrown off the scene was her jacket and until Anderson arrived with his badge and the orders to clear the place, she was at the local PD’s mercy.

“Excuse me, miss,” a man called to her as she walked into the living room. She shut her eyes tightly. Damn it.

“Hi. My name’s Lydia-”

“Ambers,” Anderson greeted her, stepping past the cops to speak to her. “CSU’s on the way, but Hotch wanted you to survey the scene before they processed it.” He turned back to the officer she was just speaking to. “Hello again, Detective Markes. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your team to leave, as you’re currently on a crime scene under federal jurisdiction.”

As he went on to argue with the detective, Lydia flipped around to make her initial determinations. Elle had lost a lot of blood. Lydia could assume she’d been shot in the abdomen, because it was the only area of the body where she could survive long enough to get to the hospital and into surgery while she was losing blood at that rate. Elle had a comforted seat built into an indent in the wall where the blood trail started.

The coffee table was awkwardly placed in the center of the room, so the paramedics probably moved it to get to her. And from the marks on the carpet, it looks like they had to drag her body onto its back in order to perform CPR. Then, there was the looming note on her wall in blood: RULES.

“Can I do anything to help?” Anderson asked. When Lydia looked up at him, it was clear to her that he’d been crying. His eyes were rimmed with red and his voice was shaky.

“Did the police tell you what happened?”

He nodded, rubbing his forehead tiredly. “There is evidence of forced entry on the back door. The unsub probably broke in and waited for her to get home before he shot her. She dialed 911 herself before she passed out. And her badge and gun are nowhere to be found.”

“She dialed 911 before she passed out?!” Lydia exclaimed. “Unless the unsub let her… but no, he thought she was dead. He was in the room with her and wrote in her-” Lydia took in a deep breath and started to put her gloves on. “Try something with me, Anderson.”

~ ~ ~

“What did you find?”

“CSU lifted a partial print from the unsub’s message,” Lydia told Hotch, driving back to Quantico.

“What message?”

“Rules,” she responded. “This is about the press conference.”

He sighed. “Did they get anything from the print?”

“They aren’t sure if it will be enough, but they’re running it through their systems now.”

“Good. And what did you find?”

Lydia’s breath hitched. “Me?”

“I asked you if you could figure out what happened. How did the unsub get the upper hand and shoot Elle?”

Lydia glanced at her phone, which was on speaker beside her, as if Hotch would be there looking sternly back.

“Here’s my theory,” she began. “We know he broke in through the back door and waited in the house. If he was in the dining room, he would have been able to hear her set her stuff down and lie on the couch. Now with her eyes closed, he’s able to walk into the room and aim a gun at her before she can react. At some point, Elle makes a move off the couch and he shoots her. The blood pattern indicates she was falling when she got hit. That makes me think her gun was on the table across from her. But anyway, she’s shot and is lying on her side, between the seat and the table. Elle has got to have an insanely high pain tolerance, because she was still conscious when he wrote on the walls in her blood. But somehow, she had him convinced she had died when he left. Then, she calls 911 and passes out.”

“Good work, Lydia. When all this is over, we need to talk.”

Her phone beeped to indicate he had hung up and it took everything in her not to pull over and call him back immediately.

A talk? What the hell did that mean?

~ ~ ~

When Lydia finally made her way back to the bullpen, she was exhausted. So, it was a bit of a relief to see Spencer there at his desk, simply toying with a pencil between his fingers.

“Did you go to Elle’s house?” he asked, softly, as she took off her jacket and placed it on her desk.

“Yeah… It’s a crime scene.”

He nodded, understanding what she meant. It was bloody.

“How did the book code go? Did it work?” she inquired.

“‘The path to the end began at his start to find her first calm her long broken heart’,” he recited. “‘She sits in a window with secrets from her knight. Is it adventure that keeps him out of her sight?’”

“Any clue what it means?”

Reid opened his mouth to explain, but Garcia approached and started talking to him. “She’s okay,” she said, sitting on the edge of his desk. “Your mom. Agents picked her up.”

“Your mom?” Lydia startled. “What happened?”

The panic in Garcia’s eyes was evident. “Lydia! Sorry, I didn’t even realize you were back yet.” Her eyes darted between the two of them. “I’ll… I’m gonna go now.”

“No, no, no!” she assured her. “It’s fine. If this is private, I can leave.”

“It’s not private.” Spencer looked slightly amused by the anxiety both girls felt, but it didn’t last long. “It’s… pertinent to the case.”

“Is everything okay?” Lydia asked him, standing up next to Garcia at his desk, so that the conversation didn’t drift around the room.

“She’s flying here right now,” Garcia explained, and Reid nodded, looking down at an evidence bag.

It was the poem they’d found in the music box. The valentine’s one that he’d said his mom read him.

“I forgot she used to always read me this poem.” He sighed. “It’s funny, huh?”

“Funny?” Garcia asked.

“I should have realized this sooner,” he admitted. “I mean, nobody knows things like the fact that JJ collects butterflies except for me. People tell me their secrets all the time. I think it’s ‘cause they know I don’t have anyone to betray them to… except my mother. I- I tell her pretty much everything.”

“I don’t think anyone would mind,” she grinned.

“Do you know that I write her a letter everyday?” he continued.

Garcia’s eyes watered slightly, but her smile didn’t let up. “That’s nice.”

“It depends on why I write her.” His eyebrow furrowed. His demeanor had changed considerably and Lydia started to piece together what she had missed.

This unsub had gotten all this info on them from his mom. Maybe he’d been stealing her letters or just talking to her, but he knew her and that’s why Reid was bringing her to Quantico.

“What do you mean?” Garcia asked.

“I write her letters so I won’t feel so guilty about not visiting her.”

The girls exchanged a look. Reid had just been in Las Vegas. He said he was going home. So, why was he claiming he didn’t visit her?

“Did you know that schizophrenia is genetically passed?” he asked, randomly.

At least, she thought it was random. Until Garcia gasped under her breath. She excused herself quickly, leaving Lydia with the fidgeting doctor.

“Spencer, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she spoke up. She kept her voice low and her town concerned, undemanding.

He was clearly on edge. He wouldn’t look up at her, eyes focused on the poem in his hands. “‘The path to the end begins at his start’... I’m the ‘him’. And my start is my mom. So, she’s the key to lead us to the Grail. ‘She sits in a window with secrets from her knight’. The doctors tell me my mother loves to sit by the window and read my letters.” He dropped the bag suddenly and clasped his hands together. “Lydia, my mom is a paranoid schizophrenic who lives in a mental hospital.”

His knuckles started turning white and the muscles in his arms shifted under pressure. He was getting tense. Lydia knew exactly what he was doing. Normally, when she felt her anger manifest itself physically, she would excuse herself to blow off steam, but something told her Reid wasn’t about to find an empty hallway and start punching the walls.

But even with that knowledge, she never would have consciously done what she did to calm him. Her impulses took over and one of her hands reached out and settled itself on top of his fists. She bent down slightly, not forcing herself into his line of sight, but making it easier for him to turn to her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “That must be hard on you… does the rest of the team know?”

He shook his head, turning one of his palms over to hold onto her fingers. Lydia’s heart sped up, but she swallowed down her feelings. He was looking for comfort, not a relationship. Besides, they weren’t even holding hands, really. He was just grazing his thumbs over her knuckles.

“Lydia,” he began, finally meeting her gaze. “Earlier you left because Hotch brought up your mom…”

Here it comes. She braced herself for the inevitable question.

“...and when you came back, you had bruised knuckles.”

She almost choked on her own saliva. He wasn’t going to ask about her mom? And how had he even noticed that?

Awkwardly, she slipped her fingers out of his grasp. “I wasn’t hitting anything alive, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she informed him, suddenly closing off again. “I just had to let off some steam.”

“Lydia, I wasn’t insinuating anything-”

“It’s fine, Spencer,” she replied, far too quickly. “If you need any help with anything before your mom gets here, let me know. And if I get any updates from Hotch or Gideon, I’ll tell you.”

He spun his chair around in an attempt to stop her, but she was already leaving, trying to look dignified as she walked into the conference room. She didn’t want to make him feel guilty when he was already dreading his mom’s arrival, but she couldn’t have that conversation when there was work to do.

It wasn’t until she was staring at the evidence boards that she realized, there really wasn’t any work to do.

What was she running from?

~ ~ ~

After hours of pacing and repeating the clues the unsub had given them outloud, Lydia had ended up back at her desk, absolutely drained. She pushed everything aside and lay her head down. She’d just been… off today. 

She felt so guilty about abandoning Spencer. He needed more help than she did. His mother was involved in a murder case and probably wasn’t stable enough to look out for herself. And Lydia was just wallowing in her past.

She had no right to do that to him.

So, what was it? As far as she knew, Spencer didn’t even know her mom was dead. He had no idea what the mention of her mother could do to her. He wasn’t pressuring her to tell him about it. And even more so, she’d never struggled to tell anyone her mother was dead before. Her first day in Quantico, she told Gideon and Garcia.

Lydia rarely talked about the cause of her mom’s death. If that’s what the team needed to know, then she could forgive herself for being on edge, but they didn’t. No one had asked her to say out loud how her mother had died. And if they did need to know, Hotch, Gideon, or Garcia could probably tell them. Her mother’s death was definitely in Garcia’s files.

What is it? She asked herself. What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you just-?

“Lydia!” Garcia cried. Her head shot up to watch the blonde woman running by, making a beeline for the conference room.

She ran after her, just catching up as she opened the door and grabbed the attention of Spencer and an older woman with a pixie cut.

“Reid, I got to the end of the IP string,” Garcia started, barely even noticing the other presence in the room. “Sir Kneighf? The Fisher King? His name is Randal Garner. He’s Rebecca Bryant’s biological father.”

~ ~ ~

Once the air in the room had settled, Spencer introduced the other woman as his mother, Diana Reid, before quickly distracting them with work. Lydia sensed that he didn’t want his mother to be a part of the conversation.

Lydia stepped aside to call Hotch, listening to their conversation as she explained to him what they’d found.

“Our file says that Rebecca’s father’s name is Joseph Bryant,” Spencer argued. “Who’s Randal Garner?”

“Rebecca’s mother and brothers died in a fire when she was four and her father was so badly burned that he couldn’t take care of her, so he gave up parental rights and she was adopted by the Bryants,” Garcia informed them.

“Okay,” Hotch responded over the phone, pulling her back to the conversation she was having. “I’ll tell Gideon and be there soon. Find out everything you can on this guy.”

“Doing that as we speak,” she replied, putting her phone back into her pocket.

“I can’t believe she’s real,” Diana mumbled.

The three of them trained their eyes on her.

“What do you mean?” Garcia asked.

“Whenever he talked about Rebecca, he never said she was his daughter.” She said all this directly to her son, her stance nervous, almost defensive. “He said all his children died in the fire. He spoke of a Rebecca, more in the abstract. I really thought she was a metaphor and not an actual human being. An ideal.”

“A grail,” Reid said, confirming her thoughts. This man honestly didn’t see her as his daughter anymore. His daughter had died. And this girl was a prize to be won. “He thinks he’s the Fisher King.”

“Who does?” Morgan asked, entering with JJ.

“Randal Garner, our unsub,” Spencer responded.

“He believes you’re all modern-day knights of the round table,” Diana explained, gesturing around the room.

Derek raised a hand and they could see his question about who this woman was coming a mile away.

“Uh, Derek Morgan, this is my mother, Diana Reid.” Spencer ran around the table to step between his colleague and his mom.

“This is your mother?” He pointed at the woman almost accusingly, but seeing Spencer’s tight smile, pulled back and said, “Ma’am it’s a… it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Finally, the last of their group stormed in, Hotch’s footsteps audible from across the bullpen. “So, where are we on finding this son of a bitch?” he demanded.

“Gideon?” Lydia inquired.

“Hospital.”

Everyone sat down around the table in time with one another.

“I rechecked all the clues,” Spencer began. “There’s nothing that points to an address.”

“The adoption records for Rebecca listed an address of the fire, so I made a call to Nevada, and it’s vacant. No one ever rebuilt,” JJ continued.

“Nevada?” Hotch scoffed. “So we don’t even know what state he’s in?”

“I’ll search the tax records,” Garcia offered. “See if he owns any property.”

“Excuse me,” Diana said, catching the attention of the team. She was leaning forward in her seat in the corner of the room.

“Mom, do you want to wait out-” Spencer started, trying to usher her out of the room, but She was already making a move towards Hotch.

“Just before the agents got me from the hospital,” she fumbled for something in her purse, “a man delivered this to me. It’s a photo of a house with an address on the back.”

She held it up for them to see the scrawl on the back of the card: 1024 Winston Dr., Shiloh, VA. 22485.

“Shiloh, Virginia?” Morgan muttered. “That’s only ten miles from here.”

She flipped over the photo. The house looked more like a castle, with multiple stories and barred windows. It was made with gray bricks and black roof tiles with a circular extension that looked like a tower.

The team filed out quickly, with the exception of Spencer, who was telling his mom to stay put until he got back.

Garcia ran back to her office and Lydia sat at her desk, still unable to go on raids with them.

Almost over, she told herself. This whole thing is almost over.

~ ~ ~

“We’re sending Rebecca to the hospital now and then we’ll be back,” Hotch informed her. “Any news from Gideon?”

“Elle just got out of surgery. Doctors say she’s gonna be fine.” It was already the next morning and Lydia couldn’t wait to go back to her apartment and sleep for the rest of the day. “Randal Garner?”

“Dead,” he responded and Lydia didn’t bother to ask how or why. “Why don’t you start clearing off those evidence boards?”

“Yes, sir.” She put her phone down and walked up to the round table room.

When she got inside, she startled to see someone else there. Spencer’s mom sat on the sofa underneath the window and was writing something in one of the journals she brought with her. She hadn’t seemed to notice Lydia walk in.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reid,” Lydia started, politely, walking over to the evidence boards. “I forgot you were still here.”

After a second of silence, Lydia got to work, making piles of evidence, pictures, and all the pins they had used. She didn’t take the woman’s silence personally, knowing that schizophrenia could cause dissociation. She figured she’d leave her to her journaling for now.

As she was finishing up, however, the woman looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. “Is it time for lunch yet?” she inquired.

“What?” Lydia asked softly.

“I’m lecturing everyone on Tristan and Iseult,” she explained, scanning her journal suddenly like an analysis paper. “They’re all gathering in my room after lunch.”

Lydia was intrigued. Clearly, Diana was not in touch with reality and Lydia wasn’t sure how best to deal with it, but her curiosity won over her common sense.

She wanted to know who Tristan and Iseult were.

“I’m here to attend the lecture, ma’am.” She smiled and sat down on the floor, like a kindergartener.

“Let’s get started, then.” She went on to talk about the basis of the myth: Tristan was sent to bring Iseult back to his uncle, King Mark of Cornwell, with whom she was to marry. On their journey however, they consumed a love potion (whether or not they were aware had varied throughout history) and fell for one another. They were forced to have an affair behind Mark’s back, despite them both holding a lot of respect for the king, because the effects of the potion were too strong for them to ignore. When the king caught them, he sentenced them both to death, but Tristan escaped and saved Iseult and they ran off together. When King Mark finally found them again, Tristan agreed to give Iseult back to the king and flee Cornwell so long as neither of them would be harmed. And eventually, he found another young woman named Iseult and married her instead.

Diana was just beginning to explain how this compared the Arthurian legend and the love triangle between King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Guinevere, when Spencer walked in.

“Mom, we found her. Rebecca’s safe.” The two women turned their heads to the newcomer and Spencer flushed, seeing Lydia sitting quietly on the floor across from his mother. “Lydia! I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Young man, we are in the middle of a lecture,” she reprimanded. “May I ask why you’ve so rudely interrupted us?”

Lydia covered her mouth to suppress a laugh and Spencer looked shocked by his mother’s scolding. “What?”

“I am giving a lecture on Tristan and Iseult,” she repeated, impatiently. “Are you here to attend or do you want to just keep standing there and gawking?”

He seemed to understand his mother’s headspace, but his confusion returned when he remembered Lydia. She gestured for him to sit with her, smugly, and turned back to Diana. “You can continue Mrs. Reid, he was just late.”

“Has he read any of the material?” she asked, suspiciously.

Lydia raised an eyebrow at Spencer, teasing him despite the fact that she definitely had not read whatever it was that Diana would have previously assigned.

His face was gentle, almost unsure, and slowly he sat down besides Lydia. “I’ve had them read to me.”

Lydia knew he was talking about his mother. He’d grown up listening to her read valentine’s poems and old mythology. It was honestly really touching and she wondered if she should leave them to have a moment together but couldn’t bring herself to get up.

“Wonderful,” Diana sighed. “That’s the best way, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am. By far.”

They sat there for a few more minutes, listening to her thoughts and analysis of different versions of the story. Lydia would glance over at him at times, checking to see if he was still smiling, which he always was. Sometimes he’d catch her in the act and they’d share a look of amusement before turning their focus back to their temporary teacher.

Unfortunately, it had to come to a sudden end when Hotch walked in.

“Ambers.” His tone was serious. “I was worried you’d left. I need to speak with you.”

Lydia could see Diana’s frustration at yet another interruption, so she quickly stood up.

“You’ll have to excuse me, Mrs. Reid,” she apologized, shuffling out behind her boss.

He nodded for her to follow him to his office. Was this about what he said earlier? They needed to have a talk?

She wondered if it was possibly the fact she took out an SUV again despite being informed not to after the last time. Or it could be about her harsh comments that morning towards Gideon and around Haley. Or even worse, about her mom and how she stormed away.

She sat across from him, waiting for his exasperated voice to come through, but it didn’t.

“Lydia, I think we need to have a discussion about your future,” he started, unexpectedly. “I created an internship into the team for you because we’ve never had the need for a forensics expert before, but for these past several months, you’ve been an incredible help. You’re knowledgeable in crime scene analysis, lab work, and, as you proved today, profiling. So, I’ve brought you here to tell you that I’ve discussed with Chief Strauss the possibility of giving you a full-time job in the BAU and she has agreed to speak with you and myself about creating you a position as a government contractor. You can’t apply to be an agent until you’re 23, but I want to be able to lift the restrictions on you and have your help on the cases I see as necessary. If Strauss likes you, you’ll be allowed to make calls for yourself, carry a badge, take the gun qualifications tests, and work without agent supervision, which if she asks, you haven’t been doing already. Would you be interested in such a position?”

She blinked, completely floored by the offer. “Agent Hotchner, I… wait, ‘proved today’?”

It was not what she wanted to say in the moment, but it had thrown her off slightly.

“Today, you walked onto a crime scene and told me an hour later exactly what had happened. You could identify when and from where the unsub entered the room, how Elle was positioned when she got shot, and what happened between then and her call to 911. Yes, I asked you to go there as a scientist and to look for evidence, but when I asked what you thought had happened, you became a profiler and you’re clearly fit to join the team. Again, you becoming a profiler is something we can discuss but not act on for another year, so hopefully contracted work is okay with you.”

“Okay with me?” she laughed. “That sounds amazing. So, just like I’ve been doing in the past, I’ll only be called in when you want me on a case and not for any office work?”

He nodded. “This is dependent on Strauss’s approval, but yes, that’s what we discussed.”

Lydia grinned. “So, how does one get Strauss’s approval?”

~ ~ ~

Lydia didn’t get back to her apartment until around 6 AM and promptly slept for most of the day. She was startled awake by her ringtone in the early afternoon and prepared herself for Hotch to ask her to come back in, but it wasn’t him. Interestingly enough, it was Spencer whose name popped up on her screen.

“Hello?” she answered, sitting back against her headboard.

“Hey, Lydia. Sorry, I’m sure you’re still exhausted after everything. I would have waited a few days to call you, but if I don’t do this now, I’m not sure I ever will.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “Is everything alright, Spencer? Did you make it to Las Vegas okay?”

By the time she’d finished talking with Hotch, Spencer had left with his mom and she’d heard that he was planning to fly with her back to the sanitarium, because she had a fear of planes. After everything, she expected him to stay with his mother for a few days, so she hadn’t thought she’d be hearing from him anytime soon.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be back in DC tomorrow. But I have something to admit to you. I didn’t realize this earlier, but I know why Randal Garner sent you what he did.”

Lydia’s breath hitched. “What do you mean? Have you… did Garcia tell you?”

How did he know? Maybe he’d just guessed with the whole scene she made about the bupropion. Garcia had told her that she wouldn’t spill any of her secrets. But would Hotch or Gideon tell him what happened to her mom?

“What? Garcia didn’t tell me anything. I think you should wait for me to explain, so that you don’t accidentally tell me something you don’t want me to know.” His tone was joking, but there was a wavering nervousness that she could hear over the line. “Lydia, when you worked that poisoning case… on the jet back the whole rest of the team was asleep and you had a conversation with Hotch. You said that seeing an orange prescription bottle made you angry because it reminded you of your mother… I overheard that.”

She waited a minute for him to go on. She thought for certain he was going to say he’d figured her whole past out. He was going to tell her that he’d profiled her fidgets and glances and found out every last detail of her mom’s death, but he didn’t. That was all.

“That’s okay, Spencer,” she reassured him. “It wasn’t… I’m not keeping secrets from the team, I just don’t really like to talk about it.”

She faintly heard him huff, frustratedly. “No, I mean, the unsub got all this information on us from my mom. From all the stuff I’d tell her about my team… I told her about you,” he admitted. “I told her about how I’d overheard that conversation and I’m so sorry that you had to go through all this because of me.”

Lydia’s fingers ghosted lightly over her face as she processed this and shut her eyes tightly. It didn’t bother her as much as she’d thought it would, in fact, she didn’t seem to mind at all. The only thing on her mind when he said that was her stupid crush and the fact that he’d been writing to his mom about her.

She shook it aside. He talked about the whole team. It wasn’t a big thing. But… the unsub had, in his fantasy, assigned them two characters who were in love…

“I really appreciate the thought Spencer, but this isn’t your fault. I never said anything to Hotch about the bupropion, so you couldn’t have known about that. The unsub probably just did some research on me or looked through my files. Even if he chose the bottle because of your letters, he had everything else to torment me. Please don’t put this on yourself or your mom.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t hate me?”

“I can change my mind if you’d prefer,” she laughed.

He joined her for a moment, but fell silent far too fast. Lydia suddenly racked her brain for whatever she’d done to cause him to freeze, but hadn’t come up with anything before he spoke up again.

“Hey, Lydia? When I get back to DC, do you, uh… want to get something to eat?”

Lydia’s heart stopped. She wasn’t a profiler and definitely not an expert on asking people out, but she wasn’t about to let this crush rot in her brain. These past few days were torture enough. “You mean, like a date?” she prompted.

Bad move on her part. He flipped suddenly trying to deny it and she had to interrupt him before he hung up on her in mortification. He was so flustered she wasn’t even sure he was speaking English.

“Spencer. Spencer!”

He tried to mumble a quick apology, but she wasn’t about to let him close off just like that.

“Spencer, I’m not going to get food with you unless it’s a date. I don’t play mind games like that.”

“You wha- So, you’d like to- I’m sorry, it’s just… Mind games?” he finally spit out.

He was a funny one. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen so quickly for some dork. When she was a kid and all the other girls would ask her ‘What do you want your future boyfriend to be like?’ she never recalled saying, ‘A real mess. Just a true goof.’

“Yes, Spencer,” she responded. “Mind games. Getting food together could easily be misinterpreted as a date and I want to go on a date with you. But if we’re going to do that, we need to both be on the same page about it. If we go get something to eat, will it be a date or are you just suggesting it to be nice?”

“I would like that. I mean, yeah… it’d be a date. If you want! I don’t wanna pressure you or- are you sure that a date is-”

“I’m still fairly new to the Virginia-DC area,” Lydia interrupted, knowing that if he wasn’t able to form a complete sentence, he’d just keep starting new ones. “Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“Um… well, what do you like?”

A grin graced her face, glad to hear him finally calming down. “I’m sure whatever you like I’ll enjoy as well.”

This was it. She’d scored herself a date with the bumbling boy genius.

[minyoongleschimjoongles]

Windfall 1

Pairing(s): Poly!BTS X OC, Sugar Daddy! BTS X OC

Warnings: Implied sexual situations

Note: In this fic, Zara can’t speak very much Korean. Until the language barrier is closed, Bold Text indicates that a person or an app is speaking in Korean.

Masterlist

The way Seokjin tells the story, the day he and the boys met Zara was foretold for centuries. He distinctly remembers the clouds parting to reveal the shining sun, and a choir of angels singing praises to the heavens. The moment her green eyes met Namjoon’s dark ones, the world stopped spinning for a noticeable moment, then her eyes swept over the rest of them, and their fates were sealed forever.

Jin’s full of shit.

The truth of the matter is this; the sky was downpouring, the clouds inky grey above pedestrians, locals and tourists as they ran for cover into stores and under awnings. It seemed to Zara like they’d never see the sun again.

The small coffee shop she was sitting in was overcrowded, but the wifi was free, and the Chai Tea was cheap, a blessing to Zara’s depressingly thin wallet. On the laptop in front of her was the essay that was due at midnight, the half-edited blog post scheduled to go up in two days, and the raw footage for her latest youtube video. When you were a content creator in college, multitasking was key.

Jin’s “chorus of angels” was actually the squealing of a group of prepubescent girls that had caught sight of the Boys as they moved through the shop with their coffee orders. Polite as they were, they were taking photos with the fans as they passed, though Big Hit would surely yell at them when they find out.

Zara was paying no attention to the commotion, eyes on her computer screen, listening to the audio of her video through the chunky headphones she wore. Had she been paying attention, Zara might have been able to prevent the disaster that occurred right at that moment.

Namjoon, still smiling at the young fan he’d just taken a selfie with, made to take another step towards the door. His foot caught on a table leg, his long, clumsy limbs pinwheeling in an attempt to recover his balance. The coffee was released in favor of the edge of Zara’s table, his eyes widening in horror as they followed the downward trajectory of the beverage, straight onto the keys of Zara’s computer. The screen flickered once, twice, then blinked out completely.

The world did go still when Zara’s eyes met Namjoon’s for the first time, but that’s because of the fury that surrounded the small young woman.

“Holy fuck,” Yoongi’s words were carried with a nervous exhale. Zara’s angry gaze swept over him briefly before going over the other five young men, before finally settling back on Namjoon.

“What,” she reached up to pull her headphones off her head, “the fuck?!”

“Oh, shit!” Namjoon straightened to his full height, grabbing for napkins to sop up the coffee before it began to drip into her lap. “Fuck, I am so sorry!”

Zara stood quickly, and despite being half a foot shorter than he was, the look on her face made him take a step back. He watched as she began to fiddle with her laptop, trying to get it to turn back on, to no avail.

“Oh, no,” she whined softly when she realized how screwed she actually was. “Oh, no, no, no!” She hung her head and brought her hands up to her face, thinking over her options. Her essay and her blog post weren’t an issue; anything she had to type, she did in Google Docs before submitting or posting. She didn’t need to worry about the unedited video footage either; her personal channel was nowhere near as popular as her family’s, so there was no uproar if supply didn’t meet demand, and her “fans” would understand. But the memories, and the photos she’d saved on her computer couldn’t be replaced, and to be honest, neither could the computer. At least, not for a long time. She quite simply couldn’t afford it on her meager part-time retail salary.

Namjoon reached out to gently brush her shoulder with his fingertips. “I’m so, so sorry. Are you okay?”

Becoming aware of the whispers and the many eyes on her as she had a quiet meltdown, Zara stepped away from him, shoving her ruined laptop into her bag. Namjoon watched her with guilty eyes, casting a pleading look at his brothers over his shoulder. Taehyung, the epitome of ‘no help’ shrugged his shoulders. Namjoon turned back to see Zara had shoved the rest of her stuff into her bag, leaving her half-finished tea on the table.

“I can make it up to you,” he said, as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and made for the door.

“Look man, don’t worry about it, okay?” Zara’s voice shook as she called over her shoulder. “I gotta go, I gotta get out of here.”

Namjoon was quick to follow her out the door, his long legs carrying him over the distance between them in record time.

“Hey, hey!” he looked down as he matched her stride. Zara’s eyes stayed on the sidewalk, her hand tightening on the strap of her bag. “Come on, let me make it up to you.”

Zara’s cheeks burned, and she glared up at him.

“Oh my gosh, you’re not going to use this as an opportunity to hit on me, are you?”

To her surprise, Namjoon laughed, bringing out the most adorable dimples Zara had ever seen. “No, I’m going to use it as an opportunity to get you a new laptop.”

That stopped her in her tracks, and Namjoon grinned at her wide green eyes. “That’s better, Speedy. Hi. I’m Kim Namjoon.”

***

“How about this one?”

It had taken Namjoon the better part of an hour to convince Zara to agree to letting him buy her a computer and to come out to lunch with him and the boys, swearing up and down that they weren’t going to kidnap and murder her. Now she sat in a huddle of attractive young men, Namjoon’s phone in her hand, scrolling through the laptops Amazon offered with a frown on her face.

Namjoon looked up from the book in his hand at the price of the laptop on the phone screen and shook his head.

“No way, pick a more expensive one.”

“A more expensive one?!”

Namjoon just shushed her, a small smirk on his face.

Zara gave the boys a few more options, none of them going over $200. Finally, Jimin sighed and snatched Namjoon’s phone out of her hand.

“If you’re going to be unreasonable, I’ll have to do it myself.” He scrolled back up to the top of the page, clicking on a Macbook. Though Zara didn’t understand his words, his actions spoke loudly enough for her to understand.

“No, hey, that’s way too much!” she cried, as he clicked, ‘Buy now.’ “I’m never going to be able to pay you back!”

He completely ignored her protests, completing his order. When he had confirmation that the deed was done, he spun around to face her. His eyes darted over her face, taking in the blush, the slackened jaw, the frustrated tears.

“I can’t afford-”

“We can afford,” Taehyung assured in broken English, taking up her hands and shaking her gently. 

Namjoon closed his book, accepting his phone back from Jimin, before fixing Zara with a smile. “Look, I messed up. You don’t owe me anything. Come on, Zara, don’t cry. I hate it when girls cry.”

“I’ll find a way to pay you back,” she promised, wiping her eyes. “It’s not right to let you spend so much money on me when you could certainly be using it on something more important.” Over Zara’s shoulder, Namjoon connected eyes with each of his bandmates, his brow arched high. Jin’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. It wasn’t every day that they met someone that didn’t know who they were. It was certainly refreshing.

“You don’t have to.”

“I’ll pay you back!”

Taehyung rubbed her arms again, and seeing that she wasn’t going to cry anymore, he let her go.

“Yeah, you can try, Speedy.” Namjoon said, “Come write your number down so we can let you know when your laptop arrives,” he paused, and his grin widened a little more. “By the way, this will be the opportunity we’ll take to hit on you, Pretty Girl.”

“You’re incorrigible,” she scoffed, but now she was smiling too.

“Oh, you haven’t met incorrigible.”

***

PJM: What are you doing right now?

Zara looked away from the paper notes in front of her, a tiny smile appearing when she saw Jimin’s initials pop up. Over the past week, the boys had stayed in contact, painstakingly Google-Translating every text to ask her questions about herself, telling her stories about themselves. Jin admitted they’d googled her when she told him about her family’s Youtube channel AHillofaRide, and she admitted she’d googled them too, as soon as she’d gotten home that first day. She’d been more than shocked to discover how famous they actually were, but it got a lot of the awkward stuff out of the way and she found herself grinning like a fool every time her phone buzzed with a message from one (or all) of them.

Zara: I’m cramming for my WWII History Midterm.

PJM: I thought you were in Art School, Z?

Zara: I am, but I’m double majoring in History.

PJM: That’s amazing, Zara, you’re amazing. Art and P.E. were always my favorites in school, but I guess History was okay too.

Zara: You’re a monster, History is the best. Stop lying to yourself.

PJM: Yes, Ma’am.

PJM: So, Speedy...

All the boys had taken to calling Zara by Namjoon’s initial nickname for her, and it had begun to make her heart flutter.

Zara: So, Jimin...

PJM: Your laptop’s here. Did you want to come pick it up from the arena, or did you want me to drop it off with you? I can come by now?

Zara glanced up from her phone screen to look at the messy floor of her dorm room. She and her roommates had had a study party the night before, and the floor was covered in pizza boxes, candy wrappers, soda cans and a mixture of dirty and clean clothes. She imagined much of their suite looked the same.

Zara: I don’t want to be a bother.

PJM: It's no bother. I’m just hanging around doing nothing right now, anyway.

PJM: You’d be doing me a favor, really.

PJM: I’m getting stir crazy.

Zara: Well, we wouldn’t want that. Can you give me 20 minutes before you leave?

PJM: Sure thing. See you soon, Speedy.

Zara slammed her notebook shut, bolting to her feet. She shot a quick message to her roommate, Ji-yoo (who, conveniently was originally from South Korea), and their suitemates Jane and Clara, letting them know she was having a guest over, that she was purging the disaster, getting only positivity in reply. Apparently it was about time she had a boy over.

She started with the pizza boxes, breaking them down and putting them aside to be recycled. She moved on to the garbage in the floor, gathering the wrappers and shoving them into the overflowing garbage can that she and Ji-yoo shared. She let out a grunt and scoured the top shelf of their closet for any garbage bags, letting out a victory screech when she found the roll of bags wedged between the shelf and the wall. The garbage was dumped and she moved on to the soda cans.

The clothes were a lost cause, so she tossed them all into the hamper to be dealt with later. She made the beds, folding blankets and fluffing pillows and tucking in the sheets, before moving on to their desks. Ji-yoo’s desk wasn’t awful, just a little cluttered with her notebooks and textbooks. Her makeup sat in an overflowing basket on the corner of her desk, but other than that, all Zara had to do was put some papers in the drawers. 

Her own desk was covered in pallets of paint and sketchbooks and pencils, the drawers of the organization caddy she’d bought for her supplies were open, their contents scattered across the desk and the top of the caddy. With a huff, she cursed her disorganized tendencies. By the time she had everything back in the right drawers, and the desktop cleared, she knew her 20 minute head start was over, leaving her only another 15 to clean the common area.

The dorm suite was a simple set-up, consisting of a small common area; no more than a long hallway with a counter top spanning the length of it. There was a toilet room at one end, a shower room at the other, and the two dorms between them. The door to the suite had an electronic lock on it, as did each of the dorm doors, but the girls usually left the doors open during the day.

Sharing such a small space between four girls wasn’t difficult for Zara; she had younger siblings, so she was used to lots of people living their lives around her. Living in the dorm actually helped her with a bit of her home sickness. Having three people there to talk to made living on the complete opposite end of the country from her home, made living in a strange, huge city bearable and for that she would always be thankful.

Due to the common area being the most shared space, it was the cleanest. Jane had gone out and bought the recycling and garbage bins and Clara had brought a shoe rack from home that she let all of them share. Command hooks held various jackets, hats, and accessories, and Ellie’s art had been proudly sticky-tacked to the wall by Ji-yoo. 

There was a microwave on the counter and a mini-fridge on the ground beneath it. A TV sat haphazardly next to the microwave, with Zara’s blu-Ray player and Jane’s Xbox next to it, cables a tangled mess around it. There was a lone circle chair between the two dorms, upon which a large Scooby-Doo plush sat standing guard, courtesy of Zara’s younger sister Scarlet. 

She’d just finished tying off the top of the garbage bag when her phone vibrated on the counter.

PJM: They won’t let me into the building without you here with me.

Zara: That’s because you’re a random 4 foot tall stranger.

PJM: Ouch.

Zara snorted and lifted the bag, grabbing her key card and student ID from her jacket pocket on her way out the door. She dropped the trash in the bin at the end of the hall and started down the stairs at a light jog, her slippers echoing quietly in the silence.

It was easy to see Jimin standing at the security desk, an easy-going smile on his face as he made large hand gestures to the security guard, one hand holding the Amazon box. He looked nice in his plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans, his hair tousled from the wind. His eyes lifted to meet hers and his smile turned into a full on grin.

“There she is!” He exclaimed in Korean. He quickly set the Amazon box on the counter and, to Zara’s surprise, wrapped his arms around her, sliding between her tank top and the flannel shirt she wore. The next sentence was spoken in slow, careful English, clearly something he’d practiced. “It’s nice to see you, Pretty Girl.”

Zara could feel her face heat up against Jimin’s t-shirt.

“Zara Underhill,” the security officer said, causing Jimin to break away from her. “You’ve never had visitors before.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Zara sighed, reaching for the sign-in sheet and signing her name. She slid the clipboard in front of Jimin and held out the pen to him. He filled out his information and signed his name with a flourish.

“Okay, Miss Underhill, he’s all yours.”

“Thanks, Phil,” Zara smiled and started back up the stairs. Over her shoulder she called, “This way, Jimin. Follow me.”

Jimin wasn’t the only one who had been practicing. Zara had enlisted Ji-yoo to teach her some Korean, sensing that her interactions with these boys would last longer than the short time they’d be in California. Although, Zara was far from fluent.

Jimin grabbed the Amazon box and followed after her up the stairs. On the third landing, he gave a little whistle. “You live so far up. Which floor do you live on?” When he saw Zara turn to blink back at him stupidly, he searched his brain for his limited English vocabulary. “What Floor?”

“Five.”

“Elevator?”

Zara shook her head and pulled out her phone, the Google Translate already open and at the ready. “It’s always crowded. I get enough crowding at home, you know, so the stairs are easier.”

Jimin nodded, smiling. He pulled out his own phone, “I guess it’s good exercise!”

When they reached her suite, she let them in and he lingered awkwardly in the doorway, looking at the art in the small common area.

“Yours?” He looked at the perfect colored pencil rendition of Rapunzel, a grin working its way onto his lips.

“Yep,” Zara replied, quickly tapping on her phone. “My sister, Scarlet, really loves fairy tales, and she was on a real Rapunzel kick. She’s got a picture of Flynn Rider I drew framed next to her bed.”

“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jimin mumbled to himself. Zara grinned at him, and nodded to her dorm room.

“Come on, Legs.”

Obediently, Jimin followed her in, setting about opening the computer box as Zara settled herself at the head of her bed. She watched him quietly as he plugged it in and began the setup, letting her type in all her information, jokingly looking away from her passwords.

“There you go, Miss Zara,” his phone droned as he scooted back so that he reclined against her headboard next to her. He watched her fingers moving lightly against the keyboard as she scrolled through her Twitter. She placed her hand on the top of the screen and paused, before closing the laptop and setting it gently to the side.

“Jimin,” She said, sitting up on her knees. In response to the slightly serious edge to her voice, Jimin straightened his back a little. “Tell me what you want in return for the computer.” This is the phrase Zara had practiced.

They were back to this again, were they? Jimin’s lips twisted into a pout, and his fingers tapped across his phone screen.

“Zara, I’m serious, you don’t have to pay us back.”

“No, Jimin, I’m serious. Why won’t you let me pay you back?! It’s not like it’s a sex thing...”

Jimin, who had already been shaking his head and typing before Zara’s phone had even stopped translating, froze abruptly, lifting his eyes slowly, and Zara’s own eyes widened as realization took root.

“Oh my gosh, it is a sex thing! Jimin, you’re a total Sugar Daddy! Or would it be Sugar Daddies? Is it all of you?”

Jimin winced at her tone of voice, not needing her to translate the words, ‘Sugar Daddy,’ at all. His fingers finally typed out a response, “That’s not exactly the situation, but I guess that’s one way to put it.”

Zara stared at him a little longer, before coming to a decision. She reached for her flannel and ripped it off. Jimin started, dropping his phone onto her bed.

“Zara, what are you doing?”

She didn’t answer, reaching next for her black tank top. This action is what spurred Jimin into action.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” He grabbed her wrists gently, forcing her down onto her back. She gazed up at him as he hovered over her, stress showing in his eyes. “What are you doing?”

This, Zara understood.

“I’m paying you back.”

“Jesus Christ, Zara,” it was a long suffering sigh that left him, as he moved himself off of her. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

Silence, and then Zara joined him on the side of her bed. She stayed quiet for a few more seconds before typing out, “We could do it, you know? All of us... that would be okay.” He glanced at her and nudged her with his shoulder, reaching back for his own phone.

“The laptop really was just a gift. Hyung killed your first one, we don’t want you feeling obligated to sleep with us just because we replaced it. And it really would be all of us, Zara. All seven. I can’t explain why right now, but I promise if you decide you’re okay with it, we’ll explain right away.”

“Okay,” Zara agreed, but Jimin shook his head and stood up.

“No, we want you to seriously think about it. I want you to think long and hard about if this is really what you want. It doesn’t matter what the guys and I want.” He looked down at her and smiled, “I’ll see you around, Pretty Girl.”

And he left, leaving Zara to think.

@snowythellama​ @stskpop​