#Kendra's rambling again

[sugawara-kkoushi]

Me: Hm, now that I don't have certain ppl watching me constantly, I think I'll stop appearing as constantly invisible on Discord. 😌🟢

My friends: GO TO BED GO TO BED GO TO BE-

Me:

#fjfjba #If i wanna stay up late watching anime it is my g*d-given RIGHT #lmao #Kendra's rambling again

[poetinprose]

heyy, 14 and 22 for the ice-breaker questions?:D

Thank you for the ask! :D (from this ask game)

14. What do you think makes your protagonist relatable?

What makes Kendra (from Tenebris) for me relatable is her anger. Like being angry when seeing injustice or people causing suffering or just when you're overstimulated and you have the urge to just... lash out? '^^

About Thanea (from Aeternum): It always kinda bothered me when the protagonists in urban fantasy were at first completely repelled by the revealed magic and magical person in their lives and then immediately completely okay with it like it's the most normal thing in the world to suddenly have to fight for their life and being The Chosen One™️ or whatever, you know? I hope with Thanea I create a reaction that's more believable or natural? She already can see the supernatural so it's not exactly the same anyway but she's quite suspicious of Nevras but wants him to be trustworthy because she's been so alone all her life since nobody ever believed her or could relate to her. (Does this even make sense lmao)

22. If you were going to excitedly recommend your wip to someone, how would you explain it to them?

Alright I think I'm just gonna do one wip for this one, otherwise it will be too long. xD So let me tell you about Aeternum.

You know all those fairytales and myths and legends everyone has, right? Now imagine that all of them are real. Like, all of them. From dwarfs over the Sandman to your local stories about the haunted house outside of the village. The thing is: humans can't see it anymore. Well, except for Thanea who has never not seen them. Everyone including her parents thought she was crazy, imagining things and needs help. So she stopped telling everyone until one day while working in the university's library as usual she meets this professor - Nevras. But he's not human or at least some fucked up kind of human. He has unnaturally yellow-green eyes and black veins are crawling over his arms. And when he realizes that she can see that - which humans shouldn't- he asks her out for a coffee date. And from there her whole life gets crazy. She also meets Nevras' best friend Zalen, a fallen guardian-angel who owns a bar for supernatural beings where he's in drag at night. And he maaaayyybeee falls in love with Thanea's human brother Kjell but you didn't hear that from me sdkcjfkdl.

I wish I could tell you more but I think that would be too many spoilers. D: Oh there also appeared a ghost in the library shortly before Nevras met Thanea. She's very dramatic but loves that Thanea can see her. OH RIGHT there's also this extremely old diary Kjell brought Thanea from his trip to South America that he found in a little local book shop there that will play an important role.

#thanks again! ^-^ #I never know if my answers are comprehensible lmao #they're so chaotic #but it was rambling a bit about Aeternum xD #wip: tenebris #oc: kendra #wip: aeternum #oc: thanea #nevras is also the protagonist from aeternum btw #they're both pov characters #but he's my co-writer's oc and she writes his chapters so I kind of forgot to talk about him for the first question '^^

[fishsticksloser]

Digital Hearts

Shelldon x reader's ai

Warnings: fluff, robots, technically not their kids but also their kids, slight angst, request at the end

A/N: robot playdate. Robot Playdate. ROBOT PLAYDATE! I wish we got more Shelldon... What if... What if...

Donnie couldn't believe it when Shelldon talked about another ai like him. Who would even be able to do that? Kendra? The one who turned his dear son against him?

No.

Kendra wouldn't think about getting that close again.

Jace? Jeremy? No, they followed Kendra.

From the way Shelldon was talking, itsounded like Donnie had never met the person who created the ai. Donnie was so focused on who the mystery inventor was that he couldn't even be mad at Shelldon for going out alone.

"And she like flew around like so elegant like." Shelldon hums, his LED eyes turning to slits showing he was 'closing' them. Donnie's eyes snap over to Shelldon, realizing something. Shelldon liked this ai.

"Well... Why don't you show me where you met this other ai. Maybe we can see her again." Donnie suggested, feeling this was the best way to find our the mystery inventor.

"Oh, Dee, you're the best!" Shelldon laughs and immediately zooms off. Donnie follows to come to a park, pulling his hoodie up to not draw attention to himself.

He keeps an eye on his drone, seeing no other drones in sight. There were kids with their parents, couples on blankets having picnics, but no drones. Shelldon didn't seem detured in the slightest, continuing through the park.

"Shelldon..." Donnie began when a purple blur flies right by his face, followed by Shelldon. Donnie turned and watched Shelldon chase after this other drone, hearing them both laugh.

"Isn't she amazing?" Shelldon stops in front of Donnie, his green eyes shining bright. The other drone stops next to Shelldon, her own eyes lite up as well.

"I'm Wisteria." The other drone introduces herself, Donnie noticing some similarties between Wisteria and Shelldon's designs. "It's so nice to meet you!"

"Wisteria!" Donnie and Wisteria both turn at the sound of her name, seeing you running up. "Wisteria, you can't just run off like that, what if someone came after you?"

Donnie watches you scold your drone a little, amusement dancing in his eyes. "It never ends." Donnie tells you, motioning to Shelldon. "He runs off all the time."

"So you're Shelldon's person." You say, holding out your hand. Donnie shakes it, nodding. "I figured you'd be... Different..."

"How do you mean?" Donnie asks, cocking his head a little.

"Well... Shelldon is... Amazing, I mean his design, his personality..." You say, both drones fly off, chasing and playing together. "I figured you were some loser, not caring where he went."

"Oh, no. I've grounded him many times for his escapes." Donnie shakes his head, brow furrowing. "The personality he curated himself. That's kind of the point of ai, isn't it?"

"You've got a point." You shrug, turning to watch Shelldon and Wisteria. "What made you create him?"

"To clean the house." Donnie answers simply, making you turn and glare at him. "I'm being serious. That was his original purpose. Then my brother's reprogrammed him because he showed favoritism towards me..."

"Your brothers... Reprogrammed him? What do you live in a family of geniuses?" You look at Donnie in shock and intrigue.

"Sweet Galileo, thankfully not." Donnie laughs, shaking his head. Donnie crosses his arms, watching as both drones stop. "Perhaps they just listen to my ramblings more than I believed. Either way... I fixed him before he killed me and here we are." Donnie uncrossed his arms and called for Shelldon. "We should get back home. Before he dies, he's been too stubborn to charge."

"Wait, take my number. I think both of them would like to see each other again... We can... Schedule playdates." You tell Donnie, grabbing his arm before he leaves.

"Fair enough." Donnie nods, taking your phone and putting in his number. He types it in quickly, handing your phone back. "Text me, I guess."

⋆｡ ﾟ｡☁︎👾｡ ﾟ｡⋆

"Dee! Did you see Wisteria today? She said she got an upgrade." Shelldon chirps, sliding under Donnie's arm as he tries to work. "She's now a 15.2!"

"Yes, Shelldon." Donnie sighs, managing to get his arm away from Shelldon and continue working.

Shelldon continued to gush about Wisteria, getting in Donnie's nerves. Sure, it'd been at least 6 months since the drones met, but just recently Shelldon has been non-stop talking about Wisteria.

"I just... I don't know what to do about him. He's driving me crazy!" Donnie groans, flopping back onto Mikey's bed. Mikey laughed, pushing his glasses up. "It's always Wisteria this, Wisteria that..."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Shelldon's feelings for Wisteria have... Progressed?" Mikey asks, pushing his glasses up.

"Progressed?" Donnie turns to look at Mikey, his brows furrowed. "What do you mean 'progressed'?"

"What if Shelldon has developed more romantic feelings for Wisteria?" Mikey explains, crossing his legs. Mikey likes at his brother, seeing the confusion on Donnie's face. "Let's face it, Shelldon isn't a little drone anymore. He's so far beyond that. Who's to say that he doesn't have these feelings."

"He's a kid."

"Technically—"

"He's only version 16. He's too young."

⋆｡ ﾟ｡☁︎👾｡ ﾟ｡⋆

"Can we talk about Shelldon and Wisteria?" Donnie asked you one day when he went to pick up Shelldon. You smile letting him inside. "Has Wisteria said anything to you? Been acting different?"

"She's has been talking about Shelldon more." You muse, smiling a bit wider at Donnie. "It's cute."

"I don't think so..." Donnie shakes his head, frowning a little. "They're young and... They don't understand what they're feeling."

"They won't ever learn if we don't let them experience."

#{fish answers•°} #{breadcrumbeatingman•°} #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise donnie #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt shelldon #rise shelldon #donnie x reader #donnie hamato #teenage mutant ninja turtles donnie #donnie tmnt #donatello x reader #donatello #donatello hamato #tmnt donatello #rise donatello #tmnt #tmnt 2018 #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #save rise of the tmnt #save rottmnt #unpause rise of the tmnt #unpause rottmnt #unpause rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise x reader #rise of the turtles #rise mikey

[ashtonlc3]

Severitus/Sevitus Fic Rec

Thought I’d share my own personal fic list that I’ve complied over time featuring Snape and Harry developing some kind of father-son relationship, all the way through either bio-dad, adoption, guardian or mentorship. All of these fics are COMPLETE because after OME leaving me on the world’s biggest cliff hanger and losing the fic for many months because I’m an idiot, I have serious WIP trust issues. They’re also usually really long because I love angsty, slow-burn fics.

I started taking in-depth notes while I read through fics a while ago so that I would NEVER lose a favourite fic again (the title of one of my favs is in Latin, so I never remember what it’s called). And also because I have a terrible memory so remembering what happened in each fic is quite difficult for me. Assuming I know how to count there should be over 16 fics listed here.

I’ve also rated each fic out of 10 and added a couple of notes for each fic (I didn’t add any with a rating of 5 or lower cause these are meant to be recommendations not a reading log). I’ve put them in order of how much I liked them, 10 and 9s being my equivalent to an Outstanding, 8 and 7 an Exceeds Expectations and a 6 an Acceptable.

TW: As is usually the case with Severitus, ALL of these fics have some degree of child abuse in them, courtesy of the Dursleys, with various degrees of intensity.

O Mine Enemy By Kirby Lane 10/10

You’ve probably already read this one because it is legendary in the Severitus genre and a staple for any fic list. In the event that you haven’t, you SHOULD read it ASAP. Starts summer of sixth year. 

TW addiction/substance abuse

Victus per Reproba Monumentum By firefly5151 9/10

For a long time I didn’t read anything that had Sev as Harry’s bio dad, it felt implausible, OOC and just was not as good as the guardian/mentor trope. That is until I read this fic, and now the bio-dad trope is my favourite. This fic is the Snape of Severitus, there are a LOT of flaws but I love it anyway. The plot is a bit questionable, it has manipulativeDumbledore (which I don’t like in fics) and Ron and Hermione pretty much forget Harry exists. BUT the emotional journey is amazing, and really angsty. Starts during summer of 6th year.

The Subterfuge By Murai-Sakura 9/10

This fic is on the newer side having been written in 2020. My first time reading this fic I had a few mixed feelings about it which made me reluctant to read it again despite really liking it. Reading it again for the second time I can’t understand what past Ash’s problem was because it was magnificent. Granted I remember it being darker than it actually is (it may have been due to me reading The Hunger Games in-between, who knows). I’m rambling, in short I think I liked this one a little more than A Year Like None Other. The plot is unique enough that the story doesn’t feel like your reading a rehash of every Severitus fic ever while still hitting the emotional points necessary for a satisfying fic. It’s definitely more mentor than father figure and is set during fifth year so watch out for Umbridge.

TW suicide attempt and graphic child abuse 

A Year Like None Other By aspeninthesunlight 9/10

Another classic whose reputation speaks for its-self, written before HBP came out and is also insanely long. I’ve actually never read the sequals either because one was enough for me and it’s in Draco’s pov. It also has the added bonus of brother bonding between Draco and Harry. Set during 6th year. 

TW self harm and graphic torture

Perception is Everything By Kendra James 8/10

This was one of the first few Severitus fics I ever read so it has a very special place in my heart despite the plot being a very standard Severitus setup. Set Christmas 6th year, Snape finds out about the Dursleys abuse when Harry gets sick over Christmas break.

You've forgotten who I am By CastlePheonix 8/10

I’ve only read this one once so I’m taking past Ash’s word for it. Set during 5th year, a what if Snape actually hit Harry with the jar after the Pensieve incident. Harry gets temporary amnesia and spends some time in Spinner’s End with Snape. 

TW addiction/substance abuse

Whelp & Whelp II - The Wrath of Snape By jharad17 7/10

The standard run down; the Dursleys are dicks, Sev finds out. This is pre-Hogwarts (7 years old) so you know Harry is going to be adorable and clingly. Vernon has Harry tied up in the yard like a dog.

Namesake Necklace By WiCeBa 7/10

This fic is a little more recent I think. Set summer before the start of 5th year, Harry and Dudley are de-aged. This ones quite the adventure and Sirius is still alive so you know there’s gonna be a fight over Harry.

What I Must Ask You To Do By VeraRose19 7/10

Set at the end of GOF and continues into 7th year. This story is not just a Severitus but also an exploration of the blossoming friendship between Severus and Sirius as they co-parent Harry together. The story is far fluffier than it is angsty and relies quite heavily on canon for plot whilst also taking out the adventure and death toll. It’s more a fluffy, canon, best case scenario than an angsty, slow-burn fic.

Emerald eyes By JadeSullivan 7/10

I cannot remember this one at all so once again I’m taking past Ash’s word for it. This is set during 2nd year and does feature corporal punishment.

Prisoners By Whitetail 7/10

Harry is de-aged to 4 and Sev has partial paralysis. So they stay at a little cottage by the sea. Hermione features quite heavily in this one, both her and Harry end up with Sev gaining guardianship of them.

To Recollect the Future By oliversnape  7/10

When Harry is hit with the killing curse in DH Harry and Sev are sent back to first yeah. Harry and Sev pretty much spend the whole fic Horcrux hunting, its a fun bonding experience.

In plain sight & Close to the Chest By waitingondaisies 7/10

This is always a fun one. Set during 6th year, Sev found out as a spy so Albus turns him into a 16 year old Gryffindor and gives him an embarrassing name. Seriously Albus, Alfonse “Eli” Hopkirk, really? 

Time Left Today By gzdacz 7/10

Sev and Harry are on the run after Quirrell is killed by an 11 year old. The road trip is quite fun although I don’t really like the ending too much though.

The Trouble with Polyjuice By LilyEvansDouble 6/10

2nd year. Features Snape as Harry’s biological father after the Polyjuice incident.

Summer of Bonding By Magica Draconia 6/10

This one is set after PS as the Dursley never pick Harry up from Kings Cross so Harry stays with Snape. Snape collects horse figurines in this one and is very heavily featured in this story. So its a bit too niche for my liking but otherwise still a good read.

And that’s all I got. I’ll probably come back to this list (yeah cause I forgot to put in tags) and add more fics as I read them. (When I add new fics I’ll reblog this post with a change log so you don't need to read through the list again to figure out what’s been changed.) My TBR is usually just as long so ... to forever be continued.

#severitus #severitus fic #sevitus

[pixystixx]

Hi can you do 2023 bill kaulitz x 13 year old daughter reader where reader has a best friend who's a boy and is german-Lebanese and his name is hassan and he's tan and has Siren blue eyes and wears black glasses and he's quiet and calm and likes staring at the reader because it's his habit and he doesn't know English so the reader speaks German to him and Tokio hotel invites both of them to their rehearsal and while the boys are talking they notice the boy and reader being close to eachother like hugging and he's putting his head on her shoulder and laughing and the reader is doing something and he stares at her and the boys tell bill about both of them and what they're doing and bill goes protective mode and Georg tells him that they will get married when they grow up and (i ran out of ideas so you can make your own too)

My Little Girl

tysm for the request!! this one's kind of shortt, my bad. i'm running on four hours of sleep and i have to get up at 5 am tomorrow. lol

2023 Bill Kaulitz is f!reader's dad

Summary: You and your best friend Hassan go to your dad’s (Bill’s) band rehearsal. Your friend is very timid and quiet. During the rehearsal, you and Hassan hang out like you always do. You overhear Bill’s friends talking about how cozy you guys are with each other. Bill switches over to complete protective dad mode. (572 words)

༻❦༺

“Hassan!” you call out to your best friend, “Are you ready?” Hassan nods and smiles timidly at you. He follows you into the studio. Your dad, Bill, is already chatting with the other bandmates. His bandmates are Georg, with short, brown hair, Gustav, with even shorter, blonde hair, and Tom, with long, dark hair. Tom is Bill’s twin brother, so they'd look the same if it weren't for their drastically different styles. “We can sit over here,” you say, leading Hassan to two chairs. 

The band is chatting quietly, and silence fills the air. “What music does your dad play?” Hassan asks, pushing his black glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

“They used to play rock music, but they still do sometimes. They do a lot more pop songs now. I’ve played you some of their music before,” you ramble. While you talk, Hassan never breaks eye contact. His light-blue eyes stare into yours. It doesn’t bother you at all. He’s always done that. After you finish ranting about your dad’s music, they finally start working on a few songs.

“I forgot to do my math homework,” Hassan whispers, lips next to your ear. You laugh at him, and he frowns. 

You pull him into a hug and say, “I’ll help you with it. Ms. Kendra gives the worst homework.” You keep your arms embraced around him for a bit. You release him from the hug and stick your tongue out at him. Hassan laughs again and lays his head on your shoulder. 

“Y/N, do you want us to play your favorite song?” Bill asks, walking over to Hassan and you. You nod with a bright smile on your face. The band plays your favorite song, and you sing along with your dad. You dance around happily, and Hassan sits on the floor watching you. His eyes follow your every move. 

Even though Hassan looks happily content on the ground, you walk over to him and grab his hands. You pull him up and make him dance with you. His cheeks turn pink since he’s shy. You continue forcing him to dance to the song.

Hassan and you sit back on the ground after dancing for a bit. You two are out of breath and laughing. He lays his head back onto your shoulder as you two laugh.

“Bill, look at your daughter and that boy,” Tom laughs, pointing at you guys. Bill turns his head and shifts to a shade of pink.

“They’re definitely going to get married in their twenties,” Georg chimes in. Bill shakes his head in denial.

“No! My daughter will forever be my little girl. No boy can marry her, not on my watch,” Bill explains, practically fuming, “She’s too young to be having crushes. They’re just close.”

You and Hassan start laughing at your dad’s overprotectiveness. Bill’s face is practically the color of his pink button-up shirt. Tom walks over to you guys and crouches down to sit next to you.

“Your dad might be a little overprotective, Y/N,” Tom smiles.

“I’m so not, Tom!” Bill argues, “I just love my little girl.” 

“Dad, I’m 13 now!” you whine. Bill starts walking over towards you. Bill picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. You erupt in laughter as he shakes you around.

“If I can still pick you up like this, you’re still my little girl.”

#bill kaulitz x you #billkaulitz #bill kaulitz #tokio hotel #bill kaulitz x reader

[kitkatt0430]

Okay so imagine S2 the Flash where Eddie didn't die so he and Iris are engaged and planning their wedding. Barry of course has a +1 for whenever the wedding is and here comes Patty who is clearly interested in him. So Iris is not so subtly pushing Barry in that direction and so is Cisco, leading to that scene at Jitters where Cisco's all 'see how easy it is to ask out someone you like' and then much deservedly crashes and burns for asking out a food service worker at her place of employment. (Sorry, Cisco, love him but asking out Kendra while she was at work was totally inappropriate.)

And Barry is just relieved that Cisco didn't get the date. Because Patty is nice and all, but she's not Cisco and Barry's started to realize that he's kinda head over heels for Cisco.

Except then Cisco does get the date with Kendra after all, so Barry makes his 'why breakfast?' joke (so many ace vibes there, I swear) but it's a bit more stilted than in canon and Barry heads off to be alone afterwards where he asks himself how he manages to get into these situations where he's interested in someone who isn't interested in him back.

Things with Kendra go as per canon, Cisco ditched for my least favorite version of bird-boy (give me the tortured soul who depends on Blockbuster for his pandemic social interactions, mmkay? I like him, he needs hugs but isn't condescending or controlling) and maybe feeling a bit upset about the whole thing. And perhaps a bit more invested in Barry/Patty happening because at least someone in their friend group deserves a successful romance and Caitlin is still grieving Ronnie (again). So it's gotta be Barry.

So Barry has his first date with Patty and it goes okay but he's just not... feeling that spark. And he doesn't want a repeat of Linda so he ends the date by admitting he'd just rather be friends. Patty takes this stoically, Cisco on the comms is like "Dude???" (because remember, Barry started the date blind with Cisco guiding him and his sight was restored by the adrenaline rush of Patty kissing him which here would just upset him over being kissed unexpectedly, contributing to the panicked 'no further dates please' reaction)

Barry avoids like a pro because he didn't spend 15 years avoiding telling Iris how he felt to start being chatty about his feelings to his crush now, but after the fake fight with E1 Linda fails, Cisco finally corners Barry and pushes the right buttons to get a confession that Barry didn't actually ask out the person he likes when he asked Patty on a date. He asked Patty because Cisco made it clear he wasn't interested in Barry when he asked out Kendra.

The mental gymnastics Barry's RSD goes through sometimes bewilders Cisco, but he does see how this one happened. Of course Cisco's still in 'did I hear correctly' and 'brain rebooting' mode when Zoom takes Linda hostage. So the last thing Barry says to Cisco before running off to save his ex is something along the lines of "the person I like most is you".

Cisco proceeds to spend the rest of the night in a low key panic over what he's going to say to Barry when he wakes up because does he acknowledge it now or later? Does he put it aside until Barry's recovered enough to be in a good headspace for relationship discussions and date planning?

Being Cisco, what happens is he rambles himself into a corner and Barry demands cuddles once he processes that yes, actually, Cisco does want to date Barry too.

#the flash #fic ideas #barrisco #barry allen #cisco ramon #barry x cisco #fanfiction

[mylenapony11]

@cherry-blossom-consumer @dressycobra7 I animated some angst.

I was thinking about if the timelines collided what would happen?

This outcome breaks my heart

But I pitched down the voice so it actually sounds like Esp is singing. So congrats on hearing her voice

Cringe rambles under cut

The sad part is Esp can’t even blame him if Donnie went to Kendra.

“She’s from your universe, she’s not undead, she’s extremely intelligent, and she’s closer to your age than I’ll ever be. With her you don’t have the responsibilities that comes with a throne. With her you aren’t giving up everything you’ve ever known.”

Also with the age thing is a complicated slippery slope. Esp was the elf equivalent of 16/17 when she died but she was an unmoving and rotting corpse for millennia and then spent 16 years reanimated and having to learn almost everything again.

#animatic #traditional art #drawing #illustration #royal high oc #technically rottmnt oc #rottmnt donatello x oc #rottmnt donnie x oc #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt kendra #kendratello #rottmnt donnie x kendra #it’s over isn’t it

[mistfallengw2]

And now, to ramble away my thoughts about my OCs in this story

So, Aurelia is in this all by herself (and with her skyscale, though I guess it took her a couple days to get there at least?). She's very happy to see Zojja, very much NOT happy about the "fractals" (trauma-wise she's recovered for the most part, but the anger for the people in the experiments is strong, having been through it herself), fully supportive of Zojja's choices, still very dubious about Isgarren's methods (the "I'd save the farm" line hits even harder because the first thing she did once out of the Mists and partially recovered was saving Markus, his mother who didn't trust her yet and their farm!), and quite intrigued by Peitha on a level she can't describe. Also Taimi mentions we've been up there for weeks with no contact... so I'm not sure how her family is taking it. Like I joked in the other post, they're rightfully anxious, yet probably getting ready for whatever world-ending bs she's gonna come back from and talk them into fighting alongside her. Like it was with Cantha, they ain't wrong, again, but this time it's already for far longer than that time... how long are we going to canonically keep this a secret?

One negative thing though? I was sure I'd get a clearer "canon" for what happened to Aurelia during her time lost in the Mists, but I'm more confused than before >:/ The corruption and her issues with her powers haven't changed, but now I'm not sure I want to go for the demonic route... and I kinda like even more the concept of keeping it a mystery, or having it be multiple things at once (fractal with Void-demons was one of those I liked the most). I dunno T_T For sure Peitha adds something about it, like she mentions the ripple of her death, yet different and now fainter than it was back then.

-

As for other characters that are actually in the Astral Ward? Both Okami and Haidee (plus Dorrya) could fit into it nicely at some point, but I also have doubts atm. Noiza would probably enjoy being there (even more knowledge and books!), but only if it could go back to the Priory from time to time (it has grown too fond of Kendra and the skyscales there). Other background characters are gonna get the perfect upgrade to their story soon :)

#rambles #Aurelia #Aurelia Goredragon #soto spoilers #time for me to sleep on this

[udonart]

A letter to my followers:

     First of all - Thank you. Thank you so much for having followed my art account and leaving wonderful comments and sending sweet messages. Every single note and comment praising my art is cherished. You guys are so incredibly supportive - I love all of you!

     That said, I’m sure many of you are aware I haven’t posted anything on my art blog in a few months. When Tumblr began the mass-censoring of innocent content, I declared that this was the final straw and that I would no longer be using Tumblr to post my art.

This is still true.

     I do not plan to come back to Tumblr as a platform for my art... But I wanted to take some time to address the messages I have been receiving since I left, as well as explain why I feel the need to stay off of Tumblr. Please think of this as a Q/A post.

“If you really plan to stay off of Tumblr, why didn’t you delete your art blog?”

Because I don’t want anyone else to use my domain name. UdonArt is the brand name that I chose for myself, and I don’t want it to be used by someone else in case someone looks for me here. I want them to see the links to my active media sites. 

“There are other artists posting on here, and their stuff is showing in the tags! Won’t you consider coming back?”

This may be true for those artists. However it is important to me to include links to my other social media in my art posts, and as of right now Tumblr still auto-censors posts in the tags with links attached. Some of you may have seen my posts ranting about Tumblr’s broken tag system in the past. I have had problems getting my posts to show in the tags for years - long before the mass-censoring began. I researched all the possible reasons that my art wasn’t showing up in the tags and followed all the advice. I even wrote a letter to the support staff asking for help - they responded with the same list of things that I’d explicitly stated I’d already tried... Then they closed the ticket as if it was fixed. Tumblr is fundamentally broken and inconsistent in many ways. 

“You said you moved to Pillowfort, but you almost never post on there.”

Correct. There’s a few reasons why... Pillowfort is still a fledgling website and as such it does not have the same capacity for image file size or number of images you can put in a single post. As a result, a lot of my art literally can’t be posted on that website because 1) The files are too big, or 2) It’s a comic that has more than 3 panels (you can only post 3 images in one post). 

Going off of this, I currently don’t have a desktop website that I can comfortably call home for my art. But if I find one in the future, I’ll be sure to let you guys on here know about it. 

“You’re really active on Instagram, but I don’t have/want Instagram because it’s too easy for people to steal your art on there.”

It’s true - reposters are all over Instagram. But the fact of the matter is, my art was being stolen and reposted onto Instagram long before I even made an account on there. Now that I’ve built a presence on there, more people are recognizing my work as mine - in fact, people alert me when they see my work reposted without credit. I have also started watermarking my work, which helps. 

Tumblr’s system of reblogging is great because it keeps the op as the source, but as I said earlier... this site is broken in so many other ways. I’ll be lucky if people even see my work at all! 

For those of you who might say that’s not true, I have the numbers to back it up:

I started this art blog at the exact same time as my art Instagram. It’s been a little over a year since then, and here’s the facts: My art Instagram got 3 times the number of followers as my art Tumblr. A post on my Instagram was consistently getting 6 to 10 times the number of notes as the exact same art post on my Tumblr. 

I repeat: Tumblr is broken.

On the topic of Instagram, some of you have said you don’t like it because it’s too small for you to look at my art on your phones. You can view my Instagram on your computer as well. Just go to Instagram’s website and search for me - you’ll be able to see all my stuff!

“It sounds like all you care about is the numbers... That’s kind of selfish.” (My own brain supplied this one - no one sent me an ask like this)

Every single like, reblog, comment, and message is cherished. The ONLY thing that made it hard for me to leave Tumblr was all of you! Your devotion and support for me touches my heart and I’m eternally grateful for it! The problem is not you guys - it’s Tumblr as a platform. I’m trying to grow myself as a brand, and exposure is important. And while our community was lovely, it really wasn’t growing. All of your encouraging comments about my art are so so appreciated, and I would never take those for granted. But it’s frustrating as an artist to post your art knowing that it won’t reach nearly the number of people that it should. At the end of the day, maybe it is selfish... But I’ve honestly been sick of this website for quite a while. I barely even use my personal blog anymore. Tumblr is great in theory... But this website is managed so poorly that it’s ruined. 

To all you Anons that sent me goodbyes and well-wishes:

I nearly cried reading some of your messages. I’m sorry that I didn’t take the time to answer each one individually - I just didn’t want to sound like a broken record saying that I’m thankful over and over again. Thank you so so much for your devotion! It really touches my heart!

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

     Lastly, I would like to request something of you all. Please don’t send me more messages asking me to come back. It breaks my heart every time I receive a message like this, but I’m trying to stay strong to what I’ve decided. It honestly breaks my heart to even ask this of you guys, but I’m asking it as favor to me. If you really love my art, please go check out my other platforms on Instagram and Twitter. Please remember that I love all of you, and you’re welcome to message me anytime to chat or catch up! 

Much love, Kendra | UdonArt

#udonart #personal #Kendra's rambling again

[thefundiemuseum]

2022 Q1 Fundie Happenings

I thought it might be nice to do a little wrap-up of the goings-on in Fundieland for the last 3 months. (I really miss @duggardata 's Next 6 Month series, so this is my way of scratching that itch.)

Anyone is free to chime in with additions, funny things I forgot, etc. 

Jer + Hannah got engaged and married in the same quarter. I would ask if this is a record, but I think Jed + Katey had an ever faster turn-around.

Jed + Katey had a gender reveal party. The seemingly endless streak of girl grandDuggars is over. (And yeah, maybe Lauren has already had a boy, but it hasn’t been announced so I can’t be sure.)

Erin Paine had her miracle baby, Finley Marie.

Kaylee + Jonathon are engaged! Combined, they have a whopping 24 siblings between them.

Nurie + Nathan got into a car wreck, and Nathan got a citation for not having Nehemiah in the proper car seat. Thank God, they’re all fine. 

Jill + Derick Dillard announce that she’s pregnant! It’s a boy!

Nathan Bates goes to Ukraine with Medic Corps, supposedly to give emergency medical training... because he’s obviously the best person to do that.

Lawson + Tiffany got a People Magazine announcement... and it was just for the release of their engagement video/music video. Kind of a let-down, but also a relief because it meant they weren’t getting a new TV show.

Carlin Stewart had grandBates #20, Zade Patrick. (How can they say they name “Patrick Stewart” without smiling? I know it’s also Evan’s middle name, but how????)

EDIT: Trace + Lydia are engaged! I foolishly thought nothing would happen on the last day of the quarter, but they snuck in.

Amusing Things

Jer recycled the igloo from Jed’s proposal. (And honestly? Good for them. I hate seeing stuff get wasted for just one event.) 

Tiffany called Ferrero Rochers “Italian chocolate truffles” and thought we wouldn’t notice.

Timothy Rod made a weird comment about incest in one of his long, rambling Facebook posts.

“I Love You Day” featured one of the Paine girls (Holland?) dressed up “a little servant,” when all her siblings were royalty. They still let her wear a princess dress, though.

Jason and/or James Duggar spotted spending time with the Andregg family and their daughters. Speculation ensues.

Carver Bowers yet again spotted with the Duggars. Speculation ensues.

Lydia Romeike spotted in the “I Love You Day” photo full of Mrs. Bateses. Speculation ensues.

Jer + Hannah’s wedding was pretty lackluster as far as snark goes. However, there’s a ton of speculation about who is and is not pregnant, and I am here for it. (Kendra. Kendra is totally pregnant.)

#duggar family #bates family #fundie snark #fundie history

[sugawara-kkoushi]

What's a compliment someone gave you that sticks with you?

For me, it was a reserved friend of mine telling me "You have a way with people."

#I remember that often #makes me warm and fuzzy #kendra's rambling again

[aerinsfables]

I’m on an airplane again, and I feel like rambling nonsense for a bit. So… here you go. Suffer with me before my snackies come and keep me company for a few mins.

This is probably gonna be a bunch of crack hc’s because I’m in that kind of mood rn. It’s been a loooooooong week.

1. Seth Sorenson is not a reader. He’s not much of a screen-watcher, either. But when he watches screens, it’s sci-fi and superheroes forever.

2. He gets Bracken into Star Wars and superheroes, the latter of which is a highly amusing concept to the unicorn.

3. Warren outs himself as a fellow geek when Seth makes some comment to Bracken about how The Flash and Quicksilver are brothers and he can’t hold in the correction. “That’s - that’s wrong on so many levels!!!!”

4. Kendra, who had no idea before then that Warren was a superhero geek, finds this highly amusing.

5. Warren takes over Bracken’s superhero education because Seth is purposefully teaching untruths otherwise and Warren simply cannot stand it

6. Kendra thinks the sudden mini-arguments between her brother and Warren are hilarious

7. Bracken tells Seth that the concept of “the force” isn’t completely false, and that magic works somewhat similarly, so Seth decides to interpret that as “I can move things with my mind” and then… fails to actually have telekinesis. Bracken then explains that he meant that magic was intuitive like he’d imagined the force would be. “So… I can’t move things with my mind?” “I don’t know. Can you?” Seth is now obsessed with figuring out how to move things with his mind. (He wants that dramatic entrance where the doors fling open whenever he walks into a room.)

8. Kendra is amused at first, then annoyed, then curious as to whether her brother might actually be onto something. 🤔

9. Bracken does not elaborate further for a while. He’s too amused by the Sorenson siblings and their speculations.

10. Warren catches on right away and totally approves of Bracken’s lack of further guidance.

11. Shenanigans

MY SNACKS ARE HERE OMG IM SO HAPPY

Anyway… take whatever these are lol

#fablehaven #aerinm spills hcs #kinda???? #crack hc’s????

[sunnydale-scoobies]

Hey so I’m asking this of a couple cool looking Buffy blogs because I just finished the show! I was wondering if you could tell me what you think about the ending? I’m having mega mixed feelings and I’m just looking to read some opinions about the finale and see how the fandom feels about it.

Hey! Sorry I just saw this! But I personally loved the finale. I thought that the whole episode felt really... idk big? And important? And like the stakes were really high? It almost felt like a movie. Which in general I think is really hard to pull off, and I think a lot of supernatural-y shows try to do that and it never really works. So I liked that aspect. I also liked how it brought it all back to the slayer always being alone - something we saw from the beginning of the series - that there is only ever one slayer, she is alone, she is young, and that was something that was done in part to be able to control the slayer more easily and so they could have enough power to beat back the demons but not enough to become a force on their own. And I loved how Buffy basically said 'screw that rule' and made all the potentials slayers, so that she wasn't alone anymore, the slayer wasn't alone, she could work together with others like her and they took the power for themselves. (Granted, Buffy did work together with her friends etc. whereas other slayers didn't, and there was her and Kendra and then her and Faith, but that's a whole other thing to discuss).

I loooved the ending of the episode - I mean it made me sad to see Sunnydale destroyed so I guess that was one of the parts I wasn't super happy about - but I think it did make it feel very big and final as well. But I love when Buffy looks behind her and sees the open road behind them - infinite. And the last few lines, and how it ends with 'what are we gonna do now?' and then she starts to smile, we see just the beginning of a smile, not a whole smile. And I love that. She's not the only slayer anymore, there are so many others. She doesn't have that immense burden on her anymore - of the whole world being on her shoulders and really hers alone. She can even work together with them and help them. She's been told since the beginning that she is alone - and she has to some degree always felt alone too because as much as her friends love her they'd never really 'get' it. And Kendra was short lived (unfortunately) and Faith wasn't exactly a model slayer so she couldn't connect with them too much - although she did really start to with Faith in the last season (not that she didn't in the third season, that just kinda felt negated a bit when Faith went 'evil' but again, a whole other discussion).

Anyways I love that image of her starting to smile at the end and all the hope it holds. And then other little things like I love Spike's role - although I'm always like 'if that light amulet thing started a few minutes earlier we could have avoided a lot of deaths...' but oh well I guess. I love Faith's role too and the 'hold the line' thing. And that moment that Buffy and Giles have when he says he thinks herp plan is bloody brilliant. Oh I also love the music in the episode, it helps it to feel cinematic . And that moment where Buffy says 'I want you to get out of my face' - and earlier in the episode when she has that little moment where she just says 'I just realized something... we're gonna win.' Or something like that. Like, she was trying and fighting and everything before - but she didn't think they'd actually win until that moment. And how it was the first evil throwing that whole 'one slayer in all the world, she alone...' in her face that she's heard so many times and it was that that made her think - why do I have to listen to that, why do I have to stick to that? I love that last moment of the scoobies in the hallway - and how bittersweet it is, because we can feel how they've grown apart. Oh! And 'Slayers, every one of us. Are you ready to be strong?' There are more moments I could mention but I'll stop now (willow moments, anya, etc. etc. etc.)

I could go on about this episode but I've already gone on for wayy too long and it's honestly been a bit since I've seen it. And I haven't even really mentioned how it fits into the rest of the season. I don't really know too much about how the fandom feels about it - I think people generally like it? Or at least did in the past but it feels more mixed now.

Those are just some of my thoughts on the episode and sorry for just rambling on there - but I'm happy to talk about it more! Also I'd love to know what you think of it!

#ask #ohhhyouknow #sorry this is so long #and so late #also what does everyone think about the finale? #(I just kinda talked about the general-ness of it but like i said it's been awhile since i've seen it)

[magicae-est-realis]

Fablehaven Secret Santa

Hello! It is finally the 19th, so I can release my gift for @imasorenson! Hope you like it.

While the line would normally snake from the entrance all the way back to the end of the carefully placed markers and beyond, today there were only about twenty people in front of Kendra and Bracken, who were waiting to be admitted into the amusement park.

Kendra had insisted they they come, seeing as Bracken had never been to one, and the fact that Christmas was only a few days away was just an added bonus. Warren had pounced on the two of them earlier in the week, practically holding them at sword point after Kendra had mentioned they were planning to visit the park, telling the two that they should go while school was still in to avoid the madness. It had taken a day or two of planning, but they had finally arrived.

Warren had been right. Since there were so few people, it only took about ten minutes for the couple to be admitted.

“What do you want to do first, Bracken?” Kendra grinned at him, already bouncing up and down, even if she wasn’t on a sugar high. Yet.

“What is there?” Bracken asked.

“More like what isn’t there! We could go on a rollercoaster, or another ride, eat food, go to the arcade-style games, or one of the stalls like throwing darts.”

“What is a rollercoaster?” Bracken’s confusion was all it took. He eyed Kendra’s evil smile nervously, as she took his hand and practically dragged him to the ride. Once again, the few people around made for a short queue, and the safety bar was being lowered in no time.

“Oh, before I forget, when we go down, you need to scream.” Bracken looked at his girlfriend, horrified.

“Do you know what happened the last time I screamed!? Seth and I were in a tickle fight, and the fairies and Astrids thought I was in trouble! It took ages to turn Seth back into something vaguely recognizable, and that was only a tiny whinny! And don’t even get me started how they managed to fit inside the house, because I don’t know, there were that many of th-AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The last part was because, while Bracken was rambling, the rollercoaster had made it up to the top of the ‘hill,’ and gone over. He had begun screaming in shock, while Kendra laughed so had she could barely breathe. As they began climbing the next ‘hill,’ Kendra leaned over and kissed Bracken.

“It’s a good thing I cleared it with your mother first, then.” Her giggles made a comeback when she saw Bracken’s shell-shocked face.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The rest of the day was amazing. Bracken and Kendra went around to everything, and soon Bracken redeemed himself with a prefect aim, and a large fluffy Unicorn toy. (Insert Despicable Me ‘It’s so fluffy I’m going to die scene’ here, lol.)

Lunch was spent sitting down at a picnic table with a tub of hot chips, churros, and soft drinks, after which Kendra took Bracken to get his face painted as a rainbow.

By the time the two made it home, the sky was dark and the house’s lights were all on, waiting for them. Seth, Vanessa, Tanu, Grandma and Grandpa, Dale, and Warren were all sitting around the table, phones and cameras at the ready. After Kendra had told the Fairy Queen about the park the previous day, she’d told everyone else about it. In the end, Kendra had agreed to make sure Bracken got his face painted, and everyone else would be there to take pictures.

Bracken didn’t speak to anyone else for a week after he found out the photoshoot was planned, though he secretly kept a picture to remember the day by.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And that’s the end! Hope you liked it, and Merry Christmas, @imasorenson and anyone else reading!

#fablehaven #secret santa #imasorenson #gift #brackendra

[heistmaster69]

pariet lilium (3)

pariet lilium by @heistmaster69 chapter 3

I cannot believe all the love this is getting! also, let me know I anything is confusing because I do not have beta readers, and my brain gets a Lil scrambly sometimes but ily all-mwah!

tw: self loathing and jealousy. too much pining that’s just ignored on both ends. overuse of italics. BLOOD FROM AN INJURY AT THE END.

chapter 1  /  chapter 2 / chapter 4

~

After what had happened, Draco and Frankie couldn’t sleep, so they sat in a plush nook lined with green pillows and velvet blankets in the Common room, lit by the silver moonlight. Frankie laid her head in his lap as they spoke.

“In there,” Draco began. “You said you had been studying this for years. What exactly?”

“You remember Kendra?” She began.

“She was your tutor, right? Hired by-”

“Don’t say their names, please.” She interrupted, gripping his forearm

“Your parents?” His eyes widened. “May I ask why?”

“They were crap parents” Frankie paused. “They don’t deserve it.” She said with a chuckle. “Anyway, Kendra taught me about spell creating when I was about six, and I still think it’s the coolest thing in the world.”

“You wanted to reverse the Killing Curse.”

“All three. Plus the Memory Charm.”

“Wow.” Draco began running his fingers through Frankie’s hair, fiddling with the dark strands. “You think it’s possible?” 

“I know it is. I figured it out this year. I just don’t know how to actualize the spell just yet.” 

“You are amazing, Chess.” He whispered. 

“I know.” She giggled. Realizing the position they was in, Frankie felt her face get hot. She cleared her throat and sat up. “So, Malfoy. Call me crazy, but I’ve seen how you look at Cher. How’s that going?” It hurt to ask, but Frankie saw how he looked at her. She knew.

“What do you mean?” Draco scoffed. She could see his walls slam back up in an instant. 

“Malfoy. Come on. You like her!” Frankie lightly punched his arm.

“Psh. No.” 

“Malfoy...”

“No!” He snapped. “I don’t like her, Chess, c’mon.”

“Wow, sorry.” She sighed. “But you have been awfully chipper recently. Haven’t seen you bothering perfect Granger in weeks.”

“You really hate her, don’t you.”

“I wouldn’t say hate, exactly. Just a strong dislike. She just has to be so perfect all the time and she gets all the credit when Cher and I are above her in classes.” Frankie cleared her throat before continuing. “You are too! Like, she’s smart and all, but it just bothers me how pretty and perfect she is. All while friends with Wonder Boy Potter. She got hot last summer and now everyone is drooling over her. Blaise even is! It’s just frustrating how someone can be so much better than you in almost every way.”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Granger.” He rolled his eyes.

“Dr-Malfoy. You’ve seen her. How could I not be?”

“Shut up. You’re fishing for compliments.” He shoved her shoulder.

“Okay, no? Telling the truth is not fishing for compliments. I swear if I didn’t hate her so much I’d be in love with her.” They shared a laugh a laugh before Draco said;

“You shouldn’t be jealous-”

“Okay I’m gonna stop you right there.” Frankie tutted. “I really don’t want to hear it.”

He tipped his head, a confused look in his gray eyes.

“I-nothing.” She scrambled out of the nook, dying to escape from what she knew would be an interrogation. “Goodnight, Malfoy.”

“You’re not getting away that easy.” He spun her around, placing both hands on her shoulders.

She quickly maneuvered out of his grasp. “Don’t make me say it.” She whispered, unable to meet his gaze. “Please.”

“But why? I’d never judge you, you’re my best friend. And I tell you all my secrets, I told you the time I got a boner from-” Frankie interrupted just rambling with a laugh. She tried to lighten up the atmosphere with a joke;

“We don’t need to hear the boner story again. And fine. I’ll tell you if you promise not to be weird about it.”

“There’s nothing to be weird about.” Oh, Draco.

“Okay.” Frankie took a few steps away. A smirk growing on her face. “Just kidding!” She sprinted towards the dorms, giggling.

“Hey!” He chuckled quietly to himself, watching her as she went away. “Good night, Chess.”

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. ohmygodohmygod.

She had almost said it. She had almost told him.

I like it too much when you tell me I’m beautiful.

I like you too much.

~

The students shuffled along the stone path towards Hagrid’s Hut. The sun was high in the sky, yet the air had a chill regardless. Trelawney had spouted off some random omen that Wonder Boy was in danger, but honestly, when is he not?

Draco always had to pull something. His stupid dementor jokes on Harry, albeit funny, were a little mean. She had to stifle her laughs.

Merlin, that smirk. It would raise hell one day. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him as he challenged Harry. When did he get so attractive? The way he sauntered up to Harry with that stupid grin on his face made her heartbeat quicken. She had to look away.

The forest was beautiful. Frankie couldn’t help herself from just staring at the way the sun shone through the treetops, gorgeous golden rays illuminating her freckled face

“Everyone gather round the fence here. That’s right. Make sure you can see.” Hagrid shouted, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. The group of students shuffled around the paddock. “Now, first thing you’ll want to do is open yer’ books.”

“How?” Draco sneered while Crabbe and Goyle laughed. They laugh at everything he says, those goons. They can be sweet when they’re on their own, though. Goyle can make a mean chocolate chip cookie.

“Aye?” Hagrid grunted.

“How do we open our books.” Malfoy drawled, a firm scowl in his face.

How can this boy constantly pull 180s? Doesn’t he get tired?

“Hasn’t anyone been able to open their books?” Hagrid asked nervously. “You’ve got to stroke ‘em!”

A few students let out an Oh, but Frankie just sighed. “Oh how silly we’ve all been. We should’ve stroked them.” Draco scoffed.

How were they supposed to know? One thing caught her eye. Draco Malfoy took out two of his fingers, adorned with his family ring, and slowly stroked the spine of his Monster Book Of Monsters. Now that was a sight to see. Hagrid mumbles something to Granger that Frankie couldn’t hear, but Draco did.

“Oh tremendously funny. Really witty giving us books that try and rip our hands off.” Draco said.

“Shut up Malfoy.” Wonder Boy Potter here to save the day.

“He does have a point, though. Sorry Hagrid, the book went straight for my throat when I tried to read it. Malfoy here might’ve saved my life.”

“I thought you were better than that, Reed. You can shut your arse up too.” Potter glared at Frankie, making her shrink behind Draco.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Draco

“Whatever, just keep you and your girlfriend’s noses out of my buisnees.” Girlfriend.

“She’s not-”

“He’s not-”

They looked at each other with flushed faces. Hagrid went to fetch the magical creatures, leaving an uncomfortably hostile tone around the students.

“God this place is going to the dogs.” Draco laughed. “That oaf teaching classes. My father will have a fit when he hears about this.”

“Shut up, Malfoy.” Harry reiterated.

“Careful, Potter, there’s a dementor behind you!” Lavender shouted. Normally, Frankie wouldn’t have joined in. But Perfect Granger was looking at her like she was scum. So Frankie pulled up her hood like the rest of them, echoing a chorus of ooohs.

Hagrid came jogging in with two beautiful beasts on a sort of leash, their silver and bronze feathers glowing in the sun.

“Hippogriffs.” Frankie said, admiring them and remembering Kendra’s lesson on magical creatures.

“That there’s right, Miss Reed! Beautiful aren’t they. These here are Hippogriffs. This one is Storm.” He gestured to the bronze feathered creature. “And this one’s Buckbeak.” Hagrid began telling the class a few facts about them, she didn’t even realize that the rest of the class had taken a few steps back. Hagrid called everyone to come closer, but no one really did, except for Harry’s trio and Frankie. She already knew what to do, so she began the slow process, starting with a low bow. Storm wasn’t paying attention at first, so Frankie whispered a small incantation she used to get stray cats to trust her.

“Scio et observare.” The copper colored hippogriff began a slow trot towards her. Frankie made sure to keep her gaze fixed on the ground. When Storm was a mere two feet away, Hagrid turned his gaze from the class to Frankie.

“Wow! You’ve got a way with ‘er.” He chuckled. “Now you can pet her.”

She reached a tentative hand up to Storm’s beak and gave a few gentle pets, Harry next to her doing the same with Buckbeak. Frankie began to circle Storm, scratching her feathers and smiling so hard her face hurt. All of a sudden Hagrid grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted Frankie onto Storm’s back.

“What-?”

“You two are gonna ride ‘em.” He did the same to Harry and the two soared into the distance.

Flying with a Hippogriff was unlike anything she’d ever done.

When the two touched down, the classes clapped, all but a few annoyed Gryffindors and Slytherins.

“Harry! Reed!” Hagrid snapped her out of her daze. “Amazin’!”

“Hey.” Potter whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Frankie shrugged. “The book did try to attack me.”

He chuckled. “Malfoy really saved you?” Frankie nodded. “Guess he’s nice to girls he fancies.”

“He does not fancy me, Potter. Get your head on right.”

“I’ll help speed things up.” He pulled Frankie into a tight hug, arms wrapped swift around her waist. “Just go with it.” Frankie obliged, curious to see Draco’s reaction. She put her arms gently around Potter’s neck and leaned into the embrace.

Just as Potter said, Draco stormed towards the two. “This must be easy if Potter could do it. You aren’t dangerous at all, are you? You great ugly brute.”

“Draco stop, stop!” He didn’t stop, obviously envious of Harry’s success, not the embrace. Frankie ran out in front of Storm, who had gotten on her hind legs in anger or fear. It happened in a flash of sharp, stinging pain. Storm had slashed her talons across Frankie’s back, leaving a sizable gash in her clothing and skin, blood beginning to seep through her clothing and onto the grassy floor.

Storm was upset by this. Not wanting to have hurt the girl who had been so kind to her, but was afraid of the boy who shouted. Storm nudged Frankie’s side with sorrow, just bringing forth a strangled cry of pain from Frankie’s throat.

“Chess, Merlin, I’m so sorry!” Draco cried. “Hagrid, please, I’m so sorry, she needs to go to the hospital wing!”

~

A/N: ON THAT ROAD TRIP GRIND pumping out some content! let me know what you think!

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy fanfiction #pariet lilium #draco x reader #harry potter #wattpad #draco malfoy smut #smut #draco smut #draco malfoy x reader #slowburn #draco malfoy slowburn #prizoner of azkaban #draco malfoy x oc #draco x oc #mutual pining #buckbeak #drarry #dramione #fanfiction #fanfic #draco fic

[saiilorstars]

Rise Up

Ch.9: A Legend

Previous Story: It Had To Be You || Current Masterlist

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Chapter Summary: Team Flash comes across a man hell-bent on killing Cisco's new girlfriend. As they try to stop him, they meet a mysterious woman also searching for the very man they are trying to stop. She calls herself the Jinx but according to the records, she doesn't exist. It leaves the question of where she came from.

This chapter (and the next) is a prequel that eventually leads to Graciela’s full story Redemption.

Pronunciation of OC: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog​ @maaaaarveeeeel​ @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles [If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!]

A bright white and blue light appeared out of thin air in the middle of the woods, close to Central City. From it emerged a slim female figure. A metal device strapped to her wrist beeped with the same color of the portal. The woman aimed her wrist, that held the device, at the portal. It emitted a white light that seemed to the suck the portal right in. She started walking down the woods, her figure partially covered by the mist in the air.

"What's my location?" her English voice inquired.

'About twenty miles off Central City, Miss Haynez," a computerized voice from the wrist-device answered.

"And the date?"

"November 17, 2017."

"Excellent," the woman grinned and walked even faster.

~ 0 ~

Joe and Patty stood on both sides of Barry, all three staring at the gruesome pictures of their newest case. Barry had already snapped the needed evidence pictures to bring back and examine, while also swiping any physical evidence pieces he could find. They'd found various corpses down at a dock with no surviving witness to the attack. But the blood spilled was...was on a whole other level.

"Man, this was a bloodbath," Joe said, truly surprised by what they were seeing. No metahuman had yet to be so violent.

"Done by one person," Barry put down the picture he held, setting it next to the other pictures on the desk.

"One person did all this?" Patty quickly took another look at the pictures.

"Oh, yeah, you can see from the blood pattern," Barry tapped a finger over one picture, "This guy was shot first-" he moved his finger to the next picture, "-then the police chief, then these three were stabbed before finishing off the captain."

Patty knew she would never cease to be surprised. "Wow. Do you think a meta-human did it?"

"I don't know, but I found this in all of the stab victims' wounds," Barry picked up a small plastic bag with a piece of a golden knife. "It's some type of cryptocrystalline... Flint, most likely... Probably broke off the blade during the fight. I'll run it to make sure."

"Let's see what stores sell those kind of flint knives," Joe said to Patty and started heading out.

"Will do," Patty followed him. However, just at the threshold, she forced herself to stop and turned sideways. "Uh, Barry, do you know...if...if Belén is okay?" As Barry looked her way, Patty stepped back into the lab, looking pretty nervous. "It's just, the last time I spoke to her...it was about her Mom and...I haven't really spoken to her anymore, so...do you know if she's upset with me?" But even as Barry opened his mouth to assure it had nothing to do with her, Patty rambled on. "Because I really didn't want to cause problems." She just grew tired of Veronica always being on her case about all these mysterious cases handled by Joe and Barry. And to be honest, Patty didn't really see anything wrong with those cases. Joe and Barry had done what they could with those cases since they were all pretty much finished by the Flash and his team. What else could they, the regular ones, do?

"She's fine, Patty, and definitely not mad at you," Barry finally got a word in. Patty, relieved, began to smile. "She's just having problems with her Mom but it's between them I promise."

"Okay," Patty nodded, slowly convincing herself that Barry was telling the truth. "I wanted to make sure, sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell her you're worried," Barry smiled, actually touched that Patty felt this need to make sure their friendship was intact.

"Okay, thanks," Patty sheepishly smiled and finally went on her way.

As soon as she was gone, Barry released a breath and turned back to his work. He felt a bit sorry for Patty that she had to go through all this as an innocent bystander in the crossovers of Belén and her mother. He, himself, wasn't feeling all that well about it. He had to help Belén with her problems as well as be there to comfort her, and he had to take having her mother all around his workplace. Veronica Green was turning out to be a right nuisance but Barry would never say that out loud. He was trying to make himself understand that Veronica was trying to be a mother and care for her daughter...even if it did annoy the hell out of him sometimes.

~0~

Later that day, Barry had gone to STAR Labs to continue training with the help of Harry, and today Caitlin. While he ran on his special treadmill, Harry and Caitlin monitored his readings.

"He just hit 1,375," Caitlin read off the screens and looked at Harry, seeing he wasn't at all impressed.

"What's the fastest Barry's run?"

"Little over Mach two, when he ran back in time."

Harry remained unimpressed. "That's not good." He pushed the inter comm. button. "That's good, Barry." Caitlin shot him a look, not at all agreeing to lie. "We have our work cut out for us."

Barry came into the monitoring room, out of breath. "I'm not getting faster, am I?"

Caitlin awkwardly glanced at Harry for some help to be gentle. "Well…"

"No, you're not," Harry flatly said. Caitlin shut her eyes and inwardly sighed.

Barry did his best not to look so upset. "Alright, well, let's fix this, right? I mean, I can't beat Zoom at this speed. It felt like I was standing still next to him."

Before Caitlin could give him some words of reassurance, Harry coldly agreed. "That's because you practically were. Zoom is at least three, four times faster than you at this point."

Caitlin sighed. "How is he so much faster than Barry is and Jay was?"

"Physiology, form, strength, could be a number of things…" Harry paused and gave Barry a sharp study. "Attitude, diet."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Okay, all right, well, there's gotta be something we can do about it, so let's just figure it out... fast, okay?"

"We will," Caitlin nodded.

"Okay," Barry leaned off the threshold. "Where's Bells? She said she was coming here earlier."

"Off training with Cisco," Caitlin replied.

"Off also not doing as well, I should mention," Harry muttered, turning to the readings beside them.

Barry glared. He could take any criticism against him but not about Belén. "She is doing her best, okay?"

"Her 'best' won't be okay when she's up against a siphoner and probably Poison Ivy."

"Let's not focus on that right now," Caitlin told the two before they started going back and forth in an argument. "Barry, Cisco has a date tonight so I doubt he and Belén will be practicing late."

"Thanks, Cait," Barry gave her a polite nod and went off without sparing a look at Harry.

~0~

"Ye-ha-ha!" Cisco punched the air after Belén managed to strike down three of his practice targets.

Belén's skin faded from its green shade, and as she released a breath, she returned to her normal self. With a grin on her face, she turned to where Cisco monitored her. "I got it?"

"Girl, you got it!" Cisco laughed.

Belén glanced at the targets that were completely mangled with her vines. This was the first real session that worked in her favor and she could not be happier. She just tried to forget the fact these were targets and not the actual Datura. "Again?" she anxiously asked.

Cisco's excitement faded momentarily. "Well, uh, actually…"

Belén tilted her head and stared at her friend. "Cisco, you got plans?" she remembered he was still dating that barista and made her own conclusions. "Is there a date I'm butting into?"

Cisco pursed his lips. "I, n-no, not...not butting...no…"

Belén laughed and started walking towards him. "So butting in. I'm not going to ruin your date with the-" she cleared her throat and mimicked his voice, "-lovely Kendra Saunders."

Cisco mockingly glared at her. "Not funny!"

"Yeah, so funny actually," Belén had herself a good laugh.

Cisco raised an eyebrow, and thought of the quickest way to get her back. "Alright then, Mrs. Allen, you want a lift back home?"

And Belén's laughter ceased to exist. Her face went utterly red.

Cisco victoriously smirked.

~0~

When Cisco finished his round of laughter, he finally took Belén home in order to make it in time to his own date. Belén wearily made her way up to her own apartment. She unlocked her door and stepped inside, only to be surprised by finding Barry already there.

"So, since it's been a long while, and I figured you're tired, movie date-night?" Barry gestured to the various snacks set on her coffee table and to the television already turned on.

Belén started smiling and walking towards him. "You're the best boyfriend ever." She slung her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips.

"I like to think I am," Barry chuckled alongside her. He kissed her temple and sat them down on the couch.

"Making you a second key was the best thing I ever did," Belén reached for a box of licorice while Barry picked a movie for them.

"Yeah, I heard you went training with Cisco so I thought a nice relaxing night was something you would like," Barry shrugged. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"I think we both needed it," Belén hummed. She rested her head on his chest and smiled when she remembered her gain earlier. "I took down some particularly hard targets."

"That's great!" Barry shifted a bit on his side to meet Belén's happy face.

"Now if I can do that with Datura I'll be golden," Belén drew in a deep breath. Datura had been gone for a few days now, as well as Zoom, and while she tried to be happy about it she couldn't help feel like Datura was up to something. She would return with something worse for them.

"We'll find a way," Barry pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You want to pick a movie?"

"Uh, how about my favorite musical? Mamma Mia?"

Barry pretended to groan. "We've watched that like 50 times already!"

"So the 51st shouldn't be so hard anymore," Belén grinned innocently. "Promise to give you kisses throughout the movie?"

Barry pretended to think about the deal. "You mean it?"

Belén rolled her eyes at him. "Sure."

"No, but you gotta say it like you mean it!"

Belén grabbed him by the collars of his shirt and kissed him for a good minute. "How's that for meaning it?"

Barry's face was so dazed, just like his mind. She started laughing at him which pulled him out of his trance. "That's not funny!"

"It is from my end!"

"Belén would you-" But Barry was cut off at the sound of both his and Belén's phones going off at the same time.

"So much for movie night," Belén fished her phone out of her jean's pocket. "Huh, it's Cisco."

"He's in trouble," Barry realized. "I thought he was on a date but..."

"We need to go!" Belén exclaimed as she got up from the couch. Though she grabbed some licorice on their way out.

~ 0 ~

Jitters at night time had never looked as bad as it did to Cisco right now. Kendra had tried to create a perfect date for them by cooking dinner for them and having a movie ready to go over the rooftop. Everything would've been dandy had it not been for the strange man with a long beard and a long coat who decided to stop by.

Vandal Savage was not a patient man. What he wanted he got, and Kendra Saunders would not be the exception. He chucked forwards a silver weapon but missed as Cisco and his date, Kendra, jumped to the sides. Barry sped in with Belén and while the former attempted to punch Savage directly, Savage semeed to be ready for it.

Belén, on the other hand, went to Cisco and Kendra and helped them get up. "Who the hell is that guy?"

"I wish I knew!" Cisco said with the biggest scowl on his face. "He's ruining our date!"

Belén looked back when she heard Barry's body crash over a table. "I think your date is the least of our problems right now!" Belén struck a vine forwards to pay Savage with the same coin. It struck him to the side and as she was charging for him, a wave of purple energy came bursting through the door and, as simple as it sounded, it made Belén slip on the floor.

Savage thought it was his lucky moment as he pulled himself off the floor. "Pathetic," he spat first then attempted to continue with his own attack.

However, a woman appeared at the entrance with the most visible hatred on her face. "There you are," she, too, spatted but at Savage only.

Savage turned around, surprised someone would speak to him in that familiarity since he had never seen the woman in his life. "Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter," the woman briefly made eye contact with the others in the room. "If everything goes well you'll never know my name." She started smirking for some reason, but she decided to let Savage in on her secret. She pointed up to the ceiling. Savage followed her gaze and missed the light purple energy beam emit from the her fingertip. It hit the curtains above them and caused the poles sustaining it to creak and come collapsing down.

"Hey!" Barry sped towards them and pushed them out into the roadside.

"NOOO!" the woman screeched as her body tumbled against a mailbox. She shook her head and the pain from her fall to see where Savage had landed. It had been too late, though, because he was gone. "NO!" she screamed frantically and got up from the ground. "I had him!"

"You know him?" Barry called from his spot, eyeing the woman suspiciously. He only looked away to see Belén, Cisco and Kendra running out from Jitters to see where they landed.

The mysterious woman rose from the ground and blew on the hair in front of her face. Her light brown hair that was just above her shoulders framed her youthful face. Her eyes were dark and fierce, and very angry, though Barry realized it wasn't geared towards him.

Thank God because she's scary, he thought.

She wore a purple and black leather outfit that started off with a sleeveless, purple crop-shirt that had a small v-neck style. There was a bit of a black outline defining the v-neck style. Though, the crop shirt seemed to be connected at the armpits to a black, short-sleeved coat. Said coat covered the sides of her stomach, remaining permanently opened, and formed a long, twisted tail behind her. She wore knee-length, black boots over dark purple pants. And to finish it off, she had a dark, purple choker around her neck.

"I know him enough," the woman dusted herself off. She looked him over with great interest, then glanced at Belén to do the same. Her lips curled into a smile once she recognized them. "And I know you two - I read about you. History's even better when you see it with your own eyes."

"Who the hell are you?" Belén went straight for the question. She had enough with mysterious metas coming into their city to terrorize their people. "And do you know that man?"

The woman seemed to debate whether or not she should disclose her identity, but after a minute she gave a small nod. "You can call me...Jinx. And that man? It doesn't matter because I'm going to find him and kill him before he hurts anyone else. So, for everyone's sake, best stay out of my way, Azalea, Flash. I don't mean this city harm except for that man," Jinx warned and stepped forwards. "He's mine."

Jinx swung an arm forwards and shot purple beams again that forced the fire hydrant near Barry to shoot a violent gush of water directly at him and the others. It was how she made her escape.

~ 0 ~

The next day, everyone reported to STAR Labs to discuss what Belén, Barry, Cisco (and Kendra) dealt with. It also revealed that Cisco had, rather stupidly, revealed to Kendra that Barry was the Flash. Both Harry and Joe were still giving Cisco disapproving stares.

"I can't believe you're The Flash," Kendra could not stop saying, then glancing to Cisco, "And that you work with The Flash."

Cisco chuckled but was of course still hitting himself for his imprudence. "Yeah, let's keep that on the DL."

"And you're the Azalea," Kendra pointed at Belén with the same awe.

"You are so incredibly stupid my friend," Belén patted Cisco's arm and shook her head.

"Agreed," went Harry under his breath but still received a sharp glance from Cisco.

"Alright, so what exactly happened?" Caitlin asked the group in question.

"There was an mass homicide at the docks two nights ago and it left behind a scrap of knife that I analyzed," Barry pointed to the gold knife laying on the table. "It's the same knife used to kill the men at the docks. Residue is a perfect match."

"So it is the same guy," Joe noted.

"Definitely. But the thing is, these blades are old, centuries old."

"He nicked it off some museum then," Belén theorized.

"Do you have any idea why this guy would be after you?" Iris decided to question Kendra on anything that could help them.

"No, I've never seen him before in my life," Kendra swore to them all.

"Lots of these metahumans often don't have reasons to go after a person," Caitlin reminded, and everyone missed Barry's unsure expression.

"Well, he was certainly acting like he knew you," Cisco looked at Kendra. "He kept calling her Priestess Chay-Ara."

"That's Coptic," Harry pointed.

"In English, please?" Belén motioned for the translation.

"He means Egyptian," Caitlin said, though she herself still seemed a bit unsure.

"You know, that woman - Jinx - she was talking in a way like...like she knew about timelines," Barry remembered the strange woman. "Like you say-" he said to Cisco, "-that the guy was talking to you two."

"You think they're connected?" Caitlin asked.

"I can't be sure but she definitely wants him dead," Barry nodded.

"Iris and I were doing research on her and check out what we found," Belén moved over to the computers with Iris. "I mean, at first all we came across when we typed in 'Jinx' were these weirdos on the internet."

"Not surprising," Joe said on the side.

"But we had to figure out what she was," Iris continued, "Is she a metahuman? What can she do?"

"Oh c'mon," Cisco interrupted them, almost rolling his eyes, "The woman named herself Jinx - what does that tell you? She's bad luck, people!"

The others had to agree on the powers of the stranger.

"Killer name," Cisco had to add.

"But it's deeper than that," Belén started bringing up different headlines from different times, along with different pictures of women. "We didn't find one single picture of our mystery Jinx, but we found boatloads of other women from previous years with the same name."

Barry stepped forwards to get a better look at the different pictures. "They're all named Jinx?"

"Jinx, the Jinx, it's the same name really but they're all from different areas," Iris pointed out. "They're mostly grouped in America and England, though."

"Well, our Jinx had an English accent so we should focus on England," Barry said.

"But even then," Belén pulled down the tabs that weren't dealing with the English Jinxes, "None of them relate to ours. They have no similar appearances, but they do have one thing in common: they're all well known criminals in their times."

"And bad ones," Iris added to make sure they understood they were not dealing with their regular metas. "They have some wicked crimes under their names."

"Were any of them ever brought in?" asked Cisco, now feeling like he had to swallow down a ball in his throat.

"No," went the two reporters together.

"An interesting thing is that each Jinx seemed to disappear in their older years," Belén started going through some of the profiles for show, "1940s London Jinx disappeared when she was around 50. 1990s Bristol Jinx disappeared around her 60s. Before 1940, we had another Jinx in Cambridge who disappeared in her 60s."

"It's like they retiring or something," Kendra said as a light-hearted joke, but her words rang truth for some of the others.

"It could be like a mantle passing down generations," Caitlin theorized as she walked up to stand beside Barry in front of the screen on the wall. "Each Jinx has their daughter, or a niece, and once that daughter or niece becomes ready they take the place of the elder Jinx."

"That's great but how does this help us right now?" asked Joe.

"It lets us know that we're dealing with someone who knows her way around a fight," Belén crossed her arms. "If I had to say, she's had some good training based on these previous Jinxes. Our Jinx may be the current one and she's just getting started. She's a criminal and we have to bring her down too. But to find her, I'm guessing we need to find this man first. So," she turned around and looked directly at Kendra, "Why does this man have it out for you."

Kendra was startled with the implication that she would know why she was being targeted. "I...I don't know. I don't know either of them."

"This guy, he's clearly incredibly dangerous as well as Jinx, so I need you to at least let us try to protect you," Barry said, hoping she would listen to them on the first try. Thankfully, Kendra agreed.

"I can put a detail on her," Joe offered.

Cisco shook his head. "You didn't see this guy, Joe. No offense, but I don't think a cop is going to be able to protect her."

"To be fair, they are getting better with metahumans," Belén meant to be kind but even Barry agreed the police weren't up for this sort of task.

"We're going to need some friends' help...in Star City."

Belén gaped, as did everyone else who understood what Barry meant.

~ 0 ~

A short moment after giving a brief description of their plan, Belén and Cisco went after Barry to try and discuss the matter.

"What could possibly be that bad that we need to leave the city?" Belén asked that while staring at both men, knowing there was something one of them wasn't explaining. "Scratch that-" she made a motion with her hands, "-what's so bad that you want to go to Oliver for help?"

"I mean, she's sort of right…" Cisco swayed his head, giving Belén a clear understanding that Cisco was just as lost as she was. "We've fought meta-humans with abilities a lot worse than knife-throwing."

"I don't think this guy's a meta-human. There's something different about him…" Barry thought for the right word, "...something, ah, mystical. Even Jinx seems kind of off."

Belén and Cisco exchanged unimpressed glances.

"Mystical, really?" Cisco repeated.

"We stop meta-humans because we're scientists. We can figure out what their weaknesses are, but we don't have any experience when it comes to guys like this, with magic. They do."

"Are you sure Oliver is going to want to help us, though?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"He'd probably be more inclined if a certain pretty girl asked nicely," Barry sent her a cheeky smile.

"Sure, let me get Felicity on the line," Belén crossed her arms.

"That could help too!"

Belén groaned. "On one condition."

"Which would be…?"

"I want to come too."

It was easy to tell Barry wasn't exactly liking that idea. "I - this guy is dangerous, Bells. He's not even a metahuman and it scares me!"

"You're forgetting that when I was training with Oliver I had my fair share of non-metahuman ass to kick," Belén continued with arms crossed and a straight face. "What else you got?"

Barry looked at Cisco for some help. Cisco quickly put his hands up, deciding this was not his argument. "I'm just going to go tell Kendra when we leave…" he made up fast and rushed away.

"Well, what excuse you do you have for me?" Belén challenged rather smoothly.

Barry racked his mind for the kindest, gentlest, way to make her see his logic. "Your Mom, Sherlock-cop, is behind you like a hawk. What do you think she's going to do if you leave the city all of a sudden?"

Belén faltered with that idea planted in her head. "Well, I...I don't…"

"You haven't decided if you want to tell her anything about all this-" Barry made a gesture to the place, "-and I think if you leave and all of a sudden there's sightings of the Azalea in Star City where she'll inevitably know you went to...don't you think she might put two and two?"

Belén thought about it with the time and effort the matter deserved and ultimately knew that Barry was right. "I hate dating a scientist sometimes."

"No you don't," Barry chuckled.

"I really do - sometimes I just wanna hit you with your stupid books!"

"You're just cranky and I'll let all those comments go," Barry pulled her into a hug, ignoring her muffled 'I'm not cranky' as he held her tightly.

~ 0 ~

Patty was once more looking over the evidence left behind by Barry on their bloodbath homicide case. She no longer felt surprised having Veronica constantly peer over her shoulders to observe the case as well.

"You could just take a seat, you know," Patty went ahead and handed one of the pictures to Veronica.

This time, Veronica made no snappy response. She merely took the picture and studied it. Patty looked up to see the older woman's blank face. It didn't appear Veronica was even examining the picture in her hand.

Although she felt awkward asking, Patty forced herself to be just polite and talk. "Is everything alright?"

Veronica seemed to snap out of her trance and put the picture down on Patty's desk. "Yes, of course. Um, so are there any leads on that knife bit yet?"

"No, not yet, it's in the process…" Patty answered the question out of professionalism but couldn't stop the conversation there, not when she was sure that it had to do with Belén. "Detective Green, are you sure there isn't anything wrong?"

Veronica gave Patty a long look before shaking her head and leaving the office room. On her way out, she bumped into Joe, and she called it her streak of unluckiness for that day. "I'm sorry," she gave a polite apology then hastily tried getting away.

"Detective?" Joe turned after her. "Are you alright?"

Veronica groaned but came to a halt and turned sideways. "I could do without your fake care, Joe. We all know you and your adoptive son are praying for me to get the hell out of this place."

Joe was not expecting that type of hostility against him personally, maybe a little for Barry. "Uh, it's not fake, and I would appreciate if you left Barry out of your problems with your daughter." Veronica, raising an eyebrow, slowly turned around. "It can't be easy to try and rebuild a relationship with your estranged daughter but Barry has only ever tried to make your daughter happy."

Veronica looked around, probably reminding herself that they were not alone to make a spectacle. She came back to Joe, speaking lowly between them. "I don't deny that he is. Truth be told, he seemed like a very a nice young man the times I have been with him an Belén. That, however, does not excuse all the sketchy cases done between you and him and those metahumans. It does not excuse the fact that I know he and Belén are hiding something from me - something that you know about as well. Now I think knowing all this, and putting yourself in my perspective, you would understand my reasons to have a little dislike towards your son."

At that, Joe could not and would not argue. He remembered when he first found out that Barry had begun making rounds in the city trying to be a hero. He felt a deep pit of terror in his stomach, and a big case of helplessness. In the end, a parent - no matter if it's biological or adoptive - only wanted their children to be safe. Veronica, at the moment, could not fulfill that desire because Belén had not told her the truth.

"If you'll excuse me, Detective, I need to go work on our latest case," Veronica spoke in her regular tone and walked away.

~ 0 ~

"So they're just gone, then?" Iris stood beside Belén at the latter's desk, both holding cups of coffees. Iris was still in the dark about Oliver Queen's vigilante's side and therefore only knew Barry was going to the Arrow in the next city.

Belén gave a small nod. "Mhm. I wanted to go but Barry pulled out his logical crap that I usually lose at, so…"

Iris smiled teasingly. "Been there so many times. It's annoying, actually."

"You're telling me. Now here I am, doing my work," Belén motioned to her computer where a half-written article was.

"And that-" said a new, female voice, "-is never something to be so glum about."

Belén quickly leaned forwards on her chair, just as Iris turned to the side and giving Belén a clear view of CC Pictures' visitor. "Laurel?" a great smile spread across Belén's face as she got up.

Laurel Lance stood tall and cheery at the doorway, happy to see her lifelong friend.

"What are you doing here?" Belén put down her cup on her desk and went to greet Laurel.

"I am visiting my mother and I thought why not stop by to visit my friend?" Laurel gave Belén a hug and whispered, "And to talk about the Azalea."

Belén pulled away with a chuckle. "It's okay, Laurel, she knows," she made a gesture back to Iris. "Laurel, this is Iris West. She's my co-worker and almost sister."

"Laurel Lance," Laurel shook hands with Iris. "Childhood friend."

"Ah, so then you have some embarrassing stories I could slip through to Barry," Iris sent Belén a teasing smile. "He gets on my nerves complaining about your teases."

"Not my fault he's a dork."

"Watch it," Iris pointed, but of course teased too.

"This is a new article, then?" Laurel peered down at Belén's computer.

"Still working on it."

"Nice," Laurel took a seat in Belén's chair then knowingly smiled at the two women. "I stopped by to see if my friend wanted to go out to lunch?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I already made..." Belén was looking at Iris who was now shaking her head.

"You're good, Bells, just go," Iris smiled. "But hey, maybe we can all have dinner tonight?"

"Works with me," Laurel looked at Belén.

"Same. It might even be good to get Caitlin," Belén added. "Poor thing's been working hard with Harry lately."

"Harry?" Laurel gave a questioning face.

"I'll explain," Belén promised and went to gather her things.

~ 0 ~

As Laurel and Belén walked down the street towards Jitters for their lunch, Belén caught Laurel up with the latest in Central City - well the bits Laurel wasn't aware of. Of course the news of a new speedster terrorizing the city had made it into StarCity's newscasts several times, especially when Zoom confronted the Flash.

"You'd think there being multiple dimensions would freak me out…" Laurel raised her head, processing everything she'd heard with great calmness, "...but no."

"Quite the lives we live, huh?" Belén smiled to herself. "While it can be dazzling and happy...it's got some terrible drawbacks."

"Yeah, but...would you give it up?"

Belén right away shook her head. "Never. It's how I met my friends...it's how Barry and I got together. I'd keep it just the way it is no matter how bad things get." Laurel chuckled.

Jitters wasn't as packed as one would think it would be during lunch hour. Laurel and Belén took a seat at one of the empty tables after ordering.

"So then, are we going to talk about this whole Azalea thing?" it was easy to tell this was the topic that drew Laurel to find Belén again. "I mean, last time we talked, you were pretty hell bent on making sure the Azalea stayed dead."

"To be fair, the last time we spoke I felt like my life was over," Belén countered. "My brother had just died, my sister was sent to prison, two of my friends died, my boyfriend broke up with me...and I had gained custody of Axel." The entire memories made Belén stop to take a breather. "I was not at a good place then."

"But now you are," Laurel noticed with a genuine delight.

"I went to therapy," Belén admitted. "Actually, I still go. It's less but Dr. Baeva says that's a good thing."

"And you felt good enough to bring back the Azalea?"

"Yeah," Belén nodded her head, her eyes flickering to the side. "I thought the Azalea should stay dead so that I could move on, but...I don't want to do that. I don't think I could ever do that. Just like you fight to be the Black Canary, I fight to be the Azalea."

Laurel was so proud to hear her friend talk like this after so much despondence. "Exactly!"

"Unfortunately, it also resonates from the fact there's this psycho metahuman from Earth 2 trying to kill me."

"That's this Datura woman, right? I read about her too."

"Yeah. According to E-2 Dr. Wells, Datura has siphoning powers along with being one of the most poisonous metahumans on his earth."

"Now wait a minute, she siphons AND and she has powers based on this poisonous plant?"

"Yeah. Though sometimes I wonder how that works, because…" Belén trailed off, still thinking, "...Harry says that, back on his world, there were rumors about Datura...not being all the way there," Belén tapped the side of her head. "She would disappear for weeks and then resurface with new powers. At the same time, there were series of murder sprees where the cops would find corpses of metas possessing similar plant powers like Datura."

"Do you think Datura could've been looking for something in those metas?"

"That's our theory, and it's my theory that I have what she's looking for," Belén sighed, "I just don't know what it is. So, in the meantime, she's here...terrorizing my city, beating the crap out of me."

"Well, you gotta look at this from a different perspective," Laurel got to thinking for a moment. "You say she's a siphoner but...she calls herself Datura? Why? That's just one flower, one power she possesses, right?"

"I've thought about that too," Belén admitted. "Believe me, I've gone crazy thinking of her and her powers."

"So, what have you come up with?"

"Well, I theorize that the datura power could be either the first power she siphoned and thus became her baseline of all powers, or…" Belén stopped all of a sudden.

"Or?"

"Or they could be something of importance to her. Not physical importance but emotional."

"Why would she name herself after only one power when she's a siphoner?" Laurel smirked as now Belén was getting somewhere with her thoughts.

"Emotional importance," Belén answered, far more sure now that she had spoken her theories out loud. "You name yourself after your powers, after what makes you, you. I named myself the Azalea because I love those flowers. Gardening Azaleas and other flowers was my favorite pastime, my way to unwind and just..be me. I doubt Datura did gardening...she had to have named herself Datura for another reason."

"I miss this Belén," Laurel blurted, and the two shared a laugh.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, when her shift was over, Belén stopped by STAR Labs to see how Caitlin was holding up with Harry on her own. She found the two working at the prime desk in the cortex.

"Afternoon," she greeted and only spared the computer screens a brief look, knowing already she wouldn't understand their work. "So what are you scientists working on today?"

"We may have just created a way to help Barry become faster," Caitlin could barely contain her excitement. Harry had no problem.

"Really?" Belén loved hearing that and was sure that Barry would too. "What is it?"

However, before either Caitlin or Harry could explain, Jay had come in. He soon saw the computer screens himself and scowled.

"Velocity-6?" there was a trace of disbelief in his tone which put both Belén and Caitlin off. "This is what was so urgent, Harrison? You get me to come here so I can take your speed drug?"

Harry, on the other hand, remained at ease and simply pointed at Jay for being correct. "That's right."

Jay gave an incredulous look at Caitlin. "You knew about this."

"Of course she did," Harry answered for her. "She figured it out."

"What's the big deal?" Belén cut in. She definitely was not up for another physical fight between the two men.

"I thought this was to help Barry," Caitlin was on the same page as Belén.

"It is to help Barry-" Harry said, "-which is why we need to do test runs on subjects who once had the Speed Force in their system."

Jay was not having this. "The Speed Force doesn't work like that. It's not something you can create in a lab."

"How do you think you became the Flash, Garrick? By me and a lab," Harry reminded, and Belén did have to admit that it rang some truth. That is what their Wells had done to give Barry his powers in the first place. "Science is what did this to you, to Barry, to Zoom, and science is what we need to stop Zoom, and this is our only option."

"Find another one," Jay didn't hesitate to shut down the work, even if it was Caitlin's. "The Speed Force can't be replicated or enhanced. It's a living thing. It's a gift that was given to me. That drug... you have no idea what it's gonna do. I'm not going to let another one of your experiments mess with me again, Harrison. You find someone else to be your guinea pig."

"It's a drug?" Belén immediately saw the problem and turned on Harry. "You're giving my Barry a drug?"

"Keep that serum away from Barry," Jay warned her and Caitlin before storming away.

Harry had put on his black jacket and a hat in the meanwhile. Caitlin turned on him too and questioned his plans.

"To pick up what we need!"

"We can't give Barry whatever you're planning on," Belén snapped but the man started heading out.

"We're gonna do what we need," Harry left them with those words.

Caitlin, exasperated plopped down on a chair. She saw Belén's horrific stare after the threshold. "If I knew what it was, I would have never…"

"I know Cait," Belén assured. "I mean...is it wrong, though? It's like...steroids, right? But to make you faster?"

Caitlin nodded. "That's the idea."

"But...but would it have side effects? Like bad ones?"

"Jay seemed pretty sure that it wasn't the right thing…"

"I honestly don't know who to believe anymore. Jay doesn't bother to show up and help and when he does show up it's to shoot down all of our ideas."

Caitlin of course tried to make Jay look better. "I-it can't be easy having to lose your powers, and...you know? I just...we shouldn't be hard on him That's all I'm saying."

Belén smiled knowingly at the brunette. "Right. So listen, I stopped by to ask if you wanted to come to dinner with Laurel, Iris and I."

"Laurel?" Caitlin repeated. "As in Laurel Lance the Black Canary?"

"The one and only," Belén smirked.

"But I thought…"

"She's here alone. She didn't even know Barry and Cisco had gone to meet Oliver. So, you want to come?"

Caitlin looked at the computer screens still showing Velocity-6, then glanced back at the threshold. "I don't know. I think someone should stay here and hold the fort. And by that I mean check to see what Harrison is doing."

Belén thought that was a rational mindset and thought about her own choices. "You know what, I think I should stay too. I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself."

"No, Bells, it's okay. I know you haven't seen Laurel in a long time."

"But I don't want you to stay here all alone…"

"I'll be fine," Caitlin promised. "Go out. I think you deserve some time out."

"Okay, but afterwards I'm coming back here to keep you company. I'll even bring you something," Belén grabbed her purse.

"That would be nice," Caitlin smiled.

~ 0 ~

Setting the dinner date at eight, Belén took her sweet time to get ready. She pulled out a nice white blouse with fitted slacks and some heels. Applying some makeup and doing the hair took about an hour but she was still on time. Just as she was getting ready to leave, someone knocked on her door.

No longer was Belén surprised to see her mother making a visit.

"I'm not going to argue - I don't have time to," Belén snapped before her mother could start shouting. "I have a dinner to get to and then to STAR Labs with Caitlin."

Veronica didn't appear to have the fighting in her, something that even Belén saw right away. "Why STAR Labs?"

"Because Caitlin is there. Anymore questions?" Belén went back to the living room for her purse and phone.

"Honestly, Belén, I don't know why you keep going to that hazardous building. What's the point?"

Belén snorted. "Did you really come by to ask me that?"

Something snapped inside Veronica and she shook her head, straightening herself up. "No, of course not. I came to talk."

"We've done that, countless times," Belén returned with her purse strap hanging around her wrist. "It doesn't work out. Tonight I'd like to skip it."

"If you would just-"

"I have to go," Belén cut her off smoothly and ushered Veronica out the door. "You want to talk tomorrow morning then fine. Tonight I'm not letting you tarnish my mood."

Veronica let her daughter go without another word. It appeared she was really driving that wedge between them, and she feared how far it would go. A ringing from her pocket brought her out from her thoughts. It was a text from work.

~ 0 ~

"No Caitlin?" Iris asked when Belén had joined her and Laurel at the restaurant they'd agreed at.

"No, she and Harry are working," Belén decided to leave out the potentially dangerous serum out of the conversation for the moment.

"I'd love to have seen her," Laurel remarked while taking a look at their menus.

"Maybe tomorrow, then?"

"I guess." Belén honestly made it her life's effort to not show how upset she already was thanks to her mother's surprise visit. Without Barry around, she felt like she truly needed just some friends with her to make her forget how crappy her life was at the moment.

It was nice to forget that she wasn't a metahuman being hunted, and that she was in danger. After all, these were the moments when her life was supposed to be at its best. She'd finished college a long while ago, she snatched herself a good job, even went back to doing what she'd originally wanted to (aerial dancing). Along the way she'd met some really good people who slowly became like her family.

She deserved to remember that part of her life.

~ 0 ~

"So you're telling me that this flint knife is thousands of years old?" Veronica reviewed what Patty had told her just to make sure she wasn't getting anything wrong.

"Yeah, I'm surprised too, believe me," Patty gave a shrug of her shoulders.

The two women were walking down the street, discussing the matters of their bloodbath case. Patty had finally gotten news on the evidence Barry had gotten earlier and now Veronica was looking over the case file.

"But it means it couldn't have been on the market…" Veronica deduced and glanced at Patty.

The blonde hummed in agreement. "We checked and there are no records of it belonging to some set in local museums. We're expanding the search but even then it doesn't really look like it belongs anywhere."

"Except history books," Veronica closed the file and looked up. As soon as she did, she spotted a familiar figure across the street. A man was loading something into the back of a car.

"Are you alright?" Patty stared at the woman for a bit, worried.

Veronica's eyebrows knitted together. "It can't be."

"What…?" Patty meant to follow Veronica's gaze but Veronica quickly ushered Patty to her own car. "Hey! What about that ca-"

"I'm going to look it over for tonight and tomorrow we'll talk again! Goodnight, Patty!" Veronica then made her own mission as she hurried to her own car.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin had been giving Harry disapproving stares ever since he returned to STAR labs on the plan of finishing up the serum for Barry. Despite that, Harry didn't desist.

"We can't use that serum on Barry," Caitlin gave a crinkled-nose glance at the silver gun meant to inject said serum.

"That's up to him, isn't it?" Harry cleverly countered with. Caitlin frowned knowing that, in the end, it really was all Barry's decision whether or not to take the serum. "If Barry wants to stop Zoom, this is what he needs."

"Jay said it could hurt Barry-"

"Well, Jay's a coward," Harry pushed through the serum into the gun with a 'pop!'.

Caitlin huffed, clearly offended on behalf of Jay. "Jay's a scientist who knows a lot about speedsters!"

"You're a scientist, Snow. You've been watching Barry. You know he's nowhere near as fast as he needs to be," Harry snapped, reaching his patience with these people. "This other mentor, this other Harrison Wells, did not want him to reach his full potential... I do."

Caitlin glowered. "You know, you're really starting to sound a lot like him." She didn't want to be anymore of a part of the serum and walked into one of the side rooms, hoping that Harry would gain some sense in the meanwhile.

Harry could care less what Caitlin thought and turned the silver gun over to make sure the serum had been injected right.

"I knew it was you," Veronica's voice made him stop his work. She had come into the place with a gun in her hands, aimed directly at Wells.

"Who are you?" Harry, of course, had not met the woman before.

"I don't know how you did it, how you managed to survive while my son died, my daughter sent to jail and my youngest so...lost-" Veronica gritted her teeth, "-but you won't be escaping this time. You're under arrest."

Harry deduced that the woman had to be talking about his doppleganger, who up to now had apparently done no good to anyone in this world. "I'm Harrison Wells but I'm not the Harrison…"

Veronica threatened again with her gun after Harry took a step forwards. "Stop! You move closer, and I'll shoot."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Give me that-" he raised the silver gun still in his hand and Veronica mistook that as a threat and so she shot him.

The moment Harry collapsed on the floor, Caitlin came running in, going out of her mind with the scene. "Oh, my God, what have you done? Harrison? Harrison, stay with me. Harrison, Harrison, stay with me!" she didn't know how to quite move him without hurting him even more. "Stay with me, Harrison, come on." She shot Veronica a snarky look. "Why did you shoot him?"

"I thought that was a gun!" Veronica exclaimed and motioned to the silver gun on the floor. "That's Harrison Wells! He's meant to be dead-"

"Oh, and you decided to go ahead and finish that job!?"

"What - excuse you! I followed him thinking he was back to no good again! That was after I processed the fact he wasn't dead like Belén told me!"

Caitlin growled and got up from her spot. "I have to call Belén! And Nina!"

"What is going on!?" Veronica watched Caitlin run over to the desk to get on that phone call.

"Ms. Green, I will let your daughter do that explaining! Right now you're going to help move him-" Caitlin pointed at Harry, "-to a bed."

Veronica's eyes flickered from Harry to Caitlin incredulously.

~ 0 ~

Of course the moment Belén - and consequently Iris and Laurel - heard what happened at STAR Labs, dinner was cancelled. Belén came running in with Iris and Laurel behind, only to see Caitlin and Nina Clarke tending to Harry's unconscious self. Veronica still remained in the cortex, glowering at the two doctors but still primarily confused.

"What happened!?" Belén hastily walked up to her two friends.

"I shot him, that's what," Veronica was the one to answer, and quite aggressively too. She still didn't understand what was going on. As far as she knew, Harrison Wells was meant to be on his way to the hospital to be treated and then promptly shipped off to Iron Heights.

"Why would you do that?"

Veronica blinked rapidly, unsure if she'd heard right. "Y-you're asking me...why I shot the man who murdered my ex-husband, and destroyed my children's lives?"

Belén remained quiet. Of course to her mother, it was a stupid question.

"How is he doing?" Laurel neared Caitlin and Nina.

"He's losing oxygen," Caitlin shook her head.

"Nina, you can't do anything?" Iris went along with Laurel.

"There's a bullet in a branch of his pulmonary artery that's blocking off most of the blood flow from the left lung," Nina was quite serious in the matter. "And I can't remove the bullet without causing too much damage."

"You need Jay," Caitlin suddenly thought of and looked at Belén.

"Go, call him," the ombre-blonde gave a nod.

"Belén…" Veronica stared at her daughter hard, "...what the hell is going on?"

Belén looked at her friends and then back at her mother. There really was no way out of explaining this unless she felt like looking like a crazy person. Running a hand through her hair, she began to spill. "That man-" she gestured to Harry, "-is not the Harrison Wells you think he is."

Veronica's eyes squinted as she tried process the words. "E-excuse me? What? Belén, I'm not an idiot-"

"No, of course you're not! You're far from it!" Belén bitterly exclaimed. "You've gone in search so much that I have have to tell you now."

"Tell me what?" Veronica looked around the place, frowning with utter dislike. "Why do you come here so often? This place belonged to the man that destroyed our family."

"Because we've turned it into something good," Belén said softly, her eyes looking past her mother to the display case that was currently covered by the sliding wall Cisco installed to keep hers and Barry's suits out of the public's views. She walked over to the desk and with one last look at her friends (who encouraged her to go on), she pressed the button that slid the wall up. "I have helped turn it into something good."

Veronica followed Belén's gesture and turned to find a familiar green suit sitting on a mannequin. Veronica's mouth opened with a slight gasp.

"I'm her, Mom," Belén said before Veronica made her own conclusions. "I'm the Azalea."

So many things started making sense to Veronica within the next minute. Her daughter's strange behavior, for once, every time this vigilante was mentioned. It also helped to remind her that this precise vigilante had already made appearances in Star City, along with the Arrow.

"It was...you," Veronica turned back to meet her daughter's nervous face. "You've been this vigilante all this time and I'm just now hearing about it?"

"It's not something easy I can talk to you about," Belén said weakly, seeing anger starting up in Veronica's eyes.

"Oh, my bad, so it's my fault now," Veronica bitterly laughed.

"Mom, I don't want to keep fighting with you, okay? You know now. And you should also know that this man-" Belén once more gestured to Harry, "-is not the man you think he is. He's from another world, alright?"

"Another world…" Veronica laughed there, clearly disbelieving it.

"It exists, okay? This is...a doppelganger. And he isn't here harming us. The Harrison Wells you know about, he's dead. Like...actually, he was erased from existence so it's even better."

"You need to stop," Veronica pointed at Belén. "You need to stop talking. I-I need to…" her head whipped in the direction of the Azalea suit, and her eyes flickered to the empty mannequin beside it. "Who...who's that one for?" she pointed.

Belén thought that if she told Veronica about Barry, then it would really drive things home for her mom. "I…"

"Oh, now this is rich," Veronica, it seemed, already made her conclusions. "Oh my God-" she rubbed her face, "-of course you work with the Flash."

"Mom-"

"NO!" Veronica waved her hands, indicating she was done. "Two years all this has been happening and you decide to tell me this now! Not to mention that all of it is just...crazy."

"Crazy?" it was Belén's turn to laugh. "Mom, we're helping people-"

"You are putting yourself in danger!" Veronica glanced at Nina, Iris and Laurel. "And you all knew. Of course you did. But none of you had the common sense to make her see reality!"

"The Azalea has helped people, Ms. Green," Iris spoke up for Belén. "She and the Flash have saved people and places."

"But at what cost?" Veronica's eyes teared up. "I lost my ex-husband, my son, my son-in-law, and my daughter."

"But Belén is right there," Nina snapped. Unlike Iris and Laurel, she had more of an attitude to match Veronica's. "She is the one who had to fight against Rayan and Maritza to do what's right. You should be damn proud of her and not shouting at her like she's five years old!"

Veronica turned to Belén, her tears on the verge of spilling. "You are putting yourself in danger, Belén. With that...that monster of Zoom out there...and that-that Datura. You want to keep going?"

"Zoom is not after me, Mom," Belén said quietly. "He and the Flash have their own battle going on."

"But the crossfires, Belén. Those are the real dangers. And that Datura, she's already hurt you, hasn't she?" Veronica started to remember those strange bruises on her daughter's body. The stitches on her neck. "If I lose you too…I will break. I will." She decided that enough was enough for that night and so she stormed out of the room.

Belén dug her hands through her hair and took in a deep breath. Her own tears were threatening to fall.

"Hey," Laurel walked up to her, pulling her hands from her hair. "You did good. It's better she found out now than by someone else."

"She's so mad," Belén's voice broke. "I have never seen her like that. And we've had some arguments."

"She reacted like anyone in her place would have," Laurel glanced back at the others for some backup.

"My dad was really mad when he discovered Barry was going out in the beginning," Iris thought to help by reminding of that parallel.

"Laurel put her hands on Belén's shoulders. "Your mother has lost most of her family, so it's logical she's scared to death about this. Give her some space to think about it and cool down."

"Okay," Belén nodded. There was nothing else to do, really, but wait. She wasn't expecting her mother to understand it all in one go, and much less when Belén knew she hadn't said all of the story.

A while later, Caitlin's call had gone through and Jay had dignified to show up.

"How bad is it?" although he asked he made his own conclusions based on just looking at Harry.

"There's a bullet in his pulmonary artery," Nina informed. "Caitlin said you could help."

"Can you close the wound if I get it?" Jay countered with, a silent agreement made amongst them.

"Yes."

"How are you going to do that?" Laurel asked, getting an odd look in return. She smiled and introduced herself. "Laurel Lance. Black Canary-" she gestured to herself then went ahead and gestured to him, "-Flash of another world. I know it all."

Jay slowly looked to Caitlin, the only face he needed to see. Caitlin handed him the silver gun holding the serum.

"What is that?" Iris laid eyes on the silver gun with distaste.

"It's a serum called Velocity-6. It could give Jay temporary speed," Caitlin said. "He can phase through Doctor Wells' chest and remove the bullet."

"Yeah, but I told you, I have no idea what's gonna happen if I use that," Jay reminded.

"If Caitlin did it then you should be okay," Belén said, showing her full trust for her friend

Jay injected his palm with the serum and waited for the effects. He growled in pain but the women all saw the familiar orangey lightening fill his eyes. His right hand began to vibrate, and not wasting time, he dug it into Harry's chest and managed to pull the bullet out.

Nina quickly began to see the effects of the intervention and smiled. "BP and oxygenation is rising. Blood flow is returning to his lungs."

Caitlin moved over and hugged Jay. "Thank you."

~ 0 ~

After a new day to sleep on things, as well as to monitor Harry's situation, Belén found herself alone in her apartment...thinking. She was waiting, actually, for Laurel to stop by, but in the meanwhile she was planning on what to do with her mother. All that day, Belén had tried talking to Veronica but was sent away or her calls were ignored. She was beginning to understand how it felt to be paid with the same coin. She'd done the same thing to her mother and was now paying one.

Hearing the knock on the door, Belén went to go answer, mentally preparing herself for a nice night with Laurel. She opened the door and was mighty surprised to see Barry who was not meant to be back so early.

"Hi," she greeted with a slow smile working across her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Change of plans," Barry shrugged and raised his hands. "Bad guy's here."

"Oh...oh," Belén soon understood the implications.

"But don't worry, Oliver and the rest of the team coming too. We'll get him," Barry walked right in. "Did I miss anything here?"

"Uh...well…" Belén slowly closed the door, wondering how to put all her words together. "Laurel is here already. Um, Caitlin and Harry worked out this serum thing, oh and my Mom shot Harry which led me to tell her that I am the Azalea."

"What!?" Barry whirled around, his eyes widened to the impossible.

"Harry's fine, but my Mom refuses to talk to me so I'm just here on my own…"

Barry could see the last thing she wanted was to be alone. "Why didn't you go stay with Iris, hm? Caitlin? Or Nina?"

Belén gave a shrug of her shoulders as she walked past him. "I don't know. I live alone, I should get used to that."

"Yeah, but...why would you want to be alone?" Barry asked, a playful hint in his tone. "I've done that...and it's not a lot of fun."

Belén chuckled and turned away from him. "Well, Barry, sometimes a girl just likes to be alone. I can wake up and decide not to put pants on and who would tell me anything?" Barry got to thinking behind her. "I'm fine, really. I just needed some time to think about - are you staring at my legs?" she had turned around and found Barry's gaze directed at her legs.

Being caught, his face turned red. "I-I wasn't, n-no…"

"Were you thinking about it?" Belén laughed and sat down on the couch armrest. "Me with no pants on?"

"No!" Barry said a bit too quick, only making Belén laugh even more. "Oh, you are so gonna pay for that."

"You're an idiot," Belén accused as he marched up to her. "But I actually missed that so I'm going to let it go." Barry leaned down to kiss her but she pulled away. "On the one condition that you stop looking at my legs."

"That I can't help," Barry out his hands on either side of her. "See, you're too beautiful, and that includes your legs."

"Oh really?"

"Mhm," Barry closed to the gap between them with a kiss. There was a muffled laughter between them as Barry carefully pushed her back onto the couch.

"You came back with some necessities…" Belén laughed while while Barry crawled over her.

"I've discovered I can't be away from you very long," Barry innocently admitted. "Plus, you've got some nice legs."

"Oh my God, shut up!" Belén threw her head back in another round of laughter. She lightly gasped when she felt one of his hands trailing down from her thigh and down. "I love you and your idiocy."

"I love you and your sweet words," Barry countered with. He leaned down and barely got to kiss her again when someone new knocked on the door.

"Belén? Open up. I've got take out and it's pretty heavy!" Laurel's voice broke them apart.

"What?" Barry frowned.

"Oh, um, I forgot to mention Laurel was staying over," Belén pushed Barry off her in order to sit up.

"Well, it looks like I'm the odd man out," Barry pretended to huff.

"Aw, you can stay if you'd like," Belén offered and got up.

"No, I'd rather have you all to myself," Barry got up and took her hands. "We really need a date, you know. Or just some plain time to ourselves."

"Agreed, but we can probably sort that after we take down the bad guys?"

Barry nodded. He stole a kiss from her and sped out of the room, of course not before speeding Laurel's bags to the coffee table. Laurel's hair fell over her face from the speed and laughed.

"Now I see what Diggle means!"

#arrowverseocs #ocappreciation #the flash #barry allen #legends of tomorrow #arrow #barry allen fics #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen imagines #lot fics #lot imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: the azalea #oc: Graciela Haynez #oc: the Jinx #fic: rise up #fic: redemption #oc crossovers