#what do you want to bet that dracula placed a 'comforting' arm around his shoulders while leading him back to his bedroom

[vickyvicarious]

Something I never noticed last year is how Dracula seems legitimately sad at the beginning of today's entry. Like, look at this:

I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can look as he said:— "To-morrow, my friend, we must part. You return to your beautiful England, I to some work which may have such an end that we may never meet. Your letter home has been despatched; to-morrow I shall not be here, but all shall be ready for your journey. In the morning come the Szgany, who have some labours of their own here, and also come some Slovaks. When they have gone, my carriage shall come for you, and shall bear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to Bistritz. But I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle Dracula."

Dracula is "grim" when he says his farewells to Jonathan - very, judging by the rest of that line. He's enjoyed their time together and is sad that it has come to an end. He knows that they may never meet again... but he holds out hope that might not be the case. It reads to me like he hopes that the vampire ladies will choose to turn Jonathan into a vampire after he leaves and is hinting towards that, despite on the surface just telling mocking lies here. He's prepped them ("all shall be ready for your journey") and he knows they will come for Jonathan ("my carriage shall come for you"). But the vampire ladies have proven before that they don't always listen to what Dracula wants, and since he's put it off this long it's not like he can supervise the whole process himself (assuming it takes more than one bite/blood exchange/whatever). They could very well choose to just kill him rather than turn him.

That kind of substituted meaning for those specific lines may be a stretch, but certainly I think at least the sense of Dracula being put out to have to say goodbye is firmly there. But - luckily for Dracula - Jonathan (who is on the very last scrap of his patience) chooses that moment to push back, to outright ask to leave and say he wants to go right now. And Dracula gets a fun little idea.

"But I would walk with pleasure. I want to get away at once." He smiled, such a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick behind his smoothness.

Dracula gets to play one last game with his good friend Jonathan Harker! It may be the last day, but it's not all over yet! He gets to toy with him at least one last time! How delightful! No wonder he is suddenly anything but grim. Instead, he's dripping with charm:

The Count stood up, and said, with a sweet courtesy which made me rub my eyes, it seemed so real:

Dracula is fully pulled out of his funk by this opportunity to torment Jonathan in an extra-blatant way. Not only does he threaten him with the wolves he controls, but he pushes until Jonathan is forced to once again rely on him for safety. This entire bit is such a mockery:

I knew then that to struggle at the moment against the Count was useless. With such allies as these at his command, I could do nothing. But still the door continued slowly to open, and only the Count's body stood in the gap. Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and means of my doom; I was to be given to the wolves, and at my own instigation. There was a diabolical wickedness in the idea great enough for the Count,

Yeah. Dracula is the only thing standing between Jonathan and the wolves, literally! But of course he will respect his guest's wishes, so he won't stop opening the door, he'll keep going, he'll make him ask to stay...

By the end of that scene at the door he is fully cheered up, he is delighted, he's kissing his hand to Jonathan and promising (to the vampire ladies, but where Jonathan can hear) that tonight is his still and tomorrow they get their turn. He's ending this lovely visit on a very high note.

It's just. Brutal.

All the more so because Jonathan is so clearly at the very last fraying thread of his restraint, so the contrast between Dracula's initial disappointment shifting to burgeoning sick delight and Jonathan's seething hatred and fear and despair (and one brief moment of possible hope despite himself getting snuffed violently out)... it's super intense. Dracula gets to push him one last time, and Jonathan just barely holds back from outright throwing away the pretense altogether. It starts with his open anger and hatred in his diary at the sight of Dracula imitating him once again, nearly comes out when he insists that he wants to leave. And yet, he feels his own powerlessness as strongly as the rage, and in the end that fear and the understanding that pushing forward will only result in his certain death stops him. But in doing so, he feels complicit yet again, worse than ever before because he can see the way out and he has to refuse to take it, and Dracula gets to enjoy his anguish. Just like every other time before.

And it nearly breaks him this time. After he's forced once again to 'willingly' continue to stay in the castle Jonathan's mask finally breaks. He says he "covered my face with my hands to hide my tears of bitter disappointment." He started to cry. Not the first time by any means, but this time is right in front of Dracula. He held out so long but he just can't anymore.

No wonder they were both silent on the walk back to Jonathan's room. If they said anything at all, Jonathan couldn't possibly keep pretending, and then Dracula would have to kill him right away. He doesn't want that, not when he can enjoy this for a few hours more.

#dracula daily #count dracula #jonathan harker #jonathan hiding his tears by covering his face with his hands BREAKS MY HEART #what do you want to bet that dracula placed a 'comforting' arm around his shoulders while leading him back to his bedroom #ughhghghhg

[tofumedic]

Brothers + Diavolo w/ a selectively mute GN!MC

summary: how well the brothers would be able to deal with you being selectively mute and how they respond to you talking to them !

Lucifer

Other than Diavolo, he may be the only one to know beforehand as helping in the organization of the RAD program, however it may only be overlooked if it is not present in any kind of record like schooling or medical.

When you first come into Devildom, your D.D.D. may be used as a sort of translation object between you and those present.

He is a little peeved in the beginning before you are able to explain it, he would regain his calm but would see it as a small setback to how he expected orientation to go.

Other than that he quickly learns about you and how you work so that he can work with you while trying not to dote on you!

The one that would gift you small portable whiteboards and markers if you had a preference over it for typing, professional though only dark blue and black inked markers <//3

Your first words to him are probably about answering a question or a summons, he does a lot of both but don't call him out for being clingy okay

Anyways

If this man is standing or getting up to greet you expect him to stumble, just slightly catching himself on the edge of his office desk or resting a hand against the wall

When he meets your eyes you can see there's a pinch of panic of "you did not just see that please tell no one" that melts back into "oh my god???????"

He's quick to relax back into what he wanted to talk to you about, not wanting you too feel anxious or guilty for however long it took for you guys to have a mutual trust and safety net.

For the rest of the day his face remains in this pleasant smile and everyone except Asmo and Beel are suspicious, Mammon being especially on edge.

If they call him out on what has him so happy today he will brush them off for being nosy about what isn't their worries but the small blush that rises to his face as he crosses his arms does not help his case.

Mammon

He is all of your noise

He gets forgetful and will try to have conversations across the house by yelling at you only to barge into your room in his petty fake anger just to see your face either amused at him or completely deadpan and he just ....🧍‍♂️

He gets anxious about leaving anywhere without his D.D.D. now what if his human needs him while he's not "bothering" you

Takes extreme pride in helping you order food when you go out places whether with his brothers or just alone, he loves it. Not only does he get an excuse to sit by your side and lean into your shoulder to see what menu item you're pointing at but it means he also has less worry about, he likes being close by to help you just in general.

Your first words are probably involving some drama he was mourning over earlier that day, probably with Lucifer or being the butt of the joke with another brother.

If Lucifer would stumble, expect this man to fully fall. God forbid you two are walking down the stairs instead of him rolling off the edge of your bed or just plopping on the carpet.

He would be so excited, his cheeks are burning even though you may have not even complimented him those words are gonna be ingrained to his memory maybe even written down in his notes app.

But he will downplay how happy he is that out of all of them he was the first you talked to, because of course it would be him the great Mammon and your first man it just made sense.

He's over the moon he won't flex it unless you start being verbal with more of his brothers he doesn't want them to pressure you into speaking no matter how much the urge bubbles up while Asmo is talking about how you would rather match outfits with him that others

Leviathan

He doesn't mind that much, at the beginning of your relationship he is very shy and doesn't really start talking unless something reminded him of one of his shows or games

Will gain a habit of just texting you instead of asking you a question outloud, just because he thinks its more polite and understands as in sometimes it's too much energy to open his mouth to speak

Teaches you phrases from his games, basically call outs, as an extra layer of code to let you know if you're camping out in his room that he is gonna leave for a package (going to spawn camp) or food (healing) etc

He does get jealous saying it's unfair about Mammon helping you order stuff in the "irl" while absolutely being too nervous to do it for himself as well

You two have your own codes for entering each others room, knocking to the tune of a popular sound effect from a game you play together for the ease but he enjoys when you try to do the beginning of an ost or girl group song and he tries to guess it

Your first words for him are probably you entering his room with some snacks or having picked up a package for him from his door, his response to you entering would be asking you to hold on this match or episode was almost done

So when you give out hum and either let him know you're staying or you're signing off (leaving) it's an insta-death, his attention is caught so fast

His posture extremely straight from his hunched focus as he speedquits his match closing every tab back to desktop before standing up on his wobbly legs and giving you the most affection he can handle of having that without warning

He gives you a small headbutt, pushing his forehead into your shoulder as he controls his breathing. He can't handle it that's like finale love interest marrying the protag and you hit him with it so lightly.

He wouldn't change his preference of texting you questions as it's something he's still comfortable with and you speaking to him makes him feel like he's reached masters rank without losing any matches

Satan

He is your best bet for knowing sign language, he finds it interesting that there are so many regional variations has tucked his knowledge of them into his big ol head

His movements would be hesitant as he's mentally dusting off the memory of practice but he is very good at it, though he wouldn't be more than only a pinch disappointed if you didn't prefer that way.

He be more interested in you in the beginning before learning about your magical presence and the pact hunt, it's unusual to him and he likes the study

Picks up small things that are unnoticeable to everyone but you about small habits and things that barely make it easier, like remembering to rebuke Mammon when he goes to order but forgets you don't like a certain ingredient and asks for it to be removed himself.

Would ask if you would like to learn Devildom's concept of sign language, maybe just quick easy signs for going about RAD tasks and classes

Your first words are probably said to him in the safety of his study, surrounded by books or even your homework while he reads

MC i love you very much but i feel like it would be something really stupid or cursed along the lines of

"I'm tired of people making Frankenstein's creature ugly he's literally written to be sexy" or "Why are people so attracted to Dracula he's supposed to ugly af >:/"

He would be.. very nonchalant about the fact it was you speaking to him and acting like he was talking to one of his brothers and going against you in the argument until he picks up those books to prove his side to be like "oh."

He needs a moment after such a not so public embarrassment so it would be later while you're both laying in your respective rooms and he's going over it in his head and then it hits him. It also hits that it was perhaps the most unromantic way it could have gone but it makes him smile into his pillow.

He has it as a secret weapon against Lucifer but he likes knowing something his brother doesn't

He can't look at you for too long the next day but will use the two figures of your mock argument to lightly bully you being soft on you in the comfort he wanted you to know was returned

"In case of argument, you would make a very good creation made in such a pleasing image"

Asmodeus

He is willing to fill up space for conversations for you also, he has a lot to say but will still ask you questions and for your input so you're included

He thinks the whiteboard concept is very cute! He would be the one to get you little accessories like a bag just for that and your markers or a strap for it. He would also be the one to get you more marker colors, you having just black and dark blue is unforgivable

Enjoys asking you how you're feeling, in a way that's easier if you didn't want to write or type it all out is giving him a number between 1-10. 10 is for your absolute worst like if you are having a day that you can't get out of bed or 1 where you're feeling really good like nothing can hurt you.

Doesn't force you to go out and party with him in case it's bad for your nerves or there's a worry demons will rude about "their advances being ignored."

Likes being close to you, so you can write in a notes app or use some other alternative other than texting where he might not see it getting buried by other messages.

Asmo would enjoy either holding hands or wrapping his arm around yours of your non dominant side, he makes good by staying on that side when he's going for affection or just to be in your bubble.

You talking to him for the first time would probably being during an outfit review or ordering new face masks off of Akuzon.

And he would melt, pelting you with kisses smothering every empty inch of your forehead, your cheeks, the bridge of your nose he's so happy

Whatever you were doing or looking at becomes his favorite, a fit he wears when he feels down to keep him happy, or using a specific brand of nail polish or face mask specifically due to the memory

Would find any lisp or rasp overwhelmingly adorable, of course it fits his angel you sound undeniably perfect. Loves how conversations sound with your two voices mixing together.

Beelzebub

He wouldn't completely understand but he isn't rude about it, his actions remaining normal to how he usually acts

If you wanted to learn their version of sign language he would try with you no matter if it was a struggle to fit into his schedule between the gym and spending time with Belphie and RAD and anything else but wouldn't want you to do it alone

He would keep you safe from anyone who had a problem with it, he's used to Belphie not wanting to talk to people other than him so he would be able to handle it especially if you two had similar gestures you used

Beel is also quite quiet in his own other from rumblings or dislike about being yelled at, he's good at still talking and holding his ground in arguments too but affection with him would be extra quiet compared to extra brothers

Your silence other than shuffles or small laughs, it's comforting like a sense of calm. It makes him think of your human dream catchers always quiet yet supposedly helpful and healing

You may verbally ask for a treat or some of his snack he brought for you two instead of a small gesture if your arms are trapped in the cuddle position you've been stuck in and any food he was eating would pause. Giving him a second he would easily give you all that was left

"Not hungry anymore" he would say his eyes warm before closing with his warm smile, he melts more into you like a jacket to let you feel how warm his heart was.

You were always special even if as an agent of chaos with some of the phrases you would drop, and he would adopt into his vocabulary and even further speaking for you in situations you couldn't

Belphegor

Belphie when you first met would give you a different gaze, in a slight squint almost breaking his image of being a helpless human but he would override it, continuing on like normal

At the beginning he may have even less belief in you getting pacts with his brothers but you still prove you're capable and things are normal for how he would treat you, not really changing just like Beel.

For a man (demon) to say actions are stronger than words, he certainly strains his ears just in case you answer his question in that way not that you would know and i certainly did not let you know ok??? cool cool

Other than that he really doesn't mind!!! You and Beel are really his top two people he has interest in being with and you being mute wouldn't change anything ! He may seek you more for naps outside of his room or the attic you don't move as much as Beel does as long as he doesn't curl up over your arms

In the privacy of one of your rooms- whether Asmo and Mammon are out on the town or in his while Beel is at the gym or somewhere else- is your first words spoken as softly as you can to him

Him laying across you with his head resting with his mouth close to your collarbone and ear resting almost on your neck he can feel the vibration in your vocal cords, you were probably asking him to move

Which you probably thought he was doing but any movement was so he could be closer to that feeling of your words if you spoke again, his knees tucking up while his toes curl

You wouldn't be able to fully process just how important that action was to him, you trusted him and felt safe and could let words out to him, after everything that was real forgiveness.

Diavolo

Him just looking over and encouraging you being chosen by Lucifer, he probably would not know unless again it was strongly present in your transcripts

He would find it interesting, it was your first surprise to him and filled him with mirth at the concept of seeing Lucifer tense in confusion his feathers absolutely ruffled

Though while you were already human which meant your interactions were sure to be interesting to him, the way you interacted was also completely different from Solomon, he would love giving you his time no matter how Barbatos would sigh already seeing it before it went into motion

It may mean a little extra work for Lucifer but he wouldn't complain he did a good job picking you for Diavolo to enjoy your company so much even if he was slightly worried on your influence on him

For doting only predict help with fixing the RAD program and making your class experience more accessible, if he tries to help too much someone would certainly have a word with him

He's known being compassionate, he just wants it to be easy for you as it is probably hard enough on you between the brothers, school, and being selectively mute

He barely uses his D.D.D. but if you prefer using that it's no problem though do give him awhile to type out his long messaged questions instead of asking them on call

First words with him may be said on a trip out to explore or in his castle during a private moment in the retreat or in his office

No matter the context it would be a mood booster, he would compliment you you're voice is perfect to him it matches the image you've shown so far

It's a delight, you never fail to surprise him he may repeat your words in his own voice laugh resting on his breath. He'd ask you to stay a little longer if he can get away with it, and if he can't he surely will try

#obey me #obey me brothers #obey me imagines #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios #time for tagging the brothers plus dia pain #obey me lucifer #om lucifer #obey me mammon #om mammon #obey me leviathan #om leviathan #obey me levi #om levi #obey me satan #om satan #obey me asmodeus #om asmodeus #obey me asmo #om asmo #obey me beelzebub #om beelzebub #obey me beel #om beel #obey me belphegor #om belphegor #om belphie #obey me diavolo #om diavolo #tofus blurbs!

[sherlockfanficwriting]

Sherlock BBC “I’m sorry”

Summary - Based on a request, you, Sherlock’s sister, end up in a disastrous fight with your brother. Having been verbally horrible to you, you storm out and never look back. Not much longer, you have the shock of your life, but you won’t recover in a second from it. Will your brother change?

Warnings - small angst

A/N - please take the poll that I recently uploaded :) and enjoy this angsty story. its short btw hehe

WHo GON send me more REQUESTsssssSSS?? Dracula? Sherlock?

You skipped down the steps of Scotland Yard in a pair of mid black heels. You had just finished a small amount of paperwork with your brother, Mycroft, on a difficult case. 

“I can’t believe I am being seen in a place like this,” Mycroft scoffed, desparately trying to hurry down the steps. 

“No one’s even looking at you!” You shouted at him, lightly punching his arm. 

“Sometimes I wonder how we’re related, (Y/N).” 

You flew down the outside steps with Mycroft and whipped open your car door. He awkwardly bent down to fit in the medium sized car. Mycroft held his phone with one hand and used his index finger to scroll up and down, which caused you to roll your eyes. You drove through the city and parked in front of an immensely tall building. 

Mycroft placed his phone back in his pocket and sat up straight. You sat still.

“You’re not coming inside?” He asked. 

You shook your head. “I’m going to see Sherlock for a little.” 

“Well, okay. I hope I’m not that boring for you.” He opened the door and swung his legs over. 

“Never. I’ll stop by tomorrow and bring you something.” You smiled at him and waited until he walked through the large glass doors into his highly professional  life. 

As soon as you parked in front of Sherlock’s flat, you whipped your body over, searching for the crumpled white bakery bag on the seat behind you. You grabbed it and peeked inside the bag. There, the warm blueberry scone that was his favorite, lay idle. You hopped out of the car, clutching the bag, and let yourself in the apartment. You walked up the steps and knocked on his door. 

“Come in.” He said. 

You walked inside and found Sherlock reading a book on his chair. He looked up to you and his eyes immediately went to the bag. A cheeky smile formed on his face. 

“Blueberry?”

“Just how you like it.” 

Sherlock jumped up and ran to you, wrapping you in a tight hug. He grabbed the bag and as soon as he opened it, it was already eaten. You looked at your brother in pure amusement. 

“Do anything interesting besides being with Mycroft today?” He asked. 

You shrugged. “Just paper work.” 

“I see Anderson’s got something with you.”

You rolled your eyes. “He’s just being friendly.” 

“You like him.” 

“Sherlock, I’m just friendly. Not like you.” 

“Why are you nice to him? He’s nothing but stupidity. He gets in the way.” 

“Don’t be so rude. I’ll be nice to who I want to.” 

“Did you screw him?”

Your eyes widened at him. “Sherlock! What is wrong with you! Like I said, I only join in conversation. Friendly. Nothing more. It’s like I do with everyone else.” 

“Whatever. Just don’t make the same mistake again.” 

“What mistake?” 

“You know. You remember James. I bet you do.” 

You sighed. James was one of your dear friends. He was smart. He was talented. However, one day, you both did the riskiest thing you could ever do involving crime as well as hacking. It was both to challenge your intelligence, but it didn’t end well, especially for James. You had been fond of his name for years. You never liked to remember the past, but it wasn’t all your fault. It was realistic. It was something the two of you did, but one suffered more. It was random, but you would do anything to take it back. 

“Can you just leave it be?” You asked, feeling emotional. 

Sherlock scoffed. “Why did you even do that? I thought you were smart. I never knew. Do you miss him? Well, certainly not, you fundamentally killed him. I just can never fathom myself doing that.” 

You felt your eyes becoming ever so slightly watery. You didn’t know why Sherlock always escalated things like this. Sometimes it was too much. 

“Don’t kill Anderson and please don’t kill Lestrade. We need him. I don’t kill my friends. I hope that was the last one.” 

You looked at him in the eyes. He had no right in doing this. What does he know?

“Just leave me alone.” 

“Was James good to you? Are you hitting up Lestrade too?” He asked, chuckling. 

Your face burned and you clenched your fists.

“I never understood why you did selfish things like that. I should know. I wonder if Mycroft does.” 

You had it with Sherlock. You couldn’t hear it anymore. You bring something nice over to your brother and he treats you like this. 

“At least I’m not a failure in life. At least I don’t live in a trash place like this, acting like I’m smarter than everyone and constantly showing off what I can do. I don’t act like I’m better every single moment of the day. You could have been something big, but what are you doing? Solving whatever you call these easy cases in London and acting like you hit home every time you solve them? You’re just sitting around and doing what? You’re doing nothing. You’re a failure.” 

Sherlock looked stunned at this. Tears were streaming down your face. 

“Why can’t you just be nice? Normal? Why do you think you’re all alone in life except for John? He doesn’t count! He’s mentally unstable and troubled. He’s not normal. He’s just there to make you feel better about your skills and intelligence. No real person wants to be with you ever. Yeah, I made a mistake. I don’t need you doing this again.” 

Sherlock’s eyes grew dark and cold. They lost the familiar glimmer inside. You couldn’t look at him any longer. You whipped your body around and stormed down the steps and into the city. You didn’t look where you were going nor did you care.

“(Y/N)!” A voice behind you shouted. It was Sherlock. You paid no attention to him. You turned a corner and noticed him running towards you. You picked up your pace, wanting to get away from him. You turned your head back to the road, and in a split second, right in front of you, you slammed into a car, which immediately braked. Your body fell to the ground. You heard Sherlock scream your name, but his voice sounded distant. Soon you temporarily slipped into a deep trance while your brother, panicking, picked you up. 

------ an hour later -------

You started to yawn but soon stopped as you winced in pain. You touched a spot on your head near your scalp. It hurt. As you opened your eyes wider and adjusted to your surroundings, Sherlock sprinted in, blocking your view of the table in front of you. 

“What happened?” You asked. 

Before you finished your question, Sherlock’s long arms were immediately wrapped tightly around you. You moved your head into a comfortable position nudged against the nook between his neck and shoulder. After a few seconds, the events came rushing back to you, but instead of becoming angry, you retaliated. After what just happened, it wasn’t appropriate. You grimaced as you thought of it. You couldn’t change everyone. You tried, but you couldn’t and you shouldn’t. 

Sherlock let go of you carefully and examined every part of you with his eyes. 

“Are you in pain?” 

You shook your head. “I’m fine. Thanks.” 

He noticed your attitude and the scene from earlier was constantly replaying in his head. You began to swing your legs over the bed. Sherlock grabbed both of your arms and held you down. 

“I’m sorry. I really am.” 

You were partially shocked and couldn’t really believe you heard him saying this. You covered your surprisement.

“It’s okay. It really is.” You weren’t lying. 

“I’m serious, “(Y/N).” I’m working on it. I can’t do it without you. This was all my fault. You should have never gotten hurt. It was all because of me.” 

You looked into his eyes. The glimmer was still gone. You couldn’t help but feel bad. This wasn’t you. You took Sherlock’s hand, which was freezing, and you held it inside your warm hand. You squeezed his hand and looked into his eyes. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Well, maybe a little.” You said, laughing. A smile started to spread on his face. 

“I hate you sometimes.” 

You stood up and began walking out. “Do you want me to walk in front of a car again?” You asked. 

Sherlock’s eyes widened then he soon rushed over to you, beginning to ask more questions and annoyingly pecked at the three bandages you had on. 

#sherlock #sherlock x reader #sherlock fanfiction #sherlock fandom #sherlock imagine #sherlock headcanon #sherlock one shot #sherlock fanvid #sherlock x you #mycroft holmes #sherlock and mycroft #mycroft #mycroft x reader #mycroft x you #mycroft headcanon #mycroft holmes imagine #mycroft imagine #mycroft one shot #molly hooper #221b #221b baker street #requests #jim moriarty #moriarty x reader #moriarty x you #moriarty x sherlock #james moriarty #moriarty imagine #moriarty headcanon #lestrade

[dragon-kazansky]

One year special

Chapter two - Time to party

It makes sense to speak to the characters that started this blog. My first ever post was a Fantastic Beasts post. I make my way over to the small group.

Queenie noticed me coming over and broke away from the others to greet me halfway. She pulled me into a hug which I was happy to return. She led me back over to the group, who all turned to smile at me.

It's so cool seeing them all standing in front of me.

"It makes sense for me to speak to you all. You're the guys that started my blog." I smile at them.

Newt smiles back.

"We should thank you for making us your first post."

"You'll always have a special place on my blog, after all, my URL is a Fantastic Beasts reference. You'll always be there on my page." I chuckle. "The wizarding world is fun and there is plenty for me to explore in it."

"Though don't think we haven't noticed your sights have been on someone else." Tina pointed out, nodding behind her sister where a certain wizard was standing. Glancing up, I noticed him watching. He smirked.

"Well, sometimes the villains can be the most fun to write, but that doesn't mean I don't love you lot any less."

They all smile. They know I mean well, even if I have written a lot for Grindelwald. I glance back over to see him still looking at me. Grindelwald obviously wants me to go over and talk to him, and I probably should. I turn back to the group though, Grindelwald can wait a little longer.

"Will you be writing for us again? We know you did at Christmas, but we would like to see what else you can come up with." Queenie gives me her beautiful smile.

"Of course! I won't stop writing for you just because I haven't had many ideas. Just you wait, I'll have ideas for you again soon! I'll probably do more Christmas stories for you guys again this year too." There's plenty more characters for me to write for after all.

They all nod and smile.

I can still feel Grindelwald's eyes on me. I glance over and he smirks again. I sigh softly and excuse myself. They understand and let me go. I walk over to the dark wizard slowly.

"Ah, so you are going to talk to me." He sounds smug.

"I would have got to you eventually." I grin. "Patience is harmless."

He chuckles. It's a deep sound that seems to vibrate from his chest. Much like Dracula's chuckle.

"I don't really know what to say. I write for you quite a bit. I've done many headcanons for you." I smile.

"I'm honoured. You clearly have fun writing for me."

"You're intriguing." I smirk.

"I'm glad you think so."

"I wrote a whole story about you, so you know it's true." I chuckle softly. "Actually I've written a few stories about you."

"I hope to see another in the future."

"I can't promise anything, but we'll see." I suddenly find the courage to wink at him, which seems to please him.

The Doctor pops up beside me and smiles.

"They're going to start karaoke now."

"Alright."

I don't glance back at Grindelwald as I follow her across the room, but I can feel his gaze on me. I heard him chuckle as I left his side.

The karaoke machine was set up and I see Crowley go over to take the mic. The Doctor and I go to stand by Aziraphale who had been left by himself.

The angel turns to smile at me as I stop next to him.

"Oh hello!" He says, cheerfully.

"Hello Aziraphale." I smile. "I bet it's a Queen song."

Aziraphale chuckles and nods. We watch Crowley as the music begins to play. I chuckle when the intro comes on. Yeah, it's a Queen song.

"Are you going to sing, Aziraphale?"

"Oh no, I'm quite happy just watching." He smiles.

"Me too." The Doctor chimes in.

"Awe. I was hoping we could sing something." I pout at her. She looks a little caught off guard, but smiles.

"Well, I suppose one song will be OK. She grins brightly at me.

"I can't sing very well, but that shouldn't stop us from having a good time." I chuckle. There is no one here I wouldn't feel comfortable singing for, so it should be a good laugh if anything.

The Doctor nods.

Crowley gets really into the song and even poses at the end before grabbing a drink from the table next to him and strutting over. He comes to stand in front of me and smirks, pulling his glasses down just enough to peer over the brim. I can see his bright yellow eyes.

"Though we would have to wait all night to talk to you."

"Sorry I kept you waiting. There's a lot of people here." I smile up at him. He's tall. Everyone seems much taller than me.

"You're here now, let's have a drink." He puts his arm around my shoulders and leads me over to the table he had just come from. Aziraphale and the Doctor follow silently.

Crowley tops up his glass after downing what was left and then pours me a drink. Sparkling white wine in a pretty wine glass.

"The V.I.P gets a special drink." He winks at me as he hands it over. I smile and drink some of it.

"Thank you."

Crowley keeps an arm looped around my shoulders as he looks around the room. Thor was having a go on the karaoke machine, Loki trying to avoid him nearby. Some of the other guests are dancing despite Thor's singing.

Across the room I can see Dracula and Grindelwald talking. I wonder what they're talking about. I see Dracula glance up and grin at me when he sees me looking. I smile back and turn my attention elsewhere. 

I see the Master trying to make his way over, but suddenly the Doctor leaves Aziraphale's side and hurries over to him, pulling him in a different direction. I wonder what's going on there.

I feel Crowley tug me closer. I look up and see him looking at me with a grin.

"When the party gets going, we should dance." He wiggles his eyebrows.

I chuckle.

"Sure, but keep in mind that I've told Dracula I'd dance with him too. He might want to go first."

Crowley glances up at the vampire across the room.

"Suppose I don't have much choice if he comes over." He clicks his tongue.

For the rest of time the karaoke goes on, I stay with Crowley and Aziraphale. We have a wonderful conversation, Aziraphale telling me how excited he was to meet me and that he hopes an opportunity like this rises again.

I'm sure another opportunity to gather like this again will come again.

We watch as Wanda Maximoff, Queenie and Jacob, Jerome Valeska, and then Lee Scoresby take turns on the karaoke machine.

I catch the Doctor's eye and she nods at me. I notice the Master isn't with her as she meets me at the machine.

"You can pick the song." She says, looking at the machine in front of you.

"Um, OK." I look at all the songs on the machine and smile as I see one I like.

Believer - Imagine Dragons.

I listen to them a lot, so this is a song I've sung many times while listening to their stuff. I smile at the Doctor as we grab a mic each and wait for the song to come on.

I choose not to notice all the eyes on me. If they were all strangers, I wouldn't be doing this right now.

The song is certainly not a duet, but we both sing a verse each and it's a lot of fun. The Doctor is smiling which is more than I could ever ask for. I feel a sense of pride knowing I'm the reason she's smiling.

If only she smiled like this more.

When the song ends, everyone cheers. I take a bow and put the mic down.

The Doctor is grinning as she follows me away from the machine.

The karaoke is promptly turned off for now while music plays loudly. This gives everyone the excuse to dance.

I'm now standing in the centre of the room. I know what's coming as I see Crowley approach from one side, and Dracula from the other. I barely blink when Dracula comes up beside me. I turn to talk to him, asking if this was about the dance I promised him, but I'm tugged backwards gently. Crowley has just arrived, so it's not him.

I turn to see the Master smiling at me.

"First dance is mine."

I smile.

"Alright."

We leave Dracula and Crowley standing there as we go to join in on the fun. The music is upbeat, so we're just bopping along to the beat of the song. He's smiling and I once again feel proud to get the Time Lord smiling. I managed to get them both to be happy in less than an hour.

When the song comes to an end, the Doctor rushes to pull the Master away. Before I can intervene, I'm also dragged off. I turn to see Dracula.

"You owe me a dance."

"Yeah, but I didn't realise how urgent it was."

He has me face him and pulls me a little closer. I have to strain my neck to look up at him.

"This is going to be uncomfortable if I have to stand this close to you and look up." I tell him.

"Don't look up then." He grins.

I roll my eyes and take a step back. The next song has already started. I begin to bop along to the music.

Dracula eases his way into the dancing.

Unfortunately for him, my attention is being held elsewhere as I look to the side. I see Lee Scoresby making his way over. I slip from Dracula's hold to meet him halfway.

"Hey."

"Hey!" Lee grins.

Dracula isn't so pleased to see my attention is held elsewhere, but he leaves it and disappears into the crowd across the room.

"I was hoping we get to spend some time together. I have to thank you for that story you did for me." He smiles.

I smile back.

"It's my pleasure. I wish I could go on an epic adventure like everyone here, but writing about those adventures is the next best thing, and I get to share those stories with lots of amazing people."

He smiles brightly at me.

"That's an adventure by itself." He chuckles.

I smile fondly at that.

"I guess it is."

I dance with Lee for a while before deciding I want to sit down and eat something. He seemed cool with it and left to find Lyra, promising to bring her over later.

I make my way to the buffet table. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble with this and it looked amazing.

This was so far the best party I had ever been to.

#doctor who #gotham #marvel #avengers #dracula #His Dark Materials

[stressedspidergirlsfandomblog]

PT 15

(Citrus themed mentions no action, also more torture references)

Keith glances over at Shiro, gently nudges his leg, and then sighs when he realizes the other man is half asleep.

"You really are tired, huh?"

"I'm not exactly sleeping well," he points out, voice somehow dry while mumbling.

Keith shakes his head. "Does anything help?"

Shiro turns red, and shifts some, revealing the back of his neck and shells of his ears are red, too.

Knowing Shiro had 0 embarassment related to sleeping with Adam, Keith wonders what's got him riled up. "What?" He asks, leaning forward to poke Shiro's side. "C'mon. What helps?"

More or less using his heels against the carpet to push himself out of Keith's reach he makes a protest noise. 'Don't poke me.'

Keith just laughs and scoots closer to do it again. "You never get embarrassed. C'mon spill. Does Curtis heat you up some warm milk and tuck you in? Have special fuzzy jammies? What?"

Shiro shifts again, more or less choosing to roll over rather than get up. Another irritated noise that Keith has cornered him against the coffee table, he lightly presses his leg against Keith's chest to prevent him from getting closer.

"Weren't you ticklish right behind your knee?" Keith asks, catching his ankle before he can jerk away. Then again Shiro is still stupid strong and when Keith hangs on as Shiro jerks his leg, it tugs his entire body forward and off balance. Only Shiro, with 0 leverage, 1 arm, lying down, could do something like that. Immediately shifting he settles himself on top of Keith, pinning one arm to his side with his knees.

Trying to buck Shiro off without hurting him doesn't work. In that he can't seem to get him off and when he tries to use his arm Shiro catches it and pins that, too. They're more or less at a stalemate because Keith could probably break free if he wanted to. Presuming Shiro was willing to let him without taking his pound of flesh.

"Alright you win. I give up." He lightly taps the carpet as best he can.

Shiro stands up and settles on the couch instead.

"I was only asking because as long as it meant I didn't have to fuck you, I'd be willing to try it so you could get a nap."

Shiro turns red again. "We aren't there yet." For all he won't admit some of it is that so far his body isn't working right. He probably can't do that. Or at least enjoy it as much.

Keith pauses. "You and Adam put rabbits to shame." Sometimes anyway. Not school nights.

"He lost someone, too." Shiro looks at his hand, and puts it on his knee. "In the Invasion."

"Oh."

His lip quivers. "I can't imagine what he went through." Swallowing hard, he takes a breath. "His partner died buried under rubble before they could dig him out." He has no idea there's tears on his cheeks or that he's squeezing his knee so hard his whole hand is white. "Curtis tried to get him out. Kept digging even after he suffocated." His breathing hitches and his voice cracks. "He told me the doctors said there was no way, it wouldn't have mattered. He was already crushed from the rib cage down... They're not even sure how he survived long enough to call for help." Shiro doesn't realize he's shaking. "Curtis says he kept promising to dig him out, and saying he loved him, and that it'd be okay. He broke most of his fingers, shredded the skin so bad he needed grafts, and broke his forearm trying to shift the rubble. Inhaled a lot of smoke and dust, too." Sobbing softly, "I can't imagine anything worse... To be so close and not even know... To think there was hope and not get to say goodbye... " Releasing his leg he drags a hand over his face, surprised to find tears. "I couldn't survive that. I don't know how he gets out of bed every day."

Keith puts an arm around Shiro's shoulders. "Is he not ready to move on?" He asks, trying to be sympathetic. He has similar nightmares about his father burning alive. Trying to fight the fire and not making it in time. Now he wonders if he'll be digging, too.

"He is. He's over the man, if not the tragedy." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he squeezes his eyes shut trying to stop the tears. It doesn't work. "I'm not ready either. I still don't feel like this body is mine. I didn't before, either, even when it was. I can't remember where half these scars came from. I don't wanna ... Make love... And not feel like it's me doing it."

"Which scars?" Keith asks softly. He's only seen the one on Shiro's face. He's felt the ones on his back.

Shiro looks at him, and takes a breath. He pulls up the hem of his tank top and drags it over his head. Keith blanks his face. Don't react. He waits as Shiro shifts, facing away. Keith blinks rapidly.

"How many times?" He asks softly, reaching out to touch Shiro's back. Trace so many scarred over lacerations he can't count. Some were on top of each other, he can tell. Only the start or the end splitting away from the center tells him it isn't just one giant gash.

"I can't remember," Shiro whispers. "I just remember saying 'no' the once. They stripped me down and whipped me till I passed out."

Keith looks again, some of the scarring trails past the waistband of his pajama pants. Lightly touching the worst one, it had to have gone down to the bone. Maybe even damaged the spine. Shiro breaks out in goosebumps.

"Then they woke me up. And kept going. I think they jabbed me in the side with some kind of taser, it's so fuzzy. The pain was so bad."

Keith lightly touches his side, looking for any kind of burn scar, nothing's there. Shiro locks up and Keith kicks himself mentally. He knows he just triggered some kind of flashback. A waking nightmare. "Idiot," he hisses at himself.

Shiro's pupils are blown and he breaks out in a light sweat. His breathing changes and Keith knows he's back, sort of. He's seen a lot of panic attacks now, for all he hasn't seen Shiro have one. There's something they're supposed to count or do.

"Hey, look at me. What else can you see?"

"Blood," Shiro whispers, tears filling his eyes.

"No, look at me. There's no blood. There's nothing red in this apsttment, even. What do you see right now in this room?"

"Couch... A couch. Carpet. Um... Coffee table," his voice shakes.

"Good. Good. What do you feel? Three things you can feel?"

"You, couch... Cold."

Keith looks down and realizes he'd reached out at some point without noticing. They're clasping forearms and Shiro is going to leave him with an ugly bruise.

"Okay, something you hear."

Shiro flinches like he's been struck. Then focuses his eyes on Keith. "You breathing... The upstairs apartment has water running... My heart pounding." He's already a little calmer.

"Uh, last one I think. Something you can smell."

Inhaling deeply, his nostrils flare and he tries to center himself. "Bacon. You used my soap..." Which isn't accusatory he just smells it on Keith.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea I'd trigger anything."

"It's fine." Shiro closes his eyes, tears streaming out from under the lids. "I fought back," he smiles beatifically. "I resisted." He hadn't just gone along with it after the first time. He hadn't broken instantly.

"I fought back and refused to execute people no matter what they did to me," he whispers. "I only stopped when they realized torturing the prisoners to death in front of me was worse than them torturing me. I could take any pain they dished out. I couldn't watch them skin someone alive.

"They made sure I would be in the room when they did it. Tied me up and made me watch. It was faster and kinder if I just killed who they told me to." He runs a hand through his hair, gripping it. "She didn't stop screaming for hours and I couldn't take it back. I've never been so sick in my life. I begged to trade places with her. Promised to kill her. Anything to make it stop. Make them stop hurting her."

Keith looks away. He can't keep his face blank after that. He wraps his arms around Shiro and hides his face in the other man's shoulders. Shiro hugs him back, breathing rough and uneven. "We shoulda just gone back to sleep," Keith says roughly. For all that's twice now he's seen something ugly around Shiro drop away.

"Probably."

"You never did answer my question."

"And I never will," Shiro mutters. He's not going to admit that sleeping next to Curtis and being able to hear or feel his heartbeat makes him feel safe. Just being held, and loved is healing in and of itself. His favorite 'position' with Curtis is his head on the other man's chest above his heart. He also likes being the little spoon, if he's being honest. He was usually the big spoon with Adam. Not always. Not on bad days. But then again he feels like most days are bad, now.

"We should get you some stuff for your apartment."

"No need. Curtis kinda asked if I might wanna move in with him when his lease is up."

"Ooh." Keith feels like Lance or Hunk would love this conversation. He just feels silly trying to act normal. He has no idea how to navigate this conversation. He's glad. He's not sure if it's too soon or not. But he's seen the way they look at each other. It's right. They fit right.

"I'm clearing out a drawer for him in case he sleeps here."

"Does he complain it's like sleeping with Dracula?"

"Dracula lived in an opulent castle, Keith. See, id you hadn't failed your literature classes and then gotten expelled, you'd know that."

"I know the doctor is the monster."

"Everyone knows that. Even Lance knows that."

"No way."

"Yeah he knows."

"You willing to bet on it?"

"Not anymore," Shiro mutters. "But I'm still right." He glances at the clock over the stove. "We have about an hour and a half before we have to leave."

"You just wanna lie down?" Keith asks. "Or are you telling me to set an alarm?"

"Both?" Shiro yawns so hard his jaw cracks.

"Stay out here? I'll get you a blanket. Will the holo bug you if it's on?"

"Nah."

Keith gets up and drags the comforter off the bed and a pillow. There's nothing on the couch. Settling himself against the arm rest he drops the pillow on his lap, still holding onto the comforter which he's bunched up against his chest. Shiro eyes him warily but chooses to lie down anyway. Keith tosses the blanket over him and they both settle into comfortable positions.

Flipping on the holo, he watches whatever he wants, one hand resting on Shiro's shoulder the whole time. Pidge supposedly has some kind of surprise waiting for them.

Shiro's asleep in seconds. Constant nightmares and emotional exhaustion sucking him under immediately. Keith dozes off and on. The last 48 hours have been a hell of an emotional rollercoaster for both of them.

#curtashi #shurtis #curo #takashi shirogane #keith kogane #voltron #vld #my fic

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

No Romo - chapter 2

Long overdue new chapter, and it’s almost the end of Aro/Ace August already, oops! Anyway have some more of the museum kids being best friends

AO3 | 1

“I’m pretty sure Juleka’s about to get akumatized,” Nathaniel said, sitting down on the steps in front of Alix. “Rose was telling me about it. Apparently Juleka missed the class photo because she got locked in the toilets. By Chloé, of course.”

He had opened his little sketchpad on his knees and taken a pencil out from behind his ear. Alix leaned over to watch what he was drawing – now that she was part of the art club, she tended to spend a lot of time watching Nath work on his art. Not only was it helpful to learn new skills, but it was an excuse to hang out with him even more. These days she used pretty much any chance she could get to talk to him.

“What kind of akuma villain do you think she’ll be?” she asked. “Juleka’s all gothy, right? Maybe she’ll be a vampire or something.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Nath was drawing a figure outline on his sketchpad, his red fringe falling over his face as he looked down at it. “Her eyes are already red. Maybe her skin will be deathly pale, though, like a sheet. And she’ll have those vampire fangs.”

“And a cape. Vampires have capes, right?”

“I think it depends on the vampire. But yeah, I’ll give her a cape.” He added a loose triangle onto the back of the figure. “One of those big collars, too. Wait… will she sparkle? Is she one of those vampires?”

Alix shrugged. “I have no idea what her opinion is on sparkling vampires.”

Nath paused to think for a second, before shaking his head. “Nope. No sparkles. I can’t be bothered to draw them.”

He had a grin on his face now, and Alix continued to watch him draw with interest. These days he was much more open with her than he used to be, cracking jokes and encouraging her ridiculous sense of humour. She hadn’t realized quite how attached to him she had become until she found herself paying attention to him even when he wasn’t interacting with her. More outspoken now, he talked to other members of their class fairly often, and it was all too easy to let her focus rest on them, all the way on the other side of the room, than on whatever work she was supposed to be doing.

Why did she even find him so cool in the first place? She couldn’t put her finger on it. But it was undeniable – Nathaniel was absolutely, definitely, 100% the coolest kid in her class. He had to be. Why else would she be so dead-set on being best friends with him? No one else in the class was worth quite that much effort, even though they were all pretty cool too.

“What kind of powers would she have?” Nath continued, head resting on his arm as he carried on sketching. “I guess there’s always biting people, like actual vampires do, but that would be kinda, uh… weird. Hawk Moth hasn’t been giving people overly weird powers yet.”

“Well vampires don’t have reflections,” Alix suggested. “And Juleka’s got that curse thing where she doesn’t show up in photos, right? So maybe she’ll curse everyone else to have no reflections or appearances in photos, something like that.”

“Hmm. That would make sense. Though it’s not a very aggressive power, is it? It’ll take forever for Ladybug and Chat Noir to notice something like that.”

“True…”

He suddenly held up the sketchpad at her, a sunny smile on his face. “Done! What do you think?”

It was a quick little sketch, unmistakeably Juleka, but seemingly dressed more like Count Dracula. Alix nodded, smiling back. “Perfect. I bet that’s exactly what she’s gonna look like.”

“We’ll just wait and see, then…”

At that moment there were shocked gasps from others in the courtyard. Alix and Nath turned to see that an akuma villain had just landed, one that was now making an announcement, and sure enough that was Juleka’s voice echoing through the school – a crueller version, but certainly her.

And she looked nothing like a vampire whatsoever.

“Welp, we were so wrong,” Alix muttered.

“Yep.” Nath ripped out the piece of paper and scrunched it up. “So, so wrong.”

“I wasn’t expecting a giant pink clown.”

“That’s the last thing I was expecting.”

“I’m gonna say it. She looks ridiculous.”

“Hard agreed.”

“Uh, she’s zapping people, do you think we should get out of here or…?”

“Shit, yeah. See you in art club later!”

Nathaniel leapt to his feet and sped off. For a second Alix had to restrain her laughter – she’d never heard Nath swear before! He had always seemed like one of those goody-two-shoes kids who wouldn’t curse if you paid them. But evidently all he needed was to be around someone he was comfortable with. Like her.

A shot from evil Juleka zoomed past her shoulder, jolting her out of her thoughts. Oh yeah, akuma attack. She needed to get away. Being turned into a weird pink clown clone was not on her to-do list today.

-

-

It was much later than usual when the members of her class finally made it to art club. After Reflekta’s attack, everyone had banded together to help take a proper class photo with Juleka in it, which took up quite a lot of time. Alix didn’t mind at all, though. Juleka was a pretty cool friend too, it just seemed right to help her feel better. Or maybe Alix was just getting friendlier in general these days.

“Alix, there you are!” Nath was already sitting at the table and waving her over. She hurried to join him.

“Dude, you didn’t wait for me at the park–”

“I had to get my surprise for you ready.”

“Surprise…?”

He tapped the little sketchbook that was on the desk. “I’ve been working on a new comic idea, and I think you’ll like this one.”

A new comic? Yes! Nath’s comics these days were always fun to read, now that they weren’t just pages and pages of self-indulgent Nathanette fluff.

“Is it another superhero one?” she asked.

“No, it’s… um…” He lowered his voice. “Look, I know I’m not really good at coming up with story ideas, and so much of what I draw is all sappy and lovey-dovey and you’re not into that stuff.”

“Who cares if I’m not into it? Just draw what you want.”

“What I want is to draw something you’ll like! So here, I did this…” Nath opened the sketchbook to show her the first page. “It’s a soulmate AU, but from the point-of-view of someone who’s aromantic.”

Just hearing the words “soulmate AU” had already set Alix’s brain to fight mode, at least, until the second part of that sentence registered in her brain. An aromantic character, in a soulmate AU? Surely those things were mutually exclusive. She looked at the page to see Nath’s artwork of the aromantic protagonist, a moody-looking girl with frizzy green hair.

“In this AU,” he continued, turning the page, “people see hearts when they fall in love, and red hearts if it’s their soulmate. This character has never seen the hearts, though, and it’s highly unusual to have reached her age without seeing them even once. She wonders what’s wrong.”

There were more sketches on these pages, fit into comic-style panels with captions over the top. The moody girl was even grumpier now, her peers all swooning over invisible hearts while she looked on from the corner, unable to understand what she was missing.

“But sometimes, when she looks at people, she sees stars. She doesn’t really tell anyone. Until…”

He turned over another page. The girl was no longer moody – all of a sudden her eyes were wide in surprise, and the panel around her filled with golden sparkles.

“…one day she meets someone, and for the first time, she sees bright yellow stars. It’s never happened before. And this person sees the yellow stars too when they meet her. They’ve seen hearts before, but never stars like this.”

Sure enough, the page was covered in glittering stars. It looked like Nath had got a yellow gel pen and just gone wild with it. The girl and her new acquaintance both appeared in awe of what they were seeing, stars around them everywhere.

“And then, uh… well I haven’t thought so much about this part but I guess they make best friends forever and live happily ever after. The girl realizes she can be happy without romance and the only reason she was miserable before was because everyone else was making her feel that way. Or something. You’re the aro one, you can help me with the inner turmoil bit.” He closed the sketchbook and turned to look at her. “So, what do you think?”

What did she think? Well, considering how much she was having to internally restrain herself from just glomping him in a hug and never letting go…

“It’s awesome!” She settled for giving him a little punch on the arm instead. “Seriously, you’re really gonna make a comic about that?”

“Yeah! I really need to branch out and draw comics about characters who don’t have love interests. Well… romantic love interests, I mean. Friendship is fine.” He blushed a little. “Actually, it’s kind of for me. I was really heartbroken for a while after the Evillustrator thing, and I need to remind my brain that it’s okay to focus more on friends, than on… Marinette…”

His voice had gone rather quiet, considering that Marinette herself was in the room.

“Are you still into her?” Alix asked.

“I… I don’t think so.”

“Then you should make friends with her too.”

He blushed even more. “I’m not really good at making friends.”

“Are you sure?” Alix said, putting an arm around him. “Because you seem to be doing an awesome job at making friends with me so far. I mean, convincing me to join art club? Drawing the aro comic thing? Nerf gun battles? Dude, you are top notch friendship material. Best friendship material. I really mean it.”

He seemed quite taken aback by her compliments for a few seconds. Alix herself was surprised too – she didn’t tend to say things like that directly to people’s faces, usually too wary that being overly nice might be mistaken for flirting, which was just… ew. But at least Nathaniel would properly understand the sentiment.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “If I could make friends with you, I can make proper friends with Marinette too.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!”

“Thanks, Alix. And…” He gave her a sunny smile and put the sketchbook in her hands. “Thanks for being my friend. You’re top notch friendship material too. Making this comic with you is gonna be so much fun.”

Top notch friendship material… man, it was so nice to hear someone other than Jalil saying that. Pretty much everyone else in the class already had their own top notch friend, and there was no room for Alix there except as an undignified third wheel, a hanger-on, uninvited and unwelcome. Now Nath had changed all that.

She watched as he got up and went to go compliment Marinette on whatever fashion thing she was working on. He still seemed quite shy, but at least Marinette was one of the nicest members of the class, even going so far as to organize Juleka’s rescheduled class photo earlier. It wouldn’t be difficult for them to make friends.

Alix flicked through Nath’s sketchbook, taking a closer look at the draft work for his new comic. He really was very good at art, wasn’t he? This green-haired girl looked real enough to leap out of the page any second.

You’re the aro one, you can help me with the inner turmoil bit. So he wanted her help with story advice. That, she could definitely offer. There were too many stories to tell, stories of angst, frustration, disbelief, confusion, tears… the usual run-of-the-mill depressing aro experiences. Plenty of those to pick from, unfortunately.

This green-haired girl, though. Something about her seemed familiar to Alix. Nath didn’t base the character on her, did he…?

-

-

-

-

Nathaniel worked hard on his comic. He worked hard on all his comics, of course, but this felt different. This time he wasn’t just drawing to cater to his own whims. This time he wanted it to be a present for Alix.

There were too many reasons to pinpoint just one. There was the fact that they were pretty much best friends at this point, true. There was also the fact that both of them being ace gave him a sort of connection to her that was hard to describe in words. Was “ace solidarity” a thing? It sure felt like it.

And she inspired him. It had been so long since he’d had a close friend that he was used to keeping to himself all the time. Even now he was still quiet, of course, but things were different. He could casually chat with the rest of his classmates without the nerves to accompany it. He felt freer to say what was on his mind, to share his true feelings.

He still wished he could be more like her. How amazing would it be to be as cool as someone like her? As much as he tried, he couldn’t do it. But then maybe that was a good thing. After all, she seemed to like hanging out with him just the way he was.

-

-

“How is it?” he asked as she read the finished comic in her room one day after school. “Is it good? Should I change anything?”

There was a spark in her eyes. “Dude, this is so cool! I love it!”

“You do?”

“Hell yes!” Within a second she had put down the comic and clung onto him in a hug. Considering how small she was, it was… kind of adorable, actually. Like a koala on a tree. “Listen, I’m… I’m not a huggy person, so don’t get used to this. But uh… if you ever need anything, like ever, at all, I will help you with it. Up to and including murder.”

He gladly hugged her back. “What, because I drew a comic for you?”

“Because you drew something that’s more relatable than anything else,” she said, pulling back to look at him. “It’s hard to get into stuff when everything’s so damn shippy all the time. But you went out of your way to do this for me, so yeah. Thank you. I will lay down my life for you in the skeleton war.”

Nath grinned and gave her hair a ruffle. “I forbid you from sacrificing yourself in the skeleton war. But I’m really happy you liked the comic.”

“The main character, is she based on… um, anyone you know?”

“Yes, that’s you.”

“I knew it! So the guy she makes friends with, is that you?”

He simply shrugged, though the answer was a resounding yes. From the way she was looking at him, he could tell that she knew it perfectly well. It had been pretty obvious. Maybe it would be best to keep this particular comic just between the two of them for now.

“Anyway, you need any help with anything?” Alix asked. “Not murder or skeleton wars, I know. But really, I’ll do my best to help.”

“Nah, I don’t think there’s anything I need help with right now, unless you can come up with an idea for a new comic…”

“The adventures of Alix and Nathaniel sock-sliding around the Louvre after hours and avoiding security.”

“Uh… was that a suggestion for a comic, or a suggestion for real life?”

“Both.” She had a smirk on her face now. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you drawing the Louvre in the backgrounds of all your drawings, you know.”

“Well, it’s easy to draw…”

That was only partially true. Yes, a quick sketch of the iconic pyramid was easier than bothering with a proper detailed background, but the truth was that this place was starting to feel like a second home to him. The art exhibits had always had a soft spot in his heart, but now this area did too. The Kubdel quarters.

“But yes, let’s go sock-sliding!” he said quickly.

“Yeah! And let’s not get caught this time…”

“I’ll be stealthier now, I swear…”

He kicked off his shoes and followed her out of her room, looking forward to this. Silly adventure shenanigans were a lot more fun than he used to think – but then maybe that was because he was with Alix.

-

-

It was a while before her offer for help was actually needed. Those several weeks were some of the best yet – Nath worked on new comics, became more sure of himself, made friends with more of his classmates, and even made friends with people outside his class. Like Marc, that blushy new kid in the art club who was even shyer than him.

That didn’t last.

It was all that diary’s fault. “Ladybug’s” diary. Marinette had given it to him, and she was friends with Alya, who ran the Ladyblog, right? She could feasibly have acquired such a thing, right? Nath didn’t have any reason to doubt that this was the real, legit diary of Ladybug. He expected it to be.

So when it turned out to be Marc…

It was strange how, when in a situation where Nath was not the shyest one around, it was so easy to become complacent. To lose his temper. To assume the worst. It reminded him all too clearly of his birthday, where Chloé had taken his sketchbook and made a fool of him in class, announcing his crush on Marinette to the world, followed by Evillustrator being betrayed by the girl of his dreams.

Was this Marinette’s revenge? Was she teaming up with Marc to make a fool of Nath again?

Please pick up, please pick up…

He held his phone to his ear as he strode towards the Louvre, having left Marc back at the park with that stupid diary. His brain still wasn’t working right – well, it didn’t seem to work right around Marc anyway for some odd reason, but that was beside the point. The blind panic that this situation had put him in, that he was being humiliated again, it was impossible to control, and he just needed to talk to–

“Hey Nath, what’s up?”

“Oh Alix, thank god you’re there!” He clutched the phone tighter, his pace increasing. “Are you at the Louvre right now? Can I come over?”

“Sure, what’s wrong?”

Could she tell from his voice? Maybe she could. “I need to talk about something that just happened, I… I’m scared I’m gonna get akumatized again, I’m just in such a bad mood…”

“Aw man, what happened?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there. See you soon.”

“Alright, take care of yourself…”

He hung up and hurried on. Even despite all his new friendships recently, they were all seeming so superficial right now. Any one of his classmates could suddenly turn on him, the way Marinette and Marc had just done. Taking advantage of his feelings. Playing a cruel trick on him.

And yet… he still trusted Alix. Somehow, instinctively, he found himself gravitating towards the Louvre – the one place where he always felt welcome no matter what, where he could let his guard down and just be himself without any worries clouding his mind. He used to wonder if it was the feeling of being in a museum, surrounded by art, that put him at ease. Now, he was beginning to believe it was more to do with the tiny little lifesaver who “allegedly” lived there.

Alix was his best friend. If there was anyone he could turn to for help, it was her. He never had been any good at letting his guard down, but for once in his life he needed to confide in someone. She had promised to help him, and he was counting on that.

#i probably won't get this finished in august but eh whatever #miraculous ladybug #aro ace august #alix kubdel #nathaniel kurtzberg #cinnamon roll tomato cutie #museum brotp #miraculace #random stuff #aish writes

[okayleafs]

snowed in (two) - mitch marner

requested: no but i already said i was making a pt 2

word count: 796

warning: a swear here and there

where a watch party during a storm gets an nhl rookie stuck in your house (pt 2)

a/n: hi so its been over a year since i wrote something and im really happy to be writing again but finals are coming and this year overall has been stressful and i have a lot of stuff to do for college so im major stressed

part one

“stop shaking the flashlight”

you and mitch both ended up in the basement trying to figure out how to work the fuse box. your dad had showed you one time for a situation just like this, but you were in the leave me alone dad i’m too cool for this phase of your teenage years to pay close enough attention. you can almost hear him laughing at your frustration all the way from back home.

“what? its kinda like a strobe light” mitch calls from over your shoulder.

“not when i’m trying to save us here. you’re gonna give me a seizure” you already had a headache from concentrating so hard, the light really wasn’t helping.

“ok one; we’re not dying and two; i don’t think you can give someone a seizure” mitch sassed. you threw him a look from over your shoulder to only find him giving you a shit-eating grin.

“okay asshole, why don’t you figure out how to work this thing?”

“i don’t go to college. you do” you just rolled your eyes. dropping your arms from the metal contraption, you huffed out a sigh. “i give up. we can just light some candles and dig out the extra blankets” 

mitch was leaning onto the wall next to you, turning the flashlight up under his chin, he spoke “so we can tell ghost stories at this slumby then?” as he proceeds to do the worst scary voice you’ve ever heard. “okay dracula” you do your best not to run into anything on the way to the stairs back up to the main floor, however, mitch had to trip on at least something.

“but wai—oof—i can’t be dracula if we’re having a slumby. vampires don’t sleep” he pouts as you round the corner up to the main floor.

you immediately halt your movements causing the rookie to bump into your front as you turn around to face him. “if you call this a slumby one more time, you can have your slumby out in the foot of snow” you continue your walk to grab the candles and lighters, leaving him standing there.

“wait, you wouldn’t actually do that would you?”

you would.

this is how your relationship worked; a good sarcastic to flirt ratio. but its more like one sided flirting as the rookie could not seem to catch a hint. so you let it be and pine over him from afar.

while you lit the candles and placed them around the house, mitch went to your closet and found all the blankets he could, literally all of them, and placed them on the couch.

“marns, we didn’t need every blanket known to man kind” you whined as you plopped yourself down on the blanket-infested couch.

“what? its already cold enough in here as it is even with the power on. we’re gonna be freezing in few minutes once the heat wears off” he plops down next to you and you guys situate into a comfortable position. 

“why are you so far away from me? c’mere” mitch extends his arms out to you and has the biggest puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. you roll your eyes and oblige because you secretly want to cuddle with him too. having your back to his front, he wraps his arms around you waist and places his hands in your lap.

“comfortable?” the rookie quietly asks.

reaching for his hands in your lap, “yeah, i am,” taking your thumb and rubbing it back and forth over his knuckles. something feels so domestic about this whole situation and something inside you gives you courage to say what you’re thinking.

“i really miss you when you’re away on roadies”

mitch squeezes your hands, “yeah? i bet i miss you more”

“and why’s that?” you tilt your head to the side to allow yourself to see his face, his gleaming blue eyes searching your face.

“because i can’t get caught in a power outage if you’re not with me” you laugh shortly and lean your head back so its rested in the crook of his neck. “yeah i bet when you’re away that’s all your wishing for”

“it actually is” your eyebrows turn down into a frown, “what?”

“because i can’t do this”

he turns his head to yours, flicks his eyes from your eyes to your lips once, then closes the small gap between you. his soft lips moving slowly against yours, causing your heartbeat to quicken with every movement. your hand goes to the the back of his neck and the other to thread through his hair. pulling back for air, mitch flicks his eyes back up to you.

“i—i’m sorry i—“ he stutters out before you cut him off by pulling him back in.

“don’t apologize for reciprocating the feelings”

#ugh okay #i liked this part a lot better than the first one but #let me know #mitch marner imagine #toronto maple leafs imagine #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #my stuff #my writing

[the-karasu-no-one-knows]

Jason.

After 3 1/2 months at the hospital, I was taken straight to an all girls boarding school. I wasn't even allowed to bring more items from home to the school. My father had taken me on a day pass to check out a co-ed facility in upstate NY and then the one on Long Island (that I eventually went to and graduated from with an A status).

What I was more excited about was seeing Jason over in the village at that halfway house he was at. I had the address and everything and on visitation with my father, we decided to head in that direction so I could spend some time with Jason. I was somewhat familiar with St.Marks place, but not enough. I knew CBGB's and Bleaker Bobs and other record stores and Enchantments, but where he was at, I knew my dad would know.

I was nervous as all fuck because this would be the first time outside of the hospital that I would actually be able to spend time with Jason. The closer we got to that place, the more nervous and sick to my stomach I became.

We finally got to the halfway house and I headed towards the front desk with my dad and brother. I asked for Jason and they called the floor he was at and they said that he would be down. I sat in the day area and waited. My dad knew I was nervous and my brother found that comical. My heart was beating so fast and my hands were cold and sweaty. I was so freaked out inside.

Coming down the stairs, there is Jason in shorts and no shirt and flip flops.

I nearly collapsed! I had never seen him without a shirt on. My dad was also pretty surprised and my brother just laughed. Jason was so excited to see me. He gave me this huge hug and nearly lifted me off the ground. I melted in his arms and felt like fainting. I finally knew what it was like to be near him.

He had this massive smile on his face and told me that he would be right back. My dad had asked me if I knew what my plans were with Jason and that he thought of taking us all out to Vselka's (polish restaurant) for lunch. That sounded like a great idea and I knew Jason would be up for it, after he finished getting dressed.

As he headed down, my dad passed the idea of lunch to him and he loved that idea. Jason grabbed my hand and the four of us headed out. As we all walked, my dad and brother gave us space, which I didn't feel was necessary since I wasn't Jason's girlfriend. Jason held onto my hand so tightly. I couldn't believe that someone as GORGEOUS as him would actually be latching onto me so tightly. I didn't know what to think but I was definitely enjoying the moment.

At Vselka's, my dad and brother sat at a separate table and Jason and I sat at our own. My dad insisted that we have our own table so we could spend as much time with each other as possible. My dad already was fond of Jason, and that took a lot for my dad to think that way about any "boys" interested in me. Jason and I talked and spoke about the hospital and how he kept thinking about me coming to visit.

I couldn't believe that he was feeling this way ever since I was discharged! He wanted to know where we wanted our "relationship" to go from here.

RELATIONSHIP?? WHAT?!! I was still reeling from Matt and that whole fiasco at school and whether or not he would still be trying to contact me (and yes...he was still trying to be with me).

After lunch, we walked around and did a little bit of shopping. He bought me a Siouxsie and the Banshee's cassette and I bought him this shirt from a small shop there in the village. He didn't want me to buy him anything because he felt that I shouldn't and that he wanted to buy me things. Oooh my God I couldn't believe that he had this mindset.

We headed back to the half way house and he told me there that he wanted me to be "his girl". I didn't know what that meant but he felt that calling me "baby doll" was his way of showing that I was with him. At that time, I didn't care what pet name he called me, all I cared about was that I was "his girl".

I was able to see Jason while I attended boarding school. He came to the estate and spent nights at my home in the maid's quarters (which was my sister's room when she would stay over from college). Jason told me that he felt like he could be himself and that back at the half way house, he was the party guy. He was the guy with lot's of girls around him and that he had to live a certain lifestyle while living in the village.

I wasn't the jealous type and I trusted Jason. Plus, my self esteem was so shot that I still couldn't believe that he wanted to be around me so much. I was just grateful that I could make him feel comfortable and that he didn't have to act with me, ever.

We would go for walks at night in my old town. We would go to the beach at night and sit at the edge of the dock and just talk and cuddle. The only thing is that I could not kiss him because I was still traumatized from Matt. Cuddling and holding hands was perfect. In the end, I felt more like his best friend than his girlfriend and that was fine with me. I even told him that being his closest friend was fine and that he didn't owe anything to me.

He told me that was one of the biggest reasons as to why he never wanted to head back to the halfway house. He knew that I had no expectations from him. He just wanted to be around me. He never was pushy with anything. He never asked anything from me, not even a kiss or anything remotely sexual, and I was incredibly happy that way. I told him that I loved him as my closest friend and he told me that that always made him feel safe and secure.

I'll never forget the time he was staying over and I wanted to make sure that he was comfortable and to see if he needed anything. I loved to wear these long elegant night gowns. They were very Victorian looking and all you could see was my feet, hands and some of my neck and face. I was infatuated with Gothic Vampirism (still am) and Badham's 'Dracula'.

This one night I was checking to see if he needed anything before bed. My room was on the second floor and he always stayed in the maid's quarters. As I headed downstairs and past the second kitchen, I crept into the room and he came out of the bathroom in just a towel around his waist.

I stood frozen and stuttered. I asked if he needed anything before bed and that I was going to head to bed. He walked over to me and held me and told me..

"All I needed was you and this moment".

I couldn't speak and all I could say was..

"Thank you".

Such moments were incredibly priceless to me. Even at that moment, he didn't take advantage of me. I knew I had nothing to fear with Jason, ever.

**As I typed that scenario, I had tears well up in my eyes. I could still feel that moment in the back of my mind**

We spent so much time together and we respected each others space and our trauma. We would go to the mall and girls would be staring and he would always play these little games on how many phone numbers he could collect. These girls would look at me with such disdain as he collected numbers. It didn't bother me because he always held my hand as he walked away with phone numbers. He would hug me back and forth as we walked around and shopped. He was the very first male friend that I loved and loved deeply.

In love, I really don't know. I had no idea what being in love mean't since love always came with extreme pain and abuse. Emotions alone were risky. It got in the way of work. Work that not even he knew about, and if he did, he probably would of whisked me away from it all. I bet he would of, but in the end, the mean's to that end would of been catastrophic for him, not me.

**At this time, I had been hospitalized and met Jonas. After graduation, I continued to be a part of Jason's life and he continued to stay overnight at our new home in a few towns over. After graduation, I ended up hospitalized around the same time the actor, River Phoenix died (October 31st 1993). I met a guy, who was gorgeous and wanted to be with me. We would constantly break the rules by making out while creeping into each other's dorm room and leaving our doors open to block the staff from seeing us making out.

John would try to put his hand up my skirt or down my jumper and I asked him to not do that. He would become frustrated but was satisfied with a lot of making out sessions. After I was discharged, I came to the hospital to visit John. We were outside and sitting on the bench we always sat on during our hospitalization together. He tried to put his hand down my jumper and I said no. As I tried to walk away, due to being upset, he grabbed my arm so hard that he dislocated my shoulder. I yelled out loud and ran off onto the grounds. As I waited for my mom to pick me up, I had to figure out how to fix the dislocation. I was able to smash my arm into a tree to knock it back into place. I had no idea how I knew to do that but a flashback sparked the idea. One of those fragmented memories. Neither my mother or father knew of that incident.

Even after John did that, I came to see him at the hospital. He was distant with me and didn't explain why. After he was discharged, he stopped calling me. One night when I was trying to reach him, his father had told me that he was in ICU from a suicide attempt. I had taken my fathers Rosary and brought that Rosary to him when he was taken out of ICU. I gave him my fathers' Rosary, which my mother allowed me to do.

When I found out John was discharged from that hospital and sent back to the one we had met at, his father called me and told me that his son had issues with lying. When John was discharged from that hospital, he headed home and did not call me once. I had called John at home and his father answered and told me that John refused to call me and that he didn't know why.

John called me one night while he was home and told me that he lost my phone number because his house was robbed and they stole the dresser that had my number in it. A friend of mine that I made during my hospitalization and who was still there when John was readmitted, told me on the phone that John was screwing around with one of the female patients when he was readmitted.

My mother was furious that John seemed to be avoiding me and she called his father. The father had told my mother that John was a pathological liar and that I was too good for him.

That night, I overdosed. I don't remember much but I woke up in ICU. Jason had no idea that I was with John and that he had dislocated my arm. I begged my mother and father to not tell Jason that I had overdosed. It would of destroyed him inside**

The saddest part of this story is that I eventually ended up in a very chaotic and rather loveless relationship with someone (not John). I wanted to be with Jason and I had to keep that quiet, even though it was hard to. Eventually the person that I was with found out about our correspondence and that just caused more problems in an already very unhealthy relationship.

A relationship that Jason wanted me out of.

Jason ended up in a situation that caused such harm to him that it landed him in prison. The lifestyle that he led away from me caught up with him and with a vengeance. I pleaded with Jason to stay away from those toxic people but that didn't work. I hadn't heard from him in nearly a month and his father had told me that he ended up in prison.

I was devastated, and so was my mom and my dad. When Jason was able to correspond with me, I cried and told him how unhappy I was in my current relationship and that I felt that he ended up in prison because I couldn't be there for him. Jason would console me over the phone and I would tell him how I missed him. He would send me letters and even those that he befriended would send me letters to say hi and to make sure that I was doing well.

Jason had joined the Latin Kings in order to be safe in prison. They welcomed him due to the fact that Jason was part Puerto Rican. It was really nice how people like 'King Prime' would put a little note in with Jason's to say "Hi" and that Jason was being taken care of and kept safe. Knowing that Jason was being watched over by some of the members made me feel confident that they wouldn't let any harm come to him.

It was in prison when Jason told me he was in love with me. In love with me in a way that he didn't understand. He would send me love letters and poems about love and the love he had for me. He had told me that he felt he was always in love with me and that he had let me down by going to prison. He had never felt these feelings before but the more he spent time with me, the more he couldn't stop thinking about me. It was the first two weeks of being in prison away from me when he realized that he was in love with me.

I was so unhappy in my current relationship and knowing that my closest friend was in love with me, I had wondered if I was in love with him as well. I think I may of been, or at least a part of me was. I was so miserable with my current boyfriend that I just wanted out so badly but I could not run to Jason. I could not be near him and for how long, I never would know.

I would never know because when Jason was out on parole, I got a call one night from his father telling me that Jason never showed up and that he was considered a fugitive of the law. His father was so angry. His father was head of Corrections at a prison somewhere in NY and even he didn't know where his son was. His father was also very angry because Jason was his kidney donor (the father was dealing with kidney failure) and felt that not only would he not be able to see his son again, his son couldn't pull through with the promise of being his donor.

The last I heard from him was in 1999. I've looked for him on Facebook and other search related engines. Nothing. Nothing at all.

I can still see his face in my mind. His smile. His height. His physique. His very blonde short and buzzed hair and those green eyes of his. I don't know if he's alive or dead. I wish he knew how far I have come in life. I wish I could tell him that I am doing well. I wish I could tell him that I never stopped thinking about him.

I don't think about him in a way that he's gone. And gone, as in dead.

There is a part of me that still loves him. Loves him as my long lost friend. A friend that has allowed me to form friendships with other males. Friendships built on trust. Thank you Jason. I will always love you as my very first male friend. A closeness that I believe I have to this day.